Biography of John Martin, Hon.

Hon. John Martin, who died at his home in Topeka September 3, 1913, was one of the distinguished Kansans of both the territorial and statehood eras. He was born in Wilson County, Tennessee, November 12, 1833, and was nearly eighty years of age when he died. He was the oldest son of Matt and Mary Martin, who were descended from some of the first settlers of Virginia. It was possible to gain only a meager education in the schools of the frontier district in which he lived, but John Martin made the best of his opportunities and aided by a … Read more

Biography of Curt Bergmann

For the past thirty-four years the community of Tecumseh had profited by the business activities and progressive citizenship of the Bergmann family. It was late in the year 1882 that Wilhelm Henry Bergmann came here and purchased a property, and subsequently he became one of the locality’s substantial men and continued so during the remainder of a long and useful life. The reputation for solidity and integrity which he made is being perpetuated by his son, Curt Bergmann, present postmaster of Tecumseh and proprietor of one of the city’s leading mercantile establishments. The late Wilhelm Henry Bergmann was born in … Read more

Biography of Henry Brandley

Henry Brandley was born in Switzerland October 12, 1839, and died at his beautiful home at Matfield Green in Chase County June 1, 1910. When he was about twelve years of age his parents came to America, being fifty-two days in crossing the ocean. In 1852 the family settled in Cincinnati, where he finished his education and worked at the painter’s trade. In 1856 the Brandleys moved to Randolph. County, Indiana, and there the young man had further experience as a farm hand, in a shingle mill, as rail maker and digger of ditches. In the spring of 1859 he … Read more

Biography of Peter Calvin Croco

Peter Calvin Croco. With the exception of several years spent in Missouri, Peter Calvin Croco had been a resident of Kansas since 1876, and as he had carried on operations in most every part of the state few men are better informed as to agricultural conditions here. At the present time he is the owner of a good property in Tecumseh Township, Shawnee County, which he is cultivating along modern lines, and on which he had up-to-date improvements that make the farm of 155 acres a model which many agriculturists might copy. Mr. Croco was born in Holmes County, Ohio, … Read more

Biography of George G. Kungle

George G. Kungle was one of the sterling citizens of Shawnee County whose lives deserve special record in these pages. The family is still living at Tecumseh, and since his death his wife and oldest son, George, Jr., have competently managed a farm there. Born at Come, Illinois, in 1864, George G. Kungle was a son of Joseph Byron Kungle, who was born in 1834 in Pennsylvania, of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. Joseph B. Kungle was a carpenter and contractor, was a very successful man, and later in life followed farming. Highly respected by all who knew him, he enjoyed this … Read more

Biography of William A. Kearney

William A. Kearney. In a comfortable home, enjoying a liboral prosperity, and with the esteem of a large circle of friends, William A. Kearney and wife are people whose record should be considered in any history of Kansas. They have lived in Shawnee County since 1880. Their present prosperity seems the greater in contract with their condition when they landed at Tecumseh thirty-five years age. At that time it is said that they had only two cents in money and an ax. A Pennsylvanian, William A. Kearney was born in Venango County, April 15, 1854. His father, Samuel K, Kearney, … Read more