USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 68
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"I have been a close student of Hugo's 'Miserables' all my life, and if you should ask me to tell you the greatest sentence of all, I would name the one most human : 'It was in the sewer of Paris Jean Valjean found himself.' That man who links himself to the sorrows of human- ity I love, and this is why I am writing of Stephen A. Northrop, the pastor of the First Baptist church of Kansas City.
"A great church, with a thousand members or more, lying at the heart of a great city of three hundred thousand souls. A Baptist church at its center, one block from the largest hostelry in the Missis- sippi valley. One block from one of the most gorgeous and generously patronized theaters in the United States. Two blocks from the largest and most famous hall in America-Convention Hall. Two blocks from the 'Century,' the twin sister of Boodler Butler's 'Standard' in St. Louis. Two of the blotches on our western life and pride. Each week, from August until May, twelve thousand young men pass Dr. Northrop's church doors to visit this place alone. Could one be glad that on the First church in full view hangs a sing with gold, like the gold in the city of God, bearing this inscription : 'The Young Man's Church Home, To Make Kansas City a Safe Place for Young Men to Live in.' A house of worship on a street car line that links the stock and grain trade of the west to the money market of the east. A church surrounded by
'frenzied finance' and in the midst of commercialism's galling greed, with the 'bulls and bears' growling and bellowing at the doors. No wonder that I have elimaxed every sentence with an exclamation point, is it? Not a very good location for a church, somebody asks? Yes, the best in the world; may it stand there till Jesus comes! So Dr. Northrop stands every day in the midst of the irresistible tide, facing it bravely with faith and work ! £ All day long, and way into the night, fevered fingers find his doorbell, and from early dawn till the midnight hour, cries of the needy and afflicted pull upon his heart strings. I tell you Tom Dixon, in his 'One Woman,' did not overdraw the life of the downtown preacher. To the beaten and broken of Kansas City Dr. Northrop is Hugo's bishop, raised from the dead."
At the time of assuming the pastorate of the First Baptist church of Kansas City, Kansas, Dr. Northrop made the following statements in the Bulletin, published by the church, under date of October, 1909:
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"The one purpose of this Bulletin is to define the policy of the church and pastor at the inception of a relation which promises greater things for this city along civic and religious lines. For nearly ten years I was a down town pastor in Kansas City, Missouri, and had much to do for its many sided needs. I have come to Kansas City, Kansas, with the hope of doing even greater thing for Christ and the church. I have not come to invade the territory of any other congregation or pastor. A city of one hundred thousand is room enough for all, without conflict of interests. I am no class preacher. The humble toiler, the profes- sional and commercial man alike will have my warm hand clasp, and I
want theirs also.
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If we can not bring the people to the
Gospel, we must bring the Gospel to the people. Every consecrated Christian can do something along this line by personal invitation in busi- ness, social and school circles. But bear in mind that the church in this great enterprise is a means, not an end. The important thing after all is not the building up of a congregation but the Christianizing of of Kansas City."
The following quotations are self-explanatory and consistently find place in this brief sketch. Under date of November 19, 1898, Presi -- dent Mckinley wrote to Dr. Northrop as follows: "Many thanks for kind attention expressed in various ways. Your book, 'A Cloud of Witnesses,' arrived safely. It is indeed a revelation to me, a great stimulus to faith. You are to be congratulated on this unique and im- portant contribution to Christian apologeties." April 4, 1910, Presi- dent Taft wrote as follows to Dr. Northop : "I learn that you break ground for a Temple of Worship. I sincerely hope that your plans may be perfected, and that you may soon have a magnificent sanctuary where all people may feel at home. I do not doubt that this central movement will widen your denominational usefulness and mean much to the moral and religious elevation of the entire community." Hon. E. M. Clendening, one of the representative citizens of Kansas City, Missouri, pays this tribute : "I recall the many years Dr. Northrop spent in Kansas City when he was pastor of the First Baptist church, at Twelfth and Baltimore, a great business center, and while to most preachers this would have been a disadvantage, his tactful adaptation and happy faculty of becoming acquainted with men of all classes and conditions made him an inestimable power for good in this community. As the pastor of this church he came in closest touch with our business and professional men, with stockmen and bankers. By congenial man- ner he proved himself to be a real friend to all mankind. I know of no minister who ever lived in Kansas City who knew as many men and was loved by as many. He did a wonderful work for the great mass of people who had no pastor."
This extract from the Los Angeles Herald will give a fair idea of the all around qualities of our little family from the standpoint of a Kansas City reporter who often found his way within its circle:
"His church is on one of the most prominent downtown corners, and his parsonage is next door. With a wife thoroughly in accord with his ideas, who possesses the Christian virtues in abundance, as well as a fine voice and decided musical ability, and a daughter the echo of her mother, the Doctor has been available at any hour of day or night for spiritual consolation or need.
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"Often he has been called ont of bed in the early hours to attend the bedside of some dying man and frequently he has been aroused to wed some belated couple. But always he is ready and so are his good wife and daughter, if music is desired. In their one family they ean furnish a complete wedding or funeral party, even to the music and the bridesmaids. Hence he has unbounded popularity there as 'the people's preacher,' and he is the best known and beloved pastor in the Kaw city."
CARL J. KAPKA .- Among the essentially representative business men of the younger generation in Kansas City, Kansas, Carl J. Kapka holds prestige as one whose admirable success in financial affairs has been on a parity with his well directed endeavors. He is one of the biggest awning and tent manufacturers in this section of the country and his trade is widely disseminated throughout the United States and Canada.
Carl J. Kapka was born at Thorn, Canada, on the 14th of April, 1869, and he is the son of Carl J. and Amelia (Fisher) Kapka, both of whom were born in Germany, the former in 1830 and the latter in 1820. The parents were married in their native land and emigrated to America about the year 1860, settling in Canada, where the father established a mission for the English church, the same having been located in the northern wilds. Subsequently the Kapka family removed to Ottawa, Canada, and still later location was made at Durant, Iowa, where Mr. Kapka was interested in farming operations and whenee removal was made to Museatine, Iowa. In 1873, the family home was established in Saline, Kansas, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits on a quarter section of land which he purchased from the Union Pacific Railroad Company, continuing thus engaged until his retirement from active business life in 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Kapka are now living at Salina, passing the evening of their life in full enjoyment of former
years of earnest toil and endeavor. To them were born eight children, six of whom are living. In politics, Carl J. Kapka, Sr., has ever been aligned as a supporter of the cause of the Republican party and he is deeply and sincerely interested in all matters projected for the well being of his home community and of the state at large. Although now well advanced in years he is still active and vigorous and he is every- where accorded the unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
The fourth in order of birth in a family of eight children, Carl J. Kapka, Jr., was reared in the invigorating influence of the home farm, in the work and management of which he early began to assist his father, and he received a good common school education in the district sehools of Iowa and Kansas. As a young man he learned the awning and tent manufacturing business in Kansas City, Missouri, whence he removed to Kansas City, Kansas, in 1899. In this place he immediately engaged in the manufacturing business on his own responsibility. He has been decidedly successful in connection with the awning and tent business and has perfected and patented several very importnat inventions eon- nected with his line of business. IIis patronage at the present time ineludes many important concerns all over the country. Among the eities where his output is sold may be mentioned the following: Chicago and Joliet, Illinois; Duhuith, Minnesota; Boise City, Idaho; Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; Scranton, Pennsyl-
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vania ; Akron, Ohio; Calgary and Vancouver, Canada; Portland,, Ore- gon; Colorado; Seattle, Washington; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and a number of prominent cities in Texas, Florida, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mr. Kapka is everywhere recognized as a business man of unusual ability and unquestioned integrity and he has made of success not an accident, but a logical result.
On the 6th of June, 1893, Mr. Kapka was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Irene Cobb, who was born in Jefferson county, Kansas, and who is a daughter of William N. and Chia Ann (Mannatt) Cobb, the former of whom was born in the state of New Jersey and the latter of whom claimed Pennsylvania as the place of her nativity. The father is now residing at Basehor, Leavenworth county, Kansas, his cherished and devoted wife having been summoned to the life eternal on the 27th of November, 1910. To Mr. and Mrs. Cobb were born four children, three of whom are still living and of whom Mrs. Kapka was the second in order of birth. Mr. Cobb came to Kansas in 1857, settling first in Jefferson county, whence he removed, ten years later, to Wabaunsee county, this state, remaining in the latter place for a number of years, when he settled in Leavenworth county. He has devoted the greater part of his active career to farming, but he is now living virtually re- tired. 1Ie is a Republican in his political convictions. To Mr. and Mrs. Kapka were born three children, two of whom are living, namely : II. Lynden and Harlan J. The child deceased is Vernon Carl, who passed into the Great Beyond when but six years of age.
In politics Mr. Kapka, of this review, is an uncompromising advo- cate of the cause of the Republican party and while he has never had time nor ambition for the honors and emoluments of public office of any description, he is ever on the qui vive to do all within his power to advance the general welfare. He is a loyal and public spirited citizen in the most significant sense of the word and in the various avenues of usefulness he has so conducted himself as to command the unalloyed regard of all with whom he has come in contact. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife are popular in connection with the best social activities of their home city and their spacious and attractive home is widely renowned for true southern hospitality.
WATSON F. WOOD, M. D .- During a number of years past Dr. Watson F. Wood has been engaged in the practice of medicine near White Church and its vicinity and he is accorded a place among the leading representatives of the profession in Wyandotte township. By the circumstance of birth he is a Southerner, his eyes having first opened to the light of day in Cumberland county, Virginia, on June 1, 1860. He is a son of John T. and Mary F. (Steger) Wood, the former of whom was born in Fluvanna county of the Old Dominion and the latter in the same county which constituted the birthplace of the son. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, died in the district which had so long been the scene of his activities, in the year 1865, and the mother survived for a number of years, her demise occurring in 1886. John T. Wood was twice married and had one child by his first wife and eleven by his second-the subjeet's mother, Watson F. being the seventh son and the youngest of all the children.
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Watson F. Wood was deprived of a father's care when only abont five years of age and he remained with his mother as long as that strong and admirable woman lived. From his earliest youth he assisted in the work of the farm and was tlms familiar with the great basic indus- try in all of its departments. Two years after his mother passed away he came to Wyandotte county, Kansas, and located in Wyandotte town- ship, establishing a mercantile business, and subsequently loeating in Greenwood, Missouri. In the meantime the subjeet came to the con- clusion to adopt the medieal profession as his own and, to prepare him- self, he matriculated in the Medical University of Kansas City, Missouri, from which institution he was graduated in March, 1881, with the well earned degree which made him eligible as a practitioner. He first hung ont his shingle at Wolcott, Kansas, but this was but a temporary location and he soon came to White chureli, where he remains at the present time, having built up an excellent practice and enjoying the confidence of the entire community, both as a citizen and a physician.
Dr. Wood laid the foundation of a happy household and congenial life companionship when on December 29, 1890, he was united in mar- riage with Sarah Fiederling, who was born in Shawnee county, Kansas, and who is the daughter of Peter and Francis (Barker) Fiederling, the father an architect by ocenpation and a native of Bavaria, Germany. The seat of the Barker family is Bedford county, Virginia. The ehil- dren born to Dr. Wood and his wife are as follows: Watson L. who died at the age of six years and nine months ; Francis; Grace; Elizabeth and Helen Elmina.
Dr. Wood is in harmony with the policies and principles for which the Democratie party stands sponsor and he is an enthusiastic lodge man, holding membership in the Masonic Lodge, No. 96, of White Church; the Modern Woodmen of America; and the Modern Brother- hood of America.
JOHN R. MATNEY .- An historical compilation of Wyandotte county, Kansas, would indeed be incomplete were there failure to make men- tion of John R. Matney, one of the oldest residents of the immediate vicinity of Kansas City, whither he came as a pioneer and where he died on the 1st of January, 1911. He came to Westport when Kansas City, Kansas, was only a landing where steam boats that were able to navigate the Missonri river during the "June rise" came up from St. Louis loaded with the wants and necessities of the then western frontier and were unloaded.
A native of the fine old commonwealth of Virginia, John R. Matney was born in Tazewell county, that state, on the 23rd of Jannary, 1834, a son of Charlie and Abbie Matuey. The Matney family immigrated westward in the year 1844, at which time the subject of this review was a lad of bnt ten years of age. The trip across the country was made in a wagon and the family first settled near Parkville, in Clay county, Missouri, where the father purchased a farm and where the family home was maintained for one year, at the expiration of which removal was made to Westport, Kansas. The new home was on a farm of one hundred and twenty aeres along the state line, in what now comprises a part of the Roanoke district. .John R. Matney was reared to the invigorating influences of frontier farm life; he early became asso-
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viated with his father in the work and management of the home farm, hauled timber to Westport as a young man and traded in cattle. With the passage of years he had himself been able to acquire some small tracts of land, and when he had reached his legal majority he had a splendid start in life.
In 1854 Mr. Matney, of this notice, made a trip across the plains with four yoke of oxen drawing a prairie schooner loaded with four thousand pounds of supplies to be distributed among the Indians in the more western country. The supplies were sent out by the govern- ment and Mr. Matney's schooner was only one in a long wagon train, all in the government service. Accompanying this expedition was a hunter on horseback who supplied the men with fresh meat, consisting of buffalo, deer and antelope. Each night a corral was formed of the wagons and a guard kept watch lest the men should be surprised with an attack by unfriendly Indians. In 1856, a year after Mr. Matney's marriage, he and his wife settled on a farm in the vicinity of Thirty- ninth street and State Line, where they continued to reside until the elose of the Civil war. During that sanguinary struggle he was a meni- ber of the Home Guard and on two different occasions the home was in- vaded at night, all removable property and horses being carried away by the marauders. Mr. Matney farmed the land comprising Toad-a- Loup in 1855 and the bottom land forming Rosedale in 1857. In March, 1866, he sold his farm in Missouri and removed to his late home in Kansas, which constitutes the Matney homestead and which is located one mile and a half southwest of Argentine. This land had been pre- viously acquired of an Indian woman named Peggy Spiebuck, but dur- ing the war period Mr. Matney deemed it unsafe to live with his family upon it. His judgment was confirmed, for during that strenuous period the man living upon the place as Mr. Matney's tenant was called to the door by a band of marauders that infested the country and shot to death.
After the close of the war between the states the Matney family moved to this farm and have there maintained their home to the present time, in 1911, a period of about forty-five years. Mr. Matney devoted his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of high grade stock and his entire estate, from its modern and substantial buildings to the well cultivated fields, indicated the ability of its practical owner. While he never manifested aught of ambition for the honors or emolu- ments of public office of any description, he was decidedly a cooperant factor in all matters projected for the good of the general welfare.
On the 15th of March, 1855, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Matney to Miss Missouri Matney, who was born and reared in Kansas and who is a daughter of William Matney, who was likewise an early pioneer from Virginia. William Matney upon his arrival in this section of the country settled upon and owned a tract of some two hundred acres of most arable land just south of Westport. This estate was later known as the Ward farm and a portion of it now comprises the Country Club grounds. William Matney was the unele of Charles Matney, father of the subject of this review. Mrs. Matney survives her honored husband. Of the eleven children-Six girls and five boys- born to Mr. and Mrs. John R. Matney, eight are living at the present time. Concerning them the following brief data are here incorporated : Sarah
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Elizabeth Morgan is with her widowed mother; David maintains his home at Vinita, Oklahoma; Ella is the wife of C. E. Dodson, of Kansas City, Kansas; Henry and Albert both reside at Argentine, Kansas; Alexander is a most successful fruit grower south of Argentine; Minnie is the wife of Rush L. Fisette, a prominent lawyer at Rosedale, Kansas, concerning whom further mention is made on other pages of this work; and Edith is the wife of Ed. Kuehnl, of North Fond-du-Lac, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Matney celebrated their golden wedding aniversary on the 15th of March, 1905.
Conecrning the high and elevated character of Mr. Matney the following extract is here reproduced from an article which appeared in a paper at the time of his death :
"Mr. Matney was a typical pioneer and was an original and unique character. A man of mighty physique, he had more than ordinary physical and intellectual strength. He had not the opportunity of early schooling and in books was unlearned, but in taking care of him- self and always being ready to meet the emergencies of the hour he was an educated man. He learned to write his name when as a township officer it became necessary for him to sign his name hundreds of times to township bonds being issued. He signed the bonds and signed them well. It illustrates the man, he did what was required of him. He made no religious pretentions but was always a God-fearing man. Amiable and congenial, he was always the same. He loved right and justice for their own sake and hated all forms of lying, deception and intrigue. He was a home loving man and a model husband, a kind and indulgent father, a good neighbor and a benefit to the community in which he lived. For many, many years he has been the largest farmer An even tempered man he disliked tax payer in Wyandotte county. Controversy and confusion he always all forms of extravagance.
shunned. He never indulged in arguments, quarrels or profanity. What could not be avoided or remedied he endured without complaint. To fault finding he was total stranger. A companionable, lovable man he died as he had lived without one murmur, groan of complaint or ery of anguish. A man of high impulse, strong moral fiber, fine judgment and keen foresight, he helped to upbuild the community in which he lived and it suffered an irreparable loss though he had quite retired from active life for many years."
RUSH L. FISETTE .- There are few men whose lives are crowned with the honor and respect which is universally accorded to Rush L. Fisette, who has long resided at Rosedale, Kansas, where he is accorded recogni- tion as one of the ablest lawyers in this section of the state. With him success in life has been reached by sterling qualities of mind and a heart true to every manly principle. He has never deviated from what his judgment indicated to be right and honorable between his fellow men and himself. He has never swerved from the path of duty, and he has every reason to enjoy the consciousness of having gained for himself by his honorable, straightforward career the confidence and respect of the entire community in which he lives. He has attained a foremost position at the Kansas bar and as a result of his fair and honorable methods is accorded the unalloyed confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
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Rush L. Fisette was born in the state of Illinois, in 1866, and is a son of Peter B. and Emma (Crouch) Fisette. The father was born in the Dominion of Canada, in 1829, of French parentage, and as a youth he was destined for the priesthood, an uncle having taken it upon him- self to supply the funds for his religious education. The young Peter did not like his uncle's plans for him, however, and, following his own inclinations, he left the institution in which he was studying and went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he began to learn the profession of
dentistry. After acquiring considerable skill in that connection he began to travel as a dentist and it was during his wanderings that he met his future wife in Illinois. This marriage was prolific of one son, Rush L., the immediate subject of this review. Peter B. Fisette was summoned to the life eternal in 1872, at the age of forty-three years, and his cherished and devoted wife, who still survives him, now resides in the home of Rush L., her only son.
A child of but six years of age at the time of his father's death, Rush L. Fisette received but meager educational training in his youth. When twelve years of age he began to work out as a farm hand in Illi- nois, in this way helping to support his widowed mother. He continued to be identified with farming operations, in the capacity of employe, for a number of years, and when he had saved two hundred and fifty dollars his employer made it optional with him to go into partnership with him in raising cattle or to use it as a school fund. He chose the latter prerogative and thereafter attended a normal school, in which he was later graduated. HIe began to teach school in Fulton county and some years later he came to Kansas City, Kansas, where he entered the employ of an express company. He was still ardently desirous for a good education and for a number of years was enrolled as a student in a night school. He was later matriculated in a law school at Kansas City, in which he graduated, with honors, in 1897, duly receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws. Ile still continued in the employ of the express company but later, when conditions necessitated a reduction of his salary, he resigned and turned his attention to the practice of law. He removed to Rosedale, Kansas, where he opened offices and hung out his shingle as a lawyer. In very short order he succeeded in building up a large and representative clientage, which has gradually increased in extent and importance, so that Mr. Fisette is today acknowledged one of the busiest and most successful attorneys in this part of the country. He is a well fortified counselor and has figured in some of the most important litigations in the state and federal courts. His well equipped offices are located at 1609 Kansas City avenue.
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