USA > Kansas > Atchison County > History of Atchison County, Kansas > Part 85
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87
862
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
in this neighborhood. Mr. Parsons has a right to be proud of his record in the agricultural history of Atchison county and Kansas. From 1903 to 1909 Mr. Parsons was a member of the Atchison police force and made a record in the department for efficiency and faithful performance of his duties which is remembered. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and is well liked by all who know him. He is broad-minded in his views and kindly disposed toward his fellow men.
HENRY SCHIFFBAUER.
Henry Schiffbauer, pioneer, plainsman, Government scout, and friend of Buffalo Bill, now lives in comparative quiet on his farm in Kapioma town- ship, Atchison county, after having seen the wildest and wooliest parts of the great West in its early days. Under his own eyes, Kansas has changed from a land of Indians, daubed with bright paint, shouting a war-whoop and brandishing tomahawks, to a quiet farming community, where peaceable citi- zens drive to church every Sunday. He has seen Kansas changed from a broad prairie, with its countless thousands of buffaloes to a great farming country, with its productive fields, and the trudging ox has been succeeded by the tractor and automobile. Henry Schiffbauer, in his seventy-five years. has seen the making of a nation; he has seen the wild frontier grow into a civilized community, which ranks among the highest in intelligence and pros- perity. Mr. Schiffbauer was born January 27, 1841, on the River Rhine, in Prussia, Germany. His parents, Michael and Gertrude (Frentz) Schiffbauer, had thirteen children. The father followed farming in his native land, and in 1851 immigrated to the United States, settling on General Taylor's farm, in Gamwell county, Kentucky. Four years later he moved to Missouri, and in the same year came to Kansas, where he homesteaded a claim in Jefferson county, which he farmed until about eight years before his death, which oc- curred when he was eighty-nine years old. The mother of Henry Schiff- bauer died in 1854, at the age of fifty-five years. She fell before the ter- rible scourge of cholera which swept the United States about that time. The four children living are: Charles, Cripple Creek, Colo .; Trassie, a nun. at Leavenworth, Kan. : Frank, Pittsburgh, Pa. ; and Henry, the subject of this sketch. . \Il hut Frank were born in Germany, he having been born in Gam- well county, Kentucky.
863
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
Henry Schiffbauer's boyhood was one of rough and hard adventure. He received his education by driving a six-mule team, and his book learning was seanty. When he was seventeen years old he went to work for Dr. Davis, at Leavenworth, Kan. In 1857 he was stationed in the quartermaster's de- partment at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., where he was employed eight years. . After Lee's surrender, in 1865, Henry returned to his home in Jefferson county, Kansas, and met Buffalo Bill, or as he is known in private life, William Cody, for the first time. Here was begun a friendship which continued for many years, and which probably will live until one of the friends passes away. Two years later, however, the two men were thrown closer together, and their acquaintance ripened into a close friendship. Henry was guarding and herd- ing mules when he met Buffalo Bill the second time. The latter was an extra hand on Major & Russell's overland freight train. Henry Schiffbauer was the man who taught Buffalo Bill to shoot from a saddle, it is said, and the unequalled skill of the great hunter may be laid at the feet of the subject of this sketch. It may be that if Buffalo Bill had not met Henry Schiffbauer, his life history might have been different, for undoubtedly it was the stories which Henry told of his experiences that tempted the young man to leave his oxen and follow the wilder life of a Government scout. Mr. Schiff- baner has seen the most sesnsational life of the West in its most dangerous days. Just before the outbreak of the Civil war he carried messages for the Government from Ft. Kearney, Neb., to Ft. Laramie, Colo., and to Salt Lake City, and Ft. Floyd, Utah. These were times when it was dangerous to be a Government messenger. The dispatchers of the Government were not held in such awe in those days, and it was not at all unusual to kill a messenger to get his papers. But Mr. Schiffbauer was able to take care of himself. and passed through these uncertain times without harm. He served in the secret service department for eight months, about the time of the second elec- tion of Abraham Lincoln. It was feared by governmental officials that attempts on the President's life were being planned, and General Thayer, then in command at Ft. Smith, Ark., secured the services of Henry Schiff- baner in this difficulty. This was a position won because of fearlessness and coolness, even in the most dangerous situations, and to be one of the protec- tors of the President was the honor which repaid him. In 1865 Lee sur- rendered and conditions began to settle.
When Mr. Schiffbaner saw that his opportunity to serve his country had ceased, he located on the farm which he now owns and built a small farm house, thus settling down to the quiet life of a farmer. He broke his ground with oxen, and worked in the most primitive manner for a few years, but
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
gradually he was rewarded for his labors, and he came to have more of the comforts and conveniences of a modern farmer, erecting a large stone resi- dence in 1880. His place is one-fourth mile east of Arrington, Kan. It com- prises 189 acres, and here he and his wife. Margaret Glimm, to whom he was married in 1865. have lived since, rearing a family of eight children. Mrs. Schiffbauer was born in Germany, March 6, 1848. She is a daughter of John and Christian Glimm, who came to Kansas in the early days, bringing their daughter with them. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Schiffbauer are: Chris- tena, who married Allen Kinkaid, of Washington State; Charles E., Belle Plains, Sumner county, Kansas; Sarah married L. E. Wagner, of St. Louis, Mo. ; Henry F., Valley Falls, Kan. : Gertrude married John Nevins, Kapioma township; Robert is farming near La Cygne, Linne county, Kansas ; William Arrington, Kan .: George, passenger conductor, East St. Louis, Ill. MIr. Schiffbauer is an independent in politics. He belongs to the Modern Wood- men of America, and to the Knights and Ladies of Security. He has had a remarkable career and remembers the incidents of his early life with vivid- ness. Atchison county has few characters with such an interesting history.
In 1857 while in the quartermaster's department at Ft. Leavenworth he was detailed with General Sumner's expedition against the Cheyenne In- dians in the far West. This trip required six months and was filled with great hardships for the troops. In April of 1858 he accompanied Gen. Syd- ney Johnston's expedition to Salt Lake City for the purpose of subduing the Mormons, and was gone for eighteen months. He assisted in building a camp at Ft. Floyd, or Camp Floyd, as it became known at the time, forty- five miles south of Salt Lake City. During this trip Mr. Schiffbauer had his first experience in driving a six-mule team and hauling "adobes." The fort was built under the direction of Colonel Crossmore. He returned to Kansas in the fall of 1859. and went to New Orleans in the Government secret service, and thence to Baton Rouge, where he remained until after Lincoln's election, finally making his way out of the southland with great difficulty, accompanied with personal danger to himself. For a period of eight years this plainsman never slept under a roof, excepting twice at Ft. Bonta, where he was under shelter for the night. On one of his expeditions to the far West they had fed their last grain to the mules, made camp, and the next morning the entire camp was under two feet of snow, Mr. Schiff- Dauer himself being covered over in a gully where he had lain down, wrapped in his blankets and buffalo robes. He recalls that on this snowy morning the vogen-master shouted: "I wonder where that damned Dutchman is?"
80g
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
Henry malsed himself out of the snow and called out : "Here Iam" The mules were picketed out two and two together the night before, in that morning they were put into corrals and were so starved that they tried to at each other. The pioneer corps cut down cottonwood trees for miei. and the mules ate the branches, which poisoned them, and they died in their tracks, the ravens eating out their eyes while the beasts were in their death throes. The expedition lost sixty mules each day, and the drove of 500 ani- mals was depleted t > less than sixty head. They lay in camp for twelve days, and then moved on the thirteenth day. Henry recalls that the favorite team, belonging to General Johnston, was drowned through the carelessness of a teamster in fording the swollen stream.
While Mr. Schiffbaner was at Baton Rouge in Covernment service, he was importuned by the rebels to join a company as bugler, but declined, and with the assistance of a steamboat captain, he managed to get out of the contr- try, and at New Orleans boarded the steamer, "Henry Von Pool." and made his way to St. Louis. From here he went to Ft. Leavenworth and handled Government dispatches, working between Ft. Leavenworth, Ft. Scott, Ft. Gibson, Ft. Smith, Little Rock, and hunting forage and wheat for the Gov- ernment. During this service he was sent to Valley Falls, with 100 six- mule teams from Ft. Smith for recuperation on the Hoover farm. Henry bought all the forage for miles around in order to feed the mules, and had under him several men for assistants.
WILLIAM ADDISON MCKELVY.
In 1880 a young man, who had graduated but a few months previously from the Philadelphia Dental College came to Atchison, Kan., and finding the city to his liking located for practice. The year 1915 finds the same man. now thirty-five years older, or younger, as his friends speak of him, still in the active practice of his profession, and it is said his practice is a leading one in this section of the State. Thirty-five years in Atchison have done much for this man and he has done much for suffering humanity. He is the nestor of the dental profession in northeastern Kansas, one of the widely known and influential citizens of the city and has justly earned the esteem of a large
155)
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
circle of friends and acquaintances; the esteem which slowly develops only through honorable living and kind deeds. His name initiates this review.
William Addison McKelvy was born in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa., June 5, 1858. His paternal grandfather, Hugh McKelvy, emigrated from Ireland about the year 1800. Shortly after reaching America, he located in Pitts- burgh and was one of that city's pioneer brick manufacturers. Dr. McKel- vy's father was Col. Samuel McKelvy, born in Pittsburgh, a member of the firm of Blair & McKelvy, pioneers in the steel industry in that city. He mar- ried when a young man, Anna B. Pride, a daughter of David Pride, who was also a pioneer resident of Pittsburgh and a native of Scotland. When Presi- dent Lincoln issued his first call for volunteers, Samuel McKelvy was among the first to enlist in his home city. He was commissioned captain of the Duquesne Greys, Pittsburgh's crack troop. He served his country with dis- tinction and was given important assignments and received deserved pro- motion, being commissioned lieutenant-colonel and served on the staff of General Heintzelman and that of Gen. Phil Sheridan. The convalescent camp of the Union army, situated about seven miles south of the city of Washing- ton, was under his charge or supervision during his entire term of service. Following his military service, he returned to Pittsburgh and his steel busi- ness. He was one of the first to build a country residence at Sewickley. now famous for its beautiful suburban homes owned by the prominent families of the steel city. The old McKelvy mansion, now owned by the Doctor's brother, William Henry Seward McKelvy, is known as the Park Place Hotel, and is operated by its owner. Colonel McKelvy died in Sewickley in 1889. To Colonel and Mrs. McKelvy were born nine children of which our subject is the eighth.
William Addison McKelvy was reared in his native city and acquired a thorough education in its public schools. He later entered the Philadelphia Dental College and graduated with the degree of Doctor of Dental Sur- gery, a member of the class of 1880. Following his graduation he returned to Pittsburgh and was engaged in practice for a few months. In November of that year he came to Kansas and located in the city of Atchison on the twenty-fifth of the month. His choice of location was partly due to having in the person of Dr. William F. Ferguson, a well established surgeon of the city, a friend who assured him that Atchison would prove a most satisfactory place in which to build up a practice. Dr. Ferguson assisted in getting him properly started and gave every evidence of a sincere friendship. He had little difficulty in building up a lucrative practice and has for many years
867
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
past been recognized as one of the leading men in his profession in his section of the State. He is a member of the Kansas City Dental Society, the Kansas State, the Missouri State and the National Dental Associations.
Dr. McKelvy has never neglected his civic duties, has favored those measures and projects which meant a bigger, better city, but has never had time nor the inclination for public office. He has, from the time he graduated given his entire time and attention to his profession. He is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Atchison Lodge, No. 647, Benevolent and Protective Order of Eiks.
Dr. McKelvy has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Ella M. Ferguson, a daughter of Dr. Eli Ferguson, a pioneer physician of Atchison. They were married in November, 1888. Mrs. McKelvy died in 1892. Two children were born to this union: William Ferguson McKelvy, a hardware merchant of Marliton, W. Va., and Charles S. McKelvy, employed in the wholesale hardware house of Blish, Mize & Silliman, of Atchison. On October 2, 1899, he married Miss Eleanor Cain, a daughter of Alfred D. Cain, a pioneer miller of Atchison and founder of the Cain Milling Company. They are parents of three children : Alfred D., Addison P., and Mona.
GEORGE ROBERT HOOPER.
George Robert Hooper, an extensive merchandise broker of Atchison, Kan., and president of the Babcock-Arensburg Shoe Company, is a native of Virginia. He was born at Richmond, December 7, 1851, and is a son of John Hancock and Sarah Rebecca Hooper. The mother died when George R., of this sketch, was a child, and in 1867 the father removed from Rich- mond to Bowling Green, Ky., and later to Paducah, where he died in 1871. He was a contractor and builder. George R. Hooper was one of a family of six children and is the only one now living. He was reared in Virginia and was educated in private schools. He was about twenty years old when his father died, and had just completed an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. After the death of his father he returned to Virginia with the remains, and the following year came to Atchison and entered the retail grocery business as clerk from 1872 to 1876. He was then a traveling salesman until 1884. aud after that was engaged in the grocery business in Atchison about a year and one-half, when he engaged in the merchandise brokerage business, which
868
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
he has successfully conducted to the present time. Mr. Hooper was united in marriage in 1876 to Miss Frances Lucy Howe, a daughter of George W. Howe. Mrs. Hooper is a daughter of George W. Howe, who was one of the very early settlers of Atchison county. He conducted a store at the town of Sumner and was later engaged in freighting across the plains from 1860 to 1865. The Howe family came from Plattsburg, Clinton county. New York, and Mrs. Hooper's mother hore the maiden name, Frances Lucy Ellis. To Mr. and Mrs. Hooper have been born three children, as follows: Edith mar- ried O. M. Babcock, a sketch of whom appears in this volume: Gladys Ella is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music, Cornell University, and is now a teacher in the music department of the Iowa State Teachers' College: and George Frances Hooper, a graduate of Wentworth Military Academy of Lex- ington, Mo., and is a traveling salesman. Mr. Hooper is a Democrat, but has never aspired to hold political office, although he takes a commendable inter- est in public affairs and is public spirited and is ever ready and willing to aid any movement for the betterment of the community. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and secretary of the lodge. He is also local secretary for the United Commercial Travelers, of which he is a member. He also holds membership in the Knights of the Maccabees and the Independent Order of Foresters.
RUTHERFORD B. HAWK.
The residence and buildings of a farm in any locality are generally taken as evidence of the degree of thrift and enterprise of the owners of the land. If the house and barns and fences of the agricultural plant are in a "run down at the heels" condition, it is taken as evidence of the sterility of the soil and lack of industry, pride and thrift on the part of the proprietor. On the other hand, if the buildings, fencing, etc., are attractive and well kept, it betokens pros- perity and a desire on the part of the farm proprietor to keep things in first class condition. The farm home of Rutherford B. Hawk, of the younger generation of farmers in Atchison county, is one of the most attractive and handsome in the county, barns and fences, fields, orchard and gardens all making a pleasing appearance. This farm is located in Benton township, north of Effingham in sections 8 and 9, and consists of 240 acres of good land. 160 acres of which lie in section 8, and eighty acres in section 9, range
860
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
618. This is the old home place of Andrew Hawk, father of R. B., and the present owner has lived on the place since 1883.
Rutherford B. Hawk was born February 28, 1877, on a farm near Bakersville, Coshocton county, Ohio, a son of Andrew and Lavina ( Landes) Hawk, both of whom were born and reared on pioneer farms in Ohio. The late Andrew Hawk was born February 4. 1825, and died in 1903. He was born in Carroll county, Ohio, a son of Leonard and Margaret Hawk, and was one of a large family of ten children. Leonard was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and his people were pioneers in Ohio. Andrew Hawk came to Kansas in the eighties to make a visit with his brother, Daniel, in Atchison county, and liked the country so well that he returned to Ohio and disposed of his property and in 1883 came again to .Atchison county and bought a section of land, one mile north and west of Effingham, in Benton township. He developed this large farm and lived on the place until 1903 when he sold 160 acres. Mrs. Hawk, the widow, was the owner of 240 acres of this tract which she sold to her sons.
Andrew Hawk was twice married, his first marriage taking place in Coshocton county, Ohio, with Mary Jane Walters, whom he married on May 5, 1848. The following children were born to this union and who are yet living are as follows: Mrs. Margaret Alice Zinkorn, of Baltic, Ohio; Mrs. Rachel Emily McFarlan, living on a farm near Monrovia, Atchison county, Kansas; Mrs. Teletha Ellen Dreher, of Minerva, Ohio. The second mar- riage of Andrew Hawk took place May 12, 1864, with Lavina Landes, and the following children were born to this union : William Sherman, Howard, Allen, a farmer near Salina, Kan .; Edgar Russell, located on a farm two miles west of Effingham; Arvilla Florence, wife of Herbert Harris, Horton, Kan. ; Charles Arthur, living near Atchison, Kan ; Rutherford B., with whom this review is directly concerned : John Andrew, a farmer in Benton township : Clarissa, at home with her mother. The mother of these children was born April 2, 1844, in Coshocton county, Ohio, a daughter of Valentine and Eliza- bet: ( Hufford) Landes, the former a native of Germany, and the latter a native of Switzerland.
Rutherford B. was six years of age when his parents came to Atchison county to make this county their permanent home. He attended the district school and studied for one year in the county high school. He has always resided on the farm where he now lives with the exception of one year spent in the West. Upon his father's demise he came into possession of eighty acres by inheritance and purchase, bought an additional eighty acres, and eighty acres of land which came to his wife, make the total of 240 acres
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY
which he owns and cultivates. He was married on March 31, 1909, to Mary Agnes Mackay, who was born near Effingham, educated in the district school and completed the course in the Atchison County High School, grad- uating therefrom in 1898. She taught school successfully for a period of ten years, the 'last two years of which was as principal of the Effingham school. During the summer of 1908 Mrs. Hawk visited Europe and spent some time amid the old home scenes of her parents in Scotland and also visited places of interest in Ireland and England.
Mrs. Mary Hawk was born on a farm near Effingham, a daughter of George and Jeanette (Macnee) Mackay, both of whom were born and reared in Scotland. George Mackay was born in Sterlingshire, April 18, 1840. Jeanette Mackay was born January 21, 1843 in Perthshire, Scotland. This worthy and industrious couple was married July 27, 1868, and three years later emigrated from their native heath to America. They first settled on the prairies of Wisconsin near the city of Janesville, and after a residence of three years in that locality they removed farther west to Kansas (1874). Mr. Mackay rented land for a short time and then purchased a tract of prairie land in Benton township. The land which he bought was unbroken prairie, unfenced and had never known the mark of the plow. He at once set about the hard task of developing his prairie farm and in the course of time devel- oped it into one of the best and most productive agricultural plants in Atchison county. This farm which Mr. Mackay built up was well known as "Walnut Hill Farm." The Mackays prospered as they deserved, and with true Scot- tish thrift increased their land holdings to 280 acres.
George Mackay died on his farm May 1, 1907. He was a sturdy and upright citizen whose honesty was proverbial and he enjoyed the respect and high esteem of his neighbors. He was a member of the Presbyterian faith and was a Democrat in politics. He was also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Two years after Mr. Mackay's demise the widow and children removed to a pleasant home in Effingham. .
The children of this estimable couple were: Alexander, and Georgette, at home with their mother; Mary, wife of Rutherford B. Hawk; Nellie Jeanette, deceased wife of Frank Sutter.
The subject of this review is a Republican in politics, and while inter- ested in the success of his party, and a believer in Republican principles of government, has never sought political preferment. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Presbyterian church, and Mr. Hawk has served as an elder of the church for the past six years.
1
HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTE
CALVIN BUSHEY.
There is an atmosphere of refinement and well being about the town of Muscotah, Atchison county, Kansas, that is not always found in the western towns which the traveler passes through. The handsome residences, with well kept lawns, shaded by great trees, and the generally attractive appearance of things in the residence portion of this prosperous community is sure to attract the eye and cause favorable comment. The people inhabitating this town are mostly of eastern descent and are nearly all pioneers who many years ago settled on the prairies in the western part of Atchison county, and by dint of industry and hard work transformed the wilderness into a smiling and fertile landscape. Many of them, their work done, have retired to comfort- able homes in Muscotah. Among these is Calvin Bushey and his estimable wife, who came to Kansas, fought the good fight for a competence and are now taking life easy in a beautiful and comfortable home in this attractive Kansas town.
Speaking in a biographical sense, Calvin Bushey, Union veteran and retired pioneer farmer, was born July 17, 1844, on a Pennsylvania farm in Adams county, near the historic city of Gettysburg. He comes of good old Pennsylvania German stock and is a son of Nicholas (born 1797, died 1852). and Esther (Mickley) Bushey. Nicholas Bushey was born in the Father- land and immigrated with his parents to America when a youth. Eight chil- dren were born to Nicholas Bushey and wife, namely : Peter died in 1905. at the age of eighty-five years: Mrs. Sarah Hartman died in 1910 at the ad- vanced age of eighty-seven years: George. Union veteran, died at the age of eighty-four years : Jacob M., a Union veteran, residing at Holmesville, Ohio: Henry died in 1858; Catharine died in 1881: Calvin, with whom this review is concerned : John, a resident of Arendtsville, Pa .. and James, deceased. The parents of these children lived and died on the homestead in Pennsylvania. The grandfather of Mr. Bushey, on his maternal side, was John Jacob Mick- ley, who figures in American history as one of the men who helped to haul the old Liberty Bell from Baltimore, Md., to keep it from being captured and destroyed by the British invaders and hid the bell under a church for safe keeping. A son of John Jacob was a soldier in the Revolution. Daniel Mick- ley, an uncle of Calvin Bushey, lived to the great age of ninety-nine years, and two other uncles lived to the age of ninety-four and ninety-five years. Long- evity is a characteristic of the members of this remarkable family. Daniel Mickley served in the War of 1812 as a sergeant.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.