USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > Kansas City > Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. Historical and biographical. Comprising a condensed history of the state, a careful history of Wyandotte County, and a comprehensive history of the growth of the cities, towns and villages > Part 53
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Joseph C. Brown has been a worthy citizen of Wyandotte County, Kas., since 1877, and since locating here he has devoted his attention to farming and small fruit-growing. He has half an acre in Con- cord grapes, one acre in raspberries, one acre in blackberries, one acre in strawberries, 400 apple trees, besides numerous peach, plum and cherry trees, forty acres in corn and besides this is the owner of
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thirteen acres in Argentine, known as the Clinton Place, five acres in Mount Auburn and five acres for his home place. He started out in life for himself as a farm laborer with no means whatever, and first rented land, saving enough money to purchase his present place in 1880, paying for it $30 per acre. He is now worth nearly $50,000 and has a fine, comfortable residence and admirable out-buildings. He was born in West Virginia, December, 27, 1845, being the eighth of twelve chil- dren born to Joseph and Betsey (Steele) Brown, natives of Virginia, the former a farmer by occupation. At the age of sixteen years Joseph C. Brown enlisted in Company C, Sixteenth Regiment of Vir- ginia Cavalry, under Capt. John Hankins, Col. Ferguson's brigade, and the most of his service was in Virginia, where he with his com- pany did some effective service. He did duty in Pennsylvania also, and although at one time captured and wounded, he managed to escape. He always kept a good horse, and was looked upon by his comrades and officers as a trustworthy and faithful soldier. He has experienced a great many hardships and privations during his career, but is now in a position to rest from his labors and enjoy the fruit of his early toil. After the war he returned to his native county, and there he made his home until his removal to Wyandotte County, Kas., in 1877. He was married in 1868, to Miss Mary Barrett, but she died after three years of married life, and his second union took place in 1872, the maiden name of his wife being Eveline Ball, a daughter of Andrew Ball, a native of Russell County, Va. Mrs. Brown was born in 1854, and has borne her husband eight children: Marabel, Sarah, Joseph, George, Emily, Roy, Lena, and an infant unnamed. Mr. Brown is a Democrat, and he and Mrs. Brown are members of the Baptist Church. Socially he belongs to the I. O. O. F., Argentine Lodge No. 44.
Hon. Erastus D. Browne, farmer, Kansas City, Kas. Just at the western border of the city limits lies the farm of E. D. Browne, em- bracing ninety acres in his home place. This tract of land was origi- nally the farm of G. R. Clarke, chief of the Wyandottes, who, dying left it to his two children, Dick and Millie, and Mr. Browne became the owner of a portion of it in 1862. The old Indian house was the only one on it, and but little of the land was cultivated. Clearing it up, Mr. Browne began to turn his attention to horticulture, at one time having eight acres in vineyard, besides raising a great many ap- ples, peaches, etc. Clearing and cultivating has developed this farm into one of the finest in the county. Erastus D. Browne was born on
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July 26, 1828, in Granville, Washington County, N. Y., and is the son of Jonathan and Abbie (Everts) Browne, both natives of the Em- pire State. Jonathan was a commissioned officer in the War of 1812, enlisting just one month after his marriage, and participated in the battle of Plattsburg. He served out the term of his enlistment. His father, Jonathan Browne, and the latter's brother, Solomon, were soldiers in the Revolutionary War, and were captured. An officer of the British army commanded Solomon, who was but a boy, to perform some menial labor, but he refused, and the officer repeated the same order, at the same time drawing his sword and threatening him with instant death if another word was returned. Jonathan, knowing his brother's courage and independent spirit, thrust a handkerchief in his mouth, and thus cut off further words. Gen. Browne, of Western New York, is a brother of Jonathan and Solomon. Jonathan Browne, the father of our subject, reared a family of eleven children, nine of whom are living at the present time, and five of whom have lived out their three-score years and ten, and are still living. These children have adopted the custom of all meeting and celebrating the seventieth birthday of each as they attain that age. On February 19, 1890, the fifth gathering of this kind was celebrated at Evanston, Ill. Charles E. Browne, an elder brother of E. D., is ranked as one of the pioneers of Chicago, having settled in that place fifty-five years ago. He is now seventy- four years of age, and according to the Chi- cago Evening Post of May 28, 1890, his eyes are bright, his complex- ion florid and healthy, his hair and beard but slightly tinged with gray, his figure erect and commanding, and he looks nearer thirty-five than seventy-five. Hon. Erastus D. Browne, until seventeen years of age, enjoyed the advantages of a good common-school education, studying algebra and natural philosophy, the teacher only being able to ask the printed questions at the bottom of the page, and trust to the perspicuity of her pupil to answer correctly. In 1845 Mr. Browne came west to his two older brothers, Jonathan and Charles, also Fay- ette S., who were in Milwaukee, and afterward his father came to that town, and securing a farm near by, resided there until his death, in 1858. After studying law, Erastus was admitted to the bar in 1855, Judge Levi Hubbell presiding, and he then practiced there with his younger brother, E. L. Browne, until 1858, when he came to Wyandotte County. He had invested several thousand dollars in Quindaro property, and here he practiced law three or four years. Dur- ing the next few years the boom died out, many of the citizens left,
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and Mr. Browne turned his attention to fruit-growing for a living. About 1861 he was made township trustee, and shortly afterward he served as probate judge. He was unanimously nominated for superin- tendent of public instruction by the State convention that nominated Senator Ingalls for lieutenant-governor, but owing to a factional fight, the entire ticket was beaten. Mr. Browne has the satisfaction of knowing that but seventeen votes of his own county were cast against him. He was always a bitter enemy of Jim Lane, and fought him on all occasions. Though a Union man all the way through, he took no active part in the war, except to repulse Gen. Price at Blue and West- port. This was the beginning and end of his military career in the Civil War. He served in Col. Newly's regiment of Illinois Volun- teers, and his first lieutenant was Judge Murry F. Tuley, of Chica- go. On August 2, 1879, he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Griswold, daughter of Hiram Griswold, from Columbia County, N. Y.,. a prosperous farmer and merchant. Mr. and Mrs. Browne are the parents of two bright boys, Griswold and Erastus, aged ten and eight years, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Browne affiliate with the Presby- terians in religious matters. He joined the Odd Fellows in New York, but has not attended lodge for a number of years, because it has not been convenient to do so. In business Mr. Browne has been success- ful. When first coming to Quindaro he invested his all, several thou- sand dollars, in town lots there, and was left with town property on hand, and with the probability that the town had vanished. Getting enough loans together to purchase a farm, he engaged in the nursery business, which proved more fortunate than his previous speculation. His fruit-growing furnished a surplus, and he invested his savings judiciously, until now he owns property in Kansas City, Wyandotte, etc. He is also president of the West Side Railroad Company. The plan was conceived in 1888, and securing a franchise it was incor- porated the same year. The franchise changed hands, and under the new regime the work will be actively pushed to completion. There will be on the present road three and a half miles, and the power- house will be sufficient to run twenty five to twenty-eight acres covered with timber.
Dr. Greenbury H. Browne is a highly successful physician and surgeon of Kansas City, Kas., and although he has only resided here since 1883, he has already become well known. He was born in Brook- ville, Md., February 12, 1858, a son of Thomas W. H. Browue, who is a farmer and merchant by occupation. He was married to Miss Harriet
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M. Johnson, and by her became the father of two children: Greenbury H , and Mary E. G. (who resides with her parents in Brookville). Dr. Greenbury H. Browne spent his boyhood in his native town, and at the age of thirteen years he entered Howard University of Washing- ton, D. C., which he attended five years, completing the sophomore year, then returned to his home to take up the calling of a teacher, which he continued to follow in the vicinity of Brookville for two years, after which he clerked for one year in his father's store. Meanwhile he had taken up the study of medicine, and while employed as a teacher and clerk his leisure time was devoted to the study of medical books. At the age of twenty-one years he entered the med- ical department of Howard University, and there remained for three years, graduating March 6, 1882, with honors, making 100 per cent upon the final examination in every branch except one, and in that received 992 per cent. He was an exemplary student, and as a result stood at the head of his class and had the esteem of all the students as well as his instructors. For a few months after graduating he practiced in Freedman's Hospital at Washington, D. C., after which he returned to his old home at Brookville, where he practiced for nearly a year, coming in the fall of 1883 to Kansas City, Kas., arriv- ing on September 10. He immediately opened an office and entered actively upon the practice of his profession, and owing to his un- doubted ability, he has received calls from all parts of the county, his practice extending over a large area. Miss Alice M. Taylouer, who was born in Crestline, Ohio, December 25, 1865, became his wife De- cember 24, 1884, she being a daughter of Wilburne and Harriet A. (Williams) Taylouer, the former of whom was half French and half Cherokee Indian, and the latter seven-eighths white. Mrs. Browne is a teacher by profession, and was a graduate of the Springfield (Ill.) High School. She has taught in the schools of this city, Kansas City, Kas., for five years, and for three years was the first assistant in the Lincoln School. Her marriage with Dr. Browne has resulted in the birth of one child, Howard R. M., born November 28, 1885. Dr. and Mrs. Browne are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a Mason, and in his political views is a Republican. He served as a member of the school board of Kansas City, Kas., from August, 1887, until August, 1889, and proved a competent man for the place. He is a member of the Kansas State Medical Society, and although a young man he has built up a large practice, and his pro- fessional standing is thoroughly established. He occupies a handsome
34
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residence at No. 1015 Freeman Avenue, which he erected in 1888, which, together with the lots on which it stands, cost him $5,000. The building is entirely modeled by himself, and is a model of conven- ience and elegance.
Charles E. Bruce, county clerk, Kansas City, Kas. Mr. Bruce, the popular county clerk of Wyandotte County, Kas., was born in this county in 1863, and the confidence which the people have in him is therefore intelligently placed, they having known him from boy- hood, and have had every opportunity to judge of his character and qualifications. His birth occurred in Wyandotte, or the old town of Kansas City, Kas., and he is the son of James H. and Harriet (Mc- Cord) Bruce. The father was born in New York, and was by occu- pation a hardware merchant. He moved to Kansas City, Kas., in 1861, organized a company in Wyandotte County, and was captain of the same in the Federal army all through the war, operating in Kan- sas, Arkansas and Mississippi. He afterward returned to Kansas City, Kas., and was quite successful as a hardware merchant at that place. In 1874 he moved away, and is now a resident of Wisconsin. The mother of our subject died when he was but a year old. Although he attended the common schools, Charles E. Bruce was mainly self- educated, and is to-day a man well informed and familiar with all the current topics of the day. He learned telegraphy, and worked for nine consecutive years for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, and two years for the Western Union Telegraph Company. He had charge of the Missouri Pacific offices at Kansas City, Mo., for many years, and followed this business until elected to the office of clerk of the county in the fall of 1889. He was the only Republican on the ticket who was elected, and is one of the youngest officers in the county, He owns considerable real estate in the city. Mr. Bruce's career is a reflection on the old adage that " Where there's a will there's a way." He "let no spot of idle earth be found, but cultivated the genius of the ground." He has been eminently successful in all his undertakings, and has the confidence of all the best people of Kansas City, Kas., and of Wyandotte County. He is accommodating and gentlemanly in his intercourse with the public, and is eminently suited for the position he now holds.
Judge Charles F. Buchhalter, grocer, Armourdale. The grocery trade is one of the most important departments of commerce all the world over, representing as it does the staple article of consumption. In Armourdale it is somewhat extensively engaged in, the establish-
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ments being of a generally representative character. Prominent among those engaged in it is Judge Charles F. Buchhalter, who was born in Germany on January 20, 1852. His parents, Frederick and Cathrine (Shimpp) Buchhalter, were both natives of Germany, and came to the United States in 1854, locating at Reading, Penn. The inother died in that State in 1883, and the father, still living, resides near Reading, Penn. He has made farming his principal occupation, and has made his home in the Keystone State. Of the seven chil- dren born to his marriage, five of whom are living, Judge Charles F. is the eldest. The latter was but an infant when he came with his parents to America, and was principally reared in Lancaster Coun- ty, Penn., where he was educated in the common schools. He as- sisted his father on the farm until sixteen years of age and then learned the hatter's trade in Mohnsville, Penn., carrying it on for six years. He also worked at his trade in Reading. In 1876 he came west locating on a farm in Allen County, Kas., but subsequently he removed to Humboldt, Kas., where he engaged in the real estate business, remaining there until 1882. The same year he returned to Europe and traveled through the land of his birth on a real estate lookout. On his return to the United States he located in Wyandotte, but later removed to Armourdale, Kas., where he has been engaged in the real estate and insurance business. In the spring of 1884 he was elected police judge and resigned August 5, 1885, to accept the post-office, being postmaster under President Cleveland's administration. He resigned on November 14, 1888, and was released on May 23, the fol- lowing year. Since that time he has been engaged in the grocery business, and his trade is unquestionably one of the most successful in its line in the city, and from its very inception has enjoyed a reputa - tion consistent with its management. All that is handled is selected with the greatest care, and is sold at moderate prices. Judge Buch- . halter is interested in what promises to be one of the greatest patents of the age, and which is known as the compressed air motor, it being now successfully utilized in Chesterfield, England. The Judge has some of the capitalists of Kansas City very much interested in this affair, and will soon try and have this power in that city. He was married in 1872, to Miss Sarah Weighknecht, and they have one daughter, Ella N., a graduate of Kansas City High School at fifteen years of age, and who was the youngest out of twenty-three, in the highest grade. The Judge is a member of the K. of P.
Col. Allen Buckner is the superintendent of the institution for the
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education of the blind at Kansas City, Kas., and is a man possessing much public spirit, and of unimpeachable honesty. He was one of a family of children born to William and Nancy (Evans) Buckner, and was born in Clark County, III., October 8, 1830, his parents having been natives of North Carolina. They were taken by their respective parents from North Carolina to Illinois at an early day, and there they were reared, educated and married. The paternal grandparents of Col. Buckner were Virginians, and his maternal ancestors can be traced back to Scotland. Col. Buckner learned the details of farm life in his youth, and after becoming sufficiently fitted he taught one term of school, and at the age of twenty-four years he left the farm and entered the min- istry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and from 1854 until 1861 he was a member of the Illinois Conference, and his whole attention was devoted to ministerial work. July 20, 1861, he volunteered his services to the Union army, and was elected first lieutenant of Com- pany H, Twenty Fifth Illinois, and continued in this capacity with the same company and regiment until June, 1862, and was commander of his company at the battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., in the absence of the captain. In June, 1862, he returned to his home in Illinois, and helped to organize the Seventy-Ninth Illinois Regiment, of which, on July 28, 1862, he was chosen major. He continued to hold this position until after the battle of Stone River, in which the colonel of the regi- ment was killed, and Maj. Buckner was appointed to succeed him by Gov. Yates. He then took part in the battles of Liberty Gap and Chickamauga, and at the latter battle was with Gen. Thomas on the left, where some of the best fighting of the war was done. Later he took part in the engagement at Missionary Ridge, was officer of the day, and had charge of Sheridan's skirmish line until the division reached the foot of the ridge; he there took command of his regiment, and was among the first to get over the Rebel breastworks on the sum- mit. He subsequently participated in the Atlanta campaign, and on May 9, 1864, at Rocky Face Ridge he was wounded by a ball which passed through his right side. He later had charge of his regiment at the battle of Franklin. At Nashville he was on the front line of of Sheridan's old division (2-Fourth Army Corps) with three regi- ments (Twenty. Fourth Wisconsin, Seventy- Ninth and One Hundredth Illinois), when Gen. Thomas destroyed Hood's army. In June, 1865, he was mustered out of service at Springfield, Ill., with his regiment. Mr. Buckner, soon after he returned home, took up his residence at Douglas County, Ill., and there once more began his ministerial labors,
G
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and in September, 1865, was appointed presiding elder, of the Paris (Ill.) District, a position he held two years. For the three and one- half years following he labored as a minister in Sangamon County, but in 1870 he came to Kansas, and for several years was a minister at Fort Scott and Eureka, afterward presiding elder of Wichita and Hutchinson Districts, South Kansas Conference; he was a mem- ber of the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which met at Baltimore May, 1876. Since then he has been chap- lain of the State Senate eight years, and for three years was agent of Baker University at Baldwin. July 1, 1889, he was appointed superintendent of the institution for the education of the blind, and is now discharging his duties in an eminently satisfactory manner. He was married on August 26, 1856, to Miss M. E. Waller, by whom he has three daughters: Olive, Nellie and Laura. By his first wife he has a son, Norton. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., the G. A. R., and is a supporter of Republican principles.
Chester Bullock, real estate dealer, Kansas City, Kas. The mag- nitude of the real estate interests in Kansas City, Kas., has enlisted the services of many of the most prominent citizens, and among the number is Mr. Chester Bullock, who is recognized authority as to present and prospective values, and counts among his customers many of the principal investors and property holders. He was born in Warren County, Penn., near the boundary line of New York in 1827, and when but six months old the family moved into Chautau- qua County, N. Y., on a farm near Jamestown, where he grew to manhood and received his education at the common school and James- town Academy. At an early age he entered into mercantile business under the firm name of Weld & Bullock, in Jamestown, N. Y., the firm doing a very large business for a number of years. He sold his interest to his partner, and then removed to Meadville, Penn., where he established the Empire Store, one of the largest and most success- ful stores in the country at the time. He continued in trade about ten years, then sold out and entered into the oil business at Parker's Landing and in Butler County, Penn. He, in company with Col. J. P. Bernton, of Philadelphia, and Maj. A. C. Hawkins, of Bradford, Penn., purchased the Graham farm and laid out and started the city ยท of Petrolia, Butler County, Penn., and continued in the management of the real estate of said city until the spring of 1879, when he left for Leadville, Colo., as correspondent and in interest of the Ameri- can Queen, a society paper of New York City. He left for the West
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expecting to be absent about six weeks, but while in the mountains was caught in the whirl of mining excitement and remained in Colo- rado nearly three years. His mining venture was only fairly suc- cessful, inasmuch as one of the best locations, the title of which was in dispute and carried before the Interior Department at Wash- ington, D. C., when stronger political influence was brought to bear that decided the case against him. This mine has proved to be one of the best in the Leadville District, and now has nearly $2,000,000 worth of lead and silver ore in sight. He returned East, went to New York City, and bought an interest in the paper for which he had been corresponding, but not liking the business, soon sold out, and taking the agency of the National Cable Company for the West came to Kan- sas City, Mo., and remained with the company two years, when the foundations of the cable system of Kansas City, Mo., was laid. He be- came interested with Robert Gillham and others in the Riverview Cable Line, and came to Kansas City, Kas., for the purpose of build- ing said road and assisting in other improvements here. He formu- lated the plans, laid out said road, and secured the donations of lands that gave life and started the building of the elevated road in 1886, . the starting of the system that has given life and enterprise to the city that has since become the metropolis of the State of Kansas. He secured and located Chelsea Park at the terminus of the L road sys- tem, and under his management Chelsea Park was laid out and made attractive. He organized the company, located and built the Ken- sington Railroad leading from Grandview to Chelsea Park, thus com- pleting the loop in the L road system to and from Chelsea Park. He has spent much time during the past two years, with other gentle- tlemen, in the interest of a Western university, to be established and placed on lands west and adjoining Chelsea Park. His first wife was Miss Delphina Weld, of Warren County, Penn. ; second wife, Miss Addie M. Van Evera, of Ohio. He is from the old English family of Bullocks, the Bullocks of New York and Massachusetts are his nearest relatives. His principal business is real estate. In politics Mr. Bullock is a Republican of the true stamp.
Colin Cable is a native of the city in which he now resides, his birth having occurred here on March 10, 1869. He is a successful young druggist of Kansas City, and his thorough knowledge of the business, together with necessary and natural qualifications for its suc- cessful carrying on, insures for him a promising future. His parents, Rufus E. and Fannie L. (McCurdy) Cable, are among the old and
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honored citizens of this city, their settlement being made here in the spring of 1866. Colin has thus spent his entire life here, and was formerly no less known as a straightforward, honest and industrious youth than he is now known as an upright and prosperous young busi- ness man. He received his early education in the public schools of Kansas City and in Wyandotte Academy and graduated from this in- stitution at the age of sixteen years. As early as thirteen years of age he secured a position as clerk in a drug store, and so long as he attended school he was thus employed during his vacations. At the age of sixteen he entered the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, which he attended one year, then returned home and resumed his position as clerk, continuing in the capacity of a drug clerk until October, 1889, at which time he engaged in the drug business for himself, having purchased the store in which he had formerly clerked. This estab- lishment is on the corner of Fifth Street and Washington Avenue, and is one of the neatest and best appointed in the city. By his courteous and accommodating manner and his desire to satisfy the public, he has built up an excellent trade, and being acquainted with so many, his place of business is a favorite resort for his many friends. He pos- sesses every necessary characteristic for a successful business career, and is known to be a thoroughly competent pharmacist and prescrip- tionist. Socially his standing is of the best.
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