USA > Kansas > Atchison County > History of Atchison County, Kansas > Part 80
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John M. Price, father of the present deputy county treasurer, returned from Missouri to Kentucky with his father, and remained at the home of his uncle, Morgan M. Price, whom he assisted in his farm work, and also at- tended school at Irvine, the county seat of Estill county. In 1845 and 1846 he was employed in a drygoods store at Irvine, and in the fall of 1847 he accepted a home with Col. Walter Chiles, a prominent lawyer and politician of Mt. Sterling, Ky., who had married Jane Price, an aunt of John M. Price. After attending school in the fall and winter, Mr. Price became a clerk in the office of the county clerk of Montgomery county, Kentucky. While per- forming his duties in the county clerk's office he read law in the office of Colonel Chiles and was admitted to the practice of his profession in March, 1848. He first opened a law office at Irvine, and in 1851 was elected county attorney of Estill county ; reelected in 1855, and continued to serve until
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July, 1858, when he resigned in order to remove to Kansas. He determined on Atchison as his future abiding place, and accordingly, located in this city September 1, 1858.
Kansas was then a territory, and for forty-one years of the development of the State, Mr. Price was an important factor in promoting its interests and welfare. He soon built up an extensive law practice in the growing city of the great bend on the Missouri, and took an active and influential part in political affairs, allying himself with the newly formed Republican party. He early identified himself with the controlling organization of his party, and for twenty years prior to his demise he was a delegate to every Republican county convention, and to many State conventions. In 1859, when Judge Otis resigned the office of county attorney, Mr. Price was appointed to fill the vacancy by the board of county commissioners, and served until Kan- sas was admitted into the Union, when he was nominated and elected to the office at the first general election under the State constitution. In 1861 he was elected police judge of the city and re-elected in 1862 and 1863. He was elected a member of the city council in 1864 and served for three years in succession as a member of that body. He was elected mayor of the city without opposition in 1867. In the fall of 1866 he was elected State senator from Atchison county for a two-years' term, and while serving as State sen- ator he was appointed by Governor Crawford as one of the commissioners to revise the general laws of the State. Mr. Price was chairman of the commis- sion, which was composed of himself, Samuel A. Riggs, of Lawrence, and James McCahon, of Leavenworth. The revision thus made was adopted by the legislature without much amendment, and the general statutes of 1868 were printed and published during that year under the supervision of this com- mission. In the same year Mr. Price was made chairman of the judiciary committee of the senate, to which hody he was reelected in 1870, and served during the sessions of 1871 and 1872, and on the organization of the senate, he was chosen president of the body. He was a candidate for governor of the State before the Republican convention in the fall of 1872, and was a lead- ing candidate until the tenth and last ballot, when all the opposing candidates threw their support to Thomas A. Osborne. In the memorable contest for the United States senatorship in 1873. Mr. Price's friends presented him as a candidate before the anti-Pomeroy caucus, and for the first nineteen ballots Mr. Price was the leading candidate, and then John J. Ingalls was chosen by the convention on a unanimous vote. In 1892 he was again elected to the State senate and served in the memorable sessions of 1893 and 1895.
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On January 10, 1854, John M. Price was married in Irvine, Ky., to Eliza Jarman Park, the only daughter of Eliliu and Mary Park. This mar- riage was blessed with the following children : Mollie F., born in Irvine, October 12, '1854 married Charles B. Singleton, of Atchison, for twenty- seven years assistant postmaster, and now bookkeeper for the Exchange National Bank; Nannie B., born in Irvine August 28, 1856, wife of F. L. Vandergrift, editor of the Santa Fe publications, Kansas City, Mo. : John M. died in January, 1875: John M., Jr., with whom this review is directly con- cerned, and Eliza P. The mother of these children was born in Irvine, Ky .. August 22, 1832, and resides at present in Kansas City, Mo.
John M. Price, Sr., died October 19, 1898. He was one of the dis- tinguished Masons of Kansas. He served as the grand high priest of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Kansas, and was secretary of that body; he was president of the council of the Holy Order of High Priesthood ; grand treasurer of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of the State ; also president of the Kansas Masons' Protective Association; was a thirty- second degree Mason, and a member of Medina Temple, No. 31, of the Mystic Shrine, and was also a member of Shiloh Conclave, No. I, Knights of the Red Cross of Constantine, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, and Knights of St. John the Evangelist. He served one term as grand master of the most worthy grand lodge of the Odd Fellows, and was twice elected a grand rep- resentative to the grand lodge of the United States. He served one terin as grand chancellor of the grand lodge, and of the Knights of Pythias was the supreme representative to the supreme lodge of the world for four years. He was the grand master workman of the grand lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Kansas; was a member of the grand lodge of the Knights of Honor, served as assistant director, and as president of the Atch- ison lodge of the Independent Order of Mutual Aid. For years a dis- tinguished and able member of the legal profession, he was one of the most respected and useful citizens of Atchison and the State of Kansas.
John M. Price, whose career naturally follows that of his distinguished parent, was born March 27, 1876, in Atchison. He was educated in the pub- lic schools, and graduated from Midland College in 1894. After complet- ing the course in Midland College, he entered Wittenberg University, at Springfield, Ohio, and was graduated from that institution in 1897, with the degree of Master of Arts. For some time he was engaged in the profession of teaching, and was assistant professor of chemistry and physics at Midland College from 1894 until 1895. For two years he filled the post of buyer at the Kansas State penitentiary, at Lansing, and then located on his farm in
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Mt. Pleasant township, near the city of Atchison. He followed farming and stock raising with success. He was appointed deputy county treasurer under U. B. Sharpless in the fall of 1915, and is now filling the duties of his office faithfully and conscientiously.
Mr. Price was married August 12, 1903, to Miss Fan Ballew, who has borne him one child, Jane Ballew Price, born June 2, 1911. Mrs. Price was born in Madison county, Kentucky, March 19, 1885, a daughter of George W. and Jennie (Francis) Ballew, both of whom were descended from old Kentucky families. It is a matter of history that the grandfather of Mrs. Price, Francis, by name, owned the slaves which escaped from the Kentucky plantation across the Ohio river, and from whom the character, Eliza, in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was taken.
Undoubtedly, John M. Price is one of the rising young men of Atchison county, who is at the beginning of a career which is destined to reflect credit upon the memory of his illustrious father. He is a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and is the present exalted ruler of that body, and is a prominent member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Fraternal Aid Union.
BOYD ROYER.
Boyd Royer, farmer and stockman, of Kapioma township, Atchison county, Kansas, has reason to be proud of his family tree. His mother was the first white child to be born in Kapioma township, Atchison county. She was Emma Hammond before her marriage to George Royer, and was born in 1861 to William and Lena (Brutton) Hammond, who came over from Mis- souri and settled in Kansas a short time before her birth. Her ancestors were Kentuckians. The father of Boyd Royer was a Pennsylvanian, having been born in Union county, that State, in .1859. He grew up with the common schooling of the time and learned the blacksmith's trade. Coming to Kansas in 1879, he worked by the month near Effingham for a while and later en- gaged in farming in Kapioma township, where he rented a farm until his retirement in 1910, when he moved to Valley Falls, Kan.
Boyd Royer, the subject of this sketch, was born May 13, 1881, four miles east of Arrington, Kan. He was the oldest child of four children. The other children are: Walter, with the J. I. Case Company, Kansas City, Mo .; Miles, a Government employee, Washington, D. C., and George, Kansas
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City, Mo. The mother died in 1905. Boyd Royer grew up on his father's farm and attended school in district No. 31 of Kapioma township. In 1901 he rented land near Arrington, Kan., and in 1909 bought 160 acres, and built a fine barn, 36x36 feet, on this place and has a large eight-room house on the place. All buildings are well painted and kept in excellent condition, and everything around the place is kept in neat order. .
In 1905 Boyd Royer married Mabel Beyer, who was born June 26, 1882, in Kapioma township, Atchison county. She is a daughter of Asa and Susan Beyer, both natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Atchison county in the early days. Mr. Royer is a Republican. He is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Royer have no children.
LEWIS H. HUBBARD.
Lewis H. Hubbard, farmer and stockman, of Kapioma township, Atch- ison county, was born March 13, 1872, in Cass County, Missouri. He is a son of Simeon and Mary Ann (Pence ) Hubbard, who were the parents of the following children: William, Kapioma township, Atchison county, Kan- sas; Lillie O'Conner, widow, Muscotah, Kan .; Cora Routh, Kapioma town- ship: Lewis, subject of this sketch, and two children who died in infancy. The father of Lewis Hubbard was born March 10, 18440, in Indiana, and grew up as a farmer, following that occupation after coming to Kansas in 1874. He settled near Muscotah and rented land for a period of four years and during that time he saved his money carefully. When he came to Kansas he was without funds, but at the end of four years he had accumulated enough to enable him to buy a farm. In addition to growing his crops he fed stock and did a hustling business in that line. He is still living and resides at Mus- cotah, Kan. The mother of Lewis Hubbard is also living. Lewis Hubbard went to school in the Rose Valley district. He received a common school edu- cation and worked with his father on the latter's farm until 1909, when he bought a farm of his own and became his own manager. The place con- sisted of 160 acres of fine tillable soil and is located in section 16, southeast quarter of Muscotah township. Mr. Hubbard has devoted considerable atten- tion to improving the appearance of his farm and has constructed a fine seven- room cottage, and has built a large barn to provide shelter for his stock and hay. He keeps the best Jersey cows and milks eight to twelve of them for
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the dairy, Mr. Hubbard is a stockholder in the farmers' grain elevator at Muscotah, Kan.
In 1897 Mr. Hubbard married Anna Hinkston, who was born May 5, 1880, in Doniphan county, Kansas. She is a daughter of Frank and Dorinda (Tate) Hinkston, who now live in Jackson county, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard are the parents of two children, as follows : Ethel, aged sixteen, who attends the Atchison County High School at Effingham, and Leslie, aged seven, living with his parents. The daughter is also studying music, and her father hopes to give her a thorough education in that subject. Mr. Hubbard is a Democrat of an independent stamp. He is a member of the Adventist church and is a deacon in that denomination. If there is one thing that Mr. Hubbard takes pride in more than another it is in his children's education He realizes the value of an education and desires that his children have every advantage of education that he can give them.
ARTHUR S. SCHURMAN.
Atchison county is principally an agricultural community, and not unlike inost sections of the great Middle West, the general wealth and standing of the community is commensurate with the thrift. enterprise and industry of the individual farmers. He whose name introduces this sketch is a repre- sentative of that type of men whose efforts have placed Atchison county in the foremost rank of the ITO political sub-divisions of the great state of of Kansas.
Arthur S. Schurman is one of the substantial and enterprising agricul- turists in Benton township, and has been a resident of the township for the past thirty years. He is the owner of 202 acres of well improved land, which is noted for its excellent yields of grain. For the past'ten years Mr. Schur- man has been one of the most successful wheat growers in Atchison county. or even in the State. He has produced the great yield of 2.330 bushels of wheat on a tract of eighty acres. A handsome farm residence, tastefully painted a clean white, presents an attractive appearance on a rise of land fronting the highway, which passes east and west in front of his land. This fine home was built by Mr. Schurman in 1911, and comprises eleven rooms in
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all, with a heating and water pressure system, which completely modernizes the home. The residence is nicely situated in the midst of a fine grove, which affords a generous shade in summer. Mr. Schurman carries on diversified farming and raises a considerable amount of live stock.
Arthur S. Schurman was born January 11, 1864. in Prince Edward Island, Dominion of Canada, and is a son of Caleb Schurman, who was born December 8, 1829, on Prince Edward Island, a son of English parents, who left their native land and settled on the island many years ago. The great- grandfather of Arthur Schurman was a German by birth, who established a home in England. The mother of Arthur S. was Sarah Creswell before her marriage. She was born May 15, 1835, and died on the home place in Benton township. November 15. 1889. When but a child she went from England to Prince Edward Island with her parents. The Schurman family lived on their native island until 1876, and then immigrated to the United States, going first to Des Moines, Iowa, in search of a suitable location. After a residence of eight months in Des Moines, the family came to Atchi-
son, Kan., where Arthur Schurman was employed in a harness shop for three years, and also drove a coal wagon for a retail coal dealer for a time. Caleb Schurman rented a farm south of Atchison, and later bought the farm now owned by his son, Arthur. Four children were born to Caleb and Sarah Schurman, namely : Mrs. J. B. O'Connell, Denver, Colo .: Frederick Robert, a resident of Effingham, Kan .; Percy Ernest, who died in September, 1896, and Arthur S., the oldest of the family.
Arthur Schurman was twelve years of age when the family came to the United States, and received a portion of his schooling in his native land. He remained with his father, and assisted him in developing his Atchison county farm, purchasing the land from his father when he came to man's estate. Caleb Schurman makes his home with his son, Arthur S., who mar- ried in August of 1890, to Emma Pruitt, of Atchison, Kan., a daughter of James Pruitt. This marriage has been blessed with the following children : Sadie Mary, born October 5. 1892. the wife of Fred Dooley, of Lancaster township ; Martha, born April 3. 1893; George Herbert, born September 21. 1895 ; Arthur Ernest, born June 3. 1899, and died October 19, 1900: Ralph. born March 25. 1902.
Mr. Schurman is a Republican, but has never found time to take an active part in political affairs. He was reared in the Episcopalian faith.
(52)
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but the members of his family attend the Christian church at Effingham. He is a member of the Masonic lodge and the Central Protective Association.
C. A. LILLY, M. D.
C. A. Lilly, M. D., a well known member of the medical profession of Atchison county, is a native of the Buckeye State. He was born at Mans- field, Ohio, and is a son of S. and Clara (Beard) Lilly. The father was a lumberman. Dr. Lilly was reared and educated in Mansfield, Ohio, and Chicago, Ill., and after obtaining a good academic and classical education, he entered the Chicago Medical College in 1897 and was graduated in the class of 1901 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He then came to Kansas and engaged in the practice of his profession at Seneca. After remaining there about one year and a half he returned to Chicago and took a post-grad- uate course in Rush Medical College, and did considerable hospital work. In 1904 he located in Atchison, where he has since been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and has one of the extensive practices of Atchison county. He has been division surgeon for the Missouri Pacific railroad since IQII.
Dr. Lilly was united in marriage in 1902 to Miss Isabel Smith, of Hia- watha, Kan. Dr. Lilly is a member of the Northeastern Kansas and the Missouri Valley Medical associations and also belongs to the County, State and American Medical association.
FRANK J. WATOWA.
Frank J. Watowa, a successful farmer of Shannon township, Atchison bounty, was born in Jefferson county, Wisconsin, October 3, 1854, and is a son of Joseph and Catherine Watowa, natives of Austria, who emigrated from their native land to Wisconsin where they resided until 1860, when they came to Missouri, locating in Buchanan county. About 1870 the family came
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to Atchison and located on a farm in Shannon township where his son, Joseph H. Watowa. now resides. The father died in 1895. Frank J. Watowa is one of a family of seven children, born to Joseph and Catherine Watowa. as follows : Mary, Henry, Joseph H., Mollie, Earnest, Paullina and Frank.
Frank J. Watowa was married in 1879 to Miss Anna Falk, who died in 1885, leaving three children, as follows: Mary, the wife of Antone Lutz, of Lancaster township: Josephine resides in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Anna, deceased. On June 24, 1892, Mr. Watowa was united in marriage to Amanda Smith, and four children have been born to this union, as follows: Sarah, Frances, Frank and Lawrence.
Mr. Watowa is one of the extensive farmers of Atchison county. He has 280 acres of land, nicely located and very productive. In 1895 he built a handsome stone residence, which is one of the finest farm homes to be found in the county. Politically he is a Democrat, and he and his family are members of the Catholic church. He is a progressive and public spirited citizen and one of the substantial men of Atchison county.
LEWIS BRADLEY.
Lewis Bradley, farmer and stockman, of Kapioma township, Atchison county, was born February 24, 1857, in Henderson county, Illinois, and is a son of Hamilton J. and Sarah E. (Pence) Bradley. The father was born in Steuben county, New York, October 27, 1834. He folowed the stonemason's trade. Coming to Atchison county, Kansas, several years later, in 1880, bought the farm of 160 acres which his son now owns. He came to Kansas with very little capital, but was able to save enough money to buy 160 acres in Canadian county, Oklahoma. His death occurred May 24, 1914. The mother, who died March 8, 1908, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1837. Lewis Bradley, the subject of this sketch, spent the first few years of his life in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, and then was brought to Kansas by his parents in 1874. He farmed with his father until 1898, when he bought the home farm and built a fine nine-room house on the place, a two-story dwelling. In 1913 he erected a large barn, 48x60 feet, and keeps the best graded stock. Mr. Bradley was married September 5, 1881, to Minnie Streeter, who was born in Boone county, Illinois, October 28, 1865. She is a daughter of Rev. William H. and Hanna ( Vandicar ) Streeter, both ratives of Watertown, N. Y. Mr. Streeter came to Kansas in 1870. He was a Meth-
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odist minister and established churches all over Kansas. He was born Sep- tember 16, 1825, and died February 28, 1911. . Hanna, his wife, was born May 16. 1826, and died July 29, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley have four children as follows: Mand married Albert Williams, railroad contractor. Muscotah. Kan., who is a graduate of the county high school and taught for fourteen years: Bessie, deceased; Henry, living at home, graduate of business college of Kansas City, Mo .; Leslie married Miss Mabel Swisher, and has three children, Elberta, Clarence and Bessie. Mr. Bradley is a Republican, and belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and to the Mystic Workers of the World. He and his wife were charter members of the Advent Chris- tian church at Muscotah. Mr. Bradley is the oldest living of a family of eleven children : the others living are : Lavelle Green, Levi. Ellen Sheets, Elmer, May Sommers, and Mary Raasch.
ALFRED J. HAMON.
Alfred J. Hamon, farmer, stockman and builder, is one of those self- made men whose careers demonstrate to our growing youths the possibilities of industry and good management. Born with no unusual gifts and of par- ents who were only in moderate circumstances, he has, by his own efforts, built up a worthy name for himself in the community in which he lives. Mr. Hamon was born in Kapioma township, Atchison county, Kansas, July 10, 1863. He was one of five children born to William and Leanah ( Brutton) Hamon. Emma Royer, the oldest child, is dead; Alfred, the subject of this sketch, is the second in order of birth. The others are : Nancy Heimbach, Ef- fingham, Kan .; John, Jefferson county, Kansas ; Samuel, Kapioma township. The father was a Kentuckian, born in 1835, and during part of his young manhood he farmed in his native State. Coming to Kansas in the early days, he homesteaded 160 acres in Kapioma township, Atchison county. This land was covered with timber, and rather than attempt to clear it. he traded it for prairie land which composed the farm on which he lived until his death in 1873, and his widow is living on the farm in Kapioma township, at the age of seventy-six years.
Alfred Hamon grew up on the farm and attended school at Cole Creek district a few months each year, and at the age of twenty-one he started out for himself, renting a farm. Three years later he bought the place and owned
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it three years. He then worked at the carpenters' trade in Atchison for three years and during this time he worked in many places around Atchison and helped erect some of the more important buildings, which were constructed during that time. Another two years was spent on the farm in Kapioma township, and Mr. Hamon returned again to Atchison to work at his trade. Carpenter work appealed to him more than farming and he spent twenty- three years handling the plane and the saw. For thirteen years of this time he did contracting and supervised the erection of many buildings. Mean- while he accumulated considerable property in Atchison, and in 1906, the exacting work of carpentry became tedious to Mr. Hamon, and he returned to farming, after twenty-three years in Atchison. He had eighty acres of well improved land in Kapioma township, section 23. He built a fine house and barn, utilizing his experience in construction work to put up the best buildings that the money would afford. His improvements cost $4,000. Mr. Hamon was a real farmer as well as a carpenter. In 1911 he won first prize with an exhibit of yellow corn at the Muscotah fair.
In 1884 he married Emma Tull, who was born in October, 1863, in Ka- pioma township. Atchison county. She is a daughter of John and Hanna H. (Rust) Tull, Virginians, who settled in Atchison county at an early date. Mr. and Mrs. Hamon have five children as follows: Effie, deceased: Edna Piper, California ; Susan Clark, of Kansas City, Kan. ; Roy and Ruth, living at home. Mr. Hamon is a member of the Christian church. He is a Re- publican and has been a member of the school board in his township.
JOHN GRIFFIN.
John Griffin, farmer and stockman, of Kapioma township, Atchison county, Kansas, is a native of Kansas, having been born on the farm where he now lives March 25, 1882. His parents, Lawrence and Ellen Griffin, lived on the farm in Kapioma township. John Griffin was brought up on the farm and when a small boy divided his time between chores and school at district No. 60, Kapioma township, and later attended St. Benedict's College at Atch- ison, Kan. Considering the time spent in school, John started out in life remarkably early, making his first venture at the age of eighteen, renting a farm from his father. He continues to work the farm rented from his mother at the present time.
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