Chapter XXV: Biographical History (28)

William Ryan, former chief of police of the city of Atchison and prosperous farmer and iron moulder of Walnut township, was born in Ottawa, Ill., in 1874. He is a son of James and Ellen (Charleston) Ryan, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter having been born and reared partly in Boston, Mass. James Ryan was a son of Patrick Ryan, a native of Ireland who, after emigrating from the Emerald Isle, settled in Connecticut and later became a pioneer of Ottawa, Ill. Patrick Ryan, with his wife and seven children, moved to Ottawa, Ill., in an early day. Later James and his family went to Nebraska and in 1874 moved to Kansas. Patrick Ryan, grandfather of William, was a very prominent citizen of his county in Illinois. He served as captain of his company of Union soldiers during the Civil war and held the office of county treasurer for several terms, besides filling other important county offices. James Ryan, the father, was also a soldier, holding the position of sergeant in a company forming part of the Fifty-sixth regiment of Illinois volunteers. He was taken prisoner and confined for a time in the notorious Andersonville prison. His trade was that of iron smelter and for thirty years he was employed in the John Seaton foundry in that capacity. His son, William, also became an expert moulder and is now employed in the Seaton foundry.

William Ryan, with whom this review is directly concerned, was but an infant when the family located in Atchison. He attended the old Doniphan school in the city and also the Washington public school, where he was a school-mate of Sheffield Ingalls. He learned the trade of iron moulder at the Seaton foundry and saved his earnings until he was able to purchase a farm in Walnut township in 1908. He removed to his farm and cultivated it until 1910 and then returned to Atchison. In 1911 he was appointed chief of the Atchison police department. Previous to his appointment to the head position of the city police force he had served as a member of the city council and was very active in behalf of a number of public and street improvements which were badly needed at the time. He was one of the official body responsible for the completion of the South Atchison sewer and for the building of a number of paved streets. For his activity in behalf of these public improvements he was defeated for re-election, but some years later Mr. Ryan was again elected to office by a handsome majority. Mr. Ryan has a fine farm of 160 acres in Walnut township which was originally covered with a heavy growth of timber, much of which has been cleared away in past years. Upon his retirement from the position of chief of police he returned to his farm, where he resides while he is employed as iron moulder.

He was married in 1898 to Miss Nellie Cairns, and this union has been blessed with five children: Blanche, born in 1899; Ruth, born in 1901; Mary Louise, born in 1903; Hugh, born in 1905; Florence, born in 1910. Mrs. Ryan is a daughter of Irish parents and was born in Atchison.

In his younger days William Ryan was a noted baseball player. He played the left field position on the Atchison team in the first game of baseball ever played in Forest park. The aggregation of players with whom he was associated were known as the “Corn Carnival Colts.” This team became known as the fastest amateur team ever banded together in the city of Atchison and became famous over northeast Kansas for their proficiency in the national game. The name was given to the team when they succeeded in defeating the fast “Kansas Blues,” a professional team, at the time of the corn carnival held in Atchison. Several players from this team broke into the professional league game and became famous.

JAMES H. GARSIDE.

James H. Garside, retired, is one of the best known and best liked pioneer citizens of Atchison. He has resided in this city for the past fifty-one years and has a large acquaintance throughout the city and county. For thirty-eight years Mr. Garside was engaged in railroad work and for twenty-seven years he served as a member of the board of education and was vice-president of the board which had charge of the erection of the Ingalls High School building and other school edifices in the city. During the time in which he served as the local freight agent of the Santa Fe railroad Mr. Garside’s position brought him into contact with all classes of men and his fine courtesy and obliging manner of conducting the company’s business won him high regard and an enviable reputation.

Mr. Garside was born in Canton, Fulton county, Illinois, January 26, 1848, a son of Joshua and Anna (Cox) Garside. His father was born in England and immigrated to America in 1836. He became engaged in banking and was a member of the banking firm of Maple, Stipp & Garside, at Canton, until his removal to Nebraska City, where he opened a bank for S. F. Nukols. The family came to Atchison in 1864 and Joshua Garside was associated with A. S. Parker & Company, forwarding agents, and also agents for the Star line of steamers plying between St. Joseph and St. Louis. This firm later became Garside & Son and did an extensive freighting business to Denver, Salt Lake and Montana points. They shipped a vast amount of grain by river steamer; a single boat used in their freighting sometimes took on from 3,000 to 10,000 bushels of grain and lay at the levee two or three days while loading. This was in the days when the Missouri river was the great waterway for transporting freight to southern and eastern points. Joshua Garside and wife reared a family of two sons and seven daughters, of which James H. was the eldest.

James H. Garside received his education in the public schools of Nebraska City, Neb., and the high school of Atchison. For several years he was engaged in the freighting business with his father, as above stated. Prior to the completion of the Atchison bridge across the Missouri river, Mr. Garside had charge of the business of transferring the railroad freight cars across the river and which were carried to the Missouri side, and vice versa, by the “William Osborne.” When the bridge was completed he was in the employ of the Hamilton & Flint Transfer Company, engaged in transferring freight with teams across the river. In 1881 he entered the service of the Santa Fe Railroad Company as local freight agent and held this position continuously until his retirement from active service. Before he was engaged by the Santa Fe Mr. Garside was an agent for the Continental Fast Freight line, the Commercial Express line and the Star Union line.

Mr. Garside was married in 1872 to Miss Hattie H. Preston, of Canton, Ill. One son blessed this union, William Preston. Mr. Garside is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 5, of Washington Commandery, and of the Mystic Shrine. For twenty-seven years he was a member of the board of education and did his duty as a very useful citizen in helping forward the advancement of the Atchison city schools to first rank in the state of Kansas. He served as vice-president of this body for several years, and was always found in the forefront of the movement for better school buildings and the installation of better educational facilities for the benefit of the youth of Atchison. He is one of the charter members of the Flambeau Club and also of the Atchison Gun Club. He is religiously affiliated with the Congregational church and has been one of the trustees of this body for several years. In the days of his retirement the same geniality and courtesy which he maintained during his years of public service marks the demeanor of this grand old citizen of Atchison.

WILLIS J. BAILEY.

Willis J. Bailey, vice-president and managing officer of the Exchange National Bank, Atchison, Kan., since 1907, and governor of the State of Kansas from 1903 to 1905, was born in Carroll county, Illinois, October 12, 1854. He was educated in the common schools, the Mount Carroll high school, and graduated at the University of Illinois as a member of the class of 1879. In 1904 his Alma Mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. In 1879, soon after completing his college course, he accompanied his father to Nemaha county, Kansas, where they engaged in farming and stock raising, and founded the town of Baileyville. Upon reaching his majority Governor Bailey cast his lot with the Republican party, and since that time he has been an active and consistent advocate of the principles espoused by that organization. In 1888 he was elected to represent his county in the State legislature; was reëlected in 1890; was president of the Republican State League in 1893; was the Republican candidate for Congress in the First district in 1896, and in June, 1898, was nominated by the State convention at Hutchison as the candidate for Congressman at large, defeating Richard W. Blue. After serving in the Fifty-sixth Congress he retired to his farm, but in 1902 was nominated by his party for governor. At the election in November he defeated W. H. Craddock, the Democratic candidate, by a substantial majority, and began his term as governor in January, 1903. At the close of his term as governor he removed to Atchison, and since 1907 has been vice-president and manager of the Exchange National Bank of that city. Shortly after his retirement from the office of governor he was prominently mentioned as a candidate for United States senator, and in 1908 a large number of Republicans of the State urged his nomination for governor. Mr. Bailey has always been interested in behalf of the farmers of the country, and from 1895 to 1899 he was a member of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture.

JOHN A. KRAMER.

John A. Kramer, a leading and prosperous farmer of Shannon township, has the double distinction of being a pioneer in the county and having one of the largest families in the State. In this day of small families it is gratifying to note that in Atchison county, within a few miles of the city, resides a man who takes a just pride in the fact that he is rearing thirteen children to become good citizens of the community. Mr. Kramer is the owner of one of the oldest farms in the county which has been in the family for nearly fifty years. It is one of the valuable fruit farms in this section of the State and is noted for its small fruits and orchard products. A handsome brick residence built by the father of Mr. Kramer sets well back from the highway and is surrounded by large trees which have grown to immense size during the life of Mr. Kramer.

John A. Kramer was born October 13, 1862, on the farm where he now resides and was the son of Frank and Rosalie Kramer, both of whom were born, reared and married in Austria, the former having been born in 1820 and the latter in 1827. They emigrated from their native country in about 1852, locating first in Wisconsin, going from that State to Missouri, and in 1857 coming to Atchison county, Kansas. In that year Frank Kramer settled permanently on the farm now owned by his sons and built up a fine estate which became noted throughout this section of Kansas. He was one of the pioneers in the fruit industry in the county, and planted an extensive vineyard, an orchard of thirty to forty acres, including apples, pears and plums, and all kinds of small fruits, the cultivation of which has been carried on by his sons. The Kramer farm now consists of 240 acres of land in a high state of cultivation and well improved. Frank Kramer died in 1889 and his wife lived to a considerable age, dying in April of 1911. To them were born three sons and three daughters, namely: Theresa and Anna, sisters of the Order of St. Benedict, in Mt. St. Scholastica Academy; Mrs. Mary Zehnter, deceased; Frank, born October 13, 1860, in partnership with John A. in the management of the farm; John A. with whom this review is directly concerned; Edward, deceased.

John A. Kramer was reared on the farm in Atchison county, and upon the death of his father took up the burden of the family support with his brother. He is considered to be one of the substantial and successful agriculturists of the county and has taken a prominent part in the affairs of his county since attaining his majority. He was married in 1891 to Phillipina Rambour, born in Bavaria, Germany, a daughter of Michael Rambour. She came to Atchison when young and here met and married Mr. Kramer. To this estimable couple have been born thirteen children: Mrs. Hattie Dooley, of Shannon township, Martha, Rosalie, Anna, Tillie, Phillipina, Josephine, Deloris, Mary Constance, Alfred, John, Francis and Edward.

Mr. Kramer is a member of St. Benedict’s Catholic Church and is a liberal supporter of this denomination. He has been a life-long Democrat and has been an active and influential figure in his party since attaining voting age. In 1891 he served one term as trustee of Shannon township and was elected county treasurer in 1893 and again elected to succeed himself in 1895. This election took place at a period when the county was strongly Republican and party lines were more strictly drawn than at present—evidence of the fact that Mr. Kramer had a strong personal following among the citizens of the county.

JOHN BELZ.

The growth and development of any community depends to a considerable extent upon the management of its financial institutions. The manufacturing and commercial enterprises of the city of Atchison, as well as the farmers and stockmen in its trade territory, have enjoyed the benefits of progressive banking since the first bank was established in the county. It is in connection with this field of activity that John Belz became most widely and favorably known in Atchison county. He was for many years a managing executive of the German Savings Bank of Atchison, which he had helped to organize, serving as cashier, and later filled the same position with the United States National Bank of Atchison. He was known to the banking fraternity of Kansas as an able and discriminating financier, an executive who brought the administrative policy of the institutions with which he was connected to the point of highest efficiency. He was of material assistance in the development of the city of Atchison, an ambitious and tireless worker, a man of high ideals, and his business integrity and honesty were unquestioned.

John Belz was a native of Germany, born in Wurtemberg, near the city of Stuttgart, on August 18, 1833. His father was engaged in the milling business and was a man of some means. John learned the miller’s trade and also served his apprenticeship as a journeyman carpenter, and he enjoyed excellent educational advantages in the schools of his home town and the city of Stuttgart. The elder Belz died when John was nineteen, in 1852, leaving a comfortable estate which was dissipated by the administrator through mismanagement. Thrown on his own resources, and with two younger sisters dependent upon him, John came to the conclusion that America spelled opportunity for him. Master of a trade, possessed of an excellent education, thoroughly versed in the German and French languages, he believed that wealth and position were to be won in the United States; and his sisters believed in him. Leaving their native country, they crossed the Atlantic, landed in New York City, and for a time lived in Lancaster, N. Y., a little village near the city of Buffalo, where the brother found employment. A few months later they located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Here John was employed as a carpenter, farm hand, and with such other jobs as offered. He attended school and acquired a comprehensive knowledge of the English tongue.

In 1857 John Belz came to Atchison and during the succeeding twelve or fifteen months was employed at his trade. He was thrifty and was soon able to open a small grocery store. His identification with the banking life of the city began in 1872, when he, George Storch and Robert Forbriger organized the German Savings Bank. He was elected its first cashier and filled this position until the institution closed out its business in 1886. Subsequently he was elected cashier of the United States National Bank, and remained in this executive office until 1887, when he resigned. He had early in life acquired the desire, the habit, the love of making money and the habit of work. He possessed shrewd business judgment, keen insight in business affairs, profound knowledge of men, and these, coupled with will and energy, enabled him to gain rank as one of the leaders in the financial and commercial life of the city. He became directly or indirectly interested in several commercial enterprises of the city and was closely associated with the late George Storch, at that time Atchison’s leading man of affairs. Mr. Belz was a loyal citizen, believed in the commercial future of Atchison, and could always be depended upon to assist, both with time and money, any enterprise or measure which meant a greater, better Atchison. During his residence in the city his various investments in financial and commercial enterprises were uniformly successful, from which he accumulated a large fortune. Shortly after his retirement from the United States National Bank he went to California, where he invested heavily in lands. This venture proved a failure and a large part of his fortune was lost. From this time until his death, which occurred September 11, 1895, while not actively engaged in business, he occupied himself as a real estate and insurance agent.

Coming to Kansas in 1857, and locating in any of the towns on her eastern border, meant taking sides with one or the other of the political parties. It also required courage upon the part of the settler. John Belz possessed not only courage but convictions, and, although a newcomer to the United States had, while living in Iowa, given the slavery question much study which resulted in his aligning himself with the Free State party on his arrival in Atchison. He became actively identified with political affairs and was elected a member of the city council, serving several terms. He was also elected to the office of city clerk and served several years. Had it not been for his sensitiveness over his inability to overcome a pronounced German accent in his English which caused him to decline to speak at public meetings, a most necessary qualification if one desired to attain State-wide prominence politically, John Belz would have become one of the powers in the political life of Kansas. He knew men and the motives which actuated them and possessed keen insight as to the demands of the future upon the legislators.

Mr. Belz became a member of Washington Lodge, No. 5, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, on October 17, 1857. He was one of several who demitted from other lodges and was the oldest Mason among them, having been initiated at an earlier date than any of the others. He was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was reared a Lutheran and a member of that church in his native town. He never affiliated with any church after coming to the United States.

Mr. Belz married on November 10, 1859, Miss Sophia Binde. She was born in Prussia, near Madgeburg. She was left an orphan at the age of six years and was adopted by her uncle and aunt, Ludwig and Mary Binde, and with them and their two sons came to the United States in 1857. They located northwest of the city of Atchison where Mr. Binde engaged in farming. He broke the raw prairie, fenced his property, underwent the privations incident to that pioneer period and developed a successful and highly productive farm. He and his wife were persons of culture, comfortably situated financially and their children were highly educated and talented musicians. Among their effects brought from the Fatherland were a Grand piano and the complete works of the great composers, which included those by Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven. Mrs. Belz talks familiarly and interestingly of these composers and has never lost her interest in things musical. The vessel which brought the Binde family to America also carried the Mangelsdorf family, of which August Mangelsdorf, Atchison’s pioneer seedsman, was the youngest member. As time went on John Belz came to Atchison and entered the grocery business. He met Sophia Binde and later she became his wife. His grocery business required the services of a clerk and August Mangelsdorf filled that position. The latter has often remarked that his first employer, John Belz, instilled in him the principles which were the foundation of his success in the commercial world; that his rugged honesty, high ideals and close attention to detail in the handling of any matter remained indelibly imprinted on his mind. Following his precepts has brought him a golden harvest.

Mr. and Mrs. Belz were the parents of two children, daughters. The eldest, Emma, born in Atchison, was married in 1892 to Augustin M. Moore, of Denver, Colo. Mr. Moore died in 1906, leaving an infant son and a daughter, Helen, the wife of Fred Stein, an electrician, of Atchison. Mr. Moore was a well known insurance adjuster and was in the employ of the Shawnee Fire Insurance Company of Topeka. Ida Belz, the younger daughter, also born in Atchison, is the wife of Thomas N. Gray, treasurer of the Symns Grocer Company of Atchison.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES.

┌────┬────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────┐ │Page│ Changed From │ Changed To │ ├────┼────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────┤ │ 37│two years later │two centuries later │ │ │ │ │ │ 85│used the construction │used for the construction │ │ │ │ │ │ 226│he was forced to take control of the│he was forced to take │ │ │ paper, and had employed Herman │ control of the paper, and│ │ │ Van- On August 19, 1915, T. A. Cur│ had employed Herman Van. │ │ │ became editor, and on November 11,│ On August 19, 1915, T. A.│ │ │ 1915. August 19, 1915, T. A. Cur │ Cur became editor, and on│ │ │ became editor, and November 11, │ November 11, 1915, Orvil │ │ │ 1915, Orvil │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 238│Col. Wm. Osborn, J. W. Parker, and │Col. Wm. Osborn, J. W. │ │ │ other men prominent in the │ Parker, and other men │ │ │ business and thereon the bank │ prominent in the business│ │ │ early acquired title to the lot at│ and social life of that │ │ │ the southwest corner of social │ period were among its │ │ │ life of that period were among its│ early stockholders and │ │ │ early stockholders and directors, │ directors, while │ │ │ while │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 239│Louis W. Voit │Louis W. Voigt │ │ │ │ │ │ 323│and ready for the occupancy of │and ready for the occupancy│ │ │ children July 1, 1910. The law │ of children July 1, 1910.│ │ │ providing for the admission of │ The law providing for │ │ │ children has never been changed │ │ │ │ and very few crippled chil- and │ │ │ │ ready for the occupancy by │ │ │ │ children July 1, 1910. The law │ │ │ │ providing for │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 324│Major W. W. Downs was the propoter │He was at │ │ │ of the association. He was at │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 458│ │CHARLES H. JOHNSON. │ │ │ │ │ │ 495│ │JOHN F. CONLON. │ │ │ │ │ │ 574│as lows: Rose M., wife of Bert │as follows: Rose M., wife │ │ │ Gilmore, │ of Bert Gilmore │ │ │ │ │ │ 674│To this union five children have │To this union five children│ │ │ been born: Myrtle Ceina, Edna │ have been born: Myrtle │ │ │ Lula, rad Voelker, a wealthy and │ Ceina, Edna Lula, good │ │ │ prominent farmer residing on one │ educations by their │ │ │ of the finest good educations by │ ambitious parents. Mrs. │ │ │ their ambitious parents. Mrs. Loyd│ Loyd is a sister of │ │ │ is a sister of Conrad Voelker, a │ Conrad Voelker, a wealthy│ │ │ wealthy and prominent farmer │ and prominent farmer │ │ │ residing on one of the finest │ residing on one of the │ │ │ │ finest │ │ │ │ │ │ 771│Her grandmother, Samuel │Her grandfather, Samuel │ └────┴────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────┘

1. Silently corrected typographical errors and also variations in spelling. 2. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.