USA > Kansas > Leavenworth County > History of Leavenworth County Kansas > Part 33
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William Brune attended the Star school in District No. 62 and has lived in Alexandria Township all of his life. He has many friends here. He farms the home place of 480 acres, besides farming 270 acres else- where. He has 100 acres in meadow, twenty acres in alfalfa, having four cuttings last year, and 280 acres in wheat. He has forty Shorthorn cattle on the place and seventy head of Poland-China hogs. The farm is mostly second bottom land and the remainder is upland. Mr. Brune has two tenant houses on the place and usually has three form hands em- ployed. The farm is situated one mile north and one and one-half miles west of Jarbalo, Kansas, and is one of the most excellent stock and grain farms in the township.
Mr. Brune is one of the substantial and progressive citizens of the county who has done his part in stock and grain production of this section.
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HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
John S. Campbell, deceased, was an enterprising and progressive farmer of Alexandria Township for many years. He was born in Warren County, Missouri, in 1833 and reared there, coming to Kansas in 1859 and settling in Leavenworth County, Alexandria Township. In 1860 he was married to Sarah F. Henderson, a native of Virginia, who was born October 16, 1843, and who now lives on the home farm two and one-half miles northwest of Jarbalo. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell moved to this farm in 1862. Mr. Campbell owned 278 acres at the time of his death, Novem- ber 15, 1893, which had heavy timber on most of it at the time he pur- chased the place. He improved the land and did general farming. He was a very progressive citizen, and was a charter member of the first grange organized in this township. He also served on the school board a number of years.
Mr. and Mrs. John S. Campbell enjoyed the pioneer home life, the wide prairies and the winding Indian trails. The Indian reservation was one and one-half miles from their home, and the Delaware Indian women came to their home peddling baskets, shells and bead ornaments, carrying their papooses on their backs. Mrs. Campbell relates many interesting experiences of those days. She is still active, has good eyesight and does her own house work.
The Fall Creek Cemetery adjoins the Campbell farm. Jesse Hen- derson, a brother of Mrs. Campbell, was buried there in 1856, the first burial in this cemetery. It was first used as a private cemetery, but in 1885 was made a public burying ground.
Mr. and Mrs. John S. Campbell had the following children: Anna, the wife of William O. Bell, of Alexandria Township; Addie, who lives at home and was formerly a teacher of the county; Eugene, of Kansas City, Missouri, who married Viola Banner; James H., who lives at home and manages the home place, a carpenter by trade; and John T. Campbell, who for nine years has been in government service at Yellowstone Park and at present is a guide at Geyser Basin. John T. went to Dakota in 1912, and from there to Montana and the same year to Yellowstone Park with A. W. Miles, a nephew of General Miles. He worked as barnkeeper for five years, and, when automobiles took the place of horses, Mr. Camp- bell was made night watchman to look after the tourists, locating and registering them and overseeing the park in general. The trip through the park from north or west entrance takes four days, and from east entrance takes five days. There are about 400 buffalo in the tame herd.
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Twenty-five of these are kept in the pasture or corral. Other animals in the park are elk, deer, antelope, bear, moose, mountain sheep, mountain lions, coyotes, and many fur bearing animals such as beaver, mink, fox and martin. Mr. Campbell spends from two to three months each winter season at his home in Alexandria Township, but he is very fond of the West and one of his favorite poems is, "Out Where the West Begins."
John N. Bollin, deceased, was a well-to-do and prominent farmer and stockman of Leavenworth County, Kansas, and a descendant from a well known pioneer family, was born in Kickapoo Township, December 29, 1862. He was a son of Jerome and Jacobine (Schulthies) Bollin, both natives of Germany, but who settled in Leavenworth County, Kansas in pioneer days. They reared one son and three daughters, two daughters now living: Mrs. Michael Malloy and Mrs. Joe Klasinski, of Leavenworth County.
John N. Bollin was a farmer all of his life. He owned 660 acres of land, 360 acres in Kickapoo Township. He specialized in the breeding of Poland-China hogs and was a successful exhibitor at county fairs. He was a very enterprising farmer, and made quite a success in his field of work. In politics, Mr. Bollin was a Democrat, and for four years was county commissioner, and he also served as township trustee of Kickapoo Township. He was a member of the Catholic Church, the Modern Wood- men of America, Knights and Ladies of Security, of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and the Knights of Columbus.
Mr. Bollin was twice married, his first wife being Clara Arron, who was born in Pennsylvania, the daughter of John and Mary Arron. Mrs. Clara Bollin died in 1903. To that union, ten children were born, seven now living, as follows: John J., of Kickapoo Township; Aloysius R., Frank J., Clara H., George A., Florence M., Walter J., all of Kickapoo Township.
In 1905, Mr. Bollin was married to Elizabeth Hoberg, a native of Kickapoo Township, Leavenworth County, a daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth (Litch) Hoberg, natives of Germany and Indiana, respectively. They came to Leavenworth County in the fifties, where Mr. Hoberg en- gaged in farming. Mrs. Elizabeth Bollin was educated in the district schools , and, in 1894, entered the Cushing Hospital at Leavenworth, Kan- sas, and became a nurse, which occupation she followed until her marriage in 1905. To Mr. Bollin's second wife was born one child, Mary J., who now lives at home. Mr. Bollin died February 10, 1918.
J. N. BOLLIN
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Mrs. Bollin owns 200 acres, which she rents. In 1920, she erected a thoroughly modern, two story residence, with hot and cold water, and with Delco lighting system. She also built a barn and other necessary improvements. Mrs. Bollin is a member of the Eastern Star, her father having been a Mason. He was a prominent man in Kickapoo Township. Mrs. Bollin is a capable woman, and is well known throughout the county, where she has many friends. She is a member of the Baptist Church.
Martin L. Stigleman, a respected citizen of Alexandria Township for many years, is now proprietor of Variety Grove Farm, near McLouth, Kansas. He was born June 30, 1840, six miles northwest of Richmond, Indiana. He served in the Civil War, enlisting in Company K, Fifty- seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He served in the war for two years, and on September 24, 1868, he and his wife started with a team of two year old mules hitched to a spring wagon for Kansas, reaching Springdale November 3, 1868, where they stopped.
Mr. Stigleman rented land here for a few years, and bought his first eighty acres about the year 1870 from the railroad company, paying $4.00 per acre. He then bought forty acres where his residence stands, and later purchased another forty forty acres and an additional eighty acres, making a total of 240 acres in section 2, township 10, range 20. All of the improvements were put on the place by Mr. Stigleman. He has a good residence, barn, seventy by forty-two feet; tool shed, thirty-six by forty feet for his farm implements; cribs and granaries. Mr. Stigleman has been an extensive stock raiser and feeder. He has handled the O. I. C. hogs for several years, and raised the Shire horses and Shorthorn cattle. The place is well watered, there being a fine well at the house and stock water in all the fields. The farm name is derived from a grove of trees on the farm of many varieties, which are not native here, one especially unusual tree that Mr. Stigleman has set out being the Balming Gilead.
Mr. Stigleman served as clerk of the school board for twenty years in his district. Jesse Hall, one of the editors of this volume, got his first and second schools when Mr. Stigleman was on the board.
Mr. Stigleman has made a success in life by hard work. He learned to write on a slab in a log school house in Indiana. He now writes a plain, legible hand, far better than the average person, though he is (25)
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HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
eighty-one years old. He remembers many interesting events of early days, and recalls the struggles he had to undergo. He lived here when he had to drive to Leavenworth, a distance of eighteen miles, for pro- visions, and when he hauled hay to Leavenworth for $2.00 per ton. Gal- vanized barb wire sold for fourteen cents per pound and corn for fourteen cents per bushel, and he had to pay twenty-five cents for weighing on the city scales. One hundred bushels of corn, after weighing four loads, as twenty-five bushels was a load at that time, netted only $13.00, not sufficient money to pay for a spool of barb wire. It was slow progress in those days with interest at twelve per cent, but Mr. Stigleman by his thrift and industry was able to overcome all obstacles.
June 8, 1868, Mr. Stigleman was married to Catherine Byers, who died July 19, 1869. He was married the second time January 25, 1875 to Mary Robinson, a native of Canada, and daughter of Mrs. Lizzie Robin- son, a widow who lived at Hoge Station. Mr. and Mrs. Stigleman have had six children : Elizabeth, Viola and Mabel, all deceased; Bertie, the wife of Daniel Jeffries of Tonganoxie Township, has five children, as follows: Ray, Lottie, Homer, Elsie and Lucille; and John, who farms the home place, and is a progressive stockman and farmer, also clerk of the school board of his district. He raises hogs, cattle, horses and mules. He is a member of the Farmers' Union at Brown school house. Mr. and Mrs. Stigleman's daughter Mabel, who is deceased, married Henry Murr. They had two children: William and Ida.
Frank Uhlrich, a progressive and enterprising farmer of Alexandria Township, proprietor of Summit Home Farm, was born in Stranger Town- ship October 21, 1876, the son of Theobald and Mary Magdalene (Roth) Uhlrich. Mr. and Mrs. Theobald Uhlrich were married in Germany and came to America, first settling in Missouri and later moving to Potta- watomie County, Kansas, where they lived a few years, and finally locat- ing in Leavenworth County on the farm now owned by Frank Uhlrich, formerly known as the McCoy farm, and which contained 160 acres. Theobald Uhlrich later added sixty acres. He was a prosperous farmer and stockman and died in April, 1899 at the age of sixty-five years. His wife died June 16, 1920 at the age of seventy-nine years. Both are buried at St. Thomas Church in Springdale, Kansas.
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Mr. and Mrs. Theobald Uhlrich were the parents of the following children: Anthony and John, of Alexandria Township; Frank, of this sketch; and Leo, of Washington County, Kansas.
Frank Uhlrich attended the school of District No. 76 and helped his father on the farm until the latter's death, when he took charge of the place and continues farming and stock raising. The farm is well im- proved and has a splendid spring. A creek also runs through the farm.
Mr. Uhlrich was married August 6, 1907 to Lena Boillat of Alexandria Township, a daughter of August and Mary (Meyer) Boillet. The former died in 1906 and is buried at Friends Church Cemetery and the latter lives with her children.
Mr. and Mrs. UhIrich have five children: Joseph John, Nellie Mary, Rose Loretta, Bernard Francis and Lawrence Leo. The Uhlrich family are well known in the township and are highly regarded among their many friends and acquaintances.
Fred Burre is a leading and scientific horticulturist of High Prairie Township, and proprietor of Burre Fruit Farm of sixty-nine acres. He is a native of this township, born January 12, 1875, the son of John and Kate Burre, who were both natives of Switzerland. John Burre came to America in 1870 and settled in Ohio, where he lived for one year, when he came to Leavenworth County. His wife came here in 1872. She died in 1912 and he died in 1917. Both are buried in Mt. Muncie Cemetery.
Mr. and Mrs. John Burre had three children: Fred, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. G. Rozendal, the proprietor of the green house on Wash- ington and Ohio avenue; Mrs. J. H. Mayer, who runs a small fruit farm and garden on the home place west of Leavenworth.
Fred Burre received his education in the public schools of Leaven- worth, and also attended the commercial school there. He was formerly in the truck business, but since 1916 has specialized in the growing of apples, but also raises other fruits and berries. Mr. Burre is ably assisted in operating the farm by his two sons, John and Fred, Jr. They have twenty-four acres of bearing age apple trees, thirty-three acres of one, two and three year old trees; four acres of strawberries among the young trees. Mr. Burre has sprayed his trees for the past eight years, and follows the plan outlined by the State Agricultural College, which school John Burre attended, taking special training in this line of work.
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Mr. Burre had the largest crop of apples he ever raised last year, his principal fruits being Jonathan, Winesaps, Black Twigs, Delicious and Grimes Golden. He packs his fruit scientifically, and gets the highest price on the market. The home people patronize his orchard when order- ing first class fruit. The crop of 1920 amounted to more than $6,000.00, which shows the success Mr. Burre has made of his business.
Mr. Burre has a high pressure sprayer which he uses. He buys his berry boxes, with other growers, in car lots. His apples are sold under the name of "Sunflower Brand." Mr. Burre has a storehouse of concrete, which holds about one and one-half car loads.
Mr. Burre has been treasurer of the Leavenworth Fruit and Truck Growers' Association since its organization in 1914; has been a member of the Farm Bureau since its organization in 1901 and is also a member of the Lutheran Church at Leavenworth.
March 7, 1901, Mr. Burre was married to Ida Maase of High Prairie Township. She is a native of Germany, but came to America with her parents when she was one year of age. Her father and mother, Anton and Bertha Maase, are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Burre have seven children, all at home: John and Fred, Jr., who assist their father; Helen, Anton, Louis, Edward and Arthur. Mr. Burre has recently erected a . colonial style, modern, $10,000 home.
The family are splendid citizens of the township, and have many friends.
Dennis A. Hassett, a well known farmer, is a native of Alexandria Township, and a descendant of an early settler here. He was born Sep- tember 1, 1860, the son of David and Margaret (Dwyer) Hassett. His father was a native of County Cork, Ireland, and his mother came from County Kerry, Ireland. They were married in New York about the year 1855, and came to Galena, Illinois, in 1856, and in 1859 they came to Leavenworth, Kansas. David Hassett worked in Leavenworth for a while and then bought eighty acres of land, now part of the home place of Dennis A. Hassett, and lived there until his death, March 25, 1884, and his wife died in April, 1904. Both are buried at St. Thomas Cemetery in Springdale, Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. David Hassett were the parents of the following chil- dren : David, of Oak Mills, Missouri; Mollie, who died at the age of eight
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years; Dennis, the subject of this sketch; Frank, who died in January, 1918, at the age of fifty-three years, and who left a widow, Mary J. (Moses) Hassett, who lives in Alexandria Township; James, who is a farmer near Springdale; Nellie, the wife of John Milett, who is a railroad man in St. Joseph, Missouri; and Eliza, who died in infancy.
Dennis A. Hassett was educated in the Kerr school district, and has been engaged in farming since early manhood, and has lived on his present farm all of his life. He bought the home place of eighty acres in 1905 and has since bought an additional eighty acres. All of the improvements were put on the farm by him and his father. He has a wind mill that pumps water one-fourth of a mile to tanks in his feed lot and his barn. This wind mill has been in service for twenty-two years. Mr. Hassett does general farming, and stock raising and is meeting with success. The residence is seven and one-half miles from McLouth and one and three- fourths miles from Springdale, and he receives his mail on Route Three out of McLouth. Mr. Hassett is a member of the St. Thomas Catholic Church and belongs to the Holy Name Society at Springdale, where Father Healy conducts services.
Dennis A. Hassett was married in 1901 to Alice Milett, a daughter of James and Johanna (Orchard) Milett, both of whom are deceased. James Milett and his wife came to Kansas from Ireland, he being a native of Kilkenny and she of County Wexford. They were married in Ireland in 1863 and then came to Kansas and purchased a five acre tract of land at Fairmont, and, while there, Mr. Milett engaged in railroad work. He was a member of the State Militia. He died in October, 1913, and his wife died in February, 1904. They are both buried at Hoge Cemetery.
Mr. and Mrs. Milett were the parents of the following children: Julia, deceased, the wife of Samuel Perry, also deceased; James and John, who are deceased; John, II, of St. Joseph, Missouri; Edward, of Denver Colo- rado; Mollie, the wife of Jacob Aikright; Mrs. Kate Connors, of Rawlins, Wyoming; Alice Hassett; William, deceased; Anna, the wife of John Hall; Frank, of Leavenworth, Kansas; Charles of Tonganoxie, and who is prin- cipal of the Tonganoxie schools and who married Ollie McPherson, of this county.
Mr. and Mrs. Hassett have four children: Mary, Walter, John and Margaret. The family are well respected citizens and stand high in the community.
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HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
John W. Wright, a native of Roanoke County, Virginia, was born July 6, 1858, the son of E. A. Wright, who was accidentally killed in Vir- ginia in 1876 by a run-away horse. He was a Union soldier during the Civil War, enlisting from Virginia. He was a miller by trade and was furloughed home to work for the government and, while there, was cap- tured by the Confederates, but escaped shortly after and joined the Mel- ton's Reserves just prior to the close of the war. Mr. Wright came to Kansas in 1886 and died here about November, 1900 and is buried at White Church in High Prairie Township.
John W. Wright came to Leavenworth June 18, 1883 from Virginia and for a number of years worked by the day. About thirty years ago, he began contracting and building, doing work mostly for the government, in which work he is still actively engaged. He built the last one-half of the Fort Logan H. Roots Post in Arkansas in 1906 and has done a large amount of work at Fort Leavenworth. He has also built a number of buildings in this city, including the Elks Building, the Crancer hardware buildings, the Hesse sales room building and many others. Among the buildings he constructed at Fort Leavenworth are the artillery stables, quartermaster stables, employes quarters, engineers' storage shed, and the General Funston residence.
Mr. Wright was elected commissioner of streets and public improve- ments at the April election 1919 and made an excellent official. Substan- tial improvements have been made under his direction, and a good bridge of concrete and stone at Twentieth and Dakota streets is now under con- struction. Mr. Wright is not in favor of wasting money on temporary re- pairs, but believes that public improvements should always be perman- ently built. Mr. Wright has just overseen the paving of Delaware, Fourth avenue and North Esplanade with asphalt concrete, and these streets are now evidences of the kind of work in which he believes. He has just completed the remodeling of the offices in the city hall with no cost to the city except the actual labor and material. Mr. Wright superintended this job without charge, and these offices are now in fine shape and excel- lent condition. He has done his utmost in every way to get full value for all public money spent.
In 1878, Mr. Wright was married to Alice M. Hall, a native of Roanoke County, a daughter of William and Eliza Hall. Mr. and Mrs Wright have three sons: Frank W., who married Clara Powell of Leavenworth; Luther M., who married Minnie Weavis of Tennessee, and Charles R., who married
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Pearl Roberson of Leavenworth. All of the sons are with their father in the contracting business.
A. A. Unmessig, a substantial farmer and stock man of High Prairie Township, and proprietor of Clover Ridge Stock Farm, was born in Platte County, Missouri, in 1878, the son of R. A. and Rosalie (Myers) Unmes- sig; the former died in Platte County in October, 1917, at the age of seven- ty-two years. For eight years R. A. Unmessig lived in High Prairie Town- ship. His wife now lives at Weston, Missouri and is sixty-eight years of age.
Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Unmessig had the following children: Mrs. Anna L. Woods of near Weston, Missouri; Mrs. Elizabeth Fulk of Beverly, Mis- souri; Mrs. Dollie Spinner of Weston, Missouri; W. H., of High Prairie Township; Mary Unmessig of Weston, Missouri; Minnie Unmessig of Weston, Missouri; Mrs. Dora Brill of Weston, Missouri, and A. A., of this sketch.
A. A. Unmessig spent his boyhood on his father's farm in Platte County, Missouri, and was educated in this county, first coming to Leaven- worth County, Kansas in 1901 with his father. In 1909 he went to Texas and engaged in raising potatoes at Simonton. He and his brother W. H. Unmessig bought land at this place, which they sold when they returned to Leavenworth in 1918, and he bought his present farm of O. G. Ballard. This farm is four and one-half miles southwest of Leavenworth and con- sists of 195 acres. The farm has good improvements. The barn is ninety- eight by forty-two by twenty-four feet to the eaves and was used by Mr. Ballard for a tobacco barn, for which purpose it was built. The residence is a good two-story building, and the other improvements consist of differ- ent buildings necessary for farm use. The land is well watered. Mr. Un- messig farms the entire place, using a tractor, with which he does most of his plowing. He has fifty-five acres of wheat, forty acres in corn, twenty- five acres in oats, six acres of alfalfa and sixteen acres of clover. Mr. Unmessig raises Poland-China hogs, which are elegible for registry.
Mr. Unmessig was married in 1909 to Harriet Rhodes of Leavenworth County, a daughter of J. A. and Amanda Rhodes; the former is deceased and the latter lives in High Prairie Township. Mr. and Mrs. Unmessig have one son, Purcel.
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Mr. Unmessig is a charter member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Boling, Kansas, and was formerly a member of this lodge at Weston, Missouri.
Mr. Unmessig is a progressive farmer and his farm is one of the most productive and well kept farms of the township. The farm is fenced into lots for pasture for the stock and a never failing spring furnishes water the entire year.
William Adams, a prominent farmer of Kickapoo Township, was born in Atchison County, Kansas in Walnut Township, February 16, 1880, the son of Joseph C. and Emma (Oliphant) Adams, natives of Virginia and Atchison County, respectively. William Adams was the second of five children.
Joseph Adams came to Kansas City, Missouri in 1848, and was a freighter in early days from Fort Leavenworth to points west, and during the Civil War, he was on the plains. About 1868 or 1870, Mr. Adams settled on a farm in Atchison County, living there until he retired and moved to Leavenworth, where he died March, 1918, at the age of eighty- eight years. He was a large land owner, owning land in Atchison and Leavenworth counties. His parents, William Adams and wife, came to Kansas City, Missouri in 1848, and bought 200 acres of land, where Fifty- ninth and Sixty-first streets are now located.
Emma Adams, the mother of William Adams, was born about 1855 in Atchison County, Kansas, and died January 7, 1918.
William Adams was educated in the district schools, and in 1897, was graduated from the Atchison County High School at Effingham, Kansas. He then took a business course at the business college of Atchison, Kan- sas, and was graduated from that college in 1899. After his education, he returned to the farm, and, in 1901 moved to his present place, which he bought in 1912 from his father. This place is well improved with neat and well kept buildings. The residence is modern and consists of two stories, and the land is very valuable. Mr. Adams is a very successful farmer, and specializes in raising pure bred hogs. In politics, he is a Democrat, and is the committeeman for Kickapoo Precinct District. Mr. Adams is a member of the Methodist Church, and of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a Shriner.
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