USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 53
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Michael Schmidt was born in Luxemburg on December 25. 1837, and was but twelve years of age when he came to this country with his parents, the family settling in Wisconsin, where Michael was reared on a farm. Upon attaining his majority he went to Illinois, where he began working for George B. Reynokls, who, upon the breaking out of the Civil War, organized the Sixty-fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was made the colonel of the same. Michael Schmidt enlisted in that command and served from 1861 until 1863, when he received his discharge on account of deafness con- tracted in service. This command was attached to the Army of the West and Mr. Schmidt saw service at the engagement of Island No. 10, at the battle of Shiloh, at Ft. Donelson, at Pittsburg Landing and at Ft. Henry. Upon the completion of his military service he returned to Wisconsin, mar- ried there and located at Sheboygan, where he was engaged in buying grain until 1870, when he came to Kansas with his family and settled in Herkimer township, this county, where he homesteaded a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land and established his home. There he lived for seven or eight years, at the end of which time he moved farther east in that
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same township and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on June 8. 1913. His widow, who was born in Luxemburg on August 2, 1850, and who was but nine months of age when her parents came to this country, the family settling in Wisconsin, still survives and is now making her home at Marysville.
Mathias M. Schmidt was reared on the home farm in Herkimer town- ship. receiving his early schooling in the district school in the neighborhood of his home and supplemented the same by a course in the old Modern Nor- mal School at Marysville. after which, in 1896, he began teaching school in Oketo township and for five years thereafter was engaged as a teacher in the district schools of Marshall county. He then for three years served as prin- cipal of the schools at Herkimer, one year as principal of the Oketo schools and two years as principal of the schools at Home. In 1902, Mr. Schmidt took a course at the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois. On 1907 he organized the Citizens State Bank of Home, was elected cashier of the same and served in that capacity for seven years, at the end of which time he resigned that position and has ever since been very successfully engaged in the insurance business at Home. Mr. Schmidt retains his stock in the Citizens State Bank and takes an active and influential interest in the general business of his home town and of the county at large. He is a Demo- crat and in 1914 was elected to represent the fortieth Kansas representative district in the state Legislature, his services in the House being of large benefit not only to his district, but to the state at large. Mr. Schmidt is a member of the Kansas State Historical Society, an active member of the National Geographic Society and a member of the Kansas Academy of Science. He has the largest and finest library in Marshall county and for years has been accounted as one of the leaders in the cultural activities of this part of the state.
On December 11, 1906, Mathias M. Schmidt was united in marriage to Nellie Thomas, who was born in Franklin township, this county, March 9, 1882, daughter of Joshua and Margaret (Francis) Thomas, natives of Wales, who came to this country in the seventies and settled at Madison, Wisconsin, moving thence, in 1880, to Kansas and settling in Franklin town- ship, this county. A few years later Joshua Thomas moved to the village of Home, where he engaged in the mercantile business and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on January 19, 1905, he then being about sixty years of age. His widow is now living at Marysville. Nellie Thomas was graduated from the high school at Chillicothe, Missouri, took a special course in music and was engaged in teaching in this county at the
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time of her marriage to Mr. Schmidt. To that union three children have been born, Victor Hugo, Carol M. and Mary M. The Schmidts have a very pleasant home at Home and take a proper interest in the community's general social activities, helpful in promoting all worthy causes thereabout.
FRANK A. WERNER.
Frank A. Werner, editor and proprietor of the Artell Standard at Axtell, this county, is a native of Germany, but has been a resident of this country since he was twelve years of age. He was born in the Prussian province of Brandenburg on June 10, 1871, son of August and Augusta (Seidel) Werner, natives of that same province, who came to this country more than thirty years ago and are now living pleasantly retired at Crab Orchard, Nebraska.
AAngust Werner was born on August 8, 1836, and his wife was born on December 17, 1838. For twenty-three years he served as treasurer of his district in the Fatherland, under appointment by the crown, and in 1884 came with his family to this country and settled on a farm in Fremont county, Iowa, where he lived until 1893. in which year he moved to Crab Orchard, Nebraska, and bought the Herald, a weekly newspaper published at that place and which he conducted until his retirement from business, his son, Otto, now conducting the paper. August Werner and his wife are mem- bers of the Methodist church and their children were reared in that faith. There were nine of these children, four of whom are still living, those besides the subject of this sketch being as follow: William F., who is engaged in the monument business at Axtell, this county: Ernest F., who is a farmer in Murray township, this county, and Otto, who is the editor of the Herald at Crab Orchard, Nebraska.
Frank A. Werner was but twelve years of age when he came to the United States with his parents and he was reared on a farm in Iowa. In 1892 he entered the Conservatory of Music at Lincoln, Nebraska, and there took a three-years course in the violin and harmony, after which, in 1895, he went to Elm Creek, Nebraska, where he became engaged as a clerk in a gen- eral store, acquiring there a sufficient fund of experience in the mercantile business to embolden him to embark in business on his own account. He bought a stock of merchandise at Crabb Orchard and conducted the same until 1899, in which year he sold his store and engaged in business with his
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brother, Otto Werner, in the publication of the newspaper at Crab Orchard, and was thus engaged until 1902, when he became the manager for George D. Dement, a fruit grower, but shortly afterward returned to the newspaper office and was engaged there with his brother. Otto, from 1903 to 1906, in which latter year he became foreman for the Enterprise Printing Company at Exeter, Nebraska. Two years later, in 1908, he came to Kansas and located at Axtell, where he bought the Artell Anchor and consolidated the same with the Standard, which was then being published at Axtell by his brother, Ernest Werner, the paper being conducted by the brothers, the name Standard being retained, until 1912, when Frank A. Werner bought his brother's interest in the paper and has since been conducting it alone, sole cditor and proprietor. Mr. Werner has a well-equipped and well-established printing plant and has built up the circulation of the Standard from four hundred to eight hundred, the paper having a wide popularity throughout the region it so admirably covers. Mr. Werner is independent in his political views and the columns of his newspaper do not reflect the theories or prin- ciples of any political party, the chief mission of the paper being to give the news from week to week relating to Axtell and vicinity.
On September 17, 1897, Frank A. Werner was united in marriage to Mary Hennek, who was born in the city of Oppeln, in Prussian Silesia, Ger- many, November 21, 1878, daughter of Frank and Julia (Andreas) Hennek, who came to this country in 1886 and settled at Lexington, Nebraska. Frank Hennek is now living at Rapid City, South Dakota, a retired farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Werner six children have been born, Eva M .. Frederick W., Velma G., Ralph F., Ruby R., and Irene F. The Werners are a musical family, Mr. Werner and his four elder children often being called on to pro- vide orchestral music for local entertainments. Frederick W. Werner is a trap-drummer of more than ordinary accomplishment and all the children are skilled performers on one or more musical instruments, while Mr. Werner is a violinist of much skill. The Werners have a very pleasant home at Axtell and take an active part in the general social activities of the city. Mr. Wer- ner is a Mason and is a member of the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Modern Woodmen of America, in the latter two of which organizations he has been an office bearer, and in the affairs of all of which he takes a warm interest. He is an active "booster" for Axtell and Marshall county and the columns of his enterprising newspaper are ever advocating measures designed to advance the common welfare not only of his home town, but of the county at large.
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FRANK DOW SHELDON.
Frank Dow Sheldon, now deceased, and formerly one of the highly respected and successful men of Blue Rapids, Marshall county, was born on September 4, 1853, in Aurora township, Portage county, Ohio, being the son of Albert Russell Sheldon, of Ohio, and Cornelia (Dow) Sheldon, who was born in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Mr. Sheldon's ancestors were of an old Connecticut family, several mem- bers of whom served in the militia and took an active part in the Revolu- tionary War. In 1800 his great grandfather, Ebenezer Sheldon, moved to Portage county, Ohio, taking possession of a tract of land in the Western Reserve, granted by the state of Connecticut to those who had helped during the war. This farm is still in possession of the Sheldon family and there Frank Dow Sheldon grew to manhood. After completing his education in the common schools, he entered Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio, from which institution he was later graduated. He then taught school for four years. after which he entered the drug business at Burton, Ohio, where he remained for ten years. In 1888 he came to Kansas and established himself in busi- ness at Blue Rapids, and became one of the highly respected and successful business men of the county. Before coming to the state he had married Mrs. Lottie ( Cooley) Scott, the daughter of Festus Cooley, one of the early pioneers of this section of the state. To this marriage one son, Festus Cooley Sheldon, and one daughter, Cornelia Beanla Sheldon were born.
Lottie Cooley Sheldon died in 1890. On October 1, 1902, Frank Dow Sheldon married Mrs. Carrie Van Tine Liscom, the daughter of Charles and Harriet (Cady ) Van Tine, with whom he lived until the time of his death on October 21, 1916, after a sickness of over two years had worn him to but a shadow of his old-time vigor and self. After the death of his wife in 1890, Mr. Sheldon returned to the old home in Ohio, his little daughter dying there in 1897. He later returned to Blue Rapids with his son to take charge of business interests there. In 1907 he built his fine home on a twelve-acre orchard tract on East avenue ; this he later had platted. It is now the "Sheldon Subdivision" of Blue Rapid City and comprises a very desirable residential section of the town. Mr. Sheldon was closely connected with the business interests of the town for many years. A member of the Christian church, he always took the keenest interest in religious work. He was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and politically, was iden- tified with the Republican party. He was a man who took the greatest inter-
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est in the growth and development of his home community, where he was recognized as a man of the highest integrity and purpose. He and Carrie V. Sheldon were the parents of one daughter, Frances Dow Sheldon, whose birth occurred on February 22, 1907.
Carrie Van Tine Sheldon was born in Atlas township, Genesee county, Michigan, and there she received her education in the public schools. Her parents, Charles and Harriet (Cady) Van Tine, were natives of the state of New York, having been born in Erie county, and were among the early set- tlers of Genesee county, Michigan, where they settled in the thirties. There the daughter, Carrie, married in 1883. Albert H. Liscom, of Goodrich that state. He was a well-known farmer and stockman, and engaged in that work until the time of his death. He and his wife were the parents of one child, Dena Van Tine Liscom. now the wife of Harold H. Wanamaker. of Blue Rapids. Charles Van Tine was one of the Michigan men who, in 1849, made the trip to California. He and his party made the trip on horseback, and passed over the old trail in Marshall county. They made the return trip by way of ocean steamer. Mrs. Sheldon's ancestry is traced back to the time of the Dutch rule of New Amsterdam.
Mrs. Carrie V. Sheldon is a woman of pleasing qualities and is possessed of much ability. At the time of her marriage to Mr. Sheldon, she was state commander of the Supreme Hive of the Maccabees of the state of Kansas. having been sent to the state by the supreme hive, with headquarters at Topeka, where she was married. Mrs. Sheldon united with the Presby- terian church and has been for fourteen years a director of the board of the public library and was for six years president of the library board; also a member of the Tuesday Afternoon Club, of Blue Rapids.
ED IRVIN.
One of the chief industries of Blue Rapids, Marshall county, is the mak- ing of cement from the gypsum mines of that section of the county. The industry furnishes employment to a large number of people and brings a large amount of money to the city and surrounding country. One of the large industrial plants of the place is the American Cement Plaster Company, a strong and substantial business concern and one that has had much to do with the prosperity and growth of Blue Rapids. One of the men who are prominently connected with the business is Ed Irvin, the mill superintendent.
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who was born at Redfield. Jowa, on February 22, 1873, the son of Mathias and Isaphana ( Bass) Irvin.
Mathias Irvin was long interested in woolen mills and the wool industry in lowa, where he lived for many years. In 1889 he moved to Nebraska, where he engaged in general farming in Harlan county, near Alma. After a number of years he retired and moved to McCook, Nebraska, where he later died.
Ed Irvin received his education in the common schools of Iowa, where he lived until he was sixteen years of age, when he moved to Nebraska with his father. There he engaged in general farming, until 1898, when he entered the employ of the cement mill and learned the work thoroughly, both in the mill and in the mines. He gave his best services to the company, and took the greatest interest in the success of the business. He became proficient in all the departments and his efforts were rewarded in 1904 by being made super- intendent. He now has over fifty men in his charge and is recognized as a capable executive. His pleasing personality has won for him the confidence of the officers of the company and the highest respect of the men under his supervision. During his connection with the mill he has increased the output and has raised the standard of excellence in the work.
In 1894 Ed Irvin was united in marriage to Louisa J. Maher, a native of Nebraska, and to this union three children have been born, John. Fay and Roy. John is an employee of the mill, where he began work at the age of twenty years; the other two children are now in school. Mr. and Mrs. Irvin are among the worthy people of Blue Rapids and are held in the highest regard. They take much interest in the social life of the town, and have long been interested in the social, moral and educational growth of the community. Mr. Irvin is recognized as one of the influential men of the city.
JAMES M. SCOTT.
The late James M. Scott, who died at his home in Marysville in 1900 and who for years was one of the best-known citizens of Marshall county, was a native of the state of Pennsylvania, but had been a resident of Kansas since the days of his young manhood, having come here from Missouri, to which state he had moved when about fourteen years of age. He was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. July 29, 1865, son of George and Sarah Scott, natives of that same state.
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MR. AND MRS. ROBERT CRANE.
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
About the year 1886 James M. Scott came from Missouri to this county. He presently became engaged on the Tootle ranch in the adjoining county of Washington, but not long afterward located at Marysville, where he became engaged in the livery business. Some time later he disposed of that business and returned to the Tootle ranch and was engaged as foreman of the same for seven years, at the end of which time, in 1899, he returned to Marysville, where he spent his last days, his death occurring in January, 19CO.
On November 6, 1890, James M. Scott was united in marriage to Ger- trude Crane, who was born in Davis county, Iowa, September 5, 1869, daughter of Robert and Sarah Ann (Deeds) Crane, and who was but six weeks of age when her parents moved to Marshall county and established their home in Center township, early becoming recognized as among the most substantial and influential pioneer residents of that part of the county. It was on that pioneer farm in Center township that Mrs. Scott was reared. She received her elementary schooling in the district school in the neigh- borhood of her home there and supplemented the same by a course in the high school at Marysville, from which she was graduated, after which she began teaching in the district schools of Marshall county and had taught three terms of school at the time of her marriage to Mr. Scott. To that union three children were born, namely: Earl F., who is now living at Dawson, New Mexico, where he is conducting a barber shop; Gladys, who married C. E. Meinzer and is now living at Atlantic, this state, and Melvin J., who is a machinist in the Travelute garage at Marysville. Mrs. Scott is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church and takes a warm interest in the various beneficences of the same. For years she has taken an active part in the local work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and for some years has served as secretary of the Marysville branch. giving her most intelligent and earnest attention to the promotion of the temperance movement in this part of the state. Mrs. Scott is the owner of a quarter of a section of land in Garfield county, Oklahoma. She is now making her home with her mother at Marysville.
Robert Crane, father of Mrs. Scott, was born on a farm in Preble county, Ohio, February 13, 1830, son of George and Elizabeth (Beatty) Crane, natives of Pennsylvania and of New York, respectively, who moved from Ohio to Miami county, Indiana, where Robert Crane grew to man- hood and in 1852 was married to Sarah Ann Deeds, who was born at Coshocton, Ohio, May 5, 1834, daughter of William and Elizabeth
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(Slothour) Deeds, natives of the state of Pennsylvania. In 1860 he moved from Indiana to Iroquois county, Illinois, where he was engaged in farming until 1869, when he set out with his family for Kansas, driving through in a "prairie schooner" and settling in Center township, this county, where he established his home. Mr. Crane homesteaded a tract of eighty acres in Center township and built a frame house on the same, gradually making other improvements to his place and extending his land holdings until he became the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres. In 1883 he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Marys- ville, but in 1890 moved back to the farm and there remained until 1897. when he returned to Maryvsille and there spent the rest of his life, his dleath occurring there on December 27, 1909. His widow is still living there. her daughter, Mrs. Scott, making her home with her, and the two are very pleasantly and very comfortably situated. Mrs. Crane retains possession of the old home farm of two hundred and forty acres in Center township and is quite well circumstanced. During his long residence in Center township. Robert Crane took an active part in public affairs there and rendered valuable public service as a member of the school board in his home district.
To Robert and Sarah Ann (Deeds) Crane ten children were born, of whom Mrs. Scott was the eighth in order of birth, the others being as fol- low: Elizabeth, who married J. H. Wakefield and is now living at Eagle City, Oklahoma: Matilda, the second in order of birth; William R., who is a well-known farmer of Marysville township, this county; Alpharetta, now living at Lawton, Oklahoma, the widow of T. H. Edmundson; Mrs. Inez Rice, deceased; Tryphena, who married L. N. Neal and is now living in Graham county, this state; Harvey, who died while the family was 'en route from Illinois to this state : Samuel, who is living at Lone Wolf, Okla- homa, and Albert N .. deceased.
.An interesting feature, worthy of note, in connection with the Scott family history, is the circumstance that William R. Crane, brother of Mrs. J. M. Scott, is married to a woman who has the distinction of being the first white child born in Marshall county. Mrs. W. R. Crane is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Martin, who, in 1857, came to Kansas and stopped on the Vermillion, south of town. Joseph Martin served in the Civil War as a member of Company D. Eighth Kansas Volunteer In- fantry. During his period of service he was taken ill and subsequently died of lung fever. In 1868 his widow married William Lewis and they settled
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on a homestead farm at Home City, two miles from Marysville. Mr. Lewis died on July 10, 1903, and his widow (Mrs. Crane's mother) sur- vived until June 20, 1907, when she died at the age of sixty-nine years, eight months and ten days.
JAMES WELLS.
James Wells, deceased, for many years one of the well-known and sub- stantial residents of Marshall county, was born on December 20, 1840, and died on October 27, 1908. He was born in Bath county, Kentucky, the 3011 of Thomas and Martha ( Warren) Wells, both of whom were natives of that state. The parents were educated in the schools of Kentucky and there they resided until 1858, when they came to Kansas where they located in Bigelow township, Marshall county. Here the son, James, came with his parents and here he was married on February 21, 1865, to Julia McClure, who was born on February 14, 1849. She was born in Union county, Kentucky, and there she received the greater part of her education. She is the daughter of Nich- olas and Rebecca (Jones) McClure. Her parents were natives of Virginia. where they received their education in the public schools and there grew to maturity and were married. James Wells may well be numbered with the early pioneers of the county, for he came to Marshall county when it was mostly in a primitive condition, and when few people had attempted to make a home in the new country. For many years he was a resident of the county, where he constructed a home on the undeveloped plains and where he and his family lived for many years, and where he was ever a useful factor in the growth and the development of the district.
Nicholas and Rebecca (Jones) McClure, came from their home in Vir- ginia and were early settlers in Kentucky, where they established their home on the farm, and there Mrs. McClure died in 1857. The father and children continued to reside in the state until 1864, when they came to Kansas and located at Irving, Marshall county, where the father engaged in the buying and the selling of live stock. To Nicholas and Rebecca McClure were born the following children: William, Elizabeth Virginia, George, Julia and Mary S. William is now a resident of Kentucky; Elizabeth Virginia Cal- houn is living in New Mexico; George is a resident of Missouri and Mary S. Walls resides near Bigelow. The McClure family were prominent in their home community, and were held in the highest regard and esteem. They
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took a prominent part in the development of the township in which they lived and where they made their home for many years.
Soon after their marriage James and Julia Wells located on a farm on the Vermillion river near Barrett, Vermillion township, Marshall county. Here they purchased eighty acres and homesteaded eighty acres. They made their home on the first farm, which they developed and improved, and there they made their home for ten years. They sold it and then home- steaded on the Blue river. Mr. and Mrs. Wells built the first log cabin on the place. There they continued to live for some years and in 1875, pur- chased a farm on the Blue river in Bigelow township. They purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land and homesteaded eighty acres, to which they later added forty acres. They later sold a team of horses and a wagon and purchased forty acres of splendid land, which is now worth six thousand dollars. They added to their original log cabin in which they lived for a number of years, and in time built one of the beautiful and substantial homes of the township. By hard work and close economy they became the owners of two hundred and eighty acres of land, which they developed and improved and there they engaged in general farming and stock raising with success. The farm was one of the best in the township, owing to the high development that had been made. In 1903 Mr. Wells and his wife moved to Irving and retired from the more active duties of life, and there Mr. Wells died in 1908, after an active life of usefulness.
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