USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 72
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aligned as a stanch and practical Prohibitionist from the time Governor St. John appeared as its gubernatorial candidate in Kansas. Mr. White has attended county, state and national conventions of the party. lle attends and helps all the churches. Generous and tolerant in his association with his fellow men, kindly and benevolent and with high appreciation of his personal stewardship, Mr. White's influence has ever been for good. the while he has gained and held as his wont the stanchest of friends in all classes. Ilis retrospect of a long and useful career must thus bring many gracious memories and the golden evening of his day finds him in the enjoyment of the quiet peace and pleasant associa- tions that should ever attend old age.
On the 4th of July. 1848, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. White and Miss Nancy E. Towner, in Syracuse. New York, in which state she was born on the 6th of January, 1828. The two children of this union died in infancy, and the venerable couple find their greatest solace in their mutual love and sympathy, which has attended them on their jour- ney through life. Mrs. White is now in somewhat impaired health, but she bears her afflictions with characteristic equanimity and patience and her gentle and kindly nature has gained to her the affectionate regard of all who have come within the sphere of her immediate influence. The many friends of Mr. White in this and other states of the Union, cannot but find satisfaction that there is perpetuated even so brief a review of his career as is given within the pages of this work, whose consistency and dignity are heightened by his thus finding representation among other honored citizens of Wyandotte county, Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. White celebrated their silver wedding in Taylor's Hall. Hoopeston, Illinois, July 4, 1873; their golden wedding in their present home, .Ily 4, 1898; and their sixty-third anniversary July 4, 1911.
PHILIP ERHARDT .- A prominent factor in the affairs of Rosedale. Kansas, and a man who stands high in the esteem of his fellow citizens is Philip Erhardt. of 732 S. W. Boulevard.
As his name indicates. Mr. Erhardt is of German origin. He was born in Alburg, Germany, in 1866, a son of Philip and Katrina Erhardt. both natives of that place. When he was three years old his mother died, and when he was thirteen he accompanied his father to America, and together they came west to Kansas City, Missonri. That was in 1879. The father had served the usual time in the German army. By ocenpation he was a farmer, and after coming to this country both he and his son were engaged in farm work in the vieinity of Kansas City. Here the father died in 1893, at the age of fifty-seven years. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran church. Of the six children born to them three died in infaney, those now living being as follows : Katrina, the eldest, a resident of Germany: Philip, the subject of this review ; and Margaret, of Germany.
Philip Erhardt grew to manhood in the locality in which he now lives. He did farm work for his board while attending school and de- voted his attention to acquiring the customs and language of the people among whom his lot was cast. Soon he received small wages, which he invested in lots in Rosedale, and with the characteristic energy and frugality of his countrymen he prospered from the start. Today he is
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the owner of a large amount of property in Rosedale. From farming he turned to work on bridge construction, and while he worked at bridge building during the day, he studied at night in the Kansas City Law School. In due time, in 1900, he was admitted to the bar at Kansas City, Kansas, and that same year was elected city attorney of Rosedale. an office he filled for six consecutive years. At this writing he is a justice of the peace. Having been an early investor in real estate here. and having proved conclusively that his judgment in regard to values and possibilities of Rosedale property was correct. he has each year «entered more time and attention in the real estate business, with the result that he is now regarded as one of the leading real estate dealers of the place.
Politically Mr. Erhardt is a Republican ; fraternally. a Mason and a member of the Knights and Ladies of Seenrity. While reared in the Lutheran faith, he is now identified with the Baptist church. to which his family also belongs.
Mr. Erhardt married, in 1893, Miss Anna L. Burt, of Rosedale, and they are the parents of five daughters: Marie. Ruth. Lottie. Gladys and Esther.
ORRIN W. SHEPHERD .- A well known and influential resident of Kansas City. Kansas, and one of its substantial business men, Orrin W. Shepherd is a large real estate owner and deals extensively in realty. A Californian by birth, he was born November 19, 1858, at San Juan, a son of Adam Shepherd.
Adam Shepherd was born in 1822. in Ohio, and died in Wyandotte county, Kansas, in 1907. Seized with the gold fever in 1849. he fol- lowed the trail of the emigrant to California, crossing the plains with ox teams. He busily plied the pick and drill for a few years, but not getting satisfactory returns for his labor subsequently turned his at- tention toward farming, and there continued his residence until 1869. Coming eastward with his family in that year, he located at Edwards- ville. Wyandotte county, Kansas, and was here a tiller of the soil during his remaining years. He was a man of honesty and integrity, and a trust-worthy member of the Christian church. In politics he was inde- pendent voting for men and measures he deemed best. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Allen, was born in Iowa, in 1828, and died at Edwardsville, Kansas, in 1892. Of their four children, three are now living. namely : Emma, wife of John Davis: Ida, wife of John Grinter : and Orrin W.
Attending the schools of San Juan, California, as a boy. Orrin W. Shepherd completed his early education in Wyandotte county. Kansas. Beginning his active career as elerk in a store, he worked at that em- ployment day times, while his evenings were spent in the Edwardsville station of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. where he learned tele- graphy. In 1880 Mr. Shepherd located at Linwood. Leavenworth coun- ty. where he remained eight years. being engaged in mercantile pursuits the first seven years, and in the real estate business one year. Coming to Kansas City. Kansas, in 1888. he embarked in the real estate and loan business, which he carried on successfully for five years. In 1893 Mr. Shepherd was elected county recorder, and held the office two terms. Turning his attention then to mercantile pursuits, he opened three
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stores, one in Riley, Kansas, one at Iola and another at Manhattan. Disposing of all of his mercantile interests in 1900, he again took up his residenee at Kansas City, Kansas, where he now holds quite an amount of valuable real estate, and also owns the Husted Building.
Mr. Shepherd married, January 1, 1885, Nellie Reid, who was born in Wyandotte county, Kansas, a daughter of H. F. and Jane (Butler) Reid, being the sixth child in a family of ten children. II. F. Reid was born in 1824, in Maine, and there spent his earlier years. Coming with his family to Kansas in the early sixties, he located in Wyandotte eoun- ty, where he became in the course of time numbered among the more prominent of its agriculturists, continning as a farmer until his deathı, in 1907. He was a Republican in politics, and served a number of terms as county commissioner. His wife was born in Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd are the parents of four children, namely : Glen Reid, Gay N., Grace and Gertrude. £ Politically Mr. Shepherd supports the principles of the Republican party, and fraternally he be- longs to Wyandotte Lodge, No. 440 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is affiliated with other beneficial organizations.
JAMES L. HOGIN .- The personnel of the bar of Wyandotte county is such as to reflect marked honor and distinction on this favored organic division of the Sunflower state, and within the pages of this publica- tion will be found speeifie mention of a large proportion of the repre- sentative legists and jurists of the county. James L. Hogin, who is now engaged in active general practice in Kansas City, the metropolis of the county, is well entitled to such representation, and the success gained by him in an exacting profession is the more gratifying to con- template from the fact that his advancement in the world has been gained through his own powers and efforts.
James L. Hogin was born at Sigourney, Keokuk county, Iowa, on1 the 3rd of January, 1877, and is a son of Benjamin R. and Adaline (Lowe) Hlogin. Benjamin R. Hogin was born in the state of Indiana, and is a son of James L. Hogin, who was born in Maryland and whose father was a native of Seotland, whence, in company with an only brother, he came to Ameriea just prior to the war of the Revolution, in which both served as valiant soldiers in the Continental line, thus show- ing their sturdy loyalty to the land of their adoption. These brothers changed the original orthography of the name, "Hogins," to the present form. After the war one of the brothers settled in Maryland and the other in North Carolina, the subject of this review being a direct de- seendant of the former. The lineage is traced back through many generations of pure Scottish ancestors, and the Lowe family, represent- ing the maternal line of him to whom this sketch is dedicated, is of sterling English origin. Mrs. Adaline (Lowe) Hogin was born at
Sigourney, Iowa, where her parents established their home in the pioneer days, and this family also gave loyal soldiers to the cause of indepen- dence in the war of the Revolution. Benjamin R. Hogin followed the practice of law for a quarter of a century. In 1880 he removed from Iowa to Kansas and settled at Belleville. Republic county, and in the early '90s he came to Kansas City, this state, where he is now living virtually retired. He is a man of sterling character and marked intel- lectual and professional ability. In former years he was known as a
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specially versatile and brilliant lawyer and he also has wielded much in- fluence in public affairs in Kansas, as a prominent advocate of the cause of the Republican party, though he has never sought or held public office. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episco- pal church. They reared to maturity a family of six sons and all are living except one.
James L. Hogin gained his early educational discipline in the public schools of Belleville, Kansas, where his parents took up their abode when he was about three years of age, and he there completed a course in the high school, in which he was graduated. He accompanied his parents on their removal to Kansas City and in preparation for the work of his chosen profession he went to the Missouri city of the same name and en- tered the Kansas City School of Law, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1905 and from which he received his coveted degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the spring of that year he was ad- mitted to the bar of Missouri and also to that of Kansas, and in 1904-5 he was gaining valuable experience through association with the work of the law office of Silas Porter, who is now associate justice of the Kansas supreme court. Mr. Hogin has been successful in the work of his pro- fession and now controls an excellent practice in Wyandotte county, be- sides which he practiced for an interval in Kansas City, Missouri. He has worked earnestly from his youthful days and none has a fuller appreciation of the dignity and value of honest toil and endeavor. Be- fore he was seventeen years of age he was engaged in teaching in the country schools of Kansas, and he continued to be engaged in the work of the pedagogic profession for three years, after which he devoted his attention to civil engineering for some time. In the meantime he had formulated the definite plans that found their fruition in his admission to the practice of law. In his chosen profession his success has amply demonstrated the wisdom of his choice of vocation. Mr. login is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party.
The year 1908 witnessed the marriage of Mr. login to Miss Eliza- beth Cherbonnier, who was born and reared in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, and who is a representative of one of the old and distinguished French families of that state.
JOSEPH J. STOTLER .- One of the vital things about a man's existence is his love for the country and country life. Back to the land is the advice that the heart and soul offer man when unrest torments him in his city life. The man who can heed this ery is very fortunate. Mr. Stotler is one of the city men who are engaged in farming. He has found the ideal life, where he does not have the worries of the city and yet is near enough to have all of the conveniences. It used to be thought that
brains were not necessary to manage a farm, but that age has passed. One man can grow forty bushels of corn an aere and another on the same kind of land can only get twenty. The cause for this difference is in the grower's head rather than in his field. It is a fine thing for the country that so many college men engage in farming, bringing their intelligence to bear on the land itself and causing it to bear erops to its fullest extent.
Joseph J. Stotler was born in Ohio, in 1852, a son of Joseph Stotler and his wife, Sarah Reece Watkins. Ile went to school in Ohio and after
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he had been through the public schools and high school he went to col- lege in Ohio. In 1886 he came to Wyandotte county, Kansas, and taught school. Then he went to Lawrence, Kansas, where he was dean of a private school. Later he came back to Kansas City, Kansas. In 1891 he bought the beautiful piece of ground of one hundred and twenty acres on which he now lives.
In 1870 he married Miss Sarah II. McWilliams, who was also a native of Ohio. They have seven children. The eldest, Joseph E., is division superintendent of the Fowler Peg Company. The second is Philip E. Sarah Bell is the third, and she married C. J. Jaggard. James E. is the fourth. Mary E., the fifth, is now the wife of Frank Wahlin. Next in order comes Donald LeRoy and the youngest is Ceeil I.
Mr. Stotler does not subscribe wholly to the platform of any party. but he is inclined towards the Socialists. He is a Mason of high stand- ing and takes a great interest in the workings of that order. He is a leader amongst them. IIe is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Pythias and of Ben Ihr. He is a member of the Christian church and he practices his religion in his every day life. He has many friends and they all agree in designating him a good fellow.
LAWRENCE J. MASON .- A prominent lawyer and abstract man in Kansas City, Kansas, and a citizen who has ever done much to advance the general welfare of this thriving western city is Lawrence James Mason. He is a native son of this city, where his birth occurred on the 2nd of November. 1869, and his parents. James M. and Anna (Laurence) Mason, were born in New York and in England, respectively. When nine years of age James M. Mason lost his father and thereafter he was reared in the home of an unele, who lived at Hiram, Ohio. In that place Mr. Mason received his preliminary educational training and there also he attended the Western Reserve College, in which he was graduated, being a college mate of James A. Garfield. After leaving college he taught school for a number of years, in the meantime studying law. He entered upon the practice of the legal profession at Spring- field, Illinois, whence he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1868. There he was engaged in divers business enterprises in addition to prac- ticing law. He was noted for his excellent penmanship and oil painting and he put the former accomplishment to good use by opening a business college in that city, the same being now known as the Spaulding C'om- mercial College. He is a stalwart Democrat in his political proclivities. Mrs. Mason, whose maiden name was Anna Laurence, was born in Eng- land, whence she came to this country, with her parents at the age of four years. The Laurence family settled in this city, where Mrs. Mason attended high school and where she was a successful and popular teacher prior to her marriage to Mr. Mason. To this union were born fifteen children, four of whom died in infancy. Those living are: Milton A .. who is identified with agricultural pursuits; Mrs. Sophia M. Boyce ; Lawrence J., who is the immediate subject of this review ; William H .. an attorney in the employ of the West Publishing Company, at St. Paul, Minnesota; Robert B., who is a dairyman at Independence, Missouri ; Mrs. Anna Sargeant, of Independence. Missouri : June G., who
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resides at home; Bert S., superintendent of the MeCormick Distillery, at Waldron, Missouri ; Richard O., who is also in the employ of the West Publishing Company, at St. Paul, Minnesota; Edward A., who is now in the United States navy, on the training ship, Pensacola; and Edwin, who is attending school at Kansas City.
Lawrence James Mason was reared to maturity in Kansas City, Kansas, where he attended the publie schools until he was gradnated in the local high school. Thereafter he attended the University of Kansas, in the law department of which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Immediately after his graduation he entered upon the practice of his profession in this city, where he also became interested in the abstract business. He is widely recognized as a skilled and versatile trial lawyer and as an able and well fortified counselor. In addition to his other interests here he is an extensive property owner, having improved the appearance of Kansas City by the construction of many modern homes, which are now owned and kept up by various representative citizens. Mr. Mason's father made the first set of abstract books in Wyandotte county, in 1874, and these books are now in the possession of him to whom this sketeh is dedicated.
Mr. Mason married Miss Anna Rilla Stowe, who was summoned to the life eternal on the 11th of March, 1910. She is survived by three small children : Lawrence, aged eight years, in 1911; Herbert, aged four years; and Gertrude, aged two years.
In polities Mr. Mason is aligned as a staneh supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, and while he has never manifested anght of ambition for the honors or emoluments of public office he is ever on the qui vive to do all in his power to advance the general welfare and to conserve progress and development. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. His religions faith is in harmony with the teachings of the Christian Science church, in which he is a member of the board of trustees. lle is a man of fine mental attain- ments, extraordinary executive ability and broad human sympathy and is held in high esteem by his fellow men.
FRANK DAY HUTCHINGS .- Distinguished not only for his own un- blemished record as a man and a citizen, but from the honored ancestry from which he is descended is Judge Frank Day Hutchings, judge of Division No. 2, of the District court of Wyandotte county, Kansas. He is one of the eminent members of the bench and bar of Kansas and is particularly well qualified by literary and legal attainments, professional experience and success, integrity of character and judicial qualities of mind and heart for the high place to which he has been called. Ile has ocenpied the office since the beginning of 1911, with credit to himself and benefit to the people.
Judge Hutchings has been identified with the state since 1863, when as a small child he came with his parents from New York. They located in Lawrence and there resided until 1869, then going to Neosho county, Kansas. Ile attended the publie schools in Osage Mission until he en- tered the State University, from which institution he graduated in 1883 with the degree of B. A. In this elass were a number who have sinee
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become prominent in Kansas and Missouri affairs, among whom may be mentioned M. W. Sterling, at present Professor of Greek in the State University; Wm. C. Spangler, who was city attorney of Lawrence, Kansas, for several terms and acting chancellor of the State University for a number of years; Edward C. Little, who was diplomatie agent and consul general to Egypt under President Harrison, lieutenant colonel of the Twentieth Kansas, distinguished for its fighting qualities in the Phillipine campaign during the Spanish-American war, and James G. Smith, who has been prominent in political affairs of Missouri for many years, was president of the Common Council of Kansas City. Missouri, and a member of the state legislature, with very flattering prospects for the future.
After graduation Judge Hutchings spent one year as city editor of the Lawrence Journal and then entered the law department of the uni- versity, whence he graduated in 1886. Ile was chosen by the faculty to represent his class on commencement day, the subject of his address being "The Conflict in Jurisdiction between the State and Federal Courts." After graduation he located at Osage Mission in Neosho county, but moved from there to Kansas City, Kansas, in 1888 and formed a partnership for the practice of law with Ex-Senator James F. Getty. He has resided in Kansas City ever since. In 1898 he was appointed City Attorney of Kansas City, Kansas, to fill out an unexpired term, and was elected for a full term in April, 1899. In 1908 he was appointed judge of the circuit court of Wyandotte connty, Kansas, a court of general jurisdiction, created for the purpose of relieving the district and common pleas courts of that county, which had fallen be- hind with their dockets. Ile held this position until December of the same year, when the court was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court of the state and abolished. At the session of the legislature of 1909 a second division of the district court was created to take the place of the circuit court. Mr. Hutchings at a meeting of the bar of Wyan- dotte county received unanimous endorsement for the position of judge of this division of the court, but the governor refused to respect the wishes of the bar. In August, 1910, Mr. Hutchings was chosen without opposition as Republican candidate for the position of judge of the ser- ond division, was elected in the November following, and holds that posi- tion at the present time.
Judge Hutchings has been connected with some of the most im- portant litigation in Wyandotte county during the time he has practiced here, among which may be mentioned the case of the Receivers of the Union Pacific Railway vs. Kansas City, Kansas, involving the constitu- tionality of the law authorizing the city to extend into its boundaries so as to include certain railroad property. This case was argued twice in the supreme court of the United States by Mr. Hutchings and was finally decided in favor of the city.
Judge IIutchings was married on the 24th day of November, 1892. to Mabel Wemple, of Topeka, Kansas, a niece of ex-Senator Edwin G. Ross, of this state, who will be remembered as casting the deciding vote against impeachment in the trial of President Andrew Johnson before the United States senate. He met his wife while attending the State University, she being a student in that institution. They have two children, both born in Kansas City, Kansas, a son Wemple Frank Hutch-
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ings. November 24. 1893; and a danghter, Kate Hutchings, March 2. 1897. Judge and Mrs. Hutchings hold an assured position in the best social life of the city and their delightful and cultured home is the center of gracious hospitality.
Judge Hutchings is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner, belonging to Caswell Consistory of Kansas City, Kansas, and Abdallah Temple of Leavenworth, He is also a member of Wyandotte Lodge, No. 440, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of Wyandotte Lodge, No. 165. Loyal Order of the Moose.
Frank Day Hutchings traces his genealogy on his father's side to Thomas Hutchings, a seaman in the British navy, who at the close of the war between Holland and England, about 1680, choosing to remain in America rather than to return to England, swam ashore in the night from an English ship in the harbor of New York. Isaac Hutchings, a son of said Thomas, was also a sailor. He was captured by pirates, or what he deemed equivalent, forcibly impressed as a seaman into the naval service but escaped from the piratical ship while at anchor in Long Island Sound by jumping overboard, and after remaining in the water for a long time, and when nearly exhausted, was discovered and resened Hle afterward married the daughter, by a boatman and his daughter. and in 1725 settled on Long Island. From this couple descended num- erous families of the name now residing in Ulster, Dutchess, and other counties along the Hudson river, and in central New York. The third
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