History of Leavenworth County Kansas, Part 35

Author: Hall, Jesse A; Hand, LeRoy T
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Topeka : Historical Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 684


USA > Kansas > Leavenworth County > History of Leavenworth County Kansas > Part 35


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Meyer were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Clara Schermbeck, of Leavenworth; Charles F., the subject of this review; Henry, of Platte County, Missouri; John, also of Platte County, Missouri; Mrs. Flora Knollman, of Potter, Kansas, and William, of Platte County, Missouri.


Charles Frederick Meyer spent his boyhood days in Platte County, where he also received his education. He came to Leavenworth County,


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Kansas, in 1898 and rented land for a while, buying his present home of 160 acres in 1901. This is one of the best kept farms near Basehor and is located three-fourths mile from this town on the Leavenworth road. All the improvements on the place at the time Mr. Meyer purchased the farm were an old house and a shed. In 1907 he built a nice two story, seven room residence, one good barn, granary, garage and poultry and smoke houses, all in good repair. The farm is well watered and the land fertile. Mr. Meyer raises cattle, having a registered white face male; Poland-China hogs; Barred Plymouth Rock chickens; and does general farming. Mr. Meyer is rated as one of the practical men of the com- munity, and is recognized as a substantial citizen.


February 21, 1900, Mr. Meyer was married to Louise Knetter, a daughter of Fred and Anna Knetter, both of whom have lived in Wyan- dotte County, Kansas, for forty-five years, on a farm two and one-half miles north of Piper, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Knetter have the following children : Rebecca, who lives at home; Fred, of Wyandotte County; Mrs. Meyer; Henry and William, of Wyandotte County; Mrs. Anna Jenicke, of Leavenworth; Mrs. Sophia Vering, of Wolcott, Kansas; Minnie, who lives at home; John, of Wyandotte County.


Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have three children living: Louise, Alfred and Marie, all at home with their parents and one, Freda, who died at the age of four years.


Joel Cheatwood, a well known and honored pioneer of this section, was born in Stokes County, North Carolina, October 11, 1831, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Crumpler) Cheatwood, both of whom died in Owen County, Indiana, several years ago.


Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Cheatwood were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Rhoda Aley; William; Irving; James and Joel, who are twins; Wesley; Thomas, who has not been heard from since he volun- teered in the Civil War in Indiana; Jefferson; Elizabeth; Mary; Henry; Emily and Nancy. James and Joel Cheatwood are the only ones living of the thirteen children.


Joel Cheatwood located in Kansas in 1857, and in 1865 bought 103 acres of land in Delaware Township, just north of Fairmont, from George Stagers, for $2,200.00, which land he still owns. Since then he has added 137 acres, making a total of 240 acres. Mr. Cheatwood improved the


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place and did general farming and stock raising, and has made a success in life by hard work. Although he is eighty-nine years of age, he is able to read without glasses fairly well, and feels fine. He moved to Fairmont in 1901, buying a home where he now lives. Mr. Cheatwood remembers many interesting incidents of pioneer days, and when he came to Kansas the Delaware Indians were on reservations here, and he says they were quite friendly. Mr. Cheatwood says that when he was eighteen years of age, he worked for twenty-five cents per day, and in a brick yard, work- ing hard with long hours. James Cheatwood located in Kansas in 1856, and he and his brother have always lived near each other. They are as well known as any early settlers here, and have many friends. They are so similar in appearance that, when they are dressed alike, even their own acquaintances and friends can scarcely distinguish them apart.


On January 20, 1861, Joel Cheatwood married Rowena Barker, a native of Monroe County, Illinois, born December 8, 1841. In 1847 her parents moved to Platte County, Missouri. Her father and mother were Abner and Nancy (Gilman) Barker; her mother died in Illinois and her father married the second time to Elizabeth Steigers, who died in Leaven- worth County, Kansas. Her father died in Platte County, Missouri. Mrs. Cheatwood is the only one living of seven children, and she is active and enjoys life for her age. The other children of Mr. and Mrs. Barker were Milan, who died at the age of seventy-four; Lysander, who died in Kansas City, Missouri, when seventy-one years of age; Philander S .; Rhoda; Newton and Nancy. Taylor Barker, a half brother of Mrs. Cheat- wood, lives at Fairmont, Kansas.


Mr. and Mrs. Cheatwood have seven children: James M., of Fair- mont; Ella E., the wife of Dr. Elijah Jones, of Phoenix, Arizona; Sarah B. Rice, deceased; Dora, the widow of Frank Selder, who makes her home with her parents; Cora, the wife of Louis Neudeck, of Kansas City, Mis- souri; Inez V., the wife of John Rader, of Platte City, Missouri.


Mr. and Mrs. Cheatwood have the following grandchildren: Leslie E. Selder of Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Rowena Ruth of Litteral, Missouri ; Mrs. Gertrude Viola Thorson; Frank Arthur Thorson; Stillio Frederick Thorson ; Mrs. Nina Cheatwood Myers of Fairmont; Elijah J. Jones; Irene Moore; Clarence A. Neudeck of Kansas City, Missouri; and Mrs. Mamie Burgess of Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Cheatwood have four great grandchildren: Evalyn and Robert Jones; Mildred and Joie V. Bur- gess.


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Mrs. Cheatwood has an interesting picture, showing five generations, also a photograph of two pairs of twins-the Cheatwood brothers, and the two daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Cheatwood-Dora and Cora.


Mr. and Mrs. Cheatwood celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary January 20, 1921. They have lived long and useful lives and are highly honored citizens of this township.


William Walden, who is proprietor of Maple Grove Grain Farm, one of the best grain farms of Fairmont Township, was born in Osage County, Missouri, February 1, 1857, the son of Margaret (Fry) Walden. His father, William Walden died in Osage County, when William was an in- fant, and Mrs. Walden married Ferdinand Vogel, and William Walden was raised by them.


William Walden came to Kansas when a young man, in August, 1876, and settled in Fairmont Township, working by the month for different farmers, among whom were George Stewart, for whom he worked for $12.00 per month, Owen Dunbar, Emanuel Hagerman and others. He then rented the Mulvane farm, now owned by Otto Meyers, and an eighty- acre tract from Mickel and Kellar. He moved to his present farm, which he owns, in 1893. Mr. Walden bought this place in 1919 and has one of the nice farms of this township. It consists of 160 acres, all well im- proved. He has a good residence, one large barn, granary, garage, wind mill, which pumps water to the feed lots, and other necessary buildings. The place is nicely drained both to the south and north. Mr. Walden raises mostly wheat, and also raises cattle and hogs, and is very success- ful. Mr. Walden has also taken a prominent part in local affairs and was clerk of the township board for twelve years with Ernest Ebert and E. L. Marshal, and he has also served on the school board for more than ten years.


Mr. Walden was first married to Augusta Radloff, whose parents were early settlers in this township and she was born and reared here. She is now deceased and is buried at Glenwood Cemetery. By this marriage, Mr. Walden has two children: Edward of High Prairie Township and Lizzie, the wife of Albert Kraus of Wabaunsee County, Kansas.


Mr. Walden was married the second time to Agnes Muller in 1887. She is a native of Leavenworth. Mr. and Mrs. Walden have seven children living: Alma, the wife of LeRoy Ballard of Topeka, Kansas; Louise, the


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wife of Clarence Jackaminny of Leavenworth; Dorothy, the wife of Homer Disster of Topeka ; Clara, who lives at home; Walter of Fairmont, Kansas, who married Edith Coburn, and Harry, at home. One child, Minnie, died in 1908.


John P. Klamm, a progressive farmer of Basehor, Kansas, Fairmont Township, is a native of Platte County, Missouri, born November 21, 1855, the son of Peter and Margaret (Brenner) Klamm. Peter Klamm settled in Platte County, in 1844 and owned and improved a farm four miles east of Parkville. He died there in 1863, and his wife died in Fairmont Town- ship in 1903.


Mr. and Mrs. Peter Klamm were the parents of the following chil- dren : Mrs. Catherine Kraus, who died in Kansas City, Missouri; Elizabeth, deceased, who married Phillip Klamm of Platte County ; Phillip E. of Base- hor, Kansas, and John P., the subject of this sketch.


John P. Klamm spent his boyhood in Platte County, and attended school there, coming to Leavenworth, Kansas in 1883 and settling in Fairmont Township. He bought his first land of 160 acres in 1882, which he afterward sold and bought 240 acres south of Fairmont, where he made his home for thirty-two years. He made many improvements here, consisting of a two-story residence, large barn forty-eight by seventy feet, granary, thirty-two by forty-eight feet, and other buildings for farm use. The farm is well watered, and is an excellent stock farm. Mr. Klamm engaged in general farming and stock raising and was very suc- cessful. His son, William E. Klamm farms this place at present and is rais- ing Hereford cattle, from which the place received its name-"Klamm's Hereford Farm."


In 1913, Mr. Klamm bought eighty acres where he now lives, ad- joining the town site of Basehor. He farms ten acres, but rents the re- mainder. This place is nicely improved, with a modern six-room bungalow, and beautiful yard with shade trees. Mr. Klamm owned the first farm electric light plant ever operated at Basehor.


Mr. Klamm is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Fairmont, Kansas and for fifteen years served on the school board.


In 1880, Mr. Klamm was married to Emilie Eckert of Platte County, Missouri, and they have four children: Rosa, who attended and later graduated at Emporia, Kansas, now the wife of Dean Duffy, of Idaho;


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Lena, a graduate of Baldwin College, Kansas, and who teaches in the high school at Basehor, Kansas; William who lives on the home place, and married Helen Ebert; and Arthur, a farmer of Fairmont Township, who married Olive Starnes of Fairmont. He is a graduate of Kansas Uni- versity and for four years taught school in the Philippine Islands, and oper- ated a store there for one year.


Mr. and Mrs. John Klamm are now living practically a retired life and enjoying the fruits of well spent lives.


Dietrich Kruse, an enterprising farmer and stock raiser of Easton Township, is a native of Westphalia, Germany, born January 20, 1865, the son of William and Christena (Bodenberg) Kruse, and the sixth of nine children, one girl and eight boys, three of the boys coming to the United States and settling here. The father was a farmer in Germany.


Dietrich Kruse left his native land in 1882 and settled in Madison County, Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand for two years. Owing to ill health, he returned to Germany, where he consulted the family doctor, who advised him that if he returned to the United States, he should seek a different climate than where he lived the two years he was in this country. In 1886 he returned to the United States and located in Atchison County, Kansas, and worked there for eight years as a farm hand. He then bought an eighty acre farm two and one-half miles south of Huron, Kansas, later adding eighty additional acres. In the spring of 1911, he sold out, and bought his present farm of 240 acres in Easton Township, which is a well improved place. He bought this farm from Fred Ode, and Mr. Ode made all of the improvements. Mr. Kruse also spent about $1,500.00 on improvements. He has remodeled his residence. Mr. Kruse is a good manager, which, together with hard work, has made him successful. In politics, he is a Republican and is a member of the Lutheran Church.


January 22, 1895, Mr. Kruse married Christena Gieseking, who was born in Germany, March 31, 1867, and died March 15, 1918. Six children were born to this union, all at home: William, Fred, Herman, Alfred, Mar- tha and Anna. The Kruse family are highly respected citizens of the township. Fred Kruse, the second son, served in the World War. He was sent to Camp Funston in September, 1918 and was in training there when the armistice was signed. He was discharged in December, 1918 and re- turned home.


MR. AND MRS. DIETRICH KRUSE


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James R. Grisham, owner of High View Farm near Basehor, Kansas, in Fairmont Township, is a successful farmer and substantial citizen of this county. He was born in Platte County, Missouri, January 17, 1865, the son of Sampson and Melbina (Ellis) Grisham; his father and mother were both natives of Platte County, Missouri. Sampson Grisham came to Kansas about 1877 and settled in Cowley County, Kansas, and freighted from Winfield to Wichita and other points. He was in the government service and freighted from Leavenworth to Fort Laramie, Wyoming. He came to Wyandotte and farmed there until his death March 2, 1890 and is buried in James Bean Cemetery at Platte City, Missouri, where the re- mains of his wife, who died in 1874 is also buried.


Mr. and Mrs. Sampson Grisham were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Jane Joiner, who is deacesed; William, who died in Platte County, Missouri; Mrs. Mary Smith of Fall Leaf, Kansas, and James R., the subject of this sketch.


James R. Grisham received his educational advantages in Missouri and Kansas, and has made his own way since seventeen years of age, working hard and saving his money, thereby making a success in life. Prior to coming to Fairmont Township, he farmed in Wyandotte County, Kansas. In 1910, he bought his present farm from Tobe Yokum. The place consists of eighty acres and is one and one-half miles north of Base- hor, on the Fairmont-Basehor road. This farm is well improved with good residence, barn, implement shed and a well, which is 104 feet deep with windmill. The farm is well watered, having a never failing stream and excellent spring. Mr. Grisham does general farming, and raises registered Duroc Jersey hogs, and has a registered O. I. C. sow.


Mr. Grisham was married December 14, 1882 to Lizzie J. O'Reeve. a daughter of Asa and Amanda O'Reeve, natives of Kentucky, who came to Kansas and settled in Wyandotte County. Asa O'Reeve was engaged in farming there until his death in 1890. His wife died in 1893, and they are both buried at Grinter's Chapel in Wyandotte County.


Mr. and Mrs. Grisham have five children: Asa, who was for four years in the marine service and three years in the Philippines, he married Della Martin and is now farming in Fairmont Township; George, who is running a telephone exchange in Morrill, Kansas, and who married Marie Davis ; James, who married Minnie Burk, and is a farmer in Stranger Township; Ethel, the wife of Clyde Bigford, of Manhattan, Kansas, and Roy, who lives at home, and is a mail carrier for Rural Route Number


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One, out of Basehor. Roy Grisham enlisted at Leavenworth, Kansas, May 14, 1918, for service in the late World War, and was first sent to Jefferson Barracks, and then to Del Rio, Texas with the 313th Field Cavalry for cavalry training. He was there for three months, and was then sent to Camp Stithton, Kentucky and transferred to heavy artillery, and was mustered out there February 9, 1919. He was ready to start overseas when the armistice was signed. He has been mail carrier for Route One since August 2, 1920.


James R. Grisham is master of the Basehor Grange, and was a charter member of this organization. He is a highly esteemed citizen and has many friends in and around Basehor, Kansas.


W. F. Goble, a successful farmer of Fairmont Township, and proprietor of Twin Pine Farm, is a native of Kickapoo Township, Leavenworth County, Kansas. He was born December 15, 1883, the son of Francis and Elizabeth (Douglas) Goble; his mother now lives in this township, one mile north of Frank Goble.


Francis Goble was born in Iowa, and his father, W. H. H. Goble, was a native of Ohio, first coming to Iowa, and then to St. Joseph, Mis- souri, where he owned the land where the stock yards are now sit- uated. He settled in Leavenworth County in Kickapoo Township in 1854, improving a claim here. He died in 1903 in Oklahoma and is buried at Van Winkle Cemetery, Kickapoo Township, Leavenworth County; his wife is also buried in this cemetery. Francis Goble was one of the most prominent horticulturists of Kansas, and leased and set the largest orchard in this state, having put out 700 acres of fruit trees at Usher in Wyandotte County. He became ill at Denver, Colorado, while on his way to Cali- fornia, and returned to Excelsior Springs, Missouri, where he died Novem- ber 20, 1913.


Mr. and Mrs. Francis Goble were the parents of the following chil- dren : E. A. of Fairmont, Kansas, who is a farmer and superintends a sixty- five acre orchard, which is owned by Frank Goble; Laura, who lives at home; George, a farmer in Fairmont Township; W. H., a farmer at Perry, Kansas; Frank, or W. F., the subject of this sketch; Jesse, who lives on the home place; Robert, who, with his brother Jesse owns 160 acres of land in Tonganoxie Township, forty acres being in orchard; and Louis, a farmer in Fairmont Township.


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W. F. Goble received his educational advantages in the public schools of the county, and took a commercial course at Campbell University at Holton, Kansas. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-eight years of age, and, for six years, he conducted and owned a sixty-five acre orchard at Fairmount. He bought the Twin Pine farm of eighty acres from John Brink, in January, 1919. This place is well improved-has a good two-story residence, barn, poultry house, and other necessary build- ings. Mr. Goble rents his ground and orchard. He is one of the substan- tial citizens of the community, and is a member of the school board of Number Twelve and Thirty-six Joint Districts.


In 1912, Mr. Goble was married to Miss Bessie Wilson, of Creighton, Missouri, a daughter of Daniel and Hattie Wilson; her father is deceased, and her mother lives at Creighton. Mr. and Mrs. Goble have three chil- dren: Wilson, Irene and Floyd.


W. F. and Stephen Goble are uncles of Frank Goble, and are veterans of the Civil War, enlisting from Kansas. William J. and Oscar Lee Doug- las, cousins of Frank Goble, who live in Fairmount Township, were in the World War, both with the Thirty-Fifth Division, Company E, and both were wounded; William being wounded September 26, 1918, and Oscar Lee receiving wounds twice, the last time September 30, 1918, but was back on duty the day following the signing of the armistice, and was with the army of occupation in Germany.


James B. Gray, a prominent farmer of Alexandria Township, is a native of Scotland. He was born fourteen miles from Glasgow, June 7, 1842, the son of James and Elizabeth (Ried) Gray. His father was born in 1815 and died in Scotland, and his mother came to America and died in Pennsylvania about the year 1900. She was born in 1816.


Mr. and Mrs. Gray had the following children: Archibald and John, who settled in Mercer County, Pennsylvania; James B., the subject of this sketch; Henry, deceased; Mrs. Jane Greggs of Mercer County, Pennsyl- vania, and Joseph, who is deceased.


James B. Gray spent his boyhood in Scotland, and was married there in 1866 to Margaret Truesdale, and, in 1869, they came to America, set- tling first in Pennsylvania, but came to Kansas in 1879 and located in Leavenworth, coming to the present farm of 160 acres, which Mr. Gray purchased in 1886 for $20.00 per acre. Heavy timber was on the place at


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the time of the purchase, and there were no improvements, no fences, and scarcely any roads. Mr. Gray built two rooms of his present home, built his barn of forty by sixty feet in 1897, which has a basement for stock, and in 1899, he rebuilt his residence, which is a one and one-half story building in good repair. The farm is mostly in pasture and the place is well improved. He also bought another 160 acres, which his sons now own. Mr. Gray is one of the progressive farmers of the community.


Mrs. Gray died May 17, 1918, and is buried at Bethel Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Gray had the following children: James, who lives on the home place; Henry, who married Anna Smith, of Easton Township; John, who died at the age of seven years; Isabelle, the wife of Joe Schaple of Rose- dale, Kansas; Maggie, the wife of Joe Bonnely, of Leavenworth; John, who married Laura Mussett, and lives in Alexandria Township; Eliza- beth, who died at the age of nineteen years; Joseph, who married Mary Mussett, and lives in Alexandria Township; and Mayme, the widow of Francis A. Butler. They were married July 17, 1907, at Leavenworth, Kansas, and Mr. Butler engaged in farming until he enlisted in the late World War. They had three children: Margaret, Ruth and James, who live at home; also they had three children to die in infancy.


Francis Butler enlisted July 26, 1917, at Kansas City, Missouri, and was sent to Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma, and then to France April 1, 1918, with Company D, of the One Hundred and Tenth Engineers, Thirty-fifth Division. He was killed September 29, 1918, at Argonne Forest and is buried there. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, June 4, 1883, the son of Michael J. and Elizabeth Butler, both deceased. While at Camp Doniphan, he was first sergeant and trained troops in bayonet practice. He was also a veteran of the Spanish-American war with Company K of the Engineer Corps and served two and one-half years, part of which time he was in the Philippine service.


Oscar Lee Douglas, a hustling and highly esteemed young man of Fairmount Township, near Basehor, Kansas, is a native of Kansas, born in Atchison County June 10, 1893, the son of James Lewis and Etta Owens Douglas, both of whom live in Wyandotte County, Kansas.


Oscar Douglas was educated in the public schools of this township, and was engaged in farming prior to joining the army during the World War, enlisting at Leavenworth, Kansas, July 20, 1917. He was sent to


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Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma, where he remained from September 25, 1917, to March 9, 1918. He was then sent to Camp Mills, New Jersey, and went overseas to England May 7, 1918, with Company E of the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Infantry. The latter part of May his regiment was sent to France, and he was in the skirmish at Vosge Mountains, and was wounded there by high explosives. He was in the Argonne Drive Septem- ber 6, 1918, and September 30, 1918, was shot through the right hand, and was confined to a hospital on account of the wound for one month. When the armistice was signed he was at Tours, guarding German prison- ers. In 1919, he returned to the United States, and was discharged at Des Moines, Iowa, March 24, 1919, having served more than twenty months.


Mr. Douglas was married November 12, 1919, to Myrtle Zoll of Leav- enworth. She is the daughter of Ed and Emma Zoll and was born in Fairmount Township. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas have one son, Lee, Jr.


Recently, Mr. Douglas purchased five acres of ground at East Fair- mont from Joseph Williams, on which is a neat cottage and where Mr. and Mrs. Douglas make their home. Mr. Douglas is setting out berries and other fruit. He is a very industrious young man, and a bright future is predicted for him.


James M. Cheatwood, a well-known and prosperous retired farmer of Fairmont, is a native of Delaware Township, and was born October 29, 1861, the son of Joel and Rowena Cheatwood, a sketch of whom appears in this volume.


James M. Cheatwood was educated in Fairmount Township, and re- mained with his parents until twenty-seven years of age. He then rented land for several years, and, in 1910, bought the farm he now owns of 160 acres, which adjoins the town site of Fairmont. This place has fine improvements, a two-story residence and barn thirty-six by sixty feet, also tool house and poultry house. This is one of the best places in this township. Mr. Cheatwood has been retired for five years, working only when he pleases to do so. At one time Mr. Cheatwood was an extensive farmer. He farmed not only this place, but 240 acres, which his father owned, and also other land, operating more than 500 acres. He had one piece of land rented for nineteen years. Mr. Cheatwood was in the stock business, feeding mostly cattle and hogs, and raised most of the grain for


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his stock. Mr. Cheatwood has been a progressive man in every way, and although he stands high in the township has never sought office of any kind. He makes his home on a pretty place of one and one-third acres in Fairmont, on which he has a modern bungalow, poultry house, feed house and garage.




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