USA > Kansas > Atchison County > History of Atchison County, Kansas > Part 70
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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
When residing in Muscotah, Mrs. Cirtwill, nee Cameron, was left almost destitute with the care of her five children on her hands. She was forced to do the hardest kind of work to keep them in comfort and send them to school. She worked as a tailor and seamstress in order to do this, and long and exacting hours of toil were necessary to hold the little family together, but later, better days came and she has had the extreme satisfaction of seeing her children, for whom she made sacrifices in those earlier days, become sub- stantial and well-to-do citizens of their respective localities.
A brother of Mrs. Cirtwill, John McClain, was killed by a horse when four years of age. William, the only brother reared to manhood, was a banker at Huron, Kan., but sold his interests there and removed to Peru, Kan., where he started a bank of his own. Three years later he went to Coffeyville, Kan., and lived there for a short time. Very early he began to see the future value of oil lands in Oklahoma, and invested heavily in Okla- homa land which proved to be a very profitable investment. Besides being a capitalist and builder he was a speaker and public man, well known in Atchi- son county and Kansas. He died in Coffeyville, Kan., January 5, 1911, at the age of fifty years. He left a widow and one daughter.
The mother of Mrs. Cirtwill, who was Mrs. Rosanna ( Saul) McClain, was a skilled seamstress, and had the honor of attending the coronation cere- monies of Queen Victoria in England. Her father was Thomas Saul, a poet of unusual ability, endowed with a wonderful memory and an ability to quote poetry and the classics which his daughter inherited to a great extent. Through her great-grandmother, Rosanna Saul McClain was of royal lineage, having been born in a royal golden bed of honor, only vouchsafed to those of kingly lineage. This great-grandmother became very wealthy and left a large estate to her two daughters. Rosanna and her sister were highly skilled in tailoring and needle work and embroidery, and were highly rewarded by Queen Victoria for making and embroidering a beautiful dress for the queen to wear on state occasions.
Mrs. Cirtwill is the owner of considerable property in Atchison county, including 260 acres of fine land, a store building and a home in Lancaster, Kan. She has two grandchildren: Cecil Mae, and Jeanette Rose Cameron, children of Frank J. Cameron. Besides her Atchison county property this well-to-do Atchison county woman has several vacant lots and residence properties in St. Joseph. Mo., and is considered to be an able business woman. She is a member of the Rebekah lodge, of Lancaster, and is a prominent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. For many years she has taught a
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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
Sunday school class, of which she is very fond. Mrs. Cirtwill usually spends the summer seasons in traveling and during the summer and fall of 1915. she spent several weeks in the West, principally in Denver and vicinity.
ASA BARNES.
The name of Barnes figures prominently in the early history of Kansas and Atchison county, and the history of the family in Kansas dates from the spring of 1858 when Capt. Asa Barnes came from the ancestral home of the Barnes family in New Jersey, and settled in Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county, and immediately identified himself with the Free State party.
Asa Barnes, the present representative of the family living on the old Barnes homestead in Mt. Pleasant township, five miles northwest of Potter, was born in January, 1854, in New Brunswick, N. J., a son of Asa and Harriet (Cook) Barnes, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of New Jer- sey of English descent. Asa Barnes, the father of the subject, was born in 1821, and became a papermaker in New Brunswick, where several of his children were born. In 1858 he disposed of his belongings and property in New Jersey and migrated to Kansas, settling in Mt. Pleasant township, Atchi- son county. His wife and children followed him in April, 1859. When he first came to Kansas he was a Democrat in politics, but changed his political belief soon afterward and espoused the cause of the Free State party. He took a prominent and active part in political affairs and became well known throughout the State as an able and influential champion of freedom. On two different occasions he was elected to represent Atchison county in the State legislature and served the people with distinction and ability. When the Civil war broke out between the States he organized Company A of the Twelfth Kansas cavalry and served as captain of the company ; he also helped to organize a company for the Thirteenth Kansas infantry. He was further distinguished by his war service in a manner which reflected credit upon him- self and his home county. Captain Barnes died January 12, 1889. Asa Barnes was the father of ten sons and one daughter, as follows: R. A., de- ceased ; M. N., deceased : Enoch, deceased; Asa, Jr., Fillmore died in New Jersey ; Frank, living in California : Laura (Willis), Corning, Kan. ; Louis, living at Binger, Okla .; Harry, Bisbee, Ariz. ; Orrin, of Nevada . Reuben C., deceased. The mother of these children died February 12, 1909, at the age of eighty-two years.
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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
Asa Barnes, the younger, was one of three sons of Capt. Asa Barnes, and grew to manhood on his father's farm in Atchison county. He remained at home and assisted his father in the management of the home farm until he at- tained his majority. After his marriage in 1874 he rented land on his own account for six years and then bought the home farm of 207 acres from his father and the heirs, part of which is now owned by his sons. He has fol- lowed a plan of general farming and has prospered to a considerable extent. Mr. Barnes was married November 5, 1874, to Miss Kate Thompson, of Atch- ison county. This marriage has been blessed with five children, as follows : Fannie, deceased; Herbert, at home with his parents; Bertha, wife of A. J. Pease, of Atchison; Leola, wife of A. J. Saggs, of Falls City, Nebraska ; Ernest L., at home; Dora, wife of Ed Lee, of Atchison county; Cora, de- ceased. The mother of these children was born October 2, 1854, and is a daughter of Hon. George W. Thompson, now living in Atchison, and who is probably the oldest living pioneer settler of Atchison county, and concerning whose career an extended review is given in this volume.
In political affairs Mr. Barnes, while favoring the Progressive party principles, is inclined to be independent in his voting. He is a member of the Christian church, and is well and favorably known throughout this section of Atchison county, being rated as a substantial well-to-do farmer, who is deserving of considerable credit for what he has accomplished.
CHARLES ARTHUR CHANDLER.
Charles Arthur Chandler is one of the self-made men of Atchison. Some men are successful because of a fortunate chain of circumstances attending their efforts which we commonly refer to as "good luck"; others by dint of steady employment, saving their surplus funds and investing them wisely, are enabled to secure the necessary wherewithal to embark in business and attain a substantial modicum of wealth. It is to the latter class that Mr. Chandler properly belongs. While good fortune has generally attended his industry and plans, his success is due to the husbanding of his resources, and planning ahead with the cooperation of a faithful wife, so that he could eventually be his own employer and engage in mercantile pursuits for himself. Since Jan- uary I, 1910, he has been engaged in the lumber business in connection with the Shulz-Fisk Lumber Company, one of the oldest concerns in the city. Four
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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
men are employed to take care of the extensive business which comes to the vards. Lumber, lime, cement, plaster and building mugrid of all kinds are soll in large quantities. The extensive yards, toox2 6 feet. are ran1 3s among the best equipped and most modern in northeastern Kansas, and the management is constantly improving the appearance and facilities of the buildings.
. Mr. Chandler was born November 22, 1860, in Fonilu Lac. Wie som of Charles and Maria ( Moore) Chandler, natives of Munson, Mass. and Montreal, Canada, respectively. The Chandler family is a very old one in America, and an extensive genealogy of the family has been compiled. Wil- liam Chandler, progenitor of the family in this country, emigrated from the ancestral home in England to Roxbury, Mass., in 1637, dying there November 26, 1641. He had a son named John, born 1635, who married Elizabeth Douglas, of Roxbury, Mass. Succeeding generations are as follows, in a direct line to C. A. Chandler : Captain Joseph Chandler, born June 4. 1683. wife, Susannah Perrin, of Roxbury, Mass .; David Chandler, born May 28, 1712, wife, Mary Allen, of Pomfret, Conn .; Elijah Chandler, born May 3. 1737, wife, Sarah Frizzel, of Woodstock, Conn .; Charles Chandler, born June 23, 1779, wife, Margaret Edgerton, of Monson, Mass .; Charles Chandler, born February 21, 1822, wife, Maria Moore Shepard; C. A. Chandler, born November 22, 1860, wife, Effie Rook, of Atchison, Kan. Elijah Chandler was a soldier in the French and Indian war. Charles Chandler, father of the subject of this review, was a "Forty-Niner," who made the long trip to California across the plains in 1849. He mined gold in the placer fields of the Golden State for some time, and then returned to the East, via the Nicaragua route, settling down in Fond du Lac, Wis., where he engaged in the grain business with fair success. He died at his home in Fond du Lac in 1896, at the age of seventy-five years. He was the father of three chil- dren : Mrs. Charles E. Rogers, Fond du Lac ; Fred Shepard, also of Fond du Lac, and Charles A., with whom this review is directly concerned. The mother of these children, Maria Moore Shepard, was born in 1826, and is a direct descendant of Governor William Bradford, of Massachusetts. The genealogical tree in a direct line from the colonial governor is as follows: Gov. William Bradford; his son, Maj. William Bradford; Alice Bradford married Maj. James Fitch, 1649-1727 : Daniel Fitch, 1693-1752, wife, Anna Cook: William Fitch, 1720-, wife, Mary Paine; Abigail Fitch, 1745-1785. married Joseph Moore, 1745-1823 ; Anna Moore, 1770-1854, married Timo- thy Shepard, 1764-1817 : Maria Moore Shepard, 1826, etc.
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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
C. A. Chandler was educated in the public schools of his native city and fitted himself for the profession of civil engineer by a considerable amount of home study and practical experience. After getting launched in his chosen profession, he entered the employ of the Missouri Pacific railroad and re- mained in the employ of this railroad for a period of twenty-five years. He first came to Atchison in May, 1885, and has since been a resident here.
Mr. Chandler is the owner of the Graham farm of 310 acres near Cum- mings, Atchison county, Kansas. Every dollar's worth of property which he owns has been accumulated by his own endeavors; not one dollar was ever received by him through inheritance or gift, and he and his wife have the great satisfaction of knowing that what they have and own is theirs by right of industry and thrift. Mr. Chandler is a Republican, a member of the Episco- pal church, and is fraternally associated with the Masonic order, a member of Active Lodge, No. 158, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was married February 4. 1891, to Effie Rook, of Atchison. To this union have been born : Horace F., born Septem- ber 19, 1896, a graduate of the Atchison High School, class of 1913, and now a sophomore in Kansas University, Lawrence; Esther, born March 5. 1898, senior student in the Atchison High School, class of 1916. The mother of these children is a daughter of Judge Horace M. Jackson, a biography of whom is published in this volume.
GRACE CROSBY POWER.
The city of Atchison is fortunate in having as the present super- intendent of the city hospital a lady of talent and ability, which, com- bined with great personal charm, constitute a splendid equipment for the important position which Miss Power holds. She is eminently quali- fied by training and executive capacity to perform the exacting duties re- quired of a hospital superintendent, and she is fast becoming deservedly pop- ular among the people of Atchison, who support this justly famous institution.
Grace Crosby Power is a native of Indiana, born October 23, 1880, in the town of Milroy, Rush county, and is a daughter of William Strange and Mary E. (Crosby) Power. Her father was also a native of Rush county, Indiana, born in 1837, a son of an Indiana pioneer family. His parents were John A. and Mary A. (Smisor) Power, both of whom were natives of Ger- many and Scotland, respectively. They immigrated to America from Germany
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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
in an early day, and cleared a farm from the dense wilderness of Rush county by dint of hard labor and the exercise of fortitude. This German-American couple had the satisfaction of gaining a substantial competence from the soil and of bequeathing a good family of sons and daughters to their adopted land. William Power was one of the first fine live stock breeders of Rush county, and his farm became famous for the Hambletonian horses which it produced .. He died in 1906 in his home town, Milroy. His wife, Mary, was born in Milroy, Ind., in 1837, a daughter of Michael and Lucinda Crosby, natives of Ireland, and also early settlers of Rush county, Indiana. The Powers were all members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and have been prominent in the affairs of Rush county for many years. William Power was one of the well-to-do men of the county. To Mr. and Mrs. William Power were born four children: Cora Estelle, wife of Prof. E. F. Engel, of Lawrence, Kan .; Kathrine, wife of Rev. W. F. Smith, of the Methodist church, at Huntington, Ind .; Frank A., Wichita, Kan., a director of the Power-Myers music house : Miss Grace Crosby Power, with whom this re- view is directly concerned.
Miss Power received her elementary education in the public schools of Milroy, Ind., and afterwards entered DePauw University, at Greencastle, Ind., where she pursued a music course for two years. She then came to Kansas and studied in the liberal arts department of Kansas University, at Lawrence. While her original intention had been to perfect herself in art and music, she became imbued with the idea of becoming a nurse, feeling that a wider field was offered in the art of caring for the sick, and that she could be of greater service to humanity. Accordingly, Miss Power entered the University Medical Hospital of Kansas City, Mo., in 1905, and began the studies which were to prepare her for her life work as a hospital nurse. She applied herself diligently to her medical studies and was graduated from the Kansas City institution in 1908. She was then offered the position of superintendent of the Galesburg, Ill., hospital, and accepted, remaining there until 1911. She was not yet satisfied with her professional preparation, and resigning her position, she spent one year in Europe, traveling and studying the methods in vogue in the hospitals of the old world. Returning to Kansas City in 1912, she was employed by Drs. Jabez and Jackson, of that city, in a professional capacity, until she was called to her present post, September 29, 1915. Since taking charge of the Atchison City Hospital, she has given every evidence of being eminently fitted for the duties of her position and calling. Miss Power is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is affiliated with the A. X. U. sorority, of DePauw University.
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
WILLIAM H. THOMPSON.
The late William H. Thompson, of Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county, was born on a Kentucky farm, near the city of Louisville, in 1838. His parents were Benjamin and Nancy (Baxter) Thompson, and both were born and reared in Kentucky, their old home being located on a small stream called Dry Beauty. Nancy Baxter Thompson was the belle of the neighbor- hood and was a famous beauty in her day. In 1848 the Thompsons migrated from Kentucky to Platte county, Missouri, where they resided until the spring of 1860, and then came to Atchison county and purchased the farm where William H. lived until his death, in 1884. Benjamin, the father, was born in Kentucky in 1799, and died on his Kansas farm in 1861, just after locat- ing in this county. He was a man of fair education, who was self-taught. He taught school in his native State, and his father was a famous hunter in the early days of Kentucky history. He disappeared while absent from home on a hunting expedition, and it is supposed that he was killed or captured by Indians, leaving a wife and three children. Times were hard and educational advantages were either very poor or absent altogether. Benjamin educated himself by night study and home reading, and became well versed in books and knowledge.
William H. Thompson was ten years of age when the family removed to Missouri, and he was reared to young manhood on the pioneer farm in Platte county. After his marriage in 1862, he and his wife lived with his widowed mother after the death of his father, October 26, 1861. He came into possession of the home place and cultivated the land until his demise in 1884. He was married July 6, 1862, to Matilda Thompson, and eight chil- dren were born to this marriage: Annie, wife of Frank Williamson, of Cali- fornia; Ada, wife of Henry Knobloch, of Atchison county; Robert Lee, at home with his mother; William H., a mining expert, in Colorado; Gertrude, wife of Ed. Myer, of Atchison ; Sirena Ella, deceased wife of Patrick Burns; Benjamin Isaac, at home; Gladis, deceased wife of Eugene Thornburg. The mother of these children was born in 1842 in Buchanan county, Missouri, a daughter of Isaac Thompson, born in New York State, on a farm near New York City, in 1804. The grandfather and a great-uncle of Isaac came to America from England some time before the American revolution, and be- came separated and never saw each other again. They were of Scotch origin. The paternal grandmother of Mrs. Thompson was a Miss Fiske of the New York family of Fiskes. Isaac Thompson married Elizabeth Fiscus in In- diana. In the year 1808, the parents of Isaac Thompson removed from New
Mrs. Matilda Thompson
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
York to Ohio and twelve years later migrated westward to Shellw county. Indiana, where the parents died. After his marriage Isaac migrated to Buchanan county, Missouri, in about 1839, and developed a fine farm in the county. In about 1847 he sold his farm in Missouri and set out on the long overland journey to Oregon. A large party were en route to this new country and the outfit comprised twenty-one wagons and teams. An incident of this journey is here worth recording. While the emigrants were encamped for the night at a point hundreds of miles from any human habitation, an Indian came to the camp and informed them that a band of hostile red men intended to attack them and destroy the outfit. A band of emigrant Mormons drove up and joined them and they at once formed a corral with their wagons and prepared to defend themselves against the threatened attack, but the attack did not take place because of the preparations made. The Thompson family remained in Oregon for five years. Isaac went to California in 1848 and engaged in gold mining. Mr. Thompson was fortunate in his pros- pecting and accumulated a small fortune. During the winter of '4 he was shipwrecked while making a voyage from California to his Oregon home, the vessel being driven far and out of its course by terrific storms and he was forced to spend the winter on the Sandwich Islands. Af- ter arriving home safely, he again went to California and continued his gold mining. In 1851 the family returned to the Middle West. They boarded a ship at Portland, Ore., journeyed to San Francisco, where they took a ship for New Orleans. On the way down the coast the party was landed on the west coast of the Isthmus of Panama and the emigrants were packed across the Isthmus to the east side, where they boarded a vessel which carried them to New York City, arriving there on Christmas day of 1851. From New York they went to Philadelphia where Mr. Thompson had his gold minted at the Government mint. From Philadelphia they traveled to Pittsburgh, and here the children all contracted measles and two of them died. From Pittsburgh they went down the Ohio river by steamer and up the Mississippi to St. Louis where they boarded a Missouri river steamer which took them to Camden. Mo. Here the wife and mother died. At Camden Mr. Thomp- son purchased oxen and wagons and took the family to Buchanan county, Missouri, arriving there in the summer of 1852. They lived in Missouri until 1856 and then made a permanent settlement in Kansas preëmpting land and locating on Walnut creek in Mt. Pleasant township. about four miles southwest of the city of Atchison, which is now the Herzog farm. After eight years' residence here they again moved, this time to Illinois, where they lived
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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
bor three years and came again to Kansas, this time settling fu Nemala county. Isaac died in Nemaha county in 1871. His was certainly a rich and. varied experience and his life was filled with adventure and continual changes.
Mrs. Matilda Thompson, widow of William H., although having attained the age of three score and thirteen years, is active, spry and in full possession of her mental faculties. She is a wonderful woman for her age and is fond of relating reminiscences of the old days when the family crossed the plains and traveled half way around the world in quest of riches and adventure.
JOHN HENRY NASS.
When the soul of the late John Henry Nass departed from its earthly habitation to go to his Maker, the city of Atchison lost one of its excellent citizens and merchants who had lived all of his life in the city of his birth. The late J. H. Nass was born in Atchison, February 15, 1865, a son of Jacob and Johanna Nass, both of whom were born and reared in Germany and emigrated from the Fatherland in 1856, to America. They first settled at Weston, Mo., but a short time later came to Atchison, Kan., where Jacob Nass became the first brick manufacturer of the city. He erected the first brick plant and made brick for many of the large brick buildings still standing in the city. Jacob Nass continued actively in the brick business until 1875, when he retired and the business was carried on by his four sons. During the course of his business career he established the hardware store which was later owned by his son, the subject of this review. He left at his demise, in 1899, a consid- erable estate consisting of the brick plant, a hardware store, and real estate. Jacob and Johanna Nass were the parents of six children, namely : Werner, J. H., Theodore, Herman, all living in Atchison; Gertrude, and Mary Nass, who is caring for her aged mother.
J. H., or Henry Nass, as he was better known by his friends and asso- ciates, was reared in Atchison and attended the parochial schools and St. Benedict's College. . At the age of sixteen years he entered his father's hard- ware store, and took complete charge of the business when he attained tlie age of eighteen years. In 1886, with a partner named Frank Hess, of Wes- ton, Mo., he purchased the hardware store of his father. Six years later he bought out his partner and became the sole owner of the store, which he con- ducted until his demise, in 1903. He was married September 27, 1893. to
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
Bertha Fleming, who bore him children as follows. charles hom Sunotater 16. 1895, educated in St. Benedict's College, and i- day in the coniploy of the Dolan Mercantile Company of Atchison; Raymond, Fand July 31. 150% a graduate of St. Benedict's College, and is now with tjes Harwi Ibirdiure Company of Atchison ; Rose, born October 31, 1899, at home with her mother; Margarette, born June 2, 1901, student in St. Louis parochial school, 0. if- liam, born November 19, 1902, a student in a St. Louis school; Henry John:, born December 7, 1903, and died at the age of eighteen months. Mrs. Navs is justly proud of her children and has endeavored to rear them so that they will lead upright lives and be a credit to her and the public. The Nass home is located near St. Benedict's College, and it is a happy one at all times. When Mr. and Mrs. Nass were married in 1893 their honeymoon trip included the World's Fair at Chicago. She was born in Holland, a daughter of Lambert and Rosa (Johnson) Fleming, both of whom were born and reared in Holland and married there, after which they immigrated to America with their family and settled in Atchison where Lambert made wooden shoes for a time and later moved to a farm where he died June 15, 1880. Mrs. Fleming died in 1903.
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