Albert L. Egy. A retired cattleman and a bank director at Newton, A. L. Egy had had many interests to identify him with Harvey County, in which part of Kansas he had spent all the years of his life since early boyhood.
Albert Lorenzo Egy was born at Wenona, Illinois, September 9, 1863. Going back several generations to his great-grandfather, the family came from Germany. His father, the late Solomon Egy, was a prominent pioneer of Harvey County. Born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, December 31, 1827, he grew up in that rugged and historic section of the Keystone State, afterwards moved to Marion County, Ohio, where he married, and soon after that event went to Wenona, Illinois. In 1868 he transferred his home to Caldwell County, Missouri, and on April 18, 1871, arrived in Kansas and homesteaded 160 acres six miles north of Newton. He was a blacksmith by trade, and he used that employment to give him his start in life. After coming to Kansas he showed very successful ability as a farmer, acquired 400 acres in Harvey County, improved it with fine buildings and other facilities, and at one time it was the highest taxed farm in Highland Township. He left this farm at his death and the estate some years later sold it. Solomon Egy died on the old homestead north of Newton June 27, 1904. He began voting as a democrat, but after Cleveland’s second election he turned republican and was very aggressive in that party, his home being the republican headquarters in Highland Township. He was a charter member of Newton Lodge No. 142, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and was an honored member of the Grand Army Post. His military service was with the One Hundred and Seventh Illinois Regiment of Infantry. He joined that organization in 1861 and fought with it loyally and gallantly until the close of the war. Among other great battles he participated at Gettysburg.
Solomon Egy married Sarah A. Eckert, who was born in Marion County, Ohio, February 6, 1836. She died on the Kansas farm April 5, 1913. There were eight children in the family: Alice, who died August 18, 1893, three miles west of Newton, married Warren Graham, who is now a farmer at Lake Charles, Louisiana; John L., living at Hesston, Kansas, a retired carpenter; Cecelia, who died at the age of eighteen months; Albert L.; Frank, a farmer in Cheyenne County, Kansas; May, wife of Otto Tangeman, owner of an elevator and a grain dealer at Mount Ridge, Kansas; Grace E., wife of John Rapp, a lumberman at Dodge City, and H. L., who operates a garage at Newton.
Albert L. Egy was eight years of age when the family came to Kansas. Some of his earliest childhood recollections go back to Illinois and also to Northwestern Missouri, but most of his youth was spent in the country north of Newton, and his education was secured in the public schools here. He emulated and practiced the principles which had made his father such a successful farmer, and he lived at home and after his father’s death took active management of the farm. There he did diversified farming and became one of the best known cattle men in the county. He raised, fed and shipped cattle on a large scale for a number of years. In 1914 he sold his stock interests and retired to Newton, where he now enjoys a good home at 1319 North Main Street. Mr. Egy also owned a farm of 160 acres in Highland Township and one of 480 acres in Reno County. Besides his individual holdings his wife had a farm of 160 acres in Emma Township of Harvey County, and 160 acres in Hamilton County. Mr. Egy is a director of the First National Bank of Newton and a stockholder in the Walton Elevator Company.
Politics had never been in his line and the only offices he ever filled were in his home township. He is a republican voter and a member of the Presbyterian Church. On March 17, 1913, at Newton, Mr. Egy married Miss Louise Bessmer. The ceremony was performed by H. H. McAdams, the probate judge. Mrs. Egy is a daughter of George and Rosina Bessmer. Her father, now deceased, was a pioneer of Harvey County and followed farming a number of years until he retired. Her mother lives at 1211 Main Street in Newton.