KARL AUGUST KAMMER.
Karl August Kammer, farmer and stockman, Lancaster township, Atchison county, Kansas, was born on the farm where he now lives, October 12, 1869, and is a son of Karl and Joehanna (Hida) Kammer. He is one of six children: Joehanna (Gutzman), deceased; Emma (Fuhrman), Lancaster township; Karl, subject of this sketch; Julius, Lancaster township; Bertha H. (Buttron), Lancaster township; one child who died in infancy. The father was born in Germany in 1840. Leaving there in 1862, he came to Atchison county, Kansas, where he worked in a vineyard for two years. The following four years he was employed in a brewery at Atchison, and then farmed two years in Lancaster township. At that time he had a chance to buy 160 acres in section 16 of Lancaster township, and with the aid of a partner, the land was bought. He built a one-room shanty and a thatched barn, and broke prairie with the oxen and planted the first crop. Later a better house and barn were built, and gradually, other improvements were added and a fine orchard planted. At the time of his death, in October, 1910, Mr. Kammer owned 240 acres of land. The mother was born in Germany, February 20, 1840, and married in her native land just before coming to America. She died in 1904.
Karl Kammer, the subject of this sketch, was reared on his father’s farm in Lancaster township. He attended High Prairie district school, No. 3, and remained on the home farm until he was twenty-six years old, when he rented some land from his father, and six years later he was able to buy the land he had been renting. He improved the farm considerably and stocked it with graded cattle, and now has an excellent farm, modern in every respect, consisting of 160 acres of land, and also has a fine orchard of two acres.
Mr. Kammer was married October 23, 1895, to Emma Buttron, a native of Lancaster township, Atchison county, born August 14, 1870. She is a daughter of Henry and Rosa (Scheu) Buttron, the father a native of Germany, born in 1833. When a young man he left his native land and came to America, locating in Pennsylvania where he worked as a blacksmith. From there he went to Elgin, Ill., and continued at his trade, and in 1857, he moved to Atchison, Kan., following blacksmithing for a short time. He then preëmpted 160 acres of land in Lancaster township, where he built a house. The first crop was destroyed by grasshoppers, and he was forced to return to his trade during the following winter. When spring came, he went back to his farm and that year was successful and his start was assured. Mr. Buttron bought more land and continued to make improvements, and after a long and prosperous career he died in 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Kammer are the parents of three children: Katherine, Rosa and Henrietta, all living at home with their parents. Mr. Kammer is a Republican, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Kammer and family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church of High Prairie neighborhood.