USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 50
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interest in Masonic affairs and in the affairs of the Odd Fellows. Both have been witnesses to the development of Marshall county from the days of the unbroken prairie and the open range and have performed well their part in that development, ever helpful in promoting such causes as were designed to advance the common welfare.
OLIVER C. WELLS.
When the name of Wells is mentioned in Marshall county memories of the pioneer John D. Wells, father of the subject of this biographical sketch, inevitably are aroused. John D. Wells was one of the first, as he was one of the most active of the early settlers of Marshall county and it is said of him that he at one time owned nearly half of the county. A Ken- tuckian by birth, he went to Iowa from that state, but after a year spent in the vicinity of Des Moines decided that the opportunities for pioneering were better down here in Kansas and he drove down with an ox team in the year 1855 and "pitched his tent" in section 36 of township 4. south, range 8, east. where he bought a tract of "Congress land" and established his home. That was in the days before the organization of Marshall county into a civic entity and before the days of the admission of Kansas into the sisterhood of states. When his home township was organized, Mr. Wells took an active part in the work of organization and his pioneer neighbors were glad to do him the honor of naming the township for him. In the general history of the early settlement of this county further and fitting mention is made of the services of John D. Wells in the community in pioneer days and of his activities in a general way in the development of the county. Not only did he go into land speculation on an extensive scale, buying land for from one dollar to two dollars an acre, until at one time he owned nearly half of Marshall county, but he engaged in the freighting business, operating a train of teams over the Overland trail to Denver, and thus became one of the best-known figures on the plains throughout this section in those days. He went into the business of raising hogs and in order to secure advantage of the better market Denver then offered over the markets to the East, he would drive his hogs all the long drive to Den- ver, the trip requiring sixty days to complete. He owned six hundred acres of land in his home place and there early engaged extensively in cattle raising, thus being one of the first big cattlemen in Kansas, and did much
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to promote the cattle business in northern Kansas in the days of the open range. He lived to near the allotted age of man, "three score years and ten," and to the day of his death maintained his hearty interest in the affairs of the county, in the organization and development of which he had taken so active a part.
John D. Wells was born in Bath county, Kentucky, October 9, 1830, and there grew to manhood. He married Elizabeth Langdon, who was born in 1829 not far to the north, over the river in Ohio, and in 1854, he then being twenty-four years of age. he and his wife went to Iowa seeking a location in the West. As noted above, after a year spent in the vicinity of Des Moines, they came down into Kansas in 1855 and the rest of their lives were spent in Marshall county, their lives here being a definite part of the early history of this county. John D. Wells was a member of the Masonic lodge at Frankfort and ever took an active interest in the affairs of the same. He died on March 19, 1899, and his widow did not long survive him, her death occurring on April 3, 1900. They were the parents of ten children, three of whom died in infancy. the others, besides the sub- ject of this sketch, being as follow: Mary P., who married James M. Wells and died in 1881: Amanda M., who is living on the old home place in Wells township: Artie Belle, wife of L. Bennett, also of Wells township: Veda J .. wife of J. L. McConchie, also of Wells township: Robert J., of Bigelow township, and Anna F., who married Daniel Pendergast and is living in Wells township.
Oliver C. Wells, fourth in order of birth of the ten children born to John D. and Elizabeth ( Langdon) Wells, was born on the old Wells place in Wells township, September 8. 1862, and has made his home in this county all his life, now being engaged in the grain and coal business at Barrett. He also is the owner of an excellent farm in this county and a property consisting of eight acres in the village of Barrett, where he makes his home. Reared on the home farm, Oliver C. Wells received his schooling in the ok! Valley View school, district No. 32. and remained on the home place until his marriage, a valuable aid to his father in the latter's extensive operations. Even in the days of his boyhood Mr. Wells made a good "hand" in the operations of the home farm and was able to handle an ox-team with the best. Along in the middle eighties he bought his first land, a tract of forty acres, and to that he gradually added until he became the owner of two hundred acres, to which another tract of seventy-one acres was added upon the distribution of his father's estate. In 1910 he sold his land hollings. but bought another farm and continued farming until 1912, when he moved
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to Barrett, where. in 1914. he bought the grain elevator there and has since then been engaged in the grain and coal business, at the same time giving proper attention to the management of his farm of one hundred and forty- five acres lying in section 35 of Wells township and in the adjoining section 2 of Bigelow township. Mr. Wells is a Democrat and has rendered public service as a member of the school board in his old home district and as deputy sheriff of Marshall county, in which latter capacity he served for three years. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and in the affairs of that fraternal organization has long taken a warm in- terest.
In 1893 Oliver C. Wells was united in marriage to Helen Warren, who was born in Bath county, Kentucky, August 25, 1873, daughter of Martin V. and Margaret (Jackson) Warren, both natives of that same county, who came to Kansas in 1892 and settled in this county, where they spent their last days. To Mr. and Mrs. Wells six children have been born, the first-born dying in infancy, the others being as follow: Bessie, de- ceased : Anna V., who married Richard Fairchild and is living at Barrett, and Marguerite, Elizabeth and Mark, at home. The Wells family have a very pleasant home at Barrett and take a proper part in the general social activities of the village and of the community at large.
REV. EDWARD R. EMBLEAU.
One of the well-known men of Summerfield and one who has had much to do with the moral and the religious life of the community, is Rev. Edward R. Embleau, who is the pastor of the "Holy Family" parish of Summerfield, Marshall county, and who was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, on August 14. 1887, the son of Philip and Catherine (Long) Embleau.
Philip Embleau was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1863, the son of Joseph and Josephine Embleau, who were natives of France, where they received their education in the parochial schools and there grew up. They later left their native land and came to Canada, locating in Montreal. where the father, Philip Embleau continued his work as a stove moulder for a number of years. He later moved to Leavenworth, and continued in the same work until 1904, when he moved to Hannibal, Missouri, where he is still engaged in the moulding business. Catherine (Long) Emblean was born in the city of Washington, D. C., in 1865, and is the daughter of
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Michael and Mary Long, who were natives of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Long received their education in the schools of their native land and there grew to maturity and later came to the United States, locating for a time in Wash- ington and later came to Kansas, settling in Leavenworth, where Mr. Long engaged in his work as a stone mason until the time of his death, some years ago.
Philip and Catherine ( Long ) Embleau were the parents of four children as follow: Alfred, Edward. Stella and Joseph. Alfred and Stella are now deceased and Joseph is a manufacturer of brooms at Topeka, Kansas. The parents were prominent members of the Catholic church and were held in the highest regard and esteem by all who knew them. They were ever inter- ested in the educational development of their home community, and were most devoted to the interests of their children.
Edward R. Embleau received his education in St. Benedict's College. from which institution he graduated in the year 1907. He later completed the course in the seminary at St. Mary's, Cincinnati, and received his degree on June 1, 1911. After completing his education, his first appointment was as assistant priest of the Assumption church at Topeka, Kansas, where he remained for three and a half years. He was then transferred to the church at Coal Creek, Kansas, where he remained for one year before taking charge of the Holy Family church at Summerfield. As pastor of the church at Sum- merfield, Reverend Embleau has won many friends during his two years pastorate, both among the members of his congregation and the residents of the community. He is a man of much force of character, a splendid organ- izer and an orator of no mean ability.
REZIN CLARK.
Rezin Clark, one of Marshall county's real pioneer farmers and land- owners, now living retired at Frankfort, is a native of the ok Buckeye state. but has been a resident of Kansas since he was nineteen years of age, having been one of that stalwart and courageous band of young men who came out . here in the early seventies and started in to develop the plains of Kansas into the rich and prosperous farming region it since has become. He was born on a farm in Allen county, Ohio, March 24, 1852. a son of John and Lucinda ( Jennings ) Clark, the former of whom was born in Ireland and the latter in the state of Ohio.
REZIN CLARK.
MRS. CORA J. CLARK.
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In 1871 Rezin Clark came to Kansas and settled in Marshall county, presently becoming the owner of a tract of land where the village of Winifred. now stands. After his marriage in 1873 Mr. Clark established his home on that farm and there remained for fifteen years, at the end of which time he moved to Frankfort, in order to secure better advantages in the way of schooling for his children, and later returned to the farm, where he continued to make his home until his retirement from the active labors of the farm in 1915 and return to Frankfort, where he is now living and where he and family are very comfortably situated. Mr. Clark has prospered well in his farming operations in this county and is now the owner of two fine farms, one of three hundred and sixty acres at Winifred and another of two hundred and seventy-four acres in the immediate vicinity of Frankfort. Mr. Clark is a Democrat and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office.
In 1873, about two years after coming to this county, Rezin Clark was united in marriage to Cora Jane Ewart, who was born in Scotland on August 24, 1855. a daughter of Thomas and Jane ( Woods) Ewart, who came to this country in 1870 and settled on a farm five miles west of Frank- fort, in this county, thus having been among the earliest settlers of that part of the county. Mrs. Clark's maternal grandparents, William and Jane (Clark ) Woods, also came to this country from Scotland in 1870 and settled in this county, among the pioneers of the south central part of the county.
To Rezin and Cora Jane (Ewart) Clark five children have been born, namely : Alvin, who is engaged in the drug business at St. Joseph, Missouri ; Warren, a druggist, of Chicago: Charles, of Oklahoma City, who in 1916, as a member of the United States Cavalry, stationed in Oklahoma, was engaged in service on the Southern border as a guard against threatened outbreaks on the part of lawless Mexicans; Clara, who married T. H. Farrar and is now living on the old Woods homestead west of Frankfort, and Mrs. Elsie Havely, who is at home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have seven grandchildren, Alvin Clark having three children, Alvin, Jr., Elsie Lela and Emma Rogene: Mrs. Farrar, two children, Otis Charles and Margaret Holli- clay, and Mrs. Havely, two, Warren Okley and Marjorie Lorraine. The Clarks are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and have ever taken a proper part in church work. Mr. Clark is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security, as is his wife, and the latter also is a member of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and of the Woman's Relief Corps, in the affairs of which she takes a warm interest. Mr. Clark is a great agi-
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tator. Hle and Rev. Hokomb were the first to close the saloons in Frankfort. Kansas. Frankfort was the first town closed in Marshall county in 1903. and that was the start of the state going dry. Mr. Clark is a very earnest man and believes he did the right thing.
CLEMENT THEODORE HESSEL.
The late Clement Theodore Hessel, for years one of the best-known and most substantial farmers in the immediate vicinity of Frankfort, this county, and who died at his home on the east edge of that city on July 15, 1906, was a native of the state of Wisconsin, born at Watertown, that state, April 20, 1848, a son of Clement Hessel and wife, the former of whom was born in Germany of French parentage. In his young manhood Clement T. Hessel came to Kansas and became a stock buyer at Atchison, traveling out of there to all parts of the country adjacent to that market, buying live- stock. Before coming to Kansas, Mr. Hessel had married in Wisconsin, Mary Lynch, of Columbus, that state, and who became ill at her home in Atchison. He accompanied her back to her old home at Columbus, where she died, leaving one child, a son. Frank, who is now living in the West.
Later Mr. Hessel returned to Kansas and eventually came to Marshall county, locating at Frankfort, where, on January 7. 1890. he married Jo- hanna Fox, who was born at Brandywine, Pennsylvania. July 27, 1859. a daughter of Richard and Johanna ( Kellar) Fox, natives of Ireland, who came to this country in the days of their youth and were married at Brandy- wine. Pennsylvania. In 188t the Fox family came to Kansas and settled on a farm in the northwest corner of Vermillion township, this county, where they established their home, and where Mr. Fox spent his last days, his death occurring on September 25, 1903. Hle was born on September 21. 1838, and was therefore just past seventy-five years of age at the time of his death. His widow later moved to Frankfort, where she spent her last days, her death occurring on March 8. 1915. She was born in the year 1832 and was therefore eighty-three years of age at the time of her death. Richard Fox and his wife were the parents of six children, of whom Mrs. Hessel was the second in order of birth. the others being as follow: Richard, who was a railroad man and who died at his home in Atchison in 1904: Mrs. Charles Brady, who lived on a farm on Irish creek in this county, is now deceased : Ilumphrey, who lives at Frankfort: Julia, now employed at the
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Odd Fellow Home, who has proved up on a homestead claim in the vicinity of Chugwater, in Laramie county, Wyoming, and Thomas, who is farming the old Fox home place in the northwest corner of Vermillion township.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hessel rented a quarter-section farm on the eastern edge of Frankfort, where they established their home, and six months later bought the place. There Mr. Hessel continued farming until his death in 1906. He made extensive improvements on the place and his family now has a splendid home there, having continued to make that their place of residence since his death. Mr. Hessel was a very energetic and progressive farmer, his operations being carried on in accordance with modern methods of farming, and he did very well, so that his family was left quite well circumstanced at the time of his death. He was a member of the Catholic church, as is his widow, and their children have been reared in that faith.
To Clement T. and Johanna (Fox) Hessel four children were born, namely : Clement Joseph, born on May 14, 1894, who is a graduate of the high school at Frankfort; Anna Regina, who on February 8, 1911, married Jolin Thomas Ahern, of this county, and has two children, Eugene Arthur, born on September 19, 1913, and Justin Hessel, May 19, 1916; William Richard, born on November 7. 1895, who was graduated from the Frank- fort high school, and Arthur Gerald. December 16, 1899, who also is a graduate of the Frankfort high school. Mrs. Hessel has a very pleasant home on the outskirts of Frankfort and has ever taken a proper part in the general social activities of the community of which she has been a member since the days of her young womanhood.
MICHAEL JOSEPH DUIGENAN.
The late Michael Joseph Duigenan, of Marysville, one 'of the pioneers of Marshall county and for many years one of the wealthiest and most influential residents of the county, was a native of the Emerald Isle, but had been a resident of this county since 1870 and had therefore witnessed the development of this region since the days of the early settlement of the same. He was born in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in November, 1842, of Irish parents, but was reared in London, to which city his parents had moved when he was a child. He lost his parents in the days of his youth and he later went to South America, making his home in the city of Buenos
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Ayres for some time, later coming to the United States and settling at Chicago, where he remained until he came to Kansas in 1870 and located at Marysville, with the interests of which city and of Marshall county he was actively and prominently identified the rest of his life.
During his boyhood in London Mr. Duigenan had learned the trade of saddler and harness-maker and had worked at that trade both in Buenos Ayres and in Chicago. U'pon locating at Marysville he bought the harness shop that had been established there by Nierman & Switzer and at once engaged in business, eventually becoming very successful. Mr. Duigenan had the utmost confidence in the future of Marysville from the very be- ginning of his residence there and shortly after his arrival there made con- siderable investments in town lots, which turned out very well. Upon his marriage two years later be built a handsome residence in Marysville and there established his home, making that his place of residence the rest of his life. He rapidly extended the business of his harness shop and presently bad one of the most extensive establishments of that sort in northern Kan- sas. At the same time he was making judicious investments in Marshall county farm lands and it was not long until he came to be regarded as one of the wealthiest and most substantial citizens of the county. At one time he owned five or six farms in this county and went in quite extensively for cattle raising. Hle retained to the end his fine ranch of eight hundred and forty acres six miles south of Marysville and took much pride in the devel- opment of the same and in raising the standard of the live-stock bred on his place. Mr. Duigenan had inherited a bit of property in London and after his marriage made four trips back to that city, incidentally increasing his investments there. Hle also had extensive investments in bonds and owned, besides his beautiful residence in Marysville, a business block and other property there. During the nineties Mr. Duigenan gave much atten- tion to cattle raising and was known as one of the most enterprising stock- men in this part of Kansas. In later years he spent much time in travel and had not only visited most of the chief points of interest in this country. but in Europe. In 1913 he made a pilgrimage to the Vatican at Rome and out of a party of seven hundred he was the only American, the rest all being foreigners, and received the papal blessing of the supreme pontiff. Mr. Duigenan was an ardent member of the Catholic church and among the benefactions revealed by his last will and testament was one bequeath- ing four thousand dollars to Catholic institutions. Politically, he was a Republican and from the very beginning of his residence in this county took an active interest in political affairs. For some time he served as a mem-
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ber of the Marysville city council and he also served for years as a member of the local school board. Mr. Duigenan died at his home in Marysville in May, 1915, leaving a widow and five children.
On July 13, 1872, at Stratford, Ontario, Michael J. Duigenan was united in marriage to Rachel Cooper, who was born at that place on June 6. 1854, daughter of John and Rosanna Cooper, natives, respectively, of Eng- land and Ireland. John Cooper, who was a substantial brick manufacturer, was born at Enkring, England, in 1818, and when a young man emigrated to Canada. For two years he and his wife made their home in Marysville. In 1888 he returned to his boyhood home in England and there died on February 18, 1898. To Mr. and Mrs. Duigenan five children were born, namely : Kathleen, who married J. C. Grindle, of Marysville: Charles Joseph, a draughtsman, who is at home: Francis, a pharmacist at Kansas City: Elizabeth, who married Omer Fulton, and Madeline, who is at home. The Duigenans have a very pleasant home at Marysville and have ever taken a proper part in the social, cultural and religious activities of their home town, earnest factors in the promotion of all movements having to do with the advancement of the common welfare.
D. W. LUDWICK.
D. W. Ludwick, a well-known retired grainman and farmer, now living at Frankfort, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1866, a son of Conrad and Lucy .A. ( Byers) Ludwick, who later became residents of this county and here spent their last days.
The Ludwick family formerly spelled the name Ludwig and is directly descended from the stock from which sprang okt King Ludwig, of Bavaria, D. W. Ludwick's great-grandfather, Conrad Ludwig, the founder of the family in this country, having been a first cousin of the king. He came to this country in Colonial times and his sons fought in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War. One of the grandsons of this old Bavarian immigrant, Conrad Ludwick, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Pennsylvania and there grew up, trained to the trade of millwright, he and his brother, Charles, building mills along the Monongehela river. Later he built mills in Iowa. In 1845 Conrad Ludwick and his brother, Jacob, settled on the prairie just west of the city of Chicago and there bought a farm of eighty acres, land now comprised within the Garfield Park section of
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the city. Jacob Ludwick was killed while serving as a soldier during the Civil War and Conrad Ludwick later traded that land for a farm in the Onarga neighborhood of Iroquois county, Illinois, and there, in 1867, built a big flour-mill which be operated for years and in the operation of which he became quite wealthy. His mill was twice destroyed by fire and after the Second fire, in 1870, he came to Kansas and settled on a farm on the line between Marshall and Washington counties, where he made his home until 1897, when he moved to Barrett, but after a sometime residence there moved to Frankfort, where he spent his last days, his death occurring in 1908. he then being eighty-four years of age. His widow survived him until in April. 1913. she being seventy-nine years of age at the time of her death. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being as follow: Belle, deceased ; Frank, deceased ; Ellis, a lumber dealer of Bellville. this state: Mrs. Minnie Schmidt. of Waterville, this county; C. W., of Ft. Cobb, Oklahoma: . 1. B., who is engaged in the lumber business at Glasgow, Kansas, and Mrs. Mary E. Thrumm, wife of a cigar manufacturer at Bellville.
D. W. Endwick was about thirteen years of age when his parents came to Kansas and he grew to manhood on the home farm on the line between this county and Washington county, remaining there until 1894, when he located at Barrett and there engaged 'in the grain business. He presently sold his elevator at Barrett and in 1898 bought his present property in Frank- fort and was engaged in the grain business in that city until 1908, in which year he erected a splendid grain elevator at Winifred and operated the same until 1915, when he sold it to the Farmers Union and then returned to Frankfort, where he since has made his home, now living practically retired. Mr. Ludwick is the owner of a fine place of twenty acres on the river at Frankfort and takes much pleasure in his poultry, hogs and cows. However, he is not content to lead so comparatively inactive a life and is now contem- plating the erection of a flour-mill at Frankfort. Mr. Ludwick is a Demo- erat and has ever given his close attention to local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office.
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