Biography of William A. Heape

William A. Heape, a successful farmer from Sycamore township, began his agricultural career in 1891 with just $48. Born on September 19, 1869, in Perry County, Illinois, he grew up in Montgomery County before renting 392 acres of wheat land. His hard work paid off, and he later owned a quarter section of land. He married Rose Utterback in 1897, and they had two children, Lee and Hazel. His family lineage included his grandfather Ulysses Heape, originally from Pennsylvania, who moved to Ohio with his seven children.

WILLIAM A. HEAPE—One of the successful young farmers of the county is William A. Heape, of Sycamore township, on section 5-31-16. He began his agricultural career in 1891 with a capital of $48.00, and, while any number of young men were deploring the delay of opportunity to pass their way, he boldly proposed to Robert Reis that he rent him a tract of 392 acres of wheat land, cash rent to be $1,200. Mr. Reis liked the spirit of the young man, chanced him and was not disappointed. Today Mr. Heape owns his quarter section of land with its improvements, and he has demonstrated to the satisfaction of all that the possibilities of agriculture to the man of industry are without bounds.

William Heape was born in Perry county, Illinois, September 19, 1869, a son of Abraham Heape, a native of the “Keystone State.” When William was nine years old his parents located on a farm in Montgomery county, near Bolton, where he was reared and given a good common school education. His first venture for himself was in Clark county, Kansas, where he worked on a stock farm for \$16 per month. Anxious to get ahead in the world, and not seeing much in the future at such a figure, he determined to return to Montgomery county where he was well known and try farming on his own account. The opening lines of this sketch relate his success.

The married life of Mr. Heape began in 1897, when he was joined to Rose, daughter of Albert Utterback, both natives of Indiana. Their home is brightened by the presence of a son and a daughter, Lee and Hazel.

For the purposes of a family record the following is added: Ulysses Heape, our subject’s grandfather and a native of Pennsylvania, married and later moved to Ohio with his seven children: Katherine, now Mrs. Miller; John, George, Cyrus, Levi, Abraham and Robert. Abraham married Caroline Miller, a native of Maryland, and a daughter of Jacob and Eva Miller. The result of this union was a family of ten children: Jacob, of Meade county, Kansas; Nancy Chew, of Galena, Kansas; Sarah Davis, William A. and Katherine Davis, of Montgomery county; Eva Veatch and Elizabeth Keith, also of Meade county; Robert, who is a leading citizen of Montgomery county, Kansas; and John, his twin brother, resides in Meade county, Kansas. The youngest is Frederick, who resides in Montgomery county.