USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 12
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On the 21st of February, 1904, Dr. Wilkinson was united in mar- riage to Miss Ethel Sims, daughter of Ellington T. and Martha (Her- ing) Sims. Her father was for many years a well known business man of Kansas City, where he continued to reside until his death and where his widow still maintains her home. Mrs. Wilkinson was born at Sigourney, Keokuk county, Towa, on the 28th of January. 1877, and was reared and educated principally in the city that is now her home. She was a well known Kansas City pianist previous to her marriage to Dr. Wilkinson. £ Dr. and Mrs. Wilkinson have one child. Elizabeth McLellan Wilkinson, who was born on the 30th of May, 1908.
WILLIAM E. FRYE .- The Buckeye state has furnished to Wyandotte county no small proportion of her citizenship. and prominent among the representatives from that state is William E. Fyre, an enterprising and prosperous fruit grower. whose home, spacious and substantial, is advantageously situated in Quindaro township, beautifully located on an eminence overlooking five counties. Practical industry wise- ly and vigorously applied, never fails of success: it carries a man
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onward and upward, brings out his individual character, and acts as a powerful stimulus to the efforts of others. The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means, implying the exercise of the ordinary qualities of common sense and perseverance. The every day life, with its cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring experiences of the best kind, and its most beaten pathis provide a trne worker with abundant scope for effort and self improve- ment. In the legitimate channels of agriculture, Mr. Frye has won a comfortable competence and he also stands a man of honored citizen- ship.
The subject was born in Clermont county, Ohio, on the 25th day of April, 1857. He is a son of Jonas and Hannah (Harker) Frye, both of whom were likewise natives of the Buckeye state. In 1861, when the subject was about five years of age, the family removed to the vicin- ity of Dayton, Ohio, where they engaged in farming. After residing there for over a decade, in 1872, they removed to Delaware county, Indiana, and took possession of a farm in the Hoosier state upon the same day that U. S. Grant was inaugurated the first time as president of the United States. In another ten years the family sold their Indi- ana farm and came to Kansas, locating near Olathe, in Johnson county, where they resumed agricultural operations. The mother passed on to the life eternal in 1900, but the father is still living in Olathe, a re- tired farmer, venerable and respected. These worthy people became the parents of the following six children : William E., the subject, the eldest in order of birth ; Clem V .; Dee, wife of A. J. Kennedy ; Charles E., who died in 1906; Raul W .; and Blanche, wife of Fred Secrest.
Mr. Fyre is endebted for his education to the schools of both Ohio and Indiana, his attendance while in the latter state being carried on while assisting his father in the farm labor. He subsequently taught school in Indiana, his pedagogical experience covering a period of two years. On the 25th day of December, 1879, Mr. Fyre was married in Indiana to Hattie Kirkwood, a native of the Hoosier state. In that
same year, he and his wife came to Olathe, where for eight years the subject engaged in farming, making a specialty of the raising of wheat and corn. He subsequently removed to Kansas City, Kansas, and in President Cleveland's second administration, he was appointed stock examiner, which office he held for four years. Later he became a policeman and wore the star of the custodian of the law for eight years, during two years of which time he was police sergeant.
Mr. Frye's present holdings consist of twenty acres and upon this small, but valuable homestead is located a substantial brick house. The land is entirely given to fruit and is located on Parallel Rock road.
Mr. and Mrs. Frye share their pleasant home with three children, namely : Ralph K., with the Wells-Fargo Express Company; Grace D. Frances, wife of Tim McMahon; and William C., who is still a resident beneath the paternal roof. Mr. Fyre is Democratic in his political affiliations and his fraternal relations are confined to membership in the Modern Woodmen of America.
JOHN J. BAKER .- Distinguished as a native born citizen of Bonner Springs and as one of its energetic and prosperous business men, John J. Baker is well worthy of special mention in a work of this character.
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He was born May 12, 1886, and comes of pioneer stock, his father, the late Ilervey J. Baker, having settled in this part of Kansas as early as 1869.
Hervey J. Baker was born, bred and educated in Wisconsin, being a son of John Baker, who served in the Civil war as a member of the Nineteenth Michigan Infantry. Subsequently . coming to Kansas, he located first in Leavenworth county, and from that time until his death, in 1903, was engaged in general farming. He married Louisa M. Armstrong, who is now living in Bonner Springs with her son, John J. Three children were born of their union, namely: Orpha, wife of Thomas Jackson, of Bonner Springs; Nannie D., a teacher in the publie schools ; and John J.
John J. Baker was reared on a farm and attended school in Bonner Springs, acquiring a practical education. In 1909 he embarked in mercantile pursuits, and is now one of the leading furniture dealers of the city, his store being amply supplied with a complete assortment of the most modern styles of furniture. As a merchant Mr. Baker is meeting with genuine success, his patronage being extensive and highly remunerative. Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient, Free and Ae- cepted Order of Masons, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he holds the position of noble grand. He is prominent in municipal affairs, and is now serving as a councilman.
Mr. Baker married, November 20, 1907, Edna Langston, whose parents are residents of Bonner Springs, and they are parents of two children, namely: Elizabeth Louise and Robert Armstrong.
OTHO N. HARROD .- A man is judged by his friends and acquain- tances by what he has done. In the old country people want to know who and what a man's father was, but in this country it is the man him- self who has to bring things to pass if he wants to be well thought of. He must either make money or fame. Otho N. Harrod, the owner of a pretty farm in Quindaro township, Wyandotte county, Kansas, has ae- complished a great deal since he first started out in life and has be- come a well known man in the county, ably assisted by his estimable wife.
Otho N. Harrod was a native of Franklin county, Kentucky, where he was born January 13, 1850. He was the son of Franklin Harrod who came to Kansas in 1857 with his brother and located near Fair- mont, Leavenworth county. He sent for his wife and family, who had remained behind in Kentucky until Mr. Harrod had made a start. In 1858, just as things seemed to be eoming his way, Mr. Harrod died at the age of twenty-nine, leaving his wife to bring up the family of little children. Just about that time two of the children died, leaving the widow more than desolate. She gathered her belongings together and took the other children back to Kentucky, where she had friends.
Otho was educated in the publie sehools. Ile first came to Kansas when he was seven years old, but had only just started to school here when his father died, stayed in Kansas only a short time after that, and then back to Kentucky with his mother. He went to school there, but was obliged to go to work when he was very young. When he was nineteen years old, in 1869. he got work with the Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railroad as brakeman. He remained with this road about twelve years. The last five years of his service he was pro-
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LEHOX TILDEN FOUNDATION
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
moted to the office of conductor and he had charge of the train. In 1881 he came back to Kansas, where he got a position as brakeman with the Union Pacific Railroad. A year later he became a switchman and later got the position of master switchman. In the strike of 1886 he went out with the rest of the train men. After the strike was ended he entered the employ of the Kansas City and Northwestern Railroad, with whom he stayed thirteen years. He lived frugally in order that he might save some money and finally bought ten acres of land on which he has built a very pretty home. He has put many improve- ments on his land and has it set out with fruit, berries, grapes and asparagus, thus giving him a very fine fruit farm, which yields large crops for which he finds a ready market.
In 1882, soon after he came back to Kansas City, Mr. Harrod mar- ried Miss Rina Connell, the daughter of William Connell, ex-judge in Indiana. There have been no children born to this union.
Mrs. Harrod is a highly cultured and refined woman, being the proud possessor of a library of two hundred volumes of choice litera- ture, both she and her husband being omniverous readers of the best products of pen and press. She received her early education in the public schools of her home town, and later was a student at the Ver- sailles ( Indiana) Normal school for three terms. She was a snecess- ful teacher for eight years in her home county of Ripley, Indiana, and was also a prominent and efficient officer of the Degree of Honor.
Mr. Harrod was a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Train- men, of the Knights of Pythias, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is now in a position where he can enjoy life, living close to nature. He and his intelligent wife have many friends who respect as well as like them.
JAMES A. MCCLEAN .- In a volume devoted to the lives and achieve- ments of representative men of Wyandotte eounty it is appropriate that mention should be made of that good citizen and enterprising business man, James A. McClean, who is connected with the Kansas City in- terests of the Fowler Packing Company in a responsible capacity. In Mr. McClean are mingled several elements, for while at present one of the most loyal of Americans, he is of Irish stock, and was born in Eng- land, from which country he emigrated when a child. The date of Mr. McClean's birth was December 4, 1861, and his birthplace in the "right little. tight little island" was in Kent county. Ilis parents, Archibald and Elizabeth (Ferris) MeClean, were born in Ireland and subsequently took up their residence in England. The father, who was a packing house man, came to this country in 1872 and located at first in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both he and his wife are now deceased, but their six children, of whom the subject was the third in order of birth, all survive. Archibald McClean was a respected and industrious citizen, a member of the Presbyterian church and a Republican in his political conviction.
When young James was a lad about five years of age his parents moved from England to their native Ireland and it was in the public schools of the Emerald Isle that he received his elementary education. He was eleven years of age when his parents answered the beekoning finger of opportunity from the shores of the new world and crossed the Atlantic to claim their share of it and to found a home of greater
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independence and possibility for their children. Mr. MeClean finished his education in the schools of Indianapolis, where the family took up their abode, and as soon as he arrived to years of usefulness he fol- lowed in the paternal footsteps and entered the packing business. He continued in this field until 1880, when he removed to Chicago and in that western metropolis engaged with the Fowler Brothers in the pack- ing business. Some two years later, in 1882, Mr. MeClean removed to Kansas City, Kansas, where he became associated with Jacob Dold in the packing of meats and subsequent to that he again accepted a position with the Fowler Brothers, He learned the business in all its details and in 1900 was elevated to the position of superintendent of the Kansas City, Kansas, business.
Mr. MeClean is known not only as an enterprising business man, but he is also very prominent in Masonie circles, being a thirty-second degree member of that ancient and august order. He is affiliated with Wyandotte Lodge, No. 3, Ancient, Free and Aceepted Masons, and with Caswell Consistory, No. 5. He is also a popular member of that merry organization, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In polities he gives heart and hand to the men and measures of the "Grand Old Party," as its loval adherents are pleased to call it.
On October 26, 1882, Mr. MeClean laid the foundation of a happy household by marriage, his chosen lady being Miss Kittie Hanaford. Mrs. MeClean was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and is the daugh- ter of Geo. and Harriet A. Hanaford, both of whom reside in Chicago, the former home of Mrs. McClean. She is one of a family of six chil- dren. The subject and his wife share their pleasant and hospitable home with a quartet of promising young children, namely George, Gertrude, Eleanor and Irma. A daughter, Harriet A., died when seven years and four months old, in Chicago, and Herbert James died when seven months old in Kansas City, Kansas, in old Wyandotte.
WILLARD MERRIAM .- One of the alert, progressive and publie spirited business men who have contributed materially to the eivie and industrial advancement of Kansas City is Willard Merriam, who is here an active and influential faetor in business cireles, as a member of the well known firm of Merriam, Ellis & Benton, engaged in the real estate and insurance business. He has done much to exploit and foster the interests of Kansas City and Wyandotte county and has been eon- cerned with operations of broad scope and importance. He is an in- terested principal in a number of business enterprises aside from that conducted by the firm mentioned, and he stands sponsor for advanced civic ideals and progressive policies.
Mr. Merriam claims the Badger state as the place of his nativity, but the major portion of his life has been passed within the borders of Kansas. He was born at Berlin, Green Lake county, Wisconsin, on the 20th of January, 1864, and is a son of Horaee and Eliza (Wright) Merriam, both of whom were born and reared in the state of Vermont, the respective families having been founded in New England in the Colonial epoeh of our national history and both being of staneh English origin. Soon after their marriage the parents eame to the west and established their home in Berlin, Wisconsin, where the father engaged in the practice of law and where he served as eolleetor of internal
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revenue under the administration of President Lincoln. In 1876 he removed with his family to Trinidad, Colorado, where he remained four years and where he served as attorney for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. In 1880 he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, where he engaged in the fire insurance business, to which he devoted his attention during the remainder of his active career. He died in that city in 1898, at the age of seventy-six years, and his wife died in 1896 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was a stalwart Republican and was a man of strong individuality and fine intellectual talents, the while his sterling attributes of character gained to him the inviolable confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
Willard Merriam is indebted to the public schools of Wisconsin, Colorado and Kansas City, Missouri, for his early educational discip- line, and in the meanwhile he gained practical business experience when still a mere boy. He was twelve years of age at the time of the family removal from Wisconsin to Colorado and was sixteen years old when the home was established in Kansas City, Missouri. When but eleven years of age he secured employment as messenger boy in a banking institution at Trinidad, Colorado, and his exceptional business acumen gained him promotion to the office of assistant cashier when he was but fourteen years of age. In 1880 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was connected with various banking houses within the interval from that time until 1887, and he then became associated with his father in the fire insurance business, with which he was thus connected until 1890, when he came to Kansas City, Kansas, and established himself in the real estate and insurance business, with which he has since been actively and successfully identi- fied and in connection with which he has handled a large amount of valuable realty, besides bringing about many improvements in the way of building, etc. The firm of which he is a member is one of the most important of the kind in this section of the state and it controls a large and prosperous business in both the departments of real estate and insurance. Mr. Merriam has also made judicious investments in connection with various successful industrial and commercial enter- prises in his home city, and is know as one of the most progressive, liberal and public spirited citizens of the metropolis of Wyandotte county. He has served as president of the Kansas City Mercantile Club and he takes a vital interest in all enterprises that tend to ad- vance the material and civic prosperity of his city and county.
Though entirely free from office seeking proclivities, Mr. Merriam is found arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian Science church. He is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and with the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Merriam's first marriage was to Bessie Burtner, a daughter of Reuben Burtner, a native of Pennsylvania, she died in 1888, after becom- ing the mother of two children, Edith and Harriet.
In the year 1890 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Merriam to Miss Anna Peacock, daughter of James Peacock, a representative busi- ness man of the city of Chicago, and the two children of this union are Wallace and Helen.
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ANDERSON S. WILT .- Among the honored and well known eitizens of Wyandotte eounty stands prominent Anderson S. Wilt, veteran of the Civil war, formerly engaged in the manufacturing business and for the past several years superintendent of Quindaro Cemetery. He has been identified with this section for the past fifteen years and has witnessed its splendid development, while at the same time contributing his quota of good citizenship to the result. As custodian of the natural beauties and the regulations and rules designed to protect this lovely and justly renowned eemetery, he has given service of signal faithful- ness and efficiency for a period of eleven years.
Anderson S. Wilt is an Easterner by birth, his nativity having or- curred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 20th day of March, 1845. He is a son of Joseph and Louisa (Tapper) Wilt, the mother a native of the United States, the father of Germany. He received his educa- tion in the sehools of Philadelphia. A very young man at the opening of the Civil war, he was high spirited and patriotie and in the year 1864, enlisted as a member of the Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry which, before the close of the war, consolidated with the Eighty-ninth Pennsylvania Regiment. He did particularly gallant service, and was discharged as corporal, July, 1865. Mr. Wilt was on picket duty at Winchester, when Sheridan made his famous twenty mile ride from Winehester. The subjeet served from 1864 until the close of the war as a member of the Sixth Army Corps, known as the Bloody Sixth. Ile was mustered out at Halls Hill, Virginia.
After the return of peace Mr. Wilt went into the manufacturing business, being identified with the A. M. Collins Manufacturing Com- pany, the largest manufacturers of card board in the United States, continuing in this association for fifteen years. In 1896 he came to Kansas City on account of poor health. In 1900 he became superin- tendent of Quindaro Cemetery and has remained in such capacity until the present time.
Mr. Wilt has maintained his relations with the comrades of other days and formerly was a member of G. A. R. Post, No. 2, Department of Pennsylvania. One of the most important and vividly remembered of the varied events of his life was his participation in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C.
Mr. Wilt has been twice married, his first union occurring in Phila- delphia, when Miss Elizabeth Maginly became his wife. She died in 1883 at the age of about thirty-three years, leaving one daughter, Effie M., who resides at home and is in the office of the Beal Excelsior Pro- duce Company. The second union was solemnized in Oakland, Cali- fornia, the lady to become his wife and the mistress of his household being Margaretta Davis, daughter of David and Jane (Seott) Davis, Mrs. Wilt having been born in Alleghany City, as was her father. One son is the issue of the second union-Merrill Anderson, born in Phila- delphia, December 27, 1893, and a student at the Wilson High School. Mr. and Mrs. Wilt and their family are popular and useful members of society and are known to a wide circle of friends.
Quindaro Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in the state of Kansas, having been established in the year 1855. Originally it was a part of the possessions of the Delaware Indians, the government later buying the land. Before the middle of the nineteenth century, a missionary
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to the Indians, Rev. James Witten, settled on the site and built upon it a small log church and school house, this being three years previous to the treaty which transferred the surrounding land to the United States government. The Rev. Mr. Witten's wife died in 1852 and her re- mains were the first to be interred here. Subsequently the United States commissioners reserved these two acres as a public cemetery. Numerous Indians are buried here as well as white men, and there is scarcely a foot of ground in the original two acres that is not utilized. As Wyandotte county became more thickly settled with white people, the citizens of the section formed an association, and bought land sur- rounding the original tract, which they plotted into lots. This was incorporated in 1869 under the laws of Kansas and is now one of the finest, if not the finest cemetery in the state, as well as the oldest. From the grounds, which are the highest in Wyandotte county, one se- cures a most beautiful view of the surrounding country in all directions. It is the only cemetery in Kansas City conducted on a plan by which the property receives all the benefits of its revenues. Its method of
operation has been pronounced by competent judges the best ever de- vised for cemetery purposes. The existence of the old log church was brief, for it was burned in the spring of 1857, Many famous people are interred within the boundaries of old Quindaro Cemetery, among those whose spirits have passed on to the Undiscovered Country, but whose ashes are here treasured, being: Judge Gray, George M. Gray, Judge Leland, the members of the Combs' family, and the Menden- halls. The organizers of the association were R. M. Gray, Elisha Sortor and others. The present officers are James MeNaughten, presi- dent; Fred Sortor, secretary ; H. A. Mendenhall, treasurer; and Ander- son S. Wilt, superintendent.
ARCHI A. YOUNG. - A man of scholarly attainments, talented and cultured, Arch A. Yonng, an able and influential lawyer of Bonner Springs, has won success through a wise and systematie application of his abilities to the profession of his choice. Born in Maryland Janu- ary 26, 1879, he laid a substantial foundation for his future education in the public schools and in an academical course, and at the age of eighteen began the study of law. In August, 1900, he was admitted to all the courts of Maryland and to the United States District and Circuit Courts.
Beginning the practice of law in his native state, Mr. Young made rapid progress and developed a wonderful capacity for concentrated work, at the same time displaying especial adaptability for criminal cases. In the latter branch of his profession he built up an extensive and lucrative tri-state practice in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, for a number of years figuring prominently in every criminal ease of note in those states. Mr. Young was likewise particularly snc- cessful in the handling of damage suits, being identified with a number of cases made famous by reason of the people and precedents involved.
Owing to a serious operation for appendicitis, Mr. Young was forced to relinquish all work for a year, and in October, 1909, under the advice of his physician, he came west to recuperate his health and strength, locating in Missouri. Finding the place attractive and the climate beneficial, he decided to remain somewhere in the west. Not-
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