USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 19
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in connection with which he has a brick stable, twenty-five feet by ninety-eight feet, giving him ample barn room. He is a stock holder and a director of the First National Bank of Bonner Springs, and served two years in the City Council.
In May, 1910, Mr. Peters, with characteristic enterprise, formed a partnership with Mr. George Hafner and embarked in the poultry busi- ness on an extensive scale, erecting a large brick building for the pur- pose. He and his partner handle poultry, eggs and butter, and have built up a substantial trade, handling from three hundred to four hun- dred dollars worth a week, and using a truck for the delivery of their products in Kansas City.
Mr. Peters married, October 22, 1895, Justine M. Hafner, a daugh- ter of Meleher Hafner, and they have one child, Vertna, born November 3, 1900. Mr. Peters is a Master Mason, having joined Bonner Springs Lodge, No. 366, Ancient. Free and Accepted Masons.
WILLIAM ROBERT BANNING, for many years a resident of Wyan- dotte county, now deceased, was engaged in various occupations. At one time he was employed as a quarryman ; at another as a carpenter and then as a grain elevator man ; later he engaged in the confectionery business and subsequently in the dairy business. In each of these various activities he quietly attended to his work, intent on the per- formance of his duty and desirous of leading a life of rectitude. That he succeeded in his endeavors his host of friends and neighbors bear witness.
Mr. Banning was the son of James and Minerva Banning, resi- dents of Macon county, Missouri, where their son, William Robert, was born July 7, 1853. When a mere lad the family moved to Vernon county, where he attended the public schools and grew to man's estate. On the termination of his sehool life he gained employment in a stone quarry but soon determined that the life of a quarryman was not the one he would choose to follow. IIe learned carpentering and for many years he was identified with that trade, his work being skilful and accurate. Again desirous of changing his occupation, he seeured a position with an elevator on Genesee street, Kansas City, where he Was eminently snecessful in his work, but in May, 1891, he was seriously injured; in the performance of his duties his arm was caught in a set serew, drawn through the machinery and so badly lacerated that it had to be taken off, the operation being performed at the city hospital. The accident naturally incapacitated him for further mechanical work of any kind, and as soon as he was sufficiently recovered, he opened a confectionary store, which he successfully conducted for a period of two years, at the expiration of which time he moved to South Park and engaged in the dairy business. Commencing with only two cows, he gradually increased his business until he owned twenty-seven cows; and made many pounds of butter a day, which he sold, together with the buttermilk, in Kansas City. When death summoned him he was the proprietor of a thriving business, opposite the Geyser Spas in Rosedale.
On January 16, 1881, Mr. Banning was married in Kansas City to Miss Laura Hawkins, daughter of Bird and Susan ( Holloday) Ilaw- kins, old settlers of Pettis county, Missouri, where Miss Laura was born
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
December 4, 1854. When she was only seven years of age she was left an orphan and the little girl succeeded in making her own living until her marriage. Her only daughter, Ida, was born in Belton, Missouri, December 4, 1874, and has been twice married. In 1896 she was united to Lawrence Roek, born in 1870, at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and later a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. One evening on his return from work he was getting out of the way of a train and was killed by a runaway ear. This aeeident occurred February 11, 1901, and his body was taken to Pennsylvania, where it lies in the cemetery near his old home. The young widow later married Elmer Hite, February 8, 1909, a contractor living at South Park. Mr. and Mrs. Banning adopted a little girl, Della, born April 9, 1901, now a student in the South Park school.
From his childhood Mr. Banning was a member of the hard shell Baptist church, always an active worker. In his family relations he was ever a good husband and father, affectionate and considerate. His widow carries on the business in which he was engaged at his death; her early experiences stand her in good stead, as through them she is qualified to conduet the business in a successful manner.
JOHN HAFF serves as a fair example of what the uneducated Ger- man can make of himself in free America-an excellent citizen, with a good home and a respected family.
Mr. Haff was born in Posen, Germany, in 1854. His parents died when he was quite small, and he grew up withont educational advan- tages. Like all young Germans, he served his time in the army, a term of three years. Then, with a spirit of ambition and an eagerness to try life in the western hemisphere, he directed his course to America, and eame direet to Kansas, where he found employment in the rolling mills at Rosedale. Later he worked in the Kansas City packing houses, and in 1904 he bought the farm upon which he now lives, eighty aeres of choice land near Bethel, in Wyandotte county. Here he raises sufficient stock, eattle and horses, for his farm, and in his fields cultivates a diversity of erops.
Previous to his eoming to this country, Mr. Ilaff married in Germany, Miss Josephine Leavenduskey, who joined him here a year after his arrival, and whose encouragement and help have contributed materially to the success they have enjoyed. Sons and daughters to the number of seven have come to bless their home, as follows: John, Anna, Frank, Mike, Mary, Tony and Martha, and two of the daughters, Anna and Mary, are married and have homes of their own, the former being the wife of C. Gress; the latter, the wife of George Mallott.
Mr. Haff is a devout Catholic and a stanch Democrat. While, as above stated, he grew up without schooling, he has learned life's les- sons in the army, the mill, the packing house and the farm ; his eontaet with the world has made him broad and generous, and he ranks today as one of the best citizens of Prairie township.
CHARLES W. GREEN .- Enterprising, energetic and progressive, Charles W. Green holds a place of prominence and influence among the leading citizens of Wyandotte eonnty, having filled many public offices of importance, and was one of the city commissioners of Kansas City,
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Kansas, until April 7, 1911. A son of Charles Green, he was born July 1. 1868, in Greene county, New York, in the very house in which his great-grandfather, Angust Mygatt, first drew the breath of life. He comes from honored Englishi ancestry on both sides of the house, on the maternal side tracing his lineage back to John Mygatt, the founder of the city of Hartford, Con.
Born in Greene county, New York, in 1842, Charles Green there grew to manhood. At Kingston, New York, in 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, and served with his regiment until the close of the war, being discharged in 1865. He was at the front in various hotly-contested battles, in- cluding the engagements at Port Hudson, Mississippi; was with Nathaniel P. Banks on the Red River expedition ; and took part in the famous Sheridan campaign. For many years he was actively and prosperonsly engaged in agricultural pursuits, but is now living retired in New York state, near Catskill. His wife, whose maiden name was Avesta Wright, was born in Greene county, New York, in 1849, and died in 1904. Three children were born to them, namely: Charles WV .. Elnora and Herbert.
After leaving the public schools of his native county, Charles W. Green attended the Greenville Academy, completing his early ednea- tion at Eastman's Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He subsequently worked a while in a grocery, later becoming a elerk in a real estate and insurance office. In 1891, following the advice given years before by a man of note, he went west, loeating at Durango, Colorado, where he was employed for nearly two years with a smelting company. £ Coming to Argentine, Wyandotte county, Kansas, in the spring of 1893, Mr. Green secured a position with the Consolidated Kansas Smelting and Refining Company, and until June, 1895, had charge of its copper department. IJe afterward engaged in mer- cantile pursuits, having a grocery and meat market for a time. In 1907 he was made vice president of the First State Bank of Argentine, and on January 1, 1911, was elected its president, a position which he is ably filling.
Mr. Green is likewise associated with many of the foremost enter- prises of Argentine. IIe is interested in the Kansas Struetural Steel Company ; was one of the organizers of the Argentine Building and Loan Association, of which he was secretary and treasurer until 1910, when he resigned to accept the office of eity commissioner ; he was also one of the organizers of the Argentine Land Company, of which he is now a director, and was its secretary until September, 1910.
Mr. Green has held many public offices of note, and has invariably filled them with credit to himself and to the honor of his constituents. In 1897 he was elected alderman from the Second ward of Argentine : in 1899 he was chosen as mayor of Argentine; and was re-elected to the mayor's chair in 1901, 1907 and 1909. Subsequently, after Argentine became a part of Kansas City, Kansas, Mr. Green was ap- pointed to the City Council from ward seven by Mayor U. S. Guver, and served until April, 1901, when he was elected city commissioner and put in charge of the financial department.
Politically Mr. Green is a sound Democrat and a zealous supporter of his party. Fraternally he is a member of Wyandotte Lodge, No.
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440 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, past noble grand of Veritas Lodge. No. 247. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is connected with other beneficial organizations.
Mr. Green married. January 19, 1895, Clara Long, who was born in Springfield, Greene county, Missouri, being the oldest child and the only one now living of Jacob and Sarah Long. Her father a native of Germany, was for many years a merchant tailor in Springfield, Missouri, where he spent his last years. Her mother, however, was born and reared in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Green have one child, Grace Green, a pupil in the Argentine High School.
WILLIAM LAVERIE .- An essentially prominent and influential eiti- zen of the younger generation in Quindaro township, Wvandotte coun- ty. Kansas, is William Laverie, who is most successfully engaged in the dairy business in this section of the state. Mr. Laverie was born in Wyandotte township, this county, the date of his nativity being the 4th of October, 1888. He is a son of William and Jennie (Coppway) Laverie, both of whom were born and reared in the state of New York, whence they came to Kansas at a early date. The father was identi- fied with the great basic industry of agriculture during the greater part of his active career and he is now living in virtual retirement in Wyandotte township. Mr. and Mrs. Laverie became the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this review was the last in order of birth.
William Laverie, of this notice, was reared to the invigorating discipline of the old homestead farm, in the work and management of which he early became associated with his father. His rudimentary educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the neighboring district schools and as a young man he beeame in- terested in the dairy business. In January, 1910, he opened a dairy of his own and subsequently he purchased the Mendenhall dairy, which consisted of nine cows. At the present time, in 1911. Mr. Laverie owns thirty cows and he distributes about fifteen gallons of bulk or «an milk, in addition to which he handles some seventy-five gallons of milk and cream.
He has a modern milking barn that holds twenty-four head of rattle and he has a separate bottling house, which is well equipped with modern bottling machinery of every description. He attends per- sonally to the distribution of his milk and superintends the whole busi- ness himself. lle is possessed of splendid executive ability and bids fair to become one of the most successful business men in this part of the state. In politics he aceords a stalwart allegiance to the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor and while he has neither time nor ambition for political office of any description he is deeply and sincerely interested in community affairs and does all in his power to advance the best interests of Wyandotte county at large.
In 1908 Mr. Laverie was united in marriage to Miss Anna Isen- berg, who was born in Wyandotte county. Kansas, and who is a dangh- ter of August Isenberg, a prominent resident of Quindaro township. Mr. and Mrs. Laverie have one child, Imogene, born on the 8th of April, 1911. They are held in high esteem by their fellow citizens, who honor them for their sterling worth and integrity.
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THOMAS MALONEY .- Among the Kansas pioneers-men of strength and daring and integrity -- who in the early days subdued the splendid untamed acres and blazed the trail for latter-day civilization, was Thomas Maloney, a native of Ireland, whose memory is still held dear in the hearts of those who knew him. He was born in County Clare, Ireland, in 1808, and eame to America when twenty-five years of age, in search of the wider independence and opportunity of the new world -- the land of promise-as it appears to the foreigner. After land- ing he located for a time in the great city in which he had first put foot. New York, and he then went to New Orleans. In that sonthern city he married Margaret Shea and eame to Wyandotte county in 1863, when the Civil war was in progress. He located on the Mary Walker place where the water works plant is now situated and rented here for four years. Desiring to be more independent he bought thirty acres from the Indians, all of this being in a wild and uncultivated state. There was a log house built by the Indians upon this land and Mr. Maloney had to ent through the thick brush to get into the house. Then the timber was so thick upon his place that npon one occasion he got lost upon it when hunting the cows.
With courageous determination he set to work single handed to «lear the tract and here met with success in his operations. In 1888 he built a more modern home, after removing the structure built by the Indians in which his children had been reared. His devoted wife and helpmeet was taken from him in 1889 at the age of sixty-eight years and is buried in the St. Johns cemetery, where now beside her rests her husband. Hle lived to a great old age. being ninety-five years old when summoned to the Great Beyond. the year of his demise being 1903.
To the union of Thomas Maloney and his good wife were born three children, as follows: Mary Ann, now Mrs. Hugh Brougham, born October 23. 1851, and living on Parallel road; Joseph A., born March 23, 1858, an electrical engineer now residing in Mobile, Alabama; and Matilda Agnes, born October 30. 1861. These children attended the district school, with the exception of Mary who was educated in Kansas City. Kansas.
The daughter Matilda is the sole owner of the old home and she is still living upon it. It also includes eighteen and one-half acres. bought subsequent to the original tract. The farm is in grass and alfalfa and is well located and valuable.
Joseph A. Maloney was one of the organizers of the horse leagne that put a quietus on the horse thieves in this part of the country in the early days. A Demoerat in politics and a Catholic in religious belief, he was one of the eharter members and organizers of St. Mary's church, now the parish of Father Anthony Kuhl.
OLIVER Q. CLAFLIN .-- As one of the representative younger mem- bers of the bar of Wyandotte county Mr. Clatlin is engaged in the sue- ressful practice of his profession in Kansas City, where he is junior member of the firm of MeFadden & Claflin. Further consistency is given to according him recognition in this publication by reason of the fact that he is a native son of the Sunflower state, with whose history the family name has been identified for more than two score years.
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Oliver Q. Claflin was born at Chanute, Neosho county, Kansas, on the 4th of July, 1882, and is a son of Otis Quiney Claflin and Mary Jane (Blair) Claflin, the former of whom was born in the state of Massachusetts, a seion of one of the sterling old families of New Eng- land, and the latter of whom was born in the province of Ontario, Canada. The father served as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, as a member of a New York regiment, and soon after the close of the great conflict he came to Kansas and located at Dodge City, whence he later removed to Channte, where he was a prominent business man and influential citizen for many years. About the year 1886 he removed with his family to Kansas City, this state, where he has since been successfully engaged in the drug business, save for an interim of about two years. He is one of the loyal and progressive eitizens of the metropolis of Wyandotte county, is a stanch Republican in his political proclivities, and is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and other civic organizations.
Oliver Quiney Claflin, the immediate subject of this review, was about four years of age at the time of the family's removal to Kansas City, and he was reared to maturity in the village of Armourdale, which is now an integral part of the city. He duly availed himself of the advantages of the excellent public schools and after attending the Armourdale high school for three years he entered the Central High School of Kansas City, Missouri, in which he was gradnated as a mem- ber of the class of 1891. His next step in educational work was to enter the department of pharmacy in the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, and he was graduated in this department. He had, how- ever, formulated plans for following a different vocation than that in which his father was and is engaged, and accordingly he entered the law department of the university, in which he completed the pre- scribed technical course and was graduated in 1905, with the well
earned degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was simultaneously admitted to the bar of his native state and in the same year he entered upon his practical novitiate in the practice of his profession, in Kansas City, Kansas, where he was associated with Thomas A. Pollock for one year, at the expiration of which he became similarly identified with the well
known firm of McFadden & Morris. Upon the death of Mr. Morris, in 1908, he formed a partnership alliance with the elder McFadden the senior member of the original firm, and since that time he has con- tinned in the successful work of his profession as junior member of the firm of MeFadden & Claflin, which controls a substantial practice of representative order. Mr. Claflin has already fortified his professional reputation through a number of most important forensic victories and he has been identified with a large amount of litigation within the period of his active work as an attorney and counselor. A young man of vigor and industrious habits and one who is thoroughly en rapport with his chosen vocation, his suceess has been cumulative and repre- sents the direct result of the application of his talents and energies. Mr. Claflin aecords an unwavering allegiance to the Republican party and in the time honored Masonie fraternity he has advanced through the various orders until he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He is also identified with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and both he and
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
his wife are popular factors in connection with the social activities of their home city.
In the year 1909 Mr. Claflin wedded Miss Dora Monahan, daughter of Andrew J. Monahan, a well known citizen of Kansas City.
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FRANK N. PHELPS .- One of the most energetic and progressive business men of Kansas City, Missouri, Frank N. Phelps, treasurer of the Phelps Stone and Supply Company, of which he was practically the originator, has contributed appreciably towards the advancement of the industrial interests of this section of Wyandotte county, and won for himself an assured position in business cireles. The only living son of the late James Carlin Turner Phelps, he was born December 10, 1857. in Polo, Ogle county, Illinois, of pioneer ancestry. His grand- father, John Phelps. married, March 14, 1816, in Tennessee, Sarah Rogan Carlin, and in 1819 moved with his family to Illinois, becoming one of the original householders of Oregon, Ogle county, and an im- portant factor in its settlement.
Born at Lebanon, Tennessee, June 17, 1818, James C. T. Phelps was but a year old when his parents located in Illinois. He grew np amid pioneer scenes and was a grown man before he had any educa- tional advantages. At that time Governor Ford, then a young attor- ney but afterward governor of the state, became an inmate of the Phelps household, and during the long winter evenings tanght James the fundamental studies and conditions of the day. When twenty- five years old, or thereabouts, James (. T. Phelps began life on his own account, forming a partnership with his brother-in-law and opening a general store in Polo, Illinois, becoming head of the firm of Phelps & .Johnson. Succeeding even beyond their most sanguine expectations. this interprising firm subsequently established and operated many other business propositions, among others opening three stores in Texas, and at Austin they owned a very fine business block, Mr. Johnston having charge of the stores in the south, while the senior partner superintended the management of those in the north, having his headquarters in Polo. The firm also had other interests of importance, carrying on banking and operating large grain elevators in Illinois. During the thirty years this company was in business it accumulated extensive holdings in town and city property and in wild lands, and on the dis- solution of the firm each member received property of great value. On retiring from mercantile pursuits, he was persuaded by his son. Frank N. Phelps, to move to Kansas City, Missouri, to live, and in the beauti- ful twenty thousand dollar home which he built on Graystone Heights he spent his last days, passing away December 24, 1895. Fraternally he stood high in the Masonie order, and in his religious beliefs he was a Unitarian.
James C. T. Phelps married December 21. 1847, Anna E. Swingley. who was born in Maryland, a daughter of Captain Nathaniel and Eliza- beth (Sharer) Swingley, and to them ten children were born. The death of the mother of these children occurred JJanuary 17, 1896, and both she and her husband are buried in Kansas City, Missouri, in that beautiful "city of the dead," Elmwood Cemetery.
Ilaving obtained his elementary education in the publie schools of Ogle county. Illinois, Frank N. Phelps continued his studies at the Rock
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
River Seminary, in Mount Morris, Illinois, after which he studied pharmacy at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and attended the School of Mines, although, on account of his health, he did not complete the course. A year or two after attaining his majority, he planned to embark in busi- ness with his father, and the two prospected in different parts of the west. seeking a favorable loeation, finally deciding to settle in Welling- ton, Kansas. Unable, however, to make satisfactory arrangements in regard to renting a business place, the son proceeded in the fall of 1880, to Kansas City, Missouri, where he located permanently. Mr. Phelps
soon followed. On coming to this city Frank N. Phelps bought a half interest in a shoe factory, becoming head of the firm of Phelps & Hahn. A year later, on June 17. 1882, a disasterous cyclone swept through this part of the country and completely wiped away his manufacturing plant. The firm made another brave start, but soon after sold all of its machinery and equipments to a Fort Leavenworth shoe manu- facturer.
Mr. Phelps then embarked in the wholesale fruit and commission business in Kansas City, Missouri, for two years being associated with the firm of Blossom & Phelps. Selling out then, he was for a year in the produce commission business as senior member of the firm of Phelps & Smeltzer, selling out at the end of twelve months to his partner, who later acquired fame as the "Celery King" of the great west. Mr. Phelps was afterward engaged in handling real estate and all kinds of tax securities, carrying on a substantial business until after the death of his parents.
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