William Wehking, farmer and stockman, of Center township, Atchison county, was born in Westphalia, Germany, November 26, 1866. He is a son of Christian and Christena (Ruhe) Wehking, who were the parents of seven children, one of whom is dead. The parents both died in their native land. William Wehking worked in a flour-mill in Germany until 1886, when he immigrated to America. He thought that the West offered the best opportunity to a poor boy, and came to Kansas, settling in Cummings, Atchison county. He began working on a farm at thirteen dollars a month. Eight years later he rented land near Nortonville, Kan. In 1894 he bought eighty acres in Jefferson county, Kansas, where he farmed eight years. Later, he sold this place and bought the farm of 150 acres which he now owns. He erected a fine silo on this place and is especially prepared to raise fine stock. He has since increased his holdings to 190 acres and has ventured into the dairy business fine Durham cattle and Poland China hogs in which he takes great pride. Mr. Wehking is a stockholder in a mercantile enterprise in Nortonville, Kan.
In 1895 Mr. Wehking married Minnie (Giesking), who was born in Germany August 31, 1876. When sixteen years old she came to America and settled at Lancaster, Kan. Mr. and Mrs. Wehking have eight children: Martha, Edward, Clara, William, Alma, Ernst, Frederick and Henry, all living at home. Mr. Wehking is an independent voter and is a member of the Lutheran church. He is a shrewd business man and has been successful primarily because of his conservative judgment in handling his business ventures.
WILLIAM HARTMAN.
William Hartman, prosperous farmer, of Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county, was born in Platte county, Missouri, in 1851, a son of Jonathan and Christina (Wolking) Hartman, the latter a native of Hanover, Germany, and emigrated from her native land with her parents when ten years of age, locating in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jonathan Hartman was born in 1821, at Brookville, Franklin county, Indiana, and was a son of Henry Hartman, who was born in Pennsylvania, and was among the first settlers of Franklin county, Indiana. In 1842 Henry left Indiana and settled in Platte county, Missouri, and was among the early pioneers of that county. He died on his farm in Missouri in 1860. Jonathan, the father of William, was reared to young manhood in Indiana and was married there. In 1847, he with his wife and two children followed his father to Platte county, Missouri, and there followed his trade of millwright in Platte City until 1849, when he made the overland trip to California with ox teams, remaining on the coast for two years. He made some money while in the gold fields and returned home by way of Cape Horn, paying $500 for his passage. Captain Fulger was in command of the ship and he lost his vessel on the coast of Central America, the vessel striking the rocks and breaking in pieces. All aboard were rescued except the first mate. There were 500 passengers on this vessel who were compelled to wait on the west coast for five weeks before an opportunity presented itself to cross the mountains to the eastern shore. They were eventually taken across the mountains, but several died from the hardships they endured during the trip. Mr. Hartman secured passage to New Orleans, and from that city came up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, arriving there in December of 1850. From St. Louis the returned argonaut went to his home at Platte City. Three years later he set out with five wagons in partnership with his brother-in-law, R. D. Johnson, en route to Salt Lake City, Utah. The wagons were heavily loaded with provisions, drygoods and liquor. When the expedition arrived at the south fork of Green river they left three wagonloads at that point and pressed onward to their destination to the north fork of the river. They traded with the Indians and Mormons and made considerable money. Prices were fabulous in the far West in those days, flour bringing $100 per hundred weight; common work shirts sold for five dollars each, whiskey brought five dollars per pint, and the prices of other commodities were in proportion. Returning home from this trip Mr. Hartman lived in Platte City until 1854, and then came to Kansas with the first steam sawmill ever erected in Atchison county, and one of the first to be placed in operation in Kansas. He established his mill at old Port William and operated it successfully until 1857. He then came to Mt. Pleasant township and preëmpted a claim now known as the Howe farm which he sold for fifty dollars. He traded his sawmill for a farm near Parnell, Kan., now owned by Robert Volk. Jonathan was personally acquainted with Pardee Butler, and met and conversed with Butler after he had been set adrift on a raft on the Missouri river by pro-slavery men. He took Butler to his home and gave him his supper. He hid the refugee at the home of a neighbor until the next day and then accompanied him to Weston, from which point Mr. Butler made his way to his old home in Ohio, where he remained in safety for nine months before he returned to Kansas. Jonathan Hartman was a Free State man and a Republican in politics, who took a prominent and influential part in the affairs of his locality. He was appointed guardian for the war widows and was selected by the Civil war veterans of the county to distribute the money apportioned to the war widows. On account of defective hearing, contracted as a result of an attack of mountain fever, he was not eligible for service in the Union army, but lent his moral support to the Union. He died on the farm January 24, 1897. He was the father of nine children, three of whom are living, as follows: R. D. Hartman, born in Missouri in 1847; William Hartman, the subject of this review; and Henry Hartman, born in Indiana; Frederick Hartman, former sheriff of the county; Elijah Hartman, born in Atchison county, Kansas, in 1856, and died in 1890; Alice, wife of E. N. Eshom, of Atchison county.
William Hartman grew up on his father’s farm and was educated in the district school of his neighborhood. He was married in 1883 to Florence A. Good, a daughter of Daniel Good, an early settler of Atchison county, and originally from New York State. Mr. Hartman is the owner of 140 acres of very fine and productive land near old Parnell. The children of William and Florence Hartman are as follows: Morris, Jonathan H., Nelson, Mariwillie, wife of H. W. Gilbert, of Horton, Kan.; and Flossie, wife of J. C. Cartmille, of Atchison county; Warren, the youngest of the family, was born November 11, 1901.
Mr. Hartman is a stanch Republican in politics, is a member of the Christian church, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
ROYAL BALDWIN.
Near the old village of Kennekuk, in the northeast corner of Grasshopper township, Atchison county, Kansas, stands the old home of Maj. Royal Baldwin, Indian agent. This home was built sixty years ago by Major Baldwin and is at present the home of Mrs. Jennie L. Dollinds, the last of the race of Baldwins in Atchison county. This narrative, therefore, will deal principally with the life career of Royal Baldwin, United States Indian agent, who was widely known in all of northeast Kansas as Major Baldwin.
Royal Baldwin was born in Litchfield, Conn., June 22, 1817, and was a descendant of ancestors who came over from England in the Mayflower. Three brothers, Ira, Julius, and Thomas, landed at Plymouth Rock with the party of Pilgrims who sought homes in the forbidding wilderness of New England in 1620. Julius Baldwin was the founder of the family of which Royal Baldwin descended, and he finally settled in Connecticut, where Royal was born and reared to young manhood. Royal Baldwin received a good education in the public schools and academy of his neighborhood in Connecticut, and when fifteen years of age he began teaching school. Later, the spirit of adventure moved him and he went to Ohio, where he became a boatman on the Muskingum river. While living in Ohio he married Miss Ann Campbell, who was born February 15, 1820, in Belmont county, Ohio, and died July 16, 1894. She was a daughter of Joseph Campbell, of Scotch parents, and who married a lady of Welsh parentage. After his marriage Royal Baldwin settled in Meigs county, Ohio, where their three children were born. In 1856 Mr. Baldwin was appointed Indian agent by the United States Government and sent to northeast Kansas to take charge of the moving of the four tribes, the Kickapoos, Sacs, Foxes and Pottawatomies to their Kansas reservations. When he received his appointment he removed with his family overland to St. Joseph, Mo., and immediately began his duties of settling the Indians on their reservations. He remained as Indian agent for twelve years and then resigned his position on account of poor health, but was again appointed and held the office for three years, after which he resigned, but was re-appointed by the Government, and died October 3, 1878, soon after the acceptance papers were sent back to Washington. Major Baldwin also conducted the Indian trading post at old Kennekuk in Grasshopper township. During the border ruffian days a party of Jayhawkers called at the home of the Baldwins one night when the major was absent, and, knocking loudly upon the door, gave the information that Government authorities had sent them to get arms and ammunition from the stores with which to fight against General Price’s army, which was about to invade Kansas. Jennie L. Baldwin was then a young girl of sixteen years. Mrs. Baldwin met the men at the door, and by the exercise of tact and diplomacy induced them to move on and let them alone. During his career as Indian agent Major Baldwin accumulated several hundred acres of land. He was a shrewd trader, and during the early days before the building of the trans-continental railroads he became interested in the freighting of goods across the plains to Denver and western points. He was a brilliant success as an Indian agent and never had trouble with his proteges. His first interpreter was Peter Kadgue, and his second interpreter was John Chawkickey. The old Indian mission was also built by Major Baldwin, and the old Baldwin home which he erected in 1856 is still standing. His duties as Indian agent were arduous and exacting, but he was equal to the emergencies which arose. He was a small, wiry man of slight build, blue-eyed and had light hair. Three children were born to Royal Baldwin and wife, of whom two died in infancy. Jennie L., widow of John S. Dollinds, was born January 9, 1851, in Meigs county, Ohio, and was married in 1883 to Mr. Dollinds.
John S. Dollinds was born in New Orleans January 1, 1832, of French-Spanish parents. When he was a small boy his parents removed to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he was reared to young manhood. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in Company A of the Sixty-second regiment, Pennsylvania infantry, serving in the Fifth army corps and participated in many hard-fought battles, among them being the battles of the Wilderness and Gettysburg. He was wounded at the battle of Antietam, but remained in the service until the close of the war, after recovering from his wound. After the war closed Mr. Dollinds became a river boatman on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for sixteen years, plying between Pittsburgh and New Orleans. He then came to Kansas and settled in Pottawatomie county. He invested in land, but never actively farmed to any extent. He was a gifted individual of great versatility of mind and was a photographer of more than ordinary ability. He died June 1, 1914. Mr. Dollinds was a member of the Odd Fellows, and of the Grand Army of the Republic, Black Eagle Post, Horton, Kan.