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 85
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wearied of a constantly confining position, he, in October, 1878, re- signed, and started for the southwest portion of Kansas, and for some time was engaged in the land and insurance business, in Edwards County. After a year of prosperity he lost all he had, and as the outlook for the future was not promising, he immediately pulled up stakes and started for Wyandotte, which place he reached on April 14, 1880. He at once took a position under L. H. Wood, and after remaining with him six months, he became a member of the firm of Wood & Talbott, and they conducted a general real estate and insur- ance business. In 1882 he sold his interest to his partner, and took a posi- tion as special agent for Kansas for the "Continental " Fire Insurance of New York, and after traveling over the State constantly for three years, he resigned his position on account of ill health, and again, in 1884, engaged in the real estate and insurance business, a calling which has since received his attention, and it may be truly said that he has sold more land adjacent to the city, and a greater number of lots and city property, than any other one man in the consolidated cities of Kansas City, Kas. Having grown up with the many great property changes, and having manipulated so many sales and pur- chases, his good judgment is said to be second to none on values, and he is daily asked to pass judgment on all classes of values. He is doing a substantial business, and has the entire confidence of all who know him. He pays every attention to the interests of non-residents, who both seek investments in the great metropolis of Kansas, and who desire some reliable person to take charge of and look after their al- ready secured interests. Parties who wish to invest, or have invested, will receive the utmost attention from Mr. Talbott, and will learn that he is truly the right man in the right place. In 1884 he was elected a member of the Republican State Central Committee, and was chosen one of the five of the Executive Committee to plan and manage the State campaign which elected John Martin, of Atchison, governor. Since he attained his majority, he has at all times taken an active part in politics, and has wielded a great influence in city and county affairs. He is an enthusiastic admirer of the old Whig party, and believes that no party can maintain America's free and liberal Government but the Republican party of to-day.
W. H. Taylor, of English birth and a man yet fairly in the prime of life, learned the machinist's trade in his native country, and was there married. Emigrating to America, he located at Evansville, Ind., where for a number of years he was employed as superintendent in the
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shops of the first railroad at that point. During the fifties he and.a partner brought a grist-mill to Quindaro, which they operated for a time, but which, owing to a lack of patronage, proved a losing venture. Mr. Taylor then went to Leavenworth, and was master mechanic in the shops of the railroad company there that at that time operated only two engines. For ten or twelve years he remained at that place, then engaged in agricultural pursuits, but later again resumed railroading, occupying the same position he formerly held. For the past number of years he has farmed, and throughout all his diversified career it can be said that he has made a success. Recently he sold thirteen acres from his farm to a pressed-brick company, and it now produces some of the finest brick manufactured. Mr. Taylor has four sons and a wife living, and the family are among the well-known and respected families of the county.
William B. Taylor is one of the influential residents of Kansas City, Kas., and is the present commissioner of elections in that place. He was born in Ellenville, Ulster County, N. Y., December 30, 1855, and like all native New Yorkers he is enterprising, industrious, intelligent and public spirited. His parents, Richard B. and Rachel A. (Brod- head) Taylor were born in Franklin County, Mass., March 29, 1822, and Ulster County, N. Y., March 1, 1829, respectively. The paternal grandfather, William Taylor, was born in the "Bay State," and his father, William Taylor, was a captain in the Revolutinary War. The maternal grandparents, William and Susan Brodhead were born in New York State, their ancestors having been residents of that State for several generations and among its leading families. Richard and Ra- chel Taylor were married March 22, 1851, and William B. Taylor, the subject of this sketch, is their only child. The father was a journal- ist by profession, and after locating in Kansas City, Kas., in July, 1858, he became connected with the Wyandotte Gazette, and in 1860 became its sole proprietor. He conducted it very successfully until his death, which occurred March 24, 1877, being still survived by his widow, her home being now with her son William B. The latter has resided in Kansas City ever since he was two years old, and his early educational training was received in the public schools of the city, and in the State Agricultural College at Manhattan, Kas. In 1877 he graduated from the Law Department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. Upon the day he graduated, his father died, and instead of entering npon the practice of his profession as he had intended, he was obliged to take charge of the paper which his father had so long edited. He
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edited and published the Gazette until October, 1879, when he sold the establishment to Messrs. Armstrong & Moyer, and he has since given his attention principally to mercantile pursuits and to the man- agement of his real estate interests which are somewhat extensive. In March, 1889, he was appointed commissioner of elections for Kansas City, by Gov. Humphrey, and his term of office will expire in March, 1893. On November 17, 1879, he was married to Miss Flora Cook, the only child of the late Henry W. Cook of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have three children: Ethel C., Mabel B. and Rachel. Mr. Taylor is an enthusiastic Mason, especially in the higher degrees of the order, and was for several years eminent commander of Ivanhoe Commandery No. 21, K. T. He also belongs to the order of the Mystic Shrine. He has always been an ardent supporter of Re- publican principles, and is influential in the councils of his party. Although a young man he is one of the pioneer residents of the town, and is one of her wide-awake and public-spirited citizens. While the Wyandotte Gazette was in the hands of his father, the late Hon. R. B. Taylor, it was one of the leading journals of the State, and was one of the first papers to be printed in the same. Mr. Taylor, Sr., was the first president of the Kansas Editorial Association, and of the Kansas Historical Association. He was also a member of the State Legisla- ture, and occupied other positions of trust and responsibility; and his name is indissolubly linked with the memory of the struggle of the earlier settlers of Kansas, the story of whose heroic achievements will ever adorn some of the brighest pages in the history of the Sunflower State.
Prof. Edward F. Taylor, superintendent of Wyandotte County Pub- lic Schools, Kansas City, Kas. In including in this work sketches of the lives of prominent young men, it would be an omission to be regretted not to include an outline, at least, of the life of Mr. Taylor, who has been a resident of Wyandotte County since 1869. He was born in Will County, Ill., in 1863, and is a son of David G. and Sarah F. (Franklin) Taylor, natives of New York and Iowa, respectively. The father is a farmer by occupation and is held in high esteem by all acquainted with him. Edward F. Taylor came with his parents to Wyandotte County, Kas., in 1869, and after attending the district schools for a number of terms, and the Wyandotte Academy a couple of years, taught school for two more years. After this he entered the State Normal at Emporia, Kas., and there remained one year. He has fol- lowed the teacher's profession ever since, and is one of the most
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prominent and successful instructors in the county. He taught first in the ungraded schools and later became principal of the graded school at Edwardsville, where he remained for some time. He then came to Kansas City, Kas., and was first assistant in what is now Woodstreet School for one year. After this he was promoted to prin- cipal of Everett School, where he remained one year, being promoted to the charge of the commercial department of the high school of Kan- sas City, and by virtue of the position first assistant of the high school. He was selected school superintendent of Wyandotte County, in the fall of 1888, by the largest majority ever recorded in the county, and still holds the position. His career in this position has been so well known to the citizens of Wyandotte County that we feel it un- necessary to add any words of commendation; to say that he has filled the office in a capable and satisfactory manner expresses a truth all will support. His marriage with Miss Carrie H. Holbrook was consummated in Kansas City, Kas., in 1888. Mr. Taylor is a mem- ber of Wyandotte Lodge No. 3, A. F. & A. M .; of Myrtle Lodge No. 1, K. of P., and of Mendias Chapter, O. E. S.
G. A. Taylor. The Argentine Bank was organized and opened for business February 1, 1887, with Mr. G. A. Taylor as its cashier and manager, which position he still holds, the owners and proprietors be- ing N. McAlpine, G. A. Taylor and J. F. Barker. The bank is now one of the best established in the county, and has an individual re- sponsibility of $1,500,000. Mr. G. A. Taylor was born in Geneva, Walworth County, Wis., August 9, 1864. He was reared on his father's farm, and in addition to a common-school education attended the Wyandotte Academy and the State Normal School, in this State. He came to Wyandotte County, Kas., with his parents, in 1870, and after finishing his education, taught school in Wyandotte County for four years. He holds one of the highest grade certificates ever issued by Kansas City, Kas. He then entered the Armourdale Bank, which was the first bank in Armourdale, and was controlled by N. Mc- Alpine, A. W. Little and G. A. Taylor. The capital of said bank being paid to Mr. G. A. Taylor, as assistant cashier, as he was the best acquainted with the people of the community. His character and business ability, for a young man, have but few equals, and his reputation as an honest, conscientious young man is widely known and recognized. He resigned his connection and sold his interest in the Armourdale Bank in January, 1887, to organize the Argentine Bank, which he opened February 1, as has been stated. He occupies a most re-
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sponsible position in his community, and has the unbounded confidence of all who know him. He was married, August 20, 1889, to Miss Edith B. Ainsworth, the only daughter of Mrs. E. L. Ainsworth, of Turner, Kas., who has been a resident of Wyandotte County for more than twenty years. Mr. Taylor is a Knight Templar Mason, and is also a member of the K. of P., and O. I. H. His parents, David G. and Sarah F. Taylor, were natives of New York and Iowa, respectively. His father is a successful agriculturist, and resides in Wyandotte Township, Wyandotte County, Kas.
Theodore Teepen, grocer. Among those prominently identified with the retail grocery trade at Kansas City, Kas., is Mr. Teepen, who opened his establishment some five years ago, and during the period that has since elapsed, a large trade has been built up which is con- stantly increasing. He was born in Lingen, Prussia, April 2, 1844, to Theodore and Sene Teepen who spent their entire lives in Prussia. The father was a blacksmith by trade and this calling he followed all his life with the exception of seven years which were spent in the German military service. The father of these children died in 1858 and the mother in 1875, their children being as follows: Jacob, Ger- hard, Hermann, Barney, Sene and Theodore. Hermann, Barney and Theodore are the only ones now living, the first named being a resident of his native land, and the two latter of Kansas City, Kas. Theodore Teepen attended school in his native land until he was fourteen years of age, and as soon as he became old enough, when not in school, he assisted his father in the blacksmith shop. After the father's death, which occurred about the time Theodore left school, he began working as a journeyman at blacksmithing, and this occupation continued to follow until he reached the age of twenty-one. In 1866 he went to Holland, where he followed his trade for nearly a year, but in the spring of 1867 he started for America, crossing the English Channel to Hull, England, and there boarding a train for Liverpool, at which place he embarked for the United States. In due season he landed at New York City, and at once started for the West, but stopped when he reached Cincinnati, Ohio, where, for three years, he was employed as a car inspector. In the spring of 1870 he came to Kansas and located in Wyandotte, which place has been his home ever since. He continued in the capacity of car inspector for about fifteen years, being in the employ of the Kansas Pacific road seven years, and the Union Pacific eight years. In June, 1885, he established a grocery store and meat- market at Nos. 813 and 813} Minnesota Avenue, and his entire atten-
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tion has since been given to their management. By reason of his long residence and wide acquaintance here before he engaged in business, it took him only a short time to build up a good trade, and it has steadily increased until he now has a first-class patronage. His place of business embraces two departments, one of which contains a first- class stock of groceries and the other a clean and well conducted meat- market. Mr. Teepen's well established good citizenship, and his desire to satisfy the public have made his place of business a popular one. He is honorable in every worthy particular, a substantial citizen, and he, his wife and family are among the most highly respected of the German citizens of this place. Mary Pnening who was born in Prussia, January 25, 1850, became his wife on February 2, 1871. She came. to America in 1868, and her union with Mr. Teepen has re- sulted in the birth of six children: Henry, Josephine, Theodore, Mary, Aloysius and Anna. Josephine and Anna, only are living. Mr. and Mrs. Teepen and daughters are members of the Catholic Church. Mrs. Teepen's parents, William and Mary Elizabeth (Beckman) Puen- ing, were native Germans, the former dying on February 1, 1863. The latter is still living, as are also five of the six children she bore her husband: Louisa, Mary, Caroline, Josephine and Anna. Frank died in his fourteenth year. The father of Mrs. Teepen was a tailor by trade, but during the early part of his life spent several years in the military service. Mrs. Teepen is the only one of her father's family that came to the United States, this being in 1868. After spending a year and a half in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she and Mr. Teepen became acquainted, they were married and came West. Josephine, their eldest daughter is a graduate of Mount St. Mary's Convent, near Leaven- worth, Kas., her birth having occurred on October 25, 1873. Henry was born on December 17, 1872, and died December 18, 1872. Theodore was born December 4, 1875, and died of spinal meningitis, after an illness of twenty-four hours, September 12, 1886. Mary was born March 10, 1878, and died April 30, 1879. Aloysius was born April 2, 1880, and died April 3, 1880, Anna was born March 9, 1881.
William Telker, farmer, Bethel, Kas. Mr. Telker is only one of the many prominent citizens of foreign birth now residing in Wy- andotte County, who by their industry and perseverance have become successful in their different callings. He was born in Hanover on July 13, 1850, and is the son of Henry Telker, who was a mechanic and farmer in the old country. The father reared four sons: George, Henry, Herman, and William, our subject, being the youngest of the
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family, and of these Herman is living in Cincinnati, engaged in the commission business. The other two, George and Henry, still remain in the old country. The father died about eighteen years ago. Will- iam Telker grew to manhood in Germany, attended the schools of that country for about eight years, and after his school days were over he worked for two years for his father. At the age of nineteen years he came to America to escape the military duties imposed upon him, and landing in Baltimore, he went on to Cincinnati. Making his home there, he worked at the furniture business, working at one place five years, and at another six years. On February 27, 1878, he came to Wyandotte, bought a farm of forty-six acres, and afterward bought ten acres more. This he improved, then sold out and bought seventy acres, where he now resides, to which he added forty acres more, which makes him a nice little farm of 110 acres. He bought the farm owned by old man Ketchum and son, a Delaware Indian. Mr. Telker does a general farming business, but is gradually converting it into a fruit farm. He was married in Cincinnati on September 29, 1874, to Miss Minnie Striehtmann, a native of Cincinnati, and of the five children born to them three of them are sons and two daughters: Alma (fifteen), Herman (thirteen), Otto (eleven), John (nine), and Ida (five years of age). Mr. Telker and wife are members of the German Lutheran Church. In politics he leans toward the Republican party, but in local politics he votes for the man coming to this State a poor man. Mr. Telker has made all he has by industry and good management.
Dr. Asa Peaslee Tenney is one of the ablest physicians of Wyan- dotte County, Kas., and possesses a full share of the public patronage, having the full confidence of his patrons. He was born in Concord, N. H., September 21, 1833, and was a son of Rev. Asa Peaslee Ten- ney, a Congregational minister, who, for thirty-four years was pastor of a church at that place. He was a native of Newbury, Vt., a son of Jonathan Tenney, the first members of the family coming from England. Dr. Asa Peaslee Tenney was the second of six children- three sons and three daughters-one son and two daughters being now deceased. His advantages for acquiring a good education were excellent, and after reaching his twenty-third year he took up the study of medicine, and in the fall of that year went to Boston, where he studied two years under the preceptorship of Dr. John F. Jarvis, afterward taking three courses of lectures in the Harvard Medical Col- lege, graduating March 3, 1859. Meanwhile, in 1858, he was ap- pointed assistant physician of the Boston Lunatic Hospital, which
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position he held for about a year and a half, continuing his medical studies under the direction of Dr. Clement A. Walker, of Boston. In the fall of 1859 he was appointed assistant physician of the Illinois State Hospital for the insane of Jacksonville, Ill., but after filling this position very acceptably for five years, he returned to Concord, N. H., and there practiced his profession for three years, but at the end of that time returned to Illinois, and settled at Bloomington, where he eventually built up a large practice. In 1877 he was appointed superintendent of the Insane Hospital, at Osawatomie, Kas., but at the end of one year he settled in Atchison, remaining there until he received the appointment of superintendent of the Insane Hospital, at Topeka, and held this position two years. In 1885 he located in Kan- sas City, Kas., where he has become widely and favorably known. The Doctor was married on September 21, 1863, to Miss Minerva Tenney, of Binghamton, N. Y., by whom he has had four children: Only two of whom, Emily and Edwin Roy, are living. Edward, the first-born, died in infancy; Walter H., the second died in Atchison, Kas., aged twelve years. The Doctor and his wife are consistent members of the Congregational Church, and he is a Mason, and has attained to the Knight Templar's degree in that order, and has also reached the four- teenth degree in the Scottish Rite. He is also an Odd Fellow, and a K. of P. He belongs to the examining board for pensions, and is at present surgeon for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He belongs to the Eastern District Medical Society and the Kansas State Medical Society.
Rev. Augustus H. Tevis, A. M., M. D., D. D. The scholarly subject of this sketch is a native of Rush County, Ind., born on his father's farm May 13, 1841, and was the ninth child of a family of three sons and seven daughters, five of whom are now dead. His par- ents were Dr. Daniel H. and Phœba (Scott) Tevis, the former having been a large and lucrative practice. He (Dr. Daniel H.) was born in Bracken County, Ky., and was quite a scholar as a linguist, being proficient in both Latin and Greek. The elder Dr. Tevis died in 1858, and his widow in 1862, both of whom are buried in Rush County, Ind. After his father's death, the management of the extensive farm- ing operations, embracing several large farms, left by him, all de- volved on Augustus H., then only seventeen years old. In 1860 he entered Asbury University, at Greencastle, Ind., then under the con- trol of Bishop Bowman. Early in the beginning of the civil troubles, however, young Tevis left college, to volunteer like a true patriot, and
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aid in suppressing the Rebellion. He enlisted in September, 1861, and became second lieutenant in Company H, Thirty-seventh Indiana Volunteers. He was in active service for over three years, participat- ing in many hard battles, fights and skirmishes, including Stone River, New Hope Church, Resaca, before Atlanta, and numerous others. At Stone River he was slightly wounded, and soon after was promoted to a first lieutenancy. He was mustered out in November, 1864, and soon re-entered the same institution he had left to join the army. In the close of 1868 he was graduated therefrom, and in due course was honored with the degree of A. M. On August 6, following, he married Sallie A. Webster, daughter of Dr. E. Webster, of Connersville, Ind. Two daughters have been born to this union. Dr. Tevis' first charge as pastor was that of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Liberty, Union County, Ind., he having received the degree of D. D., it having been conferred upon him by the celebrated McKendree College at Lebanon, Ill. Following this he was stationed at Wooster and Tay- lorville, and was next elected as superintendent of city schools at Madison, Ind., where he served one year. His conference then sent him to Palestine; thence again to Peru, from which latter charge he · was transferred, by Bishop Peck, to Carson City, Nev., where he re- mained two years, and was chaplain both of the Legislature and of the State prison. It was while there he went into print as an author, and wrote his "Jesuitism, the Bible and the Schools," and also his "Beyond the Sieras," published by Lippincott & Co., of Philadelphia. He also corresponded for varions newspapers and literary journals. Santa Barbara, Cal., was his next charge, and from thence he went to San Diego. The ill health of his family necessitated his return to Indiana in 1879, and he having already read medicine studiously, en- tered the medical college at Indianapolis, from which he soon after graduated as M. D. He was then sent by Bishop Wiley to Spring- field, Mo., where he was pastor of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church till the spring of 1883, when he retired therefrom. He was placed in charge of the Summit Street Methodist Episcopal Church at Kansas City, Mo., occupying the pulpit of this church one year, when, in 1886, he made a change from the St. Louis to the Kansas Conference, where he accepted the pastorate of the Kansas Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church at Atchison, Kas., remaining in charge of this church for three years, accepting, in October, 1889, the charge of the Washington Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, Kansas City, Kas., where he is still pastor. Besides his more solid literary attainments, Dr. Tevis has
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paid considerable attention to art, and is quite proficient in music and painting, and has his home decorated with a number of paintings, in- dicative of true art, produced by himself and wife. He has had many of his sermons published, which rank him high as a theologian. He has published a book of considerable merit on infidelity, considered in relation to its evil effects, as contrasted with Christianity. Had it not been for the assassination of President Garfield Dr. Tevis would doubt- less have received the appointment to the Jerusalem consulate, for which he had received the recommendation of most public men of Washington. Zealous in his ministerial work, fully imbued with a love for mankind and a hearty desire for their spiritual and mental elevation, always a student, and given to habits of indefatigable re- search, Dr. Trevis is one of those rare men who constitute a valuable requisition to any community, while the high social qualities of himself and wife render their companionship in the keenest sense enjoyable, and win them hosts of friends wherever they are known. The Doctor is an active Prohibitionist in principle, and a Republican in politics.
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