USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 77
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J. F. JUSTUS.
J. F. Justus, son of John and Anna (Gundermann) Justus, was born on November 13, 1865, in Will county, Illinois. His father, John Justus, was born and educated in Germany. . He came to America when a young man before his marriage, and in 1852, went to California in search of gold. Being unsuccessful and becoming separated from his companions, he wan- dered through the West, throwing his heavy gun away, and at times was fed by the Indians. After a time he returned to his former home in Will county, Illinois, and bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. In 1874, he settled in Reno county, Kansas, and homesteaded section 10, town- ship 22, range 8, in Medford township, and here he lived until about twelve years ago, when he moved to Nickerson, where his death occurred, June. 1913. His widow still lives at the latter place. Both were prominent men- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church.' Their children were. J. F., Sophia and Caroline.
J. F. Justus was educated in the schools of Medford township. and remained on the home farm, assisting his father and thus learning all the rudiments of farming. He chose this honorable calling as his vocation in life, and moved to his present home, comprising a half section. in 1912. He has been a very successful farmer and is an extensive landowner, his other holdings being two hundred and forty acres of scattered pasture; a half
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interest in a three-fourth section of land in Hayes township, and a half sec- tion in Stafford county, Kansas.
Mr. Justus was married on January 1, 1892, to Sallie Ann Carris, the daughter of Lewis and Harriette Carris, natives of New York, who came to Reno county in the eighties. To this union have been born the follow- ing children: Bertha, Lewis Howard, Addie, Queenie H., and Herman, all of whom are living with their parents, with the exception of Addie, who is a trained nurse.
Mr. Justus has served on the school board of his township several terms. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and also belongs to the Anti-Horsethief Association.
JOHN SPRONT.
John Spront is numbered among the most prominent and influential farmers of Reno county. The son of Francis M. and Sophia (Newlin) Spront, he was born on November 20, 1866, in Grundy county, Missouri, and received his education there.
John Sprout's father, Francis M. Spront, is a Civil War veteran, and also the owner of three hundred and sixty acres of fine land in Reno county. His parents were William and Hannah ( Nelson) Spront, natives of North Carolina, who emigrated in an early day to Union county, Indiana, where Francis M. Spront was born on May 23, 1836. For fifteen years he lived in Marshall county, Indiana. The next thirty-five years the family spent in Grundy county, Missouri, followed by a removal to Miami township, Reno county, Kansas, in 1893. In 1861; Francis M. Spront enlisted in the Union service at Trenton, Missouri, in Company B, Twenty-third Regi- ment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry. His commanding officer was Colonel Grundy. He served eighteen months in the war, the battle of Shiloh end- ing his active career in the service, for here his right hand was shattered, causing the loss of his arm to the elbow. For six months and eighteen days he was confined in the prisons at Macon, Georgia, and Mobile, Alabama, and at Libby prison. Richmond, Virginia. He fought under Brigadier- general Prentice. His pension amounts to forty dollars a month. He is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic Post at Dunlap, Mis- souri, and is a stanch Republican in politics. Religiously, he is identified
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with the Baptist faith. Before leaving Missouri, he was township trustee for four years. He held the position of treasurer of Miami township for four years, and served on the school board for three years.
Sophia (Newlin) Spront was born near Jacksonville, Illinois, the daugh- ter of Abraham and Sarah McAfesh, of the same state. It was the year following her death, February 3, 1907, at the farm home in Miami town- ship that Francis M. Spront went to reside with his son, John. His other children are as follow: Sarah, wife of J. M. Evans, a farmer of Grundy county, Missouri, who died in Frontier county, Missouri, June 9, 1893; James H., a farmer of Grove township; Minnie, wife of Aurelias Evans, of Miami township, who is deceased; Scott, a farmer of Miami township; Allison, of Bell township.
By his first marriage, Francis M. Spront had the following children : Mary, wife of L. W. Moberly, a farmer living near Milan, Missouri, and William, a merchant and banker of Starbuck, Washington.
On April 8, 1888, John Spront was married to Jennie Kent in Sullivan county, Missouri. She was a native of that county, the daughter of George Kent, a mechanic, who is a native of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Spront's mother, Mary (Jackson) Kent, was born in Kentucky, and died in Sullivan county, Missouri, on April 19, 1905. Besides Mrs. Spront, George Kent and wife were the parents of the following children: William R., a farmer of Sullivan county, Missouri ; Mary Etta, wife of William Whan, farmer of Mercer county, Missouri, and Charles F., a farmer of Sullivan county.
Mr. and Mrs. Spront are the parents of a daughter and a son. The former is Etta, wife of E. G. Walker, grain buyer, of Goodwill, Oklahoma. She was born February 25, 1889, in Grundy county, Missouri. The son is Wade F., born in the same place, February 5, 1892. He is employed in a garage in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mr. Spront has a fine farm of two hundred acres in Miami township. In October, 1898, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres in the south- east quarter of section 8, township 26, range 10, on which he placed his buildings, and made his home. In February, 1911, he bought an additional forty acres in the northwest quarter of section 16, township 26, range IO. He has served on the school board of his township as treasurer for four years, and has held the office of township treasurer for two years. A loyal Republican, a faithful member of the Christian church, and an Odd Fellow in good standing, he ranks high in the citizenship of Reno county.
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S. LESLIE COOPER.
S. Leslie Cooper, a well-known and energetic young farmer of Salt Creek township, this county, is a native-born son of Reno county, having been born on a homestead farm in Salt Creek township on December 13, 1874. son of Thomas and Mary ( Yokum) Cooper, both of whom were born and reared in central Illinois.
Thomas Cooper was reared to the life of a farm in central Illinois, became a farmer on his own account and there married Mary Yokum, a neighbor girl, and made his home there until 1874, in the spring of which year he and his wife and two small children came to this county and home- steaded a quarter of a section of land in Salt Creek township. The grass- hopper plague coming on just after their arrival here proved so discourag- ing to Mr. Cooper that he did not "prove up" his claim. The next year, however. still having confidence in this section, he homesteaded another quarter of a section. this time in Enterprise township, and there established a new home. After their arrival here two more children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, thus giving them four, namely: Charles, a well-known resident of Hutchinson, this county; Cora, who married Will Powell and lives in Hutchinson; S. Leslie, the immediate subject of this sketch, and Ada. unmarried, who lives in Hutchinson. The mother of these children died in 1883. at the age of thirty-three years, and Mr. Cooper married, sec- ondly, Charlotte Wiley, to which union there was no issue. Thomas Cooper remained on his homestead tract in Enterprise township until 1892, in which year he sold out and bought a quarter of a section of land in the north end of Salt Creek township, where he made his home until 1907. He and his wife then retired from the farm and moved to Nickerson, this county, where Mr. Cooper died on December 19, 1911, on the sixty-eighth anniversary of his birthday, and where his widow still makes her home. Thomas Cooper was a Democrat and took an active interest in local politics, having served as township trustee in both Salt Creek and Enterprise townships. He and his wife were active members of the Christian church.
S. L. Cooper received his elementary education in the district school in the neighborhood of his boyhood home in Enterprise township, supplement- ing the same by later attendance on the graded school at Nickerson, and lived on his father's place until grown. He then rented a farm in Salt Creek township, which he successfully operated for three years, at the
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end of which time he bought one hundred and sixty acres in that same town- ship, on which he lived for three years. He then sold that place and for four years thereafter managed his father's farm. Upon the death of his father he inherited twenty acres of the latter's estate and in addition to the cultivation of that small tract operates, under lease, the Jacob Wisart place in Salt Creek township and two hundred acres additional adjoining, and is regarded as a progressive and successful farmer. Mr. Cooper is a Demo- crat and has served as constable of his home township. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes an active interest in the affairs of that order.
In December, 1896, S. Leslie Cooper was united in marriage to Bertha Griffin, who was born in Enterprise township, this county, daughter of John and Emma Griffin, pioneers of that township, who still live there, owners of a farm of four hundred and forty acres, and to this union six children have been born, as follow: Lysle, born on April 22, 1898, assistant to his father on the farm; John, January 13, 1900, a student in the county high school at Nickerson; Clarence, June 2, 1902; Lloyd, June 1, 1904; Charles, Septem- ber 16, 1906, and Clifford, January 14, 1909.
J. N. BAILEY.
J. N. Bailey, son of I. and Nancy (West) Bailey, was born in Craw- fordsville, Indiana, June 15, 1861. His father was born in Baden-Baden, Germany, in 1828, and came to America in 1851. He settled in Crawfords- ville, Indiana, where he remained until his death. which occurred in 1893. He followed the trade of a stone-cutter. The mother was born in Ken- tucky, in. 1830, and died at her home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1893. She was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church. Our subject's sister, Fannie, married B. Turner, a farmer, of Boone county, Indiana.
J. N. Bailey received his education in the graded schools of Craw- fordsville, Indiana, and after leaving school he engaged in farming in Indi- ana. In 1882, he removed to Linneus, Missouri: where he was engaged in farming until 1888, when he removed to Hutchinson, Kansas. Here he embarked in the real estate and loan business which he continued for about ten years with success. Since 1898 he has been engaged, exclusively, in loans and insurance, with offices at No. 4, Sherman avenue, east. Mr.
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Bailey is an enterprising, progressive citizen, interested in every movement that tends to the growth and development of the town and the betterment of the community. All his money is invested in Hutchinson and all his interests are here, which is evidence of his faith and confidence in the future of the city and in the security of his investments.
Mr. Bailey is one of the promoters of Crescent Park addition, which is located between Seventeenth and Twentieth avenues, and Main and Plum streets. The addition consists of fourteen blocks, and has a boulevard (Crescent boulevard) running through the plat in the form of a crescent.
In his fraternal associations Mr. Bailey is a Mason, a Knight Templar, and has for twenty-five or thirty years been a member of the Modern Wood- men of America. He is a member of the Hutchinson Commercial Club, and the Hutchinson County Club. His political affiliation is with the Repub- lican party : he is a member of the Christian church. He was married, Sep- tember. 1887. in Missouri, to Beulah Jackson, who was born in Bedford, Missouri, August 12, 1867. She is the daughter of James and Minerva (Wolfscales) Jackson, who were both natives of Missouri. Mrs. Bailey is a member of the Christian church. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are: Cloyd H., born in Aurora, Nebraska, July 7, 1888. He is associated with his father in the loan and insurance business, and is a member of the Presbyterian church in Hutchinson. . Archie A., born in Hutchinson, March 3, 1890. He is an evangelical singer, and has been associated in evangelical work with W. T. Brooks and R. C. L. Vawter. He also has a conservatory of music in Marshalltown, Iowa. He is a member of the Christian church. Ledessa Arvilla, born in Hutchinson, February 4. 1896. She has been, for one year a student in the Drake University, at Des Moines, Iowa, studying music, for which she has a talent, and other branches. She is a member of the Christian church.
The Bailey homestead is at No. 16 Ninth avenue, east, and is one of the most handsome residences of Hutchinson. This has been their place of residence for eighteen years.
J. W. COOK.
J. W. Cook was born in Knox county, Ohio, Feruary 19. 1859, and is the son of Isaac Newton and Hannah ( Bell) Cook. His mother's parents were Isaac and Mary ( Harrison) Bell, natives of Ohio and members of
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the Christian church. Her father, Isaac Bell, was a farmer and breeder of fine live stock, and a very prominent man in his community. He was elected to the state Senate on the Democratic ticket, where he served with distinction. He reared a large family of children to lives of usefulness and honor.
Stephen Cook, the paternal grandfather of J. W. Cook, was born in . Pennsylvania, but moved to Martinsburg, Ohio, where he farmed until his death. He was a descendant of Francis Cook, of Yorkshire, England, who is supposed to have come across with the Pilgrim Fathers in the "Mayflower." His grandson, Jacob Cook, fought in the Indian War against King Philip. Jacob's son, Stephen, was a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and Stephen Cook, the grandfather of J. W. Cook, belonged to a generation or two nearer our present time. The latter was an Ohio pioneer and a Presby- terian. His children, all deceased, were Sarah, Phoebe, Isaac N. and Eme- line.
Isaac N. Cook was born in Ohio, in 1823, and died in 1886. He was a graduate of the academy in Martinsburg. He moved from there to Mc- Lane county, Illinois, in 1865. His wife, who was born in 1830, died in 1914. Their children were Stephen B. (deceased), Harrison B., John W., Frank E. and Isaac E.
John W. Cook received his early educational training in the public schools of his home county, and later was a student in Wesleyan College, where he took a scientific course with the intention of becoming a physi- cian, but an attack of the measles settling in his eyes, necessitated his giving . up the idea, and he returned to the farm. After his marriage Mr. Cook lived for one year in Cooksville, Illinois, coming to Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1892. He was in the real estate business there for eight years, and was also connected with the Brown Corn and Hay Company, of that city. He is now living on his quarter section of land in Grant township, where he is successfully farming.
John W. Cook was married on December 17, 1891, to Carrie A. Smith, who was born September 15, 1865, in Illinois. Her parents were Rev. Fieldon and Nettie (Cornwall) Smith, the former a native of Ken- tucky, and the latter a native of New York state. Rev. Fieldon Smith belonged to the Western conference. His death occurred in Avon, Illinois, in 1894. His widow is now living at Los Angeles, California. Mr. Cook and wife are the parents of one daughter, Rowena, born April 14. 1893.
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John W. Cook has always taken an active interest in local affairs, hav- ing served two terms as township trustee. Mrs. Cook is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
WALTER F. WILLIAMS.
Walter F. Williams, one of the best-known farmers of Roscoe town- ship, this county, and a prominent resident of the Pretty Prairie neighbor- hood, is a native of the great Empire state, having been born at Beaver Dam, New York, July 3, 1858. son of J. C. and Mary (Smalley ) Williams, the former a native of New Jersey, and the latter of New York.
J. C. Williams, in his day, was one of the most prominent men in his section of New York state and was a power in politics. At the time Levi P. Morton was inaugurated governor of New York he offered to send a special car to Beaver Dam for Mr. Williams in order that he might ride in comfort to Albany to witness the inauguration. He was the son of William John and Ruth ( Forgerson) Williams, the former of whom, with three brothers, sons of Jacob Williams, came from Ireland to the United States and settled at Williamsville, New Jersey. During the War of 1812 John Williams enlisted in behalf of the Americans in their second war of independence against England and served valiantly throughout that struggle. He married Ruth Forgerson, of New Jersey, daughter of Robert Forgerson, a soldier of the Revolution, who had served for six years during the War of Independence, and J. C. Williams was a son of that union. J. C. Williams was reared in New Jersey and became a cooper by trade. At the age of twenty-two he left his native state and went to New York state, where he engaged in farm- ing. later moving to Beaver Dam, where he spent his last days, his death occurring in 1896. He was a lifelong and active member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His first wife, Mary Smalley, mother of Walter F. Will- iams, was the daughter of William and Catherine (Conover) Smalley, the former of whom, a native of England, a miller by trade, came to the United States and settled in New York state, erecting the first water-power mill in the section of the state in which he settled. Though born in England, Will- iam Smalley's sympathies were with the people of his adopted country, and during the War of 1812, he fought on the American side. Mrs. Mary Will- iams died on December 7, 1869, leaving two sons, Walter F. and W. S. Will- iams, who died at the age of thirty-seven years. W. S. Williams was an
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accomplished singer, and was a traveling salesman for a musical instrument firm, he having at one time been a resident of Hutchinson, this county. J. C. Williams married, secondly, Catherine Ferguson, which second union was without issue.
Walter F. Williams was little more than ten years old when his mother died and thereafter, until he was fifteen years of age, he made his home with his uncle, E. Edwin Ottlev. At the age of fifteen he began work on his own account and in the spring of 1880, at about the age of twenty-two years. he came to Kansas and bought a quarter section of land in the Pretty Prairie neighborhood in Roscoe township, this county, which he immediately set about developing. On March 4, 1886, Walter F. Williams married Augusta Johnson, who was born in Dayton, Ohio, February 10, 1857. daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Hemphill) Johnson, pioneers of Roscoe township, and established his home on his farm, where he ever since has resided and where he and his family are very comfortably and pleasantly situated. The farm is well improved and well cultivated and Mr. Williams is regarded as one of the substantial farmers of his community.
To Mr. and Mrs. Williams three children have been born, W. W., now living at Orlando, Florida, and Nellie. Mr. Williams is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and takes a warm inter- est in the affairs of that organization.
CHARLES E. HIATT.
Charles E. Hiatt, son of William and Jane ( Barnes) Hiatt, was born in Piatt county, Illinois, August 23, 1865. His maternal grandfather. Sam- uel Barnes, was a native of Virginia and a farmer. His home was in Pick- away county, Virginia, and there he lived and died. Samuel Barnes and his wife, Susannah Dean, were the parents of two children, Benjamin and Jane, both of whom are now deceased. Susannah Dean had been married previous to her union with Samuel Barnes, and was the mother of two chil- dren by her first marriage, Longworth and James, the latter of whom is deceased.
Thomas Hiatt, the paternal grandfather of Charles E. Hiatt, was born in Kentucky, and by occupation was a farmer. His children, all of whom are now deceased, were as follow: John, Thomas, George, William, Anna,
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Mary and Catherine. He died in Kentucky. William Hiatt, the father of Charles E., was born in Ohio and received his education there. He died in March, 1912: his wife preceded him in death, dying in 1909. They were the parents of the following children, all of whom are living: Peter J., Sarah Elizabeth, John R., Frank E., and Charles E. William Hiatt was a farmer, and was a hard-working man all his life, the first part of which was spent in Piatt county, Illinois. In 1886 he moved his family to Kansas, and located in Rice county, three miles north of Nickerson. After living here for a few years, he retired from active labor and moved into Nickerson, where his death occurred.
Charles E. Hiatt received his education in the district schools of Piatt county, Illinois, and when his parents moved to Kansas, he accompanied them. He took up farming as a vocation, and in 1903, moved to his pres- ent location, which consists of one hundred and eighty acres of fine farm- ing land, which he has improved in various ways, and is ranked among the successful farmers of his section. He is a stockholder in the Farmers' ele- vator at Nickerson, and takes an active interest in all measures for the up- lift of his community.
Mr. Hiatt was married to Julia Wocknitz, a native of Wisconsin and the daughter of William Wocknitz. They are the parents of three chil- dren. Hazel N., Ella Jane and Victor C.
JAMES HASTON.
The late James Haston, who for years was one of the best-known farm- ers and stockmen in Reno county, owner of a farm of fourteen hundred acres in Walnut township, on which he was extensively engaged in raising cattle, a prominent member of the board of management of the Kansas State Fair Association, and for years one of the leaders in the general enterprises of the part of the county in which he made his home, was a Virginian, born on a farm in Botetourt county. Virginia, March 25, 1852, son of John and Frances ( Lyle) Haston, who were the parents of ten children, six sons and four daughters.
John Haston was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, July 28, 1804, son of John Haston, a native of Scotland, who had come to this country when thirteen years of age and who had served as a soldier in General Wade's command during the Revolutionary War. Upon coming to this country he
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had entered the service of a distiller in Virginia and when twenty-one years of age was the owner of a half interest in the business, which business he followed the rest of his life. While serving as a soldier in the patriot army his skull was broken by a cannon ball, but the fracture was skillfully trephined and he lived for many years thereafter with a silver plate in his skull. At the time of his death he was the owner of eight hundred and eighty-eight acres of land in the Blue Ridge. He was born Hastings, but upon coming to this country' became known as Hastons, which ever since has been the family name on this side of the water. The junior John Haston was a powerful man, standing six feet, eleven inches in his stockings, and at the age of twenty-one was the overseer on the great plantation of Colonel Preston, in Virginia, a position he held for five years before engaging in farming on his own account. At the time of his death on July 28, 1871, he was the owner of a fine farin of three hundred and eighty-four acres in Botetourt county, Virginia, and had long been accounted one of the leading citizens of that community. He was married in 1844 and to him and his wife ten children were born, six sons and four daughters. His widow, who survived him many years, was born in Virginia in 1837, daughter of Thomas and Susan (Wade) Lyle, both natives of the Old Dominion, the latter of whom was a daughter of Gen. Isaac Wade, of Revolutionary fame. Thomas Lyle was a native of Seaford county, Virginia, and was a man of substance and influence in his community. Two of his sons, William and John, were killed in service during the Civil War. About 1875 the Widow Haston disposed of her inter- ests in Virginia and with her family moved to Ohio, locating in Preble county. There the elder sons rented land and she remained with them until 1886, in which year she married Rev. James Neal and spent the remainder of her life near the city of Eaton, in that county, her death occurring in 1910.
James Haston grew up on the home plantation in Virginia and received his education in the neighboring schools. On April 1, 1874. about three years after his father's death, he left Virginia and went over into Ohio, locating at Seven Mile, in Butler county, where for four years he worked at the carpenter trade. He then moved up into Preble county and located at Camden, where he began working at the same trade and where he married in the spring of 1878. Six years later, in the spring of 1886, he came to Kansas, arriving at Sterling on March 4th of that year. Not long after coming to this section he traded a team of horses and a wagon for a small tract of land in section 5, Walnut township, this county, and there estab- lished his home. He prospered in his farming operations from the very
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beginning and presently began to add to his land holdings, gradually increas- ing the same until he became the owner of fourteen hundred acres of fine land in this county and was regarded as one of the most substantial citizens of the Sterling neighborhood. He early went in quite extensively for stock raising and became one of the best-known cattlemen of that section. In 1897 he handled twenty-one thousand head of cattle on his ranch, and though not continuing his live stock operations on quite so extensive a scale was for years heavily interested in the cattle business and annually sold thousands of cattle. He also did quite a business in handling hogs, horses and mules, while he was known as one of the biggest producers of broom corn in that section.
Mr. Haston took an active interest in general public enterprises from the time he settled in this county, and became a man of large influence in his community. He was one of the fifty men who guaranteed the fund for the establishment of the Kansas State Fair Association at Hutchinson, and ever took an active part in the affairs of that organization, of which he had been a member ever since its creation. For ten years he served as one of the directors of the association, a member of the executive committee of the same, and manager of the speed ring, during which time he came to be one of the best-known horsemen in the state. He also gave proper attention to local civic affairs and for some time served as treasurer of Walnut township, and for sixteen years as treasurer of the school board. Mr. Haston was taken ill early in the spring of 1916 with a trouble with his heart. He was under the best medical care but his rugged system was unable to throw off the trouble and he died on July 8. His remains were buried in a cemetery close to his home. One of the largest funerals ever held in Reno county attested the high esteem in which he was held. His death was a distinct loss to the county.
On March 7, 1878, in Preble county, Ohio, James Haston was married to Mary J. Campbell, who was born in that county, April 25, 1858, daughter of John and Martha (Scott) Campbell, well-to-do farming people of the Fairhaven neighborhood in that county, and to that union four children were born, namely: R. L., who married Anna Bain, and has two children, James M. and Ava Elizabeth ; Frank B., who married Mabel Bain, and has one child, a daughter, Ethel: Samuel O. and Gladys 1. Mr. Haston was a thirty-second- degree Mason, having been admitted to the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Consistory of Wichita, in 1899, and took a warm interest in the affairs of that organization.
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A. R. HOLDEMAN.
A. R. Holdeman,' one of the prominent and successful merchants of Pretty Prairie, was born in Wooster, Ohio, on April 21, 1863, being the son of John and Elizabeth (Ritter) Holdeman. John Ritter, the maternal grandfather of A. R. Holdeman, was a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1801. He later moved to Ohio when the daughter Elizabeth was eleven years of age. Mr. Holdeman was a cooper by trade and after e years of residence in Ohio, he moved to Jasper county, Missouri, where he died in 1886. Amos Holdeman, the paternal grandfather of A. R., was a. native of Ohio, where he lived his early life and was married to Nancy Yoder. Mr. Hokleman was a prominent farmer and stock man, in which he was most successful. In 1883 he removed to Jasper county, Mis- souri, where he died in 1887.
John Holdeman, the father of .A. R., was educated in the district schools ·nd later studied Greek and Latin at home. After completing his education, he entered the ministry, in which work he was engaged for forty-seven years. He dien on March 4, 1900. His widow is still living at Pretty Prairie. To this union six children were born, three boys and three girls.
.A. R. Holdeman was educated in the common schools of Ohio, where he grew to maghood. He later came to Jasper county, Missouri, with his par- ents and here married Sarah Capp, in 1883. To this union were born the following chadren: J. H., Elizabeth, A. A., Charles, Dora A., Flossie C. and Mamie In 1889 the family returned to Ohio where they lived at Wads- worth for three years, after which they removed to Reno county, Kansas, and lived on a farm for twelve years. Mr. Holdeman, after leaving the farm, engaged in the mercantile business at Hutchinson, Kansas, with his son. In April. 1915, he left Hutchinson and located in Pretty Prairie, where he con- ducts a general store and meat market. He is still the owner of two hun- dred and twelve acres of farm land and has stock in the elevator company at Castleton. H. is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
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