USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 53
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On the 9th of September, 1909, Mr. Winship was united in marriage to Miss Beulah Cooke, daughter of Joseph and Martha (Young) Cooke, of Kansas City, where her father is a prominent and representative citizen. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Winship rendered effective serviee in the office of deputy register of deeds of Wyandotte county.
JOHN A. HALE .- In a state far removed from that of his nativity it has been given Mr. Hale to achieve a place of distinctive prominence as a lawyer of marked versatility and resourcefulness, and he is to be designated with all of consistency as one of the foremost members of the bar of the county to which this publication is dedicated. He has been engaged in the active practice of his profession in Kansas City, Kansas, for nearly two score of years, and his reputation, especially in the domain of criminal law, has far transcended loeal limitations. Through his character and his able and honorable efforts in the work of his chosen vocation he has lent dignity and prestige to the bar of the Sunflower state, and as one of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Wyandotte county he is specially worthy of consideration in this history.
In both the agnatic and maternal lines John Augustus Hale is a scion of families whose names have been identified with the annals of American history since the early Colonial epoch, and the aneestral records denote long and influential association with the civic and mater- ial activities of New England, that cradle of so much of our national history. Mr. Hale was born at Foxcraft, Piscataquis county, Maine,
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on the 7th of August, 1852, and is a son of Augustus and Lydia Chase (Fisher) IIale, the former of whom was born in the city of Portland, that state, and the latter on Nantucket Island, on the coast of Massa- chusetts. Augustus Hale was one of the sturdy sons of the old Pine Tree state who "went down to the sea in ships," and virtually his en- tire active career was one of elose association with the seafaring life. He died in 1863, at the age of forty-nine years. Ile was a son of John and Mary (Jones) Hale, and his mother was a daughter of Dr. David Jones, who served as a surgeon in the Continental army in the war of the Revolution. Mrs. Lydia C. (Fisher) IIale did not long survive her honored husband, as she was summoned to the life eternal in 1865, at the age of forty-two years. She was a daughter of Leonard and Lydia (Chase) Fisher, who were representatives of families founded in Massa- chusetts in the early Colonial era.
John A. Hale was reared to the age of eighteen years in his native town, where he was afforded the advantages of the public schools and also of a well conducted academy. He also attended for a time an academie institution at Pittsfield, Maine. In 1869, a few years after the death of his honored parents, the young man decided to come to the west, and that he made Kansas his destination was largely due to the fact that his unele, John K. Hale, was at that time attorney for the Kansas Pacific Railroad and had established his home in Wyandotte county. After coming to this country and joining his uncle Mr. Hale secured employment as timekeeper, in the service of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, and after hav- ing been thus engaged for a period of about eighteen months he began the study of law in the office of and under the effective preceptorship of his uncle. Under these conditions he gained his preliminary know- ledge of the mysteries of Blackstone and Kent, and finally he returned to his native state and completed his course of study in a law school at Bangor. In 1874 he proved himself eligible for and secured admission to the bar of Maine, and he forthwith returned to Kansas and initiated the active work of his profession in Kansas City, where he has since continned to maintain his home and where he has long held prestige as one of the leading members of the bar of this section of the state. He has been concerned with a large amount of most important litigations in both the state and federal courts in Kansas, and has won specially high reputation through notable victories gained by him in the trial of erimi- nal cases. Ile has been a stickler in his observance of professional ethics and his course has been directed according to the highest principles of integrity and honor, so that he has retained the confidence and respect of the members of his profession, the court and the litigants, as well as of the general public. His knowledge of the science of jurisprudence is specially comprehensive and exaet and he would dignify any judicial office, though he has never consented to appear as a candidate for such preferment or other publie office. He is a valued and honored member of the Wyandotte County Bar Association and also of the Kansas State Bar Association. As a citizen he is loyal and public spirited, and he has given his influence and cooperation in the support of measures and enterprises that have tended to conserve the civic and material well being of his home city and county.
In politics Mr. Hale is unswerving in his allegianee to the Demo- cratie party, and he has given yeoman service in behalf of its cause. He
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is affiliated with the Masonie fraternity, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and he and his family have occupied a prominent place in connection with the leading social activities of the community.
On the 10th of November, 1875, Mr. Hale was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Walker, who was born on the Wyandotte Indian reserva- tion, in Kansas, and who is a daughter of Matthew R. Walker, a member of the Wyandotte tribe of Indians, although he had but one-sixteenth Indian blood. His brother, Hon. William Walker, was the provisional governor of the territory of Nebraska, established a few years before the passage of the historic Kansas-Nebraska bill, through the provisions of which the territory of Kansas was organized. Both of these brothers were men of distinctive ability and fine character and both left a benefi- cent influence upon the history of their times. Mrs. IIale takes pride in her Indian lineage, though the strain of Indian blood is but slight. Mr. and Mrs. Ilale have two daughters,-Lydia Emily, who is the wife of Archibald B. Chapin, of Kansas City, Kansas; and Lillian Angusta, who is the wife of Judd Greenman, of Edith, Colorado.
FRANK M. HOLCOMB .- The personnel of the executive officials of Wyandotte county has none who is more efficient and popular than is Frank M. Holcomb, who is incumbent of the position of county elerk and who has given a most careful, systematic and effective administra- tion of the manifold affairs of his important offiee.
Frank Mark Holcomb was born in the city of Bloomington, Illinois, on the 17th of June 1866, but in August of the same year his parents removed to Kansas, so that virtually his entire life thus far has been passed within the borders of the Sunflower state. He is a son of William Henry and Elizabeth (Dailey) Holcomb, the former of whom was born at Westport, Essex county, New York, of English lineage, and the latter of whom was born in Ireland, whence she came with her par- ents to America when a child. William H. Holeomb established his home in Wyandotte county, Kansas, in 1866, and he was one of the pioneer stock growers and dealers of the county. He here passed the residue of his life and he died in Kansas City at the age of fifty-five years. He served one term as sheriff of the county and was a man who was held in high esteem in the community. He was a Democrat in his political proclivities and as a citizen was loyal and public spirited. His widow still maintains her home in Kansas City and is held in affectionate regard by all who have come within the sphere of her influence. She is a devout communicant of the Catholic church, and in its faith she carefully reared her four sons, of whom the second in order of birthi was the present county clerk of Wyandotte county.
Frank M. Holcomb was an infant at the time when the family home was established in Wyandotte county and he was reared to maturity in Kansas City, in whose public and parochial schools he secured his early educational discipline. For fifteen years he was employed in the local offices of the Armour Packing & Provision Company, and thereafter he followed various lines of occupation until 1899, when he was elected county clerk, an office of which he has since continued in tenure, through sneeessive re-electionus that have indicated alike his efficiency and his personal popularity in the county that has ever represented his home.
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He is a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies of the Demo- cratie party and has given efficient service in its local ranks Both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church and are active in the various departments of its work.
In the year 1894, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Holcomb to Miss Mary Burgard, who was born and reared in Kansas City, Kansas, and the five children of their union are: Lonis, Marie, Ruth, Seraphine and Frank, all at home.
JOHN MONARREY .- The exacting duties, manifold responsibilities and frequent dangers that appertain to the office of chief of the fire department of a metropolitan center demand a personality of strength of mind and body, discrimination, imperturbability in the face of perilous work, and resourcefulness and assurance in the matter of disci- pline, and all of these qualities are exemplified most admirably in the person of the able and popular head of the fire department of Kansas City, John MeNarrey, who has brought the department up to a high standard of efficiency, who has the confidence of the community and who, though a strict disciplinarian, has the affectionate good will of his "boys" in this all important department of the municipal serviee.
Chief MeNarrey traces his genealogy back to stanch Scottish origin in both the paternal and maternal lines, though his more immediate ancestors were residents of the north of Ireland, where the original representatives were undoubtedly numbered among the many Scotch Presbyterians, or Covenanters, who left their home country to secure greater religions freedom in the fair old Emerald Isle. John MeNarrey himself finds due satisfaction in reverting to Ireland as the place of his nativity. He was born in the vicinity of the city of Belfast, in county Down, on the 19th of May, 1868, and is a son of John and Margaret (Reed) MeNarrey, both of whom were born in Seotland and both of whom continued to reside in Ireland. The subject of this sketch received only limited educational advantages in his boyhood, as he began the practical battle of life before he had attained to the age of
thirteen years. He at this time left the parental home and went to Scotland, where he was employed for the ensuing four years in con- nection with the operation of iron furnaces. lle then went to England, where he followed the same vocation until 1886, when he decided to avail himself of the superior advantages afforded in America. He landed in New York city and in May of that year he made his appear- ance in Kansas City, Kansas, where he was in the employ of the Fowler Packing Company until 1888, when he went to Seattle, Washington, where he assisted in the building of dry docks and where he was thus employed about one year. There the young Scotch-Irishman gained his initial experience in municipal service, as he entered the employ of the city and had charge of a crew of men. engaged in the pulling down of walls. Thereafter he was in the employ of the North- ern Pacific & Alaska Steamship Company for a time, and in 1890 he returned to Kansas City, where he again entered the employ of the Fowler Packing Company. Under the administration of Mayor Barnes the future chief entered the fire department as a common fireman, and for seven years he was connected with the No. 2 house of the depart- ment. He was retired from the service under the regime of Mayor
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Craddock, and when Mayor Gilbert beeame the chief executive of the city Mr. McNarrey was appointed assistant chief of the fire department. He held this office two years, and during the administration of Mayor Rose he was again in the ranks of the department. When Dr. Gray was elected mayor to fill an unexpired term, Mr. MeNarrey was ap- pointed chief of the fire department, and he continued in tenure of this position also during the two years' term of Mayor Cornell, being per- mitted to "resign" from the department under the administration of Mayor Gage. Eleven months later, upon the election of Mayor Porter, he was again appointed chief of the department, and he has since retained the office, in which his fidelity and excellent work have gained him unequivocal commendation on the part of the general publie as well as of the city officials.
Chief MeNarrey takes a lively interest in all that touches the welfare of his home city and in politics he has given a stanch allegiance to the Republican party from the time of becoming a naturalized citizen of his adopted country. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
In the year 1900 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. MeNarrey to Miss Hannah Carruthers, who was born and reared in England, and they have a winsome little daughter, Emily Margaret, who is the light and life of the attractive family home.
JOHN A. MCCLEERY .-- Prominent among the intelligent, capable and hopeful young men who came to Kansas City, Kansas, a quarter of a century ago and for many years were associated with one of the leading industries of this part of Wyandotte county was John A. Me- Cleery, who was in the employ of the Swift Packing Company until his death, while yet in manhood's prime, on March 8, 1899. Coming from sturdy Scotch stock, he was born July 4, 1860, in Louisville, Kentucky.
His father, John H. MeCleery, was born on the Atlantic ocean while his parents were en route from Scotland to America. He began life for himself in Kentucky, and for many years was a noted hotel keeper in the city of Louisville, where his death occurred in March, 1886. He was twice married. Hle married first a Miss Hartley, of Pennsylvania, and to them three children were born, all now residents of Louisville, namely: Melissa, wife of John Smith; Robert; and Albert. He married in Kentucky Mary Hartley, a sister of his first wife, and John A. McCleery, the subject of this brief biographical sketch, was their only ehild. She, too, preceded him to the life be- yond, passing away in 1885.
Brought up in Louisville, Kentucky, John A. MeCleery was edu- cated in the public schools and at Spaulding's Business College. In June, 1886, after the death of his parents, he came to Wyandotte county, Kansas, and at once entered the Swift Packing House, in Kansas City, where he continued as a clerk until his death, as previously mentioned, being a faithful and trusted employe. He was a Democrat in polities.
Mr. MeCleery married, December 24, 1882, Catherine E. Wilson, who was born in Bardstown, Kentucky, a danghter of C. E. and Carrie E. (Wellington) Wilson, and a granddaughter of Benjamin and Eliza-
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beth Wellington, natives of England, her grandfather having been a lineal descendant of the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Four children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. MeCleery, namely ; John R., assistant land commissioner for R. A. Long, at Kansas City, Missouri; William, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, an engin- eer on the Great Northern Railway; Ethel, living with her widowed mother; and Gladys, a law stenographer, also living at home with her mother. Mrs. McCleery was educated in a Catholic school, and is a woman of mueh culture and refinement. She resides with her dangh- ters on Barnett street, where she has a fine residence, which she has purchased since the death of her husband. She is a member of the Presbyterian church and is highly esteemed in social eireles.
RICHARD J. HIGGINS .- Another of the able younger representatives of the legal profession who is contributing a due quota to upholding the high prestige of the bar of Wyandotte county is Richard J. Higgins, who is engaged in successful general practice in Kansas City, and further interest attaches to his career by reason of the fact that from his boyhood days he has resided in the city that is now his home,-a community in which his personal popularity is of the most nnequivocal type.
Mr. Higgins was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on the 14th of May, 1883, and is a son of James and Mary (Hanrahan) Higgins, both of whom were born and reared in Ireland where their marriage was solemn- ized. In 1881 they severed the ties that bound them to the fair old Emerald Isle and came to America. Soon after their arrival they came to the west and located in Kansas City, Missouri, where they maintained their home until 1892, when they came to Kansas City, Kansas, where they have resided since that time. The father has long been identified with railroad affairs and is now in the employ of the Union Pacific Rail- road. He is a Democrat in his political allegiance and both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church.
Richard J. Higgins, the immediate subject of this review, gained his rudimentary education in the parochial and publie schools of Kansas City, Missouri, and was eleven years of age at the time of the family removal to the city that is now his home. Here he continued his school work with nich of zeal, and in 1900 he was graduated in the Kansas City high school. For one year thereafter, in 1902-3, he was a student in the academic or literary department of the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, and he was then matriculated in the Kansas City School of Law, in Kansas City, Missouri. He completed the prescribed course in this excellent institution, in which he was gradnated as a member of the class of 1906 and from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws, with incidental admission to the Missouri bar. In the same year he was admitted to practice in the Kansas courts and he forthwith initiated the practice of his profession in the metropolis of Wyandotte county, where he so proved his powers that his novitiate was of brief duration. He is now a member of the well known and essentially representative law firm of Ilale & Higgins, in which his coadjutor is John A. Hale, and they control a large and substantial practice, in connection with which he himself has appeared in many important litigations in the courts of this section of the state.
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From the autumn of 1906 until that of 1908 Mr. Higgins held the position of assistant county attorney, and the experience thus gained in the initial stages of his professional work proved of great value to him, besides furthering his reputation as a resourceful trial lawyer. In November, 1908, there came further and gratifying recognition of his sterling character and his professional ability, since he was then ehosen to fill the vacancy upon the bench of the court of common pleas of Wyandotte county, upon the resignation of the regular incumbent, Judge William G. ITolt. He held this important judicial office until Jannary, 1909, and handled its affairs with marked ability and dis- crimination. Ile is now serving as city counselor of Kansas City. In polities Mr. Iliggins is aligned as a stanch and effective advocate of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor, and he and his wife are earnest communicants of the Catholic church. Ile is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and also with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
In the year 1909 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Higgins to Miss Anna Watters, who was born and reared in Kansas City. One son, James Richard Higgins, was born to them on March 3, 1911.
EARNEST J. LUTZ, M. D .- Established in the active practice of his profession in Kansas City, the metropolis and judicial center of Wyan- dotte county. Dr. Lutz is recognized as one of the representative physi- cians and surgeons of this section of the state, and with a thoroughness characteristic of his race he has availed himself of the best advantages for the broadening of his intellectual and professional powers, with the result that there are few physicians better equipped in scientific and practical knowledge. A man of fine intellectuality, gracious presence and sterling integrity, Dr. Lutz has gained a specially secure place in the confidence and esteem of the community in which he has elected to establish his home and engage in the beneficent work of his exacting vocation.
Earnest Joseph Lutz was born in Germersheim, Rhenish Bavaria, Germany. on the 18th of November, 1865, and is a son of Christian and Barbara (Diehl) Lutz, both of whom were likewise born and reared in the German Palitinate, with whose history the names of the respective families have been long and prominently identified. Christian Lutz was a skilled physician and surgeon and served as surgeon in the German army in the Franco-Prussian war. His death occurred several years later, as the direct result of injuries received while serving in this great confliet. His widow still resides in Germany, and of the three children Dr. Earnest J., of this review, is the only one in America ; Max is man- ager of the business of the Standard Oil Company in the city of Ham- burg; and Adolph is cashier for the South German Discounts Association at Landau Pfalz, Bavaria.
To the excellent schools of his native land Dr. Earnest J. Lutz is indebted for his early educational discipline, which included course in the Latin school and the gymnasium, corresponding to the high schools of the United States. He began the study of medicine in the great and historie Heidelberg University, in which he continued his studies until 1887. when he severed the ties that bound him to home and fatherland and came to America. For two years he was employed as chemist and
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pharmacist for the Schmeltzer Drug Company, of Kansas City, Kansas, whither he came soon after his arrival in the United States, and he then went to the city of St. Louis, Missouri, were he entered the College of Physicians & Surgeons, in which he was graduated as a member of the «lass of 1891 and from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medi- vine. He then returned to Kansas City and engaged in the practice of his profession and here he also held the position of police surgeon in 1893-4, in which latter year he returned to his native land and entered the medical department of Heidelberg University, where he took an effective post-graduate course, as did he also in one of the great medical institutions in the city of Berlin. He returned to America in the antumn of 1896 and resumed the work of his profession in Kansas City. Ilere he became a valued member of the faculty of the Medico-Chirurgi- cal College, and he retained this position until the institution was re- moved to Kansas City, Missouri. He was dean of the faculty and held
the chair of internal medicine. After resigning his position with this institution the Doctor became professor of internal medicine in the Col- lege of Physicians & Surgeons, in Kansas City, an institution that was later merged with others to form the medical department of the Uni- versity of Kansas. This department is located at Rosedale, a virtual suburb of Kansas City, and Dr. Lutz has been incumbent of the chair of internal medicine since 1905. He has been most successful in the educational work of his profession and is one of the most valned and popular members of the faculty of the well ordered institution men- tioned. He holds membership in the Wyandotte County Medical Society. the Kansas State Medieal Society. the South western Medieal Association, and the American Medical Association. IIe has continued a close student of both medicine and surgery, has done a large amount of original research work and has made many valuable contributions to both the standard and periodical literature of his profession. He has served as president of the Wyandotte County Medical Society and is one of its most influential and active members.
Though thoroughly loyal and public-spirited as a citizen and ever ready to lend his cooperation in the furtherance of progressive vivie enterprises, Dr. Lutz has found neither time nor desire for public office. Ile gives, however. a stanch allegiance to the Republican party and takes a lively interest in the questions and issues of the day. He has been a most appreciative student of the noble teachings of the time-honored Masonie fraternity, in which he has attained to distinguished precedence. as may be seen when it is stated that he has not only received the thirty- third and ultimate degree of te Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. but is also one of the few in America to be enrolled as a member of the Royal Order of Scotland. Dr. Untz has been one of the most active and in- fnential factors in the work of the Masonie fraternity in his home city. where his affiliations are as here noted: Wyandotte Lodge. No. 3, An- rient Free and Accepted Masons: Wyandotte Chapter, No. 6. Royal Arch Masons: Ivanhoe Commandery. No. 21. Knights Templars; Caswell Consistory. No. 5. Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; and Ararat Temple. Ancient Arabie Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. is president of the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple Association of Kansas City and was one of the most influential in effecting the ereetion of the fine temple in this city. IIe also holds membership in the Knights of
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