B. F. TOMLINSON.
B. F. Tomlinson, deceased, was a pioneer merchant and meat packer of Atchison, and left behind him an imperishable record for honesty and fair dealing, which has never been surpassed in the mercantile history of the city. He was born December 25, 1838, in Covington, Ky., a son of Leroy Tomlinson, who was also a native of Kentucky. The mother of B. F. Tomlinson died when he was a small boy, and as a consequence little is known regarding her antecedents. The Tomlinsons are a very old American family. Leroy Tomlinson was a commission merchant and meat packer, who later removed from Covington to Louisville, Ky., and became prominently identified with the business interests of that city. He conducted a large packing establishment and handled as high as 100 beeves at one time in his abattoirs, wholesaling the product of his packing houses to meat merchants in the cities and towns bordering the Ohio river.
B. F. Tomlinson, with whose career this review is directly concerned, was reared and educated in the city of Louisville, Ky., and when he was but fifteen years of age his father died, his stepmother dying one year later. Being an only child, he was left with the responsibility of his father’s extensive business. The excellent training which his father had given him, here came into good stead, and he carried on the packing business successfully, paying, in the course of time, a considerable indebtedness which his father had incurred. After his marriage in Louisville in 1860, he continued to conduct his business in Louisville until 1870, at which time he disposed of his possessions and came to Atchison. Here he engaged in the butcher and packing business, and soon held a prominent place in the mercantile life of the city.
B. F. Tomlinson was married September 11, 1860, to Miss Elizabeth Alexander, who was born May 11, 1840, in Bedford, Ind. She was a daughter of Robert M. and Emily (Legrant) Alexander. Her father was a coach-maker by trade, and removed from Bedford, Ind., to Louisville, Ky., where he died in 1900, at the age of eighty-nine years. Much interesting history can be narrated concerning the mother of Mrs. Tomlinson, who was born in New Orleans, and was one of three children born to her parents, who were of French origin. The elder Legrant was a drygoods merchant in the southern city, and the story goes, that on one of his regular trips to Cincinnati, Ohio, to buy a stock of goods for his store, he left two of the children at home, and on arriving in Cincinnati he placed Emily in charge of a Scotch family by the name of McDonald, and with whom he had been in the habit of stopping while on business in Cincinnati. Emily at that time was twelve years of age, and was a prime favorite with the McDonald’s who begged her parents to leave her at their home during the time which would elapse until Mr. and Mrs. Legrant made their next trip from New Orleans to Cincinnati. They did so, but sad to relate, the little girl never saw nor heard from her parents again, and what became of them she never learned, and she was consequently reared to womanhood by the kind foster parents. In an earlier year than this at New Orleans, and at a time when Emily’s father was very sick with rheumatism, a band of over one hundred Indians was encamped near the Legrant home at New Orleans. One of the other children was also afflicted with cancer of the face. The medicine men of the Indian tribe effected a cure of both the cancer and the father’s rheumatism. The Indians were very affectionate toward Emily and called her the “pretty squaw,” which was only natural, as she grew up to become a very beautiful woman, eventually becoming the wife of Robert M. Alexander, and after her husband’s demise, made her home with her daughter at Atchison, where she died in November of 1904, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years.
B. F. Tomlinson died in January, 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Tomlinson were the parents of eight children: Martha J., wife of Louis Nelson, of St. Joseph, Mo., and mother of one child, Frank B.; Emma T. Bosanko, deceased, left one son, Harry; Lydia, wife of Frank Russell, of St. Paul, Minn., and mother of one son, Clarence Russell; Alice, wife of W. L. Johnson, of Atchison; Anna A., wife of Charles Robertson, of Chicago; Robert, a resident of Columbia, Mo., and who has one daughter, Ecce Tomlinson; Franklin, deceased; Birdie died in infancy. The mother of these children is now three score and fifteen years of age, but does not appear to be over fifty years old. She is remarkably well preserved and has a keen mind, and is especially proud of her husband’s record and fine family of children.
Mr. Tomlinson was a member of several fraternal societies, among them being the Modern Woodmen, the Knights of Honor, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was politically allied with the Democratic party, but never sought political preferment. He was well and favorably known and highly respected in business circles in Atchison, his greatest and kindliest trait being his generosity in giving assistance to the poor and deserving of the city. He was always ready to listen to the call of the suffering and improvident, and never turned away a supplicant in dire need empty handed. It might be said of him that he was too generous for his own financial welfare, but he sincerely believed in the wholeness of his nature in giving of his sustenance to those whom he deemed in need. The indulgence of this Christian trait of giving naturally endeared his memory to a host of friends, who will long remember him. Few men were more liberal or kinder than this upright gentleman.