USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 13
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ing in a Kansas City paper an advertisement by Philo M. Clark, of Bon- ner Springs, Wyandotte county, he visited the city and was so charmed with the town, its improvements, environments and business opportuni- ties that he decided to cast his business career with the "Sunflower state." Inasmuch as he had no ties binding him to the east, and as his law practice, which had been neglected throughout his illness, would require rebuilding, Mr. Young opened a law office in Bonner Springs, and is fast winning his way to a leading position among the foremost attorneys of this part of the state.
JOHN DEBUS is one of the successful men in Wyandotte county. IIis career has been varied, but he has finally found the occupation which suits him and for which he is admirably suited, that of superin- tendent of Mount Hope Cemetery. A man of his abilities could not fail to make a suecess of anything he undertook, and he is well liked in his present position, being always courteous, kind and considerate.
He was born in Wyandotte county, Kansas, February 22, 1870. His father was George Debus, who was born in Germany in 1820 and died in 1903. His mother's maiden name was Gertrude Rheinhart, who still resides in Wyandotte township.
Johu was brought up in Wyandotte county on his father's farm. As soon as he was old enough he attended the public schools and at the same time worked for his father on the farm. After he had left school lie worked in Armour's packing plant for fifteen years. It is needless to that he did good and efficient service, or he would not have remained so so long in their employ. After he left Armour he was assistant foreman in Morris' sausage plant for one year. In 1909 he was appointed super- intendent of the Mount Hope Cemetery, where he has done excellent work, giving his best attention to all who need his assistance and keep- ing the grounds up in fine shape.
On June 5, 1896, he married Emma Breehbuell, who was a native of Switzerland. When she was only two years old she eame to America from her little home among the mountains. Iler father is dead but her mother is still living. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Debus, Irene, Harold and Juanita. They are all attending sehool, Irene being in the high school while the two younger ones are in the grade school.
Mr. Debus belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America fraternal order. He is a Democrat, having served his party and the township at the same time in the capacity of overseer, a position which he held for one year. Although of German descent, there is no one who is a more loyal American than he is. He stands prepared to do anything for the good of his party and for the good of the country.
JOHN HENRY STUDT .- Education is the capital which every man or woman must have in order to succeed, but education does not consist alone or even chiefly in book knowledge. John Henry Studt was a poor boy as far as material wealth was concerned and had very little schooling, but he studied to do everything faithfully that was laid to his charge. A man perfects himself much more by work than by read- ing and thus it has been with Mr. Studt. Ile has made the best pos- sible use of his opportunities and has not always waited for opportunity
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to knock, but has gone out to meet it. He has become a man who is honored and admired in Wyandotte county. His friends and neighbors would say that he has achieved success entirely through his own efforts, but he gives to his mother a large share of the credit. There are many mothers who inspire their children to right thinking, to noble thinking and to tremendous efforts, but they often receive no credit for the part they play, even in the minds of their children. It is not so with Mr. Stndt. Ile appreciates all that his mother did in assisting him in his early career.
John Henry Stadt was a native of Hanover, Germany, where he was born June 1, 1834. His father, Henry Studt, was a native of Germany, where he died in 1840, having passed all his life in his native country. He had married Maria Olten, a young German girl, who died in 1868 in Cincinnati, Ohio, having come to America with John Henry Studt, her son.
When our subject was only six years old his father died, leaving to his widow the task of bringing up their son. She educated him to the best of her ability, but she had very little money and there were no public schools in Germany at that time. She made sure, however, that he learned certain things, namely honesty, decency, obedience, cleanli- ness in thought and speech. She told him he could have these things even if they were poor. Then she made sure that he learned as much as he could in the few years of school possible for him. She made him feel that poverty is not hopeless, but that there is a way out somewhere. She stirred him with ambition to get out, to do better than his father and mother had done. As a consequence of this influence and also by reason of his own natural enthusiastic temperament, he decided to come to America, when he was nineteen years of age, his mother of course accompanying him. They took passage in a sailing vessel, and after a weary voyage of eight weeks and four days landed at Baltimore, weary from the effects of the sea sickness and the discom- fort they had endured on the ocean, but possessed of indomitable cour- age, which meant ultimate success. .John Henry had no money at all when he reached Baltimore, not having been able to scrape together more than enough to defray their passage expenses, but he was not dis- couraged. He found some one in Baltimore who was kind enough to lend him enough money to get to Cineinnati, Ohio, where he believed he could get work. It is true he only needed a very little money, for he and his mother did not pay the regular passenger fare, but went in cattle cars, buying as little food as would suffice to keep them alive. When night came and they were making themselves as comfortable as they could in the car, lying on the hay, the train man said "All hands off" and they were forced to alight and spend the rest of the night on the wayside. The road was not built any farther and after spending the night in sheep pens, the next day they with other emigrants, marched three miles to the next railroad, going by cattle cars again to Cincin- nati, Ohio. Arrived in Cincinnati, John Henry got work as a laborer at fifty cents a day. a small enough sum in America, but to his frugal mind, it was big pay, at least it was enough to support him and his mother with a fair degree of comfort. After a year, during which time he continued to receive but fifty cents a day, he went to work in a brick vard where he earned seventy-five cents a day. He stayed in
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Cincinnati until 1866, when he came to Kansas and in 1869 he bought a farm from Jim Zane, paving seven thousand dollars for it, the sum that he had saved out of his earnings, having worked in a piano store during the last fourteen years of his residence in Cincinnati. IIe had spent practically no money on luxuries in all of this time, except an occasional extravagance for his mother. When he bought his farm only a part of it was under cultivation and on it was a small, flat roofed log cabin. His whole farm of one hundred and eighty and one-half arres is now under cultivation, being one of the finest fruit farms in the county. He has set out about four thousand fruit trees and berries of all kinds; he has about twelve acres covered with various kinds of grapes and twenty-five acres he uses for truck gardening. He has now five houses on his ground, besides other farm buildings.
He married Louisa Horstman, daughter of Christof Horstman and his wife, Mary von Baron, both natives of Germany. They came to this country with their children in 1854 and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio In a few years they came to Kansas and sometime later bought fifty acres of ground in Quindaro township near to Mr. Studt's place.
The brother of Mrs. Studt, Christian Fred Horstman, was born in Min len, Germany, May 16th, 1841. Ile was thirteen years of age when the family came to America. 4 They bought their farm from Mr. Cramer, now a resident of Armourdale, who had the land nearly all under cultivation. A log house was on the farm and here Christian lived, building on to the old frame as he found necessity and means. In 1909 the old cabin burned down and he built a modern frame house, where he lives with some of his children. Ile married Mary Jansen. who was born in this township, a daughter of William and Mary Mrs. Horstman died at the age of thirty-eight. February 2, .Jansen.
1892, and was buried in Quindaro township cemetery. She was the mother of eight children, all of whom are living at this time. Mary, now Mrs. Charles Sorter, lives in California. Ida (Mrs. Fred Sorter) lives in Wyandotte county ; Louisa is at home with her father. She
was named after her aunt, her father's sister who had married Mr. Studt. Catherine is at home, as are William, Henry and Alfred N. Rose is married to A. Combs. Mr. Horstman does truck and fruit farming, like his brother-in-law; about twenty acres of his land is planted with fruit trees. He is a man who has done a good deal for his county. He has held office of trustee of this township three years and ten months. He was county commissioner three years, being elected in 1886 and re-elected in 1890. IIe was a member of the school board for twenty-one years and was road overseer in 1881 and 1882. Ile is a member of the German Lutheran church, doing good in many relations of life.
Mr. and Mrs. J. II. Studt had three sons, as follows: George H., who married Amelia Studt and two sons, Elvin and George. were born to the union; they live on the farm with the father, J. H. Studt ; the second son, Charles J., is also on the farm, having married Josie Terret and they have one daughter, Hazel : John Hl. died in Cineinnati at the age of seven years. Mrs. Studt died in 1901 at the age of sixty- seven and was buried in Quindaro Cemetery.
Mr. Studt is a member of the German Lutheran church in Kansas City, Kansas. He has served as township treasurer, having been
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elected twice to this office. In looking back over his life, he may well be content with what he has accomplished. £ Coming to this country with nothing, he is now worth thousands. Not only has Mr. Studt succeeded in making money, but he has given of himself for the good of his township and for the county. He is one of the best known men in the township and one who is universally liked and respected.
HENRY E. DEAN .- To the man who has won success through his own efforts the American people ever accord the fullest measure of honor, and in no other country are there so great opportunities for such advancement on the part of one dependent entirely upon his own powers and resources. Henry E. Dean, who is now one of the able and representative members of the bar of Wyandotte county and who is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in Kansas City, came to the state in 1885, as a young man, and here he first found em- ployment in connection with farm work, from which he advanced to responsible positions in connection with the great meat-packing houses of Kansas City, but his ambition was not satisfied with such employ- ment, even though lucrative, and he made a diametrical change by carefully preparing himself for the profession in which he has gained marked prestige and success, the while he has not been denied the fullest measure of popular confidence and esteem in the community that has long represented his home.
Henry Ezra is a native of the fine old Blue Grass commonwealth and is a scion of old and honored families of that state, to which his paternal grandparents removed in an early day from the state of New York, the lineage being traced back to stanch English origin and the family having been founded in America in the Colonial epoch of our national history. The maternal ancestors came from Ireland and the family name early became identified with industrial and civic activi- ties in the state of Kentucky. Mr. Dean was born in Campbell county, Kentucky, on the 23rd of August, 1867, and is a son of Hiram Ezra and Matilda (MeCollum) Dean, the former of whom was born in that same county and the latter in Kenton county, Kentucky. The father became a prosperous farmer of his native state and there continued to maintain his home until his death, in 1909, at the venerable age of seventy-nine years. There his widow still resides, and she is seventy- two years of age at the time of this writing, in 1911. Of the eleven children the subject of this review was the fifth in order of birth, and of the others, two sons and six daughters are now living. Hiram E. Dean was a loyal soldier of the Union in the Civil war, in which he served under General Buell in the Army of the Tennessee, and he gave his allegiance to the Republican party from the time of its organiza- tion until his death. He was a member of the Baptist church, as is also his widow, and his life was one of honest industry and constant rectitude, so that he held as his own the high regard of those with whom he came in contact.
The early experiences of Henry E. Dean were those gained in con- nection with the work of the old homestead farm, and he duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools of the locality and period. In the autumn of 1885 he came to Kansas and soon after his arrival he secured employment on the farm of John R. Bell, in Leaven-
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worth county. In the following spring he went to Franklin county, where he continued to be employed in connection with the agricultural industry until September, 1887, when he came to Kansas City and secured employment as driver of a team for the Alleutt Packing Com- pany. With this concern he remained, in various capacities, until the spring of 1891, and he then entered the employ of Reed Brothers, another prominent concern in the same line of industry. He was finally advanced to the position of foreman in the enring department and he retained this incumbency until 1894, when the plant of the firm was destroyed by fire. In the meanwhile Mr. Dean had gained experience in connection with the various departments of this impor- tant line of enterprise, and from 1894 until 1900 he was a valued em- plove in the local plant of the great packing house of Swartzchild & Sulzberger. He was superintendent of the pork department during the last three years of his connection with this concern.
Seeking a broader and more individual field of endeavor, Mr. Dean had in the meanwhile determined to prepare himself for the legal profession, and with this end in view he availed himself of the night courses in the Kansas City (Missouri) Law School during the last three years of his identification with the packing industry. In this well ordered institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1900, on the 10th of June, and duly received his degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar of Missouri at this time and shortly after- ward to that of Kansas, and in September. 1900, he instituted the practice of his profession in Kansas City, Kansas, where he has applied himself with all of diligence and with marked ability, with the result that he has gained an excellent clientage and has built up a substantial and lucrative practice of general order. That he has the high regard of his professional confreres needs no further voucher than that offered in the fact that he has served since 1909 as president of the Wyandotte County Bar Association. In April. 1910, he was elected a member of the city commission, and he served as county auditor for four years, retiring from this office in 1909.
In politics Mr. Dean is aligned as an uncompromising advocate of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and he has taken an active part in its local affairs. He has received the K. C. C. H. degree in the Ancient. Accepted Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity and is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On the 11th of October, 1893, Mr. Dean was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Bown, of Kansas City, this county. She was born at Terre Haute, Indiana, and is a daughter of William T. and Nancy Bown, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Dean have had three children : Helen, deceased; Harry E., seven years of age: and J. Russell, three years old.
HENRY E. IFARTMAN .- It is rather unusual nowadays to find a man who has followed up the line of work that he decides on when he is a boy. As a rule a hoy changes his mind many times before he ever starts in to work and after that time he is apt to find that the work he thought he should like is not suited to him nor he to it. This has not heen the experience of Henry E. Hartman. Ile is a farmer, the
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ASTOR, LEHOX TILDEN FOUNDATIOND
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very thing he intended to do when he was a lad. He understands his business thoroughly and because he has attended to it so well, he has had great success.
Hle was born in Hanover in Germany, February 1, 1870, and is the son of Frederick and Louisa (Myer) Hartman, who spent their whole lives in Germany. Mrs. Hartman died in the spring of 1910, and her husband is a resident of Osnabruck, Germany. There were ten chil- dren, August and Henry being the only representatives of the family living in America, the balance being in Germany.
Henry was educated in his native country and when he was six- teen years old he came to the United States. He came direct to Kan- sas, which he had heard was the finest agricultural locality. He went to work on .Judge Freeman's farm and worked around in different places until 1900. By that time he had saved up enough money to bny. After looking around for some time he bought twenty-two and one-half aeres of land from Charles Sorter. He also bought a second farm which he sold at a profit; he bought another and sold that; he then went to Texas and bought a big farm with the proceeds of his trading and also purchased another. He retained his Texas farms but came back to live on the first farm he bought. During the years he has owned this Kansas farm he has improved it wonderfully. He has built all of the farm buildings; the house is the same one that was on the place. yet he has greatly improved it. He has set out about seventeen hundred fruit trees but is now cutting some of them down and is devoting his land to truck farming. He gets big prices for his products beeause he puts up none but first class goods and always gives good weight and measure for the money.
In 1896 he married Mary Dechman, daughter of Martin and Helma (Cochan) Dechman, the former a farmer in Quindaro township, who came here in 1840, where he bought thirty-two acres of land. He died here in 1896 at the age of fifty-nine. His wife had died six months before, aged forty-nine. They are both buried in Quindaro cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. IFartman have three children, Lena, John and Frederick, all students in the district school. They have besides raised two chil- dren not their own.
Mr. Hartman is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 6942, at Bethel, Kansas, and of the C. P. A. Association. Mr. and Mrs. Hartman are adherents of the German Lutheran church.
If a man is not fair in his dealings, sooner or later he will be found out. It is the universal opinion that if you want a square deal you will get it at the hands of Henry Hartman.
CHARLES B. HEWLETT .- An essentially prominent and influential citizen of Kansas City, Kansas, is Charles B. Hewlett, who is here engaged in the real estate and insurance business, with offices at No. 207 ITuested Building. While a great deal of his time is taken up with his private affairs, he nevertheless manifests a deep and sincere interest in all matters projected for the good of the general welfare and is everywhere recognized for his intrinsic loyalty and public spirit. He has been the popular and efficient incumbent of a number of public offices of trust and responsibility and in each has acquitted himself with honor and distinction.
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A native of the fine old Empire state of the Union, Charles B. Hewlett was born in Dutchess county. New York, on the 27th of September. 1861, and he is a son of Caleb C. and Elizabeth (Barnes) Hewlett. The father was born on Long Island and the mother elaims the state of New Hampshire as the place of her nativity. After attain- ing to years of maturity Caleb C. Hewlett was engaged in agricultural pursuits for a number of years, but in 1864 he disposed of his farm in Dutchess county. New York, and came west, locating at St. Joseph, Missouri. Later he crossed the plains to Denver, Colorado, where he was engaged in mining and the hotel business for a period of three years at the expiration of which he went to Mills county, Iowa, there engaging in farming operations up to 1879. In the latter year he came to Kansas and settled in Anderson county, where he passed the residue of his life, his demise having occurred in 1880, at the age of sixty-four years. £ Ilis cherished and devoted wife, who still survives him, is now living at Gardner, Kansas, in her seventy-fourth year. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hewlett all are living at the present time, in 1911. Caleb C. Hewlett was an uncompromising Republican in his political convictions and in a fraternal way was a valued and appreciative member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Grange.
Charles B. Hewlett was a child of but three years of age at the time of his parents' removal from New York to the west and he received his early educational discipline in the public schools of Glenwood and 1Tillsdale, Iowa. He initiated his active business career as a farmer in Anderson county. Kansas, in the year 1883, but in 1885 he estab- lished his home in Johnson county, this state. In 1892 he came to Kansas City and immediately turned his attention to the agricultural implement business, later entering the employ of the Armour Packing Company as a government inspeetor, with which concern he remained for a period of two years. He then turned his attention to the coal and feed business until 1896. when he was appointed deputy commis- sioner of elections. Ile then entered the employ of A. R. James & Sons, becoming a city salesman in the building material business. Sub- sequently he was with the Cudahy Packing Company for a period of four months and from 1901 to 1905 he was with the Merriam, Benton & Ellis Real Estate & Insurance Company. In the latter year he en- tered into a partnership alliance with O. W. Shepard and they pur- chased a real estate and insurance business in Kansas City. On the 1st of Jannary, 1906. he assumed full charge of the fire insurance de- partment of the firm. Mr. Shepard taking over the real estate end of the business. He represents a number of the most prominent insur- ance concerns in the United States and has achieved a most gratifying success in connection with this field of endeavor.
On the 17th of January. 1884, at Colony, Kansas, Mr. Hewlett was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Moore, who was born at Galva, Illinois, and who is a daughter of JJohn C. and Elizabeth (Walker) Moore both of whom were born in county Cork, Ireland, and both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Moore came to the United States and located at Olathe. Kansas, in the year 1869, being there engaged in farming until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Moore were the parents of nine children-four sons and five daughters-of whom eight are now living
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and of whom Mrs. Hewlett was the fifth in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Hewlett have two children, concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated : Mabel Vera, is the wife of J. T. Surber and she now resides in Kansas City, Kansas; and Willard is a small boy at home.
In 1897 Mr. Hewlett, with a number of other patriotic citizens, organized what was known as the New Charter Association, the object of the same being to get rid of the Metropolitan police department. At that time the city was infested with a lot of tough gambling joints, the presence of which the chief of police refused to acknowledge. Mr. IIewlett was elected president of the New Charter Association and as such made a personal raid through the gambling section, bringing in some fourteen prisoners. This was in the fall of 1898, and with the help of Governor John Leedy the good work was pushed along with the result that the following spring the Metropolitan police force was cleaned out.
In 1896 Mr. IIewlett was a candidate for the office of representative in the state legislature and during the campaign he was arrested for talking free silver. He was taken to jail and, though he was not locked up, he was held for a period of seventeen days. The Gold Bug bankers were the cause of his arrest and they had him held in duress so that he could not make his eampaign. In due time he was released, as he had not violated any law. He is strongly opposed to all trusts and monopolies and in his political affiliations is a stanch advocate of the free silver department of the Democratic party. In a fraternal way he is connected with Pride of the West Lodge No. 484, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows; and with Wyandotte Encampment, No. 9, Modern Woodmen of America. His religious faith is in harmony with the tenets of the Baptist church. He is president of the Baptist City Mission Society; is treasurer of the Kansas City Baptist Seminary; and is a member of the executive board of the Kansas Baptist State con- stitution. In all philanthropical and benevolent work Mr. Hewlett and his family have been instrumental in accomplishing a great deal of good in this eity and they are very prominent and popular in connec- tion with the best social activities of their home community. Mr. Hewlett has a very wide circle of friends and they are legion, bound in no sense by party lines, religious creeds or social status. People of every diversity of condition, position or relative importance, know him and, knowing him, honor and respect him.
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