USA > Kansas > Atchison County > History of Atchison County, Kansas > Part 56
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The Clark family came to Kansas from Indiana in 1868, and Andrew Jackson Clark naturally settled in that part of Jackson county where his old friend and neighbor had chosen his place of residence. The intimacy which had existed between the two families in Putnam county, Indiana, was re- newed, and as time went on, John S. Hixon and Alice Clark grew to ma- turity and were united in marriage. Their married life has been a happy
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and prosperous one, and five children have blessed this union : Dr. Charles L. Hixon, with whom this review is directly concerned; Mrs. J. C. Neeley, of Weiser, Idaho; Ernest H. Hixon, of Kansas City, Mo .; one child died in infancy. John S. Hixon became prominently identified with the civic life of Jackson county and is serving his county well and faithfully as treasurer for two terms, having been elected on the Republican ticket in 1912 and again in 1914. Mr. and Mrs. John S. Hixon reside in Holton, in Jackson county, and are prosperous and well respected in the neighborhood.
.Dr. C. L. Hixon spent his boyhood days on the farm and early learned to assist in the farm work. He received his elementary education in the dis- trict schools, and was ambitious to secure a higher education. He has prac- tically educated himself, and after learning all that was possible for him to learn in the country school, he attended Campbell College, at Holton, Kan., for two years. His ambition was to become a dentist, and with this end in view lie matriculated in the University of Iowa in 1895. After spending two profitable years in this institution in the study of dentistry he returned home, and a short time later opened an office in Atchison, where he has practiced continuously for the past eighteen years. After seven years of practice in his first location, he opened well equipped offices at 519 Commercial street, and remained there until his removal to his present location at 613 Com- mercial street, where he has offices equipped with all the latest appliances for facilitating his work. Dr. Hixon is kept very busy attending to the calls made upon him in the practice of his profession, and during the many years he has been located in Atchison, he has built up an extensive and lucrative practice. He finds time, however, to keep abreast of the latest developments made in his profession, and is ever seeking to better his skill and knowledge of dentistry. He has been distinctly honored by the members of his profes- sion, having served as president of the Northeast Kansas Dental Association, and is at present an active member of this association. He is a leading mem- ber of the Atchison Dental Association, and ranks high in his profession, not only as a successful practitioner, but as a citizen who has the best inter- ests of his home city at heart. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Washington Lodge, No. 5, and is fraternally affiliated with the Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Rebekalı and Eastern Star lodges.
Dr. Hixon was united in marriage with Miss Inez B. Horn in 1902, and one child has been born to this union, Charles Horn Hixon, born May 25, 1907. Mrs. Inez B. Hixon was born in Atchison county, a daughter of J. H.
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and Catharine (Wallick) Horn, who reside at 1126 North Third street, Atch- ison. Mrs. Horn is a daughter of Benjamin Wallick, who served as sheriff of the county during the time of the Civil war.
LOUIS KLOEPPER.
Louis Kloepper, farmer and stockman of Lancaster township. Atchison county, was born January 18, 1888, on the farm where he now lives. He is a son of William and Fredericka (Von Derahe) Kloepper, who were the par- ents of four children as follows: Louis, subject of this sketch; Emma, de- ceased ; William, deceased; Pauline, living at home. The father was born in Germany, December 14, 1853. He left there in 1883 and came directly to Atchison county, Kansas, where he bought eighty acres of land in section 27, Lancaster township. He farmed this one year, and in 1885 returned to Germany to be married. In 1886 he returned to his farm and began to improve it, building a large eight-room house in 1899 in place of the little three-room affair which stood on the place. In 1903 he built a fine 32x40 feet granary, and in 1904 he erected a large barn, 40x48 feet. The follow- ing year he bought more land and put up additional buildings, building in 1908 another barn, 32x40 feet. At the time of his death, February 7. 1913, he owned 240 acres of.well improved land under cultivation, and thirteen acres of fine timber land. This achievement is the more remarkable in view of the fact that he landed with only $1.200. But he was industrious, and worked faithfully to improve his farm. He was a member, trustee and steward of the German Lutheran church. His wife was born in Germany, February 15, 1858, and is a daughter of Henry and Fredericka (Von Behren) Von Derahe, natives of Germany. The mother is now living with her son, Louis.
Louis Kloepper attended the old Huron school of Lancaster township, and grew to manhood on the farm which he now operates. Since the death of his father he has had charge of the farm and has worked to the extent of his ability in installing modern improvements on his place. He owns 160 acres in section 27, Lancaster township, in addition to the home place, and has three acres of orchard and grove. He also has a vineyard which was the feature of the place which Louis, and his father before him, always loved most. Special attention has been given to the vineyard when other things had to be neglected, perhaps. It is the pride of Mr. Kloepper's place. He
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keeps graded stock and is a practical farmer. He now is operating 400 acres of land, 114 acres of which are in corn, and ninety-three acres are in clover, the latter having been unusually successful. He owns a threshing outfit and two clover hullers, a corn shredder, and three gas engines. He utilizes these engines in numerous ways, including pumping and threshing and plowing. . Mr. Kloepper has a modern farm in every way and has all up-to-date improve- ments of a labor and time saving kind, as well as an automobile. He is a stockholder in the Farmers' Mercantile Association of Effingham, Kan. He is a practical farmer, of the progressive type.
In 1911 he married Marie Meier, a native of Germany, born July 3, 1888. She is a daughter of Henry and Fredericka (Finke) Meier, and was educated in Germany and left her native land at the age of seventeen. Mr. and Mrs. Kloepper have two children, Fredia, born November 13, 1911, and Emma. born April 21, 1913. Mr. Kloepper is an independent voter. He belongs to the German Lutheran church.
CHARLES W. FERGUSON.
Charles W. Ferguson, vice-president of the Atchison Savings Bank, is one of the best known men in financial circles of northeastern Kansas, and he is equally as well known over a large section of western Missouri. Mr. Ferguson was born at Plattsburg, Mo., December 29, 1862, and is a son of William L. and Fannie A. (Carpenter) Ferguson, both natives of Kentucky, whose parents were Virginians and very early settlers of the Blue Grass State. The Ferguson family removed from Kentucky to Missouri about 1851. They came up the Missouri river by boat as far as Liberty Landing, and later located in Clinton county, Missouri. The father was a merchant and also engaged in the grain business, and was an all around progressive business man. He was a Republican, and in 1862 was elected sheriff of Clinton county, being the first Republican elected to office in that county within a period of twenty- five years. During the Civil war he was captain of the Home Guards. He died in 1893, age 64 years. Charles W. Ferguson is one of a family of six children, as follows: John L., assistant general passenger agent of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, Chicago, Ill .; Mary F., widow of M. B. Riley, and resides in St. Joseph, Mo .; Adelia M., Plattsburg, Mo .; Katherine, Plattsburg, Mo .: Charles W., the subject of this sketch, and Louis, a conductor on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, resides at Highland Park, Ill. Charles
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W. Ferguson attended the public schools in Plattsburg until he was thirteen years old, and at that early age went to work in the express office at Platts- burg, where he remained about five years. He then entered the employ of Stonum Brothers, remaining with that company two years. He then accepted a position in the Plattsburg Bank, as bookkeeper and assistant cashier, remain- ing with that institution for seven years. He then went with the Schuster- Hax National Bank, St. Joseph, Mo., as receiving teller, and served in that capacity for four years. He resigned that position in June, 1894. to become bookkeeper of the Exchange National Bank of Atchison. He served with that institution in the capacity of paying teller, assistant cashier and cashier, resigning the latter position February 1. 1914. In November, 1914. he ac- cepted a position with the Federal Reserve Bank, of Kansas City, Mo., and was with that institution for eight months, and in July, 1915, became vice- president of the Atchison Savings Bank. Mr. Ferguson has had a vast ex- perience in the field of banking, and is well posted on the intricate problems of finance, and possesses the keen discriminating qualities of the successful banker. Mr. Ferguson was married April 28. 1892, to Miss Sallie Clay, of Plattsburg, Mo. She is a daugliter of James M. Clay, a member of the Ken- tucky branch of the Clay family. Mr. Ferguson is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Wood- men of America.
EARL V. JONES.
Signal success in any one field of endeavor is worthy of recognition by the public, whether it be professional, inventive, mercantile or of an in- dustrial nature. Some men are naturally gifted with the ability to become successful in the industrial and manufacturing field, and are mentally equipped with a certain amount of mechanical genius, along with decided business ability to take hold of a proposition, and makes it succeed, despite difficulties. E. V. Jones, treasurer and manager of the Bailor Plow Company, of Atchi- son, is one of the latter type who is fast climbing to a place of eminence in his chosen field of endeavor, and holds a high place among the manufactur- ing and mercantile interests of Atchison and the Middle West.
Mr. Jones was born in Livingston county, Missouri, January 21. 1878, a son of Charles Jones, a building contractor, who was a native of Kentucky and a son of William Jones, owner of a large plantation in Kentucky, which was lost as one of the misfortunes which befell the family as a result of the Civil
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war's ravages in Kentucky. Desirous of making a new start in a land further removed from internecine strife, and where opportunities for success seemed greater, William Jones removed to Missouri, and here Charles, the father of E. V., was reared and became successful in agricultural pursuits, the son, Earl V., being reared on the family estate in Livingston county, Missouri. The Jones family is originally of Scotch-Irish stock, the founder of the family emigrating from the north of Ireland to this country several generations ago. Charles Jones married Miss Jennie Wills, a daughter of John Wills, native of the east coast of England, and who immigrated to this country with his brother, George, and followed his trade of wagon maker successfully. John Wills owned and operated an extensive blacksmith and wagon maker's shop at Chillicothe. Mo., which did a large business and made moderate wealth for its proprietor.
Earl V. Jones, with whom this review is directly concerned, was edu- cated in the common and high schools of his native county, and attended the military school at Paylmra, Mo., supplementing his academic education with one year's study in business college at Atchison, Kan. For some years be- fore the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, he had been a member of the Missouri State militia, Company H, Fourth infantry regiment. When the war broke out and troops were called for to fight the Spaniards in Cuba and the Philippines, he responded with his company and regiment, and went to the front immediately, serving at Camp Alger, near Washington, D. C., on the Potomac river, and Camp Meade, at Harrisburg, Pa., and at Green- ville, S. C. After the close of the war, and receiving his honorable discharge at Greenville, S. C., and being mustered out of the service, he returned to his home city, Chillicothe, and entered the employ of the Jackson Woodenware Company as a workman in 1899. His capacity for work and an inherent genius for detail and management here asserted itself and his rise in this concern was rapid and substantial. It was not long umtil his faithfulness and decided ability was recognized by his employers and he was promoted to the post of superintendent of the factory. When the Jackson Woodenware Com- pany was removed to Atchison in 1902, Mr. Jones came along in the capacity of shipping clerk, and later served as superintendent of the company until its dissolution in 1910. During this time Mr. Jones had made a reputation as a manufacturer and organizer, which had become generally recognized throughout this section of the country, and, although many flattering offers came to him to accept executive positions of importance, he decided to cast his lot with the Bailor Plow Company as treasurer and manager in 1910, when a company was organized for the purpose of locating the factory in
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Atchison. His judgment in this respect was essentially sound, inasmuch as the Bailor Plow Company, under his management, is one of the flourishing manufacturing concerns of the city. The company and Mr. Jones, the man- ager, have made good, the large pay-roll, and the constantly increasing output of the plant having fully justified the decision of the Atchison men who were instrumental in locating the plant in this city. A great future is decidedly in store for the Bailor Plow Company and its manager.
Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Katherine Barton, of Livingston county, in 1901. To this union have been born two sons : Raymond and Earl. Mrs. Jones is a daughter of Prof. John W. Barton, widely known educator of Missouri, who formerly served as city superintendent of various schools, and was formerly a member of the faculty of the University of Missouri.
Mr. Jones finds time, aside from his duties as manager of the factory, to take an active part in the social and civic life of Atchison, and has identi- fied himself with the city's institutions in a substantial manner, as befitting a man of his position and attainments. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of the Maccabees, and is affiliated with the United Commercial Travelers.
MRS. JULIA E. ADAMS BOYINGTON.
Mrs. Julia E. Adams Boyington comes of parents who were important factors in the early history of Atchison county. Her father, William Adams, came to Kansas in the fifties for the purpose of helping make Kansas a free State. He was a leader of the Cayuga settlement and he was intimately con- nected with the making of Kansas history for many years. Mrs. Boyington was born May 15, 1849, in Skaneateles, Onondaga county, New York. Her parents, William and Mary Ann (Ellsbury) Adams, were both born in Eng- land. The father was born October 6, 1820, in Summersetshire, England. and was a son of George Adams, who married Miss Thayer, also a native of England.
At the age of seventeen, William Adams left his native country and came to New York. He farmed there until 1856, when he came to Kansas and set- tled in Atchison county for the express purpose of helping John Brown in his fight along the border, and assisting the Free State party. He passed through many thrilling experiences during these troubled years and though he was often subjected to great bodily danger, he never wavered in his convictions
'Home of' Frank W. and Julia (SÄ°dams) Beyington
Extreme Left-SAMUEL ADAMS Right-MRS. JULIA E. BOYINGTON FRANK W. BOYINGTON
MARY ANN ADAMS.
WILLIAM ADAMS,
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and was always ready to fight for his convictions. He preempted eighty acres of land which he increased to 800 acres during his life time. When he took his first land the country was wild and undeveloped, and he built a log cabin on his place and used a yoke of oxen in breaking the land. He was a great stockman and kept a large number of animals and farmed until his death in 1889, remaining in active life until within a short time of his death. Mr. Adams was a Republican and was loyally devoted to the welfare of his party. He always took a great deal of interest in the activities of his party and helped it at every opportunity, though he never desired an office as a re- ward for his work, and never held a political job.
On July 4, 1848, Mr. Adams was married to Mary A. Ellsbury, also a native of Summersetshire, England. She was born October 19, 1825, and died December 15, 1895. Mrs. Boyington, though a small girl when she came to Kansas, remembers many incidents of that early life with remarkable vividness. She still keeps a rifle and an old shot gun which her father brought from New York, and prizes them very highly. They were the means of protecting her and her mother many times front the depredations of the Indians, who were numerous in that section then, and lived on a reservation only four miles from the Adams home. They passed the little Adams cabin when they went after whiskey. As they would return completely intoxicated, they would quarrel and disturb the neighborhood, often frightening the women whose husbands were working out in the fields. The Cayuga settle- ment numbered about forty people during the early days. The township elections in Grasshopper township were always held in the Adams house, and Mr. Adams was always generous in helping public affairs along.
Mr. and Mrs. Adams were parents of five children : Julia, the subject of this sketch : Georgia Anna, deceased; Samuel, of Grasshopper township : Milli- cent, who died in infancy : Julia, born a twin, but the other child died in in- fancy. Samuel, married Mrs. Ida Hitchcock, a native of Scranton, Penn., in California, May 31, 1887. By her marriage to Mr. Adams she was the mother of two children : William J., who was born March 19, 1890, and Earl, who was born October 10, 1891. These two children were partly reared by their aunt, Mrs. Boyington, and she is very fond of them. Though she has no children of her own, she has made these two nephews her favorites and has treated them as though they were her own children. Frank W. Boyington. the husband of Julia E. Adams Boyington, was born February 15, 1845, in Pennsylvania, and was a son of Edwin C. and Susan (Smith) Boyington, the former a native of Litchfield, Conn., and the latter a native of Pennsylvania. In their old age they came to Kansas and lived with their son, Frank W., and
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died here. The father died 1872, and the mother died in 1875. He left there in 1867 and settled in Grasshopper township, Atchison county, where Samuel Adams was reared to manhood in Grasshopper township; lived for ten years in California and returned to his farm in Grasshopper township in 1913. He was married to Mrs. Julia Bartlet before his marriage to Miss Adams. His first wife was a school teacher in Grasshopper township before her marriage. Three children were born to them, Edward, of Atchison, United States mail clerk, Alice Spangler, Marion county, Kansas, and one deceased. After her death in 1899, he was married to Miss Julia E. Adams, the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Boyington was an early settler in Kansas and has been a successful farmer. His wife owns 480 acres of land which once was a part of the old home place. Mr. Boyington owns 160 acres in Marion county, Kansas. He has lived in Kansas since 1867 and has seen much history made during that time. Mr. Royington is a Republican and is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Although he is not a church member, he attends services. Mr. Boyington is one of the most successful farmers of Atchison county, and with his wife, who is also a good manager, has made a financial success of farming.
JOHN L. BLAIR.
The historian must ever take cognizance of the facts concerning the lives of those who have contributed most to the upbuilding and the welfare of their community. In looking backward over the half century, and more, which has elapsed since the Kansas Territory was thrown open to settlement, it is found that there are quite a number of men and women who are deserving of more than mere casual mention in the history of Atchison county. Among these are John L. and Amanda ( Meeker) Blair, whose names will go down in his- tory as having taken a very prominent part in the social, political and intel- lectual development of Doniphan and Atchison counties. Mrs. Blair has the honored distinction of having been the first public school teacher in Atchison and she and her husband were prominently identified with the historical course of events in northeast Kansas for a long period of years.
John L. Blair, deceased, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, April 25, 1833. a son of Alexander and Rachel (Lynch) Blair. The family is of Irish origin. Alexander Blair was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church in Pennsylvania. He died in Pennsylvania, and in 1860 the widow
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joined John L., who had come to Kansas in 1858. They settled in Doniphan county, near the Atchison-Doniphan line. Mr. Blair developed a fine farm and made quite a reputation as a breeder of fine live stock, being one of the pioneer stock breeders of Kansas. In 1863 he was united in marriage with Amanda Meeker. This was after he had served some time in the Civil war as a member of Company D. Seventh regiment, Kansas cavalry, as a sergeant, enlisting at the beginning of the war and serving for two years. After being mustered out, he returned home and was married in June of 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Blair immediately moved to a farm in Doniphan county, Kansas, and were successful from the start. Both being endowed with more than ordinary intelligence and thrift, they foresaw, the inevitable rise in land values and in- vested all of their earnings in land, accumulating over 600 acres of land which was located in Doniphan county and since Mr. Blair's demise Mrs. Blair has purchased 320 acres in Lyon county, Kansas. Mr. Blair was an active and influential figure in the civic and political life of Doniphan county, and fre- quently stumped the county in the interest of the Republican party candidates. He was a public speaker of power and ability, and was a warm adherent of the cause of women suffrage, stumping Atchison and Doniphan counties in 1884 in the interest of the suffrage movement in Kansas. He filled the office of county commissioner of Doniphan county for two terms, and was at one time a candidate for State senator. During the years 1873 and 1874, when the Grange movement was spreading over Kansas, Mr. Blair was the official organizer for Atchison and Doniphan counties. He had a good knowledge of parliamentary law and this came in very useful in his work among the different granges. It was in the Grange meetings that the movement for woman suffrage first gained headway in Kansas, and the women learned how to vote. Mr. Blair died in 1801, February 4. To Mr. and Mrs. Blair were born the following children: Mamie, widow of James Hunter, of Doniphan county, and mother of two children ; Alexander, a farmer in Doniphan county, and father of seven children; Kate, wife of Thomas Evans, a breeder of fine Hereford cattle, hackney horses and pure bred hogs, in Lyon county, and who is the owner of the famous hackney mare formerly owned by Jay Gould. Mrs. Evans was educated in the schools of Doniphan county, and the old Monroe Institute of Atchison, and is a graduate of Holton University, at Hol- ton, Kan., and graduated from the Kansas State University at Lawrence in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have one daughter, Mary Frances. Mrs. Blair has ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Blair belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church and he was an Odd Fellow.
Mrs. Amanda (Meeker) Blair was born in Franklin county, Ohio, near
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the city of Columbus, June 24, 1837. She was a daughter of Caleb and Mary (Grant) Meeker, her mother being a relative of Gen. U. S. Grant, and her father being a member of the famous Meeker family of America. Ezra Meeker, who crossed the continent en route to Oregon with an ox team, was a second cousin of Caleb Meeker. Caleb Meeker was born in New Jersey, a son of Aaron, who was born in New Jersey, of German origin. Caleb Meeker was born in Essex county, New Jersey, August 9, 1807, a son of Aaron Meeker, also of New Jersey, who had eight sons and four son-in-laws in the Meeker, also of New Jersey. Aaron was a brother of Timothy Meeker, who had eight sons and four sons-in-law in the American army dur- ing the Revolutionary war. Mary Grant Meeker was born in Penn- sylvania. In 1808 the Meeker family migrated from New Jersey to Ohio and resided there until 1857, when they went to Fulton county, Illi- nois, stopping for one year. In November of 1858 Amanda Meeker came to Atchison to take a position as teacher in the first public school in Atchison. Caleb came in January of 1859 to visit his daughter and invested in a tract of land near Huron, Kan., moving his family in March, 1859. He lived on his farm all the rest of his life, dying in September, 1886. Amanda was educated in the district schools of her native county in Ohio and received a certificate to teach school when but fifteen years of age. She taught three months in 1852 for $9.00 per month and then attended school for the re- mainder of the season. The following year she taught six months for $20 per month, after which she studied for two years in the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity, at Delaware, Ohio. Her teaching experience embraced six years in Ohio, five months in Illinois and three years in Atchison and six months in Hiawatha, Kan. Mrs. Blair was a very successful teacher, and had the faculty of exercising great control over her pupils.
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