On conclusion of his military service he returned to Doniphan county and resumed his old employment of “following the river,” remaining in this field of occupation until 1867, when he bought a quarter section of land in Doniphan county and engaged in farming. He made a success as an agriculturist, was an active and influential factor in the life of his section and reared a family of six daughters, all of whom are women of education, intellectuality and refinement. In 1901 Mr. Curtis’ health failed and he disposed of his farming interests and became a resident of Troy, and in 1904 came to Atchison, where he has since resided.
On July 23, 1865, Mr. Curtis married Mary Eliza Ashcraft, a daughter of Jeddiah Ashcraft. She was born July 23, 1844, in Larue county, Kentucky, her marriage being on the twenty-first anniversary of her birth. The first eight years of her life were spent in her native State, the following three in Missouri, and in 1855 her father brought his family to Kansas and took up a claim near Mt. Pleasant, where she lived until her marriage with Mr. Curtis. She was for a time a teacher in the Doniphan school. They are the parents of the following children: Bird, the wife of Judson F. Thayer, of Stormsburg, Neb.; Anna, the wife of Julian Tait, of St. Joseph, Mo.; Mable, the wife of William Maynard, of Cologne, S. D.; Maude, the wife of A. W. Toole, of St. Joseph, Mo.; Jessie, the wife of C. H. Allison, of Chicago, Ill.; and Frances, the wife of A. E. Williamson, of Troy, Kan.
On July 23, 1915, their children, sons-in-law, grandchildren, friends and acquaintances gave them signal honor in a fitting observance of their golden wedding anniversary. The Atchison Globe of that date says in part: “Fifty years ago today Miss Mary Eliza Ashcraft and Benjamin Patton Curtis were married in Doniphan.” Of their first meeting it states: “The Ashcraft home was on the old Military road, and when Ben Curtis, a soldier in the Civil war, passed there Mary Ashcraft handed him a cup of water which he drew up from the well. However, that was not the beginning of the love affair which culminated in the marriage of Mary Ashcraft and Ben Curtis. They fell in love with each other in Doniphan, where Miss Mary Ashcraft went to teach school, and Mr. Curtis does not accuse his wife of ‘chasing’ him. He asked for an introduction to the pretty school teacher. After he received it he never took another girl.” Mrs. Curtis is the type of woman everyone admires. Her home is her kingdom and she rules it wisely and well. She has never belonged to a woman’s club, but when there is sickness or trouble at her own home, or in the neighborhood, Mrs. Curtis is on hand, capable, gentle and sympathetic. She rules her home with a velvet hand, and her husband says that he notices as the years glide by he gets off at the stations for which she has bought the tickets, not because he has to, but because he wants to.
Of Mr. Curtis it states: “If you don’t know Ben Curtis there is missing from your acquaintance one of the most companionable of men. Friends who have hunted and fished with him say that he is a seventy-seven year old prince. A lover of wild life, he has thoroughly enjoyed his retired life, which has now covered a period of fourteen years. In the summer he hunts the best game and fishing resorts of the North, and the winter is liable to find him down around Corpus Christi, Texas, or some other locality that is attractive when this climate isn’t. At Leach Lake, Minn., a famous resort on Leach Lake, if you tell the people that you are from Atchison and a friend of Ben Curtis, the place instantly belongs to you.” Without sons of his own, he has naturally taken a great interest in his nephews and is justly proud of the position attained by the following, all of whom are Doniphan county boys: Edward Franklin, formerly of the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, now professor of chemistry at Leland Stanford University; Thomas Franklin, a prominent insurance underwriter, of Chicago; and Professor Will Franklin, of Lehigh University. The latter is also the author of several text books which are in general use.
Mr. Curtis has been a life-long Republican, and during his residence in Doniphan county took an active part in its political affairs. Political office has never appealed to him, and, although often urged by his friends to accept nomination, he refused. He is a member of Severance Post, No. 391, Grand Army of the Republic, and is prominent in Masonic circles. He has attained the Knights Templar degree and is affiliated with Abdallah Temple, Mystic Shrine.
JOHN W. ABNER, M. D.
John W. Abner, M. D., although recently locating in Atchison, his skill and ability as a capable and painstaking physician has met with ready recognition and he has a large and growing practice. Dr. Abner is a native of Kentucky. He was born in Clay county, in 1867, a son of John and Matilda (Robinson) Abner, both natives of Kentucky. Dr. John W. Abner was one of a family of three children whose parents died when they were very young and the children were reared by friends and neighbors.
When Dr. Abner was fifteen years old he started out to make his own way in life. He was always of a studious turn of mind and by his own efforts obtained a very good education. At an early age he determined to be a physician and bent his every effort in that direction. He learned the carpenter and cabinet maker’s trade, and after working at his trade for some time he entered the Eclectic Medical College of Kansas City, where he was graduated in the class of 1912 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy. He engaged in the practice of his profession in Kansas City. Mo., where he remained until February, 1915, when he located in Atchison, Kan. He has a fine suite of offices at 712 1–2 Commercial street and is meeting with well merited success. Doctor Abner was married in 1902 to Ada Pearl Wade, of Kansas City, Mo., and they have one child, Dorothy, born January 6, 1905. Dr. Abner is a member of the Christian church and takes an active part in the work of his denomination and has served on the board of trustees. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. Dr. Abner is a past noble grand and senior warden of Subordinate Lodge, No. 577, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and past chief patriarch of Encampment, No. 27, of Kansas City, Mo., and is a member of the Patriarchs Militant, No. 14, Kansas City, Mo.
Politically, he is an independent Republican and takes a keen interest in political as well as current events generally. He is a close student of the science of his profession and aims to keep himself thoroughly posted in the rapid advances that are constantly being made in the world of medicine and surgery.