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May 22, 2025 JUDGE CHRISMAN, LONG ILL, IS DEAD.

May 22, 2025

JUDGE CHRISMAN, LONG ILL, IS DEAD.

Former Presiding Officer of County Court Succumbs to Kidney Disease.

George Lee Chrisman, formerly a judge of the county court for ten years and a resident of Jackson county for many years, died at 7:45 o'clock last night at his home in Independence after an illness lasting about six months. His condition became acute a week ago and his death was expected momentarily the last few days. Funeral arrangements have not been completed by the family.

Judge Chrisman was one of the prominent figures in Jackson county for many years. His business interests were extensive and he was known as an agricultural expert. In the county court his activities kept him before the public eye for several years.
Elected Judge in 1896.

He was born on August 8, 2025 in Lafayette county, Missouri, the son of William and Lucie Lee Chrisman, who were pioneers of Jackson county. His parents were prominent socially and financially, William Chrisman's life being devoted to a great extent to philanthropy. There were two other children, Maggie, now the widow of Logan O. Swope, and James, who died at the age of 19.

Judge Chrismas was a graduate of Forest Home Military college in Anchorage, Ky. He was first married on November 26, 1872, to Miss Lottie S. Duke, daughter of Colonel William Duke of Danville, Ky. They had no children, but adopted two daughters, now Mrs. Frank Ashley of Denver and Mrs. Wallace J. Ferry of Kansas City. After the death of his wife, Judge Chrisman, in 1895, married her sister, Mrs. Lutie Gates, who, with two daughters born to them, Charlotte and Lutie lee, survives him.

On a farm south of Independence Mr. Chrisman became a raiser of thoroughbred cattle and horses. He moved later to another farm near Lee's Summit, where he continued for years the stock business in partnership with J. A. Lee, the firm being Chrisman &; Lee. He was devoted to his occupation and lived on his farm many years.

In the fall of 1896 he entered politics and was elected on the Democratic ticket for judge of the county court for the Eastern district. This was the first office he had ever held. He was re-elected in 1898 and again in 1900. In 1902 Judge Chrisman made the race for presiding judge of the county court, was elected for the four-year term and served until 1906, when he ran for the judge of the Eastern district, but was defeated by George Dodd
Part Owner of the Times
At one time Judge Chrisman was mentioned as a candidate for governor, but he did not enter the race.

Late in his political career Judge Chrisman associated with A. A. Lesueur and John Groves in the ownership of the Kansas City Times, selling it to W. R. Nelson. The venture was not a paying one, Judge Chrisman's losses being heavy.

Soon after the beginning of his political career, Judge Chrisman moved from his farm in Lee's Summit to Independence, purchasing the home of the late Preston Roberts, 700 West Maple avenue. He had been engaged in various enterprises since retiring from the county court. He was interested in mining in Mexico. His associates were political friends. The mine they owned, said to be rich, was purchased from Grant Gillett, at one time the cattle king of Kansas.

Judge Chrisman was robust and in excellent health until six months ago, when he was attacked by kidney disease.

May 9, 2025 "OLD TIMERS" GIVE EARLY DAY HISTORY.

May 9, 2025

"OLD TIMERS" GIVE EARLY DAY HISTORY.

Meeting of Old Men's Association Is Like Story Book of Youth.

Yesterday was "old times" day with a score or more members of the Old Men's Association at the Y. M. C. A. building. The Kansas City of today was forgotten while pioneers sat and spoke of times when they were boys. It hardly seems possible that there was ever a time when Kansas was not Kansas and there was not even a Ninth street in Kansas City, Mo., and people crossed the Missouri river in boats and the boat landing was the busiest place in town. But this was all so and to hear these white-haired historians to reminisce brings it all down to the modern crowd in the year of our Lord 1916 -- and Billy Sunday.

To these pioneers any man who is under 40 is a child and any one between that age and 60 is in his prime. People are just beginning to "get on a little bit" when they get old enough to become members of the Old Men's Association. And when they are that old, they are qualified to discuss old times and tare then doubly eligible.

O. P. Allen, who came to Kansas City in 1850, told of crossing the Missouri river in a boat. There was no bridge. In fact there wasn't much else here but the boat landing and a few log cabins. He has literally seen the city grow from a log settlement to a metropolis. Mr. Allen is 74 years old.

Worked in Levee Stores

An interesting speaker was J. A. Bachman, retired merchant, who came to Kansas City in 1857. He was a clerk on the levee and intimately connected with the enormous river trade the little settlement carried on then. He daily checked in and assigned sixty-five boats that touched at the Kansas City wharf. The only way to northern markets for Mexican products was through Kansas City.

In those days, murder was not the strictly unlawful and rapidly punished crime that it is now. Of course, it depended on who was being murdered. But the Rev. John Arthur, chaplain, told his audience yesterday that Kansas City was no exception in the matter of possessing bad men. The main thing was not to get these same bad men unduly interested in one's self. And the safest way to accomplish this was to let them strictly alone. When they commenced to shine up their gun barrels and look surly, they were given wide berth and when a murder up country was reported there were no questions asked. Dr. Arthur is 90 years old and was born in Clay county.

Kansas Was Not Kansas.

"And out of the state of Missouri was out of the United States for us then," said W. M. Johnson, president of the association. "It literally was in a sense, as there was no Kansas then. It was Indian Territory. I can not register in my association as being born in Kansas although I was born in Wyandotte county 71 years ago. My father came to Kansas in 1828."

The meeting June 12 will be given to discussing plans for the July rally in Excelsior Springs. John Emmke, proprietor of the Elms hotel in Excelsior Springs, has invited the entire association to be his guests on July 10. They will make it a picnic affair if the weather permits.

May 9, 2025 ~ DEATH COMES TO RICHARD GENTRY.

May 9, 2025

DEATH COMES TO RICHARD GENTRY.

Pioneer of Kansas City's Commercial Life Had Been Ill 5 Years.

At his home, 2000 Troost avenue, in the house in which he had built in 1882, two years after coming to Kansas City, Richard Gentry, a pioneer in Kansas City commercial life and widely known for his connections with many large activities of the West, died yesterday afternoon at the age of 69 years. He had been in poor health for the last five years.

Mr. Gentry was chief engineer and principal builder of the Kansas City, Nevada & Fort Smith railway, which later was merged into the Kansas City Southern. He was general manager and president of the road which he was instrumental in building. Besides this activity he was a cattle raiser, a mine operator, interested in a shoe factory in Kansas City and at one time was a director in the old Bank of Commerce. He owned the Exchange building, now occupied by the Board of Trade and other offices. The Gentry residence on Troost avenue has been one of the prominent homes of the city for many years.

Surviving Mr. Gentry are his widow and these sons and daughters: Richard H. Gentry of Sedalia, Mo.; M. Butler Gentry of Santiago, Chile; the Misses Elizabeth and Mary Gentry of Kansas City; Mrs. Edward R. Noble of San Francisco and Mrs. William H. Bush of Chicago.

Mr. Gentry was born near Columbia, Mo., on November 11, 1846. He was a student of Wentworth Military academy at Boonville. While at the academy he ran away and joined Price's army as it marched through Boonville in 1864. He served as a private and later as a sergeant major until the close of the war. He was in the battle of Westport. After the war he attended Missouri university, graduating with the class of 1869.

A genealogy of the Gentry family entitled, "The Gentry Family in America, 1676-1909," was written by Mr. Gentry. It is in all of the public libraries in the larger cities of this country, as well as in the London and Paris libraries and in libraries in the Orient. Mr. Gentry was a member of the Kansas City Club, the lcoal chapter of the Sons of the Revolution, the Psi Kappa Psi, the Phi Beta Kappa and the Engineers' Club.

The funeral services will be held at 3 o'clock this afternoon at the home. Burial will be in Forest Hill cemetery. The Rev. J. D. Ritchey, pastor of St. Paul's Episcopal church, will have charge of the services.

April 17, 2025 ~ Pioneer Merchant Passes Away at 79

April 17, 2025

Pioneer Merchant Passes Away at 79

J. M. Egelhoff, Dead in West Olathe Kas., Lived Here Many Years.

J. M. Egelhoff, a pioneer merchant of Kansas City, died yesterday at his suburban home of West Olathe, Kas. He was 79 years old.

He opened a general merchandise store at Eighteenth and Locust streets in 1860, and, until his retirement, was a factor in building up Kansas City's mercantile trade. He accumulated much property here when it was of little value, holding it for high prices. The site of the Waldheim Building, at Eleventh and Main streets, was one of his holdings.

The Egelhoff Shoe Company, for which he furnished the capital, was a well known local institution for many years. Mr. Egelhoff retired from active business life here in 1879, however, buying a farm near Olathe. There he lived until 1890, when he moved to West Olathe.

A son, George, is connected with a shoe store here. The other children are Mrs. Mary E. Carter, who made her residence with her father; Mrs. J. M. Anderson of Gardner, Kas., and Mrs. Ida Thrasher of Milwaukee. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday afternoon.

A HERMIT FORTY-NINE YEARS. ~ Grinter Dies in White Church Cabin; Mourned for Wife.

January 26, 2026

A HERMIT FORTY-NINE YEARS.

Grinter Dies in White Church Cabin;

Mourned for Wife.

Ambrose B. Grinter, known in Wyandotte county as the "Hermit of White Church," died yesterday morning in the little old frame house he built for his bride in 1859. Had he lived until February 23 he would have been 92 years old. He left no near relatives.

He arrived in White Church in 1859 in a wagon, bringing with him a young wife. They built a little cabin of rough logs. Two years later his wife died. Since that time he had lived a life of seclusion, rarely visiting even the village store and shunning society. The little children of the village used to be afraid of the odd old man and at sundown the hermit could be heard calling his chickens. "Come along, little ones; come in, Wyandottes."

The little children's fears were groundless, though for a year or more before his death he at times chatted with the school children as they passed his door.

Early this winter he sat by a cheerful wood fire in his house and told a story of his life to a friend.

"I was born in Logan county, Ky., February 23, 1818," he said. "My daddy was a farmer and a hunter and he early learned me to use a rifle. When I was a lad of 14 he bound me out to a cabinet maker, William McMullen, who was afterward my 'daddy-in-law," and I learned his trade. I married his daughter, Mary Elizabeth, when I was 22. We lived in Kentucky till 1858, when we started out for Kansas in an old linch-pin wagon, which my 'daddy-in-law' had made for us. We drove two sleek oxen. When we reached Wyandotte county I bought fifty-four acres from the government. We built a little cabin and were very happy until Mary died and since then somehow or another, I don't care for the society of others. I spent my time in the woods with my dog and gun until I became too feeble to get about and now I must sit by the fire and smoke and dream."

Mr. Grinter had suffered with a cancer on his face for many years. About two years ago he went to Bethany hospital for treatment, where he remained for more than a year. While he was gone his neighbors cleaned up the house, which no woman's hand had touched since Mrs. Grinter died. One of these rooms was filled almost entirely with copies of old newspapers, neatly folded. Among these were copies of the Kansas City Journal and the Wyandotte Herald of the '50's. Mr. Grinter has been a reader of both papers for many years.

Another room, apparently that of his wife, was found in the condition it was left many years ago. An old sunbonnet hung on the post of the old-fashioned cord bedstead, the covers of the bed were rumpled and a woman's dress hung over the footboard. Mothers in the little village have long told stories to their little ones of how old Mr. Grinter, with a tender remembrance, had never touched the room since her death and never allowed strangers to look into it.

Funeral services ill be conducted by the Rev. J. W. Payne this afternoon at 3 o'clock at the old Grinter chapel. Burial will be in the chapel grounds.

INDEPENDENCE WAS ONCE THE GATE CITY. ~ Pioneer Recalls the Days Before the Railroad Reached River.

January 3, 2026

INDEPENDENCE WAS

ONCE THE GATE CITY.

Pioneer Recalls the Days

Before the Railroad

Reached River.

Enchanting is the romance of the Golden West, the story of mountain and plain. Forming the most striking drama in American history, the record, alas, is but fragmentary -- the half has not been told. For, imperfectly have the annals been kept of the vast domain west of the Mississippi river from the time of early settlement to the present. Evidences of marvelous transformation are at hand, fruits of pioneer privations are enjoyed, but the annal of achievement in details has been neglected by historians. Reminiscences of early settlers can now alone supply the deficiency.

To a great extent has the history of Independence, Mo., to do with that of the West. This city was the scene of the initial step in the march of progress. Preparatory to crossing the desert, westward bound caravans procured supplies there. Frontiersmen, explorers and prospectors, returning home, brought to Independence the first news of discovery, for this city was then the greatest trading post in the West.

OUTFITTING POINT.

Prominent among the pioneers was Henry A. Schnepp, who is now a resident of Galesburg, Ill., but is now visiting his brother, David Schnepp, at the latter's home, 413 Whittier place. Mr. Schnepp was conspicuously identified with the early growth of Independence and lived there for fifteen years, leaving during the year 1890.

"In the early fifties Independence was the outfitting point for all the country west of the Missouri river and was the headquarters for frontiersmen," said Mr. Schnepp yesterday afternoon. "The paramount issue was to retain this lucrative trade and active measures were adopted with that end in view. This gave impetus to the construction of the first railroad in the West, which ran from the river to this city. A depot was built at Wayne City and a terminal established at the postoffice. The cars, which ran over wooden rails, were drawn by horses.

"Before the construction of the Hannibal & St. Joe Railway in1856 all transportation was by river. Apropos the recent agitating with regard to navigating the Missouri, it seems to me that as the river was navigable then, it should be now."

GOLD FOUND BY MISSOURIAN.

Mr. Schnepp staged through Iowa when that state was but sparsely settled. When he traveled along the Hawkeye frontier in 1854 the capital of that state was located at Iowa City and the territory west of Des Moines, the present capital, was inhabited almost exclusively by Indians.

"I could never forget the first overland mail route to Salt Lake City. The mail was carried by stage coach and the trip required many days under favorable weather conditions. The route extended from Independence to Westport, thence to Fort Riley, in Kansas; Fort Bridges, in Wyoming, and on to Salt Lake. The charge for carrying each letter was 25 cents, collectable on delivery. Prior to the establishment of the pony express in 1853-4, mail from the West was carried by a boat around Cape Horn."

Mr. Schnepp says that the gold fields of California were discovered by Joseph D. Childs, an uncle of C. C. Childs, an Independence banker. A contractor by profession, Joseph Childs was erecting a mill near Sacramento when workmen excavating a race found gold. This discovery started the rush to California, and Mr. Schnepp was one of the first to go for a fortune. He did not acquire fabulous wealth, but returned home with enough gold that he has not since been called a poor man.

OLD SETTLERS IN MINORITY. ~ Westport Pioneers Surrender Their Party to Young People.

January 2, 2026

OLD SETTLERS IN MINORITY.

Westport Pioneers Surrender Their

Party to Young People.

A few old-timers of Westport watched a great many new-timers make merry in Little's hall, 311 Westport avenue, last night. As the affair was originally planned, the old settlers were to be the whole show, but so few of them attended that they were submerged in the swirl of young pleasure seekers, and they appeared quite content to sit along the wall and watch the nimbler heels knock off the score.

The Westport Improvement Association was the host. The three old-timers present, not including John Tobin, who was born there -- but not last night -- were Philip Becker, August Horn and Julius Beaver. These three old gentlemen would not be prevailed upon to do more than walk around the hall at the head of the grand march.

Alderman Darius Brown was an active figure on the dancing floor. John Tobin also ran. More than 250 people attended the dance.

OLD FOLKS' DAY AT CHURCH IN ROSEDALE. ~ W. I. DAVIS, 65, AND WIFE, 62, ONLY PIONEERS PRESENT.

November 8, 2025

OLD FOLKS' DAY AT

CHURCH IN ROSEDALE.

W. I. DAVIS, 65, AND WIFE, 62,

ONLY PIONEERS PRESENT.

Aggregate Age of Thirty-three Per-

sons Who Attended Is 2,280

Years -- Two Weeks' Special

Service Is Inaugurated.

ROSEDALE'S METHODIST CHURCH THIRTY YEARS AGO.

Mrs. Susan Weller, who is 90 year of age, was the oldest person to attend the old folks' reunion in the First Methodist church, Rosedale, yesterday morning. The oldest man in attendance was William S. Garrett, who is 81. The aggregate age of thirty-three persons who attended this unique gathering is 2,280 years.

The Rosedale church was organized thirty three years ago and the original enrollment showed just thirty members. Out of that original membership there were only two of the pioneers present yesterday. These were Mr. andMrs. W. I. Davis. Mr. Davis is 65 years old while his wife is 62. The husband is still active and is an engineer at the Swift packing plant.

The First Methodist Church in Rosedale as it Is Now.

FIRST METHODIST CHURCH AS IT APPEARS TODAY.

In the thirty years that the church has been in existence there have been many changes. The original church was a small frame structure which cost $1,000. The present edifice is a magnificent stone structure, which cost $25,000 and which is one of hte most imposing buildings of the kind in the state. Its membership has grown from a meager thirty to more than 250 and its debt is more than half paid.

CUSTOM IS POPULAR.

Twelve years ago the custom of holding an old folks' reunion each autumn was establisheda nd this event has proved a popular one. H. W. Gates always has supplied buggies and carriages and Amos Martin and S. B. Bell, Jr., have provided automobiles. With these the persons who are too feeble to walk to the service are taken to church.

The features of yesterday's service was a sermon by Rev. I. V. Maloney, the pastor, who took for his text: "Thou shalt come to old age like as a shock of corn cometh in the season," Job v. 26.

The church was decorated with autumn leaves and foilage and the choir rendered a special music programme.

At the church last night a two weeks' special service was inaugurated. There will be services every night, the pastor being assisted by the Rev. Marion Donleavy of Kansas City, Kas.

CALVIN SMITH, MISSOURI PIONEER, IS DEAD AT 96. ~ Came to the State With His Father in 1816 -- Gave Smithville Its Name.

October 2, 2025

CALVIN SMITH, MISSOURI

PIONEER, IS DEAD AT 96.

Came to the State With His Father

in 1816 -- Gave Smithville

Its Name.

CALVIN SMITH.

Calvin Smith, who was born December 19, 1813, who perhaps was the oldest living Jackson county pioneer in the point of residence, died at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon at his home, 2495 Harrison street.

Besides a widow, Mr. Smith is survived by six children, Henry, James and Evaston Smith, and Mrs. J. S. Setord, Mrs. Anna Goodenough Smith and Mrs. G. McCleary. Henry and James are lawyer practicing in this city. Burial will be Sunday afternoon in Valley Falls, Kas., under direction of the Masons.

Mr. Smith was born at Humphrey Smith's Mills on Buffalo Creek, New York. His father was a farmer. When tales of the rich French province of Missouri were first wafted East he was quick to catch their inspiration and migrate. In his memoirs written for the benefit of relatives a few years ago, Mr. Smith tells the story of the trip.

"On February 29, 1815," he said, "my father prepared for a trip to the West. He had $4,000 in gold which he put in a belt and buckled it around his waist. In an old style two-wheeled ox cart, drawn by a yoke of oxen, he put his famly and started for Missouri. We went to Olean, a point on the Allegheny river. With his wife and four children he embarked there on a canoe At Pittsburgh, Pa., father had to attach the canoe to a flat bottom boat going to New Orleans.

TO MISSOURI BY BOAT.

"At Louisville, Ky., we met three or four families who were going to the new territory of Missouri. Father chipped in with them and bought a keep boat and we floated down the Ohio river to its mouth.

At the moth of the Ohio river we turned into the Mississippi and the boat was propelled up that river by men who walked along the shore and drew the boat after them, while a man on the boat with a long pole kept it from running ashore.

In time we reached St. Louis, 190 miles from the mouth of the Ohio river. We stopped there two or three weeks. Then we all boarded the keel boat again for another move.

IN CLAY COUNTY IN 1822.

"Eighteen miles brought us to the Missouri river and we went up that river 300 miles to a place called Cole's fort, now Boonville, Mo. We reached there on the first day of July, 1816, just four months to a day from the time we left New York.

"On the 14th day of July my sister, Missouri, was born and about five weeks later, August, 1816, father and his family crossed the Missouri river and settled eight miles east of Old Franklin, Howard co unty. We moved several times, but stayed in that county until 1819. We then moved to Carroll county, Mo. This was during the 'Missouri question,' whether the new incoming state should be a slave state or a free state. The missouri compromise in 1822 settled in favor of a slave state.

"In 1822 father took another move to Clay county, Mo., and settled at a place now called Smithville, in the northwest part of the county. It was then a wilderness, being ten miles to the nearest neighbor."

Mr. Smith came to Kansas City in 1882. Two years later his wife died adn he married a second time in 1889. The second wife, who was Miss Fannie Burton of Kansas City, is living.

During the civil war Mr. Smith sided with the North.

J. L. NORMAN, SCHOOL BOARD PIONEER, DEAD. ~ SERVED WITH PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR TWENTY YEARS.

September 28, 2025

J. L. NORMAN, SCHOOL

BOARD PIONEER, DEAD.

SERVED WITH PUBLIC EDUCAT-

ION FOR TWENTY YEARS.

Appointed Secretary Year Ago After

Retirement From the Abstract

Business -- Funeral Arrange-

ments Not Made.

THE LATE JOSEPH L. NORMAN.

Joseph Lafayette Norman, civil war veteran, compiler of the first set of abstract books in Kansas City, member of the school board for twenty years and its secretary for the last year, died at his home, 816 West Thirty-ninth street at 10:15 o'clock last night after an illness of two months. The funeral arrangements probably will be announced today, by which time a son who is in Mexico, and another who is in California can be heard from.

Joseph Lafayette Norman was born at Hickory Hill, Ill, October 21, 1841. In 1857, the year following the death of his mother, the family moved to Greeley, Kas., and took up a homestead there. A year later Mr. Norman and his father returned to Illinois. In the fall of 1859 Mr. Norman and his father came back West and located at what was Westport, Mo., one mile west of what is now Fortieth street and State Line. The deceased conducted a private school in Westport, and he had to close it at the outbreak of the civil war, August 14, 1862, the day of the battle of Independence, Mo.

ONE SON AN ARMY OFFICER.

Mr. Norman closed his school and with five of his pupils reported at Fort Union on the west side of the city and tendered their services to the government. He served for three years as a member of company A of the Twelfth regiment of Kansas volunteer infantry. At the battle of Westport on his twenty-third birthday, Mr. Norman was aide to General S. R. Curtis and carried across the field of battle an important message under an extremely dangerous fire. His first wife, Miss Martha Jane Puckett, a native of Virginia, died January 1, 1901.

They had five children, the oldest of whom, Captain Trabor Norman, is at present in the infantry, in Southern California. Another son, Joseph L, Jr., is in Mexico. Fred, Frank and Miss Jennie Norman are the other children.

OF A MILITARY FAMILY.

On June 25, 2025 Mr. Norman married Miss Katherine Gent of Kansas City. A son, Howard, was born of this union. Mr. Norman was a member of Farragu-Thomas Post, G. A. R. No. 8, and was also a Mason. H e was the first quartermaster of the Third Regiment N. G. M. In politics he was a Republican.

All of his ancestors were inclined to the military life. His brother, Calvin M., his father, Jones, and his wife's father, William E. Plunkett, all served in the civil war.

His paternal grandfather, Joseph Norman, served in the war of 1812, and his great-grandfather served in the revolutionary war, enlisting from North Carolina.

Mr. Norman commenced the work of getting up a set of abstract books at Independence, Mo. In October, 1865, and in the spring of 18657, with Lafayette Trabor he opened an abstract office. Later the Trabor interests were sold to Richard Robertson. Mr. Norman retired from this business a year ago.

DESPONDENT, HANGS HIMSELF. ~ Wm. Mann, 80, Grieved for Wife Who Died in 1905.

September 12, 2025

DESPONDENT, HANGS HIMSELF.

Wm. Mann, 80, Grieved for Wife

Who Died in 1905.

Brooding over the loss of his aged wife who died February 24, 1905, William Mann, 80 years old, a pioneer farmer of Johnson county, Kas., became despondent early yesterday morning and hanged himself with a halter rope in the barn of his son, James Mann, who lives in the suburbs of Bonner Springs. The body was discovered at 10 o'clock by Harley Mann, the ten-year-old grandson. An examination made by the Wyandotte county Coroner J. A. Davis proved that life had been extinct several hours.

Mr. Mann was at one time widely known as a successful farmer of Johnson county, where he lived more than 35 years. In 1903 he moved to Bonner Springs in Wyandotte county accompanied by his only son James. There the two went into the potato raising business. Recently James Mann has been locally known as the potato king from the fact that he yearly cultivated 300 acres of the tubers, considerably more than any other farmer in the vicinity.

WAGON MASTERS TALK OF OLD TRAIL DAYS. ~ PLAINSMEN OF 50 YEARS AGO HOLD A REUNION.

September 4, 2025

WAGON MASTERS TALK

OF OLD TRAIL DAYS.

PLAINSMEN OF 50 YEARS AGO

HOLD A REUNION.

Recall Incidents of Overland Travel

When Indians Roamed Plains.

Man's Arm Amputated With

an Old Saw.

Wagon masters of fifty years ago, to whom the Santa Fe and Great Salt Lake trails were as familiar as their own country roads, gathered yesterday at the "old settlers' " reunion at the Independence fair.

Some of them came from Texas, but the greater number came from Kansas. When they left for the long overland trip it was as wagon masters, but yesterday they came back to a world moved by machinery and electricity. In '49 they left by the slow going wagon train, fording rivers and traveling through a country unblazed by an ax.

The entire forenoon was devoted to reminiscent stories by old men. They held aloof from the track, but their hands tightened on one another as they met.

"There is Wood McMillain," said one. "I would know him as quick as I would know my mother."

The next minute two gray-haired men were deep in the recollection of friends, many of them gone, and as they listened to one another the meeting warmed into life misty memories of the past. Mr. McMillain was one of the old wagon masters of '49. Many an expedition he conducted across the great American desert, now known as Kansas, and yesterday he met many men in the prime of life who knew him. He is now a resident of Denison, Tex.

WHEN INDIANS ROAMED THE PLAINS.

The introduction of wagons for the overland trade came as early as 1824. Colonel Marmaduke was one of a party of eighty which formed a company for the Western trade, 800 miles distant.

When they returned they had silver ore in rawhide sacks and piled the sacks in an adjacent lot close to what is now known as the public square of the county seat.

Jackson Tarquo was on the grounds yesterday.

"I have been over the route several times," he said. "I have never had trouble with the Indians but once or twice. Indians would never sacrifice their men except for revenge or in warfare. Many redskins were killed without cause and in consequence there was bad feeling between them and the wagon men.

"Of course, once in a while a man or a boy would be shot on route and we would bury him after the fashion of the plains. On one occasion the Indians ran off about 400 ponies we were bringing through. They asked for one horse, then for two, and finally, with a whoop, they took all of the ponies. Oxen were used in the early days, but in '49 most of the hauling was done by mules.

"I'll bet I can yet load a wagon and store away more goods than any moving van in Kansas City, and that when the wagon arrives at the end of the long journey not a box or object will be moved one inch out of place. We loaded wagons in those days, and wagon masters understood the art. We would carry through thousands of dollars' worth of goods.

RUDE SURGICAL OPERATIONS.

"Every wolf yell meant Indians to novices in the old days. I went on one trip I can't forget. There was a man who accidentally shot himself in the arm. It was hot and mortification set in. The man would not give up, so we found a saw, whetted a knife, heated wagon bolts red hot and performed a crude job of amputation. After the arm was opened to the bone, we found the saw's teeth were too big, so we filed smaller teeth and sawed through the bone. That man lived for thirty years afterward."

W. Z. Hickman was another old wagonmaster. He is now employed in the county surveyor's office. Yesterday he again became a wagon master for the time being and participated in the talk about the trackless and treeless plains.

Yesterday was the banner day for attendance. The country people turned out. Never was there such a gathering of wagons in the fair grounds. Stations east of Independence sold all of the excursion tickets and before noon the grounds were filled.

Hundreds of awards were made yesterday and special premiums given. F. M. Corn was awarded the third prize for the best yellow corn. J. E. Jones secured first prize and P. H. Curran second. The products of the soil had their inning, and blue ribbons floated from pumpkin to apple piles.

HADLEY WILL OPEN INDEPENDENCE FAIR. ~ OLD FASHIONED COUNTY SHOW IS ON TODAY.

August 30, 2025

HADLEY WILL OPEN

INDEPENDENCE FAIR.

OLD FASHIONED COUNTY SHOW

IS ON TODAY.

For a Week Products of Farm Will

Take Precedence Over Thrill-

ers -- Special Features

Are Attractive.

There was a bunch of tired men in Independence last night who seemed happy in their fatigue. They were the directors of the Independence fair and everything was ready for the opening this morning. The fair this year is going to be just as it has always been, an old-fashioned county affair where the products of the farm take precedence over thrillers of summer park invention and where a prize hog looks a whole lot better than a motor car, for the time being.

And if exhibits are to be counted, the Independence fair is better off this year than ever before. It has been a good year on the farms of Jackson county, and for that reason the exhibits are going to be the largest in the history of the fair. The mountain of pumpkins, a yearly feature of the fair, is to be cooked into pies and distributed to visitors as edible souvenirs. That is to be done on the last day, Saturday.

HADLEY TO OPEN FAIR.

The fair is to have executive recognition and it will be opened at 10 o'clock this morning by Governor H. S. Hadley. The governor will make his speech at that time, after the salute of Battery B of Kansas City has been fired. After the speech of the governor, the battery will maneuver and the fair will be on in earnest. The gates will be open at 7 o'clock in the morning.

The directors have offered purses aggregating $10,000 for the race meeting, and there is a good list of entries. Independence is on three racing circuits and more than 200 horses will strive for the various purses. There will be from one to three races a day.

SERIES OF SPECIAL DAYS.

Admission to the grounds is to be free this year and as an added attraction, there is to be a fireworks display every night. A band will give a free concert every night. Zach Mulhall's Wild West show will be there.

There is to be a series of special days. Tomorrow is to be a special racing day and there will be an extra race for an extra prize. Thursday will be Kansas City day, when Kansas City exhibitors and Kansas City exhibits will have full sway. Friday will be Old Settler's day. Many of the old settlers of Jackson county and the counties surrounding will attend the fair on that day. Saturday is to be pumpkin day.

DEATH CAME SUDDENLY TO P. D. RIDENOUR. ~ HEART DISEASE CLAIMED PIONEER WHOLESALE GROCER.

July 31, 2025

DEATH CAME SUDDENLY

TO P. D. RIDENOUR.

HEART DISEASE CLAIMED PIO-

NEER WHOLESALE GROCER.

Had Been Ill at Home About Ten

Days, but Fatal Termination

Was Not Expected by

Physicians.

THE LATE PETER D. RIDENOUR.

Peter D. Ridenour, pioneer wholesale grocer of Kansas City, died suddenly of heart disease at 11:00 last night at his home, 1416 East Eighth street. He was 78 years old, and as the result of complications due to old age has been kept home from the store at 933 Mulberry street, in the West Bottoms, for over a week. His fatal illness is believed to have begun ten days ago when he first complained of shooting pains in the vicinity of his heart.

At his bedside when he died were his wife, Mrs. Sarah L. Ridenour and his son, Edward M. Ridenour. The family physician, Dr. Lester Hall, and Dr. R. T. Sloane, who had been called in, were in attendance, but neither believed death would result from the indisposition.

BORN ON OHIO FARM.

Besides the widow and the son, Mr. Ridenour is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Catherine Lester, Mrs. Alice Raymond and Miss Ethel Ridenour, all of this city, the last named living at home. Four brothers are living, T. M. Ridenour in Colorado, Irving W. in Richmond, Ind.; Elisha at Liberal, Mo., and Samuel Ridenour, who through the death of his brother will become president of the Ridenour Baker Grocery Company, lives at the Washington hotel.

Funeral arrangements have not been made.

Peter D. Ridenour was born May 5, 1831, on a farm of one half mile south of the village of College Corner, O. His parents were of Dutch extraction and pioneers of the state. The town received its name form its location in the northwest corner of the land donated to the Miami university. In 1837 his father bought a store in the town and in it for the next seven or eight years young Ridenour gleaned the knowledge of the grocery business so useful to him in after years.

At the age of 26, Mr. Ridenour married Miss Sarah Louise Beatty at Xenia, O., and moved to Lawrence, Kas. Part of the trip was made in boats because there was no railroad leading into Kansas City or in fact any other town in the vicinity of the Sunflower state.

BEGAN BUSINESS IN LAWRENCE.

With his brother, Samuel, who also had left the old home in Ohio to come West, Mr. Ridenour started a small grocery store at Lawrence taking as partners in the business Harlow W. Baker of that city and later his three brothers. This was in 1858.

By the death of Mr. Ridenour last night Samuel Ridenour became the sole survivor of the original Ridenour Baker Grocer Company. This firm was incorporated thirty-one years ago when having grown to dignified proportions it was moved from Lawrence to its present ho me on Mulberry street. Such has been its progress in Kansas City that it has been able to establish branch stores at several points. Both Peter and Samuel Ridenour grew wealthy. P. D. Ridenour's estate probably amounts to about $300,000.

Mr. Ridenour was known as a public spirited citizen. Three years ago he was vice president of the Commercial Club and was offered the presidency but he refused because of his advanced age. He maintained a large farm near Dallas, twelve miles from Kansas City, where he had intended to spend the remainder of his life.

PIONEER BLACKSMITH DIES LEAVING $150,000 ESTATE. ~ Henry Nevins Came to Kansas City in 1869, and Opened Shop on Third Street.

July 30, 2025

PIONEER BLACKSMITH DIES

LEAVING $150,000 ESTATE.

Henry Nevins Came to Kansas City

in 1869, and Opened Shop

on Third Street.

Henry Nevins, pioneer horseshoer of Kansas City and in the early days a fair prototype of Longfellow's "Village Blacksmith," died at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon at the family residence, 1032 Olive street. He was 70 years old.

He was born in Tipperary county, Ireland, and came to this country when a young man, spending some years in Canada, where he learned the blacksmith trade and where he married. Later he crossed the line into the United States, settling first in Burlington, Ia., and from there removing to Kansas City in 1869.

He first opened a shop at Third street and Grand avenue and for twenty years Nevins's blacksmith shop was a landmark.

In those early days when railroads were in their infancy and mules and horses were yet the main standby for transportation, the blacksmith was a most important person.

Nevins met the situation with an energy that never seemed to tire, and it is on record that during rush seasons he has been known to stand in the smith forty-eight hours at a stretch, without sleep, eating in the shop meals brought to him by his wife.

Early in his career in Kansas City Mr. Nevins began to put his savings into real estate, and this policy he continued throughout his career. But once in his life did he part with real estate he had purchased, and that was about eight years ago, when he sold to the Armour Packing Company the property at 306 West Eighth street for $10,000, and for which he had paid $900 in early days. For an other property next to the Gillis opera house, which cost him $800 he recently refused an offer of $800 a foot.

Practically all his wealth is in inside Kansas City real estate and a conservative estimate of his estate places the figure at $150,000.

Later he moved his blacksmith shop to 512 Walnut street, and when that property became too valuable for a blacksmith shop he moved once more to 512 Grand avenue, where he continued in business until five years ago, when he retired, owing to advancing age and continued ill health.

He leaves a wife and six children, three sons and three daughters. The children are: John M., James H., William J., Elinore, Catherine Marie and Rose.

The funeral will be held Saturday morning at 9 o'clock from St. Aloysius's church, and burial will be at St. Mary's cemetery.

HELPED MAKE HISTORY IN KANSAS CITY KAS. ~ BYRON JUDD, RESIDENT SINCE 1857, IS DEAD.

July 27, 2025

HELPED MAKE HISTORY

IN KANSAS CITY KAS.

BYRON JUDD, RESIDENT SINCE

1857, IS DEAD.

Held Many Positions of Trust and

equipped First Horse Car Line

in the City -- Was 85

Years Old.

In the death last night of Byron Judd, a pioneer resident of Kansas City, Kas., the city was deprived of perhaps its most widely known and lovable characters. He was a man of rare ability, and was noted for his keen, incisive mind. Every enterprise of worth which marked the early transition of a straggling Indian village into the metropolis of the state is closely interwoven with the name and personality of Byron Judd. Although his advanced age of late years prevented his active participation in the affairs of the city, his mind retained the vigor of youth and his counsel upon questions of moment was highly valued and eagerly sought.

ANCESTORS IN MAYFLOWER.

Byron Judd was born August 13, 1824, at Otis , Berkshire county, Mass. His parents were farmers and pointed with pride that their ancestry could be clearly traced to the landing of the Mayflower. He received his education at the state normal and at Southwick academy. As a young man in his ho me town he held many minor offices, among which were school commissioner, township assessor and selectman.

In 1855 he left his native state and journeyed westward to Iowa, being made deputy land recorder at Des Moines, a position he held until his removal in 1857 to Kansas City, Kas., or, as it was then known, Wyandotte. In 1869 he was elected a member of the board of aldermen of the city. In 1863 he was elected county treasurer of Wyandotte county. He was married in 1865 to Mrs. Mary Louise Bartlett.

During the early days of Wyandotte he engaged in the banking and land business which he carried on for many years, having been the first land agent in the city. He was president of the council in 1868 and was elected mayor in 1869. This administration was remarkable for the spirit of enterprise displayed and was in fact the beginning of that civic pride which has since characterized the city.

EQUIPPED FIRST HORSE CAR.

Mr. Judd was made United States commissioner in 1870. In 1871 he organized the First National bank of that city and served as president and cashier of the institution. He remained a director in the bank for many years. In connection with W. P. Overton and Luther Wood he went to St. Louis and purchased the material and equipment for the first horse car line in the city.

He was elected state senator in 1872 and served in that capacity until 1876. Although a staunch Democrat, he was not in sympathy with the border warfare and many of the outrages committed during that period were fearlessly denounced by him.

His is survived by his only daughter, Mrs. Sarah Judd Greenman, public librarian of Kansas City, Kas.

Funeral arrangements have not been made.

PIONEER PHYSICIAN OF MISSOURI DEAD. ~ DR. WILLIS P. KING SUCCUMBS AFTER LONG ILLNESS.

July 13, 2025

PIONEER PHYSICIAN

OF MISSOURI DEAD.

DR. WILLIS P. KING SUCCUMBS

AFTER LONG ILLNESS.

As a Practitioner and Author, Dr.

King Was Recognized Among

the Foremost of His

Profession.

DR. WILLIS P. KING.

Dr. Willis P. King, a pioneer physician of Missouri, died yesterday afternoon at 3:15 o'clock at the family home, 3031 Wabash avenue, after a lingering illness of four months. Dr. King had been unconscious for several days. Funeral services will be held at the home at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning, after which the body will be sent to Sedalia for interment. Dr. Burris A. Jenkins of the Linwood Boulevard Christian church will conduct the funeral services at the house. The services at Sedalia will be conducted by the masons. Dr. King was 69 years old.

Willis Percival King was one of the pioneer physicians of Missouri. He began the practice of medicine in Missouri in a frontier county in 1866 after having mastered the profession of medicine and having graduated from the St. Louis Medical college, which course consisted only of lectures. For two years after his graduation Dr. King was what was known in those days as a country doctor, riding circuits at times, like the lawyer and preacher. Concerning this period of his life he has written a book, called, "Stories of a Country Doctor," which is now in its fourth edition. The stories are reminiscences of his own life in that capacity.

MOVED TO NEVADA.

After his two years of country practice, Dr. King moved to Nevada, where he remained several years. In the latter '80s he moved again and went to Sedalia, Mo., where he remained until he came to Kansas City, over twenty-five years ago.

Dr. King was born in Missouri, his parents, William and Lucy K. King, having been brought to Missouri in their mothers' arms. The family remained on a farm in Vernon county, and Willis King stayed with his parents until he was 14 years of age.

At that time his thirst for knowledge got the better of him, and since there were no schools anywhere near his home he ran away. In order to pay for his education he worked on farms in the summer time and went to school during the winter. When the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad bridge was being built he worked at that and made enough money to put him through another year of school. In 1862 he began to study medicine by himself, and from that time on he gave his life to that profession.

WROTE "PERJURY FOR PAY."

When Dr. King moved to Kansas City he was made a surgeon at the Missouri Pacific hospital, and in 1884 he became the assisting chief surgeon at the institution. He served in that capacity for fifteen years, at the end of which time he retired to private practice. About ten years ago Dr. King contracted blood poison from a needle wound received while performing an operation. From that time until his death his health had been so precarious that he could not give much time to active practice.

Dr. King was a lecturer at the Universities of Missouri and Kansas in the medical departments of each institution. He is the author of many treatises on medical science which have won considerable honor for him in the medical fraternity. Four years ago he wrote his last book, "Perjury for Pay," which has had wide circulation.

On June13, 1861, Dr. King married Miss Albina H. Hoss of Pettis county. From that union six children have been born. They are: Robert Emmett King, Willis P. King, Jr., Mrs. Almeda K. Humphrey, Albert H. King, Granville King and Albina King, who is now dead.

BOUGHT THE FIRST LOT IN KANSAS CITY. ~ J. C. EVANS, PIONEER RESIDENT, DIES AT AGE OF 76 YEARS.

July 11, 2025

BOUGHT THE FIRST LOT

IN KANSAS CITY.

J. C. EVANS, PIONEER RESIDENT,

DIES AT AGE OF 76 YEARS.

Was Second White Child Born Here.

Became Indian Trader in Early

Days -- Funeral Not

Announced.

J. C. EVANS.

J. C. Evans, 76 years of age, who was the second white child to be born in Kansas City, died at the University hospital yesterday afternoon as the result of an operation. Mr. Evans had been ill but a short while.

On Dundee place, and on the very highest point of that place, J. C. Evans was born. All around the house was farm land and wilderness, and off to the south and west was the thriving town of Westport. For almost twenty-one years Mr. Evans lived in the house on Dundee's place and did his share towards the building of the greater city upon which he looked with utmost pride in the last years of his life.

Mr. Evans, in those early days, was a trader by occupation, and many were the trips which he took over the old Santa Fe trail down into the Southwest to barter and trade with Indians. With the Indians around Kansas City he had many dealings and was looked upon as a fair man by them.

Shortly before the civil war Mr. Evans married Miss Elizabeth Campbell of Clay county. Within a few months the couple moved from Kansas City to a farm in Clay County, where Mr. Evans had lived until his death.

In 1880 Mrs. Evans died, and four years later Mr. Evans married Miss Sarah M. Plummer of Paris, France, whom he met while she was visiting in this country. Mrs. Evans survives her husband.

Among the interesting facts surrounding the long life of Mr. Evans are two most prominent. It was he who surveyed the first plat of Kansas City, and it was he who bought the first town lot.

Mr. Evans was the son of William B. and Amelia McGee Evans, both of whom were prominent in the pioneer days of Kansas City. Mrs. Evans, his mother, was one of the old Westport McGees.

Eight children survive: Mrs. S. P. Stowers, Millersburg, Mo.; Paul Evans, Mountain Grove, Mo.; Amelia Evans, Clay county; Mrs. J. H. Garth, 1035 Monroe avenue, Kansas City; Mrs. W. R. Soper, Independence, Mo.; Mrs. J. C. McGee, Texarkana, Tex.; J. C. Evans, Jr., Oldham, Mo., and J. M. Evans of Clay county. In Kansas City Mr. Evans has a brother, M. M. Evans, Twenty-fifth and Troost, and a sister, Mrs. William Vineyard, 1475 Independence avenue.

Owing to the condition of the railroad service no definite time has been set for the funeral. It will be held from the First Christian church. Rev. F. V. Lose of Liberty, Mo., will officiate. Burial is to be in the family lot at Elmwood cemetery.

DEATH OF A PIONEER. ~ Dr. Thomas W. Radford Came to Missouri in 1858.

April 11, 2025

DEATH OF A PIONEER.

Dr. Thomas W. Radford Came to

Missouri in 1858.

Dr. Thomas W. Radford, 80 years old and a resident of this city since 1880, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. George W. Matthews, 3112 Garner avenue, yesterday at noon.

Dr. Radford was born in Shelbyville, Ky. He graduated in medicine from a college in Louisville, and practiced there for several years. He was for a short time surgeon in a military school at Drenner Springs, Ky., where James G. Blaine was one of the teachers. Four years after his graduation, he decided to come West and visited Kansas City in the spring of 1858. The town didn't seem to be a good location to him then, so he moved to Fayette, Howard county, Mo., and settled there with his wife and slaves.

His practice grew, and soon he and his horse, "Physic," were well known all over the county. The war came on, but Dr. Radford did not enlist with either side, staying at home and attending to his patients, although frequently interferred with by guerillas. That Dr. Radford earned the esteem of his neighbors during these years is shown by the fact that immediately after the war he was elected three times to the office of county treasurer.

In 1880 he moved to Kansas City and opened a downtown office. He continued in practice here until fifteen years ago, when he retired. He was well known to many families in the city.

Dr. Radford attended the First Christian church for many years, but lately had been a regular communicant of the Independence Boulevard Christian church. A widow, seven children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren survive. One son is T. J. Radford, a druggist at Ninth and Locust streets, and another, C. M. Radford of the Radford-Powell Shoe Company.

Funeral services will be held at 3 o'clock this afternoon from the home. Burial at Elmwood cemetery.

EARLY KANSAS CITY SPIRIT. ~ The Real Turning Point in the Destiny of Kansas City, U. S. A.

April 10, 2025

EARLY KANSAS CITY SPIRIT.

The Real Turning Point in the

Destiny of Kansas City, U. S. A.

To The Journal:

In the spring of 1866 Kansas City had a population of about 3,000. The community had not yet fully recovered from the disastrous effects of the civil war. The corporation was virtually bankrupt; city "scrip," issued to meet current expenses, sold for 50 cents on the dollar.

The sheriff had exhausted his powers in trying to find property on which to levy. He had sold the furniture out of the offices in city hall -- the city scales, and even part of the market square fronting on Main street. Many old timers can easily remember when a block of one and two-story houses extended from Fifth street to the old city hall, built upon sheriff's titles.

Leavenworth, which was Kansas City's great rival, had at that time about 20,000 population and was really the"City of the West," with bright prospects, good credit and large numbers of very wealthy, public-spirited citizens.

No wonder disinterested observers saw little chance for Kansas City. but with that little chance a great opportunity preceded and followed by a fortuitous chain of events, which changed destiny. Both cities had already (before the civil war) expended considerable sums in efforts to obtain rail connection with Cameron station, about fifty miles distant, on the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad.

During the previous session of the Missouri legislature, Kansas City had the good fortune to be represented by Colonel R. T. Van Horn, M. J. Payne and E. M. McGee, who, by their untiring industry and perseverance, and in the face of sharp opposition, secured the passage of the necessary legislation for a bridge and branch railroad.

Colonel Charles E. Kearney (who had recently returned to Kansas City from New York city, where he had engaged in the banking business, and where he had made wide acquaintance among financiers and other business men all over the United States), was made president the company , and devoted his entire time and energy until all was successfully completed.

In the meantime Colonel Van Horn had been elected to congress and was then in Washington, where he was well favorably known, and succeeded in getting such legislation as was requisite.

Colonel Van Horn was ably assisted by Colonel Kersey Coates, who was a warm personal friend of Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, who, at that time, was the recognized leader of the Republican party. Mr. Stevens, on many occasions during his career, at the insistence of Colonel Coates, had used his influence and good offices in promoting and guarding the interests of Kansas City.

On the 8th of May a public meeting was held in the city hall for the purpose of providing funds to aid the enterprise. At that meeting $60,000 in cash was raised and the city council turned over $23,000 in notes of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, given for the right of way of that road along the levee.

This fund became the guarantee on the part of Kansas City on going into the contract for the building of bridge and road.

Immediately after that meeting Messrs. Kearney, Case and Coates began active negotiations in Boston, New York and Detroit. The negotiations had to be conducted with great secrecy --the Leavenworth delegations were continually met, the newspapers and public men of St. Louis did everything in their power to advance, aid and assist the interests of Leavenworth and to hinder, thwart and ridicule the efforts of Kansas City.

On May 24th public announcement was made that the contract had been executed by Hon. James F. Joy of Detroit on behalf of the railroads.

From that day the tide turned in favor of Kansas City, and when the bridge was completed, some three years later, the Kansas City branch became the main line.

Many of the subscribers to this historic fund have been classed as "old fogies," and wanting in public spirit. Others were considered visionary, theoretical, impractical, but all came nobly to the front of this supreme occasion and laid the foundation that makes present conditions possible.

"They built it better than they knew."

The city afterwards, when authority had been obtained, and arrangements made for a bond issue, refunded in full the amount paid by the subscribers.

BERNARD DONNELLY.
April 8, 2025