Gus F. Wiehe

GUS F. WIEHE. - Pursuing the even tenor of his way as a farmer and brickmaker during the sixteen years of his residence in this state, living prudently, working diligently and exemplifying from day to day the attributes of elevated and worthy citizenship in all the relations of life. Gus F. Wiehe of Kansas City, Kansas, has rendered his day and generation good service so far, both in what he has accomplished himself and in the forces he has set in motion in others by the influence of his excellent example.

Although not a native of Kansas, Mr. Wiehe is as true and loyal to every interest of the state as if he had been born in it and had drawn his stature and his strength from its fruitful soil. His life began at Farley, Platte county, Missouri, on April 15, 1873, and he is a son of William and Caroline (Stagemiller) Wiehe, natives of Germany. The father came to the United States in 1831 and located in Cincinnati, Ohio. From there he moved a short time afterward to Indiana, where he married and remained three years. His tendency was still westward, however, and at the end of the period mentioned he came on to the border of Kansas, taking up his residence on a farm in Platte county, Missouri, on which he passed the remainder of his days, dying there in 1901. His widow still makes her home on the farm, and is now (1911) seventy-six years of age.

They were the parents of seven children, all of whom are living: Frank, a resident of Wallula, Kansas; Florence, the widow of Fred Khronee, whose home is in Leavenworth; Elizabeth, the wife of Charles Meyer, a prosperous citizen of Fairmount, Kansas; Henry and John, who still live at Farley, Missouri; Gus F., the subject of this brief review, and Lena, who is her mother's companion and helper on the old homestead. All are doing well in their several localities and occupations, and are highly respected wherever they are known for their sterling worth.

Mr. Wiehe remained with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-one, receiving his education in the district schools of his native county, and acquiring habits of useful industry in the work of his father's farm. In 1894 he moved to Leavenworth county, this state, determined to thenceforth make his own way in the world solely by his own energy and ability, without any aid from family connections or influence. He rented a farm in Leavenworth county for five years and prospered in the use of it, doing his work intelligently and with steady and diligence, and managing his affairs with close attention and good judgment.

Tiring of farming and seeing an opening in industrial life better suited to his desires, he quit tilling the soil and accepted employment in yard No. 3 of the Kaw Brick Company of Kansas City, Kansas. He worked in this yard four years with such capacity and fidelity that at the end of that time he was made superintendent of the company's clay fields at Fairdale. After five years of highly acceptable service to the company in this position it made him superintendent of its plant No. 3 in Kansas City, and he is still one of its reliable aids and supports in that position. In this plant the company employs regularly thirty men all the year round in the manufacture of the widely and favorably known Trip Hammer brick. Mr. Wiehe was married on January 29, 1894, to Miss Mary Myrick, who was born in Wolcott, Kansas, and is a daughter of George and Emma Myrick, the parents both natives of Pennsylvania.

Mr. and Mrs. Wiehe have two children, Clyde, sixteen years old and Leota, ten years old. The parents are zealous members of the Christian church, though the children are attendants of the German Lutheran church. The father adheres to the Democratic party in political allegiance, being a firm believer in the principles of his party, but he is not an active partisan in campaign work and has no ambition for public office, whether it come to him by election or appointment. He finds plenty to keep him occupied and satisfy all his desires for productive activity in his work, without seeking additional cares in public life, But he takes an earnest and helpful interest in the affairs of his city and county, and does his share of what is necessary to promote the best interests of the region in which he lives. He is widely known and everywhere esteemed as a good man and excellent citizen.