USA > Kansas > Portrait and biographical record of southeastern Kansas, containing biographical sketches of prominent citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States and the governors of the state of Kansas > Part 54
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In 1873 were united in marriage Ryan G. Men- denhall and Miss Eliza A. Frazier, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abner Frazier. The estimable and accomplished wife of our subject was born in Ver- milion County, III., and there attained to woman- hood. One daughter has blessed the union, Jessie F. Politically, a Republican and a firm supporter of the party, Doctor Mendenhall is much too busy a man to give his time to duties outside of his pro- fessional and private business cares. He was for
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a time a member of the School Board of La Cygne, but when the new La Cygne schoolhouse was built and he was elected Commissioner, he refused to qualify. Fraternally, he is a member of Russell Lodge No. 154, A. F. & A. M., of Georgetown, Ill .; he is likewise associated with Paola Chapter No. 20, R. A. M., at Paola. He also belongs to St. Elmo Commandery No. 22, K. T. and Abdallah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of Leavenworth.
The paternal and maternal ancestors of Doctor Mendenhall were Quakers, and were widely known for their sterling integrity and upright character. Our subject, although not connected with any de- nomination, is a liberal giver in behalf of good works. Beginning his career as a poor boy, and with energetic industry and enterprise working his way through college, Doctor Mendenhall has well earned the prosperity which has crowned his earnest efforts, and he may congratulate himself that self- made and self-reliantly winning his way upward, he has attained to a high position of social influ- ence and professional work. Respected as a man, citizen and physician, he enjoys the confidence of all who know him, and counts his friends by the score. Ile is local surgeon of the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis Railroad, which position he has held for the past twenty years
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RA STEINBERGER, M. D., is a leading physi- cian and druggist of Erie, who enjoys a large practice and a lucrative trade. The record of his life is as follows: He was born in Champaign County, Ohio, four miles west of Urbana, on the 21st of March, 1842, and is descended from good old Revolutionary stock, his great-grandfather being a hero in the War for Independence.
The Doctor's father, Stephen Steinberger, was a native of Virginia, and on emigrating westward with his parents, became one of the first settlers of Champaign County, Ohio. He there married
Lucinda Smith, a native of that county, and in 1842 removed with his family to Peru, Ind., where he engaged in the millwright business for about. five years. IIe then removed to Somerset, Wa- bash County, Ind., and there engaged in the same business until 1868, which year witnessed his ar- rival in Neosho County, Kan. From the Govern- ment he entered eighty acres of land on section 3. Erie Township, where he developed and improved a farm, upon which he made his home until his death in 1883. In polities he was a supporter of the Democratic party. The family numbered five children, but only two are now living, Ira, and Il. J., who is a physician of Coffeyville, Ind.
Dr. I. Steinberger, of this sketch, was reared prin cipally in Wabash County, Ind., and in its public schools acquired his literary education. He then engaged in teaching for one term, after which he read medicine with Doctor Wagner, and in 1862 took a course of lectures in the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati. He had further instruc- tion along that line in the American Medical School of St. Louis, from which he graduated in 1880. In June, 1863, the Doctor enlisted for the late war, as a member of Company K, One IIun- dred and Eighteenth Indiana Infantry, and when the regiment was organized he was elected a First Lieutenant. In June, 1865, he was honorably discharged after two years of faithful service. He had participated in the siege of Knoxville and the campaign in East Tennessee.
After his return from the war, Doctor Stein- berger engaged in the drug business in Indiana until 1869, when he came to Eric, Kan. Here he began the practice of the medical profession, and in 1870 he opened his drug store. In 1872, he was burned out, but with characteristic energy he began business again, and has retrieved his lost possessions. Ile enjoys a large practice as a phy - sician and is doing a good drug business.
In 1865, in Somerset, Ind., Doctor Steinberger married Miss Isabella, a daughter of John Wher- ritt, a native of Kentucky. Two children grace their union, Winnie and Earl, the latter of whom is attending the State University.
In politics, the Doctor affiliates with the Dem- ocratie party, and served as Postmaster of Erie
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from 1885 to 1889. He has been a member of the City Council, was City Treasurer, and served as a member of the Board of Education. Socially, he is connected with the Masonic fraternity and the Grand Army of the Republic. Since 1860, he has been a faithful and consistent member of the Christian Church, in which he is now serving as Deacon. In connection with his other interests, Doetor Steinberger owns two hundred aeres of good land, and carries on general farming. He is a man of sterling worth, who gives his hearty sup- port and co-operation to every enterprise calculated to prove of publie benefit.
During the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, a prize of $5,000 in gold was offered by the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, of St. Louis, to the person who would estimate most closely the actual attendance at the Fair. The attendance was twenty-one million four hundred and eighty thou- sand, one hundred and forty-one. Doetor Stein- berger guessed twenty-one million, four hundred and eighty thousand, one hundred and twenty- one, being a difference of only twenty. Ile received the $5,000, together with the congratulations of a host of warm personal friends, who regard him as an exceedingly fortunate man.
R EV. PETER W. SINCK, an able and tal- ented minister of the Church of Christ, and an influential citizen of Mound Val- ley, was born in Clinton County, Ohio, April 4, 1827. lle was one of eleven children comprising the family of Peter and Elizabeth (Woodruff) Shick, both of whom died when he was but eight years old. Grandfather Lewis Shick (or as the name was then spelled, Sehiek) was born in Germany, and emigrating to America, lo- cated in Kentucky in the days of Daniel Boone and other famous pioneers. Hle erected the first
cabin on the present site of Germantown and ac- quired considerable fame throughout the state as an unerring shot and bold frontiersman. Peter Shiek, Sr., was a minister in the Baptist Church for some time, but later identified himself with Alexander Campbell and continued in the minis- try of the Church of Christ until his death.
Our subject resided with an uncle in his youth and received a common-school education. After growing to manhood he engaged in the profession of a school teacher for ten years, and mean- while, by a subtle influence of which he himself was at the time unconscious, he became to an ever-increasing extent identified with the ministry of the Church of Christ, until he was numbered among the leaders of that denomination. IIe be- gan his ministerial career at Bloomfield, Davis County, Iowa, where he located in 1850. During the following year he married Miss Maggie, daughter of Nicholas, and grand-daughter of Emanuel Srofe, a commissioned officer in the Rev- olutionary War and a participant in the battle of Lundy's Lane.
In 1862 Mr. Shiek accepted the pastorate of the church at Mackinaw, Tazewell County, Ill., where he remained for five years. During the ensuing five years he was pastor of the church at Hamers- ville, Ohio, whenee he came to Labette County, Kan., in the fall of 1872, and this county has sinee been his home. Loeating on the prairie south of Parsons, he improved one hundred and sixty aeres and there remained until 1878, when he removed to Parsons. Three years afterward he came to Mound Valley, where he has a beautiful home and superintends his farm of one hundred and sixty aeres lying near the eity.
In Greek and Latin Mr. Shiek is well versed. He is also thoroughly familiar with the Scriptures, and is an able debater upon religious subjects, having held fifty-four discussions, in which he has proved the possession of splendid reasoning pow- ers and broad knowledge. He and his wife have reared four children, namely: Kate, wife of Isaac Elledge; Laura, who married Frank Harper, of Wiehita County, Kan .; Alva, of Mound Valley, and Frank, who is connected with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company at Wells-
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ville. Politically, Mr. Shick is a liberal Democrat. Under the administration of President Cleveland he served as Postmaster at Mound Valley, and also officiated in that position during President Bu- chanan's administration.
LEXANDER LOWE, a prosperous general agriculturist and publie-spirited citizen cultivating a fine farm desirably located upon seetion 29, Osage Township, Miami County, Kan., is the son of one the early settlers of the state, and was but a little lad of about eight years of age when he accompanied his par- ents to his present locality. Our subjeet is a na- tive of Illinois, and was born in Madison County, June 21, 1857. Ilis father, Peter Lowc, a native of Baden Baden, Germany, was born in 1830, and was reared and educated in his birthplace and industriously assisted his parents in their labor of life. Inured to habits of frugal industry, he was a self-reliant youth, well fitted to make his way in life. When seventeen years of age, stimulated by the example of others and by the success of many who had gone before, Peter Lowe resolved to make his home in far off America. Embarking full of hope and courage he soon left the shores of the Fatherland in the distance, and after a safe voy- age landed in Baltimore, Md., and remaining for four years in the latter city, worked at the trade of wagon-making. Ile next journeyed to St. Louis and continued there for a short time engaged in wagon manufacturing, but later located in Madi- son County, IHI., his abiding place for many years. Receiving ready employment as a wagon-maker he engaged in his trade for some time, but finally re- moved onto a farm and devoted himself to the pursuits of agriculture.
While residing in Madison County, III., Peter Lowe was wedded to Miss Naomi West, a most es-
timable lady and a native of Madison County. Some time afterward, in the fall of 1865, the father and mother removed to Kansas, and settled in Valley Township, Miami County, in the spring of 1866. For the first few years the father worked at his trade, and then devoted himself entirely to agricultural pursuits with most prosperous results, at the time of his death owning about five hun- dred acres of finely improved land. He likewise handled stock extensively, and was numbered among the influential and substantial farmers of the eonnty. From the first he identified him- self with the interests of the county, and took a high place in the local councils of the Democratic party. He served efficiently as Justice of the Peace and was a candidate at one time for County Treasurer of Miami County, but was defeated by a small majority. A man of enterprise and ster- ling integrity of character, he was mourned as a public loss when on December 6, 1889, he entered into rest. The eight children who gathered in the home of the parents were: Elizabeth, who died in Miami Township, February 7, 1892, and was the wife of J. W. Tallman; Alexander; Jacob; Perry; Ada, wife of George Dettmering; Lorenzo; Laniece, wife of llenry Rossman; and Theodore.
Our subject was educated mainly in Valley Township, Miami County, attending the district schools. He assisted in the work of the farm, and being the eldest son, early began the toil of life. Thoroughly trained to the practical knowl- edge of tilling the soil and stock-raising, Mr. Lowe arrived at mature age, and upon the 16th of September, 1880, in Paola, Kan., was united in marriage with Miss Maggie Dyer. She was born in DeWitt County, Ill., on the 16th of De- cember, 1860, and was the daughter of George and Ruth E. Dyer, who removed with their family to Miami County in 1866. IIere the estimable wife of our subjeet received her education and grew up to an attractive and intelligent womanhood.
Mr. and Mrs. Lowe has been blessed by the birth of six children, of whom their eldest, Otto, died when one and a-half years old. The five surviving are: Orrin C., Ethel R., Leroy R., Lizzie Z. and Lela J., all bright and promising children, who will enjoy excellent opportunities to
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worthily fit themselves for a useful future. Mr. Lowe settled on his present farm in Osage Town- ship in 1892, and has brought his one hundred and sixty acres up to a highly profitable state of culti- vation. He takes an active interest in local af- fairs and is ever ready to assist in all matters of mutual welfare, and, associated with the progress- ive enterprises of Miami County, commands the high regard of a wide acquaintance and possesses a host of old-time friends.
OHN M. FLOOK, a prosperous general agri- culturist and successful stock-raiser, from his earliest youth intimately associated with the history and upward growth of Kansas, has long been a resident of his fine homestead, pleasantly located on section 36, township 19, range 21, Liberty Township, Linn County. Ar- riving within the borders of the state when only a little lad seven years of age, Mr. Flook has been an eye-witness of the struggles and vicissitudes of Kansas, and comparatively yet a young man, has for many years shared in the successes which have later blessed the dwellers in this part of our great country. Our subject is a native of Indiana and was born in Wabash County, February 8, 1852. Hlis father, William Flook, was the son of old and well known residents of Ohio, and was born in the Buckeye State, in adult age making his home in Indiana. The mother, Catherine (Ecklebarger) Flook, was descended from a Penn- sylvania family, and is a native of the Quaker State. Brought together by changes of residence, the parents were united in marriage in Indiana, and settled down to housekeeping in Wabash County, where the father tilled a farm. In 1859 the father and mother emigrated from Wabash County to the state of Kansas, making the journey with teams. Arriving at their destination, Will-
iam Flook purchased a claim in the eastern part of Liberty Township and with energy entered into the improvement of his homestead.
Prospering, the father in time became possessed of a section of land and extensively engaged in stock-raising. Ile died September 30, 1890, aged sixty-eight years. The mother yet survives. Of the family of seven children who gathered about the fireside of the old home six are now living. Jesse resides upon part of the old homestead; Jolin M. was the second in order of birth; Thomas is a citizen of Harvey County, Oregon; George is a prominent agriculturist of McPherson, Kan .; Frank lives on the old farm; William also remains upon the homestead. Trained to agricultural duties from his earliest youth, our subject grew up to adult age a thoroughly practical farmer, well versed in the tilling of the soil and the handling of live-stock, horses, cattle and hogs. He received a good common education in the district schools of his neighborhood, and self-reliantly assisting upon the old farm, remained with his parents until his marriage.
On the 12th of November, 1874, were united in the bonds of wedlock John M. Flook and Miss Abbie Woodford. daughter of Marcus and Almira (Blaine) Woodford. The estimable wife of our subject is a native of Ohio, and was born in Ful- ton County, April 11, 1859. Mr. and Mrs. Wood- ford were both born near Utica, N. Y. They re- moved to Ohio, and in 1865 made their home in Kansas City, Mo., from which place they emigrated to Linn County, Kan., in 1869. They resided for some time in Scott Township, but in 1885 located in Miami County. Their two children are both married. America is the wife of .I. N. Lemen, of Scott Township; Abbie is the wife of our subject.
Mr. and Mrs. Flook remained in Scott Township for a number of years subsequent to their mar- riage, and our subject there cultivated ninety acres of land which he owned. In 1882 he pur- chased his present farm of two hundred acres, then almost entirely unimproved. The acreage has since been brought up to a high state of cultiva- tion, and a handsome residence and other excellent buildings have been constructed. While every year reaping an abundant harvest, yielded by the fer-
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tile soil, Mr. Flook mainly devotes his time to stock-raising, feeding and shipping. The comfor- table and commodious home has been blessed by the birth of three children: Harry, born September 4, 1875; Warren, March 26, 1879; and Fred, Oeto- ber 11, 1881. The three sons, worthily fitting themselves for any position in life to which they may be ealled, are enjoying the advantage of thorough instruction and receiving the benefit of a good education. Politically our subjeet is now a Populist, but in former years he was a strong Democrat. He is a man of the times, progressive in thought and action, and commands the esteem of many friends.
ILTON A. MITCHELL possesses those qualities of industry and energy so char- acteristie of the native Ohioan, and is one of the progressive and substantial farmers residing in Walker Township, Ander- son County. He was born in Lake County, Ohio, on the 19th of December, 1829, but his parents, William and Naomi (Janes) Mitehell, . were natives of the Green Mountain State. Soon after their marriage, which occurred in their na- tive state, this worthy couple removed to Ohio, and were among the pioneers of Lake County. There they resided the remainder of their days, with the exception of one year spent in Wiscon- sin. The father was seventy-eight years of age at the time of his death.
In the parental family were eleven children, all of whom grew to mature years. Zipporah married Asa Jenkins, and resides in Ohio; Obed died in Michigan; William died in Henry Coun- ty, Mo .; Lucretia married William Ford, and resides near Great Bend, Kan .; Abner died in Henry County, Mo .; Milton is our subject; Jo-
seph died in Sheboygan County, Wis .; Oliver was killed by a falling tree in Arkansas; Mary married Samuel Lesey, and resides in Sheboygan County, Wis .; George died in Chicago, Ill .; and Henry died in Wisconsin, while serving in the Civil War. The paternal grandfather of these children, Joseph Mitchell, was a Methodist minis- ter and a prominent man.
When large enough, our subject was initiated into the duties of farm life, and remained in his native state until 1849, when he emigrated to Wisconsin. After residing there for a short time, he returned to the Buckeye State, and in 1852 went to California via the Isthmus, and remained on the Pacific Coast until 1858, engaged in mining and lumbering. Returning home by the same route, in the spring of 1858 he came to Kansas and purchased the one hundred and sixty aeres of land on which he now resides. In the year 1859 he went to Colorado and there remained until 1861, when he returned to his native state. In September of that year he enlisted in Company G, First Ohio Light Artillery, as a private. This regiment was assigned to the Army of the Cum- berland. Soon after entering the service, Mr. Mitchell became a non-commissioned officer, and in 1864 was commissioned Second Lieutenant, with which rank he was mustered out of service three years after entering.
Mr. Mitehell was in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Nashville, Franklin, and numerous skirmishes. At the battle of Frank- lin he received a gunshot wound in the right shoulder, which disabled him for two months, but he remained with his company nearly all the time. Returning to Kansas after the war, he set- tled on the land he had previously purchased, and is now the owner of one hundred and seventy- five acres. He has a good residence, substantial outbuildings, and all his farming operations are conducted in a manner reflecting credit upon his management. Ile selected his companion in life in the person of Miss Naney Cook, a native of Nashua, N. Il., and their marriage was solemnized in the year 1865. Her father was James Cook. To Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell have been born three chil- dren: Emily, wife of Walter Latimer (see sketch);
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Kate, clerk in the Bank of Garnett; and William, a locomotive fireman. Formerly a Republican in polities, he is now a Populist. Hle was Township Trustee for some time and has held other local po- sitions. Socially, he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
ON. CHARLES E. HARBAUGHI is the ge- nial and well known editor and proprietor of the Republican Record of Erie, and with pleasure we present to our readers this record of his life. He was born in Maxwell, Perry County, Ohio, July 31, 1863, and is a son of Maj. Henry L. Harbaugh, who was also a native of Perry County. In the Buckeye State the father was reared, and as a means of livelihood followed merchandising. During the late war he enlisted as a member of the Seventeenth Ohio Infantry, and became a Lieutenant. Subsequently, he became Captain of a company of the Sixty-second Ohio Regiment. At the Battle of Winchester he was wounded, and on account of disability returned home, but later he joined the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Regiment of Ohio Volunteers and be- came its Major.
After the war was over, Major Harbaugh re- turned to Ohio, and engaged in merchandising in Gore until 1868, when on the 13th of October he arrived in Kansas. On the 7th of April following he came to Neosho County, locating on section 11, Centreville Township, where he made his home until October, 1886. Since that time he has lived a retired life in Erie, but he still owns his valuable farm of two hundred acres, where he carried on agricultural pursuits and stock-raising. In poli- tics, he is a supporter of Republican principles. He married Rebecca J. Ferguson, and unto them were born three sons and four daughters, all of whom are still living.
Charles E. Harbaugh, the eldest of the family, was a lad of five summers when he came with his
parents to this county. Here he was reared to manhood, and after completing his literary educa- tion he was graduated from the law department of the State University, in the Class of '88. He then engaged in legal practice in Kansas City un- til the Ist of January, 1890, when he assumed control of the Republican Record, which he has since edited.
On the 23d of November, 1892, Mr. Ilar- baugh was married to Miss Belle La Bar, daughter of John W. La Bar, a stock-raiser of Neosho County. Our subject is a stalwart Republican, and in 1892 served as a delegate to the State Convention. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Kansas Republican League. His wife is a member of the Ladies' Aid Society of the Sons of Veterans, and in August, 1893, was hon- ored with an election as National Vice-President of that order. He belongs to the Masonie frater- nity, the Odd Fellows, and is past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. He also belongs to the Uniformed Rank of the Knights of Pythias and the Order of Select Friends. Mr. Harbaugh was unani- monsly elected to the office of Mayor of the city in 1892. The Republican Record which he publishes is a bright newsy sheet, ably conducted, and he has brought it up to a high standard of ex- cellence.
In the discharge of his public duties, Mr. Har- baugh has ever been prompt and faithful. Ile is a young man of more than average ability, pos- sesses many excellencies of character and is a popular gentleman, who wins friends wherever he goes.
L. WARD. In July, 1883, the MeCune City Bank was established with a capital of $15,000, and from that date until the pres- ent (1894) the institution has been wholly under the control of Mr. Ward, whose energetic efforts have placed it upon a solid financial basis.
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Ile was born in Oneida County, N. Y., February 4, 1833, and is a son of Stephen R. and Adelia (Owen) Ward, the former of whom was a native of New York City, and the latter of Orange County, N. Y. The grandparents were Josiah L. and Phobe (Davis) Ward, of New York, the former having a been soldier in the War of 1812. The maternal grandfather was John Owen.
In 1814 the Ward family removed to Ohio and settled in Licking County. Stephen R. enlisted in the Black Hawk War and served as First Lieu- tenant. In 1865, with his wife, he moved to Kan- sas City, Mo., and there they remained until death. They had a family of eight children, of whom six are now living. Four sons served in the Civil War. J. L. was reared in Franklin County, Ohio, and was educated in the academic department of Central College. Leaving home at the age of fourteen he commenced to work on a farm by the month. When sixteen he began to learn the trade of a carpenter, which he followed until the fall of 1857. He then removed to Ilinois, and settling in Kankakee County, engaged in general farming.
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