USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 54
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
543
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
county and located at Hutchinson, which has been his home ever since. Upon arriving in Hutchinson, Mr. Hardy entered the real-estate business and has handled a large amount of property and also has conducted a big immigration business since then. He is largely interested in lands in Mexico and in southern Texas, and has taken numerous inspection parties down there from Kansas. On one of these inspection trips to Mexico, Mr. Hardy and others had more than three hundred people in his party, an entire train of Pullmans conveying the prospective buyers.
On December 18, 1866. Noah Hardy was united in marriage to Lucinda Jane Decker, who was born in Mercer county, Illinois, daughter of Benja- min and Fannie Decker, both of whom now are deceased, pioneers of that county, who had formerly been residents of Ohio. Mr. Hardy formerly was a Republican, but since the organization of the Progressive party has given his allegiance to that party, though he never has been a candidate for public office. He is a member of Joe Hooker Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Hutchinson, and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that patriotic organization.
WALTER FRED JONES.
City Attorney Walter Fred Jones, of Hutchinson, the county seat of Reno county, is a native of Emporia, this state, where he was born on November 23, 1883, son of Peter C. and Dora (Knache) Jones, the former of whom was born in the gallant little land of Wales on May 21. 1854, and the latter, in Germany, in June. 1856, both of whom are still living, making their home in Hutchinson, where they have lived for years.
Walter F. Jones received his early education in the schools of Hutchin- son and of Emporia, his elementary schooling having been obtained in the old Sherman street school in the former city and continued in the grade schools at Emporia. Upon the return of his family to Hutchinson, he entered the high school there and was graduated with the class of 1903. He then entered the law department of the University of Kansas and after taking the preliminary course there entered the law office of Prigg & Will- iams, at Hutchinson, and there studied law amid practical conditions, for several months, at the end of which time he went to Idaho, where, in 1905, he took the necessary examination and was admitted to practice in the courts of that state. He remained in Idaho for a short time, but was not much
54
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
impressed with the situation of things there and returned to Hutchinson, resuming his studies in the law school of the State University, from which he was graduated in 1906, and in July of that year was admitted to the bar of the Reno circuit court and has been practicing in Hutchinson ever since. Mr. Jones served as deputy county attorney for two years during the incumb- ency of County Attorney W. H. Lewis and in April, 1911, was appointed city attorney and has held that office continuously ever since, the term of office being for one year. In addition to his law practice, Mr. Jones takes considerable interest in general affairs, commercial and otherwise, and is a director of the Haven Mills Company.
Mr. Jones is an ardent Republican and several times has served as committeeman in his precinct. At the time of the special election in Janu- ary, 1912, he was county chairman of his party and has been a member of the Republican congressional committee during the past two congressional campaigns. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow and takes a warm interest in the affairs of those two popular orders.
WILLIAM RODGERS PENNINGTON. .
William Rodgers Pennington, one of the pioneers of this county, a well- known and prosperous farmer of Reno township, who is living on the place on which he settled as a homesteader in the spring of 1873. being now one of the few real "old timers" remaining in this county, is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in Sullivan county, that state, on Septem- ber 13, 1843, son of John R. and Susan (Rodgers) Pennington, both natives of that same state, born in what then was Lycoming county, near the town of Laporte, the former on February 15, 1815. There they grew up as neighbors and were married in 1840, living on a farm in that county until 1855, in which year they moved to Lee county, Illinois, with their family, where they established a new home on a rented farm. In 1866 John Pen- nington and wife moved to Iowa, their son, William R., subject of this sketch, having gone to that state in the spring of that year, and settled in Jones county, where they bought eighty acres of land, on which they lived until 1870, in which year they joined their son in Marhsall county, same state, where Mrs. Pennington died in the spring of 1873. In 1875 John Pennington married, secondly, Sarah Cole, and he and his wife then resided at Marion, this state, until the late nineties, when they came to this county,
1
-
545
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
both then being well advanced in years, and spent their last days in the home of the former's son, William R. Pennington, Mr. Pennington dying in 1900. His widow survived him but one year, her death occurring on April 30, 1901. By John Pennington's first marriage there were born four children, namely: Jackson, who died in Marion county, this state; William R., the subject of this sketch; Rachel, widow of John Jeffs, now living in Wichita, this state, and Albert, a retired farmer, living at Hunter, Oklahoma.
William R. Pennington was eleven years old when he moved with his parents from Pennsylvania to Illinois and he grew to manhood on the farm in Lee county, in the latter state. In the spring of 1866, he then being twenty-two years of age, he went to Iowa, where, in Cedar county, he rented a farm and began working on his own account. In the fall of 1868 he mar- ried and the next spring moved to Marshall county, same state, where he bought an eighty-acre farm in Logan township and there he made his home until the spring of 1873, when he came to Kansas and located in this county, arriving here on April 8, of that year. He homesteaded the north- east quarter of section 4, township 23, range 6 west, in Reno township, and there he has made his home ever since. The year following the arrival of the Penningtons in this county was the memorable "grasshopper year," but they were not utterly discouraged by that disastrous visitation, as were so many, or by the later trials of drought and hot winds, and stuck by their home- stead, eventually making a fine success of their farming operations and taking high rank among the prosperous pioneers of the county. As he prospered in his operations, Mr. Pennington gradually enlarged his holdings by purchase and now owns a half section surrounding his home in Reno township, be- sides two hundred and forty acres in Salt Creek township. In 1892 he built a large and admirably arranged farm house, to the attractiveness of which he later added by the construction of a broad veranda on two sides and now has one of the pleasantest homes in that neighborhood. Mr. Pennington was the second man in Reno county to set out an extensive orchard, George Cole having been the first, it having been thought previous to that time that the soil of this section was not adapted to the growing of fruit trees. Mr. Pennington set out large orchards and for ten years, from 1880 to 1890, in partnership with J. J. Meazer, conducted an extensive nursery and they were very successful. Mr. Pennington still cultivates a twenty-acre orchard on his farm. He also for some years devoted considerable attention to the cultivation of small fruit, in which he was equally successful.
On November 1, 1868, William R. Pennington was united in marriage (35a)
546
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
to Lucinda Jeffs, who was born in Canada on April 12, 1849, daughter of Robert and Phoebe (Edmonds) Jeffs, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Vermont, early residents of Illinois and later of Iowa, in which latter state their last days were spent. To Mr. and Mrs. Pennington three children have been born, Leon A., born on August 15, 1869, who married Ora Charles and lives on a farm adjoining that of his parents in Reno town- ship: Rella, September. 19, 1871, married George Kearney and lives on a farm in Grant township. this county, and Harold, March 23, 1888, an able assistant to his father in the operation of the home farm. Mr. and Mrs. Pennington are members of the Presbyterian church and their children have been reared in that faith. Mr. Pennington has been an elder in the church for thirty-five years and was one of the active promoters in the movement to erect a Presbyterian church in Hutchinson and a liberal contributor to that good cause. He is a Republican and has served as township treasurer and for years was a member of the school board.
ERNEST DADE.
Ernest Dade, a well-known and prosperous farmer of Reno township, this county, living on rural route No. 5, out of Hutchinson, is a native of Maryland, member of an old Maryland family which for generations had been large landowners in that state, well-to-do and prominent citizens. He was born on a plantation in Montgomery county, Maryland, thirty miles from the national capital, on December 19, 1856, son of Alexander and Susan Ann ( White) Dade, both natives of that same county, the former of whom was the son of a major who served during the Seminole Indian War in Florida in 1820.
Alexander Dade was the owner of a plantation of more than four hun- dred acres and before the war was a large slaveowner. In 1878 he sold his plantation and with his family came to this county, his eldest sons, Joseph T. and Richard G. Dade, having settled here two years before, and bought the southeast quarter of section 21, township 23, range 6 west, in Reno township, and established a new home. He prospered from the very start of his farming operations here and presently enlarged his holdings by buying three hundred and twenty acres of school land, one hundred and sixty of which was along Salt creek, in the same township, and successfully culti- vated both tracts, engaging both in general farming and stock raising. Mr.
547
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
Dade's wife died at their home in Reno township on December 27, 1895, at the age of sixty-seven, and he survived her for thirteen years, his death occurring on December 18, 1908, he then being eighty-three years of age. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, as follow: Joseph T .. one of the pioneers of Reno county, now deceased, who came to this county in 1876, homesteaded a farm which he successfully operated for years and spent his last days, retired, in Hutchinson; Richard G., who came to this county in 1876 and lives on a farm on Salt creek, in Reno township; Ernest, the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Melvin, who died in 1880, at the age of twenty-one years; Alexander, who died on October 9, 1886. at the age of sixteen: Robert, born in September, 1864, a retired farmer, now living at Nickerson, this county; Sallie, born in 1868, who married L. B. McClurg and died at her home in Colwich on December 18, 1911; John S., born in 1869, a real-estate dealer, of Prince Rupert, Canada, and Arthur, a retired farmer, now living in Hutchinson, this county.
Ernest Dade received his education in the public schools of Maryland and grew up on the home plantation. the general reorganization of indus- trial relations in connection with farm labor thereabout following the Civil War necessitating his active assistance in the labor of the farm. He was twenty-two years old when his parents came to this county with their fam- ily, rejoining the elder sons who had come here two years before, and he helped his father break up the prairie sod on the homestead farm, he being the eldest of the children then at home. At the same time he homesteaded a quarter of a section of his own in Bell township, near Langdon, and began developing his own interests. He presently sold that quarter section and bought another quarter section in Lincoln township, which he sold in 1892 and bought the quarter section just west of his father's place in Reno township. After the death of his mother in 1895, his father practically retired from the active duties of the farm and he and his brother then oper- ated the home place. After the death of his father in 1908, Ernest Dade bought the interests of the other heirs in the home place and now owns three hundred and twenty acres in the one tract there, besides a quarter of a section of farm land in Salt Creek township. In 1913 he remodeled the old home, making a modern and commodious residence of the same, at the same time building a substantial cement-block garage. He has prospered and the well- kept appearance of his place and the substantial improvements made on the same bear conclusive testimony to the fact.
On June 12, 1902, Ernest Dade was united in marriage to Clara M.
548
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
Singley, who was born in Mason county, Illinois, daughter of William Henry and Catherine Singley, who moved from Illinois to Nebraska in 1878 and farmed in Salina county, that state, until 1900, in which year they came to this county and became successful farmers. Henry Singley is a veteran of the Civil War and he and his wife are now living retired, in substantial comfort. in the city of Hutchinson. To Mr. and Mrs. Dade two children have been born, Dwight Russell, born on March 13, 1903, and Philip, Febru- ary 16, 1905.
LOUIS H. OBEE.
Louis H. Obee, ex-mayor of South Hutchinson and one of the best- known and most progressive farmers of Reno township, this county, is a native of Reno county, having been born on the homestead farm, four miles east of Hutchinson, on September 6, 1874, son of Henry and Louisa (Raff) Obee, pioneers of this county, both of whom are now deceased, the former of whom was born in England and the latter in Wilmot, Stark county, Ohio, and who for years were honored and respected residents of Reno county.
Henry Obee, son of William and Alice (Foster) Obee, was sixteen years old when his parents came to America and settled with their family of three sons on a farm near Whitehouse, in Lucas county, Ohio. As a lad he had been apprenticed to a shoemaker in his home town in England and had learned that trade, but never followed it after his arrival in this country, the duties attending the development of the new home farm fully engaging his attention during the years of his young manhood. The trip across the ocean on the vessel which brought the Obee family to this country occupied five months, three heavy storms having been encountered, each of which blew the vessel far out of its course. That was in 1856 and the family lost little time in adjusting themselves to the new conditions which faced them in their Ohio home. William Obce and his wife spent the rest of their lives there and one of their sons, John, brother of the late Henry Obee, is still living there, he now being the sole survivor of the family, the third brother having died when young.
In July, 1862, Henry Obec enlisted in Company D, One Hundredth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for service during the Civil War and served for more than three years under General Thomas in the Army of the Cumberland. Soon after enlisting he was promoted to the rank of orderly sergeant; in 1864 was made second lieutenant and following the Atlanta
549
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
campaign was raised to the rank of first lieutenant, which was his rank when mustered out with his regiment in Cleveland in July, 1865. Lieuten- ant Obee participated in some of the most important engagements of the war and was twice wounded, the more serious of these wounds having been received during the battle of Franklin, when one of his feet was badly shat- tered. He saw service during the siege of Knoxville and all through the Atlanta campaign. While home on a furlough during the latter period of the war, Henry Obee was married on February 28, 1865, to Louisa Raff, who had moved to Ohio from Pennsylvania, with her parents, when a child and had grown to womanhood in Stark county, where she was married. After his return from the war, Mr. Obee resumed life on the farm and remained in Ohio until in February, 1873, at which time he and his wife and the three children who had been born to them in Ohio came to Kansas and settled in Reno county, taking a homestead claim in Clay township, on what is now known as the Fourth Avenue road, four miles east of Hutchin- son. Mr. Obee erected a neat frame house on the homestead farm and lived there until 1880, in which year he moved to a place near Partridge, this county, where he lived for a year, after which he traded for a farm of four hundred and eighty-eight acres in Reno township, where both he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, he dying in 1900, at the age of sixty-three years, his widow surviving him but two years, her death occur- ring in 1902, at the age of sixty-two. Henry Obee was an extensive farmer and stock-raiser and held a high place in the esteem of his neighbors. He was a Republican and was treasurer of Clay township during the time of his residence there and also had served as a member of the school board. He was a Mason and a member of Joe Hooker Post, Grand Army of the Re- public, in both of which organizations he took an earnest and active part. He and his wife were the parents of four children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the next to the youngest, the others being Morton C., a resi- dent of Hutchinson, this county; Alice, who married R. P. Hershberger and lives in Hutchinson and Helen, who married S. B. Dana and also lives in Hutchinson. Louis H. and Helen were born in Reno county.
Louis H. Obee grew up on the homestead farm in Reno township, receiving his education in school district No. 65, and lived in the old home until his marriage in 1896, 24 which time his parents moved to another part of the farm and he and his wife occupied the old home. After the death of his father, Louis H. Obee bought certain of the interests of the other heirs and now owns two hundred and seventy acres of the old home farm, besides
550
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
being the owner of a valuable farm in Ninnescah township. In 1911 he bought a home in South Hutchinson, where he lived four years, but now lives on the old home, directing his extensive farming interests. Mr. Obee is a Republican and for years has taken an active interest in political affairs. Shortly after taking up his residence in South Hutchinson he was elected a member of the town council and later was elected mayor of the city, serving in that executive capacity until he resigned to return to his farm. For some time during his residence on the farm he served as trustee of Reno township and for nine years was a member of the school board in district No. 65. He was census enumerator for his home township in 1910 and in other ways has done well his part in local public affairs. During several campaigns he has served as a member of the Reno county Republican central committee. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that order.
On January 1, 1896, Louis H. Obee was united in marriage to Minnie Miller, who was born in Huron county, Ohio, daughter of Peter and Mary Miller, who came to Reno county in the fall of 1885, settling in Reno town- ship, where they spent the remainder of their lives, and to this union three children have been born, Phyllis, born on June 24, 1897; Isabella, July 16, 1899, and Catherine, September 7, 1901, all of whom now are students in the Hutchinson high school. The Obees have a very pleasant home on the farm and take a prominent part in the social life of the community.
J. H. BUETTNER.
J. H. Buettner, a well-known and progressive merchant tailor of Hutch- inson, this county, is a native of Missouri, having been born in the city of St. Louis, that state, on September 21. 1860, son of Gottlieb and Mary K. Buettner, both natives of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, the former born in 1832 and the latter in 1834, both of whom are still living, making their home in Hutchinson, this county.
Gottlieb Buettner grew to manhood in Germany and was a skilled tailor when he came to America. He located in St. Louis and there married, his wife also having located in that city after she was grown. When the Civil War broke out Gottlieb Buettner enlisted in Company C, Third Regiment. Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and served for three months, the term of his enlistment, in the home guards. At the close of this military experience he
-
551
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
resumed his work as a tailor and remained in St. Louis until the fall of 1887, when, at the solicitation of his son, the subject of this sketch, who, meanwhile had located in the tailoring business in McPherson, this state, he came to Kansas and opened a tailoring shop in Hutchinson and ever since has made his home in that city. Though he has long been retired from active business he still is skilled with his needle and at the age of eighty- three still makes a good "hand," as occasion may require, in the shop of his son. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church. They are the parents of six children, as follow: J. H., the subject of this biographical review; Louisa, who married Paul Nest, a tailor, who is employed in the shop of his brother-in-law at Hutchinson; Martha E., who married Benja- min F. Dunkle and lives at Los Angeles, California: John, a tailor, who works for his brother in Hutchinson; Charles, a jeweler, who lives in St. Louis, and Emma, who married William C. Burch and lives in Los Angeles.
J. H. Buettner received his early education in the German private schools at St. Louis, later attending the public schools, and learned the tailor trade in his father's shop, after which for some time he worked as a journey -. man tailor in Chicago, Buffalo and Philadelphia, later returning to St. Louis, where he was associated with his father in business until 1887, in which year he came to Kansas and for eight months was located at Wichita. Rec- ognizing the possibilities of the region then rapidly developing hereabout, he persuaded his father also to come to Kansas and the family located at Hutchinson, the elder Buettner opening a tailor shop at 1271/2 North Main street, J. H. Buettner at the same time opening a shop at McPherson, where he remained two years, at the end of which time, recognizing the fact that Hutchinson was making a much better growth than McPherson, he moved to Hutchinson and began working for his brother, John, who meanwhile had succeeded his father to the business. In 1897 J. H. Buettner started a shop of his own and has been in business for himself in Hutchinson ever since. In 1913 he erected a two-room brick store building at 412 North Main street in one-half of which he has his tailoring establishment, renting the other half for store purposes. He ever has catered to the better class of trade and has been quite successful in his business.
On May 21, 1890, J. H. Buettner was united in marriage to Elizabeth Buettner, who was born in Germany, daughter of Henry and Kate Buettner, no blood connection of the family of J. H. Buettner, and to this union two children have been born, May K. and Mildred E., both of whom are stu- dents in the Hutchinson high school. The Buettners live in a pleasant home at 700 West Twentieth street, erected in 1908.
552
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
Mr. Buettner is a Republican and has served for three years as a mem- ber of the Hutchinson city council. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the blue lodge at Hutchinson and of the consistory of the Scot- tish Rite at Wichita. He also is a member of Midian Temple, Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Wichita, and a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Hutchinson, in all of which orders he takes a warm interest.
ALBERT S. FOUNTAIN, M. D.
Dr. Albert S. Fountain, of Castleton, this county, one of the best known physicians in Reno county and a resident of this section since pioneer days, is a native of Illinois, having been born on a farm in Sangamon county, that state, on October 31, 1869, son of J. H. and Cassandra (Maxwell) Foun- tain, the former of whom was born in Madison county, Indiana, on August 16, 1831, and is now living retired at Arlington, this county, where he has made his home since his retirement from farm life in 1900. His wife, who died on February II, 1888, at her home in this county, was the daughter of Jeremiah Maxwell and wife, who came to this county from Illinois in the early eighties, bought an eighty-acre farm in Lincoln township and lived there until their retirement to Hutchinson, where their last days were spent. J. H. Fountain and wife were active workers in the Methodist church, and he was prominent in the political life of Reno county in earlier days, having served as a member of the board of county commissioners, he having been elected on the Populist ticket about 1890. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest, the others being Jessie, who married E. Adkins, of Laredo, this state; George, Carl, Homer, Lulu. Leo and Newell.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.