Chapter XXV: Biographical History (26)

John A. Reynolds received his education in the public schools of Atchison, attended a private school, and also studied in St. Benedict’s College. At the age of sixteen years he entered the employ of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company as a fireman and brakeman and remained with the railroad at Atchison until January 1, 1881, when he entered the service of the Missouri Pacific at Sedalia, Mo., as engineer of a freight run for a period of five years. He was then (1886) promoted to the passenger service, in which department he has since been employed as one of the most trusted and reliable engineers of the system. Mr. Reynolds’ first experience as an engineer, however, was in the passenger service of the road, and it came about in this wise: The engineer for whom he was firing (George W. Slade) had been promised a vacation and a trip to New York State. This promise had been made to Mr. Slade time and time again, and at his suggestion the master mechanic of the yards placed young Reynolds, then twenty-two years old, in charge of the engine on the run between Kansas City and Atchison, Kan. Mr. Slade took the responsibility of any errors or mistakes that Reynolds would make, but the young engineer ran his train successfully without mishap for a period of six weeks and was then promoted to the post of locomotive engineer on the freight run as stated above. Mr. Reynolds at this time is in charge of the through passenger run between Atchison and Downs, Kan.

Mr. Reynolds was married in 1898 to Kathrine Horan, and the following children have blessed this happy marriage: Mary Anna, John, Kathrine, Ruth, Ellen, Marselene, all of whom are at home with their parents. The mother of these children is a daughter of Michael and Anna (Dean) Horan, both of whom were born in Tipperary, Ireland. (See biography of M. J. Horan.)

Mr. Reynolds is a member of the Locomotive Engineers’ Union, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Elks lodge, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and is affiliated with the Democratic party in politics. For the past six years Mr. Reynolds has been connected with the Atchison Savings Bank and is a director of this financial concern, as well as being a stockholder of the First National Bank of Atchison. One of the finest things which can be said of Mr. Reynolds concerning his career as a railway engineer is that during all his long experience and constant work he has never had a serious accident, and no passengers have been killed or injured who were intrusted to his charge, and he has had but two trifling rear-end collisions to account for, which did very little damage and resulted in no injuries to persons. This record is a remarkable one and is in keeping with the character of the man himself, who from his earliest boyhood has known what it is to shift for himself and learned the art of being self-reliant and cool-headed in any emergency. A brother of Mr. Reynolds, Andrew by name, was a Union soldier who served in the cavalry and was wounded, later dying at home from the effects of his wound. Another brother, James, was also a soldier in the Union army.

WILLIAM SUTTER.

William Sutter resides on the old home place of the Sutter family in Benton township, about two miles west of Effingham. This farm is one of the finest and best cultivated farms in Atchison county, and the residence grounds and farm buildings are among the most attractive and best kept in the State of Kansas. The farm is widely known as the “Maple Lawn Stock Farm,” and is noted for its production of fine live stock. Mr. Sutter is an able farmer, having been well schooled in the art of agriculture by his capable father. The Sutter family erected the handsome farm residence of seven rooms in 1892, all modernized with hot and cold running water and electric lights. The barn is an immense affair and well built, in dimensions, 60×70 feet and erected with an eye to appearance as well as convenience. Mr. Sutter has long been a breeder of Percheron horses and keeps pure bred stock of this variety. He generally has about thirty head of horses and mules on the farm and aims to feed all of the grain which he produces to live stock on the place. He keeps only full bred Poland China hogs and good grades of cattle. When the Sutter estate was apportioned among the children of the late Frederick Sutter, William received 160 acres, the home place, as his share, and afterwards bought an additional quarter section, making 320 acres in all. Which he owns. He formerly owned 160 acres south of the home place, but sold it.

THE SUTTER HOMESTEAD

William A. Sutter, Owner.
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William Sutter was born October 18, 1856, on a farm in Walnut township, a son of Frederick and Fredericka Sutter, natives of Germany, and pioneer settlers in the town of old Sumner. (See biography of Fred Sutter for further details.) William Sutter accompanied his parents to Benton township in 1880, and assisted his father in the accumulation of his large estate and cared for his parents until their deaths. After his father’s death he continued to reside on the old home place and tilled the farm of which he is now the sole owner.

He was married October 18, 1915, to Miss Dorothy Nickle, of Muscotah, Atchison county, a daughter of William Nickle, an old resident of Atchison county. After a honeymoon trip to the Panama-Pacific Exposition and Pacific coast points extending into old Mexico, covering a period of nearly two months, Mr. and Mrs. Sutter returned to the home farm, near Effingham.

Mr. Sutter is a Republican in politics, is a member of the Presbyterian church and is affiliated with the Central Protective Association and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is truly a product of the pioneer days in Atchison county, and in his youth knew what real hardships were and assisted in the struggle to achieve a comfortable competence for the Sutter family in common, and has had the satisfaction of seeing the family fortunes increase as the years have passed, and seeing his home county improve with age and gain in prestige and wealth. He is a genial, popular gentleman, who has a deep and abiding love for the county which he has helped to develop and is proud of the fact that he was one of those who assisted in its upbuilding.

JAMES ISHAM HOLMES.

James Isham Holmes, of Shannon township, Atchison county, is a pioneer of eastern Kansas and western Missouri, and for seventy-three years has lived within a radius of twelve miles from Atchison. He is a native of Indiana and was born in Putnam county March 22, 1841. He is a son of William and Nancy (Hartsock) Holmes, the former a native of England, born in 1812, and the latter a native of Germany. William Holmes, the father, immigrated from England with his parents when he was a small boy. The family located in Kentucky, where they remained but a short time when they removed to Indiana, and in 1842 they removed to Buchanan county, Missouri, and located near St. Joseph. The father was a cooper and worked at his trade for a short time at Rushville, Mo., and in the spring of 1843 he settled one mile south of Dekalb, where he conducted a cooper shop for eight years. He then bought a farm three miles north of Dekalb, where he followed farming for twelve years, or until 1863, when he traded his place for a farm in Doniphan county, Kansas. Three years later he sold his Doniphan county farm and removed to Atchison, where he spent the remainder of his life in retirement.

William and Nancy (Hartsock) Holmes were the parents of the following children: John William, Eliza Ann, Peter, Alfred; James Isham, the subject of this sketch; John, Francis, Marion, Loma, Ann, Perry, Praeter B., Isaac, Susan Ann, Lethia Maria, Joseph, and Henry.

James Isham Holmes was reared amid the pioneer surroundings of the times and received such education as was available under the conditions, and when twenty-two years old went to Doniphan county, Kansas, where he worked in a flouring mill one year. He was then engaged in various vocations, including farming, cutting cordwood, railroading and lumbering, when he engaged in breaking prairie in the vicinity of Atchison. He followed that vocation for some time when he engaged in farming in Atchison county. He sold his farm in 1868 and shortly afterwards bought another place of eighty acres, and bought more land as the opportunity offered, and now owns a fine farm of 240 acres, where he has resided for the past forty years. He is one of the successful farmers of Atchison county and has prospered.

Mr. Holmes has been twice married. His first wife was Rose Ann Wood, to whom he was married in 1861. She died February 9, 1862, leaving one child, William H., who resides in Atchison. His second marriage took place September 17, 1863, to Jemima E. Pruitt, a Missouri girl, born in 1844. Three children were born to this union: Perry, a railroad man, residing in Salt Lake City, Utah; Nancy Emily, now deceased; Minnie married Mr. Bisel, and is now deceased. She was the mother of three children, Lawrence, Milburn, and Othello.

Mr. Holmes has been a student of men and affairs all his life. He has read extensively during his entire life and is one of the best posted men on general topics in Atchison county. He is a typical representative of the American pioneer who courageously conquered the wild and unbroken West and made of it the great agricultural and commercial empire that it is. He and his accomplished wife, who has been his helpmate and companion for more than a half century, are now spending the sunset of their lives in peace and comfort in their beautiful home which their industry has provided.

EDWIN TAYLOR SHELLY, M. D.

For thirty-five years Dr. Edwin Taylor Shelly has been a successful medical practitioner in the city of Atchison. Dr. Shelly was born in Quakertown, Pa., February 6, 1859, and is a son of William N. and Anna (Taylor) Shelly, both of whom were natives of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Rev. William N. Shelly, the father, was a United Brethren minister, whose ancestors came originally from Saxony, Germany, in 1765 and settled in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He departed this life in 1893, at the age of seventy-nine years. Mrs. Anna (Taylor) Shelly died in 1881, at the age of sixty-four years.

Edwin Taylor Shelly was the only child by the second marriage of Rev. William N. Shelly. He received his early education in the Quakertown high school and then taught school for two years. He began the study of medicine in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1878, graduating therefrom in 1881. After practicing his profession for a few months in his home county Dr. Shelly removed to Eden, Kan., where he practiced for three years. He then moved to Huron, Kan., where he remained for two years, previous to locating in Atchison in May, 1886, where he has since maintained offices.

Dr. Shelly is a member of the Missouri Valley Medical Society, the Atchison County Medical Society, the Kansas State, and the American Medical associations, and is a member of the Kansas Academy of Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has twice served as president of the Northeastern Kansas Medical Association. He has endeavored to keep pace with the progress made in his life profession and has pursued post-graduate courses in the University of Pennsylvania, the Post-Graduate School of Chicago, and the Sloan Maternity Hospital of New York City. Dr. Shelly has been an occasional contributor to the various medical journals, and articles from his pen have appeared in the _Journal of the American Medical Association_, the _New York Medical Record_, and other medical publications. He has always devoted himself exclusively to the practice of his profession. In politics, the Doctor is an independent Democrat, and has always taken a great deal of interest in civic and economic questions.

Dr. Shelly has been twice married, his first marriage occurring in 1885 with Miss Mary A. Schletzbaum, of Eden, who died in 1897, leaving two sons, namely: William L., a farmer, residing on rural route No. 1, south of Atchison, and who is a graduate of the Manhattan Agricultural College; Ralph A., a graduate of the engineering department of Manhattan College, and now employed in the Buick automobile factory at Flint, Mich. His second marriage was with Miss Lillie E. Allen, of Atchison, in 1899. To this union have been born two children, Esther, aged thirteen years, and Allen Parker, seven years old.

EDGAR WATSON HOWE.

Edgar Watson Howe, journalist and author, was born at Treaty, Wabash county, Indiana, May 3, 1854, a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Irwin) Howe. In 1857 the Howe family moved to Harrison county, Missouri, where Edgar was educated in the common schools until twelve years of age, when he began working in his father’s printing office. Henry Howe, a Methodist minister, was described as a “fierce abolitionist,” and published a paper at Bethany, Mo. At the age of fourteen the strict discipline of his erratic father became too much for the spirit of the boy and he left home. E. W. Howe is next heard of in Golden, Colo., as editor and publisher of the _Weekly Globe_, at the age of eighteen. A year or so afterward he was connected with a paper at Falls City, Neb., where in 1875 he married Miss Clara L. Frank. Five children were born to this union, and three are living. In 1877 Mr. Howe came to Atchison, Kan., where he established the _Atchison Globe_. This paper was not long in finding its way to recognition among the newspapers of Kansas on account of the personality injected into it by its editor, and for more than thirty years it has been one of the most widely quoted publications in the whole country. The recent edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica refers to it. Mr. Howe has the happy faculty of being personal in his comments without giving offense. The informal way of dealing with matters in his paper has always been relished by Kansans and has attracted favorable comment in the more conventional parts of the country. The magazines, in reproducing some of his refreshing paragraphs, have referred to “Ed” Howe as the best country-town newspaper reporter in America. He has the faculty of seeking the points overlooked by the majority and of working them up into paragraphs having a combination of sarcasm and good humor that is irresistible.

Mr. Howe’s first work of fiction was “The Story of a Country Town,” published in 1882, which has been for more than a quarter of a century among the standard books of America. It has been classed by such eminent critics as William Dean Howells as one of the ten best American novels. This book did not run its course as the average popular novel does; its human interest has taken lasting hold on the public. Other works of fiction which Mr. Howe has since written are: “The Moonlight Boy,” “The Mystery of the Locks,” “An Ante-mortem Statement,” “The Confession of John Whitlock.” His “Lay Sermons” contain a great deal of good, sound philosophy of life, and from the pages of this book may he deducted a very practical code of ethics. In 1900, at the time Dr. Sheldon edited the _Daily Capital_ in Topeka for a week in the way he thought Christ would do, Mr. Howe added to the gayety of Nations by accepting an invitation from the _Topeka State Journal_ and running it for a week the way he thought the devil would run a newspaper.

In 1906 Mr. Howe made a long trip abroad, which resulted in “Daily Notes of a Trip Around the World,” in two volumes, which has been praised as highly as any book of travels in recent years. Two years later he wrote “The Trip to the West Indies,” as a result of a winter cruise. His latest book is “Country Town Sayings,” a collection of his paragraphs in the _Atchison Globe_.

Mr. Howe’s country home at Atchison is one of the most carefully and artistically arranged homes in the State. It is a bungalow, overlooking what is said to be one of the three finest views in Kansas. It was built by its owner as a place to retire when he became old, as he believes that too many people stand around in other people’s way. True to his instinct of the unusual he named it “Potato Hill.” At the age of fifty- six years he retired from active management of the _Globe_. It was predicted by those familiar with his tireless energy as a newspaper man that he would soon be back at his desk in the _Globe_ office, but such was not the case. After revising the “Story of a Country Town” for the stage he began the publication of _Howe’s Monthly_, which, within a few months became the western rival of the _Phillistine_, published at East Aurora, N. Y., and is considered by many to have out-classed Elbert Hubbard’s magazine. The Edward Howe paragraphs have been syndicated, and appear in the leading dailies of the country. In an attempt to account for the popularity of these paragraphs and the other writings of Mr. Howe, Walt Mason in the _American Magazine_, says: “There is always, in everything Ed. Howe writes, the element of the unexpected. It is present in all his books—one of which ranks with the best in American fiction— and it is in his briefest paragraphs, and that is why he is inimitable. Others may adopt his style and mannerisms, but they can’t borrow the strange, original intelligence that eternally ignores the obvious and seizes upon the bizarre, showing how much of the bizarre there is in every-day commonplace life.”

The personality of Mr. Howe as described by those who know him best, is that of a quiet, courteous gentleman, amiable and kind to all. His patience in teaching the young reporter and his indulgent ignoring of the mistakes of his office force, have been frequently remarked upon. It is said that he never discharged anyone, but always assisted them to make good. To those who have been associated with him he is a greater man than he is to those who only know him through the printed page, and the longer and closer the acquaintance, the more remarkable seems his genius.

WILLIAM F. SPEER.

William F. Speer showed his good judgment in coming to Kansas. It was not his fault that he was not born in the great Sunflower State, but he immediately recognized that the next best thing to being a native born “Jayhawker” was to spend as many years as possible in the prosperous State, and although he was only three months old at the time he has never had occasion to reverse his judgment. In fact, he likes it better every year, and in all the fifty-five years he has lived in Kansas he has always held to his first preference for Kansas territory.

William F. Speer was born January 8, 1860, but when spring came his parents, Joseph and Mary (Fountain) Speer, whose history is written under the name of Anna D. Speer, a sister, came to Atchison county, Kansas, from their former home in Madison county, Iowa. The parents settled on the farm which William Speer now owns and brought him up in the way he should go, including some schooling at the district school house. His meagre time in school was only a breathing spell for the heavier duties which awaited him on his father’s farm, and William was early drafted for service and had to help along with his eight brothers and sisters. When the father’s estate was divided he bought the home place of 160 acres, which he has improved a great deal since that time.

In 1889 Mr. Speer married Cora Spangler, who was born March 6, 1866, in Malden, Ill. She was the daughter of LeRoy and Lucendia (Smith) Spangler, both natives of Ohio, who came to Brown county, Kansas in 1870, where they remained until 1876, when they moved to Grasshopper township, Atchison county. They moved to Edmond, Okla., in 1900. The father died in 1913, at the age of seventy-four years, and the mother passed away in 1906, at the age of sixty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Spangler had six children, as follows: Alfred, of Marion county, Kansas; George, of Edmond, Okla.; Cora, the wife of William Speer; Joseph, deceased; Curtis and Irvin, of Kansas City, Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Speer have seven children, all of whom are living at home, with the exception of Ralph, who is manager of the Muscotah farmers’ elevator. The children living at home are: Lela, LeRoy, Lucy, Anna Belle, Frank, and Marjorie.

EDMUND BULLOCK.

Edmund Bullock, late of Muscotah, Kan., was born in January, 1838, at Cornwall, England, and departed this life July 27, 1892. He was a son of Frank Bullock, who with his family immigrated to Canada in 1846, and crossed the border to become a resident of the United States in 1853, finally settling in Wisconsin. Edmund was reared to young manhood in Wisconsin, and married there in 1869. Three years later, in 1872, he and his young wife came to Kansas, settling in Muscotah, Atchison county. Edmund Bullock was a skilled tinsmith, and his first work in Muscotah was the opening of a small shop which served as a place to ply his trade, and also as their home for some time. He prospered as time went on and added a stock of stoves and tinware, and later established a larger store and carried hardware of all kinds in stock. For several years after coming to Muscotah he made all of the tinware sold from his shop. For the first five years of their residence in Muscotah the tin shop was divided and half of it served as a residence for Mr. and Mrs. Bullock. A sister of Mrs. Bullock lived with them and conducted a millinery store in the living room. Mr. Bullock first worked in Greenleaf, Kan., when he came west, and Mrs. Bullock stayed with friends in Frankfort. He heard of Muscotah and decided to locate here.

Mr. Bullock was married in 1869 to Miss Emma Graham, a native of Wisconsin, and a daughter of Gustavus and Sarah Maria Graham, who were both born in New York State. For fifteen years previous to her demise Mrs. Bullock’s mother, Mrs. Sarah Maria Hale, made her home with her daughter, dying September 29, 1915, at the great age of 100 years and nine months.

Edmund Bullock was a Union veteran, who enlisted in 1862 in the Twenty- fifth Wisconsin regiment of volunteers and served until the close of the Civil war, participating in several hard-fought engagements with his regiment. He was affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He was prominent in Masonic circles and was well versed in Masonry. Politically, Mr. Bullock was a Republican, who voted independently on local and county matters. He was reared in the Episcopalian faith, but was a liberal donator to all denominations who sought his assistance. He was an honest, straight- forward citizen who was blessed with a jolly disposition and had a fund of anecdotes which he was continually retailing to a crowd of interested listeners, especially children who would gather around him at times when he was not busy and listened enthralled to his wonder tales. Mr. and Mrs. Bullock lived an ideal married life and were deeply devoted to each other.

PRESLEY H. CALVERT.

Presley H. Calvert, retired farmer, of Muscotah, Kan., was born November 14, 1835, in Owington, Ky., a son of B. Warren Calvert, a native of old Virginia, and a direct descendant of Cecil Calvert (Lord Baltimore), who founded the Maryland colony in America. The mother of Presley H. Calvert was Lucy J. Hawkins before her marriage with Warren Calvert, and was born in Frankfort, Ky. In 1837 the Calvert family migrated from Kentucky to Platte county, Missouri, and were among the earliest pioneer settlers of that county. Being slaveholders in Kentucky they brought along the family slaves and improved 160 acres of land in Missouri. Both parents ended their days on the old home place in Platte county.

Presley H. was reared on the farm in Platte county and was educated in the Pleasant Ridge College, the same school attended by B. P. Waggener, of Atchison. He followed farming until the outbreak of the war between the States and then served three months in the army of General Price, being under the direct command of Captain Mitchell and in Steen’s division. He fought at the battle of Lexington, Mo., in behalf of the Confederacy and received his discharge on account of sick disability at Osceola, St. Clair county, Missouri. After his marriage in 1867 he farmed for ten years in Platte county, Missouri, and then came to Kansas, settling on a farm three miles south of Muscotah in Kapioma township. For the first ten years Mr. Calvert rented land and then invested in 160 acres of good land three miles north of Muscotah in Grasshopper township. He improved this farm and resided thereon until 1895. He then rented his farm and moved to Muscotah. Mr. Calvert paid twenty dollars per acre for his land and sold it for $5,000 when he retired from active farm work. He is now making his home with Mr. and Mrs. Will Warren. Mrs. Warren is his niece.

Mr. Calvert was married in 1867 to Miss Cora A. Jackson, born and reared in Platte county, Missouri, a daughter of Wallace Jackson, a native of Kentucky and an early settler of Missouri. Two children were born to this union: Edna and Charles, both of whom are deceased. Mrs. Calvert died in 1908, at the age of sixty years. Mr. Calvert has been a life- long Democrat of the old school. When a young man he formed one of the hardy army of freighters who crossed the plains to the Far West in charge of the great overland freight trains before the advent of the railroads. He crossed the plains on four trips to Salt Lake City and other western points in Colorado.

WILLIAM THOMAS WARREN.

William Thomas Warren is one of the younger generation of farmers in Atchison county, and is the owner of 320 acres of land one and one-half miles east of Muscotah on the White Way highway. He was born December 25, 1876, in Brown county, Kansas, and is a son of Rodney T. (born in 1846, died March 5, 1914), and Chariet (Speaks) Warren (born in 1846). Both parents were born and reared in Kentucky and came to Kansas in the spring of 1876 and settled on a farm in Brown county. Later, in 1905, Rodney T. Warren bought a farm near Centralia in Nemaha county, and resided thereon until his demise. Mrs. Warren lives at Hiawatha, Kan.

W. T. Warren was educated in the public schools of his native county and followed farming until 1903, when he left the farm and was employed in the retail meat market of Mr. Zimmerman, at Hiawatha, for a period of five years. He was then employed in the same avocation at Atchison, Falls City, Neb., and Fairbury, Neb., until October of 1911. He then came to Muscotah and entered the employ of E. W. Allen, who conducted a grocery and meat market. He remained with Mr. Allen until 1914, and then he and Mrs. Warren invested their combined capital in 320 acres of land near Muscotah.

He was married on May 22, 1912, to Miss Ella, a daughter of A. H. Calvert, grain merchant of Muscotah. (The reader is referred to the biography of A. H. Calvert, brother of Presley H. Calvert, for further details concerning Mrs. Warren’s parents.) Mrs. Warren served as the assistant cashier of the Muscotah State Bank for fifteen years. Mr. Warren is a Republican in politics and attend the Congregational church, of which Mrs. Warren is a member.

WILLIAM MANGELSDORF.

The name of Mangelsdorf is indelibly linked with the story of the commercial development of northeast Kansas and the Middle West, and the Mangelsdorf family is one of the most respected and substantial of Atchison, Kan. The review of the life of William Mangelsdorf, deceased, begins across the Atlantic in the Fatherland of Germany, where he was born and spent part of his youth, coming to America with his parents when twelve years of age. William not only achieved a wonderful success in business and accumulated wealth, but he assisted in making the family name known and respected throughout a great extent of territory wherever the output of the great seed house founded by him and his brother, August, carried its business. He left behind him a monument for business integrity and upright methods which has made his name universally respected and honored for years to come.

William Mangelsdorf was born in Armin, Prussia, February 15, 1845, a son of Christopher and Marie Anna Dorothy Mangelsdorf. Christopher Mangelsdorf died in Germany in 1849 and his widow married Andrew Stehwein, who with the family emigrated from their native land in 1849 and settled on a farm in Gasconade county, Missouri. In 1868 the family removed to Douglas county, Kansas, where they resided until the mother’s demise, after which Mr. Stehwein came to Atchison to spend the remainder of his days with his children. Five children were born to Christopher and Marie Anna Mangelsdorf: Mrs. Anna Buhman, of Atchison, Kan.; Henry, in New Mexico; Mrs. Dorothy Beurman, Lakeview, Douglas county, Kansas; William, with whom this review is directly concerned; and August, residing in Atchison.

In 1868 William Mangelsdorf left the family home in Gasconade county, Missouri, and came to Atchison, Kan. His first employment in this city was as a laborer in various capacities until 1872. During the four years in which he was earning his living by the hardest kind of labor he was all the time obsessed with the idea that the mercantile field of the new country being developed afforded opportunities to become successful for an ambitious young man. He accordingly, carefully saved his money, and with a small capital embarked in business for himself. He was first engaged in the retail grocery business with John Ratterman under the firm style of Ratterman & Mangelsdorf, and remained a member of the firm until 1875, when he disposed of his interest in the grocery business and purchased a half interest in the retail grocery conducted by his brother, August Mangelsdorf, forming the firm of Mangelsdorf Brothers. It was about this time that the brothers tried the experiment of adding a seed department to the grocery in order to meet a growing demand for farm and garden seeds. The experiment proved successful and the business grew even beyond the greatest expectations of the promoters. What was intended as a side line on their part developed into an extensive business which soon dwarfed the grocery trade; it was not long until they engaged in the wholesale line; the enterprise grew to be one of the most important in northeastern Kansas, and was later incorporated as the Mangelsdorf Brothers Company. An extended mention of its development is to be found elsewhere in this publication. Not many years after the partnership of the Mangelsdorf Brothers was formed, William established another general merchandise store at Ellinwood, Kan., in 1877, and later another store at Bushton, Kan. The stores were conducted under the name of the Mangelsdorf Brothers Company, which was incorporated about this time, and the other partners in the various enterprises were August Mangelsdorf, of Atchison, H. D. Back, of Atchison, Kan., and C. F. Stehwein, manager of the Bushton store. William resided in Ellinwood in active management of the stores until 1895; then he removed with his family to his farm near there. In 1898 he moved to Bushton, taking the active management of the store at that place. He also established a banking business at Bushton which was successful from the start, and his activity in commercial life continued until 1904, when he removed to Atchison, where he lived in retirement from active business pursuits until his demise, May 15, 1911.

Mr. Mangelsdorf was married August 6, 1875, to Miss Minnie Halling, and this marriage was blessed with six children, namely: Clara, residing in Pueblo, Colo.; William C., who also lives in Pueblo, Colo.; Edward F., a member of the Mangelsdorf Brothers Company; Minnie, at home; Frank A., cashier of the German-American State Bank of Atchison; Albert H., cashier of the Farmers State Bank, Potter, Kan. Mrs. Mangelsdorf was born in 1854 in Pennsylvania, and died in Atchison, Kan., in 1904. Her father was an early settler in Kansas, and first resided in Doniphan county, where he preëmpted land on Independence creek, later removing to Atchison. William Mangelsdorf was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, to which denomination he was a liberal contributor. During his life he was a hard and indefatigable worker, who was ambitious to succeed and achieve a competence for his children. He was a liberal supporter of local enterprises, and was regarded as one of the wealthy and substantial citizens of Kansas, and will long be regarded as one of the leading figures of the commercial development of Atchison county and central Kansas.

ALBERT H. MANGELSDORF.

Albert H. Mangelsdorf, cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Potter, Kan., was born February 15, 1890, in Barton county, Kansas. He is a son of the late William Mangelsdorf, a pioneer settler of Atchison, and one of the successful merchants of Kansas, extended mention of whom is given elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Mangelsdorf was educated in the common schools of Barton county, Kansas, and received his preparatory training at St. Benedict’s College, Atchison, Kan. He attended the University of Kansas, class of 1912, pursuing a course in mining engineering. After the completion of this course he was in the employ of the Newmire Vanadium Company, located at Newmire, Colo., in the capacity of engineer. Later, he was in the employ of a mining firm at Weinkleman, Ariz., and later with the Arizona Copper Company at Morenci, Ariz., after which he served as superintendent of the main building of the Mangelsdorf Brothers Company at Atchison until his appointment as cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Potter, Kan., in December, 1914.

Mr. Mangelsdorf is a Republican in politics and is fraternally affiliated with the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, the Knights of Columbus, and is a member of the Catholic church.

FRED BINKLEY.

The late Fred Binkley, of Potter, Kan., was born April 8, 1832, in Warrick county, Indiana, a son of George and Catharine (Chinn) Binkley, both of whom were born and reared in the State of North Carolina, and were among the earliest settlers of southwestern Indiana. George Binkley was of German origin, and Catharine (Chinn) Binkley was of English origin. In the year 1828 George Binkley with his wife and infant son, James, set out for Indiana, equipped with one horse, their personal belongings and a camping outfit. The horse was used to transport their outfits and it was necessary for George and his wife to walk practically the entire distance from North Carolina to their destination in Indiana. They arrived in the wilderness of Indiana without mishap and at once set about making a home in the new country. A few years later they removed to a farm in Gibson county, Indiana, where George and Catharine Binkley spent the remainder of their lives. They reared a family of eleven children, of which Fred was the third child.

Fred Binkley grew to manhood on the pioneer farm in Indiana and learned to rough it at a very early age. After his marriage in 1854 to Elizabeth Dougan, he and his wife lived for one year on a farm in Gibson county, and then the father of Mrs. Binkley (James Dougan) sold out his holdings in Indiana and migrated to Atchison county, Kansas. Two years later Fred and his wife followed and settled on 160 acres of land one and one-half miles northwest of Potter in Mt. Pleasant township. The land was mostly raw prairie and it was necessary for him to erect a suitable home which was an humble one at first, but as the years passed and Mr. and Mrs. Binkley became more and more prosperous they built a better home and added sixty acres more land to their holdings.

Fred Binkley was married September 15, 1854, to Elizabeth Dougan, and eight children have been born to this union: Robert, born in Indiana in 1855, a farmer living in Mt. Pleasant township; Sarah, wife of S. Watson, of Leavenworth county, Kansas, was born in 1860; Lewis, born in 1863, and died in 1899; James, born in 1868, living on a farm near Effingham, Kan.; George, born in 1870, died in 1910; Dora, born in 1872, wife of Samuel Hall, of Leavenworth county, Kansas; Lou, born in 1874, at home with her mother; Kate, born in 1877, wife of Albert Hawley, of Atchison county, Kansas. The mother of these children was born May 10, 1835, a daughter of James and Sarah (Healt) Dougan. James Dougan, the father, was born in Kentucky, a son of Samuel, who was a soldier of the Revolution, and who received a large grant of Government land for his services. His grant was located in Dyer county, Tennessee, and consisted of 1,300 acres of wild land, which was divided among the children of the Revolutionary soldier (James). Samuel removed with his family to a portion of this land, which was wild and rough and covered with dense timber. A few years of living in the wilderness of Tennessee sufficed for them, however, and they left the State and went to Gibson county, Indiana, to found another home. They traveled horseback to the new location. Samuel, at that time an old man, became ill on the trip and was forced to return to Tennessee, dying there in about 1828. The family later made a permanent settlement in Gibson county, Indiana. Samuel and Molly Dougan (his wife) reared a family of five children, of whom James, the father of Mrs. Binkley, was the third child. The mother of James died in 1845. James Dougan was married in 1831 to Sarah Healt, and eleven children were born to them, of whom nine were reared to manhood and womanhood. As early as 1855 James Dougan came to Atchison county and preëmpted 160 acres of land, built a cabin, and returned to Indiana for his family, whom he brought to Atchison county, Kansas, in the spring of 1856. He was comparatively a poor man when he located in Kansas, but became quite prosperous and well-to-do and became the owner of a half section of well improved land. James died in 1900, at the age of ninety- two years. Two brothers of Mrs. Binkley served in the Union Army during the Civil war. One of them enlisted in the Eighth Kansas cavalry regiment, and the other in the Thirteenth regiment.

Fred Binkley departed this life August 2, 1910. He was well and favorably known in Atchison county and his demise marked the passing of one of the sturdy pioneer settlers of the State. He was a stanch Republican during his whole life and was a pronounced Free State man in the days when the struggle was on to make Kansas a Free State. He took an active part in the stirring scenes before and during the dark days of the Civil war, and like many others, suffered from the forays of the border ruffians. The Methodist church, of which he was one of the members and a builder, having been burned by border ruffians, he never united with any other denomination.

JOHN DRIMMEL.

John Drimmel, farmer and stockman, of Shannon township, Atchison county, was born on the farm where he resides, in 1863, a son of John and Mary (Karn) Drimmel, natives of Austria. John Drimmel, Sr., was born in Austria in 1829, and immigrated to America with his wife in 1853. They were accompanied by the oldest child, Veronica. He settled on a rented farm of eighty acres north of Atchison in Shannon township, which he cultivated for three years and then bought eighty acres of land four miles west of the city. John, Sr., erected a small, rough box house, which was the family home for the first twelve years, and which was then replaced by a large, handsome brick residence of ten rooms, which is now the home of the son, John. This fine home is modern and fitted with a lighting system and a cellar runs underneath the entire body of the house. It is one of the most attractive places in Atchison county. Mr. Drimmel added to his acreage as he was able and accumulated a total of 230 acres of fine land which is now being cultivated by his son. During 1914 John Drimmel, with whom this review is concerned, had planted forty-five acres of corn, 100 acres of wheat, and ninety acres of oats, all of which yielded splendid crops. Mr. Drimmel is renting eighty acres, in addition to the home farm. The elder Drimmel was a Free State man and served as company cook in the Union army during the Civil war. He reared a family of seven children, as follows: Mrs. Veronica Miller, living in Doniphan county, Kansas; Antony, of Atchison; Florence, Everest, Kan.; John, the subject of this review; Arnold, of Kansas City; Frank, living with his brother, John; L. J., a farmer, living in Shannon township. All of the children of this pioneer family are well-to-do and in good health, the oldest of the family being over sixty-one years of age. John Drimmel, the father, died in 1891. The mother was born in 1829, and died in 1889. They were a worthy pioneer couple who achieved a comfortable competence and reared a fine family in the land of their adoption.

John Drimmel owns and manages the old home place of the Drimmel family in Shannon township, and is one of the representative and well known farmers of Atchison county. All of his fifty-three years of life have been spent in Atchison county and he has always lived on the farm which he now owns. Mr. Drimmel was married in 1893 to Miss Marie Blodig, who died in the first year of her marriage, leaving one son, Frank, born March 1, 1894, and studied in St. Benedict’s College. He was again married in 1896 to Miss Marie Jahl, who has borne him the following children: Anna Marie, born November 24, 1898; John Albert, born April 28, 1900; Marie Veronica, born September 6, 1901; Agnes Cecila, born December 23, 1902; Irene Florentine, born June 11, 1904; Ernest Gabriel, born January 15, 1906; Alfred William, born March 28, 1908; Reinhold Leapold, born September 20, 1909; Rose Helena, born January 23, 1911; Maximilian Louis, born August 21, 1912; Genevieve Frances, born August 14, 1914. The mother of this large family of eleven children was born in Austria in 1877, a daughter of John and Anna Jahl. John Jahl, the father of Mrs. Drimmel, was born in Austria in 1852, and departed this life March 10, 1879. Mrs. Jahl was born July 22, 1855, and came to America in the year 1894, and has since resided in Atchison county. Mrs. Jahl resides with her daughter. She and Mr. Jahl were married in Austria in 1875 and were the parents of three children as follows: John Jahl, Jr., born February 21, 1876, and died in October, 1877; Mrs. Marie (Jahl) Drimmel, born March 10, 1877; Frank Jahl, born September 17, 1878, and died in June of 1879.

Mr. and Mrs. Drimmel and their children are all members of St. Benedict’s Catholic Church and are liberal supporters of this denomination. Mr. Drimmel is a Democrat in politics, but simply does his duty as a citizen and has never been a seeker after political office. The Drimmel home is a very happy one, and the Drimmel family is one of the largest families in Atchison county or the state of Kansas, and Mr. and Mrs. Drimmel have good and just right to be proud of the fact, inasmuch as Atchison county is proud of them. The children of this fine family are all receiving the benefits of a good school and college education, and it is the firm intention of the parents that all of their sons shall be educated in St. Benedict’s College, and the daughters shall finish their training in Mt. St. Scholastica Academy. John, Jr., is at present a student in St. Benedict’s College, class of 1917, and Anna and Marie will enter Mt. Scholastica in the fall of 1916 in order to complete the course in this excellent young ladies’ school. Mr. and Mrs. Drimmel believe thoroughly in giving their children every educational advantage within their means in order to properly fit them for becoming useful men and women and become a credit to their ambitious parents.

AUGUST MANGELSDORF.

August Mangelsdorf has been a citizen of Atchison for over half a century and has accomplished during that period two things which entitle him to recognition and even renown. He established and built up the Mangelsdorf Brothers Seed Company, one of the largest concerns of its kind in the West, and now managed by his sons. The other is the rearing of a large family of fifteen children. If Mr. Mangelsdorf had done no more than to bring into the world and rear his family of fifteen children he would have been entitled to more than ordinary mention as one of the sturdy pioneer citizens of Atchison. He is now living a retired life at his beautiful place, “Homewood,” in South Atchison, and, while ostensibly retired, works constantly on his farm within and adjoining the city limits. While nominally the president of the Mangelsdorf Brothers Seed Company, he spends the greater portion of his time out of doors working about the grounds and fields of his estate. Mr. Mangelsdorf, while having lived a busy and even strenuous life during his fifty years in business in Atchison, has no desire to “rust out,” but believes that his health can be better conserved by plenty of exercise in the open air. His rugged appearance and keen interest in life bear testimony to the wisdom of his plan of living. He is one of the highly respected and substantial citizens of Atchison and has done his part in the task of making Atchison preëminent among the cities of the West. The great concern which bears his name was originated and built up by himself and is a monument to his enterprise and integrity, and Atchison is proud of him and the outcome of his life work.

Mr. Mangelsdorf was born in Armin, Prussia, July 27, 1848. He was the son of Christopher and Marie Anna Dorothy Mangelsdorf, who lived in Armin until 1856, when they immigrated to America. The father died in 1849, and the mother married the second time to Andrew Stehwein. The family first settled on a farm in Gasconade county, Missouri, residing there until 1868, when they came to Douglas county, Kansas. Here they lived until the mother died, and then Mr. Stehwein came to Atchison to spend the remainder of his days with his children. Five children were born to Christopher Mangelsdorf, namely: Mrs. Anna Buhrman, of Atchison; Henry, in New Mexico; Mrs. Dorothy Beurman, Lakeview, Douglas county, Kansas; William, deceased August, with whom this review is directly concerned.

August Mangelsdorf came to Kansas from Missouri in 1865 and located in Atchison. He worked as a laborer to earn money for his sustenance and was not ashamed to do the hardest kind of labor. He willingly did anything necessary to earn an honest dollar. His first real business experience was as a clerk in the grocery store of John Belz. It was only natural to see him become the owner of the business in time. Frugality, industry and aptitude, characteristics of his race, enabled him to become proprietor of the store in 1873. He owned the business until 1893. Two years after taking entire charge of the grocery he started a small seed business as a side line with his grocery. This was the foundation of his subsequent fortune, and it was only a question of years until he branched out in the wholesale line and the business outgrew the store. The seed business kept on growing and growing: the sons of its founder became young men; its founder concluded to retire and he turned over the management to his sons who are following in the father’s footsteps. For years his brother, William, was associated with him and they started a general store at Ellinwood, Kan., of which William had charge. Mr. Mangelsdorf established greenhouses in connection with the seed business. These extensive greenhouses are located on the Homewood estate and are in charge of his son, Ernest. In 1912 Mr. Mangelsdorf concluded to retire from active business and is now enjoying life to the full. His sixty-seven years of existence have been well and profitably spent and he can look back over the past years with satisfaction and pleasure over a task well and faithfully done. It is given to but few men to have reared a large family of sons and daughters and to have lived to see them shoulder the responsibilities left by the father and perform the work successfully while he is yet living to observe, guide, and instruct them.

Mr. Mangelsdorf was first married to Anna Charlotte Brune in 1874. She died in 1890. To this union were born nine children: Anna died in 1890; August, manager and vice-president of the seed company; Fred, the efficient secretary of the concern; Charlotte, cashier of the company; Ernest, in charge of the greenhouses; Bertha, teacher of domestic science in the high school at Seneca, Kan.; Caroline, who is studying in Chicago in preparation for kindergarten work; Marie, deceased; Frank, treasurer of the seed company; Mrs. Marie Schmeling, of Atchison. In 1892 Mr. Mangelsdorf took to wife, Mrs. Louise Brune, who has borne him eight children: Albert, a graduate of the Agricultural College at Manhattan, class of 1916; Carl died in infancy; Paul and Louise, in high school; Theodore, Dorothy, Harold and Helen.

Mr. Mangelsdorf is a director of the First National Bank of Atchison. Politically, he is allied with the Democratic party and has served one term as city councilman and city treasurer for four years. He is a member of the Evangelical church and is fraternally allied with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

FRANK A. MANGELSDORF.

Frank A. Mangelsdorf, cashier of the German-American State Bank of Atchison, Kan., while the youngest of the bankers of the city, has given evidence that he possesses the inherent ability and the necessary ambition to successfully conduct the important financial institution under his management. The German-American State Bank is the newest of the banking concerns of Atchison, but it is fast coming to the front as one of the important banks of this section of Kansas under Mr. Mangelsdorf’s aggressive and capable control. He is a native son of Kansas and was born and reared in this State, being a son of William Mangelsdorf, merchant and financier, deceased, who came from Germany to America when a boy and achieved a notable success in the land of his adoption. A review of the life of William Mangelsdorf appears in this volume.

Mr. Mangelsdorf was born August 14, 1888, in Ellinwood, Kan. The first ten years of his life were spent there and on his father’s farm, whither his parents had removed from Ellinwood. He received his early education in a country school, later attending the public schools of Bushton, and completed the eighth grade at the age of twelve. From 1900 to 1904 he was employed in his father’s store at Bushton, the family removing to the city of Atchison in the latter year. He pursued a course in the Atchison Business College, and then became cashier of the Mangelsdorf Brothers Company, a position which he filled until 1910. He then became assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Atchison, remaining in that position until the organization of the German-American State Bank in 1912, when he became cashier of the newly organized banking concern. The success of this bank is a matter of gratification to its stockholders and patrons.

Mr. Mangelsdorf was married June 22, 1914, to Miss Veva Sawin, a daughter of William H. Sawin, an undertaker of Atchison. He is independent in political matters, preferring to cast his vote for the individual whom he deems best fitted to perform the duties of the office sought rather than to support a party candidate. He is a member of the Catholic church. Although young in years, Mr. Mangelsdorf is recognized as one of the rising young bankers of Atchison and is considered among the city’s best and most enterprising citizens. The unvarying courtesy and dignity characteristic in his conduct of the banking business is carried into his daily life, and he enjoys the respect and esteem of a large number of friends in the city.

PAUL ATKIN.