USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 32
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Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Akin returned to his home in Kentucky and in the fall of 1865 was married. For six years thereafter he was engaged in farming and then, feeling strong within him the call to the gospel ministry, entered Ayers Academy in Madison county. Kentucky, and prepared for the ministry. Following his ordination to service in the Methodist Episcopal church he entered the itinerant ministry
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in February 26, 1872, and has ever since been actively engaged in the service of the church. Doctor Akin recalls that for his first year's service he received one hundred and seventy-five dollars, mainly in supplies of one kind and another. He remained in the Kentucky conference, pastor of churches at Vanceburg and at Covington, until the fall of 1880, when he was transferred to the Kansas conference and ever since has labored in behalf of Methodism in this state, a period of more than thirty-five years, his whole period of consecutive and effective service on behalf of the church being now more than forty-four years, during which time his yearly salary has averaged one thousand two hundred and ninety-four dollars. During his period of service in this state Doctor Akin has been pastor of churches at McPherson, Eldorado, Hutchinson (First church), Wichita (Emporia avenue ). Arkansas City, Lyons, Peabody, Marion and Sterling. In 1905 he received the appointment as district superintendent of the McPherson district of the Southwest Kansas conference, in which position he served for four years, at the end of which time he was appointed superintendent of the Hutchinson district, which position he holds at this date. During this period of superintendency Doctor Akin has raised in behalf of foreign missions the sum of more than two hundred thousand dollars, exclusive of the amounts raised by various local women's home and foreign mission societies. He hies fifty churches under his supervision, to each one of which he makes quarterly visits, besides such incidental calls as become necessary from time to time.
Doctor Akin's honorary title of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the American University, Harriman, Tennessee, May 21, 1902. He is a Freemason and a Knight Templar and a member of the Peabody post of the Grand Army of the Republic and at one time served as chaplain of the Department of Kansas of that patriotic organization. He is a Repub- lican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to political affairs. He owns a handsome home at 7711 Avenue A, East, in Hutchinson, besides other valuable residence property in that city; a quarter of a section of land in McPherson county, this state; real estate in Lewis, Kansas, and Manitou, Colorado, and some land and town lots in Zephyr Hills and St. Cloud. Florida.
On October 24, 1865. Dudley D. Akin was united in marriage, in Jessamine county, Kentucky, to Sarah E. Sagerser, who was born in that county in 1845, daughter of Henry Sagerser and wife, and to this union seven children were born, namely: Josephine, who married the Rev. E. J
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Harper, an Episcopal minister at St. Catherines, Canada; James, a book- keeper at Arkansas City, this state; Dudley H., a plumber and electrician at Sacaton, Arizona; Merrill, a building contractor at Shawnee, Oklahoma; Elizabeth, who married Ross Day and lives at Claremont, California; Amos S., a teacher of penmanship at San Diego, California, and John T., a student. The mother of these children died at Peabody, Kansas, February 6, 1900, and on February 16, 1901, Doctor Akin married, secondly, Mrs. Belle ( Sanders) Randall, widow of the Rev. Mr. Randall, a Methodist minister, which union was without issue. Mrs. Belle Akin, who was born at Martins- burg, Ohio, January 22, 1853, died at Hutchinson, this county, September 26 1915. At the annual conference held in Wichita, March 8, 1916, Doctor Akin was granted the retired relation at his own request.
WILLIAM MUELLER. JR.
William Mueller, Jr., one of the most extensive landowners and wealthy farmers in this county, being the owner of more than thirteen hundred acres, and who also acts as manager for the large estate of his father, the latter of whom is the owner of twelve hundred acres of choice land in this county. is a native of Illinois, having been born on a farm in Will county, that state, January 14, 1874. son of William and Christina (Besta) Mueller, both natives of Germany, the former born in Brunswick and the latter in Wal- deck, who later became pioneers of this county and are still living on their fine estate in Haven township.
William Mueller was born in 1841 and grew up on a small farm in Germany. When he was twenty-five years old he and his brother, Chris- tian, emigrated to the United States and settled in Will county, Illinois, where they found employment as farm hands. About that time there arrived in that neighborhood a party of German girls who had come to this country under the auspices of an immigration society, among whom was Christian Besta, who secured domestic employment in a farm house nearby the farm where William Mueller was working. Not long thereafter Will- iam Mueller and Christian Besta were married and two or three years later. in 1875, they and their baby son William, and Mr. Mueller's brother, Chris- tian, came to Kansas, locating in Reno county. William Mueller, Sr .. bought the northwest quarter of section 30, in Haven township, and his brother bought an eighty, but the latter presently sold his "eighty" to his
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brother and returned to Will county, Illinois, where he is still living, a quite well-to-do farmer.
It was on that homestead tract, in Haven township, that William Mueller, Sr .. and his wife laid the foundation for their present very sub- stantial fortune. Both were industrious, frugal and willing, working toge- ther to a common end and from the very start of their operations in this county prospered. William Mueller early went in somewhat extensively for cattle raising and his operations in that line also prospered, he soon becoming regarded as one of the most substantial figures in that part of the county. As he prospered he added to his land holdings until he now is the owner of twelve hundred acres of fine land in this county, besides eighty acres of very fine irrigated land in Los Animas county, Colorado. He has erected excellent buildings on his homestead farm in Haven township and there he and his competent helpmate are now living, very comfortably sit- city should be put on a cash basis and a sound financial footing, city orders uated and practically retired from the active duties of the farm, twenty years ago having turned the management of the same over to their only son, William, the immediate subject of this biographical sketch, who, in the meantime had been making as pronounced a success of his farming opera- tions as had his father. William Mueller, Sr., is a Democrat and ever has taken an earnest interest in local political affairs, but has not been included in the office-seeking class. He and his wife are among the leading men- bers of the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church near Haven and he is a stockholder in the Farmers Grain Company at Haven. To him and his wife one other child was born, daughter, Minnie, who married the Rev. Ludwig Brauer, a Lutheran minister living near Herrington, this state.
The junior William Mueller was a babe in arms, about one year old. when his parents came to this county, in 1875. and he may very properly thus be regarded as one of the pioneers of Reno county, though still a comparatively young man. In his boyhood he was inured to hard labor, for his parents were poor then and his assistance was needed in the difficult labors of developing the homestead farm. He attended the Mt. Liberty school, district No. 109, in Haven township, during the winters of his youth and later, when his father began to grow prosperous, was given the advantage of a course in Waller College ( Lutheran) at St. Louis. Mis- souri, which he supplemented by a course in the Southwestern Business College at Wichita, this state. To this he continually added a study of the latest and most approved methods of scientific agriculture and early equipped
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himself for the duties of managing his father's large estate. After his mar- riage, in 1896, the management of the farm was turned over to him and he ever since has had charge of his father's farms, making his home in a very comfortable house not far from the parental home on the old home- stead. In his own affairs he has prospered largely, having gradually added to his personal land holdings until he now is the owner of thirteen hundred and thirty acres of land, including a farm of five hundred and twenty acres in Ford county, this state; a farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Gove county, this state; one hundred and seventy acres near Anness, in Sedgwick county; a quarter section in Clay township, this county, and a quarter section in Haven township. In addition to his general farming he has gone in somewhat extensively for hog raising and does a big business in that line. He owns a couple of fine automobiles and rides around among his farms directing the operation of the same, doing everything on a large scale. Mr. Mueller is backed by sufficient personal capital to enable him to buy large quantities of grain and hold the same for a rise in the market. having realized considerable profit from time to time by such procedure, long having been regarded as one of the most enterprising and energetic farmers and ranchmen in the county.
On July 30, 1896, William Mueller, Jr., was united in marriage to Johanna Meissner, who was born in the province of Holstein, Germany, daughter of Louis and Mary Meissner, who came to the United States when their daughter, Johanna, was eight years old and located in Haven township, this county, where Louis Meissner died in 1893 and where his widow is still living. To Mr. and Mrs. Mueller three children have been born, Meta, born in 1897; Walter, 1899, and Arnold, 1911. They are members of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church and are liberal sup- porters of all worthy causes looking to the advancement of the common welfare hereabout.
C. W. CLAYBAUGH.
C. W. Claybaugh, editor of the Pretty Prairie Times, was born in Trenton, Missouri, March 13, 1876. He is the son of C. M. and Lavina (Turk) Claybaugh. natives of Indiana.
C. M. Claybaugh was for many years a traveling salesman for a nur- sery company and made his home at Trenton, Missouri, until three years before his death, when he removed to Nickerson, Kansas, where he died
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in December. 1913. Mrs. Claybangh died in July, 1911. They were the parents of the following children: Gertie, now deceased, was the wife of C. A. Beck, an artist of New York City; Grace is the wife of J. H. Drake, of Nickerson; Mae married W. H. Wiseman, of Des Moines, Iowa; C. W. is the subject of this sketch; Winnie, deceased, and Bessie, who died at the age of nineteen years. At the age of seventeen, C. M. Claybaugh enlisted in the Union army and served for three months during the Civil War. At his death he was given a military burial at Nickerson.
C. W. Claybaugh received his education in the common and high school of Trenton, Missouri, and soon after completing his education he began working for himself. On June 18, 1899, he was married in New York City to Lenore Travis, a native of Missouri and the daughter of Dr. K. W. Travis, who still resides at Spickards, Missouri.
To Mr. and Mrs. Claybaugh have been born two children: Kelly W., born on July 12. 1901, and Charles W., December 2, 1903. For seven years the family were residents of New York City, where Mr. Claybaugh was engaged in the portrait enlarging business. In 1908 the family re- moved to Missouri, where they remained until 1910, when they again became residents of New York City, where Mr. Claybaugh had a position as operator of a moving picture show and foreman in a printing office on Long Island. After remaining there two years the family became residents of Atlantic. Jowa, where Mr. Claybaugh was foreman in the office of the Daily Telegraph. On July 15, 1913, the family became residents of Pretty Prairie, where Mr. Claybaugh had purchased the Times, which paper had been estab- lished by Percy Torrey on August 15. 1910.
JACOB L. SIEGRIST.
Jacob L. Siegrist, one of Reno county's most progressive and substantial farmers, who has been a resident of this county since the spring of 1876, thus being accounted among the pioneers of the county, is a native of Illinois, having been born on a farm near the town of Tremont, in Tazewell county, that state, on August 1. 1850, son of John and Elizabeth ( Yontz) Siegrist. both born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, their respective families having been represented in that community for more than two hundred years.
John Siegrist was born on January 18, 1823, son of Christian and Hettie
John Siegrist + rife
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Siegrist, members of the Mennonite church and well-to-do farming people of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, both members of old Pennsylvania-Dutch families that had long been resident thereabout. He grew up on the paternal farm and on April 24, 1848, married Elizabeth Yontz, then eighteen years of age, who was born in that same county on February 12, 1831, daughter of Jacob and Fannie Yontz, both of Swiss descent, but whose families had been so long represented in the Lancaster county settlement that they were firmly merged in the common Pennsylvania-Dutch stock there and who were Lutherans in their religious persuasion. Immediately after their marriage John Siegrist and his bride started for the prairies of Illinois, determined to make. for themselves a home in that then remote country. They pro- ceeded by boat from Pittsburgh to St. Louis and thence up the Illinois river to Tazewell county, where John Siegrist bought a quarter section of "Con- gress land" at one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, and there, in the Tremont neighborhood, almost the exact center of the county, they proceeded to make their home. At that time their nearest neighbor was two miles distant and the dread fever and ague which then were so prevalent throughout all that new country for a time made their lives miserable, but they were stout-hearted and gradually overcame the difficulties which confronted them during the pioneer stage of their life there and eventually prospered and had a fine farm, rearing their children amid plenty and comfort; but it was nine- teen years before Mrs. Siegrist was able to make a visit back to her old home in Pennsylvania.
In 1876 John Siegrist's attention began to be attracted to the glowing reports at that time emanating from this favored section of Kansas and he and his eldest son, Jacob L., the subject of this sketch, came to Reno county to look the land over. Mr. Siegrist contracted for four sections of land here, with the expectation of engaging largely in the business of cattle rais- ing, and, leaving his son here, returned to Illinois, where he closed -up his affairs, selling his Tazewell county farm for forty dollars an acre, and he and the other members of his family came to Reno county to establish a new home. Upon arriving here Mr. Siegrist had fifteen thousand dollars avail- able for investment. He changed his mind about buying a great cattle range and, instead, decided to go in for wheat raising. He bought the southwest quarter of section 22, township 23, range 6 west, in Reno township, and a full section of school land in Salt Creek township. In 1877 he built a fine frame house on his Reno township quarter and later bought another quarter section adjoining. His house then was one of the best in this county and is still a fine country home. During the first four years of his residence here
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Mr. Siegrist lost practically all his crops due to the droughts of those years, but presently began to prosper and became one of the most substantial farm- ers in the county. He paid much attention to the raising of hogs and is said to have shipped four of the best carloads of hogs ever sent out of this county. Mr. Siegrist was a strong, robust man and retained his vigor and interest in affairs right up to the closing days of his life, his death occurring on August 15. 1907, at the age of eighty-five years. His widow is still living on the old home place, the farm now being under the management of their eldest son, Jacob L., the subject of this sketch.
To John and Elizabeth (Yontz) Siegrist seven children were born, namely : Jacob L., of whom further mention will be made later; Mary, who married George Spangenberger and lives on a farm in Reno township; Abra- ham, a former well-known Reno township farmer, who died in 1913; George W., a prosperous grain merchant at Whiteside, this county; Hettie, who married William Hodson and lives at Herington, this state; John Henry, who died at the age of six months and two days, and Annie, who married Claud Epperson and lives in Lincoln township, this county.
Jacob Siegrist received his education in the district school in the neigh- borhood of his pioneer home in Tazewell county, Illinois, and being the eldest son was his father's mainstay on the farm. On April 14, 1876, he then being twenty-six years old, he came to this county with his father seek- ing a location. While his father returned home, preparatory to removing to this county, Jacob L. Siegrist remained here, looking over the country, for about a year, at the end of which time he, too, returned to his Illinois home and there, on February 6, 1877, was united in marriage to Libbie A. Biggs, who was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, on February 22, 1853, daughter of John and Serena Biggs, and then returned to this county with his parents and the others of the family when they came here in the early spring of that same year. Upon locating permanently in this county, Mr. Siegrist bought one-fourth of the section of school land which his father had bought in Salt Creek township and there made his home until 1902, in which year he moved to his father's place in Reno township to take the active management of the same, and there he ever since has made his home. During his resi- dence in Salt Creek township he had added to his holdings there by the pur- chase of an eighty-acre tract adjoining and upon moving to Reno township bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres adjoining that place and is therefore quite a well circumstanced landowner. Mr. Siegrist is known as an excellent farmer. He claims to have raised the first acre of alfalfa ever produced on Reno county soil, now one of the county's chief crops, and also
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brought to this county the first large English Berkshire hogs ever brought here. For fourteen years he gave much attention to the breeding of full- blood Berkshires and did very much toward elevating the standard of hog raising hereabout.
To Jacob L. and Libbie A. (Biggs) Siegrist five children were born, as follow : John H., born on November 14, 1877, a valuable assistant to his father on the home farm; Myrtle, November 12, 1879, who married Byron A. Eastman, a well-known farmer of Reno township, a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; Arthur, July 3, 1881, who lives on his father's farm in Salt Creek township; Alpha, June 9, 1887, a Reno township farmer, and Wesley, May 16, 1894, who lives on a farm in Grant township, this county. The mother of these children died on March 22, 1913.
Mr. Siegrist was a Republican but for the past twenty years has been independent, and ever has given a good citizen's attention to political affairs, but never has been a candidate for public office. Since he was twenty-one years old he has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and ever has taken a warm interest in the affairs of that popular fraternal organization.
HON. FRANK L. MARTIN.
The Hon. Frank L. Martin, for years a leader of the bar at Hutchinson, former judge of the district court, twice mayor of the city of Hutchinson and member of the lower house of the Kansas General Assembly, generally . regarded hereabout as one of the best informed and most learned lawyers in this part of Kansas, is a native of Illinois, having been born on a farm in Hancock county, that state, March 15, 1860, son of Gilbert and Eliza- beth (Lee) Martin, both natives of Washington county, Indiana, the former of whom died in 1869 and the latter of whom is still living, being now past eighty years of age.
Gilbert Martin, member of one of the pioneer families of southern Indiana, grew up on a farm in Washington county. that state, and was mar- ried there, shortly after which he moved to Illinois and bought a farm in Hancock county, where he spent the remainder of his life, being engaged in the nursery and live-stock business. In 1863 he volunteered his services as a soldier in the Civil War, enlisting in an Illinois regiment, but was taken ill and three weeks later was honorably discharged on a physician's cer-
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tificate of disability. He was a Whig and later a Republican and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which faith their children were reared. Gilbert Martin died in December, 1869, at the age of thirty-six years, and his widow never remarried. In 1912 she sold her farm in Hancock county, Illinois, and moved to the city of Quincy, same state, where she is now living in a ripe old age. The Widow Martin was born in Washington county, Indiana, in 1835, daughter of Richard Henry Lee and wife, Virginians, and early settlers in southern Indiana, the former of whom was a member of the famous Lee family of Virginia. Gilbert Martin and wife were the parents of seven children, namely: Mrs. Emma Crawford, who lives at West Point, Illinois: Frank L., the immediate sub- ject of this biographical sketch: Gilbert L. and Granderson, twins, the former of whom is deceased and the latter a resident of West Point, Illi- nois: James L., a well-known farmer of Reno township, this county; D. Herbert. manager of the bond department of the Fidelity Trust Company at Kansas City, Missouri. and Mrs. Elizabeth Randall, who died in Thomas county, this state.
Frank L. Martin grew up on the paternal farm in Hancock county, Illinois, attending the district school in the neighborhood of his home dur- ing the winters, the term in the same consisting of from sixty days to three months. . At eighteen years of age, when he entered the high school at Bowen, the neighboring village. he realized that he had spent far more time playing and having a good time at school than he had devoted to his books, for he found himself in a class with youngsters of from twelve to thirteen years of age, who were far more advanced in their studies than he. Recog- nizing the need of diligence in his studies, he buckled down to the task and presently passed the examination for teachers and was licensed as a teacher in the public schools. For five years thereafter he taught school, the last year of this form of service, 1884-85, having been engaged as principal of the schools at Dallas City. Illinois. In the meantime, during the evenings while engaged as a teacher and during the summer vacations, Mr. Martin had been diligently applying himself to the reading of law in the office of Sharp & Berry Brothers at Carthage, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar on May 22. 1885. immediately following the close of his last term of school. Thus equipped for the practice of the profession to which he had devoted his life, Mr. Martin straightway came to Kansas, arriving in Hutchinson on June 1. 1885, and has since then made his home in that city, long having been recognized as one of the leaders of the bar, not only there, but through- out this entire section of the state.
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For the first three months after locating at Hutchinson, Mr. Martin occupied a desk in the office of Ricksecker & Chrisman, lawyers, and then he became the junior member of the firm of Scheble, Vandeveer & Martin. Three months later Mr. Scheble died and the firm continued as Vandeveer & Martin. In 1887 Mr. Martin married his partner's sister, the mutually agreeable partnership between the two men thus becoming more firmly cemented, Vandeveer & Martin continuing in practice together very suc- cessfully until 1891, in which year Judge Vandeveer moved to Kansas City, after which Mr. Martin formed a new connection and was a member of the firm of Swigart. Martin & Crawford until he resigned from the firm on January 1, 1892, to enter upon the duties of judge of the district court for the ninth Kansas judicial district, to which office he had been elected at the preceding general election. For four years Judge Martin occupied the bench of the district court and was re-elected, but after serving one year of his second term resigned in order to re-enter the practice of the law, the latter form of service offering a far more lucrative field than the bench. Judge Martin then formed a partnership with John W. Roberts, under the firm name of Martin & Roberts, which was continued until in May, 1900, when Mr. Roberts moved to Seattle, Washington. About that time George A. Vandeveer returned to Hutchinson from New York City, where he had been serving as chief counsel for the National Surety Company, having gone from Kansas City to New York, and the old and profitable alliance of Vandeveer & Martin was renewed and continued until Judge Vandeveer's death on August 3, 1907. Judge Martin then continued his practice alone until in July, 1912, at which time he associated with himself in the practice of the law his son, Van Martin, then just home from law school with a well- earned diploma, and since then the firm has been Martin & Martin. In 1914 Judge Martin was admitted to practice in the United States supreme court. He has been engaged in some of the most noted lawsuits tried in the courts of this part of Kansas and has a wide reputation as a practitioner throughout the state.
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