USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > The history of Buchanan County, Missouri > Part 78
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801
ST. JOSEPH.
Knapp. He was a Democrat in politics, and in religion a Catholic. Was married to Emily Matlett, of St. Louis, in 1838. They have nine children living: George M., married to Miss Eva Brown; Mary F., mar- ried to Wm. Hand, who died in 1868, leaving one child, Anna A .; William F .. married to Miss Moran; John O., Emil V., Edward J., Margaret R., Felix and Josephine. They lost two. Mr. K., died July 8th, 1879, leav- ing a devoted family and a large circle of friends to mourn his loss.
E. R. KNAPP,
dealer in general merchandise, was born in Strausburg, Ohio, December 25, 1857, and is the son of Jonathan Knapp, who was a prominent attor- ney in the Buckeye State. When E. R. was quite young, the family remove to Valparaiso, Indiana, residing there several years, and he was also a citizen of Philadelphia, Ohio. When eighteen years of age he located at Chicago, and became a clerk in the grocery house of E. A. Woodhull. In 1876, he came to St. Joseph, established himself in trade, which has steadily increased, and will compare favorably with the majority of houses in the city. Mr. Knapp's motto is, quick sales and fresh goods.
WILLIAM KNEER,
wholesale confectioner, was born July 15, 1828, in Westphalia, Prussia, Germany, and emigrated to America in 1849, landing at New Orleans. There he remained for eight months, and then went to St. Louis, and afterwards to Brunswick, Missouri, where he remained nearly a year. He started from there with the intention of going to California, by the overland route. He came to St. Joseph, May 3, 1851, and was so favor- ably impressed with the business appearance that he concluded to locate here. He soon engaged in the saddlery business, which he carried on for eleven years. In 1862, he started in the confectionery business, with the late Emil Vegely, under the firm name of Vegely & Kneer, which business he carried on until 1876. Then Mr. Kneer took charge of the business himself. He married, in 1855, Miss Carolina Vegely. They had six children, William, Joseph, Mollie, Emma, Carrie and Johnny.
DR. CHAS. F. KNIGHT
was born in Frederick County, Virginia, November 14th, 1829. He attended school at the Greenway Court Academy and also the Win- chester Academy, and read medicine with Dr. Hugh H. Maguire, of Winchester, Virginia, and graduated, in 1852, at the Winchester Medi- cal College. He practiced three years at White Post, Clark County, Virginia, and then, in 1855, came to St. Joseph, where he has been actively engaged in the duties of his profession. He has been appointed
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health officer four terms, and was for a number of years the local sur- geon for the Hannibal Railroad. He took a very active part in estab- lishing the Hospital Medical College and was elected President of its faculty and one of its trustees ; also professor of obstetrics and diseases of women and children. He has been twice married, first to Miss Mattie Keyes, in 1861. She died in four months. In 1864, he married Miss Annie M. Keyes, sister of his first wife. They have six children living, five sons and one daughter. Among the many physicians in the city, few rank higher than Dr. Knight. He is one of the oldest of the regular physicians and has always taken a leading position as a surgeon and practitioner.
CHARLES E. KOCH.
Mr. W. F. Koch became a resident of this city in 1856, and for a number of years was engaged in the hotel business. His son Charles E. was born in Prussia, Germany, September 15th, 1844, and came to America with his parents when ten years of age, and to St. Joseph in 1856, and was here educated and has since made it his home. On the 9th of June, 1873, Miss Christena Weidman became his wife. They have five chil- dren : William, George, Sophia, Amelia and Harry. Mr. Koch is a member of the I. O. O. F., Humboldt Lodge.
WILLIAM KOLLATZ
was born December 22, 1834, at Oderberg, Province of Brandenburg, Prussia, where he was raised. In 1864 he emigrated to America and arrived at New York City, and from there he went to Bridgeport, Con- necticut, and thence to Atchison, Kansas. In 1865 he came to St. Joseph, where he opened a first-class restaurant and coffee house which, being conducted in a superb style, became much frequented, and is the most popular business of its kind in St. Joseph. He was married in 1865 at Atchison, Kansas, to Katharina Kollatz. They have three children, Robert, born May 16, 1861 ; Louise, born July 13, 1862; Lina, born August 25, 1869.
WILLIAM KRUMM,
gardener and raiser of small fruits, Section 22, post office St. Joseph, was born April 3, 1832, and is a native of Germany. He was there educated in the common and high schools, and also studied architecture. In 1848, he came to America, landing at Quebec, Canada, and from there went to Cincinnati, where he learned the bricklayer's trade. After this he trav- eled till 1855, working at his trade in thirty-two different states and ter- ritories. In 1855, he went to Quincy, Illinois, and February 16, 1857, was married to Miss Margaret Buff. She was born in France, August
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19, 1834, and came to America when about two years of age. In 1863, they moved to Macon City, Missouri, and in a few months moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, and in 1867, came to St. Joseph. Since then he has been engaged in his present business. His lot contains twenty- five acres, which is improved in good style and well watered. Mr. and Mrs. Krumm have had nine children, seven are living, Jasper Wm., Adeline L., John Wm., William H., Henry Wm., Frederick Wm. and Maggie.
F. C. KUEHL,
merchant tailor, was born March 8, 1850, in Oldenburg, Holstein. After having been educated at the high school at Eutin, and having learned his trade with his father, he left home when sixteen years of age, and went to Hamburg, where he was employed as a clerk in the wholesale grocery business. He emigrated to the United States, arriving at New York in 1868. Soon after, he went to Chicago, and thence to St. Louis. From here he paid a visit to Memphis and New Orleans, and returned, but only to soon go to Omaha and Cheyenne. After a short stay at the latter place, he returned to Omaha, and in 1870, came to St. Joseph. Here he worked with Collatz & LaCruneril up to February 26, 1871, when he bought the business, and formed a partnership with Mr. Long, under the firm name of Kuehl & Long. July 1, 1871, Mr. Long retired, and F. C. Kuehl carried on business alone. Having a large experience and good taste in selecting goods and executing his work, he deserves the patronage which he receives from the public. Was married April 10, 1872, to Miss Bertha Volk. They have had five children-Heinrich, born September 14, 1872, died July 29, 1873 ; Heinrich, born September 2, 1874; Friedrich, born March 26, 1875, died September 29, 1876; Fried- rich, born June 29, 1878; and Caroline, born June 29, 1880.
SIMEON LACHAPELLE,
car inspector and repairer for the Wabash St. Louis & Pacific Railroad, was born July 11, 1846, in Sorel, County Richelieu, Canada, and was there raised and educated. For a number of years he was engaged in working on the lakes between Quebec, Montreal and Whitehall, and stood prominently among the transportation companies and boat owners until a serious loss befel him, his schooner and cargo being destroyed by fire. In 1871, he came to Missouri, locating at Brunswick, and entered the employ of the Wabash Company as bridge builder, and was soon promoted to his present position. Mr. LaChapelle is a man of superior workmanship, and is well respected by his fellow citizens. He was married in 1874 to Miss Raphel Critser, of Indiana.
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ISRAEL LANDIS
a pioneer and representative citizen of St. Joseph, was born in Lancas- ter County, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1808. Was one of a family of ten children, five of whom were sons. Clerked in the store of his father, a general merchant, till he was eighteen years of age, when he learned the trade of saddle and harness making. He determined, with that spirit of enterprise which has marked his course through life, to seek an ampler fortune in the West, and in 1833, landed in St. Louis, then a town of about six thousand. Here he established himself and soon built up a prosperous trade, continuing in the business of saddle and harness making for about eight years, when he sold out and purchased a farm, eight miles from the city, to which he removed. Continued to reside here till the spring of 1844, when he again made a westward move, landing and settling upon the site of what is now the city of St. Joseph. With an abiding faith in the future of his then newly adopted home, a faith which he has lived to see confirmed in the splendid devel- opment of 1881, he opened a small shop. With the growth of the town his business increased, till from $3,000 it has reached the aggregate business of $30,000 per annum, and given steady employment to twenty or thirty men. Mr. Landis has contributed in no insignificant degree to building up the business portion of the city. Among others, the large double brick store on the corner of Fourth and Felix, now owned, and until recently occupied, by R. L. McDonald & Co., was built by him in 1857. Subsequently he erected other business blocks, among which are included some of the best appearing of that character of buildings in the city. He is probably the oldest business man actively engaged in the state, and certainly the oldest engaged in the city of St. Joseph, having been forty-eight years in the former and thirty-seven years in continuous business in St. Joseph. His capital, when he embarked in business in St. Louis, was fifty dollars. His general and ultimate success in life are due to uniform habits of industry, economy, and a fairness of dealing, which has always commanded for him friends. Among other invest- ments, Mr. Landis was one of a company of three, which also included Reuben Middleton and Simeon Kemper, who laid out, for the purpose of a cemetery now known as Mount Mora, in the northwest corner of the city, a tract of twenty acres of land. This beautifully improved spot afterwards became, by purchase, the individual property of Mr. Landis, who subsequently sold it to the association who now (1881) own it. Israel Landis early took a lively interest in the public affairs of his town. He was an active member of the first city council of St. Joseph, and a representative Odd Fellow, contributing largely, both in time and means, to the erection of that splendid building, the Odd Fellows' Hall, on the southeast corner of Fifth and Felix Streets, which afterwards
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ST. JOSEPH.
became his by purchase, and was subsequently destroyed by fire, as referred to in our notice of that order. He married Miss Sarah Stibbs, in St. Louis, May 3d, 1836. She was a native of Berkshire, England, and was born April 23, 1809. At the age of sixteen she came with her parents to the United States, settling in Brooklyn, New York, where she received the advantages of a finished education. In 1834, her father moved with his family to St. Louis, where Miss Stibbs, with her three sisters, established a female seminary on a superior scale, then known as the St. Louis Female Institute, the first school of the kind of importance organized in that city. She remained connected with it till her marriage to Mr. Landis, as above stated. On their removal to St. Joseph, Mrs. Landis taught the first school established in the city, a reference to which enterprise will be found in our chapter on schools. Mr. and Mrs. Landis have, from the earliest settlement of St. Joseph, taken an espe- cially active part in advancing the scholastic, literary and religious inter- ests of the city, and their efforts have been uniformly crowned with suc- cess. They have a family of five children living : John C., Benjamin F., Mary E., wife of George Connell, Anna Stibbs, wife of Dr. McDonald, Jr., and Lila. Colonel John Landis, the eldest of these children, served with distinction in the late civil war. In 1861, he left St. Joseph in com- mand of an independent company of infantry. He was afterwards appointed, by Governor Jackson, major of a battalion of artillery in the state service. This position he subsequently resigned and organized a battery of artillery in the regular Confederate service. This he com- manded till he was appointed chief of the Missouri division of artillery with the grade of lieutenant colonel. He held this rank at the siege of Vicksburg. He was afterwards inspector of artillery for the Department of the Gulf, with headquarters at Mobile, Alabama, which position he held till the close of the war, when he returned to St. Joseph, where he has since continued to reside.
L. R. LANCASTER,
attorney at law, was born in Fulton County, Missouri, and received his education at the Plattsburg school. In 1861, he enlisted as private in the Thirteenth Missouri Regiment, under General Peabody, and was promoted to first lieutenant, and had command of the company for some time ; was captured at Lexington, Missouri ; participated in all the engagements with the regiment, which, in 1864, was consolidated with another regiment, and from that time forward belonged to the engineer corps ; his time expired in 1865, and he returned home. In the spring of 1865, he commenced reading law under Gov. W. P. Hall, and acquired his knowledge by hard study and close attention to business ; was admit- ted to the bar in August, 1865, at St. Joseph, then went to Gallatin,
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Daviess County, and formed a partnership with James McFarin, and took charge of the Torch Light, a Democratic paper, as editor. He came to St. Joseph in the fall of 1866 and commenced the practice of law ; was appointed Deputy Clerk of the Supreme Court, which position he held until 1870, and then was appointed clerk and held the office until 1876. Mr. L. was married, in 1865, to Miss Kate Stuppy, a native of Missouri. They have been blessed with five children, four of whom are living. He has been doing an extensive and successful commercial business in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and the Northwest. Jan- uary Ist, 1880, Hon. E. H. Fudge was admitted as partner, and the pres- ent firm is known as Lancaster & Fudge.
FREDERICK LANGTHIMM
was born in Holstein, Germany, March 2, 1838, and came to this country and to St. Joseph in 1861. In June of the same year he enlisted into Company B, First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, and in December, 1862, was discharged on account of disability. After his health was restored he accepted a situation in the round-house of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, remaining in this capacity for seven years. In 1871 he com- menced the grocery business in Pateetown on a small scale, but by dili- gence and strict attention to business, soon established a fine trade, and was enabled to build a commodious store for his large and increasing business. He continued in trade until July 12, 1878, when he died. He married Miss Catharina Hoyadone November 20, 1864, in this city, and by this union they had two children, Emma D. and Alvina C. Mrs. L. was born in Germany, near her husband's birthplace, February 5, 1838. She has built a beautiful home between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets, on Sylvania. She is educating her daughters with great care.
WILLIAM S. LEACH, M. D.,
was born in Chenango County, New York, November 14, 1828. His father, Rev. Fowler Leach, was a native of Connecticut, and a minister of the Baptist Church. His mother's maiden name was Malinia Degrass Pardee. She was the daughter of Dr. Pardee, a celebrated physician of Paris, France. In 1800, the family moved to New York, where, twenty- eight years after, the subject of this sketch was born. His earlier edu- cation he received at St. Gabriel's, a Jesuit College at Vincennes Indiana. He was graduated at the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, in 1847. He then removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where he engaged in the practice of his profession till the close of the year 1848, when he started West, and, by chance, reached Robidoux' Landing (St. Joseph). Here he engaged in the practice of his profession, and, with a firm reliance on the future growth and ultimate importance of the place, invested his
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ST. JOSEPH.
carefully accumulated means, which he to-day sees fructified into ele- ments of permanent and substantial wealth. In 1848, Dr. Leach was married to Miss Lucille A. Massey, a daughter of Captain Massey, of Franklin County, Missouri, and a lady of rare mental endowments, and elegant culture. The result of this union was four children, a son who was drowned in childhood, and three daughters, all married. Bon Cora, wife of Colonel Bradbury, of Peoria, Illinois; Anna L., wife of John P. Hooper, of this city ; Helen A., wife of Charles Dinnbleby, of Peoria, Illinois.
JOHN G. LEE,
cooper, is a native of New Jersey, was born in Flemmington, September 7, 1818, and removed to Delaware with his parents when quite young. His father, William, was a cooper, and John G. adopted and learned that trade. In 1848, he came to Quincy, Illinois, where he did a large coop- erage business for twenty years. In 1870, he came to St. Joseph, and engaged in trade. Mr. Lee is an agreeable conversationalist and a courte- ous gentleman. In 1840, Miss Hattie Bannar, of Wilmington, Delaware, became his wife. They have had twelve children, ten of whom are liv- ing : George, Agnes, Julia, Fannie, Annie, Magdalene, Charles, Elkana, John S. and Nathaniel ; lost two : E. J. and Eva.
JOHN S. LEMON
was born in Kentucky, August 15, 1833. He enjoyed the advantages of a fair education in the schools of Bullett County, and his first business experience was in a general store, where he was employed until 1850, at which period he came to St. Joseph, where he immediately embarked in mercantile business. After an experience of two years, he entered the extensive wholesale dry goods house of Powell, Levy & Co., remaining in the same till 1861, when the firm of Lemon, Hosea & Co., was formed. He continued a member of this partnership till 1871, when he pur- chased the interest of Mr. Hosea in the concern, and the new firm of J. S. Lemon & Co. was instituted. At the end of a period of two years, in view of ill-health, Mr. Lemon decided to retire from active business, and sold out his interest in the house. The two succeeding years found him out of active employment. In 1876, however, deeming his general health sufficiently improved to warrant a return to business, he became inter- ested in the Blue Rapids, Kansas, and St. Joseph, Missouri, woolen goods factories. Of the company operating them Mr. Lemon is Secretary. In ISSO, he was elected Councilman from the Second Ward, discharging with ability the duties of his position. January 13, 1870, he married Miss Anna Samuel, of St. Joseph. Of the children of this marriage there are (1881) living : Flora, Todd S. and Mary M. As a private citizen, in an
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official capacity, and as a business man, Mr. Lemon commands the con- fidence and respect of all who know him.
JOHN L. LEONARD,
farmer and stock dealer, section 24, postoffice St. Joseph. The suject of this sketch is a son of Judge S. L. Leonard, deceased, of whom mention is made elsewhere. He was born in Buchanan County, Missouri, May 2, 1853, and was educated in the common schools of this county, also in the High School of St. Joseph. His landed estate consists of 250 acres in this county, and about 1,000 acres in Texas. He was married August 29, 1876, to Miss America J. Patterson, who was born November 13, 1853, and is a native of Illinois. They have had two children, one of whom is living, Solomon L.
GEORGE LEVRICH,
of the firm of Brown & Levrich, blacksmiths, was born in Gentry Country, Missouri, December 14, 1851, and spent his early days in his native county, where he partially learned his trade, and also became proficient in the milling business. In 1875, he removed to Worth County, and for four years worked in a mill. In 1880, he came to St. Joseph, and formed a partnership with J. R. Brown. He is a live work- man, giving the business his entire attention. In 1872, Miss Sarah E. Cox, of Gentry County, became his wife. They have two children : Dillie and Charlie.
JAMES H. LEWIS,
insurance and real estate agent, was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, May 24th, 1834. In 1836, his father moved to Booneville, Missouri, and purchased 1,000 acres of land, improving a fine farm. His father was a cousin of the person named Lewis, who, with a Mr. Clark, first navigated the Missouri River and made valuable discoveries for the government. Young Lewis, at the age of twenty-one went into business in Tipton, Missouri, at that time the terminus of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, where he remained until 1865, when he came to this city and was employed by Messrs. Nave & McCord, for one year. He then estab- lished the insurance and real estate business, which has grown into one of the large and reliable agencies of the city. His reputation as an hon- est business man has secured to him many friends all over the county. He married Miss Lucy R. Hackett, in Louisa County, Virginia, Sep- tember 9th, 1859. They have four children : William Hackett, Nettie May, Lucy Rayland and Emma Theresa.
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ST. JOSEPH.
C. Q. LEWIS,
proprietor of the St. Charles Hotel. One of the early settlers of Pike County, Missouri, was Charles Thornton Lewis, who, with his family, migrated from Virginia and settled near Louisiana, in 1835, residing until the spring of 1837, when he became a resident of Cooper County, landing near Boonville, and engaged in cultivating tobacco. He was the pioneer in that industry in the county, and so extensively was he interested in this product, that he was familiarly known as "Tobacco Lewis." He was closely identified with the development of Cooper County until his death, which occurred May 1, 1849. The ancestors of the Lewises are of the family into which George Washington married. The subject of this sketch has in his possession traditional relics, spoons, books, etc., said to have belonged to Robert Douglass, of Scotland, of whom the Lewis family are descendants. Charles Q. was born in Char- lottesville, Virginia, March 6, 1826, and removed with his parents to Pike County, Missouri ; thence to Cooper County. He was one of the Forty- niners, and with a party, on the Ist of May, in that memorable year, crossed the state line, below Kansas City, and arrived at the mines, in California, August 10, making one of the best trips on record. Remained engaged in mining about three months very successfully, but at the cost of his health, which he did not fully recover for years, and returned home by the Panama route, arriving on the 14th of February, 1850. In 1855, engaged in milling and merchandising at Jonesboro, Saline County Missouri, and was favorably known in commercial circles in that section for a number of years. In a business sense of the word, his enterprises were a success, but he met with many serious drawbacks in the form of floods, fire, and during the war. For several years was postmaster of Jonesboro. In 1865, he made a tour to Montana, and did good service by furnishing the steamer Twilight with fresh meat and fish, which was much needed on a trip of seventy days. In 1877, took up his abode in St. Joseph, engaging in the insurance business, and, in 1879, opened the St. Charles Hotel, naming it after himself, and also the street upon which it is located. On the 23d day of October, 1845, at Charlottesville, Virginia, he was married to Miss Virginia Gooch, and by this union they have five children living : Lillian L., Ada B., Mary M., Lizza H. and Charles Q., Jr. Mr. Lewis has frequently been called upon to be a candidate for political honors. Is a Democrat, was strongly opposed to the rebellion, and took no part with either element. In his domestic habits, he is among the most social, genial and companionable men to be found. He is charitable in his judgments, ever seeking to put a favorable construc- tion upon the actions of others. His wife is one of the best and most noble of her sex.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
F. W. LEWIS,
stair builder. This gentleman has attained a wide reputation for assist- ing his fellow mortals to get up in the world, and a person who under- takes to get their by Lewis' route need not stop to stare at the stairs ; they have been weighed but not found wanting. Mr. Lewis was born February 28, 1842, in Park County, Indiana. When very young he migrated to Carroll, thence to Tippecanoe County, where he was raised to manhood, educated and learned his trade. Was married to Miss S. C. Davis, a native of Livingston County, Missouri. They have one daughter: Mollie.
ISAAC W. LINCOLN,
of the Lincoln Manufacturing Company, inventor, patentee and sole proprietor of Lincoln's patent combination dough kneader, flour chest and sifter, is a native of Clay County, Missouri, and was born in 1829. In 1864, he came to St. Joseph, and for a number of years was proprietor of the Pacific House. In later years he has been engaged in the manu- facturing business, manufacturing all classes of machinery. The justly celebrated Lincoln dough kneader is here constructed. In the inven- tion of this machine, Mr. Lincoln has given to the people a long-felt want. It is simple in construction, easy to operate and occupies a small space. For it Mr. Lincoln has received testimonials from several prom- inent physicians in St. Joseph ; also from a large number of the leading ladies, not only of the city, but in other states. Ths patent is only- of a recent issue and promises, in the near future to come upon the markets of the world.
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