Charles Trader Beatty. One of the oldest and most prominent names in the history of Chanute is that of the Beatty family. It was in 1870 that the late John Brooke Beatty established himself at the old Town of Tioga, which had since become a part of the City of Chanute. He erected the first flour mill at that point, was the first hardware dealer in the Town of Tioga, and also an early day mayor. For eleven years he held the office of postmaster at Chanute. John B. Beatty married Maria Whiteman Trader.
Of this worthy couple two children survive, Charles Trader Beatty and Miss Helen Beatty, both of Chanute. Charles Trader Beatty was born at Xenia, Ohio, March 25, 1857. He is of old American stock. The genealogy of the Beatty family had been published in complete form in the memoirs of Peter D. Ridenour of Kansas City, Missouri. The Colonial record of the Beattys begins in 1720 with John Beatty of Scotland and his English wife, Susannah Asfordby. Her father, Hon. William Asfordby, became the first sheriff of Ulster County, New York. Of the Beatty family Col. Charles Beatty and Capt. William Beatty were of the First Maryland Regiment in the Revolutionary war. In Colonial times the family was also connected with the Brooke, Grosch and Beall lines.
Charles Trader Beatty was a boy when brought to Chanute. He attended public schools there and also at Xenia College in Ohio and in early life he followed merchandising, and subsequently took an active part in the mining, cement and brick manufacturing industries in Southeastern Kansas. He is now living retired from active business. Mr. Beatty is a republican, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of the Elks and Modern Woodmen of America.
On September 9, 1880, at Chanute, he married Maria Wimer. Her father, John Wimer, immigrated from Sweden to the United States in 1869 and in the following year also cast his lot as a pioneer with Chanute. John Wimer was a respected and substantial man in Chanute’s early history. He gave to the school district four acres of ground, on which was built the pioneer school building. When it burned the present Senior High School was erected on the site. John Wimer also platted three additions to the City of Chanute. His death occurred in 1892, while his wife, Maria, died in Chanute in 1873. Their children are: Mrs. C. T. Beatty and Mrs. C. M. Williams, both of Chanute, and Mrs. J. M. Braund of Kansas City.