Butler County Genealogy Trails Kansas Isaac Howard Neiman Bio

BUTLER COUNTY'S EIGHTY YEARS BIOS

ISAAC HOWARD NEIMAN

(Transcribed by Peggy Luce)

Isaac Howard Neiman, retired business executive, financier and Kansas pioneer of distinguished record, was born in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, on April 22, 1846.

As a youth in his early twenties, he came to Kansas in 1869, with his brother, George Peter Neiman, as a partner. They drove a covered wagon into the then trackless prairies and he became the first settler in Harvey County. He and his brother moved in a few months into Butler County, where they built a log house on the present site of Whitewater. The city grew up around them, and Mr. Neiman became one of the leaders of the community from its start.

When the McLain bank, known as the Whitewater State bank, failed, he was the largest stockholder and consequently the heaviest loser. He and his brother George, together with J. C. Kirkwood and R. G. Kirkwood, reorganized the bank. Mr. Neiman served as president of the institution for thirty years, retiring from business ten years ago.

Mr. Neiman was the first postmaster of Whitewater, being appointed by President Grover Cleveland in 1887. The founding of schools, churches, business and all other items of civic advancement found in him a friendly and industrious supporter. He was not an active member of any church denomination, but support the Reformed and later the Federal Church at Whitewater. Politically he is an ardent Democrat.

Both in pursuit of his business and as an enthusiastic student of world affairs, Mr. Neiman has traveled extensively. His last trip was with Mrs. Neiman to California, where they attended the national meeting of the American Bankers Association.

On June 30, 1896, he was married to Miss Katherine Belle Fenley, at Holton, Kansas.

Mrs. Neiman has been outstanding in church, civic, social and charitable activities. She was born in Nebraska City,Nebraska in 1864, and in 1867 came with her parents, William H. and Elizabeth Margaret (Ford) Fenley, to Highland , Kansas. Her father was of Scottish descent and her mother of the old American Ford family from which Henry Ford is descended.

Mrs. Neiman was for seven years chairman of the Whitewater Branch of the Needlework Guild of America. She and Mrs. Frank H. Cron organized this branch and she resigned the chairmanship last year. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church but, as she found no church of that denomination in Whitewater, she attends the Federated Church. She and Mr. Neiman presented a handsome pipe organ to this church in 1930.

By ancestry Mrs. Neiman is intensely and patriotically American. Her maternal great-grandfather, William Ford of North Carolina, served on the side of the colonies in the Revolutionary War. A later ancestor on her father’s side served in the War of 1812, and her father served in the Mexican War. She is a member of Eunice Sterling Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution,Wichita, and an interested student of American history and patriotism.

She is also chairman of the finance committee of the Whitewater Library Association, which was founded by Mrs. James A. Thompson. She was first chairman of the Whitewater Branch of the Butler County Chapter of the Red Cross during the World War, successfully heading two campaigns for funds. Mrs. Neiman devoted long hours to knitting sweaters, socks and other garments for the veterans. She and Mrs. L. M. Pace founded the Whitewater Tuesday Study Club eleven years ago and Mrs. Neiman was its first president. An outstanding activity of this organization is the scholarship loan it sponsors annually.

The Neimans live in a stately, spacious home, built in 1896, on South Main street of Whitewater. They have no children, but a niece, Miss Margaret Fenley, and Miss Gertrude Kelly, made their home with Mr. and Mrs. Neiman before their marriages.

Although retired from active business, Mr. Neiman remains alert, greatly interested in world affairs and civic and social events. From his youth he has made a hobby of chess and is outstanding in the sport, with a long string of victories. The late Judge Cyrus Leland of El Dorado and Mr. Neiman were friendly rivals over the chessboard.

Mr. Neiman is the son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Schwartz) Neiman of Pennsylvania, both of German descent. As a boy he went with his parents to Tipton,Cedar County,Iowa, where he attended public schools. He has two brothers, Arthur L. and Charles A. Neiman, and a sister, Mrs. J. D. Joseph, all of Whitewater.