|
LOCAL FAMILY HISTORIESI-RFamily Histories are arranged in alphabetical order by surname (last name). Scroll down and click on the appropriate name. |
| Junod | Paul | Aimé |
| Knipp | Oscar | Wilhelm |
| Knipp | ||
| Kocher | Albert | |
| Kolterman | August | F. |
| kolterman | Christian | F. |
| Kolterman | Henry | Carl |
| Kolterman | William | |
| Kolterman Brothers | ||
| Kral | Anton | |
| Ladner | George | |
| Leinbach | Samuel | |
| Lewis | Edgar | S. |
| Lieb | Charles | C. |
| Lieb | Charles | |
| Malone | ||
| Marshall | Millard | H. |
| Marten | John | |
| May | George | W. |
| McCloughan | Joseph | W. |
| McGuire | ||
| Meskimen | Allen | |
| Miller | Edward | |
| Minsch | Andrew | |
| Mumaw | ||
| Newlin | William | H. |
| Nichols | Worthington | |
| Paulsen | William | |
| Pinnick | Edward | A. |
| Pitcher | Henry | Sr. |
| Randall | Ziba | |
| Rezac | Matt | |
| Ristow | Frank | |
| Rollenhagen | ||
| Rose | Wesley |
OSCAR WILHELM KNIPP
Oscar Wilhelm Knipp, son of Jacob and Henrietta Reuter knipp, was born June 17, 1894. On November 12, 1919, he married Nada Wegner, daughter of Ferdinand and marie Bosse Wegner. The couple farmed northwest of Onaga. Their children were Dorothy Schafer and Marvin Knipp. Oscar died January 31, 1974.
KNIPP
Jacob Knipp, born in Janesville, Wisconsin, and Emma Gruetter, who was born in Sieberg, Switzerland, were married in Duluth in 1880. They made their home on the farm southwest of Onaga presently occupied by t he albert Hay family. Mr. Knipp came to Kansas with his parents in a covered wagon in 1869. Both Mr. and Mrs. Knipp had prior marriages. Jacob was married to Henrietta Reuter. To this union were born four children: Richard; Oscar, who married Nada Wegner Knipp; Louise Marten, and Bertha Meskimens.
Jacob and Emma Knipp's children are: Warren (Pat) Knipp, who died May 14, 1981. He married Fay Willis Knipp. Lydia Knipp Crawford, married Merle Crawford. Elna Heaney, deceased; William Knipp, who married Lela Mae Mayer; Helen Knipp Dangerfield, who married Arthur Dangerfield; Thelma Knipp Minsch, wife of Larlan Minsch; and Herbert Knipp, who married Dorothy Wegner.
ALBERT KOCHER
Albert Kocher was born in 1874 in Ludwigsburg, Germany, and came to the United States in 1891, at the age of 17. He lived in Fredericksburg, Texas first and then in Freeburg, MO, and then came to Onaga. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Mr. Kocher married Minnie Mitz in 1898. they had eight children. Mr. Kocher was a farmer all his life and lived about three miles southwest of Onaga. Mrs. Kocher died in 1943, and Mr Kocher died in 1965.
AUGUST F. KOLTERMAN
August Frederic Kolterman was born on a homestead near Duluth on November 11, 1857. He was the first white boy born in Mill Creek Township. He was the son of William F. and Hannah L. Brunkow Kolterman.
On February 20, 1884, he married Wilhelmine (Minnie) Brunkow. She was born July 3, 1862, in Prussia, the daughter of William F. and Caroline (Zabel) Brunkow, and came with her parents to the United States in 1869.
Mr. and Mrs. Kolterman had fourteen children. Two children died in infancy. A daughter, Emma, died January 10, 1930. Other children were: Otto, Leonard, Ella (Rollenhagen), Lydia (Dodds), Therese (Buls), Roy, Arthur, Frank, Clara, Rheva, and Chester.
Mr. and Mrs. Kolterman lived on a farm four miles north of Onaga until 1912, where all of their children were born. Mr. Kolterman built a new home in Onaga, and took an active part in the development of the community, serving as township trustee, as a member of the school board, and several terms as a city councilman. He died July 13, 1937, at his home. Minnie died December 11, 1953. They are buried in Duluth Cemetery.
CHRISTIAN F. KOLTERMAN
Christian F. Kolterman was born in Pommern, Germany, January 8, 1843. He married Alvena Pauline Scholz, who was born June 6, 1846, in Bunzlau Schlesien, Germany. Christian was a volunteer in the Civil War, enlisting September 1, 1962, and serving three years in Company K, 11th Regiment of the Kansas Cavalry. Volunteers were honorably discharged September 13, 1865, at Fort Leavenworth. ; Christian was granted one quarter section of land by government patent, on which he built a rock house. This house has been occupied by four generations of Koltermans.
Christian and Alvena had four children: Edward, Charles, W., Robert T., and Bertha Kolterman Heisse.
Charles W. Kolterman was born November 19, 1869, at Neuchatel. On June 10, 1891, he married Hulda M. Scheel, who was born at Arispie January 21, 1872. Charles and Hulda had six sons, all born near Onaga. They are: Earl W., born March, 30, 1893; Lawrence, born September 7, 1895; Lester H., born February 19, 1898; Glen H. Born May 13, 1900; Archie L., born June 13, 1905; and Carl A., born September 26, 1911.
Christian, Alvena, charles and Julda are buried in Home Cemetery, south of Duluth. Archie Kolterman married Lillian M. Lasater. They have two children. Carl Kolterman married Louise Matilda Eichem in Topeka on February 23, 1943. Louise is the daughter of Christian Eichem and Rosa Ubel Eichem. She was born April 2, 1921 at Westmoreland. They have four children.
HENRY CARL KOLTERMAN
Henry Carl Kolterman, born November 2, 1891, married Eula Hartwick Kolterman (born November 5, 1898), on December 24, 1917. To this union were born the following children: Jeanette Iris, Ruth (born and died 20 June 1931), Linda LaRue, and Greta Rae.
Henry died August 18, 1972.
WILLIAM KOLTERMAN
William Kolterman came from Germany to Wisconsin with his parents, Daniel and Mary Kolterman, in 1856 and came to this area in 1857. He married Amelia Nicholas and they lived on a farm north of Duluth. William and Amelia spent their retirement years in a home in Duluth. They were the parents of eleven children -- three sons and eight daughters -- some of whom are: Lena, Pauline, Emma, Amelia.
KOLTERMAN BROTHERS
Three Kolterman brothers and their families came to Kansas and settled near Duluth. William F. and Daniel K. came in 1857, and Chris came in 1858. The came from the Pomeranian Province of Prussia, which was the original name for Germany. It was in the northwest, bordering on the Baltic Sea and was essentially an agricultural province. Their father, Chris, was a farmer. William F. is the brother who is our ancestor. He was born January 23, 1821 and died September 15, 1882. He married Hannah Louise Brunkow (born May 6, 1824, died January 23, 1893), who also lived in the Pomeranian Province. They were farmers.
After the birth of their three children at Doelitz, Germany, they sailed for the United States in 1856, landing in New York City. they journeyed at once to Monroe, Green County, WI, where they lived a year before coming to Kansas in the spring of 1857 by ox team -- a six week journey with a company of twenty-five people.
They brought with them a couple of cows and some household goods. When they reached their destination at Duluth, they found wild game and numerous Indians. The only roads were Indian trails. They took a pre-emption claim of 160 acres in Section 18, Mill Creek Township, on Dutch Creek, and began farming. They built a log cabin about one-half mile south of Duluth and here the rest of their children were born. They had seven children.
ANTON KRAL
Anton Kral was born August 11, 1880, at Vermillion, in Marshall County. He spent his early life north of Vliets (near Vermillion). He married Florence Pendergrast in Frankfort, November 27, 1913. They lived southeast of Frankfort near the Reust School for awhile and then moved to Section 10, Vienna Township, and lived there for 43 years. He farmed and raised dogs.
Their children are: Howard, Glenn, Leo, Maxine, and Anna Mae. Anton died December 8, 1969, and Florence died August 12, 1978.
GEORGE LADNER
George Ladner was born in Switzerland on December 25, 1833, and grew to manhood there. He married Barbara Neff, who was born in 1833, also of Switzerland. They came to the United States in 1850. In 1861, he homesteaded the Ladner farm in Lone Tree Township. He constructed a log house and lived there while he built a rock house. His son, George, and his family lived in the rock house after George and Barbara moved to town in 1890. George died in 1896, and Barbara in 1903. Both are buried in the Onaga Cemetery.George and Barbara's children were: Anna, Maggie, Martin, Elizabeth, Ernest, Amanda, Kate, Christian, George, John, Rose, Andrew, Mary and Jacob.
His son, George Ladner (Born in 1861, died in June 1941), built a large frame house in 1911. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had three daughters: Grace Grafton, Lena Brunner, and Bess Ladner, and a son, Lloyd. Elizabeth died in 1916. In 1917 he married Rose Botzenhart, who was born in 1881 and died in 1968. To this union were born two sons, Leo and Robert.
SAMUEL LEINBACH
Samuel E. Leinbach came to Kansas following his discharge from the Union Army. He was a member of a cavalry unit from Pennsylvania that marched with General Sherman from Atlanta to the sea.
As a lad, he had been apprenticed to a cabinet maker. He reached Corning by railroad and then walked to Vienna where a sawmill was located, expecting to find work as a carpenter.
He secured a quarter section of land by the Homestead Act, bought an additional one hundred acres of railroad land, and thus established his home in Kansas.
In 1872, he was married to Lucy M. Fulton, who had come to Kansas from Illinois in 1867, with her parents. Sam and Lucy were parents of five children: Mary, who married Leon L. O'Meara; Florence, who married Dr. Charles Osterhaut; Chester; Roscoe; and John, who died at age six.
Mr. Leinbach was a successful farmer and stockman. He was one of the original stockholders of the First National Bank of Onaga. He died in November 1927. Mrs. Leinbach continued to live in the family home until her death in 1938.
EDGAR S. LEWIS
Edgar S. Lewis was born November 19, 1842, in Pharsalia, NY, where he grew up. He served in the Civil War for three years as a private and took part in many engagements, one of which was the Battle of Gettysburg. He was discharged in December 1864, and came to Kansas the next year with his widowed mother. After about two years, he settled on the home farm in Section 11, Vienna Township. At that time, all of his marketing was done at Atchison, Leavenworth, and Fort Riley.
His Brother, James Lewis, lived on the farm where Kenny graf now lives. Mr. Lewis was a charter member of the "Grand Old Army of the Republic", Custard Post No. 39 at Onaga. He was township treasurer of Vienna Township. In 1875, he married Minnie Michael. They were the parents of seven children: Jennie Grimes, James Lewis, Lena Schwarz, Edgar E. Lewis, Anna Dunn, Jessie Lewis, and Carl Lewis.
Edgar S. died January 21, 1927, at the age of 84 years. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are buried in the Vienna Cemetery.
Carl Lewis lived on the home place for many years, and farmed with his brother, Ed. He married Elsie Perrussel. They lived on a farm in the southwest corner of Section 27, Mill Creek Township. He was a machine gunner during the battles of Verdun and St. Michiel in France during World War I. He was also a member of the Army of Occupation in Germany after the war. He died January 31, 1981.
Jessie V. Lewis spent the active part of her life in teaching, principally in the grade schools of Salina. She was a member of the DAR.
CHARLES C. LIEB
Charles Carson Lieb, son of Charles and Martha Auld Lieb, was born on the Lieb farm September 19, 1874. He spent his entire life on this farm with the exception of two years. He married Estella Anne Davis February 16, 1898. She was the daughter of Josiah and Malvina Caley Davis of Vienna Township. The house on this farm is Section 11 was built in 1897. He was a member of the Sons of Veterans Camp No. 91. He died May 11, 1955; Estella died October 22, 1965. their oldest child, Etta, married Osa DeGraw. their children are listed in the DeGraw story.
Lorna Lieb married Russell Boling, St. Marys. Leatha Lieb married Lloyd Hardy. Gladys Lieb married Chester Winters. Charles Henry Lieb married Mary Clark, daughter of Thomas C. and Minnie Stevens Clark of Frankfort. Henry farmed the home place of his father and grandfather. Liebs have lived on this farm continuously for the last 114 years.
CHARLES LIEB
Charles Lieb, son of Jacob and Catherine Lieb, was born January 22, 1837, in Philadelphia. during the Civil War, he was a private of Company H of the 16th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry.
He came west by train to Corning in the spring of 1867. En route he became acquainted with another former soldier, Samuel E. Leinbach. They walked from Corning to Vienna and together bought land in 11-7-11, Vienna, Pottawatomie County.
They lived in a dugout.
Mr. Lieb married Martha Jane Auld, Frankfort, in 1870. She was born near Deersville, Ohio, April 10, 1850, and came to Frankfort with her mother, two sisters and one brother.
Charles and Martha had two sons, Frank and Charles. Mr. Lieb died in 1875. Martha, with the spirit of a true pioneer mother, stayed on the farm and cared for her boys until they reached manhood. She lived on the farm all of her life, and died January 1, 1929. They are buried in the Vienna Cemetery. Frank Lieb was born December 23, 1872. He married Josephine Davis in 1900.
MALONE
George Jefferson Malone was born in Ohio in 1860. He married Nancy R. Smith. They lived in Ohio until 1883, when they came to Vienna Township with their three children, Pearl, Charles, and George, Jr. Another child died in infancy. When George Jr. was four years old, his mother died. Mr. Malone married Lucy L. Earp of Wintersett, IA.
Pearl Malone married Don DeVoe. They lived for awhile in Section 10 and later in Section 28, Vienna Township.
Charles Malone married Ethel Day, daughter of Moses and Louise Day. George Jr. married Lorna Day, daughter of Moses and Alunda Day, in June 1915. George served in the Tank Corps during World War I with the rank of Second Lieutenant. After the war, he returned to Onaga and farmed south of town in Section 23, Vienna Township. They had one son, Duane. George died in 1948. Duane served in World War II and the Korean War with the U. S. Marines. He married Betty Minsch of Onaga. They lived in Section 36, and later moved to where his folks had lived. Duane died in 1979. They had four children.
MILLARD H. MARSHALL
Millard H. Marshall served for nine years as pastor of the Congregational Churches of Onaga and Wheaton. His ministry in the area began in 1953, and terminated in 1962.
He was born in Muses Mills, KY, in 1903. When he was sixteen months old, his father moved the family to a farm in Wisconsin. As a boy, he helped break a yoke of oxen which was used as farm power for a number of years. He was graduated from Northland College at Ashland, Wisc., and Chicago Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1931. Most of his ministry was in the Home Missionary parishes of several states. Following his retirement in Iowa in 1973, he moved back to Onaga to take up permanent residence.
His wife was the former Myrtle Paulson os Stetsonville, Wisc. They reared three children: William, Laurel, and Elaine. Mrs Marshall died in October of 1980. Millard later married May Kirk.
JOHN G. MARTEN
John G. Marten, son of Friedrich and Caroline Kuehl Marten, was born November 4, 1858, in Germany, and in March 1873, came with his parents to America. The Martens bought a farm northwest of Onaga, which they purchased from Mr. William Wiler, who homesteaded the place and sold it in 1878. Pauline F. Abitz, daughter of Christian F. and H. Wilhelmina Zabel, was born in Germany February 26, 1872. She came with her parents to America; they settled west and south of Duluth.
The families had known of each other in Germany, and John marten and Pauline Abitz met near Leghorn, now called Wheaton. They were married October 10, 1899, at Duluth. Mr. Marten died May 30, 1934, and Mrs. Marten died August 20, 1963.
They had fourteen children; Louis Carl and Helen Johanne died in infancy. Mathilda (Tillie) Augusta was born August 16, 1890. She married Roy Platt and they had four children. Tillie carried mail on a Star mail route for thirty- one years.
Friedrich Wilhelm, born January 8, 1892, was killed in action in France during World War I, when he was 26 years old. His body was returned home August 6, 1921, and he is buried in the church cemetery at Duluth.
Elise Pauline (Lizzie) was born December 1, 1893. She married Willie Henry Cass. They had two daughters, Mildred and Luella. Mr. Cass died September 9, 1920, when his daughters were very young.
John Ferdinand was born march 3, 1898. He married Elsie Honig. They had three children: Mervin, Dorothy, and Donna. Elsie died December 12, 1942. John married Clara Roland September 4, 1944. John died October 19, 1974.
Dita Marie Marten was born November 12, 1899. In 1919 Dita went to work at the Onaga Hotel and worked there for several years.
Martha Wilhelmina was born November 4, 1901. she married Robert Hartwich. They had one daughter, Ramona. Martha worked at the Onaga Hotel from 1918 until the fall of 1924. Both Martha and Robert are deceased.
Caroline Alvina was born September 22, 1903. she married Oscar Falk February 23, 1958. She had two children by a prior marriage.
Eitel Theodore (Ike) was born August 13, 1905. He married Erna G. Honig. They had two daughters: Betty and Iris. Ike worked with threshing machines, corn shredders, and clover hullers for Walter Teske, Arthur Matzke and Carl Figge. He also worked with Henry Winkler at his sawmill. He worked on the bridge and paint gangs for the Union Pacific Railroad from 1926 to 1930. He was a mechanic at the Jack Hill Motor Company in Onaga from 1930 to 1933. In 1937, he started to work for the Kansas Power and Light Company as an ice man. He retired in 1970.
Richard Henry was born February 19, 1907. He married Sadie M. Fairbanks July 26, 1947. (See chapter about Onaga business people).
Lorenz Herman was born June 6, 1909. He married Delta Zabel march 8, 1939. They had three sons: Ronald, Kenneth, and David. Lorenz farmed all of his life. He was a substitute Star route carrier for his sister, Tillie, until her death. Then he took over the route until July 1, 1972. He and Delta took the route twice a day when he was the carrier. Lorenz is deceased.
Amanda Rosena was born October 13, 1911. She married Roland Honig. (See chapter on Onaga business people).
Olga Ada was born May 9, 1916. Olga has worked at the bakery in Onaga, a cafe, and at Golden Acres Nursing Home, where she began work in 1964.
GEORGE W. MAY
George W. May, born in 1814, in Pennsylvania and raised in Virginia, came to Kansas in 1857, and settled in Delaware Township, Jefferson County. Rachel Smith May, his wife, was born in Virginia and died in 1860. He then married Susanne Bloomer of Ohio. She died in 1880, and he died in 1886. They are buried at Valley Falls. They had 13 children: Martha, Jasper, Isaac N., James M., George D., Amy, Rachel, Joseph F., Louise, Eliza, Barry, Salathiel, and Flora.
Isaac N. May and his wife, Emma E. Eloit, were both born in Virginia and came to his homestead of 160 acres in Section 6, Lincoln Township, from Valley Falls in 1870. He built a frame house on the farm. Their children were Mary (Mrs. Edward McClellan), Joe (killed by a horse), Arba P., and Delia May Hensley. Isaac and Emma are buried in the Onaga Cemetery.
He and four of his brothers served in Company I, 11th Kansas Cavalry, from 1861 to 1865, in the Civil War. George D. and Salathiel May are buried in Vienna Cemetery.Arba P. May was born December 2, 1877, and died October 15, 1966. He spent his entire life in Pottawatomie county except for one year in California. His wife, Cora L. Mitchell May, was born in Indiana in 1891, and died December 11, 1966. They had four children: Chester I., born April 12, 1910; Elva L. Moseley, born September 4, 1914; Ernest P., born March 23, 1918; and Elmer J., born November 4, 1922.
JOSEPH W. MCCLOUGHAN
Joseph William McClouhan, born February 17, 1871, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Washington McCloughan, Nebraska City, Nebraska. He was a cowboy and herded cattle on the plains of Nebraska. He came to Kansas in a covered wagon, with his buddy, Jim Cargill, in 1893. They settled northeast of Onaga at Savannah on the Vermillion River. They lived in their covered wagon while they cleared the land of timber for T. I. Eddy. They had a stump puller which pulled the tree stumps, so when they were through the ground was ready to farm.
McCloughan married Sarah Louisa Pitcher, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Pitcher, Havensville. They lived a few years on a farm near Havensville, then they moved to the Sand Hills of Nebraska and farmed. They moved back to Kansas and spent the rest of their lives around Onaga and Havensville. There were seven children. Three died in infancy and one daughter, Alma, died in 1963. the three other daughters are Mrs. Anna Force, Mrs. Edna Kocher, and Mrs. Stella Teske.
Mr. McCloughan was also a stone mason. He helped build many bridges and buildings in Pottawatomie County. He dug wells and cleaned deep wells. He would never go down into a well to work without first hanging a kerosene lantern down in the well. If the light went out, it was a sign of gas in the well, which was deadly. He would then stir up the water in the well and test it again with the lantern light. If the light didn't go out it was safe to go down and clean the well.
My father and I sawed down trees with a cross-cut saw, sawed the wood into lengths for cooking and heating stoves, delivered it in town for $2 a lumber wagon load. We piled the brush from the trees high and in the wintertime when the snow was on the ground on a moonlight night, my father would take his shotgun and we would go rabbit hunting. I would climb on the brush pile and jump up and down. the rabbits would run out on the snow and father shot them. We took them home, dressed them and hung them high on the north side of the house. It didn't take them long to freeze. They were nice and fat and made good eating.
Joseph William McCloughan died in 1952. His wife died in 1957. they are both buried in the Havensville Cemetery.
Written by Edna Kocher
MCGUIRE
One of the early settlers of the district was the Moses McGuire family, who lived in Section 12, Vienna Township. They had seven children. Asa E. McGuire was the only one of the family who stayed in the community most of his life. Asa McGuire married Flora Nelson. They had three sons, Harold, Dorman and Marvin. In 1889, when Asa was 15, he hauled the lumber with team and wagon from Havensville for the new school house and this building stood until classes were discontinued in 1965.
Marvin married Maxine Lund of Greene, KS, the daughter of Judwig and Ida Lund on June 7, 1942. She taught school many years in Riley, Pottawatomie, and Nemaha Counties. They were the parents of a son Curtis, who died April 23, 1962, at the age of 15. Maxine died July 28, 1975. Later Marvin married Irene Lund of Greene. Dorman McGuire (see Mumaw story).
By Harold McGuire
ALLEN MESKIMEN
Allen Meskimen filed a claim on 160 acres of land in Section 8, Vienna Township, on May 10, 1870. He later secured eight acres as a tree claim. Mr. Meskimen came from Guernsey County, Ohio, where he was born March 14, 1843. His father, Abraham Meskimen, was a native of Maryland and his grandfather, Abraham, Sr., came to America from Ireland about the beginning of the seventeenth century. Having run away from home, he was sold in New York City to a Mr. Free to pay for his passage, working for him until he became of age. He subsequently married Mr. Free's daughter. Although Abraham Meskimen, Sr., came from Ireland, he was a son of Scotch parents.
Allen Meskimen enlisted as a member of Company H, 40th Ohio Infantry, on September 17, 1861. After three years of service, he was honorably discharged. On January 1, 1863, he re-enlisted as a veteran and was transferred to Company I, 51st Ohio Infantry, receiving his final discharge on November 1, 1865. For some years, he was under the command of General Garfield. He took part in the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, and Kenesaw Mountain. Not long after his return to his home in 1866, Mr. Meskimen was united in marriage to Mrs. Catherine Banker Malone in Guernsey County, Ohio, where the bride was born August 16, 1840. she was the daughter of Jacob and Mary C. (Good) Banker, and her mother was a cousin of General George Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Banker were natives of Maryland and Virginia. Mrs. Banker was born February 1, 1805, and died September 12, 1877. Mr. Banker was born August 23, 1799, and died August 20, 1881.
Mrs. Meskimen was the eight child in a family of four sons and six daughters, and lived at home until her first marriage. Reuben I. Malone, with whom she was then united, was a member of Company H, 40th Ohio Infantry, during the Civil War, and was taken prisoner at Mission Ridge. From there he was sent to Libby, later to Belle Isle, and finally to Andersonville, where he died from starvation April 15, 1864, after having been in prison seven months. He left one child, George J. Malone.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen Meskimen had two children. Mary E. married B. E. Tryon, a teacher on instrumental music in Onaga. The Tryons had two children, John C. and Ida. The Meskimen's son, Henry H., was born March 1, 1868, on a farm three miles south of Onaga. He farmed with his father until he married Rebecca Alviry (Vide), Lawrence, on March 31, 1892, in Westmoreland.
Rebecca Alvira "Vide" Lawrence was born August 4, 1877, near Birds Run, Wheeling Township, Guerney County, Ohio. When she was ten years old, her family put all their belongings in a covered wagon and came to Kansas. Her parents and three smaller children rode, but Vide and an older sister walked and drove the cow.
Henry and Rebecca's son, Allan Cloyce Banker Meskimen, was born June 9, 1895, at the farm home five miles south of Onaga, where he died 74 years later on January 28, 1970.
Allan married Elsie Bertha Knipp February 21, 1917, at Topeka. she was born in Pottawatomie County February 12, 1893, and died March 29, 1966. They had four children: Rheva Alvira, April 8, 1918; Gail Vern, born December 30, 1922, Marcella Jean December 1, 1925; and Dean Myron, January 11, 1928.
Gail Vern Meskimen married marguerite "Peggy" Walker on November 24, 1946. They had six children.
Marcella Jean Meskimen married Robert "Bob" Ladner, Topeka, May 19, 1947. Bob was born December 11, 1923. To this union three children were born.
Dean Myron Meskimen, married Wilma Maxine Florence in 1951. They had three children.
EDWARD MILLER
Edward Miller was born October 20, 1885, and died November 18, 1963. On April 14, 1909, he married Mary Bellows, who was born June 29, 1880, and died February 18, 1958.
Ed was born on a farm three miles northeast of Lyndon. He moved to a farm five miles south of Havensville in 1911. He farmed and operated the township patrol for many years.
To this union were born five children: Marten, born September 5, 1910; William Adolph, born August 25, 1912; Corinne Louise, December 23, 1914 (died October 6, 1968); Martha, January 18, 1917; and Raymond Edward, January 8, 1920.
ANDREW MINSCH
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Minsch were natives of Pottawatomie County. Mr. Minsch was born april 21, 1881, in Sherman Township. He was the son of John and Elsbeth Minsch (of Swiss descent).
parents moved to Kansas from Wisconsin. His father was a Civil War veteran, serving with the Union Army.
Andy, as he was commonly know, was the second youngest of eight children. At an early age he moved with his parents, sister and brothers to Vancouver, Washington, where he resided until the deaths of his mother and sister. At the age of twelve, he returned to Kansas with his father and several brothers. After returning to Kansas, he stayed with relatives and friends, including his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Grob; the Winklers, Schanes, and Brunners.
Mrs. Minsch was born February 18, 1884, in Mill Creek Township on the farm now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Lavern Wrosch. She was the daughter of Herman F. and Hanna L. Buchholz Hartwick. She was the third youngest of seven children. Mr. and Mrs. Minsch were married April 3, 1904, and moved into the home vacated by her parents, who moved to Onaga. Andy farmed the land. They lived on this farm until 1916, when they moved to their farm west of Onaga, now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Worthington. They lived there until 1941, when they moved back to their first home, where they lived until Andy's death, July 4, 1961. Mrs. Minsch moved to Onaga in October of 1961.
Mr. and Mrs. Minsch were the parents of five children: Harlan, Ions (died in infancy); Lorna; Lois Falk, and Betty Malone.
MUMAW
Jonas B. Mumaw was born April 1, 1842, in Westmoreland County, PA. He enlisted in Company B, 26th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in October 1861, and served until December 1863, but re-enlisted and was discharged July 15, 1865.
He was a member of Custard Post #39.
On November 12, 1868, he married Susanna B. Aultman of West Newton, PA, who was born March 28, 1847. The next year they came to Kansas and homesteaded a claim in Section 24 of Vienna Township. He was a farmer most of his life except for a time he spent in Colorado. He took an active part in the community and in the church. He served as deacon of the Congregational Church of Vienna and superintendent of the Sunday School there. Susanna died march 28, 1925, and Jonas died March 12, 1900. Both are buried in Vienna Cemetery.
Their children were Clark A., Daniel, and Luella. Clark was born January 3, 1872 and died July 4, 1944. He married Ida McGuire, daughter of Levi and Nancy McGuire, March 7, 1896. She was born August 10, 1876, and died January 16, 1969. they were farmers in the Vienna community. They are buried in the Vienna cemetery.
Their children were Lloyd W. and Otis. Lloyd was born October 4, 1896. He died July 19, 1974. He was a veteran of World War I. He married Mary Genevieve Henderson in 1920. She died November 30, 1972.
Their children were: Clair, who served in World War II and was killed in action January 18, 1945; Lyle, who married Treva Armstrong and had three children - Kyle, who married Laura McGranahan; Freda Mumaw Donovan, is a public school administrator in Delaware.
Dr. Otis Mumaw married Emily Wilkerson on August 26, 1929. She was born August 12, 1908, at Concordia. They had no children. She died June 2, 1970. Later, Otis married Lucille Haddock of Kansas City. Otis studied at Washburn and Kansas University, and earned his doctorate at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. He spent his life in music and school administration. He is nationally known as a hand bell solo ringer, clinician, and conductor. He has a citation from the Federated Music Clubs of Kansas for 48 years of community service. Luella Mumaw was born August 19, 1884. She worked in the Schwarz and Lynn Store at Onaga and also in Topeka. She moved back to Onaga in 1964, and lived there until her death October 12, 1980.
Daniel Jonas, born September 27, 1887, was married to Ethal Ann Taylor April 2, 1913, at Onaga. They settled on the farm homesteaded by his father in Vienna Township. Their children were alta Hattie born december 19, 1915; Esta Susanna, born April 25, 1918; and Dean Taylor, born January 23, 1924. Alta married Dorman Nelson McGuire February 10, 1946.
Esta married James M. Ferrell, March 10, 1940.
Dean married Phyllis Van Vleit at Holton, August 28, 1949.
WILLIAM H. NEWLIN
William Henry Newlin came to Kansas in 1869, and soon after married Mary Jane Stillwell at Louisville. She was born in Ohio in 1846. Their children were Lyda (Mrs. Fred Hodgson), and Newton J. and George H (twins).
Newton John Newlin married Philura Isabel Gibson of Neuchatel. They had a son, Iler. They lived all of their lives in the Onaga community. He was a member of the Sons of Veterans Camp, Onaga.
George Henry Newlin was a farmer. He spent his entire life on the farm of his parents on the west side of Section 22, Vienna Township. He served on the school board, held many township offices, and was a member of the Onaga Sons of Veterans Camp. He married Etta A. Guffy on May 15, 1900. They had one daughter, Bernice LaVerne, who married Lloyd Hardy. She died in 1930.
Lyda married Fred Hodgson. They had a daughter, Zona Hodgson Tillitson.
WORTHINGTON NICHOLS
Worthington Nichols was born October 10, 1836, in Jackson County, Ohio. He married Catherine Welch or Walsh in 1856. They had seven children. Orin C. Nichols, my father was the youngest. He came to Hutchinson, IS, in 1893, to stay with his Uncle Dilworth. He was the only one of his family to come to KS.
In 1894, he came to Nemaha County to live. He met my mother, Gertrude Booth, at America City. They were married October 20, 1897, and spent the rest of their lives in Nemaha and Jackson Counties.
They had six children. Robert married Rachel Olson from Norway. Bertha married Melvin Sumner, who died in 1948; she married Daniel Van Donge in July 1962. Bernice married Cassel Pitcher; both died at Green in December 1918, with the flu. I, Margaret, married Robert Ellis in 1920; we had one girl, Laura Mae, and were divorced in 1922. I married Howard Harries in 1924. Geeley married Clenice Masterman. Dilworth married Lillian Ba.
The Orin Nichols family moved to the Sutton Place east of Havensville in 1910. In 1946, they moved near America City to take care of Uncle Greeley and Aunt Maggie Booth, who raised my mother, Gertrude, because her mother died when she was nine months old. Uncle Greeley died December 25, 1946. Aunt Maggie Orin and Gertrude moved to Soldier in 1947. Aunt Maggie died July 15, 1950.
The folks lived in Soldier as long as they were able to take care of themselves. Mother died July 12, 1966, in Wetmore, at the age of 84 years. Dad died June 6, 1973, at the age of 100 years. He had 19 grandchildren, 63 great- grandchildren, and 41 great-great-grandchildren.
Howard and Margaret Harries moved to Onaga March 7, 1958. Laura Mae Harries Thompson, Mary Harries Cottrell, Raymond and Roy Harries are our family. Howard died April 21, 1973. Marvin and Mary Cottrell moved to Onaga in September 1957. They have three children.
Written by Margaret Harries
WILLIAM PAULSEN
In the winter of 1884-1885, Jurgen Fredrick and Elsabea Christina Boh (pronounced Bee) Paulsen and their five children left Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, for Kansas where they had relatives -- the Bohs, Schillings and Hasses.
When they arrived in Kansas they settled in a small house just west of the Buck's Grove neighborhood. Only three weeks after they arrived in the States, Jurgen contracted pneumonia while cutting and hauling wood for the family and died at the age of 40.
The five children were: Carsten, Dorathea, William, Gustav, and Henry. The children went to Rock School House which still stands one mile west and one mile south of Buck's Grove.
Elsabea Paulsen died in 1923, at the ate of 78, and was buried at Buck's Grove. Of their children --- Carsten purchased the farm now owned by Wallis Fagan and farmed with his wife, Clara Schenk Paulsen. They adopted one daughter, Sylvia. Dorathea married Ernest McDonald, and they farmed in various locations from just south of Onaga to America City, and then ran a produce store in Havensville. Their children were Stella, Elsie and Lewis.
Gustav, who never married, inherited the farm where Charles McGill now resides. There he farmed, and cared for his mother. Henry purchased and farmed the homestead (now owned by his son, Cecil) and married Hattie Thomas. Their children were Nina, Gladys, and Cecil.
William purchased a farm seven miles southeast of Onaga in 1908. On December 1, 1909, William and Bonnie Belle Cosley were married in Kansas City, KS.
Of this marriage were born seven children: Ruth Christiana, William Frederick, Dorothy Grace, Orvel Gustav, Claude Fletcher, Wesley Clarence, and Lewis Allen.
The children attended Fairview School, conveyed by horse and buggy. Following graduation, Ruth taught at Union Ridge, White Pigeon, and Sunflower schools. She later married Earl Grossnickle, who died in 1977. They had one son.
William (Bill), after serving overseas in World War II, married Ruby Kincade. They had one daughter.
Dorothy after graduating from high school, taught at Sunflower and Coal Creek schools. she married Don Hess. They adopted two children.
Orvel, after serving in C.C.C. Camp, married Rosie Bonjour. He farmed for awhile west of Emmett, and then went into construction work. They had two sons.
Claude married Phyllis Johnson and farmed near Emmett until establishing a resort near Reed's Spring, MO. They had one daughter.
Wesley married Helen Reichert of Corning. He owned and operated Paulsen's Radio and TV in Onaga for a number of years. They had three children.
Lewis (Pete) Paulsen, after farming the homestead for a number of years, moved to Onaga.
EDWARD A. PINNICK
Edward A. Pinick, son of Silas and Louisa M. Pinick, was born March 14, 1891, and died October 21 1972. He married Ellen Middleton, daughter of Walter and Sarah Davis Middleton, October 30, 1912. she was born July 16, 1895, and died February 10, 1978. Their children were Agnes Murdock, Wallace, Marcella Casey, Lyle, Eldon and Edwin (twins).
Mr. Pinick farmed southwest of Onaga.
HENRY PITCHER, SR.
Henry Pitcher, Sr., was born in Saxony, Germany, in 1822. He died in 1888, and is buried in the Havensville Cemetery. His wife, Louisa Wagner, was born in Hesse, Darmstadt, Germany in 1830. She died in 1920, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Rosetta Patch, in Boise, Idaho. She is also buried in the Havensville Cemetery.
She came to a farm near Albany, NY, with her parents. She married Henry Pitcher, Sr. in 1848, at West Sand Lake, NY. They came to Williamsport, Indiana, in 1852, then settled in Illinois in 1863.
They traveled by covered wagon pulled by oxen to Chicago, then on to Kansas, crossing the Missouri River on a raft at Atchison. They came on west to America City, a town of one store, two houses, and a post office. They settled west of Havensville in Section 20, Grant Township.
The Pitchers lived in the covered wagon and a tent while Henry cut logs, trimmed them with an adz, and built a log cabin. Today the cabin is at the Mill Creek Museum, seven miles west of Alma.
Henry and Louisa were the parents of ten children. Louis died at the age of three years in Indiana. The others were: Charles, Adam, John, William, Fred, Carrie (Mrs. Frank Heath), Tillie (Mrs. Ben Thompson), Rosetta (Mrs. Charles Patch), and Henry Pitcher, Jr.
John Pitcher, who was a farmer and carpenter, lived in Havensville. He married Mary Dewitt. Their children were: Sara Louisa, Rebecca, Ed, Frank, Martha, George, Mary, and Cassel.
ZIBA RANDALL
Ziba Randall was born in Pickway County, Ohio, September 17, 1888, and died June 21, 1921. He married Elizabeth Dickerson, who was born in 1845 in Allen County, Ohio, and died February 25, 1925. To them were born ten children, five boys and five girls. One son was Henry Randall. Henry came to Kansas with his parents in a covered wagon in 1885, at 12 years of age.
The family spent the winter in Avoca, a small community in Jackson County. He worked for farmers in the community for a year. Then the family moved to a homestead in the Fairview neighborhood. He worked for several years on J. O. Benton's ranch as a foreman. Then he bought a farm in the Fairview neighborhood. He was an active man, served as township trustee for a number of years, was active in Grange work, and a community leader. He died August 22, 1968.
James W. Slater was born February 7, 1847, at Zanesville, Ohio, and died January 21, 1934. He married Lydia Gilmore slated, who was born April 7, 1851, at Aledo, IL, and died April 20, 1925. To them were born seven daughters, two of whom died when small children. One daughter was Lettie M. Slater, born October 15, 1873 at Aledo, IL. She came with her older sister and mother by train to Corning, where they were met by their father, James Slater, and taken to their farm home three miles east and one-half mile south of Onaga. the farm is now owned by Gilsdorf.
Henry Randall, son of Ziba and Elizabeth Dickerson Randall, was born August 4, 1873, and died August 22, 1968. He married Lettie M. Slater, born October 15, 1873, the daughter of James William and Lydia Gilmore Slater, on January 22, 1896, at Holton. to this union was born one child, Lydia Faye Randall Stallard, on October 29, 1896.
MATT REZAC
Matt Rezac and family moved to their farm south of Onaga in March 1936. The farm buildings are between the Vermillion River and the railroad track in 26-7-11, Vienna Township.
His parents were Matt and Mary Rezac, who were born in Bohemia. Young Matt was born near Emmett October 16, 1899. He married Bernice Wilson, daughter of Bud and Emma Bellows Wilson, who was born February 8, 1905, in the Fairview community. Matt was a farmer and stockman. He was on the Pottawatomie county conservation Board for two terms, and served as a County Commissioner for 11 years.
Matt and Bernice had seven children. Clayton was born November 28, 1926. He was killed in a car accident November 25, 1945; Marjorie, Robert, Rheva, Rosalie, Don, and Linda.
FRANK RISTOW
Frank Ristow was born February 27, 1888, on a farm west of Onaga. He was the son of William and Louise Schroeder Ristow. William Ristow came from Germany in 1868.
On January 11, 1912, Frank married Lena Wrosch, daughter of Albert and Wilhemine Ladwig Wrosch. they had four daughters: Viola, Gladys, Iverna and Audrey. They spent many years farming. Lena died January 15, 1975; Frank died January 27, 1981.
ROLLENHAGEN
Carl Frederick Rollenhagen was born July 18, 1825, in Germany and died June 11, 1885. He is buried at the Home Cemetery south of Duluth. He married Doratea Sophia Stranzke, who was born October 25,1830, in Germany. They had two sons, Ferdinand and Franz.
In the spring of 1869, the family came to Kansas and lived a year with Mrs. Rollenhagen's relatives, Michael F. Hartwick and family. They moved to another Hartwick farm where they lived for two years. On February 13, 1872, Mr. Rollenhagen purchased 640 acres in Lone Tree Township for $500 from Henry C. Dent. He and his two sons, with the help of a stone mason, built a large stone house which is still standing. He farmed and raised buggy horses, through which he met with his death. He was leading a horse through a gate when the horse made a plunge, causing one of the rails to strike him across the stomach. He died later that evening.
Ferdinand Rollenhagen, born July 12, 1854, preceded his father in death on February 19, 1875, when he had an attack of appendicitis. He is buried at Duluth.
Franz Earl Rollenhagen was born December 23, 1857. He married Marie Berges April 29, 1886. She was born April 19, 1866, in the village of Itter, State of Hessen, Germany, to Johannes and Louise Reuter Berges. For 24 years they made their home with Franz's mother on the place that his father had purchased. Franz was a farmer and vice-president of the Wheaton State Bank, Wheaton.
To this union eleven children were born on Lone Tree Township -- Carl, born May 14, 1887, married Ella Kolterman, died August 26, 1967; Theresa, born May 20, 1889, married Ernest Wegner, died August 5, 1949; Myrtle, born February 14, 1890, married Frank Kolterman, died October 11, 1933; Walter, born October 28, 1892, married Hazel Nightingale, died February 2, 1978; Esther, born May 16,1894, died January 14, 1913; Dorothy, born September 18, 1896, married Carl Menter, died August 15, 1970; Frank, born January 26, 1899, married Clara Miller, died October 25, 1966; Edwin, born April 15, 1902; Earl, born October 27, 1904; Raymond, born January 24, 1907, died June 3, 1975; Frances, born March 12, 1909, died September 20, 1971 (She was married first to Carl Pebler and then to Robert Jump).
In 1910 the family moved to a farm southeast of Julesburg, Colorado, due to Franz's poor health. He died July 20, 1912. His mother, Doratea, died September 11, 1916; and his wife, Marie, died November 8, 1933. they are buried at Venango Cemetery, Venango, NE.
WESLEY ROSE
Wesley G. Rose lived for many years in the Onaga and Vienna communities.
He married Margaret Line, daughter of W. H. and Elizabeth Line of Louisville. she was born November 19, 1869.
Their children were: Maurice "Jack" Rose, deceased; Katheryn Musselman, deceased; Harvey, deceased; Jennie; Lucy Bureman, deceased; Alberta; and Albert.
Wesley's father came in the early days of this community and worked for Tunis J. Roosa, Sr., at a sawmill.
Richard Rose spent his entire life in the Onaga vicinity. He was a farmer and stockman and lived for many years and until his death on the Richard Guffy farm in Section22, Vienna Township. His mother lived with him until her death November 5, 1958.Jennie Rose married Charlie Schrieber. They ran grocery stores for many years in Wheaton and Westmoreland.
JUNOD, Paul Aimé (1846 – 1918)
3rd child of Aimé Junod and his second wife Marguerite Julie Naine, Paul Aimé was born in Lignières, county Neuchâtel, Switzerland on 20 February 1846.
His departure from Switzerland to Neuchatel Kansas took place in 1876, shortly after the death of his first wife Hortense Victoire Samson in March 1876. Hortense was from France and their two first sons were born there (near Le Havre), while their third child, also named Paul Aimé, was born in the village of Nods near Lignières.
After a quick trip back to Switzerland, he returned to settle in Neuchatel Kansas in 1877.
During this second voyage, he was accompanied by his second wife Sophie Berthe Bonjour (1850-1930) and by cousins including Alexandre Junod, Alfred, Aimé and Zélim Bonjour, all related. In these days, a single passage from Le Havre (France) to New York came to US$ 20.- one way in the lowest class.
He first lived in the house that was to be the one of Charles Bonjour, before buying the house that would become the one of Zélim Bonjour.
Children of Paul Aimé and Sophie Berthe included Georges (1878-1947), the twins Marguerite (1885 – 1937) and Marie Julie (died as infant) and Emile Alfred “Skinny” (1886 – 1953).
In 1902, Paul Aimé and his daughter Marguerite (spouse of Ernest Bishop) went back to Switzerland, returning on board the ship “La Savoie” that arrived in New York on October 25th, 1902. Paul Aimé died on July 18th, 1918 in Onaga, Kansas.
Farmer, cattle raiser and pioneer, many descendants live today in the Onaga area, Kansas and of course across the United States.
Neuchatel was founded by the Bonjour who arrived there in 1856 (Louis Alfred Bonjour) and later named what became Neuchatel township, in memory of their homeland.
Nicolas A. Junod Switzerland
http://www.junod.ch