Wyandotte County Biographies
"Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas--Historical and Biographical"
Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890
W. C. Deardorff, foreman of the galvanized iron department of Armour's Packing House, and a man eminently qualified for this position, has been in the employment of this company for eight years,
which in itself speaks well as to his ability. Mr. Deardorff was born
in Ohio, Tuscarawas County, in 1856, and is the son of George and
Elizabeth (Banock) Deardorff, the father a native of the Keystone State,
and the mother of Baltimore, Md. The parents moved to Ohio at an
early date, and there the father carried on merchandising in connection with farming.
They reside at Canal Dover, Ohio, at the present
time. Both are of German descent. Their family consisted of six children, and our subject is second in order of birth. The paternal grandfather was born in Pennsylvania, and was one of the pioneer settlers
of Canal Dover, Ohio, where he spent the principal part of his life.
He was a merchant by occupation. W. C. Deardorff remained and assisted his father on the farm until fifteen years of age, when he learned
the tinner's trade in his father's store. He worked there all but two
years before he came here, and those two years he was engaged in the
stock business at Abilene, Kas. He then engaged in his trade for
about the same length of time, and then in 1881 came to Kansas City
Kas. He entered the employ of Armour as a tinner workman, and six
months afterward was promoted to his present position, which he has
held continuously ever since. He was married in St. Louis, Mo., in
1883, to Miss Celia Donzlott, a native of St. Louis, Mo., born in 1862,
and this union has been blessed by the birth of two children - Ella and
Harrison. Mr. Deardorff resides at 1212 North Third Street, where
he owns a snug property.
Charles E. De Graw, foreman of the paint department in the Armour Packing Company, whose sketch now invites the attention of the
reader, is a "self-made" man in the most comprehensive meaning of
that term, one who by dint of natural ability and perseverance has
raised himself to a high round on the "ladder" of success. His
early opportunities were not very good, but it is daily proven that
everything is possible to him who possesses strength of character and
"push," and these characteristics certainly belong to Mr. De Graw.
His birth occurred in Louisville, Ky., in 1857, but his family moved
to Arkansas, where they remained three years, moving from there to
Kansas, and finally settling in Kansas City, in 1867. Here the subject of the sketch attained manhood's estate, learning the trade of
house-painting, and so diligently has he worked and given such perfect satisfaction, that at the present writing he holds a position of
trust with one of the largest and best-known houses in the West. He
has charge of the wagon and buggy work, refrigerator cars and house
work, controlling fifteen men, and accumulating a comfortable fortune
as the years pass by. Mr. De Graw was married, in the year 1876,
to Miss Annie Peterson, native of Sweden, but who came to the
United States at the early date of 1870. This union has been blessed
with five children, viz. : Ella, Edward, Henry, May and Irene E. In
politics Mr. De Graw is a member of the Republican party, and he is
also a member of Summunduwott Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. F., and
Wide Awake Lodge No. 153, K. of P. He is a thoroughly enterprising and public-spirited man, and is held in the highest esteem by
the citizens of this community. He has been in the employ of Armour
since 1875, and this fact alone is proof of his ability to successfully
fill responsible positions.
George Whitefield Dement is one of the leading horticulturists of
Wyandotte Township, and by his birth is a Southern gentleman, for
he was born in Maysville, Ky., October 8, 1825, being the second of
seven children, their names being as follows: Margaret (wife of George
Wormald, who is a contractor and builder by trade in Covington, Ky.),
George W. (the subject of this sketch), Isaac (who has been a planter
of Mississippi since 1849), Mary (wife of Davied Worstell, of Irington,
Ohio), Julia (wife of E. Rickets, of Bloomington, Ill.), Sarah (wife of
David Rickets, a plasterer, of Omaha, Neb.), and Thomas Clinton (who
died in infancy). Mr. Dement' s father was born and reared in the
city of Alexandria, Va., and was a potter by trade. He died at the
age of thirty five years, and his widow, who was a native of Accomack
County, Va., afterward married a Mr. Eackles, by whom she became
the mother of one child, Amanda S., who is a resident of Kentucky.
She was first married to a Mr. Lee, but after his death became the
wife of a Mr. Bright. Mr. and Mrs. Dement were married at the
dedication of the first Methodist Church of Maysville, Ky., and in that
town spent most of their married life. The early education of the
subject was obtained in the early subscription schools of Kentucky, and
since he reached manhood, Mr. Dement has been a stanch supporter
and warm advocate of free schools. He commenced life for himself
as an apprentice to the trade of a plasterer, when not quite sixteen
years of age, and after finishing his apprenticeship, pursued his avocation for about a quarter of a century. Upon starting out in life for
himself he had not a dollar in his pocket, but he possessed much pluck
and energy, and has made a success of his life, for he not only has
many warm friends but commands the respect of all, and is now a
well-to-do citizen. In the winter of 1866 he moved to Kansas City,
Mo., the place at that time consisting of about 3,000 souls. He became one of the largest contractors of the city, and in 1881 located in
his present beautiful, commodious and comfortable home, for which
he paid the sum of 15.000. His residence is situated on one of the
finest pieces of land in the vicinity of Kansas City, Kas., and commands a magnificent and very extended view. He has been offered at
different times $20,000 for the property, but refuses to sell. His acreage comprises ten, and is within one mile of the city limits, and three
blocks from the Kensington Elevated Railroad. He is pronounced to
be the most successful horticulturist in the township, and is an extensive grower of the following varieties of fruits : Apples, peaches, cherries, grapes and strawberries, of the following-named kinds: Crescent
Seedling, Charles Downing, the Boghboro and the Grand Prize. Blackberries and raspberries are also raised in abundance, also asparagus
and all kinds of vegetables. Mr. Dement is a well-posted gentleman,
and, in fact, is what is called a level-headed man in business circles,
and is recognized as such. Mr. Dement was married to Miss Elizabeth Martin, who was born in Germany, in 1827, but was reared in
Pennsylvania and Kentucky. She was educated in the latter State,
and their marriage took place July 2, 1846, in Aberdeen, Ohio, and
has resulted in the birth of five children: Thomas Richard (who was
an exceptionally bright little boy, died at the age of four years),
George Whitefield (died at the age of five, and was also very promising), Julia Ann (who was born February 29, 1852, was first educated
in the common schools, but afterward graduated from the Sister's
Seminary, in Kansas City, Mo. ; she is a finely educated lady, and is residing in Fleming County, Ky., where her husband has a valuable plantation of 600 acres), and Elizabeth (who resides with her husband on a
farm in Ohio; she received a fine education, and graduated from the
high school of Kansas City, Mo.) Mr. Dement was formerly an "Old
Line Whig" in politics, but ever since the founding of the Republican
party he has given it his support, and his first presidential vote was
cast for Gen. Scott. He has been a member of the boards of directors and education for some eighteen years, and this stamps him
as a man in whom the public have reposed much confidence. For
about twelve years he was a member of the Board of Education in
Eastern Bolton city schools, of Kansas City, Mo., and he and his wife
have long been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Kansas City, Kas. They expect to make their present home their future
abiding place, where they are surrounded by everything to make life
happy, their friends being very numerous. This brief sketch of a
worthy man is an admirable example to all young men who begin to
stem the current in life with no stock in trade except a pair of willing
hands, for persistent, honest and consistent endeavor, will, in time,
conquer all things.
John Devlin is foreman for the loading gang of the Kansas City
Packing Company, and was born in Belfast, Ireland, November 9, 1837,
his parents being James and Mary Ann (Brown) Devlin, also natives of
the Emerald Isle. He came with his parents to America in 1818, and
with them settled at St. Louis, Mo., in which city both parents died,
the former passing from life in 1865 and the latter in 1857. To them
seven children were born, of whom the subject of this sketch was the
second, two sons and one daughter only being now alive. After the
death of his first wife the father married Miss Alice McGrath, who
bore him three sons, only one now living. During the greater part of
his life he was employed in packing-houses, and for about two years
was a member of Company b, First Missouri Artillery. John Devlin
received his early education in Ireland, and in St. Louis, Mo., and
when only a small lad he became employed in a packinghouse in St.
Louis, and has been connected with like establishments up to the
present time. After working for ten years for Charles Peper, of St.
Louis, and two winters for the Boonville Packing Company, of Boonville,
Mo., one winter for Hawke & Maxon, of East Nebraska, Iowa, he, in
1878, became an employee of the firm of Morris, Butt & Co., then at St.
Louis, and has been in their employ ever since, the firm name having
been changed to the Kansas City Packing Company. He came to Kansas
City in 1886, and has since been foreman of the loading and packing
gang, a position he is filling very creditably. At the age of twenty
years he was married in St. Louis, Mo., to Miss Mary Ann McGarry,
a native of Ireland, who came to America in 1855. Mr. Devlin and
his wife are the parents of the following children: William John,
Francis, Alexander John, James, George, Theresa Catherine and Isabelle, only the two latter being alive. Mrs. Devlin is a member of the
Episcopal Church, a true Christian and an intelligent woman, and Mr.
Devlin is a member of the Catholic Church, and in his political views
a Democrat.
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