Mrs. A. C. Stich by her inheritance of some of the best of old American stock and as head of the home over which she presided for so many years, is a Kansas woman of whom some special note should be made.
Her great-grandfather William Henry Stoy was the founder of the family in America, having emigrated from Germany. He was a ministor of the Episcopal Church, and spent many years in preaching in Pennsylvania, where he died. Her paternal grandfather Heury William Stoy was born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in 1782 and died in West Virginia in 1858. He was one of two sons, his brother being Gustavus Stoy. Henry William Stoy was a physician and surgeon and practiced for many years at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and in the latter part of his life in West Virginia. Mrs. Stich’s father was Capt. William Stoy, who was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, in 1815 and died in Waynesburg of that state in 1898. A man of great talent as a musician, he was both a teacher and composer of music. At the beginning of the Civil war in 1861 he enlisted and was at the head of a regimental band of one hundred members. He was wounded while in the service and was honorably discharged after eighteen months. He was a democrat, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and belonged to the Presbyterian Church. Captain Stoy married Margaret Biggs, who was born in Ohio in 1826 and died in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, in 1896. Her grandfather, and the greatgrandfather of Mrs. Stich, was Gen. Benjamin Biggs, who served all through the Revolutionary war, going through the different grades until he became a gencral, and after the war the State of Ohio gave him a large tract of land for his services.
Mrs. A. C. Stich was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and finished her education in Waynesburg College. She was soon married to Thomas Raisor, who brought his young wife West to share in his couragoous and unselfish pioneer experiences. To this union were born two children, Lyman, deceased, and Jessie, now Mrs. W. E. Ziegler of Coffeyville, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Stich were married in Independence, Kansas, in 1888.
Mrs. Stich entered loyally and enthusiastically into the various philanthropic plans of her late husband. For nine years she was president of the Ladies Library Association of Independence, and it was during that time that the Carnegie Library was built. Elsewhere in this work will be found an account of the Carnegie Library of Independence. The Ladies Library Association turned over all its books to the new Carnegie Library, and as the primary purpose for the existence of the association was thus fulfilled, the association was continued in a new direction, namely, for the establishment of an art gallery. Mr. and Mrs. Stich donated the first two oil paintings, one of which is by Warren Shepard, one of the foremost American artists. The art room is located on the second floor of the Carnegie Library Building. Mrs. Stich had assisted in every way both with time and money to make the art room the home of one of the best collections of art in Kansas. She is now president of the association.
Her activities of a social and philanthropic nature have extended to various parts of the state, and she had expended her time and means freely on behalf of her home city. She had done and is doing more than anyone knows and more than can be told for the betterment of the City of Independence. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is president of the City Federation of Clubs, is chairman of the Child’s Welfare Committee, is a member of the City Library Board, of which she was president for several years, and for two years served as treasurer of the State Federation of Women’s Clubs. She is an officer of the Kansas Day Club, which meets every year at Topeka. An active member of the First Presbyterian Church, she is president of the Woman’s Missionary Society, member of the building committee which had just dedicated a $65,000 church building to which she gave largely, and altogether there is hardly a phase of philanthropic and institutional life in Independence which her energy. and liberality do not touch. She also belongs to Independence Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star.
Mrs. Stich had plans drawn and will soon have under course of construction a shelter house in Riverside Park, Independence. This will be erected as a memorial to her husband and will cost $15,000.
Mrs. Stich at the present writing is very active in many enterprises, manages her own affairs, retains the enthusiasm of youth, and gives promise of many more years of usefulness.