USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 62
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In 1897 Oscar T. Russell was united in marriage to Adelaide Riley, the widow of Albert H. Riley, and the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Neely ) Robinson. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were natives of England and Canada, respectively, the father having been born in 1816 and the mother in 1829. John Robinson received his education in the schools of England and as a young man farmed in that country before he went to Canada. On his arrival in Canada he purchased a farm and there he engaged in general farming and. stock raising until his death in 1872. He had purchased three hundred and sixty acres of land in Center township, Marshall county, but had never lived on it. His widow lived on it with her family of nine children. Mrs. Robin -. son was educated in the schools of Canada and there she lived for some time, dying on the home farm in Marshall county, in 1897. They were very active members of the Methodist Episcopal church and took much interest in all departments of church work. They were prominent in the social life of the community, and did much for the moral and social uplift of the district, in which they were held in the highest regard. They were the parents of the following children : Henry N., George W., Isabelle, Albert R., Sarah Jane, Victoria E., Adelaide, Morley P. and Lillie. George W. lives at Lincoln, Nebraska, where he is a street-car conductor; Isabelle Smith resides at Sabetha, Kansas, and her husband is a traveling salesman; Albert R. lives near Maryville, Missouri. engaged in farming: Sarah Jane Healy resides at Los Angeles, California, where her husband is an adjuster for one of the railroads ; Victoria F. Riley resides near Home City, Kansas, where her hus-
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band is a farmer and stockman; Morley P. lives near Blue Rapids, Kansas, and is a farmer, and Lillie is now deceased.
Adelaide ( Robinson) Russell was born near Petersburg, Canada, on July 20, 1807; was reared on the farm and received her education in the local schools. She and Mr. Russell are the parents of four children as follow : Blanche, born on April 11, 1898, graduated from the Marysville high school in the class of 1916: Lawrence Oscar, August 9, 1901, a student in the high school; Robert, April 3, 1908, and Esther, February 20, 1912. Mrs. Russell is an active member of the Christian Science church and Mr. Russell also attends that organization. Politically, Mr. Russell is identified with the Democratic party and has served his district as a member of the school board for four terms.
WILLIAM HUNTER, M. D.
William Hunter. M. D .. now deceased, and for many years one of the well-known and successful practitioners of Blue Rapids. Marshall county, was born at West Newton, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on July 29, 1850, and died at his home in Blue Rapids, Kansas, on November 28, 1914. His parents were natives of the state of Pennsylvania, where they received their education in the public schools, grew to maturity and were married. . After their marriage they established their home in that state where they continued to live until 1866, when they came to Missouri and located on a farm, where they became prosperous and influential people.
William Hunter received his early educational training in the schools of West Newton, where he resided until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he came to Missouri with his parents. Here he entered the Savannah Normal school, from which he was later graduated. For seven years he was one of the successful teachers of the state, and later pursued a business course in Kansas City, Missouri. He later entered the Ensworth Medical College at St. Joe and was graduated in 1879. After completing his education, he established himself at . Axtell, Kansas, where he practiced his profession until 1886, when he came to Blue Rapids, Kansas. For several years he engaged in the practice of medicine, when he became interested in the cement and plaster manufacturing business in his home town. Ile and Jesse . Axtell first built the Great Western Plaster Mills, which they operated for a number of years, when they sold the business. Doctor Hunter then became interested in the Marshall County Power and Light Company. This business was first
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known as the Electric Plaster Company, but after the selling of the mill, the new company was organized. For many years Doctor Hunter was the secre- tary of this successful company, that had so much to do with the general development and growth of this section of the state.
During seventeen years of his active life, Doctor Hunter was the local surgeon of the Missouri Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads, in which capacity he gave satisfactory evidence of his medical and surgical skill. He was for many years the regent of the State Agricultural College at Man- hattan, an institution in which he always took the greatest interest. He was always most influential in educational matters, and one of his greatest desires was to see the educational institutions of the county placed on the highest plane possible. and to him is largely due the excellent school system now in force. He was greatly opposed to any inferior enterprise; he regarded a poor system of schools as a great hindrance to the progress of the district. He believed in a practical education and one that would fit the boy and the girl for the more important duties of life. The agricultural school, where the boys and the girls of the state might be trained for a life of usefulness and good citizenship, was to him a matter of the utmost importance. Today, this institution has given to the state many men and women who have brought honor and success to the great state of Kansas. Being a man of progressive ideas, and, perhaps, in advance of the times and community, he advocated reforms that had much to do with the growth of his home town. He always had great faith in the future of Blue Rapids and his constant effort was ever in the interests of a better and a greater city. He was for many years a member of the school board and had much to do with formulating the present excellent system of schools.
Politically, Doctor Hunter was identified with the Republican party, and always took the greatest interest in local affairs, both in the city and the county. He was not a partisan, but he used his best efforts in the selection of good men to administer the affairs of the county, rather than to the selec- tion of any man because of party affiliation. He was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and of the Order of the Eastern Star, and he and his wife were prominent and active members of the Presbyterian church. As a young man he united with the church, and always took much interest in religious work. Both he and his wife were long active in the social life of the community, where they were held in the highest regard.
On November 13, 1884, at Axtell. Kansas, William Hunter was united in marriage to Carrie L. Axtell, a native of Red Oak, Iowa, and the daughter of Jesse and Emeline (Shangle) Axtell, natives .of the state of Ohio, where
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they were born, near Mt. Gilead, Morrow county. Jesse Axtell left his home in Ohio in the year 1859 and located at Red Oaks, Iowa, where he was a merchant for a number of years. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in an Iowa company and saw much active service. . After receiving his honorable discharge he returned to Jowa, where he lived until 1879, when he came to Kansas and established a store and lumber yard at Axtell, where he successfully engaged in that business until the fall of 1885. when he came to Blue Rapids. Here he and Doctor Hunter opened a lumber yard, which was operated by them until 1912. He was also interested in the plaster business and was one of the organizers of the Electric Power Company. Mr. and Mrs. Axtell were both born in the year 1840 and since the death of his wife, on August 10. 1910, he has made his home at Long Beach, California. They were the parents of nine children, seven of whom are now living : Carrie I ... Ida, Chloe, Carson, Gertrude, Willis and Clinton. Carrie L., the widow of Doctor Hunter, is a resident of Blue Rapids; Ida, the wife of Mr. Mattern, is living at Adrian, Michigan : Chloe, the wife of Mr. Molby, is a resident of Barnes, Kansas: Carson lives near Bedford, Massachusetts ; Ger- trude, the wife of Mr. Loomis, resides at Long Beach, California: Willis is engaged in the humber busness in Blue Rapids, and Clinton is an electrician and is with the General Electric Company at Schenectady, New York.
To the union of William and Carrie L. Hunter, there were four children born : Edith, Oliver W., Charles Axtell and one that died in infancy. Edith (lied at the age of four and a half years ; Oliver W., after completing his work in the high school of Blue Rapids, entered the Agricultural College at Man- hattan, where he completed the work and where for the past six years he has been assistant professor of bacteriology. He has his master's degree from the University of Wisconsin and is a student of much ability. Charles AAxtell is also a graduate of the Agricultural College at Manhattan and took his master's degree in 1916 from the University of Wisconsin, and is now professor of bacteriology in the University of Florida, at Gainesville. Both the sons are establishing an enviable reputation in their chosen work and are now recognized as authorities on many matters of professional importance. They have ever been hard students and earnest workers, and their great desire was to succeed in their work.
Doctor Hunter was a man of unusual ability and possessed of much business acumen. Honest in his every business transaction, he won the con- fidence and the respect of the business men of the county. As a physician and surgeon, he was recognized as one of the most proficient in the district
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where he practiced. He attended strictly to business and was most careful in his duties to his patients. He had an extensive practice throughout a large district, and his death was a distinct loss to the professional and business life of the community in which he lived and where he was held in such high regard.
Mrs. Hunter is now living in Blue Rapids, where she has a beautiful home, and where she is actively engaged in the social and the religious life of the city. She is a woman of pleasing qualities and possessed of con- siderable ability. She is prominent in the Order of the Eastern Star and is one of the active members of the Afternoon Club, in which she takes much pleasure.
ALBERT WITTMUS.
Among the many well-known and successful men of Kansas who were born in foreign countries and who have later come to the United States, is Albert Wittmuss, of Balderson township, Marshall county, who was born in Germany on July 18, 1868, the son of William and Augusta Wittmuss.
William and Augusta Wittmuss were natives of Germany, where they were educated, grew up and were later married. For a number of years after their marriage they continued to live in Germany, where Mr. Wittmuss engaged in farming. In 1882, when the son, Albert, was fourteen years of age, the parents decided to come to America. On their arrival in this country they located at Omaha, Nebraska, where the father worked as a laborer until 1886, when he moved to a farm west of that city and engaged in farming for some years, after which he moved to South Dakota, where he now lives.
Albert Wittmuss received his early educational training in the schools of Germany, and came with his parents to the United States. When the family located in Omaha, Albert Wittmuss continued to live at home and remained with his parents on the farm in Nebraska, until he was twenty-two years of age. In 1890 he came to Kansas, and as he had no money he worked as a farm hand for some time and then he rented a farm and engaged in farm work for himself and later purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Balderson township, which he has developed and improved, and today has one of the ideal farms of the township. He has made all the improvements and has a splendid eight-room modern house, a large bank barn, forty-two by forty-four feet, with tool shed, thirty by fifty feet, and a cattle barn, forty-four by fifty feet. He has his farm in an excellent state
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of cultivation and his buildings are kept in the best repair. As a farmer and stockman he is recognized as one of the most successful in the district. his cattle and hogs being among the finest in the county.
In 1893 Albert Wittmuss was united in marriage to Louisa Walker, who was born in Germany in 1870 and is the daughter of Jacob and Mary (Lutz) Walker. Her parents were also natives of that country and there resided until 1875, when they came to the United States. On their arrival in this country, Mr. and Mrs. Walker located in Illinois, where they remained for a few years and then moved to Nebraska, and later were among the early settlers in this part of Kansas. They are now living at Summerfield.
Albert Wittmuss and wife are the parents of the following children : Ludwig, Anna, Hilda and Arnokl. The family are active members of the Evangelical Lutheran church and take much interest in all church work and are prominent residents of the township in which they live. Mr. Wittmuss is an independent voter and looks to the men who are to administer the affairs of county and state rather than to any party. He has always taken a keen interest in local affairs and has had much to do with the growth and develop- ment of the district. He is one of the stockholders of the Farmer's Elevator Company at Summerfield.
At the time Albert Wittmuss came to Kansas and when he had pur- chased his farm, he and his parents lived in a shanty, twelve by eighteen feet. until a better house could be built, some ten years later. Those early years were full of hardships and privations, but, with the sterling qualities of his race, Mr. Wittmuss has made for himself a place among the substantial and successful men of the county and is one of the most patriotic Americans in the state of Kansas.
A. B. GARRISON.
.A. B. Garrison, a well-known and successful farmer and stockman of Summerfield, Marshall county, was born in Rush county, Indiana, on July 21, 1859. the son of William and Louisa ( Crise ) Garrison, who were natives of Indiana, the former having been born on July 1, 1836, and the latter on March 9. 1839. The father died on January 16. 1910, and the mother on September 12, 1911. They received their education in the schools of Indiana and there grew up and we were married. The father of William Garrison was born in the state of Kentucky and was one of the early pioneers of Rush county, Indiana.
P
A. B. GARRISON AND FAMILY.
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After their marriage, William and Louisa Garrison continued to live in Indiana until 1867, when they decided to come to Kansas. On their arrival they established their home on a homestead in the northeast part of section I, Balderson township, Marshall county. This farm was at that time wild prairie and unimproved. The pioneer home was soon established in a small house that had been erected, and here Mr. Garrison engaged in the task of clearing and developing his farm, and here he engaged in general farming and stock raising, until five years before his death, when he and his wife retired from the more active duties of life and moved to Summerfield, where they continued to live until their deaths. They were married on March 2, 1858, and were the parents of four sons as follow: Charles S., of Chicago: Henry L., a farmer of Richland township: E. M .. of Richland township, and A. B.
A. B. Garrison received his education in the public schools of Marshall county and grew to manhood on the home farm, where he assisted with the farm work. The first school that he attended in Kansas was in a log school house, with cottonwood slabs for seats and no desks. School was in session but three or four months during the winter months, and it was amid those primitive conditions that the children of the district received their education. A. B. Garrison remained on the home farm until he was twenty-two years of age, when he engaged in work for himself. For two years he worked as a farm hand, when he purchased eighty acres of land in section 8, Rich- land township, and a part of the present farm. He purchased the tract at ten dollars per acre and that on time. The place was undeveloped and unim- proved, but at the present time is one of the well-developed and improved places of the township. In 1893 he purchased another eighty acres of land at thirty-five dollars per acre, and is now the owner of one hundred and sixty acres in the home place, in addition to another three hundred and twenty acres in the township. As a general farmer and stock raiser, Mr. Garrison met with much success and was soon recognized as one of the prominent and substantial farmers of the district.
In 1907 Mr. Garrison left the farm and moved to Summerfield, where he lived until 1912, when he again returned to the farm and took up the duties of farm life. Here he remained until February. 1915, when he again moved to Summerfield, where he now lives. He and Mrs. Garrison were married on November 29, 1882, at Beattie, Kansas. Mrs. Garrison, who was Jessie B. Winter, was born in Rush county, Indiana, on May 20, 1859, the daughter of Gideon and Priscilla ( Knisely ) Winter, the former born in 1815
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and died on January 18, 1879, and the latter born in 1819 and died on May 3. 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Winter were natives of Kentucky and there received their education and grew to manhood and womanhood. They later moved to Indiana, where they remained until 1869, when they located on a farm in Richland township, Marshall county. They were from the same section in Indiana, as were the parents of A. B. Garrison, and it is known that both Mr. and Mrs. Garrison, when babies, were rocked in the same cradle together. Mr. and Mrs. Winter were the parents of the following children: Jane Thruman, now a resident of Marysville: Elizabeth and Mary are now deceased; William is a resident of Shelby county, Indiana: Joseph resides in Colorado: Frances Small resides at Summerfield, her husband being a well-known retired farmer: Mary Turner lives in Oregon and Adeline Mar- tin is a resident of Council Grove.
.A. B. and Jessie B. Garrison are the parents of the following children : Floyd, Etta, Clarence. Walter, Vustin, Benjamin. Raleigh, Etta May and Bessie. Floyd is a successful farmer in Lincoln township. He is married to Manda Duckworth and they are the parents of three children, Lola, Velma and Elsie : Etta is the wife of Ervin Glick, of Richland township, and is the mother of three children as follow: Cecil, Ethel and Ruth ; Clarence died at the age of four months: Walter married Lottie Finnerty and is engaged in farming on the home place. He and his wife are the parents of one child. Weston : Austin is at home and Benjamin Harrison is on a farm adjoining the home place. He married Marie Sharp and they are the parents of one child, Glenna: Raleigh, a successful farmer, is married to Cora Easter and they are the parents of one child, Imogene : Etta May and Bessie are at home. Mr. and Mrs. Garrison are identified with the Republican party and take much interest in local affairs. Mr. Garrison has served as township assessor and treasurer, and as treasurer of the school district. Since becoming a resi- dent of Summerfield, he has served as city school clerk. In all his official life he has given the same care and attention to the business of the township and city, that he gives to his own business affairs. His record as a public official spread beyond the confines of his home district, and he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board of county commissioners : in 1904 he was elected to the same position, and because of his excellent services he was retained in the important office until 1911.
Mr. and Mrs. Garrison are regular attendants of the Methodist Epis- copal church and give liberally of their means to its support. They have long been prominent in the social life of the community and are held in the highest regard by all who know them. Fraternally, Mr. Garrison is a mem-
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ber of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In addition to his many other duties, he is a director of the Summerfield State Bank since 1904, and has had much to do with its growth and success.
During his active life, Mr. Garrison has always taken much interest in the breeding and raising of purebred Poland China hogs, and since 1898 has exhibited many of his animals at the county and state fairs. At the state fair in Nebraska in 1904, he won many first prizes on hogs of his own breed- ing. Today he is recognized as one of the most successful breeders in this part of the state, and on his farm may be seen some of the finest animals, many being supplied for breeding purposes in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado and Nebraska. In addition to the breeding of hogs, he is an extensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle and sheep. He has served as president of the Standard Record Association with headquarters at Maryville, Missouri.
HENRY GREIVELDINGER.
Henry Greiveklinger, a well-known and successful farmer of Logan township, Marshall county, was born in Luxemburg on June 15, 1845, the son of Christopher and Lena ( Cinnon) Greiveldinger.
Christopher and Lena Greiveldinger were also natives of that country, the father having been born in 1800 and the mother in 1806. They received their education in the schools of their native land and there grew to maturity. Mr. Greiveldinger received instruction in both German and French and was a man of much ability. After completing his school work he engaged in farming in his native land until 1855, when he and his family came to the United States. He established his home in Wisconsin, where he engaged in general farming and stock raising until his death in 1863. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Greiveldinger moved to Kansas, where she died in Mar- shall county in 1888. They were the parents of fourteen children, seven hav- ing come to the United States in 1855 and all are now deceased with the exception of Henry, who was the thirteenth child of the family.
Henry Greiveldinger received his earliest educational training in Ger- many and completed his education in the schools of the United States. He grew to manhood on the home farm, where as a lad he assisted his father with the work. In 1863, on the death of his father, he went to Michigan,
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where he worked in the woods and in the saw-mills of that state until 1870. when he came to Marshall county. Here he took a homestead of one hun- dred and sixty acres of land in Logan township, which he has since made his home. The tract at that time was undeveloped and unimproved, but with much hard work and close application to business, the place is now one of the attractive country homes in the county. He has erected a large and sub- stantial house, good barn and other outbuildings, and has made many other valuable improvements. As a general farmer and stockman, he is recognized as among the successful ones of the township. He keeps a large herd of splendid Shorthorn cattle and many Duroc-Jersey hogs. Some years ago he specialized in the raising of hogs and shipped many carloads, but at present the numbers are more limited.
llenry Greiveldinger was united in marriage in 1872 to Elizabeth Pir- rott. the daughter of Peter and Catherine (Allair) Pirrott, natives of France and Germany, respectively. The parents received their education in the schools of their home communities and there grew to maturity. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Pirrott continued to live in Germany until 1871, when they came to the United States. Mr. Pirrott was a farmer in Germany and on coming to this country, he located on a farm in Waterville township. where he homesteaded eighty acres of land. He did much in the way of develop- ment and engaged in general farming for eight years, when he sold the place to his son and made his home with his children until his death in 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Pirrott were prominent members of the Catholic church and were highly respected people. They were the parents of fourteen children, three of whom are still living as follow: Antona, a retired farmer of Seneca, Kansas: Catherine Cordell, a widow who lives at Tipton, Kansas, and Eliza- beth. the wife of Henry Greiveldinger. Elizabeth Pirrott was born on Octo- ber 20. 1851, in Germany, where she received her education in the public schools and resided there until she was twenty years of age, when she came with her parents to Waterville township, where she lived until her marriage.
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