Homage for Early Contributors

Rev. Henry Acker relocated the Evangelical Lutheran Church to Whitewater from Annelly in 1889.

Dr. Connell V. Alexander was the only dentist the town ever had. He took over the dental work from the local medical doctors.

Peter E. Ashenfelter was the first lawyer, moving to Whitewater from Brainerd.

Ben Beck was the first lineman for the Whitewater Telephone Company ca. 1903.

Morgan Marcellus Bishop opened the Bishop Hotel in late 1887. He was also an early photographer in town.

Boyd Blackford established a service station in 1946 at Main & Vine. He sold Mobil gasoline and oil until 1961. Subsequently, he sold Phillips 66, getting his products from Claassen Oil Supply Company in Newton. Blackford sold his station to Shorty Brown Oil Company in August 1978.

Fred Breising, Sr. built a small frame building (now described as a wood frame, vernacular Italiante, false fronted commercial structure) in 1888 just south of the Neuman Hardware. This was Whitewater’s first meat market. A photo of the original building on Main Street is available.44

The shop sold fresh and cured meats. Breising butchered and cured his own meats. He also hauled natural ice from the creek and ponds in the winter, which was stored in a special building in back of the store. Fred Jr. served in World War I and when he returned, he worked for W.M. Nolder, the Whitewater poultry dealer. In 1924 Fred Jr. married Hazel Thompson and when Fred Sr. retired Fred Jr. took over the business with Hazel helping in the store. The meat market moved to the Penner location in the 1940s. The Breisings retired in 1952. The original building was rented to Everett Sanders Electric and later purchased by Neuman Hardware. In 1949 it was leased to the town library and in 1988 the building was relocated to the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita.

Frank Broadstreet was the first station agent at the Rock Island Railroad depot.

Claus Henry Bruhn opened the first town blacksmith shop on the street west of Main in 1888, which became the oldest business in continued service until the shop closed on October 16, 1971.

Henry was born in Schleswig, Germany, May 20, 1864 where he learned the trade of blacksmithing. He arrived in New York with two cousins in 1887. They had tickets to Newton, Kansas but no money left to feed themselves on the trip west, so they borrowed $5 from a minister and sent the money back in two weeks. The anvil block, which Henry cut from a walnut tree along the West Branch of the Whitewater River and pushed to his shop in a hand cart, still held his anvil in 1964.45

By September 15, 1888 Henry moved to Main Street and built a frame building for his shop. In 1911, he tore down the first frame building and built a two-story brick building joining his and an adjacent lot. He sold implements, buggies, and wagons. In 1904, he contracted to handle John Deere Company plows and tractors.46 To help with the increased workload, son Herman quit school and went to work for his father. In 1917, Herman bought the blacksmith shop, but soon had to close it for 11 months until he returned from military duty in 1919. In 1971, Herman retired and on October 16, 1971 the oldest business in Whitewater ended. The materials and tools that had continued to hand forge items like in the horse-and-buggy days were auctioned.

As the workers were preparing for the auction, an item was found that looked like welded pipes. After closer examination it proved to be an inoperable machine gun. In the 1920s, The Peoples State Bank was located across the street from the blacksmith shop. That was an era noted for bank robberies, and to protect the bank, the bankers strategically placed guns in various shops across the street to use in the event of a robbery. 47

In the days of horse-drawn equipment, a two bottom plow would run half a day (3-5 acres) and then need to make a trip to the blacksmith shop. Gustav Harder, who farmed Section 16 east of Whitewater, had four sets of plows. One set was in the field plowing. One set was on its way to the blacksmith shop for sharpening. One set was in the shop to be drawn out to a sharp edge. And the fourth was on its way back to the field after being sharpened.48

Edward T. Burns built the first elevator east of the Missouri Pacific depot on the railroad siding. He was the only one to use a horse treadmill to power his elevator in the first few years. Subsequently, he used the first gasoline engine to replace it. He later consolidated with R. H. Farr who established the Whitewater Mill and Elevator Company in 1898. Mr. Burns was the first grain buyer and coal dealer in Whitewater.

C. C. Carter, established the first dray and general hauling business.

Mrs. David Cave had a millinery store.

Clinton V. Chaney and C. S. “Coon” Stuart were the first grain and livestock buyers to have an office on Main Street. They also tended the city scales.

W. D. Chaney had the first high class hotel, the Hotel Leslie venture.

Edmund Davis was the initial editor of The Independent. Previously named the Whitewater Herald, the paper changed management and was named The Independent on October 8, 1896 to reflect the independent political views of the new editor, Edmund Davis. The Independent was one of the substantial and progressive newspapers of the country in 1916.

Edmund D. “Ted” Davis, Jr. who replaced his father at The Independent was also independent and a leader like his father. He was instrumental in organizing the American Legion Post in Whitewater and was the first Post Commander of William P. Phillips Post 65. The present Legion Hall was built in 1951.

Fay Davis was the first telephone operator for the Whitewater Telephone Company ca. 1901. Since the telephone service was initiated by her father in the offices of The Independent, Fay and all of her sisters were telephone operators at various times.

Carroll B. Dean was an early livery stable operator.

John A. Dilzer was the first harness maker. He later sold out to his brother, Frank W. Dilzer, who added hardware to the business.

Eberhard, Thompson, & Francis established the first garage in 1909 selling Fuller and Gleason autos. Their first sale was a Fuller auto to Peter Zuercher. They also sold the first auto tires in town. A year later Eberhard & Golden also handled Maxwell autos with Dr. John Horner and Henry Gale as early buyers.

Mr. Eberhard was also the first real estate agent. His associate was Harry Mellor. Other agents in the early 1900s were Jas. Thompson, Frank Laughlin, and Isaac Howard Neiman.

John Eilert opened a general merchandise store in late 1887.

R. H. Farr built the Whitewater Mill and Elevator in 1898. He was joined by Burns who consolidated his mill along the Missouri Pacific Railroad with the Whitewater Mill, located adjacent to the Rock Island Railroad. In 1916, it was thought Farr had more to do with the industrial development of Whitewater in recent years than any other man.

Mr. Farr took part in the organization of the Peoples State Bank in 1908. He also established the first Electric Light and Ice Co. in 1913. The first electric light system was installed in the Whitewater Flour Mill. He is also remembered as owning the first auto in town, a Rambler.

L. Fessler of Newton owned a brickyard and kiln on the east bank of the West Branch of the Whitewater River between the Rock Island Depot and the Missouri Pacific bridge. The first building in Whitewater using Whitewater manufactured bricks was built by Gerhard W. Penner. The first brick sidewalk to replace wooden boardwalks was in front of the Bank of Whitewater in 1897.

J. Fowler was one of the original carpenters.

C. E. Francis started the mortuary in the early 1900s in his furniture store. This business was subsequently purchased by Frank Bishop and then by Harold M. Smith and his brother who bought the furniture store and mortuary in 1922. The furniture business was closed in 1930.

Frank Gronau had a Chevrolet dealership in Whitewater.

George B. Hanstine, cashier of the Peoples State Bank, was considered one of Butler County’s successful financiers. For the first 28 years of his life he was engaged in farming and cattle feeding, frequently feeding as many as five hundred head at one time. Upon joining the bank as cashier, he was the executive head of the bank. He also was the manager of the alfalfa mill; Whitewater was one of the first towns to have one.

He and Mrs. Hanstine took a prominent part in the educational and social life of Whitewater and in 1916 were numbered among its most valued and esteemed citizens. He served as president of the Whitewater Commercial Club.

Henry Heigerd ran the first furniture store in town.

Dr. H. Henderson moved his practice to Whitewater from Annelly in 1888 and, along with his practice, managed Kinney Drug Store, which was the first drug store.

Dr. John Horner was the first doctor. He was a native of Kentucky, grew up in Indiana and Illinois, and worked for a time in the steamboat business before he came to Butler County in 1870, where he filed a homestead claim one-half mile east of Whitewater on Section 18, which now adjoins the town of Whitewater. He enrolled in the Eclectic School of Practice, Cincinnati, Ohio and graduated in 1880 at the age of 51. He practiced in Brainerd before he moved to Whitewater. He was a musician and had the first organ in the community and organized an 18 member city band in 1890.

The Huguenin Brothers, early in 1905, opened a store in the Eilert building. The store stocked dry goods, shoes, and gentlemen’s and ladies’ furnishings. Above the store was a large hall known as Huguenin’s Hall. It was a meeting place for secret orders: the IOOF, AOUW, Modern Woodmen, and the DAR. Dances were also held in this hall.

James Dew Joseph was active in farming and purchased an interest in the Bank of Whitewater in 1892 and became assistant cashier on April 1, 1892. He married Whitewater’s first school teacher Mary Margaret Neiman on March 2, 1892.

Joseph organized a telephone system in 1901. The first phone office was in a lean-to on the north side of The Independent office. The first phone installed was in that office and was No. 1. The company was first organized with twenty-five phones; the shares were $25 each for towns people only. In 1903 the country lines were installed with the Mutual System and the Whitewater Telephone Company was established. Arthur J. Nigg purchased the Whitewater Telephone Company from J. D. Joseph in 1923 after moving to Whitewater from Chicago. Southwestern Bell bought the company in August 1941 and built a new building at Main and Topeka in 1961.

In 1912, J. D. Joseph was elected to the Senate of the State Legislature as a Democrat. He served for four years during which time he introduced 52 bills of which 17 became law greatly impacting bank regulations in Kansas.49

Mr. Oliver Kinney ran a broom factory after the drug store moved out of their building.

James Campbell Kirkwood established a lumber yard in Annelly in 1886, but moved it to Whitewater in 1889 to a site next to the Missouri Pacific Railroad on the east side of Main Street. His son, R. G. Kirkwood, continued the business. In the 1890s, they also handled farm implements. For a time they maintained two warehouses, one storing buggies exclusively. At one time the R. G. Kirkwood Lumber Company was the oldest and largest lumber and coal yard in northwest Butler County.

William H. Lambert & Son had a grocery market in the 1890s. They were the first grocers to add a meat counter. Other firms carrying groceries and fresh meats were Penners and Breisings.

P. D. McArthur was the first resident agent at the Missouri Pacific Depot ca. 1888.

O. E. McDowell was the first barber and a part-time painter. He also ran the Hesston Creamery Company station located in the northwest part of town. In the early years farmers brought their whole milk to the skimming station, with the cream being purchased by the creamery and the skimmed milk returned to the farmer. McDowell later also operated a grocery store.

Arthur H. McLain, President of the Whitewater Bank of Brainerd moved his business to Whitewater in 1889. This bank failed in the depression of 1891 and was reorganized by G. P. and I. H. Neiman on April 3, 1891 as the Bank of Whitewater.

In 1890 the McLains also started the first waterworks system, built by John E. Ford of Newton, a waterworks contractor. The windmill-powered waterworks was purchased by the city in 1892 for use as the municipal water supply. It consisted of a tank, where any resident could get water for private use, and a watering trough.

The McLains are also credited with moving the first building from Brainerd, which was used as part of the H. H. Norris house on South Church Street.

George McSparrin was an early livery stable operator.

William Miller was the first section foreman on the Rock Island line and moved to Whitewater from Peabody.

Dr. H. H. Morris from Annelly moved his practice to Whitewater in 1888.

Mr. Morrison moved his newspaper printing press, on which he was printing the Brainerd Ensign, from Brainerd to Whitewater.

The last issue of the Brainerd Ensign (named the Brainerd Sun from October 15, 1885 to October 14, 1886) was printed on June 15, 1889. The paper was sold to the Tribune Printing Company, which issued the first Whitewater Tribune on June 20, 1889 with Al Hendee as editor. The name was later changed to the Whitewater Herald on June 22, 1893. In 1896 the Whitewater Herald paper changed management and was named The Independent on October 8, 1896 to reflect the independent political views of the new editor, Edmund Davis. In the March 7, 1935 issue of The Independent, it was mentioned that they were beginning their 51st year that week. In 1980 the newspaper was sold to the El Dorado Times and was issued as the Butler County News. Early in 1981 the Whitewater news began to appear each Thursday in the El Dorado Times.

Joe Motter opened a barber shop in 1921 and remained in business for 40 years.

Samuel Lincoln Motter opened a general store in August 1887 and was appointed the Deputy Postmaster in 1888. He was the first city clerk.

E. L. Neal was the first tinner and tank maker and opened his business in 1891. He moved to Whitewater in 1888.

George W. Neal operated the first lumber yard in Whitewater, moving his lumber and hardware from Brainerd in 1889. This store closed in 1905. From 1871 to 1884, he did business in Peabody before moving to Brainerd.

Neal & Reeves had the Ford Agency here for years on Main Street.

Neuman Hardware was started in 1925. Art (A. B.) Neuman bought the business from his father after World War II. The store was a full line hardware store and held the International Harvester franchise.

George Peter Neiman homesteaded the south half of the southwest quarter of Section 18 in 1869 and built a log cabin. Plowing the first furrow in Milton Township is attributed to him. The town of Whitewater developed on his land beginning in 1887 after a north-south railroad intersected the east-west railroad built in 1885. George P. Neiman and his younger brother Isaac Howard Neiman created the Bank of Whitewater in 1891.

Isaac Howard Neiman opened the Whitewater Post Office on May 15, 1888. He was the first postmaster, receiving his appointment from President Cleveland. The location of the post office was in Isaac H. Neiman’s building at the northwest corner of Main and Rock Island, leased to S. L. Motter for his general store.

Plowing the first furrow in Harvey County is attributed to him. He was the first Sunday School Superintendent in the Grace Reformed Church, an early stock buyer in Whitewater, and he also fed many cattle and hogs at the yards south of town.

Mary Margaret Neiman was the first teacher in the one-room grade school built in 1889 near the Rock Island Railroad. She continued teaching until she married James D. Joseph on March 2, 1892. The first school board directors of Butler-Harvey County District 95 were John Eilert, Joseph Weatherby, and Chester Smith. In 1890, a four-room, two story building was erected on the present school block. County District 95 had been initiated years earlier as the Holden School on the north edge of Section 20 just east of town and then relocated to the town site of Whitewater.

William Newbury had the first shoe cobbler shop in the 1890s. He handled cold drinks and homemade ice cream in season and was also the first city marshal.

Harley Madison Nolder was the first Whitewater poultry dealer.

Dr. Harrison H. Norris was a settler physician and moved his practice from Annelly to Whitewater in 1888. He grew up in Peabody, Kansas and went through Peabody High School. He trained at the Eclectic School of Practice, Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating in 1885. He remained in Whitewater until 1891 and then after a period in Wisconsin, he returned in 1898 and resumed his practice in Whitewater.

George H. Otte moved from Annelly and opened a general store by August 1887. He was elected the first mayor of Whitewater in 1889.

L. M. Pace came to Whitewater from Peabody as station agent for the Rock Island Railroad. After 1899 he and his son had a hardware store and also operated the first filling station. The first moving picture show was in one of the Pace buildings.

Gerhard W. Penner was born on January 7, 1861 at Neukirch, Kr. Marienburg, West Prussia, the son of Jacob Penner, a Mennonite merchant. Gerhard worked as a merchant apprentice in a fabric and linen business in Tiegenhof for 3-1/2 years until he was almost 20 years old. Following his mandatory registration for the military reserves in June of 1883, he decided to follow his older brothers Johann ("John") and Rudolph Penner to Butler County, Kansas, arriving in 1884 and settling in the Emmaus Mennonite Church community. He married Helena Dyck in 1887, and they resided at Brainerd until 1889 when they moved to the new town of Whitewater. He served as a postmaster of Whitewater for a period of four years from May 1893-May 1897. Following the death of his widowed mother in 1898, he used his inheritance to build and stock the Penner Department Store in 1899, offering both dry goods and groceries to his customers. Within a short time he built a new building for his business; it was constructed of brick manufactured by Fessler Kiln of Whitewater. The Penner store was the first to install gas lights in a business establishment. Gerhard retired about 1921 after selling the store to his oldest son, Arthur H. ("Nix") Penner, and moved to Santa Monica, California with his wife, two daughters and youngest son, where he lived until his death on 31 October 1940. The Penner Department Store remained in operation until "Nix's" retirement in the 1950s.

E. S. Raymond moved his drug store to Whitewater from Brainerd.

Dr. William (Wilhelm) E. Regier was the son of the Rev. Jacob W. and Agathe Regier, charter members of the Zion Mennonite Church, Elbing and a grandson of Abraham Regier (1817-1890). He received his college degree in 1903 at Bethel College and his M.D. degree from University Medical College, Kansas City, MO. He began his medical career in Elbing from 1907 to 1910. Following several years of practice in Harper, Kansas and some graduate work at the Illinois Medical School, Chicago, he opened a general practice in Whitewater in 1913, which he continued until his death in 1950.

Dan Resnik was granted the Chrysler-Plymouth agency in 1934. He had initiated a blacksmith and repair business in 1931.

The Roach brothers owned a general store in 1889.

Sol Schreffler was the first section foreman on the Missouri Pacific line. He was moved to Whitewater from Brainerd.

O. C. Sharp was an early livery stable operator.

O. C. Shay, owned and operated the first livery stable. He also was the first mail carrier from the Rock Island Railroad to the post office.

Rev. D. B. Shuey organized the Grace Reformed Church in 1888. This was the first church in Whitewater.

Chester Smith moved his house from Annelly to Whitewater in January 1888. He ran a carpet weaving plant. At one time he served as a police judge.

Vern & Erma Sohnrey built Whitewater Recreation (Pub & Pool Hall) in 1945. Merton Wiens bought the place in 1967.

W. Spencer moved to Whitewater from Annelly in the fall of 1887 to build and operate the Spencer Hotel. He was also an early photographer.

Clyde Stark opened a cold storage locker plant in 1945. Blaine Bowlin bought the plant in June 1956.

W. A. Sterling was the first grain buyer and coal dealer on the Rock Island track.

C. S. “Coon” Stuart and Clinton V. Chaney were the first grain and livestock buyers to have an office on Main Street. They also tended the city scales.

Ben Todd was the first plasterer and did wall plastering.

W. F. Wakefield opened the first restaurant. He relocated from Peabody.

Henry H. Weachman was the first to deal in hardware and farm implements.

Joseph Weatherby was the first carpenter, relocating from Annelly, and erected a great many buildings in the new growing town of Whitewater. His first job in town was to build the first church, the Grace Reformed Church in 1888.

C. F. Weber built the first elevator along the Rock Island Railroad. This building was torn down ca. 1930.

W. H. Wert was an early carpenter in Whitewater.

C. White started the Chevrolet agency. The agency was sold to C. Bell and then in 1929 Frank Gronau bought the franchise and held it until he closed the agency, sold his equipment, and retired in June 1976.

T. J. Whiteside owned a general store in 1889.

Bus Williams operated the first bakery.

Charles Wilson had the first dry cleaner and hat rebuilding shop.

Prof. Guy Winn organized a Military Band in 1904.

Levi E. Zimmerman and corporation purchased the Whitewater Mill and Elevator in 1918.

Contact Us:
P.O. Box 87
Whitewater, KS 67154
Phone: (316) 799-2137