Mr. Horan was united in marriage in Kansas City, Mo., with Martha Emma Malone in 1909. To them have been born four children: Michael Joseph, Mary Ann, Francis and William. Mrs. Horan is a daughter of Edward Malone, formerly a resident of Atchison, and who died here, after which the mother and all of the family except Martha Emma removed to Chicago. In political affairs Mr. Horan is an independent Democrat, who favors good and efficient government, and believes that it can best be obtained by good and capable officials regardless of their political adherence. He is a member of St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the United Commercial Travelers. Mr. Horan is recognized as one of the substantial and progressive business men of the city, and he and his wife have many warm friends among the best families of the city, who esteem them for their many excellent qualities of mind and heart. Mr. Horan’s dignified and courteous demeanor in the conduct of his business affairs has won him universal respect and esteem both of patrons and employes of the concern of which he is the head.
RINHOLD FUHRMAN.
Rinhold Fuhrman, farmer and stockman, of Lancaster township, Atchison county, Kansas, was born in Germany February 11, 1863. He is a son of Ernest and Johanna (Gerlach) Fuhrman, and was one of twelve children born to them. The others are as follows: Caroline Deaking, Dodge City, Kan.; Louise Repstein, Jefferson county, Kansas; William, St. Joseph, Mo.; Julius, Doniphan county, Kansas; Trauget, Center township, Atchison county; Herman, Lancaster township, Atchison county; Paul, Center township, Atchison county; Emma Schwope, Center township, Atchison county; Ernest, Atchison, Kan., and two children who died in infancy. The father by an earlier marriage to Louise (Heine) Fuhrman had one son, Charles, a farmer and stockman of Lancaster township, Atchison county.
Ernest Fuhrman was born in Germany July 8, 1826, and immigrated to America in 1872, settling in Atchison county, Kansas, where he bought 160 acres of land in section 16, Lancaster township. This was timber and prairie land and had only a small, poorly built house on it at the time, but during the twenty years that he owned it he built several substantial buildings and made numerous other improvements. He eventually sold the place to his son, Herman, and then bought 160 acres in Doniphan county, where Julius lives, and moved into Lancaster where he lived in retirement. He bought eighty acres in Center township. Five years later he went to live with his son, Paul, to whom he sold the eighty acre tract, in Center township. He died on Paul’s second farm of 160 acres in Center township September 2, 1915. The mother, Johanna (Gerlach) Fuhrman, was born in Germany and resides with her daughter, Emma, in Center township, Atchison county, at the age of eighty-five years.
In 1872 Rinhold Fuhrman left Germany with his parents who came to Atchison county, Kansas. He was reared on his father’s farm and attended school at Rock district No. 59, and when eighteen years of age began life for himself as a farm hand for $15 a month and proved himself a capable worker and later was given $20 a month, which was more than the average farm hand was paid at that time. He worked three years as a hired hand and then rented his father’s farm for five years, and later bought it. The farm consisted of 160 acres in section 20, Lancaster township. He improved it considerably after he took charge of it in 1899, erecting a house at a cost of $1,000, and he also built a barn which cost $500. He has built sheds and other improvements since and did most of this work with his own hands. He has always been a hard worker and obtained all that he now owns by hard labor. He has a fine little orchard which is in a thrifty condition. He keeps graded stock and takes great care to keep his animals up to the standard.
On October 8, 1890, he married Emma Kammer, a native of Lancaster township, who was born April 18, 1868. She attended school at Rock district and is a daughter of Karl and Johanna Kammer. She has a brother, Karl, who is a farmer in Atchison county. Mr. and Mrs. Fuhrman are the parents of three children, as follows: Mrs. Laura August Poos, Lee’s Summit, Mo.; Edna and Karl, both living at home. Mr. Fuhrman is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the Evangelical church. He is a conscientious, hard working farmer who has deservedly attained success. In March, 1916, Mr. and Mrs. Fuhrman left the farm and retired to a home in Lancaster, where Mr. Fuhrman purchased a residence. He has rented his farm after accumulating a competence which will enable him to live in comfort the remainder of his days.
JOHN E. REMSBURG.
The past half century has witnessed the transformation of the section of Kansas known to the world as Atchison county from wilderness to a smiling and peaceful land of thriving towns and cities and checkered with fertile farms, a development which has been duplicated many times over in the great State of Kansas. While this wonderful transformation was going on as the handiwork of man—particular individuals from out of the mass of men who were working wonders in giving to this Nation a new commonwealth, were likewise developing mental attributes with which they had been gifted—statesmen, soldiers, and men of letters were in the making. Atchison county, Kansas, has been made famous by several illustrious sons who have achieved more than ordinary renown in the world of letters, as well as in other lines of endeavor. John E. Remsburg, editor and publisher of the Potter Kansan, educator, author and lecturer, during nearly a half century of residence in the county, has become as widely known in the realm of literature as any Kansan citizen. He has achieved a reputation as a writer and lecturer of force which is world-wide and deserved by the recipient. Mr. Remsburg came to Kansas from his native State of Ohio in 1868. Two years after his arrival in Atchison county he was married to Miss Nora M. Eiler, of Walnut township, this county, who came with her parents from Missouri to Kansas in 1855. Seven children were born to this marriage: George J., John J., Reullura R., Wirt A., Charles B., and Claude A., all of whom are living, and Eugene, deceased.
“The International Who’s Who,” printed in English, German, French and Italian, and published in London, Paris and New York, contains the following biographical sketch of Mr. Remsburg:
“John E. Remsburg. Teacher, lecturer, author; born near Fremont, Ohio, U. S. A., January 7, 1848. Of German-English descent, his paternal ancestors emigrating from Germany to Maryland about 1760; his maternal ancestors emigrating from England to Boston in 1640. His father was George J. Remsburg, son of John P. Remsburg, who removed from Maryland to Ohio in 1831; his mother was Sarah A. (Willey) Remsburg, daughter of Eleazer Willey, who removed from New York to Ohio about the same time. Educated in the public schools of Ohio and at Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, New York, continuing his studies after leaving school. Entered Union army at 16, serving until close of Civil war. For fifteen years engaged in educational work in Ohio and Kansas, serving as superintendent of public instruction of Atchison county, Kansas, four years (1872 to 1876). Married in 1870 Nora M. Eiler, daughter of Jacob Eiler, a Free State pioneer of Kansas. In 1880 became a lecturer and writer in support of free thought and State secularization. Delivered over 3,000 lectures, speaking in fifty-two States, Territories and Provinces, and in 1,250 different cities and towns, including every large city of United States and Canada. In the performance of this work traveled over 360,000 miles. Author: ‘Life of Thomas Paine,’ 1880; ‘The Image Breaker,’ 1882; ‘False Claims,’ 1883; ‘Bible Morals,’ 1884; ‘Sabbath Breaking,’ 1885; ‘The Fathers of Our Republic,’ 1887; ‘Abraham Lincoln,’ 1893; ‘The Bible,’ 1903; ‘Six Historic Americans,’ 1906. Portions of his writings have been translated into French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Bohemian, Bengali, Singalese and Japanese.”