USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 88
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Mr. Firstenberger was married to Miss Olive Leatherbury, October 22, 1868, and this union has been blessed with three children, as follows : William, clothing merchant and postmaster at Kansas City, Kans .; Iscah M., wife of Benton T. Hart, station agent at Summerfield, Kans .; Fries, a machinist at Kansas City, Kans. Mrs. Firstenberger was born in Marion county, Ohio, in July, 1851, and is a daughter of Noah, born 1809, died 1889, and Mary Ann (Fries) Leatherbury, natives of Mary- land and Pennsylvania respectively. Noah Leatherbury migrated to Kansas in 1869, and located in Seneca, where he engaged in the oil busi- ness, controlling the State rights for the sale of "Danforth Fluid" (now common gasoline). He sold all of his county rights but that of Nemaha county. There were four children in the Leatherbury family, as fol- lows: Sanford B., died March, 1915; Mrs. Elizabeth Pettit, lives at Du Bois, Neb .; Philo F., died in Oklahoma, and Mrs. Olive Firstenber- ger. The mother of these children died in 1895 at the age of eighty- three years. Sanford B. Leatherbury settled on a homestead on the Kansas-Nebraska line as early as 1857. Two uncles of Mrs. Firsten- berger, John and Joseph Fries, migrated to Kansas from Marion, Ohio, via the ox team route and settled in Nemaha county as early as 1856. John Fries was a mill wright and built the first steam gristmill over the State line in Nebraska. He later erected a water power mill, which is still standing, one and a half miles over the State line in Nebraska. Christopher Firstenberger was a soldier in the Eighty-first Ohio infantry and died in 1868. His wife died at Galion, Ohio, in 1891.
Mr. and Mrs. Firstenberger are members of the Congregational
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church. Mr. Firstenberger is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, the Knights Templars and Mystic Shriners, and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks lodge, No. 40, of St. Joseph, Mo. He is a Democrat, and has served as a member of the Seneca School Board for sixteen years.
Benjamin D. Graham, retired, Seneca, Kans., was born in Buffalo, N. Y., October 16, 1845, and is a son of Rev. Curtis and Amy (Fish) Graham, who were the parents of eight children, as follows: Timothy, born in 1842, a retired railroad engineer, living at Salida, Colo., and who was a member of the First Cavalry regiment of Colorado during the Civil war: George, born in 1843, former member of the Seventh Kansas Cav- alry regiment during the Civil war, now living at Hill City, Kans .; Ben- jamin D., subject of this review; Mrs. Esther Carson, born November 16, 1847, and lives in Montana ; Edward. born in 1852, a bridge builder in Colorado; Mrs. Mary Bennett, a widow living at Brooklyn, N. Y., and born in 1849: Mrs. Sarah Jane Fowler, born in 1855, living at Los Angeles, Cal., and Curtis, a railroad engineer at Stillwell, Okla.
Curtis Graham, father of Benjamin D., came to Kansas in 1856 with a body of 300 "Free State" men, who intended to locate permanently in Kansas. Mr. Graham preempted 120 acres of Government land in the southwestern part of Doniphan county, and also bought forty acres, for which he paid $2.50 an acre. His family lived in the Indian Mission build- ing while their house was being built. For a number of years he preached as circuit rider at Doniphan, Atchison, Valley Falls, Kans., and other points, going to his charges on horseback. In 1860, Mr. Graham was sent East to solicit aid for the drouth sufferers in Kansas. He was a min- ister of the Methodist Episcopal church and was a speaker of eloquence and power on the platform and in the pulpit. Rev. Graham was elected a member of the State legislature from Doniphan county and cast the deciding vote which elected Pomeroy to the United States senate. He was a warm friend of Jim Lane. Dr. Curtis Graham was born April 5, 1809, and died at Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1907. When his wife died he re- turned to the East, where he resided and preached the Gospel until his death. His wife was born in New York, July 27, 1820, and died Novem- ber 8, 1861.
Benjamin D. Graham came to Kansas with his parents and attended Highland University at Highland, Kans., in order to complete his edu- cation. He enlisted in April, 1862, in Company H, Eighty-sixth New York infantry, and was mustered out of the service as first lieutenant of his company in April, 1866. He saw hard fighting at the battles of Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, and was engaged in many skirmishes. After his war service he engaged in the grocery business at Brooklyn, N. Y., for two years and was married there in the meantime. He taught school for one year and then came to Nemaha county, Kansas, where he took up a homestead near Baileyville. He farmed his land for two years and then engaged in mercantile business at Seneca. He con- tinued in business for six years and was appointed deputy county treas-
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urer. He next served as deputy county recorder of deeds, serving four years as a deputy county official. While a resident of Marion township he organized the township and served as township assessor, making the first.set of books for the township. Mr. Graham is city assessor of Seneca.
He was married at Brooklyn, N. Y., March 30, 1867, to Josephine B. Tasker. There were born to this marriage the following children: Wil- liam R., born June 6, 1870, former county treasurer and now a real estate man in Kansas City, Mo .; Arthur T., born August 10, 1872, is superin- tendent of the Missouri Pacific roundhouse at Virginia, Neb .; Mrs. Maud Funk, born November 2, 1877, lives near Oneida; Mrs. Nina Bell, born June 20, 1886, lives at Ogden, Utah; Ida E., born in 1868, deceased ; Linda, born in 1874, deceased; Florence, born July 7, 1875, deceased ; Darwin B., born December 6, 1879, deceased ; Roy, born June 2, 1884, de- ceased. The mother of these children, Josephine Bonaparte (Tasker) Graham, was born December 2, 1849, at Brooklyn, N. Y., and was a lineal descendant of Empress Josephine. Mrs. Graham died August 1, 1915.
Mr. Graham is a Democrat in politics. He is a member and one of the organizers of the George Graham Post, No. 92, Grand Army of the Republic.
Howard Thompson, farmer and stockman, lawyer, journalist and versatile American, comes of one of the old families of this country. On his mother's side he is descended from General Braddock, of French and Indian war fame. Mr. Thompson has had a versatile record, which has embraced the vocation of journalist, lawyer, printer and agriculturist, in all of which he has been successful. Realizing that the farm offers the best and most substantial rewards for the specialist and an energetic individual, he decided to become a farmer-a vocation in which he has achieved a flattering success.
Howard Thompson was born in Warren county, Ohio, July 7. 1864, and is a son of Samuel and Martha J. (Braddock) Thompson, to whom were born two sons and three daughters, namely: Charles, who became a machinist and is deceased ; Laura M., wife of Judge Rufus M. Emery, Seneca, Kans .; Elva, wife of A. R. Drew, living in Wyoming; Howard, with whom this review is directly concerned; Mrs. Caroline Matthews, Seneca, Kans.
Samuel Thompson was born in Pennsylvania in 1821, and was a son of David and Lucy (Ridge) Thompson, both of whom were born in New Jersey. David Thompson was a farmer, who moved to Ohio in the pioneer days of the settlement of that State, and there reared his family. Samuel was reared in Warren county, Ohio, and learned the wagon maker's trade, which he followed for several years in his native State. In 1883, he migrated to Kansas and located in Seneca and opened a wagon and carriage making shop, which he conducted until blindness overtook him and compelled his retirement. Death followed soon after his retirement and he departed this life in 1910.
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HOWARD THOMPSON, MRS. LYDIA M. THOMPSON, RICHARD S. THOMPSON, MRS. INEZ ROBERTSON. THOMPSON FARM RESIDENCE.
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In the old days of Ohio it was the practice of Samuel Thompson to go directly to the forest for his wagon and carriage material. Hle cut down the trees, hewed the logs and eventually, by dint of much labor and skill, the finished product would emerge from under his handiwork in the form of a strong wagon or carriage.
Samuel Thompson was twice married, his first wife being the mother of two sons. as follows: William, living in Cincinnati, Ohio; Francis MI .. killed while following his trade of painter and decorator at Seattle, Wash. He fell from a church steeple, which he was painting, and sub- sequently died from the injuries which he received. He was an artist and frescoer of ability and genius. Mrs. Martha J. (Braddock ) Thompson, the second wife of Samuel Thompson, and mother of Iloward Thomp- son, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., December 6, 1836, and was a daugh- ter of Charles and Maria (Stewart) Braddock, whose ancestry traces back through several generations and claims Gen. J. C Braddock as : member of the family. Mrs. Thompson resides in Seneca.
Howard Thompson was fourteen years of age when he settled in Nemaha county in April, 1879. 'He attended the Seneca public school one winter while making his home with Judge R. M. Emery. In 1881 he removed to Hiawatha, Kans., and became a member of the staff of the "Kansas Herald," remaining there until 1883. He then took up the study of law in the office of Judge Emery and was admitted to the bar in March, 1887. He practiced law in partnership with Judge Emery until 1890. During nine months of this time, however, he edited the "Courier-Democrat" in Seneca. In 1890 he went west to Denver, Colo .. and worked at the printer's trade at Denver and Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Canon City until November, 1891. Then he returned to Kansas City and served as printer in that city and as a legislative clerk of the State Assembly at Topeka. From Topeka he went South and worked as a journeyman printer in Texas and Arkansas for some time. He then returned to Seneca and resumed his law practice until 1895. when he took charge of a quarter section of his father-in-law's land, which is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Thompson. The Thompson farm consists of 200 acres of land in Richmond township and 160 acres of land in Graham county. The land in Graham county has been sold recently. however, and in 1914 Mr. and Mrs. Thompson erected a large eight-room mansion at a cost of over $6,000. This beautiful residence is two stories in height, with a basement, fitted with water plant, sewerage, acetylene lights, and all conveniences and is finished throughout with the most beautiful hardwood.
The barn on this place has been built for forty years and was erected with white pine lumber, painted red, and is in first class condition. When Richard Johnson built his barn and the floor was all laid, in- vitations were sent out to all the countryside for the people to come to a big barn dance. Over 400 people attended, and a general good time was had by everybody. Mr. Thompson is a breeder of Ayrshire cattle and is meeting with success in this special line.
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Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Lydia M. Johnson, December 30, 1886, and to this union have been born three children, as follows: Mrs. Inez Robertson, Kansas City, Mo., mother of one child, Beryl; Richard S., born April 19, 1890. One child died in infancy. Mrs Robert- son was born December 6, 1887, and graduated from Seneca High School. Mrs. Thompson was born on a farm in Nemaha township, February 6, 1867, and is a daughter of Richard Johnson, deceased. (See biography of Irwin Johnson for data concerning the Johnson family).
Mr. Thompson is a Progressive in politics, and served as secretary of the Seneca Board of Education, and for the past twelve years has been secretary of school district No. 15, Richmond township.
Christian H. Steinmeir .- Those veterans who fought through the dark years of the early sixties, are passing away one by one. Before many years, the men who risked their lives to save the Union will not be living to tell the story of those terrible years. Christian H. Stein- meir, hale and hearty in his old age, retains clear and vivid memories of many interesting incidents of the Civil war in which he fought. He campaigned through cold winters and hot summers, marching all day long, and dug entrenchments at night or walking solitary picket duty.
At the time of the opening of the war, Mr. Steinmeir was twenty years old, having been born June 21, 1841, in Hancock county, Indiana. To his parents, Christ and Christena (Schildmeir) Steinmeir, four chil- dren were born. By a later marriage, the father became the parent of another child. Mr. Steinmeir comes of pure old German stock, his fa- ther having been born in Prussia, in the German Empire, about 1820. Leaving Germany at the age of thirteen, Christ and his father came to America, settling in Hancock county, Indiana, to engage in farming. One day, he became interested in Mexico, and leaving his wife and fam- ily, set out for old Mexico with a couple of thoroughbred horses in 1885. While in old Mexico, he sold the horses, receiving payment in gold, but was killed and robbed, shortly afterward, by ruffians near Monterey.
The mother of Christian Steinmeir came to America at the age of thirteen years and settled in Hancock county, Indiana. She died in 1852, at the age of twenty-eight years. By a second marriage, Christ be- came the father of one child, Sophia, who grew to womanhood and mar- ried a Mr. Richmond.
Christian Steinmeir was reared in Hancock county, Indiana, and attended school there and worked on his father's farm. Christian went regularly to school until the first call for volunteers was sent out by President Lincoln, July 20, 1861. Christian rose to the first call for 300,000 men and offered himself to his country. His father, though born under another flag, was a loyal citizen and approved heartily of his son's patriotism, and though Christian was only a- mere lad of twenty, his father consented to his going to war. He enlisted in Company F, Eleventh Indiana infantry, and after preliminary drilling, his company
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was rushed to the front and put into action at the historic battle of Fort Donelson, in Tennessee. He was under the command of Gen. Lew Wal- lace, then colonel of the Eleventh regiment, and fought bravely in this battle, which was the first real victory for the North. During the fight- ing he was struck on the small of the back with a piece of shell, but fortunately was only slightly injured, and after a short time in the camp hospital he was back on the firing line. Soon the regiment moved on to Shiloh, where the Confederate forces were again defeated. On the raid between Hollow Springs and Jackson, Miss., lighter fighting took place and the invaders succeeded in tearing up the railroad tracks and destroying the lines of communication between the two points. They were forced to cross the Mississippi river below Grand Gulf, April 30, 1863. The night before the next battle they marched until II o'clock, when they were fired upon, and after a short skirmish, they rested until daybreak, when the battle proper took place at Fort Gibson, when Chris- tian's company was under the general command of General Hovey, with Gen. John McLernon as corps commander. May 16, 1863, General Grant moved on Pemberton's forces at Champion Hills, and after a bitter fight, in which forty per cent. of the Indiana soldiers were lost, the North was victorious. He went through the siege of Vicksburg, when Grant hemmed General Pemberton in the city, and Pemberton surrendered. For some time his command was guarding the Red river country. The Eastern campaign began under the direction of General Grant, and Christian's company went from New Orleans to Virginia, and were stationed at Washington, D. C., and Harper's Ferry and marched through the Shenandoah valley. After fighting his last battle at Hall- town, Va., in 1864, his service was over and he was mustered out at Harper's Ferry, September 8, 1864.
In October, 1864, he came to Nemaha county, Kansas, arriving at his father's farm,, three and a half miles north of Seneca, by way of the old Atchison stage coach line. The previous spring his father and two sons had come to the locality. They farmed together for some time. The Western land had to be broken up and put in shape for cultivation, and improvements were badly needed. Christian set himself to accomplish- ing these, working just as hard and faithfully as he could. True to his German instinct for thrift and industry, he farmed steadily until 1909, when he retired. At the present time a large and excellent farm of 400 acres, two city lots and a fine residence attest his thrifty career.
He was married to Christena H. Koch, at the Koch home, near St. Benedict, Kans., in 1867. Mrs. Steinmeir was born in Germany, Au- gust 17, 1848, and was a daughter of John and Mary Koch, who settled in Wisconsin after coming to America. In 1857 the Koch family moved to Nemaha county, Kansas.
Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Steinmeir, as follows: Mrs. Anna Burger, Nemaha county, Kansas ; Benjamin, de- ceased ; John, deceased ; William, a carpenter for the Grand Island rail-
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road; Edward, deceased; Christian, farmer, Nemaha county, Kansas ; Walter, deceased; Louis, farmer, Nemaha county; George, Nemaha county ; Mrs. Mary Fuller, Seneca, Kans; Esther, living at home.
Mr. Steinmeir is an independent politically and votes according to the dictates of his conscience. He has held minor offices, and has been a member of the school board. He was reared in the Lutheran faith and still retains his affiliation and regard for that creed. Very naturally, he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and takes delight in rehearsing the momentous events of the great war with his old com- rades. He has never been a party to a lawsuit during his long life.
Ira Holsapple, prosperous farmer of Illinois township, was born on a pioneer farm in Holt county, Missouri, November 21, 1863. He is a son of Andrew L. and Anna (Higginbottom) Holsapple, who were par- ents of ten children, seven of whom are living. Andrew L. Holsapple was born in West Virginia (then Old Virginia), July 4, 1825, and was a son of John Holsapple, who was born in New York State, and was a son of Philip Holsapple, a native of Germany. John Holsapple married Miss Virginia Campbell, whose parents were natives of Scotland. John Holsapple was a soldier in the War of 1812. A report from the adjutant general's office in the United States War Department gives the following record of John Holsapple : "The records of this office show that one John Holsapple served in the War of 1812 as an ensign in Lieut. James Steel's company of infantry, Fifth Virginia Militia, from September 13 to Octo- ber 9, 1813, and in Capt. Julian Magagnos' company of infantry of the line, same regiment, from October 8, 1813, to March 10, 1814. This regi- ment is shown to have been stationed at Norfolk, Va.
"The records also show that one John Holsapple served in said war as a private in Capt. Benjamin Lesher's company of infantry First (Ken- nedy's) regiment Pennsylvania militia, from September 3 to December 5, 1814. His residence is shown to have been in Lebanon county, the place of rendezvous at York, and he is shown to have been discharged at Baltimore.
"It is further shown that one John Holsapple served in the war men- tioned as a private and corporal in Capt. Solomon Taylor's company of infantry, from Greenbrier county, also known as Capt. James Robinson's company, Second (Evans') regiment Virginia militia, from September 19, 1812, to April 1, 1813 .- Adjutant General's Office, War Department, February 25, 1916. H. T. McLain, the Adjutant General."
Ira Holsapple's mother was born in Monroe county, Virginia, July 4, 1827, and died June 19, 1908. Andrew Holsapple came to Nemaha county, Kansas, in 1885, and farmed in Illinois township until his demise, which occurred December 19, 1899. He was a true pioneer and drove from his old home in Virginia to Missouri in a covered wagon and re- peated this method of overland transportation when he moved to Nemaha county, Kansas.
When the Mexican war began, in 1848, Andrew Holsapple assisted
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in organizing a company of Virginia militia for service against Mexico and was elected captain of the company. This company, however, was not called upon for active service during the war. While Mr. Holsapple was a resident of Holt county, Missouri, he was drafted into the Union army, and while at St. Joseph, Mo., waiting to be mustered into the Union service, he was discharged and sent home. He was a miller and a farmer in Virginia.
The children of Andrew Holsapple are as follows: John C. and An- drew Nelson, deceased; Jennie, wife of Charles Payne, Corning. Kans .; Mrs. Helen Hitchcock, Nodaway county, Missouri; Mrs. Lucy Payne, Corning, Kans .; Ira A. and George ; William O., Oakwood, Okla .; Lewis T., Putnam, Okla., and James, deceased.
Ira and George Holsapple came into possession of the Holsapple estate, consisting of a quarter section of land, upon the death of their mother. Ira Holsapple makes his home upon the Irwin home place of 160 acres, the southeast quarter of section 8. He maintains a grade herd of Shorthorn cattle and keeps Duroc Jersey swine. Ite is also owner of the northeast quarter of section 28 in Illinois township, upon which he has made excellent improvements from time to time.
Mr. Holsapple was married in 1908 to Miss Elsie Irwin, who was born in Illinois township, in December, 1868, and is a daughter of John Irwin, a Kansas pioneer. John Irwin was born in Orange county, N. Y., April 26, 1843, and moved to Michigan with his parents in 1847. He en- listed in 1862 as a member of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry regiment and served with the Army of the Potomac. He fought in the Shenandoah and the trans-Mississippi campaigns under Generals Custer, Kilpatrick, Mu- ret and Sheridan, and was in thirty-six general engagements, among them being Winchester, Cedar Creek and Appomattox. His command crossed the plains in order to assist in quelling an Indian uprising and passed through Seneca, Kans., in July, 1865. He received his final dis- charge from the service at Ft. Leavenworth. November, 1865. Mr. Ir- win came to Centralia, Kans., in December, 1865, and bought the south- east quarter of section 8, in Illinois township. Since that time he has fought drouth, grasshoppers, and other evils, but still loves Nemaha county and Kansas.
Mr. Irwin was married to Priscilla Sams, who was born September 14, 1842, and died May 1, 1913. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Irwin: Mrs. Elsie R. Holsapple; Mrs. Leora Pierce, Cen- tralia, Kans .; James, a journalist, deceased ; Prue M. Williams, Lincoln. Neb. Mr. Irwin is a Democrat and a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and is religiously affiliated with the Methodist Epis- pocal church.
Mr. Holsapple is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Modern Woodmen. He and Mrs. Holsapple are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mrs. Holsapple is affiliated with the Order of Eastern Star.
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Posey W. Cox .- There must be considerable satisfaction in having lived a half century and more on the plains of Kansas and seen a great State and empire in the making; this satisfaction must be doubly great to the mind of the real, old settler, who has reared his family in the midst of this empire building and taken an active and important part in the making of a great county such as Nemaha. Many of the Kansas pioneers were of the good old Buckeye stock, in whose veins flow the best of American blood, and who were natural frontiersmen ever seeking the better and richer lands just beyond where they were born and reared. Eighty years ago, or even more, the father of Posey W. Cox, Nemaha county pioneer, left his Ohio home and made a settlement in Buchanan county, Missouri, at a time when there were but few settlers in that county. He probably settled in that section of Missouri some years be- fore the great influx of Southern emigrants from Kentucky and the Virginias came to make permanent homes in Buchanan county and brought along their human chattels to till the fields in the new country. It is evident that the elder Cox's sympathies were strictly of the anti- slavery order, because we find that during the second year of the Civil war he removed across the Big Muddy to Doniphan county, and his son, Posey, joined the Union army and fought in defense of the Union.
John H. Cox, father of Posey W., was born in Ohio, in 1811, and became a carpenter and mechanic in his younger days. He was a cabinet maker and a millwright, familiar with the building of water mills. He farmed in a desultory sort of way, but left the greater part of the farm work to his family even after coming to Missouri and later to Kansas.
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