USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 16
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1889, and here he has since given his time and attention to the work of his chosen profession, in which his success has been of unequivocal order, denoting his technical ability and also his elose application. Mr. McFadden is known as a specially strong and effective trial lawyer and he never presents a eause before court or jury without thorough pre- paration of the same, so that his percentatige of forensic victories has been specially large.
Loyal to all civic duties, Mr. McFadden is at all times ready to lend his influence and co-operation in the furtherance of measures for the general welfare, and he served two years as a member of the city council, though he has had no desire for public office of any deserip- tion. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party.
In the year 1890 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McFadden to Miss Emma Cruise, of Kansas City, Kansas, and they have one daughter, Margaret.
HENRY F. WOESTEMEYER .- If we were to piek out the one eharac- teristic which has done more than anything else to make of the United States the leading commercial country that it now is we should men- tion enterprise. If we were to pick out the one man in Bethel, Kan- sas, who has this characteristic to a remarkable extent, we should men- tion Henry F. Woestemeyer, the prominent merehant. By enterprise we mean the ability to hustle, to make things go, to bring things to pass that a less capable man would deem impossible.
Henry F. Woestemeyer was born in Marthasville, Missouri, July 5, 1873. He was the son of Fred C. and Wilhelmina (Oberhelman) Woestemeyer, natives of Missouri. They came to Quindaro township in December, 1886.
Henry was educated in the public schools of Kansas City, whither he had come with his parents when he was a small boy. After he had finished the public school course he entered a commercial college and took a business course. In March, 1898, he entered mereantile life at Bethel, where he has built up a very prosperous business.
On June 14, 1899, he was married to Clara Belle Hendrickson, the daughter of James F. and Mary (Cooley) Hendrickson, the father a native of Kentucky, the mother of Ohio. Mrs. Woestemeyer was born at Larned, Kansas, February 13, 1878, and she is a graduate of the class of 1897 of the Kansas City, Kansas, high school. Three children were born to this union, Henry James, born May 10, 1901; F. Shirley, born January 21, 1904; and Ina Fay, born April 14, 1906.
Mr. Woestemeyer is a Republican and has done good work for his party. In 1894 he was elected clerk of Quindaro township, in which capacity he served two years. He was later elected justiee of the peace, serving one term. IIe is a member of the Masonie Order, hold- ing membership in Blue Lodge, No. 96, of White Church. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 88, in which organization he has passed all of the chairs. He has high standing in both of these fraternal orders, indeed he is universally liked and re- spected by all who know him in his official capacity, in his business relations and in his social life.
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DAVID B. MATNEY .- The life history of David B. Matney is eer- tainly worthy of commendation and of emulation, for along honorable and straightforward lines he has won the success which crowns his efforts and makes him one of the substantial residents of Shawnee township, in Wyandotte county, Kansas. During the greater portion of his active career Mr. Matney has been identified with agricultural pursuits and he is now the owner of a farm of one hundred and seventy- three acres of most arable land. eligibly located two miles from Argentine.
A native of the fine old Dominion commonwealth, David B. Matney was born on the 3rd of August, 1836, and he is a son of Charles and Abigail (Brown) Matney, the former of whom passed to the life eternal on the 6th of October, 1891, and the latter of whom died in November, 1865, aged fifty-eight years. The Matney family first located in Jackson county, Missouri, but came to Wyandotte county, Kansas, in the year 1844, and here Charles Matney purchased land and re- mained during the residue of his life. David B. Matney was reared in this county and educated in the schools of the locality and period and on January 26, 1860, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Emily Puckett. In 1867 he and his wife settled on a tract of forty acres of land in Shawnee township, this county, coming to the place where he now lives in 1865, and after clearing the same they have added to it until they now own one hundred and seventy three aeres of finely im-
proved land. Mr. Matney was at Shawnee during the border times when the town was burned and he has a distinct recollection of the troublous Civil war times. Mr. Matney was twice arrested by the Confederacy as a Rebel and a third time, when he started across the plains, he was followed, arrested and taken to Fort Leavenworth where all' his belongings were taken from him and he was given his release. .
In 1863 his house was burned at Shawnee during the raid and he then established the family home at Westport for a time. When war was ended and peace again established throughout the country Mr. Matney returned with his family to the farm in Shawnee township and here has resided during the long intervening years to the present time. He has devoted his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of high grade stock during most of his life time but is now living vir- tually retired, the old homestead being operated by his sons. Some of the land is set out to fruit trees and the beautiful buildings in the midst of well cultivated fields well indicate the thrift and industry of the practical owner.
On the 26th of January, 1860. at West Port, Mr. Matney was united in marriage to Miss Emily Puckett, who was born in Virginia, on the 5th of July, 1842, and who is a daughter of John and Mary (Carl) Puckett. The Puckett family came west in 1851, at which time Mrs. Matney was a child of nine years of age. Settlement was made in an old warehouse in Wyandotte county in 1850 and Mrs. Matney was educated in the district school in the vicinity of the present site of Kansas City. Her childhood was one of great interest and excitement and her reminiscences of pioneer days are unusually vivid. Mr. and Mrs. Matney became the parents of five children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth : JJohn, George, Joseph, Elisha and Earl. The four older children are married and live on the old home
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place and the youngest son. Earl, remains at home with his aged parents.
Mr. Matney is a stalwart Democrat in his political proclivities and he has served for a number of years as a member of the local school board. In early days he and his family were devont members of the Baptist church but in 1900 transferred their allegiance to the Metho- dist church, in which he is a Sunday School teacher and a member of the board of deacons. Mr. Matney was made a Mason in Shawnee some forty years ago but he is now a member of Argentine Lodge, No. 332, Ancient. Free and Accepted Masons. Ile is a man of sterling integrity and fine moral fiber. Although he has attained to the ven- erable age of seventy-eight years, he is still eret and retains in much of their pristine vigor the splendid physical and mental qualities of his youth. He and his wife are held in high esteem throughont this community, where their exemplary lives and innate kindliness of spirit have won them the lasting friendship of all with whom they have come in contaet.
BENJAMIN W. FULCHER, who has recently identified himself with the agricultural interests of Wyandotte county, Kansas, own a nice farm near Wallla.
Mr. Fulcher is a native of Platte county, Missouri, where he was born April 22, 1855, a son of Jacob and Mary (Carson) Fulcher, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Ireland. Of their family of twelve children, he is the eldest of the six now living, the others being as follows: Mina, wife of James O. Johnson, a merchant in Platte City, Missouri; Alexander P., a merchant at Tracy, Missouri ; Jacob M., a farmer of Platte county, Missouri; Robert L., a farmer of Leavenworth county, Kansas; and Fanny, wife of John L. Stapp, an electrician of Platte City, Missouri. Jacob Fulcher, the father, was born in 1833, and spent his early boyhood days in Tennessee. When
he was thirteen the family moved over into Missouri, where he and his father engaged in freighting with ox teams. At that time the Indians were still here. The elder Fulcher lost his scalp and met his death at the hands of the red men. Jacob Fulcher is still living, now a strong and hearty old man, and while he calls Platte county his home, he visits around among his children. He belonged to the Home Guards, and continued freighting a number of years after his father was killed. llis wife died some twenty years ago. Politically he is a Democrat ; religiously, a Methodist, and in both politics and religion is followed by his son Benjamin W.
Benjamin W. Fuleher was reared on his father's farm in Platte connty, and has been engaged in farming all his life. Ilis only educa- tional advantages were those he had in the district school, but he has always taken an interest in helping to maintain good schools and for ten years was a member of the Lee township school board in Platte county. Also while there he served as eonstable and township road commissioner. In 1911 he came to Wyandotte county, Kansas, where he purchased a farm of eighty-three aeres, near Wallula, where he is carrying on general farming, raising fruit and keeping a dairy.
February 17, 1881. Mr. Fulcher married Miss Fannie J. Moss, a native of Platte county, Missouri, and a daughter of Henry Moss, a
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retired farmer, now seventy-three years of age. Her mother is de- ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Fuleher have eight children, namely : Gertrude A. and Mattie M., sehool teachers; Bertha; Alvin, who died at the age of five years; Raymond E., Hazel, Josephine, Jacob Guy.
Fraternally, Mr. Fulcher has membership in the Modern Woodmen of America Camp No. 3500, Boling, Leavenworth county, Kansas.
MATHIAS A. THENO, who is now living virtually retired from active participation in business affairs, gained wide renown as a particularly skilled contractor and builder in Kansas City, where he established his home in the year 1886. Since 1910 he has resided on his attractive little estate of ten acres in Quindaro township, Wyandotte county, Kansas, devoting his spare time to the growing of small fruits and rasp- berries. Ile is a man of fine personality and extraordinary ability. His life achievements worthily illustrate what may be attained by persistent and painstaking effort. In every sense of the word he is a representative citizen and he gives freely of his aid and influence in support of all measures and enterprises advanced for the good of the general welfare.
Of French parentage, Mathias A. Theno was born in Luxemburg, Germany, the date of his nativity being the 14th of March, 1848. Hle is a son of Peter and Mary Theno, who immigrated to the United States about the year 1850, coming to this country on the old sailing ship, Federatio, and making the trip in twenty-seven days. Landing in New York city, practically penniless, the father pawned some of his tools in order to get to Buffalo, where he was engaged in the car- penter's trade for a number of years. In 1852 the family home was established in Wisconsin, where Peter Theno eontinned to reside until his death. in 1901, at the venerable age of seventy-seven years. After the death of her honored husband the mother came to Kansas City, where she contracted a severe cold and died, in 1908, at the age of eighty-eight years. Her grandfather, Mathias Hoffman, was a soldier under Napoleon and he lived to the patriarchal age of one hundred' and seven years.
The first in order of birth in a family of seven children, Mathias A. Theno was a child of three years of age at the time of his parents' immigration to this country. After availing himself of such oppor- tunities as offered for an educational training, he entered upon an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, learning the same from his father. In 1886 he decided to try his fortunes in Kansas and in that year settled in Kansas City, where he immediately secured work as a carpenter. With the passage of time he became an extensive con- tractor and was instrumental in the erection of some of the finest buildings in Kansas City. In addition to other work he put in the ('enter street cable line and did a great deal of other street railway work. Ile continued to devote his attention to contraeting and build- ing until 1910, when he retired to his country estate in Quindaro town- ship. In 1891 he purchased a tract of five acres of land near Bethel and subsequently he bought another five acres. This was originally wild land but under his careful direction it has been cleared and placed under cultivation. Hle is the owner of one of the most attractive homes in Wyandotte county and all the buildings and improvements
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AUTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATION!
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
on his place are of the most modern type. Hle has set out four hundred trees and makes a specialty of raising small fruits and raspberries, his market for the same being Kansas City.
In polities Mr. Theno maintains an independent attitude and while he has never been incumbent of any public office he has been urged to run for treasurer of his town. In fraternal cireles he is a valued and appreciative member of the German Workmen and in religious matters attends and gives his support to the Catholic church, in whose faith he has reared his children. Mr. Theno is a great advocate of the license in Kansas and has seen a great deal of danger done by Prohibi- tion in Kansas City, where he maintains many honses have stood vacant since they stopped selling liquor. HIe also maintains that there is a great difference in the taxes, tracing the same to Prohibition. Mr. Theno is a man of broad information and deep human sympathy and as a eitizen he is everywhere accorded the unalloyed confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
On the 15th of November, 1869. Mr. Theno was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Smith, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Cornelius and Magdalena (Schritz) Smith, both of whom were born in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Theno became the parents of eleven chil- dren, concerning whom the following brief data are here recorded : Mary is Mrs. George M. IIolt, of Kansas City, Kansas; Margaret died on the 14th of November, 1904, at the age of thirty-two years, and is survived by three children, all of whom reside in Seattle, Washington ; Mathias J., Jr., is a prosperous farmer in the vicinity of Nearman, Kansas; Catherine died in infancy; Peter died in 1876, aged one year ; Jacob died in 1880, aged two years; JJolin died in infancy in 1880; Adeline died in 1882, aged one year; Michael is engaged in farming operations in Quindaro township, he having married Estella Edwards ; Nicholas learned the carpenter and stone trades of his father and is engaged in that work in Kansas City. Ile married Marie Schevemann and has two children, Frederick N. and Raymond K .; and Magdalena, born on the 7th of November, 1886, is the wife of Otto Elver, who is the owner of twenty acres of land adjacent to Mr. Theno's estate in Quindaro township.
WILLIAM B. SUTTON .- In the varied and cosmopolitan citizenship of Kansas City, William B. Sutton represents the eastern element, his birth having occurred in Pennsylvania. and his early career having been inaugurated in Utica, New York, where he was recognized as an able member of the legal fraternity. He has now resided in Kansas for over twenty-five years and has justified the hopes engendered by the brilliancy of the earlier achievements. Ile has given efficient ser- vice as a member of the state legislature, representing Russell county, Kansas, while resident there. IIe is remarkably loyal to the state, knowing it in all its phases, even to the free life of the prairie, for he experieneed a season as a ranchman.
Mr. Sutton was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1849, his parents being James and Sarah (Stanborough) Sutton. The father was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1812, and died in 1870, at the age of fifty-seven years. The mother, who was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, long survived her devoted hus-
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band, her demise occurring in 1899, at the age of eighty-four years. Ten children were born to the union of this worthy couple, five surviv- ing at the present time and the subject being the fifth in order of birth. James Sutton was a man of consequence and for many years held the position of president of the First National Bank of Indiana, Pennsyl- vania. Ile was originally a Democrat in political conviction, but sub- sequently espoused the doctrines of the Republican party.
Mr. Sutton received the advantage of a particularly good educa- tion. The several institutions of learning in which he pursued his studies were the Tuscarora Academy, in Jumiata county, Pennsylvania ; the Elders Ridge Academy, in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, and, Washington and Jefferson College at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, from which latter institution he was graduated with the class of 1868. After deciding upon a profession Mr. Sutton studied law with Judge Blair of Indiana and was admitted to the bar at Utiea, New York, in the year 1870. His career was from the first successful and for the first ten years of his residence in the Empire state he engaged in general practice, being elected judge in 1880, and serving in that high capacity until 1887, when he removed to Russell county, Kansas, and there en- gaged in ranching for a time. He also practiced law and became well and favorably known in Russell county, and in 1895-7, he was called upon to represent Russell county in the state legislature. Also in 1895 he was appointed a member of the state board of irrigation by Governor Morrill. From his earliest voting days Mr. Sutton has given heart and hand to the Republican party and has ever proved himself ready to do everything in his power for the cause. His fraternal rela- tions extend to Wyandotte Lodge, No. 3, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons.
On the 8th of June, 1868, Mr. Sutton was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Black, the foundations of a happy household being thus established. She was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and is the daughter of John E. and Alice (Hanson) Black, both of whom were natives of the Keystone state. By a somewhat singular coincidence. Mrs. Sutton, like her husband, is the fifth in order of birth of a family of ten children, and her father was likewise associated with banking interests, being cashier of the bank at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and that worthy gentleman was also treasurer of Washington and Jeffer- son College. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Sutton has been blessed by the birth of seven children, five of whom are living at the present time, these five are all sons. Charles E., is a stockman and agriculturist and resides in Lawrence, Kansas, he is president of the State Board of Agriculture. He married Miss Elizabeth Whitney, of Ellsworth, Kan- sas, her father, Chauncey Whitney, being one of the survivors of the battle of Ariekaree. The second son, James, is in the hardware busi- ness in Harper, Kansas, and his wife before her marriage was May Davis. William B. Jr., is associated with his father in his practice of law, and was graduated in 1899 from the University of Kansas. Ilis wife was Marguerite Wise, daughter of Zenas L. Wise, of Hutchin- son, Kansas. Walter S. was graduated from the University of Kan- sas with the class of 1900, and from the college of Physicians and Sur- geons, at New York, in 1907, and now associate professor of surgery in the medical school of that institution. The youngest member of the
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family, Everett B., is a senior in the University of Kansas, which has proved truly an "Ahna Mater" to this quintet of fine young citizens.
The Suttons are all active in the best business, professional and social life of Kansas City and their homes are centers of a gracious hospitality.
CHARLES L. BROKAW .- The ancestral history of this representative citizen of Wyandotte county is one of the interesting order and touches closely and prominently the annals of the nation in the Colonial era. IIe has been an influential figure in connection with financial affairs in Kansas City, the metropolis of the county, for nearly a quarter of a century and is one of the well known and popular representatives of banking interests in the state. Ile holds the responsible office of cashier of the Commercial National Bank of Kansas City and the up- building of this solid and important institution has been signally con- served by his careful and discriminating administrative policies. ITis standing as a citizen and business man is such as to render specially consonant a resume of his career in this publication, dedicated to Wyan- dotte county and its people.
Charles Livingston Brokaw was born in Middlebush, Somerset county, New Jersey, on the 22nd of May, 1866, and is a son of Peter S. and Adaline (Brokaw) Brokaw, who were of distant kinship and both natives of New Jersey, where the respective families were founded in the Colonial days. The genealogy is traced back to Bourjon Broueard, a French Huguenot who, with many others, fled from his native land to escape the religious persecutions incident to the revocation of the Ediet of Nantes and who found refuge in Holland, whence he came to America and settled among the Hollanders in Harlem, New York, now an integral portion of the greater New York city. He married one of his countrywomen, Catherine LeFevre, and one of their sons was the founder of the New Jersey branch of the family. The mother of Peter S. Brokaw bore the maiden name of Johanna Van Dyne, and she was a representative of the prominent old Knickerbocker family of that name, one that gave valiant soldiers to the Continental line in the
war of the Revolution. Peter S. Brokaw was reared and educated in his native state, where he became a prosperous farmer and merchant and where he continued to reside until 1870, when he removed with his family to Kansas and became one of the pioneer settlers at Somerset, Miami county, a village named in honor of his home county in New Jersey. In this place he became the first agent for the Missouri, Kan- sas & Texas Railroad and also the first postmaster of the town, in which he continued to reside until his death, in 1875, at the age of fifty- six years. His wife survived him by more than thirty years and passed the closing days of her life in Parkville, Missouri, where she was sum- moned to eternal rest in 1906, at the age of seventy-seven years and six months. Both she and her husband were zealous and consistent members of the Dutch Reformed church and in polities the father was a stanch Republican from the time of the organization of the party un- til his death. He was a man of sterling character and to him was ever accorded the high regard of his fellow men. Peter S. and Adaline Brokaw became the parents of eight sons and three daughters, and all of the number are still living except one danghter, who died in infaney, in 1864.
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Charles L. Brokaw was four and one-half years of age at the time of the family removal to Kansas and he was reared to adult age in Miami county, to whose public schools he is indebted for his early educational training. As a youth he studied the art of telegraphy, but he did not long devote his attention to the same, as he secured a position as clerk in the Bank of Louisburg, under P. W. Goebel, at Louisburg, Miami county. Ile assumed this position January 1, 1884, and retained the same until 1888, after which he was similarly em- ploved at Paola, in the same county, until 1890, when he came to Wyan- dotte county and, on the 1st of September, became paying teller in the Wyandotte National Bank. Through efficient service he won promo- tion to the position of assistant cashier and later to that of eashier, and of this latter office he continued incumbent until January 12, 1897, when he resigned and became associated in the organization of the Commercial State Bank of Kansas City. He was chosen cashier of the institution on the Ist of May of that year and has since retained this office, having been continued in the same after the bank was reorgan- ized, in 1902, as the Commercial National Bank. This is one of the stanch and popular banking houses of this section of the state and its operations are based on ample capital and effective administration. As an executive officer Mr. Brokaw has shown marked discrimination and judgment and has gained prestige as one of the prominent figures in connection with banking affairs in the state, which has been his home from childhood. He has served as treasurer, secretary, vice presi- dent and president of the Kansas Bankers' Association, and this state- ment bears emphatic significance as showing his status in the banking cireles of the state. He is a valued member of the Kansas City Mer- cantile Club, of which he has been president, as has he also of the Knife and Fork Club of Kansas City, Missouri. He is president of the board of trustees of Park College, at Parkville, Missouri, and is treasurer and a member of the board of trustees of Kansas City University, in his home city. Ile is an earnest supporter of all undertakings tending to advance the moral, social and material welfare of his home city and state and stands as a type of the model citizen, liberal, broad-minded and public-spirited.
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