Louis Antoine

LOUIS ANTOINE. - The life of Louis Antoine is a noble illustration of what independence, self faith and persistency can accomplish in America. He is a self-made man in the most significant sense of the word for no one helped him in a financial way and he was practically self-educated. As a young man he was strong, vigorous and self-reliant. He trusted in his own ability and did things single handed and alone. Today he stands supreme as a successful business man and a loyal and public spirited citizen. Most of his attention has been devoted to mechanical work and to fanning but he is now living virtually retired on a tract of five acres of land near Rosedale, in Shawnee township, Wyandotte county, Kansas.

A son of Francis Antoine, Louis was born on the 17th of April, 1840 and he is a scion of a distinguished old French family, representatives of the name having held many important official positions in France. Louis Antoine was reared to adult age in his native land, to whose excellent schools he is indebted for his preliminary educational training, the same having been later supplemented by extensive reading and association with important affairs. As a young man he learned the trades of mechinist and cooper and he came to America in the year 1872. Landing in New York city, he left his family in that place for a short time and proceeded to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he secured work at his trade. Eight days later he sent for his wife and three children and in 1873 the family home was established in Wyandotte county, Kansas. For the ensuing three years he was engaged in work at the cooper's trade and on the 6th of November, 1876, he purchased a farm of thirty acres in Shawnee township. This estate was all wild land and after erecting a small wooden shack he began to clear the same, later putting up the buildings where Mr. Lust now lives. For a period of twenty-six years he was engaged in farming operations on his attractive little estate and in 1902 he erected the beautiful residence in which he now lives. He sold a portion of his land to Mr. Lust and retains five acres, which he devotes to truck farming and the raising of berries and small fruits.

In France, on the 11th of June, 1861, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Antoine to Miss Jennie Mary Golet, a daughter of Grode and Jeanette (Darfine) Golet, and a native of France, where her birth occurred on the 8th of August, 1843. Mr. and Mrs. Antoine became the parents of six children, three of whom were born in France, namely: Edward; Bertha, who is now Mrs. Benjamin Wood, of Kansas City; and Mary, who wedded Felix Goudard, of Shawnee township. Concerning the children born in America, Margaret is the wife of George Mitler, of this county; Louis is a cement worker and contractor in Kansas City; and Louise is now Mrs. John Newman, of Kansas City. Through the marriage of his children, Mr. Antoine has a Welsh daughter-in-law and a Brazillian daughter-in-law, and an Irishman, a German and a Swede as sons-in-law.

As a young man in France Louis Antoine served on the city militia during the French war, his military career extending through a period of three months, during which time he was under fire of the enemy three times. In politics Mr. Antoine accords an uncompromising allegiance to the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor. He has never held any public office, strictly speaking, but has served with willingness and ability on a number of juries in Wyandotte county. He has exerted his every effort to serve the county well and has ever been a liberal contributor of his aid and influence in support of all measures and enterprises projected for the good of the general welfare. In the most significant sense of the word Mr. Antoine is a representative citizen of Rosedale and Shawnee township and he is everywhere accorded the unalloyed confidence and esteem of his fellow men.