My Genealogy Hound

A. F. SILVERTHORN. “Tis no tin our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings.” Practical illustrations of this poetical expression can be found in the lives of hundreds of men all over this country. One is found in the life of the subject of this notice. A. F. Silverthorn is neither rich nor famous; he may never be, but he is now on the highway to prosperity, on the road to success, and he owes it solely to himself. Born without the traditional silver spoon in his mouth, but with the greater gift of an affidavit of honesty and good nature in his face, he has made his way from a position of dependence to one of comparative ease; from a position of toil for others to one of well remunerated labor for himself. He is one of Kearney’s most enterprising and most popular druggists, a young man with a good business and a host of friends.

Arthur Flavel Silverthorn was born in Muscatine county, Iowa, February, 1857. He is the third of six children, the result of the union of Oliver J. and Harriet H. Silverthorn, the former of whom was a Pennsylvanian by birth, the latter a native of Illinois. His parents came of the staple stock of the localities where they were born and reared, being plain, substantial, frugal folks with sufficient industry to crown their lives with the wholesome fruits of toil, and sufficient integrity and fixity of purpose to enable them to build up characters of stability, rising on occasion into the higher graces of benevolence, kindness and christian charity. The father, after a life extending over fifty-five years of labor in various avenues, pursued in different localities and under varying conditions as to success and failure, died at Kirwin, Kans., in 1888, his loss deeply regretted by those who knew him and sincerely mourned by those whom he loved. The mother is still living, being at present a resident of San Antonio, Texas, where also live two of her sons. The eldest of the children of the family, a daughter, Lucy by name, died young; Oliver resides at San Antonio, Tex., engaged in the drug business; Maggie, wife of Dr. A. J. Meyers, lives at Creston, Iowa; Grace, wife of Burton Jones, lives also at Creston; and Wood, the youngest, lives at San Antonio, Tex., engaged with his brother there in the drug business.

The subject of this notice was reared in his native place and in his youth received an ordinary common-school training. On growing up he selected teaching as his first employment and taught for a period of three years, giving his time assiduously to his school-room work, and it is not the least of the achievements of his early career that he, as he now relates with some pride, taught as good a school as any pedagogue in all the country round. Since coming West he has been too much absorbed in other matters to keep up with the whereabouts of his old pupils to see how many of them have reached the higher paths of life as the result of the excellent precepts he instilled into their youthful minds. But he feels morally certain that those who have lived up to his teachings have at least become good citizens, even if they have not reached any great eminence. Quitting the school-room at last, Mr. Silverthorn went to Creston where he learned the drug business under his father, subsequently entering into partnership with him and remaining there so engaged for five years. Marrying in the meantime he took his wife and worldly possessions and in 1881 moved to Kearney, casting his fortunes with the Midway City, where he has allowed them to remain and where they have steadily prospered since. The first year he was in Kearney he clerked for J. M. Hopwood in the drug business. He then formed a partnership with A. J. Shepard as Silverthorn & Shepard, which lasted for three years. He then sold out to his partner, soon afterwards engaging in business alone and remaining alone since. Mr. Silverthorn runs an exclusive drug house. He has built up a good trade and each year his stock grows in bulk as his trade increases in volume. He is a thoroughgoing business man, wide awake and up with the times. He has also invested some money in Kearney real estate and is earnestly in sympathy with every movement for the success and prosperity of his town. He has an open hand and a generous heart, and to the extent of his means he helps everv public enterprise that comes his way.

Mr. Silverthorn was married July 26, 1883. His wife before marriage was Miss Anna E. Battey, daughter of S. W. and Mary C. Battey, then of Creston, Iowa, now of Hoxie, Kans. Mr. and Mrs. Silverthorn have a pleasant home in Kearney and their friends are numbered by their acquaintances.