Norton County News Historical Edition
Brief Biographies Surnames A-C

W.R. Aldrich was born in Smith Center in 1874, and came to Norton county in 1900, where he has practiced his profession of dentistry since that time. He is the father of two children, Florence Elizabeth, born in 1905, and Charles Townsley, born in 1909. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Odd Fellows. (page 60)

Miss Bess Alexander is a popular milliner of Norton, who was born in Anderson county, Kansas, coming to Norton in 1915 where she opened an up-to-date millinery store under the Norton Commercial Club rooms. She has been in the millinery business for five years. Miss Alexander is a member of the United Presbyterian church. (page 32)

A.Altman was born in 1886 at Keokuk, Iowa, and came to Norton county with his
father, Andrew Altman who homesteaded in the county and died here in 1889. Mr. Altman is a breeder of mules. (page 32)

H. D. [Harry] Archer was born in Norton county, and has lived here all his life. He is a member of the Free Methodist Church. [Densmore] (page 16)

Orth Arnold has followed the blacksmith trade for 22 years, working up and down the Burlington, he found Almena the best town on the road and came her April 5, 1909. Since that time he has bought the building he is in and equipped it with the most modern machinery and can handle any blacksmith work. (page 76)

J. H. Bailey was born in 1892 at Cannon [Canon?] City, Colorado, and came to Norton county in 1916. He is now in the milling business here and has made a success. Mr. Bailey was married in 1913 to Gladys Spencer. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. (page 83)

J. B. Bartels was born in Ohio in 1853 and came to this county in 1883. He has eight children and now lives on his farm near Almena. Mr. Bartels was the first blacksmith in Almena. (page 68)

George Bechtoldt, manager of the David Cole Creamery Company, was born in 1854 at Columbus, Ohio, and was married to Rachel Martin in 1874. To this union were born four children. He clerked in a hotel and restaurant in Mitchell county for ten years then went to Decatur county where he was on a ranch until 1911 when he came to Norton. He is a member of the Methodist church and the M.W.A. (page 82)

C. F. Behrent had done much to further the cause of better stock in Norton county. He was one of the foremost organizers of the Norton Improved Live Stock and Breeders Association, he is also a stockholder in the American Hereford Cattle Breeding Asso., the Nebraska Interstate Live Stock Assoc., and the Farmers Union. Mr. Behrent was born in 1883 in Riley county, Kansas and came to Norton county in 1906 and in 1907 was married to Bertha Colins, whose father homesteaded in the county in 1879, where he still lives. They have five children. Mr. Behrent raises only pure bred stock and his herd of Hereford cattle number 100, 35 of which are registered. A year ago Mr. Behrent bought what is considered to be one of the best and highest priced bulls ever brought to Norton county. Mr. Behrent is a member of the Lutheran church and of the Odd Fellows. (page 32)

S.L. Bennett was born in 1878 in Jackson county, Kansas and came to this county in 1905 and in 1907 he bought out the meat market of J.S. Bantam which he still runs. He is the father of two children, a member of the Odd Fellows, the K. of P. and the M.W.A. [Almena] (page 67)

J.C. Berger, the present city marshal of Norton, was born in 1864 at Luxinburg [Luxembourg], Germany, and came to the United States in 1866. He served on the Kansas City Fire Department for some time, and then came to Norton county in 1905, where he has served as watchman and city marshal, and is said to be one of the best marshals Norton has had for some time. Mr. Berger is a widower with two daughters, Agness and Matilda. The former is a trained nurse, the latter is in Kansas City. Mr. Berger is a member of the Catholic church, the Knights of Columbus and the Machees of the World. (page 87)

M. W. Bicknell was born in 1871 in Knox county, Indiana. Came to this county in 1911 and started a bakery, in which he is still engaged. (page 60)

W.A. [William] Birkholz came to Norton county with his father J.F. [John] Birkholz who homesteaded in Grant township in 1878 and is still living at Edmond. Mr. Birkholz Jr., was born at Fondulac [Fond du Lac], Wisconsin in 1871 and was married to Martha Suhr in 1892. They have one child, Ezra, who was born in 1894 and is in business with him at Edmond. Mr. Birkholz is a member of the U.B. church. [Edmond] (page 85)

J. L. Boner was born in Putnam county, Missouri in 1886, moving from there to Nodaway county and from there to Smith county, Kansas in the fall of 1879. He was married to Miss Rosa Claggett, a native of Missouri, in 1891 and to this union were born two children, Elsie, born in 1892, and Calvin, born in 1894. Elsie was married six years ago, Calvin is still at home. Mr. Boner has been a pure-bred hog and poultry breeder for years, having shown his hogs at some of the large fairs including Lincoln, Nebraska, Topeka, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, at the Royal, also Beloit and Norton. All of Mr. Boner's stock he has shown is his own breeding and developing. Mr. Boner has a string of ribbons won at the above named fairs that any one might be proud of. He has made a practice of never misrepresenting anything, believing it is better to lose a sale than misrepresent anything. When Mr. Boner came to Norton county he located one mile south of Lenora where he lived until last November when he purchased a small farm 1 1/2 miles southwest of Norton, where he now resides. (page 31)

A.A. Bower was born in 1868 in Gauga [Geauga?] county, Ohio, coming to Norton in 1884. In 1889 he married Miss Jennie Smith and they had two children. In 1913 he married May Whipple. (page 89)

Claud E. Bower was born in Norton in 1881.  In 1905 he was united in marriage with Miss Ethel Waters and to this union two children have been born. Mr. Bower has worked in the Furniture store of his father continuously. It was once said of him by his good mother, who has now passed away, that he was "mother's boy," always kind and helpful to her. (page 21)

H.J. Bower was born in Jefferson county, Nebraska, in 1873 and came to this county in 1879. He has been in the barber business since 1889 and now owns and runs a shop at Norton. In 1892 he was united in marriage with Miss Anna Rollins and they have three children, Med, born in 1894; Clarence, born in 1896, and Herbert, born in 1898. Mr. Bower is a member of the Masons, the M.W.A. and the Court of Honor. (page 61)

J. L. Bower was born in Estaubal [Ashtabula??] county, Ohio in 1849 and came to this county where he homesteaded four miles out of Norton. In 1872 Mr. Bower was married to Rosetta Armstrong and to this union three children were born, Harmon, now engaged in the barber business here, Carl, a clerk in the First National Bank, and Effie who died in 1905. Mr. Bower is serving his first term as probate judge, and was nominated in August for a second term. He has made a popular and efficient official. (page 17)

W.W. Boyd was born in 1844 at Boone, Indiana, and came to Osage Mission, Kansas in 1866, and to Norton county in 1896, settling at Edmond in 1905. In 1884 he married Maria Krouges. She died in 1912. They had no children. Mr. Boyd served three years and five months during the Civil War. [Edmond] (page 85)

W.C. Bracken was born in 1882 and came to Norton county in 1910. [Clayton] (page 98)

G.W. Bressler located here [Clayton] in 1899 and established a Hardware & Implement business, in which he continued for five years; was succeeded by Daugherty & Gregory. Later he established a real estate business in which he is engaged at this time. (page 97)

G.W. Bressler is one of the men who has made Clayton and Norton county what they are today. He was one of the first business men in Clayton and built the store where the Farmers Union now is. For years he has been one of the unassuming men who has done much for the community in his own quiet way, and supports any movement which tends to make the community better. Mr. Bressler was born in 1865, at Grant City, Mo. 
In 1885 he moved to Sheridan county where he lived until 1892, when he moved to Clayton. In 1899 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary VanSant, a Norton county girl, and to this union were born five children, three boys and two girls. Mr. Bressler was appointed postmaster at Clayton in 1902, a position he held for six years and then resigned so that he might devote more time to his real estate business. Within the last fifteen years land has increased in value over 300 per cent and only recently Mr. Bressler sold a piece of land for $30 per acre that had been bought for $7.00 per acre ten years ago. (page 99-100)

Mark Bridges was born in 1886 in this county. His father, M.H. Bridges, homesteaded in Harrison township and lives in Almena. Mr. Bridges has been in the postoffices at Norton and Colorado Springs, Colorado, for some time. In 1916 he bought out the insurance business of W.M. Weikert and has been successful in this. He married Nellie Harmonson and they have two children. Mr. Bridges is a member of the Masons. (page 96)

George W. Brooks, son of J.R. Brooks, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and came to Norton county in 1871. He was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Kirk, a Norton county girl, and three children were born to them. Mr. Brooks owns 700 acres of fine Norton county land. He is president of the Farmers Union at Clayton and a stockholder and director of the Clayton State Bank. (page 99)

Jacob R. Brooks came from Illinois in 1878, and homesteaded two miles north of Clayton, where he resided until 1915. He was an extensive and successful farmer; had always taken an active interest in Clayton; interested in the erection of the elevator known as the Brooks and Rule elevator. Later he became interested in the State Bank of Clayton, being a member of the board of directors, and president of the institution at the present time. (page 97)

J. R. Brooks is one of the leading men of Norton county, and has helped much in its development. He was born in 1846 in the state of Pennsylvania, and came to Norton county in 1878. Mr. Brooks was married in 1867 and ten children were to brighten the Brook’s home, eight of whom are living. The Brooks family own over 2,400 acres of rich farming land in Norton county. Mr. Brooks served 31 years as director of the school board in Dist. 71. He is at this time president of the Clayton State Bank. (page 99)

C.E. Brower was born in Iona, Michigan in 1879 and came to Norcatur in 1904 from Oregon. He is the father of one child, Howard, born in 1912. He is at the present time city treasurer and a member of the M.E. church, the Masons and the Eastern Star. (page 60)

B.G. Brown, the popular manager of Whiteker Bros. wholesale house, was born in Jackson county, Kansas in 1883. He worked at the main house of Whiteker Bros., in Topeka for eight years before coming to Norton to take charge here, in 1908. The same year he married Effie A. Snyder one of Topeka’s popular girls and they have three children, Marvin Glen, born in 1909; George Howard, born in 1910; and Elsie May, born in 1912. Mr. Brown is a member of the M.W.A., the Masons, the U.C.T. and the Kansas Fraternal Citizens. Whiteker Bros. is the only exclusive wholesale fruit house on the Rock Island between Topeka and Denver and they have earned, by courteous treatment the large patronage they now enjoy. (page 61)

Rev. U. S. Brown was born in Shelby, Ohio, February 27, 1864. Was educated in the Mansfield, Ohio public schools and Frazier College. He was private tutor in the language course of the college. He later engaged in the manufacture of furniture at Mansfield and New Richmond, Ohio, in which he continued until 1896 when he entered the ministry in the Cincinnatti [sic] Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He came to Kansas in 1899 and served Logan from 1889 to 1903; Smith Center from 1903 to 1907; was district superintendent of Ellsworth district from 1907 to 1913, and was pastor at Belleville from 1913 to 1915 when he came to Norton and took charge of the large church here.  Since coming to Kansas Rev. Brown has been active in church and college work having served as secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Kansas Wesleyan University for six years, was the first President of the Central Kansas Epworth League Institute. He has served as Secretary, and is now Treasurer of the Northwest Kansas Conference.
Rev. Brown is a tireless worker, a most thorough business man, as well as an excellent and well beloved pastor. His popularity is by no means confined to his own church or members; he is well liked by all the good folks of the town, and his help and friendship is extended to all deserving persons, regardless of creed. (page 33)

J. H. Browne was born in Ireland in 1858. He came to the United States in 1864, and to Norton county in 1879. Mr. Browne had charge of the mason work for the Missouri Pacific railroad from Atchinson to Lenora for seven years. Afterwards he held the same position with the Wabash railroad from 1886 until 1890. He then prospected for gold at Cripple Creek until 1893 when he went to work for M.F. Browne and Co. He worked for this concern until 1907 when he bought the store that he now owns. He married Miss Viola May Sheley in 1895 and three children have been born to this union – David, born in 1896, is now attending the Kansas State University; Marie, born in 1899, is attending the Norton County High School. Mr. Browne homesteaded six miles north of Norton and still owns the old homestead and has the original patent that was issued by the government. He is a member of the Catholic church, the Knights of Columbus, the K.P. and the M.W.A. (page 88)

D. F. Bruner, the present postmaster at Norton, was born in 1870 at Linn county, Iowa. In 1873 he came to Norton county with his father, Phillip Bruner, who homesteaded near Norton and died here in 1887. Mr. Bruner was married in 1902 to Lillie Waller who was born in St. Louis. They have two children – Paul, born in 1894, and Elithe, born in 1896. Mr. Bruner was land Inspector under Mr. Sawyer and was Register of Deeds one term and tied in the next election with Bert Boddy. To decide who was to receive the office they flipped dollars and Mr. Bruner lost. (page 82)

H. S. Bryant was born in 1865 in Martin county, Minnesota. He came to Norton county in 1909; farmed until 1911, when he went into the general mercantile business at Calvert. He has been postmaster at Calvert for five years and is well liked by all who know him. Mr. Bryant has also engaged in the real estate business to some extent. He is the father of six children; is a member of the Presbyterian church, the Royal Highlanders and Odd Fellows. It is such men as Mr. Bryant that have made and kept Calvert a church community from where little or no crime ever disturbs the peace, or menaces the people. (page 102)

R.L. Bullock, a real estate man of Norton, was born in 1888. Came to Norton in 1906. In 1910 he married Miss Mable Gray. They have one child James Lewis, born in 1912. Mr. Bullock is a member of the M.W.A. and has served as city assessor for three terms. (page 96)

Will R. Burr, the present owner of the Almena Plaindealer, is a hustling newspaper man and is giving Almena a newspaper in which she can well take pride. Mr. Burr was born in Sheridan county, Missouri, in 1869 and came to Almena in 1912. He has held several township offices. (page 67)

Amon Butler, one of the best sheriffs Norton County ever had, was born in Muskingum County, Ohio in 1839. He enlisted in Company E, 11th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, September 16, 1861, and was honorably discharged January 1, 1864, and the same day re-enlisted and was honorably discharged as First Sergeant November 30, 1865. Mr. Butler was in several important battles and numerous small ones. He was wounded at Corinth and Nashville. He married Phoeba Johnson, January 14, 1866 and they have five children. He was elected sheriff in 1885 and has served three terms, and at this constable at Norton. During his first two terms as sheriff he took more prisoners to the penitentiary than has been taken since that time, and it has been said of Mr. Butler that he never went after a man but that he brought him back. (page 11)

John R. Cameron established one of the first general stores in new Clayton. (page 97)

James M. Campbell was born in 1848 at Odena, Mo., coming to Norton county where he homesteaded. He was Captain of the State Militia in 1876. Mr. Campbell is the father of four children and still resides in Dellvale. (page 103)

W. S. Cannon was born in 1850 in Eastern Shore, Maryland. He came to Norton county at an early date when he purchased land for Cannon & Kennedy. He was admitted to the bar in Norton county in 1890 and has practiced law since that time. In politics Mr. Cannon is a democrat. He is a man of jovial kindly nature well liked by all who know him. (page 32)

W.H. Cargill was born in 1862 in Anderson, Illinois and came to Norton County in 1903. He is the father of nine children and a member of the M.W.A. (page 90)

B.W. Carr was born in 1867 at Decatur, Iowa and moved to Norton in 1878. He is the son of J.G. Carr, who settled in Norton county in 1878, and is still living at Holt, Mo. In 1888, B.W. Carr was married to Miss Erma Carson who was a native of Holt, Missouri. To this union were born eight children. Mr. Carr is serving his county as Register of Deeds at this time. He has made a good official and received the nomination of his party for another term. (page 89)

A. A. Castle came from Galesburg, Illinois and located on a homestead adjoining the town site. He resided there until 1894 when he moved to Clayton and established a livery and harness business in which he continued until 1908. He was at one time postmaster and wrote the first money order written in Clayton, and is the present assistant postmaster. (page 97)

A. A. Castle was born in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1863 and came to Norton county in 1883. In 1888 Mr. Castle was married to Pauline Muhlberger who was also born in Galesburg. They have two children, Forest, born in 1893 and Asa A., born in 1898. Mr. Castle is a member of the M.W.A. and owns 560 acres of Norton county land. [Clayton] (page 98)

Forest C. Castle, the postmaster of Clayton, was appointed in 1914. He was born in 1898 and received his education in the Clayton public and high schools. Mr. Castle is a fine example of Norton county’s younger generation of business men. He is always ready to help anything that will help Clayton, and we are indebted to him for much of the data we have from there. Without his assistance, and a few men like him, it would have been impossible to give even the small amount of Clayton history that we do. (page 98)

F. J. Castle and Dr. Thomas came from old Clayton and built the first store building and stocked it with drugs and hardware, continuing in the business for a number of years. Both moved to Norcatur. Dr. Thomas was the first physician in old and new Clayton, and at the present time is located at Calvert. (page 97)

W. H. Chappel was born at Stusberry, Missouri in 1874 and came to Norton county in 1906. Mr. Chappel was married to Miss Winifred Ambrose, and to this union have been born four children. He is a member of the Masonic lodge. (page 82)

A. Charne was born in 1882 in Russia. He came to Norton county in 1916. He is at present in the cleaning and pressing business at Norton, in the rear of the Clothery. (page 83)

George N. Cheeseman was born in 1849 in England. He came to this county in 1874 where he homesteaded in Modell township. In 1873 Mr. Cheeseman was married to Miss Addie Gilder and to this union six children were born. Mr. Cheeseman is a member of the Church of God and of the A.O.U.W. He owns 320 acres of rich farm land and is now retired and lives in Norton. He is always willing to help in anything that is for the benefit of the county and we have reason to know of this for Mr. Cheeseman has helped us in the matter of data for this historical edition. He has given us much of the data from the Solomon valley. (page 88)

C. W. Cole was born in 1877 at Ravenswood, W. Va. He came to Norton in 1903. In 1904 he married Miss Maud Daggett of Phillipsburg. They have had three children. His is a member of the Masonic lodge, and at present is practicing medicine here. (page 29)

A.B. Conkey was born in 1856 at Mercer, Illinois, and came to the county in 1877. His father Chester Conkey, came to the county in 1876 and died here in 1891. Mr. Conkey, Jr., homesteaded one and one-half miles northwest of Edmond. He is the father of six children. (page 85)

M. A. Conklin was born in Adrian county, Michigan. He came to Norton county in 1904. Before coming here Mr. Conklin held the office of County Treasurer of Decatur county. Serving in this capacity for four years. He is now the Democratic nominee for County Treasurer of Norton county. He was married in 1871 and is the father of four children. He is a member of the Baptist church and the Odd Fellows lodge. He is auditor of the Farmer's Union at this time. (page 18)

W.S. Conner has served as station agent at Clayton for over twenty years, coming to the county in 1889. He was born at Warrensburg, Missouri in 1867 and was married in 1888. To this union were born four children. Mr. Conner is Justice of the Peace and serves as Police Judge and Clerk of the School Board at Clayton. He is a member of the M.W.A. (page 99)

C.F. Conrad was born in 1855 in Grant county, Kentucky and came to Norton countyin 1887 where he has worked at the carpenter trade since. He is the father of four children, a member of the Christian church and the Odd Fellows. (page 83)

Floyd Cope was born in 1880 in Norton County. In 1904 he married Delilah Allison, and they have two children; Hall, born in December 1904 and Laurance, born in 1913. He entered in the garage business with his brother Hall Cope, in 1914. Hall is a successful business man and at this time is studying at Manhattan. (page 96)

J. P. Coy, a popular barber of Norton, was born in 1886 in Keytesville, Missouri, and came to this county in 1915. He is married and the father of one child. Mr. Coy is a member of the Baptist church, the Odd Fellows and the M.W.A. He has a fine business here and gives close attention to it. Before coming to Norton, Mr. Coy served four years, from 1906 to 1910 in the Navy near Asiatic stations, and while in the navy he visited many of the large cities of the world and became familiar with many odd customs of different people. (page 21)

E. C. Craige was born in Thomas county in 1886. Came to Norton in 1909, where he has been in the automobile business since that time. He is an energetic good roads booster, and a member of the M.W.A. (page 87)

Geore [George?] Cramer was born in Ohio in the year 1865 and came to Clayton in 1904. He is in the restaurant business at this time. (page 99)

Dr. P. F. Cutshaw, a dentist who has but recently opened dental parlors in Norton, was born in 1888 in Jamestown, Kansas. He attended the Concordia high school and is a graduate of the Kansas City Dental college. Before studying for the profession, Mr. Cutshaw was in the experimental department of the International Harvester Company and traveled in South America, and all through Europe. He is a progressive professional man and will undoubtedly have a large practice here when he is known and established. He is a member of the Delta Sigma Delta. (page 29)

©2005 Ardie Grimes.  Transcribed from Norton County News Historical Number 1870 - 1916, re-organized and re-formatted for ease of use. These pages are dedicated to free access to records, documents and photos of historical and genealogical value. Documents contained herein may be copied for personal, non-commercial use as long as this statement remains on all copied material.   These records, documents and photos may not be reproduced, published or re-published for any reason, in any format,  including electronic (web pages or CD's) and print, without prior written consent of the contributors or copyright holders.