USA > Kansas > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Kansas > Part 35
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
to Iowa and engaged in farming on his own account, remaining there until 1873. He then came to Kansas, locating in Miami county and followed farming there until 1890. He was then elected clerk of the district court of Miami county and served in that office for four years, being reelected at the end of his first term. He served as assistant State treasurer for two years and about that time was elected cashier of the Spring Hill Banking Company. Mr. Williams is typically of the banker's temperament, well posted in the intricate problems of finance, a man of good judgment and with years of experience in dealing with men and handling affairs, is well qualified for the responsible position which he holds. He was united in marriage in 1869 to Miss Mary Jones, also a native of Wales. She came to this country with an aunt and for a time lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, and from there went to Iowa where she married Mr. Williams. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams the following chil- dren have been born: Jennie and Anna, the latter being connected with the Spring Hill Banking Company for over fifteen years and, was one of the best posted employes of the institution during her long and use- ful career there. She was married in April, 1915, to George A. Simpson ; and William, resides in Texas, where he is engaged in agriculture and is an extensive cotton planter. Mr. Williams is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Fraternal Aid and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and Mrs. Williams are members of the Baptist church of Paola. Mr. Williams is one of the solid citizens of John- son county and enjoys the esteem and confidence of a large number of friends and acquaintances.
Patrick McAnany, of Mission township, is one of the historic land- marks of Johnson county, within whose borders he has made his resi- dence for fifty-seven years. Mr. McAnany is a native of Ireland, born in 1839, and when nine years of age immigrated to America with his parents. In 1858, he came to Johnson county, then in the Territory of Kansas, and located in Shawnee township. When he first came to this locality he went to live with a Shawnee Indian named David Daugherty, and worked for that Indian a number of years. Mr. McAnany was very familiar with the civilized Shawnees and entertains a very high regard for their intelligence and honesty. He says that his main objection to the Shawnee Indians is to their style of cooking, and that they made the least progress in the culinary art of any of the accomplishments of their white brethren whom they endeavored to imitate. Mr. McAnany relates many instances concerning the habits and customs of the Shawnee Indians and refers in particular to the carnival season, which was always cele- brated about the time that their corn had developed to the roasting stage. Mr. McAnany remained with his Shawnee employer for several years, receiving $16.00 per month, most of which he gave to Mrs. Daugh- erty, the Indian's wife, for safe keeping. The custom was to pay him the exact amount due each month, the money being tied up neatly in a
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
small sack, and as above stated, Mr. McAnany in turn deposited most of it with Mrs. Daugherty, and when she died, she had in her possession about $200.00 of his money which was then paid to him. He then worked for Wilkerson & Knaggs, who kept a general store and sold groceries, dry goods, boots, shoes, etc. Mr. McAnany remained in the employ of this firm for two or three years, or until Wilkerson was killed by an Indian in a saloon brawl at Shawnee. At that time there were eight or ten saloons in the little settlement. Later Mr. McAnany bought 160 acres of land and has made farming the chief occupation of his life, in which he has been very successful and accumulated a competence. He was here during the uncertain days of the Border war and enlisted in Company F, First regiment, Kansas infantry. He received a gunshot wound in the right cheek at the battle of Wilson creek and still carries the bullet, as the doctors refused to remove it fearing that the wound would never heal. He also received a hot minnie ball in the left ear. This ball was partly melted when it struck him, presumably being fired from an overheated gun. And on another occasion he was struck on the buckle of his cartridge belt by a minnie ball. He says that on that occa- sion, the bullet struck with sufficient force to have penetrated his body had it not been deflected by the buckle. He was taken pris- oner while in the service but shortly after his capture was exchanged and sent to the hospital at Fort Leavenworth. On one occasion, while he and two other soldiers were on their way between Fort Scott and Kansas City, they stayed all night with a hotel keeper who was a Union man, and who, during the night, learned of a plot of the bushwhackers to kill Mr. McAnany and his comrades. The plan was to hold up the stage on which they were expected to be passengers, but the landlord of the hotel apprised the soldiers of the plot and they made their escape in the night and got a conveyance to take them to Westport during the night, and thus escaped with their lives. Few men in Johnson county have had the variety of pioneer and military experiences that has fallen to the lot of Mr. McAnany. In the early days he frequently went on buffalo hunting trips in the central and western part of the State with the Indians. He could speak the Shawnee language fluently and during his career has frequently been called upon to act as interpreter in matters concerning the Shawnee Indians. Mr. McAnany was married at Kansas City, Mo., in 1869, to Miss Helen Mansfield and he and his wife are now spending their declining years in peace and plenty on their farm which is located three-fourths of a mile north of Shawnee. They have one of the well improved farms of Johnson county. They are the parents of nine children, all of whom are living: Edwin S., born in Kansas City, Mo., living in Kansas City, Kan., of the firm of McAnany & Alden. He is a graduate of St. Benedict's College, of Atchison; Phillip, born in Kansas City, Mo., educated in the schools of Kansas City, Mo., is with the Hearst papers of Boston, Mass .; J. Paul, born in Kansas City, Mo.,
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
an engineer, lives in western Canada; May, born in Kansas City, Mo., married Carl Dahoney, Cincinnati, Ohio, attended the Mount St. Schol- astica's School of Atchison, Kan .; Rose, born in Kansas City, Mo., lives at home; Patrick D., born in Shawnee, attended St. Benedict's School, Atchison, Kan., associated with the firm of McAnany & Alden, of Shaw- nee, Kan., lives at home; Helen G., born in Shawnee, attended Mount St. Scholastica's School at Atchison, Kan., married W. W. Marshall, lives in Kansas City, Mo .; George S., born in Shawnee, attended St. Bene- dict's College, and is a salesman for Cook Paint Company, and Robert A., born in Shawnee, attended St. Benedict's College, Atchison, Kan., farm- ing at home.
Joseph H. Chamberlin, well known in Johnson county as a successful farmer and stockman, is a native of New Jersey, born in 1834. He is a son of Hesacurah and Elizabeth (Chamberlin) Chamberlin, natives of New Jersey. In 1841 the Chamberlin family removed from New Jersey to New York State where they spent two years and then went to Ohio. The father rented land in Warren and Butler counties, Ohio, for about ten years when he bought 130 acres in Warren county where he died in 1857. His wife died in 1880. J. H. Chamberlin grew to manhood in Ohio and attended the public schools. His first independent business venture was farming rented land in Ohio, which he began when twenty -one years old. In 1868 he came to Kansas, locating in Johnson county and the following year brought his family to Johnson county and located on a farm of eighty acres in Spring Hill township, and engaged in gen- eral farming and sheep and hog raising. The peculiar combination of the stock business and grain farming has practically insured him against total loss or an entire failure in any one season. In other words he did not have his eggs all in one basket and for that reason has met with a certain degree of prosperity even during dry seasons, wet seasons or when grasshoppers and other pests of the plains held sway. Mr. Cham- berlin was united in marriage in 1863 to Miss Mary Moleson, a daughter of John and Lucy Moleson, and the following children were born to- this union: Hesaciah C., born in Ohio, in 1864, now a farmer in John- son county ; George, born in Ohio, in 1865, now a mail carrier, resides near Ocheltree, Kan .; Frank, born in 1869, in Johnson county, a painter in Kansas City; Anna and Emily, both born in Johnson county. Mr. Chamberlin is a Republican and is a member of the Congregational church at Spring Hill. He is one of the substantial citizens of Johnson county and public spirited.
Irwin Williams, cashier of the Farmers State Bank; of Spring Hill, Kan., is a native of Miami, county, Kansas. He was born April 10, 1887, and is a son of Thomas and Lucy (Tuggle) Williams. The father is a native of Pennsylvania and came to Kansas when eighteen years of age. He settled in Miami county and engaged in farming and has met with unusual success and is now one of the large land owners of Miami
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county and is president of the Farmers State Bank, of which Irwin Williams, the subject of this sketch, is cashier. Irwin Williams is one of a family of five children : Clifford S., Robert H., Irwin, Osa and Hazel, deceased. Osa is assistant cashier and bookkeeper in the Farmers State Bank. Irwin Williams was reared in Miami county and received his education in the common schools and the Paola High School. When twenty years of age he entered the National Bank of Commerce, of Kansas City, as a clerk, and here the broad foundation of his knowledge of banking was laid. In the spring of 1912, he resigned his position with the National Bank of Commerce and came to Spring Hill and promoted the organization of the Farmers State Bank, which opened its doors to the public on the first day of April of that year. The bank has a capital stock of $20,000, with a surplus of $7,000, and is one of the substantial financial institutions of Johnson county. Since the bank was opened its deposits have rapidly increased and every feature of its busi- ness has shown experienced and capable management. Mr. Williams is a Republican and his fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic lodge and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He takes an active part in all movements for the upbuilding and betterment of the community and is public spirited and progressive and keeps well abreast of the times. Although comparatively a young man, considering the responsible position which he holds, Mr. Williams is, perhaps, one of the best posted men in the intricate problems of banking and finance in Johnson county. He possesses what might be called that progressive conserva- tism, characteristic of successful financiers.
Elton L. Miller, one of the progressive farmers of Johnson county, and a prominent factor in Mission township, is a native of Kentucky. He was born in Woodford county, March 23, 1865, and is a son of Cabel and Minerva (Lillard) Miller. The father was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, December 25, 1824, and died in Mission township, Johnson county, May 3, 1910. The mother was born in Anderson county, Ken- tucky, in 1844, and died in Mission township, May 5, 1897. They were married at Lawrenceburg, Ky., in 1863, and came to Kansas with their family, arriving at Kansas City, July 4, 1879, and three months later located on a farm in Mission township, two miles east of Merriam, where the parents spent the remainder of their lives. Cabel Miller bought a farm of 200 acres, paying $37.50 for part of it, and $75 per acre for the balance. They were the parents of three children, as follows, all of whom were born in Woodford county, Kentucky: Elton, whose name introduces this sketch; Amey, born July 2, 1867, educated in the public schools of Kentucky and Johnson county, resides on the home place in Mission township, and Percy L., born November 22, 1869, was edu- cated in the public schools of Kentucky and Johnson county. Elton Miller received the elements of his education from his mother and later attended a private school, conducted by Captain Henry. He then attended public school at Hickory Grove for a time and from there
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
went to Central High School, Kansas City, Mo. He attended Kansas University at Lawrence for a time and then took a commercial course in Spaulding's Commercial College, Kansas City, Mo. Since that time he and his two brothers have operated the home farm in partnership, and are among the most successful farmers of Johnson county. The Miller Brothers conduct their farming operations along scientific lines, but never abandon well-tried, practical methods for the so-called fads. They were among the first to introduce alfalfa in Johnson county and have about thirty-five acres under that crop. The Miller Brothers have recently taken up chicken raising which has proven very successful with them. Plymouth Rocks are their specialty. The citizens of Mis- sion township have shown their appreciation of the ability and worth of Elton Miller by electing him to various offices of trust and responsi- bility. He was elected township clerk in 1890 and served two years. He was then elected constable and after having served four years was elected justice of the peace and reelected a number of times, serving in all, ten years. For the past nine years he has been trustee of Mission township, his present term expiring in 1916. Mr. Miller as an office holder has always conducted the public business in the same conscien- tious and economical manner that he does his own affairs. He believes that public money should be spent as judiciously as private money, and in following out that principle the people of Mission township have value received for every dollar expended by him as a public official.
Remi Caenen, a Johnson county pioneer and extensive land owner, has carried on an extensive business in this county for a number of years. Mr. Caenen is a native of Belgium, born March 27, 1853, and is. a son of Leven and Mary Teresa Caenen, natives of Belgium, the former born in 1812 and died in 1891, and the latter born in 1818 and died in 1902. The parents immigrated to America with a family of seven small children in 1856, at which time Remi Caenen, the subject of this sketch, was only three years old. They settled in St. Clair county, Illinois. In 1864 they removed to St. Paul, a town twenty-four miles west of St. Louis, and two years later returned to Illinois, where they remained until 1868, when they came to Kansas, locating in Johnson county, one mile west of Lenexa. The Caenen family met with a great many diffi- culties in their endeavor to establish a home in the new world. It seemed as though one disaster after another followed the little family of immigrants. One of their children, Mary, died during the voyage to America and was buried at sea. After they located in Illinois, the flood of 1858, near East St. Louis, swept away everything they had, and after coming to Kansas, they encountered several bad years and crop failures and endured all kinds of privations and hardships. They just managed to exist and when they were fortunate enough to have a crop, prices were so low and the markets so poor that they were unable to make much progress in the early years, but by persistence and indus- try, and with the help of the boys, as they grew up, things began to
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
. turn for the better, and the father was considered a well-to-do man at the time of his death. The parents removed to Lenexa during the latter years of their lives and spent their declining years in peace and plenty. They were the parents of the following children: Sophia; De Clercq, Lenexa; Henry, Lenexa; Remi, the subject of this sketch; Frank, Lenexa ; Mrs. Frank Schlagel, Lenexa; and Mrs. Mary Boehm, who died in 1905. Remi Caenen obtained most of his education in the public schools of Illinois, and when he was about twenty-six years old, he and two brothers operated the home farm, which consisted of 240 acres for five years, when they divided up the stock and implements. This was in 1880 and he then bought 100 acres of land, where his home is now located in Shawnee township. This land cost him $23 per acre and it is now worth $400 per acre. Mr. Caenen has dealt considerably in real estate and has platted and sold a great many lots. He platted eighty acres in Bartcliff addition and sold it off in small tracts recently. He owned over 190 lots in Monrovia and has sold ninety lots of that tract. He owns a half section in Olathe township, which his son, R. F., manages. Mr. Caenen has one of the finest residences in the county. It is built of stone quarried on his own place, and the house, which was erected in 1907, cost over $10,000. The place has all modern conve- niences, including lighting plant, water system, etc. Mr. Caenen was married April 5. 1880, to Miss Mary A. VanIIercke. She was born at Harlem, Mo .. in 1861, a daughter of Joseph and Lucy VanHercke, natives of Belgium, who immigrated to America in 1851, settling in Missouri, where they remained until 1866, when they came to Johnson county, Kansas, and followed farming and are both now deceased. Mr. Caenen's wife died July 18, 1901, leaving the following children : Emma Renner, Colby, Kan., has five children ; John, farmer on Indian Creek, Oxford township, has five children ; Mary Boehm, Paola, Kan., has two children ; Josie Hurley, Paola, Kan., has one child; Remi F., operating his father's farm near Olathe; Matty Schumaker, Kansas City, Mo .; Rose, Delia and Achille, at home. Mr. Caenen is a progressive business man and is counted among Johnson county's most successful men of affairs.
J. R. Foster, of Merriam, is a native of St. Joe county, Indiana, born in 1839. He is a son of Andrew and Cynthia (Reynolds) Foster, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky. They were the parents of three children as follows : Mary Ellen, deceased ; Ann Eliza, now the wife of William A. Welch, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and J. R., the subject of this sketch. J. R. Foster received his education in the public schools and the Hillsdale Academy, Hillsdale, Mich. He then entered the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he was graduated in the class of 1866. (He was a class-mate of Hon. J. B. Foraker, former United States Senator from Ohio, and Don M. Dickerson, former United States postmaster general.) Mr. Foster came to Kansas in 1880 and since that time has been identified with
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
Johnson county. He was married in 1874 to Miss Mary Milburn at Mishawaka, Ind., and they have two children, Charles M., born in South Bend, Ind., is unmarried and resides with his parents, and Florence, married Kenneth Hudson and resides at Ardmore, Okla. Mr. and Mrs. Foster own one of the finest farms of Johnson county, located in Mis -. sion township, which was formerly the George Milburn property. It originally consisted of Sco acres and was purchased from the estate of Henry Coppeck by Mr. Milburn and was formerly owned by Graham Rogers, a Shawnee Indian. Mr. Foster bought 320 acres of this land and Mrs. Foster inherited the balance from her father's estate. They have sold some of the land to the Strang Land Company and still own 480 acres. Mr. Foster's is one of the ideal country homes of Johnson county, his residence being practically new, and modern in every par- ticular. He is one of the substantial men of Shawnee township. In 1888 Mr. Foster was elected a member of the Kansas legislature from John- son county, and served with credit to himself and his constituents in that body.
E. L. Smith, manager of the Olathe Gas Company, is a representative of that type of men who are doing things in the industrial world of today. Mr. Smith is a native of Illinois, born near Litchfield, July 18, 1866, and is a son of Allen G. and Martha (Kinder) Smith, the former a native of the Old Dominion and the latter of Illinois, born of pioneer Illinois parents, who settled in that State when it was one broad expanse of unbroken prairie. The mother remembered, distinctly, when game was abundant in Illinois and saw deer by the hundreds, roaming over the plains. Allen G. Smith removed from his Virginia home to Kentucky with his parents when a mere boy, and while yet in his teens hired out to drive cattle from Kentucky to Indiana and made a similar trip from the latter State to Alton Landing, Ill., about 1830, and made his home in Illinois after that. He located in Macoupin county, near Litchfield. He broke the prairie where the city of Litchfield now stands, and for a time in the early days was engaged in freighting, before there was scarcely more than trails across the plains. In 1880 he removed to Cass county, Missouri, where he died two years later, aged sixty-seven years. He was a strong anti-slavery advocate and a man of positive convictions. He was a Republican and member of the Baptist church and a very religious man. His wife died in 1892, aged sixty-two years. They were the parents of five children, namely : H. T., Harrisonville, Mo .; Martha M., married William T. Wilson; S. P., died at the age of forty-three, in 1903; E. L., the subject of this sketch, and Allie, married M. L. Dol- lar, Paola, Kan. E. L. Smith attended the public schools in Illinois until the age of fourteen, when he came to Cass county, Missouri, with his parents. He was engaged in farming in that section for eight years, and in 1888 came to Kansas as an employ of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company at Osawatomie, Kan., and remained with that company until 1897 when he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Oil, Gas and Min-
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
ing Company, at Osawatomie. He was in the operating department of that company in connection with their Miami county development until 1898 when they came to Johnson county and drilled the first well in Johnson county, which was at Old City Park, Spring Hill, where they struck a good flow of gas at a depth of 610 feet. That was the beginning of the gas development of Johnson county. Mr. Smith began at the bottom in the oil business and has had experience in drilling, pipe line construction and everything in connection with the business. He remained with that company until 1904, when he engaged in drilling as an independent contractor and followed that vocation in Miami county until 1910, when he came to Olathe as manager of the Olathe Gas Company and still holds that position. Mr. Smith was married July 3, 1888. to Miss Mattie Naylor, a native of Jefferson City, Mo., but resided in Cass county at the time of her marriage. She is a daughter of Benjamin Robert and Margaret Elizabeth (Hall) Naylor, both now deceased, the former a native of Missouri and the latter of Kentucky. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born two children: Benjamin Earl, operating a drilling rig for his father in Johnson county, and Euphemia, died at the age of three years, October 30, 1897. Mr. Smith is a member of the Masonic lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, No. 19, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 11, Paola, The Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie No. 400, Olathe; Ancient Order of United Workmen, Homestead No. 1000, and the Yoeman, Paola, Kan. He is a Republican and a member of the Christian church. Mrs. Smith is also a member of the Christian church and the Order of the Eastern Star and Rebekahs.
Charles Delahunt, Sr., of Olathe, is one of the real pioneers of John- son county. Mr. Delahunt was born in Ireland, February 9, 1831. and is a son of Matthew and Margaret (Byrne) Delahunt. The Delahunt fam- ily immigrated to America in 1849, located in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, and the parents spent their lives in that section of Illinois and both died in Galena. When they came to this country they made the voyage across the Atlantic in an old-time sailing vessel, which required six weeks to make the trip. They landed in New York and came to Chicago by the Hudson river, Erie canal and Great Lakes. Chicago at that time was a mere village, and Mr. Delahunt says he distinctly remembers that there was not a yard of pavement in the town, that the main street was covered with planks and as they drove over them the mud fre- quently squirted up through the cracks between the planks. Mr. Dela- hunt was eighteen years old when he came to this country with his parents. He remained in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, until 1856, when he came to Leavenworth, Kan., and that year settled on a claim in Lexington township. Johnson county, and later engaged in farming there, and his efforts proved very successful. He added to his original place until he accumulated 470 acres in Lexington and Olathe townships, which he still owns and which is operated by his son, Charles, Jr. Mr. Delahunt removed to Olathe in 1896 where he has since resided, with
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