Chapter XXV: Biographical History (14)

Thomas E. Ballinger has always been a Republican in politics and took an active part in political and civic affairs in his home township, serving as township clerk for a number of years. He was elected to the office of county commissioner in 1910, and served from January, 1911, to January, 1915. While a member of the board of county commissioners the best interests of the county were paramount with him, and he was an honest and capable public official. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.

ROGER PATRICK SULLIVAN.

The accounts of many of the prosperous and substantial families who are the backbone and substance of the rural population in Atchison county are very similar, beginning far away, across the ocean, in one of the older countries from whence the parents came to seek fortune in America. The Sullivan family had its origin in Ireland and it was from the Emerald Isle that the father of the family came when twelve years of age, struggled from poverty to comparative wealth and left his sons well provided for, as a reward for their filial devotion to the parents when old age came upon them. Roger Sullivan, a progressive farmer of Benton township, is one of the best known men in his section of the county. The Sullivan home is an attractive one, and the home farm of Mr. Sullivan is one of the most fertile and best kept in Atchison county.

Roger Patrick Sullivan was born December 4, 1862, in Atchison, a son of Michael and Bridget (Tobin) Sullivan, natives of Ireland. Michael Sullivan was born in 1826 and lived in his native land until he was twelve years of age when he made his way to America. His travels while seeking fortune in the new country took him ever westward and he was married in Keokuk, Iowa, to Bridget Tobin, who was his faithful helpmate during the years when he was rising from poverty to affluence. In 1860 they came to Atchison, Kan., where Mr. Sullivan engaged in railroad contract work and assisted in the grading of the Central Branch railroad. He made money in his railroad contract work and was enabled to purchase a farm in Grasshopper township, or rather traded for it. While living in Atchison, with true Irish thrift, he and his wife managed to become owners of a home which they exchanged for eighty acres of land in Grasshopper township, upon which they moved and developed it into a fine farm. Mr. Sullivan in the course of time bought an additional quarter section and with the help of his sturdy sons he increased his acreage to 320 acres of well improved farm land. When old age crept upon Michael and his wife they turned over the farms to their two sons, who cared for them in their declining years, which were spent in peace and comfort. Mr. Sullivan died at the home of his son. John Edward, December 24, 1906, and his wife followed him to the great beyond two years later, February, 1908. Three children were born to this worthy couple, namely: John Edward, a farmer residing in Grasshopper township; Roger Patrick, the subject of this review, and Mary, deceased.

Roger P. learned when a youth the art of cultivating the soil, and diligently applied himself to the task of helping to build up the family estate, and received as his share of the farm lands owned by his father a fine quarter section of land upon which he resided until his removal to his present location in the spring of 1908. Prosperity has smiled upon his efforts, and he is now the owner of 360 acres of land, 160 acres of which are comprised in his home farm, eighty acres is located five miles west of his home in Kapioma township, and he still retains 120 acres of the original Sullivan farm, which is entirely devoted to pasture. If one should ask Mr. Sullivan how he had managed to attain the considerable acreage which he now possesses, his answer would probably be, “By hard work,” which would be true, but the reviewer is also of the opinion that the “hard work” was also supplemented by intelligent effort, self-denial at times, sobriety, and good financial judgment.

Mr. Sullivan was married January 11, 1892, to Miss Mary Linehan, who was born in Atchison county, Kansas, in 1865, a daughter of James and Kathryn Linehan, natives of Ireland, and who were pioneer settlers in Atchison county. To this union four children have been born, namely: Catharine, aged seventeen years, and a student in the Atchison County High School, class of ’17; Daniel, fifteen years old, a freshman in the county high school; Mary, aged twelve years, and Helen, aged nine, pupils in the parochial school at Effingham.

The Democratic party has always claimed the allegiance of Mr. Sullivan and his father before him was a Democrat. He and his family are members of the Catholic church which was the faith of their fathers. He finds time to give attention to the social side of life, and is fraternally affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Atchison. Mr. Sullivan is a thorough Kansan, and is proud to be numbered among the real pioneers of Atchison county, and in his opinion there is no better spot than the county which has always been his home.

JOHN FLEMING.

John Fleming, a successful merchant of Atchison, was born October 29, 1864, in Holland. When four years old his parents left the land of their birth and came to America in 1868. He was one of twins, the other twin brother dying during the ocean voyage to America. His parents were Lambert and Rosena (Johnson) Fleming, who set out from their native land imbued with the desire to better their condition in America and finally located in Atchison. The elder Fleming had been a skilled wooden-shoe maker in his native land, and he plied his trade in Atchison, being able to market the product of his skilled workmanship through the kindly assistance of John Ratterman, who exchanged groceries and the necessities of life for the shoes which Mr. Fleming made. The family finally located on a farm south of Atchison, and resided there until the death of the father in 1882, at which time John, his mother and two sisters, Bertha, now widow of Henry Nass, deceased: Ida Van Benthen, residing at Seventeenth and Atchison streets, removed to Atchison.

John Fleming was four years old when his parents took up their residence in Atchison county, and he was reared on the farm, south of the city, attending the district schools, and was able to secure a limited education in this manner. Upon coming to the city to reside he worked in various grocery stores for several years. With true thrift, for which those of Holland birth are noted the world over, he carefully saved his money over and above actual living expenses, and in 1898, equipped with a capital of $500, he started in business with this amount and some borrowed money. For over seventeen years he has been conducting a grocery business at 321 North Seventh street and his business has been constantly on the increase. The demands of his growing trade and the expansion of his business became such that in 1907 it became necessary for him to erect the modern brick buildings which now houses his excellent stock of goods at 321 North Seventh street. It is one of the most attractive and best kept establishments of the kind in the city, and is noted for the tasteful manner in which the goods of the very best quality are displayed and the unvarying courtesy with which the patrons are treated. Prosperity has come to Mr. Fleming, and in 1908 he invested his surplus in the erection of a four-suite apartment house, each apartment of which contains six rooms. He is also the owner of other real estate in north Atchison, and is rated as one of the city’s enterprising and progressive business men.

Mr. Fleming was married in 1889 to Emma C. Hilligoss, a daughter of Alfred and Anna Eliza (McLain) Hilligoss, who located in Atchison when she was twelve years of age. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fleming, four living: William J., associated with his father in the grocery business; Henry A., also his father’s assistant; Agnes R., John Edwin; Bertha died at the age of four years; Ruth died in infancy, and Theodore died at the age of four months.

Mr. Fleming is a member of St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, and is fraternally connected with the Modern Woodmen of America.

MARK H. HULINGS.

For an Atchison county man to start out in life with a capital of fifteen dollars, which was given to him by a loving mother, with the injunction that he purchase an article for personal adornment, and then to invest said fifteen dollars in a span of mules, which became the nucleus to a fortune, and for this citizen to rise to the position of being one of the large landed proprietors of Kansas, sounds like a tale from modern fiction. But the tale is true, and the incident which marked the starting point of the career of Mark H. Hulings, of Center township, is the keystone of the man’s character, and shows wherein lies the material from which he was created. Mr. Hulings decided that a pair of mules would do him more material good than adorning his person, and therein used rare and capable judgment. Mr. Hulings is a Kansas man, who during a career in agricultural pursuits embracing but little more than thirty years, has achieved a success which is truly remarkable. Not content with just common every-day farming, as has been practiced with indifferent success by others, Mr. Hulings became a specialist and has taken his rightful place among the many skilled cattle breeders of this county, who in time to come will receive the credit and honors which are theirs by right. By industry, persistence, intelligence, and keen financial judgment he has risen to become one of the leading farmers of Atchison county and Kansas. Born in the old Buckeye State, of Virginia parents, he is a loyal and steadfast Kansan, and takes pride in the fact that he is one of the real pioneers of this section of a great State.

Mark H. Hulings, farmer and stockman, of Center township, was born February 14, 1862, at Walnut Hill, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a son of Samuel and Louise (Brown) Hulings. They had four children, as follows: Mrs. Lillie High, widow, Atchison, Kan.; Cincinnatus, deceased; Mark, the subject of this sketch, and Ruth J., twins, the latter deceased. The father was born in what is now West Virginia in 1832. He was a baker by trade, and his early days were spent on a steamboat, where he was employed as a cook and baker. When a young man he came to Cincinnati, where he worked for some time, and then he began farming. In 1867 he came to Atchison county, Kansas, where he bought 160 acres of land, and built a seven-room house of brick, which was considered a fine residence in that day. He was a successful farmer and his crops were always good, with the exception of one year when they were destroyed by the grasshoppers. The father conducted his farm until his death in 1898. The mother was born in New York and died about 1905, aged about seventy years. An accident in an Atchison hardware store elevator which injured her leg led to her death.

Mark Hulings attended the school in District No. 28, Center township, and later the Pardee Seminary. When he started out in life for himself he had only fifteen dollars which his mother gave him to buy a ring for himself. But caring little for personal jewelry, bought a span of mules instead, for which he paid the fifteen dollars as the first payment. This was his first investment, but it was a profitable one, and he has continued to invest until he is now an extensive land owner. He and his brother, Cincinnatus, bought land of their own after their parents died, and farmed together about eight years when each bought a farm of his own. Mark bought land in Center township and now owns 810 acres, a large part of which is well improved. He was a breeder of registered Hereford cattle for a time, but now devotes his attention to Shorthorns. He has worked his way to the first rank of Atchison county farmers, and now holds land that makes him one of the largest land owners of the county. On April 27, 1890, he married Emma Sharpless, who was born September 22, 1871, in Delaware. (See sketch of U. B. Sharpless for a sketch of the Sharpless family history.) To Mr. and Mrs. Hulings have been born two children: Mark S. and Susie E., living at home. Mr. Hulings is a Republican. He and his wife and children are members of the Christian church at Farmington.

FRANK SUTTER.

Frank Sutter, owner of “Highlington,” a splendid farm of 245 acres, in Benton township, Atchison county, located one-half mile west of Effingham, is a native of Atchison county, and is one of its most successful and progressive farmers. A beautiful, modern farm home of eight rooms occupies a rise of land fronting the main highway, running east and west from Effingham, and is fully equipped with a water system and private gas plant installed by Mr. Sutter. A large red barn stands in the rear of the home. This farm is operated as a dairying plant, and Mr. Sutter maintains a herd of fifteen milch cows of the Jersey and Shorthorn breeds.

Frank Sutter was born January 8, 1871, on a pioneer farm in Walnut township, Atchison county, and is a son of Frederick Sutter, deceased, of whom a complete biography is written in this volume. Frank Sutter came with the family to Benton township in 1880 and lived on the home place, two miles west of Effingham, and after his father’s death he and his brothers, Fred and William, became the owners of the section of land which has since been divided, Frank taking a quarter section as his share when the division of land was made. The sons of Frederick Sutter farmed the family estate in common until 1902, and, after various changes following the division of the estate Frank became the proprietor of 245 acres in one tract, which he is now cultivating.

Mr. Sutter was married in 1909 to Mrs. Kate (Cook) Pitman, a widow, who is the mother of eight children by her first marriage, as follows: George, now in Montana; Ralph, living in Iowa; Mrs. Elsie Mann, of Nebraska; Mrs. Vera Blair, a resident of Effingham; Margaret, at home; Mrs. Geneva Perdue, of Huron, Kan.; Helen and Thomas reside at home. Mrs. Sutter was a daughter of E. F. Cook.

While Mr. Sutter is a Republican in politics, he votes independently in county and local matters, and supports the candidate who seems best fitted for the office, in his judgment. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr. Sutter is of a high type of the successful farmer who has made good in his inherited vocation. The success of each individual member of the Sutter family is due, to a great extent, to their coöperation and ability to work together for the common good of the whole family, collectively and individually, while the family fortunes were in process of building.

BISHOP K. HAM.

Bishop K. Ham, one of the younger successful farmers and stockmen of Grasshopper township, Atchison county, is the last surviving representative of one of the oldest pioneer families of the western part of the county. He resides on the old homestead of the Ham family, consisting of 170 acres of land, upon which his father homesteaded in 1861. B. K. Ham was born on this farm July 23, 1882, a son of Martin W., and Margarette (Black) Ham, natives of Fleming county, Kentucky.

Martin W. Ham was born near the town of Flemingsburg, Ky., April 13, 1834, and was a son of George and Ruth Ham, also reared in Kentucky. The grandfather of Martin W. was John or “Jackie,” a native of Greenbrier county, Virginia, and was of Scotch-Irish lineage. The Ham family is a very old one in this country, and the great-grandfather of B. K. Ham was John, better known as “Jackie” Ham, who was one among the earliest pioneer settlers of Kentucky. Martin W. was reared to young manhood in Fleming county, Kentucky, and there married Jane Humphreys. In 1861 the Ham family left Kentucky in search of a home in the West, making the long trip overland to Missouri by wagon. After a short stay in Missouri they came to Atchison county, Kansas, and settled on the farm now owned by Mrs. Margarette Ham. All of Martin W. Ham’s worldly possessions when he landed in Kansas was his team and wagon and a few household necessities. The land was wild and there were few settlers on the prairies in Grasshopper township, where he made his settlement and eventually developed a fine farm. He became an extensive cattle and hog raiser and made considerable money in this manner.

_Hon. Martin W. Ham_
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_Mrs. Martin W. Ham_
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Martin W. Ham was twice married, his first wife, Jane Humphreys Ham, dying May 18, 1879. He married his second wife, Margarette Black, June 28, 1880. One son was born of this second marriage, Bishop K. Mrs. Margarette (Black) Ham was born March 29, 1854, a daughter of M. M. and Rebecca (Simms) Black, the former a native of Virginia, and of Irish lineage. He was one of the early pioneer settlers of Kansas. Martin W. Ham died in 1908. From the start of his career in Kansas M. W. Ham took an active and influential part in civic and political affairs of his county and State. During the border ruffian days he was active in affairs and was a Free State man. He was captain of Company G, Kansas Home Guards, during the Civil war. He held various township offices and was elected a member of the Kansas State legislature in 1869, serving one term. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was affiliated with the Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges.

Bishop K. Ham, with whom this review is directly concerned, received his education in the district school of his neighborhood and also studied in the college at Hiawatha, Kan., for one year. He then took up farming, and after his marriage lived on a neighboring farm until his father’s demise. He then came to the home farm which he has since been cultivating with considerable success. Mr. Ham has made a record as a breeder of horses and mules second to none in Atchison county. He is the owner of a magnificent, imported black stallion, “Illico,” six years old, which he purchased from the well known importer, Charles Kirk, of St. Joseph, Mo. He is the owner of a high class jack and is a successful breeder of mules. The pride of his farm is his fine herd of thirty thoroughbred Jerseys, headed by the pedigreed bull “Loren’s Lad,” both the sire and dam of which were imported. By means of holding annual sales Mr. Ham will dispose of the surplus stock of his herds of cattle and horses. The Ham farm is well improved in every way with good commodious buildings, silo, etc., a fine modern home, all grouped together on a beautiful location.

Mr. Ham was married October 19, 1905, to Miss Carrie B. McCubbins, and to this union has been born: Marguerite Ham, born April 17, 1907. Mrs. Carrie B. Ham is a daughter of Robert D. and Elizabeth (Tenry) McCubbins, who were early settlers in Atchison county. The McCubbins family first settled near the city of Atchison, and later came to Grasshopper township.

Mr. Ham is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Muscotah, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Fraternal Aid societies. He is one of the best known and rising young agriculturists of the county and will undoubtedly make a name for himself among the breeders of the State of Kansas and middle West.

CHARLES H. LINLEY.

Charles H. Linley, a prominent physician and surgeon, of Atchison, may very appropriately be called the dean of the Atchison county medical profession. Dr. Linley is a Kentuckian. He was born in Livingston county, Kentucky, June 19, 1847, and is a son of Dr. Thomas and Maria (Barker) Linley, natives of Lewis county, Kentucky. Maria Barker, the mother, was a daughter of Admiral Barker of the United States navy. Dr. Thomas Linley, the father, was born in 1806. He was a son of Thomas Linley, a native of England, who settled in Virginia at an early date and later removed to Kentucky, and was a pioneer of this State. Thomas Linley, the father of Dr. Charles H. Linley, was a large plantation owner and owned many slaves in Kentucky prior to the Civil war, but was a strong Union man and believed that slavery was wrong, and when the Civil war came on he was pronounced in his anti-slavery views, and notwithstanding the position of many of his neighbors and friends and life-long associates, he stood firmly by the Union. He was a graduate of the old Transylvania Medical College, at Lexington, Ky. He began the practice of his profession at the early age of nineteen years, and for forty-five years practiced most of the time in the vicinity of Salem, Ky. He came to Atchison, Kan., in 1866, but remained a short time, when he returned to Kentucky, where he died March 31, 1880. Dr. Thomas and Maria (Barker) Linley were the parents of thirteen children, three of whom died in infancy, and four are now living, as follows: Dr. Charles H., the subject of this sketch; Isaac resides on the old homestead in Salem, Ky.; Mrs. Laura Hill resides at Liberty, Mo., and Joseph W., now living retired in Atchison, Kan. After receiving a good academic and classical education, Dr. Charles H. Linley entered Miami Medical College, now known as the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, and was graduated from that institution in 1877 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 1880 he located in the city of Atchison where he has practiced his profession with uniform success for the past thirty-five years. He is one of the oldest physicians in the number of years in practice in Atchison.

Dr. Linley was married in 1879 to Miss Fannie W. Gregory, a native of Kentucky. She was born in 1854 and is a daughter of James Gregory and a member of a prominent Kentucky family. Her father died when Mrs. Linley was fourteen years of age. Dr. and Mrs. Linley are the parents of the following children: Maria, born in 1880, and died in 1909; Corinne, a teacher in the Atchison high school, and a graduate of Midland College and the State Normal school at Emporia; Ray G., traveling salesman for Blish, Mize & Silliman; Nora B., a graduate of Midland College, now a teacher in Colorado; Alice, a graduate of Midland College, now a teacher in the grades at Atchison, and Louis D., traveling salesman for Blish, Mize & Silliman.

Dr. Linley is a Democrat and has taken an active part in the welfare of his city and county. He has served as city health officer for several terms and was police commissioner for Atchison for one year. He served on the board of United States pension examiners for eight years during Cleveland’s administrations. He is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, the Fraternal Aid, and the Foresters of America. The Linley family are members of the Christian church.

L. C. ARENSBERG.

L. C. Arensberg, one of the younger business men of Atchison, and member of the enterprising and successful firm of Babcock & Arensberg, shoe merchants, is a Hollander by birth, and a hustling American in every sense the word implies. It has long been a matter of note that the natives of Holland who became American citizens are more apt and take more kindly and quickly to the ways of this nation than the people of any other European country. This country seems to become their natural habitat, and they become citizens in both deed and word after a few years’ residence here. Mr. Arensberg was born in Holland, September 17, 1880, and is a son of William and Alegunde (Muskens) Arensberg, who immigrated to this country in 1885, actuated by a desire to locate in a land where their children would have more and better opportunities for success than their own little, crowded, native country afforded. They believed rightly and were successful in establishing a home in Atchison where they had relatives who had preceded them to the newer country. The Arensberg family established themselves in reasonably comfortable circumstances in Atchison in a short time. There were nine children in the family of William and Alegunde Arensberg.

L. C. Arensberg was educated in the parochial and high schools of Atchison. Then he obtained a position as all round man in Bradley & Ostertag’s shoe store. Here he was employed for ten years and thoroughly learned the ins and outs of the shoe business, becoming a very proficient salesman. In the meantime he carefully saved his money, with a view to eventually engaging in business for himself. His ambition was at last realized, and in 1906 he purchased an interest in the Babcock & Stallons shoe store, buying out the interest of Mr. Stallons. He is a full partner in the business and has won a place of merit and honor among the leading merchants of Atchison.

Politically, Mr. Arensberg is a Democrat, and is inclined to be liberal in his views and independent in his voting. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Loyal Order of Moose, and is a member of St. Benedict’s Catholic Church. He is active in the affairs of the Atchison Commercial Club, and is recognized as one of the real “live wires” of the business and civic life of his home city.

W. B. COLLETT.

W. B. Collett, district agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wis., is one of the progressive business men of Atchison. He was born in Liverpool, England, in 1860, and is a son of John and Mary (Henston) Collett, the former a native of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, and the latter of Tipperary, Ireland. John Collett was a prosperous importing provision merchant when the Civil war broke out in this country. The importing business fell off to such an extent in European ports that business was injured to such an extent that he failed, and came to the United States, and in 1862 sent for his family, consisting of his wife and three children. During his youth he served a seven-year apprenticeship in the provision trade. In 1879 he came to Atchison as head salesman for the Fowler Brothers Packing Company, and remained with that company until 1883. He then went with the Armour Packing Company, of Kansas City, in the same capacity, and was with that company for fourteen years, when he was made manager of their branch at St. Paul, Minn., and later he was the European representative for Jacob Dold Packing Company, of Buffalo, N. Y. In 1908 he retired from active business and took up his residence on a farm near Richards, Mo., where he died, in 1911, at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife survives him and resides on the farm where he died.

John Collett was a man of unusual ability, and had few equals as a salesman. He was a capable executive and thoroughly understood handling large commercial enterprises. He was a master salesman and always commanded a large salary. He was a money maker, although he died possessed of but a small amount of this world’s goods; he was a money maker rather than a hoarder of dimes.

W. B. Collett, whose name introduces this sketch, was educated in the public schools, and when a young man went to work in the Elgin watch works, at Elgin, Ill., and in 1879, when the family came to Kansas, he went to work for the Fowler Brothers Packing Company, where he remained about a year. He then entered the employ of Bowman & Kellogg, millers, as bookkeeper, and later became a buyer and salesman for that company. In 1888 he engaged in the general insurance business, and three years later entered the employ of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, and has been with that company ever since with headquarters at Atchison. Mr. Collett was married in December, 1886, to Miss Annie Heermance, who came to Atchison with her mother in 1883 from Hudson, N. Y. She was one of the old Holland families of New York and taught in the Atchison High School prior to her marriage.

Mr. and Mrs. Collett have two children as follows; Mary E., educated at Wellesley College, took her master degree at the University of Pennsylvania, then one year of post-graduate work at Brown University, at Providence, R. I., when she became instructor of biology at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., and W. B., Jr., who was educated in the Atchison public schools. Culver Military Academy, Culver, Ind., and the State Agriculture College at Manhattan, Kan.

Mr. Collett is an Episcopalian, a York Rite Mason and a member of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and has been active in the work of these organizations for years.

JAMES DOOLEY.

The late James Dooley, of Shannon township, left behind him a life’s record that is well worth recounting, and deserved an honored place in the memoirs of the county, in which he was for over forty years a prominent and well known figure. As a pioneer he did his part well in building up Atchison county. The story of his life is romantic in many ways, and he was always imbued with the idea of providing well for his beloved family, and leaving his affairs in such a stable condition that his descendants could earn on the great work which the father and founder of the family had so well begun and brought to such a substantial culmination.

James Dooley, deceased, was born January 6, 1835, in Ireland, a son of Irish parents, James and Catharine Dooley, who left their native land in 1847, and located in Canada, where the father, James Dooley, the elder, became ill and died in the city of Hamilton. Although the young Irish lad was but twelve years of age and immature, it was necessary for him to go to work and gain a livelihood the best way he could. He managed to get a job which paid him one dollar and a half per month with his board. He was knocked about from pillar to post while a youth, and managed to make his way. His adventures in making a struggle for an honest livelihood were similar to those of other poor orphan boys left in a strange land without friends or relatives, other than those who were as poor as himself. One bright rift in the lonely life of this orphan boy is to be noticed when he became a boarder in the Hurley home at Harrisburg, Canada. It was here that he met with a genuine kindness and formed an attachment for the noble-hearted girl who later became his inspiration, and was his faithful wife during the years in Kansas when he was working his way upward to wealth and affluence, aided and abetted by her wise counsel and assistance. Imbued with a desire to secure capital so that he could come to this new country and realize an inherent ambition to own a farm, he set out for the gold fields of Colorado during the Civil war years, and there amassed a small fortune of $500 in gold, saved during the months of his hard and unremitting labor in the gold mines of the western State. With this capital he felt able to make the venture which he and his sweetheart had planned, and, accordingly, after his marriage at Paris, Canada, with Catharine Hurley, he and his wife set out for Atchison in March of 1866. During the first few months of their residence in Atchison county they lived with a sister of Mr. Dooley, Mrs. Slattery, in Shannon township, and James worked in the city at any honest labor he could get. Their first investment was for eighty acres of school land in Shannon township, for which they paid cash, and it then became necessary for Mr. Dooley to borrow forty dollars in order to get the deed for the land. During the whole course of Mr. Dooley’s career in Atchison county, while the modest eighty acres were growing to the large total of 600 acres of some of the best agricultural land in the county, they never undertook a debt, but each time an additional tract of farm land was purchased, the savings were drawn upon and cash paid for the land. Each of three sons now has a fine farm of 200 acres. The home place upon which Mrs. Dooley now resides, which consists of 200 acres, cost an even $10,000. This farm is one of the oldest in the county and was originally preëmpted by a Mr. Collins, who set out a large grove of forty acres or more in walnut and cottonwood trees which have become very valuable, having grown to considerable size.

Catharine (Hurley) Dooley, widow of James Dooley, was born April 28, 1847, in Ireland, a daughter of James and Bridget Hurley, who left their native land in 1847 while Katharine was but an infant, and located in Hamilton, Canada, later residing in Harrisburg, Canada. A brother of Mrs. Dooley, James Hurley, served three years and three months in the Union army. He was a member of a Pennsylvania reserve regiment of sharpshooters and was wounded during the battle of Richmond, Va. For six months, while the wound in his wrist was healing, he served as sergeant in the quartermaster’s department. Some years after the war he became an inmate of the National Soldiers’ Home at Dayton, Ohio, and lost his life while aboard an excursion boat which sank in Lake Michigan, near Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Dooley were the parents of fourteen children: Mrs. James Baker, Huron, Kan., and mother of eight children, Celia Baker, a trained nurse in Chicago, Mary, wife of George Perdue, Joseph, William, Bertha, Ruth, Rita and James; Catharine, James and Mary, deceased; Sister Lucy, of Mt. St. Scholastica Academy; Lucy, wife of David Lawless, and mother of two sons, Harold and Clevett; Mrs. Celia Finnegan, wife of Thomas Finnegan, of Houston, Texas, who had two children, Thomas Lillis and Mary; Bertha, Sister Dorothy, of the Order of St. Benedict’s in Mt. St. Scholastica Academy; Nora, wife of Roger Finnegan; William, managing the home farm; John, deceased; James married Bertha Kistler, and has three children: Florence, Bernice, and Francis; Edward married Henrietta Kramer, and has two children, John and Gerard; Joseph, deceased; Irene, at home with her mother.

It is well to add here that James Dooley was one of the notable army of hardy freighters who crossed the plains with the long mule trains in the late sixties. This was in April of 1866, when he convoyed a train load of goods to Denver, Colo., in company with William Slattery. During his whole life, after attaining his majority, Mr. Dooley was a stanch Democrat and was ever loyal to Democratic principles. While a member of the Catholic church, he was a liberal supporter of all denominations, and took a broad and tolerant view of all religious matters as becoming a widely traveled and experienced man. His life-long wish to perpetuate his name and keep the family estate in the family was expressed while lying on his death bed. Calling his faithful helpmeet to his bedside, he said: “Mother, I am leaving you without having my dearest wish come true.” On being asked what it was, he said: “I have always longed for the time to come when I could see my sons settled on this farm of ours, with a Dooley here with his family, a Dooley there, and another son on that part of the farm.” He was at once assured by his wife that his wishes would be respected, and after his demise Mrs. Dooley at once took steps to carry out the plans of her husband with the result that within sight of her home the other two sons are comfortably located on 200 acres of land each and have attractive homes of their own.

ABRAHAM HOOPER.

Abraham Hooper, deceased, was one of the pioneer settlers of Atchison county. He was one of the well known and sturdy figures in the early days of the settlement of Kansas when strong and brave men were required, who were able to face the vicissitudes and hardships incident to the settlement of a new country and perform their tasks without succumbing, as weaker mortals were wont to do. Mr. Hooper was born in Platte county, Missouri, November 23, 1839, on a farm, near Parkville. His father was Abraham Hooper, a native of Tennessee and early settler of Missouri, who died in Mexico. Abraham Hooper, the subject of this review, was reared in Platte county and came to Atchison county in 1858, settling on a farm near Pardee. While engaged in farming he followed his trade of plasterer in the neighborhood of Pardee. For a distance of ten miles around his own residence he plastered all of the houses then building by the incoming settlers. During the Civil war he was enrolled in the State militia. In his younger days Mr. Hooper was a freighter and crossed the plains in charge of great trains on three different occasions. On one of his trips to Colorado he was placed in charge of a train load of twenty-five wagons, and one of his other trips was to Ft. Union, N. M. His affiliations were with the Christian church, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of Pythias lodges.

_Daniel E. Hooper_
]

Mr. Hooper was married in 1863 to Louisa Campbell, born in Tennessee in 1842, a daughter of Daniel and Nancy Campbell. The Campbell family left Tennessee in 1854, and in 1855 removed to a farm which they preëmpted near Farmington in Atchison county. This was in a day when things were in a primitive state in Kansas. The Campbells lived in a cabin which was one of the first dwellings built in that section of the county. The mother of Mrs. Hooper lived and died on their farm, and her father died on the western plains while on a trip to the Black Hills. Mr. and Mrs. Hooper removed from the farm to Atchison in 1887, and here Mr. Hooper died February 18, 1914, at the advanced age of seventy-four years, having been born November 3, 1839. Three children were born to this well respected couple: Addie B. died at the age of six years; Daniel, deceased, and Nellie died at the age of one year. Mrs. Hooper lives all alone in her home, but remembers fondly the days of old and has many sweet memories of her husband and children to solace and comfort her during her declining years. Despite her age she is physically and mentally vigorous and is distinguished in being one of the oldest pioneer women now living in the county.

Her well beloved son, Daniel Hooper, was born in 1868, and died January 22, 1912. He was one of the most talented and best liked men in Atchison, and was far on the road to fame and prosperity when he was cut off in the prime of his vigorous and virile manhood. He received the rudiments of an elementary education in the district school near his country home and early developed ambitions which were partly realized during his life. After leaving school he studied shorthand and typewriting, and while holding a position in the law office of C. D. Walker he studied law and was admitted to the bar. A winning personality and his pronounced ability won him clients from the start of his legal career. His personal popularity and ambitious tendencies led him to enter politics, and he was elected to the office of probate judge of the county, serving the people well and faithfully for a period of six years, and then served two terms as city attorney. Just in the prime of his manhood and at the zenith of a career his health failed, and he died at Excelsior Springs, Mo., where he had gone in the hope of regaining his health. Judge Hooper was sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances and it is probable that there was not a man in his class better liked or more highly respected in Atchison county at the time of his demise. He was a Republican in politics and was fraternally connected with the Modern Woodmen, the Knights of Pythias, in whose councils he was very prominent, and an attendant at the Christian church. The most notable trait in Judge Hooper’s character was his sincere devotion to his parents. Because of the love he bore his mother he never married and cared for no woman but her. His constant thought was to make provision for her in the event of his own demise, and he carefully looked after her immediate and future wants. Such men as he are deserving of a greater tribute than that embodied in this brief review. A memorial window with his and the name of his father thereon was placed in the Christian church in his memory. Printed on this window are Judge Hooper’s words of faith often expressed: “I believe in a great and a good God.”

Mrs. Hooper is rearing and educating a girl, Ruth Jones, who serves as company for her in the home.

ALBERT J. SMITH.

Albert J. Smith, the efficient cashier of the State Bank of Lancaster, Kan., is a native son of Kansas, and has grown up with Atchison county. He is a son of one of the prominent early pioneer settlers of the county, and while yet, comparatively, a young man, he has made good at his chosen avocation and is considered one of the really successful banking men of this section of the State, his talents and ability seeming to be especially adapted to the profession of banking.

Mr. Smith was born on a farm in Brown county, Kansas, January 13, 1879, a son of Thomas B. and Mary E. (Woodruff) Smith. The father of Albert J. Smith was born August 16, 1843, in Grant county, Indiana, a son of William J. and Lucinda (Barkley) Smith, who were born and reared in Pennsylvania. The father of Lucinda Barkley Smith was a soldier in the War of 1812. William J. Smith removed with his family to Grant county, Indiana, and in 1851 migrated further westward to Bureau county, Illinois, where he made a permanent settlement, and died in that county in 1869. Lucinda (Barkley) Smith died in Illinois in 1862, at the age of sixty-two years. They were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Margaret Pugh; Alvah, a veteran of the Civil war; Mrs. Lucinda Spangler; Isaac, Joseph, and William R. Thomas B. Smith, the father of Albert J., was eight years old when the family removed to Bureau county, Illinois, where he spent his boyhood days and received a common school education, finishing in the Dover (Illinois) Academy. On the second call for volunteers issued by President Lincoln, he enlisted in Company B, Ninety-third regiment, Illinois infantry. He took part in a number of decisive and important battles and campaigns. Among them are, Jackson, Miss., and Dalton, Ga. On May 16, 1863, while serving in General McPherson’s corps, he fought at the battle of Champion Hill and was severely wounded in the left shoulder. He was forced to remain in the hospital for some time and after his recovery he was placed on guard duty for the purpose of guarding the railroad bridges. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged and returned to his home in Bureau county, Illinois. After his marriage in 1866, he continued to farm in Illinois until 1874, when he removed to Kansas, locating first in Brown county, where he and his family lived for six years, and then came to Atchison county, where Mr. Smith purchased a farm of 160 acres in Grasshopper township, northeast of the town of Muscotah. He resided on this farm for twenty years and then moved to Effingham in 1900. He died in Effingham, November 29, 1914. Mrs. Mary E. (Woodruff) Smith, his wife, was a native of New Jersey, and a daughter of Nathan and Delia Woodruff.

Thomas B. Smith was married January 24, 1866, to Mary E. Woodruff, at Princeton, Ill. They were the parents of nine children, six of whom are living: Mrs. M. E. Beven, of Muscotah. Kan.; Mrs. H. T. Reece, of Muscotah; Mrs. J. C. Harman, of Auburn, Neb.; Albert J., the subject of this review; C. E., cashier of the Huron Bank, and T. B., of the Exchange National Bank of Atchison. Three daughters are deceased: Lettie, Gracie and Goldie. Mr. Smith was an enterprising and progressive citizen who did his duty in whatever community he was located, during his long and useful life. While a resident of Grasshopper township he served as township trustee for four years. He was a member of the city council of Effingham one term, and filled the office of mayor for one term, and also proved his efficiency as a member of the Atchison County High School board for two terms. He was an honored member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Grand Army of the Republic, at Effingham. He was a stockholder and director of the banks at Lancaster and Huron, Kan. Mr. Smith was a member of the Presbyterian church for over fifty years. Mrs. Smith, the widowed mother, was born in New Jersey, in November, 1845, and now resides in Atchison.

Albert J. Smith was reared on the farm of his father and attended the district school in District No. 23, Grasshopper township, and later entered the Atchison County High School, Effingham, and was graduated in 1897. After his graduation he taught school in his home district for two terms, and in 1900 he received an appointment as clerk in the census bureau at Washington, D. C., and served for two years in that capacity. He then returned to Effingham and entered the State Bank of Effingham, as assistant cashier and bookkeeper. He made a fine record for himself in this bank and in July, 1905, was one of the organizers of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Effingham, and held the office of cashier from the time of its opening until 1909, when he resigned his position and removed to Lancaster, where he became cashier of the Lancaster State Bank. Mr. Smith, in addition to his banking interests, is the owner of eighty acres of good land in Kapioma township, Atchison county.

Albert J. Smith was married in 1899 to Elizabeth R. Smith, and to this union have been born the following children: Dorothy, deceased; Gladys, Elizabeth and Albert, all living at home. Mrs. Elizabeth (Smith) Smith, was born on a farm in Grasshopper township, February 26, 1879, and, like her husband, is a graduate of the Atchison County High School. She also taught school for two years. She is a daughter of James K. and Elizabeth (Asquith) Smith, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the mother a native of England, and early settlers of Atchison county. Both are now deceased.

Mr. Smith has identified himself with the civic affairs of Lancaster and is recognized as one of the town’s leading and enterprising citizens. He is a Republican and has served four years, from 1911 to 1915, inclusive, as mayor of Lancaster. His administration was successful and the affairs of the city were conducted with efficiency. He is a regular attendant of the Presbyterian church, and is affiliated with the Anti-Horse Thief Association, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Knights and Ladies of Security.

JOHN E. DUNCAN.

There is a proverbial saying that opportunity knocks once at every man’s door, and a classic has been written by a great Kansas statesman, since departed from among us, which tells in musical language that Kansas spells opportunity for the young man. Opportunity presented itself to John E. Duncan, Missouri Pacific agent, at Shannon, Kan., and Mr. Duncan seized it, and held on for all he was worth, and made a success of his venture. His ambition first was to become a railroad man and telegraph operator, and probably in the early stages of his career the post of telegraph operator seemed to him to be the great height of attainment. He realized his first dream, and when he came to Shannon, Kan., to take charge of the Missouri Pacific business at that place, he conceived the idea of engaging in the buying and shipping of grain. This idea grew and he became a grain buyer and shipper, built an elevator, established a general store, opened an implement establishment, and became a prosperous and trusted business man of his adopted county. It is a fact that more grain is shipped from the little village of Shannon through the agency of Mr. Duncan than any other point in Atchison county, outside of the city of Atchison. Mr. Duncan enjoys the respect, esteem and confidence of the prosperous farmers of the section tributary to Shannon, and they trade with him because of this confidence in his squareness. A few years ago, when real hard times struck Kansas as a result of the droughts, Mr. Duncan showed his hearty good will and confidence in the eventual betterment of conditions by placing his trust in his farmer friends, and supplying such of those who were not blessed with ready cash, with credit for supplies at his store, and carried them until they were able to pay. This kindness has been appreciated, and the most cordial relations exist between Mr. Duncan and his patrons.

John E. Duncan was born March 21, 1863, in Moro, Madison county, Illinois. He is a son of John and Mary (Hooley) Duncan, who had eight children, three of whom are now dead. The father was born in December, 1818, in Ireland. He left his native land in 1846 and sailed for New York. He engaged in farming in New York State, and was married two years later. In 1851 he came to Illinois and remained there until 1891. The mother of John Duncan was born in Ireland, also, in 1827. In 1848 she left there with a brother, William, and came to America. She died in 1907. Both parents were members of the Catholic church. The subject of this sketch was reared on the farm of his father and attended the grammar schools of Madison county, Illinois. When he grew to be a young man the long days of labor on the farm palled on him and he longed to get into different work. He had always had an ambition to become a telegrapher and when he was twenty-one years old he had a chance to learn that work. He worked as telegrapher for the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company until 1887, when he went to Everest, Brown county, Kansas, to become night operator for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. In the fall of 1887 he was sent by the same company to Shannon, Atchison county, Kansas, to become the agent for the Missouri Pacific there. In 1892 he went into the grain business. He bought and sold grain for eight years, and at the end of a successful business period he erected the grain elevator at Shannon. This proved a profitable investment, and in 1907 he invested in a general merchandise store which he conducted until August, 1915, when his store building and stock were destroyed by fire, which was caused by lightning. Mr. Duncan has recently completed a handsome new store building of cement blocks, 36×56 feet in size, which is attractively finished throughout and is well stocked with goods. In the fall of 1915 Mr. Duncan installed a line of agricultural implements and is the real merchant prince of his section of the county. Besides his business interests he is the owner of 200 acres of land in Macoupin county, Illinois, a nice residence in Shannon, and several town lots.