Jacob S. Eymann. In the death of Jacob S. Eymann on June 29, 1916, the community of Halstead, Kansas, lost a citizen who for years had stood as a pillar in the advancement and prosperity of that community. He was more than a successful business man. Such was his integrity of character that his judgment came to be accepted without question by all his associates and he passed through life doing all the good he could as he went along.
Mr. Eymann was born in Haysville, Ohio, March 19, 1853, and was sixty-three years of age at the time of his death. In the fall of 1856 his parents moved to Lee County, Iowa, where he grew up and acquired his early education. From there he removed to Bureau County, Illinois, as a farmer, and in 1879 he joined the early settlers of Garden Township in Harvey County, Kansas. He continued farming there until 1885, and then entered the coal and livestock business with Christ Risser at Halstead. In 1888 he entered the lumber business, in which field his abilities found their greatest scope. He established the main lumber yard at Halstead, and afterwards opened a chain of four lumber yards in Oklahoma.
At Denver, Colorado, October 30, 1900, Mr. Eymann married Miss Christine A. Lehman. Mrs. Eymann, since her husband’s death had continued to live in Halstead, and retains the interest in the lumber business established by her late husband. This is the largest and oldest in this section of Harvey County, and is located near the Santa Fe tracks at the corner of First and Chestnut streets. She also retains an interest in all the other lumber yards. Mr. Eymann was one of the real business builders of Halstead. His word was accepted as good as a bond, and when anyone wanted an administrator of an estate J. S. Eymann was the man generally selected on account of his well known honesty and integrity. He gave much of his time and attention to the civic development of his home town, served one term as mayor, and also for four terms was a member of the city council. He was a democrat in politics, was affiliated with the German Methodist Episcopal Church, and gave liberally to this church and to many other benevolences, though always with complete unostentation. He was a trustee in his church, and was reared in the Mennonite faith. At the time of his death among other interests he was a director in the Caddo River Lumber Company of Kansas City, Missouri, and a stockholder in the Halstead Bank. A dwelling on Poplar Street in Halstead is another item in the estate, and in 1904 Mr. Eymann erected a fine modern home at Fifth and Chestnut streets, now owned and occupied by Mrs. Eymann.
Mrs. Eymann is the mother of one child, James Jacob, born September 11, 1906. Mrs. Eymann was born in Lee County, Iowa, and received her early education in the public schools of Van Buren County of that state. She is active in the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Halstead, and is a member of all the church organizations. Mrs. Eymann sustains the place long held by her husband in assisting every worthy enterprise of the community and is almost invariably called upon for a support which everyone knows will not be withheld.