Biographies of Wyandotte County, Kansas

WYANDOTTE COUNTY, KANSAS

BIOGRAPHIES

GREEN, CHARLES W.

Enterprising, energetic and progressive, Charles W. Green holds a place of prominence and influence among the leading citizens of Wyandotte county, having filled many public offices of importance, and was one of the city commissioners of Kansas City, Kansas, until April 7, 1911. A son of Charles Green, he was born July 1, 1868, in Greene county, New York, in the very house in which his great-grandfather, August Mygatt, first drew the breath of life. He comes from honored English ancestry on both sides of the house, on the maternal side tracing his lineage back to John Mygatt, the founder of the city of Hartford, Conn.

Born in Greene county, New York, in 1842, Charles Green there grew to manhood. At Kingston, New York, in 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, and served with his regiment until the close of the war, being discharged in 1865. He was at the front in various hotly-contested battles, including the engagements at Port Hudson, Mississippi; was with Nathaniel P. Banks on the Red River expedition; and took part in the famous Sheridan campaign. For many years he was actively and prosperously engaged in agricultural pursuits, but is now living retired in New York state, near Catskill. His wife, whose maiden name was Avesta Wright, was born in Greene county, New York, in 1849, and died in 1904. Three children were born to them, namely: Charles W., Elnora and Herbert.

Alter leaving the public schools of his native county, Charles W. Green attended the Greenville Academy, completing his early education at Eastman's Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He subsequently worked a while in a grocery, later becoming a clerk in a real estate and insurance office. In 1891, following the advice given years before by a man of note, he went west, locating at Durango, Colorado, where he was employed for nearly two years with a smelting company. Coming to Argentine, Wyandotte county, Kansas, in the spring of 1893, Mr. Green secured a position with the Consolidated Kansas Smelting and Refining Company, and until June, 1895, had charge of its copper department. He afterward engaged in mercantile pursuits, having a grocery and meat market for a time. In 1907 he was made vice president of the First State Bank of Argentine, and on January 1, 1911, was elected its president, a position which he is ably filling.

Mr. Green is likewise associated with many of the foremost enterprises of Argentine. He is interested in the Kansas Structural Steel Company; was one of the organizers of the Argentine Building and Loan Association, of which he was secretary and treasurer until 1910, when he resigned to accept the office of city commissioner; he was also one of the organizers of the Argentine Land Company, of which he is now a director, and was its secretary until September, 1910.
Mr. Green has held many public offices of note, and has invariably filled them with credit to himself and to the honor of his constituents. In 1897 he was elected alderman from the Second ward of Argentine; in 1899 he was chosen as mayor of Argentine; and was re-elected to the mayor's chair in 1901, 1907 and 1909. Subsequently, after Argentine became a part of Kansas City, Kansas, Mr. Green was appointed to the City Council from ward seven by Mayor U. S. Guyer, and served until April, 1901, when he was elected city commissioner and put in charge of the financial department.

Politically Mr. Green is a sound Democrat and a zealous supporter of his party. Fraternally he is a member of Wyandotte Lodge, No. 440 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, past noble grand of Veritas Lodge, No. 247, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is connected with other beneficial organizations.
Mr. Green married, January 19, 1895, Clara Long, who was born in Springfield, Greene county, Missouri, being the oldest child and the only one now living of Jacob and Sarah Long. Her father a native of Germany, was for many years a merchant tailor in Springfield, Missouri, where he spent his last years. Her mother, however, was born and reared in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Green have one child, Grace Green, a pupil in the Argentine High School. (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Pages 641-643)

LAVERIE, WILLIAM

An essentially prominent and influential citizen of the younger generation in Quindaro township, Wyandotte county, Kansas, is William Laverie, who is most successfully engaged in the dairy business in this section of the state. Mr. Laverie was born in Wyandotte township, this county, the date of his nativity being the 4th of October, 1888. He is a son of William and Jennie (Coppway) Laverie, both of whom were born and reared in the state of New York, whence they came to Kansas at a early date. The father was identified with the great basic industry of agriculture during the greater part of his active career and he is now living in virtual retirement in Wyandotte township. Mr. and Mrs. Laverie became the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this review was the last in order of birth.
William Laverie, of this notice, was reared to the invigorating discipline of the old homestead farm, in the work and management of which he early became associated with his father. His rudimentary educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the neighboring district schools and as a young man he became interested in the dairy business. In January, 1910, he opened a dairy of his own and subsequently he purchased the Mendenhall dairy, which consisted of nine cows. At the present time, in 1911, Mr. Laverie owns thirty cows and he distributes about fifteen gallons of bulk or can milk, in addition to which he handles some seventy-five gallons of milk and cream.

He has a modern milking barn that holds twenty-four head of cattle and he has a separate bottling house, which is well equipped with modern bottling machinery of every description. He attends personally to the distribution of his milk and superintends the whole business himself. He is possessed of splendid executive ability and bids fair to become one of the most successful business men in this part of the state. In politics he accords a stalwart allegiance to the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor and while he has neither time nor ambition for political office of any description he is deeply and sincerely interested in community affairs and does all in his power to advance the best interests of Wyandotte county at large.

In 1908 Mr. Laverie was united in marriage to Miss Anna Isenberg, who was born in Wyandotte county, Kansas, and who is a daughter of August Isenberg, a prominent resident of Quindaro township. Mr. and Mrs. Laverie have one child, Imogene, born on the 8th of April, 1911. They are held in high esteem by their fellow citizens, who honor them for their sterling worth and integrity. (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Page 643)

MALONEY, THOMAS

Among the Kansas pioneers-men of strength and daring and integrity-who in the early days subdued the splendid untamed acres and blazed the trail for latter-day civilization, was Thomas Maloney, a native of Ireland, whose memory is still held dear in the hearts of those who knew him. He was born in County Clare, Ireland, in 1808, and came to America when twenty-five years of age, in search of the wider independence and opportunity of the new world -the land of promise-as it appears to the foreigner. After landing he located for a time in the great city in which he had first put foot, New York, and he then went to New Orleans. In that southern city he married Margaret Shea and came to Wyandotte county in 1863, when the Civil war was in progress. He located on the Mary Walker place where the water works plant is now situated and rented here for four years. Desiring to be more independent he bought thirty acres from the Indians, all of this being in a wild and uncultivated state. There was a log house built by the Indians upon this land and Mr. Maloney had to cut through the thick brush to get into the house. Then the timber was so thick upon his place that upon one occasion he got lost upon it when hunting the cows.

With courageous determination he set to work single handed to clear the tract and here met with success in his operations. In 1888 he built a more modern home, after removing the structure built by the Indians in which his children had been reared. His devoted wife and helpmeet was taken from him in 1889 at the age of sixty-eight years and is buried in the St. Johns cemetery, where now beside her rests her husband. He lived to a great old age, being ninety-five years old when summoned to the Great Beyond, the year of his demise being 1903.

To the union of Thomas Maloney and his good wife were born three children, as follows: Mary Ann, now Mrs. Hugh Brougham, born October 23, 1851, and living on Parallel road; Joseph A., born March 23, 1858, an electrical engineer now residing in Mobile, Alabama; and Matilda Agnes, born October 30, 1861. These children attended the district school, with the exception of Mary who was educated in Kansas City, Kansas.

The daughter Matilda is the sole owner of the old home and she i& still living upon it. It also includes eighteen and one-half acres, bought subsequent to the original tract. The farm is in grass and alfalfa and is well located and valuable.

Joseph A. Maloney was one of the organizers of the horse league that put a quietus on the horse thieves in this part of the country in the early days. A Democrat in politics and a Catholic in religious belief, he was one of the charter members and organizers of St. Mary's church, now the parish of Father Anthony Kuhl. (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Page 644)

CLAFLIN, OLIVER Q.

As one of the representative younger members of the bar of Wyandotte county Mr. Claflin is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in Kansas City, where he is junior member of the firm of McFadden & Claflin. Further consistency is given to according him recognition in this publication by reason of the fact that he is a native son of the Sunflower state, with whose history the family name has been identified for more than two score years.

Oliver Q. Claflin was born at Chanute, Neosho county, Kansas, on the 4th of July, 1882, and is a son of Otis Quincy Claflin and Mary Jane (Blair) Claflin, the former of whom was born in the state of Massachusetts, a scion of one of the sterling old families of New England, and the latter of whom was born in the province of Ontario, Canada. The father served as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, as a member of a New York regiment, and soon after the close of the great conflict he came to Kansas and located at Dodge City, whence he later removed to Chanute, where he was a prominent business man and influential citizen for many years. About the year 1886 he removed with his family to Kansas City, this state, where he has since been successfully engaged in the drug business, save for an interim of about two years. He is one of the loyal and progressive citizens of the metropolis of Wyandotte county, is a stanch Republican in his political proclivities, and is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and other civic organizations.

Oliver Quincy Claflin, the immediate subject of this review, was about four years of age at the time of the family's removal to Kansas City, and he was reared to maturity in the village of Armourdale, which is now an integral part of the city. He duly availed himself of the advantages of the excellent public schools and after attending the Armourdale high school for three years he entered the Central High School of Kansas City, Missouri, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891. His next step in educational work was to enter the department of pharmacy in the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, and he was graduated in this department. He had, however, formulated plans for following a different vocation than that in which his father was and is engaged, and accordingly he entered the law department of the university, in which he completed the prescribed technical course and was graduated in 1905, with the well earned degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was simultaneously admitted to the bar of his native state and in the same year he entered upon his practical novitiate in the practice of his profession, in Kansas City, Kansas, where he was associated with Thomas A. Pollock for one year, at the expiration of which he became similarly identified with the well known firm of McFadden & Morris. Upon the death of Mr. Mofris, in 1908, he formed a partnership alliance with the elder McFadden the senior member of the original firm, and since that time he has continued in the successful work of his profession as junior member of the firm of McFadden & Claflin, which controls a substantial practice of representative order. Mr. Claflin has already fortified his professional reputation through a number of most important forensic victories and he has been identified with a large amount of litigation within the period of his active work as an attorney and counselor. A young man of vigor and industrious habits and one who is thoroughly en rapport with his chosen vocation, his success has been cumulative and represents the direct result of the application of his talents and energies. Mr. Claflin accords an unwavering allegiance to the Republican party and in the time honored Masonic fraternity he has advanced through the various orders until he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He is also identified with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and both he and his wife are popular factors in connection with the social activities of their home city.

In the year 1909 Mr. Claflin wedded Miss Dora Monahan, daughter of Andrew J. Monahan, a well known citizen of Kansas City. (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Pages 644-646)

PHELPS, FRANK N.

One of the most energetic and progressive business men of Kansas City, Missouri, Frank N. Phelps, treasurer of the Phelps Stone and Supply Company, of which he was practically the originator, has contributed appreciably towards the advancement of the industrial interests of this section of Wyandotte county, and won for himself an assured position in business circles. The only living son of the late James Carlin Turner Phelps, he was born December 10, 1857, in Polo, Ogle county, Illinois, of pioneer ancestry. His grandfather, John Phelps, married, March 14, 1816, in Tennessee, Sarah Rogan Carlin, and in 1819 moved with his family to Illinois, becoming one of the original householders of Oregon, Ogle county, and an important factor in its settlement.

Born at Lebanon, Tennessee, June 17, 1818, James C. T. Phelps was but a year old when his parents located in Illinois. He grew up amid pioneer scenes and was a grown man before he had any educational advantages. At that time Governor Ford, then a young attorney but afterward governor of the state, became an inmate of the Phelps household, and during the long winter evenings taught James *the fundamental studies and conditions of the day. When twenty-five years old, or thereabouts, James C. T. Phelps began life on his own account, forming a partnership with his brother-in-law and opening a general store in Polo, Illinois, becoming head of the firm of Phelps & Johnson. Succeeding even beyond their most sanguine expectations, this enterprising firm subsequently established and operated many other business propositions, among others opening three .stores in Texas, and at Austin they owned a very fine business block, Mr. Johnston having charge of the stores in the south, while the senior partner superintended the management of those in the north, having his headquarters in Polo. The firm also had other interests of importance, carrying on banking and operating large grain elevators in Illinois. During the thirty years this company was in business it accumulated extensive holdings in town and city property and in wild lands, and on the dissolution of the firm each member received property of great value. On retiring from mercantile pursuits, he was persuaded by his son, Prank N. Phelps, to move to Kansas City, Missouri, to live, and in the beautiful twenty thousand dollar home which he built on Graystone Heights he spent his last days, passing away December 24, 1895. Fraternally he stood high in the Masonic order, and in his religious beliefs he was a Unitarian.

James C. T. Phelps married December 21, 1847, Anna E. Swingley, who was born in Maryland, a daughter of Captain Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Sharer) Swingley, and to them ten children were born. The death of the mother of these children occurred January 17, 1896, and both she and her husband are buried in Kansas City, Missouri, in that beautiful "city of the dead," Elmwood Cemetery.

Having obtained his elementary education in the public schools of Ogle county, Illinois, Prank N. Phelps continued his studies at the Rock River Seminary, in Mount Morris, Illinois, after which he studied pharmacy at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and attended the School of Mines, although, on account of his health, he did not complete the course. A year or two after attaining his majority, he planned to embark in business with his father, and the two prospected in different parts of the west, seeking a favorable location, finally deciding to settle in Wellington, Kansas. Unable, however, to make satisfactory arrangements in regard to renting a business place, the son proceeded in the fall of 1880, to Kansas City, Missouri, where he located permanently. Mr. Phelps soon followed. On coming to this city Prank N. Phelps bought a half interest in a shoe factory, becoming head of the firm of Phelps & Hahn. A year later, on June 17, 1882, a disasterous cyclone swept through this part of the country and completely wiped away his manufacturing plant. The firm made another brave start, but soon after sold all of its machinery and equipments to a Fort Leavenworth shoe manufacturer.

Mr. Phelps then embarked in the wholesale fruit and commission business in Kansas City, Missouri, for two years being associated with the firm of Blossom & Phelps. Selling out then, he was for a year in the produce commission business as senior member of the firm of Phelps & Smeltzer, selling out at the end of twelve months to his partner, who later acquired fame as the "Celery King" of the great west. Mr. Phelps was afterward engaged in handling real estate and all kinds of tax securities, carrying on a substantial business until after the death of his parents.

Mr. Phelps having originated the idea of forming a stone and supply company, formed a corporation with his five sisters, Mrs. Ella L. Fridley, Mrs. Effie L. Hoover, Mrs. Ada C. Gushing, Mrs. Anna M. Wood and Mrs. Gertrude P. Hunie, and Mr. B. C. Beed, the only person outside of the Phelps family, and was instrumental in organizing the Phelps Stone & Supply Company, locating the plant at the state line, near Rosedale. The company was incorporated September 22, 1904, with a capital of $45,000, which has since been increased to $67,000, the officers being as follows: Frank K. Hoover, president; W. E. Cushing, vice president and secretary; Frank N. Phelps, treasurer ; and Harry J. Nicholas, of whom a brief sketch appears elsewhere in this volume, manager.

This company at first bought thirteen and one-half acres of land on the hill adjoining the Dietz Hill, the place being now known as Gray-stone Heights, but adjacent land has since been purchased, its acreage now being twenty-one acres. An extensive and profitable business has been built up by the company, its crushing stone plant having a capacity of three hundred cubic yards per day, and its actual output for the year 1910 was, approximately, forty thousand cubic yards of crushed stone, which was delivered as per contract. In carrying on this work the firm employs on an average forty teams and forty-five men at the plant, the business being transacted at the office, which is located on the property.

The part of the country in which Mr. Phelps lives was formerly the happy hunting ground of the Indians, the tribe of Wyandots, thousands in numbers having their villages, made of tepees, on the present site of the village of Kansas City, Kansas. A short distance from the home of Mr. Phelps, on the hill lying on the Kansas City, Missouri, line, the American Fur Trading Company located its post, having a stockade and a log fort. It was illegal to sell liquor to the Indians, but ways were then found, even as now, to evade the law, a post being set in the ground and on that a pole was so inverted that it would revolve. The Indian desirous of obtaining liquor would tie his skins on one end of the pole, while the traders tied the liquor to the other end, and as the pole swung around the articles were exchanged. In excavating for the Phelps residence the workmen found the grave of an old Indian chief, who had been buried there, surrounded by his implements of war.

Many years ago James C. T. Phelps purchased a stock of goods in his native home state, Illinois, took them down the Mississippi and up the Missouri river to Weston, Missouri, which was a great stocking place for the prairie schooner trains taking loads of emigrants overland to the California gold fields. He made money in the venture, but did not return with a second stock. For many generations this branch of the Phelps family has been prominent wherever located. As a pioneer of northern Illinois, John Phelps, grandfather of Prank N., did much towards the settlement of Ogle county, and had the distinction of having laid out the beautiful little city of Oregon. The family is an old and honored one, a genealogical record published within a few years giving its history back to the eleventh century.

Frank N. Phelps married, in Logan, Iowa, September 8, 1897, Eleanor W. Wood, who was born in Magnolia, Iowa, a daughter of John and Eliza (Hopkins) Wood. Mr. and Mrs. Phelps have one child, Frank N. Phelps, Jr., whose birth occurred March 22, 1906. (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Pages 646-648)

HOLLINGSWORTH, FRANK

A man of much business energy and tact, Prank Hollingsworth is closely identified with the advancement of the mercantile prosperity of Wyandotte county, having a finely equipped and well stocked grocery in Kansas City, Kansas, at No. 726 Shawnee Road. He was born, February 18, 1862, in Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, coming on the paternal side of Quaker stock, his immigrant ancestor having come to America with William Penn.

His father, Milton Hollingsworth, was a man of talent and culture, and for several years was engaged in professional work in Indiana and Ohio, teaching in some of the leading educational institutions of those states. He also founded the Hollingsworth College, at Williamsburg, Indiana, and also established several M. Hollingsworth commercial colleges, having seven in operation at one time in Indiana and Ohio. He died while yet in manhood's prime, in 1871, aged forty-seven years, his body being laid to rest in the cemetery at Richmond, Indiana. He married Susan Pallis, who died in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1907, and was buried beside her husband, in Richmond, Indiana. Eight children were born of their union, namely: Clarence, deceased; Inez, deceased; Ona, deceased; Arabelle, deceased; Martha, deceased; Prank, the special subject of this brief biographical sketch; Ellwood, deceased ; and Milton, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri, at the corner of Seventy-fifth and Holmes streets, and owns property on the Shawnee Road.

Brought up and educated in Indiana, Frank Hollingsworth remained a resident of his native state until 1884, when he located in Wyandotte county, Kansas, which has since been his home. He was for a number of years in the dairy business, his mother living with him until her death. Soon after coming to Wyandotte county, Mr. Hollingsworth bought a large lot of land, two hundred feet deep, with a frontage of two hundred and twenty-five feet. He subsequently sold a piece of it, ninety-two and one-half feet front, and the full depth. In 1911 he erected his present store building on the remaining part of his land, and is now prosperously engaged in the retail grocery business, carrying in stock everything in that line demanded by a first class patronage.

Mr. Hollingsworth is a steadfast Republican in politics, and has served as school director, and for many terms, before his district was made a part of Kansas City, was district clerk, and when the district was annexed he was the Republican nominee for clerk of Shawnee township. Mr. Hollingsworth is still unmarried. (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Pages 648-649)

HURRELBRINK, WILLIAM

The agricultural interests of Wyandotte county, Kansas, have a thrifty representative in the German-American farmer, William Hurrelbrink, who operates a truck garden and farm near Bethel.

Mr. Hurrelbrink was born in Germany, March 18, 1852, one of the family of eight children of Frederick and Annie (Meyer) Hurrelbrink, both natives of Germany, where they passed their lives and died. The father was a farmer by occupation, and at the time of his death was eighty-six years old. William grew up on his father's farm; received the usual common school education, and, according to the requirements of the country, served three years in the army. In 1880 he came to America, and direct to Kansas City, Missouri, near which city he at once engaged in farm work. In 1894 he bought land in Wyandotte county, Kansas, where he has since been engaged in farming and where he now has under cultivation sixty-six acres of fine land, an important feature of which is his truck garden. Corn and oats are his chief crops.

In 1878, Mr. Hurrelbrink married Miss Julia Turner, by whom he was accompanied to this country, and who has contributed her share toward the making of a home here. They are the parents of five children: Annie, wife of Walter Zipley; Fred, William, Amelia and Almie.

Mr. Hurrelbrink has served nine years on the school board, and has always taken an enthusuastic interest in promoting the welfare of the community in which he lives. At one time he was elected a justice of the peace. In this office, however, he declined to serve. He votes the Republican ticket; is, fraternally, a Mason, and, religiously, is identified with the Lutheran church. (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Page 649)

SMITH, WILLIAM S.

There is no better known figure in Rosedale than its street commissioner, William S. Smith, who has been identified with the history of the town for almost three decades. He has had a variety of experiences, and whether as farmer, as herdsman, as quarry man, as employee of the railroad, or as public officer, in all of which connections he has been engaged-he has been eminently successful. Possibly the man who decides on a certain business or profession when he first starts out in life and devotes himself to that and that alone, may make more money than the one who has turned his attention to different lines, but the former misses a great deal of valuable experience which the man who has tried and made a success of different lines, has gathered. Mr. Smith is an instance of this fact as a brief survey of his life will show.

William S. Smith is a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, where his birth occurred May 21, 1855. He is the son of Charles Smith and Ann (Sangster) Smith, both natives of the land of the kilt and the bagpipe. Charles Smith was educated in the schools of Aberdeen and as a young man followed the occupation of farming. Neither he nor his wife ever came to America, but he died in the town he had so long called his own, while Mrs. Smith is still a resident of that same town. They were the parents of nine children, of whom William S. is the first in order of birth.

The subject of this sketch spent the first few years of his life in the historic city of Aberdeen, but before he was of an age to attend school, his parents moved to Huntle, and there he received his early educational discipline in the public schools of the town. After he had completed his school course, he gained employment on a farm, but he was not satisfied with the agricultural conditions in Scotland, or rather with the wages that were paid for farm work, and he made up his mind that he would come to America. In 1883, when he was twenty-eight years old, he severed the ties which bound him to his old home in the midst of the hills, and emigrated for America, coming direct to Kansas of whose agricultural resources he had heard in Scotland. He first went to Mankato, Kansas, then to Linwood, the same state, where he took care of a herd of Scotch cattle and one year later he bought some property in Rosedale, which he still owns. He took up his residence in Rosedale in 1884, built his own home, which he has maintained ever since that time, but subsequently gave up his agricultural pursuits and for a number of years worked in the stone quarry, in the capacity of foreman. Then he was employed by the railroad company as car repairer, and continued in this line of work until the month of October, 1907, when he was elected to the office of street commissioner of Rose-dale. So excellent was his work during the term of office, that he has three times been re-appointed to succeed himself, and is now serving his fourth term.

Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth K. Baird, a young lady of St. Louis where the marriage occurred. She was born in Scotland, her parents, James and Mary (Thompson) Baird, being natives of Scotland, where they lived and died. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have the following children: James Bruce, John Baird, Alexander Thompson and William McKenzie. James, the eldest boy, was named after his maternal grandfather; John, the second boy received his mother's maiden name; the third boy was given the maiden name of his great-grandmother, while the fourth boy was named after his father. There had been another William, who died when he was only two and a half years old, and little Mary, the only girl in the family, was called to blossom in another sphere when she was three years and a half old. She is buried in Junction cemetery, and with her is buried a part of the affections and hopes of her father and mother, who had watched the little flower as it budded from babyhood to childhood and then was removed from their tender watchfulness.

Mr. Smith is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and has passed all the chairs in the Blue Lodge of the Masonic fraternal order, having been initiated in Scotland. He was at one time a member of the Railroad Carmen's Union, but he has not kept up that connection. For the past seven years he has been a member of the school board and still holds office with that body. It is needless to say that his advice and council on that board has been of the most progressive character, for the fact that he is retained year after year is sufficient indication of his efficiency. The Scotch people are thorough in whatever they undertake, a characteristic which Mr. Smith possesses in a very large degree, and that is probably the reason that he has been so successful in Rosedale. (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Pages 649-651)

WATSON, JOSEPH F.

There is nothing in the world that gives a man a keener sense of satisfaction than the consciousness that he has done his duty. The soldier who is wounded while fighting, the doctor who catches the fever from his patient, the sailor who perishes at his post at sea are no more to be admired than the railroad man who becomes disabled in the performance of his duty. If anything could compensate Mr. Watson, the noted councilman of Rosedale, for the pains he has endured and the inconvenience he now suffers, it would be that fact-that he did his duty.

He was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, June 1, 1849, a son of W. H. and Louise Watson, the former of whom was a farmer, and in Kansas he made a farm in the woods. Joseph F. Watson was educated in the public schools in his native county and when he was twenty years old he left his home and came to Missouri. Since then he has spent all of his time in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. In 1871 he got a position as brakeman and yardmaster with the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Later he acted as special conductor for the road. After several years he became conductor for the St. Louis and Keokuk Short Line, traveling between Hannibal and St. Louis. Then he worked for the Wabash road and in 1881 he went to work for the Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad as brakeman and fireman. In November, 1887, he went to work for the Kansas City Belt Line as foreman of the switching crew and yardmaster. In October, 1908, while in the employ of this road he met with an accident. He was climbing on top of a car, when the handle broke and he fell back. He turned a somersault and alighted on his feet, breaking the bones in both feet. This made it impossible for him to again perform any physical work. He has since that time lived a retired life at Rosedale. In 1911 he was elected to the office of city councilman in the Fourth ward of Rosedale, and he is now acting as one of the city fathers.

In 1888 he married Lizzie Cross, a young lady who was born in Sullivan county, Kansas. One son was born to this union, George 0., who is a salesman of railroads supplies. He started in the yards and worked up to the position of claim agent. He resigned this position to accept his present post. He belongs to the order of Masons, having joined in Rosedale. He lives at home with his father and the two men are very devoted to each other.

Mr. Watson is a member of the Odd Fellows fraternal order and he is also a member of the Switchmen's Union. He is very popular in Rosedale not only with the railroad men, but with all who know him. He is very desirous of seeing Rosedale prosper and he is doing excellent work in his position as councilman. (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Pages 651-652)

ALDEN, HENRY L.

Judge Alden may properly be designated the dean of the bar of Wyandotte county, since he has here been engaged in the work of his profession for fully two score of years, the while he has been called upon to serve in various positions of public trust, nearly all of which have been in direct line with the work of his profession and one of which was that of judge of the district court. He has stood exemplar of the most loyal and progressive citizenship and his influence has been potent in many directions. He is one of the venerable and able members of the bar of the state and as a legist and jurist his honors rest on large and definite accomplishments. No citizen commands a fuller measure of popular confidence and regard and none is more worthy of consideration through the medium of a review in this history of Wyandotte county and its people.

Henry Leroy Alden has every reason to take pride in his genealogy, as he is a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden, the sterling Puritans whose idyllic story has been so graciously told by the loved New England poet, Longfellow. Judge Alden himself claims the historic old Bay state as the place of his nativity. He was born in Greenwich, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, on the 8th of May, 1847, and is a son of Abel and Evaline (Thompson) Alden, the former of whom was born in Massachusetts and the latter in Connecticut. History amply records the prominent part taken by the Alden family in New England affairs from the time when its original representatives came over from England on the "Mayflower" down through the succeeding generations, and representatives of the name are now to be found in divers states of the Union. Abel Alden, like his forbears, devoted the greater part of his active career to the great basic industry of agriculture, with which he continued to be identified until his death, which occurred on the old homestead in Hampshire county, Massachusetts, when he was well advanced in years. His loved and devoted wife survived him by several years, and of their eight children three sons and one daughter are now living.

Under the sturdy discipline of the New England farm Judge Henry L. Alden gained his early experiences, and he continued to attend the common schools of the locality and period until he was fifteen years of age, when he entered Munson Academy, at Munson, Massachusetts, where he prosecuted his studies for one year. He supplemented this by a course of two years in Kimball Union Academy, at Meriden, New Hampshire, and soon afterward he went to Pennsylvania, where he did effective work for two years in the pedagogic profession-in charge of a private academy. The death of his honored father then caused him to return to the old homestead farm on which he was born, and he had charge of the place for one year, within which he brought the affairs of the estate into good order. In November, 1867, Judge Alden made his advent in Wyandotte county, Kansas, and he recalls the fact that he arrived in the old village of Wyandotte, now a part of Kansas City, on the morning of Thanksgiving Day. He assumed the position of principal of the Wyandotte public schools and after retaining this position for one year he entered the law office of Stephen A. Cobb, at that time one of the leading members of the bar of Wyandotte county, and began the study of law under effective preceptorship. He made rapid progress in the assimilation of the science of jurisprudence and laid the foundation for the broad and exact knowledge of law and precedent that has gained him such distinctive priority in his chosen profession. He was admitted to the bar in April, 1870, and forthwith formed a partnership with his honored preceptor, Mr. Cobb, with whom he continued to be associated under most pleasing conditions until the death of his valued coadjutor, after a period of about eight years. Later he was associated in practice with Henry McGrew, and later George B. Watson was admitted to the firm, under the title of Alden, McGrew & Watson, which was retained until March, 1891, when Judge Alden was appointed to the bench of the district court of the Twenty-ninth judicial district. This appointment was conferred by Governor Humphrey, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge 0. L. Miller, and at the regular election in the autumn of the same year Judge Alden was chosen by popular franchise to fill the office for the regular term of four years, at the expiration of which, in 1895, he was chosen as his own successor. He brought to the bench the most admirable judicial mind and the matured powers of a well trained lawyer, so that his administration on the bench was marked by discrimination and scrupulous care in conserving the ends of equity and justice. His court calendar was handled with dispatch and ability and his unvarying courtesy gained to him the confidence and respect of both lawyers and litigants. Judge Alden retired from the district bench in January, 1900, and such activities as have since engaged his attention have been those of the direct work of his profession, in which his interposition is demanded to a greater extent than his physical powers and his time can satisfy. He served, however, as city counsellor after his retirement from the bench, and this municipal preferment he retained from April, 1907, until May, 1909.

Early in his professional work in Wyandotte county Judge Alden showed special elements of technical and popular strength and thus became marked as eligible for official preferments along the line of his chosen calling. He gained his initial experience in public office, however, as city clerk of Wyandotte, and he retained this incumbency two years-1868-9. In 1872 he was elected county attorney and in 1874 the popular verdict placed upon his work in this office was shown in his election as his own successor. In 1882 he was again called to the same office, and his total service as county attorney thus covered a period of six years. In 1876 he was elected representative of Wyandotte county in the Lower House of the State Legislature, in which he served during the general assembly of 1877. He declined to become a candidate for re-election and this is the only office of importance he has consented to hold except those closely touching the work of his profession. The Judge has ever been unfaltering in his allegiance to the Republican party and he has been prominent and influential in its councils in Kansas. He has served as a member of the party's committee in Wyandotte county, as a member of the Kansas state central committee in 1877-8, and in 1886 he was a delegate to the national convention which nominated General Benjamin Harrison for the presidency. In this last connection he had the further distinction of being a member of the committee that formally notified General Harrison of his nomination.

Judge Alden has been affiliated with the Knights of Pythias since 1878 and has taken a lively interest in the affairs of this fraternity. He has not only passed the various official chairs in the subordinate lodge, but he has also had the honor of serving one year as grand chancellor of the Kansas Grand Lodge of the order. He is a valued member of the Kansas City Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is past exalted ruler of the same. Incidental to the more recent professional work of Judge Alden it may be noted that he served from May 1, 1909, until September 1, 1910, as assistant general solicitor for the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad Company and that he finally resigned this position on account of impaired health. Judge Alden was for-several years a member of the Kansas State Bar Association and was president of said association during one year.

In the year 1870 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Alden to Miss Mary Cruise, of Kansas City, and they have three children, Cora F., Maurice L. and Frances E., all of whom reside in Kansas City, Kansas. Maurice L. Alden has since 1902 practiced law as a member of the firm of McAnany & Alden. The birthplace of Mrs. Alden was in Albany, New York. . (History of Wyandotte County, Kansas and It's People, by Perl W. Morgan, Vol. II, 1911, Pages 652-654)