USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 74
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
Christ Koepp took up his residence on a homestead farm in Center township upon coming to Marshall county, not long afterward moving to the farm in section 7 of that same township, where the subject of this sketch now makes his home, and in time became one of the large landowners and substantial farmers of that part of the county. Upon retiring from the active labors of the farm he and his wife moved to the village of Home. where Mr. Koepp spent his last days, his death occurring in August, 1916. he then being seventy-nine years of age, and where his widow is still living. They were the parents of nine children. of whom the subject of this sketch was the last born.
Charles W. Koepp was reared on the farm on which he was born and
784
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
where he now lives and received his schooling in the neighboring school. From boyhood he was an able assistant in the labors of developing and improving the home place and when twenty-two years of age took charge of the place, farming it on his own account. Later his father gave him three hundred and twenty acres, and to this he has added until now he is the owner of four hundred and eighty acres, a part of the same lying in sections 17 and 18.
Mr. Koepp is an enterprising young farmer, carrying on his farming operations according to modern methods of agriculture, and is doing very well. His place is well improved and he is accounted one of the substantial farmers of that section of the county. In his political views, Mr. Koepp is "independent." He takes a good citizen's interest in local civic matters and in the general affairs of the community in which he lives and is one of the live "boosters" of Marshall county.
JOHN H. CARNEY.
John H. Carney, one of the well-known and successful farmers of Mur- ray township. Marshall county, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, on July 24, 1863, and is the son of Eli Gierhart and Catherine (Alspach) Carney.
Eli G. Carney, who was born in Licking county, Ohio, was the son of James and Louvesia (Gierhart ) Carney. James Carney was also a native of Ohio and was the son of John Carney and wife, who were of Scotch-Irish descent. John Carney was born in the north of Ireland and later came to the United States, where he married Miss Chaney, who was a native of the United States and was born during the Revolutionary times. Louvesia Car- ney was also a native of Ohio and the daughter of Daniel and Anna ( Hanna) Gierhart. John Hanna, the grandfather, was a native of Hagerstown. Maryland, where he grew to manhood and later came to Fairfield county, Ohio, and located within eight miles of Lancaster, early in 1800. The great- uncle of Eli Carney fought in the Revolutionary War, and during the can- paign of General Harrison the family supplied the army with meat. The grandfather came in an early day to Indiana, and died at his home in La- grange county, where during his active life he was a man of much influence.
James and Louvesia Carney were the parents of the following children : John H., Eli Gierhart. Sarah, Daniel and Elizabeth. Daniel and John H. are now deceased: Sarah is the wife of Frederick E. Bitsberger, of Ft. Wayne,
785
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
Indiana; and Elizabeth, who was the wife of Henry Dellinger, died in the year 1900. The father died in 1843 and the mother in 1881.
Eli Gierhart Carney received his education in the public schools of Ohio, where he was born on January 16, 1839. At the age of fifteen years, he was employed as an apprentice to learn the carpenter trade at which he worked for a number of years. In 1871 he came to Marshall county, Kan- sas, where he engaged in general farming and stock raising and met with much success, and is now the owner of two hundred and eighty acres of splendid land in Murray township. In addition to his home farm he is also the owner of one hundred and sixty acres in St. Bridget township and two hundred and ninety acres in Franklin township. He has a beautiful country home and his residence is one of the inost substantial in the township.
On June 24, 1860. Eli G. Carney was united in marriage to Catherine Alspach, who was born in Ohio on March 24, 1842, and is the daughter of John D. and Elizabeth ( Heimbaugh ) Alspach. Mrs. Alspach was the daugh- ter of John Heimbaugh and wife, who were of Fairfield county, Ohio. She was a sister of Abraham Glick, of Ohio, who was the father of George W. Glick, who was one of the most prominent governors of Kansas and whose statue is in statuary hall at Washington, D. C.
To Eli G. and Catherine Carney were born the following children : Mary Emma, John H., Alta M., Eli E., Charles C., Oliver O., Alice M. and Catherine Maud. Mary Emma died in infancy: John H. is the subject of this sketch; Alta M. is the wife of Willis Conable, of Murray township; Charles is now deceased; Oliver O. is connected with the state hospital; Alice M. is the wife of John Hawkins, the manager of the farmers' elevator at Axtell, and Catherine Maud is the wife of Henry Hawkins, a farmer living west of Carney Station.
John H. Carney came with his parents to Kansas when he was eight years of age. On November 9, 1871, they landed in Frankfort, where the family spent three months of that winter. They then moved to the home- stead at Carney Station. Mr. Carney received his earliest educational train- ing in the schools of Ohio and attended school after coming to Kansas and studied one year in the high school at Axtell. He then taught school for two years when he decided to engage in farming and engaged in that work with his father until 1884. He at that time purchased a farm of eighty acres, one mile west of his presente home farm, where he engaged in his chosen work until 1893, when he moved to the place where he now lives.
On October 11, 1887, John H. Carney was united in marriage to Nan-
(50)
786
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
nie Brolyer, who was born at Wabash, Indiana, on March 21. 1867, being the daughter of Henry Brolyer and wife, who were also natives of the state of Indiana and came to Kansas in 1884 and located in Marshall county, where they became well-established farmers and have ever been held in the high- est regard.
To John H. and Nannie Carney have been born the following children : Charles J., Fern. Nina and Neva. Charles J. married Grace Totten and they are the parents of one child, Creta Jane ; Fern is now deceased ; Nina Temple is residing on a farm, west of her father's place, where her husband is suc- cessfully engaged in general farming. and Neva is a student of the Axtell high school and is now in her second year.
Mr. Carney has a splendid farm of one hundred and sixty acres, all of which is under a high state of cultivation and well improved. The buildings have all been erected by him, and they are modern and substantial. The house is a fine building of eight rooms and nicely located, and is one of the beautiful farm residences in the township. In 1906 he erected his barn, a structure thirty-eight by forty-eight feet, with sixteen-foot posts and slate roof. He also has a cattle barn, fourteen by forty-eight feet, as well as other outbuildings. He has a fine lot of Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs. In addition to his own farm of one hundred and sixty acres, Mr. Carney is operating one hundred and forty acres of the E. G. Carney farm. In 1916 he cultivated one hundred and sixty acres of corn and fifty acres of wheat, and today he is recognized as one of the progressive and successful farmers and stockmen in the county. He is a believer in the modern methods of operating the farm as well as in the care of the stock. His farm is an evi- dence of the care and attention that he gives it and his stock is among the best in this section of the district.
Mr. and Mrs. Carney are active members of the Presbyterian church and are prominent in the social life of the community and have long been interested in the moral and educational development of their home township. Politically, Mr. Carney is a stanch Democrat and was an active worker for the re-election of President Wilson. He has hell many of the township offices and has for many years been clerk of the school district. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star lodge at Axtell. Mr. Carney has had a most active life and he has accomplished much that is worthy of note. He takes much interest in his home and family and is a devoted husband and a kind father.
787
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
PATRICK LYNCH.
Patrick Lynch, one of the best-known and most substantial farmers of St. Bridget township, the owner of a fine farm of five hundred and forty acres of well-improved land in section II of that township, is a native of the Emerald Isle, but has been a resident of this county since boyhood and has therefore been a witness to the development of the same since pioneer days. He was born in County Kildare, Ireland, in May, 1859, a son of Edward and Mary (Highland) Lynch, natives of Ireland, the former of whom died in his native land and the latter of whom became a pioneer settler in this part of Kansas and here spent her last days.
Edward Lynch was the son of Patrick and Alice (Grattan) Lynch and was reared as a farmer in the old country. There he married Mary High- land, who was born in 1825, daughter of Edward Highland and wife, also natives of Ireland, and to that union six children were born, three of whom are still living. Edward Lynch died in 1861 and ten years later, in 1871, his widow and her four children came to this country and settled in St. Bridget township, this county, where Edward Lynch's brother, Peter Lynch, one of Marshall county's earliest settlers, had located some years before. The Widow Lynch bought a tract of eighty acres of land near St. Bridget's church and there established her home, she and her children developing the farm and presently adding to the same by the purchase of an adjoining eighty. There Mrs. Lynch spent her last days, one of the best-known pio- neers of St. Bridget township, her death occurring in March, 1914.
Patrick Lynch was but a lad when he came to this country with his mother, and he grew to manhood on the home farm in St. Bridget town- ship, an able and valuable assistant in the labors of developing and improv- ing the same. He remained on the farm with his mother until his mar- riage in 1886, after which he traded an eighty of the home farm for a quarter section in section II of that same township and there established his home and has ever since made that his place of residence. Mr. Lynch has done well in his farming operations and as he prospered added to his land holdings until now he is the owner of a well-improved farm of five hundred and forty acres, on which, in addition to his general farming, he raises quite a bit of live stock, specializing in Hereford cattle and Duroc- Jersey hogs. He has eighty acres of timber on his farm. Mr. Lynch is a Democrat, but has not been a seeker after public office.
In the year 1886 Patrick Lynch was united in marriage to Anna
788
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
Shaughnessy, daughter of Michael and Ellen (Ryan) Shaughnessy, natives of Ireland and early settlers in St. Bridget township. further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, and to this union eight children have been born, namely: Ellen, who married S. Manley, of the neighbor- ing county of Nemaha: Edward, who is at home: Patrick, deceased ; Mary, who is now teaching school in Nemaha county: Emmet, at home: Frances, deceased, and Anna and Lillis, at home. The Lynches are members of St. Bridget's Catholic church and take a warm interest in parish affairs, as well as in the general social affairs of their home community, helpful factors in all local good works.
OSCAR NELSON.
Sweden has given to Kansas many of her best representative men and women, and among the number who have located in Cottage Hill town- ship. Marshall county, who are recognized as among the prominent and suc- cessful citizens of the county, is Oscar Nelson, who was born on August 19. 1867, in the southern part of Sweden and is the son of John E. and Anna S. (Larson) Nelson.
John E. and Anna S. Nelson were also natives of Sweden, and there received their education. Some years after their marriage and after two of their children had been born, they decided to seek a home in America. John E. Nelson was born on December 3, 1834, and when he was thirty- four years of age, in 1868, he and his wife and two children came to the United States. After a voyage of five weeks on a sailing vessel, the family landed on the shores of the United States. Mr. Nelson lived in this county until the time of his death on June 27, 1913. On their arrival in this country, they came direct to Kansas and located at Waterville. He soon took a home- stead of one hundred and sixty acres in section 5, Cottage Hill township. Marshall county. He had money enough to pay for his homestead right and to buy a cow. The next spring he bought a team of horses and an old breaking plow and at once began the task of getting his land ready for the crops. He built a log house in which the family lived for some years and where two of his children were born. During the winter of 1869. which was one of the worst for snow in that section of the country, he worked for the railroad company at shoveling snow from the tracks, working all the way from Waterville to Atchison. In time the farm was thoroughly developed and improved and here Mr. Nelson engaged in general farming
789
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
and stock raising with much success, and at the time of his death he was the owner of two hundred acres of prime land. He and his wife were active members of the Swedish Lutheran church, Mr. Nelson being one of the organizers of the local church in the township and of the school in district No. 44. Mrs. Nelson is now living with her son, Oscar, and enjoying her remaining years on the old farm which she assisted in developing. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were the parents of the following children: two girls that died in infancy in Sweden; Charles A., a dairyman at Moneta, California; Oscar ; one that died in infancy, after the family came to the United States, and Victor, now deceased.
Oscar Nelson received his education in the schools of district No. 44, Cottage Hill township, and one term in the high school at Waterville. He was reared on the home farm and as a lad and young man assisted his father with the development and operation of the place. He remained at home until 1897, when he purchased his present farm. The place, now one of the ideal farms of the township, was at that time unimproved and unde- veloped. The splendid buildings, fine groves and well-cultivated field are all the result of the hard work and good management of Mr. Nelson. As a farmer and stockman he is recognized as one of the progressive and sub- stantial ones of the county. He keeps a fine lot of cattle and hogs and his crops are among the best grown in that section of the state. In 1916 he made an exhibit of corn at the fair and received most favorable comment for its excellent quality. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company at Waterville and in the County Fair Association.
On December 29, 1897, Oscar Nelson was married to Hildor C. Daw, the daughter of John and Caroline (Jacobs) Larson, natives of Sweden, where they spent their lives. Mrs. Nelson was born on September 15, 1871, in Sweden, where she lived until 1893. On coming to the United States she located in Chicago, Illinois, where she lived until her marriage four years later. To Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have been born three children, Richard E., Edwin E. and one that died in infancy. Richard E. was born on January 16, 1899, and Edwin E. was born on December 2, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are members of the Lutheran church and are prominent in the social life of the district.
Politically, Oscar Nelson is identified with the Republican party and has always taken a keen interest in the affairs of the township and county. In 1912 he was elected clerk of his township and in 1914 was re-elected for a term of two years. For twenty years he served as clerk of the school district and resigned that position in 1914. He has always been interested
790
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
in the schools of the township and is one of those progressive men who believe in the best schools. To him good roads and good schools are two of the essential elements in the growth and development of the community. He remembered when the roads were but trails over the prairie, and his recol- lection is vivid with reference to the many covered wagons wending their way over the winding trails. The log house that his father built was made from logs cut on Coon creek, one and one-half miles west of the old home- stead. The lumber that was needed was obtained at the sawmill at Cleabourne and required four days to make the trip, a distance of only eighteen miles. There were no bridges over the streams and many times the water was too high to ford. These conditions and the devastating prairie fires that often raged in that section, made the life of the family for the first few years a hard one.
ERNST W. ZIMMERLING.
Ernst W. Zimmerling, a well-known and prominent farmer of Frank- lin township, Marshall county, was born in Germany on July 15. 1869, being the son of Ernst F. and Caroline ( Paul) Zimmerling. The parents were also natives of Germany and there received their education and were mar- ried, after which they continued to live in Germany for some years. The father and mother had both been married before. Besides Ernst W., they were the parents of nine other children, eight of whom are now living. When the son, Ernst W., was six years of age the parents left their home in Germany and came to the United States, locating on a farm in Marshall county. Here the son was educated in the public schools and grew to manhood on the home farm, where as a lad he assisted his father with the farm work. He remained at home until he was twenty-six years of age. at which time he was married and he and his wife established their home on a farm that she then owned.
In 1916 Ernst W. Zimmerling purchased the home farm of one hun- dred and sixty acres and is actively engaged in general farming and stock raising. He is a thorough farmer and keeps the best class of stock and is particularly interested in the breeding of Duroc-Jersey hogs and good cattle. In addition to his duties on the farm, he has always taken an active interest in the business life of the township and is now the efficient president of the Citizens' State Bank at Home City, and is also interested as a shareholder of the Marshall County Fair Association. Politically. Mr. Zimmerling is
791
MARSHALL, COUNTY, KANSAS.
associated with the Democratic party and is now treasurer of the Home City school board and has served as township clerk for six years.
In 1896 Ernst W. Zimmerling was united in marriage to Louisa Kramme, who was born in Illinois on May 9, 1870, and is the daughter of Henry and Alvena ( Brauch) Kramme, who were early settlers in the county. On coming to Marshall county Mr. and Mrs. Kramme established their home on a farm and became substantial and prominent residents of the dis- trict and are held in the highest regard by all who know them.
To Ernst W. and Louisa Zimmerling have been born the following ยท children : Selma, Henry, Walter, Arnold and Zena, all of whom are at home with their parents and are receiving their education in the schools of the district. Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerling have a fine home and take the great- est of pleasure in the education of their children and in the social and general development of the community.
VENZEL KABRIEL.
One of the well-known of the younger men of Marshall county, who has met with much success as a general farmer and stockman in St. Bridget township, is Venzel Kabriel, who was born in Nemaha county, Kansas, on February 3. 1878, being the son of Joseph and Frances ( Holan) Kabriel, who were natives of Austria.
Joseph Kabriel spent his early life in the land of his nativity and there received his education in the schools of that country. In 1866, at the age of seventeen years, he came to the United States. On his arrival in this coun- try, he located at Pittsburgh, where he was later married to Frances Holan, who was born in 1847. After their marriage they continued to live in Pitts- burgh and in October, 1877, they emigrated to Kansas and here they estab- lished their home in Nemaha county. After some years of successful farm life in that county, the family moved to Marshall county, where the father lived until 1895, when he moved to his present home at Mina.
To Joseph and Frances Kabriel have been born the following children : Frank. Anna, Emma, Mary, Edward, Venzel, Joseph and William. Frank is a successful farmer living one and one-half miles west of Mina; Anna Ness lives in the county, her husband being a well-known farmer; Emma Harkins is a resident of Colorado; Mary Burton is a resident of Marshall county ; Edward lives at Valley Falls, and Joseph is now deceased.
792
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
V'enzel Kabriel received his education in the district schools of Nemaha county and at Mina. Marshall county, and grew to manhood on the home farm, where as a lad he assisted his father with the farm work. At the age of twenty-one years he began to work for himself and for two years worked for his father by the month. He then rented land in Marshall county and there engaged in general farming for two years, when he then rented a farm in Morris county, Kansas, where he remained for two years. He then purchased eighty acres of land in St. Bridget township, which he later sold to his brother. At that time he bought his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres. The railroad goes through the place and eighty acres of the farm is in section 28 and eighty acres in section 33. of St. Bridget town- ship. This place he has developed and improved with most substantial build- ings, and in 1916 completed his modern barn, thirty-eight by thirty-eight feet. Here he is engaged in general farming and stock raising and is meet- ing with much success.
On January 7, 1903. Venzel Kabriel was united in marriage to Rosa Brolyer, who was born on June 27. 1878, and is the daughter of Henry and Jennie Brolyer. To this union the following children have been born : Vance, whose birth occurred on March 21, 1904: Joseph, November 6. 1905: Gladys, October 19, 1908. and Rosalee, August 2, 1910.
JOHN W. STROMER.
John W. Stromer, a well-known and prominent retired farmer of Home City, Marshall county, was born in Adams county, Nebraska, on February 15, 1876, being the son of Dirk and Johanna ( Williams) Stromer.
Dirk and Johanna ( Williams) Stromer were born in Germany and there received their education in the public schools and grew to maturity. The father was born on October 13, 1845, and the mother on April 25. 1846. Dirk Stromer resided in the fatherland until he was nineteen years of age, when he decided that he would seek a home in free America. After his arrival in the United States he proceeded to Illinois, where he located at Minonk, Woodford county, Illinois, where he worked in a coal mine for two years. He then left the state of Illinois and located in Nebraska, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Adams county. This he developed and improved and_here he engaged in general farming and stock raising, with much success until 1909. when he retired from the active duties
RESIDENCE OF JOHN W. STROMER.
793
MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
of farm life and moved to Hastings, Nebraska, where he died on October 24, 1914. He accumulated enough to give his eight children each one hundred and sixty acres of land.
In Illinois, Dirk Stromer was united in marriage to Johanna Williams, who with her sisters and brothers left their home in Germany and located in the northern part of that state. For some years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Stromer lived in Illinois, when they removed to Nebraska and there established themselves on a farm. Mrs. Stromer is now living at Hastings, where she has a beautiful home and is the owner of five hundred and twenty acres of splendid land. Mr. and Mrs. Stromer were from early childhood members of the Lutheran church, and Mrs. Stromer was one of the promin- ent communicants in the church of her younger life. She died on October 4, 1916.
John W. Stromer received his education in the common schools of Nebraska and there grew to manhood on the home farm, where as a lad and young man he assisted with the farm work soon becoming impressed with the independent life of the tiller of the soil. He remained at home until 1897, when he decided to come to Kansas, where he located in Marshall county and for a time worked as a farm hand for his future father-in-law, William Arnast. He later rented land and engaged in general farming and stock raising for himself. On his marriage on May 6, 1897, to Emma M. Arnast, who was born in Franklin township, Marshall county, on March 20, 1877, and the daughter of William and Wilhelmena (Messall) Arnast, he and his wife became the heirs of two hundred and forty acres of splendid land.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.