Adolph C. Stich was born on October 13, 1846, in Stade, Hanover, and immigrated to the United States in 1857. He grew up in a modest household, working diligently to achieve success. A businessman in Montgomery County, Kansas, he co-founded the firm Stich Brothers and later became president of The Citizens’ National Bank. Stich played a pivotal role in the economic development of Independence, contributing to various local enterprises, including the prestigious Carl-Leon Hotel. He was married twice and actively participated in community affairs as a Mason and church member.
ADOLPH C. STICH—There was born in the quaint little town of Stade, in the ancient province of Hanover, in the German Empire, October 13, 1846, a babe, whose early childhood was passed within the shadows of familiar haunts in his native place and gave no promise of an uncommonly strenuous and eventful life. He was a son of humble parents, whose household was sustained by the rewards of honest toil and whose righteous lives were a guaranty of the proper rearing of their offspring. He became a hardy and rugged boy and finally a strong and vigorous youth and the change from the crowded and decaying conditions of the Old World to the openness, freedom and freshness of the New World was an auxiliary to both his bodily and mental development. The serious affairs of life began with him after he had acquired a liberal training in the common schools and with the early appearance of that ambition which seemed finally to consume him and, under pressure of which, have his life achievements been wrought. Industry seemed as natural to him as hunger and the reward which it brought was treasured in some way which marked the stepping-stones of his advance. He wasted neither time nor substance and the age of maturity brought him near to the point of occupying a distinct station among men. Spurred on by the enthusiasm of success and guided by the wisdom of a superior and unerring mind he has, when just past the meridian of life, reached the acme of his career and shown to mankind the real genius of his mental bent. Born poor and reared without luxuries, but to habits of a moral and upright life, and having achieved, through individual efforts, the gratifying rewards of wealth, position and influence, Adolph C. Stich, of Independence, stands a citizen to be prized and a man to be admired.
September 17th, 1872, he began a residence in Montgomery county, Kansas, which has been constantly maintained and which has grown in importance with the lapse of years. The effects of his business connection with the various affairs of the county have been felt to the extreme of every cardinal point and, as it were, by the stroke of his hand conditions have been changed and once dormant and slumbering communities have sprung into life and become active industrial centers. His brain and his capital have been a powerful stimulus in awakening the activity that now is and which has placed Montgomery county among the wealthy and progressive municipalities of our commonwealth.
Coming to Independence with some experience as a merchant he became a member of the firm of Stich Brothers, doing a general merchandise business, and for ten years his energies and his foresight contributed to the wealth and popularity of the firm. In 1883 he purchased, in partnership with Henry Foster, the Hull Bank and became its cashier at once, occupying the position till the change in the name of the institution, in 1891, from The Citizens’ Bank to The Citizens’ National Bank, at which time he took the presidency of the new concern. This position he has occupied, uninterrupted, since and has filled with exceptional and singular ability and to the great profit of the institution.
As the demand for factories has sprung up in his city he has been alert to subscribe liberally to their construction and included in the list of enterprises he has thus aided are the Independence Gas Company and the Independence Brick Company. The enterprise which has distinguished him most as a man of public spirit, even in advance of the age, is the planning and construction of the magnificent Independence hotel, the “Carl-Leon,” without doubt the finest hotel in the State of Kansas. In company with G. M. Carpenter, of Elgin, this structure was erected in 1902, at a cost of many thousand dollars and was opened to the public February 18, 1903. As an enduring monument to the enterprise of Mr. Stich this building is unrivaled by any to the credit of a citizen of Montgomery county. His splendid residence, approaching the magnificence and proportions of a modest palace, is one of the beautiful structures in the city, expensive in appointment and popular as a hospitable home.
Like most boys of foreign birth, A. C. Stich began life on the farm. His father was a merchant in the old country but when the family was established in the United States, and at home in Kalamazoo, Michigan, young Adolph’s industrial inclination cropped out strongly as a hand at $8.00 a month on the farm. His meager earnings served to reenforce his natural capital and in time he engaged in the agricultural implement business in the famous “celery city” of the “Wolverine State.” Leaving there his advent to Independence, Kansas, is announced.
The Stiches came to the United States in 1857. Carl Stich, our subject’s father, married Eleanor Hilbers. They represented old families of their native Hanover and passed away in Michigan, being the parents of four children, namely: John, of Seattle, Washington; William, of Paola, Kansas; Adolph C., of this review; and Diorette, wife of John Harris, of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Among the first acts which indicated the latent and constructive ability of A. C. Stich, was his invention of a bed spring and the patent of the same. This happened before he was twenty-one and he handled the invention to his advantage, turning it into some of the money which constituted his capital to engage in regular business.
One of the domestic improvements of Montgomery county, which was of momentous interest to its citizens, was the construction of the Independence, Verdigris Valley & Western Railroad, now a prominent part of the Missouri Pacific railway—main line to the south. Stich & Foster secured the contract for the building of the line from Leroy, Kansas, to the south line of Independence township, Montgomery county. This piece of road was completed in 1880, and turned over to the Gould interests who consolidated it with the D. M. & A. railway and constructed the link from near the town of Jefferson to Dearing where it connected with the latter railroad. The building of this line and the execution of this contract by Stich & Foster marked the completion of the largest enterprise ever undertaken by Montgomery county promoters. It brought another system of railroad into the county in competition with a single line of road and thereby became a great saving, in the way of rates, to every shipper and merchant in the county.
Mr. Stich was first married in Hillsdale, Michigan, his bride being Anna Winsor, who died in Independence, Kansas, in 1882, being the mother of three deceased children: Carl, Adelaide and Eleanor. In 1888, Mr. Stich married Mrs. Catherine Kaisor, a lady of refinement and education and occupying a high social position in the city. Mrs. Stich has served three years as president of the Ladies’ Library Association of Independence and is a prominent worker in the Presbyterian church. She is the mother of Mrs. W. E. Ziegler, of Coffeyville, wife of one of the leading lawyers of Montgomery county. Mr. Stich’s deceased son, Carl, is honored in the first word of the compound name “Carl-Leon” given to the famous hostelry before mentioned, the name, “Leon,” being in honor of a deceased son of Mr. Carpenter, one of the partners in its construction.
In this review only the salient features of a busy life have been touched. It is offered to posterity as an illustration of the versatility of one who performed a conspicuous part in the commercial affairs of Montgomery county. “Not letting go of one thing till he gathered hold of something else” shows his characteristic tenacity and exemplifies a life of ceaseless and determined activity. He has manifested some interest in the politics of his county and, as a Republican, has wielded a positive influence in local political affairs. He is a thirty-two degree Mason and a member of the Presbyterian church.
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Source
Duncan, L. Wallace. History of Montgomery County, Kansas: By Its Own People. Illustrated. Containing Sketches of Our Pioneers — Revealing their Trials and Hardships in Planting Civilization in this County — Biographies of their Worthy Successors, and Containing Other Information of a Character Valuable as Reference to the Citizens of the County; Iola, Kansas : L. Wallace Duncan, 1903.
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