BROWN COUNTY, Part 5

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES (ALLEM - BUSSING).

JOHN L. ALLEM, gardener, was born in Bucks County, Pa., November 2, 1845. He was a graduate of the State Normal School of Millersville in 1870, after which he engaged in school teaching. In April, 1880, he came to Kansas, locating in Hiawatha, and in the fall of the same year, began teaching. During the spring of 1882, he started gardening in a small way but being very successful at it, and finding it profitable, has purchased twenty-five acres of land one-quarter of a mile north of the city, which he is fitting up with all the improvements pertaining to a first-class garden. He has also facilities for irrigating a number of acres during the dry season, which is the only improvement of the kind in Brown County. Mr. Allem was married in his native state, December 24, 1874, to Miss Minnie Trexler, of Lancaster County. Their family consists of a son and daughter - Walter and Edna. The subject of this sketch is a member of Hiawatha Lodge, No. 83 of the I. O. O. F., and is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church of this city.

JAMES B. ALLISON, Register of Deeds, was originally from Illinois, was born October 9, 1836, in McDonough County. After attaining a common school education, he attended Mount Pleasant High School. During the spring of 1861, Mr. A. first came to Kansas and located in Doniphan County. He removed to Brown County in 1864, where his time was divided between agricultural pursuits and school teaching. He served four terms as Trustee of Walnut Township, and in 1879 was elected Register of Deeds, being re- elected in 1881. Being a gentleman of tact and decided ability, he is admirably adapted to fill this position, discharging the various duties in a faithful and competent manner. He is a member of the Congregational Church of Fairview.

STEPHEN W. ALDRICH, Surveyor of Brown County, was born in Tioga County, N. Y. in 1837. His education was acquired in the High School of Lonsdale, R. I., where he was a student a number of years. He then for a time studied and practiced civil engineering, which he quit in June, 1861, to volunteer with Battery A, of the First Rhode Island Light Artillery. This battery figured extensively in the battles of the Potomac and took an active part in all the engagements from Bull Run to Cold Harbor, Va. After serving his country three years, he returned home and at once began a thorough course at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College at New York City. Here he continued until 1866, his instructions including telegraphy. At the expiration of that time, he came West to Brown County, Kan., and made school teaching his vocation. In 1869, he was elected County Surveyor for two years, and during the fall of 1881, was re-elected to the same office, which he is thoroughly able and competent to fill. As a teacher, Mr. Aldrich has no peer in the State, meeting with the approbation of scholars and parents wherever his field of labor has been.

GREGORY AMANN, carpenter and builder, and Mayor of the city, made his first advent in Kansas in 1855. He only remained a few days, however; then returned to Holt County, Mo. In 1857, he came again to this State, and took up a claim on Mulberry Creek, on the southeast quarter of Section 13, Walnut Township, but worked at his trade, which was that of carpenter, in Hiawatha. During the year following, he located permanently at Hiawatha. In 1861, Mr. Amann entered the great rebellion as a private in the Twenty-fifth Missouri Regiment, enlisting at St. Joe. After serving six months, he returned to Kansas, and in 1864, was enrolled among the State Militia for the suppression of the Price raid. Mr. Amann was born at Wurtemberg, Germany, November 17, 1835, and learned his trade in native country. In 1853, emigrated to the United States, and for a time worked at bridge building on the railroads in Kentucky. Mr. Amann was the first person initiated in the Masonic Order at Hiawatha, Lodge no. 35, and is also a member of Mount Horeb Chapter No. 43, and Hiawatha Commandery, No. 13. He is the oldest citizen living in Hiawatha and was one of the original councilmen of the city. In 1873, he was elected Mayor of Hiawatha, filling that position one term, and in 1882, was re-elected to that office. He does the most extensive carpenter and builder business in Brown County, employing from eight to twelve men in the season. Was married in 1867 to Miss Ella Warnake.

HOMER E. AUSTIN, farmer, Section 4, P. O. Hiawatha, is a native of Addison County, VT., and was born November 21, 1851. He is the son of Andrew Austin, deceased, who came to Brown County, Kan., in the fall of 1867, and located on the same place where his family still live. He also was born in Addison County, VT., in December, 1819; was reared on a farm, and during his entire life was devoted to that occupation. In the spring of 1866, he removed to Howard County, Iowa, where he lived until his emigration to Kansas. He was a member of the Baptist Church of Hiawatha, and died in April, 1878, aged fifty-nine years. Since then, his son, Homer E., has run the farm, which consists of 180 acres, eighty of which belong to his mother, the remainder to Homer E. It is all fenced and cultivated, forming a very fine farm, excellently improved. He is a member of the same church as his father was.

SETH BARNUM, farmer, Section 29, P. O. Hiawatha, was born in Addison County, Vt., January 17, 1806. He is the son of Elilhu and Tahamer Barnum, who were both of Scotch Irish descent, and related to the Hon. P. T. Barnum, the great showman: his mother's maiden name being also Barnum. After receiving a practical education, he chose farming as his vocation, and followed the same in Vermont until 1850, then removed to Crawford County, Pa., where he farmed extensively up to the time of his emigration to Kansas. This occurred in 1860, when he drove through from Pennsylvania, with five yoke of oxen and a span of horses, settled on the farm where he now lives, which has been his home ever since. He owns 188 acres of land in Brown County, 160 of which are in the home farm, and all is under a high state of cultivation, nicely improved with farm building, choice fruit trees, and in fact every thing pertaining to a prosperous, well regulated farmer's home. Mr. Barnum has always taken an active part in the building up and settlement of Hiawatha and the surrounding country, and his influence was felt in the location of the county seat at that city. He was one of the original members of the Universalist Church Society, of Hiawatha and has always contributed liberally for the cause of Christianity. Mr. Barnum has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Polly Parch, whom he married in Vermont State, October 25, 1829, and who died November 8, 1873, leaving six children, of whom four are boys, and two girls. His present wife was Miss Rachal Ramsey, a native of Cookville Parish, Tenn., to whom he was married March 13, 1874.

JACOB BAUM, farmer and stock-raiser, Section 2, P. O. Hiawatha; is a native of Ohio, born May 13, 1828, in Crawford County, subsequently removed to Holt County, Mo., where he worked on a farm with his parents until 1858, he then removed to Kansas, and settled first at Council Grove, Morris County. Here he improved a farm and lived until 1864, when he moved to Brown County, and has since resided on his present farm. He is the possessor of eighty acres of as fine farming land as is to be found in the county, all under cultivation and well improved. Mr. Baum has been a member of the School Board of his district. His wife was formerly Miss Amanda Harden, born in Ohio. They are the parents of four children, one of whom is dead, Cornelia. The other three are James E., Malvina and Cyrene.

GEORGE W. BERRY, farmer, Section 16, P. O. Hiawatha, came to Brown County, Kan., during the fall of 1870, locating on Section 10, Hiawatha Township. Here he broke prairie and improved a farm and in 1872, removed to the place where he now lives. This was partially improved, and contains 160 acres, and by careful attention and industry, he has made it one of the best yielding farms for the size, in this section of the country. Mr. Berry was born in Montgomery County, Ill., November 14, 1843. In the fall of 1862, he enlisted with Company G, of the Thirty-first Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served in all engagements of his regiment, of any note, until the close of the Rebellion. He then pursued farming. He was married September 29, 1867, to Miss Ester S. Miller, of that State. Both are original members of the Christian Church of Hiawatha. They are the parents of two children - Nellie M. and Jesse J.

W. W. BEYMER, of the Hiawatha Nursery, was originally from Ohio; was born in Washington, Guernsey County, February 13, 1834. He went from Washington, Ohio, to Bellevue, Huron Co., Ohio, while yet a young man and worked at the saddle and harness business several years, and about the closing of the rebellion, moved to Hiawatha, Brown Co., Kan. Sold nursery stock until 1875, when he started in the nursery business for himself. Was eaten out by the grasshoppers two years, but being a man of perseverance, he kept right along, and to-day, has one of the largest stocks of fruit, shade and ornamental trees, small fruits, etc., west of the Missouri River. He employs several men as canvasers to sell his stock, and is meeting with decided success. He is a gentleman who thoroughly understands his business, and in apples alone, has at the present time 185,000 growing in his nursery, and keeps adding to his trade every season. Mr. Beymer is connected with the Hiawatha Lodge, No. 35, and Mount Horeb Chapter, No. 43, of the A., F. & A. M., was also one of the charter members of Bellevue, Ohio, and has been a member of the encampment and subordinate lodge of the I. O. O. F., for a quarter of a century. He was married in Bellevue, Ohio, in 1862, to Miss Isadore C. Sheffield, of that city.

COL. EVERHARD BIERER, attorney at law. The Bierers, or Behrers, according to the German orthography, were a numerous, influential and wealthy family in Wurtemburg (sic), Germany, where they held various honorable position in the civil and military service of the State. George Bierer, a grand uncle of the Colonel, commanded a regiment in the Austrian army during the middle of the eighteenth century, and was created a Baron for distinguished military services, particularly at the siege of Belgrade, Servia, in 1788-89. Col. Bierer is of pure German lineage, his parents being both born in Wurtemburg (sic), the father, Everhard Bierer, born at Wiernshelm, January 6, 1795; the mother, Catherine M. Ruckenbrodt, at Maimsheim, October 28, 1798, and both emigrated with their parents to America in 1804 and settled in Pennsylvania. Everhard Bierer and wife were members of the Lutheran Church, and passed their married life in Uniontown, Fayette Co., Penn., where the subject of this sketch was born January 9, 1827, and where his mother died July 15, 1858, and his father August 2, 1876. He received a liberal education in the private schools and at Madison College in his native town, where he graduated in 1845, having completed a special course embracing the higher mathematics natural and mental sciences, the Latin language and English literature. Leaving the college he entered the office of Joshua B. Howell, Esq. (afterward Colonel of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and who was killed before Richmond in 1864), and was admitted to the bar in March, 1848. He practiced his profession successfully until April 23, 1861, when he left his office and raised a company of volunteers and entered the military service of the United States as Captain of Company F, Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps. He served in the Army of the Potomac, and was in the battles of Drainsville, Mechanicsville and Gaines' Hill,(SIC) where, when the whole of Fitz John Porter's corps was broken and retiring back toward the Chickahominy River, Captain Bierer rallied part of the regiment, including his company, for probably the last ineffectual stand on that bloody field, and he was captured with his command June 27, 1862, and taken to Libby Prison, from which he was released by exchange on the 14th of the following August. Six days afterward he was granted twenty days' leave of absence on account of sickness, and went home, but on learning by telegraph of the impending battle at Bull Run, he returned to the army and rejoined his command on the day of the battle. August 30, and in a few days afterward, September 14, 1862, participated in the engagement at South Mountain, Md., where he was severely wounded in the left arm, the ball passing through the elbow joint and lodging in the forearm, from which it was not extracted until the 25th of the following November, and from which he is crippled in his arm for life. Having become convalescent, October 24, he was appointed Commandant of Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, Penn., with the rank of Colonel, where he organized the 171st, 172d, 173d, 176th, 177th and 178th Regiments Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and November 18 was commissioned Colonel of the One Hundred and Seventy-first. After serving in various parts of southeastern Virginia and in North Carolina, his regiment was ordered to Washington, N. C., where he was placed in command of a brigade and in temporary command of the military district of the Pamlico. He was also at several times in command of Gen. Prince's Division, Eighteenth Army Corps, Major-Gen. J. G. Foster commanding. He was in an engagement at Blount's Creek, near Washington, N. C., April 7, 1863, commanding a brigade under Gen. F. B. Spinola. Spinola's forces were obliged to retire before superior numbers under the Rebel General Hill. To Col. Bierer was assigned the command of the Rear Guard. The duty was critical, the enemy crowding upon him in heavy force nearly the entire night. In the midst of intense darkness, through pine forests and cypress swamps the march was conducted, and he finally succeeded in bringing off the column with the trains and all the wounded. July 1, 1863, he returned with his regiment to Virginia and went with General Dix on his expedition to Richmond. The expedition marched from the White House landing to within eight or ten miles of Richmond, and after some skirmishing with the Rebels, Dix ordered its return to Fortress Monroe. Col. Bierer with his regiment went to Washington, thence to Harper's Ferry, where he joined General Meade, and on the 7th of that month was given a permanent brigade command, and assigned to duty as Military Commandant of the District of the Monocacy, embracing all Western Maryland, with headquarters at Frederick City, Md. September 26, 1863, he was mustered out of the service the regiment's term of enlistment having expired on the 8th of the previous August. During January, February and March, 1864, Col. Bierer served in the Veteran Reserve Corps, but not liking that service, resigned his command and permanently retired from the army. In October, 1865, he removed from Pennsylvania to Kansas and settled on a beautiful farm one mile east of Hiawatha, Brown County, and resumed the practice of his profession. The Colonel was originally a Democrat, and as the nominee of that party was elected in 1850 the first District Attorney of Fayette County, Penn., for a term of three years. Believing that the Democratic party had become the mere propagandist of slavery he became a Republican in 1856, led the forlorn hope for Fremont in Fayette County, Penn., Democracy, and had the satisfaction of seeing the county carried for Lincoln in 1860 by a majority vote of one in a poll of about 10,000. He became during the war a person friend of Abraham Lincoln, and always regarded him as the greatest and best man of the age. In 1864 he was elected one of the Presidential Electors by the Republican party of Pennsylvania, and in 1868 was the Representative from Brown County in the Kansas Legislature by the suffrages of the same party. In 1868 he voted for Grant, but with considerable reluctance, as he could not endorse the reconstruction and financial policy of the party, and in 1870 renounced all connection with the Republican party. His vote in 1872 was cast for Greeley, and in 1876 for Tilden, whom he considered honestly elected, and regarded the action of the majority of the Electoral Commission as a gross fraud and outrage, perpetrated deliberately for partisan purposes and resulting in seating a President who was not elected to the office. He became a member of Fort Necessity No. 254, I. O. O. F. at Uniontown, Penn., in February, 1852, and subsequently joined the Encampment. Has been District Deputy Grand Master, and District Grand Patriarch of the order in Pennsylvania, where he is still a member both of Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment. He was also made a Mason at Uniontown in 1864, and has attained the higher degrees of the order, and is at present affiliated with Hiawatha Lodge No. 35, A. F. & A. M. He is quite liberal and decidedly individualized in his religious opinions and beliefs. He accepts the inspirations of the moral and religious teachings of Scripture, the divine lawship and preexistence of Jesus, the efficacy of His example for purposes of redemption, and a condition of future rewards and punishments; denies the inspiration of the historical records and the ceremonial and civil laws of the Jews, the doctrine of the Trinity, vicarious sacrifice and eternal punishment; accepts a salvation by conduct, not by belief, and includes all the family of the Great Father who act according to their highest conception of right. He has been a very careful student of both the Old and New Testament writings, and his present views are the result of a thorough acquaintance with the Scriptures and extensive knowledge of Ecclesiastic history and Polemics. He has also studied carefully the Koran, the Buddhist and Brahminical Scriptures and the teachings of Confucius, which have also to some extent influenced and modified his religious belief. He was married April 8, 1852, at Brownsville, Fayette Co., Penn., to Ellen, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Troutman Smouse, a lady of extensive family connections in Alleghany County, Md., and in Bedford and Somerset counties, Penn. Her maternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. They are the parents of eight children, six sons and two daughters, all of whom are living. The eldest son, Everhard, graduated from Kansas University in the class of 1877, and is now an Examiner in the Pension Office in Washington, D. C.; the second son is now one of the leading merchants in Hiawatha. In person Col. Bierer is stout and robust, nearly six feet in height, of iron frame, and was never sick excepting during the latter part of his confinement in Libby. He is the sixth in a family of seven sons and four daughters, all of whom are yet living and in good health, the oldest of whom is sixty-six years of age, and the youngest forty-four.

LIEUTENANT GEORGE M. BLAIR, farmer and stock raiser, Section 16, P. O. Hiawatha, is a native of Scotland, born in Glasgow June 27, 1835. He came to the United States in 1849 with his parents, David and Mary Blair, who settled in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where they were engaged in farming. In 1861 George entered the Rebellion as a volunteer in the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company D. For gallant and active service he was in 1863 promoted to Second Lieutenant, and in the spring of 1864 to First Lieutenant. After serving until the close of the war he returned to Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1869 he came to Brown County, Kansas, and purchased eighty acres of unbroken prairie land. To this he has since added as much more, and cultivated and improved the same until he has now a fine farm, surrounded by beautiful Osage orange hedge. There is a six acre orchard containing many choice varieties of apple and peach trees, also various kinds of smaller fruit. Mr. Blair is identified with the Masonic Order, and with the K. of H. Star of Hope Lodge, No. 1338, Hiawatha. Was married in Pennsylvania, in 1857, to Miss Harriet Henderson, native of that State. Mr. Blair and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

JOHN D. BLAIR, Postmaster, is a native of Canada, born December 13, 1842, in the city of Hamilton, Ontario. Learned the trade of painter, and in 1864 came to the United States and worked at that occupation in various places previous to his settlement in Kansas. This occurred in the fall of 1870, choosing Hiawatha as his future field of labor. From that time until 1877 he was extensively engaged at house and sign painting, employing from three to ten men as the business of the season demanded. He then accepted the office of Constable and Under Sheriff, being also appointed U. S. Deputy Marshal, during which time he did an extensive collecting business. Served two years as a member of the City Council, and was Mayor of Hiawatha one year. During this time he made great improvements in the city, and was the first to build tenant houses there, which caused a big boom in this enterprise. In April, 1882, Mr. Blair was appointed Postmaster by President Arthur, and is a gentleman fully competent to fill this important position. He is a member of Hiawatha Lodge, No. 83, and a charter member of the Encampment No. 33, and at this writing is Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the I. O. O. F. of Kansas. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge at Hiawatha, and also a member of Diamond Lodge, No. 56, Knights of Pythias. He was married March 12, 1873, to Miss Lizzie Hall, daughter of H. F. Hall, deceased, who was one of the first merchants of Brown County.

ARTHUR D. BROWN, of the firm of Brown & Lemons, family grocery store, was formerly a resident of Garrard County, Kentucky, born August 15, 1844. From 1867 to 1875 he was engaged at merchandising in the town of Lancaster, same county, but his store was then destroyed by fire. In February, 1880, he came to Hiawatha and established the above business house, where he has a live, prosperous trade, and an excellent stock of goods. Mr. Brown took part in the great Rebellion, being in the Confederate Army, with the Sixth Kentucky Regiment for about two years. He is a member of the Blue Lodge and Chapter of the Masonic Lodge at Hiawatha, and worships at the First Presbyterian Church. His wife was Miss Ella Harris, of Mississippi. Joseph Lemons, of the above firm, came to Hiawatha in April, 1880, and from that time until the organization of this firm in January, 1882, was employed at contracting for the digging of wells and erection of tanks along the line of the St. Joe & Western R. R. from St. Joe, Mo., to Grand Island, Neb. He is a native of Crawford County, Wis., born October 3, 1845, and during the latter part of his residence there was employed at furnishing bridge timbers for the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien R. R. Was afterwards extensively engaged at contracting for railroad ties on the line between Gallatin, Mo., and Omaha, Neb., from which latter place he removed to Kansas.

GEORGE W. BROWN, farmer, Section 10, P. O. Hiawatha, is a native of Illinois, and was born November 18, 1843, in Pike County. He followed the occupation of farming in Mission Township, Brown County, where he improved a farm of 145 acres. In 1879 he became proprietor of the farm where he now lives. This consists of 160 acres, all well cultivated, and forms a thrifty and well regulated farm under Mr. Brown's judicious management. There is an orchard of over 200 choice fruit trees, and this is fast becoming one of the important features in the culture of this State. Mr. Brown married, January 15, 1866, Miss Martha Greens of Illinois, by whom he has four children - Charles E., Ida A., George H., and Gracie E. Mr. Brown and his wife are members of the First Baptist Church of Hiawatha. He has been a member of the Board of Education of his town for a number of terms, and was also a soldier in the late war, volunteering in 1861 with the Thirty-third Illinois Infantry, Company 1, and veteraned in the same regiment and company in '64. Served his country until December, 1865, and took an active part in all the engagements of his regiment.

WILLIAM S. BROWN, farmer and stock raiser, Section 5, P. O. Hiawatha, came originally from Ross County, Ohio, where he was born December 8, 1841. After acquiring a common school education he was engaged in farming in the lumber trade until the breaking out of the rebellion, when he enlisted with Company A of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in August, 1861, and served until his regiment was discharged in November 1864, acting in the capacity of Sergeant most of the time. Was in Nagley's division of Thomas' corps, and took an active part in the battles and skirmishes of the Army of the Cumberland. At the battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863, Mr. Brown was wounded in the left elbow. In June, 1865, he came west to Holt County, Mo., where he made his home until the fall of 1867, when he concluded to try his fortune in Kansas. This he did by purchasing some land in the Kickapoo Reservation, which forms a portion of his present farm. He was one of the first settlers on this reserve, and is now the possessor of some 280 acres under cultivation, with the exception of eighty acres of native timber. He has a fine orchard, embracing three acres of choice fruit trees of every kind indigenous to this State. Mr. Brown is engaged to some extent in stock raising, and his experience in this line has proved very profitable to him. At present he has on hand about thirty-five head of graded cattle and 100 hogs. Mr. Brown and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, Hiawatha. She was formerly Miss Frances Middleton, of Ohio, whom he married in June, 1865. Their family consists of three daughters and a son - Laura A., Jessie J., Nellie B., and Samuel T.

GEORGE W. BUBACH, proprietor of the Hiawatha fruit farm, was born in Lancaster County, Pa., March 3, 1814. In early life he followed the occupation of farmer, living in Ohio nine years, in Princeton, Bureau Co., Ill., twenty-one years and in 1869 came to Hiawatha. His intention was to start a nursery, but soon found it difficult to compete with Eastern agents and abandoned that project. He then started in the fruit raising business, devoting his entire farm of eighty acres to this enterprise. Many persons predicted failure for him in this line, but by careful industry and the devotion of his time and energy to it, has made it a decided success. He has all kinds of peach, plum, cherry, apple, apricot, and in fact all the kinds of fruit grown in the country; also two acres of blackberry vines which in 1882 yielded over 200 bushels and a visit to his farm will at once convince any person that Kansas is fast assuming importance as one of the most extensive fruit growers in the States in the Union. Mr. Bubach is classed among the most extensive fruit growers in the State, and he says of the four States that he previously lived in, he would not exchange Kansas for any of them. He was married in Ohio in 1838 to Miss Mary Byers. They are the parents of three sons and two daughters, all of whom are living on farms of their own, and making a success of fruit growing and stock raising.

JAMES BUSSING, physician and surgeon, senior member of the firm of Bussing & Woods, was born in Washington County, N. Y., October 4, 1838. Was reared in Ohio and Indiana. Entered the service of the United States in the One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, August, 1862, at Mansfield, Ohio. Was in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Magnolia Hills Siege of Vicksburg, and Jackson, Miss. Was captured on Red River March 3, 1864, and confined in the rebel prison, Camp Ford, Texas, until May, 1865. Was mustered out of the United States service July 7, 1865. He then went to Monmouth, Ill., and finished his literary education. Commenced the study of medicine in 1868, and graduated in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, January, 1875, came to Hiawatha, Kan., and has since continued to practice his profession at that point. Dr. William M. Woods, junior member of the firm, is a native of Macoupin County, Ill., was born June 28, 1850. He graduated from Blackburn University in 1870, and in 1878 and 1879, attended Rush Medical College of Chicago. Two years later was a student of Louisville Medical College, graduating from the latter in February, 1882. In June of the same year Dr. W. came to Hiawatha, Kan., when the above firm was established.