History of Atchison County, Kansas, Part 84

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

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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

ALBERT H. MANGELSDORF.

Albert H. Mangelsdorf, cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Potter. Kan., was born February 15, 1890, in Barton county, Kansas. He is a so !! of the late William Mangelsdorf, a pioneer settler of Atchison, and one of the successful merchants of Kansas, extended mention of whom is given else- where in this volume. Mr. Mangelsdorf was educated in the common schools of Barton county, Kansas, and received his preparatory training at St. Bene- dict's College, Atchison, Kan. He attended the University of Kansas, class of 1912. pursuing a course in mining engineering. After the completion of this course he was in the employ of the Newmire Vanadium Company, located at Newmire, Colo., in the capacity of engineer. Later, he was in the employ of a mining firm at Weinkleman, Ariz., and later with the Arizona Copper Company at Morenci, Ariz., after which he served as superintendent of the main building of the Mangelsdorf Brothers Company at Atchison until his appointment as cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Potter, Kan., in December, 1914.

Mr. Mangelsdorf is a Republican in politics and is fraternally affiliated with the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, the Knights of Columbus, and is a member of the Catholic church.

FRED BINKLEY.

The late Fred Binkley, of Potter, Kan., was born April 8, 1832, in War- rick county, Indiana, a son of George and Catharine ( Chinn) Binkley, both of whom were born and reared in the State of North Carolina, and were among the earliest settlers of southwestern Indiana. George Binkley was of German origin, and Catharine (Chinn) Binkley was of English origin. In the year 1828 George Binkley with his wife and infant son, James, set out for Indiana, equipped with one horse, their personal belongings and a camping out- fit. The horse was used to transport their outfits and it was necessary for George and his wife to walk practically the entire distance from North Car- olina to their destination in Indiana. They arrived in the wilderness of Indi- ana without mishap and at once set about making a home in the new country. A few years later they removed to a farm in Gibson county, Indiana, where George and Catharine Binkley spent the remainder of their lives. They reared a family of eleven children, of which Fred was the third child.

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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

Fred Binkley grew to manhood on the pioneer farmi in Indiana and learned to rough it at a very early age. After his marriage in 1854 to Eliza- beth Dougan, he and his wife lived for one year on a farm in Gibson county, and then the father of Mrs. Binkley (James Dougan) sold out his holdings in Indiana and migrated to Atchison county, Kansas. Two years later Fred and his wife followed and settled on 160 acres of land one and one-half miles northwest of Potter in Mt. Pleasant township. The land was mostly raw prairie and it was necessary for him to erect a suitable home which was an humble one at first, but as the years passed and Mr. and Mrs. Binkley became more and more prosperous they built a better home and added sixty acres more land to their holdings.

Fred Binkley was married September 15, 1854, to Elizabeth Dougan, and eight children have been born to this union : Robert, born in Indiana in 1855, a farmer living in Mt. Pleasant township; Sarah, wife of S. Watson, of Leavenworth county, Kansas, was born in 1860; Lewis, born in 1863, and died in 1899; James, born in 1868, living on a farm near Effingham, Kan .; George, born in 1870, died in 1910: Dora, born in 1872, wife of Samuel Hall, of Leavenworth county, Kansas ; Lou, born in 1874, at home with her mother ; Kate, born in 1877, wife of Albert Hawley, of Atchison county, Kansas. The mother of these children was born May 10, 1835, a daughter of James and Sarah (Healt) Dougan. James Dougan, the father, was born in Ken- tucky, a son of Samuel, who was a soldier of the Revolution, and who received a large grant of Government land for his services. His grant was located in Dyer county, Tennessee, and consisted of 1,300 acres of wild land, which was divided among the children of the Revolutionary soldier (James). Samuel removed with his family to a portion of this land, which was wild and rough and covered with dense timber. A few years of living in the wil- derness of Tennessee sufficed for them, however, and they left the State and went to Gibson county, Indiana, to found another home. They traveled horse- back to the new location. Samuel, at that time an old man, became ill on the trip and was forced to return to Tennessee, dying there in about 1828. The family later made a permanent settlement in Gibson county, Indiana. Samuel and Molly Dougan (his wife) reared a family of five children, of whom James, the father of Mrs. Binkley, was the third child. The mother of James died in 1845. James Dougan was married in 1831 to Sarah Healt, and eleven children were born to them, of whom nine were reared to manhood and womanhood. As early as 1855 James Dougan came to Atchison county and preempted 160 acres of land, built a cabin, and returned to Indiana for his family, whom he brought to Atchison county, Kansas, in the spring of

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1856. He was comparatively a poor man when he located in Kansas, but became quite prosperous and well-to-do and became the owner of a half sec- tion of well improved land. James died in 1900, at the age of ninety-two years. Two brothers of Mrs. Binkley served in the Union Army during the Civil war. One of them enlisted in the Eighth Kansas cavalry regiment, and the other in the Thirteenth regiment.

Fred Binkley departed this life August 2, 1910. He was well and favor- ably known in Atchison county and his demise marked the passing of one of the sturdy pioneer settlers of the State. He was a stanch Republican dur- ing his whole life and was a pronounced Free State man in the days when the struggle was on to make Kansas a Free State. He took an active part in the stirring scenes before and during the dark days of the Civil war, and like many others, suffered from the forays of the border ruffians. The Methodist church, of which he was one of the members and a builder, having been burned by border ruffians, he never united with any other denomination.

JOHN DRIMMEL.

John Drimmel, farmer and stockman, of Shannon township, Atchison county, was born on the farm where he resides, in 1863, a son of John and Mary (Karn) Drimmel, natives of Austria. John Drimmel, Sr., was born in Austria in 1829, and immigrated to America with his wife in 1853. They were accompanied by the oldest child, Veronica. He settled on a rented farm of eighty acres north of Atchison in Shannon township, which he cultivated for three years and then bought eighty acres of land four miles west of the city. John, Sr., erected a small, rough box house, which was the family home for the first twelve years, and which was then replaced by a large, handsome brick residence of ten rooms, which is now the home of the son, John. This fine home is modern and fitted with a lighting system and a cellar runs underneath the entire body of the house. It is one of the most attractive places in Atchison county. Mr. Drimmel added to his acreage as he was able and accumulated a total of 230 acres of fine land which is now being culti- vated by his son. During 1914 John Drimmel, with whom this review is concerned, had planted forty-five acres of corn, 100 acres of wheat, and ninety acres of oats, all of which yielded splendid crops. Mr. Drimmel is renting eighty acres, in addition to the home farm. The elder Drimmel was a Free State man and served as company cook in the Union army during the Civil

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war. He reared a family of seven children, as follows: Ma. Veronie Miller. living in Doniphan county, Kansas; AAntony, of .Atchisur: Florence, Everest. Kan. : John, the subject of this review ; Arnold, of Kansas City; Frank, liv- ing with his brother, John ; L. J., a farmer, living in Shannon township. \11 of the children of this pioneer family are well-to-do and in good health, the oldest of the family being over sixty-one years of age. John Drimmel, the father, died in 1891. The mother was born in 1820, and died in 1889. They were a worthy pioneer couple who achieved a comfortable competence and reared a fine family in the land of their adoption.

John Drimmel owns and manages the old home place of the Drimmel family in Shannon township, and is one of the representative and well known farmers of Atchison county. All of his fifty-three years of life have been spent in Atchison county and he has always lived on the farm which he now owns. Mr. Drimmel was married in 1893 to Miss Marie Blodig, who died in the first year of her marriage, leaving one son, Frank, born March 1, 1894, and studied in St. Benedict's College. He was again married in 1896 to Miss Marie Jahl, who has borne him the following children: Anna Marie, born November 24, 1898; John Albert, born April 28, 1900: Marie Veronica, born September 6, 1901: Agnes Cecila, born December 23, 1902 : Irene Florentine, born June 11, 1904: Ernest Gabriel, born January 15, 1906; Alfred William, born March 28, 1908; Reinhold Leapold, born September 20, 1909: Rose Helena, born January 23, 19HI ; Maximilian Louis, born August 21, 1912; Genevieve Frances, born August 14, 1914. The mother of this large family of eleven children was born in Austria in 1877, a daughter of John and Anna Jahl. John Jahl, the father of Mrs. Drimmel, was born in Austria in 1852, and departed this life March 10, 1879. Mrs. Jahl was born July 22, 1855. and came to America in the year 1894, and has since resided in Atchison county. Mrs. Jahl resides with her daughter. She and Mr. Jahl were mar- ried in Austria in 1875 and were the parents of three children as follows : John Jahl, Jr., born February 21. 1876, and died in October, 1877; Mrs. Marie ( Jahl) Drimmel, born March 10, 1877; Frank Jahl, born September 17, 1878, and died in June of 1879.

Mr. and Mrs. Drimmel and their children are all members of St. Bene- dict's Catholic Church and are liberal supporters of this denomination. Mr. Drinmel is a Democrat in politics, but simply does his duty as a citizen and has never been a seeker after political office. The Drimmel home is a very happy one, and the Drimmel family is one of the largest families in Atchison county or the state of Kansas, and Mr. and Mrs. Drimmel have good and just right to be proud of the fact, inasmuch as Atchison county is proud of

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them. The children of this fine family are all receiving the benefits of a good school and college education, and it is the firm intention of the parents that all of their sons shall be educated in St. Benedict's College, and the daughters shall finish their training in Mt. St. Scholastica Academy. John, Jr., is at present a student in St. Benedict's College, class of 1917, and Anna and Marie will enter Mt. Scholastica in the fall of 1916 in order to complete the course in this excellent young ladies' school. Mr. and Mrs. Drimmel be- lieve thoroughly in giving their children every educational advantage within their means in order to properly fit them for becoming useful men and women and become a credit to their ambitious parents.

AUGUST MANGELSDORF.

August Mangelsdorf has been a citizen of Atchison for over half a cen- tury and has accomplished during that period two things which entitle him to recognition and even renown. He established and built up the Maugels- dorf Brothers Seed Company, one of the largest concerns of its kind in the West, and now manager by his sons. The other is the rearing of a large family of fifteen children. If Mr. Mangelsdorf had done no more than to bring into the world and rear his family of fifteen children he would have been entitled to more than ordinary mention as one of the sturdy pioneer citizens of Atchison. He is now living a retired life at his beautiful place, "Homewood," in South Atchison, and, while ostensibly retired, works con- stantly on his farm within and adjoining the city limits. While nominally the president of the Mangelsdorf Brothers Seed Company, he spends the greater portion of his time out of doors working about the grounds and fields of his estate. Mr. Mangelsdorf, while having lived a busy and even strenuous life during his fifty years in business in Atchison, has no desire to "rust out," but believes that his health can be better conserved by plenty of exercise in the open air. His rugged appearance and keen interest in life bear testimony to the wisdom of his plan of living. He is one of the highly respected and substantial citizens of Atchison and has done his part in the task of making Atchison preeminent among the cities of the West. The great concern which bears his name was originated and built up by himself and is a monument to his enterprise and integrity, and Atchison is proud of him and the outcome of his life work.

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HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

Mr. Mandelsdorf was born in Armin, Prussia, July 27, 1848. He was the son of Christopher and Marie Anna Dorothy Mangelsdorf, who lived in Armin until 1856, when they immigrated to America. The father died in 1849, and the mother married the second time to Andrew Stehwein. The family first settled on a farm in Gasconade county, Missouri, residing there until 1868, when they came to Douglas county, Kansas. Here they lived umtil the mother died, and then Mr. Stehwein came to Atchison to spend the remainder of his days with his children. Five children were born to Chris- topher Mangelsdorf, namely : Mrs. Anna Buhrman, of Atchison; Henry, in New Mexico; Mrs. Dorothy Beurman, Lakeview, Douglas county, Kansas; William, deceased; August, with whom this review is directly concerned.

August Mandelsdorf came to Kansas from Missouri in 1865 and located in Atchison. He worked as a laborer to earn money for his sustenance and was not ashamed to do the hardest kind of labor. He willingly did anything necessary to earn an honest dollar. His first real business experience was as a clerk in the grocery store of John Belz. It was only natural to see him become the owner of the business in time. Frugality, industry and aptitude, characteristics of his race, enabled him to become proprietor of the store in 1873. He owned the business until 1893. Two years after taking entire charge of the grocery he started a small seed business as a side line with his grocery. This was the foundation of his subsequent fortune, and it was only a question of years until he branched out in the wholesale line and the business outgrew the store. The seed business kept on growing and grow- ing: the sons of its founder became young men; its founder concluded to retire and he turned over the management to his sons who are following in the father's footsteps. For years his brother, William, was associated with him and they started a general store at Ellinwood, Kan., of which William had charge. Mr. Mangelsdorf established greenhouses in connection with the seed business. These extensive greenhouses are located on the Homewood estate and are in charge of his son, Ernest. In 1912 Mr. Mangelsdorf con- cluded to retire from active business and is now enjoying life to the full. His sixty-seven years of existence have been well and profitably spent and he can look back over the past years with satisfaction and pleasure over a task well and faithfully done. It is given to but few men to have reared a large family of sons and daughters and to have lived to see them shoulder the responsibilities left ly the father and perform the work successfully while he is jet living to observe, guide, and instruct them.

Mr. Mangelsdorf was first married to Anna Charlotte Brune in 1874. She died in 18co. To this union were born nine children: Anna died in

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1890: August, manager and vice-president of the seed company : Fred, the efficient secretary of the concern : Charlotte, cashier of the company : Ernest. in charge of the greenhouses : Bertha, teacher of domestic seience in the higli school at Seneca, Kan .: Caroline, who is studying in Chicago in preparation for kindergarten work; Marie, deceased; Frank, treasurer of the seed com- pany : Mrs. Marie Schmeling, of Atcluson. In 1892 Mr. Mangelsdorf took to wife, Mrs. Louise Brune, who has borne him eight children : Albert, a grad- unte of the Agricultural College at Manhattan, class of 1916: Carl died in infancy : Paul and Louise, in high school; Theodore, Dorothy, Harold and Helen.

Mr. Mangelsdorf is a director of the First National Bank of Atchison. Politically, he is allied with the Democratic party and has served one term as city councilman and city treasurer for four years. He is a member of the Evangelical church and is fraternally allied with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

FRANK A. MANGELSDORF.

Frank A. Mangelsdorf, cashier of the German-American State Bank of Atchison, Kan., while the youngest of the bankers of the city, has given evi- dence that he possesses the inherent ability and the necessary ambition to suc- cessfully conduct the important financial institution under his management. The German-American State Bank is the newest of the banking concerns of Atchison, but it is fast coming to the front as one of the important banks of this section of Kansas under Mr. Mangelsdorf's aggressive and capable con- trol. He is a native son of Kansas and was born and reared in this State, being a son of William Mangelsdorf, merchant and financier, deceased, who came from Germany to America when a boy and achieved a notable success in the land of his adoption. A review of the life of William Mangelsdorf appears in this volume.

Mr. Mangelsdorf was born August 14, 1888, in Ellinwood, Kan. The first ten years of his life were spent there and on his father's farm, whither his parents had removed from Ellinwood. He received his early education in a country sehool, later attending the public schools of Bushton, and com- pleted the eighth grade at the age of twelve. From 1900 to 1904 he was em- ployed in his father's store at Bushton, the family removing to the city of Atchison in the latter year. He pursued a course in the Atchison Business

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college, and then became cashier of the Mangelsdorf Brothers Company, a position which he filled until IgIo. He then became assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Atchison, remaining in that position until the organ- ization of the German-American State Bank in 1912, when he became cashier of the newly organized banking concern. The success of this bank is a mat- ter of gratification to its stockholders and patrons.

Mr. Mangelsdorf was married June 22, 1914. to Miss Veva Sawin, a daughter of William H. Sawin, an undertaker of .Atchison. He is indepen- dent in political matters, preferring to cast his vote for the individual whom he deems best fitted to perform the duties of the office sought rather than to support a party candidate. He is a member of the Catholic church. Although young in years, Mr. Mangelsdorf is recognized as one of the rising young bankers of Atchison and is considered among the city's best and most enterprising citizens. The unvarying courtesy and dignity characteristic in his conduct of the banking business is carried into his daily life, and he enjoys the respect and esteem of a large number of friends in the city.

PAUL ATKIN.

Paul Atkin, traveling salesman, of Atchison, Kan., was born September 6, 1866. in Lincolnshire, England. He was the son of William and Rebecca (Prestwood) Atkin. William Atkin, the father, was born in England about 1841. He was a farmer in his native country, but emigrated from England to America in 1872. His first place of residence in this country was in Chi- cago, where he resided a few years. He then moved to Kansas, settling on his farm in Doniphan county. After one year's residence in Kansas he re- turned to Chicago and engaged in the transfer business. Again, in about 1880, he returned to Doniphan county, Kansas, and engaged in farming, and cultivated his land until 1899, at which time he engaged in the hotel and livery business in Denton, Kansas. He died in a hospital at Leavenworth, Kan., in 1900. Nine children were born to William and Rebecca Atkin : Mrs. L. H. Priester, living in California : Paul, with whom this review is directly concerned : Mrs. Thomas Wrighter, of Denton. Kan. : Mrs. Fred Hickok, of Haverlock, Neb. : Mrs. Ben Hinchscliff, near Topeka, Kan. ; Mrs. Art Hall, Severance, Kan .; William, farmer, of Doniphan county ; Arnold, near Sev- erance, Kan. ; Ethel died at the age of eight years. The mother of these chil- dren was born in England in 1842, and died in Severance, Kan., in 1902.

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Paul Atkin did not leave England until thirteen years of age, when he crossed the ocean and continent and came to Atchison, Kan., arriving in the city ten days before his parents, then living in Doniphan county, Kansas, learned of his arrival. He was nine days on the water and came across the ocean aboard the "City of Richmond," one of the fastest ocean-going passen- ger ships afloat at that time. Being a boy and alone, he was given all priv- ileges and made many friends. He never had a day's illness during the voy- age or crossing the continent to Kansas, but became ill on arriving in Atch- ison and was cared for by Mr. Dorethy, at that time depot master of Atchi- son. This kind man looked after him until his father was notified of his arrival. From Atchison he went to Doniphan county and assisted his father for many years in operating the farm, later operating the farm by himself for one year. At the age of twenty he began working for himself for twenty dollars per month for a period of one year. He then went to Ellensburg, Wash., and learned the plasterer's trade, remaining in that city two years, after which he went to Tacoma, Wash., and remained there six months, then going to Portland, Ore., where he worked at the harness maker's trade, not long after returning to Doniphan county, Kansas, where he followed the trade of plastering for three years. After his marriage he made his home in Atchison. Kan., and after making a trip to Port Arthur and working at his trade, he then opened a meat market in Denton, Kan., which he operated for a time and then sold out. In 1888 he returned to Atchison and entered the employ of Curtain & Clark Cutlery Company, of St. Joseph, Mo., as traveling sales- man. He traveled for three years, his territory being through Nebraska. He resigned and accepted a position for another three and a half years with the Rochester Stamp Company, of Rochester, N. Y. Giving up this work he engaged in the hardware business with Krings in Atchison. The firm was known as Krings & Atkin. Later he sold out his interest in the hardware business and became interested in the United States Street Lighting Company, manufacturing street lamps in Kansas City until February, 1909, when he again went on the road as traveling salesman with the Associated Silver Com- pany of Chicago, his territoy embracing Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado.

Mr. Atkin was married in 1894 to Addie M. Herring. Mr. and Mrs. Atkin have one daughter, Frances Mildred, a graduate of Atchison High School, and a student in Atchison Business College.

Mrs. Atkin was born in 1871 in Doniphan county, Kansas, a daughter of Henry H. Herring, a native of Pennsylvania and now residing in Atchison.

MIr. Atkin is independent in political affairs and votes for the individual

IIISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

rather than the support of any one political party. He is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. His wife and daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

PETER PARSONS.

Peter Parsons, of Atchison, Kan., is a Kentuckian by birth and has the distinction of being the pioneer thresher man of northeast Kansas and western Missouri. He was born in Breathitt county, Kentucky, December 10, 1868, a son of J. W. Parsons, a descendant of an old Virginia family. Peter Par- sons' maternal grandfather, Hatfield, was a soldier in the Revolution and fought under General Washington. The Parsons and the Hatfield families were among the earliest pioneers of the State of Kentucky. When Peter was four years of age the Parsons family removed to Buchanan county, Missouri, and there settled on a farm. Peter was reared to young manhood on the Missouri farm and attended the district schools. When but a boy he developed an aptitude for machinery and showed a knack of handling farming imple- ments possessed by few boys of his age. In 1887 he entered the employ of the A. J. Harwi Hardware Company and worked in the farm machinery department of the store. Desiring to gain a more intimate knowledge of threshing machinery, especially, he went to Battle Creek, Mich., where the machines were manufactured and learned the business of building and assem- bling threshing machines from the ground up. This was a good business venture on his part, as he soon engaged in threshing on his own account and operated threshing outfits for over nineteen years, and was actively engaged in northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri in this business successfully. He operated several machines and crews and had almost a virtual monopoly of the threshing business in his territory. At the present time Mr. Parsons operates two threshing outfits which he owns, but for some years has retired from active labor in the fields. The wide range of his activities naturally gave him an extensive and favorable acquaintance among the farmers of this section of the country and he acquired a reputation for thorough workman- ship and square dealing which has never been surpassed by men engaged in the same industry. He is probably the oldest threshing machine operator at the present time in eastern Kansas or western Missouri in years of experience, and understands the mechanical part of the industry better than any other man

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History of Atchison County, Kansas, Part 84

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

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