USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 22
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Mr. Judd was animated by the deepest human sympathy and tolerance, was fearless in the defense of right and justice, and was ever ready to extend advice and snecor to those in affliction or distress. His private benevolenees were extended without ostentation and he gave his earnest support to organized charities, to the promotion of educational interests and to the furtherance of religious work. Though not for- mally identified with any religions organization, he regularly attended the services of the Congregational church and liberally supported the various departments of its work. His wife was a devoted member of the church mentioned and she is held in loving memory by all who came within the sphere of her gentle and gracious influence.
In the year 1865 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Judd to Mrs. Mary Louise (Cooper) Bartlett, who was at the time a resident of Kan- sas City. Kansas, and who was born at Irasburg, Orleans county, Ver- mont, a representative of an old and honored family of New England.
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Mrs. Judd preceded her husband to the life eternal by about one year, as she died on the 8th of February. 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Judd became the parents of two children, Sarah and Emily, the latter of whoin died in 1890. Sarah became the wife of Corwin Matthew Greenman, who was a commercial traveling salesman and who died in 1900, and she is now the efficient and popular librarian of the Kansas City publie library, whose equipment and facilities are of the best metropolitan order. Mr. and Mrs. Greenman became the parents of three children, Judd, Donald Corwin and Louise, all of whom remain with their widowed mother, who is a woman of distinctive culture and who is a valued factor in connection with the best social activities of her home city.
ISAIAH LAFAYETTE MORTON .- A man of good business judgment and tact, energetie and enterprising, Isaiah Lafayette. Morton is intimately associated with the mercantile affairs of Wyandotte county, being one of the leading furniture dealers of Kansas City. He was born in Cedar county, Missouri, June 11, 1869, of honored pioneer ancestry.
His father, Isaiah L. Morton, Sr., was born and bred in Virginia. Ile was for several years engaged in agricultural pursuits in Cedar county, Missouri, from there moving in 1884 to Osborne county, Kansas, where he continued a resident until his death, in 1890. He married Naney Ann Jones, who was born in Cedar county, Missouri, of which her father, Thomas Jones, was the organizer. Mr. Jones was one of the prominent pioneer settlers of that section of Missouri, influential in public affairs, and served as the first judge of the Cedar county court. In 1849 he joined the gold seekers, making a trip across the plains with an ox-wagon train, and died a short time later, his death being due to an accident. Mrs. Nancy Ann Morton survived her husband eight years, passing away in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1898. To her and her husband five children were born, as follows: Louisa, wife of T. J. Stewart, of West Rumney, New Hampshire; Isaiah Lafayette, the sub- jeet of this brief personal record ; James H., of Kansas City, Kansas; Corda, wife of James H. White, of Wetmore, Kansas; and Sarah Nellie, wife of Thomas J. Ralph, of Plymouth, New Hampshire.
Educated in the district schools, Isaiah Lafayette Morton remained beneath the parental roof-tree until after the death of his father, when he settled on a farm in Clay county, Kansas, where he resided nine years. Coming then to Kansas City, Kansas, he was for three years engaged in the furniture business at No. 408 Kansas avenue. He then sold at an advantage, and a year later established himself at the corner of Osage and Mill streets, where he remained for some time. In the spring of 1908 Mr. Morton formed a eopartnership with Dr. Foster, and opened his present store at the corner of Central avenue and Eighteenth street. Six months later, in the fall of 1908, Mr. Morton purchased the doctor's interests in the concern. and has since carried on business alone. having by his straightforward and systematic methods built up an extensive and luerative trade, in the selection of his ample stock of furniture of all descriptions eatering to the needs and tastes of his many patrons.
Mr. Morton married. in November. 1895, Sallie Younkin, who was born in southern Pennsylvania, a daughter of Silas Younkin, and they Vol. II-11
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have one child, Francis Arthur, born in October. 1900. In his politi- val relations Mr. Morton is a Republican. Fraternally he belongs to the Kansas City, Kansas, Lodge, Modern Woodmen of America. Relig- iously he is a member of the Central Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been a trustee since 1910.
IIARRIS K. MILLSPAUGH .- Prominent among the retired business men of Rosedale, Wyandotte county, is Harris K. Millspaugh, a man of sterling integrity and honor, who is held in high esteem throughout the community. HIe was born, November 3, 1845, in Washingtonville, Orange county, New York, a son of John S. and Mary Ann (King) Millspaugh, natives of the Empire state. He comes of patriotic stock, his grandfather, John J. S. Millspangh, having served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, there wearing a pair of spurs which are now in the possession of Mr. Millspaugh. The Millspaugh family of America was founded by three brothers of that name, John, Matthias and Wil- helm, who emigrated from Holland to the United States in 1768, and here reared their families.
Ilaving obtained a practical education in the public schools of Washingtonville, New York. Harris K. Millspaugh began his aetive career in 1861 as assistant conductor on the Erie railroad, continuing on the Port Jervis division of that road until 1867. The following ten years he was condnetor on a passenger train on the Hudson river rail- way. between Jersey City and Nyack. 3 Resigning that position, Mr. Millspangh came to Kansas City, Missonri, and on January 18, 1878, in partnership with his unele. A. W. Millspaugh, purchased twenty acres of land on a hill near Rosedale, and embarked in business as a fruit grower. He was subsequently taken ill. and gave up farming for three years, during which time he was again in the employ of the railway service. being conductor on a Pullman train running between Kansas City and Denver. Regaining his health, Mr. Millspangh returned to his fruit farm and renewed his agricultural and horticultural labors. Subsequently selling his interest in the ranch to his uncle, Mr. Mills- paugh was for ten years state weighmaster for Kansas, and on giving up the position retired from active business, and has since been enjoying his well deserved leisure at his pleasant home in Rosedale.
Mr. Millspangh married, in New York, Georgia Cadwell, a dangh- ter of Captain HI. R. Cadwell, an old time boatman on the Hudson, and of their union two children were born. namely: Harris K., Jr., and James IT., who died in 1895, at the age of seven years.
A. W. Millspangh, referred to above, was born in Orange county. New York, December 28, 1814. and there lived until becoming of age. Ile was very prominent in railroad affairs, from 1865 until his death, at the age of eighty-six years, being agent of all the railways running out of Kansas City. Missouri. The fruit farm which he, in company with Mr. Millspangh. bought in 1878, is now owned by his children.
GUSTOFF FORSBERG .- There are many men who feel that the only way in which they ean be sure of having something that will provide them with a living in their old age is to secure a farm of their own. Mr. Forsberg, although he was not a farmer as a young man, has been able to purchase a farm and to run it on a paying basis. Ile is well
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known in Bethel as the stone mason farmer. There is a wonderful satisfaction in feeling that everything a man owns is the result of his own work and thought. and Mr. Forsberg has made a success of his work as a stone mason and he has made an undivided success of his work as a farmer.
Born in Sweden January 6, 1844, he was the son of Ola Forsberg and his wife Louisa, who was formerly Louisa Peterson. Ola Forsberg was a briek mason in Sweden, and he and his wife both died in their native place. Gustoff was brought up in Sweden and attended the public schools there. In 1868 he came to this country and went direct to Illinois, where he went to work in the stone quarry at Joliet. Later he went to Kansas City, Missouri, and worked for the railroad as seetion man. Then he had a little shoe shop in Kansas City, Missouri, and made money at that. Ile also worked on the streets of Kansas City and was one of the first men to work on the streets of that city, then only a very small place. In 1871 he eame to Kansas City, Kansas, and he bought the farm of one hundred acres at Bethel. He makes a specialty of raising cattle and has some very fine animals, and he also does general farming.
In 1876, after he had got very well started on his farm, he married Mary Peterson, who was a native of Sweden and had come to this eoun- try a few years before. She died in 1881 leaving two children ; Alma, who is now the wife of Ludwig Johnson and is living in the state of Washington ; and Charles Gus, who is living at home on the farm with his father.
Mr. Forsberg is a member of the Lutheran church and is a very regular attendant at the church services. In polities he is a Republican and is very much interested in the elections, and is particularly con- cerned about the men who run for office in the county, as he has traveled about the county considerably and has done stone work in all parts of the county. He is still living in the stone house that he built thirty- five years ago. There he and his son Charles live a quiet, contented life, attending to their own affairs, but interested in the affairs of the county and state.
THE JOHNSON BROTHERS .- If those who claim that fortune has favored certain individuals above others will but investigate the eause of snecess and failure, it will be found that the former is largely due to the improvement of opportunity, the latter to the neglect of it. For- tunate environments encompass nearly every man at some stage of his career. but the strong man and the successful man is he who realizes that the proper moment has come, that the present and not the future holds his opportunity. The man who makes use of the Now and not the To Be is the one who passes on the highway of life others who started out ahead of him, and reaches the goal of prosperity in advance of of them. It is this quality in the Johnson brothers, who are most sue- cessfully engaged in the dairy business in the vicinity of Rosedale, Kansas, that has won them an enviable name in connection with business interests in this section of the old Sunflower state.
The Johnson family is a stanch old Swedish stock. Charles John- son, father of Dave. Fred and Charles Johnson, of this notice, was born and reared in Sweden, where was solemnized his marriage to Miss Emma
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Stolz and where he resided during his entire life time. He was en- gaged in agricultural pursuits during the major portion of his active career and he was summoned to the life eternal in the year 1891, at the age of forty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Johnson became the parents of six children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth: Hilda, (died in infancy) ; Dave, Fred, Charles, Oscar and Anna. The year after the father's demise the mother, with her five surviving children, immigrated to the United States, locating in Kan- sas, at Rosedale. Ilere the mother began to keep house for her brother. F. O. Nordwall, who had come to America in the year 1885 and who at that time engaged in the dairy business at Rosedale. The children grew up in the home of their uncle and it was under his guidance that they thoroughly familiarized themselves with the ins and outs of the dairy business.
Dave Johnson was born in Sweden, as was also his brothers, the date of his nativity being the 15th of January, 1877; Fred Johnson was born on the 20th of September, 1879; and the natal day of Charles is the 11th of November, 1881. They were all reared through early boy- hood on their father's farm in Sweden, in which place they received their early educational training, the same having been supplemented by further study after their arrival in Kansas. In 1901 the Johnson brothers began business at Rosedale with sixteen head of cattle and a milk ronte which they had previously purchased. Since that time they have retailed and wholesaled milk and at the present time they are the owners of eighty head of cows, each of which gives about three and a half gallons of milk per day. Their pasturage near Rosedale consists of eighty acres of land, and in 1908 they bought another traet of land, consisting of thirteen and a half aeres of land. near Argentine, where they also conduet a dairy. In their various business enterprises the Johnson brothers have achieved noteworthy snecess and inasmuch as their present high position in the business world of Rosedale is en- tirely the result of their own well directed endeavors it is the more grati- fying to contemplate. Their sterling integrity of character and splen- did executive ability command to them the unalloyed confidence and esteem of all with whom they have come in contact.
In their political convictions they are aligned as uncompromising supporters of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and while they have never manifested aught of ambi- tion for the honors or emoluments of public office Charles has served with the utmost efficiency as eonstable of Rosedale, he having been in- cumbent of that important position from 1905 to 1907. £ Charles was at one time a valued and appreciative member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Dave was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Gustafson in 1901 and to this marriage have been born five children, whose names are here entered : Elmer, Raymond. Ellen, Carl and Fred, two of whom are pupils in the publie school at Rosedale. Fred married, in 1905, Mrs. Lonise Vistol, widow of Mr. Vistol. They have one child, Ellis, and Mrs. Johnson had one child by her former marriage, Moody. £ The Johnson brothers are very popular in this neighborhood by reason of their fair and honorable business methods and their respective homes are recognized as centers of most gracious and generous hospitality.
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THOMAS A. POLLOCK .- It has been given this well known and high- ly esteemed citizen of Kansas City to gain prestige as one of the able and representative members of the bar of his native state, and he now controls a practice of extensive and important order. He is known as a versatile and resourceful advocate and as a conservative counselor, well fortified in his knowledge of law and precedent. Ile has held in Wyandotte county various official positions in line with the work of his profession and his civic loyalty and publie spirit have been of the most pronounced order.
Thomas Allen Pollock was born on the old homestead farm of his father, in Lyon county, Kansas, and the date of his nativity was Decem- ber 20, 1866. He is a son of Robert and Jane (Smiley) Pollock, the former of whom was born in Scotland and the latter in the north of Ireland, of Scotch ancestry. The mother was a child at the time of her parents' immigration to America and she was reared to maturity at Sparta, Illinois, where her marriage was solemnized. Robert Pol- loek was reared and educated in his native land, whence he came to the United States when eighteen years of age. For several years he here followed the vocation of stationary engineer and after his marriage, March 15, 1866, he came to Kansas and secured a tract of government land in Waterloo township, Lyon county, where he reclaimed a produc- tive farm and became a valued and influential citizen of the community, as his strong mentality and inflexible integrity amply justified the unqualified popular confidence and esteem accorded to him. He con- tinued to reside in Lyon county, one of its sterling pioneers, during virtually the residue of his life, and he was about seventy years of age at the time of his death, which occurred December 13, 1901. His widow now resides in the home of her son Thomas A., of this sketch, who is the elder of the two children; the other son, Robert B. resides upon the old homestead farm in Lyon county. Both of the parents were orgi- nally members of the Presbyterian church, but at the time of his death the father held membership in the Methodist church and the mother is now identified with the Congregational church. Robert Polloek gave to his adopted country the loyal service of a soldier in the Civil war. In 1863 he enlisted in Company G, Eighteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he took part in a number of the important engage- ments marking the progress of the great confliet through which the integrity of the Union was perpetuated. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and his political allegiance was-given to the Republican party.
Thomas A. Pollock found his boyhood and youth compassed by the benignant influences of the old homestead farm which was the place of his birth and to the work of which he early began to contribute his quota. After completing the curriculum of the district schools he attended the Kansas State Normal School at Emporia for two years, and thereafter he prosecuted his studies in both the academie and law departments of the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, in which insti- tution he remained five years. He was graduated in the law depart-
ment in 1889, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Admirably forti- fied for the work of his chosen profession, Mr. Pollock came to Kansas City in June, 1889, and here his novitiate was of brief duration, as he soon proved his powers and gained a practice that gradually but surely
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expanded in scope and importance. He has appeared in connection with much important litigation in both the state and federal courts and his success stands in the most effective evidence of his ability, his dis- crimination and his sterling personal characteristics, which have begot- ten objective confidence and regard of unequivocal order. Ile has served as city attorney and city counsellor for eight years and for a short term in 1890 he held the responsible office of county attorney. His careful observance of the unwritten ethical code has gained to him the respect and good will of his professional confreres, and as a eitizen he is ever found ready to support all undertakings tending to foster and conserve the best interests of the community. In the time honored Masonie fraternity he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and he holds membership in the Kan- sas City Mercantile Club. His political opinions are conelusively shown by the zealous support given by him to the cause of the Republican party, and he is a valued factor in its local councils and work. He has one of the best private law libraries in his home city and continued to be an appreciative student along professional lines, the while he is well fortified in his opinions and convictions as to matters of public import.
The year 1890 witnessed the marriage of Mr. Pollock to Miss Me- linda Yarnold, of Lawrence, Kansas, and she was summoned to eternal rest in 1905. In 1906 Mr. Pollock married Mrs. Amelia (Yarnold) Alexander, a sister of his first wife.
WILLIAM B. THOMAS .- Beginning for himself the struggle for ad- vancement among men at the early age of fifteen, learning a trade as a means to the accomplishment of his purpose in life. and adhering to one line of effort for a continuous period of thirty years, William B. Thomas, who conducts a very successful and profitable business enter- prise in Kansas City, Kansas, has made his way steadily to worldly comfort and independence, albeit his path has been beset with obstacles and his progress has been several times stayed by adversities of a severe and trying nature.
Mr. Thomas is a native of MeDonough county, Illinois, where he was born on April 17, 1864. He is a son of W. O. and Mary (Broad- dus) Thomas, the father a native of Ohio and the mother of Illinois, and residents of MeDonough county, Illinois, until 1886, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri. There all the subsequent years of their lives have been passed in comfort, and they have been rich in the esteem and good will of all who have known them well enough to have eognizance of their worth. Their son, William B. Thomas, obtained a limited education in the district schools of his native county, attending them during the winter months for a few years with as much regularity as his circumstances allowed. Early in life he was filled with a strong desire to carve out a career for himself, unaided by family influence and independent of family considerations. In 1879, therefore, when he was but fifteen years old. he went to Chicago on his own account wholly and started out in life for himself. In that city he learned his trade as a paper hanger and decorator, acquiring a thorough knowledge of it in three years. At the end of that period he changed his residence to Kansas City, Missouri, arriving there in the winter of 1883 and at onee opening a shop of his own for a paper hanging and decorating busi- ness, which he carried on for one year.
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Desire for another change and the promise involved in a good opening induced him to move to Arkansas City, Kansas, at the end of a year, and in that location he prospered and made substantial advance- ment until 1889. There, as elsewhere, he followed paper hanging and decorating on his own account, and by his skill, good taste and con- scientious attention to his business won a high and widespread reputa- tion in his eraft and considerable favor and esteem among the people.
The field for his operations in Arkansas City became too small for his ambition, and he determined in the year last mentioned to seek one of wider scope and greater opportunities. Accordingly he came to
Kansas City, Kansas, and established himself in the suburb of Armour- dale. Here he remained and flourished fourteen years, and was on the high road to big business success when a disastrous flood swept away his property and his attachment to the place. The next three years were passed by him in the city of Wagoner, in what was then Indian Terri- tory but is now a part of the new and highly progressive state of Oklahoma.
Kansas City, Kansas, still had a hold on his regard, however, and he found himself longing to return to it. His three years in Oklahoma had intensified his desire, and at the end of the period he sold all his interests there and came back to gratify it. He at onee opened another paper hanging establishment in Kansas City, locating at 946 Central avenue, where he is still conducting an extensive business, handling wall paper, room moldings and other decorative and finishing materials, and doing a great deal of work in putting them up in all kinds of structures. His business is so considerable as to necessitate his employ- ment of several men, and it occupys all his own time and industry, except what has been required for the active duties of citizenship and efforts to promote the welfare of the community by efficient help in the administration of its public affairs. Mr. Thomas has long been very zealous and energetic in connection with the political, fraternal and social life of his city and county, and is regarded as one of their most useful and representative citizens. Fraternally he is connected with the Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America, belonging to organizations of these fraternities in Kansas City. Politically he is a firm and faithful member of the Democratic party and at all times effec- tive in its service. In 1902 he was elected a member of the city council for a term of two years. In the fall of 1910 he became the nominee and successful candidate of his party to represent his distriet in the Lower House of the State Legislature, of which he is now (1911) a member. In publie office as in private life he has been true and faith- ful, diligent and capable, attentive to every duty and strictly upright, working out a career that is creditable to him and has been of great service to the people whose interests he has had in charge.
In 1883 he was married in Kansas City, Kansas, to Miss Ada C. Toland, a daughter of Nelson and Sarah (Cox) Toland. Five children have been born of the union, all sons and all living. They are: Dayton T., Ralph B., Roy N., Walter O. and J. Earl. They have all been educated in the public schools of their native city, attending the lower grades and the high school and making good records in both. Like their parents, the young men are highly esteemed as worthy and useful citizens in all parts of the city and wherever else the people have knowledge of them.
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