ROGER PATRICK SULLIVAN.
The accounts of many of the prosperous and substantial families who are the backbone and substance of the rural population in Atchison county are very similar, beginning far away, across the ocean, in one of the older countries from whence the parents came to seek fortune in America. The Sullivan family had its origin in Ireland and it was from the Emerald Isle that the father of the family came when twelve years of age, struggled from poverty to comparative wealth and left his sons well provided for, as a reward for their filial devotion to the parents when old age came upon them. Roger Sullivan, a progressive farmer of Benton township, is one of the best known men in his section of the county. The Sullivan home is an attractive one, and the home farm of Mr. Sullivan is one of the most fertile and best kept in Atchison county.
Roger Patrick Sullivan was born December 4, 1862, in Atchison, a son of Michael and Bridget (Tobin) Sullivan, natives of Ireland. Michael Sullivan was born in 1826 and lived in his native land until he was twelve years of age when he made his way to America. His travels while seeking fortune in the new country took him ever westward and he was married in Keokuk, Iowa, to Bridget Tobin, who was his faithful helpmate during the years when he was rising from poverty to affluence. In 1860 they came to Atchison, Kan., where Mr. Sullivan engaged in railroad contract work and assisted in the grading of the Central Branch railroad. He made money in his railroad contract work and was enabled to purchase a farm in Grasshopper township, or rather traded for it. While living in Atchison, with true Irish thrift, he and his wife managed to become owners of a home which they exchanged for eighty acres of land in Grasshopper township, upon which they moved and developed it into a fine farm. Mr. Sullivan in the course of time bought an additional quarter section and with the help of his sturdy sons he increased his acreage to 320 acres of well improved farm land. When old age crept upon Michael and his wife they turned over the farms to their two sons, who cared for them in their declining years, which were spent in peace and comfort. Mr. Sullivan died at the home of his son. John Edward, December 24, 1906, and his wife followed him to the great beyond two years later, February, 1908. Three children were born to this worthy couple, namely: John Edward, a farmer residing in Grasshopper township; Roger Patrick, the subject of this review, and Mary, deceased.
Roger P. learned when a youth the art of cultivating the soil, and diligently applied himself to the task of helping to build up the family estate, and received as his share of the farm lands owned by his father a fine quarter section of land upon which he resided until his removal to his present location in the spring of 1908. Prosperity has smiled upon his efforts, and he is now the owner of 360 acres of land, 160 acres of which are comprised in his home farm, eighty acres is located five miles west of his home in Kapioma township, and he still retains 120 acres of the original Sullivan farm, which is entirely devoted to pasture. If one should ask Mr. Sullivan how he had managed to attain the considerable acreage which he now possesses, his answer would probably be, “By hard work,” which would be true, but the reviewer is also of the opinion that the “hard work” was also supplemented by intelligent effort, self-denial at times, sobriety, and good financial judgment.
Mr. Sullivan was married January 11, 1892, to Miss Mary Linehan, who was born in Atchison county, Kansas, in 1865, a daughter of James and Kathryn Linehan, natives of Ireland, and who were pioneer settlers in Atchison county. To this union four children have been born, namely: Catharine, aged seventeen years, and a student in the Atchison County High School, class of ’17; Daniel, fifteen years old, a freshman in the county high school; Mary, aged twelve years, and Helen, aged nine, pupils in the parochial school at Effingham.
The Democratic party has always claimed the allegiance of Mr. Sullivan and his father before him was a Democrat. He and his family are members of the Catholic church which was the faith of their fathers. He finds time to give attention to the social side of life, and is fraternally affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Atchison. Mr. Sullivan is a thorough Kansan, and is proud to be numbered among the real pioneers of Atchison county, and in his opinion there is no better spot than the county which has always been his home.