Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Cain, Patrick W. 1863 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 10, 2007, 8:07 pm Author: Emma E. Forter (1917) PATRICK W. CAIN. Patrick W. Cain, one of the best-known, progressive and substantial farmers and stockmen of Franklin township and the proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres on rural route No. 1 out of Beattie, is a native son of Kansas and has lived in this state all his life, a continuous resident of Marshall county since the days of his early childhood, and has thus been a witness to and a participant in the development of this region since pioneer days. He well remembers many of the trying incidents of those pioneer days and believes that the historian will pay proper tribute to those hardy men and women who persevered in establishing homes in Marshall county and in extending the lines of civilization in those early days and will refer to. them as the Kansas "heroes of peace." Mr. Cain was born at Atchison, this state, October 6, 1862, son of Edward and Johanna (FitzGerald) Cain, natives of Ireland, who became pioneers of Marshall county and here spent their last days, honored and respected residents of the community in the development of which they proved potent factors. Edward Cain was born in County Meath, Ireland, in 1826, and there grew to manhood. At the age of twenty-six years he came to the United States and settled in Massachusetts, where he remained for five years and where he became a citizen of the United States. In 1857 he came West and remained in Illinois until the spring of 1858, when he came to Kansas, locating at Leavenworth, whence, the next year, in 1859, he came up into Marshall county and pre-empted a quarter of a section of land in section 17, township 2 south, range 9 east, later organized as Guittard township, and thus became one of the earliest landholders of Marshall county. At Atchison, in 1861, he married and during the Civil War was engaged in the government employ in the steamboat service between St. Joseph and Kansas City. Mr. Cain had learned the hard lessons of economy in his native land and while steamboating saved his wages for the purpose of improving his farm in Marshall county. In August, 1865, he came to this county with his family and established his permanent home on his claim, building a log house on the place and working early and late to bring the farm under cultivation and improve it according to the high standard he had set. Fate was kind to Edward Cain in his new home on what then was the frontier of civilization in the West and he prospered, his brave heart and willing hands standing the test. Times became better and he enjoyed a large measure of success as a farmer and stockman, in due time coming to own four hundred and forty acres of excellent land m this county. In 1892 he built a fine frame house and then, apparently, when his life's dreams became realities, his busy life came to a close, April 20, 1894, on the old homestead, where he had baffled the terrors of pioneers days and had won. Mr. Cain was a Democrat and was always public spirited. He assisted in the organization of Guittard township and in the organization of school district No. 29, the school house in that district having been built on his farm. He was closely identified with the activities of the Catholic church in that neighborhood and saw the parish grow from its original number of eight families to fifty families. On December 22, 1861, at Atchison, this state, Edward Cain was united in marriage to Johanna FitzGerald, who was born in County Limerick, Ireland, in 1832, and who came to the United States in 1851, locating at Baltimore, Maryland, where she remained six years. She then spent two years in Chicago and then, in 1858, came to Kansas, locating at Atchison, where she met and married Edward Cain, and to that union were born four sons and one daughter, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as follow: James H., who married Mary A. Cook and resides at Beattie, where he is engaged in the live-stock business; Mary E., who married Henry G. Frisch and lives near Billings, Oklahoma; John F., a railroad conductor, who married Mary A. Scanlon and resides at Lincoln, Nebraska, and Peter S., a farmer and stockman, who married Kathryn J. Scanlon and resides on the old Cain homestead just north of Beattie. Mrs. Johanna Cain was of a retiring disposition, yet kind and generous to her neighbors. The hand of time rested lightly on her and she lived to see her grandchildren to the number of seventeen. Having assumed the cares and performed the labors of pioneer life in Marshall county, and having done her duty as she saw it, it may well be said that Mrs. Cain did her full share of the world's work. On November 12, 1911, at the old homestead, the scene of her cares and labors for well nigh fifty years, she died at the ripe old age of eighty years. Patrick W. Cain was not yet three years of age when his parents settled in Marshall county in August, 1865, and he grew to manhood on the homestead farm in Guittard township. His first school days were spent in the little old log school house located on his father's farm. When the school-house site was changed to Beattie and the stone school house was erected there, he attended school in the village and acquired a common-school education. Being the eldest son, he was from the days of his boyhood an invaluable aid to his father in the labors of developing and improving the home place. In the spring of 1894 he was married and he and his wife made their home on a farm live miles northeast of Beattie. In the autumn of 1899 Mr. and Mrs. Cain jointly purchased a farm of two hundred and forty acres in section 1 of Franklin township and in the spring of 1900 moved to their new home. On October 1 of that same year, rural free-delivery route No. 1, out of Beattie, was established, bringing the daily mail almost to their door, and the telephone followed in quick succession; and in 1905 a new frame house, with some of the modern conveniences, added another chapter to the development of home life on the Cain farm. Mr. Cain has given much thought to farm problems and, owing to the uncertainty of grain crops, and as a factor in the upkeep of soil fertility, advocates the keeping of cattle on the farm, and usually twenty-five or thirty head are kept on the Cain farm. In the autumn of 1915 Mr. Cain and his son, Daniel, bought four head of registered Shorthorns as foundation stock for a Shorthorn herd. On April 3, 1894, the ceremony taking place in the Catholic church at Center, near Garrison, Nebraska, Patrick W. Cain was united in marriage to Mary A: Schaaf, of that place, who was born at Iowa City, Iowa, January 3, 1866, daughter of George and Anna (Deckert) Schaaf, natives of Europe, the former born in Alsace and the latter in the kingdom of Bavaria, both now deceased. George Schaaf was born in Lower Alsace, France, February 24, 1833, and came to America in 1851, landing at Philadelphia, where he lived for fourteen years and where he became a citizen of the United States. In 1858, at Philadlphia, he married Anna Deckert, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1835, and who came to America in 1842, with her parents, locating at Philadelphia, where she lived for twenty-one years and where she met and married Mr. Schaaf. George Schaaf remained at Philadelphia until 1863, when he came West with his family and settled at Iowa City, Iowa. Two years later they moved to the vicinity of South Liberty, that same state, where Mr. Schaaf bought a quarter of a section of land and where he engaged in farming and stock raising. Some years later he bought a tract of five hundred and sixty acres of railroad land in the vicinity of Garrison, Nebraska, and in 1884 removed with his family to that place and established his home, becoming a substantial farmer and stockman. George Schaaf was a man of fine character and of excellent business judgment. Possessed of that quality of genius which has been defined as "a capacity for hard work," success crowned his efforts and from time to time he purchased more land near Garrison, until he became the owner of eight hundred acres. George Schaaf was one of the leading factors in the Catholic church in his home parish at Center. Politically, he was a Democrat and ever took a good citizen's part in the public affairs of his home community. He died at his home near Garrison on January 5, 1905, and it was afterward said of him that "The young man who contemplates entering 'the university of hard knocks/ and who aspires to become a good and useful citizen, will find much inspiration in the life of George Schaaf." To George and Anna (Deckert) Schaaf were born five children, three sons and two daughters, of whom Mrs. Cain was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow: George J., who died on November 6, 1892, at the age of twenty-nine years; Frank E., who married Gertrude McDunn and now resides at Lincoln, Nebraska, where he is engaged in the real-estate business; Anna G., who married August Bauermeister and resides at McLean, Saskatchewan, Canada, and Albert J., who married Rose Vanderheiden and resides at Columbus, Nebraska. Mrs. Anna Schaaf, the mother of these children, survived her husband more than five years and her last days were spent in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Bauermeister, at McLean, Saskatchewan, where her death occurred on May 22, 1911, at the ripe old age of seventy-five years. Mrs. Schaaf was of genial disposition and was devoted to her home and family. She was a woman of tact and good judgment and rendered valuable assistance to her husband in his business affairs. She lived to see her grandchildren to the number of fourteen. To Patrick W. and Mary A. (Schaaf) Cain seven children have been born, three sons and four daughters, namely: Anna Eveline, one of Marshall county's successful school teachers; Daniel O'Connell, who was graduated from the Beattie high school and is now ably assisting his father in the management of the farm, giving particular attention to the live stock; Eleanor Marie, Gertrude Rose and Thomas Jefferson, who are afflicted with defective hearing and are attending the Ephpheta School for the Deaf in Chicago; Genevieve, who died in infancy and Vincent LaFayette, who died in his eleventh year. Mrs. Cain is a splendid type of the home-loving-woman and she and her husband have worked hard that their children might receive a good education and enjoy some of the advantages of life in this generation. Yet, things have not always come their way. True, there were good days- days when fate seemed very kind, when, in a measure, "love's young dream" came true, but there were dark days, too; notably, July 23, 1913-a day never to be forgotten when their son, Vincent LaFayette Cain, a bright and most lovable child of ten years, died of diphtheria. In politics, Mr. Cain is a Democrat and, while never seeking political honors, is a close student of political questions. He holds that every American carries the grave responsibility of doing his own thinking and that the citizen can best serve his country politically by heeding Washington's solemn warning with respect to the baneful effects of the spirit of party. Mr. Cain has a fine library and is enthusiastic on the subject of intellectual growth. He believes that every American should read and think and grow with the years. He also believes that there is no better way of improving the odds and ends of time than by reading good books, and considers it a rare treat to commune with the world's great minds. Mr. Cain believes that fraternal organizations are among the necessities of modern economic society and he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of Amercia, of the Knights of Columbus and of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, in the affairs of all of which orders he takes a warm interest. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions by Emma E. Forter Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/cain429gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ksfiles/ File size: 12.5 Kb