Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 1103 - 1104

 ROOT BROS., proprietors of the Wichita Omnibus, Baggage and Transfer Line, are young men of enterprise and energy, and contribute their full quota toward the active business interests of the city. The family is of English origin, and was first represented on American soil by three brothers who came over during the great Puritan emigration of 1630. They finally settled in Connecticut, one in Hartford and another in New Haven. The Hartford branch especially grew and flourished, and from it are descended the brothers who are represented in this sketch.

             Elisha Root, the father of the gentlemen now written of, was born in Massachusetts in 1811, and went with his father to New York when a mere lad. They settled on a farm in Essex County, and upon reaching manhood Elisha was married to Miss Amanda Butler, of Hadley, N. Y. In 1845 Elisha Root with his family emigrated to Wisconsin, and purchased a tract of land in the pioneer settlement of Washington County. His nearest trading-point for a number of years was the embryo city of Milwaukee, thirty-five miles distant.

             To Elisha and Amanda Root there were born eleven children, of whom the record is as follows: Chloe died when two years of age; Sarah E., Selah, Amanda and Silas died in infancy; Russell E., Lenora P., Elisha, Jr., Calvin V., Corydon W. and Emeline M., lived to mature years, being all reared in Wisconsin. They assisted the parents in building up a homestead from the forest, and the estate after a lapse of years became valuable. The father was a very industrious, hard-working man, and is now retired from active labor, although in good health. He has reached the advanced age of seventy-six years and retains his mental faculties unimpaired. He still resides on the old homestead near Oshkosh. The mother is deceased.

             Selah Root, the eldest child of his parents, was born Oct. 15, 1847, and acquired a common-school education, while at the same time he became familiar with farming pursuits. He started out on his own account at the age of seventeen, leaving the farm and engaging as baggage-master at Appleton, Wis., on the C. & N. R. R., with which he remained four years. In 1870 he was married to Miss Alvira E. Harper, of Hartford, Wis. She is the daughter of Thompson and Susan (Winters) Harper. Directly after their marriage the young couple removed with Mr. Harper to Butler County, this State, and took up 160 acres of land, upon which they remained until the spring of 1872.

             Mr. Root then changed his residence to Wichita, which was a small town of about 700 inhabitants. He first engaged as a carpenter, but in June of the following year started a light express business, obtaining a team of cheap horses, by trading a revolver and a watch, a brougham and an old three-spring wagon on credit. Subsequently he traded the horses for a team of spirited mules which did not weigh over 600 pounds each. They were, however, an improvement upon the first purchase, and from this humble beginning has been built up the present flourishing business. Two years from the time of starting his stock consisted of a very respectable carriage, a good pair of horses and a wagon. Business increased slowly up to 1876, and he then took as partner his brother, Russell E., since which time the firm has operated under the style of Root Bros. In 1879 they found themselves with business sufficient to employ four wagons, and that year purchased their first omnibus. Not long afterward they added to their facilities by securing the omnibus line of the Southwest Stage Company, and since that time they have had all the business which two men could conveniently attend to. Since 1884 it has been simply immense. They now operate four omnibuses, eight hacks and three baggage wagons, with forty head of horses and twenty-two men. They sold out the freight transfer line in 1884.

             Root Bros., in the winter of 1886-87, put up their present stables, which are spacious, well-built and finely equipped. They also put up the Wichita Mercantile Building on South Market street, at a cost of $40,000, and now with the lot on which it stands valued at $80,000. Selah Root, socially, is a member in good standing of the I. O. O. F., and politically, a stanch Republican. His family includes his accomplished wife and two children—Frank R. and Eva. The high reputation of the brothers for promptness and reliability has been the mainspring of their success.

             Russell E. Root, junior partner of the firm of Root Bros., was born in New York State, in 1852, and was brought up on the old homestead in Wisconsin. He secured a common-school education and worked on his father's farm until twenty-one years of age. In 1873 he went to Schroon River, Essex Co., N. Y., and was engaged as clerk in a hotel on the old homestead of the family there and which was now owned by an uncle. Here he remained two years.

             At the above-mentioned place, in 1876, Mr. Russell was married to Miss Cordelia, daughter of Russell and Samantha Root, of Schroon River, and immediately afterward the young couple came to Wichita. Mr. Russell at once became the partner of his brother Selah. Of his marriage there were born four children—Lloyd B., Edith A., and two who died in infancy. The wife and mother passed away in her young womanhood, in 1887.

             Mr. Root, politically, is a Republican. He is wide-awake and energetic, and has a fine start in life, owning, besides his interest in the livery business, real estate on South Water street, valued at $30,000.

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