Mr. Nusbaum was united in marriage with Gertrude Delaney, at Atchison, Kan., in 1900. She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Delaney. To this union four children have been born, who are the pride of their parents, namely: Leo, Mary Clare, Robert, and Frances. Mr. and Mrs. Nusbaum are members of the Catholic church and have a host of friends who esteem them for their many excellent qualities. Mr. Nusbaum is a director of the First National Bank of Atchison and a vice-president of the Atchison Commercial Club and the Atchison Hospital. He is politically allied with the Democratic party. His primary interests, however, are mainly concerned with the growing success of his firm, and the welfare and growth of his home city, and he is universally recognized as a citizen of worth and standing in the community. He was the most active force in the organization of the Atchison Commercial Club, called its first meeting and has been continuously one of its most aggressive members.
CHARLES J. KEITHLINE.
Charles J. Keithline, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Lancaster township, Atchison county, Kansas, is a native of the Keystone State, and is a descendant of an old American family which traces its ancestry back to the Revolutionary days, when the founder of the family in America, Colonel Keithline, came from Germany, his native land, to America with Baron De Kalb, and assisted the colonial army to achieve American independence. Charles J. was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, July 9, 1857, a son of Samuel and Eliza (Hoover) Keithline, both of whom were born and reared in Pennsylvania and there married. Samuel Keithline was a son of John and Mary (Neyhart) Keithline, who also lived in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. The great grandfather of Charles J. was Joseph Keithline, who served in the War of 1812, and made buckskin breeches for the United States Government, which were worn by the United States soldiers. He was a tailor by trade. Samuel Keithline learned the trade of wagon maker in his younger days and operated a wagon shop at Hanover, Penn. He lived in his native State until 1884, when he migrated to Kansas and invested his capital in land in Shannon township upon which he lived in retirement until his demise in 1900, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Samuel and Eliza Keithline were the parents of the following children: John A. died May 17, 1915, in Atchison, Kan.; Samuel died in infancy; Joseph died at the age of three years; Charles J.; Augustus L., Lancaster township; Sarah E., in Shannon township; Emma Carlton, Franklin county, Kansas, and Mrs. Cora Riley, Atchison, Kan. The mother of Charles died in 1910, at the age of seventy-nine years.
Charles J. Keithline, with whom this narrative is directly concerned, was educated in the graded schools of Nanticoke, Penn., and worked as farm hand in Pennsylvania. In 1883, five years after his marriage in 1879, he migrated westward with his family to Kansas, and located on a farm in Shannon township on the old home place. He rented land for twenty-eight years and finally became the owner of the fine farm which he is now cultivating. This farm is fitted with excellent improvements consisting of an attractive farm residence and excellent out-buildings, much of which has been erected or remodeled by the proprietor. The 187 acres comprised in this farm are well and closely cultivated so as to yield the maximum of results. The farm is nicely located six miles west of Atchison on the Parallel road. Mr. Keithline has been a breeder of Poland China hogs for several years and takes pride in the animals bred and raised on his place.
He was married in 1879 to Frances Goss at Wilkes-Barre, Penn., and this union has been blessed with the following children: Ira, a hardware dealer in Atchison, Kan.; Samuel, a farmer, living at home with his parents; Amy, deceased; Mrs. Elsie Vollmer, Bronson, Kan.; Frances, living at home; Grant, deceased; Charles died in infancy. The mother of these children was born in Pennsylvania in 1856, and was a daughter of Floren and Maria (Keyser) Goss, the former a native of Germany and the latter a native of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Keithline is identified with the Republican party, but has never been an aspirant for political preferment. He and the members of his family are affiliated religiously with the Methodist Episcopal church and contribute of their means to its support. He is fraternally allied with the Modern Woodmen lodge, and during his residence in this county has taken an active and influential part in affairs which concern the welfare of the people in general.
SHEFFIELD INGALLS.
Sheffield Ingalls is a resident and a native son of Atchison, having been born in that city March 28, 1875. He is a son of the late United States Senator John James Ingalls. Mr. Ingalls’ ancestors, both paternal and maternal, were representative New England pioneers. The Ingalls family in America originated with Edmond Ingalls, who with his brother, Francis, founded Lynn, Mass., in 1628. The mother of our subject was Anna Louisa Chesebrough, a direct descendant of William Chesebrough, who emigrated to America with John Winthrop in 1630. The paternal grandparents of our subject were Elias T. and Eliza (Chase) Ingalls, the former of whom was a first cousin of Mehitable Ingalls, the grandmother of President Garfield, while the latter, Eliza Chase, was descended from Aquilla Chase, who settled in New Hampshire, in 1630, and who was also the ancestor of the late Chief Justice Chase.
Sheffield Ingalls was reared principally in his native town and received his public school education at Atchison and at Washington, D. C. After attending Midland College at Atchison for four years he entered the University of Kansas and was graduated in that institution in June, 1895, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1897, but as the profession did not appeal to him he practiced but little and turned his attention to more genial pursuits. He early developed a predilection for politics and became actively identified with the Republican party in both the city and county of Atchison at an early age. In July, 1898, he was appointed police judge of Atchison by Mayor Donald and, in April, 1899, was elected to the same office for a term of two years, serving until April, 1901. In the spring of 1904 he was a prominent candidate for the Republican nomination for probate judge, but through the exigencies of politics, instead of receiving the nomination sought for, he was nominated by the same convention for the legislature from the third representative district. However, at the election his opponent, Edward Perdue, defeated him by thirty-two votes. Two years later he was nominated again for the legislature from the same district and received a tie vote with Alonzo Wilcox. The contest was decided by lot in Topeka and Mr. Ingalls won. He served as a member of several important committees and was made chairman of the committee on education. He cast his vote for Charles Curtis for United States senator, and in the work of that session became actively identified with that progressive element in the legislature which was known at that time as “the boss busters.” He is in sympathy with all efforts to purify politics and to raise the tone of public life and during that session he voted for all reform legislation. He is a man of deep convictions, a political and social reformer of exceptional ability and courage, and has always opposed machine politics. It was due to an obnoxious political machine’s influence in local Republican circles at Atchison that Mr. Ingalls entered the arena of political strife in order to assist in effectively opposing said machine and to secure needed reform in political methods. Shortly after the adjournment of the legislature Mr. Ingalls assumed the editorial management of the Atchison Champion, and for the following two years exposed through its columns the corruption in city affairs and fought against the domination of the city by a political ring. He then endeavored to purchase a controlling interest in the Champion to enable him to be more aggressive in fighting corruption though its columns, but through various influences operating against him he was unsuccessful. In the fall of 1907 he originated and organized the Commercial State Bank and served as its vice-president until its consolidation with the First National Bank, in the spring of 1910. He then organized the Commerce Investment Company, of which he was made president and continuously served as such until March 2, 1916, when he became the president of the Commerce Trust Company of Atchison, a company which is a development of the Commerce Investment Company. Besides the interests mentioned he is a director of the First National Bank and also of the Railway Specialty Company of Atchison. He was appointed a member of the board of regents of the Kansas State normal schools by Governor Stubbs in April, 1908. He is a member of the State Historical Society, and is a member of the Sons of the Revolution. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On January 9, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ingalls and Miss Lucy Cornell Van Hoesen, of Lawrence, Kan. To their union five children have been born: Robert Chesebrough, who died in infancy; Ruth Constance, Sarah Sheffield, John James, and David Bagle.