USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 34
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John Fuller was born in Horsham, Sussex county, England, March 25, 1835, and is a son of James and Deborah (Ware) Fuller. James, his father, was a member of the Church of England, and was a general sheet and metal worker, who taught his son, John, his trade. Deborah (Ware) Fuller, his mother, was a Quaker, whose sweet womanly coun- sel and careful training did much toward making John Fuller the man he is today. One of the touching things which Mr. Fuller remembers concerning his mother is that she made a sampler with her own hands when a girl, and inscribed on it the following original poem :
"Deborah Ware is my name, With my Needle, I work the same, By this work you can plainly see The care my parents took of me."
After learning the trade of sheet metal worker under his father's tutelage, John Fuller worked as a tinman and brazier and general sheet
JOHN FULLER.
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HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
metal worker until he attained the age of seventeen years. He then took up the trade of coppersmith, which he followed for sixteen years. In 1868, he journeyed to London, England, and again took up brazery work and also followed sheet iron work while attending the night schools of that great city. Previous to this, he had had little oppor- tunity to secure an education, and his sole reason for 'leaving home and going to London was to attain an education. Few boys worked as hard as he to attain his ends. Working long hours, he would quit his bench at 5:30 p. m., walk five miles to the night school and study diligently until ten o'clock in the South London Workingmen's College, of which Huxley was the chief patron. The oldest son of Mr. Fuller has the highly prized certificate issued to Mr. Fuller by Huxley, and which has appended to it the patron's own signature. Mr. Fuller remained seven years in London, supporting his family of five children, born in Ash- ford, Kent, England, and in this great city one of his children was born. In 1870, he immigrated to America, joining a colony which had been formed in England under the auspices of the Mutual Land Immigration Operative Colonization Company, Limited. This company brought numbers of settlers to Kansas, and Mr. Fuller was among those who settled near Goff, Kans. He remained but a year on the farm, however, raising nothing but weeds after much arduous labor. The next year he spent in Centralia, Kans., working at his trade and any honest employ- ment he could procure to keep the wolf from the door. In 1872, he came to Seneca and engaged in the hardware business in partnership with Aaron Roots. This partnership continued for two years, and then Mr. Fuller purchased his partner's interest. As his sons grew up they became associated with their father in the business, which is one of the landmarks of Seneca, under the firm name of Fuller & Son. The Fuller establishment is one of the prosperous and enterprising concerns of Seneca, and has made money for its founder and proprietor.
The most interesting phase of the life career of the "Sage of Seneca" is his career as a scientist and author and his accomplishments in the field of letters is the more remarkable when we learn that he had no school advantages from the time he was nine years old up to his mar- riage, after which he secured a good, broad education while rearing and supporting his growing family in comfort. In the year 1889, Mr. Fuller wrote and published "The Art of Coppersmithing," an instructive voca- tional volume, which had a wide sale, and has run through four editions, and was copyrighted in 1904 and in 1911 by its author. This work is a standard text on the coppersmithing art and contains 485 illustrations drawn by Mr. Fuller in order to more clearly bring out the various in- structive points. The volume was published by David Williams Com- pany, and bears the distinction of being the only text book on copper- smithing as an art ever issued. The book was greatly eulogized and praised by book reviewers of the country upon its appearance. Mr. Fuller completed another attractive and instructive volume in 1904,
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called "A New and Original Treatise on the Geometrical Development of Round and Oval Cones," with easy examples of application. This work is a very fine affair and is intended for the use of beginners in metal working and practical sheet iron and tin plate workers. For many years this versatile patriarch has been a contributor to various news- papers, and has frequently called attention through the newspaper col- umns to undeveloped and waste resources generally overlooked by the public. He frequently lectures in the Seneca High School on scientific subjects, and the students are always eager to listen to the words of wisdom which fall from his lips. His favorite lecture is "Wealth is Not Worth," and is well worth reading or hearing. He is a deep thinker and a profound philosopher, whose material needs have not been neg- lected during the many years he has spent in Kansas. From a poor boy, he has become wealthy, and occupies a high place in the esteem of his fellow citizens. It is a fact that at one time this highly regarded and wealthy citizen was in such reduced circumstances during his early struggles in Kansas that, in order to get sufficient solder with which to do his tin work, he gathered up a pile of discarded tin cans, melted them, and, thus obtained the solder which he needed so badly.
There is no doubt but that much of the success of John Fuller is really due to the inspiration and assistance of the noble woman who became his wife on January 1, 1856, when Mr. Fuller was united in mar- riage with Miss Ann Fagg, born September 22, 1834, in England, the eldest daughter of Henry Fagg, formerly an engineer on the South- eastern railway in England. To this union have been born eight chil- dren, as follows: Henry William, associated with his father in the hardware business; John died in 1914; William Edward and Walter are with the firm of Fuller & Son; Martha Jane, at home with her parents ; Helen Florence died in September, 1870; Herbert Moreton, born at Cen- tralia, June 24, 1871, and now engaged in business with his father; Mrs. Beatus Filia Williams, born in Seneca, Kans., and resides there.
Mr. and Mrs. Fuller are members of the Episcopalian denomina- tion. Mr. Fuller became a Mason soon after settling in Seneca, and has served as master of the local lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and he enjoys the distinction of being one of the oldest Odd Fellows in Kansas, having become a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in his native country in April of 1852, and never having been delinquent in his dues during all of the sixty-four years he has been a member of the order. For the past twenty years he has been affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. John Fuller is a remarkable man, who has had a unique and interesting career.
One of the highly prized possessions in the Fuller domicile is a cop- per kettle, which was made by Mr. Fuller over fifty years ago, and is a masterpice of the brazier's skill. The proudest day of the young man- hood of this fine old gentleman was when he showed to his father the kettle, after it had been made with his own hands from the copper.
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Robert G. Mueller, superintendent of the Seneca public school sys- tem, was born in Alleghany, N. Y., August 2, 1863, and is a son of Robert G. and Catharine (Ehret) Mueller, both of whom were born in Germany. Robert G. Mueller, Sr., emigrated from Germany with his parents, Jacob and Hannah Mueller, to America in 1849, and first set- tled in New York. Jacob Mueller, Sr., had learned the trade of tanner and worked at his trade in this country until he became the owner of a fine farm near Alleghany, N. Y., and finally died on his farm. Robert G. Mueller, the elder, migrated from New York to Atchison, Kans., in 1878, and after a four years' reisidence on a farm near that city, he re- moved to Atchison and has followed his trade of carpenter and builder almost continuously since 1882. Robert G. and Catharine Mueller have reared seven children, as follows: George W., deceased; Robert G .. the subject of this review; Anna C. and Henry P., deceased; Charles F., a farmer living in Butler county, Kansas; Minnie W., deceased; William E., a barber in Kansas City, Mo. The mother of the foregoing children emigrated from her native land to America with her parents when six years of age. She died in Atchison in 1893.
Prof. Robert G. Mueller received his early education in the public and high schools of Atchison, Kans., and also attended the Monroe In- stitute of that city. He is self-educated, and worked his way through the University of Kansas, from which institution he graduated in 1901. Under the tutelage of his father he learned the carpenter's trade and worked during the summer vacations for money with which to continue his studies. Prof. Mueller began teaching in Atchison county in 1883, and taught for twelve years in his home county. His first principalship was at Hamlin, Brown county, Kansas, where he was located for one year ; then one year at Fairview, Brown county, Kansas; six years as principal of the Sheridan County High School. He was called to Seneca to take charge of the city schools in 1906, and his ten years of work in this city have been very successful. Many innovations and betterments of the school work have been added by Mr. Mueller during his career in Seneca, among them being a normal training department, a domestic science department and agricultural course and a commercial depart- ment. Six teachers have been added to the high school force, and he ยท has reorganized the seventh and eighth grades on the departmental plan. So great is the confidence held in Prof. Mueller's judgment by the board of education and the patrons of the schools that his requests for improvements are invariably granted and he enjoys the co-opera- tion of the school officials and teachers to an exceptional degree.
He is still an indefatigable student and has spent four vacations at Chicago University, working toward the acquirement of a Master's de- gree. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree from the Kansas Uni- versity and holds a Kansas State life certificate.
Prof. Mueller was married in 1889 to Miss Lillie M. Reynolds, of Cummings, Kans., a daughter of William T. Reynolds, a resident of Atchison, Kans. They have one child, Eunice, aged twelve years.
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Prof. Mueller is an independent in politics and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a trustee and is superin- tendent of the Sunday school. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Prof. Mueller is a very useful citizen, who is generally found in the front ranks of those who seek to advance the civic and moral atmosphere of Seneca. His activities extend beyond the halls of the school building to such an extent that his services in behalf of the people of Seneca are immeasureable in their value to the city. By word and deed he has sought to help advance his home city in many ways.
Solomon R. Myers .- The achievements of Solomon R. Myers since his advent into Kansas forty-eight years ago are worthy of mention in a favorable sense and show that he has accomplished more than the or- dinary man from a material standpoint and has filled the highest offices within the gift of the people of Nemaha county. He is descended from sturdy German stock fused with old American ancestry-a combination which makes the best American citizens. Mr. Myers' record reflects credit upon his ancestry, and he has carved for himself a career, the re- cital of which is well worthy of being handed down to posterity in this volume of historical annals of his home county and State. Solomon R. Myers was born in McDonough county, Illinois, April 4, 1849, and is a son of Jonas and Marguerite (Treadwell) Myers, who were the parents of ten children, of whom Solomon R. was the sixth child born, and only two of whom are living. Jonas Myers was born in North Carolina in 1810, and migrated to Illinois in the pioneer days of the settlement of that State. He developed a farm and died there in 1866. Jonas was a son of Thomas Myers, a native of Germany, who immigrated to North Carolina, and owned a farm in that State. When a youth, Jonas Myers learned the trade of hat maker. Mrs. Marguerite (Treadwell) Myers was born in Virginia, a daughter of Thomas Treadwell, a native of Vir- ginia. She died in Brown county, Kansas.
Solomon R. Myers migrated to Kansas in 1868, and bought land in Brown county, which he improved and farmed until 1881. He then came to Nemaha county and bought 480 acres of good land in Rock Creek township. He improved this tract and cultivated it with considerable success until his retirement to a home in Sabetha in 1911. Mr. Myers' success in Kansas is due to the fact that he was an extensive feeder of cattle, his cattle feeding operations embracing over 500 head annually. In this manner he maintained and increased the fertility of his large acreage and marketed his farm products in the most economical and profitable manner. Mr. Myers owns property in Sabetha and is a share- holder and director of the National Bank of Sabetha.
Mr. Myers was married at Plymouth, Ill., February 7, 1867, to Mary Thompson, who has borne him twelve children, as follows: Mrs. Carrie Cochren, Santa Anna, Cal .; Mrs. Sarah Sanford, Peculiar, Mo .; James H., a farmer in Nemaha county ; Mrs. Della Johnson, living in Nemaha
SOL. R. MYERS AND FAMILY.
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county ; George conducts a notion store in Sabetha; Mrs. Roxy Draney, . living on a farm in Nemaha county ; Mrs. Marguerite Brown, Peculiar, Mo .; Mrs. Ione, wife of B. Ransom, Brown county, Kansas; Mrs. Irene Koch, whose husband operates a bakery in Sabetha; Hester, at home; Herbert, deceased; Alfred, deceased. The mother of these children was born in Kentucky, January II, 1849, and is a daughter of James and Rebecca (Wright) Thompson, who removed from Kentucky to Illinois and died there.
The political and civic career of this pioneer citizen of Kansas has been a noteworthy one. He was elected to the office of county com- missioner in 1890, and served for two terms. He was a member of the State legislature as representative from Nemaha county in 1903, and he filled the duties of this position with credit to himself and his constit- 11ents. From 1881 to 1911 he served as a member of the school board of his township. He is prominent in Masonic circles and has taken all de- grees of Masonry up to and including the thirty-second degree, and is a Mystic Shriner. He is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Anton Wempe .- The Wempe family is one of the oldest pioneer families in Kansas, and its members are among the prominent citizens of Nemaha county. Anton Wempe, the "Father of Fidelity," Kans., is a product of the frontier era in the State, and his biography is an inter- esting one, which deserves a place of honor in the annals of that portion of the commonwealth with the development of which he has played such an important part.
Anton Wempe, retired, Seneca, Kans., was born in Effingham county, Illinois, December 24, 1847, and is a son of Herman Henry (born in 1813, and died July 5, 1861) and Mary Alexandrina (Jensen) Wempe (born in 1820, and died in 1853). Herman Henry Wempe and his brother, Gerard, came from their birthplace in Oldenburg, Germany, to America in 1831, and located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Herman Henry Wempe plied his trade of blacksmith in Cincinnati and eventually joined a colony of German born settlers who went westward to Effingham county, Illinois. This colony had previously sent representatives ahead on foot to spy out the country and report upon the most likely place in which to make a settlement. Henry Wempe became one of the leading mem- bers of this colony, which made a settlement in Illinois as early as 1842. He remained there until 1853 and then moved to a farm southeast of St. Louis, in St. Clair county, Illinois, where the family lived until 1858, at which time Henry Wempe made a trip to Kansas to look over the coun- try. The appearance of the Kansas country impressed him so favorably that he determined to buy Kansas land, and in the spring of 1861, he came westward to Brown county, Kansas, where he invested in a tract of land soon after his arrival. He was the father of six children, as fol- lows: Herman Henry, died at Sabetha, Kans., in 1912; Mrs. Philomena WVuebben, born in 1843, and died one year after her marriage; Mrs.
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Elizabeth Buser, died near Fidelity, Kans., in 1911; Anton, the subject of this review: Clements August, died at Seneca in 1910; Mrs. Mary Winkler, a widow, residing in Seneca. The father of these children be- came enfeebled soon after his return from Kansas to his Illinois home, in 1861, and died July 5, 1861. Henry Wempe was married the second time to Mrs. Mary (Kempker) Klinkheimer, a widow, who cared for the infant left by his first wife, and later accompanied the family to Kansas. Anton, the subject of this review, was practically the head of the family during the migration to Kansas. Mrs. Klinkheimer had been engaged to care for the younger children. The youngest child, now Mrs. Mary Winkler, was but five weeks old at the time of the mother's death, and so well did Mrs. Klinkheimer care for the helpless infant and the other children that Henry Wempe espoused her in marriage, and she made a splendid mother for the children.
The Wempe family moved on the farm located near the Nemaha- Brown county line. The lumber used in the building of the Wempe home was shipped from Atchison, Kans. The trading point was White Cloud, Neb., and they hauled other material from the latter place, the trip requiring three days in the making. The first day was spent in traveling to White Cloud ; the second day was needed to load the wagon, and it required a third day to make the return trip, a distance of forty miles.
Anton Wempe recalls that he would spend from two to five days in "going to mill." there being three milling places for the settlers, who would first go to Wells' mill on the Nemaha river; then, if this mill was not grinding, he would go to Salem, Neb., and then, perchance, go on to Falls City, Neb. It was frequently necessary for him to journey from one mill to the other to get his "grist" ground, on account of the water in the streams being low. One instance of going for "grist" in particular is worth recording. Anton Wempe and a neighbor started out with a load of grain en route to the Wells mill north of Sabetha, Kans. This mill was "broke down." They went on to Salem. "No grist" there, and found it necessary to go to Cincinnati, Neb. On their return trip they stopped at Wells' mill and asked the miller what was the trouble with the mill. The miller told Mr. Wempe and his neighbor that he was out of "whang leather" with which to fix the main belt, which was broken. Mr. Wempe saw that his neighbor had an old-fashioned "hame strap," and the men offered this strap to the miller for the purpose of fixing the belt. The belt was soon fixed and the mill started to grinding at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and by the next morning the "grist" of ten bushels of wheat and corn was all ground by 9 o'clock.
When it was impossible for the Wempe family to get "grist" ground at the mills, Mr. Wempe used the old-fashioned "potato grater," which consisted of a can with holes punched in the bottom, over which the corn was "grated" in order to remove the outer shell. One can con - ceive of what a laborious task this would be.
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Anton Wempe lived on the home place of the family in the western part of Nemaha county, near the Brown county line, for a period of twenty-four and one-half years, or until the fall of 1892. He then bought a farm west of Seneca, upon which he moved and cultivated this tract until 1908. He then moved to Seneca, where he is living comfortably in a nice bungalow. He owned two farms, of 160 and eighty acres, at this time, but later traded the eighty-acre tract for a farm in Anderson county, Kansas. Mr. Wempe's farm is well improved and is a splendid producing tract. He was always an extensive live stock producer and generally sold the product of his farms on the "hoof." Besides his farm- ing interests, Mr. Wempe is the second largest stockholder of the Citi- zens State Bank of Seneca, and is a director of this thriving financial institution. For a number of years he has served as vice-president of this bank.
Anton Wempe was married in 1872 to Miss Barbara Muench, who has borne him the following children: Joseph M., member of the firm of Wempe & Huerter, Seneca, Kans .; William P., a merchant of Bailey- ville, Kans .; Mary, at home; Gertrude, Fairbury, Neb .; Anna, wife of Philip Lauer, of the furniture and undertaking concern in Seneca, Kans .; Anthony J., assistant cashier of the Citizens State Bank of Seneca ; Ed- ward J., Fairbury, Neb. ; Rose, known as Sister Maurus, O. S. B., Mt. St. Scholastica's Academy, Atchison, Kans. The mother of these children was born May 4, 1855, at Wilmet, Cook county, Illinois, and is a daugh- ter of Joseph Mathias Muench, a native of Germany, who migrated from Illinois to Nemaha county, Kansas, in 1870.
Mr. and Mrs. Wempe are members of Sts. Peter and Paul's Catholic Church and contribute liberally of their means to the support of the Catholic institutions. Mr. Wempe is affiliated with the Sts. Peter and Paul's Benevolent Society. He is allied with the Democratic party and filled several township offices when living on the farm in Richmond township. He filled the post of justice of the peace and township clerk and served as clerk of the school board for many years. Anton Wempe became widely known as the "Father of Fidelity," Kans., and started the first general store at that place in 1890. He was the first postmaster of . the village, receiving his appointment under Postmaster General John Wanamaker. He sold out his store, however, in 1892. Mr. Wempe served as county commissioner from January to March of 1892, to fill a vacancy and was thus qualified on account of having received the highest vote in the primary election of 1891.
Thomas E. Rooney, real estate and loan dealer of Seneca, Kans., is one of the really successful men of his day and generation. Born in Marshall county, Kansas, of Irish parentage or descent, and reared on a pioneer farm in Kansas, he has grown up with a great State and pros- pered as his home county and State have done. He saw opportunity and grasped it and has made good in his line, and is one of the leading and substantial citizens of Seneca.
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Mr. Rooney was born in Marshall county, Kansas, April 7, 1877, and is a son of John and Marguerite (Burke) Rooney, who were the parents of eleven children, ten of whom are living. John Rooney was born in Indiana in 1857, of Irish parentage. The Rooney family came to Kansas in 1873, and made a settlement in Marshall county, where the father cultivated his farm until his retirement in 1912 to a comfortable home in Marysville. Marguerite (Burke) Rooney was born in West Virginia in 1860, and departed this life in 1914.
Thomas E. Rooney was reared on the home farm in Marshall county, Kansas, and received his education in the district schools. He remained on the farm until 1908, and then removed to Seneca, where he established a real estate and loan business. He operates in all sections of Kansas, and has made a remarkable success of his business. Mr. Rooney is the owner of 1,500 acres of farm lands, has city property, and is the owner of a half interest in the Guilford Hotel in Seneca.
Mr. Rooney was married July 24, 1907, to Miss Nellie Feehan, of Pottawatomie county, Kansas. Three children have been born of this marriage, namely: Mark, born June 24, 1908; Raphael, born March 26, 1910, and Thomas E., Jr., born September 6, 1915. Mrs. Thomas E. Rooney was born January II, 1881, and is a daughter of Cornelius Feehan, who was a native of Ireland, and immigrated to America, set- tling in Kansas in 1870. Both parents of Mrs. Rooney are deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Rooney are members of the Catholic church and con- tribute of their means to the support of the Catholic institutions. Mr. Rooney is allied with the Democratic party and is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association.
George A. Shaul .- For a citizen of an inland city the size of Seneca, Kans., to achieve national prominence in a field which is filled with able and ambitious competitors, is somewhat out of the ordinary-but George A. Shaul, general contractor and builder, of this city, has ac- complished the feat, and ranks high among the builders of the West and Middle West. For several years his genius and activities have been di- rected in the work of erecting Government buildings, and so satisfac- torily have his tasks been accomplished that one extensive contract fol- lows another, and Mr. Shaul has achieved a reputation second to none in his chosen field of endeavor.
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