R. A. Odenweller, secretary and treasurer of the Pleasanton Monument & Ice Company, of Pleasanton, Kan., was born at Macomb, Ill., Aug. 29, 1854. He is a son of Leonard and Elizabeth (Danley) Odenweller, the former of whom was a native of Germany, and the latter of Dayton, Ohio. Leonard Odenweller left the Fatherland in 1836, when twenty-one years of age, and came to the United States, locating first at Philadelphia, Pa. From there he passed down the coast to New Orleans, thence up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati, and from there he continued on to Dayton, Ohio. There he engaged at his trade as a steel worker, until 1844, and in the meantime had met and married Miss Elizabeth Danley. In 1844 they removed to Macomb, Ill., making the journey with an ox team and going via Chicago, which was then but a mere village. They were accompanied to that state by a Mr. Hampton, the father of the present publishers of the "Hampton Magazine." Leonard Odenweller never followed his trade as a steel worker after his removal to Illinois, but gave the most of his attention to agricultural pursuits and to freighting across the plains. The buying of relinquishments of squatter's rights, the wise management of his large farming interests, and the prevailing high prices during the Civil war period, had all contributed materially to his financial success, so that at the time of his death he had become a wealthy man. He resided over forty years at Macomb, but lived retired some years prior to his death, Feb. 27, 1887, and his wife passed away about a year and a half later.

R. A. Odenweller was reared at Macomb and received his education in the public schools of that city and in Abingdon, now Eureka College, Euruka, Ill., where he made a very creditable record as a student. After completing his college course he engaged in teaching several years prior to engaging in the mercantile business, which he has almost continuously followed. He came to Kansas in 1888, and located in Pleasanton, which has since been his home. Mr. Odenweller conducted a meat market until January, 1907, when he opened up a marble and granite business in Pleasanton. The business was successful from the start and developed so rapidly that, in 1909, he took as a partner, a Mr. Holmes. In 1910 D. A. N. Chase purchased the interest of Mr. Holmes and became president of the company. The Pleasanton Monument & Ice Company was incorporated in 1908, under the laws of Kansas, and conducts the only marble works in Linn county. Their store rooms are on the corner of Tenth and Main streets, and their shop, located at the same place, is fitted up with pneumatic tools and with strictly modern equipment and appliances for marble and granite work. The company is also engaged in the sale of automobiles and is now handling the Ford car.

On Jan. 11, 1881, Mr. Odenweller married Miss Mary F. Stookey, of Macomb, Ill. They have one daughter, Garnet, who is the wife of W. C. Travis, of Butler, Mo. Politically, he is a Republican, and fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, and the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Odenweller has entered into not only the business life of Pleasanton but the social and public life as well since his residence there, and through his ability and usefulness is ranked as one of its most prominent and influential citizens. He has served as mayor of Pleasanton, in which capacity he proved an efficient official, and has also held other offices of trust. He is a member and elder in the Christian church at Pleasanton, and is an active and consistent worker in the church. Mr. Odenweller is a public speaker of considerable ability and has on a number of occasions occupied the pulpit of his own denomination, as well as of other churches.