USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 11
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Mrs. Richhart's father, William Cochran, was born in Ireland on Feb- ruary 22, 1812, and when seven years of age came to America with his parents and his sisters, Elizabeth and Jane, who settled near Jamestown. in Mercer county, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Cochran married Samuel Porter and Jane married Alexander McElhanney, the two families making their homes near the home farm, remaining there the rest of their lives. They were devout members of the Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter) church. There William Cochran grew to manhood and in 1843, at Slippery Rock. Pennsylvania, married Margaret Wilson, who was born in 1820, daughter
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of Thomas and Margaret (\dams ) Wilson, the former of whom died on August 14, 1862, and the latter September 26, 1865. Thomas Wilson was the son of Ezekiel and Jane Wilson, who came to America from Scotland and settled near Newcastle. Pennsylvania, where their last days were spent. They also were earnest members of the Reformed Presbyterian church. To William Cochran and wife nine children were born, Nancy Ann ( deceased). Samuel R., Margaret S., Thomas Wilson, David H. (deceased ), William R., Mary J. (wife of Mr. Richhart ), Elizabeth Porter and Allen.
FRED W. COOTER.
Fred W. Cooter, president of the State Exchange Bank of Hutchin- son, is a native son of Kansas and has lived in this state all his life. Though not born in Reno county, he has lived here since his early infancy and has never known another home, being therefore, very properly regarded as one of the real sons of Reno. He was born in Leavenworth, this state. Septem- ber 12, 1872, son of George W. and. Elizabeth ( Hartford) Cooter. the for- mer of whom, now living retired in Hutchinson, was former treasurer of this county and for many years one of its most prominent and influential citizens. In a biographical sketch relating to the elder Cooter, presented elsewhere in this volume, there is set out a comprehensive history of the Cooter family in this county, to which the reader is respectfully referred in this connection for details regarding the genealogy of the subject of this biographical review.
Fred W. Cooter was but one year old when his parents moved to Reno county and became homesteaders in Little River township, they being among the very earliest settlers and pioneers in that section of the county. He was reared on the homestead farm and received his education in the public schools and a business college course, between terms of school, taking his full part in the labor of developing the home place. When his father was elected county treasurer, in 1891, he moved with him to Hutchinson and served as deputy treasurer during the two terms in that office filled by the elder Cooter, and thereafter served two years as deputy treasurer under W. E. Burns, his father's successor. In 1898 Mr. Cooter was made assistant cashier of the State Exchange Bank of Hutchinson, and presently was elected cashier of that institution, serving in that capacity until his election to the presidency of the bank in October. 1913, since which time he has
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devoted his best energies to the success and development of that excellent financial institution. Mr. Cooter is an energetic, enterprising and public- spirited man of affairs and holds a high position in the commercial and financial life of the community.
In 1895 Fred W. Cooter was united in marriage to Myrtle Sympson. Both are members of the Episcopal church and both he and his wife are deeply interested in all measures designed to advance the general, moral and social interests of the community and take an interested part in local good works. Mr. Cooter is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that organization and is chair- man of the finance committee of the Grand Lodge. He has served as a member of the board of education of Hutchinson.
JACOB A. YOUNG.
Jacob A. Young, a well-known pioneer farmer of Roscoe township, this county, and an honored veteran of the Civil War, is a native of the great Keystone state, having been born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. February 4, 1845, son of John and Harriet (Rudy) Young, both natives of that same county, the former of whom was the son of John Young, a native of Germany, who settled in Miflin county upon coming to this country and there established the family.
The younger John Young was reared in Miflin county, was married there and there he continued to make his home until 1864, in which year he came West and settled in Cedar county, lowa, where he lived on a rented farm until 1877, when he came to this county and joined his son. Jacob A., the subject of this sketch, who had located here three years before, and here he died three years later, in 1880. He was a Republican and he and his wife were members of the Dunkard church, in which faith they reared their children. twelve in number, Jacob A., Lewis, Daniel, Amanda, Noah, Adamı, John, Alison, James, Abigail, Ellen and Elizabeth, all of whom are still living save Lewis, Daniel, Elizabeth and Alison.
Jacob AA. Young was reared on the home farm in Miflin county, Penn- sylvania, receiving his education in the neighboring district school, and in 1862, he then being but seventeen years of age, enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil War, in Company I, Twelfth Pennsylvania Reserve, and while thus connected participated in the seven-days battle before
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Richmond. He then was stricken with typhoid fever and upon his recovery was discharged on a physician's certificate of disability. Later he re-enlisted and, as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regi- ment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, served until the close of the war, during which service he was with Sherman to the sea. Upon the conclusion of his military service, Mr. Young rejoined his parents, who had meanwhile moved to Iowa, and in that state, in 1870, married Sarah E. Hagarty, daugh- ter of S. K. Hagarty and wife, and in 1874 came to Kansas with his wife and two children, entered a soldier's claim to a tract of land in Roscoe town- ship, this county, established his home there and has ever since resided on that homestead, he and his wife long having been regarded as among the leading pioneer residents of that part of the county. To his original home- stead, Mr. Young has added by purchase until he now is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres and is looked upon as a very substantial citizen. He has taken an active part in local politics and has served as trustee, clerk and treasurer of Roscoe township.
To Jacob A. and Sarah E. (Hagarty) Young nine children have been born, as follow: S. E., Albert, of Iowa; J. P., Rebecca, of Wichita; Rose- mary, also of Wichita; Della, Pearl, of Wichita, who for two years served as assistant to the probate judge; Elizabeth and Helen, all of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Young and their family are members of the Presby- terian church at Pretty Prairie and are active in the work of that church. Mr. Young is an Odd Fellow, and both he and his wife are active members of the Daughters of Rebekah, in the affairs of which organization they · take a warm interest.
FREDERICK HIRST.
Frederick Hirst, trustee of Center township, this county, and one of the best-known farmers of the Partridge neighborhood, is a native of Wis- consin, having been born in the town of Darlington, that state, August 24, 1868, son of George and Elizabeth (Bilbrough) Hirst, both of whom were born in the city of Leeds, England, the former on June 21, 1825, and the latter May 19, 1828.
George Hirst was trained to the cabinet-maker's trade in his native city and also obtained a fine practical knowledge of the photographer's art. He married in 1855 and he and his wife at once came to the United States, settling at Janesville, Wisconsin. There Mr. Hirst engaged in the cabinet-
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making business and made his home there for several years, at the end of which time he moved to Darlington, Wisconsin, and established a photograph gallery, which he operated until 1872, in the spring of which year he came to this county and opened a photograph gallery in the promising village of Hutchinson, then but a year or two old. The next spring he brought his family here from Wisconsin and in that same year homesteaded the south- east quarter of section 6. in Lincoln township, this county. The next year, 1874. he established his home on the homestead tract and was living there when the grasshopper plague swept over this section, the voracious insects eating the siding off his house. In 1878 George Hirst turned the photo-
graph gallery in Hutchinson over to his eldest son, George, and thereafter devoted his whole time to his farm, spending the rest of his life there. He and his wife were Episcopalians in their religious persuasion, but during their residence in this county were not affiliated with any local church. Mr. Hirst was a Democrat and for several years served as justice of the peace in and for Lincoln township. He died on July 25, 1898, and his widow sur- vived him for sixteen years, her death occurring on September 25, 1914. They were the parents of seven children, namely: Hannah, now deceased, who married John Eaton; George, Jr., a well-known farmer of Lincoln township, who died in the fall of 1915 and a memorial sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; Lida, who married George A. Wood- ward and died in 1885: Mary Ann, who died in childhood; Samuel, of Hutchinson, who for years operated Hirst's photographic studio in that city and who is now a traveling salesman for a photograph supply house ; Frederick, the subject of this sketch, and William, a farmer of Lincoln town- ship, a sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume.
Frederick Hirst was five years old when his parents moved to Hutchin- son from Wisconsin in 1873. The next year the family moved to the homestead farm in Lincoln township and there he grew to manhood, receiv- ing his education in the district school in the neighborhood of the home farm and assisting in the development of the homestead until his marriage, in 1804. Four years before his marriage he had bought the south half of the southeast quarter of section 5. in Lincoln township, and after his mar- riage established his home on that place. A year later, however, he sold that farm and bought the southeast quarter of section II, in Center town- ship, where he ever since has made his home and where he is very pleasantly situated, the excellent farm house and other improvements on the place bespeaking the progressive character of the owner's farming methods. In 1914 Mr. Hirst bought eighty acres of his father's old place in Lincoln
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township and is also the owner of a one-third interest in a three-hundred- and-twenty-acre tract of pasture land, the west half of section 31 in Troy township. Mr. Hirst is a Democrat and is at present serving as trustee of Center township and as school director for eighteen years, giving his most thoughtful attention to the administration of the affairs of that important office. He is a member of the local lodge of the Modern Woodmen and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that organization.
On March 1, 1894, Frederick Hirst was united in marriage to Lucy Walter, who was born in Reno township, this county. December 16. 1873. daughter of Christopher and Eva ( Lohr) Walter, both now deceased, who were pioneers of that section of the county, having homesteaded the south- east quarter of section 30 in Reno township in 1872, thus having been among the very earliest settlers of Reno county, and to this union four children have been born, as follow: George Walter, born on July 15. 1896. now attending an automobile school in Kansas City, Missouri; Bert Harvey, July 25, 1898, .who is attending the high school at Partridge: Eva Marie. April 16, 1907, and Frederick, Jr., November 30, 1914.
WILLIAM F. CARSON.
William F. Carson, a well-known farmer of Valley township, this county. an honored veteran of the Civil War and a pioneer settler of Reno county. is a native of Ohio, having been born on a farm in Brown county, that state. September 24, 1840, son of William G. and Elizabeth (Finley) Carson. both natives of that same state, the former of whom was born in Ross county and the latter in Brown county.
William G. Carson was reared on a farm in Ross county and upon reaching manhood's estate rented a farm there, after his marriage, and lived there until 1856, when he and his family drove through to Woodford county, Illinois, where he rented a farm and made his home. His wife died there in 1860, at the age of forty-two years, and in 1868 he went to Adams county, Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1892, at the age of eighty-four years. He was a Republican and he and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian church, in the rigid tenets of which faith their children were reared. There were ten of these children. . namely: Mrs. Margaret Parker, now living in Nebraska; William F., the subject of this biographical sketch: Mary, unmarried, who is making her
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home with her brother-in-law in Iowa; Samuel. who lives in Idaho; Jane, now deceased. who married James Ramsey; Wilson, who died in California in 1915: Sarah, who died in her early girlhood; James, a Nebraska farmer; Ebenezer, who was last heard from in Alaska, and Cyrus, who died in infancy.
William F. Carson was about sixteen years old when he moved with his parents to Illinois, and he finished his schooling in the latter state. On August 13. 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Seventy-seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served with that regiment until the close of the Civil War, being mustered out at Mobile, Alabama, July 10, 1865. Mr. Carson participated in all the activities of his regiment up to the day of the great charge during the siege of Vicksburg, at which time he was captured by the enemy, May 22, 1863. The next day he was paroled and he at once returned home on parole, where he remained until August 28, on which day he reported at the parole camp at Benton Barracks. In Novem- ber. 1863, he was exchanged and at once rejoined his regiment, then at Brady City. Following the Red River campaign the Seventy-seventh Illi- nois was sent to New Orleans for garrison duty, after which it was sent on to Mobile, in the siege and capture of which city it took a prominent part, and after participating in the reduction of Spanish Fort and Ft. Blakeley returned to Mobile, where it was mustered out.
Upon the conclusion of his military service, Mr. Carson returned to Illinois and began farming on his own account. He married in 1867. bought a farm, which he presently increased by further purchase and there made his home until he came to Kansas early in the spring of 1878. He disposed of his interests in Illinois and on March II, 1878, chartered a car in which to transport his belongings and came to this county, his destination being Hutchinson. After looking about a bit he bought an eighty-acre tract in section 30. Valley township, and there established his home in a one-room house, which served as a dwelling until he later erected a more comfortable dwelling. There he lived for six years, at the end of which time. in 1884. he bought another "eighty" in the same section and moved onto the latter, where he still makes his home and where he and his wife are very pleasantly and comfortably situated. Mr. Carson was a Republican until the forma- tion of the Progressive party in 1912, since which time he has favored the latter party. In 1894 he was elected justice of the peace for Valley town- ship for two years. He is an active member of Joe Hooker Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Hutchinson, and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that patriotic organization.
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On December 25, 1867, by Rev. J., W. West, William F. Carson was united in marriage to Phoebe J. Baird, who was born on August II. 1840, in Brown county, Ohio, Mrs. Carson's native county, but who was not acquainted with him until she moved to Illinois with her parents, Harvey and Margaret ( Kirkpatrick) Baird, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Ohio, who moved to LaSalle county, Illinois, in 1856, and there spent the rest of their lives on a farm. To this union but one child has been born, a daughter, Rachel Jane, who married Pliny Coberly, a well- known farmer of Valley township, and has four children, Clyde. Elsie, Lucile and Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Carson are members of the Valley Pres- byterian church, of which Mr. Carson was for some years a member of the board of trustees.
Mrs. Carson has a cupboard of walnut which was made over sixty years ago in Ohio from walnut lumber taken off her father's farm, her sister also having a table of the same. Mr. Carson has a piece of the flag- staff that was shot off by Farragut at Fort Hinman. He had many narrow escapes, having his canteen pierced by bullets, also his tin cup on two occa- sions. The Carsons burned corn stalks the first two winters to keep warm.
ARTHUR H. SUTER.
Arthur H. Suter, cashier of the Commercial National Bank of Hutch- inson, and one of the best-known and most prominent figures in financial circles hereabout, is a native of Missouri, born at Palmyra, in Marion county, that state, May 18, 1877, son of Thomas J. and Elizabeth (Gash) Suter, both natives of Missouri, the former born in 1846 and the latter in 1853.
For three generations the Suter family has been engaged in the bank- ing business. Thomas J. Suter's father. Verdner Suter, aided in the organi- zation of the Marion County Savings Bank, and for years was president of the bank, acting in that capacity until his death. In his early youth, Thomas J. Suter became vice president of the above named bank, and ever since has been connected with that institution. His wife died in 1912, at the age of fifty-nine. They were the parents of two sons, the subject of this sketch having a brother. Ira T. Suter, still living at Palmyra, Missouri.
Arthur H. Suter received his early education in the schools of Palmyra. Missouri, and when but a boy started to work in the bank with which his
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father was connected. He was first employed as a collector, later was made bookkeeper, and was advanced to the position of assistant cashier, all the time giving his most studious attention to the technical details of the bank- ing business, and thus acquiring a broad general knowledge of the business.
In pursuit of wider experience in the vocation to which he had devoted his life and his energies he went to St. Louis, where for several years he was connected with the' Mechanics National Bank of that city. In . 1902 Mr. Suter organized the Farmers and Traders Bank at Hardin, Ray county, Missouri, an institution with a capital and surplus of fifty thousand dollars. and for three years was cashier of the same. He then sold his interests in . that bank and came to Kansas, locating at Hutchinson, where, with others, he organized the Hutchinson Building and Loan Association, and was made secretary of that institution. On July 1, 1908, Mr. Suter was elected cash- ier of the Commercial National Bank of Hutchinson, and ever since has occupied that position, giving his whole attention to the duties of the same, being recognized as a conservative banker of ability. The Commercial National Bank of Hutchinson was opened for business on November 20, 1906, and is regarded as one of the best established and most substantial financial concerns in this part of the state, and Mr. Suter is one of the repre- sentative stockholders in this institution. While devoting his undivided attention to banking. Mr. Suter has also taken a keen interest in farming and stock raising, and is the owner of twelve hundred acres of good farm land in Comanche and Haskell counties, this state. He is also the owner of valuable down-town business properties in Hutchinson.
In 1902 Arthur H. Suter was married to Ottie H. Heather, who also was born at Palmyra, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Suter are members of the Christian church and take an earnest interest in the general work of the same, as well as in all good works hereabout. Fraternally, Mr. Suter is a Mason, taking an active interest in the work of that order.
HARRY H. TAYLOR.
Harry H. Taylor, of the Taylor Motor Company, Hutchinson, this county, official pilot and chief promoter of the "Santa Fe Trail" and one of the best-known automobile men in the state of Kansas, is a Hoosier, having been born in Clark county. Indiana, not far from the banks of the Ohio river, February 5. 1869, son of S. D. and Priscilla (Monroe) Taylor.
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S. D. Taylor was a farmer and in 1871 moved from Indiana to Illinois. He bought a large farm in Jasper county, that state, and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1905. His widow is now making her home with her children in Chicago.
Harry H. Taylor was but two years old when his parents moved from Indiana to Illinois, and he was reared on the paternal farm in the latter state, receiving his education in the public schools in the neighborhood of his home. In 1888, at the age of nineteen years, he came to Kansas and located at Hutchinson. He engaged in newspaper work and for one year was employed in the office of the Hutchinson Democrat. In 1890 he began working in the office of the Hutchinson Daily News, R. M. Easley, editor, and remained with that newspaper for several years, first as mailing clerk, then as bookkeeper and then as manager of the office-supplies department. In 1909 Mr. Taylor began a study of the possibilities presented by the auto- mobile business and organized a company, known as the Taylor Motor Company, the other stockholders being W. Y. Morgan, L. A. Bunker, E. T. Guymon and Dr. H. G. Welsh. This company secured the local agency for the sale of the Ford automobile and established a garage and general repair and supply and service station at III-II9 Sherman avenue, east, and Mr. Taylor is still located there, having made a great success of the business. He long ago bought the stock held in the concern by his associates and is now the sole owner of a very prosperous and growing business. The first year he was engaged in business, 1909, his company sold nine automobiles. In 1914 he sold eight hundred and seventeen cars and now employs a force of twenty-six men in his place. He is also interested in several real-estate companies and is one of the directors of the Hutchinson Daily News Com- pany.
Mr. Taylor has been looked upon as one of the leading automobile men of Kansas for years. The good roads movement has been one of his chief concerns and he was one of the most active leaders in promoting the same throughout the state, having been the official pilot of the new "Santa Fe Trail" ever since the creation of that modern highway over the ancient trail. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Kansas City Automobile Club and of the Hutchinson Country Club. He is a Republican and for years has been actively interested in local politics, but has never been an aspirant for public office.
On September 24, 1895, Harry H. Taylor was united in marriage to Dora Reddersen, who was born in Ohio, daughter' of William and Augusta (Groschmer) Reddersen, the former of whom is a retail shoe merchant, and
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to this union has been born one child, a daughter, Dorothy, born in 1896, who was graduated at Dana Hall, Wellesley, Massachusetts, in June. 1915. Mr. Taylor is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the consistory and of the Mystic Shrine at Wichita, and is also an Elk.
PIERCE C. ROBERTS.
Pierce C. Roberts, a well-known and well-to-do retired farmer of Valley township, this county, who for years has made his home in Hutchinson, where he and his family are very pleasantly situated, is a native of Kentucky, born on a farm in Nelson county, that state, August 18, 1856, son and only child of John W. and Margaret ( Weekly) Roberts, both natives of that same state, the former of whom died in Nelson county in 1862. In 1865 his widow married, secondly, Lee G. Bruner, with whom she moved in that same year to Martin county, Indiana, where she lived until her death, March 21, 1916, at a ripe old age.
Pierce C. Roberts was but six years old when his father died and was about nine when he moved with his mother and his stepfather to Martin county, Indiana, where he continued his schooling in the local schools. He was reared a farmer and after his marriage in the fall of 1882 to a neighbor girl continued farming in Martin county until in March of 1888, when he and his wife and their two young sons came to Kansas, where they ever since have resided. Upon coming to this state Mr. Roberts bought a quarter of a section of land in Byron township, Stafford county, where he lived for thirteen years, at the end of which time he sold that place to advantage and came over into Reno county. He bought the west half of section 25, in Valley township, which he still owns, and which he has developed into a very fine piece of property. After a residence of three years on that farm Mr. Roberts retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Hutch- inson, where he has lived ever since. Upon moving to Hutchinson Mr. Roberts bought the residence at 1100 North Main street, which he still owns and where he and his family made their home until in 1915, when he built his present residence at 14 Eleventh avenue, east, where he and his family are very comfortably situated. Since locating in Hutchinson, Mr. Roberts has taken an active part in public affairs and for more than eight years has served as a deputy city assessor. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that organiza- tion, as does Mrs. Roberts, who is a member of the Daughters of Rebekah.
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