Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 190 - 191 

WILLIAM H. STERNBERG, who is one of the prominent citizens of Wichita, arrived here in time to assist in the building up of the town, the growth of which has been phenomenal.  He has been one of the most interested witnesses of its progress and development, and no unimportant factor in bringing it to its present proud position.  As a man of influence, public spirit and liberal, this brief record of his history will be more than ordinarily interesting to those who are identified in any way with the business or industrial interests of one of the leading cities of the West.

     Our subject, who, the greater part of his life, has been engaged as a builder and contractor, is a descendant of substantial German ancestry, the first representatives of whom emigrated to the United States and settled along the Mohawk Valley during the period of the early history of the Empire State.  The Sternbergs were an exceedingly thrifty and prosperous race of people, of strong constitutions and simple habits, and from whom have sprung hundreds of descendants, who are now scattered from New York to California.  Among the most industrious and well-to-do of these was Nicholas, the father of our subject, who was born in Oneida County, N. Y., on land now owned by the celebrated Oneida community.

      The father of our subject early in life learned the trades of carpenter and builder, and married Miss Catherine, daughter of John and Catherine Magley, who were natives of New York, though of German descent.  The father lived to be eighty-five years of age, and the mother, who survived her husband, was ninety-six years old at the time of her decease.  They were the parents of nine children, namely: Catherine,  Margaret, Ann, Maria, Lavina, William H., John, Joseph and Aaron.  Mr. Sternberg about 1810 removed from Oneida to Montgomery County, and from there, in 1836, to Chenango County, where he purchased a tract of land in the heavy timber, and cleared a good farm of 120 acres.  Among the heavy trees were many sugar maples, and these the father utilized, manufacturing from them genuine maple syrup without adulteration.

      The scenes of the "sugar-bush" were among the earliest recollections of the subject of this sketch.  He still has a clear remembrance of the appearance of the camp at night, with its bright fires in the dense woods, and the gathering of the young people at the "sugaring-of," which was always attended with more or less hilarity.  Nicholas Sternberg was a man of great force of character, an old-line Whig, politically, and at one time bore the rank of Lieutenant in the State Militia.  Both he and his excellent wife were devout members of the Christian Church.  The father lived to the age of seventy-four years, dying about 1874; the mother in 1875, at the age of seventy-two years.

      William H. Sternberg was born in Montgomery County, N. Y., Feb. 17, 1831, amid the pioneer scenes of a thickly wooded country, learning to drive an ox-team and becoming familiar with all the shifts and turns to which the early settlers were compelled to resort in building up their homes and maintaining their families.  The felling of the giants of the forest and the log rollings consequent thereon were among the incidents of everyday life, and the boy at an early period learned from his father the use of tools, at which he became quite an expert.  His education was carried on in the stereotyped log school-house, to reach which involved a journey of one and one-half miles through the almost pathless forest.

      Our subject developed into manhood, strong of limb and stout of heart, and when twenty-two years of age took for himself a wife, July 25, 1853, the maiden of his choice being Miss Catherine, the daughter of Thomas and Olive Haven.  Her parents were natives of Rhode Island, and passed to their rest in New York State many years ago.  Of this union there were born four children, of whom but two are living, namely: Oscar E. and William O., who are now residents of Wichita.

      Mr. Sternberg developed as a builder and contractor in the village of Norwich, Chenango Co., N. Y., where he remained until 1877.  In the meantime he had distinguished himself as an enterprising citizen and business man, and became prominent in local affairs, serving at one time as Mayor, and discharging the duties of other positions of trust and responsibility.  He put up many of the largest and best buildings of that section, erecting the Methodist Episcopal Church at a cost of $47,000, the beautiful residence of Charles Merritt at a cost of $35,000, the store of John O. Hill & Co., put up at an outlay of $23,000, besides the fine residence of Warren Newton and an elegant mansion for himself.  This latter boasted the first mansard roof in the town.

      Mr. Sternberg also built the Chenango County Poor-house, for the lumber of which he only paid $6 per thousand, that being then the market price.  He also built the church edifice within which presided Rev. Mr. Scofield, the son-in-law of Henry Ward Beecher, for a period of eighteen years.

      In 1877 the subject of this sketch resolved upon a change of location, and although not actually a young man, decided to take Horace Greeley's advice and "go West."  Not possessing a very heavy amount of capital, he employed himself the first seven months as a journeyman carpenter, and then resumed his old business of contractor.  Ninety brick stores in Wichita stand as monuments of his skill and industry, besides numberless other buildings, probably twice as many as have been put by any other contractor in the city.  The fine residences of C. R. Miller, A. W. Oliver, M. W. Levy, Charles Smyth, R. E. Guthrie, Dr. McAdams, A. W. Bitting, James L. Dyer, George Pratt, C. E. Jones, and may others, were erected under his personal supervision, and while perhaps able to do comparatively little of the manual labor, he has taken care that his workmen should be persons of the highest skill and reliability.

      The residence of Mr. Sternberg, a handsome and costly structure, is beautifully located on a rise of ground commanding a fine view of its surroundings.  Within and without it bears the evidence of refined tastes and ample means, and is universally admired by all who have occasion to pass it.

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