Dr. William B. Callender and Jonathan W. Callender
Submitted by Bernice Brown
Brothers who played important roles in the early life of Rooks County were
Jonathan W. and William Bradley Callender. Sons of Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Callender
who left their native state of Pennsylvania to help develop a newer area, Iowa,
the brothers inherited the same spirit of adventure which led them in adulthood
to Kansas and settlement in Stockton where both lived out the remainder of their
lives. J. W., as he came to be known, was the first to arrive in 1878. W. B.
"Doc" Callender, who appears at this distance to have been the less aggressive
of the two, came in 1889. Both were well educated: J. W. was a graduate of a
Methodist Episcopal institution in Fayette, Iowa, and W. B. graduated from Iowa
University, after which he gained medical education at Drake University. Both
were members of the Congregational Church in Stockton, an early force for
education in the area.
As one reviews accounts of the lives of the two, written at times of
death, J. W. at age Seventy-seven and W. B. at sixty-nine, vastly different
images emerge. J. W. appears to have been gregarious to an extreme. He brought a
wife with him to Kansas. the former Sarah E. Gardner, and when no children came
to the union, they opened their home to others, first to a niece, Lydia
Callender, and later to an adopted daughter, Marguerite. J. W. was a prominent
businessman, dabbling in many ventures. Prior to coming to Stockton he had been
a school teacher, a superintendent of schools and an assistant county
superintendent at Elgin, Iowa. In the new locality of Rooks he held many real
estate interests, he helped organize the Exchange Bank of which he was president
for a time, went on to hold various county offices, one of which was clerk of
the district court. He was a loyal member and attendant of his church and of the
social organizations to which he belonged, chief of which in his interest were
Newahcuba Lodge No. 189, Stockton, of which he was a charter member, Solomon
Valley Chapter No. 81 R.A.M. and the Order of the Eastern Star, membership in
the Odd Fellows Lodge and the Rebekahs. He was widowed in 1913, did not remarry
but continued to live a full and useful life until his health began to fail, at
which time his adopted daughter, Marguerite, returned to care for him. Upon his
death, the various organizations he had served were well represented and the
Masonic Lodge had charge of the services at the grave side.
In contrast, W. B. "Doc" Callender never married, seemingly content to
devote his life ministering to others. He might have been a successful surgeon,
according to report, but preferred the more lowly office of general
practitioner. His office was his home, he served as coroner of Rooks County and
was county health officer. He practiced medicine for more than thirty years in
Rooks County, gaining a reputation of unfailing devotion to his patients. Upon
his death, those who had benefited from his ministrations bore witness to his
efforts to heal the sick and to relieve the sufferings of the dying. However
cold or stormy the day of the night, however muddy the roads, he was always
available when the call came for his assistance, they said. An editorial written
at the time of his death deplored the fact that he was lax in making collections
for his services, and that many who could have did not pay. As a result,
contrary to the good life enjoyed by his brother, "Doc" Callender had been
forced to forego many of the comforts that money provides. The editorial ended
thus: "He never considered the matter of pay and we are sorry to say scores if
not hundreds of his patients did not consider it, either." Those who did
and those who did not pay came in respect to his memory in numbers that filled
the church as did the floral offerings. Fittingly, the scripture chosen was
taken from Matthew 25 - 34 and from the 14th chapter of Job, and, as they were
to do for his brother, J. W., thirteen years later, the masons buried another of
their own and along with them a vital part of Rooks County history.