Dancharthos : Genealogos : Transcribed 19 August 2002

Obituary -- William Henry Holsinger (1853-1930)

Comments at end.

Chase County News, Volume XII, Number 17
Wednesday, July 30, 1930. Page 1.
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Oldest Pioneer in County Dies Monday

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W. H. Holsinger of Cottonwood Falls Moved to Chase with Father in 1855.

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One of Chase County's oldest pioneers passed Monday morning with the death of W. H. Holsinger, of Cottonwood Falls, at the age of 77 years. Mr. Holsinger moved to Chase County with his father from Indiana in 1855 and has resided here since that time. Mr. Holsinger's brother, George, who survives him, was the first white child born in Chase County, this territory being completely under the residential dominance of the red men at the time of the arrival of the settlers from Indiana.

Funeral services for Mr. Holsinger were held Tuesday afternoon at three o'clock from the home in Cottonwood Falls. Dr. G. W. Braden of the Methodist Church was in charge. Rev. and Mrs. J. M. Hodgkin sang. Pall bearers, who were old settlers and long time friends of Mr. Holsinger, were C. A. Sayre, Fred Coe, D. W. Wood, Will Gregory, Tom Wells, and Hugh Finley. Final burial rites were held at the grave by the Masons, of whom Mr. Holsinger had been a member for many years.

Among the telegrams of condolence received by members of the family was a fine tribute from Charles Curtis, vice-president of the United States, and a life-long friend of Mr. Holsinger.

Besides his widow, Mr. Holsinger is survived by four daughters: Mrs. Robert Cochrane, Chicago; Mrs. Lillie Woods, Winslow Ariz.; Mrs. Arabella Moore, Bay City, Mich., and Mrs. Margaret Payne, San Diego, Cal.

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WILLIAM HENRY HOLSINGER

Was born in Hagerstown, Indiana, May 16, 1853, and was brought to Kansas with his parents in November, 1855, settling on a farm homesteaded by his father in the eastern part of unorganized Chase County near what is now Plymouth. Here he lived, attended the district school and performed the tasks of a farmer boy. His father died in February, 1863 and his mother by a subsequent marriage to Henry Reeve, moved to a homesteaded and pre-empted farm west of Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. He attended and completed the grade school in this town and later graduated from the Spauldings Business College in Kansas City.

He early developed both an inclination ability towards things constructive and so applied himself in that line that at the age of twenty years he was elected County Surveyor of Chase County in 1873 serving three terms during which he plotted the first county road in Chase County and otherwise devoted himself diligently to his tasks.

During his term of office her married May Gandy of Cottonwood Falls and following the completion of his term of office, he together with A. P. Gandy, then County Recorder, prepared the first set of Abstract books in the county.

With the growing population of the county and the passing of National banking laws, he was the prime mover in the organization of the Chase County Bank, in June 1882 and served as its first cashier. He later assisted in the organization of the State Exchange Bank and served as its vice president.

He was commissioner of Chase County and devoted himself to the bridging of its major streams. With the growth of the two adjoining towns and the frequency of railway treains through Strong City and the need for regular transportation he was one of the organizers and first president of the street car line between Cottonwood Falls and Strong City, later becoming its general manager.

He was postmaster of Cottonwood Falls from 1897 to 1902.

The principals of organization and their precepts appealed to him and he early identified himself with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge having been a member over 50 years. He later joined the Knights of Pythias and became a member of Zeredtha Lodge Masons on December 10, 1880, serving as secretary, treasurer, junior warden, and senior steward respectively.

He was a member of the Knight Templar, Mystic Shrine and Woodmen of the World and enjoyed the association and appreciated the value of their teaching and symbolism. He took and active part in local, state and national affairs, assisting in a material and effective way to the better conditions of his neighbor and fellow man.

He was proud of his family and his town, he lvoed nature and long wrestled with Mother Earth to produce its richest bounty.

He hated sham and loved truth.

He was a pioneer in years and thought, held high in regard by friends and family and his like shall not soon pass this way again.

Transcribers Comments:

First, the identity of the "survived by four daughters." With only a slight change of spelling, and a more liberal use of the women's Christian names (3 out of 4 here), these beloved old ladies (to me) are the same as are mentioned in their mother's obituary five years later.

  • 1) Mrs. Robert Cochrane of Chicago Illinois, is "Aunt Nettie" Jeanette Holsinger [Cochrane] whom I met once or twice when she came to San Diego in the 1960s, and who had only one child, Jeanette Cochrane, who died in Chicago (in 1980?) without children.
  • 2) Mrs. Lillie Woods (Wood?) of Winslow, Ariz., "Aunt Lizzie" whom I do not specifically remember, but whom my mother (I believe I remember correctly) said married a railroad man who worked out of Winslow. I do not know if she has children or grandchildren.
  • 3) Mrs. Arabella Moore of Cottonwood Falls is "Aunt Pickie" Arabella Holsinger [Moore] who my grandmother sometimes let me speak with on the telephone; she died sometime in the 1970s or 1980s and has children and grandchildren I have never met. When I drove through Cottonwood in the summer of 1984 to Chicago, I stopped one evening in Cottonwood Falls. The sheriff I met in his office under the courthouse said he remembered Arabella Moore. He didn't volunteer any stories and I felt better than to pry. Just to get him to say he remembered her was... well, something. Already I was feeling old.
  • 4) Mrs. Margaret Payne, San Diego, California, is Margaret Amelia Holsinger [Payne], my grandmother.

    Which leads us, at last, to the man himself, my great-grandfather. Not much can be said, as the obituary is itself one of my main sources for information about this ancestor. Missing, of course, is the name of his mother and father, Julia Walter and Daniel Holsinger (one of the Daniels for whom I am named).

    Also not present is the fact that William's only son, "Bun" (real name William), had died some years previously--but not before having children, notably my mother's cousin Dolores who was a dancer in Hollywood (she did Carole Lombard's dancing and is one of the girls on the airplane wings in Flying Down to rio). But... stories, stories stories. How few there really are! How quickly they disappear in the passing years!

    William Henry Holsinger and his wife are buried in the Prairie Grove (Cottonwood Falls) cemetery just outside of town across the little ravine and up the short grade. Several infants who did not survive are also buried with them. The cemetery is a pleasant spot, if the weather cooperates. The old town of Cottonwood is charming. Let us not speak of politics and the national grassland park. The train doesn't stop nearby any more. You have to get off over in Emporia. But everyone drives today anyhow.

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