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 73

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 73
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 73
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 73

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post. When Mr. Hill arrived here he had a team of two horses and a wagon with a few household goods. He made the trip overland from Illinois and spent the first winter at the house of Mr. Thomas Pickett, who had located here.

In the spring of 1871, Mr. Hill fashioned a dug- out in which he lived with his little family a couple of years and then put up his present residence. He has eighty-five acres of land in a good state of cultivation and the balance in pasture and meadow. In 1884, he removed to Clay Center where he has residence property and lived there until the spring of 1889. Ile then returned to the farm whose pur- suits and associations are more congenial. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have five children living, namely: Al- fred A., George M. Harriet A., the wife of Samuel Elliott of Junction City, Frank N. and Clara M .; the latter the wife of Joshua Pumphrey of Clay Center. Charles L. and Sarah J. died at the ages of twenty years and eight months respectively. Charles during the Civil War served as a Union soldier in Company K, 141st Illinois Infantry, and his father preserves with tender care a certificate from President Lincoln, showing him to have been a faithful and valiant soldier. His death which oc- curred in 1868, was the result of exposure and hardship during his army life. The Hill family, politically, goes solid Republican.

W ARD DALRYMPLE, one of the leading farmers of Little Blue Township, Wash- ington County, is pleasantly located on section 3. Ilis estate comprises 240 aeres, which is well improved and devoted to farming and stock- raising. Mr. Dalrymple is quite well-off, and his possessions are the result of his own efforts, as he started in life poor. He is not only one of the leading farmers of his township, but is a man who stands high in the regard of his fellow-citizens.

Our subject was born in Morrow County, Ohio, Feb. 10, 1845, and is the fifth in a family of eight children born to James and Eliza ( Hazen) Dalrym. ple. For further notice of his parents see sketch of Brice Dalrymple. When four years of age his par- ents went to Kosciusko County, Ind., where they

Betie Mores

Joseph Moses

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remained until he was fourteen years of age. They then removed to the Territory of Kansas, and set- tled in what is now Washington County. Mr. Dal- rymple may, therefore, be considered a pioneer of this connty, where his life has been spent since the year 1859. In youth and early manhood he wit- nessed and participated in the privations and toils of frontier life. Having arrived at years of ma- turity he took up a homestead of 160 aeres, to which he later added by purchase, bringing his es- tate up to the amount mentioned at the beginning of this sketeb. The discipline of his early years has developed the sterling qualities of bis character, and the powers of observation which are so necessary to the sueeess of an agrieulturist.

Miss Mary Furgason. of this county, won the re- gard of Mr. Dalrymple, and the rites of wedlock between them was celebrated April 25. 1875. Mrs. Dalrymple was born in Pawnee County, Neb., in 1855, and is a daughter of George C. and Kate (Williman) Furgason. She has borne her husband five . children, named respectively: Leetie, Kate, Belle, Annie and Henry. Mr. Dalrymple is not an active politician, but is devoted to the principles of the Republican party.

OSEPH MOSES, late a well-to-do and high- ly-respected resident of Swede Creek Town- ship, Riley County, was born in the King- dom of Bohemia, Austria, in the year 1853. and departed this life at his homestead in the above-mentioned township, Oct. 10, 1889. He came to America with his parents when a boy, and they settled at once in Blue Rapids Township, Marshall Co., Kan., where they acquired land and became well-to-do. The parents were Joseph and Paulina Moses, the former of whom is deceased. The latter is still residing at the old homestead, and is about seventy-six years old. She is the owner of 400 acres of land, and is surrounded by all the comforts of life-a lady highly respected and a member of the Lutheran Church. There were born to her and her husband six children, the eldest of whom, a daughter, Mary, died when about

thirty-six years old. Michael and Katie are resi- dents of Marshall County, this State; Joseph was the fourth child; Peter and Dwight are living in Marshall County.

Young Moses soon after coming to America, being then a lad of fifteen years, commeneed work- ing out, turning over his earnings to his father until reaching his majority. At the age of twenty- four years he was united in marriage with Miss Betty Warders, and the young people commenced the journey of life together without other means or resources than those which nature had bestowed upon them. Prior to this time Mrs. Moses had made her home with her unele, the Hon. J. B. Webster, and with him they resided until the 1st of April, 1882. They then removed to the tract of land which Mr. Moses had previously purchased, and commenced in true pioneer style to build up a homestead. The story of the years which followed has often been detailed in the lives of those who began at the foot of the ladder in Northern Kansas, and whose industry and patience resulted in the accumulation of a comfortable property.

Mr. Moses in the course of time added to his real estate, and left to his widow 333 aeres of well- improved land, all in one body, and beautifully situated on the Big Blue bottoms. It is watered by seven springs, all fenced and 100 acres under the plow. The buildings, without being preten- tious, are all that is necessary for the comfort of the family, the shelter of stock and the storage of grain. The farmn is chiefly devoted to the raising of graded cattle and Poland-China swine; two teams are used in its operations, which have always been conducted in the systematie manner which seldom fails of success. Mr. Moses was a man popular in his community, and exercised a marked infinenee in political affairs, being a staneh sup- porter of the Democratic party. In religion he was born and reared a Lutheran, and to the doe- trines of this church faithfully adhered. Mrs. Moses is a lady more than ordinarily intelligent, keeping herself well informed in regard to topies of general interest, and fully sympathized with her husband in his political views. There was born to them only one child, a son, Willie. Dec. 17, 1877. Mrs. Betty ( Warders) Moses was born in Owens-

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ville, Ky., Dec. 18, 1858, and is the daughter of William and Mary J. (Wells) Warders, who were likewise natives of Bath County, that State. The maternal grandfather was Thomas Wells, a native of Bath County and a farmer. who, in 1859, emi- grated overland to the Territory of Kansas, settling in Wells Township, Marshall County, joining his son John, who had preceded him to this region several years, and was the first settler on the Ver- million River. He homesteaded land, from which he improved a farm, and became the owner of sev- eral hundred acres, and he resided here until the death of his wife, in 1886, after which he made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Webster, until his demise, which occurred in 1888. His wife, Amanda (Warring) Wells, was likewise a native of Bath County, Ky., and died in 1886.

William Warders, the father of Mrs. Moses, was reared to agricultural pursuits, and owned a small farm in Bath County, Ky. In December, 1875, he sold out and removed to Marshall County, this State, with the intention of locating land, but he was taken suddenly ill, and died nine days after reaching his destination, at the home of his father- in-law, Thomas Wells. He was cut down in his prime, being only forty four years old. He had never succeeded in acquiring wealth, but was a good man in the broadest sense of the term, kind to his family, hospitable to his neighbors, and uni- versally respected wherever known.

There were born to the parents of Mrs. Moses eight children, viz .: Jackson F., a farmer, residing near Bigelow, Marshall County; Susan B., who died when about twenty-nine years old; Betty; Frances, Mrs. Plummer, of Arizona; Molly, Mrs. Wilburn; John T., Charles E., these three residents of Bigelow; and James W., who makes his home with his sister Betty, Mrs. Moses. Mrs. Mary J. (Wells) Warders died in 1872. Mrs. Moses at- tended merely a subscription school during her childhood, only receiving limited advantages. She. however, was more than ordinarily bright and thoughtful as a maiden, and improved every opportunity for reading and study at home, as likewise she has in later years, and is thus thor- oughly well-informed, and a lady with whom an hour may always be spent in a pleasant and pro-

fitable manner. She came to Marshall County, Kan., in 1875, arriving at Irving on the 11th of March, and after living a little over two years with her uncle, Mr. Webster, was united in marriage, March 25, 1877, with Mr. Moses. She proved a suitable partner to her husband, assisting him greatly in his labors and his worthy ambition, and to her was largely due his success.

Fine lithographie portraits of Mr. Moses and his wife are shown elsewhere in this work.

LONZO F. DEXTER. The name of this gentleman is intimately associated with the inception and growth of the city of Clay Center, he being one of its earliest settlers and the originator of the Town Lot Company which laid out the place. He now owns the water power of the Republican River, equal to 800-horse power, and having at the present time two 125 and a 75-horse power wheel which are utilized for the grist mill, the electric light and the transmission of power to other parts of the town by cable. Many other leading enterprises have likewise found a firm friend and supporter in Mr. Dexter whose chief aim and object has been for nearly twenty years to make Clay Center one of the leading business points of Northern Kansas.

A native of Windsor County, Vt., Mr. Dexter was born June 3, 1833. but only lived there until his parents died, going then to New Hampshire to reside with his married sister, Mrs. John Barker. Ilis father, John Dexter, was a native of the same county and born about 1770. He married Miss Betsey Simonds and both died when Alonzo F. was a child, the mother in the spring and the father in the fall of the same year. After that the boy lived in Grafton County, N. II., with a brother- in-law until ten years old. then went to Lowell. Mass., with his brother where he attended school. Later he became an inmate of the home of John Tyler with whom he remained three years, still pursuing his studies, mostly during the winter season.

Going back now to Windsor County young Dex- ter remained there until a youth of sixteen years.

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Later he lived in Lowell two years, and the two years following he spent in West Lebanon. N. H. At the expiration of this time, leaving New England, he emigrated to Henderson County, Ill., where he took a river boat and in due time found himself in the city of New Orleans whence he set ont by the water route to California. He arrived there in February, 1854. and going to Calaveras County, engaged in placer mining and ranching. Next he went to the mines of Tuolumne County and in the vicinity of Spring- field remained until 1864, operating very success- fully. In the meantime, in 1862, he had visited Kansas and located the town site of Clay Center, and in 1864 he came hither and took up his permanent abode.

Mr. Dexter returned from California equipped with plenty of funds and in examining the map and searching for a county which had no central town he finally selected Clay County, Kan., with the intention of making Clay Center the county seat. Clay was then the nearest county to the Missouri River whose lands were not mostly taken up at that time. He purchased about 3,600 acres and in 1865 established himself here as a perma- nent resident and devoted himself to the building up of the town. He established a steam sawmill in 1866 and also a store of general merchandise which he conducted ten years. He still owns the ground on each side of the Republican River. In October, 1875, he began building the dam on the Republican River, opening the gates and grinding a grist for the first time with water power, July 4, 1876. This formed a very appropriate centennial celebration. He put rollers in the mill in 1883. In the meantime he has prosecuted vigorously the sale of city lots and has also transacted an exten- sive business in grain. The water power has also been utilized for the elevator.

The first grain shipped from Clay County was sent out by Mr. Dexter, also the first car load of flour ever transported over the Junction City & Fort Kearney Railroad-now a part of the Union Pacific. In 1886 Mr. Dexter put in four dynamos of the Western Electric Light Company which fur- nishes light for the streets and business houses, ho- teis and most of the churches of the city. There are eighty-four are lights in use and 350 incandescent

lights, all operated by this water power. As the town increases in size and importance this power will continue to prove the source of a handsome income.

The marriage of Alonzo F. Dexter and Miss Emma Dunbar was celebrated in Tuolumne County, C'al., Oct. 8, 1862. This lady was born in Belfast, Me .. May 8, 1845, and in 1850 was taken by her parents to East Boston whence afterward they went to California. Of this union there was born one child only who is now deceased. On account of his wife's failing health Mr. Dexter took her to Southern California where she received excel- lent care and treatment, but all in vain. She died at Colton, March 3, 1883. Mr. Dexter politically, is a straight Republican and is recognized by his fellow citizens as one of the most liberal and public-spirited men in their midst. He possesses many sterling qualities and stands high both in social and business circles. No man has done more. and probably no one man as much, as Mr. Dexter in giving an impetus to the many industries in and about the town which has been the object of lis fostering care for so many years.

OHN A. MURDOCK. The main points in the history of this highly respected resident of Brantford Township are essentially as fol- lows: He was born in Middlesex County, Mass., July 17, 1843, and lived there until a lad twelve years of age. He then accompanied his parents to Waukesha County, Wis., where he be- came familiar with farming pursuits and acquired a practical education in the common school. Ile sojourned there until a man of twenty six years. then coming to Kansas homesteaded 160 acres of wild land in Brantford Township, filing his claim in March, 1876.

All the improvements which we behold to-day on the farm of Mr. Murdock, are the result of his industry and perseverance. He fenced his land, cul- tivated the soil, planted trees and erected buildings and is now in possession of one of the most desirable homesteads of this region. There were only about

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eight families in the neighborhood when he came liere and the country around bore little indication of being inhabited by white men. The pioneers, however, were men of hardy spirits and had come to stay, prepared for every emergency. Mr. Mur- dock was no exception to his fellow-immigrants and the result is fully shown in his present sur- roundings.

The subject of this sketch traces his ancestry to one of the best nationalities on the face of the globe. His father, James Murdock, was of Scotch birth and parentage and emigrated from the Land of the Thistle in 1841, when a young man. His first stop- ping-place was Massachusetts whence he emigrated about 1855, to Wisconsin. He lived there until 1871, then coming to Kansas lived on the farm with his son until his death, in 1876. The mother, formerly Miss Agnes McKinnen. was likewise a na- tive of Scotland and died in Wisconsin, in 1869.

To the parents of our subject there was born a family of ten children, four of whom died young. The survivors were named respectively, John, Mary. Flora, Ellen, William and James. The latter during the Civil War died in the hospital at Nashville. Tenn., of cholera. Flora married Freeman Hicks, and died at Emporia, Kan .. in August, 1887, leav- ing three children. Mary is married and a resident of Illinois, and Ellen is married and lives in Wis- consin. One brother, William, is the Postmaster at Clifton, Kan.

The subject of this sketch, while a resident of Kansas, was united in marriage with Mrs. Hester R. (Sharp) Crammond, JJan. 8. 1889. She had one child, Mabel, by her first husband. Her father, George Sharp, was a native of Ireland, whence he emigrated to America at the age of seventeen years, settling in Canada. In November, 1875, he came Kansas, locating in Washington County, and died in January, 1879, at the age of sixty-three years. Ilis wife, Louisa Lake, of England. emigrated with an uncle to Canada when a child of seven years, where she was reared to womanhood and married to Mr. George Sharp. She bore him the following children, viz: William C., Annie J., Hester R., Mar- garet E., George F .. Louisa E., Dorcas E., Charles S. and one died unnamed; Eliza and Ferdinand who (lied in Canada. With the exception of Anna J.

who is in Michigan, the others are residents of Kan- sas. Mr. and Mrs. Murdock are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mr. Mur- dock has always voted the Republican ticket. In 1871 Mr. Murdock began teaching in this county and taught a great deal of the time up to 1882, be- sides carrying on his farm-prior to coming to Kansas he taught three years in Wisconsin. Ile made a good reputation as a teacher, and is one of the best known men in this part of Washington County. He has held every office in the township except treasurer. He was for two years Justice of the Peace.

ACOBF. GUNDELFINGER. one of the ear- liest pioneers of Hanover Township, Wash- ington County, has a beautiful home within its limits, and is surrounded by all that ample means and refined taste can supply. He is the owner of 1,250 broad aeres of land, a portion of which he homesteaded during the period when this section of the country was named the frontier. He labored in true pioneer style during the earlier years of his residence here, exhibiting that per- severance and industry which is indispensable to success. Hle commenced at the foot of the ladder in Kansas, dependent entirely upon his own re- sources, and has arisen to a position of wealth and influence solely by his own nnflagging efforts. The stately and imposing modern dwelling, which, with its surroundings, attracts the eye of the passing traveler. is represented by a fine lithographie en- graving on another page.

Mr. Gundelfinger, like all men of note, possesses some peculiar traits of character, being a man who cares nothing for offices or honors, but has been content to excel as a tiller of the soil and to make farming a science and art. He is a man of fine tastes, as is evinced in the furnishing of his house, which is simply elegant. Adjacent to the dwelling is a large stone barn, together with corn-cribs. stables, and other ontbuildings, while there is an orchard of 400 fruit trees, besides fifty grape vines and the smaller fruits. As a breeder of fine stock, Mr. Gundelfinger has been highly successful, having at the present time (1889) 125 head of swine, 140

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head of cattle and thirteen good horses. Ilis land lies on the east bank of the Little Blue River, and 450 acres are under the plow.

A native of the Grand Duchy of Baden, Ger- many, Mr. Gundelfinger was born Sept. 17, 1834, and was the fifth in a family of nine children, the offspring of John Frederick and Catherine(Schmidt) Gundelfinger, who were likewise natives of Baden, the father being born in 1789. The latter when a youth of seventeen years was drafted into the Ger- man army, in which he served nine years, nearly all the time in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte. He took part in all the great battles of that period and was present at Waterloo, where the great chieftain was completely overthrown. Although experiencing many hairbreadth escapes, he never received a wound, and after leaving the army drew a pension from the German Government during his lifetime. He was a commissioned officer, and as such received his honorable discharge. He departed this life, in his native Province, in 1852. The mother spent her last years in lowa, passing away, in 1877, at the home of one of her children.

The subject of this sketch received a good com- mon-school education in his native tongue, and when nineteen years of age determined upon emi- grating to America. After a safe ocean voyage, he landed in New York City, and proceeded thence directly to Jackson County, Iowa, where he was employed on a farm for six years. In 1860, he left the Hawkeye State, and coming to Kansas, set- tled upon a portion of his present farm before the homestead law had been put in operation. In 1863. he duly entered 160 acres, and being prosperous from the start in its cultivation and improvement, added to his landed possessions until he has what we now behold. Prior to coming to Kansas, he was married, Dec. 2, 1858, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Elijah Day, then a resident of Jo Da- viess County, Ill. The marriage took place at Sa- vanna, Ill. Of this union there were born eleven children, five of whom are living, viz: Catherine, Caroline, Celia, Jolin and Rosa. The children have been carefully trained and educated, and two of the daughters, Rosa and Celia, are young ladies of more than ordinary talent, particularly in music, being fine performers on the organ. Mrs. Elizabeth

Gundelfinger departed this life, at the homestead in Ilanover Township, Aug. 29, 1885. For his sec- ond wife Mr. Gundelfinger married Dora Thomlin- son, March 8, 1887. They were divorced March 18, 1889.

Mr. Gundelfinger, upon becoming a voting citi- zen, identified himself with the Republican party, of whose principles he has since been a stanch sup- porter. He is a member in good standing of the Congregational Church, and a man wielding a sensi- ble influence in his community. His persistent industry, and his patience in meeting all the diffi- culties of life which have beset him, has developed within him that strong and admirable character of of which the world's heroes are made, and who, al- though perhaps living quietly among the peaceful pursuits of ordinary life, set forth an example which is well worthy of emulation.

0 TTO BUCHHEIM. Postmaster at Winkler's Mills, Riley County, also conducts a gen- eral store and officiates as a Notary Public. As may be supposed he is thus one of the leading citizens of the place and one of its most prosperous business men. He carries a well-selected stock of goods and enjoys a lucrative and steadily increas- ing trade.

The subject of this sketch was born in the Prov- ince of Saxony, Germany, April 2, 1861, and is the son of John F. and Wilhelmina ( Pfuetze) Buch- heim, the former of whom, now a retired farmer and seventy-two years old, remains a resident of his native Germany and is in good circumstances. The paternal grandmother of our subject lived to be ninety-one years old, and at her death had ninety-one children and grandchildren. Mrs. Wil- helmina Buchheim is still living and with her hus- band is a member of the Lutheran Church. They were the parents of six children, viz: Paulina, Her- man, Julius, Bertha, Richard and Otto. Paulina died unmarried when about twenty-nine or thirty years of age.

The subject of this notice was the sixth child of his parents and received the training and education common to the youth of the Fatherland. Ile was

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taught to make himself useful at an early age and acquired those habits of industry and frugality which have been the best capital with which he could have been furnished. When about nineteen years old he enteredl the army as a one-year volun- teer, passing an examination for an officer in the Reserves. In 1880 he became a member of a com- pany of artillery, which was stationed ar Metz, on drill duty. After the expiration of his term of service Mr. Buchheim, in the spring of 1883, set sail for America, and after landing in the city of New York, made his way directly to Kansas. Com- ing to Riley County, he sojourned two weeks at Winkler's Mills, then proceeded to Trinidad, Col., and sojourned in that region until the fall of that same year. We next find him in New Mexico mining and prospecting, and he afterward went to Arizona. From there he set out for Los Angeles, Cal., via the Southern Pacific Railroad, and at San Pedro took the steamer "Santa Rosa" to San Francisco. There he embarked on the steamer "Queen of the Pacific" and a few days later found him in Tacoma, Wash.

During his wanderings until reaching Los An- geles, Mr. Buchheim had been accompanied by a friend, but at that point they became separated and did not meet again until 1885. Mr. Buchheim re- mained in Tacoma a little over one month and fail- ing to find the employment he desired. returned to San Francisco, and thereafter was engaged as a clerk in the Prescott Honse for thirteen months. At the expiration of this time, desirous of increas- ing his business education, he applied the money thus earned toward this end, becoming a student of the Barnard Business College, from which he re- ceived a diploma six months later. Then return- ing to the Prescott Ilouse, he assumed his old position, and later was employed as a book-keeper at Black's Station, Yoho, Cal., and while thus en- gaged his long lost companion came to him.

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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 73

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

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