USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 48
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Francis Walter Brown, well-to-do farmer of Rock Creek town- ship, is a native of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Orlando and Mary Ann (Luther) Brown, both of whom were born and reared in the East, the former in Pennsylvania and the latter in New York State. Orlando Brown was born September 25, 1835, and became a mechanic and farmer. He removed from his native State to Illinois, where he resided until 1868. and then came to Brown county, Kansas. A few years later he went to Nebraska and homesteaded a tract of land and finally located in Nemaha county in 1895. The elder Brown is now living in retirement at Sabetha. Mrs. Mary Ann Brown, mother of Franklin W., was born May 3, 1840, and died in this county Septem- ber 6, 1901.
Franklin W. Brown was reared on a farm and was born May 23, 1857. He accompanied his parents from his native State to Illinois, thence to Brown county, Kansas, and from there to Nebraska. He pur- chased his home farm of 165 acres in section 25, Rock Creek township, in 1895 and has it well improved. His farm residence is a comfortable eight-room affair and he has erected a large barn forty by forty-eight
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feet in dimensions. In 1916 he built a barn, garage and machine shed thirty-two by thirty-two feet. Mr. Brown keeps very fine horses on his place and his farm of 320 acres is one of the best and most productive in the Sabetha neighborhood.
Mr. Brown was married in 1886 to Lucy Bent and three children have been born of this marriage, as follows: Mrs. Elsie Kerr, living in Rock Creek township; Mrs. Elva Wilkins, Baileyville, Kans. ; Elmer, farming the home place. Mrs. Lucy Brown was born on a farm in Wabash county, Indiana, March II, 1851, is well educated, and prepared herself for the profession of teaching, which she followed in Indiana and also in the public schools of Nebraska for fifteen years prior to her marriage.
Mr. Brown is a Republican in politics and is one of the substantial and well respected citizens of Nemaha county. He and Mrs. Brown stand well in their community and are progressive in their views and aim to keep abreast of the times.
Rev. Father Edwin Kassens, O. S. B .- The life work of a priest is essentially one of self sacrificing devotion to the needs of his people and his church, and entails years of study and preparation for a career which has no earthly rewards commensurate with the tasks accom- plished, excepting the satisfaction of having labored faithfully and well in behalf of Christianity and his fellow beings. Rev. Father Edwin Kassens, pastor of the Church of St. Bede's, Kelly, Kans, well merits the high esteem and love bestowed upon him by the members of his parish, and is devoted to his high calling.
Father Kassens was born in Vincennes, Ind., May 2, 1859, and is a son of Theo. and Elizabeth (Altoff) Kassens, who were the parents of nine children, as follows: Edwin, the subject of this review ; Mrs. Mary Wilson, widow, residing at Vincennes, Ind .; William, engaged in mill- ing at Vincennes, Ind .; Mrs. Anna Schasserre, wife of a merchant of St. Louis, Mo .; Mrs. Rose Marsh, living near Vincennes, Ind .; Harry, a merchant at Vincennes, Ind .; Fran, residing at St. Louis, Mo., and engaged in the mercantile business; Mrs. Kathrine Bilsky, living near Vincennes, Ind,; a child died in infancy. Theo. Kassens, the father, was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1824, and was a herder of sheep until he attained the age of twenty-five years, when he immigrated to America and found a position as clerk in a Vincennes store. Some time after lo- cating in Vincennes, he moved to a farm in the vicinity of this old city, and resided thereon until his demise in 1893. The mother was born at Westphalia, Germany, in 1840, and immigrated to Vincennes, Ind., with her parents in 1848. She was reared on a farm near Vincennes, and is now living on the old home place of the Altoff family, near Vincennes.
Edwin Kassens was reared to young manhood on the parental farm and received his early education in the Catholic parochial schools of Vincennes. When nineteen years of age he came to Atchison, Kans., and entered St. Benedict's College for the purpose of preparing for the
REV. FR. EDWIN KASSENS, O. S. B.
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priesthood of his church. He pursued a preparatory course, which was followed by collegiate and theological courses and was ordained for the priesthood in 1889. Thirteen years later (1902), Rev. Father Kas- sens came to Kelly, Kans., and took charge of the Kelly Catholic Church, known as St. Bede's parish. He practically established this church and has built up his congregation until it now numbers ninety families. Father Kassens held his first church services in an old school house, a house of worship which was a striking contrast to the magnificent church of St. Bede's, which has been erected as a result of his efforts and per- fect devotion to duty. This beautiful structure is a monument to his energy, persistent efforts and wide influence over his members.
John P. Gladfelter, farmer of Rock Creek township, was born in Clin- ton county, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1850, and is a son of Jacob B. and Elizabeth (Passel) Gladfelter, who were the parents of four children, two of whom are living. Jacob Gladfelter was born at York , Pa., in 1809. and was descended from early Swiss emigrants who came to this coun- try from their mountain land early in the eighteenth century or about 1700. Jacob Gladfelter made a settlement in Stephenson county, Illinois, in 1866, and died two years later. The mother of John P. Gladfelter was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in 1821, and died in 1892. She was the second wife of Jacob Gladfelter.
He of whom this review is written left his Pennsylvania home when fifteen years old, and worked as farm hand in Stephenson county, Illinois, for seven years. He worked in various localities, and followed farming pursuits until 1890, and then migrated to Rock Creek township, Nemaha county, where he bought eighty acres in section 27. Since moving to this farm, he has built a house and repaired his various outbuildings.
Mr. Gladfelter was married, in 1878, to Hannah Miller, who was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, July 16, 1854. She was educated in the public schools of Freeport, Ill., and taught school for two years and four months in the country districts of her home county, and taught for nine months in the city schools. She is a daughter of Joseph and Mary Ann (Riehl) Miller, the former of whom was born in Perry county, Penn- sylvania, February 27, 1823, and died June 23, 1901. He was an early day shoemaker in Ohio, and worked at his trade of boot and shoemaker in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, and later bought a farm in Wisconsin and followed farming. Mary Ann, his wife, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, March II, 1828, and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Gladfelter, January 26, 1907, just one half hour after the only daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Gladfelter was married. The children of John P. and Hannah Gladfelter are as follows : Jessie, wife of Otto Stunz. a painter of Hiawatha, Kans., and has one child, namely, Loran; Walter, living in Iowa.
Mr. Gladfelter is a Republican in his political pronouncement. Mrs. Gladfelter is a member of the Christian church. They are a worthy and well respected couple who are highly esteemed in their home neighbor- hood for their many good qualities.
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John Meisner, a representative Rock Creek township farmer, was born October 11, 1864, at Batavia, Kane county, Illinois, and is a son of Jacob and Barbara ( Bachman) Meisner, who were the parents of seven children, three of whom are living. Jacob Meisner, his father, was born at Hessenderanstindt, Germany, August 24, 1832, and immigrated to America when eighteen years old. He settled in New York State, and there learned the trade of blacksmith. He lived in New York until his migration to Kane county, Illinois, in 1856. He plied his trade there until the outbreak of the Civil war, and then showed his loyalty and de- votion to his adopted country by enlisting in Company H, Fifty-second Illinois infantry. He was a brave and able soldier, and was wounded at the battle of Shiloh, April 7, 1863, and was discharged from further duty after leaving the army hospital where he had been in care of the surgeons and nurses for eighteen months while recovering from his wound.
Previous to the Civil war, in 1858, Mr. Meisner had made a trip to Nemaha county, Kansas, to look over the land with a view to making a permanent settlement there at some future date. He was so impressed with the looks of the country that he made up his mind to locate his fam- ily in this county. The war disarranged his plans somewhat, but, in 1866, he moved his family and movable belongings across the country via the ox wagon route, and made a settlement at Seneca, Kans. He opened a smithy in Seneca, and worked at his trade until 1872, at which time he moved to a farm which he had bought on his first trip to Kansas, and which was located in section. 30, Berwick township. He tilled his acreage successfully until 1907, and then retired to a home in Sabetha, where he died in 1909. He was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Sabetha Grand Army post. Mr. Meisner, Sr., was twice married, his first marriage tak- ing place in Illinois with Barbara Bachman, in 1858. She was born at Wurtemberg, Germany, October 18, 1836, and died in 1875. His second wife was Susan Blair, born in Switzerland and who lost her life in the cyclone which swept Nemaha county May 17, 1896, leaving six children, all of whom are living in Nemaha county.
John Meisner was reared on his father's farm, and remained at home to assist his father until he was twenty-five years old. He then rented land on his own account, saved his surplus earnings each year and, in 1908, was enabled to make his first investment in eighty acres of land in Washington township. In 1909, he sold this tract, and bought the farm where he now resides and to which he has added forty acres, thus making a good sized farm of 200 acres. All of the improvements consisting of residence, barns, silo, granary and poultry house have been erected by Mr. Meisner since his first purchase of a quarter section. He is con- nected with the Farmers' Shipping Association of Price, Kans.
In 1890, John Meisner was united in marriage with Miss Ida M. Bahm, who has borne him children, as follows: Stella, who is a teacher in the Bern High School, a graduate of the Oneida High School and has
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pursued normal courses in preparation for teaching; Clara, wife of Roy Dowdall, a carpenter living at Lincoln Center, Kans .; Hiram, farming the home place ; James, Gertrude, Jacob, Edith, and Donald F., at home with their parents. Mrs. Ida Meisner was born July 1I, 1872, in Geneva, Switzerland, and was brought to America by her parents when she was a child. Her parents located in Wayne county, Ohio, and later moved to Illinois, where her father died. Her mother and the family came to Nemaha county in 1889, and the mother is living in Sabetha.
While Mr. Meisner is a Democrat, he is inclined to be independent in his voting, and makes up his own mind as to the political principles enunciated by the various leaders of his party. He allows no so-called leader to dictate to him as to whom he should support. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Herman Meisner .- The Meisner family is one of the substantial and industrious families of Nemaha county of German descent. The sons of Jacob and Susan (Blair) Meisner are excellent farmers and very good citizens in their respective communities. Herman Meisner, of Rock Creek township, was born on his father's farm in Berwick township, section 36, July 27. 1878, and is a son of Jacob Meisner, con- cerning whose life story the reader is referred to the biography of John Meisner, a half brother of the subject of this review. Herman is a twin brother of Jacob Meisner, the younger.
Herman Meisner received his early education in the district schools and at the age of nineteen years he rented land from his father. He worked hard in order to get a start in the world and was energetic and industrious, carefully laying by a sum of money each year until he was able to buy a quarter section in section 18 of Rock Creek township in 1908. He bought this farm from his father and it was without improve- ments other than fencing at the time of purchasing. Mr. Meisner has built a good home, of nine rooms, all modern, and has erected a large barn forty-two by forty-eight feet in dimensions. He is a fancier of Shorthorn cattle.
Mr. Meisner has been twice married. He was united in matrimony with Margaret Adgeter in 1903, and who died in 1911, leaving one child, namely: Margaret Elizabeth. The first Mrs. Meisner was born in Switzerland, November 19, 1878. He was again married June 26, 1915, to Helen G. Maynard, who was born at Sabetha, Kans., April 15, 1891, and is a daughter of Charles and Margaret (Jacobs) Maynard, who were early settlers of Nemaha county.
Mr. Meisner is a Democrat in politics, who finds very little time outside of his farming interests to have much to do with political mat- ters. His main interests lie with his home life and his farm, which his ambition is continually urging him to develop and make better and more productive each year. Although one of the younger generation of Kansas farmers, Mr. Meisner is making good and is a very success- ful citizen.
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Lawrence M. Crawford, farmer and stockman of Rock Creek town- ship, was born in Clinton County, New York, May 24, 1855, and is a son of William and Bessie (Armstrong) Crawford, who were the parents of four children, of whom Lawrence M. is the third born.
William Crawford was born in Ireland and immigrated to America when he was a young man. After living for a time in the Eastern States he made a settlement in Iowa and died there in 1876 at the age of seventy-three years. He was twice married, and the mother of Law- rence M. was his second wife. She was born in Ireland, left there when a child and died in Iowa in 1869, aged fifty-two years.
Lawrence M. Crawford left Iowa and came to Nemaha county, Kansas, in 1888. He bought eighty acres of land in section 21, Rock Creek township, and has it well improved with good buildings, trees and shrubbery. He rented land for a few years and in 1891 bought his present home farm. Mr. Crawford has been twice married, his first union being with a Miss Mitchell in 1876, who bore him three children, as follows: Platt, a grocer at Sabetha; Harold, a clothing merchant, located at Marshfield, Oregon; Arthur, living in California. The first Mrs. Crawford was born in Iowa in 1858 and died in 1903. His second marriage occurred in 1906 with Sarah Lahr, born in Pennsylvania, 1865, and a daughter of Benjamin Lahr, an early settler of Nemaha county.
Mr. Crawford is a Republican who takes much interest in local and county political matters, and is a member of the school board of school district No. 20. He and Mrs. Crawford are members of the Con- gregational Church and he is fraternally affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.
John W. Zimmerman .- For over fifty years the Zimmerman fam- ily have lived in Nemaha county and have prospered as people of their industry and descent invariably do. The family is of German descent and is one of the largest in the county. Twelve children in all were born to John and Clara (Deming) Zimmerman, parents of him whose name heads this review.
John Zimmerman, the father, was born in Germany in 1847 and immigrated with his parents to this country when he was twelve years old and settled at Batavia, Ill. When President Lincoln called for troops with which to quell the rebellion of the Southern States, John Zimmerman responded and enlisted for service in Company I, Fifty- second Illinois infantry, and served faithfully throughout the war. He fought at the great battle of Shiloh and several other import- ant and hard fought engagements in which his regiment participated. After the close of the war he accompanied his parents to Nemaha county and homesteaded in Gilman township. He built.a log cabin of native timber, cut in the vicinity of his cabin, and also homesteaded another tract in section six of this township. His first location was in section number one. Mr. Zimmerman was hard working and econom- ical and accumulated 440 acres of good farm lands. He died February
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28, 1897, after a life of industry and hardship endured for the benefit of his family seldom equalled. During the pioneer days following the Civil war when money was scarce and the settlers were having a hard time to make ends meet, Mr. Zimmerman would plant his corn in the spring, and would then drive his ox team across the country to Colo- rado and put in the season hauling freight from Leadville to Denver, Col. He would continue this employment until the time came to gather his crops and would return home to his wife and children. He made several trips of this character and would be absent from home from July until November. Mrs. Zimmerman was born in Maine in 1854.
John W. Zimmerman, with whom this review is directly concerned, was born in Nemaha county, December 26, 1872. He attended the dis- trict school and assisted his parents in the farm work until twenty years old. He then hired out as farm hand for a wage of eighteen dol- lars per month for a period of four years. In 1896 he took charge of the Zimmerman estate and managed it for three years. He next rented for two years and in 1901 he bought his present home farm of eighty acres, improved it by rebuilding the house and erecting a barn forty by fifty feet in size.
Mr. Zimmerman was married in 1901 to Miss Lulu Winney, who was born in Wisconsin, November 10, 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman are parents of the following children: Helen, deceased; Lloyd and Harold. Mr. Zimmerman is active and influential in the affairs of the Democratic party and has filled minor township offices. He is a mem- ber of the Modern Woodmen of America.
William H. Wurzbacher, of Rock Creek township, was born on a farm in Jones county, Iowa, January II, 1858, and is a son of John H. and Margaret (Bechtine) Wurzbacher, to whom ten children were born, of which the subject of this review is the second in order of age. The father of William H. was born in Germany, and became a cooper and farmer. He emigrated from his native land in 1848, lived in Maryland, and in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and settled in Iowa as early as 1854. He developed a farm in Jones county, that State, and there reared his family. His death occurred in 1902 at the age of eighty-two years. His wife, and the mother of William H., left Germany when she was twenty years old, and died at the old home in Iowa in 1892, aged sixty years.
William H. Wurzbacher began doing for himself on rented land in Jones county, Iowa, when he was twenty-five years old, in 1883. He did this for six years, and then came to Nemaha county in 1889 for the pur- pose of making a permanent home for his family, where land was cheaper and opportunities were greater for a poor man to get ahead. He bought a quarter section of land in Capioma township, of which seventy acres were broken up and in cultivation, but it was otherwise unimproved. He improved this farm and sold it at a profit over and above the original in- vestment in the fall of 1903, and moved to his present farm, which he pur-
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chased in February, 1902, consisting of 160 acres in section 10, Rock Creek township. His idea of buying this farm, which is located just one mile west of Sabetha, was to get a place, which was near to his church. The only improvement on this tract was the fencing, although the land had been cultivated for some years. Mr. Wurzbacher built a large white house, barn and other out buildings, and now has a very attractive farm place, which is growing more valuable each year on account of its near- ness to the enterprising city of Sabetha and the hard work of the proprie- tor, who is constantly improving the soil and making it more productive. Mr. Wurzbacher has some fine horses and cattle, in which the Aberdeen Angus strain predominates.
He was married, in 1883, to Mrs. Julia Hollister, who was born in Winneshiek county, Iowa, November 27, 1860, and was a daughter of Elisha Hollister, who settled in Nemaha county in 1883, and died here in 1898. One child blessed this union, namely: DeWitt T., born April I, 1885, in Jones county, Iowa, and was married, in 1912, to Miss Katie Nor- rie, who was born on a farm near Sabetha, February 3, 1888. She is a daughter of Eben and Elizabeth (Lahr) Norrie, natives of Canada and Illinois respectively, and who were early settlers in Nemaha county, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. DeWitt Wurzbacher have one child, namely : Wilbur William, born March 31, 1913. Mrs. William H. Wurzbacher departed this life April 24, 1904. She was a deeply religious woman, and was a worker in the United Brethren church. She was a good and faith- ful wife to her husband and a wise mother to her son.
Mr. Wurzbacher is independent in his political views, and devotes his attention outside of his personal business affairs to his church. He is a trustee of the Sabetha United Brethren Church, and is one of the ablest laymen of this denomination.
Quinter Davis, who is farming a half section of land in Rock Creek township, and is owner of a fine quarter section, was born in Adams county, Iowa, September 16, 1876. He is a son of Rev. William and Susan (Slifer) Davis, to whom were born three sons and a daugh- ter, as follows: U. S. Davis, Quinter Davis, Charles Davis and Fern Davis.
Rev. William Davis was born in Maryland in 1847, and during his younger days was a druggist. When a young man he removed to Ill- inois and. went from that State to Iowa, following agricultural pur- suits in both States. He removed from Iowa to Brown county, Kansas, in 1881, and engaged in farming. He is a half owner of the farm which is being managed by his son, Quinter. For a number of years the senior Davis has been a minister of the Brethren church and carried on his ministerial duties in behalf of various Brethren churches while attend- ing to his farming. He is now retired from active farm work and re- sides at Morrill, Kans., although he still continues his ministerial work to a certain extent. Rev. Davis is a Civil war veteran, who enlisted in a Maryland regiment and was wounded at the battle of Antietam, and also fought in the battle of Bull Run.
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Quinter Davis attended the Morrill public schools and attended the Baptist College, located in that city. He began farming at the age of twenty-two years and in 1907 came to Nemaha county and bought 160 acres of land, which was half of a tract of 320 acres owned by his father. The Davis farm is well improved and is noted for its fine live stock. Mr. Davis has been a breeder of Shorthorn cattle and has also been a large feeder of cattle.
He was married in 1901 to Mary Whitmer, born near Mound City, Mo., in 1877, who has borne him children as follows: Harold, Lylse, Ronald and Max. Mrs. Davis is a daughter of Rev. Peter E. and Cyn- thia Ann (Cable) Whitmer. Peter E. Whitmer was reared in Ohio and served in the Union army during the Civil war as a member of an Ohio regiment. In one engagement in which he participated a shot tore all of the fingers from his left hand. After the war he took up min- isterial work and also farmed in Missouri and Nebraska. He came from Nebraska to Kansas in 1894 and is living at Ottawa, Kans. Mrs. Davis' mother was born in Ohio and died in 1910 at the age of sixty-four years. Mrs. Davis is well educated in music and has taught music in her home commuity.
Mr. Davis is a Republican and is a member of the school board of his district. He and Mrs. Davis have many friends in Nemaha and Brown counties and are intelligent, well read people, who believe in keeping abreast of the times.
William E. Johnson, owner of a fine farm of 160 acres, and town- ship trustee and assessor of Rock Creek township, was born at Galva, Ill., March 1, 1869. He is a son of William and Mary (Lafferty ) Johnson, both of whom were natives of Ireland. William Johnson, father of the subject of this review, came to America when a boy, and after his resi- dence of some years in Illinois, he migrated to Nemaha county in 1870, and bought a farm in Capioma township, which he cultivated until his death in 1908. His wife was born in Ireland, and died in Nemaha county in 1894.
The early schooling of William E. Johnson was obtained in district 48, and he began making his own way when twenty-two years old. When hé attained to that age, he worked out' as farm hand at $18 per month until 1889, at which time he rented land in Adams and Gilman townships. In 1890, he bought a farm of 100 acres in Gilman township at a cost of $32 an acre. Three years later, he sold this farm for $60 an acre, and bought his present home place of 160 acres in Rock Creek township. For some years, Mr. Johnson was a successful breeder of Poland China hogs, which he exhibited with success at the county fairs, and disposed of at public sales besides shipping many full bred swine to distant points for breeding purposes.
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