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 64
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
642
HISTORY OF KANSAS.
J. B. Hipple was born at Lancaster, Penn., February 3, 1857. He was educated in the public schools of that county, and farmed and taught school himself for six successive years, abandoning the pro- fession when he was principal of one of the soldiers' orphan schools of the State. Then he became a member of the editorial staff of the Daily Lancaster Examiner. In the spring of 1888 Mr. Hipple resigned his position, and established the Sun at Manheim, Penn. At the solicita- tion of friends in Kansas City, Kas., Mr. Hipple came West, and in August, 1889, started the Weekly Press, a newspaper which has been a paying enterprise from the start.
Thomas J. Hinton, the subject of the present sketch, has been very successful through life, being the happy possessor of both energy and perseverance, two traits that united in the same person can not fail to bring about a good result. From early childhood he has had a strong tendency toward the occupation of a mechanic, and after thirty years of active experience, and having learned it thoroughly under H. B. and J. J. Robinson, Fulton Street, New York, is well qualified to fill any position in his line of work most satisfactorily. He is at the present writing in the employ of the Armour Packing House, being foreman of the cooper department in their mammoth establishment in Kansas City, Kas. Previously to accepting this position, he held a similar one with J. S. Ward, in Brooklyn, N. Y., for over nineteen years, but concluded to follow Horace Greeley's advice, and came West to grow up with the country. Through the past few years this city has made truly wonderful progress, and is generally conceded to
be most enterprising and thrifty. Mr. Hinton's birth occurred in Canada, during the year 1841, but while still a child of seven sum- mers, he moved with his parents to New York City, and continued to make his home in that city and in Brooklyn until 1882. In the year . 1861, when Abe Lincoln called for the first 75,000 men, he was one of the first to respond. The position he holds with Armonr is a re- sponsible one, he being in charge of fifty-two men, and turning out from 1,200 to 1,500 packages daily. On January 8, 1863, Mr. Hin- ton was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Brennan, who, like himself, came from the East, having been born in New York City. Their union has been blessed with one child, viz., Emily. As a public-spirited man, and a wide awake, progressive business man, the subject of this sketch has made numerous warm friends, both among his associates in the mercantile world, and in social circles.
Hon. R. W. Hilliker, is a native of the " Empire State," and like
643
WYANDOTTE COUNTY.
all New Yorkers he possesses many sterling business, as well as social traits of character. He was born in Dutchess County, April 7, 1830, his parents, Henry I. and Tina (Syble) Hilliker, being born there and in Germany, respectively. The subject of this sketch was left mother- less when he was a small lad, and at the age of seven years he accom- panied his father to Oxford County, Upper Canada, and there he was reared to manhood, educated, and learned the carriage-maker's trade, which he successfully conducted for several years. In 1860 he re- turned to the United States, and after following the calling of a rail- road contractor for several years in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, he, in 1865, came West and located in Kansas City, Mo., continuing the same occupation there. He became a member of a firm which erected over 4,000 buildings in that city, and this firm at one time employed over 200 men. In 1881 he engaged in the loan and bank- ing business in Kansas City, Kas., and when the Central Bank of this place was organized in 1884, he was made its cashier, a position he has held ever since. In 1883 he was elected mayor of Kansas City, serving one term, and he was one of the men who set the movement going which led to the consolidation of the three cities in 1886. While filling the position of mayor, he was instrumental in having the James Street viaduct erected. In short, it may be said, that there has not been a single public improvement either in Kansas City, Kas., or Kansas City, Mo., during the past quarter of a century in which he has not been conspicuously identified. While a resident of the latter place he served as a member of the city council several years, and for two years was chairman of the committee of public works. He has been police commissioner of Kansas City, Kas., for three years, and his whole aim and entire energies have been bent upon the improvement of the two cities. He is a stanch supporter of Republican principles, and while he has never sought political honors, he has frequently been importuned to accept nominations at his party's hands to some of the choicest posi- tions within its power to grant. In 1885 his friends set on foot a move- ment which came within nine votes of nominating him for Congress, of a convention of the Second District of Kansas. He is one of the most distinguished citizens in this section of the State, and especially in the city in which he resides, and is at present president of the city council, being a member from the Fifth Ward. His first wife was Miss Sarah A. Durkee, whom he married on October 9, 1850, but she was called from the scene of her earthly labors September 16, 1873, leaving a family of three sons and three daughters to mourn their loss.
644
HISTORY OF KANSAS.
On December 24, 1886, he was married to his present wife, Miss Martha W. Griffin, of Kansas City, Kas.
William J. Hill is the efficient chief of the fire department of Kan- sas City, Kas., but was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., December 24, 1844, a son of John and Elizabeth E. (Chambers) Hill, the former of whom was born in Ireland, and the latter in Beaver County, Penn. The father came to America and was married here to Miss Chambers, and by her became the father of nine children: Jennie, William J. and David R. (twins), Mary C., Belle and Edith H., who are living, and Alexander, Elgen and Hazel, who are deceased. The father passed to his long home in 1885, but the mother is still living, and resides in New Castle, Penn. William J. Hill removed with his parents from New Castle to Pittsburgh, when he was ten years of age, and in early manhood, he learned the trade of a machinist and engineer, and the pursuit of that calling received his attention until 1876. He was mar- ried in New Castle, Penn., to Miss Emma C. Kennedy, who was born in St. Louis, Mo., a daughter of James and Anna (Kirkpatrick) Kennedy, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, and the latter in Iowa. In 1873 Mr. Hill came with his family to Kansas City, Mo., and in the spring of 1875 he returned to his native State and there remained two years, when he again decided to come West. This time he located in Kansas City, Kas., and here, in 1884, was made chief of the fire department in Old Kansas City, a position he held for two years. He then resigned and re- sumed his trade, and in 1887 superintended the construction of the waterworks building at Kinsley, Kas. During the year 1888 he acted as collecter for the packing firm of George Fowler & Son, and in June, 1889, made chief of the fire department in Kansas City, Kas., and is now filling that position in a very creditable and acceptable manner. As a fireman he is thoroughly familiar with every feature and branch of the business, having followed it more or less for eighteen years, and he is the inventor of several different contrivances and appliances for the use of firemen, upon five of which he has received patents: A patent cellar nozzle, a patent sheet nozzle, a combination water tower, a harness hanger and a combination nozzle. Under his able manage- ment the service has greatly improved, and it is now in perfect working order in all its departments. It consists of twenty - four men, and eight others will soon be added. He and his wife are the parents of four children: Mabel, Percy J., Frederick W. and Carrie, who died when about four months old. Mr. Hill is a member of the K. of P.
Y
645
WYANDOTTE COUNTY.
and the A. O. U. W. During the Rebellion, in 1864, he served for nine months as a member of Company E, Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania Vol- nnteer Infantry.
Dr. Russell Hill, physician and coroner, Armourdale, Kas. This successful practitioner owes his nativity to Philadelphia, Penn., his birth occurring on February 22, 1858, and is a son of Joseph and Mary (Singer) Hill, the father a native of England and the mother of the Keystone State. The father was but six years of age when he emigrated with his parents to the United States. They located in Philadelphia, and there he grew to manhood, receiving a liberal edu- cation in the schools of that city. Joseph Hill was a cotton and woolen manufacturer in Philadelphia and carried on an extensive busi- ness, being unusually successful. He died in that city, but the mother is still living and makes her home there. She is seventy-six years of age and is still quite active. The father was a member of the com- mon council of Philadelphia, and held several other important offices. To his marriage were born ten children, eight now living, of whom our subject is third youngest. The latter passed his boyhood and youth in the city, receiving a good education, and was around his father's factory until about sixteen years of age. He then began the study of medicine, attended the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia, and later, or in 1880, entered the Jefferson Medical School, graduating from the same in the class of 1882-83. He began practicing at Jenkintown, Penn., near Philadelphia, and in the fall of 1883 he came West, locating at Armstrong, now Kansas City, Kas., where he has since been in practice. He now resides in Ar- mourdale and has a large and rapidly increasing practice, being classed a No. 1 physician. He was elected coroner in 1889, and is a member of the staff of St. Margaret's Hospital. He was at one time in the Government geological surveys of States and Territories. He is a mem ber of the East Kansas Medical Society. He was married, in February, 1886, to Miss Agnes G. Fulton, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and they have two children: Frank and Margaret. The Doctor is a member of the K. of P. and the A. O. U. W.
Henry T. Hoffman (deceased). Mr. Hoffman was one of the early settlers of Shawnee Township, and a man universally respected and esteemed. He was born in Maryland on June 4, 1828, and was the third of four children born to Daniel and Mary (Picken) Hoffman, na- tives also of Maryland. The father attained his growth in his native State, followed the occupation of a farmer, but in 1831 he emigrated
6
646
HISTORY OF KANSAS.
to Ohio where he received his final summons. There the mother died also. Henry T. was reared in this State, and like his father tilled the soil. In 1867 he left Ohio, emigrated West and settled on a farm now owned by his widow, and near where he met his death on May 28, 1868. While swimming in the Kansas River, was taken with the cramps, and before assistance could arrive he was drowned. He was a man respected and esteemed by all acquainted with him, and his death was the occasion of universal sorrow. He was married in 1850 to Miss Mary Sigler, a native of Ross County, Ohio, born on August 22, 1826, and the daughter of John and Amelia (Bogard) Sigler. She came with her husband on his western trip and has remained here caring for the chil- dren until they are now able to take care of themselves. She has at- tended to the farm of 100 acres, has made many improvements, and now has an excellent farm. The bottom land is rented out to corn and potato growers, and the bluff has on it 175 apple trees, 50 peach trees, a few plums, and a number of cherries, and has all the best varieties of each. She also has about two acres in blackberries and the rest in pasture and timber. Mrs. Hoffman bore her husband three children: Florence (wife of Samuel Beattie), Albert C. and Alice (deceased). Albert C., the only son, has managed the farm for his mother and has been successful. He is enterprising and industrious, is posted in the affairs of everyday life, and a man of true worth and ability in this community. In politics he is a Democrat, and socially he is a member of the Alliance and the Horse League. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist Church.
Edward Hollecker resides within one mile and a half of the city limits of Kansas City, Kas., and is a practical horticulturist. He was born in Kansas City, Mo., November 11, 1862, and was the third of a family of nine children, four of whom are living: Caroline (resides in Kansas City, Mo., and is the wife of Herman Long, who is a con- tractor and builder), John (resides in Kansas City, Mo., and is a plas- terer by trade), and William (who is the youngest of the family and who resides in Kansas City, Mo.). The father was a native of the province of Alsace, Germany, and the mother was born in Hesse- Darmstadt. She died July 1, 1890. Edward Hollecker received a good education in the schools of Kansas City, Mo., and this has fitted him for the practical life he leads. He began for himself when twenty-four years of age without a dollar, and emigrated to Wyan- dotte County, Kas., in 1874, when the country was new and unsettled. There he was married January 28, 1885, to Miss Mary Gellhonson, a
647
WYANDOTTE COUNTY.
native of Germany, born July 28, 1863. She was educated in the common schools of Kansas, and is a lady of refinement and culture. Their union has been blessed by the birth of two living children, a son and danghter, Eddie, four years of age, and Minnie, one year of age. They lost one daughter, Caroline, at the age of three years. Mr. Hollecker has adhered closely to the Democratic party, and his first presidential vote was for Gen. W. Hancock. He has ever been a strict partisan, and has always aimed to support men of prin- ciple and honor. He has been a delegate to his county convention at different times, and is now a delegate. He has been tendered offices in his township, but has modestly declined each and every one. He and Mrs. Hollecker are members of the German Catholic Church, and have always contributed to all worthy movements. When he first came to this county Mr. Hollecker found that real estate was worth $50 per acre. He is now the owner of twenty acres of the most val- uable land in the vicinity of Kansas City, Kas. At one time, during the boom of 1885, Mr. Hollecker's mother was offered $1,800 per acre, and Mr. Hollecker would not sell for less, and in fact does not care to sell at all. Every foot of it is cultivated, and their fine residence, good outbuildings, etc., make a valuable and pleasant home. Mr. Hollecker raises the following kinds of fruits: Apple, cherry, peach, raspberries, strawberries and different varieties of grapes. He and Mrs. Hollecker are comfortably fixed, and surrounded by their many kind friends and neighbors will make their future home here. Mrs. Mary Hollecker (deceased), mother of our subject, was the wife of Gall Hollecker, and first located in Wyandotte County, Kas., in 1874. She purchased the present farm of twenty acres, and on the old homestead she passed the remainder of her days. Her farm was very valuable, as is mentioned before she refused $1,800 per acre for it. She was afflicted with liver trouble in the month of April, and after severe suffering she passed away July 1, 1890. Her remains are interred in Quindaro Cemetery, where a beautiful monument rests at her head, sacred to her memory, erected by her loving children. Mrs. Hollecker was a grand and noble woman, and one who was held in the highest respect by her children and her many warm friends. Her presence will be missed in social gatherings as well as the family circle.
Henry G. Hollox, farmer and fruit-grower, Vance, Kas. Mr. Hollox is another old resident of the county, having made his advent here from Davenport, Iowa, in 1866, twenty-four years ago, and located where he now lives, on thirty-three and one-third acres of land, when
6
648
HISTORY OF KANSAS.
there were but few acres under cultivation. The land is divided as fol- lows: ten acres in apple, four acres in peach trees, two in blackberries, one of raspberries and one of grapes. The remainder is principally in grass. Mr. Hollox has resided ever since on this place. He was born in Norfolk, England, on October 13, 1831, and is a son of John Hollox, a farmer, who came with his family to America in 1841 or 1842, and located in Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained about fifteen years. Later he engaged in market gardening, and in 1856 moved to Daven- port, Iowa, buying a farm ten miles out from the city, where he en- gaged in tilling the soil. There his death occurred in 1866. His widow survived him until 1888, her death occurring at her son's. They reared a family of four children-two sons and two daughters-Henry G. the only one now living. The latter was quite young when his father left England, and was the recipient of a good common-school education, attending the high school in Cleveland. He then left school to assist at home, and later clerked for some time in a store in Cleve- land. He then went to Davenport, Iowa, continued agricultural pur- suits, but just before leaving Cleveland he was married to Miss Ellen S. Akins, who bore him eight children-six sons and two daughters- only two now living: Jonathan (married and resides with his father), and Erminie. Mr. Hollox resided for about ten years in Iowa, and then, thinking that the new State of Kansas afforded better inducements for money making, he came here. Politically he is a Republican, but is not an active party worker, but finds plenty to claim his attention at home.
W. H. Hooker, fruit-grower and farmer, Kansas City, Kas. Mr. Hooker, who is numbered among the substantial and representative citizens of eastern birth in Wyandotte County, came originally from New York State, where his birth occurred on August 1, 1822, and is the son of Chillis Hooker, who was a native of Massachusetts, and a miller by trade. The latter reared a family of five children, of whom W. H. is second in order of birth, and he was called into service at one time during the War of 1812, but ere reaching the scenes of war was discharged, peace being declared. W. H. Hooker reached man- hood in his native State, attended the common schools, learned the same trade of his father, and when about twenty years of age, his father having sold out, he came with the latter to Winnebago County, settled, and turned his attention to farming. There the father died at the age of fifty-three years. His widow survived him until 1889, having lived to the ripe old age of ninety-three years, and they lie
649
WYANDOTTE COUNTY.
side by side in the cemetery at Rockton. W. H. Hooker remained at home until about twenty years of age, as above stated, and then went to Jackson County, Iowa, where he engaged in the milling business. There he resided until the last year of the war, after which he went to Illinois and there remained for three years. In 1867 he came to Wy- andotte, made his home there until 1878, and then he moved on the place where he now resides, consisting of about fifty acres. He was married in Illinois in January, 1852, to Miss Lydia W. Baron, and they have four children, all daughters: I. D. (widow of Judge Stough- ton, and now resides in Kansas City, Kas.), Clara (wife of H. L. Judd, resides also in Kansas City, Kas.), Mary E. (resides at home), and Fan- nie M. (wife of J. K. Goodwin, resides in Clinton, Iowa). Aside from his farm Mr. Hooker is also the owner of considerable property in Kansas City, Kas. In politics he is a Republican, and socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F.
Christian F. Horstman, farmer and gardener, Kansas City, Kas ... It is owing entirely to the industrious and persevering manner with which Mr. Horstman has adhered to his present occupation that he has risen to such a substantial position in farm affairs in this county. Born in Prussia, May 16, 1841, he is the son of Christopher and Anna Maria Elizabeth (Von Behren) Horstman, natives, also, of that country. Their family consisted of five children - two sons and three daughters-all, except one brother, Louis Albert, now residing in this township. He is living in Olathe, Kas. In 1854 the father moved his family to America, led by the de- sire to increase his worldly goods, and to make a better home for his children. He left the land of his birth, all the old associa- tions, and landed in New Orleans early in the summer of 1854. He then came by river to Cincinnati, Ohio, resided there three years, and then carried on agriculture, within nine miles of that city, for six years. Later he went to Decatur County, Ind., near Greensburg, and there with his son, Christian, bought eighty acres of land. After residing there for about four years and a half, he sold out and came to Kansas, in 1871, our subject having preceded him by about a year and a half. That fall he had the misfortune to lose his wife, and he afterward resided with his son. In 1875 Christian F. purchased fifty acres of land, and in the spring of 1877 he moved on the farm. Here the father's death occurred, in June, 1880. Christian F. Horstman was married, in 1869, to Miss Mary Jansen, a daughter of William and Mary Jansen, early settlers of this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Horst-
4 1
650
HISTORY OF KANSAS.
man were born nine children: Mary (wife of Charles Sortor, a son of Elisha Sortor, who was one of the old settlers), Louise, Ida, Cather- ine, Rose, William, Henry, Ernest Edwin and Alfred Newton, all of whom are living, except Ernest E., who died December 7, 1886. Mr. Horstman is a member of the Lutheran Church. He is now serving his fifth term of township trustee, and in politics is a Re- publican.
George U. S. Hovey, postmaster, general merchant and farmer of White Church, Wyandotte County, Kas., owes his nativity to Ulster County, N. Y., his birth occurring on July 19, 1842, and is now one of the representative men and prominent citizens of his adopted county. He was the eldest of three children born to Alfred and Elizabeth (Un- derhill) Hovey, natives of England and New York, respectively. Mrs. Hovey was a direct descendant of old Capt. John Underhill, who made a record in the old country as a soldier about the time of the Pilgrims. He assisted in the Indian wars of his time, and finally moved to New York, settling with the Dutch in that State. Alfred Hovey moved to New York City, where his children graduated in the high schools, and finished their education in Elmville Seminary. About 1859 Mrs. Ho- vey died of consumption, and after this our subject, becoming desirous of viewing the West, boarded a steamer and landed in San Francisco in the fall of 1863, where he remained for seven years, engaged in different mercantile pursuits. Then becoming tired of the extreme west, he returned to his home in New York, where he remained for a year or so, and then followed his brother's example in 1870, by emi- grating to Kansas. Here he has since remained, and has endured the many privations and hardships incident to pioneer life. He has been prominent in the development of the county for the last eighteen years, twelve years of which time he served as justice of the peace, and six years as county commissioner, holding the position of chairman of that body for five years. During that time the county made some rapid and important strides, among the most important being the grading of all roads at a cost of $500,000; the introduction of iron bridges and stone culverts, the cost of which amounted to $270,000; the erection of the new sheriff's residence and jail, improvements that were made on the court-house, the erection of a fire-proof vault for the county rec- ords, and the erection of the county poorhouse, which is a fine struct- ure. Mr. Hovey was instrumental in carrying the bonds which brought the North-Western road through, and was also one of the originators of the town known as White Church, of which he is the
651
WYANDOTTE COUNTY.
postmaster. He has built a handsome residence and good store-rooms, is also the owner of 135 acres of land, and is one of the representative citizens of the West. He is a stanch Republican in his political views, is quite prominent in politics, and is a power at the polls. He is president of White Church Alliance, and is treasurer of the County Alliance, and is a member of White Church, Delaware Lodge No. 96, A. F. & A. M., of which he is treasurer. He was married on Febru- ary 10, 1870, to Miss Ella Jane Jones, a native of New York City, born November 24, 1843, and the adopted daughter of John P. Jones. Eight children were born to this union, the following being the only ones now alive: Ella Jane (born November 21, 1870), John P. J. (born September 24, 1872), Josephine B. (born September 28, 1876), Anna L. (born June 6, 1879), A. Clement (born April 15, 1882), and Mr. Hovey is the guardian of his brother Andy's son, George C., whose birth occurred on October 25, 1882.
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.