Edward Grauerholz. On the official record of citizens who have served the community of Esbon in public capacities involving the discharge of duties of responsibility and trust the name of Edward Grauerholz frequently appears. He had been a member of the city council for several years and had also served in the position of city clerk, and since January, 1916, had had charge of the mail service of this locality, having been appointed at that time postmaster of Esbon. He had been a resident of this locality for a decade, and prior to giving the greator part of his time to official duties was well known in business circles, and whether in commercial or public life his career had been one in which he had shown the capacity to perform whatever responsibilities have devolved upon him and an integrity which naturally attracts public confidence and esteem.
Mr. Grauerholz was born on a farm in Smith County, Kansas, October 3, 1882, and is a son of H. H. and Mary (Brandess) Grauerholz. His father was born in 1831, at Hanover, Germany, and was educated in the public schools, following which he entered upon his career in an effort to gain independence and position. Although he was industrious and energetic, his labors yielded him little more than a living wage, and he decided finally to try his fortunes in America, from which country he had heard glowing reports as to the opportunities offered and the advantages to be gained. Accordingly, in 1857, as a young man of twenty-six years, he immigrated to the United States and first settled in the vicinity of Chester, Randolph County, Illinois, where he engaged in farming, as an employeo of others. Gradually he made some headway, and finally established a home of his own when he married Mary Brandess, who had been born in 1841, also at Hanover, Germany, and the young couple continued to worked together, thriftily hoarding their earnings and looking forward to eventnal prosperity. In 1871 they came to Smith County, Kansas, as pioneers, locating on an unimproved homestead of 160 acres, which soon began to show the effects of well-directed labor and good management. As the years passed Mr. Granerholz became one of the substantial agriculturists of his locality, and when he went into retirement and moved to his present residence at Kensington, Kansas, he distributed a section of land among his children, all of this property having been acquired through the hard and unassisted work of his own hands and those of his faithful wife. Mr. Grauerholz is a democrat, and a member of the Lutheran faith, in which Mrs. Grauerholz died on the Smith County farm in 1908, when sixty-seven years of age. They were the parents of ten children, as follows: Anna, a resident of Kensington, Kansas, widow of W. B. Smith, who was a farmer of Smith County; Sophia, who is the wife of W. D. Smith and lives on a farm near Kensington; Fred, who was engaged in farming in Smith County until his death in the spring of 1917; Louis W., a retired farmer of Kensington; Katie, who is the wife of W. E. Bronson, a farmer near that place; Gus, who is a farmer, also of that locality; William, who follows the same vocation in that vicinity; James, who is a Kensington business man and druggist; Ella, who died in the winter of 1916, as the wife of Thomas Robertson, the owner of a farm in Smith County and a garage at Kensington; and Edward, of this notice.
Edward Grauerholz received a public school education at Kensington, being graduated from the high school there in 1899. For the greater part the members of his family have followed agricultural lines, but Mr. Grauerholz’s inclinations ran more toward a business career, and when his studies were completed he found employment in a store at Kensington, where he worked as a clerk. He continued in this line of endeavor in the same community, although in different establishments, until 1907, in which year he came to Esbon and established himself in the clothing business. This he conducted with a satisfying measure of success until 1914, when he sold his interests therein and subsequently became identified with another mercantile establishment of the city, where he worked until his appointment as postmaster in January, 1916. Prior to this time Mr. Grauerholz had been the incumbent of other official offices, in fact since his arrival at Esbon he had almost continually been before the public as an official. During his four years as a member of the city council he assisted in the framing of ordinances which have since acted beneficially in the life of the city and its institutions, and for six years discharged very efficiently the important duties connected with the office of city elerk. He had always been a stanch and unswerving supporter of the principles of democracy and in numerous campaigns had by word and action assisted his party to success. In January, 1916, he received the appointment of postmaster from President Wilson, and in the handling of the mails of Esbon had given further indication of his possession of executive ability. Social by nature, Mr. Grauerholz had identified himself with several fraternal organizations; and at the present time is a member of Salem Lodge No. 228, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, being master thereof, an office which he had held on a previous occasion; Lebanon Chapter No. 67, Royal Arch Masons, of Smith Center, Kansas; and Prairie Camp No. 5283, Modern Woodmen of America, of Esbon, in all of which he is deservedly popular. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his energetic nature carries him into many movements of the community.
Mr. Grauerholz married at Esbon, in 1910, Miss Stella Sholes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. E. Sholes, the latter deceased and the former a resident of Lebanon, Kansas, where he follows the trade of carpenter. To. Mr. and Mrs. Grauerholz there have been born two children, namely: Hugh, born November 10, 1911, at Esbon; and Edward, whose death occurred when he was one year old.