USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 38
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William Dennis got little schooling when he was a boy. He at- tended subscription schools for about three months out of the year until he attained the age of eighteen years, at which time he began to work out by the month for wages of $20 per month. He worked on the farm of Joshua Mitchell, and then started in the live stock business on his own account. He continued buying and shipping live stock for about eight years and then married and began farming on his own account. His first investment was in 120 acres of land near Kelly, Kans., which he cultivated until 1887. He then filled various official positions for some years, engaged in the grain business at Kelly, Kans., for a time, and purchased his present home place at Seneca in 1908.
For some years Mr. Dennis has devoted his attention to racing horses, and maintains a string of thoroughbreds. For the past twenty years he has been a breeder of thoroughbreds, and has been very successful. His horses are in demand in all parts of the United States, and he has received as high as $2,000 for a single thoroughbred. Many animals bred by him have made excellent records.
His land holdings in Nemaha county have become considerable, and Mr. Dennis is one of the most extensive farmers in this section of Kan- sas. He has accumulated a fortune in Kansas land through wise in- vestments. Early in his boyhood days he became inured to the hardest kind of work, and when ten years old he hauled goods from the nearest shipping point with his uncle, Mick Thompson, for Charles Crappel, one of the early day merchants of Seneca.
The official career of William Dennis began in 1887, when he was elected trustee of Harrison township, and held the office for three years. In the fall of 1889, he was elected sheriff of Nemaha county, and held the office for four years, from January 1, 1890, to January 1, 1894. He then farmed for a time and was appointed postmaster at Goff, Kans .. and held this office for three years. He was again elected sheriff of the county in 1904, and held the office for the following four years. He was faithful in the discharge of his duties and rendered conscientious and devoted service to the people of the county in every public position which he held. Mr. Dennis was elected mayor of Seneca in 1914, and is giving the city an excellent administration.
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William Dennis was married in February, 1889, to Miss Olive Downey, who was born February 14, 1869, in Platte county, Missouri, a daughter of Madison and Kathrine (Mullen) Downey, natives of Mad- ison county, Ohio. Madison Downey was a farmer and teacher, who immigrated to Kansas in 1870, and engaged in farming near Atchison.
Mr. Dennis is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and is one of the influential and popular leaders of his party in Nemaha county and Kansas. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
The political history of Nemaha county does not record an instance of a Democrat being twice elected to the same office in past years, and Mr. Dennis bears the distinction of being the only Democrat who was ever twice elected to the office of county sheriff. His election took place in the face of the fact that he had a Republican majority of over 856 votes to overcome. He was the first Democratic trustee ever elected in Harrison township, and defeated his opponent, whose ticket lead the field, by a majority of eighty votes. The personal popularity of William Dennis is such that he is known by almost every man, woman and child in Nemaha county. As a campaigner, he has few equals or superiors. As mayor of Seneca, he is making a record which will go down in history as the most constructive up to the present time. During Mayor Dennis' regime the main street of the city has been graded and oiled under his personal supervision and with his actual as- sistance. The new city hall is being erected, which will be a milestone in the city's progress. Few towns in Kansas or anywhere can boast of a more faithful or more energetic executive than Seneca.
Benjamin F. Hart, retired farmer, Seneca, Kans., was born in Put- nam county, Indiana, October 22, 1847, and is a son of William J. and Mary E. (Collins) Hart, natives of Kentucky. William J. Hart was born in Kentucky in 1823, and was a son of Thomas and Joyce (Hew- itt) Hart, who were among the pioneer settlers of Indiana. Both father and grandfather were tillers of the soil. William J. and Mary Hart were the parents of seven children, of whom five are living. The wife and mother was born in 1826, and died in 1880. William J. Hart re- moved with his family to Kansas as early as 1858, and settled in Brown county, Kansas, where he bought 160 acres of virgin prairie soil, which he broke up with six yoke of oxen. He developed his farm into a val- uable piece of property, and died in the home which he erected, in 1876.
Benjamin F. Hart was eleven years old when the Hart family cast their fortunes in Kansas, and it fell to his lot to witness the growth and development of a great State, and to have an integral part in the mak- ing of a county. He attended school in a primitive log school house with hewn log slabs for seats and desks. After his marriage he bought 160 acres of land adjoining his father's farm and prospered to such an extent that he eventually became the owner of 550 acres of land in Brown and Nemaha counties. This land he sold and invested the pro-
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ceeds in a fine farm of 333 acres two miles north of Seneca. While this farm was improved at the time of purchase, Mr. Hart added sub- stantially to the buildings and fencing, and became an extensive feeder of live stock. He successfully followed his life avocation until 1895, when, feeling that he had accomplished enough for one man in a life- time of endeavor, he retired to a comfortable home in Seneca in 1895. Mr. Hart has prospered exceedingly during his long residence of fifty- seven years in Kansas, and is the owner of 900 acres of good land. He is a stockholder and a director of the National Bank of Seneca, and is one of the city's most substantial citizens.
This pioneer Kansan was married in 1870 to Miss Martha Letch- worthy, who has borne him the following children: Mrs. Minnie Mc- Kellips, of Nemaha county, Kansas; Charles, a garage and automobile man at Seneca ; Zebelon, living in Nemaha county ; Benjamin, railroad station agent at Summerfield, Kans .; Mrs. Fannie Firstenberger, Sen- eca ; Valentine, railroad agent, Glen Elder, Kans. The mother of this fine family was born at Parkville, Mo., in 1850, and is a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Barnes) Letchworthy, natives of Kentucky, who immigrated to Kansas in the early pioneer days. Thomas Letchworthy was a plasterer by trade.
Mr. Hart is an independent thinker and voter along political lines, and does not wear the yoke of any political party. He has been promi- nent in city affairs, and served for six years as a member of the city council. It was during his term as councilman that the electric light and power plant was taken over by the city and operated for the benefit of all the people. He was influential, also in having the old time board sidewalks dispensed with and replaced by concrete pavements. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and has served as treasurer of the Seneca Masonic lodge. Hard work, economy, and rigid attention to details have placed this Kansas pioneer and his wife in the position of wealth and comfort which they are enjoying today.
Lorrain N. Simon .- As an example of the successful business man, who during his prime, accumulated a comfortable surplus, and who, in his later years, retires from the strife of business competition to enjoy the quiet and easy life of leisure, Lorrain N. Simon is to be remem- bered. Engaging at various times in the furniture, grocery and hard- ware businesses, Mr. Simon has proved his versatility and the fact that he is the holder of 1,100 acres of fine, fertile soil, attests his business acumen.
It was on December 3, 1858, that Lorrain Simon was born. His parents, Adam and Mary J. (Toler) Simon, resided in Noble county, Ohio, at the time. For the life story of Adam Simon, see sketch in another part of this history. Coming to Kansas at the early age of ten years, Lorrain grew up on his father's farm, and lived the conventional small boy's life on the farm. Mixed in with plenty of hard work were infrequent sessions at the district school. Being proficient in his stud-
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ies, he later went to the high school at Seneca, Kans., thus gaining ad- vantages which all farmers' sons in those days were not given. After finishing high school at the age of seventeen years, he taught school for a period of twelve years, while farming, in which occupation he remained until about 1893 when he moved to Seneca, to engage in the furniture business. An undertaking establishment was operated in conjunction with the furniture store. After conducting this enterprise four years, Mr. Simon sold it, and became interested in the grocery business. But shortly afterward, a good proposition was offered to him, and he left his business to take up farming. However, business exerted a fascination for him, and, in 1904, he went back into the mer- cantile life, buying a hardware stock at Goff, Kans., which he operated until 1913, when he retired and moved to Seneca. While these numer- ous adventures into business were going on, Mr. Simon was accum- ulating land, and now owns some of the best in the county.
In 1880, on November 14, Lorrain Simon was married to Jennie M. Ford. To this union six children were born as follows: Nellie, wife 'of Dr. D. C. Smith, Girard, Kans., graduated from Seneca busi- ness college and studied music in Chicago; Raymond, deceased ; Clayton K., postmaster of Goff, Kans .; Ford, bookkeeper in sugar beet factory, Brush, Colo .; Eunice, wife of S. D. Morris, assistant cashier of First National Bank, Goff, Kans .; Loren D., student in the Seneca High School, winner of football loving cup, member of 1915 football team of Seneca High School. Mr. Simon has given all of his children a high school education.
Mrs. Jennie (Ford) Simon was born January 15, 1861, in Nemaha county, and was the daughter of John M. and Eliza J. (Murphy) Ford. Her father was born in Ohio, and came to Nemaha county in 1856. He freighted from Atchison to Denver, driving a yoke of oxen, making the trip in three months. His family lived at Seneca during the time John was freighting, and he rejoined them there after his retirement. In 1913, he died at the ripe old age of eighty-four, after having lived a varied and useful, as well as adventurous, life. His wife, who died in 1902, was born in Delaware, and was seventy-three years old at the time of her death.
Mr. Simon early, after reaching the legal age, affiliated himself with the Democratic party and, since that time, has cast his votes with it. Although he is not a member of any church, he attends regularly and contributes generously to the activities of the church. In addition to holding membership in the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodges, Mr. Simon is a charter member of the Knights and Ladies of Security, as is his wife. They have both been members of that order for twenty-two years.
Mr. Simon has been a representative business man of his commu- nity, always standing for progress and willing to do all in his power to advance the welfare of his city. His business was always run effi-
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ciently, and he preserved to a nicety the balance between business and service. Though he was always ready to demand his rights, he was always willing' to extend privileges for the accomodation of his cus- tomers. In short, he is one of the men, to whom the community looks for solid support in any project for the good of all, and for the welfare of the commercial interests of Seneca.
Adam Simon .- In the days following the Civil war, many sturdy men brought their families West to try for a livelihood on the undevel- oped country of Missouri and Kansas. The pioneers had come before them, but there was still plenty to do, and he who made his living hon- estly had to labor long and faithfully. Adam Simon was one of this class, who came West to Kansas shortly after the war and laid the foundations of his success.
Adam Simon was born in 1833 in Noble county, Ohio. His parents were Christian and Harriet (Armstrong) Simon, the father having been born in Virginia in 1814. At the age of fourteen, he went to Mor- gan county, Ohio, now known as Noble county, where he followed at different times the trades of bricklayer and stonemason, and farming as well. His father, Christian, was of German descent, and his mother, of English. In 1853, Adam Simon was married to Mary. J. Powell, a native of Ohio, who died there in 1856. Two children were born of this marriage: Rhoda Ann, wife of James Mathews, deceased; Helen, deceased. The following year after his wife's death he was married to Mary J. Toler, who was born August 4, 1835, in Vir- ginia. She was a daughter of Absalom and Jane (Grey) Toler. The mother was a native of Ireland, and her father was born near Rich- mond, Va. She died in October, 1891. The four children born to this union were: George, deceased, who was a stockman; Lorrain, whose life story will be found in this book; Ida. now Mrs. McNeal, of Wash- ington county, Colorado ; Earl D., deceased.
In 1869 Adam Simon came to Centralia, Kans., where he bought 160 acres of land in Mitchell township. Nemaha county, and erected a house 18x28 feet, one and one-half stories, frame. Later he put up a frame barn. The land, of course, was unbroken when Adam Simon took possession of it, and he spent some time in breaking it for culti- vation. He farmed it until 1885, when he retired and moved to Seneca, where he died in July, 1916. During this period. he homesteaded 320 acres of land in Colorado, improving it and raising 500 bushels of grain .on twenty acres of land. At the time of his death, he owned 480 acres of land.
Mr. Simon did not confine himself to farming, however, for in 1871 and 1872, he represented his fellow citizens in the State legislature. having been elected on the Independent ticket. While in the legisla- ture, he acquitted himself with credit, and at all times, kept a sharp lookout for the welfare of his constituents. Later he served as town- ship assessor.
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Mr. Simon was a member of the Methodist church. He belonged to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and to the chapter and . Knight Templars. He was made a Mason in 1864 in Sharon, Ohio.
This is a life which any man would be proud to live, full of hard work, containing also a period of service to the interests of his State, and loyalty to his friends and community.
William Burt Murphy .- An engineer of a municipal water works has to master a multitude of technical details to be able to operate his plant with any success at all. In fact, such a position requires such high ability that most men spend several years in schools of engineer- ing to learn the intricacies of the work. But William Burt Murphy, chief engineer of the Seneca water system, is a man of unusual me- chanical gift, and succeeded in learning the secrets of this great enter- prise without the assistance of teachers. He has studied the problems of engineering alone, and has mastered them as anyone at all familiar with the success of his work at the municipal plant can testify.
Mr. Murphy was born December 22, 1859, in Cherokee county, Georgia. To his parents, Franklin and Phoebe A. (Worley) Murphy, two children were born: William, of whom this history is to treat, and Dora J., wife of Mr. Linn, of Rocky Ford, Colorado. The father was born in Georgia where he farmed until the outbreak of the war of the rebellion, in which he gave his life for the cause he believed to be right. The mother was born in Georgia also, on October 6, 1836. After the death of her husband in the Civil war, she was married a second time to Joseph E. Hocker, a native of Indiana, who practiced law in Sen- eca, Kans., where he served as justice of the peace. He was in business in Lincoln, Kans., also prior to his removal to Seneca. By a former marriage, he was the father of three boys and an equal number of girls, 'but no children were born to the second marriage.
William Murphy, of whom this sketch is written, came to Seneca, Kans., with his maternal grandparents, W. W. and Licenia (Holden) Worley, natives of Georgia. In his native State, the grandfather had been a Baptist minister, but after coming to Nemaha county, Kansas, he followed the occupation of farming. Both grandparents are now dead.
William lived on the farm until he was fifteen years old, when he came to Seneca where he attended school a short time. For several years, he farmed in Richmond township, Nemaha county, but believing that greater opportunities lay in store in the city, he returned to Seneca where he held positions in grocery stores, drug stores, and in the lum- ber yard. However, life in the store and office was too cramped, and he secured a position as fireman on the Missouri Pacific railroad in 1888. Four years later he qualified as an engineer, and remained with the company in that capacity until 1895, when he resigned. When Seneca put in its water plant, he fired the first boiler. As the plant grew larger, remained in charge until 1907. He became assistant
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engineer again in 1910, and in 1912, was appointed chief engineer of the electric and water systems of Seneca. This is a position which obviously requires a high degree of technical skill and ability. But Mr. Murphy has both in unusual amounts, and is giving the utmost satisfaction in his operation of these utilities. He owns considerable real estate in Seneca, and has a fine modern residence.
In 1885 he was married to Mary E. Ridenour, and to this union four children have been born: Raymond, stationary engineer at Ham- ilton, Mo .; Glenn, married Irma Bruner in February, 1916, a daughter of R. T. Bruner, former county treasurer ; Earl C. and Juanita, all living at home. Mrs. Murphy was born in Paulding county, Ohio, in 1856, and is the daughter of Granville and Sarah (Green) Ridenour, natives of Ohio, who came to Nemaha county, Kansas, in the early days. Before her marriage, Mrs. Murphy was a milliner and dressmaker. She has lived in Seneca since she was very young, having come there in 1866, three years before her husband. She attended the Seneca schools along with her sisters and brother. It might be interesting to know that she had thirteen sisters and one brother to grow up with her, and are all liv- ing now except one sister.
Mr. Murphy is an independent Republican, taking an active inter- est in political affairs. His preference lies with the Republican party, but when a good man is running, he gets Mr. Murphy's vote, regard- less of his party connections, for it is the man, not the party, that counts with Mr. Murphy. He is a member of the Congregational church, and of the Knights of Pythias, and Ancient Order of United Workmen lodges.
Peter P. Stein .- He whose name heads this review is one of the youngest Kansas Bankers, and has made a name for himself in his chosen profesion, and has shown ability which places him in the front rank of the financial men of northern Kansas and his home city of Seneca. Peter P. Stein, cashier of the First National Bank of Seneca, Kans., is a native born Kansan, whose parents were pioneer settlers in Nemaha county, his father having been the pioneer furniture dealer and cabinet maker of the city.
Peter P. Stein was born in Seneca, Kans., July 4, 1879, and is a son of Mathias and Elizabeth (Daltrup) Stein, who were parents of five sons and five daughters. Mathias Stein was born in Germany, Novem- ber 25, 1829, and learned the cabinet maker's trade in his native land. He immigrated to America in 1860, and resided in eastern Iowa until after the beginning of the Civil war, and then came West to Nemaha county, Kansas. He enlisted for service in the Union army at the time of the Price invasion of Kansas and served as cook of his company in a Kansas regiment. He first cultivated a farm in Clear Creek town- ship, and farmed on his own account east of Axtell where a hill named in his honor is yet known as Stein hill. He left the farm and located in Seneca, where he started the first furniture store in the city. In
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those days he made nearly all of his own furniture, and made some very durable and high class work. He remained in the furniture business until 1885, when he sold out and retired. He died May 24, 1892. The mother of Peter P. Stein was born in Germany, August 4, 1844, and died in Seneca, May 24, 1883.
Peter P. Stein attended the parochial schools of Seneca and pur- sued a course of higher studies at St. Benedict's College in Atchison, Kans. His first employment was as clerk in a general store from 1897 to 1901. In 1901 he became bookkeeper of the National Bank of Sen- eca, and was promoted to the post of cashier of this bank in 1907, a position which he held until his resignation in 1912, to accept the post of cashier of the First National Bank. Mr. Stein is also second vice president of the Seneca State Savings Bank. While the banking busi- ness has always received his devoted and undivided attention. Mr. Stein is owner of land in Nemaha county, and western Kansas, and is one of the city's younger substantial citizens.
Mr. Stein was married in 1902 to Miss Frances Waltkamp, and four children have been born to this union, namely: Raphael; Vin- cent; Sylvester, and Celestine. Mrs. Stein was born in Des Moines, Iowa, December 31. 1881, and is a daughter of Henry Waltkamp, Sr., a native of Germany and early settler of Nemaha county.
Mr. and Mrs. Stein are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Stein is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. He is a Democrat in politics and takes an active and influential part in the affairs of his party. In 1904, Mr. Stein was elected treasurer of the city of Seneca, and served in that capacity for eight years.
Andrew Jackson Trees .- The late Andrew Jackson Trees, of Sa- betha, Kans, was born near Moscow, Clermont county, Ohio, September 26, 1828, and was a son of John and Nancy (Hodges) Trees. The Trees family is of German origin, and John Trees was born in Pennsylvania, where his forebears had settled in the early days of the settlement of the Keystone State. He was a pioneer settler in Clermont county, Ohio, and died on the farm which he cleared from the wilderness in the Buckeye State. His wife, Nancy (Hodges) Trees, mother of Andrew Jackson Trees, was born in North Carolina, migrated with her parents to Ohio, there married, and died February 2, 1877, in her ninetieth year. John Trees was born March 19, 1833, in Clermont county, Ohio, and died at riage of John and Nancy Trees occurred August 5, 1806. The Hodges family is an old American family, and it will thus be seen that Andrew Jackson Trees was a product of sturdy German and pure American stock.
Andrew Jackson Trees was reared to the life of a farmer on the family homestead in Clermont county, Ohio, and immigrated to Kansas in 1872. He settled on 160 acres of land in Walnut township, Brown county, which he developed into a fine farm. Mr. Trees prospered and
FOUR GENERATIONS OF KANSANS: ANDREW JACKSON TREES AND WIFE, MR. AND MRS. OSCAR ASHLEY, MR. AND MRS. FRANK MeNERGNEY AND SON, QUENTIN.
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owned considerable land, which he divided among his children prior to his retirement to a home in Sabetha in 1886. His demise occurred in Sabetha, May II, 1914. His was an upright and honorable life, filled with hard work and good deeds ; he was a kind husband and father, and did well by his children.
The marriage of Andrew Jackson Trees and Frances A. Brown oc- curred in Clermont county, Ohio, November 9, 1854. Frances A. (Brown) Trees was born March 19, 1833, in Clermont county, Ohio, and died at Sabetha, Monday, August 7, 1916. She was a daughter of John and Sarah (Brannen) Brown. John Brown, father of Mrs. Trees, was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1801, and learned the trade of cabinet maker. After his immigration to America, he followed farming in Clermont county, Ohio, where his marriage with Sarah Brannen occurred, July I, 1832, near the town of Felicity. His wife, Sarah, was of Irish de- scent, and bore him eight children. John Brown died in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1851 ; Sarah Brown was born in Kentucky in 1811, and died in 1876.
Nine children were born to Andrew Jackson and Frances A. Trees, five of whom died in infancy. The four living children are: Mrs. Sarah R. Ashley, living on a farm in Nemaha county; Miss Mattie Trees, Sabetha, Kans .: Elizabeth, wife of J. F. Lukert, Sabetha, Kans .; (see biography of J. F. Lukert) ; John, a farmer living one mile south of Sabetha.
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