USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 70
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Byron C. Graham received his education in the local schools of Medina county, and grew to manhood in the city of Spencer, Ohio, and where he remained until he was twenty-one years of age. He came to Kansas in 1880 and was employed on the railroad section for three years, at Axtell. He then purchased a farm of forty acres south of Axtell, where he engaged in farming for three years. He later sold the place and in 1895 bought a farm east of Mina, where he remained until 1903, when he purchased his present farm in St. Bridget township, where he is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of splendid land. This place he has developed and improved, having placed all the present improvements, and today his farm is one of the ideal places in the township, with highly cultivated fields and excellent improvements. The farm is called "Cloverdale Farm."
On January 20, 1877, Byron C. Graham was united in marriage in Medina county, Ohio, to Martha Kelly, who was born in that county on Jan1- ary 14, 1859, and is the daughter of Francis and Mary Kelly, both of whom were natives of the state of Illinois. They later came to Kansas and in 1881 located in Elk county, after which they came to Marshall county, where they have lived for many years.
To Byron C. and Martha Graham have been born the following chil- dren : Brita, Charles, Bert, Etta, Ezra, Nellie, Francis, Minnie, Delpha. Ray, Ruth. Marie and Donald. Brita Cope lived at Bigelow, Kansas, until her death in June, 1912: Charles is engaged in general farming near Beattie, Kansas; Bert is also a farmer south of Beattie: Etta Totten lives northwest of Beattie, where her husband is engaged in general farming; Ezra is a farmer south of Beattie: Nellie Pauley lives on a farm south of Beattie : Francis is engaged in general farming on the farm adjoining that of his father : Minnie Brown resides on the farm east of her father, where Mr. Brown is engaged in farming and stock raising: Delpha Burton resides in Richland township. southwest of Mina, where her hushand is engaged in farming ; Marie Detwiler lives southwest of Beattie, where Mr. Detwiler is
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a successful farmer, and Ray, Ruth and Donald are at home, the latter being but thirteen years of age and in school.
Mr. and Mrs. Graham are active members of the Christian church and are prominent in the social life of the community in which they live and where they are held in the highest regard and esteem by all who know them. They have ever taken much interest in the moral, social and educational development of the district. and have had much to do with the substantial growth of the township and the county. Politically. Mr. Graham is an inde- pendent, but takes keen interest in the civic affairs of the township and is a strong advocate of substantial public improvements. He is a member of the Farmers Union, which has for its purpose the betterment of the home. social and financial conditions of the farmer, and through its work has accomplished much for the general good of the agricultural people of this section of Kansas.
CLAYTON RODKEY.
Of the well-known farmers of Marshall county, who have made good in their chosen work and who have had much to do with the growth and develop- ment of the county, it is fitting to mention Clayton Rodkey, of Blue Rapids township, who was born on June 6, 1857. in Huntington county, Indiana. and is the son of Joseph C. and Frances ( Dohner ) Rodkey.
Joseph C. and Frances Rodkey were natives of Pennsylvania, where they spent their childhood, after which they went to Ohio with their parents and in that state they grew to maturity and were married. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Indiana, where they established their home on a farm in Huntington county, where they lived until the fall of 18So. In the latter year they came to Kansas and located on a farm, one and a half miles south of the home of the son, Clayton. The father engaged in general farming and stock raising until the time of his death in 1907, since which time the mother has made her home with the daughter, Mrs. G. B. Layton. Mr. and Mrs. Rodkey were always held in the highest regard and were prominent in the activities of their home community. To them were born ten children, six of whom are now living: John J. of Blue Rapids ; Clayton : Abraham Lincoln, of Oklahoma; Mrs. Anna Koutz, of Nebraska City: Mrs. G. B. Layton : Grant C., a resident of Colorado.
Clayton Rodkey received his education in the schools of Indiana and there he grew to manhood and married. He came to Kansas in the fall of
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1884 and located on a farm of eighty acres, which he had purchased some time before, one mile south of his present home in Marshall county and in Blue Rapids City township. He has met with much success and is now the owner of four hundred and forty acres of splendid land in 'the home farm, and has three hundred and twenty acres of irrigated land at Garden City, Kansas, that is worth one hundred dollars per acre. He began with nothing, and is now one of the substantial men of Marshall county. His home farm .. one of the best in this district, and worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre, is situated at the southeast line of Blue Rapids. Here he erected a beautiful, nine-room house in 1913, which is modern throughout. The structure cost him over four thousand dollars, in addition to the work that he did himself. The house, with stone pillars and handsome designs, is a pretentious residence. The approach from the highway is by a beautiful driveway, the entrance to which is through an artistic gateway, with stone posts. The large barn, thirty-eight by eighty feet. with nineteen-foot posts, adds much to the appearance of the home.
The home farm is of Blue river valley land and is possessed of great possibilities. For a number of years the place has averaged over forty-five bushels of corn to the acre, and has produced over sixty bushels. He also has a farm of two hundred acres west of Blue Rapids, which is one of the good farms of the district, and is worth one hundred dollars per acre. He came to his present home farm in 1912, until which time he had lived on his original farm of eighty acres. Mr. Rodkey is a firm believer in thorough cultivation of the land. He formerly engaged extensively in the breeding of high-grade cattle, but of late years he has devoted his energies to the higher development of his land.
In the fall of 1880 Clayton Rodkey was united in marriage to Eliza Everhart, who was born in Wabash county. Indiana, on September 15. 1859. and is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lance Everhart. To this union the following children have been born: Jesse E .. Fred, Ralph and Ruth. Jesse E. is the proprietor of a garage at Blue Rapids: Fred is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where he made an enviable record as a student and athlete. He is now teaching in the university. Of his record in the games and sports. Marshall's Manhood says of him: "Fred Rodkey, crack runner of the West and a Marshall county boy, who is making good, has demon- strated that an athlete can maintain a high standing in scholarship and partici- pate in literary and religious activities, while making records in an athletic way. Reports from Kansas University, where Rodkey is attending school, show that last year he carried seventeen hours a week in recitations with
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grades of five firsts and one second. He has also been prominent in the other activities of the school, being a delegate of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, to their student conference at Estes Park, Colorado, and being also a member of the college gospel team." Ralph, now eighteen years of age is a student of the university; Ruth is thirteen years of age and a student of the eighth grade of the Blue Rapids schools. Mr. and Mrs. Rodkey take much pride in the success of their children, and one of their greatest desires is to make them happy and useful men and women. Mr. and Mrs. Rodkey have long been active in the social life of the county, where they and their family are hell in the highest regard and esteem by all who know them.
CHARLES A. HARRY.
One of the well-known and successful farmers of Guittard township. Marshall county, was born in Buckcastle, England, on July 31, 1863, being the son of John and Elizabeth ( Thomas) Harry.
John and Elizabeth Harry were also natives of England and there were educated. grew to maturity and were later married, becoming the parents of four children. After their marriage they continued to live in that country. To them those places were an inspiration to a better and a nobler life. They were well respected people and were prominent in the social life of the com- munity in which they lived. After useful and worthy lives they died in their native land. They were of the farming class and reared their children amid the pleasant scenes of country life.
Charles A. Harry received his education in schools of England and there grew to manhood. As a young man he learned the trade of a mason, at which he worked there until 1883, when at the age of nineteen years he came to America. On his arrival in this country, he came direct to Kansas and he located in Marshall county. He came with the intention of visiting a brother, with whom he expected to stay for one year and then return to his native clime. But he soon obtained work at his trade and came to like the country so well that he stayed. He invested the first money that he made in eighty acres of land. On this land he built a small house and was soon engaged in general farming. He met with much success in his farming and stock raising and in 1906 he built his present beautiful house, one of the best in the township, with its fine lawn, magnificent evergreen trees and ideal location. Mr. Harry is now the owner of two hundred and forty acres of
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the best land, all of which is in a high state of cultivation and well improved. He is a thorough and scientific farmer and his machinery is of the most modern make. He keeps the very best of White Hereford cattle and Poland China hogs, and his reputation as a progressive and successful farmer is recognized throughout the county.
On April 10, 1884, Charles A. Harry was united in marriage to Anna L. Thomas, who was born on September 18, 1863, in Buchanan county, Mis- souri. She is the daughter of Joseph H. and Elizabeth W. (Hopper) Thomas, to whom fifteen children were born, Mrs. Harry being the youngest of the children. Six of this family of children are now living. Joseph H. Thomas was born in Virginia in 1804. He received his education in the public schools of that state and was reared on the home plantation. During his active life in that state he was a slave-owner, yet he was to a great extent opposed to the system. In an early day he left Virginia and moved to Missouri and there he died in 1864. His wife was born in Kentucky in 1830, and there she was reared to womanhood and educated in the public schools. She later moved to Missouri, where she reared her children and where she lived until 1871, when she and her family moved to Marshall county. They located on the farm now owned by Charles A. Harry. Mrs. Thomas later moved to Beattie, where she lived with a faithful negro, whom she brought from the south with her, until the time of her death in 1888. She is buried in the cemetery at Beattie, and by her side is buried the negress, who died in 1890. This colored woman, who had lived the greater part of her life with Mrs. Thomas, even after her emancipation, would not leave Mrs. Thomas and remained with her until death parted them.
To Charles A. and Anna L. Harry have been born the following chil- dren: Leslie, Sidney, Jennie M. and Robert C. Leslie T. was born on March 25, 1885, received his education in the local schools and was reared on the home farm, where as a lad he assisted his father with the farm work. On reaching manhood he was united in marriage to Saralı Satterfield, of · Emporia, Kansas, and to this union two children have been born. He is now living in Franklin township, where he is a well known farmer and stockman. Sidney C. was born on January 3, 1887. He received his education in the schools of Beattie, where he completed the course in the high school and later graduated from the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois. He was reared on the farm and early in life decided to follow agricultural work. He is now the manager of the Wuester farms of Marshall county. He was married in 1908 to Charlotte Wuester, of Home City, Kansas. She was a graduate of the Gem City College. To them has been born one child.
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Jennie M. was born on February 18, 1889, and is the wife of A. Kelley, of Frankfort. Kansas, and they are now living at St. Joe, Missouri. Mrs. Kelley is a graduate of the local school and of the Hiawatha Normal. Before her marriage she taught music for two years and was considered one of the successful teachers in the county. Robert B. was born on April 28, 1905, and is now at home. Mr. and Mrs. Harry are active members of the Chris- tian church and are prominent in the social and the religious life of the com- munity, where they are held in the highest regard. They have always taken a keen interest in the development of the educational, moral and social condi- tion of the community in which they live. They are interested in all that tends to the betterment of their home community and their best efforts are directed to that end.
Fraternally, Charles A. Harry is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America. He has always taken much interest in the work of these orders and held offices in both of the organizations. Mrs. Harry is an active member of the Order of the Eastern Star and has held the office of chaplain in that order. Their lives have been devoted to the interests of their children and the good that they might do in the community in which they live. In church and lodge work. as well as in the general social life of the township, they are ever ready and willing to do their part for the advancement of any worthy cause.
THOMAS HOWES.
.Among those of English birth, who have located in Oketo township. Marshall county, where they have met with much success in general farm- ing and stock raising, is Thomas Howes, a pioneer resident of the township, who was born in Northamptonshire, England, October 20, 1840, being the son of Lazarus and Mary Howes, farming people, both of whom were natives of that country and spent their lives there.
Thomas Howes received his education in the English schools and grew to manhood on the farm. He engaged in farming for himself and on March 22, 1866, he was united in marriage to Eliza Leveridge, who was also a native of England, where she was born in 1811. In 1866, following their marriage, they came to America. After landing in New York they came direct to Kansas. They made the trip as far as Keokuk by rail, and then up the river to Atchison, from which place they came to Marshall county with an ox team
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that they had purchased. They had little to bring to their new home, as they brought only their bedding from their home in England. After their arrival in the county, they homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres in Oketo town- ship, but eighty acres of the tract was later taken away from them. They lived in the prairie schooner until Mr. Howes could cut the logs and build a one-room house, twelve by fourteen feet, and in this they lived for seven years, after which they built a frame house. The first year they were on the place, five acres of the tract was broken and a crop of buckwheat was raised. Their first year in their new home was a hard one, for they had been able to raise but little on their farm and they were without funds to buy. Much of their food consisted of game that was killed on the prairie, consisting of chicken, duck and wild turkey. Their nearest market at that time was at Marysville, a small pioneer town. The second year was more prosperous. In time the farm was placed under a high state of cultivation and as a gen- eral farmer and stockman, Mr. Howes became successful. He increased his farm, until he is now the owner of three hundred and sixty-five acres of prime land, all of which is well improved.
To Thomas and Eliza Howes were born the following children : Charles, Mary, Lillian, John, Lottie, Esther, Louise, and Walter. Charles is now a resident of Pottawatomie county; Mary is deceased; Lillian Triggs resides in Balderson township: John is a resident of Oketo township and is now serving as township trustee; Lottie Herring lives in Oketo township, where her husband, Samuel Herring, is a farmer; Louise Tatman is a resident of Oketo township and Walter is on the old home farm. In 1899 Eliza Howes died, and Mr. Howes continued to live on the home farm until 1904, at which time he was married to Mina Harrison Lawson, the widow of Jacob Lawson, who was born in Sweden and settled in Marshall county in 1860. Mr. and Mrs. Lawson were married in 1870 and lived on the home farm until the time of his death in 1902. They were the parents of the following children : Charles Albert, deceased: John, of Smith county; Edmund, of Morton county : Arabelle Johnson, of Blue Rapids; Augustus J., of Colorado, and . Alice Garrison, who lives in Morton county. Mina Howes was born in the state of Indiana in 1853 and is the daughter of George and Lorina Harrison, natives of that state. They lived there until 1858, when they came to Illi- nois, in which state they lived until 1872. In the latter year they located in Oketo township, where they lived for one year, when they moved to Jewell county, where they lived until their deaths.
Mr. Howes is the oldest living pioneer of Oketo township and is one of
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the substantial men of the county. He is identified with the Republican party and has always taken an active interest in the affairs of the district. His life has been an active one and he has accomplished much that is worthy of emulation.
CARL WEBER.
Carl Weber, one of the well-known and substantial farmers of Franklin township and the proprietor of a well-improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in section 5 of that township, is a native of Germany, but has been a resident of Kansas since 1880 and has consequently been a witness to the greater part of the material development that has marked Marshall county since pioneer days. He was born on a farm in the Rhine country on January 4. 1852, son of Henry and Henrietta ( Steintrasser) Weber, both natives of that same country, the former born in 1819 and the latter in 1829. who died in their native land in 1891, the mother living but three hours after the father's death. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth and eight of whom are still living. The Weber family in the old country has been doing excellent service in behalf of the Fatherland during the great European War, in the summer of 1916 there being no fewer than seventeen of Mr. Weber's cousins and nephews taking part in that gigantic struggle.
Carl Weber learned the baker's trade in his native land and was there employed in the bakery of Henry Hohn. When twenty-five years of age he married and about three years later, in 1880, with his wife and their first- born child, came to this country, proceeding on out to Kansas and locating in Marshall county, joining here Mrs. Weber's brother, Henry Otto, who had some time previously located in the Beattie neighborhood. Six weeks after their arrival in Marshall county a second child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Weber. Upon his arrival in this county Mr. Weber had but twenty- five dollars remaining of the sun with which he left his native land, but both he and his wife had brave hearts and a firm determination to succeed and they presently had their home established and were pushing along toward the goal they had set upon coming here, the acquisition of a farm of their own. After looking about a bit Mr. Weber rented a farm on Mission creek in Richland township and settled down there. On that farm had been built a little log cabin and in due time in that cabin a third child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Weber. Sixteen years ago Mr. Weber bought his present farm
MR. AND MRS. CARL WEBER.
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of one hundred and sixty acres in section 5 of Franklin township and there he and his family are very comfortably and very pleasantly situated. He has made extensive improvements on the place and has brought the farm up to a high state of productivity. Of late years Mr. Weber has been living prac- tically retired from the active labors of the farm, his sons assuming the gen- eral management of the same. Mr. Weber has prospered in his farming operations and among his investments is a nice block of stock in the bank at Marietta.
In 1877, while living in his native land, Carl Weber was united in mar- riage to Regina Otto, who also was born in the Rhine country, August 22, 1852, daughter of Frank and Dorothy (Ables) Otto, farming people, the former of whom, born in ISIo, died in 1885, and the latter. born in 1817. died in 1878, and who were the parents of six children, but two of whom are now living. To Mr. and Mrs. Weber five children have been born, namely: Otto, who is a farmer in Franklin township; Lena, who married William Wahler, a Balderson township farmer; Emil, who owns a farm in Balderson township: Frank, who is farming in Franklin township, and Rudolph, at home. The Webers are members of the German Evangelical church and take a proper interest in church affairs. Mr. Weber is a Repub- lican, but has not been a seeker after office, although ever giving his thought- ful attention to the civic affairs of his adopted state and country. Mrs. Weber is a writer of German poetry, which really borders on the classic.
NICHOLAS KOPPES.
Nicholas Koppes, one of the well-known farmers and stockmen of Marys- ville township, Marshall county. was born in the township where he now lives on June 16, 1866, being the son of Nicholas and Helen ( Class) Koppes.
Nicholas and Helen (Class) Koppes were natives of Germany, where Nicholas Koppes was born in 1831 and Helen Class in 1843. They received the greater part of their education in the schools of that country and were reared in a village. Mr. Koppes resided in Germany until he was twenty- three years of age, when he decided that he would come to America. In 1854 he sailed for America and on his arrival in this country he located in Wisconsin, where he worked as a farm hand and at the cooper trade, after which he drove a stage through Kansas to California. He returned to Kan-
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sas and in 1859 took a homestead on Horseshoe creek, where he remained until 1862, when he enlisted in a Kansas regiment and served three years and a half in the defense of his country. He saw much active service and was twice wounded, once in the head and once in the body. After the war he returned to Kansas, where he took a homestead in Marysville township, Marshall county. This farm he developed and he engaged in general farm- ing and stock raising until 1904. when he retired from the activities of farm life and moved to Marysville, where he died in 1910. His wife, Helen (Class ) Koppes resided in her native land until she was thirteen years of age, when she came to the United States in 1856, and with her parents located in Wisconsin and there grew to womanhood and was later married. Mr. and Mrs. Koppes were the parents of seven children as follow: Nicholas, George, Abbie, Maggie. Lizzie. Francis and Katie. George is a farmer and stock- man on the old home place : Abbie Kline lives in Logan township, where her husband is a farmer and stockman: Maggie Kerchen is a resident of Marys- ville township, where Mr. Kerchen is engaged in agricultural work: Lizzie Travelute lives in Marion county, Kansas, where Mr. Travelute is engaged in general farming and stock raising: Francis and Katie are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Koppes were devout members of the Catholic church and prominent in the local society. Mrs. Koppes took much interest in the activities of the altar society until her death in 1898.
Nicholas Koppes, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the public schools of Marysville township, and grew to manhood on the home farm, where as a lad he assisted his father with the work on the place. He remained at home until he was twenty-four years of age, when he rented a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, near Marysville, where he lived for' one year engaged in general farming, after which he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, near Marysville, where he now lives and where he has been succeessfully engaged in farming and stock raising. He has added to his original farm; until he is now the owner of five hundred and sixty acres of excellent land, all of which is in a high state of cultivation and well improved. He is much interested in the finest Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs, having over one hundred and twenty head of the former and one hundred and ten head of the latter. He feeds all the grain that he raises on his farm, and then is required to buy, in order to develop his many head of stock. Mr. Koppes has risen to his present prominent position, by hard work and close application to business. He saw much of the hardships of the early life on the plains and experienced many of the hardships of the
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