USA > Kansas > Atchison County > History of Atchison County, Kansas > Part 61
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JOHN R. OLIVER.
John R. Oliver, deceased pionecr of Atchison county, was born in Cayuga county, New York, April 5, 1825, and was a son of William Oliver, a native of Scotland, who emigrated from his native land when a youth. John R.
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was educated in the schools of his native county and State and learned the carpenter's trade. He was married January 3, 1850, to Helen M. Packard, who was born in New York State February 17, 1832, a daughter of Thaxton Packard, of English extraction, who married a lady of Holland descent. After John R. and Helen Oliver were married they settled at Sterling Center, Cayuga county, New York, where Mr. Oliver worked at his trade of con- tractor and builder until 1856, when he and his wife and two children came west and settled on a farm near the western border of Atchison county, in Grasshopper township. They became a part of the Cayuga settlement, made up of several families who had migrated from their native county in New York State. There are only four of the original Cayuga colony living, as far as known : Fred L. Oliver, Frances Josephine Anderson, of Atchison ; Mrs. Frank Boyington, of Atchison county, and brother, Samuel Adams. John R. Oliver came first, and in the fall of 1857 he sent back for his wife and two children to join him. Mrs. Oliver and the children boarded a steamboat on Lake Erie and made the voyage by way of the Great Lakes to Chicago, going from Chicago to Leavenworth, Kan., and thence by steamer to Atchi- son, from which place they were taken across the county to the new home in the Cayuga settlement, by a man named Sandy Coburn. The family lived in the settlement for about six years and then moved to Leavenworth, Kan., where they resided until Mr. Oliver's death, in 1906; the wife and mother died in 1911. John R. Oliver served in the Kansas State militia during the Price invasion, but was unable physically to withstand the rigors of the cam- paign which resulted in Price's army of invasion being driven southward. He was an ardent Republican in politics and was a follower and supporter of Abraham Lincoln, to whom he was related by marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver were the parents of the following children : Fred L., born in Sterling Center, N. Y., November 8, 1851, now residing in Atchison with his sister, Mrs. Anderson: Parthenia K., widow of Wesley Chaffee, a nephew of General Chaffee, was born August 8, 1861, and now resides in Leavenworth, Kan.
Frances Josephine Oliver Anderson was born March 1, 1855, and was six years of age when the family moved to Leavenworth. She received her edu- cation in the public schools of Leavenworth and was married there on May 8, 1873, to James A. Anderson, who was born March 16, 1849, in Loudon county, Virginia, about twenty miles south of Washington, D. C. An anecdote which tells of the stirring and troublesome times in the beginning of the Civil war is here worth recording. When a child on the farm in Atch- ison county, Mrs. Anderson and her teacher, Miss Missouri Batsell, stayed all night at the home of the Reece family, as it was unsafe to be abroad after
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dark. This was in the fall of 1861. Mr. Reece, the head of the family, was very ill. Along about dark the people of the Reece home heard a furious noise of yelling and shooting outside. The noise makers rapped on the door with the butts of their guns, and when Mrs. Reece opened the door it was ascertained that the night prowlers were a band of Bushwhackers who de- manded a meal. She told them that her husband was very ill, and that she had nothing cooked which would suffice for a meal. They swore at her. and after talking the matter over decided to go to the barn and steal the horses for their own use. The gang went toward the barn, and another altercation arose among them which resulted in the killing of one of the men who had counseled them not to steal the horses. A dead body was thrust through the doorway and slid part way across the floor after a shot was fired. Mrs. Anderson has never forgotten the horrors of that night.
James A. Anderson was a son of Charles W. and Mary Francis (Hough) Anderson, both of whom were members of very old and prominent families in Virginia, the Hough family being large plantation and slave hollers. Charles W. Anderson was profoundly opposed to the institution of slavery, and was high in the councils of the Democratic party. He was a thirty-second degree Mason and was a personal friend of men high in the Government affairs at Washington, D. C. A son, Fleming Anderson, was killed by Mosby's guerril- las while at home from the war on a furlough, and was shot as he ran out of the door of his home. Charles W. Anderson was a paymaster in the Union army and was killed by robbers while on official duty. After the death of the father of the family. James A., with his widowed mother and sister. Mrs. Captain Spence, Charles W .. and C. C. Anderson of the trans- fer company, of Atchison, came to Kansas, first residing at Topeka, then at Lawrence shortly after Quantrell's raid. James was but seventeen years old at this time, and being the eldest son was the actual head of the family. When still a young man he engaged in the transfer business and took a contract from the Government to supply Ft. Leavenworth with fuel, and while ful- filling his contract with the Government, and transporting goods to and from the fort, he met and fell in love with his future wife, Frances Josephine Oliver, and the marriage took place as stated in the preceding paragraph. After the marriage Mr. and Mrs. Anderson lived in Lawrence, Kan., until their removal to Atchison, in July of 1873. Mr. Anderson continued in the transfer busi- ness and established the Anderson Transfer Company. He had associates at various times, but was always at the head of the company. He died July 12, 1906. His widow, Mrs. Frances Josephine Anderson, is one of the best known ladies of Atchison and is prominent in social and religious circles.
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When thirteen years of age she became a Christian and became a mem- ber of the Atchison Methodist Episcopal Church in 1883. She has been actively and prominently identified with the church work for many years, and has been especially successful as a teacher of boys. She is a class leader of the church and a member of the official board, and was captain of one of the teams which raised a $43,000 fund to provide for the erection of the new Methodist Episcopal church building. She is a charter member of the Ep- worth League and is a singer of ability, having sung in the Methodist Episco- pal church choir for thirty years. In 1911 she began her evangelical career, in which chosen field she is achieving marked success. Mrs. Anderson is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security and is affiliated with the home and foreign missionary societies of the Methodist Episcopal church.
LEO NUSBAUM.
Faithfulness to duty and perseverance invariably bring their reward. Give a truly ambitious young man an opportunity to advance himself, and he will succeed. The opportunity was given to Leo Nusbaum, vice-president of the Dolan Mercantile Company of Atchison, and he has made a success of the business in which he began at the lowest rung of the ladder. Entering the employ of the firm of which he is now one of the important heads, he worked his way steadily upward until he is now one of the recognized business factors in the city of Atchison.
Leo Nusbaum was born in Poweshiek county, Iowa, December 6, 1877, and is the son of Frederick and Eva (Link) Nusbaum, both natives of Ger- many. Frederick Nusbaum was born in the Fatherland in 1855, and came to America in 1869, when a boy fourteen years of age. He worked as a farm hand in Iowa, and eventually owned a farm of his own. From Iowa he moved to Nebraska where he purchased and operated a farm. From Nebraska he removed to St. Joseph, Mo., where he was employed in a grain elevator. He died in St. Joseph in 1903.
He, with whom this review is directly concerned, was educated in the schools of Council Bluffs, and St. Peter's parochial school, and came to Atchi- son in 1898. On coming here he entered the employ of the Dolan Mercantile Company as office boy and packer. His first work consisted of preparing orders for shipment. After attaining proficiency in this department, he was promoted to the position of billing clerk and made a success in this department,
-
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being next advanced to the position of city salesman for the concern. All the while he was studying the wholesale business, and gaining such a knowl- edge as would best fit him to take a more responsible position in the affairs of the company. His next important service was as the secretary of the company. From this place it was but a step to.the sales managership. Upon the demise of William F. Dolan, the founder of the wholesale business, in the year 1913, Mr. Nusbaum became vice-president and one of the managers. He and his associates, in charge of the Dolan Mercantile Company's affairs, are capable and energetic men who are building up a more extensive business upon the broad and stable foundation erected by its late founder, whose example has been an inspiration and guide to the young men whom he took into his employ and educated in the details of his extensive business. Mr. Nusbaum has justified the confidence and faith held in his ability by his employer, and is an able and dignified executive.
Mr. Nusbaum was united in marriage with Gertrude Delaney, at Atchi- son, Kan., in 1900. She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Delaney. To this union four children have been born, who are the pride of their parents, namely : Leo, Mary Clare, Robert, and Frances. Mr. and Mrs. Nusbaum are members of the Catholic church and have a host of friends who esteem them for their many excellent qualities. Mr. Nusbaum is a director of the First National Bank of Atchison and a vice-president of the Atchison Commercial Club and the Atchison Hospital. He is politically allied with the Democratic party. His primary interests, however, are mainly concerned with the grow- ing success of his firm, and the welfare and growth of his home city, and he is universally recognized as a citizen of worth and standing in the community. He was the most active force in the organization of the Atchison Commercial Club, called its first meeting and has been continuously one of its most aggressive members.
CHARLES J. KEITHLINE.
Charles J. Keithline, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Lancaster township, Atchison county, Kansas, is a native of the Keystone State, and is a descendant of an old American family which traces its ancestry back to the Revolutionary days, when the founder of the family in America, Colonel Keithline, came from Germany, his native land, to America with Baron De Kalb, and assisted the colonial army to achieve American independence. Charles J. was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, July 9, 1857, a son of
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Samuel and Eliza (Hoover) Keithline, both of whom were born and reared in Pennsylvania and there married. Samuel Keithline was a son of John and Mary (Neyhart) Keithline, who also lived in Luzerne county, Pennsyl- vania. The great grandfather of Charles J. was Joseph Keithline, who served in the War of 1812, and made buckskin breeches for the United States Gov- ernment, which were worn by the United States soldiers. He was a tailor by trade. Samuel Keithline learned the trade of wagon maker in his younger days and operated a wagon shop at Hanover, Penn. He lived in his native State until 1884, when he migrated to Kansas and invested his capital in land in Shannon township upon which he lived in retirement until his demise in 1900, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Samuel and Eliza Keithline were the parents of the following children : John A. died May 17, 1915, in Atchison, Kan .; Samuel died in infancy ; Joseph died at the age of three years ; Charles J. ; Augustus L., Lancaster township : Sarah E., in Shannon township; Emma Carlton, Franklin county, Kansas, and Mrs. Cora Riley. Atchison, Kan. The mother of Charles died in 1910, at the age of seventy-nine years.
Charles J. Keithline, with whom this narrative is directly concerned, was educated in the graded schools of Nanticoke, Penn., and worked as farm hand in Pennsylvania. In 1883, five years after his marriage in 1879, he migrated westward with his family to Kansas, and located on a farm in Shannon town- ship on the old home place. He rented land for twenty-eight years and finally became the owner of the fine farm which he is now cultivating. This farm is fitted with excellent improvements consisting of an attractive farm residence and excellent out-buildings, much of which has been erected or re- modeled by the proprietor. The 187 acres comprised in this farm are well and closely cultivated so as to yield the maximum of results. The farm is nicely located six miles west of Atchison on the Parallel road. Mr. Keith- line has been a breeder of Poland China hogs for several years and takes pride in the animals bred and raised on his place.
He was married in 1879 to Frances Goss at Wilkes-Barre, Penn., and this union has been blessed with the following children : Ira, a hardware dealer in Atchison, Kan .; Samuel, a farmer, living at home with his parents; Amy, de- ceased ; Mrs. Elsie Vollmer, Bronson, Kan .; Frances, living at home : Grant, deceased; Charles died in infancy. The mother of these children was born in Pennsylvania in 1856, and was a daughter of Floren and Maria (Keyser) Goss, the former a native of Germany and the latter a native of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Keithline is identified with the Republican party, but has never been an aspirant for political preferment. He and the members of his family are affiliated religiously with the Methodist Episcopal church and contribute of
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their means to its support. He is fraternally allied with the Modern Wood- men lodge, and during his residence in this county has taken an active and in- fluential part in affairs which concern the welfare of the people in general.
SHEFFIELD INGALLS.
Sheffield Ingalls is a resident and a native son of Atchison, having been born in that city March 28. 1875. . He is a son of the late United States Sen- ator John James Ingalls. Mr. Ingalls' ancestors, both paternal and maternal, were representative New England pioneers. The Ingalls family in America originated with Edmond Ingalls, who with his brother, Francis, founded Lynn, Mass., in 1628. The mother of our subject was Anna Louisa Chese- brough, a direct descendant of William Chesebrough, who emigrated to Amer- ica with John Winthrop in 1630 .. The paternal grandparents of our subject were Elias T. and Eliza (Chase) Ingalls, the former of whom was a first cousin of Mehitable Ingalls, the grandmother of President Garfield, while the latter. Eliza Chase, was descended from Aquilla Chase, who settled in New Hampshire, in 1630, and who was also the ancestor of the late Chief Justice Chase.
Sheffield Ingalls was reared principally in his native town and received his public school education at Atchison and at Washington, D. C. After attending Midland College at Atchison for four years he entered the Univer- sity of Kansas and was graduated in that institution in June, 1895. with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1897, but as the profession did not appeal to him he practiced but little and turned his attention to more genial pursuits. He early developed a pre- dilection for politics and became actively identified with the Republican party in both the city and county of Atchison at an early age. In July. 1898, he was appointed police judge of Atchison by Mayor Donald and, in April. 1899, was elected to the same office for a term of two years, serving until April. 1901. In the spring of 1904 he was a prominent candidate for the Republican nomination for probate judge, but through the exigencies of poli- tics, instead of receiving the nomination sought for, he was nominated by the same convention for the legislature from the third representative district. However, at the election his opponent, Edward Perdue, defeated him by thirty-two votes. Two years later he was nominated again for the legisla- ture from the same district and received a tie vote with Alonzo Wilcox. The
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contest was decided by lot in Topeka and Mr. Ingalls won. He served as a member of several important committees and was made chairman of the committee on education. He cast his vote for Charles Curtis for United States senator, and in the work of that session became actively identified with that progressive element in the legislature which was known at that time as "the boss busters." He is in sympathy with all efforts to purify politics and to raise the tone of public life and during that session he voted for all reform legislation. He is a man of deep convictions, a political and social reformer. of exceptional ability and courage, and has always opposed machine politics. It was due to an obnoxious political machine's influence in local Republican circles at Atchison that Mr. Ingalls entered the arena of political strife in order to assist in effectively opposing said machine and to secure needed reform in political methods. Shortly after the adjournment of the legisla- ture Mr. Ingalls assumed the editorial management of the Atchison Champion and for the following two years exposed through its columns the corruption in city affairs and fought against the domination of the city by a politica! ring. He then endeavored to purchase a controlling interest in the Champion · to enable him to be more aggressive in fighting corruption though its columns. but through various influences operating against him he was unsuccessful. In the fall of 1907 he originated and organized the Commercial State Bank and served as its vice-president until its consolidation with the First National Bank, in the spring of 1910. He then organized the Commerce Investment Company, of which he was made president and continuously served as such until March 2, 1916, when he became the president of the Commerce Trust Company of Atchison, a company which is a development of the Commerce Investment Company. Besides the interests mentioned he is à director of the First National Bank and also of the Railway Specialty Company of Atchison. He was appointed a member of the board of regents of the Kansas State normal schools by Governor Stubbs in April, 1908. He is a member of the State Historical Society, and is a member of the Sons of the Revolu- tion. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On January 9, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ingalls and Miss Lucy Cornell Van Hoesen, of Lawrence, Kan. To their union five children have been born: Robert Chesebrough, who died in infancy : Ruth Constance. Sarah Sheffield, John James, and David Bagle.
In 1912 Mr. Ingalls received the Republican nomination for lieutenant- governor of Kansas and was elected, although the head of the State ticket was defeated. It fell to Mr. Ingalls' lot to preside over a Democratic senate,
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which he did in such a fair and impartial manner as to win the commendation of both Democrats and Republicans. (Copied from Blackmar's History of Kansas and revised by R. M. Gibson.)
E. P. PITTS, M. D.
E. P. Pitts, M. D., a prominent Atchison physician and surgeon, and well known specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, is a native of Virginia. Dr. Pitts was born in Northampton county. Virginia. Octo- ber 13, 1880, and is a son of E. D. and Emory (West) Pitts, both natives of the Old Dominion. E. D. Pitts, the father, was a prominent lawyer and was successfully engaged in the practice of his profession for a number of years at Norfolk, Va. He was a son of Edward P. Pitts, who was also a prominent Virginia lawyer of Northampton county and for a number of years served as United States district judge in Virginia. He was a graduate of William and Mary's College, and Dr. Pitts still has in his possession the diploma which his grandfather received from that institution. The Pitts family is of English descent and traces its ancestry back to the Hon. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. Dr. Pitt's mother belongs to an old Virginia family, and is also of English descent.
Dr. Pitts was reared to manhood in his native State and received a good education. When he was eighteen years of age he went to St. Joseph, Mo., where two of his uncles, brothers of his father, were practicing physicians. Here, Dr. Pitts entered the Ensworth Medical College in 1898. and was graduated in the class of 1902 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He then studied under, and practiced in conjunction, with Dr. Barton Pitts, his uncle, who is a noted specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Dr. Pitts then went to New York, and after spending six months in an eye and ear infirmary, he came to Atchison in the summer of 1902 and engaged in the practice of his profession, specializing in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Dr. Pitts has met with a marked degree of success in his chosen field of special professional work. He is a close student of the wonderful advances made in his profession and ranks as a leader.
Dr. Pitts was united in marriage to Miss Beulah Judah, a daughter of Samuel Judah, of Buchanan county, Missouri, and Dr. and Mrs. Pitts have one child, Spencer, born in 1907. Dr. Pitts is a member of the Masonic lodge and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
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JOHN FANKHANEL.
John Fankhanel, deceased, was born June II, 1822, in Saxony, Ger- many. When a youth he learned the blacksmith's trade which he plied in his native village until 1862, when he immigrated to America, first settling in Weston, Mo., and later going to Ft. Leavenworth, where he was employed as a blacksmith by the United States Government. He saved his money, and in 1879 came to Atchison county and invested in 160 acres of land in Ben- ton township, located four miles northeast of Effingham. He improved this farm and cultivated it successfully for a number of years, and about the year 1900 he turned it over to his son, Henry, and purchased the farm now owned by Gus Stutz. He resided on this place until his retirement to a comfortable home in Lancaster in 1901, where he died December 24, 1914, leaving a rep- utation for honesty and industry second to none in his neighborhood. Mr. Fankhanel was a member of the German Lutheran church. He was twice married, his first wife having been born in Germany, and died in Leaven- worth, Kan., leaving one son, Henry, now a farmer in Benton township.
Mr. Fankhanel was again married in 1882, to Mrs. Emma Lindel, widow of Frederick Lindel. She was born in Bavaria, Germany, August 20, 1841, and lived in her native country until she was eighteen years of age, and then came to Illinois. Shortly after her arrival she married Frederick Lindel, also a native of Germany, and a farmer in Illinois. To this union were born five children, two of whom are living, namely: Mrs. Minnie Dorety, of Garfield, Okla .; and Herman, a farmer, residing near Leavenworth, Kan. The marriage of John and Emma Fankhanel was without issue.
Mrs. Fankhanel is a capable and worthy lady, who enjoys the respect and esteem of her neighbors and friends. She is kind and neighborly, and is ever ready to assist those of her acquaintances who are in need. She is living in Lancaster in comfortable circumstances, where she owns a good home and village property, and also a farm of sixty-five acres in Leavenworth county. She is a member of the German Lutheran church.
EDWARD J. KELLY.
Edward J. Kelly, cashier of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, of Effingham, was born June 14, 1868, at New Brunswick, N. J., a son of James and Alice (Tobin) Kelly, both natives of Ireland. Upon immigrating
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to this country in 1844 they made their first home in New Jersey, and from there came to Kansas in 1869, locating in Grasshopper township, where James met with wonderful success as an agriculturist. His first investment was for eighty acres of prairie land which he improved and gradually added to his holdings until he was the owner of 500 acres of good land. James Kelly accumulated his estate by the exercise of good judgment in his farming op- operations, hard labor, and the exercise of the strictest economy. At first he did not like the new country. Becoming discouraged, as many others did, after the bad years during the seventies, he sold out, but fortunately, as it later proved for him, he was compelled to take back his land from the pur- chaser. He later changed his opinion concerning the future of Kansas and invested heavily in land at every opportunity. James Kelly was born in 1828, and died in 1894. His wife was born in 1830, and died in 1912. He first came to America in 1844 when but sixteen years of age, and was married in New Jersey. The children of this estimable pioneer couple were: James, who died at the age of seven years; Lawrence P., a resident of Colorado Springs, Colo .; Edward J., and Mary E., residing in Effingham.
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