Wyandotte County Biographies "Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas--Historical and Biographical" Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890
Wilhelm F. Rohrbach is a resident of Section 6, Wyandotte
Township, Wyandotte County, Kas., where he is the owner of a valuable little farm, comprising thirty and one half acres, lying within a
mile and a half of the city limits of Judases City. He was born in Heilbronn, Wirtemburg, Germany, March 21, 1835, being the third in a family of five children, his brothers and sisters being named as follows:
Frederick (deceased, who was a wine gardener and died at the age of
sixty-two years), Conrad (who is following the same occupation at his
home in Wirtemburg), Bernhardt (who died in infancy), and Henrietta, who resides in Heilbronn, her husband being a designer in moldings). Mr. Rohrbach has a half brother and sister, Henrich (a farmer in Wirtemburg), and Christina (who died at the age of fifty
years, her husband being engaged in the transportation of passengers
by private conveyance. Mr. Rohrbach s parents were native Germans,
and the father was a wine grower and died in 1842 at the age of fifty-six years, his wife dying in 1848 at the age of forty- eight years. Mr.
Rohrbach' s first educational training was obtained under a private tutor, after which he attended the common normal school for eight years,
where he received rigid discipline and training which admirably fitted
him for practical life, which he has led. When fourteen years of age
he began life as an agriculturist, but followed several callings in his
varied life. He emigrated to America in 1853, and after a very stormy
voyage reached New York City and secured employment on Long Island, and from there going to Pittsburgh, Penn., thence to Cincinnati,
Ohio, to Louisville, Ky., and to St. Louis, going from the latter place
to New Orleans, after which he went to Boouville, Mo., and from there
to Rock Island, Ill., where he remained two years, and since the fall
of 1866 has been a resident of Wyandotte County, Kas., having first
purchased eighteen acres of land. He can truthfully say that on
coming to this section, the country was a wilderness, for little or
no improvement bad been made. He set to work to clear his
land, erecting thereon some good buildings, and has since added
enough to his original purchase to make thirty and one-half
acres, on which he raises large quantities of fruit. His farm is one
of the finest in this section, owing to the admirable manner in which
it has been tilled, and although he has been offered large sums
for it, $1,000 per acre would not tempt him to sell. He was married to Miss Margaret Fischer, who was born and received her early
education in Germany, her subsequent education being obtained
in the schools of Illinois and in the Sisters' Seminary of St. Louis,
Mo. Their union took place in Booneville, Mo., on December 17,
1861, and has resulted in the birth of the following children: Wilhelm F. (who resides with his father and is engaged in farming and fruit-growing, and was married to Miss Lena Myers, a native of Missouri.
Besides receiving the advantages of the common schools, he attended
Palmer College, of Kansas City, Kas.), Heinrich J. (single and a
farmer by calling), Margaretta (an intelligent young lady), Joseph
(died at the age of four years), George (died in infancy), George Conrad (died in infancy), Franz Karl (aged fifteen years), Christina Henrietta (aged fourteen), Theodore Gustave (died at the age of twelve
years), and Adolph Johann (who is the youngest of the family). Mr.
as well as Mrs. Rohrbach were warm friends and patrons of education, and have given their children good advantages. Mr. Rohrbach lost his wife after they had lived together for eighteen years, and
she now sleeps in Quindaro Cemetery, Wyandotte County, Kas., where
a handsome monument marks her last resting place. He is a Democrat in politics, but not a partisan, voting for men of integrity, irrespective of party. His first presidential vote was cast for Abraham
Lincoln. During the late war he served for three months in the Home
Guards of Boonville, Mo., during which time he was on scout duty
and while thus employed was wounded in the right hand and left arm.
He was brought up in the Lutheran faith and taught to respect all religious institutions or institutions tending to develop the good in
mankind, and has always been a very generous contributor to all such
enterprises. He expects to make his present place his permanent
home, where he is surrounded by his dutiful and affectionate children.
Dr. J. P. Root (deceased) was born in Greenwich, Mass., April 23,
1826, and his early training was received from parents whose Puritan
lineage had made them thoroughly conversant with the best and purest
Christian traits. At an early day he chose the medical profession as
his calling through life, and he devoted his unbending energies in that
direction, his studies being pursued in New York City, where he
afterward graduated from Berkshire Medical College. He soon after
located at New Hartford, Conn., and was afterward elected on the
Whig ticket to the State Legislature, serving out his term of office
with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned. About
this time the excitement over Kansas, then a Territory, stirred up the
people of that locality to a wonderful degree, and when a colony was
formed to emigrate to this Territory Dr. Root joined it, and came
thither also, and located at Wabaunsee in the spring of 1856. He
immediately identified himself with the Free Soil party, and soon won
the reputation of being one of the ablest exponents of the cause. In
1857 he came to Wyandotte, and was almost immediately chosen a
member of the Territorial Senate, for his fame as a man of brilliant intellect and unswerving honesty had preceded him, and he was elected
president of that body. On the adoption of the Wyandotte Constitution he was made lieutenent-governor of the State, a position he continued to fill until 1861. Upon the bursting of the war cloud, which
had so long menaced the country, Dr. Root volunteered his services
in defense of the old flag, and served throughout the war, as surgeon
of the Second Kansas Cavalry. After the close of hostilities he resumed the practice of his profession at Wyandotte, and upon the election of Gen. Grant to the presidency he received the appointment of
minister plenipotentiary to Chili, South America, a position he filled
for three years, with credit to himself and country, and signally distinguished himself during the small-pox epidemic in that country by
his untiring efforts to mitigate the evil. His devotion was appreciated
by the Chilians, and an honorary degree from the Medical University
at Santiago was conferred upon him and he was presented with a gold
medal. In 1873 he once more resumed his practice in Wyandotte,
Kas., but in 1877 removed to Clifton Springs, N. Y., and entered the
Sanitarium at that place as one of the physicians, but this work proving
too confining and desiring to end his days in Kansas, led him to move
back to Wyandotte in 1879, where he resided until death called him
home July 20, 1885. The last time that he appeared in politics was
as a delegate to the National Republican Convention, held in Chicago
in 1881. In his profession he took a high position, and for three
years he was surgeon -general of the State, and was the first president
of the State Medical Society, and at the time of his death was president of the Eastern Kansas Medical Society and health officer of Wyandotte County. During his long years of practice he was known to
be generous in the extreme, and not only did he lavish his skill and
talent on the poor who applied to him for medical aid, but he often
supplied them with the necessaries of life, his purse being ever at the
disposal of the needy and distressed. These kindly and generous
actions alone would cause his name to be held in grateful remembrance
by all, had not his active life connected his name with nearly every
public movement since Kansas became a Territory He was a member
of the G. A. R., a Royal Arch Mason, and had been a life-long member of the Congregational Church. He was married at Greenwich,
Mass., in 1855, to Miss Frances E. Alden, and by her became the
father of five children.
Dr. J. P. Root, a leading dentist of Kansas City, Kas., was the
fourth child in his parents' family, reference to whom is made in the
sketch immediately preceding this. He was born in this city March
21, 1862, and with the exception of three years spent at Santiago,
Chili, while his father was minister to that place, and three years
spent in the State of New York later on, he has resided in this city all
his life. He graduated from the high school of Geneva, N. Y., in
1879, and shortly afterward began the study of dentistry at Watertown, N. Y., his dental education being finished in the Kansas City
Dental College, from which institution he was graduated in March, 1882.
Ever since that time he has been practicing his profession in Kansas
City, and has already become well and favorably known. He possesses many of his worthy father's characteristics, and gives every
promise of becoming eminent in his profession. He is a member of
the A. F. & A. M., the A. O. U. W., and in connection with his profession belongs to the Missouri State Dental Society, the Kansas State
Dental Society and the Kansas City Dental Club. Like his father,
he is a stanch Republican in his political views, and for three years he
was clerk of the Board of Education. His marriage, which took place
in 1884, was to Miss Kate N. Wait, of this city, by whom he has two
children: Burr and Paul, aged respectively four and two years.
Herrmann Rotert is a prominent and honored citizen of Kansas City,
Kas., and is a native German, his birth occurring in Hanover on April
14, 1825, coming in 1837 with his parents, Frederick and Mary (Miller) Rotert, to America, settling first in St. Louis, Mo., moving some
three or four years later to Franklin County, of the same State, and
there resided on a farm until 1857. The family then went to La Sueur,
La Sueur County, Minn., but while on the way to that place the mother
sickened, and three days after reaching that town she passed away,
her husband surviving her only about three months, their deaths,
therefore, occurring in 1857. The mother had been married twice,
bearing her first husband two children - a son and daughter - the former of whom now resides in Allegheny, Penn., and the latter in Indiana.
Her union with Mr. Rotert resulted in the birth of three sons: John
Henry (deceased), Herrmann and Frederick William. The youngest
son is now in St. Paul, Minn. Herrmann Rotert was given the advantages of the common schools in his youth, and in connection with
this he followed the occupation of farming. He was married in
Franklin County, Mo., in the fall of 1850 to Miss Amelia Myer, a
daughter of Frederick W. Myer, a native German. When two or
three years of age she was brought to this country by her parents.
A year or two after their marriage Mr. Rotert went back to Minnesota, and purchased a farm near La Sueur, and though he resided in
the town, he gave his attention to the cultivation of his land. In
1871 he sold his farm and town property there and came to Kansas
City, Kas., where he has resided ever since. During the first eight
years of his residence here he was employed as a car repairer, first
for the Kansas Pacific, and later for the Union Pacific Railroad. In
1880 he purchased from Henry Horstman a grocery store on the corner
of Everett and Fifth Streets, and this establishment has received the
major part of his attention ever since. In 1883 he erected a good
two-story brick block on the corner of Fifth Street and Washington
Avenue, which is 50x70 feet, and comprises two good store rooms,
in the rear of which, fronting on Fifth Street, he erected at the same
time a first-class feed store, it being built of brick and stone, the
dimensions being 20x40 feet. In one of the store rooms, which is
rented out, is conducted a meat-market, and in the other Mr. Rotert has his groceries. It is one of the most complete establishments of the kind in the city, and has a very large and paying patronage. His union resulted in the birth of five children: Mary Ann
(born March 14, 1855, and died November 3, 1872), Henry Phillips
(born January 5, 1859), Frederick William (born November 29, 1860),
John Amos (born September 23, 1864), and Ida Charlotte (born April
5, 1868). The eldest son is married. The mother of these children
died on December 6, 1872, and on March 19, 1873, Mr. Rotert was
married to Mrs. Frieda Potthast, who has borne him three children,
as follows: Emma Matilda (born July 29, 1876), Lillie (born May
30, 1880), and Hattie (born August 28, 1881). Mrs. Rotert was born
in Prussia July 28, 1838, daughter of Frederick Korstrup, her mother
dying when she was four years old. She came to America with her
father and step mother at the age of fourteen, and grew to womanhood in St. Louis, Mo. She was married. May 18, 1864, to Christian
Potthast, by whom she had two children: Amelia (born June 28, 1865,
and died September 7, 1866), and Christian (born December 7, 1866).
Mr. Potthast was drowned in Dickinson County, Kas., June 13, 1866.
Ever since embarking in the grocery business, Mr. Rotert has had as
partners his three sons � Henry P., Frederick W. and John Amos,
also his step-son, Christian Potthast. He occupies a handsome residence at No. 548 Washington Avenue, which has been erected since
1886, and besides this he owns other valuable residence property in
the city, and the greater part of his attention is given to the management of his real estate, his store being left to the management
of his sons. He and his family belong to the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and would be valuable additions to any city.
T. C. Russell, whose sketch now claims attention, was born
on December 28, 1850, being the youngest son of the twelve children
born to his parents, William and Hannah (Wilson) Russell, natives of
Pennsylvania. The father dying while Thomas was quite young, he
naturally had much to contend with in trying to make for himself a
career in the busy mercantile world. He spent the years intervening
between childhood and manhood in his native place, receiving a good
education in the common schools, and afterward graduated from the
Commercial College, at Pittsburgh. Mr. Russell's first choice in selecting a profession was the life insurance business, but when he had
mastered the same, and was beginning to succeed, he was forced to
give it up, owing to throat trouble that rendered so much talking
painful to him. He next turned his attention to learning the carpenter trade in Pittsburgh, continuing to work in that line through the past
twenty years, and in the meantime meeting with marked success. At
the present writing he numbers among the prominent contractors and
builders in Kansas City, Kas., and has also worked considerable in
the adjoining city - Kansas City, Mo. Among the buildings that bespeak his praise, and that he has built since coming here from Pittsburgh, in the year 1878, are the Swedish Baptist, German Methodist
Episcopal Churches in this city, and the handsome business block on
the Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Mo. He has also built many
handsome private residences in both cities, accumulating thus a comfortable fortune, and winning the confidence of all who know him.
Mr. Russell was, on January 4, united in matrimonial bonds with Miss
Teresa Johnson, daughter of Robert and Isabella Johnson, natives
of Pennsylvania, and to this union have been born three children,
viz.: Twila May, Nellie Blanch and Lillian Irene. The subject of
the sketch is in sympathy with the Republican party in politics, though
too much occupied to give a great amount of attention to political
matters. He is a charter member of the A. O. U. W, , and belongs
to the Wide Awake Lodge No. 153, K. of P., also of U. R., Wyandotte Division No. 10. Thus, as the world grows older, and more
and more progressive, we see on every side proof of the fact that the
"self-made" men are often the most prosperous and highly esteemed,
and from this class the leading men of our country have been taken.
H. H. Ryus is a man whose present substantial position in life has
been attained entirely through his own perseverance, and the facts connected with his operations and their results show what a person with
courage and enlightened views can accomplish. His reputation for
honesty and integrity have been tried and not found wanting; his
financial ability has been more than once tested, but never without
credit to himself; his social qualities are well known and appreciated,
and he has hosts of friends whose confidence and esteem are his highest eulogium. He was born in Schuyler County, N. Y., in 1840, and
after receiving a common-school education in that State, be came with
his parents to Kansas, and settled in Osage County, where he farmed
for a short period, abandoning that occupation on account of drought
shortly after. He then began building houses on the Sac and Fox Indian lands for Indians, after which he became connected with the
Santa Fe Stage Company, and for two years drove stage between Fort
Larned, Kas., and Fort Reno, Indian Ter., a distance of twenty-four
miles, after which he was promoted to the position of conductor, and
made one trip per month from Kansas City, Mo., to Santa Fe, and
during this time had many hard fights with the Indians. At the end
of this time he accepted a position with Moon, Mitchell & Co., in a
settler's store at Fort Union, but at the end of one year he gave up this
position to take a herd of sheep from Mexico 1,150 miles north into
the mountains, and this distance was covered in two months and nine-teen days. He remained in the mountains until the fall, then went to
Salt Lake, and in 1866 returned to Wyandotte County, Kas. From
that time until 1871 he was engaged in saw milling seven miles west
of Wyandotte, and during this time made considerable money, after
which he began building houses in Wyandotte, and was chosen to the
position of constable and deputy sheriff, after some time, a position he
held for four years. At the end of this time he was elected sheriff of the
county, serving two terms with satisfaction to all, then built a large
corn and feed mill, and also engaged in the brick business with O. K.
Serviss. He was also one of the chief organizers of the Kansas City &
Wyandotte Dry Pressed Brick Company, and for a considerable period
he and his partner, Maj. Drought, did nearly all the contracting and
building done in this city, furnishing all the brick and lime for the Armourdale Packing Company, and selling in all over a million pressed
brick. They also built the Desiccating & Refining Works, the entire
time spent by them in contracting being four years. In 1882 Mr. Ryus
built the Ryus Hotel, and in 1879 erected the Ryus Planing Mills, which
he operated until June, 1890, when the establishment caught fire and
burned down, the loss being $24,000. He managed the Ryus Hotel
for four years in connection with his planing-mill and the real estate
business, and as a man of enterprise and industry he has become well
known throughout this section of the country. His experience has been
quite varied, and during the sixty five times that he crossed the plains,
he met with numerous thrilling experiences, and tells many amusing
and interesting stories connected therewith. He was married in Kansas City, Kas., in 1867, to Miss Sarah E. Seward, who was born in
Clark County, Ohio, in 1836, and to them have been born two children: Ida and M. Charles. Mr. Ryus' parents, David and Mohaebel
(Stanton) Ryus, were born in New York, the mother being a relative
of Secretary Stanton. The father was a cooper and painter by trade,
and made his home in his native State until 1860, when he came to
Kansas, and here passed from life in 1884. The mother is still living
and is seventy-four years old. The paternal grandfather was born in
Europe, and came to America, taking part in the War of 1812. The
mother's mother lived to be ninety-two years old. Mr. Ryus is a Republican in his political views, and being a man of enterprise, he is
now erecting a planing-mill to take the place of the one burned down.
His daughter is a highly accomplished young lady, and is now a teacher in the Kirkwood School.
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