Wyandotte County Biographies
"Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas--Historical and Biographical"
Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890
Thomas H. Morgan, whose sketch now claims attention, is chief
engineer of the No. 1 engine room at the Armour Packing House, a
position that he has held since February, 1887, having worked his
way up with that firm since 1882. By trade Mr. Morgan is a vice
hand, learning that trade with the Arctic Engine Company, of Cleveland, Ohio. He is by birth and education an Englishman, his birth
occurring in Middlesex, about nine miles from London, on December
20, 1860. His parents, William and Emma Morgan, were natives of
England, and the father was a machinist in that country. Thus at
ail early age the subject of this sketch was familiar with machine shops,
and naturally cultivated the taste which he inherited for such work. He
passed his childhood and youth in his native land, learning habits of
industry and perseverance that have been of inestimable service to him
in his business career. He is a thoroughly enterprising man, seeking
always to advance both his own interests and those of the community in
which he makes his home, and giving especial attention to religious and
educational causes of a worthy nature. In 1881 Mr. Morgan married
Miss Lilly Smith, and to this union have been born three children,
viz.: Harry, Violet and Cecil. Mrs. Morgan's birth occurred in England, but she has resided in Jackson County, since 1870. Though
Kansas City is noted for enterprising business men, who by their ability
and energy have raised this place in a few short years from comparative
obscurity to great prominence, none merit more praise than does Mr.
Morgan. Without financial assistance he has, single-handed, fought
the battle for position, and now stands victorious among the busy crowd
of bread-winners that wait on every side to gather up what they may
of fame and fortune.
Northrop Moore is the present superintendent of the gas works of
Kansas City, Kas., and came to this place from Fairfield, Iowa, where
he held a like position. He was born in Pomeroy, Ohio, in 1858, and
in the county of his birth he grew to manhood and was educated, and
besides attending the common schools was for some time a student in
Wabash College, of Crawfordsville, Ind. After starting out in life
for himself he became connected with the gas works of Nebraska City,
Neb., and in 1S84 held the position of superintendent of the Fairfield (Iowa) Gas Works for one year, after which he came to Kansas
City, Kas., and was given his present position, signing the contract to
serve five years, and here expects to make his home for some time,
at least. He has given much attention to the gas business, thoroughly understands every detail of the work, and is filling his present
position in a very acceptable manner, the gas plant being at the corner of Everett and Second Streets. Mr. Moore is a young gentleman
of much energy and enterprise, and although he has only been a resident of the city a short time he has numerous and warm friends who
wish him well in every undertaking. His parents are S. A. M. and
Lydia L. Moore.
D. W. Mount, now a resident of Kansas City, Kas., is a native
Virginian, his birth occurring in that State on November 4, 1847, his
parents, William and Sarah J. (Wilson) Mount, having been born in
Washington, Penn., in 1824, and in Virginia in 1823, respectively.
The father was a cabinet-maker by trade, and after following this calling in Virginia until 1852 he removed to Fairfield, Iowa, and afterward located in Libertyville where he opened a mercantile establishment. He was a Whig in politics, a member of the Methodist Church,
and died in Iowa September 27, 1854. After his death his widow married Brooken Jeffers, and in addition to the five children which she
bore Mr. Mount, she bore her second husband four children, four of
the former and three of the latter being now alive. The mother is
still living and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. D.
W. Mount spent his early life in Iowa, and in 1867 came to Wyandotte, Kas., and entered a mercantile establishment, the first thirteen
years being in the employ of one firm in Wyandotte, now Kansas City,
Kas. He then purchased and operated a fruit farm, but when the
city began to boom he sold out to the London Heights Land Company,
and has since given his attention to dealing in real estate and to merchandising, in both of which he has been very successful. On December 9, 1863, he joined the Union army, becoming a member of
Company I, Thirteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged
on July 20, 1865, participating during his service in the battles around
Kenesaw Mountain, where he was captured July '22, 1864, after having
been under fire for forty-five days, was taken to Andersonville and then
to Florence Prisons. He was paroled December 14, 1864, and on the
morning of the 16th was delivered to the United State's fleet off Fort
Sumter, S. C. He was married on October 18, 1871, to Miss Lena
Wiltz, a native of St. Louis, Mo., and two children, Etta M. and James
K., have been born to them. Mr. Mount is a Republican in State
affairs, and in local affairs is non-partisan.
J. W. Mount, of the Transfer firm of Mount Bros., of Kansas City,
Kas., is a native of Iowa, his birth having occurred near Fairfield in
1853. His father's death occurred when he was one year old, and he
afterward came to Kansas with his mother and step-father, and located
at Armourdale, this being about 1858. They once owned the land on
which the town now stands, and here J. W. Mount was reared to a farm
life, but was given no educational advantages, all the schooling he received being between the age of twenty and twenty-one. By self application he so fitted himself as to be perfectly capable of transacting
his own business, and clerking in a store for some time, assisted in
bringing about this desirable state of affairs. He then came to Kansas City, Kas., and opened a grocery store, and after meeting with
fair success in this business for four years, he sold out his stock of
goods, and is now renting his store, which is located on Sixth Street.
He owns a good two story business building, 50x60 feet front. No.
406 North Sixth Street, and since selling out has been interested in
the transfer business, with the exception of a short time when he and
his partner sold out. They now do all the transfer business of Kansas City, that is of any magnitude, and although they have had competition from time to time, their business has not been injured in the
least. They keep five teams going all the time, and run two moving
cars, one truck wagon, and have vehicles of all kinds that could be
called for. Mr. Mount was married in 1870, his wife being Miss
Mollie Smith, a native of Ohio, born in 1855, and to them one child
has been born, Willie, who is now seven years of age. Mr. Mount
has always been earnest and sincere in his endeavors to succeed in life,
and that he is attaining his desires is beyond dispute, for, notwithstanding the fact that he started upon an independent career with no
capital, he is now quite well to do.
A. N. Moyer is a Canadian by birth, and was born in what is now
Ontario on August 10, 1837, being a son of Abraham B. and Mary
(Nash) Moyer, the former a native of Lincoln County, Ontario, and the
latter of Bucks County, Penn. His early life was spent in his native
country on a farm, and after acquiring a sufficient amount of education he began teaching school in 1857, and followed that pursuit for
eighteen years. After his removal to the United States in 1859 he
located in Kendall County, Ill., and here he taught two winter terms
of school, and during his vacations was a student in Clark Seminary,
of Aurora. During the winter of 1861-62 he taught a school in
Tazewell County, near Pekin, but during the summer of the last-named
year and the following fall and winter he had charge of the schools at
Port Elgin, Ontario. The three following years he had charge of the
public school at South Cayuga, Ontario, and then followed the same occupation in Campden, Lincoln County, during the next three years. In
the summer of 1868 he came West to Kansas City, Mo., and in the following fall was elected assistant superintendent of the public schools at
Independence, Mo., the duties of which he discharged for two years.
While there he was married, in 1871, to Miss Nannie Entrekin, formerly of Kingston, Ohio. During the school year of 1871 and 1872
he held a professorship in Lincoln College at Greenwood, Mo., but in
the last-named year he located in Wyandotte County, Kas., and for
three years was first assistant in the Central School, and was instructor
in German. This closes his career as a teacher. In 1874 he engaged
in the real estate business, and in October, 1879, in connection with R.
B. Armstrong, purchased the Wyandotte Gazette, and continued to be
one of its publishers and proprietors until 1887, when he sold his interest and assisted in the organization of the Wyandotte National Bank
and is now its vice-president. He also assisted in the organization of
the Wyandotte Loan & Trust Company, which erected the large and
handsome brick business block in which the bank is located. He is
also treasurer of the Kansas City Savings Bank, organized in August,
1890. He is a Republican in his political views, and he and wife are
consistent members of the Presbyterian Church. He is vice president
of the Central Water Works Construction Company of Kansas City,
and since taking up his abode in the county he has done much to build
up and improve the same, and his efforts have been fully appreciated
by his numerous friends and acquaintances.
Martin Myers is a native of York State, his birth occurring in Port
Jervis, Orange County, on February 20, 1860, and like the majority of
native New Yorkers, he is industrious, enterprising, and decidedly
progressive in his views, a fit citizen for booming Kansas City, Kas.
His parents, John and Anna Myers, were born, reared and married in
Germany, and on emigrating to America located in the State of New
York, where they became the parents of nine children, only three of
whom are living. The subject of this sketch was but four years of
age when his mother died and only ten years old when his father
passed from life, and thus left an orphan at an early age, he was compelled to make his own way in the world, and at the age of twelve years
secured a situation upon the Delaware & Hudson Canal, remaining
thus employed for seven consecutive summers, during the first five
years of which he acted as driver. During the last two years he was
in charge of a boat owned by another man, at the end of which time
he went to Scranton, Penn., and until he was twenty-one years of age
worked in a steel-mill, after which, in 1881, he came West as far as
Chicago, and during his two years' residence in that city, drove a
team the first year and the second was in the employ of the Armour
Packing Company. In January, 1883, he came to Kansas City, Kas.,
which place has been his home ever since, and here he has become a
well-to-do business man. During the first three years and two months
of his residence here he was employed in the packing-house of George
Fowler & Son, and in May, 1886. he took the money he had thus
earned and purchased a stock of groceries, opening up a store at No.
120 North James Street, as the partner of Matthew Quinn. They did
a successful business at that place for two years, at the end of which
time Mr. Myers sold his interest to his partner. Fifteen days later,
or on May 23, 1888, he purchased from F. O. Wheeler a half interest
in a grocery store at No. 247 North James Street, the other half being
owned by John L. Jones. The partnership thus formed has existed
ever since, and the men who compose the firm are now classed among
the leading grocers of the city. On October 8, 1888, they removed to
the block on the corner of North Sixth Street and Orville Avenue,
where they have an excellent and complete line of goods. Their store,
which occupies Nos. 401 and 403 North Sixth Street, is 33x50 feet,
and is stocked with as fine a lot of groceries as are to be found in this
section of the country. Both gentlemen are stirring and enterprising
young men, and this fact, in connection with their desire to please and
their honorable mode of doing business, has enabled them to build up
a large patronage. Mr. Myers was married May 3, 1888, to Miss
Katie O'Brien, who was reared at Humboldt, this State, and both are
consistent members of the Catholic Church.
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