Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state, Part 120

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Brothers
Number of Pages: 1258

USA > Kansas > Clay County > Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state > Part 120
USA > Kansas > Riley County > Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state > Part 120
USA > Kansas > Washington County > Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state > Part 120

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).

Washington Marlatt was reared on a farm and acquired his early education in the district school. He left home when a youth of eighteen years and entered the preparatory department of Asbury University. He took a full course and was graduated in 1853 with the degree of B. A. In 1856 the de- gree of M. A. was conferred upon him. He united with the Methodist Church and was licensed as a local preacher in order that he might enter the theological department of the University and take the Divinity course. At this time none but licensed ministers were admitted to this department and he remained there as a student one year. In the meantime he had a desire for fame and inelination for the law, but circuinstances compelled him to abandon these.

After being graduated Mr. Marlatt began teach- ing at Greensburg, Ind. He returned home in the spring of 1854 and went upon a farm which his father had given him. Two years later. in the spring of 1856, he sought Kansas Territory, arriv- ing in Leavenworth on the 2d day of May, and thence made his way directly to Manhattan on foot and alone. He purchased a claim of 160 acres of

land south of the Kansas River in Manhattan Township, about four miles north of Manhattan and taking up his abode upon it remained there a year and a half. Then selling out he came to his present place which he purchased from a settler named Wilson in the spring of 1858, paying $1,200 for 160 acres, situated two and one-half miles north- west of Manhattan. He is now the owner of 500 acres and is one of the wealthiest as well as one of the most successful farmers in Riley County. In- stead of adopting the profession of law as he at one time contemplated, he became a minister of the Gospel and has been prominently identified with the church and Sunday-school work almost con- tinuously since coming to this State.

Shortly after coming to Manhattan Mr. Marlatt became interested in the efforts being made to raise funds for the establishment of Bluemont College under the auspices of the Kansas and Nebras- ka Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. When the college was opened with thirty students in December, 1859, Mr. Marlatt was its first Principal, being assisted by Miss Julia A. Bailey, of New London, Conn., to whom he was married April 3. 1861, in the college building. Besides giving due attention to his farm he traveledi over the Territory as a minister, preaching the Gospel among the set- tlers and conveying its good tidings to those de- prived of the privileges of regular worship by the isolation in the thinly settled regions of the far West.

The circuit of Mr. Marlatt's travels extended 150 miles West and he was everywhere a welcome visitor. sharing the generous but simple hospitality of the hardy pioneers who, like himself had come to Kansas to make it their home and the field of their labor. He was present as a layman at the first, conference of the church held at Lawrence, in November, 1856, and in the spring of 1857 was at Nebraska City and made a member of the Confer- ence on probation. He became a circuit preacher and was assigned to the Wabaunsee circuit which embraced Wabaunsee County, a part of Davis and all west of that. His salary was 8100 per year. He traveled over his circuit on horseback and spent 82,400 above receipts in behalf of the cause in which he had enlisted.

Assuming the Principalship of Bluemont Col-

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

lege, (of which he was one of the founders) in December, 1859, Mr. Marlatt taught for nearly two years and then resumed his ministerial work, in which he continued until 1866, when he re- sumed farming. He was one of the seven men who organized Manhattan Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and sent to Missouri for its charter. He was elected its first Master, which office he filled a number of years. He is now on demit. He was an Odd Fel- low in Indiana and upon coming to Kansas took a demit from his parent Lodge. He assisted in or- ganizing the first Lodge of the Sons of Temper- ance in Manhattan, also the first Lodge of I. O. G. T., and has filled offices in both of these organ- izations: Ile is also a member of the Patrons of Husbandry and assisted in organizing the Manhat- tan Grange. He was instrumental in the organiza- tion of the first Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school at Manhattan and has labored as a teacher therein since that time.

Although coming to Kansas in order to assist in making it a free State Mr. Marlatt had no intention of staying, as he did not suppose the section of country would amount to anything. He, however, soon changed his opinion. He assisted in organ- izing the Republican party in Kansas and went as a delegate to the first Free State Convention in 1857 and to the nominating Convention in 1858, which selected Mark Parrott for Congress. He has been a prominent member of various conventions in the party since that time. Ile has taken an aetive interest in agricultural matters and been a prominent and active member of the several farm- ers' conventions. Possessing considerable literary talent, he has written much on agricultural topics for the Nationalist, published at Manhattan, a paper devoted to labor and agricultural interests. lle has also been a correspondent of the Kansas Farmer. He published in the Beacon and Nation- atist a series of sketches entitled "Ten Years on the Frontier" and proposes to gather them into book form.

tion receiving the degree of M. S. and is now in the agricultural department at Washington, as assist- ant of Prof. C. V. Riley, the Entomologist of the department; Mary A. is at home; Frederick A. was also graduated from the State Agricultural College and is the assistant of Prof. Popenoe in the department of horticulture and entomology of the Experiment Station; Abbie L. was graduated in the regular course of the above mentioned in- stitution and is now pursuing a course in chemistry and household economy.

ILLIAM J. VOLTZ is elassed among the young farmers of Washington Township, Washington County, who are actively en- gaged in agricultural pursuits and are thus impor- tant factors in promoting its material prosperity. He was born in Clarksville. Mercer Co., Pa., Nov. 28, 1857. His father, George J. Voltz, was a na- tive of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. and was the only member of his father's family to come to America. He passed his early years in the land of his birth, but at the age of twenty-one, ambitious to better his condition and see something of the world, he emigrated to the United States of Amer- ica, and till the day of his death remained a loyal citizen of this country. He settled in Pennsylvania. and learning the tinsmith's trade, he followed that for some years. ITe subsequently moved to Green- ville, in Mercer County. where he opened a bakery and restaurant, and also a gentleman's furnishing house, which he carried on successfully in that place till 1865. In that year he moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio, where he established himself in the bakery and restaurant business. In 1878 he closed his business there, and coming to Kansas with his family, located in Washington County, and devoted himself to farming. purchas- ing the farm in Washington Township on which our subject now resides. Forty acres of the land were broken and a small frame house stood on the place. He at once set about improving the farm, and the ten years that followed were filled with toil

The five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Marlatt are recorded as follows: Willie B., died Nov. 25, 1876. at the age of fourteen years, while a member of the two-year class in the State Agricultural Col- lege ; Charles L. was graduated from that institu- ; and care that were in the end well repaid, as his

936

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

land was put under excellent cultivation. the greater part of it. and the necessary farm build- ings were erected, and the small dwelling gave way to a more commodious frame house with a substan- tial stone basement, and he planted shade trees that add to the beauty of the place, and a fine orchard of fruit trees. But under the burden of the hard labor that was necessary to bring about such a great change, Mr. Voltz's health broke down, and in 1888 he and his wife went to California to settle, hoping that he might be benefited by the change. They bought a house in Red Bluff, Tehama County, but he went there too late to restore his declining physical powers, and April 4, 1888, he departed on that journey whence no traveler ever returns. Ilis death was a serious blow to his family as he was in all respects all that a tender husband and a kind father can be to wife and children, and while a resident of this township he had been found to be a good citizen and a considerate neighbor. The moth- er of our subject is still living in California with two daughters, Kate and Lyle. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Haller, and she was born in North- ampton County, Pa., a daughter of Jonathan Haller, of German descent, a farmer and a life-long resi- dent of that county. The parents of our subject had each been twice married, and the father had three children by his first marriage-Kate, Elizabeth and Mary ; and two by his marriage with the mother of our subject-William and Lyle ; she also had one child, Nettie, by a former marriage.

William J. was the only son of the family, and he was seven or eight years old when his parents took up their residence in Cleveland, where he re- ceived in the city schools the greater part of his education. At the youthful age of eleven years the self-reliant young lad became a clerk in a news depot, and held that position when not in school till he was sixteen years old. At that age he com- menced to learn the trade of graining, serving three years and gaining a thorough knowledge of it, be- coming very facile in the use of the brnslt. He was actively engaged in that calling till 1878, when he came to Kansas with his parents, and has since paid his entire attention to farming, being associated with his father , with the exception of one year, till the latter's removal to California. He is doing well

at his chosen vocation, manages his agricultural in- terests shrewdly so as to make good profits from the harvests that he reaps from his well-tilled fields, and everything about his place is neat and orderly.

Mr. Voltz has a cozy home, and to the wife who presides over it with charming hospitality he was united in marriage Sept. 13, 1884. To them have been born three children, of whom William Harri- son is the only one now living. George J., their first-born, died at the age of one year; and Clara. their second child, died at the age of eight months. Thus early taken from the world with its sins and sorrows,

" They are safe from all that can harm. Safe from all that is sad. Safe and quietly sleeping.

Wrapped in that dream of sweetness and calm That will know no cruel waking."

The maiden name of Mrs. Voltz was Emma Bell, and she was born in Clarion County, Pa., being a daughter of James and Maggie Bell, natives of Westmoreland County, Pa.

Mr. Voltz is a man whose stability of character, sturdy self-respect, and genuine honesty of pur- pose are well calculated to win him the respect of his fellow-townsmen. by whom he is well liked. He is a man of good habits, whose life is guided by Christian principles. Politically, he is a sturdy Democrat.

000

G EORGE E. FOSTER. A pleasantly located farm on section 14, Kimeo Township, Wash- ington County, is the home of this gentle- man. The eighty acres of land which comprise it are in a state of high cultivation and well improved. The owner, although a young man, is a practical farmer, having been reared upon a farm, and having spent his years of manhood almost exclusively upon one.

Mr. Foster is of German and English extraction. His father, Hollister Foster, was born in Michigan about 1837. A short time before the late war he re- moved to Steuben County, N. Y., where he enlisted as a private in the ranks of the Union army. He served his country faithfully until 1864, when he was honorably discharged. He then returned to

937

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

his home and family in Steuben County. His occu- pation was that of a farmer, and in that business he was engaged until 1879, on the estate which he had purchased hetore the war. At the date last men- tioned he came to Washington County, of which he remained a resident until 1883. He then re- moved to Clay Center, Kan., where he is now engaged in the butcher business. At one time he was quite wealthy and is now in fair circumstances, owning property in Clay Center. He is a member of the Congregational Church, and belongs to the G. A. R.

Edward Foster, the paternal grandfather of our subject is of English descent, members of his family having come to this country at an early day. He was born in Michigan, and served a number of years on the police force in Lansing. At one time he was quite wealthy, but in his later years met with reverses of fortune. He is now living in the Soldiers' Home in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Catherine Bush. She was born in New York in 1840. and is a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Blakley) Bush. Her parents were natives of the same State in which she first saw the light. ller father was engaged in the service during the war of 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Bush removed to New York State, where he died in 1881. Mrs. Buslı survives, having now reached the advanced age of eighty-three years. Her home is in Clay Center, Kan. Ilollister and Catherine Foster are the par- ents of three children, who bear the respective names of George, Estella J., and Etta L.

George E. Foster, the subject of this sketch, was born in Steuben County, N. Y., Jan. 17, 1861. He was reared and educated principally in Bureau County. IlI. In the spring of 1880, he came to Clay County, Kan., where he followed farming until 1884. He then engaged in mercantile busi- ness in Kimeo, this county, continuing it until 1885. He then sold out his business and removed to Clay Center, where he embarked in the butcher business. After carrying on that occupation for about a year, he sold out and bought eighty acres of land on section 36, Kimeo Township, this county. He resided on this farm until 1887, when he traded his land for town property in Greenleaf, and later

exchanged the town property for the land which he now occupies.

On March 21, 1881, the ceremony was performed which transformed Miss Ella Wilson into Mrs. George E. Foster. Miss Wilson was born in Fre- mont, Ohio, and_is a lady of fine character and refined manners. She is the daughter of James and Anna (Bowles) Wilson, of whom a more ex- tended notice is given on another page in this ALBUM. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Foster has been blessed by the birth of four bright children : Mabel L., Beryl, Edna G., and an infant.

Mr. Foster is a young man of intelligence, moral character and cordial manners. He is respected by his fellow citizens, and is likely in time to become one of the most prominent_agriculturists of that vicinity.

6 HOMAS ELWOOD. This gentleman set- tled in Lowe Township in the summer of 1880. where he is comfortably located with pleasant surroundings and has ten acres of thor- oughly-cultivated land on section 1, in addition to eighty aeres in Jefferson County, Neb. He is a gentleman in the prime of life, having been born Nov, 15. 1840, and his native place was in Logan County, Ohio. He is the son of Thomas and Susan (Kerns) Elwood, who were likewise natives of the Buckeye State. His paternal grandfather was born in Ireland and came to America when a boy of ten years. Upon reaching man's estate he married a Maryland lady and spent his last years in Illinois, The Kerns family flourished in Virginia.

To Thomas and Susan Elwood, there was born a family of twelve children, the eldest of whom, a son, William, married Miss Nancy Jane Perigo and died in Shelby County, Mo., leaving five chil- dren. Elizabeth is the wife of Lee Sparks, a farmer of Adams County, Ill., and they have five children; Thomas, the subject of this sketch was the third child; John married Elizabeth Morris and is farming in Brown County, III .; Michael is un- married and at last accounts was living in Quincy. Ill .; Jesse is unmarried and employed by the street railway company in Atchison, Kan .; Henry,

938

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

James, Andrew and Louisa are residents of Shelby County. Mo. Two children died in infancy.

The father of our subject removed to Adams County, Ill., when Thomas was four years old and the latter remained a resident of that State until 1869. At the outbreak of the Civil War he en- listed in Company E, 2d Missouri Cavalry, and participated in several skirmishes in Missouri, Kan- sas and Arkansas. At the expiration of his first term of enlistment he veteranized in the 13th Missouri Cavalry, and remained in the service until after the close of the war, receiving his hon- orable discharge in 1866. He then returned to Adams County, Ill .. and engaged in farming until 1869. when he repaired to Jasper County, Mo .. settling on a farm near Carthage. In the summer of 1880 he removed to Nebraska. and in the same year came to Washington, County, Kan.

On the 28th of February, 1867, Mr. Elwood took unto himself a wife and helpmate, Miss Alice Lewis, at time a resident of Adams County, IN. Mrs. Elwood was born in Hancock County, Il., De- cember, 1882, and the daughter of Simon Lewis, who is now deceased. This union resulted in the birth of eleven children, the eldest of whom, Lucy B., is the wife of Frank H. Hillborn, a farmer in Colo- rado, and they have one child; Rosetta, Mrs. Frank Mclaughlin, lives in Highland Township, Kan., and is the mother of one child. The third child died in infancy. Jobn W., Simon, Henry, Sarah, Harrison, Maggie, Stella and Teana are at home with their parents. Mr. Elwood has very little to do with public affairs. but at the general elections gives his support to the Republican party.

6 OBIAS J. WRIGHT. This gentleman is one of the leading farmers and stock men in Washington County, and the most extensive farmer in Barnes Township, where he resides. 1Ie now owns 680 acres of fine land, all in a high state of cultivation, and bearing excellent improvements. His elegant residence stands on section 34, where he first located on coming to this county. Mr. Wright started in life poor and has made most of his fiue property in Kansas.

Mr. Wright was the third of a family of six children. born to Alexander and Orpha (Cook) Wright (whose history is given in the sketch of Hiram Wright). Ile was reared in Delaware County, N. Y., to the age of nine years, when his parents removed to Williams County, Ohio. There he was educated and lived, engaged in tilling the soil until 1870, at which time he removed to Kansas.

In 1859 our subject celebrated his marriage, the bride being Miss Olive L. Stearns, of DeKalb County, Ind. She was born there June 7, 1839. and is a daughter of Amos and Elizabeth (McCoal) Stearns. . She is a lady of that noble and generous nature, well fitted to make a happy home, and rear her family to useful manhood and womanhood. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Wright has been blessed by the birth of nine bright children : Alta, Alexan- der A., Hiram, Cora Margaret, Carrie L., John J., Nina M., True M., and Bertha.

Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been members of the Christian Church for many years. Their upright and useful lives, and courteous, kindly manners give them a high standing among the citizens of the locality where they are so well known and esteemed.

OSEPH HOXI, M. D. This gentleman now bears the distinction of being the oldest physician in Washington County, with the exception of Dr. Williamson, who settled here a short time previous to the location of Dr. Iloxi, in 1869, when he located at Ilanover and put up the third house in the place. He was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, April 4, 1839, and is the son of Hiram and Eunice (Bisell) Hoxi, who were natives respectively of Scotland and Connecti- cut.

Hiram Hoxi emigrated to the United States when a young man of twenty-three years and es- tablished himself as a practicing physician in Ash- tabula County, Ohio. In 1855, being seized with the California gold fever. he went to the Pacific slope and in 1857 met his death at the hands of an assassin who murdered and then robbed him of all

939

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

his money. The mother spent.her last years in Ohio. The subject of this sketch was the only child of his parents and after completing his prim- ary studies in the Cleveland schools, he at the early age of thirteen years commenced the study of medicine under the instruction of his father who was a botanic physician. Prior to this, when a lad of eight, young Joseph frequently went with his father to the woods to dig roots and herbs, and thus early in life obtained a fair knowledge of these and their healing properties.

When twenty-two years old, the subject of this sketch repaired to Oceana County, Mich., where he followed his chosen profession five years. Next he removed to Sigourney, lowa, sojourning there also five years, then came to Kansas and has since been a resident of Washington County. Here he has built up an extensive practice. He located per- manently in Hollenberg in 1883, although prior to this time he had practiced here considerably. The Doctor was married in 1861, to Miss Maria Rust and they became the parents of five children- Loren, Milo, Frank, Joseph, Jr., and Bertie.

The second wife of Dr. Iloxi was formerly Miss Matilda Quick, and to them were born three children-William, Crawford and Georgie. His third wife was Miss Hettie M. Graham and they have one child, a daughter, Eunice. Politically, Dr. Hoxi is an adherent of the Republican party and in his religious beliefs he coincides with the doctrines of the Baptist Church.

C HARLES BACHMAN. No one can trav- erse the district occupied by Washington County, Kan., and innumerable other and similar sections, without being impressed with the faet that numbers of our most respected, hard- working and thriving citizens are from the country of the Rhine, and bring to us all the well-being and prosperity with which such citizens must endow a country. The above named gentleman is one of this class. His home is in the southwestern part of Mill Creek Township, where he owns a fine estate of 280 acres.

Mr. Bachman was born in Wurtemburg, Ger-

many, Sept. 28, 1831. His father, John Bachman, (lied when he was four years old, and his mother, who bore the maiden name of Susannah Magdalena, subsequently married Christoph Eberle. The pater- nal family comprised four children-two sons and two daughters. Gottlob died near Pierceville, Ill., in 1862, being thirty-three years of age and unmar- ried; Elizabeth is the wife of Christian Wuerz. a farmer in DuPage County, III. ; they have four children. Barbara was the wife of Jacob Meiozner, of Nemaha County, and died in 1875, leaving four children. The second marriage of the mother of our subject resulted in the birth of four children. Friederich, died in Germany; Ferdinand, died in Chicago, Ill., when about twenty-two years of age; Christian is a farmer living in Rooks County ; he is married and has a family. Mary is the wife of Charles Burch, a farmer of St. Clair County, Mich.

The subject of whom we write learned the cooper's trade in his youth, but has not followed it. In 1854 he came to the United States, and after landing in New York, found employment on a farm on Long Island. There he worked for eighteen months and thence went to Chicago. Soon afterward he settled near Lodi, Kane Co., Ill., where he remained until 1859. He then came to Kansas and took 160 acres in Nemaha County. During the gold excite- ment he went to Pike's Peak, where he spent six months, returning thence to Nemaha County.

The spirit of German patriotism contains an ele- ment that enlists its sympathies in behalf of free- dom everywhere. Our subject was not behind others of his countrymen, therefore, in taking up arms in behalf of the government of his adopted country. He enrolled himself in Company G, 13th Kansas Infantry, and served in every engagement in which that regiment took part during the fol- lowing three years. Among the conflicts in which he participated were those at Prairie Grove, Kane Ilill, Little Rock, VanBuren, Red River, Batesville, Baxter Springs, Boston Mountains, Cassville, Clarksville. Ft. Smith, Maysville, Springfield, Spring Creek. Scullyville, Webber Falls, Ft. Wayne, White River and many other places. The regiment served under Gen. Thayer, now Governor of Ne- braska. After efficient service Mr. Bachmann was honorably discharged, returning to Nemaha County.

940

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

After a year's residence there he came Washing- ton county and filed a homestead claim on 160 acres, which forms a part of bis present estate. He has been engaged in the pursuit of agriculture ever since, and also raised cattle and hogs for the mar- ket. Since coming to the county he has added 120 acres to his landed estate,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state, Part 120

Author: Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Brothers Number of Pages: 1258

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Brothers
Number of Pages: 1258