USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 66
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John Roth was an industrious, enterprising and honest citizen whose capabilities were such as to enable him to rise from an humble position to become well-to-do before his untimely death. He was a kind husband and parent, whose memory is revered and kept green by his widow and children. The man who provides for his loved ones and makes such provisions that they shall not want, but be able to live in comfort after his departure from the earthly realm to the bourne from which no man ever returns is a man well worth while, and it is meet that his biography and the story of his accomplishments be written in this history of the county where he made his achievements noticeable.
Adolph Weiss .- Two things make the life story of Adolph Weiss interesting and offer opportunity to bestow well merited praise. The fact that he came to Sabetha a poor man and won his way to a considera- ble competence is the first point to consider in writing a review of his life. The second and really the most meritorious from another view- point is the fact that he has reared a fine family, and given each child every advantage of securing a good education-not content with send- ing his children to the local schools, he has sent them to the higher seats of learning-and as a result, is proud of them.
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Adolph Weiss was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, December 19, 1850, and is a son of Jacob Frederick and Kathrine (Keller) Weiss, who were the parents of five children. (See sketch of Fred Weiss.)
Adolph Weiss learned the trade of cabinet maker in his native land, and worked at his trade until 1870. He emigrated from the Fatherland to America in that year, and came directly to Sabetha, where he worked out as a farm hand at $15.00 per month for a few years. In 1872 he was joined by his brother, Fred, and the two brothers engaged in the but- cher and retail meat business in Sabetha in 1877. They were highly successful in their business venture and also operated an ice plant in connection with the meat business. The firm prospered and some years ago Mr. Weiss decided to retire and take life easy. By good business management and careful husbanding of his resources, he has accumu- lated a fair-sized competence; owns city property in Sabetha and has a twelve-acre tract of land in the west part of the city.
Mr. Weiss was married in 1879 to Rosa Gossman, born in February, 1860, in Mendocino county, California, and died December 19, 1914. She was a daughter of John and Verna Gossman, natives of Switzerland, who settled at Highland, Ill., after immigrating to this country in an early day, and who crossed the plains and mountains to the gold fields of California during the great rush of 1849. The entire family drove through with ox teams and settled in the Anderson valley of California, where the parents lived and died.
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Weiss, as follows: Dr. Albert J., a graduate of Sabetha High School and Kansas University, now a practicing physician at Barnes, Kans .; Kathrine, a graduate of Sabetha High School. Kathrine was in the employ of the Bell Tele- phone Company as operator for ten years, and was engaged for two years in the employ of the Sabetha Company ; Mrs. Bertha Kritzer, of Leona, Kans, a graduate of Sabetha High School, and who studied art at Kansas University ; Arnold, deceased ; Louise, graduate of Sabetha High School, and a trained nurse in Ensworth Hospital at St. Joseph, Mo.
Mr. Weiss and all members of his family belong to the Congrega- tional Church of Sabetha. He is allied with the Republican party and has served as a member of the Sabetha town council. He is a stock- holder and a director of the National Bank of Sabetha, Kans. He is an excellent type of the sturdy American citizen of German birth, who came to this country a poor man and has risen to become one of the sub- stantial and well respected citizens of his adopted city.
George E. Hollister .- The Hollister family is one of the pioneer families of Nemaha county and is likewise one of the oldest families in America, which traces its beginning to the Mayflower, when the first ancestor of George E. Hollister, concerning whom this review is written, came to America and landed with the Pilgrim Fathers on the bleak and ice bound coast of New England. George E. Hollister, manager of the Mutual Telephone Company of Sabetha, is one of Nemaha county's suc-
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cessful citizens and was born on a farm in Winnisheik county, Iowa, January 24, 1863. He is a son of Elisha and Mary (Edwards) Hollister, who were the parents of five children, four of whom are living, George E. Hollister, of Sabetha, being the third oldest in order of birth.
Elisha Hollister, his father, was born at South Glassenberry, Conn., in 1839, and was a son of Horace Hollister, a tiller of the soil in Con- necticut, and a descendant of one of the Pilgrim Fathers, who emi- grated from England in 1620 and founded the town of Plymouth, Mass. Mr. Hollister migrated westward to Iowa as early as 1859, and became a pioneer settler in Winnisheik county, Iowa, and resided there and in Jones county, Iowa, until his removal to Kansas. In 1881, he made his first trip to Kansas and drove across the country for the purpose of viewing the land and deciding upon a permanent place to locate his family. His first trip decided him and he was so greatly taken with the appearance of the rich country south of Sabetha that he determined to invest in land and make a home for himself in Capioma township, Ne- maha county. He returned home, disposed of his land holdings in Iowa and moved his family and movable belongings to the new location in Capioma township. He purchased 480 acres in section 9 of that town- ship and erected a home thereon. He made rather extensive improve- ments on his farm and engaged in the breeding of Durham cattle with cou- siderable success. Mr. Hollister took and active and influential part in Republican politics and was one of the leaders of his party in the county. He held the office of justice of the peace and also served the people as township trustee. He became well-to-do and was a stockholder of the National Bank of Sabetha. Elisha Hollister departed this life in 1898. His wife, Mrs. Mary (Edwards) Hollister, was born in 1841, and died in 1871. After her demise Mr. Hollister was again married and five children were born of this second marriage.
George E. Hollister received his early education in the public schools of Jones county, Iowa, and accompanied his father to Kansas in 1883. Soon after coming to Nemaha county, he bought eighty acres of land in Capioma township, built a residence, 14x20 feet in dimensions, and made other improvements on his place from time to time as he was able, and eventually developed a well improved farm. He added to his acreage until he owns a tract embracing 240 acres. Mr. Hollister culti- vated his farm until his removal to a home in Sabetha in 1912. He did not retire from active business, however, but became interested in the telephone business and assumed the managership of the Sabetha Mutual Telephone Company. The affairs of the telephone company are in capable hands and Mr. Hollister manages the company's business just as carefully as he looks after his farming interests.
Mr. Hollister was married July 24, 1888, to Miss Belle Conrad, born . September 2, 1869, in Capioma township, and a daughter of George W. and Lurania (Rawson) Conrad, whose biographies are given in this volume in connection with those of Drs. George R. and Burt Conrad. Mr. and Mrs. Hollister are the parents of three children, as follows .
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Eldon E., farming the Hollister home place ; Leland L. and Mildred M., a graduate of the Sabetha High School.
Mr. and Mrs. Hollister are members of the Congregational Church and contribute of their means to the support of this denomination. Mr. Hollister is an independent in politics and votes as his mind and con- science dictate, irrespective of political creeds. He served as trustee of Capioma township while a resident there, and has always taken an active part in civic matters during his residence in Nemaha county.
Harry G. Whittle, merchant, Bern, Kans., was born in the city of Baltimore, Md., September 2, 1865. He is a son of Jeremiah and Aline (Monroe) Whittle, who reared a family of eleven children. Jeremiah Whittle, the father, was also born in Baltimore, March 29, 1824, became a carpenter and worked at his trade during his entire matured life. He died in the town of Sharon, Md., in 1903. The Whittle family is of English descent and several generations of this family have lived in America. Mrs. Aline (Monroe) Whittle was born in Baltimore, in June, 1827, and died in 1905. She was descended from an old English family.
Harry G. Whittle received his early education in the public schools of his native city, attended a commercial school in Baltimore and be- came an expert draughtsman and designer. He held a position as de- signer for a large carpet firm in Baltimore for some years, and was also employed as salesman by his firm for eleven years. February 21, 1901, he located at Palmer, Washington county, Kansas, bought a farm in the neighborhood and cultivated it for five years. He sold his farm April 17, 1906, and engaged in partnership with O. A. Fowler, general merchant of Bern. This partnership was a profitable one and the firm carried a stock of goods valued at from $7,000 to $8,000. Eventually, Mr. Fowler sold out his interest to Mr. Schick, and some time later Mr. Whittle's father-in-law bought a half interest in the store and held it until his demise. Mr. Whittle then bought his father-in-law's interest in the estate and has built up the business to considerable proportions and now carries a large stock of goods exceeding $12,000 in value.
Mr. Whittle was married February 21, 1901, to Florence Creager, and this union has been blessed with two children, as follows: Eliza- beth, born in 1904; Gilmore, born in 1907. Mrs. Florence Whittle was born September 7, 1875, at Boscobel, Wis., and is a daughter of Jacob and Sophia (Rindlaub) Creager, the former of whom was born in Bal- timore, Md., August 31, 1837. The elder Creager became a millwright by avocation, and removed with his family to Washington county, Kan- sas, in 1878, and there engaged in farming until his death, March 12, 1912. Mrs. Whittle's mother was born at Gettysburg, Pa., in 1840, and makes her home at Palmer, Kans. Mrs. Whittle was educated in the high school at Clay Center, Kans., and taught school in the neighbor- hood of Clay Center prior to her marriage.
Mr. Whittle is a Democrat in politics. He and Mrs. Whittle are members of the Presbyterian Church, and contribute of their means to the support of this religious denomination. Mr. Whittle is affiliated
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with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is a Knight Templar and com- mander of the local Knights Templar organization. Mrs. Whittle is a member of the Bern Reading Club, and is affiliated with the Knights and Ladies of Security. She is an active worker in the Presbyterian Missionary Society.
John Ehrsam .- People of Swiss birth or descent predominate in the rich farming section in the vicinity of Bern, Kans. This is fortunate for the country and county of Nemaha, inasmuch as no better class of American citizens by adoption or descent are found than those who hail from or whose parents came from this thrifty country hemmed in by great mountain ranges and who have been lovers of freedom and pro- gress for many years. John Ehrsam, retired farmer and large landed proprietor of Bern, is a son of Swiss immigrants, who came to America and made good in the land of their adoption. Mr. Erhsam was born in Dubuque county, Iowa, June 15, 1861, and is a son of Jacob and Barbara (Frey) Ehrsam, natives of Switzerland.
Jacob Ehrsam was born in Zurich, Switzerland, December 6, 1832, and immigrated to America in 1854, first locating at St. Louis, Mo., where he remained for awhile, then located in Iowa. He was married at Dubuque, Iowa, to Barbara Frey in 1860. Ten years later, in 1870, he migrated to Kansas and bought a quarter section of land in section 30, Washington township, and made his home thereon until 1890. Death claimed him, April 12, 1916. He became the owner of 800 acres of land, which he divided among his children. There were seven children born to Jacob and Barbara (Frey) Ehrsam, as follows: John, with whom this review is directly concerned; Louisa, deceased ; Henry and Albert, farming in Washington township; Jacob, deceased; William and Ed- ward, farmers in Washington township. The mother of the foregoing children was born at Engstringen, canton of Zurich, Switzerland, April 20, 1833, and died at Bern, Kans., November 14, 1898. She came to America with her mother in 1858. After the demise of the first Mrs. Ehrsam, Jacob married Anna B. Gerber.
John Ehrsam was eight years of age when the family located in Nemaha county. He assisted his parents in the farm work until he was twenty-five years old, and then rented land from his father, which he cultivated in adition to operating a threshing outfit for eleven years. His father eventually deeded him 160 acres of land, located in sec- tion 30, Washington township, as his share of the estate. He im- proved this quarter and added to his possessions until he now own 560 acres of good land, which he is constantly improving and making better and more productive each year of his ownership. Mr. Ehrsam removed to Bern in February of 1908, and resides in a handsome modern resi- dence. He oversees his farming operations from his town home and still takes an active interest in everything pertaining to the upkeep and management of his large estate.
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Mr. Ehrsam was married in 1886 to Bertha Maurer. Their children are as follows: Robert B., George and Lillian. Robert B. Ehrsam was born November 3, 1887. After completing the common school work, he entered Central Business College at Kansas City, Mo., and graduated therefrom in May, 1907. In June, 1907, he engaged in the implement business in partnership with his father and brother, George A., at Bern, but George A. took a dislike to the business, and preferring to handle live stock, he returned to the farm, where he remained. Robert B. dis- posed of his business in December, 1909, and in January, 1910, he began work as a traveling salesman for the International Harvester Company, covering northeast Kansas and southeastern Nebraska. He was rapidly promoted, and so great was the trust and confidence imposed in him that he rose from the position of salesman to blockman within two years. At the end of the third year he was given the assistant managership of the company's business in Russia, at a large salary. He sailed for Rus- sia, October 26, 1912, and within a year's time had learned the language so well that he dispensed with the services of his interpreter and did a splendid business in the agricultural sections of Russia, where of late years vast quantities of American agricultural machinery have been placed in use. On November 16, 1915, he was operated on for appendi- citis ; death came as a result of his illness and operation, and he was laid away to rest December 3, 1915, at Charkoff, Russia. War conditions in Europe prevented the bringing of the body to America, as his parents and relatives wished. Robert B. Ehrsam was a young man of great ability and promise, and was one of the vanguard of enterprising young men who have done much to advance the commercial interests of Amer- ica in European lands. He was imbued with the spirit of American en- terprise and push which knows no limitations, and he was willing to give his services in behalf of his employers at any and all times with a loyalty and strength shown by but few men.
George A. Ehrsam was born November 20, 1888; received a comman school education in district 64, and is now living on his farm, four miles northeast of Bern. He was married to Sara Krainbill in 1911.
Lillian Ehrsam was born May 10, 1890; graduated from the Bern High School in 1906; clerked in the Whittle & Creager store at Bern for two years and a half and was married to E. C. Harter in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Harter are living on the Ehrsam home place with their two bright children, Clifford J. and Howard L.
Mrs. Bertha (Maurer) Ehrsam was born in Woodford county, Illi- nois, September 10, 1866, and is a daughter of Jacob and Christena (Weiser) Maurer, natives of Switzerland, and who immigrated to Illinois in 1865, thence to Nebraska in 1872. After farming for some years, Mr. . Maurer located at Seward, Neb., and died at Lincoln, Neb., March 7, 1908, at the age of sixtxy-nine years. His wife, Christena, was born March 5, 1835, and died June 16, 1903. They were the parents of ten children, of whom Mrs. Ehrsam was the second child born.
Mr. Ehrsam is an independent voter and is not allied with any po-
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litical party or creed. He and the members of his family worship at the Evangelical Church. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.
Jonathan Reinhart, farmer of Washington township, was born on the farm which he is now cultivating, September 3, 1888. He is a son of Jacob and Catharine (Reisen) Reinhart, for whose biography the reader is referred to another part of this volume of history. Mr. Reinhart was reared on his father's farm and attended the public schools of Bern. For a period of nine months he worked as farm hand, and upon his father's retirement to a home in Sabetha, Kans., the young man took charge of the home place near Bern in 1910. He is renting a quarter section of land from his father, and this tract is well stocked and well cared for, yielding good returns from this assiduous industry and careful manage- ment.
Mr. Reinhart was married in 1910 to Florence Aumiller, who was born at Phillipsburg, Kans., December 9, 1886, and died without issue, March 13, 1913. Mr. Reinhart was again married in 1914 to Shirley Aumiller, a sister of his first wife, who was born October 23, 1891, at Morrill. Brown county, Kansas, a daughter of Ephraim and Sarah (Bas- ket) Aumiller, who were the parents of nine children, seven of whom are living. Ephraim Aumiller was born in Ohio in 1851, and his wife was born in 1863. The Aumillers make their home in Brown county. Mr. Reinhart is an independent in his political views and prefers to form his own opinions regarding party politics and merits of opposing candi- dates as to their fitness for the office sought at election time.
Jacob H. Hoffman, farmer and stockman, Washington township, was born October 20, 1861, in Allen county, Ohio. He is a son of Henry and Magdalena (Good) Hoffman, who reared a family of four sons and two daughters, Jacob H. being the second born of the family. Henry Hoffman, his father, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania, of Pennsylvania German stock, August 15, 1828, and migrated to Allen county, Ohio, when a young man. In 1864, he immigrated to Page county, Iowa, and became owner of a fine farm in that county where he died December 23, 1905. The mother of Jacob H. Hoffman was born July 28, 1838, in Mercer county, Ohio, and died July 23. 1906. Both parents were Mennonites.
Jacob H. Hoffman, subject of this review, was reared to young manhood on the farm in Iowa, and attended the district school of his neighborhood. He determined to come West in search of better oppor- tunities than were afforded by his home county, and in 1886, he immi- grated to Kansas. After a year spent in western Kansas, he came to Nemaha county and bought 120 acres in section 15, Washington town- ship. He has improved this tract considerably with good buildings, trees and shrubbery, and has prospered during his thirty years of resi- dence in this county. Mr. Hoffman specializes in O. I. C. or Chester White hogs, and has made a success in the raising of this breed of swine for the markets.
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Mr. Hoffman was married October 16, 1890, to Irene Cox, who was born in Pulaski county, Indiana, August 14, 1864, and died October 17, 1907.
Mr. Hoffman cast his first vote, after attaining his majority, for Grover Cleveland, but is now a pronounced Republican. He was elected to the office of township treasurer in 1914, and is now capably filling that position to the satisfaction of his fellow citizens. He is a candidate for re-election to this office.
Benjamin F. Ford .- The Ford family in Nemaha county is one of the old pioneer families of Kansas, and the first settlement in the county by a member of this family was made as early as 1868. Since that time the founder of the family fortunes in Kansas, Joseph Ford, and his progeny, have taken an active part in the affairs of Nemaha county and have con- tributed in no small way toward the building up of a great and rich county. Benjamin F. Ford, subject of this review and owner of 240 acres of farm land in Adams township, is a son of Joseph and Sarah E. (Hunt) Ford.
Rev. Joseph Ford, the father, was born January 6, 1847, in Ohio. He was reared on a farm in the Buckeye State and began for himself at the age of twenty years. Until 1867 he did all kinds of hard farm labor in his native locality, such as grubbing, ditching and breaking land for cul- tivation. In 1867 he made his first trip to Kansas and investigated the prospects in the newer country with a view toward eventually making a settlement in the State. He remained but a few months on his first trip and returned in 1868, and bought eighty acres in Adams township. This tract was only partly improved, with a small house and a small clearing in cultivation. He settled thereon and made the place his home until 1908, at which time he moved to Seneca and bought a residence in the city and rented out his large farm of 520 acres. For many years he has devoted his time and talents to the ministry and preaches in the interest of the Primitive Baptist church denomination. Since the death of his wife in 1913, he has traveled about over the country considerably. Rev. Joseph Ford was married August 16, 1868, to Sarah Elizabeth Hunt, born in Ohio in 1848, and died June 21, 1913. Five children were born of this marriage, as follows: Benjamin, subject of this review; Mrs. Clara Knauer, former teacher, and living on a farm in Indiana; Mrs. Edith Courter, residing in Wetmore; Mrs. Lulu Richard, Seneca, wife of a minister of the gospel, and Mason, cultivating the home place.
Rev. Joseph Ford was a son of Jonathan G. Ford, born in Warren county, Ohio, April 28, 1823, and was married February 12, 1846, to Marinda Hicks, born in Warren county, Ohio, October 21, 1825. Jona- than G. Ford was a son of Joseph Ford, Sr., born in Delaware, March 2, 1797. He moved to Ohio with his parents in 1808. Joseph Ford, Sr., married Phoebe Kibbey, who was born in 1800. He died September 25, 1845, and Phoebe Ford died April 22, 1856.
Benjamin F. Ford was born November 29, 1869, in Nemaha county,
BENJAMIN F. FORD.
MRS. BENJAMIN F. FORD,
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and was reared on a farm located about one-quarter of a mile from his present home place. He received a district school education and remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age. At this time he bought eighty acres of land and worked out until he was twenty-five years old, and then rented 160 acres of the home farm for one year. For five years he rented his father's large farm, consisting of nearly an entire section of land, and at the expiration of this period he bought 160 acres from his father, which adjoined his first eighty. This tract has been his home place since that time and is well improved. In 1909, Mr. Ford erected a large, modern eight-room residence, equipped with running water, bath, lighting system, furnace heat, and which is elaborately furn- ished and one of the finest farm residences in Nemaha county. Mr. Ford specializes in Poland China swine and Durham cattle, of which fine breed he has seventy or more head at the present time.
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Mr. Ford was married January 1, 1895, to Miss Osa Hayden, who has borne him three children, as follows: Asa and Gladys, students in the Seneca High School, and one child who died in infancy. Mrs. Osa (Hayden) Ford is a daughter of R. J. and Sarah (Terhune) Hayden, of Indiana. R. J. Hayden, her father, was born in Indiana in 1842 and en- listed for service in the Union army in 1861. He served for three years during the Civil war in defense of the Union and was so badly wounded that he was disabled and honorably discharged because of disability. In 1870 he immigrated to Harrison county, Missouri, and lived there for nine years. In 1879 he moved to Jewell county, Kansas, and farmed in that county for two years, following which he took up a homestead in Rawlins county, but was forced to relinquish his claim because of con- tinned droughts. He then came to Nemaha county and farmed for fifteen years, and went from here to Graham county and bought 160 acres, to which he later added 240 acres, which he farmed for three years longer, then sold his land and retired to a home at Waterville, Minn. He is a member of the United Brethren church and a Republican in politics. R. J. Hayden and Sarah Terhune were married April 6, 1870, and are the parents of seven children, as follows: Osa, wife of Benjamin F. Ford; Albert, a farmer in Adams township, and has five children; Mrs. Bertha Pugh, lives in Texas and has one child; George, an engineer living in Minnesota ; Edgar, located in Washington, and one died in infancy. Mrs. Sarah Hayden was born in Indiana in 1848. Mrs. Osa (Hayden) Ford was born in Missouri, February 28, 1871, and was reared on a farm, re- ceiving a district school education. When she attained the age of nine- teen years she began working as domestic, attending school in winter and worked intermittently until her marriage with Mr. Ford.
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