USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 32
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
William R. Wells prospered in the land of his adoption, however, and he became prominently identified with the early and formative period of Nemaha county history, and was a member of the first board of county commissioners of Nemaha county. He lived on his farm until 1864, and then retired to a home in Seneca. In June of 1882, he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in Seneca, and six years later, July 18, 1888, his faithful helpmeet died. William R. Wells died December 16, 1893. Although a member of the Congrega- tional church at the time of his removal to Kansas, William R. Wells became one of the founders of the Methodist Episcopal church in Seneca, and remained an active and influential member of this church until his demise. His activity in behalf of the free State movement in Kansas was noticeable, and is a matter of history. He filled the office of township trustee several terms, served as justice of the peace and was a member of the first board of county commissioners of Nemaha county.
The earlier education of Abijah Wells was obtained in the district schools of La Salle county, Illinois, and he was a lad of seventeen when the family settled in Kansas. Not long after he came to Kansas he en- rolled as a student in Centralia College, and later attended the first session of the State Agricultural College at Manhattan, Kans., this institution at that time being noted for the excellent faculty maintained. His ambition when a youth had been to become a lawyer, with this end in view, he entered the office of Judge J. E. Taylor, where he pursued his legal studies until his admission to the practice of law in 1866. He practiced his profession in Kansas continuously for nearly fifty years, the only exception being when he became a member of the Kansas court of appeals.
Early in 1881, he became the editor and proprietor of the Seneca
325
HISTORY OF NEMAIIA COUNTY
"Tribune." His talents as a journalist and manager here were shown to the best advantage, and he rapidly made the "Tribune" one of the best newspapers in northern Kansas, and created a profitable business prop- erty. He sold the "Tribune," however, during the same year to A. J. Felt and devoted his entire time to his legal business and his official duties in various capacities. The law firm of Wells & Wells, started in 1866 by Judge Wells and Iris brother, Frank Wells, and his son, Frank, at a later date, in time became one of the best known law firms of northern Kansas, and has always done an extensive business. The legal business of this institution is carried on at present by Ira K. Wells, who became the Junior partner of the firm upon the removal of Frank Wells to Oklahoma City.
The political, judicial and official career of Judge Wells was a remarkable one, and is the best evidence of his pronounced ability and powers of leadership among men. He became a leader of wide influ- ence, who was noted for his integrity and upright conduct in every official capacity where he was chosen to serve by his faithful and loyal constituents. During his whole life he was an active supporter of Re- publican party principles, and became one of the party's widely known leaders throughout the West. His first office was that of county su- perintendent of public instruction, to which he was chosen in 1863. In 1866, he was elected clerk of the district court, and after holding that office for one year, he was elected registrar of deeds, and filled that position one term. From 1874 to 1881, he again served as county su- perintendent of education in Nemaha county. Vigorous and capable, he was diligent and progressive in his administration of the public school system of Nemaha county, and raised the schools to a higher plane as a result of his endeavors in the educational field. Upon the expiration of his term as county superintendent, he proceeded to devote his time and talents exclusively to his growing law practice with such signal success that he was called to a seat on the Kansas Court of Appeals bench in 1896, and represented the eastern division of the northern department of this court, and was the only Republican on the State ticket to receive a majority at the polls during that memorable year. He served as judge of the Court of Appeals with distinction and honor during the life of this court, and on its dissolution in 1901, he returned to Seneca and resumed the practice of law. Judge Wells served two terms as mayor of Seneca, and was a member of the Seneca board of education for a number of years. It is also worthy of note that Judge Wells was appointed post- master of Seneca in 1884, but resigned because of the press of his other affairs, Justus H. Williams succeeding him as postmaster.
In a material sense, Judge Wells was accounted one of the most successful financiers and business men of Nemaha county and Kansas. He foresaw the inevitable rise of land values, and early began to invest his surplus earnings in real estate and farm lands, and at the time of his demise, was an extensive realty owner in Nemaha county. He also
326
HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
owned ninety acres of land within the corporate limits of Oklahoma City, which he purchased as an investment. He was markedly success- ful in banking pursuits, and was connected with the National Bank of Seneca as a director and vice-president for several years. Beginning life as a poor boy, he was essentially self made and rose from compara- tive poverty to become one of the wealthiest men of his day. The fact that he amassed considerable wealth honestly and with the exercise of inherent financial talents and good business judgment redounds to his everlasting credit ; he was noted and admired for his straighforward methods of doing business, and his universal fairness in dealing with those with whom he came in contact.
The married life of Judge Wells was an exceedingly happy one, and began October 18, 1866, at which time he espoused in wedlock, Miss Loretta C. Williams, a daughter of Capt. A. W. Williams, of Sabetha, Kans. This marriage was blessed with six children, who have grown to maturity, namely : Frank, of the law firm of Keaton, Wells & John- son, of Oklahoma City, Okla., and who served four years as county at- torney of Nemaha county, and after his removal to Oklahoma City was selected as one of the city commissioners to formulate the plans for a commission form of city government; Arthur, died at the age of two years; Ira K., a review of whose life career is found in this volume; Elsie, who became a teacher in the Seneca public schools, and died Sep- tember 4, 1897; Maud W., the wife of .Robert E. Deemer, a merchant of Lincoln, Neb., and a veteran of the Spanish-American war; William A .. an architect of exceptional promise and ability, of Oklahoma, whose plans for the Oklahoma county court house were accepted strictly on merit, and who was the architect of the Colcord building of Oklahoma City, one of the finest office buildings of the United States, and Roland, who is located on a ranch in Sherman county, Kansas, and is extensively engaged in raising cattle. The mother of these children was born in Greenville, Green county, Wisconsin, March 5. 1847, and is a daughter of Arthur William and Mary Angeline (Nordyke) Williams, of English and Scotch ancestry.
Capt. A. W. Williams was one of the well known figures of the pioneer period of Nemaha county history. He was born in Rochester, N. Y., March 21, 1818, and died in November, 1886, on his farm, south of Seneca. His parents removed from New York to Canada when he was but a boy and he was there reared to young manhood and learned the trade of a carpenter. In the early days of the settlement of Green county, Wisconsin, he located in that county, and was married to Mary Angeline Nordyke, who was born in Vienna, Ohio, June 7, 1826. After their marriage in Iowa, Mr. and Mrs. Williams lived in Green county, Wisconsin, until their removal to Iowa in 1856. They spent the winter in Iowa, and in the following spring migrated westward to Kansas, and made settlement on the Sabetha townsite. Mr. Williams became the owner of the land where the city of Sabetha now stands, and resided in
327
HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
Sabetha until 1872, engaged in keeping the tavern and also following his trade of builder and carpenter. The Williams Hotel was situated directly upon the old overland stage route and he also maintained a stage station, at which the relay horses were kept ready for changing. He also farmed such of his land as was not taken for the townsite. At the outbreak of the Civil war, Mr. Williams offered his services in defense of the Union, and was elected captain of Company D, Eighth Kansas infantry. He served with distinction, and then took up the peaceful avocation of a citizen after the close of the war. He served as post- master of Sabetha for several years, and was a leading citizen of that city until his removal to Seneca in 1872. He was engaged in the hard- ware business in Seneca for some years, and later settled on his farm, two miles south of the county seat, where he resided until his demise. The following children were born to Arthur W. and Mary Angeline Williams: Justus, former postmaster of Seneca, and now residing at Riverside, Cal .; Mrs. Abijah Wells, Mrs. Eliza Masheter, of Sabetha, deceased ; Angus and Rosabelle died young ; Mrs. Mary E. McGill died in California; Charles, living in California; Mrs. Olive Himrod, New Jersey. The mother of these children was born in Ohio, removed with her parents to Iowa, and died in California in 1908.
Judge Wells was a member of the Universalist denomination, and was one of the organizers of the Universalist church of Seneca, in 1865. He became widely known in Universalist circles throughout Kansas and the West, and served for twenty-five years as president of the Kansas Universalist convention, holding that important position at the time of his demise. He was a Mason of high degree, and had attained the Royal Arch and Knights Templar degrees in the order; served as worshipful master of Seneca Lodge, No. 39, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and as high priest of the chapter and as eminent commander of Seneca Commandery, No. 39. He was also a charter member of Nemaha Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he had passed all the chairs and was the last surviving charter member who held his membership continuously since the organization of the lodge in 1866. He was also affiliated with the Knights and Ladies of Security.
The demise of this illustrious Kansan occurred at Los Angeles, Cal., March 1, 1915, at the home of his son, William, whither he had gone for a much needed rest and recuperation. The remains were brought to Seneca and interred in the local cemetery, after appropriate services at · the Universalist Church, conducted by Dr. Fisher, of Chicago, long an associate of Judge Wells in religious work. With the departure of the soul of this noble man to the realms from which no man returneth, there passed the leading citizen of the county and city which he assisted in building; his friends were legion; he always commanded the respect and admiration of those who knew him ; a man of fine personal appear- ance, blessed with keen intelligence, which showed in his every action, a dignified bearing-he was a man among men, whose innate reserve
328
HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
was tempered by a wholesome good nature, which manifested itself when with his associates. As an attorney, he was always true to every trust imposed in him by his clients and business associates ; in an official capacity, Judge Wells was firm in an unalterable determination to pros- ecute the duties placed upon him by the public in the interests of his constituents. As a public spirited citizen, he had few equals, and was always found in the forefront of undertakings which would have a ten- dency to advance the best interests of his home city and county. The reward which comes to all good men and true, who have been devoted to the highest principles of manhood, in the hereafter, has certainly come to him-inasmuch as his good deeds and upright life far out- weighed whatever faults he may have possessed.
George W. Williams .- In point of years of residence in Seneca, George Williams is, without doubt, the oldest living pioneer settler, liv- ing in Seneca today. A review of the life of Mr. Williams takes one back to the old stage coach days; to the time of the emigrant freighting trains; to an account of the first house built in Seneca, in which he lived when a boy of twelve years of age; the review covers the gradual settlement and development of Nemaha county, the ups and downs of a struggling community and the growth of Seneca from being merely a wide place in the great overland highway to the West into becoming one of the thriftiest and most beautiful cities of northern Kansas. Mr. Williams has seen all of this great development, and has taken an active and substantial part in the work of creating a great county from a wilderness of prairie and wild land.
George W. Williams, capitalist and farmer, Seneca, Kans., was born in a small New Jersey village, March 18, 1848, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Getty) Williams, natives of Vermont and descend- ants of old New England families. The home of Mr. Williams' parents was in Burlington, Vt., but his father's work as a railroad contractor required that he make his residence in the vicinity of his employment. Henry Williams died in 1848, and his wife departed this life not long afterward. The boy, George, thus left an orphan, was given over to the care of a maiden annt, who became his guardian and who had gone to live in New Hampshire. However, he varied his early life between the homes of a married aunt (Mrs. John E. Smith) and the maiden aunt who was his rightful guardian. He accompanied the Smith family to Seneca in 1858 and resided with them in the first house built in Seneca. his first work in the village was as "devil boy" on the first newspaper published in Nemaha county by J. P. Cone ; his duties on this sheet being to ink the "molasses" rollers, and to assist in operating the old Wash- ington hand press, with which the editions were printed. He remained a member of the staff of Mr. Cone's newspaper until his place was taken by a stronger person, and one whom the editor thought more able and competent to handle the lever of the unwieldy press. About the time his newspaper experience came to an end, his maiden aunt and
329
HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
guardian came west and located at Irving, Marshall county, Kansas, and he joined his aunt's family there. He remained with his guardian until he completed a course in Illinois College in 1864, and after clerk- ing in a store at Irving for a time, he returned to Seneca and purchased an interest in a hardware store. This was in 1870, and his business venture was a success from the start. His interests have become diver- sified during the past forty-six years, and he has become one of the largest land owners in northern Kansas, owning thousands of acres of land in the county. Mr. Williams has erected several business build- ings in Seneca, and is owner of considerable real estate in the city. He is financially interested in several banking concerns, among them being the First National Bank of Seneca, of which he has been president for over thirty years; State Bank of Belvidere, Neb., and the State Bank of Axtell, Kans., of which he is president. He is a director in several banks.
Mr. Williams has been a stockholder and director of the St. Joseph and Grand Island Railroad Company, for the past three years. He is president of the Brown County Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany of Morrill, Kans.
Mr. Williams was married, in 1876, to Miss Mary Moss Bryan of Kentucky, a daughter of Milton Bryan, a relative of William Jennings Bryan. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams have been born six children, as fol- lows: Raymond, third child born, killed in a railway accident in 1906; Clara, eldest child, wife of Frank Stuppy, St. Joseph, Mo .; Mrs. Helen Short, living near Chehalis, Wash .; Edith, wife of Art L. Collins, presi- dent of the National Bank of Sabetha, Kans .; Rachel, at home with her parents ; Milton B., at home and assisting in looking after his father's interests, a graduate of Wisconsin University, Madison, Wis., and fill- ing the post of assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Seneca.
Mr. Williams is allied with the Democratic party, but has never sought political preferment of any kind, although he has taken pleasure in assisting deserving friends to office and has been generally loyal to democratic principles. He is a member of the Congregational church. Despite his great success in business, agriculture and finance, Mr. Will- iams is the most modest of men who has devoted his entire life to hard work, kept at his tasks long hours, and even of late years, has assidu- ously devoted his time and energies to looking after his many inter- ests. This modest and brief review is in keeping with the inherent . modesty of the man himself.
Courtney C. K. Scoville .- When a truly able and gifted man finds his niche in the world of business and finance, his success is certain and sure. There is no miscalculation about the obviousness of his being adapted to his surroundings-a really successful individual becomes more so when he has discovered his proper line of endeavor in which to exercise inherited and developed talents. Real leaders in the various professions and business circles are both born and made -and in the
330
HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
making, the best attributes of the man himself are developed thor- oughly and well, so that there is no half way stop in the upward climb. C. C. K. Scoville, successful financier, author and lecturer of Seneca, Kans., is one of those individuals who found his proper niche, and de- veloped himself and his powers to the fullest extent, and has become a leader of thought and men, and is widely known throughout his home State and the West. Endowed in the beginning with a heritage of pure American birth and ancestry, and gifted beyond the ordinary, he has risen to a high place among men. As a banker he has achieved success, and as a lecturer and orator, he has won more than ordinary renown- yet, withal, he is a modest, unassuming gentleman who loves best to assist in the development of social and civic conditions in his home city. The upbuilding and advancement of Seneca is in his thoughts and ambitions first and foremost of all things, and he is ever ready to take the lead in all matters having for their ultimate object a better and larger city.
C. C. K. Scoville, president of the Citizens State Bank of Seneca, was born at Conneautville, Pa., September 14, 1852, and is a son of Daniel and Eunice P. B. (Kennedy) Scoville, natives of Vermont and New York respectively. On both paternal and maternal sides he is descended from old American families who trace their lineage back to pre-Revolutionary times. His grandfather was Daniel Scoville, whose father was a soldier of the Revolution and fought under Ethan Allen with the famous "Green Mountain Boys."
Mr. Scoville received his education in the public schools of Iowa and Kansas, and studied law in Seneca where the Scoville family re- moved in 1870. He was admitted to the practice of law in 1878, and practiced his profession for a number of years and then engaged in banking, although he has never abandoned the legal profession entirely. Since his connection with the Citizens State Bank, he has always been the recognized head of the bank. Previous to engaging in the practice of law, he taught school for eight years. While practicing his pro -. fession, he served as city attorney, and in 1900, filled the office of mayor of Seneca for a term. He organized the Scoville Exchange Bank in 1888. This concern was successful, and its activities and general scope were broadened materially in 1894, when Mr. Scoville organized the Citizens State Bank as a successor to the private bank. The capital has been increased from $30,000 to $40,000, and this bank is now one of the substantial and flourishing financial institutions of northern Kansas.
Mr. Scoville was united in marriage with Miss Mary Lincoln Ber- gen of Galesburg, Ill., in 1881. Two daughters were born to them, as follows: Josephine, who studied for two years in Washburn College. Topeka, and who graduated from Smith College, Northampton, Mass., is now the wife of Louis S. Treadwell, a business man of New York City, and scion of the well known Treadwell family of New York and
331
HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
Albany ; Frances, a graduate of the Misses Gilman's Seminary for young ladies at Boston, Mass., is now the wife of Walter De Mumm. a member of the famous Rheims firm of wine manufacturers and an officer of the Royal Fusileers of the German army and a member of General von Hindenberg's staff. Lieut. De Mumm has been twice dec- orated by the German emperor with the iron cross for personal bravery on the battlefield.
Mrs. Scoville, who was Miss Mary Lincoln Bergen, was a daughter of George I. and Mary Bergen, of Galesburg, Ill. George I. Bergen was one of the leading business men and politicians of his State, and was widely known as an inventor and as a public man. He filled the position of internal revenue collector of the great Peoria district, for many years. He and Abraham Lincoln were close personal friends. Mrs. Scoville enjoys the great distinction of having been given the name, Lincoln, for a middle name by the great Lincoln himself. Mrs. Scoville's mother was a member of the celebrated Field family, from which sprang many of the leading men of the nation, notably Marshall Field, the great Chicago merchant. Mrs. Scoville was a graduate of the High School at Galva, Ill., going from there to the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin, Ohio, from which she graduated in vocal, piano and pipe organ courses with distinction. Mrs. Scoville is well known over Kansas for her musical and literary accomplishments and for the beauty and hospitality of her home in Seneca, where many of the lead- ing people of Kansas and other States have been entertained.
Mr. Scoville's activities outside of his banking interests have been many and varied, and their recital exhibits a remarkable versatility on the part of this able Kansan. He is essentially a self-made man, who has good and just right to be proud of his record, inasmuch as Seneca is rightly proud of him. He is an extensive dealer in farm mortgages. and loans on his own account and believes in keeping his capital con- tinually working in legitimate channels of trade. He has taken an · active and general interest in matters political and served his party as chairman of the county central committee during the Blaine and Logan campaign for the presidency. He is interested in his party's success, but has never been an office seeker, preferring to be a worker in the ranks and lending his moral support to such matters. He is a strong and influential supporter of civic, social and commercial enterprises for the benefit of Seneca and Nemaha county, and is president of the Sen- · eca Business Men's Club, an organization of Seneca's business and pro- fessional men who are striving for civic and commercial betterment of the city's affairs, and are pushing public improvements to the front. For the past twelve years, he has been a director and treasurer of the Nemaha County Fair Association.
His rise in the banking world is a matter deserving of favorable comment, and he has become known throughout the State among the banking fraternity. During the years 1910 and 1911, Mr. Scoville was
332
HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
president of the Kansas State Bankers Association. He was one of the organizers and served as the second president of this association. During his lecturing career, which has covered a period of twelve years, he has delivered many addresses upon financial questions pertaining to banking and the legal phases of the profession of which he has made a deep study. Mr. Scoville has the reputation of being the finest and most entertaining, extemporaneous speaker in central and northern Kansas. His broad knowledge and wide reading and continuous study have equipped him especially for this phase of his versatile attainments.
Mr. and Mrs. Scoville are extensive travelers and have seen many parts of the old and new worlds. They made a sight seeing trip to Eu- rope, and visited their daughter, Mrs. De Mumm, in 1914, and were in London when the war between the European powers began. The success of this able gentleman under review can be ascribed to two or three things, either of which is important, and have a decided bearing upon a man's life career : He was rightly born and reared; he was imbued with an indomitable will and a determination to rise in the world, and was willing to make any honorable sacrifice in order to gain his end; lastly, but not least, he has enjoyed the companionship and counsel of a capable and devoted wife. While teaching school, he de- voted his spare time to the study of law and equipped himself for the legal profession. While practicing law he discovered that his talents lay in the world of finance, and he determined that banking offered the best means to the attainment of a competence.
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.