John H. Bean, having been a resident of Atchison county for a period of nearly sixty years, is naturally considered as one of the pioneers of the county. He has lived in the county since the year 1857, when his father, Michael Bean, filed on a Government homestead in Mt. Pleasant township, seven miles southwest of Atchison. John was born on a farm in Illinois October 22, 1850. His parents were Michael, born in Winchester, Ky., and son of William Bean, a native of Virginia, and Rebecca Northcutt, wife of Michael, who was born and reared near Winchester, Ill. Michael Bean came to Atchison February 5, 1853, filed on a claim, as stated above, and developed it into a splendid farm. On account of border troubles he returned to Independence, Mo., and remained for four years, and then returned to his claim. Michael died December 9, 1893, when a little over sixty-five years of age. He was a soldier in the Union army, having enlisted in Company F of the Thirteenth Kansas regiment in 1862 and served until the close of the war. He was mustered out at Ft. Leavenworth, after taking an active part in military operations in southeast Missouri, Ft. Smith and Little Rock, Ark. To Michael and Rebecca Bean were born seven children, namely: John H.; Mrs. Mary Barber, deceased; William, in Colorado; Paul, deceased; Mrs. Minnie Ledger, of Kansas City; Mrs. Ida Mayfield, living on the old homestead in Mt. Pleasant township; Alvin, farmer, living in Shannon township; Barbara died in infancy; Mrs. Barbara Helen Hayes, of Lincoln, Neb. The mother of these children died in 1903, at the age of seventy-five years.
When John H. Bean was twenty-three years of age he left home and went to Colorado, where he spent the intervening years until 1893 in the gold and silver mines of the State with intermittent fortunes attending his efforts. After two years’ residence in St. Joseph, Mo., he spent four years engaged in lumbering in the woods of northern Michigan. He then returned to Atchison, and after two years on the Atchison police force, and for four years, from 1909 to 1913, inclusive, he was cell-keeper in the State reformatory at Hutchinson, Kan. He returned to Atchison and was attached to the Atchison police department as one of its most efficient and faithful members until October 1, 1915, when he became gate-tender for the Atchison Bridge Company. He has been twice married, his first wife being Florence Bridges, who bore him one child, Mrs. Armina Bolen, of Leon, Kan. His second wife was Ella Mitchell, who died in Michigan in 1898.
Mr. Bean has always been a Republican in politics, but has never been a candidate for any political office. In this respect he follows in the footsteps of his father, Michael, who was an active politician in his day, although he never sought official preferment. Michael Bean was considered as one of the really influential men of Atchison county in political affairs and was a great and stanch friend of Senator John J. Ingalls, besides having a wide and favorable acquaintance with the people of the county. He counted among his friends many of the famous men of Atchison and the State. For thirteen years he was in charge of the county poor farm, and during that time he made a record since unsurpassed for management of the farm. Michael was a large man, physically, of the true pioneer type—one of those outspoken, honest fellows, who said outright what he thought, and was a friend to all who knew him and trusted him. It is said that no needy settler went to Michael Bean for assistance when in dire need and came away empty-handed. If a settler needed money to buy a cow or horse, it was forthcoming without the usual security or note which accompanies latter-day transactions of this character. Liberal in his views, he was liberal with his means and was always ready and willing to help an acquaintance.
ANDREW SPEER.
Andrew Speer, county commissioner for the second district of Atchison county, Kansas, was born in this county, February 20, 1863. He was a son of Joseph and Mary (Fountain) Speer, both of whom were natives of Lawrence county, Indiana. In 1859 Joseph and his wife left the old home in Indiana, en route to Kansas, and stopped during the winter in Iowa, where the oldest child of the family was born. Joseph came on to Kansas, leaving his wife in Iowa among friends, and preëmpted a quarter section of land in Grasshopper township, three miles northeast of Muscotah, now owned by William Speer. In the spring of 1860, the year of the great drought, the father of the family returned to Iowa and brought his wife and son, William, to the new home which he had prepared for them on the Kansas plains. While the drought of their first year in Kansas worked considerable hardship upon the settlers, Joseph was better prepared to withstand this hardship, because of the fact that he had brought considerable means with him, which enabled him to successfully weather the crop failure of that year. Joseph Speer was a man of more than ordinary education and had been a school teacher in Indiana in his younger days. All of his life, he was a student and was a fine mathematician. While teaching in Indiana he had read law to some extent, and became a justice of the peace in Grasshopper township, a position which he held for many years. He also served several years as township trustee. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Speer, of whom Andrew is the third in order of birth. (See biography of D. Anna Speer, county superintendent of schools, for further details regarding the Speer family.)
Andrew Speer, with whom this review is directly concerned, was educated in the district school of his neighborhood, and brought up on his father’s farm. His marriage occurred after a trip to the western part of Kansas in 1888, and he then rented a farm. He has continually been engaged in farming and is now cultivating the Moore farm of 320 acres in Grasshopper township. When the Cherokee strip was thrown open to settlement in the Indian Territory by the Government in 1892 Mr. Speer, with eleven other Kansans from his neighborhood, made the run for homesteads on the opening day. Six thousand or more men were lined up ready for the great race and all rushed forward when the cannon boomed for the start. Andrew drove a wagon and was unfortunate in staking out his claim which proved to be a quarter section of school land. Each of the other eleven men who accompanied him secured a good claim.
Mr. Speer was married May 1, 1889, to Miss Alida Gilliland, who has borne him five children, namely: Myrtle, wife of Fred Draper, a farmer of Atchison county; Albert, at home; Joseph, a teacher at Prospect Hill, Atchison county, and the first school teacher ever graduated from the Muscotah schools and directly became a teacher; Stephen, a pupil of the eighth grade of the Muscotah schools, and Nicholas, deceased. The mother of these children was born in Illinois, October 22, 1863, a daughter of Josiah and Delitha (Maxwell) Gilliland, who died when she was but a child four years of age. She then went to the home of an aunt, Mrs. Kline, living in Jackson county, Kansas, who reared her to young womanhood. Josiah Gilliland lives in Nebraska, aged eighty-three years. He was a veteran of the Civil war from Illinois, and served in the Union army, and moved to Missouri directly after the war ended.
The Democratic party has always had the unswerving allegiance and support of Mr. Speer, and he stands high in the councils of his party in Atchison county. He was first elected to the office of township trustee and served for four years. Two years after his term of office as trustee expired he was elected to the office of county commissioner of the second district. Mr. Speer has performed the duties of his official position with great credit to himself and for the benefit of his constituents. He is an honest and capable county official who has the best interests of the entire county at heart. He is a member of the Masonic lodge of Muscotah, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Central Protective Association. Mrs. Speer is a member of the Methodist church, the Eastern Star lodge, the Royal Neighbors and the Mystic Workers.
SAMUEL EDWARD FIECHTER.
Samuel Edward Fiechter, now living retired on his beautiful suburban place near Atchison, which is located on the west side of Forest Park, is a native of Missouri. He was born in Andrew county August 25, 1856, and is a son of John George and Anna (Bright) Fiechter. The father was born in Baden, Germany, January 27, 1815, and died in Brown county, Kansas, December 20, 1893. Anna Bright, his wife, was born in Berne, Switzerland, October 26, 1822, and died in Brown county, Kansas, August 8, 1900. George Fiechter immigrated to America with his parents about 1835. They located in Missouri, and George engaged in farming in Andrew county, that State. In 1860 he traded his Missouri farm for a farm in Brown county, Kansas, where he was successfully engaged in farming until he retired. He accumulated considerable property, and at the time of his death owned something over 400 acres. To John George and Anna (Bright) Fiechter were born the following children: John resides in Brown county; Fred, deceased; Louise, deceased; George, deceased; Susan married S. E. Rush, and resides in South Dakota; Samuel E., the subject of this sketch; Jacob, deceased; Tina married Oscar Dean, and resides in Chase county, Kansas.