W. PERRY HAM.
The powers of leadership are inherent in some individuals, and there are in every community such men who seem naturally gifted to lead their fellows in political affairs. In reviewing the life career of W. Perry Ham, the official head of the Republican party in Atchison county, the fact is brought out that his natural gifts have tended to lead him to activity in political affairs, and that he is gifted with ability of a high order, which is universally recognized by the men of his party who look to him for leadership. Mr. Ham is a thorough American, whose ancestry goes back to the earliest days of the foundation of the Republic.
W. Perry Ham was born October 11, 1861, at Flemingsburg, Fleming county, Kentucky, a son of James P. and Eliza (Jones) Ham, both of whom were born and reared in Kentucky, and were children of pioneer parents. James P. was the son of William and Mary E. Ham, and the great-grandfather of W. Perry was John Ham, better known as “Jackie,” a native of Greenbrier county, Virginia, who married a Miss Woods, and migrated to Kentucky in the days of the illustrious Daniel Boone, the famous hunter. These were troublous times in Kentucky, and the Indians fiercely disputed the advent of the white settlers into their favorite hunting grounds. The mother and two sisters of “Jackie” Ham were captured by the Indians, killed and scalped, and their bodies burned in the cabin fireplace by blood-thirsty Indians. The Ham family is of Welsh extraction. James P. Ham, although a southerner by birth and breeding, was a strong Union man, who was opposed to the institution of slavery. While still residing in Kentucky, in the year 1865, he received a telegram from his brother. Joseph, calling him to Buchanan county, Missouri, where his life was in danger from Union men. Joseph kept a general store at DeKalb, and was forced to go in hiding to preserve his life, he being a southern sympathizer. It was his desire that James P. come to Missouri and take charge of his store until times were better, and it was safe for him to appear. James made all haste to comply with his brother’s request, and with his wife and family made a hasty trip to Buchanan county, only to find on his arrival that his brother’s store at DeKalb had been burned to the ground. The wife of James P. was overcome by the excitement, and her strength overtaxed by the trials of the family, and she died in 1865. This left the father with three children to care for, and he removed to Atchison in 1866. Here he engaged in market gardening, and took more or less interest in political affairs until his demise, November 2, 1894, at the age of sixty-six years, in Rural township, Jefferson county, Kansas, where he removed a few years after coming to Atchison.
W. Perry Ham was reared in Kansas, and attended the common and high schools of Atchison county. From the time he was six years of age he found it necessary to shift for himself, and secured his education mainly through his own efforts. He did chores and worked for farmers in return for his board and schooling, and generally had a hard time of it trying to make his own way in the world. During the famous “grasshopper” years the family lived in Jefferson county, and privation and suffering were predominant among the settlers. Perry was sent twice each week a distance of seven miles, astride his pony, to the nearest relief station for food and clothing. His first position was in the old Grant bakery, operated by Gerber & Hagen, and he was employed there for two years. He afterwards bought the grocery business at Tenth and Laramie streets, and was engaged in business for another period of years until he bought a farm near Atchison and moved upon it. He farmed this land for two years, and in 1895 returned to Atchison, and again entered the grocery business, at Ninth and Parallel streets. In 1898 he disposed of his business and accepted a traveling position in the interest of the Select Knights of the Ancient Order of United Workmen as State manager and organizer. He continued in this position until 1901, and then opened a feed and poultry business, in which undertaking he was engaged until 1909, when he sold out. He served as chief of police of Atchison during 1908 and 1909 under Mayor S. S. King, and has been a member of the city council for three terms during his residence in Atchison. Since 1909 Mr. Ham has been general organizer of the Fraternal Aid Union, and has made a great success of his work, which requires that he oversee the work of organizing in the States of Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. His reputation as an organizer in the interest of the Fraternal Aid Union is unsurpassed, and it is in this capacity that his remarkable gifts have received full play.
Mr. Ham was married in 1883 to Rosa Frommer, who has borne him children as follows: Lloyd Perry, clerk in the Atchison postoffice; Mable Rose, wife of Roy Castle, of Falls City, Neb.; James Harwi Ham, of Atchison; Walter, of Atchison; Herbert, a jeweler, of Atchison; Myrtle, at home with her parents; and Luther, in the city high school. The mother of these children was born and reared in Germany, near the city of Stuttgart, and was a daughter of John Frommer, who was a stone-cutter by occupation. Mrs. Ham came to this country in 1879.
Mr. Ham is a member of the Odd Fellows, the M. B. A., the Knights and Ladies of Security, the Mystic Workers, the Central Protective Association, and the Fraternal Aid Union. In political matters, Mr. Ham has been for years a prominent figure in Atchison county and Kansas, and enjoys a wide and favorable acquaintance among the political leaders of the Republican party in Kansas. He has been a member of the central executive committee of his party for several years, and is at present the county chairman and virtual leader of his party in Atchison county.