USA > Kansas > Sedgwick County > History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas, past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county, Vol. II > Part 33
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sible standard of merchandising was adopted and the utmost liberality of treatment was extended to customers. In the eight years in which the company has been in existence the volume of its business was trebled. Mr. Holmes has always taken a deep and generous interest in boys and young men. At Cottonwood Falls he organized the "Holmes Boys' Band," which won the first prize of $100 in its class in a tournament at Topeka. Mr. Holmes is a life member of the Young Men's Christian Association of Wichita, and a strong believer in its ideals. He is also a mem- ber of the Commercial Club and the Country Club, K. of P. and K. N. L. of S. He was married in 1886 to Miss Alberta McMillen, of Livingston county, Michigan.
Alonzo B. Hope, farmer, of Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a native of the Dominion of Canada, having been born at Toronto on December 24, 1861. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth A. (Young) Hope, natives of England. The father was born February 22, 1825, and the mother February 11, 1823. They were married in England on May 15, 1847, and immigrated to Canada in 1850. After living in Canada fifteen years they moved to Ohio in April, 1865, and to Kansas in 1872. In Kansas the elder Hope preempted 160 acres of land in the southwest quarter of Section 21, Ohio township, where he lived the rest of his life. He died July 28, 1886, and his widow died October 13, 1906. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom are living. The children were: Mrs. Jane Mackey, of Gray county, Kansas; Herman, deceased; Walter, of Michigan; Stewart A., of Labett county, Kansas ; Leonard, deceased; Augusta J., deceased ; Alonzo B., of Ohio township ; Mrs. Anna Walter, deceased ; Bert, of Gray county, Kansas. Alonzo B. Hope bought the old homestead in 1891, where he now lives and owns 320 acres. On May 3, 1898, Mr. Hope married Miss Alice Robinson, who was born in Illinois December 12, 1871, a daughter of Samuel and Sybel (Burke) Robinson. Mrs. Hope's father came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, in 1886, and settled near Oatville, where he worked at his trade as a blacksmith. He died October 31, 1898. His widow still lives and resides with Mr. and Mrs. Hope. The latter have had six children, viz .: Rachel A., born February 13, 1899; Ruth E., born July 19, 1900; Clifford J., born April 1, 1902; Stewart A., born August 19, 1903; Leonard J., born October 31, 1906, and Nancy J., born August 26, 1909.
Claude F. Hough, cashier of the Mulvane State Bank, Mulvane,
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Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born at Woodland, Barry county, Michigan, on March 24, 1873. He is a son of Christopher A. and Minerva J. (Rowlader) Hough. Christopher A. Hough, the father, was born in Ohio on January 25, 1846. The mother was born in Woodland, Mich., on May 18, 1854. They were married at Woodland on July 3, 1871. Joseph Hough, grandfather of Claude F., was born in Pennsylvania on April 21, 1821, and married Miss Ann N. Monasmith and moved to Woodland, Mich., where he died on April 15, 1886. His widow died on April 9, 1901. Christopher A. Hough, father of Claude F., learned the trade of carriage and wagon maker, at which he worked in Woodland. He served four years as county treasurer of Barry county, and was a member of Co. "C," One Hundred and Ninety-eighth O. V. Infantry. In 1889 he was elected cashier of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank at Nashville, Barry county, Michigan, which position he still holds. Claude F. Hough attended school at Hastings, Mich., and in 1890 began work in a bank as bookkeeper, which position he held until December 1, 1899, when he moved to Mulvane, Kan., and accepted the position of cashier of the Mulvane State Bank, which position he still holds. On March 4, 1896, Mr. Hough was married to Miss Mildred C. Rowlader, who was born in Woodland, Mich., on October 31, 1876, a daughter of Washington and Catherine (Miller) Rowlader. Mrs. Hough's father was born in Herkimer county, New York, on December 8, 1830, and her mother was born in Ionia, Mich. Mr. and Mrs. Hough have two children, Helen L., born October 2, 1900, and Claude F., Jr., born September 22, 1909. Mr. Hough is a director and treasurer of the Mulvane Ice and Cold Storage Company and secretary and a director of the Mulvane Mutual Telephone Com- pany. Fraternally he is a member of Mulvane Lodge, No. 201, A. F. & A. M., of which he is past master. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Joseph D. Houston, of Wichita, Kan., is the senior partner in one of the most prominent legal firms practicing in the South- west, that of Houston & Brooks, organized in 1898, with offices in the First National Bank building. The firm engages in a gen- eral practice, but its specialty is corporation law, and acts as counsel for many of the large corporations of Wichita and other parts of the state of Kansas. Mr. Houston is a native of Ken- tucky, having been born in Bourbon county, that state, on March 17, 1858. His parents were F. W. and Fannie L. (Simpson)
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Houston. Mr. Houston obtained his education in . the public schools of his native state and at Kentucky University. After his graduation from the latter in 1879 he began the study of law at Shelbyville, Ky., with the firm of Caldwell & Howard, a noted legal firm in the state, and afterward supplemented this by a course in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1879 and has since continuously practiced his pro- fession. Finding the field in Kentucky rather restricted, Mr. Houston looked about for a larger one, and in 1880 removed to Kansas. He located at Wichita and at once opened an office for the practice of his profession and has been successfully engaged in general practice since that time. Mr. Houston was married on April 8, 1885, to Miss Fanny Eddy, of Hillsdale, Michigan, and from this union there has been issue two children : Aleen and Gwendolyn Houston. Mr. Houston has taken an active interest in the Masonic Order, being a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner.
J. E. Howard, of Wichita, Kan., is one of the millers of Wichita, commencing business about fifteen years ago, when mill- ing Kansas hard turkey wheat was drawing the attention of the world to Kansas as a great wheat producing state.
The first export bill of lading out of Wichita on a car of Kansas flour was put through one of the Wichita banks by the Howard Mills Company in 1895, or soon thereafter, when their mill was located on East Murdock avenue. Their business has expanded by virtue of the high grade of flour produced by them until in 1900 the present plant of 300 barrels capacity was erected on West Douglas avenue. There the company's brands have grown in favor and are sold at nearly all points within fifty miles of Wichita.
Mr. Howard is a native of the state of Ohio, where he was born the 3d of March, 1848, and is a son of Jeremiah E. Howard, Jr. Mr. Howard's education was acquired in a common school in Ohio. He moved to Burrton, Kan., the fall of 1874, and resided there until 1901, when he moved to Wichita, Kan., and has resided there since that date.
Mr. Howard married Ellen Hicks, of Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1869. They have three children, C. R. Howard, an officer and one of the active managers of The Howard Mills Company ; Fannie A. Howard, who resides at home with her parents, and Florence Howard, who is married and lives in the city.
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Mr. Howard is a member of the Modern Woodmen and the A. O. U. W. He has been president of the Chamber of Com- merce, also of the Wichita & Southwestern Fair Association, county commissioner, and has been president of the Associated Charities since its organization ten years ago, excepting about eighteen months.
He was one of the first to stir up public interest in the com- mission form of government. His great hobby has been freight rates and the removal of discrimination against the transporta- tion interests in southwestern Kansas, and until the final consum- mation of what is known as the Hepburn Law was enacted he was a member of the executive committee of the National Inter- state. Commerce Law Convention and at its dissolution at the enactment of the above law Mr. Howard was vice-chairman of the organization.
This organization had 400 and over commercial organizations throughout the United States, all working under the direction of this committee. This organization was the only one in active operation and did so much to bring pressure on congress to enact favorable legislation for the shipping interests.
Daniel S. Howe, who is counted among the successful business men of Wichita, Kan., is a native of St. Lawrence county, New York. He was born in 1848 and is the eldest of a family of three children born to William S. and Eliza (Stratton) Howe. The father was a native of the Green Mountain state and settled in St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1842. He was a carpenter and contractor and a successful business man. He was descended in direct line from John Howe, who settled in Plymouth in 1623. Daniel S. acquired his early education in the schools of St. Law- rence county and later was graduated from the Eastman Com- mercial College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and in 1866 went to St. Joseph, Mo., where, for three years, he was engaged in the fire insurance business. Returning to St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1869, he lived there three years, engaged in the dairy business, and then, in 1872, went to Boston, where he dealt in horses, cattle and hogs. From 1885 till 1896 Mr. Howe was employed traveling through the central western states as buyer for the Erie Preserving Company, of Buffalo, N. Y., and then took up his residence in Wichita, his present home. Here he has devoted himself to loaning money on city property, exclusively,
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with eminent success. He is an active member of the local lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1869 Mr. Howe married Miss Abbie Brown, a daughter of Mr. Tyler Brown, of St. Lawrence county, New York. Of four children born to them, William T. lives in Spokane, Wash .; Le- land M. resides in Chicago; Mabel is married to Mr. Leon Courser, and Bernice is the wife of Mr. Louis Stark, and both live in St. Lawrence county, New York.
In 1901 Mr. Howe married Mrs. Jennie Myers, of Kansas City, and they have a beautiful home at No. 1218 Bitting avenue, Wichita.
Charles C. Hoyt,* merchant, of Kechi, Sedgwick county, Kan- sas, was born July 21, 1867, in Indiana. His parents were Benja- min F. and Mary (Flint) Hoyt, the father being a native of In- diana and the mother of Michigan. The ancestry on the paternal side is traced to England, and on the maternal, to Holland. Charles C. Hoyt was the eldest of three children. His parents moved to Kansas and located in Grant township, Sedg- wick county, and afterwards moved to Wichita, where the father died in 1908. His widow died August 5 of the same year. Charles C. Hoyt attended the public schools of Indiana up to his seventeenth year and afterwards worked as a laborer for some time. He was married February 5, 1895, in Wichita, to Miss Elizabeth Widder. Two children have been born of this union, Reece and Irene. Mr. Hoyt engaged in the mercantile business in Wichita in 1896 for himself, and continued in a general store there for ten years. He then disposed of his business and went to New Mexico, where he engaged in the real estate business. Coming back to Sedgwick county, he bought out the general store of G. S. Warner at Kechi, and has been conducting it ever since. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Hoyt is an independent in politics.
Myron L. Hull is the director of the Metropolitan School of Music of Wichita, Kan., which was established by Mr. Hull March 1, 1905. In its first year the school had an enrollment of 100, which was increased to 300 in 1910. The school specializes on the piano, brass and stringed instruments. Mr. Hull was born in Butler county, Kansas, on August 24, 1874. His parents were Lewis and Eliza (St. Clair) Hull, natives of Ohio, who came to Kansas in 1873 and located in Butler county, where they resided until the death of Mr. Hull in 1902, at the age of sixty-one.
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Myron L. Hull was the fourth child of a family of seven, all of whom are living. He was educated in the public schools of Butler county, the Augusta High School and the Great Bend ยท (Kansas) Normal School, and also received a commercial train- ing. His musical education was begun at the College of Music in St. Joseph, Mo., and while there he studied violin and voice culture. In 1903 Mr. Hull went to Chicago, where he studied with Prof. F. W. Root, Signor Tomaso and Joseph Kneer, the latter being for years associated with the Thomas Orchestra. He then went to Philadelphia, Pa., where he had charge of the Osborne Conservatory of Music for the term of 1904. While in Philadelphia Mr. Hull also studied with Mr. F. W. Wurtele, of that city, and afterward supplemented this with a course of instruction under W. A. Fritschy and Samuel Siegel, of New York City. After this Mr. Hull returned to Kansas and opened a chain of schools, including Wichita and Oklahoma City. The Wichita school grew to such proportions that Prof. Hull was obliged to devote his whole attention to it, and from this begin- ning the Metropolitan School of Music developed and has become one of the leading institutions of its kind in the Southwest. Prof. Hull is well known in musical circles and has sung with the Apollo Club in recital and also in the church choirs of Wichita. He was for three years with the Masonic Quartet and is frequently a singer at Jewish services. Prof. Hull has also devoted considerable time to composing. Two of his compo- sitions for mandolin, an instrument which he has adopted as his especial favorite, "Lullaby, A Token," and "Barcarolle, The Gondolier's Dream," have been especially well received.
Alvin C. Hunter, proprietor of the Cash Meat Market, fancy groceries and delicatessen, No. 217 East Douglas avenue, Wichita, Kan., is a native Kansan. He was born on a farm in Delano town- ship, Sedgwick county, on August 7, 1873. His parents were Bazil W. and Thursey (Richcreek) Hunter, natives of Ohio and Indiana, respectively, who came to Kansas in the '60s and took up a claim in Delano township. They sold their farm in 1874 and moved to Wichita, where the elder Hunter died soon after at the age of thirty-nine. His widow survived him until April 8, 1906, when she died at the age of sixty-six. Alvin C. Hunter was the youngest of a family of three children, two boys and one girl, all of whom are living. Mr. Hunter was educated in the public schools of Wichita and began work when still young in
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the slaughter house of J. L. Moore & Son, where, after learning the butcher business, he began for himself in company with his brother, V. J. Hunter, and opened a shop on the West Side four years later. After conducting this market for two years they sold it out. Alvin C. Hunter then went to Oklahoma and his brother to Colorado. In Oklahoma Alvin C. took up a claim and proved it up, when he sold it out and returned to Wichita, where he again embarked in the butcher business, adding groceries, etc. On October 10, 1904, he located at his present stand, and has since that time more than doubled his stock to meet the increasing demands of his trade, and he now has one of the lead- ' ing places of its kind in the city. Mr. Hunter is a member of the fraternal order of the Modern Woodmen of America and is also a member of the Christian Church. He was married in 1894 to Miss Minta A. Anderson, of Mt. Hope, Kan. Of this union one child has been born, Thursey Lenora Hunter.
Frank Isbell, proprietor and sole owner of the Wichita base- ball team, with headquarters at 127 South Main street, Wichita, Kan., is one of her citizens in whom Wichita takes a justifiable- pride. "Izzy," as he is familiarly known, has won his fame in the baseball world, in which he takes high rank as an important figure. He is a native of the Empire state, having been born at. Delevan, N. Y., on August 21, 1875. His parents were John N. and Julia B. (Lawton) Isbell, who were natives of New York. They removed to Minnesota in 1880 and after a residence there. of ten years decided to locate in Kansas. Young Isbell's edu- cation was acquired in the public schools of North Branch, Minn., and McAlister College, St. Paul, Minn. As a boy he was always devoted to athletic sports. He began his baseball career as a pitcher at Virginia City, Minn., in 1896, with the Iron Range team, where he won thirteen out of fourteen games in which he played. His brilliant work attracted the attention of Charles Comiskey, who was then manager of the St. Paul club in the Western Association, and the latter signed young Isbell in the fall of 1896, playing him in the outfield. In 1898 Comiskey sold Isbell to the Chicago National League, where he was utilized as pitcher and utility man. In August of the same year Isbell was sold back to the St. Paul team and remained with the club until the end of the season of 1899. In the spring of 1900 the American League was organized and Comiskey took his team to Chicago.
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BIOGRAPHY
Isbell remained with this club during the years 1900 to 1909, inclusive, and in the latter year came to Wichita.
In the spring of 1905 Dr. Shively, president of the Western Association, endeavored to raise capital for the purchase of the Pittsburg, Kan., franchise, on condition that Isbell would take charge of the club. Several prominent citizens were interested and the necessary capital was quickly subscribed and the fran- chise turned over to Isbell, but it was impossible for the latter to leave Chicago. So he called W. J. Kimmell, of Enid, Okla., who came to Wichita and assisted by the business men organized a stock company and took over the franchise. In the fall of 1907 Mr. Isbell and John Holland paid $7,100 for the club and Mr. Holland took charge. Kansas was placed in the Western Asso- ciation territory in 1905. Holland and Isbell got busy, put a deal through and got into the Western League in the spring of 1909. In the spring of 1908 Isbell remained with the club until June 25, when he went to Chicago and played with the White Sox during the seasons of 1908 and 1909. In the spring of 1910 Comiskey, through friendship, granted Isbell an unconditional release, and he returned to Wichita and bought Holland's inter- ests. Thus he was able to hold the fort at Wichita and is now sole owner and proprietor of the club. "Izzy" made a record in the world series of 1906, making four successive two-base hits in one game, which has never been equaled. In selecting a site for a home for himself he was able to secure and build on the spot occupied by the diamond in the early eighties. Mr. Isbell is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty- second degree, and is a Shriner. He is also a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, the Knights of Maccabees, and the Chamber of Commerce of Wichita. He was married in 1898 to Miss Addie A. Baker, of Wichita, and is the father of one child, James LaFloyd Isbell.
E. W. Jewell, furniture dealer, of Mount Hope, Sedgwick county, Kan., was born June 25, 1860, in Princeton, Mo. He is a son of D. W. Jewell, a native of New Jersey. The mother was a native of Ohio. The remote ancestors of the family in the paternal line were English. D. W. Jewell was born on the Monmouth battlefield in 1813. He moved from New Jersey to Ohio with his parents in 1817, where they settled for a time at Middletown. The father of E. W. Jewell was married twice, the
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first time to a Miss Shaffer, of Middletown, Ohio. Of this union eight children were born, four of whom are now living. In 1835 the elder Jewell moved to Cass county, Michigan, and engaged in farming. In 1852 he again moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where his first wife died in 1850. Mr. Jewell's second wife was Miss Sarah Clapp, a daughter of Newton Clapp, of South Whit- ley, Ind. Four children were born of this union, A. W., E. W., Mary and D. I. In 1852 the elder Jewell started for Oregon, but on account of sickness and the Border Ruffian war he was unable to proceed further than Princeton, Mo., where he lived twenty-three years. In June, 1878, he moved to' Sedgwick county, Kansas, near Mount Hope, and lived there up to the time of his death in 1884. He was a successful farmer and held the office of County Clerk at Princeton, Mo., for two years. His second wife died in 1901. E. W. Jewell obtained his education in the common schools of Missouri and Kansas, which he attended up to the age of twenty-one. He was then for two years clerk in a store at Mount Hope and then was clerk in a furniture store with Mr. Bardshar nine months, and in 1884 purchased the latter's interest in the business. He is now the sole proprietor of one of the largest retail furniture stores in southern Kansas, having a big trade in Kansas and Oklahoma. Mr. Jewell is a member of the Masonic Order, Blue Lodge, No. 238, in which he has been Junior Deacon and Senior Deacon. He is a Republican in politics and active in the interests of his party. Mr. Jewell was married to Miss Elma Kennedy, of Ravenna, Mo., on September 8, 1886. Mrs. Jewell was educated in the common schools of that place and in a musical college at Des Moines, Iowa, and Leavenworth, Kan. For several years she has taught instrumental music in Mount Hope and is known as an accomplished musician. Six children have been born of the union, all of whom are living. They are: Nellie, Carrie, Gladys, Mary, Edwin A. and Gertrude. The oldest, Nellie, is now (1910) attending the Mount Carmel Insti- tute at Wichita. The other children are attending the city schools of Mount Hope.
Frederick M. Johnson, wholesale and retail dealer in coal, hay, feed and building material, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Illinois, having been born at Peoria, that state, on August 3, 1858. He is a son of John M. and Lucinda O. (Ayers) Johnson, his father being a native of Norway, while his mother was a native of Vermont. The elder Johnson was born and reared in
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BIOGRAPHY
southern Norway, about fourteen miles from Christiania. He was born in 1830 and at the age of twenty came to the United States, first locating at Lawrence, Mass., where he met and married Miss Ayers. The elder Johnson was a building con- tractor and a man well versed in business affairs. After their marriage the couple removed to Peoria, Ill., where the balance of Mr. Johnson's business life was spent. He died January 18, 1898, and his widow later came to Wichita, where she died April 3, 1902, at the age of seventy years. Frederick M. Johnson was the eldest of two children, and his brother, Charles F. John- son, is now a resident of Freeport, Ill. Frederick M. Johnson acquired his education at the public schools of Marseilles, Ill., and the Dixon (Ill.) Business College. He began at the age of seventeen to learn the contracting and building business with his father, and after a period of ten years with him became superintendent for large firms, which he followed successfully for another ten years, in the meantime acquir- ing several interests on his own account. Failing health brought him to Kansas in 1900, and becoming infatuated with the country and the possibilities which he saw in Wichita, he returned to his Illinois home, where he arranged to close up his business affairs and in 1902 came to Wichita, where he has since resided. On his arrival in Wichita he at once began operations in the contracting business, which he continued until he established his present business in 1906. His offices are at No. 812 West Douglas avenue and his yards are located at No. 120 North Handley street. Mr. Johnson was elected the first alderman from his ward when Marseilles, Ill., was made a city. He is a member of the West Side Commercial League, of Wichita. On his mother's side his family dates back to the old line families of both England and the New England states, the famous jurist, Salmon P. Chase, being in the same line.
Wallace W. Johnson,* retired farmer and Civil War veteran of Derby, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, on December 16, 1831. His parents were William and Nancy (Pomfert) Johnson. In March, 1871, Mr. Johnson came with his father to Sedgwick county, Kansas, where both pre- empted 160 acres of land. The father's land was in Rockford township, Sedgwick county, while that of Wallace W. was in Gypsum township. The latter did not stay in Gypsum township long, as he sold his land and moved to Rockford township, where
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he lived till he moved to Derby. Mr. Johnson enlisted in the spring of 1863 in Company I, Forty-first Ohio Infantry, and served until the war closed. He was wounded while in action at Reseca and New Hope Church. After the war, Mr. Johnson returned to his Ohio home, where he remained until he came to Kansas, and has spent his life in farming until a few years ago, but is now living retired in Derby. Mr. Johnson has never married. He is a member of the G. A. R. post at Derby, a Republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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