Portrait and biographical album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, Part 33

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Bros.
Number of Pages: 788

USA > Kansas > Jackson County > Portrait and biographical album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 33
USA > Kansas > Jefferson County > Portrait and biographical album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 33
USA > Kansas > Pottawatomie County > Portrait and biographical album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 33

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

farming, and conducting this branch of mercantile business six years.

In 1870 Mr. Arnold closed out his business in Battle Creek, and came to this State on a prospect- ing tour, and being satisfied with the prospects for advancement and civilization in this section, pur- chased a farm one and a half miles east of Louis- ville, to which he removed his family the following year. He remained on his farm until 1888, when he bought an interest in the mill and moved into the city. The farm, which was raw land when it was purchased by Mr. Arnold, comprises 240 acres, all under cultivation, and is regarded as one of the best improved and most valuable pieces of property in the county. About half of the aere- age is tilled, and the rest is in tame grass, affording pasturage and feed for a very fine flock of thor- oughbred Merino sheep, which belong to Mr. Arnold, for the cattle with which the place is well stocked and for the sheep which are bought and fed for market. During his first ten years' resi- dence in this State, our subjeet carried on an ex- tensive business in buying and shipping cattle, but more recently has given his attention to the breed- ing of Merino sheep and Poland-China hogs.

The marriage of Mr. Arnold took place in the year 1861, his chosen companion being Miss Jen- nie Tremper, a cultured and noble-hearted lady, who was born in Wayne County, N. Y., May 4, 1842, and is the youngest in a family of four ehil- dren. Her parents were Jaeob and Dorcas Tremper, natives of the same county as herself. The mother died in the year 1859, and the father survived her until 1878. To the Hon. Mr. Arnold and his wife ten children have been born, three of whom have been removed from them by the hand of death. The survivors are: Frank W., Hattie, Augusta C., Robert L., Deane C., Katie M. and Jennie P. The first four-named are married, and the first two live in Seattle, Wash. Angusta C. is the wife of the Rev. W. C. Wheeler, of Wabann- see County. The rest are living in this place. The four oldest children are graduates of Washburn College, Topeka, and Deane C. is now a student in the same place. The younger members of the fam- ily will be given equally good advantages and fitted for useful lives.

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The Hon. Mr. Arnold has served on the Town- ship Board for ten years, and has also been identi- fied with the School Board. He was elected Justice of the Peace, but never qualified for the office. He is a strong advocate of temperance, following the example of his father, who was a stanch temperance man when it was odious to be such in the community in which he lived. Mr. Arnold has always been a Republican. He cast his first Presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln, and has voted for every Republican nominee since then. Ile and his wife, and all the children except the two youngest, are members of the Congrega- tional Church, in which he is Trustee and Treas- urer. For sixteen years Mr. Arnold has been a teacher in the home Sunday-school, and all the family are active in Sunday-school work.

E ZEKIEL HARRIS. Among the prominent and successful farmers of Pottawatomie County, the above-named gentleman de- serves mention as a man of enterprise, industry and excellent moral character. He is engaged in grain and stock raising, on section 36, Blue Valley Town- ship, where he owns 280 acres of land, which is intelligently cultivated and bears excellent improve- ments, these including a well-built house, barn, windmill, and other conveniences for the work which is carried on upon the estate, and an excel- lent orchard and vineyard.

The father of our subject is George Harris, who was born in Kent, England, Aug. 21, 1820, and came to Pennsylvania in 1841, following farming in Alleghany County for over thirty years. In 1872 he removed from the Keystone State to Kan- sas, locating on a farm of 120 acres in the same section where his son Ezekiel lives, on which well- improved farm he now makes his home. Ilis wife was, in her maidenhood, Miss Elizabeth Dodd, and was also born in Kent, coming to America with her father. George Dodd, who farmed in Pennsyl- vania until his death. The parental family con- sists of George W., a farmer in Green Township; him of whom we write; Mrs. Sarah A. Springer. of Green Township; Mary, who died in 1881; Al-

bert, living in Washington; Stephen, who is en- gaged in farming in Blue Valley Township; Mrs. Elizabeth Shaw, of Green Township; Henry, who is still living at home; Emma J., Mrs. Elmer Glunt. living in Green Township; Charles, of Washing- ton ; and Cassie B., at home. The paternal grand- father of our subject bore the same name as his father-George-and came to America from Eng- land, engaging in farming in Alleghany County, Pa., until his death in 1884, he having reached the age of eighty-two years.

Ezekiel Harris was born near Alleghany City, Pa., Oct. 9, 1847, and was reared on his father's farm within two miles of the Alleghany River, re- ceiving the educational advantages to be obtained in the common schools as long as he remained un- der the parental roof. At the age of sixteen lie was apprenticed at grist milling, and after serving three years ran the mill on shares till the spring of 1870, when he was obliged toabandon that occupa- tion on account of ill health. He then came to Manhattan, Kan., whence he walked to the home ( f his uncle, William Skinner, seventeen miles north of the city. During the summer he worked for his uncle, and in the fall purchased 120 acres of his present estate, upon which he began making im- provements. In 1872 he engaged as engineer at Winkler's Mill, on Fancy Creek, continuing so em- ployed till the spring of 1874, when he returned to his farm. He was just in time to be eaten ont by grasshoppers, but persevered in spite of discour- agements. and has made the improvements before noted upon his place, purchasing an additional 160 acres on section 31.

In Manhattan, April 11, 1873, Mr. Harris was united in marriage with Miss Mary Knipe, a native of Indiana. She departed this life in 1881, having borne her husband four children: Mand, Lucy A., Elmer and Mary E. In Green Township, in April, 1888, Mr. Harris contracted a second matrimonial alliance, the bride being Miss Emily Ilaworth, who was born in England.

Mr. Harris is interested in the development of the physical resources of the county, and its educa- tional and moral elevation, and for his public spirit as well as his personal intelligence and char- acter. he is held in good repute by his fellow citi-

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zens. At present he is filling the position of School Treasurer, in which he has served for six years. He has also been Supervisor of Roads. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Garrison, is now Steward, and has been Trustee and Assistant Superintendent of the Sunday-school, and also served on the Building Committee. IIe is a straight Republican.

OBIAS NECKELMAN, began his residence in Kansas in 1856, when he pre- empted the southwest quarter of section 3, in Blue Township, Pottawatomie County, which is still his home. The life of Mr. Neckelman has been full of interest and adventure and many an interesting tale can he tell, not only of the scenes of frontier life, but of events which he witnessed or partici- pated in during eighteen years of seafaring life. Though now almost four-score years old, his men- tal faculties are unimpaired and his physical activity is equal to that of many a man a quarter of a cen- tury younger. His fine estate is now one of the best cultivated, as well as one of the best equipped in the entire county, although at the date of his settlement upon it, it was bare and primitive prairie. its only attractive feature being its pleasant location. It is three and a half miles northeast of Manhat- tan, and its value is increased by its proximity to Elbow Creek, which affords abundant water for stock and fertilizes the broad fields. The residence is finely located and is a well designed, commodi- ous and attractive two-story frame edifice, well furnished and managed in a way which does credit to the housewifely skill of her who presides over it. Adjacent is an excellent barn and all needful sheds, granaries, etc., also fruit and shade trees, contribute to the beauty and prosperous appearance of the place.

Mr. Neckelman is a native of Jutland, Denmark, where his eyes first opened to the light July 19, 1812. His parents were John F., and Anna Chris- tian (Barry) Neckelman. His paternal grandfather was in the service of the British army for a num- ber of years, having the rank of General and do- ing good service in the wars of the middle and

latter parts of the seventeenth century. The fa- ther was a captain in the Danish army, serving during the Napoleonic wars.

Tobias took to the sea early in life and in 1826 was a sailor on board the "St. Valeria," a Danish merchantman which was wrecked off the coast of France. She had taken a cargo of sheep pelts to Bordeaux and was bound for Hamburg with a cargo of wine. Mr. Neckelman escaped with others of the crew and in 1827 emigrated to America, land- ing in Boston. Soon after his arrival he entered the merchant marine service and was for a time be- fore the mast. Subsequently he was promoted to a second officer and later he served in this capacity on the " Norman " of Boston. He also served three years in the United States Navy, a part of the time under Commodore Stockton who was then holding a First Lieutenant's commission.

The seafaring life of Mr. Neckelman took him to the east coast of Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico. In Rio Janeiro be saw the lately deposed Emperor, Dom Pedro, who was then a boy. While in the navy he served on the ships " Warren " and " Pea- cock " and was on the former in New Orleans when President Jackson was received on board. He was upon the site of Galveston, Tex., before that city had existence. After eighteen years spent as a sailor he left the sea in 1841, becoming a mate on a Mississippi River steamboat. He followed steam- boating ten years then settled in New Orleans and went into the grocery business. He was thus oc- cupied from 1845 to 1856 when, selling out, he came to Kansas of which he has since been a resi- dent. He is now numbered among its most highly respected and enterprising citizens and has abun- dant faith in the future of the Sunflower State.

W ILLIAM B. PRICE. Since the year 1872, this gentleman has been a resident of Kan- sas, and with the exception of ten months during the year 1888, which was spent in McPher- son County, his home has been on section 11, Louisville Township, Pottawatomie County, where he owns 360 acres of improved land, and is engaged in farming ninety acres of the same, and in raising

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horses, cattle, and hogs. Ile has served his fellow- citizens in several offices, and is looked up to as a man of strict morality, good judgment, and friendly nature. Mr. Price belongs to old Virginian fami- lies in both lines of descent, and his own birth took place in Berkeley County, in the Old Dominion. His father was Jacob Price, and his mother, Mary Gehr, who were married in their native State, and lived there until the death of the mother, which sad event occurred in 1849. The father subse- quently married Miss Salome Dubbel, who is now living in Carroll County, Ill , and has been a widow since 1870. Three of the children born to Jacob and Mary (Gehr) Price, grew to maturity, our subject being the youngest.

The gentleman of whom we write, opened his eyes to the light May 19, 1847, and received a common-school education in his native State, be- ginning life for himself at the age of nineteen years, on a farm in Illinois. After being engaged in agricultural pursuits for three years, he entered into the mercantile business at Lanark, but a year later closed out and returned to the farm, since which time he has devoted his attention continu- ously to agricultural employments. When in 1872, he came to this State, he purchased the farm which he still owns, upon which there were some improve- ments, and which had formerly been a part of the Pottawatomie Reservation. The estate has been more thoroughly improved, and is a valuable and attractive piece of property.

The most important step in the life of Mr. Price, was taken Oct. 27, 1870, when he became the hus- band of Miss Mary A. Lemen. This lady is also a descendant from Old Virginian families, and pos- sesses a most excellent education, combined with many sterling qualities of character, and domestic accomplishments. Iler parents, Robert and Sallie (Light) Lemen, were married in their native State, and during their entire married life, lived in the house which they entered immediately after their wedding. Mrs. Lemen departed this life in 1884, and her husband still survives, his age now being seventy-four years. Mrs. Price was the sixth of the nine children born to them, and opened her eyes to the light April 27, 1817. Her education was completed by an attendance of two years in the

Western Maryland Female College. She has borne her husband three children: Daisy L., was born Aug. 8. 1871, and has already spent one year in McPherson College; Sallie G. was born May 9, 1876, and Walter M .. March 30, 1879. It is the design of the parents to give their children the best advantages in the way of education, and such home and moral training as shall fit them for use- ful and honorable lives.

Mr. Price is conservative in his political views, and affiliates with the Republican party. He has served with credit in the offices of Justice of the Peace, and Township Trustee, and for nine years has been a member of the School Board in District No. 42. He belongs to the German Baptist Church.

6 HOMAS DOWNEY, a merchant, farmer and stockman of Clear Creek Township, is a son of the well-known Patrick Downey, and his wife, Elizabeth Phelen. The latter were natives of Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in 1851. Patrick Downey died in Knox County, Ill., in 1865, at the age of sixty-three years. The mother sub- sequently came to Kansas, and died in 1868, at an advanced age. They were people of limited means, but honest, industrious, and greatly devoted to their family. They had eleven children, of whom Thomas was the seventh in order of birth.

The subject of this sketch first opened his eyes to the light in the Province of Stratford, Canada, Feb. 16, 1845. He was six years old when his parents re- moved to the States, and was mainly reared in Oak- land, Mich., and Knox County, Ill. He came to Kan- sas when a young man of nineteen years, in Octo- ber. 1866, stopping first in Marshall County, Two years later he returned to Knox County, Ill., and was married in January. 1869, to Miss Margaret Reddington, of that county.

In the spring of 1873, Mr. Downey returned to the Sunflower State, and settling in Pottawatomie County, homesteaded the northeast quarter of sec- tion 22, Clear Creek Township, which he yet owns. Since that time he has been engaged continuously in farming, and of late years has been largely in- terested in stock-raising, making a specialty of

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draft horses. In 1879 he engaged in mercantile pursuits in the town of Blaine, as senior member of the firm of Downey & Cox. The business is still conducted by them, and is the oldest enterprise of the kind in the place.

In politics, Mr. Downey is what might be termed a liberal Democrat, and he has been placed in vari- ous positions of responsibility. He was Treasurer of Clear Creek Township, from 1882 to 1886, and was Township Trustee from 1886 to 1888, being each time elected on the people's ticket, and espec- ially chosen on account of his recognized fitness for the place. To Mr. and Mrs. Downey there has been born an intelligent family of children, ten in num- ber, who bear the names of Henry, Mary, Ellen, Thomas, Joseph, the first; Joseph, Dennis, Margret, Leo, and Gertrude. Joseph the first died at the age of eighteen months. Mr. Downey is looked upon as a public-spirited, intelligent citizen, honest and straightforward in his dealings, and a man pos- sessing the entire confidence of all with whom he has dealings. He has considerable property in and around the town of Blaine, including a half-inter- est in the Commercial Ilotel.

OHN E. HOLM, senior member of the firm of J. E. Holm & Bros., dealers in lum- ber, etc., is a man well-to-do, and prominent in his community, and has been uniformly prosperous in his enterprises. He owns 336 acres of good land in Blue Valley Township, and resides on section 26. A sketch of his ancestry will be found in the biography of Charles A. Holm, on an- other page in this volume.

Mr. Holm was born in Erbro Lan. Sweden, June 10, 1859, and when nine years old, accompanied his parents to America. Landing in New York City, they proceeded thence westward to Kansas, settling on a tract of land in Blue Valley Township, at a time when the open prairie abounded in wild game, and when their neighbors were few and far be- tween. Young Holm was required to make him- self useful at an early age, and when a boy of ten,

drove the oxen for a breaking plow. His educa- tion is self-acquired, he having only attended the public school about four months altogether. He was occupied in farming, and helping his father until a youth of sixteen years, then commenced operating a threshing machine, which he continued for eight seasons. He worked for his father until reaching his majority. During the winter of 1882- 83, desirous of a further knowledge of general business, he attended Pond's Business College at Topeka, from which he was gradnated in the spring of the latter year. During the spring of 1882, he purchased a well-drill which he operated, and en- gaged in the pump business in partnership with his brother Charles A., and in which they were very successful, doing a large business in pumps and windmills.

Mr. Holm, in 1884, purchased the farm which he now owns, and which he has largely devoted to stock-raising, employing men to do the work. In 1886, he, in company with his brother, purchased the lumber yard, which they are now operating, and another, consolidating the two and enlarging the stock and buildings. They have one of the largest yards in the county, of which Charles A. is the manager, while John E. gives his attention to the pump business. Upon his farm he has effected first-class improvements, having a good honse, barns, a windmill and tanks, an orchard and groves. the whole lying only about one-half mile from Ols- burg. In addition to this he operates other land, farming in all 500 acres. He raises large quanti- ties of corn, which is fed mostly to his live stock, of which he ships from two to three car-loads each year. He is likewise interested in fine horses, and a stock holder and cashier of the Olsburg Percheron Horse Company.

Mr. Holm was married in Blue Valley Township, Jan. 30, 1887, to Miss IFuldah Johnson, who was born in Sweden, in 1866. They have one child, a daughter, Mabel. Mr. Holm, politically, is a sound Republican, active in his party, and is frequently sent as a delegate to the county conventions. He is one of the most enterprising young men of his township, and in its growth and development forms no unimportant factor. He was the prime mover in erceting the Methodist Episcopal Church at Ols-

RESIDENCE OF J.E. HOLM, SEC, 26. BLUE VALLEYT. POTTAWATOMIE C.O. KAN

FARM RESIDENCE OF HARRISON SHEHI, SEC. 21. SPRING CREEK TP. POTTAWATOMIE CO.KAN.

RES. OF JOSEPH WELCH, SEC.26, BELLEVUE TP. POTTAWATOMIE CO. KAN.

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burg, and had a great deal to do with collecting money for the same.

We direct the attention of the reader to a litho- graphic engraving of the residence of our subject with its surroundings.

OSEPH WELCH. In 1848, during the Ter- ritorial days of Kansas, Mr. Welch first set foot upon its soil when a lad of fourteen years. At that time he was a resident of Shawnee County until 1853. That year he went to Wisconsin, but in 1860 returned to Kansas and purchased 320 acres of land on section 26, Belvue Township, Pottawatomie County. There he has since made his home. He is one of the prominent men of his community, in which he has held the minor offices, and has been the uniform encourager of the enterprises calculated for the growth and de- velopment of his adopted county. Hc votes the straight Democratie ticket, and is a devout mem- ber of the Catholic Church.

A native of Cook County, III., the subject of this sketch was born Mareh 16, 1834. IIis father, Michael P. Welch, a native of Ireland, was born in 1806, and emigrated to the United States in 1830, locating in Cook County, III. In 1853 he sought the Pacifie Slope, and thereafter remained a resi- dent of California until his death, which occurred in 1872. Before leaving Illinois, he served in the Black Hawk War, and later was a Colonel in the Mexican War. While in California he was en- gaged in mining.

The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Elizabeth Wilmett. She was born in Michi- gan, and died in Kansas when sixty-three years old. Her father Antoine Wilmett, was a native of Canada. Early in life he emigrated to Illinois, and subsequently removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he spent his last days. He, too, served in the Black Hawk War. The parental family in- cluded two children only, a daughter and son, Catherine and Joseph, the former of whom is now deceased.

Mr. Welch received his education mostly in Ken- tucky, and was reared to farming pursuits. At the

age of twenty-seven years he was married, in 1861, at the bride's home in St. Mary's, to Miss Mary Ducherm. Mrs. Welch was born in St. Joseph County, Mich., Nov. 12, 1845, and died when forty- two years old, at her home in St. Mary's. Of her union with our subject there were born twelve chil- dren, only six of whom are living, viz: Carrie, Mary, John, Morris, Francis, and Charles.

ARRISON SHEHI, familiarly called "Har- dy," is well and favorably known to a large portion of the citizens of Spring Creek Township, and has the finest residence within its limits. He is one of the most extensive landowners of Pottawatomie County, holding the warrantee deed to 829 broad acres, having his homestead on section 21. A sketch of his family will be found in the biography of his brother, James II. Shehi, on another page in this ALBUM.

The youngest of six children, Harrison Shehi was born near Monmonth, III., Nov. 24, 1841, and was reared upon his father's farm, acquiring his early education in the district school. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in the Union Army, Nov. 12, 1861, as a member of Company E, 13th Illinois Cavalry, and was mustered in at Chi- cago. In February following the regiment was sent to St. Louis, Mo., and assigned to the Army of the Southwest, under the command of Gen. Curtis, to fight bushwhackers. They met these nearly every day, and Mr. Shehi participated in all the battles and skirmishes in which his regiment was engaged, until taking ill, the result of a sunstroke and other ailments, received at Helena, Ark., and was eon- fined there in a hospital where he came near dying. IIe was obliged to accept his honorable discharge, Sept. 24, 1862, and was taken home by his brother, John, after which he was ill for several years, and has never fully recovered.

Mr. Shehi was of that disposition, however, which would not permit him to remain idle, and as soon as able he put his shoulder to the wheel, and engaged in farming with his father until the latter part of the summer of 1865. On the 24th of August, that year, he set out for Kansas over-

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land with a team and wagon. and driving twenty- seven head of cattle. On the 19th of September following, he purchased 160 acres of his present farm, for which he paid $400. He put up a log house, hauling the necessary lumber from the river at a time when wild game abounded, and when the wagon roads were in very bad condition. He commenced farming in primitive style, and en- dured in common with his neighbors the hardships of life on the frontier. He invested his capital in additional land, and has the whole enclosed with substantial fencing, and 130 acres under the plow. For this land he paid from $2.50 to $5 per aere. It is watered by Spring Creek, and largely devoted to grain and stock raising, Mr. Shehi making a specialty of high-grade Hereford cattle. At an early day he engaged quite extensively in buying and shipping, from which he realized handsome returns. He has sixteen head of road horses, and all the buildings and machinery requisite for suc- cessful farming and stock-raising. The large stone residence was erected in 1880 at a cost of $4,000. It is a noticeable piece of architecture, and attracts the attention of the country around. The adjacent buildings are amply adapted to the shelter of stock and the storage of grain.

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Portrait and biographical album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, Part 33

Author: Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Bros. Number of Pages: 788

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Bros.
Number of Pages: 788