Wyandotte County Biographies
"Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas--Historical and Biographical"
Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890
John A. Textor, farmer and horticulturist, Kansas City, Kas. Of
those of foreign birth now residing in Wyandotte County, Kas., none
are more industrious and enterprising than those of German descent.
Mr. Textor, one of the prominent, and much esteemed citizens of the
county, owes his nativity to Bavaria, Germany, his birth occurring
near the old city of Minchen, April 23, 1848, and needs but little introduction to the people of Wyandotte County. He emigrated from
his fatherland when but five years of age, and landed with his parents
in New York City, where he spent three years. After this he spent
two years and a half in Philadelphia, from there he went to St. Louis,
thence to Clinton County, Ill., where he remained six years, and then returned to St. Louis, where he made his home until 1876, when he
emigrated to Wyandotte County, Kas. He was the eldest of twelve
children - six sons and six daughters - six of whom are living at the
present time, viz.: Johanna (resides in Wyandotte County, and is the
wife of Albert Garnier, who is a successful horticulturist), Chriscentia
(resides in St. Louis, and is the wife of Earnest Kearcher, who is a
merchant there), Rosina (resides in Philadelphia, Penn., and is the
wife of George Daenzer, who is a showcase manufacturer at that
place), Frances (resides in Philadelphia, and is a dressmaker by occupation), and George (resides in St. Louis, married Miss Lena Trapp,
and is a fine musician). The father of these children was also a native
of Germany, and was a brewer by trade. He is now deceased, and his
remains are interred in St. Louis, Mo. The mother, who was also a
native of Germany, is also deceased. Both were well educated. The
father was a great student and reader, was unusually well educated,
and was a fine conversationalist. He was a great traveler; had been
all over Russia, Germany, Switzerland, France, Holland, and spent
about eight years in going from one country to the other. John A.
Textor received his early education in the public schools, and afterward took a full coarse in Jones' College in St. Louis. He was a
rectifier of spirits by profession, and carried on this business for four
years at a large salary. He started out for himself at the age of
twenty-four years with limited means, but with a willing pair of hands,
and a business tact and acumen which were his guiding stars to his
signal success in life. He married Miss Anna Benz, a native of Baden,
Germany, born September 1, 1849, in St. Louis, in September, 1873.
She was educated in the German language in Baden, and is also well
educated in the English language. To this union has been born one
little son, Edward Frederick, who is now six years of age. Mr. Textor
has always been identified with the Republican party, has been
an active politician in his township, and his influence is perceptibly felt over the entire township. He is a gentleman who has always
endeavored to exercise his franchise for men of principle and honor.
Mr. Textor was deputy sheriff of Wyandotte County, for a term of
two years, and he admirably filled this position to the satisfaction of
all his friends and his party. He is chairman of the Wyandotte
Township Central Committee, has held this important post for four
years, and has been an active member of the Board of Education, in his
district for nine years. When he first entered the office the district was in
debt $140, and besides this they were compelled to borrow $160 for
teacher's salary. Mr. Textor is at present clerk of the board, and the
district has erected new outbuildings, put in new furniture, repaired
the house, and have about $1,100, in the treasurer's hands, thus showing the excellent ability Mr. Textor has as a man of business, and also
shows that the utmost confidence has been placed in him throughout.
Mr. Textor is a member of the I. O. O. F., and has been since he was
twenty-two years of age. He is of the opinion that the Farmers' Alliance is a great move for the interests of the farmers, if they will
only cling together. Mr. and Mrs. Textor are devout members of the
German Catholic Church, in Wyandotte, Kas., and they have contributed to all benevolent and charitable callings which have been before
their worthy consideration. When he first came here Mr. Textor purchased twenty-eight acres of land at $45 per acre, and this property
lies at the present time within a distance of two miles of the city limits
of Kansas City, Kas. When he first came here his present beautiful
and valuable farm was a perfect wilderness and thicket, the only habitation to be seen being an old Indian hut. Wyandotte City contained
a population of scarcely 700. Mr. Textor is a very industrious citizen,
and has beautified his fine property to such an extent, that it is one of
the most valuable on Minnesota Avenue. He values his land at $1,000
per acre, but does not care to sell. His place of residence is near or
will be in the limits of the city at no distant day. His residence is
neat and comfortable, and his outbuildings are commodious and substantial. He is a model farmer and horticulturist, and among the
leading varieties of fruit raised on his place are the following: Apples,
cherries, peaches, pears, plums, crab-apples, etc., and in small fruit he
has strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants and standard varieties of grapes. Besides this he raises a great many of the standard
vegetables. Mr. and Mrs. Textor have witnessed the wonderful
growth made in the country in the time they have been here, and in their
own place they have made many and vast improvements. The best of
this is that they have made it all by their own efforts, and by hard
labor and great perseverance. Here they expect to make their future
home, where, surrounded by friends, who hold them in high esteem,
they will pass the remainder of their days.
George Thiret, farmer and horticulturist, Kansas City, Kas. Mr.
Thiret resides on Section 1, Wyandotte Township, Wyandotte County,
and is recognized as one of the leading farmers and horticulturists of
the county. His farm is situated three miles west of Kansas City,
and consists of 116 acres of mostly improved land. Mr. Thiret owes
his nativity to Pennsylvania, his birth occurring near Pittsburgh, February 21, 1845, and is the youngest of four children: John M. (married,
resides in Pennsylvania, and is a carpenter and joiner by trade), Catherine (died at the age of about forty years, was married), and Nicholas (who is a blacksmith and mechanic by trade, and also resides in
Pennsylvania). The father was a native of Bavaria, and was a farmer
by occupation. He died at the age of eighty-six years. The mother
was also a native of Germany, and died in 1860, at the age of sixty
years. George Thiret received his education in the common schools
of Pennsylvania, and started out for himself at the age of sixteen, with
limited means, but with a strong pair of hands and a willing heart.
He first engaged in the creamery business at Allegheny City, Penn., but
afterward went to South Bend, Ind., and thence to Chicago, where
he was salesman in a grocery for seven years. After this he embarked
in raih-oading at Omaha, Neb., for the Union Pacific Railroad, and
from there went to Kansas City, Mo. He left there after a short time
and again started out railroading on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas
Railroad. April 30, 1872, Mr. Thiret was married to Miss L. A. Maddox, a native of Indiana, who received her education in the common
schools, and who is a lady of culture and refinement, and has stood firmly
beside her husband through all hard trials, and always willing to do her
share. To them was born one daughter, Josephine, who is an accomplished young lady, and quite proficient in music and penmanship.
She attended the common schools, then took a course of higher instruction, and is a young lady of most excellent attributes of character.
Mr. Thiret has always identified himself with the Democratic party,
except one time, when he advocated the Greenback principles, since
then he has upheld the true principles of Democracy. He cast his first
presidential vote for Hon. Horatio Seymour, of New York. He is at
present Wyandotte Township treasurer, and for three years has been
road supervisor of Bulick highways. He is a gentleman who has at
heart every enterprise which tends to develop his country. He has
been a member of the I. O. O. F., at Kansas City, Kas., and a member
of the Farmers' Alliance. Although he has not been an ultra-partisan
in politics, he has at all times exercised his right of franchise in a direction which would support men of principle and honor. Mr. Thiret
was born and reared in the Lutheran Church, and Mrs. Thiret is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are respecters and
supporters of the principles of religion which elevate to higher and
nobler aspirations. Mr. and Mrs. Thiret emigrated to Wyandotte
County, Kas., direct from Chicago, without a dollar, and began life in
this new country. Here they have worked together with great industry and economy, which are the highest commendable attributes of
praise. They have a beautiful home, and Mr. Thiret is an extensive
fruit-grower, shipping a great deal of his fruit North. He has twenty
acres in small fruit, such as strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and
also has a vineyard of five and a half acres of fifty different varieties,
the most prominent for market being: Concord, Goethe, Elvira and
Champion, and has thirty acres in orchard of the finest leading varieties of apples. He supplies the home markets in grapes, and takes
great pride in showing the products of his farm at most all the principal fairs in the West, and he always takes the first premiums, and has
ever done sis part in proudly advertising his county with his exhibits.
The fruit farm which be owns, and which is so valuable, was a wilderness when he and Mrs. Thiret bought their land, and it shows with
what an effort they have cleared and improved their present valuable
property. Mr. Thiret claims Wyandotte County to be one of the best
counties in the State for fruits of all kinds, and is well rewarded for
his hard labor now. Mr. Thiret will dispose of eighty acres of his
choice farm land at a price which would guarantee true satisfaction,
since he expected to make the fruit business his future avocation, and
will not need so much land. Mr. Thiret relates, in a very interesting
manner, the terrible grasshopper scourge in 1875, when nearly everything was eaten by the pest, and the trials and vicissitudes which he
and his family passed through would fill a volume. Aside from their
property here they are the owners of four nice building and business
lots in Armourdale, now part of Kansas City, Kas., and three lots in
Old Kansas City, Kas. They expect to make their future home where
they now reside, and are comfortably established, and expect to see
Kansas City, now the metropolis of Kansas, the leading city of the
Southwest before many years. Mr. Thiret is a friend and supporter
of all good educational institutions, and is a representative citizen of
the county, and always is willing to lend a hand to promote the industries and welfare of his county.
R. B. Thomas, secretary and treasurer of the Consolidated Iron
Works, Kansas City, Kas., is a gentleman of sterling worth and
integrity, and respected in all circles. The above large plant was
established at Second and Nebraska Avenues January 1, 1889, under
the firm name of C. R. Griffith & Co., and in February of the same
year was destroyed by fire, the insurance being only $1,000. Inside
of four weeks they had rebuilt at Oakland and Third Streets, at a cost
of $10,000, under the name of the Griffith & Thomas Co., and were
in running order. They have met with extraordinary success, their
trade beginning with a product of three tons daily, and has increased
so rapidly that they were compelled to build an additional plant in
Cypress Bottom, corner Central Avenue and Fourth Street. A stock
company was organized, now known as the Consolidated Iron Works
Company. The firm consists of the following individuals: C. R.
Griffith, Jr., president, and R. B. Thomas as secretary and treasurer.
They make a specialty of elevator castings, sash weights, hitch
weights, brick kiln castings, railroad castings, cast washers, grate bars
and a general line of castings. They handle the home trade and have
established a large trade in the Southern, Northern and Western
States. Their capital stock is $30,000 paid up. They use up all the
tin scraps and all kinds of old cans, using the tin cuttings from the
packing-houses for the manufacture of ordinary castings. A finer
grade of iron is used for their general castings. They employ about
100 men, and have an output of twelve tons per day, with a value of
$125,000 to $150,000, and a rapid increase. The stock is earning
good dividends. They assist the home industries by patronizing the
home banks, etc., and consider this city as one of the future manufacturing centers. R. B. Thomas has been engaged in this business
for a period of two years, coming from New York City. His birth
occurred in Brooklyn May 11, 1865, and he was reared to manhood in
the Empire State, receiving his education in the Brooklyn schools.
At the age of fourteen years he commenced life for himself as an
office boy in the Long Island Railroad office in Long Island City, N.
Y., and was promoted from time to time until he became secretary to
the general superintendent of said road, having full charge of said
department. He also has held the position of private secretary to the
general auditor and first vice president of the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe Railroad Company at Boston, and secretary to the president
of the New York & Northern Railway Company, Col. Joel B. Earhardt, who is now collector of the port of New York. Since Mr.
Thomas has been West, he has had the honor of being tendered the
position of secretary to Col. Earhardt as collector of the port, but
his financial and business ties in the West prevented his accepting.
His parents, Evan P. and Emma M. (Griffith) Thomas, were natives of
New York. The father was in the wholesale dry goods business in
New York City and was quite a wealthy citizen. He died in 1878,
leaving a widow and three children: Everett V. and William G. Our
subject, R. B. Thomas, was married in 1887 to Miss Mary Titus
Broas, a native of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and the only child of ex-Assemblyman Benjamin S. Broas, of that city. In his political views
Mr. Thomas is a Democrat, but is non-partisan in his local elections. He and Mrs. Thomas are members of the Dutch Reformed
Church, and, socially, he is a member of the R. A. C. R. Griffith, Jr.,
president of the Consolidated Iron Works Company, was born in
Brooklyn, N. Y., December 27, 1863, and is a son of C. R. and
Louise (Keil) Griffith, natives of the Empire State. The father was
born in New York State, and is special agent of the R. G. Dunn
agency, with headquarters in Chicago. The paternal grandfather of
our subject followed the sea, was captain of his own vessel, and was
drowned while attempting to save his passengers during a storm on
the Gulf of Mexico. When last seen he was on a raft, after saving
all his passengers, and his last act was to cut a rope by which the raft
was held to the vessel. C. E. Griffith remained in his native city
until nearly grown, and then started for the great West with $5 in his
pocket, landing in Chicago, where he entered the employ of R. G.
Dun & Co. He remained with this company six months and then
accepted a position with the King & Andrews Iron Company, of Chicago, as office boy, continuing in that capacity for two years, when he
was elected secretary of the same company. Later his attention was
called toward Kansas City, Mo., as a good point for business, and in
1888 he came here. He and Mr. Thomas bought out the old Pugh &
Morris Foundry, commenced anew under the firm title of C. R. Griffith & Co., and after the tire, as above mentioned, the title was
changed to Griffith & Thomas Co., and then to the Consolidated
Iron Works Company. In politics Mr. Griffith affiliates with the
Democratic party, but is not a strict partisan in local politics.
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