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Pioneers of Ford
County - Page 3 |
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 Charles Rath - Merchant,
buffalo hunter,
and freighter,
Rath was one of the original organizers of
Ford County County, Kansas.
See full article HERE.
Henry Hubert Raymond - A
buffalo hunter,
Raymond was born in
Illinois in
1848. In 1872, he traveled to Kansas
to meet his brother Theodore, who was working with Ed and Bat Masterson for the
Santa Fe Railroad. That same year, he followed his brother to Dodge City
and also went to work for the railroad as a
buffalo hunter. For the next three
years, he went on a number of
buffalo hunting expeditions with the Mastersons,
allegedly killing more than 1500
buffalo. Later, he went to
Missouri and
was elected to the legislature.
Oliver March - Proprietor of Oliver March & Co., a Steam Flouring Mill in
Dodge City,
March was born in Hamilton County, Ohio on October 21, 1826 where he lived until
his family moved to Fort Madison, Iowa when he was 12. At the age of 21, he
moved to Kansas
and in 1852, he married Clarissa A. Smiley of Urbania, Ohio. The couple would
have four children. He and his family settled in Central City in Anderson
County, Kansas
in 1857, where he built a hotel and opened a general store. In 1859 he became a
licensed Indian Trader with J.A. Coffey at Humboldt, Kansas,
where he remained until 1864. At that time the family moved again to Kansas
City,
Missouri
and embarked in the wholesale grocery trade for the three years. From there,
they went to Chetopa, Kansas,
where he engaged in merchandising and the stock business for the next eleven
years. He then came to
Dodge City
and engaged in the mercantile milling business. In the fall of 1879, the
Dodge City
Steam Flouring Mills were erected, which were three stories tall. Oliver Marsh
and son became the proprietors in 1882.
H.L. Sitler -
A
Dodge City
freighter, Sitler was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania on August 24, 1827,
where he lived until 1865. After the
Civil War began, he enlisted in Company I,
Second Pennsylvania Cavalry in the fall of 1861, during which time he was made
a prisoner at the Battle of St. Mary's Church and was confined at Andersonville,
Georgia; Libby, Virginia and Millen, Georgia for almost six months. He was
mustered out March 2, 1865. He then moved to the Solomon Valley in Saline
County, Kansas,
where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1868. He then turned his
attention to hunting
buffalo and other wild game, making his way to
Dodge City
the same year. He built the first building in what would become the City of
Dodge City,
located between the future city hall and railroad. He originally built
the sod structure to provide the soldiers at
Fort Dodge with alcohol after the
Fort became a dry location. He then engaged in freighting for the United States government, under a contract
until 1876. During this time, he originally owned the land that was sold to the
Dodge City
Town Company in 1872 and helped to form the town the same year. He married Emma
Harper of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, in 1875.
 Francis Marion Steel - An early southwest
Kansas
photographer, Steele was born in Stanton, Illinois, on
September 14, 1866, his father disappeared when he was 2 years-old. By the age
of 13, he was studying photography in Kansas City,
Missouri. He
soon launched his career, calling himself a "tourist photo artist." During the
years of 1890-1905, he traveled throughout southwest Kansas,
Oklahoma Territory,
Texas,
New Mexico,
and
Colorado
photographing cattle drives, railroads, ranching, and farming operations. By
January of 1895, Steele had opened a photography studio in Meade, Kansas
where he met and married Pink Fletcher on May 26, 1895. The couple would have
two daughters. Though he was married with an infant child at home, he continued
to travel and shortly after his second daughter was born in 1897, he was
divorced.
Taking various assignments from companies, he was
employed for a time with the Rock Island Railroad as a special photographer,
during which time he met and married his second wife, Sadie Harp, in Greensburg,
Kansas.
The couple would have one son in 1904. He established a gallery in
Dodge City
in 1906, but by 1914, relocated in Garden City. In 1925, he moved his business
to McCook,
Nebraska,
where he stayed for the next 10 years. However, he returned to Dodge City
in 1935 taking a job with the city of help encourage the tourist trade at the
age of 69. There, with his wife Sadie, on January 2, 1936, he died of
asphyxiation when a boiling pot of water extinguished the flame on their gas
stove. During his lifetime, Steele was instrumental in documenting westward
development and expansion.
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Henry Sturm - A liquor
and soda dealer in
Dodge City,
he was born in Germany in 1837 but made his way to the United States in 1851.
He first came to Kansas,
in government employ in 1876, where he settled at Junction City. Later, he made
his way to
Dodge City
and in 1878, he married Ragena Bug of Cincinnati, Ohio. The couple would have
two children. In Dodge, he established a wholesale and retail dealership as well
as a soda factory, where all kinds of soda, mineral water, and cider were made.
Espanding his ventures, he also owned two ice houses that supplied the city and
a saloon.
 Michael Westernhouse Sutton - An
attorney, he was born in Orange County, New York in 1848 and was raised in
Tompkins County, living there until November, 1867. He then moved with his
family to Johnson County,
Missouri,
where he followed agricultural pursuits with parents and attended school. He
also began to read the law and was admitted to bar in March, 1872 at
Warrensburg,
Missouri.
After the
Civil War
broke out, he enlisted in Company B, Sixth Regiment New York
Heavy Artillery in February, 1863 and participated in all the battles of his
command, beginning at Gettysburg and ending at the surrender of Robert E. Lee.
He was mustered out August 24, 1865. He came to Kansas
in May, 1872, where he settled in Wellington and practiced law until December.
He then went to Medicine Lodge where he practiced private law and served as the
Barber County attorney for two years. In June, 1876, when he moved to
Dodge City
and established the firm of Sutton & Wenie. In 1879, he married Florence E.
Clemons, of Genesee County, New York and the couple would have one child. He
served as
Ford County
Attorney for November 1, 1876 until March 1882. Sutton was an avid
prohibitionist and worked
against his friend Bat Masterson during the liquor war of 1886. Also, he served
in the
Kansas House of Representatives in 1893.
Frederick T. M. Wenie -
A
Dodge City
attorney, he was born in Oneida County, New York in 1859 and was raised in his
native county. His father, Thomas M. Wenie, was First Lieutenant in the regular
army, and employed his son as a clerk for him four of five years. He first came
to
Dodge City,
in 1879, and clerked in the Quartermaster's store at
Fort Dodge until April 1,
1880, when he came to
Dodge City
and entered the law office of M. W. Sutton as a law student. He was admitted to
the bar in June, 1882 and soon formed, with Michael Westernhouse, the
firm of Sutton & Wenie.
The next year he was appointed City Attorney of
Dodge City
in April, 1883. Over the years, he expanded his business, also engaging in real
estate and insurance.
 Robert
M. Wright (1840-1915) - Partner in the
Wright, Beverly & Co. store he was born in Bladensburg, Maryland
on September 2, 1840. When he was just 16 years-old, Wright decided to come
west, where he first worked on a farm near St. Louis, Missouri until 1859. That
year, he took an overland trip with oxen to Denver. Crossing the plains a number
of times, he then worked for Sanderson & Company Stage Line for three years,
before working a number of various jobs including cutting hay, wood and hauling
grain. In 1867, he was
appointed
post-trader at Fort Dodge. Somewhere along the line, he made his way to
Dodge City, where in 1877, he opened the
Wright, Beverly & Co. store in 1877 with H.M. Beverly.
He served as Dodge
City Mayor and represented Ford
County in the legislature four different times. In 1899 he was appointed
Commissioner of Forestry, and was reappointed in 1901. He was also a writer and
in 1913 published Dodge City, The Cowboy Capital and the Great
Southwest. He died in 1915.
F. C. Zimmerman -
A
Dodge City Merchandise dealer, Zimmerman was born in Prussia, Saxony, Germany in 1883.
When he was 26 years old, he was foreman for Gastrine Renett, a gunsmith in
Paris, France, and had charge of forty men. He came to New York City in 1863 and
worked at his trade of gunsmith in various area of the eastern states. He was
married in 1865 to Matilda Messenger, of Wurtemburg, Germany and the couple had
four children. Somewhere along the line, he made his way to
Dodge City, Kansas,
where he opened a hardware store in 1872. One of the first traders in the city,
his store carried general line of hardware, guns, ammunition, crockery and
glassware, stoves, pumps, lumber and building material, agricultural implements
and wagons. He was a member of the County Board when
Ford County was organized, served as County Treasurer four years, and as a County
Commissioner.
Compiled and edited by
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of Kansas, updated March, 2017.
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