USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 52
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74
FRANK F. BRANDT .- Among the enterprising business men and loyal and public spirited citizens of Kansas City. Kansas, is Frank F Brandt. who at the present time, in 1911, is secretary and treasurer of the Rain- bow Amusement Company, which but recently organized and built the rink at Fifth and Armstrong avennes, at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars.
Mr. Brandt was born at Hanover, Kansas, on the 4th of Angust. 1876, a son of Arnold and Mary (Kleean) Brandt. the former of whom was born in Germany, in 1843, and the latter of whom claimed the eity of Vienna, Austria, as the place of her nativity. Arnold Brandt immi- grated to the United States when a youth of thirteen years of age. He first located at Fort Madison, Iowa, where he engaged in the work of his trade, that of a cooper, which he had learned in the old country, and also steamboated on the Mississippi river for several years. In 1867 he removed to Ilanover, Kansas, where he turned his attention to agrienl- tural pursuits, his principal erop being broom corn, which he made into brooms.
In politics he accorded a stalwart allegiance to the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor and his religious faith was in harmony with the tenets of the Catholic church, in which he was a communicant. In 1883 he gave up farming and engaged in the mereantile business in Hanover, and in Mareh, 1887, removed to Westphalia. Kansas, and there, engaged in business. Subsequently he removed to Kansas City, in November, 1887, where he became foreman in the old Morris & Butt paeking plant. In 1866 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brandt to Miss Mary Klecan, who came to America with her parents in 1847, at which time she was an infant of but two years of age. Concerning her ancestry further data will be given in the follow- ing paragraph. To Mr. and Mrs. Brandt were born eight children : Katharine, who died in infancy; Mary, who is now the wife of Joseph M. Highberger, of Kansas City, Kansas; Mrs. Katharine Ross. of Climax Springs, Missouri; Sophia, who is housekeeper for Rev. Father Me- Inerney ; Frank F., who is the immediate subject of this review : John, who died in infancy; Barbara, whose death occurred when she was a child of eight years; and Amelia, who was summoned to the life eternal at the age of sixteen years. Mrs. Brandt was summoned to eternal rest in 1894, and her honored husband passed away in 1899.
Mary (Klecan) Brandt, mother of him whose name initiates this sketch, was born in Vienna, as already noted. and on the maternal side was descended from a class of people known as the "Austrian Ladies." Her parents were very wealthy and very influential in their native land.
887
HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
In crossing the Atlantic, however, the father was robbed of all his valu- ables, with the exception of six hundred dollars. He went to Peoria, Illinois, but after a short time he removed to Fort Madison, Iowa, where he started a vineyard, in which he was eminently successful. In 1869 he came to Kansas with a large colony of Germans, with whom he located at Hanover. During his lifetime he managed to accumulate quite a fortune and thus recuperate his former losses. He died in 1886, at the age of seventy-two, and his wife passed to her reward in 1907, at the age of eighty-eight years, the entire Kleean real estate pass- ing to the youngest daughter, Miss Anna Klecan, who had devoted her time to the eare of her aged parents, and the personal property was divided equally among the heirs.
Frank F. Brandt was reared to the age of seven years on the farm in Washington county, Kansas, and thereafter he attended sehool at Hanover until he had reached the age of eleven years, at which time the family removed to Westphalia, Kansas, where the home was maintained for the summer of 1887. He went to sehool in Kansas City for a few months, but his father becoming seriously ill he felt obliged to go to work. He was employed in Pratt's Cooper shop for a time at the salary of sixty-five cents per day, and later he went to work for the Kingan Packing Company, Ltd., for seventy-five cents per day. He continued to be identified with the latter concern for the ensuing three and a half years, during which time his salary had been increased to one dollar and seventy-five cents per day, he being then sixteen years of age. He was considered one of the best workmen in the plant, although a mert boy. Thereafter he entered the employ of his father in the Sehiwars child & Sulzberger Company, at the salary of fifteen dollars per week. Ambitious to see the country caused him to persuade the Schwarzchild & Sulzberger Company to send him to New York, where he remained in their employ for a period of six months. In 1898 his sisters, fearing that he might enlist in the Spanish-American war, induced him to return home. He then purchased a small grocery and meat market at Armonr- dale but later traded that establishment for real estate. For seven years he worked for the Gregory Grocerv Company, starting at fifty dollars per month and eventually drawing a salary of one hundred and twenty- five dollars as city salesman. In 1907 he promoted a fifty thousand dollar hall and skating rink in Kansas City, Missouri, but the paniey condition and bank trouble of that year caused that venture to fail, Mr. Brandt losing some four hundred and fifty dollars. In 1908, at the head of a company, he built the Rainbow Rink in Kansas City, Kan- sas, at an investment of twenty thousand dollars. This coneern eon- tinned to do a thriving business until the 14th of October, 1909, at which time it was destroyed by fire. Twelve thousand, five hundred dollars were realized in insurance and in 1910 the Rainbow Amusement Com- pany was incorporated under the laws of the state of Kansas, and eon- structed the rink at Fifth and Armstrong avenues, at a cost of twenty- five thousand dollars. The officers of this company are: C. J. Smith, president ; and Frank F. Brandt, secretary and treasurer.
In 1900 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brandt to Miss Mollie E. McMahon, who was born and reared in Wyandotte county and who is a daughter of Patrick and Mary (Cloonan) MeMahon. To this union have been born two children, Loretta and Amelia, aged seven years and three years, respectively.
Vol. II-25
888
HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
In politics Mr. Brandt is aligned as a loyal supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, and while he has never manifested aught of ambition for the honors of emoluments of public office of any description he has ever been on the alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with all measures advanced for the general welfare of the community and of the state at large. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with various organiza- tions of representative character and he is a devout communicant of the Catholic church. That Mr. Brandt is a man of indefatigable industry will readily be seen when it is stated that from 1893 to 1897, while he was working in the packing house, he attended four terms of night school, at Spalding's Commercial College. Kansas City. Missouri, leav- ing work at six o'clock and answering roll call at school at seven. Ile is a man of fine mental vigor and marked business capacity, a man whose ambitions and ideals are of the highest type and one whose conduet as a loyal and public spirited citizen command to him the confidence and esteem of the entire community.
JOHN L. B. EAGER, M. D .- The state of Kansas with its thriving in- dustrial activities and rapid development has attracted within its con- fines men of marked ability and high character in the various profes- sional lines, and in this way progress has been conserved and social stability fostered. He whose name initiates this review has gained recognition as one of the able and successful physicians of the state, and by his labors, his high professional attainments and his sterling qualities has justified the respect and confidence in which he is held by the medical fraternity and the local public.
Dr. John L. B. Eager was born in New York city. on the 17th of March, 1860. and is a son of Peter and Pheobe Ann (Wilkin) Eager. The father was born in New York. in 1835, and his death occurred in Kansas City, Kansas, on the 31st of March, 1887. He came to this city in 1881 and here practiced medicine until his demise. He was a valiant and faithful soldier in the Civil war. having been enlisted as a private in the Seventh New York Infantry. In politics he endorsed the cause of the Rephblican party and his religious faith was in harmony with the tenets of the Congregational church. In the time honored Masonie order he had passed through the circle of the York Rite and was a prominent Knight Templar. Mrs. Eager was born in Orange county, New York, in which state was solemnized her marriage about the year 1857. She accompanied her honored husband to Kansas in 1881, and is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Mary E. Diash, of this city. The other children born to Dr. and Mrs. Eager are: John L. B., the imme- diate subject of this review: Mrs. C. C. Baker, of Lathrop, Missouri. whose husband is ex-state printer of Kansas; and Nellie and Marguerite both of whom died in infancy.
Dr. John L. B. Eager was reared to adult age in the city of his birth, to whose excellent public schools he is indebted for his prelimi- nary educational training. In New York city he attended a school of pharmacy and he came to Kansas City. Kansas, in 1880. in which year he opened a drug store for Dr. Wood. This concern he condneted with increasing success for one year, when he purchased the establishment. While in the drug store he pursued a course of study in the Kansas City Medical College, that institution being now a portion of the University
889
HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
of Kansas, and he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine as a member of the class of 1884. Immediately after graduation he entered upon the practice of his profession in this city, where he has built up a large and representative patronage and where he has gained distinctive prestige as one of the leading practitioners in the state. In his political convictions Dr. Eager is a stalwart supporter of the Republi- can party and in connection with public affairs he is ever on the alert to do all in his power to advance the general good of the city and state at large. He was inenmbent of the office of police surgeon for some four years and for two years was city physician. IIe is affiliated with the Masonic order, in which he is past eminent commander in Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 10. Knights Templars. Ile is also a valued and ap- preciative member of the Knights of Pythias, in which he is past chancel- lor commander; and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which he is past exalted ruler. He and his wife are devout eom- municants. of the Episcopal church and they are prominent and popular factors in connection with the best social activities in Kansas City.
In the year 1884 Dr. Eager was united in marriage to Miss Julia M. Griswold, a daughter of Holland and Lorinda (Bassett) Griswold, of Kansas City, Kansas. To this union has been born one ehild, Lueille, now the wife of Dr. J. W. May, a specialist in the diseases of the eye and ear in Kansas City, Kansas.
JOHN WESLEY WHITLOCK, deceased, was born in Platte county, Missouri, June 3. 1841. son of Preston and Lavina (Grover) Whitloek, Kentuckians. Preston Whitlock was a farmer, first in Kentucky and afterward in Missouri, he having settled in Platte county on his removal to the latter state. There he spent the rest of his life and died. His widow died in Wyandotte county, Kansas. Their son John W. was reared in his native county and received his education in the distriet schools. During the Civil war he was in Montana, engaged in mining, and a few years after the close of the conflict he settled down to farming near Bonner Springs, Wyandotte county, Kansas, where he passed the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits, and where he died.
.John Wesley Whitlock, one of the estimable citizens of Delaware township. Wyandotte county, Kansas, died July 5, 1910, at his beautiful home, aged sixty-seven years. Ile was a gentleman who was well read and a man whose business integrity was beyond reproach. Ilis main occupation through life was that of an agrienlturist and stockman. In 1864 he crossed the plains to Montana, seeking gold, and after spend- ing two years in the gold mines he returned to his Missouri home. He came to Kansas about 1870, and was united in marriage with Miss Edna Dunlap, and settled on the estate where he resided continuously until his demise. He was a home lover, and was held in the highest regard by those who knew him as a friend and neighbor. His judgment was unquestioned, of absolute integrity, a noble citizen, father and husband, and one of nature's noblemen who tried to make the world better. Re- ligiously he was a member of the Christian church, to which society he had always contributed his full share.
Mr. Whitlock married March 18. 1869, Miss Edna Ellington Dunlap. sister of Doniphan Dunlap, a prominent citizen of Wyandotte county. mention of whom is made on another page of this work; and of the
890
HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
children born to them, we record that Alberta, the eldest, died in 1892; Jessie Florence resides at the old homestead with her mother. and Mary C .. is the wife of Harry Kern, a prosperous farmer of the county. Mrs. Kern is a graduate of the publie schools and a former student at the Emporia State Normal. They have three children, Edna Ella, Harvey Wesley and Mary. The home farm comprises one hundred and sixty aeres of land. and the farming operations are conducted under the per- sonal supervision of Mrs. Whitlock. She has long been a resident of this locality, and remembers when the Delaware Indians were paid for their hoklings here. The family are members of the Christian church at Bonner Springs.
ROSCOE W. FERGUSON .-- It is extremely difficult for a young man to choose the line of work he intends to follow through life. What a little thing will often canse him to decide. A single stone may turn the rivulet to the right or left. It is sometimes said that what we call providence shapes our careers. Undoubtedly something ontside of our- selves has something to do with the general direction of a man's life. but the getting on is purely a private affair. Each individual is fated to work out his own career. If he is qualified by nature he cannot be kept down ; if deficient he cannot by hook or crook be boosted up. Op- position. adversity and hard Inck are powerless to keep a big man in a small place and no set of outside conditions ean keep a small man in a big place. Roscoe W. Ferguson, after trying two lines of work has finally rome into his own and is the well known banker at Bonner Springs. Although he has only been in the county but a very short time he has already made his presence felt and will doubtless be still more prominent as the time rolls on.
Ile was born in Jefferson county. Kansas, July 13, 1875. His father, Walter Ferguson, was born in Indiana in 1850. Ilis mother, Henrietta Henderson before she was married, was born in Ohio in 1855. Walter Ferguson came to Kansas in 1864, when he was fourteen years old. IIe located with his parents in Jefferson county. He became an influential farmer and was an advocate of the Democratic policies. He was county commissioner two terms and county treasurer two terms on the Democratie ticket. In 1906 he was elected to the Legislature for Jefferson county, Kansas. Ile was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Masons fraternal order. Mr. and Mrs Walter Ferguson had five children, as follows: Roscoe W .. Pearl G. (deceased). James II., Earl E., and Albert E. Mr. Ferguson, the father, died in 1907. and his wife died on New Year's day, 1911.
Roscoe W. Ferguson was brought up in Jefferson county, Kansas. Hle attended the public schools in Valley Falls as a student in the high school and then went to the Campbell University at Holton, Kansas. After he had completed his college course he farmed for four years and then assisted his father in the treasurer's office. His father had owned a full section of land and this is still owned by the brothers. The younger brothers manage the farm, situated in Jefferson county, Kansas. In 1906 Roscoe W. went to Idaho, intending to make that his permanent home, but the following year his father died and he came back to Kan- sas. In 1908 he first entered the employ of the Bonner State Bank. In 1909, the following year. the First National Bank bought out the
891
HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
Bonner State Bank, and Mr. Ferguson went with the new concern, known as the First National Bank. £ Ile is its eashier.
In 1900 he married Miss Nellie King, a native of Ohio. Her parents are at present living in Bonner Springs and are connected with their son-in-law in the First National Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson have three children, Lewis E., Linville and Lawrence.
Roscoe Ferguson is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Knights of Pythias. £ Like his father, he is a Democrat in polities, but he has not yet cared to take any political office. He has swerved from his father's religions faith and is a member of the Christian church and is a very earnest, active worker in the church. His influence in Bonner Springs is very helpful, especially among the young men. They feel that he is their friend and that he understands them.
THE WESTERN TERRA COTTA COMPANY .- Kansas City, Kansas is rapidly pushing her way onward in regard to the establishment of im- portant and profitable industries, prominent among those that have been inaugurated within very recent years being the Western Terra Cotta Company, which owes its origin to the enterprise, energy and far sighted- ness of two able business men, William Timmerman and Paul C. Baltz.
This company was organized October 12, 1906, in Kansas City, Missouri, but as no suitable location for the necessary plant could be seenred in that place a site for it was found in Kansas City, Kansas, in December of that year. It is a close corporation, capitalized at twenty- four thousand dollars, and has as its officers William Timmerman, presi- dent and manager; Paul C. Baltz, vice president and treasurer; and A Wiegers, secretary. This company, which was the first to do business of this kind in the state of Kansas, makes a specialty of manufacturing high enamels and glazes of terra cotta and building ornamentations of all kinds, the work produced being distinguished as artistic in design, form and color and noted for its durability. The firm began business on a modest scale, starting with but one kiln, and now having five in work- ing order. The first year's output of $15,000 was doubled in 1908. In 1909 it was increased to $48,000, and in 1910 it amounted to $66,000, the increase being correspondingly as large each year. In 1911 the firm began its operations with a force of seventy men, nearly twelve times as many employes as it started with, the number when the plant opened having been but six.
William Timmerman, president of the company, and its genial and able manager, was born November 6, 1867, in Chicago, Illinois, where he grew to manhood. An artist by nature and by talent, he subse- quently spent ten years with the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, in Chicago, and having learned the trade of an architectural designer and modeler was for four years employed in making models for architectural bronze work. Locating then in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Timmerman became head modeler and designer for the Winkle Terra Cotta Com- pany, a position that he filled most satisfactorily. Desirous of still further perfecting himself in his art, he attended the Boston Art Insti- tute for a year, and for three years thereafter, in search of practical experience in his profession, worked as a journeyman. Prior to that time, however, Mr. Timmerman, during the ten years that he was learn-
892
HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
ing his trade, had spent his evenings studying in the Chicago Art In- stitute. In 1906 he was influential in organizing the Western Terra Cotta Company, of which he has since been president and manager.
Mr. Timmerman married, In Kansas City, Kansas, November 19, 1910, Emilie, daughter of George and Barbara (Herthel) Baltz. Fra- ternally Mr. Timmerman is a charter member of Clifton Heights Lodge, No. 520, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, with which he united at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1906. He is of German ancestry, his parents, Henry and Christiana (Lau) Timmerman, having been natives of Ger- many and people of culture, his father being an educator.
Paul C. Baltz, vice president and treasurer of the Western Terra Cotta Company, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, March 24, 1879, and received his preliminary education in the graded and high schools of that city. Entering the St. Louis Art School when but sixteen years of age, he took up the terra cotta work in that institution and was afer- wards employed in the St. Louis and the Winkle Terra Cotta Works, and for two years was employed in the manufacturing department of the Laclede Christy Clay Products Company, of St. Louis, during his eleven years of work in these various companies becoming an expert in the manufacture of terra cotta productions. ITe likewise added to his knowledge of the industry by spending several months abroad, visiting the more important art centers of the old world in the interests of his professional career.
Mr. Baltz married, November 1, 1910, Cecilia Frendenstein, a daughter of John and Elise (Kehrmann) Frendenstein. Fraternally Mr. Baltz is a Scottish Rite Mason of Kaw Valley, having joined the Masonie order originally in St. Louis.
WILLIAM L. WINSHIP .- The present city attorney of Kansas City has well proved his powers in his profession, in which he has gained seenre vantage ground as one of the essentially representative mmbers of the bar of Wyandotte county. He is a young man of distinctive energy and marked ability and his success in his chosen calling has been such as to demonstrate unequivocally the wisdom of his choice of vocation.
William L. Winship was born in the city of Sedalia, the metropolis and judicial center of Pettis county, Missouri, on the 23rd of August, 1878, and is a son of Enoch L. and Malinda (Jewell) Winship, the former of whom was born in the state of Maine, a scion of a family whose name has been prominent in the annals of New England since the Colonial epochi of our national history, and the latter of whom was horn in the state of Missouri. Enoch L. Winship was reared to maturity in the old Pine Tree state and he was one of its valiant and patriotic sons who went forth to do yeoman service in defense of the Union when its integrity was thrown into jeopardy through armed rebellion. At the age of twenty-one years he enlisted in a Maine regiment of volun- teers, and it was his portion to live up to the full tension of the great conflict between the North and the South. He served four years, or practically during the entire period of the war, and participated in many of the sanguinary battles marking its progress. Soon after the close of the war he came to the west and numbered himself among the pioneers of Nebraska, where he secured from the government a homestead claim
893
HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
and initiated the development of a farm. Later he went to Missouri, where he formed the acquaintanceship of the gracious young woman who became his devoted wife and helpmeet, and they thereafter maintained their home at Sedalia, that state, until 1886, when they removed to Kan- sas City, Kansas, where Enoch L. Winship passed the residue of his life. Ile was a carpenter by trade and was one of the prominent contractors and builders in Kansas City for a number of years prior to his death at the age of sixty-five years. His widow still maintains her home in this city.
William L. Winship was a lad of eight years at the time of the family removal to Kansas City, and here he was afforded the advantages of the excellent public schools. Ile was graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1898, and in preparation for the work of his chosen profession he entered the Kansas City Law School, at Kansas City, Missouri, in which institution he completed the preseribed course and was graduated in 1900, with the well earned degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the same year he was admitted to the Kansas bar, and for the ensuing four years he served as deputy probate judge of Wyandotte county. Official service has continued to demand much of his attention from the time of his admission to the bar, as after his retirement from the position of assistant probate judge he was city claim agent for two years, and since 1909 he has been city attorney, devoting his attention to the exacting work of this offiee in connection with his private practice, which is of substantial order. He is a stalwart in the local camp of the Republican party and has been active as a worker in behalf of the cause of the "Grand Old Party." He enjoys marked popularity in both professional and business circles and he and his wife are valued factors in connection with the best social activities of their home city.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.