USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > A memorial and biographical record of Kansas City and Jackson County Mo. > Part 23
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
A native of Ohio, Mr. Ware was born in
226
A MEMORIAL RECORD OF KANSAS CITY
Frankfort, August 5, 1839, and is a son of Jacob and Eliza (McDonald) Ware. The
father was born in Virginia in 1806. The mother is a native of Ohio and a daughter of Thomas McDonald, who served as a spy under General Wayne in the war for inde- pendence. He removed to Ohio when it was an almost unbroken wilderness, aided in surveying a considerable portion of the state, and built the first cabin at Chillicothe. He afterward made a settlement in Fayette county, where his wife recently died, at the very advanced age of ninety-seven years. The parents of our subject were married and located in Ross county, Ohio, near Frank- fort, where the father followed his trade of cabinet-making. They afterward went to Fayette county, where his death occurred in 1860, but Mrs. Ware is still living at the age of ninety. Both were members of the Methodist church. They were parents of the following named : John ( deceased ), Thomas, Mrs. Alice Reid, Ananias, Allison M., William, Mrs. Mary Yocum and J. Edwin. Five sons of the family went to the defense of the old flag and the cause it represented during the war of the Rebellion. William, who was sergeant of the twelfth United States regulars, was captured at the battle of the Wilderness, and for fourteen months was incarcerated in Andersonville prison.
Mr. Ware, of this review, spent the first ten years of his life in his native county, and was then reared on the family farm in Fay- ette county. He attended the district school and continued at home until twenty-two years of age. Hardly had the smoke from Fort Sumter's guns cleared away, however, before he joined Captain Johnson's company at Washington Court House for three months. The regiment was stationed at
Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio, but was never called to the field. A service of this kind, however, did not content the patriotic Ohioan of this review, and on the 2d of Au- gust, 1862, he enlisted in company D, one hundred and fourteenth Ohio infantry, of which he was made sergeant. The regi- ment proceeded to Memphis, and was there attached to the second division of the thir- teenth army corps, under General P. J. Ousterhaus. Mr. Ware participated in the battles of Chickasaw Bluff and Arkansas Post, and then with the regiment encainped through the following winter at Young's Point, near Vicksburg, where he aided in digging the canal. He went through the siege of Vicksburg, was sent to New Or- leans, and participated in the battles of Mo- bile and Fort Blakely. In the meantime the regiment had been consolidated with the one hundred and twentieth Ohio, and was known as the one hundred and fourteenth, Mr. Ware being connected with company B, of the new organization, and acting as orderly sergeant. He was then sent to Selma, Alabama, and on to Galveston, Texas, where he was discharged, August 2, 1865. He was never wounded or captured, was never in a hospital, and at his post of duty was always found, a most faithful and loyal defender of the union cause.
When the war was over, Mr. Ware re- turned to Ohio, but in October, 1865, came to Missouri and located in Prairie town- ship, Jackson county. A short time after- ward, however, he removed to a farm eight miles south of Independence and began its development, for it was then in a wild and unimproved state. He now owns 175 acres of rich land, and all of the improvements upon the place were secured through his ef- forts. He is now successfully engaged in
22"
AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
general farming, and through enterprise and good management has attained prosperity.
In 1866 Mr. Ware was united in mar- riage with Frances J. Clark, a native of Ross county, Ohio, born November 24, 1843. She is a daughter of John and Fannie (Coyner) Clark, pioneers of Ohio. Their family numbered seven children, namely : Milton; Mary, deceased; Mrs. Ware; Will- iam, George, John and Marcus. William served in the civil war with the rank of first lieutenant. Mr. and Mrs. Ware have a family of six children: Fannie, now the wife of William Smith, of Prairie township, by whom she has five children; Minnie; Alice, wife of Clifford Hook, of Prairie township, by whom she has two children; Homer, Grace and Pearl.
Mr. and Mrs. Ware are prominent and active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Ware is now serving as class-leader. Both are interested in. Sun- day-school work, and Mr. Ware is serving as assistant superintendent, while his wife is one of the teachers of the school. He takes considerable interest in politics, supporting the republican party, and is a member of the local school board. Socially he is con- nected with the Grand Army of the Republic.
3 EROME TWICHELL, treasurer of the Builders & Traders' Exchange, and president and general manager of the Kansas City Metal, Roofing & Corrugating Company, is one of the lead- ing business men of Kansas City. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, August 13, 1844, and is a son of Sophronius and Julia (Spencer) Twichell, the former a native of New York and the latter of Virginia. The father was a soldier in the Mexican war,
serving in the commissary department. During the '3os he removed with his parents to Cincinnati, Ohio, and thence to Louis- ville, Kentucky. During the early part of his business career he began steamboating on the Kentucky river, and ran one of the first boats on that water, called Blue Wing No. I. For some years he was in com- mand of that vessel. While thus engaged, in Frankfort, Kentucky, he formed the ac- quaintance of the lady who afterward be- came his wife. On abandoning the river, he located in New Orleans and was engaged in the western produce commission business. The mother of our subject died in 1845, and in 1849 Mr. Twichell married Mary L. White, of St. Louis, daughter of Captain Joseph White, who ran one of the first boats up the Missouri river. Mr. Twichell carried on business in New Orleans, under the firm name of T. C. Twichell & Com- pany, until the war broke out, when he removed to a cotton plantation he had pur- chased in Woodruff county, Arkansas, in 1860. He remained on this plantation until 1868, when he and his son Jerome went to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama to join the former's brother-in-law, who had crossed the plains in 1849, and was opera- ting a gold mine on the Pacific slope. The father had previously accumulated consider- able capital, but during the war had lost most of this. In 1869 he was called upon to mourn the death of his second wife, and soon after- ward returned to New Orleans, where he lived retired until 1878. In that year he moved to Florida, where his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1889, at the age of seventy-six years.
By his first marriage Mr. Twichell had three children, two of whom are now living, namely: Mrs. Jacob N. Feaster, of Florida,
228
A MEMORIAL RECORD OF KANSAS CITY
and Jerome. There is also one surviving child of the second marriage,-Mrs. Aaron Cleveland, -who also is living in Florida.
The subject of this review spent the greater part of his childhood in the Crescent City, and began his education in its public schools. He went to Arkansas with his father, whom he assisted in carrying on a cotton plantation there until after the break- ing out of the civil war, when, in May, 1862, although only seventeen years of age, he enlisted in company E, eighth Arkansas in- fantry, in which he served as a private until the cessation of hostilities. He was cap- tured at the battle of Peach Tree creek, near Atlanta, but was exchanged on the battle- ground. Later he was captured at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, and was sent as a prisoner to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where he was held until the close of the war, covering a period of about one year. He suffered many of the hardships and trials incident to army life, but was always faith- ful to the cause under whose banner he fought, and was a brave and fearless soldier.
The war having ended Mr. Twichell at once returned to the old plantation, and some time afterward sought a home in his native city, where he secured employment as a salesman in a seed and implement house, remaining there until 1868. In that year he accompanied his father on a trip to Califor- nia, where he engaged in mining for six months, but the work proved to him very unprofitable. He continued his residence in that state, however, until 1871, and aided in building the snow sheds on the Central Pacific railroad. In the early spring of 1870 he shipped aboard a merchant vessel, bound for Hong Kong, China, and remained in that interesting city of the orient for about six months, when the vessel was ordered to
Manila, on the Philippine islands. There they took on a cargo of sugar, and by way of the Cape of Good Hope sailed for New York, touching at Anjer Point, Java, and the island of St. Helena. The voyage of the vessel at this time continued for sixteen months.
On arriving at New York city, Mr. Twichell left the sea and went to New Or- leans, where for a short time he clerked in a grocery store. In the fall of 1871 he re- turned to Louisville, Kentucky, and traveled for his old firm as a salesman until 1879, the year of his arrival in Kansas City. He has since been a prominent promoter of Jackson county's interests, and has been es- pecially active in commercial circles. He first embarked in the grocery brokerage business, making a specialty of handling dried fruits and honey. Subsequently he consolidated his business with that of the firm of Clements, Cloon & Company, with which he was associated from 1884 until 1886, when he sold out and began his pres- ent line of business under the firm name of Jerome Twichell & Company. An incor- poration was effected in 1890 under the present style of the Kansas City Metal, Roofing & Corrugating Company, of which our subject is president and general manager. They deal in corrugated iron, steel, brick, wire fencing, metal shingles, conductor pipe, eaves troughs, building paper, fancy ceilings, metal laths and prepared roofing. The business of the concern has now become ex- tensive, owing to the capable management, executive ability and enterprise of the presi- dent. In December, 1893, Mr. Twichell was elected treasurer of the Builders & Traders' Exchange, and re-elected in De- cember, 1894.
In 1885 was celebrated the marriage of
229
AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
our subject and Miss Cora L. Norman, daughter of Dr. J. W. Norman, of Kansas City. They have two children, -Jerome and Norman D.,-aged respectively four years and four months.
In his political associations, Mr. Twichell is a democrat, and religiously is connected with the Episcopal church.
Portrayal of character is one of the most difficult tasks which falls to the lot of the historian, but in the life of such a man as Mr. Twichell many characteristics stand forth with startling clearness and his career furnishes many valuable and useful lessons, demonstrating what can be accomplished through the honest pursuit of a persistent purpose. In his success we read of his sound judgment and executive ability; the difficul- ties that he has overcome show us that he is persevering, while in the high regard in which he is universally held we learn of a straightforward, honorable life.
a APTAIN JAMES A. REED, at- torney at law in Kansas City, is one of the younger representatives at the bar of Missouri, and the success that he has already attained should serve as a stimulus to other young men, urging them to put forth every endeavor to attain a po- sition of prominence which comes through close attention to business, combined with energy and a determination to succeed, re- gardless of the obstacles that may be placed in their way.
Captain Reed is a native of the Buckeye state, his birth having occurred in Rich- land county, on the 9th of November, 1861. His parents, John A. and Nancy (Crawford) Reed, were both natives of Pennsylvania. The Reed family were numbered among the
first settlers locating west of the Alleghany mountains. They secured land from the government, casting their lot with the pio- neers of western Pennsylvania; but for some reason this property was again taken up, and the Reed family came to Ohio, locating in Richland county. Representatives of the family served in the Revolutionary war, be- ing valiant defenders of the colonial cause. The father of our subject was a merchant and farmer, and carried on business in Ohio until 1864, when he removed to Cedar Rap- ids, Iowa. There he engaged in merchan- dising for a time, and purchased a farm on which he made his home until his death, in 1869. He was president of the school board for several years, and was a very prominent and influential citizen, taking an active part in every work that tended to the advancement of the public welfare. His family numbered six children, four of whom are living, namely: Mrs. W. S. Boyer, of Vancouver, Washington; James A .; Mary M., a teacher in the high school of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and John A., an attorney at law of that city.
Captain Reed, of this notice, spent his boyhood days quietly on a farm, which then bordered the corporation limits of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but is now included within the boundaries of that city. He acquired his early education in the public schools there, afterward attended its high school, and subsequently entered Coe College, of Cedar Rapids, taking a special course, which prepared him in a measure for the bar. He further continued his law studies in the office of Hubbard, Clark & Dawley, one of the strongest law firms in the state of Iowa, and under their direction he continued his read- ing and investigation for four years.
In 1885 Captain Reed was admitted to
230
A MEMORIAL RECORD OF KANSAS CITY
the bar, and for two years engaged in prac- tice in Cedar Rapids, when he determined to seek a broader field of usefulness, and on the ist of August, 1887, arrived in Kansas City. He was entirely unknown to its resi- dents, but with commendable foresight, he realized the rapid development and progress which the city would make, and determined to become numbered among its attorneys. He opened an office in the Nelson building, and from the beginning met with prosperity. He afterward formed a partnership with William G. Clark, which continued for about a year. He then entered into busi- ness relations with Hale H. Cook, but this connection was discontinued after a short time, and he has been mostly alone. He engages in general practice, is thoroughly read in his profession, and has been retained on a number of very important cases, in which he has been almost uniformly suc- cessful. He is devoted to his clients' inter- ests, and his character is above reproach, his reputation without a blot.
In 1887 Captain Reed was united in marriage with Miss Lura Mansfield, of Ce- dar Rapids, and their pleasant home is noted for its hospitality. In politics he takes quite a prominent part, supporting the democ- racy, and as a campaign orator his services are much in demand. He has attained not a little note as a public speaker. Mr. Reed is very prominent in the Knights of Pythias fraternity, in 1894 served as grand chan- cellor of the state of Missouri, and has held various other positions in the order. He is also a member of the Uniformed Rank, and is captain of Provost division, No. 1, the largest division in the west, and one of the best drilled in the entire country. He is a very enthusiastic Pythian, taking great in- terest both in the order and in the state
militia, in which he holds a captain's com- mission. His pleasant, genial manner has made him many friends, and he is very popular.
O SCAR DAHL, the efficient and popular manager of the Kansas City Safe Deposit Company, is widely known in the social and business circles of the city. He is a native of Sweden, born November 10, 1849, the son of Christian F. and Henrietta (Roloff) Dahl, natives of Sweden, who lived, died and are buried in their native land. Both these families were among the most emi- nently respectable in Sweden and were prominent in the circles in which they moved. Of the four children born to Christian Dahl and wife, only Oscar, the youngest son, came to America.
He had good advantages in his youth for obtaining an education, the schools of his na- tive land being very thorough and the stand- ard of excellence quite equal to our own. He was of a studious nature, and, the power of concentration being largely developed in him at an early age, it was with considerable ease and dispatch that he learned readily and quickly whatever he applied his mind to. His school days over he became connected with his brother, Axel R., who lived in Stockholm, and was the head of the largest book-publishing concern in Sweden, and with whom he remained for several years, being greatly benefited by the valuable business experience he gleaned in this well conducted establishment.
He was twenty-four years of age when he decided to cast his lot in a foreign land. It was in 1873 that he bade adieu to his friends and relatives and sailed for our
231
AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
shores, which he first touched at New York city. Subsequently he made his way further westward, pulling up at Chicago, where he obtained lucrative employment in the whole- sale jewelry house of W. B. Clapp & Com- pany, in whose employ he remained until 1880, establishing for himself the reputation of a careful, painstaking and absolutely reli- able employee. From Chicago he went to Kansas City, which at that time gave abund- ant evidence of its future greatness and pros- perity. It was a kind fate that directed him here, for he was fortunate in securing a good position in a large grocery house as bookkeeper, which he retained for a year, when, in 1882, he received the appointment of gauger in the United States internal revenue department, being the first Swedish- American to have the honor of holding a government position in the state of Missouri. In this work he remained a year, having creditably and efficiently discharged the ex- acting duties of the position in a highly sat- isfactory manner to his superiors in the service.
In 1883 he was tendered a position by the Kansas City Safe Deposit Company as bookkeeper, which he accepted and filled for four years; and in 1887 he was promo- ted to the management of the deposit de- partment, where he has since remained. Mr. Dahl has good executive and adminis- trative abilities, and since he has had charge of this department his management has proved highly satisfactory to the company and its numerous patrons.
In 1892 he was elected on the republic- an ticket to a seat in the upper house of the city council, being the only one of his party elected to this legislative branch of the city government in this election. In the fall of 1894 he was the candidate of his party for
clerk of criminal court, and was unquestion- ably elected, but with the remainder of the republicans he was counted out by the op- position. Socially Mr. Dahl is prominent in the numerous circles of society, being connected with numerous orders and socie- ties, among which are the Knights of Pythias, being quartermaster in the first regiment of the Uniform Rank of this order.
He was treasurer of the reception com- mittee in 1892, during the conclave, and helped in the distribution of prizes, which aggregated $32,000. He is greatly interest- ed in the Swedish-American people, and is at the head of several of their societies. Their welfare is a personal matter to him, and to their interests he devotes the same care that he does to his own personal affairs. He is held deservedly in high regard by all classes of respectable people, among whom are scores of warm personal friends who de- light in doing him honor.
Mr. Dahl was married in 1882 to Miss Bergfeldt Ingrid, who bore him six children, three of whom are now living : H. A., E. E. and Oscar. Mrs. Dahl departed this life January 18, 1895, aged thirty-three years.
a OL. GEORGE PEERY GROSS .- To the successful business man cer- tain traits of character are indis- pensable. He must be the posses- sor of industry, enterprise, the power of management and of keen discrimination. But a man may have all these essential characteristics and gain prosperity, while his standing in the community may not be the most enviable. Mr. Gross, however, has won success in these lines, and at the same time there has been a fairness in his dealings that commands the respect and
232
A MEMORIAL RECORD OF KANSAS CITY
confidence, while his prosperity excites the admiration, of all. He is now at the head of an extensive trade, as a manufacturer's agent, handling hardware specialties and selling manufacturers' goods to jobbers, his headquarters being in the American Bank building of Kansas City.
Mr. Gross was born in Van Buren, Ar- kansas, November 21, 1847, and is a son of George Gross, a native of Pennsylvania, who was a real-estate owner and dealer. He descends from a family that has borne a prominent part in the military history of the country. His great-grandfather was one of the heroes of the Revolution. His grand- father, Jacob S. Gross, of Allegheny, Penn- sylvania, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his father displayed his bravery by his service in the Confederate army.
Our subject left school at the age of four- teen to join the Confederate army under General Steele, and was employed as a courier in the Indian Territory to carry dis- patches to General Stanwatee, a Cherokee, and to General Cooper, commander of the division in that territory. Mr. Gross was thus employed for seven months, when he went to Arkansas with Missouri troops and took part in the campaign against General Banks in the Red river expedition. He acted as courier for General Parsons, in command of the Missouri troops, and was orderly at the battle of Saline river. He then started to join General Price, but instead joined Brown's rangers, in southern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas, participating in the battle of Fayetteville. ยท He afterward went to Texas, and in the spring of 1865 joined General Fagen's escort at Louisville, Ar- kansas. He afterward started for Mexico with Shelby's brigade, but near Austin, Texas, his horse was made lame, and he re-
turned to Little Rock. For three years he served in the army, and was but once in- jured, receiving a slight flesh wound at Pleasant Hill.
When the war was over, Mr. Gross re- turned to Van Buren, Arkansas, where he engaged in merchandising, with fair success, until 1874, when he came to Kansas City and secured a position as traveling salesman for the firm of Duncan, Wyeth, Hene & Company. He traveled extensively in Ne- braska, Kansas, the Indian Territory, Colo- rado, Utah, Arizona, Texas and old Mexico. He worked up a new trade and won a high standing with the company. He continued with the successors of that firm, the Hall & Willis Hardware Company, until 1885, when he entered the employ of the Kansas City Hardware Company, just organized, taking charge of their sales department and putting upon the road many traveling sales- men. His management contributed in no small measure to the success of the new en- terprise. After two years, however, he began business on his own account as manu- facturers' agent, and has built up an exten- sive trade. To the business he gives his entire attention, and it is now very satis- factory. He is also interested in mines and is president of the Electric Cash Carry & Change Maker Company, capitalized at $500,000. He is also vice-president of the Nopal Mining & Milling Company, owners of a large silver mine in old Mexico, which, however, is not in operation at the present time.
On the 18th of December, 1889, Colonel Gross was united in marriage with Miss Martha V., daughter of Rev. John D. Vin- cil, of St. Louis, Missouri. She is a lady of culture and acquired her education in Columbia and St. Joseph, Missouri. They
J. M. Bowman.
235
AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
have a very pleasant home at No. 3200 Windsor avenuc. Our subject continues his intercst in military affairs through his con- nection with the third regiment of Missouri national guards. In 1891 he was appointed regimental quartermaster; later resigned and was elected first lieutenant in the artillery service; subsequently was appointed quarter- master and soon was elected lieutenant colonel of the regiment. When Colonel Simonds resigned, in October, 1895, Mr. Gross was elected his successor, and is now in command of the regiment. He is the only ex-Confederate in the regiment. In politics Colonel Gross is a democrat and socially is a Royal Arch Mason.
Colonel Gross is a nephew of the late Mrs. Mary Peery, who at one time owned all the property north of Twelfth street, be- tween Brooklyn avenue and Prospect strcet, and who was one among the first settlers of Kansas City. Her husband was a Methodist minister, and preached to the Indians be- fore there was any settlement here. Colonel Gross also has the deed to Hot Springs, Arkansas, which was handed down from his grandfather, Andrew Peery, and datcd 1812, and which was purchased from a Spaniard by the name of Moran; and the deed was recorded in Natchez, Mississippi. The Colonel is in a good way some time in the near future to be prepared to press his claims.
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.