William E. Schuetz

WILLIAM E. SCHUETZ. - It is a noteworthy fact that there is no calling in life where the son so often follows in the footsteps of his father as in the case of farming. William E. Schuetz started in his father's footsteps, but the strides of the son have been longer and more rapid. He has made tracks of his own, branching out in other directions than those taken by his father. That is as it should be if there is to be any true advancement. Mr. Schuetz has seized every opportunity to fit himself for whatever might come. Each man catches fish that are just as large as his line will allow. The question is are we going to angle for minnows or for whales. Education will change the fisherman's cotton string into a steel rope that will hold any catch. Education does not comprise simply the things that one learns at school. It signifies the drawing out of what is best in a man and putting his resources to the best possible use. His success can never exceed the efficiency of his line and he cannot borrow another man's line. Mr. Schuetz, although he did not have the advantage of much schooling, is nevertheless an educated man in the most conprehensive[sic] sense of the word. He has observed and studied as he went along and has achieved more success than the man who has had much more schooling and thinks that the training is going to carry him through without further effort on his part. The world measures success by dollars and cents; Mr. Schuetz has them. It also measures success by influence and prominence in some direction. Mr. Schuetz fulfils the conditions in that respect also.

Born in 1866, in Wyandotte county, Ohio, he is the son of John and Catherine Schuetz. His mother's maiden name was Wilderwood; she was born in Ohio in 1839. John Schuetz was born in Ohio in 1834 and he was a farmer in his native state. In 1870 he came to Wyandotte county, Kansas, and settled in Shawnee township. He cleared one hundred acres of land and improved it. He became a man of prominence in the community and was township treasurer for one year. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. John Schuetz had five children, - James M., who married Lyda Ebeck, now lives in Kansas City, Kansas; Chester, who died when quite young; William E.; Anna May, who is the wife of Robert Brantigan and is now living in Clyde, Kansas; Bertha D., the wife of Frank Ashlock, now living on the adjoining farm; and John Schuetz died in 1897 and his widow still lives on the farm with her son.

William E. Schuetz came from Ohio to Kansas with his father and mother when he was four years old. They came from Wyandotte county, Ohio, to Wyandotte county, Kansas, from one farm to another farm. Here William has lived ever since and he now manages the hundred acres of land that his father cleared. William has thus spent his whole life on a farm, but he has mixed so much with other people that he has not become narrow. He holds the office which his father held before him, that of township treasurer. He is a member of the school board and is greatly interested in the educational work of the public school system. He, like his father, is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Select Knights fraternal order. He is a member of the Central Protective Association. In addition to the hundred acres on which he lives, Mr. Schuetz owns one hundred and sixty acres in Stephens county, Kansas. He raises wheat and fruit, shipping a great quantity of the latter.

In 1894 Mr. Schuetz was married to Maud Baker, who was born June 11, 1872, in Wyandotte county, Ohio, and her parents are still living there. The two families were intimate back East and the young people knew each other practically all their lives. Mrs. Schutez died March 28, 1900, leaving three children, - Glenn W., Marguerite and Fanny.

Mr. Schuetz is a Democrat and he is deeply interested in the world of politics. He does not accept everything that is set forth on the Democrat platform without investigating for himself. He, of course, looks for the ultimate triumph of the Democratic party and in the meantime is willing to do everything in his power for the good of the country at large and his township in particular. There is not a man in the township who is better known or more respected than William E. Schuetz. The district of Argentine, in which he lives, is rapidly growing and bids fair to become a great agricultural center in the state of Kansas.