Wyandotte County Biographies
"Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas--Historical and Biographical"
Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890
Michael Malone, farmer and stock raiser, Shawneetown, Kas. In
enumerating the enterprising and progressive agriculturists and stockmen of this township, Mr. Malone must not be overlooked. He came
to Wyandotte County on April 3, 1857, and has made his home here
ever since, being among the pioneers. Indians were numerous in the
county, and the house that Mr. Malone now occupies was built by John
Gore, a Kentuckian, who had married a Shawnee squaw. Mr. Malone paid $25 per acre, but the many improvements placed upon it
since have increased its value very much, and he now asks $75 per
acre. The farm consists of 160 acres, and is divided into thirty-five
acres of wheat, twenty acres of corn, and the balance in pasture and
timber. Mr. Malone is assisted in the management of the farm by
his son John. Michael Malone was born in Ireland in 1838, and is
the fourth of seven children born to James and Margaret Malone,
natives also of the Emerald Isle. Our subject came to the United
States at a very early age (1844), landed in New York, where be remained but a short time, and then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he
remained three years. He then went to Richmond, Va., remained
there two years, and then hearing of the mighty West he followed the
emigrating populace as far as St. Louis, Mo. There he remained
three years, and thinking to better his condition, he came to Jefferson
City, and was a resident of that city for two years. All this time he
was working as a day laborer. His next move was to Wyandotte City,
then a trading point for the Indians, and he has seen the many improvements that have taken place, watching with interest and pleasure
the building up of the metropolis of Kansas. The land he now owns
was originally the home of an Indian family, and he has cleared it of
the heavy timber with which it was then covered. Being one of the
early settlers, he endured many hardships and privations, and has done
much toward improving the county. Mr. Malone was married in
Jefferson City, Mo., in 1856, to Miss Margaret Lee, a native of Richmond, Va., and the daughter of Patrick Lee, a native also of the Old
Dominion. This union resulted in the birth of seven children: Margaret (wife of Patrick Dover), James, Michael, John, Mollie, Cora and
Hannah. Mr. Malone is a Democrat in politics, and he and family are
members of the Catholic Church of Shawneetown. He carried on
contracting until late years, and graded the first street in the old town
of Wyandotte. He has had the contracts of some of the largest works
in that city. When he first came here there were but four white families in Wyandotte City.
Michael J. Manning is one of Kansas City's well-known citizens,
and not only is he known in a social and public way, but he is also a
prominent grocer. His birth occurred in Richmond, Va., February
22, 1855, he being a son of Michael and Elizabeth (Martin) Manning,
both of whom were born in County Kerry, Ireland, and came to the
United States unmarried, their union taking place at Richmond, Va.,
in 1854. The father was a son of Daniel Manning, who spent his en
tire life in Ireland, the mother's parents being John and Jane (Sayers)
Martin, who came to America when she was eleven years old. Michael Manning came here when he was about twenty-one years of age,
and spent the remainder of his life in Richmond, Va., dying of cholera in August, 1854, or several months before the birth of the subject
of this sketch. About three years after his death his widow married
a man by the name of Richard McDonald, to whom she bore ten children, only four of whom are living. She died in September, 1877,
but ]Mr. McDonald still lives, and resides in Washington, D. C. During his early life, Michael J. Manning made his home with his grandfather and grandmother, Martin, in Richmond, Va., and when he was
eight years old, he accompanied them to Washington, D. C, and a
year later to Philadelphia, where he remained with them for about
three and a half years. In 1867 he went with them to Martinsburg, W. Va., which place he made his home until 1876. He gave
his attention to different employments in his early days, his first venture being as a newsboy on the streets of Richmond, later in Washington, and afterward in Philadelphia. He worked for a time in
various brick-yards, and still later he drove a team upon the Baltimore
& Ohio Railway, and was also employed variously for that company
for six years. In the fall of 1876 he returned to Washington, D. C,
and there followed different callings for some two years, coming in the
fall of 1878 to Kansas City, Kas., which place has been his home up
to the present time. He almost immediately secured employment in
the shops of the Union Pacific Railway, at Armstrong, but at the end
of a few months he began working in different freight depots in the
city. At the end of one year he began working for the Armour Packing Company, and about a year later he became business manager and
local editor of the Catholic Banner, a weekly journal, published in
Kansas City, Mo., by Rev. Father William J. Dalton. The year
following he clerked in a grocery, and the succeeding year was in the
employ of the Kansas City Paper Company, then became an employee
of the Armour Packing Company, after which, in October, 1883, he was
appointed to a position on the police force of the city under Mayor
R. W. Hilliker, and remained in this capacity and as constable
eighteen months, after which, in 1885, he was elected police judge
of Old Kansas City, Kas., retaining the same until 1886, when by the
act of consolidation he was legislated out of office. In that year he
was elected police judge of the consolidated cities of Wyandotte,
Armourdale and Kansas City, when he was again legislated out of
office by the Metropolitan Police Bill, making the office of police
judge appointive. In 1887 he was appointed by Mayor T. F. Hannan, to the office of street commissioner, and this position retained
for two years. In all of his official capacities he proved himself an
exceptionally competent public officer, and had the full confidence,
respect and support of the public. In the spring of 1889 he
opened a grocery establishment at No. 1407 Central Avenue, and to
this business his attention has been given ever since. On April 6,
1890, he removed to the large and handsome Simpson Block on
Central Avenue, and at this place he is now conducting an exceptionally fine establishment, his patronage being very large. His friends
are numerous, his enemies few, and being an honorable, upright citizen, he fully deserves the confidence which the people repose in him.
His marriage, which occurred July 5, 1882, was to Miss Mary E.
Sullivan, a native of Washington, D. C., born in 1861, a daughter of
John and Julia Sullivan, who were born in Ireland. Mr. and Mrs.
Manning have had four children as follows: The first was an infant
daughter that died unnamed, the others are John M., Julia and
Robert E. Mr. Manning and his wife are consistent members of
the Catholic Church, and the former is a member of the A. O. U. W.
and National Union, both insurance societies. In politics he is independent, with Democratic proclivities, and at all times an enthusiastic supporter of measures tending to alleviate the working masses
From the foregoing, it will be seen that Mr. Manning has had a varied career, a most valuable experience, and whilst deprived of early
educational advantages, he is a man of considerable literary attainments, and a writer and orator of much force, having made many public
addresses, and contributed many readable articles to newspapers
and magazines in this vicinity.
Frank Mapes. In every community we find men who wield an extended influence among their fellow-men, politically and otherwise,
and Mr. Mapes is one of these men. He was born in Racine, Wis., in
1862, and came to Kansas with his parents in 1865, and was reared to
manhood in Kansas City, Kas., receiving the advantages of a high-school education. On starting out in life for himself he learned the
trade of a machinist with the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and after
following this calling successfully for several years, he began working
in the Missouri Pacific shops, continuing two years, after which he
secured a position in the freight office at Kansas City, Kas. He
served one year as deputy postmaster of Wyandotte, and was afterward elected to the office of clerk of the county, receiving his election
at the hands of his Democratic friends, of which party he is a member,
although the county is strongly Republican. He discharged his duties
faithfully for two years, and won the respect and confidence, not only
of his constituents, but those who differed from him politically also.
He is the present city assessor, his appointment being received in
February, 1890. He and his partner, John Warren, a sketch of
whom appears in this work, organized the Young Men's Democratic
Club of Wyandotte County, which organization has rapidly increased
in numbers, and the meetings are held in their office. They form a
substantial real estate firm, and also do an extensive brokerage business. Each of these young men are representatives of old and respected families of this county, and their lives have been such that
not a shadow can be advanced derogatory to the reputation of either.
Although they have only been in business a short time, they have established their affairs on a safe basis, and give every promise of becoming wealthy men.
George W. Martin has been the editor and proprietor of the Kansas City Gazette, since the month of July, 1888, and is well known
throughout the State, and an able and successful journalist. The first
number of the paper appeared in 1859, and has been issued once a
week up to the present time. A daily was started in 1888, and in this
short space of time has reached a local circulation of over 2,000, and
as it is a member of the Press News Association, it obtains the news of
the country as quickly as any other daily. It is a well-printed four-page sheet, and the weekly, which has a circulation of over 1,200, is an
eight-page paper. In October, 1889, the plant was moved to a substantial brick structure, 25x80 feet, on Sixth Street, in the business
portion of the town, and in connection with the newspaper work, all
kinds of book and job printing are done. Mr. Martin is a Pennsylvanian by birth, and in the month of March, 1857, came to Kansas, and
settled in Douglas County, taking up his abode at a later period at
Junction City, where he began publishing the Union. He was State
printer for eight years, until 1881, and was the founder of what is now
known as Printer' s How, in Topeka, on Eighth Street and the Avenue.
During 1865-66 he was register of the land office, and was the first
removal by Andrew Johnson, and the first to be reinstated by Gen.
Grant, in 1869. During the year 1867 he was internal revenue assessor. He is past grand master of the State of the I. O. O. F., and is a
delegate to the Grand Lodge of the United States. Personally Mr.
Martin is of a genial and social disposition, and possesses the instincts
and training of a true gentleman. While he is not aggressive in opinion nor disputatious, yet he has most emphatically a "mind of his
own," with the moral courage to express his views when occasion so
demands, and fearlessly does so through the columns of his paper,
which is one of the breezy and well-conducted journals of the State.
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