USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 43
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was then transferred to the parish of Paola and missions, of which he took charge on July 17, 1895, that charge comprising Paola, Ossawatomie, the State Asylum for the Insane at the latter place and the whole of Linn county. At that time there was not a Catholic church in Linn county, but there were scattered Catholics throughout the county, practically all of whom, Father Taton recalls, had fallen away from the church. During his stay in Paola the Ursuline Academy was built and in 1896 was dedicated. The parochial school near the church was built about that time and that school Father Taton named St. Patrick's, in memory of his celebration of the mass for the first time on that day. The school opened with fifteen pupils and by the close of the school year had an enrollment of forty-four. During that time the church at Ossawatomie was remodeled from end to end and a sacristy built. For eight years and one month Father Taton was in charge at Paola and missions and on August 17, 1903, was transferred to the parish of St. Michael's at Axtell, of which he ever since has been in charge and where, in 1914, he cele- brated the silver jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood, the occasion being made one of much rejoicing on the part of his friends, not only in this county, but throughout those other sections of the state where his ministrations have endeared him to many hearts.
When Father Taton was sent to Axtell the parish comprised both St. Michael's church and Beattie as a mission, services between the two points being equally divided. In 1909 Father Taton built the parochial residence at Beattie and in the fall of that year the Beattie mission was given over to the Rev. Father Galvin, who became its pastor. On November 8, 1904, work on the new St. Michael's church at Axtell was begun and in the spring of 1905 the corner stone was laid. On April 24, 1906, the church was dedi- cated, the total cost of the same being nearly twenty-two thousand dollars. In 1909 the new parish house was built, at a total cost, including appurte- nances, of more than seven thousand dollars, Father Taton moving into the same in November of that year. In 1913 work on the new parochial school was begun, but delays, on account of crop failures during that year, put off the completion of the work until February 8, 1917, when the school was completed at a cost of nine thousand dollars. St. Michael's parish is well organized and its various auxiliaries, such as the Mutual Benefit Association. the Temperance Society, the Knights of Columbus, the Altar Society, the Young Ladies Sodality, the Childrens Sodality and the League of the Sa- cred Heart, are reported to be in a flourishing condition, progress being re- ported in all departments of the work of the parish.
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REV. CLARENCE BRADLEY.
The Rev. Clarence Bradley, pastor of the Catholic church of the Annun- ciation at Frankfort, is a native son of Kansas and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of this county since 1907, when he was made the first resi- dent priest at Summerfield, save for two years when he was serving the parish at. Emmett, in the neighboring county of Pottawattomie. He was born in the city of Atchison on May 10, 1883. a son of Charles E. and Anna (Ostertag) Bradley, the former a native of the state of Illinois and the latter, of Buffalo. New York, well-known residents of Atchison and the latter of whom is still living.
Charles E. Bradley was born in Illinois on February 2, 1855, and in 1877 came to Kansas, locating at AAtchison, where, in 1881, he established a shoe store and was thus engaged in business there until his retirement in 1915. a period of thirty-four years, during which time he became a quite well- to-do merchant and one of the leading men in Atchison, having served for some time as a member of the city council. He died on April 9. 1916, and his widow, who was born in 1857, is still living, making her home at Atchison, where she has lived since her early childhood. She was born. Anna Ostertag, in Buffalo, New York, and was little more than an infant when her parents came West and located at Atchison. Grandfather Oster- tag was a smith and wheelwright and early drove a thriving business in fitting wheels to the heavy wagons of the freighters on the plains, Atchison being one of the busiest points of departure for these great wagon trains in an carly day. He helped to lay the rails over the ice in the Missouri river. for the transportation of the first locomotive engine taken into Atchison. and was one of the active factors in the upbuilding of that town in pioncer days. To Charles E. Bradley and wife three children were born, Father Bradley having two brothers, Harold, who is operating the shoe store his father established in AAtchison in 1881, and Aloysius, who is a clerk in the First National Bank of Atchison.
Father Bradley received excellent scholastic training for his holy office. Upon completing the course in the local schools he entered St. Benedict's College, at Atchison, and upon completing the course there entered Kenrick Seminary, St. Louis, where for five years he was grounded in philosophy and theology, completing his studies in 1906. On April 17 of that same year, at Kansas City, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Lillis and was appointed assistant to the pastor of St. Mary's parish, in that city, serving in
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that capacity for one year, at the end of which time he was sent to Paola, this state, where for five months he substituted for the pastor of that parish. He then, on August 23, 1907, was appointed pastor of the church of the Holy Family at Summerfield, this county, the first resident pastor of that parish. During his pastorate of nearly two years at Summerfield, Father Bradley erected the parish house there and in many other ways strengthened the parish, remaining there until June 27, 1909, when he was transferred to the parish at Emmett, where he remained for two years, or until his transfer to the parish of the Annunciation at Frankfort, June 27, 1911, a charge which he still holds and in which he is doing much to advance the cause of the parish, both in a spiritual and a material way, excellent progress having been reported in all departments of the work of the church during his pastorate. Father Bradley is well read and widely informed, not only on matters per- taining to his holy calling, but on the current topics of the day, and has been an influence for much good since taking up his work in Frankfort. His popularity in the city and surrounding country is not confined to the members of his parish and he is held in the very highest esteem by all, regardless of religious faith or affiliation.
MRS. MELISSA HASLETT.
Mrs. Melissa Haslett is one of the real pioneers of Marshall county and there are few who have more vivid or distinct recollections of the days of the unbroken prairie and of the open range, of the days before the railroad had penetrated into this part of Kansas and when the lumbering ox carts ยท or the mule trains over the old Overland trail afforded the only means of transportation. She came into Kansas when a young woman with her parents in territorial days, the family settling on a pioneer farm four miles northeast of where Frankfort later sprang up, and she ever since has been a resident of this county ; therefore thoroughly familiar with the history of the same from the days of the very beginning of a social order hereabout and has ever done well her part in the development of the social and cultural life of the com- munity of which she has been a member since the days of her girlhood, even before Kansas had taken her place in the prond sisterhood of states.
Melissa Mitchell was born in Calhoun county, Michigan, Angust 3, 1838, a daughter of George and Maria (Brainard) Mitchell, natives of the state of New York and pioneers of Michigan, who were the parents of six children, three of whom grew to maturity, Mrs. Haslett having a brother,
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Edwin Mitchell, and a sister. Mrs. Myla Herrick, both of Clay Center, this state. George Mitchell died in Michigan in 1847 and in 1858 his widow and her children came to Kansas, settling four miles northeast of the present city of Frankfort, where they established their home, thus having been among the very earliest settlers in this part of Kansas. Mrs. Mitchell was married four times. She had five children by her first husband. He died in Mich- igan : then she married a Mr. Caldwell, by whom she had one child. He also died in Michigan. Then she married George Marshall, with whom she came to Kansas: no children were born. He died and was buried in Kan- sas. Her last husband was a Mr. Striker; there were no children. Years later Mrs. Striker moved to Clay Center, where she spent her last days, her death occurring in 1908. She was born in 1818 and had thus reached the great age of ninety years at the time of her death.
On July 3. 1858, the year in which she came to Kansas, Melissa Mitchell was united in marriage to Harvey Randall, a cabinet-maker who had come out here to try his fortunes on the plains ; both came together ; they were mar- ried in Michigan. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Randall pre-empted a tract of one hundred and twenty acres of land four and one-half miles northeast of where Frankfort later sprang up and there built a log house which cost them six dollars. This house had neither windows nor a floor and had but a "shake" roof, about as humble a dwelling as any young couple ever started housekeeping in. but their hearts were strong and their hands willing and they started in to develop a real home there on the wind-swept plain and were doing very well when the Civil War broke out. Mr. Randall at once enlisted his services in defense of the Union and in 1861 went to the front as a member of Company D. Eighth Regiment. Kansas Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served until his death in 1862, dying in the service of his country. When her husband went to war Mrs. Randall left her humble farm home and with her two children rejoined her mother in the latter's home farther to the south, where she made her home until her marriage in 1865 to Charles Haslett, a native of Vermont, who had come to Kansas in 1800 and was a veteran of the Civil War. he also having gone to the front with the Eighth Kansas, with which command he served until his honorable discharge on account of disabilities incurred in Andersonville prison. Mr. Haslett served for fifteen months in Rebel prisons, having been moved from one to another until finally. the fourth move, he found himself in dreaded Andersonville. Upon his final exchange and removal from that horrid prison pen, he was in such a reduced physical condition that he was honorably discharged from service and returned to his home in Kansas.
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After her second marriage, Mrs. Haslett returned to her farm northeast of Frankfort and found that during her absence the log house which she had left there had been torn down and carried away by some unscrupulous but enterprising settler who no doubt wanted the logs for use on his own claim, and it became necessary for her and Mr. Haslett at once to erect a new house. They built a neat frame house, thirty-four by fourteen feet, and there, for a second time, this pioneer woman started in housekeeping. Their affairs prospered and though they suffered, in common with all the early settlers of this county, during the days of the grasshoppers and the scourging hot winds, they gradually built up a good piece of property, adding to their holdings until they became the owners of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres. There they made their home until 1895, when they left the farm and moved to Frankfort, where Mr. Haslett died in 1902, he then being seventy years of age, and where Mrs. Haslett is still living, one of the honored pio- neer residents of Marshall county. Mrs. Haslett still owns her farm, deriv- ing a comfortable income from its rental.
By her first marriage Mrs. Haslett had two children, Clara, who died in 1863, and Harvey Randall, who is now engaged in the loan business at Okla- homa City. To her second union four children were born, namely: Myla Mayme, who married Z. M. Robison and died in 1911, leaving seven chil- dren, Elmer, Ollie, Melissa, Charles, Gertrude. Iva and Guy: Edwin Elliot, who died in youth ; Ira, who also died in youth, and Henry, of Morris county, this state, who has been twice married and is now a widower with one child, a son, Walter. Mrs. Haslett has ten great-grandchildren. Elmer Robison. who lives in North Dakota, having two children: Mrs. Ollie ( Robison ) Pendleton, of Oklahoma, having two children; Mrs. Melissa ( Robison) Line, of Illinois, having four children, and Mrs. Gertrude ( Robison) Peter- son, of Texas, having two children. Charles Robison lives in Salt Lake City and Iva and Guy Robison are living in New York with their father.
Mr. Haslett was an active member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and Mrs. Haslett has been a member of the Woman's Relief Corps since the organization of the same at Frankfort, ever taking a warm interest in the beneficent objects of that patriotic body. Mrs. Haslett retains very vivid recollections of pioneer days here on the plains and is a veritable mine of information concerning matters relating to pioneer days. She recalls that the first year she and Mr. Randall occupied their pre-emption claim their taxes amounted to two dollars and fifty cents. On the nights preceding January 1, 186[, they attended a "watch meeting" at the home of a neighbor, two miles distant, driving across the prairie with their ox-teams through snow
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four feet deep. Mrs. Haslett said the funny thing about this was, there was neither a watch nor a clock in the house. They only had an almanac and watched by that. knowing that the moon would rise by HI P. M. On July 4 of that same year they attended a picnic at the Barrett settlement, to which all the settlers for miles about drove in, there being about sixty persons present thus to celebrate the national holiday out here on the plains. When Mrs. Haslett came to Kansas the nearest market was at Atchison and they drove over each fall. "if they had the money"; otherwise they did without and got along as well as they could with the pro- ducts of their own hands. That, of course, was before the days of the rail- roads or of established highways and the settlers drove their ox-teams by the shortest route, right out over the open range, definite trails thus gradually becoming established, the same serving as highways until a proper system of roads gradually was evolved as the country became settled and the range became fenced.
ANDREW J. TRAVELUTE.
Andrew J. Travelute, one of the early settlers of Marshall county, who became prominent in the agricultural development of the section, and now living a retired life, was born on June 30. 1841, in the state of Pennsylvania, being the son of Charles H. and Margurete (Spealmann) Travelute.
Charles H. Travelute was the son of Andrew and Christena Traveluite and was born in France in 1818, where he spent seven years of his life on the farm. In 1825 his parents came to the United States and located in Pennsylvania, where they engaged in general farming, and where they lived and died. Charles Il. Travelute received his education in the common schools of Pennsylvania and there grew to manhood. He later located in Marysville township, Marshall county. The trip to Kansas from the home in Illinois was made in a covered wagon, which was used the first summer as a residence. On his arrival in Marshall county, Mr. Travelute home- steaded one hundred and sixty acres of land on which he built a frame house and was soon actively engaged in the development and improvement of his farm. In time he became the owner of three excellent farms, in addition to ether valuable property. He was a man who took interest in local affairs and served his county as assessor and as commissioner. After reaching an advanced age he sold his farms and lived a retired life at Marysville, where he died in 1 900
MR. AND MRS. ANDREW J. TRAVELUTE.
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Margurete ( Spealmann) Travelute was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, on November 6, 1818, and was the daughter of John and Mary Spealmann. The parents came to Pennsylvania when the daughter, Margurete, was but a child, and later went to Illinois, where they died. Margurete Spealmann grew to womanhood in Pennsylvania and there completed her education in the common schools and was later married to Charles H. Travelute. Some years later she and her husband located in Illinois and then in Marshall county, Kansas, where she died on May 20, 1902.
Andrew J. Travelute received his education in the public schools of Ogle county, Illinois, and there grew to manhood on the home farm. His school days were not spent in well-equipped buildings as those of today, but in the log cabin with a slab for a seat. On completing his education he re- mained on the home farm assisting in the work, until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted in Company A, Sixty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, his enlistment being for one hundred days. He saw service at Chicago, Illinois, guarding prisoners and was later sent South, where he did guard duty. He later returned to Chicago, where he contracted typhoid fever and was discharged. He returned to his home in Ogle county and in 1863 he and Dendridge Dean drove horses and mules across the mountains and plains to California. There he worked for a time in the quartz mines and drove a stage coach. On July 3, 1865, he left San Francisco for New York, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He returned to Ogle county, Illinois, where he remained until the spring of 1866, when he came to Marshall county, Kansas, where he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in Marysville township. The tract at that time was all wild prairie, on which he built a small log cabin, which was used as a residence for four years, when he built a frame structure, fourteen by sixteen, with upstairs apartments. The house was dedicated with a dance in the upper part. a ladder being used on the outside of the building to gain access to the dance room. It is needless to say that the dance was the social event of the year, in that pioneer settlement.
In time, the wild land was developed, and where once grew the tall prairie grass in unrestrained freedom, were seen broad fields of golden grain. The farm was enlarged until there was three hundred and twenty acres in the tract, all of which was under high cultivation and well improved. Mr. Travelute continued to reside on the farm until February, 1901, and was actively engaged in general farming and stock raising, being particularly interested in the breeding and raising of Poland China hogs. On his
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retirement from the farm he moved to Marysville, where he has a handsome residence. Mr. Travelute is a man of rare business judgment and, in addi- tion to his extensive land interests, he is a stockhokler in the Elevator Com- pany and the Citizens State Bank, being a director of the latter institution. . On October 9, 1866, at St. Bridget, Marshall county, Andrew J. Trave- lute was united in marriage to Elizabeth Josephine Mohrbacher, who was born near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 19, 1846. She is the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth ( Latterner ) Mohrbacher both of whom were natives of Bavaria, Germany, where they received their education in the public schools and were later married. The father was born on August 24. 1810. and died on April 6. 1872. In his native land he was a cooper by trade. but did much farming. In 1845 Mr. and Mrs. Mohrbacher decided to leave the land of their birth and seek a home in the United States. On their ar- rival in this country they proceeded to Wisconsin, where they established a home, and there resided for many years. They later moved to St. Joe, Missouri, making the trip with oven and wagons, having seven prairie schooners and fourteen yoke of oxen, by which they brought their building material. In 1800 they came to Marysville, arriving here on May i, of that year. Mr. and Mrs. Mohrbacher and their eleven children suffered many of the hardships of primitive travel and the life on the plains. The daughter. Elizabeth Josephine, received her education in the schools of Wisconsin and after the family located in Kansas she taught the first school in Marshall county, at district No. 1. The papers of the county some years ago, pub- lished a most interesting article by her on the early school life of the district. The first school house built in this county, was built at Barrett, the first steps to build such a house having been taken by Mr. A. G. Barrett, de- ceased, but who has several relatives residing in our city. The first teacher who wielded the rod of correction in this humble school house was Miss Mehrbacher, now Mrs. Travelute, of Marysville: she is the mother of Mrs. Brumbaugh, of this city. The first white boy born in the county, Mr. P. F. Radcliffe, attended this school term.
To Andrew J and Elizabeth Josephine Travelute have been born the following children: Robert Willard, Henry M., John .A., Josephine, Charles 1 .. and Emma. Robert Willard, now deceased, married Carrie Moore and to that union two children were born. Some years after the death of her husband, Mrs. Travelute married Mr. Brock and now lives at Kansas City, Missouri: Henry M., who married Elizabeth Koppes, lives at Lincolnville, Marion county, Kansas, and they are the parents of nine children : John .1. is deceased: Josephine Brumbaugh lives at Home City, Kansas, and is the
ADDENDUM.
Andrew J. Travelute died at his home in Marysville on Tuesday morn- ing. June 12, 1917, at 3:30 o'clock. Funeral services were held on Thursday morning, June 14, at St. Gregory's Catholic church, where solemn requiem mass was celebrated by Rev. August Redeker, of Marysville, as celebrant, Reverend Bradley, of Frankfort, as deacon. and Reverend Hillary, of Seneca, as sub-deacon.
The presence at the funeral of hundreds of people 'from far and near attested to the high esteem in which Andrew Travelute was held by all who had known him. The Grand Army of the Republic, the Woman's Relief Corps and the Knights of Columbus, of which the deceased was a member, attended in separate bodies.
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mother of four sons; Charles L. lives in Smith county Kansas; he has been twice married, his first wife at her death left two sons. His second wife was Edna Forke, of Raymond, Nebraska. Emma is at home with her parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Travelute are devout members of the Catholic church and reared their children in that faith. Mr. Travelute is identified with the Democratic party and has always taken an active interest in local affairs and has served as justice of the peace, road overseer and a member of the council. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Sons of St. Gregory, also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was com- mander for one year.
JAMES ARTIIUR HAMLER.
Among the prominent business men and well-known residents of Sun- merfield, Marshall county, is James Arthur Hamler, the efficient assistant cashier of the State Bank of that city, who was born on a farm near Hiawatha. Brown county, Kansas, on October 23, 1882, the son of Howard and Eliza ( Dieffenderfer ) Hamler.
Howard Hamler was born in the state of Pennsylvania in 1853 and is of German ancestry. He is the son of Daniel Hamler and wife, who were natives of Pennsylvania, and there received their education in the public schools and were later married. They continued to reside in that state until 1875, when they came to Kansas and established their home in Brown county. where they became prominent in agricultural enterprises. The son, Howard. also engaged in farm work in this section of the state, and came here from his former home in Pennsylvania, after his marriage in 1875, to Eliza Dieffen- derfer, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1857. Daniel Hamler and his sons purchased land in Brown county, Kansas, when they came to the state. They later developed the farms and made them among the best in the county. Howard Hamler engaged in general farming and stock raising in the county, until some years later and then moved to Seneca, where he retired. He later moved to Manhattan in 1900, so that he might give his children a better oppor- tunity to obtain an education. He is still the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of good land and a splendid home in Manhattan.
Howard and Eliza Hamler are the parents of the following children : Nora E., James Arthur and Harry T. Nora E. received her education in the public schools and later studied in the University of Campbell, at Holton. Kansas. For a number of years she was a successful teacher, before her
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