Portrait and biographical album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, Part 40

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 40
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 40
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 40


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Our subject was her first-born. In the primitive log school-house, heated by the blaze of logs in the


rude fireplace, and lighted by the removal of a log, greased paper being placed over the hole thus made in the wall, he gleaned the rudiments of his educa- tion. As soon as large enough his services were demanded to assist his father in clearing his land and preparing it for cultivation. Ile was ever a lover of books and an ambitious student, and made the best of his educational advantages, so that at the age of twenty-two he was well qualified to teach, and entering that profession he was engaged at it for five or six winter terms, employing his leisure in the study of medicine, for which he had a natural aptitude, and in 1846 he commenced its practice, opening an office in Rosseau, Morgan County. He attended medical lectures at Willoughby Medical College in Lake County, and was graduated therefrom with a high standing in 1847. In the fall of that year he established himself in Gibi- sonville, Hocking County, and in the busy years that followed he built up a large and lucrative practice, besides giving his attention to other mat- ters. Soon after locating there he bought some farm land and interested himself in agriculture and stock-raising. And he also served as Postmaster of Gibisonville. He was a resident of that town when the war broke out in 1861, and in August of that year all personal interests were laid aside from patriotic motives, and he enlisted in the defence of his country's honor, becoming a member of Com- pany B, 31st Ohio Infantry, and was at once com- missioned First Lieutenant of his company, and in February, 1862, received deserved promotion for his gallant conduct and efficiency as an officer, to the position of Captain. Ile served with his regi- ment until January, 1863, and during the greater part of the time was detailed as its surgeon. The arduous duties thus devolved upon him proved too great a strain for his health, which became im- paired, and in consequence, he was obliged to resign in the month just mentioned. He returned to Hocking County, Ohio, and resumed his practice and looked after his varied interests in Gibison- ville. lle did not, however, lose his concern for the welfare of his country, but watched the pro- gress of the war with intense anxiety, and in the spring of 1864, with renewed vigor. he again of- fered his services to the Government, and afforded


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active assistance in raising the 151st Ohio Regi- ment, was elected its Major, and served with his men in and near Washington, D. C., until after the expiration of the term of enlistment, which was for 100 days. After leaving the army he resided in Hocking County until the fall of 1866, and then came to Kansas to avail himself of the numerous advantages to make money offered to men of intel- ligence and enterprise. He bought two farms adjoining this city, and superintended their im- provement besides practicing his profession. In 1874 he abandoned his calling to devote himself to the manufacture of flour, having traded for a mill in town, which he operated the ensuing seven years with marked financial success, and at the same time carried on agriculture and the nursery business. In 1881 he sold the mill, continuing in the other branches mentioned until 1884, when he went to Decatur, Ala., and invested in a fruit farm, which he managed three years. Selling his prop- erty there, he again came North, and buying city property, and building a commodious house he has since resided here, and is prosperously engaged in the insurance, loan and pension business.


Doctor Williams has been thrice married. He was wedded in 1841 to Miss Lucinda Shepard, of Morgan County, Ohio. She died in April, 1846. The Doctor's second marriage, which took place in May, 1847, was to Miss Margaret Mckeever, a na- tive of Pennsylvania. She died in April, 1848, leaving one son, Thomas C., a graduate of the Leb- anon (Ohio) University, and now a successful teacher in Durango. Colo. Our subject was mar- ried to his present wife, formerly Miss Elizabeth A. Whitcraft, a native of Ohio, in April, 1849.


Dr. Williams was formerly an old-line Whig in politics, but from the hour of the formation of the Republican party he has been in deep sympathy with its policy, and has been one of its strongest supporters in this part of the country, or where- ever he has made his home. He has filled various offices of trust in a manner to show that he is a loyal and public-spirited citizen. IIe was elected to the State Legislature of Kansas in 1869, and so well did he fulfil his duties as legislator that he was re-elected by his pleased constituency in 1870 and 1871 to serve two terms as a member of that


honorable body, and his whole career as a states. man marked him as a wise and conscientious coun- . selor and an incorruptible citizen. He and his amiable wife are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and their acts and deeds testify to the sincerity and purity of their religion. The Doctor is an honored member of the G. A. R., iden- tified with Will Mendell Post, No. 15; and he be- longs to Holton Lodge, No. 34, I. O. O. F.


ARON URBANSKY. The man who starts at the foot of the ladder in life and perse- veres through difficulties and discourage- ments, finally attaining the goal of his ambition, deserves more than a passing notice. There is not, perhaps, in Pottawatomie County, a man who has labored with more persistence, or who has been more amply rewarded, than the sub- ject of this notice. He now stands at the head of the mercantile interests in St. Mary's, being an ex- tensive dealer in clothing, dry-goods and general merchandise, doing a business of $20,000 to 830,- 000 annually. He also has a store in Lawrence, Kan., where he transacts $55,000 worth of business per year; and in the spring of 1889 he opened another establishment in Junction City with a $12,000 stock, and there also has a good business. He came to St. Mary's when it consisted of a few frame and log houses, and perhaps five stores. The trade was chiefly with Indians. He commenced in a modest manner, but now occupies an elegant large store building, with seventy-five feet front, with plate glass windows, and in other respects furnished and equipped in modern style and with modern con- veniences.


The subject of this sketch was born in West Prussia, Jan. 2, 1839, and, in accordance with the laws and customs of his native country, was placed in school at an early age, and pursued his studies until a lad of fourteen. In the fall of 1856, when a youth of seventeen years, having determined to seek his fortune in America, he set out from Ham- burg on the sailing-vessel "North America," and after an ocean voyage of six weeks and four days landed safely in New York City. He worked there


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about four weeks at making caps, and earned money enough to get to Chicago, Il1. In the latter city his step-brother, Cobn, furnished him with a small stock of goods and he started out as a pack peddler, and was thus employed until the spring of 1857. He then joined a Town Site Company, which pur- posed coming to Kansas and laying out the town of Eudora, in Douglas County. In the meantime, Mr. Urbansky pursued his former business, and after selling out his stock, returned East as far as Illinois, locating in Lima, Adams County. There, in partnership with Mrs. Harrison Colin, he opened a general store and remained until 1861. The partnership was then dissolved, and Mr. Urbansky opened in business for himself at Lima. but sold out the following year and returned to Eudora, opening a general store. In 1864 lie established a branch in Atchison, but a year later removed both stocks to Lawrence, where he operated until 1867.


The next removal of our subject was to DeSoto, Kan., where he engaged in his former business, re- maining till 1869. In the spring of that year we find him in St. Mary's, of which he has since been a resi- dent. In the meantime, in 1864, during the Civil War, he joined the 5th Regiment of the State Militia, and assisted in chasing the rebel General Price from the soil of the Sunflower State.


Mr. Urbansky was first married, in 1865, at Law- rence, this State, to Miss Emma, the daughter of Jacob and Mena Wollmann, a native of Prussia and a member of the same church as her husband. To them there were born twelve children, eight of whom were living, viz: Benny, William, Joseph, David, Morris, Lilly, Sydney and Grover C. The deceased children died in infancy. Mrs. Emma Urbansky departed this life May 31, 1887, at the early age of forty-three. Our subject subsequently married Jennie Wollmann, a sister of his first wife, July 15, 1889, at the Southern Hotel, at St. Louis.


The first stone dwelling in the city of St. Mary's was erected by Mr. Urbansky about 1880. Ile has met with reverses like other men. In 1884 the store which he first erected,on the site of the present building, was destroyed by fire, together with its contents, involving a loss of about 840,000, upon which there was an insurance of only $17,500.


He at once rebuilt, and has done a larger business than ever before. He owns a store in Lawrence, and has other valuable property in St. Mary's. He also has lots in Los Vegas, N. M. He owns 160 acres of land in and around Wabaunsee, this State, upon which is situated the depot of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. He has 162 acres of improved land, three miles from Topeka, and about 200 acres, probably a mile south of St. Mary's. All this property has been accumulated by the exercise of unflagging industry, economy and a wise investment of capital.


The parents of our subject were David and Sarah (Joseph) Urbansky, likewise natives of Prussia, members of the Hebrew Church, and of pure Ger- man ancestry. They spent their last years in St. Mary's. Mr. Urbansky is a charter member of Pottawatomie Lodge, No. 52, A. F. & A. M., of St. Mary's. He has been identified with the Ma- sonic fraternity for a period of twenty-eight years, having joined the brotherhood at Lima, Ill., in 1861. Ile votes the Democratic ticket, and has held the office of City and Township Treasurer since the spring of 1889.


AMES Q. MARK, an old settler and promi- nent farmer of Pottawatomie County, Kan., owns and operates a fine farm of 240 acres of land on section 11, Rock Creek Town- ship.


The estate is fenced, and the greater part is under excellent cultivation. Near the center of the section he has erected a comfortable and commo- dious residence, and has surrounded it with trees, shrubbery, flowers, velvety lawns, and at a conven- ient distance, a kitchen garden.


Mr. Mark was born in Putnam County, Ind., in 1830, and lived there until his departure for Kan- sas. He followed farming in the Hoosier State, and was thus a practical agriculturist when he com. menced his life in the new State of Kansas. One of the most important events in the life of a man is that by which he takes a wife who will prove bis greatest joy or his most grievous hurden. Our subject did not make a mistake in the selection of a life partner, as his noble wife proved a "true


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yoke-fellow" and an admirable woman in every re- spect. James Q." Mark and Miss Ann Thursby Siddens were married, in 1850, at the home of the bride's parents in Putnam County, Ind., and began life together in the same county, remaining there until, as before mentioned, they came to this State. Their union has been blessed by the birth of ten children, of whom eight still live to comfort and eheer their declining years. They are named re- spectively : Sarah, wife of P. G. Etchison, of West- moreland; Joseph, who is at the parental homestead; Alice, Mrs. William Waldon,a resident of the town of Westmoreland; Mary, who married J. B. Walker, of Pottawatomie County ; Charles, a farmer of Potta- watomie County; James, Elmer and Milton are at home. Mrs. Mark is a sister of Abraham Siddens, a sketeh of whose life appears elsewhere in this work.


Our subject, accompanied by his wife and six children, left Indiana in 1865 and came overland to Johnson County, Kan., the journey occupying six weeks. Upon their arrival they took up a new farm of eighty acres and commenced the task of subdning the soil and making it fit to produce the crops necessary to support life. Two years later they removed to Pottawatomie County and took up 120 acres of raw prairie, and made improve- ments thereon as rapidly as they were able. Their first residence was a log cabin, and there they lived several years and until they erected their present handsome house, in which they hope to pass the evening of their days in ease and comsort, enjoying the reward of earlier years of toil and self-denial.


During the first years Mr. Mark passed in this county, the farmers were compelled to go to the southern part of the county for all of their provis- ions, as the land was thinly populated and the log cabins of the farmers dotted the landscape at very infrequent intervals. Goods of all kinds were con- veyed by wagons, and the journey required days and sometimes weeks. Mr. Mark, assisted by his noble wife, worked faithfully year after year, and by industry and prudence increased the acreage of their farm and improved its condition. Gradually they brought it to its present state of eultivation, with large orchards, good fenees, and all the out- buildings necessary for the proper carrying on of a farm. To the cultivation of the soil they have


added the business of stock-raising, their specialty being horses.


The Methodist Episcopal Church at Westmore- land finds in our subject and his wife devoted members, while they are highly respected in their community for their many good qualities. Politi- cally, Mr. Mark is a Republican, and has served on the School Board of his district. He is wholly worthy of the esteem which he receives as an hon- est, reliable and industrious pioneer of the Sun- flower State.


6 9


C APT. M. M. BECK, editor and proprietor of the Holton Recorder, is one of the leading citizens of this eity in whose upbuilding he has taken a deep interest from its infancy, and through the columns of his paper, one of the ablest journals published in this part of Kansas, and in various other ways, he has aetively promoted its advancement. He is a veteran of the late war, in which he won honor, distinguishing himself as a brave and fearless officer, who not only knew how to lead his men gallantly in the charge, but was a faithful subordinate upon whom his superior officers always placed great reliance.


Capt. Beck was born Nov. 22, 1838, five miles . southeast of Centreville, Wayne Co., Ind., in the pioneer home of his parents, William and Cather- ine (Nethercutt) Beck. His father was born in Darke County, Ohio, in 1809, and was a son of Samuel Beck, of New Jersey, who was one of the early pioneers of that part of Ohio. After his re- moval there he had bought a tract of heavily tim- bered land, and was busily engaged in clearing and cultivating it until 1820, when he again became a pio- neer, moving with his family still further west and locating in Wayne County, Ind., among its early settlers. He bought a tract of land in the primeval forests, and cleared and improved a farm, on which he lived until death called him hence. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.


The father of our subject was but a boy when his parents went to Indiana, and there he was reared to man's 'estate, and took unto himself a wife, He


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bought wild land near Centreville, and after the death of his father bought the interest of the other heirs in the old homestead where he had been reared, and removed to it with his family. That was before the day of railways in that sparsely set- tled country, and farming was carried on under difficulties, as even after the land was cleared and placed under cultivation the produce, the grain, pork, etc., had to be taken in wagons over rough, lonely roads to market, the nearest one being Cin- cinnati, sixty miles away, until the Whitewater canal was completed. Mr. Beck was quite unfortu- nate during the hard times of 1840 and 1844, when there were so many financial failures throughout the country, he losing all his possessions, and being obliged to rent land for a time. In 1849 he re- moved to Putnam County, where his wife had in- herited a tract of land, upon which they settled, and he engaged in farming, built a comfortable home, and once more prosperity smiled on him, and he continued in good circumstances until his death in 1875. His wife preceded him in death, passing away in 1858. She was a native of Vir- ginia, and a daughter of Moses and Christiana (Rozer) Nethercutt, natives of Virginia and pio- neers of Ohio, their removal to that State being made over the mountains with pack horses. They resided in Ohio some years and then went to Wayne County, Ind., of which they were early settlers. The father bonght a tract of timber land, upon which he first built a log house for a dwelling, and later replaced it by a commodious brick structure, one of the first ever erected in that section of the country. They subsequently removed to Putnam County, and there died, he at the age of eighty-one and she aged seventy-nine years. Our subject was one of ten children, of whom the following seven were reared: Samuel, Mary J., M. M., David D., George W., Sarah E. and John W. The parents of our subject were faithful Christians and exemp- lary members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The father was a Whig until the formation of the Republican party, which he was one of the first to join. He was a strong temperance man and was opposed to the traffic of intoxicating liquors, and he was, in short, a friend of all reform measures.


The subject of this biography passed his early


life on a farm, and aided his father in its cultivation when he was not attending the publte schools. He continued with his parents until he was seventeen years old, and then began life on his own account as a clerk in a general store in Bainbridge, Ind., and was thus employed for various merchants until 1860, when he bought an interest in a store with W. T. and J. A. Scott in Bainbridge. In April, 1861, he was among the first to volunteer in defence of the Stars and Stripes, enlisting in Company K. 16th Indiana Regiment, for one year, he being the third man to enlist from Bainbridge. He served with his regiment in Maryland and Virginia in the Army of the Potomac, and was discharged in May, 1862, with the other members of his regiment. In July of that year he again enlisted, becoming a member of the 18th Indiana Battery, his term of enlistment being for three years, or until the war closed. When the regiment was organized he was commissioned Senior Second Lieutenant, and he fought valiantly in many battles in Kentucky, Ten- nessee, Georgia and Alabama, and one year was with Wilder's Lightning Brigade, and the rest of the time was with MeCook's Division of Cavalry. In November, 1863, his services were rewarded by promotion to the position of First Lieutenant, and in May, 1864, he was still further advanced by be- ing made Captain, and he commanded the battery until he was mustered out July 2, 1865. Through- out his long service, extending almost from the time that the first gun was fired in the opening battle until after peace was declared, he displayed the qualities of a true soldier and a leader in many a hard-fought contest. He took an active part in the battle of Chickamauga and was in all the engage- ments of the Atlanta campaign, including the siege and capture of the city; he accompanied Gen. Thomas in his campaign against Gen. Hood, and with Gen. Wilson's cavalry he assisted in the pur- suit and capture of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy.


After his retirement from the army Capt. Beck resumed his mercantile business in Bainbridge, continuing there until 1869. In that year he was attracted to Kansas by its sunny climate, fertile soil and the many advantages the great and growing commonwealth offered over its older sister States


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for coining wealth. He entered actively into ag- ricultural pursuits, and commenced the improve- ment of a farm three miles north of this city. He only resided there one year, however, and then came to Ilolton to act as clerk for awhile, and he then started a drug-store, which he managed with good financial success until 1884. In 1873 he was appointed Postmaster of Holton and served eight- een months. In 1875 he entered upon his career as a journalist, establishing the Holton Recorder, and a few months later he bought the Holton Ex- press, and consolidated the two papers. In July, 1875, he was re-appointed Postmaster of Holton, and held the office until 1886. He sold his drug business in 1884, and since 1886 has devoted his time exclusively to the management of his paper and to his job printing office. He is more than ordinarily well informed, and is an exceedingly discerning, sagacious member of the editorial fra- ternity, standing among the foremost of his profes- sion in this part of Kansas, and he has made his paper a power in the land, his ready, fluent pen wielding a great moral and social influence through its columns and vigorously advancing all reforms that will in any way benefit the commonwealth or promote the wellfare of the people at large. He is a strong temperance man, and was one of the original Prohibitionists of the State, although never a "third party" man, but standing stanchly by the Republicans in all political movements. He has aided the cause of education as a member of the Board of Directors of Campbell University, and as a member of the present Board of Education of Holton. He was one of the members of the first City Council. The Captain is an honored, member of Will Mendell Post, No. 46, G. A. R., and he is identified with the A. F. & A. M., belonging to Holton Lodge, No. 42, and he is also a member of the I. O. O. F., Holton Lodge, No. 34.


In his marriage, in 1866, to Miss Mary H. Seott, a native of Putnam County, Ind., and a daughter of W. T. and Sarah Scott (of whom see sketch on another page), Capt. Beek was fortunate in secur- ing a good wife, who devotes herself to his inter- ests, to the care of her family and to making their home comfortable and happy. They have five children-Edward S., Martha M., William T., Clara


M. and Lillian S. Edwin. their first born, died at the age of fourteen months. The family all belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are among its most active workers.


AMES H. SHEHI. The oldest settler and the most prominent man in Spring Creek Township, Pottawatomie County. is the IIon. J. H. Shehi. He occupies a finely im- proved farm on Spring Creek, and is engaged in feeding cattle and hogs for the market, in raising full blooded Durham cattle and a good grade of hogs and horses. His residence is a large stone structure which was erected in 1866, and which has a ground dimension of 19x33 feet in the main, with a wing 17x30. The large and valuable barn was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1889. Mr. Shehi owns 997 acres, all well improved, neatly fenced, and a bearing orchard of 300 trees. The estate contains the two largest springs in the county, and 300 acres are of fertile bottom land. Of this large estate 640 acres occupy section 4, 160 are on section 3, 160 on section 10, and 37 on section 34.


The father of our subject was Jolin Shehi, born in Fauquier County, Va., and son of a Scotch-Irish gentleman, whose birth took place in Ireland. John Shehi moved to Kentucky in 1790 and there en- gaged in tilling the soil, also taking flatboats down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, where he would dispose of boats and cargo. Dur- ing the war of 1812 he served as a Lieutenant un- der Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison. In 1832 he changed his residence to the neighborhood of Monmouth, Ill., and ranked among the prosperous farmers and stockmen of the Prairie State. In the spring of 1865 he came to Kansas, and resided with his chil- dren until his death in 1876, departing this life when past eighty-nine years old. The mother of our subject, in her maidenhood Miss Mary Me- Donald, was born in the Blue Grass State and died in Illinois Nov. 8, 1864. The maternal great- grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War, serving eight years under Gen. Washington. The paternal family consisted of six children: John,


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now a resident in Monmouth, Ill .; our subject; Daniel, of Colorado Springs, Col .; George W., of this township; Henry, deceased, and Harrison.


He of whom we write first opened his eyes to the light, July 7, 1832, near Monmouth, III. He was reared on the parental acres and his schooling was limited, as he had the asthma so badly he could not attend school much of the time. At the age of seventeen he determined to try the climate of the Pacific Coast for his health, and in the spring of 1850 started overland with an ox-team, striking the Missouri River at Council Bluffs and taking the North Platte trail. Six months later he arrived in Willamette Valley in Lyon County, Ore., where he took a claim under the first Homestead Act. He worked at brick-making and wood-chopping during the first fall, his asthma soon leaving him. In the spring of 1851, he went to Northern California and engaged in prospecting, and during the summer en- listed in the service against the Rogue River Indians, taking part in several skirmishes and fights with them. In the fall after the disbandment of the troops, he mined for a time in Southern Ore- gon and then returned to his claim, which, three years later he sold, and going to San Francisco took passage on the steamer " John L. Stevens " to Panama, crossed the Isthmus on a mule, and took Atlantic passage on the mail steamer "Central America " to New York City, whence he journeyed to his home in Illinois.




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