ALVO J. AXTELL – The trite adage that "the road to one's heart is through his stomach" was never more true than when considered in connection with the landlord and his guest, and he that ministers to the temporal wants of his fellows, bountifully and with good cheer, merits the deep gratitude and wins the unstinted praise of the recipients of his hospitality. These observations apply with special force to the host who caters to the caprices, whims and eccentricities of a traveling public, burdened with a grist of kickers, growlers, grumblers and non-de-scripts, with appreciative capacities, real vacuums in themselves, and are but a slight tribute to one who fills so important a niche in the world's business affairs. The hotel is the traveling man's home, and of the myriads of landlords who play host, but few measure up to a real standard of excellence and deserve recognition in a treatise devoted to the eminent men of their locality.
Axtell has become a name famed in the hotel annals of Montgomery county and the "Axtell" is a Mecca toward which the knight of the grip-sack wends his way, and in which is found rich, restful repose. Its landlord is a prince among hosts and its royal hostess a queen among entertainers. Neat to a fault, cheerful in its surroundings, and domestic in all its appointments, the "Axtell" is a hostelry widely known and universally appreciated.
Alvo J. Axtell, whose name is borne by the hotel he owns, is the proprietor of the leading commercial house of Cherryvale, and dates his residence in the county from the spring of 1899, when he became the owner of the Handley hotel and honored it with his own name. He had passed his life, chiefly, in the hotel business and his experience, coupled with his abundant native talent, brought him into favorable contact with the commercial fraternity. The wide popularity of his house is not only of pecuniary concern to himself, but it is one of the beneficial institutions of and a positive recommendation for the town.
Wyoming county, New York, gave birth to Alvo J. Axtell, in the year 1852. His parents, John and Willmina (Beach) Axtell, were of Vermont and Pennsylvania nativity, respectively, and their lives were passed in the hotel business on the farm. While rearing their family of seven children, theirs was a country home and amid rural scenes and the pure air was our subject brought up. In religious belief, the father was a Universalist and the mother an Episcopalian, and the former lived to be seventy-four years old, while the mother died, in 1891, at just three score and ten. The four sons and three daughters, constituting their interesting family, are scattered widely over our continent and are: Joseph D., of Santa Barbara, California, a hotel proprietor; Zeruiah, wife of Dr. A.B. Bottsford, of Chicago, Illinois; John W., now with the "Axtell" in Cherryvale, but for many years a passenger conductor of the Santa Fe Ry.; Zerina A., Mrs. E.A. Vaughn, of New York; Winfield, a hotel-keeper in New York state; Dell H., wife of Alonzo Wheeler, proprietor of a hotel in Anthony, Kansas; and Alvo J., the subject of this review.
The common schools of his native state furnished A.J. Axtell, his educational privileges and, when his school days were ended, he secured a clerkship in Post's hotel, in Castile, New York, and was so employed several years, or, until the death of his employer, when he, himself, became the proprietor of the house, and, in this capacity, spent six years more of his early manhood. Upon disposing of his interests there, he came west and established himself in Missouri Valley, Iowa, as proprietor of the Commercial hotel. After running this house six years, he returned to his native state and leased the Congress Hall hotel, at Rochester, and continued, as its proprietor, from 1880 till 1887. This latter year he again came west and this time, located in Wallace county, Kansas, and became proprietor of a Union Pacific eating-house, at Wallace, and conducted its affairs for four years. Upon disposing of this place, and, after a brief period spent in Kansas City, he located in Cherryvale, where he purchased the Handley hotel, in the spring of 1899.
His methods of conducting his place of business has made the Axtell hotel one of the best known in southern Kansas. Nothing can speak more eloquently of the refinement and material prosperity of any community than the establishments which cater, admirably, to the palate and physical wants of the public. Mr. and Mrs. Axtell are admirably adapted, each in his own line, to manage and make a homelike place for the traveling public. Their house is modernly equipped, their rooms are neat and cheerful and their table staggers under the freshest viands the market supplies. Fifty guest chambers do service to their full capacity and every facility is possessed to insure the comfort of the guests and furnish them a quiet resting place.
March 7, 1888, Mr. Axtell was united in marriage, at Liberty, Missouri, with Miss Nora L. Leister, a daughter of J.E. and Nellie (McCarthy) Leister. Mr. Leister was born in Kentucky but reared in Missouri and passed his life as a farmer. His wife was born in New York state and is an honored resident of Hannibal, Missouri, her husband having died at thirty years of age.
The Axtells have lived purely business lives. While their social natures have been cultivated and possess a warmth and a charm rarely excelled, politics and other side issues have not led them from their hearts' affections. They are steeped in Republicanism, but merely exercise their franchise as citizens and not as aspirants for official favors.
(Montgomery County Biographies - "History of Montgomery County, Kansas, Illustrated," 1903)
Axtell has become a name famed in the hotel annals of Montgomery county and the "Axtell" is a Mecca toward which the knight of the grip-sack wends his way, and in which is found rich, restful repose. Its landlord is a prince among hosts and its royal hostess a queen among entertainers. Neat to a fault, cheerful in its surroundings, and domestic in all its appointments, the "Axtell" is a hostelry widely known and universally appreciated.
Alvo J. Axtell, whose name is borne by the hotel he owns, is the proprietor of the leading commercial house of Cherryvale, and dates his residence in the county from the spring of 1899, when he became the owner of the Handley hotel and honored it with his own name. He had passed his life, chiefly, in the hotel business and his experience, coupled with his abundant native talent, brought him into favorable contact with the commercial fraternity. The wide popularity of his house is not only of pecuniary concern to himself, but it is one of the beneficial institutions of and a positive recommendation for the town.
Wyoming county, New York, gave birth to Alvo J. Axtell, in the year 1852. His parents, John and Willmina (Beach) Axtell, were of Vermont and Pennsylvania nativity, respectively, and their lives were passed in the hotel business on the farm. While rearing their family of seven children, theirs was a country home and amid rural scenes and the pure air was our subject brought up. In religious belief, the father was a Universalist and the mother an Episcopalian, and the former lived to be seventy-four years old, while the mother died, in 1891, at just three score and ten. The four sons and three daughters, constituting their interesting family, are scattered widely over our continent and are: Joseph D., of Santa Barbara, California, a hotel proprietor; Zeruiah, wife of Dr. A.B. Bottsford, of Chicago, Illinois; John W., now with the "Axtell" in Cherryvale, but for many years a passenger conductor of the Santa Fe Ry.; Zerina A., Mrs. E.A. Vaughn, of New York; Winfield, a hotel-keeper in New York state; Dell H., wife of Alonzo Wheeler, proprietor of a hotel in Anthony, Kansas; and Alvo J., the subject of this review.
The common schools of his native state furnished A.J. Axtell, his educational privileges and, when his school days were ended, he secured a clerkship in Post's hotel, in Castile, New York, and was so employed several years, or, until the death of his employer, when he, himself, became the proprietor of the house, and, in this capacity, spent six years more of his early manhood. Upon disposing of his interests there, he came west and established himself in Missouri Valley, Iowa, as proprietor of the Commercial hotel. After running this house six years, he returned to his native state and leased the Congress Hall hotel, at Rochester, and continued, as its proprietor, from 1880 till 1887. This latter year he again came west and this time, located in Wallace county, Kansas, and became proprietor of a Union Pacific eating-house, at Wallace, and conducted its affairs for four years. Upon disposing of this place, and, after a brief period spent in Kansas City, he located in Cherryvale, where he purchased the Handley hotel, in the spring of 1899.
His methods of conducting his place of business has made the Axtell hotel one of the best known in southern Kansas. Nothing can speak more eloquently of the refinement and material prosperity of any community than the establishments which cater, admirably, to the palate and physical wants of the public. Mr. and Mrs. Axtell are admirably adapted, each in his own line, to manage and make a homelike place for the traveling public. Their house is modernly equipped, their rooms are neat and cheerful and their table staggers under the freshest viands the market supplies. Fifty guest chambers do service to their full capacity and every facility is possessed to insure the comfort of the guests and furnish them a quiet resting place.
March 7, 1888, Mr. Axtell was united in marriage, at Liberty, Missouri, with Miss Nora L. Leister, a daughter of J.E. and Nellie (McCarthy) Leister. Mr. Leister was born in Kentucky but reared in Missouri and passed his life as a farmer. His wife was born in New York state and is an honored resident of Hannibal, Missouri, her husband having died at thirty years of age.
The Axtells have lived purely business lives. While their social natures have been cultivated and possess a warmth and a charm rarely excelled, politics and other side issues have not led them from their hearts' affections. They are steeped in Republicanism, but merely exercise their franchise as citizens and not as aspirants for official favors.
(Montgomery County Biographies - "History of Montgomery County, Kansas, Illustrated," 1903)
ALVO J. AXTELL – The trite adage that "the road to one's heart is through his stomach" was never more true than when considered in connection with the landlord and his guest, and he that ministers to the temporal wants of his fellows, bountifully and with good cheer, merits the deep gratitude and wins the unstinted praise of the recipients of his hospitality. These observations apply with special force to the host who caters to the caprices, whims and eccentricities of a traveling public, burdened with a grist of kickers, growlers, grumblers and non-de-scripts, with appreciative capacities, real vacuums in themselves, and are but a slight tribute to one who fills so important a niche in the world's business affairs. The hotel is the traveling man's home, and of the myriads of landlords who play host, but few measure up to a real standard of excellence and deserve recognition in a treatise devoted to the eminent men of their locality.
Axtell has become a name famed in the hotel annals of Montgomery county and the "Axtell" is a Mecca toward which the knight of the grip-sack wends his way, and in which is found rich, restful repose. Its landlord is a prince among hosts and its royal hostess a queen among entertainers. Neat to a fault, cheerful in its surroundings, and domestic in all its appointments, the "Axtell" is a hostelry widely known and universally appreciated.
Alvo J. Axtell, whose name is borne by the hotel he owns, is the proprietor of the leading commercial house of Cherryvale, and dates his residence in the county from the spring of 1899, when he became the owner of the Handley hotel and honored it with his own name. He had passed his life, chiefly, in the hotel business and his experience, coupled with his abundant native talent, brought him into favorable contact with the commercial fraternity. The wide popularity of his house is not only of pecuniary concern to himself, but it is one of the beneficial institutions of and a positive recommendation for the town.
Wyoming county, New York, gave birth to Alvo J. Axtell, in the year 1852. His parents, John and Willmina (Beach) Axtell, were of Vermont and Pennsylvania nativity, respectively, and their lives were passed in the hotel business on the farm. While rearing their family of seven children, theirs was a country home and amid rural scenes and the pure air was our subject brought up. In religious belief, the father was a Universalist and the mother an Episcopalian, and the former lived to be seventy-four years old, while the mother died, in 1891, at just three score and ten. The four sons and three daughters, constituting their interesting family, are scattered widely over our continent and are: Joseph D., of Santa Barbara, California, a hotel proprietor; Zeruiah, wife of Dr. A.B. Bottsford, of Chicago, Illinois; John W., now with the "Axtell" in Cherryvale, but for many years a passenger conductor of the Santa Fe Ry.; Zerina A., Mrs. E.A. Vaughn, of New York; Winfield, a hotel-keeper in New York state; Dell H., wife of Alonzo Wheeler, proprietor of a hotel in Anthony, Kansas; and Alvo J., the subject of this review.
The common schools of his native state furnished A.J. Axtell, his educational privileges and, when his school days were ended, he secured a clerkship in Post's hotel, in Castile, New York, and was so employed several years, or, until the death of his employer, when he, himself, became the proprietor of the house, and, in this capacity, spent six years more of his early manhood. Upon disposing of his interests there, he came west and established himself in Missouri Valley, Iowa, as proprietor of the Commercial hotel. After running this house six years, he returned to his native state and leased the Congress Hall hotel, at Rochester, and continued, as its proprietor, from 1880 till 1887. This latter year he again came west and this time, located in Wallace county, Kansas, and became proprietor of a Union Pacific eating-house, at Wallace, and conducted its affairs for four years. Upon disposing of this place, and, after a brief period spent in Kansas City, he located in Cherryvale, where he purchased the Handley hotel, in the spring of 1899.
His methods of conducting his place of business has made the Axtell hotel one of the best known in southern Kansas. Nothing can speak more eloquently of the refinement and material prosperity of any community than the establishments which cater, admirably, to the palate and physical wants of the public. Mr. and Mrs. Axtell are admirably adapted, each in his own line, to manage and make a homelike place for the traveling public. Their house is modernly equipped, their rooms are neat and cheerful and their table staggers under the freshest viands the market supplies. Fifty guest chambers do service to their full capacity and every facility is possessed to insure the comfort of the guests and furnish them a quiet resting place.
March 7, 1888, Mr. Axtell was united in marriage, at Liberty, Missouri, with Miss Nora L. Leister, a daughter of J.E. and Nellie (McCarthy) Leister. Mr. Leister was born in Kentucky but reared in Missouri and passed his life as a farmer. His wife was born in New York state and is an honored resident of Hannibal, Missouri, her husband having died at thirty years of age.
The Axtells have lived purely business lives. While their social natures have been cultivated and possess a warmth and a charm rarely excelled, politics and other side issues have not led them from their hearts' affections. They are steeped in Republicanism, but merely exercise their franchise as citizens and not as aspirants for official favors.
(Montgomery County Biographies - "History of Montgomery County, Kansas, Illustrated," 1903)
Axtell has become a name famed in the hotel annals of Montgomery county and the "Axtell" is a Mecca toward which the knight of the grip-sack wends his way, and in which is found rich, restful repose. Its landlord is a prince among hosts and its royal hostess a queen among entertainers. Neat to a fault, cheerful in its surroundings, and domestic in all its appointments, the "Axtell" is a hostelry widely known and universally appreciated.
Alvo J. Axtell, whose name is borne by the hotel he owns, is the proprietor of the leading commercial house of Cherryvale, and dates his residence in the county from the spring of 1899, when he became the owner of the Handley hotel and honored it with his own name. He had passed his life, chiefly, in the hotel business and his experience, coupled with his abundant native talent, brought him into favorable contact with the commercial fraternity. The wide popularity of his house is not only of pecuniary concern to himself, but it is one of the beneficial institutions of and a positive recommendation for the town.
Wyoming county, New York, gave birth to Alvo J. Axtell, in the year 1852. His parents, John and Willmina (Beach) Axtell, were of Vermont and Pennsylvania nativity, respectively, and their lives were passed in the hotel business on the farm. While rearing their family of seven children, theirs was a country home and amid rural scenes and the pure air was our subject brought up. In religious belief, the father was a Universalist and the mother an Episcopalian, and the former lived to be seventy-four years old, while the mother died, in 1891, at just three score and ten. The four sons and three daughters, constituting their interesting family, are scattered widely over our continent and are: Joseph D., of Santa Barbara, California, a hotel proprietor; Zeruiah, wife of Dr. A.B. Bottsford, of Chicago, Illinois; John W., now with the "Axtell" in Cherryvale, but for many years a passenger conductor of the Santa Fe Ry.; Zerina A., Mrs. E.A. Vaughn, of New York; Winfield, a hotel-keeper in New York state; Dell H., wife of Alonzo Wheeler, proprietor of a hotel in Anthony, Kansas; and Alvo J., the subject of this review.
The common schools of his native state furnished A.J. Axtell, his educational privileges and, when his school days were ended, he secured a clerkship in Post's hotel, in Castile, New York, and was so employed several years, or, until the death of his employer, when he, himself, became the proprietor of the house, and, in this capacity, spent six years more of his early manhood. Upon disposing of his interests there, he came west and established himself in Missouri Valley, Iowa, as proprietor of the Commercial hotel. After running this house six years, he returned to his native state and leased the Congress Hall hotel, at Rochester, and continued, as its proprietor, from 1880 till 1887. This latter year he again came west and this time, located in Wallace county, Kansas, and became proprietor of a Union Pacific eating-house, at Wallace, and conducted its affairs for four years. Upon disposing of this place, and, after a brief period spent in Kansas City, he located in Cherryvale, where he purchased the Handley hotel, in the spring of 1899.
His methods of conducting his place of business has made the Axtell hotel one of the best known in southern Kansas. Nothing can speak more eloquently of the refinement and material prosperity of any community than the establishments which cater, admirably, to the palate and physical wants of the public. Mr. and Mrs. Axtell are admirably adapted, each in his own line, to manage and make a homelike place for the traveling public. Their house is modernly equipped, their rooms are neat and cheerful and their table staggers under the freshest viands the market supplies. Fifty guest chambers do service to their full capacity and every facility is possessed to insure the comfort of the guests and furnish them a quiet resting place.
March 7, 1888, Mr. Axtell was united in marriage, at Liberty, Missouri, with Miss Nora L. Leister, a daughter of J.E. and Nellie (McCarthy) Leister. Mr. Leister was born in Kentucky but reared in Missouri and passed his life as a farmer. His wife was born in New York state and is an honored resident of Hannibal, Missouri, her husband having died at thirty years of age.
The Axtells have lived purely business lives. While their social natures have been cultivated and possess a warmth and a charm rarely excelled, politics and other side issues have not led them from their hearts' affections. They are steeped in Republicanism, but merely exercise their franchise as citizens and not as aspirants for official favors.
(Montgomery County Biographies - "History of Montgomery County, Kansas, Illustrated," 1903)
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