USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 55
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Joseph P. Carroll .- One of the well-known farmers and stockmen of Clear Creek township is Joseph P. Carroll, who was born and reared in the township in which he now resides. Mr. Carroll comes of Irish parentage. His father, John Carroll, having been born on the Emerald Isle in 1820. The elder Carroll left his native land when a young man and came to New York, where he worked as a laborer for some time. A few years later he went to Wisconsin and migrated to Kansas in 1854. locating for a time at Leavenworth and then in Marshall county, Kan- sas, where he farmed until 1872. Coming to Nemaha county he home-
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steaded eighty acres and bought 160 acres, on which he built a log cabin. He spent long months of tedious labor clearing and breaking his land for cultivation, but within a few years he was well situated and im- proved his farm each year. He died in 1891. The mother, Elizabeth (Carroll) Carroll, was born in Ireland in 1837. She is. now living in Summerfield, Kans. To Mr. and Mrs. Carroll eight children were born. Joseph Carroll was born January 10, 1874, in the log cabin which his father had built on his farm. The family of John Carroll were forced to economize and the members helped out in the field to make ends meet. Joseph was required to do a great deal of work for his father, but never- theless he found time to attend the school in District No. 17, where he was drilled in the principles of the "three R's." For several years he worked for his father and brother, Michael, but in 1898 he bought eighty acres of land in Clear Creek township. He now owns the original eighty acres and farms 200 acres besides, and from this land he nets a goodly income. On his farm he has made it a hobby to keep graded stock and his Shorthorn cattle are worthy of all the pride he bestows upon them.
Mr. Carroll is unmarried. He is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and professes the Roman Catholic faith. In politics, Mr. Carroll is in sympathy with the Democratic party and he has been trustee of Clear Creek township as well as township clerk. The fact that he has held these two offices shows the esteem in which his fellow citizens hold him. His official duties weer administered with care and promptness and to the general satisfaction of his community. Mr. Carroll is a public spirited citizen and is always ready to do his share in fostering improvements in his township.
John. A. Rilinger, late of Clear Creek township, Nemaha county, Kansas, was born in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, in 1857, and was a son of Martin and Elizabeth (Block) Rilinger, natives of Prussia, Ger- man Empire, and who immigrated to America in an early day and located in Wisconsin. When John Rilinger was nine months old his parents left Wisconsin and settled in Nemaha county, where he was reared to mahood and took up the avocation of farming. He was in- dustrious and applied himself so diligently to the task of building up a competence for himself and his that he became the owner of 320 acres of excellent farm land in Clear Creek township.
Mr. Rilinger was married in 1883 to Agnes Mckinley, who bore him five children, as follows: John, farming the home place of the Rilingers; Mary, a sister. O. S. B., Atchison, Kans .; Rosa, wife of Ber- nard Buser, Clear Creek township; Leo, farming on the home place ; William, at home with his mother. Mr. Rilinger departed this life in 1907. He was a loyal Catholic and was a member of the Modern Wood- men of America. It can be said of him that he was a good husband, and a kind father, who was always looking ahead into the future with a view to making every provision within his power for his wife and children.
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Mrs. Agnes Rilinger was born February 4, 1868. at Atchison, Kans., and is a daughter of James and Marion (Dailey) Mckinley, natives of Indiana and Canada, respectively.
James McKinley was born in 1840 in Indiana and was a son of Jolin and Susan McKinley, natives of Ireland, who immigrated to America and were farmers in Indiana. James followed the trade of carpenter and came to Atchison when the city was a village and there plied his trade until his demise in 1871. James and Marion Mckinley were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Julia Yates, wife of J. Yates, a railroader of St. Joseph, Mo .; Mrs. Mary Steward, Oklahoma; Mrs. Agnes Rilinger. The mother of the foregoing children was born in Canada in 1841, and was a daughter of Patrick Dailey, a native of Ire- land, who first emigrated from his native isle to Canada and thence came to Atchison, Kans. The mother of Mrs. Rilinger died in 1871 and she was left an orphan at the age of three years. She was reared by a kind couple named Mathias and Anna (Zalesky) Ugoreck, natives of Prussia, who immigrated to this country in the early sixties and first lo- cated in Atchison, Kans., and came to Nemaha county in 1865. The Ugoreck farm was located six miles south of Seneca. Mr. Ugoreck is now living in Seneca, retired.
Mrs. Rilinger is a capable woman, who has taken over the manage- ment of her 180-acre farm since the death of her husband and is accom- plishing the task of making the farm pay, with the assistance of her sturdy sons.
John M. Schmidt, farmer and stockman of Clear Creek township, Nemaha county, Kansas, was born at Seneca, Kans., February 4, 1875, and is a son of Mathias and Anglia (Davis) Schmidt, who were parents of five children. Mathias Schmidt, his father, was born in the city of Wittenberg, German, in 1826, and left his native land when eighteen years old. He located in Philadelphia, and worked at his trade of shoe maker until after the close of the Civil war when he came West to Kan- sas and opened a shoe shop in Seneca. He made shoes for the trade here, and did shoe repair work for twenty-two years, and then invested his savings in a farm in Marion township, which he cultivated until his demise in 1907. He was twice married. His second wife, who was the mother of the subject of this sketch, was born in Germany in 1845, and died May 26, 1899.
John M. Schmidt assisted his father on the home farm until he at- tained his majority, and then bought 160 acres of unimproved prairie land in section 20, Clear Creek township. He broke up the first sod on this land and, in the course of time, made many improvements. He has prospered since buying his first quarter section, and now owns 240 acres of excellent farm land. He is a breeder of Poland China hogs, and also raises sheep, a department of animal husbandry, which he finds quite profitable.
Mr. Schmidt's marriage with Miss Mary McQuaid took place in
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1897, and the following children have blessed this happy marriage: Nora, attending school in Seneca, Kans .; Cecilia, Hugh, Oscar, Ralph, Rosa, Levert and Lawrence. The mother of these children was born June 3, 1878, in Nemaha township, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth McQuaid (see sketch of Jerome McQuaid, brother of Mrs. Schmidt).
Mr. Schmidt is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and he and the members of his family are loyal adherents of the Catholic church.
Charles Rethmann is one of the substantial farmers and stockmen of Nemaha county and represents that prosperous middle class of Americans on whom the success of this great democracy depends.
He was born September 1, 1879, in Marion township of Nemaha county, and is therefore a native "jayhawker" and one whose loyalty and love for his State has kept him within her confines, even though greater financial success might possibly have been had in other places. His par- ents, Clements and Agnes (Lutmerding) Rethmann, were the parents of seven other children, and four girls and two boys of the family still live. The father was born in Germany in 1843. Coming to America, he settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked as a teamster for seven years. He then came to Nemaha county and bought land in Marion township with the savings which he had slowly accumulated by hard work and constant economy. The land was poorly improved, there being only a small shanty on the place, but he began making improvements from the first, and, in the forty years during which he owned the place, he made wonderful progress. To show the difficulties he worked under in the early days, the method of gathering corn by hand in a basket may be cited. But he had "grit" and a good supply of German common sense which have made him a successful farmer. As proof, he now owns 370 acres of land in Nemaha county, Kansas. At present he is living in retirement in St. Benedict, Kans., where he moved in 1908. The mother of our subject was born in Germany in 1844, and left there at the same time her husband sailed for America. The voyage was a hard one, last- ing nine weeks. On the trip, twenty-two passengers died. The mother died in 1910, and is buried in St. Benedict's Catholic cemetery.
Eight children were born to them: Mrs. Mary Olberding, living three miles west of Seneca; Christena, married to Mr. Haferkamp, who lives near St. Benedict. Kans .: Mrs. Anna Wichmann, living three miles east of St. Benedict, Kans .; Josephine, wife of Frank H. Holthaus, of Richmond township; Charles, of whom this sketch deals; Benjamin, farming the old home place ; John and Frank, deceased.
Charles Rethmann learned the rudiments of the common branches at district school No. 59 in Marion township, and after spending his youth working for his father on the farm, he started out at the age of twenty- one years to shift for himself. He rented the farm on which he now lives, which consists of 120 acres, owned by his father. In 1910 he bought eighty acres adjoining the farm which his father owned, and two years later, bought his father's farm. Behind these transactions lie a lot of
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CLEMENTS S. RETHMANN.
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MRS. AGNES RETHMANN.
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hard work and careful management, but the rapidity with which Charles Rethmann forged ahead shows the stuff that is in him. He has always been very business-like in the conduct of his affairs and takes pride in keeping his improvements up to a modern standard. His 200 acres are an enviable farm which anyone would wish to own.
He was married, in 1900, to Minnie Deters. To this union one child, Clem, was born. Mrs. Minnie Rethmann was born in Germany, April 16, 1879, and came to Nemaha county, Kansas, with her parents in 1895.
In politics, Mr. Rethmann inclines toward the Democratic party and usually votes for that organization's candidates. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Associa- tion.
In such a career as this, the real accomplishments are not known to those on the outside. No one but those who have gone through the task of building up a farm in properous holdings know what labor and toil it entails and what sleepless hours are spent in planning expenditures. Mr. Rethmann has succeeded conspicuously and is a credit to Nemaha county.
Richard D. McCaffrey .- The father of Richard D. McCaffrey was Edward McCaffrey, who came to Kansas in 1858, and went through the rough life on the frontier which included guerilla and Indian attacks, stage coaches, and plowing by oxen. Edward McCaffrey was born in Ireland in 1822, and came to America when a young man, locating in Iowa. After living there for some time, he migrated to Kansas, and homesteaded a claim in Clear Creek township, Nemaha county. His land was in section 11. In these days there was, of course, little chance of shipping finished lumber into the part of the country where Mr. Mc- Caffrey was located, so he set to work, and built a cabin out of hand- hewn logs. At the same time he erected a barn for his horses and cat- tle, and though materials for building were scanty, he was able to con- struct very serviceable buildings, which he used for several years, until he was able to afford better ones. In traveling from Iowa to Kansas, he drove a yoke of oxen which he also used in breaking up his land. In this day of swift automobiles and tractors, it is hard to realize the slowness of the older method of travel and farming, and how much more difficult it made farming. His trading was done at St. Joseph and Atchison, as these cities were the nearest places where he could get provisions. The trip was rough and dangerous, for there were many Indians along the route which made travel unsafe. Many times white settlers, in going to these places to trade, were attacked by In- dians, though few were ever killed in the skirmishes. Game was plenti- ful in those days, especially deer and wild turkey, and a pioneer who could shoot was not in danger of starving. Mr. McCaffrey owned 640 acres of land in Clear Creek township, which he farmed until his death in 1896. In the early days, he served as county commissioner, and al- ways took a lively interest in the public affairs of Nemaha county .. He was reared in the Roman Catholic faith.
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The mother of Richard McCaffrey, whose maiden name was Fan- nie Cassidy, was born in Ireland. She died in 1876, at the age of forty- eight years. Ten children were born to her, eight of whom are living. Richard, the ninth child, was born in Clear Creek township, Nemaha county, March 21, 1872.
Richard McCaffrey grew up on his father's farm, and attended school in district No. 26, when it was possible for him to do so. At the age of twenty-two, he started farming for himself and, in 1909, bought eighty acres of land. This has since been increased to 219 acres, which lie in section 2, Clear Creek township. Mr. McCaffrey has built a num- ber of improvements on his place, which have greatly increased its value. He takes special pride in his fine stock, which is of a very high quality, and which is all graded.
He was married, in 1905, to Sarah Clark, daughter of William and Marion (McBride) Clark, who were natives of Scotland. Both parents are now dead. Mr. and Mrs. McCaffrey are the parents of four chil- dren. Francis W., Melvin M., Marion A. and Harold E. Mr. McCaffrey is a Democrat. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Work- men lodge at Bern.
Mr. McCaffrey is a conscientious man of high character. His many friends admire him for his integrity and firm convictions and, though he has never sought political preferment, there is little doubt that he would make a good official were his fellow citizens to confer the honor of public position upon him.
Alfred A. Smith .- The late Alfred A. Smith of Clear Creek town- ship, Nemaha county, Kansas, was one of the pioneers of Kansas, who came to Nemaha county with his parents as early as 1859. He was born in Jacksonville, Ill., March 12, 1845, and was a son of William and Elizabeth (Mosson) Smith, who were natives of England, and were married in Illinois after emigration from their native land. The Smith family immigrated to Kansas in 1859, and William Smith homesteaded and bought eighty acres of land in Clear Creek township, Nemaha county. This farm was located in section 26. William became promi- nent in the civic affairs of Nemaha county and, being a well read man who had taught school in Illinois, easily became a leader of the people in his day. He served as registrar of deeds of the county, and it was while filling this position that his skill as a fine penman came into play. His hand writing is inscribed on many of the records in the Ne- maha county court house. In the early days, he also taught school in the town of Seneca. By two marriages, he (William) became the father of five children, as follows: William Alfred, deceased; Edmond, Montezuma, Colo .; second child born, Mrs. Elizabeth Potts, deceased ; Mary A., wife of D. Kale, St. Louis, Mo., and Alfred A., the subject of this review.
Alfred A. Smith grew to manhood in Nemaha county and farmed in section 26, Clear Creek township, until his demise on July 27, 1912.
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He became the owner of 160 acres of land, and was a good farmer and a kind husband and father. He was twice married, his first wife being Melissa Kline of Illinois, who bore him three children: William, liv- ing in Colorado; Harry, St. Louis, Mo .; Mrs. Libbie Curtis, Boise, Idaho.
The marriage of Alfred A. Smith and Anna Nowak was solemnized at Seneca in 1880, and has been blessed with the following children : Alice, at home with her mother, and a teacher; Mrs. Mabel McCune, Brooklyn, Kans .; Walter, who is farming the home place for his mother; Frank, Clyde and Clara, at home. Mrs. Smith has three step-children, namely: William, living in Colorado; Mrs. Elizabeth Curtis, living in Idaho; Harry, residing in St. Louis, Mo. Mrs. Smith was born in Iowa, May 5, 1856, and is a daughter of John and Cath- arine (Luskett) Nowak, natives of Bohemia, who emigrated from their birthplace at the time of marriage and came to America. John Nowak was born in 1816, and died in 1880. He was a stone mason and plasterer by trade and, after living in Iowa and St. Joseph, Mo., he lo- cated on eighty acres of land in Nemaha county, Kansas, where he reared his family to maturity. The mother of Mrs. Smith was born in 1835, and is now living with her son, Van, in Nemaha county. Mrs. Smith was educated in the Seneca schools, and also studied in St. Joseph. Since her husband's death, she has conducted her 160 acre farm successfully, but had the misfortune to lose her home by fire in 1914, and has replaced the burned structure by a new home completed during the early part of 1916.
It is worthy of mention that the late Alfred A. Smith was a freighter across the plains enroute from St. Joseph, Mo. and Seneca, Kans., to Denver, Colo.
Daniel E. Mitchell, farmer, breeder, and sportsman, of Clear Creek township, was born on his father's farm in Clear Creek township, June 23, 1875, and is a product of the pioneer and constructive era of the development of his county and State. He is a son of John and Mary (Moriarty) Mitchell, who were natives of Ireland and were among the very earliest settlers in Clear Creek township.
John Mitchell was born in Ireland in 1846 and was a son of Daniel and Mary (Corcoran) Mitchell. who emigrated from the Emerald Isle in 1850, and came to America and settled in Ohio, where the family resided until 1860. In that year. Daniel Mitchell came with his family to Nemaha county and bought a quarter section of land in Clear Creek township, upon which he erected a log cabin in which two of his daugh- ters were born, namely, Anna and Rosa. He broke up the prairie soil with six head of oxen, improved his tract and later sold it. Daniel Mitchell died in 1890, nearly 100 years old. His wife died in 1897, aged eighty years, and was the mother of six children. John Mitchell, father of the subject, died in 1913, and became the owner of 400 acres of land before his demise. He had three days' schooling all told in his life.
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When the family resided in Missouri a few years previous to locating in Kansas he was the only white boy attending school and the negroes had a habit of fighting him on this account. However, he was a nat- ural mathematician and easily overcame the handicap imposed through lack of enough schooling. His wife, Mary Moriarty, was born in Vir- ginia in 1849 and died in 1894. She was a daughter of Patrick and Margaret (Alexander) Moriarty, natives of Ireland and Virginia, re- spectively. Fourteen children were born to John and Mary Mitchell, as follows: Daniel E., concerning whom this review is written; Patrick, a farmer in Marshall county, Kansas ; James, farming in Clear Creek township; Mrs. Mary Hoffman, Harrington, Kans .; John R., Marshall county, Kansas; Mrs. Margaret Skoch, Clear Creek township; William F., Marshall county, Kansas; Joseph L., Marshall county, Kansas; Thomas, Pawnee county, Nebraska; Mrs. Rosa Young, Clear Creek township; Mrs. Anna Egan, Marshall county, Kansas; Sister Jose- phine, Sheridan, Wyo .; Frank, Marshall county, Kansas; Gilbert, Clear Creek township.
Daniel E. Mitchell attended District School No. 17, and also spent a four-months term at Axtell schools. When twenty-two years old he rented land in Marshall county, Kansas. He next rented the farm, which he now owns, from his grandmother and in 1898 he purchased this farm of 159 acres. He has erected all the existing improvements on the place and has a good home and barns. Mr. Mitchell is a well known and suc- cessful breeder of Duroc Jersey swine and has made exhibits of his stock. He is also a breeder of Hereford cattle.
Mr. Mitchell is a lover of sport and hunting and has one of the finest collections of furs in the county, which includes the skins of wolves, raccoons and coyotes, which he has brought down with his rifle. He is considered to be a fine marksman and is probably the best shot in Nemaha county.
Mr. Mitchell was married in 1892 to Amelia Gossin and this union has been blessed with five children, as follows: John, deceased; Tressie, Genevieve, Robert and Daniel. Mrs. Mitchell was born at St. Bridget, Marshall county, Kansas, November 4, 1873, and is a daughter of John and Kathrine (Confrey) Gossin, natives of New York and Ireland, respectively, and who settled in Kansas as early as 1861.
Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Mitchell is a Democrat and a member of the Farmers Union.
Albert .C. Eichenmann, of Clear Creek township, was born in Switzerland, July 20, 1853, and is a son of Zelestine and Mary E. (Oechsle) Eichenmann, who were the parents of twenty children, seven of whom were reared to maturity. Zelestine Eichenmann was a native-born Swiss, who was a farmer and became a member of the Swiss Congress. He died in 1884. The mother of the subject was born in Switzerland in May, 1822, and died in her native country in 1878.
Albert C. Eichenmann received a good education in his native coun-
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try and immigrated to America in' 1873. He located in Madison county, Illinois, where he farmed and taught school until 1879, when he came to Kansas and located in Clay county. He farmed in Clay county until 1881 and then located in Nemaha county. He bought land in Mitchell township, sold it in 1886 and bought 160 acres in section 22, Clear Creek township. He built a house on this farm and sold it in 1892. After a residence in Seneca in official capacity he bought 160 acres in section 7, Clear Creek township, which he farmed for two years and then rented land in Marion township. Later he took charge of the present Rilinger farm of 330 acres in Clear Creek township, where he is now making his home.
Mr. Eichenmann was married in 1879 to Mary E. Hochderffer, who has borne him fifteen children, as follows: Emma, deceased ; Jose- phine, wife of C. H. Wempe, the well known horse breeder of Richmond township; Frederick, San Francisco, Cal .; Mrs. Kathrine Jackson, of Leavenworth, Kans .; Leo, deceased ; Elizabeth, wife of F. Miller, Tuttle, Okla .; Rosa, living with Mrs. C. H. Wempe; Francis, Seneca, Kans .; Helen, Leavenworth, Kans .; Albert, Paul, August, Zelestine, John and Constance, at home with their parents. The mother of this remarkably large family was born in Bond county, Illinois, July 20, 1862, and is a daughter of Frank and Kathrine (Kloster) Hochderffer, natives of France, who emigrated from their native country in 1842 and located in Missouri, where Frank Hochderffer engaged in the manufacture of brick. The family came to Nemaha county, Kans., in 1884, but the father remained here but a short time, failing health compelling his removal to California, where he died.
Mr. and Mrs. Eichenmann and their children are members of the Catholic church, and Mr. Eichenmann is a member of the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Eichenmann is a Democrat who has been a leader of his party in the county and has served in an official capacity. In 1892 he was one of the leaders of the Populist movement in Kansas and was elected to the office of registrar of deeds of Nemaha county, serving for one term. He has held many township offices and has taken an active part in civic affairs. From 1905 to 1910 he was engaged in the hardware business at Baileyville, and in 1914 returned to his present farm. Mr. Eichenmann is a well read man, who keeps posted on the topics of the day and is well thought of by all who know him.
Henry F. Katz, farmer and stockman, Nemaha township, this county, was born July 12, 1884, on a farm where he now lives. He is a son of Christ and Dorettta (Flentie) Katz, natives of Germany. Christ Katz accompanied his parents from Germany to America and was reared to young manhood in Illinois. When he attained a man's estate he migrated westward to Nemaha county, Kansas, and was a pioneer set- tler in this county who worked hard and accumulated a large amount of land previous to his demise in 1913. He was one of the most suc- cessful agriculturists of the county. He was the father of twelve chil-
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