USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 71
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On August 2, 1899, Milton E. Hinman was united in marriage to Blanche Axtell, who was born at Sterling. in the neighboring county of Rice, daughter of Pliny T. Axtell and wife, well-known pioneers of this county, Mr. Axtell having homesteaded a tract of land in Plevna township
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in 1872. becoming an extensive landowner and stockman, now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Hinman four chiklren have been born, Helen, born in 1901 : Lew, 1903: Dorothy, 1908, and Dorr, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Hinman ever have taken a leading and useful part in the social and cultural activities of their neighborhood and are held in high regard thereabout. Mr. Hin- man is a Republican, but has invariably declined to be a candidate for office on the occasions that suggestions of this character have been made to him.
FRANK FREEMAN KLEIN.
Frank Freeman Klein, a substantial and well-known farmer of Lincoln township. this county, who has been a witness of the development of the wonderful resources of the county since the days of the pioneers, having been but a babe in arms when his parents came to Reno county in the spring of 1874. is a native of Michigan, having been born on a pioneer farm near Ann Arbor, that state, September 19, 1873, son of J. Peter and Sophia ( Sweitzer) Klein, the former of whom also was born in Michigan and the latter in Germany, both of whom are still living, being among the most respected pioneers of Reno county.
J. Peter Klein was born in Washtenaw county, Michigan, April 15, 1842. son of John Peter and Margaret (Sickinger) Klein, both natives of Germany, the former born in Baden and the latter in Berent, both of whom grew up on farms in their native land. As a young man John Peter. Klein came to America and located near Washington, D. C., where he married Margaret Sickinger, who had come to the United States from Germany in her girlhood, and in the late thirties the family emigrated to Michigan, where John Peter Klein bought one hundred and twenty acres of timber land near Ann Arbor and there established his home, being one of the pioneers of that section of Michigan, the nearest mill to his place at that time being at Detroit. torty miles away. John Peter Klein and his wife were earnest members of the German Lutheran church. there being a con- siderable German colony in the neighborhood of their home, and their chil- diren were reared in that faith. There were five of these children, namely : Catherine, who died soon after her marriage; Adaline, also deceased : Adam, now deceased, a prominent miller, who spent all his life in Michigan; Will- iam, a well-to-do retired farmer, who died at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and J. Peter, who is now the sole survivor of the family. The mother of these
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children died in 1872, at the age of sixty-eight, and the father died in 1878, at the age of seventy-two.
J. Peter Klein was reared on the paternal farm in Michigan and remained at home with his parents until his marriage in the summer of 1868, after which he bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Kalamazoo county, same state, where he made his home until 1874, in which year he sold his farm and with his family moved to Kansas, arriving in Reno county in May of that year. He bought three hundred and twenty acres of railroad land in section 5 of Lincoln township ( made a part of Yoder township in 1914) and there established his family. He erected a little frame house, sixteen by twenty-four, and got but a little corn that first year, but the grasshoppers came along in August and ate every blade of it. Though many settlers gave up, thoroughly discouraged, and left this section of Kansas after that memorable visitation, Mr. Klein stuck to his place and presently began to prosper 'largely, from the very start having been recog- nized as one of the leading pioneers of that section. In 1875 he participated in the neighborhood rising against one Pierce, who had "jumped" Fay Smith's claim, the summary action of the incensed pioneers in that case proving an effectual deterrent to claim-jumpers hereabout. As Mr. Klein prospered he gradually added to his original half-section of land holdings until he now has a fine place of seven hundred and eighty acres, all under · excellent cultivation. In 1897 he erected his present comfortable farm house and is now very pleasantly situated, long having been regarded as one of the most substantial farmers in the county.
On July 1, 1868, J. Peter Klein was united in marriage to Sophia Sweitzer, who was born in the province of Wittenberg, Germany, and who came to America as a child with her parents, Jacob Sweitzer and wife, the family settling in the Ann Arbor neighborhood of Michigan about the year 1848. To this union four children have been born, as follow: Christian, a well-known farmer of Yoder township, this county: Frank, the subject of this biographical sketch, a farmer, also well established in the same town- ship: Jacob, an extensive farmer in Montana, and Minnie, who married Grover Bowser, of Elmer, this county, a substantial farmer of Lincoln township.
Frank F. Klein was about eighteen months old when his parents came to Reno county and he consequently has spent all of his active life here, having thus been a witness of the wonderful development of this region from pioneer days. He grew up on the Lincoln township farm, attending
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the Fairview district school, and lived with his parents until his marriage in December of 1901, after which he bought the Fowler place of eighty acres adjoining his father's farm and there established his home. He later bought an "eighty" adjoining his place on the east and has developed his farın in fine shape, the same being well improved and profitably cultivated. In 1907 he built a pretty little farm house and there he and his family are very pleasantly and comfortably situated, enjoying the respect and esteem of the entire neighborhood. Mr. Klein is a Democrat and has given much attention to local civic affairs. He is now serving as school treasurer of his home township and has served as a school director and as township clerk.
On December 2, 1901, Frank F. Klein was united in marriage to Viola Commer, who was born in the state of Mississippi and who, at the age of twelve, came with her parents, William and Florence Commer, to Kansas, the family locating on a farm in Reno township, this county. Following the death of William Commer at his home in this county, his widow married George T. Hern, now chief of police of the city of Hutchinson. To Mr. and Mrs. Klein one child has been born, a son, William Harold, born on September 18, 1904. Mr. Klein is a member of the lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America at Hutchinson, in the affairs of which order he takes a warm interest.
LEANDER A. BIGGER.
Anent the passing of the late Leander A. Bigger, Sheridan Ploughe, editor of the Hutchinson Gasette, wrote the following appreciation under the heading "Incidents From the Life of a Town Builder :
"L. A. Bigger was the constant factor in the development of Reno county. He was early on the ground and knew all the resources of the Arkansas Valley and was one of the most sought-for men in the county when an Eastern man came here to look for investments. He stayed in the county, although he told me that was not his purpose when he came West, but that the big cattle business was the attraction for him when he first came West.
"He had met Senator Plumb and Major Hood, who sought to interest him in the cattle business in Texas. Before that time the cattle had been driven north from Texas to Abilene, Kansas, over the Chisholm Trail by
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the hundreds of thousands of head every year and it opened up a lucrative field for a young man. But when he reached Hutchinson, the big herds were being broken up and the settlers were crowding in to take up the land, and he settled down to help develop the land business instead of the cattle industry. Being in the land business, he secured the agency of the Santa Fe Railroad Company and the firm of Brown & Bigger sold thousands of acres in Reno county to men whose children and whose children's children now cultivate these farms-only a few of the pioneers are left to tell of their pur- chase of land, but in hundreds of homes the story of how father got the first quarter of land in Reno county can be told.
"Mr. Bigger pointed out to me once a very striking peculiarity in the men who settled in this county. In the fall of 1874 the Santa Fe railroad distributed a great deal of wheat to farmers to sow, that being the grass- hopper year. He said that the fall was an ideal one and many people from the East stopped over here and saw the people at his office securing the seed wheat free. He secured the names of the visitors, who saw the con- ditions of the people, and, by some strange attraction, in a year or two these same visitors were back at his office again buying land of the man whom they saw distributing free seed wheat a year or two before.
"When the state reformatory was located in Hutchinson, a fund of twenty-five thousand dollars had to be secured to buy the land. This was the first big thing Hutchinson tackled. The committee had gone to the limit. Everybody had been pulled for all they could stand and there yet remained five thousand dollars that could not be raised. To end the matter, Mr. Bigger went to Topeka, explained to the Santa Fe Railroad people that the contest had narrowed down between Junction City and Hutchinson-the Union Pacific or the Santa Fe Railroads; and when the Santa Fe people saw that they agreed to put up the last five thousand dollars, and they did.
"Mr. Bigger knew more of the inside history of Reno county than any other man and only in the later days of his life, when no one could be injured by telling it, has he told it."
Leander A. Bigger was born on a farm in Henry county, Ohio, October 1, 1844, son of Matthew and Elizabeth S. (Adams) Bigger, the former also a native of Ohio, born in Jefferson county, and the latter of Pennsylvania. The origin of the Bigger family has been traced to the stewartry of Kirk- cudbright, near Dumfries, Scotland, the name having been known near there from the year 1540; but on the records still in existence in Edinburgh the name is traced back to April 26, 1135. On that day one of the Biggers.
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then high chamberlain of Scotland, made a visit to King William at North- umberland, the fact being so noted. At that early date the family had, according to the custom of heraldry, a coat of arms-a pretty design on a shield, with the motto, "Giving and Forgiving." The Biggers were all Covenanters and later, upon the union of the various seceding churches, United Presbyterians. Matthew Bigger was a woolen manufacturer in Ohio and all his days were spent in that state. He and his wife were the parents of five children who grew to maturity, of whom Leander A. was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow: Samuel, who is now living retired in Hutchinson, this county; Martha, unmarried, who lives at Lima, Ohio: Eliza A., who married Scott Henry, of Ohio, and died in '1906, and Stephen H., who lives on a farm in Hancock county, Ohio.
Leander A. Bigger was reared on the home farm in Henry county, Ohio, and when seventeen years old answered President Lincoln's first call for volunteers in defense of the Union. He went to Chicago to enlist and served until the close of the war, being mustered out as a first lieutenant in the First North Carolina Volunteers. Upon the completion of his military service he turned his attention to the study of law and presently entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which in due time he was graduated. Shortly afterward he was attracted by the possibilities presented at the opening for settlement of this section of Kansas and in company with J. B. Brown came to this state and located at the then infant town of Hutchinson, the two there opening a real-estate office. Mr. Brown had had previous experience in the business and the firm at once "went to the front," quickly building up an extensive and lucrative business; in addi- tion to their large personal dealings also acting as agents for the sale of the Santa Fe land grant for this section of the Arkansas valley. The firm of Brown & Bigger was noted for its public spiritedness and large-handed hospitality and from the very first was recognized as a leader in the real- estate business hereabout. Upon the death of Mr. Brown, Mr. Bigger turned his attention more particularly to the tax-title and bond business and continued to prosper largely. He never practiced his profession as a lawyer save in cases involving land titles, though he often appeared before the gen- cral land office at Washington and the district land office at Wichita as attorney.
In 1874 Leander A. Bigger returned to Ohio for a helpmate and on Christmas day of that year was united in marriage, at her home in Napoleon, to Mary Trene Chaffin, who for many years presided over the hospitable
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home at 305 Sherman avenue, cast, which Mr. Bigger erected the year fol- lowing his marriage. In the early days of Hutchinson, in the seventies, the hotels of the new town were poor and small and Mr. Bigger entertained at his own home many of the Eastern capitalists and writers who came out here to see for themselves just what was the promise Kansas was hold- ing out to the world. Friendships formed in this manner proved enduring and in Mr. Bigger's extensive travels later in life over the United States and in foreign countries, their renewal bore abundant fruit in securing to him the often privilege of visiting places closed to the ordinary tourist.
Leander A. Bigger was one of the men who built Hutchinson and fostered its growth to its present high state of development. For forty years after his arrival there in 1872 he was actively identified with the affairs of the city, leaving no act unperformed which would lead to her advance- ment.' For four terms he served the town as mayor, first in 1878. while the town was yet in its village stage: later, in 1886, 1887 and 1888, during the days of the "boom." It was largely through his urgent instrumentality that the city bought a tract for park purposes, which later developed into a fair ground and eventually into the establishment of the great Kansas state fair at Hutchinson. It was during his term of office as mayor in the eighties that the city's present sewerage system was planned and begun, Mayor Bigger's farsightedness giving him the ability to see the city's future needs along that line. Through his acquaintance with Eastern capitalists. Mr. Bigger secured the financial aid necessary to the construction of the water and electric-light system and gained for Hutchinson the honor of being the first city in the United States to use electricity in lighting homes. Mr. Bigger was one of the incorporators of the First National Bank and his able services and experience along financial lines made him literally a tower of strength and usefulness in the community, and it was his influence that led to the erection of the handsome six-story building now occupied by that bank. When the Missouri Pacific railroad was being pushed west Mr. Bigger gave months of his time to the labor of securing for Hutchinson a płace on the line of that road's survey and succeeded, with the assistance of Senator Plumb, in having the line surveyed through Hutchinson instead of following the original intent of the road builders and striking far south. His intimate association with the Rock Island officials also enabled him to secure that railroad for Hutchinson and he often was called in counsel by the officials of that road in the matter of the location of towns and enter- prises in which they were interested. In the early nineties Kansas town-
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ship, school and city bonds were woefully depreciated in the bond markets, not a few municipalities having defaulted payment either of principal or interest. To the difficult and serious problem thus presented Mr. Bigger gave his most thoughtful attention, with the result that, with the assistance of his Eastern financial friends and business connections, he succeeded in refunding these securities and establishing a new basis of credit which insured for Kansas a lower rate of interest and placed her bonds on par with the safest and soundest investments.
Mrs. Mary Irene (Chaffin) Bigger, first wife of Leander A. Bigger, died at her home in Hutchinson on May 7, 1896, leaving two daughters, Mary, who married L. E. Fontron, president of the Fontron Loan and Trust Company, of Hutchinson, a biographical sketch of whom is presented else- where in this volume, and Diadamia, who married Howard S. Lewis, a Hutchinson lawyer, member of the well-known firm of Fairchild & Lewis, attorneys at law. Howard S. Lewis was born at Glenwood, Missouri, November 16, 1877, son of Thomas S. and Geraldine (Justice) Lewis, the latter of whom died when he was four years old. His father moved to Colorado when he was seven years old and he thereafter made his home with his uncle, Doctor Justice, at Hutchinson. Following his graduation from the Hutchinson high school he entered the law department of Columbia Uni- versity at Washington, D. C., and was admitted to the bar in Kansas in 1897, since which time he has been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Hutchinson.
In 1903 Leander A. Bigger, married, secondly, Mrs. Emma Evarts, of Topeka, this state, who survives him, and together they spent many years in traveling. It had always been the hope of Mr. Bigger to travel exten- sively and especially to visit foreign lands. With this object in view, for thirty years he had been a close student of history and works of travel and when the opportunity to carry out his cherished design arrived, he knew what to look for and how to gain the greatest advantage on his travels. His first extensive trip was to Alaska in 1903; then came a tour through southern Europe and Asia. A few years later he and Mrs. Bigger made a trip around the world, during which Mr. Bigger wrote home to his daughters a series of such interesting letters that upon his return he was urged to pub- lish the same in book form. This book, "Around the World With a Busi- ness Man," written for amusement, is declared by competent critics to be one of the ablest and most instructive works on travel written in recent years. Mr. Bigger had a beautiful home at Cascade, Colorado, an enduring
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evidence of his fine and correct artistic taste, and there spent much of his time in the later years of his life, taking much delight in entertaining his friends in his mountain retreat. On the grounds surrounding this palatial home he had expended the most devoted care and had exhausted the skill and art of landscape gardeners in the production of an idyllic scene ; many of the ideas thus skillfully worked out having been gained during his tour through Japan. While on a motor trip through California Leander A. Bigger was taken suddenly ill and his death occurred at Del Monte, that state.
EDWARD G. CROW.
In the agricultural field of Reno county. Edward G. Crow has attained a place of distinction as well as of public esteem. He is a native of Noble county, Ohio, having been born there on March 28, 1863, and is the son of Isaac and Mary (Calvert) Crow, of whom a full account is given in the biography of Luther Crow in this volume. Suffice it to say at this point that Isaac Crow was one of the most successful farmers and one of the largest landholders of this section of Kansas.
Edward Crow, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Noble county, Ohio, and as a boy was trained to the duties of farin life on his father's farm. In 1886, after he had reached the age of twenty-three years, he came to Hutchinson, Kansas, where he made his home with an uncle, Martin Crow, whom he assisted in the farm work. Mr. Crow, desiring to possess a farm of his own, saved enough of his earnings to purchase a farm in Salt Creek township at the cost of two thousand five hundred dollars. The farm was located in the northwest of section 14. township 23, range 7 west. Mr. Crow lived on this farm for fourteen . years, and after selling the land bought another farm in the same township. located in section II, which was known as the Cyrus Libby farm. On the farm just mentioned, the subject of this sketch continues to reside and carries on the duties of the farm along the lines of general farming. He also gives some attention to stock raising.
Mr. Crow is a member of the Republican party, but has never had a desire to seek a political office. He is a member of the Baptist church of Hutchinson, which his wife also attends. Mr. Crow was married on Janu- ary 5, 1887, to Josie Shafer. a native of Meggs Creek, Noble county, Ohio,
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and the daughter of Irvin Shafer, a retired farmer, who resides in Cali- fornia. After the death of Josie ( Shafer) Crow, which occurred in Sep- tember 20, 1909, Mr. Crow married again. His marriage took place on the 16th of September, 1911, to Mrs. Olive A. (Smith) Okey, a widow, who was born in Graysville, Monroe county, Ohio, where her marriage to Mr. Crow also took place. The children born to the subject of this sketch are: Lila L., born on September 15, 1888, who became the wife of Benjamin Wisert, a farmer, in Meena. Oklahoma; Hazel Marie, born on June 15, 1894, who lives with hier aunt, Mary Robinson, in California; Roy McKin- ley, born on March 10, 1896, who lives on the farm with his father, and Hilda, who was born on March 28. 1900, and died in August, 1902.
WILLIAM P. CRAWLEY.
William P. Crawley, deceased, was a man who won recognition in many fields of activity not only because of the qualities which made him a born leader of men, but also on account of an inherent force of character which was evident in his personality. He was born in Ireland, January 12, 1839, and immigrated to Saratoga, New York, when two years of age. He was the son of John Crawley, who was a native of England, his ancestors being of English stock and ardent adherents to the Church of England. The mother of the subject of this sketch followed the practices of the Catholic church and spent the last days of her life at Ft. Edward, Saratoga, New York.
The subject of this sketch was the eldest in a family of six children, and as a youth attended the public schools of New York state. At the age of fourteen, imbued with a desire to see the world, he ran away from home and found employment sailing on the seas. After his return home the following year, he again decided to take up a life on the sea and was made a mate on a sailing vessel. Shortly after he reached the age of twenty-one the Civil War broke out and the subject of this sketch returned home to offer his services for the cause of the Union. He enlisted in Company A. Thirty- first Regiment. New York Volunteer Infantry, in which company he remained for two years. At the end of that time he re-enlisted, and the second time he became a member of Company A. Thirteenth New York Cavalry. Mr. Crawley received recognition for his bravery shortly after he enlisted and
WILLIAM P. CRAWLEY
MRS CAROLINE CRAWLEY
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was made first lieutenant, owing to the dauntless courage with which he carried a message through the Rebel lines.
The career of the subject of this sketch as a soldier was one of marked distinction. He was made captain with the privilege of selecting one hundred sharpshooters, and the authority to leave without special orders to annoy the Confederate cavalry under General Mosby. Captain Crawley originated a plan of following Mosby until the time approached when the enemy could be surrounded. He was just about to realize the fruits of this idea when an order came from the Union general to retreat, as a trap was being laid by ' the Confederates. Captain Crawley continued to follow his own plan, how- ever, confident that the Union general had been mistaken. Another message was received and unheeded until the third message came with the orders that if Captain Crawley did not return with his command he would be cashiered. After the war, in a conversation with General Mosby, Captain Crawley learned that his plan would have been completely successful had he been permitted to carry it out, as the Confederate general confessed that at the time he was at the point of surrendering when the enemy retreated. One of the most interesting as well as thrilling experiences in the life of Mr. Crawley occurred after the death of President Lincoln, when the subject of this sketch was detailed to capture the assassin Booth. He and his command gave chase to Booth and in the end witnessed his capture, although they were not responsible for his surrender. During his services in the Civil War, Mr. Crawley became greatly attached to a beautiful Arabian horse which he captured from the Rebels. The animal was drilled to the finest points of cavalry perfection and at the approach of the enemy would lie down among the underbrush, where he could remain for hours as though dead. The strength of the animal was broken after a number of hasty rides over the Blue Ridge mountains, and at the end of the conflict found him unfit for hard work. Mr. Crawley's widow was paid by the government for two fine horses which were killed while he was riding them.
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