Shawnee County KS Archives Biographies.....Shimer, James C. 
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Author: James L. King (1905)

JAMES C. SHIMER.

    JAMES C. SHIMER, one of Topeka's prominent and reputable business men,
wholesale and retail dealer in coal, feed and flour, was born in Marion County,
Indiana, on the site of the present suburb of Irvington. The story of his life
is one full of interest, exemplifying as it does the power of concentrated
effort, honest endeavor and persistent industry.

    In all the essentials Mr. Shimer is a self-made man. From the age of four
years he was reared in the home of a wealthy uncle, under the direct care of his
paternal grandmother. He assisted on the farm during his boyhood and attended
the local schools until he was 16 years old. He was very ambitious to obtain
higher educational advantages, but his views and those of his uncle did not
coincide and the result was that he left home and hired out to another farmer,
for $16 a month. He remained there one year and, out of that meager salary,
saved enough to clothe him and to pay for a course through business college.
Feeling that now he was better prepared for a life of business usefulness, he
returned to his uncle's farm and remained there until he was 19 years old.

    In 1887 Mr. Shimer came to Kansas and settled at Topeka where he secured
employment in the bridge and building department of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa
Fe Railway shops where he remained for five years. By this time he had
accumulated enough capital to make starting into business for himself, on a
small scale, a possibility. Selecting staple articles as his line, he and his
brother-in-law, H. D. McNeely, under the firm name of McNeely & Shimer, embarked
in the retail coal, flour and feed business, in two small rooms 12 by 14 in
dimensions, located on the site of his present establishment at No. 1815 Kansas
avenue. Mr. McNeely attended to the inside work and Mr. Shimer did the hauling.
The partnership continued only through the first winter and Mr. Shimer has been
alone in the business ever since. Although now a capitalist and one of the most
extensive dealers in his line in Topeka, his early business days were fraught
with a great deal of anxiety and hardship. He had to contend with long credits,
fluctuating prices and general commercial depression and but for the public
confidence he had gained through his honest and upright dealing from the very
first, he could scarcely have managed, at times, to pull through safely.

    During his second year in business his prospects brightened and he was able
to see himself firmly established and with business foresight he recognized the
advisability of purchasing his present site, where the business was first
started. The price asked was $1,200, which he paid in installments. In 1889 ne
erected a fine brick building 20 by 50 feet in dimensions, two stories in
height, borrowing a part of the money necessary for this venture. He now has all
his property paid for, has neither debts nor mortgages and also owns six lots on
Kansas avenue north of his place of business and eight and one-half lots on Van
Buren street, including three houses and his beautiful home which is situated at
No. 1812 Van Buren street. This handsome modern residence cost him $3,200 and is
a model of artistic architecture, an ornament to the street and a home of
comfort and elegance within. When he built his place of business he lived first
in the rooms above his store but later moved into a small house just south of
his present fine residence, where the family resided until the new home was
completed.

    Mr. Shimer has done other building, erecting several substantial barns, one
of these being for his stock, as he owns eight horses. The other is for his hay
and he has a convenient arrangement by which he can handle it right from the
cars without any hauling by teams.

    When Oklahoma Territory was first opened up, Mr. Shimer with a partner
started a mill, the partner's business being to look after the same. He was no
business man and the mill was closed until Mr. Shimer hired a miller to take
charge of it. In the meantime a local Topeka mill, known as the Farmers'
Exchange Mill, situated just west of the Fair Grounds, was also in sad straits,
having an encumbrance upon it of $1,500. This was a business opportunity which
appealed to Mr. Shimer and he succeeded in closing a deal by which an exchange
was made, by which he became the owner of the Farmers' Exchange Mill and the
other parties of the Oklahoma mill. After paying up the mortgage and expending
about $1,500 more in remodeling his newly acquired property, Mr. Shimer had a
very valuable adjunct to his flour and feed business, but other changes and
plans made it an unnecessary feature of his business and he finally disposed of
it. He carries a full line in flour, feed and coal. His coal warehouses are by
the side of the railroad tracks, well above ground and he has every facility for
doing a large business.

    Mr. Shimer can justly be proud of his success. It has been wholly the result
of his own endeavor, without the assistance of relatives or friends or the
doubtful speculation by which immense fortunes have been secured in these latter
days. Honest dealing, prompt delivery and courteous treatment have greatly
assisted Mr. Shimer in his business relations and have brought him the esteem of
his associates.

    Mr. Shimer was married in December, 1889, to Dora McElvain, who was born at
Lincoln, Illinois. They have seven children, namely: Grace, Robert, Merle,
Ralph, Ruth, Emery and Kermet, the youngest being named for the youngest son of
President Roosevelt. Mrs. Shimer and the three youngest children have lately
paid a visit to the old home in Indiana, where the husband and father solved
many of life's very serious problems in his boyhood and youth. They returned
with a much higher appreciation, if possible, of what Mr. Shimer had
accomplished in comparatively so short a time.

    Mr. Shimer has always been active in his support of all movements looking to
the business and social development of Topeka. He has been a liberal contributor
to the city's educational and charitable enterprises and can always be counted
upon to further laudable public improvements. He has been a life-long Republican
and, on account of his substantial character,. has been selected by his party
and fellow-citizens for civic offices. His term as alderman of the Fifth Ward
expired in April, 1905, but his services were of so valuable a nature to the
city and ward that he was not permitted to return to private life, but was
re-elected for another term of two years. His fraternal connection is with the
Knights of Pythias.

    Topeka has, more than many cities, its quota of men who have made their
lives successful through their own efforts and their life histories are
calculated to inspire others with emulation. Mr. Shimer is a prominent example
of this class and his life teaches a lesson of success and how to attain the
goal that must appeal to every young man who is fighting the battle of life
under the constant spur of necessity backed by ambition. A portrait of the
subject of this article appears on a foregoing page in proximity to this.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY, KANSAS
AND
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

EDITED AND COMPILED BY
JAMES L. KING
TOPEKA, KANSAS 

"History is Philosophy Teaching by Examples"

PUBLISHED BY
RICHMOND & ARNOLD,
GEORGE RICHMOND; C. R. ARNOLD.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,
1905.

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