Chapter XXV: Biographical History (27)

Paul Atkin, traveling salesman, of Atchison, Kan., was born September 6, 1866, in Lincolnshire, England. He was the son of William and Rebecca (Prestwood) Atkin. William Atkin, the father, was born in England about 1841. He was a farmer in his native country, but emigrated from England to America in 1872. His first place of residence in this country was in Chicago, where he resided a few years. He then moved to Kansas, settling on his farm in Doniphan county. After one year’s residence in Kansas he returned to Chicago and engaged in the transfer business. Again, in about 1880, he returned to Doniphan county, Kansas, and engaged in farming, and cultivated his land until 1899, at which time he engaged in the hotel and livery business in Denton, Kansas. He died in a hospital at Leavenworth, Kan., in 1900. Nine children were born to William and Rebecca Atkin: Mrs. L. H. Priester, living in California; Paul, with whom this review is directly concerned; Mrs. Thomas Wrighter, of Denton, Kan.; Mrs. Fred Hickok, of Haverlock, Neb.; Mrs. Ben Hinchscliff, near Topeka, Kan.; Mrs. Art Hall, Severance, Kan.; William, farmer, of Doniphan county; Arnold, near Severance, Kan.; Ethel died at the age of eight years. The mother of these children was born in England in 1842, and died in Severance, Kan., in 1902.

Paul Atkin did not leave England until thirteen years of age, when he crossed the ocean and continent and came to Atchison, Kan., arriving in the city ten days before his parents, then living in Doniphan county, Kansas, learned of his arrival. He was nine days on the water and came across the ocean aboard the “City of Richmond,” one of the fastest ocean-going passenger ships afloat at that time. Being a boy and alone, he was given all privileges and made many friends. He never had a day’s illness during the voyage or crossing the continent to Kansas, but became ill on arriving in Atchison and was cared for by Mr. Dorethy, at that time depot master of Atchison. This kind man looked after him until his father was notified of his arrival. From Atchison he went to Doniphan county and assisted his father for many years in operating the farm, later operating the farm by himself for one year. At the age of twenty he began working for himself for twenty dollars per month for a period of one year. He then went to Ellensburg, Wash., and learned the plasterer’s trade, remaining in that city two years, after which he went to Tacoma, Wash., and remained there six months, then going to Portland, Ore., where he worked at the harness maker’s trade, not long after returning to Doniphan county, Kansas, where he followed the trade of plastering for three years. After his marriage he made his home in Atchison, Kan., and after making a trip to Port Arthur and working at his trade, he then opened a meat market in Denton, Kan., which he operated for a time and then sold out. In 1888 he returned to Atchison and entered the employ of Curtain & Clark Cutlery Company, of St. Joseph, Mo., as traveling salesman. He traveled for three years, his territory being through Nebraska. He resigned and accepted a position for another three and a half years with the Rochester Stamp Company, of Rochester, N. Y. Giving up this work he engaged in the hardware business with Krings in Atchison. The firm was known as Krings & Atkin. Later he sold out his interest in the hardware business and became interested in the United States Street Lighting Company, manufacturing street lamps in Kansas City until February, 1909, when he again went on the road as traveling salesman with the Associated Silver Company of Chicago, his territory embracing Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado.

Mr. Atkin was married in 1894 to Addie M. Herring. Mr. and Mrs. Atkin have one daughter, Frances Mildred, a graduate of Atchison High School, and a student in Atchison Business College.

Mrs. Atkin was born in 1871 in Doniphan county, Kansas, a daughter of Henry H. Herring, a native of Pennsylvania and now residing in Atchison.

Mr. Atkin is independent in political affairs and votes for the individual rather than the support of any one political party. He is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. His wife and daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

PETER PARSONS.

Peter Parsons, of Atchison, Kan., is a Kentuckian by birth and has the distinction of being the pioneer thresher man of northeast Kansas and western Missouri. He was born in Breathitt county, Kentucky, December 10, 1868, a son of J. W. Parsons, a descendant of an old Virginia family. Peter Parsons’ maternal grandfather, Hatfield, was a soldier in the Revolution and fought under General Washington. The Parsons and the Hatfield families were among the earliest pioneers of the State of Kentucky. When Peter was four years of age the Parsons family removed to Buchanan county. Missouri, and there settled on a farm. Peter was reared to young manhood on the Missouri farm and attended the district schools. When but a boy he developed an aptitude for machinery and showed a knack of handling farming implements possessed by few boys of his age. In 1887 he entered the employ of the A. J. Harwi Hardware Company and worked in the farm machinery department of the store. Desiring to gain a more intimate knowledge of threshing machinery, especially, he went to Battle Creek, Mich., where the machines were manufactured and learned the business of building and assembling threshing machines from the ground up. This was a good business venture on his part, as he soon engaged in threshing on his own account and operated threshing outfits for over nineteen years, and was actively engaged in northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri in this business successfully. He operated several machines and crews and had almost a virtual monopoly of the threshing business in his territory. At the present time Mr. Parsons operates two threshing outfits which he owns, but for some years has retired from active labor in the fields. The wide range of his activities naturally gave him an extensive and favorable acquaintance among the farmers of this section of the country and he acquired a reputation for thorough workmanship and square dealing which has never been surpassed by men engaged in the same industry. He is probably the oldest threshing machine operator at the present time in eastern Kansas or western Missouri in years of experience, and understands the mechanical part of the industry better than any other man in this neighborhood. Mr. Parsons has a right to be proud of his record in the agricultural history of Atchison county and Kansas. From 1903 to 1909 Mr. Parsons was a member of the Atchison police force and made a record in the department for efficiency and faithful performance of his duties which is remembered. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and is well liked by all who know him. He is broad-minded in his views and kindly disposed toward his fellow men.

HENRY SCHIFFBAUER.

Henry Schiffbauer, pioneer, plainsman, Government scout, and friend of Buffalo Bill, now lives in comparative quiet on his farm in Kapioma township, Atchison county, after having seen the wildest and wooliest parts of the great West in its early days. Under his own eyes, Kansas has changed from a land of Indians, daubed with bright paint, shouting a war-whoop and brandishing tomahawks, to a quiet farming community, where peaceable citizens drive to church every Sunday. He has seen Kansas changed from a broad prairie, with its countless thousands of buffaloes to a great farming country, with its productive fields, and the trudging ox has been succeeded by the tractor and automobile. Henry Schiffbauer, in his seventy-five years, has seen the making of a nation; he has seen the wild frontier grow into a civilized community, which ranks among the highest in intelligence and prosperity. Mr. Schiffbauer was born January 27, 1841, on the River Rhine, in Prussia, Germany. His parents, Michael and Gertrude (Frentz) Schiffbauer, had thirteen children. The father followed farming in his native land, and in 1851 immigrated to the United States, settling on General Taylor’s farm, in Gamwell county, Kentucky. Four years later he moved to Missouri, and in the same year came to Kansas, where he homesteaded a claim in Jefferson county, which he farmed until about eight years before his death, which occurred when he was eighty-nine years old. The mother of Henry Schiffbauer died in 1854, at the age of fifty-five years. She fell before the terrible scourge of cholera which swept the United States about that time. The four children living are: Charles, Cripple Creek, Colo.; Trassie, a nun, at Leavenworth, Kan.; Frank, Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Henry, the subject of this sketch. All but Frank were born in Germany, he having been born in Gamwell county, Kentucky.

Henry Schiffbauer’s boyhood was one of rough and hard adventure. He received his education by driving a six-mule team, and his book learning was scanty. When he was seventeen years old he went to work for Dr. Davis, at Leavenworth, Kan. In 1857 he was stationed in the quartermaster’s department at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., where he was employed eight years. After Lee’s surrender, in 1865, Henry returned to his home in Jefferson county, Kansas, and met Buffalo Bill, or as he is known in private life, William Cody, for the first time. Here was begun a friendship which continued for many years, and which probably will live until one of the friends passes away. Two years later, however, the two men were thrown closer together, and their acquaintance ripened into a close friendship. Henry was guarding and herding mules when he met Buffalo Bill the second time. The latter was an extra hand on Major & Russell’s overland freight train. Henry Schiffbauer was the man who taught Buffalo Bill to shoot from a saddle, it is said, and the unequalled skill of the great hunter may be laid at the feet of the subject of this sketch. It may be that if Buffalo Bill had not met Henry Schiffbauer, his life history might have been different, for undoubtedly it was the stories which Henry told of his experiences that tempted the young man to leave his oxen and follow the wilder life of a Government scout. Mr. Schiffbauer has seen the most sensational life of the West in its most dangerous days. Just before the outbreak of the Civil war he carried messages for the Government from Ft. Kearney, Neb., to Ft. Laramie, Colo., and to Salt Lake City, and Ft. Floyd, Utah. These were times when it was dangerous to be a Government messenger. The dispatchers of the Government were not held in such awe in those days, and it was not at all unusual to kill a messenger to get his papers. But Mr. Schiffbauer was able to take care of himself, and passed through these uncertain times without harm. He served in the secret service department for eight months, about the time of the second election of Abraham Lincoln. It was feared by governmental officials that attempts on the President’s life were being planned, and General Thayer, then in command at Ft. Smith, Ark., secured the services of Henry Schiffbauer in this difficulty. This was a position won because of fearlessness and coolness, even in the most dangerous situations, and to be one of the protectors of the President was the honor which repaid him. In 1865 Lee surrendered and conditions began to settle.

When Mr. Schiffbauer saw that his opportunity to serve his country had ceased, he located on the farm which he now owns and built a small farm house, thus settling down to the quiet life of a farmer. He broke his ground with oxen, and worked in the most primitive manner for a few years, but gradually he was rewarded for his labors, and he came to have more of the comforts and conveniences of a modern farmer, erecting a large stone residence in 1880. His place is one-fourth mile east of Arrington, Kan. It comprises 189 acres, and here he and his wife, Margaret Glimm, to whom he was married in 1865, have lived since, rearing a family of eight children. Mrs. Schiffbauer was born in Germany, March 6, 1848. She is a daughter of John and Christian Glimm, who came to Kansas in the early days, bringing their daughter with them. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Schiffbauer are: Christena, who married Allen Kinkaid, of Washington State; Charles E., Belle Plains, Sumner county, Kansas; Sarah married L. E. Wagner, of St. Louis, Mo.; Henry F., Valley Falls, Kan.; Gertrude married John Nevins, Kapioma township; Robert is farming near La Cygne, Linne county, Kansas; William, Arrington, Kan.; George, passenger conductor, East St. Louis, Ill. Mr. Schiffbauer is an independent in politics. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, and to the Knights and Ladies of Security. He has had a remarkable career and remembers the incidents of his early life with vividness. Atchison county has few characters with such an interesting history.

In 1857 while in the quartermaster’s department at Ft. Leavenworth he was detailed with General Sumner’s expedition against the Cheyenne Indians in the far West. This trip required six months and was filled with great hardships for the troops. In April of 1858 he accompanied Gen. Sydney Johnston’s expedition to Salt Lake City for the purpose of subduing the Mormons, and was gone for eighteen months. He assisted in building a camp at Ft. Floyd, or Camp Floyd, as it became known at the time, forty-five miles south of Salt Lake City. During this trip Mr. Schiffbauer had his first experience in driving a six-mule team and hauling “adobes.” The fort was built under the direction of Colonel Crossmore. He returned to Kansas in the fall of 1859, and went to New Orleans in the Government secret service, and thence to Baton Rouge, where he remained until after Lincoln’s election, finally making his way out of the southland with great difficulty, accompanied with personal danger to himself. For a period of eight years this plainsman never slept under a roof, excepting twice at Ft. Bonta, where he was under shelter for the night. On one of his expeditions to the far West they had fed their last grain to the mules, made camp, and the next morning the entire camp was under two feet of snow. Mr. Schiffbauer himself being covered over in a gully where he had lain down, wrapped in his blankets and buffalo robes. He recalls that on this snowy morning the wagon-master shouted: “I wonder where that damned Dutchman is?” Henry raised himself out of the snow and called out: “Here I am.” The mules were picketed out two and two together the night before, but that morning they were put into corrals and were so starved that they tried to eat each other. The pioneer corps cut down cottonwood trees for fuel, and the mules ate the branches, which poisoned them, and they died in their tracks, the ravens eating out their eyes while the beasts were in their death throes. The expedition lost sixty mules each day, and the drove of 500 animals was depleted to less than sixty head. They lay in camp for twelve days, and then moved on the thirteenth day. Henry recalls that the favorite team, belonging to General Johnston, was drowned through the carelessness of a teamster in fording the swollen stream.

While Mr. Schiffbauer was at Baton Rouge in Government service, he was importuned by the rebels to join a company as bugler, but declined, and with the assistance of a steamboat captain, he managed to get out of the country, and at New Orleans boarded the steamer, “Henry Von Pool,” and made his way to St. Louis. From here he went to Ft. Leavenworth and handled Government dispatches, working between Ft. Leavenworth, Ft. Scott, Ft. Gibson, Ft. Smith, Little Rock, and hunting forage and wheat for the Government. During this service he was sent to Valley Falls, with 100 six-mule teams from Ft. Smith for recuperation on the Hoover farm. Henry bought all the forage for miles around in order to feed the mules, and had under him several men for assistants.

WILLIAM ADDISON MCKELVY.

In 1880 a young man, who had graduated but a few months previously from the Philadelphia Dental College came to Atchison, Kan., and finding the city to his liking located for practice. The year 1915 finds the same man, now thirty-five years older, or younger, as his friends speak of him, still in the active practice of his profession, and it is said his practice is a leading one in this section of the State. Thirty-five years in Atchison have done much for this man and he has done much for suffering humanity. He is the nestor of the dental profession in northeastern Kansas, one of the widely known and influential citizens of the city and has justly earned the esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances; the esteem which slowly develops only through honorable living and kind deeds. His name initiates this review.

William Addison McKelvy was born in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa., June 5, 1858. His paternal grandfather, Hugh McKelvy, emigrated from Ireland about the year 1800. Shortly after reaching America, he located in Pittsburgh and was one of that city’s pioneer brick manufacturers. Dr. McKelvy’s father was Col. Samuel McKelvy, born in Pittsburgh, a member of the firm of Blair & McKelvy, pioneers in the steel industry in that city. He married when a young man, Anna B. Pride, a daughter of David Pride, who was also a pioneer resident of Pittsburgh and a native of Scotland. When President Lincoln issued his first call for volunteers, Samuel McKelvy was among the first to enlist in his home city. He was commissioned captain of the Duquesne Greys, Pittsburgh’s crack troop. He served his country with distinction and was given important assignments and received deserved promotion, being commissioned lieutenant-colonel and served on the staff of General Heintzelman and that of Gen. Phil Sheridan. The convalescent camp of the Union army, situated about seven miles south of the city of Washington, was under his charge or supervision during his entire term of service. Following his military service, he returned to Pittsburgh and his steel business. He was one of the first to build a country residence at Sewickley, now famous for its beautiful suburban homes owned by the prominent families of the steel city. The old McKelvy mansion, now owned by the Doctor’s brother, William Henry Seward McKelvy, is known as the Park Place Hotel, and is operated by its owner. Colonel McKelvy died in Sewickley in 1889. To Colonel and Mrs. McKelvy were born nine children of which our subject is the eighth.

William Addison McKelvy was reared in his native city and acquired a thorough education in its public schools. He later entered the Philadelphia Dental College and graduated with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery, a member of the class of 1880. Following his graduation he returned to Pittsburgh and was engaged in practice for a few months. In November of that year he came to Kansas and located in the city of Atchison on the twenty-fifth of the month. His choice of location was partly due to having in the person of Dr. William F. Ferguson, a well established surgeon of the city, a friend who assured him that Atchison would prove a most satisfactory place in which to build up a practice. Dr. Ferguson assisted in getting him properly started and gave every evidence of a sincere friendship. He had little difficulty in building up a lucrative practice and has for many years past been recognized as one of the leading men in his profession in his section of the State. He is a member of the Kansas City Dental Society, the Kansas State, the Missouri State and the National Dental Associations.

Dr. McKelvy has never neglected his civic duties, has favored those measures and projects which meant a bigger, better city, but has never had time nor the inclination for public office. He has, from the time he graduated given his entire time and attention to his profession. He is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Atchison Lodge, No. 647, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Dr. McKelvy has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Ella M. Ferguson, a daughter of Dr. Eli Ferguson, a pioneer physician of Atchison. They were married in November, 1888. Mrs. McKelvy died in 1892. Two children were born to this union: William Ferguson McKelvy, a hardware merchant of Marliton, W. Va., and Charles S. McKelvy, employed in the wholesale hardware house of Blish, Mize & Silliman, of Atchison. On October 2, 1899, he married Miss Eleanor Cain, a daughter of Alfred D. Cain, a pioneer miller of Atchison and founder of the Cain Milling Company. They are parents of three children: Alfred D., Addison P., and Mona.

GEORGE ROBERT HOOPER.

George Robert Hooper, an extensive merchandise broker of Atchison, Kan., and president of the Babcock-Arensburg Shoe Company, is a native of Virginia. He was born at Richmond, December 7, 1851, and is a son of John Hancock and Sarah Rebecca Hooper. The mother died when George R., of this sketch, was a child, and in 1867 the father removed from Richmond to Bowling Green, Ky., and later to Paducah, where he died in 1871. He was a contractor and builder. George R. Hooper was one of a family of six children and is the only one now living. He was reared in Virginia and was educated in private schools. He was about twenty years old when his father died, and had just completed an apprenticeship at the carpenter’s trade. After the death of his father he returned to Virginia with the remains, and the following year came to Atchison and entered the retail grocery business as clerk from 1872 to 1876. He was then a traveling salesman until 1884, and after that was engaged in the grocery business in Atchison about a year and one-half, when he engaged in the merchandise brokerage business, which he has successfully conducted to the present time. Mr. Hooper was united in marriage in 1876 to Miss Frances Lucy Howe, a daughter of George W. Howe. Mrs. Hooper is a daughter of George W. Howe, who was one of the very early settlers of Atchison county. He conducted a store at the town of Sumner and was later engaged in freighting across the plains from 1860 to 1865. The Howe family came from Plattsburg, Clinton county, New York, and Mrs. Hooper’s mother bore the maiden name, Frances Lucy Ellis. To Mr. and Mrs. Hooper have been born three children, as follows: Edith married O. M. Babcock, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Gladys Ella is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music, Cornell University, and is now a teacher in the music department of the Iowa State Teachers’ College; and George Frances Hooper, a graduate of Wentworth Military Academy of Lexington, Mo., and is a traveling salesman. Mr. Hooper is a Democrat, but has never aspired to hold political office, although he takes a commendable interest in public affairs and is public spirited and is ever ready and willing to aid any movement for the betterment of the community. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and secretary of the lodge. He is also local secretary for the United Commercial Travelers, of which he is a member. He also holds membership in the Knights of the Maccabees and the Independent Order of Foresters.

RUTHERFORD B. HAWK.

The residence and buildings of a farm in any locality are generally taken as evidence of the degree of thrift and enterprise of the owners of the land. If the house and barns and fences of the agricultural plant are in a “run down at the heels” condition, it is taken as evidence of the sterility of the soil and lack of industry, pride and thrift on the part of the proprietor. On the other hand, if the buildings, fencing, etc., are attractive and well kept, it betokens prosperity and a desire on the part of the farm proprietor to keep things in first class condition. The farm home of Rutherford B. Hawk, of the younger generation of farmers in Atchison county, is one of the most attractive and handsome in the county, barns and fences, fields, orchard and gardens all making a pleasing appearance. This farm is located in Benton township, north of Effingham in sections 8 and 9, and consists of 240 acres of good land, 160 acres of which lie in section 8, and eighty acres in section 9, range 618. This is the old home place of Andrew Hawk, father of R. B., and the present owner has lived on the place since 1883.

Rutherford B. Hawk was born February 28, 1877, on a farm near Bakersville, Coshocton county, Ohio, a son of Andrew and Lavina (Landes) Hawk, both of whom were born and reared on pioneer farms in Ohio. The late Andrew Hawk was born February 4, 1825, and died in 1903. He was born in Carroll county, Ohio, a son of Leonard and Margaret Hawk, and was one of a large family of ten children. Leonard was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and his people were pioneers in Ohio. Andrew Hawk came to Kansas in the eighties to make a visit with his brother, Daniel, in Atchison county, and liked the country so well that he returned to Ohio and disposed of his property and in 1883 came again to Atchison county and bought a section of land, one mile north and west of Effingham, in Benton township. He developed this large farm and lived on the place until 1903 when he sold 160 acres. Mrs. Hawk, the widow, was the owner of 240 acres of this tract which she sold to her sons.

Andrew Hawk was twice married, his first marriage taking place in Coshocton county, Ohio, with Mary Jane Walters, whom he married on May 5, 1848. The following children were born to this union and who are yet living are as follows: Mrs. Margaret Alice Zinkorn, of Baltic, Ohio; Mrs. Rachel Emily McFarlan, living on a farm near Monrovia, Atchison county, Kansas; Mrs. Teletha Ellen Dreher, of Minerva, Ohio. The second marriage of Andrew Hawk took place May 12, 1864, with Lavina Landes, and the following children were born to this union: William Sherman, Howard, Allen, a farmer near Salina, Kan.; Edgar Russell, located on a farm two miles west of Effingham; Arvilla Florence, wife of Herbert Harris, Horton, Kan.; Charles Arthur, living near Atchison, Kan; Rutherford B., with whom this review is directly concerned; John Andrew, a farmer in Benton township; Clarissa, at home with her mother. The mother of these children was born April 2, 1844, in Coshocton county, Ohio, a daughter of Valentine and Elizabeth (Hufford) Landes, the former a native of Germany, and the latter a native of Switzerland.

Rutherford B. was six years of age when his parents came to Atchison county to make this county their permanent home. He attended the district school and studied for one year in the county high school. He has always resided on the farm where he now lives with the exception of one year spent in the West. Upon his father’s demise he came into possession of eighty acres by inheritance and purchase, bought an additional eighty acres, and eighty acres of land which came to his wife, make the total of 240 acres which he owns and cultivates. He was married on March 31, 1909, to Mary Agnes Mackay, who was born near Effingham, educated in the district school and completed the course in the Atchison County High School, graduating therefrom in 1898. She taught school successfully for a period of ten years, the last two years of which was as principal of the Effingham school. During the summer of 1908 Mrs. Hawk visited Europe and spent some time amid the old home scenes of her parents in Scotland and also visited places of interest in Ireland and England.

Mrs. Mary Hawk was born on a farm near Effingham, a daughter of George and Jeanette (Macnee) Mackay, both of whom were born and reared in Scotland. George Mackay was born in Sterlingshire, April 18, 1840. Jeanette Mackay was born January 21, 1843 in Perthshire, Scotland. This worthy and industrious couple was married July 27, 1868, and three years later emigrated from their native heath to America. They first settled on the prairies of Wisconsin near the city of Janesville, and after a residence of three years in that locality they removed farther west to Kansas (1874). Mr. Mackay rented land for a short time and then purchased a tract of prairie land in Benton township. The land which he bought was unbroken prairie, unfenced and had never known the mark of the plow. He at once set about the hard task of developing his prairie farm and in the course of time developed it into one of the best and most productive agricultural plants in Atchison county. This farm which Mr. Mackay built up was well known as “Walnut Hill Farm.” The Mackays prospered as they deserved, and with true Scottish thrift increased their land holdings to 280 acres.

George Mackay died on his farm May 1, 1907. He was a sturdy and upright citizen whose honesty was proverbial and he enjoyed the respect and high esteem of his neighbors. He was a member of the Presbyterian faith and was a Democrat in politics. He was also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Two years after Mr. Mackay’s demise the widow and children removed to a pleasant home in Effingham.

The children of this estimable couple were: Alexander, and Georgette, at home with their mother; Mary, wife of Rutherford B. Hawk; Nellie Jeanette, deceased wife of Frank Sutter.

The subject of this review is a Republican in politics, and while interested in the success of his party, and a believer in Republican principles of government, has never sought political preferment. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, and Mr. Hawk has served as an elder of the church for the past six years.

CALVIN BUSHEY.

There is an atmosphere of refinement and well being about the town of Muscotah, Atchison county, Kansas, that is not always found in the western towns which the traveler passes through. The handsome residences, with well kept lawns, shaded by great trees, and the generally attractive appearance of things in the residence portion of this prosperous community is sure to attract the eye and cause favorable comment. The people inhabitating this town are mostly of eastern descent and are nearly all pioneers who many years ago settled on the prairies in the western part of Atchison county, and by dint of industry and hard work transformed the wilderness into a smiling and fertile landscape. Many of them, their work done, have retired to comfortable homes in Muscotah. Among these is Calvin Bushey and his estimable wife, who came to Kansas, fought the good fight for a competence and are now taking life easy in a beautiful and comfortable home in this attractive Kansas town.

Speaking in a biographical sense, Calvin Bushey, Union veteran and retired pioneer farmer, was born July 17, 1844, on a Pennsylvania farm in Adams county, near the historic city of Gettysburg. He comes of good old Pennsylvania German stock and is a son of Nicholas (born 1797, died 1852), and Esther (Mickley) Bushey. Nicholas Bushey was born in the Fatherland and immigrated with his parents to America when a youth. Eight children were born to Nicholas Bushey and wife, namely: Peter died in 1905, at the age of eighty-five years; Mrs. Sarah Hartman died in 1910 at the advanced age of eighty-seven years: George, Union veteran, died at the age of eighty-four years; Jacob M., a Union veteran, residing at Holmesville, Ohio: Henry died in 1858; Catharine died in 1881; Calvin, with whom this review is concerned; John, a resident of Arendtsville, Pa., and James, deceased. The parents of these children lived and died on the homestead in Pennsylvania. The grandfather of Mr. Bushey, on his maternal side, was John Jacob Mickley, who figures in American history as one of the men who helped to haul the old Liberty Bell from Baltimore, Md., to keep it from being captured and destroyed by the British invaders and hid the bell under a church for safe keeping. A son of John Jacob was a soldier in the Revolution. Daniel Mickley, an uncle of Calvin Bushey, lived to the great age of ninety- nine years, and two other uncles lived to the age of ninety-four and ninety-five years. Longevity is a characteristic of the members of this remarkable family. Daniel Mickley served in the War of 1812 as a sergeant.

Calvin Bushey was reared to young manhood on his father’s farm. When President Lincoln called for troops, with which to quell the rebellion of the southern states, he responded and enlisted in August of 1862, in Company K, One Hundred and twenty-sixth regiment, Pennsylvania infantry, for a period of eight months, but served one and one-half years in all. He participated in the great battles of Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. After Mr. Bushey received his honorable discharge from the service he studied in Hayesville Institute for one year and was then engaged in mercantile business for two years, and after his marriage in 1867 came to Kansas to make his fortune. He and his young wife came directly to Atchison county and bought 160 acres of land six miles southeast of Muscotah. Not being exactly satisfied with this farm they sold it three years later and bought a quarter section of land three miles southeast of Muscotah. This land was all raw prairie at the time of purchase and it was necessary for Mr. Bushey to place all the improvements on it. He cultivated this farm until 1903 when he and Mrs. Bushey retired to a home in Muscotah. He sold the old homestead for a good price and invested in 120 acres of land southwest of Muscotah which is being cultivated by his son.

Mr. Bushey was married in January of 1867 to Miss Eva J. Taylor, who has borne him the following children: Mrs. Myrtle Belle, wife of J. D. Miller, garage proprietor and farmer, of Muscotah; John C., farmer and stock buyer, of Muscotah; Esther, wife of J. N. Roach, a farmer, living near Muscotah; Chastine Dwight Bushey, a farmer; and two children died in infancy. The mother of these children was born September 20, 1842, in Defiance, Ohio (at that time Paulding county, Ohio), a daughter of John and Lucretia (Bell) Taylor, the former a native of Huntingdon, Pa., and the latter a native of Nova Scotia. John Taylor was a son of William Taylor, who emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania, whence he came to Ohio and made a permanent settlement. John Taylor was a prominent man in his section of Ohio and served as a member of the Ohio legislature in 1860, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865 and 1866, six years in all. He also served as a justice of the peace and was probate judge of Ashland county, Ohio, for twelve years. He died in Ashland, Ohio, in 1881. The Taylor children were as follows: Mrs. Eva Bushey, William, Arabella, Wilson, Don Fernando, Lavona, and Emma Luverna. Mrs. Bushey is a well educated lady and taught school in Ohio. It was at Perrysville, Ohio, that Calvin and Eva Bushey first met. Calvin had left his home in Pennsylvania, and after studying at the Hayesville Academy he was employed at Perrysville, Ohio, keeping store, attending the railroad office, the express office, and was general all-round railway factotum, as well as managing a general store. The future Mrs. Bushey came to the store one day to buy a pair of shoes and Calvin fell a victim to her charms while attending to her wants. They became friends; the friendship ripened into love, and marriage ensued, which has been one of the happiest on record.

Mr. and Mrs. Bushey are members of the Congregational church and contribute to the support of this religious denomination. He is a Republican in politics and is a member of the local grand army post. This well known and highly respected couple have a total of twenty-one grandchildren, as follows: Mrs. Olive Laughlin, Eva, Nannie, Marguerite, Lillie, Josephine, Julia, children of Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Miller; Helen, a teacher, Ruth, also a teacher, Calvin Dwight, Mildred, and Dorothy, and Louis, children of John C. Bushey; Charles Calvin, Mrs. Bertie Yazel, and Gail, children of Mrs. Esther Roach; Paul Everett, Ralph, Dessa, Essa, and Claude, children of Chastine Dwight Bushey. They have one great-grandchild, Margaret, daughter of Mrs. Olive Laughlin.

MARTIN C. VANSELL.

Forty-six years ago Martin C. Vansell, pioneer settler of Grasshopper township and one of the best known farmers and live stock breeders of Atchison county, landed in Muscotah with a cash capital of five dollars. During the forty-six or more years he has lived in the vicinity of Muscotah he has risen to become one of the wealthy and substantial landed proprietors of the county and has reared to maturity a fine family of sons and daughters, educated them and given them a start in life. What more honors can a man wish for than these? Could any citizen contribute more to the upbuilding of his State and county than this pioneer?

Mr. Vansell was born of old southern stock, on a plantation in Union county, Tennessee, October 24, 1854. He was a son of Dr. Elias Vansell, of German descent. His mother was before her marriage, Tabitha Willis, born and reared in Tennessee, and a daughter of Moses Willis, whose farm adjoined the Vansell homestead on the river bottoms. She was of English descent. There were seven children in the family of Elias and Tabitha Vansell, of which M. C. was the youngest. The ancestral home of the Vansells was a large plantation which stretched for one and one half miles along the banks of the Clinch river in Tennessee, and before the Civil war the land was cultivated by slaves. Dr. Vansell was a physician of fine education and exceptional talent.

When a boy M. C. Vansell’s education was cut short by the troubles which beset the neighborhood during the Civil war when all schools in the State were closed and Tennessee was torn by the marching and ravaging of contending armies. The fortunes of the Willisses and Vansells suffered an eclipse for the time being and when fifteen years of age he decided to leave the old home and try his fortune in a newer land. He set out for Dade county, Missouri, with a party of men who were en route to the wild country of southwest Missouri. There was little to induce the boy to remain at home as his father had died and his mother had re-married. Upon his arrival in Dade county he was given work as a cow-boy on a big cattle ranch owned by David Scott and George Igue, brothers-in-law. Young Vansell at that time was a fair horseman and his work consisted in driving herds of cattle to the ranch from Indian Territory and Texas. The nearest point of supply to the ranch was at Sedalia, 100 miles away. His next move was to the State of Kansas, and this migration came about in this wise: In the year 1856 his uncle, Martin C. Willis, had gone from Tennessee to Brown county, Kansas, where he had preëmpted land and become quite wealthy. This uncle heard that his nephew was working on the cattle ranch in Missouri and sent for him to come to his home in Brown county. Although quite in love with the wild free life of the cattle ranch, he heeded his uncle’s request and joined him at his home. For eighteen months after going to his uncle’s home he attended school and was then employed by his uncle and others as a farm hand for some years. On July 17, 1870, he stepped off the train at Muscotah, Kan., with a cash capital of five dollars in his pocket. He worked at farm labor until he was twenty-one years of age and then began operating on his own account. Mr. Vansell has always been somewhat of a trader. The first deal which he ever made in his life was the purchase of a horse in Muscotah which involved an outlay of thirty-five dollars for horse, saddle and bridle. He later sold this animal for sixty-five dollars, took a note in payment, but, sad to relate, the note was never paid and he lost the whole amount. When he became of age he traded a span of mules, of which he had become the owner, for his first forty acres of land which he had farmed on shares, and with the money earned had bought the mules. This trade was made with a Kickapoo Indian. He fenced the forty-acre tract and rented it to a son-in-law of the Indian who had formerly owned it, and finally traded the land for some colts, five cows and twenty-five head of hogs. In a short time afterwards he bought an eighty-acre tract with borrowed money and during the first summer broke up seventy acres of his eighty, and in the fall built a home for himself. The following winter he sowed seventy acres of the tract in wheat and then sold the land at a good profit in November of that year. The following February he bought 160 acres of land, comprising the old townsite of Cayuga in Grasshopper township. Mr. Vansell cultivated this tract for about two years and then sold it at a profit. In 1882 he bought the quarter section which is now the Vansell home place. He has added to his possessions since that time until he is now the owner of 362 acres of land, 320 acres of which is all in one body. It is one of the finest and best improved farms in Atchison county. When Mr. Vansell settled on this land there were little or no improvements. He now has a large modern ten-room house, two large barns, hog and carriage houses, a big double corn-crib and granary, a horse barn, and a special cattle barn. The Vansell farm also boasts a 250–ton concrete silo, forty-eight feet in height and sixteen feet in diameter. From the start of his successful agricultural career Mr. Vansell has handled pure bred live stock, and he is widely known as a breeder of thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle, Poland China hogs, and standard black Percheron horses. In addition to this he has some standard trotting horses which are his pride. Since the start of his career Mr. Vansell has never bred any but the purest strains of live stock on his ranch and keeps from forty to sixty head of pure bred cattle on his place at all times.

Mr. Vansell was united in marriage with Miss Alice Trimble, February 23, 1882, and this union has been blessed with the following children: Lena, wife of Frank Campbell, of Horton, Kan.; Ralph, at home, manages the Vansell home farm; Ray, a student for two years in the State Agricultural College at Manhattan, Kan., and is now operating a cattle ranch in Montana; George, a graduate of Kansas University, class of 1915, and now employed as an entomologist by the State of Kentucky, located in Lexington; Erma, wife of T. C. Whittaker, of Nortonville, Kan., and Willis Blaine, who died at the age of seventeen years in July, 1904. Mr. Vansell has given each of his children a good education. His two daughters are graduates of the Atchison County High School, and his son, Ralph, is a graduate of the Veterinary College of Kansas City, and Ray studied for two years in the Manhattan State Agricultural College. Mrs. Alice (Trimble) Vansell, mother of the foregoing children, was born May 23, 1854, in Fayette county, Ohio, a daughter of Nathaniel and Jane (Lorimer) Trimble, natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively, and who were pioneers of Johnson county, Missouri, settling there in 1868.

Mr. Vansell is an independent Republican in his political affiliations, and refuses to wear a party yoke when his conscience and knowledge lead him to think independently, and make up his own mind concerning the qualifications of candidates or the merits of political principles at issue. Aside from his extensive farming interests he is a stockholder of the Farmers State Bank of Muscotah. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen and is religiously connected with the Congregational church. Mr. Vansell is a broad-minded and well read citizen who keeps abreast of the times and stands high in his community. In a way he is a philosopher who holds to the correct idea that some men or too many men never grow up and take the serious view of life which they should in order to achieve the success which is their right and in justice to those dependent upon them.

FRANK W. BISHOP.

Frank Wilson Bishop, live stock dealer and broker, and leading citizen of Effingham, Kan., has spent the greater part of his sixty-one years of life in Atchison county. When a boy he knew what it was to endure the hardships of the frontier and had little opportunity for schooling until he had attained the age of sixteen years. He is a descendant of a fine old colonial family which can trace their ancestry back to the early days of the settlement of New England. His forebears were Puritans, and he is a direct lineal descendant of Governor Bishop of Connecticut. A grandfather, Levi Bishop, was a soldier in the regular United States army and fought in the War of 1812. On the maternal side of his grandfather’s family he is a descendant of the old Higgins family of New York, which numbers among their progeny Governor Higgins. The Bishops for many generations have been military men and in practically every generation the annals of the country show that members of the family fought in the various wars in which this country has been engaged.

Mr. Bishop was born December 12, 1854, in Alleghany county, New York, a son of Lucius Hazen and Betsy Morse (Wilson) Bishop, the former a native of Windsor, Vt., and the latter having been born in Whiteside, N. Y. Lucius was the son of Levi Bishop, who served his country in the War of 1812 as a regularly enlisted soldier. The second wife of Lucius Bishop was a Miss Higgins of the Higgins family of New York. It is worthy of note that while the Bishops were soldiers and fighting men who believed in serving the Nation on the battlefields of its wars, the Higgins family were as a class opposed to warfare and it is not recorded that any of the members of the family enlisted in behalf of their country. They were men of letters, teachers, authors and Statesmen rather than warriors. The father of Levi Bishop was a soldier in the Revolution, according to tradition. The Bishop family left the old home in Alleghany county, New York, in April of 1859. Lucius Bishop having previously made a first trip in 1857 and selected a quarter section of land just north of Monrovia, Atchison county, Kansas, for his home site. He returned home and brought his family to Kansas with the intention of making a permanent home in Atchison county, and thus giving his children a better opportunity for gaining a livelihood than the older eastern country afforded. On his previous trip he had made arrangements for the erection of a home, and an abiding place was already for the family to occupy when they came here. Frank W. and his mother landed from the Missouri river steamer, which they boarded at St. Louis and he recalls that the day they landed at the foot of Commercial street in Atchison was very rainy and disagreeable. The family had taken the overland train at Belmont, N. Y., and rode by rail as far as St. Louis and then boarded the “Ben Louis,” which carried them to Atchison. They breakfasted in town and then made the trip to the claim by wagon. The outlook and surroundings of the vicinity of the family home were not encouraging, and it required considerable courage to get ready to face the struggle for a livelihood in what was then almost a barren wilderness with few settlers in the neighborhood. Every fall the members of the family had the ague, which did not entirely disappear for many years. There was also some trouble with the Indians, and the border warfare added its quota of troubles to beset this pioneer family. Lucius Bishop served in Company F, Twelfth regiment of Kansas cavalry, under Capt. A. S. Best in the battle of Westport, which resulted in repelling General Price and his army of invasion. The elder Bishop prospered as the years passed, and in old age he and his faithful helpmeet left the farm and retired to a comfortable home in Effingham, where they both died. Lucius Bishop was born January 6, 1824, and died August 9, 1905. Betsy Ann Bishop was born in 1832, and died March 31, 1907. They were the parents of the following children: Frank Wilson, with whom this review is intimately concerned: Willis E., who resides on the home farm near Monrovia; Amelia Ann, wife of C. H. Oliver, both deceased, who were the parents of three sons and two daughters; Sarah H., wife of Hugh N. Gillan, of Hill City, Kan. The two daughters were twins. A sister, Helen Bishop, accompanied Lucius C. to Kansas. She was the oldest of the family, dying July 6, 1913, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. Helen Bishop was born in Randolph, Vt., March 12, 1831, and came to Kansas in 1858. She began teaching when sixteen years of age, receiving one dollar per week and boarded around. At the end of nine years she was receiving two dollars per week. She taught several years in Atchison county, and conducted a private school at Monrovia. She taught at Monrovia and Lancaster. She was one of the pioneer advocates of teaching domestic science in the schools and was far ahead of her time. She advocated progressive teaching methods in the seventies, which are now in practice. She was a thinker and was an advocate of purity in living. After the death of her parents she made her home with Frank W. Bishop.

Frank W. Bishop was reared to young manhood on the pioneer farm, and had little or no schooling until he attained the age of sixteen years, at which time he realized the necessity of securing an education and managed to attend a short term at the State College at Manhattan, Kan. His father purchased a fine tract of farm land in 1873, consisting of 160 acres which Frank leased from him for a few years and then purchased. He practically built up the farm from a barren tract of prairie land to be one of the excellent producing farms in Atchison county. He erected all buildings on the place and cultivated the land very successfully until 1908, when he removed to Effingham to be better care for the extensive live stock business which he had begun in 1895. Mr. Bishop has one of the most attractive homes in this beautiful city, which was formerly the Potter property and maintains a down-town office where he looks after his business affairs. He is not only a buyer and shipper of live stock but is principally a broker, buying stock in the city yards in carload lots for his farmer patrons who feed them on their farms for the market. In this manner in the capacity of broker he does a very extensive business annually.

Mr. Bishop was married in 1880 to Miss Viola T. Horton, of Atchison county, whose demise occurred in 1886, leaving three children, as follows: Ernest L., a farmer, of Atchison county; Carl A., who is first sergeant of Company I, engineering division, United States regular army, and who is on duty in the Hawaiian Islands; one child died in infancy. In 1890 Mr. Bishop was again married to Miss Mary E. Scott, of Tama county, Iowa, a daughter of Robert A. and Anne (Cannon) Scott, natives of Scotland, the former born in Kirkcudbrightshire, and the latter born in Wigtonshire. The Scotts came to America in 1880. Robert was a stonemason and was one of the builders of the United States treasury building at Washington. In 1870 the Scotts settled on a farm in Tama county, Iowa, and reared eight children. Robert A. and Anne were married May 26, 1848. Robert died November 24, 1911, aged eighty-five years, and Anne Scott died May 18, 1905, aged eighty years.

Mr. Bishop is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and has held local city offices, doing his duty as a citizen when called upon by his fellow citizens. Mrs. Bishop is a member of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Bishop is a Supporter.

WILLIAM RYAN.