JOHN E. SULLIVAN.
If a man has the inherent ability and energy in his makeup to enable him to succeed, he is going to do it. The life stories of all successful, self-made men bear out this contention, and there are numberless instances of success among the younger generation in the West which are well worth recounting. John E. Sullivan, real estate dealer, loan and insurance agent, of Effingham, Kansas, is a representative example of the class referred to in the foregoing statement. Mr. Sullivan was destined to succeed in his farming and business ventures, and, while a young man, he has already made his mark in the world, and is one of the substantial and influential citizens of Atchison county.
John E. Sullivan was born on a farm, near Rulo, Richardson county, Nebraska, January 20, 1873. He is a son of Murty and Mary (Rawley) Sullivan, substantial and well respected citizens of Effingham. The former was born in Ireland in 1847, and the latter is a native of Canada, born of Irish parents in 1852. Murty Sullivan left Ireland in 1865, immigrated to America and settled near Rulo, Neb. He made his own way in this country, and accumulated a large farm in Nebraska, on which he resided until 1910, when he removed to Effingham and purchased a farm adjoining the town on the south. Murty and Mary Sullivan are the parents of the following children: James and Murty, Jr., living at Hardin, Mont.; Daniel D., a farmer, of Benton township, Atchison county, Kan.; John E., the subject of this review; Mrs. John Vogel, of Falls City, Neb.; Sister M. Teresa, a sister of the Ursuline Convent, of York, Neb., and a teacher in St. Angela’s Academy there. The family are all members of the Catholic church.
John E. received his primary education in the common schools of his native county in Nebraska, and finished his education in St. Benedict’s College, Atchison, Kan., graduating from the commercial department of that institution in 1894. He then took a special teachers’ course at the Lincoln, Neb., Normal School. He taught school for seven years in Richardson county, Nebraska, and practically all of his teaching was done in two schools of his home county. Upon his marriage in 1897 he engaged in farming in Nebraska, and it is a matter of pride with Mr. Sullivan that he earned more money in two years of farming operations than he had in all of his seven years of teaching, another reason why the farm is the best place for a young and ambitious man to make money. His success as a farmer determined his future career, and he decided to stick to the agricultural country for all time, imbued with the belief that there is money to be earned in farming, or in handling farm lands. He left Nebraska in December of 1901, and came to Atchison county, Kansas, where he purchased a farm, one and one-half miles south of Effingham, his first farm being the northwest quarter of section 34–618. He is at present the owner of 400 acres of well improved land which is kept in a high state of cultivation by improved methods of farming. Mr. Sullivan raises considerable live stock on his acreage and aims to feed all the grain raised on the land to live stock. He specializes in Hereford cattle and Poland China hogs and aims to keep only good grade of stock of all kinds. At the time of his purchase of the farm land in Atchison county, the land itself was in poor condition, and the soil had become impoverished by continual cropping of a single staple. Through the modern method of crop rotation Mr. Sullivan is reviving the fertility of the soil, and at the present time the greater portion of his farm is planted to clover and grasses, for the purpose of renewing the strength of the soil, the process being assisted by the raising and feeding of live stock on the place. The Sullivan farm has splendid improvements, which were placed on it by Mr. Sullivan, who erected a modern eight-room house and a good barn. In 1907 Mr. Sullivan was induced to take up insurance work as a side line, in the interest of a Nebraska insurance company, and met with great success in his new line of work. He later took up the real estate business and the handling of loans, and has been likewise successful in establishing a permanent business which requires his attention and necessitates an office in Effingham. The Sullivan real estate and loan office is well located in the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, of which concern Mr. Sullivan served as cashier and a director for several years.
He was married February 16, 1897, to Mary Majerus, a native born resident of Richardson county, Nebraska, and a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Wilker) Majerus, the former a native of Germany, and the latter of Ohio, of German parents. Seven children have blessed this union, namely: P. Justin, aged seventeen, and a student of St. Benedict’s College, class of 1916; Leo, aged thirteen years; Nellie, ten years old; Elizabeth, aged eight; Edward, six years old; Agnes, three years of age; and Mary, born January 28, 1915.
Mr. Sullivan is a Democrat who takes an active and influential part in the affairs of his party in Atchison county, having been the candidate of the party for county treasurer in 1914. He is fraternally affiliated with the Modern Woodmen, of Effingham, the Knights of Columbus, of Atchison, and the Central Protective Association.