C.H. LEBOLD, Abilene C.H. LEBOLD was born July 12, 1844, near Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, Ohio. The name is a corruption of Leopold, and is of German origin. His parents were Frederick and Anna M. Lebold. No special records of the family have been preserved. The grandparents of both his father and mother landlords or land-owners in Germany, and were possessed of considerable wealth. His father was an extensive farmer in Ohio. C.H. Lebold attended the common schools of his neighborhood in the winters, and assisted in the management of his father's farm during the summer, until seventeen years old. After that time, also, he attended Greensburg Seminary during the summer, and conducting a school during the winters to provide means for his academic course. This he continued until twenty-two years of age, receiving a very thorough education and being well grounded in the rudimentary branches. This independent and self-reliant course is an index to his character, and to the success which he has subsequently achieved. In 1866 he bought a good and well-improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, near Bolivar, Ohio, and entered vigorously into the practical business of farming. At the end of two years he sold his farm, and spent considerable time in traveling, and looking for an eligible location for his future home and business operations. The States of Illinois, Iowa and Kansas particularly engaged his attention, and, after comparing the advantages and disadvantages, the soil, climate, production and prospective development of each, he formed a decided preference for Kansas. In 1869 he, in partnership with Jacob Augustine, bought from Hon. C. H. Thompson and J. G. McCoy the town-site of Abilene, Dickinson county, Kansas, and also Thompson & McCoy's addition to that place. they immediately opened an office for the sale of town property, and in connection with it established the "National Union Land Office." This business they conducted very successfully for about three years, and in 1872 sold the books and good will of the office to T. C. Henry for $5,000. Prior to this, however, they had bought the banking house of Kellogg, Newman & Co., and one year later that of W. B. Clark & Co., thus uniting in one establishment all the banking business of that young and thriving city. In the fall of 1873 Jacob Augustine withdrew from banking business, and was succeeded by J. M. Fisher, the firm-name being changed to Lebold, Fisher & Co. His business life has been one unvarying success, attributable to those sterling qualities which in an eminent degree he possesses - sound judgment, reliability, activity and integrity. In 1873 he was elected treasurer of Dickinson county, and in 1875 was re-elected for a second term. He is one of the proprietors of the following towns: Abilene, the county seat of Dickinson county; Hays City, the county seat of Ellis county, and Bunker Hill, all in the State of Kansas. He is a member of the Masonic order, and a communicant in the Evangelical Lutheran church. He was married October 25, 1866 to Miss Amanda Nixon, of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, who died October 19, 1875. He was married to his second wife, Miss Fannie H. Urie, of Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, November 7, 1877. In height Mr. Lebold is five feet eight inches, stout, well proportioned and muscular, weighing one hundred and sixty-six pounds. In 1875 Mr. Lebold made a business trip to the East, and bore with him many letters of introduction to business men in that section, from distinguished men in Kansas who had known him personally and intimately for years. Governor Thomas A. Osborn said of him: "Mr. Lebold is a banker resident at Abilene, is a warm personal friend of mine, and is highly esteemed wherever known. He is a gentleman of candor and veracity, and his statements may be relied upon." Howard M. Holden, at that time president of the First National Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, said: "We consider both the firm, and Mr. Lebold individually, as abundantly responsible, safe and cautious." Henry Kaldenbaugh, cashier of the Citizens' National Bank, New Philadelphia, Ohio, said: "We take pleasure in recommending your Mr. Lebold to any one engaged in our line of business. * * * You are at liberty to refer to our bank in the financial circle of the East." A. B. Miner, cashier of the City National Bank of Chicago, wrote: "We have known and have done business with the above firm (Lebold, Fisher & Co.) ever since they established themselves in Abilene, and have found them perfectly reliable and responsible." Hon. W. A. Phillips, member of Congress, said: "Mr. Lebold is a gentleman of probity and standing, whom I do not hesitate to commend as such." John P. Devereux, land commissioner of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, thus expresses himself: "Mr. Lebold is now treasurer of his county, is universally respected at home so far as I know or have heard. I have entire confidence in him as a business man and gentleman." T. C. Henry, real-estate broker, Abilene, writes: "Socially, I have found him (Mr. Lebold) uniformly true, sincere and in every way upright; * * as a business man, experienced, reliable, responsible, of thorough integrity and unquestioned honor." The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men. Chicago and Kansas City, USA: S. Lewis, 1879. Pages 657 -659 O O O O JOHN AUGUST LINDAHL One of the families that came as pioneers to Dickinson County in 1870 were the Lindahls. The head of the family, the late August Swenson Lindahl, was a very poor man, having barely enough to bring his family across the ocean and reach this situation almost on the frontier of civilization in Kansas. Like other early settlers he took up a tract of Government land, locating in Center Township, and 2 ½ miles northeast of the present Town of Enterprise in Dickinson County. There he began the hard work to which he had become accustomed in his native land, and by strenuous efforts he managed to bring a livelihood to his household of growing children and was getting to a point where he could look into the future without dread and see a reasonable provision for himself and his family. Then, on April 9, 1883, he died. At the time of his death his oldest child and son, John August Lindahl, was only fifteen years old. This son was equal to the responsibilities suddenly thrown upon his youthful shoulders. He took his father's place in the home, in the fields, in the management of the farm, and worked early and late for many years, until his brothers and sisters were able to do for themselves, and while later years have never brought him great wealth they have brought him a comfortable competence and what is more valuable still the satisfaction of having performed his duty to those nearest him, and having played an honorable and straightforward part in life. John August Lindahl was born June 5, 1867, at Hvetlanda, Sweden. His father was born in that country in 1859, (sic) and had served in the Swedish army before coming to America in 1870. The father was an active member of the Swedish Lutheran Church. In Sweden in 1865 he had married Maria Sandquist, who was born in Sweden June 25, 1838, a daughter of J.P. Sandquist. Her father came to America in 1885, and died at Enterprise, Kansas, in 1892. August S. Lindahl and wife had six children, four sons and two daughters, namely: John August; Amel C., who was born in Sweden June 3, 1870, and is now a farmer in Dickinson County, Kansas; William P., born October 5, 1872, in Kansas, and died August 26, 1906; Anna L., born November 15, 1874, the wife of Albert Cooper, a railroad man living at Kansas City, Missouri; Adolph G., born February 9, 1877, a farmer and now treasurer of Center Township in Dickinson County; and Hulda, born October 2, 1879, the wife of Albert Beckstrom, a farmer in Dickinson County. After his many years of effort in behalf of his mother and brothers and sisters, John A. Lindahl in 1911 had reached the point where he was able to buy a farm of his own, and he still owns that place, which is well improved and highly valuable, situated 2 12/ miles east of Enterprise. Mr. Lindahl has always taken an active part in public affairs. For eight years he served as trustee of Center Township. Politically he is a democrat. In 1912 he was his party nominee for membership in the board of county commissioners, being defeated by only a narrow margin. For twenty-five years he was a member of the school board of his home district No. 15. On January 20, 1914, Mr. Lindahl was appointed by President Wilson as postmaster of Enterprise, and he is now giving his time and attention to the competent administration of that office. He is a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church. On May 17, 1911, he married Miss Matilda Johnson, who was born in Sweden March 28, 1882. Her parents never came to America, and Mrs. Lindahl made the journey alone in 1904. They have three children, two sons and one daughter: Ethel Maria, born April 11, 1912; Melvin August, born July 26, 1914; and Harold Woodrow, born March 17, 1915. A Standard History Of Kansas and Kansans, by William Elsey Connelley Pages 2556 - 2667