USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 48
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530
MARSHALL COUNTY, K.LVS.I.S.
On November 25, 1803. Asher F. Reed was united in marriage to Julia Kuoni, the daughter of Mathias and Ursula ( Bohner ) Kuoni. Mr. and Mrs. Kuoni were natives of Switzerland and there received their education in the public schools, grew up and later came to the United States. They were both born in the year 1835 and the father died on May 11, 1905, and the mother on September 19. 1891. They came to the United States in 1809. and for two years were residents of Peru, Illinois, after which they came to Kansas and located on a farm in Marshall county. Mr. Kuoni purchased a farm in Marysville township and here he spent the remainder of his life. He at first purchased railroad land and then homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres. He paid seven dollars per acre for the land he purchased; the whole tract today is worth one hundred dollars per acre. This farm he developed and improved and here he engaged in general farm- ing and stock raising with success. In connection with his farm work he dug many wells in all parts of the county and became known in all parts of the district. Mr. and Mrs. Kuoni were identified with the Lutheran church and were long prominent in the social and religious life of the township. Mr. Kuoni believed in the principles of the Democratic party and took much interest in all local affairs, and for a number of years served as road over- seer. Hle was a strong advocate of the best roads and during his term of office. the roads of the district were placed in the best condition possible.
To Mathias and Ursula Bohner Knoni were born the following chil- dren: John H., a retired farmer of Marysville; Michael, a farmer of Idaho; Christina Bigham, a resident of Idaho, where her husband is a successful farmer: George, a resident of Arizona, and is now a retired farmer : Julia, the widow of Asher F. Reed and one that died in infancy.
Julia ( Kuoni) Reed was born in Marshall county, on November 25. 1873, and was reared on the home farm and educated in the local schools. She remained at home until after her marriage to Mr. Reed. She now owns the farm in Marysville township, but lives across the road in Franklin, and during her residence in this section, she has made for herself many friends, who hokl her in the highest regard and esteem. She takes much interest in the social and the moral development of the community, and in the work of the Methodist Episcopal church. She and Mr. Reed were the parents of the following children : Clarence, who was born on June 11, 1897; Selmar on October 16, 1898, and Leslie .A .. on January 27, 1903. Selmar Reed was the first one of Marshall county's young men to answer his coun- try's call in the war crisis. He has enlisted in the navy.
53I
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
ROBERT W. SMITH.
Robert W. Smith, one of the real pioneers of Marshall county, now living comfortably retired at his pleasant home in Frankfort, has been a witness to the development of things in this part of Kansas from the days of the very beginning of a social order hereabout and there are few men in the northern part of the state who have a more vivid recollection of the days of the plainsmen and of the old Overland trail than has he. Coming to Kansas in 1858 he was a participant in affairs here during the stirring days of the Civil War period and as a freighter on the old Overland trail was a witness to many a stirring scene that marked the traffic along that historic highway in the days before the railroad brought a new order and robbed the plains of the picturesque quality that has so entertainingly been embodied in story and song by the observers of a generation now past. Beginning his career in Marshall county as a merchant at the stage and milling station of Barrett, Mr. Smith has remained all the years since pretty closely identified with the affairs of that part of the county, in which he early became an extensive landowner and cattleman, and now, in the pleas- ant "evening time" of his life, with his affairs well ordered, he is in a posi- tion, while still preserving in a remarkable degree his vigor and zest in living, to take things easily and to enjoy the ample rewards of a long and busy life.
Robert W. Smith was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 30, 1838, second in order of birth of the children born to his parents, Robert and Sarah ( Ray) Smith, also natives of the Keystone state, his paternal grandfather of Irish birth and his maternal grandfather of Scotch- Irish stock. The elder Robert Smith was a substantial farmer and the owner of a store at Elders Ridge. In the academy at Elders Ridge Robert W. Smith completed his schooling and as a young man engaged in the mercantile business there on his own account, but after being thus engaged for about six months came to the conclusion that wider opportunities awaited him out on the plains of Kansas, and in 1858, he then being hardly twenty years of age, he came out here, bringing with him a stock of goods, which he transported by steamer down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and thence up the Missouri to Atchison and then by wagon on over into Mar- shall county, his point of destination being the stage station and saw-mill settlement at Barrett, on the old Overland trail. There Mr. Smith estab- lished his store, but in 1861, finding that the outlook for a merchant there was not as promising as it had seemed, sold his store and engaged on his own account in general freighting, his route being from Kansas City to
532
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
Leavenworth, Atchison and Omaha and from Barrett to Denver and the Rocky mountains, keeping from five to fifteen teams going. In the mean- time he began investing in land and in the spring of 1865 located on a farm he had bought in Clear Fork township, this county, and after his marriage in 1866 established his home there. soon becoming recognized as one of the leading farmers and stockmen in that part of the county. From the very beginning of his residence in this county. Mr. Smith took an active and thoughtful interest in local civic affairs. The first school district in Mar- shall county was that organized in the Barrett neighborhood, old district No. 1, and Mr. Smith for years was the director in the district. That was in the days when the money for the maintenance of the schools had to be raised by popular subscription, there being no law to raise money by taxes for schools at that time, and the teacher was paid but forty dollars for a term of five months, in 1860.
.After a brief residence on his first farm in Clear Fork township. Robert W. Smith determined that a better location would be over on another bit of land he had bought in section 16 of what is now Bigelow township and there he definitely settled, making that place his home until his retirement in 1915 and removal to Frankfort, where he and his wife are now living. In addition to his fine and well-improved farm of four hundred acres in Bigelow township. Mr. Smith is the owner of considerable land elsewhere. including land in Oklahoma, on which, in the summer of 1916, just to show the boys that. despite his years, he still could make a hand. Mr. Smith took part in the wheat harvest. His home farm that season produced more than four thousand bushels of corn. Mr. Smith is a Republican and has ever taken a good citizen's part in local politics. In addition to the school office above mentioned. he has held other local offices and was also postmaster of Barrett. in 1860, but he has never been a seeker after public office, pre- ferring to give his undivided attention to the development of his farming properties.
On September 20, 1806. Robert W. Smith was united in marriage to Henrietta Edgar, who was born in Knox county, Illinois, in 1841, and who came with her parents, Thomas and Martha Edgar, to Kansas in March. 1800, the family settling in Marshall county. Thomas Edgar and his wife both were born in Kentucky, but became residents of Illinois, from which latter state they came as pioneers to this county, locating on a farm in Clear Fork township, where they spent the rest of their lives, the former dying in 1885. His widow survived him for some years, her death occur- ring about 1900. They were the parents of seven children and the family
533
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
became one of the well-established families of Marshall county. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith six children have been born, namely: Harry T., now living at Bristol, Oklahoma; William F., of Wetmore, this state; Sarah, wife of Edward Blainey, of Marshall, Oklahoma; James, who is living on a farm adjoining Frankfort on the south ; Edgar M., who died in 1910, and Robert E., who is living on the old home farm in Bigelow township.
GEORGE T. MOHRBACHER.
George T. Mohrbacher, junior member of the firm operating the well- known August Hohn & Sons department store at Marysville, and one of the most progressive and influential business men in this part of the state, is a native son of Marshall county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a pioneer farm in Franklin township, this county, February 22, 1876, son of Christian and Caroline (Koch) Mohrbacher, pioneers of Mar- shall county, the former of whom died at Marysville in 1902 and the latter of whom is still living in that city.
Christian Molirbacher was born in the kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, October 31, 1838, and was but a child when his parents, Jacob Mohrbacher and wife, come to this country. He learned the cooper's trade in Wisconsin and in the winter of 1859-60 came to Kansas, driving through to Marshall county from St. Joseph, Missouri, then the terminus of the railway, and with his parents settled on a homestead two and one-half miles south of Marysville ; later he purchased a small farm west of the homestead which he later sold and bought a four-hundred-acre farm in section 16 of Franklin township, north of Home City, where he established his home and soon became recognized as one of the leading. farmers and cattlemen in that part of the county. He was an extensive breeder of Durham cattle and developed an extensive cattle business. He made his home on that pioneer farm until he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Home City, where he resided until 1901, when he moved to Marysville, where his death occurred on January 1, 1902.
Christian Mohrbacher was twice married. His first marriage was to Martha Tanner and by that union he had five children, namely: Alexander, who is now living in Denver, Colorado; Hettie, who married J. E. McMahan and is living at Marysville; Edwin H., who is living at Denver; Thomas, of Marysville, and Christopher, deceased. Upon the death of the mother
531
MARSHMAL. COUNTY, KANSAS.
of these children, Christian Mohrbacher married Caroline Koch, who was born in Milwaukee county, Wisconsin, October 31, 1846, and who is now living at Marysville, and to that union four children were born, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow: Matilda, deceased; Cora E., who married Carl Lemmer and is living at Denver, Colorado, and Frances, who makes her home with her mother and is cashier of the August Hohn & Sons department store at Marysville.
George T. Mohrbacher was reared on the home farm in Franklin town- ship and supplemented the schooling received in the district school in that neighborhood by a course in the high school at Marysville. On October 10, 1802. he then being sixteen years of age, he began clerking in the August Hohn department store at Marysville and has ever since been closely identified with the affairs of that substantial concern. On January 1, 1900, he became a stockholder in the enterprise and is now the junior member of the firm, giving his active attention to the management of the extensive interests of the enterprise, long having been recognized as one of the lead- ing merchants of Marysville. Mr. Mohrbacher gives his close attention to the general business affairs of the city and is a member of the publicity committee of the Marysville Commercial Club. He is a Republican and takes a good citizen's interest in the civic and political affairs of his home community Some years ago he was appointed chief of the Marysville fire department and has given much attention to the affairs of the department as well as to the general subject of fire prevention, now serving as treasurer of the Kansas State Firemen's AAssociation and as chairman of the legisla- tive committee of the same; also vice-president of the Kansas State . Isso- ciation of Fire Chiefs. Mr. Mohrbacher is an active member of several lodges; is a member of all the Masonic bodies, a thirty-second-degree Mason and secretary of Marysville Lodge No. 91. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Marysville Chapter No. 20. Royal Arch Masons; a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of the Knights of Pythias and of the Turnverein, and is man- ager of Turner Hall.
On May 10, 1800. George T. Mohrbacher was united in marriage to Minna A. Hohn, a graduate of the Marysville high school, who was born at Marysville on August 11. 1878, daughter of August and Minna ( Zim- merman ) Hohn, further mention of whom is made in a biographical sketch relating to the former, the veteran merchant at Marysville, and to this union two children have been born, Arthur, who was born on October 22.
535
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
1900, and Winton, June 13. 1905. The Mohrbachers have a very pleasant home in Marysville and have ever taken a warm interest in the general social activities of their home town. helpful in promoting all worthy move- ments designed to advance the common welfare hereabout.
JOHN L. LEWIS.
John L. Lewis, one of Marshall county's substantial farmers and land- owners and former trustee and treasurer of Blue Rapids township. now living retired from the active labors of the farm in his pleasant home in the village of Irving, on the outskirts of which village his farm abuts, is a native of the principality of Wales, but has been a resident of this country since he was but a child. his parents having come to this country and settled in Wis- consin when he was about nine years of age. He was born on January 1. 1841. a son of David and Jane ( Lloyd) Lewis, who came to the United States in 1850 and settled on a farm in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, where David Lewis died the next year, in 1851. He was born on November 25. ISIt. His widow, who was born in that same year, survived him many years, her death occurring in 1892. They were the parents of four children. of whom the subject of this sketch is now the only survivor, he having had a brother, David, and two sisters, Mary and Mrs. Sarah Evans, deceased.
John L. Lewis was about nine years of age when he came to this coun- try with his parents and he was reared on a farm in Waukesha county. Wisconsin. In 1866 he bought a farm in Kankakee county, Illinois, and following his marriage the next year established his home there, remaining there until 1877, when he went to Missouri and bought a farm in Carroll county, that state, where he farmed for a couple of years, at the end of which time, in 1879, he came to Kansas and for five years was engaged in farming on a rented farm in Osage county; in the meantime buying a farm in Gage county. Nebraska, on which he presently established his home, but in 1891 sold out there and moved to Nuckolls county, in that same state. where he lived until he came to Marshall county in 1905 and settled on a farm which he had bought here in 1888. During the years of his owner- ship of that farm a village had been growing up alongside it and Mr. Lewis found that he had a valuable bit of property when he finally made his home here. He is the owner of three hundred and fifteen acres of land in section 6 of Bigelow township and the home place in section 6 of Blue
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536
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
Rapids township, right on the southeastern edge of the thriving village of Irving. For some time past Mr. Lewis has had his farm rented and he and his wife are now making their home in Irving, where they are very comfortably situated. In addition to his land holdings in this county, Mr. Lewis is the owner of a farm of eight hundred acres in Beadle county, South Dakota, and is regarded as one of Marshall county's substantial citizens. Mr. Lewis is a Democrat and has served the public in the capacity of treas- urer and as trustee of Blue Rapids township.
On Christmas Day. in the year 1867. John L. Lewis was united in marriage. in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, to Ellen Williams, who was born in that county on November 26. 1846, a daughter of Hugh H. and Ellen Williams, natives of Wales, who left their native country in 1838 and came to this country, settling in Wisconsin, where both spent the remainder of their lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Lewis two children have been born, Jennie, now deceased, who was a graduate of the Crete ( Nebraska) Congregational Col- lege. and Sarah Ann, widow of John H. Jones, who has two sons, Lewis and Edwin Lloyd Jones, and now lives at Wymore, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are members of the Episcopal church and take a proper interest in local church work. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and for years has taken an active interest in the affairs of that organization.
FRANK THOM.INN.
France has given to the United States some of her best and most pro- gressive citizens. Among those who have settled in Marshall county is Frank Thomann, one of the well-known and prominent retired farmers of Summer- feld, who was born in Alsace on March 27, 1847, the son of Jacques and Victoria (Bishops ) Thomann.
The parents of Frank Thomann were also natives of France and there received their education and grew up and were later married. The father had been married before his union to Victoria Bishops and by the first wife was the father of five children. By the second wife, the mother of Frank, there were two children born, of whom Frank is the only one living. Jacques Thomann as a young man learned civil engineering, at which he worked in his native land until 1856, when he decided to seek a home for himself and family in the United States. After a voyage of thirty-six days they landed at Philadelphia, where the family resided for a year. The father then decided
FRANK THOMANN.
537
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
that he would be a farmer and in 1857 came to Kansas. The trip from St. Joe to Marshall county was made in a wagon drawn by oxen. On their arrival in the county, Mr. Thomann located in Richland township, where he pre-empted one hundred and twenty acres of land in section 32, at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. He at once built a log cabin in which the family lived for some years, and with his oxen he broke the tough prairie sod and planted his grain. The few years that he lived on his farm were fraught with many difficulties, yet during those years his life was a most active one. He was the first surveyor of Marshall county after Kansas became a state. His death occurred on May 10, 1864. His widow survived him until 1890, when her death occurred on April 16 of that year. They were members of the Catholic church and lived consistent Christian lives, and were held in the highest regard and respect by all who knew them.
Frank Thomann received the greater part of his education in the schools of his native land, having attended school but two months after the family came to America, yet he was but nine years of age when he came with his parents to this country. At the age of sixteen years he started in to work for himself, and later he and his half-brother farmed the old home place. In 1884 Mr. Thomann retired from the farm and moved to Beattie, Kansas, where he assisted A. J. Brunswig and Joseph Baer organize the Bank of Beattie, Mr. Thomann furnishing the money. These men were also the man- agers of an elevator known as the Brunswig Elevator Company, which did a big business. In 1889 the Kansas City & Northwestern railroad was com- pleted through Summerfield, and Mr. Thomann was one of the first to buy lots in the new town. He and his brother-in-law, August Wuester, started a drug store, which they conducted for a number of years. The members of the banking house and August Wuester, organized the Summerfield Hard- ware and Implement Company, of which the subject was the manager. This business was conducted for ten years, when they sold. The drug store was burned in 1894, after which Mr. Thomann took over the business, which he conducted until 1904. After this he operated the elevator until 1913, in which year he retired to private life. He was president of the bank at Sum- merville for twenty-six years, but at the present time he has no interests in the institution. He still has large land interests, owning three hundred and sixty acres of splendid land in Guittard township, one hundred and sixty acres in Pottawatomie county and one hundred and twenty acres in Osage county, Kansas, as well as an additional eighty acres in Marshall county.
Frank Thomann was united in marriage on March 10. 1883. to Charlotte
538
MARSHALL COUNTY, K.L.V.S.I.S.
Wiester, the daughter of Abraham and Margaret ( Bauer ) Wie-ter, both of whom.were natives of Germany, where they received their education in the public schools and grew up. They later came to the United States and estab- lished themselves on a farm.
To Frank and Charlotte Thomann have been born the following children : James .A., the first born, deceased; Wilbur Charles; Warren F. and Frank Charles. Wilbur Charles is an automobile salesman at Indianola, Nebraska : Warren F. is a painter, of Frankfort, Kansas, and Frank Charles is a student in the University of Kansas.
Politically, Mr. Thomann is a stanch Democrat and has ever taken much interest in local affairs. lle is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights and Ladies of Security and the Free and AAccepted Masons, having attained the Knight Templar degree and is a member of the Shriners.
During their early life in the county, the Thomanns lived in a tent and experienced many of the difficulties of the early settler. There were many Indians in the vicinity, and at times they camped near the home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomann. At one time there was a band of thirty-five redskins that Stopped at their home, and during their stay they took two gallons of whiskey which the family had for medical use. It was not long until the greater number of the Indians were intoxicated and were determined to fight. Lucky. there were enough of the band that remained sober to care for the drunken ones, and by morning the band had disappeared. After the Indian raid in 1864. the settlers of Washington county and the counties west, returned cast through Marshall county, and the road was lined with people from Marysville to Guittard Station. Much of the fear that animated their hasty retreat at that time, was caused by a large band of Pottawatomie Indians that were on their way to visit the Otoes, and when they crossed the military and the stage road. the settlers saw them and gave the alarm that the Indians were again on the war-path.
Frank Thomann having come to Kansas in an early day, when he was hut a lad, has seen the wonderful transition of the country from the wikl mairie, inhal:ited with the wolf and roving bands of Indians, to the present well-developed farms, with fields of golden grain and pastures dotted here and there with fine herds of the best of cattle: droves of hogs growing fat on the products of the farm. and the finest horses, fit for the plow and driving purposes. This great change from the most primitive to the highest state of efficiency, has only been accomplished by the hardest kind of work and close economy. Splendid buildings and well-kept premises are now seen.
539
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
where once stood the settler's cabin and the rude barn. In all of this Mr. Thomann has had an important part, and he and such as he are entitled to the greatest honor for the work that they have done. It is difficult for the pres- ent generation to realize the wonderful changes that have taken place during the life of some of the men and women now living.
JOHN L. DAVIS.
John L. Davis, one of the pioneers of Marshall county, a well-to-do retired farmer and an honored veteran of the Civil War. now living at Frankfort, is a native of the old Buckeye state, but has been a resident of Kansas since the year 1870, when he came to Marshall county, and hence has been a witness to and a participant in the development of this county since pioneer days. He was born in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. August 22, 1838, a son of John M. and Avelander ( Pierce) Davis, natives of the state of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively, members of old families in that state, whose last days were spent in Mechanicsburg, where John M. Davis was a well-known and well-to-do building contractor.
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