USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 67
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Sanmel J. Elliott was reared to maturity in Kansas City. Kansas, where he was afforded the advantages of the public schools and also of a business college, in which latter institution he completed a thorough course which well fitted him for the activities of practical business. In addition to this discipline he also attended the Kansas City Law School, in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1902, when twenty years of age, he se- oured a clerical position in the Commercial National Bank of Kansas City. Kansas. In this institution his affective service won him suc- ressive promotions and at the time when he severed his connection with this bank he was incumbent of the position of paying teller. IIe re- signed his office December 31, 1909, and on January 1, 1910, he assumed the position of cashier of the Central Avenue State Bank, which incum- hency he now retains and in which he is handling the practical details of the various departments with marked ability. The bank bases its operations upon a capital stock of ten thousand dollars and a general banking business is conducted. William J. Rice is president of the institution. Mr. Elliott has also made judicious investments in real estate in his home city and has been successful in the improving of such properties as well as in the handling of realty as an agent. He is an alert and progressive business man and as a citizen he shows a vital interest in all that tends to further the general advancement and pros- perity of the city which has been the stage of his entire business activi- ties, and in which his personal popularity is of the most unequivocal type. In polities he is found aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party and he has shown an active interest in public affairs, especially those of local order. He holds membership in the Mercantile and Union Clubs, representative civic organizations of Kansas City, and both he and his wife are popular factors in the social activities of the community.
In the year 1906 Mr. Elliott was united in marriage to Miss Verna Thomas, daughter of Daniel F. and Martha Thomas, of Warsaw, Missouri, where her father is a representative business man. The two children of this union are Jean and Lynn.
JULES C. BRUS is one of the successful farmers of Kansas, where he has maintained his residence for upwards of thirty years, and that he has attained a high standing in the community is the result of his own efforts. There is a deep satisfaction in the thought that everything a man owns is the result of his own work and thought, and such satis- faction Mr. Brus is justified in feeling.
Jules C. Brus, son of John and Sophia Brus, was born in France in
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1842. The father died in France and the mother in New York. Their son. Jules, was a mere child during the tronblous years which immediate- ly preceded the establishment of the first republic, in 1848, but he has distinct recollection of the reign of Napoleon III, who ruled France with an iron hand until the disasters of 1870. Mr. Brus was educated in his native country and when a young man served in the French army. Ile remembers the proclamation of the Republic in 1872, following the siege and surrender of Paris and the fearful times of May, 1871. It was in 1872, while his country was still in an unsettled condition that he bade farewell to the scenes of horror and came to the United States. Arriving in America he went direct to the state of Connectient, where he gained employment in the woolen mills. Later he moved to Phila- delphia and after working for a short period in the mills of that city he came west to Kansas City, Missouri. There he sought and found ontdoor employment and was gardener at the Shawnee mission for many years, during which time he lived with the frugality in which he was reared, saving such amounts as he could from his earnings. In 1905 he was in a position to buy a tract of land thirty acres in extent. where he lives today engaged in general truck gardening. In addition to the farm on which he lives, Mr. Brus owns a place at South Park, Kansas, where he makes a specialty of raising watercress, which he sells to the high class trade of Kansas City. Mr. Brus is as successful in his way as his brother, who is vice consul of France for the former lives a eon- tented life, undisturbed by political or other cares. Mr. Brus is a Re- publican, but he has never cared to dabble in politics.
In 1875 Mr. Brus returned to France and there married his sweet- heart, Marie Coperen, immediately returning to America. Four chil- dren were born to the union, Amie, at home with his parents; Leon ; Marie Louise, wife of Ernest McDonald. and Lon J. who died in infancy.
IRVIN R. NEUDECK .- At this juncture in a volume devoted to the careers of representative citizens of Wyandotte county, Kansas, it is a pleasure to insert a brief history of Irvin R. Neudeek, who has ever been on the alert to forward all measures and enterprises projected for the general welfare and who is a prominent and influential business man at Kansas City. Kansas. He conducts a large concern which is inter- ested mainly in real estate and loans and he is also manufacturer of the Fay Fern Food, which is well known throughout the United States as a stimulant in connection with the growth of ferns and plants.
A native of the fine old Sunflower state of the Union. Mr. Neudeek was born at Fairmount. in Leavenworth county, on the 2nd of October, 1877. He is a son of Leopold and Theresa (Eckel) Neudeck, the former of whom was born in the Great Empire of Germany, in October, 1836, and the latter of whom claims the state of Pennsylvania as the place of her nativity. her birth having occurred September 19. 1839. Of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Leopold Neudeck the sub- jeet of this review was the eighth in order of birth. The father immi- grated to America when a youth but eleven years of age and he located in Wisconsin. where he engaged in the lumber business and whence he later removed to Indiana, settling in the vicinity of Cedar Lake. where he turned his attention to farming. £ About the year 1866 he came to Kansas, locating in Fairmount township, Leavenworth county, and there
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was identified with farming and the raising of high grade stock up to 1895, in which year he disposed of his splendid estate of six hundred and forty acres and came to Kansas City, Kansas, where he invested his money in city property. HIe has lived virtually retired from aetive participation in business affairs sinee 1895, but is recognized as one of the most extensive real estate holders in this city. In polities he ac- cords a stanch allegiance to the cause of the Republican party and in his religious faith he is a devout member of the German Methodist Episcopal church.
Irvin R. Neudeck was enrolled as a student in the district schools of Fairmont township, Leavenworth county, until he had reached the age of fifteen years, after which time he pursued his studies in the Kan- sas City schools. His first work was in the grocery store of his unele, Henry Horstman, with whom he remained from the 23rd of January, 1896, until 1898. In the latter year he entered the employ of Samuel Stewart, who also conducted a grocery store, but on the 1st of Septem- ber. 1902. he became interested with John M. Sheaff in the real estate and loan business, continuing as a partner of Mr. Sheaff's until the 5th of October. 1909. when he engaged in that line of enterprise on his own account. He has made a specialty of buying and selling property on Minnesota avenue and in connection therewith sold fifty lots during thirteen months. In addition to his real estate business Mr. Neudeek is manufacturer and sole owner of what is known as the Fay Fern Food, which has an extensive trade throughout the United States. Concern- ing that commodity, for it is a commodity. the following extract is taken from an article which appears in a circular sent out by Mr. Neudeck :
"Ferns, because of their massive foliage, draw the strength from the small quantity of soil surrounding them quicker than most plants, and when the vitality in the pot soil has been exhausted, the fern must necessarily lapse. the fronds droops unnaturally and take on a lack Inster appearance, and may be the fern dies altogether.
"Some means must be at hand to give the soil a wearing fertility.
"Fay Fern Food restores or puts back into the soil that which the plant draws out. Its continued use widens and lengthens the fronds and imparts to them a dark green hue of health. When Fay Fern Food gets a firm hold on the soil, the fern fronds assume a crispness which is an indication that the fern is at its best."
In his political proclivities Mr. Neudeck is a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party and, while he is not an office seeker, he is deeply interested in community affairs and gives generously of his aid and in- fnence in support of all matters affecting the general welfare. He is affiliated with a number of social and fraternal organizations of repre- sentative character and religiously he is a devout member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church. He is known throughout Kansas City as a business man whose methods are strictly on the square and he is every- where accorded the unqualified regard of his fellow men.
JOHN W. OLANDER .- The Swedish type is one which has found many representatives in the New World and has assuredly contributed its quota toward the onward movement of progress. ever retaining a clear mental grasp and directing affairs along safe and conservative lines. America owes much to the Swedish stock and has honored and been honored by many noble men and women of this extraction.
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One of the most important figures among the live stock commission merchants, who form a large class in Kansas City, Kansas, is John W. Olander. He was born April 5. 1853, in Sweden, receiving his educa- tion in his native land and coming to our shores when a youth of nine- teen years. Upon arrival in America Mr. Olander remained for a time in the state of New York, but eventually drifted west to Kansas City, the vear in which he became identified with this part of the country being 1878. In 1879 he seenred a position with the Kansas City Stock Yards Company, which step was particularly important from the fact that it
determined the course of his entire subsequent career. In 1895 he became engaged in the live stock commission business in association with Andrew Isaacson, the firm being known as Olander & Isaacson. This continued up to the death of Mr. Isaacson, in 1905. Mr. Olander took charge of the entire business, and the firmn of John W. Olander & Company, live stock commission merchants, was organized. Mr. Olan- der has continued in the city since his first arrival and his fine exeentive capacity and careful and conservative business methods have conserved the attainment of the marked success which has been his in a material way. While his political "leanings" are in the direction of the Repub- lican party he is essentially an independent voter, publie spirited and loyal to the interests of the section in which he has achieved a well earned snecess.
ANTHONY JOHNSTON .- If a man would succeed in any line of busi- ness, in this age of competition and specialization, he must learn to do some one thing a little better than his neighbors can do it. Mr. John- ston has realized this fact, and has chosen his bread as the one thing in which he would excel. The good old days, when every family baked its own bread, have gone, but the desire for such bread as our grand- mothers used to make has not gone, and it is just that demand that Mr. Johnston endeavors to supply. The tremendous sale of his bread seems to indicate that he has succeeded in producing the exact article that the people crave, and he is deserving of the reputation that he has made in Rosedale.
Anthony Johnston is a Seotchman, as he was born in that country of hills and heather in 1863. His father, John H. Johnston, a carpenter by trade, spent the greater part of his life in Scotland, and there he re- ceived his education. HIe established himself in a store, with an em- broidery printer attached, and there he worked up a fine trade. He did not, however, confine his attentions only, or even principally, to the management of his business, for he was possessed of an intellect which demanded some more literary occupation. He was well read on all branches of literature, but in particular he was interested in religious matters, of which he had made a profound and exhaustive study. IIe wrote and published much religious matter, and at the time of his death he had the manuscript practically completed for a religious work, for which he had been gathering materials for several years. In 1889 Mr. Johnston came to America, where he believed he would be able to dispose of his works more readily than in the old country, and he decided to locate in Boston, the center of learning and culture. Later he came to Rosedale. and spent the last few years of his life with his son, busily Vol. II-32
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engaged in the compilation of the manuscript above referred to: but unfortunately his death ocenrred in 1909, before the work was com- pleted, so that the world is the loser of the product of his years of pains- taking labor. As a young man Mr. Johnston, senior, married at Aber- deen in 1852. and to the union were born ten children. When Mr. Johnston came to America in 1889, his wife decided that she could not sever the ties which bound her to her native country and take root in the new world, so she remained in Scotland, where she died, surrounded by the friends of her childhood and her later years.
Anthony Johnston passed his boyhood days in his native town. where he attended the excellent schools that his country afford, and later learned the bakery trade. As a young man he had heard mueh of the advantages which are to be obtained in America, and he longed to eross the ocean, as some of his friends had done, and see what he could do for himself. He realized that in Scotland he would never rise higher than his surroundings and he was desirous of doing something more than gain- ing a livlihood, a bare existenee. Moved by these considerations, mingled with the natural hungering of the young man for new experi- ences, he bade farewell to his family and to his country and started for the United States. He went directly to Chicago, but he did not at that time try to gain employment in the bakery business, the only trade of which he had any knowledge, but he got work in a foundry, where he learned to be an iron melter, and for three and a half years he worked as a melter. That he was able to earn money while learning the trade was a revelation to him, for in his country, as in most European countries, a young man must undergo several years apprenticeship without receiving any compensation, but he frequently must pay to learn. Mr. Johnston, however, received what to him was mmunifieent wages, in comparison with the rate paid in Scotland, and he was very well content that he had rome to America, but he did not feel that he had yet found the line of work which he would follow for the rest of his life. In 1889 he eame to Kansas City, and the following year he took up his residence in Rose- dale, and in the course of abont twelve years he worked in a few of the paeking honses here, being employed in the smoke houses. In 1901 he found that his savings during his fifteen years in America amounted to sufficient to warrant him in starting a business of his own, so he bought property at 1625 Dodd street, and on this land he built a thor- oughly equipped bakery building and a residence, where he lives today. ITe realized that there were in Rosedale opportunities to build up a fine business in the bakery line, and he was as a matter of faet fully quali- fied to run such a business. During the ten years which have elapsed since he first established his store, he has had a tremendous patronage, as he turns out only the best of goods, at the lowest prices that are compatible with the excellence of the products. He makes a specialty of the Johnston Home Made Bread. which has a wide spread reputa- tion. About the time that he opened his store his father eame to Rose-
dale. In 1910 Mr. Johnston felt a very strong desire to visit his old home on a pleasure trip ; he went baek, but although he spent two months in Scotland, and certainly enjoyed seeing the sights, vet the visit was somewhat of a disappointment ; things were not just as he had pictured them in his memory, and he was more than contented to return to his home in Rosedale, which as a matter of fact seemed more like home than
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his native town. Mr. Johnston was one of a family of ten children, but only five are living now, all in America and their names are as fol- lows : Charles, James, William and Barbara, besides Anthony himself.
In 1888, while Mr. Johnston was living in Chicago, working in the foundry referred to above, he made the acquaintance of a family named Talbert. The head of the family, William Talbert, was of Scottish birth, where he was brought up and as a young man he married Miss Macluskie, to which union four children were born. Mr. Talbert was a stone cutter by trade, and soon after the birth of his youngest child the family moved to Scotland, where they lived until 1870. In that year he came to America and located in Chicago, where Mr. Talbert assisted in the erection of many of the large buildings in Chicago. IIe was in that city at the time of the great fire of 1871, and with bated breath his young friends have listened to him describe the horrors of that frightful experience. As mentioned above, however, Mr. Johnston became acquainted with this interesting family, and he was at once attracted towards the youngest daughter, Margaret-Maggie to her inti- mate friends. The attraction seemed to be mutual, and the friendship which grew up between the young people ripened into love, which cul- minated in marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston became the parents of four children. Mrs. Johnston was born in England, but received her education in Scotland, so that she and her husband have had similiar training in their childhood days.
Mr. Johnston has become affiliated with three fraternal orders, the Knights and Ladies of Security, the Woodmen of the World and the Eagles. In religious sympathies he is a Protestant, and is a regular attendant at the church of Rosedale. He has never cared to mix up very much with the polities of his adopted country, although he is greatly interested in public affairs; he cares nothing for the supremacy of either political party, but when he votes he considers the fitness of the man for the office in question, and he casts his vote for the man that he considers will best fill the position. Mr. Johnston has a large circle of friends in Rosedale, who respect as much as they like him.
REV. STEPHEN A. NORTHROP, D. D., LL. D .- With the urge of intrinsic optimism and with an altruistie fervor not to be denied tangi- ble and practical results, Dr. Northrop has brought to bear splendid powers in the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men. He is both an idealist and a man of affairs, that is, he has the ability to crystallize dreams into deeds, and, animated by abiding sympathy and a clear apprehension of the well springs of human thought and action, it has been his to do a really wonderful work in the cause of the divine Master and in proving himself guide, counselor and friend to "all sorts and conditions of men." As pastor of the First Baptist church of Kansas City. Kansas, he is continuing his fruitful labors with all of zeal and consecration, and to whom is being given a most generous co-operation in the plan for erecting in the metropolis of Kansas a magnificent house of worship, to be known as the Central Temple and to be a veritable place of refuge to all who may come. Dr. Northrop has achieved wide repu- tation in his noble calling, as well as an author and a man active in the support of all things that make for social and material progress and prosperity. It is matter of gratification to those concerned in the
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preparation and publication of this history of Wyandotte county and its people to be able to present within its pages a brief review of the eareer of this honored and valued citizen.
Dr. Northrop elaims the old Buckeye state as the place of his nativ- ity and is a scion of one of its sterling pioneer families. IIe was born at Granville, Lieking county, Ohio, on the 7th of April, 1852, and is a son of Rev. William R. and Laura (Abbott) Northrop, the former of whom was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, and the latter in Busti, New York. After due preliminary discipline Dr. Northrop entered Colgate Univer- sity, at Hamilton, New York, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1876, and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In preparation for his chosen calling he completed the pre- scribed course in Rochester Theological Seminary, in which he was graduated in 1877, in which year he was duly ordained to the ministry of the Baptist church. In 1904 the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by the University of Missouri and in 1895 he received from Franklin College. Indiana, the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He has held two importnat and eventful pastorates, the one at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he remained for fourteen years, and the other at Kan- sas City, Missouri, where he was pastor of the First Baptist church for ten years. at the expiration of which he assumed his present charge. He has received more than three thousand persons into fellowship in the three churches he has served, and the funeral and marriage services performed by him have reached an aggregate of nearly five thousand. He has served as president of the board of trustees of the Baptist Ministers' Home for Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois : was for three years president of the Indiana Baptist State Convention- these being the highest honors conferred by ths denomination upon its clergy-and he was prominently concerned in the organization of the Kansas City (Missouri) Baptist Theological Seminary, of whose board of trustees he served for some time as president.
A close student of economic subjeets and well fortified in his views concerning matters of public polity, Dr. Northrop has given his influence in connection with praetieal politieal matters, a duty which he believed should be recognized by every citizen. He has been chaplain of two national Republican conventions, and he was appointed by Governor Folk to represent Missouri at the World's Temperance Centennial, at Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1908. He has aligned himself as a zealous supporter of every interest for the uplift of humanity. In Kansas City. Missouri, he was referred to in a newspaper article as a veritable 'steam engine in boots," and further statement was made to the effect that he has the natural gift of securing a grip for good on all «lasses. "from bootblack to banker." ITis interposition as an after- dinner speaker has been constantly in demand ; he has delivered nearly one hundred and forty sermons and addresses before universities, col- leges, military academies, ladies' seminaries and high schools, at com- mencements and on other occasions, and his services in this line have been given in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana and Michigan. He has been president of several Chantauqnas and has given frequent lectures before Chautauqua assemblies. He has contributed to various magazines of the higher order and is the author of a work entitled "1 Cloud of Witnesses." Concerning this volume no further word of com-
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mendation is demanded than that offered by the late Rt. Hon. William E. Gladstone, former prime minister of Great Britain. This eminent authority gave the following estimate : "As a religious textbook for young men I place 'A Cloud of Witnesses' next to the Bible. Such an array of cumulative testimony will vindicate the divine claims of Christ and the Word more than all the battles of scholars and critics."
With great richness of scolarship and with the loftiest of ideals, there is naught of intellectual bigotry or intolerance in the attitude of Dr. Northrop. He is the friend of all men and the best feature of his work is that it is essentially and emphatically practical, with deep appre- ciation of the service that should and must be rendered by the church militant. Apropos of this statement there is consistency in perpetuat- ing in this article the following extract from the Word and Way, pub- lished in Kansas City, Missouri, and written by a prominent pastor of that city at the time when Dr. Northrop was there pastor of the First Baptist church :
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