Mr. Walker is a Republican and has always taken a more or less active part in his party’s affairs. He was at one time a candidate for Congress from the First Congressional district of the State of Kansas, at the time the three-cornered fight for the nomination between Ex-Governor Bailey, Charles Curtis and C. D. Walker was waged, and a deadlock ensued which lasted for more than one week.
His family life has been an ideal one, and in keeping with the career of the man himself. The marriage of Mr. Walker and Miss Lizzie E. Auld took place June 7, 1881, at Atchison, Kan. One daughter has blessed this union, Isabelle, wife of Louis D. Brockett, a son of B. L. Brockett, a leading lumber merchant of Atchison. Mr. Brockett has charge of the loan business established by Mr. Walker. Mrs. Lizzie Auld Walker was born in Brownsville, Pa., a daughter of William W. and Isabelle Mullen Auld, natives of Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The Auld family is one of the oldest of American families. Its members are related closely with the Carrolls of Carrollton, Va., whose ancestors came from north of Ireland and were originally of Scotch ancestry. William W. Auld migrated from Pennsylvania to Atchison, Kan., in, 1872, and was a member of the milling firm of Blair & Auld, from that time until his death in 1895. Mr. Walker has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for over thirty years, and has taken a regular course of Masonry, being a Knight Templar. He is fraternally affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen, Knights and Ladies of Security, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Royal Arcanum. It is only natural that a man reared in a religious atmosphere, as he has been, should take an active and influential part in church and religious work. Mr. Walker has been a member of the official board of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Atchison, since 1880, and has been a liberal and cheerful supporter of this denomination. At present he is chairman of the building committee which has charge of the erection of the new building planned by the church for the ensuing year. Since 1889 he has served as a member of the board of trustees of Baker University, of Baldwin, Kan. In 1908 he was a delegate to the National conference of the Methodist denomination at Baltimore. Successful as a lawyer, having achieved substantial competence in his behalf, made history as a public official, followed the teachings of his Christian parents as regards an upright life and doing his duty in a religious sense, sums up the life career of this useful Atchison citizen.
ALVA CURTIS TRUEBLOOD.
Alva Curtis Trueblood, a former Atchison merchant and city official and Union veteran, now deceased, was born in Salem, Washington county, Indiana, in 1838, a son of Dr. Joshua and Zelpha (Arnold) Trueblood, natives of South Carolina, who emigrated from their native State to Indiana in the early pioneer days when the Indians were still camping on the streams and roaming the forests of the Hoosier State. The parents of A. C. Trueblood settled in Salem and he was there reared to manhood, receiving his education in the district schools and the Seminary at Battle Creek, Mich., where he was graduated. After his graduation in the classical course at Battle Creek, he returned to his home town of Salem and embarked in the newspaper business, purchasing the Salem Times, which he edited until the outbreak of the Civil war. He enlisted at the first call for troops issued by President Lincoln and was mustered in as a member of Company H, Thirteen regiment, Indiana infantry, under Captain Sales, who was later promoted to the rank of colonel, private Trueblood being successively promoted to a second lieutenancy and then to first lieutenant of his company. Later, he was commissioned a captain and remained Captain Trueblood until the close of the war. He saw much active service during the great rebellion and was under fire with his regiment at the very first battle in which it was engaged, at Green Brier Mountain, W. Va. Captain Trueblood fought in thirty-six terrific battles during his term of service, and was engaged in the nine days’ battle at Cold Harbor under General Grant. Captain Trueblood often gave a vivid and heart-rending description of the terrific slaughter of human lives which took place at this great battle, and told of how a person could walk for miles on the dead bodies with which the field was strewn. His time of enlistment expired while the battle of Cold Harbor was in progress, and he then returned to his home, where he was married December 29, 1864, to Hattie Allen.
Mr. and Mrs. Trueblood resided in Salem, Ind., until after the close of the war when he entered the mercantile business in Salem and was very successful. His health failing him it was deemed advisable that they seek a new home in the West. During his business career he had invested in Atchison county land, and they came to this county in 1880, settling on their farm in the spring of that year. They remained on the farm but a short time, however, until Mr. Trueblood regained his health, in a measure, and then removed to Atchison, where he embarked in the queensware business, which he conducted for about three years. He was then elected city clerk and held this office for about ten years. Captain Trueblood died April 16, 1904. Mr. and Mr. Trueblood have reared the following children: Albert, now engaged in the newspaper business at Sacramento, Cal.; Victor T., manager of the Van Nuys News Company, of Kansas City, Mo.; Paul T., a traveling salesman, residing in Grand Island, Neb.; Owen T., of Kansas City, an express messenger of the Missouri Pacific railroad; Nellie, a graduate of Midland College, and a teacher in the Ingalls school; Norvel died in 1867, at the age of four years. The mother of these children was born in March, 1840, a daughter of Thomas and Annis (Brinkley) Allen, both natives of West Virginia, and pioneer settlers of Washington county, Indiana. She was educated in the common schools of her native county and attended the Salem Female College. Thomas Allen, father of Mrs. Trueblood, was proprietor of a cotton and woolen manufactory at Salem, and was forced to pay Gen. John Morgan and his raiders the sum of $1,000 to prevent the burning of his mill, when Morgan and his troops made their memorable raid and burned the depot at Salem and raided the stores. Thomas Allen and wife were the parents of eight children, six sons and two daughters. Three of the sons were Union soldiers, William Allen, the twin brother of Mrs. Trueblood, serving in the same regiment with Captain Trueblood.
Mr. Trueblood was an efficient and capable city official during his many years of service in the city clerk’s office and had many warm friends in Atchison. He was allied with the Republican party and was prominent in the affairs of his party. He was well known in Masonic circles and was high in the councils of the Masonic lodge, being master of Washington Lodge, No. 5., of Atchison, Kan., for several years, and was a leading member of the Grand Army of the Republic, both of which bodies officiated at the ceremonies held when his body was laid away for the long rest.
WILLIAM J. CLEM.
William J. Clem, deceased farmer and horticulturist, of Shannon township, was born June 9, 1851, in Randolph county, Virginia, a son of Aaron Clem, who immigrated to Kansas in 1863 and settled on Independence creek, near the Doniphan-Atchison county line. On the farm, which his father owned in this pioneer settlement of Kansas, William was reared to young manhood, and married, after which he lived on a farm in the southern part of Doniphan county for four years, then moved to the Myers farm, which he and his wife purchased some years later and cultivated until March of 1898. In this year he purchased the fine farm which is now owned by his widow and immediately began improving it. This farm consists of sixty acres and lays within a few miles of Atchison in a northwesterly direction. Its acreage is divided as follows: Twenty acres of apples and small fruits, and forty acres of farm land and pasture. Realizing that it was necessary to follow intensive farming on a sixty-acre farm, Mr. Clem set out an orchard of 350 trees, which have been bearing prolifically for several years. An attractive farm residence, set in a fine lawn in which shrubbery and flower beds please the eye, together with a good barn and silo, greets the eye as they stand out on a rise of land. Mr. Clem was a very industrious farmer, a good citizen, and a kind father and husband, and will long be remembered by those who knew him best and were aware of his many excellent qualities. He departed this life on May 26, 1906. He was a member of the Baptist church and a Democrat in politics.
W. J. Clem, and Laura E. Myers, his widow, were married June 16, 1879, and to this union were born children, as follows: Mrs. Effie Randolph, of Atchison, who is the mother of two children, Elizabeth and Bernice; Mrs. Clara Waltz, of Shannon township, and mother of one child, Virginia Frances; Mrs. Addie Underwood, residing on a farm in Shannon township, who has one child, Spencer Eugene; Mrs. Laura Demmel, living near Rushville, Mo., and mother of one son, Raymond; Albert, married Ella Turner, and Edgar, at home; Mrs. Lissa Marie Altauf, of south Tenth street, Atchison; Frances and Jessie, at home. Mrs. Laura E. (Myers) Clem was born June 9, 1859, in Buchanan county, Missouri, a daughter of Augustus and Hulda (Snyder) Myers, natives of Germany and Indiana, respectively. Augustus Myers was born in 1825 and died October 6, 1909. His parents with their family immigrated to this country from Germany in 1831. Augustus was reared on a farm, south of St. Joseph, and was there married. His wife, Hulda, was born in 1831 and died October 8, 1907. She came with her parents to Buchanan county, Missouri, in 1841. There were nine children in the Myers family, namely: Hiram K., deceased; Edward S., deceased; William H., living in Doniphan county; Mrs. Laura E. Clem, with whom this review is directly concerned; Winslow, of Gower, Mo.; Charles W. of Lancaster township, this county; Mrs. Dora Augusta Saeger, of Quincy, Ill.; Mrs. Malinda Frances Underwood, of Shannon township; and Ray Evans, of Seattle, Wash. The Myers family came to Atchison county in August of 1875, living in Atchison until February, 1876, and settled on a farm in Shannon township, which he purchased from Andrew Evans, living on their place near Good Intent, until March of 1891, when the old couple sold their farm to Mr. and Mrs. Clem, and retired to a home in Atchison, where they died. Augustus Myers was a soldier in the Union army and served for a few months under Captain Snyder, an uncle of Mrs. Clem.
Mrs. Clem and her children are all members of the Christian church and take an active part in the social and religious affairs carried on by the large membership of this flourishing denomination. She and her sturdy sons carry on the farming operations in a creditable and profitable manner and are happy and contented. The boys are greatly interested in athletics and were an important part of the winning church baseball team during the season of 1915. A happier nor more contented family can not be found in Atchison county. Mrs. Clem is a capable and intelligent woman who did not hesitate to take over the management of the farm upon her husband’s demise and has made a success of the undertaking.