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 67
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 67
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 67
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In 1878, returning to to Washington, Ind., Mr. Haynes turned his attention to the practice of law in connection with operating his farm and conduct- ing a real-estate and loan business. He was also a Notary Public. In 1884 he disposed of his inter- ests in Indiana, and coming to Kansas located near Topeka, and purchased three farms in partnership with his sons. In the spring of 1887 he transferred the scene of his operations to Perry and purchased 210 acres of land adjoining the town. After effect- ing considerable improvements in this he sold out and removed inside the city limits. He still retains his interest in the land near Topeka and owns con- siderable real estate in Perry, including a brick block and several lots besides his residence. Ile is still interested in live stock, buying and shipping, and likewise deals in grain and all kinds of provis- ions. We also has an interest in the Perry mill.
Mr. Haynes was married, in Green County, Ohio, Feb. 8, 1843, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Darst. Mr. Darst was born in Virginia and was a prominent resident of Dayton, Ohio, and a leader in the Christian Church. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Haynes: the second son, Charles, enlisted in the 74th Ohio Infantry during the late war, and died in Green County, Ohio, in 1862 or 1:63; Jacob M. acquired a good business education, being graduated from the college in Cleveland, Ohio, and now occupies the position of
foreman in a machine factory in Topeka; John is married and farming near Topeka; Samuel was graduated from Asbury University in Indiana, and likewise operates a farm near Topeka; Joseph taught school during his younger years, but is now a farmer and stock-raiser near Topeka; Robert is the station agent at Perry, in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad; he completed his studies in Per- due University. Mary E. is the wife of A. H. MeBrier, a farmer of Davis County, Ind.
During his sojourn in Indiana Mr. Haynes was appointed a Notary Public by the late lamented Thomas A. Hendricks. In Shawnee County. this State, he served for some time as a Justice of the Peace. He associated himself with the I. O. O. F. at Dayton, Ohio, in 1852. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since Nov. 19. 1839, and assisted in the erection of the church edifice at Perry, being a member of the Board of Trustees. He is a strong temperance mau and has been a Republican in politics since the election of James A. Garfield. He has done good service for his party in this section, being frequently sent as a delegate to the county and State conventions. He also attended the Democratic National Convention at Baltimore which nominated Horace Greeley for President, and at Chicago when Mcclellan was nominated.
The father of our subject was Jacob Haynes, a native of Pennsylvania and the son of Andrew Ilaynes, who was also born there and who traced his ancestry to Germany. Grandfather Haynes fol- lowed farming all his life; his son Jacob employed himself as a mechanic, and was engaged in the armory at Harper's Ferry, in the employ of the Government from 1810 until 1837. In the mean- time lie served in the War of 1812 and partici- pated in the battle of Blandensburg. In 1837 he emigrated to Ohio and located on land in the vicin- ity of Chillicothe, where he engaged in farming and became well-to-do. He finally retired from active labor, and died in Bellbrook in 1872, at the age of eighty-eight years. He was a Democrat of the old Jacksonian type, and during his younger years belonged to the German Reformed Church. Later he identified himself with the Methodists.
The mother of Mr. Ilaynes bore the maiden
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name of Mary Reed ; she was born in Philadelphia, Pa., and was the daughter of William Reed a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, who emigrated to America, employed himself as a mechanic and mar- ried a Miss Patterson. In religion he was a Pres. byterian; he likewise was a carpenter in the employ of the Government at Harper's Ferry, and died there in 1832. The wife and mother had passed away at the same place in 1828. They were the parents of four children, the eldest of whom, a son, John, died when sixty-six years old; Robert P. was the second child; JJacob is a merchant of Dayton, Ohio; Elizabeth, the only daughter, died in Chilli- cothe, that State. After the death of his first wife Mr. Haynes was married again, and there was born one daughter, Virginia S., who is now a Professor of music at Dayton.
OHN B. BROWN. Although by no means an old man, this gentleman is one of the old residents of Nortonville and well known as the host of the Commercial House. His citizenship of Jefferson County dates from 1870, and from that period of time he has been identified with the development of the county, and more particularly since becoming a resident of this eity, has held a prominent place among the citizens, his moral character, bis financial tact and' energy, and his intelligent understanding of the needs of the community, fitting him for great usefulness.
Mr. Brown was born in Clermont County, Ohio, in January, 1845, and spent his boyhood on a farm near Pekin, his resources in the way of schooling being limited to about three months' attendance in a twelvemonth. His parents removed to Menard County, Ill., settting on a farm near Athens, where he grew to manhood and where, in August, 1868, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Power, a native of Sangamon County, Ill. The father of the bride was born in Kentucky, but was for some time a resident of Sangamon County, and died there when his daughter was very young ; his widow subsequently married Joseph Batte, and they now live in Nortonville, Kan.
The second year after their marriage Mr. and
Mrs. Brown came to the West and located in Jeff- erson County; three miles south of the location where Nortonville was subsequently built Mr. Brown purchased a farm of eighty acres, which he operated until after the town was started, and he then moved to the village and opened a real-estate office, dealing in wild land and acting as agent for the large non-resident holders. At the time when he became a townsman, the population of the place was made up of the families of John Taggart, Dr. R. D. Webb, Wesley Cummings, John Haines, Robert Neeley, Edwin Maddox, D. F. K. Dorr, B. F. Payne and Mrs. Stout. Mr. Taggart is now a banker in White City, Kan .; Mr. Cummings is a merchant at Effingham, Ill .; Mr. Neeley has returned to Missouri, where he had formerly lived; Mrs. Stout removed to Oregon, and Mr. Payne is a me- chanic at Plainfield, Kan .; Dr. Webb and Messrs. Haynes, Maddox and Dorr are still residents of Nortonville. Messrs. O. W. Babcock and Oliver Davis, partners for many years, live just over the line, and have always been identified with the interests of the town, and are among its first citi- zens to-day.
At the period of which we are speaking all the land in the county was for sale and customers few, and the best real-estate agent was generally the one who could first obtain a hearing by them and pre- cede all others in showing the intended purchaser about. When a man would stop in the town and express a desire to purchase land, he would be taken by the agent in a buggy over the open prairie until a tract was found that would suit him in price and location, if such a thing were possible. The corner stone was then found, a small payment made to bind the bargain, which was then considered closed. The land varied in price from $5 to $10 per acre.
The office of Mr. Brown was a 20x24 foot room on Railroad Street, which was destroyed by fire- in 1885. Our subject continued in the real-estate business for about eight years, during which time he erected two buildings, in one of which he lived and which is now owned and occupied by James L. Elmore, and is the handsomest residence in town; the other edifice was a two-story structure, 20x28 feet, the lower floor fitted up for a store and the upper for an office. When Mr. Brown abandoned
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the real-estate business he engaged in stock-dealing with Mr. Layson. In 1883 they bought out the Commercial House and Mr. Brown took it in charge, and during the Cleveland administration he had charge of the post-office also.
Since he has lived in Nortonville, Mr. Brown has held the office of Justice of the Peace every year except two, and he was Mayor of the city dur- ing two terms. He is Democratic in politics, and was nominated for Probate Judge on his party ticket. Hle belongs to the Masonic fraternity, bis member- ship being in Mt. Zion Lodge, No. 266, at Norton . ville. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Christian Church, and the former took quite a prominent part in building the edifice in which the Disciples. of Nortonville, worship.
ACOB P. KUNKEL, dealer in real estate, and member of the mercantile firm of Van Vleck & Kunkel, is an old settler and highly respected citizen of Jefferson County, and a prominent and influential resident of Perry. He was born near Williamsport, Lycoming Co., Pa., Sept. 19, 1829, and until his sixteenth year lived upon a farm, having but limited school ad- vantages, as his attendance was in a log school house three miles distant from his home. At the age of sixteen years he began working in the iron works at Danville and Bloomsberg, and soon after- ward was apprenticed at the blacksmith's trade, which he followed for two years. He then went into the pine woods in Cogan Valley, and spent five years as engineer in a sawmill.
Young Kunkel then bought a mill and fifty acres of land, in partnership with a Mr. Whiting, and ran the mill for two years, after which he sold and took large contracts for sawing lumber. He had done exceeding well until 1857. when he de- termined to come to Kansas. In the spring of 1858, therefore, he came by rail to Jefferson City, Mo., thence by steamer to Kansas City, which was then but a small town without a hotel, and thence by stage to Lecompton, the first capital of Kansas. Mr. Kunkel was one of the first settlers on the
Kansas River, where he engaged in contracting and sawing lumber. In the spring of 1860 he crossed the plains with an ox-team, being forty-two days in reaching Denver, which was then a Govern- ment post, and great headquarters for gamblers. Mr. Kunkel bought a half interest in a guleh mine, and worked it for nearly two years, but losing the most of his money there, he again engaged in saw- milling, prosecuting that work in the mountains un . til the spring of 1864, when the gold excitement in Montana drew him to that Territory.
Our subject and two other men with ox-teams went to the Platte River, which they crossed about 100 miles west of Ft. Laramie, and there formed a company of 300 people, with a caravan of ninety- six wagons, to explore and take a short cut to Vir- ginia City. They employed Maj. Bridges as their guide and scout, paying him $1,000 in cash and a good mule. The party spent four months pros- pecting through the country, and pushed on to Virginia City, over a path that had never before been trodden by white men, thus opening a new and shorter route to that place. Several times they were corralled by the Snake and Flat Head Indians, and had it not been for Maj. Bridges, who was ac- quainted with the tribes and their languages, and who had married into the Flat Head tribe, not a man would have been left to tell the story.
Mr. Kunkel located in Virginia City, which was then two years old, and having traded for a team of horses, began teaming and hauling. When the busy season was over he went to Boise City, Idaho. and engaged with a pack train to carry provisions to the mines. After having continued this em- ployment for a year, he went to Walla Walla, Wash., which was then just started, and wintered there, taking up his work with a pack train in the spring. The train was run to different points, and had five drivers. In the fall they loaded for Black- foot City, and on their way back to Walla Walla they were compelled to make a detour of some 200 miles on account of a heavy fall of snow. At one place they were obliged to camp for three weeks on five days' rations, and the weather was so cold that the animals would freeze to death. Timber was plenty on the banks of the lake where they were camping, and the men kept themselves warm by
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piling logs and keeping up a large fire, and lived on mule flesh. After they had been in camp abont three weeks the "Chinook" winds came on, and soon melted the snow, so that they were able to make their way across the prairies to Snake River. Here the ice was broken up, and it was impossible to cross the river until it had floated past. When the water was sufficiently clear for crossing, they succeeded in getting an Indian to row two of them across for the sum of $4, which terms they made after dickering a half day. The two comrades made their way on foot toward Walla Walla, and though it began snowing about five o'clock, they traveled nearly all night. They finally came to a gulch where a bunch of willows grew, and here they lighted a fire and stopped to rest. Our sub- ject was so tired that he seemed to have lost all care as to what should become of him, and be would no doubt have perished there in the snow by freezing to death if the howls of the wolves had not kept him awake. Toward daylight the com- rades bestirred themselves and continued their journey, and had proceeded but about one-half a mile when they heard dogs barking, and soon after- ward reached a fence, which indicated the proxim- ity of a settler. Mr. Kunkel was so completely worn out that he leaned against the fence and went to sleep. His partner, Pat, went on to the ranch and obtained help, and he was taken into the house and given the hearty welcome which a frontiers- man always accords to a stranger, and especially to a stranger in need. The next day Mr. Kunkel was unable to walk, but the day following he started and consumed three days in traversing a distance of sixteen miles. This was the hardest trip he ever made, and he vowed that he would never spend another winter in the mountains.
This incident transpired in the fall and winter of 1865, and during the following summer Mr. Kun- kel was employed as an engineer in a sawmill, re- ceiving $4 per day and his board for his labors. In the fall of 1866 he sold his effects and left Port- land for San Francisco, intending to go home via the Isthmus of Panama and New York. The voy- age made him so sick that he abandoned the idea of proceeding further in that way, and spent the winter in California, and in the spring returned
to Walla Walla. There he fell in with a party who were going to Helena, Mont., and he acted as their guide, their journey covering 600 miles, and being made via Blackfoot City. The party dis- banded at Helena, and our subject took the stage coach for Ft. Benton. on the Missouri River, whence he embarked on the steamer "Ft. Benton." on which he made the trip of 3,000 miles to Leav- enworth.
Mr. Kunkel came to this county July 7. 1867, and purchased 120 acres of railroad land at $7 per acre, on the Grasshopper or Delaware River. Ten months later he sold it and opened a blacksmith- shop at Medina, which he ran for a number of years, and then engaged in farming, improving 320 acres in Kentucky Township. This he oper- ated till 1887, when he sold it and bought forty aeres in the corporate limits of Perry, built a resi- dence and moved into town. In the spring of 1888 he engaged in the real-estate, loan and insur- ance business, and in the fall of 1889 purchased a half interest in a stock of general merchandise, and became a member of the firm of Van Vleck & Kun- kel. The firm owns a double store, and carries a full line of general merchandise, doing an extensive business, and ranking as the leading mercantile es- tablishment in the town.
In this place, in the year 1872, the rites of wed- lock were celebrated between Mr. Kunkel and Mrs. Maria Shepard, who was born in Harrisburg, Pa., and is a daughter of Richard Gregg, a native of England, and a prominent and enterprising mer- chant of Ilarrisburg. Mrs. Kunkel had three chil- dren by her first marriage: Mary attended the Lecompton University, and is now the wife of Mr. Fowler, a farmer in Kentucky Township; Sophro- nia, now Mrs. Barnes, is living in Colorado; Lizzie has attended Baldwin University, and is still with her mother.
Mr. Kunkel is a son of Jacob Kunkel, who was born in the Keystone State, and was the son of a German. Jacob Kunkel was an early settler in Lycoming County, to which he went when a young man, and where he prospered in agricultural work, and became a prominent citizen. He mar- ried Miss Annie Eggler, who was born near Harris- burg, and whose father. John Eggler, a farmer in
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the Keystone State, had served in the War of 1812. Both the parents died in Pennsylvania. Their family comprised ten children: William and Cath- erine are deccascd; Aaron is living in the Keystone State; Jerome, in New Mexico; Rebecca is de- ceased; Henry lives in Wisconsin : the next on the family roll is our subject; Charles, who lives in Kentucky Township, served three years in a Kan- sas regiment during the Civil War; John and Phoebe are living in Pennsylvania; Jerome served two years in the Mexican War, and three years in the Civil War, during the latter being Captain in a Kansas regiment; he is now an ex-Representa- tive.
Mr. Kunkel has been a member of the School Board, and has filled other local offices. lle is now serving as Notary Public, having been appointed by ex-Gov. Martin. Ile has served on both grand and petit juries, and is an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party. He is Trustee and Steward of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of its most enterprising members. To Mr. and Mrs. Kunkel have been born one child, lda B., who was born Jan. 25, 1875.
OHN E. ROSS. Among the younger mem- bers of the farming community of Fairview Township, Mr. Ross occupies a position in the front ranks. Enterprising, progressive and industrious, he is successfully tilling 320 acres of land and is owner of 160 acres, comprising the southeast quarter of section 16. He is already in good circumstances with a fair outlook for the future. His father, llenry Ross, a prominent resi- dent of Fairview Township, came to Kansas in 1868 and is numbered among the leading citizens of Jefferson County. His biography will be found on another page in this volume.
The sixth in a family of eight children, John E. Ross was born April 10, 1860, in Scott County, Tenn., and until a child of eight years he spent his time there on a farm and in the Jellico Mountains. Tenn. He then accompanied his parents to Kansas, assisted in constructing a farin from an uncultivated tract of land, and remained under the parental roof
until a youth of eighteen years. In the meantime he enjoyed good school advantages and became familiar with the art of farming in all its branches. In 1878 he began operating for himself on a rented farm in Oskaloosa Township, Jefferson County, which he conducted successfully two years and was then in condition to become owner of the quarter section which remains in his possession. For this he paid $3 per acre, and immediately set about making improvements, clearing the land, breaking the sod and erecting the necessary buildings. In 1884 he removed to that upon which he now re- sides and operates this in connection with his own land. He has of the latter about ninety-five acres under the plow and gives his attention largely to the raising of wheat and feeding cattle and swine. He utilizes two teams in his farm work.
Shortly after reaching the nineteenth year of his age Mr. Ross was married, Dec. 19, 1879, to Miss Eliza Chitwood. This lady was born in Scott County, Tenn., March 27, 1860, and is the daughter of W. R. and Jane Chitwood, the former of whom was a native of the same place as his daughter and born July 8, 1829. The paternal grandfather, William Chitwood, likewise a native of Tennessee, was an expert hunter, and also owned a large farm of 250 acres in Scott County. He was a prominent citizen and a member in good standing of the Bap- tist Church. The father of Mrs. Ross also farmed in Tennessee and during the Civil War served ninety days, in 1863, with the Burnside expedition. He came to Kansas with his family in 1868, locating on section 21, Fairview Township. Jefferson County, where he now lives and is the owner of 245 acres of well-developed land. This he has built up into a very attractive homestead and is well-to-do. He is a man of influence in his community and a prom. inent member of the Baptist Church.
Mrs. Jane (Campbell) Chitwood, the mother of Mrs. Ross, was born in Whitley County, Ky., Jan. 30, 1832. Her father, William Campbell, was born in Middle Tennessee, whence he removed to Whitley County, Ky., when a small boy. His father, Jame; Campbell, was one of the earliest settlers on Jellico Creek, where he secured land and became well-to- do as a farmer. The parents of Mrs. Ross are both living in this county. There were born to them
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ten children, the eldest of whom, a daughter, Eliza- beth, the wife of J. Elswick, is a resident of Sumner County, this State; Rachel married D. C. Adams and lives in Fairview Township, Jefferson County; Annie, ( Mrs. Christ Hoffman), is a resident of Perry; John L. is at home with his parents; Eliza, (Mrs. Ross), is the fifth child; William is a resi- dent of Topeka, this State; A. J. is farming in Fairview Township; Nelson is in California; Susan and Albert are at home with their parents.
The Chitwood family came to Kansas in 1868 and Mrs. Ross remained with her parents until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Ross are the parents of four bright children, viz .: Ida, Arthur, Oscar, and Ethel. Mr. Ross politically, is a sound Democrat, but has no aspiration for the spoils of office, al- though he has frequently officiated as a delegate to the county conventions. He keeps himself posted upon the leading topics of the day, and is a mem- ber of the Farmers' Alliance at Pleasant Valley.
W ILLIAM : KOLTERMAN. Pottawatomie County is the home of many men of Ger- man birth or parentage, who have proved themselves reliable and intelligent citizens, and who have built up a fair degree of financial success in this country, where many of them have assisted in the pioneer work of civilization. Among this class is numbered the gentleman above named, who is a practical and successful farmer and stock-raiser living on section 7, Mill Creek Township, where his father, Daniel Kolterman, pre-empted 160 acres of land in July, 1857. Since early boyhood our subject has lived in this county, and growing up in the midst of the scenes of frontier life, in an al- most unbroken and unsettled country, surrounded by Indians and wild game, he is thoroughly iden- tified with the growth and the interests of Potta- watomie County.
Daniel Kolterman, the father of our subject, was the son of respectable German parents, and was born in Prussia. in 1817, and there reared to agricultural pursuits. He was married in his native Province to Miss Mary Asmus, who like him was born and reared within twenty-five German miles of Berlin,
and was a descendant of excellent German stock. After the birth of their first three children, and when our subject was not yet two years old, the family took passage from Bremen for the United States, landing in New York City after a voyage of nine weeks. This was in 1853, and they went at once to Wisconsin, settling near Monroe, Green County, where they lived till May, 1857. Then with an ox-team and the usual emigrant's outfit they came to this State, consuming six weeks in their journey and sleeping under the canopy of heaven at night.
Upon reaching this county, the father took a pre- emption claim where our subject now lives, and began improving and cultivating the land. He was soon elassed as one of the best citizens of the township, and honored as a real pioneer. Previous to his sudden and accidental death, which occurred in December, 1862, he had acquired and improved 240 acres of land, and was meeting with success in his labors. At the above mentioned date he at- tempted to get into a moving wagon but missed his footing and fell under the wheel, dying an hour later from the severe injuries thus received. He was then forty-five years of age. In politics he was a Republican, and in religion a member of
the Lutheran Church, and helped to organize the society of that denomination in this township. Some years after his death, his widow married John Hupfer, who is now deceased. The mother is still living, making her home in this township, and is now nearly three-score and ten years old. Her union with Mr. Hupfer resulted in the birth of one child, who is still living.
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