Kansas City, Missouri; its history and its people 1808-1908 (Volume 2) online

settling in De Kalb county, where he turned his attention to farming. He
was thus engaged until nineteen years of age, when he removed to Jackson
county, Kansas, where he followed various business pursuits. For a time
he conducted a general transfer business and later carried on merchandising
at Holton. In 1885, however, he began preparation for the profession which
now occupies his time and energies, entering the Chicago Veterinary Col-
lege, from which he w^as graduated with the degree of D. V. S. in 1887. In
that year he returned to Holton, where he continued in active practice vni-
til 1896, with the exception of the year 1890-91, which he spent in Galves-
ton, Texas. Coming to Kansas City, he assisted in reorganizing the Kansas
City Veterinary College, while in 1898 he was elected president of its board
of directors, in which position he has since continued. He is also a mem-
ber of the firm of Moore, Stewart & Brown, practicing veterinarians. Since
becoming connected wath the college he has given much of his time to teach-
ing. During the first year he w^as teacher of antomy and at the present
time is teaching general surgery, first year anatomy, obstetrics and lame-
ness. His w^ork in the college has been of such a character as to give it
high standing in the profesion, for he not only possesses comprehensive and
accurate knowledge of veterinary practice, but also has the ability to impart
clearly and concisely to others the knowledge that he has acquired, so that
it finds enlodgement in the minds of his hearers and leaves thereon an in-



678 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY

delible impress. In the line of his profession he is connected with the Kan-
sas State Veterinary Association, was one of the organizing members of the
Missouri Valley Veterinary Association, belongs to the Missouri State A^eter-
inary Association and is vice president of the American Veterinary jNIedical
Association.

Fraternally Dr. Moore is connected with the Odd Fellows and with the
Modern Woodmen. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and
gives his political support to the republican party. His time and attention,,
however, are devoted entirely to his practice and his teaching, and in both
he has attained success and prominence.



S. Y. HIGH.



S. Y. High, superintendent of the waterworks of Kansas City, was born
in Reading, Pennsylvania, August 30, 1856. His father, R. V. R. High, was
a coal merchant who died twenty-five years ago. The mother, ^Irs. Esther
A. (Yoder) High, is still living in Denver, Colorado. The family comes of
French ancestry and was established in Pennsylvania at an early day, repre-
sentatives of the name taking up land there prior to the Revolutionary War,
while General High, one of the ancestors, was prominent in that struggle for
independence.

S. Y. High was educated in the public schools of Reading and in the
Normal school at Millersville, Pennsylvania. He afterward served an appren-
ticeship to the machinist's trade and later pursued a mechanical engineering
course in the Philadelphia Polytechnic School. In 1878 he came to the w^est
and spent two years in Nebraska and in Deadwood, South Dakota. Returning
to Pennsylvania, he was employed in the drafting room of R. S. Xewbolt &
Sons, at Norristown, there remaining for two years. In Philadelphia he
engaged as foreman of the machine shop of the Harrison Brothers Chemical
Works for three years and, again going to his native city, he there prepared
machinery for shipment for the Kansas City Nut & Bolt Company, in
which project he had become interested. In September, 1888, he arrived in
this city as general superintendent of the business. In December, 1904, he
was appointed chief engineer of the Turkey creek pumping station, a part
of the city's waterworks system, and severed his connection with the Kansas
City Nut & Bolt Company. On the 1st of May, 1905, he became superin-
tendent of the waterworks, and in recognition of his capability and fidelity
received reappointment on the 1st of April, 1907.

Mr. High was married April 29, 1881. at Norristown, Pennsylvania, to
Mis.s Louise Patton, a daughter of Robert Patton, collector for the water and'
gas company at that place. They have two children, Robert Pntton and
Bessie S.

In his political views Mr. High is an earnest republican. He is identified
with the various branches of Masonry in both the York and Scottish Rites
and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. Fraternally he is also connected




S. Y. HIGH.



^Mu- wbV'/ YORK

PUBUCUBRARV



HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY 681

with the Knights of Pythias and with the Elks, and he belongs to the Tech-
nological Society of Kansas City and the American Waterworks Association.
Starting out in life with only his laudable ambition and firm purpose to
serve as capital, he has gradually worked his way upward until in business
and official life he has gained a creditable place and has shown himself to be
a man worthy of the trust of his fellow townsmen.



WILLIAM STONE WOODS.

The mere acquisition of wealth is in itself a fact scarcely deserving
mention by the historian. It is in the distribution of wealth that its power
for good or evil lies. Money is power, and the individual who has the faculty
and ability to garner wealth and who applies his acquisitions to the better-
ment of mankind is a public benefactor, whose memory should be preserved
and honored. We are led to this trend of reflection by contemplating the
life work of William Stone Woods, who is representative of that rare ele-
ment in modern life which, although an invaluable part of it, yet rests upon
a basis of something ideal and philosophical. In a worldly sense he has
certainly made his mark, attaining distinction in banking circles, and when-
ever he has come in contact with men of note he is not only valued as an
equal of practical strength and resources, but also as one whose integrity is
beyond question. He has moreover been imbued with the spirit which is
becoming more and more prevalent the spirit which recognizes individual
obligations and responsiblities proportionate to one's powers and opportuni-
ties. While he has attained distinction as a financier, Mr. Woods is per-
haps equally well known as a philanthropist, and so worthily has he used
his wealth that the most envious cannot grudge him his success.

Missouri is proud to claim him as a native son. His birth occurred at
Columbia, this state, November 1, 1840, his parents being James Harris and
Martha (Stone) Woods, who were natives of Kentucky. They were mar-
ried about 1825 in Madison county, Kentucky, and soon afterward removed
to Columbia, Missouri, where the father became a successful merchant, con-
tinuing in business there until his death in 1845.

At the usual age William Stone Woods entered the common schools,
while his more specifically literary education was acquired in the State Uni-
versity at Columbia, from which he was graduated with the class of 1861.
Thinking to make the practice of medicine his life work, he prepared for
that calling as a student in the St. Louis Medical College and afterward lo-
cated for practice at ^liddle Grove, ^lonroe county, Missouri, where he re-
mained until the fall of 1863. He then resumed his medical studies in Jef-
ferson Medical College of Philadelphia and was graduated on the 4th of
March, 1864. He then returned to Middle Grove, where he practiced until
1867, which year witnessed his removal to Paris, Missouri, where he became
connected with mercantile interests. In 1868 he and a brother conducted
a profitable wholesale grocery business, making extensive sales along the



682 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY

line of the Union Pacific Railway during the western construction of the
same. Ogden was reached in 1869 and William S. Woods then returned to
Rocheport, Missouri, wdiere he opened the Rocheport Savings Bank. His
individual ownerehip wiis succeeded by that of the firm of AV. S. Woods &
Company, and he continued in banking there until January 1, 1880, when
he disposed of his interest at Rocheport and removed to Kansas City.

Here he again entered the field of merchandising, becoming a mem-
ber of the firm of Grimes, Woods, La Force & Company, wholesole drj^-goods
merchants, with whom he continued for about two years. During this period
there was established the wholesale house of the W. B. Grimes Dry Goods
Company, successors to the former firm. On the reorganization Mr. Woods
became a stockholder, but took no active part in the management or con-
trol of the business on account of his health. Later the name was changed
to the Swofford Dry Goods Company. In the meantime Mr. Woods pur-
chased a controlling interest in the Kansas City Savings Association, of
which J. A. Powell was president and C. J. White cashier. Affairs after a
time reached a deplorable condition, and Mr. Woods was made president,
and took up the active management of the business. The result is today
seen in the second largest banking house west of the Mississippi. The bank
had been organized in 1865 Avith one hundred thousand dollars capital, but
only ten thousand dollars had been paid in. When he assumed charge it
was reorganized as the Bank of Commerce with a capital of two hundred
thousand dollars. The business grew rapidly, and in 1887 was liquidated,
paying the stockholders three dollars for one invested, in addition to the six
per cent semi-annual dividends which had been declared. It was then suc-
ceeded by the National Bank of Commerce with a capital of one million
dollars, and from the organization of the new institution Mr. Woods sen^ed
as president until it was recently reorganized.

Mr. Woods has had many other business interests and is recognized aa
one of the strongest financiers in the entire west. For fifteen years he was
associated with his brother, James M. Woods, in the cattle business in Mon-
tana, supplying beef to the United States forts and Indian agencies. They
operated extensively in that line and in 1894 AVilliam S. Woods sold his
interest to his brother. He was a projector and is now a large stockholder
in the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railway. Several of the largest and
finest busiiu'S.- blocks of Kansas City stand as monuments to his enteiprise.
Recently he has promoted the Commerce Trust Company, capitalized for
one million dollars, and the Commerce Building Company. The Commerce
building has seventeen stories of steel, fifteen being above street level. It is
one of the finest office buildings and banking houses of the entire west.

On the 10th of Julv, 1866. Mr. Woods was married to Miss Albina, a
daughter of Judge Ebcnezer McP)ride, one of the old residents of Monroe
county. MissoiH'i. She is a lady of superior education, culture and of nat-
ural refinement, very prominent in charity work and in the social move-
ments. Their daughter, Julia, was educated in the leading college of Balti-
more, Marvland.



HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY 683

Mr. Woods advocates and contributes to the advancement of Kansas
City's business enteiprise.s and to those movements and plans which promise
benefit to the city alone along all lines of municipal progress. He is more-
over one of the best known philanthropists of the west. He wears his hon-
ors, however, with becoming modesty, his beneficence prompted by a sinctere
interest and devotion to the welfare of his fellowmen. Seventeen years ago
Dr. Woods gave to Rev. T.-P. Haley, of the Linwood Avenue Christian
church, property to the value of seventy-five thousand dollars, which waA
shortly transferred to the Orphan School of the Christian church of Missouri
that later became the William Woods College. Since that time eight hundred
young women have been educated in this school. Soon after the gift was
made, however, this property and the school were mortgaged by the trustees
to relieve the indebtedness of the institution. On learning of this Mr. Woods
made investigation and paid the mortgage. At that time the school was re-
named for him, but against his protest. In the years which have since come
and gone he has met the annual deficit of the school and has been the prin-
cipal donor to the funds used in the erection of its buildings in addition to
the original structure. The school is conducted at an annual loss, due to
the fact that about one-third of the students are educat-ed and boarded free
of cost and another third at half cost. This deficit is met regularly by Dr.
Woods, who is thus promoting the cause of education. Other donors have
established scholarships and contributed to the building funds, but it has
been the assistance of Dr. Woods that has made the continuance of the school
possible.

Four years ago Dr. Woods removed to Excelsior Springs on account of
the health of his wife, and there has manifested the same public spirit in
behalf of general interests that has marked his connection with Kansas City.
His home life is largely ideal and his interests center there. He is a lover
of outdoor sports and encourages athletics and all manly games. Having
risen from a humble position, he has always taken great interest in young
men and in their welfare, and has been ready and quick to extend a
helping hand to those who are willing to help themselves. His own life
record seems remarkable as we measure the distance between his present
position and his starting point, but his splendid success has come to him
only through the use of the talents with which nature endowed him. There
are in every community men who without any particular effort on their
part leave an impress upon the community which can never be effaced. Dr.
Woods is one of these. Whatever he has done for his own financial benefit has
alw^ays been certain to confer permanent and valuable results upon the en-
tire community. No man has done more for the city than he, and no man
takes less credit for his acts. He is a splendid type of a noble American
citizen, and manliness, patriotism, philanthropy, sincerity and friendship
are instinctively associated with his name. The common testimony of him
is that he is a man of remarkable sagacity, a quality in the human mind
that we can scarcely overestimate in business and in many relations in life;
a man w^ho sees much sooner than he speaks; a man who has been careful,
prudent and honest; a man therefore favored not by chance but by the due



684 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY

exercise of his own good qualities. His honesty is the root of honor, which is
one and the same thing, something sweeter, nobler and more far-reaching
than square dealing. He possesses unselfishness in a marked degree, and
an eagerness and willingness to see that all men have opportunities and a
desire to favor all.



F. E. COLVIN.



F. E. Colvin, manager of the loan department for J. S. Chick & Son,
the oldest firm in Kansas City in the real-estate, loan and insurance busi-
ness, was born at Port Washington, Wisconsin, October 26, 1879, his parents
being Hiram and Margaret M. Colvin. The father's birth occurred in Ver-
mont, where the battle of Bennington was fought during the Revolutionary
war. He was of English descent, his grandfather having been banished
from England on account of political troubles. The mother of our subject
was a native of New York. The parents lived for some time in Wisconsin,
and afterward located on a farm near Columbus, Cherokee county, Kansas,
in 1882. There F. E. Colvin remained until 1890, when he went to Wich-
ita, Kansas, where he attended school and also filled the position of clerk in
the Carey Hotel mitil 1895. He then returned to Columbus, Kansas, and
engaged in the farm loan business, so continuing until 1898, when he went
to Galena, Kansas, where he continued in the same line of business, together
with mining. He met with fair success there and, attracted by the discov-
ery of oil in Texas in 1902, he made his way to the oil fields at Beaumont.
where he remained until 1904.

That year witnessed his arrival in Kansas Cit}', and he Ijecame asso-
ciated with the real-estate, loan and insurance firm of J. S. Chick & Son,
as manager of the loan department. As stated, this is the oldest firm of the
kind in Kansas City, the senior partner. Colonel J. S. Chick, having located
here in 1836. For a number of years he was engaged in the V)anking busi-
nass, and then turned his attention to the present field of activity, the firm
througliout these years maintaining a foremost place as representatives of
this line of business.

Mr. Colvin is a member of the Grand Avenue Methodist Episcopal
church, is much interested in the church and Christian work, and is now a
member of the Young Men's Christian As.sociation. His fraternal relations
are with Sicilian lodge, K. P., and Sicilian Company, No. 1, Uniform Rank.
He also belongs to Temple lodge, No. 299, A. F. & A. M., and Elks lodge.
No. 26. He is also connected with the American Guild, and although one of
the more recent arrivals in Kansas City, he has made a creditable name tor
himself in business, church and fraternal circles.



INDEX



Aberuathy, J. L 147

Adams, C. B 619

Adams, F. C 163

Adkins, J. G 275

Ahern, Daniel 462

Allen, S. P 351

Arnold, H. C 395

Atwill, E. R 470

Baehr, W. J 596

Baker, A. J 96

Ball, R. E 639

Bannister, F. J 267

Banta, V. 1 243

Barham, T. M 568

Barkley, Hiram 415

Bartlett, W. L 446

Battell, G. S 187

Bayles, S. S 474

Beals, David T 325

Beekman, T. H 53

Bell, J. B 225

Bellemere, J. F 229

Blue, G. F 164

Boutell, H. E 528

Branham, J. S 661

Brodnax, T. J 612

Brown, G. L, 260

Brown, Pierre S 665

Brown, W. J., Jr 516

Brown, W. J 486

Bruner, R. E 644

Brunner, H. J 376

Budd, Azariah 68

Bunting, G. H 289

Burnham, C. E 478

Burton, C. G 636

Burton, J. H 489

Butler, Matthew 210

Button, O. W 653

Caffery, W. H 158

Campbell, W. E 494

Campbell, W. L 560

Cavanaugh, John 505



Child, H. P 218

Chouteau, A. L 189

Chouteau, W. M 431

Clark, H. D 348

Coe, C. M 604

Cole, J. D 113

Colgan, R. C 424

Collier, George 530

Collins, W. N 599

Colvin, F. E 684

Conner, W. J 459

Conrad, H. S 601

Cook, H. H 394

Cooper, A. L 616

Cooper, Emma S 666

Cosby, J. D 546

Cranfill, E. L 618

Cravens, .J. H 657

Cravens, J. K 654

Crosby, C. W 393

Crosby, Lemuel 130

Crowe, J. R 555

Crutcher, E. R 372

Culbertson, W. C 662

Dalton, W. J 329

Dayton, J. H 89

De Bord, F. M 522

Dew, Jeremiah T 607

Doherty, Edward 391

Dominick, J. R 407

Downing, J. F 602

Durham, E. R 314

Dumm, I. W 369

Dunn, W. H 77

Dwight, S. N 182

Eastwood. J. N 540

Eaton, John F SO

Edwards, Emma J 432

Egner, J. C 436

Eneberg, J. F 278

Ennis, A. S 468

Evans, G. W 583

Eyssell, G. J 308



II



INDEX



Ferree, C. M 519

Fitts, J. C 458

Flahive, T. P 253

Fletcher, C. J 136

Foster, W. D 58

Fudge, A. J 548

Gage, John C 197

Gardner, Sebastian 131

Gaskill, W. C 410

Gentry, Richard 292

Glass, W. C 227

Glover, P. G 408

Goodman, L. A 154

Gordon, D. S 514

Gossard, F. P 523

Gray, G. B 427

Green, Robert 421

Greenwood, J. M 238

Griffin, W. E 483

Griffith, F. L 535

Gross, G. P 98

Groves, E. T 114

Guinotte, J. E 115

Hagerman, Frank 563

Hairgrove, E. E 460

Halcro, John 370

Hall, C. L 265

Hall, W. P 139

Halley, George 124

Harzfeld, J. A 593

Hayward, F. M 39

Hedges, G. S 379

Hedrick, I. G 291

Heite, C. E 447

Henderson, Fi'ank 404

Henn, Philip J 501

Hewson, James 299

High, S. Y 678

Higley, A. J 236

Hilliker, R. W 556

Hofmann, Michael 66

Hoffmann, George 500

Holmes, Nehemiah 82

Holtz. E. A 587

Hoover, J. W 396

Hughes, A. M 569

Hurt, James 340

Huttig, Frederick, Jr 413

Hyatt, W. W 300

Jaccard, E. G. E 254

Jaccard, W. M 579

Jackson, C. A 45



Jackson, J. W 170

Johnson, F. C 428

Johnson, \V. T 213

Kahmann, G. H '. 140

Karnes, J. V. C 18

Kearney, C. E 249

Keith, C. S 12

Kenmuir, J. P 16

Kienzle, E. H C26

Kinlen, M. L 502

Kirk, E. D 288

Knapp, A. H 337

Koch, Henry 562

Kornbrodt, C. T 345

Kraus, Philip 198

LaForce, F. L 617

Leng, H. P 585

Lengel, Charles 466

Leslie, L. N 303

Lewis, E. R 296

Lewis, F. B 193

Lillis, J. S 451

Lipscomb, J. H 448

Livingston, R. A 72

Lombard, J. L 384

Long, R. A 202

Loomas J. P 553

Lorie, J. L 429

Lowe, J. M 178

McClure, E. L 642

McCullum, L. W 25

McCoy, J. C 316

McCrum, W. H 181

McLaughlin, William 383

Mackenzie, James 609

Manville, T. L 543

Martin, E. L 312

Martin, J. S 160

Mason, J. C 121

Mason, R. J 86

Mathias, E. L 625

Maxwell, R. M •'.32

Merine, J. C 144

Merrill, John W 222

Meservey, E. C 628

Meyer, A. R 194

Middleton, A. J 364

Minor, W. E 631

Montgall, W. H 273

Moore, L. R 50

Moore, R. C 677

Moriarty, E. P 476

Morley, W. J 402



INDEX



m



Morris, E. E 120

Morrison, H. C 506

Moulton, F. R 212

Muehlebacli, G, E 74

Mulligan, T. J 515

Murdock, H. C 467

Murphy, Con 23

Murphey, V. M 353

Nave, James M 320

Nelson, E. F 221

Newham, W. M 564

Norton, John 430

Oldham, J. W 386

Oliver, W. E 403

O'Mara, Sarah E 668

Orrison, D. S 457

Orthwein, C. C 669

Pain, T. J. B 572

Parker, C. D 54

Patton, J. A 336

Peake, George 172

Pearson, A. A 507

Pearson, Gustaf 123

Pearson, R. C 37

Peck, George B 356

Peet, Robert 305

Peltzer, T. C 190

Pfost, E. B 315

Phillips, Jennie M 180

Piatt, B. C 611

Pontius, W. S 469

Porter, D. R 552

Prescott, J. P 620

Priddy, J. B 327

Proctor, C. 78

Pugh, George S 282

Punton, John 90

Putnam. Nathan W 440

Pyle, C. W 298

Raach, J. A 634

Raber, Charles 417

Reynolds, J. 1 399

Ridenour, P. D 219

Ridge, T. S 108

Robinson, J. A 132

Robinson, O. E 633

Rosenberger, J. C 603

Rosenzweig, G. 1 586

Ross, F. D 670

Hoss, W. H 38

'ule, W. A 262



Rumble, S. E 344

Runyan, J. A 64

Ryan, Michael 484

Ryder, W. E 81

Sanford, E. J 650

Saunders, Richard 339

Scarritt, E. L 570

Scarritt, Nathan 26

Schaefer, George 174

Scholey, G. W., Jr 575

Scott, S. F., Jr 323

Scott, Col. S. F 371

Seaver, J E 465

Sedgewick, G. W 60

Seehorn, T. J 627

Setzler, Philip 580

Shaw, Grant 676

Sills, A. M 439

Slavens, J. W. L 127

Smart, D. O 40

Smith, A. G 205

Smith, C. A 643

Smith, G. C 332

Smith, M. F 454

Smith, P. C 31

Smith, W. J 443

Snead, W. T 493

Snyder, G. P 94

Soden, Peter 214

Stevenson, G. E 414

Stine, E. & Son 418

Stoeltzing, Ernst 524

Stone, Kimbrough 667

Sullivan, H. H 651

Sulzbacher, B. L 185

Suydam, A. E 380

Sweeney, E. R 641

Sweet, C. B 594

Swinney, E. F 330

Swope, T. H 148

Talbott, L. J 608

Tarsney, J. C 235

Teasdale, W. B 166

Thomson, Wiliam 46

Tillhof, J. P 513

Titus, John 283

Tobener, E. F 97

Tobener, F. W 673

Tobener, Henry 251

Tobener, William 453

Toll, Alfred 116

Tomb, Thomas B 206

Twichell, Jerome 674

Twitchell, D. S 230



IV



INDEX



Vanderslice, Howard 284

Van Horn, R. T 5

Van Noy Brothers 658

Van Vleck, C. H 367

Velie, S. H 623

Vivian. H. J . 592

Vliet, William 22

Waddell, J. A. L 258

Waldron, C. E 445_^

Waldron, C. E., Sr 53??'

Walker, G M 475

Walker, J. L 511

Walton, E. M 152

Warneke, G. 588

Warneke, J. C 532

Washburn, E. C 362



Webb, D. C 354

Weber, Anton 610

West, A. L 347

West, AI. G 360

Wherrett, W. V 544

White, C. J 324

Whitney, Carrie W 245

Williams, W. A 307

Wollaston, G. E 87

Woods, S. D 137

Woods, W. S 681

Woodstock, S. E 577

Wright, E. C 270

Yates, James 246

Yost, John T 498



1



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