USA > Kansas > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Kansas > Part 49
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
Homer L. Breyfogle is a native of Johnson county. He was born in Mission township, December 6, 1876, and is a son of Israel and Mary (Devanney) Breyfogle, the former a native of Delaware, Ohio, born December 1, 1838, and came to Kansas with his parents when a young man, after having served in the Civil war. The mother was a native of County Galway, Ireland. Homer L. Breyfogle was one of a family of seven children born to Israel and Mary (Devanney) Breyfogle, as follows: Louis D., a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Elmer, died in infancy ; Arthur D., living at Canadian, Texas; John W., pub- lisher of the Olathe "Mirror" and also the head of the John W. Breyfogle Realty Company, of Kansas City, Mo .; Homer L., the subject of this sketch; Stella May died in infancy and Mary M. married Ralph Met- calf and resides on a farm in Johnson county, a few miles north of Olathe. Homer L. Breyfogle received his education in the public schools of Johnson county and was reared on a farm. He has followed farming all his life and now owns a place adjoining the town of Overland Park, which is considered to be some of the most valuable land of Johnson county. Mr. Breyfogle purchased the place about twelve years ago. The historic old military road from Fort Leavenworth to Springfield passes by this place. Mr. Breyfogle was united in marriage in 1901 to Miss Nellie Vance, of Rosedale, Kan. They had one child, Homer L., Jr., who died in infancy. Mr. Breyfogle is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and belongs to the Overland Park lodge.
The Breyfogle Family .- In 1630, two Breyfogle brothers started from Baden Baden, Germany, and the same year landed in America, one of them locating in New York, the other in Pennsylvania. This is the first record we have of the Breyfogle family, of Johnson county, pioneers and early settlers of old Shawnee township. Fifty-one years later, a son or grandson of one of these brothers bought land of William Penn, in Berks county, Pennsylvania. William Penn had advertised his land for sale, asking forty shillings per hundred acres, besides a perpetual quit rent of one shilling for every hundred acres. The terms also guaranteed liberal and unlimited freedom of conscience and the right to be gov- erned by laws, enacted by themselves. These pioneers began at once to improve their land and employed Indians to carry rails down from the mountains to fence the land. One of the family, Rudolph Breyfogle, is a famous artist in Germany, and Charles Breyfogle is a bishop of the Evangelical church, living in Reading, Pa. He attended conference at Leavenworth, Kan., in 1914. Israel Breyfogle was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1809, removed to Ohio in 1833, and to Johnson county, Kansas, in 1866. He settled in Shawnee township, and died in February, 1872. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California with a party, all of whom but three died of cholera or were killed by Indians. Mr. Brey- fogle and two Boone brothers, descendants of Daniel Boone, were the three fortunate ones, and they were rescued while crossing the desert.
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When they arrived in California, the gold excitement was at its highest point, and Mr. Sutter, who was building a mill where the gold was found. was without help because the carpenters quit to hunt for gold. Mr. Breyfogle offered his services and as compensation for his work in completing the mill received $15 per day. He returned to the East in 1851, coming by way of Panama. He walked across the Isthmus to the east side. His trip was a successful one as he returned with several thousand dollars in gold. Lewis W. Breyfogle was born in Delaware, Ohio, September 17, 1836. He came to Kansas with his parents in 1866, and settled in Shawnee township, in 1867. He was married to Miss Elizabeth Shaw, of Denmark, Ohio, in 1860. She died in August, 1866, and in October, 1867, Mr. Breyfogle married Miss Laura A. Pen- nock, of Johnson county, Kansas. He gave his attention to stock and grain raising and was a successful farmer and banker. He represented Johnson county in the State senate in the early eighties. Israel Brey- fogle, Jr., was born in Delaware, Ohio, in 1838, and died in Johnson county, Kansas, in 1900. In Kansas City, Mo., in 1866, he married Mary A. Devanney, who was born in Galway county, Ireland, in 1847. She died in Johnson county, Kansas, in 1905. Their remains are buried at Lenexa, Kan. They were the parents of seven children, two of whom died in infancy, and all of whom were born on the old homestead, ad- joining Overland Park, on the south side, where their parents located in 1866. The living children are Louis D. Breyfogle, who married Mary A. Cross, of Shawnee Mission, and they live on the farm at Overland Park; Arthur D. Breyfogle married Lulu May Good and resides 'at Canadian, Texas; John W. Breyfogle married Kate O. Taylor and lives in Olathe, Kan. Mr. Breyfogle is editor and owner of the Olathe "Mir- ror," the oldest weekly paper in the State. The "Mirror" succeeded the Olathe "Herald," in 1860, which was founded in 1857. Mr. Breyfogle is also engaged in the real estate business in Kansas City and has extensive holdings. Homer L. Breyfogle married Nellie Vance and is living on his farm at Overland Park; Mary M. married Ralph Metcalf, a farmer, and they live in Monticello township, six miles north of Olathe.
Louis D. Breyfogle, a representative citizen of Overland Park, is a native son of Johnson county and a descendant of one of the pioneer families of the State. He was born in Mission township, February 6, 1867, and is a son of Israel and Mary (Devanney) Breyfogle, the former a native of Delaware, Ohio, born December 1, 1838, and the latter a na- tive of County Galway, Ireland. The father served in an Ohio regiment in the Civil war and afterwards came to Kansas with his father, Israel Breyfogle, Sr. The Breyfogle family consisted of the father, mother, two sons, L. W. and Israel, Jr., and daughter, Elmora Coe, who with her husband, J. W. Coe, came to Kansas with her parents and located in Johnson county. Israel Breyfogle and Mary Devanney were married in Kansas City and the following children were born to them: Louis D.,
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the subject of this sketch; Elmer died in infancy; Arthur D., John W., Homer L., Stella May died in infancy, and Mary M. Louis D. Brey- fogle was educated in the public schools of Johnson county, Baker College and Spaulding's Commercial College at Kansas City. He has made farming his chief occupation, but served one year as assistant postmaster of Olathe, Kan., under Charles Sprague and was acting postmaster about two months, and for the past three years has been superintendent of streets in the various town sites of the Strang Land Company. Mr. Breyfogle was united in marriage October 24, 1894, to Miss Mary Cross, of Mission township, Johnson county, where she was born June 6, 1872. She is a daughter of George Cross. To Mr. and Mrs. Breyfogle have been born five children, all born in Mission township, as follows: Elmora, born January 2, 1896, a senior in the Olathe High School; George I., born June 16, 1898, a junior in the Olathe High School; Louis D., Jr., born July 23, 1900, a freshman in high school; Mary, born July 31, 1904, and Hilma, born June 24, 1906. Mr. Breyfogle is a member of the Masonic lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, No. 135, Lenexa, Kan., and is a Scottish Rite Mason. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Lodge No. 10345, Overland Park.
Albert Widmer, a successful Johnson county farmer, now living retired at Spring Hill, is a native of Switzerland. He was born in the Canton of Zurich, near the village of Tillikon, December 1, 1855, and is a son of Jacob and Anna (Hartley) Widmer. The father was a baker and confectioner in Switzerland and in 1857, when Albert was only two years old, the family immigrated to America. They made the voyage in a sailing vessel and after seven weeks landed at New Orleans. The family immediately proceeded to Illinois, where Jacob joined his brothers, Casper and John, at McNally, Ill. Casper is still living in Kansas City. In a short time the three brothers, Jacob, John and Casper, came to Kansas, coming down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers as far as St. Louis and then up the Missouri river to Wyandotte. A few weeks later they located in Johnson county, and Jacob settled on a farm just north of Ocheltree in Spring Hill township. He was poor, like the average Kansas pioneer, and set about to make a home for his family and break the prairie and get his land under a state of cultivation. The early days were discouraging; the first home that he built was licked up by a prairie fire; the border war was raging at that time, and Mr. Widmer's home was in the heart of the region affected by the guerilla warfare which was the dominant feature of that conflict. He was a pronounced Free State man and served in the Kansas militia. After Jacob Widmer passed through the early days, and shortly after the Civil war, he began to prosper and became one of the well-to-do farmers of Johnson county, where he owned 180 acres of fine land, besides 240 acres in Sumner county. He died in
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1881, at the age of fifty-five years, and his wife passed away in 1907. To Jacob and Anna (Hartley) Widmer were born three children, two daughters who died quite young in Switzerland, and Albert, the subject of this sketch. Albert Widmer was reared on the home farm and attended the public school. After the death of his father, his mother removed to Spring Hill and Albert remained on the home place. He sold the Sumner county property, and bought 160 acres near the home place and 120 acres near Spring Hill. He followed general farming and always kept a good grade of stock and for years was interested in Durham and Short Horn cattle and raised many that were eligible to registration but as he was not specializing in fancy stock he did not give the registration matter much attention. Mr. Widmer re- mained on the home farm until October 28, 1914, when he moved to Spring Hill where he now resides. He has a comfortable home in Spring Hill besides his three farms in Spring Hill township. Mr. Wid- mer is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Grange, Fraternal Aid and Modern Woodmen of America. He is independent in politics and belongs to the Congregational church. Both he and his wife are members of the Rebekahs and the Order of Eastern Star. Mr. Widmer was married September 14, 1881, to Miss Hannah Jane Milliken, a daughter of Branson and Harriet (Shoup) Milliken. Mrs. Widmer is a Johnson county girl and was born near Olathe, March 21, 1861. Branson Milliken was a native of North Caro- lina, born in 1824, and died in Johnson county in 1886. His wife, Har- riet Shoup, was a native of Indiana, born in 1831 and died in 1902. They were married in Indiana in 1856, and came to Kansas. Branson Milliken and wife were parents of the following children: Sabitha; Isabel, now the widow of George Walker, Olathe; Mary Cathrine, widow of John Morrison, Olathe; James E., died in 1914; Amanda, died in 1890; Hannah Jane, wife of Albert Widmer ; Sarah Ann, married John Kelly; Hattie S. married Will Kelly; Allen R. resides in Spring Hill township; Ida Maude, widow of George Stevenson, Lawrence, Kan. To Albert Widmer and wife have been born two children, as follows: Ray Allen, born 1885, married Maude Peterson, is on a farm near the old home place in Spring Hill township, and Rex Earl, born 1890, married Goldie Day, and resides on the home farm. Mr. and Mrs. Widmer had the average experience in the early days of Kansas; they had their trials and struggles and have finally reached a position of affluence.
George T. Ellis, a successful business man of Spring Hill, is a native son of Kansas. He was born in Miami county, Kansas, October 18, 1871, and is a son of John and Eliza (Dunn) Ellis. John Ellis, the father, was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1838. He was a son of John and Mary Ellis, and John Ellis, Sr., was a son of George Ellis, a native of Ireland who settled in Pennsylvania. John Ellis, the father
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of George T. Ellis, of this sketch, grew to manhood in Pennsylvania and in 1864 enlisted in Company G, Seventy-fourth regiment, Penn- sylvania infantry. He had four brothers who also served in the Union army, one of them being a lieutenant in the Twelfth regiment, Kansas infantry. After the close of the war, or in 1866, John Ellis came to Kansas and filed on a quarter section of land in Miami county which was located about a half mile south of Spring Hill. After spending about two years in Kansas he returned to Pennsylvania and in 1868 married Eliza Dunn, a native of County Londonderry, Ireland, who came to America with her parents, Robert and Jane Dunn, when she was about ten years old. They located near Reedsville, in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. Robert Dunn was a farmer and remained in Pennsylvania about twenty years, and in 1870 came to Kansas, and bought land in Miami county, where he followed farming and pros- pered until the time of his death, 1883. His wife died in 1879. They were the parents of seven children, three of whom were born in Ire- land and the others in Pennsylvania. After his marriage John Ellis brought his bride to his Miami county claim where they engaged in farming. They endured all the hardships and inconveniences inci- dent to pioneer life, but they were the type of people who made up the host of early Kansas pioneers and were not easily discouraged. John Ellis finally became one of the prosperous and influential men of his community, and at his death owned 360 acres of land. He died March 6, 1913. George T. Ellis, whose name introduces this sketch, was the second of a family of four children. He grew to manhood on the home farm in Miami county and attended the public schools. When he was twenty-six years old he came to Johnson county and operated a farm of 240 acres which his father owned near Olathe. He remained on this farm four years when they sold it and bought another farm in Johnson county which George T. and his brother operated for eight years. In September, 1912, George T. Ellis, in partnership with J. L. Hoover, purchased the hardware business of O. W. Rhine- hart, of Spring Hill, and engaged in the hardware business. About nine months later Mr. Ellis bought his partner's interest and since that time has been the sole owner and proprietor of the business. He conducts a general hardware store, and has as complete a stock of hardware as can be found in the average town. He is also exten- sively engaged in the implement business and handles everything in the line of farm implements that the twentieth century farmer requires. Mr. Ellis is a stockholder in the Farmers State Bank of Spring Hill, of which he is secretary and a director. He has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for twenty-two years and is a Mason. Politically he is a Democrat and one of the progressive busi- ness men of Johnson county, and by his industry and progress has become a dominant factor in the community.
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William R. Rutter .- In the death of William R. Rutter, which oc- curred at his home in Spring Hill, July 23, 1914, Johnson county lost one of its leading citizens who had been a factor in the development of this section of Kansas for nearly half a century. Mr. Rutter was born on Prince Edward Island, May 29, 1830, and was a son of Thomas and Margaret (Rae) Rutter, the former a native of England and the latter of Scotland. Thomas Rutter was a ship builder and was engaged in that occupation on Prince Edward Island when William R., the sub- ject of this sketch, was born. Later the family went to Nova Scotia where the father also worked at his trade, and at an early day went to Massachusetts, locating at Leominster, where the parents spent their lives. William R. Rutter received a good common school education and after the family located at Boston he learned the cabinet maker's trade. In 1855 he came to Johnson county, Kansas, and bought a quarter section of land and after remaining in Johnson county about two years, he went to California in 1857, making the trip overland with ox teams and a wagon. He remained in California about three years. during which time he worked at his trade. He then returned to New England and after a few months' visit with his parents came to Kansas again, and engaged in farming in Johnson county where he was when the Civil war broke out. He then enlisted in a Kansas cavalry regiment and after a few months' service was discharged when he reenlisted and was stationed at Vicksburg, Miss., on detached duty until the war closed. He was taken prisoner once, but succeeded in escaping soon after being captured. Mr. Rutter was united in marriage in September, 1864, to Miss Laura J. Stiles. She is a native of Vermont, born January I, 1844, and is a daughter of B. H. and Rhoda (Pray) Stiles, natives of Vermont and descendants of early New England stock. Mrs. Rutter was a girl of fifteen when she came to Johnson county, Kansas, with her parents in 1859. They located on a farm which the father had preempted a year previously. B. H. Stiles lived but a few years after coming to Kansas. He died in 1865 and his wife passed away in 1870 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rutter began life at Spring Hill where the husband worked at his trade as a cabinet maker and car- penter. He built many of the first houses in Spring Hill and for a time lived on a farm about a mile from town, although he continued to work at his trade in town. In 1872 he engaged in the furniture and undertaking business and was very successful in all his business under- takings and for years did an extensive business in Spring Hill and accu- mulated a fortune. At his death he owned over 1,100 acres of land and was interested in various other enterprises in addition to his furni- ture and undertaking business and was a stockholder and director in the Spring Hill Banking Company. To Mr. and Mrs. Rutter were born three children, as follows: Anna R. married Willard Palmer and re- sides in Johnson county ; W. H., Topeka, Kan., and Margaret R.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
married J. E. Jamison, of Olathe. William R. Rutter was prominent in lodge circles, and was a Knights Templar Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, and for a number of years was grand master of his lodge. He also belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic at Spring Hill. He was a life-long Republican and a man who won the high regard and esteem of all who came in contact with him, either in a social or a business way. His estimable wife, who is typical of that high type of the pioneer women of Kansas, resides in her Spring Hill home where she has a host of friends. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
James Irvin, of Olathe, Kan., is a Johnson county pioneer who has resided in this county since 1869. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Center county, February 15, 1840. He is a son of John W. and Sarah (Johnson) Irvin, both natives of Pennsylvania. John W. Irvin was born in Center county and was a son of Guyon Irvin, a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, who immigrated to this country at an early day. James Irvin was one of a family of ten children, all of whom were born in Pennsylvania as follows: Elizabeth J .; Sarah B. married Isaac Burgher and died in Kansas City, Mo., in 1882; William J. died in 1906; John died at Shannon, Ill., in 1865; Nancy D. married William Dodds and resides at Shannon, Ill .; James, the subject of this sketch; Lott W. lived in St. Louis, Mo., when last heard of in 1904; George W. married Mary Riddle, of Shannon, Ill., and she died in Sedgwick county, Kansas; Susan P. married Gideon De Groff, of Shannon, Ill., and he is now deceased and she resides in St. Louis, Mo., and Mariah H. James Irvin received his education in the public schools of Penn- sylvania and Illinois, and began life as a farmer in Carroll county, Illinois, and was engaged in that vocation there during the years of 1868-9, and in the latter year came to Kansas with his brother, William. He located in Johnson county, about seven miles southwest of Olathe and three miles east of Gardner, in Gardner township. When he came to this place, it was wild and unimproved land, but in a few years he developed it to a high state of cultivation and made of it one of the best farms in Johnson county. Like all other Kansas farmers, he passed through the various periods of ups and downs, the good seasons and the bad; he remembers well when rates of interest were high and the prices of farm products were correspondingly low, in the seventies, for instance, when the farmer was paying 15 per cent. interest on his mort- gage, with corn at twenty cents per bushel. Mr. Irvin was very suc- cessful in his farming operations and remained on his farm until 1907, when he removed to Olathe, where he purchased a lot on the corner of Cherry and Poplar streets and erected one of the fine residences of the city. He owns 480 acres of fine farm land which is operated by renters. Mr. Irvin takes a keen interest in current events and political affairs, but has never aspired to hold political office. He was
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united in marriage in 1871 to Miss Mary LaShelle, of Shannon, Il1. She is a native of Danville, Pa. To Mr. and Mrs. Irvin have been born three children, two of whom died in infancy, and Jessie, who was born in 1874, married Rev. James H. Speer, October 10, 1900, and de- parted this life at Los Angeles, Calif., July 27, 1915, and her remains are buried at Orange, Calif. Mr. Irvin is a director of the First National Bank of Olathe, and he and Mrs. Irvin are members of the Presbyterian church.
George S. Sowers, of Spring Hill, is a native son of Johnson county, and was born in the historic "Old Hotel" at Spring Hill, May 13, 1867. This ancient hotel, which receives extended mention elsewhere in this volume, is the second oldest building standing in Johnson county today. It was built in 1857 by J. B. Hovey, who sold it to William Sowers and it is still in the Sowers family. George S. Sowers, the subject of this sketch. is a son of William and Mathilda (Rose) Sowers. William Sowers was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1833, and was a son of Washington and Elizabeth (Paxton) Sowers. Washing- ton Sowers was a native of Pennsylvania and a son of Allbright Sowers, concerning whom very little is definitely known. However, from the meager data at hand relating to him, it is supposed that he was born in Anne Arundel county, Maryland, as he is known to have lived in that county, about twelve miles from Baltimore, in early life. He was of Ger- man descent. William Sowers, the father of George S., came with his parents, when a boy, to Perry county, Ohio, and there grew to manhood on a farm. He was reared amidst the primitive conditions of pioneer life in Ohio, but was determined to obtain some education which he did under adverse circumstances. While attending school he split rails to pay for his board and after he reached manhood worked for fifty cents a day. July 5, 1855, William Sowers and Ann Mathilda Rose were married in Ohio. She was a daughter of Samuel and Mathilda (Skinner) Rose, natives of Virginia, the former born March 27, 1806, and the latter August 30, 1809. Samuel Rose was a plantation overseer in Virginia. His wife, Mathilda Skinner, was a descendant of French Huguenot stock. Ann Mathilda Rose, wife of William Sowers, was born February 14, 1834, and when she was two years old, or in 1836, her parents removed to Perry county, Ohio. In 1857 William Sowers went to Iowa and drove the entire distance with a team and wagon, from Perry county, Ohio, and was six weeks making the trip. They settled near Morning Sun, Iowa. After remaining there about three years they loaded their goods into a prairie schooner, April 15, 1860, and started for the Territory of Kansas, and after a long and tedious trip, reached Johnson county and settled about a mile from where the town of Spring Hill now stands. Like most of the other early settlers in Kansas, they were practically without means and for a time the father worked as engineer in a saw-mill and suffered the many hard-
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ships incident to pioneer life which alone would have been enough without adding to it the terrors of the border war, which was the principal industry in that section of Kansas at the time. Mr. Sowers was a Free State man and belonged to the local military organization. In 1864, he purchased the old hotel mentioned before and paid for it out of funds which he received for keeping stage horses. He was also en- gaged in the business of freighting in the early days. After the war was over and the country settled down to peaceful life again, he engaged in farming and stock raising and became a very extensive and prosper- ous cattle man, his brand, "W. X. S.," being a familiar mark of owner- ship among cattle men in eastern Kansas in the early days. He pros- pered and at the time of his death owned about 1,400 acres of land. He was a Republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He deserves to be rated as one of the hardy pioneers of Kansas who by their courage laid the foundation not only of Johnson county, but of the great State of Kansas, to whom the present and future generations should be grateful. William Sowers died at Spring Hill, December 28, 1906, and his wife and companion through all these years passed away, March 27, 1914. They were the parents of nine children. George S. Sowers, whose name introduces this sketch, received his education in the common schools of Johnson county and the Gem City Business College, at Quincy, Ill., graduating from that institution April 8, 1889. He then entered the employ of the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Missouri Railroad Company as paymaster's clerk and served that company two and one-half years. He then worked in the general office of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Company, at Dallas, Texas, for two years when he went with the Kansas City Southern Railroad Company, as clerk in the main- tenance department and while in the employ of that company was located at Mena, Texarkana and Kansas City. In 1901 he returned to Spring Hill and since that time has been connected with the management of his father's place. In recent years Mr. Sowers has devoted himself quite ex- tensively to inventing various devices for which he has an unusual talent. His "check and disbursing cash book" is a device worthy of great consid- eration, and his "train check" is a clever invention. He has also invented many other devices including covers for traction engine wheels, wagon box rain cover, certified identification photograph, time book, etc. Mr. Sowers was married June 29, 1899, to Miss Mary K. Canfield, a native of Sedalia, Mo., born January 29, 1877. She is a daughter of A. T. and Har- riett (Phelps) Canfield, of Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. Sowers is a land owner and a director in the Spring Hill Banking Company and in politics is absolutely independent.
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