Agnes Bessie Robert and Brinton Webb Woodward
And the Chester and Frederica Woodward Families

As much as I enjoy writing about these families, its pretty difficult when you didnt know them personally and when they really didnt live a majority of their lives in Maple Hill. In todays world of genealogy, you rely on on-line Census reports and on-line materials written by others. I didnt know either of these people, but I did know their son Horace Adams Robert, his wife and children, of whom Judy Robert Adams survives. Ive done my best to collect the correct information but Im hopeful that if other members of the family find errors, they will notify me so Im able to make changes. I appreciate the photographs that Brinton Webb Woodward, II has placed on his Ancestry.com family page. Thanks!!

Agnes Bessie Robert, was born February 15, 1910 on the XI Ranch, Meade County, Kansas. She was the first child of Bessie Ethyl (Adams) and John Ernest Robert. Agnes B. Robert was the granddaughter of the XI Ranch owners, Horace G. Adams and William Robert. As I mentioned in an earlier post, at the time of their marriage Bess and John Roberts union joined the families of two of the most important cattle barons in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado.

Although distances were more important in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Horace and Mable (Warren) Adams and their children were a part of the social scene in both Topeka and Kansas City. The Topeka newspaper social columns regularly carried accounts of their activities. As their oldest child, Bess Adams was a part of that social activity. She was attractive, well-educated and it was not surprising that she would meet and marry Brinton Webb Woodward, of Topeka, Kansas. Mr. Woodward was the son of Chester and Fredericka (Bullene) Woodward, both prominent in Topeka business and social circles.

Id like to write just a little about Chester Woodward and his wife Fredericka (Bullene) Woodward before I continue with the story of Bess Adams and their son.

Chester A. Woodward was born on August 24, 1876 in West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Chester was the son of educated parents who saw opportunity in the West and the family to Lawrence, Kansas where Chesters father owned a prosperous drug store. By the time the US Census was taken in 1900, Chesters father had retired from operating the drug store, and while single and still living at home, Chester Woodwards occupation was listed as real estate development and loans.

Frederica Devereax Bullene was born October 3, 1880 in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas to William Lathrop and Alice (Brown) Woodward. Williams family came to Lawrence, Kansas in 1867 and he was engaged first as the owner of a dry goods, general merchandise store and after selling the store, purchased a farm near Wakarusa, Douglas County, Kansas. Frederica first attended country schools in Kansas. Her parents were divorced and her mother, Alice Woodward, moved to Colorado, where Frederica continued her education. The 1903 City Directory for Colorado Springs, Colorado lists her as single and employed by the Colorado Springs Telegraph as a reporter, quite an unusual occupation for a young lady of those days.

Chester B. Woodward was born to Brinton Webb and Emily Price (Darlington) Woodward on August 24, 1876 His parents were well educated. His mother was Brintons second wife and a Quaker. Brinton W. Woodward came to Kansas in 1855 and was a survivor of Quantrills raid on Lawrence in 1863. He was very successful in establishing drug stores in Lawrence. He owned a beautiful estate on Lilac Lane, containing 22 rooms called Brynwood Manor. He was on the Kansas University board of regents and was president of the Kansas Academy of Language, Literature and Art. Brinton was a collector of fine art and rarities and had a gallery constructed at Brynwood to hold his collections.

Chester Woodward graduated from Kansas University in 1896 with a degree in pharmacology. He began his career assisting with his fathers drug stores, but soon began to branch into banking and insurance. After he moved to Topeka, he continued those endeavors and became known as a Topeka financier, philanthropist, and collector during the first two decades of the 1900s. His civic involvements influenced many of Topeka’s educational and cultural institutions. Woodward established himself in the banking and insurance industry, amassed a considerable fortune and assigned the 1930s to a gradual immersion in civic affairs.

Chester Woodward married Frederica Devereaux Bullene (1880 – 1971) of Lawrence in 1906, and the couple had two sons, Thomas Darlington Woodward and Brinton Webb Woodward. For a year following his graduation from the University of Kansas, Woodward commuted from Lawrence to Topeka to work as a prescription clerk in one of his father’s drugstores, Rowley Brothers Drugstore at Sixth and Kansas. Woodward then entered the farm loan business with N. P. Garretson. He stayed with the banking profession and in 1919 became the secretary of the Merriam Mortgage Company. Following Merriam’s merger with the Central National Bank and Trust Company of Topeka in 1920, Woodward served as that company’s vice president until his resignation in 1928. Woodward continued to serve as president of the Topeka Morris Plan Company, a national personal loan and investment program, until his death. While successful in business, Woodward expressed an attitude of wistful regret when assessing his career in Lanterns Alight, his second book. “I was a square peg in a round hole, taking work of a practical kind in order to make a living after I had been graduated. What I really wanted was academic training and I have thirsted for it all these prosaic years of my business life.” (Woodward, 1940, p. 120)

His regrets not withstanding, Woodward travelled extensively, collecting rare books and works of art. At its height, his collection numbered more than 6,000 rare volumes. Woodward’s civic involvements in Topeka were many. He served many years on the Topeka Library Board as its president (1934-1940), overseeing the expansion of the main library and its branches. He sat on the board of directors of the Kansas State Historical Society, the Y. M. C. A., the Boy Scouts of America, and the K. U. Alumni Association. He was a trustee of the Jane C. Stormont Hospital and was very active with the Topeka Symphony Association. In 1924, Woodward was elected to serve as a member of the Topeka Board of Education, a position he held for ten years. Woodward was elected president of the board in 1925 and under his tenure Topeka High School (c. 1930-1931) and many other schools were constructed. Woodward played a very active role in the planning and design of the Collegiate Gothic style high school, working closely with the building’s architects Professor Linus Burr Smith of Kansas State College (Kansas State University) and Theodore R. Griest of the Thomas W. Williamson and Company, a Topeka architecture firm. “In those years the board undertook a large building program including the new high school, considered one of the most beautiful and most complete in the West. Mr. Woodward is especially proud of the library and the browsing room, to the construction and equipment of which he gave much attention. The browsing room, which he believed to be the first in a high school in the United States, he paid for out of his own pocket.” (Kansas City Star. 5 March 1939) Woodward’s appreciation and knowledge of architecture lead him to retain the Kansas City, Missouri architectural firm of Root and Siemens to design his new house.

The Woodward family of four lived at 834 Buchanan Street in Topeka until Chester and Frederica Woodard built a new Tudor Mansion in 1923-24. The Woodward Mansion still stands at 1272 Fillmore Street in Topeka, Kansas and is today a bed and breakfast and events center. It was the finest Tudor house in Topeka, and many consider it of important uniqueness of design and quality to rank it high anywhere in America. The house was built utilizing the finest architects, contractors and materials in 1923 and 1924.

Frederica Bullene Woodward was very active in Topeka civic organizations and was an able helpmate to her husband in their many activities. Here is a synopsis of her obituary:
Topeka State Journal Fri. 6 Aug., 1971, pg. 16:
Mrs. Frederica Bullene Woodward, 90, 1272 Fillmore, died today at her home. She had been in failing health for several months.
She was born Oct. 3, 1880 at Lawrence and had lived in Topeka most of her life.
Mrs. Woodward was a member of the American Red Cross, Grace Episcopal Cathedral, University Women’s Assoc. of the Univ. of Kansas, where she graduated in 1900, Pi Beta Phi sorority and Colonial Dames.
She was married to Chester Woodward who died in 1940.
Survivors include 2 sons, Thomas D. Woodward, Tuburon, Calif., Brinton Webb Woodward, Tucson, Ariz., and 6 grandchildren.
Services will be Monday at Grace Episcopal Cathedral with burial in Mount Hope Cemetery. Wall-Diffenderfer is in charge.

The Woodwards were the parents of two children: Thomas Darlington Woodward and Brinton Webb Woodward. It would be Brinton Webb Woodward, named for his grandfather, that would become the husband of Agnes Bessie Robert. I will end this post here and begin a new post with the family history of Brinton W. and Agnes B. (Robert) Woodward.

Photographs:
Photo 1 – Chester Woodward
Photo 2 – Frederica (Bullene) and Chester Woodward
Photo 3 – Chester and sons Thomas and Brinton on the porch of the Buchanan Street House.
Photo 4 – Chester and Frederica (Bullene) Woodward
Photo 5 – The Woodward Mansion – 1272 Fillmore, Topeka, KS
Photo 5 – The Woodward Mansion, 2012
Photo 6 – The Woodward Mansion, 2012
Photo 7 – The Woodward Mansion Library, as an event center.
Photo 8 – The tower of Topeka High School built in 1931
Photo 9 – The Library, Topeka High School donated by Chester and Frederica Woodward.