Clay Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties-Alonzo F. Dexter
Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1890
ALONZO F. DEXTER. The name of thisgentleman is intimately associated with the inception and growth of the city of Clay Center, he being one of its earliest settlers and the originator of the Town Lot Company which laid out the place. He now owns the waterpower of the Republican River, equal to 800-horsepower, and having at the present time two 125 and a 75-horse power wheel which are utilized for the grist mill, the electric light and the transmission of power to other parts of the town by cable. Many other leading enterprises have likewise found a firm friend and supporter in Mr. Dexter whose chief aim and object has been for nearly twenty years to make Clay Center one of the leading business points of Northern Kansas.
A native of Windsor County, Vt., Mr. Dexter was born June 3, 1833, but only lived there until his parents died, going then to New Hampshire to reside with his married sister, Mrs. John Barker. His father, John Dexter, was a native of the same county and born about 1770. He married Miss Betsey Simonds and both died when Alonzo F. was a child, the mother in the spring and thefather in the fall of the same year. After that the boy lived in Grafton County, N. H., with a brother-in-law until ten years old, then went to Lowell, Mass., with his brother where he attended school. Later he became an inmate of the home of John Tyler with whom he remained three years, still pursuing his studies, mostly during the winterseason.
Going back now to Windsor County young Dexter remained there until a youth of sixteen years. Later he lived in Lowell two years, and the two years following lie spent in West Lebanon, N. H. At the expiration of this time, leaving New England, he emigrated to Henderson County, Ill., where he took a riverboat and in due time found himself in the city of New Orleans whence he set out by the water route to California. He arrived there in February, 1854, and going to Calaveras County, engaged in placer mining and ranching. Next he went to the mines of Tuolumne County and in the vicinity of Springfield remained until 1864, operating very successfully. In the meantime, in 1862, he had visited Kansas and located the town site of Clay Center, and in 1864 he came hither and took up his permanent abode.
Mr. Dexter returned from California equipped with plenty of funds and in examining the map and searching for a county which had no central town he finally selected Clay County, Kan., with the intention of making Clay Center the county seat. Clay was then the nearest county to the Missouri River whose lands were not mostly taken up at that time. He purchased about 3,600 acres and in 1865 established himself here as a permanent resident and devoted himself to the building up of the town. He established a steam sawmill in 1866 and also a store of general merchandise which he conducted ten years. He still owns the ground on each side of the Republican River. In October, 1875, he began building the dam on the Republican River, opening the gates and grinding a grist for the first time with water power, July 4, 1876. This formed a very appropriate centennial celebration. He put rollers in the mill in 1883. In the meantime he has prosecuted vigorously the sale of sixty lots and has also transacted an extensive business in grain. The water power has also been utilized for the elevator.
The first grain shipped from Clay County wassent out by Mr. Dexter, also the first car load of flour ever transported over the Junction City & Fort Kearney Railroad�now a part of the Union Pacific. In 1886 Mr. Dexter put in four dynamos of the Western Electric Light Company which furnishes light for the streets and business houses, hotels and most of the churches of the city. There are eighty-four arc lights in use and 350 incandescent lights, all operated by this water power. As the town increases in size and importance this power will continue to prove the source of a handsome income.
The marriage of Alonzo F. Dexter and Miss Emma Dunbar was celebrated in Tuolumne County,Cal., Oct. 8, 1862. This lady was born in Belfast,Me., May 8, 1845, and in 1850 was taken by her parents to East Boston whence afterward they went to California. Of this union there was born one child only who is now deceased. On account of his wife's failing health Mr. Dexter took her to Southern California where she received excellent care and treatment, but all in vain. She died at Colton, March 3, 1883. Mr. Dexter politically, is a straight Republican and is recognized by his fellow citizens as one of the most liberal and public-spirited men in their midst. He possesses many sterling qualities and stands high both in social and business circles. No man has done more,and probably no one man as much, as Mr. Dexter in giving an impetus to the many industries in and about the town which has been the object of his fostering care for so many years.