USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 45
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CHARLES WILSON BRANDENBURG, D. D. S.
It has been said that probably no one man has done more to rehabilitate the Democratic party in Kansas than has Dr. Charles W. Brandenburg, the well-known dental surgeon at Frankfort, this county. And his friends affirm this statement to be true. At any rate, it may be truthfully said that no one has been more faithful in the service of the party or more ardent in his champ- ionship of the principles of Democracy than has Doctor Brandenburg. From the days of his boyhood. when, at eighteen years of age, he succeeded in effecting an organization of Democrats in Jackson county, right in a very hotbed of rampant Republicanism, Doctor Brandenburg has been unceasing in his advocacy of the principles of the party he has held dear to his heart and, in season and out of season, morning, noon and night, has given his most
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carnest attention to the work of perfecting an effective organization of the party in this state.
Is noted above, it was when little more than a boy that Doctor Branden- burg gained a reputation for study Democracy throughout this state by his zealous efforts on behalf of an organization of that party in his home county. Not long before he had come here from his native Virginia and had located at Holton, in Jackson county, a place where Democrats were mighty few and far between. Holton had been settled by Abolitionists and in the early eighties Republicanism still was dominant as a political factor there. Despite the many obstacles thus presented, young Brandenburg in 1882 succeeded in effecting a strong working organization of the Democratic party in Jackson county and thus came to the early and favorable notice of the party managers in this state. From that time forward few men in Kansas were more active or influential in the councils of the party in this state than he and for a score or more of years he has been one of the most familiar figures at the banquets and gatherings of his party in this state and in other states of the middle West, while for years he has been recognized as the wise and kindly dictator of his party in this district. In 1894 Doctor Brandenburg was the nominee of his party as the representative from this district to Congress, in opposition to W. D. Caklerhead. but that was Republican year in this district and his party's genial ambition in his behalf was not gratified. In 1896 Doctor Brandenburg was a delegate from this district to the national Democratic convention at Chicago that first nominated William Jennings Bryan for the Presidency, and was one of the most influential among the enthusiastic young men who secured for Mr. Bryan the nomination amid scenes of political fer- for that are now historic. In 1000 Doctor Brandenburg was selected with David Obermeyer to go to Washington to present the claims of Kansas City for the national convention before the national Democratic committee, that year, and when convention hall was burned not long before the time for the holding of the convention, he was the first man to telegraph one hundred dol- lars to the fund for the rebuilding of the same. In 1904 and in 1908 the Doctor also was a delegate to the national conventions of his party and in 1912 was one of the enthusiastic party of Kansans present at the national convention at Baltimore, where he was an ardent champion of the nomination of Woodrow Wilson. The Doctor organized this district for Wilson and did much effective work during the memorable campaign of 1912. Since 1884 he has attended, as a delegate or as an alternate, every state and national convention of his party and has been prominent in the councils of the party throughout this section. For twenty-two years he was district chairman of
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the party and a member of the state committee of the same, while for six- teen years he was a member of the state executive committee of seven mem- bers and for eight years was chairman of the Marshall county central com- mittee. When the Doctor took charge of his party in this county few Demo- crats had held office here, but in 1912 Wilson carried the county and prac- tically the entire Democratic county ticket was elected. Doctor Branden- burg is a man of large stature-big of body and big of brain-a natural leader of men. He is widely traveled, having been in every city of conse- quence in the United States, and has a wide acquaintance among politicians throughout the country. He is a member of nearly a score of fraternal and secret societies and has been prominently identified with the higher councils of the fraternal orders with which he has been affiliated.
Dr. Charles W. Brandenburg is a native son of the Old Dominion, but has been a resident of Kansas since he was fifteen years of age and is thus as much a Kansan as though "native and to the manner born." He was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, January 30, 1865, a sou of Virginia parents, of German descent and of Colonial stock, some of his ancestors having served as soldiers of the patriot army during the Revolutionary War. The founder of the family in America was a member of an European noble family, one of the Prussian Brandenburgs, who came to this country in Colonial days and established his home in Virginia.
In 1880, he then being fifteen years of age, Charles W. Brandenburg left Virginia and canie out to Kansas to make his home with an uncle at Holton. There he completed his common schooling in the Holton high school and then entered Campbell University at Holton, being one of Professor Miller's first students, and attended that institution during the years 1883-84, after which he began the study of dentistry in the office of Dr. A. W. Davis, at Holton, presently beginning the practice of that profession there and was thus engaged until IS88, when he entered the old Kansas City Dental College and after supplementary instruction there, in 1890, located at Frankfort, where he opened an office for the practice of his profession and where he ever since has been located, long having been one of the best-known and most success- ful dental surgeons in northern Kansas, his clientage extending to many towns and cities hereabout.
I11 1885, at Holton, Dr. Charles W. Brandenburg was united in marriage to Addie M. Kellar, a daughter of the Hon. J. H. Kellar, former district judge and for many years a member of the Kansas state Legislature, and to this union two children have been born, Fay, wife of Dr. W. W. Reed, of Blue Rapids, and Marjorie, who is still in school. Mrs. Brandenburg is
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postmistress at Frankfort, having received her commission to that important office from President Wilson. The Brandenburgs have a very pleasant home at Frankfort and have ever taken a proper part in the general social and cul- tural activities of that city.
RUFUS SWAIN CRAFT, M. D.
Few men had more to do with the growth and development of Blue Rapids, Marshall county, and few were held in greater esteem for their good work than was Dr. Rufus Swain Craft, a native of Winchester, Virginia, where he was born on February 11, 1831, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth ( Hines) Craft. Doctor Craft first came to the state of Kansas in 1859 and was ever active in the affairs of his home community, until the time of his death on March 8, 1908.
Sammel Craft was born in the state of New Jersey in 1808, and was the son of Benjamin Craft and wife. The father was a native of Maryland, where he received his education and there grew to manhood, when he located in New Jersey. The Craft family was, without doubt, of Welsh origin: the great-grandfather of Doctor Craft came to America in the middle of the eighteenth century and located in Maryland, where he was married and where he died a great many years ago. Benjamin Craft, the grandfather of Doctor Craft. after a residence of some years in New Jersey, located near Zanesville, Ohio, which at that time was known as the far West. There he and his family established their home on a farm, and there the father died. The son, Samuel, who came to Ohio with his father, learned the trade of a shoemaker at Zanesville. He followed this work for a number of years and worked at different places, and it was while working at Georgetown, D. C .. that he met and married Elizabeth Hines. For a time after their marriage they lived at Georgetown, after which they moved to Winchester, Virginia, and from there to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in 1833. Samuel Craft spent many years of his life in Lawrenceburg, and in 1870, he came to Kansas, where his son was then living. Some time after coming to the state he engaged with the Santa Fe Railroad at Topeka, and remained with the com- pany until a week before his death, which occurred in January, 1888, at the age of eighty-six years. His wife, Elizabeth Craft, was a native of the District of Columbia, and died at her home in Lawrenceburg in 1844.
Some years after the death of his first wife. Samuel Craft was married
DR. RUFUS S. CRAIT.
MRS. ANNA B. CRAFT.
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to Jane Boice, who died at her home in Topeka, Kansas, in 1887. The early members of the family of Elizabeth ( Hines) Craft were the owners of the site of the city of Washington and were prominent factors in the social and civic life of their time. They were descendants of the Swain families of Virginia and of John Wolfe and Pocahontas.
To Samuel and Elizabeth ( Hines) Craft were born three children : Samuel A., Julia, the wife of George W. Benies, and Rufus Swain, all of whom are now deceased with the exception of Mrs. Benies, of Indianapolis. Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Craft were excellent people, educated and refined. Mr. Craft was an honest and industrious man, and devoted his life to his trade until he accepted employment with the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad at Lawrenceburg. He was active in the Masonic order and in the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows. and at the time of his death, it was said that he was the oldest member of the latter order in the state. Few men of the community were held in higher regard, and at his funeral on one of the coldest days of the year, an imposing cortege composed of Masons, Odd Fellows. railroad employees and friends, followed his remains to the grave.
Rufus Swain Craft, who was but two years of age when his parents established their home in Lawrenceburg, was reared in that city and there received his educational training in the public schools and the Lawrenceburg Institute. While pursuing his studies in the latter school, where he was taking up the study of medicine, the Mexican War started. He was but sixteen years of age at the time, yet he laid aside his studies and passing himself for eighteen years, he enlisted in the Fourth Indiana Infantry, and saw active service under General Taylor and General Scott. He was with the forces at battles of Huamantla and Atalixco and the siege of Pueblo, in addition to many other skirmishes. After having served for some fourteen months, he returned to Lawrenceburg in 1848 and continued his study of medicine in the institute of that place. After completing the work, he was employed as an instructor in the institution for a time, and later attended medical lectures in Cincinnati, Ohio. He had then reached his majority, and emigrated to Putnam county. Missouri, where he entered the practice of medicine with his uncle. Dr. John Hines. He remained here for four years, when he located in Harrison county, Missouri, where he engaged in the practice until 1859, when he located in Holton, Jackson county, Kansas.
Doctor Craft was always interested in mill enterprises and, in 1865, he with his brother and a third partner decided to make a tour of inspection of some of the rivers of the state. Doctor Craft was given the section of
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Blue Rapids, where the three were to meet later. At this meeting it was decided that the power at Blue Rapids was the best, and the three, as part- ners, purchased two hundred and eighty-seven acres, at Blue Rapids, which also gave them the power further up the river. The doctor purchased in his own right. seventy acres, which now adjoins Blue Rapids on the west. The property, held in partnership, was held until 1870, when the tract was sold to the Genesee coke ny, which laid out the town of Blue Rapids. Up to the time of the platting of the town, Doctor Craft was a resident of Holton, but in 1872 he moved to Blue Rapids, the town he helped lay out and here he began his medical practice in Marshall county. Ile also conducted a drug store, one of the first in this section. He later owned the building in which he had his office and where he conducted his store.
Always interested in the milling business, Doctor Craft was one of the group of men who built the stone flouring-mill on the east side of Blue river. next the dam that had been constructed. This mill was operated until 1876 by Olmstead Brothers, at which time it was under the direction of J. S. Wright & Company. Doctor Craft still retained his interest in the mill he bad assisted in establishing and which had so much to do with the carly progress of Blue Rapids. In August. 1887, the mill was sold to P. H. NeHale, and the doctor retired from the business. To him has ever been given much of the credit for the establishment of one of the important in- dustries of the city. For many years the milling enterprises of Blue Rapids lave been recognized as among the greatest in this section of Kansas, and their products have become known throughout the confines of many a state. At the time Doctor Craft disposed of his interests in the mill, he also dis- przed of his interest in Jackson county, where he devoted his time and atten- tion to the practice of his profession. For many years he was the leading practitioner of this section, and in later years he had an extensive office prac- tice. His careful attention to business and his excellent ability and knowledge of medicine, won for him the highest commendation of the people of the dis- trict, and won for him a high place in the profession. Few men won higher approval in their work and few were held in greater regard and esteem.
On October 16, 1852, Rufus Swain Craft was united in marriage to Anna B. Bledsoe, in Putnam county, Kansas. Mrs. Craft was born at Ghent. Carroll county, Kentucky, where her forefathers had settled on their removal from Virginia. She was of a well-known family in her native state, many of whom became prominent in the various affairs of the state and nation. Her uncle. Jesse Bledsoe, was a well-known United States senator, and another uncle. Lewis Saunders, was one of the very first residents of the state to engage in
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the importation of fine stock, for which the Blue Grass state has since become famous. Mrs. Craft was born on January 10, 1834, and was the daughter of Aaron and-Elinore ( Bond) Bledsoe, the father being a native of Virginia. and the mother of the state of Pennsylvania, she having been born near the town of Beaver. Both the Bledsoe and Boyd families were prominent in their native states, and after their location in the Blue Grass region, they were among the influential and prosperous people of the state. The family was a worthy one, and to them is due much of the wonderful advancement and progress of the state that is known the world over, for its fine horses and splendid cattle.
To Rufus Swain and Anna B. Craft were born the following children : George, William, Ella, Samuel Adolphus, Emma, Julia and Edward. George, a bright young man of nineteen years, had completed the work in the local schools and had entered the medical department of the Campbell University at Holton, when he was taken with consumption. His father took him to Colorado, Mexico and California, in the hope of some relief, but the dread disease had taken too firm a hold and he passed away at Santa Anna, Cali- fornia, on July 1, 1887 ; William R. died in infancy; Ella completed her edu- cation in the local school and married Clement E. Coulter, the son of William and Eliza (Lince) Coulter. His parents were natives of Ireland and were of a prominent family. His paternal great-grandfather was a major in the British army, but his son Charles, the grandfather of Clement E., was reared on the home farm in the native land. Charles Coulter was married in Ireland to Jane Cluxton, a native of the County Louth. To this union six children were born, all of whom came to America with their parents, with the exception of William and his sister, Jane, who later came to the new land. William Coulter was a man of much ability and possessed of a high education, having completed the course of study at the classical school of Cootehill, and later attained a high place as an apothecary, and took an active part in helping the victims of the cholera scourge in Ireland in 1831. In 1842 he was united in marriage to Eliza Lince, a native of Dublin, Ire- land. and a woman of pleasing qualities and loved by all who knew her. They were the parents of twelve children, two of whom died in infancy, the others receiving an excellent education in the higher institutions of learning. The son, Clement E., graduated from schools of pharmacy, both in Canada and Philadelphia, and later entered the drug business with his father-in-law, Doctor Craft, at Blue Rapids, where he and his wife were among the prominent and active members of the local social life, until the time of her death on Decem- ber 29, 1888; Samuel Adolphus was born in the northern part of Missouri
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and died at the age of six years; Emma died at the age of three years, and Edward, at the age of two years; Julia received her education in the local schools and later was united in marriage, on December 25, 1882, to llenry 1. Hewitt, one of the well-known and prosperous residents of the county, who was born in Ohio. To this union one son, George C., was born, whose birth occurred on December 20, 1886. He completed his education in the high school of Blue Rapids and later entered the employ of the American Refining and Smelting Company and is now located at Garfield, Utah, and is one of their trusted and valued men. Henry I. Hewitt, who was for many years an employee of the Canton, Ohio, Bridge Company, died at Elyria, Ohio, on December 1, 1912. During his employment with that company he and his wife maintained their home in Blue Rapids, where Mrs. Hewitt was one of the charter members of the Order of the Eastern Star. The early mem- bers of the Hewitt family settled at Southport, Connecticut, on the mother's side. On the father's side, at Middletown, Maryland, and later moved to the Western Reserve in Ohio. The mother of Henry I. Hewitt, Elizabeth Hewitt, was a woman of much ability and was noted for her great memory. His grandmother, Eveline Woods, married Capt. George Smith, who was lost at sea, after which she married Doctor Sherwood, of Southport, Connecticut. llis death occurred some years later and she was then married to Philo Wells, who lived to be ninety-nine years of age, and the grandmother, who was born on November 11, 1811, lived until . April 1, 1910.
Clement E. and Ella Coulter were the parents of three children : Edna, Royal and Anna. Edna received her education in the schools of Blue Rapids, and later married Frank Wigginton, who is a cousin of the present wife of President Woodrow Wilson. They now live at Wells City, Missouri, and are among the highly respected and influential people of the state. Royal S. and Anna Florence are now residents of Los Angeles, California.
Doctor Craft was a man of great personality, and while he was not in any sense a sceker after office, the people of Jackson county elected him county commissioner, county treasurer and to the state Legislature in 1862; he also served as a member of the city council of Blue Rapids for a number of years. He filled these positions with dignity and honor. and displayed much ability and fidelity to the people of his community. He was a man of sound judg- ment on all professional and business matters, and his judgment and intellect were sharpened by his long years of experience and his contact with the gen- eral public. AAs a physician, he stood at the head of his profession in Marshall county, and his services were in constant demand. As a man of business he was always trusted and as a citizen he was held in the highest regard and
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esteem by all who knew him. It was his effort at all times to work for the best interests of Blue Rapids and the surrounding country, and today his memory is held in reverence by all.
PETER J. SCHUMACHER.
Peter J. Schumacher, proprietor of a flourishing marble-cutting estab- lishment at Marysville and one of the well-known and progressive business men of that city, is a native of the neighboring state of Wisconsin, but has been a resident of Marshall county since pioneer days, having been but a child when his parents moved to this county and took their place among the pioneer residents of this part of the state. He was born on a farm in Ozaukee county, Wisconsin, October 12, 1861, son of Peter and Susan (Koppes) Schumacher, natives of Europe, whose last days were spent in this county, honored and influential pioneer residents of the same.
Peter Schumacher and Susan Koppes were born in the grand duchy of Luxemburg and grew to maturity there. In 1851 they joined a party of their fellow-countrymen and came to this country, the sailing vessel on which they took passage being seventy-six days making the voyage. They were married shortly before they started to this country and settled on a farm in Ozaukee county, Wisconsin, whence they presently moved to Mich- igan, where they remained until 1866, when they decided to put in their lot with the considerable number of homesteaders who were then making their way to this part of Kansas. From the railway terminus at St. Joseph. Missouri, they drove through with their little farmily to Marshall county. traveling by "prairie schooner" and ox-team. Peter Schumacher home- steaded a quarter of a section of raw land in section 12 of Herkimer town- ship, this county, erected a log house on the same and there established his home. He broke up his land with his oxen and proceeded to get in a crop. but his early operations were greatly hampered and set back by the inva- sion of grasshoppers in this part of the state about that time and he had much difficulty in getting a start in the new land, being compelled to leave his pioneer farm and go to Hutchinson mills at Marysville, where he found employment at a wage of one dollar a day, paid in bacon and corn-meal, on which humble fare he sustained his family until brighter days came. Mr. Schumacher gradually improved his farm, bringing the same up to a high state of cultivation, and after awhile added an adjoining quarter section to
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his land holdings, coming to be accounted one of the substantial farmers of that section of the county. There he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1913. at the age of seventy-eight years. His widow sur- tried him about three years, her death occurring in 1916, she then being at the age of eighty-five years. They were members of the Catholic church and their children were reared in the faith of that church. There were six of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order er birth, the others being as follow: Margaret, who married Nicholas Mellinger and is now deceased; Katherine, who married C. A. Huber and is now deceased: Mathias, who lives at Moscow, Idaho: Stephen, of Marys- ville. this county, and Susan, also of Marysville, the widow of H. Ashwiler.
Peter J. Schumacher was about five years of age when his parents came to this county and he was reared on the pioneer homestead farm in Herkimer township, receiving his early schooling in a sod shanty, the first school house in that township, and his first school teacher was Mrs. . A. J. Travelute, a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume. He remained at home, a valuable assistant to his father in the labors of developing the home place, and after awhile bought a quarter section of his own in Herkimer township, on which, after his marriage in 1888, he established his home. There he lived until 1894. when he sokl the place and moved to Marysville, where he engaged in the agricultural- implement business and was thus engaged until 1897, when he sold his store and took a position with the McCormick Harvester Company as a traveling salesman. The next year he was appointed superintendent of the Marshall county "poor farm," and was thus occupied for five years, or until 1903, when he bought from Mr. Bittell the Marysville granite and marble
works and has ever since been engaged in operating the same and has made quite a success of his business. Mr. Schumacher started in business with a stock of about three thousand dollars and has gradually extended his plant and enlarged his stock until he is now carrying a stock valued at fifteen thousand dollars and has a considerable force of marble-cutters at work. The business is carried on under the firm name of Schumacher & Son, Mr. Schumacher's son, Andrew O. Schumacher, having been admitted to part- nership with his father some time ago. The firm has a flourishing business and covers a wide scope of country in its operations. Mr. Schumacher is a Democrat and during his residence in Herkimer township was for three years township trustee. He also has served as a member of the Marysville city council for two terms and has ever taken an earnest interest in local civic affairs.
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