USA > Kansas > Shawnee County > History of Shawnee County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 32
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Cary Snyder and his worthy wife became the parents of two sons: Ray, who died in early life; and William P., who is now in attendance at Wash- burn College at Topeka. Mr. Snyder was a man of ability and good business judgment and met with a high degree of success. Mrs. Snyder has many friends in Dover and vicinity, among whom she has lived many years.
THEODORE F. KREIPE.
THEODORE F. KREIPE, one of the leading citizens and large farmers of Tecumseh township, Shawnee County, who owns a fine farm of 330 acres in section 33, township II, range 17, on the Kaw River, was born December 8, 1860, at Big Spring, Douglas County, Kansas, and is a son of Theodore and Gertrude (Deister) (Engelke) Kreipe.
Theodore Kreipe, father of our subject, was born December 16, 1828, in Hildesheim, Hanover, Germany, a son of Conrad and Gertrude ( Molle) Kreipe. His father died when he was four years old. He attended school until 12 years of age and then hired out to farmers for $13 a year and also
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worked one year on the railroad before coming to the United States. In 1848 he came to America with his mother and his two brothers, Frank and Conrad. The family settled in St. Charles County, Missouri, where Mr. Kreipe farmed for several years and then engaged in freighting for the gov- ernment. From 1854 until 1859 he made many trips across the plains to Salt Lake City, Santa Fe and other points. An attack of mountain fever pros- trated him in Platte County, Missouri, where he remained until the spring of 1860, when he removed to Douglas County, Kansas, and settled on a farm two miles east of Big Spring. When the State militia were called out to withstand the invasion of General Price, he enlisted under Col. George W. Veale.
Mr. Kreipe remained on his farm of 80 acres in Douglas County until the spring of 1865, when he sold his land there and purchased 160 acres in section 33, township 11, range 17, in Tecumseh township, where he now resides. He owns about 2,000 acres of land, the greater part of which is in this township and in Shawnee County, and he has made all the improvements on the different farms. His present farm he cleared of timber and in 1868 erected the substantial, stone residence and later all the necessary barns and buildings to carry on extensive farming. Mr. Kreipe's remarkable success has been the result of constant industry and good judgment. His business has been farming, grain-growing and stock-raising. He raises a great many hogs and has 150 head of white-faced cattle. Mr. Kreipe is by far the most successful and one of the largest farmers of the county. Politically, he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Catholic Church.
Theodore Kreipe was married to Mrs. Gertrude (Deister) Engelke, who was born in Hanover, January 2, 1826, and died December 9, 1900. The children born to this union were: Theodore F., our subject; George and Mary (twins), the former of whom farms in Tecumseh township and the latter lives at home; Conrad, of Franklin County, Kansas; and William, who lives on his father's place.
Theodore F. Kreipe came to his present farm in 1865 with his parents and has resided here ever since, following farming. His education was secured in the district schools and his agricultural training was obtained under the guidance of his father. Like the latter, he has been very successful, both in the cultivating of his land and also in the raising of fine stock. He has a handsome residence, which he built in 1904.
Mr. Kreipe was married January 19, 1888, to Nettie Busch, who was born March 12, 1868, at Parkville, Missouri, and is a daughter of John and Gertrude (Kollman) Busch, natives of Germany. They have three children : Edmund, Bessie and Geraldine. The family belong to the Catholic Church at Big Spring.
JOHN GREEN
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In politics Mr. Kreipe is a Democrat. For the past 12 years he has been one of the township's most efficient school officers and in the fall of 1904 was elected township trustee, an office for which he is well qualified.
JOHN CREEN.
JOHN GREEN, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, was one of the most prosperous farmers of Mission township, Shawnee County, where he resided from 1869 until his death, September 6, 1903, aged 76 years, lacking five days.
Mr. Green was a native of England, having been born in Gloucestershire on the IIth day of September, 1827. He emigrated to America when 21 years of age, and for one year was located in Cincinnati, Ohio. He then en- gaged in farming in Union County, Indiana, and still later in Cass County, Michigan, where he remained until 1869. In that year he came West to Shawnee County, Kansas, and homesteaded a claim. He was a man of thrifty habits and untiring energy, and succeeded where others failed in raising crops on new land. He gradually increased his holdings until at the time of his death the home farm consisted of 370 acres, all under cultiva- tion. It is a finely improved place, with a two-story, stone house of nine rooms, which he erected at a cost of $3,500, and a stone barn, 32 by 40 feet in dimensions, which he erected in 1875 at a cost of $1,000. The latter affords shelter for 36 head of stock, and has capacity for 30 tons of hay and considerable grain. In addition to these substantial buildings, Mr. Green built wagon sheds and a granary and a large hay barn 70 feet long, which was constructed of stone and timber. He raised cattle on a very extensive scale and also kept a large number of horses and hogs. The receipts from his sales of cattle often amounted to as much as $1,800 in one year.
John Green was united in marriage in 1849 with Mary Diebolt, a daughter of David A. Diebolt, of Union County, Indiana, who was a farmer by occupation and lived to reach the remarkable age of 114 years. Mrs. Green died in 1868 on giving birth to a child, leaving eight children as follows: John A., whose present location is unknown; Perry, an auctioneer of Council Grove, Morris County, Kansas, who married Olive Reveal, a daughter of M. M. Reveal, a blacksmith of Council Grove, and has three children,-Mamie, of Grand Rapids, Edith and Everett Perry; Emma; Charles; Ellen ; Robert; George; and Mary Ann, deceased.
Our subject formed a second marital union with Mrs. Philobia LaPoint, widow of Mitchell LaPoint. She was born in Wayne County, Missouri,
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December 15, 1818, and lived there until 1852, when she accompanied the family of Benjamin Franklin to Uniontown. She was adopted as one of the Pottawatomie tribe of Indians, and was married to Mitchel La Point, a quarter-blood Indian, to whom was alloted the quarter-section on which the old town stood. She received an allotment of 80 acres in Shawnee County. She died July 22, 1891, without issue.
Mr. Green married, as his third wife, Christina Reinhard. They spent their wedding trip in touring England, leaving this country in April, 1892, and returning home the following August. Mrs. Green died in 1895, leav- ing a son, Herbert Reinhard Green.
On April 7, 1896, occurred the fourth marriage of John Green. He was united with Mrs. Augusta Winn, nee Austin, widow of James Winn, of Kentucky, and a daughter of William Austin, who was born in London, England, and upon coming to this country located in Jefferson County, Missouri, where his daughter Augusta was born. James Winn died at Eureka, Missouri, leaving his widow with three children: James Edward, who lives with his mother; Mary Jane, wife of Harry Sillett, of Utah; and William Silas, who lives on the home farm. Our subject and his wife had one son, Ernest Ray Green, born in 1897. Religiously, Mr. Green was a faithful member of the Methodist Church. He was for many years a Democrat in politics and then joined the Populist party.
GEN. JAMES W. F. HUGHES.
GEN. JAMES W. F. HUGHES, one of Topeka's most prominent citizens, Adjutant General of the State of Kansas by appointment of Governor Hoch, formerly mayor and for years a successful business man, is probably as well- known as any other citizen of Kansas. General Hughes was born at Colum- bia, Tennessee, January 12, 1860, and is one of a family of five children born to A. M. and Mattie (Neill) Hughes.
The forebears of General Hughes were of Southern birth for generations. His father was a native of North Carolina and for years was an eminent mem- ber of the bar of Tennessee.
General Hughes enjoyed educational advantages and university training, being graduated at the university of his native State in 1881. In the same year he came to Topeka, with a view of practicing engineering, a profession for which he had qualified, and soon became connected with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, remaining with that road until 1895. He then
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embarked in business for himself, opening a retail and wholesale coal busi- ness, in which he has been interested ever since.
General Hughes has the record of serving as brigadier general of the Kansas National Guard under the administration of three executives. During this time his career has been filled with responsible and important acts, some of these being matters of State history. For 10 years he was colonel of the Third Regiment, Kansas National Guard. He was in command at the time of the legislative war in 1893 and became a most conspicuous and important figure.
At this time two political parties were contending for the mastery. Two bodies had been organized, known as the Douglass ( Republican) House, and the Dunsmore (Populist) House, both claiming to be the duly constituted House of Representatives of the State of Kansas. Both bodies were in session in the same hall and endeavoring to transact public business. Governor Lewelling, the executive, a Populist, was in sympathy with the Dunsmore branch of the dual House, and called out the militia to aid in sustaining it.
General Hughes was at that time colonel of the Third Regiment, Kansas National Guard. When the contest between the two Houses was at its highest, Governor Lewelling issued an order directing Colonel Hughes to proceed to Representative Hall with the forces at his command and eject the members of the so-called Douglass House, using whatever power might be necessary to accomplish this result. Colonel Hughes refused to obey the order, claiming that it was illegal, indefinite, and exceeding his authority and that it raised the question of rightful authority between the legislative and military depart- ments of the State government.
For his refusal to disperse the Douglass House and precipitate riot and bloodshed in obedience to the Governor's order, Colonel Hughes was court martialed and dismissed from the service, after a prolonged trial in which the best legal talent of the State was enlisted. The tribunal before which he was tried was created by the Governor, and it must be acknowledged that partisan feeling entered largely into its findings, as the Governor was the reviewing officer. The Supreme Court subsequently determined that the Douglass House, which the Governor sought to disperse, was the regularly constituted body, and it continued its sessions during the rest of the legislative period of that year. Honor rather than discredit came to General Hughes as the re- sult of his contest with Governor Lewelling, Governor Morrill appointing him major general, K. N. G. It was to his clear head, cool judgment and knowl- edge of his rights and duties as an officer, that a desperate conflict was averted and the cause of good government preserved. The subsequent decision of the Supreme Court upholding the legality of the Douglass House, was a com- plete vindication of the course pursued by General Hughes, and the people of
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the State have commended his action and honored him in various ways for his prudence and courage at a trying and critical hour.
General Hughes served the city of Potwin as mayor during the years 1897 and 1898, and was a councilman of the city of Topeka in 1899 and 1900. In 1901 he was mayor of Topeka and in 1904 and 1905 he served in the Topeka City Council. His appointment as Adjutant General was one of the first acts of Governor Hoch's administration, the Governor having been Speaker pro tem of the Douglass House during the troubles of 1893. During recent years, under Governor Bailey, General Hughes had served as brigadier general, Kansas National Guard.
General Hughes married Mary A. Clark, who is a daughter of Julius T. Clark, a resident of Wisconsin. They have three children : James C., Alice W. and Mary J. General Hughes and family belong to the Presbyterian Church. The beautiful family home is situated at No. 305 Greenwood avenue.
As may be judged, General Hughes is identified with the Republican party and in various ways he has contributed to its success. His fraternal relations include the Masons, Elks, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Modern Woodmen of America and Woodmen of the World. General Hughes is known as a man of high character and lofty aims. Devoted to his State and her institutions, he has served her with fidelity and with both physical and moral courage has done his full duty to the extent of his powers.
BRADFORD MILLER.
BRADFORD MILLER, formerly mayor of Topeka, and one of the sub- stantial, valued and popular citizens of Shawnee County, was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1840, and is a son of Rev. John B. and Sarah (Shaffer) Miller. The Miller family is of Pennsylvania Dutch extraction.
The father of Mr. Miller was born in Ohio and the mother in Penn- sylvania. The former was a Presbyterian minister and also owned farming lands in Stark County, his father having been a farmer there. There were seven children born to Rev. John B. Miller and wife. One son, H. B. Miller, is now a member of the Kansas State Senate, from Osage County.
Our subject obtained his primary education in the public schools and later was a student at Mount Union College and classmate of the noted Bishop Hamilton, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. When only 16 years of age he began to teach school and continued, more or less continuously, until his 22nd year, when, in 1862, he enlisted for service in the Civil War, entering the
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86th Regiment, Ohio Vol. Inf., as a private. At the election of officers he was made Ist lieutenant and served 100 days in answer to the second call for troops. Upon his return he was called into the provost marshal's office and. served as a deputy and as enrolling officer at Alliance, Ohio, until the close of the war. While in Ohio, he was elected first president of Council No. 117, known as Knox Union, organized by the National Council of the Union League, at North Georgetown, Columbiana County. The charter for this was issued June 12, 1863, and at the Grand Council of Ohio he received this honor, one which he justly prizes, under the seal of Grand President Sam. Galloway and Grand Secretary E. W. Brownell. Associated with him in Council No. 117, as its first secretary, was John W. Buck.
In 1868 Mr. Miller left Ohio and settled in Topeka. In 1873 he pur- chased a farm of 320 acres, 80 of which he has since sold; the property is located in Mission township, and is one of the best equipped and best im- proved farms in Shawnee County. Mr. Miller has not resided on the farm since 1902 and not continuously prior to that, as many calls to public office made it necessary for him frequently to take up his home in Topeka. During the greater part of his residence on the farm he devoted special attention to the development of clover and alfalfa, concerning which he has contributed a num- ber of valuable articles to the secretary of the State Board of Agriculture. He makes 12 reports a year to the United States Department of Agriculture. The farm is now run as a dairy farm, and in the last three years milk to the value of $5,000 has been told in Topeka. Mr. Miller has spent large amounts of money in developing this land from its virgin state and has spent a fortune in making its valuable improvements. His farm residence is an ideal rural home and the great barn which contains 34,000 feet of lumber in its solid tim- bers, and the immense granaries and other buildings make the place notable all over the county.
Mr. Miller wisely invested in considerable land in and about Topeka at an early day. He laid out the addition in the northeastern part of the city known as the Bradford Miller Addition, building several fine residences here and selling the whole body of land in city lots. His public offices have been ones of responsibility, testifying to the esteem in which he has long been held by his fellow-citizens. From 1873 to 1876 and from 1887 to 1890 he served as county commissioner ; during 1878 he was assessor of Topeka and in December, 1883, he was elected mayor of Topeka in which office he served until April, 1885. He also served as treasurer of Shawnee County, from 1880 to 1884. In 1885 he returned to the farm and devoted his attention to his great clover fields until failing health brought about his retirement to the city, in 1902. He has been one of the leading men of his township for years, a justice of the peace, and treasurer and member of the School Board. Mr.
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Miller occupies a very pleasant home which he purchased when he first came to Topeka, which is situated at No. 626 Clay street, opposite the Clay School.
Mr. Miller was married in Ohio, in 1864, to Harriet Summers, who was born in Columbiana County, Ohio. They have five children, namely : Minnie, who married C. C. McPherson, of Rossville, Shawnee County, and has three children,-Clarence L., Virgil L. and Helen; Henry O., who is in the lum- ber business at Tulsa, Indian Territory; Martha, who married John R. Wilt, of Rossville, Kansas; Mary, who married A. T. Lucas, sheriff of Shawnee County, of whom a sketch appears in this work,-they have one daughter, Helen Miller Lucas and B. H., who is auditor of several large lumber com- panies at Lawton, Oklahoma, who married Miss Sessions, of Ottawa, Kansas.
Mr. Miller and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church at Mission Center, Kansas, in which he served as elder until failing health made it ad- visable for him to curtail his activities. His first religious connection was with the First Presbyterian Church, of Alliance, Ohio. He is a citizen who has always had the best interests of city and county at heart and on many occasions has demonstrated his progressiveness and public spirit.
P. D. FIRESTONE.
P. D. FIRESTONE, one of the well-known agriculturists of Auburn town- ship, Shawnee County, who owns a fine grain and stock farm of 160 acres situated in section 9, township 13, range 14, was born in York County, Penn- sylvania, May 11, 1828, and is a son of William and Margaret (Detter) Fire- stone.
George Firestone, the paternal grandfather, was born in Holland. The father of our subject was a prosperous farmer in Pennsylvania, where he died when our subject was only two years old, leaving nine children : Daniel, Mathias, John, William, Susan, Esther, Polly, Margaret and P. D.
After the death of the father, the family moved to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Firestone was reared and remained until 1854, in the meantime attending school in various places and securing a superior education. His study years were from 16 to 21, during which period he was a student at Gettysburg for a time. He then learned the tailoring trade only to find that the necessary close confinement would not agree with him and an open outdoor life would be more beneficial. In the spring of 1854 he moved upon a farm in Wayne County, Ohio, which he operated until 1878 when he settled on his present property. He has a valuable farm here, well-improved
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and finely cultivated, to which he has devoted much attention and from which he obtains very satisfactory results.
Mr. Firestone was married in 1853, in Pennsylvania, to Christiana Conn, who was born in York County, Pennsylvania, in 1834, and died on our subject's present farm, aged 49 years. Of the II children born to them, four died in infancy, while Margaret died aged six years, Maude died aged three years, Clarence died aged 14 years and Samuel died aged two years. The survivors are : William L., of Auburn township; Lucy, wife of G. W. Lee, of Worcester, Ohio; and Bert, who resides with his father.
Mr. Firestone has been a Republican all his life but has taken only a good citizen's interest in public matters. He is very well known all over Shawnee County and is much respected. He has witnessed many changes since coming here, has seen all this section developed from a wilderness and has always done his part in assisting the wheels of progress.
WILLIAM S. CURRY.
Among the pioneer business men of Topeka, who have passed away, none stood higher in public esteem than the late William S. Curry. He was born in 1823 near White Sulphur Springs, Virginia, and was a son of James and Elizabeth (Huston) Curry.
The parents of Mr. Curry were also of Virginia birth. The father owned large plantations there, but in 1830 he removed with his family to Rush County, Indiana. Some years later the family moved to Springfield, Illinois, and then the mother died. The husband died in Topeka at the home of his son, William S. Curry.
William S. Curry was educated in Rush County, Indiana, and remained there until the age of 20 years, when he removed with the family to the vicinity of Springfield to Sangamon County Illinois. He remained there engaged in farming until 1866, when he moved to Topeka. During his many years of residence in the capital city, Mr. Curry was prominently identified with real estate interests and was one of the first large shippers of stock. He attained fortune and honorable prominence, his name became synonymous with honesty and fair dealing, and he left behind a record which reflects only credit upon a busy but well spent life. Mr. Curry died at Topeka on August 14, 1893.
Mr. Curry was married, first, to Sarah Forden, who died in 1864. In 1866 he married Cornelia Holcomb, who is a daughter of Alonzo Holcomb,
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and they had eight children, six of whom survive, viz : William E., a young business man of Topeka; Charles E., a large real estate dealer of Topeka ; Helen F., who resides with her mother; Mabel C., who is the wife of John A. Rosen, patent attorney, whose offices are at No. 418 Kansas avenue; Francis H .; George H. and Kenneth H. The family home is situated in Highland Park, one of the most attractive suburbs of Topeka.
Mr. Curry was a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and his family attend the same. In politics he was actively identified with the Republican party.
REV. HUGH PARK MCCLURKIN, D. D.
The death of Dr. Mcclurkin, at his home, No. 1198 Fillmore street, Topeka, on February 18, 1905, removed an able divine, a man of deep spiritual character and one of the great expounders of the Presbyterian faith. He was born near Rock Creek, Chester County, South Carolina, November 12, 1823, and was a son of John and Elizabeth Mcclurkin.
The parents of Dr. Mcclurkin were deeply religious people, who gave up all the advantages they enjoyed in a beautiful Southern home, because they were conscientiously opposed to slavery. They removed to Illinois in the fall of 1833, settling near Sparta.
Inheriting much from these worthy parents, our subject was also a youth of strong mentality, and during his school days and at Duquesne College (now Western University), Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1845, he was far in advance of his fellow-students. Upon completing his theological course in the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Cincinnati, he was licensed by the Lakes Presbytery, April 20, 1848, was ordained by the Pittsburg Presbytery and on October 15, 1850, was installed Pastor of the congregation at Salt Creek (now known as New Concord), Ohio. This charge he resigned in October, 1882, after 32 years of work in this field. From 1884 to 1891 he was pastor at Wahoo, Nebraska; from 1891 until 1893, he was pastor of the United Presbyterian Church at Denison, Kansas. He then came to Topeka, where he served as pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church from 1896 until 1902.
Since the close of this last pastorate Dr. Mcclurkin was in failing health. During his active years no clergyman wielded a more powerful influence, which was not confined to the pulpit, but permeated the communities in which he lived, bringing about reforms and arousing public sentiment. In repro- ducing the resolutions adopted by the Topeka Ministerial Union on this sad occasion, an evidence is shown of the high value placed upon his years of
IDA C. BARNES, M. D.
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fidelity to his calling and of the reverence in which he was held. This paper reads as follows :
Resolved, by the Topeka Ministerial Union, That in the life work and zeal of the late Rev. H. P. Mcclurkin, D. D., we recognize with gratitude to God, the noble man, the Christian gentleman, the ripe scholar, the wise teacher, the sound theologian, the loving companion, the loyal Christian, and zealous worker and helper in all good causes within his reach. His long and useful life was a blessing to the world, and his faithfulness to this union for many years gives a fragrancy to his memory which we will cherish through all the coming years. (Signed) :
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