USA > Kansas > Shawnee County > History of Shawnee County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 47
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an officer in the Presbyterian society, assisting in the work of raising funds for building a church and parsonage. In 1878, with others, he organized the Trinity Lutheran Church Society, and Rev. A. J. Hartsook of Salina officiated as pastor at the dedication of the new church. Together with I. M. Yost and H. D. Shaffer, he had collected money and directed the financial part in the erection of the church, and it was built, paid for and dedicated before the society had a pastor. Mr. Nellis was superintendent of the Sabbath-schools of the various churches with which he was there identified. On March 15, 1881, he was appointed judge of the 17th Judicial District of Kansas by Governor John P. St. John, his district consisting of the 15 counties in the northwestern part of the State. He was defeated at the judicial convention of the Republi- can party at Millbrook for the nomination to that office. He was a candidate for Attorney General before the Republican convention at Topeka in 1884, and was defeated on the fifth ballot by Hon. S. B. Bradford, by a vote of 168 to 167. This was his last effort in the political arena because his hearing had become imperfect. In June, 1885, he removed to Topeka and here continued the practice of the law until 1887, when his hearing became so poor he retired from active practice. He has since been identified with the Kansas Farmer Company, and is one of the city's most substantial business men.
On March 4, 1874, Mr. Nellis was married to Emma Virginia McAfee, her father, assisted by Rev. L. Blakesley of the Congregational Church, per- forming the ceremony. It was a double wedding, the only sister of Mrs. Nellis being married to D. H. Forbes at the same time. Miss McAfee was the first young lady Mr. Nellis met after his arrival in Topeka and was introduced to her at the Lutheran Church on August 12, 1871. She was born in Leaven- worth, Kansas, June 28, 1855, and is a daughter of Rev. Josiah B. and Anna R. (Yowler) McAfee, her father being a retired minister of Topeka, whose life work is recorded elsewhere in this work. Emma Virginia McAfee was born just two days after Cora Kyle, the first white child born in Leavenworth, and in recognition of this honor the City Council, then just formed, and the town company presented each of them with a deeded city lot. The lot given to Mrs. Nellis was sold for taxes a few years later and is now occupied by the City Market and Fire Department. When she was nearly two years old, her parents moved to Grasshopper Falls, Kansas, where she lived seven years, attending the public schools four years of that period. In 1865 she accom- panied her father to Topeka, where she attended Washburn College, after leaving the public schools, and then the College of the Sisters of Bethany. During the latter part of her school life she took a course at Pond's Business College, in which her father had purchased a life scholarship. During the summer of 1873, she taught a school northwest of North Topeka, near where- the Rock Island roundhouse now is. On April 10, 1874, she joined her hus-
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band at Hays, Kansas, and there resided until their return to Topeka in Feb- ruary, 1885. She became a member of the English Lutheran Church at Topeka on her 13th birthday anniversary, being the first member to be re- ceived by confirmation. She was organist several years prior to leaving for Hays City, then filled a like position in the church of that place until her re- turn to Topeka. She then resumed the duties of organist in the Topeka church and continued for six years, when she resigned to accompany her daughter, Celeste, to Chicago in 1892. For a period of 22 years, she served gratuitously as organist and also was a teacher in the Sabbath-schools of the various churches, rarely missing in attendance unless prevented by sickness. Three children were born to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Nellis, namely : Luther McAfee, a record of whose life follows; Celeste Birdella, born March 7, 1877; and Annie Mary, who was born February 9, 1879.
Luther McAfee Nellis was born in the city of Topeka, March 1, 1875, in the house then known as the Dawson house at No. 226 Van Buren street, now numbered 710 Van Buren street. The house was then occupied by his grandfather, Rev. Josiah B. McAfee. In August, 1875, he was baptised at the home of his uncle, D. H. Forbes, by his grandfather, and shortly after was taken to Hays, where he lived until 10 years old. Owing to an injury to his spine, he did not attend school until he was seven years old, and upon returning to Topeka he continued in the schools until the second year in High School, when he received an appointment as ticket taker at the World's Fair at Chicago. During 1903 and 1904 he served in the city Council of Topeka, representing the Fourth Ward. He was admitted to membership in the English Lutheran Church, August 10, 1887, and is a faithful member. He was admitted as an attorney at Topeka, February 21, 1898, and is now a member of the Kansas Farmer Company. He is an active Mason, and has taken all the degrees in the York rite and nearly all in the Scottish rite.
J. ALBERT BERRY, M. D.
J. ALBERT BERRY, M. D., one of the best known members of the medi- cal profession in Topeka, is distinguished as a specialist on diseases of the stomach, having spent years of study in this branch under the foremost special- ists of the United States and Canada. He was born in Canada, March 22, 1861, and is a son of George and Ann Jane (Mckinley) Berry.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was a native of the North of Ireland, and in early life emigrated to Canada, where the town of Berryton was named in his honor. George Berry, father of our subject, was born
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in Canada, where he became an extensive farmer and land-owner. He was united in marriage with Ann Jane Mckinley, who was distantly related to William McKinley, late President of the United States. The genealogy of this family can be traced back for a period of 900 years, and is closely inter- woven with the history of Northern and Central Scotland during that period. The name was originally spelled MacKinley, but the "a" was dropped from the name by the noted soldier, James McKinley, when he migrated to Ire- land. George Berry and his wife became parents of the following children : Rebecca, wife of George Collinson of Canada; J. Albert; and George H., and W. J., who are engaged in farming in Canada. Mr. Berry died about 1890, and is survived by his widow who is past the age of 84 years.
J. Albert Berry was reared on a farm, working upon the home place during the summer months and attending school in the winter months, until he was 17 years old. His father had purchased another fine farm and was desirous of our subject taking charge of it, but the latter had become too .strongly imbued with an ambition to practice medicine to give it up. He left the district schools for the public schools in town, graduating in 1881, and in 1883 completed a collegiate course. In October of the latter year, he entered the famous McGill University at Montreal, and was graduated from the medical department March 22, 1887, the 26th anniversary of his birth. Upon receiving his sheepskin, he came West to Kansas City, Missouri, and .soon after located at Mill Grove, Missouri. His next location was DeWitt, Nebraska, arriving there empty-handed but full of ambition, and when he departed from that town he was worth $10,000. He next went to Kalispell, Montana, where he formed a partnership with an old classmate of McGill, a Doctor McDonald, and together they acted as surgeons for the Montana Divi- sion of the Great Northern Railroad, their territory extending as far West as Spokane, Washington. They filled this position from 1893 to 1895. In 1897 Dr. Berry took a special course in surgery at the Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital, No. 2400 Dearborn street, Chicago, paying $1,000 for an assistantship. After one month he concluded to take up conservative medi- .cine and devoted his attention thereafter to the digestive tract,-the mouth, throat, stomach and intestines. In this hospital he was demonstrator in stomach clinics under Dr. Fenton B. Turk. After completing his course in 1898, he went to Spokane, Washington, but on account of sickness in liis family returned home for a time. He then returned to Chicago and pursued a six-months' course in diseases of the stomach, and took a special course on the eye, ear, nose and throat under Dr. Casey Wood and Dr. Thomas A. Wood- ruff, both Canadians of distinction. On December 20, 1899, Dr. Berry located in Topeka, where he has since built up a large office practice, working as a 'specialist along his own chosen lines. He is associated with Dr. Arthur S.
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Andrews in the Topeka Electrical and X-Ray Sanitarium, his specialty being catarrh of the nose, throat and stomach and diseases of the rectum, kidneys and bladder. He is physician for the Copeland Hotel, and is on the medical staff of the Jane C. Stormont Hospital. During the year 1900 he took a post graduate course in the New York Hospital. He is local medical ex- aminer for the Illinois Life Insurance Company : the Franklin Life Insurance Company, of Springfield, Illinois ; the Security Mutual Insurance Company, of Binghampton, New York; the National Life; the Merchants' Life Insurance Company of Burlington, Iowa, and is council surgeon of the United Com- mercial Travelers of America. He is a member of the Shawnee County and Kansas State medical societies, and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Berry was united in marriage with S. Jennie Dagg, a daughter of Richard and Ellen (Ardell) Dagg, both natives of County Tipperary, Ire- land. Her father was postmaster of the city of London, Ontario, Canada for a period of 20 years. Fraternally, our subject is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Elks.
LOUIS PHILIP WIKIDAL.
LOUIS PHILIP WIKIDAL, deceased, who had been interested in extensive farming interests in the State for a number of years, died at Topeka, March 17, 1883. He was born at Canton, Ohio, August 27, 1835, and was a son of Martin and Fredericka (Schaefer) Wikidal.
Mr. Wikidal was reared in Canton and was educated in the Moravian College at Lititz, Pennsylvania. At manhood he embarked in a hardware business at Canton, Ohio, and later became interested in a manufacturing business in which he continued until he located in Topeka, in 1876. For many years he was one of the leading and useful citizens, active in the de- veloping of the resources of the State and in increasing her agricultural and commercial importance.
In 1862 Mr. Wikidal was married to Elizabeth Williams, a daughter of George Williams. Five children were born to them: Mary F., who is the wife of C. S. Eagle, the well-known cigar merchant of Topeka; Julia, who is the widow of John M. Wells, of Canton, Ohio; Martin and William Williams, both of Topeka, and Louis P., of Chanute, Kansas. The latter is connected with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway at Chanute, Kansas. William Williams Wikidal, the second son of the family, married Emilie Packer King, the only daughter of James L. King, who is the editor of this work and State librarian of Kansas.
The late Mr. Wikidal was identified with the Republican party but never
JAMES SWAN
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sought political honors. He was prominent also in the Masonic fraternity. His widow still resides in Topeka, enjoying the comforts of a beautiful home at No. 435 Harrison street.
JAMES SWAN.
JAMES SWAN, one of the prosperous farmers and well-known men of Mission township, Shawnee County, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, owns 240 acres of land in section 27, township 12, range 15. He was born in 1828 in Fifeshire, Scotland, and is a son of George and Anna (Oliphant) Swan.
George Swan, the paternal grandfather, died in Scotland in 1846, aged 83 years. Our subject's father followed the trade of baker in his native land. The mother died in Scotland, and in the fall of 1853 the father and his oldest daughter came to America and settled in Guernsey County, Ohio, where he died in 1863, aged 81 years.
James Swan, our immediate subject, came to the United States in No- vember, 1850, and settled in Guernsey County, Ohio, with Rev. Mr. Bloom and wife, the former of whom was a farmer and a local preacher. About 1853 he went to Indiana, prior to the coming of his father and sister to Ohio, and the former he never saw in this country. Mr. Swan remained in Indi- ana until the spring of 1857 and then came to Kansas on a prospecting trip, after which he returned to Indiana and settled up his affairs. In 1858 he filed a claim for 80 acres of his present farm and by 1860 his family was established here, for a time on a rented farm.
In 1862 Mr. Swan enlisted in the government service, entering the Sixth Regiment, Kansas Vol. Cav., and faithfully performed a soldier's duties until he was mustered out in June, 1865, at Duvall's Bluff, Arkansas. During this time he participated in these battles: Prairie Grove and Cane Hill, Missouri, and Honey Springs, Indian Territory. This did not include all the activity of the regiment for, being stationed on the frontier, it bore the brunt of the constant skirmishing going on and served as a protection to outlying farms and isolated homes. When the regiment took part in the battle of Saline River, Mr. Swan was engaged in a much more dangerous task, having been detailed in February, 1864, as officer in charge of the mail service. The hardship and danger attendant upon this work brought on illness and he was relieved from this duty on May 15, 1864. He has never fully recovered from the nervous strain of those months during which he so faithfully performed his duty that in November, 1864, he was promoted
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to the rank of Ist sergeant and was finally discharged as such. During his mail service he had 10 men under his charge and the duties of the position required that the mail should be carried through a great stretch of hostile country. Two of his men were killed and two others were wounded but the mails reached their destination in safety.
After the close of his army service, Mr. Swan returned to his farm in Mission township, Shawnee County, and entered upon its development and improvement. He added to the original tract until now he owns a large and valuable body of land. The home property has many desirable features that add to its value and attractiveness, not the least of which is a living spring that furnishes an excellent supply of water. A bearing orchard of five acres, where all kinds of fruit suited to this section are grown, fur- nishes its owner with an abundance of fruit for home use and for sale. The landscape as viewed from the house presents quite a pleasing sight, as the vista includes the fruit trees of the orchard and many forest trees and ever- greens.
In 1854, in Steuben County, Indiana, Mr. Swan married Wilhemina Pothoff, who is a daughter of Albert and Elizabeth ( Homer) Pothoff, both now deceased. Mr. Pothoff was a farmer in Indiana, in which State he died, aged 66 years. Mr. and Mrs. Swan have reared five children, namely : John F., who married Millie Eaton and has six children,-Robert B., Mary, Will- iam, Ida Belle, Jessie and Clarissa; Lillian, who married C. F. Slaton and has three children,-Maude, Grace and Roy; James W., of Colorado; Jessie E., wife of A. J. Sinel ; and A. R., who married Ida Belle Kallmeyer and has one child .- Albert Frederick.
Politically Mr. Swan has been a life-long Republican. For 13 years he has been a member of the School Board and from 1879 until 1884 he served as township trustee. He has been a justice of the peace for 13 years and in 1880 he was the township census taker. His official duties have been per- formed with uniform accuracy and with the same consideration for the pub- lic's interest that made him such a faithful soldier during the direful days of the Civil War. Mr. Swan is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
HON. FLOYD P. BAKER.
In the capital city of Kansas there are men now living retired from active participation in the shaping of passing events, who are able to regard with justifiable satisfaction the results of their long years of leadership and honorable devotion to the public's welfare. In Floyd P. Baker is found such a citizen,
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whose life has been closely identified with the interests of Kansas since 1860.
Floyd P. Baker was born November 16, 1820, in Washington County, New York, and is a son of Reuben and Lois ( Baxter) Baker. They married in 1811 and reared II children. The father was a self-educated inan, preparing himself for the profession of teaching by study by the light of a pine-knot fire. He lived to the age of 82 years and his widow survived until 1860. The Bakers are of Massachusetts extraction and the Baxters belong to the old families of New York.
The educational advantages enjoyed by Mr. Baker in his youth were meager, three months in the year being all the time he could claim for school- ing and during these months he daily waded through the winter snows of that region, but, nevertheless, he prepared himself for teaching and started out on his own account when 18 years of age. After six months experience as a schoolmaster in Erie County, New York, he went to Michigan where he spent the next two years farming, blacksmithing and teaching a private school in which he was expected to instruct in astronomy and botany, advanced branches which he was obliged to privately study to keep ahead of his class, his own instruction not having included these.
In 1840 a new line opened up for him and he engaged as agent for the lines of packet boats and stages which ran from New York City to Montreal, Canada, in which he continued until 1848, when he went to Racine, Wisconsin. Here he completed his law studies and was admitted to the bar and here fol- lowed farming and also engaged in an insurance business until 1851, when he went to San Francisco where he practiced his profession for 12 months. Cir- cumstances then arose which took him to the Sandwich Islands, where he became the crown attorney and clerk of the District Court at Hilo, Hawaii, where he remained three years. Upon his return to the United States, he located in Andrew County, Missouri, where he engaged in agricultural pur- suits until 1860 when he came first to Kansas, locating in Nemaha County, where he was shortly after made superintendent of schools.
It was in the fall of this year that he became well known to the people of this State, in a public capacity, being appointed one of a committee of five of an organization which had been formed at Lawrence, with S. E. Pomeroy as chairman, to take means to help the people of Kansas then in dire need on account of the failure of the crops. At that time Mr. Baker had his head- quarters at Atchison, although his home was at old Centralia. His duties were manifold and during this time every energy was exerted by him to better the condition and relieve the necessities of the hundreds who were living with famine staring them in the face with the rigors of an unusually severe winter to add to their sufferings. It was during this period that he underwent an experience which came near terminating not only his career of disinterested
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usefulness but his life as well. On January 18, 1861, when he left his head- quarters at Atchison for a visit to his home, he found that all the teams were loaded heavily as they could stand with provisions that had been sent from the East in answer to the efforts of his committee, and he decided to walk the dis- tance. This was considerable of an undertaking but would probably have been safely accomplished had not a blinding snow-storm arisen which caused him to lose his way over the old Indian trail he was following. He was almost exhausted with cold and weariness when the light of a log cabin came into view and he was welcomed by its owner with the true and hearty hospitality which always marked the Kansas pioneer. Here he learned that he had prob- ably been wandering for hours in a circle and that he was within a quarter of a mile of the place whence he started, and here he received the best entertain- ment that the owner of the humble cabin could command.
In 1863 Mr. Baker came to Topeka, having served in the State Legislature during the previous year, and here entered upon his long and pregnant career as a journalist. In association with S. D. McDonald he purchased the State Record, which he continued to issue until 1871, when he sold his interest to the Commonwealth and went to Texas, locating at Dennison just at the time when business enterprises were being pushed forward there. During his three years residence in the South, he became one of the leading men of that section, and edited and published the Advocate at Dennison, and also during that time organized the State Historical Society of Kansas, of which he was first secre- tary and later president.
In 1875 Mr. Baker returned to Topeka where his family were still residing. In this year Mr. Baker bought the Topeka Commonwealth, a paper which, under his able management and experienced direction, took a very prominent position in State literature and politics, and he continued its issue until 1888 when it was consolidated with the Topeka Capital. In the meantime, Mr. Baker oper- ated a wholesale paper and type house. During the year 1878 he received the appointment of assistant commissioner to the World's Fair at Paris, the duties. of which he filled with becoming dignity, serving in the forestry department.
Mr. Baker was married, first, to Eliza F. Wilson, of Montgomery County, New York, who died at Racine, Wisconsin. Their one son, Floyd, died at New Orleans, aged five years. Mr. Baker was married, second, to Orinda Searle,. in 1850, who was a member of one of the prominent families of Racine. They had five children, namely : Albert, who died aged 15 months ; Nestor, who- was born in the Sandwich Islands, formerly a prominent citizen of Topeka, now of San Francisco; Clifford C., who has been interested with his father for 25 years in the newspaper business and for four years secretary of the Senate and subsequently State printer; Isaac, connected with the Standard Oil Company, who is a resident of Bay City, Michigan; and Minnie, who is
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the wife of H. W. Sharp, division superintendent of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway at Kansas City, Missouri.
Mr. Baker organized the State Historical Society of Kansas, of which he was first secretary and later president. Since 1844 he has been an Odd Fellow and has attained high place in this organization. He served as grand patriarch of the Encampment, grand master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Kansas and was a representative to the Grand Lodge of the United States. In 1846 he was made a Mason.
JAMES A. HICKEY.
JAMES A. HICKEY, one of the original settlers of Topeka, in 1854, and the only one now living here, has been one of its well-known and valued citi- zens for its half century of existence. Mr. Hickey was born in Ireland, October 28, 1833, and is a son of Owen Hickey, who died on the way to America, his son being then about 12 years of age. Our subject's venerable mother, now aged 98 years, still lives, making her home with a cousin in Allegany County, New York.
Mr. Hickey, after coming to this country, lived in Clinton County, New York, for a time and then came to Topeka in 1854. By a mere chance he was absent at Lawrence when the city was organized, but he was given a share in the Topeka Town Association, 100 shares being issued. The original settlers were : Milton C. Dickey, Enoch Chase, George Davis, Jacob B. Chase, Cyrus K. Holliday, Daniel H. Horne, Fry W. Giles and Dr. J. F. Merriam, and to this list must be added the name of James A. Hickey. They were the first settlers to become squatters here and the four first named built the first house here, the others following. This house was made of logs and was covered with prairie grass and sod.
Probably no man in this section knows better the ups and downs of To- peka's early days than Mr. Hickey. Quail and prairie chickens were very plentiful and a few deer were still here as were also prairie wolves, but the nearest trading point was Kansas City, and desperate characters infested the whole border. Mr. Hickey's land was the quarter section which is now the Ritchie Addition to Topeka. Business houses started up one after the other, the first merchant being a man named Jones, who was soon followed by Allen & Gordon, of Lawrence. Rev. S. Y. Lum, of Lawrence, came to minister to the settlers and frequently had to sleep in hay stacks. The first subscription school was conducted by Miss Harlan in a frame shanty on Madison street, but later the New England Emigrant Aid Company built a school house on Harrison street, where Jacob Smith now resides.
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