History of Atchison County, Kansas

by Sheffield Ingalls

MRS. JENNIE CIRTWILL.

Mrs. Jennie Cirtwill, of Lancaster, Kan., is the widow of Richard N. Cirtwill, one of the well known and substantial farmers of Atchison county, who was among the early settlers of this county. Richard N. Cirtwill was born in Jefferson county, New York, September 20, 1828. He was reared to young manhood in New York, and at the outbreak of the Civil war offered his services in defense of the Union. Mr. Cirtwill enlisted August 24, 1864, in Company I, One Hundred and Eighty-sixth regiment of New York infantry, and served until his honorable discharge, June 2, 1865. He was color bearer of his regiment, and fought at the battle of Petersburg and at the siege and capture of Richmond. Mr. Cirtwill carried the regimental colors at Petersburg and during this fierce engagement his clothing and flag were riddled with bullets, and he received a slight wound in his side. His son, Albert D., was also a member of the same company and regiment, as his father and was wounded at the battle of Petersburg. Mr. Cirtwill was first married in New York State to Susan Burns, who departed this life in 1885.

Jennie Cirtwill

Mr. Cirtwill came to Kansas in 1871 and developed a fine farm and became well-to-do.

In January, 1889, Mr. Cirtwill married Mrs. Jennie (McClain) Cameron, whose first husband was James Cameron, a native of Carrickfergus, Ireland, born in 1848. When a young man, James Cameron became a sailor, and was first mate on a vessel sailing the Atlantic ocean. At the outbreak of the Civil war, Mr. Cameron enlisted in the Union army at Bangor, Me., and served until the close of the war. In 1869 he came to Muscotah, Kan., and worked as a contractor and brick mason. Six children were born of this marriage: Frank, deceased; William, a traveling salesman, Kansas City, Mo.; John R., a railway operator, of Mountain Home, Idaho; Rose died in infancy; Frank J., a railroad conductor, St. Joseph, Mo., and Walter H., a traveling salesman, Kansas City, Mo. The father of these children died in 1903.

Mrs. Jennie Cirtwill was born at the Bank Cottages, Scotland, May 1, 1849, a daughter of William and Rosanna (Saul) McClain, who emigrated from their native heath in 1855, and first settled in Illinois, where the father became a contractor and builder in the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad Company. He, too, became a soldier, thus making a remarkable coincident, wherein Mrs. Cirtwill was the daughter of a soldier, and both of her former husbands were Union veterans. Mr. McClain served with bravery in an Illinois regiment of volunteers. In 1870 he came to Atchison county and engaged in the lumber and building business at Muscotah, Kan. He became the owner of several farms and was well-to-do at the time of his death, February 13, 1907. The mother of Mrs. Cirtwill died in 1915, at the ripe old age of ninety-three years. Both parents are buried at Lancaster, Kan. A bright spot in the memories of Mrs. Cirtwill is the fact that she was permitted to care for her aged parents in their declining years and made a home and furnished every comfort for them.

When residing in Muscotah, Mrs. Cirtwill, nee Cameron, was left almost destitute with the care of her five children on her hands. She was forced to do the hardest kind of work to keep them in comfort and send them to school. She worked as a tailor and seamstress in order to do this, and long and exacting hours of toil were necessary to hold the little family together, but later, better days came and she has had the extreme satisfaction of seeing her children, for whom she made sacrifices in those earlier days, become substantial and well-to-do citizens of their respective localities.

A brother of Mrs. Cirtwill, John McClain, was killed by a horse when four years of age. William, the only brother reared to manhood, was a banker at Huron, Kan., but sold his interests there and removed to Peru, Kan., where he started a bank of his own. Three years later he went to Coffeyville, Kan., and lived there for a short time. Very early he began to see the future value of oil lands in Oklahoma, and invested heavily in Oklahoma land which proved to be a very profitable investment. Besides being a capitalist and builder he was a speaker and public man, well known in Atchison county and Kansas. He died in Coffeyville, Kan., January 5, 1911, at the age of fifty years. He left a widow and one daughter.

The mother of Mrs. Cirtwill, who was Mrs. Rosanna (Saul) McClain, was a skilled seamstress, and had the honor of attending the coronation ceremonies of Queen Victoria in England. Her father was Thomas Saul, a poet of unusual ability, endowed with a wonderful memory and an ability to quote poetry and the classics which his daughter inherited to a great extent. Through her great-grandmother, Rosanna Saul McClain was of royal lineage, having been born in a royal golden bed of honor, only vouchsafed to those of kingly lineage. This great-grandmother became very wealthy and left a large estate to her two daughters. Rosanna and her sister were highly skilled in tailoring and needle work and embroidery, and were highly rewarded by Queen Victoria for making and embroidering a beautiful dress for the queen to wear on state occasions.

Mrs. Cirtwill is the owner of considerable property in Atchison county, including 260 acres of fine land, a store building and a home in Lancaster, Kan. She has two grandchildren: Cecil Mae, and Jeanette Rose Cameron, children of Frank J. Cameron. Besides her Atchison county property this well-to-do Atchison county woman has several vacant lots and residence properties in St. Joseph, Mo., and is considered to be an able business woman. She is a member of the Rebekah lodge, of Lancaster, and is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. For many years she has taught a Sunday school class, of which she is very fond. Mrs. Cirtwill usually spends the summer seasons in traveling and during the summer and fall of 1915, she spent several weeks in the West, principally in Denver and vicinity.