USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 40
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M. R. Connet was married to Rachel K. Thompson, November 2, 1882, and three children were born to this union, namely: Lelia, aged thirteen years, and Willie, aged nine years, lost their lives in the cyclone of 1896, and Clyde died at the age of four years. Mrs. Connet was born
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in Douglas county, Kansas, a daughter of William K. and Fannie Thompson, deceased.
The cyclone which visited Seneca May 17, 1896, caused consid- erable devastation and loss of life. Mr. and Mrs. Connet and children had gone to a neighbor's house and stood in the front yard of the neigh- bor's home, watching the black clouds, which were sweeping across the sky. Things looked dangerous and it looked as though the city would be struck by one of the whirling masses. Mr. Connet saw the danger, and told the women and children to go into the neighbor's cellar and re- main until the storm was over. Others gave conflicting advice. Five minutes later the entire party was forced to flee for their safety, while all might have been safe and sound in the cellar. The terrific wind lifted the house from the joists, the structure slid over, as it was forced by the terrific power of the wind, and the little children were crushed to death. Mr. Connet and a neighbor and his son, going into the honse later, were carried a distance of 100 feet with the house, which was crushed to pieces, but they were miraculously saved. He and his two companions in peril were pinned fast by the timbers, but were soon extricated by the people who came to their rescue.
Mr. and Mrs. Connet are members of the Congregational church. Mr. Connet is a Republican in politics and has always taken an active and influential part in political and civic affairs. He served as city coun- cilman when the waterworks plant and system was installed, and was elected mayor of Seneca in 1896, filling this post acceptably and ably for two years. He is prominent in secret society circles, being a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the chapter and commandery, and having been treasurer of all three Masonic bodies for the past three years. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen and the Knights of Pythias, of which latter fraternal society he has served as a member of the Grand Lodge of Kansas. Mr. Connet is always found in the fore- front of all movements for the advancement of his home city and county, and is one of Seneca's most influential and representative men, who is courteous, diplomatic and level headed in all of his undertakings.
Henry Galen Snyder, M. D .- One of the prominent and successful citizens of Seneca, Kans., is Dr. Henry Galen Snyder, well known in professional circles in this part of the State. Dr. Snyder enjoys a high reputation for medical and surgical skill and counts the best citizens of Seneca in his clientele.
Dr. Snyder was born in the town where he lives March 7, 1880, and has spent his whole life within the confines of the city of his birth, except for the time which he devoted to the study of his profession. His parents were Alvin and Melisa J. (Burger) Snyder. Dr. Snyder comes of old Holland stock, which still forms one of the best lines in our American population, and his ancestors came to America in the days before the Revolution. It was these Hollanders who helped to win the colonies from a tyrannical king, who sought to oppress them, and it can
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be said to the credit of Dr. Snyder's ancestry that they were among the first to rise up and protest against injustice.
Dr. Snyder's father, Alvin, was born in 1847 near Greensburg, Pa. His parents, Henry T. and Christena (Armel) Snyder, were natives of Pennsylvania, where the father plied his trade as a steelsmith. About four years after the birth of Alvin, the family moved to Indiana, locating near Brazil, where Alvin spent his boyhood. After passing through the typical small boy days, which James Whitcomb Riley knew so well and pictured so vividly in the Hoosier tongue, Alvin Snyder began to incline toward medicine as the profession which he most wanted to pursue. Ac- cordingly, at the age of twenty-four he set out for St. Louis to study the science of medicine, and after a difficult course of three years in medical school, the young doctor was ready to practice. In 1874, soon after his graduation, he came to Seneca, Kans., where he opened his office and received his first patients. Until the time of his death, August 29, 1914, he continued his labors among the residents of Seneca, serving them in every way within his power. Some day a poet will sing the glories of the doctor of the small town, for here is a character who is invariably self-sacrificing, bent on serving his fellowmen rather than accumulating riches, who knows how to treat every disease which country folks have.' Such a man was Dr. Alvin Snyder.
The mother of Dr. Galen Snyder is a native of Iowa, and was born October 3, 1856, a daughter of Marcus M. and Emily (Scoville) Burger, natives of New York State. While still young, she was brought by her parents to Seneca, where she received a high school education. Four children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Snyder: Mrs. Harry M. Leslie, Auburn, Wash .; Galen, of whom this review is written; Mrs. Charles Everhart, Seneca, and Mrs. A. L. Morris, Benkelman, Neb.
After reading the foregoing, it is not surprising to learn that the son followed his father's profession. Dr. Snyder's youth was spent in a happy and carefree manner, but he received a sound elementary educa- tion at the same time. His father knew the value of learning and skill and spared no effort to give his son the advantages of the best training that was to be had. In 1898, having finished preparatory work, he went to Rush Medical College at Chicago, the foremost medical school in America, and one requiring the highest qualifications for entrance and for graduation. Taking his diploma in 1903, Dr. Snyder returned to his home town to begin the practice of medicine under the guidance of his father. This, in connection with his excellent technical training, accounts to a great extent for his success in the practice of his profession. For his father, in the long years of varied experience, had acquired a stock of knowledge which no profession could gain from the study of books, and it was this invaluable store of experiences which the father passed over to his son during the eleven years of their association together in a professional capacity. This happy companionship was broken by the death of the father in 1914. The son has carried on the family tradition
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and has added immeasurably to his professional standing as the years have gone by.
Dr. Snyder has found the duties of his profession too arduous to admit of much outside activity, and beyond voting in accord with his well- defined Republican views, he has taken little part in politics. He has never held public office. Dr. Snyder subscribes to the creed of the Con- gregational Church. He is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masonic lodge. Dr. Snyder is unmarried.
John Theo. Buening .- The life story of the man whose name heads this review is the story of a self made man, who left his native land in his youth and made his way in a strange land. In turn, he has been a miner, merchant and farmer, and is at present the owner of a large farm in Nemaha county, Kansas, and owns a half interest in the department store formerly operated by Wempe & Huerter. John Theo. Buening is one of the substantial and well respected citizens of Seneca, who came to Kansas thirty-six years ago, and has won his way to a position of affluence in this land of opportunity.
John Theo. Buening was born February 5, 1853, in the village of Havixbeck, Westphalia, Germany, a son of Bernard and Elizabeth "(Fatoum) Buening, natives of Germany. The parents of the subject lived in their native country until in June, 1883, when they came to America and joined their son at Glen Elder, Kans. He cared for his parents until the death of each. Bernard Buening was born in 1809, and died in January, 1897. The mother of the subject was born in 1816, and died in 1899. They were good Catholics. Bernard and Elizabeth Buen- ing were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Minnie Rothers, Jackson county, Kansas; Mrs. Gertrude Fortman, a widow, residing at Beloit, Kans .; John Theo., the subject of this review ; Bernard, living at Soldier, Kans.
Mr. Buening attended the schools of his native village in Germany, and when still young began working in the coal mines at Westphalia. He was thus employed until his emigration from Germany to America in 1875. He located in Clayfield county, Pennsylvania, and worked in the coal mines there for a time, and was also employed as a miner in various localities of the East and South until 1878. It had always been his ambition to better his condition, and he realized that the vocation of a coal miner was not conducive to any great accumulation of substance. In 1878, he went to Crown Point, Ind., and was employed as clerk in a dry goods store for six months. This was the starting point of his business career, and we next find that he had come farther west to Kansas and entered the general store of A. A. Thompson, at Glen Elder, Kans., as a clerk. In 1880, he opened a restaurant at Glen Elder and oper- ated the same for four years. He bought a half interest in a general store in the meantime, which he sold in 1883, and erected a store building and engaged in business on his own account. Three years later he traded his store for a farm of 280 acres in section 16, Reilly township, Nemaha
JOHN T. BUENING AND FAMILY.
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county, and engaged in farming. His farm was poorly improved, and he at once built a nice home and barn and set out trees in order to make the place attractive. Mr. Buening has added to his land holdings until he now owns 365 acres. In 1893 he started a general store at Corning, Kans., but disposed of this in 1896, and gave all of his time and atten- tion to his large farming interests until 1915, when he retired to a com- fortable home in Seneca. In 1910, Mr. Buening made a three months' visit to his native country and enjoyed going over all the old home scenes of his youth. On April 15, 1916, he purchased an interest in the Wempe & Huerter Department Store.
Mr. Buening was married on August 27, 1878, to Elizabeth M. Bar- man, and this union has been blessed with the following children : Kath- rine, deceased ; Mamie, wife of J. M. Wempe, Seneca, Kans .; Eleanor A., at home; John, a farmer in Reilly township, this county.
Mrs. Buening was born October 12, 1853, at Crown Point, Ind., a daughter of John and Kathrine Barman, natives of Germany, and both of whom are deceased.
Mr. Buening is a Democrat and has served as a member of the school board in his township. He and all his family are religiously affiliated with the Catholic church, and contribute of their means to the support of this denomination. He is a member of the Knights of Col- umbus.
John L. Clark .- As a druggist and business man who has made good by his own efforts and ability, John L. Clark, druggist of Seneca, Kans., is a fine example, having built up an unusually large business and ac- cumulated considerable property.
In 1869, on February 4, John L. Clark was born. He is a son of John and Ann (Cain) Clark, of Pawnee county, Nebraska. John was one of six children whose names are: Thomas, farmer. Pawnee county, Nebraska ; James H., a retired farmer of Summerfield, Kans .; Mrs. Mary A. Nester, whose husband is a farmer in Pawnee county, Nebraska ; John L., of whom this sketch treats; Edward J., druggist, Kansas City, Mo., and Martha F., Summerfield, Kans.
John L. Clark comes of hardy Irish stock, his father being a native . of the Emerald Isle, born there in 1833. a son of Brien Clark, who mar- ried a Miss Fox. The father grew up under the pressure of hardships and at the age of seventeen, (1850), he sailed for America in the hope of being more successful and settled in New York where he followed his trade of brick molder. However, Mr. Clark was searching for a better means of earning a livelihood and four years later went west, first trying his fortunes in Chicago. After four years of it he came to Kansas, locating at Leavenworth, where he stayed four years more working at different occupations all the while. In 1861 he went to Pawnee county, Nebraska, where he homesteaded land. Now he had found what he was looking for and for thirty-six years, more than a generation, he farmed this soil; in fact, he stayed on this farm until he retired in
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1897. At time of his retirement he owned 800 acres of land in Nebraska and Marshall county, Kansas, a fact which in itself, speaks volumes for the industry and thrift of Mr. Clark. On June 20, 1912, the father of our subject died. His wife had died in 1895 while he was still living on the Nebraska farm. She, too, was born in Ireland and was fifty-four years old at the time of her death. Both Mr. and Mrs. Clark were devout members of the Roman Catholic church.
John L. Clark grew up on the farm working for his father during his youth but attending school as much as possible. He finished the district school and in 1901 went to the University of Kansas at Lawrence to take a course in pharmacy. After completing the two-year course in schedule time, he went to Marysville, Kans., where he opened a drug store. He sold out in 1904 and came to Seneca where he bought the stock of Dr. Alvin Snyder which place of business he now owns though he has enlarged it considerably. In addition to drugs, he carries station- ery, wall paper, paints, sundries, and in all has about $5,000 worth of stock. This indicates the success he has attained and the fact that he owns one-half section of land in Nebraska and Kansas and owns property in Seneca in addition to his residence adds to the record of his success.
In 1908 he was married to Mary E. Mohan and to this union two chil- dren have been born: Kathleen Rose, and John L.
Mrs. Clark is a native of Kansas having been born in Leavenworth March 2, 1876. She is a daughter of Peter and Mary (Hines) Mohan, both natives of Kansas.
Mr. Clark is a member of the Roman Catholic church, and belongs to the Knights of Columbus. In politics Mr. Clark is a Democrat, though he confines his participation in that field mostly to voting on election day, as he finds his business affairs too pressing to devote any time to office seeking. Perhaps it is because he has stayed with his drug business and because he has put his best thought into it that he has built up such a large business. He takes any amount of pains to aid his customers and they are sure of courteous treatment and careful atten- tion when dealing with him. It is this personal element which has, per- haps, been most powerful in building up the drug store which Mr. Clark owns.
Mrs. Emma Young .- Any individual, in order to be successful in his profession or avocation, must, of necessity, be in love with the work undertaken-otherwise it will lapse into the mediocre or be a failure. It requires, for instance, that one be a lover of flowers to be successful in floriculture. Mrs. Emma Young, proprietor and manager of Young's green houses, Seneca, Kans., is a natural lover of flowers and was taught the rudiments of her profession by a husband, who was likewise gifted with an understanding of growing things and making beauty spots on his domain. The Young establishment had its inception in the eighties, when the first husband of Mrs. Young was compelled by failing health to abandon his trade and then indulged in his hobby of growing plants
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and flowers. Before long the venture was successful as a commercial enterprise, and it has grown to considerable proportions under the skilled management of the proprietress. The green houses are beauty spots in Seneca, and are well patronized by the people of Nemaha county. county.
Speaking in a biographical sense, Mrs. Emma Latter (Brown) Young was born in Kent, England, October 29, 1852, and is a daughter of James and Louise (Brigden) Latter. James Latter learned the plasterer's trade when a youth and emigrated from his native land to Australia in 1886, where he died in 1905. James and Louise Latter were the parents of seven children, as follows: Mrs. Isabella Huggett, living in Australia ; George, died in England; Mrs. Emma Young, with whom this review is concerned; Albert died in England; Mrs. Louise Reckley, Australia; Mrs. Alice Gill, living in Australia ; one child died in infancy.
The subject of this review was educated in the private schools of her native land, and was there married, January 29, 1873, to Henry Robert Brown, a plasterer by trade. Mr. and Mrs. Brown immigrated to America in March, 1873, soon after their marriage, and located in Chicago, Ill., where they resided until 1882, at which time they removed to Seneca, Kans. Mr. Brown worked at his trade here until his health failed him. He and Mrs. Brown set about the establishing of a green house, so as to have an income sufficient to afford them a livelihood. The local photographers very kindly gave them used negatives, which served as the glass for filling the sashes used in the building, and their first hot house was a small affair, 12x24 feet in extent. As time went on the business justified the enlargement of the buildings, and it was made larger and moved to the present location on West Main street. Mr. Brown died in 1905. The business has continued to grow and constant enlargement has been the rule until Mrs. Young now has three green houses, 18x75 feet, 14x60 feet and 10x30 feet in sizes. She ships the product of her green houses to nearby towns and conducts her busi- ness in a capable and business-like manner. Mr. Brown died in 1905, and the widow was again married in 1908 to O. G. Young, a native of . Iowa, who came to Seneca in 1873.
Mrs. Young is a member of the Episcopalian church, and is a hard working, industrious woman, who takes a keen interest in her business and the welfare of the community in general.
Henry Eichenlaub .- One of the landmarks of Seneca, which is an old established and successful business, is the Eichenlaub mill and grain and feed depot, placed in operation by Henry Eichenlaub over thirty years ago in Seneca. It is one of the most successful business concerns of the city and is noted for the service and courteous attention given its many patrons throughout the neighboring country contiguous to Seneca.
Henry Eichenlaub, proprietor of the Eichenlaub mill, Seneca, Kans.,
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was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1852, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Neidlinger) Eichenlaub, who were the parents of seven children. Henry Eichenlaub, the father, was born in Schaumberg, Germany, in 1831, and when seven years old accompanied his parents to America. The Eichenlaub family settled in Pennsylvania and Henry, Sr., was there reared to manhood and learned the trade of stone mason, which he followed during his entire life, and died in 1913. Mrs. Elizabeth Eichenlaub was born in Pennsylvania in 1832, and is still living at the old home of the family in Pennsylvania.
He of whom this reveiw is written was reared in Pennsylvania, and when he attained his majority, took the advice given to the young men of his day by the famous Horace Greeley and "came West" in search of fortune. In 1873, he left his old home and made his way to Decorah, Iowa, and was employed in a flouring mill for three years. In 1876, he went to Cedar Falls, Iowa, and worked in a flouring mill for four years in that city. For two years following he was employed in a mill at Mill Brook, Il1., and had full charge of the mill until his removal to Seneca in 1881.
During the first year of his residence in Seneca he was engaged in the boot and shoe business. He then sold out his business and located on a farm one mile north of Seneca. On year's residence on the farm convinced him, however, that he did not care to become a farmer, and he again located in Seneca and established a feed mill. He started his business in an old planing mill, but the patronage which he secured during the ensuing years compelled the erection of a larger building, known as the Eichenlaub Mill, ten years later. Mr. Eichenlaub's mill- ing, grain and coal business has had a remarkable growth during the years in which it has been in operation and the mill has been a prosper- ous investment. Mr. Eichenlaub is a stockholder and director of the Citizens State Bank of Seneca, and he owns considerable property in the city.
Mr. Eichenlaub was married on April 18, 1878, to Miss Sadie Hum- bert. No children have been born to this union, but in 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Eichenlaub adopted a daughter, Jessie May Warden, who was born November 17, 1888, in Seneca, and is a graduate of the Seneca High School. She was married on October 20, 1910, to James E. McFarland, a native of Missouri, and. a druggist of Topeka, Kans. Mr. and Mrs McFarland have one child, namely, Betty Lou. Mrs. Sadie Eichenlaub was born at Lyons, Wayne county, New York, July 24, 1851, and is a daughter of George Humbert, who was born at Strassburg, capital of the French provinces of Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire, September 24. 1803. When a youth, Mr. Humbert went to Paris and learned the tailor's trade, which he followed for a number of years. Later in life he immigrated to Lyons, N. Y., and conducted a grocery business. During the early sixties he located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and engaged in farming. He remained on his farm until his demise in 1893. His
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wife, whose maiden name was Eva Bly, was born August 8, 1803, at Strassburg, France, and he died in 1873. Mr. Humbert and his future bride met aboard ship during the voyage across the Atlantic, fell in love with each other and were married, the marriage resulting in the birth of twelve children. They were a very religious couple and at family gatherings at their home, religious worship would be carried on. They organized the Evangelical Church at Cedar Falls, Iowa, and assisted in building a fine church edifice, which still stands in the city. Mrs. Eichenlaub is the youngest child born to this estimable couple. A sister, Mrs Lena Rodenbach, lives at Minneapolis, Minn. A brother, Solomon, born in New York in 1843, is State oil inspector in Iowa. On May 16, 1916, he celebrated his golden wedding anniversary. Mrs. Eichenlaub is a member of the Methodist Church of Seneca.
Henry Eichenlaub is a stanch Republican in his political belief and served for three years as president of the Seneca school board. He is a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is one of the influential laymen of that denomination. He is affiliated with the Knights and Ladies of Security, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is an enterprising and in- fluential citizen and he and Mrs. Eichenlaub are valued members of society in Seneca.
Van Buren Fisher is one of the old-timers of Nemaha county, and is also one of the few surviving veterans of the Civil war. He has the distinction of having fought to save his country from dissolution and to have fought the great fight necessary to redeem a wilderness and make it habitable for mankind for centuries and ages to come. He is a Kansas pioneer who has had as many ups and downs as the veriest frontiersman and knows what real hardships have been, for the simple reason that Mr. Fisher has had more than his share of vicissitudes. He is a fine, sturdy specimen of the last remnants of the famous old guard who saved the Union, and who are now living a comfortable protected existence and honored and respected of all men by a grateful people ..
Mr. Fisher was born on a farm in 'LaGrange county, Indiana, Feb- ruary 19, 1842, and is a son of Thomas and Jane (Conley) Fisher. The Fisher family is an old American family, and Thomas Fisher, father of the subject of this review, was born in Maryland in 1811, moved to Ohio, and later became a farmer and was a pioneer of LaGrange county, In- diana. He made his home among the Dunkards, and, being a well read and versatile man (education being a very rare accomplishment among the early day Hoosiers), he did much of the clerical work of the Dunk- ards. who would come to him to have their deeds and abstracts of title properly made out. Thomas Fisher became somewhat of a dignitary among his neighbors and was looked upon as a learned personage of note. He held many public offices, such as justice of the peace, school trustee and others. He came to Butler county, Kansas, in 1880, bought a farm, improved it and finally died on a farm near Fort Scott, in 1895.
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Thomas Fisher was twice married and had six children by his first wife, five of whom were boys, and all were reared. . A girl died when quite young. His second wife was Nancy Swartz, who bore him eight children. The mother of Van Buren Fisher was born in Maryland and died in 1847.
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