FRED HARTMAN.
It is meet that considerable space be devoted to the valiant old pioneers of Kansas who assisted in the settlement of the country, and had much to do with its development. Not all of them figured prominently, and it was given to a very few to be honored above their fellows. In the latter class the reviewer must of necessity and choice place the late Fred Hartman, pioneer, successful farmer, Union veteran and well known public official, who for more than two decades was a well known and highly esteemed citizen of Atchison county.
Fred Hartman was born in Franklin county, Indiana, December 7, 1844, a son of Jonathan and Christina (Wolking) Hartman. His paternal grandfather was Henry Hartman, a native of Pennsylvania, of German extraction, and his wife, Alice Case, whom he married in Pennsylvania, migrated to Indiana in the early days of the settlement of the Hoosier State. Jonathan Hartman, father of the subject, was born in Franklin county, Indiana, January 22, 1822, and was reared to young manhood among the rugged hills of his native county, learning the carpenter’s trade, and then moving to Platte county, Missouri, with his family in 1846. Nine years after settling in Platte county, he removed to Port William, at that time a thriving settlement on the banks of the Missouri river in Atchison county. Here he erected one of the first sawmills in Atchison county and the State of Kansas, and furnished all the sawed lumber for the settlers for many miles around. The year 1856 saw the beginning of the struggle between the Free State and pro-slavery men for possession of Kansas, and the summer of that year witnessed some lively times. History records the fact that a man named Bob Gibson, leader of the Kickapoo Rangers, came from the headquarters of the gang with a squad of men for the purpose of mobbing Jonathan Hartman on account of his opposition to slavery. Mr. Hartman was a man of high courage and assumed a defiant attitude toward the Rangers who finally left without doing the damage which they had boasted was their intent. About this time the noted Pardee Butler was set afloat on a raft down the Missouri river by the pro-slavery men of Atchison, and Butler appealed to Hartman for aid after landing, near Port William. Mr. Hartman gave Butler every assistance possible, in getting him to his home. In 1857 Jonathan Hartman sold his sawmill and settled on a farm in Mt. Pleasant township, near the old military road which ran from Ft. Leavenworth to Denver, and the Far Western points. Great trains of thirty or more heavily laden wagons drawn by six and twelve yoke of oxen were constantly passing the home of the Hartmans. Mrs. Hartman recalls the great drought of 1860 and the great snows of the following winter. During the year of the great drought the settlers did not raise any crops and were forced to journey to Atchison for provisions, on the return trip stopping at the Andrew Parnell farm for assistance in their dire need. Two of the drivers on a wagon train that terrible winter had their feet frozen, one of the men afterwards losing both feet as a result of the hardships undergone. The Parnell home was a welcome and hospitable place of refuge for the starving and suffering settlers, during that winter. Mrs. Hartman also recalls the beautiful and inspiring sights made by the troops of United States cavalry which were frequently seen from her home in those days.
Fred Hartman hearkened to the call of the Union in the second year of the great civil conflict and enlisted in Company F, of the famous Thirteenth Kansas volunteer regiment, under Captain Hayes, Major Woodworth and Colonels Bowen and Speck. He was engaged chiefly in scout duty, and was stationed at Ft. Smith and other points in the Southwest during his term of service, which lasted for three years, and was finally mustered out at Ft. Leavenworth in 1865. He then came home and resumed the farm work on his father’s farm. He was married January 21, 1866, to Cynthia Parnell. To this union were born the following children: Henrietta, wife of R. H. Ripple, died in 1896; Hannah Ann, wife of James Iddings, both of whom are deceased, and who left one child, Geneva Iddings, of Topeka, Kan.; Dora, wife of Joseph Speck, died in 1896, leaving one daughter, Dora, who lives with her grandmother; Jonathan, a salesman of Kansas City; Josephine, wife of John Putman, of Atchison; May Florence, wife of Roy Trimble, sheriff of Atchison county, has four children; Birdie, wife of Henry Barr, died in 1906; Frederick, died in 1911, was married to Blanche Baker, daughter of Captain Baker. The mother of these children was born January 14, 1849, in Buchanan county, Missouri, a daughter of Andrew and Mirah (Wilson) Parnell natives of Kentucky and Indiana, respectively. Andrew and Mirah Parnell began their wedded life in Franklin county, Indiana, where they were reared and then migrated to Arkansas, and from there to Missouri in the early forties. In 1859 the family left Buchanan county and settled in Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county, where they figured prominently in the early history of the county. The little Parnell was named after Andrew Parnell and the old town of the same name took its appellation from the family which settled in the neighborhood. Mr. Parnell spent his last days in Jefferson county, Kansas, where he died in 1872. He became very well-to-do and prospered. He was one of the original Free State men and suffered considerable loss at the hands of the Jayhawkers and border ruffians. Andrew Parnell was the father of eleven children, six sons and five daughters, and sent three of his sons to serve their country in the Thirteenth Kansas regiment, one son being killed. Mrs. Hartman is the youngest child of this large family.
When Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hartman were married they settled on a farm near Parnell, which Mrs. Hartman still owns. They developed this farm and cultivated it successfully until 1896, when they removed to Atchison, where Mr. Hartman died October 25, 1909. Mr. Hartman was a life-long Republican and began taking an active part in political and civic affairs when he had attained his majority. He was elected sheriff of the county in the fall of 1895, and served four years in all, in this important office. Previous to his removal to Atchison, he had capably filled the office of trustee of Mt. Pleasant township. He became identified with the civic life of Atchison and served as a member of the city council and was held in high esteem for his ability and capabilities as a citizen. Mr. Hartman was prominent in Odd Fellow and Masonic circles during his long life in the county.
Fred Hartman was one of those pioneer citizens of Atchison county which are distinguished for their qualities of leadership, and his descendants are proud of his record as a citizen and public official. He was, during his whole life, a reader and student who believed in keeping abreast of the times and made a hobby of gathering historical data, being much interested in the history of his adopted State. His mind remained keen to the end of his days and he will always be fondly remembered by those who knew him. To him and his comrades who laid the foundation of the prosperous and happy community of Atchison, this volume is respectfully dedicated.