USA > Kansas > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Kansas > Part 28
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Herman Busch, a prominent farmer of Olathe township, who has spent over forty years of his life in Johnson county, is a native of Germany, born in Brunswick Hanover, June 22, 1839. He is a son of John and Zena (Bolmon) Busch. The father was a farmer, and Herman spent his boyhood days on the farm and attended school. In 1860 he immigrated to America and located near Eaton, Preble county, Ohio, and worked as a farm laborer in that section of the Buckeye State for seven years. He then rented land and farmed on his own account in Preble county until 1872 when he answered to the call of the West, and came to Kansas, settling in Olathe township, Johnson county. Here he first bought eighty acres and has added to it, from time to time, until he now owns over 500 acres of well improved and productive land, and is one of the prosperous farmers of Johnson county. He has carried on general farm- ing and stock raising and has also been quite an extensive hog raiser. Mr. Busch was married September 26, 1867, to Anna Kackaboid, a native of Brunswick Hanover, Germany. Two children have been born to this union, Katie married William Pudt, who is now engaged in manag- ing Mr. Busch's farm, and Ella married Herman Voigts, a farmer in Mission township. Politically Mr. Busch is a Republican, but in recent years has been inclined to view politics from an independent standpoint. He has not aspired to hold political office, but has preferred to devote his energies to his own private affairs which, no doubt, has been a prominent factor in his success in life. He has, however, at different times held school offices, and has always been interested in the advance- ment of education. He is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church at Lenexa, of which he has been trustee for several years.
M. T. Meredith, county treasurer of Johnson county, is a native of Rochester, Fulton county, Indiana. He was born July 5, 1869, and is a son of Thomas and Lydia (Hainbaugh) Meredith, the former a native of Fulton county, Indiana, and the latter of Hamilton county, Ohio. Thomas Meredith was the second white child born in Fulton county ; his parents were Pennsylvanians and very early settlers in Indiana. Thomas Meredith came to Kansas with his family in 1878, and took up a home- stead in Butler county, near Eldorado, and the parents now reside in that county near Augusta where the father is living retired. They were among the very first settlers of Butler county. They were the parents of ten children, eight of whom are now living. M. T. Meredith at-
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tended public school in Indiana and in Butler county, after coming to Kansas, and began his career as a teacher in Butler county. In 1893 he came to Johnson county where he was engaged in teaching until 1905 when he was appointed deputy county treasurer under W. T. Turner. At the close of Mr. Turner's term, Mr. Meredith remained in the same position during two terms under Jesse T. Nichols, and in 1912 was elected county treasurer and reelected to that office in 1914, and is now serving his second term. Mr. Meredith's long experience in the treasur- er's office, added to his natural ability, makes of him an exceptionally efficient official. He was married September 2, 1890, to Miss Idella May Donovan, a native of Johnson county. She is a daughter of Albert and Mary Jane (Turner) Donovan. They were early settlers in Gardner township where the mother now resides. The father is deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Meredith have been born six children, as follows: Bessie married Charles Way and resides at Raymore, Mo. ; Rose married Flavel Moberly, Kansas City, Mo .; Loren resides with his father on the farm in Olathe township; Albert, at home; Marie, deputy county treasurer, resides at home, and George, at home. Mr. Meredith is a Democrat and has been actively identified with that party since he cast his first ballot, and has frequently been a delegate to conventions. He is a member of, the Modern Woodmen of America and Kansas Citizens, and the family are members of the Christian church, in which Mr. Meredith has been an elder for a number of years.
Benjamin F. Adair, a Kansan pioneer, now a leading grocer in Olathe, was born near Logansport, Cass county, Indiana, October 18, 1843. He is a son of Benjamin and Anna (McMillian) Adair, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Ohio. Benjamin Adair, the father, was born in Baltimore, Md., of English descent. He went to Ohio when a young man, where he was married and later removed to Indiana. At that time Indiana was almost an unbroken wilderness and Indians were plentiful in that section. In 1857 the Adair family came to Kan- sas. They drove the entire distance with three teams of horses and a prairie schooner. They settled on a farm three miles from Olathe where the father followed farming and stock raising until his death in 1872 ; the mother died in 1880. The father was a stanch Free State man and a Republican. They were the parents of eight children, as follows : Thomas, who came to Kansas in 1857, located on a claim near Bonita, where he died in 1913; Newton spent his life in Cass county, Indiana ; Lorena married a Mr. McCoy and spent her life in Indiana; Rosanna married a Mr. Brandt and is now deceased; Lucinda married a Mr. Cook and after his death came to Kansas, where she died; Julia died in Colorado; Susan and Mary died in childhood, and Benjamin F., the subject of this sketch. Benjamin F. Adair attended school in Indiana and Kansas. His first school teacher, after coming to Johnson county, was B. P. Noteman and the school was held in the old Masonic Hall and
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he later attended school which was held just west of where the Racket store now stands on Park Street. He remained in Johnson county on his father's farm until 1873, when he went west, locating on Government land near Winfield, Kan. After remaining in that part of the State about ten years he returned to Olathe in 1883, and engaged in business as junior member of the firm of Adair, Cosgrove & Company. Later the firm became E. T. Adair & Company and at the death of E. T. Adair in 1904, B. F. became the sole owner and has since conducted the grocery store at the corner of Mahaffee and East Park streets. Mr. Adair has prospered in his business and built up a large retail grocery and produce business. He owns his store building, which is a two-story stone and brick building and is the only grocery and produce store in the east end of town. Mr. Adair is one of the old timers of Johnson county, and during the Civil war served in the Kansas State militia. They were in the line of duty when Quantrill raided Lawrence, and during the battle of Wesport. Mr. Adair is a Democrat and his fraternal affilia- tions are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Knights of Pythias.
F. R. Lanter, one of the leading lumber dealers of Johnson county, is a native of Indiana. He was born at Union City, Randolph county, July 15, 1854, and is a son of Elihu and Malinda (Lambert) Lanter, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Indiana. They are both now deceased, having spent their lives in Indiana. The Lanter family consisted of eight children-five sons and three daughters. F. R. of this review, one brother and two sisters, are now living. F. R. Lantern spent his boyhood days in his native State and attended the public schools until 1873 when he came west, locating at Garnett, Anderson county. Here he attended high school for two years, when he accepted a position as supervisor in the State hospital at Osawatomie. remaining there two years. He then came to Olathe as clerk and steward in the State School for the Deaf. He remained in that capacity until 1887 when he purchased the G. B. Shaw & Company lumber interests at that place and engaged in the lumber business. His yard at that time was located between the Santa Fe depot and the public square, on the north side of West Park Street, but for several years it has been located between Walnut and Willie streets, on the south side of Santa Fe Street, and occupies about a half a block. Mr. Lanter handles all kinds of building material and coal, and by his' straightforward business methods and fair dealing has won the confidence of a large patronage in Olathe and vicinity. Mr. Lanter was united in marriage September 2, 1877, to Miss Martha Cordelia DeBolt, of Union City, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Lanter were schoolmates in their childhood days. They have two children, Anna, now the wife of O. A. Clark, assistant superintendent for the General Elec- tric Company, Schenectady, N. Y., and Harlan D., who is associated with his father in the lumber business. Mr. Lanter is a Republican and has
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served as mayor of Olathe and treasurer of the city of Olathe. Is a member of the Masonic fraternity and has attained thirty-second de- gree. He was a member of the school board for a number of years. In 1898 he was appointed postmaster of Olathe and for four years dis- charged the duties of that office with efficiency.
Elkanah Harley Haskin, cashier of the Farmers State Bank Or Lenexa, Kan., is well known in financial circles of eastern Kansas. The Farmers State Bank, while not one of the oldest financial institutions in the county, is one of the most substantial. some of the best men of Johnson county being interested in it. The Farmers State Bank was organized April 20, 1904, under the laws of Kansas, which are the most stringent in the Union in relation to banking institutions. The first officers were, E. H. Haskin, president and E. J. McCrary, cashier. In January, 1905, E. H. Haskins became cashier. S. B. Haskins, president and A. E. Wedd, vice-president and the directors are: W. P. Ilaskin. Herman Busch and C. E. Pincomb. The bank has a capital of $10,000, surplus of $5,000, and average deposits of $105,000. The bank owns its own building, which is of brick, and was erected in 1905. The stock- holders of this bank consist of some of the most substantial business men and farmers in Lenexa and vicinity. They do a general banking busi- ness and it may be truly said of the Farmers State Bank of Lenexa that it is big enough to accommodate its customers and not too big to appreciate them. Mr. Haskin, the cashier, also handles insurance, and represents the Springfield of Massachusetts, Aetna and National. Elkanah Harley Haskin is a native of Johnson county and was born on a farm near Lenexa, November 21, 1874. He is a son of William P. Has- kin, a Johnson county pioneer, a personal sketch of whom appears in this volume. E. H. Haskins was reared on the home farm and received preliminary education in the public schools. He then entered Baker University at Baldwin, Kan., where he was graduated in the class of 1895 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and later the Master of Arts degree was conferred on him by that institution. He then entered the Northwestern University of Chicago, where he was graduated from the law department in the class of 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He then returned to Johnson county and followed farming until October. 1904. when he entered the banking business, becoming connected with the Farmers State Bank of Lenexa as above set forth. Mr. Haskin is an extensive land owner, owning 320 acres of valuable Johnson county land, and has a fine residence, located on spacious grounds in Lenexa. The grounds cover about six acres and his residence was built in 1906. at a cost of $7,000. Mr. Haskin was married September 21, 1898, to Miss Maud Wilson, of Saline county, Missouri. She is a daughter of S. T. Wilson, a merchant of Malta Bend, Mo. To Mr. and Mrs. Has- kin have been born two children as follows: Miriam, born February 16. 1901, now a student in the Olathe High School and Genevieve, born
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December 10, 1903, a student in the Lenexa schools. Mr. Haskin is a Progressive Republican, and has served as chairman of the Republican county central committee. He and the other members of his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Jonathan Millikan, Olathe, Kan. A work of this character, devoted to the lives and deeds of those who led the vanguard of civilization and paved the way for the subsequent developments, not only of Johnson county but of the great West, can find no more fitting subject within the borders of Johnson county than Jonathan Millikan. He is the dean of the community, the grand old man of Johnson county, and his expe- riences as an early-day plainsman are equal to many whose careers have been sung by the bards and told and retold in history. Mr. Milli- kan came to Johnson county in 1857 and is the oldest settler of Olathe living in that place today. He is a native of Indiana, born in Monroe county, January 7, 1827, and a son of Jonathan and Sybetha (Lowder) Millikan, natives of North Carolina, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The father came to Indiana from North Carolina at a very early day and settled in Park county and there chopped a home out of the wilderness, and spent his remaining days in that county where his wife also died. Jonathan Millikan is the only survivor of a family of ten children, eight boys and two girls. He remained with his parents in Indiana until he was twenty-one years old, and in 1848 went from Indiana to Fort Des Moines, Iowa, making the trip with a saddle horse, alone. This was a distance of over 400 miles, across the plains of Illinois and Iowa which at that time were sparsely settled, and Mr. Millikan en- countered no trouble with the exception that houses, or settlers, were so few and far between that he found difficulty in finding places to stay over night, and on some occasions had to sleep on the prairie. After remaining in Iowa about three months, he returned to Indiana on foot, and in a short time walked back to Fort Des Moines. On these long trips through the unsettled and wild country, Mr. Millikan never carried arms of any kind. From Fort Des Moines, he went to Burling- ton, Iowa, making that trip on foot and after remaining there about six weeks, he crossed the ice on the Mississippi river, which was a hazard- ous undertaking, at the time, and walked back to Indiana, again, and remained there over winter. His next expedition was a trip to New Orleans, as an employe on a flatboat. This was in the early fifties and after making the New Orleans trip, he returned to his Indiana home and after spending some little time went to Iowa again, but this time he drove a team and wagon. He went to Warren county where a brother of his resided, and followed teaming for two winters and in the spring of 1857 he and two other men, Messrs. Wood and Grebb, started to Kansas' with a team and wagon. On their way here they heard all kinds of rumors about Indians and border war and all the terrible things imaginable about Kansas, but the worse the stories were the more their
JONATHAN MILLIKAN.
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curiosity was aroused, and they wanted to see Kansas at all hazards, and when Mr. Millikan reached Olathe, in May, 1857, or rather where Olathe now is, there were perhaps twelve or fifteen men here and one woman, a young lady who came from the East with her brother and who later became the wife of Mr. Millikan. This was Miss Emily L. Whittier, a native of Manchester, N. H., and a daughter of Ebenezer Whittier and Emily L. Nutt, both natives of New Hampshire and of old New England stock. Emily Whittier traced her ancestry back to English royalty and she was a fifth cousin of Queen Victoria, and she was also a second cousin to John G. Whittier, the great American poet. Her brother, who came to Kansas with Mrs. Millikan before her mar- riage, now resides at Decatur, Neb. His name is Jackson B. Whittier. To Mr. and Mrs. Millikan were born four children, as follows: Minnie E., born in Olathe and is now the wife of Isaac Lyons and resides at Olathe; Mardie B. resides with her father; Ella married A. A. Troy, Prairie Grove, Ark., and O. W. resides in Pittsburgh, Pa. The wife and mother passed away July 22, 1914. She was an unusual woman and pos- sessed a great deal of literary ability, but for several years before her death, was not strong physically. She took a great deal of interest in old settlers and old settlers' affairs and wrote considerable of the early times in Kansas. One of her articles along that line appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Millikan built the first frame residence in Olathe in 1857, and this house is now standing and is occupied and has been kept in a very good state of preservation. It does not differ in appearance from the average residence. It is located at 109 West Poplar Street. When Mr. Millikan came here the old Santa Fe Trail, or "The Road," as he calls it, was in full operation and the trail passed through his claim, which was located a half mile east of town where he still lives. He relates many interesting incidents concerning travel on the old Santa Fe Trail in the fifties. He has seen hundreds of Mexican ox drivers, frequently with trains of fifty wagons and from ten to twenty yoke of oxen to each wagon, trudging along through the dust of each other's wagons following the trail across the plains. Mr. Millikan says that the cruelties of these Mexican ox drivers to the oxen baffles descrip- tion. He says the drivers were much inferior to the oxen. He has fre- quently seen them bareheaded, barefooted, with no clothing except a shirt, and he says "that their hair would be so full of dirt that you could grow cabbage on top of their heads." Since coming to Kansas Mr. Mil- likan has followed farming and stockraising, and has been uniformly successful, and is one of the well-to-do men of the country. He retired in 1913, and since that time has rented his land and devoted himself to looking after his various interests. His Millikan is a Democrat and was the first assessor elected, of Olathe township, receiving his commission from Territorial Governor J. W. Denver, to 1857, and Mr. Millikan still has in his possession the old time-worn and stained commission.
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He held the office of justice of the peace for twelve years, but is not much of a "court to hear and determine causes." He induces most of the liti- gants to settle outside of his court and go on about their business, and . then they don't bother each other or the court. He and ex-speaker Joe Canon were brought up together and were friends in their boyhood days, but they hadn't met in years until the spring of 1915 when they met at Kansas City, Mo. Mr. Millikan was one of the organizers of the Grange, and was the first master of the Olathe lodge, and is perhaps, the oldest Mason in Johnson county. He loves to travel and makes frequent trips to various places throughout the country. He has been to the Pacific coast and in 1906 went to the Sandwich Islands, 2,180 miles from San Francisco. He visited the Maunaloa volcano on the Sandwich Islands. The volcano was not in action and he was inside the crater and made many interesting observations. He tells many in- teresting instances of his travels. He loves nature and likes to visit remote places that have never been desecrated by man.
George W. Moore, a Johnson county pioneer and prominent citizen of Shawnee township, now residing at Lenexa, is a native of the Buckeye State. He was born in Morrow county, Ohio, January 10, 1842, and is a son of Isaac and Charlotte (Chambers) Moore. The father was a son of Isaac Moore and a native of Luzerne county, Pennsyl- vania, and Charlotte Chambers was a daughter of James Chambers and a native of Morrow county, Ohio. Isaac Moore, father of George W. Moore, of this review, removed, with his family, from Ohio to Iowa, in 1853, and located in Clinton county. The family resided there until 1865. They came to Kansas in 1866, locating in Johnson county, one mile northwest of Lenexa, where the father died in 1867. Isaac and Charlotte (Chambers) Moore were the parents of seven children as fol- lows: James Riley served in the Union Army during the Civil war and is now deceased; Martha died in 1914; George W., the subject of this sketch; Rebecca died in Iowa; Allie resides in Kansas City, Mo .; Sarah Jane, Kansas City, Kan., and Wilber resides at De Soto. George W. Moore followed general farming and stock raising after coming to Kansas, until 1888, when he removed to Lenexa and engaged in the bee business and has provided one of the best-arranged apiaries in John- son county, and at times has as high as 100 stands of bees. Mr. Moore owns two forty-acre tracts in Shawnee township besides three residences in Lenexa and eight lots. He has taken an active part in local affairs and takes a commendable interest in county and State poli- tics. He is a Republican and has served as justice of the peace for fifteen years, and has held the office of police judge for four years.
A. E. Moll, proprietor of the Hotel Olathe at Olathe, Kan., has been a Johnson county resident for fifty-five years and is as familiar with the progress and development of Johnson county during that time as any man in the county today. When he came here he was about thirteen
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years of age, an age when a boy observes many things and remembers most of them, and after reaching manhood he became identified with business affairs, and has always taken an active part in politics and he is perhaps as well known as any other man in Johnson county, and for the last ten years he has been engaged in the hotel business, which has brought him into contact with the traveling element, and thus his acquaintance has been extended universally without regard to State or county limitation. A. E. or "Ed." Moll, as he is generally known, was born in Perry county, Missouri. April 4. 1847, and is a son of Joseph Francis Moll and Regina Kaiser. The father was a native of Baden. Germany, born in 1811, and came to America with his father in 1830. when nineteen years old. The family resided in New York about eight years and Joseph Francis Moll married Regina Kaiser in 1836, and the following children were born to them: Joseph, born in 1837, died at Gardner in 1903; George, born in 1838. died at Mascoutah, Ill., in 1900; William, born in 1840, died in Olathe in August, 1913; Mary, born in in 1842 resides at Eudora, Kan .; Louis, born in Perry county, Missouri, 1844, resides at Eudora, Kan .; A. E .. the subject of this sketch; Eliza- beth, born in 1849, died in Benton county, Arkansas, in 1909; Samuel and Emma, twins, born in St. Clair county, Illinois, in 1853, the former resides in Lexington township and the latter in Olathe, Johnson county, and Catherine, born in St. Clair county, Illinois, in 1855, and died in Johnson county at the age of nineteen. When "Ed." Moll was three years old, the family removed from Perry county, Missouri, to St. Clair county, Illinois, and remained there until 1860, when they came to Kan- sas and in June of that year located in Lexington township, on a farm five miles west of Olathe, and the parents spent their lives there. "Ed" Moll remained on the farm with his parents until 1866, when he returned to Bellville, Ill., the former home of the family, and here served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith trade, and in 1869 returned to John- son county and built a blacksmith shop in Olathe. This shop was located on the northwest corner of the square and here he engaged in general blacksmithing. He was a mere boy and when he opened his shop, he did not resemble an old blacksmith in the least. He did not have the earmarks of the traditional "village blacksmith under the spreading chestnut tree" and many of his gratuitious advisers, who are always in abundance, especially around a blacksmith shop, had their misgivings about the boy blacksmith making good, and shook their heads in ominous silence, but it was not long until the public discovered that the boy was not only a blacksmith, but an expert blacksmith, and for thirty-two years the ring of his anvil was a part of the industrial music of Olathe. He also conducted a livery business in connection with his blacksmithing. In 1901 he was elected county treasurer and at the expiration of the first term was reelected to that office and served for five years in all. A change in the election laws
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added an additional year to his two terms. While serving as county treasurer he had purchased the Hotel Olathe, and at the expiration of his term of office, he engaged in the hotel business there, which has occupied his attention to the present time. The Hotel Olathe has been thoroughly remodeled with new furniture and fixtures installed since Mr. Moll took possession, and it is now up-to-date and modern in every particular. Most of the rooms have running hot and cold water and several have baths. The sleeping rooms are all large and airy and the office, writing room and parlor are spacious and comfortable, and a large well appointed dining room, capable of accommodating fifty, at least, and the beds and meals of the Hotel Olathe have a reputation for their excellency, enjoyed by few hotels. Mr. Moll was united in marriage in November, 1891, to Mrs. Jennie F. Brickel, of Olathe, Kan., and no. children have been born to this union. By a former marriage, Mr. Moll had six children, all of whom were born in Olathe as follows: William Edward, born September 19, 1872, died May 24, 1873; Etta Irene, born April 3, 1874, died December 24, 1878; Andrew Egidious, born January 27, 1876, died July 28, 1899; Maudie May, born Novem- ber 8, 1877, now the wife of B. H. Rogers, managing editor of the Olathe "Mirror"; Jennie O., born April 5, 1879, married William Hois- ington, of Chicago, and Arch Garfield, born January 27, 1881, assistant postmaster at Olathe, served as deputy county treasurer of Johnson county for four years and was clerk in the congressional postoffice at Washington, D. C., for two years. A. E. Moll was elected mayor of Olathe in 1902 and served one term, and declined to accept the nomina- tion for reelection. He served on the city council of Olathe for six years, and in 1912 when the commission form of government was adopted by Olathe he was elected one of the commissioners for the long term of three years, and refused to consider a re-election to that office. He served as under-sheriff of Johnson county for two years. and was also a member of the school board for four years. Mr. Moll has been a life-long Republican and while he is one of the most pro- gressive citizens of Johnson county he is positively opposed to spelling the word progressive with a capital P on all occasions. In 1908 he was. one of the presidential electors of Kansas, and at the meeting of the presidential electors at Topeka, in January, 1909, he was elected to carry the vote of the Kansas electorate to Washington, D. C., to be counted for William Howard Taft for President, and this was a very pleasant duty for Mr. Moll, because he has been a great admirer of Mr. Taft for a number of years. Mr. Moll has been identified with the. Republican organization for years, and has figured conspicuously both in county and State politics and is well known to most of the prominent men of his party, in the State.
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