Thomas 0. Harrington, stock raiser and farmer, of Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in Alexander county, North Carolina, on April 9, 1859. His parents were E. R. and Mary (Jones) Harrington, both natives of the Tar Heel State. The father of Thomas C. was born on October 26, 1826, and his mother was born on March 4, 1837. They were married in North Carolina in 1857, and in 1869 moved to Missouri. In April, 1870, they settled in Cherokee, Kan., where the mother died on October 13, 1871. In August, 1873, Mr. Harrington was married a second time to Miss Sallie Boyd. By the first marriage he had six children, viz.: Thomas C.; Mrs. M. G-. Kitchel, of Clearwater; Columbus C, of Ninnescah township; James W., Henry M., both of Ninnescah township, and Mrs. Ida L. Swinehart, of Norwich, Kan. By his second marriage Mr. Harrington was the father of four children, viz.: Charles A., of Oklahoma; Mrs. Laura B. Yearsin, deceased; Robert B., of Beaver county, Oklahoma, and William R., of Anthony, Kan. Mr. Harrington, Sr., came to Sedg-wick county, Kansas, in the fall of 1873, and preempted 160 acres in Section 30, Ninnescah township. He added to this until at the time of his death, in June, 1903, he owned an entire section. Thomas C. Harrington remained at his home on the farm until his marriage, which occurred on December 22, 1881. His bride was Miss Maggie E. Parker, who was born in Iowa, on April 19, 1862. One child was born of this union, Claude E., who was born on December 8, 1882. Mrs. Harrington died on February 5, 1886, and in January, 1891, Mr. Harrington married Miss Nettie King, who was born in North Carolina, in June, 1859. One child was born of this union, Charles R., born June 26, 1893. The mother died in January, 1895, and December 12, 1896, Mr. Harrington was married to Miss Nela Meadows, who was born in North Carolina, on April 28, 1878. Of this marriage there was issued four children, viz.: Henry P., born December 1, 1897; Walter C, born February 17, 1900; Zulu May, born July 31, 1908, and Arthur F., born June 8, 1902. Thomas C. Harrington bought his first farm in 1882, in Section 28, Ninnescah township, 160 acres, and he has added to it until he now owns 1,000 acres. He does general farming, with about fifty acres of alfalfa. He also raises stock, making a specialty of the Shorthorn variety of cattle, with Royal Butterfly at the head of his herd. He has a herd of seventy-five Shorthorns, and also raises feed steers for market. He also raises thoroughbred Percheron horses, having Hectolitre, an imported stallion, for a sire. Mr. Harrington is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Baptist Church. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Page 791)
George E. Harris is probably one of the best known men in the city of Wichita, Kan., which he has served officially in some of its most important offices. He is an Englishman by birth, having been born in the parish of Woking, near the city of London, England, on February 16, 1832. He came to America in 1864 and located first at Aurora, Ill. In October, 1865, he enlisted in Company I, Seventy-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was placed in charge of the general wards of the hospital. He became managing commissary, in which capacity he served until he was finally discharged. Mr. Harris is a man of liberal education and well posted on all the current events of the day. He was engaged in the mercantile business in Pana, Ill., until he moved to Kansas, in 1869, when he located at Chetopa. In 1871 he moved to Wichita. Here he took up the manufacture of soda water and was very successful in this business, selling both wholesale and retail, together with the ice business, in which he was engaged at the same time, being the only one in the business until 1886. Mr. Harris has erected two residences and a row of English flat buildings in Wichita, and has taken great pride in the growth and improvement of the city and county ever since he has been a resident. In his official life Mr. Harris has served as deputy sheriff of Sedgwick county, superintendent- of city parks for six years, appointed as city treasurer of Wichita and served from 1901 to 1909, councilman for five terms, and the third mayor of Wichita, in 1875. His business administration has given the people satisfaction, and he has built up a host of friends who have known him for many years. Despite his advanced age, Mr. Harris is a well preserved man, looking not to exceed sixty years. He was married in England, June 10, 1860, to Emma Elizabeth Lee, a daughter of John Lee. Four children have been born to them, of whom only two are now living, Ernest E. and Cecil H. Harris. Fraternally Mr. Harris is a member of the Eagles and is a thirty-second degree Mason and member of Wichita Consistory, No. 2. He is a Republican in politics and active in the interests of his party. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Page 791-792)
Sylvester Harsh, retired, of Mt. Hope, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born August 7, 1828, in Litchfield, Bradford county, Pennsylvania. His parents were Cornelius and Jerusha Harsh, both natives of the state of New Jersey. Sylvester Harsh acquired a limited education in the common schools of Bradford county, and at his majority learned the trade of a mason, at which he worked up to the time he entered the army during the Civil War. He enlisted, in 1863, in Company I, One Hundred and Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and remained in the service until the close of the war. The regiment was placed under the command of General Grant and was in the battle of City Point (Va.), in which severe engagement the ranks were decimated. After this battle the regiment participated in skirmish engagements until the close of the war. In the ranks, while on parade, Mr. Harsh received a severe injury to his hip, which compelled him to go to the hospital, where he remained in a critical condition for months. The injury necessitated a surgical operation, in 1909, which has greatly reduced his strength and has left him in a disabled condition. In 1878 Mr. Harsh removed from Pennsylvania to Russell county, Kansas, where he worked at his trade and engaged in the mercantile business. In 1905 he moved to Sedgwiek county, bought property in Mt. Hope and now lives in his comfortable home with his wife. Mr. Harsh has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Mariah Prince, to whom he was married in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, on March 6, 1852. Five children were born of this union, of whom two are now living, viz.: Charles, who lives in Reno county, Kansas, and Flora, who is married to a Mr. Crawford and lives next door to her father. She has two children. Mr. Harsh was again married, to Mrs. Mary B. Stacy, a widow, whose maiden name was Sergeant, and whose parents were natives of England. No children have been born of this second marriage. Mr. Harsh is a devoted and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For over thirty-five years he was superintendent of the Sunday school and for over twenty-five years a class leader. He has been strongly identified with the temperance party and is looked upon in the community as an upright and exemplary citizen. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 792-793)
Hon. Rodolph Hatfield, attorney at law, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Buckeye state, having been born at London, Madison county, Ohio, October 6, 1854. He is a son of Renssalaer R.and Eliza Ann (Coultas) Hatfield, and the eldest of the family of six living sons and two living daughters. His father was a native of Indiana and his mother a native of Ohio. "'
The parents were married in Ohio in 1852, and in 1859 set their faces westward for life's betterment, and settled in Logan county, Illinois, where they purchased a farm and engaged in Agriculture, remaining there till 1877, when they again took the pioneer fever and removed to a farm which they purchased in Grant township, Sedgwiek county, Kansas. They resided upon said farm till about 1893, when they sold out and moved to Wichita and there continued to reside till the death of the father, April 13, 1903. The mother still survives (1910) and enjoys a reasonably healthy and happy time in her declining years. The subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools of Logan county, Illinois, completing same in Lincoln University, from which he graduated with degree of Ph. B. in June, 1876.
The circumstances of his entering college are interesting. When a lad of fourteen, he was called as a witness to testify in a case of assault and battery against his teacher for whipping a grown-up pupil. The court proceedings greatly interested young Hatfield and he then and there determined to become a lawyer, and on his way home from the trial so announced to his father, who had already planned that he should be a farmer. However, when the father saw with what avidity his son acquired knowledge from the meager stores and sources of a farm home, making the most of every opportunity to fit himself for his chosen calling, he promised to send him to college, if he accomplished an assigned task of farm work in raising crops and mastered his teacher in mathematics the ensuing winter. By studying hard during the summer, when the farm help was asleep, on rainy days and at every spare moment in a busy time of the work on the farm, he succeeded, as foreman of the farm, in raising the crops, and by dint of closely applied study, soon had a statement from his teacher that he had led him in arithmetic as far as he could. He has often declared the time he received his longed-for and hard-earned permission to attend college, when his tasks were performed on the farm and in the country school, the proudest achievement of his life.
Soon after entering college, he became aggressive and audacious in debate, quickly discerning the weak places in his opponent's arguments, studying public questions with enthusiasm, and recognized by his associates as a fit representative of his college in the literary contests of his school, in which he came off victor and bearing the honors always, with one exception. His eloquence and force of expression were then, and are now, directed to men's understanding, rather than their imagination or passions, though he possesses much imaginative power and vividly portrays, divining the thoughts and purposes of his hearers.
Mr. Hatfield's characteristic strenuous efforts to enter college and acquire an education have marked his entire life, so that whatever is undertaken by him is given vigorous and intelligent attention. In appearance, he is prepossessing, with an unusually musical and vibrant voice which attracts and holds the attention of an audience. In conversation, he is brilliant and versatile, his range of reading being very wide and comprehensive, and his mind concerns itself with an almost infinite variety of topics, as he possesses one of the best selected private libraries in the Southwest and is never more at home than when consulting it. In disposition, Mr. Hatfield is noble and generous, with an exuberance of vitality. His presence is distinguished, his manners winning and affable, impressing those with whom he comes in contact as possessing a kindly individual interest and sympathy, which insure him a general welcome and render him, recognizedly in Wichita, as the most ready and available emergency speaker for all classes of occasions, calling for discussion of political issues, educational addresses, convention welcoming addresses, or banquet responses and toasts.
Mr. Hatfield began the study of the law first in the Wesleyan University, of Bloomington, Ill., law department, completing same in the law offices of Hoblit and Poley, of Lincoln, HI., and receiving admission to the bar before the Supreme Court of Illinois in June, 1878.
In July, 1878, Mr. Hatfield went to Trinidad, Col., where he first swung his law sign to the breeze and began the practice of his chosen profession. Having been reared in an agricultural country, and in the midst of Republican associates, he was not pleased with the barrenness and Democratic majorities of southern Colorado, and removed from there to Wichita in September, 1879, opening his law offices in Wichita January 20, 1880, where he has since resided. While Mr. Hatfield has engaged in the general practice of the law, he has specialized in corporation practice, in which he is considered an accepted authority.
Mr. Hatfield's first law co-partnership in Wichita was with Noah Allen, now United States attorney for Southern District of Texas, but did not continue the said partnership for more than a few months, dissolving same and remaining alone till November 20, 1884, when he formed a co-partnership with Hon. 0. H. Bent-ley, which still continues, and is said to be the oldest continuous law co-partnership now in the state of Kansas.
Mr. Hatfield has always been a student of public questions and has held many positions of honor and trust in Kansas, being returned to some of them many times, showing popular confidence in his ability and integrity. In November, 1884, he was elected to the Kansas house of representatives, and re-elected to same position in 1886. In the session of 1887, he lacked only five or six votes of being elected to the speakership of the house, and failed only because he steadfastly refused to yield to the political demands of the railroad companies, then dominant in Kansas politics. In 1889 he was appointed by Governor Humphrey a regent to the Kansas State Normal School, at Emporia, serving-as the president of the regency for his full term of four years. Though not an avowed candidate, nor making any personal effort^ the press of Kansas, in 1892-93, very generally mentioned and advocated the election of Mr. Hatfield to the United States senate. In 1898, he was elected a member of the board of education of the city of "Wichita, serving thereon for five consecutive terms of two years each, being elected by said board as its president for five consecutive terms of one year each, and until his retirement therefrom.
On June 17, 1878, Mr. Hatfield was united in marriage with Hattie E. Harts, who was an associate graduate with him in the university, born near Reading, Pa., March 23, 1855, a daughter of John and Raehael (Minsker) Harts, both natives of Pennsylvania. By this marriage six children were born: Rodolph H., of Chicago; Merle E., of Denver; Herbert H., of Wichita; Paul C.,. of Chicago; Rachel N., of Wichita, and Kenneth E., of Wichita. Mrs. Hatfield, the mother of said children, departed this life January 19, 1906.
January 4, 1910, Mr. Hatfield was united in marriage to Mrs. Allie M. Morehead, who was born at Marion, Linn county, Iowa, September 29, 1867, a daughter and eldest child of John and Charlotte (Miller) Fitch, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter a native of Iowa. Both are living, and in health, though the father served his country in the War of the Rebellion as a member of an Iowa regiment.
Mrs. Hatfield has been a respected resident and efficient educator of the city of Wichita since 1887; is the mother of an only child and son, Howard L. Morehead, residing at Wichita, by her first marriage. Mrs. Hatfield is very well and favorably known in Wichita, having been principal of one of the public schools of the city for several years prior to her marriage to Mr. Hatfield.
Fraternally Mr. Hatfield is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has filled all the chairs of the subordinate lodge of that order. Also of the Modern Woodmen of America, having likewise filled all the chairs of the local camp of that order. Also of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the Knights and Ladies of Security. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church of Wichita, is an elder of said denomination, has served some thirty years as superintendent of Sabbath schools in said denomination, and was a commissioner to the general assembly of the church at Saratoga, N. Y., in 1896. In politics Mr. Hatfield is and always has been a Republican. By reason of his active participation in the state campaigns and in delivering many educational lectures, he has a very wide acquaintance in Kansas. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 793-797)
Clarence A. Hattan, secretary of the Wichita Supply Company, and one of .its organizers, is a native of Indiana, where he was born in the town of Charleston in 1868. His parents were D. H. and Margaret J. (Walker) Hattan, natives of Indiana, who left that state and came to Kansas in 1870, locating at first in Butler county, from whence they removed in 1880 to Sedgwick county. Both are now deceased. Clarence A. Hattan was educated in the public schools and early learned the printers' trade, which he followed in Wichita for fifteen years. He then engaged in the hardware and implement business in Mt. Hope, Kansas, which he continued until 1900, when he returned to Wichita and engaged in the harness and hardware business until 1907, when he became interested in the organization of the Wichita Supply Company, which handles machinery supplies, gasoline engines, etc. The officers of the company are as follows: Charles Waltercheid, president; Daniel Martin, vice president; C. A. Hattan, secretary; E. R. DeYoe, treasurer. Mr. Hattan was married on December 30, 1908, to Miss Cora A. West, of Wichita. Fraternally Mr. Hattan is a member of the Masonic lodge. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Page 797)
Edward J. Healy, head of the firm of E. J. Healy & Co., livestock commission merchants at the Wichita stock yards, bears the distinction of being the pioneer stoekdealer of Wichita and of Sedgwick county. Mr. Healy is a native of the state of Daniel Boone, having been born in Woodford county, Kentucky, on July 6, 1851. His parents were J. P. and Elizabeth (Drew) Healy, who were natives of Ireland, and who came to Kentucky in 1848. Here the elder Healy engaged in business as a contractor, but removed to Illinois in 1855, and later to Kansas, where he settled in Brown county. Both the parents of Mr. Healy are now dead. Edward J. Healy acquired his education in the public schools of Mt. Sterling, Ill., and after leaving school became engaged in farming-and stock raising, which he prosecuted successfully until 1886, when he decided that Kansas offered a larger field for his efforts. On leaving Illinois he chose Wichita as his location, and at first engaged in the real estate business, which he conducted with success for the next three years. In 1889 Mr: Healy decided that the livestock commission business offered a larger field for hi& activities. Wichita was growing and the cattle business was an important factor in the city's trade. He was one of the pioneer dealers of the Wichita stock yards, and became successful from the very start. He has now the largest business of the kind in the city of Wichita. In addition to his livestock business Mr. Healy is treasurer of the Wichita Livestock Exchange, a position which he has held since 1889, and is also a large stockholder in the Union National Stock Yards Bank, of Wichita. Mr. Healy was married in June, 1881, to Miss Alicia Fitzsimon, of Mt. Sterling, Ill. From this union there have been seven children, viz. r Mary E., wife of Albert Ford; Ida, John P., Edward J., Jr., Alicia, Emmet T. and George Healy. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 797-798)
David Heenan, of Wichita, Kan., is a good type of the resourceful class of Irishmen who come to America and achieve independence with no capital but their brains and industry. Mr. Heenan was born August 15, 1868, in Belfast, Ireland, his father being David Heenan, a native of the green isle. After acquiring a rudimentary education in the old country Mr. Heenan came to America in 1889. He stopped at Kansas City, Mo., for a short time, but left that city and came to Wichita the same year, where he has ever since resided. The essential characteristics of Mr. Heenan are energy, pluck and perseverance. He has taken a full hand in connecting himself with and organizing some of the leading enterprises of the city of Wichita, and while possessing some of the peculiar traits of the Irishman, has shown good judgment and a high degree of business efficiency in all of his endeavors. He began his business career in Wichita as correspondent for J. W. Hawn, and in 1892 formed a partnership with E. K. Nevling under the style of the Nevling Grain Company. He afterwards, in 1899, took a prominent part in the organization of the Nevling Elevator Company, and became secretary and treasurer of the company. Later on be formed a partnership with J. Sidney Smith under the name of David Heenan & Co., and this firm is now doing business in Wichita. Mr. Heenan has been secretary and president of the board of trade and is now a director in the same.
He was the organizer of the clearing house and a director of the Clearing House Association. Mr. Heenan is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of Albert Pike Lodge of Wichita. In politics he has not identified himself with either of the two great parties, preferring to remain an independent and vote as judgment dictates. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 798-799)
Louis Helmken, proprietor of the Model Grocery and Market, No. 1043 St. Lawrence avenue, Wichita, Kan., is a native of Germany, having been born near Bremen on March 18, 1869. His parents were George and Meta (Murhen) Helmken, natives of Germany, where the elder Helmken was a farmer, and the family had resided on the same farm, located near Bremen, for about three centuries. The elder Helmken died in 1870 when but thirty-eight years old, at which time Louis Helmken was only one year of age. His widow is still living. Louis Helmken was one of a family of six boys, all of whom are living. He was educated in the country schools of his native country and left home in 1885 and came to the United States, locating in the city of New York, where he served an apprenticeship in the grocery business. Five years later he moved to Chicago and for a couple of years clerked in grocery stores. In 1892 he opened up in the grocery business for himself, and in 1896 found himself without a penny. He again began as a clerk, and in 1900 began again for himself with a small capital, and in four years' time had a chain of stores on the south side of Chicago, all paying well and employing a large number of salesmen and delivery employes. In 1905 he sold all his mercantile interests in Chicago and removed to Oklahoma. There he organized a company to build a large cement mill with $150,000 capital, of which he was president and manager for three years. Then he sold his interest and came to Wichita and bought the Cottage Grocery on South Topeka avenue, and after two years bought the store at his present location of W. H. Shoemaker, removed the old building, and by August, 1909, had completed his present building, the only one in Wichita built expressly for the business, and which represents an investment of $25,000. The store is a model of its kind, and is equipped with every modern appliance and sanitary device and convenience known to the retail grocery business. Mr. Helmken does a strictly cash business and has a force of ten employes in the carefully-kept hygienically clean and finely-managed food emporium. Neatness, cleanliness, pure, fresh stocks of goods, courteous, obliging manners of proprietors and employes, all have united to make this store a model one, a credit to the genius of the owner and to the advantage of the large patronage he enjoys. Mr. Helmken is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Shrine and of the Woodmen of the World. He is the president of the Wichita Grocers' Association and a member of St. Paul's Evangelical Church. He was married on September 23, 1900, to Miss Emelie Golk, of Chicago. Of this union five children have been born, viz.: Meta, Elnora, Martha, Louisa and Louis, Jr., the latter being deceased. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 799-800)
Richard Heinig, of Goddard, Kan., is a native of Germany, where he was born on February 26, 1868. His father was Gottlieb Heinig, a native of Germany. His parents immigrated from Germany to the United States in 1870 and located in Orange, N. J., where they remained four years. In 1874 they came west and located permanently in Sedgwick county, Kansas, where the father bought a quarter-section of land in Attica township, and before his death added two other quarter-sections. He died January 16,1905. In religious belief he was a Lutheran, and in political belief a life-long Republican. His wife died June 10, 1889. Mr. Heinig, Sr., served in the German army eight years. He had a family of nine children, seven of whom are now living, viz.: Richard, the oldest child; Rosa M., born February 21, 1870; William T., born October 1, 1871; Anna, born August 17, 1874; Mary, deceased; Charles, deceased; George O., born September 14, 1881; G. Arthur, born October 26, 1883; Alfred T., born May 1, 1886. Richard was seven years old when he came west with his parents to Kansas. He received a common school education in Sedgwick county and remained with his parents on the home farm until he was twenty-seven years old. At that time he rented land of his father up to the time of the latter 's death. After that he bought the interests of the heirs to the home place of 160 acres in Section 27, Attica township, and is now residing there. He is a bachelor, a public-spirited citizen, and fraternally is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows' Lodge No. 266, the Knights of Pythias and Rebecca Lodge No. 78 of Goddard, Kan., and the Warrick Lodge No. 44 at Wichita, Kan. In politics Mr. Heinig is a Republican, and a director in the Goddard State Bank. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Page 800)
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