Clay Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties-Konrad Kirchner
Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1890
KONRAD KIRCHNER A goodly number of people settled in Bloom Township during the year 1870, and among them came Mr. Kirchner, who took up a tract of raw prairie land on sections 6 and 7, which he improved into a good farm where he has since made his home. His career is similar to that of many others who emigrated to Northern Kansas, poor in purse but strong in courage, and the results which attended, so many have likewise displayed themselves in connection with him, he having by his industry and prudence accumulated sufficient of this world's goods to insure him against want in his old age. Born Oct. 23, 1824, he has attained to the sixty-fifth year of his age and can look back upon a life reasonably well spent during which he has endeavored to fulfill the obligations of an honest man and a good citizen, paying his just debts and living at peace among his neighbors.
Mr. Kirchner was born in the Kingdom of Prussia and comes of pure German ancestry, being the son of Henry and Lena (Coleman) Kirchner who spent their entire lives in their native land, the father dying at the age of sixty-six years and the mother at the age of fifty-eight. The paternal grandfather was Mathias Kirchner, likewise a native of Prussia, who died at the advanced age of eighty-six years.
The subject of this sketch was the eldest in a family of two sons and two daughters, all of whom lived to mature years and were married, but only the two sons are now living, the brother of our subject being Christof, who remains in his native land. Christof, as was the father, (a non-commissioned officer) was for some years a soldier in the German army and was in the Franco-Prussian War. Konrad lived on the farm with his parents until his marriage, in the spring of 1848, with Miss Louisa, daughter of Ludwig Kopp, the latter of whom was a native of Prussia where he lived and died, passing away at the age of eighty-three years. He likewise had been a soldier and received a pension from the Government for services rendered during the wars of 1815-16.
Mrs. Kirchner was reared by Catholic parents. Her mother, Mrs. Lena Kopp, died in Prussia at an advanced age. Our subject and his wife in 1850 started for America, taking passage at the port of Bremen on the sailing vessel "Eberbart," and landing seven weeks later in the city of New Orleans. While on the voyage Mr. Kirchner officiated as cook for 440 passengers. After three months spent in the Crescent City, he worked both in Missouri and Illinois, and assisted in building one of
the first railroads constructed in the latter State and running from Chicago to Cairo.
To Mr. and Mrs. Kirchner there have been born nine children, five of whom died young. The survivors are recorded as follows: Katie is the wife of Edward Reed and they live on a farm in Garfteld Township; Ellen married Nicholas Dadgen, and they live on a farm in Bloom Township; Martha wedded Jacob Barger, and they live in Morganville; Henry remains with his parents and has the principal charge of the farm. Mr. Kirchner affiliates with the Republican party and both he and his good wife are members of the Catholic Church. When Mr. Kirchner first came to Clay County there was no post-office in Bloom Township except a meal bag suspended from a pole, in which the "Star Route" agent would drop the mail once a week as he passed by.