Clay Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties-Philip Rothman
Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1890
PHILIP ROTHMAN. Among the influential
residents of Clay Center, few are better
known and none more highly respected
than the gentleman whose life is thus
briefly outlined in its most important phases. For
many years and during the most active period of
his life he was engaged in farming pursuits, but
having retired from the arduous labors necessary
to success in this vocation, he is now a prosperous
coal dealer, and associated with the most vital interests
of his county. Many changes have been
wrought in the face of the landscape since his
arrival with his family, Aug. 15, 1862, when nature
yet wore the primitive appearance of all frontier
communities and wild animals ranged at will.
Immediately preceding his arrival in Clay County,
the town site of the present flourishing town of
Clay Center had been laid out, and Mr. Rothman
was so pleased with the appearance of the land and
the outlook for the future, that he took up a homestead
of 160 acres three miles east of the city, this
land being now included in the County Poor Farm.
Our subject and his family were accompanied on
their removal here from Doniphan County by four
other families, and when they had located in the
county, the census thereof showed only sixteen
households. From such a beginning Mr. Rothman
has watched the growth of Clay County, until now
he takes justifiable pride in beholding the results
of the labors of those worthy pioneers, among
whom he occupies an honorable position.
After building a log cabin, with floor and roof
of dirt, Mr. Rothman saw his family domiciled
therein and surrounded with the necessities of life,
and then he proceeded to improve the land he had
preempted, breaking, plowing, and planting with
undaunted perseverance, and finally bringing the
land out of its original condition until it became
one of the garden spots of the county. The first
years of his residence here he raised only small
crops, and took the products of his labor to Junction
City or Ft. Riley, thirty-five miles distant,
where he secured fair prices. Continuing his work,
he brought 100 acres to a high state of cultivation,
enclosed with good fences and embellished with
first-class farm buildings. The old log cabin was in
due time replaced by a handsome residence of modern
design, the shingles for which our subject conveyed
from Clay Center. He afterward added to
the attractions of his estate by planting an avenue
of trees, which yet stand, and form the beautiful
driveway leading to the Poor House. The vineyard
which Mr. Rothman planted was the first in
the county, while he also planted an orchard, containing
many choice varieties of apple trees. Having
put all these valuable improvements on his
farm, he was enabled to sell it in 1875 at a fair
profit, and for two years prior to that time and
ever since he has made Clay Center his home.
Having erected a fine hotel in Clay Center, Mr.
Rothman opened it under the name of the "Farmers
Resort," and continued its proprietor until
1885, when having built a commodious and attractive
residence on the corner of Sixth and Court
streets, opposite the Court House Square, he moved
into it and is there living happily, surrounded by
the comforts of earthly existence. He is still interested
in fruits, and has on his homestead the
finest pears raised in the county, fully equal in their
delicious flavor and sweetness to the boasted California
fruit. These he has sold at fifty cents per
dozen, and besides raises a choice variety of plums,
cherries and apples; while he devotes a one-half
acre to the culture of the grape, and has one of the
finest grape arbors in the city.
Mr. Rothman was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, May
12, 1828, and in this province he passed the first
twenty years of his life, coming in 1848 to Illinois,
and stopping in St. Clair County. He was engaged
for a few years in railroading, being foreman
on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, and on the
Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, which line runs
through Hannibal, Mo. In the latter city he met
and married, in 1856, Miss Regina Trout, a native
of Germany and born April 17, 1824. There have
come to them a family of six children, of whom
three survive, namely: Mary, who married J. P.
Redmond, and lives in Clay Center; Margaret,
Mrs. Herring, resides in Kansas City; Regina E. is
at home with her parents. The family are members
of the Lutheran Church, while Mr. Rothman,
politically, supports the Democratic party, in which
he is one of the leaders of his community. He is
also a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the
K. of P. He was elected Sheriff of Clay County in
1868, and was so successful in the first term of
office that he was again chosen, thus serving four
years in that responsible position. He was Deputy
Marshal ten years under the Republican and four
years under the Democratic Administration. He
wields a power with those who know him best, such
as can be attained only by an honorable and upright
life, and is reasonably proud of his share in
developing the vast resources of Clay County.