Atchison County, Kansas

“ When one thinks of Atchison it is only natural to refer to the city as the home of Balie Waggener, who is indisputably grouped among the prominent and widely known figures who have shed fame and luster upon their home city. A leading attorney, statesman, progressive citizen, builder, farmer and stockman, friend of all children, capitalist, and public benefactor are some of the terms which might be applied to him without fear of contradiction from the mass of the people who know him best. ”

“ JAMES E. BEHEN. In the compilation of the biographical department of this history of Atchison county, Kansas, the fact is frequently brought to the mind of the reviewer that the really successful men of this county are essentially self-made, and began at the foot of the ladder of success, working their way upward by various means, all of which were honest and based upon hard and painstaking labor at the outset of their careers. Very few were well educated, or had been blessed with opportunities in their youth such as are the heritage of the youth of the present day. ”

“ THE RISE AND FALL OF SUMNER. “Three miles south of Atchison, Kansas, is the site of a dead city, whose streets once were filled with the clamor of busy traffic and echoed to the tread of thousands of oxen and mules that in the pioneer days of the Great West transported the products of the East across the Great American Desert to the Rocky mountains. It was a city in which for a few years twenty-five hundred men and women and children lived and labored and loved, in which many lofty aspirations were born, and in which several young men began careers that became historical. ”

“ While this wonderful transformation was going on as the handiwork of man—particular individuals from out of the mass of men who were working wonders in giving to this Nation a new commonwealth, were likewise developing mental attributes with which they had been gifted—statesmen, soldiers, and men of letters were in the making. Atchison county, Kansas, has been made famous by several illustrious sons who have achieved more than ordinary renown in the world of letters, as well as in other lines of endeavor. ”

“ During all of this time the Free State settlers of Atchison were very quiet and undemonstrative. They were not strong in number and aside from a few virile souls like Pardee Butler, they held their tongues and kept their own counsel. They were treated with scant courtesy and consideration by their pro-slavery neighbors, and it can be said to their credit that no set of men ever displayed greater self-restraint or suffered more for the cause of peace than the Free State settlers of this county. ”

“ Sharpless has also become a land owner in the county and has farm lands near Effingham.
He was married in 1892 to Sadie A. Cook, born and reared in Atchison county, and a daughter of Thomas F. and Margaret Cook, who were pioneer settlers of this county, coming here from Missouri in 1860. To Mr. and Mrs. Sharpless have been born five children: Gladys A., Margaret S., Edith Aubine died at the age of seven years; Lois A., and Alice Marie. All of the living children are attending the Atchison public schools. ”

“ Located as it is, on the northeast bank of Stranger creek, in the county of Atchison, where roads leading from Doniphan and St. Joe to Lecompton are intersected by roads leading from Atchison to Grasshopper Falls and Osawkee; and also being upon the great thoroughfare running up and down the valley of the Stranger, it offers more inducements for a large and prosperous inland town than any other place in Kansas Territory. All persons anxious to thrive and desirous of obtaining a home on reasonable terms will do well to settle in Ocena. ”

“ Atchison county has always been particularly proud of the high order of talent that has graced its bench and bar. From the very earliest days of its history, the legal profession has been well represented here. Men who have reached a high order of distinction in the profession have had their beginning at the bar of this county. In fact, this county has been somewhat unique in this respect, for there is perhaps no other county in Kansas that has furnished a greater number of distinguished representatives of this noble profession, who have shed their luster upon the fair name of the State. ”

“ Born in Atchison county in the pioneer days when the county was in process of early settlement, he has grown up with the city and county and has a speaking acquaintance with almost every person within the confines of his native heath. Kind and obliging to a high degree, he has made himself invaluable as a citizen and able county official, and is well liked and highly esteemed for his many excellent qualities. ”

“ There were thirty-one districts in the county in that year, and the amount of State funds apportioned to Atchison county was $295.30. The school population was 1941, with an enrollment of 1,072, and an average daily attendance of 500. Twenty-nine teachers were employed, twenty-two women and seven men, with an average monthly salary for the men of $25.20 and $16.75 for the women. The total valuation of school houses was $1,050, and the amount of money received from the county was $827.05. ”

“ The country, too, south of the Kansas river above Lecompton, is also as near Atchison as any other Missouri river town. The roads to Atchison in every direction are very fine, and always in good repair for wagon and other modes of travel. The country opposite Atchison is not excelled by any section of Missouri, it being portions of Buchanan and Platte counties, in a high state of cultivation, and at a considerable distance from any important town in Missouri, making grain, fruit, provisions and all kinds of marketing easily procured at fair prices ”

“ The richest and most valuable farming land in Atchison county is very generally distributed. There are parts of each township that are rough and broken, but as the population increases land not now regarded as choice will be made to produce abundant crops. The river bluffs, which have stood so long in timber, are gradually being cleared and the bare hills which are left, are admirably adapted to fruit, wheat and alfalfa. Much of this land is as well adapted to fruit raising as is the already famous Wathena district, some of it being exactly the same type of soil. ”

“ He whose name heads this review is such an individual. As mayor of Atchison, C. D. Walker made a record which will outlive the present generation; as an attorney he has achieved a signal success and ranks high in the legal fraternity of the State of Kansas; as a religious worker he has accomplished much good of a lasting and enduring quality for the community in which he lives. Born of Kansas pioneer parents, his training and education were such as to prepare him for the career which has made him distinguished among his fellow men ”

“ How long the region embraced in Atchison county has been the home of man is not known, but the finding of a prehistoric human skeleton, computed by the highest anthropological and geological authorities to be at least 10,000 years old, in the adjoining county of Leavenworth, favors the presumption that what is now Atchison county was occupied by man at an equally remote period. Evidences of a very early human existence here have been found at various times. ”

“ He is ably assisted by his son, W. R. Washer, who is also otherwise prominently identified with the commercial and shipping interests of the county.
Atchison also is a fine retail center, and draws trade from the surrounding territory for a distance of from fifty to seventy-five miles. It has fine dry goods stores, which carry the latest merchandise; good shoe stores, millinery shops, grocery and hardware stores and shops of all kinds, all of which are run by enterprising merchants. Atchison is a good town in which to live; a city of beautiful homes; fine paved and well lighted streets ”

“ In looking backward over the half century, and more, which has elapsed since the Kansas Territory was thrown open to settlement, it is found that there are quite a number of men and women who are deserving of more than mere casual mention in the history of Atchison county. ”

“ As manager, Mr. Raterman travels over seven counties, collecting necessary data regarding the business concerns of his territory, including the six counties of northeast Kansas and DeKalb county, Missouri. He is personally acquainted with practically every business man in his district.
J. L. Raterman was born in Atchison, Kan., October 25, 1876, a son of John and Elizabeth (Myers) Raterman, both of whom were born in Germany, immigrated to this country in youth and were married in Cincinnati, Ohio. ”

“ The Atchison Daily Champion in its issue of September 25, 1913, has this to say of his high honor and integrity:
“In these days of alleged lawless lawyers and corrupted courts it is a good thing to know that Atchison county has an honest and efficient judge to administer justice from the district bench. Many big men,—men of splendid qualifications and sterling integrity—have occupied the important position now held by Judge Jackson, but never before has this county had a judge whose service on the bench commanded more universal satisfaction than that rendered by Judge Jackson. ”

“ He has never held office and has 392never been a seeker after political preferment; has never been a party to a law suit, never served on a jury, and has been called only once in his lifetime to the witness stand. He has endeavored at all times to live at peace with all mankind and has succeeded to such an extent that at a ripe old age, this pioneer settler of Atchison county is living in peace and comfort in the home which he created out of a wilderness. ”

“ But before the well laid plans of our citizens matured, before projects for the development of steam transportation to bring us nearer the outside world could be concluded the mighty conflict which ended in four bloody years of civil war, broke upon the Nation, and Kansas within three months after being admitted as a State enrolled itself on the side of the Union. Atchison county sprang to arms almost a thousand strong, and may it ever be said to its everlasting glory that few, if any, counties in the State had a more patriotic record. ”