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978.101  '^« 

I.76d 

1148218 


QENEALOGY  COLLECTION 


1833  01064  8936 


EX-GOV.  L.  U.   HUMPHREY. 


HISTORY 

O  F 

MONTGOMERY 
COUNTY, 

KANSAS. 


By    Its    Own    PeopI 


pie. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


Containing  Sketches  of  Our  Pioneers— Revealing  their  Trials  and  Hardships 

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. 


PUBLISHED    BY 

L.    WALLACE    DUNCAN. 


lOLA.  KANSAS: 
PRESS  OF  lOLA  REGISTER. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1903.  by  L.  WdlUce  Duncan, 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington.  D.  C. 


1148218 

Preface 


The  histoiy  of  Montgoniei  v  <<iimty  reveals  this  locality  as  the  spot 
where  the  Osage  ludian  made  his  last  stand  before  the  white  man's 
advance  in  spreading  civilization  over  the  plains  of  Kansas.  It  was  here 
that  he  was  crowded  oft'  of  the  reserve  traded  him  by  the  "Great  Father''  in 
1825,  but  which  lie  had  really  occupied  from  the  first  years  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  For  at  least  fifty  years  he  had  been  master  of  this  domain 
.-^  and  here  mudi  of  the  tangible  history  of  the  several  bands  of  the  tribe 
^       was  made. 

^  From  the  <'ra  of  "sciuaiter"  settlement,  the  final  treaty  with  the  Red 

\)       Man  and  the  legitimate  settlement  by  the  white  man,  down  through  the 

j\       organization  and  development  of  the  county,  the  pages  of  this  book  are 

^.  replete  with  events  and  incidents  which  mark  the  stages  of  advancement 

1        toward  the  splendid  civilization  of  the  present  day. 

'  The  publisher  of  this  volume  and  those  who  have  rendered  valuable 

-       assistance  in  the  preparation  of  its  descriptive  part  have  realized  the 

Y       importance  of  the  work  and  have,  therefore,  labored  assiduously  toward 

^       an  accurate  and  reliable  production,  and  one  which  shall  not  only  be  full 

and  thorough  as  to  substantial  facts,  but  which  shall  serve  as  the  basis 

of  future  publiciitions  touching  the  history  of  Montgomery  county. 

For  the  prejiaration  of  valuable  articles  for  this  volume  we  acknowl- 
edge our  obligation  to  the  following  citizens  of  the  county  and  commend 
their  ettorts  to  the  confidence  of  the  generations  to  come :  Ex-Senator  H. 
W.  Young.  Hon.  William  Dunkiu  and  Hon.  W.  T.  Yoe,  of  Independence; 
T.  F.  Andress,  M.  1).,  of  Liberty;  Dr.  T.  ('.  Frazier,  of  Cofteyville ;  Hon. 
J.  R.  Charlton,  of  Cauey;  and  Miss  Josie  H.  Carl,  of  Cherryvale.  To  the 
many  citizens  who  have  furnished  information  and  extended  other  favors 
to  the  writers  hereof  we  desire  to  express  our  appreciation  and  hei-eby 
extend  to  them  the  compliments  of  the  literary  board. 

Tc  John  S.  (iilmore,  of  Fredonia,  are  we  indebted  for  an  important 
article  for  this  work,  jirojjerly  ])laced  to  his  credit,  and  we  wish,  publicly, 
to  make  acknowledgement  of  the  same. 

In  the  bi(igra]<liical  department  of  the  work  are  rejiresented  worthy 
citizcrs  frcm  evcrv  honorable  walk  of  life.     It  was  our  wish  that  everv 


'distiiiL'uislied  cili/.cn  of  ihc  (•(.tiiily  p:irlicip;iU"  in  tlic  s]K\ri'  allotod  lo  lliis 
(l('li;iiiiiieiit,  ;uh1  wiiik'  hosts  of  llicin  liavi'  done  so.  soiiio  of  them  havft 
dciiit'd  lis  not  only  thoir  story.  l)ul  their  snhstaiitial  to-operatiou ;  yet  the 
merits  of  the  hook  liave  not  thus  been  imjiaired.  Our  ac(omi)auying 
illusti-atious  represtMit  pioueers,  worthy  people  of  a  later  day,  aud  well 
known  and  historic  objects  of  the  county.  These  add  interest  and 
attractiver.ess  to  the  hook,  on  the  whole.  niakin:>-  the  biographical  and 
pictorial  deiiartment  bv  no  nieaiis  the  leasi  iiiijiortant  features  of  the 
work 

If  this  volume  shall  meet  Tl;e  expectations  of  its  jiatrous  aud  shall, 
in  some  measure.  ren<ler  them  an  equivalent  for  tlie  contidenee  bestowed 
upon  the  enlcrjirise.  then  shall  we  feel  that  our  elforts  have  not  been  in 
vain.  THE  PUBLIiSlHEK. 


HISTORY 

OF 

MONTGOMERY  COUNTY 

KANSAS 


CIIArTEK  I. 
Organization,  Location  and  Land  Titles 

During  the  earlier  liistory  of  Kansas  the  territory  •which  now  consti- 
tutes Montgomery  county  formed  a  part  of  Wilson  county.  The  latter 
county  was  created  by  act  of  the  territorial  legislature  in  1855,  but  it  was 
not  organized  until  September  lS6i,  at  which  time  it  extended  from 
Woodson  county  to  the  south  line  of  the  state.  Montgomery  county  was 
created  by  act  of  the  legislature  in  1867,  a  little  more  than  half  of  the 
southern  part  of  Wilson  county  being  taken  for  the  purpose.  By  the  act 
of  the  legislature  which  created  the  county,  its  boundaries  were  fixed  as 
follows : 

"Commencing  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Wilson  county;  thence  south 
with  the  west  line  of  Labette  county  to  the  thirty-seventh  parallel  of 
north  latitude;  thence  west  with  said  parallel  twenty-four  miles;  thence 
north  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Wilson  county;  thence  east  with  the 
south  line  of  Wilson  county  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

This  description  depended  entirely  on  the  bounding  of  Wilson  county, 
and,  in  1870  the  statute  was  changed  to  read  as  follows: 

''Commencing  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Wilson  county ;  thence  south 
to  tlie  south  line  of  the  state  of  Kansas;  thence  west  along  the  south  line 
of  Kansas  twenty-four  miles;  thence  north  to  the  sixth  standard 
parallel;  thence  east  along  the  said  sixth  standard  parallel  to  the  place 
of  beginning." 

This  description  seems  to  have  meant  exactly  the  same  thing  as  the 
other,  and  yet  neither  of  them  is  accurate,  as  the  width  of  the  county  east 
and  west,  owing  to  the  botchwork  made  in  fitting  together  the  surveys  of 
the  ceded  lauds  and  Diminished  Reserve,  is  considerably  more  than  half  a 
mile  above  the  twenty-four  mentioned. 

^\'hile  all  of  the  county  except  the  three  mile  strip  of  ceded  lands  on 
the  east  side  was  still  Indian  land,  and  there  was  no  treaty  even  pending 


-6  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KA^^SA^^. 

for  tlu'ii-  (vssion  to  the  United  States,  saving  the  Sturgis  alidiiiinatiou, 
whhh  was  never  ratified,  the  eounty  was  organi/ed  Ity  iirorhiiiiatiou  of 
Governor  James  M.  Harvey,  on  Jnne  ;!d.  ISCi'.t.  It  was  claimed  that  at 
this  lime  the  county  had  the  requisite  puinilaiiiui  of  (iim.  and  wliether  this 
was  true  or  not.  the  progress  of  events  soon  made  it  an  accurate 
statement.  Verdigris  City  was  designated  as  the  temporary  county  seat, 
and  a  l)oard  of  county  commissioners  was  api)ointed.  For  further  details 
as  to  the  early  history  of  the  county  and  the  story  of  the  struggle  which 
resulted  in  the  selection  of  Independence  as  the  county  seat,  the  reader  is 
referred  lo  the  chai)ter  on  the  political  history  of  the  county. 

Location 

]\I(>ntgomi'i'y  county  now  ranks  as  the  seventh  Kansas  county  in  pop- 
ulation and,  as  shown  by  tlie  United  States  census  of  l!l()0.  forms  a  part 
of  tl!(  largest  contiguous  area  west  of  tlie  .Mississiiiju  river,  having  a 
population  in  excess  of  forty-five  to  the  sijuare  mile.  It  is  between 
tweniy  four  and  twenty-five  miles  in  width  east  and  west,  and  between 
twenty-seven  and  twenty-eight  miles  in  length  north  and  south.  It  is  the 
third  county  west  from  the  Missouri  line,  on  the  southern  tier,  and  adjoins 
the  iTidian  Territory  on  the  south.  Label tc  county  forms  its  entire  east- 
ern boundar\-  and  Wilson  its  mntlici-n,  while  on  the  west  it  adjoins 
('hauiau(pia  and  a  jiortion  of  Elk.  Neosho  county  corners  with  it  on  th(i 
nortiic;ist. 

{{■<  i>liysical  features  and  soil  are  extremely  varied.  The  Verdigris 
is  the  principal  river,  entering  its  northern  boundary  and  meandering 
across  to  its  soutliern.  The  Elk  enters  the  west  line  of  the  county  and 
foni  s  another  winding  valley,  emptying  into  the  Verdigris  about  four 
miles  northeast  of  the  center  of  the  county.  The  Caney  cuts  across  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  county.  I*esides  these  rivers  there  are  dozens 
of  ci'eeks  and  runs  with  much  fine  alluvial  land  adjoining  them,  in 
addition  to  the  bottom  lands  of  the  rivers.  I'.etween  the  streams  there  are 
here  and  there  rock-cajijied  mounds  and  much  high,  thin,  stony  land,  fit 
for  little  but  ])astin('.  Use  is,  however,  now  being  found  f<)r  the  limestone 
that  c.qis  sonic  of  the  mounds  and  outcrops  along  the  streams  in  the  man 
ufaclurc  of  ccnicnl.  while  the  shale  that  is  abundant  in  the  hills  is 
extensixcly  ciiiiilo,\cd  in  the  nuinufacture  ot  vitrified  brick.  Taking  her 
agricnltui-al  res(iurces  in  connection  with  the  abundant  dcjiosits  of  nat- 
ural gas  and  jieti'oleum  oil  found  in  the  earth  liiiiHlrcds  of  feet  below  the 
surface,  and  remembering  that  .Montgomery  is  I  be  only  county  on  the 
south  line  of  the  state  that  lies  wholly  within  the  gas  and  oil  belt,  we  are 
certainly  justified  in  saying  that  nature  has  done  more  for  her  than  for 
any  other  eipnil  area  in  I  he  slate. 

The  seclion  of  which  (his  county  of  such  boundless  lesources  and 
]iossii!ililies  forms  a   iiarl.  was  tirst   a   jiorlioM  of  Hie  French  domain   in 


lIlSTOIiV  OK   .MO.NTCiOMEUY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  7 

Aiiu'iii-.i,  having  been  taken  possession  of  by  tlie  Canadians,  who  drifted 
down  the  Mississippi  to  the  gnlf  in  1682.  Eighty  years  later  it  was  eeded 
to  Sp;iin.  t>y  whom  it  was  retained  until  1800,  when  it  was  retroceded  to 
France.  In  eoninion  with  the  entire  area  of  Kansas,  except  a  small  frac- 
tion in  the  southwest  corner,  it  formed  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase 
made  by  Jefferson  in  1803,  and  has  ever  since  been  American  territory, 
though  little  was  known  about  it  during  the  first  half  of  the  18th  century. 

The  first  legislation  in  regard  to  this  section  appears  to  have  been 
enacted  in  1834,  when  all  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  Arkan- 
sas was  declared  "Indian  country,"  with  the  laws  of  the  Ilnited  States 
in  force;  and  the  country  of  the  Osages  was  attached  to  Arkansas 
territory.  In  1854  the  territory  of  Kansas  was  organized  and,  in  l.S(il,  the 
tei'ritory  became  a  state. 

The  country  from  which  the  present  county  was  to  be  made  still  re- 
mained Indian  territory,  however.  The  Osage  Indians  were  first  found 
on  the  Missouri  river,  and,  later,  were  forced  down  to  the  Arkansas.  In 
1808  they  ceded  their  lands  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas  to  the  United 
States  government  and  went  west.  In  182.'")  they  relin(iuished  their  lands 
in  Kansas  .e.xcept  a  strip  fifty  unless  wide  along  the  south  line  of  the  state, 
beginning  twenty-flve  miles  west  of  the  Missouri  line,  near  the  present 
eastern  boundary  of  Labette  county,  and  reaching  west  to  an  indefinite 
line  extended  from  the  head  waters  of  the  Kansas  river,  southerly,  through 
the  Rock  Saline.  This  was  the  Osage  reservation,  which  conipi-ised  the 
largest  body  of  good  land  in  Kansas,  remaining  unsettled  when  the  civil 
war  closed  in  18(J5. 

Land  Titles 
The  white  men  wanted  these  lands  and  were  bound  to  get  them  soon 
in  any  event,  but  the  return  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  to  civil  life  in 
1865  no  doubt  hastened  the  movement  to  send  the  Indians  westward  again 
and  make  homes  and  farms  out  of  these  fertile  Southern  Kansas  valleys 
to  which  they  held  title.  At  Canville  trading  post  in  Neosho  county  on 
September  29th,  1805,  a  treaty  was  negotiated  which  became  opei-ative 
January  21st,  1867,  by  whose  terms  the  Osages  sold  a  thirty-mile  strip  off 
from  the  east  side  of  their  lands  for  $300,000.  This  strip'  embraced  the 
counties  of  Xeosho  and  Labette,  and  a  fraction  about  three  miles  wide 
along  the  east  sides  of  Wilson  and  Montgomery  counties.  The  contest 
between  the  settlers  and  the  Missouri,  Kansas  iV  Texas  and  the  Leaven- 
worth, Lawrence  &  Galveston  railroad  companies  for  the  title  to  these 
lands  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  the  history  of  Labette 
county.  This  contest  also  involved  the  three-mile  strip  on  the  east  side 
of  Montgomery  county  and  interested  a  considerable  per  centage  of  its 
population.  It  was  finally  decided  in  favor  of  the  United  States,  under 
whom  a  portion  of  the  settlers  claimed  title,  leaving  those  who  had  bought 


8  HISTORY  or  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

their  lauds  from  the  railroad  coiiipaiiies  to  seek  to  perfect  tlieir  titles 
anew. 

These  ceded  lauds  were  eventually  entered  under  the  pre-emption 
laws  and  paid  for  to  the  credit  of  the  Osage  fund  in  the  government 
treHsury. 

The  same  treaty  which  cut  off  these  Osage  lauds  on  the  east  also 
sliced  off  a  twenty-mile  strip  on  the  north,  leaving  the  -'Diminished  Re- 
serve" but  thirty  iniles  in  width,  and  as  the  territory  narrowed  the  eager- 
ness to  possess  it  became  greater.  The  corporations  had  an  eye  upon  it,  as 
well  as  the  settlers,  and  on  May  27th,  ISGS,  a  little  more  than  a  year 
before  the  rush  of  immigrants  began  to  fill  the  county,  there  was  negotiat- 
ed on  Drum  Creek  a  treaty  which  for  downright  infamy  outranks  any 
other  transaction  in  the  history  of  the  opening  of  the  west  to  settlement 
and  civilization.  This  treaty  was  known  as  the  "Sturgis  Treaty,"  aud  is 
liberally  treated  under  the  head  of  "Drum  Creek  Treaty'"  in  this  volume. 

Owing  to  a  discrepancy  between  the  southern  boundary  line  of  the 
state  of  Kansas  and  the  south  line  of  the  Osage  Dimiuished  Reserve,  there 
was  a  strip  of  land  along  the  south  line  of  Montgomery  county,  varying 
between  two  and  three  miles  in  width,  which  was  claimed  by  the  Cherokee 
Indians,  and  which  was  eventually  sold  for  their  benefit  several  years 
later.  Actual  settlers  were  given  a  preference  in  the  purchase  of  these 
lands,  but  those  which  remained  were  disposed  of  in  any  desired  quantity, 
and  at  a  price  somewhat  higher  than  the  settlers  were  asked  to  pay. 

land  titles  in  the  county  were  thus  of  four  different  kinds.  The  land- 
holder may  find  his  chain  running  back  to  a  government  patent  originat- 
ing in  a  purchase  from  the  Cherokees  or  the  Osages.  aud  if  the  latter,  it 
may  be  either  of  "Ceded"  or  "Diminished  Reserve"  lands.  Or  he  may  hold 
by  virtue  of  a  purchase  from  the  state  school  fund  commissioners.  It 
was  fortunate  for  the  settlers,  though,  that  for  all  except  a  small  fraction 
of  the  area  of  the  county,  the  ccmtest  between  the  corporations  and  the 
l)eople  was  fought  out  before  the  lands  were  entered.  They  were  thus 
freed  from  the  long  period  of  strife,  the  expense  and  the  uncertainty  which 
were  the  fate  of  their  neighbors  in  Labette  county  and  on  the  "Ceded" 
strip.  The  titles  which  they  obtained  when  they  paid  the  purchase  price 
to  the  government  and  received  their  final  receipts  from  the  land  office  of- 
ficials, have  never  been  called  in  (juestion.  and  the  courts  have  been  resort- 
ed to  only  to  settle  individual  and  isolateil  cases  of  rival  claims  to 
proprietorship. 

The  original  government  surveys  of  the  lauds  in  the  county,  however, 
were  made  in  a  very  careless  manner,  the  section  and  (piurter  section 
cornel's  often  being  many  rods  from  where  they  should  have  been,  and 
the  surveys  of  the  "Ceded"  and  "Diminished"  lands  wei-e  so  loosely  con- 
nected that   in  ii:;niy  cases  there  are  (piarter  sections  on  the  line  between 


[ISTORY  OF  MOXTGOJIERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Important  Events 
The  lU'iini  Creek  Treaty,  The  Elk  Kivcr  Valley  Floods.  The  Volcanic  Up- 
heaval at  Coffeyviile  in  ls!»4,  the  Eeed  Family  Tragedy,  Why  Did 
Poiueroy  Trtist  York?,  The  County  High  School,  and  the  Daltou  Raid 
lit  Coffeyviile. 

The  Drum  Creek  Treaty 

r.Y  JNO.   S.  GILMORE. 

On  May  27th,  1808,  a  treaty  with  the  Osages  was  concluded  on  Drum 
Creek.  Montgomery  county,  for  the  disposition  of  the  Diminished  Reserve, 
or  thirty -mile  strip.  This  was  popularly  called  the  Drum  Creek  treaty 
or  the  "Sturgis  treaty."  Wm.  Sturgis  was  the  controlling  spirit  in  its 
negotiation.  By  its  terms  the  entire  Diminished  Reserve,  comprising 
8,003,(»00  acres  was  to  be  sold  to  the  Leavenworth,  Lawrence  &  Galveston 
Railroad  Co.  for  |1,600,000,  or  a  fraction  tinder  20  cents  per  acre.  It  was 
understood  that  Sturgis  would  be  the  indirect  beneficiary  of  this  stupen- 
dous wrong.  The  treaty  was  a  premeditated,  thoroughly  planned  and 
successfully  executed  fraud  from  its  iucipiency  up  to  the  stage  of  its 
submission  to  the  United  States  Senate  for  ratification.  It  was  even 
more — a  brazen  steal,  so  extensive  as  to  be  infamous — and  the  oflScials, 
politicians  and  leading  men  who  approved  or  aided  and  abetted  in  the 
attempt  to  carry  it  out  deserved  to  be  buried  so  deep  under  popular 
obloqtiy  that  they  would  never  again  publieally  show  their  heads.  The 
Indians  were  no  doubt  unduly  influenced  by  the  promoters  and  retainers 
of  the  L.  L.  &  G.  railroad  company.  The  treaty  commission,  with  special 
interpreters,  Indian  agents,  and  advocates  of  the  scheme  had  gone  into 
the  Indian  country  accompanied  by  a  detatchment  of  the  Seventh  Li.  S. 
cavalry  commanded  by  Capt.  Geo.  W.  Yates.  (Yates  and  his  troop  went 
down  to  death  with  General  Custer  on  the  Rosebud,  June  2oth,  1876,) 
The  commission  composed  N.  G.  Taylor,  President;  Thos.  Murphy,  Geo.  C. 
Snow,  Albert  G.  Boone  and  A.  N.  Blacklidge,  Secretary ;  with  three  inter- 
preters. Those  signing  the  treaty  by  way  of  attesting  the  signatures  (X 
marks)  of  the  Osage  chiefs  and  their  adherents  were  Alex.  R.  Banks, 
special  U.  S.  Indian  agent;  Geo.  W.  Yates,  Captain  Seventh  cavalry; 
M.  W.  Reynolds,  reporter  for  commission ;  Charles  Robinson,  I.  S. 
Kalloch,  Moses  Neal,  W.  P.  Murphy,  Wm.  Babcock  and  the  interpreters. 
Alex  Beyett,  Lewis  P.  Chouteau  and  Augustus  Captain.  The  first  Osage 
X  mark  was  under  the  title  of  Joseph  Paw-ne-no-pashe,  White  Hair,  prin- 
cipal chief,  followed  by  the  Indian  names  of  lOG  other  chiefs,  councilors 


lO  msTt)RY  OK   MONTCJOMISRY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

aiul  l.iavt's  of  llie  Big  and  Little  Osage  tribes.  Of  Indians  signing  the 
dociinient  wlio  were  known  by  many  Moutgouiery  county  pioneers  were 
lUack  I»og.  Little  Beaver,  No])awaila.  Strike  Ax.  Wyohake.  Chetopali, 
Hard  Kobe.  Walisanka  and  ^Mclotuiinini  (Twelve  O'clock,  i  Little  Bear 
was  dead. 

B\  the  time  this  treaty  reached  the  Senate  the  settlers  on  the  reserve 
were  aroused  a  nd  their  friends  throughout  the  State  and  many  newspap- 
ers shared  ojienly  their  feeling  and  espoused  their  cause.  A  determined 
fight  was  made  against  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  led  by  Hon.  Sidney 
Clarke.  Kansas"  sole  Congressman.  Both  Senators  were  silently  for  the 
robber  measure.  Senator  E.  G.  Ross,  a  year  later,  rei)orted  it  to  the  Senate 
so  amended  as  to  divide  up  the  lands  with  other  railroad  comi>anies, 
witluut  adding  to  the  price  or  making  any  provision  for  the  interests  or 
rights  of  the  settlers.  But  Congressman  Clarke  did  not  relax  in  his  bitter 
opposition.  He  brought  to  light  the  objectionable  and  unjust  features  of 
the  treaty,  stood  for  the  opening  of  the  reserve  to  actual  settlers  as  the 
Trust  Lands  had  been  opened,  and  as  a  result  of  his  protests  and  efforts 
and  at  his  request  General  Grant,  soon  after  becoming  President,  on 
March  4th,  186!),  withdrew  the  treaty  from  the  Senate. 

Sidney  Clai'ke  framed  and  offered  in  the  House  the  section  in  the  an- 
nual Indian  appropriation  bill,  ai)proved  July  15th,  1870,  which  opened 
the  ]>!minished  Reserve  to  actual  settlers  only  at  .fl.25  per  acre,  excepting 
the  lOtli  and  36th  .sections,  which  were  reserved  to  the  State  of  Kansas  for 
school  purposes.  After  a  two  years'  contest  he  had  prevented  the  con- 
summation of  the  greatest  swindle  on  Indians  and  settlers  alike  ever  con- 
cocted in  Kansas.  The  railroads,  losing  the  rich  prize  which  seemed 
almost  securely  within  their  grasp,  combined  in  the  campaign  of  1870 
against  Clarke  and  defeated  him  for  renomination  for  Congress, 

At  a  council  held  on  Drum  Creek  in  Septend)er,  1870,  arrangements 
were  effected  for  the  final  removal  of  the  remaining  Osages  to  their  new 
home  in  the  Indian  Territory,  just  south  of  the  Kansas  line.  By  the  act 
ai)iir(.ved  .Inly  l."ith  of  that  year  the  I'residciit  bad  been  directed  to  make 
such  removal  as  soon  as  the  Indians  would  a^rcc  thereto.     They  went. 


The  Elfc  Valley  Flood  of  1885 

.\ner  till'  grasshdiiiier  plague  of  1S71  .'i  laoliably  llic  wurst  .-alamity 
that  h;!s  bcrallcii  Monlgonicry  county  sinre  its  scltlcmcnt  was  the  flood 
wliicli  s\ve|,l  down  the  Valleys  of  the'  l-:ik  an<l  Verdigris  (ui  Friday,  Sat- 
urday and  Sunday.  .May  l.l'th,  KJth,  and  17tli,  LSS."..  Perhaps  the  most 
comi)i'eiiensive  account  of  this  disaster  was  the  one  imblished  by  the  Star 
and  Kansan.  at  Independence,  on  the  Friday  following;  and  it  is  from 
this  account  that  the  facts  for  this  sketch  are  gleaned. 

That    fateful  Fridav  was  noted  at  Jndependence  as  a  day  of  clouds 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY'^  KANSAS.  II 

au(l  sliowei's  with  heavy  Imiilcs  of  cloud  along  the  western  horizon 
Toward  night  news  canie  of  a  great  storm  in  Elk  county  and  that  the 
railroad  track  had  been  washed  away  in  the  neighborhood  of  Elk  Falls. 
No  more  trains  were  able  to  get  through  on  the  Soullicrii  Kansas  line  of 
the  S'anta  Fe  railroad  in  either  direction,  and  on  Saturday  morning  a  re- 
pair train  loaded  with  material  for  bridge  building  had  gone  out  to  the 
neighborhood  of  the  bridge  over  the  Elk  at  Table  :M«)und.  About  half 
past  ten  o'clock  a  telegram  was  received  from  this  train  stating  that  lives 
were  in  danger  and  help  was  needed.  All  the  available  boats  in  the  city 
were  taken  to  the  depot,  and  a  little  after  noon  the  repair  train,  which  had 
returned  to  Independence,  stai-ted  for  the  scene  of  danger  with  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  men  on  board.  A  few  nunutes  run  brought  the  train  to 
the  locality  of  tlie  tlood,  and  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Table  Mound  the 
boats  were  unloaded  and  started  out  over  the  waste  of  waters  on  their 
errand  of  mercy.  Among  those  who  risked  their  lives  in  these  frail  crafts, 
to  rescue  those  in  peril,  were  Eugene  B.  White,  Milton  Gregory,  Lewis 
Bowman  and  Elisha  Mills. 

During  the  morning  the  waters  had  risen  so  high  as  to  touch  the  sills 
of  the  iron  railroad  bridge  over  the  Elk,  and  a  gang  of  men  were  at  work 
on  the  bridge  dislodging  the  mass  of  corn  stalks  which  had  lodged  against 
it  on  the  upper  side.  Beyond  the  bridge,  to  the  west,  the  railroad  track 
was  out  of  water  as  far  as  the  trestle  over  the  slough,  and  this  strip  Mas 
the  only  bit  of  dry  land  visible  in  the  entire  valley  from  bluff  to  bluff.  On 
it  were  gathered  a  few  cattle  and  hogs  which  had  tied  to  it  for  their  lives, 
and  to  which  the  waters  were  bringing  the  scattered  ears  of  corn  they  had 
gathered.  To  the  left  of  the  railroad,  chickens  were  seen  roosting  in  the 
trees  near  a  deserted  house,  and  still  nearer  a  bunch  of  them  had  gath- 
■ered  on  the  upper  ends  of  a  pile  of  posts  which  projected  a  little  above 
the  surface  of  the  water;  and  away  to  the  north  of  the  railroad  were  a 
number  of  horses  which  had  been  tied  on  the  highest  ground  in  the  vicin- 
ity, but  were  still  nearly  covered  by  the  waters. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  the  writer  climbed  the  slope  of  Table 
Mound  and  stood  upon  the  rocky  ledge  that  marks  its  outlines  that  he 
realized  the  extent  of  the  calamity  which  had  befallen  the  residents  of 
these  fertile  valley  lands.  Up  and  down  the  river  basin,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  there  was  water  everywhere.  Only  a  small  fragment  of  a 
single  wheat  field  showed  above  the  flood  in  this  entire  rich  valley  district. 
Still  the  waters  were  dotted  with  trees  and  groves,  while  a  fringe  of 
timber  marked  the  windings  of  the  channel  of  the  Elk;  and  houses  and 
barns  could  be  seen  here  and  there,  the  highest  of  them  with  apparently 
not  less  than  three  feet  of  water  on  their  first  floors,  and  the  lowest  sub- 
merged to  the  eaves.  Probably  the  watery  area  in  sight  from  this  point 
was  not  less  than  ten  scpiare  miles  in  extent;  and  at  one  jdace  the  width 
of  the  vallev  is  scarcelv  less  than  five  miles. 


12  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

In  one  instance  a  family  refused  to  leave  the  bouse  when  tlie  rescu- 
ing boat  appeared,  but  when  a  second  downpour  came  later  in  the  after- 
noon they  were  fain  to  seek  the  shore.  Some  of  the  dwellers  in  the  valley 
wei-e  landed  on  the  west  shore,  having  made  one  portage  across  the  rail- 
road during  the  trip.  There  they  were  warmly  welcomed  by  the  neighbors 
gathered  on  the  opposite  mound,  who  could  be  seen  from  our  side  running 
across  the  grassy  slope  to  meet  them.  And  all  this  while  the  sullen  roar 
of  the  angry  waters  rang  in  our  ears  and  we  bad  only  to  close  our  eyes  to 
imagine  we  stood  on  the  ocean's  beach  listening  to  its  endless  refrain. 
About  us  were  the  most  lovely  of  our  wild  flowers,  the  graceful,  nodding 
columbines  and  the  crimson  hued  verbenas ;  but  above  us  the  heavens  were 
again  gathering  blackness  and  the  inky  pall  of  cloud  along  the  western 
horizon  was  ever  and  anon  illuminated  by  a  vivid  flash  that  left  it  blacker 
and  more  ominous  than  before ;  while  below,  in  dozens  of  swift  curi'ents, 
the  thick  and  noisome  waters  rushed  onward  unresting  to  the  sea.  Prob- 
ably no  one  who  gazed  in  fascinated  awe  upon  those  thousands  of  acres 
which  at  dawn  had  been  covered  with  luxuriant  fields  of  wheat,  promising 
within  a  month  a  harvest  of  golden  grain,  and  which  were  now  buried 
from  five  to  fifteen  feet  in  depth  beneath  a  swiftly  flowing  volume  of  water 
wider  than  the  Mississippi,  will  ever  forget  the  scene. 

Meanwhile  the  panorama  was  not  without  an  exciting  and,  what 
threatened  to  be,  a  tragic  interlude.  One  of  the  boats — Bowman's  it  was 
said — ventured  into  the  swift  current  setting  under  the  trestle  west  of 
the  iron  railroad  bridge  .  In  a  flash  it  was  sucked  under  and  upset,  one  of 
its  occupants  clutching  the  timbers  of  the  trestle  and  being  drawn  out 
from  above,  while  the  other  apjieared  on  the  bottom  of  the  u}tturned  boat 
as  it  drifted  down  stream.  Fortunately  he  reached  the  fringing  grove  of 
the  river  channel  unharmed,  and  was  able  to  halt  the  boat  there  until 
another  came  to  its  rescue. 

During  the  afternoon,  the  iron  wagon  bridge.  I  wo  and  a  half  miles 
north  of  Independence  on  the  Neosho  road,  was  swept  down  stream  and, 
shortly  after,  the  one  on  the  Radical  City  road,  a  couple  of  miles  farther 
west,  went  to  keep  it  conifjany.  Sunday  morning  the  flood  was  at  its 
height  in  the  Verdigris  in  the  neighborhood  of  Independence,  and  the 
water  to  the  northeast  of  the  city  had  backed  up  as  far  as  Pennsylvania 
avenue,  just  south  of  the  railroad  trestle.  Kock  creek  on  the  south  was 
also  full  and  almost  impassable,  while  the  entire  valley  from  the  bluff  at 
the  east  side  of  the  city  to  the  hills  a  mile  away  to  the  northeast,  was  one 
vast  sheet  of  water.  The  railroad  was  washed  away  at  a  small  trestle 
near  the  east  side  of  the  valley,  and  that  afternoon  the  passengers  coming 
in  from  the  north  were  ferried  over  to  the  city  by  boat,  among  them  being 
some  returning  visitors  from  the  New  Orleans  exposition. 

Until  Sunday  no  loss  of  life  had  been  reported  in  the  county,  but  dur- 
ing the  forenoon  came  the  melancholy  tidings  of  a  pathetic  fatality  at  the 


HISTORY  OV  MOXTfioMERY  COVNTY.  KANSAS.  I  J 

month  oi  C:ud  ncek  in  Rutliind  towusbip.  Saturday  niovuiiij!,-  Dr.  I.  H. 
.McCov.  of  thai  iH'i.sihborhood.  who  had  recently  been  engaged  in  business 
in  Independence,  with  Mr.  Greer,  a  neighbor,  had  hastily  constructed  a 
square  box  boat  which  could  have  been  little  more  than  a  raft,  as  the  work 
on  it  is  said  to  have  taken  tiieni  but  forty  minutes.  With  this  Ihey  rescued 
the  family  of  a  Mr.  Wallace,  living  in  the  path  of  the  flood,  in  whoso  house 
the  water  had  risen  to  the  ceiling  of  the  first  story,  and  brought  them  safe- 
ly to  laud.  Finding  no  more  [leople  in  danger  in  their  neighborhood,  they 
liext  ferried  a  cow  out  of  the  flood,  one  of  them  holding  her  by  the  horns 
while  the  other  paddled.  About  noon  John  E.  Rice,  an  unmarried  young 
man  23  years  of  age.  took  Mr.  Greer's  place,  but  Dr.  McCoy,  though  a  man 
of  family,  refused  to  permit  anyone  to  become  a  substitute  for  him. 
Manned  by  McCoy  and  Rice,  the  boat  put  off  to  a  knoll  lying  a  little  to  the 
west  of  tlie  mouth  of  Card  creek  and  south  of  the  river,  where  a  uumber 
of  people  were  to  be  seen.  Here  were  found  Mrs.  Eliza  Woods,  a  widow 
who  had  resided  iu  the  county  from  the  date  of  its  first  settlement,  and 
several  other  people,  among  whom  were  John  McCarty  and  Maurice  and 
George  Heritage.  The  two  latter  were  at  work  upon  an  old  and  heavy 
boat  Avith  which  they  had  been  engaged  during  the  morning  in  rescuing 
those  who  were  in  danger,  but  which  had  sprung  aleak.  The  story  of  the 
fatal  accident  which  followed  is  as  told  the  writer  by  Maurice  Heritage. 
When  he  went  to  the  Widow  Woods"  residence  to  take  her  away,  he  found 
her  nearly  beside  herself  with  fright  and  excitement,  and  engaged  in  con- 
strucling  a  raft  with  which  to  start  for  the  shore.  When  McCoy  came  to 
the  knoll,  she  eagerly  assented  to  his  proposal  to  take  her  to  the  mainland, 
though  the  water  had  already  fallen  a  foot  and  a  half  and  all  danger  was 
past. 

With  her  youngest  child.  Toiiimy,  a  boy  six  or  seven  years  of  age,  and 
another  little  boy  about  the  same  age,  the  son  of  Ira  VanDuzeu,  a  neigh- 
bor, Mrs.  Woodsgot  into  the  box  boat  with  McCoy  and  Rice.  It  was  only 
sixty  rods  to  the  shore,  but  they  had  not  gone  more  than  three  before  they 
were  in  a  strong  current,  and  their  boat,  which  was  evidently  overloaded, 
became  unmanageable  and  was  sucked  through  an  opening  in  a  hedge 
wherj  this  current  was  setting  most  strongly.  vSeeing  their  peril  Mr.  Her- 
itage and  Mr.  McCarty  rushed  toward  them,  thinking  they  could  make  a 
sort  of  living  chain  of  themselves,  and  while  one  of  them  held  to  the 
hedge,  the  other  holding  fast  to  the  first  could  reach  the  boat  and  swing 
it  out  of  the  current  and  into  safety.  By  the  time  Heritage  had  got  with- 
in twenty-five  feet  of  the  boat  it  went  under  and  he  was  sucked  in  after  it 
just  where  the  boat  had  disappeared,  the  water  being  eight  or  nine  feet 
deep.  Here  Heritage  says  he  lost  consciousness,  until  v»-heu  he  came  to 
the  surface  ten  yards  away,  he  was  recalled  to  a  knowledge  of  his  peril 
by  McCarty  calling  to  him.  and  swam  out  of  the  current. 

Mr.  Rice.though  an  ex]iert  swimmer,  did  not  arise  again,  and  it  is 


14  HISTORY  or    MONTiJOMERV   CorXTY.   KANSAS. 

thonslit  that  he  was  stunned  by  a  hlow  across  the  bridge  of  the  nose 
whicli  left  a  bruise  perceptible  when  the  body  was  recovered.  The  boat 
was  afterward  seen  floating  down  stream  with  McCoy  and  Mrs.  Woods 
both  clinging  to  it,  but  it  kept  rolling  over  in  the  waves  so  that  they  soon 
lost  their  hold.  As  McCoy  was  also  a  good  swimmer,  it  is  inferred  that 
but  for  an  attempt  to  rescue  Mrs.  Woods  he  would  have  saved  himself. 
The  boat  did  not  upset  until  its  occupants  attempted  to  jump  from  it  as 
it  was  going  down ;  it  simply  foundered  from  overloading.  The  bodies 
were  found  about  seven  o'clock  the  next  morning,  from  seventy-flve  to  a 
hundred  yards  fi-oni  where  they  disappeared,  having  lodged  in  a  hedge,  at 
rigiit  angles  to  the  one  through  which  they  were  passing  when  the  boat 
sank. 

hi  this  cduiily  no  oilier  fiil:ililii-s  wei-e  rcjiorled.  lliough  the  losses  in 
the  destniitioii  of  growing  crops  were  almost  beyond  computation.  On 
Sunday  A^'.  If.  Linton's  Houring  mill,  three  miles  southwest  of  Liberty, 
fell  into  the  river,  entailing  a  loss  of  «:',.()(»0.  :McTaggart's  mill,  northwest 
of  Liberly.  and  near  the  sight  of  the  oi-iginal  town  of  that  name,  was 
flooded  to  a  depth  of  thirty-three  inches,  which  was  sixteen  more  than  had 
been  observed  there  since  its  erection  in  the  pioneer  days.  At  Elk 
City  the  wafer  was  three  feet  deep  in  the  depot,  and  many  residences  were 
damaged  by  the  Hood,  but  the  business  quarter  was  not  inundated.  Tiie 
raih'oad  was  overflowed  three  miles  north  of  Cotfeyville  at  Kalloch 
station,  and  during  the  first  of  the  week  that  city  was  ciit  oft'  from  mail 
communication  with  the  outside  world,  except  by  hack  to  Independence. 

The  "cloudburst"  which  caused  this  flood  originated  in  Chautauqua 
county,  and  in  Ihat  county  the  loss  of  life  was  greater  than  in  ]M  -utsoin- 
ery,  no  less  than  eleven  fatalities  being  reported.  Twn  bodic-.  were  re- 
covered at  Matanzas  and  three  in  the  neighlxuhood  of  ( \uiey :  while  six 
deaths  occuried  in  the  vicinity  of  Sedan.  The  following;  vi\i(l  and  strik- 
ing story  of  the  storm  and  its  work  in  Ihat  county  is  from  the  columns  jf 
the  Sedan  (Tra[)hic  of  the  next  week  : 

"Last  Friday  commenced  like  a  balmy  spring  morning,  with  southerly 
winds,  and  it  bade  fair  to  be  the  most  jileasant  day  of  the  week;  but  be- 
fore noon  dark  clouds  had  begun  to  rise  in  the  north,  and  by  half  past 
eleven  the  northern  part  of  the  county  was  the  center  of  one  of  the  most 
disastr(nis  rainstorms  ever  rec(U-ded  in  the  annals  of  the  state.  The  rain 
and  hail.  accomi»anied  at  times  by  winds  of  a  <'ycl(>nic  natttre,  fell  for 
eight  consecutive  hours.  The  water  stood  on  the  level  i)rairie  at  times 
nearl\  (wo  feet  deep.  The  clouds  from  this  place  looked  as  if  they  were 
rising  and  moving  oft',  when  other  clouds,  if  anything  of  a  more  fearful 
character,  would  i evolve  aroui-d  and  taUe  the  place  of  the  one  which  had 
just  si)ent  its  fury.  The  northern  sky  all  the  afternoon  was  a  dark  mass 
of  revolving  clouds.  The  clouds  would  apjicar  in  the  northeast,  and  fol- 
lowing  llic   circle,  (Iisaii|.car   in    the   norihwest    with    terrilde   regularity. 


UlSTOUY  UF  MO.N'niOMEKY  COlNTYj  KANSAS.  I  5 

At  about  five  o'clock  in  tlie  evening  the  first  approadi  of  the  stoi-ni  was 
announced  here  by  the  dark  circling  clouds  overhead,  acc<)nii)anied  by  a 
deluge  of  rain,  which  converted  our  strets  and  water  ways  into  boiling 
torrents.  A  few  minutes  after  the  rain  had  commenced  to  fall  it  was  re- 
ported that  the  river  was  out  of  its  banks,  and  in  less  than  half  an  hour 
from  the  time  of  the  first  indications  of  the  rise,  the  river  was  fifteen  feet 
higher  than  it  had  ever  been  before  since  the  first  settlement  of  the  county, 
and  our  iieople.  for  the  first  time,  began  to  realize  that  those  farmers  liv- 
ing in  the  low  river  bottoms  had  either  escaped  by  marvelous  exertion  or 
been  carried  to  destruction.  Horses,  cattle,  hogs,  wagons  and  farming  im- 
plements were  driven  past  by  the  mad  torrents  at  a  frightful  rate.  The 
water  came  down  in  walls  four  feet  liii:li.  crushing  and  carrying  away 
everything  that  opposed  its  forces;  fenifs  and  lanii  improvements  disap- 
peared in  an  instant,  and  great  trees  that  liad  stood  the  test  of  ages  were 
uprooted  and  leveled  to  the  earth ;  while  the  roar  and  swish  of  the  waters 
made  the  bravest  stand  back  and  shudder  as  he  contemplated  the  awful 
consequences  that  must  inevitably  follow.  People  began  to  move  out  ofi 
the  lower  part  of  town  to  the  high  points.  Xight  coming  on  and  the  rain 
still  falling,  nothing  could  be  (lone  till  morning  to  relieve  the  sufl'erers 
on  the  bottoms. 

"Next  morning  the  cries  of  the  sufferers  in  tree  tops  were  heard,  and 
rafts  and  boats  were  speedily  constructed  to  render  assistance.  One  raft 
was  made  out  of  the  side  of  a  house  and  set  afloat  by  William  Harbert 
and  others,  and  rescued  Ben  Adams,  his  wife  and  two  children  out  of  the 
tree  to])s.  where  they  had  taken  refuge  the  night  before.  Their  house 
started  ofl:'  about  six  o'clock.  The  woman  caught  in  a  tree  top  and  lifted 
her  two  children  on  to  the  same  limb,  her  husband  going  still  farther  and 
catching  to  another  tree.  The  plucky  little  woman  sheltering  her  children 
all  night  and  fighting  the  drift  wood  and  everything,  to  keep  from  being 
dragged  oft  their  only  hope  of  safety.  Just  above  them,  and  four  miles 
from  i^edan,  Mr.  Witt,  his  wife  and  one  child,  also. Mr.  Green,  seeing  the 
flood  coming,  tried  to  make  their  escape  to  the  highlands  in  their  wagon, 
but  were  carried  down  with  the  flood.  Mr.  Witt  making  his  escape,  and 
the  child,  woman,  and  Mr.  (Ireeu  being  drowned.  Their  bodies  have  all 
been  recovered.  Ed.  Chadburn.  a  freighter  from  this  city,  was  on  the 
road  to  Moline,  and  was  drowned  in  a  small  rivulet  north  of  town.  His 
body  was  discovered  early  Saturday  moiniug,  and  was  brought  home  and 
interred  Sunday  evening.  Two  children  of  Mr.  Rogers,  on  Xorth  Caney, 
east  of  Sedan,  were  drowned;  their  bodies  were  recovered.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rogers  escaped  after  a  perilous  swim  of  a  mile." 

The  next  great  flood  in  the  "\'erdigris  came  in  Septend)er.  ISflo,  but 
was  unaccompanied  by  loss  of  life,  and  while  it  ruined  most  of  the  corn 
fields  in  the  valley  only  injured  wheat  in  the  stack. 

In  the  latter  part  of  :May.  l!)(i:!.  the  highest  water  since  the  settle- 


I6  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

ment  of  the  county  swt'i^t  tliroiif;!!  IjotU  the  Elk  and  Vercligris  valleys, 
and  at  midnight  on  Friday.  May  I'lid,  it  reached  its  maximum  at  Indepen- 
dence, three  feet  above  the  high  water  mark  of  1895.  The  wheat  crop  in 
all  of  the  valley  lands  of  the  county  was  ruined  by  this  flood,  but  the  only 
loss  of  life  reported  was  in  the  upper  part  of  Sycamore  valley,  where  J. 
W.  Burke  was  drowned  by  the  ui)setting  of  his  buggy  in  the  rapidly  flow- 
ing stream,  which  was  not  more  than  three  feet  deep  at  the  ford  where 
he  attem))ted  to  cross.  His  wife,  who  was  in  the  carriage  with  him.  was 
rescued.  lie  was  a  ])i(ineer  and  a  well  known  citizen  and  had  beo.u  prom- 
inent for  years  in  the  councils  of  the  INipulist  party. 

The  Volcanic  Upheaval  of  1894  at  Coffeyville 

Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  geologist  ami  the  student  of  physi- 
cal ])!ienomena,  in  the  entire  history  of  the  slate  of  Kansas,  from  the  days 
of  Coi-ouado  to  these  opening  yeais  of  the  Twentieth  century,  there  haS 
been  no  more  interesting  spectacle  than  was  witnessed  by  those  who  vis- 
ited Major  Osborn's  pasture  adjoining  the  city  of  Coffeyville  in  the 
summer  of  1894.  The  location  of  the  volcanic  upheaval  which  occurred 
there  on  the  night  of  Sunday,  July  22d,  was  only  about  four  blocks  north 
of  the  Eldridge  House  and  the  business  centre  of  the  city,  and  not  more 
than  seventy-five  yards  west  of  Ninth  street,  which  there  marks  the  west- 
ern limit  of  the  town.  Had  the  upheaval  occurred  fifteen  hundred  feet 
south  of  where  it  did,  it  would  have  made  utter  wreck  of  most  of  the 
business  buildings  of  that  city. 

As  compared  with  the  un<l('rgi-<iun<l  distiubance  on  that  July  night, 
the  Daltoii  raid  which  brought  ('oHVy\illc  so  much  unenviable  notoriety, 
was  but  a  ri])])le  on  the  surface  <>f  events.  That  affair  was  transitory  and 
left  no  such  abiding  scars  on  the  eartli's  surface  as  did  the  elemental  up- 
heaval that  occurred  two  years  later.  Aside  from  events  which  are  of 
interest  because  th(»y  attect  those  of  our  own  race,  there  has  been  no  other 
happening  in  the  entire  histoi-y  of  Kansas  so  far  out  of  the  usual  order  of 
Things,  nor  so  significant  in  its  suggestions.  Elemental  commotion  above 
die  earth's  surface  we  ai(^  accusiomed  lo.  and  the  violence  and  destruction 
wrought  by  cyclones  and  tornadoes  do  not  excite  our  special  wonder,  as 
they  would  if  they  were  new  to  our  ex]ierience.  Hut  when  the  solid  earth 
itself  begins  to  rock  and  vomits  forth  ston(^s  by  the  ton  from  depths  that 
have  not  .seen  the  light  for  uninniibered  aeons,  ]M'o])le  have  reason  to  pause 
and  (luestion  whether  there  is  nnythiiig  stable,  anything  abiding  in 
this  old  world  of  ours. 

The  writer  of  this  aiticie  visited  CotVeyville  two  days  after  the  ex- 
plosioii.  aiKl  ihis  is  wlial  lie  s.iw  as  he  ihen  reconled  his  obsei'vations : 

The  main  cralei-  extends  in  a  nori  Invesierly  and  southeasterly  di- 
rection about  a  liuiidred  feel.  It  is  oblong  in  shape  and  varies  in  width 
from  thirly  lo  fifty  feet.     The  pile  of  stone  and  earth  that  surrounds  it 


HISTORY  Ol'  JIONTGO.MERY  COL'NTY^  KANSAS.  I7 

is  ten  or  twelve  feet  high  at  the  southeast  corner,  but  the  crater  is  scarcely 
lower  on  the  inside  of  this  pile  than  the  ground  just  south  of  it,  so  that 
the  bowl-shaped  or  crater-like  appearance  is  due  in  large  measure  to  the 
piling  up  of  earth  and  stone  around  the  region  of  upheaval.  Most  of  the 
central  depression,  as  well  as  the  surrounding  elevation,  is  covered  with 
jagged  and  irregular  stones  of  various  sizes,  giving  the  scene  a  slight 
resemblance  to  some  of  the  stone  gardens  among  the  Rocky  mountains. 
These  stones  are  principally  fragments  of  sandstone,  but  among  them  is 
some  bluish  soapstone.  The  gas  men  who  have  drilled  here  say  that  the 
latter  is  not  found  nearer  the  surface  than  thirty  or  forty  feet.  And  yet 
right  in  the  center  of  the  crater  is  a  great  mass  of  this  stone,  consisting  of 
four  or  five  layers,  all  tilted  up  on  edge,  about  six  feet  in  thickness  and 
fifteen  feet  long,  with  their  lower  edges  concealed  by  the  debris  about 
them.  This  is  the  mass  which  has  been  repeatedly  described  as  "about 
the  size  of  a  wag(m  box."  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  stone  enough  in 
that  mass  to  fill  a  good  sized  wagon  train  and  to  weigh  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  tons. 

The  force  re(piired  to  tear  this  stone  loose  from  the  horizontal  strata 
in  which  it  lay  so  quietly  imbedded  a  week  ago,  as  it  had  been  ever  since 
it  was  mud  and  ooze  in  the  bed  of  a  great  inland  sea,  to  break  up  and  lift 
all  the  layers  of  sandstone  That  lay  above  it,  and  to  instantly  raise  the 
thousands  on  thousands  of  tons  of  rock  and  soil  between  it  and  the  sur- 
face, is  beyond  all  computation.  It  must  have  been  something  titanic 
— something  compared  with  which  the  charges  of  dynamite  u.sed 
in  shooting  oil  wells  are  as  toy  pistols  to  the  great  Krupp  gun  we  saw  at 
the  Chicago  Exposition.  That  an  explosion  of  gas  in  a  pocket  scores  of 
feet  below  the  surface  might  have  stirred  the  bosom  of  the  sleeping  earth 
and  opened  a  seam  to  ease  the  pressure  would  be  credible ;  but  what  kind 
of  a  force,  how  sudden  the  explosion,  and  how  beyond  measure  the  pres- 
sure, the  force,  required  to  produce  so  stupendous  a  result ! 

Yet  this  one  minatui-e  crater,  where  a  bit  of  smooth,  grass-grown 
Kansas  prairie  had  been,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  transformed  into 
such  a  scene  of  stony  desolation,  by  no  means  told  all  the  story.  Running 
thence  southwest  for  nearly  fifty  yards  were  great  cracks  from  six  to  eight 
feet  deep  and  a  foot  or  more  in  width.  They  terminated  in  another  small- 
er crater  where  the  eruption  seemed  to  have  been  much  less  violent,  the 
soil  merely  boiling  up  from  the  effects  of  the  blow-out  by  the  pent-up  forces 
below.  Still  farther  to  the  southwest,  traces  of  the  exjjlosion  and  smaller 
fissures  could  be  perceived  for  a  thousand  feet  or  more  out  into  the 
pasture. 

The  main  crater  could  have  been  little  short  of  a  full-fledged  volcano 
at  the  time  of  the  explosion.  Eye  witnesses  say  that  stones  and  earth 
were  thrown  to  a  vast  height — some  think  as  much  as  four  hundred  feet, 
which  T  am  inclined  to  believe  is  more  nearlv  correct  than  the  conservative 


iS  nisTiJKv  nr  Mu.\i(i(i.Mi:i:Y  cdrNTV.  Kansas. 

estimate  of  one  limuhed  ami  titty  feet.  The  fiiomid  fi-diii  ilie  i  eiilei-  of  tlie 
crater  east  to  Waluut  street,  a  distance  of  seventytive  \:irds.  is  iliickly 
strew!!  -with  stoues  varying  in  size  from  the  smallest  ijaiiirle  ii]i  id  l>nil<en 
pieces  of  rock  weighing  two  hundred  j)ounds  or  more;  and  there  is  hardly 
a  bit  of  ground  large  enough  to  i)lace  your  hand  ujion  that  is  not  covered 
with  this  crumbled  stone.  There  are  jdenty  of  j>ieces  in  the  street,  too; 
and  so  lu'a\y  were  the  rocks  tailing  along  its  east  side  that  a  wooden 
sidewalk,  not  less  llian  a  hundred  yards  t'roiii  the  crater,  built  of  plank 
two  inches  thick,  was  broken  in  several  places  by  the  falling  fragments. 
For  I  block  farther,  more  or  less  of  the  stony  rain  fell,  some  of  the  pieces 
of  blue  soa])st(me  here  being  large  enough  for  building  slabs.  In  the  lot 
directly  east  of  the  crater  is  a  two-story  residence  jirobably  twenty-ftve 
feet  stpiare.  Here  the  window  glass  was  all  broken  <>n  the  e.\]ios(Ml  side, 
and  in  one  jilace  the  weather  boarding  had  been  crushed  by  the  bomlnird- 
menr.  Mr.  K.  1'.  Kercheval  occu]>ied  the  n]i]M'r  story  of  this  residence, 
and  his  bedroom  window  was  shattered  and  stones  thrown  over  on  to 
the  bed.  fortunately  withotit  injuring  any  4ine. 

At  the  n(U-theast  corner  of  this  house  is  a  small  cistern  about  six  feet 
deej)  and  eight  feet  in  diameter.  It  is  of  the  shai)e  of  an  inverted  bowl, 
and  the  native  rock  formed  the  b<itl<nii  and  a  portion  of  the  east  side. 
Here  the  effects  of  still  another  e.xiilosion  were  perceptible,  the  rock  in 
the  renter  of  the  l!oor  being  torn   loose  and  thrown  up  with  such  force 


as  to  crush  the  arch  at  the  to]i.  leaving  a 

ho 

le  in  the  bottom  where  the 

firmest  jiossible  foundation  had  been  befo 

re.. 

Of  course  the  cistern  was 

drained,  the  water  disaii|peariug  down  the 

'  llo 

le.     Why  the  only  break  in 

the  surface  (d)servable  east  of  the  main 

cral 

ter  should  have  been  made 

right  in  the  bottom  of  this  cistern  is  one 

of   1 

Ihe  many  curious  and  inex- 

plicable  facts  connected  with  this  exjilosion. 

Looking  for  something  to  throw  light  on  the  causes  of  such  an  tip- 
upheaval.  1  note  that  a  gas  well  had  been  drilled  just  northeast  of  the 
crater  in  the  i.asture  and  not  more  than  fifty  yards  distant.  That  this 
well  had  something  to  do  with  the  exjdosion  is  an  almost  universal  con- 
cltision.  Indeed.  Major  Osborne,  the  owner  of  the  jnoperty,  is  talking  of 
suing  the  gas  company  which  drilled  ilie  well,  lor  damages.  Again,  two 
wells  in  the  vii-inity  are  reported  to  have  behaved  sirangely  before  the 
explosion.  One  of  them,  only  about  .-i  Imiidivd  xards  to  tite  southea.st,  is 
thirty  feet  deej.  and  usually  has  six  or  ei-hi  feel  of  water  in  it.  Here, 
before  the  exidosion.  Ilie  water  is  said  to  !ia\c  lisen  to  within  four  feet 
of  the  stirface.  a  fad  dillicnlt  to  explain  at  smli  a  dry  season  as  had  been 
previiiliiig.  The  wal.'i-  ha<  subsided  to  the  iioinial  level  since  the  explo- 
sion. .\nother  well,  a  block  larilKM-  away,  had  been  bubbling  with  gas  for 
two  or  Ihree  wi'cks.  bni  simc  has  be.-ome  (piiescent.  The  day  after  the 
(^xjilosion.  while  a   linndred   people  weic  viewing  the  scene,  one  of  those 


HISTOKY  OK   .\rO.\T(;OMEUV  rorXTY.   KAX8Art.  I9 

ed  tliat  they  have  uo  business  to.  stiuck  a  niatch  and  iguiled  gas  enough 
to  cause  an  expk>sion  and  some  trembling  of  the  earth. 

All  these  faets  tit  in  vei-y  nicely  with  the  theory  that  the  gas  well 
had  been  leaking  into  some  tissures  comparatively  near  the  surface,  and 
(TOW  (led  ilicm  with  gas  until  the  pressure  became  very  great,  when  the 
St  nil  exploded  in  some  unaccountable  way.  In  that  case,  though,  it  is 
naturally  questioned  why  some  of  the  force  and  effects  of  the  explosion 
were  not  manifest  in  the  well  itself.  That  seems  to  be  uninjured,  and 
the  gas  escapes  from  it  now  with  considerable  roaring,  burning  at  night 
with  a  great  mass  of  Hame  and  a  noise  that  may  he  heard  blocks  away. 

People  who  were  awake  at  the  time  of  the  explosion  say  that  it  was 
jjreceded  by  a  heavy  rund)ling  and  roaring  that  seemed  to  come  from 
the  southwest;  that  the  earth  i-ocked  and  then  tlie  dirt  and  stones  were 
thrown  high  into  the  air.  At  the  same  time  people  living  three  miles  to 
the  northeast  rejiort  that  dishes  were  thrown  from  a  table  by  the  tremb- 
ling of  the  earth. 

Tlie  explosion  occurred  at  two  o'clock  Monday  morning.  A  few 
minutes  before  one  o'clock  Tuesday  afternoon,  the  sound  of  a  heavy  ex- 
plosion was  heard  at  Caney,  twenty  miles  to  the  west;  dishes  rattled, 
buildings  rocked,  and  there  were  all  the  phenomena  of  an  earthquake 
shock.  The  same  afternoon  several  people  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Independence,  who  were  attending  a  sale  two  miles  '.orth  of  Jefferson 
and  about  twelve  miles  northwest  of  Coffeyville,  report  having  heard  a 
loud  explosion.  Threshers  in  Rutland  township  observed  the  same  thing, 
and  llieir  machine  was  shaken  as  if  by  a  rolling  of  the  earth's  surface. 
Where  this  explosion  heard  by  .so  many  jjeople  in  such  widely  separated 
localities  actually  took  place,  no  one  ever  learned;  and  it  seems  hardly 
possible  that  it  could  have  all  been  the  work  of  the  Cotfeyville  boy  with 
his  little  parlor  match,  as  the  noise  he  made  could  not  have  been  heard 
at  so  great  a  distance. 

That  the  gas  which  exjiloded  was  far  above  the  dee])  veins  from 
which  the  gas  wells  draw  their  suiqily  seems  probable.  That  electrical 
or  other  conditions  which  accompany  earthquakes  could  ignite  subter- 
ranean gasses  is  well  known.  Why  an  upper  vein  should  be  exploded  &nd 
the  lower  ones  remain  undisturbed  by  the  effects  of  an  earthquake, 
whose  tremblings  are  supposed  to  originate  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
feet  below  the  surface,  is  hard  to  understand  on  the  theory  suggested. 
That  the  gasses  which  filled  the  tissures  comparatively  near  the  surface 
could  have  been  exploded  by  any  other  agency  than  one  originating  deep 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  seems  unreasonable — the  more  especially  as 
there  was  no  thunder  or  lightning  on  that  eventful  night. 

The  years  that  have  passed  since  the  occurrence  who.se  effects  are 
detailed  above  have  witnessed  no  other  like  jihenomena  anywhere  in  the 
gas  belt;  nor  have  they  thrown  any  ailditioiial  light  on  the  cause  which 


20  HISTORY  (IF   :MllN-|i;0>Ii:i!Y   Cm-NTV.  KANSAS. 

produced  tluil  blow-out.  Aiul  1  am  still  iiiflined  to  believe  that  it  could 
only  liave  been  the  frictional  or  eleetrical  effects  of  a  slight  earthquake 
shock  that  could  have  exploded  the  gas  in  its  underground  chambers  and 
jirodiK  ("d  the  resulting  volcanic  ujdieaval. 

The  Reed  Family  Tragfedy 

Manj  terrible  tragedies  have  darkened  the  annals  of  Montgomery 
county,  but  among  them  all  there  has  been  no  other  that  has  so  profound- 
ly moved  the  jieople  as  that  of  the  suffocation  of  the  family  of  George  W. 
Reed,  at  Independence,  cm  the  night  of  Saturday,  December  31st,  1893. 
The  calamity  was  due  to  the  imperfect  consumption  of  natural  gas,  on 
account  of  the  entire  stoppage  of  the  flue  of  a  chimney,  resulting  in  the 
formation  of  that  deadly  product  of  combustion,  carbonic  oxide  gas.  This 
fact,  however,  was  not  learned  until  days  after  the  tragedy,  and 
meanwhile  the  mystery  and  the  horror  which  surrounded  the  affair  so 
impressed  the  public  mind  that  the  jieople  of  the  city  could  neither  think 
nor  talk  of  anvthing  else,  and  foi'  a  time  business  was  almost  at  a  stand- 
still. 

The  Keed  family  at  the  time  consisted  of  Mr.  Reed,  who  was  manager 
of  the  Long-Bell  Lumber  Company,  his  wife.  Ella,  who  was  a  sister  of 
E.  P.  xMlen,  president  of  the  First  National  Bank,  their  son  Allen,  a  boy 
of  five  yeai-s,  and  Miss  Eda  Scott,  a  young  lady  22  years  of  age  who  had 
been  in  their  employ  for  several  months.  On  the  night  mentioned  Mr. 
Reed  had  gone  for  a  doctor  for  a  neighbor's  child,  about  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  which  was  the  last  seen  of  him  alive.  On  the  Sunday  follow- 
ing, at  least  six  or  seven  times  attempts  were  made  to  obtain  entrance  to 
the  house,  but  every  one  who  came  found  the  doors  locked  and  received 
no  response  to  repeated  knocks.  Tom  Foster,  who  was  a  step-son  of  a 
married  daughter  of  Mr.  Reed,  had  been  invited  to  take  dinner  there  on 
that  day,  and  not  only  came  at  the  appointed  time  but  when  he  found  the 
door  locked,  the  curtains  drawn  and  everything  still  about  the  house,  sat 
down  on  the  jiorch  in  the  warm  sunshine  of  that  New  Year's  day  and 
waited  for  an  hour  before  going  away.  J.  A.  Sparks,  then  turn-key  at  the 
jail,  was  the  affianced  husband  of  the  girl.  Eda.  and  he  not  only  went 
there  once  but  rejieatedly.  in  fulfillment  of  an  engagement  to  take  her  for 
a  buggy  ride  that  aftei-noon.  without  learning  why  it  was  that  no  re- 
sfjonso  came  to  his  knocking. 

Everyone  of  course  concluded  that  the  family  had  gone  out  aud  so 
no  attenijit  was  made  to  break  into  the  house.  When,  however,  the  next 
morning  came  and  .Mr.  Reed  did  not  a])pear  at  the  lumber  yard,  his 
friends,  and  Mr.  Sjiarks  as  well  felt  that  it  was  time  to  make  an  investi- 
gation. Accordingly  a  jiarty  was  formed,  consisting  of  Allen  Brown, 
whose  tirst  wife  was  .Mr.  Reed's  daughter.  Rev.  J.  E.  Pershing,  Charles 
Yoe.  of  I  he  Tribune.  Justice  C.  E.  Cilmore.  .L  A.  Sparks,  H.  J.  Fairleigh, 


HISTORY  OF   MONTCJOJir-UY   COINIV.   KANSAS.  21 

and  Geo.  L.  Remington,  which  prqoeeded  to  the  residence  and  obtained 
entrance  through  an  unfastened  kitchen  window.  Mr.  Brown  went  first, 
followed  by  Mr.  Yoe.  The  kitchen  tire  was  burning  brightly,  but  the  air 
was  hot  and  foul,  and  Mv.  Yoe  stopped  to  turn  off  the  gas.  I'assing  on 
into  the  sitting  room  Br.  Brown  was  heard  to  exclaim  "My  God.  what  a 
sight!"  Sweated  within  two  feet  of  the  stove  was  the  body  of  Mr.  Reed, 
already  so  far  decomposed  in  that  over-heated  atmosjihere  that  long  lines 
of  blood  and  corriijition  were  stealing  down  his  clothing  to  the  floor 
forming  a  pool  on  the  carpet  and  soaking  through  into  the  pine  tloor  be- 
neath. 

Haste  was  made  to  throw  open  doors  and  windows  and  change  the 
stifling  and  pestilential  air  which  was  charged  with  the  odors  of  death 
and  decay.  Had  not  this  been  done,  the  cause  of  the  calamity  would 
have  been  sooner  discovered  in  the  asphyxiation  of  some  of  the  party. 
Further  search  disclosed  that  the  wife  and  child,  who  were  in  the  bed- 
room most  distant  from  the  fire,  were  still  alive,  though  unconscious. 
The  girl  upstairs  had  been  stricken  while  at  her  toilet  and  had  fallen  to 
the  fioor  and  died  many  hours  liefoi-e.  as  was  indicated  by  the  stage  of 
decomposition  that  had  been  reached. 

The  efforts  to  resuscitate  Mrs.  Reed  proved  successful,  but  the  child 
lingered  only  until  Monday  evening,  when  his  young  life  went  out.  Mrs. 
Keed  could  throw  no  light  on  the  cause  of  the  awful  tragedy,  though  she 
remembered  that  Mr.  Reed  had  complained  of  feeling  chilly  after  re- 
tiring and  had  got  up  and  lighted  the  fires,  which  had  been  turned  out. 
It  was  later  that  he  had  responded  to  the  call  to  go  for  a  doctor  for  the 
neighbor's  child,  after  which,  she  said  he  had  retired  again. 

Autopsies  of  the  victims  of  this  tragedy  were  held,  and  it  was  an- 
nounced that  nothing  inhaled  into  the  lungs  was  responsible  for  it,  and 
that  in  neither  case  was  death  due  to  as]jliyxiation.  This  was  the  dictum 
of  a  Kansas  Ciiy  expert  who  has  never  exjilained  his  blunder.  The  local 
physicians.  Kuctors  MeCulley,  Masterman  and  Davis  agreed  that  death 
was  due  to  poisoning,  and  two  of  tliem  said  the  symptojus  were  those  of 
strychnine.  From  this,  however,  Masterman  dissented.  Xo  people  stood 
higher  in  the  community  than  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reed,  and  so  far  as  was 
known  they  had  not  an  enemy  in  the  world.  How  or  why  they  could  have 
been  poisoned  was  a  mystery  that  baffled  every  attempt  at  solution.  And 
yet,  that  they  had  been  poisoned  by  something  other  than  gas  from  the 
stove,  every  one  was  forced  to  believe.  It  was  more  than  a  nine  days' 
wonder.  It  was  a  horror  which  was  inexplicable.  Speculation  ran  riot, 
and  everything  imaginable  was  surmised.  To  solve  the  problem,  if  pos- 
sible, it  was  decided  to  have  a  chemical  analysis  of  the  contents  of  the 
stomachs  of  the  two  adults  and  of  Mr.  Reed's  brain  as  well.  Dr.  Davis 
accordingly  took  them  up  to  Kansas  City  and  the  inquest  was  adjourned 
to  await  the  result.     When  word  came  on   Saturdav.  a  week  after  the 


fatal  evening,  that  no  trace  of  poison  could  be  discovered  the  mystery 
seemed  deeper  tlian  ever.  Many  people  were  demanding  that  a  test  be 
made  by  subjecting  dogs  to  the  same  conditions  that  prevailed  in  thejiouse 
when  tlic  viclims  were  found.  The  idea  was  that  in  some  way  the  heated 
air  h;iil  pioxcd  falal.  Sroutiiig  this  suggestion,  one  of  the  physicians 
had  assiMicd  iliai  a  dog  wnuld  live  for  a  month  in  just  such  an  atmos- 
phere as  those  tires  had  i)roduced. 

Unintentionally  a  test  was  made,  however,  in  a  way  that  set  all 
doubt,  as  to  the  calamity  being  due  to  the  flres  in  the  stove,  completely 
at  rest.  Mr.  Keeds'  married  daughters,  ;Mrs.  E.  L.  Foster  and  Mrs.  R.  O. 
Barbee,  had  been  summoned  from  New  .M,cxi<'o  and  Kentucky  to  attend 
the  funeral.  On  the  following  Tuesday.  Mr.  K.  P.  Allen  accompanied 
his  wife  and  Mrs.  Foster  to  the  Reed  house  and  lighted  the  flres  to  warm 
the  rooms  foi-  them  while  they  proceeded  to  look  over  the  clothing  in  the 
bureaus  and  closets.  Fortunately  the  outer  door  was  left  open.  Each 
noticed  that  her  eyes  were  smarting,  but  as  the  articles  they  were 
handling  had  become  saturated  with  foul  odors,  they  remarked  that  it 
would  not  do  to  rub  them.  Mrs.  Foster  soon  complained  of  a  smarting 
sensation  in  her  throat  also.  A  moment  more  and  there  was  a  strong 
twitching  sensation  in  each  side  of  her  neck,  and  she  felt  her  head  drawn 
backward.  She  started  for  the  open  door  and  had  barely  reached  it 
when  nIic  slaupcicd.  icclcd  and  frll  bac'liward  on  the  porch.  Her  head 
struck  a  posi  as  slir  ti'll,  and  sultcring  fiuni  a  terrible  nausea  she  vomited 
profiisely  and  h<Taiii('  in.sensible  where  she  fell.  Subsequently  there  was 
observed  frothin.g  at  the  mouth  and  the  same  convulsive  symptoms  that 
had  been  manifested  in  Mrs.  Reed's  case,  as  she  was  being  slowly  brought 
back  to  life.  Not  only  that,  but  in  her  case  her  hands  had  remained 
clasped  for  twcnly-fonr  hours,  and  her  jaws  were  set  so  that  it  was  with 
the  utmost  ditli<nlty  they  were  forced  apart  to  permit  the  administration 
of  nourishnii'ni. 

There  was  of  course  no  lunger  any  doubt  that,  whatever  had  been 
the  cause  of  the  trageily,  it  was  still  potent  aTid  might  easily  j)rove  fatal 
to  any  one  who  should  venture  to  enter  that  charnel  house.  One  fact  like 
this  was  worth  a  million  theories  in  solving  the  problem  of  that  awful 
calamity.  The  jirojiosed  experiment  with  living  animals  confined  in  the 
places  in  wliicii  the  jieople  had  been  found  was  now  undertaken.  On 
Wednesday,  .lamiary  10th,  Marshall  Griffey  got  together  three  dogs  and 
a  cat.  and  under  the  sniierintendence  of  the  sheriff  and  several  physicians, 
they  were  locke<|  up  in  the  house  with  the  fires  burning.  The  dogs  were 
in  crates  or  ciges,  and  in  ad<lition  to  placing  them  where  the  bodies  had 
been  found,  a  cai  w.is  fastened  at  the  foot  of  the  stairway. 

An  interested  iiuwd  lingered  about  the  house  all  day  watching  the 
exiieriment.  Son;i'  ilimlied  to  the  roof  of  the  kitchen  from  which  the  dog 
in  the  girl's  room   up  stairs  cmild  be  closelv  observed.      It   'vas  noticed 


IIISTOKV    (H-    Md.NTi.d.MUKV    Cdl    N'lV.    KANSAS.  23- 

that  llie  tiro  in  the  siltin<;  nxim  was  acting  <nic('i-ly.  the  Ida/.c  fi-oiii  the 
gas  coming  out  of  the  door  for  several  inclu«  and  showing  a  reversed 
draft.  Step  by  step  the  mystery  was  being  cleared  up.  On  the  roof  it 
was  finally  noted  that  while  a  large  volume  of  heated  air  was  coming 
from  the  kitchen  chimney,  the  one  from  the  sitting  room  remained  cool, 
and  no  draft  of  any  kind  was  i)erceptible.  The  cliinuiey  had  been  choked 
up  by  the  mortar  which  had  fallen  in  when  it  was  repaired  and  pieces^ 
had  continued  to  fall  until  there  was  no  longer  any  vent. 

By  half  past  two  in  the  afternoon  the  dog  in  the  sitting  room  was  in 
convulsions  and  the  one  up  stairs  had  begun  to  show  signs  of  distress 
and  was  frothing  at  the  mouth.  From  this  time  on  the  crowd  of  inter- 
ested sight-seers  increased,  and  there  was  a  constant  concourse  of  bug- 
gies and  wagons  in  the  street.  The  dogs  were  not  rendered  suddenly  un- 
conscious, as  Mrs.  Foster  had  been  the  day  before,  but  suffered  one  spasm 
after  another,  each  of  them  exceedingly  severe.  In  the  intervals  between 
the  convulsions  the  animals  lay  panting,  the  one  near  the  stove  with  his 
tongue-  jirotruding  and  very  rapid  respiration.  At  half  past  seven  this 
dog  died,  and  just  bef(!re  midnight  the  last  signs  of  life  wei'e  observed  in 
the  one  up  stairs.  When  the  animals  were  taken  oiit  on  Thursday  morn- 
ing, the  dog  in  the  bed  room  was  still  living,  but  it  lay  sprawled  and 
stiffened  with  convulsions  so  that  its  recovery  was  deemed  impossible' 
and  it  was  shot.  The  cat  alone  survived  and  with  its  i>roverbial  hardi- 
hood ran  away  as  soon  as  liberated  and  jilunged  its  head  rejieatedly  into 
a  vessel  of  water,  as  if  to  free  itself  from  the  poisonous  effects  of  the  air 
it  had  been  breathing  for  twenty-four  hours. 

An  autopsy  of  the  dead  animals  was  made  by  Doctors  McCulley, 
Chaney  and  Davis,  which  resulted  in  disclosing  the  cherry-red  ajipearance 
of  the  blood  that  is  noted  as  one  of  the  marked  indications  of  i>oisoning 
by  carbonic  oxide,  a  gas  that  is  formed  in  large  quantity  wherever  there 
is  imperfect  combustion  of  fuel  in  a  stove.  This  gas  is  not  immediately 
fatal  and  its  evil  effects  consist  chiefly  in  shr.tting  out  oxygen,  though  it 
has  a  positive  deleterious  (piality  also. 

The  mystery  was  at  last  fully  solved,  and  in  the  ten  years  since  there 
has  never  been  another  fatality  in  the  county  from  poisonous  gasses  de- 
veloped by  natural  gas  stoves.  Though  learned  at  such  a  terrible  cost,- 
the  lesson  proved  effective  beyond  expectation. 

A  further  demonstration  of  the  deadly  character  of  this  carbonic 
oxide  gas  was  made  at  the  office  of  the  Independence  Gas  C'omjiany  the 
same  week,  which  will  prove  both  interesting  and  instructive  in  this  con- 
nectioTi.  In  the  plumbing  sho])  stood  a  stove  with  no  pipe,  the  pi'oducls 
of  combi^stion  being  allowed  to  pass  oft"  into  the  air  of  the  room.  Placing 
a  board  over  the  hole  for  the  pijie,  at  the  to])  of  the  drum,  the  products 
of  combustion  were  confined  in  the  drum.  In  a  short  time,  with  the  stove 
door  open,  the  flames  would  project  two  or  three  feet  and  burn  with  the 


24  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

reddish  Inu-  of  imperfect  combustiou.  If  tlien  the  stove  door  was  closed, 
the  tire  wouhl  soon  go  out  entirely,  there  being  uo  oxygen  to  support 
combustion.  Had  the  stove  iu  iMr.  Reed's  sitting  room  been  of  this  sort,, 
the  only  result  of  the  stoiipage  of  the  flue  would  have  been  to  put  out 
the  lire:  but  with  the  niii-a  i-aiicls  in  ils  door  bvoki-n,  Ihe  tlanies  came 
out  as  when  the  stove  door  at  tjic  slio]!  was  oiicii.  and  the  air  grew  more 
deadly  every  moment. 

Visitors  at  ilr.  Reed's  a  day  or  two  previous  to  the  tragedy  had  no- 
ticed that  the  air  was  bad;  but  it  did  not  become  deadly  until  the  vent  in 
the  chimney  was  entirely  closed,  and  he  was  such  a  sufferer  from  catarrh 
that  he  did  not  detect  the  changed  character  of  the  air  as  the  fatal  gas 
began  to  poison  it. 

"Why  Did  Pomeroy  Trust  York? 
i;y  II.  w.  Yot'xc. 

That  "tnith  is  stranger  than  tictiou"  is  among  the  most  trite  of  prov- 
erbs. Ami  \i't,  that  it  is  the  tarts  of  human  life  rather  than  the  wildest 
vagaries  uf  the  romancer  that  appeal  to  us  more  powerfully  as  weird, 
strange,  wonderful,  or  inexplicable,  is  evidence  of  the  intiiiite  versatility 
of  nalure.  The  materials  that  go  to  make  the  warp  and  woof  of  events 
are  often  the  most  unexpected,  and  are  ever  blended  in  any  way  that 
sets  at  naught  the  greatest  foresight  and  the  wisest  predictions.  Indeed, 
the  more  one  reads  and  studies  the  lore  of  the  past  and  the  fiction  of  the 
present,  the  more  fully  will  he  be  convinced  that  all  there  is  of  interest 
or  value  iu  the  creations  of  the  novelist  is  the  truth  they  contain. 

During  the  first  five  years  of  Montgomery  county's  history,  the  most 
striking  events,  seen  with  the  clear  perspective  of  almost  a  third  (»f  a  cen- 
tury's distance  are  the  lender  tragedy  and  the  exposuic  by  Senator  A.  M. 
Yoi"k  of  the  attemjjt  made  to  purchase  his  vote  by  Tnited  States  Senator 
S.  C.  Pomeroy,  who  was  a  candidate  for  re-election.  Another  less  im- 
portant, but  still  remarkable  event,  was  the  location  of  the  Osage  District 
land  office  at  Independence.  That  there  could  be  any  connection  between 
events  so  entirely  dissimilar,  or  that  one  of  them  should  stand  to  another 
in  the  relation  of  cause  and  efi'ect,  would  seem  to  be  especially  unlikely. 
And  yet  not  only  was  this  the  case,  but  we  find  one  name — and  that  of  a 
man  wh  i  was  mniucst ionably  the  foremost  citizen  of  Montgomery  county 
in  those  early  days— coming  to  the  front  iu  all  three  of  those  events.  It 
was  only  the  fad  ili;it  Dr.  William  York  was  the  best  known  of  the  Ben- 
ders' victims.  ;iii(l  thai  ii  was  his  disaiipcarance  which  led  to  the  search 
that  hroughl  ihcir  ciimcs  to  light  thai  connected  Senator  York  with  that 
tragedy  in  is?:'..  What  an  event lul  period  that  was  for  our  Senator  be- 
tween .lainiary  IsTii  and  .Inly  1ST:!.  How  much  of  thrilling  personal 
experience  was  crowded  into  it. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  25 

When  ill  the  early  winter  of  1872  the  mayor  and  conucil  of  the  city 
of  Independence  decided  to  leave  no  stone  nnturned  to  secure  the  removal 
of  the  United  States  land  office  from  Neodesha  to  their  own  town,  they 
raised  |3,000  for  the  purpose  and  sent  Senator  York  to  Washington  to 
engineer  the  deal.  What  he  did  there  he  shall  tell  in  his  own  language, 
as  it  is  recorded  in  the  report  of  a  legislative  investigating  committee  at 
Topeka,  testifying  before  which  on  January  31st,  1873,  the  Senator  said: 

*'I  was  authorized  as  an  attorney  or  agent  of  the  town  of  Indepen- 
dence, by  the  mayor  and  council  of  that  place  to  visit  Washington  last 
winter,  and  to  do  all  I  could  to  get  the  land  office  located  at  Indepen- 
dence. I  think  I  left  for  Washington  in  January,  1872 ;  anyhow  I  knew 
Mr.  Caldwell  was  at  home,  being  absent  through  the  holiday  recess.  I 
took  with  me  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Mayor  Wilson  to  General 
McEwen.  I  visited  Messrs.  Tomeroy  and  Lowe  frequently  with  reference 
to  the  land  office  removal,  and  had  consultations  with  the  Kansas  dele- 
gates in  Congress  separately  and  collectively,  and  could  do  nothing  for  a 
long  while.  I  also  calletl  tm  Secretary  Delano  and  ascertained  from  him 
that  Mr.  Pomcniy  had  ilie  control  of  such  orders.  I  then  saw  Mr.  Pome- 
roy  again  and  wanted  him  to  promise  that  the  office  should  be  removed 
when  the  "strip  bill"  passed,  but  he  told  me  it  could  not  be  done,  and 
advised  me  to  return  home.  This  conversation  I  think  was  in  February. 
However,  I  have  a  record  of  all  my  conversations  with  the  delegation  and 
with  every  member  thereof.  I  recorded  the  conversations  inmiediately 
after  the  respective  interviews  occurred.  Thereafter  I  called  on  General 
McEwen  and  presented  my  letter  of  introduction,  and  as  our  companion- 
ship grew  he  made  me  acquainted  with  the  details  of  the  Alice  Caton 
scandal  and  showed  me  the  original  affidavits,  similar  in  every  respect  to 
the  printed  affidavits  circulated  in  this  city  recently.  And  now  let  me 
say  here  that  I  did  not  countenance  the  circulation  of  these  affidavits 
during  the  late  Senatorial  canvass,  but  did  renmrk  to  a  friend  that  they 
were  word  for  word  of  the  original  affidavits  which  1  had  then  and  have 
now  in  my  trunk.  After  reading  these  affidavits  in  (ieneral  Mc- 
Ewen's  presence,  I  received  permission  to  keep  them,  and  the  following 
evening  called  to  see  Senator  Pomeroy  at  his  private  residence  in  W'ash- 
ington.  I  found  him  in  the  middle  parlor.  I  think  there  were  three 
parlors  or  reception  rooms  in  his  house,  communicating  with  each  other 
by  folding  doors.  Senator  Caldwell  was  there  that  evening  and  other 
gentlemen,  and,  I  think,  several  ladies.  Seeing  Senator  Pomeroy  occu- 
pied, I  requested  the  privilege  of  an  interview  at  his  committee  room 
early  the  following  morning,,  and  the  Senator  said  he  guessed  the  com- 
pany would  then  excuse  us.  and  he  invited  me  into  the  back  parlor.  We 
went  to  the  further  side  of  the  room  and  sat  down  close  together,  my 
chair  facing  him.  I  said:  'Senator,  you  have  all  this  time  failed  to  ap- 
preciate the  earnestneiss  of  my  demands  for  the  removal  of  the  land  office 


;26  UISTORY  OF   MUXT(iU.MERY  COIXTY,  KANSAS. 

to  IiKleiieudeiue,  and  now  I  want  to  show  you  some  docninents  That  will, 
I  think,  appt'al  very  forcibly  to  yon.'  And  thereupon  1  took  from  my 
pocket  the  affidavits  referred  to  and  showed  them  to  him.  He  commenced 
reading  and  sotm  his  face  began  to  change  color.  I  leaned  forward  and 
put  the  question  direct  to  him:  'Did  you  jio  to  Baltimore  (naming  the 
day)  ;  did  you  stop  at  Barnum's  hotel?'  He  said  he  did.  1  then  asked 
him  if  Alice  Caton  went  to  the  same  city  the  same  day  and  sto])ped  at 
the  same  hotel.  He  said  she  did  go  to  BaJliiiiore  that  day.  and  he 
thought  she  stojjped  at  Barnum's  hotel.     I  asked  him  if  he  did  not  room 

in  Xo. .  He  said  he  could  not  recollect.     I  asked  him  if  there  was  not  a 

door  directly  communicating  between  his  and  her  room.  He  denied  that 
there  was.  and  said  he  slept  with  a  young  man  that  night  whose  name 
he  did  not  remember.  At  length  he  agreed  to  have  the  land  office  re- 
moved on  the  first  of  April,  preferring  that  the  scandal  should  not  be 
revived  as  coming  from  a  resjjectable  source;  and  the  land  offiiv  was 
removed  to  Independence  according  to  agi-eement." 

In  reply  to  a  question  by  a  member  of  the  investigating  committee 
as  to  the  means  he  employed,  Colonel  York  said  he  thought  "they  were 
questionable,  but  the  peo]»le  of  Indei.)*^iidence  sent  me  to  Washington  to  get 
the  land  office  and  1  got  it." 

It  has  always  been  :i  wonder  how  so  astute  and  exjiericnced  a  pol 
itician  as  Senator  I'omeroy  could  ]iul  himself  so  entirely  in  the  jjower  of 
a  political  enemy  ::s  he  did  when  he  placed  those  packages  of  bills  in 
York's  hands  to  Imy  his  vie.  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  York  was 
made  secretary  of  the  anti  I'omeroy  organization  in  the  legislature,  of 
which  \V.  A.  Johnson,  afterwards  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  was 
chairman.  The  st(uy  told  above  by  York  throws  a  flood  of  light  on  this 
(|uestion.  York  was  not  a  stranger  to  I'omeroy.  The  latter  naturally  had 
concluded  that  the  Montgomery  county  man  was  as  unscrupulous  as  he 
was  himself,  and  that  he  would  employ  any  means,  no  matter  how  '"ques- 
tionable" to  accomplish  the  purposes  he  had  in  view.  York  had  black- 
mailed him  into  locating  the  Osage  land  office  at  Independence,  and  ho 
had  evidently  set  him  down  as  a  bird  of  his  own  feather.  That  the  man 
who  would  extort  a  favor  foi-  his  town  by  a  threat  to  expose  Pomeroy's 
moral  coirujilion  to  his  const jiuents.  would  be  any  too  good  to  pocket 
$S,(MI<)  as  the  jirice  of  a  vole  for  ilie  same  i-e]probate  in  the  joint  convention 
never  seems  to  have  occiired  lo  llial  slalesniau.  He  would  not  have 
trusted  a  siranger  in  any  such  way.  Inil  a  peddler  of  scandal!  Why  not 
c(nint  him  sale? 

So  il  is  iliai  liiii  loi-  liie  removal  of  the  land  office  to  Independence 
it  is  eiiliiely  iiii|M-.  Iiali'c  iliit  York  would  ever  have  been  in  a  position  to 
"exiiose"  i'(. menu's  (  ni  rii  ja  ion.  Thus  wtrangely  are  events  linked  to- 
gelhe:  That  York  was  an  honest  man  is  attested  by  his  civil  war  record. 
.He  was  made  captain  in  a  negro  regiment  and  ollcred  an  oi)Uortnnitv  to 


III.STUUY  OF   MON'TliO.MEllY   TurNTY,  KANSAS.  2"] 

line  his  pockets  bv  putting  fictitious  iiaiiics  mi  ilic  \\\\\  roll,  aii<l  dcfiaud- 
inj>-  the  ignorant  negroes  of  their  ]iav.  'I'liis  hi'  stcrnlv  refused  to  do.  and 
he  was  in  ronst>(|ueiu-e  ](roiiioted  1o  he  lieulenaiil  colonel,  whence  liis 
title. 

It  was  in  the  same  y(>ar.  IS?:'.,  and  only  Ihi-ee  months  later,  that 
York  was  again  brought  into  prominence  in  an  entirely  ditVerent  way, 
by  the  discovery  of  his  brollu-v's  body  in  that  well-plowed  garden  of  the 
Benders'. 

The  Mont§:omery  County  High  School 

During  tlie  fall  and  early  winter  of  is'.ic,  there  was  some  talk  about 
the  establishment  of  a  county  high  school  at  hideiiendence.  and  mention 
was  made  of  the  matter  in  the  newspapers,  as  one  which  might  come  be- 
fore the  legislature.  On  the  8d  of  February.  11S!I7.  a  bill  was  introduced 
in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Young,  providing  that  a  high  school  for  Mont- 
gomery county  should  V)e  established  at  Indei)eudence.  to  be  carried  on 
under  the  jjrovisions  of  the  general  high  school  law  of  1880.  The  same 
bill  was  introduced  in  the  House  by  Representative  Fulton,  February 
4th,  1897.  Immediately  on  the  introduction  of  this  bill  in  the  Senate, 
the  people  of  the  county  were  notified  of  the  fact  through  the  columns  of 
the  Star  and  Kansan.  and  invited  to  exju'ess  their  ojiinion  in  regard  to 
it  in  the  following  words,  which  will  be  found  in  ■■The  Kdilor's  Letter," 
written  from  Topeka  by  the  Senator  from  this  county,  and  published  on 
February  5th,  1897 : 

A  bill  to  establish  a  county  high  school  at  Independence  was  intro- 
duced in  the  Senate  this  morning.  I  should  like  to  hear  a  general  ex- 
I)ression  from  the  people  of  the  county  as  to  the  desiraliility  of  ])roviding 
facilities  for  higher  education  at  home,  thus  saving  a  jiortion  of  the  large 
sums  now  paid  to  send  young  men  and  women  of  our  county  to  distant 
institutions  of  learning. 

Both  the  Senator  and  Representative  from  this  county  received  a 
large  number  of  letters  urging  the  jiassage  of  this  special  act.  and  favor- 
ing the  establishment  of  the  school,  while  neither  one  of  them  received 
a  communication  opposing  it.  The  bill  was  held  nji  for  a  time  in  the 
Senate  committee,  but  when  it  became  apparent  that  the  jieoide  inter- 
ested were  making  no  opposition  to  the  proposed  school,  it  received  a  fav- 
orable report.  It  passed  the  Senate  on  February  iOtli,  1897.  without  a 
dissenting  voice,  by  a  vote  of  'I'l  to  0.  In  the  House  there  was  some  op- 
position to  the  bill  in  committee  of  the  whole.  Representative  Weilep,  of 
Cherokee  cininty.  speaking  against  it,  but  it  was  recommended  for  pas- 
sage February  :i7th.  1897,  and  (Ui  March  l.'d,  18!»7.  it  i)assed  that  body  by 
a  vote  of  97  to  1.  the  Senate  liill  in  the  meantime  having  been  substituted 
for  the  House  bill.     It  was  signed  by  the  governor  March  5th,  1897,  and 


HISTOIJV  OF   .M( 


ml) 


iMICltY  COUNTY^  IvAX 

>  ollicial  stato  pajic 


Mill 


;th,  of 


Jnsl  as  soon  as  llie  hill  had  been  passed,  howi'vcn-,  considerable 
.opposition  to  Tlie  scliool  was  dcvelojK'd  in  certain  sections  of  the  covinty, 
iioruL:;.-  in  S.vcaiiiore.  ("heiry.  Drum  Creek,  Louisburg  and  Cherokee 
lownshiiis.  Meetings  were  held  t()  i)rotest  against  the  establishuient  of 
the  school.  ;iiid  jietitious  were  widely  circulated  requesting  the  couuty 


THE  MONTGOMIi 

CO 

mniss 

iol 

ers 

to    a],point 

as    I 

SC 

lool.   ; 

wl 

o  would,  it 

was 

I'l 

)\  isio 

IS 

of  t 

le  law. 

Wh 

'U 

the 

coinniissioi 

lers  n 

"! 

.  and 

it 

was 

agreed  am 

"ig  1l 

se 

ected 

t 

lerc 

should   be 

1  w  •  1 

tr 

ct.    The 

boa 

rd  of  conun 

ission 

of 

Inde 

)('! 

den 

■e:  .Ic.hii   t 

i\ciis. 

of 

I'ark 

■r 

o\V 

islii,,.     The 

Iwo  1 

t. 

els   « 

IS 

aga 

list    the  scl 

..ol.   1 

.nuht.  t; 


own   to  be 
o  action  t. 


■;tile  to  the 
rrv  out  the 


t  in  April,  isi»7,  they  took  the  matter 
ni  that  as  there  were  six  trustees  to  be 
pjiointed  from  each  commissioner  dis- 
s  at  that  time  consisted  of  1'.  S.  Moore, 
if  West  Cherry;  and  David  A.  Cline, 
Icr  fell  that  tl'ic  .sent  iiiient  in  their  dis- 
t    were  luiwilliiig  to  attempt  to  nullify 


HISTORY  OF  .M0NT0O.MEUY  C'OLNTY,  KANi^AS.  29 

tli(>  law  hv  making  the  appointiuents  petitiomvl  for.  Fii.in  the  northern 
district  Kevilo  Newton,  a  banlcer  of  Cherryvale,  and  -M.  L.  Stephens,  a 
farmer  of  I.ouisburg  townsliip.  were  uauied.  neither  of  whom  were 
thought  to  heartily  favor  the  school  at  llie  time  of  their  appointment. 
For  the  middle  district  William  Dunkin,  of  Independence,  a  lawyer 
and  capitalist,  and  Thomas  Haydeu,  a  farmer  of  Liberty  township,  were 
selected.  From  the  southern  district.  J.  A.  Moore,  a  farmer  of  Caney 
township,  and  E.  A.  Osborn,  a  stockman,  of  Coffeyville,  were  chosen. 
Both  Dunkin  and  Hayden  were  enthusiastically  in  favor  of  the  school. 
Moore  also  favored  it,'while  Osborn  was  not  only  opposed  to  it,  but  took 
little  interest  in  the  matter,  attended  but  a  few  of  the  meetings,  and  de- 
clined to  be  a  candidate  at  the  following  election. 

So  far  as  the  six  trustees  were  concerned,  the  Board  was  equally 
divided  between  the  friends  of  the  school  and  those  who  were  less  fav- 
orably disposed  toward  it,  but  the  law  making  the  county  superinten- 
dent n  member  of  the  board  cr-officio  and  its  chairman,  prevented  a  dead- 
lock at  any  time.  The  board  met  for  the  first  time  on  April  22d,  1897. 
and  organized  by  electing  Kevilo  Newton  secretary  and  ^^"m.  Dunkin 
treasurer. 

I'nder  the  general  high  school  law,  a  site  for  the  building  was  re- 
quired to  be  furnished  without  expense  to  the  county.  On  May  28th  the 
board  accepted  the  offer  of  the  city  of  Independence  to  furnish  a  piece  of 
ground  300  feet  square,  comprising  a  block  of  land  in  the  southwest 
corner  of  out-lot  .5  for  this  purpose.  It  was  also  stipulated  in  the  con- 
tract with  the  city,  that  a  sewer  connection  should  be  furnished  without 
expense  to  the  county.  On  tlie  following  day  it  was  voted  to  make  to  the 
county  commissioners  a  certified  estimate  of  six  mills  on  the  dollar  as  the 
amotmt  of  tax  needed  to  erect  a  suitable  building.  On  this  proposition 
the  six  trustees  were  tied,  three  of  them,  namely :  Messrs.  Osborne,  New- 
ton and  Stephens,  being  in  favor  of  making  the  levy  tw'o  mills  a  year  for 
three  years.  The  six-mill  proposition  was.  liowever.  adopted  by  the  decid 
ing  vote  of  President  Dollisou.  At  this  meeting  H.  :M.  Hadley,  of  Topeka, 
was  elected  architect  of  the  board. 

On  September  7th  the  plans  and    specihcations    j»repared    by    Mr. 
Hadley  were  accepted  and  the  board  advertised  for  bids  for  the  constv- 
tion  of  the  building  in  accordance  therewith. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  October  2Sth.  ten  bids  were  submitted  for  the 
whole  or  part  of  the  work,  and  on  the  following  day  the  bid  of  M.  P.  T. 
Ecret  to  erect  the  building  for  |1!),.d47  was  accepted;  also  the  bid  of 
W.  A.  ^lyrick.  to  furnish  the  heating  and  ventilating  appratus  and  to  do 
the  plumbing  for  gas  and  water,  for  f3,530.  This  made  the  total  contract 
price  for  the  building  |2:;.077. 

Meanwhile  the  opponents  of  the  school  had  not  been  idle.  They  had 
temployed  Hon.  T.  J.  Hudson,  of  Fredoiiia.  as  their  attorney,  and  on  Sep- 


30  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOJIEKV  COVNTY,  KANSAS. 

teniber  14th.  1807.  they  filed  in  the  district  com-t  of  the  ((unity,  a  jietition 
iiskin*;  for  a  restraining  order  to  ]irevent  the  levying  i>v  cdl lection  of  the 
tax  for  the  bnilding.  and  to  forbid  the  trustees  from  doing  anything 
further  looking  toward  its  erection,  or  the  establislinieut  of  the  school. 
Lewis  Billings,  of  I>runi  Creek,  and  seventeen  others,  were  named  as 
])laintitts  in  this  petition. 

The  case  came  on  for  hearing  at  the  Xdveiiilier  term  of  couit,  and  on 
the  :.'9th  day  of  that  month  .Indgc  Skidisiore  granted  the  injunction 
prayed  for.  fortifying  his  action  by  an  extended  opinion.  The  ground 
on  which  this  order  was  asked  and  granted  was  the  claim  that  the  special 
act  establishing  the  school  was  unconstitutional,  for  the  reason  that  a 
general  law  was  applicable.  This  point  had  been  raised  iu  the  supreme 
court  and  overruled  when  the  Labette  county  high  school  was  established 
by  a  similar  special  law;  and  two  of  the  three  judges  who  concurred  iu 
tiiat  opinion  were  still  on  the  bench,  so  that  the  chance  of  winning  the 
case  in  the  final  outcome  did  not  seem  esi)ecially  promising.  Neverthe- 
less. Judge  Skidmore  reversed  the  sujireme  coui't  with  a  great  deal  of 
alacrity,  and  the  work  of  the  tinstccs  came  to  a  ^*tandstill,  while  the  case 
was  carried  up  to  the  suiircmc  court. 

By  the  terms  of  the  injnintion.  the  county  commissioners  were  for- 
bidden to  make  a  levy  of  tlic  tax  for  the  building,  the  county  clerk  was 
forbidden  to  extend  this  levy  on  the  tax  books,  and  the  county  treasurer 
was  forbidden  to  collecr  it.  The  original  petition  for  a  restraining  order 
had  been  made  in  the  jirobate  c(nirt ;  but  as  it  had  been  refused  there,  by 
the  time  (he  case  was  decided  in  the  district  c(uirt.  the  tax  had  been 
levied  and  extended  on  the  books.  J.  K.  Blair,  who  was  county  treas- 
urer, therefore  refused  to  accejit  any  jiortion  of  any  tax  unless  the  county 
high  school  tax  was  ]iaid.  so  that  the  collection  of  the  money  for  the 
building  fund  went  right  on.  in  spite  of  liie  injunction.  Nor  was  any  at- 
tempt made  to  ininisli  Mr.  lilair  for  contemiil  of  court  in  doing  what  the 
law  comiielled  him  to  do.  in  making  the  collection. 

While  this  case  was  pending,  the  oiijuments  of  the  school  hoped  to 
elect  a  board  of  trustees  at  the  Novend)er  electi(ni  who  were  opj)osed  to 
the  school.  The  Republican  convention,  which  was  held  Septendier  ISth, 
•■o'^jniinated  Messrs.  Dunkin,  Hayden  and  Moore  who  were  friendly  to 
the  .  !,ool.  and  three  more  candidates  who  were  thought  to  be  unfriendly. 
The  I'o])ulists  and  Democratic  conventions,  held  September  2'Jth,  agreed 
in  conference  committee  to  noniinale  the  old  board  with  the  exception  of 
Majoi  Osborne,  who  jiositively  declined  to  jiermit  his  name  to  be  used. 
In  his  jilace  .Vdam  Beatty.  of  Cherokee  township,  was  named.  The  elec- 
tion of  either  the  Keimblican  or  the  fusion  candidates  would  have  insured 
a  majority  favorable  to  the  school.  So  the  plan  adojited  to  defeat  it  was 
to  vole  for  the  three  unfavorable  candidates  on  the  Keindilican  ticket  and 
the  most  liike-w.-iini  li.embers  of  the  old  board.    Ciivnlais  were  dislrihuled 


HISTORY  OK   MONTCiOlIEUV  COfNTY.  KANSAS.  3I 

nl  iiKist  (if  ili(>  polling  i)lares  advising  that  tiiis  be  done.  The  result  was 
till"  election  i>(  the  old  board,  with  Mr.  Beatty.  by  overwhelming  major- 
ities. The  totals  ranging  from  3.459  votes  for  Thomas  Hayden  to  2.!l3() 
for  Eevilo  Newton  while  the  largest  vote  cast  for  an  avowedly  oi)posing 
candidate  was  2.622.  This  vote  etfectnally  settled  the  (jnestion  as  to  the 
feeling  of  the  people,  and  also  as  to  the  possibility  of  defeating  the  school 
by  electing  an  unfriendly  board. 

On  January  11th.  1898,  the  new  board  organized  by  electing  William 
Dunkin  secretary  and  Revilo  Newton  treasurer.  The  question  how  long 
each  trustee  should  serve  was  decided  by  lot,  Hayden  and  Newton  draw- 
ing the  three-year  term,  DunUin  and  Moore  the  two-year  term  and 
Stevens  and  Realty  the  one-year. 

After  various  posti)onements  and  delays  the  case  in  the  supreme  court 
was  decided  May  7th,  and  the  judgment  of  the  lower  court  reversed.  This 
dissolved  the  injunction  and  left  the  trustees  free  to  proceed  with  the 
erection  of  the  building.  On  -Tune  14th  the  contract  with  M.  P.  T.  Ecret 
was  (hanged  so  as  to  include  H.  A.  Hrewster  &  Co.  with  him.  W.  A.  My- 
rick  at  the  same  time  transferred  his  contract  foi-  plumbing  to  E.  \. 
Chaney.  of  Topeka. 

(Jround  was  broken  for  the  building  Monday,  June  2((th,  1898;  and 
on  June  29th  W.  H.  Hack  was  appointed  superintendent  of  construction. 
From  that  time  the  work  was  pushed  rapidly  all  through  the  summer  and 
fall,  so  that  by  Thanksgiving  the  walls  were  up  and  the  work  of  roofing 
was  in  progress. 

It  was  on  Monday,  November  28th,  that  a  very  pleasant  impromiitu 
affair  occured  at  the  building.  The  tower  was  already  in  place,  and  noth- 
ing rensained  to  finish  it  except  to  paint  the  tin  of  the  roof.  A  portion  of 
the  scaffolding  the  builders  had  used  still  surrounded  this  tower.  Miss 
Mena  Jones,  a  young  lady  of  Sycamore  township,  and  a  daughter  of 
William  Jones,  had  expressed  a  willingness  to  raise  the  American  flag 
upon  a  staff  at  one  corner  of  this  tower.  She  proved  her  grit  and  the 
steadiness  of  her  nerves  by  climbing  the  tower,  walking  erect  and  unat- 
tended along  a  narrow  plank  near  the  top,  at  the  same  time  waving  her 
hands  to  acquaintances  in  the  street  a  hundred  feet  below,  as  coolly  as  if 
she  were  standing  on  the  firm  earth.  She  attached  the  flag  to  the  staff, 
and  it  was  greeted  with  a  ringing  cheer  from  the  group  gathered  on  the 
roof,  followed  by  another  for  the  plucky  girl  who  had  performed  the  dar- 
ing feat. 

Tlip  work  of  plastering  and  inside  linishing  proceeded  through  the 
winter  of  1808-99,  and  by  the  first  of  April  the  building  was  practically 
completed,  though  some  minor  details  prevented  its  foi-mal  acceptance 
by  the  trustees  at  the  hands  of  the  contractors  until  June  fith,  1899.  On 
August  1st,  1898,  the  trustees  made  an  estimate  fixing  1%  mills  as  the 
fiuciint  of  tax  levy  neeced  to  raise  a  sum  sufficient  to  furnish  the  build- 


22  HISTOUY  OK  MONT<;OMEKY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

ing,  pay  for  all  further  iniproveineiits.  and  run  the  school  until  the  close 
of  181)9. 

At  the  November  election  of  1898.  Adam  Beatty  was  re-elected  tnis- 
tee  and  P.  H.  Fox.  of  Fawn  Creek  townshiji.  was  elected  to  take  the  place 
of  M.  L.  Stephens. 

March  20th.  18!»0.  the  board  elected  Samuel  M.  Xees,  who  had  for  nine 
years  previous  been  at  the  head  of  the  Independence  city  schools,  as 
principal. 

A  contract  for  furuiline  for  the  Iniilding  was  made  with  O.  C.  Clark 
&  Co.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  April  11th.  This  included  500  opera  chairs, 
300  single  desks.  9  teachers"  desks,  and  1327  feet  of  solid  rock  slate  for 
black-boards.  The  contract  price  was  $1,721.82,  and  the  next  highest  bid 
was  about  §1,200  more. 

J  t  was  decided  on  April  25th  to  elect  three  gentlemen  and  two  ladies, 
\vh(j,  with  the  princii>al,  shoiild  constitute  the  faculty,  at  salaries  of  f750 
per  annum  each,  for  the  former,  and  ^(iOO  for  the  latter.  T.  B.  Henry,  W. 
E.  Ringle,  Richard  Allen,  Georgia  Cubine  and  Lura  Bellamy  were  elected 
to  these  positions. 

At  the  meeting  on  June  6th,  after  the  building  had  been  received 
from  the  contractors,  a  course  of  study  was  agreed  upon  and  a  set  of  by- 
laws for  the  government  of  the  school  adopted. 

At  the  meeting  on  June  28th  the  tax  levy  for  18!l!t  was  fixed  at  2 
mills.  Rules  and  regulations  were  adopted  and  a  list  of  text  books 
agreed  upon  July  18th. 

On  Monday,  September  4th,  180!»,  the  school  was  opened  with  very 
simple  ceremonies.  After  prayer  by  Rev.  S.  S.  Estey,  short  addresses 
were  made  by  President  Dollis<m  of  the  board  of  trustees,  Mr.  Estey, 
Principal  Nees,  and  other  members  of  the  faculty.  The  enrollment  of 
pupils  during  the  first  week  of  school  exceeded*  200,  and  the  school, 
which  had  been  so  long  in  jirej^aration  and  so  bitterly  fought  over,  was 
fairlv  launched  among  the  institutions  of  the  state  devoted  to  the  higher 
education. 

Classes  in  the  following  subjects  were  organized  for  the  first  term : 
Beginning  Latin,  Ciesar,  Cicero,  Algebra,  Geometry,  I'sychology,  Greek, 
Physics,  Chemistry,  Zoology,  General  History,  Bookkeping,  Vocal  Music, 
German.  Rhetoric.  English  Literature,  Arithmetic  and  Physical  Geog- 
raphy. 

At  this  point  it  is  fitting  to  bear  testinumy  to  the  fidelity  and  de- 
votion with  which  the  members  of  the  original  board  of  trustees  per- 
formed their  duties,  and  the  intelligence  and  zeal  with  which  they  labored 
to  provide  a  home  for  and  build  up  a  school  which  w<iuld  he  a  credit  not 
only  to  all  connected  with  its  establishmcnr,  bnt  to  the  c(ninty  and  the 
state  as  well.     Ii  mutln-cd  nut  :it  ull  that  son f  tlicni  had  been  at  first 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  33 

opposed  to  the  undeitakiug;  no  sooner  did  they  put  their  hands  to  the 
work  tlian  it  began  to  grow  broader  and  higher  in  their  minds,  and  they 
became  inspired  with  the  ambition  to  make  everything  the  best.  The  im- 
mense possibilities  of  good,  not  only  for  the  young  people  of  today,  but 
for  the  generations  to  eome,  loomed  up  before  them  as  they  became  inter- 
ested in  the  work,  and  they  gave  to  it  time  without  stint,  and  their  best 
energies.  As  a  result  they  could  rejoice  in  having  been  instrumental  in 
providing  for  Montgomery  county  a  High  School  that  admittedly  ranks 
at  the  head  of  schools  of  its  class  in  the  state,  both  in  its  material  equip- 
ment and  in  the  character  of  the  work  it  is  doing. 

At  the  November  election  of  1899,  E.  P.  Alien  and  Wilson  Kincaid, 
both  business  men  of  Independence,  though  candidates  on  opposing  tick- 
ets, were  elected  trustees.  At  the  meeting  held  January  8th,  1900,  the 
new  board  organized  by  electing  Thomas  Hayden,  Vice-President;  P.  H. 
Fox,  t^ecretary;  and  Eevilo  Newton,  Treasurer. 

The  Dalton  Raid  at  Coffeyville 

In  all  the  annals  of  trinie  in  our  country,  few  if  any  events  have  fur- 
nished more  dramatic  incidents  or  created  more  of  a  sensation  than  the 
raid  if  the  Daltons  at  Coffeyville,  on  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  October 
5th,  1-p^-  -  There  have  been  other  bank  robberies  where  larger  amounts 
of  nioTi&y  have  been  at  stake,  and  some  in  which  better  known  bandits 
and  outlaws  have  participated,  but  in  the  sanguinary  nature  of  the  strug- 
gle, the  number  of  shots  fired,  and  the  victims  on  both  sides,  the  Coffey- 
ville affair  must  stand  preeminent. 

The  "I'alton  Cang,"  whose  leaders  organized  aind  perpetrated  this 
raid  had  already  arquired  an  unenviable  rejmtation  as  outlaws  and  train 
robbers,  and  were  ready  for  any  crime  if  the  stakes  were  large  enough. 
Three  of  the  Dalton  brothers,  with  two  ordinary  criminals  of  the  sort 
that  could  be  j)icked  up  almost  anywhere  in  the  Indian  Territory,  con- 
stituted the  party.  The  Dalton  family  originally  consisted  of  Lewis  Dal- 
ton and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Adaline  Lee  Younger,  and  who 
was  born  in  Cass  county,  Missouri,  in  the  neighborhood  whence  came 
other  Youngers,  who  achieved  notoriety  as  bank  I'obbers.  They  were  the 
parents  of  thirteen  children,  of  whom  two  died  in  infancy.  The  family 
were  not  strangers  at  Coffeyville,  having  settled  in  that  vicinity  in  1882 
and  remained  there  until  the  opening  of  Oklahoma  in  1889.  In  fact, 
Lewis  Dalton  remained  in  this  county  until  his  death,  at  Dearing,  in 
1890.  The  rest  of  the  family  went  to  Oklahoma  and  took  up  claims.  The 
old  people  seem  to  have  been  jieaceable  and  law-abiding,  but  three  of  the 
boys  became  deputy  T'nited  States  marshals  in  the  Indian  Territory,  one 
of  tlu-m  also  serving  for  a  .^liorl  time  as  chief  of  jiolice  of  the  Osage  Na- 
tion.    Familiarifv   with   crin.e  and  a<i|naintance  with  outlaws  in  the.se 


The  Dill  tons 

are  cr 

edited  wiili  inn 

territory  about  i  \ 
so  far  as  know  n, 
tlie  enrly  i)art  of 

il,i'.\   1 

rs  pivvi.Mis  t..  r 
.M,k  111,-  liisi  de 
liailon.  Willia 

(■(1  fur  train  roltlx 

n-y  in 

Tulare  county. 

34  iiisTOKV  OF  MoxT(;oMi:i;v  cointv.  Kansas. 

positions  seems  to  have  developed  a  passion  for  criminal  adventure,  which 
may  have  been  also,  to  some  extent,  a  matter  of  heredity  on  their  mother's 
side,  (iratton,  Emmet  and  Robert  were  the  Halrons  in  the  gang,  and  the 
two  other  mend)ers  of  the  quintette  who  r.-iidi-d  tin-  t 'olleyville  banks  were 
known  as  Kill  Powers  and  Dick  P.roadwi-il.  Itiilicri,  the  leader  of  the 
gang,  was  only  22  years  of  age.  while  i:niiuct  was  a  mere  boy  two  years 
younger.    (Jratton  was  31. 

slcih'u  a  herd  of  cattle  in  the 
vents  to  be  here  narrated,  and 
in  outlawry  at  that  time.  In 
lid  Emmet  I>alton  were  arrest- 
iforuia.  Emmet  escaped,  Wil- 
liam was  ac(|nitted,  and  Gratton  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  twenty 
years  in  the  i>eniteutiary.  He  escaped  from  the  county  jail  before  being 
taken  to  Eolsom,  and  there  was  a  standing  reward  of  |<),0(I0  offered  for 
(Jiaiion  and  Emmet  by  the  Southern  I'acitic  Railway  at  the  time  these 
men  inel  their  fate  at  Coffeyville.  Tn  :\lay  ISIM  there  was  a  train  robbery 
by  masked  men  at  NVharton,  Imliiiii  'rcnii..i\,  ..n  i  In-  Santa  Fe  Railroad; 
and  in  July  of  the  same  year  aiimlii-i'  :ii  Ad.iir,  mi  the  ^lissouri,  Kansas  iV: 
Texas   botii  of  which  were  credited  To  the  l»allMns. 

On  the  morning  of  the  ( 'otfeyville  raid,  the  tjve  nM-n  mentioned  were 
seen  by  several  ]ieople  riding  toward  that  city,  an<l  they  were  taken,  in 
every  instance,  for  a  Enited  Stal<-x  Hepnty  Marshal  and'his  posse.  They 
<ame  in  cm  the  main  road  fnnii  lln-  west,  turned  south  (me  block  from  the 
business  part  of  town  and  hitched  ili,-ir  horses  in  the  alley  running 
hack  from  Slossen's  drug  store,  which  has  since  become  famous  as  "the 
Alley  .if  Death."  They  then  started  down  the  alley,  (Jratton.  with  Pow- 
ers and  Proadwell  in  front,  and  Emmet  and  Bob  following.  As  they 
crossed  the  sidewalk,  on  emergiii-  fmni  the  alley,  they  passed  withiii 
five  feet  of  a  citizen  who  was  acnmiiitcd  with  theni  well  "enough  to  recog- 
nize them  in  sjiite  of  the  disguises  ihey  had  assumed  on  coming  into 'a 
locality  where  Ihey  were  so  well  known.  A  moment  later  he  saw  the  three 
men  who  weic  in  front  enter  ('.  .M.  (•(imhrn  ^\;  ( 'o."s  bank  and  present  a 
Winclicster  at  the  cashier's  counter.     He  raised  the  alarm  at  once. 

.Meantime  the  other  two  had  crossed  Fnicm  street  and  entered  the 
First  National  bank.  They  were  followed  by  some  citizens  who  suspected 
their  object  and  the  alarm  was  sjieedily  raised  on  the  east  side  of  the 
plaza,  also.  Immediately  half  a  dozen  men  rushed  to  the  hardware  stores 
of  Isham  P.ros.  &  :Mansur  and  A.  P.  P.oswell  c^c  C...  on  the  east  side  of 
Enion  street,  and  iiroceeded  to  provide  themselves  with  rilles  ;ind  ammii 
nition,  deiei-mined  that  the  bank  robbers  should  nol  -el  ;iway  if  it  was 
possible  to  pi-event   it. 

In  Condon  .V  Co.'s  hank  were  ('.  T.  Carpenter,  one  of  the  iiroiirietors. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  35 

Chas  51.  Ball,  the  casliicv,  ami  T.  V.  Babb,  the  bookkeeper.  The  leader  of 
the  raiders,  (irat.  I>alt<iii.  ordered  the  men  behind  the  counter  to  throw 
up  their  hands;  and  on  lookin*;-  up  from  his  work  at  the  desk.  Mr.  Car- 
penter saw  three  Winchesters  aimed  at  his  head,  and  heard  such  reassur- 
ing words  as  these : 

"We  have  got  you,  O d .von  1     Hold  up  .your  hands" 

As  soon  as  Daltou  had  passed  around  into  the  inside  of  the  eucdosure 
at  the  bank,  he  ordered  Mr.  Ball  to  hold  a  grain  sack  he  had  brought  with 
liirn,  while  Carpenter  was  told  to  put  the  money  in  the  canvas  sacks  in  the 
safe  into  it.  There  was  $3,000  in  silver  in  the  three  sacks,  and  when  he 
had  got  that  Daltou  ordered  Mr.  Ball  to  open  the  burglar  proof  chest  in 
the  vault.    Ball  replied  : 

"It  is  not  time  for  it  1o  o]ien."  ^  ^  /1RQ1  Q 

"What  time  does  it  o]ien?'"  asked  (ivatton.  J— L'iO^XO 

"Half  pa.st  nine."  answered  r..ill.  guessing  what  o'clock  it  might  be, 
sparring  for  time. 

"What  time  is  it  now?"  cjueried  llie  bandit. 

"Twenty  minutes  past  nim-."  glibly  answered  Ball,  looking  at  his 
watch. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  twenty  minutes  of  ten,  but  Daltou  did 
not  know  this  and  calmly  proposed  to  wait  until  the  chest  could  be 
opened.  In  a  moment  or  two  he  began  to  suspect  the  truth  and  turned  on 
Ball  and  cursed  him  and  threatened  to  put  a  bullet  through  him.  With 
the  money  from  the  counter  the  robbers  now  had  .f4.000,"but  the  firing 
which  had  begun  from  the  outside  was  getting  so  hot  that  the  robbers 
ordered  the  sack  carried  into  the  back  room,  where  the  currency  was 
sorted  out  and  the  silver  left.  The  bankers  and  two  customers  who  hap- 
pened to  be  in  when  the  raid  was  made,  were  lying  on  the  floor  now  to 
escape  the  rain  of  bullets  that  came  crashing  through  the  plate  glass. 
Broadwell  had  already  received  a  bullet  in  the  arm  that  disabled  him, 
and  the  robbers  nuide  Imste  to  get  out  into  the  street  whence  they  had 
come. 

Meanwhile,  a  good  deal  had  been  happening  at  the  First  Xational 
across  the  street.  Bob  i>alton  and  Emmet  entered  here  about  the  same 
time  the  other  three  men  went  into  Condon's.  They  covered  the  cashier, 
Thomas  G.  Avers,  and  the  teller,  W.  H.  Hhepard,  with  their  guns  and 
ordered  everyone  present  to  hold  up  his  hands.  The  men  in  the  bank  in 
front  of  the  counter  at  ihe  time  were  J.  H.  Brewster,  the  well  known  con- 
tractor, who  built  the  county  court  house,  A.  W.  Kuotts,  who  was  after- 
ward deputy  sherift,  and  C.  L.  Hollingsworth.  Leaving  Emmet  on  guard 
in  front.  Bob  went  around  to  the  rear  and  entered  the  private  room,  where 
he  fo)ind  Bert  S.  Ayres.  the  boid^keejier.  and  ordered  him  to  go  to  the 
front  and  get  the  money  on  the  counter.     He  then  ordered  the  cashier  to 


35 

lIlSTOltV   ( 

)1-    M 

lii-iiijr  liiiii 

Iho 

nioiu'V  tlia 

1    Wil 

i;ot  \v(int 

into 

the  v'iUllt   1 

llilll^ 

rainiiiji  ti\ 

•('  Uv 

imsand  doll 

a  IS 

in  the  safe,  and  not  satisfied  with  what  he 
If  and  took  two  jiackajies  of  ctiiTency  con- 
each,  and  added  them  to  the  collection  in  his 
sack,  which  now  amounted  to  .|;2(l.(Ml(l.  Oiderin<;-  the  bank  foire  and  cus- 
tomers out  befoi-e  them,  tlie  bandits  started  to  ,ud  (Uit  the  front  door,  but 
some  shots  drove  them  back  and  tliey  then  retreated  by  a  back  door. 

Right  at  this  time  tlie  murderous  work  began.  8o  far,  only  two  men 
liad  been  wounded,  Broadwell.  on  the  inside  of  ('ondon's  bank,  and 
<'harles  T.  (Jum]),  wlio  had  taken  a  jiosition  outside  of  the  First  National 
with  a  gun  ready  to  slioot  at  the  r)l(bers  when  they  started  out.  I'.i>l) 
B  alton  fired  a  shot  which  srnck  him  in  the  hand  and  disabled  him. 
When  tlie  two  robl)ers  emerged  from  tlie  rear  door  of  the  First  National, 
liaviiig  the  teller.  M'r.  Sliepard  with  them,  they  came  across  Lucius  M. 
I'.aldwiii.  a  cUmIc  from  Kecnl  I'.rotheis"  store.  He  was  holding  a  revolver 
at  Ills  side  and  <oming  forward  as  if  to  join  the  others.  Both  the  Daltons 
leveled  their  \\'inchesters  at  liim  and  commanded  him  to  stoj).  For  some 
reason  he  failed  to  obey  and  kept  moving  toward  tliem.  Bob  remarked, 
••{"ll  have  to  get  that  man,"  and  jiulled  the  trigger  which  sent  a  bullet 
tliroiij;li  Baldwin's  breast  near  the  heart.  He  was  only  about  fifty  feet 
away  at  the  tim(>.  He  was  ]iick(>d  ui)  by  friends  and  carried  away  but 
only  surviwd  for  about  three  hours. 

The  Daltons  ran  north  up  the  alley  to  I-^ighth  street  and  turned  west 
when  they  reached  that  street,  ^^■hen  they  got  as  far  as  Union  street  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Plaza,  they  looked  down  that  street  to  the  south  and 
tired  a  couple  of  shots,  apijarently  for  the  purpose  of  friglitening  their 
assailants  away.  liy  the  time  they  had  reached  the  middle  of  the  street 
on  their  way  a.-ross  to  tlie  "Little  block"  in  the  center  of  the  Plaza,  they 
discerned  (ieorge  Cubine  standing  in  the  doorway  of  Rainmel  Brothers' 
drug  store,  which  adjoined  the  First  National  bank  building  on  tlie  north. 
He  had  a  Winchester  in  his  hand  and  was  looki'ng  the  other  way,  toward 
the  door  of  the  bank  from  which  he  was  expecting  to  see  the  outlaws 
emerge.  They  each  fired  twice  at  him,  and  as  the  four  shots  rang  out,  lie 
fell  to  the  pavement  lifeless,  with  one  bullet  through  his  heart,  another 
through  his  left  thigh  and  a  third  through  his  ankle.  The  fourth  ball 
went  astray  and  crashed  through  the  plate  glass  window  of  the  store 
beliini]  him.  Charles  Brown,  an  old  man  whose  place  of  busines.s  was 
next  north  of  the  drug  store,  rushed  out  to  assist  the  fallen  man;  but  see- 
ing that  lie  was  dead,  seized  the  Winchester  Cubiiie  had  and  turned  it 
on  his  slayers.  Four  more  deadly  shots  rang  out  from  the  bandits'  guns, 
and  Brown  fell  bleeding  and  dying.  He  stiivi\ed  three  hours  in  drea  Iful 
agony  and  then  jiassed  away. 

These  three  murders  had  been  commilt<'d  in  l.'ss  time  than  it  has 
taken  to  tell  it,     l!v  this  time  the  Italtoiis  cauuht  si^lii  of  another  iiia-i 


HISTORY  OF  M0XT(;0MER1'  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  37 

Ts-ho  was  watching  the  entrance  of  the  bank,  ready  to  fii-e  when  they 
should  emerge.  When  turned  out  of  the  bank  at  the  time  the  outlaws 
started  to  come  out  the  front  way,  Cashier  Ayre  s  ran  into  Isham's  hard- 
ware store,  just  to  the  south,  and  procured  a  Winchester,  with  which  he 
took  a  position  in  the  doorway,  where  he  could  command  the  enti'ance 
to  the  bank.  As  they  were  stepping  up  on  to  the  sidewalk  on  the  west 
side  of  Union  street,  and  across  the  street  from  the  Eldridge  House,  Bob 
took  deliberate  aim  at  Ayres,  who  was  about  seventy-five  yards  distant, 
and  fired  a  bullet  which  struck  him  in  the  cheek,  just  below  his  left  eye 
aind  came  out  at  the  back  of  his  head  near  the  base  of  the  skull.  He  fell 
bleeding  and  unconscious  and  for  days  hung  between  life  and  death,  but 
finally  recovered. 

Just  at  this  time,  (irntlon  and  his  companions  had  reached  the  alley 
adjoining  Slosson's  store,  up  which  tlicy  had  left  their  horses,  and  before 
the  prostrate  form  of  Mr.  Ayres  could  be  removed  they  fired  nine  shots 
into  the  front  of  the  building  where  he  lay.  Bob  and  Emmet  proceeded 
west  on  Eighth  street  and  were  not  noticed  again  until  they  reappeared 
near  the  junction  of  the  two  alleys,  having  come  down  back  of  Wells 
Brothers'  store.  Their  escape  would  have  been  comparatively  easy,  had 
they  not  returned  to  that  spot,  but  made  a  break  for  the  open  country  and 
taken  the  first  horse  they  came  across. 

As  it  was,  the  whole  force  of  the  bandit  band  was  now  gathered  in 
what  has  since  been  known  as  "the  Alley  of  Death,"  and  there  they  all 
fell  beneath  the  bullets  of  the  volunteers  for  law  and  order,  though  not 
until  another  good  citizen  lost  his  life.  For  the  facts  thus  far  published 
we  are  indebted  to  the  painstaking  and  carefully  written  work  published 
by  Colonel  I).  Stewart  Elliott,  of  the  Cofteyville  Journal,  entitled:  "Last 
Raid  of  the  Daltons;"  and  for  the  story  of  the  concluding  scenes  of  that 
raid  we  can  do  no  better  than  to  reproduce  the  chapter  of  that  work  on 
"The  Alley  of  Death"  almost  verbatim. 

When  the  alarm  was  first  given  that  the  banks  were  being  robbed, 
Henrv  HI  Isham,  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Isham  Bi'others  & 
Mausur,  was  busy  with  a  customer,  as  were  two  clerks  in  the  store,  Lewis 
T.  J)ietz  and  T.  Arthur  Reynolds.  This  store  not  only  adjoined  the  First 
National  bank  ou  the  south,  but  from  its  front  a  clear  view  is  to  be  had 
acro«s  the  I'laza  and  up  the  alley  at  the  west  side  to  which  the  Daltons 
first  came  and  to  which  they  finally  retreated.  Mr.  Isli:nn  ilismissed  his 
customer,  closed  his  safe,  and,  grasping  a  Winchester,  siaiiniinl  liimself 
near  a  steel  range  in  the  front  of  the  store  where  he  could  sec  :ill  that  was 
going  on  in  the  front  part  of  Condon's  bank.  Dietz  snatched  a  revolver 
and  stationed  himself  close  to  Isham,  while  Reynolds,  having  observed 
the  robbers  enter  the  banks,  was  so  eager  to  prevent  their  escape  that  he 
seized  a  Winchester,  ran  out  upon  the  sidewalk  and  commenced  firing 


38  HISTORY  OF  .MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

upon  the  robber  who  was  statioDed  near  the  southeastern  door  of  the 
Condon  bank.  A  shot  from  the  hitter's  rifle  struck  some  intervening  ob- 
ject and  glanced  and  hit  Reynolds  on  the  right  foot  at  the  base  of  the 
little  toe.  coming  out  at  the  "instep.  He  was  the  third  man  wounded  in 
the  store,  and  was  now  forced  to  leave  the  field.  Indeed,  with  its  blood- 
bespalteded  floor,  the  store  now  began  to  look  like  a  slaughter  house  or 
a  section  of  a  battle  field.  M.  N.  Anderson,  a  carpenter,  who  had  been  at 
work  a  couple  of  blocks  away,  now  arrived  and  took  the  Winchester  Rey- 
nolds had  dropped  and  stationed  himself  beside  Isham,  where  he  per- 
formed valiant  service  until  the  close  of  the  engagement.  Charles  K. 
t^mith.  a  young  m:m  from  a  barber  shop  near  Isham's  store,  also  procured 
a  \\'incliester  and  joined  the  forces  in  the  luudware  store  in  time  to  help 
exterminate  the  gang. 

From  five  to  nine  shots  were  fired  by  eath  man  who  iiaiidled  a  Win- 
chestei-  at  this  point.  The  principal  credit,  however,  for  the  successful 
and  fatal  work  dtme  at  the  store  was  due  to  Mr.  Isham.  Cool  and  col- 
le<-te(l.  he  gave  directions  to  his  comiianioiis  and  at  the  same  time  kept  his 
own  gun  at  work. 

The  moment  that  (irat.  l>alton  and  his  rouiiiani.ins.  ]»iik  I'.roadwel! 
and  Kill  Powers,  left  the  Condon  bank  after  looting  it,  they  came  under 
the  guns  of  the  men  in  Ishanr's  store.  Grat.  Dalton  and  Bill  I'owers  each 
received  mortal  wounds  before  they  had  gone  twenty  steps.  The  dust 
was  seen  to  fly  from  their  clothing,  and  Powers  in  his  despei'ation  at- 
tempted to  take  refuge  in  the  doorway  of  an  adjoining  store,  but  the  door 
was  locked  and  no  one  answered  his  request  to  be  let  in.  He  kept  his  feet 
and  clung  to  his  Winchester  until  he  reached  his  horse,  when  another  ball 
struck  him  in  the  back  and  he  fell  dead  at  its  feet.  (irat.  Dalton,  getting 
under  cover  of  an  oil  tank  which  had  been  driven  into  the  alley  just  about 
the  time  the  raid  was  made,  managed  to  reach  the  side  of  a  barn  on  the 
south  side  of  the  alley,  about  two  hilndred  feet  from  Walnut  street.  The 
])oint  Mhere  he  stopped  was  out  of  the  range  of  the  guns  at  Isham's  on 
account  of  an  intervening  outside  stairway.  He  stood  here  for  a  few 
minutes  firing  wild  shots  down  the  alley  toward  the  Plaza. 

.Vbont  this  time  John  J.  Kkiehr,  a  liveryman.  Carey  Seaman,  and  the 
City  ."Marshal,  Charles  T.  Connelly,  who  were  at  the  south  end  of  the 
Plaza,  near  Reeds'  store,  started  uj)  Ninth  street  so  as  to  intercept  the 
gang  before  they  could  reach  their  horses.  Connelly  ran  across  a  vacant 
lot  to  an  opcniiig  in  llic  fence  at  the  alley,  right  at  the  corner  of  the  barn 
where  <!r:ii.  Dalion  was  slill  standing.  There  he  sprang  ilnto  the  alley, 
facing  the  west  where  tlic  horses  were  hitched.  This  movement  brought 
him  with  his  back  toward  ilie  iiiurdei-ous  Dalton,  who  was  seen  to  raise 
his  Winchester  to  his  side  ami.  without  taking  aim,  fired  a  shot  into  the 
back  of  the  brave  olli,-er.        (^miiellv   fell   forward    on   his   face,   within 


lllSTOItV  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  39 

Iwcnlv  fwt  of  where  his  innrdeier  stood.  He  breathed  his  hist  just  as  the 
tight  ended, 

Dielv  r.roadweil.  in  llie  meantime,  had  reaelied  cover  in  the  Long- 
Hell  Lumber  Companv"s  vaids,  where  he  lay  down  for  a  few  moments. 
He  was  wounded  in  the  back.  A  lull  occurred  in  the  firing  after  Grat 
Dalton  and  Bill  Towers  had  fallen.  Broadwell  tood  advantage  of  this 
and  crawled  out  of  his  hiding  place,  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  away. 
A  bail  from  Kloehr's  ritle,  and  a  load  of  shot  from  a  gun  in  the  hands  of 
Carey  teaman,  overtook  him  before  he  had  ridden  twenty  feet.  Bleeding 
and  dying  he  clung  to  his  horse  ;n!(l  passed  out  of  the  city  over  a  portion 
of  the' road  by  which  the  pMiiy  eiilered  it  not  more  than  twenty  minutes 
befovc.  His  body  was  suhsiM|\ieiiiiy  found  by  the  roadside  half  a  mile 
west  of  the  city,  and  his  horse  with  its  trappings  was  captured  near 
where  he  fell. 

Almost  at  the  same  moment  that  JIarslial  Connelly  went  down  be- 
fore the  deadly  ritle  of  Grat.  Dalton,  Bob  and  Emmet  emerged  from  the 
alley  by  which  they  had  left  Eighth  street  in  their  eftoi-t  to  rejoin  the  rest 
of  the  party  where  their  horses  had  been  left.  They  had  not  met  with 
any  resisteuce  iu  passing  from  where  they  had  shot  Cub^ne,  Brown  and 
Ayros,  as  the  firing  toward  the  south  end  of  the  Plaza  had  attracted  gen- 
eral attention  iu  another  direction.  The  north  and  south  alley  through 
which  they  reached  "the  Alley  of  Death,"  has  its  terminus  opposite  the 
rear  end  of  Slosson's  store.  When  they  reached  the  junction  of  the  al- 
leys, they  discovered  F.  D.  Benson  climbing  through  a  rear  window  with 
a  gun  in  his  hand.  Divining  his  object.  Bob  fired  at  him  point  blank,  at  a 
distance  of  not  over  thirty  feet.  The  shot  missed.  Bob  then  stepped  into 
the  alley  and  glanced  xip  at  the  tops  of  the  buildings  as  if  he  suspected 
the  fusilade  that  was  pouring  into  the  alley  came  from  that  direction. 
As  he  did  so,  the  men  at  Isham's  took  deliberate  aim  from  their  positions 
in  the  store  and  fired  at  him.  The  notorious  leader  of  the  Dalton  gang 
evidently  received  a  severe  if  not  fatal  wound  at  this  time.  He  stagger- 
ed across  the  alley  and  sat  down  on  a  pile  of  dressed  curbstones  near  the 
city  jail.  Still  true  to  his  desperate  nature,  he  kept  his  rifle  in  action  and 
fired  several  shots  from  where  he  was  sitting.  His  aim,  though,  was  un- 
steady and  the  bullets  went  wild.  While  sitting  on  the  rocks  he  espied 
.John  Kloehr  on  the  inside  of  the  fence  near  Slosson's  store.  He  tried  to 
raise  his  Winchester  to  his  shoulder,  but  could  not,  and  the  shot  intended 
for  Kloehr  struck  the  side  of  an  outhouse  and  failed  in  its  mission.  Bob 
Dalton  then  made  his  supreme  eftort.  He  arose  to  his  feet  and  sought 
refuge  alongside  of  an  old  barn  west  of  the  city  jail,  and,  leafning  against 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  building  he  brought  his  rifle  into  action  again 
and  fired  two  shots  in  the  direction  of  his  pursuers.  They  were  his  last 
shots.    A  ball  from  Kloehr's  rifle  struck  him  full  in  the  breast  and  he  fell 


40  HISTORY  OF  .MONTIiOMERY  liUNTY.  KANSAS. 

over  backward  aiiioiig  the  stones  wliirli  coveicd  the  i;i-(nnul  there,  aud 
which  were  reddened  with  his  life  bludd. 

After  shoot  ins  Marshal  C.innelly.  (irat.  I>alt<>n  made  aiiuther  at- 
tempt to  reach  his  horse.  He  passed  l.y  his  fallen  vidini.  ahid  had  ad- 
vanced probably  twenty  feet  from  where  he  was  standing  when  he  fired 
the  fatal  shot;"  then  tnrning  his  face  i.i  his  pursuers  he  again  at- 
tempted to  use  his  Winchester.  John  Kloehr's  rille  blazed  out  again 
now.  and  the  oldest  member  of  the  band  drojiped  with  a  bullet  in  his 
throat  and  a  broken  neck.    He  fell  within  a  few  feet  of  the  dying  marshal. 

I'])  to  this  time  Emmet  Dalton  had  managed  to  escape  untouched. 
He  k(-i>t  under  shelter  after  he  reached  the  alley  until  he  attempted  to 
moiiiJ  his  horse.  A  half  dozen  ritles  were  then  fired  in  Ins  direction,  as 
he  nndertook  to  get  into  the  saddle.  The  two  intervening  horses  belong- 
ing to  Hob  Dalton  aud  Bill  Powers  were  killed  by  some  of  the  shots  in- 
tended tor  Emmet;  and  the  two  horses  attached  to  the  oil  tank-wagon 
being  directly  in  range  received  fatal  wounds.  Emmet  succeeded  in  get- 
ting into  the  saddle,  but  not  until  he  had  received  a  shot  through  the 
right  arm  and  an.other  thi-ough  the  left  hi]i  and  groin.  During  all  this 
time  he  had  clung  to  Ihe  sack  conlaiHing  the  UHiney  he  had  taken  from 
the  First  National  bank.  .\ml  ihcn.  instead  of  riding  off,  as  he  might 
have  done,  Emmet  boldly  and  conrageonsly  rode  back  to  what  he  must 
have  known  was  almost  certain  death  and  came  up  beside  where  Bob 
was  lying  and  attempted  to  lift  his  dying  brother  onto  the  horse  with 
him.  "It's  no  use,"  faintly  whispered  the  fallen  bandit,  and  just  then 
Carey  Seaman  fired  the  contents  of  both  barrels  of  his  shot-gun  into 
Emmet's  back,  as  he  was  leaning  over  the  prostrate  form  of  his  leadei- 
and  tutor  in  crime.  The  youthful  desperado  dropped  from  his  horse  and 
the  last  of  the  Dalton  gang  was  helpless.  In  falling,  the  sack  containing 
the  tvrenty  thousand  dollars  he  had  jierilled  his  soul  and  body  to  get  went 
down  witii  him,  and  he  l;;|nde(l  al  the  feet  of  his  brolher.  P.ol.'.  who  breath- 
ed his  last  a  moment  later. 

Citizens  who  had  followed  close  after  the  robbers,  and  some  of  whom 
were  close  at  hand  when  they  fell,  immediately  surrounded  their  bodies. 
Emmet  responded  to  the  command  to  hold  u](  his  hands  by  raising  his 
uninjured  arm  and  making  a  jtathetic  appeal  for  mercy.  Lynching  was 
suggested,  but  better  councils  prevailed  and  he  was  taken  to  the  office  of 
a  surgeon,  who  dressed  his  wounds.  He  i-ecovered  with  the  quick  elasti- 
city of  youth  and  was  taken  to  the  jail  at  Independence,  where,  in  the 
following  March,  he  jdeaded  guilty  to  murder  in  the  second  degree  and 
was  sentenced  to  a  ninety-nine  years'  term  in  the  i)enitentiary,  ten  of 
whii-li  he  has  .-ilready  served.  His  aged  mother  is  untiring  in  her 
etVoits  to  secnie   i.ardOn  and    ft lom    for    her    wayward    boy.    but    no 


HISTORY  OF  MOXTGOMERY  COUNTY;,  KANSAS.  4! 

governor  has  yet  dared  to  brave  the  indignation  of  the  friends  of  the  vic- 
tims of  the  raid  by  granting  her  prayer. 

I^ss  than  fifteen  minutes  had  elapsed  from  the  time  the  raiders  en- 
tered the  banks  until  four  of  tliem  were  dead  and  the  others  helpless  with 
wounds.  And  it  was  only  twelve  minutes  from  the  firing  of  the  first  shot 
until  the  last  one  sounded  the  knell  of  the  Dalton  gang. 

Summarizing  the  reports,  it  appears  that  eighty  bullet  marks  and 
numerous  evidences  of  the  impact  of  small  shot  were  visible  on  the  south 
front  of  Condon's  bank  when  the  battle  ended.  Not  more  than  fifteen 
guns  were  actively  engaged  iu  the  fight  on  both  sides;  and  yet  eight  peo- 
ple were  killed  and  three  wounded.  While  all  the  citizens  who  were 
killed  or  wounded  were  armed,  (ieorge  Cubine  was  the  only  one  of  them 
who  had  fired  a  shot  before  being  striu-k  down.  Amtfng  the  scores  of  by- 
standers and  onlookers  about  the  I'laza.  including  many  girls  and  little 
chidren.  not  one  was  struck  by  a  sh(»rt  or  bullet.  It  was  war,  an^d  very 
sanguinary  war,  while  it  lasted,  the  percentage  of  victims  to  combatants 
being  greater  than  iu  :',ny  battle  that  was  not  a  massacre;  but  no  wild 
shooting  was  done. 

While  the  i)eople  of  Coffeyville  wiped  out  the  outlaw  gang  at  a  terri- 
ble cost  of  valuable  lives,  they  insured  their  city  against  any  more  such 
visitations  during  the  lifetime  of  the  present  generation,  and  conferred  a 
service  upon  the  state  and  upon  society  by  demonstrating  how  risky  and 
unprofitable  such  raids  are  likely  to  prove. 


CIIAI'TER  111. 
The  Press  of  Montgomery  County 

BY  H.  W.  YOUNG. 

There  is  a  fascination  about  the  newspaper  business  which  even 
those  who  have  spent  their  lives  in  the  editor's  chair  would  find  it  hard 
to  exi)]aiu.  Certainly  it  must  have  been  this  fascination,  i-ather  than  the 
pecuniary  reviards  in  sight,  which  have  induced  three  score  and  ten  men 
to  establish  newspapers  in  nine  different  localities  in  Montgomery  county. 
For  of  all  the  seventy  or  more  publications  which  have  .been  started  in 
this  county  as  local  newspapers,  there  is  only  one  which  has  as  yet  placed 
its  jnoj-.rietors  in  independent  circumstances,  given  them  any  bank  ac- 
count to  sjicak  of.  (ir  enabled  them  to  become  landowners  on  any  but  the 
most  limited  scale.  And  the  success  which  has  attended  this  exceptional 
venture,  is  without  question,  attributable  to  the  public  patronage  it  has 
enjoyed  rather  than  to  profits  from  the  sources  of  income  accessible  to  all 
newspapers  alike,  as  the  rewards  of  industry,  energy  and  perseverance. 

Before  attempting  even  the  briefest  mention  of  the  scores  of  news- 
papers which  have  been  born  and  lived  their  short  lives  within  our  bor- 
ders, it  is  fitting  to  refer  a  little  more  in  detail  to  the  men  and  the  papers 


42  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

wliich  have  kept  their  places  lougest  ou  tlie  slippery  surface  where  falls 
have  been  so  frequeut. 

The  only  newspaper  in  the  tdiinty  which  has  ever  reached  its  ma- 
jority under  the  same  ownershi]i  and  nianaf;enient  is  the  one  referred  to 
above  as  the  one  instance  of  financial  success.  The  South  Kansas 
Tribune,  of  ln(lc|.cii,l,.|i.  r.  was  established  in  March,  1871.  W.  T.  Yoe,  one 
of  the  present  ]ir(i|irict(n  s.  Iii'Iiijl;  a  half  owner,  and  the  other  half  being 
the  pro]ierty  of  the  law  lirni  of  Yoik  &  llunii)hrey;  though  Humphrey's 
name  alone  a])]iearcd  as  repiesenting  this  interest  and  York  was  a  silent 
jiarfnei-.  This  partneisliip  contiinued  only  aliout  a  year,  when  George  W. 
Bnicbard  jmrchased  York  &  Ifuniphrey's  interest,  and  became  editor  of 
the  paper,  with  W.  T.  Yoe  as  local  or  associate  editor.  At  this  time  the 
Tribune  was  the  best  edited  [taper  in  the  county,  and  perhaps  in  this  sec- 
tion of  the  state.  This  arrangement  continued  until  1S74.  when  Mr.  Burch- 
ard's  Republicanism  became  so  attenuated  that  the  only  way  to  preserve 
the  ])olitical  integrity  of  the  paper  was  to  remove  him  from  his  position. 
Mr.  Yoe  accordingly  bought  him  out.  aind  his  interest  was  transferred  to 
Charles  Yoe  who  has  ever  since  been  associated  in  its  publication.  For 
the  twenty-nine  years  since,  this  ]iaiier  has  kejtt  the  even  tenor  of  its  way, 
as  a  defender  of  tlic  licpuMiian  faiili;  and  its  unwavering  adherence  to 
that  organizalion  has  made  it  one  of  the  landmarks  of  journalism  in 
Southeastern  Kansas.  Its  publishers  have  become  comparatively  weal 
thy;  and  while  it  has  never  reached  the  highest  levels  of  journalism,  it 
has  never  sunk  to  the  lowest  dejtths.  It  has  been  careful  and  conserva- 
tive, and  it  is  usually  found  on  the  popular  side  of  public  cpiestions.  It 
has  not  only  enjoyed  a  lucrative  income  from  the  county  jirinting  almost 
uninlerrupledly  for  the  past  twenty  years,  but  its  senior  editor  has  held 
such  jiaying  official  positions  as  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Trustees 
of  Charitable  Institutions,  and  iKistmaster  of  the  City  of  Independence, 
while  llie  junior  member  was  until  recently  secretary  of  the  same  board. 

^ext  to  the  Y'oes,  the  second  oldest  editor  and  publisher,  in  the  time 
s]ieii'  on  Montgomery  county  newspapers,  is  H.  W.  Y'oung.  now  of  the 
Kansas  Pojjulist,  but  heretofore  publisher  of  the  Coffeyville  Star,  the  In- 
dcjicndcnce  Star  and  the  Star  and  Kansan.  ilr.  Y'oung  rekons  nineteen 
years  (!e\()1ed  to  editorial  work  in  ^Montgoniery  county  and  has  held  the 
olliccs  of  Keceiver  of  the  United  States  Land  Office  at  Independence  and 
Slate  Senator  for  the  Montgomery  county  district.  By  his  frequent 
changes  and  his  impulsive — some  would  say  erratic — methods  of  con- 
ducting a  ncwspajicr  Mr.  Young  has  illustrated  the  old  adage  that  "a  roll- 
ing stone  gathcis  no  moss;"  and  while  friends  have  often  commended  his 
ncwsiiapci-  as  ••llic  best  in  tli(>  county."  he  has  never  demonstrated  any 
sjiecial  ability  as  a  iiioney  get  tcr. 

T.   X.  Sickcls.  of  the   l>aily  Kcpoitcr.  of  Independence,  conies  third 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  43 

ill  l(Mij;11i  (if  service,  having  liecoiiie  proprietor  of  that  paper  iln  May, 
ISSd,  aud  having  published  it  uninterruptedly  since,  with  the  exception 
of  three  or  four  years  spent  in  the  pension  office  at  Topeka  during  Presi- 
dent Harrison's  administration,  when  it  was  in  charge  of  his  son,  Walter. 
Mr.  Sickels  is  one  of  the  few  men  who  have  been  able  to  make  a  local 
daily  self-supporting  in  towns  like  Independence,  and  now  rejoices  in  a 
subscription  aud  advertising  pati'onage  in  keeping  with  the  growth  of  a 
prosperous  city  in  the  gas  and  oil  belt. 

C.  E.  Moore,  of  the  Cherryvale  Eepublican,  has  also  been  a  long  time 
in  the  harness,  having  become  connected  with  the  Globe  of  that  city  in 
1881,  aud  having  been  engaged  in  the  printing  business  there  for  nearly 
all  the  time  since. 

Although  ^Montgomery  is  a  comparatively  young  county,  hav- 
ing been  organized  in  18G9,  and  is  not  in  the  first  rank  in  population, 
there  are  only  four  counties  in  the  state  which  can  boast  larger  newspa- 
per graveyards.  Untimely  deaths  of  publications  which  have  stai'ted  out 
with  bright  hopes  and  boundless  ambitions  have  occuri-ed  at  the  rate  of 
about  two  a  year  during  the  thirty-four  years  of  our  county's  existence, 
and  we  now  have  but  twelve  living. 

When  a  company  of  Oswego  men  in  the  summer  of  1869  determined 
to  locate  a  county  seat  on  the  ^'erdigris  fJnd  get  in  "on  the  ground  floor" 
in  the  new  county  to  the  west,  one  of  the  first  things  they  did  was  to  pro- 
vide for  the  publication  of  a  newspajier;  aud  so  we  find  the  first  paper  is- 
sued in  >J'ionrgomery  county  to  have  l)een  the  Independence  Pioneer.  The 
first  number  bore  date  of  September  .5th,  of  that  year.  It  was  published 
by  E.  R.  Trask.  of  the  Oswego  Register,  and  printed  at  that  place  until 
March,  1870,  when  it  was  provided  with  an  outfit  of  its  own,  and  David 
Steel  became  its  editor.  In  December,  1870,  it  was  sold  to  Thos.  H.  Can- 
field,  who  changed  its  name  to  the  Republican.  The  paper  remained  at 
the  county  seat  for  about  two  years  longer,  changing  proprietors  every 
few  mouths,  and  in  the  spring  of  1873  again  went  west  "to  grow  up"  with 
some  other  county. 

The  second  paper  established  in  the  county  was  the  Westralia 
Vidette.  by  McConuell  &  Mclntyre,  in  the  spring  of  1870,  It  lived  only 
three  months  and  two  days,  succumbing  to  lack  of  nourishment.  Follow- 
ing it  came  the  Record,  founded  by  G.  D.  P>aker  at  the  new  town  of  Par- 
ker. It  is  said  to  have  been  an  excellent  paper,  but  when  Parker  faded 
away  it  had  to  give  up  the  ghost. 

The  first  paper  ou  record  as  being  avowedly  in  opposition  to  the  dom- 
inant Repulilican  party  in  the  county  was  the  Kansas  Democrat,  which 
the  well  known  Martin  VanP.uren  Bennett  removed  from  Oswego  to  In- 
dependence in  December,  1870.  •'^'an"  is  supposed  to  have  intended  to 
use  this  publication  as  a  lever  to  boost  him  into  congress;  but  his  paper 


<  lie  hopi-d. 

aiul  iu  1S72  he  sold  it  to- 

aftciward. 

leiiioved  it  to  the  state 

44  HISTOU\    OF    .\10M( 

was  sensational  and  not  as  popnl 
Peacock  &  Sons  who,  a  year  or 
capital. 

In  casting  about  for  sonicthin<;  to  do,  after  the  sands  of  his  official 
life  had  run  out,  ex-United  States  Senator  E.  G.  Ross  concluded  to  try  his 
fortunes  in  the  new  county  just  opened  down  on  the  south  line  of  the 
state;  and  in  the  fall  of  1871  established  Koss'  Paper  at  Coffey ville.  Mis- 
fortune still  pursued  the  man  who  had  saved  Andy  Johnson  from  im- 
peachment, however,  and  in  March.  1872.  his  office  was  destroyed  by  a 
tornado.    He  did  not  re-establish  it  but  removed  to  Lawrence. 

Following  this  came  the  Circular,  by  E.  W.  Perry;  alud  in  the 
spring  of  1873,  the  Courier,  by  Chatham  &  Scurr.  Jim  Chatham  was  one 
of  the  best  local  itemizers  who  ever  struck  Montgomery  county,  but  his 
abilities  as  a  business  man  were  not  adequate  to  the  strain,  and  bad  luck 
compelled  him  to  suspend  in  July  187.5.  His  office  was  i)Ut  on  wheels 
and  taken  to  Independence,  where  he  jtnblished  the  Independence  Courier 
for  a  time,  to  be  succeeded  by  the  T>aily  Courier,  and  the  Workingman's 
Courier,  which  was  published  by  Frank  C.  Scott  until  1S7!I. 

The  Independence  Kansan  was  established  in  the  fall  of  1875  by  W. 
H.  Watkins.  The  paper  was  Democratic,  though  Watkins  was  known  to 
be  a  Republican.  While  the  Tribune,  started  in  the  spring  of  1871.  still 
lives  under  one  of  its  original  publishers,  the  Kansan  has  seen  changes 
and  vicissitudes  without  end.  Will  H.  ^^■arner  took  it  off  of  Watkins' 
hand  in  December  1876.  and  ran  it  at  high  presstire  for  a  little  more 
than  two  years,  vastly  increasing  its  subscription  list,  getting  the  county 
I)rinting,  and  filling  it  with  live  local  news;  giving,  however,  too  much 
si>ace  to  salacious  gossip.  Finding  the  income  of  the  paper  insufficient  to 
enable  him  to  "sit  in"  on  ](oker  games  at  Kansas  City  as  freiiuoutly  as  he 
wished,  he  sold  it  in  January  187!l,  to  (i<'orge  W.  lUirchard.  the  only  ma'n 
in  iMontgoniery  county  who  has  edited  both  the  Republican  and  I>emo- 
cratic  organs  of  the  county.  In  less  than  a  year  F>urcliaitl  disposed  of 
the  paper  to  Frank  C.  Scott,  of  the  Courier,  who  merged  the  two  papers 
into  one.  Scott  sold  the  Kansan  to  H.  W.  Young  of  the  Star  in  February 
1882,  but  at  the  same  time  transferred  the  good  will  and  business  to  A. 
A.  Stewart,  who  published  a  new  paper  with  the  old  name.  Independence 
Kansan  until  January  1885,  when  he  also  sold  out  to  Mr.  Young,  who 
has  bought  more  ^lontgomery  county  newspapers  than  any  other  man 
living.  The  Kansan  and  the  Star  were  then  consolidated  as  tlie  Star  and 
Kansan.  The  Star  was  originally  established  at  Coffeyville  by  Mr.  Young 
iin  Aiii'il  1881.  as  the  Coffeyville  Star,  but  was  removed  to  Independence 
in  October  of  the  same  year  and  jiublished  as  The  Star  until  the  merger 
just  mentioned.  The  Star  and  Kansan  was  jiulilislied  by  :Mr.  Young  until; 
June   180(1,  when  he  removed  to  Coioiado.  leaving  Charles  T.  Errett  in 


HISTUUY  OF  MONTCJOMERY  COINTY,  KANSAS.  45 

clijirfie  of  tlie  )iai:t'i-.  11  was  jml.lislied  iu  Mi-.  Y(Hin;;'s  11:11110  uiilil  Sep- 
tciiihcv  l^^it^.  wlit'ii  Erirtt  Ix'i-iiiit'  pniinietni-.  Jn  .Jaiiiiaiy  181)3,  Mr. 
Youni;-  i-ftuiiii'd  and  re-iniicliascd  the  \>i\\>t'v.  again  becoming  its  editor 
and  piililislier.  In  Novemher  ISilC.  lie  sold  a  half  interest  to  A.  T.  Cox. 
hut  the  jiartiiership  was  inicoiijuenial  and  lasted  not  much  over  a  year. 
Indeed,  the  jiartners  were  unable  to  even  agree  as  to  the  method  of  get- 
tign  unhitched,  and  the  courts  liad  to  be  resorted  to  to  divorce  them. 
Walter  8.  Sickles  was  appointed  receiver  in  January,  181)8,  and  ran  the 
paper  until  May  1st  when  it  was  sold  by  the  sheriff  and  purchased  by  Mr. 
Cox,  who  has  since  conducted  it.  A  couj)le  of  years  later  Mr.  Cox  began 
the  issue  of  the  Daily  Evening  Star,  which  he  still  publishes. 

In  June  1898.  Mr.  Young,  deciding  to  continue  in  the  newspaper 
business  in  Independence,  purchased  the  name  and  list  of  the  Kansas 
Populist  from  Mr.  Ritchie  at  Cherryvale.  He  has  published  the  paper 
since  that  time,  having  recently  associated  his  son,  H.  A.  Young,  with 
him  in  the  business,  under  the  linn  name  of  H.  W.  Y'^oung  &  Son. 

The  Daily  Reporter  was  established  at  Independence  in  August,  1881, 
by  Harper  &  Wassam.  They  published  it  only  a  year  or  two,  when  it  was 
taken  in  hand  by  O'Ci'nner  &  McCulley.  who  held  claims  upon  the  ma- 
terial. Subse(|uently,  for  a  time,  it  was  published  by  Charles  H.  Harper, 
a  son  of  one  of  the  fcmnders,  and  then  in  18S~j  it  was  sold  to  T.  N.  Sickles, 
in  whose  ownership  it  still  remains. 

Of  short  lived  jiapers  published  at  Independence,  mciilioii  may  be 
made  of  the  following : 

The  Osage  Chief,  bv  Ed.  Van  Cuiidv  and  A.  M.  Clark,  in  the  spring 
of  1874. 

The  Itemizer.  triweekly,  by  J.  E.  Srinson.  in  1870. 

The  Living  Age.  by  I'.  P..  Castle,  in  1881. 

The  Montgomery  Monitor  by  Vick  Jennings,  in  December  1885,  and 
January  1S8().  .Jennings  was  the  only  newspaper  publisher  who  has  died 
in  the  harness  in  Independence. 

The  Independence  News,  dailv  and  weeklv,  bv  Cleveland  -T.  Revnolds, 
in  1886. 

The  M,^intgoniery  Argus,  by  Sullivan  &  Levan,  in  1880-87. 

United  Labor,  by  A.  .1.  Miller,  was  an  Alliance  organ  established  in 
1892  and  published  until  1894.  John  Callahan,  who  was  then  deputy 
sheriii',  christened  this  sheet  "The  Dehorner,"  and  it  came  to  be  much  bet- 
ter known  by  that  appellation  than  by  the  name  printed  at  its  head. 

The  Weekly  Call  and  the  Daily  Evening  Call,  by  Rev.  J.  A.  Smith, 
in  189(5. 

Turning  again  to  Cotleyville.  we  Hiid  that  Hon.  W.  A.  Peffer,  who 
subsequtiutly  became  I'liited  States  Senator,  established  the  (''offeyville 
Journal  in  the  fall  of  187.").    After  four  or  five  years  he  removed  to  Topeka 


46  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOIIEBV  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

au(l  left  tlie  pMiier  in  the  hands  of  his  son,  W.  A.  Peffer,  Jr..  better  known 
as  "Jiike,"  who  continued  its  management  until  Capt.  D.  l^tewart  Elliott 
assumed  control  in  1885.  Elliott  was  sub.sequently  elected  to  the  legis- 
lature, but  owiug  to  financial  reverses  was  coinpelled  to  sell  the  paper  in 
18'JG,  when  it  went  into  the  hands  of  a  coinpiiny,  with  W.  G.  Weaverliug 
and  1.  K.  Arbogast  as  editors.  They  have  rouducted  it  very  successfully 
since  that  dale,  and  have  for  several  years  been  publishing  a" daily  edition, 
which  is  the  newsiest  paper  of  the  kind  now  published  in  the  county. 

The  Gate  City  Independent  was  established  at  Cotfeyville  in  the 
early  nineties,  and  for  the  past  ten  years  has  been  pxiblislied  by  C.  W. 
Kent.  Sometimes  it  has  been  a  weekly,  but  most  of  the  time  a  twicea- 
week;  and  often,  as  now,  it  has  had  a  daily  edition. 

In  1895  or  1896,  John  Tedder  established  the  Montgomery  County 
Democrat,  which  he  published  for  .several  years,  to  be  succeeded  Ity  J.  P. 
Easterly.  Still  more  recently  the  paper  has  had  a  number  of  editors  and 
publishers;  but  about  a  year  ago  its  name  was  changed  to  the  Record,  and 
it  has  been  made  a  daily  by  the  CoftevviJle  Publishino-  Company  'with 
Will  Felker  as  editor. 

Another  weekly  published  f.-ir  -AU.ui  the  same  length  .,f  time  is  the 
Coffeyville  Gaslight,  established  in  ISiis,  by  \\\  A.  Bradford  It  now  car- 
ries the  name  of  Fred  R.  Howard  as  editor. 

.o-oS'"'"'-''"'''"'''  ^''^*  P'^i'*^''  '™'-  ^^^^  nerald,  which  was  established  in 
18(.^.  but  pined  away  after  a  sickly  existence  „f  b„t  si.x  weeks.  Following 
It  came  the  Leader,  which  flourished  Un-  a  xnIiII,.  in  is77  The  Cherrvvale 
Globe  was  established  in  1879,  the  Cheiiv  vnh-  News  in  1881  and  the  Cher- 

^^^n  ^r\'"- ^•'^'%-  '^^''  ^''"'"'  ="■"'  ^■'■^^•^  ''■'-'■'  consolidated  in  1882 
and  the  Torch  joined  the  same  ,„,nl,ina,  i.,„  in  1885.  The  Cherrvvale 
St  n  'I"  ^  f  ••"  .\  r)<?"'0<-™tic  n.nvspnp-r  ('herryvale  has  ever  had.'  was 
established  by  Major  E.  W.Ly.ui  in  1SS4  an,l  continued  until  1888.  The 
Cherryvale  ('iiam])ion  ran  from  1SS7  until  IS!).',.  Other  short  lived  Cherrv- 
vale papers  are  the  Southern  K.u.sms  F;,rmer  and  the  K.-.nsas  Common- 
wealth. 1S91;  the  Morning  T..l,-r,.nn.  IS-H-;  the  CiMMTVvale  Kepublic  and 
llie  HepublicMn-Plaindcalei-.  1S!»;;. 

The  Cherryvale  I!epubli<-;iii  was  (■si:ihlisli..(l  in  1SS(;  and  is  sfill  i.ub- 
lished  by  ('.  E.  .Aloore. 

The  Kansas  Populist  was  siwi  i,-il  by  .1.  II.  Kit.  hie  in  1894  as  a  weekly. 
In  conn.'clion  with  it  he  has  publislid  li,,.  |.;ii|y  x,>ws.  and  sin,-e  1898  tlie 
weekly  luis  also  been  known  as  ilu-  Xcws.  The  pnblisluTs  arc  J.  II.  Ritchie 
&  Son. 

The  ClicrryvMlc  Clarion,  .laily  -.uu]  weekly.  w,-is  established  in  1898, 
and  IS  now  jmhlishcd  by  L.  I.  Pniccll. 

Elk  City  lias  had  the  Times,  rslablislicd  in  the  fall  of  1880,  which 
turned  lip  lis  toes  when  only  ten  weeks., Id;  tlie(;iobe,  from  ISSl' to  1887: 


HISTORY  OF  MONTCiOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  47 

the  St;u-  in  1884-8r.;  the  Deniociat.  iSS.'-Slj;  The  Eagle,  ISStJlS'JO;  and 
the  Enterprise  from  ISS'.l  to  tlie  i)resent  lime,  with  W.  E.  \\'oi-lnian  as  edi- 
tor and  iJiiblisher. 

Caney  has  the  t'hrouicle.  whii-h  was  established  in  1S8."),  and  is  still 
pnbllslied  by  Harry  E.  Brighton. 

Other  papers  that  have  been  pnblished  there  are  the  Times  and  the 
Phoenix.  The  Times  was  established  in  188!)  and  ran  until  the  later  nine- 
ties, having  had  Cleveland  J.  Keynolds.  Hon.  J.  R.  Charlton  and  A.  M. 
Parsons  as  editors. 

Havana  has  been  without  a  newspaper  for  the  past  ten  jears,  but  had 
at  various  times  the  Yidette.  the  Weekly  Herald,  the  Recorder  and  the 
Press  and  Torch,  none  of  which  survived  to  reach  the  mature  age  of  three 
years. 

Liberty  has  had  the  Light,  published  for  a  short  time  in  1880,  and  the 
Review  from  1887  until  1892. 

All  sorts  of  newspapers  have  been  published  by  all  sorts  of  men  in 
Montgomery  county ;  but  the  local  conditions  have  never  been  favorable 
for  the  building  up  of  a  great  countj  newspaper  of  universal  circulation. 
The  railroads  have  not  all  centered  at  the  county  seat,  but  have  run  all 
around  the  edges  of  the  county.  This  has  resulted  in  the  development  of 
towns  at  the  four  corners  of  the  county,  two  of  which  have  come  to  be 
cities  rivaling  the  county's  capital,  and  all  of  which  are  newspaper 
towns.  So  instead  of  being  concentrated,  the  newspaper  business  has  been 
split  up,  and  no  newspaper,  no  matter  how  well  edited,  nor  how  accu- 
rate and  euterjirising  a  jiurveyor  of  news,  has  yet  been  able  to  command 
the  patronage  that  would  make  it  or  give  it  a  commanding  j)Osition,  (nor 
the  three  or  four  thousand  rirciilation  which  is  sometimes  found  in 
counties  the  size  and  iKiimlaliun  of  ours. 


•  HAl'TER  IV. 
Gas  and  Oil  Devlopments  in  Montgomery  County 

r.Y  H.  w.  Yorxi;. 
T'util  the  later  eighties  no  one  sus]iected  the  existence  of  natural  gas 
in  Montgomery  county  in  sutticient  quantities  to  be  of  any  use.  Indeed, 
during  the  early  history  of  the  county,  and  up  to  1885,  or  later,  the  exis- 
tence of  vast  reservoirs  of  natural  gas  beneath  us  was  unsuspected  and 
nudrea.med  of.  People  would  have  listened  to  predictions  of  gold  mines 
to  be  opened  here  on  the  i)rairies  much  more  readily  than  to  suggestions 
that  the  time  would  come  when  our  fuel  would  flow  out  of  the  earth  in 
iron  pipes  all  ready  to  burn,  and  transport  itself  to  our  doors.  It  was 
different,  though,  about  petroleum.  The  pioneer  settlers  in  plowing  up 
the  sod  in  son-e  of  the  lavines  near  the  Verdigris    had    noticed  an  oilv 


48  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

sciiui  slaiidiiig  in  the  fun-ows  if  tliey  were  left  uiulisturlted  for  a  time. 
And  as  long  ago  as  April  2Sth.  ISSl,  we  tind  the  following  item  in  the 
local  columns  of  the  Coffeyville  Star: 

"Last  Friday  morning  we  foiuul  a  group  of  men  in  eager  consultation 
in  front  of  Isham's  store.  A  couple  of  old  tin  cans  tilled  with  water  and 
covered  with  a  brownish  coat,  looking  a  little  like  varnish,  were  the  centre 
of  attraction.  Tested  by  the  nose,  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  greasy 
scum  on  the  water  aind  the  coating  of  the  cans  was  crude  petroleum,  of 
the  heavy  or  lubricating  grade.  They  had  been  filled  from  the  contents  of 
a  well  that  ^Ir.  D.  Davis  was  sinking  at  his  residence  on  Ninth  street;  and 
the  incontestible  evidence  they  afforded  that  there  was  a  reservoir  of  kero- 
sene beneath  us  naturally  caused  considerable  interest.  It  seems  that  Mr. 
Davis  had  struck  a  vein  of  fair  wad-r  previously,  but  the  qimutity  being 
deemed  iusuHicient  had  gone  down  to  the  depth  of  twenty-flve  feet, 
where,  much  to  his  disgu.st.  he  ••struck  oil."  Whether  this  developmout 
indicates  the  existence  of  oil  in  paying  (juantities  in  our  section,  we  do 
not  presume  to  say,  though  the  matter  is  certainly  worthy  of  further  in- 
vestigation. We  learn  that  oil  has  hei'etofore  l)eeu  observed  on  the  surface 
of  the  water  flowing  from  sjirings  in  this  vicinity,  and  it  is  possible  that 
we  may  yet  be  shiiiping  petroleum,  little  as  such  a  product  would  be  ex- 
pected from  a  ccmntry  with  tlie  jiliysical  characteristics  of  ours." 

It  was  almost  twenty  twd  ye;ns  later  before  petroleum  began  to  be 
shipited  in  any  considerable  ip;antities  from  the  county,  but  the  forecast 
was  correct.  Six  years  later,  in  the  early  spring  of  1887,  W(>  began  to 
hear  alxmt  the  curious  phenomena  to  be  observed  in  an  abandoned  shaft 
over  at  Liberty.  It  was  on  the  farm  of  IJeiijamin  Grubb.  adjoining  that 
place  on  the  north.  Finding  indications  of  coal  he  had  sunk  a  shaft  six 
or  eight  feet  s(piare.  After  getting  down  some  distance  a  vein  of  gas  was 
istrnck  which  c:nne  out  of  a  crevice  in  the  rock  in  such  quantity  that  the 
men  at  work  in  the  shaft  lighted  it  to  fni-nish  illumination  for  their  work. 
On  (|uilting  tliey  uTiwisely  fanned  it  out  with  their  jackets.  One  day  they 
went  down  and  struck  a  match  with  the  most  surprising  results.  The  gas 
exidoiled.  Ilirowiiig  olV  the  covering  at  the  surface  and  blazing  up  as  high 
as  the  tallest  t  ices  in  the  neighborhood— tifty  to  one  hundred  feet. 
The  diggers,  who  were  below  the  civvice,  escajted  with  their  lives,  •though 
terribly  burned.  The  vein  of  c(i:il  was  found  to  be  only  8  inches  thick, 
but  in  <'i>nnecti(in  with  it  was  :;•_'  inches  cf  slate  so  thoroughly  saturated 
with  oil  that  it  wonid  bla/.e  uji  on  being  tin-own  into  the  stove.  So  here 
were  foniid  together  coal,  gas  and  oil. 

I'rioi-  to  that  liriie.  Tlraiias  ().  .\yres,  in  digging  a  well  at  < 'otfeyville. 
had  found  a  i.ocket  of  oil  c.hilaining  several  gallons.  ('.  M.  Kalstiu.  at 
Ills  farm  three  miles  southwest  of  lnde]ienden<-e.  rejx.rted  that  in  a  well 
in  his  cellar  (Ju  feet  deep  the  gas  kept  bul)bling  up  in  sui-h  volume  that  it 


inSTonV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTV.  KANSAS.  49 

could  he  iK'iud  all  tliM>nj>h  the  house  at  night.  Aud  in  drilling 
for  coal,  where  the  mineral  bath  is  now,  here  in  Independence, 
it  was  reported  that  there  had  been  an  explosion  of  some 
kind  which  threw  mud  over  the  top  of  the  derrick,  aud  that  the  drill 
passed  through  150  feet  of  gas-bearing  strata.  By  this  time  everyone  was 
satisfied  that  there  was  some  natural  gas  here,  but  whether  in  paying 
quantities  was  a  problem  that  remained  to  be  solved. 

Gas  was  first  found,  in  quantity  to  be  worth  utilizing,  at  Cherry  vale, 
November  20th,  1890,  in  a  well  drilled  by  J.  McSweeney.  at  a  depth  of  600 
feet.  It  threw  the  water  about  fifty  feet  high,  aud  was  prouounced  at  once 
"the  strongest  flow  in  the  state."  Within  a  week  this  well  was  piped  and 
tested  and  gave  a  blaze  25  feet  high.  By  the  next  year  the  people  of 
Cherryvale,  or  a  portion  of  them,  were  enjoying  natural  gas  fires,  though 
the  quantity  available  was  small  at  first. 

Cofteyville  came  next,  and  her  resources  began  to  be  developed  in  1891 
and  1892.  Her  first  wells  were  sunk,  like  those  of  Cherryvale,  right  in 
town.  By  the  winter  of  1892-3  she  not  only  had  gas  to  burn  but  in  such 
quantity  that  with  the  full  pressure  of  the  wells,  there  was  talk  of  their 
being  danger  that  the  stoves  would  melt  down.  About  the  same  time 
William  Mills,  who  had  been  the  first  to  bring  in  an  oil  well  at  Xeodesha, 
found  both  gas  and  oil  in  the  neighboi'hood  of  Elk  City,  but  neither  of 
them  were  utilized. 

At  Independence,  the  first  well  drilled  for  gas  was  put  dowin  in  the 
summer  of  1892  by  J.  I).  Nickersoii,  with  the  assisteuce  of  th(?  people  of 
the  city.  It  was  located  down  near  Rock  Creek,  at  Barnes'  Garden,  south- 
west of  the  city.  A  little  gas  was  found — about  enough  to  supply  one 
stove.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Nickerson  drilled  another  well 
on  the  farm  of  Cai)t.  L.  C.  Mason,  just  east  of  Independence.  Although  no 
gas  was  found  here,  there  was  such  a  body  of  gas  sand  that  this  inde- 
fatigable i)rospector  was  convinced  that  he  was  on  the  right  track.  The 
next  drilling  he  did  was  on  the  J.  H.  Brewster  place  five  miles  southeast 
of  the  city,  in  the  early  spring  of  1893.  April  fith,  at  the  depth  of  a  thous- 
and feet  a  very  strong  flow  was  struck,  and  from  this  and  other  wells  in 
this  vicinity  gas  was  piped  into  Independence  late  that  year.  By  the 
time  cold  weather  came  in  earnest,  a  year  later,  in  the  winter  1894,  how- 
ever, the  supjjly  from  this  field  was  found  entirely  inadequate,  and  it  was 
not  uintil  wells  were  developed  on  the  Barr  and  Gi-eer  i)laces,  a  couple  of 
miles  west  of  the  city,  that  confidence  in  gas  as  a  fuel  was  restored  in  the 
mind  of  the  Independence  citizen. 

Before  gas  was  piped  into  the  city,  Mr.  Xickerson  had  associated  with 
himself  A.  P.  McBride  and  C.  I>.  Bloom,  exprienced  prospectors  and  drill- 
ers from  Miami  county,  and  from  this  partnership  was  evolved  the  Inde- 
pendence Gas  Company,  which  has  ever  since  supplied  the  city  with  gas 


50  HISTORY  OF   MOXTGOMEKY  CorXTV.   KANSAS. 

ami  wbith  liohls  leases  on  must  of  the  lands  tributary  to  the  city.  As 
drawn  at  first,  these  leases  provided  that  if  drilling  was  nut  begun  within 
a  limited  period,  the  farmer  should  be  paid  a  royalty  of  25  cents  i)er  acre 
until  development  work  was  begun.  Then  he  was  to  have  a  tenth  of  the 
oil.  and  a  rental  of  $50  a  year  for  a  gas  well,  with  gas  for  household  pur- 
poser  in  addition.  Since  then  the  company  has  deemed  it  more  econom- 
ical to  furnish  gas  to  all  its  lessors,  in  lieu  of  jiaying  a  cash  royalty,  in 
order  to  hold  the  lands  on  wliicli  it  was  not  prejiared  to  drill.  To  do  this, 
it  has  laid  pii)e  to  some  two  hundred  farm  houses,  at  an  expense  of  tens 
of  thousands  of  dollars.  The  same  )ilan  has  been  adojited  by  the  ( "olfey- 
ville  Gas  Company,  and  it  is  probable  that  nearly  five  liundved  farm 
honses  in  the  county  are  now  supjilied  with  this  ideal  fuel. 

Although  petroleum  was  found  in  considerable  quantity  in  the  first 
wells  drilled  on  the  Itrewster  place  in  1803.  there  was  no  market  for  oil 
and  no  attempt  was  made  to  develo]i  that  branch  of  the  mining  industry 
ill  the  <-ouiity  until  nearly  ten  years  later.  It  was  in  1S!)8.  however,  that 
Wm.  H.  Mills  drilled  a  couplc'ot  w.-lls  at  Neodesha.  just  over  the  line  in 
\\'ilsun  county,  and  found  nil  in  smli  i]uanty  as  to  convince  him  that 
southern  Kansas  was  going  lo  bi'come  an  oil  iiekl.  The  rumors  that  cir- 
culated in  regard  to  his  wells,  and  the  stories  about  oil  from  them  shoot- 
ing out  over  the  top  of  the  derrick  and  saturating  the  soil  so  that  it  was 
necessaiy  to  cdver  it  with  fresh  earth  to  conceal  the  strike,  vAn-e  listened 
to  as  tairy  tales.  ;in<l  no  credence  given  them.  And  yet  Mr.  Mills  suc- 
ceedel  in  making  such  a  showing  as  to  induce  James  H.  Guffey  and  John 
H.  (ialey.  two  w(^altliy  and  experienced  oil  ojierators  in  the  Peiilnsylvania 
and  Ohio  fields,  to  come  out  here  and  begin  leasing  land  in  this  county, 
as  well  as  \Mlson  and  others  adjoining.  During  the  sunmier  of  1893  these 
genthmen  drilled  15  wells  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Neodesha,  all  of 
which  were  oil  producers  with  the  exception  of  two  gas  wells.  In  1894 
they  were  pumping  large  (piantities  of  oil  and  drilling  new  wells.  In  July 
of  that  year  they  had  forty  wells  and  not  less  than  3,000  barrels  of  oil 
were  stored  in  the  tanks  in  the  field,  and  a  35,000  barrel  storage  tank  had 
just  been  completed  by  them.  A  year  later  it  became  evident  that  the 
Standard  Oil  ("omjtany  would  be  able  to  freeze  out  any  other  operators 
in  this  field,  and  Guft'ey  &  Galey  made  the  best  jiossible  terms  with  that 
monopoly,  receiving,  according  to  icporis.  all  they  had  expended  in  the 
field  and  a  bonus  of  .§10(i.i!(H)  in  aildiiion.  At  this  time  there  were  sixty- 
eight  wells  in  the  field  con  I  vol  led  by  them,  and  the  "Standard"  continued 
to  drill  more  when  it  took  charge,  in  the  name  of  its  western  branch,  the 
Forest  Oil  <'ompauy.  .\  number  of  these  new  wells  were  in  Montgomery 
county,  in  Sycamore  township;  some  being  as  far  south  as  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Table  .Mound.  These  ].roved  to  be  ga.s  wells  rather  than  oil  wells 
and  J.   I>.  Xickersou  iiurcase(l  the  gas  rights  in  the  Ringle  and  Brown- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  5  I 

field  wells  for  the  Iiulepeudence  Gas  Company,  in  1898,  for  |6,000.  A 
week  or  two  later  the  -Standard"  beoau  to  realize  the  value  of  such  gas 
wells,  and  regretted  their  bargain.  Since  then  that  company  has  gone  in- 
to the  gas  business,  and  is  now  furnishing  gas  ])iped  from  Wilson  county 
to  the  city  of  I'arsons. 

In  June,  1898,  the  "Standard"  jpeople  erected  a!n  extensive  refinery 
for  oil  at  Neodesha,  with  a  rapariry  dt  500  barrels  per  day,  but  still  they 
bought  no  oil  and  there  was  no  inducement  for  any  independent  oper- 
ator to  drill  for  oil  while  there  was  no  market. 

\ieantime  the  Independence  Gas  Company  continued  to  drill  more  or 
less  wells  each  year  for  the  city's  supply;  tlie  Coft'eyville  company  did  the 
same,  and  there  was  a  second  or  I'eoples'  company  organized  there.  At 
Cherryvale,  the  Edgar  Smelter  was  located,  with  its  own  gas  field  and 
gas  wells.  Vitrified  brick  plants  were  located  at  Coft'eyville,  Independence 
Cherryvale  and  Sycamore,  and  finally  at  Cauey.  At  the  latter  place  a 
company  organized  by  E.  B.  Skinner,  then  county  treasurer,  had  found 
gas  iu  such  (piantity  in  the  sjjriug  of  1901  that,  in  July  of  that  year,  the 
town  was  jdped  and  the  new  fuel  came  into  use.  It  was  not  until  the  fall 
of  190:i  that  Elk  City  was  supplied.  Init  now  Jefterson,  Bolton  and  Syca- 
more are  also  supx)lied,  and  of  all  the  cities  and  villages  in  the  county. 
Liberty,  Havana  and  Tyro,  only,  remain  without  gas. 

During  the  summer  of  1902.  the  Indpendence  Gas  Comjiany  drilled 
six  wells  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  village  of  Bolton,  all  but  one  of' 
them  to  the  south  and  east  of  that  place.  Of  these  six,  five  were  gas  wells, 
with  daily  capacities  ranging  from  ten  to  fifteen  million  cubic  feet  per 
day.  The  fifth  was  an  oil  well.  The  aggregate  output  of  this  field  is 
estimated  at  70  million  cubic  feet  of  gas  per  day,  ahid  during  the  fall  of 
that  year  this  supply  was  made  available  for  the  needs  of  Independence 
by  a  pipe  line.  With  such  a  supply  to  draw  from,  the  inducement  to  fac- 
tories in  search  of  cheap  fuel  liecame  so  manifest  that  representatives 
of  various  industries  in  the  Indiana  field,  where  the  gas  was  nearly  ex- 
hausted, began  to  visit  this  section  in  considerable  (numbers,  seeking 
locations. 

In  August  1902.  the  Standard  Oil  Couipany.  for  some  I'eason, 
changed  its  policy  and  announced  an  open  market  for  oil  in  this 
territory.  More  than  that,  it  jtroceeded  to  secure  the  right-of-way  for  a 
pipe  line  through  the  county  from  Bartlesville  in  the  Indian  Territory, 
by  way  of  Caney  and  Bolton,  to  its  refinery  at  Neodesha.  This  has  not 
yet  been  c(  Instructed,  but  the  indications  are  that  it  soon  will  be.  The 
development  of  a  considerable  oil  field  in  Neosho  county,  to  the  northeast 
of  us.  and  the  market  now  made  for  oil  led  to  new  activity  in  this  county. 
A  large  nund)er  of  wells  have  Ijeen  drilled  in  the  vicinity  of  Cherryvale, 
ana  a  little  to  the  north  and  west  of  that  city,  from  which  oil  is  being 
shipped  in  (piantity  at  this  time.    Two  of  these  wells  are  pumping  twenty 


52  HISTOKY  OF   MONTGOMERY  I'OUNTY.   KANSAS. 

barrels  a  day  eat-li.  Meantime  new  ()j)eratois  by  the  score  have  come 
into  the  field,  the  leasing  industry  has  been  prosecuted  with  great  vigor, 
thirty  rigs  are  now  engaged  in  drilling  in  the  county,  the  National 
Supply  Company  has  established  a  branch  house  at  Independence,  the 
formation  of  new  oil  companies  goes  on  apace,  and  it  only  needs  the  dis- 
covery of  some  pool  of  oil  to  set  Hre  to  the  train  that  is  already  laid.  As 
yet,  however,  no  well  lias  been  drilled  in  the  county  that  gives  more  than 
a  moderate  yield  of  oil.  and  it  is  probable  that  from  forty  to  fifty  barrels 
a  day  is  the  maximum.  This  is  about  the  amount  claimed  for  wells  at 
Sycamore  and  Caney  that  have  not  yet  been  regularly  pumi)ed.  With 
thirty  or  more  companies  doing  business  in  the  county,  and  all  of  them 
holding  leases  that  require  immediate  develoimient,  the  number  of  wells 
going  down  is  greater  than  ever  before  and  it  is  expected  that  the  record 
of  wells  drilled  in  the  county  during  the  year  1!MI3  will  not  fall  much 
shoi-t  of  two  hundred,  and  that  the  amount  of  money  spent  in  development 
work  will  aggregate  nearly  a  milli(»n  dollars.  Prior  to  1903  about  two 
huiidrt'd  wells  had  been  drilled  in  the  county  of  which  two-thirds  were 
dry  holes  and  the  remaining  sixty  or  seventy,  gas  and  oil  producers. 

With  the  advent  of  new  oil  and  gas  companies,  the  inevitable  liti- 
gation over  leases  and  oil  rights  has  begun,  and  the  Independence  Gas 
Comjiany  is  in  ((nnt  defending  its  claim  to  the  Brewster  jilace,  on  which 
its  first  well  was  drilled.  The  jilare  lias  been  re-leased  to  the  New  York  Oil 
and  Cas  Ciinipany,  which  has  been  granted  a  second  franchise  by  the  city 
of  Independence.  When  the  New  York  i)eople  tried  to  go  upon  the  place 
with  a  rig  in  March,  the  Independence  Company  met  them  with  a  show  of 
force,  and  would  have  kejit  them  out  but  foi-  the  employment  of  a  little 
stialegy.  a  feint  and  a  flank  movement.  IJotli  companies  are  in  po- 
session  now,  and  under  orders  of  the  court  each  can  go  ahead  and  do 
all  lh(  drilling  it  pleases  and  sell  all  The  ..il  proiliiced,  provided  a  strict 
account  i.s  kejif. 

The  new  wells  drilled  this  year  te.  thi'  north  and  west  of  I^.olton  have 
fnot  made  such  phenomenal  showings  as  those  oiiened  there  last  year,  and 
just  now  the  ipiestion  whether  Montgomery  county  is  first-rate  oil  terri- 
tory is  as  unsettled  as  it  was  when  the  first  well  on  the  Brewster  place 
made  stich  a  good  showing  of  heavy  black  oil.  The  gas  resources  of  the 
coimt\.  however.  ha\-e  been  develojied  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render  it 
certain  that  the  su])]ily  is  sulticient  for  a  generation  to  come,  and  that 
manufacturing  enterprises  will  continite  to  be  attracted  to  our  towns  by 
the  fuel  that  nature  has  provided  so  laxislily  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 

The  oldest  prospei'tors  will  tell  yon  that  in  this  field  there  are  no 
certain  indications  of  the  existence  of  either  oil  or  gas  beneath  the  sur- 
fai'c.  and  that  every  well  must  be  drilled  at  a  venture.  The  depth  of  the 
wells  varies  froiii  (iHO  to  1,."(MI  feet,  but  in  most  cases  the  gas  or  oil  sand 


HISTUUV   UF   .MUNT(;(IM1:RV   ^'OliXTY,   KANSAS.  55 

is  sii-uck  between  S(M)  and  1.2(M)  feet  below  tbe  surfare.  No  considerable 
<iuautity  of  gas  has  been  found  outside  the  Cherokee  shales  which  overlies 
the  l)ed  rock  of  Mississijipi  limestone.  No  attempt  has  been  made  in  this 
county  to  go  very  much  deeper  with  a  view  to  find  whether  anything 
worth  while  underlies  that  limestone;  but  at  Neodesha  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  went  down  twenty-two  hundred  feet  without  finding  anything 
that  it  deemed  worth  developing,  or  that  encouraged  it  to  make  a  second 
attempt  to  explore  the  nether  regions. 

At  present  there  is  but  little  of  the  county  that  is  not  under  lease  for 
oil,  gas  and  other  mineral  substances  that  may  be  found:  but  the  more 
recent  leases  only  run  for  a  short  time  and  reipiire  development  work  to 
be  begun  in  a  few  months  to  keep  them  alive.  And  the  validity  of  the  old 
leases,  which  were  drawn  to  run  indefinitely  so  long  as  an  annual  rental 
was  paid  or  gas  was  furnished  the  lessor  for  household  purposes,  is  be- 
ginning to  be  gravely  questioned.  In  most  cases  the  leases  provide  that 
the  party  to  whom  the  lease  is  made  may  droj)  it  at  any  time,  while  the 
land  owner  is  held  indefinitely  if  the  rental  is  jiaid.  Lawyers  are  coming 
more  and  more  to  hold  that  the  decisions  in  other  and  older  gas  and  oil 
states  that  such  leases  are  void  or  voidable  for  lack  of  mutuality,  will  be 
held  to  be  good  law  here  and  that  the  attempt  made  to  monojiolize  large 
areas  by  leases  under  which  no  development  work  is  beg'un.  will  fail. 

So  far  no  gas  has  been  piped  out  of  the  county,  and  people  generally 
are  solicitous  that  it  shall  \not  be.  Indeed,  three-fourths  of  the  farmers 
who  gave  the  Standard  Oil  Coni])any  rights  of  way  for  its  \n\>e  line  in- 
sisted that  a  clause  be  inserted  forbidding  the  iiijiing  of  gas  and  restrict- 
ing the  use  of  the  pipes  to  the  transjjortation  of  oil.  And  many  of  the 
leases  for  gas  all  over  the  county  contain  a  x>i'<>vision  forbidding  it  to  be 
piped  outside  the  boundaries  of  the  county.  There  seems  to  be  a  general 
disposition,  in  fact,  to  keep  the  gas  at  home  and  economize  it.  The  idea 
that  it  will  not  be  permanent,  but  can  be  very  readily  exhausted,  is  very 
generally  held,  and  the  fate  of  the  Indiana  fields  is  constantly  referred 
to  as  a  warning  against  recklessness  in  handling  this  wonderful  fuel. 

The  gTOwth  of  Montgomery  county  in  population  during  the  last  ten 
years,  and  her  rise  from  the  twelfth  to  the  seventh  in  relative  rank  in  the 
state  are  unquestionably  attributable  to  the  gas  and  oil  resources  that 
have  been  developed  here,  and  the  prediction  that  the  same  influences 
which  have  increased  (uir  jiojiulatidn  ten  thousand  within  the  last  ten 
years  will  continue  to  operate  until  we  shall  have  tifty  or  sixty  thousand 
people  in  place  of  the  :!:!.44;'.  mir  last  censuc  showed,  does  nor  seem  un- 
warranted. 


54  UISTOHY  or   IKINTfiOMERY  COrNTY.  KANSAS. 

ClIAPTEK  V. 
The  Political  History  of  Montgomery  County 

I'.Y   II.   -W.  YOUNG. 

All  Iniiiiaii  ;h  linns  aic  subject  to  the  limitations  of  time  and  space. 
SulijiTt  Hilly  to  those  liiiiitatious.  Kansas  stands  unrivaled  in  her  politi- 
cal (k'vel')i)nient.  For  her  area  and  llie  time  she  has  been  doing  busilness 
as  a  coiiinionwealth,  she  docsii"i  lake  a  back  seat  for  any  state  or  any 
people.  That  her  citizens  have  taken  more  interest  in  public  affairs  and 
studied  matters  of  government  more  than  those  of  other  states  and  sect- 
tions  is  not  to  their  discredit.  It  testifies  to  their  intelligence,  their  public 
spirit,  and  their  mental  activity.  If  "eternal  vigilence  is  the  price  of  lib- 
erty.'" our  ])eople  will  be  the  last  on  earth  to  be  reduced  to  slavery.  In  a 
market  where  that  sort  of  coin  is  current,  they  will  be  able  to  outbid  all 
competitors. 

.Although  Kansas  was  ei;;lii  Ncars  old  «  hen  the  bars  were  let  down 
and  the  Osage  Diminislicd  Kescrve,  of  which  :Montgomery  county  forms  a 
])art,  was  oiicncd  lo  white  settlement,  her  citizens  have  been  hustling  ever 
siiK-c  to  inakr  iiji  tor  that  lost  time;  and  no  one  would  now  accuse  the 
Montgomciy  roiiniy  jioliticiaus  of  lagging  in  the  rear  of  the  procession, 
or  failing  to  furnish  their  share  of  representatives  at  the  pie  counter.  Of 
men  vrho  have  been  fiu'  a  longer  or  shorter  time  residents  of  this  county, 
two  have  been  Tnited  i>tates  Senators,  one  has  been  governor  of  the  state, 
two  lia\c  held  the  office  of  lieutenant  governor,  one  has  been  assistant 
si'crctaiy  of  the  interior,  and  two  have  been  judges  of  the  district  court. 
\\'liilc  no  citizen  of  the  county  is  on  record  as  having  been  a  represen- 
tative in  Congress,  or  licail  of  a  department  at  the  state  capital,  there  are 
certainly  few  (oiiniii's  whirh  have  struck  more  of  the  high  places  in  the 
]ioliti<al  world  than  our  own.  And  when  it  comes  to  the  honorable  po- 
sition of  reinesciitatixc  in  Coiigiess.  it  will  be  entirely  safe  to  assert  that 
no  otlii'i-  (•ouiity  v,lii'-li  has  never  seen  onp  of  her  sons  answering  the  roll 
call  at  the  south  end  of  the  national  cajiital.  has  ever  had  more  who  indi- 
cate.l  thai   I  hey  wanted  to. 

In  passing,  it  may  be  noted  that  of  the  Coiigressnien  elected  from 
within  the  lionndai-ies  of  the  present  Third  Congressional  District,  Cowley 
comity  has  had  two,  Wilson  two.  Crawfonl  Iwo,  Labette  one;  and  none  of 
the  other  live  has  been  favored — so  that  .Moiilgoinery  does  not  stand  alone 
in  being  ■■wliileuaslied." 

The  lii'sl  polilieal  (inesiion  that  .■onfronled  the  voters  of  :\lontgomery 
coiinly  was  the  same  llial  lias  always  |n-o\'ed  such  a  bone  of  contention 
in  excry  iii'w  stale  and  section — the  local  ion  of  a  county  seat.  Naticlnal 
].oliiical  issues  were  for  ilu'  time  allowed  lo  fall  into  the  background, 
while  cities  were  being  located  on  iiai:er.  and  every  settler  was  interested 
eilher  lo  have  lli!>  cMimiy's  c;i]>ital  as  ne,-ir  his  claim  as  possible,  or  at  least 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  5^ 

to  keep  it  on  the  same  side  of  the  Verdigris  river,  wliiih  liiscrls  llio  ((Hiiity 
from  uorth  to  south  and  which  Avas.  of  foursc.  imirii  nunc  <if  a  barrier 
before  auy  bridges  had  been  built  than  it  is  now. 

Montgomery  county  was  organized  by  indclainaliiin  of  Coxernor 
Harvey  on  the  3d  day  of  June,  18(J9.  It  was  named  for  (ieiieral  Kiciiard 
Montgomery,  the  hero  of  the  battle  of  tjuebec,  who  shed  his  heart's  blood 
for  his  country  on  the  Heights  of  Abraliam.  There  has  been  some  question 
whether  the  jierson  intended  to  be  honored  when  the  county  was  chris- 
tened was  not  Colonel  James  Montgomery,  of  Linn  county,  rather  than 
the  "French  and  Indian"warrior.  In  the  Independence  Kansan  of  July 
7th.  ISTO.  is  published  a  very  strong  argument  to  show  that  it  was  the  civil 
war  soldier  for  whom  the  county  was  named,  but  an  examiuatiou  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  legislature  at  the  time  leaves  no  room  for  doubt  on  the 
question ;  the  concurrent  resolution  stating  distinctly  and  unequivocally 
that  General  Richard  Montgomery  gave  name  to  Montgomery  county. 

In  his  proclamation  Governor  Harvey  appointed  H.  C.  Crawford,  H. 
A.  Bethuran  and  R.  L.  Walker  special  commissioners,  and  E.  C.  Kimball 
special  clerk,  and  designated  Verdigris  City  as  the  temporary  county  seat. 
Verdigris  City  was  located  east  of  the  Verdigris  river,  about  one  mile 
southeast  of  what  is  now  known  as  ''Brown's  Ford."  and  on  the  west  half 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  22.  townshiji  :{:>  south,  i-ange  16  east. 
The  land  on  which  the  town  was  laid  <iut  is  now  a  part  of  the  farm  of 
Senator  H.  W.  Conrad.  Walker  has  since  hccii  promiiicuT  in  state  poli- 
tics, and  died  early  in  1903. 

On  the  nth  of  June  ISCi).  the  board  met  at  the  county  seat  and 
qualified  before  Capt.  W.  S.  McFeeters.  notary  ])ublic.  The  Captain  was 
perhaps  the  tirst  notary  commissioned  in  the  county.  He  was  a  lawyer 
by  profession,  and  was  the  first  to  locate  at  the  county  seat,  having  his 
office  in  the  log  court  house.  Not  relying  alone  on  the  slow  and  precarious 
rewards  of  the  legal  profession  in  a  new  country,  he  was  the  following 
winter  convicted  of  horse  stealing  at  Giiard,  Kansas,  and  sentenced  to  a 
term  in  the  penitentiary. 

The  board  organized  l)y  the  election  of  H.  C.  Crawford  as  chairman. 
It  divided  the  county  into  three  toA\nships,  each  about  nine  miles  in 
width,  extending  across  the  county  east  and  west.  Beginning  at  the 
north  they  were  named  Drum  Creek,  \'erdigris  and  Westralia,  with  vot- 
ing places  at  Fitch's  Store,  Verdigris  City  and  Westralia.  At  a  meeting 
on  August  27th.  Captain  Daniel  McTaggart  was  appointed  county  treas- 
urer, E.  K.  Kountz,  probate  judge;  and  S.  B.  ^loorehouse,  justice  of  the 
peace. 

From  this  time  until  the  date  of  the  election,  on  Xovend)er  oth,  little 
was  talked  of  except  the  county  seat  question.  Verdigris  City,  the  pro- 
visional capital,  had  a  rival  on  the  east  side  in  Montgomery  City,  near 


56  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

the  iiiHinli  uf  Drum  creek,  but  as  a  division  of  the  east  side  forces  would 
l)e  ruiiiinis,  tliey  met  midway  ou  tlie  hill  above  M,cTaggart's  mill,  aud  lo- 
cated the  cit.v  of  Liberty,  across  the  street  to  the  east  of  the  McTaggart 
liomestead.  The  west  siders  were  a  unit  for  Independence,  though  some- 
one Ivied  to  butt  into  the  game  with  a  city  in  the  air  called  Hamaria, 
which  was  suiiposcd  in  be  located  siiiiicwlicrc  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Walk,  i-s  iir.iuid. 

The  story  of  how  the  Indej)endence  jicople  started  out  to  steal  ,1 
niarcii  on  the  Liberty  partisans  and  get  contiol  of  the  election  board  at 
V<n-(ligris  City,  has  been  often  told.  Notwithstanding  their  daylight 
.start,  they  were  discovered  just  after  crossing  the  river  and  only  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  Adam  ('amp  on  as  a  matter  of  courtesy.  He  did  his 
Avhole  duty,  though,  challenging  all  voters  from  the  east  side  of  the 
coun  ty. 

When  I  lie  coniiiiissioners  came  to  count  the  votes  they  did  the  only 
])Ossii)le  tiling  that  would  givi^  Liberty  a  majority,  by  throwing  out  the  en- 
tire \oic  if  hruiii  Ci-i-ek.  on  tlii^  jiretext  that  the  returns  were  not  the 
originals  hut  a  certified  copy.  This  gave  Liberty  162  votes  to  103  for 
Independence.  At  the  same  time  the  whole  east  side  ticket  for  county 
otiticeis  was  electeil  as  follows:  Representative,  John  E.  Adams;  County 
Cleik.  T.  .M.  Noble:  Sheriff.  Daniel  Bruner;  Probate  Judge,  E.  K.  Kountz; 
Coroner.  Sidney  Allen;  Register  of  Deeds,  (iusso  ("hontean,  a  half-breed 
hi<lian:  Conniy  Surveyor,  Edwin  Foster;  District  Clerk,  Z.  R.  Overman; 
County  Attorney,  (ioodell  Foster:  Sujiei'iliilendent  of  S<-liools.  J.A.Helph- 
ingsTine;  Treasurei-,  -I.  .\.  Jones:  Assessoi-.  ^V.  X.  Cotton;  Commissioners, 
T.  J.  M(AVhinney.  J.  S.  Oarrett  and  W.  Allen. 

Thirteen  of  the  defeated  candidates  on  the  west  side  ticket  at  once 
institnt.'d  a  contest  in  the  proluile  court  of  Wilson  county,  C.  M.  Ralstin, 
of  Iralejiendence.  ilie  defeated  candidate  for  county  attorney,  and  F.  A. 
Hettis  of  Oswego,  rejiresenting  the  c(uistesiors.  (ioodell  Foster  and 
John  A.  llel])liingstine,  of  Liberty,  appeared  tor  the  contestees.  The 
jirize  of  the  seat  of  government  of  the  new  connt,\  hung  in  the  balance, 
and  so  sti-enuo)is  was  the  contest  that  L.  T.  Stephenson,  of  Independence, 
carried  the  Oswego  adorney.  Ileitis,  on  horseback  sixty-five  miles  to  Frc- 
donia.  arriving  in  a  drix  ing  s!;n\v  storm  at  3  A.  ]\L.  on  the  day  set  for  the 

'i'lie  decision  was  that  there  had  been  no  legal  election — aud  so  every- 
bod\  was  delealed.  The  old  lioard  of  commissioners  appointed  liy  the  gov- 
ernor held  o\cr  and  ihommI  the  log  court  house  and  the  county  clerk's  office 
from  N'erdigris  Ciiy  to  Liberty.  They  also  called  a  special  election  for 
the  ."id  -if  V.-.iy  lo  select  county  officers.  Full  tickets  were  placed  in  the 
fielii.  :.nd  the  historians  of  the  early  linii's  tell  us  that  the  canvass  was 
the  niesi  exciting  e\ci- 111  Id  in  thecunnn.     'i'lie  candidates  who  were  suc- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  57 

cessful  in  this  election  never  lielil  office  by  virtue  of  tlie  votes  they  re- 
ceived, tliouj^h  two  of  the  conniiissioners  ami  the  county  clerk  got  in  by 
appointment.  The  vote  for  commissioner  was  as  follows:  T.  J.  McWhin 
ney.  4i;!l ;  Thomas  Brock.  :5.50;  W.  W.  Graham.  3.14;  Thomas  Hanson.  27«; 
.lolin  Klapiiel,  lili'J:  S.  B.  Moorehouse.  247.  The  first  three  comjirised  the 
Indej-endence  ticket  and  the  last  three  the  Liberty  ticket.  J.  M.  8cudder 
got  40!)  votes  for  probate  judge,  to  2()G  for  L.  O.  Judson.  J.  A.  Helphing- 
stiue,  in  the  language  of  the  day  "ran  like  a  scared  wolf"  for  county  clerk, 
receiving  4'.MI  votes  to  181  for  E.  C.  Kimball,  the  incumbent.  A.  J.  Busby 
(had  it  unanimously  for  treasurer  with  070  votes.  A.  A.  Hillis  had  461 
for  clerk  of  the  district  court,  to  209  for  J.  K.  Snyder.  C.  H.  WycofE  for 
county  attorney  had  no  opposition  and  received  GCo  votes.  The  same  was 
true  of  J.  C.  Price  with  650  for  coroner,  and  Johu  Russel  with  065  for 
register  of  deeds.  Edwin  Foster  got  448  for  county  surveyor  io  224  for 
J.  L.  Scott.  E.  D.  Grabill  beat  A.  H.  McCormick  for  superintendent  of 
schools,  396  to  280. 

A  few  days  before  this  election  the  Independence  party  had  sent 
Charles  White  to  Topeka  with  a  certified  copy  of  the  record  in  the  contest 
case  before  the  ^Mlson  county  probate  court.  He  returned  on  the  evening 
of  election  day  with  the  ajipointments  of  a  new  set  of  commissioners  by 
the  governor,  which  also  rendered  the  last  election  ineffective.  Two  of  the 
successful  candidates  and  one  of  the  minority  party  had  been  api)ointed, 
the  new  board,  which  was  the  fourth  in  chronological  order,  but  the  sec- 
ond to  serve,  consisting  of  W.  W.  Graham,  Thomas  Brock  and  S.  B.  More- 
house. Gharles  White  and  L.  T.  Stephenson  lost  no  time  in  carting  this 
board  down  to  the  site  of  Verdigris  City,  which  really  seems  to  have  been 
entirely  deserted,  where,  sitting  in  a  wagon  on  May  5th,  1870,  it  was 
organized  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Graham  as  chairman.  The  board  then 
appointed  John  A.  Helphingstine  county  clerk,  Sanuiel  Van  Gundy,  coun- 
ty treasurer;  B.  R.  Cunningham,  SDerintendent  of  schools;  and  J.  K.  Sny- 
der, register  of  deeds.  Not  only  this,  but  they  made  thorough  work  of  it 
while  they  had  their  hands  in  by  naming  the  Independence  Pioneer  as  the 
official  county  paper,  and  ordering  the  district  court  which  was  to  con- 
vene on  May  9th.  to  meet  at  Inde})endence,  to  which  place  the  county 
ofHces  were  also  temporarily  transferred,  there  being  no  accommodation 
for  them  at  Verdigris  City.  On  the  13th  of  May  an  action  brought  in 
the  district  court  to  compel  the  removal  of  the  county  offlces  to  Liberty 
was  dismissed  at  plaintiff's  cost.  This  practically  settled  the  county  seat 
war,  though  it  was  not  until  the  following  November  that  the  matter  was 
formally  ratified  by  a  vote  which  stood  839  for  Independence  to  560  for 
Liberty. 

On  petition,  the  commissioners,  on  .lune  4th,  1S70,  divided  the 
counts  into  nine  townships  making  the  boundaries  about  as  they  are  to- 


58  IIISTOKY  OF  MOXTGOMliKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

(l;i.\ .  I'xcfiit  that  the  three  east  side  townships  were,  hiter,  each  split  into 
two.  The  names  of  the  townships,  the  voting  places  and  the  tirst  trustees, 
who  were  appointed  at  the  same  time  are  here  given: 

Cherrv,  Clierryvale.  J.  D.  Hillis. 

Sycamore,  Radical,  Wui.  Comptou. 

Lonislnng.  Lonisburg,  James  Kelley. 

Rntland.  Thomas  Young's,  S,  W.  :Mills. 

Indei)endeiice,  Independence,  AV.  O.  Sylvester.  : 

A'crdigris.  Liberty,  John  Lee. 

Westralia,  \\'estralia,  R.  Brewer. 

Fawn  ('reek,  ililler's  Store.  Frank  1!.  I'olley. 

<"aney.  Bellviers.  .lasom  (^  <"orbin. 

The  trustees  for  Clicrry,  A'cniigris  and  ("aney  never  (iiialitied  and  W. 
P.  IJrc-wer,  .T.  Nels.in  llairis  and  -lohn  \\'est  were  appointed  to  till  the 
\arani-ics. 

i:icilii,!is  .anu"  tliick  an<l  last  in  those  early  days,  and  on  -lune  21st, 
of  the  san:c  year  the  question  whether  to  issue  -iliUO.dOd  to  aid  in  the  con- 
strnnidn  of  the  Leavenworth,  Lawrence  &  Galveston  railroad  was  sub- 
mitted to  a  vote,  which  resulted  arcording  to  the  returns,  1,340  for  and 
S2(i  against  the  proposition,  (hi  the  24tli  the  vote  was  canvassed  and  the 
bonds  issued.  That  the  vote  was  fraudulent,  and  that  the  bonds  ought 
never  to  have  been  issued  was  subse(piently  demonstrated  beyond  the 
shadow  of  a  doubt,  but  aft(>r  a  long  legal  contest  and  the  payment  of 
souic  f:;(i.O(iO  in  attorncNs'  fees  and  expen.ses,  a  compromise  was  finally 
made  with  the  "innocent  ]iur(hasers"  of  these  bonds  at  about  05  cent's 
on  the  dollar,  and  we  are  still  jiaying  this  debt. 

At  the  election  held  in  ^■ovember  ISTO,  \V.  \V.  (Jraham,  H.  I).  (4rant 
a/nd  John  .M(  Donald  were  chosen  <-ommi.ssioners,  Setth  M.  Beardsley, 
clerk;  Frank  \\"illis.  county  attorney;  Charles  White,  sheriff;  Samuel 
Vantiundy,  treasurer;  W.  H.  Watkins,  jirobate  judge;  L.  T.  Stephenson, 
district  clerk;  W.  S.  Mills,  register  of  deeds;  Nathan  Bass,  superinten- 
dent of  schools;  and  JL  L.  Ashmor(-,  c(.roner.  Thos.  L.  Bond  and  W.  A, 
Allison  were  elected  representatives. 

The  comniissioners  got  in  a  wrangle  with  Willis  and  employed  E.  W. 
Fay.  an  altiriicy  located  in  Peru,  in  Howard  county,  to  attend  to  all  the 
<(>uniy  busiiii'ss.  They  also  came  to  a  disagreement  with  Stephenson,  the 
disiriil  ilcrk.  aiiti  on  his  refusal  to  furnish  the  additional  bond  they  re- 
(|iiircd.  they  declared  his  office  vacant.  Not  to  be  outdone  in  that  sort  of 
business.  Stephenson  issued  his  proclamation,  which  he  published  in  the 
oflii-ial  county  paper  over  the  seal  of  the  court,  declaring  the  commission- 
ers" ollices  vacant.  Ste])henson  was  a  man  of  tall  and  commanding  ap- 
j.earaiice.  and  prominent  in  imblic  affairs  for  many  years.  He  at  one  time 
owned  a   large  tract   of  land  adjoining  and  near  Independence    on    the 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMEUY  COrXTY,  KANSAS.  59 

southeast,  but  his  specuhitioiis  did  uut  always  "pau  out."  aud  in  the  early 
nineties  he  was  convicted  of  cattle  stealing  in  the  district  court  and  sen- 
tenced to  a  term  in  the  penitentiary.  There  was  always  some  doubt  as 
to  his  guilt,  however,  and  when  his  application  for  pardon  was  pending, 
he  appeared  before  Governor  Morrill  and  the  Board  of  Pardons  and  made 
a  convincing  argument  in  his  own  behalf,  they  meanwhile  suiii)osing  him 
to  be  an  attorney  for  the  convict,  and  having  no  suspicion  that  he  was 
arguing  his  own  case. 

The  year  1871  found  the  people  of  Montgomery  county  in  the  full 
tide  of  prosperity,  due  to  the  rush  of  settlers  and  the  rapid  apprecia- 
tion of  land  values,  and  the  county  having  gotten  over  the  teething  stage 
of  its  county  seat  fight,  settled  down  to  a  contest  for  the  offices  on  straight 
political  lines.  The  results  of  the  election,  however,  were  a  good  deal 
mixed.  In  general  the  Republican  ticket  was  successful,  but  both  the 
Democratic  candidates  for  representative  were  elected.  L.  U.  Humphrey, 
who  must  be  counted  the  most  successful  politician  Montgomery  county 
has  ever  had,  made  his  uiaiden  race  as  a  candidate  for  the  lower  house, 
and  was  defeated  by  B.  F.  Devore  liy  a  majority  of  48.  In  the  southern 
district,  Capt.  W.  J.  Hhrrod,  the  Republican  candidate,  fared  even  worse. 
Dr.  Dunwell  receiving  539  votes  to  his  301.  The  commissioners,  as  elected, 
were  J.  C.  Frazier,  William  J.  May  and  W.  t>.  Rentfro.  For  sheriff,  Capt. 
J.E.Stone  was  elected,  receivitng  911  votes  to  686  for  his  Democratic  com- 
petitor. Capt.  J. B.Rowley,  Avho  subsequently  became  editor  of  theKansau. 
Charles  White  made  the  race  for  the  same  office  on  an  independent  ticket 
and  fared  about  as  well  as  independents  usually  do,  getting  only  280 
(  votes.  Dr.  A.  J.  Busby  led  J.  B.  Craig  just  one  vote  as  a  candidate  for 
treasurer;  Heljihingstiue  got  in  again,  as  clerk  with  105  to  the  good  over 
Cavanaugh;  Norman  Ives,  afterward  postmaster  at  Independence,  beat 
Ashbaugh  135.  Of  these  candidates  Devore.  as  well  as  Ives,  afterward 
became  postmaster  at  Independence,  and  Capt.  J.  E.  Btone  is  now  serv- 
ing in  the  same  capacity  at  Caney.  The  office-holding  habit,  once  con- 
tracted, is  apt  to  retain  a  strong  grip  on  its  victims. 

The  following  year,  1872,  was  the  one  of  the  Grant-Greeley  campaign, 
and  the  Republicans  regained  all  they  had  lost  in  the  county.  Devore 
and  Dunwell  both  went  down  to  defeat.  M.  S.  Bell  and  Maj.  T.  B.  Eldridge 
carrying  off  the  honors  in  the  representative  contests.  A.  B.  Clark,  who 
had  been  Coft'eyville's  first  mayor,  became  county  attorney;  E.  Herring 
began  his  long  incumbency  of  the  office  of  probate  judge;  and  Nathan 
Bass  was  elected  superintendent  of  schools.  The  Democratic  candidates 
for  these  offices  were  C.  J.  I'eckham  for  probate  judge;  J.  D.  Gamble  for 
county  attorney  and  Daniel  Woods<in  for  superintendent.  A  fight  was 
made  on  W.  J.  H'arrod.  the  Republican  candidate  for  district  clerk,  on 
account  of  his  c(uinection  with  the  railroad,  which  was  then  becoming 
very  unjiopular  because  of  the  bond  business,  and  he  was  defeated  by 


f6o  HISTORY  OI--   MONTGO.MIJRV  COINTY,  KANSAS. 

his  Di'iiKx  ratir  competitor,  T.  O.  Ford,  who,  like  Peckham,  was  named  as 
a  lilieral  nv  (iieeley  Republiran.  The  candidates  for  state  Senator  were 
A.  M.  York,  who  was  destined  to  achieve  a  wide  notoriety  in  the  near  fu- 
ture, in  connection  with  his  exposure  of  Pomeroy's  attempt  to  bribe  him 
in  the  senatorial  election  the  succeeding  January,  and  Frank 
Willis,  the  former  county  attorney,  as  his  Democratic  com- 
petitor. J.  1>.  McCue  made  his  debut  in  ilie  jiolitics  of  Montgomery  coun- 
ty at  this  time  as  an  unsuccessful  asiiirant  for  the  Democratic  nomi- 
jiatiovi  for  county  attorney. 

T"n(Hiestionably  the  political  sensation  of  the  year  1873,  so  far  as  our 
state  was  couceiiied,  was  furnished  by  Senator  York,  of  Montgomery 
county.  When  Kansas  was  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1861,  Samuel  (5. 
Pomeroy  was  named  as  one  of  her  first  United  States  Senators.  Six  years 
later  he  was  re-elected;  and  now  after  twelve  years  service  in  the  Ameri- 
can ■•House  of  Lords,"  he  was  back  at  Tojieka  determined  to  secure  a  third 
term,  if  money  without  stint  would  do  it.  He  had  made  the  Seniitor  bus- 
iness so  ])rotitable  financially  that  it  was  understood  that  he  could  and 
would  sjiend  -fldO.OdO  rather  than  be  defeated.  He  had,  of  course,  ac- 
qiiired  the  rejiutation  of  a  boodler  and  a  purchaser  of  legislative  goods 
that  were  in  a  damaged  condition,  and  there  was  a  strong  sentiment 
against  him  when  the  legislature  met.  An  organization  of  the  Anti- 
Ponieroy  members  was  formed  and  of  this  f)ur  senator  York  was  made 
secretary.  To  make  sure  of  Pomeroy's  defeat  it  was  determined  to  entraj) 
him  into  giving  a  bi-ibe  to  some  member  who  would  afterward  expose 
him  on  the  floor  of  the  joint  convention.  James  Simpson,  afterward 
secretaiT  of  state  under  (iovernor  Humphrey's  administration,  and  a 
prominent  political  wire-jniller  in  the  Kepul)lican  ranks  for  many  years, 
is  credited  with  devising  this  scheme.  York  had  had  some  previous  deal- 
ings with  Pomeroy  when  he  was  sent  to  ^^■asllington  the  previous  winter 
to  ^d  tlic  land  office  removed  to  Indejiendence,  and  he  was  hit  U[pc>n  as 
the  most  available  man  to  touch  Pomeroy  for  his  roll. 

l^xcryliiing  worked  as  planned.  Y'ork  not  only  got  Pomei'oy  to  jtrom- 
ise  him  |H,(MI(I  for  his  vote  and  a  speech  stating  that  after  investigation 
lie  was  convinced  that  the  charges  against  Pomeroy  were  groundless,  but 
he  secured  .^T.lHKi  in  advance.  The  legislature  being  almost  unanimously 
Rejiublican,  no  ijukus  was  held.  On  Tuesday,  January  28th,  the  two 
houses  balldii'd  in  separate  session,  and  Pomeroy  received  50  votes,  the 
rest  being  scanning.  It  was  n>]iorted  and  believed  that  he  had  70  mem- 
bers jiledged,  liT  licing  sritlicient  lo  elect.  Only  60  were  standing  out 
against  him.  and  his  election  seemed  inevitalile.  And  yet  after  the  Mont- 
gomery county  senal(M-  had  made  his  talk  in  the  joint  convention  the  next 
day  Pomeroy  did  not  receive  a  single  vote. 

There  have  been  many  dramatic  incidents  in  the  legislative  annals  of 
Kans;is.  bul   no  other  ever  eniialled  in  intensitv  of  inferest  and  unexi)ect- 


HISTORY  OF   MONTciOJIEUY  COUNTV.  KANSAS.  01 

t'diioss  thiit  climax  of  Col.  York's  speech  when  he  advanced  to  (he  clci-k"s 
desk  and  laid  down  the  two  packages,  one  of  them  open  and  containing 
fL'.OOO.  and  the  other,  a  brown  paper  parcel,  tied  with  twine,  which, 
when  opened,  was  found  to  contain  13,000  more.  Pomeroy's  friends  sug- 
gested an  adjournment  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity  to  be  heard  in 
his  own  defence,  but  the  mine  had  been  sprung  and  the  legislators  were 
in  no  mood  for  temporizing.  \\'hen  the  roll  was  called  John  J.  Ingalls 
had  received  llo  votes — all  but  12 — and  was  declared  elected,  although 
in  the  two  houses  on  the  previous  day  he  had  but  a  single  vote.  Of  the  12 
scattering,  two  were  cast  for  Alexander  M.  York,  and  in  view  of  the  way 
he  had  upset  all  the  calculations  of  the  politicians  it  seems  a  wonder  that 
he  did  not  fall  heir  to  Poir.eroy's  seat. 

For  a  time  after  York  had  thus  exposed  Pomeroy  and  secured  the 
overthrow  of  that  rotton  old  rascal  it  seemed  as  if  the  sun  rose  and  set 
about  the  Montgomery  county  senator,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  way 
of  i)oliti(al  preferment  he  might  not  seek  and  find.  The  press  of  the  state 
and  nation  rung  with  laudations  of  his  course.  His  speech  on  the  floor 
of  the  joint  convention  was  pronounced  unequalled  since  Cicero  uttered 
that  awful  philippic  against  Cataliue.  A  magnificent  reception  was 
tendered  him  when  he  returned  to  his  home  at  Independence,  and  men  of 
all  parties  united  to  do  him  homage.  The  name  of  York  became  a  house- 
hold word,  and  he  would  have  been  deemed  a  pitiable  croaker  who  would 
have  even  suggested  the  posibility  that  higher  honors  would 
not,  in  the  future,  be  bestowed  upon  the  incorruptable  statesman  from  the 
banks  of  the  Verdigris  by  an  admiring  and  grateful  people.  After  some 
time  was  past,  however,  the  efl'ei'vescence  of  hysterical  sentiment  passed 
off',  and  York  dropped  into  such  obscurity  as  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  but 
few  other  men  in  public  life  anywhere — certainly  to  tnone  in  Kansas. 

When  it  became  known  that  York  had  not  only  solicited  a  bribe,  but 
that  he  had  done  it  as  the  culmination  of  a  plot  laid  by  Pomeroy's  ene- 
mies to  insure  his  downfall ;  when  York's  own  testimony  convicted  him  of 
being  a  blackmailer,  in  the  interest  of  his  town  though  it  was,  the  Mont- 
gomery county  martyr  found  how  fickle  was  public  favor  and  his  fall  was 
as  sudden  and  unpitied  as  his  rise  had  been  unexpected  and  meteoric.  To- 
day there  can  be  no  (piestion,  that  if  York  had  put  that  .fT.OOO  in  his 
pocket  and  walked  oflf  with  it,  in-stead  of  laying  it  on  the  table  at  the 
capitol,  the  people  of  Kansas  would  have  more  respect  for  him  than  they 
now  do.  For  say  what  you  will,  it  does  not  ])ay  to  fight  the  devil  with 
fire,  and  of  those  who  do  evil  tliat  good  may  come,  it  shall  be  said  forever 
and  aye  that  "their  damnation  is  just.'' 

Although  1873  was  an  "oft'  year"  ]>oIitically,  2.309  votes  were  cast, 
which  was  doing  very  well  for  a  county  that  had  been  an  Indian  reserva- 
tion only  four  years  previous.  At  this  time  the  entire  board  of  commi.s- 
sioners  was  choseu.  and  there  was  a  new  deal  all  around.  Tieorge  Hurst, 


62  lIISTOPa"  OF  MiiNTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

W.  .1.  Wilkius  aud  1.  H.  Itiulil  Ikmus;  elected.  ]*..  W.  IVi-kins  appeals  ou 
till-  s((<iH'  as  a  candidate  for  district  judge — perliajt.s,  even  then  hoping 
the  lie  would  be  Congressman  and  Senator  hereafter.  He  carried  tlie 
conniy  hy  1.198  votes  to  1.007  for  J.  M.  Scudder.  his  Deuiociatfc  oppo- 
nent. The  candidates  for  representative  in  the  6oth  district  were  A.  A. 
Sicwart  and  J.  S.  Riissuni.  Stewart  was  elected  hy  (58  majority.  He 
ser\ed  another  term  later,  published  the  Kansan.  deserted  his  wife  and 
left  the  county  to  settle  in  Washington  state  wh.ere  he  has  since  died. 
Russuni  has  been  leasing  lands  heie  for  gas  and  oil  for  some  years  past. 
In  the  Ooth  district  the  returns  show  that  .lohn  Hoyd  received  570  votes 
to  C  S.  Brown's  507,  but  Brown  got  the  oflice.  J.  E.  Stone  was  reelected 
sheriff  aud  John  A.  Helphingstine.  clerk,  ("ary  Oakes  got  the  treasury 
and  George  S.  Beard,  the  lone  Democrat  elected,  became  register  of  deeds. 
Edwin  Foster  again  became  county  surveyor  and  J.  H.  Kington,  coroner. 

In  1874.  the  Republicans  l)agged  most  of  the  game.  L.  A.  Walker, 
one  of  the  most  far-sighted  men  Montgomery  county  has  ever  numbered 
among  her  citizens,  was  elected  representative  in  the  Independence  dis- 
trict, over  Ben  >!.  Armstrong,  the  Tt.'iiublican  candidate,  and  Ex-Mayor 
James  DeLong.  T.  (>.  Ford  so  hvimI  -a  ic  ilcriimi  as  district  clerk,  leading 
f'.T.  Beach  44  votes.  The  old  jmii,\  Ii;i.|  ilir  nsi  ;  Wm.  Huston,  that  un- 
compromising Scotch-Irish  prchihiii.iiiist.  ;is  representative  from  the 
eastern  district;  E.  Herring,  again  for  probate  judge,  defeating  J.  W. 
Hodges,  of  C'aney ;  B.  R.  runningham  again  for  superintendent  of  schools; 
aud  A.  B.  Clark  for  county  attorney,  his  Democratic  com]ietitor  being 
Will.  Diinkiii.  1!.  W.  reikiiis  ag.iiii  carried  the  county  for  district  judge. 
J.  ]>.  .McCiic  being  liis  Dcnioci-ntic  c,>iiiiietitor  this  time. 

Results  wevc  somewha.t  mixeil  in  1S75.  The  Democrats  got  the  of- 
fices of  shei'irt'  and  register  of  deeds — the  former  for  the  first  time — J.  T. 
I5rock  securing  that  position  and  George  S.  Beard  being  re-elected  in  the 
latter  .  Brock  has  been  in  evidence  in  :\[ontg(unery  county  politics  almost 
ever  since,  in  one  way  or  another,  and  is  now  d()ing  business  at  Cherryvale 
as  a  real  estate  and  insurance  agent.  Beard  was.  later,  ihi  the  drug  liusi- 
iiess  with  Thomas  Calk  in  the  Opera  House  riiarniacy,  but  went  to  Texas 
and  located  at  San  Antonio.  The  Keimblbans  got  E.  T.  Mears  in  as 
county  clerk,  re-elected  Cary  Oakcs  as  tieasurei-,  and  made  B.  R.  Cunning- 
liaiii  county  surveyor  and  W.  ^1.  Robinson,  coroner.  Clears  is  still  doing 
an  abstract  and  real  estate  liusiness  in  Independence,  but  has  be\n.  for 
years,  allied,  politically,  with  the  Broliibitionists.  In  the  district,  Wm. 
Stewart  was  elected  re]iresentative  o\cr  Ceo.  \\'.  r.nrcliard,  by  a  majority 
of  one  \dte.  Burchard  began  his  public  career  in  ilie  county  as  the  editor 
of  the  Tribune,  but  got  out  when  he  had  lo  be  dumped  to  keep  it  from 
straying  from  the  straight  and  narrow  path  of  Republicanism.  He,  later, 
became  the  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Kansan.  In  the  Coffeyville  dis- 
trict the  Republicans  were  likewise  successful.  J.  ^f.  Heddens  being  sent 


HISTORY  or   MONTGOMERY  COUXTY,  KANSAS.  63 

u>  ToiicUa  i>\vv  \V.  II.  IJell.  The  tliree  c-ouimissioner.s  elected  were  J.  E. 
Cole,  over  I ».  C  Krone;  W.  H.  Barter,  over  J.  S.  Cotton;  and  T.  K.  I'itt- 
iiKiii.  (ivcr  .1.  F.  Outt.  This  made  a  I  (euiocratic  board.  Harter  being  the 
oiilv  IJcimblicaii  elet-ted.  It  divided  the  county  printing,  giving  it  half 
and  half  to  the  Tribune  and  Kansan. 

The  Hayes-Tilden  contest  was  on  in  1876.  and  not  a  solitary  oppo- 
sition candidate  was  allowed  io  sli]i  in.  the  Republicans  cleaning  up  the 
lilatter.  as  they  have  almost  always  d-)ne  in  Presidential  years.  Colonel 
Daniel  Grass,  whose  i)rea(hing  al()ng  some  lines  was  so  much  beWer  than 
his  practice,  and  who  did  yeoman  service  on  the  stump  for  the  Prohibitioji 
aniendn;ent  four  years  later,  was  elected  to  the  state  Senate  over  B.  F. 
Devore.  the  Democratic  candidate.  For  this  office  there  was  also  another 
Kichniond  in  the  held  in  the  persoin  of  ex-Senator  A.  M.  York,  who  had,  by 
this  time,  severed  his  connection  with  the  Republican  party  and  was  mak- 
ing his  canvass  on  the  Greenback  ticket.  As  this  was  his  farewell  ap- 
liearance  in  Montgomery  county  politics,  and  he  had  up  to  this  time 
]ilayed  the  most  conspicuous  jiart  of  any  citizen  of  the  county  in  the 
drama  of  state  politics,  it  must  be  noted  that  he  polled  019  votes  out  of  a 
total  of  3. 829,  and  led  his  ticket  a  long  way.  For  Representative  O.  F. 
("arson  defeated  Gapt.  J.  P..  Rowley,  of  the  Kansan.  in  the  first  district. 
In  the  second  L.  I'.  Hnmi>lney  was  again  a  candidate,  and  this  time  won 
over  l>r.  McGulley.  against  whom  he  was  later  to  be  pitted  as  a  candidate 
for  the  Senate,  and  made  his  entrance  into  the  field  of  state  politics.  In 
the  lower  district,  W.  C.  Martin  beat  Levi  Gladfelter,  who,  in  after  year.s, 
hecanic  postmaster  at  Cauey,  and  J.  P.  Rood,  who  was  later  a  successful 
candiilate  for  the  same  legislative  office.  H.  H.  Dodd  got  the  district 
clerksliiji;  John  D.  Hinkle,  who  is  now  judge  of  the  city  court  of  Spokane. 
Washington,  became  county  attorney ;  Herring  went  in  again  as  probate 
judge;  and  Chas.  T.  Beach  was  made  sujierinteindent  of  schools.  This 
year  the  Greenback  i)arty  had  a  full  ticket  in  the  field  and  polled  an 
average  of  nearly  four  hundred  votes.  That  well-known  citizen,  George 
T.  Anthony,  was  being  voted  for  as  a  candidate  for  governor,  and  M.  J. 
Salter,  who  subsequently  became  a  resident  of  Independence,  as  Register 
of  the  r.  S.  Laud  Office  there,  was  elected  lieutenant  governor. 

In  February.  1877,  considerable  excitement  was  occasioned  when 
it  was  learned  that  County  Treasurer  Oakes  had  139.34.3  of  the  county 
funds,  which  were  by  law  required  to  be  kept  in  the  safe  in  his  office,  on 
deposit  in  Turner  &  Otis'  bank,  and  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
took  action  on  the  lotb  of  tbat  month,  censuring  him  for  that  act  and  de- 
manding that  he  replace  the  funds  in  the  safe  in  compliance  with  the  law. 

This  year  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of  lieutenant  governor  was  occa- 
sioned by  Mr.  Salter's  acceptance  of  the  land  office  appointment,  and  L. 
V.  Humphrey  became  the  republican  candidate  for  that  office  and  was 
elected.    He  carried  Montgomery  county  by  a  majority  of  278.  but  at  the 


64  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMEKY   COIXTY.  KANSAS. 

same  lime  A.  H.  Hoit.m.  wlin  was  also  inniiiiii;  to  till  a  varancy,  on  ac- 
roiiiit   of  tlio  resiiiiiati.ai  of  Cliicf  -I  list  ire   Kiiigiiiaii.  lost   tin-  .•oniity  bv 

Oil  the  coniity  tirket  in  1STT  ilif  Democrats  came  nearer  iiiakiuj;  a 
clean  swccji  iliaii  on  any  other  oc.-asion  in  its  history.  .1.  T.  P.rock  was 
re-elected  sheriff ;  John  Mc('nllat;li  <^oX  tiie  county  clerk's  place  over 
Mears.  who  was  a  eauciidate  for  re-election:  Joseph  Barrieklow.  an  old 
Indian  trader  at  Coffeyville,  heat  E.  E.  "Wilsou  :j:5  votes  for  treasurer;  and 
]•:.  I'.  Allen  became  register  of  deeds.  The  same  iiarty  got  all  the  com- 
missioners, Henry  Mxmnger  in  the  first,  (ieneial  W.  R.  Brown,  in  the  sec- 
ond and  A.  V.  Boswell  in  the  third.  It  only  lost  the  coroner's  and  sur- 
veyor's ]ilaces.  which  went  to  W.  M.  Kobinson  and  A.  (t.  Savage. 

Over  the  result  of  this  election  the  Kansan.  the  Democratic  organ  of 
the  county,  made  merry  Avith  all  the  ]iicfures  at  its  command,  and  har- 
rowed up  the  feelings  of  the  Ke];ubli(ans  Ity  ridicule  and  sarcasm  to  such 
an  extent  that  when  the  next  year  rolled  around  they  were  all  lined  up  for 
the  straight  partey  ticket.  The  only  county  office  that  got  away  was  that 
of  commissioner  in  the  first  district,  where  ••that  sly  old  fox."  as  Henry 
Mounger  was  termed,  easily  won  out  auain.  For  governor,  John  P.  Bt. 
John,  whose  name,  later,  became  so  much  of  a  household  word  in  the  state 
and  the  nation,  carried  the  county  liy  -j:'.:?;  while  Humphrey  had  nearly 
twice  that  majority  for  re-election  as  lieutenant  governor.  For  the  dis- 
trict judjieshiii.  J.  T.  Brcadliead.  of  Indeiiendence,  was  pitted  against 
Judge  Perkins,  but  the  latter  was  in  the  heyday  of  his  popularity,  and 
had  a  jilurality  of  l.tUH  in  the  county.  Harry  Dodd  was  re-elecetd  as  dis- 
trict clerk;  Judge  Herring  to  the  probate  office;  John  D.  Hinkle  as  county 
attorney;  and  (\  T.  ISeacli  as  school  superintendent.  In  the  representative 
districts  the  o]iiiosition  got  two  of  the  three;  C.  J.  Corbiu  winning  in  the 
4Tth  and  J.  P.  Kood  in  the  4!)th.  The  iStli  was  carried  by  A.  B.  Clark 
over  three  well  known  citizens.  Abe  Canary.  M.  S.  Stahl.  so  long  the  land- 
lord at  the  Main  Street  hotel,  and  ex-Mayor  James  DeLong.  This  year 
was  high  water  mark  for  the  Greenback  party,  which  jxdled  more  votes 
than  the  Democrats  did  for  some  of  the  offices.  John  S.  (\»tton  receiving 
l.ri.-(i  for  j.robate  judge  and  (ieo.  W.  Clemmer  >S7  for  district  clerk  on 
that  ticket.  This  was  ( 'lemmer's  second  race  in  the  county,  and  he  s.xm 
afterward  went  back  to  Indiana  wh<-re  he  succeeded  belter  as  a  candidate 
for  county  office. 

W  hen  the  smoke  cleared  aw;iy  after  the  political  battle  of  1879,  the 
KeiMiblicaii  oigau  rejoiied  that  Moiilgoiiieiy  cmiiiIv  had  been  ''redeemed'' 
again.  For  sheritt.  Lafayette  Shadiey  had  14S  majority  over  his  Demo- 
cratic opjionent,  Ellis.  The  third  man  in  the  race  was  the  Greenbacker. 
S.  B.  S<iuires.  who  was  to  be  a  successful  aspirant  for  the  same  office 
eighteen  vears  later,  and  hold  it  longer  than  any  other  incumbent  ever 
h;rs  or  ever  will  ai;aiii  unless  our  const  itiil  ion  is  clianiied.     Shadiey.  after 


IIISTOKV    OF    MO.NTCOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  65 

two  terms  as  slicrill  in  Ihc  niiiciics.  Iiccaiiii'  a  iiiciiihcr  of  llu>  T.  S.  Indian 
police  down  in  the  ((sajic  Nation,  and  was  icillcd  in  a  lijiiiit  willi  outlaws 
there — it  being  supposed  that  the  notorious  Dill  Dalton  tired  the  fatal 
shot.  There  were  three  ooinplete  tickets  in  the  field  this  year,  and  the 
Greenback  party  proved  a  formidable  competitor  to  the  old  parties,  poll- 
ing about  750  votes  to  the  Republicans  1,30(1  and  the  Uemociats  l.liOO. 
Karricklow  was  defeated  for  reelection  as  treasurer.  Col.  F.  S.  Piilmer 
winning  that  prize.  The  same  fate  befell  John  JlcCullagh,  the  clerk's 
office  going  to  Ernest  A.  Way,  a  bright  young  school  teacher  whose  undo- 
ing it  proved.  E.  P.  Allen  was  the  only  one  of  the  old  set  to  pull  through, 
aside  from  the  commissioner,  as  he  was  also  one  of  the  few  office  holders 
who  were  able  to  save  money  from  their  incomes.  He  subsequently  went 
into  the  loan  business  and  became  president  of  tjie  First  National  Bank, 
a  position  he  still  holds,  (i.  15.  Leslie  was  elected  surveyor  and  Josiah 
Coleman,  coroner.  For  commissioner.  Gen.  W.  R.  Brown,  of  the  second 
district,  j)ulled  through  by  the  rnarrow  margain  of  two  votes,  beating  P. S. 
Moore,  who  v.as  subsequently  to  hold  that  offilce  for  three  terms.  "If  at 
first  you  don't  succeed,  try,  try  again,"  seems  to  have  been  the  hitter's 
motto. 

The  year  18S0  will  forever  remain  memorable  in  the  history  of  Kan- 
sas as  the  one  in  which  the  prohibition  amendment  was  adojited.  Mont- 
gomery county  gave  it  a  good  majority,  every  precinct  contributing  to  it 
with  the  single  exception  of  West  Cherry,  where  the  vote  stood  59  for  to 
fifl  against.  On  the  presidential  ticket,  the  Republicans  carried  the  coun- 
ty, but  they  lacked  a  good  deal  of  having  a  majority  over  both  the  oppos- 
ing parties.  Garfield  had  1,77-1  votes,  Hancock  1,295,  and  Weaver  694.  No 
wonder  fusion  should  be  resorted  to  by  the  members  of  opposing  parties 
in  later  years!  Indeed,  this  year,  the  Republicans  lost  only  the  two 
places  where  the  opponents  had  united  on  one  candidate.  This 
let  A.  P.  Boswell  in  again  as  commissioner  in  the  third  dis- 
trict and  helped  J.  P.  Rood  to  knock  t^enator  Pefl'er  out  as 
a  candidate  for  Representative  in  the  same  southern  district. 
For  Peffer  this  was  the  "unkindest  cut  of  all,"  and  he  soon  shook 
the  dust  of  Montgomery  county  from  his  feet,  to  return  no  more,  as  he 
later,  deserted  the  state  when  the  Populists  refused  to  reelect  him  as 
T'nited  i^tates  S'enator  in  1897.  Harry  H.  Dodd  was  elected  for  the  third 
time  as  clerk  of  the  district  court,  getting  a  longer  incumbency  of  this 
office  than  any  other  clerk.  lObeneezer  Herring  won  his  fifth  and  last 
race  for  the  jn-obate  judgeship.  Ed.  ^'anCJundy,  a  young  lawyer,  who  had 
been  a  printer  and  newsjiaper  ]iublisher  in  the  early  days,  was  made 
county  attrrney,  and  given  the  first  oiqioitunity  to  run  up  against  that 
])itfall  for  such  officials — the  prohibition  law.  C.  T.  Beach  also  won  a 
third  race  for  school  superintendent,  the  ''unwritten  law"  which  forbids 
a  Republican  official  in  ^lontgomery  county  to  be  a  candidate  for  a  third 


66  IIlSTonV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COINTY.  KA.NiSAS. 

leriii  not  luning  been  enacted  until  (ilick  defeated  St.  John  iu  1SS2.  For 
the  Senate  A.  B.  Chirk  made  a  snccessfnl  race — his  hist  one  in  the  county 
— thou<:h  he  tried  to  get  into  the  ganie  time  and  ajjaiii  afterward.  The  Re- 
publican Icuislativc  candidates,  J.  H.  Morris  and  Alexander  Moore,  were 
successful  in  the  two  northern  districts. 

Tht)uyh  the  opposition  united  on  candidates  for  every  office  except 
sheriU'  and  conuiiissionor  in  ISSl.  they  failed  to  score  and  the  Republi- 
cans swept  the  jilattt'i-  of  cvcrytliing-  in  sight.  Tom  Mitchell,  mar.shal 
of  Independence,  thought  he  was  running  for  sheriff  against  Lafe  Shad- 
ley  until  the  returns  came  in.  ^^'ylie,  on  the  Greenback  ticket,  knew  he 
had  never  been  in  it.  The  Democratic  camjtaign  was  managed  by  Judge 
Mct'ue.  and  he  made  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  the  fewer  Democratic 
caiulidates  there  were  on  the  ticket  the  more  chance  there  would  be  of 
electing  tlctse.  So  when,  on  the  eve  of  election,  J.  M.  Ne\ins  withdrew  as 
a  candidate  foi  clerk,  he  was  sure  Tom,  on  whom  his  hopes  had  been  set, 
would  win.  Shad  ley  had  ."lOii  majority,  however.  E.  E.  ^^■ilson,  who  had 
been  deputy  tr.-a.surer  for  two  terms,  was  promoted  to  the  head  place  by 
a  vote  of  2.257  against  (542  for  his  (Jreenback  opponent.  Gilbert  Dominey. 
Ed.  T-.  Foster  got  there  as  register  of  deeds,  Ernest  Way  was  re-elected 
clerk,  and  <t.  R.  Leslie  surveyor,  while  Dr.  B.  F.  Masterman,  the  Repub- 
lican chairman,  won  whatever  honor  there  was  in  the  coroner's  place. 
That  hitherto  successful  politician,  Henry  Mounger,  at  last  went  to  the 
wall  as  a  candidate  for  re-election  as  commissionei-,  and  Will  S.  Hays, 
the  most  fearless  and  independent  commissioner  the  (•■unity  has  ever  had, 
took  his  place. 

When  1.S82  came  around  the  rrohibition  law  was  iu  working  order  iu 
Kansas,  and  a  good  many  people  did  not  find  it  all  they  had  hoped.  The 
result  was  that  George  W.  Glick,  the  first  Democratic  governor  Kansas 
has  ever  had,  was  elected  over  John  P.  St.  John,  who  was  the  third  term 
Republican  candidate.  And  yet,  today,  you  will  find  Glick  and  St.  John 
lying  hap])ily  in  the  same  political  bed.  Montgomery  county  went  back 
on  her  Republican  record  and  gave  Glick  310  majority.  George  Chandler, 
of  Independence,  received  the  entire  vote  of  the  county,  3553,  as  a  candi- 
date for  judge  of  the  district  court,  and  was  elected.  For  the  county 
offices  the  race  was  very  close,  only  two  of  the  candidates  receiving  over 
a  hundred  majority.  Nelson  F.  Acres,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Con- 
gress, carried  the  county  by  ten  votes  over  the  ]ioi)ular  Dudley  C.  Haskell. 
For  probate  judge,  Thomas  Harrison,  one  of  the  oldest  settlers,  beat 
Thos.  G.  Ayres,  a  Coffeyville  attorney,  only  15  votes.  J.  D.  Hinkle  got 
into  the  race  again  as  a  candidate  for  county  attorney,  but  was  beaten 
out  of  sight  by  J.  D.  McCue,  who  got  the  largest  majority  given  in  the 
county  that  year,  354.  S.  V.  Matthews  landed  for  district  clerk  by  4!). 
and  G.  B.  Leslie,  for  re-election  as  county  sujierintendent,  by  28.  Ilonois 
were  easy  in  the  representative  districts.  A.  A.  Stewart,  of  the  Kansai!. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  67 

being  elected  iu  the  western,  and  Daniel  JfcTaggart  in  the  eastern.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  latter's  protracted  legislative  career,  which  in- 
cluded three  terms  in  the  House  and  two  in  the  Senate,  and  gave  him  a 
long  lead  over  any  other  Montgomery  county  lawmaker.  In  the  Indepen- 
dence district.  Gen.  Brown  was  knocked  off  the  perch  as  conniiissioner  by 
Wilson  Kincaid,  which  gave  the  Republicans  the  control  of  the  board  for 
the  first  time  since  the  pioneer  days.  The  county  printing  went  to  the 
Star  another  year,  but  at  ruinously  low  rates.  And  that  was  the  last 
year  in  which  an  opposition  newspaper  has  ever  had  it  in  the  county. 

The  proposition  to  build  a  new  court  house,  submitted  to  the  voters  at 
this  election,  was  defeated  by  203  votes.  Only  29  votes  were  cast  against 
it  in  the  city  of  Independence,  and  only  9  in  its  favor  in  Parker  township, 
which  included  the  city  of  Coffeyville.  At  Cherryvale,  and  in  Cherry 
township  only  about  half  the  voters  took  the  trouble  to  express  them- 
selves on  the  proposition,  but  those  who  did  voted  four  to  one  against  it. 
Only  four  of  the  townships — Caney,  Rutland,  Drum  Creek,  and  Indepen- 
dence, gave  majorities  for  the  proposition. 

Although  1883  was  another  "off  year"  in  politics,  the  opposition  to 
the  Republican  party  i)rofited  little  by  that  fact,  all  they  succeeded  in  do- 
ing being  to  I'e-elect  A.  P.  Boswell,  from  the  southern  district,  for  a 
third  term  as  commissioner.  Boswell  was  a  thorough-going  business 
man.  and  it  was  during  his  incumbency  that  county  warrants  were  paid 
on  presentation,  for  the  only  time  in  the  history  of  the  county,  though  as 
much  credit  must  be  given  to  Will  S.  Hays,  the  Republican  commissioner 
from  the  first  district  from  1881  to  1883.  as  to  any  one  for  that  result. 
J.  T.  Brock  made  his  third  race  for  sheriff  this  year  and  was  beaten  ouX; 
of  sight  by  Joseph  JlcCreary,  a  popular  but  peculiarly  excitable  citizen t^i,, 
Coffeyville,  who  later  continued  the  enjoyment  of  oflice-holdjng  by  be-  "^ 
coming  postmaster  at  Coffeyville.  E.  E.  Wilson,  one  of  ^ue  pioneer 
settlers,  and  perhaps  the  first  historian  of  Montgomery  county,  was 
again  elected  county  treasurer.  Thomas  R.  Pittman,  of  Havana,  a^former  '  " 
county  commissioner,  and  for  years  one  of  the  Democratic  wheelhorses 
of  the  county,  had  the  pleasure  of  making  the  race  against  Wilson.  H. 
W.  Conrad,  who  is  now,  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  in  the  state  Senate, 
serving  as  deputy  in  that  oliRce,  was  elected  county  clerk.  J.  F.  Nolte, 
then  a  Rutland  township  farmer,  but  now  a  rice  planter  in  Texas,  got  the 
position  of  register  of  deeds.  W.  B.  Rushmore  was  elected  surve.yor  alud 
E.  A.  Osborn,  coroner.  This  year  the  Greenback  party  again  had  a 
ticket  in  the  field,  but  it  mustered  only  a  corporal's  guard  of  voters.  H. 
Preston  leading  the  ticket  with  39  votes  for  surveyor.  Owing  to  irreg- 
ularities in  the  office,  Ernest  Way  had  resigned  the  position  of  county 
clerk  this  year,  and  for  the  short  term  of  three  months  his  father,  J.  S. 
Way.  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

In  the  I'residential  year.  1884,  the  Democrats  won  in  the  nation,  but 


68  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMKKY  CurNTY,  KANSAS. 

iu  our  couiily  the  Republicans  not  only  elected  every  candidate  ou  I  heir 
ticket,  but  rolled  uj)  a  greater  average  majority  than  ever  before.  Blaine, 
for  president,  had  826  to  the  good,  a  nd  I'erkins,  for  Congress.  S."i(i.  the 
latter  being  then  at  the  zenith  of  his  popularity.  Iluniphrey  was  again 
pitted  against  I>r.  McCulley,  this  time  for  the  state  Senate,  which  provei 
for  him  the  stepping  stmie  to  the  governorshij).  J.  A.  Burdick  and  Daniel 
MVTaggart  were  elected  Hcpicsentatives,  the  latter  for  his  second  term  in 
the  House.  Samuel  (".  l{;iliott  defeated  J.  1).  ^IcCue  as  a  candidate  for 
county  attorney,  his  majcuity  of  148  being  the  smallest  for  any  candi- 
date. Elliott  is  credited  with  having  enforced  the  prohibition  law  more 
vigorously  and  favored  the  liipior  sellers  less  than  any  other  county  at- 
torney since  the  law  went  into  effect.  He  lost  his  health  in  the  early 
nineties,  and  died  in  the  insane  asylum  at  Osawatoiuie.  Matthews  was 
re-elected  district  clerk  over  A.  A.  Stewart,  of  the  Kansan ;  and  (i.  B. 
Leslie  beat  Mrs.  K.  C.  Nevins.  the  Hemocratic  landidate  for  sujierinten- 
dent  of  schools,  and  the  first  woman  to  run  foi-  office  on  the  t-ounty  tiikct 
of  any  ]iarty.  .John  Castillit.  a  Keiuddican,  who  afterward  became  idi'ii- 
titled  with  the  Populist  party,  was  chosen  commissioner  from  the  tirst 
district.  The  question  of  issuing  bonds  for  the  building  of  a  court  house 
was  again  submitted  to  the  voters,  and  this  time  the  projiosition  carried 
by  a  majority  of  :n.  The  oj.position  ai)peal<Ml  to  the  courts  anil  delaye.l 
the  bnildiiig  for  a  year  (U-  mor(>.  but  the  corner  sl-me  was  laid  Xoxem- 
ber  ailth.  ]88(). 

After  the  defeat  of  St.  John  as  the  liepidilican  candidate  for  govern- 
or in  1SS2 — that  defeat  being  erroneously  altiilmled  to  tln'  fad  that  he 
was  then  a  candidate  for  the  third  term — it  became  the  unwritten  law 
that  no  Republican  candidate  in  Montgomery  county  should  be  exposed 
to  defeat  by  a  third  nomination,  and  the  only  exception  made  to  the 
rule  since  that  time  was  in  the  case  of  S.  L.  Hibbard.  who  was  named  as 
a  catndidate  for  surveyor,  in  1885,  and  duly  elected,  as  were  all  the  Re 
publican  candidates  that  year,  and  who  has  held  the  ofMce  ever  since,  be- 
ing re-nominated  and  re-elected  as  often  as  his  term  drew  to  a  close. 
That  year  was  not  an  exciting  one  politically.  McCreary  and  Conrad 
got  their  second  terms.  Millard  F.  Wood  was  chosen  county  treasurei-. 
and  .loliu  L.  (Jriffln,  register  of  deeds.  Dr.  .M»< 'alley,  who  never  refuse! 
to  lead  a  forlorn  hope,  was  defeated  by  I.  1!.  W  allace  as  a  candidate  for 
coroner.  T.  M.  Bailey  was  chosen  commissiDiiei-  tr.-mi  the  liideiiendeiice 
distri<-t.  Altogether  it  was  a  Republican  crowd,  the  opjiosition  being 
completely  "whitewashed." 

In  Novend)er,  1880,  although  there  were  a  governor  and  state  olliceis 
to  elect,  it  was  a  f(U-egone  conclusion  that  the  Re])ublicans  would  win; 
and  Colonel  Tom  Moonlight's  campaign  for  governor  against  Colonel 
•lolni  .\.  .Martin,  ^\  ho  was  out  for  a  second  term,  was  ratlan-  a  perfunclor\- 
oii.>.     This  year  the  Republican  majority  in  the  county  was  410.     In  the 


HISTORY  OF   ilONTOOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  69 

fii;liT  (i\('i'  tlie  local  oflices,  the  battle  \vaged  fiercest  about  (lie  jirobate 
jii(!<;('^lii]).  For  this  place  General  W.  K.  Brown,  who  had  not  only  com- 
manded President  Hayes"  regiment  in  the  civil  war,  but  who  had  been 
county  commissioner  for  two  terms  here,  was  the  Democratic  candidate 
for  that  office  and  Colonel  A.  1'.  Forsythe,  who  had  at  one  time  been 
elected  to  congress  by  a  Greeinback-Republican  combination,  in  Illinois, 
was  his  oi)i>oiient.  Hrown  won  by  223  votes.  The  rest  of  the  ticket  the 
Republicans  elected.  J.  B.  Ziegler  and  Captain  Daniel  McTaggart  going 
to  the  Legislature;  J.  \V.  Simpson  being  made  district  clci  k ;  I).  W. 
Kingsley.  superintendent  of  schools;  and  Sam  Elliott  get  ling  a  second 
term  as  county  attorney.  George  Foster  was  elected  commissioner  from 
the  Coffey ville  district,  A.  V.  Boswell  at  last  going  down  in  defeat.  It 
was  thought  that  he  would  be  re-elected  as  long  as  he  lived,  but  having 
been  made  one  of  the  appraisers  for  the  right  of  way  for  the  I).  M.  &  A. 
Railroad  across  the  soutli  side  of  the  county,  he  failed  to  please  all  the 
men  who  wanted  big  damages  and  lost  his  popularity  to  a  degree  that 
insured  his  defeat. 

This  year  George  Chandler,  of  ludeiiendence,  was  the  Republican 
candidate  for  re-election  to  the  office  of  district  judge  and  there  was  no 
organized  opposition  to  his  candidacy  in  the  district.  In  fact,  as  in  1882, 
he  received  the  entire  vote  of  the  electors  of  Montgomery  county  for  that 
high  office,  4,7t)5  of  them  recording  their  ballots  in  his  favor  and  none 
against.  Chandler  made  a  fine  reputation  as  an  upright  judge,  but  was 
noted  for  being  especially  harsh  and  severe  with  applicants  for  divorce, 
having  no  patience  with  men  and  women  who  had  found  their  matrimon- 
ial bonds  irksome,  and  were  endeavoring  to  sever  them.  His  incisive 
questions  going  down  to  the  most  sacred  privacies  of  the  marriage  re- 
lation and  his  bullying  manner  came  to  be  dreaded  by  all  such  unfortun- 
ates, and  the  procuring  of  divorces  gi'ew  unpopular.  Probably  there 
were  far  fewer  divorces  in  the  district  during  his  term  on  the  bench  on 
account  of  this  idiosyncracy  of  his.  When  Harrison  became  President 
in  March,  1889,  Judge  Chandler  was  tendered  the  position  of  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  which  he  accepted,  resigning  the  judgship  to 
do  so.  •  After  some  yeai's  in  Washington  his  family  returned  to  Indepen- 
dence, but  he  still  remained  there,  having  formed  a  law  parttnership  with 
Ex-Senator  Perkins,  when  the  latter's  term  expired.  Subsequently,  in  the 
year  1895.  Mr.  Chandler  became  the  defendant  in  a  suit  for  divorce 
brought  by  the  mother  of  his  children.  He  did  not  contest  this  suit  and 
consented  to  a  decree  by  which  his  property  in  this  county  was  settled 
upon  his  wife.  Subsequently  came  the  news  that  he  had  married  a  woman 
who  had  been  a  stenographer  or  typewriter  in  his  office  while  he  was  still 
living  with  his  family  at  the  national  capital.  In  view  of  these  occur- 
rences many  people  thought  it  a  great  pity  that  he  could  not  himself  have 


70  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY',  KANSAS. 

profited  by  the  lectures  on  conjugal  constancy  that  he  had  been  so  free 
to  give  those  who  came  to  his  court  asking  for  divorces. 

The  fall  of  1887  witnessed  another  perfunctory  political  canvass  in 
whicli  the  Republican  ticket  was  elected  by  default,  the  only  contest 
worth  the  name  being  over  the  sheriff's  office,  where  -John  C.  Hester,  of 
Fawn  Creek,  beat  John  J.  Anderson,  the  best  known  auctioneer  Mont- 
gomery county  has  ever  had.  by  249  votes.  Wood,  (iriffin,  Hibbard  and 
Wallace  were  re-elected  by  majorities  between  7(10  and  1.(1(1(1.  and  George 
W.  Fulmer  l)ecame  county  clei'k.  Xoah  K.  Itoiunn  got  the  conimissiener's 
j)lace  in  the  first  district. 

Republican  i)luralities  in  this  county  reached  another  high  water 
mark  in  1888  when  Benjamin  Harrison  led  (irover  Cleveland  1.054  votes, 
and  rs.  W.  Terkins,  for  Congress,  had  1.084  better  than  his  Democratic 
competitor.  John  A.  Kalon.  There  Avere  tlnee  rickets  in  the  field,  so  far 
as  state  and  nalimial  caiididali's  wnc  cMici'iiicd.  ]n\t  the  opposition  to 
the  Re]mblicans  iiiiilcd  (ui  si-vciiil  (if  ilii-  iiiiiiiiy  i-aiididates.  and  we  saw 
the  first  beginnings  of  the  fusiun  thai  was  lining  to  pUiy  such  havoc  with 
Reiiublican  ho])es  a  few  years  later.  For  stale  Senator  there  was  a  tri- 
angular contest  of  great  bitterness.  Daniel  MiTaggart  was  the  Repub- 
lican nominee.  Wni.  Dunkin,  the  Democratic,  and  Adam  Beatty.  the  Union 
Labor.  A  good  deal  of  op])osition  to  ilcTaggart  develojied  in  the  Repub- 
lican ranks,  so  much,  in  fact,  that  he  ran  more  than  :500  votes  behind  his 
ticket,  but  in  the  three-cornered  fight  he  pulled  through  by  the  safe  plu- 
rality of  347  over  his  Denu)cratic  opponent.  J.  B.  Zeigler  was  re-elected 
licjiicsentative  in  the  western  district,  and  Captain  I).  Btewart  Elliott 
was  successful  in  the  eastern.  Such  a  contingency  as  the  hitter's  death 
from  a  riiilijijiine  bullet  in  the  island  of  Luzon  was  then  as  remote  from 
his  tlumghts  as  anythifng  in  the  future  can  possibly  be  from  the  readers 
today.  Foi-  inoliatc  judge  (ienej-al  Brown  was  defeated  for  re-election  by 
Cliailcs  TL  Ilog.iii.  a  liepublican  then,  but  since  a  I'ojtulist.  who  made  one 
of  the  most  efficient  officials  the  county  ever  had  in  that  position.  Sinij)- 
son  and  Kingsley  got  their  second  terms,  and  O.  I'.  P]rgenl)right  was 
elected  county  attorney.  V.  S.  ]Moore.  who  had  been  defeated  in  1870  as 
a  candidate  for  county  commissioner,  won  out  this  time  and  Began  his 
nine  years'  term  in  that  position. 

^^'hen  the  office  of  judge  of  the  district  court  for  the  eleventh  district 
becan.e  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  George  Chandler,  the  governor  ap- 
pointed John  N.  Ritter.  of  Cherokee  county,  to  fill  the  vacancy  until  an 
election  could  be  held.  Against  Judge  Ritter  as  a  candidate  on  the  Re- 
l)ublican  ticket  in  Novendjer,  1889,  the  Democrats  ran  J.  I).  McCue.  of 
Independence,  in  many  respects  one  of  the  finest  jurists  the  state  has 
produced.  Although  Ritter  carried  Montgomery  county  by  150,  McCue 
■was  elected  for  the  remaining  year  of  the  Chandler  term. 

For  the  county  offices  at'  stake   that    fall    the   L'e|)ublicans   did    not 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  7  I 

UKikc  .III  t'lilircly  clean  sweep,  T.  F.  Callahan  getting  the  sheriff's  office 
away  from  -loliii  <'.  Hester,  who  was  a  candidate  for  re-election,  but  who 
had  proved  an  unpopular  official.  The  Union  I^abor  party  had  a  full  tick- 
et in  the  field  this  fall,  and  so  did  the  Democrats,  except  for  the  office  of 
county  clerk.  For  this  position  Geoi'ge  W.  Fulmer  was  reelected  by  a 
majority  of  1,681,  which  is  the  largest  thus  far  recorded  in  the  county 
where  there  was  any  contest  at  all.  Thomas  H.  Earnest,  now  postmaster 
at  Cherryvale,  was  successful  by  only  74  over  his  Democratic  competitor, 
George  B.  Thompson,  for  register  of  deeds.  Mark  Tulley  got  the  prize  of 
the  county  treasury,  which  then  paid  a  salary  of  .14.000  a  year;  and  S. 
Tillman,  a  coloi'ed  barber  at  Independence,  was  made  coroner.  W.  N. 
Smith  was  the  new  commissioner  chosen  in  the  southern  district  this  fall. 
He  is  now  a  member  of  the  city  council  of  Independence. 

The  "Alliance  year"  is  what  1890  has  come  to  be  termed  in  the  polit- 
ical annals  of  Kansas,  and  the  wave  swept  over  ^Montgomery  engulfing 
the  entire  Republican  ticket,  with  two  exceptions.  The  Democratic  and 
Peoples'  parties  did  not  unite  on  the  state  ticket,  and  with  two  candi- 
dates to  divide  the  opposition  vote  Humphrey  got  through  with  a  plu- 
rality of  411  for  governor  in  the  county.  On  the  local  ticket,  however, 
tliere  was  complete  fusion.  For  district  judge,  McCue  ran  against 
A.  B.  Clark,  a  ])0])ular  Republicrin,  and  led  him  by  736.  Ben.  Clover  beat 
the  hitherto  invincible  I'erki  ns  for  Congress  and  left  him  over  three 
hundred  votes  in  the  shade.  Samuel  Henry  and  A.  L.  Scott,  the  fusion 
candidates,  were  elected  to  the  legislature.  Daniel  Cline  became  probate 
judge;  J.  H.  Norris,  district  clerk;  and  J.  R.  Charlton,  county  attorney. 
The  successful  Republicans  were  Alexander  Nash  for  superintendent  of 
schools,  aind  Noah  Bouton,  who  got  through  for  re-election  as  commis- 
sioner by  the  narrow  margain  of  four  votes,  over  John  Hook.  For  a  sec- 
ond time  the  opposition  to  the  Republican  party  had  broken  over  the 
fence  and  got  into  the  pasture.  Although  a  popular  favorite,  Mr.  Nash, 
one  of  the  Republicans  referred  to,  long  afterward  made  a  record  that 
is  unenviable  by  deserting  his  wife  at  Coffeyville  while  their  child  lay 
dead  in  the  house.  Since  that  time  his  whereabouts  have  been  known  to 
none  of  his  friends  in  Montgomery  county. 

It  took  the  Republicans  but  a  short  time  to  get  their  "second  wind" 
in  the  county  and  make  a  successful  fight  against  the  combination  that 
had  downed  them.  In  1891  they  were  confronted  by  a  united  opposition, 
but  easily  elected  their  entire  ticket,  with  the  exception  of  the  candidate 
for  sheriff.  In  this  office  Tom  Callahan  had  rendered  himself  very  popu- 
lar, and  was  besides  an  excellent  politician  and  a  good  campaigner.  Still 
he  pulled  through  with  the  beggarly  majority  of  26,  only.  George  H. 
Evans,  jr.,  became  county  clerk;  and  Tulley,  Earnest,  Hibbard,  Tillman 
and  Moore  were  re-elected.  The  "Alliance"  wave  had  evidently  spent  its 
force. 


72  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

lu  1892  the  Democrats  of  Kansas  supported  General  Weaver  and  the 
Populist  electors  for  Cleveland's  sake,  but  this  county  gave  the  Harrison 
electors  1!I3  majority,  and  two  more  for  Ex-Governor  Anthony  for  Con- 
gressman-at-Large.  Humphrey  made  his  last  political  race  as  a  candidate 
for  Re])reseutative  in  Congress  from  the  Third  district,  and  while  he  was 
defeated  and  retired  to  private  life  at  the  expiration  of  his  termasgovern- 
or  in  the  following  January,  he  ran  about  a  hundred  votes  ahead  of  his 
tii'kel  in  his  house  county.  McTaggart  was  re-elected  as  state  Senator  by 
the  straight  i)arty  vote.  The  county  had  been  unjustly  deprived  of  half  its 
rei>resentati<)n  in  the  House,  and  A.  L.  Scott  was  the  fusion  candidate. 
Against  him  was  pitted  F.  M.  P.eneflel.  of  Cofteyville.  a  man  who  played 
a  conspicious  part  in  the  politics  of  the  county  for  several  years,  and 
who  was  capable  of  making  a  very  taking  stump  speech.  The  old  member 
fared  worse  than  most  of  the  other  candidates.  Nash  was  i-e-elected  sup- 
erintendent of  schools  by  an  overwhelming  vote,  and  Norris  was  defeated 
for  re-election  as  district  clerk  by  W.  C.  Foreman.  W.  E.  Ziegler  won  the 
jirizc  of  the  comity  attorney's  office,  and  W.  X.  Smith  was  re-elected 
as  coiiiiiiissioiu'r  li.iiii  tlu'  sonlhern  district.  In  fact  the  only  thing  the 
ojiposition  to  ilic  K(pr;oli(:i!i  party  sav(Ml  out  of  the  v.-reck  was  the  pro- 
bale  judgeshi]).  wliicli  went  to  Haiiicl  ("line,  a  ropulist.  by  the  narrow 
mai-gin  of  eleven  votes. 

The  fall  of  is;»;'>  witnessed  another  triangular  fight  for  the  offices, 
the  Democrats  and  I'o])ulists  running  separate  tickets.  The  latter  polled 
about  twice  as  many  votes  as  the  former,  but  their  combined  vote  barely 
equalled  the  Rei)ublican  strength.  The  i)endulum  had  swung  clear  over 
again  and  the  o]i]>osition  did  not  elect  a  man.  Frank  C.  Moses  became 
sheritT,  and  served  the  full  limit  of  four  years.  The  office-holding  habit 
still  clung  to  him,  however,  and  he  is  just  linishing  his  second  term  ij* 
mayor  of  Indpendeuce.  J.  R.  Blair  came  uj)  from  Caney  to  become  treas- 
urer, defeating  two  Confederate  veterans,  E.  T.  Lewis  and  J.  ]\I.  Altaffer. 
John  AA'.  Glass,  of  Colfeyville.  was  made  county  clerk;  J.  T.  Stewart,  of 
Sycamore,  got  the  ].ositioii  of  register  of  deeds;'Dr.  R.  F.  O'Rear  replaced 
the  coloied  liailn  i  ::s  ccvoiicr;  and  N.  F.  Veeder.  of  Clierryvale,  the  most 
corntpt.  (irobably.  or  all  Montgomery  county's  corruiit  jxditicians.  got 
into  the  boar<l  of  county  comnnssioners. 

l.dw  water  mark  for  the  Democrats  of  MoiitgoiiuMv  county  came 
with  the  election  of  1804,  when  their  candidate  for  governor,  the  brilliant', 
but  shifty,  Overmeyer.  received  but  429  votes  to  2,ftf}4  cast  for  L.  D. 
1-ewelliiig  as  a  candidate  for  re-election.  And  there  was  no  single  attri- 
bute of  manhood  in  Avhich  Overmeyer.  with  all  his  faults,  real  and  al- 
leged, did  not  tower  high  above  the  first  Populist  governor  of  Kansas. 
Morrill,  the  Re])u1)!ican  candidate,  had  a  clear  majority  of  142  over  both. 
:Many  DeiiMicrats  undoubtedly  voted  for  Lcwelling  as  the  only  way  to 
be;it   (lie  ccu:ic.<ii!  enemy;  and  the  I'oj.iiiist   sicvci-  llnd  such  a  lead  as  the 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  73 

fij^ui-cs  ahove  given  would  indicate.  McCue  was  agaiu  a  candidate  for 
district  judge,  but  failing  to  get  the  opposition  parties  to  unite  on  his 
candidacy,  ran  as  an  independent,  his  name  appearing  in  a  column  all  by 
itself.  He  was  o])i>i)sed  by  A.  R.  Skidmore,  of  Columbus,  a  man  hitherto 
unknown  in  puliiiis  outside  of  his  own  county.  To  tell  the  whole  story 
of  the  fight  m:i(!r  :m:iiiisi  .Judge  ilcCue  by  ex-C'ommissioner  Will  S.  Hays, 
who  went  over  ihe  disuict  charging  him  with  venality  and  with  subser- 
viency to  corporations,  and  convincing  the  voters  that  he  was  lacking  in 
integrity,  would  require  a  volume  in  itself.  So  confident  was  McCue  of 
election  during  the  early  days  of  the  canvas  that  he  used  to  introduce  his 
opponent  to  voters,  and  then  egotistically  remark  to  his  frieinds  what  a 
poor  show  the  Cherokee  county  man  made  beside  him.  Skidmore,  how- 
ever, beat  him  850  in  this  county  and  some  thousands  in  the  district,  and 
McCue's  political  career  was  ended. 

r.enefiel  was  elected  agaiu  as  Representative  over  S.  JK  l>ixoii.  an- 
other good  talker,  who  soon  found  he  ])referred  other  fields  when  office 
was  denied  him  here.  And  Beneflel  was  the  man,  who,  during  the  next 
sessi(.n  of  the  legislature,  was  credited  with  having  killed  the  bill  to  re- 
duce <1  ;'■:.-  M  ■'.'.:■  stock  yards,  for  a  considerati<(n.  N.  E.  Bouton,  the 
out-goiiiL  I     --inner,  became  i)robate  judge,  defeating  H.  1).  Farrel, 

who  w;-  ;:i-i  linily  to  fill  the  office  for  two  terms,  and  J.  J.  Mull.  It 
was  a  tlucc-curiieicd  contest  all  the  way  through  oin  the  county  ticket, 
exce])t  the  county  superinteudency,  and  there  Miss  Anna  Keller,  the  first 
woman  ever  elected  to  office  in  the  county,  defeated  M.  C.  Handley  by  265 
votes.  ^V.  E.  Ziegler  was  elected  county  attorney  over  two  leading  at- 
torneys at  the  Independence  bar  at  this  time — Thos.  H.  Stamford  and 
F.  J.  Fritch.  W.  C.  Foreman  beat  John  T.  Caldwell  and  Tom  Harrison 
for  district  clerk.  James  Thompson,  an  utterly  illiterate  Coffeyville  ne- 
gro, became  coroner.  P.  S.  Moore  was  re-elected  commissioner  from  the 
first  district.     It  was  again  a  Republican  year. 

At  this  election  the  woman's  suffrage  amendment  to  the  constitution 
was  voted  on  and  there  was  a  nuijority  of  256  against  it  in  the  county. 
Cherryvale,  Louisburg,  Rutland  and  Parker,  alone  gave  majorities  for  the 
proposition.  A  proposition  to  make  an  appropriation  if  |8, ()()(»  to  buy  a 
county  poor  farm  carried  by  a  vote  of  2.708  to  1,321. 

The  last  triangular  contest  that  has  occurred  in  the  county  took 
place  in  1895.  Frank  Moses  was  re-elected  as  sheriff  over  Revilo  Newton 
and  J.  B.  Sewell.  J.  R.  Blair  got  a  second  term  as  treasurer,  distancing 
Ben.  Ernest  and  Daniel  Cline.  John  W.  Glass  came  up  from  Coft'eyville 
to  take  the  cour.ty  clerkship,  running  in  between  B.  F.  Devore  and  Jos- 
eph H.  Xorris.  J.  T.  Stewart  became  register  of  deeds,  defeating  E.  B. 
Skinner  and  J.  W.  Reeves.  Hibbard.  of  course,  succeeded  himself  as 
surveyor,  and  so  did  Thompson  as  coroner.  D.  A.  Cline,  one  of  tVe  most 
forceful  of  our  county  commissioners,  made  his  appearance  on  the  fieM 


74  IIISTOnV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

of  county  politics  as  the  uew  lueiiiljer  from  the  Coti'eyville  district,  de- 
feating J.  P.  Etchen  and  Joseph  Lenhart. 

After  so  long  a  series  of  unbrolien  successes,  tlie  Republicans  nat- 
iirally  and  reasonably  expected  to  elect  their  entire  ticket  in  the  pi'esi- 
dential  year,  189G.  The  promulgation  of  the  gold-standard  platform  at 
the  Si.  Louis  convention  was  a  solar  plexus  blow  to  those  hopes,  however. 
So  general  aind  so  earnest  was  the  protest  against  this  change  of  base  on 
the  i)art  of  the  Montgomery  county  Republicans,  that  it  is  a  conservative 
estimate  to  say  that  a  thousand  of  them,  or  one-third  of  the  total  strength 
of  the  party  in  the  county,  were  outside  of  the  breastworks  when  the 
June  roses  were  blooming.  Every  device  known  to  the  most  astute  poli- 
ticians was  employed  to  bring  them  back  into  the  party  ranks  during  that 
summer  and  fall,  however,  and  day  by  day  the  recalcitrants  were  being 
whipped  into  line.  When  election  came  in  November,  probably  not  more 
than  l'.")!)  of  those  June  bolters  were  still  bolting.  But  that  was  enough. 
The  decisive  day  approached  with  each  side  confident  of  victory.  When  the 
votes  had  been  canvassed  it  was  found  that  the  fusion  ticket  nominated 
by  the  Topulists,  Democrats  and  Silver  Republicans,  and  sui)ported  by 
all  the  Bryan  men,  had  been  elected  from  top  to  bottom.  It  was  the  most 
sweeiiiiig  political  victory  ever  won  in  the  county,  extending  to  the  town- 
shij)  offices,  as  well  as  those  higher  up.  Indeed  it  was  facetiously  said 
that  only  a  single  road  overseer  had  been  saved  out  of  the  wreck.  This 
was  a  slight  exaggeration,  but  the  usual  dominant  party  had  failed  to 
carry  a  single  township,  though  having  a  majority  in  all  the  cities,  and 
had  but  one  township  trustee  to  its  credit — the  Cherry  township  candi- 
date having  scratched  through. 

Bryan  led  JIcKinley  -134,  while  the  Gold  Democrats  counted  27  votes 
and  the  middle-of-the-road  Populists,  29.  Ridgley  had  398  over  Kirkpat- 
rick  for  congress;  H.  W.  Young,  a  Populist  editor,  was  elected  state  Sen- 
ator over  Oeorge  W.  Fulnier.  who  made  that  record-breaking  race  for 
county  clerk  in  1889,  by  346;  Isaac  B.  Fulton,  an  old  Greenback  war- 
horse,  was  made  Representative  by  a  nmjority  of  332  over  the  Republican 
candidate,  J.  F.  Guilkey;  H.  D.  Ferrell  turned  the  tables  on  Noah  E. 
Ronton,  and  got  the  probate  judgeshij)  by  209;  H.  :M.  Levan,  the  first 
Silver  Re])ublican  to  be  elected  in  the  county — and  the  only  one — had 
359  over  A.  R.  Slocum;  John  Gallahan,  for  county  attorney,  "led"  the 
ticket  with  a  majority  of  548  over  W.  N.  Banks;  J.  N.  Dollison,  for 
county  su])erintendent.  came  next  with  437  more  votes  than  Miss  Keller; 
i'n  the  first  district  John  Givens  got  in  over  Yeeder  by  the  narrow  mar- 
gain  of  10  votes.  It  was  the  first  clean  sweep  the  ojiposition  to  the  Re- 
pul)lican  party  had  ever  made  in  the  county,  and  to  the  present  writing 
they  have  never  made  another. 

According  to  precedent,  ii  rciwiinn  fnim  the  free  silver  victory  of 
1890,  and  a  swing  of  the  pendulum  in  the  opposite  direction,  was  to  have 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  75 

been  expected  iu  1897.  It  was  cmly  partially  realized,  though,  and  the 
fusionists  succeeded  in  baggiug  the  best  of  the  game.  The  Populist  Leg- 
islature had  passed  an  act  at  the  Legislative  session  of  that  year  estab- 
lishing a  county  high  school  at  Independence.  This  act  had  caused  a 
great  deal  of  criticism  iu  some  portions  of  the  county.  Notably,  this  fire 
burned  brightly  wherever  there  was  an  aspirant  for  Legislative  honors, 
who  had  failed  of  nominaticin  or  election  in  the  recent  past.  The  Popu- 
list members  of  the  Legislature  were  denounced  without  stint  for  their 
share  in  the  passage  of  the  measure,  and  many  Republican  politicians 
seemed  to  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  anti-high  school  sentiment  alone 
needed  to  be  appealed  to  in  order  to  insure  the  success  of  their  ticket. 
Accordingly  Indepeindence  Republicans  were  turned  down  hard  when  the 
nominating  cclnventions  were  held,  and  a  ticket,  that  was,  on  the  whole, 
a  weak  one,  was  placed  in  the  field.  The  fusionists  were  afraid  of  the 
same  issue  and  also  tabooed  Independence  aspirants,  except  for  commis- 
sioner, where  Henry  Baden  was  i'nduced  to  accept  a  nomination  in  order 
to  prevent  both  Populist  and  Democratic  candidates  from  going  on  the 
ballot.  The  contest  was  a  close  one,  and  it  required  the  official  count  to 
decide  who  had  been  elected  treasurer.  E.  B.  Skinner,  a  Democrat,  of 
Caney,  won  the  place  by  only  fifteen  votes,  over  J.  A.  Palmer.  S.  B. 
Squires,  the  defeated  Greenback  candidate  of  '79  got  his  iinning  at  last, 
with  a  majority  of  237  over  T.  C.  Harbourt.  D.  S.  James,  another  Pop- 
ulist, got  in  as  county  clerk  by  CO  votes  over  R.  B.  Handley.  And  the 
same  figure  told  T.  F.  Burke's  Republican  majority  for  register  of  deeds, 
M.  D.  Wright  being  his  ••Silver  Republican"  opponent.  Dr.  Rader  was 
re-elected  coroner,  and  Hibbaid  ]iullcd  through  once  more  for  surveyor, 
with,  for  him,  the  meagre  mujoriry  of  lii7.  F.  E.  Taylor  left  Baden  just 
51  votes  behind  in  the  race  for  coiiiniissioner,  thus  obtaining  a  Re'publi- 
caln  majority  in  the  board. 

This  year  the  first  election  of  a  board  of  county  high  school  trustees 
occurred,  and  the  opponents  of  the  school  made  a  strong  efl'ort  to  secure 
the  election  of  the  candidates  known  to  be  opposed  to  the  school.  The  coun- 
seat  took  care  of  its  own  in  this  matter,  and  the  three  candidates  who 
were  fought  because  friendly  to  the  school  won  by  over  900  majority. 
The  board  as  elected  consisted  of  Wm.  Dunkin,  Thomas  Hayden,  .J.  A. 
Moore,  M.  L.  Stepheins,  Revilo  Xewton  and  Adam  Beatty.  Except  the 
last  named,  they  were  the  same  as  the  appointees  by  the  commissioners 
the  previous  spring.  Mr.  Beatty  was  chosen  in  place  of  E.  A.  Osborne, 
who  had  declined  a  nomination. 

In  1898  the  Republican  reaction,  which  was  so  pronounced  in  the 
state,  barely  gave  that  jiarty  a  lead  in  the  county,  which  Stanley  carried 
over  Leedy  for  governor  by  27.  For  Congress  the  fusioin  candidate, 
Ridgley,  won  by  40.  For  the  county  offices  the  fusion  candidates  who 
iad  been  elected  in  1896  were  all  again  candidates  and  were  everj  one  re- 


76  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

elected.  By  virtue  of  his  office  County  Superintendent  Doilisou  was 
president  of  tlie  hoard  of  tj-ustees  of  tlie  county  high  scliool.  and  as  bit- 
terly as  lie  was  fonj;lit  on  that  accou'iit  in  some  of  the  townshijis,  no  less 
ardently  was  he  supported  hy  his  townsmen  re-jardless  of  party.  But 
for  the  fifiht  made  on  Independence  and  Independence  candidates  by  the 
anti-l;igh  school  party,  it  is  hardly  probable  the  fusion  ticket  would  have 
been  again  elected.  As  it  was  the  Republican  candidates  for  Represen- 
tative H.  W.  Conrad,  in  the  western  district  and  F.  M.  Benefiel  in  the 
eastern,  were  both  successful,  as  was  also  D.  A.  ("line  for  re-election  as 
commissioner  in  the  Cotfeyville  district.  Rkidmore  carried  the  county 
again  for  judge  by  a  majority  of  593  over  Thos.  H.  Stanford,  of  Indepen- 
dence, the  fusion  candidate. 

The  incumbents  of  the  county  offices  were  all  candidates  for  a  second 
term  in  ISO!),  with  the  exception  of  Commissioner  (livens,  and  they  were 
all  successful.  Sijuires  had  only  57  for  sheriff  and  James  but  55  for 
county  clerk.  The  former  ran  against  Paxton,  who  is  now  a  dejmty  in 
the  office,  and  the  latter  against  McMurtry  who  won  the  clerkslii]!  at 
the  next  election  for  that  office.  Perseverance  in  office-seeking,  as  in 
everything  else,  counts  in  the  Jong  run.  Skinner  had  Palmer  for  an  op- 
ponent again  for  the  treasniy.  biil  it  didn't  require  the  official  count  this 
time  to  settle  the  matter,  his  majoiiiy  being  242.  Burke,  the  only  Repub- 
lican in  the  crowd,  ran  against  P.  S.  Brunk  and  had  the  largest  majority 
— 353.  For  commissioner  in  the  northern  district,  N.  F.  Veeder  made  his 
third  race  and  won  his  second  electicm,  defeating  M.  L.  McColluni  by  15(1. 
Wilson  Kincaid,  on  the  Republican  ticket,  and  E.  I*.  Allen,  on  the  fusiofn, 
were  elected  high  school  trustees,  both  being  Independence  men.  At 
this  time  there  can  be  no  (piestion  that  the  county  had  a  normal  Repub- 
lican majority,  but  the  aiteiiiiil  of  Ihc  Rejiublicans  to  make  political  cap- 
ital against  the  fusionists  o\ci-  ilic  jiigh  school  issue  was  still  resented, 
and  the  small  vote  the  Kciiuliliiaii  candidates  received  at  the  county  seat 
was  responsible  for  their  defeat.  The  commissioners  submitted  at  this 
election  a  pro](osition  to  appro5)riate  .f 5,000  for  the  erection  of  addition- 
al buildings  at  the  county  poor  farm,  which  was  overwludmingly  defeat- 
ed, receiving  but  1,L'94  votes  to  2,10!)  cast  against  it. 

By  the  time  the  Presidential  election  of  1!J(I0  r.illcj  arouiKl,  tiu'  Re- 
])ul)licans  had  regaiUied  their  hold  on  ^Montgomery  count \.  and  elected 
their  full  ticket  for  the  fust  time  since  1895.  The  majorilies  were  not 
lai'ge.  but  ample.  McKinley  had  21S  over  Bryaii ;  Wooley,  tiie  Prohi- 
bition candidate,  received  :!1  votes;  the  Socialists  appeared  for  the  first 
time  in  the  couiily  i-etnrns,  Eugene  V.  Debs  getting  1!)  votes;  while  Whar- 
ton Barker,  as  a  niiddle-of-the-road  Populist,  had  one  lone  supporter, 
Henry  W.  Conrad,  one  of  the  j)ioneer  settlers,  who  came  to  the  county  in 
IXiJS,  was  elected  stale  Senator  by  2i!7  voles  over  .1.  II.  Wilcox,  the  fusion 
candidate.     11.  C.  Dooley  was  elecled  represeulalive  in  the  eastern  dis- 


IIISTOUY  OF   IIOXTUOMEUV  COITXTY,  KANSAS.  77 

ti-icl,  i;('tliiij;  1  .S(I2  votes  to  1  .IJil!"!  cjist  for  (i.  W.  Wingiito.  In  the  wcst- 
fiii  disfiict  .1.  ().  Whistler  won,  with  1,51]  to  1,4:^  for  T.  W.  Truskctt. 
M'.  1'..  Soulc.  :i  <"ht'rr.vvale  attorney,  was  elected  probate  judge  by  ISO, 
oMM-  E.  T.  Lewis.  L.  I).  Winters  beat  B.  E.  ("ole  826  votes  for  district 
clei-k.  J.  N.  Dollisou  ran  for  the  third  time  as  the  fusion  candidate  for 
sujierintendeut  of  schools  ;i)nd  was  beatiui  I'M)  votes  by  Sullivan  Loniax. 
J.  H.  Dana  and  Mayo  Thomas  were  jtitted  against  each  other  foi'  county 
attorney,  and  Dana  got  90  votes  the  most.  Henry  Norton,  the  fusion  can- 
didate fo  rconimissioner,  came  within  four  votes  of  landing,  but  F.  E. 
Taylor  was  re-elected.  J.  M.  Oourtney  and  E.  D.  Leasure  were  elected 
hiiih  srhool  trustees. 

Tlic  co'iistitutional  anu'iuliiicnt  increasing  the  number  of  judges  of 
tli(^  su])renu'  rourt  from  tlirc(>  to  seven  received  a  majority  of  1,.")79  in  the 
county. 

The  year  li)01  saw  less  politics  in  the  county  than  any  other  itn  its 
entire  history.  The  legislature  had  enacted  a  law  doing  away  with 
elections-  for  county  officers,  as  far  as  possible,  in  the  odd-numbered 
years,  and  there  were  only  two  county  high  school  trustees  and  a  com- 
missio'ner  in  the  southern  district  to  elect.  A  very  light  vote  was  cast, 
but  Abner  Green  and  P.  H.  Fox.  the  Republican  candidates,  were  elected 
high  school  trustees,  and  D.  A.  ('line  was  made  commissioner  for  the  third 

AA'hen  10(12  came  around  there  was.  of  course,  a  full  complement  of 
county  officials  to  elect.  JJeauwhile  the  sheriff,  treasurer,  county  clerk 
and  register  of  deeds  had  held  over  for  an  additional  year,  making  a  five- 
year  term  for  each  of  them.  This  year  Republican  majorities  begain  to  ap- 
proacli  high  water  mark  again,  the  influx  of  population  resulting  from  the 
establishment  of  many  manufacturing  industries  in  the  cities,  having 
very  evidently  inured  to  the  benefit  of  that  party.  W.  J.  Bailey,  the  Re- 
publican candidate  for  governor,  came  out  580  votes  ahead.  For  con- 
gressman. P.  P.  Campbell,  the  candidate  of  that  party,  led  Jackson,  the 
Democratic  incumbent.  005  votes.  The  majority  for  judge  was  even 
greater.  For  this  office  T.  J.  Flannelly,  who  had  been  serving  by  appoint- 
ment since  the  creation  of  a  new  district  composed  of  Montgomery  and 
Labette  couneies.  was  the  Republican  candidate.  Against  him  was  pit- 
ted Captain  Howard  A.  Scott,  a  veteran  of  the  Twentieth  Kansas,  who 
had  served  in  the  Philippines.  Flanuelly's  majority  was  090.  Soule  was 
re-elected  probate  judge  by  a  majority  of  013  votes  over  (i.  R.  Snelling, 
The  fusion  candidate.  Winters  succeeded  himself  as  district  clerk,  beat- 
ing Roy  Baker  810  votes  and  leading  the  ticket.  Lomax  for  county  sup- 
erintendent, got  a  second  term,  ruuining  090  ahead  of  J.  O.  Ferguson,  his 
Democratic  competitor.  For  sheriff,  Andy  Pruitt  beat  Squire's  deputy, 
A.  W.  Knotts,  272.  J.  W.  Howe  was  elected  treasurer  over  Charles  Todd 
by  409  majority.     S.  McM.urtry  ran  again  for  county  clerk  ami  led  Arlev 


78  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Kijigs,  liis  KiMiiitc-ratic  coiupetitor,  791  votes.  Foi-  regi.stei-  of  deeds  an- 
other rhilippiue  soldier,  T.  J.  Straub,  aud  the  first  to  get  office  in  the 
oouuty.  wou  over  George  Hill,  bis  Democratic  competitor,  by  a  majority 
of  374.  Hibbard  aud  Rader,  for  surveyor  aud  corouer,  weut  iu  along  with 
the  rest.  For  representative  in  the  western  district,  J.  O.  Whistler  was 
re-elected  by  228  over  J.  A.  Wylie.  In  the  eastern  district,  J.  H.  Keith, 
a  Cofl'eyville  Democrat,  won  by  2<>  over  Dr.  T.  F.  Andress,  liis  Republican 
oi)i)oueut.  The  hardest  fight  was  over  the  office  of  county  attorney,  for 
which  Dana  and  Thomas,  the  candidates  of  two  years  previous,  were  both 
in  the  race  again.  Daina  had  failed  so  utterly  to  enforce  the  prohibition 
law,  or  to  even  make  any  attem])t  to  do  so.  and  it  was  so  generally  under- 
stood that  he  was  in  the  jiay  of  the  violaters  of  the  law.  that  he  ran  some 
hundreds  behind  his  ticket,  and  lost  out  by  just  eight  votes.  For  com- 
missioner in  the  first  district.  A'eeder  was  a  candidate  for  the  fouth  time 
and  for  a  third  term,  but  he  lost  by  1(>  votes  to  John  Givens,  who  had 
defeated  him  l)y  a  still  smaller  majority  in  1896.  This  could  hardly  be 
counted  a  Republican  defeat,  however,  as  there  were  localities  in  the  dis- 
trict where  nioic  Rcjiublicans  voted  for  Givens  than  for  Veeder,  whose 
record  as  a  biidgc  liuilder  and  a  friend  of  the  contractors  who  had  bribes 
to  dislribnic,  liad  (inncd  nianv  of  th<'  best  nidn  in  his  own  partv  against 
hiiii. 

Siiili  in  brief  is  the  record  of  th(^  iiolitiral  history  of  Montgomery 
comity,  'i'lic  c.ilaiogue  of  the  men  who  have  held  office  or  been  candidates 
in  llic  coi.iiiiy  is  a  long  one.  but  the  list  of  men  who  have  been  enriched 
tinan<ially  n\-  laid  the  foundations  of  a  comfortable  competency  from 
savings  out  of  official  salaries  is  so  small  that  it  can  be  checked  off  on  the 
fingers  of  one  hand.  The  time,  the  money  and  the  energy  that  have  been 
devoted  to  office-seeking  here  in  the  jtast  third  of  a  century  would  cer- 
tainly have  told  for  niore  in  almost  aliiv  other  line  of  business. 


•  'llAl'TKi:  VI. 
Towns  of  Montg-omery  County 

I'.v  \i.  \y.  vol  Nu. 
Lost  Towns 

Among  (lie  liisloric  towns  of  Montgomery  county  which  no  longer 
lia\c  an  abiding  |ilace  on  the  earth,  nor  a  locati'm  on  the  map,  the  first 
to  be  nicnlioncd  must  lie  Verdigris  ("ity.  which  was  laid  out  by  Captain 
]>aiiicl  .McTaggait.  aind  others,  in  .May,  iscii.  Its  location  was  about 
two  and  a  half  miles  west  ;lnd  half  a  u\\\v  north  of  the  present  town  of 
Libeily.  The  farm  of  Senator  H.  W.  Coni-ad  now  occupies  the  site  of  this 
city  llial  was  lo  be.  which  was  ihe  first  county  seat  of  Montgomery  coun- 
ty.    Il  had.  |)cr!iai.s.  a  dozen  houses  and  fortv  or  flflv  inhabitants  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  79 

lievday  of  its  pvosiicrity.  but  it  was  i;i-eater  in  ('xpt'ctations  than  in  any- 
thins  else. 

Montgomery  City  comes  next  in  order.  It  was  founded  near  the 
mouth  of  Drum  ("reek  by  K.  W.  Dunhip.  who  was  an  Indian  trader  there 
and  the  first  postmaster  commissioned  in  the  county.  It  was  in  this 
neighborhood  that  the  treaty  for  the  cession  of  the  Osage  U\nds,  which 
opened  the  coii^nty  to  white  settlement,  was  ratified  on  the  10th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1870.  This  embryo  city  also  had  county  seat  aspirations;  but  it 
early  became  evident  to  the  founders  of  the  towns  east  of  the  river  that 
to  divide  their  forces  was  to  lose  the  fight.  So  the  two  cities  which  have 
been  mentioned  were  abandoned  while  too  young  to  shift  for  themselves, 
and  the  i)artisans  of  both  united  in  locating  "Old  Liberty"  on  the  hill 
about  a  (|uarter  of  a  mile  to  the  east  of  ilcTaggart's  dam  and  mill  on  the 
V>erdigris,  and  just  across  the  road  to  the  east  of  the  resid(<nce  so  long 
occupied  by  Senator  McTaggart.  and  on  who.se  porch  he  breathed  his  last. 

The  contest  for  the  location  of  the  county  seat  was  a  short  one,  and 
when  Independence  won  in  the  district  court  in  May,  1870,  Goodell  Fos- 
ter, who  had  been  he  wheel  horse  in  the  tight  for  Liberty,  accepted  the  sit- 
uation among  the  first  and  moved  to  Independence.  A  few  months  later 
he  traded  his  corner  lots  in  what  was  to  have  been  the  metropolis  of 
Montgomery  county,  to  a  Liberty  merchant,  for  four  hats  of  medium 
quality.  When  the  railroad  was  built  down  the  east  side  of  the  county, 
Liberty  was  moved,  houses,  name  and  everything,  to  the  railroad  three 
miles  to  the  southeast,  where  the  present  city  of  Liberty  is  located. 

As  mentioned  elsewhere  iu  this  volume,  when  the  founders  of  I  nde- 
I)endence  reached  that  place  they  found  the  town  of  Colfax  already  laid 
out  by  George  A.  Brown,  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  northwest.  That  site 
was  at  once  abandoned  in  favor  of  Independence.  The  only  other  com- 
petitor Tndepdndence  ever  had  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  was  the 
wholly  mythical  town  of  Samaria, which  was  supposed  to  be  somewhere 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Walker  Mound,  and  which  received  the  honor  of 
a  vote  at  one  of  the  elections  as  a  candidate  for  county  seat. 

Then  there  was  the  city  of  Morgantown,  located  two  and  a  half  miles 
northeast  of  Independence,  about  where  the  school  house  now  stands 
iln  district  No.  o(i.  which  is  known  as  the  "Morgantown"  school  house. 
Hei'e  Morgan  Brothers  had  a  very  extensive  general  store  in  which  they 
had  almost  everything  for  sale  that  could  be  needed  in  a  pioneer  com- 
munity, and  there  was  a  blacksmith  shop  and  several  houses.  Charles 
Morgan,  who  has  been  so  long  since  a  prominent  character  at  Indepen- 
dence, and  who  is  now  city  marshal  there,  was  one  of  the  firm  that  gave 
name  to  this  embryo  city.  Competition  with  Independence  i>roved  too 
strong  for  the  young  town,  however,  and  its  business  was  gradually  ab- 
sorbed by  its  rival  across  the  Verdigris. 

As  a  co-nnecting  link  between  the  dead  and  the  living  towns  of  the 


8o  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

couHl.v  Kadiiiil  (Mty.  six  miles  northwest  of  ludepeuileiue  ainl  lialf  a 
mile  iiorlli  nf  KIk  liver,  iiiiist  be  mentioned.  It  was  founded  in  1801)  by 
Colonel  Samuel  Young,  but  it  never  tlourished,  and  at  the  best  made  but 
a  rural  hamlet.  When  the  Missouri  I'acitic  railroad  was  built  itt  1886, 
the  station  of  Larimer  was  established  a  little  more  than  a  mile  to  the 
•northeast,  across  Sycamore  creek,  and  the  i)Ostoftice  removed  to  that 
point.     Since  then  Radical  ("ity  has  been  fading  away. 

Villag'es  and  Postofftces  of  the  County 
Tyro 

.Vmonji  the  villages  of  the  county.  Tyro  occupies  a  front  rank,  with  a 
humlicd  Iniildings  of  all  kinds  and  about  two  hundred  people.  It  was 
laid  out  lln  the  tall  of  188(),  when  the  Denver.  Memphis  &  Atlantic  rail- 
road was  built  through  the  south  jtart  of  the  county,  and  has  been  a  sta- 
tion on  that  line  ever  since.  Joseph  Lenhart  was  the  founder  of  the 
town  and  laid  it  out.  He  and  William  Chambers  moved  in  the  spring 
of  ]S,'»:7  on  the  town  site  from  a  (piarter  of  a  mile  south,  Lenhart  estab- 
lishing a  general  store  near  the  depot,  and  Chambers  locating  his  hotel 
in  the  same  vicinity.  Lenharfs  store  has  ever  since  been  the  largest  mer- 
cantile establishment  of  the  jjlace.  There  are  now  four  other  stores,  a 
lumber  yard,  meat  market,  barber  shop,  restaurant,  feed  mill,  livery 
stable  and  three  blacksmith  shops.  There  are  also  two  jihysicians,  three 
or  four  grain  buyers.  car|ienters,  jiainters  and  other  mechanics. 

The  question  of  a  hall  for  jiublic  entertainments  and  religious  meet- 
ings early  agitated  the  peojde  and  it  was  solved  by  the  donation  of  a  site 
by  .Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Lenhart  in  the  following  uuiipic  document; 
To  all  whom  it  may  concern: 

Know  all  men  by  the.se  presents  that  we.  Josejjh  Lenhart  and  S.  D. 
Ivenhart.  Imsba  ud  and  wife,  do  covenant  and  agree  with  the  people  of 
Tyro  and  vicinity,  in  the  county  of  .Montgomery,  and  state  of  Kansas,  that 
lots  Nos.  22,  2:?  and  24,  in  block  42  in  the  village  of  Tyro,  county  and  state 
aforesaid,  as  ]ier  recorded  plat  thereof,  shall  forever  lor  so  long  as  it  may 
be  used  for  such  jmrposes)  be  for  the  use  and  services  of  the  said  people 
of  Tyro  and  vicinity;  together  with  the  buildings  thereon;  for  the  pur- 
pose of  holding  public  meetings,  either  moral,  social,  religious,  scieln- 
tiflc  or  politiral ;  wc  only  reserving  control  and  alloting  to  each  a  time  of 
service;  pledging  oiiisclves  to  maintain  e()ual  and  exact  justice  to  all  re- 
gardless of  I  i-crds  or  hi'licfs.  in  accordance  with  our  best  judgment. 

Signed: — JosErn  Lexiiakt,  S.  D.  Le.nhart. 

'I'lie  fuinls  liir  a  luiilding  were  raised  by  publi(>  subscriptions,  and 
amoiiu  the  iio\cl  iiiciliids  employed  was  a  (piilt  scheme  which  brought  i'n 
!?11(;  for  names  worked  ot,  it.  and  .flSt;  more  when  it  was  .sold.  The  cor- 
ner stoiir  w:is  laid  .lune  27lli.  ISill.  and  the  dedicatory  services  were  con- 
ducted bv  the  -Masonic  loduc  of  Canev,  Kansas.     This  hall  is  used  bv  all 


rilSTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  8  I 

llie  icli.uious  sdcictics  and  other  oi-<>auizatious  of  \\w  villajie.  to  ilic  iinin- 
l)er  of  seveu. 

Tyro  is  jirinripallv  famous  fur  its  excclhMit  soft  water,  its  suii]ily 
bei'ng-  thought  suiieiior  to  that  of  any  otlier  locality  in  Kansas.     This 
water  is  found  in  abundance  at  a  depth  of  from  six  to  ten  feet  iu  the  high- 
er part  of  town,  and  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet  in  the  lower. 
Jefferson 

Jefferson  on  the  Missmri  racitic  lailroad  midway  between  Indepen- 
dence and  ('otfeyvillc,  has  a  p<>[iiilati(>n  of  sixtytive.  It  was  laid  out 
when  the  Verdigris  Valley.  Indeppindence  &  Western  railway  was  built 
in  ISSf).  on  ground  owned  by  Albert  Jefferson  Broadbent,  who  donated  the 
right  of  way  to  the  railway  on  condition  that  a  station  be  maintained 
there.  The  place  was  named  Jefferson  in  honor  of  Jlr.  Broadbent.  The 
land  o'n  which  the  town  is  built  was  originally  a  part  of  a  claim  settled 
on  by  E.  M,  Wheeler  in  18(!9.  He  built  a  hewed  log  house  on  it,  and  had 
lumber  for  fencing  sixty  acres  of  land  piled  near  the  house  and  on  March 
1st  following  the  survey,  he  moved  in  and  began  to  make  a  home.  That 
night  a  rival  claimant,  who  had  been  surveyed  in  the  same  section,  set  fire 
to  Wheeler's  log  cabin,  thiiuking  to  get  possession  of  the  tract  in  that 
way.  It  happened  that  Mr.  Wheeler  and  his  brother,  George  R.,  were  in 
the  hotise  at  the  time,  though  the  incendiary  did  not  know  it.  They  es- 
caped with  only  one  pair  of  trousers  for  the  two,  and  the  former  went 
across  the  prairie  with  no  clothing  but  a  shirt,  falling  into  a  mud  hole 
by  the  way.  Wheeler  later  traded  the  land  to  C.  C".  Wheeler,  of  Troy,  Kan- 
sas, who,  in  188S,  sold  it  to  Mr.  Broadlwnt. 

The  town  was  .surveyed  a'nd  i)latted  by  B.  W.  DeCourcey.  The  first 
store  was  opened  by  Fletcher  &  Stentz.  The  first  church  was  built  by 
the  Methodists  in  1S85,  and  is  now  credited  with  a  membership  of  113. 
The  Christian  church  was  built  in  1894  and  has  a  membership  of  40.  The 
school  house  was  built  in  IftOtt,  at  a  cost  of  .|2,.^00.  and  is  a  modern  Tjuild- 
ing  heated  with  gas  and  capable  of  accomodating  100  pupils.  Two  teach- 
ers are  employed.  The  M.  E.  parsonage  for  the  Jefferson  circuit  is  located 
here. 

There  are  two  general  stoi-es,  a  hotel,  a  blacksmith,  a  resident  physi- 
cian, a  grain  buyer  :  'nd  a  stock  shipper.  There  is  neither  saloon  nor  drug 
store.  The  railroad  station  was  burned  in  1002.  and  a  new  and  well 
ef|ui]iiied  one  has  just  been  comjjleted  in  its  place,  with  telegrajjh  opera- 
tor for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  village. 

Mr.  Wheeler,  who  is  mentioned  above  as  the  i)ioneer  settler,  now  lives 
across  the  railroad  to  the  east  of  the  village  where  he  is  growing  the  finest 
and  biggest  red  strawberries  to  be  found  V'l  the  county. 

Bolton 

Bolton  is  a  ]ilai(>  of  some  twenty  dwellings  and  about  a  hundred  in- 
hnbitaiits,  located  on  the  Indeiiendence  vV;  SouthwesTeni  line  of  the  Santa 


82  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Fe  railroad,  eight  miles  southwest  of  the  county  seat.  It  was  hiitl  ont 
when  the  railroad  was  built  iu  1880,  by  the  Arka'nsas  Valley  Land  and 
Town  Company.  There  are  two  churches,  three  stores,  a  blacksmith  shop, 
a  wagon  shop,  and  a  resident  physician.  Bolton  is  central  to  the  great- 
est oil  and  gas  field  yet  discovereil  in  Montgomery  county,  and  the  work 
of  drilling  is  being  i)rosecuted  more  vigiinnisly  there  than  at  any  other 
jioint  in  the  county.  Six  gas  wells,  not  one  "f  them  of  less  than  ten  mill- 
ion cubic  feet  daily  capacity,  were  oi)eiied  there  in  l!tOL'  and  llXio,  and 
all  of  them  give  indications  of  oil  as  well  as  gas. 
Sycamore 
Sycamore  is  another  laidroad  town  lo<ated  when  the  Missouri  I'a- 
citic.  or  Verdigris  Valley.  Indejiendence  ..^  Western  railroad,  as  it  was 
then  named,  was  built  through  the  county.  It  is  just  seven  miles  directly 
north  of  hndependence.  and  is  a  growing  i)lace  with  good  stores.  Two 
vitrified  brick  plants  located  in  its  immediate  vicinity  afford  a  founda- 
tion on  which  to  l)nild  hopes  of  future  greatness.  Gas  is  abundant  in  the 
townshiji.  and  it  is  claimed  that  veins  of  coal  from  three  to  eleven  feet 
deep  have  been  found  wherever  the  drill  has  gone  down  in  the  surrou'nd- 
ing  township  of  the  same  name,  oil  wells  have  also  been  found  in  the 
vicinity,  though  no  oil  is  ycr  sliiii]i(Ml.  Indeed  it  is  claimed  that  one  such 
well  is  a  forty  l)arrel  producer. 

Wayside,  Dearing  and  Crane 

N\'ayside  is  a  station  and  postollii-e  between  Bolton  and  Havana  on 
the  Southwestern.  Dearing  is  a  station  and  hamlet  five  miles  west  of 
Cort'eyville  on  the  Denver.  Memphis  &  Atlantic  division  of  the  Missouri 
I'acific.  and  the  jmint  of  junction  with  the  main  line  runining  north.  It 
has  a  jiostottice  and  store.  Crane  is  a  station  on  the  Southern  Kansas 
division  of  the  Santa  Fe.  five  miles  northwest  of  Independence.  It  has  a 
jKist office  and  coiitntry  store. 

Havana 

Havana  was  founded  in  the  summer  of  1870.  when  Lines  &  Cauft'mau 
established  a  general  store  there.  They  were  preceded  by  ('allow  &  Myers 
who  went  into  business  in  the  fall  of  iStiil,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  oa 
v.Jiat  afterward  became  the  David  Dalby  farm.  Lines  &  CautTmau  cou- 
tiinied  in  busiiness  until  the  spring  of  L874  when  they  sold  to  W.  T. 
Bisho]).  He  disposed  of  the  business  in  IST.'i  to  J.  T.  Share.  Havana  con- 
tinued to  thrive  as  a  country  trading  jiost.  without  a  railroad  until  1886, 
when  the  Southwestern  extension  of  the  Southern  Kansas  line  of  the  San- 
ta Fe  was  built  through  there.  It  now  has  a  jiopulation  of  180  and  is 
the  slii])])ing  i)oint  for  a  large  amount  of  grain  and  live  stock  from  the 
surrounding  country.  The  fertile  valley  of  Bee  creek  adjoins  the  town, 
and  forms  one  of  the  best  wheat  sections  of  the  county. 

Havana  has  three  church  organizations,  the  Methodist  and  U'nited 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  83 

Brethren  with  a  hundred  members  each,  and  the  Trimitive  I'.ajitists  with 
about  twenty  members.  There  is  a  <jraded  scliool,  with  two  dejiartments. 
Tlie  Independent  Order  of  Odd  FeHows  has  a  stioii-'  organization  with  83 
members.  Tliis  order  liuilt  and  owns  a  substantial  bricii;  st<u'e  building, 
with  lodge  rixuns  and  liall  en  tlie  seiond  fioor.  The  Rebekah  lodge  has 
80  members;  the  Modern  \\'o<Mlmeu  of  America,  sixty;  and  the  tlome 
Builders,  thirty;  the  Koyal  Neiglibors,  forty-three;  and  the  Anti-Horse 
Thief  Association,  fifty. 

The  oldest  merchant  is  T.  R.  Pittman,  the  postmaster,  who  conducts 
a  hardware  and  implement  and  boot  and  shoe  store.  He  has  been  in  bus- 
iness here  for  eighteen  years.  Other  business  men  are:  P. H. Lindley,  drug 
store;  J.  A.  Xollsch,  barber  and  harness  shop;  S.  A.  Evans,  restaurant; 
('.  E.  Campbell,  hotel;  (".  X.  Harrison,  lumber;  M»  H.  Ross,  livery  stable; 
P.  H.  Dalbv  and  D.  W.  Howell,  phvsiciaiis;  and  J.  S.  Reyburu  and  John 
Sharpless,  blacksmith  shops. 

Independence  and  Its  History 

In  all  southeastern  Kansas  there  is  no  other  city  whose  location  pos- 
sesses so  many  advantages  as  does  that  of  Independence.  Built  at  a 
])oint  where  the  blulis  come  close  to  the  Verdigris,  and  have  a  solid  foun- 
dation in  the  "Independence  limestone,"  which  outcrops  forty  feet  thick 
at  the  river  bridge  just  east  of  the  city,  the  site  selected  for  the  future 
metropolis  is  high  and  well  drained,  and  sntticieutly  rolling  to  render 
the  scenery  picturesque,  while  furnishing  tine  natural  drainage.  Possess- 
ing so  many  advantages,  and  lying  so  near  the  geographical  center  of 
Montgomery  county,  it  was  almost  inevitable  that  the  city  should  be- 
come the  county  seat  of  the  new  county.  And  this  was  of  course  what  the 
company  of  Oswego  men  who  came  here  on  the  21st  of  August,  1869, 
under  the  lead  of  R.  W.  Wright,  intended  from  the  start  it  should  become, 
Indeed,  they  made  no  secret  of  this  intention  but  boldly  pi'oclaimed  it  on 
the  tirst  night  they  spent  here  when  camping  out  at  Bunker's  cabin 
which  was  located  on  what  is  now  the  Pugh  family  home  on  North  Xinth 
street.  This  is  one  of  the  highest  points  in  the  city  and  was  then,  and  for 
some  time  afterward,  kn^qwn.  as  "Bunker  Hill." 

Speaking  about  this  cabin  of  Frank  Bunker's,  in  a  Historical  Sketch 
of  Montgomery  county  delivered  as  a  Fourth  of  July  address  in  1876,  the 
late  E.  E.  Wilson,  who  was  the  leading  historian  of  the  pic'neer  days  of 
the  county  and  from  whose  writings  we  shall  have  occasion  to  draw  very 
liberally  in  the  pi'eparation  of  this  chapter,  says,  that  at  that  time  Bunker 
complained  that  the  cabin,  "instead  of  being  treasured  up  in  canes,  base 
ball  clubs,  ear  rings  and  pulpits,  like  other  land  marks,  has  been  prosti- 
tuted to  the  vile  instincts  of  domestic  fowls  and  beasts  that  perish."  In 
other  words  it  had  been  converted  into  a  hen  roost  and  cow  stable. 

Besides  Frank  Bunker,  the  other  earlv  settlers  in  the  vicinitv  of  In- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTCOJIERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


IIlSTdKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  85 

(IciieiHlt'iut'  wt'io  liis  l)i()1hcr,  Fred  Bunker,  W.  O.  Sylvester.  Taildv  Cil- 
liila  and  Georjie  Keed.  all  of  whom  are  said  to  have  cdnie  in  June  1809. 
The  first  claimants  to  any  part  of  the  original  townsite  of  rndependence 
were  Frank  Bunker,  Shell  Reed  and  W.  ().  Sylvester.  Bunker  was  in- 
duced afterward  to  move  the  lines  of  his  claim  so  as  to  make  room  to  plat 
the  city,  and  "Bunker's  Addition"  to  the  northwest  of  the  lity  was  one 
of  the  first,  and  probably  the  first  addition  to  the  city. 

While  the  United  States  government  did  not  coinclude  a  treaty  with 
the  Osage  Indians  for  a  cession  of  their  lands  in  this  county  until  July 
1870,  individual  settlers  had  been  making  treaties  with  the  red  skins  for 
larger  or  smaller  tracts  of  land  for  a  couple  of  years  previous,  and,  in 
September  1869,  George  A.  Brown,  after  a  protracted  council,  coincluded 
and  solemnized  an  agreement  for  the  cession  to  him,  of  a  tract  of  land 
lying  between  Rock  Creek  on  the  south  and  Elk  river  on  the  north,  the 
Verdigris  river  on  the  east  and  Walker  and  Table  Mounds  on  the  west. 
Probablly,  at  that  time, Brown  had  no  idea  that  the  whole  of  the  tract  to 
which  he  thus  acquired  an  irregular  and  not  exactly  legal  title  would  be- 
come the  site  of  the  Greater  Inde])endence  of  the  future — and  there  are 
plenty  of  i)eoi)le  today  who  do  not  yet  see  that  this  entire  territory  is 
bound  to  be  covered  by  the  city  and  its  suburbs  during  the  first  half  of  the 
twentieth  century.  The  region  embraced  is  an  irregular  one,  about  five 
miles  long  by  as  many  wide,  and  embraces  very  nearly  twenty-five  square 
miles  of  land.  For  this  tract,  a  sitngle  acre  of  which  now  has  a  land 
value  of  over  |25,(lfl0,  Browu  paid  the  munificent  sum  of  .f50.  The  stipu- 
lations of  the  treaty  were  few  and  plain.  Each  jiarty  bound  itself  to  pro- 
mote peace  between  the  two  races.  Brown  was  to  build  all  the  houses  he 
wanted,  and  Chetopa,  the  Indian  chief  who  took  the  part  of  grantor,  was 
to  have  free  pasturage  for  his  ponies.  Finally,  Chetopa  began  to  count 
the  houses  that  were  going  up  on  this  tract  a*nd  to  estimate  what  his  rev- 
enue would  have  been  at  the  customary  tax  of  ^.5.00  each.  He  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  he  had  been  swindled,  and  asked  Brown  for  a  new 
council  to  rescind  the  treaty.  Brown  was  ecpial  to  the  occasion  and  pic- 
tured in  glowing  terms  what  the  immaculate  word  and  unstained  hc^nor 
of  a  great  Indian  warrior  re(iuired  in  the  observance  of  svich  sacred  and 
binding  obligations,  demanding,  if  it  were  possible,  that  he  would  for- 
ever disgrace  himself  and  his  tribe  by  going  back  on  his  plighted  woiJ. 
Still,  Chetopa  insisted  that  there  were  too  many  houses,  and  that  his 
people  were  bei'ng  imposed  upon.  The  upshot  of  the  matter  was  a  further 
stipulation;  that  the  |50  already  jiaid  should  exemi)t  the  town,  and  that 
the  settlers  outside  might  pay  him  |3.00  per  claim  in  addition. 

While  the  Oswego  people  brought  the  name  "Independence"  with 
them  all  i-eady  to  apply  to  their  county  seat  that  was  to  be,  they  found 
a  competitor  in  the  town  of  "Colfax,"'  which  Geo.  A.  Brown  had  already 
laid  out,  a  mile  or  more  to  the  northwest,  where  the  flr.st  city  cemetery 


86  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

was  afterward  located  by  Mavor  DeLoiig.  At  the  age  of  three  weeks  this 
town  was  already  provided  with  a  full  equipment  of  streets  and  alleys 
and  beginning  to  take  rank  among  the  towns  of  the  county.  After 
looking  the  ground  over  on  the  day  following  their  arrival,  Brown  was 
jiersuaded  to  abandon  (\ilfax  and  cast  his  fortunes  with  the  Indejiendence 
]>nrfy.  With  a  jxx'ket  comi)as,  a  survey  of  the  town  site  was  made  by 
( "aplaiii  Hamner.  E.  R.  Trask.  Frank  Bunker  and  one  or  two  others,  which 
approximately  determined  the  boundaries  of  the  city  that  was  to  be. 

For  a  time  we  can  do  no  l)etter  than  to  follow  Mr.  Wilson's  narra- 
tives as  closely  as  may  be.  He  says :  "Returning  to  Oswego  they  organ- 
ized the  Independence  Town  Comjiany,  contracted  for  the  publication  of 
the  "Independence  Pioneer."  for  the  location  of  a  sawmill  and  for  the 
cari-ying  of  a  weekly  mail  from  Oswego.  A  week  later  L.  T.  Stephenson 
returned  to  manage  the  business  of  the  company  and  began  the  erection 
of  a  double  log  hotel,  known  as  the  "Judson  House."  In  September  a  cele- 
bration was  held,  the  main  feature  of  which  was  a  barbecue.  Speeches 
were  made  by  E.  R.  Trask,  R.  W.  Wright  and  L.  T.  Stephenson.  All  the 
settlers  in  the  viciinity,  perhaps  one  hundred  in  number,  were  congre- 
gated. The  refreshments  consisted  of  the  ox,  four  kegs  of  beer  and  two 
barrels  of  bread.  They  were  brought  from  Oswego  by  J.  N.  DeBruler's 
ox  team.  In  crossing  the  Verdigris  the  team  became  unmanageable  and 
dnni]icd  the  whole  outfit  into  the  river.  Xo  lime  was  lost  in  fishing  it  out, 
and  of  course  csiiccial  care  was  lakcii  1o  save  (he  beer,  which  ranie  fiut 
unihimaged. 

About  October  1st.  ISC'.),  i:.  K.  Wilson  and  F.  D.  Irwin  ojiened  a 
store,  having  received  their  first  iiivuirc  of  goods,  by  wagon,  from  Fon- 
tana.  Miami  county,  whirh  was  as  near  as  the  railroad  then  ran.  (Custom- 
ers were  infrequent  in  those  early  days  and  the  proprietors  employed  their 
leisure  in  making  hay,  where  is  now  the  intersection  of  Main  street  and 
Penn.  avenue.  Lumber  was  scarce  before  the  saw-mills  got  to  running, 
and  none  was  to  be  got  nearer  than  Oswego.  But  the  crop  of  hay  was 
immense,  and  the  pioneers  busied  themselves  in  the  erection  of  hay  houses 
in  which  they  found  very  comfortable  shelter  during  the  winter,  and  which 
gave  the  city  its  fir.st  nickname  "Hay town." 

In  October  1869,  too,  R.  S.  Parkhurst.  better  known  as  "Uncle  Sam- 
my," arrived  from  Indiana  with  a  colony  of  eighteen  families  thereby 
doubling  the  i)o]>ulation  of  the  town.  These  pi-ovided  themselves  with 
hay  houses  also.  And  it  is  W(u-thy  of  note  that  of  all  the  sixty-niners 
who  laid  the  foundations  of  this  growing  city,  ilr.  Parkhurst  and  O.  P. 
(laiiililc  are  the  only  ones  still  living  here.  Althimgh  at  an  advanced 
age  Mr.  Parkhurst  is  still  hale  and  hearty  and  is  taking  a  most  active 
interest  in  every  movement  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  city  and  its  indus- 
tries. Since  the  beginning  of  the  present  year  he  made  a  talk  in  a  public 
meeting  at  the  Auditorium,  telling  something  about  those  early  days,  in 


IIISTdKY  (IF   MOXTCOMEUY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  87 

which  he  stutcd  that  he  never  tlien  expected  to  see  Iiideiiendeuce  become 
what  she  is  today,  but  at  the  same  time  unhesitatingly  alHrmed  that  he 
now  expected  to  live  to  see  her  with  a  hundred  thousand  population. 

On  the  ICth  of  November  1869,  Alexander  Waldschniidt  reached  In- 
dependence with  his  saw  mill.  Immediately  Carpenter  &  Crawford  locat- 
ed east  of  town  on  the  Allison  famn,  and  A.  L.  Ross  at  the  mouth  of  Elk 
river.  All  were  running  in  December,  but  Carpenter  &  Crawford  sawed 
the  first  luml)er.  Their  enterprise  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
for  the  first  week  they  carried  water  in  pails  from  the  river  to  run  their 
engine.  Mr.  Waldschniidt  was  very  enteri»rising  and  proved  one  of  the  most 
important  factoi-s  in  the  building  of  the  town.  He  erected  the  first  grist- 
mill in  the  county,  on  the  river  just  above  the  site  of  the  present  ice  fac- 
tory, and  began  grinding  grain  there  in  the  fall  or  winter  of  1871.  He 
also  made  the  first  shipment  of  tiour  from  the  county.  While  all  the  other 
north  and  scmth  streets  of  the  city  bear  numbers,  the  one  next  the  river 
is  named  "Waldschniidt  Avenue."  in  his  honor. 

The  story  of  the  struggle  for  the  location  of  the  county  seat  is  re- 
ferred to  elsewhere  in  this  history,  and  need  not  be  detailed  again  herei 
From  the  first  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  county  favored  Indepen- 
dence, and  it  was  only  a  question  of  time  when  their  will  sliould  be 
obeyed.  At  the  election  in  November  1809,  the  first  vote  was  taken,  and  it 
was  only  by  throwing  out  the  northern  precinct,  known  as  Drum  Creek, 
on  a  technicality,  that  a  majority  was  secured  for  Liberty,  by  the  east 
side  board  of  commissioners  then  in  office.  This  was  the  first  backset  In- 
dependence received,  and,  though  shi*  has  had  them  in  plenty  since,  she 
has  always  done  as  she  did  then — buckled  on  her  armor  and  fought  it  out 
on  that  line.  And  in  almost  every  instance,  she  has  won  in  the  end,  as  she 
did  the  following  May  in  the  courts,  and  the  following  Xovcmber  at  the 
polls,  in  the  county  seat  fight. 

Unfortunately  our  State  Historical  Society  did  not  begin  business 
until  1875,  and  prior  to  that  date  newspajier  flies  are  not  accessible,  and 
onlv  oc<-asional  copies  of  Independence  newspapers  of  earlier  dates  have 
been  preserved.  Indeed,  the  burning  of  the  office  of  the  ••Independence 
Tribune,"  with  its  flies,  in  February  1883,  and  of  the  ••Iinlepciidence 
Star,"  with  the  flies  of  the  earlier  issues  of  the  ■•Independence  Kansan,"' 
in  December  1884,  resulted  in  a  loss  of  material  for  early  history  that  is 
not  only  irreparable  but  well  nigh  incalculable.  The  first  newspaper 
published  in  Independence  was  the  "Independence  Pioneer,"'  of  which  one 
of  the  flrst,  if  not  the  first,  copy  issued,  bearing  date  November  27th,  1869, 
and  another  dated  January  1st,  1870,  are  to  be  found  in  the  collection  at 
Topeka,  but  no  others.  In  the  former  issue  most  of  the  business  cards  are 
of  Oswego  firms,  but  among  the  Independence  advertisers  are  Wilson  & 
Irwin's  grocery  and  Ralstin  &  Stephenson's  real  estate,  insurance  and  gen- 
eral convevancing  office.  In  the  latter  we  note  that  Ralstin  &  Coventrv  are 


88  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

in  ihc  liai-thviuc  Imsinews  ;it  Iiuleiiendence ;  Allison  &  Bell,  "eneral  nier- 
cliiUHlisc  ;  I  »i .  Swallow,  dry  jjoods.  jn-ovisions  and  uiucciies  ;  ( 'has.  \Yise, 
fni-nitnrc;  <"lias.  ("oventry.  dnitrs  and  jirocciics ;  Urowii  cX;  Kisburg  and 
Kiioklc  .^t  Delinilcr.  meat  markets,  .'^t  Westralia.  Crawford  ^^c  MjCue  an- 
ntniiicc  ilienisel\c's  as  :ii tdiiicys  at  law  and  land  agents. 

'I'lie  •Pioneer"'  was  )iiiiiic(l  at  Oswego  nntil  some  time  in  January 
ISKi,  when  it  iMM-aiiie,  in  fad  as  well  as  in  name,  an  Independence  insti- 
tntion.  and  was  fnrnished  with  an  onttit  of  type  and  a  press  here.  In  one 
of  its  earlier  issues  it  tells  an  interesting  story  about  a  pioneer  settler  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Indejiendence  who  was  living  in  a  log  house  and 
whose  wife  woke  him  one  night  to  startle  him  with  the  information  that 
the  baby  was  gone.  Lighting  a  candle  and  making  a  search,  no  trace  of  it 
conld  be  found  in  the  cabin,  but  on  going  out  doors  it  was  discovered  ly- 
ing on  the  ground  unhurt  and  fast  alseej).  having  rolled  out  of  bed  be- 
tween ilie  logs  that  formed  one  side  of  the  cabin. 

In  its  eilitorial  cohmin.  the  •'Pioneer"  inid  begun  the  work,  in  which 
we  arc  still  engaged,  of  booming  IndeixMidence  and  Montgomery  county: 
and  from  the  issue  of  .lanuary  Isl,  ISTtl.  the  following  forecast  is  wortii 
quoting: 

only  visited  liy  Indian  tiaders  occasionally,  is  now  teeming  with  intelli- 
gent, enterprising  immigrants  fioni  the  eastei-n  and  northern  states;  ami 
seltlcnienls  and  towns  have  siirnng  up  as  if  liy  magic.  Sn]iplie(l,  as  the 
vallev  is.  with  abundance  of  timber  iov  fencing,  its  vast  (|uarr)cs  of  white 
ami  brown  sandstone  for  building  ]iurposes,  ami  its  inexhatislible  beds 
of  excellent  coal  —it  does  not  re(]nire  a  very  vivid  imagination  to  jjicture 
a  future  exceeding  in  brilliancy  the  ]tasl  history  of  western  improvement. 

liMlependence  is  growing.  Forty  frame  buildings  h;ive  been  er<'cted  in 
as  many  <lays  since  our  saw  mills  ha.ve  been  turning  out  hiniber.  Tli(>  work 
ot  buildinii  has  went  (  sic  I  (ui  liglil  nierrily.  ;ind  sul)stantial  frame  build- 
ings li:i\c  taken  ilic  place  ot  1 iiis.  lints  and  liay  houses  that  a  few  weeks 

ago  \\('rc  scadeied  pi  omisciiously  o\ci'  our  iownsite.  Four  months  ago 
the  tall  prairie  i;rass  waxed  when'  today  are  scores  of  buildings  and  the 
scenes  of  busy  life.  To  one  unused  to'the  rajiid  growth  of  the  west  it 
would  seem  liie  work  of  magic." 

Xotliing  here,  it  will  he  observed,  about  natural  gas.  vitrified  brick, 
cement  ]ilants,  rolling  mills,  wimiow  glass  factories,  jjaper  mills,  electric 
railways,  foui'  story  .^^asonil•  Temiiles.  or  .fllll.dOll  hotels.  So,  ever  does 
the   re;ility   surpass   the  most     enthusiasi  ic  dreams    in   a   develo])ing  civi- 

The  tirst  school  house  in  I  ndepemieiice  was  built  in  the  winter  of 
ISC.it-TO,  and  was  dedicated  Ajiril  Kith.  1S7I1.  with  literary  exenuses 
which  are  said  to  have  been  of  unusual  merit.  The  school  was  opened 
April  21st,  with  M'iss  Mary  Walker,  the  first  female  teacher  in  the  county, 


HISTOUV  Ul'  .MU.NTliUMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  89 

in  clmi'op.  TIio  building  was  aftprward  rcniodeU'd  and  occnpied  by  the 
rnh('!i.  l^hi-otlii-i'ii  clun-ch.  Tlie  tirst  teachoi's'  institulo  in  the  connly  was 
licid  at  Vandivpi-'s  Hall  in  tlie  sunimei-  of  1870,  and  was  conducted  by 
Prof.  Holes. 

In  the  fall  of  ISdO  the  first  Snnday  school  was  oriianized  in  the  hay 
house  of  Mi-s.  McClnng.  The  lii'sf  seiiiion  was  preached  by  T.  11.  Canfield 
in  the  same  house.  Kev.  J.  .1.  ihown  orj>anize(l  the  First  f'reshyteriau 
chinch  of  Independence  April  :5.  1870,  and  the  Methodist  and  ljai)tist 
churclies  were  omanized  the  same  month.  The  IJaptists  erected  the  first 
church  buildinii.  which  was  dedicated  March  12tli,  1871.  Kev.  Mr.  Atkin- 
son, ol  ()swe,ii'o.  officiating. 

About  Fel)!uar\-  1870,  K.  AV.  Wright  addressed  a  uieetiog  at  A\'ilsou 
&  Irwin's  store  in  advocacy  of  an  east  and  west  railroad.  On  the  first 
day  of  -June  1870.  the  people  greeted  the  arri\'iil  of  the  stage  coach  from 
Oswego.  The  stor\-  of  the  vol  lug  of  .f2t)0.(l00  in  bonds  to  enable  the  county 
to  miike  a  subscription  of  .stock  to  the  same  amount  to  the  Leavenwortli, 
Lawrence  &  (SalvesVou  railroad  company,  which  was  the  second  among 
the  n  :',ny  adverse  e\ents  in  the  history  of  our  city,  is  elsewhere  told. 

Intil  along  in  1870,  says  \V.  H.  Watkins,  in  his  sketch  of  the  city's 
history  published  in  the  •■IndepcMidence  Kansan"'  ou  January  2,  1878,  the 
l)riucipal  part  of  the  business  was  transacted  on  Penn.  Avenue,  between 
Laui'el  and  iiyrtle  streets,  or  north  of  the  present  location  of  Baden's 
store.  The  mad,  as  travelled,  did  not  follow  the  avenue  south  of  that 
jioint  but  sL<i1  acrcss  lots  from  ^rtle  in  JIain,  reaching  the  latter  at  the 
corner  of  Sixth.  >Ahere  Zutz'  grocery  now  stands.  The  merchants  then  in 
business  on  the  north  side  of  .Main  street  f<mnd  it  necessary  to  have  their 
signs  ever  their  back  doors.  To  the  nortii  of  the  crossing  of  Main  street 
and  Penn.  Avenue  was  a  quagmire,  and  loaded  teams  frequently  stalled 
there. 

^laii  facilities  weie  meager  during  the  first  wiiUer  in  "Haytown."' 
and  the  government  did  not  act  as  ])roniiitiy  in  establishing  a  postottice 
as  it  has  since,  in  the  Indian  Territory  on  similar  (!(;casions.  While  the 
county  seat  was  at  Verdigris  City,  ii  is  said  that  the  ])ostage  im  letters 
brought  in  varied  from  ten  to  twenty-live  cents,  according  to  the  state  of 
the  weather:  but  at  Independence  a  service  was  airanged  fron.i  Oswego. 
L.  T.  Ste]>lienson  l)eing  the  fii'st  carrier,  and  the  charge  being  uniformly 
ten  cents  straight.  lie  was  succceced  by  31.  L.  llickey,  and  he  by  J.  ('. 
Woodiow,  who  carried  the  mail  until  the  advent  of  the  stage  coach.  At 
fir.st  letters  in  and  out  were  charged  for  alike,  but  later  the  only  charge 
was  for  those  brought  in.  One  i»oor  fellow  thoughtlessly  wrote  a  line  to 
a  Boston  paper  telling  about  the  new  ElDorado  here  in  southern  Kansas. 

;•!•■'  '•         -     :■■■•■'  '■■'■    '■•'■■•    '   " ^     '    lu-n  the  mail  arrived,  there 

■  readv  with  his  fractional 


i90  HI.>T(.)UV  UI-   .MUNTtiUJIKUY  COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

On  the  Isl  day  .,f  .Inly.  ISTd,  the  i)e(>i)l('  greeted  the  airivul  of  tlie  llrst 
:Stage  coach  from  Oswego,  and  on  the  first  of  July  F.  1).  Jrwin  was 
ajuiointed  ])ostniaster  at  a  sahiry  of  .f  ll'.OO  per  year.  At  the  present  time 
the  salary  of  the  postmaster  is  |:2,300,  and  the  payroll  of  the  oflBce,  in- 
cluding the  salaries  of  four  city  and  five  rural  delivery  carriers,  amounts 
to  IlL'.lioO  per  annum. 

The  Fourth  of  July  1S7(I.  was  a|.i.i-.ipria1ely  celebrated  in  a  grove 
south  of  town  on  Kock  creek.  Nearly  JIM)  peojile  were  present,  and  Cap- 
tain M.  S.  P.ell  was  the  orator  of  the  day. 

On  the  :2."5tli  of  July  ISTO,  J.  D.  Kmerson.  as  j.rol.ate  judiic.  in  accord 
anc(>  with  the  jietitiou  of  a  majority  of  the  voters,  incoijiorated  the  place 
under  the  style  of  •■the  inhabitants  of  ihc  town  of  Independence,"  and 
ai.pointed  the  folh.wing  board  of  trustees:  IC.  lO.  Uilson,  J.  H.  I'ugh  ,J.  E. 
Donlavy,  K.  T.  Hall  and  O.  P.  Smart,  of  this  lirst  governing  body  of  the 
eity,  O.  P.  Smart,  alone,  is  still  a  icsiilcnt  here.  They  met  the  next  day 
and  organized  by  electing  K.  T.  Hall,  chairman;  and  on  the  loth  of  Sep- 
tond)ei'  they  a])pointed  J.  ]>.  ("raig  as  clerk.  Their  first  ordinance  jiro 
vided  that  the  board  should  meet  on  the  sccdiid  Tuesday  of  each  month. 
They  next  decreed  that  all  sidewalks  on  .Main  street  and  Penii.  A\enne 
should  be  twelve  feet  wide.  The  third  made  it  unlawful  to  drive  any  ani- 
null  of  the  hor.se  or  mule  kind  through  the  streets  faster  than  a  trot,  or 
more  than  seven  miles  an  hour.  The  fourth  prohibited  gaming-tables  and 
all  devices  for  iilaying  games  of  chance,  also  bawdy  houses  and  brothels. 

On  the  Kith  of  Xo\einber  1871,  the  trustees  voted  to  .iccept  the  ]U-o- 
\isions  of  the  act  goverriing  cities  of  the  third  cla.ss.  Immigrants  had 
come  in  rapidly  during  the  spring  and  suntnier,  and  on  November  29th,  a 
little  more  than  fifteen  months  from  the  time  the  town  was  laid  out,  a 
count  was  made  of  8(111  jieople.  On  the  date  named  an  election  for  city 
officers  was  held.  J.  P..  ("raig  was  elected  the  first  nmyor,  receiving  93 
votes  to  89  cast  for  E.  E.  Wilson.  The  councilmen  elected  at  the  same 
time  were :  A.  Waldschmidt,  Thomas  Stevenson,  W.  T.  Bishop,  F.  D.  Ir- 
win and  (i.  H.  P>rodie.  Irwin  failed  to  (]ualify  and  on  December  8th, 
Goodell  Foster  was  appointed  to  serve  in  his  place.  On  the  same  date 
William  Heudrix  was  ajjpointed  the  first  nmrshal  of  the  young  city,  and 
CouncilmeTi  ^^'aldschmidt  and  P.islio]i  were  made  a  committee  to  draw  up 
j)lans  for  a  city  prison,  while  the  task  of  drawing  up  a  set  of  ordinances 
was  confided  to  .Mr.  Foster. 

On  the  ."ith  of  Jaunary  ISTl.  Preiitis  iV  Warner  were  authorized  to 
.erect  hay  scales  in  the  street  muth  of  Pugh's  drug  store.  This  is,  per- 
haps, the  only  business  house  then  in  existence,  which,  in  all  the  thirty- 
two  years  that  have  since  elapsed,  has  changed  neither  its  name,  its  busi- 
ness nor  its  location,  "PughV  Drug  Store"  being  still  located  at  the  south- 
feast  i-orner  of  I'enn.  Avenue  and  Laurel  streets.    At  this  meeting  the  first 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  9I 

drain  shop  license  recorded  was  granted  to  Henry  Kaiser,  who  was  to  pay 
a  fee  of  $50  for  a  period  of  six  months. 

On  the  23d  of  Jaunarv,  tlie  city  printing  was  awarded  to  the  "Kansas 
Democrat,"  which  was  published  by  ^lartin  ^'an^.llren  Bennett,  at  the 
rate  of  three  cents  a  line.  On  Febrnary  2,  Mr.  I'.ishop  was  appointed  a 
committee  to  see  about  deepening  the  two  public  wells.  The  work  was 
done  by  Lewis  &  Mossman,  who  were  i)aid  fo2.0S  for  going  down  2!)  feet 
in  one  of  them.  On  the  2()th  of  February,  it  was  ordered  that  a  well  be 
sunk  at  the  corner  of  Laurel  street  and  Penn.  Avenue. 

irarch  30th,  1871.  C.  il.  Ralstiu  as  city  clerk  repoited  a  population  of 
1,382  souls.  On  the  same  day  John  J.  Jack  was  licensed  to  keep  a  gro- 
cery and  sell  beer,  on  payment  of  |25.00  and  the  giving  of  a  |2.000.00 
bond.  On  the  same  date  H.  A.  Jimmersou  was  granted  a  dram  shop  li- 
cense. By  this  time  the  wants  of  the  thirsty  must  luive  been  pretty  well 
provided  for,  with  three  public  wells  and  as  niany  saloons. 

The  city  election  held  April  5th.  1871,  resulted  in  the  choice  of  E.  E. 
Wilson  as  mayor  and  J.  E.  Donlavy  as  jiolice  jiulge.  and  on  the  following 
day  J.  D.  Emerson  was  apjiointed  <ity  clerk  and  T.  P.  Trouvelle,  city 
marshal.  The  first  record  of  a  prohibition  sentiment  appears  on  Septem- 
ber l.'th,  when  Judson  &  Saylor  and  H.  ^'anderslice  a]>]ilied  for  permis- 
sion to  sell  liquor,  presenting  petitious  signed  by  130  people,  and  a  remon- 
strance signed  by  another  130  people  was  jiresented  at  the  same  time. 
Notwithstanding  the  remonstrance,  the  licenses  were  granted,  Councilmen 
Waldschmidt  and  Gray  voting  aye  and  Bishop  no.  December  7th,  Good- 
ell  Foster  resigned  as  city  attorney  and  Colonel  Daniel  Grass  was  ap- 
pointed to  succeed  him.  Three  weeks  later,  on  the  29th,  Grass  resigned 
and  J.  D.  McCue  was  appointed.  Among  other  citizens  who  afterward 
became  prominent  here  and  elsewhere,  who  were  honored  with  appoint- 
ments to  this  otlice.  were  William  Dunkin.  (ieoriie  ('linndlcr  and  George 
R.  Peck. 

In  1871  the  title  of  the  Independence  Town  (_'om])any,  which  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  existence  of  the  city  and  to  whom  it  owed  so  much, 
began  to  be  seriously  questioned,  and  for  the  next  year  the  matter  was 
kejtt  jirominently  to  the  front.  Between  the  spring  of  1871  and  that  of 
1872  the  growth  of  the  city  was  most  rapid.  Two  hundred  houses  were 
built  and  the  population  rose  from  one  thousand  to  twenty-three  hundred. 
This  was  nu)re  than  the  entire  gain  during  the  succeeding  ten  years,  and 
made  the  period  a  marked  one  in  the  history  of  the  young  city.  In  the 
summer  of  1871  the  Town  Company  was  losing  ground  rapidly.  The  lot 
so  long  occupied  by  Jasper  &  Boniface  as  a  meat  market  was  jumped  by 
them  during  that  summer,  and  a  building  started.  The  title  to  this  lot 
was  held  by  a  man  at  Fort  Scott  by  certificate  from  the  Town  Company, 
but  those  interested  in  maintaining  the  titles  of  this  company  assembled 
and  hitched  a  couple  of  yoke  of  oxen  to  the  building,  drove  the  carpenters 


•92  UISTOKV  Ol-   MONTGOMERY  COrX'I'Y.   KANSAS. 

otV  ami  jpailiallx-  liaiilod  tlip  building  into  the  street.  It  was.  however,  the 
last  show  of  vijior  on  the  i)avt  of  the  ("oiiiiiany.  Its  iiifluenee  was  ou  the 
wane,  and  lots  were  soon  i)ein<;  taken  everywhere,  regardless  of  its  warn- 
ings. Houses  began  to  he  bnilt  on  wheels  and  hauled  on  to  vacant  lots  at 
niglil,  or  tliev  weic  claiincd  by  some  other  act  of  occupancy.  After  the 
defeat  of  ilie  comi^any.  ihc  -imkI  wo;  k  it  had  done  for  the  city  was  fully 
recogniy.ed.  ami.  wiiiiug  of  it  in  1S7S.  W.  II.  Watkins  says:  "It  is  of  the 
past  and  the  Time  has  come  to  acknowledge  the  good  work  it  did.  Its  ob- 
ject has  been  grandly  attained  but  the  benefits  hiive  inured  to  others.  It 
entered  into  politics,  met  with  success  and  disaster  and  came  to  its  end  in 
litigation.  It  dug  wells,  built  hi>\ises.  established  a  iiewsiiajier  and  by  its 
wise  policy  induced  peojde  to  locate  here." 

Following  the  voting  of  county  bonds  in  aid  of  the  Leavenworth.  L;iw- 
rence  &  (ialveston  railroad,  in  June  ISTO,  which  was  acconijilished  by  the 
most  unblushing  fraud,  that  road  was  built  down  th.e  east  line  of  the 
county  in  July  1S71.  and  a  great  nuniy  peoj)le  thought  that  a  death  blow 
had  been  struck  a)  I  lie  new  city.  Its  people  were  not  made  of  the  stuff  to 
be  easily  ilis(  (iiira;;cd,  I  hough,  and  from  the  very  day  that  it  was  decided 
that  the  road  should  bi'  buili  there  they  went  to  work  to  secure  a  line  from 
Cherryvale.  Committee  fnllowcd  conunittee  in  rapid  succession,  and  re- 
ceived from  the  railroad  (llicials  the  same  courteous  treatment  and  ac- 
comiilished  the  same  barren  results.  !So  anxious  were  the  i)eople,  that, 
during  this  time,  it  was  jirivately  hinted  by  an  employee  of  the  company 
that  a  I  ash  contribution  of  four  thousand  dollars  and  one  hundred  town 
lots,  in  addition  to  the  |T,r)()(l  per  mile  in  bonds,  would  secure  the  branch 
beyond  question.  The  town  lote  were  selected  and  individual  notes  to 
the  amount  required  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  J.  B.  Craig  and  E.  E. 
\Vils<rn.  After  a  whole  round  of  failures,  Frank  Bunker,  M.  D.  Henry 
and  Charles  W.  Trent iss  succeeded.  This  was  late  in  1871,  and  the  de- 
mand was  so  urgent  that  a  bond  in  the  sum  of  $50,000  was  signed  by  a 
majority  of  the  voteis  as  a  guarantee  that  the  bonds  would  be  voted  so 
that  the  work  might  begin  at  once.  An  election  was  held  Sept.  30th,  and 
|2.">.00(»  in  bonds  voted.  Frank  Hunker,  by  a  generous  donation  of  land, 
secured  the  location  of  the  depot  on  his  premises,  and  the  road  became 
known  as  "Bunker's  Plug."  The  railroad  was  built  in  December  1871, 
and  the  first  train  of  cars  whistled  into  Independence  on  New  Year's 
day  187li.  The  termius  remained  here  for  seven  years — until  1879 — mak- 
ing this  a  wholesale  point  for  the  supply  of  the  entire  southern  Kansas 
trade  for  a  hundred  miles  to  the  west  and  contributing  very  materially  to 
the  growth  and  jirosperity  of  the  city. 

.\  wonl  more  is  titling  in  i-egard  to  Frank  I'.unker,  whose  name  will 
be  indissolubly  c(-nnecle(l  with  thi'  early  history  of  the  city  and  who.  per 
haps,  did  more  than  anyone  else  to  promote  its  welfare  in  Ihose  pioneer 
days.     He  died  at  And«iver.  .Massachuesetts,  on  the  12th  of  August  187(), 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMKRY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  93 

In  :ii(  I'ltiluarv  notice  sliovliy  after  that  date,  the  "Indeiicnilcnie  Kansan" 
said:  •Hut  little  happened  iu  which  Frank  was  not  consnllcd  ur  did  not 
take  an  active  i)art.  His  vivacity,  brilliant  wit  ,dash  and  droll  anecdotes 
made  him  sought  after  in  society,  ^^'hen  disposed,  few  men  were  more 
entertaining-  than  he  conld  be  and  none  was  warmer  hearted."  And  E.  E. 
\\'ilson  says  of  him  in  his  history  of  the  county:  "Frank  Bunker  was  a 
man  of  some  rare  native  talents  and,  in  some  directions,  of  fine  culture. 
A  natural  musician,  an  ea.sy  and  brilliant  writer,  in  conversation  he  del- 
uged his  hearers  with  song  and  story.  His  fund  of  humor  was  rich  and 
Ills  witticisms  truly  a  bonanza.  His  long  continued  ill  health  had  made 
liim  whimsical  and,  at  times,  very  irritable,  but  withal  Frank  was  a  gen- 
ial fellow  and  a  generous  friend.  After  travelling  from  the  Pacific  to  the 
shores  of  Africa  in  a  vain  search  fi)r  health  he  died  in  Massachusetts  in 
the  autum  of  ISTfi." 

During  the  year  1S72,  Independence  and  .Montgimiery  cnunty  were  in 
(he  heyday  of  their  early  prosperity  and  enjciying  what  is  known  as  a 
"boom."  E.  E.  Wilson  had  l)een  the  second  mayor  the  i)revious  year,  as  he 
was  the  first  storekeej)er  in  180!),  and  was  followed  in  that  oHice  by  James 
I  >eLong,  formei-ly  consul  at  Tangiers,  Morocco,  and  a  most  eccentric  char- 
acter. So  soured  was  he  with  the  world  that  we  who  knew  him  only  in  his 
later  years  invariably  referred  to  him  as  the  "chronic  growler."  It  was 
during  his  administration  that  the  removal  of  the  Osage  District  Land 
Office  to  this  city  occurred.  Speaking  of  the  removal  of  this  office  from 
Humboldt  to  Neodesha,  in  December  1871,  Mr.  ^Yilson  says:  "On  the  8th 
of  December  the  United  States  Land  Office  passed  on  its  way  from  Hum- 
boldt to  Neodesha.  As  it  passed  down  Main  sti-eet  and  north  on  the  aven- 
ue it  was  not  a  very  imposing  pageant,  but  its  intrinsic  value  of  |10, 000.00 
was  determined  before  it  passed  the  limits  of  the  town."  If  the  Neodesha 
people  paid  that  much  to  secure  it  they  made  a  very  poor  bargain,  foil  no 
later  than  March  2(ith,  1872.  the  same  office  was  opened  for  business  in  In- 
dependence, where  it  remained  until  discontinued  by  order  of  President: 
Cleveland  in  the  spring  of  1885.  The  means  used  to  secure  its  removal 
to  this  city  are  detailed  iu  another  chapter  of  this  book,  devoted  to  Sen- 
ator York's  betrayal  of  Senator  Pomeroy.  The  city  council  appropriated 
$3,000.00  to  secure  the  land  office,  but  of  this  amount  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  spend  only  .fl, !)()(>,  and  even  this  small  fraction  of  an  "intrinsic 
valii^  of  flO.dOO"  w<mld  mit  have  been  ])aid.  so  it  is  said,  by  DeLong's 
economical  administi-ation.  had  it  not  been  that  "the  town  site  was  hang- 
ing in  the  land  ottice." 

After  its  location  here,  the  officers  of  the  land  office  were  P.  B.  Max- 
on,  register;  and  M.  W.  Reynolds,  I'eceiver.  The  subsequent  registers 
were  W.  W.  Martin,  M.  J.  Salter  and  C.  M.  Kalstiu.  The  receivers  were: 
E.  S.  Nichols,  H.  M.  Waters  and  H".  W.  Young. 

In  March  1882.  there  was  found  here  a  population  of  2.300,  and  the 


94  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

goveruor  was  petitioned  to  mnke  Indepeudeiic-e  a  city  of  tlie  second  class, 
wliicli  he  did  by  i>roclaination  on  Mairli  2(itli.  Tlie  following  day  the  city 
was  divided  into  four  wards,  with  the  sanieboundariesastodayexceptthat 
the  fifth  ward  has  since  been  carved  out  of  the  second.  The  first  election 
under  the  new  title  was  held  April  .^)th.  when  James  DeLoug  was  elected 
mayor,  receiving  445  votes  to  14(;  for  I..  T.  Stephenson.  Osborn  Shannon, 
DeLong's  son-in-law.  was  elected  ]Mili(e  judge;  T.  V.  Trouvelle.  marshal: 
J.  I.  Crou.se.  treasurer;  and  A.  I».  (iihsdu.  justice  of  the  peace.  The  first 
board  of  education  was  elei  ted  at  the  same  time,  and  it  is  noteworthy 
that  two  of  its  members.  Mrs.  .1.  .M.  Ne\ins  and  .Mrs.  II.  T.  Millis.  from  tho 
first  ward,  were  the  first  women  elected  to  oltice  in  the  city.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  council  elected  at  the  same  time  were  J.  M.  Nevins,  Wm.  Daw- 
son, S.  A.  Wier.  John  Beard.  John  Kerr,  J.  iloreland,  Josei)h  Bloxam  and 
E.  T.  :\rears.    Of  these  six.  Dawson  and  :\Iears  still  reside  here. 

Ajiril  (itli.  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  small  pox.  wholesale  \accinal  ion 
was  ordered  and  the  following  physicians  appointed  to  do  the  work:  i'or 
the  first  ward.  Dr.  :M!isterman  ;  for  the  second  ward.  Dr.  Tlirall;  for  tlie 
tliird  ward.  Dr.  :Mc('ulley:  for  the  fourth  ward.  Dr.  Miller. 

The  year  ISTl*  was  one  of  the  most  jn-osjierous  ever  witnessed  in  In- 
dependence. The  transplanted  members  of  tlie  community  were  taking 
root  and  growing  togetlier  into  a  homogeneous  citizensliip.  while  times 
were  good  and  values  so  far  above  tlie  fLli.")  an  acre  the  lands  cost  to 
enter,  that  everybody  felt  rich.  During  this  year,  seventy-one  school 
houses  were  built  in  the  county  at  a  cost  of  $70. (•43.  and  the  fourth  ward 
brick  scjiool  building  at  Independence  compleTed  at  a  cost  of  $28,000.(10. 
Thougli  it  was  nicknamed  "the  Tannery."  011  iicroiiiii  of  its  box  like  otit- 
lines.  and  laiiie  into  bad  repute  in  later  years  bcrinisi-  of  ii  cracking  of  thj 
walls  which  was  Tliotight  to  render  it  unsafe,  it  scr\cd  its  ]ini-]ios(^  in  mak- 
ing a  home  foi  a  generation  if  srhocl  <liil(ireii,  and  when  il  was  demol- 
ished in  1901'.  it  was  found  to  he  substantial  enough  to  have  stood  for 
cenluries. 

If  .Mar<-li  ISTli,  the  city  coniiril  ordered  the  issue  of  .<!10.0(I0.()0  in  city 
scrip  to  jiass  current  as  money,  and  to  run  until  January  :>().  IS74.  It 
cost  $(;."( (.00  to  get  this  scrip  jirinied.  Half  of  it  was  in  one  dollar  bills 
and  half  in  two  dollar  bills.  Travelers  would  carry  this  novel  currency 
back  lo  Iheii-  homes  in  the  east  unnoticed  and  then  write  back  to  know  if 
the  bank  was  good.  Half  a  million  dollars  in  interest-bearing  debt  luol 
been  incurred  liy  the  county  in  (he  first  three  years  of  its  existence,  and 
times  could  not  but  be  |iros|ierous  for  the  fellows  who  had  the  spending  of 
the  money.  Right  atlnxart  this  boom,  almost  without  warning,  came  the 
]ianic  of  ]S7:{,  to  be  followed  the  next  year  liy  a  rainless  season,  drying 
and  jiarching  everything  on  the  farm,  except  the  mortgage  and  taxes.  And 
llieii.  to  cap  the  climax,  came  the  Itocky  iiioiiutain   locusts  or  grasshoj)- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  95 

'IMS  \\(  le  under  fouti'iiet  to  \niy  three  per  cent  a  month  for  the  use  of 
jiuinc.v.    The  fat  years  were  followed  by  others  as  lean  as  Pharaoh's  kine. 

Ill  April  1S73,  DeLong  was  re-elected  mayor,  and  he  continued  his 
sTicmiDiis  lij;lit  for  the  settlers  and  against  the  old  town  company  with 
all  111;'  sturdy  vigor  of  his  nature.  One  of  the  old  settlers  characterizes 
liiiu  .;s  "the  Croiuwell  of  Independence."  He  was  erratic,  unselfish  and 
•/.caions,  and  laliored  without  stint  to  secure  the  land  for  the  settlers  and 
relieve  them  from  the  necessity  of  buying  their  homes  from  the  town 
coni])any.  At  the  same  time  he  charged  every  man  six  dollars  for  a  deed  to 
a  lot,  as  expenses,  and  he  and  those  associated  with  him  never  made  any 
accounting  of  the  money.  In  fact  it  is  understood  that,  during  the  time 
The  settlers  were  paying  for  their  lots,  UeLong  was  living  out  of  the  in- 
come he  received  from  the  office  in  this  irregular  way.  He  was  not  pe- 
nurious and  did  not  lay  up  money  but  was  always  ready  to  spend  it  for 
liic  town  and  the  pcdple.  He  \\as  autocratic  in  his  methods  and  did  a 
great  (leal  to  build  u]>  the  city.  He  was  pugilistic,  too,  and  always  ready 
tor  a  tight.  The  issue  of  city  scrii)t  was  his  scheme,  and,  notwithstanding 
the  (loiibttul  legality  of  the  undertaking,  he  carried  it  through  very  suc- 
cessfully. The  stutf  circulated  and  was  never  at  a  discount.  Every  dollar 
(if  it  was  e\eutually  redeemed,  and  the  result  of  the  undertaking  might 
well  be  used  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  municipal  currency.  Altogether 
DeLong  was,  in  many  ways.  The  strongest  and  most  uni(|ue  personality 
in  the  city's  history,  and,  had  a  popular  novelist  known  him  and  his 
works,  he  might  have  served  as  a  leading  character  in  some  work  of 
fiction.  His  declining  years  were  soured  and  embittered,  however,  liy 
dwelling  upon  the  ingratitude  of  the  people  for  whom  he  had  hibored,  and 
he  seemed  to  have  a  grudge  against  the  world. 

The  most  prominent  event  of  the  year  1874  was  the  burning  of  the 
railroad  depot  on  Jaunary  15th,  which  resulted  in  the  purchase  of  a  fire 
engine  by  the  city  council  within  a  week.  The  DeLong  dynasty  ended  on 
the  TTh  of  April  that  year,  with  the  election  of  D.  B.  Gray  as  mayor. 

The  new  fire  engine  did  not  prevent  the  most  destructive  fire  in  the 
history  of  the  city  on  February  1.3th,  187.5,  when  eighteen  business  build- 
ings were  consumed.  Down  the  east  side  of  the  avenue,  from  where  Bad- 
en's dry  goods  store  stands  now,  and  up  the  north  side  of  Main  street  to 
The  location  of  Zutz'  grocery,  everything  went  ,except  Brown's  three-story 
brick,  where  the  Baden  clothing  house  now  stands.  That  was  reserved  to 
be  burned  later.  That  year  W.  E.  Brown  was  elected  mayor  and  William 
1  »unkin  city  attorney.  The  session  of  the  South  Kansas  Conference  of  the 
^1.  E  church,  which  convened  March  3,  and  was  presided  over  by  Bishop 
Merrill,  was  one  of  the  leading  events  of  the  year.  At  the  election  for 
city  officers  this  year,  W.  E.  Brown  won  the  mayorality,  having  278  votes 
To  IC!)  cast  for  ex-Mayor  DeLong.  Wm.  Dunkin  now  became  city  attor- 
ney, and  J.  L.  Scott  was  continued  in  office  as  police  judge.    The  steady 


96  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMEHY  roUXTY,  KANSAS. 

UVowdi  (if  ;i  pi-oliiliilioii  siMitiiiuMiI  \v;is  iiitliciitcd  \i\  llic  iiisl  nicl  ions  j;ivt'ii 
the  city  at  ionicv  in  XvAvrh  to  draw  up  an  (u-dinanic  to  jii-dliibit  dram 
shops  fi-om  keeping  oiieu  on  Sunday.  The  last  mcntioii  of  tlie  city  sci'ipt 
appears  in  Xo\-eniber  of  this  year,  wlicn  it  was  ordered  that  .If^.OOU.Od  of 
that  currency  lying  in  IIiill's  hank,  and  whidi  had  l)een  redeemed,  he  re 
issued  to  take  u]>  outstanding  wairants,  and  tiiat  the  rest  he  destroyed. 

The  years  hetween  IST:;  and  1SS1  ,iie  not  prolitic  of  material  for' the 
historian  of  Mtontgoinei-y  rounty's  <a|iital.  Hard  limes  had  the  new  coun- 
try in  its  gri]i.  and  it  was  sinijdy  a  matter  of  "hanging  on"  and  "waiting 
for  the  rlonds  lo  roll  by,"  witli  the  business  men  then  there.  Independence, 
having  reaciied  aliout  .'i.dIKi  in  population.  <anie  to  a  standstill  and  re- 
mained a  country  trading  post  merely,  except  for  ihe  wholesale  business 
in  the  region  to  the  southwest.  Merchants  adxcii  ised  but  sjiaringly  in  the 
local  jiajiers  until  the  hiter  seventies  and  there  was  nothing  to  indicate 
the  brilliant  future  in  store  for  the  city. 

lieckless  exjienditure  of  jiublic  fuiids  had  liccoiiie  unjiopular  and' in 
Kecendier  1S7.".  a  |M-oposilion  lo  use  .'<  lH.tKHI.IK)  in  building  a  daiu  a<  i-oss 
the  \'erdigris  rivci-  lo  hr.nisli  water  pcpwci'  for  factories  was  voted  down. 

In  ISTIi.  there  was  not  even  life  enough  To  get  u|i  .-i  contest  over  the 
mayorality.  and  F.  ('.  -locelyn  had  all  the  votes  cast,  except  nine  scatter- 

of  ^^'yandotl(•  county,  was  ciccieil  city  marshal,  and  .loseph  ("handler 
city  aitorncy.  Iiotli  <t{  tliem  being  fepe,-i redly  re-elected  in  fidlowitig  years. 
In  August  of  that  year  the  citizens  were  worried  by  a  rumor  that  the 
United  States  land  otliic  was  to  be  removed,  and  the  cily  ccuimil  appro- 
priated .1i;4( II ).()()  to  defray  I  lie  expenses  of  sending  Col  uiel  l>aniel  Crass 
and  Kdwiii  Foster  to  ^\'ashington  to  prevent  such  a  lal.imily. 

In  January  1877,  a  counterfeiters'  den  was  disco\<'red  in  a  house  .it 
the  foot  of  the  hill  on  Fast  Main  .stivet.  and  Marshal  I'eters<.n  arrested 
three  of  the  manufactureis  of  the  "ipieer"  and  turned  them  ovur  to  the 
United  States  authorities.  Not  luily  were  molds,  frames  and  all  ]iarai)her- 
nalia  of  this  illegal  business  fouml.  but  llM  half  dollars  and  Ki  ipiarters, 
well  enough  executed  to  pass  i-eadil.\.  'I'lie  same  iminth  the  land  office 
authorities  awarded  to  L,  T.  Ste|ihensou  the  (Uie  Imndred  and  sixty  acres 
adjoining  the  city  on  the  south  lor  which  he  was  contesting  and  the  may- 
or was  permitted  to  enter  for  (he  settlers  the  l-vmerson  tract  in  the  soutii- 
west  part  of  111,'  <ily  between  lOth  and  U'.lh  streets.  In  April,  William 
Dnnkin  was  elected  mayoi-.  the  minority  candidate  again  l)eing  ex- .Mayor 
l>el,(nig.  whose  only  ambition  in  life  api)ears  to  Inive  been  to  get  gack  in 
the  chair  of  (hat  oilice  again.  .Miciiael  ^!\c  Euiry  was  clu)sen  as  police 
judge,  a  position  he  held  for  many  years  and  lilled  with  dignity  and  dis- 
cretion. 

Norman    II.    I\es  was  now   postmaster,   beiim   l  he   third   incumbent  of 


HISTORY   OF   .MO.NTIJO.MEKY   COUNTY,  KANSAS.  97 

11i.li   >,i)uv.  A.  11.  Mooic  liaviii-  sii.c.'cdcd   liwiii.  111.-  liisl   a|.|M.iii(('(>.     L. 

.M.  KiKiwIcs  was  snp<Miiil(Mi(li-nl  .if  llic  .ity  s.l Is.     In  -Imu'  .1.  1!.  IT.Dbor 

bt'y,an  111.'  I'lc.ii.iii  .if  a  Iw.i  si.nv  bii.k  Imtcl  on  \\'(\sl  .Main  street  over 
whi.-li  he  iircsidi'ii  f.ir  s..  many  y.-ars  and  which  is  still  i-imnins;-,  with  the 
name  cliann.Ml  from  ■■Ji.nili.'i"  t.i  "Hc-knian."  At  tiiis  lime  the  saloon 
business  must  have  been  .me  .if  tlie  ]iiin.iiial  industries  of  the  city,  and  the 
manufacture  nf  diiinkards  ji'.iiiii;-  .in  apace.  There  were  eleven  licensed 
gr.iji  sli.ips.  and  the  levemie  they  jiaid  into  the  city  treasury  amounted  to 
|3.S0(I.(I(I  a  yi^ir. 

The  year  i.'<77  was  render.'d  notorious,  not  only  in  lnde|iendeuce  but 
tlirough.mt  the  country,  by  the  "lIuU  I'.aby"  case.  Hull's  bank  here  was 
one  of  the  strongest  financial  institutions  in  southeastern  Kansas,  in  fact 
the  .inly  bank  in  the  county  tliat  weathered  the  financial  storm  of  1873 
without  suspending  payment  for  an  hour.  It  was  established  by  Latham 
Hull,  of  Kalamazoo,  il.i.-higan.  and  his  two  sons,  Charles  A.  and  Edgar, 
were  connected  with  it.  Charles,  the  elder  one,  was  a  ba.helor.  lint  he  fell 
a  victim  to  the  wiles  of  a  rlever  adventuress  and  married  her.  No  sooner 
was  this  former  "schoohnanu"  installed  as  the  mistress  of  the  banker's 
home  than  she  began  to  sigh  for  other  woilds  to  con(]uer.  Charles'  father 
had  oH'ered  a  standing  jirize  of  .f.'i.dOO.OO  for  the  first  male  grandchild  born 
in  tlie  family,  ("arrie's  fingers  itched  to  get  hold  of  that  r.ill,  and  she 
pro.-ured,  fr.im  an  oi'jihans"  home  at  Leavenworth,  a  young  infant  of  the 
re.piisile  sex.  to  which  slie  {iretended  to  have  given  birth.  The  fraud  was 
t.Hi  transiiaient  to  imjiose  long  on  the  parties  interested,  and  her  husband 
dis.iwned  the  brat  and  began  suit  for  divor.:-e.  Not  to  be  outdone,  the  al- 
leged mother  began  suit  against  Latham  Hull,  her  father-in-law,  Edgar 
Hull,  her  brother-in-law.  (leorge  Chandler,  their  attorney,  and  the  Home 
for  the  Friendless  at  Leavenworth,  for  alienating  the  attections  of  her 
husband  and  damaging  her  character  to  the  extent  of  |4(),()(lt).»)(l.  In  De- 
cember the  divorce  case  of  Charles  Hiill  versus  Carrie  Hull  was  heard 
and  decided  in  the  district  court  .  Mrs.  Hull  claimed  to  be  in  very  poor 
health,  so  that  her  testimony  could  not  be  taken  publicly,  and  those  who 
were  expecting  to  see  all  the  dirty  linen  in  the  <-ase  aired  in  court  were 
disaii]Miinted.  Charles  got  the  de.-ree,  however,  but  Carrie  was  allowed 
1300  alimony.  I  he  honseh.ild  goods  and  |1.'0(»  for  counsel  fees,  which,  con- 
sidering the  wealth  of  the  husband,  was  not  all  that  she  might  have  ex- 
jiected.  Yet  she  was  still  eager  for  the  main  i-han.-e  and  ]iroceeded  to 
construe  the  "h.inseh.ild  goods"  .lause  \ery  liberally,  in  fact,  she  tore 
a  mantel  out  of  the  h.iuse  whi.h  she  thus  .-laimed  a  right  lo  dismantle, 
and  sold  it.  F.ir  this  ofiense  she  w;is  arrested  .m  the  Sth  of  .lanuary  fol- 
lowing by  Sheritt'  Hrock.  As  he  did  not  like  t.>  take  her  to  jail  he  i-e- 
mained  in  the  h.mse  t.)  guard  her  until  she  .-ould  have  a  hearing  in  court 
or  s.Hiiie  bail.  I  Miring  the  iiiglil  Cunslabl.'  Xels.in  came  willi  another 
warrant  t.i  arrcsl  her  on  a  snil  liv  Or.  M.-Cullev.  t.i  whom  she  had  niort- 


gS  HISTORY  OV  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

gaged  her  goods  for  uiedical  atteudauce.  The  constable  was  refused 
admission  and  had  to  tear  off  a  shutter  to  get  in.  And  when  he  did,  he 
found  not  a  thing  left  of  all  the  goods  the  court  had  awarded  Carrie, 
except  the  cradle  of  that  famous  baby,  which  she  still  retained.  Of  eoui"se 
another  arrest  followed.  When  at  last  the  heroine  of  this  romance  got 
free  from  the  meshes  of  the  law,  she  went  west  seeking  fresher  fields  and 
pastures  new.  While  her  money  lasted  she  cut  a  great  swath  at  Pueblo, 
Colorado,  as  a  rich  young  widow;  and  finally  wound  up  there  by  bewitch- 
ing the  landlord  of  the  hotel  where  she  made  her  home,  who  deserted  wife 
and  children  to  elojie  with  her. 

Early  in  1S7S  the  school  lioard  expended  §.jl.")  in  the  purchase  of  block 
No.  1  in  Coiicannoii's  addition,  and  pi-ixeeiled  to  erect  a  four  room  school 
building  there  at  an  expense  of  $8.IMM>.  One  of  the  city  papers  com- 
l)lained  that  the  location  was  too  far  out  for  the  little  folks.  Now,  with 
another  building  at  the  same  jilace  the  ditlHculty  is  that  it  is  too  far  in. 
The  election  for  mayor  this  year  was  hotly  contested  and  George  W.  Bur- 
chai-d  won  by  a  majority  of  !)0  over  A.  <'.  Stich.  P.urchard  had  been  both 
a  Ke}iubli(  an  and  a  Democrat,  and  had  e<lited  both  the  ■•Tribune"  and  the 
"Kansan,"  but  he  was  able  and  popular.  April  5th,  another  counterflt- 
ers"  (uitfit  was  unearthed  in  the  old  land  office  building  and  Matt  M, 
Kucker  arrested  for  the  crime  of  making  money  on  his  own  account.  In 
the  summei"  of  this  year  the  ju-esent  city  building  was  erected. 

About  this  time  the  railroad  (piestion  was  exciting  lots  of  interest 
as  it  was  known  that  the  St.  Louis  &  San  Francisco  line  was  to  be  extend- 
ed west  from  Oswego,  and  Independence  was  anxious  for  something  more 
than  the  "jilug."  which  was  all  she  yet  had.  Besides,  there  were  propo- 
sitions for  a  road  southwest  from  Parsons,  and  the  papers  of  that  day  are 
full  of  the  i-epoi-ts  of  meetings  held  and  committees  api)ointed  to  bring 
hither  three  or  four  different  lines,  the  initials  of  whose  titles  mean  noth- 
ing now.  Piobabiy  if  all  tlie  citizens  of  the  town  had  pulled  together,  the 
•'  -Frisco"  wouhl  have  <(>me  here  instead  of  edging  off  to  the  north  from 
("heiiyvale  .itid  angling  tliiougb  \\'ilson  county.  But  there  were  divided 
counsels  in  ilmse  days,  and  a  jealousy  betv>'een  i)roperty  liolders  on  the 
noith  and  south  sides  which  Wduld  not  permit  them  to  work  together  har- 
moniously, ami  so  the  line  v.as  lost  and  the  population  which  would  other- 
wise hM\e  come  io  swell  the  census  of  Indei)endence  went  to  build  up 
Chcrryvale.  Probably  Indejieiidence  would  have  been  a  city  of  1.5,000 
many  years  sooiht  than  it  now  will,  if  the  "  'Frisco"  road  had  been  land- 
ed. Not  only  (lid  the  year  1S7!»  witness  the  loss  of  this  road,  but  the  same 
year  the  "pin.-"  was  extended  out  into  the  counties  to  the  west,  and  the 
city's  (rade  ihii-ehy  nialeiially  cii-cnmscribed. 

!n  AjMil  IST-.l.  P.urchar.l'  was  recle.ied  mayor,  defeating  Dr.  W.  A. 
-MiCiilley.  Ill'  to  i.'(;(l.  In  Sepiembei-  of  that  year  Cary  Oakes.  who  was 
Then  ((innly  treasiiier.  losi  a  suit  instituted  by  the  county  to  recover  $4,- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTfiOSIERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  99 

((7:^3(1  wiii.li  lu-  hiul  unwittingly  allowed  to  gvt  into  tlio  Meisiiii  I'.ank 
at  Kansas  ("i(y  llio  day  liefore  that  institution  closed  ifs  dooi-s.  It  was  in 
the  shajie  of  a  draft  from  the  state  treasurer  for  the  school  fund  account, 
and  Oakes  had  put  it  in  Turner  &  Otis'  hank  for  colle<-tion.  They  for- 
warded it  to  their  correspondent  at  Kansas  ("ity,  and  it  disappeared  in 
that  hole  which  at  the  time  engulfed  so  many  other  fortunes. 

In  the  year  1880,  the  law  in  relation  to  city  elections  was  changed, 
giving  to  mayors  a  two  years'  term ;  and  the  year  witnessed  so  little  of 
interest  here  that  it  must  remain  a  blank,  so  far  as  these  annals  are  con- 
cerned. In  the  spring  of  1881,  L.  ('.  Mason  was  elected  to  the  head  of  the 
city  government,  defeating  B.  F.  Masterman.  The  following  summer  the 
people  who  have  seldom  refused  to  do  anything  asked  of  them  to  promote 
the  educational  interests  of  the  city,  voted  .|4,(H)(I.(R)  in  bonds  to  repair 
that  ill-fated  fourth  ward  school  building  which  had  cost  -IfliS.OOO.nO  in 
the  start.  This  year  the  board  of  education  drew  the  color  line  by  pro- 
viding a  separate  building  for  the  accomodation  of  pupils  of  African  de- 
cent, but  they  all  refused  to  attend,  and  the  courts  decided  they  could  not 
be  discriminated  against  in  that  way.  The  ])rohibition  law  went  into 
effect  on  liny  1st.  and,  before  the  year  was  over,  twelve  drug  svores  in  the 
county,  of  which  five  were  located  in  Independence,  had  taken  out  permits 
to  enable  them  to  sujtply  alcoholic  medicine  to  the  thirsty. 

Februaiy  ."ith.  18S'J.  witnessed  the  second  disastrous  fire  in  the  history 
of  In!ie]iendeiict'.  tive  buildings  on  the  west  side  of  Penn.  avenue,  south  of 
the  bank  building  on  the  coi-ner  of  Myrtle  street,  going  down,  while  two 
more  were  badly  damaged.  All  the  five  were  wooden  structures,  though, 
and  when  th.ey  came  to  be  repla<-ed  « ith  substantial  l)rick  and  stone  build- 
ings two  stories  in  height,  it  was  evident  again  that  what  had  seemed  to 
be  a  cijamity  was  really  a  blessing  in  disguise. 

May  2.^th,  the  new  iron  railroad  bridge  in  ])rocess  of  erection  over 
the  Verdigris  was  swept  away  by  the  Hooded  stream  and  went  down 
about  ten  minutes  after  a  heavily  loa(]ed  (lassenger  train  had  ])assed  over 
it.  The  loss  to  the  comi)any  was  .ifiMi.OdO.dd.  At  the  close  of  tliis  year, 
the  city  counted  among  its  actjuisitions  during  that  period  a  canning  fac- 
tory, a  four  story  stone  flouring  mill,  a  foundry  and  a  woolen  mill.  The 
location  of  so  many  manufacturing  jtlants  was  secured  at  considerable 
effort  and  expense,  and  was  thought  to  indicate  that  th<>  future  (»f  the 
city  was  assured.  Of  the  four,  tlie  I'.owen  tiouring  mill,  alone.  pi-o\i'd  a 
permanency. 

.January  1.5,  1883,  the  .flO.ddd.Od  in  bonds  asked  by  the  school  board 
for  the  ere<tion  of  a  new  school  building  in  the  tirst  ward  were  voted  by 
the  bare  majority  of  twelve.  A  two-story  seven-room  building  was  put  up 
during  the  \ear.  to  be  torn  down  just  twenty  years  later  to  make  room 
for  one  that  was  more  modein  and  of  larger  size. 

Independence's  third  great  fire  occurred  February   17th,   when   the 


lOO  HISTOKY  OF    MONTGOMEItV  CorXTY.  KANSAS. 

half  block  on  (he  east  side  of  llic  avcutif  and  south  of  .Main  sli-wt  went  up 
in  snioUe.  In  M.  J.  Paul's  thi-ee-slorv  brick  liiiildin<i  on  the  corner  were 
located,  besides  his  grocery,  the  "Tribnue"  ottice  and  the  Masonic  lodge 
room.  Sjieaking  of  this  tire  at  the  time,  the  writer  of  this  article  said,  re- 
ferring to  the  burning  of  the  tiles  of  that  iiaper;  "The  early  history  of 
Montgomery  county  can  ue\fr  be  so  well  written  since  the  destruction  of 
these  tiles."  Since  atteniiiling  l'>  wi-ile  some  of  that  early  histoi'y  I  real- 
ize most  iHiifiiniiilly  the  truth  of  that  remark  of  twenty  years  ago.  The 
loss  of  i)i<i[ierty  in  this  tire  was  estimated  at  175. 0(10. ()().  on  which  there 
was  insurance  to  liie  amount  of  .134,000.00. 

.\l  the  .\|nil  election  Dr.  J5.  F.  Masterman  won  the  niayorality  by  a 
majority  of  l!)t  over  X.  H.  Ives;  and  H.  D.  ('.rant  became  jioiice  judge. 

in  A])ril  1S.S4  a  local  paper  says,  "the  coal  bore  is  down  850  feet  and 
the  jirosiK'cts  were  then  better  for  oil  than  coal."  In  view  of  subsequent 
developments,  it  .'^eems  strange  that  our  oil  resources  were  not  sooner 
brought  to  light.  lu  June  of  that  year,  the  Southern  Kansas  railroad  be- 
gan running  a  second  daily  train  between  Independence  and  Kansas  City, 
to  the  great  delight  of  all  the  i>eo].le  here.  The  same  month  the  city  coun- 
cil granted  a  franchise  to  .\.  11.  .McCormick  for  the  construction"  of  the 
system  of  waler  works  which  have  sine.-  that  time  supplied  the  city. 

The  first  murder  in  the  history  of  Independence  was  committed 
August  ISth.  1S.S4.  It  was  a  ("ain  and  Abel  affair,  the  murderer  and  his 
victim  being  half  brothers.  The  jiarties  were  .1.  II.  Hlackwell.  the  slayer, 
and  Charles  Xeal.  the  slain,  liotli  were  half  blood  Clierokee  Indians,  and 
jealousy  was  ilie  cause  of  the  crime.  The  woman  in  the  case  was  Mrs. 
J.  W.  .Ma.hlo.x.  with  wliom  they  both  boarded.  I'.lackwell  was  also  Mad- 
dox's  partner  in  the  tinning  business.  Th(>  tragedy  occurred  at  the  cot- 
tage home  of  .Maddox  on  U'est  >?ain  street,  just  o])posite  the  Christian 
dnu'li.  r.lackwcll  was  under  the  intluence  of  liipior  when  he  fired  the 
shot  Ihal   pieiccl  his  brother's  stom.-ich  and  ended  his  life. 

•  Inst  lierore  the  Xovendter  election  of  ISSt.  on  the  evening  of  October 
i.':!d.  sky  nickels  tiied  at  a  Iteimblii-an  rally  were  resjionsible  for  a  fire 
which  desli-o\(Ml  ilii-ee  business  buildings  on  Ihe  wesi  side  of  I'euu  avenue, 
Shyr.Mk's  i-eslauiani .  Conrad  Zw  issler's  barber  shoji  and  Chandler  Rob- 
liiris"  ninsir  si.ne.     \i    ihal   election  .-i   proposition   to  issue  .«;.~.O,OO0.00  in 

Xovenilier  ITlh.  the  tirsi  steps  were  taken  toward  building  the  Ver- 
digris \'alley.  Independence  ^^  Weslei-n  railroad,  which  has  since  become 
the  .Missouri  Pacific  line  llirough  here,  'i'he  committee  selected  to  prepare 
a  charter  for  the  new  line  cMusisled  of  Win.  Dunkin.  K.  1'.  Allen,  11.  W. 

for  a'snrvey  speedily  gol  .«!  .•JtMi.OI).  allhough  «1.0II0.00  was  all  that  had 
been  asked.' 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  lOI 

On  tlie  niglit  ot  Deci'iiilicr  ir>(li.  ( "onimodoie  liiowii's  three-stoi-y 
lirick  on  tlii^  uortlieast  coi-nci-  ol  Main  slreetand  I'enn.aveniie  was  burned. 
<J.  Gottlipb'.s  clothiuji-  house,  ilic  "Star"'  office  aud  the  Odd  Fellows  hall 
were  (he  vietinis  of  this  disaster.  This  tire  resulted  in  the  purchase  of  the 
"Kansan"  utlice  by  H.  W.  Young  of  the  "Star"  aud  the  consolidation  of 
the  two  ottiies  under  the  name  of  the  "i^tar  and  Kansan." 

At  ihe  spring  term  of  the  district  court  in  1885  Judge  Chandler  re- 
fuseii  liie  iujunclion  prayed  for  against  tiie  issue  of  the  court  house  bonds, 
but  the  case  was  carried  uji  to  the  state  supreme  court,  aud,  although  the 
decision  was  the  same  there,-the  legal  battle  delayed  the  work  of  building 
for  nearly  a  year.  At  the  city  election  in  April  there  was  a  very  spirited 
contest  for  mayor  between  two  prominent  citizens,  L.  A.  Walker  being 
supported  by  the  progressives  and  John  l^cCullagh  by  the  conservatives. 
Walker  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  48.  He  was,  by  far,  the  most  far- 
sighted  and  progressive  head  the  city  government  had  ever  had,  and  it 
is  due  to  him  that  grades  were  established  throughout  the  city,  and  that 
the  sidewalks  in  the  business  part  of  the  city  were  widened  from  12  to  16 
feet  and  the  old  wooden  awnings  removed.  Although  Mr.  Walker  lacked 
the  powers  of  expression  to  make  himself  fully  understood  at  all  times, 
he  was  a  man  of  very  .strong  individuality  and  of  wonderful  mental  grasp 
and  I'oise.  He  was  a  deep  thinker,  and  a  man  of  strong  convictions  and 
great  independence,  never  following  the  crowd  in  his  conclusions  but 
always  working  them  out  for  himself.  He  was  radical  in  his  views  and 
policies  and  made  many  enemies,  but  everyone  esteemed  him  for  his  in- 
tegrity and  manly  virtues.  He  had  many  of  the  characteristics  of  a 
leader  of  men  and  would  have  reached  higher  positions  but  for  the  defect 
adverted  to. 

During  188.")  Independence  maintained  its  record  as  a  bad  town 
for  the  insurance  companies.  On  March  8()th,  seven  buildings  on  the 
west  side  of  I'enn.  avenue,  between  ilyrtle  and  Laurel  streets,  were  de- 
stroyed, including  the  old  Wilson  &  Irwin  store  building,  which  was  the 
tirst  erected  in  tlie  town.  All  weic  wooden  buildings,  as  were  all  of  the 
five  on  the  south  side  of  East  Main  street  which  were  burned  June  13th. 
The  last  tire  was  evidently  of  incendiary  origin,  but  as  a  result  of  the 
two.  about  the  last  of  the  wooden  shacks  were  removed  from  the  business 
(piarter.  so  that  the  city  ](ut  on  a  dilferent  as])ect  thereafter. 

Oti  the  fifth  of  Sei)tember  the  !!f:!.-),(l()0.00  in  bonds  asked  for  the  build- 
ing of  the  Verdigris  Valley  road  were  voted  with  ])ractical  unanimity, 
only  1  against  to  4:!8  for.  The  vole  was  also  favorable  in  SycauKU-e  and 
Tnde](en(lenc(>  townshijis.  insuring  the  building  of  the  road,  and  adding 
some  .<?7.~. I )(!(•.( HI  to  the  interesi  h(>aring  debt  of  the  county.  In  October 
AV.  T.  Voe.  of  the  Tribune,  turned  tlie  lnde].endeiice  iiostoffice  over  to  B. 


I02  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

V.  Devoi-e,  President  Clevelaud's  appointee,  aud  the  tirst  Democrat  t« 
hold  that  office. 

The  year  1886  was  one  of  the  iimisi  uneventful  in  the  city's  history, 
It  had  reached  a  population  of  3,!tO(i,  and  was  steadily  growiug.  The  new 
railroad  was  completed  down  to  the  south  line  of  Independence  township, 
In  July,  two  men.  Samuel  Unibenhauer  and  Thomas  Birch,  were  suffo- 
cated while  digging  a  well  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  city.  Frank  V. 
Burchard,  a  dissipated  scion  of  an  excellent  family,  committed  forgery  in 
a  real  estate  transaction  and  was  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary.  The 
most  noteworthy  event  of  the  year  was  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of 
the  new  court  house  on  November  :{()tli.  The  event  was  appropriately 
celebrated  and  the  ceremonies  were  imposing.  The  principal  address  was 
delivered  by  H<in.  Wm.  Dunkin.  and  was  historical  and  retrospective  in 
character. 

The  second  murder  which  stained  I  he  annals  of  our  city  was  com- 
mitted February  2.")th.  1887.  the  victim  being  Joseph  Tonkinson,  who  was 
shot  after  an  exciting  cha.se  by  Frank  Meyer,  whose  sister  Tonkinson  had 
been  unduly  intimate  with.  Indeed  the  husliand  of  the  woman  had  given 
Tonkinson  a  terrible  beating  some  time  jirevicmsly  and  threatened  his 
life.  As  in  the  tirst  murder  case,  it  was  a  quarrel  about  a  wonum  that 
resulted  in  the  killing.  At  the  city  election  in  April,  M^ayor  AYalker  was 
defeated  for  reelection  by  H.  H.  l>odd,  who  received  1.5G  votes  to  Walker's 
401.  Dan  Wassam.  a  well  known  printer,  who  has  since  a'cquired  a  com 
petency  in  the  real  estate  business  at  Neodesha.  was  elected  probate 
judge.  This  was  what  was  known  in  Kansas  as  the  boom  year,  and  In 
dependence  had  the  fever  as  severely  as  any  city  of  its  size,  indulging  in 
dreams  of  sjteedily  becoming  a  great  metropolis,  and  marking  up  real  es- 
tate values  to  correspond  Another  east  and  west  railroad  was  projected 
wliich  even  reached  the  bond-voting  stage  in  Liberty  township,  but  never 
materialized  lo  any  further  extent.  There  began  to  be  whisperings  about 
natural  gas.  loo.  though  the  stories  of  burning  wells  were  regarded  as 
faiiy  tales  h\  most  levelheaded  people.  Still,  in  May  the  city  council 
votc'd  a  thousand  dollars  to  ]>ay  for  prosjiecting  for  gas.  and  the  same 
month  granted  D.  V.  Alexander,  of  Wichita,  a  franchise  for  a  street  rail- 
way which  he  did  not  build.  In  Derember  the  new  court  house  was  com 
l)leted  and  the  dedicatory  ex.Tcises  orcnii-ed.  with  mote  historical  ad 
dresses  by  Judge  George  Chaiidlef.  .1.  I>.  MrCne.  Captain  :McTaggart  and 
others. 

To  judge  from  the  newspaiieis  imbli.shed  in  Independence,  politics 
was  almost  the  sole  subjeit  of  iiileresi  during  the  year  1888.  That  was 
not  only  a  Presidential  year,  but  ln(le|iendeuce's  honored  son.  Lyman  U, 
Humpliiey.  was  a  candidate  for  govei  nor.  When  he  returned  home,  after 
securing  the  nomination,  he  was  ae.oided  a  most  flattering  reception  by 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  I03 

bis  f.'llow  citizens  of  all  parties,  and  the  city  felt  itself  iioiiored  wlieu  tlu; 
vote  ill  \()veiiil)er  showed  that  alonj>-  with  Harrison  he  had  received  over 
SO, (1(1(1  iihir.tlity.  the  lariiest  ever  <ast  for  the  candidate  of  any  party  iu 
the  state. 

The  uijiht  of  the  Kith  of  .lamiary  ISSi),  a  laiidiiiark  of  the  early  days 
went  up  in  smoke,  the  stone  hotel  on  east  Main  street,  familiar  to  the 
travellini;  i)ul)lic  as  the  "^fain  Street  Hotel,"  was  entirely  destroyed  by 
tire.  The  site  remained  vacant  for  fourteen  years  thereafter.  On  the  28th 
of  February  the  I'nited  States  land  office  here,  which  had  outgrown  its 
usefulness — practically  all  the  public  lands  in  the  district  having  been 
entered — was  discontinued  by  order  of  the  Interior  Department.  The 
contest  for  mayor-  this  year  was  between  Wilson  Kincaid  and  Dr.  G.  C. 
rhaney.  Kincaid  received  379  to  Chaney's  347  and  made  a  very  popular 
official.  November  23,  the  postoffiee  passed  from  the  management  of  B.  F 
Devoi-e  to  that  of  E.  E.  Wilson.  Mr.  Wilson  being  one  of  the  original 
.settlers  and  founders  of  Independence,  and  having  devoted  a  great  deal 
of  time  to  the  records  of  pioneer  days,  everyone  v.'as  gad  to  see  him  suc- 
cessful iu  getting  the  office,  which  he  conducted  with  diligence  and  fidel- 
ity. It  was  his  last  official  position,  however,  as  he  died  not  long  after 
the  expiration  of  his  term. 

If  "no  news  is  good  news,"  the  year  1890  was  one  of  the  best  Indepen- 
dence ever  experienced,  for  nothing  out  of  the  ordinary  happened  in  the 
city  during  that  year.  It  was,  however,  another  political  year  which  will 
always  be  prominent  in  the  annals  of  Kansas.  The  ''Alliance"  was  then 
in  tlie  height  of  its  prosperity  and  the  columns  of  the  press  were  filled 
with  accounts  of  its  ])icnics  and  public  meetings.  But  it  was  not  an 
especially  prosperous  year  for  Independence,  the  city  having,  by  that 
time,  experienced  the  full  effects  of  the  reaction  from  the  manufactured 
boom  of  the  later  eighties,  and  business  being  dull.  Indeed,  it  began  to 
look  as  if  the  town  would  go  to  seed,  as  so  many  county  seats  in  farming 
sections  which  had  enjoyed  "great  anticipations"  often  do. 

-Vt  the  city  election  in  April  1891,  Wilson  Kincaid  was  re-elected 
mayor  without  oi)position.  At  the  same  time  J.  B.  Underhill  became  po- 
lice judge.  I>uring  this  year  the  press  was  bemoaning  the  removal  of  the 
electric  light  plant,  which  had  been  shut  down  for  some  time  previous,  to 
Aurora,  Missoui-i.  Hut  notwithstanding  all  that  was  said  and  done,  our 
streets  remain  dark  to  this  day.  while  a  generation  of  children  have  grown 
to  manhood  and  womanhood  here. 

In  March  1892,  Tom  Boniface,' the  fat  and  jolly  Englishman  who  had 
been  in  the  meat  business  on  East  Main  street  ever  since  the  pioneer  days, 
was  convicted  of  obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses  and  sentenced 
to  the  penitentiary.  While  awaiting  sentence  he  caused  something  of  a 
.sensation  by  confessing  that  he  and  a  man  named  Kinnie,  who  was  then 


104  IIISTOUY  OF   .MON  rcllMKIiV  ror.NTY,   KANSAS. 

iiiiiiiiiiii  Ihc  inaiki'l.  and  I>.  '1'.  Sic|ihciisoii.  lia.l.  Ilic  tall  pivvidiis.  stolen 
<-o\vs  iH'loiiiiiiif"-  to  (Jeorjiv  Waii'idMcr  and  A.  C  Siidi.  One  or  both  of 
these  gviuk'nieii  had  bought  al  tlie  luarkcl.  and  eaten  on  Uieir  own  tables, 
the  meat  of  the  cows  stolen  from  them  witliont  having  the  slightest  sus- 
picion of  the  way  in  which  those  animals  liad  been  disjKtsed  of.  Stephen- 
son's  prominence  as  a  lawyer,  land  speculator,  county  ofKcial.  and  in  oth 
er  luisitions  in  the  public  life  of  tiie  commuuity  since  he  came  here  as- 
one  of  the  original  settlers  in  IH'.!).  made  his  arresl  the  talk  of  the  town, 
At  that  lime,  and  since,  many  have  been  charitably  in<-lined  to  hold  him 
guiltless  and  i'.oniface  a  perjurer  who  was  anxious  to  pull  others  dowiV 
witli  him.  Stephenson  was  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary,  but  after  ho 
had  served  a  portion  of  his  term  I!onifar<>  made  allidavit  that  his  charge 
was  false,  and  Stephenson  was  iiard..m-d  and  soon  removed  to  New 
ISIexii'o. 

Early  in  1893.  the  Indejicndcm v  rity  r.iumil  grant. ■.!  .1.  I).  Xickerson 
a  franchise  f(n-  natural  gas,  and  lie  began  drilling  on  the  iJrewster  place, 
live  miles  east  of  the  city,  after  having  secured  a  ]dedge  from  tlie  business 
men  to  ])ay  him  -Ifl.dllO.IKl  when  gas  was  ready  for  delivery  to  the  subscrib' 
ers  to  the  fund.  After  so  many  vain  attempts  to  secure  gas  for  the  city, 
this  one  materialized  and  before  the  en<l  of  the  year  the  ](ii(es  were  laid 
and  the  city  was  using  natural  gas  for  fuel.  This  was  tiie  beginning  of  a 
new  era  foi-  the  city,  and,  though  its  recovery  fr(un  the  dejiression  that 
followed  tiie  boom  times  of  1SS7  was  slow,  it  was  sure  and  steady.  Prop- 
erty lic^gan  to  roniniand  belter  tigures  and  values  were  more  firm.  Neg- 
lected ipuildings  were  jiainted  and  ilie  signs  of  recovery  from  the 
'■dumjis"  began  1o  manifest  themselves  on  every  hand.  While  no  one 
fully  realized  what  the  new  <-(indiiions  that  were  beginning  to  develop 
would    do    for    11h>  city,  contidem-c  in   her  fut\ire  was  restored,  and  she 

(»n  the  7lh  of  .Mar<-h  iMumeit  l»allon  was  brought  into  court  and 
])lea(k'd  guilty  to  murder  in  the  second  degree  for  |i;i  i  i  ii  ip;i  i  ion  in  the 
i-aid  on  the  Coffeyville  banks  the  jjrevious  October,  in  which  ihe  other 
members  of  the  Dalton  gang,  as  well  as  several  citizens,  wcie  killed. 
Judge  .McCue  sentenced  Enimett  to  the  jienitentiary  for  '.)'.»  years,  and  he 
was  at  once  removed  to  the  ti-iin  :  there  being  giave  fears  (hat  an  attempt 
rescue  him.  Indeed,  during  The  live  months  he  had  been 
)nnly  jail  SherilV  ("allahan  had  maintained  an  armed 
■t  Ihmisc  in  view  of  Ihe  jiossibiliiy  if  such  an  attempt, 
I  feeling  of  i-eliet  iha.t  ilie  peojile  saw  this  weak  and 
of  the  most  eventful  eiiisode  in  Ihe  historv  of  the  countV 


WOTlld  b(> 

made  t 

confin(>d 
guard  at 
and  it    w 

Ihe  ,-oi 
as  with 

dep; 


es  for  the  fir-st 
ndilican  candi- 


HISTORY  OF  J10XTC;0MERY  COUNTY,,  KANSAS.  I05 

<l;it('.  rccciviMl  r>4r>  voles  to  47.'">  r;ist  for  IIciii'V   I*.:u1(mi.  the  .-iti/.t'ii  ciuuli 
(laic. 

Oil  llic  Fomlli  of  -Inly  .Nfilloii  Caiiiioii  Iffl  his  Iioiik-  in  liiis  city,  stal- 
iiiii'  that  lie  was  lioiiiii  To  ( 'liciiyvalc  to  take  a  train  for  Si.  I.oiiis.  He  was 
not  af(er>\ar(l  seen  alive,  so  far  as  is  known,  but  five  days  later  his 
({('(Mniiposeil  remains  were  found  in  a  ravine  neai'  the  river.  Whether  he 
had  heen  niuriH-red  was  a  jirave  (|nes1ion.  Charles  Merril  was  afterward 
Hied  for  coni].licity  in  the  iiuirder.  on  the  theory  that  Mcrritt  had  aided 
ill  killinj;-  him  to  avenj-e  the  honor  of  a  sister.  Merritt  wis  acquitted,  but 
(ieoriie  Stevens,  who  was  the  leading  witness  ajiainst  him,  had  been  ju'e- 
vionsly  convicted  of  the  same  crime  and  sentenced  to  lie  imii.n.  Me  is  still 
ill  jirison  e.\;|iiatinji-  an  offense  of  which  many  (|iicsiioii  liis  jiuilt,  and  of 
which  he  never  would  haxc  been  convicted  but  for  his  p'licial  dcjiravity. 
Indeed,  most  of  the  parties  .■oniiected  with  the  case  wer.'  of  smh  unsavory 
rejiiitalion  that  it  was  impossible  to  give  credem  c  to  their  testimony. 
This  was  tlie  tliird  murder  comiiiitted  in  the  city — ii  murder  it  >vas. 

Tile  tirsi  day  id  •laiiiiaiy  1S'.(4.  witnessed  the  worst  fatalitx'  from  the 
use  <>{  fias  tliat  e\cr  occurred  in  the  Kansas  iield,  and  one  that  caused  a 
thrill  of  horror  through  this  entire  section.  The  story  of  the  Keed  tragedy 
is  deiailed  in  another  cliajiler  in  this  work.  No  other  event  in  !he  iiistory 
of  the  city  ever  caused  such  a  sensation  as  this  did. 

Near  the  close  of  the  same  month,  the  coiiimunity  was  again  lioiritied 
to  lieai  of  the  suicide  of  L'hilip  Shoemaker,  a  prominent  citizen  and  busi- 
ness man,  who  hung  himself  in  a  granary  out  at  his  farm  one  Saturday 
morning,  during  a  period  of  nervous  depression. 

This  year  was  signalized  throughout  by  tragedies.  On  the  night  of 
Jlareh  2r)th,  Night  Officer  J.  I).  Burnworth  shot  and  killed  an  unknown 
man  who  was  preparing  to  rob  the  postoffice,  and  who  had  the  drop  oil 
him  with  a  loaded  revolver  pointed  at  him  and  \\ithin  ■Jnve  feet  of  his 
breast 

When  the  electiiui  for  city  otficers  came  oft"  in  April  ISiC.  Dr.  «'haney, 
who  had  been  elected  mayor  two  years  previous  as  the  regular  Republi- 
can candidate,  was  found  heading  the  opposition  citizens'  ticket,  with 
Carl  Stich,  the  regular  Kepublican  standard  bearer.  Chaney  had  50G 
votes  and  Stich  4U."). 

A  very  jdeasant  occurrence  was  the  celebration  on  the  14th  of  -Tune 
at  St.  Andrews  church,  of  the  twenty-fifth  annivercary  of  its  jiastor's  min- 
istry as  a  priest  of  the  Catholic  church.  Leading  citizens  of  all  denonii 
nations  united  in  testifying  to  the  appreciation  in  which  Reverend  Fath- 
er ['hilip  Sclioll  was  held  as  a  man,  as  a  Christian,  as  a  friend  of  human 
ity  and  as  one  who  went  about  doing  good  to  the  sick  and  sorrowing. 

The  question  of  the  purchase  of  the  water  works  by  the  city  was 
voted  mi.  June  •2T)t\\.  and  although  the  proposition  to  issue  bonds  for  that 


I06  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

purpose  received  215  votes  to  115  cast  in  opposition,  it  was  defeated  for 
lack  of  the  required  two-thirds  majority. 

Coniin<:f  to  ISlXi,  tlie  year  of  the  greal  silver  tij;ht  Un-  the  ])residency, 
we  find,  as  usual  wlien  j)olitics  absorbs  so  iiiudi  uf  ilie  attention  audeuer- 
gies  of  tlie  jieople.  that  very  little  else  of  interest  seemed  to  happen.  The 
old  adage  that  "Salan  finds  some  mischief  still  f(H'  idle  hands  to  do." 
misi'h;  be  para])lirased  to  read,•■^^'hen  The  politicians  don't  keep  the  people 
busy,  they  will  find  some  other  mischief  1o  amuse  themselves  with.''  A 
noteworthy  event  of  the  year  was  the  ajipearance  of  Samuel  C.  Elliott,  a 
jiroiuisiiii;  young  lawyer  who  had  been  county  attorney  for  two  terms  and 
had  securcni  an  enviable  practice,  before  the  jirobate  court  as  a  candidate 
for  the  insane  asylum.  He  was  sent  to  Osawatomie  where  he  gradually 
grew  worse  and  died  a  few  years  later. 

At  the  spring  election  in  18!IT  \\'.  1*.  Mowcn  was  chosen  mayor  by  a 
majority  of  i.'77  votes  over  I.  (J.  Fowler.  I'nder  a  new  law  just  enacted, 
the  whole  coips  of  eiiy  otlirers  was  cleiiive.  even  where  they  had  previous 
ly  been  aiipoinleii  by  the  m.iyor  mid  ((.nncil.  and  the  ticket  this  year  ran 
down  ro  street  (  ninuiissioner.  .1.  It.  rnderliill  was  elected  clerk.  Joseph 
Chaudlci,  1  iiy  atimiiey.  and  II.  W.  Hazen.  police  judge.  During  the  year 
the  legal  fight  to  jirevent  the  luiildiug  of  the  county  high  school  estab- 
lished by  act  (if  the  legislature  in  February,  was  kept  up;  but  the  prob- 
ability of  its  success  was  not  great  enough  to  seriously  disturb  the 
efjuanimity  of  the  city.  Another  cluijster  in  this  volume  gives  the  full 
details  of' this  contest.  One  of  the  celebrated  cases  of  tlie  county  was 
tried  in  the  district  court  early  in  December,  when  Henry  Sheesley  w-as 
arraigned  f(U-  the  murder  of  Captain  Daniel  McTaggart.  The  victim  was 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county  anil  had  been  jirominent  in  politi 
car  life  throughout  its  entire  history.  Indeed,  he  had  served  in  the  state 
Legislature  for  fourteen  consecutive  years  and  had  been  twice  elected 
state  Semitdi-.  Sheesley  was  ;i  tenant  of  McTaggart's,  renting  his  flour- 
ing mill  on  (lie-  \'eii'ii;i  is,  .nnl  it  was  as  the  outcome  of  a  dispute  about  a 
settlement  of  acceiinis  early  in  Auiiiist  that  the  fatal  affray  occured.  Mc- 
Taggart was  shot  anil  li\e(l  but  a  few  hours.  Sheesley's  lawyers  nuide  a 
strong  ellori  to  |iro\e  that  he  was  insane,  and  he  went  through  the  forms 
of  ha\ing  an  epile|itic  lit  in  the  court  room,  but  the  jury  concluded  that 
he  was  res|)'>nsible  foi  liis  acts  and  convicted  him  of  manslaughter.  He 
was  seulenced  to  fixe  yens  in  the  jtenitenriary.  which  most  of  those 
familiar  with  the  facts  considered  a  very  light  punishmenf  for  the  offense 
of  whi.-h  he  was  guilty. 

l-;a!-ly  in  !s:is.  a  vitrified  brick  |.l,ant  was  established  in  the  city,  and 
(lie  oiiiicil  iirovided  for  jiaving  flu'  business  streets  with  its  products. 
AbouT  the  same  time  the  Indejiendence  <!as  Company  secured  a  greatly 
increased  gas  supply  for  the  city  by  extending  its  mains  to  connect  witli 


HISTOEY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  lOy 

tlic  wells  drilled  by  the  Standard  Oil  Company  out  in  the  neijjlihorhood 
of  Tiihk'  Mound — that  company  having  drilled  foi'  oil,  and  being  williiig 
lo  (1is])ose  of  the  gas  to  oni-  lionie  (•onii)any.  From  this  time  on  the  city 
had  an  abundant  sup]ily  foi-  manufacturing  purposes,  and  efforts  went 
on  williout  cessation  to  secniv  their  location  and  make  Independence  a 
manufacturing  center. 

hi  -ASay  ISitS.  the  Twentieth  K;insas  regiment  was  enlisted  for  the 
Si)anish  war,  and  coni])any  ■•(;"  wa.s  recruited  at  Independence,  and  for 
the  most  part  consisted  of  .M/,)ntgomery  county  boys.  On  the  eve  of  their 
dejiarturi'  for  the  state  capital,  the  citizens  tendered  tliem  a  reception 
;ind  bantpiet  which  was  largely  attended  and  proved  a  most  interesting 
occasion,  with  a  grand  outflow  of  patriotic  spirit.  The  oliicers  of  this 
company  were:  Captain,  1).  Htewart  Elliott,  of  ('offeyville ;  First  Lieu- 
tenant, H.  A.  Scott,  of  Sycamore;  Second  Lieutenant.  William  A.  M'- 
Taggart.  son  of  the  late  Senator  McTaggart.  When  the  company  accom- 
])anied  its  regiment  to  tlie  rhilippines,  it  was  to  leave  there  two  of  these 
three— Klliott  and  :McTaggart  falling  under  Filipino  bullets. 

This  year  Independence  city  voted  |13,0()0.UO  in  bonds  in  aid  of  the 
extension  of  the  Southwestern  line  of  the  Santa  Fe  down  to  Hartelsville 
in  the  Indian  Territory.  There  were  strings  attached  to  the  jiroposition. 
however,  and  one  of  the  c;)nditions — that  a  depot  should  be  built  uptown 
and  within  about  three  or  four  blocks  of  the  crossing  of  .Main  street  and 
reiin.  avenue — the  road  had  no  disjiosition  to  comjily  with,  so  that  the 
\-ote  was  futile.  I'robably  this  was  the  last  vote  of  bonds  for  railroad 
aid  which  the  city  will  ever  make. 

Fire  again  made  holes  in  the  business  portion  of  Independence  early 
in  1S!I!(,  Anderson's  dry  goods  store  and  Gottlieb's  clothing  house  going 
up  in  smoke  on  the  night  of  the  31st  of  January,  and  the  LaGrande  hotel 
going  to  keep  them  coiii})any  on  the  13th  of  February.  At  the  session  of 
the  legislature  this  winter  the  city  was  empowered  to  expend  $.5.(10(1.00 
in  building  the  out-let  sewei-  that  was  so  urgently  needed  and  the  w<M'k 
was  at  on<e  undertaken. 

Like  Mnyor  Chaney  two  years  before.  Mayor  Bowen  in  18!)!»,  having 
held  one  term  after  his  election  as  a  regular  Republican  candidate,  be- 
came, at  the  end  of  the  term,  an  independent  candidate  for  the  same 
office.    I'nlike  Chaney,  though,  he  was  elected,  by  a  majority  of  55. 

The  business  of  the  Independence  postoffice  having  increased  to  over 
$8,000.00  annually  on  July  1st,  1899,  it  was  raised  to  the  second  class 
and  the  postmaster's  salary  increased  to  $2,000.00  a  year.  Edwin  Foster, 
one  of  the  pioneers  whose  name  is  met  frequently  in  the  early  chronicles 
of  :Montgomery  county,  was  now  postmaster.  He  succeeded  George  Hill, 
who  was  the  incumbent  during  Cleveland's  second  administration,  and 
who  made,  perhaps,  the  most  efficient  and  popular  official  who  ever  filled 
the  office. 


I08  IIISTOKY   OF   MONTCO-MEKY   COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Next  vcnr  ilio  pustofVirc  iiiruiiic  li:u]  risen  to  -f in.OOO.OO,  indicating  a 
\evy  rapid  jirowtli  in  bnsincss,  and  witli  the  result  that  before  the  end  of 
the  year  free  mail  delivery  was  established,  with  I.on  T.  Hwdson.  Frank 
C.  Ihnper  and  Dale  Hebrank  as  the  resnlar  .arriers,  and  Will  WiUiani.s 
as  substitute. 

•Tune  llHh.  1!)(»0,  another  election  was  held  to  decide  whetiier  to  issue 
bonds  and  buy  the  water  w(n'ks.  and  the  ])roiK>sition  was  ai;ain  defeated, 
as  it  had  In^en  tive  years  before,  the  arjiunieiit  most  successfully  used  be- 
ins;-  that  as  tiie  franchise  of  the  comiiany  would  expire  in  five  years  it 
would  be  poor  policy  to  i)ay  them  for  a  run-down  and  worn-out  plant  at 
this  lime.  when,  by  waitin<>-,  we  would  be  absolved  from  all  necessity  to 
do  sii  and  cmild  cicct  an  independent  plant  in  1905, 

'I  his  year  the  Republican  ticket  for  city  officers,  headed  by  F.  C. 
.Moses,  was  elected  from  top  to  bottom.  IMr.  Jfoses  was  opjiosed  by  Guy 
].  U';',tt,  on  a  citizens'  ticket,  who  was  beaten  by  109  votes.  The  most 
ini[)(M-1ant  event  of  the  year  was  the  voting  of  $40,000.00  in  bonds  for  the 
const luction  of  two  new  modern  school  buildings,  of  twelve  rooms  each, 
to  take  the  place  of  the  three  exi.sting  buildings,  all  of  which  were  to  be 
deiiK dished.  To  destroy  school  houses  as  good  as  we  then  had,  seen)ed  to 
many  ])eople  like  reckless  extravagance  and  prodigality;  but  the  prac- 
tical condemnation  of  the  Fourth  ward  building,  erected  in  the  pioneer 
days,  made  some  action  necessary  and  the  voteis  stood  by  the  Board  of 
Kducation  and  adopted  the  very  radical  proposition  they  submitted,  the 
elect  i-.n  being  h(dd  on  the  .30th  of  April,  every  ward  in  the  city  giving  a 
niajor'ty  in  ilieir  favor  and  the  total  being  ItiT. 

.V  very  i)!easant  feature  of  life  in  Independence  during  the  hot  and 
dry  summer  of  1901  was  the  open  air  theatre  at  Gas  Park,  opposite  the 
court  house,  where  a  i)rofessional  actor,  assisted  by  his  wife  and  some 
very  good  amateur  talent,  gave  weekly  ])erforman(es  all  through  the  sea- 
son. Indeed,  so  popular  a  meeting  place  did  this  become  that  the  union 
services  of  the  churches  on  Sunday  evening  throughout  the  heated  term 

The  most  ilesi  ructive  wind  storm  that  ever  visited  the  city  occurred 
on  the  inclining  of  .Inne  iMst.  For  abotit  an  hour,  between  two  and  three 
o'clock,  the  wind  not  only  blew  hard  but  hot  from  the  west,  the  calm  that 
followe  1  being  acc()ni])anied  by  a  temjjerature  above  90  degrees  and 
in  some  Icciiliiies  in  the  country  re])orted  to  have  been  over  100  degrees. 
The  lireatest  damage  was  <loiie  to  the  court  house  where  th.e  galvanized 
iron  work  of  the  towei-  \\a^  blown  olf,  and  some  of  the  windows  broken 
outward,  imiicating  a  cyclonic  vacuum  in  the  (mtside  air.  Aside  from 
thi-^,  the  damage  consisted  iirincijially  in  the  unroofing  of  buildings  and 
awnings.  The  wind,  however,  had  a  very  deleterious  efi'ect  on  the  corn 
crop,  ihoiigh  that  was  a  failure  all  over  the  country  that  year. 

in    r.M)2,    Indeiiendence  began   lo  see  the  substance  of  things  iioped 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  IO9 

f(jr.  :iii(l  lici-  |ie(>|il('  lo  realize  that  she  was  passing  out  of  liic  chrysalis 
slauv  and  hcconiinj;  a  cilN  in  fact  as  well  as  iu  name.  The  '•\\'ashiu';ton" 
and  •■J.incolii"'  sciiool  huildinys  were  completed  and  school  opened  in 
tlieni  about  the  middle  of  October.  The  magnificent  five-story  ''Carl- 
Leon"  hotel  was  building  and  was  opened  for  business  the  following  Feb- 
ruary. The  ^Midland  Glass  Company  came  from  Hartford  City,  Indiana^ 
and  built  a  factory  hei'e,  as  well  as  a  large  addition  to  the  city  north  of 
the  Santa  Fe  railroad.  Across  the  river,  the  Ellsworth  Paper  Company's 
mill  was  finished  and  put  in  operation,  and  the  Adanison  Manufacturing 
Company's  sugar  plant  was  erected  and  began  the  maunfacture  of  sor- 
ghum syr\i]i.  Business  buildings  of  a  superior  character  were  put  up, 
and  everywhere  evidences  of  the  new  life  the  city  had  taken  on  were 
manifesting  themselves.  Meanwhile  real  estate  was  doubling  and  treb- 
ling in  value,  and  the  demand  for  residences  was  entirely  in  excess  of 
the  sujtjily,  notwithstanding  they  were  going  up  by  the  score.  It  was 
what,  in  earlier  times,  would  li;ne  been  called  a  "boom,"  but  seemed  now 
to  be  only  a  healthful  and  normal  growth.  During  this  year  the  Indepen- 
dence 'ias  Comiiany  opened  the  great  Holton  gas  field,  with  a  capacity  of 
seventy  million  cubic  feet  of  gas  per  day,  and  connected  it  with  our  city 
system  by  i)ipe  lines,  thus  making  it  contribute  to  our  industrial  develop- 
ment. At  last  things  were  coming  our  way,  and  they  have  continued  to 
do  so  up  to  the  present  time,  in  a  way  that  makes  the  air  castles  of  the 
early  settlers  look  like  pinch-beck  jewelry. 

The  enumeration  of  the  spring  of  1!)02  showed  a  population  of  (>,20S  in 
the  city,  a  gain  of  over  2,000  in  two  years. 

On  Octoljer  1st,  a  shocking  double  tragedy  was  added  to  the  list  of 
liomicides  that  has  marred  the  history  of  the  city.  The  victims  were  C. 
W.  Hooper  and  his  divorced  wife,  Luzetta.  They  disagreed  as  to  th^ 
custody  of  the  children,  and  he  was  jealous  of  her  still,  although  sepa- 
rated. After  consulting  an  attorney  in  his  ottice  over  the  postoflice,  they 
stepped  out  into  the  hallway,  where  the  man  shot  the  woman  iiud  then 
himself,  both  dying  at  once.  They  had  not  long  been  residents  of  the 
<ity.  having  come  here  frojn  Wilson  county  a  short  time  previous. 

The  city  election  in  April  1903,  resulted  in  the  choice  of  W.  P. 
Boweii  for  a  tliir<l  term  as  mayor.  The  opjtosing  candidate  was  A.  C. 
Stich,  of  the  Citizens  Hank,  i'oth  ran  on  indepeudent  tickets,  by  jjeti 
tion,  and  Poweu  won  by  ll.T  votes,  after  (me  of  the  most  hotly  contested 
tighls  the  city  had  ever  seen. 

Although  it  is  in  no  sense  history,  1  find  it  hard  to  draw  Ihis  nar- 
rative to  a  close  without  saying  something  about  the  great  things  in  the 
way  (.f  nuinufacturing  industries  that  it  is  expected  will  soon  materialize 
and  ('ouble  or  treble  the  pojiulation  of  the  city  and  extend  its  boundaries 
and  multiply  its  business.  But  these  things  are.  as  yet,  only  ideas  iu  the 
minds  of  men  and  as  sucli  onlv  can  thev  be  chronicled. 


no  IIISTdKV  OF   MnNr(;iiMi;i!V  COtNTV.  KANSAS. 

fail  li  vcali/.c  li<>\\  very  imiicrtfit ly  it  lias  ln'cn  pcitornicil.  lii  luokiiiji- 
Mvei-  iiioic  than  a  lliousaiid  newspapers  aud  culling  a  few  of  the  more 
strikiuii  incidenis  of  eaeli  year.  I  have  not  really  been  writing  history, 
hut  only  chronicling  a  mere  fragment  of  the  story  of  the  life  of  a  growing 
lowii.  Think  of  the  pe()i)le  who  have  l)een  horn  and  grown  to  manhood 
and  V  cniianhood  liere,  of  the  stories  of  their  lives,  of  the  steady  growth  of 
ihc  ciiy.  (if  the  shade■emilo^^•(M■('d  streets  that  now  stretch  out  in  all 
directions:  of  the  thousands  of  tnculs  that  have  Irappened  here  and  heeii 
found  worthy  of  mention  in  tlir  city  press,  and  of  the  tens  of  thousands 
of  incidenis  that  have  not  liccn  chronicled,  hut  of  which  many  \\(:uld 
jiossess  an  interest  surpassing  tliose  that  have  been  ])reserved  by  the 
types — think  of  all  lliese  things  and  you  will  realize  with  me  how  little 
.if  history  is  contained  in  the  books  that  are  called  history,  and  how 
much  must  remain  unwritten  in  our  meager  annals. 

Town  Buildingf  in  the  South-East  Corner  of  Montgfomery  County 

f.V    nU.    T.    c.    llIAZIi:!!. 

Claymore,  Westralia.  Tally  Springs,  Parker,  0!d  ColScyville,  Colfeyville  and  Liberty 
The  \'('rdigris  rixcr  (so  nansed  on  account  of  the  dark  green  color  of 
its  wafers!  has  its  origin  in  Woodson  and  (Ireenwood  counties  and,  run- 
ning in  a  southeasterly  direction,  crosses  the  south  line  of  the  state  near 
the  southeast  corner  of  Montgomery  county. 

In  the  early  days,  just  preceding  the  opening  of  the  Osage  diminish 
ed  Hc.-crve  to  white  settlement,  no  less  tlmn  four  Indian  villages  oc- 
cii]ii:Ml  the  banks  of  this  stream,  near  liii'  iiuint  of  its  emergence  from  lUe 
stale  (it  Kansas  on  the  way  to  its  continence  w  itli  ilie  .\ikansas  near  Fiwt 

lishcil  theniselves  near  these  Indian  villages,  the  idea  that  ait  imjiortant 
city  wdulil  soon  spring  u]>  near  this  ]>oint  seems  ti  haxc  taken  fast  hold 
upon  the  minds  of  the  early  settlers. 

So  nearly  unanimous  was  this  oiiinion  among  the  hardy  ]iioiieers 
that  no  less  than  si.\  towns  were  projected,  within  an  aii^a  encloseil  by 
the  segment  of  a  circle  drawn  from  a  iioint  tixc  miles  u|)  the  east  line  of 
the  county  to  a  corresponding  point  on  the  south  line,  within  two  years 
after  the  country  was  <i|)ened  to  settlement.  Some  of  these  were  laid  out 
and  idats  iirejiaied  for  tiling  even  before  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  l)y 
whicli  the  Indian  title  was  extinguished,  and  almost  e\-ery  "siiuatter"  in- 
dulged in  rosy  dreams  of  the  time  when  his  claim  would  become  a  jiart  of 
the  metro[iolis  of  the  count\. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  now.  that  the  contldence  of  the  earl\  settlers, 
in  the  litness  of  this  location  for  the  u]il)uilding  of  an  inijiorlaiit  ira'ie 
renter,  was  well  founded,  but   the  eagerness  of  so  man\   of  them  to  enjoy 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  Ill 

juTou'^  litv.  caiiic  near  disappointing  the  hopes  of  all,  for  the  fierce  battle 
for  siipieinaiy.  by  whiih  the  aspiring  villagers  were  rent  ami  torn,  so 
dissipated  the  town-building  energies,  which  should  have  been  concen- 
trated in  one  united  effort,  that  capital,  which  might  have  been  attracted 
to  any  one  of  the  sites  chosen,  was  driven  away  by  uncertainty  as  to 
what  the  outcome  would  be. 

What  might  have  been  the  result  if  either  of  these  locations  had 
been  backed  by  a  united  effort,  none  can  know,  but  any  old  settler  will 
tell  you.  that  the  energy  wasted  in  the  fierce  struggles  for  supremacy, 
among  those  rival  towns,  wo\ild,  if  expended  in  building  up  one  locality, 
have  made  it  the  best  and  biggest  town  in  Southern  Kansas;  as  it  is  I 
doubt  not  that  many  loyal  citizens  will  now  tell  you.  that  the  best,  if  not 
tlie  laigest.  town  in  Southern  Kansas  is  to  be  found  in  the  southeastern 
(<iriicr  of  Montgomery  county. 

In  .June  1869.  Governor  Harvey  issued  a  proclamation  organizing 
the  county  of  Montgomery  and  aj>ponitiug  three  commissioners  who,  at 
their  first  meeting,  in  the  following  mouth,  divided  the  couuty  into  three 
townships,  indicated  by  two  parallel  lines  crossing  the  couuty  from  east 
to  west.  Later  on  these  townships  were  subdivided  by  two  parallel  linos 
crossing  the  couuty  from  north  to  south,  thus  creating  nine  townships, 
each  having  an  area  of  about  seventy-two  square  inilers.  Of  these  sub- 
divisions, the  southeastern,  comprising  the  territory  now  included  in 
Parker  and  Cherokee  townships,  was  known  as  Parker  township  and 
within  the  limits  of  this  territory  much  of  the  eai-ly  history  of  the  county 
was  made.  Here  the  towns  of  Claymore,  Westralia.  Tally  Springs,  Parker 
and  Old  Cotteyville  rose  aud  fell  in  rapid  succession,  to  be  succeeded  by 
the  present  city  of  Coffeyville.  all  located,  as  above  stated,  in  the  south- 
east corner  of  the  township,  near  Avhere  the  Verdigris  river  crosses  the 
south  line  of  the  state. 

In  iis  much  as  the  early  poj)ulati<m  was  concentrated  in  and  about 
the  villages,  and  that  it  shifted  from  one  to  another  as  confidence  in  the 
stability  of  one  site  waned,  to  be  succeeded  by  a  boom  movement  in  a 
rival  place,  it  is  evident  that  the  makers  of  the  early  history  were  inter- 
ested in  the  growth  and  develojiiiieut  of  more  than  one  of  the  rival  towns. 
It  seems  advisable,  therefore,  that  certaiu  early  events,  which  affected 
the  community  as  a  whole,  should  be  treated  of  before  entering  upon  the 
re'ital  of  the  s]  e<ial  life  history  of  the  individual  villages. 

Early  Settlers 

Lev^i>  Scott,  a  colored  man,  who  made  a  settlement  in  the  Verdigris 
valley  iiii,]-v>ay  bet«-een  the  sites  subse(juently  chosen  as  the  location  for 
the  towns  of  Coffeyville  aud  Parker,  in  February  1867,  claimed  to  be  the 
first  "white"  settler  in  5I(mtgoii;ery  county.  This  claim  is  confirmed  by 
the  late  E.  E.  Wilson,  author  of  a  valuable  historical  sketch  published  in 


I  1SS1.     Aii.li-cas.  ill   Ills  liis- 

II  may  W  due  to  llio  \ni>ur,-i- 
n  .laimni-v  ISCi;.  sclllfd  al  t 
iclillv  sclrcl.Ml  as  llic  sili-  lor 
>\vrNci-.  is  ill  cn-or.  (im-ii  l>, 
I  rivcJK  ill  lS(i(i,  as  slated  liy 
of  i.alicllf  i-ounty.  one  of  tlif 

still  bears  his  iiaiiic.  From 
S(iS  to  a  TKtiiit  lower  down  tlie 


112  insiOKY  or  MuN  ri;(>Mi;i:v  i 

Kdwai-d's   Ilisi.-.rieal  Atlas  of  the  eoiiiiix 

lory  of  Kansas,  aeeords  whal<ncr  lionor 

settler  lo  Creeii  L.  Canada  who.  he  says. 

|poiiit  on  riim]ikin  creek,  whii-h  w.is  siilis( 

the  villa-e  of  Clayniore."     This  liisl.,rian. 

Canada   did   make  a   setllen;eiil    on    rnmi. 

.\iHlre:is.  hnl  at  a  |ioinl   within   the  horde 

subdivisions   of  which- -Canada    lownshi| 

Ihis  idac.'  .Mr.  Canada    moved  in  heccmbei 

.•reek  which  was  siil)se(iuently  seledeil  as  the  site  for  the  villai;t>  of  Clay 

more.     So  the  fact   remains,  as  stated  liv   .Mr.  Wilson,  that    Lewis  Scott 

was  tlie  |,ioneer  selller  of  the  coiinly. 

In  hiMciidier  ISCT.  Zachariah  C.  Crow  seitled  on  a  claim  ad.jcniiin.!'- 
that  id'  Lewis  Scott.  The  following  names  are  remembered  as  beinsi- 
am..iiu-  llnise  who  came  to  this  corner  of  ihe  county  in  ISCS:  .John  .\. 
Twiss.  T.  C..  -L  li.aiid  Allen  (iraham.  -L  F.  Savaue,  .la.k  Th(.m|.son.  F,. 
K.  Koniice.  William  Fain.  Mrs.  IC.  C.  l'ow,dL  .lohn  Lnshbanuli.  Cccn  L. 
Camo'a.  -lohn  .Mclnlvre.  Joe  ijoberls  and  W.  T.  and  S.  W.  .Ma,\s.  Of 
ihese.  ,„ily  .L  F.  Savii.uc  .Ldm  .\lclnt.\ie  ami  .Mrs.  !■:.  C.  Lowell  remain, 
while  many   who  came  in   ISti!)  are  si  ill  in're. 

Wiiliin  ilie  liiiiiis  of  i'arkiM-  township,  as  ori-inallv  constituted,  tiie 
tiisl  llirec  sclio.d  districts  in  the  couniN  were  oi-ani/ed.  Within  this 
lerrilory  ih,-  lirsl  school  house  in  llie  cMinly  was  built  ;  the  tirsi  sclio.d 
laiii;lil  :'  the    tlrst    sermon    incache.l  :    the    lirsl    marriai;e    soh-nmi/.e.l ;    1  he 

chiircli  |mri».ses  erected.  Here  was  ladd  Ihe  tlrst  im|nesf  and  the  tirst 
invliminary  e.xaminaiion  on  a  chai-v  of  murder,  conducted  under  the 
forms  of  law.  Wiihin  the  limits  .d'  this  lowiiship  liie  most  siartliii.u  and 
sensational  act  of  moli  violence  known  in  the  hislory  of  the  county  was 
enacted,  and  iiere  an  enormous  bonded  ilebl  was  fastened  ujion  the 
couiilv  bv  id.'ction  methods  the  most  dariuu  and  coiisi-ienceless  that  <-aii 
be  .-on.-ei'wd. 

The  lirsl  sciio.d  house,  erected  near  Tally  S|.iini;s.  in  the  early  siim- 
mei-  n\'  lS(i!l.  was  a  very  ])rimitive  structure  indeed.  Its  walls  consisted 
.d'  slabs  set  on  cud  and  sui>ported  in  an  upriiihl  position  by  jioles  at 
laciied  to  lour  jnists  set  in  the  jironnd.  The  bare  earth  served  as  a  Moor 
and  the  roof  was  i>artly  of  ela].  boards  and  partly  of  straw  cut  from  the 
prairie  near  liy.  Windows  were  unnecessary,  as  the  chunks  between  the 
slabs  .d'  Ihe  walls  admitted  all  the  liiilil  and'air  Ihal  was  needed.  In  ilrs 
riKh-  siructure  .I.din  C.  Kounce,  a  yonn-  son  of  l>r.  !•:.  K.  Koumc.  tau-lil 

)Mdie\.'d  to  be  the  pioneer  siliocd  of  the  ,-oiint\.  lUiriiiL;'  the  winl.'i'  .d' 
lSt;i>-7u  .Miss  i>aura   Foole  condu<-ted  a  school  at    the  village  of  ClayiiMU'e 


IIISTCIltY   OK   MONTCiOMEKY  COUNTY,   KANSAS.  113 

hill   llicrc  <-:ni  lie  no  lioiihi   iIimI   tlic  Ki.iiii.-c  si-Ikm.I  i.i-(TC(icil  ili;i1    taiij;lit 
l)v   Miss   Imk.Ic  1i\    si'V.Tal   iiioiillis. 

Relig:ion 

Till-  iliiicraiil  Mcrlnxlist  iiicuclii'i-  is  usually  the  lirsl  lo  s|Mca(l  (lie 
■■<;la(l  n(iiii;L!s"  ill  |ii(incci-  sell  leiiieiils  of  the  wcsl.  hiil  in  llils  coiiiily  lie 
was  |.|(tc(1im1  \,\  his  I'.aptist  hvotluM'.  Kev.  F.  L.  WalLcr.  a  Baptist  min- 
isiiT  IK.iii  (»s\\c^i).  Kansas,  pi-oaclied  an  <i|i('ii  air  serinou  at  Tally 
S]iiiii-;s  in  ilic  siiiuiiifi-  of  ISIiit,  wliii-li  is  believed  to  he  the  first  cffovc  at 
leliiiions  teachini;  excr  at teiii|)1e(l  in  the  county.  At  this  time  the  first 
chnicli  organization  was  effected  under  the  name  and  title  of  Salem  Bap- 
tist chni-ch. 

A  little  hilei-  ,111  KIder  .hiliii  Kaiidlc.  a  Christian  minislcr.  inciched 
a  series  ot  sermons  in  the  same  localitx  sdinetimes  (icciipyin^  the  srluiol- 
house  above  described  and  sometimes  Inddinii  forth  in  the  oiien  air.  or  at 
tile  houses  of  the  neijihboriii};  settlers:  esjiecially  at  the  home  of  the 
widow  Fike  whose  daiisiiiter  the  Keverend  iientleman  afterward  mar- 
earliest  protraried  mectinu.  or  reiiiiions  revival  held  in  the  county. 

The  (dd  loji  cliiiicli  which  stood  on  an  elevated  ](oinl  in  the  north- 
west c(>riier  of  the  township,  beside  the  wajion  road  leadinji'  from  Coffey- 
ville  to  Independence,  was  undouliledly  the  first  bnildinji  erected  in  the 
county  to  lie  used  exidiisively  for  clinrch  purposes.  It  was  built  by  the 
iiniteil  efforts  of  tlie  settlers  in  that  [lart  of  the  townsliiii.  of  roush  hewn 
lotis.  coiitrilmted  by  tlie  "siiuaiters"  on  the  timber  lands  alonji  the  river 
and  raised  by  an  asseml)laj>e  of  neif;libors  fjathered  tojiether  liy  previous 
ai)|iointment  for  that  jiurpose;  the  four  corners  lieinji-  securely  notched 
tojiether;  the  s].ace  between  tlie  loi;s  filled  with  bits  of  wood  plastered 
with  clay  and  the  whole  beinu'  covered  with  a  substantial  roof  of  clap- 
boards. 

This  old  church  was,  for  years,  the  shrine  toward  which  younji-  and 
old  l)eut  tlieir  steps  ou  each  recurring  Sunday,  but  time,  which  effaces 
all  tilings,  has  left  nothing,  save  tlie  neighboring  graves,  to  mark  tlie  site 
of  the  sacred  edifice. 

Wedding  Bells 

Aliimt  midsummer  of  1811!)  "Old  Man  ^■asser,■■  the  pioneer  gun- 
smith, living  (ui  a-  claim  just  north  of  the  village  of  Claymore,  gave  his 
daughter,  Catherine,  in  marriage  to  one,  James  Danehu.  This  was  believ- 
ed to  be  the  first  marriage  in  the  county  and  the  men  and  boys  from  the 
village,  and  neighboring  claims,  proceeded  to  celebrate  the  event  in  true 
frontier  style;  creating  such  a  frightful  din  that  some  unsusjiecting 
neighbors  tied  from  their  lionies  in  morlal  fear  of  an   Indian  ujirising. 


114  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

The  First  Murder 

In  March  or  April  1870,  an  old  man  named  Mc-rabe.  living  alone  in 
a  little  cabin  a  short  distance  northwest  of  Tally  Springs,  was  found 
dead  a  few  yards  from  his  cabin  door.  The  discoverer  of  the  body,  hav- 
ing rei)orted  his  ghastly  find  to  George  ('aril. .11.  a  claim-holder  living 
near  by.  alarmed  the  neighborhood  and  led  a  jiarty  of  half  a  dozen  or 
m(>re  to  the  scene  of  the  tragedy. 

The  condition  of  the  })remises,  as  seen  at  tiiis  visit,  indicated  thai 
the  old  man  had  been  stealthily  ai.|M(.ache<l  while  silting  at  his  l)rcak- 
fast  :  that  a  shot,  which  jtassed  through  his  boot  leg.  had  given  the  tirst 
intimation  of  danger;  that  McCabe  had  risen  hastily  and  engaged  in  a 
struggle  with  his  assailant,  and  that  the  victim,  after  being  shot  through 
the  bodv  at  such  close  range  as  to  set  Hre  to  his  clothing,  had  run  from 
tiie  hut  and  fallen  forward'on  his  fare,  and  thai  the  b.idy  had  been  roiled 
over  and  the  pockets  rifled. 

This  murder  furnished  the  occasion  for  the  first  inquest  held  in  tlu' 
.•oiiiily,  and  incidentally  showed  the  "squatters'"  respecr  for  orderly 
methods  of  procedure  in  such  emergencies.  The  county  not  yet  being 
fullv  orgaiii/.cil.  iheie  was  no  ollii-ci-  in  reach,  so  far  as  these  settlers 
knew,  wlio  was  (niaiitu-ii  to  lake  cliaiuc  of  this  case,  but  the  assembled 
neighbors,  desiring,  as  far  as  iiossible,  to  observe  the  forms  of  law,  pro- 
(■eeded  to  elect  a  jury  comjiosed  of  -I.  F.  Savage.  George  Carlton,  Mike 
Carlton.  !•:.  K.  Kounce,  John  McGaleb  and  John  Swarbourg.  These  gen- 
tlemen elfecied  a  formal  organization  by  electing  Mr.  Savage  foreman 
and  were  sworn  in  as  a  .(ironer's  jury  by  < '.  H.  Wyckotf.  :in  attorney  at 
law. 

This  jtiry  instituted  a  formal  investigation  which  resulted  in  the 
conclusion  that  the  facts  were  substantially  as  stated  above,  and  that 
the  motive  was  robbery.  A  bullet  digged  from  the  earthen  floor  where 
it  had  iiuricd  itself  after  passing  through  the  vit-tim's  trousers  and  boot 
leg.  indiiated  that  the  attack  had  been  sudden  and  unsuspected,  and  the 
upset  table  and  scattered  ware  showed  that  the  man  had  risen  hastily 
to  defend  himself,  or  escape  by  flight.  The  burned  clothing  at  the  point 
where  the  fatal  bullet  entered  the  body  indicated  close  contact  Avith  the 
jiiurderer.  as  if  there  had  been  a  struggle  for  life,  and  the  similarity  of 
the  exiiiimed  bullet  to  the  one  cut  from  the  body  of  the  murdered  man 
was  evidence  that  the  assault  was  made  by  but  one  ])erson.  while  the  in- 
veited  pockets  showed  robbery  t(f  be  the  motive  for  the  deed. 

it  was  also  aj.parent  that  the  assassin  had  done  his  bloody  work 
hastily,  as  several  dollars  in  bills  were  left  in  his  victim's  vest  imrkct 
and  a  i)iece  of  script,  or  fra<tioiial  paper  cnrreiicy.  was  found  on  the 
ground  beside  Ili<    bodv. 

The   flnding  of   the  jury    was.    that    ■•de.eased   canie   to   his   death    by 


i-.m!  from  : 

,    pistol 

in    III 

(■   iia 

lids  of  SI 

)iiio  pcr- 

was  Www 

l-(Mllll\(' 

(1     1o 

111.. 

lioiisr    of 

(Jeorge 

iiial  whi.l 

1.  lH.\vrV( 

•r.  \v: 

IS  fi; 

ll-liuT  .l.'l 

ayed,  as 

iiicaiis  (,t 
son   iiiil'CiH 


First  Preliminary  on  the  Charg-e  of  Murder 

The  uiiauthoiized  i.roiccdinus  of  tiic  Tall.v  Siniiifis  settlers,  iu  the 
matter  of  tlie  McCabe  iiuirchM-.  althoui-h  honorable  and  well  meant,  were 
not  lierniitted  to  pass  unclialleimed.  Wiiile  .MrCabe's  body  still  waited 
tor  burial  lOli  Dennis,  of  Wesiralia.  who  had  recently  been  eonimission- 
cd  a  .Insiice  of  the  Peace,  appeared  n]>oii  the  scene  with  a  po.sse  and. 
lakiiii;  jiossession  of  the  body,  proceeded  to  hold  another  incjuest.  I  am 
not  informed  as  to  the  tindini;  of  the  second  jury  .but  it  mnst  have  cast 
sns]iici(in  on  three  brothers  named  Shaw,  who  were  hcddinji'  a  bnnch  of 
cattle  in  the  neighborhood  and  contesting  the  rioht  of  ?>I<-Cabe  to  hold 
the  .•laim  he  occui.ied. 

h  w.is  .ille.ued  by  the  selllers  on  the  north  si<h-  of  the  creek,  that  the 
We.stialia  party  came  out  prepared  not  only  to  hold  the  imiuest  but  to 
-execute  the  murderons  Shaws,  who.  it  is  believed,  were  already  adjudged 
guilty  of  the  crime.  An  air  of  jircbability  is  given  to  this  suspicion  by 
the  fact  that  one  of  the  eiiuipments  of  the  party  was  a  length  of  new  rope 
which  could  have  had  no  legitinuite  oflfii-e  to  perform  in  the  ceremonies 
attending  a  legal  incjuest  ui)on  the  dead  body.  Hk>wever  this  may  be, 
word  had  gcme  out  that  the  Shaws  were  in  danger  and  the  Tally  Springs 
party  liastened  to  the  scene  of  action  where  they  found  the  suspects  under 
arrest,  and  a  council  in  progress  under  a  large  oak,  with  spreading 
branches  standing  out  from  the  body  suggestively.  The  most  of  these 
neighbors  having  brought  their  long  sipiirrel  rifles  with  them  the  visit- 
ing gentlemen  from  the  south  side  of  the  creek,  esteeming  discretion  the 
better  part  of  valor,  silently  withdrew  leaving  their  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  the  Tally  Springs  contingent.  This  movement  j)roved  only  to  be 
a  feint,  as  a  i)osse  was  sent  out  early  the  next  n.orning  to  re-arrest  the 
Shaws  and  bring  them  to  Westralia  for  trial. 

Then  followed  the  arraingnnient  and  trial  which,  as  before  stated, 
was  the  first  formal  examination  held  in  the  county  on  a  charge  of  mur- 
der. VA\  Dennis.  .1.  I'..  ])resided  and  J.  M^.  Scudder  enacted  the  roll  of 
j)rosecutoi,  while  <".  \\'.  I'Jlis  and  J.  D.  Mcf'ue.  two  young  men  who  sub- 
sequently rose  to  positions  of  prominence  in  the  judiciary  of  the  state, 
were  retained  as  counsel  for  the  accused.  The  legal  battle  raged  fiercely 
for  several  days  but  victory  finally  perched  ujion  the  banner  of  the  de- 
fendants' attorneys  and  their  clients,  being  released,  hastily  left  the 
country. 

The  real  murderer  (d  McCabe  will  never  1h'  knnwii.  l)ut  some  of  the 
settlers  north  of  the  creek  suspected  one.  f.ill  Howell,  a  suspicious  looking 


Il6  insn^HY  OF  MONTI.OMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

fclldw.  will)  had  tor  smiic  time  ln'ou  hauj;iug  aroiiud  the  cimiii  of  tlic 
Sliaws  ami  who.  as  was  at'icrw  aiil  i-eiiieiiil>ered.  (lisa]>peaie(l  on  the  day 
of  the  iinnd.T.  and  was  iit-vci-  ai;aiii  seen  or  ht-ard  of  in  tliis  iiart  of  the 


Bonding  the  County 

In  1S7(»  llie  I..  ]..  &  C.  Kailway  r..iii|>any  submitted  a  i-roposition 
to  hiiihi  Iweiity-oiie  miles  of  road  in  "tlie  coiinly.  eouditioned  upon  the 
votinj;-  to  said  comiiany.  in  aid  of  the  entei]irise.  the  sum  of  two  iiinidred 
thousand  d<dlars  in  eounty  bonds.  As  if  was  evident  that  the  road 
\v<inld  be  biiill  across  The  lounly  near  ils  east  line.  Parker  townshi])  un- 
dertook lo  sec  that  the  projiosition  was  artepted  by  an  affirmative  vote, 
and  in  order  That  tliere  mij;ht  l)e  no  failure  in  carrying;  out  that  iiurjiose. 
all  restrictions  on  the  elective  franchise,  on  aci'innt  of  aiic  se.x  and 
residence,  were  temjiorarily  removed. 

The  election  was  held  at  the  town  «d'  Wesiraiia  and  for  that  day  the 
fijiht  lielween  the  rival  towns  was  suspended,  the  citizens  of  each  vicinity 
viein^  with  those  <it  the  others  in  their  efforts  to  carry  the  i)ropositiou 
tjiroujih  io  a  successful  issue  each  faction,  id'  course,  expecting  its  favor- 
ite locality  to  be  made  the  terminus  of  the  line,  and  each,  no  doubt,  hav- 
ing assurances  from  the  manijiulators  of  The  project,  that  its  desires 
would  be  gratified.  All  were,  tlierefore.  animated  by  a  determination  to 
jioll  cuoiigh  \(i|es  to  ove!-conie  any  opposition  that  might  lie  develo]ied  in 

W  hen  the  day  appointed  for  the  election  arrived  a  board,  friendly  to 
the  pro|iosition,  was  installed  and  the  voTing  began.  It  soon  developed, 
however,  that  VA\  Dennis,  one  of  the  judges,  was  inclined  to  be  over-crit- 
ical as  to  the  (pialitications  of  voters,  so  a  novel  scheme  was  concocted  to 
get  him  out  of  the  way.  It  chamed  that  he  was  the  local  justice  of  the 
jieace  aii<l  numerous  litigants  had  iiusiness  with  liini  that  dav  that  was 
to.,  important  to  admit  of  delay  so  he  was  called  aside  for  frequent  and 
ju-olunged  i-ousnltation.  during  whidi  intervals  visitors  from  Labette 
'•ounty.  the  Indian  Territory.  Arkansas  and  Missouri,  and  such  small 
boys  as  were  and)iti«ms  to  cast  their  "maiden  ballot,"  were  rushed  to  the 
jiolling  idace  and  permitted  io  vote  for  the  bonds,  no  questions  being 
asked,  exce](t  that  each  voter  give  a  name,  his  own  ov  not.  no  matter,  to 
be  enteied  on  the  tally  sheets. 

Inder  these  circumstances  it  is  not  surjirising  that  men  voted 
"earlv  and  <dten,"  but  even  these  irregularities  were  not  surticient  to  sal 
isfy  the  manij.ulators  of  the  job.  It  is  alleged  that  Fred  O'ltrien,  an 
expert  ],enmaii  enqdoyed  in  (Jeorge  H,all's  grocery  at  I'arker,  i>rocured 
some  blank  tally  sheets  which  he  tilled  with  names  c-oj.ied  at  rand<Mn  from 
an  old  New  \,nk  dirertory  fouiul  among  the  etfe.ts  <d'  his  employer. 
These  were  passe.l  in  to  the  elc'-tion  board  with  the  number  (d'  ballots  to 


HISTOKY  01'  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  II7 

rom's|ioii(l  with  the  names  on  lUe  bogus  sheets,  and  niatle  a  jtait  (jf  the 
returns. 

I  can  not  now  rerall  (lie  nunibcr  of  votes  pulled  at  Westralia  on  that 
eventful  day  but  it  was  not  far  short  of  the  total  i.opnlaiion  of  the 
county.  By  su<li  means  the  coveted  aid  was  voted  and  in  the  following 
year  the  road  was  built,  but  with  charadcristic  ingratitude  the  company 
ignored  the  claims  of  all  the  friendly  towns  and  selected  a  site  just  north 
of  the  village  of  ("offeyville  for  the  terminus  of  the  line. 

This  exhibition  of  bad  faith  on  the  part  of  the  company  aroused  an 
intense  feeling  of  bitterness  in  the  outraged  community  which  culmin- 
ated in  an  effort  to  defeat  the  delivery  of  the  bonds.  Suit  was  brought  in 
the  United  States  court  at  Leavenworth,  with  Albert  H.  Horton  as  at- 
torney for  the  county,  but  for  some  reason — which  has  never  been  satis- 
factorily explained — the  county  commissioners  suddenly  changed  front 
and  oi'dered  the  suit  dismissed  "without  prejudice;"  this  was  accordingly 
done  and  au  order  issued  for  the  delivery  of  the  bonds,  which  of  course, 
passed  into  the  hands  of  innocent  purchasers,  and  thus  another  link  was 
forged  in  the  conspiracy  against  the  county. 

The  bonds  being  delivered  and  sold,  it  became  the  duty  of  a  subse- 
quent board  of  county  commissioners  to  levy  a  tax  for  the  payment  of 
interest  and  to  provide  a  sinking  fund  for  the  ultimate  redemption  of  the 
bonds.  This  the  board  declined  to  do  and  the  case  again  went  into  the 
courts.  This  time  the  people  took  a  hand  in  the  fight  and  appointed  an 
advisory  committee  to  collect  evidence  and  advise  with  the  commission- 
ers as  to  the  best  method  of  conducting  the  defense.  The  Parker  towu- 
shij)  contingent  of  the  advisory  committee  made  a  thorough  inquiry  into 
the  AVestralia  election  methods  and  secured  the  consent  of  a  nuinber  of 
the  chief  actors  to  a])pear  in  court  and  testify  as  to  the  irregularities 
herein  described,  but  for  some  reason  the  commissioners  compromised  the 
case  and  the  evidence  failed  to  become  a  matter  of  record,  but  the  facts 
as  herein  stated  may  be  confidently  accepted  by  the  student  of  the  early 
history  of  the  county  as  being  substantially  cori-ect. 

Murder  and  Mob  Violence 

h>.  1S71  the  deliberate  and  cooly  planned  murder  of  an  inoffensive 
old  man.  which  furnished  the  occasion  for  the  startling  and  sentsational 
act  of  n;jl)  violence  already  referred  to.  occurred  almost  within  sight 
of  the  town  of  Parker.  Old  Jake  Miller  and  John  A.  Twiss  were  rival 
claimants  for  a  quarter  section  of  land  adjoining  the  original  settlement 
of  Lews  Scott  in  the  Verdigris  Valley.  Not  succeeding  in  ousting  Twiss 
by  intimidation.  Miller  called  a  consultation  of  his  friends  to  devise 
some  more  effective  means  of  getting  i-id  of  the  jirior  claimant.  In  pur- 
Fuance  of  this  ijurjjose  John  Sturman.  William  Ross  and  Jim  Braden,  a 
negro,  met  at  Miller's  house  and.  after  discussing  the  situation,  concluded 


Jl8  IIlSTUIiY  (If   lHiNii,(i.Mi;l!Y  COINTV.   KANSAS. 

(iilious  iihui  was  to  reiiiovi'  liiiii  by  assassiiialidii.  A  plan  of  iiroceedurc 
hcinj;  ajiiwHl  uiion.  and  a  certain  Smiday  iiijilit  sot  for  tlie  perjietratioii 
of  the  bloody  deed,  the  (■ons])ira1(;rs  dispersed  t  >  their  several  homes  to 
await  the  ai)'pointed  hour  for  the  iicrfoniiainc  of  l]ii>ir  respective  jiarts  in 
llie  bloody  drama.  On  that  fatal  Sniiday  ni-hl  (he  chnrrh-Koinji  jiart  of 
tiie  community  were  surprised  lo  sei-  old  .lake  Miller  and  his  entire  fam 
ily  enter  the  vilhifie  churcli.  and  many  wliispiTcd  comments  were  made 
upon  the  nuustial  circun. stance. 

The  movements  of  Sinrman  on  that  day  are  not  now  remembered, 
but  they  were  such  as  to  euabU'  him  lo  prove  an  alabi,  if  it  should  be 
nei-e,><sar.\.  Koss  liM'd  several  miles  up  ilic  ri\er  and  on  that  account  was 
not  likidy  lo  be  sus]iecled  :  and  in  liie  case  of  the  neyro.  liraden.  there  was 
no  known  motive  to  cunnect  him  with  suih  a  crime.  However,  as  was 
develojied  by  the  subseipieni  invesl  ii;at  i  ni.  i;.;ss  was  lo  commit  the  mur- 
der and  the  ne.uro  was  to  wail  for  him  ai  a  certain  point  on  the  river, 
where  a  skilf  was  known  lo  be  kcpi.  and  there  set  him  across  thai  he 
mi.uhi    retni-n   to   his   home   by   llie   mosl    dire.i    and    li-ast   iravele.l    i-oute. 

On  the  .■ifteru'KMi  of  ihc  i]a\  a|i|ioiuled  foi-  Twiss'  reuioval  Koss  i-alled 
at  the  store  of  W.  W.  Ford,  in  I'arkcr.  and  purch;is.-d  an  ir.iu  wed;;e. 
whi.h  had  the  price  marked  upoii  it  with  while  i^aiut.  in  the  merchant's 
private  cii)her.  He  also  boui;lit  a  Inuch  of  some  kind  and  ate  it  in  the 
store,  takiufi  so  mucli  time  aliout  it  tliat  it  was  quite  late  when  lie  look 
his  departure.  From  there  he  evidently  went  to  the  home  of  Twiss  where 
he  shot  the  (dd  man  as  he  sat  at  his  table  reading  a  small  jxicket  bible. 
This  shot  not  i)r)vinf;  immediately  fatal  the  old  man  appears  to  have 
risen  and  i-ushed  to  the  door,  wlu-re  lie  was  met  by  the  nmrderer  who 
clubbed  him  with  his  uun.  <ru.sliin<;  his  skull  and  breaking  the  stock  from 
Hie  barrel  of  the  gun. 

river,  sank  the  bicken  gun  in  I  he  water  and  was  ferried  across  by  Hraden. 
who  ihi-n  returned  to  his  (iwii  home  in  the  heavy  timber. 

The  body  of  the  murdered  man  was  soon  discovered  by  a  neighbor 
reinrning  from  the  church  wheic  old  .lake  .Miller  had  that  night  attended 
<1hiic1i.  The  alarm  was  gi\i'ii  .ind  an  immediate  search  for  a  clue  to  the 
perpetrator  of  the  crime  iiist  it  ut<Ml. 

in  those  days  claim  iroblcs  were  nit  an  infrequent  cause  of  enmity 
between  neighbors,  and  .Miller's  known  contention  with  Twiss  for  ])osess- 
lon  of  the  ciaim  they  both  occuiiied.  and  his  sudden  piety  on  the  night  of 
the  murder,  caused  him  to  be  susiiected  of  i-omidicity  in  the  crime.  He 
w:is.  theiefore.  arrested  on  the  following  Tuesday  morning.  The  arrest  of 
Stnrmau  and  liraden  soon  followed,  not  because  there  Avas  any  evidence 
against  them  but  because  of  their  known  inliniacy  with  Miller  subjected 
Jheni  to  susj)icion  of  having  a  guilty  knowledge  of  the  crime. 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  II9 

In  the  meantime  search  was  being'  made  abont  the  Twiss  cabin  for  a 
flue  which  resulted  in  the  finding  and  identitication  of  the  iron  wedge 
purchased  by  Ross  on  the  day  of  tlie  murder.  This,  of  course,  connected 
Ross  with  the  crime  and  he  was  immediately  arrested.  The  i)risoners 
were  arraigned  before  S.  B.  Morehouse,  J.  P.,  for  exan)ination  on  a  charge 
of  murder,  J.  M.  Hcudder  appearing  as  attorney  for  the  state  and  ('.  \V. 
Ellis  acting  as  counsel  for  the  accused.  .V  plea  of  "not  guilty"  was 
entered,  and  as  there  Avas  no  evidence  u]iiiii  which  to  hold  Miller.  Stur- 
num  and  Braden,  (hey  were  released. 

Marshall  S.  S.  Teterson,  however,  still  kept  his  eye  on  the  negro  and, 
finally,  hy  threatening  to  lock  him  uji  in  the  little  one-celled  calaboose 
with  Ross,  he  was  so  wrought  up,  on  account  of  his  superstitious  fears, 
that  he  made  a  full  confession  to  the  facts  as  above  recited. 

On  the  strength  of  this  confession  Miller  and  Sturman  were  re-arrest- 
ed, and  Braden,  being  assured  of  his  personal  safety,  consented  to  come 
into  court  and  give  evidence  for  the  state. 

Following  the  discovery  of  the  tragedy  which  had  been  enacted  at 
the  lonely  Twiss  cabin,  i)opular  excitement  had  raged  at  fever  heat  and 
the  sessions  of  the  court  had  drawn  such  crowds  of  interested  spectators 
as  to  tax  the  capacity  of  the  little  school  house  where  the  trial  was  held, 
and  it  was  expected  that  the  final  sitting  would  bring  out  an  unusually 
large  attendence,  and  that  the  tide  of  popular  excitement  would  reach 
the  danger  limit.  So  a  posse  was  summoned  to  secure  the  safety  of  court 
and  prisoners,  but  notwithstanding  the  rumored  confession  of  the  negro 
and  its  confirmation  by  the  finding  of  the  broken  gun  at  the  place  ])ointed 
out  by  him.  the  finding  of  the  iron  wedge  and  its  identification  as  the  one 
bought  by  Ross  on  the  day  of  the  murder,  and  the  sensational  story  that 
Braden  was  expected  to  tell  about  the  conspiracy  and  crime,  the  attend- 
ance was  noticeably  small.  There  seemed  to  be  a  sudden  lapse  of  popular 
interest  in  the  proceedings  and  when  the  prisoners  were  remanded  to 
jail  to  be  held  for  trial  before  the  district  court,  only  a  few  idle  men  and 
boys  were  on  hand  to  follow  them  and  their  guards  to  the  calaboose, 
where  they  were  manacled  and  locked  up  for  tlie  night;  a  guard  being 
placed  about  the  building  for  additional  safety. 

Some  time  during  the  night  the  seeming  lapse  of  pojmlar  interest  in 
the  court  proceedings  at  the  little  school  house  were  exj)lained  in  a  start- 
ling manner.  Another  court,  that  of  "Judge  Lynch,"  had  evidently  been 
holding  a  star  chamber  session  with  a  full  attendence.  The  guards  at  the 
jail  were  suddenly  confronted  with  overwhelming  numbers  and  (piietlv 
ordered  to  surrender.  So  orderly  and  unexpectedly  was  the  attack  that 
the  men  seemed  to  have  risen  uj»  out  of  the  ground  and  in  such  numbers 
as  to  nuike  it  apparent  that  resistence  would  be  worse  than  useless.  So 
the  ofticer  and  his  posse  silently  obeyed  the  order  to  lay  down  their  arms. 
The  jail  key  was  taken  from  the  pocket  of  night  marshal.  John  Sowasli, 


[20 


I.MICRY  COUNTV.   KAXSAS. 


he  (looi-   iiiil.Hkca   and    llic   piis.-iicis   li 
guards,  ('xcciii   iwo  vnuii-  Icllows.  \mmv 

n(i\.-  Idi-  a  j;iv.-ii  lime  on  pain  of  ,1c: 
vliirh  ihc  lu-isoniMs  Wfiv  niciinlrd  and 
1   III  lie  \\a\  cast  and  tlicn  inrncd  nn-ll 


;lii  foith.  The  olliccis  and 
lird  into  the  jail  and  liie  door 
nnu  tVllows  were  siaiinned  i 
■s  Id  ihe  -west  and  lolil  not  to 
A   wauon   was  prornicd   into 

o(M-ssion   loi-nicd  wliirh  vod 

lh(>  diivi-tion  of  the  sccnr  oi' 
Ihr  latr  ti"i<i('dv.  All  these  inoveineiils  were  executed  so  silentix  llial  llie 
slec|iini;  inmates  of  the  nearest  resi(h'in-es  were  undisturbed. 

The  two  youii<;  men  witli  their  fai-es  to  the  west  stood  like  slaines 
until  sure  tlieir  ]irol)ation  had  expired,  when  ilu'\  pi-ornred  a  sledge  ham 
mer  and  I)r(>ke  tlie  loek  from  tlie  jail  iloor.  lelrasin-  the  otlhers  and 
^uai-ds.  I)UI  n  I  pursuit  was  at  ti'iiipti'd  unlil  nioinlni;.  when  I  he  liodies  of 
their  prisoners.   Milh-r.   Sturmai;   and    Ito-s   wi-r.-   louml   hanuinu   fnnii   a 

l.ram-h  of  a  lar-e  <.ak  whi.h  st 1  n,Mr  ih.'  door  of  the  Twi>s  .'alnn. 

The   man   wlio  kej.t    tlie  feri-,\    near  In    icpoiied    that    he  had   set    an 

niiihi.  and  liie  guards  at   the  jail  estimaleil   I  he  nnndier  of  iln'ii-  laplors 
fi-om  tiftv  to  si.\l\.  lint   till'  exail   nnndier  has  ne\-i'r  lieeii  known.      N'l'itln  r 


This  was  n..  .ir<iinarv  m,.l.  mov.'d  to  deeds  of  violence  I,n  lier.-e  nn 
reasonin.u  passion,  liul  a  rompan.v  of  cool-headed.  del,.iniine,l  men.  wlio. 
seiMM-  in  the  Tw-iss  murder  a  menace  to  the  piMcid'nl  and  orderU  adnnn 
istralion  ..f  atVairs.  so  ne,cssai-v  to  the  salVl\  and  uood  reimte  of  i  he  com 
mnnit.v.  resolved  to  forewarn  those  who  were  imlined  to  vi.-hj  to  the 
promplinus  <if  i-vil  jiassion.  bv  visitinu  swift  and  terrible  punishment 
upon    the  stealthy   and   cowardly   assassins  of  an   unotfendiu^   old   num. 

This  is  amjilx    pro\en  by  tl n'tire  absence  of  the  usual  methods  of  the 

mob.     There  was  no  noisey  blnstei-.  no  wanton  destrui-tlou  of  jiropei-ty, 

I IVoi-i  1,1  t,-rr,iri/.,-  the  ,-,imniunity  li.\   \hr  rckh-ss  discharge  of  firearms 

and  the  mntilali,in  of  th,'  li,Mli,-s  of  \Ur  victims,  but  just  a  (piiet  and 
<^nlerh  intlicti,.n  ,if  lb,-  ,leath  jienallx  njion  a  ,-,invi,ted  murderer  an<l  his 
f.dhiw  ,onspiral,irs. 

<ir,iinaril\  no  u,i,.d  citiy.,-n  can  alford  to  <-on,l,ine  the  taking;  ,)f  human 
life  wiliiont  iin,'  pr,'i,-,'ss  ,if  law.  but  in  a  frontier  settlement  sn,-h  exe,  t. 
'■,.!is  as  is  h,M,'  ,l,.s,  lilMMl  sometimes  atiord  the  best  possible  safejiiiard  fo 
Ih,'  livi^s  an,l  pr,ip,Miy  of  the  w.dl-disposed.  That  such  was  the  etfe,-t  of 
llie  snn;mary  exeiution  of  the  Twiss  murderers,  there  is  little  doubt,  as 
in  those  days  there  were  many  conflict  ini;  interests  whiih  mi<>ht  have  1er- 
nnmiled  in  inurdei-  if  this  one  had  been  ]>ei-mitted  to  pass  unavenged. 


IIISTOKV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  121 

Rival  Towns 

In  tlic  winter  of  ISdS-'.l  the  tnulinii  i)()st  of  (i.  L.  ("jinada.  on  I'linip- 
kin  ("reck,  became  tlie  nucleus  ol'  the  villauc  of  Clayiiiore  wiiich  grew  to  be 
a  smart  little  town  of  jieilnijis  one  liuiidred  sonls.  Kai-ly  in  the  spring 
following  a  town  (■omi)aiiy  was  foi-nietl  wilii  (!.  L.  Canadii.  jiresident.  ami 
A.  M.  Unncan  as  secretary.  A  few  small  si  ores  wer(>  ojiened  to  snjiply 
the  \illagers  and  scattered  settlers  with  dry  goods  and  groceries  and  to 
trade  with  the  Indians.  John  Lnshbangh.  on.'  of  the  store  keepers,  also 
kejit  a  tavern  for  the  entertainment  of  man  and  beast,  and  Dr.  Stewart, 
the  ])i(>neer  doctor,  whose  armamentarium  consisted  of  a  {■?w  obsolete 
journals,  a  time-worn  disjiensatory.  a  pair  of  dila]iidated  saddle  hags,  a 
tooth  forceps  and  a  dozen  or  so  of  bottles  and  jiackages.  set  nr  an  oftii-e  in 
one  corner  of  Lushbangh's  store. 

'lUe  promoters  of  this  town  started  out  with  high  h  ipe>  of  building 
a  town  o*'  importance  but.  alas,  for  the  .stability  of  hiimau  lioiies.  the 
sunujier  was  not  halt  over  before  the  enterprise  was  o\eishado\\ed  by  the 
fotmdiug  of  the  rival  town  of  Westralia. 

This  village  was  founded  l)y  ("ajjt.  H.  < '.  Crawford  and  lOli  Dennis 
in  the  early  summer  of  ISlJil.  It  was  located  on  a  broad  plateau,  midway 
between  Claymore  and  the  sdutli  line  of  the  state,  on  an  old  cattle  trail 
leading  from  the  south,  known  as  the  West  Trail,  hence  the  name, 
"\A'estraIia. 

The  village  sprang  into  prominence  and  in  a  very  few  months  boasted 
a  population  numbering  several  hundred.  It  was  the  mart  toward  whi<'h 
long  lines  of  prairie  schooners,  freighted  with  fruit  and  produce,  from 
Missouri  and  Arkansas,  wended  their  way.  anil  its  merchants  did  a  flour- 
ishing business  with  the  scattered  settlers  in  the  neighborhood,  the  Osage' 
Indians  from  the  several  villages  scattered  along  the  river  and  the  resi- 
dents of  the  Cherokee  country  on  the  south.  When  I  visited  the  place 
in  the  late  summer  of  the  same  year  it  presented  an  air  of  bustling  ac- 
tivity snr])rising  to  see.  in  a  country  so  sparcely  settled,  but  it  was  the 
supply  point  for  a  territory  many  miles  in  extent  and  its  merchants  did 
a  thriving  trade.  ]Mewhiney  &  Fagau.  E.  C.  Robertson  and  X.  F.  Howard 
were  leading  merchants.  ().  E.  Hines  condticted  a  harness  and  saddlery 
shop.  Louis  Souger  kei)t  the  village  hotel.  Joe  Benoist.  of  Baxter 
Springs,  put  in  a  stock  of  drugs  i  the  first  in  the  county)  i)resided  over  by 
John  Fleming.  Perry  Clary  and  Ed.  Suydam  were  dealers  in  live  stock. 
Joe  :McCreary  ran  a  saw  mill  near  by  and  Dr.  Allen,  afterword  famous 
as  a  Masonic  lecturer,  was  the  village  doctor.  The  jiioneer  news]iaper  of 
the  county  was  jmblished  here,  as  ajipears  in  the  chajiter  <mi  "Newsjiap 
ers"  in  this  book. 

It  would  seem  that  a  town  with  five  or  six  hundred  inhabitants,  lo- 
cated on  a  commanding  site,  doing  a  large  and  lucrative  business  in 
nearly  all  lines  of  trade;  its  professional  men.  merchants  and  tradesmen 


122  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

owiiiii};  llu'ii-  stores,  shops  and  resideucrs,  might  well  hope  to  hold  its 
own  a<iiiinst  all  later  rivals,  hut  such  was  the  state  of  uncertainty  as  to 
The  final  location  of  the  nietroi)olis  that  men  held  themselves  in  readiness 
to  mimnt  their  buildings  on  wheels  and  move  them  to  any  point  which, 
for  tlie  moment,  might' seem  to  l)e  backed  by  a  more  powerful  influence. 
So  Westralia.  with" all  her  business  and  bustle  and  bright  prospects. 
Avas  destined  soon  to  e.xperience  the  fate  of  her  sister— Claymore. 
Tally  Spring's 

In  August  isc.'.i.  .).  F.  Savage.  K.  K.  Kouncc.  William  Fain  and  Dr. 
Dennison  formed  a  town  company  and  laid  out  the  village  of  Tally 
Springs,  around  a  large  natural  spring  of  that  name  on  Potato  (.'reek, 
alxuit One  and  one-half  miles  northwest  of  Westralia.  Lying  directly  in 
the  line  of  the  L.  L.  &  G.  R.  R..  as  afterward  constructed,  this  village 
miglit.  by  liberal  management,  have  become  a  formidable  rival  to  the  vil- 
lage of  \Vestralia  and  prevented  altogether  the  founding  of  Pai'ker 
and  the  ])resent  town  of  (^)tifeyville.  but  E.  K.  Kounce,  whose  claim 
formed  a  part  of  the  site,  had  such  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  importance 
of  the  location  that  he  refused  to  encourage  the  investment  of  capital  by 
giving  away  building  lots. 

It  is  said  that  Parker,  York  ^S;  Co..  Ilic  wealthiest  of  all  the  pioneer 
merchants,  prepared  to  (»pen  up  their  immense  stock  of  merchandise  herf», 
if  given  a  onecighth  interest  in  the  town  site  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  but  Kounce  ]ironij>tly  informed  them  that  if  they  wanted 
lots  in  that  town  they  must  buy  them.  This  undoubtedly  settled  the  fate 
of  this  promising  village,  which  never  attained  a  ])Oi)ulation  above  fifty 
or  seventy-five  people.  After  the  building  of  the  railroad  the  name  of  the 
village  was  changed  to  Kalloch.  and  a  statiim  maintained  there  for  a  few 
years,  but  even  this  was  finally  aband)ned  and  the  land  reverted  to  farm 
]nirposes. 

Coffeyville — Old  Town 

.Vbont  the  lime  the  Tally  S|. rings  townsite  was  lieiiig  jilattcd  uv  a 
little  later.  Col.  Cotiey.  N.  B.  P.lantou.  Ed.  Fagan.  -lolin  Clarkson  and 
William  Wilson  formed  a  company  and  laid  out  a  town  around  Col.  Cof- 
fey's trading  ].ost.  previously  estai)lished  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with 
the  Itlack  Dog  band  of  Osages,  who  then  had  their  little  village  south  of 
Onion  Creek,  on  the  site  subsecpiently  appropriated  by  Ben.  Chouteau, 
and  still  known  as  the  Cliimteau  place.  The  new  town  was  named  Cof- 
feyville in  honor  of  its  priucii)al  f<ninder,  but  it  did  not  assume  imich 
imporlance  until  1871.  Col.  Cofiey  was  (lie  jiriucipal  merchant,  N.  P.. 
I'.laiiloii  kei)t  the  hotel,  Peter  Wheeler,  an  accomplished  young  ])hysici;'/i. 
administered  t>  the  ills  of  the  ].eople,  K.  V.  K.'iit  i>resided  at  the  black- 
sniilh's  forge,  and  S.  H.  Hickman  kept  a  little  store  and  handled  the 
Fnited  States  mail. 


I 

11  Ih 

(■  hit 

f  sniiiiiH'i'  of  lS(i',(.  James  \V.  Paikev.  ot 

Sta.ui 

'     ('.; 

iiipa 

ii.v.    raine    to    soiitheni     Kansas    to    i-e> 

;tii(l  i 

licid. 

nital 

ly  to  try  the  etiect  of  tlie  i-liiiiate  on  a  p; 

whirl 

1  he 

had 

long  been  a  sufferer.     While  liere  he  bei 

lIlSTOliV  (IF   MONrco.MKItV   ((irNTY.  KANSAS.  I  2  J 

A  little  later  on  ('.  W.  Munn.  IJarron  cV;  lleddon.  .1.  S.  r.nriis  and 
Kead  Bros.,  were  added  to  the  business  circles,  but  as  before  stated  the 
real  history  of  the  place  did  not  begin  until  the  L.  L.  &  d.  Railroad  was 
built  in  1871,  so  it  will  be  treated  under  the  head  of  ("oft'eyville,  of  which 
it  soon  became  a  part. 

Parker 

the  Southwestern 
r  and  recuperate 
inful  disease  from 
ante  greatly  inter- 
ested in  the  jirospect  of  the  early  growth  of  a  good  town  on  the  border, 
but  not  being  satisfied  with  the  conditions  of  either  of  the  sites  already 
laid  out,  he  purchased  a  claim  of  Peter  Miller  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Verdigris  river,  about  one  mile  from  Westralia  and  a  little  nearer  to  the 
state  line.  Here  he  laid  out  and  jilatted  a  town  site,  and  soon  after  or 
ganized  a  town  company,  with  Maj.  H.  ^^^  ^lartin  as  president,  and  D.  T. 
Parker  as  secretary. 

This  town  was  christened  I'arkersbourg  in  honor  of  its  founder,  but  a 
little  later  on  the  ••Ixmrg"  was  drojiiied.  as  it  was  thcmght  that  the  simple 
name  of  the  founder  was  more  aiijiropriate.  as  well  as  being  less  cumber- 
soiue.  The  well  known  character  of  Mr.  I'arker  for  honesty  and  flnaucial 
standing  served  to  attract  immediate  attention  to  The  new  town  and 
people  began  to  talk  about  the  rising  metropolis  before  there  was  any 
thing,  except  the  surveyor's  stakes  to  mark  the  site. 

U'hen  T  came  to  the  place  in  the  last  days  of  October  in  i860  there 
were  just  three  houses  on  the  town  site:  the  original  claim  caliin,  a  small 
structure  built  of  logs,  a  little  board  shanty  used  by  the  town  company  as 
an  office,  and  a  siuall  three-room  building  owned  and  occupied  by  Robert 
Walker  as  a  boarding  house;  Init  ground  had  lieen  broken  for  the  local i<:i! 
of  a  large  double  store  room  soou  to  be  oecujiied  by  Parker.  York  &  ("o. 
as  a  general  store.  Their  .f4().00n.00  stock  of  goods  was  already  being  re- 
ceived and  stored  in  temporary  sheds,  until  the  building  could  be  made 
ready  for  occupancy. 

Wright  &  Kirby  had  located  a  saw  mill  near  by  and  a  considerable 
nunilier  of  men  were  engaged  in  felling  the  oak.  cottonwood  and  walnut 
trees,  of  which  there  was  an  abundant  growth  in  the  valley  lands,  and 
carting  them  to  the  mill  to  be  cut  into  lumlier  to  sujijdy  the  raj>idiy  iu- 
oreasing  demand.  The  saw  and  hammer  were  lieard  early  and  late,  and 
stores,  sho]is  and  residences  sprang  up  as  fast  as  himlier  could  be 
obtained  for  their  construction. 

Parker,  York  &  fo.'s  building  was  soon  completed  and  their  im- 
mense stock  of  merchandise,  consisting  of  dry  goods,  groceries,  hardware, 
boots  and  shoes,  hats  and  ca]is,  farming  implements,  liquors,  etc.  were 


124  HISTOUY  OF   MONniOMKKY  fOt'NTy.  KANSAS. 

(>l)('iK'(i  Up  ;ni(l  a  r..ij)s  of  clerks  iiisiallcd  I<i  si-ivc  tlic  imiiicrdiis  ciisldiii- 
I'l-s  who  came  fioni  many  miles  anmiid. 

Tlic  oiMMiiiiii  <if  lliis  mainmolli  slure  was  followed  by  llie  oiieiiiiij;  of 
many  smaller  jjlaces.  rei)resenl  in;:  all  lines  of  iiade.  transformini;  llie 
place,  in  a  few  weeks,  from  a  (|uiel  landscaiie  inlo  a  llirivinji  coinmefcial 
cenl'T. 

riie  wide  i-e|'Utalion  of  the  fininder  of  ihe  new  lowu.  the  confidence 
displayed  by  I'acUei-,  York  ^K;  Co.  in  llie  invest  nieiiT  of  a  small  forfinie  in 
mei-caiitile  l)nsiness  in  this  border  land,  and  the  iin]ii"ecedeiited  growtli 
of  tlie  county  in  poptilation,  served  to  siimnlate  a  mai'veloiis  growth  in 
tlie  little  city,  so  that,  in  less  than  a  year,  it  had  conipletely  overshadowed 
the  ri\al  xillages  and  accpiired  a  poimlat ion  estimated  at  one  thousand 

ber  {•arkei'%  York  i:  ro'  \V.  W.  Fonl.  (li-een  L.  Canada,'  linenaman  I'.ios., 
liani.klaw  I'.ios.,  and  (ionid  .S:  McDonald,  geiieial  ineichandise ;  Fra/.ier 
&  Fra/ier.  Wells  IJros..  (ieorge  Ihill.  John  \Viij:lil.  and  Cox  I'.i-os..  uio 
ceries ,  Cunningham  &  Frazier.  and  Scott  &  Uooser.  drugs;  I ).  A.  Davis, 
and  Mines  &  Hiolly,  harness  and  saddlery;  Ziba  Ma.xweli.  stoves  and  tin- 
ware, Caj.t.  .V.  .M.  Smith,  and  Vaiinum  \-  I'etersoii.  livery;  S.  < ).  ICbersole, 
jewelrv;  .lohii  To(bl.  wagon-maker;  Morehouse  ^V;  Iteardslev,  and  .hdin  \j' 
wark.'bl.icksmiths;  .1.  C.  Fra/.ier.  Inmbennan;  -bpseph  ItiMiadum.  Frank 
IJotigs,  and  .John  .Mel  (■maid,  carpenleis  and  buildiM-s:  C.  ^V.  KIlis,  Len.y 
Xeal.  and  It.  F.  IloriM-r.  attorneys;  (i.  H.  I'.aker.  .■diior  of  tlie  Parker  IJec- 
ord  ;  .Idhn  I'.eNcrly,  barbel-;  Louis  IJliule.  bakei  and  confectioner;  ('.  M. 
Ilealhi'i-inuton.  billiard  hall;  Smith  .»^  .\tillen.  Siott  &  Kearns.  John 
I'riitleman.  ami  Xeal  .V  Cotliiigham.  liquors;  John  Lijisy,  Robert  Walker, 
John  ilrown.  John  Warper  and  Henry  Lee.  boarding:  S.  U.  Mondunise 
and  .M.  D.  I'.ailev.  hotels;  C.  S.  I'.rown.  book-keei.er ;  \Villiani  Wallace. 
John  S.  Lang.  I'rnsi)er  Vitiie.  Fred  OT.rien.  i:noch  lla<lder.  Malt  iMaper. 
and  Fdwin  Foster,  clerks;  T.  C.  Fra/ier  and  F..  li.  Hunwell.  physicians; 
several  of  whom  are  still  residents  of  the  <oniiiy. 

Society  in  Parker 

(In  Chrisimas  night,  lM;;t,  llie  successful  inaugural  i<m  of  the  new 
town  was  celebrated  in-  the  midst  of  a  blinding  srn.w  storm  (Ihe  lirst  of 
Uu-  s:-.!>oni  by  a  grand  ball  given  in  the  large  hall  over  I'arker.  York  .^L 
Co.'s  store,  llie  bampiet  lieiiig  s])iead  al  .lames  Itiown's  hotel,  where 
plates  were  laid  for  one  liundred  couples.  This  was  doubtless  Ihe  first 
social  e\enl.  of  an>  considerable  inipoiiance.  in  .Montgomery  county  and 
it   was  conducled  in    a    manner    thai    would  have  done  credit  to  a   much 

.Much  has  been  said  and  wrillen  ab..nl  ihe  -wild  and  wooly"  .-liar 
acier  of  the  iieople,  their  predilection   for  -a    man     for    bi-eakfasi    e\er\ 


HISTORY  OF   MONT(!OMERY  COUNTV,  KANSAS.  125 

iiioniiiii;-,"  and  all  lliat.  l)iit.  as  a  iiialtcr  of  fact.  iK-isonal  ('iicoimlcrs  were 
infriMHicul  and  tiio  low  dives  and  dancf  houses  that  dis«-ra(e  llie  average 
border  town,  were  nol  tolerated.  On  tiie  contrary,  lliere  was  a  friendly 
feelinji  and  unanimity  of  iiurjiose  anionj-  our  peojile— a  disposition  to  act 
tojjcllier  in  matters  ]iertaininj!,-  to  tiie  material  welfare  of  the  community, 
and  ai'  absence  of  petty  jealiousies  lliat  would  have  been  remarkable  in  a 
much  older  community.  True,  llie  town  was  a  resort  for  many  roujih 
(•har.icters.  as  every  bustlinj;-,  border  town  must  be,  but  as  a  Dile  i;ood  ,1 
lowsbip  prevailed,  even  in  the  most  boisterous  assejiiblages. 

As  for  our  social  gatherings  they  would  compare  favorably  with 
those  of  any  old  community.  A  stranger  dropping  into  one  of  our  even- 
ing entertainments  would  iuive  found  our  women  as  modest  and  well 
dressed,  our  men  as  genteel  and  courtley.  and  our  conversation  as  re- 
fined and  well  sustained  as  in  any  part  of  the  country.  He  might  have 
missed  the  music,  the  Howers.  and  the  swallow-tailed  coat,  but  in  other 
respects  he  would  have  no  reason  to  consider  us  uncivilized. 

To  be  sure  the  •■shindig"  was  jfatronized  by  the  ruder  element  of  so- 
ciety, and  on  such  occasions  the  hoodlum  was  very  much  in  evidence,  but 
even  in  these  meetings  good  nature  usually  jn-evailed.  and  when  it  was 
otherwise,  a  black  eve  oi-  a  blood\-  nose  was  generally  llie  most  serious 
casualty. 

It  was  the  unity  of  purpose,  above  mentioned,  that  enabled  the  people 
of  i'aiker  to  sustain,  for  three  years.,  the  bitter  tight  for  supremecy  which 
was  waged  against  the  rival  town  of  ("otfeyville.  backed  by  the  jiowerful 
influence  of  the  railroad  company.  It  was  this  unity  of  ettort  that  en- 
abled them  to  compel  the  railroad  comiiany  to  extend  its  line  to  Parker 
and  maintain  there,  for  months,  better  depot  facilities  than  were  sup 
plied  to  its  own  town  of  ("otteyville,  but  the  contest  was  uneipial  and 
some  of  (Mir  largest  cai>italists,  growing  tired  of  the  struggle,  abandoned 
the  tivht  and  a  stampede  .piickly  followed. 

Incidents 

It  is  no  easy  task  to  select  from  the  multiplicity  of  events  which  gave 
color  to  our  community  life  during  the  brief  time  in  which  Parker  was  the 
recognized  metropolis  of  this  corner  of  the  county,  those  which  will  best 
illustrate  the  characteristics  of  the  residents  of  that  ill-fated  village,  but 
as  my  st(U-y  would  hardly  l)e  com])lete  without  some  such  attemjjt,  a  few 
of  the  more  striking  are  selected,  leaving  much  to  the  imagination  of  the 
reader 

The  story  <»f  the  summary  justice  meted  out  to  the  niurderers  of  .John 
A.  Twiss  has  already  been  recited,  so  it  only  remains  to  be  said  that  this, 
although  itself  an  unlawful  act,  serves  to  emphasize  the  determinatio.i 
-of  this  pioneer  community  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  the  well- 


126  mSTOUY  OF  MONT(^OMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

disposed,  evt'ii  ro  the  point  of  Takinj;  Iniiiian  life,  wlicii  tlio  <ir<niiistances^ 
seoniod  to  wanant  siicli  lieioii-  measures. 

On  mimerons  oci-asioiis  our  iieojile  weic  .a lied  iiimii  to  exliihit  tliis 
deteniiinatidii  in  sudi  an  eni]iliatic  manner  as  I<i  waiii  the  toniili  element 
tliat  they  wonld  nut  lie  permitted  to  teimri/.e  the  weak  and  timid  \vit3 

In  the  sjiiinii-  of  1S71.  when  the  lailruad  was  neai-inji'  completinn  to 
("ollVyville.  that  village  took  on  (piite  a  little  Imom.  Cattlemen  were  driv- 
ing tiieir  heids  to  that  i»oint  for  shipment  and  witli  these  herds  came  the 
usual  quota  of  reckless  cowboys.  The  influx  of  this  element  caused  the 
opening  of  numerous  saloons  and  dance  houses,  and  this,  of  course, 
brought  into  the  community  the  usual  gang  of  gamblers,  pick  pockets, 
thugs,  and  all-round  toughs  Avho  constitute  the  patrons  and  hangers-on 
of  such  i)laces.  These  gentry,  as  might  be  expected,  soon  took  sides  with 
("offevville  in  the  town  fight  then  just  beginning  between  that  village  and 
I'arker.  Almost  daily  threats  we're  made  by  these  fellows  that  they  were 
about  to  raid  the  latter  i>lace  and  wijre  it  out  of  existence,  and  the  experi- 
ment was  actually  made  on  several  occasicuis. 

Among  the  frecpienters  of  "Red  Hot  Street."  as  the  locality  in  ('of- 
fevville given  over  to  saloons  and  dance  halls  was  called,  was  a  notorious 
uang.  known  as  the  "Adams  gang."  These  fellows  had  frequently  giveii 
it  out  that  they  were  going  down  to  J'arker  to  shoiit  uji  the  town.  One 
morning  word  was  br.mglit  in  that  the  "gang"  was  actually  advancing  up- 
on the  city,  and  {(reparation  was  made  to  give  them  a  warm  reception. 
I'rettv  sooii  they  were  heard  riding  across  the  river  bridge  and  in  a  few 
moments  they  appeared  in  the  south  cTid  «if  Oak  street,  which  was  then 
the  main  Imsiness  street  of  the  town.  Here  they  were  met  by  a  committee 
who  notified  them  that  they  were  not  wanted  in  that  town,  at  the  same 
time  calling  their  attention  to  the  gleaming  gun  barrels  protruding  from 
every  corner  and  doorway  along  the  street:  a  convincing  evidence  of  the 
inhos]iitable  intentions  of  the  peo]de  toward  sui-h  fellows  as  they.  Tliis 
eiHh'd  the  interview,  and  the  "gang",  esteeming  discreticm  the  better  part 
of  valor,  (piietly  withdrew  to  be  seen  in  that  town  no  more. 

On  another  oc.  asic  n  two  young  fellows  ro<le  into  the  town  without 
jirevions  announcement,  "to  have  some  fun  with  the  town."  They  were 
more  ilaiing  than,  the  "Adams  gang"  an<l  actually  <-ommenced  hostilities 
by  shooting  the  windows  out  of  «nie  of  the  hotels.  The  shooting  attracted 
liie  atieiifion  of  the  marshall.  who  soon  aiqieared  <m  the  scene  with  a 
jKisse  and  summoned  the  invaders  to  suricnder.  and  u])on  their  refusal  to 
do  so  the  marshall  shot  one  of  them  through  the  neck,  while  one  of  his 
assistants  beat  the  other  into  insensibility  with  a  club.  When  the  man 
with  the  bullet  in  his  neck  was  picked  up  he  was  found  to  have  sustained 
a  broken  neck.  ]U-odu<ing  complete  jiaralysis  of  tlie  body  and  lind.s.  from 
which  he  died  two  days  later.     Has  companion  soon  regained  conscious- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  127 

uoss  and  was  ](ciiiiiltf(l  lo  lea\'e  town,  while  tlie  wouinlcd  man  was  put 

to  bcii  in  till'  Iiotel  u]!in  wliicli  lie  had  just   (h'  a  wanton  assault,  and 

tendoi-ly  cared  for  until  deatii. 

Out  of  tlie  killinj-  just  desci-ihed  j;i-ew  tiie  only  fatal  eollisiou  be- 
i\\<'('n  resident  citizeus  of  the  town.  This  tragedy — tlie  killing  of  George 
('on!\  by  Alex.  Kearns — which  was  enacted  on  the  following  day,  cre- 
ated a  more  intense  feeling  of  excitement  than  any  other  event  which 
ever  occured  in  the  village  of  Parker.  These  two  men  were  rival  saloon 
keepers,  between  whom  an  unfriendly  feeling  had  existed  for  some  time, 
!;:id  .tfter  the  fra/.is  above  desc!  '»  d  Conrv  accused  Kearns  of  kicking 
the  c'nbbed  man  as  he  lay  uucon.scious  where  he  fell  from  his  horse. 
Kearns  resented  the  accusation  and  on  the  following  morning  went  to 
Conry's'  place  of  business  and  demanded  an  apology,  which  Conry  re- 
fused to  make,  but,  instead,  reitteiati'(5  the  charge  previously  made. 
This  so  enraged  Kearns  that  he  opened  lire  upon  Conry  with  a  small 
caliln  r  revolver,  inflicting  several  l)ody  wounds.  Friends  interferred 
and  Kearns  then  returned  to  his  own  place,  while  Conry  went  to  his 
boai'ding  house  a  few  rods  away,  where  I  was  summoned  to  dress  his 
wounds. 

As  I  passed  down  the  street  toward  Lee's  boarding  house,  where 
Conry  lived,  Kearns  cauie  out  of  an  alley  just  ahead  of  me  and  also 
turneu  in  the  direction  of  the  boarding  house.  A  moment  later,  Conry, 
stripped  to  the  waist,  rushed  into  the  street  pistol  in  hand,  and  a  duel 
with  hu'ge  caliber  weapons  began.  Several  shots  were  fired,  one  of  which, 
from  Kearns'  pistol,  jtas.sed  through  the  thin  w'alls  of  the  building, 
wounding  Henry  Lee  in  the  arm.  Finally,  Kearns,  resting  his  pistol  on 
his  left  arm,  took  deliberate  aim  and  fired.  Simultaneously  with  the  re- 
port ot  his  pistol  Conry  leaped  higli  in  the  air  and  fell  dead  in  the  street; 
the  ball  having  entered  his  right  eye  so  centrally  as  to  make  only  a 
sight  nick  in  both  the  upjier  and  lower  lids.  Kearns  was  immediately 
])laced  under  arrest  and  then  began  the  intense  popular  excitement  be- 
fore referred  to.  Kearns.  who  was  blamed  for  following  Conry  up,  after 
iiaving  the  best  of  the  first  encounter,  was  a  tierce-tem{)ered,  over-bearing 
fellow,  while  Conry,  aside  from  his  business,  was  considered  a  quiet  and 
respectable  citizen;  hence  public  indignation  ran  high  against  Kearns. 
The  friends  of  Conry  were  bent  on  avenging  his  death  by  mob  violence, 
but  the  better  element  determined,  if  possible,  to  prevent  this  additional 
blot  on  the  fair  name  of  the  city,  so  they  formed  themselves  into  a  volun- 
tary committee  to  protect  the  prisoner  and  (piiet  the  excitement.  After 
two  days  and  nights  of  unremitting  i^tfort,  dispersing  groups  of  excited 
people  here  and  tliere  and  doing  guard  duty  at  tlie  hotef  where  the  prison- 
er was  held,  the  committee  succeeded  in  bringing  about  a  better  state  of 
feeling.  Men  returned  to  their  various  occupations  and  the  law  was  per- 
mitted to  take  its  course.     In  this  case,  however,  its  course  was  not  in  ac- 


<-«>rdan.( 

'  with 

Tlie  kli^ 

Kwii  farts    ami 

express 

;i   i-e<ii'( 

M    lliat 

the  iiiol.  iKid  t 

M0NT(;OMi;i!Y  COf.NTV.  KANSAS. 

l\c  heaid  siiiiie  very  ^ood  men 
'I'll   peniiilteil   To  work    i(s  will 

Coffeyville 

In  the  sprinj;  of  ISTl.  when  the  Leaven  woil  h.  I.awreme  iV:  (iaiveston 
railro;i(1  mow  fhe  t^anta  Fel  was  nearinji  completion  to  the  south  line  of 
the  state,  certain  ofticers  and  emjiloyes  of  the  com])any  selected  a  tract  of 
land  lying  immediately  nortli  of  and  adjoining  the  site  of  the  "Old  Town'' 
of  Coffeyville.  but  located  within  the  Osage  Diminished  Reserve,  for  town- 
site  purposes.  This  tract  of  land,  being  a  part  of  .section  SO.  township 
34.  range  1(5  east  of  the  sixth  i)rinci]>al  meridian,  was  surveyed  and 
platted  by  Octavius  Chanute,  chief  engineer  of  the  above-named  railway, 
company" as  "Railroad  Addition  to  the  City  of  Cotteyville,"  and  it  was 
entereii  for  the  "benefit  of  the  occujiants"  by  W.  H.  Watkins,  probate 
judge,  on  the  22d  of  June  ISTl.  On  thi-  I'dth  day  of  October  of  the  same 
year.  Mr.  Chanute  filed  his  ]ilat  in  llie  ofiice  of  the  register  of  deeds  for 
Montgomery  county,  and  thus  was  hmnched  on  the  uncertain  sea  of  com- 
mercial endeavor,  another  asjiiiaiit  for  tin'  honor  of  being  rated  the  best 
town  in  southern  Kansas. 

The  following  winter  The  frietids  of  the  new  town  ])rocured  (he  enact- 
ment, by  the  state  legislature,  of  a  sjiecial  law  aTithorizing  the  incor])0- 
ration  of  the  village  of  Cofl'eyville  as  a  city  of  the  third  class.  This  law 
was  signed  by  The  governor  on  Tlie  'IMh  day  of  Februai-y  1S72,  and  a  few 
days  later  w;is  jiresented  to  H.  O.  \\'ebb.  judge  of  the  district  court  for 
Montgomery  county,  together  with  a  petition  ]iraying  for  the  issuance 
of  the  necessary  order  for  carrying  the  law  into  effect.  This  order  was 
issued  on  the  ."ith  day  of  March  ISTl'.  fixing  the  limits  of  the  new  city  so 
as  to  include  only  the  "Railroad  Addition"  before  mentioned. 

Judge  Webb's  order  incoritorating  the  city  of  Coffeyville  ffxed  March 
Iti.  1872.  as  the  date  for  holding  the  first  election  for  city  ofMcers.  and 
desitinated  election  officers  as  follows:  Judges.  T.  !*..  HIdridge,  (t.  W. 
Currv  and  J.  .M.  Sciidder:  Clerks,  II.  A.  Kelley  and  A.  W.  Hoit ;  Can- 
vassing Roard.  J.  O.  Vannniii.  C.  J.  Talinian  and  I».  P.  Hale.  These 
election  offhers  being  duly  (|iialitied  b.-fore  illi  Ucniiis.  .1.  R.,  on  the  18th 
of  March,  proceeded  to  p(  ifoiin  their  duties  in  a<cofd;ince  with  the  order 
of  the  <(inrt.  and  iriade  piochinration  of  the  result  of  the  election  as 
follows: 

Mavor  elect.  A.  I!.  Clark;  ( ■oiiii.iliiieti  ele.t.  W.  II.  Rowers,  G.  W., 
Ciiii-.\.  I;.  .1.  Talliiiati.   1).   I'.lair  and  i:.  S.  I'.hlridge:   I'olice  Judge,  G.  A 

The  mayor  and  coiiiici iiiicn  elect  Imving  been  <liily  ipialified,  held 
Iheii-  liisl  meeting  on  the  L'l'd  of  .Match.  :itid  coiiipleled  the  organization 
bv  111"  aiiiiointiiHMit   of   I.   X.  Kiiee|;ni<i.  citv  clerk  and     I'eter    R.    Flvnn, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COINIY,  KANSAS.  I  29 

Tims  it  ciuiic  about  that  tlip  terriluiv  phillcd  as  an  ad.liiicn  to  the 
villa<;o  of  <'.>t1("vville  iK'caiiie  tho  iiicoriioratod  city  of  Cotfeyvilic  to  the 
oxcliision  of  Ilic  town  to  which  it  was  piesunicd  to  be  only  an  addition. 

This  anoinahins  ciicunistance  was  iircsnincd  to  bo  justified  by  the 
fact  tliat  the  ( 'lioroticc  Stri]i.  on  whiih  tlio  old  town  was  located,  was  not 
open  for  entry  at  Tlie  time  of  the  incoi-poi-ation,  and,  therefore,  not  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  for  such  purjioses.  but.  as  will  be  seen  later 
on.  tiiis  view  was  not  a<ceiited  by  the  settlers  on  the  oi-ijiinal  town  site. 

Tiie  Cherokee  Strip  of  that  day  was  not  the  Cherokee  Striji  opened  to 
settlement  a  few  years  aj;o.  and  now  a  part  of  Oklahoma  territory,  but  a 
narrow  striji  of  land  (about  two  and  one-half  miles  wide  at  this  ]toiut) 
acquired  by  tieaty  witli  the  Cherokee  Indians  when  the  final  survey  was 
made  to  locate  the  :{Tth  i)arallel  of  latitude  which  marks  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  state  of  Kansas. 

On  this  strip,  which  was  not  ojiened  for  entry  until  about  two  years 
after  the  ()saj;e  Diminished  Reserve  lands  cam(>  into  nuuket.,  was  located 
the  orifijinal  village  of  Coffeyville  and  the  thriving  town  of  Parker  and 
this  is  the  lircnmstance  i)reviously  referred  to  which  gave  Coffeyville  the 
advantage  and  ultimately  enabled  her  to  win  out  in  the  fierce  struggle 
for  sujiremacy  waged  l)etween  the  two  towns  in  the  early  seventies. 
Parker,  with  a  better  site,  a  larger  jiopulation  and  a  stronger  financial 
backiiig,  had  to  yield  to  her  younger  rival  because  her  town  company 
could  not  tell  liow  long  investors  would  have  to  wait  for  titles  to  the  lots 
on  which  they  were  asked  to  make  inijirovements. 

Having  secured  incorjioration  and  etfected  the  organization  of  a  mu- 
nicipal government  there  was  much  rejoicing  and  mutual  congratulation 
among  the  j>eo]de  of  <"orteyville.  but  the  new  city's  troubles  were  by  no 
means  at  an  end. 

In  addition  to  the  tight  made  by  the  lusty  young  city  of  Parker,  there 
was  war  Ix'tween  the  two  Colfeyvilles.  There  was  blood  in  the  eye  of  the 
people  of  the  "old  town"  Itecause  of  the  cou]*  i)y  which  tlie  new  town  had 
secured  sejiarate  incorporation  and  robbed  the  old  of  its  United  States 
postofhce,  which  had  been  moved  across  the  line.  Frequent  stormy  meet- 
ings wei-e  lield  at  which  the  situation  was  discussed  and  the  i>eople  of 
the  old  town,  having  a  sufficient  club  in  that  clause  of  the  constitution 
which  provides,  "that  in  all  cases  whei-e  a  general  statute  can  be  made 
a]iplicable,  no  sjiecial  law  shall  lie  enacted,"  finally  jirevailed  so  far  as  to 
force  their  neighbors  to  surrender  their  charter  and  seek  re-incorpora- 
tion under  the  general  statute. 

A  petition  was  circulated  and  signed  by  the  people  of  the  two 
villages  and  jiresented  to  K.  W.  Perkins,  then  judge  of  the  district  court, 
praying  for  tlie  incorporation  of  the  two  villages  into  a  city  of  the  third 
class  in  accordance  with  the  general  law  governing  such  incorporations 
in  the  state  of  Kansas.    This  petition  was  tiled  on  the  25th  of  March  1873, 


130  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

and  ill!  oidei-  issued  designating  the  7th  day  of  Ai>i'ii  as  the  date  for  hold- 
ing the  first  eh^tion.  ai)i)ointing  eU^rlion  and  canvassing  hoards  and 
defining  the  houndary  limits  of  the  city  so  as  to  include  the  platted  terri- 
tory (oni])rised  in  both  villages. 

The  election  being  held  as  per  order  of  the  court  one  hundred  and 
sixty  ballots  were  cast  and  the  canvassing  board  declared  the  following 
officers  elected:  Mayor.  Dr.  G.  J.  Tallnian;  ('Mincihiien,  J.  M.  Hedden, 
W.  A.  Moore.  T.  J.  Dean.  A.  J.  Hanna.  and  W.  M.  Molterly;  Police  Judge, 
John  A.  Heckard.  The  mayor  and  councilmen  elect  being  duly  qualified, 
met  on  the  Kith  of  April  and  coini)leted  the  organization  of  the  new  city 
government  by  electing  W.  A.  Moore,  president  of  the  council  and  ap- 
pointing the  following  subordinate  officers:  City  Clerk,  Luther  Perkins; 
Marshall.  E.  M.  Easley;  Treasurer.  W.  T.  Reeil;  and  Street  Commission- 
er, (jeorge  Tuck. 

Local  troubles  thus  being  liapjdly  adjusted  the  warring  factions 
found  time  to  unite  their  efforts  against  the  rival  town  of  Parker  which, 
for  reasons  already  mentioned,  soon  abandoned  the  unequal  contest,  but 
not  until  the  attention  of  investors  had  been  diverted  to  other  points. 
Libera.l  inducements  were  offered  to  the  leading  merchants  of  Parker 
and  also  to  the  banking  firm  of  Parker.  York  &  ('o..  to  remove  to  Coffey- 
ville.  which  were  finally  accepted.  This  desertion  of  her  strongest  busin- 
ess firms  broke  the  fighting  sjiirit  of  the  Parker  ])eople  and  the  town  col- 
lapsed as  suddenly  as  it  had  grown  into  ])rominence.  but  the  result  was 
almost  as  fatal  to  Cotlcyville.  as  that  town  was  so  completely  checked 
that  it  was  several  years  iM-forc  her  jiopulation  I'cached  the  number  boast- 
ed by  her  unfoitiinate  rival  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  her  meteoric 
existence. 

In  the  early  eighties  the  town  again  began  to  grow  and  on  the  20th 
day  of  July  1S8T.  by  proclamation  of  Governor  John  A.  Martin,  it  was  de- 
clared to  be  a  city  of  the  second  class,  the  i)receding  spring  enumeration 
having  shown  a  population  exceeding  two  thousand  persons.  The  census 
of  11)00  shows  a  population  of  4,0"):}  and  the  assessor's  returns  for  1903 
shows  a  ]io])ula1ion  of  T.07."i. 

Financial  and  Commercial 

From  the  earliest  iiciiod  of  iis  hisiory  <'ollcyville  has  been  the  bus- 
iness center  foi-  an  cxicnsivc  i.-nilory  from  v.liich  her  merchants  and 
tradesmen  hav<>  drawn  a  hnge  and  In'cralive  business.  Men  who  began 
business  here  in  Ihe  early  days  with  a  small  capital  have  grown  rich,  and 
the  number  of  business  faihires  have  lieen  remarkably  few,  and  those  few- 
have  been  due  to  incajiacity  rather  than  to  lack  of  business  opportunity. 

In  Ihe  eailv  days  all  immigrants  had  a  little  money,  received  from 
Ihe  sale  of  I  heir  belongings  in  the  slates  from  which  they  came,  and,  being 
made  up  mainlv  from  a  class  little  accustomed  to  handling  money,  they 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  13  I 

scpiiicil  to  think  their  iiurscs  like  the  "widow's  inise  of  oil,"  (•oiihi  never 
be  wholly  emiitied.  Many  of  them  lived  so  expensively  that  when  the  time 
came  for  enterinj;  the  lands  they  were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  borrow- 
inj>  money  at  exhorbitant  rates  of  interest  with  which  to  pay  the  entry 
fees  and  make  necessary  improvements. 

The  breaking  up  of  an  immense  acreage  of  virgin  soil  loaded  the  air 
with  malaria  and  a  great  deal  of  sickness  resulted.  It  thus  happened 
that  extravagent  living  and  sickness,  condtined,  brought  some  years  of 
hard  limes.  whi<h  were  bad  for  jiurely  financial  concerns.  The  two  local 
banks,  those  of  T.  K.  Eldridge  and  Noah  Ely  &  Son.  failed,  and  a  few 
snmll  merchants  were  forced  to  close  their  doors,  but  with  these  ex- 
ceptions the  mercantile  and  financial  institutions  of  Cofl'eyville  have 
always  been  above  suspicion  of  weakness. 

Tlie  neighboring  farmers  have  either  mastered  their  early  difficulties 
or  sold  out  to  later  comers  who  wei'e  in  easier  circumstances.  Mortgages 
have  been  jiaid  ott  and  many  farmers,  after  getting  their  places  well  im- 
proved and  well  stocked,  still  have  a  good  bank  account. 

Tins  condition  of  the  farming  interests  makes  the  merchants  pros- 
perous and  puts  it  in  the  power  of  the  banks  to  take  care  of  every  legiti- 
mate demand  for  money  at  reasonable  rates  of  interest.  The  merchants 
on  their  part  are  loyal  to  the  banking  institutions,  as  was  well  exempli- 
fied during  the  last  financial  crisis,  when  banks  all  over  the  country  jvere 
being  forced  to  close  their  doors  by  a  wild  .scramble  to  withdraw  deposits. 
When  it  became  evident  that  the  gereral  panic  would  spi-ead  to  this  lo- 
cality, the  merchants  joined  in  a  published  statement,  declaring  their 
entire  confidence  in  the  stability  of  the  local  banks  and  pledging  them- 
selves to  keep  on  deposit  every  dollar  that  could  be  spared  from  their 
business,  instead  of  using  it  to  discount  their  bills,  as  had  been  their  cus- 
tom. This  action  immediately  restored  the  confidence  of  outside  deposit- 
ors and  doubtless  averted  financial  disaster. 

Railroads 

The  people  of  Cofteyville  have  always  been  keenly  alive  to  the  value 
of  transportation  facilities  and  have  given  such  encouragement  to  the 
construction  of  railroads  as  could  l)e  extended  without  over-burdening 
the  tax  payers.  As  previously  stated  the  Leavenworth,  Lawrence  &  Gal- 
veston railroad  (now  the  Santa  Fe )  was  built  to  this  point  in  1871. 
Since  that  time  the  D.  M.  &  A.,  the  V.  V.  L  &  W.  and  the  L  M.  &  S.,  (Mis- 
souri Pacific  lines)  and  the  M.  K.  &  T.,  connecting  with  the  main  line  of 
that  road  at  Parsons,  and  recently  extended  to  Bartlesville,  Indian  Ter- 
ritory, have  been  constructed,  thus  giving  the  city  transportation  lines 
in  seven  ditterent  directions  and  connecting  her  with  three  great  railroad 
systems. 


132  HISTORY  OK  MONTGOMEUY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Natural  Resources 

The  territory  tributary  to  floffeyville  is  not  surpassed  by  any  part  of 
the  state  in  fertility  of  soil  and  the  variety  of  crops  which  may  be  profit- 
ably grown.  The  Verdigris  river  furnishes  an  abundant  supply  of  pure 
and  wholesome  water  and  is  fapal)le  of  supplying  water  power  sufficient 
to  ojierate  many  factories. 

The  city  and  surrounding  country  is  underlaid  with  immense  depos- 
its of  shale  suitable  for  the  manufacture  of  brick  and  tile  of  superior 
quality.  Great  ledges  of  limestone  of  good  quality  crop  out  in  many  lo- 
calities and  some  of  the  neighboring  hills  furnish  inexhaustible  quantities 
of  a  superior  quality  of  building  stone  and  flagging. 

This  city  is  in  the  very  heart  of  the  gas  belt  and  was  the  first  in 
southern  Kansas  to  discover  and  develop  this  valuable  fuel.  On  the  20th 
day  of  March  18!)0,  the  city  council  granted  to  J.  McCreary  a  franchise 
to  furnish  the  city  and  tlie  inhabitants  thereof,  natural  gas  for  domestic 
and  manufacturing  purposes,  and  appropriated  a  thousand  dollars 
toward  the  expense  of  making  a  development  test.  A  drill  was  at  once 
set  to  work,  almost  in  the  center  of  the  town,  and  at  a  depth  of  a  little 
more  than  eiglit  hundred  f«>et  a  strong  flow  of  gas  was  found.  Since  that 
time  more  than  forty  wells  have  been  drilled  with  not  more  than  half  a 
dozen  failures,  and  the  supply  of  gas  appears  to  be  inexhaustible,  as  the 
oldest  and  most  severely  taxed  wells  are  still  yielding  a  good  flow. 

Since  the  preparation  of  this  paper  was  begun  oil  has  been  found, 
and  while  the  first  well  can  not  be  called  a  '-gusher,"  it  produces  oil  in 
paying  quantities  and  it  is  believed  that  a  profitable  field  has  been  dis- 
covered on  the  very  edge  of  the  corporate  limits. 
Manufactures 

The  discovery  of  natural  gas,  the  rlieai)est  and  cleanest  of  all  fuels, 
together  with  the  city's  unsur|)ass<'d  transportation  facilities,  has  in- 
vited the  attenticm  of  mannfart tires  in  various  lines  and  the  place  is 
surely  and  steadily  dcvcloipjiig  into  a  manufacturing  center  of  import- 
ance. 

Already  the  output  of  milling  stufl's  is  L'.tlOO  barrels  per  day;  the 
largest  straw  board  mill  and  egg-case  filler  factory  west  of  tlie  Mississ- 
ippi i"  located  here;  the  city  has  a  plow  factory;  foundries  and  machine 
shojis;  a  window  glass  iilant  ;  ice  plant;  numerous  small  factories,  and  a 
brick  jdant  whose  product  is  known  from  the  Rocky  mountains  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Ground  has  been  l)rokeii  for  a  second  glass  itlant  to  be- 
gin operation  during  the  year  l!t(i:!,  and  two  other  brick  and  tile  plants 
are  now  almost  i-eady  to  begin  work. 

A  Grain  Center 

In  the  year  1SS4  a  few  entcriprising  citizens,  anticipating  the  inevit- 
able time  when  the  product  of  the  grain  fields  of  Kansas,  Iowa  and  Ne- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  133 

biaska  would  seek  an  outlet  through  the  Gulf  ports,  organized  a  Board  of 
Trade  and  established  a  station  for  the  inspection  and  weighing  of  grain 
in  transit,  and  through  the  local  elevators.  So  successful  was  this  effort 
that  in  a  very  short  time  Coffeyville  became  the  most  important  grain 
station,  except  Kansas  City,  in  the  state.  In  1897  the  weighing  and  in- 
spection of  grain  became,  by  legislative  enactment,  a  department  of  the 
state  government,  but  the  business  so  successfully  inaugurated  by  private 
enterprise  has  been  continued  and  this  station  has  now  become  a  close 
second  to  Kansas  City.  and.  with  the  overcoming  of  the  railroad  discrim- 
ination against  the  Gulf  ports,  is  destined  to  eclipse  that  city.  Already 
the  elevator  capacity  has  been  greatly  increased  and  with  the  demand  of 
the  milling  interests  already  mentioned,  this  city  has  become  a  grain 
market  of  no  mean  importance. 

Municipal  Advancement 

Since  obtaining  a  charter  as  a  city  of  the  second  class,  in  1887,  the 
growth  of  Coffeyville,  in  population  and  commercial  importance,  al- 
though not  phenominal.  has  been  sure  and  steady,  and  civic  pride  has 
kept  pace  with  the  city's  material  development. 

In  1895  a  municipal  water  works  plant  was  constructed  at  a  cost  of 
$49,000.00.  This  plant  has  now  been  improved  and  extended  until  it  rep- 
resents an  expenditure  of  about  ^8.5,000.00  and  is  easily  worth,  on  a  basis 
of  earning  capacity,  $150,000.00.  In  1897  the  necessary  companion  piece 
to  a  water  works  plant — a  system  of  sanitary  sewers — was  constructed  at 
a  cost  of  |2i;,000.(t0.  This  system  is  soon  to  be  extended  so  as  to  cover 
more  than  double  the  territory  included  in  the  original  sewer  district. 

Immediately  following  the  installation  of  the  city  water  works  the 
council  created  a  voluntary  fire  department  and  equipped  it  with  a  lad- 
der- truck  and  hand-hose  reels,  which  were  operated  by  volunteer  firemen 
without  other  compensation  than  the  voluntary  contributions  of  such  cit- 
izens as  felt  an  interest  in  maintaining  the  department  for  the  public 
good.  Two  years  later  an  ordinance  was  pas.sed  authorizing  the  pay- 
ment of  a  monthly  sum  from  the  general  fund  of  the  city  for  the  support 
of  the  department,  and  this  appropriation  was  increased  from  time  to 
time  until  1902,  when  the  department  was  re-organized  by  providing  for 
three  regularly  paid  firemen  and  a  volunteer  force  of  six  men  who  are 
paid  a  fixed  sura  for  each  fire  attended  by  them.  The  department  is  now 
equipped  with  a  drilled  team,  hose-wagon  and  other  up-to-date  appliances 
owned  by  the  city,  and  is  maintained  at  a  cost  of  about  two  hundred  dol- 
lars per  month. 

In  1898  the  local  Commercial  Club  began  to  agitate  the  question  of 
street  lighting  and  in  1901  an  electric  light  plant  was  installed.  This  plant 
was  constructed  at  a  cost  of  |20.000.00  and  is  owned  and  operated  by  the 
city.     About  f5.(KtO.(l(l  have  been  expended  in  extending  the  system  for 


134  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

coninieiTial  lighting  aud  with  an  additional  expenditure  of  approximately 
^2.0(1(1.(10,  the  plant  will  lie  fully  selfsujiporting.  so  that  the  streets  will 
be  well  lighted  without  ciist  to  the  general  jiublic. 

Schools  and  Churches 

^\■hile  fostering  and  encouraging  those  enterprises  which  make  for 
the  material  welfare  of  a  community,  the  people  of  Coffeyville  have  not 
been  unmindful  of  the  necessity  of  building  up  those  institutions  which 
concern  the  moral  and  intellectual  well-being  of  a  people. 

The  city  boasts  eleven  churches,  and  a  school  system  of  which  the 
community  is  justly  proud.  In  addition  to  the  usual  graded  schools  our 
.system  includes  a  high  school  in  which  pupils  are  e(iuipi>ed  for  admission 
TO  the  State  University.  There  are  five  school  buildings,  four  of  which 
arc  substantial  brick  structures,  in  which  twenty-four  teachers — and  a 
suiiiMinleudcnt  over  all — are  emidoyed.  whose  combined  monthly  pay  is 
fl.lIOO.OO.  The  school  population  is  a  little  less  than  eighteen  hundred,  of 
whom  fifteen  hundred  are  enrolled  on  the  school  registers  of  the  present 
year.  It  has  ever  been  the  jxilicy  of  our  people  to  enlarge  their  school 
facilities  to  keep  pace  with  the  increasing  population  and  there  is  now 
jiendiiig  a  i)ro])osition  to  vote  an  aitproiiriation  of  |:¥l.(t(lO.(l(l  for  the  con- 
struction of  additional  buildings. 

Debt  and  Taxation 

(  ort'eyville's  municipal  debt  now  amounts  to  |14(i.444.4.~)  and  the  rate 
of  taxation  for  the  present  year  is  .|(5.8S  on  the  hundred  dollars.  On  the 
face  of  the  record  this  seems  to  be  a  very  large  debt  and  a  ruinous  rate  of 
taxation,  but  when  we  reflect  ui)on  the  manner  of  assessing  taxes  in  Kan- 
sas, aud  remember  that  $lor),00(».(iO  of  this  debt  is  for  a  water  and  light 
plant,  which  pay  a  profit  largely  in  excess  of  the  interest  charges,  and 
that  another  f.34,000.00  is  for  special  improvements  for  which  only  the 
affected  ])roperty  is  assessed,  the  financial  horoscope  is  not  too  terrifying, 
as  we  are  simj)ly  in  the  position  of  the  business  man  who  borrows  money 
with  which  to  engage  in  a  jirofitable  business. 

Our  real  rate  of  taxation  is  only  about  $1.85  on  the  hundred  dollars, 
as  is  evident  when  it  is  known  that  our  assessment  this  year  (1903)  is 
made  on  a  basis  of  only  27  ]ier  cent,  of  the  acttial  value  of  the  property 
assesed. 

Liberty 


The 

village  of   Liberty 

was 

oiiginallv   loc; 

Ited 

on  a  high  bluff  over- 

bx.king  ;i 

1  l)caiiliful  strcti-ii 

of  tl 

,e  ^■erdigris  v:! 

illev 

.  two  miles  north  and 

one  mile 

west   of  the  jilvsci 

It  sit( 

■.      In  the  earl; 

,■  d;l 

ys  it  was  a  prominent 

factor  in 

the  i.oliti<-s  of  iIk 

1'  coUl 

ity.  being  a  foi 

niii( 

lable  rival  of  Indepen- 

HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  1 35 

dence  for  county  seat  houors  aud.  in  fact,  the  actual  seat  of  government 
for  a  short  period  in  18(59-70. 

When  the  county  was  organized  by  proclamation  of  Gov.  James  M. 
Harvey,  on  the  third' day  of  June  1809.  Verdigris  City,  located  about  five 
miles  iiorth  of  the  subsequent  site  of  the  town  of  Liberty,  was  designated 
as  the  temporary  seat  of  government;  the  permanent  location  of  which 
was  to  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  at  the  following  November 
election. 

Independence,  ^'erdig^is  City  and  Montgomery  City  were  the  rival 
aspirants  but  the  few  settlers  in  Verdigris  and  ifontgomery  cities,  realiz- 
ing that  their  respective  sites  were  not  favorably  located  for  the  purpose, 
pooled  their  issues,  founded  the  town  of  Liberty  and  immediately  entered 
that  beautiful  city  as  a  contestant  for  the  honor  of  being  the  capital  city 
of  the  county. 

This  narrowed  the  contest  down  to  a  fight  between  Independence, 
located  on  the  west,  and  Liberty  on  the  east  side  of  the  Verdigris  river. 
Morgan  City  was  also  a  candidate  but  was  not  considered  formidable, 
except  in  so  far  as  she  might  divide  the  vote  that  would  otherwise  go  to 
Independence. 

In  this  contest  Independence  was  under  the  disadvantage  of  having 
to  cross  the  river  to  vote,  being  attached  to  the  voting  precinct  at  Verdi- 
gris City  where  the  friends  of  her  principal  rival  were  in  control  of  the 
election  machinery.  She.  however,  made  a  heroic  but  futile  efl'ort  to  cap- 
ture the  election  board,  sending  two  wagon  loads  of  her  citizens  on  an 
early  morning  drive  for  that  purpose ;  but  the  plot  being  discovered,  they 
arrived  too  late  to  obtain  more  than  one  place  on  the  board,  and  that  had 
been  left  open  for  them  "by  courtesy.'' 

Because  of  informality  in  certifying  the  returns  from  the  Verdigris 
City  precinct  the  vote  of  Drum  Creek  township,  in  which  Independence 
was  located,  was  thrown  out  and  Liberty,  with  the  whole  east  side  ticket, 
declared  elected. 

This  action  of  the  canvassing  board  was  contested  by  the  friends  of 
Indei)endence  before  the  Probate  Court  of  Wilson  county,  as  is  clearly 
set  forth  in  the  article  on  the  "Bench  and  Bar"'  in  this  volume.  The 
action  of  the  court  in  declaring  the  election  invalid,  left  the  County  Com-' 
missioners  first  appointed  in  control  of  county  affairs,  and  as  they  were 
in  sympathy  with  east  side  sentiment,  they  soon  met  and  ordered  the  log 
court  house,  with  all  the  offices  and  records,  removed  from  Verdigris  City 
to  Liberty.  This,  however,  did  not  settle  the  matter,  as  the  west  side  con- 
tingent claimed  that  the  action  of  the  board  was  illegal  and  that  the 
county  seat  was  still  at  Verdigris  City. 

In  sui>p(irt  ')f  this  contention  they  sent  an  agent  to  Topeka,  who  pro- 
cured the  appointment  of  a  new  Board  of  Commissioners.  On  the  receipt 
of  their  commissions     the  mend>ers  of  the  new    board — W.  W.  Graham, 


136  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Tliuiiias  IJrock  and  S.  1!.  Morehouse— repaired  to  Verdigris  City  where,. 
silting  in  tlieir  wujion.  they  orftaiiized.  and  appointed  a  new  set  of  county 
()tlirei>.  ordered  tliat  the  next  term  of  the  District  Court  be  held  at  Inde- 
pendence and  that  the  various  county  offices  he  kept  there  temporarily. 

The  old  board  and  their  api)ointees,  failing  to  get  an  order  of  court 
requiring  the  return  of  the  records  and  offices  to  Liberty,  soon  surren- 
dered and  matters  moved  on  quietly  until  the  fall  election  in  1870.  when 
the  county  seat  question  was  again  voted  on  by  the  people  and  Indepen- 
dence chosen  by  a  vote  of  839,  to  5C0  for  Liberty.  This  terminated  the 
aspirations  of  the  little  city  for  civic  and  commercial  greatness. 

In  1871  the  construction  of  the  L.  L.  &  G.  Ry.  across  the  east  side  of 
the  county  caused  the  removal  of  the  village  to  its  present  site  where,  sur- 
rounded by  a  good  agricultural  region,  its  business  men  have  continued 
to  enjoy  a  prosperous  country  trade,  although  the  place  seems  to  have 
reached  its  maximum  growth.  However,  the  village  is  within  the  gas 
belt  and  is  now  jjrospecting  for  oil  with  a  fair  probability  of  finding 
enough  of  the  black  fluid  to  libricate  the  wheels  of  progi*ess  without  limit. 

The  population  of  Liberty  is  about  300. 

To  one  of  the  founders  of  tliis  village — the  late  Daniel  McTaggart — 
we  are  indebted  for  the  demonstration  of  the  fact  that  cotton  can  be  suc- 
cessfully grown  in  t^outhern  Kansas.  Some  years  ago  quite  a  colony  of 
Negroes  from  Texas  settled  in  the  Verdigris  valley  between  CoffeyvillC' 
and  Liberty.  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  these  iK'oj.le  <"aiit.  McTaggart 
conceived  the  idea  of  inducing  them  to  try  cotton  growing,  and,  as  an 
inducement,  he  furnished  the  seed  and  installed  a  gin  at  his  mill  near  the- 
original  townsite.  Quite  a  considerable  acreage  was  planted,  and  while- 
the  yield  was  not  large  the  fiber  was  of  good  quality  and  the  yield  per 
acre  large  enough  to  justify  the  continued  production  of  this  important 
staple  as  a  side  crop. 

Caney  and  Elk  City 

l;V   J.   K.  CHAHI-ION. 

Caney,  the  Queen  C'ity  of  Montgomery  county,  is  situated  in  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  county,  about  one  mile  from  the  Indian  Territory 
■  line,  and  about  the  same  distance  from  the  east  line  of  Chautauqua 
counly.  It  is  built  upon  a  sandy  knoll,,  skirted  on  the  north  by  the  beau- 
tiful stream.  Cheyenne  creek,  with  its  l^eautifnl  farms,  on  the  west  by  the 
broad  and  rich  viiiley  of  the  Caney  river,  and  <m  the  south  by  the  classic 
and  iimi>id  str<-am  known  as  "Mud  creek."  while  ujKm  the  east  lies  the 
broad,  rolling  and  i.rodu<tive  prairie  lands.  N(.  prettier  site  can  be  found 
in  all  the  county  for  a  city,  overlooking,  as  it  does,  for  miles,  the  sur- 
rounding country. 

Looking  to  the  south  and  the  southeast  one  beholds  the  beautiful 
mounds,  and  undulating  ].rairics.  and   liie  fringes  of  timber  along  the 


HISTOay  OF  MONTGOMEEY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  137 

sli-eaius.  where  are  to  1)6  found  the  farms  and  the  happy  homes  of  the 
■Cherokee  and  the  Dehiware  Indians,  who  have  accepted  the  fruits  of  the 
onward  march  of  civilization,  and,  with  their  schools  and  churches,  living 
in  their  neat  little  residences  upcm  their  well  kept  farms,  are  a  happy 
and  contented  i)eople.  Looking  oft"  to  the  south-west,  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  reach,  are  to  Ik?  seen  the  hills  and  rolling  lands,  where  roam  vast 
herds  of  cattle  of  the  Osage  Indian  Reservation.  The  Osage,  unlike  his 
Cherokee  and  Delaware  brethren,  has  persistently  refused  to  become  civil- 
ized to  any  great  extent.  He  disdains  '"store  clothes,"  and  clings  to  the 
blanket  and  breech  clout  of  his  fathers.  Perhaps  he  can  be  said  to  be 
civilized,  only  in  one  particular,  and  that  is,  that  he  gets  drunk  just  like 
a  civilized  white  man. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1869,  the  first  white  settlers  settled  upon  what  ia 
now  the  townsite  of  C'aney.  Among  them  were  Jasper  N.  West  and  fam- 
ily, J.  H.  Smith  and  family.  Herryman  Smith,  a  single  man.  and  -rncle 
John"  Hodges  and  family.  Of  those  earliest  settlers  "Uncle  John" 
Hodges,  alone,  is  with  us.  He  has  been  a  continuous  resident  of  Caney 
from  that  time  to  the  present.  Jasper  X.  West  was  Caney's  first  post- 
master. During  the  winter  of  1869  Dr.  J.  W.  Bell  and  family  came  to 
Caney  and  he  was  the  first  tradesman,  conducting  a  small  store  in  which 
was  kept  for  sale,  (in  a  small  box  house  made  of  native  lumber,  which 
was  i>roliably  hauled  here  from  some  point  east,)  a  little  sugar,  coffee, 
meat.  Hour,  and,  as  we  were  informed  by  one  who  was  there,  a  goodly 
supply  of  clothes  pins.  This  structure  was  erected  near  what  is  now  the 
crossing  of  State  street  and  Fourth  avenue,  at  the  public  well,  from 
which  particular  point  nearly  all  the  earlier  transfers  of  title  to  real 
propfity  had  their  starting. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of  1870,  O.  M.  Smith  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business.  "O.  M.."  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  then  a 
single  man.  He  had  a  small  stock  of  general  merchandise,  and  he  cooked, 
ate  and  slept  in  the  store  building.  Jasper  N.  West  built  the  first  log 
house  and  it  was  located  on  what  is  now  Block  61.  and  was  the  first  and 
only  place  for  the  weary  to  take  rest,  and  have  their  hunger  satisfied  and 
thirst  quenched.  Old  "Uncle  Robert"  Hammill,  in  the  early  spring  of 
1870,  came  in  with  his  two  sons,  with  four  yoke  of  Texas  cattle,  and  lo- 
cated on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Thomas  Steel,  and  about  the  same  time 
"Uncle  John"  Badgley  located  the  place  now  owned  by  J.  A.  Fleener. 
Jasper  N.  Smith  commenced,  and  probably  completed,  in  the  early  part 
■of  1870,  a  frame  building  for  a  hotel,  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Reed 
residence,  in  Block  54,  moving  from  his  log  house  to  the  same. 

Bill  Coi>en  was  Caney's  first  blacksmith.  Dr.  A.  M.  Taylor,  who  came 
in  November  1870,  was  Caney's  first  physician,  and  the  doctor  is  still 
with  us.  James  G.  Woodruff  came  in  during  the  early  summer  of  1870. 
Jasper  N.  West.  J.  H.  Smith.  Berryman  Smith  and  James  G.  Woodruff 


138  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

took  the  four  claims  eornerinjr  at  a  ]Kiint  where  the  public  well,  spoken 
(if  alxivt',  was  located  and  c-onceivcd  the  idea  of  locating  and  platting  a 
lowii.  Oil  .May  11  til.  INTO.  ('a]ii.  .1.  V..  Stone  dropped  in  among  them,  and 
the  foiif  claiiii  holdcis.  aliove  named,  with  Stone  and  O.  M.  Smith,  caused 
to  he  surveyed  and  jilatted  what  is  a  jiortion  of  the  jiresent  city  of  Caney. 
'•Uncle  John"  Hodges  took  the  claim  and  made  some  improvements  there- 
on, now  owned  by  S.  K.  Jack.  Levi  (ilatfelder  located  and  improved  the 
fai'ni.  logether  with  other  lands,  upon  which  ]Mrs.  (Tladfelder  now  resides, 
two  miles  east  of  t'aney.  After  the  survey  and  platting  of  Coi^ey  quite  a 
niind)(M  of  houses  were  erected  and  a  mail  route  was  established  from 
what  was  then  the  village  of  Parker  to  Caney  and  then  to  St. Paul  on 
ihc  west  side  of  Caney  river.  From  that  time  on  there  was  a  steady 
SI  tea  111  of  immigrants  into  Caney  and  the  township.  The  latter  was 
rapidly  settled  up  by  a  thrifty,  liaiil-working.  and  industrious  class  of 
peojile.  and  bnsines    men  of  all  classes  began  to  locate  in  the  village. 

From  that  time  on  Caney  became  known  as  a  first  class  trading  point. 
Being  a  bonier  town,  its  laisiness  men  did  a  good  business  with  the  In- 
dians and  the  whites  residing  in  the  Territ<iry' 

In  July  ISS."),  Cleveland  J.  Keynolds  started  the  first  paper  in  Caney, 
the  Caney  Chronicle,  which  has  been  issued  continuously  since,  and 
entered  ui)on  its  eighteenth  year.  It  has  been  published  "  for  the  IrM 
seven  years  by  H.  E.  Brighton,  is  a  bright,  newsy  paper,  and  has  ever 
st<i'id  u])  loyally  for  Caney  and  her  best  interests. 

Ill  lS8(i  a  ])roposition  was  submitted  to  the  citizens  of  Caney  town- 
ship to  vote  bonds  in  the  sum  of  122,000.00  to  aid  in  the  construction  of 
the  1».  M.  &  A.  R.  R.  The  bonds  were  voted,  the  road  was  built,  and  thus 
Caney  was  jilaced  in  closer  touch  with  the  outside  world.  The  "freighter"' 
who,  with  his  mule  teams,  hauled  goods  from  Independence  and  Coffey- 
ville,  went  away  back  and  engaged  in  some  other  business,  while  the  ar- 
ticles of  merchandise  and  the  jiroducts  of  the  farm,  from  that  time  on, 
were  carried  by  his  fleeter-footed  conijietitor,  the  steam  engine  and  its 
train  of  cars.  The  building  of  a  railroad  into  Caney  really  marked  the 
beginning  of  its  business  career 

The  town  continued  to  grow  until  on  the  5th  day  of  July  1887,  it  was 
incorporated  as  a  city  of  the  third  class.  Its  first  city  election  was  held, 
under  its  charter,  on  the  ISth  day  of  July  1887,  in  what  is  now  the  old 
school  building.  The  judges  of  the  election  were;  l»r.  A.  M.  Taylor,  Folin 
Todd  and  P.  C.  Dosh ;  Clerks,  J.  J.  Stone  and  J.  P.  Stradley. 

The  first  officers  of  Caney,  elected  on  the  above  date  were :  flavor, 
P.  S.  Ilollingsworth;  Councilmen,  Wm.  Rogers,  Harry  Wiltse,  J.  J. 
lleiiii.liill,  J.  A.  Summer  and  W.  P..  McWilliams;  Police  Judge,  F.  H. 
Hooker.    F.  H.  Dye  was  appointed  and  served  as  the  first  city  clerk. 

In  Ihe  year  1801,  Cleveland  J.  Reynolds,  who  was  then  the  owner  and 
jiulilisher  of  the  Caney  Times,  a  weekly  newsj)aper  which  he  had  founded 


HISTORY  OI-   MONTGOMEUV  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  139 

some  time  ln'foi-e,  (■onceived  antl  put  into  execution  a  plan  for  connecting 
all  tilt'  tAwns  of  Montj-oiiiery  county  jjy  telephone.  Being  a  man  of  in- 
domitable will  ami  untiring  energy,  he  at  once  organized  The  Caney  Tele- 
phone Company,  and,  within  a  few  months  thereafter,  the  "hello"  girl 
was  at  her  i)ost  of  duty  in  every  town  in  the  county.  The  completion  of 
this  telephone  line  marked  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  Caney,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  entire  county,  as  it  was  the  first  telephone  line  ever  built  in 
the  coutv. 

In  1892,  Col.  S.  M.  Porter,  of  Caney,  J.  A.  Bartles,  of  Bartlesville, 
I.  T.,  and  others,  organized  and  chartered  the  Kansas,  Oklahoma  Central 
&  Southwestern  Railway  Company  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  line  of 
road  from  Caney,  south,  through  Oklahoma  and  on  southwest  into  Texas ; 
and  a  franchise  for  the  building  of  said  road  was  granted  by  Congress  on 
December  21st,  1893.  The  construction  of  said  road  was  begun  in  1898 
and  in  the  spring  of  1899  the  old  company  sold  out  to  the  A  T.  &  S.  F. 
Ry.  Co..  and  the  road  was  completed  from  Caney  to  Owassa,  I.  T.,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  sixty  miles,  thus  giving  Caney  two  seperate  and  competing 
lines  of  road.  To  Col.  Porter  is  due,  in  a  large  measure,  the  credit  for  the 
building  of  the  Santa  Fe,  for  he  worked  without  faltering  for  about  eight 
years  on  the  project  before  it  finally  succeeded,  making  one  trip  to 
Europe,  and  countless  trips  to  Washington,  New  York  and  Chicago. 

But  Caney,  like  other  cities  in  Montgomery  county,  owes  its  greatest 
prosperity  and  growth  to  the  finding  of  natural  gas  in  the  earth  beneath 
it.  In  the  year  1900  the  Caney  (ias  Company,  composed  entirely  of  Caney 
men,  was  organized  and  began  iiros]iecting  for  gas  and  oil  After  putting 
down  .several  dry  holes,  they  succeeded,  in  the  fall  of  lilOl,  in  striking  a 
very  strong  flow  of  gas  about  two  miles  northeast  of  town,  and  in  a  short 
time  thereafter  they  secured  another  well  which  has  proved  to  be  the 
strongest  well  in  the  Kansas  field,  having  a  rock  pressure  of  GOO  pounds 
and  producing  16,000,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  every  twenty-four  hours.  They 
also  have  a  very  good  oil  well  in  the  same  field.  There  are  now  six  diffei'- 
ent  gas  and  oil  companies  operating  in  the  Caney  field,  and  the  prospects 
are  very  flattering. 

In  1902  the  members  of  the  Caney  Gas  Company  organized  the  Caney 
Brick  Company  and  put  in  one  of  the  largest  and  best  vitrified  brick 
plants  in  the  country,  with  a  capacity  of  100,000  brick  per  day.  They  are 
turning  out  a  first-class  brick  and  have  shipped  as  high  as  sixty  cars  of 
brick  in  one  month,  besides  supplying  the  home  demand.  They  carry  a 
pay  roll  of  sixty-five  men. 

The  Cherryvale.  Oklahoma  &  Texas  Railway  Company  was  chartered 
on  July  22ud.  1902,  with  Col.  S.  M.  Porter,  of  Caney,  as  president,  for  the 
purpose  of  constructing  a  line  of  railroad  from  Cherryvale,  in  Montgom- 
ery county,  through  Caney.  to  ElPaso.  Texas,  a  distance  of  900  miles.  We 
are  assured  that  this  road  will  be  built  in  the  near  future  and  will  be  of 


j^O  UISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

great  benefit  to  Caney  and  Montgomery  county,  as  it  will  give  us  another 
system  and  competing  line,  probably  the  "Katy"  or  "Frisco." 
■      Our  high  pressure  and  unfailing  supply  of  gas  is  attracting  the  at- 
tention of  various  manufacturing  enterprises. 

Caney  is  a  good  place  to  live.  Those  who  are  religiously  inclined  will 
find  four  churches,  all  having  good  buildings,  and  resident  pastors.  They 
are  the  Methodists.  Presbyterians,  Baptists  and  Christians. 

Our  public  schools  are  first  -lass.  At  present  we  have  two  school 
buildings,  and  employ  nine  teachers,  but  the  growing  population  will  soon 
renuire'^larger  an<l  belter  luiiMiuiis  and  more  teachers. 

Caney  has  six  phvsi.iaiis  miively  engaged  in  the  practice,  and  many 
of  them  riuik  among  the  hesi  iihysicians  in  the  county.  It  also  has  a  San- 
itarium, run  by  Dr.  T.  A.  Stevens,  to  which  patients  come  for  treatment 
from  the  Territory  and  all  the  surrounding  counties 

We  also  have  six  lawyers  who,  by  hard  work,  are  able  to  look  after 
the  interests  of  their  clients  and  keep  the  community  quiet  a  good  part 
of  the  time. 

Capt.  J.  E.  Stone,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  who  assisted  in  lay- 
ing out  the  original  town  site,  was  elected  sherifl:'  of  Montgomery  county 
in  1872,  and  served  his  county  in  that  capacity  faithfully  and  with  credit 
to  himself,  and  is  now  Caney's  efficient  po.stmaster.  having  been  appoint- 
ed by  President  McKinley. 

E.  P..  Skinner,  one  of  Caney's  enterprising  business  men,  is  just  serv- 
ing the  last  year  of  two  terms  as  county  treasurer,  and  Dr.  J.  A.  Rader, 
one  of  our  leading  physicians,  is  serving  his  third  term  as  coroner. 

J.  R,  Charlton,  one  of  our  attorneys,  was  elected  county  attorney  of 
^fontgomery  county  in  1890  and  served  one  term,  refusing  a  re-nomi- 
nation. 

.1.  II.  Dana,  who  resided  in  Caney  until  the  year  1900  was,  in  that 
year,  elected  county  attorney,  and  moved  to  Independence. 

Others  of  our  prominent  citizens  have  been  exposed  to  the  dread  dis- 
ease called  "ofiSce"  but  have  never  caught  it. 

Caney  has  grown  from  the  little  hamlet  of  a  few  years  ago  to  become 
one  of  the  best  towns  in  Southern  Kansas,  having  a  population  of  but  a 
little  less  than  2.000,  and  we  confidently  expect  to  see  double  that  num- 
ber of  peo]de  here  in  the  next  two  years.  It  will  make  a  good  town,  first: 
V)ecause  of  its  natural  advantages  in  location;  second,  because  it  has  cit- 
izens who  are  public  spirited,  enterprising  and  pushing,  who  do  not  only 
have  money,  but  have  faith  in  the  future  of  the  city,  and  therefore  do  not 
hesitate  to  invest  their  money  in  public  enterprises. 

In  concluding  this  brief  sketch  let  me  say  that  as  a  resident  of  Kan- 
sas fdi'  more  than  twenty-five  years,  I  believe  it  to  be  the  best  state  in  the 
rriion ;  that  Montgomery  county  is  the  coming  banner  county  of  the  state, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  14 1 

and  thiit  ('iuicy — well,  language  fails  nie,  and   I  can  only  add  (hat  "the 
half  has  never  been  told.'' 

Elk  City 

Elk  City,  one  of  the  prettiest  little  cities  in  Sontheastern  Kansas,  is 
silnated  at  the  mouth  of  Duck  Creek,  where  it  eniplies  into  Elk  river,  and 
is  about  three  miles  from  the  west  line,  and  six  miles  from  the  north  line 
of  Louisburg  township,  the  northwest  township  of  Montgomery  county. 

The  first  settlement  of  Louisburg  township  was  made  during  the 
summer  and  fall  of  1868,  and  during  the  following  winter  and  spring  sev- 
eral towns  were  started  near  Elk  river  at  the  mouth  of  Duck  Creek. 

Tipton,  about  one  and  one-half  miles  east  of  Elk  river,  was  probably 
the  fii'st  town  stai'ted  in  the  township,  and  was  located  on  the  claim 
owned  by  James  E.  Kelley.  No  living  water  having  been  found  on  this 
town  site,  it  was  soon  abandoned,  and  the  buildings  moved  west  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  a  new  town  site  called  Louisbui'g,  on  the  claim 
of  either  Ben.  I'itman  or  grandfather  James  V.  Kelly,  but  sfter  a  number 
of  the  little  box  houses  had  been  located  on  the  new  town  site,  the  same 
difiSculty  was  encountered  as  at  Tipton — no  living  water  could  be  found — 
and  the  third  town  was  founded  on  Duck  Creek,  about  one  and  one-half 
miles  from  its  mouth,  called  Bloomtield,  better  known  as  Fish  Trap.  It 
was  located  in  the  fall  of  18()9. 

In  the  meantime  two  brothers,  John  and  Samuel  Kopple,  who  had 
taken  the  claims  at  the  movith  of  Duck  Creek,  on  Elk  River,  organized  a 
town  company  and  laid  out  the  town  of  Elk  City,  and  immediately  ap- 
plied for  and  obtained  a  charter  for  their  company,  and  for  more  than  a 
year  a  bitter  rivalry  existed  between  the  towns  of  Elk  City  and  Bloom- 
field.  A  saw  mill  had  been  in  operation  for  several  months  at  Bloomtield  or 
Fish  Trap,  owned  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  Seevers.  Other  enterprising 
citizens  settled  in  the  town,  which  continued  to  flourish  until  the  spring 
of  1871. 

In  December  of  1870,  M>  D.  Wright,  who  is  now  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  respected  citizens  of  Elk  City,  was  postmaster  for  a  number  of 
years  and  has  been  connected  with  nearly  all  of  the  city's  enterprises, 
drove  into  the  thriving  city  of  Bloorefield,  or  Fish  Trap,  in  his  proverbial 
prairie  schooner,  and,  he  informs  the  writer,  that  he  found  Jack  Brock 
putting  the  finishing  touches  on  a  two-story  store  building,  built  exclu- 
sively of  native  lumber.  Mr.  Brock  was  laying  the  floor,  first  nailing  thin 
narrow  strips  on  the  joists,  then  laying  the  boards  so  that  the  cracks  in 
the  floor  came  immediately  over  the  center  of  the  strips,  so  that  when  the 
green  Hackberry  boards  had  shrunk  to  their  normal  condition,  as  Jack 
expressed  it,  children  and  dogs  would  not  fall  through  the  cracks.  An 
assortment  of  braces  and  wedges  were  required  to  bring  the  warped  and 
crooked  boards  into  a  horizontal  position.    But  the  struggles  of  Fish  Trap 


142  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

for  supveiiuuy  wci-e  miavailing.  She  was  not  to  be  a  fbilil  of  destiny 
and  conti-ol  the  coninierce  of  Duck  f'reek. 

The  natnral  advantages  possessed  by  Elk  City,  the  buildinj;;  of  a  saw 
mill  that  could  mutilate  more  lo^s  into  bad  lumber  than  its  rival  at 
Bloomfield.  the  advent  of  two  blacksmith  shops,  several  general  stores, 
and  saloons.  esi)eciany  the  saloons,  together  with  several  other  enter- 
prises, proved  too  nmch  for  Bloomfield.  and  they  capitulated  in  the  fall  of 
1871.  and  their  citizens  were  given  lots  in  Elk  City,  upon  which  they 
moved  their  houses,  including  the  Jack  Brock  store  building,  and  the 
contention  between  the  two  towns  ended  in  their  uniting  and  all  the 
people  coming  whei'e  they  could  get  plenty  of  water,  which  Elk  ('ity  had. 

In  the  spring  of  1871  Louisburg  township  wes  sectionized.  and  the 
supposed  lines  of  many  claims,  it  was  found,  did  not  conform  to  the  gov- 
ernment survey,  and  thus  originated  much  litigation  and  many  deadly 
feuds.  The  rich  and  extensive  farming  lands  embraced  in  the  broad  bot- 
toms of  Elk  river.  Duck  creek  and  Salt  creek,  were  eagerly  sought  for 
and  jealously  guarded  against  all  comers. 

On  April  1st.  1871.  a  village  municipal  government  was  organized  for 
the  government  of  Elk  City,  with  J.  P.  Morgan,  who  now  resides  at 
Bartlesville,  I.  T..  as  chairman  and  U.  R.  Dannettell.  as  clerk.  The 
names  of  the  other  trustees  are  not  found  upon  the  records 

As  evidence  that  there  was  nothing  small  about  the  early  Fathers  of 
the  City,  we  find  Ordinance  Xo.  .'.  relating  to  the  duties  and  obligations 
of  the  town  treasurer,  to  read  as  follows,  to-wit :  "within  ten  days  of 
his  ai)i>ointment  to  office  the  treasurer  shall  enter  to  bond  to  the  State  of 
Kansas,  for  the  use  of  the  town,  with  two  or  more  sureties  to  be  approved 
by  the  clerk,  in  the  sum  of  Three  Thousand  r)ollars  for  the  faithful  jier- 
formance  of  his  duties,  etc." 

Xo  <-opy  of  the  bond  or  the  name  of  the  first  treasurer  fir  ofhisbonds- 
men  ajjjiear  on  the  records,  but  from  the  financial  condition  of  the  citi- 
zens as  judged  from  the  recollection  of  the  oldest  inhabitants,  it  would 
have  required  a  majority  of  them  to  have  qualified  to  that  amount  at  tlrtt 
time. 

As  an  evidence  that  the  deliberations  of  these  ancient  Solons  were 
not  always  harmonious,  we  note  the  discussion  over  the  claim  of  Frank 
;M\>rgan  and  Buck  Brookins  for  destroying  a  dead  mule,  amount  of  bill 
.|3.00.  which  was  finally  allowed  and  paid. 

William  Osborne  holds  the  honor  of  being  llie  first  justice  of  (he 
peace,  and  Squire  Burdick  was  his  successor  The  Squire  had  a  penchant 
for  horse  trading,  but  like  nearly  all  the  other  settlers  of  Elk  City,  al 
that  time,  his  i>roi»erty  or  his  horses  did  not  rejiresent  much  wealth,  so  he 
ran  but  little  risk  of  losing  in  a  trade  It  is  related  of  the  Squire,  that  one 
day  he  was  holding  court  in  a  room  fronting  the,  then,  open  prairie,  when 
a  woman  came  into  the  room  and    inquired    for    Sipiire    Burdick.     The 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  1 43 

Squire,  who  was  seated  near  a  window  in  the  temple  of  justice,  was  point- 
ed out  to  her.  Slie  at  once,  without  regard  to  the  fact  that  court  was  in 
session,  assailed  the  Squire,  in  a  voice  pitched  upon  a  very  high  key,  and 
demanded  the  return  of  a  horse,  which  she  claimed  belonged  to  her,  and 
which  her  minor  son  had  traded  to  the  Squire  for  a  horse  whose  lease  of 
life  expired  a  few  hours  after  reaching  her  home  The  Squire  listened 
quietly  until  her  tirade  of  abuse  ended,  and  then  invited  her  over  to  the 
window,  pointed  out  to  where  tlie  nose  and  two  legs  of  a  dead  horse  pro- 
truded above  the  prairie  grass  and  said:  "There  is  your  horse,  madam, 
if  you  want  him  go  and  get  him,  and  lake  him  home  with  you."  The  wo- 
man, hastily  vacated  the  room,  with  a  puzzled  expression  of  countenance, 
as  though  she  was  trying  to  solve  the  problem  as  to  which  party  did  the 
cheating  in  the  trade. 

Whig  Southard  was  the  first  postmaster  at  Elk  City.  A.  C.  Clark  was 
his  successor,  M.  P.  Wright  succeeded  Clark  and  held  the  oflBce  from  1872 
until  Cleveland's  election  in  1884,  when  he  was  succeeded  in  1885,  by 
Win.  Daugherty,  who,  in  turn,  was  followed  by  J.  P.  Swatzell  and  Wm. 
Wortman,  the  latter  being  the  present  incumbent. 

Elk  City,  in  common  with  all  Kansas  towns,  was  ambitious  to  become 
metropolitan  and  her  citizens  began  to  importune  the  different  railroad 
companies,  pointing  in  this  direction,  to  extend  their  road  to  the  town. 

After  much  solicitation  by  some  of  the  citizens  they  succeeded  in 
getting  a  proposition  from  General  Xettleton  and  Col.  Valiet,  of  Cin- 
cinnati. Ohio,  and  the  owners  of  the  stub  railroad  from  Cherryvale  to  In- 
dependence by  which  they  pledged  themselves  individually,  together  with 
the  earnings  of  the  above  railroad,  to  extend  that  road  to  Elk  City  making 
a  terminus  there,  in  consideration  of  which  they  asked  Louisburg  town- 
ship to  subscribe  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  company  in  the  sum  of  twen- 
ty-two thousand  dollars.  This  was  during  the. year  1876.  Here  was  the 
o])portunity  for  Elk  City  to  place  herself  in  the  front  ranks  of  all  the 
towns  in  the  country,  and  the  promoters  felt  that  they  had  accomplished 
something  that  would  benefit  the  citizens  of  Elk  City  and  Louisburg 
township,  that  would  meet  with  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  citizens 
generally,  as  it  would  have  made  Elk  City  the  nearest  railroad  point  for 
all  the  country  west  of  it  for  one  hundred  miles.  Independence  was  awake 
to  the  danger  that  threatened  her  commercial  interests,  and  united  in  n 
desperate  effort  to  defeat  the  bonds  at  the  election  called  to  vote  on  the 
proposition.  Of  course  Independence  was  justified  in  any  legitimate  ef- 
fort to  hold  the  road  at  their  town,  but  where  so  much  was  at  stake  it  was 
hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  advantage  which  money  and  influence  gave 
them  over  Elk  City  would  not  be  jiushed  to  the  limit;  but  if  some  of  the 
■citizens  of  Elk  City,  who  had  labored  to  bring  about  the  proposition  felt 
a  little  hard  toward  the  citizens  of  Lndependence.  what  was  their  sur- 
prise and  disgust  to  find  some  of  their  own  prominent  citizens  arrayed 


144  IlIsroRY  OK   IMONTUOJiIUKY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

against  tlic  IkhkIs,  and  inanj;ui-ating  a  fight  against  them  that  ended  in 
their  <h'feat  b.v  a  niajoiity  of  two  votes.  What  the  township  lost  iu  tax- 
able iiro](erty  and  the  advantage  of  a  railroad  terminating  in  the  town- 
ship will  never  be  known.  Elk  (Mty  e.xperienred  in  this  defeat  the  hardest 
blow  it  ever  sustained.  Several  ])roniinent  business  men  left  the  town, 
man.y  houses  were  hauled  off  into  the  eouutry  for  dwellings  and  barns, 
and  its  population  decreased  one-fourth. 

Three  years  thereafter,  in  1879,  after  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  had  acquired 
the  old  L.  L.  &  G.  K.  R.  and  its  branches,  that  company  sent  Mayor  (Sunn, 
of  Indei.endence.  to  Elk  City,  and  in  behalf  of  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  R.  R..  pro- 
posed that  if  Louisburg  township  would  vote  bonds  in  aid  of  that  road 
they  would  extend  from  Inde])en(lence  west  through  Elk  City.  While  this 
proposition  offered  far  less  advantages  than  the  first  one,  in  that  it  simply 
made  a  way  station  in  the  townshiji.  giving  it  local  advantages,  whereas, 
the  terminus  for  three  years  would  iiave  given  it  the  trade  of  three  coun- 
ties, to  the  west  of  it.  but  Uttle  opposition  was  oft'ei-ed  and  the  bonds  car- 
ried by  a  large  majority.  .Vll  of  which  proves  the  wisdom  of  the  old  chest 
nut.  "that  white  man  is  mighty  uncertain." 

The  advent  of  a  railroad  instilled  new  life  into  the  town  which  grad 
ually  increased  in  wealth  and  importance  though  but  little  iu  population 
for  several  years.  In  the  mean  time  the  very  rich  and  productive  soil 
around  I'lk  (Mty.  which  produced  large  and  successive  crops  of  wheat, 
corn  and  other  irojis.  enabled  the  farmers  in  the  township  to  surround 
themsehes  with  all  the  comforts  and  luxuries  tluit  wealth  can  purchase. 
Their  (laughters  were  garbed  in  the  latest  styles  and  their  sous  roln^d  in 
tailor  made  suits  and  laundered  shirts.  They  came  to  town  in  their  ton- 
buggies  and  carriages  and  ])urchased  of  the  merchants  all  that  heart 
could  desire,  and  thus  dawned  an  era  of  i)n.s|M'rity  for  the  City  at  the 
mouth  of  Duck  Creek. 

During  the  winter  ot  1!KU-2  a  conijiany  was  organized  in  VAk  City 
and  capitalized  at  |10.(t(l(l  for  the  inirjiose  of  jinisiwcting  for  gas  and  oil. 
After  several  failures  the  company  was  finally  successful  iu  striking 
several  fine  gas  wells,  and  also  good  oil  producing  wells. 

Several  companies  are  now  in  I  lie  tidd  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
months  this  will  undoubtedly  jirove  to  lie  the  ]ieer  of  other  remarkable 
gas  fields  of  Montgomery  ('ounty. 

There  is  a  bright  future  for  Elk  City  and  Louisburg  Township.  Tlii> 
price  of  land  of  every  description  is  advancing  rajiidly.  Buildings  of  |i(M' 
manent  character  are  taking  the  jjlace  of  old  frame  store  rooms  in  tiie 
town,  which  is  growing  rapidly.  The  City  is  heated  and  lighted  with 
natural  gas.  Nearly  all  the  streets  are  lighted  with  the  same  nmterial. 
It  has  a  sj)len(lid  telephone  system,  and  all  these  conveniences  make 
it  a  good  place  to  live.  It  lias  tive  good  church  buildings  and  strong 
church  organizations,  while  its  schools  are  the  best  in  the  County. 


HISTUKY  Ol-   .M()NT(;OMKRY  COrXTV,  KANSAS.  145 

Elk  City  has  no  system  of  water  works  as  yet,  btit  its  close  proxiiii- 
Ity  to  abundance  of  water  and  the  ease  with  which  it  can  be  introduced 
"into  the  town,  insures  at  no  distant  date,  this  additional  luxury,  to  this 
otherwise  greatly  favored  little  City. 

The  iTiiniense  amount  of  wheat  and  corn,  cattle  and  hogs  being  ship- 
]ied  from  this  place  over  its  two  railroads,  the  A.  T.  &  t^.  F.  and  the  Mis- 
souri Tacific.  and  the  fine  store  rooms  and  increasing  mercantile  busi- 
ness are  evidences  of  the  prosperity  of  the  town  and  its  surrounding 
country. 

It  has  at  this  time  a  population  of  about  800  people,  but  we  predict 
that  no  distant  date  will  see  not  less  than  2000  happy,  contented  and 
prosperous  citizens  of  Montgomery  County  making  their  home  in  Elk 
<Mty  and  enjoying  its  natural  and  acquired  advantages,  and  each  doing 
their  part  in  making  Montgomery  County  the  best  County.,  in  the  best 
s^tate,  in  the  grandest  Republic  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

Chcfryvale 

BY    JOSIE    n.    CAKI.. 

Cherryvale  is  situated  in  the  North-eastern  part  of  the  County,  on 
section  9.  township  32,  range  17. 

It  has  had  three  distinct  periods  of  growth,  viz:  early  beginnings, 
the  coming  of  the  railroads  and  the  discovery  of  gas  and  oil. 
Early  Beginnings 

The  first  white  settler  within  the  corporate  limits,  of  whom  I  have 
any  account,  was  Mr.  Ab  Eaton  who,  with  a  married  brother,  emigrated 
from  Hickory  Grove,  111.,  to  this  place.  The  brother  having  died,  his 
widow  sold  her  claim  to  Thomas  Whelan.  This  claim  is  now  incorpor- 
ated i'.s  the  Whelan  addition.  In  1869  Joseph  Wise  and  Bill  Paxson 
camped  on  Drum  Creek,  and  soon  afterward  bought  Eaton's  title  to  his 
claim  for  .f2o0.  In  May  1871,  Mr.  Wise  sold  his  rights  to  the  L.  L.  &  G. 
R.  R.  Company  for  a  good  round  price  which  I  believe  he  never  got.  as 
the  Company  soon  changed,  and  the  Supreme  Court  decided  against  the 
R.  R.'j;  ownership  of  the  Osage  Ceded  Lands.  The  story  of  the  early  set- 
tlers' com  est  for  titles  to  their  homes  has  doubtles-5  been  told  in  other 
parts  of  this  work,  and  will  not  be  dwelt  upon  further  here. 

On  the  3rd  day  of  May,  1871,  the  first  sod  of  the  L.  L.  &  G.  R.  R.  was 
broken  on  the  T.  Whelan  claim.  This  point  became  the  terminus  of  the 
road  for  some  time,  and  headquarters  for  supplies.  The  R.  R.  company 
laid  off  a  townsite.  The  location  was  a  happy  one;  the  neai-est  towns 
ten  and  twenty  miles  distant,  a  broad  valley  of  wonderful  fertility 
stretchiiio  miles  to  the  north  and  south,  a  gentle  sloping  ridge,  giving  al- 
most ]ierfect  drainage  aud  the  whole  area  of  country,  which  would,  in 
Tfime.  be  tributary,  rapidly  filling  up  with  settlers. 

The  following  seems  to  be  about  the  order  in  which  the  first  business 


1^6  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

films  wei-i"  established:  The  first  house  erected  was  the  Union  Hotel, 
])r..iiriet<.r.  Ceneral  Ikur.  The  first  store  was  kept  by  J.  R.  Baldwin  and 
('.  A.  Cldtfelter.  followed  bv  Seth  Taxson  and  N.  B.  Thorpe. 

().  F.  Carson  located  here  in  1871.  and  for  three  years,  kept  the  only 
driiii  store  in  the  ])lace.  Later  he  entered  into  a  partnership  with  J.  R. 
Baldwin  in  the  iniideniciii  and  hardware  trade. — Two  of  the  additions  of 
the  .■ii\  i'.re  known  by  their  naiiu's.— O.  C.  Kincaid  came  in  1874,  and  has 
been  in  the  mercantile  business  here  ever  since.  He  and  O.  F.  Carson 
erected  the  first  brick  block  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Depot  streets. 
Charles  Booth  moved  to  town  in  1871.  and  enjiajjed  in  the  livery  and 
feed  trade.  In  1878.  he  formed  a  iiartnershij)  with  ('.  A.  Clotfelter  and 
for  many  years  they  kept  the  only  livery  barn  in  the  town.  E.  B.  Clark 
came  to"  Montgomery  conn.ty  in  1800.  His  land  adjoining  the  town  site 
is  now  known  as  Clark's  addition.  He  kejit  the  first  store  of  general  mer- 
chandise near  one  of  the  mounds,  where  the  earliest  settlers  traded.  R. 
F.  Richart  came  in  1878,  and  engaged  in  the  drug  business.  He  soon  took 
E.  S.  Madtonald  into  partnershij).  In  1881.',  Mr.  MacDonald  sold  his  in- 
tcivsi  to  .1.  ('.  Hockett.  John  M.  Courtney  come  to  Southern  Kansas  in 
IStiC.  lie  moved  to  Cherryvale  so(tn  after  the  town  site  was  laid  ott'. 
The  fii-st  lawyers  were  Hastings  and  Hinkle.  Among  the  physicians  of 
this  ]>eriod  may  be  mentioned  J>rs.  Hyde.  Lykins,  ("ami)bell,  Adams  and 
Bradbury.  I>r.  O.  H.  P.  Fall  located' here  in  November  1877.  The  first 
celebration  was  held  July  4.  1872.  near  Main  and  Depot  streets;  canvas 
and  arbors  ])rovided  shade.  Dr.  Hyde  was  one  of  the  speakers.  The 
growth  of  the  town  for  several  years  was  slow.  The  i)opulation  in  187U. 
was  only  ^.'O. 

The  Coming  of  the  Railroads 
In  1870  the  second  period  of  prosperity  began.  The  Frisco  R.  R. 
was  l)uilt.  crossing  the  Santa  Fe  at  this  point.  The  Memphis  R.  R.  Com- 
jiany  extended  its  road  from  Parsons  here.  The  Santa  Fe  was  extended 
westward,  and  its  branch  south  to  Cott'eyville  operated.  This  railroad 
activity  gave  a  great  impetus  to  business  and  building.  The  town  gi'ew 
rapidly  until  1888.  when  a  reaction  having  set  in  from  the  general  depres- 
sion of  business  and  the  bursting  of  real  estate  booms  over  the  west,  the 
population  fell  from  4(t(!(l  to  I'.'dO.  Hfowever,  some  of  our  solid  business 
men  who  are  here  yet,  and  have  ever  been  alert  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
town;  came  during  this  period.  C.  A.  ^Mitchell  and  C.  C.  Thompson 
came  in  1880;  Kevilo  Newton  and  J.  H.  Butler  in  1882;  A.  G.  McCormick. 
Fred  Lealherock  and  the  Dicus  Brothers.  The  ^^■.  W.  Brown  brick  block 
was  built  in  18S7.  The  physicians  were.  Drs.  Taylor,  ^^■arren,  Hopkins. 
Hutchison,  Kesler,  Sloan,  Card  and  Cormack.  A.  L.  ^^'ilson.  a  native 
son  of  the  state,  came  in  1881.     l]v  was  admitted  to  the  l)ar  Septemlier 


HISTORY  OF  MONTCJOMEEY  COrNTY.  KANSAS.  147 

Im'cii  :it  Kansas  City.     .\  siijiar  faitorv  and  creamei'v  were  liuilt  (hiring 
lliis  iuMJod  and  operaled  snccessfnlly  for  a  time. 
Discovery  of  Gas  and  Oil 

In  1889  bonds  to  the  ainonnt  of  $50(t()  were  voted  to  be  used  in  pros- 
pecting for  coal.  At  tlie  depth  of  OOO  feet,  gas  was  found  instead  of  coal. 
This  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  gasser  of  importance  struck  in  Kansas. 
Further  developments  only  increased  the  richness  of  the  tind.  Later,  oil 
■was  discovered,  and  the  capitalist  and  manufacturer  have  been  on  the 
ground  ever  since  and  thus  the  corner  stone  of  "Greater  Cherryvale"  was 
laid. 

The  Edgar  Zinc  Company 

In  1898,  S.  C.  Edgar  built  his  famous  zinc  smelters,  at  an  original 
<ost  of  1350.000.  Of  all  the  enterprises  which  have  contributed     to    the 
town's  prosperity,  none  had  approached  this.     ''Smelter  Town"  with  its 
up  to  date  cottages,  broad  streets  and  lawns,  is  a  village  .in  itself. 
Brick  Plants  and  Factories 

For  many  years  the  mounds  in  the  vicinity,  while  adding  to  the 
picturesqueness  of  the  scenery,  were  not  supposed  to  enhance  the  value  of 
the  farms  around  them,  unless  as  windbreaks  against  the  occasional 
cyclone  that  skipped  across  their  path;  but  about  the  time  that  oil  and 
-gas  were  discovered,  the  knowledge  came  that  the  best  brick  in  the  world 
could  be  made  from  the  shale  of  these  mounds.  In  1897,  F.  G.  Lotterer 
erected  a  Krick  Plant  on  Corbin's  mound.  It  is  now  owned  by  the  Cof- 
feyville  Yirtified  Brick  and  Tile  Company.  Corbin  City,  a  suburb  of 
Cherryvale,  is  built  on  Corbin's  mound  and  is  a  result  of  this  company's 
success.  Six  brick  companies  are  operating  in  this  field.  Other  factories 
are :  The  Iron  Works,  consisting  of  Foundry,  Machine  and  I'attern  mak- 
ing de])artmeuts,  representing  an  investment  of  foO.OOO.  The  Glass  Com- 
pany. Engine  Co.,  Barrel  Factory,  Bicycle  and  Machine  Shops,  Plaining 
:Milis.  Tannehill  Manufacturing  Co.,  Marble  Works  and  two  Elevators. 
The  first  mill  was  built  by  Mr.  Dodd  in  1873.  Mr.  A.  Busch  afterward 
become  its  owner.  It  iinaily  came  into  the  hands  of  C.  A.  Black  who  im- 
proved it.  In  1902  the  Saner-Stephens  Milling  Company  ijurchased  it 
of  :Mr  Black.  They  have  rebuilt  the  mill  and  have  put  in  the  latest  mod- 
ern milling  machinery  with  a  capacity  of  100  barrels  per  day.  In  1881, 
the  Dobson's  came  from  Minonk.  111.,  and  built  a  large  stone  mill  on 
^lain  street.  It  was  burned  in  1900  and  never  rebuilt. 
Banks 

There  are  two  banks.  The  Peoples'  Bank  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  old 
Exchange  Bank  founded  by  C.  T.  Ewiug  in  1880.  Its  present  officers  are, 
C.  O.  Wright,  President,  B.  F.  Jloore.  Vice-President,  and  C  A.  Mitchell, 
Casliier.     The  ,^Ionts;omerv  County  National  Bank  was  founded  in  1882. 


I4S  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

The  i-rcsent  officers  are.  <'.  (\  Kiiuaid,  President.  John  Courtney,  Vice- 
I'resi(ient.  Revilo  Newton.  Casliier. 

Schools 

Tlie  lirst  school  house  was  built  in  1872.  The  lirst  school  was  taught 
by  Miss  Marv  Greenfield,  the  summer  of  1873.  In  the  fall  of  1882  a  two- 
story  brick  structm-e  was  erected.  G.  B.  Leslie  was  the  principal,  assist- 
ed bv  four  teachers.  Now  there  are  two  large  brick  school  houses.  The 
East-side  buiUli'^s?  has  9  rooms  and  the  West-side  0  rooms.  In  1902 
117.000  bonds  were  voted  to  build  two  ward  school  houses.  These  are 
under  construe! ion  and  will  be  ready  for  occupancy  in  September,  190-3. 
Number  of  pupils  enrolled,  1902,  about  1,000.  The  course  of  study  runs 
through  eleven  grades.  Graduates  from  the  High  School  are  entitled  to 
enter  the  State  I'niversity  and  high  institutions  of  learning  in  the  state 
without  examination.  The  following  superintendents  have  had  charge  of 
the  schools  since  Mr.  Leslie's  time:  Mosier.  Crane,  Dana,  Harris,  Taylor, 
Kichnrdson,  Myers,  Herod,  Moore  and  Lovett.  The  first  High  School 
graduates  of  the  class  of  '83  were  Minnie  Newton,  Janie  Fall,  Mertie 
Shannon  and  Rose  Blair, 

Churches 

The  Methodist  Ejjiscooal  Church  was  organized  in  1871.  The  first 
services  wei'e  held  in  the  school  house.  Rev.  Mott'at  was  the  first  pastor. 
In  1880  a  brick  church  was  commenced  under  the  pastorate  of  Wm. 
Sliambaugh  and  com])leted  under  that  of  James  Muray.  It  was  improved 
and  enlarged  during  Robert  MacLean's  time.  A  commodious  parsonage 
adjoins  the  church."  Membership  in  1903.  000.  Pastors  have  been  Rever- 
ends Mottat.  Lampman,  Sliambaugh,  Murray,  Durboraw,  Pattee,  Hark- 
nes,  (,'reager.  Rice.  MacLean,  Bailey,  Roberts,  Ross. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  was  oi"ganized  December  11.  1881.  Meet- 
ings were  first  held  in  the  opera  house,  until  1883,  when  a  church  was 
built.  This  has  been  improved  from  time  to  time.  In  1901  a  commodious 
man.se  was  built  on  the  church  lots.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  W.  B. 
Truax  Subsequent  pastors  have  been  Revs.  S.  W.  Griffin,  Phileo  and 
A.  E.  Vanorden.    Original  membership,  26;  present  membership,  250. 

7he  Baptist  Society  was  established  by  Rev.  J.  R.  Baldwin  May  18. 
1883;  original  membership,  8.  The  first  services  were  held  in  the  school 
liouse  and  ojiera  house.  A  frame  church  was  built  in  1884.  This  was  de- 
stroyed liy  lightning  in  1900.  It  was  replaced  by  a  splendid  brick 
stnicttire  in  19(11.  The  ]iresent  jiastor  is  Rev.  Eaton.  Other  pastors  have 
been.  I{c\s.  .1.  1!.  Ilaldwin,  i-^sscx.  Tonlter,  and  King.  Present  member- 
ship. ."OO. 

The  Christian  Church  was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1884.  First 
pastor,  Benjamin  Smith.  A  church  was  built  in  1880,  burned  December 
14,  1888— rebuilt  1892.    Subsecjuent  pastors  have  been  J  M.  Ferrel,  T.  W. 


HISTORY  OF   MONTciOMERY  COrNTY.  KANSAS.  149 

Cottinghaiu.  William  Flowor.  C.  C.  Atwood.  E.  F.  Taylor,  D.  D.  Boyle, 
J.  K.  Charlton.  ('.  (".  Deweese.  (ieorge  Willis.  Pre.sent  pastor,  C.  Shive. 
Present  nienibersliij),  200. 

The  Catholic  Society  was  organized  in  1875.  Mass  was  said  at  the 
house  of  John  Coyle  until  1877,  when  the  first  church  was  erected  by  Rev. 
Ponziglioni.  In  1000  the  ground  was  broken  for  a  new  edifice  which  was 
finished  in  1901  at  a  cost  of  .fl 2,000.  The  building  is  42  feet  wide  by  100 
feet  long  and  24  feet  high.  The  tower  is  110  feet  high,  surmounted  by  a 
large  golden  cross.  The  church  is  called  St.  Francis  Xaviers  Church. 
The  first  pastor  was  Father  Scholls  of  Independence.  The  present  pastor 
is  Kev  John  Sullivan. 

Telephone 

In  1900  a  telephone  was  put  in  operation,  connecting  many  of  the 
business  and  dwelling  houses  and  affording  telephonic  communication 
with  all  the  surrounding  cities. 

Water-Works 

The  city  was  first  supplied  with  water  from  Lake  Tanko.  a  large  arti- 
ficial lake  south  of  the  city,  by  the  Cherryvale  Water  and  Manufacturing 
Co.  The  bonds  were  sold  to  New  York  capitalists  in  1885.  A  new  com- 
pany was  organized,  called  the  Cherryvale  Water  Co.,  Mr.  MacMurray  of 
New  York  City,  President,  John  Courtney,  Superintendent.  Since  June 
15,  1903,  the  city  has  had  control  of  the  system  and  important  improve- 
ments are  contemplated. 

Park  and  Auditc  rium 

Logan  Park  was  originally  the  gift  of  Geo.  R.  Peck,  soon  after  the 
town  site  was  laid  oft^^.  T.he  gratitude  of  the  citizens  for  this  beneficient 
gift  increases  with  the  years,  and  they  have  taken  great  pride  in  beauti- 
fying it.  It  is  well  supplied  with  seats,  lighted  by  its  own  gas  and  well 
shaded  with  old  trees  carefully  trained.  In  1902  the  city  erected  an  aud- 
itorium in  the  park.  It  has  a  seating  capacity  of  1,200.  The  district 
Grand  Army  encampment  is  held  annually  in  August,  in  this  Park. 
Lodges  and  Associations 

Cherryvale  Lodge  No.  137  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  was  instituted  Oct.  16,  1873, 
with  thirteen  charter  members.  O.  F.  Carson.  W.  M.;  M.  L.  Crowl,  S.  W.; 
William  Hummel,  Junior  Warden. 

Cherryvale  Lodge  No.  142  I.  O.  O.  F.  was  organized  Oct.  10,  1877, 
with  five  charter  members.  This  Lodge  owns  an  elegant  hall  on  Neosho 
street. 

The  A.  O.  I'.  W.  was  instituted  in  February  1882. 

The  Lodge  directory  of  the  city  includes  sixteen  lodges.  Hackleman 
Post  is  strongly  organized  in  a  fine  hall  and  the  W.  R.  C.  owns  a  beauti- 
ful building  in  Logan  Park.  For  several  years  a  Library  Association 
maintained  a  reading  room  and  acquired  a  fair  library,  but  it  is  now  dis- 


150  HISTORY  01-   MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

organized.  .\t  pri'si'ut  tlieie  is  a  imblic  reading  I'ooiii  in  connection  with 
the  Hajitist  ("hinrh.  where  the  best  periodicals  are  found  upon  the  tables. 
The  i:astoin  Star  ladies  have  organized  themselves  into  a  Reading  Olub 
which  lias  proved  to  be  of  interest  and  benefit.  There  is  an  organization 
of  the  ("hautau(jua  Literary  and  Scientfic  Circle.  The  first  officers  were 
Mrs.  Dr.  Seacat.  Etta  Hughbanks.  Josie  Carl  and  Martha  Withani. 

Fairview  Cemetery 

I*.  ('.  P.owcn  first  set  off  10  aires  of  his  farm  northeast  of  town  for  a 
cemetery.  Five  years  later  fifteen  of  the  citizens  formed  a  Cemetery  As- 
sociation and  bought  this  land  with  the  expectation  that  the  city  would 
in  time  take  it  off  its  hands.  Nothing  was  done  in  the  way  of  improve- 
ment until  about  six  years  ago,  when  Mrs.  Ada  Newton  rallied  ten  or 
twelve  of  the  ladies  around  Tier  in  a  Ladies'  Cemetery  Association  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  improving  and  beautifying  the  cemetery.  The  result  has 
been  marvelous.  Over  $1,000  in  funds  raised.  300  elm  trees  planted, 
streets  graded  10  feet  wide,  alleys  i  feet  wide,  culverts  built,  tiling  laid, 
the  land  thoroughly  drained,  a  sexton's  house  and  cistern  built,  and  a 
sexton  hired  by  the  year  to  care  for  the  grounds.  Fairview  Cemetery 
will  alwavs  be  a  monument  to  Mrs.  Newton's  broad  spirit  and  executive 
-ability. 

Fires 

In  1873  the  main  business  i)art  of  town  was  destroyed  by  fire.  In 
187!J  the  stone  business  house  of  Jasper  (Jordon  was  burned  and 
three  young  men  sleeping  in  a  rear  room  lost  their  lives.  In  1885  all  the 
buildings  on  the  north  side  of  Neosho  and  Depot  streets  were  destroyed 
by  fire  including  Clotfelter  &  Booth's  livery  barn,  with  32  horses  and 
G.  B.  Shaw's  lumber  yard.  About  1801  the  Frisco  depot  was  struck  by 
lightning  and  burned.  About  1001  the  Opera  House  Block  was  wiped  out 
by  fire. 

Hotels 

The  earliest    hotels   were   the   Union   liouse.   Commercial,   Buckeye, 
Leland,  etc.    The  Axtell  was  originally  built  by  J.  A.  Hnndley  and  called 
by  his  name.  For  a  good  maany  years  it  was  a  losing  investment  to  every 
one  i-oinicded  with  it  but  the  city  has  finally  caught  up  with  it. 
Municipal  Government 

In  .Mnnli,  fsso.  pursuant  to  a  petition  signed  by  the  citizens  and  \nv- 
scmIimI  Io  Ilic  coini  l>y  \].  j).  Hastings,  Cherryvale  was  duly  incorporated 
as  a  lily  nf  tiic  thiiil  ri.iss.  On  the  first  Tuesday  of  April,  city  officers 
were  I  h'lteil.  ('.  ('.  Kincaiil  was  the  first  mayor.  Jan.  21,  1885,  by  proc- 
lamation of  Clov.  John  A.  .Martin,  it  became  a  city  of  the  second  class. 
The  following  men  have  served  as  mayors:  C.  C.  Kincaid,  A.  Phalp,  O.  F. 
Carson.  J.  W.  Willis.  M.  15.  Soule,.A.  S.  Dulev,  C.  A.  Mitchell,  John  Cald- 


veil,  y\v.  Slmntoii.  I 

?ev 

ii<;  his  second  term 

HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  151 

Newton,  and  E.  S.  MacDonald  who  is  now  serv- 


Postmasters 
N  B.  Thorjie  was  the  first  postmaster.    The  oflSce  has  since  been  held 
bv  the  following  citizens:  Wm.  Parks,  Major  Lyons,  C.  E.  Moore,  T.  An- 
derson, Leo  Veeder  and  T.  H.  Ernest. 


CHAl'TER  VII. 
The  Medical  Profession 

r.Y  T.  F.  AxnuEss.  m.  d. 

To  write  even  a  sketch  of  a  history  of  the  times  and  places  one  has 
been  a  part  of  is  difficult;  to  be  preserved  from  the  everlasting  egotism 
that  exalts  the  "1"  in  everything,  and  at  the  same  time  to  preserve  the 
verity  of  history  is  still  more  difficult;  but  hardest  of  all  is,  to  "naught 
extenuate,  nor  set  down  aught  in  malice."  To  this  task  we  devote  these 
pages,  and  if  we  shall  throw  the  recollection  backward,  and  help  in  any 
slight  degree,  even  to  present  a  jticture  of  the  early  days  of  the  county — 
"all  of  which  I  saw  and  a  part  of  which  I  was" — then  our  purpose  will  be 
served  and,  as  the  lamented  AYard  would  say,  "We  have  accomplished 
all  we  expected,  and  more  too." 

Early  in  March  1870.  the  writer  first  saw  tlie  mounds,  the  valleys, 
the  forests  (for  there  were  forests  then)  and  the  ever- varying  and.  to  us, 
the  always  beautiful  scenery  of  this  Montgomery  County.  When  one 
looked  arouud,  the  first  thing  that  enlisted  the  attention  of  the  "tender- 
foot" was  the  Indians.  They  were  certainly  a  pictui'esque  feature  and 
moi-e  interesting  at  some  distance  than  in  closer  contact.  The  Osages.  at 
that  time,  owned  and  occui)ied  the  laud.  They  numbered  about  three 
thousand  and  theie  were,  perhaps,  about  five  thousand  emigrants  in  the 
county,  all  fired  with  the  ambition  and  desire  to  possess  the  soil,  and,  as 
it  were,  devour  the  country  in  search  of  claims. 

The  Indians  looked  on  with  evident  hostility,  at  this  sudden  and 
overpowering  coming  of  the  "Pale  Face."  But  the  Osages  were  no  more 
a  brave  and  war-like  people,  which  fact  as.sured  the  safety  of  our  scalps. 
If  the  Comanche,  the  Sioux  or  the  Blackfeet  tribes  had  occupied  the  place 
of  the  Osage  this  history  would  very  probably,  read  differently. 
The  Arapi)ahoes  had  conquered  the  Osages  and,  it  seems,  extinguished, 
at  the  same  time,  their  courage  and  martial  spirit. 

The  white  i)eople  were  scattered  everywhere  and,  even  at  that  early 
date,  towns  and  cities  were  being  staked  out  and  started  in  the  race  for 
population  and  wealth.  Independence  had  some  shanties  covered  with 
hay;  Liberty — at  that  time  the  county  seat,  it  having  been  moved  over 
from  Verdigris  City — gave  promise  of  becoming  the  metropolis;  Parker, 


^52  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

down  near  the  nation  line,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Verdiyris  river,  had 
.some  i)reteutious  hiiildinfis:  Elk  Citv  and  Louisburg  were  rivals,  side  by 
side,  with  two  or  three  liouses  each.  .\t  all  these  plaees  there  were  mem- 
iK'rs  of  the  medical  profession,  jfenerallv  trying  to  combine  the  business 
of  the  physician  with  that  of  the  sfjnatter  on  land. 

The  doctors  exercised  and  held  a  large  influence  in  their  several 
communities  and  used  it.  in  the  main,  for  the  public  good,  and  to  build 
up  society.  As  in  all  frontier  settlements  we  find  the  most  enterprising 
and  wide-awake  coming  in  the  lead,  and  so  it  was  here;  the  more  digni- 
fied followed  after.  At  that  early  date  some  very  bright  followers  of 
Esculapius  were  here— and  some  not  so  young— but,  taken  altogether,  a 
good  and  talented  i-epresentation  of  the  medical  profession.  One  would 
frequently  find  the  graduate  of  Jefferson,  Ann  Arbor,  or  Rush  in  a  board 
-shanty  frying  "slap  jacks"  or  '-lady  hog's  bosom,"  while  a  few  vol- 
umes of  standard  works  rested  on  a  shelf  near  by  and  a  few  bottles  of  old 
-standby  drugs  that  shai-ed  the  shelf  gave  out  an  intimation  of  the  trade 
of  the  settler. 

The  well-worn  saddle  bags  and  the  ever-jiresent  lariat  completed  the 
picture.  In  some  of  these  rude  and  temporary  surroundings  one  would 
often  find  the  studious  and  comi)etent  man  of  medicine  filling  his  mis- 
sion of  alleviating  suffering  and  healing  the  sick.  Owing  to  the  mode  of 
life,  shelter,  food  and  water,  there  w«s  a  vast  amount  of  malarial  trouble, 
and  the  varied  tyi)es  of  intermittent,  remittent  and  bilious  fevers  made  • 
themselves  familiar  in  almost  every  htmie.  Everybody  knew  the  doctor 
then  and  welcomed  liis  visits.  Imt  some,  unfortunately,  had  short  mem- 
ories and  forgot   flic  doctoi-  before  the  bill  was  paid. 

Looking  hack,  the  wonder  is  not  that  so  many  were  sick  but  that  so 
many  recovered.  Drinking  slough  water,  eating  pork  and  corn  bread 
fiaviired  with  sorghum,  and  living  in  tents,  wagons  and  shanties  were 
not  tirst  (lass  sanitary  condilions.  Everybody  grew  familiar  with  qui- 
nine, raloniei.  Dover's  ])ow(leis  and  the  dozens  of  nostrums  that  promised 
to  cuK'  the  ■■ager"  or  as  the  allli.ted  Itutchiuan  said  "Der  damned  cold 
fe\('r."' 

onuMv  county,  with  his  primitive  out- 
tninienis  would  not  compare  favorably 
ire"  and  thoroughbreds,  with  fashion- 
nstrunients  and  appliances  of  the  city 
•.M.  D.'s"  are  the  same  old  fellows  of 
if  the    early  time  and  become  leaders 

>(ed  to  their  chosen  work,  or  less  mer- 
lave  atruniiilated  the  wealth  that  their 
i\  of  the  pioneers  have  acquired  wealth 


The  doci 

or  of  ISTll. 

in  Mon 

fit  of  horse,  d 

rngs,  apj.ar 

■el  and  i 

with  his  suei 

•essor,  with 

-nihliei 

able  dress  an 

(1   with   the 

nioilern 

«-.M.  I»."     .Ma 

nv   of  these 

ni(i(lel'li 

],S7(I,  grown 

(Mil   of  the  . 

iln-vsali. 

in  the  profesi 

sion     of  till' 

■if    (hoie. 

Few  mei 

1  have  been 

nioi-e  ill 

cenai'v,  and,  i 

lis  a  result. 

vel-v  fev 

-arduous  labo 

rs  deserved. 

\-ei-v  1 

,:uid  mil  man. 

v,  e\en,  are 

well  liM 

HlSTdUY  OF   .MONTl.Tl.MKKY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  153 

Alwiivs  alive  lo  (>\ci\  iliiiiji  to  liclii  llic  profi-ssioii  ami  tlieieby  become 
a  greater  blessiii<i  to  a  contidiiiji  ]mblic  tlie  establishment  of  a  medical 
coUoge  was  encoinaiicd  by  tiie  jih.vsicians  of  .Moiitgoiiiei-y  comity  in  an 
early  day  and  it  was  actually  orjiaiii/.ed  and  incoriiorated  at  Inde- 
pendence in  the  year  lS7:!-4.  Two  courses  of  lectures  were  provided  for 
in  this  school  and  ihe  (acully  of  ilie  institution  were: 

l>r.  !!.  F.  :Masterinau.  I'rofessor  of  Surgery. 

I>r.   W.   A.   .^IcCnllev.   I'rofessor  of  Theorv  and   l'racti«-e. 

l>r.  .John  Crass.  Professor  of  Materia  Medi.a. 

I>r.  Fugate,  I'rofessm-  of  Physiology  and  etc. 

]»r.  ('aini)bell.  Professor  of  <'heniistry  and  Toxicology. 

Dr.  Moon.  Obstetrics  and   Cynecology. 

Some  of  the  faculty  of  this  defunct  institution  have  jiassed  away, 
some  have  left  the  county  and  the  state  and  a  few  remain  with  us,  active' 
and  in  the  front  rank  of  the  ••]ull(lispensers"  of  this  county.  Some  of  the 
dead  have  left  behind  a  jjrecious  heritage  in  the  memory  of  their  devotion 
to  duty  and  self-sacriticing  labor. 

The  Osages  have  l)een  removed  and  the  Indian  Medicine  Man  is  gone, 
except  in  the  fakir  who  claims  to  have  learned  his  medicine  from  the 
Indians. .  My  observation  is  that  no  people  on  earth  know  so  little  of 
medicine  as  the  Red  Man.  One  old  Negro  plantation  "Anuty"  knows 
more  about  healing  and  nursing  the  sick  than  all  the  Indians  we  have 
ever  come  in  contact  with.  The  doctor  of  1870  who  could  get  an  Indian 
pony,  partly  broke,  and  a  few  ounces  of  quinine  and  other  drugs — with  a 
pocket  case  of  instruments — was  as  well  equijiped  for  the  practice  of 
medicine  as  any  one  he  was  likely  to  meet. 

In  those  early  times  we  had  no  capsules,  no  elixirs,  no  tablets,  no' 
concentrated  drugs;  and  our  resources  were,  indeed,  primitive.  And  it 
may  be  here  recorded  that  the  very  necessity  of  relying  on  his  own  re- 
sources had  the  effect,  as  it  always  will,  of  developing  the  native  talent 
and  stimulating  ingenuity,  and  nuiking  an  alert  and  wide  awake  practi- 
tioner. He  may  have  forgotten  some  of  his  Latin  and  Greek,  yet  at  the 
bedside,  and  in  cases  of  emergency,  he  could  discount  the  professor  with 
his  technicalities  and  extensive  library  attainments.  Out  of  the  ranks 
of  such  men  has  come  very  mu<-h  of  the  progress  that  has  marked  the' 
practice  of  medicine  for  the  last  forty  years.  And  that  there  has  been 
very  marked  advance  along  the  lines  indicated,  all  agree. 

.\t  Independence,  in  187(1.  we  met  I>r.  Masterman.  who  is  still  there 
and  is  the  only  one  of  the  physicians  of  that  date  left  in  the  county  seat. 
He  is  still  in  the  active  practice,  jiopular  and  respected.  A  kindlv.  genial 
man,  companionable  and  sympathetic.  He  is  the  Health  Officer^  of  the 
county  and  one  of  the  Santa  Fe  local  surgeons.  He  is  a  public-spirited 
citizen,  an  old  soldier  and  a  local  l)enefactor  of  his  race. 

Of  later  arrivals.   1  >rs.   Chaney.    Davis.   Kvans.   Surbe,-.   Tanquarry, 


154  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

Barker  and  Kelly,  of  Iudej)endence.  fill  the  field  there.  Several  of  these 
have  an  equipment  that  makes  tlie  county  seat  a  medical  center.  At  Lib- 
erty, in  1870.  we  found  I>r.  Campbell,  now  of  Cherry  vale, a  superannuated 
rheumatic.  He  is  an  old  soldier  with  some  experience  in  hospital  work 
in  the  army.  While  not  extensively  trained  in  medicine  or  widely  read 
in  books  or  scientific  learning,  yet  he  had  and  still  has  the  faculty  of  cor- 
rectly naming  a  physical  trouble  and  of  prescribing  the  dose  that  will 
relieve.  Our  practice,  in  an  early  day.  covered  a  district  larger  than  half 
a  county  and  the  doctor  feels,  severely,  the  effects  of  the  long  rides,  fac- 
ing the  storm  and  swimming  the  swollen  and  unbridged  streams  of  that 
time.  He  was  here  from  1869  and  gave  his  time,  his  health  and  his  all 
toward  the  alleviation  of  humanity  on  the  frontier.  He  found  plenty  of 
work,  some  gratitude  and  a  little  cash,  an  experience  ]iaralleled  only  by 
the  first  doctors  of  the  county. 

At  Pai'ker,  in  the  early  days,  was  r)r.  r>unwell.  a  well-equii)ped  man, 
•<iow  dead.  His  partner  for  a  time.  Dr.  T.  C.  Frazier.  still  survives  and  is 
in  the  front  rank  of  the  profession  at  Coft'eyville.  His  sketch  appears 
in  this  volume. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Agriculture 

BY  W.  T.  YOE. 


^^'hen  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Southern  Kansas  began  edging  their 
way,  as  trespassers,  in  among  the  Osage  Indians,  ou  what  was  then 
known  as  the  Osage  Diminished  Reserve,  the  White  man  found  he  had  in- 
deed reached  a  veritable  paradise;  especially  was  that  true  of  what  be- 
came known,  a  few  years  later  as  Montgomery  County.  The  valleys  of 
the  Verdigris  and  Elk  rivers,  and  of  the  score  of  creeks,  were  broad  and 
rich,  and  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber,  including  walnut,  hick- 
ory, ash.  pecan,  hackberry.  sycamore,  cottonwood  and  other  varieties 
of  hard  and  soft  wood.  The  second  bottoms  and  the  wide  exi)anse 
of  broad  prairies,  and  the  hill  and  slopelands  were  covered  with  a  lux- 
uriant growth  of  grass — generally  blue  stem — frequently  so  rank  that  it 
reached  above  the  horse's  back  and  gave  one  visions  of  becoming  cattle 
barons  and  pasturing  his  herds  ujion  the  government  lan<l  wtihoui 
cost. 

The  agriculture  of  the  Osage  Indians  was  of  a  most  primitive  charac- 
ter as  the  ••nohle  red  men"  regarded  labor  as  degrading,  but  here  and 
there,  in  their  village  settlements  the  "squaws"  would  cultivate  small 
patches  of  corn  of  a  v.irjtey  of  blue  and  white,  eight-rowed  corn-mostly- 
cob,  and  wlicii  this  maturi'd  it  was  rubbed  between  stones,  into  a  coarse 
meal. 


HISTORY  OF  MON'TGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  I  55- 

Tliose  eai-ly  jtioneers  were  greatly  delighted  with  the  luxuriant  veg- 
etation, the  extent  of  timber  belts,  the  numerous  streams,  and  other  evi- 
dences of  a  ferttile  soil.  As  soon  as  ]iossilile.  logs  were  .-ut  and  jtrepared 
and  a  eabin  built,  and  then  began  the  breaking-out  of  a  iiiece  of  prairie 
sod  or  a  clearing  in  the  timber  where,  the  following  autumn,  a  few  acres 
of  wheat  would  be  sown,  or.  in  the  spring,  corn  i)lanted  and  vegetables 
grown.  The  results  of  these  early  experiments  were  successful  in  a  re- 
markable degree  and  demonstrated  that  no  mistake  had  been  made  ia 
their  settlemnt  in  "Sunny  Kansas."  But  there  came  many  disappoint- 
ments and  destruction  of  crops  by  herds,  and.  during  the  first  few  sea- 
sons, many  fanulies  were  dependent  on  coarse  ground  corn-meal,  turnips, 
and  wild  game,  which  was  abundant. 

After  the  signing  of  the  Indian  Treaty  in  August  1870,  for  extin- 
guishing the  title  of  the  Osages  to  these  lands,  there  was  an  immense- 
tide  of  immigrants  via  the  '"prairie  schooner"'  route,  all  anxious  to  get 
a  home  in  this  new  country ;  and  "claim  takers"  were  not  slow  in  break- 
ing out  a  few  acres  and  making  ready  for  growing  crops  in  the  following 
season,  and,  in  the  aggregate,  a  few  thousand  acres  of  wheat  were  sown. 
The  following  spring  a  few  thousand  acres  in  small  patches  were  planted 
to  sod-corn  and  vegetables.  The  season  was  favorable,  and  all  began  to 
feel  that  the  days  of  plenty  had  come  to  their  homes. 

There  were  comparatively  few  good  teams  driven  into  the  county 
and  it  was  fortunate,  as  there  were  severe  losses  of  horses  while  becom- 
ing acclimated  and  getting  used  to  the  short  rations  of  grain.  Then  it 
was.  the  settlers  learned  to  appreciate  the  long-horned  Texas  cattle, 
which  wei-e  being  driven  here  to  fatten  on  the  grass,  and,  later ,  to  be 
driven  to  market.  From  these  herds  the  pioneers  bought  their  ox  teams — 
two,  four  and,  sometimes,  six  oxen  being  hitched  to  a  breaking  plow 
proved  the  motive  power  which  turned  over  most  of  the  virgin  prairie 
for  future  cultivation.  The  Texas  and  Indian  ponies,  also,  became  popu- 
lar as  they  were  numerous  and  cheap,  and  they  became  the  staple  teams 
for  plowing  corn  and  for  road  teams. 

The  new-comers  were  gnerally  young,  energetic  and  enthusiastic 
and  embraced  all  classes  and  professions;  and  all  came  anticipating  the 
securing  of  a  quarter  section  of  land  and  the  making  of  a  home  for  them- 
selves and  families.  But  all  was  not  sunshine,  as  there  were  privations^ 
to  be  endured  and  lessons  to  be  learned  in  pioneer  life. 

All  men  were  not  born  farmers,  and  many  found  by  bitter  experience 
that  Eastern  methods  were  not  successful,  and  that  they  had  to  adapt 
themselves  to  ways  new  to  them;  hence,  when  the  drought  nnd  grass- 
hoppers came,  in  1874.  many  found  it  convenient  to  go  back  east  to  their 
wife's  people  rather  than  face  the  serious  problems  of  a  new  country. 

The  following  season.  1875.  was  one  of  great  abundance  and  made 
glad  the  hearts  of  those  who  had  remained — in  many  cases,  not  front 


156  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

choice  It  further  demonstrated  a  [xunt  disputed,  up  to  that  time,  that 
this  was  pre-eeinently  an  agricultural,  as  well  as  one  of  the  finest  of  live 
stock-growing  counties.  It  was  in  that  year  The  South  Kansas  Tribune 
made  a  collection  of  grain  and  grasses  for  the  Centennial  Exposition 
of  187G,  and  one  can  now  only  iinagine  the  pride  of  the  people  when  a 
telegram  was  received  from  Hon.  Alfred  Gray.  Secretary  of  the  State 
Board  of  Agriciulture.  announcing  that  the  "Highest  prize.  .|50.00  cash," 
had  been  awarded  to  Montgomery  county  samples  of  grains  and  grasses, 
as  the  finest  grown  in  Kansas.  It  was  indeed  a  fine  exhibit  of  grains 
and  grasses  including  wheat,  rye.  oats,  flax,  corn,  timothy,  blue  grass, 
and  blue  stem. 

From  that  lime  on  agriculture  became  more  prominent  and  for  sev- 
eral years  this  county  made  exhibits  at  the  Kansas  State  fairs  and  at 
the  Kansas  City  fairs,  of  the  various  grains,  grass  and  fruit  products, 
and  at  every  one.  with  a  large  measure  of  success  and  there  are  il-  e-icist- 
ence  a  dozen  premium  tags  and  ribbons  and  one  silver  medal  awarded 
on  corn,  wheat,  flax,  cotton  and  fruits  exhibited  from  this  county,  at 
these  great  fairs. 

In  those  earlier  years  it  became  necessary  to  settle  for  all  time  the 
<;onflicting  interests  between  the  "cowman"  and  the  farmer  whether  the 
lands  were  to  l)e  held  for  a  free  range  for  grazing  of  herds,  or  to  become 
the  homes  and  farms  of  the  poorer  settlers.  The  wealth  was  on  the  side 
of  1h(>  Texas  steer  and  every  season  vast  herds  of  southern  cattle  were 
driven  into  this  county  to  graze  and  fatten  on  the  prairie  grass.  The 
cattle  would  bereak  from  the  corrals  at  night  and  devastate  the  farmers' 
growing  crops  and  thus  engender  bitter  strife.  The  campaign  for  the 
herd  law  was  intense,  but  although  wealth  and  immense  profits  were  ar- 
rayed on  the  side  of  the  free  range,  the  farmers  won  out  in  the  contest 
for  a  herd  law.  and  gradually  the  long-horned  cattle  disappeared  and 
gave  place  to  higher  grades  of  cattle  that  would  be  confined  in  fenced 
pastures. 

It  took  years  of  time  and  a  great  many  experiments  to  demonstrate 
for  just  what  ( lojis  the  dift'ereut  classes  of  soil  were  best  adapted,  and 
what  varieties  of  cereals  were  the  most  profitable.  But  as  the  years 
passed  and  experience  was  gained  and  more  economical  methods  substi- 
tuted, yearly  accumulations  increased  and  Montgomery  County  farmers 
have  been  enjoying  a  prosperity  rarely  equalled;  and  for  seven  years 
past  the  cry  of  "hard  times"  has  not  been  lieard.  With  diversified  agri- 
culture ami  better  methods  and  the  growing  of  high-grade  cattle,  horses 
and  .hogs,  together  with  products  of  the  orchard,  garden  and  poultry, 
our  farmers  entered  upon  the  twentieth  century  with  abounding  prosper- 
ity. 

Moiilguincry  is  one  of  llie  smaller  conntics  with  an  area  of  648 
t«qn:iic  miles  or'  tlt.TiId  ;uii>s.     One  fourtli  of  this  is  fertile  valley  land 


HISTORY  OK   MONT(;OMEEY  COUNTY^  KANSA3.  157 

and  specially  adapted  for  either  of  the  (jreat  staples,  wheat  or  eorn :  in 
favorable  seasons  producing  from  25  to  40  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  and 
some  .^ears  even  larger  yields.  During  the  five-year  period  ending  with 
1895  the  wheat  product  was  2,993.500  bushels,  and  for  the  next  five-year 
period  3.764.398  bushels,  and  an  average  for  the  ten-year  period  of 
675.798  bushels  of  wheat  each  year.  And  for  the  opening  year  of  the  new 
century.  1901,  the  average  yield  was  26i4  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  a 
higher  average  per  acre  than  was  grown  in  any  ftthor  county  in  Kans;is, 
and  aggregated  1,642.280  bushels,  which  was  a  greater  amount  of  wheat 
than  was  grown  in  twelve  other  eastern  counties  in  the  state.  That  year 
the  wheat  yield  was  117  bushels  per  capita  for  the  population  of  the 
county  outside  of  the  larger  towns.  The  cost  of  growing  wheat  per  acre 
in  JTontgomery  County,  for  plowing,  discing,  harrowing,  seed,  cutting, 
thi'eshing,  and  rent  of  land  is  placed  at  $9.74  per  acre. 

Of  the  other  great  staple  crop  there  were  produced  in  the  five-year 
period  1891-1895,  of  corn  5,720.513  bushels,  and  for  the  next  five-year 
period  8.851.569  bushels  showing  the  effect  of  better  farming  and  a  year- 
ly average  of  nearly  1  and  Vi;  million  bushels  of  corn.  These  statistics 
are  from  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  and  are  proof  positive  that  agri- 
culture is  a  success  in  Montgomery  County  and  that  it  is  in  the  corn  and 
wheat  belt. 

The  general  crops,  so  far  found  adapted  to  this  county,  and  most 
profitable,  are  winter  wheat,  corn,  oats,  rye,  Irish  and  sweet  potatoes, 
castor  beans,  cotton,  flax,  broom  corn,  millet,  sorghum,  for  syrup  and 
al.so  for  forage.  Kaffir  corn,  timothy,  blue  grass,  orchard  grass,  clover, 
alfalfa,  and  prairie  grass  for  hay  and  pasture.  These  staple  farm  crops 
average  a  value  of  one  and  three-fourths  millions  of  dollars  annually, 
to  which  should  be  added  for  cattle,  hogs,  poultry,  wool,  butter,  cheese 
and  horticultural  products  to  make  a  total  of  farm  products,  the  first 
year  of  this  century,  of  $2,838,295,  or  $225  per  capita  for  every  man, 
woman  and  child  living  on  the  farms. 

As  the  years  pass,  greater  attention  is  given  to  small  fruits,  poultry 
iind  the  imiiroved  class  of  horses,  cattle  and  hogs. 

Elue  grass,  red  clover  and  alfalfa,  during  the  recent  years,  have 
proven  sure  crops  and  very  profitable — in  fact  observation  and  statistics 
prove  ^lontgoniery  County  to  Ije  one  of.  if  not  the  best,  agricultural  and 
stock-growing  county  in  the  State. 

Montgomery  County  enjoys  the  most  favorable  climatic  advantages 
tind  is  free  from  the  great  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  that  affect  more 
•northern  and  southern  localities,  and  has  had  an  average  rainfall  of 
thirty-six  inches  during  the  past  twenty  years,  with  a  growing  period 
extending  180  days  without  frost.  In  addition  to  climatic  advantages 
the  county  is  in  the  great  Kansas  natural  gas  and  oil  field.  Natural  gas 
is  used  for  light  and  fuel  in  all  the  towns  of  the  county,  for  residences. 


158  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Imsiiu'ss  liuililiiiiis.  (ifficcs  ;iii(l  ;ill  kinds  of  factory  industries,  and  prob- 
ably a  thousand  farm  liouses  use  natural  gas  for  fuel  and  light  and  have 
the  benefit  of  fret>  rural  mail  delivery — two  luxuries  enjoyed  by  no  other 
farming  community  in  any  other  state — and  which  contribute  very  lai'ge- 
ly  to  The  ]ilcasiircs.  iprosperity  and  home-making  of  the  farmmj;  c-  m- 
munii\. 


CHAl'TEK  IX. 

Manufacturing 


I'.y  the  discovery  of  natural  gas  in  all  parts  of  the  county,  the  cheap 
fuel  problem  was  solved,  and  ^Montgomery  County  is  destined  to  be'X'rae 
one  of,  if  not  the  greatest  manufacturing  county  in  the  state. 

Natural  gas  is  the  ideal  fuel  and  light  for  the  home  and  adapted  for 
all  manufacturing  jairposes,  and  the  known  supply  is  greater  now  than 
at  any  former  jieriod.  It  is  in  such  abundance  that  it  is  furnished  as  low 
as  three  cents  jter  1.(1(1(1  cubic  feet,  which  for  heat  or  steam  purposes  is- 
equivalent  to  a  rate  of  sixty  cents  per  ton  for  coal.  The  industrial  enter- 
prises consist  chietly  of  the  manufacture  of  the  native  shales  into  thft 
finest  dry  press.  fa<e.  ornamental,  vitrified  paving  and  building  brick  of 
the  finest  ((uality  known  to  the  trade  and  superior  in  quality,  in  color 
and  finish.  There  are  eight  of  these  brick  plants  now  in  operation  and 
the  extent  of  the  industrv  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  one  com- 
pany operating  three  of  these  plants  employs  .500  people,  manufactures 
80  million  brick  i)er  annum  and  pays  |188,000  in  wages  for  labor. 

Among  the  other  industries  are  two  paper  mills  employing  200  peo- 
ple in  the  manufacture  of  wrapping  paper,  pul]i  boards,  and  egg-ca.se 
fillers  from  wheat  straw.  Six  large  flouring  mills  converting  our  high 
grade  winter  wheat  into  the  finest  quality  of  flour.  One  of  these  milling 
firms  employs  75  people  and  has  a  capacity  of  2,000  barrels  of  flour  daily. 

Grain  elevators  are  in  each  of  the  larger  towns,  one  of  which  has  a  ca- 
pacity of  storing  2(l(l.(MMi  bushels  an<l  of  handling  (id  <ar  loads  of  grain 
daily. 

A  zinc  smelter  emjiloying  12.5  peojile;  three  window  glass  factories 
enijiloying  2.50  people;  several  foundries,  ma<-hine  shops,  and  planing 
mills;  a  cracker  and  sweet  goods  factory  employing  50  people — and  the 
only  one  in  the  State  of  Kansas;  a  cotton  twine  factory;  several  sorghum 
syruj)  works — one  of  whicli  was  built  at  a  cost  of  |125,000 — two  artificial 
ice  jdants  and  several  other  industrial  enterprises,  are  all  using  natural 
gas  for  fuel. 

.\mong  the  oilier  iiidnstiics  |ii-ojected  for  the  near  future  are  two 
plants  for  the  manufactiiic  of  I'ortland  cement,  with  a  capacity  of  4,000 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  159 

barrels  (hiily;  a  planter  mill  to  manufacture  2,000  barrels  daily  from 
gypsum  and  two  additional  window  glass  factories. 


CHArTKK  X. 

History  of  the  Bench  and  Bar 

BY  WILLIAM   PUNKIN. 

Section  I. 
General  Observations 

.V  true  history  the  bench  and  bar  of  Montgomery  County  cannot 
fail  to  awaken  a  just  pride  among  its  members,  and  to  be  entertaining 
to  those  who  shall  populate  the  county  in  years  to  come. 

I'he  existence  of  this  bar  covers  a  period  slightly  less  than  the  av- 
erage generation  of  the  human  race  and,  in  less  than  twenty  years  from 
its  beginning,  it  furnished  a  United  States  District  Attorney  for  Kan- 
sas, whose  record  in  that  office,  for  six  years,  and  in  the  high  places  he 
subsequently  filled  in  the  profession,  long  ago  made  his  name  a  familiar 
household  woi-d  in  Kansas,  and  well  known  over  a  large  portion  of  the 
Union. 

It  also,  in  that  brief  limit  of  time,  supplied  tlieState  with  an  honored 
■Governor,  who  served  with  distinction  for  two  successive  terms  and 
the  public  with  two  judges  of  the  District  Court,  in  men  of  distinguished 
ability,  whose  wide  reputations  as  profound  lawyers,  acquired  in  the 
practice*  became,  while  on  the  bench,  extended  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  State.  Within  the  same  time,  one  of  its  members  became  an  efficient 
First  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  at  Washington,  during  Presi- 
dent Harrison's  administration,  and  another  represented  the  stat.^  in 
the  United  States  Senate  for  six  yeai'S,  ending  in  1897. 

Besides  these,  there  have  always  been  in  its  ranks,  numbers  of  well 
known  attorneys,  who  have  ever  been  recognized  in  the  circles  of  the  pro- 
fession, as  talented  lawyers.  It  nuiy  well  be  doubted,  if  a  more  promis- 
ing bar  existed  within  the  confines  of  the  State  than  that  formed  by  the 
young  attorneys,  who  came  in  the  flood  of  immigration  that  poured 
into  the  county,  during  the  years  of  its  first  settlement. 

While  many — aye  most — of  the  old  members  have  either  yielded  to 
that  inevitable  law,  which  fixes  the  destiny  of  every  man,  or  sought  new 
fields  for  the  practice  of  their  chosen  profession,  or  the  pursuit  of  other 
more  alluring  callings — other  young  lawyers  now  in  the  prime  of  their 
physical  and  mental  vigor  have  taken  the  places  of  those  no  longer  here. 

These  young  gentlemen,  among  whom  are  some  very  brilliant  and 
well-cultivated  minds,  are  maintaining  an  enviable  reputation  for  the 
bar,  and  making  history  that,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  hereafter  be  written 
bv  one  or  more  of  them. 


I60  HISTORY  OK  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

Aiiiiilo  nMsi.ns  cxisicd  for  tlie  fonnation  of  a  strong  bar  iu  the  early 
sselt lenient  and  (ieveloimient  of  the  connty.  The  conditions  were  inviting 
and  tlie  [iros]ie(ts  teniiitiTifr  to  tlie  talented  yonng  lawyers.  In  its  native 
slate,  the  face  of  the  country  was  charming  and  pietnresque.  and  the  soil 
of  exceeding  fertility;  and  an  nnnsnally  fine  climate  added  its  induce- 
ments to  other  fascinating  features. 

The  early  ](o])ulation  was.  for  the  most  jiart.  composed  of  young 
j)ersons  seeking  homes,  with  their  life  and  hopes  before  them;  and  these 
yonnii  ]ieo]ile  were  generally  eipiipped  with  good  health  and  gifted  with 
constitutions  that  enabled  them  to  endure  the  toils  and  privations  of  a 
new  country. 

These  lircnmstames  were  attractive  to  the  brainy,  and  generally 
briefless,  young  barristers  who  came  seeking  fame  and  fortune  in  the 
pursuit  of  their  calling.  Most  of  them,  like  a  great  majority  of  the  first 
pioneers,  were  men  of  limited  means;  and  some  had  left  comfortable- 
homes  and  turned  from  the  proffered  aid  of  influential  kindred  and 
friends  to  brave  the  dangers  of  frontier  life  to  win  fortune  and  fame. 

While  early  business  became  brisk  in  their  line,  the  litigous  ele- 
ment could  not  always  respond  in  the  "Coin  of  the  Realm"  for  needed 
professional  services;  and  necessity  frequently  compelled  compensation 
to  be  rendered  in  time  notes  that  were  rarely  bankable,  unless  secured  by 
mortgages  on  substantial  })roperty.  i^ometimes  owing  to  the  impe- 
cunious circumstances  of  the  client,  his  attorney  willingly  yielded  his 
services  for  an  agreed  upon  share  or  interest  in  the  property  in  contro- 
versy. 

From  these  earnings,  and  from  such  fees  as  were  paid  in  legal  tender 
"greerbanks,"the  young  lawyer  was  enabled  to  fortify  his  doors  against 
the  far-famed  wolf,  and  to  live  comfortably,  if  not  luxuriously;  and  from 
such  resources  some  of  the  more  thrifty  built  pleasant  homes  and  stocked 
their  offices  with  good  libraries. 

In  the  ealy  days,  many,  who  afterward  commanded  a  lucrative 
practice,  advertised  themselves  as  "attorneys  at  law  and  real  estate 
agents"  and  some  of  these  devoted  more  time  to  the  agency  features  than 
t<i  their  profession,  and  often  with  profitable  results. 

The  sources  of  income  to  the  first  members 'of  the  bar  wei-e  numerous 
and  fruitful,  and  as  the  county  grew  in  population  and  develoj»ed,  com- 
j)ensations  for  legal  services  were  usually  awarded  in  money  or  its  equiv- 
alent. 

When  tlie  various  fountains  of  rcnenue  to  the  legal  fraternity  are 
understood.,  it  will  readily  be  perceived  why  so  many  brilliant  young  law- 
yers came  here  so  early  and  stayed  so  late. 

Thei-e  were  eight  or  ten  thousand  people  in  the  county  when  the 
treaty  with  the  Osage  Indians  was  concluded  on  Sei)tember  10,  1870. 
and  most  of  these  were  <laiming  an  interest  in  the  lands  in  defiance  of 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  l6l 

the  Iiidinn's  ii<>ht  to  the  exclusive  oc(Mii)anfy  thereof.  Long  before  the 
treaty  was  signed  or  an  official  survey  of  the  county  had  been  made,  these 
aggressive  settlers  had  staked  out,  claimed  and  possessed  themselves  of 
tracts  of  lands  and  lots  on  townsites  that  had  been  laid  out  and  platted 
without  warrant  of  law.  Each  claimant  asserted  a  prime  right  to  the 
tract  of  land  by  him  selected  and  occupied  and  to  the  town  lot  he  had 
chosen,  against  all,  except  the  United  States  Government,  in  whose  favor 
a  concession  of  one  dollar  and  twenty-flve  cents  per  acre,  was  recognized. 

The  rapid  settlement  of  the  county  by  persons  who  had  generally 
been  strangers  to  each  other  and  the  exciting  scramble  to  acquire  the 
best  land  claims  and  choicest  lots  in  projected  towns,  often  provoked 
bitter  disputes  and  controversies.  In  the  settlement  of  these,  profes- 
sional services  wei-e  rendered  that  yielded  handsome  fees  to  the  young 
lawyers. 

The  olHcial  survey  of  the  lands  made  a  new  alignment  of  the 
boundaries  of  most  of  the  claims  that  had  been  staked  out.  This  often 
had  the  effect  of  enhancing  the  value  of  one  claim  and  depreciating  that 
of  an  adjoining  one.  Sometimes  such  survey  placed  the  houses  and  im- 
provements of  two  neighbors  and  friendly  claimants  on  a  single  tract, 
and  out  of  these  causes,  arose  sharp  contentious  that  created  a  pressing 
demand  for  legal  work  for  their  solution. 

Incident  to  the  enti\y  of  the  townsites,  much  litigation  ensued,  some- 
times between  the  claimants  of  the  lots  they  respectively  professed 
to  occupy  and  own,  at  other  times  between  such  lot  owners  and  the  trus- 
tee who  held  the  legal  title.  Expensive  suits  were  also  instituted  to  de- 
termine who  were  the  several  occupants  of  a  towusite  and  entitled  to 
deeds  from  the  trustee.  At  Independence,  the  Independence  Town  Com- 
pany was  created  and  chartered  under  the  laws  of  the  State.  It  claimed 
the  mayor,  who  had  entered  the  townsite,  held  the  title  in  trust  for  the 
town  company.  Under  the  law,  as  it  has  since  been  interpreted,  a  town- 
site  is  entered  from  the  United  States,  for  the  benefit  of  the  actual  occu- 
pants of  the  lots  (see  Winfield  Town  Company  vs.  Enoch  Morris  et  al. 
11  Kansas  128  and  Independence  Town  Company  vs.  James  DeLong,  11 
Kansas  152).  As  the  matter  then  stood,  all  parties  agreed  the  mayor  or 
corporate  authorities  had  the  legal  right  to  make  the  entry  in  trust.  The 
controversy  was  over  the  question  as  to  who  were  the  ccstuis  qioe  trust — 
or  beneliciaries.  It  would  be  foreign  to  the  purposes  of  this  article  to 
discuss  this  question  and  it  is  only  alluded  to  to  show  that  such  condi- 
tions developed  doubts  that  could  only  be  settled  by  the  skillful  lawyer, 
and  that  the  compensation  for  the  solution  of  them  was  one  of  the 
sources  of  the  lawyer's  income. 

Among  the  disputants  in  the  disagreements  arising  in  the  settlement 
of  the  county  were  some  daring  and  reckless  men,  who  occasionally  chose 
to  attempt  a  disposition  of  their  disputed  affairs  "outside  of  court," 


l62  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

and  without  the  aid  of  counselors.  Usually  their  efforts  resulted  in  the 
creation  of  more  serious  troubles  in  which  the  State  of  Kansas  became 
the  party  plaintiff,  and  the  lawyer  found  himself  blessed  with  two  cases, 
instead  of  one. 

While  a  large  element  in  the  first  population  was  cosmopolitan,  the 
people  at  once  began  to  take  steps  to  encourage  the  building  of  railroads, 
bridges  and  other  public  improvements.  These  were  soon  secured  at 
ruinously  extravagant  prices,  in  exchange  for  municipal  bonds,  many 
of  which  are  yet  a  burden  upon  the  people  and  wealth  of  the  county.  In 
accomplishing  these  purposes  much  employment  was  afforded  to  the 
members  of  the  bar. 

Adventurous  merchants  often  failed  for  want  of  caution  in  making 
purchases,  buying  too  much  on  trust,  and  extending  credit  too  far. 
Farmers  who  had  not  reckoned  upon  the  disastrous  drought  of  1874  and 
the  ruinous  visitation  of  the  festive  red-legged  grasshopper,  and  other 
unlooked  for  woes,  came  to  financial  grief.  These  misfortunes  opened 
the  way  to  the  attorney  to  make  collections  by  foreclosing  mortgages, 
and  in  other  suits,  including  attachments,  receivers,  etc. 

The  location  of  the  county  on  the  border  of  the  Indian  Territory, 
which  then  furnished  a  comparatively  safe  retreat  for  criminals,  encour- 
aged the  comniission  of  crime.  Many  of  the  less  discreet  among  these 
lawless  men,  often  ventui"ed  from  their  asylums  of  safety,  into  the  State 
and  were  sometimes  apprehended  by  the  officers  of  the  law;  and  others 
of  them  were  occasionally,  by  daring  officers  without  warrant  of  law 
forced  into  the  State.  The  prosecution  and  defense  of  these  men  fur 
nished  many  handsome  fees  to  the  first  lawyers  who  came  to  the  county. 

Besides  these  unusual  sources  of  income  to  the  members  of  the  bar, 
that  arose  out  of  the  rapid  settlement  and  improvement  of  the  county, 
and  the  j)eculiar  conditions  that  surrounded  it,  the  ordinary  opportuni- 
ties for  the  lawyer,  in  all  countries,  were  ever  present  here. 

The  District  Courts 

i'lidi-  to  ISI17.  the  (>s:igi"  Indians  were  in  the  exclusive  and  rightful 
possession  of  nil  the  tciiitoiy  of  the  present  Montgomery  County,  except 
a  tract  known  as  Tlie  Cherokee  Strij).  about  two  and  one-half  miles  wide 
on  the  south  border  of  the  county,  and  another  strip  about  three  miles 
wide  on  the  east  side  of  the  county,  that  was  n  i>art  of  the  Osage  Ceded 
Lands.  Tliis  Indian  li.ulit  reiniiined  intact  until,  by  treaty  concluded 
near  the  month  of  Drum  Ci-eek.  on  September  10,  1870,  these  occupying 
Indiiins  relinrinished  :ill  claims  to  the  lands  forever. 

Ill  1Sf;7.  a  few  advent iiror.s  settlers  located  in  the  country  and  these 
were  reinforced  by  others  during  the  next  year.  Tn  the  latter  part  of 
1868  the  immigration  began  to  flow  in  constantly  increasing  streams, 


U I  STORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  1 63 

which  .(mtiiHiod  till  the  first  United  States  census  for  1870  was  taken, 
whifli  showed  a  iiopulation  of  7,638,  exclusive  of  Indians.  This  was  ap- 
]M(.xiinatclv  (he  iiojiulation  of  the  county  at  the  time  its  first  District 
('(Hiit  convened  i'.t  Independence  on  May  9,  1870. 

Before  that  date,  improvised  tribunals  of  justice  had  afforded  relief 
to  the  wronged,  and  indicted  imnishment  for  the  infraction  of  those 
rules  that  were  by  common  consent  adopted  as  a  guide.  The.se  courts, 
if  thev  mav  be  dignified  by  that  name,  antedated  the  justices  of  the  peace 
of  the  thre'e  original  townships  (Drum  Creek,  Verdigris  and  Westralia), 
created  in  June.  IStJO.  by  the  first  board  of  county  commissioners  ( TI.  C 
Crawford,  H.  A.  Bethuren  and  R.  L.  Walker),  and  assumed  to  exercise 
jurisdiction,  in  some  matters,  after  the  creation  of  the  succeeding  town- 
ship courts. 

Before  the  first  District  Court  convened,  the  question  of  the  location 
of  the  county's  pernmnent  capital  had  been  the  subject  of  many  heated 
controversies.  Governor  James  M.  Harvey,  on  June  3.  1869,  by  procla- 
mation, created  the  county  and  named  Verdigris  City  as  its  temporary 
county  seat.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  an  election  for  county  officers  and 
to  locate  the  permanent  county  seat  was  held.  A  spirited  rivalry  sprang 
up.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Verdigris,  where  the  county  was  more  sparse- 
ly settled.  Independence,  then  less  than  six  months  old,  was  an  active 
candidate ;  a  projected  city  called  Tipton,  located  just  east  of  the  present 
Elk  City,  divided  the  vote  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  On  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  in  the  beginning,  three  formidable  candidates  were  pre- 
sented. These  were  Montgomery  City  on  the  north  side  and  near  the 
mouth  of  Drum  Creek;  Liberty  on  the  hill,  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
east  from  the  present  "McTaggart's  Bridge"  across  the  Verdigris;  and 
Verdigris  City  (the  temporary  seat)  located  about  the  same  distance 
southeast  from  the  present  "Brown's  Ford"  on  the  river. 

Liberty  was  located  between  and  about  an  equal  distance  from  each 
of  its  competitors  on  that  side  of  the  river,  and,  during  the  campaign, 
its  advocates,  by  a  shrewd  piece  of  political  diplomacy,  secured  the  vote 
theretofore  divided  between  the  three  aspirants,  and  by  that  means  ob- 
tained more  votes  than  either  of  its  competitors  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river. 

.\  bitter  contest  was  begun  in  the  Probate  Court  of  Wilson  County, 
to  which  Montgomery  was  then  attached  for  judicial  purposes.  The  court 
before  which  such  contest  had  been  instituted  decided  there  had  been 
no  authorized  election  and  hence  no  contest  could  properly  be  enter- 
tained. 

Mr;  Goodell  Foster,  then  but  twenty-six  years  of  age,  was  a  leading 
attorney  on  the  side  in  favor  of  maintaining  the  validity  of  the  election. 
He  had  been  elected  county  attorney  but  declined  to  qualify  after  the 
adverse  decision  of  the  court. 


164  II18T0UY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

After  the  trial  had  progressed  two  days.  Mr.  Foster  retired  at  night, 
confident  of  victory  on  the  next  day.  He  had,  late  on  the  second  day, 
presented  a  legal  precedent  that  seemed  to  tnrn  the  "tide  of  battle"  in 
his  favor. 

Few  law  hooks  hud  been  appealed  to  as  authority  to  sustain  the 
views  presented  l>y  counsel  on  either  side:  indeed  law  books  were  a  rare 
luxury  here  in  those  days.  In  legal  fights,  arguments  and  oratory  ren- 
dered in  loud  and  aggressive  tones,  were  the  weapons  relied  upon. 

Many  hours  before  sunrise  on  the  third  day.  L.  T.  Stephenson  arrived 
on  the  scene  of  confiict.  He  had.  during  the  night,  ridden  horseback, 
with  his  attorney,  F.  A.  Bettis,  from  Oswego,  a  distance  of  fifty-four 
miles.  Mr.  Bettis  brought  an  Iowa  "case  in  point,"  and  on  that  author- 
ity the  invalidity  of  the  election  was  judicially  declared;  and  then  and 
there  the  fond  hopes  of  the  friends  of  Liberty  vanished  never  to  return. 

The  site  selected  in  1869  for  the  permanent  county  seat  is  now  an 
uninviting  spot.  Clusters  of  low  sumac,  dwarf  persimmon  trees  and 
other  illgrown  bushes  fiourish  on  those  portions  where  short  grasses  fail 
to  grow  between  the  lime  rocks  that  peep  from  beneath  the  surface. 
Near  the  west  line  of  this  projected  townsite  is  the  point  of  a  high  hill 
from  which  can  be  seen  a  most  beautiful  landscape,  which  extends  for 
miles  up  the  timber-fringed  Verdigris  and  over  broad  aci-es  of  rich  bottom 
lands  and  fertile  uplands  and  valleys;  and  to  the  north  and  east,  some 
two  miles  or  more  from  the  same  townsite,  is  a  spot  at  the  summit  of  a 
hill  from  which  one  can  look  upon  Independence,  Cherryvale  and  Lib- 
erty; the  latter  the  successor  of  her  dei»arted  namesake. 

The  decision  of  the  Wilson  County  Probate  Court,  so  fatal  to  the 
prospects  and  hopes  of  old  Liberty,  was  quietly  acquiesced  in,  until  the 
vexed  question  of  the  location  of  the  permanent  county  seat  was  settled 
at  a  legal  election  held  in  November,  1870.  At  this  election  Independence 
was  selected  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 

At  its  annual  session  in  1870,  the  Legislature  ]iassed  an  act,  which 
was,  on  the  2nd  day  of  March,  in  that  year,  approved  by  the  Governor, 
creating  the  I'>leventli  Jiidicial  District,  com]>rising  the  counties  of 
Crawford,  Cherokee,  Labette,  Montgomery  and  Howard.  By  this  law 
the  Ctovernor  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  judge  for  the  newly  created 
distri(t.  whose  term  of  office  should  connnence  Ajjril  1st.  1870.  It  also 
provided  for  the  eleclion  of  a  judge,  for  four  years,  at  the  annual  election 
to  be  held  in  Novi'iiiIum-  of  Hint  year,  and  fixed  his  term  to  commence  on 
the  2nd  Monday  in  .l.iininry,  1S71. 

This  act,  by  lis  tciiiis,  was  to  lake  eti'ect  and  be  in  force  from  and 
after  its  pulilication  in  tlic  K:iiis;is  Wecklv  Connnomveallh,  a  newspaper 
then  published  in  Top.'ka. 

On  the  IIS  lUninj  Mmrh.  ISlD.thi-  ( lovernor  api.ointcd  ITon.  Wm.  C. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  165 

Webb,  of  Fort  Scott.  Judge  of  the  District,  not\vilhstan<ling  the  law 
(lealiiig  it  and  conferring  the  power  to  malce  the  aiijiointnient  was  not 
I)ul)lis]ied  and  hence  did  not  become  operative  until  the  2'ith  day  of  that 
mouth. 

While  the  appointment  was  premature  and  unauthorized,  a  better 
selection  could  not  have  been  made,  either  at  the  time  or  after  the  law 
went  into  force,  seven  or  eight  days  later. 

One  of  the  novel  features  of  the  law  was  that  by  its  first  section  it 
made  Howard  county  a  part  of  the  district,  and  in  its  next  section  pro- 
vided "the  County  of  H^oward  is  hereby  attached  to  the  County  of  Mont- 
gomery for  judicial  purposes." 

The  law  makers  may  have  been  influenced  to  the  inconsistency  in 
the  first  and  second  sections  of  the  act,  by  the  impression  that  Montgom- 
ery county  afforded  the  only  convenience  to  be  had.  in  the  two  counties 
suitable  for  holding  court  and  in  that  view  were  doubhless  correct,  yet 
they  may  not  have  fully  realized  the  lack  of  commodious,  not  to  say  lux- 
urious, appointments  for  such  purpose,  that  they  obtained  in  this,  now 
the  sixth  county  in  the  state. 

The  law  also  fixed  times  for  convening  the  terms  of  court  "on  the 
second  Monday  of  May  and  the  second  Monday  after  the  third  Monday 
of  October  in  each  year." 

On  the  second  Monday  in  May,  1870.  wliich  was  the  9th  day  of  that 
month.  Judge  Wm.  C.  Webb  promptly  appeared  in  the  county  to  open 
his  tei'm  of  Court.  This,  uuder  the  law.  must  be  held  at  the  County  seat; 
and  Judge  Webb  was  always  unusually  technical  in  the  strict  observance 
of  all  laws,  so  much  so.  had  he  known  the  weakness  of  his  title  to  the 
office,  he  probably  would  not  have  attemj)ted  to  exercise  its  duties. 

On  his  arrival,  he  was  confronted  with  a  peculiar  state  of  affairs 
resiiet  ting  the  location  of  the  county  seat.  The  Governor,  in  his  pro- 
clamation creating  the  county,  had  designated  Verdigris  City  as  its 
temporary  county  seat;  the  canvas  of  the  vote  cast  at  the  election  in 
18ti9  attested  that  the  permanent  county  seat  was  fixed  at  Liberty,  and  the 
election  resulting  in  favor  of  Liberty  had  been  judicially  declared  a 
nullity. 

Ordinarily,  this  disturbing  problem  would  have  been  easy  of 
solution  in  the  well  trained  legal  mind  of  Judge  Webb.  Logically,  the 
county  seat  would  have  been  where  the  Governor  located  it,  unaffected 
by  the  futile  efforts  to  change  it.  However,  other  complications  inter- 
vened. It  was  the  duty  of  the  County  Commissioners  to  provide,  at  the 
county  seat,  a  suitable  place  for  holding  court;  and  it  was  likewise  the 
duty  if  the  commissioners  to  hold  its  sessions  at  the  same  seat.  The 
crude  and  diminutive  court  room  that  had  been  constructed  at  Verdi- 
gris City  no  longer  remained  there.     I'nder  the  compromise  between  the 


[66 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


three  aspirants  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  the  primitive  court  house 
had  been  removed  from  its  former  site  to  Liberty,  and  the  few  inhabi- 
tants who  had  dwelt  on  the  haul  phitted  as  the  temporary  county  seat 
had  hopelessly  abandoned  it  and  linked  their  fortunes  with  those  who 
lived  on  the  site  of  its  former  rival,  after  its  barren  victory  at  the  polls. 

Besides,  the  new  Board  of  County  Commissioners  (W.  W.  Graham, 
S.  B.  Moorehouvse  and  Thomas  H.  Brock)  was  friendly  to  Independence, 
at  which  place  it  held  its  sessions,  and  on  ilay  5th,  1870,  made  an  order 
as  follows:     "Be  it  known  that,  finding  no  suitable  place  at  Verdigris 


FIRST  COLPT  HOLSE 

City  in  whuh  1o  liuld  thi  lUvunl  <  <.un  ot  .M,()ntgumu\  <  ountii,  it  is 
hereby  ordered  that  said  court  shall  be  held  at  Independence." 

These  were  the  conditions  when  Judge  Wni.  C.  Webb,  in  company 
with  his  former  law  partner,  Mr.  E.  J.  Hill,  arrived,  with  the  team  of 
their  law  firm,  at  the  log  structure  that  had  been  known  at  Verdigris 
City  as  the  court  house  of  the  county,  and  moved  to  and  re-erected  at 
Liberty  for  the  same  ])urj)ose.  This  small  log  house  still  stands,  where 
it  then  stood,  neglected  and  in  a  sad  state  of  decay. 

After  the  team  in  which  Judge  Webb  came  was  hitched,  he  walked 
into  the  sui)j)osed  court  house  and  at  once,  in  the  most  emjihatic  manner, 
declared  to  its  enii)ty  walls  that  it  was  wholly  unfit  for  the  purpose  de- 
signed and  he  positively  declined  to  open  court  under  its  roof. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  1 67 

\A'Leu  Judge  Webb  and  Mr.  Hill  arrived,  there  was  no  one  at  the 
building,  but  in  a  few  moments  a  crowd  was  attracted  to  the  spot — more 
from  idle  curiosity  than  otherwise — and  in  a  short  time  Sheriff  White 
arrived  from  Iude[>endeuce ;  the  clerk  of  the  court,  L.  T.  Stephenson,  a 
powci'ful  friend  in  those  days  of  Independence,  had  remained  where  his 
love  and  friendship  centered. 

After  a  shoi't  consultation  between  the  judge,  sheriff  and  Mr.  Hill, 
these  gentlemen  drove  on  to  Independence  when  the  order  of  the  board 
was  made  known  to  the  judge  and  a  new  school  building  located  on  lot 
17,  block  52,  the  present  site  of  the  United  Brethren  church,  was  tender- 
ed for  a  court  room. 

After  some  hesitation,  the  judge  opened  his  court  there  and  directed 
the  order  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners  to  be  spread  upon  the 
records,  where  it  will  now  be  found  copied  on  the  first  page  of  the  first 
journal  of  the  first  term  of  the  District  Court  ever  held  in  the  county. 

This  was  the  only  term  of  court  held  in  the  county  by  Judge  Wm.  C. 
Webb,  and  at  that  term  but  little  business  of  importance,  beyond  the  ad- 
mission of  attorneys  to  practice,  was  transacted.  Court  adjourned  on 
May  I7th,  1870,  after  having  continued  most  of  the  cases  and  admitted  a 
number  of  the  earliest  members  of  the  bar  to  practice. 

At  this  term  of  court.  Charles  White  was  sheriff,  J.  N.  Debruler, 
under  sheriff.  L.  T.  Stepheusou.  clerk,  and  Clate  M.  Ralstin,  county  at- 
torney. 

Section  III. 

The  Judges  of  the  District  Court 

The  gentlemen  who  have  presided  over  the  District  Court  of  Mont- 
gomery county  since  its  creation,  have,  for  the  most  part,  been  men  of 
far  more  than  ordinary  ability;  and  when  the  comparison  is  indulged 
with  judges  in  this  and  other  states,  who  have  occupied  the  same  exalted 
positions,  there  could  be  little  or  nothing  found  to  complain  of  or  criti- 
cise in  our  judges.  It  is  well  known  in  the  legal  profession,  that  the  of- 
fice of  judge  of  a  trial  court  of  general  jurisdiction  is  one  that  is  most 
difficult  to  acceptably  fill.  To  properly  perform  its  duties  requires  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  law,  and  of  the  rules  of  pleading  and  of  evidence, 
together  with  business  tact  and  administrative  ability. 

ilOX.  WILLIAM  C.  WEBB,  of  Fort  Scott.  Kans.,'was  the  first  judge 
of  the  District  Court.  He  held  but  one  short  term  in  the  county  and  that 
was  in  a  new  school  house  on  East  Maple  street  in  Independence.  Suf- 
ficient allusion  has  been  made  to  this  feature  in  the  preceding  section  of 
this  article. 

When  Judge  Webb  convened  the  first  district  court  here  he  was  a 
man  about  forty-six  years  of  age  and  had  before  been  recognized  in  this 


l68  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

state  as  well  as  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  from  whence  he  came  to  this, 
as  a  lawyer  deeply  learned,  accurate  and  profound  in  the  profession. 

After  his  first  and  only  term  in  the  county,  he,  on  November  17th, 
1870,  resigned  the  office  and  shortly  after  became  the  official  reporter  of 
the  ?ui)renie  Court  of  Kansas  and,  as  such,  thereafter  produced  fifteen 
volumes  of  the  reports  of  the  court  (Vols.  0  to  20  inclusive.) 

After  retiring  from  the  responsible  and  arduous  duties  of  that  office, 
he,  with  great  credit  to  himself,  filled  various  high  public  positions  in  the 
state  and,  at  times,  was,  in  a  professional  way,  engaged  in  many  impor- 
tant legal  controversies.  He  became  well  known  throughout  the  state, 
and  M-as  everywhere  recognized  as  one  of  its  most  distinguished  lawj^ers. 

Before  coming  to  Kansas,  .Judge  Webb  had  served  in  the  Civil  war 
as  colonel  of  a  Wisconsin  regiment,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  that  state.  Among  the  public  places  of  trust  he  has  filled  in 
this  state,  outside  of  those  already  mentioned,  may  be  named  those  of 
state  senator,  member  of  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature,  state  super- 
intendent of  insurance  and  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Shawnee 
county. 

In  his  old  age,  while  bending  under  the  burden  of  the  heroic  strife 
of  a  well  spent  life,  he,  in  1890,  undertook  and  accomplished  the  compila- 
tion of  the  laws  of  Kansas.  This  was  a  herculean  task  and  better  fitted 
to  the  energy  and  physical  endurance  of  the  man  as  he  was  twenty-five 
years  before. 

Judge  Webb  died  in  1S!)S.  at  Topeka.  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-four 
years,  lamented,  honored  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  At  the 
January,  1898,  term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  it  adopted  and  spread  upon 
its  records  a  handsome  tribute  to  his  memory, 

HON.  HENRY  G.  WEBB,  at  about  the  age  of  forty-five  years,  suc- 
ceeded his  brother,  Wm.  C.  Webb,  on  the  bench.  He  was  elected  to  the  of- 
fice at  the  November.  1870,  general  election,  and  the  term  of  his  office  be- 
gan in  January,  1871.  Under  the  law,  as  it  then  existed,  the  second  term 
of  court  was  to  convene  in  the  county  on  the  "second  Monday  after  the 
third  Monday  in  October."  At  the  appointed  time  Judge  Wm.  C.  Webb 
failed  to  appear  and  open  his  court,  whereupon  the  members  of  the  bar 
selected  Judge  Henry  G.  Webb  as  judge  pro  tern,  and  he.  as  such  pro 
tern  judge,  held  the  October  or  November,  1870,  term  of  court,  in  a  room 
upstairs  on  the  east  side  of  Pennsylvania  avenue  in  this  city,  in  a  build- 
ing about  100  feet  south  of  Main  street. 

At  the  time  of  his  selection  as  such  pro  teni  judge,  he  was  a  candi- 
date against  Hon.  Wm.  :Mathena,  of  Cherokee  county,  for  the  office  and 
at  the  election  held  a  few  days  after  convening  court,  was  chosen  by  a 
large  majority. 

After  the  election  and  wiiilc  .Tudgc  Wcbl)  w:is  serving  as  judge  in  a 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  l6g 

temporary  capacity,  he  disposed  of  at  least  one  highly  important  matter 
arising  out  of  what  is  now  conceded  to  have  been  a  fraudulent  and  cor- 
rupt election,  held  June  21st,  1870.  It  had  been  voted  to  issue  county 
bonds  in  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  to  secure  the  build- 
ing of  the  Leavenworth,  Lawrence  &  Galveston  Railroad,  from  near  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  county,  via  Cherryvale  and  Coffeyville,  to  the 
south  boundary  of  the  state.  One  of  the  first  suits  brought  to  question  the 
validity  of  that  election  in  the  District  Court  of  the  county  was  the  case 
of  Asa  Hargrave  vs.  Charles  White.  The  court  appointed  Mr.  A.  C. 
r>arlow.  an  attorney  of  Oswego,  a  commissioner  to  take  testimony  and  re- 
port. Mr.  Darlow,  in  a  very  brief  time,  made  his  report,  whereupon,  on 
Novemlier  2nd,  1870,  the  court  rendered  its  judgment,  finding,  among 
other  things,  that  said  election  held  on  June  21st,  1870,  on  the  question  of 
voting  .'ji200,000  to  said  railroad  company  was  a  valid  and  legal  election. 
Without  venturing  a  criticism  on  the  soundness  of  that  ruling,  it  may 
l)e  remarked,  that  shortly  afterward  the  bonds  were  issued  and  now, 
after  much  litigation  and  the  expediture  of  a  large  amount  of  money, 
in  vain  efforts  to  defeat  them,  a  large  portion  of  the  debt  still  hangs  as 
a  burden  on  the  county. 

On  the  9th  day  of  November,  1870,  Judge  Webb  pronounced,  perhaps, 
the  first  divorce  decree  in  the  county.  It  was  in  favor  of  the  wife,  who 
was  plaintiff,  and  on  the  grounds  that  the  husband  had  been  willfully 
"absent  from  said  petitioner  for  more  than  one  year  prior  to  the  filing 
of  the  petition." 

At  the  same  term  of  court  pro  tern  Judge  Webb  made  an  unique 
order  in  reference  to  the  papers  and  files  in  the  clerk's  office,  which, 
among  other  things,  provided  they  should  not  '"be  loaned,  borrowed, 
taken  away,  purloined,  stolen  or  kidnapped  from  the  office"  and  also 
that  any  person  or  attorney  "wishing  copies  may  have  the  same  by  giv- 
ing ample  notice  to  the  clerk  and  paying  for  the  same  at  the  price  per 
folio  allowed  by  law;"  the  order  then  made  an  exception  in  favor  of  the 
county  attorney,  who  was  allowed  "to  borrow  papers  by  receipting  for 
and  returning  the  same  in  three  (3)  days." 

Any  of  the  early  members  of  the  bar  who  knew  the  clerk  of  the  court 
in  those  days  and  his  peculiar  and  aggressive  style  of  composition,  will 
not  hesitate  to  ascribe  the  authorship  of  this  positive  order  to  L,  T. 
Stephenson,  who  was  always  an  intimate  friend  and  a  great  admirer 
of  the  judge. 

The  May,  1871,  term  of  court  was  held  in  the  same  room  on  Pennsyl- 
vania avenue  and  at  that  term  Frank  Willis  appeared  as  county  attor- 
ney. Judge  Henry  G.  Webb  was  then  "a  full  fledged"  official  with  a  term 
of  about  four  years  before  him  and  had  formed  close  social  relations  with 
a  coterie  of  members  of  the  bar  and  others.    These  friends  of  the  judge, 


T70  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

for  some  reason,  so  it  was  ilainied  by  Mr.  Willis,  had  formed  au  un- 
friendly feeling  for  the  county  attorney,  which  was  shared  by  the  judge. 
Out  of  this  antagonism  disputes  arose  that  were  sometimes  aired  in  open 
court. 

On  November  .30th,  1871,  the  court  ordered  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Willis 
for  contempt  of  court.  The  specification  stated  that  Mr.  Willis  had  ut- 
tered the  following  insulting  language  in  open  court:  "If  the  court 
wants  to  do  so  and  dismiss  the  cases  here  publicly  just  for  the  purpose 
of  stigmatizing  me,  why  you  can  do  that"'  and  further  it  was  specified 
that  Mr.  Willis  had  used  in  open  court  the  following  contemptuous  lan- 
guage- "If  you  want  to  do  such  things  in  that  way  and  dismiss  these 
cases  just  because  Bennett  says  so  why  just  do  it."  What  became  of  the 
contempt  proceedings  against  Mr.  Willis,  the  records  do  not  show. 

At  this  term  of  court,  on  December  2nd,  1871,  in  the  case  of  the 
State  vs.  L.  T.  Stephenson,  the  defendant  was  tried  and  convicted  of  an 
assault,  and  by  the  court  fined  twenty-five  dollars  and  the  costs  of  the 
prosecution.  Neither  this  fine  nor  the  costs  was  ever  paid,  and  no  com- 
mitment issued.  Long  afterward  and  on  August  30th,  1872,  Mr.  Stephen- 
son appeared  in  court,  and,  on  his  motion,  the  fine  was  remitted. 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  which  went  into  effect  on  March  6th, 
1872,  three  terms  of  court  were  provided  for  the  county.  These  were  to 
convene  respectively  on  the  first  Monday  in  April,  August  and  December. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  April,  1872,  term  of  court  Judge  Henry  G. 
Webb  and  the  clerk,  L.  T.  Stephenson,  were  absent.  There  were  present, 
however,  besides  some  of  the  memliers  of  the  bar.  J.  E.  Stone,  sheriff;  J.  B. 
Oaig,  deputy  clerk;  and  Frank  Willis,  county  attorney,  and  the  sheriff 
adjourned  court  'till  the  next  day. 

On  the  next  day,  which  was  April  2nd,  1872,  court,  with  a  full  corps 
of  officers,  convened  in  Emerson's  hall,  which  was  on  the  north  side  of 
Main  street  and  just  west  of  the  present  court  house  grounds,  and  re- 
mained in  session  for  several  weeks.  The  conveniences  in  these  new 
quarters  were  much  superior  to  those  afforded  in  the  rooms  formerly 
used  for  court,  but  in  some  respects,  in  the  opinion  of  Judge  Webb,  were 
still  lacking;  and  to  supply  the  needs,  which,  under  the  law,  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  county  commissioners  to  provide,  the  court,  on  the  17th  day 
of  April,  1S72,  made  an  order  directing  the  sheriff,  at  the  expense  of  the 
conntfi,  to  provide  by  the  next  term  "sufficient  matting  of  the  best  qual- 
ity to  cover  the  bench  and  bar  and  also  the  aisles  in  the  court  room  and 
that  he  lay  the  said  matting  securely  on  the  floor  •  •  •  and  cause 
to  be  erected  in  said  court  room  a  platform  of  sufficient  length  and  width 
to  comfortably  seat  twelve  jurors,  and  also  a  witness  stand,  and  also  a 
table  six  feet  long  and  three  feet  wide  and  three  and  a  half  feet  high  for 
the  use  of  the  Judge  of  this  Court." 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  IJI 

While  public  oflicials  often  iu  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  inno- 
cently overstep  the  bounds  of  the  law,  an  order  of  this  character,  ema- 
nating from  a  court  which  is  charged  with  the  interpretation  of  the  law 
and  with  defining  its  limits,  becomes  of  scriniis  inijiort;  in  other  words, 
it  usurped  iK)wers  that  belonged  to  the  cniiiiiy  c  (unmissioners. 

At  the  August,  1872,  term,  and  on  ihc  l'l'ihI  ila.y  of  that  month,  in 
a  case  then  pending,  iu  which  a  former  county  attorney  was  plaintiff 
and  the  board  of  county  commissioners  was  defendant,  it  was,  in  open 
court  agreed  that  the  plaint  ill'  should  recover  the  amount  that  would 
result  from  dividing  the  aggregate  of  the  amounts  named  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  bar  present,  by  the  number  of  such  members.  The  court  ren- 
dered judgment  against  the  county  for  the  amount  ($300)  thus  obtained 
on  this  unheard  of  proceeding.  At  the  December,  1872,  term  of  court  a 
highly  important  murder  case  was  pending;  it  being  the  case  of  the 
State  vs  Oliver  P.  Cauffman,  George  W.  Eipley  and  Jasper  Coberly. 

On  December  13th,  1872,  the  county  attorney  asked  a  continuance 
on  account  of  the  absence  of  an  important  witness,  which  request  was 
denied,  and  on  the  next  day  he  asked  leave  of  court  to  7wlle  the  case,  and 
this  application  was  also  overruled,  whereupon,  after  a  brief  trial,  de- 
fendants Cauffman  and  Ripley  were  acquitted.  The  other  defendant, 
Coberly,  was  never  aii]>rehended.  This  case  arose  from  the  claim  that 
some  one  charged  with,  or  suspicioned  of,  being  guilty  of  some  offense, 
had  been  lynched  near  Havana,  in  the  county. 

At  the  time  rumors  of  coi-ruption  and  bribery  on  the  bench,  were 
rife,  in  connection  with  this  case.  Whether  there  was  any  foundation 
for  such  rumors,  will  probably  never  be  determined,  and  being  mere 
rumors,  it  is  but  fair,  in  the  absence  of  authentication,  to  say  they  were 
groundless,  so  far  as  the  court  was  concerned.  At  all  events,  this  oc- 
curred at  the  last  term  of  court  ever  held  in  the  county  bv  Judge  Henry 
G.  Webb. 

On  January  21st,  1S73,  the  lower  house  of  the  Kansas  Legislature, 
adopted  the  following  resolution:  "Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three 
be  appointed  to  investigate  charges  againts  H.  G.  Webb,  judge  of  the 
11th  Judicial  District,  with  power  to  send  for  persons  and  papers." 

On  January  22nd,  1873,  the  same  body  passed  an  amendatory  resolu- 
tion, increasing  the  number  of  the  committee  to  investigate  such  charges 
to  five  instead  of  three. 

On  January  23rd,  1873,  the  lower  house  adopted  the  following  reso- 
lution : 

"Resolved,  The  committee  heretofore  appointed  by  resolution  of  this 
house  to  investigate  charges  against  H.  G.  Webb,  Judge  of  the  Eleventh 
Judicial  District  of  the  State  of  Kansas,  be  and  is  hereby  authorized  and 
required  to  investigate  all  charges  of  bribery,  corruption  and  misconduct 


1-J2  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

in  ofiice  against  said  H,.  G.  Webb  and  to  report  to  this  house  as  soon  as 
practicable  whether  the  said  H.  G.  ^Yebb  has  so  acted  in  his  judicial 
capacity  as  to  retjuire  the  interposition  of  the  constitutional  power  of 
inii)eachnient  of  the  house,  and  for  the  purpose  of  this  investigation  the 
cdiniuitlci'  is  licii'by  authorized  and  enii)owered  to  si;bpoena  and  send  for 
all  iicrtssaiy  inTSdiis  and  papers  and  each  member  of  said  committee  is 
luTcbv  auihori/.cil  and  empowered  to  administer  oaths  and  afiBrmations, 
and  said  committee  is  hereby  authorized  to  employ  a  clerk." 

On  February  loth,  1873,  the  committee,  therefore,  appointed  to  in- 
vestigate the  charges  againts  Judge  Webb,  made  a  report  as  follows : 

"Mr.  Speaker.  Your  select  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  in- 
vestigation of  accusations  against  H.  G.  Webb,  Judge  of  the  Eleventh 
Judicial  District,  of  the  State  of  Kansas,  beg  leave  to  report  that  Judge 
Webb  has  tendered  his  resignation  to  take  effect  on  the  21st  day  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1S73,  and  the  same  has  been  filed  and  accepted  by  His  Excellency 
the  Governor;  therefore,  the  committee  asks  to  be  discharged  from  any 
further  investigation  of  the  case,  and  recommend  the  testimony  taken  in 
the  investigation,  be  filed  with  the  Secretary  of  State,  subject  to  the  or- 
der of  this  House."  "W.  H.  MAPES,  Chairman." 

"The  rep)ort  was  adopted." 

On  the  same  day  Mr.  nutcliings  offered  the  following  resolution : 

"Resolved,  That  the  committee  heretofore  appointed  to  investigate 
charges  against  H.  G.  Webb,  Judge  of  the  Eleventh  Judicial  District,  be 
discharged  from  further  consideration  of  the  subject  and  that  the  testi- 
mony be  not  printed,  but  filed  in  the  ofiice  of  tlie  Secretary  of  State  sub- 
ject to  the  order  of  this  House." 

"Which  was,  on  motion,  adopted." 

Judge  Henry  G.  Webb  was  a  most  remarkable  man.  Nature  had 
endowed  him  with  a  lavish  hand.  He  was  a  man  of  powerful  physique 
and  possessed  of  a  natural  mental  power  that  rarely  falls  to  the  lot  of 
man.    He  was  well  equipped  to  fill  any  high  station  in  life. 

In  the  discussion  of  a  legal  proposition,  or  in  the  elaboration  of  any 
subject  he  chose  to  talk  upon,  he  was  most  instructive  and  entertaining. 
Hte  always  spoke  in  a  deep,  deliberate  and  sonorous  voice,  softened  by  a 
musical  melody  that  was  charming  to  hear.  His  language  on  such  oc- 
casions was  chaste,  well  chosen  and  refined.  He  was  a  man  whose  name 
might  have  lived  prominently  in  history  a  century  or  more  after  his 
deafh.  With  his  great  and  brilliant  mind,  he  lacked  ambition  beyond 
his  inclination  to  gratify  the  tastes  of  the  hour. 

JrJ)GE  HISHOP  W.  PERKINS,  at  the  age  (.f  thirty  one  years  was, 
in  March,  1873,  ajipointed  by  Governor  Thomas  A.  Osborn,  Judge  of  the 
District  Court  fo  fill  the  vacancv  occasioned  bv  the  resignation  <if  Judge 
Henrv  G.  Webb. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  173 

At  tlio  next  election  for  jndge.  Mr.  Terkins  was  the  Repnblioan  eau- 
(Hdate  to  sncceed  himself  ajiiiinst  Mon.  John  M.  Scndder.  an  attorney  of 
Coffeyville,  Kansas,  an  independent  candidate.  His  large  district  then 
composing  four  populous  counties,  was  overwhelmingly  Republican  and 
he  was  elected  by  a  safe  majority,  notwithstanding  his  own  county 
(Labette)  which  was  thoroughly  Republican,  voted  in  favor  of  his  op- 
ponent. The  adverse  vote  in  Labette  county  was  occasioned  by  the  fact 
that  a  few  ye.nrs  before  the  election,  while  Judge  Perkins  was  Probate 
Judge  of  the  county,  the  large  estate  of  one  Ames,  deceased,  had  been 
diverted  from  the  rightful  heirs  and  given  to  a  spurious  claimant,  who 
had  fraudulently  secured  a  record  of  the  Probate  Court  showing  his 
adoption  as  the  son  and  heir  of  said  deceased.  Bitter  litigation  arose 
over  the  event  during  the  time  Judge  I'erkins  was  serving  the  remainder 
of  Judge  Webb's  term.  It  was  boldly  charged  during  Judge  Perkins'  can- 
vass that  he  was  a  party  to  the  fraud,  and  as  boldly  denied  by  the  judge, 
who  had  in  a  short  time  he  had  served  on  the  bench,  become  very  popular, 
and  had  won  the  confidence  of  the  people,  to  such  an  extent,  that  the 
affair  exercised  but  little  influence  in  the  election,  outside  of  Labette 
county. 

Four  years  afterward  Judge  Perkins  was  again  elected  for  another 
term  of  four  years,  and  at  the  end  of  his  last  term,  entered  upon  his 
duties  as  one  of  the  four  congressmeu-at-large  from  the  State,  to  which 
office  he  had  been  elected  while  serving  on  the  bench. 

When  Judge  Perkins  first  went  upon  the  bench,  he  possessed  ueither 
the  natural  ability  nor  the  legal  learning  of  his  predecessor,  but  in  many 
other  respects  was  far  superior  in  fitness  for  the  position.  While  he  was 
young  and  of  somewhat  limited  experience  in  the  practice,  he  at  once 
"demonstrated  administrative  ability  of  a  high  order.  This,  with  his  un- 
flagging energy  and  tireless  industry,  aided  by  the  fine  bars,  particularly 
in  this  and  Labette  county,  enabled  him  during  his  entire  term  to  dis- 
pose of  the  court's  business  satisfactorily  to  the  public  generally. 

Judge  Perkins  on  the  bench  was  courteous  and  fair  and  developed 
an  unusual  ability  to  clearly  instruct  a  jury  and  also  become  a  fine 
chancellor. 

While  the  judge  left  a  fine  record  after  his  ten  years'  service  on  the 
bench,  he  was  distinctly  a  politician.  As  a  political  leader,  he  was  rare- 
ly, if  ever,  excelled  in  the  State. 

He  was  popular,  adroit,  diplomatic,  energetic  and  uncompromising 
in  his  political  convictions;  and  these  qualities,  with  a  boundless  ambi- 
tion to  serve  in  a  public  position,  kept  him  almost  constantly  in  otHce 
from  the  time  he  came  to  Oswego,  in  April,  1869,  'till  he  was  defeated  in 
1890,  for  congress,  by  Hon.  Benjamin  Clover,  of  Cowley  county.  After 
this  inglorious  defeat,  the  first  he  had  ever  met,  he  seems  to  have  lost  his 


iy4  HISTORY  OF  MONTCOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

political  preslifto,  and  never  aj^aiii  soivetl  in  a  publie  office  except  for  a 
few  niontlis  in  1S!I2  in  tlie  Tnited  Slates  Senate,  to  which  office  he  had 
been  appointed  by  (".ov.  1-.  V.  lliiniiplney  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by 
the  death  of  Senator  I'hniib.  The  next  legislature  elected  in  his  place 
Senator  Wni.  A.  retfer.  a  Populist,  and  at  the  same  session  his  party 
friends  refused  his  requcsi  id  imiinnate  him  as  the  candidate  for  the 
minority  party.  This  was  ].(M-liaiis  the  most  oalling  and  hnmiliating 
defeat  he  ever  suliered. 

Judge  Perkins  was  born  at  Pdclicster,  Livmine  county.  Ohio.  October 
18th.  1842.  In  July.  18(J'2,  he  enlisted  in  the  Union  army  and  became  a 
sergeant  of  his  comjtany.  He  was  afterward  detailed  to  act  as  lieuten- 
ant in  a  company  of  cavalry  for  special  guerilla  duty,  in  which  he  served 
'till  December.  18G3.  Hie  remained  in  the  service  'till  mustered  out  at 
Nashville.  Tennessee,  in  May.  180(5.  During  his  term  of  service  after 
December,  1803.  he  filled  successively  the  following  army  offices:  Adju- 
tant of  the  10th  Colored  Infantry  and  Captain  of  Company  "C"  in  the 
same  regiment.  He  was  also,  for  a  year.  Acting  Adjutant  General  of 
the  i)Ost  of  Chattanooga  and  served  as  Judge  Advocate  on  the  staff  of 
General  Gillem  and  also  in  the  same  position  on  the  stall'  of  (iciu'ral 
Steadman. 

After  leaving  the  army  he  resumed  the  study  of  law,  and  was.  in 
1807.  admitted  to  practice;  and  in  the  same  year  located  at  Pierceton, 
Indiana,  where  he  remained  until  he  came  to  Oswego  in  1809. 

In  the  spring  of  1809  he  was  appointed  county  attorney,  and  after 
his  term  had  expired,  became  assistant  county  attorney,  and  afterward 
tilled  the  following  j)ositions :  Probate  Judge  of  Labette  county.  Judge 
of  the  11th  Judicial  District.  Member  of  Congress  and  United  States 
Senator. 

He  then  settled  in  ^yashington,  D.  C.,  where  he  died  on  the  2(lth 
day  of  June,  1894,  after  a  short  illness 

JUDGE  GEO.  CHANDLER  succeeded  Hon.  15.  W.  Perkins  on  the 
bench.  He  was  born  at  Hermitage.  Wyoming  county.  New  York,  on  Sep- 
tember 20,  1842,  and  in  1848  moved  with  his  family  to  Monroe,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  remained  until  1854.  and  then  went  to  Shirland,  Illinois,  and 
spent  his  time  for  the  next  six  years,  working  on  a  farm. 

In  1800  he  went  to  Beloit  College  in  Wisconsin,  and  after  jiursuing 
his  studies  there  for  three  years,  entered  the  University  of  M\icliigan,  at 
Ann  Arbor,  and  three  years  later  was  graduated  from  the  famous  law 
school  of  that  renowned  institution.  He  was  then,  in  1800.  admitted  to 
practice  by  the  Supreme  Court  at  Detroit.  Jlicliigan,  and  afterward  in 
the  same  year,  went  into  the  law  office  of  Messers.  Conger  &  Hawes  and 
began  the  practice  at  Janesville,  Wisconsin,  which  he  continued  until 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  I75 

piirly     iu  187-_',    wbeu  he  reiiiovi'd  to,  aud  entered  the  practice  of  law  at, 
Independence,  Kansas. 

On  the  3rd  day  of  .April,  1872,  on  motion  of  J,  D.  MrCue  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  jiractice  in  the  District  Court  of  Montgomery  county,  on  the 
certificate  of  liis  admissicm  to  the  Circuit  Court  of  Wisconsin. 

Shortly  after  coming  to  Independence  he  formed  a  co-partnership 
with  Ceorge  E.  Peck,  a  close  friend,  whom  he  had  known  at  Janesville. 
Wisconsin,  and  who  had,  late  in  1871,  preceded  him  here.  This  new 
firm,  under  the  style  of  Peck  &  Chandler,  in  a  very  short  time  establish- 
ed a  lucrative  practice,  and  its  memtors  very  soon  became  well  known 
as  fine  lawyers.  The  first  office  of  this  firm  was  upstairs  in  a  frame 
building  over  Page's  bank,  at  tlie  corner  of  Main  street  and  Pennsyl- 
vania avenue,  and  at  the  site  of  the  present  First  National  bank. 

In  1873,  the  partners  moved  their  office  to  the  second  story  of  a  brick 
building  recently  comi)leted  by  them  on  the  east  side  of  North  Pennsyl- 
vania avenue  and  three  doors  south  of  the  well  known  drug  store  of  that 
early  pioneer,  J.  H.  Pugh. 

When  they  came  to  this  county,  neither  Mr.  Chandler  nor  his  part- 
ner "was  abundantly  blessed  with  this  world's  goods"  and  each  was 
burdened  with  the  necessity  of  providing  a  home  for  himself  and  wife. 
Each  had  youth,  energy,  good  health,  strength,  a  good  library  and  bril- 
liant prospects. 

Mr.  Peck  built  a  small  plain,  two  room  cottage,  at  the  edge  of  the 
bluff  on  the  Verdigris,  at  the  east  end  of  Myrtle  street,  and  Mr.  Chandler 
another,  scarcely  more  pretentious,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  same 
street,  nearly  a  mile  west ;  these  modest  dwellings,  which  have  been  but 
slightly  changed  in  the  thirty  years,  or  more,  since  they  were  erected. 
are  often  pointed  out  to  strangers  as  the  original  habitations  of  the  two 
bright  and  brainy  young  lawyers,  who  joined  our  bar  in  its  infancy. 

In  January,  1874,  Mr.  Peck  assumed  the  duties  of  the  office  of 
United  States  Attorney  for  the  District  of  Kansas,  to  which  he  had  been 
recently  appointed,  and  the  co-i)artnership  theretofore  existing  between 
him  and  Mr.  Chandler  was  shortly  after  dissolved.  Mr.  Chandler  soon 
afterward  formed  a  partnership  with  his  younger  brother,  Joseph  Chand- 
ler, and  this  firm,  under  the  name  and  style  of  Geo.  &  Jos.  Chandler,  con- 
tinued in  the  practice  until  January,  1883,  when  he  went  upon  the  bench, 
and  thereafter  served  as  Judge  of  the  11th  Judicial  District  until  in 
April,  1888,  when  he  became  First  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
at  Washington,  under  General  Noble,  and  served  with  distinction  in  that 
position  to  the  end  of  General  Benjamin  Harrison's  administration  in 
1893.  Since  then  Judge  Chandler  has  remained  in  Washington  in  the 
practice  of  the  law. 

Judge  Chandler  was,  in  many  respects,  a  remarkable  man.     It  were 


176  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMUUY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

\iseless,  in  the  liniiU'd  Hpuce  allotlcd  to  us  lo  attiMiipt  more  than  a  very 
inipevfeft  descrijilion  of  him  as  lie  was  durinjj  liis  active  jjractice  and 
service  on  the  liench  liere.  for  a  ijciiod  of  more  than  sixteen  years. 

He  was  an  imposinij-  fijinre.  Nature  had  moulded  for  him  a  massive 
frame,  symmetrically  constructed,  and  fully  six  feet  tall,  or  more,  with 
liroad  shoulders,  and  had  ^iven  him  a  lofty  yet  somewhat  awkward  car- 
riajie.  It  had  also  furnished  him  a  very  large  and  perfectly  formed  head 
and  stronjily  carved  features  that  at  once  marked  him  as  a  man  of  ex- 
traordinary jihysical  and  mental  powers. 

He  was  well  prepared  when  lie  entered  the  practice  here,  early  in 
1872,  and  by  assiduous  reading  and  study  and  the  aid  of  a  very  retentive 
memoi-y,  he,  in  a  short  time,  became  a  learned  and  profound  lawyer. 

With  all  hei-  hnisli  gifis.  nature  had  imi)osed  upon  him  some  faults 
that  detracted  from  that  success  which  might  have  been  his  in  the  prac- 
tice, and  shaded  his  career  on  the  bench,  where  he  displayed  great  ability. 

During  his  thirteen  years  of  active  i)ractice  here  his  exceedingly 
sensitive  nature,  impetuous  disposition  and  untutored  temper,  often 
made  him  unpleasant  to  opjiosing  counsel,  and,  at  times,  disagreeable  to 
his  own  clients,  whom  he  sometimes  severely  lectured  for  getting  into 
the  trouble  he  was  emjdoyed  to  extricate  them  from.  The  high  esteem 
in  which  he  was  held  by  members  of  the  bar  and  the  imi)licit  confidence 
his  clients  had  in  him — together  with  his  undoubted  sincerity  and  in- 
tense devotion  to  the  interests  of  those  whom  he  served — furnished  am- 
ple reasons  in  court,  bar  and  clients,  to  overlook  these  faults. 

Judge  Chandler  never  entertained  a  very  exalted  opinion  of  the 
ability  of  a  jury  to  settle  "as  of  right  it  ought  "to  be  settled"'  complicated 
questions  between  litigant  parties,  and  for  that  reason  had  a  pitiable 
dread  of  entering  upon  the  trial  of  a  hotly  contested  case  to  a  jury- 
he  always  mad^  every  case  he  tried  a  '"hotly  contested"  one. 

During  any  term  of  court  at  which  he  Inid  cases  involving  enarnest- 
ly  disputed  cjuestions  of  fact,  he  would  dismiss,  for  the  time  being,  the 
hilai'ious  and  rollicking  ways  with  which  he  was  accustomed  to  regale 
his  many  friends  during  vacation,  and  clothe  him.*elf  in  an  armor  of^im- 
])atience,  petulence  and  irascibility  and  enter  the  struggle  and  fight  the 
battle  or  battles  with  all  the  vclicniciicc  of  a  nature  "tilled  to  the  brim" 
with  courage,  industry,  cnciuy.  ;i<;,t;rcssi\cncss  and  unusual  ability. 

In  the  i)ractice  :\lr.  Cliandlcr  was  cxcccdiiigiy  painstaking  in  thor- 
oughly i)Osting  himself  on  all  questions  of  law  involved  in  each  of  his 
cases;  and  under  the  prevailing  practice,  in  the  early  days,  the  argu- 
ments of  attorneys  to  the  jury  always  preceded  the  general  instructions 
of  the  court.  Often  one  or  more  pivotal  questions  of  law  went  far  in  de- 
termining the  issues;  and  when  that  fact  was  brought  to  the  attention  of 
jurors,  they  eagerly  watched  for  the  instructions  of  the  court  to  enlighten 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  177 

Iheii-  understanding  on  such  important  quest .<)n  or  questions.  Judge 
Cliaudler  in  those  "davs  of  long  ago"  sometimes  began  to  '"sum  up"  his 
case  by  addressing  his  remarks  to  the  court  on  the  questions  of  law  in- 
volved and  in  that  way  influence  the  court  in  its  instructions,  which  he 
rightly  concluded  would  be  of  vital  importance.  To  his  credit  it  may  be 
said,  that  he  never,  in  that  unsafe  practice  that  was  indulged  by  his  pre- 
decessor on  the  bench,  misled  the  court.  The  law  authorizing  the  pecu- 
liar iiroceedure  was  amended  in  1881,  and  since  then  the  "beacon  lights 
of  the  law''  are  given  by  the  court  to  the  jury  and  opposing  counsel  in 
advance  of  argument. 

Judge  Chandler's  career  on  the  bench  began  in  January,  1883,  and 
ended  in  April,  1889,  and  was  distinguished  by  an  unselfish  devotion  to 
duty,  gi-eat  energy  and  industry  and  signal  ability.  He  carried  to  the 
bench  the  same  impetuous  disposition,  quick  temper  and  inclination  to 
make  unguarded  remarks  that  were  characteristic  of  him  in  the  practice. 
While  the  jury  was  in  attendance  upon  his  coui't  he  rigorously  exacted 
from  the  officers  of  the  court  the  utilization  of  every  moment  of  time. 
He  was  punctual  to  the  instant,  himself,  and  demanded  the  same  prompt- 
ness from  the  members  of  the  bar.  The  failure  of  an  attorney  to  strictly 
observe  this  unyielding  rule,  rarel.y  failed  to  draw  from  the  court  a 
severe  lectui'e,  that  sometimes  consumed  more  time  than  had  been  lost 
by  the  attorney's  delay.  In  these  lectures  the  topics  of  taxation  and 
court  exjienses  were  often  discussed  and  in  their  delivery  the  court  fre- 
quently neglected  to  discriminate  and  applied  his  suggestions  to  all 
members  of  the  bar  instead  of  the  one  whose  conduct  had  induced  the 
scolding.  On  account  of  the  frequency  of  these  censures  and  admoni- 
tions they  lost  much  of  their  force  with  the  attorneys ;  yet  they  served  to 
gi-eatly  increase  the  popularity  of  the  judge  witli  the  unsophisticated 
who  felt  they  never  before  could  understand  the  'iaw's  delays." 

While  such  frequent  outbursts  from  and  unseemly  conduct  on  the 
bench  might  seem  to  have  emanated  from  a  spirit  of  petty  demagoguery, 
nothing  can  be  more  remote  from  the  truth.  In  justice,  it  may  be  said, 
he  never,  by  these,  intended  to  wound  the  feelings  of  or  do  a  wrong  to 
another  for  his  own  aggrandizement.  While  it  was  somewhat  foreign 
to  his  nature  to  offer  an  excuse  or  apologize  for  a  wrong  once  done,  he 
was  absolutely  senseless  to  any  pain  or  sacrifice  inflicted  on  himself  in 
the  performance  of  any  public  duty  he  undertook;  and  his  sterling  in- 
tegrity, self  sacrificing  devotion  to  duty,  magnificent  ability  and  the 
known  absence  of  any  intention  to  do  wrong,  furnished  ample  excuse  to 
the  sometimes  tortured  members  of  the  bar,  to  overlook  and  forgive. 

Judge  Chandler  is  now  in  Washington,  D.  C,  practicing  law,  full  of 
years,  honors  and  experience  and  kindly  remembered  by  his  old  friends 
<<)f  the  ilontgomerv  county  bar. 


1^8  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

JT'DGE  JOHN  N.  HITTER,  of  ('olumbus,  Kansas,  was.  in  May,  188!), 
appointed  br  Governer  L.  U.  Hnniplirey,  Jndoe  of  the  11th  Jndioial  Dis- 
trict, to  fill  the  vacancy  cansed  by  the  resignation  of  Judge  George 
Chandler,  to  accept  the  office  of  First  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Inter- 
ior at  Washington.  At  that  time  the  terms  of  the  District  Court  of  the 
county  were  required  to  convene  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  Miarch,  June  and 
November.  When  Judge  Ritter  opened  his  fii-st  term  of  court  in  the 
county,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  June.  1889,  there  were  on  the  bar  docket, 
as  follows:  Four  cases  standing  on  demuri-er,  eighteen  criminal  cases, 
sixty-seven  civil  jury  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  cases  on  the  court 
docket;  or  a  total  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-three.  Judge  Ritter  was 
without  experience  on  the  bench,  and,  of  late  years,  had  devoted  much  of 
his  time  to  banking  and  was  not  in  very  robust  health.  Notwithstanding 
the  great  number  of  cases  on  the  docket  and  the  great  district  he  was 
called  upon  to  preside  over,  being  the  largest  in  the  state,  and  his  frail 
health,  he  acquitted  himself  creditably  and  gave  general  satisfaction. 

At  the  fall  election  of  188!t,  he  was  the  Republican  candidate  for  the 
oflSce.  against  Hon.  J.  !».  McCne.  who  was  elected.  Judge  Ritter,  after 
his  defeat  at  the  pollsj,  held  a  short  term  of  court  in  the  county  in  No- 
ber,  1889,  after  which  his  health  continued  to  decline  and  in  a  short  time 
he  died  at  Battle  Creek,  MJch.,  Avhence  he  had  gone  seeking  a  restoration 
of  his  broken  health. 

JUDGE  JEREMIAH  D.  McClE,  the  successor  of  Judge  Ritter  on  the 
bench,  opened  his  first  regular  term  of  court  in  the  county  on  the  first 
Tuesday  of  March,  1890.  At  that  time,  outside  of  the  attorneys,  the  offi- 
cers of  his  court  were,  John  W.  Simpson,  clerk ;  Oliver  P.  Ergenbright, 
county  attorney;  Thomas  F.  Callahan,  sheriff;  John  Callahan  (after- 
ward county  attorney  for  two  terms  i.  under  sheriff';  and  George  Gled- 
hil],  reporter. 

The  bar  docket  of  that  term  showed  three  cases  standing  on  de- 
murrer, fourteen  criminal  cases,  thirty-five  civil  jury  cases  and  152  cases 
on  the  court  docket,  a  total  of  204.  The  election  of  Judge  McCue  was  a 
surprise,  notwith.standing  his  eminent  fitness  for  the  position  was  well 
known  to  the  members  of  the  bar.  He  had  been  in  the  active  practice  in 
the  county  for  about  twenty  years  and  had  ever  entei-tained  an  aspira- 
tion to  "don  the  judicial  ermine."  Yet,  inasmuch  as  the  Republican  par- 
ty, which  he  had  always  opposed,  had,  before  that  time,  easily  elected  its 
candidates  to  the  high  position,  to  which  his  laudable  ambition  led,  it 
seemed  to  go  without  the  saying  that  he  could  not  successfully  combat 
its  nominee  and  the  same  party  had  also,  in  a  race  for  the  office  several 
years  before,  mercilessly  defeated  him.  A  still  greater  surprise  awaited 
the  members  of  the  bar  and  Mr.  McCue's  friends.  In  the  practice  and 
in  his  personal  afi'airs  he  had  been  somewhat  slack  and     improvident, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  179 

while  on  the  beuch  he  was  at  once  a  model  judge.  He  was  courteous 
aud  kind  to  the  officers  of  his  court,  patient  with  all,  prompt  and  thor- 
ough in  the  discharge  of  his  duties;  and  in  the  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  law  and  in  the  appreciation  of  the  duties  of  the  oili'-c,  he  had  never 
been  excelled  by  any  who  have  performed  its  duties.  His  rulings  on  evi- 
dence and  pleadings  were  ready  and  accurate  and  his  iiistruiti(ms  to 
juries,  brief,  clear  and  comprehensive. 

AYhile  filling  the  remaining  one  year  of  the  vacancy  created  by  the 
resignation  of  Judge  Chandler,  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  office 
agaiost  Hon.  A.  B.  Clark,  who  was  the  nominee  of  the  Republican  party. 
At  the  election.  Judge  McCue  was  successful,  having  ''run  ahead  of  his 
ticket"  and  carried  each  county  in  the  district.  During  the  latter  part 
of  his  second,  or  rather  regular  term,  he  was  again  a  candidate  and  un- 
wisely made  the  race  as  an  independent,  without  the  endorsement  or 
nomination  of  any  political  party,  aud  was  defeated  by  Hon.  Andrew  H. 
Skidmore,  of  Columbus,  Kans.,  the  Republican  nominee.  Shortly  after 
his  retirement  from  the  bench,  Judge  ISJ^cCue  removed  to  Kansas  City, 
Mo.,  and  there  entered  the  practice  of  his  profession,  where  he  is  now 
engaged  in  that  pursuit. 

The  life  of  Judge  MicCue  typifies,  in  a  high  degree,  the  successful  ca- 
reer of  a  self-made  man.  He  was  born  of  Irish  lineage,  at  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  on  March  3,  1843,  and  left,  by  the  death  of  both  parents,  a  home- 
less and  friendless  orphan,  at  the  age  of  five  years.  When  nine  years  old 
he  was  taken  to  Indiana  and  shortly  after  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  where, 
he  has  said,  he  was  "buffeted  from  place  to  place  without  a  permanent 
home  or  kindred  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War." 

Just  thirteen  days  after  Fort  Sumpter  was  fired  upon  and  on  the 
2oth  day  of  April,  1801,  he,  then  a  diminutive  specimen  of  scarcely  one 
hundred  pounds  in  weight,  enlisted  in  the  Union  Army,  and  thereafter, 
as  a  private  soldier,  served  until  honorably  discharged  on  June  5.  ISCo, 
because  of  serious  wounds  infiicted  in  battle  at  Fort  Blakely,  Ala.,  on 
April  9,  of  that  year.  His  enviable  record  as  a  soldier  does  not  belong 
to  his  career  as  a  lawyer,  and  for  that  reason  I  refrain  from  further  pur- 
suing his  military  life. 

On  his  return  from  the  war,  he  at  once  began  the  study  of  law,  in 
the  office  of  Amos  F.  Watterman,  at  New  Boston,  111.,  largely  under 
Judge  John  S.  Thompson,  a  lawyer  of  eminent  qualifications. 

In  the  spring  of  1867,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  after  a  searching 
examination,  before  the  Supreme  Court  at  Ottawa,  111.,  he  was  admitted 
to  practice  law  and  shortly  afterward,  alone  and  almost  penniless,  he 
started  west  and  landed  among  strangers,  it  is  said,  barefooted  and  in 
scanty  habiliments,  in  Oswego,  Kans.,  in  July,  1SG7.  While  there  he  soon 
won  tor  himself  a  place  in  the  front  rank  of  the  renowned  bar  of  that 


l80  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

Youug  ritv.  Here  he  met  aud  couteiuled  in  the  courts  with  smh  hnvyers 
as  Webb/Olasse.  Bettis.  Kimble.  Perkins.  Kishoi),  Avers  and  other  well- 
known  and  learned  attorneys. 

Tu  1870.  Judge  MeCue  formed  a  i)artiiersliii.  with  Hon.  .J.  K.  Ziegler, 
under  the  firm  name  and  style  of  McCue  &  Ziegler  and  entered  the  prac- 
tice at  Independence.  This  copartnership  was  shortly  afterward  dis- 
solved aud  thereafter  Mr.  :Mcrue  continued  in  the  practice  alone  until 
he  was  elected  Judge  of  the  District  in  ISSil.  During  his  practice  he  was 
widely  known  as  an  accomplished  lawyer  and  a  man  of  extensive  infor- 
mation. 

He  was  always,  after  coming  to  Kansas,  a  great  reader  and  was  {pos- 
sessed of  a  remarkable  memory,  which  enabled  him  often  in  the  trial  of 
causes,  to  cite,  unerringly,  cases  in  point,  giving  the  title  of  cases  and  the 
volume  and  page  of  the  reports  where  they  could  be  found. 

In  the  practice.  Judge  McCue  was  somewhat  careless  in  fully  in- 
forming himself  on  his  evidence  before  going  into  trial,  and  sometimes 
indulged  in  the  dangerous  experiment  of  jdacing  a  witness  on  the  stand, 
after  but  slightly  informing  himself  of  what  such  witness  would  testify 
to ;  he.  however,  more  than  compensated  for  this  lack,  with  his  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  law  on  every  feature  of  his  case.  In  the  practice,  he 
was  fair  and  honorable  and  never  resorted  to  any  of  the  little  devices  or 
trickery  that  sometimes  serve  to  deceive  and  to  unfairly  win  a  case.  He 
ever  scorned  to  engage  in  a  case  that  contained  a  purpose  to  blackmail 
or  extort  or  to  needlessly  blacken  a  i-eputation  or  assail  a  character. 

^^'hile  Judge  McCue's  early  education  was  sadly  neglected  his  as- 
siduous reading  of  standard  works  and  his  fine  natural  talents  had  given 
him  a  ready  command  of  the  English  language  and  made  him  an  excep- 
tionally fluent  orator.  His  t<peeches  were  clothed  in  chaste  language, 
constructed  of  true  logic  and  filled  with  thoughts  on  a  high  plane  and  de- 
livered in  a  pleasing  voice  and  prescmc  and  generally  with  telling  effect. 

JUDCE  ANDREW  H.  SKID.MjOKK  ((.uvt-ned  his  first  term  of  court 
in  the  county  on  March  5,  IS!).").  He  had  been  elected  as  the  Republican 
landidate  in  the  fall  election  of  1804  over  Judge  McCue,  by  a  decisive 
majority.  When  Judge  Skidmore  opened  court  there  were  on  the  trial 
(bx'ket  208  cases  of  which  13  stood  on  dumurrer,  11  were  criminal,  69  civil 
jury  and  115  court  cases.  At  this  time  the  district  coiiii)rised  three  rap- 
idly growing  counties  (Montgomery,  Labette  and  Cherokee)  which  then 
had  an  aggregate  population  of  about  77.(MI()  and  this  had  increased  to 
nearly  lOO.OOO  when,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  which  went  into  effect 
on  the  22d  day  of  February,  1901,  a  new  district  (the  Uth)  was  created, 
comprising  Labette  and  Montgomery  counties,  which  left  Judge  Skid- 
more  ]>residing  over  the  Eleventh  District,  then  comprised  of  Cherokee 
County  only,  with  a  population  of  about  40,000. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  IS  I 

After  Judge  Skiduiore's  term  as  judge  expired,  iu  January.  1903. 
he  at  once  resumed  the  practice  at  Columbus,  Kans.,  in  copartnership 
with  S.  L.  Walker,  under  the  firm  name  and  style  of  Skidmore  &  Walker. 

Before  going  on  the  bench,  Judge  Skidmore  had,  for  years,  been  in 
the  active  practice  at  Columbus,  Kans.,  where  he  had  built  up  an  exten- 
sive and  lucrative  business,  and  had  met  with  unusual  success  as  a  prac- 
titioner. Wliilc.  at  the  time  he  first  ((hivciumI  his  court  in  the  county, 
he  may  not  liavc  jidsscsscd  the  jn'ofouiid  know  led;;.-  of  the  law  that  some 
of  his'  predeccssnis  luul  acquired,  he  (icin.nisnaied  executive  ability 
that  had  not  been  excelled  in  the  office.  In  the  trial  of  cases  he  promptly 
overruled  or  sustained  objections  to  the  introduction  of  testimony, 
without  spending  time  to  furnish  reasons  for  his  rulings  and  he  generally 
disposed  of  motions  and  demurrers  in  the  same  summary  manner.  This 
course  often  occasioned  severe  complaints  from  some  of  the  members  of 
the  bar,  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  being  favored  with  the  court's 
reasons  for  its  rulings  and  had  often  indulged  the  habit  of  combatting 
such  reasons;  yet  such  complaints  did  not  serve  to  dissuade  the  court 
from  its  course,  which  undoubtedly  saved  much  time.  While  a  more 
mature  consideration  of  many  of  the  questions  might  have  resulted  in  a 
safer  interpretation  of  the  law,  yet  by  the  adoption  of  the  course  suggest- 
ed, the  popularity  of  the  Judge  was  greatly  increased  with  the  public, 
and  he  was  generally  sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court  iu  such  cases  as 
were  appealed. 

At  the  November,  1S98,  general  election.  Judge  Skidmore  was  the 
Republican  candidate,  as  his  own  successor  and  was  opposed  in  the  race 
by  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Stanford,  a  prominent  member  of  the  bar  in  Mont- 
gomery County,  who  entered  the  race  as  the  nominee  of  the  two  opposing 
parties  (Democratic  and  People's). 

At  the  preceding  annual  election  the  combined  vote  in  the  district 
of  the  two  opposing  parties  had  far  exceeded  that  of  the  Republican  par- 
ty, and  for  that  reason  Mr.  Stanford  and  his  friends  felt  confident  of  his 
election,  and  were  much  astonished  at  the  returns,  which  showed  that 
Judge  Skidmore  had  carried  every  county  in  the  district. 

Judge  Skidmore  served  out  his  term  in  Cherokee  County  and  was 
succeeded  in  January,  1903,  by  Col.  W.  B.  Glasse,  a  distinguished  lawyer 
of  Columbus,  Kans. 

Judge  Skidmore  was  born  in  Virginia  on  February  14,  1855,  and  re- 
ceived a  liberal  education  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor, 
in  that  State.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  on  September  15,  1876,  be- 
fore he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  majority  and  in  the  same  year  settled 
and  commenced  to  practice  law  at  Columbus,  Kans.,  which  he  contin- 
ued, until  elected  Judge  of  the  District  Court  as  before  stated. 

JUDGE  THOMAS  J.  FLANNELLY,  the  present  incumbent  on  the 


l82  HISTORY  OK  .MONTGOMERY  COUNTY',  KANSAS. 

iHMHh.  \v;is  ai)i»uiiU"(l  to  the  office  l.y  (tov.  jr^lanley.  in  February.  1901.  TUe 
Le'iislature.  by  au  act  that  weut  into  force  on  the  22(1  day  of  February, 
l!Mil.  had  created  the  Fourteenth  Judicial  District  out  of  that  part  of 
ihe  i:ie\eii1h  coniprisins'  the  counties  of  l.abette  and  MJontgouiery,  leav- 
ing r'herokee  County  only,  in  the  Eleventh. 

Judge  Flauuelly  had  not  sought  the  office,  to  which  a  number  of 
prominent  attorneys  in  this  and  Labette  County  were  earnest  aspirants. 
To  These,  as  well  as  tlie  people  generally,  his  appointment  was  a  sur- 
prise, and  to  many  of  the  active  candidates  and  their  friends,  a  disap 
l>oinrn,ent.  He,  however,  had  presided  over  the  court  but  a  short  time, 
uulii  his  peculiar  fitness  for  the  high  office  was  universally  conceded. 
He  was  elected  as  his  own  successor  in  the  fall  election  of  1902  and  be 
gan  liis  full  term  of  four  years  in  Jantiary.  I!t03. 

Judge  Flannelly  was  born  in  Cincinnati.  Ohio,  on  March  23,  1808, 
and  thereafter  lived  at  Newport.  Kentucky,  until  13  years  of  age.  when 
he  moved  to  Kansas  with  his  jiarents,  who  settled  at  Chetopa  in  Labette 
County.  He  graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Kansas  in  June.  1800,  having  jtreviously  taken  the  degree  of 
l!ac!i/-lni-  of  Arts  at  the  St.  Louis  University.  He  was,  upon  his  gradua- 
tidii  al  tlie  Kansas  T'niversity.  admitted  to  the  Bar  of  Douglas  County 
and  li;;s  since,  until  his  appointment  as  Judge,  pursued  the  practice. 

The  Judge  first  entered  the  practice  at  Topeka,  in  1890,  and  contin- 
ued there  for  two  years,  when  he  moved  to  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  became 
a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Beardsley,  Gregory  &  Flannelly.  After  prac- 
ticing four  years  in  Kansas  City,  as  a  member  of  this  firm,  he,  in  Jan- 
uary. 189G,  located  at  Chetopa,  in  Labette  County,  Kans.,  where  he  pur- 
sued his  profession  for  four  years  and  then,  in  January,  1901,  located  at 
Oswego,  where,  in  i»artnershiii  with  Judge  Ayres,  he  was  pursuing  his 
profession  when  appointed  Judge  of  the  District  Court. 

Se.'tiun  IV. 
County  Attorneys 
C.OODULL  FOSTER  was  elected  the  first  couty  attorney  in  Novem- 
ber, I  Mi!).  Ai  tlie  same  time  a  permaneut  county  seat  was  selected  and  :> 
full  (1 11] IS  of  county  officers  chosen.  Afterward,  in  a  contest  growing 
out  ot  ihat  election,  before  the  Trobate  Court  of  Wilson  County,  to 
which  Mioiitgomery  was  tlien  attached  for  judicial  purposes,  the  court 
declared  the  election  unauthorized  and  void.  After  that,  none  of  the 
counly  officers  so  elected,  qualified,  except  Edwin  Foster,  who  had  been 
elected  county  surveyor.  He  took  the  oath  of  office  and  entered  upon  the 
discharge  of  its  duties.  At  that  time  a  most  urgent  and  popular  demand 
jircvailed  for  the  services  of  a  competent  civil  engineer  to  locate  the  cor- 
ners and  lines  of  the  various  claims.     Mr.  Foster  qualified  in  response 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  1 83 

to  tlii':  deniaiul  and  his  work  was  generally  satisfactory  and  cheerfully 
acquiesced  in.  until  the  official  survey  of  the  lands  by  the  government. 

Early  in  ISTd.  (loodell  Foster  moved  to  Indepeneuce  and  shortly 
afterward  formed  a  copartnership  for  the  i>ractice  of  the  law  with  O. 
P.  Smart,  under  the  firm  name  and  style  of  Smart  &  Foster;  and  while 
this  lirm  existed,  it  was  prominent  in  the  litigation  carried  on  in  those 
early  days.  Mr.  Foster,  however,  from  the  beginning,  had  an  aversion 
to  the  practice  and  developed  a  decided  propensity  to  deal  in  real  estate, 
and  soon  after  beginning  the  practice  here,  retired  from  it  and  became 
engaged  in  buying  and  selling  real  estate  on  his  own  account  and  as  the 
agent  for  others,  which  business  he  has  successfully  carried  on  at  Inde- 
pendence for  about  thirty  years,  during  which  time  he  has  bought,  sold  or 
exchanged  a  vast  number  of  tracts  of  land. 

CLAYTON  M.  RALSTIN  was  the  first  county  attorney  who  ever  per- 
formed the  duties  of  the  office  in  the  county.  He  was  appointed  to  fill  the 
position  in  the  spring  of  1870  and  served  until  Frank  Willis  was  chosen 
at  the  regular  November,  1870,  election.  Mi-.  Ralstin  was  a  notable  and 
highly  esteemed  man  among  the  early  pioneers  of  the  county.  He  was 
born  in  Brown  County,  Ohio,  November  14,  1840,  and  afterward  moved 
to  Fulton  County,  111.,  where  he  lived  on  a  farm  and  was  educated  at 
the  High  School  at  Lewistown  in  that  county,  and  afterward  read  law 
at  the  same  place  in  the  offices  of  Judge  Hope  and  I.  C.  Judd.  He  was 
then,  in  May,  1863,  admitted  to  practice  law  at  Springfield,  111. 

The  next  year,  and  on  December  15,  1884,  he  began  the  practice  at 
Prescott,  Ariz.,  and  remained  there  till  1809,  when  he  came  to  Independ- 
ence, and  was  the  first  attorney  here.  H;e  remained  here  until  in  April, 
1890,  when  he  moved  with  his  family  to  Stillwater,  Oklahoma  Territory, 
where  he  was  admitted  to  practice  law  in  April,  1891,  and  died  at  that 
place  January  2,  1892. 

Mr.  Ralstin  was  a  man  of  medium  height  and  slender  build  and  wore 
an  immense  beard.  He  was  very  active  and  industrious  and  had  a  va- 
ried experience  in  life.  He  had  been  a  farmer,  a  merchant,  a  real  estate 
agent,  an  abstractor,  a  lawyer  and  an  official,  and,  at  times,  pursued 
more  than  one  of  these  useful  vocations  at  the  same  time. 

He  had  practiced  law  and  farmed  in  Arizona,  at  Independence  he 
dealt  in  lumber  and  hardware  and  pursued  his  profession ;  and  at  the 
same  place  was  at  one  time  Register  of  the  United  States  Land  Office, 
and  a1  times  farmed,  made  abstracts  and  bought  and  sold  realty.  In 
a  closely  contested  suit  Mr.  Ralstin  was  a  valuable  man  on  account  of 
his  ability  to  look  up  and  arrange  the  evidence  in  the  case.  Few,  if  any, 
members  of  the  bar  ever  excelled  or  equalled  him  in  learning  thefacts per- 
taining to  the  controversies  in  the  courts.  He  was  also  a  most  genial 
man  and  the  hospitality  of  his  home  was  ever  ojien  to  his  many  friends. 


n84  HISTORY  OF  MOXTGOMEUY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

HOX.  FRANK  WILLlt^  was  elected  fouiity  attorney  in  November. 
187(1.  and  served  two  years.  He  was  a  large,  tleshy  young-  man,  awkward 
in  his  motions  and  had  a  deep,  droll  voice.  In  many  things  he  was  inno- 
cent a!id  easily  imposed  upon,  yet  nature  had  provided  him  with  a  natu- 
ral analytical  mind  and  he  was  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  of  great 
energ\.  After  serving  Jiis  term  as  county  attorney,  he  embarked  in  the 
drug  business  at  Independence  and  then,  finding  himself  unqualified 
for  that  untried  vocation,  sold  out  and  emigrated  with  his  family  to  the 
Pan  Handle  of  Texas  and  entered  the  practice  of  his  profession  with 
varying  results. 

At  the  time  Mr.  Willis  went  to  Texas  the  country  there  was.  in  the 
main.  i)eoj)led  with  cattle  men  who  were  aggressive  and  somewhat  domi- 
neering. Hie  was.  in  a  short  time,  elected  Judge  of  the  District  or  Circuit 
Court  and  his  rulings  failing  to  accord  with  the  views  of  the  controlling 
element  of  the  country,  measures  were  inaugurated  to  depose  him.  The 
lower  house  of  the  Legislature  of  Texas  presented  articles  of  impeach- 
ment against  him  and  these  seem  to  have  been  sujjported  by  such  evi- 
dence, tiiat  Mr.  ^Villis'  aiiorneys  became  discouraged  and  feared  it  use- 
less t>'  argue  the  case.  \vlii'rcii]ion,  on  a  broiling  hot  day,  Ml-.  Willis  made 
the  closing  speech  of  two  hours  duration  in  his  own  defense,  which  is 
said  !(•  liave  been  masterly,  and  so  logical,  and  delivered  with  such  mag- 
iiilir,-ni  sincerity  that  he  was  at  once  acquitted  and  thereafter  returned 
to  his  duties  as  Judge,  with  the  respect  of  all,  till  his  death,  about  1897. 

HON.  JOHN  I).  HINKLE  was  elected  county  attoreny  in  November, 
1S7(;.  and  served  two  terms,  ending  in  January,  1881.  At  the  time  of 
his  election  to  this  important  office  he  was  but  twenty-five  years  of  age 
and  had  not  yet  distinguished  bimself  at  the  bar.  to  which  he  had  been 
admitted  about  two  years  before  (September  12.  1S74)  after  having  read 
law  :u  the  office  of  Judge  J.  D.  McCue.  He  succeeded  A.  B.  Clark,  one  of 
the  most  vigorous  prosecutors  the  county  has  ever  had.  He  was  natural- 
ly a  modest  and  retiring  yoiuig  nuin  and  at  that  time,  beardless  and 
boyish  looking,  and  did  not  imi)ress  the  pid)lic  with  the  real  ability  his 
close  friends  at  the  bar  knew  he  possessed.  It  was.  however,  soon  learned 
that  he  was  endowed  with  fine  judgment  and  that  in  his  quiet  and  unas- 
suming way.  he  was  a  very  successful  prosecutor.  It  was  also  recog- 
nized that  he  used  sound  judgment  in  disposing  of  such  of  the  financial 
affairs  of  the  county  as  were  intrusted  to  him.  At  the  end 
of  his  first  term,  he  was  reelcted  and  after  having  served  four  years,  left 
a  fine  official  I'ecord  and  then  located  at  Cherry  vale,  where  he  divided 
his  time  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  and  in  editing  a  paper  in 
whicli  he  had  a((|uire<l  an  interest. 

Ill  iss;!.  Mi-.  Ilinkle  moved  to  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  and  in  188"). 
was  s.  Icctcd  and  served  as  luosccutiiig  attorney  for  a  term  of  two  years. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  1 85 

Ho  tlifii  lociiiod  ;it  thf  city  of  Sjiokaue,  where  he  served  four  years  as  the 
city  justice  <if  tlie  peace  and  was  afterward  elected  to  the  iiiijiortaDt  and 
responsible  office  of  -liidjie  of  the  ^Municipal  Court  of  Spokane,  Wash., 
on  a  salary  of  |2.r)()()  per  year,  which  position  he  now  fills  to  the  satis- 
factit'U  of  the  public  and  with  credit  to  himself. 

Mr.  Hinkle  was  born  at  AYest  Salem,  in  Edwards  County,  111.,  on 
December  .31.  18.51,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm.  He  attended  school  in  his 
I)oyhood  days  and  before  beginning  the  study  of  law  had  taught  in  Kan- 
Mr.  Hinkle  is  now  .'L'  years  old  and  in  prime  health  and  has  but 
slightly  cliaiigvd  fiuni  wliai  he  ujipeared  when  he  left  the  State  some 
twenty  years  ago. 

EDWARD  VAX  (UNDY  was  the  next  county  attorney.  He  was 
elected  to  the  office  in  November,  1880,  and  served  one  term,  ending  in 
January,  1883. 

Mr.  ^'an  (Jundy  was  born  in  Fountain  County,  Tnd.,  .January  22, 
18ri.5,  and  moved  to  Independence  with  his  parents,  who  were  among  the 
first  settlers  here.  His  father,  Samuel  Van  Gundy,  at  an  early  day,  built 
the  brick  residence  at  the  east  end  of  Main  street,  now  owned  and  occu 
pied  by  Captain  L.  C.  Miison  and  family,  and  was  at  one  time  treasurer 
of  the  county. 

Edward  Van  Gundy  spent  his  youth  here  till  about  187.5,  when  he 
went  to  Texas  and  became  secretary  to  McDonald  &  Co.,  contractors 
of  public  buildings  in  that  state.  He  spent  about  two  years  in  that  po- 
sition, during  which  time  he  began  the  study  of  law  under  Governor 
Davis,  of  Austin,  Texas,  and  subsequently  returned  to  Indeitendence  and 
spent  his  time  teaching  district  schools  and  studying  law,  till  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  about  1878. 

Shortly  after  vacating  his  ofBce  he  located  and  began  the 
practice  of  his  profession  at  Pittsburg,  in  Crawford  County,  Ivans.,  and 
was  soon  elected  county  attorney  of  that  county  and  filled  the  of- 
fice one  term.  He  then  became  actively  engaged  in  the  general  practice 
and  became  one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Crawford  County 
bar,  and  had  built  up  a  lucrative  business,  when,  in  1804,  he  went  to  Hot 
Springs,  Ark.,  in  a  vain  effort  to  recover  his  broken  health  and,  at  that 
famous  resort,  died  on  September  20,  of  that  year. 

Mr.  Van  Gundy  was  by  nature,  a  talented  man.  He  posses.sed  a  fine 
and  well-cultivated  legal  mind.  Aided  by  these  qualities,  he  could,  by 
close  application,  have  made  of  himself  a  brilliant  lawyer.  During  his 
professional  career  at  Independence,  he  was  Inclined  to  spend  too  much 
of  his  time  in  the  indulgence  of  the  passing  pleasures  of  the  hour.  Af- 
ter going  to  Pittsburg,  he  married  and  settled  down  and  devoted  himself 


l86  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

more  closely  to  the  pursuit  of  his  profession  and  before  he  died  had  es- 
tablished a  tine  practice. 

HON.  JEREMIAH  D.  McCUE  was  the  sixth  county  attorney,  having 
been  elected  as  the  successor  of  Edward  Van  Gundy,  in  November,  1880. 
Mr.  McCue  served  but  one  term,  during  which  he  exercised  his  recogniz- 
ed ability  in  the  administration  of  the  duties  of  the  office.  Inasmuch 
as  I  have  already  written  of  him.  under  the  chapter  devoted  to  theJudges 
of  the  District  Court,  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  add  anything  further 
here. 

SAMUEL  C.  ELLIOTT  was  elected  county  attorney  in  November. 
1881.and  served  two  successive  terms,  the  last  of  which  ended  in  January. 
1889.  During  the  four  years  that  he  served  in  the  office  he  won  the  re- 
spect and  confidence  of  all.  and  after  retiring,  contrary  to  the  usual  ex- 
perience of  lawyers  who  serve  as  public  officers,  he  at  once  established 
and  for  several  j^ears,  while  his  health  lasted,  maintained  a  lucrative 
practice. 

Mr.  Elliott  was  born  at  Paris,  Edgar  County,  111.,  on  March  10, 
1857,  and  when  ten  years  of  age,  moved  with  his  parents  to  Oswego, 
Kans.,  where  he  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  that  <"ity.  Several  years 
before  he  had  attained  the  age  of  majority,  he  aided  the  Clerk  of  the  Dis- 
trict Court  of  Labette  County,  where  he  accjuired  a  familiarity  with  the 
duties  of  that  office,  which  afterward  became  very  useful  to  him  in  the 
practice. 

He  then,  at  about  the  age  of  IS,  entered  the  office  of  Messrs.  Webb 
&  Glasse,  attorneys  at  Oswego,  Kaus..  and  began  the  study  of  law,  and 
in  about  two  years  or  less,  had  become  well  posted  in  the  rudiments  of 
the  science,  but  being  a  minor,  was  not  entitled  to  admis.sion  to  prac- 
tice. In  1S7G.  ^^•hile  waiting  to  come  of  age.  he  entered  the  office  of  Wm. 
Dunkin  as  a  clerk  and  continued  his  studies  till  the  June.  1877,  term  in 
Labetfe  County,  when  he  was  thoroughly  examined  in  open  court,  and, 
having  ])assed  an  unusually  fine  exanunation,  was  admitted  to  practice. 

After  his  admission  to  the  bar.  Mr.  Elliott  located  at  Independence 
but  did  not  at  once  acquire  a  ]iayiiig  ]ir;ictice.  and  for  several  years  de- 
voted iiiosi  of  his  time  assisting  tlic  county  clerk  and  the  clerk  of  the  dis- 
trict coiui  as  deputy.  The  reputation  lie  won  while  county  attorney 
crtMtcii  a  (Iciiiaiid  for  his  i>rofessional  services  outside  of  his  publicdutiea 
(luring  liis  otiicial  career  and  at  the  end  of  his  last  term  he  met  no  diffi- 
cnln  ill  liuilding  up  a  haiidsonie  practice,  which  he  retained  as  long  as 
his   1  callli    pcniiittcd. 

Mr.  I'JIiotI  was  a  wai-ni  licaiicd  and  genial  man.  that  is.  toward  his 
frieiuN.  lint  lie  never  excited  liiiuself  to  (.iease  those  he  did  not  like.  He 
was  a  man  of  ver\  positi\e  opinions  on  ail  subjects  he  had  investigated 
;in(l  when  he  lirsi  began  the  duties  of  a  useful  life,  was  very  dogmatic 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^,  KANSAS.  I  87 

iiiul  (oiiiliativc.  and  ever  roady  to  argue  his  side  of  the  question  with 
all  eoniers.  As  he  grew  older  and  his  time  was  more  taken  up  with  his 
legal  business,  he  became  more  di])lomatic. 

He  had  a  clear,  analytical  mind,  good  judgment  and  a  quick,  keen 
insight  into  legal  questions.  He  was  usually  ready,  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment,  to  give  an  accurate  opinion  on  the  law  of  a  case.  He  was  en- 
abled to  do  this,  from  his  thorough  knowledge  of  Blackstone's  Com- 
mentaries— which  he  acquired  early  in  life — and  his  talent  for  quick  ap- 
plication. 

He  had  and  deserved  the  implicit  confidence  of  his  clients,  to  whose 
interests  he  was  devoted.  He  was  successful  in  the  practice  and  rarely 
lost  a  suit,  as  he  had  wi-sely  adopted  the  policy  of  settling  by  compro- 
mise, such  of  his  cases  as  he  thought  he  could  not  successfully  litigate. 
In  the  trial  of  a  case,  he  was  earnest  and  able  and  never  stated  to  the 
court  a  proposition  of  law  he  did  not  believe,  and  presented  to  the  jury 
only  such  facts  as  he  thought  were  true.  These  qualities,  with  his  evi- 
dent sincerity  and  earnest  and  logical  presentation  of  his  cases  and  the 
well  known  probity  of  his  character,  very  generally  brought  him  success. 

Mr.  Elliott,  after  a  lingering  and  painful  affliction,  extending  over 
several  years,  died  on  May  .30,  1900,  sincerely  mourned  by  a  host  of  ad- 
mirers and  friends. 

All  of  the  seven  remaining  county  attorneys  are  in  the  active  prac- 
tice in  the  county,  except  John  Callahan,  who  is  at  present  at  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  and  he  may  return  here.  Tn  view  of  this,  it  is  deemed  more 
pro])er  to  include  them  in  the  list  of  practicing  attorneys,  who  have  not 
closed  their  respective  professional  careers  at  the  bar  of  the  county  and 
who  will  be  treated  in  the  next  chapter  of  this  article. 

It  may  be  observed  that  all  the  county  attorneys  who  served  in  the 
two  decades  from  1870  to  1890.  except  A.  P.".  Clark  and  O.  P.  Ergenbright, 
who  served  in  1889,  none  remain  in  the  practice  here;  and  that  all  who  have 
served  since  1890  to  the  present  time,  except  John  (Callahan,  are  active- 
ly pursuing  their  profession  in  the  county. 

A  list  of  all  the  county  attorneys  is  as  follows : 

Goodell  Foster,  elected  in  1869,  and  the  election  declared  void. 

Clayton  M.  Ralstin,  appointed  in  1870,  served  nearly  one  year. 

Frank  Willis,  elected  Xovember,  1870.  one  term  till  January,  1873. 

Arthur  P.  Clark  elected  November,  187ii,  served  two  terms  till  Jan- 
uary, 1877. 

John  D.  Hinkle.  elected  November,  187G,  served  two  terms  till  Jan- 
uary,   1881. 

Edward  Van  Gundy,  elected  November,  1880,  served  one  term  till 
January,  188.3. 

Jeremiah  D.  McCue,  elected  November,  1882.  served  one  term  till  Jan- 
uary, 1885. 


l88  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Fiiiiniel  C.  Elliott,  elected  November,  1SS4,  served  two  terms  till 
Januiu-y.  1880. 

Oliver  P.  Ergenbriglit.  elected  November.  18SS,  served  one  term  till 
January,  1801. 

James  K.  Cliai-Kou.  elected  November.  1800,  served  one  term  till  Jan- 
uary, 1803. 

'SVilliam  l^dward  Ziegler.  elected  November,  1802,  served  two  terms 
till  Jfinuary,  1807. 

John  Callahan,  elected  November.  180G,  served  two  terms  till  Jan- 
uary, loni. 

James  Howard  Dana,  elected  November,  1000.  served  one  term  till 
January.  lOd:?. 

.Mayo  Thomas,  elected  November,  1002,  present  incumbent. 

Section  V. 

Attorneys 
Since  the  organization  of  the  counly  there  have  been  admitted  to 
practice  law  at  its  bar,  over  17(1  members.  It  would  be  an  endless  task 
to  find  and  record,  with  perfect  accuracy,  the  antecedents  of  each ;  and  it 
may  be  truthfully  said  that  such  events  as  have  transpired  in  the  pro- 
fessional lives  of  nmny  of  them,  furnish  but  little  or  no  information  that 
would  be  of  interest  in  a  history  of  the  bench  and  bar  of  the  county. 
The  loose  restrictions  and  disregard  of  the  law  that  have  prevailed  with 
at  least  one  of  the  judges  who  presided  over  our  courts,  opened  an  easy 
way  for  admission  to  the  bar;  and  as  a  consequence  of  this,  many  have 
been  accepted  who  had  but  little  or  no  preparation  and  without  being 
required  to  submit  themselves  to  the  usual  tests  as  to  their  qualifica- 
tions. These  unprepared  yet  formally,  qualified  members  have  gener- 
ally borne  their  honors  in  silence  in  the  district  court,  where  they  have 
sometimes  exei'cised  their  prerogative  to  a  seat  among  the  active  mem- 
bers, and  have  always,  in  their  discretion,  been  exemjjt  from  duty  on  a 
jiotit  jury.  Tn  justice  to  many  of  them  it  may  be  said  that  notwithstand- 
ing I  he  pi'oud  distinction  they  have  enjoyed  of  being  among  the  elect, 
whose  science  they  have  not  practiced,  they  have  been  useful  and  honor- 
ed citizens  in  other  pursuits. 

In  wriiing  a  sketch  of  each  member  1  feel  the  best  course  to  pursue, 
is  to  brielly  note  the  antecedents  of  each  before  his  admission  to  the  bar, 
and  refrain  fi'om  commenting  at  length  on  any  of  those  who  are  yet  in 
the  jutive  iiradice  here.  H'owever  pleasant  and  inviting  it  would  be  to 
write  of  many  of  the  jiresent  practicing  members  and  record  their 
achie\-enients  in  the  ]irofession.  such  a  course  would  manifestly  be  in- 
vidious and  embarassing  to  many  of  the  active  practitioners,  whose  ca- 
reer at  the  bar  is  not  ended.  It  would  be  equally  objectionable  under  strict 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  189 

rules  of  propriety  to  coniinent  upon  the  characteristics,  mental  qualifica- 
tions and  legal  attainments  of  a  local  practicing  attorney,  as  that  would 
tend  to  shock  the  finer  sensibilities  and  appear  as  an  advertisement 
rather  than  a  history,  which  can  only  be  properly  written  as  to  each 
member  at  the  end  of  the  subject's  career  in  the  profession. 

A  list  of  all  members  of  the  Montgomery  county  bar,  with  the 
date  of  the  admission  of  each  to  the  bar  of  the  county  (so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  ascertain  the  dates)  alphabetically  arranged,  is  as  followa: 

Andrews,  Lindlay  M.,  admitted  October,  1870. 

Armstrong,  Benjamin  M.,  admitted  May  7,  1871. 

Ayi"es,  Thomas  G.,  admitted  autumn,  1880. 

Begun,  Edward  L.,  admitted  about  1885. 

Barwick,  J.J.,  admitted  about  1870. 

Barr,  Samuel  H..  June  29,  1889. 

Banks.  William  N..  September  1.  1891. 

Bartlett,  W.  F.,  admitted  1871. 

Bass,  Nathan,  admitted  May  9,  1870. 

Beardsley,  E.  M.,  admitted  August,  1871. 

Bellamy,"  J.  F.,  admitted  1891. 

Bennett,  Martin  V.  B.,  admitted  about  1870. 

Bertenshaw,  Johu,  admitted  March  27,  1894. 

Biddison,  A.  J.,  admitted  about  188.5. 

Billings,  Arthur,  admitted  Reptemlier  15,  1902. 

Black,  George  A.,  admitted  about  1873. 

Blackburn.  J.  W.,  admitted  May,  1871. 

Blair.  A.  V.,  admitted  May,  1871. 

Bristol,  Xorris  B.,  admitted  August.  1872. 

Brown,  D.  B.,  admitted  May  9,  1870. 

Brown,  Joseph  D..  admitted  September.  1896. 

Brown,  C.  S.,  admitted  about  1871. 

Broadhead,  J.  F.,  admitted  about  1875. 

Brown.  Robert,  admitted  April,  1872. 

Burchard.  George  ^Y.,  admitted  November.  1871. 

Burnes.  R.  E.,  admitted  May,  1871. 

Campbell,  E.  L.,  admitted  about  1871. 

Cass,  Phillip  H.,  admitted  November  .3.  1899. 

Callahan,  John,  admitted  March  25,  1893. 

Cavenaugh,  Patrick,  admitted  1887. 

Chandler.  George,  admitted  April  3,  1872. 

Chandler.  Joseph,  admitted  March,  1875. 

Charlton.  James  R.,  admitted  March  1,  1881. 

Clark,  Arthur  B.,  admitted  November  27,  1871. 

Clark,  Edgar  M..  admitted  1879. 


I90 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Clark.  W.  G..  admitted  M«t,  1870. 

Cox.  Albert,  admitted  1894. 

Cox,  Ira  E.,  admitted  1894. 

Cottou,  John  S.,  admitted  April,  1873. 

(  onrtrifiht,  Percy  L.,  admitted  August,  1899. 

Craig.  .loseiih  B.'.  admitted  Mtiy,  1870. 

Cree.  Natliau.  admitted  October,  1872. 

Cutler,  E.  R.,  adiuirted  October  30.  1870. 

Parnell,  D.  Y.,  admitted  about  1871. 

Davis,  John  M.,  admitted  Mtiy  .">.  1902. 

Davis,  C.  M.,  admitted  April,  1872. 

Devore,  Benjamin  F..  admitted  1871. 

DeLong,  James,  admitted  about  1871. 

Donaldson,  Samuel,  admitted  August,  1872. 

Dooley.  Henry  C,  admitted  1890. 

Dunliin,  William,  admitted  April,  1873. 

Dunnett,  Daniel  W.,  admitted  1870. 

Dempsey.  T.  E.,  admitted  May,  1885. 

Elliott.  Samuel  C,  admitted  1877. 

Ellis,  C.  W„  admitted  1870. 

Elliott,  D.  Stewart,  admitted  1885. 

Emerson.  J.  D.,  admitted  October,  1870. 

Ergenbright,  Oliver  P.,  admitted  1883. 

Evans,  Elijah,  admitted  April  7,  1872. 

Fletcher,  Charles,  admitted  1901. 

Fay,  Elmer  W..  admitted  1870. 

Fifzpatrick,  G.  W..  admitted  1897. 

Foster,  Goodell,  admitted  May,  187(». 

Foster,  Emery,  admitted  August,  1888. 

Fritch,  Felex'j.,  admitted  1890. 

Freeman,  Luther,  admitted  June  20,  1895. 

Gaines,  Bernard,  admitted  August,  1871. 

Gamble.  James  D.,  admitted  1870. 

(Jardner,  Xaiioleon  B..  admitted  November  1.  1870. 

Giltner.  Barsabas,  admitted  in  1898. 

Citrord,  ,  admitted  about  1880. 

Gilmore,  George  E..  admitted  November  18,  1898. 

(iiass.  Daniel,  admitted  Mhy,  1870. 

Grant,  H.  D.,  admitted  1871. 

Hall.  S.  A.,  admitted  Novembci'.  1871. 

Harrod.  William  J.,  admitted  August,  1872. 

Harrison.  Thomas,  admitted   M:ay  9.  1870. 

Hasbrook.  L.  I'.ciijamiii,  admitted  August.  1871. 


msTdltV  OK   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Hastings,  Elijah  D.,  admitted  September,  1878. 

Helphingstiiie,  John  A.,  admitted  May  9,  1870. 

Henderson,  Benjamin  F.,  admitted  June,  1879. 

Hendrix,  W.  R..  admitted  May,  1871. 

Herring,  Ebenezer,  admitted  1871. 

Higby,  A.  T.,  admitted  October,  1870. 

Hill,  Riifus  J.,  admitted  May  9,  1870. 

Hinkle,  John  ])..  admitted  September  12,  1874. 

Hr)ldren,  Josei)h  W..  admitted  July,  1898. 

Humphrey,  Lyman  T'.,  admitted  May,  1871. 

Jennings.  T.  h..  admitted  May  9,  1870. 

John,  James  Mv,  admitted  September,  1876. 

Judson,  L.  C,  admitted  MViy  13,  1870. 

Kountz,  James,  admitted  1888. 

Kerrheval,  R.  P.,  admitted  about  1880. 
Keith,  John  H..  admitted  November,  1893. 

Light,  Mi  B.,  admitted  May,  1870. 

Locke.  William  M.,  admitted  April,  1872. 

Loring,  ,  admitted  about  1871. 

Martin.  W.  W.,  admitted  about  1876. 
Matthews,  Elmer  E.,  admitted  December  30,  1884. 
Matfhews.  Selvin  Y.,  admitted  December,  1880. 
Merrill,  William  A.,  admitted  March,  1898. 
Mills,  J.  A.,  admitted  August,  1872. 
Moon,  J.  J.,  admitted  December,  1871. 
Moore,  Yin  W..  admitted  March  28,  189.5. 
Moorehouse.  S.  B.,  admitted  October.  1870. 
McCue.  Jeremiah  D..  admitted  1870. 
McEniry,  MSchael,  admitted  April  17,  1874. 
McYean,  J.  H.,  admitted  about  1870. 
McFeeters,  W.  S.,  admitted  May,  187(i. 
McClelland,  George  W.,  admitted  1896. 
McWright,  W.,  admitted  October,  1870. 
McDermott,  S.  F.,  admitted  Mjirch  9,  1880. 
Xichols,  Reuben,  admitted  November  1,  1870. 
Orr,  J.  A.,  admitted  1894. 
O'Connor,  William  T.,  admitted  about  1880. 
Osborn,  Roy,  admitted  March  2.  1901. 
Page,  John  Q.,  admitted  August,  1871. 
Parsons,  Alzamon  M..  admitted  March  6.  1807. 
Parks,  B.  F.,  admitted  about  1878. 
Peacock,  Thomas  W..  admitted  August,  1872. 
Peck,  George  R.,  admitted  April  3,  1872. 


192  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

I'.'ckliaiii.  t'haili's  J..  adinittiMl  about  1871. 
I'ctrci.  William  A.,  aduiittt-d  187."). 
iVikiiis.  Luther,  adinitted  June  :2S.   1895. 
IVttil.oiie,  S.  H.,  admitted  alumt  1881. 
riper.  Seth  H..  admitted  July  3.  1889. 
J'oiter.  Samuel  ^I..  admitted  Marcli.  1881. 
Fuirell.  George  W..  admitted  about  1895. 
Kossiter,  J.  I*.,  admit ti>d  June  L'8.  1898. 
Kalstin.  Clayton  :\I..  admitted  May  9,  1870. 
Salathiel,  Thomas  S..  admitted  1894. 
If^cott,  Howard,  admitted  January,  1898. 
Scudder,  John  M..  admitted  1870. 
Shannon,  Osborn.  admitted  about  1871. 
Showalter,  John  W.,  admitted  August,  1871. 
Sickafoose,  Michael,  admitted  April,  1873. 
Snuirt,  Oliver  P.,  admitted  May  9,  1870. 
Siielling.  George  R..  admitted  about  1899. 
Sjiencer.  Samuel  F.,  admitted  1879. 
Stanford.  Thomas  H..  admitted  March  18,  1885. 
Ste],hens(in.  L.  T.,  admitted  187tl. 
Si.-wait.  Joseph,  admitted  about  1889. 

Sweeney,  ,  admitted  Decendier  12,  1872. 

Swatzeil,  Philip  L.,  admitted  ]S!(2. 

Sylvester,  W.  O..  admitted  April,  1872. 

Soule,  Martin  Bradford,  admitted  Mareli,  1884, 

Shewalter,  M',  ('.,  admitted  De.'end.er  10,  1887. 

Taylor.  Wilbur  F..  admitted  about  1880, 

Thomi.sou,  J.  :M..  admitted  about  1882. 

Thompson,  Calvin  C,  admitted  December  23,  1880. 

Thomas,  Mayo,  adinitted  1897. 

Tilil)ils,  W.  H.,  adinitted  A] nil   17,   1874. 

Turner,  William  F.,  admitted    1S70. 

\anGundy,  Edward,  admitted   Sc|ilcmbcr  10,  1879. 

Wagstaff,  Thomas  E.,  admittc.l  An-iist  12,  1899. 

V.  ade,  Kifhard  A.,  admitted  Sc|iicml.er  4.  1879. 

Waters,  L.  C.  admitted  about   1S7S. 

Wagner,  Marshall  ()..  admitted  about   1S71. 

Warner.  George  W.,  admitted  .May,  1871, 

Watkiiis,  W.  H.,  admitted  alumt  1S7(), 

AVeston,  Samuel,  admitted  March,  1879. 

■^■jggiiis,   S.  T.,  admitted  alxnit   1897, 

Willis,  A.  1).,  admitted  August  1871. 

Willis.  Frank,  admitted  1S7(). 


'  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  193 

\Vris;lit.  (Jieenbuiy.  iuliiiitted  Atigust,  1871. 

Wilson.  Albeit  L.".  admitted  Sei>tember  9,  1882. 

W  yckoff.  Cornelius,  iidniitted  Miiy  9,  1870. 

York.  Alexander  M.,  ndinilted  August,  1871. 

Ziegler.  William  E.,  admitted  March,  1880. 

Zenor.  Winfleld  S..  admitted  about  1880. 

Ziegler,  Joseph  B.,  admitted  1870. 

T.INDLAY  ir.  ANDREWS  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
County  in  October.  1870,  on  a  certificate  of  his  admission  to  practice  in 
the  Courts  of  Record  in  Missouri. 

He  never  afterward  engaged  here,  to  any  extent,  in  the  practice 
and  for  a  time  was  engaged  in  editorial  work  and  also  participated  in 
some  litigation  over  the  title  of  lands  situated  near  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  city,  in  which  he  was  interested.  Some  time  in  the  70's  he  left  In- 
dependence and  has  never  returned. 

BENJAMIN  M.  ARMSTRONG,  at  one  time  a  leading  member  of  the 
bar,  pursued  his  juofession  here  until  a  few  months  before  he  died,  on  the 
9th  day  of  :March,  1889.  He  was  born  at  Sheridan,  in  Lasalle  County, 
111.,  on  December  2.5.  1842.  and  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  that  county.  He 
pursued  farming  in  the  country  of  his  nativity  until  he  arrived  at  man's 
estate,  when  he  took  up  the  study  of  law  and  thereafter  was  graduated 
from  the  Cincinnati.  Ohio,  Law  School,  in  1867.  In  1868  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  Ottawa,  111.,  and  was  the  same  year  chosen  city  attorney  of 
Ottawa,  which  ottice  he  satisfactorily  filled  for  two  years. 

Late  in  1870.  he  moved  to  Kansas,  in  the  rush  of  pioneers  who  were 
then  ra])idly  peoi)ling  the  country.  At  first  he  selected  a  claim  north- 
west of  Indejiendence.  near  Elk  River,  to  which  he  afterward  acquired 
the  title.  During  the  time  of  his  practice  at  Independence,  from  1871  to 
1889.  he  was  city  attorney  for  four  years. 

Mr.  Armstrong  was  by  nature  a  strong  man.  and  possessed  those 
elements  that  would  have  enabled  him  to  have  become  a  fine  lawyer.  He 
lacked,  alone,  that  close  application  to  study,  that  is  so  essential  to  rise 
to  disinction  in  the  profession.  He  was  a  genial,  companionable  man 
and  inclined  to  enter  upon  the  trial  of  his  cases  without  thorough  prep- 
ration,  and  with  too  much  dependence  upon  the  gifts  with  which  nature 
had  endowed  him.  The  analyzing  character  of  his  mind  was  very  appar- 
ent in  his  cross  examination  of  an  adverse  witness,  where  the  display 
of  his  discriminating  powers  clearly  marked  him  as  a  man  who  could 
have  won  fame  as  a  scientific  lawyer  of  high  order. 

He  died  on  March  9,  1889.  after  a  lingering  illness,  in  the  prime 
of  liis  life,  respected  and  regretted  by  the  early  members  of  the  bar.  that 
had  known  him  as  a  man,  who,  by  nature,  had  possessed  a  fine  legal 
mind. 


194  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

THO.ALAS  (J.  AYRES  was  born  at  Andover.  111.,  on  May  7,  1842.  and 
resided  there  until  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Cambridge,  111.,  Febru- 
ary 25,  1871.  He  moved  to  Coflfeyville  May  25,  1880,  and  there  engaged  in 
the  banking  business  in  company  with  Mr.  Steele,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Ayres  &  Steele.  This  firm  was  afterward  dissolved  and  in  its  stead 
The  I'^irst  National  l^ank  of  Coffeyville  was  organized,  and  Mr.  Ayres 
continued  in  the  business  for  some  years  with  the  new  organization.  In 
1893  he  retired  from  banking  and  went  to  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  where  he 
became  engaged  as  treasurer  of  a  wholesale  grocery  company  till  Decem- 
ber, 1804,  when  he  resigned  and  returned  to  Cott'eyville.  and,  in  that 
place,  in  the  spring  of  1895,  resumed  the  practice  of  law,  which  he  has 
followed  since.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Ayres  &  Dana, 
of  Colfeyville.  He  has  never  held  any  public  ofiice,  except  he  served  one 
terra  as  mayor  of  Cofl'eyville. 

EDWARD  L.  BEGUN  was  located  in  the  practice  at  Cherry  vale  dur- 
ing several  years,  about  1885  to  1888.  He  was  a  man  of  marked  ability  and 
was  a  fluent  and  impressive  speaker.  His  frail  health  during  the  time 
he  practiced  here,  furnished  an  effective  obstacle  to  that  success  which 
otlierwise  might  have  been  his.     He  died  about  1888. or  1889. 

J.  J.  RAR\A'ICK  was  one  of  the  early  members  of  the  bar  of  Mont- 
gomery County  and  did  some  practice  extending  over  a  number  of  years. 
In  the  i)ra<-tice  he  was  technical  and  inclined  to  be  contentious.  He  died 
here  .•'  few  years  ago  at  a  very  ripe  age. 

SAMl'EL  H.  BARR  was  actively  engaged  in  the  practice  at  Cauey, 
Kans.,  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  and  pursued  the  same  until  recent- 
ly, when  he  became  interested  in  enterprises  connected  with  natural  gas 
and  oil  develoiimont  of  the  country,  which  for  the  time,  engages  most  of 
his  time. 

Mr.  Barr  was  born  at  Mrginia,  in  ('ass  County,  111.,  and  afterward 
lived  with  his  jiarents  successively  at  the  following  places:  Beardstown 
and  Rock  Island,  111.,  and  on  a  farm  just  northwest  of  Independence, 
Kans.,  where  they  located  in  the  spring  of  1878.  While  living  on  this 
farm,  'Mr.  Barr  attended  and  taught  school  and  in  vacoti""  '•^i-'Ared  most 
of  the  time  at  fanning,  until  he  began  the  study  of  law  and  was  admitted 
to  ])ractice.  Shortly  after  being  admitted  he  settled  at  Caney.  where  he 
I)ractjced  for  twelve  years.  He  still  resides  there,  where  he  is  now  the 
office  inanager  of  The  Caney  (ias  Comi)any  and  The  Caney  Brick  Com- 
])any,  in  both  of  which  coni])anies  he  is  a  stockholder  and  an  officer. 

WILLIAM  N.  r.ANKS  is  now  in  the  active  ju-actice  as  the  senior 
member  of  ilic  law  tirni  of  Banks  &  Billings.  He  was  born  at  Hobart,Ind., 
on  August  1.".  IS(i.",  ,in<l  at  the  age  of  six  years  moved,  with  his  parents, 
to  this  county,  wlicic  lie  li:is  since  resided.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm 
until  lie  was  al I   I  wen  I. \  seven  years  of  age,  when,  on  Octover  1.  1892, 


UISTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  195 

he  wont  into  the  office  of  Hon.  A.  B.  Clark  and  began  to  study  law.  He 
a(i|uired  a  good  education  during  his  residence  on  the  farm  by  attending 
and  teaching  the  local  schools  during  the  winter  months,  and  when 
nineteen  years  of  age  he  entered,  and  studied  for  two  years,  at  the  I'er- 
due  I'niversity  at  Purdue,  Ind. 

Mr.  Banks  has  never  served  in  any  public  office,  excejit  as  clerk  of 
Fawn  Creek  Township  one  term,  and  as  member  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion of  Independence  two  terms. 

\A'.  F.  BARTLETT  came  to  Independence  from  Washington,  D.  C, 
abouf  187]  and  joined  our  bar  and  entei-ed  the  practice,  which  he  pur- 
sued but  a  short  time,  when  he  returned  to  the  National  Capital.  Be- 
fore coming  here  he  had  had  considerable  experience  in  the  practice  in 
some  of  the  Govermental  Departments  at  Washington,  and  that  which  he 
had  learned  in  the  General  Land  Office  "stood  him  well  in  hand"  here 
at  the  time,  as  many  of  the  decisions  there  were  applicable  to  conditions 
here.  He  was  a  man  of  ability,  highly  educated  and  of  engaging  address 
and  a  brilliant  conversationalist. 

N.\THAN  BA8S  was  admitted  at  the  first  term  of  court  in  the  coun- 
ty, on  the  certificate  of  his  admission  to  practice  in  Missouri.  He  began 
the  practice  in  partnership  with  Elmer  Fay,  at  Old  Liberty,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Bass  &  Fay,  and  was  one  of  the  attorneys  in  the  unsuccess- 
ful suit  brought  to  compel  the  county  officers  to  move  their  offices  from 
Indejtendence  to  Liberty  where  he  was  located. 

The  defeat  of  this  litigation  paved  an  easy  way  for  Independence 
to  ac(!uire  the  unquestioned  county  seat.  Mr.  Bass  did  not  long  remain 
in  the  practice,  and  after  retiring  from  it  he  served  one  term  as  county 
superintendent  of  schools  and  then  moved  to  Colorado,  where  he  died. 

E.  M.  BEARDSLEY  was  a  conspicuous  character  at  an  early  day  in 
the  county,  owing  to  his  active  participation  in  its  financial  affairs.  He 
was  at  one  time  clothed  with  the  most  important  ])owers  by  the  board  of 
counts  commissioners,  in  connection  with  the  .flldO.OOO  in  bonds  that  had 
been  voted  to  the  L.  L.  &  G.  R.  R.  Co.  The  recital  of  his  principal  acts 
and  a  review  of  his  record  more  properly  belong  to  another  portion  of 
the  county's  history.  It  may  be  said  that  in  the  heyday  of  his  power  and 
influence  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  never  became  a  learned  mem- 
ber of  the  profession  nor  indulged  in  the  practice,  and,  sometime  in  the 
70's,  left  the  county. 

JOHN  F.  BELLAMY  was  born  in  Switzerland  County,  Ind.,  in  1843, 
and  was  afterward  graduated  as  Master  of  Arts  from  De'Pauw  Universi- 
ty at  (ireencastle.  Ind.  He  then,  for  several  yeai-s,  taught  in  the  higher 
branches.  He  was  successively  principal  of  Wilmington  Academy  at 
Wilmington.  Ind..  Mt.  Carmel  Union  High  School  at  Mt.  Carmel.  HI., 
and  Sjrring  Street  School  at  New  .\lbany,  Ind.     He  then,  owing  to  fail- 


1 96  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

iug  liealtli,  abiiiuloned  teaching  and  took  up  the  study  of  law,  and,  in 
1870,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  iladisou,  lud.,  where  he  theu  settled 
and  i)ui-sued  his  profession  until  1885,  when,  owing  to  ill  health,  he 
moved  to  Girard.  Kans.,  and  subsequently,  in  1891,  to  Cherryvale,  Kans., 
where  he  has  since  })racticed  law.  While  in  Indiana  Mr.  Bellamy  was 
twice  elected  and  served  two  tei-ms  as  prosecuting  attorney  of  the  Fifth 
Judicial  Circuit,  from  1877  to  1881;  he  also,  at  Girard,  Kans.,  filled 
one  term  as  jiolice  judge  and  is  now  serving  his  fifth  year  as  city  attor- 
ney of  Cherryvale. 

MARTIN  Y.  B.  BENNETT,  now  living  at  Columbus,  Kans.,  was  ad- 
mitted to  practice  law,  in  the  couuty.  at  an  early  day,  and  at  one  time  he, 
in  partnership  with  J.  D.  Gamble,  under  the  firm  name  of  Bennett  &  Gam- 
ble, did  a  flourishing  business  in  the  practice,  and  as  real  estate  agents. 
Mr.  I'.ennett,  in  s<niic  rcspciis.  was  a  very  remarkable  man.  He  had  a 
quick,  alert  mind  and  a  cniinuand  of  language  that  was  wonderful.  He 
was  fond  of  public  speaking,  and  in  the  practice  and  in  his  speeches,  was 
aggressive  and  assertive  and  often  abusive,  and  always  eloquent  and  en- 
tertiiining. 

Some  time  in  the  70's  he  retired  from  the  practice  and  went  on  the 
rostrum  as  a  lecturer  on  temperance  where  he  was  very  successful.  He 
addressed  large  meetings  at  various  points  over  many  of  the  States,  and 
was  very  pojjular  and  in  great  demand  with  the  friends  of  the  cause  he 
so  eloquently  pleaded. 

JOHN  BERTENSH.\W  was  admitted  to  practice,  after  having  pre- 
viously read  law  since  September  21,  1891,  in  the  office  of  Wm.  Dunkiu. 

Mr.  Berteushaw  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Ind.,  on  December 
14,  1872,  and  shortly  afterward  moved  with  his  parents  to  Montgomery 
County,  Kans.,  wliei-e  he  spent  his  boyhood  days  until  thirteen  years  old, 
working  on  a  farm,  and  attending  school  in  the  winter.  He  then  moved 
to  Elk  City,  where  he  attended  the  city  schools  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  1890.  While  a  student  at  Elk  City,  he  spent  his  vaca- 
tions clerking  in  stores  there,  which  he  continued  after  graduating,  until 
he  began  the  study  of  law.  Since  his  admission  to  the  bar,  he  has  been 
in  the  active  jjractice  at  Independence,  and  is  now  a  member  of  the  law 
firm  of  Fritcli  &  Bortenshaw.  He  served  as  dejiuty  county  attorney  un- 
der .li'hn  (':ilhiliaii  inr  four  years,  from  1897  1<>  1901. 

A  .1.  I!1I>I>1S()N  was  .1  member  of  the  bai-  of  llic  counly  and  jirac- 
ticed  several  years  a1  Cort'eyville  during  the  80"s.  He  moved  to  Oklahonux 
where  lie  continued  (lie  jiradice. 

AKTHl'IJ  I'.Il.LIXGS  is  cme  of  the  latest  ac<essions  to  theMontgom- 
ery  <"ounty  bar  and  may  claim  the  distinction  <>t'  being  its  only  member, 
now  in  the  jiraclicc  born  in  the  county,  except  .V.  L.  Coiirtright,  who  was 
born  in  Independence  in  1873. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  197 

Ue  was  l)oi-u  near  Liberty  on  October  15,  1874,  where  he  was  reared, 
isiKMuiiiiu  his  youthful  days  \v..rldii,-i'  ou  his  father's  farm  aud  attending 
and  t.'arhiiifi  tlie  neiohhoriiii;  schools.  He  then  entered  the  University 
of  Kansas  fmni  which  he  was  oiaduated  as  Bachelor  of  Arts  and  also  as 
Bachelor  of  Law  on  June  11,  1002. 

Afterward,  and  on  September  15,  1002.  he  went  into  partnership 
in  the  jtractice  with  Wni.  N.  Banks  and  this  firm  under  the  name  of 
Messrs.  Itaiiks  &  I'.illini;s  is  now  in  the  active  practice  of  law  at  the  coun- 
ty si':!l. 

GEO.  A.  BLACK  became  a  member  of  the  bar  in  the  early  70's  but 
never  engaged  extensively  in  the  practice  here.  He  afterward  moved  to 
Girard.  Kans.,  where  he  died  about  eighteen  years  ago. 

For  a  time  after  his  adnussion  he  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Black 
&  Hall  who  created  some  notice  as  the  projectors  of  a  railway,  they 
strenously  advocated  the  building  of,  to  some  indefinite  point  in  the 
very  far  west.  It  was  called  the  -Sunset  Railway"'  and  never  material- 
ized. 

J.  W.  BLACKBURN  was  admitted  to  practice  at  the  May,  1871, term 
of  the  district  court,  on  his  certificate  of  admission  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Illinois.    Jic  shortly  after  left  the  country  and  has  never  returned. 

A.  V.  BLAIR  was  admitted  to  the  Montgomery  County  bar  in  May, 
1871.  but  did  not  afterward  engage  in  the  practice  here. 

NORRIS  B.  BRISTOL  is  "the  oldest  living  member  of  the  Montgom- 
ery County  Bar.  At  the  age  of  nearly  53  he  was  admitted  to  practice 
on  the  examination  by  aud  the  report  of  a  committee.  He  has  lived  here 
ever  since  but  has  never  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He 
was  born  at  Fulton.  Oswego  County,  X.  Y..  on  August  12,  1819,  and  lived 
a  greater  portion  of  his  life,  liefore  coming  to  Kansas,  in  1870,  at  Ottawa, 
Lasalle  County,  111.,  where  he  followed  the  mercantile  business.  He  lo- 
cated at  Independence.  Kans.,  late  in  1870.  and  soon  afterward  erected 
the  finest  residence  then  in  the  county.  Since  Mr.  Bristol  located  here 
he  has  lieen  a  T'nited  States  Circuit  Court  Commissioner  and  has  also 
filled  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace.  Under  the  weight  of  his  venerable 
years,  he  is  the  same  genial  and  jolly  man  he  was  over  thirty  years  ago. 

I).  B.  BROWX  was  admitted  to  the  bar  on  the  certificate  of  his  ad- 
mission in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  He  came  toln- 
jiendence  from  Indiana  and  was  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Theodore  Filkins,  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  the  country.  He  was  a  young  man,  about 
twenty-four  years  of  age  and  of  fair  attainments  and  displayed  great 
energy,  industi-y  and  perseverance,  and  it  was  freely  predicted  by  the 
lawyers  who  knew  him  that  a  bright  future  awaited  him  in  the  profes- 
sion. He  contracted  a  severe  cold  from  exposure  in  efforts  to  erect  a 
building  on  Penn.  avenue,  near  where  is  now  located  the  harness  store 


1 98  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

of  Johu  Ciaiiier,  which  developed  into  pneumonia  and  ended  his  career 
on  earth. 

JOSEPH  D.  BEOWN  was  born  in  Morgan  County,  Ind.,  on  Nevem- 
ber  9,  18G1,  and  in  the  county  of  his  birth  followed  farming  and  teaching 
until  he  began  the  study  of  law. 

Afterward,  and  on  May  31,  1887,  he  was.  at  Valparaiso,  Ind..  admit- 
ted to  the  bar,  and  thereafter  practiced  his  profession  in  his  native 
State  until  he  moved  to  Kansas  in  ISilG.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  Montgomery  County,  and  shortly  afterward 
formed  a  partnership  with  Hon.  A.  B.  Clark,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Clark  &  Brown,  which  continued  in  the  practice  until  Mr.  Clark  went  to 
Oregon  and  since  then  Mr.  Brown  has  continued  in  the  business  here. 

JUDGE  J.  F.  BROADHEAD  became  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Mont- 
gomery County  in  1875  and  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Hill  &  Broadhead 
did  an  extensive  practice  until  about  1881,  when  he  retired  from  the  firm 
and  returned  to  his  former  home  in  Linn  County,  Kans.,  where  he  contin- 
ued in  the  practice  until  his  death,  about  ten  years  ago. 

Judge  Broadhead  itresided  over  courts  of  the  Sixth  Judicial  District 
for  some  months,  he  having  been  appointed  judge  to  fill  the  vacancy 
occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Judge  D.  P.  Lowe,  in  March,  1871. 

The  judge  was  past  middle  age  when  he  located  at  Independence 
and  had  devoted  many  years  to  the  jiractice  in  Linn  County.  During 
the  time  he  spent  at  the  bar  here  he  was  a  tireless  worker  both  in  his  of- 
fice and  in  the  court  room.  He  often  took  an  active  part  in  political  cam- 
paigns and  in  1878  was  a  candidate  for  the  judgeship  of  the  Eleventh 
Judicial  District  against  Judge  Perkins,  the  Republican  nominee,  and 
was  defeated  by  a  large  majority.  Two  years  later  he  I'eturned  to  the  Re- 
XJublican  party,  and  advocated  its  princijiles  on  the  stump.  In  the  cam- 
paign of  1878  he  had  sincerely  and  confidently  predicted  the  disasters 
that  must  follow  the  resumption  of  specie  payment  that  had  been  sched- 
uled to  take  place  on  January  1,  1870,  and  said  it  could  not  be  done;  and 
the  efforts  to  accomplish  it  would  result  in  worse  than  failure.  In  1880 
he  began  each  of  his  political  speeches  with  an  acknowledgment  of  his  er- 
ror, which  he  conclusively  proved  by  saying,  "I  then  said  it  could  not  be 
done  and  1  now  say  it  has  been  done." 

C.  S.  Brown  was  an  early  practitioner  in  the  county.  He  was  lo- 
cated at  Coffeyville  and  after  pursuing  his  profession  at  that  place  for  a 
few  years  moved  to  Washington,  D.  <'.,  where  he  secured,  and  has  since 
retained,  a  responsible  i)osition  in  the  servi<e  of  the  (Jovernment. 

ROBERT  BROWN  did  not  engage  in  tlic  practi.e  here  after  his  ad- 
mission to  the  bar. 

CEO.  W.  BCRCHARD  liecame  a  mcmlier  of  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
•  uunty  (in  I  lie  reitified  record  of  liis  admission  to  jiractice  in  tlie  Su- 
])it'mc  Couil  of  Illinois.     Before  his  admission  here  he  had  well  (ju^ified 


UISTOUY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  199 

Liniself  in  the  s(ieii((>  of  tlio  law  but  never  entered  the  general  practice. 
His  tastes  and  inclinations  tended  to  other  pui-suits,  and  about  the  only 
attention  he  gave  to  his  profession  while  here  was  in  looking  after  such 
matters  in  court  as  grew  out  of  his  business  of  loaning  money  and  specu- 
lating in  realty.  From  1873  to  1SS2  he  was  the  attorney  for  Austin  Cor- 
bin  of  New  York,  wlio  did  a  very  extensive  business  over  many  of  the  west- 
ern states  in  loaning  money  and  dealing  in  tax  titles.  Mr.  Burchard's  po- 
sition as  such  attorney  gave  him  much  professional  business  in  the 
courts  of  this  and  adjoining  counties  for  Mr.  Corbin. 

Mr.  Burchard  was  born  at  Litchfield,  H(illsdale  county,  Mich.,  June 
8,  lSJt4,  where  he  resided,  was  educated  and  in  June,  1866,.  was  graduat- 
ed in  the  classical  course  from  the  Hillsdale  College.  He  took  up  the 
study  of  law  in  his  native  city,  in  the  law  oflSces  of  Judges  Pratt  &  Dick- 
erman  and  was  afterward  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Hillsdale  on  May  12, 
1868.  He  entered  the  law  office  of  Messrs.  Miller  &  Van  Arman,  in  Chi- 
cago, and  on  October  21.  1871,  was  admitted  to  practice  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Burchard  came  to  Independence  late  in  1871  and  during  the 
next  year  purchased  a  one-half  interest  in  the  South  Kansas  Tribune, 
of  which  he  was  the  editor  in  chief  from  June  12,  1872,  to  January  1, 
1874,  and  afterward  for  several  months  did  some  editorial  work  for  the 
same  paper.  He  then  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  pawer  and  did  no 
more  editorial  work  until  he  purchased  the  Independence  Kansan,  which 
he  edited  with  marked  ability  and  independence  for  about  one  year,  com- 
mencing January  1,  1879. 

In  1882  he  located  in  Chicago  where  he  has  since  lived  and  been  en- 
gaged in  handling  real  estate,  loaning  money  on  mortgage  security  and 
promoting  the  building  of  railroads  and  in  other  important  enterprises. 

While  living  at  Independence  he  always  evinced  a  lively  interest  in 
its  public  affairs,  and  was  elected  its  mayor  in  1878  and  served  till  1881. 
During  his  administration  the  present  city  building  was  constructed.  He 
is  an  ;ible  man,  well  educated  and  of  extensive  reading.  Among  the  con- 
spicuous traits  of  his  character  are  his  independence  in  thought  and  ex- 
pression, his  true  friendship  for  his  friends  and  his  uncompromising  ad- 
lierence  to  principle. 

R.  E.  BrKNS  was  admitted  to  the  bar  here  on  motion  of  J.  B.  Zieg- 
ler,  on  his  certificate  of  admission  in  the  .State  of  Iowa. 

E  L.  CAMPBELL  was  one  of  the  early  practitioners  at  the  bar  here. 
He  was  a  i)artner  of  Col.  Charles  J.  Peckham  and  for  several  years,  dur- 
ing the  70's,  the  firm  of  which  he  was  a  member  (Peckham  &  Campbell) 
did  a  profitable  law  practice.  Mr.  Camjibell  went  from  here  to  Denver, 
Colo.,  and  engaged  in  the  practice  there. 

PHILIP  H.  CASS  located  at  Coffey ville  upon  his  admission,  where 
he  has  since  actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.    He  was  born  at  Buf- 


200  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

falo,  Heart.  111.,  on  June  24.  18C.!l.  and  lived  there  on  a  farm  till  February 
11,  1881,  when  he  moved  to  a  farm  near  Nebraska  City.  Neb.,  where 
he  remained  until  November  11,  1881,  and  then  located  on  a  farm  near 
Brownsville,  Chautau(]ua  county,  Kans.,  and  afterward,  on  September 
26,  1890,  went  to  Beatrice,  Neb.,  where  he  engaged  as  bookkeeper  and 
stenographer  for  William  Sculley  until  May  4,  1893,  when  he  went  to 
Washington.  D.  C.  and  entered  the  Govennental  service  as  stenographer 
in  the  Record  and  Pension  Office,  from  which  he  resigned  October  3, 
1899.  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  by  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia.  About  a  year  later  he  located  at  Coffey ville.  He  is 
a  graduate  and  post  graduate  of  the  law  department  of  the  Georgetown 
University  at  Washington,  D.  C.  and  was  a  sjiecial  student  in  the  law  de- 
partment of  the  Columbian  University  at  the  same  place  before  com- 
ing to  Coffeyville. 

JOHN  t;ALLAHl\.N  was  born  in  Lake  County,  111.,  in  1858,  and  mov- 
ed with  his  parents  to  Montgomery  County,  Kans.,  where  they  located  on 
a  farm  in  the  Onion  creek  valley  in  March.  1873.  Here  Mr.  ('allahan 
worked  on  the  farm,  attended  and  taught  school  until  about  1877,  when 
he  went  to  Grenola.  Kans.,  and  was  employed  there  as  clerk  in  the  store 
of  Messrs.  Hewins  &  Titus,  which  position  he  held  for  about  four  years. 
He  was  then  appointed  postmaster  at  Grenola  and  served  four  years  in 
that  office.  After  his  term  as  postmaster  expired,  he,  about  1885,  began 
the  study  of  law,  and  shortly  after— and  before  he  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  the  court  of  records  in  the  State— looked  after  business  and  tried 
cases  in  the  justices  of  the  peace  courts.  For  about  five  years  he  devoted 
his  time  to  the  study  of  law  and  to  the  practice  in  the  inferior  courts 
until  about  1890  when  he  moved  to  Independence  and  soon  after  became 
deputy  sheriff  under  hisbrother.ThomasF. Callahan,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  for  two  years  and  then  went  into  the  office  of  Samuel  V.  Elliott 
where  he  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  district  court. 
He  then  became  a  partner  of  Mr.  Elliott,  under  the  firm  name  of  Messrs. 
Elliott  &  Callahan,  where  he  continued  until  he  was  elected  county  attor- 
ney in  189G.  He  was  reelected  as  his  own  suc<'essor  in  1898  and  .shortly 
after  having  served  two  terins.  the  last  ending  in  January.  1901,  his 
health  becoming  im]iaircd.  he  quit  the  ])ra<tice  here  and  went  to  Kan- 
sas City.  Mo. 

I'.VTKK'K  CAVENAUGH.  after  jiracticing  at  Independence  a  short 
lime,  settled  in  the  far  west. 

JOSEl'H  CHANDLER  began  the  study  of  law  at  Independence,  Ks., 
in  the  office  of  his  brother.  Hon.  Geo.  Chandler,  in  1874,  and  wasadmitted 
to  pn'ctice  here  and  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  After  his  admis- 
sion he  at  once  entered  the  jiractice  in  partnershi])  with  his  said  brother, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Messrs.  Geo.  &  Jos.  Chandler,  which  he  continued 
till  earlv  in  1883,  when  he  formed  a  law  partnership  with  Wm.  Dunkin,. 


insTOKY  01    MO.NTCOMKKY  COfNTY^  KANSAS.  201 

Avliicb.  colli iuiied  for  two  vears,  after  which  he  coutimu'd  in  Ihe  i)ractice 
aloue  until  his  death  at  Indepeudeuce,  ou  October  IG,  1902.  A  sketch  of 
his  early  life  appears  elsewhere  iu  this  volume. 

No  niend>er  of  the  bar  was  more  devoted  than  Mt.  Chandler  to  the 
piofession.  during  his  twentv-seven  years  of  practice  here;  and  none  ever 
had  the  implicit  confideuce  of  his  clients  in  a  greater  degree  than  he.  He 
was  painstaking  and  conscientious  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  to  his 
clients  and  often  rendered  to  them  his  professional  services  for  inade- 
(juate  compensation.  His  weakness  was  in  his  custom  to  defer  closing 
out,  without  unnecessary  delay,  each  matter  placed  in  his  charge  and 
his  fciirless,  tedious  and  uncompromising  contention  for  every  right  of 
his  client,  however  insigniticant.  In  the  trial  of  a  case  he  was  aggressive 
and  unyielding,  and  his  evident  earnestness,  honesty  and  sincerity,  won 
the  admiration  of  the  bench  and  bar  as  well  as  that  of  his  ciients. 

He  was  a  fluent  talker  and  always  presented  his  views  to  the  court 
and  jury  with  muck  earnestness  and  power.  He  left  a  stainless  charac- 
ter, after  a  long  career  at  the  bar  of  the  county,  and  a  host  of  friends  and 
admiiers  whom  he  had  unselfishly  and  devotedly  served. 

JAMES  R.  CHABLTON  was  born  at  Salem,  in  Marion  Co.,  111.,  on 
July  21,  1858,  and  afterward  resided  successively  in  the  county  of  his 
birth  and  at  Sedan,  Kans.,  until  he  was  admitted  to  practice  law  by  the 
district  court  of  Cowley  county,  on  August  12,  1880. 

Before  his  admission  to  the  bar.  Mr.  Charlton's  life  had  been  spent 
farming,  attending  and  teaching  school,  clerking  and  reading  law.  He 
became  a  member  of  the  bar  of  this  county  on  March  1,  1884,  and  located 
at  Elk  City  in  the  practice.  Since  then  he  was  police  judge  of  Elk  City  in 
1889,  justice  of  the  peace  in  Louisburg  township  the  two  succeeding 
years  and  was  then  in  1890,  while  justice,  elected  county  attorney,  which 
office  he  filled  for  two  years  ending  in  January,  1893.  Since  Mi-.  Charl- 
ton's admission  to  the  bar  he  has  spent  much  time  preaching  the  Gospel, 
especially  at  revival  meetings,  where,  by  his  well-known  eloquence,  he  has 
exercised  a  potent  influence  for  Christianity. 

Mr.  Charlton  is  now  located  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Ca- 
ney,  Eans. 

BOX.  ARTHUR  B.  CLARK  has  been  a  member  of  the  bar  and  in  the 
l)ractice  of  law  for  a  longer  period  than  any  other  practicing  attorney  at 
our  bar — he  having  been  admitted  to  both  State  and  Federal  courts  iu 
( )hio  in  1865— except  B.  Giltner,  recently  located  at  Coflfeyville,  who  was 
admitted  in  1856. 

He  was  born  in  Geauga  County.  Ohio,  October  15,  1843,  and  spent 
his  boyhood  days  there,  attending  school  during  the  winter  months  and 
in  summers  working  on  a  farm,  until  he  was  about  grown,  w-hen  he  im- 
proved his  education  by  a  course  of  studies  at  Burton  Academy  and  then 
at  th"  Western  Reserve  Seminarv  in  his  native  State. 


202  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

He  then  entered  the  law  (leiiartment  of  the  Ohio  State  and  Union 
Law  College  of  Cleveland.  Ohio,  and  was  jjraduated  from  the  latter  in 
1865  with  the  degree  of  L.L.  B. 

He  entered  the  practice  in  18C7  at  Mattoon,  111.,  where  he  jmrsued 
his  profession  about  four  years,  and  then,  in  August,  1871,  moved  to  ('of- 
feyville  and  began  the  pursuit  of  his  profession.  He  took  a  leading  part 
in  organizing  the  city  of  Coffeyville  and  was  selected  as  its  first  mayor. 

At  the  general  election  in  November,  1872,  he  was  chosen  county  at- 
torney and  in  January,  1873,  moved  to  Independence  and  entered  upon 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  oflBce  in  which  he  continued  until 
January,  1877 — he  having  been  elected  as  his  own  successor  in  1874. 

After  his  last  term  as  county  attorney  had  expired,  Mr.  Clark  at 
once  entei'ed  the  general  practice  at  Independence,  which  he  continued 
until  about  1901,  when,  on  account  of  the  health  of  his  family,  he  moved 
to  Portland,  Ore.,  where  he  liegan  the  practice  of  his  profession,  which  he 
continued  until  May,  1903,  when  he  returned  to  Independence  and  re- 
sumed the  practice  here. 

Mr.  Clark  represented  Montgomery  County  in  the  lower  house  of 
the  Kansas  Legislature  in  1877  and  1878;  and  was  a  member  of  the 
State  Senate  four  years  from  1880  to  1884.  In  1890  he  was  the  Repub- 
lican candidate  for  Judge  of  the  Eleventh  Judicial  District  which  then 
included  Montgomery  County,  but  was  defeated  by  the  candidate  on  the 
fusion  ticket. 

EDGAR  M.  CLARK,  after  reading  law  with  his  brother.  Hon  A.  B. 
Clark,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county  and  afterward  entered  the 
])ractice  at  Independence  as  the  junior  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Clark 
&  Clark  which  he  continued  'till  1888,  when  he  moved  to  Oklahom;i, 
where  he  has  since  pursued  his  jirofession.  He  is  now  located  at  I'awnee, 
Pawnee  county,  Oklahoma,  where  he  is  tilling  the  office  of  county  attor- 
ney with  marked  ability.. 

Mr.  Clark  is  the  youngest  of  a  large  family  of  brothers,  all  of  whom 
have  become  proiuinent  attorneys  and  he  is  ranked  among  the  best  in 
Pawnee  county.  He  was  born  at  Huntsburg,  Geauga  county,  Ohio. 
July  Kith.  1856.  and  reared  on  a  farm  and  taught  school  in  Ohio  and 
Illinois  before  taking  up  the  study  of  law. 

\\.  G.  CLARK  was  about  thirly  years  of  age  when  he  was  admitted 
and  while  of  limited  education,  displayed  much  natural  ability  during 
the  short  time  he  remained  in  the  county.  He  was  especially  effective  in 
the  trial  of  cases  in  the  lower  courts. 

ALHIORT  T.  COX  was  admitted  to  practice  in  Douglas  county.  Kan- 
sas, in  June,  1894,  after  reading  law  and  graduating  from  the  University 
of  the  State.  He,  afterward,  in  i)artnership  with  his  brother,  under  the 
lii-iii  iKUiie  of  Co.K  &  Cox.  pi"i(ti(('d  at  Independence.  Kansas,  about  eigh- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  203 

tiM'ii  inuiiihs.  until  lS!»(i.  when  he  i-etii'od  from  the  practice,  and  about 
Xowmber  1st  of  tliat  veai-  pui-chased  au  iiileiest  iu  the  "Star  and  Kau- 
saii."  a  weel^ly  newspaper  which  he.  in  company  with  Hon.  Henry  W. 
Youni;-.  nndei-'the  tiini  name  of  Young-  &  Cox,  puhlislied  at  Independence 
'till  May  1st,  1898.  Mr.  Cox  then  purchased  the  paper  which  he  has  con- 
linncd  to  publish  here  and  on  .June  uth,  1900,  started,  in  connection  with 
it,  "The  Daily  Evening  Star,"  which  has  a  wide  circulation  in  the  city. 
In  tlie  publiciition  of  his  daily  and  weekly  papers  he  uses  a  linotype  and 
other  modern  machinery  and  appliances. 

Mr.  Cox  was  born  at  Morgantown,  .Johnson  county,  Indiana,  October 
2nd.  186.").  and  in  February,  1869.  moved  with  his  parents  to  a  farm  in 
lyjontgomery  county,  Kansas,  where  he  was  reared  until  he  began  the 
study  of  law  in  1892. 

IRA  E.  COX  was  born  at  Jtlorgantown.  .Johnson  county,  Indiana, 
February  26th,  1868,  and  was,  in  February,  1869,  brought  by  his  parents 
to  Kansas,  where  they  settled  on  a  farm  in  Montgomery  county,  on  which 
he  was  reared  'till  he  was  twenty-four  years  of  age.  In  1892  he  entered 
the  University  of  the  State  and  took  up  the  study  of  law,  and  was,  in 
1894.  graduated  as  a  Bachelor  of  Law  from  that  institution.  He  shortly 
tifter  began  the  practice  at  Independence  with  his  brother,  Albert  T.  Cox, 
and,  after  continuing  in  the  business  over  two  years,  moved  on  a  farm 
and  then,  in  1902,  went  into  the  banking  business  at  Anadarko,  Okla- 
homa, where  he  now  resides. 

.JOHN  S.  COTTON  practiced  his  profession  in  Independence  until 
about  1882  when  he  moved  to  Kansas  City,  ilo.,  and  went  into  the  real 
estate  business,  which  he  continued  'till  his  death  there  a  few  years  ago. 

Mr.  Cotton  was  born  at  Millersburg,  Ohio,  in  1821,  and  subsequently 
moved  to  Indiana  where  he  lived,  first  at  South  Whitney  and  then  at 
Columbia  City,  until  he  came  to  Kansas  in  1873.  While  residing  at  Co- 
lumbia City  he  filled  the  office  of  auditor  and  treasurer  of  the  city  and 
was  a  member  of  the  Indiana  Legislature  five  terms. 

During  a  portion  of  the  nine  years  he  was  in  the  practice  here  he 
was  associated  with  M.  Sickafoose  under  the  firm  name  of  Sickafoose  & 
Cotton. 

PERCY  L.  COURTRIGHjT  was  born  at  Independence,  Kansas, 
i?arch  12th,  1873,  and,  except  Arthur  Billings,  is  the  only  member  of 
the  bar  born  in  the  county. 

Mr.  Courtright  was  reared  on  a  farm  about  three  miles  west  of  Inde- 
pendence until  he  entered  the  University  at  Lawrence  in  1897,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  two  years  later,  in  the  law  class.  He  then,  on 
June  8th,  1899,  was  admitted  to  practice  by  the  District  Court  of  Doug- 
las county  and  on  the  same  day,  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  He 
has  lived  in  Montgomery  county  since  his  admission  here. 


204  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

JOSEl'II  15.  CKAK;,  :i  son  of  Samuel  Craig  and  Jane  Miller  Craijr. 
his  wife,  was  born  in  Columbia  county,  Pennsylvania,  January  29th, 
1814,  and  at  the  age  of  four  years  was  taken  by  his  parents  to  Clark 
county,  Ohio,  where  he  learned  the  blacksmith  trade,  but  had  to  aban- 
don ii  on  account  of  his  eyes.  He  afterward  engaged  in  trade,  read  law 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  then,  in  March. 
1841),  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  located  at  AYapakoneta,  where  he 
served  as  justice  of  the  peace  from  1851  to  1853,  He  was  also  county 
surveyor  from  1851  to  1854  and  during  the  last  year  was  elected  prose- 
cuting attorney,  aud  after  serving  out  his  term,  was,  in  1858,  elected 
county  auditor,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  1864,  In  the  fall  of 
1864  iie  located  at  Muncie,  Indiana,  where  he,  in  partnership  with  hia 
brother,  William,  engaged  in  the  drug  business. 

In  186(;  he  moved  to  Hartford  City,  Indiana,  where  he  was  in  the 
drug  business  'till  he  moved  to  Independence,  Kansas,  in  1870.  Mr. 
Craig  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county  but  never  eugaged 
in  the  active  practice  of  his  profession. 

He  was  the  first  Mayor  of  Independence,  aud  afterward  served  as  a 
justice  of  the  peace  of  the  city.  Judge  Craig  (as  by  that  title  we  all 
knew  him)  died  at  Independence  on  the  4th  day  of  July,  1894,  honored 
and  respected.  He  was  a  genial,  honorable  nuin  and  a  courteous  gentle- 
man of  "the  old  school;"  and  on  one  occasion  in  Ohio,  refused  a  nomi- 
nation that  would  have  placed  him  in  Congress  rather  than  betray  a 
friend  for  whom  he  was  working  in  the  convention. 

NATHAN  CKEE  located  at  Independence  in  October.  1872,  aud  in 
the  same  year  became  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county,  he 
having  been,  in  June,  1868,  at  Lawrence,  Kansas,  admitted  to  practice 
by  the  District  Court  of  Douglas  county. 

After  his  first  admission  he  remained  at  Lawrence  in  the  practice 
until  he  moved  to  Montgomei'y  county,  where  he  continued  in  the  same 
pursuit  until  January,  1877,  when  he  moved  to  Kansas  City,  Kansas, 
where  he  has  since  jjracticed  his  profession. 

]Mr.  Cree  was  born  in  Adams  county,  Ohio,  on  July  28th,  1841,  came 
to  Kansas  in  1859,  lived  on  a  farm  and  taught  school  in  Douglas  county 
until  April,  1862,  when  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  5th  Kansas  regi- 
ment and  served  in  the  Union  army  until  he  was  honorably  discharged 
in  April,  1S()5.  He  then  returned  to  Douglas  county  where  he  resumed 
his  former  occupations  until  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  practice  in  Montgomery  county,  Mr.  Cree 
was  a  marked  character  at  the  bar.  He  was  well  read  in  the  science  of 
his  ]nof(>ssion  and  technical  in  its  jiractice.  He  was  recognized  in  the 
lindcssion  as  a  man  of  fine  natural  ability,  and  the  possessor  of  a  well 
culti\ated  mind.    He  was  a  man  of  positive  convictions  and  fearless  and 


HISTORV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTYj  KANSAS.  2O5 

siiHCM'  ill  IIk"  advotacv  of  them,  and  not  at  all  inclined  to  compromise  or 
iiianiiailate  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  hour;  and  while  he  was  always 
wiiliiiiA  to  accord  an  adversary  his  legal  I'ights,  he  was  ever  persistent 
in  clainiiiig  his  client's  dues. 

He  was  forceful  with  his  pen  in  discussing  a  legal  question,  and  a 
trenchant  writer  on  the  political  topics  of  the  day,  and,  often,  during  his 
residence  here,  in  a  political  paper  published  by  Mr.  Peacock,  his  father- 
in-law.  exercised  his  powers  with  telling  effect. 

While  here  Mr.  Cree  spent  much  time  in  the  production  of  an  able 
treatise  on  the  procedure  and  practice  before  justices  of  the  peace,  but 
discovered  it  would  not  be  profitable  to  publish  such  a  work,  as  in  the 
practice  in  that  inferior  court,  scientific  principles  of  law  are  not  gen- 
erally of  controlling  influence. 

While  residing  in  Wyandotte  county  Mr.  Cree  has  served  as  county 
auditor  for  two  years,  ending  in  1S87,  and  then  as  county  attorney  for 
the  same  length  of  time,  ending  in  1889,  with  honor  to  himself  and  credit 
to  the  profession. 

E.  R,  CUTLEE,  although  admitted,  never  parcticed  the  profession 
in  the  county. 

D.  Y.  DARNALL  was  one  of  the  pioneer  members  of  the  bar  and 
located  at  Elk  City  about  1871,  after  having  been  admitted.  He  prac- 
ticed there  about  three  years  and  then  left  the  county, 

JOHN  M.  DAVIS  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county  on  the  re- 
port of  an  examining  committee  and  on  certificates  of  his  admission  from 
several  courts  of  record  in  other  states,  and  from  one  or  more  different 
circuit  courts  of  the  United  States.  He,  however,  did  not  engage  in  the 
practice  after  his  admission. 

C.  M.  DAVIS  was  admitted  on  the  certificate  of  his  admission  to 
practice  in  the  circuit  court  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin.  He  did  not  re- 
main in  the  county. 

BENJAMUN  F.  DEVORE  has  never  engaged  in  the  active  practice 
of  the  law  here  although  he  had,  for  a  number  of  years,  pursued  his  pro- 
fession in  Ohio  before  coming  to  Kansas. 

He  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Ohio,  on  February  11th,  1828, 
and  in  1830  was  taken  by  his  parents  to  Marion  county,  Ohio,  where  they 
settled  on  a  farm.  He  remained  on  his  father's  farm  working,  attend- 
ing school  and  teaching  until  1849  when  he  entered  the  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity of  Ohio,  and  for  the  next  eight  years  spent  his  time  studying  and 
teaching,  and  then  attended  the  Cincinnati  Law  College  during  the  ses- 
sion of  18.57  and  1858  and  was  graduated  from  that  institution  as 
Bachelor  of  Law  in  A])ril,  1858.  He  then  began  the  practice  at  Wapako- 
neta,  Ohio,  the  same  year,  and  continued  to  practice  until  18G(J  when  he 
moved  to  H-artford  City,  Indiana,  where  he  engaged  in  the  drug  business, 


2o6  HISTORY  OF   MOXTUOMERY  COI'NTY.  KANSAS. 

wlii.li  111'  colli  iimctl  "I  ill  ISTO.  when  he  hunted  at  ludepeudeiice.  where 
he  has  sinee  irsiih'.h 

i))iiiiig  Jlr.  Devoi-e's  residence  here  he  was  a  merchant  from  1870  to 
lSS(t.  farmer  from  ISSd  to  1SS4,  justice  of  the  peace  during  ISSl  and 
ISS.".  postmaster  from  1885  to  1880,  police  judge  in  1881)  and  18!>(l  and 
has  since  heen  in  the  general  insurance  business.  He  was  also  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  from  this  county  iu  1872.  In  1880  he  was  nominated 
for  Congress  by  the  Democratic  jiarty  but  declined  to  make  the  race. 

While  he  is  now  ]iast  .scventy-tive  years  of  age  he  still  takes  an  active 
interest  in  the  jmiilic  atlairs  of  the  county  and  is  a  highly  respected 
citizen. 

.inxiK  .l.V:\li:s  DeLOXt;.  in  the  early  7(rs  became  a  member  of 
the  liai  of  Montgomery  county.  an<l  in  co-jiartnership  with  his  son-in- 
law.  Osborn  Shannon,  did  some  jtractice  iu  the  courts  under  the  tirm 
name  of  DeLong  &  Shannon.  For  several  year.s  Judge  Del^ong  (he  had 
been  probate  judge  in  Ohio  before  coming  to  Kansas)  was  the  most  con- 
spicuous character  in  Independence.  His  prominence  arose  out  of  the 
entry  and  disposition  of  the  townsite,  and  the  judge's  peculiar  methods 
in  handling  the  matters  connected  thei'ewith.  The  townsite,  as  originally 
platted,  contained  about  1,500  lots  besides  several  tracts  known  as  ont- 
lots  that  were  located  along  the  north  side.  Under  the  law  this  town- 
site  became  subject  to  purchase  from  the  General  (Jovernment  for  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre  by  the  corporate  authorities  of  the 
<ity  in  trust  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  occupants,  as  their  several  in- 
terests might  appear.  After  being  elected  mayor  of  the  city  the  judge 
made  the  entry  in  his  own  name  in  trust.  The  Independence  Town  Com- 
jiany  at  once  laid  claim  to  the  lots,  contending  that  the  trust  under 
■which  the  lots  were  held  was  in  its  favor,  and  brought  suit  against  Judge 
DeLong  to  secure  a  judicial  declaration  of  the  trust  in  its  favor  and  a 
conveyance  to  it  of  the  lots. 

With  his  characteristic  energy  and  determination  the  judge  success- 
ftiUy  resisted  the  claim  of  the  town  comjiany.  The  case  was  finally  de- 
cided in  tlie  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  where  the  judge's  views  were 
fully  endorsed.  He  at  once  become  very  popular  with  the  lot  occupants, 
whose  rights  to  the  lots  were  doubtful  while  the  litigation  was  pending. 
This  poi)ularity,  to  the  extent  it  had  begun,  did  not  long  survive,  after 
the  judge  announced  his  intention  to  make  deeds,  for  a  consideration,  to 
such  lot  ()ccui)aiits  as  in  his  judgment  owned  the  lots  they  respectively 
claimed.  This  consideration  in  no  case  was  to  be  less  than  fO.Od  ])er  lot 
and  an  additional  dollar  for  making  out  the  deed.  This,  at  the  minimum 
charge  jier  lot.  would  yield  about  .flO.OOO.Od  and  the  charges  were  excuseil 
on  the  grounds  that  they  were  to  1k^  used  to  liquidate  the  judge's  ex- 
penses and  attorney's  fe<'s  in  resisting  what  he  asserted  were   the   law- 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERT  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  207 

le><s  claiiiis  to  llie  lots.  Many  willingly  paid  the  judge's  charges  and  con- 
tinued to  be  his  friends,  while  others  denounced  the  charges  and  the 
judge,  and  liegrudgingly  yielded  to  his  demands  and  generally  ever  af- 
terward fought  him  in  his  aspirations  for  public  office.  At  the  end  of 
the  judge's  first  term  he  still  held  the  title  in  trust,  to  many  of  the  lots 
and  also  made  apidication  to  enter  some  school  land  mostly  in  the  third 
ward  and  also  a  strip  joining  the  city  on  the  south  claimed  by  L.  T. 
Stejihenson.  Wm.  Maddaus  and  others.  The  bold,  aggressive  and  cease- 
less fight  he  made  to  I'ccover  for  the  city  these  lands  ,added  to  his  popu- 
larity and  he  was,  after  one  of  the  most  bitter  campaigns  ever  waged  in 
the  city,  elected  mayor  for  a  second  term.  It  then  became  somewhat 
more  difficult  for  those  who  were  not  special  friends  and  admirers  of  the 
judge  to  secure  from  him  deeds  to  lots,  and  in  many  cases  they  had  to 
pay  an  increase  over  the  regular  charges  to  secure  their  coveted  deeds. 
This  increase  was  justified  by  the  judge  on  the  ground  that  he  was  "wear- 
ing out  his  life"  in  making  the  fight  for  the  lot  owners,  and  they  ought 
not  to  hesitate  to  make  the  payments  and  if  they  complained  he  was  not 
slow  in  denouncing  them  in  the  most  public  and  vigorous  manner. 

The  judge  kept  up  the  warfare  over  the  title  to  various  lots  he  had 
entered  and  had  not  conveyed  and  over  the  contests  for  more  land  that 
he  had  inaugurated  as  long  as  he  remained  in  office.  His  successor  after- 
ward, with  but  little  trouble  and  less  agitation,  carried  the  contests  to 
a  successful  conclusion  and  secured  the  issuance  of  the  patent  to  the 
townsite  after  it  had  been  held  up,  on  account  of  the  pending  contests, 
'till  1878.  However,  the  purchase  from  the  State  of  the  tract  of  school 
land  mostly  in  the  third  ward  by  Mayor  Wilson,  in  his  individual  name, 
caused  much  litigation  after  the  issuance  of  the  patent. 

Shortly  after  the  i)atent  was  secured,  Judge  DeLong  moved  to 
Wichita,  where  he  died  a  few  years  later. 

SAMUEL  DONALDSON  never  entered  the  parctice  here.  He  went 
to  Chautauqua  county  where  he  practiced,  and  where  he  is  well  known 
as  Colonel  Donaldson,  and  is  a  prominent  man  and  highly  respected. 

TO  WILLIAM  DUNKIN  reference  is  made  later  on  in  this  article. 

HENRY  C.  DOOLEY,  before  being  admitted  here,  was  admitted  to 
practice  by  the  District  Court  of  Coffey  county,  in  July  of  the  pi-evious 
year.  He  was  born  in  Davis  county,  Iowa,  on  February  11th,  180!),  and 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  years  moved  to  Coffey  county,  Kansas,  and  there 
worked  his  way  through  the  public  schools  at  Leroy.  He  then  for  two 
years  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  law  at  Burlington,  in  that  county, 
'till  the  date  of  his  admission  and  the  next  year  located  in  the  practice 
at  Coffeyville.  which  he  has  since  continued  and  where  he  has  built  up  an 
extensive  practice  in  this  and  adjoniing  counties,  in  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State  and  the  Federal  Courts  in  Kansas  and  the  Indian  Territory. 


2oS  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

J>in-iii<;-  the  last  fc-n-  ypiirs  JJi".  Dooley  lias  <>iven  imirli  attention  to 
(•(Hipoi-ation  eases.  He  is  now  a  niemlier  of  the  law  tiiiii  of  Dooley  & 
Oshorn.  formed  ahoiit  a  vear  aiio  and  which  devotes  its  entire  time  to 
the   jtractice. 

-Mr.  Donley  represented  the  2!)th  district  in  the  Lower  House  of  the 
]-e.!iislatnre  of  Kansas  at  its  session  of  liini,  and  while  he  entered  that 
body  without  legislative  experience,  he  at  onee  became,  and  continued 
during  its  session,  one  of  its  leading  members. 

DANIEL  W.  DUNNETT  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county  in 
the  early  70's  and  for  several  years  was  located  in  the  practice  at  Cotfey- 
ville.  where  he  at  one  time  practiced  as  a  partner  of  Hon.  A.  B.  Clark, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Clark  &  Dunnett.  Mr.  Duunett.  some  twenty 
Years  ago.  moved  to  the  western  part  of  the  state  and  died  about  two 
,^ears  ago. 

THOMAS  E.  DEMPSEY  was  born  at  Urbana,  Ohio,  where  he  re 
sided  before  coming  to  Kansas  in  1885.  He  was  admitted  here  at  once 
and  entered  the  practice,  which  he  continued  for  about  one  year,  when 
he  located  at  Oreensburg.  Kansas,  where  he  practiced  for  about  a  year 
and  ilien  moved  to  Illinois.  Before  his  admission  he  was  graduated  from 
the  riiicinnaii  Law  School  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Mr.  Demp.sey  possessed  a  good  legal  mind,  which  had  been  well 
trained,  and  he  was  a  diligent  student  and  successful  in  his  ])ractice.  He 
was  a  young  man  of  excellent  habits,  of  a  quiet  and  unassuming  de- 
uieanor.  and  yet  of  true  courage  when  aroused.  He  apjiroached  a  trial 
with  ((uisiderable  timidity  and  was  always  fully  jirepared  on  the  law  of 
his  cases. 

C.  \V.  ELLIS  located  at  Verdigris  City  in  18C9,  and  the  next  year 
went  to  Parker,  AVestralia  or  Coffeyville,  where  he  entered  the  ju-actice 
with  Hon.  John  M.  Scudder,  which  he  continued  until,  in  1872,  he  went 
to  Wellington  and  afterward  to  Mfedicine  Lodge,  in  Barber  county,  where 
he  located  and  pursued  the  practice  'till  elected  Judge  of  the  District 
Court. 

During  his  short  residence  in  this  county  he  was  known  to  possess, 
in  i\  high  degree,  the  qualities  essential  to  a  fine  lawyer.  He  possessed  a 
stroug,  clear  mind  and  was  a  close  student  and  painstaking  in  the  prepa- 
ration and  trial  of  his  cases.  He  has  nuide  an  honorable  record  in  the 
|)rofession  in  Barber  county,  where  most  of  his  professional  life  has  been 
s])ent. 

CAI'TAIN  DAVID  STEWART  ELLIOTT  became  a  member  of  the 
bar  of  Montgomerv  counly  in  1885  and  located  in  the  i>raciice  at  Coll'ev- 
ville. 

He  was  born  in  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania.  Decendicr  I'.'ird,  isci. 
and  at  the  age  of  about  fifteen  years  entered  a  newspaper  office  to  learn 


HISTORY  OF  JIONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  209 

tlie  l)u.«iness.  In  April,  1801,  he  enlisted  in  Co.  "G,"  1.3th  Penn.  Volun- 
tccis,  and  at  the  end  of  his  three  months'  term  re-enlisted  in  Co.  "E," 
Tiiih  I'enn.  Volunteers,  and  served  therein  over  three  years. 

In  18GS  he  assumed  the  editorship  of  the  Bedford  County  Tress,  at 
Ihereft.  Pennsylvania,  which  he  continued  'till  1873.  On  February  9th, 
ISC.O.  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Bedford  county,  Pa.  He  was  editor 
of  the  Everett,  Pa.,  Press  from  1881  to  1885,  and  iu  May  of  the  last  year 
located  at  Coffeyville,  where  from  June  oth,  1885,  to  September  1st,  1897, 
he  edited  the  Coffeyville  Weekly  Journal  and  early  in  1892  he  establish- 
<"d  the  Daily  Journal  and  edited  it  'till  1897. 

Oil  April  oth.  1898,  Captain  Elliott  enlisted  and  was  commissioned 
Captain  of  Co.  G,  20th  Kansas  regiment  and  entered  the  Spanish- Ameri- 
can war.  and  engaged  in  active  warfare  with  the  Filipinos  early  in  1899. 
A\'liile  in  line  of  duty,  on  February  28th,  1899.  he  was  shot  by  a  Filipino 
sharpshooter,  and  died  a  few  hours  later.  His  remains  were  brought 
home  and  buried  at  Coffeyville  on  April  14th,  1899,  with  military  honors. 

After  locating  in  the  county  Captain  Elliott  devoted  only  a  portion 
of  his  time  to  the  practice  of  law.  His  tastes  led  to  the  formation  of  his 
fellow  men  into  associations,  political  parties  and  other  organizations 
and  the  promulgation  and  advocacy  of  their  principles,  rather  than  to 
the  irksome  and  methodical  work  demanded  in  the  practice  of  law.  For 
this  work  of  his  choice  he  was  by  nature  admirably  equipped.  He  was 
a  fluent  and  pleasant  speaker  and  at  once  took  a  leading  part  in  meet- 
ings to  effect  such  organizations,  or  to  advocate  their  tenets.  As  a  writer 
he'^was  terse,  graceful  and  effective  and  as  a  solider,  enthusiastic  and 
courageous. 

During  his  residence  at  Coffeyville  Capt.  Elliott  was  its  attorney 
for  one  or  more  terms  and  a  member,  one  term,  of  the  Lower  House  of  the 
Kansas  Legislature,  where  he  was  at  once  a  conspicuous  member. 

At  his  death  he  was  a  member  of  sixteen  lodges. 

J.  D.  EMERSOX  became  a  member  of  the  bar  of  the  county,  and  af- 
terward practiced  law  with  Judge  E.  Herring  at  Independence.  He  then 
became  interested  in  United  States  mail  contracts  in  Louisiana  and 
Texas  and  abandoned  the  practice. 

He  resided  at  Independence  for  some  years  after  retiring  from  the 
practice  and  finally  returned  to  Ohio. 

OLIVER  P.  ERGENBRIGHT  was  admitted  to  the  Montgomery 
county  bar  on  July  10th,  1883.  His  life  sketch  appears  in  the  department 
oi  biography  in  this  work. 

ELIJAH.  EVANS  did  not,  after  his  admission,  engage  in  the 
jiractice  of  the  profession  in  the  county. 

(TLVELES  FLETCHER  was  born  at  South  Royalton.  Vermont, 
•lanuaiy  llih.  1S44.  and  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Emporia  in  Lvon  countv. 


2IO  niSTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Kansas,  in  September,  1879.  Before  beconiing  a  member  of  the  bar  Mr. 
Fletcher  resided  for  a  time  at  Plainfield,  Vermont,  then  at  Ware,  Mass., 
where  he  was  employed  in  a  woolen  mill,  and  was  afterward  in  the  same 
business  in  Boston,  Mass.,  and  at  Norwich,  Rockville  and  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut. He  then  moved  to  Brookfield,  Mo.,  where  he  was  a  locomotive 
engineer  and  subsequently  settled  at  Emporia,  Kansas,  and  engaged  in 
the  same  vocation,  until  his  admission  to  the  bar.  He  then  entered  the 
j)ractice  at  Emporia,  which  he  I'ontinued  at  that  ])lace  'till  October.  I'.tOl. 
when  he  located  at  Cherry  vale,  where  he  has  since  resided  and  practiced 
his  piofession. 

(}.  W.  FITZPATRICK  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
county  about  1897,  and  shortly  afterward  entered  the  practice  at  Cotfey- 
ville  as  the  senior  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Fitzpatrick  &  Wiggins,  and 
continued  in  the  pursuit  of  his  profession  for  two  or  three  years,  when  he 
removed  to  the  ("hoctaw  Nation  in  the  Indian  Territory,  where  his  prac- 
tice still  continues.  The  memliers  of  this  iirm  were  the  tirst  and  only 
colored  men  that  ever  became  members  of  our  bar  and  while  they  prac- 
ticed here,  were,  by  court  and  attorneys,  freely  accorded  all  rights  and 
privileges  that  belong  to  the  members  of  the  profession. 

ELMER  W.  FAY  located  at  Old  Liberty  as  a  lawyer  in  1SG9— be- 
fore any  court  existed  in  the  county— and  afterward  entered  the  prac- 
tice as  a  i)artuer  in  the  law  tirm  of  Bass  &  Fay.  and,  later,  he  became 
"wheel  horse"  in  the  suit  brought  to  compel  the  removal  of  the  county 
offices  to  Old  Liberty  as  a  recognition  of  its  claim  to  being  the  county 
seat.  The  stone  was  too  ponderous  to  be  moved  to  Miihomet's  head  and 
Old  Liberty  died  in  its  infancy,  without  honors,  and  its  eloquent  cham- 
pion shortly  after  moved  westward.  After  remaining  at  Peru,  Chau- 
tauqua (then  Howard)  county  a  few  years,  Mr.  Fay  went  to  Texas  where 
he  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business  and  came  to  grief. 

Mr.  Fay,  before  coming  to  Kansas,  had  been  a  minister  of  the  gospel, 
but  finding  the  restrictions  imposed  upon  those  who  pursue  that  calling 
too  distasteful  for  his  peculiar  temperament,  came  to  Kansas,  and  sought 
to  fill  one  of  the  grades  in  the  legal  profession ;  and  it  is  said  by  those 
who  have  heard  him  speak,  that  he  filled  the  oratorical  features  of  it  to 
perfection. 

EMIERY  A.  FOlHiTER  was  born  at  Dayton,  Missouri,  on  July  17th. 
1868,  and  the  next  year  moved  with  his  parents  (Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goodell 
Foster)  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  and,  in  1870,  located  at  Inde- 
pendence. He  grew  up  in  this  city  and  spent  his  time  attending  the  city 
schools  and  in  reading  law.  "till  August.  1888,  when,  on  a  thorough  ex- 
aminati(m  in  ojien  (onrt  in  which  he  evinced  remarkable  proficiency,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county,  before  he  was  twenty-one  years 
of  age. 


HISTORY  01'  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  211 

lie  shortly  afterward  moved  to  Oklahoma  where  he  bej^au,  aud  has 
since  coutiuued,  the  practice  of  his  profession.  At  the  November,  1902, 
<^leclion  in  that  territory  he  was  chosen  county  attorney  of  Lincoln 
ciniiily  and  he  is  now  performing  the  duties  of  that  office. 

FI:L1X  .1.  FITCH,  located  at  Independence  in  1890  and  reference  to 
liini  will  he  found  on  another  page  herein. 

LrTHER  FREEMAN  was  born  at  Fort  Shaw,  Montana,  on  Novem- 
iHjr  2Tth.  1872.  His  father.  General  Freeman,  had  spent  his  life  in  the 
regular  army  and,  hence,  Luther,  while  a  boy,  was  moved  from  one  mili- 
fary  jiost  to  another  where  his  father's  duties  called  him.  He  became  a 
meinlier  of  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county  and  practiced  here  until  June, 
1902.  wlien  he  took  charge  of  a  cattle  ranch  near  Douglas,  in  Converse 
count\.  Wyoming,  where  he  is  now  located. 

Mr.  Fi-eeman  was  a  student  at  Kenyon  Military  School  at  Gambler, 
Ohio,  read  law  one  year  in  the  office  of  Judge  J.  D.  Vandeman  in  Dela- 
ware and  was  a  student  of  law  for  two  years  at  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, from  which  far-famed  institution  he  graduated  in  1894  with  the 
degree  of  L.  L.  B. 

liERNARD  GAINES  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
counly  on  the  certificate  of  his  admission  to  practice  in  the  courts  of 
ic(()r('l  in  Kentuckv.    He  never  entered  the  practice  here. 

JAM.KS  D.  GAMBLE  was  one  of  the  earliest  members  of  the  bar  of 
llie  county  and  was,  in  the  early  TO's,  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Bennett 
cK:  Gan)ble,  which,  for  several  years,  did  a  thriving  business  in  the  prac- 
tice of  law  and  as  real  estate  agents.  Some  time  before  1880  M'l-.  Gamble 
moved  to  Knoxville,  Iowa,  where  he  subsequently  became  Judge  of  the 
Circuit  or  District  Court. 

NAPOLEON  B.  GARDNER  was  admitted  as  a  member  of  the  bar 
on  the  report  of  an  examining  committee  appointed  by  Ht)n.  H.  G.  Webb 
while  he  was  presiding  as  judge  jyio  tcin.  Mr.  Gardner  never  pursued 
the  practice  in  the  county. 

BARSABAS  GILTNER  was  born  at  New  Washington,  Clark 
county.  Indiana,  on  June  9th,  1832,  and  spent  his  boyhood  days  on  a 
farm  "till  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  when  he  entered  Hanover  Col- 
lege in  his  native  state,  where  he  studied  for  the  next  five  years.  He  mov- 
ed to  Indianapolis  and  taught  school  in  aud  near  the  city,  the  next  four 
years,  and  then  studied  law  aud  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Danville, 
Indiana,  in  1836,  and  at  once  entered  the  practice,  which,  except  the 
years  18(33  and  1861,  which  he  spent  in  teaching  school  at  Richland, 
Iowa,  he  has  since  continuously  pursued.  In  1865  he  located  in  the 
[iractice  at  Fairfield,  Iowa,  and  after  pursuing  the  profession  there  for 
iiltout  eight  years,  in  1873,  he  moved  to  Marshall  county,  Kansas,  where 
he  continued  in  the  practice  'till  he  moved  to  Coffeyville  in  1897.    Owin<^ 


212  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

to  a  iib\>ioal  di.sability  iu  the  shajie  of  a  broken  ankle,  he  did  uothiuj;  in 
his  profession  at  ('otleyville  until  1898.  when  he  joined  the  bar  of  Mont- 
gomery connty  and  has  since  practiced  law.  Mr.  Giltner  has  never  oc- 
cupied any  public  (itlice,  except  that  he  served  as  common  pleas  attorney 
in  Indiana  from  18.")7  to  18<>3. 

Mr.  GIFFORD  became  a  member  of  the  l)ar  of  Montgomery 

county  in  the  80"s  and  for  about  three  years  was  located  in  the  practice 
in  partnership  with  E.  L.  Begun  at  Cherryvale,  Kansas.  About  1888  he 
located  in  the  practice  at  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  where  he  now  resides. 
While  living  at  Kansas  City  he  has  served  as  police  judge. 

fiEOR(TE  E.  OILMORE  has,  since  his  admission,  pursued  his  pro- 
fession at  Independence,  where  he  now  resides,  practicing  law,  handling 
real  estate,  writing  insurance  and  is  a  i)ension  attorney.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Supreme  Court  July  3rd,  1901. 

Mr.  Gilmore  was  born  at  Grove  City,  Pennsylvania,  on  November 
17th,  1861,  and  resided  with  his  parents  on  a  farm  there  until  he  was 
sixteen  years  old,  and  from  that  time  until  1886  he  attended  the  Grove 
City  College  and  taught  school.  In  July  of  that  year  he  located  at  In- 
dependence, where  he  has  since  resided. 

Bince  Mr.  (iilmore  came  here  he  lias  siurcssively  clerked  in  the  \>vo- 
bate  court  (under  Col.  Brown,  probate  judge)  taught  school,  tilled  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace  five  terms,  handled  realty  on  commission 
and  been  an  insurance  agent  and  has  filled  the  office  of  city  attorney  for 
tliree  successive  terms. 

COLONEL  DANIEL  GKASIS  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Mont- 
gomery county  and  practiced  law  iu  the  county  until  his  death  at  ('of- 
feyvilfe,  Kansas,  on  the  24th  day  of  December,  1891. 

He  was  born  in  Lawrence  county,  Illinois,  on  September  21st,  182."). 
and  thereafter  lived  in  his  native  county,  attending  and  teaching  school 
and  farming  until  1800,  when  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Lawrence- 
ville.  Illinois,  and  entered  the  practice  at  that  place,  which  he  pursued 
\intil  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war,  when  he  entered  the  Union  army 
as  a  captain  in  the  8th  Illinois  infantry,  which  was  recruited  for  the 
three  months'  service.  At  the  end  of  his  term  of  enlistment  he  resumed 
the  practice  which  he  continued  until  early  in  1802,  when  he  i-e-entered 
the  military  service  as  a  first  lieutenant  in  the  61st  Illinois  infantry. 

At  the  end  of  the  term  of  his  second  enlistment  ,by  an  eloquent 
speech,  he  induced  nearly  every  other  member  of  his  regiment  to  remain 
in  the  war,  that  continued  for  a  long  time  thereafter.  He  stayed  in  the 
army  until  the  close  of  the  war,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel  of  his 
regiment. 

Colonel  Grass  was  a  remarkable  man.  i'.y  nature  he  was  endowed 
with  many  fine  qualities  "of  heart  and  mind"  and  possessed  an  "iron  con- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTOOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  213 

stitutioii."  II(>  was  generous  and  good  to  everyone,  but  Lhnself.  In  his 
own  all'airs  lie  was  careless  and  improvident,  to  others  in  trouble  his 
generdus  hand  was  ever  ready  to  extend  relief.  He  was  all  his  life  a 
great  reader  of  the  choicest  works  of  literature,  and  had  a  well  stored 
mind,  which,  with  his  natural  gifts,  enabled  him  to  talk  on  many  sub- 
jects most  intelligently  and  entertainingly.  H/ls  disposition  was  genial 
and  happy,  his  manners  polite,  courteous  and  atti"active — even  in  his 
most  careless  attire  and  to  the  humblest.  He  was  a  keen  judge  of  human 
nature  and  an  accurate  critic  of  literature,  and  ever  entertained  a  pro- 
found contempt  for  a  deceitful  or  an  unworthy  man  and  never  hesitated 
to  dissect  and  expose  the  weaknesses  of  a  literary  production  that  may 
have  been  having  a  season  of  undeserved  popularity.  He  loved  his  coun- 
try as  he  did  his  friends — patriotism  and  friendship  were  a  part  of  him. 

While  Col.  Grass  was  a  well  read  lawyer,  he  was  never  technical  in 
the  application  of  its  principles  and  was  sometimes  careless  in  those 
minor  details  that  so  often  influence  the  result  in  a  trial.  His  strong 
forte  was  his  oratory,  in  which  he  excelled  before  a  jury,  and  as  a  lec- 
turer and  political  speaker.  His  appeals  to  the  jury  were  earnest,  sin- 
cere and  eloquent  and  his  lectures  and  political  speeches  entertaining, 
instructive  and  effective.  The  colonel  always  evinced  a  keen  interest  in 
politics  and  was  always  one  of  the  "wheel  horses"  in  each  compaign.  For 
years  he  annually  stumped  the  county  for  the  Republican  ticket  and  in 
expounding  the  principles  of  the  party  and  enthusing  its  members,  never 
sought  for  himself  any  public  office,  although  any  in  the  gift  of  his  po- 
litical friends  was  ever  within  his  reach.  The  only  public  office  he  ever 
filled  in  the  state,  was  that  of  State  Senator  from  Montgomery  county 
from  1870  to  1880. 

MAJOR  H.  D.  Grant  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county 
in  1871  but  never  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  He  was  born  in  Chau- 
tauqua county.  New  York,  on  March  26th,  18.35.  He  was  reared  'till  he 
was  eighteen  years  of  age.  in  Herkimer  county.  New  York,  and  moved 
to  Illinois  where  he  worked  for  a  short  time  on  a  farm  and  then  entered 
Central  College  at  Jackson,  Michigan.  Shortly  afterward  he  assisted  in 
recruiting  Co.  '"I,"  4th  Michigan,  and  in  July,  1862,  entered  the  mili- 
tary service  as  first  lieutenant  of  that  comjiany,  and,  a  month  later,  was 
promoted  to  the  captaincy  of  the  same.  Two  months  and  a  half  later  he 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  a  battalion  in  the  army  and  continued  in 
that  position  'till  May  27th.  1804.  when  he  was  taken  prisoner  near 
Kingston,  Georgia.  He  was  taken  to  Charleston,  8.  C,  where  he  was  one 
of  the  fifty  officers  of  the  U.  S.  army  placed  under  fire  to  prevent  further 
bombardment  of  the  city.  Two  months  later  he  was  exchanged  and  there- 
upon returned  to  the  army  and  served  'till  December  11th,  1864,  when  he 
was  mustered  out.    While  in  military  service  he  participated  in  battle  at 


2  14  lUSlOUY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

rciTwilli'.    Si '    Kivcr.    Cliicamnuj'a    and    Missiouary    Kidj;v   and    was 

sli-hily  wunnded  at  Sj.aila.  TiMin..  iu  August,  19G3. 

After  ilic  war  Ilic  niajoi-  held  several  responsible  positions  in  rail- 
iiiad  >('i\  ici'  in  'riMnK'sscc.  and  also  several  important  public  offices  at 
Nasliville.  He  removed  from  Nashville  to  Mont<>oniery  county,  Kansas, 
locating  in  what  is  now  known  as  West  Cherry  Township,  on  February 
nth,  1870.  He  came  to  Indejiendence  in  1S73,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
Hince  living  in  the  county  he  has  tilled  a  number  of  responsible  public 
offices.  inclu<ling  deputy  V.  S.  Marshal  for  Kansas  and  the  AVestern  Dis- 
trict of  Arkansas,  county  commissioner,  justice  of  the  peace  and  police 
judge.  The  major  has  been  in  frail  health  for  a  number  of  years  and  has 
retired  from  all  kinds  of  business  and  is  now  (piietly  living  at  his  home 
in  this  city. 

S.  A.  HALL  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas, 
at  the  November,  1871,  term  of  court  on  the  certificate  of  admission  to 
practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois.  He  was  past  middle  life  when 
he  came  to  Montgomery  county  and  practiced  here  four  or  five  years,  a 
part  of  the  time  alone  and  a  jiortion  of  it  in  company  with  W.  O.  Syl- 
vester. 

Mr.  Hall  did  not  have  an  extensive  legal  business  and  during  the 
later  years  of  his  practice  he  unsuccessfully  played  the  double  role  of  at- 
torney and  client  iu  most  of  his  cases. 

WSl.  J.  HAKKOI>  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county  on  exami- 
nation and  report  of  a  committee. 

He  lived  on  a  farm  some  years  after,  about  two  miles  southeast  of 
the  present  "McTaggart's  Bridge"  across  the  Verdigris,  but  never  entered 
the  practice,  although  he  was  a  bright.  a<tive  and  well  known  man  and 
niigli!  have  been  a  success  in  the  profession  had  his  inclinations  led  him 
to  pursue  it. 

THOMAS  HAKKISOX  was  a  conspicuous  character  among  the  first 
pioneers  of  the  county,  and  one  of  its  first  members  of  the  bar.  He  was 
admitted  to  practice  on  the  first  day  of  the  first  term  of  the  District 
Court  in  the  county,  held  May  9th,  1870,  and  thereafter  pursued  the 
practice  'till  March,  1877,  when,  on  account  of  failing  health,  he  retired 
from  the  ])ractice  and  moved  to  his  farm  about  three  miles  southwest  of 
Indejiendence,  where  he  renmined  until  his  death  on  May  13th,  1894,  ex- 
«e}it  during  the  four  years  he  served  as  probate  judge  ending  in  1887, 
while  he  lived  in  the  city.  More  extended  reference  is  made  to  him  else- 
where in  tliis  volume. 

Judge  Harrison  was  a  man  of  lofty  character  and  was  ever  held  in 
tlie  highest  esteem  f(M-  the  many  noble  qualities  he  possessed.  He  was 
honest  and  sincere  iu  his  convi<iions  and  a  man  without  guile  and  pos- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  215 

both  moral  and  i>hysiial  courage  and  could  neither  be  driven  nor 
led  into  anythino;  he  did  not  believe  was  right. 

L.  BENJAMIN  IJASBKOOK  was.  at  the  age  of  about  twenty-two 
years,  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county,  on  the  certificate  of  his 
admission  to  practice  in  the  courts  of  record  in  New  York  State.  He 
was  of  a  highly  respected  family  in  the  P^mpire  State,  and  had  been  ten- 
derly reared  by  a  widowed  mother  who  had  spared  neither  expense  nor 
pains  to  educate  him.  He  did  but  little  practice  in  this  county,  although 
fairly  well  skilled  in  the  science  of  law,  but  in  a  short  time  went  to  Win- 
fleld,  Kansas,  and  undertook  the  defense  of  a  desperate  criminal  and, 
in  the  excitement  or  rather  frenzy  of  the  hour,  was  hung  by  a  vigilance 
committee. 

EI.IJAHI  D.  HASTINGS  was  admitted  by  the  District  Court  of  the 
county  in  September,  1878.  and  located  in  the  practice  at  Cherryvale, 
Kansas,  which  he  continued  for  about  twenty-two  years,  and  then,  owing 
to  poor  health,  quit  the  practice  and  took  up  fire  insurance,  at  which  he 
is  still  engaged. 

Mr.  Hasting.s  was  born  at  Grantham,  New  Hampshire,  on  November 
2nd,  1831,  and  spent  his  time  there  and  at  Newport  in  the  same  state, 
farming  and  teaching  school,  until  1859,  when  he  was,  at  Newport,  N.  H., 
admitted  to  practice  law.  After  practicing  less  than  two  years  he  en- 
tered the  army  and,  after  leaving  it.  located  in  the  west.  He  settled  at 
Cherryvale  shortly  before  his  admission  to  the  Miontgomery  county  bar 
and  while  residing  there  has  been  city  attorney  for  three  years  and  also 
a  member  of  the  city  council  for  three  terms. 

JOHN  A.  HELrklNGSTINE  wasadniitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
county  and  at  once  entered  the  practice  here,  which  he  pursued  for  a 
short  time  as  a  i>artner  of  the  hiAV  firm  of  Grass  &  Helphingstine.  In  1871 
he  was  elected  police  judge  of  Independence  and  at  the  end  of  his  term 
was  chosen  county  clei'k,  in  which  office  he  served  three  successive  terms 
and  thereafter,  in  1880,  moved  to  New  Mexico,  where  he  became  engaged 
in  the  practice,  and  at  the  same  time  published  a  newspaper  and  was  in- 
terested in  mining  'till  1886,  when  he  went  to  California  and  for  yeare 
did  an  immense  business  in  real  estate. 

While  in  New  ISlexico  Mr.  Helphingstine  served  as  Inspector  General 
of  Militia  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  He  is  still  an  active  and  vigorous 
man  and  is  enthusiastic  over  the  mining  prospects  in  New  Mexico,  and 
contemplates  returning  to  the  territory  and  engaging  in  the  practice  and 
looking  after  some  mining  interests  he  has  in  that  territory. 

BENJAMIN  S.  HENDERSON,  upon  his  admission  to  the  bar  of 
Montgomery  county,  located  and  practiced  law  at  Independence  until 
early  in  1882.  when  he  moved  to  ('hautauqua  county,  where  he  continued 
in  the  practice  for  about  eight  years,  during  which  time  he  was  countv 


■216  HISTORY   01-    MONTGOMEUY    COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

;illi)riiev  fur  five  yt';us;  one  yeiir  by  :ii(]i(iiiitiiLen1  and  two  terms  of  two 
years  each  by  election.  He  tlien  moved  to  Wiutteld  where  he  became  a 
member  of  the  law  firm  of  Peckham  &  Henderson,  which  for  several 
years  was  the  general  attorneys  of  the  Denver,  Memphis  &  Atlantic 
Railway  Company  during  its  construction.  He  afterward  moved  to  Kan- 
sas City.  Kansas,  and  entered  the  general  practice  under  the  firm  name 
of  Anderson  &  Henderson. 

After  several  years  he  moved  to  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  and  entered 
the  practice  as  a  memljer  of  the  law  firm  of  Beecher  &  Henderson  and  is 
now  pursuing  the  practice  at  that  place. 

Mr.  Henderson  was  born  at  Crittenden,  Grant  county,  Kentucky, 
-October  1st,  1843,  and  on  October  4th,  1861,  enlisted  in  the  Union  army 
and  served  until  he  was  discharged  in  February,  1866.  Afterw-ard  he 
moved  to  Washington.  Daviess  county.  Indiana,  where  he  taught  school 
until  January  1st.  1872.  He  was  admitted  to  i)ractice  at  Washington  in 
f^eptember,  1871,  and  since  January.  1872.  he  has  been  constantly  in  the 
practice. 

In  the  i.racticf  Mr.  Henderson  was  exceedingly  active  and  energetic, 
and  in  the  trial  of  causes  aggressive,  full  of  confidence  and  fearless,  and 
in  his  ])leas  to  the  jury  earnest,  fiuent  and  effective. 

W.  R.  HENDRIX  was  admitted  on  examination  to  practice  at  the 
May.  1871.  term  of  court  but  did  not  enter  the  legal  field  here. 

"  KKKXKZER  HERRING  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county 
about  1871;  and  in  1872  was  elected  probate  judge  of  the  county  which 
office  he  filled  from  January,  1873,  to  January,  1883.  Afterward,  on 
Jfarch  27th,  1883,  he  located  at  Kansas  City,  in  the  practice  and  in  the 
real  estate  business,  which  he  jiursued  there  "till  his  death  on  October 
16th,  1888. 

Judge  Herring  was  liorn  in  I'lMinsylvania  and  went  from  there,  when 
a  young  man,  to  I>es  Mioines,  Iowa,  where  he  joined  the  army  and  was 
captain  of  Co.  "E,"  34th  Iowa  Infantry.  At  the  close  of  his  military  life 
he  went  into  the  grocery  business  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa,  and  then 
entered  the  University  at  Iowa  City,  from  which  he  was  graduated,  and 
afterward,  in  June,  1870,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Iowa. 

He  then  located  in  Independence,  w'here  he  was  associated  in  the 
])ractice  with  J.  1).  Emerson  'till  elected  probate  judge  of  the  county. 

A.  T.  HIGBY  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county  on  the 
certificate  of  his  admission  to  practice  in  Illinois  but  never  entered  the 
practice  in  the  county. 

RUFUW  J.  IIIL]/w:is  liorii  in  the  city  of  Ogdensburg,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  on  the  Hith  day  of  Eclnuary,  1836,  and  resided  there  until  he 
was  thirteen  years  of  age,  when  he  left  home  and  spent  about  eight  years 
on  the  St.  Lawrence  ri\er  and  the  Great  Lakes. 

lu  1857,  he  left  the  river  and  lakes,  and,  at  the  age  of  twentvone 


HISTOUY  OF  MONTOOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  21J 

yoiirs.  settlcMl  :it  Cliatfu'ld.  Minnesota,  where  he  remained  'till  the  sum- 
mer of  1863— during  a  greater  portion  of  which  time  he  acted  as  the 
agent  of  Messrs.  Osborn  &  Sons,  who  were  non  icsidents  and  owned  large- 
tracts  of  land  in  that  state.  Mr.  Hill's  duties  extended  to  paying  taxes, 
negotiating  sales  and  reporting  to  his  principals.  During  the  winter 
seasons  he  also  attended  such  schools  as  that  new  country  afforded.  He 
also,  from  August,  1862,  to  December,  1863,  belonged  to  the  state  militia, 
which  was  being  trained  to  be  used,  when  urgent  necessity  demanded,  in 
the  Civil  war,  then  raging  in  the  country  and  for  protection  against 
threatened  Indian  invasions. 

In  the  fall  of  1S63  he  went  to  the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann 
Arbor,  and  began  a  literary  course,  and  shortly  after  took  up  the  study 
of  the  law,  at  that  famous  school,  which  he  pursued  'till  nearly  the  end 
of  the  school  year,  in  the  spring  of  1865.  He  then  went  to  Fondulac, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  was  examined  and  admitted  to  practice  law  in  May 
of  that  year.  He  remained  in  \Yisconsin  'till  the  fall  of  1807,  when  he 
moved  to  Linn  county.  Kans;is,  and  began  the  jiractice  in  partnership 
with  Judge  Henry  G.  Webb,  who  had  been  his  partner  during  a  portion 
of  the  time  he  lived  in  Wisconsin  after  his  admission. 

The  firm  continued  in  the  practice  'till  the  fall  of  1868,  when  it  was 
dissolved,  and  Mr.  Hill  settled  at  Fort  Scott.  Kansas,  and  continued  the 
practice  as  the  junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Webb,  Blair  &  Hill  (the 
senior  member  of  the  firm  being  Hon.  Wm.  C.  Webb,  a  brother  of  Mr. 
Hill's  former  partner)  and  remained  in  the  practice  with  this  firm  of 
well  known  lawyers  until  Wm.  ('.  Webb  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  11th 
Judicial  District  in  March,  1870.  In  May,  1870.  Mr.  Hill  came  in  the 
private  conveyance  of  his  firm  with  Judge  Wm.  C  Webb  from  Fort  Scott 
to  Montgomery  county,  whither  Judge  Webb  had  come  to  hold  his  first 
tei'm  of  court.  He  and  the  judge  drove  up  to  the  improvised  court  room 
at  Old  Libei'ty,  which  the  judge  inspected,  and  at  once  made  a  very  em- 
phatic refusal  to  open  court  in  a  room  he  considered  so  unfit  for  the  pur- 
pose. No  one  was  at  the  court  room  at  the  arrival  of  these  gentlemen 
but  shortly  afterward  a  crowd  was  attracted,  more  from  curiosity  than 
otherwise,  and  still  later  Sheriff  White  arrived  from  Independence  where 
the  clerk  of  the  court,  Mr.  Stejiheuson,  had  remained  behind.  After  a 
short  consultation  between  the  judge,  Mr.  Hill  and  the  sheriff  they  set 
out  for  Independence,  where  the  judge  opened  and  held  a  term  of  court 
and  Mr.  Hill  located  here. 

Mr.  Hill  was  distinctly  a  criminal  lawyer,  in  which  bi-anch  of  the 
profession  he  excelled ;  and  in  the  days  of  his  active  practice  at  the  bar 
here,  perhaps  had  no  sujierior  in  that  branch.  During  his  professional 
career  he  has  defended  158  persons  charged  with  murder,  besides  many 
times  that  number  charged  with  other  crimes  and  misdemeanors.  He  has 
also  done  much  in  the  civil  jiractice,  especially  in  closely  contested  cases^ 


2i8  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

Generallv.  he  was  assigned  a  leading  place  in  all  cases  in  which  he  was 
engaged,  especially  in  the  cross-examination  of  opposing  witnesses.  His 
method  of  cross-examination  was  original,  unique  and  astute.  His  ques- 
tions were  framed  in  that  manner  that  made  them  an  argument,  and 
drew  from  an  adverse  witness  damaging  testimony  in  a  modified  form. 
He  knew  the  rules  governing  the  admission  of  evidence  and  in  the  ex- 
amination of  a  dangerous  witness  played  on  the  outside  boundary  lines 
and  sometimes  stepped  over.  He  rarely  suffered,  as  often  lawyers  do, 
from  imprudent  crossexamination. 

In  the  days  of  his  prime  he  was  a  dreaded  adversary  because  of  his 
skill  in  cross-examination  and  the  fertile  resources  always  at  his  com- 
mand. The  opposing  counsel  who  knew  him  was  always  on  the  alert; 
vet  often  with  every  precaution,  failed  to  protect  against  some  move 
coined  in  Mr.  Hill's  ingenuity.  The  methods  exercised  in  one  of  the 
earliest  criminal  cases  he  tried  in  Kansas  will  furnish  some  idea  of  him. 
A  voung  woman  in  Linn  county,  penniless  and  friendless,  was  charged 
with  murdering  her  infant  child  by  throwing  it  into  a  lake.  That  she 
threw  the  child  into  the  lake  was  established  by  abundant  evidence  on 
the  i>reliminary  examination.  The  young  physicians,  after  a  superficial 
examination,  and  as  expert  witnesses,  gave  it  as  their  positive  opinions 
that  llic  child  was  alive  when  thrown  into  the  lake.  Tublic  opinion  ran 
high  against  the  sujiposed  murderess.  No  lawyer  could  be  found  anxious 
to  undertake  the  defense;  especially  as  neither  glory  nor  reward  was 
promised,  and  some  of  tlieni  had  declined  it.  In  her  hopeless  predica- 
ment she  sent  for  Mr.  Hill,  then  a  young  nuin  about  thirty-two  years  of 
age.  He  offered  to  defend  her  on  one  condition,  and  that  was,  she  must 
answer  truthfully  a  single  question  he  would  ask.  She  agreed  to  this, 
and  he  asked  her  if  the  child  was  alive  when  she  threw  it  into  the  lake, 
and  she  answered  no,  and  he  believed  her.  He  at  once,  and  in  the  night, 
secretly  exhumed  the  body  of  the  dead  infant  and  took  it  in  a  buggy,  in 
the  box  in  which  it  had  been  buried,  to  Kansas  City,  to  an  eminent  phy- 
sician and  after  relating  to  him  the  conditions,  the  doctor  reluctantly 
consented  to  make  a  post  mortem,  and  having  opened  the  chest  and  ex- 
amined the  lungs  unequivocally  declared  the  child  was  dead  when  thrown 
into  the  lake.  Mr.  Hill  prevailed  upon  him  to  promise  to  attend  the  trial 
jind  give  testimony,  which  he  did,  paying  his  own  expenses.  The  local 
j)hysi(iaiis  again  testified  as  before  but  suffered  severely  on  cross-ex- 
amination whicii  Mr.  Hill  was  enabled  to  make  effective  from  the  train- 
ing Ills  Kansas  ("ity  friend  had  given  him. 

Mr.  Hill  had  also  taken  the  ]irecaution  to  re-exhume  the  body — he 
having  restored  it  to  the  grave  on  his  return  from  Kansas  City — which  he 
had  conveniently  secreted.  On  the  defense  he  introduced  the  Kansas 
City  physiciiiii  and  he  at  once,  with  the  aid  (if  the  lungs  of  the  child, 
demonstrated     bi'vond  doubt    that    the  cliild   had   not   met   its  death  by 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  219 

drowning;  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  jury  acquitted  and  the  court  dis- 
charged the  defendant  "to  go  hence  without  day." 

While  Mr.  Hill  was  not  an  orator  in  the  usual  acceptation  of  that 
term,  he  often  made  very  effective  pleas  to  a  jury,  and  sometimes  when 
thoroughly  awakened  could  hold  them  sjiell  bound  by  impassioned  elo- 
quence. He  was  in  the  habit,  at  least  one  time  in  each  term  of  court,  of 
opening  his  address  to  a  jury— usually  the  first  he  appeared  before— by 
advising  theiu  with  a  smile,  "that  he  did  not  intend  to  flatter  them,  that 
they  wei-e  not  the  handsomest  men  he  had  ever  seen,  and  in  his  life  time 
he  iiad  met  smarter  men  than  they,  and  that  they  were  just  like  himself, 
men  of  fair  looks  and  apjiearance  and  of  ordinary  intelligence  and  fully 
equal  to  discharge  the  duty  imposed  upon  them.  After  this  pleasant 
opening  he  would  then  consume  about  an  hour  in  demonstrating  what 
that  duty  was.  Mr.  Hill  still  lives  at  Independence  but  spends  most  of 
his  time  in  Oklahoma,  in  the  practice  of  the  law. 

JOSEPH  W.  HOLDREX  was  born  at  Springhill.  Kansas.  November 
9th,  1872,  and  lived  there  until  he  entered  the  University  of  Kansas,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  from  the  law  department  in  June.  1898. 

On  the  8th  day  of  the  same  month  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Douglas  county.  Kansas,  and  then  in  July.  1898.  located  in  the  practice 
at  Cherryvale.  Kansas,  where  he  has  since  resided  and  followed  his  pro- 
fession, having  during  three  years  <if  that  time,  tilled  the  office  of  police- 
judge  of  that  citv. 

GOVERNOR  LYMAN  U.  HUMPHREY  is  an  honored  and  distin- 
quished  member  of  Montgomery  county's  bar.  His  thrilling  experiences 
as  a  soldier,  his  achievements  as  a  journalist  and  his  services  to  the  state 
in  high  official  stations,  outside  of  his  long  and  successful  practice  of 
law,  entitle  him  to  a  most  prominent  notice  on  pages  of  a  history  of  the 
Bench  and  Bar  of  the  county.  Since  he  has  now  retired  from  the  prac- 
tice it  would  seem  most  fitting  and  due  to  him.  to  include  in  the  short 
history  of  his  career  as  a  lawyer  a  brief  resume  of  that  portion  of  his  life 
that  has  been  devoted  to  public  duties;  or  rather  it  may  be  said,  the  his- 
tory of  one  who  has  braved  so  many  of  the  perils  of  war,  rendered  such 
conspicuous  services  to  his  state  and  country  as  he  has,  would  be  in- 
complete and  unjust  if  confined  strictly  to  his  successful  career  of  about 
twenty  years'  active  practice  at  the  bar. 

The  Humpbi-eys  are  of  English  descent,  settling  in  New  England  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  where,  in  1799.  Lyman,  the 
father  of  our  subject,  was  born.  In  young  manhood  he  emigrated  to  the 
Western  Reserve  in  Ohio,  the  then  far  west,  where  he  engaged  in  the  tan- 
ning business  at  Deerfield.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  his  tannery 
was  formerly  owned  by  -Jesse  (irant.  father  of  General  U.  S.  Grant,  be- 
fore his  removal  to  Southern  Ohio.  At  a  late  date  in  life  Mr.  Humphrey 
studied  law  and  became  a  member  of  the  Stark  coniitv  l)ar.  was  a  colonel 


220  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

of  nialitia  rind  a  niau  of  affair.s  until  his  rather  premature  death  in  18,^3. 
He  was  survived  by  bis  wife  and  two  sous.  John  E.  and  Lyman  U.  The 
maiden  name  of  the  wife  and  mother  was  Elizabeth  A.  Everhart,  born 
in  1812  at  Zanesville.  Ohio,  and  married  at  Xiles.  where  her  parents, 
John  and  Rachel  (Johns)  Everhart.  were  identified  with  the  iron  in- 
dustry. Her  paternal  and  maternal  ancestry  wei'e  of  Pennsylvania 
origin,  the  Johns  having  left  their  name  in  the  unfortunate,  yet  flourish- 
ing city  of  Johnstown  in  that  state.  Mrs.  Humphrey  lived  to  the  rather 
remarkable  age  of  eighty-four  years,  dying  at  the  home  of  her  son  in  In- 
dependence in  1896.  Bhe  was  a  woman  of  splendidly  developed  faculties 
and  a  sturdiness  of  character  which  gave  her  strength  to  assume  and 
carry  to  a  successful  conclusion  the  burden  of  family  cares  imposed  by 
the  early  death  of  her  hu.sband.  ^^he  was  intensely  patriotic,  and  gave 
her  two  sons  to  her  country  in  its  hour  of  need  with  an  almost  cheerful 
assurance.  Of  the  sons,  John  E.  served  first  as  a  private  in  Company 
"I,"  19th  Ohio  Vol.  Inf..  and  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh  was  so  severely 
wounded  as  to  necessitate  his  discharge  from  the  service.  Later  he  en- 
listed in  a  battery  of  the  1st  Ohio  Light  Artillery,  and  was  in  the  service 
'till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  came  to  Kansas  among  the  early  settlers 
and  jassed  away  in  1880  in  ilontgomcry  county,  where  he  had  lived.  He 
was  unmarried. 

Lyman  U.  Humphrey  was  born  July  l.'."itli.  1844,  in  Xew  Baltimore, 
Stark  county.  Ohio.  He  jjassed  the  early  period  of  his  boyhood  in  attend- 
ance on  the  village  schools.  develoi)iug.  under  the  watchful  care  of  his 
mother,  those  attributes  of  character  which  have  made  him  distinguished 
among  men.  He  was  taught  early  the  value  and  dignity  of  labor,  the 
iron  industries  of  his  home  locality  furnishing  him  the  opportunity,  and 
he  entered  the  jieriod  of  young  manhood  with  a  sjjlendid  jthysical  con- 
stitution. 

He  watched  the  progress  of  events  leading  up  to  the  Civil  war  with 
intense  interest  and.  every  word  uttered  al)our  the  home  fireside  being 
charged  with  that  lofty  patriotism,  so  niai-ked  in  the  mother,  it  was  in- 
evitable that  "war's  full-lighted  torch"  should  find  in  him  a  ready  bearer. 
Leaving  the  High  School  at  Massillon.  where  he  was  at  the  time  pursuing 
his  studies,  he  enrolled  as  a  private  in  Company  "I,"  7(>th  Ohio  Vol.  Inf., 
the  date  of  his  enlistment  being  October  7th,  18(!1.  three  months  after  his 
seventeenth  birthday. 

The  seventy-sixth  Ohio  regiment  was  aitailied  to  the  First  Brigade, 
First  Division  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps — Army  of  the  Tennessee — 
and  particij)ated  in  much  heavy  fighting  during  the  continuance  of  the 
war.  The  more  notable  of  the  engagements  in  which  our  subject  took 
I)art  were:  Fort  Donelson.  Shiloh.  Corinth.  Chickasaw  Bluff,  Arkansas 
Post,  Jackson,  Siege  of  Virksbnrg.  Lookout  Mountain  and  ilSssionary 
Kidge.    At  Ringgold,  Kovcniber  27tli.  18(13,  he  received  his  first  and  only 


rnSTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  221 

wound,  lint  rciiiainod  with  Iiis  command  and  ready  for  duty.  He  also 
parti(i])iited  in  the  battles  of  Resaea.  Dallas,  Kennesaw  Mountain,  was  in 
the  hloody  fight  at  Atlanta  July  22nd.  where  the  noble  :^^cPherson 
'\t>ave  the  full  measure;"  then  at  Ezra  Chapel,  Jonesboro  and  thence, 
with  Sherman,  to  the  sea.  The  triumphant  march  from  Savannah  up 
through  the  Parolinas,  including  the  Battle  of  Bentonville,  and  the  final 
surrender  of  Johnston's  army,  completed  the  four  years  of  splendid  ser- 
vice rendered  by  Lyman  U.  Humphrey  to  his  country.  He  enlisted  in  the 
ranks,  was  promoted  for  meritorious  conduct  to  first  sergeant,  second 
lieutenant,  then  to  a  first  lieutenancy,  in  which  capacity  he  commanded 
his  (■oni])any  on  the  memorable  nian-h  to  the  sea.  He  was  discharged  at 
L(nnsville.  Ky.,  July  lOtli,  ISGij,  just  six  days  before  the  anniversary  of 
his  tweiiTy-first  birthday. 

The  war  did  for  young  Humphrey  what  it  did  not,  do  for  many  boys 
of  less  observant  mind.  He  went  into  the  army  an  unsophisticated,  im- 
pulsive youth,  with  a  scant  knowledge  of  men  and  matters.  He  came 
out  a  man  schooled  in  self-control,  with  settled  habits  and  a  practical 
knowledge  of  men  and  aftairs,  knowledge  gathered  in  the  battle's  fervid 
heat  ;ni(l  i>assion,  on  the  long  and  weary  march,  at  the  evening's  camp- 
tive.  lie  felt,  however,  the  lack  of  book-knowledge,  and  at  once  devoted 
himself  to  its  acquirement,  matriculating  at  Mount  Union  College  for  a 
brief  period,  and  later,  in  the  law  department  of  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan. A  year  in  study  here,  however,  was  sufficient  to  exhaust  his  limited 
supply  of  funds,  and  he  was  therefore  compelled  to  forego  further  efforts 
in  the  educational  line.  In  186G  he  came  west  to  Shelby  county.  Mis- 
souri, where  he  taught  school  and,  in  partnership  with  the  Yoe  Brothers 
and  Col.  A.  M.  York,  he  published  "The  Shelby  County  Herald." 

While  residing  at  Shelby ville  and  in  1S7U,  Governor  Humphrey  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  Early  in  the  next  year  he  located  at  Independence 
and  on  the  8th  day  of  March,  1871,  he.  in  company  with  W.  T.  Yoe  and 
Col.  A.  M.  York,  established  and  published  at  that  place  '-The  South 
Kansas  Tribune,"  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  editors  until  June.  1872, 
when  he  and  Col.  York  sold  their  interest  in  the  paper. 

During  the  time  that  Governor  Humphrey  and  W.  T.  Yoe  conducted 
The  Tiibune  it  was  ably  edited,  well  supported  and  exercised  remarkable 
inHuence  in  politics  and  in  the  business  concerns  of  the  public.  While 
the  paper  was  always  a  strictly  partisan  Republican  paper  and  unspar- 
ing in  its  denunciation  of  the  principles  of  its  political  opponents,  its 
consi.'^tency  and  apparent  sincerity  won  the  respect  of  many  who  opposed 
its  public  policies. 

Governor  Humphrey  was  admitted  to  the  Montgomery  county  bar  in 
May,  1871,  and  after  he  and  Col.  York  sold  their  interest  in  the  Thibune, 
they  formed  a  co-partnership  for  the  practice  of  law.  and.  under  the 
iirni  name  and  style  of  York  &  Humphrey,  at  once  established  an  exten- 


2^2  HISTORY  OF   MONTCiOMERY  COT'NTY,   KANSAS. 

sive  iiiul  protitahle  i)rofessioiiul  business,  wbiih  was  fully  niaintaiucd 
UDtil  about  1888  when  tlie  Goveruor  left  the  practice  to  assume  the  duties 
of  the  highest  office  in  the  state. 

While  Governor  Humphrey  was  a  well  trained,  studious  and  able 
lawyer,  he  had  a  distaste  for  the  wrangling,  disputes  and  the  application 
of  the  technical  distinctions  the  practice  so  often  demands.  He  loved  the 
science  of  the  law  for  its  logic  and  beauty  and  could  easily  have  been 
eminent  in  its  practice.  His  inclination  to  the  study  of  literature,  mili- 
tary tactics  and  to  journalism  and  politics  detracted  from  what  might 
have  been  a  more  brilliant  career  at  the  bar. 

The  Governor's  services  to  the  State  of  Kansas  were  important  and 
gave  him  enduring  fame.  In  ]87<!  he  was  elected  to  the  Lower  House  of 
the  State  Legislature  and  served  on  the  Judiciary  Committee  where,  ow- 
ing to  his  legal  training  and  native  ability,  he  was  a  most  useful  mem- 
ber. Before  his  term  of  office  had  expired  he  was  elected  to  fill  the  un- 
expired term  of  Hon.  M.  J.  Salter  as  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  state, 
and  i\t  the  end  of  the  term,  re-elected  to  the  same  office  as  his  own  suc- 
cessor. While  serving  in  his  regular  term  as  Lieutenant  Governor  he 
presided  over  the  joint  convention  of  the  two  houses  that  elected  Hon. 
John  J.  Ingalls  the  second  time  to  the  TTnited  States  Senate,  after  one 
of  the  fiercest,  most  acrimonious  and  bitter  contests  ever  held  in  the 
state.  The  leading  candidates,  Hon.  John  J.  Ingalls  and  Hon.  Albert  H. 
Horton.  were  trained  in  the  highest  arts  of  political  warfare  and  the 
"battle  royal"  raged  ffir  several  days  when  Mr.  Horton  went  down  in  a 
defeat,  which  was  brought  about  by  the  bitter  fight  made  against  him  by 
the  Ke]iresentatives  fr()m  Montgomery  county.  It  was  charged  that  in 
the  early  7(l"s  ilr.  Horton  had  been  employed  by  the  county  conimisioners 
to  jirevent  by  injunction,  the  delivery  of  the  1200,000  bonds  that  had  been 
fraudulently  voted  to  the  L.  L.  &  (i.  R.  R.  Co.,  in  the  county,  and  that  he, 
as  attorney  for  the  county,  permitted  the  bonds  to  be  put  in  circulation 
without  a  legal  fight,  and  received  from  his  client  for  such  conspicuous 
services,  a  fee  of  |20.000.00.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  merits  of  the 
disputes  between  the  contending  candidates  or  the  fact  as  to  Mr.  Hor- 
ton's  management  of  the  county's  business,  it  was  conceded  on  all  hands, 
that  (Jovernor  Humjdirey  presided  with  fairness  and  unusual  ability. 

In  18K4,  Governor  Humjthrey  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  from 
Montgomery  county,  for  a  term  of  four  years,  and  was  elected  perma- 
nent president  pro  tcni  of  that  body,  and  in  1888  he  was  chosen  Governor 
by  the  largest  majority  ever  cast  in  the  state  for  any  candidate  for  that 
offic<'.  Hii'  carried  eveiy  county  in  the  state,  except  two,  and  his  plurality 
was  over  80.000.  At  the  next  biennial  election  he  was  chosen  as  his  suc- 
cessoi',  by  a  reduced  majoi'ity;  there  having  meanwhile  come  Into  exist- 
ence a  new  political  party  that  so  disrupted  former  political  organiza- 


lIISTORi'  OF  MONTGOMEEY  COUNTY,,  KANSAS.  223 

turns  ami  became  so  strong  that  at  the  next  biennial  election  (1892)  it 
iK^eanie  doniiiiant  in  the  state. 

Dnring  (tovernor  Humphrey's  nine  years'  service  in  the  legislative 
flejiartmont  of  the  state,  and  four  years  as  its  chief  executive,  he  dis 
fharfjed  his  chities  with  fidelity  and  marked  ability.  While  a  member 
of  tlio  Senate  in  1SS7  he  was  the  author  of  the  joint  resolution  jiroposing 
an  amendment  to  tlieStateConstitution  relating  to  the  militia  of  the  state. 
The  amendment  was  adopted  in  1888  striking  out  the  word  "white"  be- 
fore the  words  "male  citizens"  with  the  effect  of  including  all  able  bodied 
male  citizens  between  the  ages  of  21  and  45.  regardless  of  color,  in  the 
militia  of  the  state — the  15th  amendment  to  the  United  States  Constitu- 
tion having  effectually  invested  the  colored  race  with  equal  political 
rights.  His  administration  as  Governor  was  characterized  by  honest 
and  faithful  service  in  all  departments,  as  well  as  eflScient  management 
of  the  different  state  institutions. 

In  his  first  message  he  recommended  the  passage  of  a  law  relating 
to  banks  and  banking  and  suggested  a  plan  which  was  closely  followed 
in  the  enactment  of  the  present  law,  which  provides  for  the  important 
office  of  State  Bank  Commissioner.  The  act  providing  for  the  observ- 
ance of  Labor  Day  and  making  it  a  legal  holiday  was  enacted  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  recommendation  of  the  Governor.  The  period.  1888  to  1892, 
was  a  trying  one  in  the  number  and  importance  of  appointments  to  of- 
fices made  by  the  chief  executive.  In  this  field,  however,  the  Governor's 
excellent  judgment  of  men  well  guarded  him  against  errors  in  making 
selections.  Among  the  more  important  appointments  he  made  were,  a 
United  States  Senator  to  fill  the  vacancy  created  by  the  death  of  Senator 
Plumb.  State  Bank  Commissioner.  World's  Fair  Commissioners,  a  State 
Treasurer  and  eleven  District  Judges;  all  of  the  latter  except  one,  being 
chosen  at  the  ensuing  election  and  six  of  his  appointees  are  still  on  the 
bench. 

In  1892,  Governor  Humphrey  was  nominated  for  Congress  from  the 
Third  Congressional  District  by  the  Republican  party.  He  was  defeated 
at  the  polls  by  about  2.00(1  majority,  which  was  about  one-half  of  the 
anti-Republican  majority  by  which  judge  Perkins  was  defeated,  for  the 
same  office,  by  Benjamin  Clover  two  years  before. 

After  the  Governor's  defeat  for  Congress  he  became  the  financial 
correspondent  of  the  Union  Central  Life  Insurance  Company,  represent- 
ing a  dozen  counties  in  Southeastern  Kansas,  and  he  and  his  oldest  son, 
Lyman  L..  are  now  looking  after  the  extensive  farm  loan  investments  of 
that  company,  which  affords  them  full,  profitable  and  pleasant  employ- 
ment, and  him  a  pleasant  relief  from  the  toils  of  public  service  as  well  as 
from  the  necessary  annoyance  incident  to  the  persistent  applications  of 
aspirants  for  public  places.  The  Governor  is  now  living  a  quiet  life  at 
Independence,  with  his  wife,  whom  he  wedded  here  December  25th,  1872, 


224  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

and  liis  SOD.  A  Lincoln.    His  oldest  son  and  partner  in  business,  with  his 
bride  of  a  few  months,  lives  "next  door"  to  him. 

The  Governor's  wife  was  Miss  Amanda  Leonard,  a  daughter  of 
James  (\  Leonard,  at  one  time  a  prominent  citizen  and  banker  at  Beards- 
town,  Illinois,  and  later  engaged  in  the  same  business  for  several  years 
at  Independence.  She  is  an  accomplished  lady,  of  most  refined  tastes 
and  gentle  breeding,  and,  like  her  distinguished  husband,  live.s  in  the 
highest  regard  of  the  people  of  this  city,  where  more  than  thirty  years 
of  her  life  have  been  spent. 

T.  B.  JENNINGS  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county  on  May 
9th.  ISTO.  but  never  practiced  here. 

JAMES  M.  JOHN  came  to  Independence  in  1875,  and  after  reading 
law  something  over  one  year  was.  at  the  September,  187G,  term  of  the 
District  Court,  admitted  to  practice  after  an  examination  in  open  court. 
At  the  date  of  his  admission  he  was  in  frail  health  and  at  once  went  to 
Colorado  and  New  Mexico  on  a  sheep  ranch  to  try  the  effect  of  the 
climate.  After  several  years  on  a  ranch,  his  health  having  very  much 
improved,  he  located  at  Trinidad,  Colorado,  and  entered  the  practice. 
He  soon  established  an  extensive  business  in  the  line  of  his  profession 
and  at  the  same  time  carried  on  mining,  ranching  and  speculating  and 
acciinuilated  a  largi'  furtuiic. 

He  is  now  located  at  Trinidad  and  divides  his  time  between  the 
practice  and  looking  after  his  extensive  investments.  Since  he  has  lived 
in  Colorado  he  has  served  in  the  State  Senate  four  years  and  has  been 
Mayor  of  Trinidad  for  three  years,  and  is  well  known  as  one  of  the  ablest 
and  shrewdest  lawyers  in  the  state. 

The  history  of  M\r.  John  as  a  member  of  the  bar  belongs  to  Colorado, 
but  having  studied  and  been  admitted  here,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  re- 
cord that  he  had  one  of  the  keenest  and  quickest  minds  that  was  ever 
j)ossessed  by  any  member  of  our  bar  and  also  possessed  natural  and  ac- 
quired elements  that  would  enable  him  to  succeed  in  almost  any  vocation 
that  he  might  have  chosen  to  follow. 

L.  C.  .Jl'DSON  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county  on 
May  13th,  1870,  but  did  not  enter  the  practice  here. 

JAMES  KOl'NTZ.  after  studying  law  about  two  years  or  more  at 
Independence,  was,  on  examination  in  1888,  admitted  to  practice  by  the 
District  Court  of  Elk  County,  Kansas,  and  shortly  afterward  moved  to 
Tojieka,  where  he  entered  the  railroad  service  which  he  has  since  pursued. 

REUBEN  I*.  KERCH EV.VL  was  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Montgom- 
ery county  and  located  at  CotTeyville.  Kansas,  where  he  practiced  law  a 
number  of  years  during  the  8()"s  and  90's.  He  moved  to  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritoiy  several  years  ago  and  entered  the  practice  there. 

•loHN  II.  KEITH  was  liorn  in  Warren  county,  Kentucky,  on  De- 
ccnihrr  llrd.    l^tiT.   wlierc   he   was   reared.     He   taught  several   terms  of 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  225 

Kcliool  in  liis  iiiitive  village.  Three  Forks,  before  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  at  Howling;  (ireeu,  Ky.,  November  9th,  1889.  Mr.  Keith  located  at 
Cottevvillc  in  1893  aud  in  November  of  that  year  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  of  ^lontgoinery  county  and  has  since  actively  and  continuously  pur- 
sued his  jtrofession  in  the  county  and  in  the  Federal  and  Supreme  Courts 
in  this  state,  and  in  the  Federal  Courts  of  the  Indian  Territory.  During 
his  residence  at  Cotteyville  he  has  served  five  terms  as  attorney  for  that 
city  aud  now  represents  the  29th  District  in  the  Lower  House  of  the 
Kansas  Legislature,  and  is  a  conspicuous  leader  of  the  minority  party 
in  that  body. 

M.  B.  LIGHT  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county  in 
May,  1870,  and  shortly  after  located  in  the  practice  at  Sedan,  where  for 
years  he  had  a  good  practice  and  enjoyed  the  confidence  aud  esteem  of 
all  who  knew  him.  While  there  he  filled,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  pub- 
lic, several  important  i)ublic  positions.  He  died  a  few  vears  ago  at 
Sedan. 

MAJOR  AVM.  M.  LOCKE  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Jfontgomery 
county  on  the  certificate  of  his  admission  to  practice  in  the  United 
States  Courts  in  Virginia  and  in  Missouri.  He  had  been  a  major  in  the 
Union  army  and  after  his  admission  here,  located  at  Cofieyville,  where 
he  pursued  the  practice  for  something  like  two  years  and  then  moved  to 
Colorado  and  several  years  after  died  suddenly  while  journeying  on  a 
trip  to  the  east.  M.'ajor  Locke  was  a  good  lawyer  and  a  very  courteous 
and  kind  hearted  gentleman  and  during  his  short  stay  in  the  county  won 
the  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him. 

MR.  LORING  was  at  one  time,  about  1871,  a  member  of  the  bar  of 
Montgomery  county,  where  he  i)racticed  his  profession  a  short  lime  and 
then  left  the  county. 

AA'.  W.  MARTIN  was  born  at  Crawfordsville,  Montgomery  county, 
Indiana,  and,  before  becoming  a  member  of  the  bar,  lived  at  Thorntown, 
Indiana,  where  he  pursued  farming  until  he  entered  the  Union  army. 
He  was  admitted  to  practice  at  I^ebanon,  Indiana,  and  afterward  located 
at  Fort  Scott.  Kansas,  where  he  filled  the  office  of  attorney  for  that  city 
and  was,  later,  probate  judge  of  Bourbon  county.  He  then  filled  one 
term  as  Register  of  the  United  States  Land  Office  at  Indei)endence 
Kansas,  and  after  his  term  of  office  had  expired  he  returned  to  Fort 
Scott,  and  was  there,  in  November,  1888,  elected  a  member  of  the  Kansas 
State  Senate  for  a  term  of  four  years.  In  August,  1901,  Judge  Martin 
was  appointed  treasurer  of  the  National  Military  Home  for  Disabled  Vet- 
eran Soldiers  at  Leavenworth.  Kansas,  which  position  he  now  holds. 

ELMER  E.  MATTHEWS  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
count\,  on  examinati<in,  after  having  read  law  at  Independence,  Kansas. 
After  his  admission  he  located  at  Sedan,  Kansas,  where  he  pursued  his 
profession  about  ten  years  and  then  returned  to  Independence  and  quit 


226  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

tlic  i/iaclice.  He  was  born  at  Muncie.  Indiana.  July  2!tlli.  ISOO.  and.  at 
llio  a«i(-  of  twonty-one.  came  with  his  family  to  In(h>i.<Mi(lenr(^,  whero  he 
has  since  lived,  except  during  the  ten  years  he  was  in  the  practice  at 
Sedan. 

SELYIN  V.  MATTHEWS  was  born  at  Muncie,  Indiana,  on  Feb- 
ruary loth,  1858,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  Independence  in  May, 
1872,  and  has  since  resided  here.  His  sketch  appears  with  that  of  his 
father,  on  another  page  herein. 

WILLIAM  A.  MERKILL  was  born  in  Lafayette  county,  Missouri, 
August  22nd,  1861.  He  taught  school  in  Johnson  county,  Mo.,  and  there- 
after, in  October,  1897,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Warrensburg,  in  that 
state,  after  which  he  located  at  Caney,  where  he  has  since  practiced  his 
profession.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Montgomery  county  bar  at  the 
March,  1898,  term  of  court. 

J.  A.  MILLS  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county  in  August,  1872, 
but  never  afterward  engaged  in  the  practice  hei'e. 

J.  J.  MOON  was  admitted  to  practice  at  the  December,  1871,  term 
of  court,  but  did  not  jjraetice  law  here. 

YIN  W.  MOORE  was  born  in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  on  December 
9th,  1871,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm.  He  came  to  Kansas  with  his  par- 
ents in  October,  1883,  and  located  for  a  short  time  at  lola,  and  then 
moved  to  his  father's  farm  about  six  miles  southwest  of  lola,  where  he 
lived  'till  November,  1894,  when  he  settled  at  Coffeyville,  where  he  has 
since  resided  in  the  practice  of  the  law. 

S.  B.  MOORKlIorSE  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county  in  Oc- 
toboi',  1870,  but  never  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law. 

MICHAEL  McENIRY  was  born  in  Limerick,  Ireland,  in  1845.  He 
came  to  Kansas  in  the  late  6()'s  and  first  settled  on  a  claim  near  Hum- 
boldt, where  the  local  land  office  was  then  located. 

He  became  involved  in  a  contest  over  the  right  to  make  an  entry  of 
his  land  and  during  the  jtendency  of  the  litigation  over  the  dispute,  be- 
came familiar  with  the  law  pertaining  to  the  rights  of  settlers  on  the 
public  domain,  and  was  engaged  as  a  clerk  or  an  assistant  in  the  office 
of  Messrs.  Cates  &  Thurston,  who  had  a  large  business  trying  contest 
suits  and  loaning  money  to  settlers  to  pay  for  their  lands.  In  1871,  or 
1872,  ^Ir.  JIcEniry  moved  to  this  county  and  took  u]i  a  claim  about  two 
miles  east  of  the  city,  and  near  Morgan  City,  and  afterward  moved  to  In- 
dependence, where  he  actively  engaged  in  the  business  of  looking  after 
the  rights  of  disputants  in  contest  ca.ses  in  the  local  land  office  here.  He 
was  admitted  to  jiradice  law  by  the  District  Court  of  Montgomery 
county,  but  never  aclivciy  engaged  in  the  i)ractice  outside  of  office  work. 
After  his  admission  to  the  bar  he  repeatedly  served  as  police  judge  and 
justice  of  the  peace  in  I ti(lc[icn(h'nce,  during  the  time  he  resided  here. 
Early  in  the  8()'s  he  moved  to  Cotleyville  and  took  charge  of  the  Eldridge 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  227 

House  at  that  place,  and  for  several  years  owned  and  conducted  the  lead- 
ing hotel  (if  that  city.  While  at  Coffe.yville  he  filled  the  ofiQce  of  police 
judffi'  and  was  also  an  oflicer  and  stockholder  in  the  First  National  bank 
t  here. 

Some  ten  or  more  years  a<;o  Judge  MiEniry  sold  his  hotel  and  went 
to  Chicago  where  he  remained  a  short  time  and  then  to  Litchfield,  Il- 
linois, where  he  again  became  engaged  in  the  hotel  bu.siness.  He  after- 
ward left  Litchfield  and  returned  to  Chicago,  where  ho  now  resides.  The 
judge  was  a  most  genial,  free  hearted  and  comjianionablc  man,  and  made 
an  efficient  and  popular  ofiicer,  and  in  the  administration  of  the  duties 
of  the  judicial  offices  he  filled,  evinced  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  law  on 
such  questions  as  were  frequently  pi'esented  to  him. 

J.  H,  McVEAN  became  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county, 
in  its  infancy,  and  located  at  Elk  City,  where  he  practiced  law  for  about 
twelve  or  fifteen  years  and  died.  He  was  a  well  qualified  lawyer.  By 
nature  he  was  talented,  and,  before  his  admission  to  the  bar,  had  thor- 
oughly fitted  himself  to  enter  the  profession,  but  after  entering  his  pro- 
fessional career,  gradually  yielded  to  excesses  that  finally  resulted  in  his 
death. 

W  S.  JIcFEETERS  was  admitted  to  practice  law  at  the  first  term  of 
the  District  Court  ever  held  in  the  county,  in  May,  1870.  He  came  to  the 
county  before  its  organization,  and  located  at  Verdigris  City,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  active  men  in  the  efforts  to  locate  the  county  seat  east  of 
the  Verdigris.  He  was  a  bright,  energetic  young  man,  but  never  ap- 
peared in  the  courts  of  Montgomery  county  after  the  first  term  of  the 
District  Court.  During  the  summer  of  1870,  while  enroute  on  a  trip  to 
Fort  Scott,  then  the  neai-est  railroad  station,  he  claimed  and  took  charge 
of  a  team  of  mules  that  were  held  as  estrays  by  a  farmer  on  the  road 
and  took  them  to  Fort  Scott  and  sold  them.  It  afterward  transpired 
that  ihe  mules  belonged  to  a  Mr.  Ilargrave  (a  brother  of  Asa  Hargrave 
of  border  warfare  fame).  The  owner  set  on  foot  a  prosecution  against 
Mr.  JIcFeeters  which  resulted  in  his  conviction  of  grand  larceny  and  a 
sentence  to  the  penitentiary.  He  never  afterward  returned  to  the  countv. 
•  GEORGE  AY.  McCLELLAND  was  born  at  Nashville,  Illinois,  on 
May  18.  1855.  and  lived  there  till  1878,  where  his  time  was  spent  teaching 
and  attending  school.  His  education  was  completed  at  the  Southern  Il- 
linois Normal  School.  He  went  from  Illinois  to  Missouri  where  he  lived 
for  a  short  time,  during  which,  and  in  1880,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
at  Nevada.  Missouri.  The  next  year  he  moved  to  Kansas,  and  located  at 
Chanute.  He  was  afterward,  in  1881,  admitted  to  the  Labette  county  bar 
and  then  in  the  same  year  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  He  was 
afterward  located  at  Kinsley,  Kansas,  and  served  one  term  as  attorney 
for  that  city.  He  was  located  for  a  time  at  Oklahoma  City,  Oklahoma 
Territory,  during  the  exciting  times  of  its  earliest  settlement,  and  while 


228  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

there  served  as  police  judge,  and  in  th.at  oflBce  spent,  perhaps,  the  bus- 
iest period  of  his  life.  In  his  official  capacity  he  disposed  of  4,7.50  police 
court  cases,  and  on  one  occasion  fined  some  of  the  notorious  Daltons. 
McClelland  joined  the  Montgonierv  county  bar  in  189G  and  has  contin- 
uously pursued  the  practice  atCherryvale.  where  he  has  since  the  date  of 
his  location  there,  served  two  terms  as  attorney  for  that  city. 

W.  McWRKlHT  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montjiomery  county  at 
the  October.  1S70.  term  of  the  District  Court  on  the  certificate  of  his  ad- 
mission io  practice  in  Tlliiiois,  but  never  entered  the  i)ractice  in  the 
county. 

S.  F.  JIlcI>ERMOTT  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  ]\[ontgomery  county 
on  ]\Iarch  !l.  ISSO.  and  liM-atcd  in  the  practice  at  ( 'oH'eyville,  where  he  now 
resides. 

RET'BEN  NICHOLS  was,  on  the  certificate  of  his  admission  in  Il- 
linois, admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county,  at  the  October,  1870, 
term  of  the  District  Court,  and  shortly  afterward  located  in  Howard 
countA .  and  began  the  practice,  which  he  has  since  continued.  Howard 
county  was,  after  ]\Ir.  Nichols  went  there,  divided,  and  formed  into  two 
counties  (Elk  and  Chautauqua),  and  Ma'.  Nichols,  then  continued  the 
I)ractice  in  Elk  county.  His  practice  however  was  not  confined  to  that 
county,  but  for  years  extended  over  several  adjoining  counties.  He  has, 
during  his  long  career,  in  the  profession,  been  widely  known  as  a  promi- 
nent attorney. 

■I.  A.  ORR,  after  graduating  in  1894  from  the  legal  department  of 
the  University  of  Kansas,  joined  our  bar  and  practiced  here  a  short  time, 
when  he  located  at  ('(ilorado  Springs,  Colorado,  where  he  has  become 
prominent  in  the  ])rofcssion. 

WILLIAM  T.  O'CONNOR  became  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Montgom- 
ery county  about  ISSO,  and  was  in  the  practice  here  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  began  his  jirofessional  career  as  the  junior  partner  of  the  law 
firm  of  Hill  &  O'Connor  and  was  afterward  a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Stan- 
ford &  O'Connor  and,  later,  a  member  of  the  law  fii'm  of  Humphrey 
&  O'Connor.  Mr.  O'Connor  left  Indei)endence  in  the  80's  and  went 
west  where  he  engaged  in  other  pursuits. 

ROY  A.  OSRORN  was  born  at  Rock]>ort,  Missouri, November30,1874, 
and  resided  there  till  ISSd,  when  he  went  to  Ness  City,  Kansas,  where, 
after  staying  al)ont  five  months,  he  moved  to  Wakeeney,  Kansas,  and 
lived  there  until  ISIC',,  and  then  located  at  Salina,  Kansas,  where  he  prac- 
ticed law  a  short  time  and  then,  March  2,  1!)()1,  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Montgomery  county  bar.  located  at  Coft'eyville  and  has  since  pursued 
his  i)rofession  at   (hat  ])lace. 

.Mr.  Osborn  was  a  student  at  the  T'nivcrsity  of  Kansas  from  which 
he  was  gradiiatrtl  in  (lie  .\radcniii-  D('i)artment  in  ]S'.»7.  and  in  the  law 
dciiai  illicit    ill    l!t()(l,  and.  on  -Innc  7.   I'.MIO,  lie  was  adiiii((ci!   (o  i.iMc(ic!^ 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY;  KANSAS.  229 

"by  tlio  District  Court  of  Douglas  county  and  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State. 

JUDGE  S.  J.  OSBORX  was  born  at  Eaton,  Preble  county,  Ohio, 
and  afterward  moved  to  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa,  where  his  time,  was,  for 
a  number  of  years,  taken  up  in  manual  labor  and  teaching  school. 

In  September.  1872,  he.  having  studied  law  and  qualified  himself 
to  practice,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Rockport,  Atchison  county,  Mis- 
souri. In  .lanuary.  ISSd.  he  became  a  member  of  the  bar  at  Larned, 
Pawnee  county,  Kan.sas.  and  in  the  same  year  located  in  the  practice  at 
Wakeeny,  Trego  county,  Kansas,  and  soon  after  became  county  attor- 
ney for  the  county.  He  resided  in  Trego  county  till  he  moved  to  Salina, 
Kansas,  about  February,  1895,  and  entered  the  practice  there  in  part- 
nership with  T.  L.  Bond,  which  he  continued  until  he  located  at  Coffey- 
ville  in  1902,  where  he  has  since  pursued  his  profession,  as  a  member  of 
the  law  firm  of  Dooley  &  Osborn. 

AVhile  living  at  Wakeeny,  Mr.  Osborn  represented  his  county  in  the 
Legislature  of  the  State,  in  1885  and  1886,  and  in  the  latter  year,  was  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  .John  A.  Martin,  judge  of  the  newly  created  Dis- 
trict Court,  of  the  Twenty-third  Judicial  District,  comprising  thecounties 
of  Rush,  Ness,  Ellis  and  Trego  and  the  unorganized  counties  of  Gove,  St. 
John.  Wallace,  Lane,  Scott,  Wichita  and  Greely.  At  the  end  of  his  term 
of  appointment,  the  judge  served  two  consecutive  full  terms  in  the  same 
office,  he  having  been  twice  elected  thereto.  While  living  at  Salina, 
he  rejtresented  Saline  county  in  the  Lower  House  of  the  Kansas  Legisla- 
ture in  ISii!).  and  was  elected  Speaker  of  that  body. 

JOHN  Q.  PAGl]  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county  in 
1871  on  the  certificate  of  his  a<lmission  to  piactice  in  the  Circuit  Courts  of 
the  State  of  Jlissouri. 

When  he  was  admitted  here  he  was  in  the  banking  business  at  the 
site  of  the  present  First  National  Bank  in  Independence.  He  never  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  law.  but  less  than  two  years  after  his  admission 
to  the  bar  here,  became,  for  a  brief  time,  famous  on  account  of  his  sup- 
posed connection  with  the  York-Pomeroy  embroglio,  early  in  1873.  His 
name  became  connected  with  that  exciting  affair,  by  one  of  the  defenses 
urged  by  Mr.  Pomeroy  against  the  charge  of  attempted  bribery,  in  the 
assertion  that  the  money  was  paid  to  Senator  York  to  be  turned  over  to 
Mr.  Page  for  investment  in  loans  at  the  high  rates  of  interest  then  pre- 
vailing in  the  country.  The  soundness  of  this  portion  of  Mr.  Pomeroy's 
defense  was  never  conclusively  determined  and  was  generally  doubted, 
although  Mr.  Page  it  was  thought,  was  inclined  to  support  it.  ilr.  Page 
quit  the  banking  business  and  left  Indejieudence  in  a  short  time  after  the 
defeat  of  Mr.  Pomeroy. 

ALZAMGX  M.  PARSONS  was  born  at  Effingham,  Illinois,  on  May 
IS.   18.":S.     He  afterward  lived  in   Davenport.   Iowa,   until  about  thirty 


230  HISTORY  OF   MONTt.OMKRY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

years  of  age,  when  he  came  to  Kansas  and  taught  school  and  farmed 
till  March  6,  1897,  when  he  was  admitted  to  practice  by  the  District 
Conrt  of  Montgomery  county.  8ince  his  admission  nio.st  of  his  time  has 
been  devoted  to  the  practice  although  he  has  taught  school  at  times. 

Mr.  Parsons,  since  locating  in  The  practice  at  Caney,  has  filled  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace  two  terms  and  also  that  of  police  judge  twa 
terms. 

P..  F.  PARKiS  came  to  Independence  from  or  near  Chicago,  Illi- 
nois, late  in  the  70"s  and  entered  the  i)ractice  of  law  here  but  did  not  con- 
tinue in  the  business  here  longer  than  about  one  year.  Judge  Parks,  as 
he  was  called,  was  a  very  aggressive  practitioner  and  was  gifted  with: 
unusual  oratorical  ability  and  possessed  a  good  knowledge  of  the  law. 

THOMAS  W.  PEACOCK  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county  at 
the  August.  1872.  term  of  the  District  Court  and  remained  in  the  county 
a  number  of  years,  afterward  as  editor  and  proprietor  of  a  weekly  news- 
paper, and  then  moved  to  Topeka  where  he  pursued  the  same  vocation. 
He  never  practiced  law  here. 

GEORGE  R.  PECK  was  admitted  to  practice  in  Montgomery  county 
on  April  3,  1872.  His  long  and  brilliant  career  since  then,  on  the  highest 
planes  in  the  profession,  and  the  great  number  of  signal  triumphs  he  has 
won  in  the  practice,  easily  mark  him  as  our  most  distinguished  lawyer. 

A  just  history  of  Mr.  Peck  would  contain  an  account  of  these,  but 
the  limited  space  allotted  to  this  article  forbids  efforts  to  enter  upon 
such  a  ])leasant  undertaking.  Inasmuch  as  the  present  purpose  is  to 
-v\-rite  more  particularly  of  those  matters  that  pertain  to  the  county — 
and  ihat  in  a  narrow  space — we  find  sojue  excuse  for  eliminating  much 
that  would  be  interesting  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Peck  after  he  left  here.  A 
true  history  would  also  include  events  outside  of  his  profession,  as  he 
is  not  only  a  profound  lawyer  but  a  ripe  scholar  and  a  magnificent  ora- 
tor. The  many  classic  orations  he  has  delivered  to  cultured  audiences, 
furnish  proof  of  the  fact  that  he  is  a  man  of  eminence  in  arenas  outside 
of  his  professional  life. 

He  practiced  less  than  two  years  at  the  Mbntgoincry  county  bar  and 
he  often  says.  ili;it  l.iid'  jieriod  covers  the  happiest  days  of  his  life. 
While  he  wiis  t.-riijicl  witli  life  in  a  new  country,  which  he  now  says 
is  ''one  of  tlic  iznnicsi  .liarms  of  human  life."'  by  his  genial  disposition 
and  captivating  social  iiualities,  he  always  made  time  pass  pleasantly 
to  the  comj)anions  of  his  young  manhood;  and  now.  after  a  lapse  of  thir- 
ty years  or  more,  many  easily  recall  the  pleasant  hours  spent  in  his  com- 
pany. This  was  the  social  side  of  Mr.  Peck  during  his  short  professional 
sojourn  here  and  while,  in  history,  it  may  become  paled  in  the  light  of 
such  achievements  as  lead  to  enduring  fame,  it  should  ever  be  accorded  a 
place. 

Before  he  had  been  in  Kansas  two  months,  he  wrtjte  to  a  home  pa- 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY',  KANSAS.  23  I 

per  in  Wisconsin  (Janesville  Gazette,  January  18,  1872),  "There  is  no 
cliance  for  sleigh  riding,  but  if  one  is  fond  of  mud,  he  can  be  accommo- 
dated. Tastes  differ,  but  with  tlie  little  experience  I  have  had,  I  must 
say  that  I  had  rather  put  up  with  the  mud  here  than  the  intense  cold  in 
Wisconsin.  •  »  •  There  is  only  one  way  in  which  you  can  arrive 
at  a  decision  of  the  vexed  question  whether  'tis  nobler  in  the  mind  to 
suffer  the  slings  and  arrows  of  an  eight-months  winter  in  the  north  or 
a  sh(M-t  winter  here,  and  that  is  by  trying  it."  A  few  years  later,  during 
the  destructive  drought,  there  was  but  little,  if  any,  difference  in  his  opin« 
ion  or  the  mud  question  in  Kansas;  as  more  mud  was  "a  consummation 
devoutly  wished"  from  early  in  the  summer  of  1874,  till  late  in  the  win- 
ter of  1875. 

Mr.  Peck  was  born  in  Cameron,  Steuben  county,  !N^ew  York,  on 
May  15.  1843.  He  was  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  ten  children.  When 
about  six  years  old  he  moved  to  Palmyra,  Wisconsin,  with  his  parents, 
who  settled  there  on  a  farm,  on  which  Mr.  Peck  spent  his  time  until  he 
was  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  teaching  and  attending  the  local  schools. 
When  about  seventeen  years  old  he  entered,  as  a  student,  Milton  College 
in  Wisconsin,  where  he  remained  three  terms,  during  which  he  spent  hia 
vacations  teaching. 

He  had  intended  to  enter  an  eastern  college  and  complete  his  edu- 
cation, but  under  the  call  of  President  Lincoln,  for  300,000  more  volun- 
teers, he  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  First  Wisconsin  Heavy  Artillery, 
in  which  he  served  three  months  and  was  then  commissioned  first  lieu- 
tenant of  Company  '-K,"  Thirty-first  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
afterward,  in  June,  1864,  was  promoted  to  the  captaincy  of  the  same  com- 
pany, and  served  in  that  capacity  until  he  was  mustered  out  in  July, 
186.5.  He  then  returned  to  Wisconsin  and  studied  law  in  the  office  of 
Hon.  Charles  (J.  Williams,  of  Janesville.  On  February  15,  186().  he  was 
admitied  to  practice  by  the  Circuit  Court  of  Rock  county,  Wisconsin, 
and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  was  elected  clerk  of  the  same  court,  in 
which  office  he  served  from  January  1,  1867,  to  January  1,  1869.  At  the 
expiration  of  his  term  of  office  he  entered  the  practice  at  Janesville, 
which  he  continued  until  he  moved  to  Kansas  in  1871 — reaching  Inde- 
pendence in  December  of  that  year,  by  stage  from  Cherryvale.  On  his 
way  from  Lawrence  he  met  Edgar  Hull,  then  on  his  way  to  open  a  bank 
at  Indejiendence.  and  arranged  to  become  the  attorney  for  the  contem- 
plated financial  institution.  After  his  arrival  at  Independence,  he  at 
first  went  into  the  office  of  W.  H.  Watkins,  probate  judge  of  the  county, 
and  at  once  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  Kansas  Statutes  and  de- 
cisions, which  he  continued  for  a  month  or  more,  when  his  friend  and  fu- 
ture partner.  Oeorge  Chandler,  joined  him.  Mr.  Peck  and  Mr.  Chandler 
then  fornsed  the  well-remembered  law  firm  of  Peck  &  Chandler,  and 
opened  an  office  over  Page's  Bank  on  the  corenr  of  Pennsvlvania  avenue 


232  HISTORY  OF  JIONTGOMKKY  COl'NTY,  KANSAS. 

Mild  Main  stiwt.  at  the  present  site  of  the  First  National  Bank,  and  this 
tinn  a*  uncc  ac(niired  a  lucrative  jn-actice. 

Karly  in  1873,  Jlessrs.  Peck  &  Chandler  purchased  a  lot  on  North 
Penusylvania  avenue,  and  erected  a  twostory  brick  building  thereon  and 
occupied  the  second  story  as  law  oftices,  until  January,  1874,  when  Mr. 
Peck  retired  from  the  firm  and  moved  to  Topeka  to  assume  the  duties  of 
United  States  attorney  for  the  District  of  Kansas,  to  which  oflSce  he  had 
been  appointed  by  President  Grant. 

On  locating  at  Topeka  he  went  into  partnership  with  Hon.  Thomas 
Ryan,  a  former  United  States  Attorney  and  afterward  a  member  of 
Congress  and  Minister  to  Mexico  and  now  First  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Interior.  This  firm,  under  the  style  of  Peck  &  Ryan,  did  a  large 
general  practice  during  the  six  years  Mr.  Peck  served  as  United  States 
Attorney — he  having  been  appointed  as  his  own  successor  by  President 
Hayes,  and  after  serving  two  years  on  his  second  term,  resigned  the  of- 
fice to  devote  his  entire  time  to  the  general  practice. 

During  his  term  of  office  and  for  several  years  after,  he  had  been 
employed  as  attorney  for  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railway  Com- 
pany, and,  in  May,  isSl,  was  appointed  general  solicitor  for  it.  He  held 
this"  responsible  position  most  of  the  time  until  1803,  when  he  moved  to 
Chicago  and  continued  in  the  same  office  till  September,  1895,  when  he 
resigned  to  accept  the  position  of  general  counsel  of  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul  Railway  Company,  which  high  office  in  railroad  cir- 
cles he  has  held  since  that  date. 

Mr.  Peck  was  by  nature  endowed  with  extraordinary  mental  force, 
and  is  a  man  of  extensive  information  acquired  from  reading  the  works  of 
the  best  authors.  He  is  a  "born  leader"  in  any  walk  in  life  he  may  be 
placed.  While  at  Independence  he  was  at  the  head  of  our  young  bar  and 
has,  so  far.  wherever  located,  maintained  the  same  ascendency. 

When  he  l^ecaine  United  States  Attorney  in  Kansas  he  was  about 
thirty  years  of  age  and  was  without  experience  in  the  practice  in  the 
Federal  Courts,  and  a  comparative  stranger  to  many  of  the  lawyers  who 
controlled  the  practice  of  those  courts.  These  attorneys,  for  the  most 
part,  lived  in  the  large  towns  along  the  Kaw  and  Missouri  rivers,  where 
the  State  was  first  pojjnlated,  and  they  distrusted  Mr.  Peck's  ability  to 
acquit  himself  creditably  in  the  important  office  to  which  he  had  been  ele- 
vated from  the  obscure  bar  recently  created  on  a  late  Indian  reservation. 
His  first  case  in  the  Unites  States  Court  was  against  one  Holmes  who 
was  charged  in  forty-two  counts,  with  opening  registered  letters  and  oth- 
er malfeasance  in  office,  and  defended  by  such  eminent  criminal  lawyers 
as  Thomas  Fenlon,  .1.  W.  Taylor  and  Albert  H.  Horton.  Mr.  Peck  con- 
cluded the  nrgnnients  in  a  close,  able  and  logical  address  of  one  and  one- 
half  lionrs.  and  easily  convici.Hl  the  defendant  and  dispelled  from  the 
minds  of  tlKPSc  who  lic.iid  him  all  doubts  of  his  ability  to  fill  the  office. 


HISTORY  or  MONTUO.MEnV  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  233 

Aliiml  ;i  year  after,  ho  was  associated  with  such  ronowncd  lawyers 
as  .!(  !i'iiiiali  S.  Black  and  William  Lawi-ence.  and  opposed  liy  (!coi-<j;e  F. 
I'.diiHinds  and  P.  IMiillijJS  in  two  cases  i)ending  in  the  Suinenie  Court  of 
I  he  I'liited  States,  involving  the  title  to  many  valuable  tracts  of  land 
on  the  Osafie  Oded  Lands  in  Kansas:  and  as  some  of  these  were  located 
in  this  county,  a  short  review  of  the  history  of  one  of  the  eases  may,  prop- 
erly, lie  hietly  noted  here. 

One  June  2.  1825.  by  treaty,  certain  lands  were  reserved  to  the  great 
and  little  tribes  of  Osage  Indians  which  included  a  strip  about  three 
miles  wide,  now  on  the  east  border  of  ifontgomery  county.  On  March  3, 
1863,  Congress  ceded  to  the  State  from  the  public  lands  therein,  alter- 
nate sections  designated  by  odd  nundjers.  to  be  used  to  secure  the  con- 
struction of  railways  within  her  borders.  On  February  9,  1804,  the  State 
by  an  act  of  its  Legislature,  accepted  the  grant  so  made  by  Congress  and 
tendered  a  portion  of  such  lands  to  the  Leavenworth,  Lawrence  &  Fort 
Oibson  Kailroad  Conipay  to  induce  it  to  build  a  line  of  road  as  provided 
in  the  act. 

On  September  29,  18C5,  by  treaty  with  the  said  tribes  of  Indians 
they  ceded  a  portion  of  their  reservation  (including  said  strij)  on  the 
east  border  of  Montgomery  county)  to  the  t'nited  States. 

In  1870  and  1871,  The  Leavenworth.  Lawrence  c&  Galveston  Railroad 
Company — the  name  of  the  company  having  been  changed  by  an  act  of 
the  Legislature,  passed  February  24.  1806 — constructed  a  line  of  I'ailroad 
through  a  jiortion  of  the  Osage  Ceded  Lands  and  claimed  the  odd-number- 
ed sections  within  the  ten-mile  limit,  and  secured  a  patent  to  the  same. 

A  suit  was  instituted  by  the  United  States  in  its  Circuit  Court  in 
Kansas  to  vacate  such  patents  on  the  ground  that  no  portion  of  the 
lands  included  in  the  Osage  Ceded  Lands  was  intended  by  Congress  in  the 
act  of  March  3.  1803,  to  be  embraced  in  the  grant  to  the  State,  for  the 
reason,  among  others,  that  Congress  could  not  or  would  not  donate 
lands  to  which  the  title  of  the  Indians  had  not  been  extinguished. 

The  T'nited  States  was  successful  in  the  Circuit  Court,  and  the 
railroads  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court,  where  some  of  the  best  legal 
talent  in  the  Union  was  engaged,  and  the  cases  vigorously  contested  on 
every  feature,  and  the  decree  of  the  Circuit  Court  affirmed.  Mr.  Peck 
wrote  an  elaborate  brief,  which  was  a  remarkable  alignment  for  one  so 
young  and  of  such  limited  experience  in  the  courts  of  last  i-esort.  In  it 
the  issues  were  clearly  set  forth,  the  authorities  aptly  and  succinctly 
cited  and  applied,  and  his  logic  unanswerable.  This  able  brief  ended  on 
the  33rd,  and  last  page  in  this  language:  "I  can  only  look  upon  the  claim 
of  the  railroads  to  these  lands,  as  a  flagrant  attempt  to  secure  a  magnifi- 
cent domain  by  the  mere  force  of  incorporated  audacity.  It  is  not  the 
United  States  alone  which  is  interested  in  resisting  these  pretensions; 
other  rights  are  involved.     These  lands  are  thickly  settled  by  a  people 


234  IIISTOUV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

Avho  canie  uiioii  tliciii.  not  as  trespassers,  but  invited  by  their  govern- 
ment. Tliese  are  their  homes."  Perhaps  nothing  ever  gave  Mr.  Peck 
more  i)leasiire  than  to  hear  his  brief  complimented  bv  one  of  the  very 
first  lawyers  in  the  Union — Jeremiah  S.  Black — who  adopted  Mr.  Peck's 
theory  on  all  the  questions  involved.  He  and  his  friends  as  well  as  the 
settlers  on  the  disputed  lands,  were  rejoiced  at  the  great  victory  he  won 
in  the  case. 

The  many  other  brilliant  achievements  of  Mr.  Pe(k  at  the  bar  have 
no  particular  significaiice  to  ]\Iontgomery  county  and  for  that  reason  I 
refrain  from  furtlier  following  him  in  them. 

I.-i  the  practice  he  was  quick,  accurate  and  profound.  He  «;eemed 
to  possess  an  intuitive  faculty  of  at  once  grasping  and  solving  the  most 
intricate  legal  problems,  and  the  power  of  elucidation.  These  qualities 
have  long  been  recognized  by  many  of  the  greatest  corporations  in  the 
TTnicn,  and  have  kept  him  in  enviable  ]>rofessional  employment  for  near- 
ly a  quarter  of  a  century.  While  he  has  occasionally  edifled  the  most  ex- 
acting audiences  with  his  almost  matchless  oratory,  his  life  has  been  de- 
voted to  the  duties  of  his  profession.  He  has  ever  evinced  a  keen  interest 
in  politics,  yet  has  never  sought  a  public  office,  and  on  one  occasion  de 
clined  to  accept  a  seat  in  the  T'nited  i?tates  Senate,  which  was  uncondi- 
tionally tendered  him;  and  on  another,  resigned  from  an  important  of- 
fice as  before  stated. 

Ii  is  a  pleasing  feature  in  [Mir.  Peck's  career,  to  think  of  him  in  1873 
using  the  poetry  of  Shakespeare  in  describing  to  his  old  friends  in 
-Tanesville  the  mud  and  climatic  conditions  of  his  new  home;  and  to  see 
him  thirty  years  after,  at  the  head  of  the  legal  department  of  a  great 
railwa.^  corporation  that  is  being  ojicrated  where  "the  slings  and  arrows 
of  an  eight-months'  winter''  i)rcvnil.  This  railroad  company  is  operating 
nearly  7,000  miles  of  road,  and  in  1002,  its  gross  earnings  were  over 
forty-five  millions  of  dollars. 

(^OL.  CHARLES  J.  PECKHAM  became  a  member  of  the  bar  of 
Montgomery  county  about  1871.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn, 
the  Colonel  was  born  in  one  of  the  New  England  States  perhaps  in 
the  .30's.  When  a  boy  he  spent  two  years  on  the  seas  as  a  common  sai- 
lor and  afterward  enlisted  in  the  Union  Army  where,  during  the  Civil 
War,  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  Illinois.  After  practicing  some  eight  years  in  this  county  he 
moved  to  Sedan  about  1878  and  a  few  years  later  to  Winfield  and  then, 
during  the  OO's,  he  went  to  Oklahoma  where  he  died  a  few  years  ago. 
Col.  Peckham  was  recognized  by  the  members  of  the  bar  wherever  he 
practiced  as  a  very  fine  lawyer,  and  during  the  time  he  practiced  here 
stood  in  the  front  ranks  at  the  bar. 

WILLIAM  A.  PEFFER  was  a  practitioner  at  our  bar  for  about  six 
jears,  from  1875  to  1881.    During  this  time,  however,  his  time  was  mostly 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  235 

takpn  up  in  other  pursuits,  and  lie  never  liei  anie  ()rominent  in  the  pro- 
fession. From  his  other  achievements  during  his  aitive  and  industrious 
life,  he  has  fairly  won  a  jilace  amon^  the  distiniiuished  members  of  our 
har. 

lie  was  l)i)ni  in  ( 'unilperlaml  eounty.  Pennsylvania,  on  September 
10.  l,'^:!!.  and  resided  there  till  lS.-;3.  when  he  located  in  ISt.  Joseph  coun- 
ty, Indiana,  where  he  remained  till  IS."!),  when  he  moved  to  Morgan 
county.  Missouri,  and  stayed  there  till  ISOl. 

In  18()2.  he  settled  in  Warren  county.  Illinois,  and  while  living 
there,  and  on  August  G,  1862.  enlisted  in  the  Union  Army  and  became  a 
member  of  Company  F,  Eighty-third  lUinos  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  re- 
mained in  the  service  till  he  was  mustered  out  on  June  26.186.5.  Beforeen- 
tering  the  army  Jlr.  Peft'er's  life  was  silent  working  on  a  farm,  attending 
and  teaching  school,  and  after  leaving  the  military  service  he  settled  at 
Clarksville.  Tennessee,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  practiced 
law  till  in  1869.  He  then,  in  1870,  located  in  Wilson  county,  Kansas, 
where  he  divided  his  time,  till  187.5.  in  practicing  law  and  editing  and  pub- 
lishing The  Fredouia  Journal,  a  weekly  newspaper  devoted  to  the  Repub- 
lican party  doctrines.  In  1875  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  as  a 
Representative  for  Wilson  and  Montgomery  counties,  and  located  at  Cof- 
feyville  where,  during  his  term  of  oftice  in  the  Senate,  he  practiced  law 
aiid  edited  and  published  the  Cotfeyville  Journal  from  1875  to  1881,  ex- 
cept during  the  "close  times"  that  prevailed  in  1878,  when  he  quit  the  law 
and  1  aught  a  district  school  in  Liberty  township.  In  1881  Mr.  Peflfer 
moved  to  Topeka  where  he  edited  the  Kansas  Farmer  till  1890,  meanwhile 
assisting  in  the  editorial  department  of  the  Topeka  Daily  Capital.  In 
the  fall  of  1S90.  he  became  a  i>owerful  leader  in  the  populist  party  which 
elected  a  majority  to  the  Legislature  and  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the 
State  in  the  United  States  Senate  for  six  years. 

After  his  retirement  from  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  he  de- 
voted much  of  his  time  to  literary  work,  and  to  publishing  the  Topeka 
Advocate  during  1897.  He  is  now.  at  the  age  of  72  years,  actively  engaged 
in  perhaps  the  most  important  work  of  his  life,  and  that  is  the  preparation 
of  a  complete  index,  by  subjects,  to  the  discussions  in  Congress  from  the 
beginning  of  1789  to  1902  inclusive,  which  work  was  authorized  by  an  act 
of  Congress.  For  the  most  part.  Senator  Peft'er's  life,  after  leaving  the 
army,  has  been  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  the  public  questions  that 
have  from  time  to  time  agitated  the  public  mind;  and  his  writings  on 
these  subjects  have  shown  deep  thought  and  have  been  trenchant  and  ef- 
fective. While  in  the  United  States  Senate  he  evinced  a  marvelous 
knowledge  of  statistics  and  figures  and  was  a  recognized  authority  by 
even  those  who  did  not  agi-ee  with  him  in  their  application. 

JUDGE  LUTHER  PERKINS  was  born  in  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts, on  April  25.  1814,  and  lived  there  and  at  Chicago  before  locating  in 


236  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

('(illVvvillc.  Kansas,  about  thirty-three  .years  ago.  He  graduated  at  the 
IJostou  Law  School  in  his  native  city  in  June.  18G4.  but  never  became  a 
lueniljcr  of  tlie  bar  of  Montgomery  county  until  June  20.  1895.  Since  lo- 
catinp-  at  Coffey ville  he  has  always  been  one  of  the  prominent  men  of  that 
city,  and  has  spent  his  life  in  loaning  money  and  dealing  in  real  estate 
on  his  own  account  and  as  agent  for  others.  Before  his  admission  to 
the  bar  he  did  considerable  of  that  charactei'  of  business  that  belongs  to 
the  legal  profession — such  as  drafting  ]>ai)ers.  examining  abstracts  of 
title,  rendering  advice  on  legal  problems,  etc,  and  did  some  prac- 
tice in  the  justice  and  police  courts. 

Since  his  admission  he  has  not  engaged  in  the  practice  extensively, 
as  his  time  has  been  fully  taken  up  with  his  personal  affairs  and  in  ful- 
filling the  duties  of  the  office  of  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Coffeyville,  to 
whicli  he  was  elected  about  one  vear  ago. 

SAXFORD  H.  PETTIBONE  was  born  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  De 
cember  13,  1848.  In  September.  1802,  when  less  than  fourteen  years  of 
age,  he  enlisted  in  Company  "D,"  Thirty-third  Illinois  Volunteer  Infant- 
ry. While  in  the  army  he  lost  both  legs  in  a  railroad  wreck  at  Butte, 
Louisiana,  and  afterward  remained  in  a  hospital  at  New  Orleans  until 
July,  18()5,  when  he  was  taken  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  Missouri,  where 
he  wan  discharged  August  4,  following. 

In  18(17,  he  entered  the  Illinois  Soldiers'  College  at  Fulton  and  was 
graduated  tlicrefiom  in  1871,  and  then  read  law  in  the  office  of  Judge 
('rook  u1  Spiiiigfield,  Illinois.  In  July.  1872,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  Illinois  and  in  the  same  year  located  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  in  Mcl'herson  County,  Kansas,  being  the  first  at- 
torney to  settle  in  that  county.  In  February,  1877,  he  returned  to  Illi- 
nois and  practiced  at  Vandalia  until  1881,  when  he  returned  to  Kansas 
and  locatiMl  in  the  practice  at  Independence  as  the  junior  member  of  the 
firm  ol  Hill  &  Pettiboue,  which  he  continued  till  about  1887,  when  he  lo- 
cated at  Kansas  City,  where  he  pursued  his  profession  for  a  number  of 
years  and  then  moved  to  the  South. 

SlOTir  ir.  PIPER  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and  has  since  been  in  the  active  practice  of 
the  law.  He  was  born  in  Shelby  county,  Indiana,  May  4,  18G8,  and  resid- 
ed there  till  1878  when  he  went  with  his  parents  to  Champagne,  Illinois, 
where  he  spent  about  three  years,  and  then,  in  1881,  moved  on  a  farm 
in  ]\Iontgoniery  county,  Kansas.  He  worked  on  this  farm  till  he  was 
nineteen  years  old  when  he  engaged  as  a  clerk  in  a  store  and  read  law  for 
two  years  before  his  successful  api)licatiou  for  admission  to  practice. 

After  becoming  a  member  of  the  bar  he  at  once  located  at  Elk  City 
in  the  practice,  which  he  pursued  there  until  he  moved  to  Independence 
on  January  1,  ItlOO.  While  living  at  Elk  City.  Mr.  Piper  filled  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  the  public  these  offices:  member  of  the  school  board  three 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  237 

years,  city  altoniey  of  Elk  City  from  January,  1890,  to  July  189G,  mayor 
of  the  city  two  terms  and  dejiuty  county  attorney  for  four  years;  and 
since  locating  at  Independence  he  has  served  as  deputy  county  attorney 
for  eighteen  months  and  is  now  serving  as  city  attorney  of  lndei)eiidence, 
to  which  office  he  was  appointed  May,  1903. 

Tie  is  now  in  the  active  practice  in  partnership  with  O.  P.  Ergen- 
brighr  under  the  firm  name  of  Ergenbright  &  Piper. 

SAMIEL  M:.  porter  was  born  at  Walled  Lake,  Oakland  county, 
Michigan,  on  December  14,  1849.  and  lived  there  on  his  father's  farm 
till  he  entered  the  law  department  of  the  University  of  Michigan  at  Ann 
Arbor,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1874.  He  had,  before  entering  the 
university,  taken  a  literary  course  at  Hillsdale  College,  Hillsdale,  Michi- 
gan, and  had  also,  before  graduating  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  on  August  20, 
1873,  been  admitted  to  the  bar  by  the  Circuit  Court  of  Alpena  Co.,  Michi- 
gan, and  at  that  ])lace  actively  pursued  his  pi-ofession  for  several  years. 
He  then  came  to  Montgomery  county,  and,  in  March,  1881,  was  admitted 
as  a  member  of  its  bar  and  has  since  continued  in  the  general  practice 
in  the  county. 

AVhile  at  East  Saginaw.  Mr.  Porter  served  as  alderman  for  two 
years  and  Judge  of  the  Recorder's  (Criminal)  Court  of  the  city  for  one 
year. 

For  several  years,  in  addition  to  his  jiractice.  Mr.  Porter  has  lent  his 
energies  to  the  promotion  and  building  of  a  line  of  railroad  from  Caney, 
south  to  Bartlesville  and  is  now  successfully  promoting  the  development 
of  a  coal  field  in  the  Indian  Territory,  and  other  important  enterprises. 

GEORGE  W.  PURCELL  was  born  in  Saline  county,  ]\Iissouri,  about 
fifty  years  ago.  and  when  about  grown  pursued  farming  and  teaching, 
till  about  189.5,  when  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county 
and  entered  the  practice  at  Caney.  which  he  pursued  about  three  years 
and  then  located  at  Baitlesville.  Indian  Territory,  where  he  practiced 
about  two  years  and  then  moved  to  Gray  Horse,  Indian  Territory,  where 
he  now  resides  pursuing  his  profession. 

JOSEPH  P.  ROSSITER  was  born  at  Norristown,  Pennsylvania,  on 
September  20,  18G9.  Ht  spent  his  childhood  at  Girard.  Pennsylvania, 
and  graduated  at  the  State  School  at  Edinbcro,  in  the  same  State  in 
1890.  He  was  principal  of  several  different  schools,  the  last  being  one  of 
the  ward  schools  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  Illinois.  He  also  has  worked 
at  life  insurance  and  been  connected  with  building  and  loan  associations. 

He  was  admitted  to  ihe  bar  of  Montgomery  county  on  June  28, 
1898,  and  at  once  located  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Coflfeyville 
and  has  since  devoted  his  time  exclusively  and  successfully  to  profession- 
al work  at  that  city. 

THOM.VS  S.   SAEATHIEL  was  born  at  Lawrence,     in     Douglas 


238  IIISTOUV  OF  MOXTGOXIERV  COUNTY.  KAXSAS. 

coiiiitv.  K;ms:is,  in  Oclober.  18GG,  and  a  sketch  of  liis  life  and  family 
genealoiiy  is  inesented  in  another  place  in  this  volume. 

CAPTAIN  HOWARD  A.  SCOTT  was  born  near  I'arker's  Landing 
in  I>ntler  connt\.  Tenusylvania,  on  Ai)ril  7,  1873,  and  lived  there  till  Sep- 
tember 24.  iss:i.  when  he  moved  with  his  parents  to  Neodesha,  Kansas, 
where  Ihey  s)ient  about  six  months,  and  then  settled  on  a  farm  in  Syca 
more  townshij)  in  ^Montgomery  county,  where  Mr.  Scott  remained, 
working  on  his  father's  farm  until  he  was  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  of 
age.  He  then  attended  the  high  school  at  Neodesha,  Kansas,  and  after- 
ward look  a  business  course  in  a  college  at  Kansas  City,  Missouri.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Wilson  county,  by  the  District  Court  in  Sep- 
tend)er,  1897.  and  to  the  bar  of  this  county  in  January,  1898,  after  hav- 
ing read  law  with  Hon.  T.  J.  Hudson  of  Fredonia,  Kansas,  and  after 
having  attended  a  course  of  lectures  delivered  at  Kansas  City,  IMissouri, 
by  the  leading  lawyers  of  that  place.  Before  becoming  a  member  of  the 
bar.  Cu]>tain  Scott  had  taught  four  terms  of  school  in  this  county.  At 
tirst  he  held  a  third-grade  certificate,  then  a  second  and  finally  a  first 
grade.  .Vfter  his  admission  to  the  bar,  he  at  once  entered  the  practice  at 
Independence,  Kansas,  and  continued  in  it  luitil  May  3,  1808,  when  he 
enlisted  in  Company  "G,"  Twentieth  Kansas  Volunteers,  and  entered  the 
Spanish-American  War,  and  spent  eighteen  months  in  active  military 
life.  At  the  organization  of  his  company  he  was  elected  first  lieutenant, 
and  en  February  12,  1899,  was  promoted  to  the  office  of  captain  and  as- 
signed to  the  command  of  Company  "A"  in  the  same  regiment  and  on 
^larch  1.  1899.  was  transferred  to  the  command  of  Company  "G." 

During  his  term  in  the  army  he  served  in  threegeneral  courts  martial, 
one  in  San  Francisco,  California,  one  in  JIololos,  Philippine  Islands,  and 
anotlier  in  the  city  of  ^M^anila,  Philippine  Islands,  in  which  last  two  he 
l»resided  over  the  courts.  The  court  in  Malolos  was  held  in  a  cathedral 
that  had  just  previously  been  occupied  by  the  Filipino  National  Con- 
gress. 

He  was  also  several  times  detailed  to  defend  parties  on  trial  before 
courts  martial  and  served  in  the  Philii>pines  on  Colonel  Fuuston's  staff 
as  ordnance  officer. 

On  his  return  from  the  war,  and  in  the  fall  of  1S99,  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  his  profession  at  Independence  in  which  he  has  continued  to 
the  i)resent  time,  and  is  now  deputy  county  attorney  under  M'ayo  Thom- 
as. 

He  was  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  judge  of  the  Fourteenth  Judicial 
Distiici  at  the  Xovendier.  1902,  election  and  was  defeated  by  Judge  Flan- 
iiely,  liic  present  incundjent. 

JOHN  :\I.  SCT'DDER  was  one  of  the  pioneer  mend.ers  of  the  bar 
of  .Montgomery  county.  He  came  from  Tennessee  in  the  (Id's  and  first  lo- 
cated in  Douglas  county,  and  in  18G9  or  1870,  came  to  this  countv,  where 


III8T0UY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  239 

he  first  settled  ;it  Westiiilia  or  Tarker.  He  shortly  after  moved  to  Cof- 
fe.vville.  wlicre  for  tliree  or  four  years  he  did  an  extensive  and  profitable 
])rofessional  Inisiiiess.  In  1873,  he  was  a  candidate  for  Judge  of  the  Elev- 
enth Judicial  District  and  was  beaten  in  the  race  by  Judge  B.  W.  Per- 
kins and  a  few  months  later  moved  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  where  he  prac- 
ticed for  a  short  time  and  then  located  at  Virginia  City,  Illinois,  where 
he  died  about  1S77.  Mr.  Scndder  was  a  talented  man,  a  fine  lawyer,  and 
had  an  eager  taste  for  literature,  in  which  he  was  well  informed. 

OSBORN  SHANNON  located  at  Independence  about  1871,  he  hav- 
ing i)reviously  been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Douglas  county.  He  married 
a  Miss  DeLong,  whose  father  served  several  terms  as  mayor  of  Independ- 
ence, iind  as  such,  made  the  entry  of  the  townsite.  Out  of  the  jjurchase 
and  disposition  of  the  land  so  entered  by  the  mayor,  much  litigation  re- 
sulted for  several  years  and  Mr.  Shannon  was  actively  engaged  in  mat- 
ters connected  with  such  entry  and  disposition  of  the  lands  and  in  the  lit- 
igation that  ensued. 

About  1876  he  returned  to  Lawrence,  where  his  father,  Governor 
Shannon,  then  one  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  in  the  west,  resided  and 
was  practicing.  Later  Mr.  Shannon  moved  to  Chicago,  where  he  died 
a  fev,-  years  ago.  He  was  a  genial,  companionable  and  warm-hearted 
man. 

JOHN  T.  SHOWALTER  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
county  in  August,  1871.  he  having,  the  year  previous,  been  admitted  to 
practice  at  Ashley,  Illinois.  He  was  born  at  Clarksville,  Missouri,  July 
27.  1840,  and  before  coming  to  Kansas  had  lived  with  his  parents  a  few 
years  in  Grant  county,  Wisconsin,  and  afterward  resided  for  a  time  in 
Ohio,  and  later  in  Illinois.  After  his  admission  to  practice,  in  1871,  he 
opened  an  otlice  here  but  shortly  afterward  followed  the  local  land 
office  to  Neodesha,  Kansas,  to  which  place  it  was  moved  under  orders 
from  Washington.  Shortly  after,  the  land  office  was  returned  to  Inde- 
pendence and  Mr.  Showalter  came  back  with  it,  and  located,  entered  and 
continued  in  the  practice  here  until  about  May,  1872,  when  he  moved  to 
Wellington,  Kansas,  where  he  has  since  resided  and  pursued  the  business 
of  an  attorney,  real  estate  and  loan  agent. 

Since  he  went  to  Wellington  he  has  served  the  public  in  various  of- 
fices, among  which  are,  register  of  deeds  of  the  county  from  1877  to  1879, 
member  of  the  Legislature  in  1891,  deputy  bank  commissioner  from  1891 
to  1893  and  is  now  serving  his  term  as  probate  judge  of  Sumner  county, 
to  which  he  was  elected  in  November,  1902. 

MICHAEL  SICKAFOOSE  was  born  in  Whitney  county,  In- 
diana. June  12th,  1842,  where  he  was  a  school  teacher  until  1868,  when 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Columbia  City,  in  that  state.  He  then  en- 
tered the  i)ractice  and  continued  there  in  the  same  until  the  spring  of 
1873,  when  he  located  at  Independence,  where  he  practiced  law  for  two 


2^0  HISTORY  OF  JIOXTGOMERY  COI-NTY.   KANSAS. 

ycnrs  in  pni-tneishij)  with  Jolm  S.  Cotton,  nnder  tlip  tiiin  name  of  Sick- 
iifoose  &  Cotton.  He  then  returned  to  Columbia  City  where  he  continued 
tlie  iiijictice  until  1SS<.».  when,  on  account  of  failint;  health,  he  moved  to 
Lincoln.  Nebraska,  where  he  has  since  lived.  Mr.  Sickafoose  was,  while 
here,  a  talented  young  lawyer,  well  read  and  a  courteous  gentleman. 

OLIVER  P.  SMART  was  born  in  Union  county,  Ohio,  on  December 
13th,  1839,  and  lived  there  until  August,  18C8,  when  he  went  to  ^Yarsaw, 
Benton  county,  Missouri.  Prior  to  leaving  Ohio,  his  life  was  spent  on  a 
farm,  except  six  years,  while  he  was  a  student  at  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity, from  which  he  was  graduated  in  a  classical  course  in  18G9.  He 
was  admitted  to  practice  in  December,  18G9,  by  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Benton  county.  Mo.,  on  an  examination,  after  having  read  law  in  the  of- 
fice of  Col.  A.  C.  Barry  at  Warsaw,  Mo.  In  March,  1870,  he  located  in 
the  practice  at  Independence,  and  a  few  months  later  became  a  member 
of  the  law  firm  of  Smart  &  Foster,  which  continued  in  the  business  until 
Mr.  Foster  retired,  and  engaged  iu  leal  estate  business.  Mr.  Snuirt  was 
one  of  the  first  members  of  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county,  having  been 
admitted  on  M''ay  9th.  1870. 

After  Mr.  Foster  retired  from  the  firm,  Mr.  Smart  continued  the 
practice  "till  1890.  and  then  for  the  next  six  years  spent  his  time  on  a 
farm.  In  1806  he  returned  to  Independence,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
He  was  county  attorney  for  a  short  time  in  1870,  and  a  member  of  the 
city  council  one  term.  Since  his  return  to  Independence  iu  1890  Mr. 
Smart  has  devoted  but  little  time  to  his  profession. 

CEORGE  R.  SWELLING  was  from  Iowa.  He  located  some  years 
ago  in  the  practice  of  law  at  Anthony.  Kansas,  and  afterward  tilled 
the  oHice  of  Assistant  Attorney  General  for  two  years  under  General 
Boyle,  during  Governor  Leedy's  administration,  ending  in  1899.  Short- 
ly afterward  he  located  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Coffeyville, 
which  he  has  since  pursued  at  that  place. 

SAMUEL  F.  SPENCER  w^as  born  at  Greensburg,  Kentucky,  about 
1850,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  there  about  1871,  and  practiced  at 
ihat  place  'till  late  in  1878,  when  he  located  at  Independence,  Kansas. 
Early  in  the  next  year  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  this  county,  and 
jiracticed  law  until  about  October,  1880,  when  he  moved  to  Colorado, 
where  he  remained  about  six  months  and  then  returned  to  his  old  home 
in  Kentucky.  About  1884  he  married  and  moved  to  California,  where  he 
pursued  his  profession  'till  he  returned  to  Kentucky  about  1890,  and 
died  there  about  two  years  later. 

Mr.  Sjicncer  was  a  young  gentleman  of  polished  address  and  of  fine 
ability.  His  father.  General  Samuel  A.  Spencer,  was  a  distinguished 
lawyer  in  Kentucky,  and  practiced  his  jirofcssion  at  Greensburg,  that 
state,  from  his  early  nuinhood  'till  his  deatii  a  few  years  ago.  at  the  age 
of  over  ninety  years. 


IIISTOUY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,,  KANSAS.  24I 

TFIOMAS  H.  STANFORD  was  born  at  Xew  Albany,  Indiana,  on 
>rar(li  Ttli.  1851,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm  near  Brookston,  in  that  state, 
until  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age.  He  then  taught  school  for  four 
years  and  was  afterward,  and  on  June  17th,  1879,  admitted  to  the  bar 
of  White  county,  Indiana,  and  since  that  date  has  devoted  his  time  ex- 
clusively to  his  profession.  After  pursuing  the  practice  in  Indiana  for 
nearly  six  years,  he  moved  to  Kansas  and  located  in  the  same  business 
at  Independence,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  Montgomery  county  bar 
on  March  18th,  188,5.  He  was  shortly  afterward  admitted  to  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  state  and  to  the  Federal  Courts. 

Mr.  Stanford  now  gives  his  whole  time  looking  after  his  extensive 
professional  business  in  the  various  courts  above  named.  The  only  pub- 
lie  position  he  has  ever  filled  was  the  office  of  city  attorney  for  Indepen- 
dence. He  was  the  fusion  candidate  for  Judge  of  the  11th  Judicial  Dis- 
trict, then  composed  of  Montgomery,  Labette  and  Cherokee  counties,  in 
1898,  and  defeated  by  Judge  A.  H.  Skidmore,  who  was  elected  as  his  own 
successor. 

L.  T.  STEPHENSON  was  one  of  the  earliest  practitioners  at  the  bar 
of  Jlontgomery  county,  and  was  in  many  respects  a  most  remarkable 
rhaiaiter.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  natural  ability,  indomitable  eneigy 
and  industry,  aggressive  and  fearless  and  generally  "in  a  peck  of 
trouble,"  during  which  times  he  never  failed  to  furnish  the  cause  of  a 
liberal  supply  of  perplexity  to  his  enemies.  While  his  achievements  in 
the  lu-actice  of  law,  on  true  si-ientiiic  lines,  were  never  conspicuous,  his 
jiower  and  influence  were  often  felt  in  important  cases,  especially  in  the 
numerous  land  contest  suits  incident  to  the  settlement  of  the  country 
and  in  many  of  the  grave  criminal  cases  that  arose  from  the  struggks 
between  the  pioneers. 

Mr.  Stephenson  wrote  a  beautiful  hand,  having  spent  at  one  time  a 
portion  of  his  life  giving  writing  lessons.  He  was  clerk  of  the  district 
court  for  one  term  in  the  early  70's  and  performed  many  of  the  legitimate 
duties  of  that  office  through  deputies,  while  he  energetically  looked  after 
various  interests  on  the  outside.  He  was  one  of  the  very  foremost  men  in 
locating  and  laying  out  the  townsite  of  Independence,  and  was  ever  on 
the  alert  in  looking  after  the  welfare  of  the  city,  when  it  was  struggling 
in  its  infancy.  He  located  on  a  valuable  claim  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  townsite  and  became  involved  in  a  number  of  suits  and  contests  over 
it  and  adjoining  lands.  These  contests  in  the  U.  S.  Land  Office  and  suits 
in  the  District  Court  lasted  for  years  and  were  bitterly  fought  and  very 
expensive,  and  during  their  progress  Mr.  Stephenson  was,  in  the  night, 
shot  at  on  two  different  occasions,  and  at  one  of  these  times  his  life  was 
probably  preserved  by  a  large  gold  collar  button  against  which  the  bul- 
let lodged.  On  another  occasion  he  "horse-whipped"  on  the  public  streets, 
the  mayor,  with  whom  he  was  having  a  contest  in  the  land  office.     He 


242  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

finally  built  a  flue  house  on  one  of  the  most  sightly  places  near  the  city, 
and  traded  a  lot  of  his  lands  south  of  his  home,  for  a  herd  of  thorough 
bred,  short  horn  cattle,  and  for  several  years  peacefully  devoted  his  en- 
ergies to  raising  fine  cattle.  This  business,  as  was  generally  his  misfor- 
tune in  all  he  undertook,  resulted  in  financial  loss,  his  hcmie  burned 
down  and  he  finally  lost  all  his  property  and  a  few  years  ago,  at  the  age 
of  about  sixty  years,  went  to  the  Rocky  ilountains.  where,  through  some 
of  his  close  friends,  he  became  interested  in  mining.  He  carried  with 
him  all  the  appearances  of  the  activity  and  energy  that  were  character- 
istic of  his  younger  days,  and  the  absolute  confidence  of  quickly  realizing 
a  fortune  in  the  new  enterprise.  "Colonel  Sellers"  was  never  a  greater 
optimist  than  was  L.  T.  Stephenson. 

MR.  SWEENEY  was  an  elderly  gentleman  in  1ST2.  and  lived 

in  Wilson  county.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county 
in  December  of  that  year,  but  never  entered  the  practice  in  this  county. 
He  did  some  practice  in  Wilson  county  and  died  in  that  county  a  few 
years  ago. 

JOSEPH  STEWART  was  born  in  Allen  county,  Kansas,  October 
30th,  18.59,  where  he  was  reared.  After  working  in  the  Humboldt  bank 
two  or  three  years  he,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  joined  his  father,  Hon. 
Watson  Stewart,  at  Independence,  and  worked  in  his  otHce  about  two 
years,  when  he  went  to  Washington  as  the  private  secretary  of  Congress- 
man Fimston,  and  served  in  that  capacity  'till  about  1883,  when  he  went 
into  the  service  of  the  Government  in  its  Postoffice  Department,  where 
he  remained  for  aboiit  five  or  six  years  and  then  came  to  Independence, 
where  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county  about  1889. 

After  remaining  here  a  few  months  he  located  in  the  jJi'^ctice  at 
Kansas  City  and  pursued  his  jirofession  there  and  in  Allen  county,  Kan- 
sas, for  about  two  years  and  then,  about  1891,  returned  to  Washington 
and  entered  the  Postottice  Department  as  an  important  oflficial  and  has 
since  remained  there. 

While  serving  as  private  secretary  to  Mr.  Funston,  he  began  read- 
ing law.  during  his  leisure  hours,  and  afterward  took  a  course  in  the  law 
department  of  the  Columbia  University  at  Washington,  from  which  he 
was  graduated,  and  then,  in  188.5,  admitted  to  practice  in  the  courts  of 
record  in  that  city  and  afterward  to  the  SupnMne  Court  of  the  United 
Staes. 

PHILIP  L.  SWATZELL  was  born  in  Crittenden  ccmnty,  Kentucky, 
on  May  4th,  1805.  After  coming  to  Kansas  he  settled  at  Elk  City,  in  this 
county,  where  he  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade  until  he  accumulated 
sufficient  funds  to  enable  him  to  take  a  course  at  the  State  University 
of  Kansas.  After  having  graduated  from  the  law  department  of  that 
institution  he  was,  on  the  Kith  day  of  June,  1892,  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Douglas  county,  Kansas,  and  at  once  entered  upon,  and  has  since  con- 


IIISTOItV  01'   M(I.\T(;(IMEUV  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  243 

tinupd.  the  practice  of  his  piofession  at  Elk  City.  He  was  mayor  of  Elk 
City  one  year,  ending  April  lOth.  1893,  assistant  postmaster  at  the  same 
l)lace  for"  four  years,  ending  October  20th,  1894,  United  States  Census 
I^nunicrator  for  Loui.sburg  township  and  assistant  to  the  chief  clerk  of 
(he  Legislatures  of  1901  and  190.3. 

\^'.  O.  SYLVESTER  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  District  Court 
of  Montgomery  county  in  April,  1872,  and  practiced  here  for  a  few  years, 
a  [lortion  of  which  time  in  partnership  with  Mr.  S.  A.  Hall,  under  the 
rtrm  name  of  Hall  &  Sylvester. 

JUDGE  MARTIN  BRADFORD  SOULE.  the  present  Probate  Judge 
of  the  county,  is  extensively  mentioned  in  the  department  of  this  volume 
devoted  to  biographies  of  our  citizens. 

M.  (".  SHE  WALTER  located  at  Cherry  vale  in  the  practice  of  law  in 
the  SO's,  having  gone  to  that  place  from  the  State  of  Missouri.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  Mnotgomery  county  December  16th,  1887,  and 
jtracticed  law  here  for  several  years  and  then  returned  to  Missouri.  Mr. 
Shewalter  was  a  talented  man  and  a  well  versed  lawyer,  and  was  pre- 
vented from  doing  a  larger  professional  business  by  his  frail  physical 
health.  During  the  time  he  was  at  our  bar  his  ability  as  a  lawyer  was 
well  known  by  his  professional  brothers,  all  of  whom  held  him  in  the 
highest  esteem. 

WILBUR  F.  TAYLOR  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
county  about  1880  and  located  and  parcticed  at  Independence  about  two 
years,  and  then  went  west.    He  came  here  from  Lafayette,  Indiana. 

J.  M.  THOMPSON  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  county  about  1882 
and  practiced  here  a  few  months  and  then  went  to  McCune,  Kansas,  and 
shortly  afterward  moved  to  Iowa,  from  where  he  soon  afterward  went  to 
Oregon,  where  he  now  resides. 

CALVIN  C.  THOMPSON  was  born  in  :\r-adison  county,  Indiana,  on 
January  19th.  18.5.5.  and  lived  there  and  in  LaSalle  c(mnty.  Illinois,  until 
September  23rd,  1880,  when  he  was  admitted  to  practice  law  at  Ottawa, 
Illinois,  and  on  December  23rd  of  the  same  jear  became  a  member  of  the 
Montgomery  county  bar.  After  his  admission  here  he  devoted  about 
fifteen  years  to  the  practice  of  his  profession  and  then  engaged  in  the  in 
surance  and  real  estate  business,  which  he  has  since  pursued  at  Cherry- 
vale,  Kansas.  During  his  residence  at  Cherry  vale  he  has  served  on  the 
school  board  of  the  city  and  was  president  of  the  board  one  year. 

MAYO  THOMAS  was  born  in  Tipton  county,  Indiana,  on  January 
29th,  18(!9,  and  is  of  Scotch  Irish  descent.  When  eight  years  of  age  he 
iiidvcd  with  his  paients  to  Reno  county,  Kansas,  where  they  lived  five 
years,  and  thence  to  Elk  county,  where  he  lived  'till  about  1897,  when 
he  located  in  the  practice  of  law  at  Independence.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  of  Elk  county  at  Howard,  on  February  5th,  1897,  and  to  the 
Jfontgomery  county  bar  in  May  of  the  same  year,  and  has,  since  the  date 


244  UKSTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

of  his  ndiiiissioii  here,  devoted  his  time  exclusively  to  the  practice  at  In- 
deiieiHlenco,  where  he  ucnv  resides. 

Ill  ISST  Ml.  Thomas  entered,  as  a  siiidciit.  Tlic  Ottawa  I'liiversity, 
where  he  found  employment  to  sustain  him  throuj;h  a  four  years'  course, 
by  doing  chores  and  janitor  work.  AVhile  at  the  university,  by  the  ex- 
cellence of  his  work,  he  won  the  Nash  prize,  which  had  been  otfered  to  the 
student,  of  the  Freshman  or  Sophomore  class,  passing  the  best  exami- 
nation in  Natural  History.  After  leaving  this  institution  he  taught 
school,  and  then,  in  1803,  entered  the  law  department  of  the  University 
of  Kansas.  At  the  Eleventh  Annual  State  University  Oratorical  Contest 
on  January  26th,  1894,  he  was  awarded  the  third  prize  and  at  the  spring 
oratorical  contest,  at  the  same  institution,  he  was  on  April  27th,  1894, 
awarded  the  second  prize. 

He  served  as  clerk  (if  tlic  nisiiict  Court  of  Howard  cdunty  during 
1895  and  1890,  and  in  1897  was  appointed  by  Governor  Leedy.  on  the 
State  Board  of  Pardons,  where  he  served  'till  1899,  when  he  resigned. 

At  the  general  election  in  November,  1902,  he  was  elected  county  at- 
torney— he  being  the  only  candidate  elected  on  the  Democratic  ticket— 
and  he  is  now  jierforming  the  duties  of  that  office. 

W.  H.  TIBBILS  became  a  member  of  our  bar  April  17th,  1874,  and 
located  in  the  practice  at  Coft'eyville,  Kansas,  where  he  pursued  his  pro- 
fession for  a  number  of  years.  He  then  moved  to  Sedan,  Kansas,  where 
he  practiced  several  years  and  then  returned  to  Coft'eyville  about  1890, 
and  after  practicing  there  some  time,  located  at  Vinita,  Indian  Territory, 
and  pursued  his  profession  there  "till  about  1900,  when  he  died.  At  the 
time  of  his  death,  he  was  United  States  Probate  Commissioner  and  per- 
forming duties  similar  to  those  imposed  upon  our  probate  court. 

JUDGE  WM.  F.  TURNER  was,  at  a  very  early  day,  a  prominent 
member  of  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county.  He  was  boru  in  Milton,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1816,  and  spent  his  boyhood  in  that  state,  Mississippi  and 
Louisiana.  His  father.  Dr.  James  P.  Turner,  was  appointed  General 
Land  Commissioner  for  the  States  of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  in  1826, 
through  the  influence  of  Henry  Clay,  then  Secretary  of  State.  His  office 
was  at  Bayou  Sara,  Louisiana,  where  young  Turner  served  under  his 
father  for  six  years.  After  Dr.  Turner's  removal  by  the  General  Jack- 
son administration — two  years  of  his  term  being  under  "Old  Hickory"— 
he  moved  to  Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio,  and  William  ciitcied  Gambler  College, 
at  Gambier,  Ohio,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  about 
1835,  along  with  ex-President  Rutherford  P..  Hayes  and  ex- Justice  Stan- 
ley Matthews.  After  graduating,  he  read  law  at  Jilt.  Vernon,  Ohio,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  that  lity,  about  IS.'iS,  where  he  practiced  as 
a  nieml)er  of  the  firm  of  Butler,  jiiller  &  Turner  until  1854,  when  he 
moved  to  Keokuk,  Iowa,  and  entered  the  practice  at  that  place  in  part- 
nership with  Hon.  John  A.  Kasson,  who  afterward  served  twenty  years 


HISTORY  OF  MOXTCO.MEKY  COVNTY,  KANSAS.  245 

in  Congress  and  then  becaiiio  sonipwliat  famous  as  a  diplomat  in  state 
affairs. 

In  1863  Judge  Tuiiier  was  a]i]ioiiite(l  liy  Tresident  Lincoln.  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Territory  of  Arizona,  wliicli  position  he  filled  nearly  seven 
years.  He  then,  about  187(1.  located  in  the  practice  at  Independence, 
Kansas,  as  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Turner  &  Ralstin — after  having 
lived  a  short  time  at  Colleyville.  After  pursuing  his  ]irofession  about 
ten  3'ears  he  retired  from  it  and  engaged  in  banking  business  at  Indepen- 
dence in  partnership  witli  Wni.  E.  Otis,  under  the  firm  name  of  Turner 
&  Otis.  This  new  venture  was  at  first  very  prosperous,  but  after  a  few 
years  resulted  in  financial  disaster,  and  a  few  years  later  Judge  Turner 
and  his  estimable  wife  returned  to  their  former  home  in  Ohio,  where  she 
died,  and  he  then  moved  to  Indianapolis,  where  three  years  later,  on 
December  24th,  1900,  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years,  of  senile 
decay. 

THOMAS  E.  WAGSTAFF  was  born  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  July 
23rd,  1875.  and  at  the  age  of  two  years  moved  to  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  where 
he  lived  until  April  10th.  1870.  when  he  went  to  Lawrence.  Kansas,  where 
he  resided  until  1897.  While  at  Lawrence  he  attended  the  University  of 
the  state,  from  which  he  was  graduated  just  before  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  of  Douglas  county,  on  June  8th.  1897.  He  afterward,  at  the  New 
York  University,  in  1898,  took  a  post  graduate  course  in  the  law  depart- 
ment of  that  institution,  and  since  then  has  been  in  the  active  practice 
of  his  profession. 

He  located  at  Coffeyville  in  1899,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Montgomery  county  on  the  12th  day  of  August  in  that  year,  and  has 
since  resided  in  that  city.  MV.  Wagstatf  was  graduated  from  the  Kansas 
University  on  June  8th.  1897.  with  the  degree  of  L.  L.  B.,  and  from  the 
University  of  New  York  on  June  21st,  1898.  with  the  degree  of  L.  L.  M. 
While  at  the  University  at  Lawrence,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Honorary 
Law  Fraternity,  the  Phi  Delta  Phi,  Green  Chapter,  which  was  installed 
at  the  University  of  Kansas  April  10th,  1897.  He  also  belonged  to  the 
Sigma  Chi  Fraternity  while  in  college  and  is  a  Mason  and  an  Elk. 

Since  Mr.  Wagstatf  took  up  his  residence  at  Coffeyville,  he  has  sei'ved 
one  year  as  attorney  for  that  city,  from  April  3rd,  1900,  to  April  3rd, 
1901,  was  judge  of  the  court  of  Coffeyville  from  October  1st,  1901,  to 
February  7th,  1902,  and  was,  during'  the  last  half  of  1902,  assistant 
county  attorney. 

He  was  recently  wedded  to  Miss  Jennie  Wilson,  an  estimable  young 
lady,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Independence,  and  was  a  daughter  of 
E.  E.  Wilson,  who,  for  years  before  his  death,  was  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent citizens  of  Independence. 

RICHARD  A.  WADE  came  to  Independence  from  Western  Missouri 
and  joined  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county.  September  4th,  1879.     After 


246  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERV  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

practicing  law  here  for  a  few  years,  he  moved  to  Chicago  and  entered  the 
practice  in  that  city,  where  he  now  resides. 

L.  C.  WATERS  was  an  active  practitioner  at  the  bar  of  Montgom- 
«ry  county  for  nearly  twenty  years.  He  was  atllicted  with  a  frail  con- 
stitution and  for  years  made  a  heroic  struggle  with  a  pulmonary  disease 
that  carried  him  away,  less  than  a  year  ago. 

MARSHALL  O.  WAGNER  was  one  of  the  pioneer  lawyers  at  the 
bar  here.  He  came  from  ('leveland,  Ohio,  and  entered  the  practice  with 
a  very  fine  library  for  those  days  iu  this  country. 

While  here  he  became  the  owner  of  a  very  .sightly  and  valuable  tract 
of  land  about  a  nule  west  of  Independence,  which  was  long  after  he  left 
the  country  known  as  the  "Wagner  Tract,"  and  was  purchased  by  J.  H. 
Pugh,  and  is  now  owned  by  some  of  the  heirs  to  his  estate.  Mr.  Wagner 
returned  to  Cleveland  about  1872  and  has  since  lived  there. 

GEORGE  W.  WARNER  was.  at  the  :May.  1871.  term  of  the  District 
Court  of  Montgomery  county,  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  never  after  en- 
tered the  practice  here. 

JUDGE  W.  H.  WATKINS  became  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Mont- 
gomery county  in  its  infancy,  but  never  engaged  here  in  the  practice 
of  the"  profession,  for  which  his  natural  talents  and  learning  well  fitted 
Tiim.  He  was  the  first  probate  judge  elected  in  the  county,  and  served 
in  that  oflBce  one  term,  ending  in  January,  1873,  with  marked  ability. 

He  founded  the  "Kansan"  at  Independence  in  the  fall  of  1873,  and 
a^bly  edited  and  published  the  same  for  five  or  six  years  when  he  sold  it 
and  moved  to  California. 

SAMUEL  WESTON  was  bom  at  Bangor,  Penobscot  county,  Maine, 
in  1857.  He  resided  there  and  at  Newton  and  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
until  he  moved  to  Chicago  and  studied  law  in  the  office  of  his  cousin, 
Hon.  Melvin  Weston  Fuller,  now  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
-the  United  States. 

He  afterward  located  at  Elk  City,  in  the  Spring  of  1879,  and  in  the 
same  year,  after  having  passed  a  very  searching  examination  in  open 
court,  was  admitted  to  the  Ijar  by  the  District  Court  of  Montgomery 
«ounfy.  After  his  admission  he  at  once  entered  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession at  Elk  City,  Kansas,  which  he  successfully  pursued  'till  1893, 
-when  he  moved  to  Pond  Creek,  Oklahoma,  where  he  continued  in  the 
same  business.  While  residing  in  Oklahoma  he  tilled,  for  one  term  of 
two  years,  the  office  of  county  attorney  of  Grant  county. 

A  few  years  ago,  on  account  of  poor  health,  Mr.  Weston  retired 
from  llic  itractice  and  went  to  Meade.  Kansas,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
lundier   business. 

S.  T.  WIGGINS  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Mbntgomery  county 
•about  18!)7  and  pursued  the  practiie  a  few  months  at  Coffeyville,  when  he 


HlSTOPvY  OV   MONn.OMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  247 

moved  to  the  Indian  Territory  where  he  was  afterward  joined  in  the 
practice  bv  his  former  law  partner,  G.  AY.  Fitzpatrick. 

A  I)."WILL1S  became  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county 
August,  1871.  but  did  not  enter  the  practice  here. 

GREENBURY  WRIGHT  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
county  in  August,  1871.  on  the  certficate  of  his  admission  to  practice  in 
Illinois.    He  did  not  afterward  engage  in  the  practice  in  this  county. 

ALBERT  L.  WILSON  was  born  in  Anderson  county,  Kansas,  on 
November  12,  180(1.  and  resided  there  on  a  farm  until  he  was  seventeen 
years  of  age.  when  he  commenced  teaching  school  and  reading  law.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county  September  9,  1S82,  after 
having  studied  some  time  in  the  office  of  Hon.  John  D.  Hinkle  at  Cherry- 
vale.  At  the  date  of  his  admission  he  was  under  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
and  in  the  thorough  examination  by  a  committee  in  open  court,  he  evinc- 
ed a  full  comprehension  of  the  basic  principles  of  the  science  of  law. 
After  his  examination  he  at  once  located  and  entered  the  practice  at 
Cherryvale,  Kansas,  where  he  soon  built  up  a  remunerative  business, 
which" he  well  maintained  till  he  moved,  a  few  months  ago.  to  Kansas  City, 
Missouri,  where  he  now  resides,  and  is  pursuing  his  profession.  During 
Mr.  Wilson's  professional  career  here  he  was  one  of  the  leading  lawyers 
of  tho  county  and  a  successful  practitioner  at  the  bar.  In  the  trial  of 
causes,  he  was  cool,  deliberate  and  thoroughly  self  possessed  and  his 
cases  were  very  generally  well  prepared  and  ably  handled. 

CORNELIUS  WYCKOFF  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Montgomery 
county  on  M'ay  9,  1870.  on  the  certificate  of  his  admission  to  practice  in 
Illinois,  but  never  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the 
county. 

COL.  ALEXANDER  M.  YORK  was  at  one  time  a  leading  member 
of  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county,  to  which  he  was  admitted  in  August, 
1871. 

He  was  born  at  Byron.  Illinois,  July  7,  1838,  and  admitted  to  prac- 
tice iu  Carroll  county,  in  that  State,  on  December  31.  1861,  and  at  once  en- 
tered the  practice  at  Lanark,  Illinois.  On  September  4,  1863,  he  enlisted 
in  the  Ninety-second  Illinois  Volunteers  and  remained  in  the  army  till 
the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  in  April,  1866. 
He  entered  the  army  as  a  private  soldier  and  was  then  commissioned  as 
second  lieutenant  of  Company  "I"  of  his  regiment  and,  in  1863,  promoted 
to  the  First  Lieutenancy  of  the  same  company.  In  1864  he  was  commis- 
sioned as  Captain  of  Company  "G."  Fifteenth  Colored  Infantry,  and  af- 
terward, in  the  same  year,  raised  to  the  rank  of  colonel  of  that  regiment. 

After  leaving  the  army  Col.  Y'ork  began  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion at  Shelbina.  Missouri,  in  partnership  with  Col.  J.  W.  Shaur,  and 
afterward,  in  March.  1871,  located  at  Independence,  Kansas,  where  he, 
in  company  with  Governor  L.  U.  Humphrey  and  W.  T.  Yoe,  established 


-248  UlsroK'l    111     MUN  TGli.MKUY  COUXTY,  KAXSAS. 

aiul  coiKliii-icd  Till'  South  Kansas  Tiibime.  A  little  more  than  a  year 
latei-  the  Ciiloiicl  and  the  (Toveruor.  haviug  sold  their  interests  inthenews- 
paper.  liinniMJ  a  paitnership  to  practice  law,  under  the  firm  name  of 
York  &  lliiiuiiliicy.  This  firm  at  once  established  a  profitable  practice 
which  it  tirnily  held  and  increased  for  about  five  years,  wlien  tlie  Gover- 
nor began  his  political  career  in  which  he  became  distinguis»ied,  and  the 
Colonel  went  to  Louisiana  and  remained  there  two  years,  where  he  was 
interested  in  mail  contracts  in  that  State  and  in  Texas.  He  then  went  to 
Fort  Scott.  Kansas,  and  became  interested  in  the  "York  Nursei-y."  in 
which  business  he  continued  five  or  six  years.  Since  then  he  has  been  en- 
gaged in  the  real  estate  business  at  xarious  places  and  is  now  located  at 
Denver,  Colorado,  in  that  pursuit. 

While  Colonel  Y'ork  was  a  num  of  fine  native  ability,  and  possessed 
a  well  trained  mind,  and  was  learned  in  the  law,  he  lacked  some  of  the 
necessary  attributes  to  a  successful  life  in  the  most  learned  of  all  profes- 
sions. He  could  never  have  been  the  i)lodding.  methodical  and  tireless  stu- 
dent, that  closely  analyzes  and  ri.ses  to  eminence  in  the  law.  He  was  too 
active,  zealous  and  enthusiastic  for  that;  he  could  not  "sit  down  and  con- 
tentedly waif  for  anything.  He  was  a  remarkably  fluent  and  forceful 
public  sjieaker.  either  at  the  bar  or  on  the  rostrum.  Indeed  on  one  occa- 
sion his  oratory  was  superb  and  the  student  of  Kansas  history  will,  long 
after  he  is  dead,  read  with  pleasure  and  astonishment,  his  extraordinary 
ex  tempore  speech  made  in  1873  to  the  joint  convention  of  the  two  Houses 
of  the  Kansas  Legislature,  in  exposing  the  attempted  bribery  by  U.  S.  Sen- 
ator Pomeroy,  of  members  of  the  Kansas  Legislature.  Col.  York  was  then 
rei)resenting  Montgomery  county  in  the  State  Senate  and  closed  his  won- 
derful effort  in  these  words:  "I  stand  in  the  presence  of  this  august  and 
honorable  body  of  representatives  of  the  sovereign  people;  and  before  the 
Almighty  Ruler  of  the  I'niverse,  I  solemnly  declare  and  affirm  that  every 
word  T  have  si)oken  is  God's  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth." 

jriXiE  WILLIA:M  EDWAKD  Z1E(;L1:R  was  born  in  Cumberland 
county,  Pennsylvania,  in  18."i!i,  and  was  reared  near  Mechanicsburg,  in 
that  State,  teaching  school  and  farming  till  he  was  about  nineteen 
yeai-s  of  age.  when  he  moved  to  Independence  and  began  the  study  of  law 
in  the  office  of  his  brother.  Hon.  J.  P..  Ziegler.  After  pursuing  his  stud- 
ies till  March.  ISStl,  he.  then  scarcely  twenty-one  years  of  age,  made  ap- 
plication to  the  District  Court  of  this  county  for  admission  to  practice, 
and  after  a  searching  examination  by  a  committee  in  open  court,  was 
adiiiitted  without  iiesitaiicy,  as  he  evinced  a  clear  conception  of  the  rudi- 
ments of  file  science,  and  plainly  showed  that  he  was  a  thoroughly 
trained  student  of  lilackstone's  Coiiimentaries  and  other  necessary  text 
books. 

.\ftcr  his  adiiiission.  he  at  once  ciilcrcd  the  |.i-arlice  at  Indeiiendence 
iind  has  since  devoted  his  time  exclusively  to  his  cho.seu  profession.    Af- 


HISTOUY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  249 

tiM-  liciiiji  in  ilie  practice  at  hulei)en(]ence  for  about  ei};lit  years,  he  was 
chosen  city  attorney,  wliich  office  he  then  filled  for  five  and  one-half 
years,  ending  in  181)8.  At  the  fjeneral  election  in  November,  1892,  he 
was  elected  county  attorney,  and  at  the  end  of  his  term  re-elected  and 
served  two  terms  in  that  public  callin};;,  ending  in  January,  1897.  After 
the  end  of  his  second  term  as  county  attorney,  Mr.  Ziegler  moved  to  and 
located  at  Coffeyville,  where  he  at  once  established  for  himself  a  profit- 
able business  in  his  profession,  and  is  now  residing  there,  pursuing  the 
practice. 

During  the  time  .Judge  Ziegler  has  lived  at  ("offeyville  he  filled  for 
nearly  two  years,  from  ]\Parch.  1899,  to  October,  1901,  the  important  of- 
fice of  Judge  of  the  court  of  Coffeyville,  which  is  a  tribunal  of  extensive 
jurisdiction  extending  over  the  county. 

WINFIELD  8.  ZENOR  joined  our  bar  about  1880  and  in  partner- 
ship with  B.  S.  E^euderson,  under  the  firm  name  of  Henderson  &  Zenor, 
practiced  law  here  several  years.  He  then  returned  to  his  former  home 
in  Indiana  and  subsequently  moved  to  Missouri,  wlicie  he  now  resides, 
devoting  a  portion  of  his  time  to  teaching. 

JOSEPH'  B.  ZIEGLER  was  born  in  Cumberland  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  the  19th  day  of  May,  1843,  and  lived  on  a  farm,  in  that 
county,  until  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age.  when  he  entered  Dickinson 
College,  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1864, 
after  a  classical  course  of  four  years.  He  then  enlisted  as  a  private  sol- 
dier in  Company  ''A,"  One  Hundred  and  First  Pennsylvania  Veteran 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  till  the  <-lose  of  the  Civil  War  and  wat? 
mustered  out  the  last  of  June,  180."). 

He,  after  leaving  the  army,  took  up  the  study  of  law  and  was  admit- 
ted to  the  bar  at  Carlisle.  I'ennsylvania,  in  1867,  and  the  next  year 
moved  to  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  where  he  was  admitted,  in  1868,  and  en- 
tered and  continued  the  practice  there  till  the  spring  of  1870,  when  he 
locatfid  at  Oswego,  Kansas. 

A  year  later  he  joined  the  bar  of  Montgomery  county,  and  since 
then  has,  for  over  thirty-two  years,  devoted  all  his  time  and  energies  to 
his  chosen  profession  at  Independence. 

He  first  entered  the  practice  at  Independence  as  a  partner  in  the 
then  well-known  law  firm  of  :McCne  &  Ziegler,  and  after  the  dissolution 
of  that  firm,  about  a  year  later,  continued  the  practice  alone  until  about 
1885,  when  the  law  firm  of  J.  P..  &  ^^'.  E.  Ziegler  was  formed,  and  he  has 
since  pursued  his  profession,  as  the  senior  member  of  this  copartner- 
ship, which  has  an  office  under  his  charge  at  Independence,  and  another 
at  Coffeyville  under  the  control  of  his  partner. 

In  the  practice,  ilr.  Ziegler  made  a  specialty  of  commercial  law, 
and  in  the  early  70's  established  an  extensive  business  in  that  branch, 
which  extended  over  a  number  of  counties  in  Southeastern  Kansas  ami 


250  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

far  rioutli  into  the  Indian  Territory.  This  business  was  very  profitable 
^md  was  maintained  and  increased  from  year  to  year  until  Congress,  in 
1898,  passed  a  bankrupt  law,  which,  in  a  great  measure,  had  the  effect  of 
greatly  lessening  the  value  of  the  services  of  the  alert  and  proficient  col- 
lection attoiney.  This  resulted  from  the  fact  that  under  the  provisions 
of  that  law  the  creditor  ''coming  in  at  the  eleventh  hour"  shared  pro  rata 
with  those  whose  activity  would  otherwise  have  secured  to  them  a  valua- 
ble advantage. 

xVdded  to  the  loss  thus  sustained,  Mr.  Ziegler  bad  the  misfortune,  in 
February,  1809,  of  losing  by  a  destructive  fire,  his  fine  law  library  and 
his  office  with  its  entire  contents,  including  a  well  devised  and  thorough- 
ly indexed  office  brief  book,  covering  about  every  conceivable  question 
that  could  arise  in  commercial  law,  and  which  he  had  been  compiling  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century  or  nuire. 

Mr.  Ziegler  enjoys  tlie  distinction  of  having  been  in  the  continuous 
practice  at  the  Montgomery  county  bar  for  a  longer  period  than  any  oth- 
er of  its  members;  of  having  been  a  member  of  the  county's  bar  longer 
than  any  other  member  now  in  the  practice  here,  and  of  being  one  of  the 
two  members  that  practiced  here  during  the  70's,  and  still  in  the  active 
practice,  the  other  being  Hon.  A  I*.  Clark  who  was  at  the  bar  during 
nine  years  of  that  decade. 

WILLIAM  DT-NKIX— (I'rei.aml  by  fx-Covenior  Humphrey,  at  re- 
quest of  ].ublislier)— Mr.  William  l>nnkin  was  horn  at  Flint  Hill  in  Rap- 
})ahaiino(k  county.  ^'irgiIlia.  April  7.  ISl.").  His  jtarents  belonged  to  old 
Virginia  families  whose  record  runs  back  to  Colonial  days,  and  on  down 
tlirougli  the  jieriod  of  the  American  Hevolution. 

The  father,  though  a  slave  holder,  was,  in  fact,  opposed  to  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery  and.  like  many  other  Southern  men  of  his  time,  hoped 
for  its  ultimate  abolition.  During  the  Civil  War,  as  before,  he  was  an 
unconditional  Union  man  and  stoutly  supported  the  Federal  govern- 
ment throughout  that  memorable  struggle  for  its  existence.  He  lived 
to  see  the  Union  preserved,  slavery  destroyed,  and  died  June  23,  1868. 
It  may,  however,  be  said  that,  while  the  subject  of  this  sketch  took  no 
part  in  the  controversies  of  those  days,  he  was  not  in  full  accord  with 
his  father's  political  views  and  failed  to  fully  appreciate  their  wisdom 
until  years  afterward. 

The  son,  William,  when  less  than  a  year  old,  moved  with  his  father's 
family  to  Harrison  county,  Virginia.  His  father  was  a  physician  and  his 
family  consisted  of  his  wife  and  two  step-children  (W.  M.  and  Mary  0. 
Late)  and  an  infant  daughter  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  The  doctor 
and  his  wife  and  step-children  owned  a  number  of  slaves,  which  were 
brought  to  the  new  home  of  nearly  one  thousand  acres,  which  was  pur- 
chased in  184G  and  located  about  four  miles  from  Clarksburg — and  ad- 
jacent  to   Bridgeport — and   on   which   a    large   stone   house   was   built, 


UISTUKY   OF   .MUNIXlO.MliUV   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  251 

■nhei-e  William  Dnukin,  Jr.,  and  the  family  of  eight  chiuldren  were 
reared. 

The  doctor,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  Harrison  county,  established 
a  lucrative  practice  which  he  held  for  fifteen  years,  when  he  retired,  and 
resigjied  his  eteusive  professional  business  to  his  step-son,  who  had 
graduated  in  medicine  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvauia  at  Philadel- 
phia. 

Up  to  the  breaking-out  of  the  Civil  War.  in  1861,  William  Dunkin, 
Jr.,  and  his  brothers  and  sisters  received  only  such  education  as  the 
primitive  subscription  schools  in  that  new  country  afforded,  and  during 
the  war,  their  home  being  near  the  line  of  hostility  between  contending 
armies,  but  slight  educational  ojiitortunities  were  offered.  However,  this 
lack  was,  in  a  manner,  conii>ensated  for  in  the  instruction  received  by 
the  children  from  their  father  and  private  tutors  at  their  home. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  William  Dunkin  took  "French  leave" 
of  his  parents  and  went  to  New  York  City  where  he  spent  four  months 
in  the  oflflce  of  Edward  P.  Clark,  a  distinguished  lawyer  in  that  city,  and, 
upon  his  return  home,  was  forgiven  and  sent  to  the  academy  at  Morgan- 
town.  West  "N'irginia — the  jiresent  State  University — where  he  began  a 
classical  course.  Eight  months  later,  he  left  this  school,  on  account  of 
impaired  health,  and  remained  at  home  until  1871,  having,  in  the  mean- 
time, administered  on  his  father's  estate.  Some  of  the  assets  af  the 
estate  being  located  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  he  spent  the  winter  of  1871 
and  1872  there  and,  having  closed  up  its  affairs,  he  went  to  Lawrence, 
Kansas,  and  began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Thacher  &  Banks 
in  that  historic  city.  After  about  one  year  of  preparation  he  was  ex- 
amined by  a  committee  and  admitted  to  practice  law  in  the  District 
Court  of  Douglas  county.  Kansas,  and  a  few  months  after,  in  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  State.  In  March.  1873.  he  opened  the  office  in  Inde- 
pendence, Kansas,  which  he  still  occupies. 

Though  remarkably  free  from  personal  vanity,  Mr.  Dunkin  felt  the 
just  and  laudable  pride  of  a  true  Virginian  in  the  splendid  history  of  his 
native  State — the  Mother  of  Presidents;  but  as  a  young  and  ambitious 
lawyer  he  drew  his  controlling  in.spiration  from  the  more  enduring  fame 
of  the  Pinckneys,  the  Marshalls,  the  Wirts  and  other  great  jurists  and 
lawyers  of  Virginia  whose  brilliant  careers  have  so  profoundly  impress- 
ed the  judicial  history  of  the  country,  and  shed  imperishable  luster  upon 
the  American  bar.  Indeed  he  was  guided,  from  the  start,  by  the  well- 
known  advice  of  William  Wirt  to  a  yonng  lawyer,  ''to  read  law  like  a 
horse,  pursue  it  indefatigably  and  suffer  no  butterfly's  wings  or  stones 
to  draw  you  aside  from  it.''  Accordingly,  he  resisted  the  temptation 
that  conies  to  so  many  young  attorneys  to  dabble  in  politics,  or  other 
lines  of  business,  and  confined  himself  exclusively  to  the  study  and  prac- 
tice of  his  chosen  profession.    Notwithstanding  his  unusually  thorough. 


252  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

equipment,  in  the  way  of  preliminary  study,  he  devoted  bis  leisure  time 
to  his  books  with  remarkable  assiduity. 

He  did  not  long  wait  for  t-lients.  Almost  from  the  beginning,  busi- 
ness came  to  bini  and  in  less  than  a  year  he  was  retained  in  much  of  the 
more  imi)ortant  litigation  pending  in  our  courts.  He  rapidly  acquired  a 
jtracticc  rliat  kc])t  him  busily  employed,  not  only  in  the  District  Courts 
of  this  and  neigliboring  counties,  but  extending  to  the  Supreme  and  Fed- 
eral Courts  of  Kansas. 

His  practice  grew  upon  him  steadily  until  it  taxed  his  energies  and 
time  to  the  utmost  limit,  though  few  men  equaled  him  in  that  peculiar 
faculty  of  dispatching  business  rapidly  and  well  done.  This  practice  he 
held  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  down  to  the  last  few  years,  when 
he  voluntarily  relinquished  part  of  it,  in  a  measure,  retiring  from  active 
professional  work ;  retaining,  however,  his  large  library  and  his  old  oflBce, 
or  "work-shop,"  as  he  calls  it.  where  he  has  spent  so  many  of  the  best 
and  busiest  years  of  a  strenuous  professional  life. 

Of  an  active  temperament,  and  being  as  vigorous  as  ever,  both  men- 
tally and  physically,  he  seems  loth  to  entirely  abandon  his  work  as  a  law- 
yer and  still  retains  a  limited  clientage  among  his  old  friends — includ- 
ing his  attorneyship  for  the  Santa  Fe  Railway  Company — and  acts  as 
advisory  counsel  in  the  more  important  cases,  especially  in  connection 
with  the  younger  members  of  the  bar,  who  consult  him  freely  and  draw 
liberally  upon  him  for  his  judgement  and  advice. 

In  addition  to  this  Mr.  Dunkin  devotes  much  time  and  attention  to 
his  extensive  private  business  concerns,  including  the  care  of  his  large 
and  valuable  real  estate  holdings,  taking  special  pride  and  interest  in 
the  management  of  his  extensive  farm  properties  in  Montgomery  county. 

The  very  marked  success  of  ^Ir.  Dunkin  as  a  lawyer,  is  easily  ac- 
counted for  by  those  who  know  liim  best.  First,  his  natural  gifts  and 
mental  endowments  were  decidedly  favorable  to  the  legal  profession. 
Second,  his  preliminary  training  and  education  for  the  bar  wei-e  thor- 
ough. Third,  he  supplemented  these  advantages  by  devoting  his  leisure 
to  hard  and  persistent  study  of  the  law,  after  coming  to  the  bar,  observ- 
ing Wirt's  advice,  before  quoted,  most  faithfully.  He  thus  became  a 
strong  lawyer,  fully  armed  and  equipped  at  every  point,  displaying  a 
versatility  of  legal  talent  that  was,  to  say  the  least,  remarkable;  and  it 
is  no  dis])aragement  to  others  to  say,  that  as  an  all-round  lawyer,  he  has 
had  no  superior  at  the  Mlontgomerv  county  bar,  one  of  the  strongest  in 
the  State. 

To  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  general  principles  of  law,  he  adds  a 
remarkable  clearness  of  judgment  in  the  application  of  these  principles 
to  the  facts  of  the  case  under  consideration,  so  that  he  is  seldom  mis- 
taken as  to  the  remedy  to  be  invoked  or  the  facts  necessary  to  entitle  a 
client  to  the  relief  asked  for.    He  is  skillful  and  resourceful  in  the  trial 


nisTonv  OF  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  253 

of  causes,  especially  in  the  examinatiou  and  cross-examination  of  wit- 
nesses. Elie  is  especially  strong  in  the  art  of  developing,  marshaling  and 
jtresenting  testimony  to  the  best  advantage  in  support  of  his  theory  of  a 
given  case,  and  very  artful  in  the  examination  of  witnesses  called  to  give 
expert  testimony,  particularly  medical  or  surgical  in  character. 

As  an  advocate,  he  att'ects  neither  the  flowers  of  rhetoric,  nor  the 
finer  graces  of  oratory;  and  yet,  he  is  a  strong,  ready  and  fluent  speaker. 
His  success  as  an  advocate  lies  in  clear  thinking,  cogent  reasoning,  an 
earnest  and  forcei'ul  manner,  with  an  instinctive  grasp  of  the  salient 
questions  of  law  and  fact  involved  in  the  cases  at  bar. 

Mr.  Dunkin  is  further  aided  in  the  trial  of  causes  by  the  unbounded 
confidence  of  court,  jury  and  his  brethren  of  the  bar  in  his  absolute  sin- 
cerity and  the  high  .sense  of  honor  and  probity  which  characterize  his 
conduct  at  the  bar,  and  in  all  the  relations  of  life.  It  is  safe  to  assert 
that  (hiring  his  longer  service  at  the  bar  of  the  county,  his  word,  once  giv- 
en, his  promise  once  made,  concerning  the  management  of  cases  pending, 
was  ac(ej)ted  with  implicit  confidence  by  his  fellow  lawyers,  who  never 
challenged  or  called  in  question  the  good  faith  or  motives  of  his  conduct. 

He  detests  the  sharp  practices  and  doubtful  methods  occasionally 
employed  by  some,  and  at  all  times  seeks  to  practice  law  on  the  high 
piano  of  an  honorable  and  learned  profession. 

These  well-known  traits  have  contributed  much  to  his  standing  with 
the  courts  and  juries,  giving  him  the  victory  in  many  a  closely  contested 
case,  where  the  scales  of  justice  seemed  evenly  balanced. 

His  conduct  toward  the  court  is  ever  respectful  and  dignified,  but 
he  never  sought  special  favors  from  the  bench.  He  asks  only  for  fair 
treatment,  relying  on  the  law  and  the  facts  of  his  case,  jealous  of  his 
rights  as  an  attorney,  and  the  interests  of  his  client  under  the  law  which 
he  has  undertaken  to  protect. 

His  relations  with  his  fellow-members-of-the-bar  are  always  cordial 
and  friendly,  and  his  treatment  of  them  uniformly  courteous  and  manly. 
While  he  is  justly  regarded  as  a  dangerous  antagonist  in  the  trial  and 
management  of  hotly  contested  lawsuits,  yet  he  commands  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  both  bench  and  bar  by  the  frank  and  open  methods 
that  ever  characterize  his  coui'se  both  in  his  private  and  professional 
business.  He  never  recognized  the  false  distinction  sometimes  attempt- 
ed between  personal  and  professional  integrity,  and,  as  a  lawyer,  he 
has  ever  observed  the  same  high  standard  of  ethics,  and  lofty  conception 
of  honor  that  governed  him  in  all  the  walks  of  life.  His  reward  has  been 
rich  in  a  long  and  successful  career  at  the  bar,  and  in  the  unqualified 
respect  and  confidence  of  his  ])rofessional  brethren,  whii-h  he  richly  de- 
serves and  enjoys;  a  well  merited  tribute — ''more  precious  than  rubies" 
— to  his  learning,  integrity  and  ability  as  a  lawyer. 

Though  a  close  student  of  political  questions,  and  keenly  interested 


254  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

in  imlilic  atVairs.  Mr.  Duukin  uever  soiioht  political  preferment.  He 
served  a  term  or  two  as  city  attorney  of  Independence,  and  also  as  may- 
or, at  a  time  when  important  pnblic  interests  seemed  to  call  for  espe- 
cially careful  attention  regardless  of  partisan  considerations;  and  it 
is  nee<lless  to  say  that  he  discharged  the  duties  of  these  public  trusts 
faithfully  and  efficiently,  displaying  a  high  order  of  ability  for  public 
affairs,  both  executive  and  administrative. 

Too  broad  and  tolerant  in  his  mental  makeup  to  be  a  rabid  partisan, 
he  is  jiolitically  a  Democrat  of  the  Jefferson  school.  Positive  in  his 
convictions  as  to  principles  and  policies,  he  is  so  fair  and  liberal  in  his 
conduct  toward  those  who  hold  a  different  political  faith,  as  to  com- 
mand the  general  respect  and  confidence  of  all  his  fellow  citizens;  and 
even  his  closest  personal  friendshijis  and  professional  associations  have 
been  formed  and  maintained  absolutely  regardless  of  party  lines.  When 
he  transplanted  himself  from  Virginia  to  Kansas,  had  he  followed  the 
example  of  many  others,  and  allied  himself  with  the  dominant  lEepub- 
Hcan)  party,  in  which  he  had  so  many  personal  friends,  there  is  little 
room  for  doubt  that  he  would  have  found  an  open  door  to  a  successful 
political  career,  if  his  tastes  and  ambitions  had  inclined  in  that  direc- 
tion. He  fully  realized,  however,  that  "the  law  is  a  jealous  mistress;'' 
that  eminence  in  the  legal  profession  requires  a  constancy  of  applica- 
tion that  forbids  the  dissipation  of  time  and  energy  necessary  to  the  inir- 
suit  of  political  distinction,  which,  at  best,  is  but  transitory  and  fraught 
with  untold  disappointments,  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

Probably,  only  judicial  honors  ever  tempted  him,  as  they  do  most 
lawyers  at  times,  but  these,  like  political  honors,  in  Kansas,  are  cast  in- 
to the  general  partisan  hotch  potch  and  controlled  by  the  conventions  of 
the  dominant  political  party  to  which  Mr.  Dunkin  does  not  belong, 
though  within  its  ranks  he  has  hosts  of  personal  friends  who  would  be 
glad  10  see  him  round  out  his  long  and  successful  career  at  the  bar,  by 
an  experience  on  the  bench  for  which  his  talents  and  life  work  so  emi- 
nently fit  him. 

To  the  younger  as])irants  for  i)rofessional  honors  at  the  bar.  the 
career  of  William  Dnukin  is  valuable  as  a  striking  example  of  the  suc- 
cess that  can  come  only  by  the  singleness  of  purpose,  diligently  jmrsued, 
which  held  him  to  his  books  and  his  briefs  "without  variableness  or 
shadow  of  turning,"  coupled  with  a  true  conception  of  the  high  calling 
of  a  lawyer  in  connection  with  the  administration  of  justice,  concerning, 
as  it  does,  the  most  vital  affairs  of  society. 

Whatever  the  future  may  hold  in  store  for  Mr.  l^unkin  in  a  profess- 
sional  way,  his  record  as  a  lawyer,  already  made,  is  certainly  a  most 
gratifying  one  to  him.  as  it  surely  is  to  his  multitude  of  friends.  Like 
a  veleran  soldier,  justly  iinrnd  of  the  scars  received  as  he  stood  on  the 
"perilous  edge  of  baiilc"  on  many  historic  fields,  Mr.  Dunkin  can  survey 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  255 

and  review  with  modest  and  becoming  pride  and  satisfaction,  his  quarter 
century  of  active  service  at  the  bar.  with  its  conflicts  fierce  and  furious, 
its  battles  lost  and  won,  its  varied  experiences,  both  pleasurable  and  ex- 
citing, that  make  up  the  life  work  of  a  busy  lawyer;  a  retrospect,  sad- 
dened only  by  the  recollections  of  so  many  members  of  the  Montgomery 
county  bar,  once  so  bright  and  active  in  the  years  gone  by.  who  have  re- 
moved to  other  fields  of  labor,  or  have  gone  to  "that  undiscovered  coun- 
try from  whose  bourne  no  traveler  returns." 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


BIOGRAPHIES 


EBENEZER  ERSKIN'E  WILSON— One  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
conutv  seat  of  Jlnntf^oniciy  county  and  tlie  jiioneer  merchant  of  that  city, 
was  the  late  subject  of  this  memoir,  E.  E.  Wilson.  His  life,  from  that 
August  day  in  18()9,  when  he  first  occupied  a  spot  on  the  Independence 
townsite.  to  the  day  of  his  death,  August  28th,  1894,  was  a  leading  and 
active  spirit  in  the  public  affairs  of  the  county  and  by  the  character  of 
his  citizenship  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  city  and  county. 

Ebenezer  E.  Wilson  was  a  native  of  the  "Keystone  State."  He  was 
born  at  Elizabeth,  in  Allegheny  county,  November  21st,  1838,  and  was 
reared  on  his  father's  farm.  His  father  provided  him  with  only  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  country  school  education.  When  the  Rebellion  came  on 
his  }(atriotic  enthusiasm  led  him  to  enlist  as  a  private  soldier  at  McKees- 
port.  Pennsylvania.  Ajiril  22nd,  18(;i,  but  he  was  rejected  because  of  a 
crip]iled  hand.  Sejitember  2.">th.  of  the  same  year,  he  enlisted  in  Company 
"C,"  of  the  2nd  West  Virginia  Cav.,  and  passed  into  the  service  without 
question.  His  record  shows  his  service  to  have  been  meritorious  and  he 
received  promotions  from  the  ranks  to  a  captain's  commission,  as  fol- 
lows: Sergeant,  November  1st,  1S(>2;  Orderly  Sergeant.  October  Kith, 
ISeS;  Second  Lieutenant,  April  0th.  I8ti4;  First  Lieutenant.  November 
20th.  1864;  Captain,  January  Tth,  18(i5,  and,  as  such,  was  mustered  out 
at  Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  June  .30th,  18C5. 

Returning  home  he  remained  a  citizen  of  his  native  stale  'till  March, 
1867.  when  he  immigrated  to  Kansas,  settling  at  Fontana,  where  he  main- 
tained his  residence  'till  August,  1860,  when  he  drove  into  Montgomery 
county  with  the  goods  necessary  to  stock  a  small  store  in  the  proposed 
town  of  Independence.  It  was  the  first  stock  of  goods  brought  to  the 
place  and  the  expense  of  getting  them  to  their  destination  was  f2.25  per 
hundred  pounds.  The  building  in  which  he  installed  it  was  one  with 
dimensions  14x24  feet,  and  cost  .foOO.OO.  It  was  one  story  high  and  the 
business  that  was  done  within  its  walls  rendered  it  an  important  mart 
of  trnde  in  those  days.  In  company  with  F.  D.  Irwin,  he  began  business 
(October  1st.  and  the  partnership  lasted  two  years.  He  was  one  of  the 
earliest  business  men  of  Elk  City,  where  he  was  identified  perhaps  two 
yeais,  but  his  chief  concern  was  for  his  favorite.  Independence,  and  he 
maintained  his  residence  there  in  almost  unbroken  continuance  for 
twenty  five  years.  His  high  standing  as  a  citizen  commended  him  to  the 
best  consideration  of  the  voters  of  the  town  and  county  and  he  held  sev- 


E     E.  WILSON. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  257 

eral  oHircs.  hcjiiiiniiif;  with  tliaf  of  Mayor  of  Iiulepeiidence.  He 
was  a  iiieniber Of  the  board  of  trustees,  who  incorporated  the  town  July 
23rd,  1870,  and  the  next  year  was  elected  its  chief  executive  officer.  In 
1S74.  he  was  aiipointed  deputy  county  treasurer  and  did  the  work  of  the 
office  as  such  "till  1882.  when  he  became  treasurer  himself.  He  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  of  Independence  by  President  Harrison,  and  died  the 
incumbent  of  the  office.  He  was  prominent  in  the  Grand  Army,  was  post 
commander  of  Mcl'herson  J'ost,  and  was  president  of  the  Independence 
Keunion  in  1881  and  1882. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  first  married  to  Rebecca  Braden,  a  lady  of  Washing- 
ton, rennsylvania.  who  died  in  a  few  months,  at  (Jrand  View,  Illinois, 
January  30th,  1872,  he  married  Morna  Moore,  a  native  of  Knox  county, 
Illinois".  January  30th,  1890,  she  died,  leaving  children:  Zell,  wife  of 
Assistant  General  Freight  Agent  of  the  Mo.  Pac.  Ry..  Arthur  T.  Stewart, 
of  St.  Louis.  Mo. ;  Albert  E.,  manager  of  the  Hall-Baker  Grain  Co.'s  ele- 
vator business  in  Cofteyville;  Sallie  B.  and  Floyd  M..  twins,  born  March 
15th,  1878;  Jennie  M.,'wife  of  Thomas  E.  Wagstaff,  of  Coffeyville,  born 
May  2.5th,  1880;  and  George  T.,  born  March  24th.  1883,  who  is  in  the 
state  grain  ins])ection  department  at  Coffeyville. 

Albert  E.  Wilson,  second  child  of  our  subject,  was  born  in  Indeiten- 
dence,  Kansas,  February  24th,  1876,  and  grew  up  and  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  that  city.  He  took  a  course  in  short-hand  in  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  and  at  nineteen  years  of  age  began  life  as  stenographer  for 
Hall  and  Robinson,  in  the  grain  business  in  Coffeyville.  He  filled  this 
position  eighteen  months  and  was  then  made  the  company's  book-keeper, 
in  which  capacity  he  served  two  years.  l)eing  then  made  manager  of  the 
firm's  business  in  Coffeyville,  in  180ft.  This  firm  was  one  of  the  leading 
exporters  of  grain  in  the  west  and  their  business  in  Coffeyville  marks  this 
city  as  one  of  their  most  important  points. 

Like  his  father,  Mr.  Wilson  is  a  Republican,  and  was  a  delegate  from 
Montgomery  county  to  the  state  convention  at  Wichita  in  1902,  where  he 
helped  nominate  W.  J.  Bailey  for  Governor  of  Kansas.  He  is  commit- 
teeman for  the  third  ward  of  Coffeyville  and  is  secretary  of  the  city  cen- 
tral committee  of  his  party.  Hte  is  a  Master  Mason,  an  Elk  and  is  un- 
married. 


HORACE  H.  CRANE— The  names  of  some  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
West  are  preserved  in  the  names  of  towns  and  cities  in  the  localities 
where  they  settled.  This  is  true  with  the  name  which  is  here  presented, 
it  having  taken  its  name  from  the  gentleman  who  is  herewith  reviewed, 
and  who,  in  1808,  first  settled  on  the  tract  which  now  furnishes  the  site 
for  the  railway  station  of  that  name.  Mr.  (_'rane  purchased  the  protec- 
tion and  right  of  settlement  from  the  noted  Osage   Indian  chief,  Xopa- 


258  HISTORY  OK  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

walla,  for  tbe  sum  of  one  hundietl  tlollars.  This  was  to  guarantee  pro- 
tection for  ten  families,  which  Mr.  Crane  wished  to  settle  in  that  vicin- 
ity. It  is  worthy  of  note  that  while  no  paper  was  signed  between  the 
parties,  the  chief  carried  out  his  part  of  the  agreement  without  a  breach. 
There  were  at  that  time  some  four  hundred  Indians  in  that  immediate 
vicinity,  and  some  of  them  remained  until  the  government  removed  them 
by  force. 

Horace  H.  Crane  was  born  on  the  l.~>th  of  November,  1836,  in  Shalers- 
ville,  Ohio,  the  son  of  William  R.  Crane,  who  was  the  son  of  Belden 
Crane,  a  native  of  Connecticut.  Belden  Crane  reared  seven  children, 
Jerusha  Chamberlain.  Orville,  Laura  Tildeu,  William,  Frederick,  Asenath 
and  Orlando.  William  B.  Crane  was  born  in  Shalersville,  Ohio,  in  1803. 
He  married  Sallie  Ann  Olney,  who  was  a  sister  of  Jesse  Olney,  the  author 
of  the  Olney  (Geography.  To  this  union  were  born  Asenath  Fitch,  now 
residing  in  Oklahoma;  Calista  Ryan,  deceased;  William  W..  who  resides 
with  Horace;  Helen  Cavert,  deceased;  Horace  H..  the  subject  of  this  re- 
view, and  Oscar,  deceased. 

Horace  H.  Crane  resided  in  the  place  of  his  birth  until  the  age  of 
nine,  when  he  accomi)anied  his  parents  to  Api)leton.  Wisconsin,  where  he 
was  living  at  the  time  of  the  (^ivil  war.  In  18()2  he  answered  thecall  of 
his  country  and  enlisted  in  Co.  "I."  3rd  Wis.  ^'ol  Cav..  under  Col.  Bar- 
ratow.  General  Blunt's  division  of  the  Army  of  the  West.  lu  this  regi- 
ment he  saw  some  active  service,  participating  in  the  battles  of  Cane 
Hill  and  Pea  Eidge,  and  in  numerous  skirmishes.  Much  of  his  service 
was  in  the  escorting  of  government  trains  through  Missouri  and  Arkan- 
sas.   He  was  mustered  out  at  Fort  lr5(0tt.  in  August.  1863. 

Before  returning  home  from  the  army  he  purchased,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fort  Scott,  a  car  load  of  horses,  and  took  them  through  to  Wisconsin, 
and  disposed  of  them  at  his  old  home.  After  a  short  visit  he  returned  to 
Kansas  and  settled  on  a  farm  nearLeroy,  Coffey  county,  from  which  place 
he  came  to  Montgomery  county  in  1868,  as  stated. 

'A'hile  living  in  ("olfey  county.  ^Ir.  Crane  met  and  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Charles  and  Elizabeth  (Hunter)  High,  these  parents  being 
natives  of  the  Keystone  and  Blue  Grass  states,  respectively.  Mrs.  Crane 
Avas  born  in  Warren  county,  Indiana,  March  27th.  1812,  where  she  lived 
until  she  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  when  she  accompanied  her  parents 
to  Coflcy  county.  Kansas.  To  the  marriage  of  ilr.  and  Mrs.  Crane  four 
children  have  been  born,  viz:  Charles  ()..  of  P>ristol,  I.  T.,  who  is  married 
I0  Minnie  St.  -Idhn  and  has  three  children,  Fred.  Be.ssie  and  Paul; 
Frankie  resides  at  home;  Horace  O.  and  Frederick  H.  reside  at  Elgin, 
Kansas.  The  quarter  of  land  which  Mr.  Crane  selected  and  filed  on  was 
in  section  r)-32-l.").  To  this  body  he  has  added  until  he  now  owns  330 
acres.  Since  the  discovery  of  oil  and  gas  he  has  been  very  active  in  drill- 
ing on  his  land  and  has  met  with  much  success. 


HISTOKY   OF   MOXTGOMEKY   COUNTY,  KANSAS.  259 

Dui-iuj;  the  lesideme  of  Mr.  Crane  in  Sycamore  towuship,  he  haa 
evinced  n  lively  interest  in  the  educational  and  religious  welfare  of  the 
coniniunity  and  has  served  in  the  various  unpaid  offices  of  the  school  dis- 
trict and  township.  He  is  a  firm  believer  in  fraternal  principles  and  is 
a  member  of  several  of  the  most  worthy  fraternities.  He  is  a  Knight 
Tem]ilar  Mason  and  a  Shriner,  is  also  a  member  of  the  Elks,  the  Wood- 
men ..f  the  \V<irld.  and  of  McPherscm  Post.  Grand  Army  of  the  Re])nblic. 


JOHN  NEWTON— Since  1884  there  has  lived  in  Sy.  aniore  township 
the  gentleman  above  named,  who  has  establislK  d  a  ic]iutation  for  up- 
rightness and  integrity  equaled  by  few  and  surpassed  liy  none.  He  re- 
sides on  section  7-31-15,  where  he  cultivates  one  of  the  most  tasty  farms 
in  the  township. 

Mr.  Newton  is  a  native  of  the  "Buckeye"  state,  his  birth  occuring 
in  Hi  rrison  county.  March  14th.  1842.  He  was  reared  to  farm  life  and 
accompanied  his  parents  in  their  removal  to  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio, 
where  he  continued  to  reside  until  the  date  of  his  coming  to  Montgomery 
county,  Kansas.  In  May  of  1865,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  in  Co. 
"D,"  Kith  Ohio  National  Guard,  under  Colonel  Taylor,  and  General 
Siegel.  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  spent  some  four  months  in  the 
service — being  at  Martinsburg  and  Harper's  Ferry — and  was  mustered 
out  a^  the  capital  of  his  state. 

Mr.  Newton  takes  a  good  citizen's  part  in  the  life  of  his  community. 
He  has  served  on  the  school  board  and  as  road  overseer  of  his  district.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  has  been  a  Repub- 
lican since  he  was  able  to  cast  a  vote. 

Turning  now  to  the  points  of  interest  in  the  family  history  of  Mr. 
Newton,  the  biographer  recalls  that  he  is  a  son  of  Isaac  and  Rachel 
(Murj.hyi  Newton,  both  natives  of  Ohio.  Isaac  was  a  son  of  Levi  and 
Marv  Newton,  whose  children  were:  Ransom,  Isaac,  Levi,  Zimena.  Rox- 
ina  and  Annie.  To  the  marriage  of  Isaac  Newton  and  his  wife  were  born 
nine  children,  as  follows:  Louise  Hasebrook,  Anne  Smiley,  of  Jewit,  O.; 
Martha  Walker,  of  Urichsville,  O. ;  Jane  Brewster.  of  Montgomery 
county;  Matilda  Kennedy,  of  Columbus,  Ohio;  John,  the  subject  of  this 
review ;  Robert,  of  Illinois ;  Luther,  deceased,  and  Albert,  who  resides  in 
Ohio.  After  the  death  of  the  mother  of  these  children,  Isaac  Newton 
married  Mary  J.  Tope,  to  whom  were  born  Cora  Baumer  and  Netta 
Thomas,  both  of  whom  reside  in  Ohio. 

The  domestic  life  of  our  subject  was  begun  March  2.  1806,  when  he 
was  happily  joined  in  marriage  with  Mary  E.  Balitt.  Mrs.  Newton  was 
born  i!i  Tnsi-arawas  county.  Ohio.  March  23rd.  1845,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Samnel  and  Mary  A.  (Baltzey)  Balitt.  natives,  respectivelv,  of  Pennsvl- 
vania  and  Ohio.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newton's  children  are  as  follows:    Mary 


26o  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEEY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

C.  Wilson,  with  her  four  chiklren,  Xellie.  Harris,  Frauk  and  BiUah.  re- 
sides in  Montgomery  coniity;  Sarah  L.  Mathis,  resides  in  Indian  Terri- 
tory with  her  children.  ;Maude,  Frederick  and  lister  M.;  Isaac,  yet  at 
home ;  Daniel  O..  of  Montgomery  county ;  Luman  B.,  at  home,  and  Carrie 
M.  Oliver,  with  her  daughter,  Flora,  resides  in  Sycamore.  Kansas. 

As  a  member  of  this  family  there  is  at  present  the  mother  of  Mrs. 
Newton,  Mrs.  Mary  Balitt,  now  in  her  80th  year. 


^VILLIAM  CAHOON  BAYLIES— The  pioneer  has  been  the  advance 
guard  of  civilization  and  about  his  personality  clings  the  story  of  the  ad- 
vance, the  struggle  and  the  final  victory.  What  is  true  of  him  in  other 
localities  is  true  of  him  in  Montgomery  county.  He  has  helped  to  lay  the 
foundation  for  the  sfileiidid  work  going  on  about  us  and  to  him  who  came 
at  the  beginning,  icmained  to  the  finish  and  is  here  now.  is  due  great 
credit,  now  and  everlasting.  In  this  list  and  belonging  to  this  class  we 
are  pleased  to  present  William  C.  Baylies,  the  subject  of  this  review. 

Mr.  Baylies  came  to  Montgomery  county  in  July,  1809.  when  the 
Red  Men  ruled,  but  chaos  reigned.  He  came  as  a  settler  and  in  search 
of  a  home  and  he  located  on  section  16,  township  32,  range  15,  just  south 
of  Table  Mjound,  where  the  transition  from  nature  to  art  persistently  and 
systematically  took  place.  He  came  to  the  county  by  wagon,  with  less 
tlian  tifty  dollars  in  his  jiocket,  from  the  state  of  Iowa.  He  is.  by  nativ- 
ity, a  Southern  man  but  by  disposition  and  training,  decidedly  North- 
ern. He  was  born  in  St.  Helena  Parish,  Louisiana,  July  27th.  1843,  and 
is  a  son  of  Nicholas  Baylies,  who  was  born  in  Vermont's  capital  April 
9th,  1S09.  His  grandfather  was  also  Nicholas  Baylies,  born  on  the  9th 
of  Ai)ril.  180!),  in  Massachusetts,  and  Nicholas  and  ^lary  were  the  par- 
ents of  three  children,  namely:  Horatio  N.,  Mary  R..  and  Nicholas. 
They  emniigrated  from  the  Old  Bay  State  and  settled  near  Montpelier, 
Vermont,  where  their  childi'en  grew  up.  Their  youngest  child  married 
Harriet  Helen  Gaboon,  a  daughter  of  William  Cahoon,  of  Lyndon,  Ver- 
mont, a  lineal  descendent  of  the  famous  founder  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode 
Island.  (It  is  a  distinction  worthy  of  record  to  descend  from  the  first 
great  jiicmeer  ])r('a(li(M-.  Roger  Williams.)  Fight  chililren  were  born  to 
Nicholas  and  ITnnicl  Baylies,' as  follows:  William  C,  Ripley  N..  Lawson 
W.,  ^Mary  11..  CliaiJcs  lO..' Oscar  S.,  Francis  A.,  and  George  A. 

When  ^^'illialll  ( '.  Baylies  was  eight  years  old  his  parents  I'oturned 
north  will)  (licir  family,  after  having  spent  several  years  in  the  South, 
and  located  in  (iriggsville.  1  Hindis,  where  they  resided  'till  1858,  going 
thence  to  Des  ^loines.  Iowa.  Tlii'  lonimon  schools  had  to  do  with  the 
education  of  our  subjecl  and  when  the  Rebellion  came  on  he  enlisted  in 
Com])any  "K."  Htih  Iowa  Inf.,  under  Col.  Perczell.  His  regiment  formed 
a  part  of  the  15ili  .\iiiiy  Corps,  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  was  in  bat- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  26 1 

tie  at  Island Xo.  10, New Madi-ia.CoriiiTh.Viiksburf-',  theuce  east  to  the  aid 
of  ]{osecrans  at  Chattanooga,  thence  on  the  campaign  of  Atlanta  and  the 
luarcli  to  the  sea.  Its  service  ended  with  the  march  up  through  the  Con- 
feder;icy  from  Savanna  to  Washington,  D.  C,  where  Mr.  Baylies  received 
orders  to  proceed  to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  from  which  point  he  was  or- 
dered to  Davenport,  Iowa,  to  be  mustered  out,  on  the  loth  of  August, 
ISO.').  lie  enlisted  as  a  private,  was  promoted  through  the  grades  of  non- 
coiiuiiissioned  ()tli<-ers  and  commissioned  a  First  Leutenant,  and  as  such, 
was  mustered  out. 

In  the  spring  of  18()0.  ilr.  Baylies  liegan  a  trip  which  gave  him  his 
first  experience  with  the  frontier.  He  went  to  the  Territory  of  Montana, 
where  he  was  employed  in  the  gold  diggings,  and  in  other  ways,  without 
much  profit  to  himself  and,  after  three  years,  returned  to  Iowa  and  a 
mouth  afterward  started  on  his  pioneering  trip  to  Kansas. 

February  14th,  1878,  Mr.  Baylies  married  Kachel  M.,  widow  of  Dr. 
William  E.  Henry,  and  a  daughter  of  H.  T.  and  Nancy  I.  Butterworth. 
By  her  first  marriage  Mrs.  Baylies  has  two  sons.  Prof  Thomas  B.  and 
William  E.  Henry,  mention  of  whom  is  made  on  another  page  of  this 
volume.  A  daughter,  Caroline  C.  is  the  only  child  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bay- 
lies. She  is  a  junior  in  the  Kansas  State  University.  Clara,  an  orphan 
girl,  is  a  member  of  the  Baylies  household.  She  has  found  a  welcome  and 
comfortable  home  there  for  twelve  years  and  is  a  valuable  acquisition  to 
the  family. 

Table  Mound,  on  which  the  Baylies  home  is  situated,  is  one  of  the 
highest  points  in  Montgomery  county.  It  rises  more  than  two  hundred 
feet  above  Elk  river  and  contains  an  area  of  some  six  hundred  acres,  and 
forms  a  large  part  of  the  one  thousand  or  more  acres  of  the  Henry  and 
Baylies  estate.  The  Baylies  cottage  stands  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the 
abrupt  decline  and  overlooks,  from  its  almost  dizzy  height,  the  entire 
landscape  below  and  furnishes  a  magnificent  "birds  eye"'  view.  The 
The  mound  is  underlaid  with  lola  limestone  and  commercial  shale  and 
is.  perhaps,  doomed  to  destruction  for  the  manufacture  of  portland  ce- 
ment. 

Mr.  Baylies  is  honorable  in  dealing,  modest  in  bearing  and  influen- 
tial as  a  citizen.  His  home  is  filled  with  good  cheer  and  hospitality  and  is 
presided  over  by  a  genuine  woman,  his  wife.  In  early  life  Mrs.  Baylies 
was  a  teacher.  She  is  a  lady  of  culture  and  refinement' and  in  the  rearing 
of  their  children  she  and  her  husbaud  have  honored  society  and  won  dis- 
tinction for  themselves. 


GEORGE  B.  SMITH— George  B.  Smith,  a  farmer  of  Svcamore  town- 
ship, and  a  citizen  of  the  county  since  1896,  is  a  South  Carolinian  by 
birth  and  an  Indianian  by  adoption.  Born  December  IGth,  184.5.  in  Ander- 


262  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

son  dis-trict,  he  left  the  'Tahuetto  State"  with  his  parents  at  the  age  of 
five  years  and  became  a  resident  of  Boone  connty,  Indiana.  Here  he 
grew  to  manhood — the  war  interfering  somewhat  with  his  education,  so 
far  as  book-knowledge  goes — but  giving  him  an  opportunity  to  take  les- 
sons in  that  greater,  and  in  some  respects,  more  important  school — the 
school  of  experience.  Many  a  boy  left  the  school-room  in  those  days  with 
but  a  smattering  of  "book  larnin'  "  and  graduated  from  Uncle  Sam's 
Technical  School  in  1805.  with  that  broad  culture  which  comes  with 
travel  and  association  with  kindred  minds.  Mr.  Smith  enrolled  in  this 
school  on  the  22nd  of  December.  1803,  Vjecoming  a  memlwr  of  Company 
"F."  -tOth  Ind.  Vol.  Inft.,  Col.  .John  W.  Blake  commanding. 

This  regiment  mobilized  with  the  Fourth  Army  Corps  and  reached 
Sherman's  army  in  time  to  participate  in  the  battle  of  Eesaca,  and  short- 
ly after  at  Buzzard's  Boost,  At  the  spectacular  fight  at  Kenesaw  Mt., 
Mr.  Smith's  enthusiasm  carried  him  within  the  enemy's  lines  and  he  be- 
came an  unwilling  hostage  at  dreaded  Andersonville.  Owing  to  the  fact 
that  "Uncle  Billy"  had  gathered  up  a  few  of  the  Confederates,  which 
Hood  thought  he  might  need  on  his  trip  north,  exchange  became  possible, 
and  Mr.  Smith  was  thus  compelled  to  experience  the  horrors  of  that  noted 
resort  but  a  short  time.  He  rejoined  the  army  in  time  to  help  General 
Thomas  administer  the  two  castigations  at  Franklin  and  Nashville,  and 
then  spent  the  remainder  of  his  service  in  the  Southwest,  not  being  mus- 
tered out  until  January  of  1800,  that  event  occurring  at  Texana,  Texas. 

After  the  war,  our  subject  returned  to  Indiana,  and  after  a  jieriod 
in  his  home  county,  iu  1871  he  moved  over  into  Carroll  Co.,  Ind.  Here  he 
engaged  in  farming  unlil  187(i.  and  Then  came  to  the  "Suntidwer  State." 
Up  to  1800.  he  farmed  in  .Tefterson.  Elk  and  Labette  cdunties.  in  which 
latter  year  he  settled  in  Montgomery  county. 

Mr.  Smith  is  a  gentleman  of  good  sense,  popular  in  his  community, 
and  active  in  all  that  promises  well  for  the  people.  He  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board  for  the  past  five  years,  is  a  working  member  of 
the  Christian  church,  and  is,  of  course,  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army. 

Mentioning  the  salient  points  in  Mr.  Smith's  family  history  we  note 
that  he  is  a  son  of  Thomas  G.  Smith,  who  was  born  in  South  Carolina, 
and  is  one  of  twelve  children.  Their  names  as  far  as  known  being  George 
W.,  Nancy.  Thomas.  Millie  and  Joseph. 

Tlimiias  (i.  Smith  was  born  in  Pickens  district.  South  Carolina.  .Jan- 
nai'v  22nd,  1811,  was  there  reared  and  at  maturity  married  Jane,  daugh- 
ter of  George  Braswell.  This  lady  was  a  native  of  that  state  and  was 
born  November  11,  1817.  She  became  the  mother  of  fifteen  children, 
seven  living  to  maturity;  their  names  being:  Caron  E.  Franks,  of  Mul- 
vane.  Kansas;  Nancy  .1.  Moore,  of  Montgomery  county;  Camilla  E. 
Decker,  of  Claypool,  Indiana ;  George  B.,  Sarah  C.  Thompson,  of  Hopeton, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  263 

Ok.;  Miranda  A.  Coppoek,  of  Hamilton  county,  Indiana,  and  Madison  S., 
who  resides  in  the  same  county. 

George  B.  Smith,  the  honored  subject  of  this  review,  married  in  Kan- 
sas on  the  30th  of  June,  187S,  Rachel  E.  Wilkerson.  Mrs.  Smith  is  a 
daughter  of  J.  C.  and  Eliza  Wilkerson,  all  natives  of  Kentucky.  To  her 
husband  she  has  borne  four  children— Charles  L.  resides  in  Independence, 
Kansas;  John  T.  in  Montgomery  county,  as  also  do  Inez  and  Lulu,  the 
latter  at  home  and  the  former  tlie  wife  of  Homer  L.  Bretches. 

Mr.  Smith  and  his  family  are  highly  regarded  in  the  county  of  their 
adoption,  where  they  expect  to  pass  the  remainder  of  their  days. 


J.  M.  COURTNEY — Cherry  vale  was  still  in  its  swaddling  clothes 
when  J.  M.  Courtney  took  up  residence  within  its  borders.  He  helped 
nurse  it  into  vigcnous  and  lusty  youth,  witnessed  the  passing  of  the  line 
into  niauhiiod,  and  glories  now  in  the  evidences  of  its  strength  and  pros- 
perity. During  Ihese  years  he  has  been  constant  in  his  interest  in  the 
progress  of  the  city  and  has  given  much  time  and  effort  to  the  building 
up  of  those  institutions  which  constitute  its  pride,  and  particularly  in  the 
line  of  education.  His  various  ofiScial  duties  as  justice  of  the  peace,  su- 
perintendent of  the  waterworks,  and  vice  president  of  the  Montgomery 
Counly  Bank,  kee]i  him  in  close  touch  with  the  people  and  nuike  him  a 
potent  factor  in  the  development  which  is  now  taking  place  in  his  sec- 
tion of  the  c-ountT. 

March  3lst,  1840,  and  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  mark  the  date  and 
place  of  birth  of  Mr.  Courtney.  Michael  and  Grace  (Piersol)  Courtney 
were  the  names  of  his  parents,  both  natives  of  the  "Buckeye  State,"  and 
the  falier  a  shoemaker  by  trade.  They  were  respected  members  of  society, 
devout  communicants  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  of  intense  and  loyal 
patriotism.  They  removed  to  Illinois  in  1845,  where  the  father  died  in 
Yermilliou  county  the  same  year.  His  wife  survived  him  over  a  half  cen- 
tury, (lying  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-three  years,  in  19(tl.  They 
reared  nine  children,  four  of  whom  still  survive.  After  the  death  of  the 
father  the  family  went  back  to  Mercer  county.  Pa.,  in  1847,  where  our 
subject  was  reared  to  man's  estate.  He  passed  the  years  of  early  man- 
hood in  helping  cultivate  the  home  farm,  and  was  thus  occupied  when 
the  tocsin  of  war  resounded  through  the  land,  calling  those  of  patriot 
blood  to  save  the  nation  from  disunion.  In  October  of  1861,  he  left  the 
furrow  and  became  a  private  in  Company  "I,"  Second  Penn.  Cav.  This 
regiment  joined  the  forces  about  Washington,  but  Mr.  Courtney  did  not 
see  much  of  the  active  fighting,  as  he  was  soon  taken  sick  with  that  sol- 
dier's scourge,  the  measles,  which  in  turn  was  followed  by  an  attack  of 
snuill]»ox.  After  a  dreary  time  in  the  hospital,  our  subject  recovered  suf- 
ficiently to  act  as  a  nurse  to  the  wouni'.ed.  and,  owing  to  the  urgent  de- 


264  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

iiiniul  for  that  kind  of  help,  he  was  kept  there  on  detail  until  he  was  dis- 
charged for  disability,  the  smallpox  having;  left  his  eyes  in  bad  condition. 

After  the  war.  Mr.  Courtney  went  to  Vermillion  county,  Illinois,  for 
a  period,  and  in  1866  located  in  Labette  county,  Kansas,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  to  the  date  of  his  coming  to  Oherryvale,  1876.  With  the 
exception  of  a  year  spent  at  Eureka  Springs  in  the  vain  attempt  to  im- 
prove the  health  of  his  wife,  our  subject  has  held  continuous  residence  in 
the  city.  He  ran  a  drug  store  for  several  years,  then  went  into  the  real 
estate  business,  which  he  has  followed  in  connection  with  his  duties  as 
superintendent  of  the  water  works,  his  appointment  dating  from  1892. 
During  these  years  he  has  been  most  active  in  the  civic  life  of  the  com- 
munity, serving  as  city  treasurer,  trustee  of  the  County  High  School, 
member  of  the  city  school  board,  and  has  been  now  for  three  terms  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace. 

]\Iarried  life  with  Mr.  Courtney  began  July  15th.  1806.  The  wife  of 
his  youth  was  Mary  E.  Wood,  daughter  of  Daniel  Wood.  Her  death  oc- 
curred without  issue,  and  on  February  loth,  1885,  our  subject  was  joined 
to  the  lady  who  now  presides  over  his  household.  Flora  C.  Willis.  Her 
parents  were  J.  W.  and  Mary  Willis,  residents  of  Illinois.  Two  children 
have  been  born — Earl  M.  and  Rhea  M.  Mr.  Courtney  and  family  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  church,  while  he  belongs  to  the  Masons,  the 
Woodmen,  the  A.  O.  U.  W..  the  K.  of  H.  and  the  G.  A.  E.  He  is  an  ardent 
Republican  and  a  valued  worker  in  the  jjarty.  No  more  highly  respected 
citizen  is  to  be  found  within  the  coutines  of  the  city. 


ROBERT  SAMUEL  PAEKHURST— Conspicuous  among  the 
pioneers  of  Montgomery  county  is  the  venerable  subject  of  this  brief 
notice.  His  advent  to  the  county  was  at  a  date  prior  to  the  removal  of 
the  Red  Man  to  his  new  reservation  in  the  Indian  Territory,  and  when 
things  social  were  in  a  somewhat  chaotic  condition ;  yet  he  went  about 
his  daily  task  of  driving  the  initial  stakes  toward  the  building  of  his 
Western  home  and  laid  the  foundation  for  a  career  of  success  and  use- 
fulness. 

Robert  S.  I'arkhurst  settled  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  in  Oc- 
tober, 1869.  He  was  at  the  head  of  a  colony  of  Indiana  settlers,  few  of 
whom  now  remain,  but  some  of  whom  are  still  represented  in  the  county. 
There  were  seventeen  families  of  them  and  they  drove  teams  overland 
from  Johnson  county,  Indiana.  Mr.  Parkhurst  had  resided  in  that  state 
since  1826,  and,  with  the  excejition  of  three  years,  was  engaged  in  the 
successful  cultivation  of  the  soil.  During  this  three  years'  exception  he 
was  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  "New  York  Store"  in  Franklin,  the 
county  seat,  and  out  of  both  his  ventures — as  farmer  and  merchant — he 
realized  abundantly  to  give  him  a  good  start  in  Kansas.    When  he  drove 


R.  S.  PARKHURST  AND   BROTHERS. 


HISTOItY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  265 

1)11  to  the  towusite  of  Independence  it  had  only  just  been  laid  off.  He 
came  out  to  accoin])lisli  something  permanent  with  the  several  thousand 
(lollais  lie  brought  along  and  some  sixteen  houses  sprang  into  existence 
ill  the  new  town  as  a  result  of  his  ])ublic  spirit  and  foresight.  Hfc  took  up 
laud  also  and  began  the  prepai'ation  of  a  country  home.  His  efforts  at 
farming  were  amply  and  ra])i(lly  rewarded  and  as  he  approached  the 
cveniiig  of  life  he  found  himself  possessed  of  many  hundred  acres  of  land. 
Twelve  hundred  of  this  he  divided  amongst  his  children  and,  a  few  years 
later — when  he  had  accumulated  other  large  areas — fourteen  hundred 
acres  more  were  set  off  to  his  heirs,  and  still  his  resources  were  far  from 
being  exhausted.  Perhaps  few  men  have  made  the  soil  of  Montgomery 
county  respond  so  freely  as  he.  He  has  centered  his  efforts  in  the  one 
line  and,  except  for  his  connection  with  the  First  National  Bank,  as  a 
stockholder,  he  has  not  deviated  from  the  life  of  a  farmer. 

Mr.  Parkhurst  was  born  in  Kentucky,  February  2nd,  1823.  His  par- 
ents were  John  and  Abigail  (Sellers)  Parkhurst,  the  former  born  in 
Tennessee  about  1790,  and  died  in  Johnson  county,  Indiana,  at  about 
seventy  five  years  old.  His  wife  died  in  the  same  county  being  the  mother  of 
the  following  children,  namely :  Matilda,  Owen,  Kobert  S.,  James,  Polly 
A.,  Sarah,  John  A.,  Caroline,  Abigail,  Wilson,  Elijah,  Daniel  and  Martha. 

The  youth  of  R.  S.  Parkhurst  was  passed  chiefly  at  work  on  his 
father's  farm.  He  acquired  little  education  and  began  life  in  a  limited 
way.  When  he  decided  to  come  west  he  induced  many  of  his  friends  to 
join  him  and  five  weeks  of  the  autumn  of  1869  were  passed  making  the 
trip  out  to  Independence.  The  first  winter  Mr.  Parkhui'st  housed  his 
family  in  a  hay  house  in  which  his  horses  also  were  sheltered.  In  the 
sj)riug  other  buildings  of  a  frontier  character  were  provided  and  the  work 
of  actual  improvement  was  begun.  How  well  he  accounted  for  his  first 
twenty-five  years  here  is  told  in  the  property  accumulations  already  al- 
luded to.  Political  achievements  he  has  none.  He  was  reared  a  Demo- 
crat and  has  given  support  to  the  faith  all  his  life.  He  has  had  no  ambi- 
tion for  office;  has  been  ambitious  to  be  a  good  citizen  and  provide  for 
his  domestic  wants. 

In  April,  1813,  Mr.  Parkhurst  married  Lueretia  Henry,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  (Musselman)  Henry.  Mrs.  Parkhurst  was  born  in 
Keniicky  in  1824  and  is  the  mother  of  four  daughters,  as  follows :  Abi- 
gail, widow  of  Louis  Hudiberg,  of  Montgomery  county;  Mary  E.,  wife 
of  John  Hefley,  of  Independence,  Kansas;  Matilda,  who  married  Richard 
H.  DeMott.  a  prominent  farmer  of  Montgomery  county;  and  Lucinda, 
wife  of  William  E.  Smith,  of  Independence. 

ilr.  Parkhurst  is  a  Mason.  He  belongs  to  the  blue  lodge  and  chapter 
and  is  a  Baptist  of  the  old  predestinarian  order,  and  has  been  a  member 
of  the  denomination  manv  vears. 


266  HISTORY  OF  JIOXTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

A H( 'III BALD  L.  ^COTT— Anioiig  those  sottlers  of  Montgomery 
county  who  have  ein])hasized  tlieir  presence  in  the  world  of  achievement 
in  the  field  of  agriculture  prominently  ap])ears  the  name  of  Archibald 
L.  Scott,  of  Sycamore  township,  farmer,  soldier  and  honored  citizen.  To 
win  a  pronounced  victory  in  the  domain  of  agriculture,  to  accumulate 
and  improve  a  vast  body  of  land,  princely  in  dominion,  in  less  than  two 
decades  and  to  establish  a  wide  civil  and  political  confidence,  ranking 
one  as  a  leading  citizen  of  his  municipality,  mentions,  in  brief,  the  events 
in  the  career  of  our  subject  and  serves  to  indicate  the  real  character  of 
his  citizenship. 

■March  10th,  1884,  he  became  a  citizen  of  Montgomery  county,  and 
settled  on  section  10,  township  31,  range  15.  Then  his  identity  with  Kan- 
sas farming  began  and  the  history  of  his  efforts  in  this  and  kindred  voca- 
tions finds  its  strongest  utterance  in  the  possession  of  an  estate  of  nine 
hundred  and  two  acres  of  land. 

The  native  place  of  Mr.  Scott  is  Tyler  county.  West  Virginia.  He 
was  born  near  Sistersville,  October  6,  1841,  was  a  son  of  George  Scott, 
and  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm.  The  latter  was  born  in  County  Donne- 
gal,  Ireland,  in  ISll,  came  to  the  T'uitcd  Stntes  in  ISIG  with  his  father, 
Archibahl  Scott.  Tiic  grandfather  had  a  family  of  sons,  John  and  George, 
both  of  whom  died  in  Hancock  couTity.  Hlinois,  the  former  in  1882 — leav- 
ing a  family — and  the  latter  in  1808.  George  Scott  was  an  active,  posi- 
tive citizen  of  his  community,  took  an  interest  in  its  various  affairs,  was 
first  i!  Whig,  then  a  Democrat  and  finally  a  Republican.  He  married 
Easter  West,  who  died  in  184G.  being  the  mother  of  the  following  child- 
ren :  Wesley  S.,  of  Pleasance  county,  W.  Va. ;  William,  deceased ;  Archi- 
bald L.,  of  this  review;  Margaret  A.,  who  married  Wm.  0.  Sine,  of  To- 
ronto, Ohio;  Amos  C,  of  Carthage,  Illinois.  Rachel  Williams  became  the 
second  wife  of  George  Scott,  and  her  children  were:  George  N.,  of  Hamil- 
ton. Illinois;  Charles  A.,  of  Bradv's  Bend,  Pa.;  Ellen,  deceased,  and 
David  O. 

The  education  of  Archibald  L.  Scott  was  limited  in  quantity.  The 
log  school  house  was  both  his  preparatory  school  and  university,  and  his 
service  in  school  seemed  to  be  of  less  importance  than  his  services  on  the 
farm.  The  serious  responsibilities  of  life  began  with  him  before  he  was 
twenty  years  of  ago,  and  in  18(;(),  he  crossed  over  inio  Martinsburg.  Ohio, 
where  he  was  employed  for  a  time  in  a  tannery.  June  5th.  1861,  he  en- 
listed in  Company  "B,"  4th  Ohio  Inf.,  Col.  Loren  Andrews,  of  Gambler 
College.  His  service  began  in  West  Virginia,  at  Clarksburg,  and  he  par- 
ticipated in  the  fight  at  Rich  Mountain.  He  was  enlisted  for  three 
months,  but  the  regiment  was  reorganized  in  Camp  Denison  for  three 
years,  it  being  one  of  the  first  Ohio  regiments  so  to  do.  From  the  Rich 
Mountain  battlefield  the  command  followed  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Ry.  to 
Fort  Pendleton  and  took  Rumney,  was  engaged  at  Patterson's  Creek, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  267 

ilartinsburp;,  Winchester  and  finally  fought  Stonewall  Jackson  at  Kern- 
town,  si^'i'iS  that  Confederate  chieftain  his  first  and  only  defeat  on  a 
fair  field.  The  next  move  of  the  command  was  toward  Fredericksburg, 
and  then  to  the  Shenandoah  Valley  by  way  of  Manassas  Junction  and 
Front  Royal.  An  advance  was  made  to  cut  off  Jackson  at  Port  Republic, 
thence  back  to  Front  Royal,  to  Alexandria  and  to  Hhrrison's  Landing, 
where  a  junction  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  effected.  The  main 
battles  foujjht  while  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  the  closing  days 
of  the  Seven  Days'  Fight,  Antietam,  Fredericksburg.  Chancellorsville, 
Wilderness,  Spottsylvania  and  Cold  Harbor.  At  this  juncture  Mr. 
Scott's  time  expired  and  he  was  ordered  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  to  be  mus- 
tered out  of  service.  He  enlisted  as  a  private,  declined  a  sei'geancy,  was 
color  bearer  in  two  engagements  and  was  wounded  three  times  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Chancellorsville.  in  the  hand,  thigh  and  by  a  piece  of  iron  under 
the  left  ear.  The  ball  taken  from  his  left  thigh  is  in  his  possession,  a 
relic  of  the  great  citizen  war. 

Mr.  Scott  changed  his  uniform  for  a  workingman's  garb  and  became 
an  oil  well  driller,  with  a  spring-pole  for  power,  in  the  West  Virginia 
field.  Leaving  there  he  went  into  the  Pennsylvania  field  and  was  con- 
nected with  oil  production  in  the  two  states  for  nineteen  years.  In  the 
meantime  he  came  to  Kansas — in  1870 — and  was  located  for  a  time  in 
Neodesha,  where  he  did  carpenter  work  and  served  the  village  as  its  mar- 
shal, the  first  one  it  had.  While  there — June  10th,  1872 — he  married  and 
soon  after  returned  to  the  Pennsylvania  oil  fields,  where  he  continued  an 
operator  'till  his  final  advent  to  the  Sunflower  State,  in  1883. 

Mrs.  Scott  was  Clara  McWilliams,  a  daughter  of  Wallace  and  Mary 
McWilliams,  pioneers  to  Kansas  from  Knox  county,  Ohio,  settling  at 
Geneva,  in  Allen  county,  in  August,  1800.  The  parents  afterward  moved 
■  to  Neodesha,  where  they  died,  leaving  children :  Rena,  deceased  wife  of 
Abraham  Ross;  David,  deceased;  William  B.,  of  Caney,  Kansas;  Burnie, 
deceased,  married  E.  X.  Lewis;  Moses  and  Charles,  deceased;  Mrs.  Scott; 
John,  of  Coffeyville,  Kansas,  and  Eugene,  of  Neodesha,  Kansas. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Scott's  children  are  Howard  A.,  deputy  county  attor- 
ney 0/  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  who  was  commissioned  First  Lieuten- 
ant of  Co.  "G,"  20th  Kansas — Filipino  insurrection — and  was  promoted 
to  captain  of  Co.  "A,"  but  mustered  out  as  captain  of  Co.  "G,"  having  been 
assigned  back  to  his  first  company;  George  W..  married  Mabel  Lane,  re- 
sides in  Montgomery  county,  and  has  one  child,  Edna  Cleo;  Archi- 
bald L.,  Edwin  P.,  Walter  W.,  and  Henry  J.  Scott  conclude  the  list. 

As  a  citizen  Mr.  Scott  has  wielded  a  political  influence  in  Mont- 
gomery county.  He  was  a  Republican  when  he  became  a  voter  and  acted 
with  that  party  'till  the  confusing  and  discordant  elements  of  the  politi- 
cal atmosphere  began  to  vibrate  in  1890,  and  for  the  next  eight  years  as- 
sumed positive  shape  and  shook  the  very  foundation  stones  of  the  domi- 


268  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

nant  parties,  finally  absorbing  one  and  uuifvinfj  the  whole  into  a  mass  of 
"unterrifled."  To  this  new  political  force  ^Ir.  8cott  gave  his  allegiance 
and  by  it  he  was  nominated,  in  1S!)(I.  Representative  to  the  Legislature. 
He  served  the  winter  of  1890-1  in  the  House  and  was  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  assessment  and  taxation.  He  was  a  member  of  the  library 
and  other  committees,  but  gave  more  attention  to  the  reform  of  our  tax 
laws  and  succeeded  in  getting  a  l>ill  through  the  House  covering  the  sub- 
ject, but  the  Senate  sounded  its  death  knell  by  inaction.  He  served  with 
Elder  and  other  once  noted  and  prominent  I'opulists,  and  while  he  was 
for  Judge  Doster  for  United  States  Senator,  he  voted  for  Wm.  A.  Peflfer. 
Mr.  Scott  has  been  a  member  ot  the  Masonic  fraternity  since  18fi8, 
when  he  joined  the  order  at  Spencer,  West  Virginia,  Siloam  lodge.  He 
holds  his  membership  in  Harnumy  lodge.  Xeodesha. 


DANIEL  STARKE Y— February  12,  1878,  Daniel  Starkey,  of  this 
personal  mention,  came  into  Montgomery  county  and  settled  in  West 
Cherry  township.  At  the  end  of  a  half  dozen  years  he  purchased  a  quar- 
ter section  of  land  in  section  22,  township  .31,  range  16.  and  })ersonally 
conducted  it  till  1898,  when  he  moved  to  Wilson  county,  where  he  yet  re- 
sides, leaving  the  conduct  of  the  old  homestead  to  his  son,  Harvey. 

LaGrange  county,  Indiana,  was  the  native  place  of  Daniel  Starkey 
and  h.is  birth  occurred  March  1,  1848.  His  father  was  Thomas  Starkey 
of  Juniata  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  his  mother's  maiden  name  was 
Sarah  Holsinger.  The  father  was  a  son  of  P>enjamin  Starkey,  who  mar- 
ried into  the  Francis  family  and  was  the  father  of  nine  children. 

Thomas  Starkey  was  a  colonel  of  militia  in  Ohio,  was  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  descended  from  Pennsylvania  ancestry.  He  was  a  justice 
of  the  peace  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  Indiana  and  was  a  well-known 
auctioneer.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  William  Holsinger  and  bore  him 
thirteen  children.  Those  mentioned  here  are  William,  who  died  of 
wounds  received  on  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea:  Mrs.  Jane  Case,  of 
LaGrange  county,  Indiana;  Mrs.  Susan  Quinn,  of  California;  Benjamin, 
of  Clinton  cotinty,  Indiana;  Priscilla,  wife  of  R.  Finley;  Daniel,  our  sub- 
ject; Adaline,  who  married  Charley  Bartlett,  of  Indiana;  Mrs.  Ida  Em- 
inger,  of  Indiana;  Mrs.  Ada  Shamblin,  of  Michigan;  Mrs.  Lettie  Sturge, 
of  Indiana;  Mrs.  Bessie  Coleman,  of  California;  ^Mrs.  Alice  Myers,  of  In- 
diana; and  Mrs.  Rhoda  Lovitt,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Starkey  of  this  notice,  took  for  his  wife.  Abbie  Brown,  who  was 
born  in  Erie  county.  New  York,  December  2.5,  18.54.  Her  parents  were 
Irving  and  Jane  (Mann)  Brown,  people  of  New  Y'ork  birth.  Two  sons 
constitute  the  issue  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Starkey,  viz:  Harvey,  a  Montgomery 
county  farmer,  whose  wife  was  Miss  Ella  Hull,  born  in  Nodaway  county, 
Missouri,  and  a  daughter  of  Eleazer  and  Emma  Hull,  natives  of  New  Jer- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  269 

sey.  An  only  child,  Marcus  M.,  is  the  issue  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harvey  Star- 
key.  Charles  Starkey  is  the  younger  child  of  our  subject  and  he  married 
Hlla  .McKinney.    Their  family  has  one  child,  Ernest. 

Mv.  Starkey  was  one  of  the  prominent  and  active  members  of  the 
Farmers'  .Mliance.  years  ago,  holds  to  Populist  principles  in  politics,  has 
served  on  various  coiiiinittees,  and  a  number  of  terms  on  the  school  board. 


KIOVILO  NEWTON — Cherryvale,  of  this  county,  had  not  been  incor- 
jiorated  very  many  years  when  this  worthy  and  respected  citizen  took  up 
his  residence  within  its  borders.    He,  at  that  time,  was  connected  with  a 

private  bank,  which  afterward  beca the  .Afdiitgomery  County  National 

Kank.  of  which  he  has,  since  its  inic|ii icjii.  Iiccn  cashier.  He  has  taken  a 
keen  interest  in  the  advancement  aii<l  diMclijpment  of  the  town  and  has 
iieen  especially  active  in  the  building  up  of  its  educational  institutions 
and  ii<  giving  tone  and  strength  to  the  religious  life  of  the  community. 
He  has  been  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Sunday  School  for  twenty- 
live  years  and  since  his  settlement  in  the  town  has  been  a  potent  factor  in 
shaping,  through  that  institution,  the  moral  tone  of  the  community. 
During  much  of  this  time,  he  has  been  connected,  in  an  ofiieial  way,  with 
the  school  systems  of  the  county,  and  has  been  exceedingly  active  in  se- 
curing the  best  educational  facilities  for  the  use  of  the  growing  munici- 
pality. 

Revilo  Newton  is  a  native  of  Illinois,  born  on  the  11th  of  April, 
1842,  in  La  Salle  county.  He  was  there  reared  to  man's  estate,  receiving 
a  fair  common  school  education,  though  this  was  interrupted  by  the  ap- 
proach of  the  great  Civil  War.  He  took  a  gallant  part  in  this  sanguinary 
struggle.  He  went  from  the  school  room  to  the  field,  enlisting  in  August, 
18(>2,  in  Company  "A,"  Eighty-eighth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  This 
regiiiient  became  part  of  the  army  of  the  Ciimberland,  its  first  smell  of 
powder  being  at  the  bloody  battle  of  Perryville  and  subsequently  at  the 
Stoiu  Kivci  struggle.  He  then  went  with  Rosecrans  to  Chattanooga,  but 
licfd'c  :n  ii\c  operations  were  begun  at  that  point,  he  was  taken  sick  and 
was  riiiiijielled  to  return  to  the  hospital,  where  he  received  his  discharge 
in  December  of  1863.  This  ended  his  military  experience,  as  he  never 
recovered  his  health  sufficiently  to  bear  the  rigors  of  military  life.  He 
resumed  his  school  life,  taking  a  commercial  course  and  then  entering 
the  mercantile  business  in  Tonica,  Illinois.  Later  he  removed  to  Iowa 
whero  he  continued  business  five  years,  thence  to  Monunk,  Illinois,  where 
he  spent  twelve  years  behind  the  counter.  This  brings  us  to  the  date  of 
his  settlement  in  Montgomery  county.  In  1882,  he  made  Montgomery 
county  his  home,  as  stated,  and  became  connected  with  a  private  banking 
institution.  This  was  later  merged  into  the  Montgomery  County  Nation- 
al Bank,  in  18!t2.  one  of  the  safest  and  solidest  financial  institutions  of 


270  HISTORY  OK  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  EANSAS. 

Soiitliern  Kansas.  ('.  C.  Kiiicaid  is  jnesident.  ^Ir.  Xowtoii  casliitM-  ami  S. 
.1.  Howard  assistant  casliicr.  The  bunk  has  a  capital  of  ^.Id.lMIO  and  t-ar- 
rios  a  suridns  of  .ifd.OOO. 

In  the  different  coninninities  in  which  our  subject  has  resided,  he 
has  always  taken  a  most  active  part  in  its  municipal  life,  havinp;  been,  at 
one  period  or  another,  mayor  of  the  four  different  towns  in  which  he  has 
lived. 

At  the  time  he  left  Illinois  he  was  the  representative  of  his  district 
in  the  State  Legislature  and  was  one  of  the  best  known  men  of  that  sec- 
tion. Since  his  residence  in  this  State,  he  has  been  active  in  many  differ- 
ent lines  of  service,  having  been  a  memljer  of  the  board  of  trustees  at  the 
inception  and  building  of  the  present  county  high  school  of  Montgomery 
county  and  on  this  board  he  served  a  period  of  four  years. 

lie  and  his  family  are  active  workers  in  the  M.  E.  cluiich.  in  which  or- 
ganization he  holds  several  official  positions.  His  love  for  children  has  led 
him  to  be  active  in  any  work  that  looks  to  the  proper  development  of  the 
child  mind  and  he  has.  as  already  stated,  devoted  practically  a  life  time 
to  Sunday  School  work,  having  been  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School 
from  six  years  jirior  to  the  date  of  his  coming  to  Kansas.  Xo  more  ear- 
nest worker  in  this  line  resides  in  the  county. 

Mr.  Newton  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order.  Blue  lodge.  Chapter 
and  Commandery.  and  is  also  a  mend)er  of  the  Noble  Order  of  the  Mystic 
Shrine.  In  political  affairs  Mr.  Newton  has  always  taken  an  exceedingly 
active  and  prominent  part  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  Kansas  City  conven- 
tion of  the  Democratic  party  in  1900. 

The  domestic  life  of  our  subject  has  been  a  happy  one,  beginning  in 
1865.  when  he  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Ada  Anderson,  a  native  of 
Kipley,  Brown  county.  Ohio.  To  this  nmrriage  two  daughters  were  born, 
Kevilla.  and  Minnie,  deceased. 

Mentioning  briefly  a  few  points  in  the  family  history  of  Mr.  Newton, 
the  biographer  notes  that  he  was  the  son  of  Major  George  M.  and  Fanny 
(Loomis)  Newton,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Green  county, New  York. 
They  were  farmers  by  occupation,  and  the  father  also  followed  carpenter- 
ing and  the  millwright  busines.  They  were  early  settlers  in  Illinois,  hav- 
ing removed  to  the  State  in  1834,  traveling  overland  by  wagon.  George 
Newton  was  a  major  in  the  New  York  militia  and  was  very  active  in  the 
])ublic  life  of  the  different  communities  in  which  he  resided.  He  was 
postmaster  of  Tonica.  Illinois,  for  a  number  of  years,  that  point  having 
been  located  as  a  station  when  the  Illinois  Central  was  built  through  his 
farm.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  his  wife  having  passed  away 
some  years  previous  at  the  age  of  forty-five.  They  were  prominent  mem- 
bers of  the  Bajitist  church  and  stanch  supporters  of  every  good  cause  in 
the  communities  \u  which  they  lived.  They  reared  a  family  of  six  cliil- 
<lren.  of  whom  but   three  survive. 


HISTORY  UP  MONT(;OMEnY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  27  I 

HARVEY  A.  TRUSKETT — The  readers  of  this  volume  are  here  in- 
troduced to  one  of  the  best  and  most  favorably  known  men  of  Montgom- 
ery ctmnty ;  one  whose  eounertion  with  the  business  interests  of  the  enter- 
]>risinp;  community  of  Caney  has  been  of  great  value,  and  whose  wide  ac- 
quaintance among  financiers  makes  him  a  potent  factor  in  the  develop- 
ment of  this  section.  As  president  of  one  of  Montgomery  county's  solid 
financial  institutions,  the  Home  Xational  Rank  of  Caney,  he  wields  an 
influence  widespread  in  its  beneficieut  tharacter,  and  always  exerted  in 
the  interest  of  good  government  and  right  living. 

Harvey  A.  Truskett  is  a  -'Buckeye"  by  birth,  borne  in  Monroe  county, 
October  7,"  1855,  the  son  of  Thomas  W.  and  Elizabeth  (Williams)  Trus- 
kett, pioneer  settlers  of  that  county.  They  were  both  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Thomas  having  been  born  November  25,  1822.  the  wife  the  pre- 
vious year  on  the  first  day  of  August.  Reared  to  maturity  in  the  "Key- 
stone State",  they  there  married  and  at  once  began  life  in  the  then  "far 
west,"  the  county  in  which  our  subject  was  born.  They  were  farmers  by 
occupation  and  well  fitted  to  play  their  part  in  the  development  of  a  new 
agricultural  community.  Remaining  in  Ohio  until  1859,  the  family  re- 
moved to  Cooper  county,  Missouri,  where  they  continued  tilling  the  soil. 
Morgan  county,  of  the  same  state,  and  Vermont  county,  Missouri,  then  be- 
came their  home  until  1880,  when  they  settled  on  a  farm  in  Montgomery 
county,  Kansas.  Here  the  parents  were  worthy  and  respected  citizens 
until  their  death,  the  father  passing  to  rest  on  the  16th  of  January,  1887, 
the  mother  on  September  20,  1894.  Mr.  Truskett  is  remembered  as  one 
of  tlie  immortal  band  who.  in  the  dark  days  of  '61  '65,  offered  themselves 
as  living  sacrifices  for  the  principle  of  equality  before  the  law.  He  be- 
came a  Hiember  of  the  First  Xebi-aska  Volunteer  Infantry,  in  which 
regiment  he  fought  valiantly  to  th.e  end.  While  in  the  service  he  suffered 
cai)ture  and  imprisonment,  but  was  fortunate  enough  to  be  exchanged. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Truskett  became  the  parents  of  eight  childi-en,  of  whom 
six  are  yet  living. 

Of  the  family  Harvey  A.  was  the  seventh  child.  Though  born  within 
the  confines  of  the  "Buckeye  State"he  is  by  rights  a  true  westerner,  as  he 
was  but  four  years  of  age  when  he  crossed  the  Mississippi.  The  cruel 
war  and  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country  immediately  succeeding 
it  deprived  him,  as  well  as  thousands  of  others,  of  that  precious  boon,  a 
good  education.  The  school  of  adversity  through  which  he  passed,  how- 
ever, taught  him  many  valuable  lessons  of  thrift  and  economy,  which  com- 
pensated to  some  extent  the  loss  of  book  knowledge.  He  early  became 
his  own  business  man  and  engaged  successfully  in  farming  and  stock  rais- 
ing, accompanying  the  family  to  Montgomery  county  in  1880.  He  was  oc- 
cupied at  a  point  known  as  Elgin.  Chautauqua  county,  for  a  period  of  two 
years,  when  he  went  down  into  the  Territory  and  for"  the  following  twelve 
years  was  extensively  engaged  in  farming  and  stock  raising. 


272  HISTORY  OK  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

hi  tlio  year  1892.  Mr.  Truskett  located  iu  Caney,  cngaf-iiiii  in  the 
liiiiilH-r  and  frnun  bnsiness  until  1896,  when  he  organized  the  jireseut  fi- 
luuK-ial  iustitution.  of  which  he  has  since  been  president.  The  Home 
Hank  is  capitalized  at  ,^25,000  and  carries  a  list  of  deposits  aogregating 
some  ninety  to  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Mr.  Truskett  is  held  in  high  esteem  iu  his  ((niiunniily,  where  he 
has  been  honored  by  membership  in  the  town  council  and  has  also  served 
as  township  clerk.  Politically  he  aflSliates  with  the  jiarty  of  reform  and 
is  looked  upon  as  one  of  its  trusted  advisers. 

^jarriage  was  contracted  by  our  subject  in  Elgin,  Kansas,  on  the  Sth 
of  December,  1880.  Mrs.  Truskett  was  Ida  F.  Gepford,  daughter  of  Silas 
B.  and  Jennie  Gepford,  early  pioneers  of  Bourbon  county.  Kansas.  She 
is  the  motlier  of  four  promising  children — Edwin  E.,  Harvey  H.,  Arthur 
F.  an(!  Lita  M.  To  this  family  was  added  a  niece.  Miss  Elsie  Truskett, 
whon:  they  reared  and  educated,  and  who  is  now  an  efficient  enijiloye  of 
the  bank. 

Keared  to  exacting  and  toilsome  labor,  schooled  by  adversity's 
hard  knocks  and  fighting  his  way  step  by  step  from  j)enury  to  prosper- 
ity. Harvey  A.  Truskett  has  reached  a  ])lane.  while  yet  iu  the  jirinie  of  life, 
where  he  can  give  full  reign  to  the  promptings  of  a  nature  benevolent 
and  full  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness.  No  worthy  case  of  need  is  ever 
turned  from  his  door  unaided  and  the  struggling  youth  finds  in  him  a 
sym]iatlietic  and  kindly  adviser  and  helper.  He  an(i  his  family  merit  the 
large  ])lace  which  they  are  accorded  in  the  hearts  of  friends  and  neigh- 
Iiiirs  ill  Caney  and  Montgom(>ry  county.     He  is  a  nieinher  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 


M1\S..TANE  BLUE — The  tide  of  imjnigration  to  Montgomery  county 
in  the  earlier  years  was  at  its  flood  in  the  year  1871.  Many  of  the  pioneei' 
families  of  the  county  date  their  coming  in  that  year,  among  them  the 
lady  whom  the  biographer  is  now  permitted  to  review.  She  was  born 
in  \'erniillion  county,  Indiana,  in  the  year  183(5,  and  was  reared  in  that 
<-ounty  and  educated  at  Eugene,  Indiana.  Her  parents  were  Jacob  and 
Sarah  (Hall)  Coslett.  They  were  farmers  in  Vermillion  county  and 
pioneer  settlers  of  that  section  of  the  State.  Their  family  consisted  of 
six  children,  three,  only,  of  whom  are  now  living:  William,  who  lives  in 
Douglas  county,  Illinois,  and  is  a  prominent  farmer  of  that  section  of 
the  Stale;  Mrs.  Jane  Blue,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  William,  also  a 
leading  farmer,  of  Cherokee  county,  Kansas. 

Mrs.  Blue  was  first  married  to  David  Wise  in  the  year  18.")3  in  her 
native  county  in  the  "Hoosier  State."  Mr.  Wise  was  a  leading  farmer 
of  the  county  and  they  reared  seven  children,  four  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing; Margaret  A.,  who  married  William  Blancet,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and 


HISTOKY  OF  MONTliOMEKV  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  273 

luis  thi'co  fliildien,  two  living,  viz:  Miunie,  wife  of  Thornton  McCune,  of 
nklalidiiiii,  and  Alice,  who  mai'ried  William  Carpenter     and     lives     in 

.M»iiit<i()niery  county,  Kansas;     the     four     children     of     Alice     being 
Xcttio.  Orval,  Bertha,  and  Earl.    Clara  Belle  Wise  married  Frank  Smith, 

of  Independence,  with      two     children,  Donoven  and  Forest.     Minnie 
Wise  iiiank'd  Itohert  Perry  and  lives  in  Bourbon  county  with  their  sev- 
en children.    Eliza  E.  Wise  married  David  A.  Clark  and  had  four  child 
rcii.  Harry.  Charlie,  Ira,  and  Grace.    Mrs.  Clark  is  now  dead. 

Itavid  Wise  died  in  1S74  and  in  1878.  Mrs.  Wise  was  joined  in  mar- 
riage to  Jacob  Wise,  a  brother  of  her  first  husband.  Four  years  later  he 
died.  In  1896,  March  1,  Mrs.  Wise  married  David  Blue.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  Ohio  and  was  a  gallant  soldier  of  the  Civil  War,  having  enlisted 
as  a  \i)lunteer  in  an  Indiana  regiment  in  Ajjril  of  1801.  and  served  his 
country  faithfully  to  the  close  of  that  sanguinary  struggle,  and  being  dis- 
charge in  18G5.  He  was  a  commercial  traveler  by  ocupation,  handling 
nursery  stock.  He  traveled  for  a  period  of  nine  years  for  the  famous  seed 
house  of  D.  M.  Ferry,  and  later  for  a  silverware  manufacturing  com- 
jiany  of  Detroit,  Michigan. 

The  farm  on  which  Mrs.  Blue  now  resides  was  purchased  in  1871  by 
her  first  husband.  It  is  located  four  miles  from  the  county  seat  town 
of  ludependence  and  consists  of  eighty  acres,  making  one  of  the  best 
farms  in  that  section  of  the  county.  In  religious  belief.  Mrs.  Blue  is  a 
member  of  the  United  Brethren  Church. 


ABIGAIL  HUDIBERG— One  of  the  worthy  pioneers  of  Mont- 
gomery county,  whose  memory  runs  with  remarkable  clearness  l)ack  to 
the  days  of  1869.  the  date  of  her  arrival  here,  is  Mrs.  Abigail  Hudiberg 
of  Independence  township.  The  events  of  the  long  and  weary  overland 
journey  hither  from  Johnson  county,  Indiana,  together  with  fifteen  other 
families,  are  as  happenings  of  yesterday  to  her,  and  that  first  winter  in 
their  strange  new  home  in  the  straggling  village  of  Independence,  with 
the  biundless  prairie  all  about  them,  peopled  with  Indians  and  co votes, 
yet  howls  its  lonely  requiem  in  her  ears.  The  comfortable  farm  house 
of  the  present  day  is  in  Strang*?  contrast  to  the  14x16  board  shanty  in 
which  they  shivered  through  the  winter,  and  the  little  log  hotel,  the  four 
"straw"  houses,  and  the  single  general  store  of  that  time  make  an  odd 
picture  in  contrast  to  the  splendid  business  and  residence  properties  of 
the  present. 

Mrs.  Hudiberg  was  born  in  Johnson  county,  Indiana,  March  7,  1843, 
the  daughter  of  Robert  S.  and  Letitia  (Henry)  Parkhurst,  a  full  sketch 
of  whom  apjieais  elsewhere  in  this  volsme.  In  1863.  she  married  in  that 
((.ui.ty.  Louis  Hudiberg,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Hudiberg,  whose 
•other  children   were   Samuel.  Thomas,   Marv   A..   Lorinda     and'    Elijah 


274  HISTORY  OF  .MOXTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

(twins)  aiul  John.  ^Iv.  and  Mrs.  Hudlberg  resided  in  Johnson  eouuty 
lor  six  veins  and  Then  came  to  Kansas.  When  s{)rin<i;  eanie  after  that 
first  uncomfortable  winter,  they  located  on  a  claim  six  miles  from  the  vil 
lajre.  where  they  have  since,  in  the  main,  maintained  their  home.  Here 
the  jiarents  and  three  children  began  the  battle  of  life  anew  and  succeed- 
ed, before  the  death  of  the  husband,  in  making  a  very  comfortable  home. 
Mr.  Hudiberg  died  in  1890.  leaving  Mrs.  Hudiberg  with  a 
family  of  nine  children,  as  follows:  Robert  8.,  a  farmer 
of  Chautauqua  county,  who  married  Anna  Gray  and  has 
four  children — Nellie.  Alice.  Matthew  and  ]May ;  John  E.,  Independ- 
ence; George,  a  farmer  of  Sycamore  township,  married  Jessie  Webber 
and  has  two  children — Leo  and  Bessie;  Lorinda  and  Wilfred  are  twins; 
Lorinda  lives  at  home ;  Wilfred  married  Mattie  Berger  and  resides  with 
his  mother,  with  his  two  children — Louis  and  Amy;  Albert,  a  farmer  of 
the  county,  married  Lillie  Drennen  and  has  two  children,  Hazel  and 
Glenn ;  Walter  S.,  Myrtle  and  Elmer  are  at  home. 

These  are  all  "likely"  children,  well  trained,  and  of  good  capabili- 
ties, who,  together  with  their  revered  mother,  are  highly  regarded  in  the 
community  where  they  have  so  long  made  their  home. 


JUDGE  THOMAS  HARRISON— In  the  passing  away  of  the  subject 
of  this  memoir.  Moniiiomcry  ((lunty  lost  one  of  its  landmarks  of  (•i\il- 
ization  and  a  venerable  and  worthy  pioneer.  He  identified  himself  with 
this  frontier  municipality  in  August,  1869,  and  from  thence  forward  to 
his  death  was  an  active  participant  in  its  affairs.  As  scholar,  lawyer, 
public  official  and  farmer  his  citizenship  w'as  of  the  genuine  type  and  his 
character  unreproached. 

Settlers  were  widely  separated  in  Montgomery  county  when  Thomas 
Harrison,  of  this  review,  cast  his  lot  with  the  frontier  municipality  and 
took  a  government  entry  near  Verdigris  City  in  18fi9.  The  McTaggart 
mill  and  homestead  marks  the  sight  of  his  original  "claim,"  taken  up  not 
so  much  with  the  intention  of  proving  up  on  it,  perhaps,  as  to  the  more 
closely  identify  himself  with  the  county  and  to  seal  a  tie  of  common  in- 
terest with  its  citizens.  He  did  little  toward  the  actual  improvement  of 
his  claim,  being  a  lawyer  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession 
at  old  Liberty.  When  the  question  of  a  permanent  county  seat  was  set 
tied  in  favor  of  Independence  he  ultimately  established  his  office  in  that 
place  and  maintained  it  there  till  March  30,  1877,  when  failing  health 
(forced  him  to  relinquish  the  law  and  seek  rest  and  renew  his  vigor  in  the 
pure  air  and  exercise  of  the  farm.  He  purchased  an  eighty-acre  tract  ad- 
joining in  the  four  corners  of  sections  2.  3.  10  and  11.  township  33,  range 
1.").  where,  wilh  the  exception  of  his  years  in  (illirial  scivicc.  he  ])assed  the 
remainder  of  his  life. 


JUDGE  THOS.  HARRISON. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  275 

Judge  Harrison  was  born  in  Northamptonshire,  England,  on  the  21st 
of  September,  1825.  At  seven  years  of  age  his  parents  came  to  the  United 
States  and  settled  in  T'tica,  New  York,  but  remained  there  only  four 
years  when  they  came  on  west  to  LaSalle,  now  Kendall  county,  Illinois, 
where  they  died.  His  father  was  Thomas  Harrison  and  his  mother  was 
Mary  (Musson)  Harrison  who  reared  to  maturity  eight  of  their  nine 
children,  namely :  William,  deceased,  ex-member  of  the  Kansas  Legisla- 
ture from  Butler  county,  ex-probate  judge  and  a  prominent  citizen  of  the 
county ;  Mary,  who  died  in  Wisconsin,  married  Richard  Hudd  and  was 
-the  mother  of  the  late  ex-Congressman  Hudd,  of  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin ; 
James,  who  died  at  Santa  Barbara,  California,  passed  his  life  chiefly 
in  the  dairy  business  in  Chicago;  Ann,  who  married  Warren  Chapin,  died 
in  St.  Francis,. Indiana;  Hannah,  who  died  at  Remington,  Indiana,  was 
the  wife  of  George  Bullis;  Theresa,  of  Santa  Barbara,  California,  is  the 
wife  of  Henry  H.  Polk;  Thomas,  of  this  sketch;  and  John,  of  Morrow 
county.  Oregon. 

Judge  Harrison  was  educated  at  Knox  College,  Galesburg,  Illinois. 
He  was  poor  and  worked  his  way  through  school,  as  a  farm  hand  or  at 
teaching  or  other  honorable  employment,  and  graduated  in  1853. 
Amonp;  his  classiiiates  were  Chief  Justice  A.  M.  Craig  of  the  Illinois  Su- 
preme Court  and  A.  A.  Smith,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  that  State.  The 
Judge  was  educated  primarily  for  the  ministry  but  when  he  came  to  em 
bark  in  life's  realities  his  views  somewhat  digressed  from  the  orthodoxy 
of  the  time  and  he  turned  his  attention  to  law.  He  established  himself 
at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  where  he  practiced  till  his  entry  to  the  army  in 
1862.  He  was  a  sergeant  of  Company  "A,"  Seventy-seventh  Illinois^  In- 
fantry ,  until  near  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  was  commissioned  a  first 
lieutenant  and  assigned  to  Company  "A,"  Seventy-third  U.  S.  Colored 
Troojis.  The  war  over,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law  and  was  located  at 
Galesburg,  Illinois,  when  he  decided  to  come  west  and  started  on  his  jour- 
ney to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas. 

Ir  his  new  home  in  Kansas  Judge  Harrison  was  ever  a  prominent 
figure.  In  politics  he  wielded  an  influence  which  contributed  to  many 
victories  for  the  Republican  party  but  his  views  changed  somewhat  on 
the  approach  of  the  avalanche  of  reform  which  annually  swept  Kansas 
from  ISJMI  to  his  death,  and  his  sympathies  went  out  to  the  jiolitical 
movement  engendered  and  fostered  by  the  Farmers'  Alliance.  In  1882 
he  was  elected  probate  judge  and  served  in  that  capacity  with  credit  and 
ability.  He  filled  the  office  four  years  and  retired  to  his'farm  to  enjoy  the 
peace  of  a  private  citizen. 

December  28,  1854,  Judge  Harrison  married  M.  Eliza  Chambers.  Mrs. 
Harrison's  father  was  Matthew  Chambers,  likewise  her  paternal  grand- 
father. The  latter  was  born  a  Scotchman,  was'the  second  son  of  his  par- 
ents and.  for  some  displeasure  at  home,  ran  away  and  went  to  sea  for 


276  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

several  years.  On  hearing  of  the  sti'uggle  of  the  American  colonies  for 
independence  he  came  to  their  assistance,  offering  his  services  in  behalf 
of  the  cause.  His  worth  was  discovered  and  rewarded  by  his  being  com- 
misioned  and  placed  in  command  of  a  company  of  men.  Among  his  sev- 
eral battles  was  Saratoga,  where  Gen.  Burgoyne  surrendered  and  where 
Mr.  Chambers  met  an  own  cousin  of  his  in  a  British  uniform,  a  prisoner 
of  war,  and  the  storming  and  capture  of  Stony  Point  in  which  assault 
Captain  Chambers  received  a  wound  by  a  bayonet  passing  through  his  leg 
below  the  knee.  From  this  wound  he  never  fully  recovered  and  it  firjally 
induced  his  takingoff.  After  the  war  he  located  at  Londonderry,  New 
Hampshire,  where  he  reared  his  family  and  died.  He  had  a  family  of 
three  sons  and  two  daughters,  namely:  John,  who  settled  in  western  New- 
York,  reared  a  family  and  finally  disappeared  as  if  lost;  Margaret,  who 
married  Thomas  Dickey  and  died  in  New  Hampshire;  Eobert,  who  passed 
his  life  in  Vermont  and  introduced  the  Spanish  Marino  sheep  into  that 
country ;  Mary,  who  married  John  Lund  and  died  in  New  Hampshire,  and 
Matthew,  who  died  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  in  January,  1869. 

Matthew  Chambers,  the  second,  was  born  in  1785  and  was  a  soldier 
in  the  War  of  1812.  He  was  a  colonel  of  Vermont  militia,  was  a  mer- 
•  liant  in  Bri<lge]iort,  that  state,  and  left  there  in  1S:!(;  and  came  out  to 
Illinois.  For  a  wife  he  married  Hannah  Smith,  a  daughter  of  Jacob 
Smith,  a  Jerseyman.  Two  children  living  from  this  union,  viz:  Edward 
P.  Chambers,  of  Galesburg,  Illinois,  and  Mrs.  Harrison,  the  widow  of  our 
subject.  Five  others  are  deceased,  viz:  Jacob  Smith  Chambers,  Matthew 
Carey  Chambers,  H.  Cordelia  (Chambers)  Willai'd  and  William  Henry 
Chambers.  !Mrs.  Harrison  was  born  in  Bridgeport,  Addison  county,  Ver- 
mont, on  the  23d  of  September,  1832.  She  was  the  wife  and  companion 
of  Thomas  Harrison  for  forty  years  and  is  the  mother  of  the  following 
children :  Mary,  wife  of  Seth  Starr,  who  has  two  children,  Harrison  C. 
and  Ruth  N. ;  Thomas  J.  Harrison,  of  Scammon,  Kansas;  and  Cordelia 
E.,  wife  of  Frank  E.  Lucas,  of  Park  Place,  Oregon,  who  have  five  children, 
to  wit :  Frederick,  William,  Charles,  Helen  and  Mary. 

We  are  fortunate  in  this  article  to  be  able  to  present  to  posterity  the 
j)aternal  chain  of  the  Harrison  and  Chambersfamiliescompletefromtheir 
English  ancestry.  The  spirit  of  Americanism  was  dominant  in  both 
families  and  both  have  furnished  ample  evidence  of  their  love  for  the  in- 
stitutions of  our  Republic.  To  their  descendants  we  commend  this  brief 
biography  in  the  belief  that  it  contains  lessons  worthy  to  be  learned. 


y\.  D.  WRIGHT— M.  D.  Wright,  retired  merchant  and  honored  citi- 
zen of  Elk  City,  was  born  in  Fayette  county,  Indiana,  November  12th, 
1832,  and  is  a  scm  of  Jonathan  and  Susanna  B.  (Jones)  Wright,  natives  of 
Maryland.  The  father  was;  by  occupation,  a  miller  and  plied  his  vocation 
in  T'"iinsy]vania  until  about  the  time  of  the  war  of  1812,  when  he  removed 


HISTORY  OF  MOXTOOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  277 

to  Cincinnati.  Ohio,  and  embarked  in  the  mercantile  business.  After 
the  war  he  traded  for  wild  lands  in  Fayette  Co..  Ind.  and  subsequently 
moved  to  Richmond,  Ind..  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death 
at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years.  Our  subject  lost  his  mother  the  day  of 
his  birth,  she  being-  then  forty  years  old.  The  parents  were  devoted 
adherents  of  the  Quaker  faith.  Their  family  consisted  of  eight  children 
— thrre  now  living,  M.  1).,  our  subject;  Thaddeus.  of  Minneapolis.  Minn.; 
and  Martha,  widow  of  Paul  Barnard,  who  resides  with  her  brother  in 
Elk  City. 

jl.  1>.  ^^■right  has  liad  a  somewhat  remarkable  career,  in  his  earlier 
days  partaking  much  of  adventure.  He  began  life  at  sixteen  years  of 
age  as  a  clerk  in  a  country  store,  but  soon  went  to  Cincinnati,  where  he 
spent  three  and  a  half  years  in  a  wholesale  establishment.  He  then  went 
east,  where,  for  the  next  two  years,  he  was  similarly  engaged  in  Phila- 
delphia and  New  York.  The  Australian  gold  fields  were,  at  that  time, 
creating  great  excitement  and  he  concluded  to  try  his  fortune  in  those 
regions.  Embarking  on  the  sailinc;  vessel  "Rockland"'  he  made  the  trip 
in  one  hundred  twenty  days,  going  via  Rio  Janeiro  and  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  He  reached  the  Australian  mines  in  May  of  18.51,  and.  for  the  fol- 
lowing year,  had  varying  success.  He.  however,  did  not  fancy  the  hard 
life  of  the  gold  miner  and  engaged  with  a  firm  to  act  as  clerk  in  their 
store  in  New  South  Wales.  Here  he  spent  fifteen  months  more  pleasantly, 
but  by  this  time  he  was  ready  to  again  return  to  civilization  in  the  states, 
but  was  loath  to  do  so  empty  handed,  and  he  determined  to  take  a  drove 
of  horses  to  Sidney  and  dispose  of  Them,  if  possible,  at  a  profit.  This 
enteriirise,  for  various  reasons,  proved  a  failure,  financially.  From  Sid- 
ney he  embarked  on  a  small  trading  vessel,  trading  among  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  finally  landed  on  the  Sainoan  Islands,  where  he  remained  six 
months.  He  shipped  on  a  man  of  war  and  cruised  in  the  Caribbean  Sea. 
The  vessel  put  in  at  Valparaiso,  where,  on  account  of  sickness,  he  was 
discharged.  A  four-months'  whaling  voyage  followed,  filled  with  excit- 
ing adventures  with  these  great  saurians  of  the  deep.  Resolved  again  to 
return  home,  he,  after  a  most  tempestuous  voyage  around  the  Horn,  at- 
tended with  desperate  scurvy  sickness,  which  attacked  every  one  on 
board  but  the  captain  and  himself,  found  the  quiet  home  of  his  boyhood, 
mid  the  blessings  of  civilization,  and  where  he  was  ready  to  I'epeat  with 
the  sweet  singer,  John  Howard  Payne, 

"To  us,  in  despite  of  the  absence  of  years, 

"How  sweet  the  remembrance  of  home  still  appears; 

"From  allurements  abroad  which  but  flatter  the  eye. 
"The  unsatisfied  heart  turns  and  says  with  a  sigh, 
"Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home, 

"Be  it  ever  so  humble. 
There's  no  place  like  home!"  ■ 


280  UISTOKY  ill-   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KAXSAS. 

jiioiKHM-  in  Lake  rouiity.  Illinois.  He  was  one  of  three  sous,  Felix,  Kich- 
ai-d  and  Charles,  and  married  Catherine  Tiavlin.  who  bore  him  four  child- 
ren, \iz:  Mrs.  Rose  Callahan,  of  hhleiieinlence,  Kansavs;  Mrs.  Mary  A. 
Kiley,  of  Chicago,  Illinois;  John,  of  ihis  rerord,  and  Felix,  of  Nebraska. 

Mr.  Givens  married,  after  three  years  of  bachelor  life.  Miss  Jennie 
Burt,  an  Iowa  lady,  and  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Elizabeth  Burt. 
Seven  children  have  come  to  bless  the  home  of  these  parents,  namely: 
Mrs.  Catherine  Henderson,  of  Montgomery  county,  with  two  children, 
Pauline  and  Harold;  Josophine  and  Cecelia,  with  the  family  homestead; 
Mrs.  Blanche  Siangan,  of  Montgomery  county,  with  two  children,  Edith 
and  John  Me. ;  Charles  and    Louis,  in  California,  and  Paul. 

In  his  various  relations  with  his  fellow  man  Mr.  Givens  is  most 
worthy  and  honorable.  He  has  always  manifested  a  warm  interest  in 
public  matters  and  has  I)eeu  called  to  serve  as  treasurer  and  trustee  of 
his  township  two  terms,  as  member  of  his  school  board  and  is  now  serv- 
ing his  second  term  as  commissioner  of  Montgomery  county. 


L.VFAYETTE  M.  CABSOX— The  gentleman  here  named  is  a  mem- 
ber of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  resjiected  families  of  Montgomery 
county,  and  is  himself  deservedly  jioimlar  for  the  many  sterling  qualities 
which'  he  has  manifested  since  coming  to  years  of  discretion.  His  ser- 
vice in  connection  with  the  law-enfor<ing  branch  of  the  county  govern- 
ment has  been  of  a  high  order  and  will  receive  recognition  from  his  party 
associates  in  the  furture  should  he  manifest  a  willingness  to  allow  his 
name  to  be  used. 

Lafayette  Carson  was  born  in  Iowa,  where  his  parents  were  pioneer 
residents*  of  Keokuk  county.  The  date  was  July  1.  1857.  He  was  a 
bright  thirteen-year-old  boy  when  the  family  settled  on  a  claim  in  Louis- 
burg  township,'and  where  they  have  continued  to  reside.  His  boyhood 
was  passed  in  the  labor  incident  to  farm  life,  his  schooling  being  of  such 
a  character  as  could  be  secured  in  the  limited  time  at  his  disposal  in  the 
winter.  Being  of  a  more  than  ordinary  observant  turn  of  mind,  however, 
this  lack  of  book-knowledge  has  been  "largely  atoned  for.  He  very  early 
began  farming  for  himself,  and,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  periods 
of  otTicial  life,  has  continued  to  till  the  soil.  He  did  not  wait  for  his 
majority,  to  become  interested  in  public  affairs,  and,  even  in  his  'teens, 
was  helpful  to  those  who  were  in  charge  of  the  Republican  organization. 
His  obliging  and  courteous  disposition  soon  won  him  many  friends  and 
his  s(n-vices  were  recognized  by  his  appointment  by  Sheriff  Frank  Moses 
as  his  deputy,  with  headquar'tei-s  at  Elk  City.  In  addition  to  his  one 
term  in  this  position  he  has  served  a  number  of  years  as  constable  of  his 
township  and  in  all  his  otlicial  dealings  with  the  people  has,  by  his  con- 
siderate and  thoughtful  ads  of  kindness,  drawn  forth  many  expressions 
•of  appreciation. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  28  I 

Touching  brielly  on  the  liistorv  of  the  faiiiilv,  the  biographer  notes 
the  parents  of  Mr.  Carson  as  William  and  Seletha  (Marr)  Carson.  The 
father  was  a  native  of  the  "Keystone  f^tate."  the  mother  of  Tennessee. 
Passing  his  boyhood  in  Pennsylvania,  ^^'illianl  Carson  came  with  his 
jiarciUs,  at  twelve  years  of  age,  to  ^Miami  county,  Ohio.  Later  he  removed 
(o  Shelby  county,  Ind.,  where  he  jiurcliased  a  farm  and  began  life  for 
himself.  In  1847,  as  stated,  he  settled  in  Keokuk  county,  Iowa.  Mr. 
Carson  was  a  man  of  the  strictest  probity  of  character,  careful  in  all  his 
dealings  to  give  value  received,  and  of  stern  ideas  of  justice  and  right.  He 
died  in  1S7()  and  lies  in  the  family  burying -ground  on  the  farm  which  he 
settled  six  years  before.  In  religious  faith  he  was  a  strict  Presbyter'au, 
though  always  according  liberty  of  opinion  to  others,  as  in  the  case  of  bis 
wife,  who  was  a  Missionary  Baptist,  and  in  her  younger  days  a  great 
worker  in  that  organization,  and  who  still  survives  her  husband,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  seventy-seven  years.  He  was  a  prominent  Mason  and  the 
lodge  in  Elk  City  was  named  in  his  honor,  being  known  as  Carson  Lodge, 
No.  1?2.  Children  were  born  to  them  as  follows :  Robert,  a  farmer  in 
Oklahoma ;  Lafayette ;  Thomas,  a  farmer  of  this  county ;  M^ittie,  Mrs.  Dr. 
Davis,  of  Independence.  Kansas.  These  children  are  all  useful  and  re- 
spected members  of  society  in  the  different  communities  in  which  they 
reside  and  deserve  the  uniform  esteem  in  which  thev  are  held. 


^YILLIAM  X.  BANKS— William  N.  Banks,  of  the  firm  of  Banks  & 
Billings,  lawyers,  was  born  on  August  15th,  186.5,  at  Hobart,  Lake 
county,  Indiana.  In  August,  1871,  his  father,  George  L.  Banks,  moved 
with  his  family  to  Montgomery  county,  settling  on  a  farm  seven  miles 
west  of  Coffeyville  on  the  Indian  Territory  line.  Since  that  time  Wil- 
liam N.  has  been  a  resident  of  Montgomery  county. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  commenced  teaching  school  and  after 
teaching  for  two  years  went  to  I'erdue  University  at  Lafayette.  Indiana, 
for  two  years,  after  which  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Kansas  and  con- 
tinued teaching. 

Cpon  the  13th  day  of  July,  1887,  he  was  married  to  Ollie  M.  Jones, 
after  which  time  he  and  his  wife  resided  ujjon  the  farm,  M,v.  Banks  con- 
tinuing his  teaching  in  the  winter  time,  until  October,  1892,  when  he  en- 
tered the  law  office  of  A.  B.  Clark  as  a  law  student.  In  August,  1894, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  in  the  following  March  formed  a  part- 
nership with  O.  P.  Ergenbright  for  the  practice  of  law.  This  partnership 
continued  until  July,  1902,  when  Mr.  Banks  became  senior  member  of 
his  present  law  firm. 

There  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Banks  three  children,  two  of 
whom,  Thomas  L.  and  Edith  M.,  are  living,  the  third  having  died  at  the 
age  of  three  months. 


282  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

'Slv.  Banks  has  never  held  public  ofiace,  except  while  living  in  Fawn 
Creek  township  he  was  clerk  of  the  township,  and  is  at  the  present  time 
serviajr  his  second  term  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  education  of  In- 
dependence. In  politics  he  is  and  always  has  been  Republican.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Presbvterian  church,  a  Mason,  an  Odd  Fellow,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 


DAVID  P.  GREER— One  of  the  solid  men  of  Sycamore  township, 
and  a  farmer  who  has  made  agriculturp  pay.  is  David  P.  Greer,  who  re- 
sides on  section  36-32-15. 

He  dates  his  birth  in  Morgan  county.  Indiana.  April  6th,  1856,  where 
he  continued  to  reside  on  the  old  home  farm  until  he  came  to  Montgom- 
ery county.  Kansas,  in  1880.  His  first  location  was  seven  miles  west  of 
Independence,  in  Rutland  township,  where  he  lived  until  1889,  when  he 
bought  his  present  farm  of  160  acres. 

Mr.  Greer  is  a  son  of  Captain  John  E.  Greer,  well  known  throughout 
the  county  as  one  of  the  jiioneers.  who  made  a  large  property  during  his 
life  time.  The  captain  was  a  native  of  Kentucky  and  was  one  of  seven 
children,  viz:  James  M.,  of  Montgomery  county;  John  E.,  deceased; 
Mrs.  Mary  Carrell,  deceased;  Lyman M., of  Indiana;  Jlrs.  Ruth  Williams; 
Alexander  C.  of  Montgomery  county,  and  ^Nlrs.  Amanda  I'oor.  deceased. 

The  birth  of  Captain  Greer  occurred  January  1st,  1829,  and  at  two 
years  his  parents  moved  up  into  Indiana,  where  he  continued  to  reside 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war.  He  entered  the  Union  army  and 
participated  in  much  of  the  severe  service  during  the  four  years'  war. 
The  following  from  the  Independence  Tribune  is  to  the  point:  "Captain 
John  E.  Greer,  of  Independence  township,  is  dead,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years.  In  the  early  part  of  the  Civil  war  he  enlisted  at  Waverly. 
Indiana,  and  went  to  the  front  as  Lieutenant  in  Co.  "F."  5th  Ind.  Cav.. 
and  was  with  his  regiment,  afterward  merging  into  the  90th,  in  three 
years  of  war — except  while  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Confederates 
—and  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy  for  bravery.  His  regiment  was  the 
first  to  enter  Knoxville.  Tenn.,  and  was  engaged  in  twenty-two  battles. 

"During  the  service.  Captain  Greer  was  captured  and  was,  for 
months,  a  jjrisoner  in  Libby  prison.  He  was  active  in  (lii;iiiiig  the  famous 
Straight  tunnel,  but  ))efore  he  could  get  away  was  ii:iiislcrrc(l  to  Relle 
Isle  and  from  lliere  was  exchanged,  after  being  in  cajitivily  one  year. 

"After  hisrelurn  home.  Captain  Greer  was  elected  to  the  Indiana 
Legislature.  About  1877  he  removed  to  this  county  and  purchased  a 
farm  in  Rutland  townshiji  and  gathered  his  children"  about  him.  adding 
largely  to  his  acreage.  lie  prospered  and  also  became  prominent  in  pub- 
lic affairs." 

The  wife  of  John  E.  Greer  was  Margaret  Petree,  of  Decatur  county, 


A.  C.  STICH. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  283 

liidiaiui.  She  bore  him  ten  chihlien.  as  follows:  Xancy  E.  Pettet,  of 
Montgomery  county;  William  M.  and  Joseph  G.,  deceased;  David  P., 
Lucy  C.  Wagaman  and  Abrani  L..  of  Montgomery  county;  ^largaret  V., 
deceased;  James  E..  of  the  Indian  Territory;  Annie  L.  Holden  and  Oliver 
L.,  both  of  Montgomery  county. 

David  P.  Greer,  on  February  IGth,  1877.  married  Alice  Jolly.  Mrs. 
Greer  is  a  native  of  the  "Hoosier  State,"  and  is  a  daughter  of  Samuel  J. 
and  Frances  (McDowell)  Jolly.  Her  children  are  Oliver  G..  who  mar- 
ried Maude  Perkins,  and  lives  in  Sycamore  township,  with  his  two  child- 
ren, Euby  Z.  and  Opal  E ;  Tula  F.  resides  in  Independence  with  her  hus- 
band, Orion  Page;  Icey  M.  and  I>avid  C.  are  young  people  at  home. 

The  beautiful  rural  home  which  Mr.  Greer  now  owns  is  the  result  of 
his  own  untiring  efforts  since  coming  to  the  county.  He  began  with  the 
small  capital  of  four  hundred  dollars,  and  now  owns  one  of  the  best 
quarter  sections  in  the  county,  well  stocked  and  in  a  good  state  of  culti- 
vation. He  devotes  his  land  to  general  farming,  and  takes  a  special  in- 
terest in  the  breeding  of  rolaiid  China  hogs,  having  this  year  100  head  of 
these  fine  animals. 

In  a  fraternal  way,  Mr.  Greer  is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen, 
of  the  A.  H.  T.  A.,  and  of  the  Home  Builders"  Union.  He  has  taken  an 
intelligent  and  helpful  interest  in  matters  pertaining  to  good  govern- 
ment in  the  two  places  where  he  has  lived  in  the  county,  there  being  but 
three  years  since  his  coming  that  he  has  not  held  a  place  on  the  school 
board.  In  political  life  he  is  also  quite  active,  being  one  of  the  staunch 
workers  of  the  Republican  party.  He  served  two  terms  as  justice  of  the 
peace  in  Rutland  township,  was  township  treasurer  two  terms  and  has 
been  a  delegate  to  numerous  county  and  state  conventions,  during  the 
past  twenty  years,  having  been  a  delegate  to  the  state  convention  which 
nominated  Governor  ilorrill.  He  and  his  family  have  the  good  wishes 
of  a  very  large  circle  of  friends  in  the  county  and  the  esteem  in  which 
Mr.  (Jrcer  is  held  is  most  universal. 


ADOLPH  C.  STICH— There  was  born  in  the  quaint  little  town  of 
Stade,  in  the  ancient  province  of  Hanover,  in  the  German  Empire,  Oc- 
tober 13,  lS-t6,  a  babe,  whose  early  childhood  was  passed  within  the 
shadows  of  familiar  haunts  in  his  native  phice  and  gave  no  promise  of  an 
uncommonly  strenuous  and  eventful  life.  He  was  a  son  of  humble  par- 
ents, whose  household  was  sustained  by  the  rewards  of  honest  toil  and 
whose  righteous  lives  were  a  guaranty  of  the  proper  rearing  of  their  oflE- 
spring.  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.    Thfr 


284  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

serious  affairs  of  life  beoan  witli  him  after  he  had  acquired  a  liberal 
training  in  the  coniniou  schools  and  with  the  early  appearance  of  that 
ambition  which  seemed  tinally  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  uner- 
ring 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  j)Oor  and  reared  without  luxuries,  but  to  habits  of  a  moral  and  up- 
right life,  and  having  achieved,  through  individual  efforts,  the  gratifying 
rewards  of  wealth,  position  and  intlueuce,  Adolph  C.  Stich,  of  Inde- 
dence,  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  connec- 
tion with  the  various  affairs  of  the  county  have  been  felt  to  the  extreme 
of  every  cardinal  j^oint  and.  as  it  were,  by  the  stroke  of  his  hand  con- 
ditions have  been  changed  and  once  dormant  and  slumbering  communi- 
ties 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  be- 
came a  member  of  the  firm  of  Stich  Brothers,  doing  a  general  mercan- 
dise  business,  and  for  ten  years  his  energies  and  his  foresight  contrib- 
uted to  the  wealth  and  poi>u!arity  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  insti- 
tution, 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  lias  occuiiied.  uninterrnitted.  since  and  has  tilleil  with  exceptional  and 
singular  ability  and  to  the  great  profit  of  the  institution. 

As  the  demand  for  factories  has  s]»rnng  up  in  his  city  he  has  been 
alert  to  subscribe  liberally  io  their  construction  and  included  in  the  list 
of  enlcri»rises  he  has  thus  aided  are  the  Independence  (ias  ('om])any  and 
the  Iiuleiiendeiicc  Brick  Coiuitany.  The  enteriirise  which  has  distin- 
guished Iiiin  most  as  a  man  of  ]iublic  sjjirit,  even  in  advance  of  the  age, 
is  the  jilannirig  ami  lonstiiiction  of  the  magnificent  Independence  hotel, 
the  "Carl  Leon."  wiiliont  doubt  the  finest  hotel  in  the  State  of  Kansas. 
In  comiiaiiy  with  (1.  .M.  (•ari)enter.  of  Elgin,  this  structure  was  erected  in 
1902,  at  a  cost  of  many  tliousand  dollars  and  was  opened  to  the  publi(5 


UISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  285 

Fchinaiy  IS,  1  !)():>.  As  an  enduring  monument  to  the  enterprise  of  Mr. 
Siicli  this  buildinj;  is  uniivaled  hy  any  to  the  credit  of  a  citizen  of  Mout- 
jionieiy  county.  His  splendid  residence,  approaching  the  magnificence 
juid  jiroiioi'tions  of  a  modest  pahice.  is  one  of  the  beautiful  structures  in 
the  city,  expensive  in  appointment  and  popular  as  a  hospitable  home. 

liike  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  es- 
Tahlif-hed  in  the  United  States,  and  at  home  in  Kalamazoo,  Michigan, 
young  .Vdolph's  industrial  inclination  cropped  out  strongly  as  a  hand  at 
fS.OO  a  month  on  the  farm.  His  meager  earnings  served  to  reenforce  his 
natural  capital  and  in  time  he  engaged  in  the  agricultural  implement 
luisincss  in  the  famous  "celery  city"  of  the  "Wolverine  State."  Leaving 
there  his  advent  to  Independence,  Kansas,  is  announced. 

The  Stiches  came  to  the  I'nited  States  in  18.57.  Carl  Stich,  our 
subject's  father,  married  Eleanor  Hdlbers.  They  represented  old  fam- 
ilies of  their  native  Hanover  and  passed  away  in  Michigan,  being  the 
parents  of  four  children,  namely:  John,  of  Seattle,  Washington;  Wil- 
liam, of  Paola,  Kansas;  Adolph  C,  of  this  review;  and  Dorette,  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  In- 
dependence. Virdrgris  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,  Kan- 
sas, to  the  south  line  of  Independence  township.  Mjintgomery  county. 
This  piece  of  road  was  completed  in  ISSfi.  and  turned  over  to  the  Gould 
interests  who  consolidated  it  with  the  D.  M.  &  A.  railway  and  con- 
structed the  link  from  near  the  town  of  .Jefl'erson  to  Bearing  .where  it 
connected  with  the  latter  railroad.  The  building  of  this  line  and  the  ex- 
ecution 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  iu  competition 
with  a  single  line  of  road  and  thereby  became  a  great  saving,  in  the  way 
of  rates,  to  every  shipper  and  merchant  iu  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^lSSS, 
Mr.  Stich  married  Mrs.  Catherine  Eaisor.  a  lady  of  refinement  and  edu- 
cation and  occupying  a  high  social  position  in  the  city.     Mrs.  Stich  has 


286  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

served  three  years  as  president  of  the  Ladies'  Library  Association  of  In- 
dependence and  is  a  prominent  worker  in  the  Presbyterian  chnrch.  She 
is  the  mother  of  Mrs.  W.  E.  Ziegler,  of  Cotfeyville,  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  construc- 
tion. 

In  this  review  only  the  salient  featui-cs  of  a  busy  life  have  been 
touched.  It  is  offered  to  posterity  as  an  illustration  oi  tlie  versatility  of 
one  who  performed  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  commercial  affairs  of  Mont- 
gomeiw  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  Kepublican,  has  wielded  a  positive 
influence  in  local  jiolitical  affairs.  He  is  a  thirty-two  degree  Mason  and  a 
member  of  the  I'rcsbvterian  church. 


DEWITT  C.  KRONE— xV  record  of  the  pioneers  of  Montgomery 
county  would  be  sbject  ti>  just  and  severe  criticism  without  some  ex- 
tended mention  of  D.  C.  Krone.  He  is  so  widely  known  in  the  county  and 
has  been  here  so  long  that  few  can  gainsay  that  he  was  here,  really  in 
the  beginning.  When  he  drove  his  mule  team  from  LeEoy,  Kansas,  down 
into  this  county,  winding  his  way  about  over  the  ])rairies  over  unknown 
roadways,  across  nameless  creeks  and  through  untamed  valleys  and  head- 
lands, nobody  here  now  witnessed  his  passing,  save  those  who  might  have 
acconii)anied  the  caravan  cm  the  same  mission  with  himself. 

He  selected,  as  his  future  home,  a  tract  of  land  on  Sycamore  creek, 
in  section  22,  townshij)  31,  range  1.5,  where  he  has,  for  thirty-four  years, 
carried  on  farming  with  its  attendant  auxiliaries  successfully  and  ef- 
fectively. His  settlement  was  almost  in  the  midst  of  a  band  of  Osages, 
whose  chief,  Xopa walla,  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  the  households  of  the 
scattered  settlers  and  with  whose  tribe  a  reluctant  sort  of  business  and 
social  intercourse  was  carried  on.  The  minutia  which  made  up  the  year- 
ly incidents  of  a  life  on  this  frontier  can  not  be  touched  upon  here  and 
only  as  they  are  revealed  in  the  experiences  of  the  numerous  pioneers 
mentioned  in  this  volume  will  these  incidents  become  kno.wn  again  to  us 
and  to  our  ]>osterity. 

The  very  <-(>mii<)si1ion  and  makeup  of  the  man  has  maintained  D.  C. 
Krone  a  leading  citizen  of  his  township  and  county.  It  has  been  with  no 
jiresumiilion  on  his  part,  or  any  disregard  of  the  jiroper  reserve,  that  his 
name  is  firsl  mentioned  amcuig  the  citizenship  of  his  townshi]).  or  that 
be  is  (oordinale  with  only  a  few  distinguished  ]iioneers  of  his  countv.  He 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  287 

■seeiiied  designed  to  take  the  initiative  iu  matrers  and  the  propriety  of 
his  acts  was  so  apparent  that,  of  one  accord,  the  voice  of  neighborly  ap- 
proval came  back.  In  the  social  life  of  his  community,  in  its  political 
ontaiiglemenfs  or  upheavals,  in  the  cau.«e  of  public  education  and  in  the 
religions  atmosphere  of  his  church  he  is  unconsciously  a  power  iu  the  pro- 
motion of  jjvogress  and  harmony  unimpeded. 

He  lias  anticipated,  in  a  way,  the  needs  of  the  future  in  the  pres- 
ervation of  incidents  of  the  past.  A  student  of  events  himself,  his  genius 
has  jn'ompled  him  to  make  records  and  to  preserve  data  concerning  the 
salient,  historical  events  of  his  locality  that  the  past  may  not  become 
obscured  to  the  future  and  that  the  works  of  the  pioneers  shall  not  have 
been  wrought  in  vain.  He  puts  his  thoughts  readily  and  intelligibly  on 
paper  and  his  contributions  to  county  papers  contain  much  food  for  the 
searcher  after  historical  truth. 

neceml)er  4.  1808.  D.  C.  Krone  took  his  claim  in  Montgomery  county. 
He  came  to  Kansas  the  same  year  he  left  the  army  and  stopped  for  three 
years  near  the  Neosho  river,  between  LeRoy  and  Xeosho  Falls.  He  was 
from  Macon  county,  Illinois,  where  his  birth  occurred  April  17,  18-14.  His 
father.  Daniel  Krone,  was  born  in  York  county,  Pennsylvania,  February 
2,  1806.  and  took  for  a  wife  Sarah  A.  Kiester."  He  left  his  native  State 
at  an  early  day  and  settled  in  Macon  county,  Illinois,  where  his  large 
family  were  brought  up.  He  was  a  son  of  Michael  Krone  who  had 
children:  Jacob,  Fhilo,  Elijah,  David,  Jesse.  Daniel,  Tillie.  Mary.  Abigail 
and  Hannah.  Daniel  married  a  daughter  of  Michael  Kiester  and  was  the 
father  of  twelve  children,  as  follows:  Duquesne  H..  who  has  resided  in 
Montgomery  county  since  1877  and  who  was  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War, 
belonging  to  Company  "E,"  Forty-first  Illinois;  Mrs.  Mary  Star,  of  In- 
dependence, Kansas ;  Mrs.  Susan  Bradshaw.  deceased :  Dewitt  C,  of  this 
review;  Jesse  S.,  deceased;  Ellis  K..  of  Wil.son  county,  Kansas;  Mrs. 
Jennie  Stevens,  of  Taylorville,  Illinois;  Henry  C,  deceased;  Charles  L., 
of  Oklahoma;  Edward  B.,  of  Chickasha.  Indian  Territory;  and  Mrs. 
Myrtle  Taylor,  of  Independence,  Kansas. 

D.  C.  Krone  acquired  a  country  school  education  and  grew  to  matur- 
ity on  the  farm.  In  1862  he  enlisted  iu  Company  ''E,"  Forty-first  Illinois 
Infantry,  under  Col.  I.  C.  Pugh.  the  regiment  being  attached  to  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee.  The  principal  engagements  participated  in  by 
Mr.  Krone  were  the  Red  River  expedition."  slege  of  Yicksburg,  Benton- 
ville.  Cold  Water  and  March  to  the  Sea.  aud  on  to  the  Grand  Review  at 
Washington.  D.  C.  He  was  discharged  at  Louisville,  Kentuckv.  and  was 
mustered  out  July  28,  1865.  Returning  home,  his  trip  to  Kansas  was 
soon  made  and  his  connection  with  Kansas'  development  took  place. 

Ill  1868,  Mir.  Krone  married  Margaret  J.,  daughter  of  John  S.  Lo- 
baugh.  of  Neosho  Falls.  The  Lobaughs  came  to  Kansas  as  pioneers  from 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania.    The  union  of  Mr.  Krone  aud  his  wife.  Mar- 


28  >  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

{laret  J.,  prodiK-ed  the  following  children,  viz:  Naomi,  wife  of  Jacob  8, 
Corziue,  of  Taylorville,  Illinois;  Katherine  M.;  Mrs.  Mabel  M.  Burke, 
of  AVhistler.  Oklahoma ;  and  Walter  W.,  of  Neodesha.  Kansas.  The  moth- 
er of  these  children  i)assed  away  April  !).  1880.  Mr.  Krone  married 
M\iry  I.  White,  a  daughter  of  ('apt.  Charles  White,  of  Longton,  Knsas. 
Two  daughters  only  have  resulted  from  this  marriage,  viz:  Edith  Lucile, 
and  Ruth,  both  with  the  family  home.  The  family  are  members  of  tht^ 
^rethodist  church  and  ^Ir.  Krone  has  served  for  thirty-two  years  as  a 
nienilier  of  the  district  board  of  the  Krone  school.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
pub]  iran.  and  has  been  three  times  cho.^en  as  a  delegate  to  the  State  cou- 
veiiiion. 


WILLIAM  A.  HE  APE— One  of  the  successful  young  farmers  of  the 
county  is  William  A.  riea|ie.  of  Sycamore  township,  on  section 5-31-1  (i.  He 
began  his  agricultural  career  in  1891  with  a  capital  of  |8.(I0.  and.  while 
any  number  of  young  men  were  deploring  the  delay  of  opportunity  to 
pass  their  way,  he  boldly  ])ro])osed  to  Robert  Reis  that  he  i-ent  him  a 
tract  of  392  acres  of  wheat  land,  cash  rent  to  be  .«1,2()0.  Mr.  Reis  liked 
the  spirit  of  the  youug  man,  chanced  him  and  was  not  disa|iiiointed.  To- 
day 51r.  Heape  owns  his  (juarter  section  of  land  with  its  iiii])rovements, 
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, 
1809,  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  (Mark  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  T^tterback,  both  natives  of  Indiana.  Their 
home  is  brightened  bv  the  ]iresetice  <if  a  son  and  a  (htughter,  I>op  and 
Flazel. 

For  the  jiuiposcs  cf  a  family  recoi-d  the  following  is  added:  T'lysses 
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,  f4eorge,  Cyrus,  Levi,  Abraham  and  Robert.  Abraham  ir.ar- 
ried  Caroline  Miller,  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
Eva  Miller.  The  result  of  his  union  was  a  family  of  ten  children:  Jacob, 
of  Meade  county,  Kansas;  Nancy  Chew,  of  Galena.  Kansas;  Sarah  Davisj 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  2»9 

Williniii  A.  ;ui(l  Kathorlne  Davis,  of  Montgomery  county;  Eva  VeatcU 
and  I'lizalii'tli  Kcitli.  also  of  Meade  c-ounty;  Robert,  who  is  a  leading  cit- 
izen <i!  Montjioiiu'iy  county.  Kansas;  and  John,  his  twin  brother,  resides 
iu  Meade  county,  Kansas,  Tlie  youngest  is  Frederick,  who  resides  in 
Moiitgonierv  countv. 


Ht)I{ERT  TAl'LL— Three  decades  in  the  State  of  Kansas  have  trans- 
fovnud  the  subject  of  this  review  into  one  of  the  popular  and  substantial 
c.itizens  of  ^lontgoniery  county,  (liven  a  native  of  Illinois  and  a  veteran 
of  tlie  Civil  War,  and  one  has  a  combination  of  enterprise  and  loyalty 
to  country  which  is  a  sure  guaranty  of  a  good  citizen. 

The  immediate-  family  history  of  Mr.  Paull  begins  with  his  father, 
Johu  I'aull,  who  was  a  native  of  Virginia  and  settled  in  Illinois  in  the 
earlv  jiart  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Here  he  married  Nancy  Potter, 
M'ho  also  had  come  from  the  State  of  Virginia.  John  I'aull  was  a  black- 
smith by  trade,  though  he  also  tilled  the  soil,  and  he  remained  in  Illinois 
until  .ifter  the  Civil  War,  when  he  came  out  to  Kansas  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  days,  dying  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  years.  The 
wife  had  died  at  thirty-eight,  after  having  borne  a  family  of  fourteen 
children.  Robert  was  the  eldest  of  the  family,  and  there  are  five  other 
living  children. 

Robert  Paull  was  born  in  Adams  county,  Illinois,  on  the  2(!lh  of  Sep- 
tember, 1841,  and  was  reared  to  know  the  value  of  hard  labor  and  the 
necessity  of  economy  in  the  home.  He  was  able  to  secure  a  fair  education 
and  was  about  ready  to  begin  life  on  "his  own  hook"  when  "Uncle  Sam," 
through  President  Lincoln,  informed  him  he  was  needed  to  help  disci- 
pline some  of  his  unruly  children.  Loyalty  to  country  being  one  of  the 
cardinal  principles  of  the  Paull  family,  it  was  not  a  difficult  thing  to  se- 
cure the  consent  of  the  father  to  become  her  defender,  and  Robert  was 
therefore  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  in  Company  "K,"  of  the  Ninety- 
ninth  Illinois  Infantry,  In  this  company  he  served  three  long  years, 
years  busy  with  battle  and  strife  and  marchings,  but  years  which  saved 
and  unified  the  grandest  country  on  the  great  round  globe.  ^\i:  Paull 
was  with  Grant  in  the  notable  siege  of  Vicksburg  aud  took  i)art  in  the 
battles  of  Champion  Hills,  Jackson,  and  many  skirmishes.  His  regiment 
was  the  first  to  cross  the  river  in  the  final  charge  at  Vicksburg  where  he 
was  struck  by  a  sjient  bullet  in  the  left  side.  After  'N'icksburg,  the  regi- 
ment was  sent  down  into  Texas,  where,  in  a  small  skirmish. ".Mr.  Paull 
again  received  a  close  call,  this  time  on  the  right  side,  ihc  bullet  remain- 
ing on  the  inside  of  his  shirt. 

At  The  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Paull  came  out  to  Kansas  on  a  visit  to 
his  lather  and  on  his  return  was  joined  in  marriage  with  ilary  E  Mil- 
ler, the  date  being  1867,    He  settled  on  a  farm  in  Pike  countv!  Illinois 


290  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

which  he  cultivated  until  1873.  when  he  followed  the  example  of  hiss 
father  and  came  out  to  Mjontgomerv  county.  He  settled  on  an  eighty- 
acre  tract  three  miles  northeast  of  the  present  town  of  Havana,  and 
which  is  a  part  of  the  valuable  farm  of  236  acres  he  now  owns. 
Hpre  he  has  engaged  in  general  farming  and  his  well-tilled  acres  dem- 
onstrates what  persistent  and  intelligent  agricultural  effort  will  accom- 
plish in  Sunny  Kansas.  The  small  box  house  he  erected  on  the  eighty 
later  was  replaced  by  the  commodious  and  handsome  residence  in  which 
he  now  resides,  and  where  he  and  his  wife  extend  their  friends  a  most 
cordial  welcome. 

Two  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paull.  a  son  and  a 
daughter:  Frank  L.  is  in  the  hotel  business  in  Independence,  while  the 
daughter.  Nancy,  is  the  wife  of  Milton  Bowersock,  a  prosperous  farmer 
residing  in  the  neighborhood. 


M.  F.  CARSTDY— :M,ichaeI  F.  Cassidy.  one  of  the  "GOers,"  and  thus 
entitled  to  meiiiberslii])  in  the  Society  of  Pioneers,  is  one  of  the  race 
whose  magnificent  battle  against  the  wrongs  and  oppression  of  England 
has  challenged  the  admiration  of  mankind  and  which  is  now  evidently 
drawing  to  a  close  in  the  peaceful  transference  of  the  land  back  to  its 
rightful  owners.  "Ireland  for  the  Irish"  is  about  to  be  realized.  But 
it  has  cost  England  the  flower  of  the  Irish  race  to  realize  that  homes,  and 
homes  only,  make  a  contented  people. 

One  of  the  thousands  of  families  who  came  to  America  in  the  middle 
of  the  last  century  was  that  of  Michael  M.  Cassidy.  who  left  the  old  coun- 
try in  1848.  Alichael  F.  was  born  in  County  Monaghan.  October  22,  1835. 
His  father  was  one  of  four  children — his  mother  being  Katherine.  daugh- 
ter of  Owen  Bird,  of  the  same  county.  The  family  of  Mr.  Cassidy,  Sr.,  con- 
sisted of  six  children,  all  born  in  the  island,  as  follows:  James,  Thomas, 
Ann.  the  latter  dying  in  Ireland;  Mary  McOuire,  -Joseph,  of  Clinton  coun- 
ty, Iowa;  ]\Ii(lia('l  F.,  subject  of  this  review;  and  John,  of  Minnesota. 

At  maturity,  Jlicliael  F,  Cassidy  married  Bridget  O'Brien,  a  native 
of  Canada,  and  a  daughter  of  James  and  Elizabeth  O'Brien,  natives  of 
County  Cork,  Ireland.  This  wife  became  the  mother  of  three  children, 
two  now  deceased.  To  Ellen  A.  Dunn,  the  lady  who  now  presides  over 
the  hnnie  of  Mr.  Cassidy  and  whom  he  married  in  1875,  there  were  born 
five  children:  Michael  P..  deceased;  Mary  A.,  a  teacher  of  the  county; 
John   O..  express  mes.senger  on  the  Frisco  road;  Nellie,  at  home;  and 


Teresa,  a 

student 

of  the  coun 

ty  hig 

h   sH 

hool. 

Ml 

■s.  Cassidy  is  also  "to 

the  maiioi 

V  boi-n," 

lieing  the  d; 

imght( 

>r  of 

Join 

1   ai 

id  Bridget  Londergan, 

of  (^ountv 

Tipi.er: 

iry,   Ireland. 

Mr.  '< 

"assidv 

was  a    wide: 

uvake 

tl.ir 

teen-; 

.car 

iild   when   he  came  to 

America   ' 

ivilli   his 

parents.     Tl 

hey   s;i 

il.'d 

from 

Dii 

ililin  ou  the  good  ship 

HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  29I 

"('liar.(i'llt)i'  St.  .Idhn"  and  came  by  way  of  New  Orleans.  A  rough  voy- 
age was  exiiericueed,  tlie  ship  having  struck  on  the  Island  of  Hayti,  two 
of  her  masts  being  carried  away.  The  journey  was  thus  leugthened  to 
a  tiresome  i)priod  of  fourteen  weeks.  At  New  Orleans  the  family  secured 
passage  \\p  the  river  to  St.  Louis  and  were  about  to  embark  when  the 
overloaded  condition  of  the  boat  caused  the  father  to  decide  to  forfeit 
tickets  rather  than  risk  their  lives;  a  decision  which  showed  much  wis- 
dom, as  the  boat  actually  went  to  the  bottom  of  the  river.  Boarding  tho 
next  boat,  they  again  were  providentially  hindered  from  reaching  their 
destination,  having  to  disembark  at  Memphis  on  account  of  cholera  break- 
ing out  on  the  boat.  Here  they  remained  four  months,  when  the  jour- 
ney was  resumed.  Xot  long  after  reaching  St.  Louis  cholera  became  epi- 
demic there  aud  Mr.  Cassidy  decided  to  move  farther  up  the  country. 
Thus  near  Dubuque,  Iowa,  they  had  their  first  experience  in  American 
agriculture.  Davenport,  Scott  county,  and  Clinton  county  of  that  State 
were  joints  of  residence  for  the  family  until  1869,  when  they  came  dowu 
iiitci  :\l(intg(iniery  county,  Kansas. 

In  liic  sjtring  of  180!),  the  journey  was  accomplished  by  team  i'nnw  the 
old  home  in  Iowa  to  the  undeveloped  region  of  Southern  Kansas.  Our 
subject  filed  on  the  claim  where  they  have  since  lived,  in  West  Cherry 
township,  on  section  3-32-lfi.  Neighbors  were  few  and  far  between— 
unless  line  might  call  the  "noble  Red  Man"  a  neighbor— in  which  case  they 
were  plenty.  However,  Mr.  Cassidy  always  liked  the  Indian  and  got 
along  splendidly  with  him.  Only  once  was  there  trouble,  and  that  had 
such  a  laughable  denouement,  it  passed  off  quietly.  While  he  was  away 
one  day.  Chief  Beaver's  son  undertook  to  frighten  Mrs.  Cassidy.  After 
worrying  her  as  much  as  he  desired  in  the  hou.se,  he  climbed  on  top  of  the 
chimney,  and  the  first  sight  Mr.  Cassidy  had  of  him  was  in  that  position, 
wavirg  a  red  blanket.  To  his  orders  to  come  down  the  boy  gave  Mr.  Cas- 
sidy the  laugh,  whereupon  that  gentleman  proceeded  inside,  placed  a 
goodly  portion  of  i)owder  in  the  firejilace  and  while  the  boy  was  at  the 
height  of  his  glee,  touched  it  ort".  The  sight  of  that  boy  "scudding"  off 
acros--.  The  jirairie  still  remains  in  the  memory  of  our  subject  as  one  of  the 
iauglmble  occurrences  of  that  early  day.  ^Mr.  Cassidy  is  responsible  for 
the  uinue  of  Irish  creek,  the  Indians  having  learned  that  he  was  Irish, 
thought  to  compliment  him,  and  to  some  enquiring  whites  gave  that 
name  because  the  Cassidys  lived  on  that  creek. 

In  l^C.!*,  Mr.  Cassidy  aud  his  family  were  the  only  white  i)eople  in 
Montgomery  county.  Kansas,  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July.  Mr.  Cas- 
sidy had  been  invited  by  Captain  Ayers,  mayor  of  Osage  Mission,  and 
Mr.  Gilmore,  an  old  Indian  trader,  to  come  over  to  a  war  dance  of  several 
tribes  which  met  for  several  days  at  Osage  M.lssion  and  during  these  davs 
the  celebration  took  place. 

With  the  exception  of  seven  years  in  the  lumber  business  in  Iowa, 


292  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

]\Ir.  ("assidv  has  passed  his  life  as  a  tiller  of  the  soil.  His  .standing  in 
]\I()ii(^()niery  eonnty  is  of  the  best,  as  he  has  ever  evinced  a  dispo.sition  to 
jiive  his  iiifiiieiice  to  those  things  that  make  for  the  material  and  intel 
lechial  advancement  of  the  community.  He  is  a  member  of  the  school 
board  and  acicd  as  rcnsus  enumerator  in  1900.  Both  he  and  his  family 
are  devout  rdiiiiininicnnts  of  the  Holy  Catholic  church,  and  deserve,  as 
Ihey  receive.  I  he  esteem  of  the  entire  community. 


A.  ]'.  FOKSYTH— The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  New  Rich- 
mond. Cleimont  county.  Ohio,  May  2-1,  1830.  He  is  of  Scotch  decent.  His 
jiareuts  moved  to  Indiana  when  he  was  five  years  old  and  settled  twenty 
miles  noitheast  of  Vincennes,  where  he  remained  most  of  the  time  until 
he  reached  manhood. 

His  education  was  received  in  the  conunon  schools  of  that  time,  sap 
plemonted  with  two  terms  at  Asbury  T'niversity  (now  De  Paw). 

He  was  married  to  Miss  Louisa  S.  Hinkle,  November  27,  18.")1.  They 
had  'oorn  to  them  six  children,  four  of  wliom  are  living,  three  sons  and 
one  daughter. 

He  was  admitted  into  the  Indiana  conference  of  the  M.  E.  church  a» 
a  travelling  itreachcr  in  IS;":!  and  sustained  that  relation  for  eight  years. 

II(>  enlisted  in  1  he  scr\  ice  of  liis  country  in  -Inly,  18(i2,  and,  upon  the 
organization  of  ilic  regiment,  was  commissioned  by  Gen.  O.  P.  Morton, 
fiirst  lieutenant  of  <'oniiiany  •]."  Ninety-seventh  regiment.  Indiana 
Volunteers,  and  \\as  discharged  in  .August.  18(U.  l>y  reason  of  disability 
incurred  in  the  service. 

He  then  moved  lo  Illinois,  in  the  sjiring  of  ISC,.-),  and  settled  on  a  farm 
thirteen  miles  west  from  Paris,  the  county  seat  of  Edgar  county.  He 
took  quite  an  active  jiart  in  the  Grange  movement;  was  elected  and 
served  three  terms  of  two  years  each  as  master  of  the  State  Grange  of  Il- 
linois; was  elecliMl  lo  the  Forty-sixth  Congress  from  the  then  Fifteenth 
district,  as  a  Crceiibacker  or  National  Republican,  the  district  having 
.-|.(i(io  Dcniociaiic  ni.ijority.  During  his  term  in  Congress,  he  acted  and 
voted  with  llie  Kc|.iil>lic,in  party  upon  all  National  questions. 

It.  issi,  he  nidvctl  111  K.-iiisas  and  settled  on  a  farm  in  Lilierty  town- 
ship, six  miles  s<inilieast  of  Indciiendence.  He  took  quite  an  active  pact 
in  loral  ],oliiics  ami  in  the  state  cani].aign  of  ISSS  and  IStlO.  when  Ly- 
man r.  lliimiiliicy  was  the  candidate  for  governor,  and  sixtke  in  a  num- 
ber ot  cnnties  in'diireii'iit  p.-irts  of  the  si,-ite;  .also  took  an  active  i>arf  in 
the  caini,ai-n  of  Is'.n'  when  A.  W.  Smith  was  a  candidate  for  governor. 
Since  Ihcii  he  has  lakei active  part   in  jiolilics. 

He  served  three  leriiis  of  (liree  years  each  as  regent  of  the  Kansiui 
State  .Vgri(aillitral  College,  being  appointed  thereto  by  (Jov.  John  A. 
]^lartin  and  Lyman   C.   Humphrey,  successively.     He  continued  farming 


W.  H.  SLOAN. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMIiUV  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  293 

until  !!M)(I.  wlicTi  lit*  rented  his  farm  and  moved  to  Independence,  Kansas, 
where  he  now  resides. 


WILLIAM  H.  SLOAN — Louisburg  township  became  the  home  iu 
July,  1868,  of  William  H.  Sloan,  one  of  the  solid  men  of  Montgomery 
county,  who  shares,  in  large  part,  the  credit  for  the  splendid  development 
that  lias  since  come  to  the  county.  As  stated  in  the  review  devoted  to 
the  liischo  family,  these  two  gentlemen  came  together  and  filed  on  ad- 
joiiiiiig  claims,  Mr.  Sloan's  (piarter  being  on  section  13-32-14.  Here  he 
passeii  through  all  the  trials  incident  to  pioneer  life  and  is  now  enjoying 
the  fiuits  of  his  well-directed  efforts,  being,  at  the  present  time,  in  posses- 
sion of  a  farm  of  845  acres  and  having  his  home,  since  1900,  in  Rutland 
township. 

He  landed  on  his  claim  that  hot  July  day  with  a  frying  pan,  a  cof- 
fee pot,  an  axe.a  sack  of  corn  and  a  piece  of  bacon ;  having  come  from 
Hardin  county,  Ohio.  He  put  up  the  usual  14x16  house  and  the  follow- 
ing year  began  farming  operations.  He  soon  became  well  acquainted 
with  the  Indians  and,  though  not  being  able  to  "conjure"  them  as  his 
friend,  "Medicine  Man"  Inscho,  still,  he  lived  with  them  in  comparative 
peace.  He  became  especially  well  acquainted  with  interpreters  Alvin 
Wood  and  Paul  and  with  Chiefs  Nopawalla,  Chetopa  and  Strike  Axe, 
and  found  them,  in  many  respects,  not  wanting  in  the  noble  qualities  of 
the  '"Fenimore  Cooper"  Indian. 

As  time  passed,  Mr.  Sloan  gave  his  best  endeavors  to  the  esatblish- 
ment  of  schools,  churches  and  "other  civilizing  and  refining  influences 
and  has  always  been  particularly  jealous  of  the  good  reputation  of  his 
township  and  county.  He  has  served  faithfully  in  the  unpaid  offices  of 
township  trustee  and  on  the  school  board  and  is  ready  at  all  times  to  en- 
ter into  any  enterprise  that  will  advance  the  public  good.  He  is  an  old 
time  ilason,  belonging  to  ail  the  different  branches  of  that  noble  order, 
from  Master  Mason  to  Mystic  Shrine. 

Touching  briefly  on  tiie  family  history  of  Mr.  Sloan,  John  Sloan,  his 
grandfather,  was  aii  Irishman  of  Reformed  Presbyterian  faith  who,  to- 
gether with  a  family  of  eleven  children,  came  to  America  and  settled  on 
a  farm  in  Ohio.  The  names  of  these  children  were:  William,  Samuel,  Jo- 
seph, John.  Thomas,  James,  David,  Robert,  Margaret,  Elisha  and  Fannie. 
Of  these,  William  married  Ann  Scott,  also  a  native  of  the  Emerald  Isle, 
who  became  the  mother  of:  Sarah  A.  Weaver,  Mrs.  Mary  Elizabeth  Stew- 
art, Mrs.  Frances  J.  Shaw,  Margaret  H..  Mrs.  Agnes  L.  Stewart,  John, 
William  H.  and  Joseph  G. 

William  H.  Sloan  married  Rhoda  Debo,  a  native  of  the  "Hoosier 
State"  and  daughter  of  William  and  Henrietta  Debo.  These  parents 
were  cliildreii  of  the  i)ii>neer  families  of  that  state  and  passed  their  lives 


294  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

ill   IIk    ciillivulidu  (if  its  soil.     To  Mr.  aii.l  Mrs.  Sloan  have  hceu  born: 
Homer,  Ethel,  Jessie,  Helen  and  Fay. 

Born  Jannary  15,  1842.  William  Hpnry  Sloan  was  reared  in  his  na- 
tive connty  of  Champaign,  in  Ohio. and  was  at  that  age  when  the  blood 
runs  most  freely,  when  the  darkening  clouds  of  the  Civil  War  gathered  in 
terrible  array.  He  chafed  under  home  restraint  until  September,  ISCl, 
when  he  enrolled  as  a  private  in  Company  "G,"  Ninth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Cavalry,  under  Col.  William  Hamilton,  General  Kilpatrick  of  the 
Third  Cavalry  division.  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  commanding.  He 
reached  the  front  in  time  to  take  part  in  "Uncle  Billy"  Sherman's  picnic 
excursion  to  the  sea.  and  jiarticipated  in  the  closing  scenes  of  the  war 
in  the  Carolinas.  His  mustering  out  occurred  at  Concord,  North  Caro- 
lina, in  July,  lSf>5,  when  he  returned  home,  to  ne'er  again  engage  in  mor- 
tal strife  with  his  fellowman. 


THOMAS  HARBISON— A  period  of  thirty-three  years  takes  one 
back  to  the  beginning  of  things  in  Independence.  Those  were  the  days 
of  "shacks,"  prairie  schooners,  bad  Indians  and  worse  cowboys;  a  con- 
trast, indeed,  to  the  beautiful  homes,  elegant  equipages  and  refined  and 
intelligent  citizenship  which  fill  the  city  today.  There  are  a  few  of  those 
early  landmarks  left,  but  on  the  principle  of  the  "survival  of  the  fittest'' 
the  old  settler  of  today  is  generally  a  well-to-do.  self-respecting  citizen, 
whose  earlier  strenuous  days  have  given  place  to  the  quiet  jog-trot  of 
prosperous  old  age.  On  the  22d  of  September.  1870,  the  gentleman  whose 
honored  name  initiates  this  paragraph  took  up  his  residence  in  Inde- 
pendence, and  the  entire  stretch  of  the  three  decades  has  found  him 
first  and  foremost  in  every  movement  that  had  for  its  object  the  better- 
ment of  conditions  in  the  town  of  his  adoption. 

Somersetshire.  England,  was  the  place  of  birth  of  our  subject,  the 
time  January  8.  1835.  He  was  a  son  of  William  and  Ann  (Chapman) 
Harrison,  both  now  deceased.  Following  the  good  old  English  custom, 
Thonuis  was  apprenticed  to  a  trade  after  he  had  received  a  fair  common 
school  education,  the  jieriod  of  apjirenticeship  in  his  case  occupying  the 
eleven  years  prior  to  his  majority.  This  gave  him  ample  time  to  thor- 
oughly master  the  saddlery  trade.  He  worked  as  a  journeyman  in  the 
city  of  London  until  18(!8,  when,  in  September,  he  carried  out  a  resolu- 
tion he  had  made  some  time  before  of  seeking  his  fortune  in  the  new 
world.  He  settled  in  the  city  of  Detroit  and  worked  at  his  trade  two 
years,  by  which  time  he  had  succeeded  in  laying  by  enough  to  think  of 
starting  business  for  himself.  Favorably  impressed  with  representa- 
tions concerning  the  new  State  of  Kansas,  he  began  an  investigation 
whicli  iiiliiiiiialcd  in  Jiis  selecting  Inde])enden(e  as  the  most  likely  point, 
a  (Iccision  he  has  never  regretted.     In  comi)any  with  his  brother-in-law, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  295 

Jaiiios  CuUyfoi'd,  Mr.  Iliirrisou  entered  upon  his  business  career  under 
the  firm  name  of  Cullyford  &  Harrison,  saddlers,  a  firm  which  was  dis- 
solved five  years  later,  the  occasion  being  the  first  disastrous  fire  that 
visited  llie  business  section  of  tlie  little  town,  and  in  which  their  building 
aud  its  contents  were  destroyed.  With  the  proverbial  l^nulish  grit,  Mr. 
Harrison  started  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder  aud  again  began  its  toilsome 
asi-eni,  this  time  alone.  Ten  years  later,  he  again  sutlered  severely  by  fire, 
but  since  which  time  he  has  had  a  peaceful  and  successful  career.  Singu- 
larly enough,  both  fires  originated  next  door,  and  both  are  said  to  have 
bwn  of  incendiary  origin.  Mr.  Harrison  is  engaged  extensively  in  the 
sale  .)*'  leather  goods,  all  kinds  of  farm  im]ilenients  and  vehicles,  which 
he  houses  in  a  commodious  two-story  business  building,  23x140  feet. 
His  trade  is  not  confined  by  county  or  state  lines,  as  his  reputation  of 
dealing  in  none  but  the  best  goods  was  a  matter  of  cai-eful  calculation 
in  the  earlier  days  of  his  business  career. 

As  intimated,  Mr.  Harrison's  citizenship  has  been  of  the  helpful 
kind.  He  has,  at  different  times,  served  in  offices  of  trust  connected  with 
the  government  of  the  city;  a  member  of  the  fire  company  for  eleven 
years,  in  the  council  eight  years,  during  which  many  of  the  substantial 
improvements  were  made  in  the  city,  his  last  term  being  honored  with 
election  as  president  of  that  body.  For  one  term  he  was  a  member  of  the 
school  board. 

Before  leaving  the  laud  of  his  birth.  Mr.  Harrison  had  secured  a 
partner  to  share  with  him  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  this  life,  the  lady  be- 
ing ilary  A.  Cullyford,  a  native  of  Somersetshire.  Her  three  children 
were:  William,  in  business  with  his  father;  Louisa,  single;  and  Charlie, 
who  died  in  infancy.  The  mother  of  these  children  died  just  one  year 
from  the  date  of  Mf.  Harrison's  coming  to  Independence.  The  lady  who 
now  presides  over  his  home  aud  who  became  his  wife  in  1872,  was  Mrs. 
Catherine  ilorrison,  aud  to  them  one  son  was  born,  Charles  T.,  now  a 
young  ])harniacist  of  the  city. 

Believing  in  the  fraternity  idea,  Mr.  Harrison  early  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  I.  O.  O.  F..  in  which  order  he  has  filled  all  the  chairs  and  is 
at  present  Chief  Patriarch  of  the  Encampment.  He  is  also  an  active 
member  of  the  Woodmen,  having  held  the  office  of  Sovereign  Lieutenant 
for  a  number  of  years.  It  is  not  fulsome  praise  to  say  that  no  more  high- 
ly respected  citizen  lives  in  Montgomery  county  than  Thomas  Harrison. 
His  life  has  at  all  times  been  an  open  book  whose  leaves  remain  stainless. 


BERNHARDT  ZAUtiCi— The  late  pioneer  whose  name  initiates 
this  memoir  was  a  character,  somewhat  unique,  whose  career  of  twenty- 
seven  years  in  Independence  and  vicinity  was  marked  for  its  unabated 
industry  and  f<u-  its  versatility.     He  came  here  in  1870,  when  the  town 


296  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

possessed  scarcely  more  than  the  name,  engaged  in  the  bntcher  business 
the  first  three  yeans  and  followed  it  with  a  term  of  years  in  the  whole- 
sale liquor  business.  On  retiring  from  this,  he  occupied  his  farm  in  the 
Verdigris  bottom  just  east  of  the  city  and  was  emjdoyed  with  its  conduct 
until  failing  health  forced  his  withdrawal  from  ])hysical  labors.  He 
again  became  a  citizen  of  Independence  where  he  died  June  8.  1897.  Such 
is  a  brief  synopsis  of  the  life  and  achievements  of  Bernhardt  Zaugg  who 
filled  a  niche  in  the  business  life  of  Montgomery  county.  Widely  known, 
respected  by  all,  with  honorable  ancestry  and  without  posterity  he  left 
to  the  world  the  proud  record  of  a  successful  life. 

Bernhardt  Zaugg  was  a  Swiss  by  nativity.  He  was  born  in  the 
jiKiv  ii  ce  of  Berne,  April  12,  1840.  and  was  a  .son  of  Tlrich  and  Elizabeth 
I  I'unkhouser)  Zaugg,  somewhat  extensive  and  well-to-do  farmers  of  the 
]iii)\  iiue.  The  parents  were  born  and  died  there  and  were  communicants 
in  the  Lutheran  church.  Fourteen  children  were  born  to  them,  the  sec- 
ond oldest  being  Bernhardt  of  this  sketch.  Two  sisters  and  two  brothers 
of  them  came  to  the  United  States.  Bernhardt  in  18ti8  and  Peter  and  the 
sisters — llrs.  Elizabeth  Euberg.  deceased,  of  Colorado,  and  Mrs.  Barbara 
Avenerius,  of  Ottawa,  Kas. — following  later  on.  Bernhardt  Zaugg  was 
fairly  educated  in  the  schools  ])rovided  for  his  station  in  Switzerland  and 
learned  the  butcher's  trade,  lie  jiassed  through  ("astle  Garden,  robust 
and  strong,  and  made  his  way  to  Saint  .Tose](h.  ilissouri.  where  he  ob- 
tained work  at  his  trade.  Leaving  the  ^lissouri  town,  he  drifted 
down  to  Baxter  Springs.  Kansas,  from  wliiih  point  he  came  to  Independ- 
ence. 

Montgomery  county  was  the  scene  of  Mr.  Zaugg's  effective  work. 
"With  the  aid  and  counsel  of  his  wife  he  laid  the  foundation  for  and  built 
a  modest  fortune.  While  he  was  young  and  ftill  of  vigor  no  task  requir- 
ing industry  was  he  unable  to  accomjilisb  and  it  can  be  safely  stated 
that  he  amassed  his  wealth  by  intelligent  and  jnoperly  directed  effort. 
The  farm  he  owned  in  the  river  bottiun  sold  for  iflC.OOO.ilO.  a  greater  sum 
than  was  paid  for  a  like  estate  before  that  time  in  Montgomery  county. 
His  wife,  whom  he  married  in  lii(l(']iendence  December  24,  1872.  was  an 
ever-present  aid  to  his  amiution.  She  was  Bernhardtina  Tanner,  born  in 
Switzerland  January  24.  1844.  and  a  daughter  of  Conrad  and  Elizabeth 
(Sonderheger)  Tanner.  Her  parents  had  five  children  of  which  number 
she  is  llie  sole  survivor.  .Mrs.  Zaugg  was  educated  liberally  in  the  ordi- 
narv  schools  of  the  Swiss  republic  and.  as  it  hai)pened.  came  to  the 
TTnited  States  the  same  year  her  husband  did.  Slie  passed  from  New 
York  fo  (irand  I{ai)ids.  Michigan,  and  came  on  to  Kansas  as  soon  as  the 
government  Irealed  willi  the  Osage  Indians  for  their  reservation.  She 
and  her  late  husband  lit'u;ni  life  in  an  liiindile  way  and  the  quarter  of  a 
century  in  which  they  lahorcd  tog(>ilicr  their  efforts  achieved  financial  re- 
.S)ilts  that   were  gratilving  indi'cil.     Her  aid  of  different   industrial  enter- 


HISTORY  0[-   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  297 

])iis(w  (if  Iii(le]ieii(lt'in('  show  lici*  1o  be  progressive  mihI  ]iul)lic  s])irite(]. 
The  l)ri(k  ]ilaiit,  the  ( lacker  factory  and  the  eottou  mill  have  each  been 
beneficiaries  of  her  generosity  and  it  i.s  with  a  spirit  of  loyalty  to  her 
favoi'ite  city  that  she  is  ])ronii)te{l  to  these  favoring  acts. 

As  ipjoneers  Mr.  and  .M,is.  Zangg  were  among  the  first.  As  citizens 
they  p(>rfi>rnied  a  iiiddest  but  iiosiiivc  part  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Mont- 
gomery coiinly  and  sustained  their  names  unsullied  and  uuimpeached. 


JAMES  F.  BLACKLEDGE— No  other  county  in  the  state  owes  its 
phenomenal  development  to  the  fire  and  snap  of  youth  to  a  greater  extent 
than  does  Montgomery.  Here  in  the  years  immediately  succeeding  the 
great  Civil  War.  settled  men  whose  youthful  fiber  had  been  steeled  by 
war's  exacting  duties,  and  who  are  now  referred  to  as  "old  settlers." 
Though  still  active,  they  have  gradually  given  way  to  the  younger  ele- 
ment, whose  educational  equipment  fits  them  to  take  up  the  more  compli- 
cated work  of  advancing  civilization.  Among  this  number  the  gentle- 
man whose  name  initiates  this  paragraph  is  noted  as  a  leader,  adding 
to  the  restless  energy  of  youth  the  sound  judgment  that  coiues  from  suc- 
cessful contact  with  the  business  world  in  various  capacities. 

James  F.  Blackledge  is  the  present  efficient  cashier  and  manager  of 
the  Caney  Valley  National  Bank,  of  Caney  City.  The  place  of  his  nativ- 
ity was  Rockville,  Indiana,  the  time  October  29,  1869.  He  is  the  youngest 
son  of  William  and  Phoebe  (Johns)  Blackledge,  his  parents  belonging  to 
that  sturdy  class  of  artisans  which  has  made  the  ''Hoosier  State"  famous 
in  the  field  of  labor.  The  parents  are  natives  of  Ohio,  the  father  born  in 
1S32,  and  upon  arriving  at  manhood  beconuug  a  builder  and  contractor 
in  Indiana.  In  this  state  he  passed  his  early  manhood  and  cheerfully 
laid  aside  the  implements  of  peace  to  wield  the  sword  in  the  glorious 
cause  of  freedom  during  tlie  three  long  years  of  the  Civil  War.  In  1879, 
hecasthis  lot  with  the  "Sunflower  State,"  settling  first  in  Oswego,  then  at 
Coffeyville,  where  he  and  his  wife  now  reside,  honored  members  of  socie- 
ty. Seven  children  were  born  to  them,  three  boys  and  two  girls  yet  liv- 
ing. 

A  lad  of  but  ten  years  when  he  first  looked  upon  Kansas  prairies, 
Mr.  Blackledge  lays  claim  to  being  a  Kansan  "to  the  manor  born,"  the  en- 
tire formative  and  educational  period  of  his  life  being  passed  within  the 
borders  of  the  State.  The  foundation  of  his  excellent  education  was  laid 
in  the  district  schools,  from  which  he  passed  to  a  course  in  Salina  Col- 
lege. At  nineteen,  after  passing  a  creditable  examination  in  the  Civil  Ser- 
vice, he  received  an  appointment  in  the  railway  mail  service  as  clerk,  his 
first  run  being  on  the  Ft.  Scott  &  Webb  City  R.  R.,  from  Ft.  Scott  to 
Webb  City,  The  facility  which  he  rapidly  acquired  in  the  service  and  a 
fine  grasp  of  the  more  intricate  problems  which  came  up  for  solution  al- 


298  HISTORY  OF  SIONTGOMEUY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

most  daily,  soon  marked  him  for  promotion,  and  he  was  tested  in  many 
different  positions  in  the  succeeding  five  years,  in  all  of  which  he  proved 
eflBcient. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Blackledge,  in  1890.  had  thrown  him  into  con- 
tact with  a  master  of  finance  in  the  person  of  his  fatherin-law,  E.  P.  Al- 
len, president  of  the  Bank  of  Independence,  and  with  whom,  in  1893,  he 
became  associated  in  a  banking  venture  in  the  then  village  of  Caney. 
Joint  purchasers  of  stock  in  the  Caney  Valley  Bank,  they  operated  it  as 
a  stale  bank  until  1!)(I0,  when  it  was  incorporated  under  the  name  now 
known,  with  a  cai>ital  of  .f25.0(l(Ml(l.  X'lulcr  the  splendid  management  of 
Mr.  Blackledge.  This  bank  has  beionie  one  of  the  solid  financial  institu- 
tions of  the  county,  with  a  working  deposit  of  nearly  fKKI.OOO.OO.  If  one 
thing  more  than  another  has  contributed  to  Mr.  Blackledge's  success  in 
the  business  world,  it  is  his  absolute  fidelity  to  a  trust,  and  the  careful 
consideration  he  gives  to  the  minutest  detail  of  the  work. 

Politics,  as  such,  proves  of  but  little  interest  to  Mr.  Blackledge.  He 
votes  with  the  Rei)ublican  i)arty,  and,  yielding  to  the  solicitation  of 
frieufis,  has  served  his  municipality  in  the  board  of  couucilnien.  To  this 
he  adds  the  sinecure  of  city  treasurer. 

The  home  life  of  our  subject  has  been  peculiarly  felicitious,  Miss 
Mattie  H.  Allen,  daughter  of  E.  P.  and  Mary  Allen,  becoming  his  wife 
as  stated  above,  ip  1890.  To  this  union  have  been  born  f'oui'  bright 
children — Ralph  T.,  Paulina,  Gwynne  and  Mercedes. 

Mr.  Blackledge  is  a  member  of  Masonic  Blue  Lodge,  a  K.  of  P. 
and  an  M.  W.  A.  and  Mrs.  Blackledge  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church. 


ELIZABETH  BRYANT— The  lady  mentioned  is  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting of  the  few  pioneers  of  Montgomery  county  still  left.  She  de- 
lights in  reminiscences  of  the  early  days  when  wild  game  and  the  wilder 
Red  Man  roamed  in  undisputed  possession  of  the  prairie,  and  can  tell 
many  tales  of  adventure  in  which  the  "noble  Red  Man"  figured,  and  gen- 
erally to  his  discredit.  Mirs.  Bi'yant  came  to  Kansas  in  1858,  with  her 
husband  and  family,  first  settling  in  Atchison  county,  thence,  in  18C0,  to 
("otlcy  county,  where  they  resided  dujing  the  war.  In  1867,  they  moved 
down  into  Jlontgomery  county,  where  they  have  ever  since  been  among 
its  best  citizens. 

Jlrs.  Bryant  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  on  the  31st  of 
January,  1836,  the  daughter  of  John  and  Fannie  (Harper)  Geer,  both 
natives  of  Kentucky.  John  Geer  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the 
"Hoosier  State,"  having  come  from  Kentucky  when  a  five-year-old  boy. 
He  lived  in  Indiana  until  1853,  when  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Iowa, 
and  ia  which  state  he  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years,  the  wife 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOJIEUY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  299 

at  sevonty-one.  In  August  of  1855,  Mrs.  Bryant  was  married  to  Hezekiah 
F.  Hryant.  a  native  of  Keutueky,  born  April  12th,  1832.  He  came  over 
into  Indiana  when  a  boy  and  accompanied  Mr.  Geer's  people  when  they 
moved  out  to  Iowa.  They  rented  a  farm  for  several  years  in  Iowa  and,  in 
1858,  came  to  Kansas,  as  stated.  The  family  were  living  in  Poffey  county 
when  the  war  came  on  and  Jlr.  Bryant  at  "once  enlisted.  This  left  Mrs. 
Bryant  to  look  after  affairs  at  home  and  for  the  entire  period  of  the  war 
she  bravely  fought  the  battles  necessary  to  keep  her  young  family  to- 
gether—and who  shall  say  the  brave  women  did  not  have  battles  to  fight 
that  took  as  high  a  degree  of  courage  and  as  great  display  of  generalship 
as  were  required  on  the  actual  field  of  carnage. 

Early  in  lS(il.  Mr.  Bryant  enlisted  in  the  Ninth  Kansas  Cavalry,  and 
served  nearly  five  years  with  that  organization,  participating  in  many 
important  engagements  of  the  west.  As  stated,  the  family  moved  down 
into  Montgomery  county  in  1807,  where  they  located  a  claim  on  Elk  river. 
This  was  in  pioneer  days,  in  truth,  when  but  few  white  families  were  in 
the  county,  and  when  thieving  Indians  roamed  over  valley  and  hill.  The 
Bryants  were  unfortunate  enough  to  become  the  victims  of  these  pests, 
losing  their  only  team  soon  after  their  arrival,  and  even  a  coat  and  brace 
of  revolvers  that  had  been  carelessly  laid  aside.  Claim-jumpers  were  an- 
other species  of  varmint  the  new  settlers  had  to  reckon  with.  While  Mr. 
Bryant  was  gone  on  his  trip  back  to  Coffey  county  for  the  rest  of  the 
family,  an  effort  was  made  to  jump  his  claim,  which  his  return  in  the 
nick  of  time  prevented.  As  it  was,  the  family  moved  into  their  cabin  be- 
fore the  roof  was  put  on  and  slept  the  first  night  under  a  few  rough 
boardii.  The  first  year  was  one  of  privation  and  almost  of  suffering,  but 
after  their  first  crop  was  raised  it  became  easier,  and,  as  years  passed, 
hard  work  brought  prosperity  and  plenty  to  their  door. 

This  first  farm  was  cultivated  until  the  year  1885,  when  it  was  sold 
and  a  move  made  to  where  Mrs.  Bryant  now  resides,  two  miles  from 
Tyro.  Mr.  Bryant  died  on  the  1-Ith  of  March,  1889,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
six  years  eleven  months  and  twenty-eight  days,  in  Saint  Andre  Bay, 
Florida,  while  in  search  of  health.  He  was  a  man  whose  fine  traits  of 
character  won  to  him  many  friends.  He  cai'ed  little  for  public  life,  but 
was  most  envious  of  the  good  will  of  his  friends  and  neighbors,  among 
whom  he  was  exceedingly  popular. 

Mrs.  Bryant  was  the  mother  of  eight  children :  Marion,  deceased  in 
1886;  John  W.,  James,  Benjamin  X.,  deceased  at  one  year  and  eight 
mouths;  William  A.,  B.  Simeon,  Ida  IMay,  deceased  in  infancy;  and~an 
unnamed  infant. 

Of  this  family,  William  A.  has  dutifully  remained  at  home,  caring 
for  his  mother.  He  was  born  in  Coffey  county  in  1867,  and  has  passed 
the  entire  period  of  his  life  at  home.  The  farm  which  he  cultivates  evi- 
dences in  its  well-tilled  acres  the  stroke  of  a  master  hand,  and  presents 


300  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

as  fliif-  an  appearance  as  any  in  the  confines  of  the  county.  He  makes  a 
specialty  of  breeding  fine  horses  and  takes  great  pride  in  driving  the  best 
in  his  stable,  in  the  cultivation  of  his  farm.  Ills  devotion  to  his  mother  is  a 
matter  of  common  remark,  and  he  has  resolutely  remained  single  with 
the  purpose  of  giving  her  the  better  care.  He  is  i-egarded  in  the  com- 
nninity  as  a  worthy  son  of  a  worthy  father,  whose  many  virtues  he  so 
aptly  illustrates. 


JOHN  CRICK — John  Crick,  a  farmer  of  Louisbnrg  township,  Mont- 
gomery county,  is  a  native  of  Old  England,  where  he  was  born,  in  Roln- 
hurst,  on  the  25th  of  February,  1842.  His  father  was  James  H.  Hopwood, 
and  his  mother  Sarah  Crick.  The  parents  lived  and  died  in  the  Old 
Country,  where,  in  Redfordsliire,  our  subject  was  educated  and  learned 
his  trade. 

In  the  year  1800,  the  latter  crossed  the  ocean  and  located  in  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  woi'ked  at  his  trade,  as  a  machinist,  with  the  firm  of 
Bement  &  Dougherty,  and  also  with  the  Sellers  Tool  Co.  He  remained  in 
Philadelphia  about  one  year  and  then  went  to  Su.squehanna,  the  same 
state,  where  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Rail- 
road. Later,  he  came  to  Chicago  and  worked  for  tlie  Rork  Island  Rail- 
road Company.  He  was  with  the  Kansas  Pacific  for  two  years  at  dif- 
ferent points  and  then,  finally,  abandoned  the  life  of  a  machinist  and,  in 
1871,  located  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  This  farm  consists  of 
160  acres  of  fine  land,  which  our  subject  keeps  in  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion. It  is  stocked  well  with  the  best  grades  of  cattle  and  horses  and 
shows  the  skillful  hand  of  the  master  agriculturist. 

The  domestic  life  of  Ml".  Crick  began  April  15th,  1863,  on  which  date 
he  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Valentine  and  Cla- 
rinda  (Durand)  Cryderman.  Mrs.  Crick's  father  was  a  native  of  Canada, 
where  he  was  born  in  1816.  In  early  manhood  he  located  in  Indiana  and 
there  married.  He,  later,  moved  to  Illinois,  where  Mrs.  Crick  was  born, 
she  being  one  of  a  family  of  ten  children,  viz:  George,  deceased;  Amelia, 
first  married  John  Smith,  but  is  now  the  wife  of  Edward  Hays;  Silvia, 
deceased  wife  of  Jesse  N.  Gallamore,  her  children  being:  Nellie,  Rose.  Ivy, 
Jessie,  Florence,  Clarinda,  Maude,  Amy  and  Vane;  the  fourth  child  is 
Mrs.  Crick;  Mci  ril  I  L.,  lives  with  his  mother  in  Wilson  county,  Kansas; 
James  N'alciilinc  Amos  inaii-ied  Cornelia  Rauland.  lives  in  Neodesha, 
Kansas;  William  Adna,  .lolm  mairi.-d  D.na  Wcllniing  and  lives  in  Wash- 
ington, and  an  infant  unnamed. 

To.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crick  have  been  born  a  family  of  six  children,  as 
follows — Nettie,  born  January  4th,  1875,  resides  at  home;  Jesse,  born 
October  5th,  lS7t;;  Daisy  1?.,  born  July  14th,  1870;  Amy  E.,  born  Septem- 
ber 22iid,  1881;  Harry,  born  November  12th,   1884,  and  Frank  V.,  born 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  301 

Sept.  7th,  188(i.  Of  tliese  cliildieii,  -Jesse,  the  oldest  son,  enlisted  in  the 
SiKinish-Anieiii-an  \v;iv  in  the  sjiring'  of  1898,  and  served  until  his  dis- 
chiu-ge  at  San  Fnimiseo,  >Jovenibei'  1st,  1899.  He  resided,  for  a  time,  in 
Missoula,  Montana,  and  is  now  an  employe  of  the  Northern  Pacific  rail- 
way, and  at  present  resides  in  Aguascolientes,  Mexico,  where  he  is  a  loco- 
motive engineer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crick  are  devout  and  consistent  members  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church  and  are  leading  members  of  society  in  the  com- 
munity, where  they  interest  themselves  in  every  cause  which  looks  to  gen- 
eral betterment.  He  has  never  sought  public  office,  and  is  pleased  to  sup- 
port the  principles  of  the  Republican  party  by  his  vote.  He  is  a  charter 
member  of  William  Penu  Lodge  of  Elk  Ci'ty,'l.  O.  O.  F.  He  joined  this 
order  in  1870.  in  Wyandotte,  Kansas,  and  has  been  a  life-long  member  of 
the  same.  Those  who  know  Mi'.  Crick  and  his  family  best  are  uniform 
in  their  opinion  of  the  splendid  character  which  they  maintain  in  the 
community. 


JAMES  A.  McDowell— Since  1869,  there  has  lived,  five  miles  from 
Elk  City,  a  gentleman,  who,  by  his  upright  character  and  by  his  unity  of 
purpose  has  earned  the  esteem  of  a  large  community  of  friends.  There 
are  few  in  the  ranks  of  the  "old  settlers"  of  the  county  who  are  better  or 
more  favorably  known  than  Mr.  McDowell,  and  we  present  his  record  in 
brief,  that  posterity  may  know  him.  and  something  of  his  antecedents. 

October  9th,  1858,  marks  the  date  of  birth  of  Mr.  McDowell,  in  Cald- 
well county,  Kentucky.  He  is  of  Irish  extraction,  his  father,  Allen  Mc- 
Dowell, having  been  a  son  of  Alexander,  who  was  the  Irish  founder  of 
this  American  family.  They  settled  in  Kentucky,  where  Allen  McDowell 
was  born,  and  where  he  married  Martha  Freeman,  daughter  of  Hardy  F. 
Freeman,  of  a  North  ("arolina  family,  which  settled  in  Caldwell  county, 
Kentucky. 

Allen  McDowell  enlisted  in  the  Union  army  during  the  Civil  war, 
and  died  at  home  while  on  a  furlough,  but  his  widow  still  lives  and  resides 
with  her  son,  our  subject. 

James  A.  McDowell  was  a  lad  of  ten  jears  when  his  mother  settled 
in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  With  her  came  her  father,  together  with 
a  brother  and  two  brothers-in-law.  Each  of  the  male  members  of  the 
party  preempted  a  quarter  section  of  land  in  Louisburg  township,  as  also 
did  our  subject's  mother.  The  latter  proved  up  on  her  claim,  sold  out 
and  purchased  the  farm  of  eighty  acres  upon  which  Mr.  McDowell  now 
resides,  and  which  he  has  continued  to  cultivate  since  he  grew  to  man- 
hood. 

Mr.  McDowell  married,  in  January,  1893.  Miss  Lola  Lewis,  (laugliler  of 
Abraham  and  Martha    (Keed)    Lewis.  To  tliis  marriage  have  been  born 


302  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

three  diildreii :  Alvis,  born  Deeeinber  8th,  1891;  Frances  Anna,  born 
Mareh  :28th.  181)(;;  and  .Tames  Allen,  born  June  7th,  18!)8. 

The  farm  on  which  Mr.  McDowell  now  resides  is  not  extensive  in 
acreage,  but  it  is  well  kept  and  shows  the  hand  of  an  intelligent  and 
skilled  agriculturist. 

In  fraternal  life,  Mr.  McDowell  is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Wood- 
men cf  Anier'ca.  and  in  i.olitics  he  attiliates  and  votes  with  the  Republi- 
can part.v. 


CAl'T.  J.  E.  STOXK — This  name  is  an  honored  one  in  >rontgoiiiery 
count  V,  where  its  bearer  lias  resided  for  uuiny  long  years,  he  being  one  of 
the  earliest  settlers  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county.  Capt,  Stone  set- 
tled in  the  county  soon  after  the  war  and  one  year  prior  to  the  laying  out 
of  the  townsite  of  Cauey.  Here  he  purchased  a  large  body  of  laud,  on 
pari  of  which  now  stands  that  city.  During  his  residence  hei-e.  ('apt. 
Stone  has  filled  several  important  public  positions,  notably  that  of  county 
sheriti,  in  which  otiice  he  served  two  terms,  and  as  postmaster  of  the  city 
of  Caney.  a  position  he  has  held  since  1897. 

Capt.  Josejih  E.  Stone  is  the  eldest  son  of  Jonathan  and  Sarah  (  Stev- 
ens i  Stone.  Llis  birth  dates  in  the  state  of  Maine,  where  he  was  born,  in 
\Aaldo  county,  on  the  lIGth  day  of  July,  1842.  His  parents  were  by  occu- 
pation farmers.  The  records  give  the  date  of  the  birth  of  Jonathan  Stone 
as  .March  27th,  1810.  his  death  occurring  July  20th,  1SS:^.  The  dates  of 
birth  and  dealh  of  the  wife  are  resjiectively,  March  27th.  1818,  and 
January  l.^th,  l!t(l(t.  These  pareuts  reared  a  family  of  live  children,  ("apt. 
Stone  passed  the  days  of  his  youth  and  young  manhood  on  the  home  farm, 
his  early  education  being  that  which  was  common  in  those  days  in  the 
country  districts  of  the  east.  With  this  as  a  foundation  he  attended  ses- 
sions at  the  Maine  State  Seminary,  and  at  the  early  age  of  sixteen  had 
qualitJed  himself  for  the  noble  work  of  a  teacher.  He  taught  success- 
fully for  a  i>eriod  of  live  years  in  the  country  districts  about  his  home. 
As  tlie  rumblings  of  war  became  more  and  more  distinct  the  young 
teach(>r  followed  events  with  an  all-absorbing  interest  and  when  opportu- 
nity offered  he  was  ready  to  offer  his  life  as  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  de- 
votion to  country.  He  enlisted  in  Company  "B,"  of  the  41th  U.  S.  Color- 
ed Infantry,  a  regiment  recruited  with  white  officers  and  colored  troojis. 
Capt.  Stone  was  enlisted  as  second  lieutenant  and  was  later  jircimoted  to 
first  lieutenant,  which  jiosilion  he  was  holding  at  his  discharge.  He  par- 
ticijialed  in  several  im])ortant  engagements  and  was  at  the  surrender  of 
Eee  at  Appomattox.  His  regiment  was  sent  to  the  extreme  south  im- 
mediately after  the  surrender  and  he  was  mustered  out  in  the  city  of 
New  Orleans.  The  service,  however,  had  proved  so  fascinating  to  our  sub- 
ject that  he  soon  re-enlisted  in  the  regular  .service,  this  time  as  first  lieu- 


J    E.  STONE. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  303 

tenant  of  Company  "B,"  125th  Colored  U.  S.  Infantry.  In  this  position 
he  experienced  service  on  the  jilains  for  two  yeai-s  and  then  closed  his 
military  life  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  in  December  of  1867. 

A  trip  to  the  old  home  in  Maine  preceded  his  settlement  at  Lee  Sum- 
mit, Jackson  county,  Missouri,  where  he  conducted  a  commission  busi- 
ness until  the  spring  of  1870.  This  year  marks  the  date  of  his  coming 
to  Kansas,  the  exact  day  of  his  landing  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  city 
of  Caney  being  the  11th  of  May.  He  took  up  a  claim  just  north  gf  Caney 
and  since  that  time  has  Iteen  one  of  the  largest  individual  land  owners  in 
the  county.  His  holdings  aggregate  at  present  some  1.200  acres,  500  of 
which  adjoins  the  city  limits.  Some  idea  of  the  strides  real  estate  have 
taken  in  this  vicinity  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  this  land, 
bought  at  17.00  an  acre,  is  now  valued  in  the  neighborhood  of  $100.00. 

Capt.  Stone  has  figured  actively  in  the  development  of  Caney.  In 
188(i,  a  company  was  organized,  of  which  he  became  president,  and  which 
purchased  240  acres  north  of  the  city.  This  was  platted  and  is  now  a  part 
of  the  city  proper.  He  has  built  himself  a  handsome  residence  on  the 
corner  of  Fourth  avenue  and  Wood  street,  where  he  is  passing  an  active 
and  pleasant  old  age. 

As  stated,  the  public  life  of  Capt.  Stone  comprised  two  terms  in  the 
oflSee  of  sheriff,  in  the  early  days,  and  his  present  position  of  postmaster. 
His  exi)erience  in  the  former  office  was  immediately  after  his  arrival  in 
Kansas,  and  was  in  a  day  when  it  took  a  man  of  some  nerve  to  adminis- 
ter the  office.  Our  subject  can  tell  many  a  good  story  of  "border  war- 
fare," when  the  man  quickest  with  his  gun  was  the  master  of  the  situa- 
tion. During  his  term  as  postmaster  at  Caney  the  office  has  passed  from 
a  fourth-class  to  a  presidential  office.  His  administration  of  the  office 
has  been  eminently  satisfactory  to  the  patrons  and  the  department  at 
Washington.  In  financial  circles  Capt.  Stone  is  known  far  and  wide. 
He  is  vice  president  and  one  of  the  principal  stockholders  in  the  Home 
National  Bank  of  Caney,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  solid  men  of  the 
southern  part  of  the  state. 

Our  subject  has  been  most  active  in  political  life,  and  it  is  not  ful- 
some praise  to  say  that  the  present  condition  cf  the  Republican  party  is 
due  in  large  measure  to  his  wise  counsel  and  efficient  management  as 
chairman  of  the  County  Central  Committee. 

The  marriage  of  Capt.  Stone  occurred  in  February  of  1874,  while 
serving  his  second  term  as  sheriff.  The  event  occurred  in  Independence; 
the  lady's  name,  Anna  Vansandt,  a  native  of  Missouri,  a  daughter  of 
Elijah  and  Mary  K.  Vansandt.  Mirs.  Stone  was  a  lady  of  many  excel- 
lencies of  character  and  on  her  death.  May  16th,  1897,  she  was  mourned 
by  a  large  circle  of  friends  throughout  the  county.  She  was  the  mother 
of  five  children,  all  of  whom  are  living:  Arthur  F.,  Herbert  G.,  Myrtle 
Moy,  Roy  M;  and  Edwin  Earl.     This  latter  son  inherited  the  taste  for 


304  mSTOKY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COL'NTy,   KANSAS. 

iiiilitiuy  life  fii.ni  liis  fiitliei-  and  is  at  i.rcsont  a  ineiiil>er  of  the  T'.  S.  flav- 
ali-.v.  14tli  Kcuiiiiciif.  stationed  at  Foi-t  (irant,  Arizona. 

Foi-cctul.  yet.  withal,  most  kindly,  shrewd  in  the  nianagenient  of  his 
att'airs.  yet  <;enerous  to  a  fault  ;  lieli)ful  in  his  association  with  friends 
and  neiohbors.  <'ai)iai!i  Stone  merits  the  large  measure  of  esteem  in 
whieh  he  is  held  in  ("aney  and  Moutgomerv  eountv. 


ISAAC  M.  AK(;()— In  the  vicinity  of  Costello,  lives  some  of  the 
most  enterjirisiiiii  and  industrious  farmers  of  Montgomery  county,  among 
whom  is  the  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  notice.  He  has  been  a 
resident  of  the  county  for  nineteen  years  and  he  and  his  family  are  es- 
teemed for  their  many  sjilcndid  (|nalities  and  personal  virtues. 

Isaac  ^\.  Arud  dales  his  birth  from  the  year  1854,  in  Champaign 
county,  Illinois.  His  jiarents,  David  and  Mary  (Shreve)  Argo,  came  to 
the  town  of  Neodesha,  Kansas,  in  1872,  near  which  place  they  preempted 
a  claim  and  where  they  continued  to  reside  until  their  death. 

Our  subject  was  eighteen  years  of  age  when  the  family  came  to  Kan- 
sas and  he  aided  his  i)aients  in  opening  the  farm  until  he  jiassed  his  legal 
majority.  Re  then  began  life  on  his  own  account  and,  in  1891,  started 
an  establishment  of  his  own.  being  joined  in  mairiage  that  year  with  Miss 
Jlay,  daughter  of  James  II.  and  Margaret  (Weller)  Ashbaugh.  His  wife's 
father  was  a  native  of  Hardin  county.  Kentucky,  where  he  was  born  in 
1817,  the  mother,  also,  being  a  native  of  the  same  county  and  state. 
They  were  early  jiioneers  of  ^Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  having  settled 
here  in  ISOO,  and  preemjtted  the  farm  where  Mr.  Argo  now  resides.  Two 
of  his  daughters.  Mary  and  Martha,  also  took  and  proved  up  a  claim  of  a 
quarter  section  of  land  neai'by.  Mr.  Argo  died  in  18S2,  and  his  wife  pass- 
ed away  in  1889,  leaving  six  children:  Mary  I.,  now  deceased;  Martha 
A.,  who  married  Garland  Watson  and  lives  near  Kansas  City;  Margaret, 
deceased;  Victor,  who  lives  in  Colorado;  Cenrge  J.,  also  of  Colorado, 
married  Fannie  Ashbaugh.  an  1  has  a  son,  William;  tlie  youngest  child 
was  Mrs.  Argo. 

To  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aigo  linvc  coir.e  (wo  children:  Victor 
X..  born  February  1.  1SS4,  and  David,  wiio  was  born  -Inly  S.',.  1'.)(I2.  In 
his  social  relations  Mr.  Argo  is  most  happy,  being  a  member  of  the  Mod- 
ern Woodmen,  and  I'cady  at  all  times  to  take  part  in  any  movement  which 
has  for  its  object  the  iniprovenieiit  of  society  alioiit  him.  He  is  i:ot  active 
in  the  matter  of  pojiiirs.  biil  is  |)1(m><m1  in  Miiipdii.  ],\  bis  vi>i,  Die  pl;it 
form  of  the  Fopulist  ]iariy. 


SAMCKL  McMli;Tl{V-The  subject    of  this  sk< 
•lerk  of  :Monlgom(M-y  county,  and  has  been  a  factor 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  305 

fails  for  the  i)ast  eleven  years.  He  is  one  of  the  great  tliri>uf;  of  honor- 
able and  creditable  citizens  who  have  been  filling  up  Kansas  from  the 
"Hoosier  State"  since  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  and,  himself,  sought  its 
borders  in  the  year  1887. 

Mr.  McMurtry  was  born  in  Hamilton  county,  Indiana,  September 
10th.  1854:,  and  is*  a  sou  of  Ansel  McMurtry.  who  died  November  18th, 
IS.jl.  the  year  of  our  subject's  birth,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two.  The  father 
was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  where  his  parents  established  themselves  on 
couiiug  to  the  United  States  from  the  British  Isles,  just  after  the  war 
of  1812.  Samuel  McMurtry,  grandfather  of  our  subject,  was  the  pioneer 
ancestor  above  referred  to,  and  was  the  head  of  the  McMurtry  family  of 
this  branch  in  America.  About  the  year  1830,  he  accompanied  several 
of  his  children  into  Hamilton  county,  Indiana,  where  he  passed  away  at 
a  ripe  old  age.  Uv  married  Elsie  Reid,  a  lady  of  Irish  birth,  and  reared 
a  large  family  of  children.  In  business  affairs  he  was  a  trader  and 
farmer. 

Ansel  McMurtry  grew  up  in  Indiana  and  there  married  Polly  Burris. 
She  was  of  English  birth  and  was  born  February  8th,  1827.  She  still 
resides  in  Hamilton  county  and  is  the  widow  of  Thomas  Phillips.  By  her 
first  marriage  five  children  were  born,  of  whom  three  survive,  and  seven 
children  were  born  to  her  last  marriage,  only  one  of  whom  now  lives. 
The  McMurtry  children  a  re :  Mrs.  Maria  Wilson,  of  Arcadia,  Indiana ; 
!Mrs.  Rosa  I'hillips,  of  Lawi'ence,  Kansas ;  Mrs.  Sarah  Scully,  who  died  in 
Hamilton  county,  Indiana,  in  1875;  and  Samuel,  of  this  review. 

Orphaned  at  the  age  of  two  months,  our  subject  never  knew  the  guid- 
ance and  protection  of  a  father.  The  training  of  the  farm  and  the  rural 
school  fell  to  his  lot  in  boyhood  and  ho  tiiiislied  his  education  with  gradu- 
ation from  the  Union  High  A<adciiiy.  ar  \\'csTtield,  Indiana.  He  took 
up  the  study  of  law  in  Xoblcsvillc.  Indiana,  with  the  firm  of  Kane  &  Davis, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1879.  after  a  due  course  of  reading.  But 
instead  of  engaging  in  the  practice  of  law  he  took  up  the  work  of  teach- 
ing school  and  followed  it  in  his  native  state  for  ten  years. 

In  1887,  he  came  out  to  Kansas  with  the  intention  of  teaching  one 
year  and  then  taking  up  the  profession  of  law.  An  attractive  offer  was 
made  him  in  Kinsley,  where  he  located,  to  take  charge  of  the  city  schools, 
and  this  caused  him  to  deviate  from  his  original  plans,  and  he  presided 
over  the  destinies  of  the  schools  of  the  county  seat  of  Edwards  county,  as 
superintendent,  for  five  years.  The  dejjressitm  of  the  times  brought  busi- 
ness 1(1  such  a  low  ebb  in  western  Kansas  that,  in  1892.  he  decided  to  get 
nearer  the  center  of  population,  and  away  from  the  region  of  the  western 
plains.  He  chose  Montgomery  county  for  his  field  of  labors  and  located  in 
<■oft^^e^ville,  where  he  became  associate  editor  of  the  Coffeyville  Journal, 
Jhen  under  the  managenrent  of  the  late  Cai>t.I).  S.  Elliott.     Soon  after 


306  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.  KANSAS. 

Lis  arrival  lie  was  apjioiuted  lity  attorne.v  of  the  thrifty  town  on  the 
border,  and  performed  his  public  duties  iu  connection  with  his  newspa- 
per work  for  one  year.  For  four  years  he  occupied  his  position  on  the 
editorial  staff  of  the  Journal  and  then  left  it  to  engage  in  the  real  estate 
and  insurance  business  in  that  city.  In  this  line  of  activity  he  was  en- 
gaged when  nominated  and  elected,  and  finally  installed,  as  county  clerk, 
January  12th.  1003. 

Samuel  McJIurtry  was  bnmj^lit  nji  a  Republican.  His  father  was  a 
Whig,  but  his  son's  political  training  was  left  in  the  hands  of  others,  and 
it  was  supplied  by  teachers  of  the  Republican  school.  In  early  manhood 
he  became  a  factor  in  local  political  affairs  and  his  services  have  always 
been  freely  given  to  his  i)arty.  as  a  worker  and  a  speaker.  He  was  nomi- 
nated for  county  clerk,  by  acclamation,  in  1809.  but  was  defeated  by  only 
fifty-four  votes,  at  a  time  when  the  Fusionists  had  (piite  a  substantial 
majority.  In  1002.  the  Republican  County  Convention  renewed  its  fealty 
to  him  and  gave  him  another  nomination  by  acclamation,  with  the  result 
that  he  defeated  his  opponent  at  the  polls  by  seven  hundred  and  ninety- 
one  votes. 

■\A'hile  Mr.  McMurtiy  is  an  ardent  advocate  of  Republican  policies, 
and,  of  the  cause  of  its  <<nididates,  yet  he  never  fails  to  manifest  a  cour- 
teous and  respectful  attitude  toward  those  of  opposing  beliefs  and,  as  a 
coufsecjuence.  his  candidacy  has  drawn  heavily  from  the  forces  of  the 
Fusionists  when  he  has  been  in  a  jwlitical  race. 

December  28th,  ISTC.  ^Nlr.  McMurtry  married  Miss  Julia  A.  Ranimel. 
in  Wcsttield,  Indiana.  Mrs.  McMurtry  is  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Eli  and 
Cassa  (("ash)  Rammel,  and  was  born  in  Middletown,  Henry  county,  In- 
diana. Her  parents  came  to  Kansas  in  1879,  lived  on  a  fai-m  near  Coffey- 
ville  and  there  died,  the  former  October  2Gth,  1882,  and  tlie  latter  August 
10th,  1887. 

Eli  Ranimel  was  a  Methodist  minister  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Noi'th  Indiana  Conference  for  forty  years.  By  his  marriage  he  was  the 
father  of  ten  children,  five  of  whom  are  living. 

The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McMurtry  are:  Ansel  E..  of  Kansas 
City,  Mo.;  Elmer  E.  and  Gertrude,  living;  while  Vinita  died  in  Coffey- 
ville,  in  1808,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  and  Sliarley  and  Carrie  died  at 
Kinsley,  Kansas,  in  infancy. 

Mr.  McMfurtry  is  a  MJison,  a  Knight  of  Pythias,  a  Modern  Woodman 
and  a  member  of  the  Fraternal  Aid  Association. 


ALVIN  J.  INSCHO — Living  on  neighboring  farms  in  Rutland  town- 
ship are  two  old  friends.  William  II.  Sloan  and  Alvin  J.  Inscho.  These 
two  gentlemen  are  among  the  very  earliest  settlers  of  the  county,  having 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  307 

settled  on  their  claims  in  Jnnc.  1S(;S.  The  years  that  have  passed  since 
that  early  day  have  been  fnll  of  ihe  multifarious  duties  of  life;  at  first,  the 
hard,  grinding  toil  and  discomforts  of  pioneer  life,  which  gradually  he- 
came  softened  by  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  civilization. 

Authentic  information  concerning  the  early  history  of  the  Tnscho 
family  is  lacking.  Mr.  Inscho  believes,  however,  that  the  name  wa.s 
brought  to  this  country  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war.  Exact  know- 
ledge locates  his  grandfather,  Robert  Inscho,  in  Virginia  in  the  early 
part  of  the  19th  centui-y,  where  he  reared  seven  children,  whose  names 
were :  Joseph.  Robert,  Henry,  Nancy,  Mary.  Maria  and  John.  The  young- 
est of  this  family  married  Clara  Foot,  a  native  of  New  York  state,  and  a 
daughter  of  Robert  and  Mary  Foot,  both  natives  of  that  state.  The  child 
ren  of  this  marriage  were :  Ozias,  Edwin,  of  Sterling.  Kansas ;  Perry  and 
Alvin  J. 

Alvin  J.  Inscho  dates  his  birth  in  Huron  county,  Ohio,  February 
Kith.  1844.  He  was  reared  to  farm  life  and,  while  busily  engaged  in  aiding 
his  parents  in  the  summer  and  securing  an  education  in  the  winter, 
watched  the  gathering  of  the  war  cloud  with  absorbing  interest.  With 
liis  heart  throbbing  in  unison  with  the  drum  beats  of  the  enrolling  officer 
he,  in  July,  1SG2,  enlisted  in  Wood  county,  Ohio — where  his  parents  had 
removed  when  he  was  yet  a  child — in  Company  "A,"  100th  Ohio  Vol.  Inf., 
Col.  Groom  commanding.  This  regiment  became  a  part  of  the  Third 
Division.  First  Brigade — Gen.  Gillmore  in  command — which  was  mobil- 
ized with  the  23rd  Army  Corps.  His  first  taste  of  "the  realities"  was  at 
the  siege  of  Knoxville,  the  initial  action  in  a  series  of  victories  in 
which  our  subject  subsequently  shared.  Some  of  the  more  important 
were:  Resaca,  Atlanta,  then  with  Thomas  to  Tennessee — where  he  partici- 
pated at  Columbia.  Franklin  and  Nashville.  Crossing  the  mountains,  his 
company  was  "in"'  at  the  Wilmington  fight  and  then  to  Washington,  I). 
C.  where  it  swung  into  the  grandest  line  of  veterans  ever  marshalled  in 
review.  His  muster  out  of  service  occurred  July  3rd,  1865,  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

Short  periods  at  Toledo  and  Perrysburg.  Ohio,  and  at  Ann  Arbor, 
Michigan,  in  which  places  he  worked  in  drug  stores,  preceded  his  coming 
to  St.  Joe,  Mo.,  in  1867,  and  in  the  summer  of  the  following  year  he  be- 
came a  resident  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  Here  he  began  life 
anew  on  a  160-acre  tract  which  constitutes  a  part  of  the  five  hundred  and 
forty  acres  which  he  now  owns,  in  section  24-32-14.  Reminiscences  of  those 
early  times  are  of  exceeding  interest  from  the  lips  of  Mr.  Inscho.  His 
knowledge  of  drugs  enabled  him  to  play  the  "medicine  man''  with  the  In- 
dians to  good  advantage,  so  that  he  was  not  annoyed  as  much  as  other 
settleis.  Too  much  cannot  be  said  in  commendation  of  the  character  al- 
ways sustained  by  Mr.  Inscho.     Suffice  it  to  say  that  no  citizen  is  more 


308  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

widely  and  favorably  kuowii  than  lie.  and  the  interest  he  takes  in  securing 
the  best  advantages  in  matters  o1  education  and  good  government,  en- 
dears him  to  all.  He  is  a  uiemlM'r  of  the  board  of  education  and,  in  a 
patriotic  way.  holds  memliersiii].  in  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

In  1882.  Mr.  Insciio  was  liapjiily  joined  in  marriage  with  'Dora  M. 
Turner,  daughter  of  David  and  Louisa  Turner,  of  Ohio.  Mrs.  Inscho  is  a 
lady  of  endearing  (jualities,  and  a  sjilendid  mother  to  her  five  children, 
whose  names  are:     r.essie.  Clvdc  I'.irdie.  Fav  and  Frank. 


WILLIAM  A.  MEKKlLI^This  gentleman  is  a  prominent  citizen 
and  leading  lawyer  of  the  stirring  little  municipality  of  Caney,  where  he 
has,  in  the  short  space  of  four  years,  succeeded  in  winning  the  respect  of 
the  entire  community  and  establishing  a  lucrative  practice.  Caney  has 
no  nuire  indefatigable  woiker  for  the  advancement  of  her  inter- 
ests than  Mr.  Merrill,  and  he  has  shown  his  faith  in  hci-  future  by  invest- 
ing in  one  of  the  best  residence  properties  in  the  city. 

William  A.  Merrill  came  to  ("aney  in  1898,  from  Warreiishuig.  Mo., 
where  he  had  been  a  jiroiiiinent  and  leading  citizen  for  a  nuiiibei-  of  ye:ns. 
He  is  a  native  of  Johnson  county,  of  that  state,  where  he  was  born  (ui  the 
l,'2d  of  August,  18IJ1,  the  son  of  Leaven  H.  ^Merrill  and  his  wife,  formerly 
Husan  F.  tSmith.  The  father's  nativity  lay  back  in  .  the  old  State  of 
M'aryland,  from  whence  he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Missouri  when  a 
child.  When  he  arrived  at  num's  estate  he  chose  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer.  In  18(J8,  Leaven  H.  Merrill  being  a  slaveholder  and  southern 
sympathizer,  was  forced  to  leave  his  family  in  M|issouri.  He  went  as  far 
south  as  Batesville,  Arkansas.  Instead  of  going  into  the  regular  army, 
he  put  out  a  crop,  and.  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  was  killed  by  the  "Moun- 
tain Browns,"  being  shot  from  ambush.  He  left  three  children  to  be 
cared  for  by  the  wife  and  mother,  who  bravely  took  up  the  task.  She 
lived  to  see  them  well  educated  men  and  honored  citizens,  before  passing 
to  her  rest,  at  fifty-two  years  of  age.  The  names  of  the  other  two  chil- 
dren are:  Josejih  A.  and  Florence.  Fbu-ence  uurrried  J.  \V.  I'.lackwell. 
and  lives  with  her  family  near  Chelsea,  Indian  Territory. 

William  A.  Merrill  was  the  youngest  of  this  family  thus  early  de- 
])rived  of  a  father's  care.  From  earliest  boyhood  he  was  accustomed 
to  the  severest  labor,  but  adversity  taught  him  many  valuable  lessons, 
which  have  borne  their  fruil  in  making  him  a  stalwart  and  independent 
soldier  in  the  battle  of  life,  lie  was  reared  to  farm  work,  but  by  dint 
of  close  ap|)licatioii  was  enabled  to  prepare  himself  for  the  teaching 
lirofessioii.  He  attended  sessions  of  Central  College  at  Fayette,  Missouri, 
and.  later,  al  the  State  Normal  at  Warrensburg.  and  for  tirteen  years  was 
continuously  engaged  in  the  school  room,  establishing  a  reputation  as  an 
educator  not  surpassed   in    liiat  section  of  the  state.      He  then   took  u]) 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^,  KANSAS.  309 

the  siiidv  (if  huv.  ;m(l.  ill  18!>7,  was  adinitted  to  the  bar  in  Warreiislmi'g. 
Tiie  l'(.llu\\iiig  \('ar  he  fame  to  Kansas,  as  hereinbefore  sta<ed. 

Mr.  ^Herriil  was  married  on  tiie  .".tli  day  of  March.  18S!»,  to  Laura  P. 
Keen,  of  .loluison  county.  Jlissonri,  wiio  now  presides  over  liis  home 
witli  tliat  dignified  grace  which  denotes  the  true  housewife. 

The  political  convictions  of  our  subject  lie  in  the  line  of  Jeffersonian 
Democracy,  though  his  rather  retiring  disposition  precludes  his  taking 
little  more  than  a  voting  i)art  in  matters  of  that  kind.  Socially,  he  is 
a  popular  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity, being,  at  the  present  time, 
secretary  of  Lodge  No.  324.  He  and  his  good  wife  are  held  in  the  high- 
est esteem  bv  the  citizens  of  their  adoiited  city. 


\^' ILL  I  AM  H.  BRCNTON — Prominent  as  a  contractor  and  builder 
of  Elk  City  and  junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Reed  &  Bruntou,  William 
H.  Urunton  has  been  a  citizen  of  Montgomery  county  since  1872.  He 
was  born  in  Missouri,  February  21,  1862.  His  father,  the  venerable 
Thomas  Brunton,  who  resides  near  Jefferson  City,  that  state,  was  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  Louisburg  township,  where  he  took  a  claim  as  early 
as  1871.  Some  years  later,  he  returned  to  Missouri,  his  native  state, 
where  he  is  retired  fi'oni  active  life  at  about  sixty-seven  years  old. 

Thomas  Brunton  married  Lucinda  Bagsley,  an  Indiana  lady,  and  the 
first  years  of  his  active  life  wei-e  passed  as  a  carjienter  builder.  Toward 
the  close  of  the  war,  he  enlisted  in  the  Twenty-third  Missouri  Infantry, 
and  soldiered  in  the  west  in  the  Union  army.  In  1875,  his  wife  died  at 
thirtvflve  years  of  age.  leaving  children:  Mary,  deceased;  Phoebe,  wife 
of  John  Heritage,  of  M,ontgomeiy  county;  William  H.,  of  Elk  City; 
Clariuda,  who  married  Philip  Jones  and  resides  in  the  state  of  Washing- 
ton; Cyrus  A.,  of  Montgomery  ((uinty:  and  Lucinda,  Mrs.  Chas.  Jones, 
of  Washington. 

William  H.  Brunton  acquired  his  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Montgomery  county.  Ou  leaving  school  he  learned  the  stonemason's 
trade  and  at  this  he  worked  several  years,  before  taking  uj)  carpenter 
work.  He  has  been  a  carpenter  builder  since  1885,  and.  in  1!MI3.  formed  a 
business  alliance  with  his  partner,  Jft-.  Reed. 

December  2.5.  1888.  Mr.  Brunton  married  Ethel  Kelso,  who  was  born 
in  Logan  county,  Illinois,  June  22.  1870.  She  is  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Maggie  (Doyle)  Kelso,  both  deceased,  who  left  five  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Mrs.  Brunton.  Arthur,  of  Chicago.  Illinois;  Emma,  now  Mrs.  Mor- 
ris O-sborne,  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas;  David,  who  died  at  twenty- 
one  ;and  Pearl,  wife  of  Roy  Bailey,  of  Burden,  Kansas.  After  her  hus- 
band's death,  Mirs.  Kelso  married  Joseph  Goodwin  and.  at  her  death  in 
1886,  left  a  daughter,  Maggie  Goodwin.     Mr.  Kelso  was  a  nier<hant  in 


310  UISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,,  KANSAS. 

Corn  Laud,  llliiK.is,  \v;is  a  jiislice  of  the  i>t'arc  there,  and  died  at  aboui 
thirty  years  ohl. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Uniiitoirs  family  roiisists  of:  Kov  \'iiiceu1,  Fav,  and 
Lela,  deceased. 


AVILI>IAM  i;.  W(M»1>— .Itiiie  L'S.  ]S(iS,  in  Whitley  .(umty.  Kentueky, 
William  I>.  Wuud.  of  Kailand  township,  was  l)orn.  In  infancy  he  was 
brought  to  Kansas  by  his  parents,  who  settled  in  Montgomery  county, 
where  our  subject  was  brought  up  and  has  since  resided.  The  fact  of 
their  very  early  settlement  here  numbers  the  family  among  the  pioneers 
of  the  county,  and  their  entry  of  a  tract  of  the  public  domain  in  section 
22,  township  32,  rauge  14,  marks  them  as  original  settlers. 

William  B.  Wood  was  the  son  of  Thomas  F.  Wood,  of  Tennessee 
birth,  but  of  Kentucky  growing-up.  He  was  educated  liberally  for  his  day 
and  entered  ujton  the  serious  duties  of  life  as  a  teacher  in  the  rural 
schools.  AMieu  he  reached  the  frontier  in  Kansas  he  laid  aside  the  ferule 
and  devoted  his  time  to  industrial  pursuits.  He  was  variously  employed, 
as  a  supplement  to  his  meager  earnings  on  a  new  farm,  but  teaming  and 
freighting,  and  the  like,  constituted  his  chief  occupation  during  the  first 
years  of  his  residence  here.  He  was  employed  by  Nopawalla's  band  to 
haul  their  effects  off  of  the  reservation  to  Chetopa  and  by  this  species  of 
intercourse  came  to  know  the  red  man  of  this  locality  very  well.  Some 
of  the  lower  bands  of  Indians  ordered  him  out  of  the  country  and  even 
tried  to  burn  wliat  scant  improvements  he  had  nuide,  but  Thomas  F. 
Wood  was  from  tlie  wrong  country  to  be  scared  away,  and  he  remained. 

The  first  building  to  house  the  Woods  was  a  cabin  10x12  feet,  and 
the  next  one  was  of  siuiilar  construction  but  larger  and  more  convenient, 
and  in  this  did  its  owner  live  till  his  death  in  1S77.  His  treatment  of  the 
Ked  ^lan  made  warm  friends  of  them,  and  in  187!),  a  band  of  five  hundred 
of  then)  came  to  visit  him  and  turned  back  sorrowfully  wlien  they  learned 
he  was  dead. 

Jeriah  Wood  was  the  grandfather  of  William  I!.  "Wood.  He  was  a 
nativ(>  Teiinessccan  and  haij  children:  -lohii  1.,  \Mlson,  Ambrose,  Jo- 
sejih  Mrs.  Lucinda  Hamond,  of  I'iue  Knot,  Kentucky;  Jeptha,  Mrs. 
Saial,  Meadows,  of  .[ellico.  Tennessee,  and  Thomas  F. 

Thomas  F.  Wood  married  Eliza  A.  Morgan,  a  daughter  of  Griflin  and 
Ann  (Shepard)  .Morgiin,  of  Whitley  county,  Kentucky.  Two  children, 
William  15.  and  John  II..  of  ^lontgomery  county,  Kansas,  constitute  the 
living  issue  of  their  marriage.  During  "the  Elk* river  flood  of  ISS.j.  Mrs. 
Wood  and  a  son,  Thomas  F.,  ten  yearsOf  age,  were  drowned  on  the  Kith 
■of  May. 

As  a  child.  William  I!.  Woo(i's  as.sociates  were  fre(iuently  the  Osage 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  311 

Indian  and  his  papoose.  He  almost  lived  at  their  camps  and  ate  their 
buffalo  meat  and  spoke  their  language  and,  even  now,  the  dialect  of  the 
wild  man  lingers  about  his  tongue.  He  was  left  without  parental  guid- 
ance at  the  age  of  firteen  years,  and  saw  the  inside  of  the  school  room  as 
a  student,  seldom,  from  thence  forward.  In  1891,  he  married  Josephine  L. 
Miller,  an  Ohio  lady  and  a  daughter  of  H.  H.  Miller.  One  child,  Lelia, 
is  the  issue  of  this  union.  He  occupies  the  family  homestead  of  pioneer 
days,  and  is  now  replacing  the  burned  dwelling  erected  by  his  father  in 
that  era. 


WILLIAM  THOMAS  Y(»K— William  Thomas  Yoe  was  born  in  Cal- 
vert county.  JLiryland.  March  2ti.  1845,  and  reared  in  a  christian  home. 
His  parents  were  Walter  and  Elizabeth  (Harris)  Yoe,  native  Maryland 
and  Virginia  people.  In  1848,  the  parents  left  their  old  home  and  estab- 
lished themselves  among  the  pioneers  at  Rushville,  Illinois.  The  father 
was  1  carpenter  and  pursued  the  arts  of  peace  and  won  the  affection  and 
regard  of  the  community.  To  the  three  sons,  W.  T.,  Charles  and  Frank 
F.,  the  parents  left  the  heritage  of  a  good  name  and  an  inspiration  to 
righteous  and  useful  lives. 

Thomas  Yoe,  as  our  subject  is  universally  known,  passed  his  child- 
hood and  youth  about  Rushville,  Illinois,  where  he  had  some  acquaintance 
with  the  common  schools.  His  education  assumed  a  practical  turn  from 
the  age  of  thirteen  years,  when  he  went  into  a  print  shop,  from  which, 
as  a  business,  he  has  never  been  separated.  Toward  the  end  of  the  Civil 
War  he  enlisted  in  Company  "K,"  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-seventh  Il- 
linois infantry,  and  saw  service  at  Memi)his,  Tennessee. 

After  the  war  he  located  at  Shelbyville,  M^issouri,  where,  for  a  short 
time,  he  was  a  hardware  merchant,  and  then  at  Shelbina,  where  he  be- 
came associated  with  Col.  A.  M.  York  in  the  publication  of  a  Republican 
newspaper.  After  nearly  five  years,  he  decided  to  exert  his  energies 
among  the  people  of  the  progressive  frontier  State  of  Kansas. 

In  the  winter  of  1870,  he  founded,  with  others,  the  South  Kansas 
Tribune,  and,  in  February  following,  brought  the  plant  to  Kansas  and 
established  it  in  the  new  town  of  Independence,  in  Montgomery  county. 
L.  U.  Humphrey,  afterward  governor  of  Kansas,  was  associated  with  the 
new  paper,  on  its  editorial  staff.  The  proprietorship  of  the  "Tribune" 
came,  later,  into  the  hands  of  W.  T.  and  Chas.  Y'oe,  where,  with  a  single 
exception,  it  has  since  remained. 

Mr.  Yoe  has  been  a  part  of  >k)ntgomery  county  nearly  a  third  of  a 
century  and  has  shared  in  its  development  work,  both  rural  and  urban. 
Little  that  has  been  of  general  interest  to  the  county  has  not  known  hifj 
hand,  or  felt  the  influence  of  his  voice  or  pen ;  and  the  confidence  he  thus 


312  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KAXfi.VS. 

iiis|piic(l  wjirninled  the  conferring  of  i)ul)lic  liniiois  mid  the  bcslowal 
upon  him  of  public  trusts.  The  jiructical  ch;iracter  of  liis  views,  his  ma- 
ture juilgnieiit  and  the  evident  sincerity  of  his  purp(tse  are  traits  which 
have  commended  liim  tiiroujjh  life  and  marked  him  as  one  of  the  promi- 
nent citizens  of  his  city  and  county.  He  has  been  at  the  head  of  his  news- 
l)aper  since  its  estalilisliment  and  his  personal  standing  has  given  it 
weight  and  jxiwer.  He  has  hel]ied  make  governors  and  other  state  oflBcers 
and  furnished  ellective  advice  in  the  disirilmtion  of  local  oflices  which 
■showed  abundant  wisdom  and  brought  a  stiong  ciuicnt  of  jiublic  senti- 
ment to  his  party's  ap])roval. 

Ak  an  ai)pointee  to  juiblic  ottice.  Mr.  Yoe  has  rendered  his  chief  pub- 
lic service.  I'resident  Arthur  appointed  him  jiostmaster  of  Independ- 
•euce  and  he  served  three  years  but  resigned  upon  the  election  of  Mr. 
-Clleveland.  (Jovernor  Humphrey  appointed  him  secretary  of  the  State 
Board  of  Charities,  where  he  remained  three  years,  and  (ioveruor  Stan- 
ley made  him  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  State  Agricultural 
Coll'ge.  As  a  Kei)ublican  he  has  occupied  a  high  position  in  party 
councils.  He  has  a  single  standard  of  honesty  and  ai)plies  it  In  business, 
religion  and  politics,  alike.  He  is  an  active  and  leading  member  of  the 
Methodist  congregation  in  Independence,  and  the  influence  of  his  life  is 
41  potent  one  in  the  spiritual  and  material  affairs  of  the  church. 

In  1S7(»,  in  Shelbina.  Missouri.  Mr.  Yoe  married  Jennie  E.  Weather- 
by.  The  issue  of  this  union  are:  Harriet  E,  a  teacher  in  the  Deaf  and 
Dunil)  Institution  of  Kansas;  Roy  W.,  a  farmer,  of  Tyro,  Montgomery 
■county;  Edna  Mu.\.  assistant  in  the  Indejiendence  jpostofHce;  Earl  A.,  a 
jirinter  in  the  Tribune  oflicc;  and  Ruth,  ^^'arl■en  and  (ieorge. 


j:I»WAR1)  I'AVSOX  ALLEX— The  First  ^■ati<mal  Bank,  of  Inde- 
])endence,  is  fortunate  in  having  for  its  executive  head,  a  man  of  such 
wide  and  varied  ex])erience,  of  such  unerring  judgment  and  a  gentleman 
of  such  popular  personal  ti'aits  as  he  whose  name  introduces  this  per- 
sonal revie\\-.  He  came  to  Montgomery  county  almost  with  the  earliest, 
and  embodies,  in  his  career  as  a  citizen  here,  experience  as  a  farmer,  mer- 
chant, jtublic  olKcial  and  tinancier,  all  of  which  stations  he  has  hon- 
oi-ed  and  in  all  of  which  has  he  displayed  a  natural  ajilitude  and  adapta- 
tion, jiassing  from  one  to  another  as  a  reward  of  industry  and  indicating 
the  favor  and  contidencc  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

A\'ithout  the  ]iale  of  the  jiioneers  it  excites  a  riiiple  of  merriment  to 
state  that  i;.  I'.  Allen  was  once  a  farmer.  His  training  for  years  has  been 
so  foreign  to  the  calling  Ihat  lie  has  lost  even  the  most  familiar  and  com- 
mon atlribnlcs  of  (he  rural  business  man.  yet   lie  was  once  a   farmer  in 


E.   P.  ALLEN. 


IIISTOKY   OF  MONTliOMEUY  COUNTV,  KANSAS.  315 

towiisliiii  :■.:!.  v:\\\«e  1(5.  where  the  primitive  c-ottage  he  erected  still  stands 
and  wli.Mv  ihi'  recollections  of  poverty  still  linger.  Men  who  came  to 
Kansas  as  pioneers,  capitalized  chiefly  by  the  fruits  of  their  daily  toil, 
and  niideitook  to  maintain  their  families  from  the  i)rofits  of  a  new  farm, 
had  disapiiointnients  and  hitter  experiences,  alike,  and  if  they  plowed 
Willi  a  mixed  team  and.  in  tlieir  straits,  went  barefoot,  it  was  forced  econ- 
omv  dial  caused  it.  and  was  an  o))en  concession  to  poverty.  Mr.  Allen 
jiassed  ilironiih  it  all  and  the  tires  of  adversity  only  served  to  harden  the 
metal  that  was  in  him.  and  better  eqni])  him  for  the  contest  with  less 
formidable  obstacles. 

The  vear  1S73.  witnessed  the  close  of  Mr.  Allen's  career  as  a  farmer. 
That  year  he  brought  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  his  heartaches  and 
memories  of  disappointments  down  on  Clear  creek  into  Independence  and 
became  a  merchant.  In  this,  too.  his  experience  led  him  into  the  most 
humble  service— most  honorable  though  it  was— and  on  any  frequented 
street  corner  of  Independence  today  can  be  found  men  who  have  seen 
••Ed"  Allen  driving  his  delivery  wagon.  At  whatever  employment,  he 
"followed  his  trade  well"  and  became  absolute  master  of  the  situatiou 
and  of  himself.  Four  years  of  merchandising  brought  him  to  the  next 
step  in  advance  and  he  carried  his  poi)ularity  into  public  office.  He  did 
the  work  of  the  recorder's  office  almost  alone  for  six  years,  and  when  he 
emerged  from  it.  haggard  and  nearly  worn  out,  he  established  himself 
ill  the  iiisnraiice  and  brokerage  business,  where  the  initial  chapter  of  his 
financial  hisioiy  was  written.  F.ecoming  a  director  of  the  First  National 
I'.ank.  in  INS."),  he  became  interested  in  its  success  aud  drifted  toward 
financiering  with  such  a  pace  that  the  next  year  he  was  elected  president 
of  the  safe,  and  most  conservative,  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  county 
seat.  Reserving  further  mention  of  his  business  connections  till  his  na- 
tvity  aud  family  geneology  have  appeared,  we  digress  and  take  up  the 
family  thread. 

Edward  P.  Allen  was  born  in  Green  county,  Kentucky,  .January  3. 
1843.  He  was  a  son  of  a  lawyer,  William  B.  Allen,  who  was  born  in  the 
same  county  and  state  in  1S(I3.  The  father  passed  his  life  in  Greensburg, 
Kentucky,  was  a  graduate  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  seminary,  and  of  a  law 
school,  and  practiced  his  profession  successfully  all  his  life.  He  was  a 
Royal  Arch  Mason  and  was  once  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Kentucky.  His  father,  David  Allen,  and  the  grandfather  of  our  subject, 
was  born  in  Rockbridge  county.  Virginia.  October  16.  1773,  came  to 
Kentucky  with  his  father  about  i7s:{  and  served  with  the  Kentucky  troops 
in  the  war  of  1812.  dying  in  Green  .ounty  in  1816.  David  Allen's 
father  and  oldest  paternal  uncle  were  Revolutionary  soldiers,  and  he  and 
three  brothers  migrated  from  the  "Old  Dominion"'  about  the  close  of  that 
struggle,  and  their  bones  mingle  with  the  dust  of  the  iState  of  Daniel 


314  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Uoonc.  Tlii'sc  Aliens  caiiie  orisiiiiilly  froni  the  North  of  Iiehuul  aud 
settleri  in  Roekbridge  county,  Virginia,  about  1030. 

William  B.  Allen  married  Huldah  Wilcox,  whose  Puritan  ancestors 
came  to  America  in  the  seventeenth  century  and  settled,  of  course,  in 
New  England.  Huldah  Allen  was  born  in  Connecticut  of  "Bay  State" 
parents  and  was  a  daughter  of  Eli  Wilcox.  Seven  childi-en  were  born  to 
lier  and  her  husband,  as  follows:  Martha,  deceased;  Jennie,  deceased; 
the  latter  the  wife  of  A.  B.  Nibbs,  of  Houston,  Texas;  Harriet  B.,  de- 
ceased wife  of  John  Cunningham,  of  Coles  county,  Illinois;  Edward  P., 
our  subject;  Mary,  deceased,  married  William  Hunter,  of  Houston,  Tex- 
as; and  Ella  M.,  widow  of  George  W.  Reed,  of  Coles  county,  Illinois. 

E.  P.  Allen  acquired  a  liberal  education  in  the  schools  of  Greens- 
burg,  Kentucky.  In  18G1,  he  enlisted  in  the  Thirteenth  Kentucky  Infant- 
ry, Company  "E,"  as  first  sergeant,  under  Colonel  Hobson.  The  regiment 
saw  its  first  service  in  Kentucky  and  was  in  battle  at  Mill  Springs, 
was  at  Shiloh.  Perryville,  Stone  River  and  in  minor  engagements  and 
skirmishes.  Mr.  Allen  was  promoted  in  three  months  to  be  a  lieutenant, 
and  was  discharged  as  such  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  at  the  expiration  of 
three  years. 

The  mercantile  business  attracted  Mr.  Allen  immediately  after  his 
release  from  the  army  and  he  engaged  in  it  at  ilattoon,  Illinois.  He  re- 
mained there  till  ISO",  when  he  returned  to  his  native  town  and  opened 
a  store,  continuing  business  there  for  two  years,  when  he  again  sought 
Coles  county,  Illinois,  and  resided,  and  was  in  business,  in  Mattoon,  till 
thefall  of  1S70,  when  he  started  overland  on  his  journey  to  Kansas,  arriv- 
ing in  Jlontgomery  county,  October  IC,  of  that  year. 

Everything  was  "out  of  doors"  in  Montgomery  county  at  that  early 
time  and  there  seemed  nothing  to  do  but  to  farm.  While  the  prospect  was 
not  the  most  exhilarating,  our  new-comer  had  no  intention  of  turning  his 
back  on  it,  and  he  took  uj)  his  sand-hill  "claim"  on  Clear  creek,  as  noted 
elsewhere  in  this  article.  Two  years  a  farmer  aud  four  years  a  merchant, 
brings  us  to  the  autumn  of  1877,  when  he  was  elected  register  of  deeds 
of  the  county.  His  election  was  a  special  compliment  to  him.  for  it  was 
accomplished  in  the  faceof  great  political  odds,  his  jiarty,  the  Democratic, 
being  several  hundred  votes  in  the  minority.  He  was  reelected  in  1879, 
serving  with  great  efficiency  and  justifying  in  every  way  the  confidence 
his  Ih'Hiocratic  and  Republican  friends  reposed  in  him.  From  1884  to 
1880,  his  all(Mitioii  was  given  to  the  insurance,  loan  and  real  estate  busi- 
ness, his  offi((>  JK'ing  at  the  cornei-  of  Main  and  Sixth  streets.  His  pe- 
cuuiar\  resources  at  this  time  were  assuming  respectable  proportions  and 
•  of  handling  them  revealed  his  financial  ability.  He  became 
nd  then  a  friend,  of  the  First  National  Bank  of' Independence, 
•kholdcrs  made  him  a  director  in  188.").  In  1880,  the  then  cash- 
)ank  sold  his  interest  to  Mr.  Allen,  the  management  reorgan- 


his 

njannei 

a  pi 

ition,  a 

and 

its  sto 

ier 

of  the  1 

HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  3I5 

izcd  autl  he  was  cliosoii  jn'osident.  He  has  sucoeeded  himself  in  that  office 
fopsixteen  years,  and,  with  his  able  assistants,  has  made  it  an  institution 
as  safe  and  enduring  as  time  Itself. 

May  2,  1865,  in  Coles  county,  Illinois,  Mr.  Allen  married  Mary  F. 
Vansant,  a  daughter  of  Isaiah  Vansant,  of  Fleming  county,  Kentucky. 
Mrs.  Allen  was  born  August  27,  1840.  and  is  the  mother  of:  Mattie  N.,  wife 
of  James  F.  Blackledge,  of  Caney,  Kansas;  Edith,  Lillian  and  Annie.  The 
family  are  members  of  the  Independence  Presbyterian  church  and  are 
highly  and  most  honorably  connected  in  their  social  ties. 

I\lr.  Allen  was  made  a  Mason  in  1864.  He  has  taken  the  Blue  Lodge, 
Chapter  and  Knight  Templar  degrees  and  in  his  life  exemplifies  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  order.  He  is  a  Kentucky  Democrat  and  is  as  loyal  to  his 
partv  tenets  as  he  is  to  the  rules  wJiich  govei'n  his  moral  and  exemplary- 
life. 


JACOB  SICKS— The  generations  of  the  future  who  inhabit  Mont- 
gomery county  will  wish  to  know  something  of  the  people  who  snatched 
this  municipality  from  nature's  embrace,  and  wielded  the  brush  with 
which  its  surface  has  beeu  adorned  with  landscape  and  garden  and 
beautiful  homes.  They  will  expect  to  find,  for  their  information,  a  record 
of  the  characters  who  have  been  conspicuous  jjlayers  in  the  drama  of 
civil  and  municipal  affairs  while  the  county  was  being  launched  and 
started  on  its  voyage  through  time.  By  a  knowledge  of  their  forefathers, 
they  may  be  able  to  explain  some  otherwise  mysterious  phenomena  of 
their  posterity  aud  thus  intelligently  account  for  things  done  or  not 
done.  It  is  important  then,  as  well  as  in  good  taste,  to  preserve,  with 
other  civil  records  of  the  county,  the  life  work  of  its  worthy  pioneers,  as 
gleaned  at  first  hand  from  the  very  actors  themselves. 

In  the  subject  of  this  article,  we  have  presented  for  review  a  settler' 
whose  coming  into  the  county  was  from  the  very  first,  whose  connection 
with  its  history  has  been  modest  yet  energetic  and  whose  chai-acter  as  a 
citizen  and  a  man  has  wielded  an  influence  potent  for  good  in  the  younger 
generations  of  his  race. 

In  October,  1869,  Jacob  Sicks  came  into  Montgomery  county,  Kan- 
sas. It  was  on  the  18th  of  that  month  that  he  drove  on  to  the  side-hill 
on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  4,  township  33,  range  15,  and  thereby 
did  the  initial  act  toward  making  that  spot  of  ground  his  permanent 
and  future  home.  While  he  was  complying  with  the  formalities  of  the 
law  ill  the  matter  of  a  homestead,  a  little  log  cabin,  14x14  in  dimensions, 
grewout  of  this  side-hill  as  if  by  magic,  and  the  first  family  in  that  neigh- 
borhood was  soon  housed  without  either  door  or  floor.  It  is  nearly 
thirty-four  years  now  since  that  eventful  day  on  which  one  of 
the  most  attractive  and  fertile  farms  in  the  countv  was  born.     Bv  the 


3l6  HISTORV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

industry  of  man  has  wild  nature  departed  and  by  the  toil  of  his  household 
has  Jacob  Sicks  become  the  owner  of  an  estate  which  provides  him  and 
his  with  all  the  comforts  and  some  of  the  luxuries  of  life. 

From  the  advent  of  the  lirst  white  man  to  the  departure  of  the  Ind- 
ian, Montj;oniery  county  was  on  the  frontier.  Its  few  settlers  were  har- 
rasscd  and  iiclaitored  by  liun<;ry  Red  Men  from  the  bands  of  Big  Hill  Joe, 
Chetoi)a.  Strike  Axe  and  Ulack  J>og,  all  of  which  chiefs  had  camps  some- 
where in  the  county.  In  187(1,  the  government  treated  with  the  red  man 
for  his  title  to  "The  Diminished  Rserve"  and  he  was  removed  to  his  new 
country — "The  Osage  Country — "  just  south  of  the  Kansas  line.  The 
aborigines  gone,  Montgomery  county  seemed  to  acquire  civilization  by 
leaps  and  bounds  and  the  old  landmarks  of  the  county  felt  very  much 
penned  up,  so  rapidly  did  settlers  tlock  in  and  take  possession  of  the  un- 
claimed lands.  While  Mr.  Sicks  adjusted  himself  to  the  frontier  condi- 
tions of  the  sixties,  was  satisfied  with  his  lot  and  content  with  the  honor 
of  being  a  pioneer,  he  was  nevertheless  pleased  with  the  advent  of  neigh- 
bors and  extended  to  them  a  helping  and  friendly  hand.  He  was  poor 
himself,  when  he  unloaded  his  goods  at  the  door  of  his  log  cabin  home  in 
1869,  but  '"the  wolf  was  kept  away"  while  his  family  was  growing  up  and 
increased  jirosperity  came  to  him  yearly  until  he  felt  warranted  in  retir- 
ing from  active  farm  woik. 

Jacob  Sicks  was  born  in  lioone  county.  Indiana,  November  2,  18-37. 
His  father,  Pliili])  Sicks,  settled  there  two  years  before,  and  was  a  resi- 
dent of  the  county  till  1888,  dying  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years, 
Philip  Sicks  was  a  native  of  Nicholas  county,  Kentucky,  and  was  a  son  of 
Jacob  Sicks  who  was  killed  by  a  corn  thief  at  middle  life  and  left  two 
sons  and  a  daughter,  namely:  John.  Philip  and  Rebecca;  the  last  named 
becoming  the  wife  of  William  Peckner  and  j>assing  her  life  in  Rush 
connt\.  Indiana.  PIiili|)  Sicks  mairicd  Nancy  Slain,  the  issue  of  the 
union  being  ten  children,  as  folhiws:  Sarah  J.,  who  married  James  Cun- 
uiugham;  Mai'v,  wiiV  ot  James  Siddons;  IMahala.  who  became  Mrs. 
George  Cross;  Francis  M..  who  took  to  wife  Margaret  Siddons;  Thomas 
O.,  whose  wife  was  Susan  I'^lder;  Jacob,  our  subject;  Lucinda,  who  mar- 
ried Samuel  Jones;  John  N.,  who  married,  first.  Nancy  J.  Davis  and.  after- 
ward, married  Mrs.  Siddons;  and  Amanda,  wife  of  (ieniuc  I'.eadles.  The 
motlu  !■  of  tiiese  children  died  in  181S. 

Jacob  Sick's  yoMlhtiil  advantages  were  exceedingly  limited.  His 
ediic.iiioii  was,  ot  necessity,  neglected  and  he  grew  uji  in  the  timbered 
couiitiy  of  the  'ilodsier  Sta(<>"  a  JTisty,  indiistrious  honest  but  un- 
learned yoiilli.  Nature  always  comes  to  the  relief  of  the  less  fortunate 
of  hei-  kind  and  she  endowed  our  subject  with  commendable  auxiliaries 
toward  surmounting  obstacles  through  life.     He  was  converted  in  youth 

come  to  him  along  life's  p.-ilhway  to  not  only  enal.le  him  to  live  I'iglit  but 


HISTORY  or-   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  317 

to  accoiiiiilisli  a  niodcst  but  good  work  for  the  Master.  Twice  he  felt 
vailed  to  tlie  ministry  l))it  eai-h  time  he  resisted  through  fear  of  weakness 
and  inal)iiity  to  aciiieve  results,  hut  the  third  time  he  yielded  to  the  de- 
mands (if  the  Sjiirit  and  lias  for  fifteen  years  done  an  irregular  and  sup- 
jilenientary  work  in  the  puliiit  of  the  ("hristian  denomination. 

November  4,  ISHS,  Mr.  Sicks  was  united  in  marriage  with  Sarah  F. 
rtterback,  a  daughter  of  Henry  I'tterback.  of  Kentucky.  Mrs.  Sicks  was 
born  in  Putnam  county,  Indiana.  November  28,  1840,  and  is  the  mother 
of  (he  following  sons  and  daughters:  Mary  E.,  deceased,  nuirried  N. 
Londry  and  left  three  children;  Mari.i  M.,  of  Mound  Ridge,  Kansas,  is 
the  wife  of  John  Edington ;  Philip,  of  lola,  Kansas,  is  married  to  Mary 
Christy;  Thomas,  of  lola,  Kansas,  married  Dora  Bordenhammer,  de- 
ceased; Emma,  wife  of  Ed  Main,  of  Montgomery  county,  Kan.sas;  John, 
of  Independence,  is  married  to  Ella  Barlow;  Lizzie,  deceased,  married 
Ed  Adams,  who  is  now  the  husband  of  her  sister,  Annie;  Vernelia,  wife 
of  Thomas  McMahan;  George,  of  the  old  homestead,  is  married  to  Laura 
Moore;  Mittie,  who  died  at  fifteen  years;  and  Charles,  the  only  child  left 
under  the  parental  roof. 

Mr.  Sick's  disposition  and  inclination  have  not  led  him  to  figure 
much  in  the  public  affairs  of  Montgomery  county.  He  is  a  Democrat  of 
the  ancient  school  and  has  manifested  a  strictly  conservative  attitude 
toward  all  movements  looking  to  a  striking  innovation  or  serious  depart- 
ure from  the  old  regime.  By  this  attitude  some  would  infer  that  he  op- 
jposed  public  progress  and  is  against  new  ideas,  but  it  is  purely  from  his 
desire  to  occupy  a  position  not  too  far  in  adance  of  the  old  way  that  he 
takes  this  stand.  With  his  neighbors  and  friends  he  is  cordial  and  oblig- 
ing and  exercises  a  practical  charity  wherever  the  circumstances  war- 
rant. He  is  fond  of  his  family  and  has  reared  them  in  the  fear  of  God 
and  to  become  honorable  men  and  women.  In  his  declining  years  he  is 
in  the  enjoyment  of  some  of  the  practical  blessings  and  luxuries  of  life. 
Natural  gas  and  the  daily  delivery  of  mail  at  his  own  door  lead  him  to 
])raise  the  achievements  of  modern  progress.  A  moment's  reflection  lo- 
cates him,  with  meager  means  and  a  small  family,  on  the  bleak  prairio 
with  a  temporary  shelter  in  1869,  and.  thirty-four  years  later,  in  the  full- 
ness of  years  and  with  family  grown  up  and  scattered,  we  see  him  pro- 
vided with  a  comfortable  home,  overlooking  a  splendid  farm,  and  made 
comfortable  by  the  reward  of  toil,  and  with  the  fondest  wish  at  his  fin- 
ger tips. 


WILLIAM  COTTON— Near  the  rural  village  of  Costello,  resides  one 
of  the  leading  farmers  of  Montgomery  county,  ^Mlliam  Cotton.  He  is 
a  native  of  the  "Blue  Grass  State"  where,  in  1832,  he  began  life  in  Madi- 
son county.    His  father,  Thomas  Cotton,  was  a  son  of  Charles  Cotton  who 


3lS  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

caiiio  from  Viij;inia  and  was  one  of  those  sturdy  pioneers  who  redeenieil 
the  wilds  of  Keutucky  for  civilization.  The  mother  of  o\ir  subject  was 
Paulina  Braudus.  of  one  of  the  early  pioneer  families  of  Kentucky,  who 
came  into  that  state  from  North  Carolina. 

AVilliani  Cotton  is  one  of  a  family  of  six  children,  of  whom  four  are 
now  liviuji,  viz :  James,  who  resides  in  Missouri ;  Elizabeth  and  Lucinda 
are  deceased;  Mary,  the  wife  of  John  Graves,  resides  in  Illinois;  Belle 
is  living  in  Indiana,  the  wife  of  Squire  Tatum.  The  parents  of  this  fam- 
ilv  removed  from  Kentucky  to  Indiana  where  William  was  reared  to  farm 
life. 

Vt  twenty  years  of  a^c,  uur  subject  married  Ann.  daughter  of  Dr. 
Travis  ^1<-Miliaii.  of  Cina'i-d  roumy.  Kentucky.  Tu  them  have  been  born: 
Bettie,  wife  of  John  Di-yltread.  a  fai'mer  of  Louisburg  township;  Clar- 
ence, who  married  Catherine  Hand,  who  died  leaving  five  children,  viz : 
John.  Emnm.  I'rentice.  William  and  Clara.  Prentice,  the  third  child  of 
William  Cotton,  resides  in  California  with  his  wife,  nee  Juliet  Stewart; 
John  ;M..  a  bank  clerk  residing  in  Elk  City,  married  Mamie,  daughter  of 
John  Castillo,  of  Louisbnig  township;  his  two  children  are  Clyde  and 
Cornelia. 

The  coming  of  'Williain  Cotton  to  M(uitgomei-y  county  in  ISS.").  con- 
stituted a  distinct  gain  lo  the  jiopulation  of  the  county,  as  his  citizenship 
since  then  has  been  such  as  to  deserve  the  plaudits  of  all  worthy  members 
of  society.  In  political  att'airs.  he  supports  the  principles  of  Lincoln  and 
McKinley,  and  he  and  his  family  are  active  members  of  the  Christian 
church.  They  are  held  in  great  respect  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  they 
have  passed  the  years  since  their  coming  to  the  county,  and  are  deserv- 
ing of  mention  in  a  volume  devoted  to  ]Siontgomerv's  best  citizens. 


JOHN  C.  1' ACE— One  of  the  well  known  of  the  later  settlers  of 
Jlontgomery  county  is  John  C.  Page,  of  Independence  township,  whose 
lot  was  cast  here  in  Ajiril.  1883.  He  purchased  eighty  acres  in  section 
fi.  tov.iiship  3;?,  range  10.  known  as  the  Wiley  Wise  farm.  He  came  here 
from  Crawford  county.  Illinois,  where  he  was  born  on  the  17th  of  Decem- 
ber. 1824.  His  was  one  of  the  old  families  of  the  "Prairie  State."  his 
father  having  migrated  thereto  in  1818.  the  year  of  the  admission  of  the 
state  into  tlie  union.  Jesse  I'age.  father  of  our  subject,  emigrated  from 
Virginia  to  the  new  sate  on  the  prairie.  He  was  born  in  the  "Old  Domin- 
ion State"  in  1777  and  came  to  manhood  there.  He  was  a  son  of  Robert 
Page  whose  three  sons,  David.  Joel  and  Jesse,  settled  in  Illinois.  Jesse 
Page  sjient  his  life  as  a  tiller  of  the  soil  and  in  18.54  he  married  Polly  Ar- 
nold who  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty  years.  Illinois  was  not  yet  rid  of  its 
Indian  population  when  the  Pages  settled  there  and  for  some  years  af- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY;,  KANSAS.  3I9 

terwiivd  thoy  roamed  at  will  about  the  homes  of  the  new  settlers.  It  was 
the  Miami  tribe  that  our  subject  remembers  distinctly  as  being  and  af- 
tiliatinf,'  with  the  pioneers  of  Crawford  county.  Jesse  Page's  children 
were:  k(il)ert  A.,  who  died  in  Oregon:  r.enjamin,  who  died  in  Illinois; 
Hache'.  of  Flat  Rock.  Illinois,  married  Samuel  Stark:  John  C.  Pinnin- 
nah,  of  Marlinsville.  Illinois,  is  the  wife  of  William  Patterson;  James, 
•who  died  at  Hebron.  Illinois;  and  two  died  young. 

John  C.  Page  passed  his  childhood  and  youth  amid  surroundings 
very  primitive  and  rude.  The  country  schools  of  his  day  afforded  him  his 
elementary  education  and  at  twenty  years  old  he  spent  a  year  in  the  city 
schools  of  Terre  Haute,  Indiana.  He  became  a  teacher  at  the  conclusion 
of  this  school  year  and  was  engaged  actively  and  successfully  in  the 
work  for  a  jieriod  of  seven  years.  He  became  a  farmer  about  this  time, 
in  a  small  way.  and  began  the  im]irovemeut  of  a  new  farm.  His  record 
as  a  teacher  induced  his  political  friends  to  make  him  a  candidate  for  the 
office  of  county  superintendent  and  to  this  he  was  elected  in  1860.  He 
filled  the  position  so  satisfactorily  that  he  was  reelected  in  two  years  for 
a  second  term.  At  the  close  of  his  public  service  he  engaged  in  other  bus- 
iness but  was  called  to  serve  in  another  official  capacity  in  1866  by  his 
election  to  the  office  of  county  treasurer  in  which  he  also  served  four 
years.  Going  out  of  office  in  1870,  he  took  i\\>  farming  and  never  after- 
ward tilled  an  office  of  such  responsibility.  He  continued  his  efforts  at 
farming  till  1883,  when  he  disposed  of  his  interests  in  Illinois  and  came 
to  ^lontgomery  county,  Kansas. 

In  January.  IS.jl.  'Slv.  Page  married  Fidelia  Newlin,  a  daughter  of 
Nathaniel  Newlin  and  Elizabeth,  his  wife.  The  Xewlins  came  to  Illinois 
from  North  Carolina  about  1816  and  were  a  large  and  numerous  family. 
Of  this  marriage.  Mr.  Page  is  the  father  of:  Harry,  of  El  Paso.  Texas; 
Genevra,  wife  of  John  Ferguson,  died  at  Emporia,  Kansas,  leaving  three 
children ;  Eulalia.  deceased  wife  of  George  Higgins,  died  at  Neodesha, 
Kansas,  in  1887;  and  Chester,  of  Paris,  Texas.  Fidelia  Page  died  in 
186:1,  and  the  next  year  Mr.  Page  married  Phebe  Meeker,  who  bore  him : 
Belle,  wife  of  James  Doily,  of  Mjiyfield,  Kansas;  Emma,  a  teacher  of 
Cripple  Creek,  Colorado,  was  educated  in  Marshall,  Illinois  and  is  single; 
Olive,  of  Ft.  Worth.  Texas,  is  the  wife  of  E.  ('.  Cochrain.  editor  of  one 
of  the  Ft.  Worth  jiapers.  Mr.  Page  was  married  a  third  time.  February 
17.  187.J.  to  Mary  Smith,  a  daughter  of  A.  J.  and  Elizabeth  Smith,  of 
Johnson  county,  Indiana,  where  Mrs.  Page  was  born  September  18,  1845. 
A.  J.  Smith  was  born  in  New  Jersey  and  his  wife,  nee  Elizabeth  Darrell, 
was  born  in  Indiana.  Mr.  Smith  died  in  1897,  in  Johnson  county,  Indi- 
ana, at  the  age  of  seventy-three.  His  children  were :  Mrs.  Page.  Ursula, 
deceased  wife  of  James  Balser;  Sarah,  who  nmrried  Wallace  Bears  and 
resides  in  ^^'hiteland,  Indiana;  and  Martha,  now  Mrs.  George  Darrell, 
of  Johnson  county,  Indiana.    Mr.  Page  and  his  present  wife  are  the  par- 


320  inSTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

eiits  of  oue  fliild.  ;i   xnn.  Mnnf<ii<l.  who  nianied  Rose  Carle  and  has  a- 
son,  Alfred  C. 

The  politital  liisKny  <it  (lie  I'ajics  is  told  in  the  one  word — Democ- 
racy. Our  subject  was  elected  to  iiublic  ottice  as  such  in  Illinois  and  he 
has  aftiliated  with  the  same  j»arty  in  Kansas.  He  was  prominent  in  the 
Farmers'  Alliance  in  ^lontgomerv  county  and  suj)ported  heartily,  fusion, 
as  ojijiosed  to  the  dominant  jiarty.  and  is  in  harmony  witli  the  I'.ryan 
idea  as  e.xpressed  at  Kansas  City. 


JAMES  HAMILTON  STKWAKT— The  late  subject  of  this  review 
was  one  of  the  substantial,  worthy  and  honored  citizens  of  Indejiendence 
townslii]!.  Montgomery  county.  He  became  identified  with  its  affairs  as 
a  farmer  on  his  entrance  to  the  county  in  188I5  and  from  thence  forward 
to  his  sudden  takini;-otf  won  the  regard  of  his  fellow  townsmen. 

Mr.  Stewart  settled  on  section  23.  township  :{3,  range  15,  in  which 
he  owned  one  hundred  an<l  sixty  acres,  well  improved,  well  tilled  and 
jirolitable.  When  he  took  jiossession  of  it  a  small  stone  house,  a  shed  for 
stork  and  some  jdowed  land  were  the  extent  of  it  improvements.  Being 
from  I'ennsylvania,  from  which  state  come  nothing  less  than  efficient 
men. he  was  possessed  of  the  iijans  for  a  pattern  farm  and  the  industry  to 
carry  them  out.  General  farming  occupied  his  attention  and  his  prosper- 
ity showed  itself  in  the  ever-advancing  condition  of  his  premises.  He 
was  no  less  worthy  as  a  citizen  than  as  a  farmer.  He  believed  in  and 
practiced  the  golden  rule.  Kight  was  always  might  with  him  and  it  won 
him  ^lie  universal  regard  of  his  neighbors.  He  was  a  man  of  conviction 
and  when  he  took  a  ]iosition  it  took  evidence  to  remove  him.  His  preju- 
dice in  favor  of  some  family  custom  may  have  given  rise  to  some  friendly 
criticism  of  him  but  his  heart  was  right  and  he  never  intentionally  gave 
l)ersonal  offense.  He  had  a  firm  lielief  in  the  reward  after  death  and  the 
teachings  of  the  Holy  Word  served  to  guide  him  in  his  daily  walk.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  .Tcffcisoii  rongrcgation  of  the  Methodist  church  and 
when  he  died.  Novemiier  S,  1S!I7.  one  of  its  substantial  su])ports  was 
taken  away. 

In  ^Vashington  county,  IVniisyhaiiia,  Mr.  Stewart  was  reared  but 
his  birtii  occurred  near  Hethany.  West  Virginia,  on  the  24th  of  January, 
1S41.  He  was  a  son  of  a  farmer.  -lames  H.  Stewart.  His  mother  was 
Sarah  Balwin.  a  daughter  of  Levi  Baldwin,  a  blacksmith  who  had  the 
<listinction  ()f  once  having  shod  tlie  horse  of  (ieneral  Washington,  as  that 
officer  was  passing  through  Pennsylvania,  ^^■llen  Mr.  Stewart  was  five 
years  old  his  fathei'  died  and  his  mother  then  took  her  family  to  Washing- 
ton county.  Pennsylvania,  where  she  remained  till  her  death  in  1894.  Her 
children  were:  .lames  II.,  of  this  notice;  Thomas,  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsyl- 


UISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  321 

vaniii:  ICliziibeth  J.,  widow  of  Robert  Sweeny,  of  Wheeling,  West  Virgin- 
ia; Williani.of  Chattanooga,  Tennessee;  Annie,  wife  of  Jacob  Laughman, 
defeased,  of  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania. 

James  H.  Stewart  acquired  a  country  school  education,  oi%  perhaps, 
better,  a  coiumon  school  one,  and  learned  his  trade  before  the  war  came 
on.  He  enlisted  for  that  struggle  in  18G1,  in  Company  "C,"  Twenty-sec- 
ond Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Cavalry.  He  served  with  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  ill  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  his  regiment  formed  a  part  of 
Sheridan's  cavalry.  He  took  part  in  Hunter's  Raid  and  the  Battle  of 
Cedar  Creek  and  remained  in  the  service  until  the  war  was  over.  Return- 
ing to  civil  life  he  resumed  his  trade  which  he  followed  till  he  started  to 
Kansas. 

December  liO,  1800,  Mr.  Stewart  married  Elizabeth  R.  Deltes.  a 
daughter  of  John  Deltes  and  Margaret  Geyer,  husband  and  wife,  both  of 
German  birth.  Mr.  Deltes  died  in  Baltimore.  Maryland,  in  1885,  and  his 
wife  preceded  him  two  years.  Their  native  province  was  Wittenburg. 
Their  children  were:  Amelia,  married  Charles  Schmidt  and  died  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1892;  Rosa,  who  died  in  Chicago  in  1896, 
was  the  wife  of  Charles  Leonheaus;  Mary,  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  is 
the  wife  of  James  Bamber;  Catherine,  of  the  same  city,  is  now  Mrs. 
Bishop  Carnan;  Maggie,  single  and  residing  in  Baltimore;  John,  of 
Pittsburg.  Pennsvlvauia;  and  ;Mrs.  Stewart,  who  was  born  April  17, 
1847. 

The  children  vi  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  are:  William  H.,  of  Niotaze, 
Kansas;  James  H.,  of  Cherryvale;  George  W.,  of  Independence;  Mary 
E.,  Charles  S.,  Samuel  H.,  Estella  O.  and  Lulu  E.,  all  at  home  except 
Samuel,  who  resides  in  Kansas  City. 

Mr.  Stewart  took  a  warm  and  patriotic  interest  in  county  politics. 
He  was  a  Republican  and  was  often  a  delegate  to  party  conventions.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  and  interested  himself  generally  in 
whatever  seemed  for  the  upbuilding  and  welfare  of  his  county.  He  con- 
tracted rheumatism  while  in  the  army  and  was  afflicted  all  his  remain- 
ing years,  this  being  the  prime  cause  of  his  sudden  demise. 


ANI>REW  J.  COLLINS — One  of  the  early  settlers  and  prosperous 
farmers  of  Montgomery  county  is  the  subject  of  this  personal  sketch.  He 
came  to  the  county  in  1877  and  jjurchased  a  farm  on  the  "Tenth  street 
road"  which  he  occupied  some  six  years  and  then  purchased  a  new  and 
unimproved  quarter  of  prairie  land  in  section  21,  township  30,  range  15, 
which  he  occupied  and  went  through  the  formula  of  bringing  under 
subjection,  as  settlers  were  wont  in  pioneer  days.  As  he  prospered  he 
added  another  eighty  acres  to  his  already  half  section  and  now  he  owns 


322  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

five  eighties,  or  four  hundred  acres,  the  majority  of  which  represents  the 
accumulations  accruing  to  him  and  his  industrious  family  in  the  quarter 
of  a  century  they  have  spent  in  Kansas. 

]Mr.  Collins  has  been  and  is  a  farmer,  pure  and  simple.  The  grow- 
ing of  gi-ain  and  the  handling  of  stock  in  a  modest  way  are  the  important 
things  with  which  he  has  had  to  deal  and,  on  the  whole,  he  has  achieved 
a  degree  of  the  thrift  which  only  determination  and  perseverance  can 
win. 

County  Meath,  Ireland,  was  the  birthplace  of  Andrew  J.  Collins. 
His  natal  day  and  year  was  April  17,  ISoD,  and  his  jtareuts  were  Daniel 
and  Mary  (O'Brien)  Collins,  who  brought  their  family  to  the  United 
States  in  1849  and  landed  at  Castle  Garden  in  New  York.  Princeton, 
New  Jersey,  was  their  objective  point  and  there  the  younger  generation 
grew  up.  They  had  a  family  of  fifteen  children,  all  told,  but  those  now 
living  are:  Matthew,  of  Boboken,  New  Jer.sey;  Andrew  J.,  of  this  notice; 
Michael,  Daniel,  and  Catherine,  who  married  Patrick  Campbell  JUid  re- 
sides in  New  Jersey. 

Andrew  J.  Collins  acrpiired  only  a  limited  education  in  the  inferior 
schools  of  his  time  and  place  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  married 
and  settled  down  to  the  toil  of  the  farm.  In  186(5,  he  migrated  to  Illi- 
nois and  stopped  in  Sangamon  county,  where  he  resumed  farming  and 
followed  it  until  his  removal  to  Kansas. 

In  April,  ISIU.  occurred  the  wedding  of  Mr.  Collins  to  Ann  Clark, 
a  lady  of  Irish  birth  and  a  daughter  of  Owen  (Jlark,  of  County  Cavan. 
Mrs.  Collins  died  in  Montgomery  county  December  8,  1898,  and  was  the 
mother  of  Thomas  and  John,  of  the  family  homestead;  Andrew,  de 
ceased;  Willie,  Laura,  widow  of  Henry  Mollidor;  and  Sarah,  wife  of 
Herbert  Hill,  of  Independence. 

Mr.  Collins  is  a  Democrat  and  has  been  road  overseer  of  his  road 
distric  t  for  twentv-flve  vears. 


MARY  A.  KEESLER— Since  the  year  1872,  the  subject  of  this  bi- 
ographical review  has  been  a  resident  of  Montgomery  county.  She  accom- 
panied her  husband  to  the  county  two  years  previous  and  their  settlement 
was  made  near  Havana,  but  this  settlement  proved  to  be  little  more  than 
temporary  and  in  1873,  they  came  into  Cherry  township  where  Mrs. 
Keesler  has  since  lived  and  where  her  husband  passed  away. 

The  Keeslejs  are  among  the  well  known  and  honorable  citizens  of 
their  township.  The  heads  of  the  family  were  eastern  people — the  Kees- 
lers  being  original  New  York  settlers — and  the  Snyders  and  the  Riggles, 
ancestors  of  Mrs.  Keesler,  from  the  "Keystone"  and  "Buckeye"  States. 

Mary  A.  Keesler  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  Oc- 


HARVEY  KEESLER  (Deceased). 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  323 

tober  5,  1833.  Her  father,  Jiuob  .Suyder,  was  born  in  Adams  couuty.  that 
state,  and  her  mother.  Margaret  Riggle,  was  a  native  of  the  same  county 
with  our  subject.  Jacob  Snyder  was,  early  in  life,  a  mason  but,  later, 
becante  a  farmer  and,  in  1839,  moved  his  family  to  Ohio  from  whence,  ia 
1848.  he  immigrated  to  Allen  county,  Indiana,  where  he  died  in  1871,  at 
sixty-three  years  of  age;  his  wife  dying  the  year  previous  at  fifty-six  years 
old.  The  eight  children  composing  their  family  were:  Mary  A.,  George 
R.,  Elizabeth,  Melissa,  Jacob  M.,  Williain.  F.liza  and  Emma. 

Mary  A.  was  the  first  born  of  the  Snyder  children  and  came  to  wo- 
manhood on  her  father's  farm  in  Indiana.  She  tvas  married  January 
30,  18.^5,  to  H.arvey  Keesler,  born  in  Vermillion  county,  Ohio,  March  20, 
1831.  Mr.  Keesler  was  a  son  of  John  and  Susan  (Ewing)  Keesler,  both 
of  New  York  birth.  These  pioneer  i)arents  migrated  to  Ohio  in  an  early 
day  r.ud  settled  in  the  wooded  portion  of  the  state,  where  they  brougtit 
op  a  family  of  eight  children  and  died.  These  children  were:  Harvey, 
Lucy,  Charles,  Martin,  Mary,  George,  Frank  and  William. 

Harvey  Keesler  was  the  oldest  child  of  his  parents  and  his  youth, 
like  that  of  his  wife,  was  passed  upon  the  farm.  He  took  up  the  occupa- 
tion ol  his  fathers  in  the  county  where  be  met  and  married  his  wife  and 
was,  for  some  time,  a  tenant  on  a  rented  farm.  They  purchased  their 
first  homestead  in  the  green  woods  of  Indiana,  where  their  beginning  in 
life  was  most  primitive  indeed.  Prior  to  his  marriage,  Mr.  Keesler  had 
followed  the  canal  as  a  boatman  on  the  Erie  canal  but  seemed  ready  te 
exchange  this  life  for  one,  with  a  life  companion,  in  the  beech  timber  of 
♦he  "Iloosier  State.''  His  tenure  of  the  farm  was  undisturbed  until  Jan- 
uary 3.  18G4,  when  he  joined  Company  "H,"  Thirtieth  Indiana  Volunteer 
Infantry,  in  which  command  he  served  till  the  close  of  the  Civil  war.  He 
took  part  in  the  famous  March  to  the  Sea  and  the  Atlanta  campaign  and 
was  wounded  near  Kesaca.  Georgia,  in  the  left  hand,  the  ball  renuiining 
where  it  lodged  for  twenty-two  day.s,  thus  crippling  Mr.  Keesler  for  life. 
He  left  the  hospital  to  rejoin  his  regiment  before  he  was  fully  recovered 
but  was  prevented  by  the  heavy  fighting  then  going  on  in  front  and, 
having  taken  down  with  a  fever,  was  furloughed  home.  Becoming  again 
able  for  duty,  he  reported  at  Covington,  Kentucky,  was  sent  to 
Evansville,  Indiana,  and  there  remained  until  the  surrender  of  Lee's 
army.  June  1,  180.'),  he  was  disiharged  and  he  soon  rejoined  his  family 
on  his  little  farm. 

For  seven  years  Mr.  Keesler  continued  to  reside  in  Indiana,  and 
when  he  departed  from  the  state  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  Kansas  prai- 
ries he  brought  a  limited  supply  of  money  with  him.  When  he  settled  in 
Cherry  township  he  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty-nine 
acres  north  of  Cherryvale,  which  he  occujiied  and  improved  for  eighteen 
years  and  then  exchanged  it  for  one  of  four  hundred  and  twenty  acres  on 


324  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Drum  creek,  well  adapted  to  the  raising  of  grain  and  stock.  Here  he 
died  in  the  height  of  his  success  and  popularity,  Ai)ril  2,  1899. 

A  man  of  great  energy  and  industry,  Harvey  Keesler  made  his  mark 
as  a  citizen  of  Montgomery  county.  He  was  not  only  identified  with  its 
business  but  its  politics  also.  He  affiliated  with  the  Republicans,  who 
honored  him,  without  his  solicitation  and  against  his  wishes,  with  the 
township  clerkship,  but  he  would  never  consent  to  neglect  his  private 
afifairs  to  accept  a  public  trust.  He  was  thrifty  and  provident  and  left 
his  family  in  good  circumstances  at  his  death.  Two  hundred  acres  of  the 
farm  have  been  set  off  to  the  children  while  the  remainder,  with  the  splen- 
did impi'ovements,  provides  Mrs.  Keesler  with  a  comfortable  home  during 
her  declining  years. 

Four  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keesler,  namely:  Willard 
F.,  W'ho  is  married  to  Lydia  Cornelius  and  has  two  children,  Harvey  C. 
and  Gladys;  Charles,  whose  wife  is  Eva  Cornelius,  has  a  child,  Ethel; 
Clara,  wife  of  D.  W.  Osborn,  is  the  mother  of  five  children,  viz :  Loren, 
George,  Lewis,  Arley  and  Eeryl ;  Laura,  married  George  Seymour  and 
died  February  25,  1882,  leaving  a  daughter,  Jlary  L.  Seymour,  who  is  her- 
self married  to  W.  H.  Thompson  and  is  the  mother  of  Lewis  L.  Thomp- 
son, the  only  greatgrandchild  of  Mrs.  Keesler.  Thus,  with  the  names  of 
five  generations  of  her  family,  is  the  history  of  Mary  A.  Keesler  closed. 
Her  seventy  years  of  life  have  been  years  of  labor  and  of  devotion  to  the 
bringing-up  of  an  honorable  posterity. 


HORACE  OSCAR  CAVERT— <  N-nlciinial  year,  the  ('averts  of  this 
revie\t  became  settlers  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  They  were 
headed  by  J.  Curtis  G.  Cavert,  father  of  our  subject,  and  located  on  Elk 
river  in  Sycamore  township,  where  the  brief  period  of  two  years  were 
passed  on  a  farm.  In  1878,  they  changed  their  residence  to  Independence 
where  they  have  since  resided  and  where  the  business  life  of  H.  O.  Cavert 
has  been  spent. 

Oscar  Cavert  was  born  in  Outagamie  county,  ^^'isconsin.  March  27, 
ISCd.  His  father  was  a  native  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  settled  in 
AN'isconsin  in  1847.  His  grandfather,  William  Cavert,  was  a  direct  de- 
scendent  of  an  Irishman  who,  with  a  brother,  settled  in  New  York  state, 
fresh  from  Erin.  Foi'  some  unknown  reason  they  each  decided  to  change 
the  siielling  of  the  name  from  "Calvert"  to  Cavert.  One  brother  went 
into  the  south  and  Ihe  other  i-eiiiaiiied  in  New  York  and  the  generations 
that  liitve  followed  rrom  ea<li  branrli  has  maintained  the  American  spell- 
ing of  the  name. 

.3.  (".  G.  ('avert  grew  up,  was  maiiied  and  entered  the  volunteer  ser- 
vice in  Wisconsin.  The  Third  Wisconsin  cavali'y.  Company  "I,"  was  his 
command  and  he  was  commissioned  a  first  lieutenant.    He  was  promoted 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  325 

to  a  captainfY  aud  was  mustered  out  as  such  after  having  served  four 
years,  chietly  iu  the  westeru  department,  where  guerriUas  and  bush- 
whackers hugely  prevailed.  For  a  wife,  he  married  Helen  M.  Crane,  a 
(ian.i;liter  of  W.  W.  Crane,  formerly  of  Akron,  Ohio.  Seven  children  were 
liorii  to  this  union,  those  living  being:  Mrs.  Mattie  Calhoun,  of  Tulsa, 
Indian  Territory;  Horace  Oscar,  our  subject;  Callista,  of  Tulsa,  Indian 
Territory ;  and  Stella,  wife  of  C.  M.  Flora,  of  Independence,  Kansas.  Of 
the  three  deceased,  two  sons  died  young  and  a  daughter,  Frankie,  wife  of 
John  Tarker.  died  in  Portland,  Oregon,  leaving  a  son,  Cleo. 

51  r.  ("avert,  of  this  review,  acquired  his  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  Wisconsin.  He  was  approaching  his  sixteenth  year  when  he 
came  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  After  leaving  the  farm  in  Syca- 
more township,  he  was  in  the  employ  of  Crane  &  Larimer,  shippers,  for 
live  years.  Iu  1883.  he  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business  which  he  has 
followed,  catering  to  the  local  trade,  and  in  this  way  doing  his  part  to- 
Avard  the  development  and  improvement  of  the  town  and  country.  He  is 
serving  his  second  term  from  the  second  ward  on  the  city  council,  where 
he  favored  street  paving,  electric  lighting  and  other,  minor,  public  im- 
provements. He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  is  an  Odd  Fellow,  a  Modern 
Woodman,  a  Workman  and  an  Elk. 

September,  6,  1888,  Mr.  Cavert  married  Adda  B.  Ferrell,  a  daughter 
of  Elder  J.  W.  Ferrell,  of  the  Christian  church  and  formerly  from  Jes- 
sanune  county.  Kentucky.  The  issue  of  this  marriage  are :  William  Cur- 
tis and  Herbrt  Oscar. 


LORENZO  D.  WINTERS — Competency  in  public  service  is  strictly 
to  be  desired  and  is  too  frequently  inattainable  at  public  elections.  Of- 
ficials are  often  chosen  in  utter  disregard  of  the  essentials  for  the  public 
service  and  in  response  to  a  general  clamor  for  a  popular  idol.  But 
where  common  sense  rules  good  judgment  prevails  and  the  citizen  who 
wins  official  honors  in  response  to  this  condition  never  fails  to  exceed 
the  expectations  of  the  patrons  of  his  office.  Such  is  strikingly  true  of 
the  present  incumbent  of  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  court  of  Montgomery 
county.  L.  D.  Winters  of  this  review. 

For  more  than  two  years  he  has  officiated  in  his  present  capacity 
and  the  multifarious  duties  of  his  responsible  office  are  as  positively  and 
effectively  in  his  grasp  and  under  his  control  as  were  the  more  cumber- 
some details  of  his  farm  down  in  Cherokee  township.  He  was  peculiarly 
situated  as  a  candidate  because  of  his  ready  adaptation  to  a  clerical  posi- 
tion and  because  of  his  immense  popularity  with  the  voters  of  the  county, 
and  when  it  was  discovered  that  he  led  heavily  over  other  candidates  on 
his  ticket  it  was  not  a  matter  of  either  general  or  special  surprise. 

Lorenzo  D.  Winters  came  to  Kansas  in  1879  and  settled,  with  his 


326  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

I)arents,  in  ]\rontgoinery  county.  The  family  was  from  Oweu  county,  In- 
diana, where  our  subject  was  born  February  6,  1863.  His  father,  Obediab 
J.  Winters,  is  a  substantial  farmer  of  Cherokee  township,  Montgomery 
county,  and  was  born  in  the  same  county  as  his  son,  in  1832.  The  father 
was  united,  in  Clay  county,  Indiana,  in  marriage  with  Clara  C.  Roath, 
a  daughter  of  Lorenzo  D.  Roath,  of  Stark  county,  Ohio.  Their  two 
(hildien  are  L.  D.  and  Edward  B..  the  latter,  of  ("oft'eyville,  Kansas. 

The  common  schools  and  the  Cotfeyville  and  Independence  city 
schools  furnished  L.  D.  Winters  with  his  educational  equipment.  He 
was  eighteen  years  of  age  when  he  left  school  and  turned  his  attention  to 
farming  on  the  old  home.  He  followed  the  vocation  of  his  early  training 
until  the  close  of  the  year  1900  when,  having  been  elected  Clerk  of  the 
Court,  he  moved  his  family  to  Independence  to  assume  the  duties  of  his 
office.  His  majority  at  this  election  was  320  votes  and  when  his  friends 
had  all  voted  for  him  two  years  later  his  majority  was  found  to  be  826 
votes. 

Decendjer.  188.5,  ifr.  Winters  married  I.ydia  -T.  Vennum,  a  daughter 
of  Frank  H.  and  Harriet  Vennum.  old  settlers  of  ('her()kee  township,  in 
Montgomery  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  ^^'inters  have  Two  cliildren,  viz: 
Fthel  Ruth'and  Ma'bel  Harriet. 

The  Modern  Woodmen,  the  A.  K.  T.  M.  and  the  Odd  Fellows  claim 
Mr.  Winters  as  a  member,  likewise  the  Elks  of  the  capital  city  of  the 
county.  He  lends  great  strength  to  the  local  Republican  organization 
of  his  county  and  his  personality  has  "led  many  wandering  erring  ones" 
to  return.  He  maintains  his  farm  on  Pumjikin  ci-eek  and  it  and  his  cat- 
tle interests  are  under  his  scrutinizing  eye. 


JOHN  C.  MATTHEWS— The  late  .John  C.  ^Matthews  was  a  char- 
acter well  known  to  the  citizenship  of  ^fontgomery  county.  He  was  one 
of  its  earliest  settlers  and  was  identified  with  its  affairs  for  almost  thirty 
years.  When  the  V.  S.  Land  Office  was  located  in  Independence  he  was 
sent  out  from  the  east  as  a  clerk  in  the  office  and  when  the  removal  of  the 
office  occurred  some  years  later  its  clerk  remained  behind  to  continue 
acitizen  of  Montgomery  county  and  to  participate  in  its  ordinary  affairs. 

John  C.  Matthews  was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Ohio,  January 
22,  1823.  His  father,  Elias  Matthews,  emigrated  from  Baltimore,  Mary- 
land, in  the  first  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  settled  near  Dayton, 
Ohio,  where  he  reared  his  family  and  became  one  of  the  leading  and 
well  known  farmers.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  public  affairs  of  the 
community  and  was  a  Whig  in  jiolitical  belief.  He  was  born  in  ITitl  and 
was  accidentally  killed  at  the  age  of  fifty  three.  He  married  Susannah 
Keplingei',  who  was  born  in  17!I2  and  died  >fay  8,  ]S70,  at  ^funice.  In- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  327 

diana.  hcinji  tlio  mother  of  the  following  children:  George  W.,  Thomas 
J.,  James  M.,  Elias  M,.,  John  C,  Sarah  J.,  William  L.,  Mary  C,  Henry  C. 
and  Hanici  W.  The  fifth  son.  John  <"..  grew  up  near  Dayton  and,  when 
about  L'O  years  old.  went  to  Delaware  founty.  Indiana.  He  acquired  a  com- 
mercial school  training  and  began  life  as  a  bookkeeper  in  his  new  Indiana 
home.  In  18.")!),  he  was  elected  (.'ounty  Treasurer  of  Delaware  county  and 
filled  the  office  two  terms.  Succeeding  this,  he  established  a  foundry  and 
planing  mill  in  Muuice  and,  later  on,  engaged  in  the  marble  business  in 
the  same  place.  He  was  identified  with  Munice's  afl'airs  till  his  selection 
as  the  first  clerk  of  the  Independence  Land  OflBce.  His  ability  as  an  ac- 
countant and  in  a  clerical  capacity,  generally,  was  universally  recognized 
and  he  was  appointed,  in  consequence,  deputy  Register  of  Deeds  and  later 
deputy  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Montgomery  county.  Succeeding  these 
clerkships,  he  engaged  in  the  abstract  business  and  was  one  of  the  most 
reliable  and  trustworthy  of  the  profession.  He  passed  away  in  Independ- 
ence May  29,  1902. 

On  the  IGth  of  October,  1850,  John  C.  Matthews  married  Margaret 
M.  Jordan,  a  daughter  of  James  Jordan,  a  native  of  Beaver  county, 
Pennsylvania.  The  latter  settled  in  Wayne  county,  Indiana,  in  1818, 
where  Mrs.  Matthews  was  born  August  29,  1832.  The  children  of  this 
union  are:  James  C,  of  Independence,  Kansas;  S.  Valentine  and  El- 
mer E. 

S.  V.  Matthews  was  born  in  Delaware  county,  Indiana,  February 
15,  1858.  He  acquired  a  common  school  education  and  among  his  first 
acts  toward  the  preparation  for  life's  serious  affairs  was  to  begin  the 
study  of  law  with  Judge  McCue,  of  Indeiiendence.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  December  30,  1880,  but  permitted  himself  to  become  interested  in 
other  matters  and  never  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  In  1882,  he  was 
elected  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  and,  in  1884,  was  reelected.  He  was 
deputy  in  the  same  office  some  time  later  and  when  this  service  was  con- 
eluded  he  engaged  in  the  business  of  abstracting,  in  company  with  his 
father,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

June  17,  1883.  Mr.  Matthews  was  united  in  marriage  with  Anna  W. 
Vance,  of  Findlay,  Ohio.  The  issue  of  this  marriage  are:  Erma  F.  and 
Dean  V. 

The  Matthews  of  this  branch  are  Republicans  of  the  original  school. 
John  C.  Matthews  came  into  the  party  when  "John  and  Jessie"  were 
making  the  race  for  the  presidency  as  the  party's  first  candidate  in  1856, 
and  within  its  fold  has  he.  and  his  sons  also,  fought  their  political 
battles. 


THOMAS  B.  HENRY — In  this  personal  record  is  presented  one  of 
the  original  members  of  the  faculty  of  the  Montgomery  county  High 
School — filling   the   chair   of   mathematics — whose   family   history   has. 


328  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

siiu-0  1871,  been  associated  with  that  of  the  early  settlers  of  Montgom- 
ery county.  This  nuinicipality  is  the  place  of  his  nativity  and  it  has  been 
the  stage  ujjou  which  his  business  and  professional  career  has  been 
chiefly  enacted.  Born  and  brought  up  on  the  farm  and  inured,  somewhat, 
to  its  developing  and  toughening  influences,  and  trained  in  the  classic  air 
of  our  state  educational  institutions,  he  now  honors  one  of  the  noble 
professions  of  his  state. 

Thomas  B.  Henry  is  a  son  of  the  late  well-known  pioneer.  Dr.  Wil- 
liam E.  Henry,  who  settled  on  Table  Mound  in  1871.  On  the  top  of  that 
sightly  elevation,  far  above  the  surrounding  country,  much  of  his  pos- 
sessions lay,  and  he  passed  the  closing  scenes  of  his  life  in  the  improve- 
ment of  his  claim,  while  also  in  the  pursuit  of  health.  The  doctor  was  in 
feeble  health,  as  a  result  of  his  army  service,  and  his  advent  to  Kansas 
was  prompted  in  the  hope  of  physical,  more  than  financial,  benefit.  While 
he  busied  himself  with  the  initial  work  of  improving  a  prairie  farm,  he 
also  practiced  medicine  and  was  identified  with  a  medical  college,  estab- 
lished in  Independence  in  an  early  day.  holding  the  chair  of  chemistry  in 
the  institution. 

The  birthplace  of  the  head  of  this  prominent  Montgomery  county 
family.  Dr.  William  E.  Henry,  was  Warren  county,  Ohio,  in  the  year 
1842.'  He  received  an  academic  education  and  graduated  in  medicine  in 
"the  Ohio  Medical  College,"'  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  during  the  Civil 
war  served  in  the  2nd  Ohio  Vol.  Inf.  as  a  private  soldier.  In  the  battle 
of  Murfreesboro  a  musket  ball  shattered  his  left  arm,  the  injury  finally 
causing  his  death,  on  the  23rd  of  August,  1876.  He  was  married  in  War- 
ren county,  Ohio,  in  1870,  his  wife  being  Miss  Rachel  :M.  Butterworth,  a 
daughter  of  Henry  Thomas  Butterworth.  and  a  cousin  of  the  late  Hon. 
Ben.  Butterworth.'  M;  C..  of  Ohio.  The  two  surviving  issues  of  this  mar- 
riage are:  Thomas  B.  Henry,  of  this  notice,  and  William  E.,  of  Topeka, 
Kansas. 

Brof.  T.  B.  Henry  was  born  on  Table  Mound,  in  :Montgomery  county, 
August  17th,  1872.  The  farm  continued  to  be  his  home  'till  about  his 
twentieth  year,  when  he  finished  his  course  in  the  Independence  High 
School  and,  after  teaching  a  term  in  his  home  district,  he  entered  the 
State  Normal  School.  Hie  completed  the  academic  course  in  that  institu- 
tion in  June,  1894,  and  the  same  fall  took  the  position  of  teacher  of 
mathenmtics  in  the  Arkansas  City,  Kansas,  High  School.  At  the  ex- 
piration of  his  year's  work  he  resigned  to  enter  the  State  University  of 
Michigan,  where  he  took  special  work  in  mathematics  and  philosophy. 
He  tiaiisfciied  himself,  in  1897,  to  the  State  University  of  Kansas,  and 
gradn;i1cd  from  that  institution  in  1898,  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  He  was 
a"I'hi  l)el1aTheta"man,  in  the  university,  and,  while  in  the  normal  school 
represented  his  society  with  credit  in  essay  and  oratory  in  the  annual 
contests.    His  school  education  finished,  he  assumed  his  present  station. 


HISTOUY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  329 

in  life,  as  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  Montgomery  County  High 
School,  to  the  educational  success  of  which  he  has  contributed  in  a  high 
degree. 

June  Sth,  1899,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Henry  and  Miss  Ellen 
Pugh,  a  daughter  of  the  late  pioneer,  J.  H.  Pugh,  of  Independence.  They 
have  fi  splendid  home  on  North  Ninth  street  in  Independence  and  their 
residence  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  and  commodious  in  the  city. 


PiOBERT  MAWSON  DOBSON— Prominently  identified  with  the 
live  stock  and  farming  interests  of  Montgomery  county  is  K.  M.  Dobson, 
of  Fawn  Creek  township.  He  is  one  of  the  self-made  young  farmers  of 
the  county  and  has  been  a  resident  of  it  for  twenty-one  years.  A  history 
of  the  successes  and  reverses  in  the  rise  of  Mawson  Dobson  would  detail 
a  somewhat  checkered  career,  yet  it  would  show  a  gradual  upward  ten- 
dency, a  continual  nearing  of  the  goal  in  the  life  of  an  ambitious  man. 
Determination  does  much  toward  the  accomplishment  of  a  heart's  desire 
and  the  achieving  of  life's  aim  is  filled  with  experiences  which  add  zest 
and  interest  in  this  particular  career. 

Starting  in  life  with  an  empty  hand,  but  with  a  full  heart  and  a 
strong  head,  states  the  condition  of  our  subject  at  the  real  beginning  of 
his  career.  At  about  sixteen  years  of  age  he  assumed  the  station  of  doing 
a  manly  part  toward  the  maintenance  of  the  parental  home.  He  was 
equipped  with  only  a  country  school  training,  but  it  was  sufficient  to 
meet  all  the  requirements  of  an  ambitious  youth  of  the  farm.  A  part  of 
his  early  life  was  passed  as  a  farm  hand  and  the  profits  of  this  toil  served 
to  provide  him  with  the  sinews  of  warfare  in  the  more  serious  battles  of 
life.  Having  no  legacy,  except  a  strong  frame  and  a  good  name,  he  has 
provided  both  the  opportunity  and  the  material  out  of  which  his  modest 
fortune  has  finally  been  carved. 

R.  M.  Dobson  is  a  native  of  Illinois.  His  birth  occurred  in  Scott 
county,  that  state,  March  19th,  1861,  and  he  grew  to  maturity  where  he 
was  born.  His  father,  the  venerable  Robert  Dobson,  of  Tyro,  Kansas, 
was  a  native  of  the  Queen's  Dominions,  being  born  in  Yorkshire,  Eng- 
land, April  7th,  1828.  The  latter  came  to  the  United  States  at  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  and  established  himself  in  Morgan  county,  Illinois.  He 
joined  the  91st  Illinois  Vols,  during  the  Rebellion  and  served  three  years 
and  seven  months  in  the  Union  cause,  which  service  left  him,  as  a  legacy, 
a  disability  which  has  rendered  him,  ever  since,  an  incapable  and  physi- 
cally incompetent  man.  For  his  wife,  Robert  Dobson  married  Mary  A. 
MawEon,  a  lady  of  English  parents,  and  who  survives  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
five  yeju-s.  Her  children  are:  George  ^y.,  Frances  A.,  wife  of  Frank  C. 
Moses,  of  Independence,  Kansas;  R.  M.,  of  this  sketch;  Elizabeth,  who  is 


330  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COINTY,  KANSAS. 

married  to  Frank  Smith,  of  Tyro,  Kansas:  Charles  W..  of  Illinois,  and 
Leslie,  of  Montgomery  county. 

April  8th,  1886,  R.  If.  Dobson  married  Sarah  E.  Godwin,  a  daughter 
of  John  B.  Godwin,  of  Sullivan  county,  Indiana.  Mrs.  Dobson's  mother 
was  Miss  Sarah  P.  Halberstadt,  whose  children  numbered  seven.  Mrs. 
Dobson  was  born  on  the  3rd  day  of  February,  1861,  and  has  no  children. 
She  came  to  Montgomery  county,  in  1882,  and  for  seventeen  years  has 
been  a  never-failing  source  of  strength  and  encouragement  to  her  enei"- 
getic  and  industrious  husband. 

Mr.  Dobson  began  farming  in  Montgomery  county  on  a  small  scale 
and  in  a  modest  way.  He  bargained  for  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Fawn 
Creek  township  in  1885  and,  in  1890.  sold  it  and  purchased  a  part  of  what 
is  now  his  splendid  estate.  His  home  was  known  as  "the  Stuckle  place," 
and  is  in  section  5,  township  33.  range  15.  one  of  the  fertile  farms  of  the 
Onion  creek  valley,  and  one  naturally  adapted  to  the  successful  raising  of 
stock.  In  this  tract  he  owns  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in  a  body 
and,  in  addition,  a  half  section  of  grass  land  near  by.  He  engaged  early 
in  the  buying  and  selling  of  stock  and  when  he  was  a  youth,  yet  in  his 
'teens,  he  was  able  to  "drive  a  snmrt  bargain"  as  a  dealer  and  trader 
in  stock.  He  feeds,  annually,  on  his  ranch  about  one  h(uidred  and  sixty 
head  of  cattle  and  owns  a  bunch  of  thoroughbred  Herefords  which  have 
contributed  no  little  toward  the  income  of  the  farm.  With  this  class  of 
cattle  his  success  has  been  more  marked  and  striking  than  with  any  other 
breed  or  grade.  They  are  capable  of  more  profitable  development  and  are 
therefore  the  money-makers  of  the  bovine  tribe. 

Mr.  Dobson  is  buried  in  interest  in  the  development  of  his  farm  and 
herds.  Hie  does  little  toward  the  political  phase  of  the  county's  history, 
and  when  he  serves  as  a  delegate  to  conventions  and  votes  the  Republican 
ticket  he  has  performed  his  whole  duty,  as  he  sees  it.  He  is  a  Mason  and 
a  member  of  the  Blue  Lodge,  Chapter  and  Commandery,  of  Independence, 
and  of  the  INIystic  Shrine,  of  Leavenworth.  He  is  also  a  Woodmen  of  the 
Modern  Camp. 


JOSEPH  GENTRY  SEWELI^r— One  of  the  pioneers  of  Montgomery 
county  whose  brief  career  was  filled  with  good  deeds,  and  whose  charac- 
ter was  dominated  by  the  elements  of  an  upright  life,  was  the  subject  of 
this  })ersonal  memoir.  His  history  with  the  west  began  in  1871,  when  he 
settled  on  section  30,  township  33,  range  15,  Montgomery  county,  Kansas, 
and  continued  and  was  confined  to  that  locality  'till  December  29th, 
1882,  when  he  died.  The  eleven  years  he  spent  here  were  years  of  inces- 
sant labor  in  the  improvement  and  development  of  a  home  "where  his  fam- 
ily ni'ght  be  sheltered  in  comfort  and  sustained  liberally  with  the  fruits 
of  honest  toil. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  331 

Mr.  Sewell  purchased  the  ( laiiii-right  of  Mr.  Chambers,  the  original 
settler  of  his  farm,  and  himself  patented  the  land  in  section  30,  as  well 
as  a  part  of  section  31.  His  career  in  early  life  had  been  that  of  a  farmer 
and  blacksmith,  and  to  each  of  these  callings  he  devoted  himself  in  his 
new  location.  He  erected  a  shop  on  his  homestead  and  did  the  plow- 
sharpening,  horse-shoeing  and  other  blacksmith  work  over  a  wide  scope 
of  the  surrounding  country, tluMi'liycxtciiilini;  liis  aniuaintaiicc  and  estab- 
lishing himself  in  the  confldemc  ;inil  ^ikhI  will  of  his  fellow  settlers.  He 
transacted  the  business  of  the  (inliiiaiy  iilfjirs  ot  life,  as  they  came  along, 
with  a  plain,  unassuming  and  dignitied  air  and  comported  himself,  al- 
ways, in  a  manner  becoming  the  sincere  and  God-fearing  man  that  he 
was.  His  life  was  a  conspicuous  one  in  the  community  and  when  it  was 
suddenly  terminated  in  death  the  shock  of  it  and  the  accompanying  grief 
extended  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his  immediate  household. 

Jo.seph  G.  Sewell  was  a  native  of  Overton  county,  Tennessee,  and 
was  born  December  Cth,  1829.  His  father  was  W.  D.  Sewell,  a  farmer 
and  a  Baptist  minister,  of  Virginia  birth.  He  was  born  in  1800,  went 
down  into  Tennessee,  a  young  man,  and  married  there,  Susan  Brown, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Rev.  Sewell  lived  'till  1880,  and 
passed  away  in  Tennessee,  where  he  had  done  his  life  work.  His  children 
were:  Elizabeth,  who  married  Hardy  Hopkins,  and  died  in  Missouri; 
Jonathan  Calvin,  who  died  in  Texas ;  Joseph  Gentry,  our  subject ;  Mary, 
wife  of  Jerre  Taylor,  of  Tennessee;  Washington,  Isaac,  Jesse  and 
Stephen,  of  Tennessee ;  Lovania,  who  married  Elijah  Pritchard,  deceased, 
and  Celia,  now  Mrs.  Baalam  Roberts,  of  Overton  county,  Tennessee. 

In  his  youth  Joseph  G.  Sewell  acquired  a  country  school  education. 
He  took  up"  his  trade  at  the  proper  age  and  acquired  proficiency  in  it  by 
the  time  he  reached  his  majority.  November  20th,  1851,  he  married 
Catherine  Maberry,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  (Spicer)  Maberry,  for- 
merly of  North  Carolina,  in  which  state  Mrs.  Sewell  was  born,  June  22nd, 
1834!^  The  Maberry  children  were  William  Madison,  Catherine,  Calvin,  of 
California,  Serena,  deceased,  married  James  Jordan;  Sarah,  of  Menephee 
county,  Kentucky,  is  the  wife  of  John  Williams.  In  1861,  Mr.  Sewell 
enlisted  in  Capt.  McKinney's  company — Tennessee,  troops — for  service 
in  the  Confederate  army,  and  was  out  two  years.  He  participated  in 
battle  at  JIurfreesboro,  ("hiiamaiiga  and  other  engagements  of  im- 
portance and  was  wounded  in  the  chin  in  the  Chickamauga  fight.  On  be- 
coming a  civilian  again  he  resumed  his  trade  in  his  native  state  and  con- 
tinued it  in  the  main  until  his  removal  to  Kansas. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sewell's  children  are:  Martha  J.,  decea.sed,  was  a 
young  girl  of  fifteen  years;  William  and  John,  twins,  both  of  Montgomery 
county:  the  former  a  farmer  of  Fawn  Creek  township  and  the  latter, 
John  B.,  is  a  resident  of  Bolton,  and  was  married  in  1873,  his  wife  being 


332  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Miss  Maggie  James,  who  has  borne  him  two  sons  and  seven  daughters : 
and  Andrew  Calvin,  of  Elli  City,  Kansas. 

In  iiublic  matters.  Joseph  G.  Sewell  took  only  a  citizen's  interest.  He 
voted  with  the  Democratic  party,  but  liad  no  interest  in  the  outcome  of 
any  election,  other  than  the  good  of  the  public  service.  He  was  intensely 
moral  and  upright  in  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow  men  and,  in  his 
churdi  relations,  he  was  a  Haptist  and  a  deacon  of  the  congregation.  He 
was  also  a  Mason. 


MARTIN  YANltUKEX  SMITH— On  the  roster  which  contains  the 
names  of  the  heroes  who  fought  that  this  country  might  live  a  free  and 
united  nation,  is  found  the  name  of  ilartin  VanBuren  Smith,  one  of  the 
pioneer  farmers  of  the  county,  and  a  gentleman  whose  singularly  up- 
right and  correct  life  has  exercised  a  powerful  influence  in  establishing 
the  high  standard  of  civic  righteousness  now  obtaining.  Indeed.  Mont- 
gomery county  owes  much  of  her  excellence  in  matters  of  government  to 
the  "old  soldier."  Returning  to  the  crowded  farming  sections  of  the  east, 
after  those  years  of  strife,  he  naturally  turned  to  the  child  whose  birth 
had  ushered  in  the  din  of  battle,  and  whose  strong  young  limbs  were  al- 
ready making  rapid  strides  toward  a  prosperous  future.  Here  in  Kansas, 
he  soon  demonstrated  that  the  discipline  of  army  life  was  the  best  pos- 
sible preparation  for  a  civic  career — that  control  of  self  is  the  basic  prin- 
ciple of  all  right  living.  Fortunate,  indeed,  was  Montgomery  county  to 
secure  as  citizens,  in  her  earlier  years,  these  men,  for  the  four  long  years 
of  hardship  and  suffering  endured  for  their  country  had  taught  them 
well  its  value,  and  made  them  doubly  desirous  of  seeing  it  the  best  gov- 
ernment on  earth. 

Martin  V.  Smith  passed  the  latter  part  of  the  50's  near  the  Missouri 
border  and  was  thus  prepared  by  contact  with  the  stirring  scenes  of  that 
time  to  respond  readily  to  the  call  of  his  country.  Early  in  ISfil,  he  en- 
listed as  a  private  in  Company  "G,"  of  the  Seventh  Kansas,  and,  during 
the  struggle,  followed  the  fortunes  of  his  regiment  in  the  bush-whacking 
warfare  carried  on  west  of  the  Ozark  Mountains.  He  was,  finally,  hon- 
orably discharged  for  disability  and  returned  to  his  farm  in  Linn  county. 
Mr.  Smith  was  born  in  the  "Keystone  State,"  in  Warren  county,  in  1834, 
and  is  the  son  of  Wilson  and  Nancy  (Jackman)  Smith,  both  natives  of 
the  county,  the  Jaskmans  having  been  among  the  earliest  pioneers  of  that 
section. 

Our  subject  was  one  of  a  family  of  eight  children— Charlotte,  mar- 
ried William  McDonald  and  lives  in  Warren  county;  Martin  was  the  sec- 
ond; then  in  order  came  Emily,  Frank,  Rosaline,  Charles  and  Betsev  Ann. 

Mr.  Smith  was  reared  to  farm  work,  receiving  the  education  common 
in  those  times  in  country  districts.  He  remained  at  home  until  his  twen- 


M.   V.  SMITH. 


HISTORY  OP   MOXTGOMEnY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  333 

tieth  vear,  when  he  came  west,  to  Franklin  county,  Mo.  He  here  engaged 
in  work  on  the  pioneer  railroad  of  the  west,  and  which  afterward  be- 
came the  Missouri  Pacific.  A  year  here  and  a  like  period  in  Lee  county, 
Iowa,  brought  him  to  Bates  county,  Mo.,  where  he  married  and  remained 
until  his  settlement  in  Linn  county,  in  1856.  This  was  Mr.  Smith's  home 
until  1809,  when  he  settled  on  a  claim  a  mile  east  of  his  present  location. 
In  1873,  he  purchased  the  farm  upon  which  he  now  resides.  It  contains 
160  acres  and  lies  four  miles  southeast  of  the  county  seat  town  of  Inde- 
pender.ce. 

Mr.  Smith  has  been  twice  married.  The  wife  of  his  youth  was  Mrs. 
Mary  Forbes,  nee  Knapp.  To  her  were  born  two  children — Estelle,  who 
married  Frank  Griftin,  a  farmer  of  Independence  township,  and  whose 
children  are  Ethel  and  EfHe;  Augusta  is  the  wife  of  Seward  C.  Clark  and 
lives  at  Newkirk,  Okla.,  with  five  children — Josei)h,  William,  Seward, 
Edna  and  Mary.  Mrs.  Smith,  the  mother  of  these  children,  died  in  Linn 
county,  Kansas,  in  January  of  1859,  and  in  1868,  our  subject  was  joined 
in  wedlock  to  the  lady  who  now  presides  over  his  home.  Miss  Addie, 
daughter  of  William  and  Eliza  (Smith)  Dickey.  Mrs.  Smith  is  one  of 
seven  children — Sarah  Ann,  widow  of  John  Brown,  Honesdale,  Pa. ;  Caro- 
line, deceased;  Harriet,  Mrs.  Alvan  Root,  of  Linn  county;  Almeda,  de- 
ceased: Cushman,  of  Bearing,  Kansas;  Mrs.  Smith;  Emma  was  a  twin 
sister  of  the  latter.  Mrs.  Smith  is  the  mother  of  six  children — Frank  H., 
who  married  Belle  Wise,  whose  children  are  Don  and  Forest ;  Lillian  is 
the  wife  of  William  Fortner,  of  Independence,  whose  son  is  Delbert;  and 
Delbert,  Hugh  and  Wesley  E.  are  still  at  home.  Hattie  died,  aged  three 
years. 

As  before  intimated,  Mr.  Smith  and  his  family  have  been  potent  fac- 
tors in  the  county's  develoi)ment.  They  are  members  of  the  United  Breth- 
ren church,  and  he  supports  the  Republican  party  by  his  vote. 


>^\THAN  M.  FARLOW— Prominently  identified  with  the  agricul- 
tural and  general  material  interests  of  Bolton  and  vicinity,  is  the  gentle- 
man and  worthy  citizen  of  this  review,  Nathan  M.  Farlow.  He  was  num- 
bered among  the  "second  relief,"  or  the  influx  of  immigrants  who  came  to 
Montgomery  county  some  fifteen  years  after  its  pioneer  days  and  gave 
to  it  a  new  blood  and  a  renewed  vigor  of  citizenship.  October  20th,  1887, 
was  the  day  he  began  his  residence  among  the  toilers  and  the  prairie 
pioneers,  and  he  located  on  section  16,  township  33,  range  U,  munici- 
pality of  Rutland.  He  was  actively  connected  with  farm  culture  and  im- 
provement 'till  November  11th,  1902,  when  he  established  himself  and  his, 
now  reduced  family,  in  the  village  of  Bolton,  where  he  is  modestly  and 
quietly  passing  the  evening  of  life. 

Nathan  ^l.  Farlow  is  a  native  of  Orange  county.  Indiana,  born  Janu- 


334  IIISTOItY  OK   MOXTGO.MEKY  (.'OrNTV,   KAXSAS. 

;iiy  ."111.  1841!.  His  father,  .Jonathan  Farlow,  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
the  then  Territory  of  Indiana,  having  settled  there  in  1811,  au  emigrant 
from  the  state  of  Xorth  Carolina.  The  latter  was  born  in  Orange  county, 
the  old  "Tar  Heel  State"  in  1807.  and  accompanied  his  father.  .Joseph 
Farlow,  into  Indiana,  where  the  first  work  of  clearing  \ip  the  heavily-tim- 
bered region  was  just  taking  jilace.  The  family  were  of  the  English 
Quaker  stock,  whose  antecedents  settled  in  Xorth  Carolina  from  the  col- 
ony ii!  Pennsylvania  and  were  of  the  direct  followers  of  William  Penn. 
Jonathan  Farlow  was  a  quiet,  dignified  gentleman,  industrious  and 
thrifty,  and  performed  a  manly  and  honorable  i)art  in  the  affairs  of  his 
county  in  whatever  capacity  he  was  designated  to  occupy.  He  married 
Ruth,  a  daughter  of  -John  ;Maris,  and  died  in  1878,  thirty  years  after  the 
death  of  his  first  wife.  The  children  of  the  first  marriage  of  Jonathan 
Farlow  were:  Jane,  wife  of  Mark  Hill,  of  Orange  county,  Indiana; 
Joseph,  of  Bolton,  Kansas;  Deborah,  who  died  in  February,  1900,  was  the 
wife  of  John  B.  Atkinson,  of  Montgomery  county;  Thomas,  who  died  in 
Orange  county,  Indiana,  in  January,  188();  and  Xathan  M.,  of  this  record. 
Mary  Hill  became  the  second  wife  of  Jonathan  Farlow.  and  ^Leir  child- 
ren were:  Lindley,  of  Kokomo,  Indiana;  Ruth,  who  died  in  1875;  Ellen, 
wife  of  Joseph  Trimble,  of  Orange  county,  Indiana ;  and  Sena,  unmarried 
and  residing  in  the  same  Indiana  county. 

The  Maris's  are  among  the  first  settlers  of  Pennsylvania.  They  emi- 
grated from  Inkborough,  in  the  county  of  Worcester,  England,  in  1683, 
and  joined  the  Quaker  colony  in  Pennsylvania,  (ieorge  Maris  was  the 
founder  of  this  branch  of  plain  Quaker  folk  and  the  records  show  that  be 
left  England  on  account  of  his  arrest  and  imprisonment  for  permitting 
a  meeting  of  this  religious  sect  at  his  house.  His  friends  armed  him 
with  a  letter  commending  him  to  the  colony  in  America,  and  reciting  in  it 
consistency  of  his  religious  life  and  other  striking  traits  of  real  character. 
This  George  Maris  is  the  eighth  generation  removed  from  Ruth  Maris,  the 
mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Xathan  M.  Farlow  came  to  manhood's  estate  at  a  time  and  in  a 
country  when  and  where  there  was  a  prime  opportunity  to  work.  He 
"passed  through"  school  in  just  a  little  while  and  it  is  not  unfair  to  as- 
sume that  while  he  was  doing  this  feat  he  was  also  making  a  hand  on  the 
farm.  He  enlisted,  January  4th,  1864,  in  Company  "F,"  13th  Ind.  Vol. 
Cavalry,  under  Col.  G.  M.  L.  Johnson.  The  regiment  was  assigned  to  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  saw  service  in  the  States  of  Alabama,  Ten- 
nessee. Georgia,  Mississippi  and  Kentucky.  He  was  with  Gen.  Grierson 
and  jiarticijiated  in  some  sharp  bouts  with  the  enemy  in  its  own  country, 
l»rior  to  its  final  order  to  rendezvous  at  Vicksburg,  Mississippi,  where  its 
muster  our  occurred  Xovember  18th,  1865,  by  special  order  No.  76. 

February  4th,  1868,  Mr.  Farlow  married  Martha  Cloud,  a  daughtei- 
of  Daniel  and  Mary  A.   (Milliken)   Cloud,  both  of  which  families— the 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  335 

Cloinl.s  and  Jlillikeus — were  froni  the  State  of  North  Caroliua.  Beside 
Mrs.  Farlow,  the  other  Cloud  children  were  a  sister,  Ann,  deceased  wife 
of  James  Jones,  of  Orange  Country,  Indiana,  and  a  brother,  William 
Cloud,  of  the  same  county  and  state.  Ml's.  Farlow  was  born  February 
21st,  1849,  was  reared  on  a  farm,  where  her  mother  died  iu  1866,  and  her 
father  in  1874.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Farlow's  children  are  four  in  number,  as 
follows:  Elmer,  a  farmer  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  is  married  to 
Ella  Finney;  Harry,  a  merchant  of  Bolton,  is  married  to  Carrie  Metzger; 
Mamie,  wife  of  Daniel  Webster  Finney,  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas; 
William  C,  who  occupies  the  family  homestead  in  Rutland  township, 
has  taken  him  to  wife,  Blanche  Brownell. 

Upon  his  return  from  the  army  Mr.  Farlow  resumed  farming  and  has 
continued  it  without  material  interruption.  He  has  participated  in  the 
affairs  of  his  municipality  as  one  interested  in  the  public  welfare  and 
when  such  participation  involved  a  question  of  political  action,  he  has 
been  an  unswerving  Republican.  He  never  experienced  confusion  of  opin- 
ions and  consequent  change  of  front  when  "the  great  breakup  of  1890'' 
came  on  and  he  forecasted  the  comparative  temporary  character  of  that 
movement  from  the  period  of  its  lirst  victory.  Mr.  Farlow  is  a  trustee  of 
the  Countv  High  School,  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.  and  A.  H.  T.  A. 


ABEAM  O.  EMPFIELD— Those  who  have  resided  within  the  juris- 
diction of  Independence  for  a  third  of  a  century  have  known  the  subject 
of  this  review.  His  entry  to  Montgomery  county  dates  along  with  the 
pioneers,  for  in  February,  1869,  he  stopped  near  the  "round  mound," 
near  Wayside,  and  proceeded  to  do  the  initial  work  on  a  Montgomery 
county  claim.  He  had  not  had  a  capital  training  for  the  "rough-and- 
tumble"  of  the  frontier,  although  he  had  driven  his  team  from  Blooming- 
ton,  Illinois,  across  the  states  to  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  thence  to  Topeka, 
Wamego,  and  finally,  into  Montgomery  county.  The  trip  prepared  him 
for  the  continued  out-door  existence  awaiting  him  in  his  new  location  and 
for  a  year  he  made  the  most  of  his  rural  environment.  He  really  made 
no  remarkable  reputation  as  a  farmer,  yet  he  followed  it  long  enough 
to  get  a  taste  of  its  diflSculties  and  bitternesses  in  pioneer  days.  He  dis- 
posed of  his  team  of  horses — partially  living  them  up  the  first  year — 
and  acquired  a  yoke  of  cattle,  and  began  turning  over  the  prairie  sod. 
He  opened  out  several  acres  of  land  in  this  way  and  when  the  new  town 
of  Independence  started  up.  and  made  some  pretensions  toward  perma- 
nency, he  left  the  farm  and  resumed  his  trade  of  a  carpenter  there. 

While  Mr.  Empfield  has  resided  a  few  years  on  one  of  the  good  farms 
of  IMontgomery  county,  and  which  he  has  owned  many  j-ears,  his  career 
has  been  passed  in  the  county  as  a  mechanic.  Few  men  were  tetter 
adapted  in  life  to  the  trade  he  has  followed.    The  handling  of  tools  in  his 


33^  HISTORY  OF  MOXTGOMERV  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

line  sieiiied  natural  with  him  and  his  ideas  in  desi<>ning  buildings  and  in 
the  appropriateness  and  tastefnlness  of  their  finish  were  at  once  pleasing 
and  in  advance  of  his  time.  That  he  was  pojiular  and  that  he  was  always 
emph.yed  is  no  wonder,  in  the  light  of  his  success.  He  did  his  first  work 
in  the  city  in  1870.  and  for  twenty-five  years  he  was  identified  with  the 
Imilding  interests  of  the  county's  cajjital.  Some  of  his  I>est  work  was 
done  on  the  residcii.cs  of  Wm.  Dnnkin,  J.  M.  Anderson.  ('.  W.  Canning 
and  George  T.  (inn  n^.y. 

Having  served  iiis  linie"  at  his  trade,  for  the  second  time.  Mr.  Emp- 
tield  decided  to  occujiy  his  farm  and.  with  his  wife.  i)ass  his  afternoon 
of  life  in  semi-retirement,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  open  air  and  concerned 
with  only  a  few  head  of  stock  and  with  the  general  care  and  improve- 
ment of  his  farm.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  sections  20 
and  27.  township  33.  range  15,  the  cultivation  of  which  is  done  chiefly 
by  proxy. 

Abram  G.  Empfield  was  born  in  Cambria  county,  Pennsylvania,  July 
20th,  1847.  His  parents  were  George  \\'.  and  Margaret  (Myers)  Emp- 
field. The  father  was  born  in  Indiana  county,  the  "Keystone  State,"  in 
1810.  and  died  in  Cambria  county,  September  17th,  1897,  while  the  mo- 
ther was  born  in  the  same  county  in  1818,  and  now  resides  in  Belsano, 
I'ennsylvania.  The  father  of  George  W.  Empfield  was  Joseph  Empfield, 
who  came  to  the  Uinted  States  an  English  boy,  stealing  his  way  over 
aboard  a  "sailer."  and  on  reaching  this  country  was  sold,  by  the  captain 
of  the  ship,  to  a  miller,  for  the  amount  of  his  passage.  He  finally  drifted 
into  Indiana  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  became  a  farmer,  married 
and  died  in  1857,  leaving  three  sons,  viz:  George  W.,  Abraham  and  Jack- 
son, the  latter  being  a  minister  of  the  United  P.refhren  church  and  resid- 
ing in   Salina.  Kansas. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  nine  children,  as  follows:  Thomas,  of  Belsano, 
Pennsylvania;  Mary  A.,  wife  of  Harvey  Cooper,  of  Schuylkill  county, 
Penn.'-ylvania ;  Susan,  who  married  Amos  Black  and  resides  in  Cherry- 
vale,  Kansas;  Sarah,  now  Mrs.  Isaac  Mahan,  of  Cambria  county,  Pa.; 
Abram.  onr  subject;  William  W,,  of  Ebensburg,  Pa.,  and  Margaret,  wife 
of  >\illiam  James,  of  the  home  county  in  Pennsylvania.  These  are  all 
I  he  rliildren  who  grew  to  maturity,  except  Martha,  who  is  the  wife  of  Jud- 
son  Reese,  of  Cambria  county.  Pa,  Abram  G.  Empfield  worked  on  the 
farm  "till  near  his  majority,  when  he  was  put  to  learning  the  carpenter 
trade.  As  stated  above,  he  was  apt  with  tools  and  soon  gave  promise  of 
great  proficiency  at  the  bench.  In  December,  after  he  was  tweuty-one,  he 
left  his  home  and  friends  and  started  west  "to  grow  up  with  the  country." 
He  was  unmarried,  had  a  small  amount  of  money,  and  at  Bloomington. 
Illinois,  he  left  the  train,  joined  some  friends  and  purchased  an  outfit  fop 
the  "overland"  continuation  of  his  journey  hither. 

In   1877.  :\Ir.   Empfield  returned   to   Pennsylvania   and.   in   Cambria 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  337 

1-ounty,  on  Jul.v  5th,  married  ^laliala  Campbell,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Rebecca  (Hill)  Campbell,  farmers  and  old  residents  of  the  county.  5Ir. 
and  Mrs.  Campbell  were  both  born  in  1826,  and  still  survive.  Their 
children  are:  Mrs.  Emptield,  Lewis,  of  Johnstown,  Pa.;  Abbie,  wife  of 
Sylvester  Stover,  of  Fort  Collins,  Col.;  Amos,  of  Johnstown.  Pa.;  Susie, 
the  ynimucsi.  is  the  wife  of  Amos  ^IcAlister,  of  Cambria  county.  Pa.  Mr. 
and'  .Mrs"  i:iii|,Hrld  have  an  only  child,  a  daughter,  Rebecca  M.,  wife  of 
Ce(ir;;c  .M.  Sicwart,  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Enipfield  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  (ierman  P.aptist 
church.  Their  lives  have  been  passed  in  industry  and  they  have  achieved 
a  position  among  those  who  have  aided  in  the  develoiiment  of  their 
countv. 


DELOS  W.  WILTSE — Introducing  this  article  is  the  name  of  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  Independence  township,  residing  in  section  31, 
township  32,  range  1.5.  He  owns  a  farm  of  210  acres,  improved  in  keep- 
ing with  the  progress  of  the  county  and  has  been  a  citizen  of  Montgomery 
county  since  September,  1871.  He  is  the  oldest  settler  now  a  resident  of 
his  locality — in  point  of  residence — and  when  he  purchased  the  improve- 
ments of  the  original  settler  of  the  "claim,"  they  consisted  simply  of  a 
log  house,  which  he  occupied  ten  years,  and  which  is  now  used  as  a  corn 
crib  and  serves  as  a  daily  reminder  of  the  family's  experiences  on  the 
frontier. 

Delos  W.  Wiltse  is  a  native  of  the  state  of  Ohio,  born  August  18th, 
1852.  At  six  yeai's  of  age  he  accompanied  his  parents,  John  and  Mary 
(Owens)  Wiltse,  into  Illinois  and  settled  in  DeKalb  county.  The  parents 
were  farmers,  and  the  mother  died  the  same  year  of  our  subject's  birth, 
and  left  the  following  children,  viz :  Frank,  of  Green  county,  Iowa ; 
Charles,  who  died  young;  Albert,  of  Green  county,  Iowa;  Mary,  who  died 
in  189G,  as  the  wife  of  Patrick  Logan,  and  Kelos  \Y.,  of  this  sketch.  John 
Wiltse  died  in  Green  county,  Iowa,  in  1902,  at  ninety-one  years  of  age. 
He  wi;s  born  in  New  York  state  and  his  family  was  identified  with  Her- 
kimer county.  He  was  reared  a  farmer  and  followed  it  all  his  life.  His 
wife  was  a  daughter  of  a  Welchman,  and  he  left  New  York  and  settled 
in  the  state  of  Ohio  at  an  early  date.  He  had  brothers,  Elijah  and 
Stephen,  of  Illinois,  and  Henry  and  Otis,  who  passed  their  active  lives  in 
Wisconsin. 

Our  subject  came  to  maturity  on  a  farm  near  Sycamore,  Illinois. 
His  education  was  obtained  in  the  district  schools  and  was  of  a  limited 
chai'acter.  He  attended  school  only  during  the  winter  months,  after  he  came 
to  be  of  use  on  the  farm.  He  was  married  in  June,  1871,  and  began  life  in 
the  calling  to  which  he  had  been  reared.  His  wife  was  Charlotte  E.,  a 
vdau"liter  of  the  late  early  settler.   Ashman   Partridge,   of  Montgomery 


338  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

county,  Kansas.  The  latter  was  well  known  in  the  countv  he  helped  to 
inil>rove  and  was  one  of  the  prosjterons  and  wealthy  farmers  of  Inde- 
pendence township.  Since  his  removal  to  Kansas,  Mr.  Wiltse  has  con- 
fined his  efiforts  to  grain  raising,  with  some  stock,  and  has  enjoyed  a  rea- 
sonahle  degree  of  prosperity.  His  efforts  have  universally  been  honorable 
and  intelligent  ones  and  these  attributes,  in  a  strong  sense,  govern  the 
character  of  his  citizenship.  He  was  limited  in  resources  on  his  advent 
to  the  county,  having  a  team  and  a  small  amount  of  money  and,  in  con- 
sequence, his  first  years  on  the  Kansas  prairie  were  economically,  yet  in- 
dustriously and  comfortably  i>assed. 

'i  here  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  Wiltse  four  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Elinyra,  wife  of  Samuel  Lehr,  with  one  child,  Chester;  Byron,  who 
married  May  Young;  and  Walter  and  Otto,  both  at  home.  In  politics  the 
Wiltses  of  this  branch  are,  and  have  been.  Republicans,  and  our  subject 
has  always  taken  a  good  citizen's  interest  in  the  political  and  x>ublic  af- 
fairs of  his  locality.  He  has  served  two  terms  on  the  school  lioard  in  dis- 
trict 105 — "Four  Corners"  school  house. 


JAMES  BRADEX — One  of  the  new  acquisitions  to  the  rural  popu- 
lation of  Montgomery  county  is  James  Braden,  a  native  of  the  "Keystone 
State,"  who,  after  a  long  residence  in  Missouri,  in  1901,  settled  in  Lib- 
erty township.  In  the  short  time  he  has  been  in  the  county  he  has  made 
many  friends,  his  good  (pialities  attracting  all  who  have  dealings  with 
him. 

The  family  history  of  Mr.  Braden  carries  us  back  to  Beaver  county, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  born,  March  10th,  1829.  His  father  was 
Frank  Braden,  and  his  mother  Rebecca  Russell.  The  father  died  when 
his  son  was  but  one  year  old  and  the  mother  passed  away  when  he  was 
but  eight  years  of  age.  Our  subject  was  then  adopted  by  Hanson  John- 
son, one  of  the  early  settlers  and  leading  farmers  of  that  county.  Mr. 
Braden  remained  with  this  family  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Johnson  in 
1849,  and  was  treated  in  every  respect  as  a  son. 

At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  began  life  for  himself  and  remained  in 
Beaver  county,  engaged  in  farming,  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
war,  when  he  became  a  member  of  the  5th  I'enn.  Heavy  Artillery,  and 
during  his  service,  was,  for  the  most  jiart,  in  the  quartermaster's  depai't- 
ment  and  was  mustered  out  at  Vienna,  Va.,  July  18th,  1805.  He  reen- 
gaged at  farming  in  Pennsylvania  until  1867,  when  he  came  west  to  War- 
rensburg.  Mo.,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  sixty-five  miles  east  of  Kansas 
City,  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  railway.  He  cultivated  this  farm  for  eigh- 
teen years,  when  he  sold  it  and  rented  a  farm,  until  his  settlement  in  Lib 
erty  township,  as  stated,  in  1901. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  339 

The  domestic  life  of  Mr.  l>ra<len  began  iu  tlie  year  18.^2,  when  he  was 
happily  joined  iu  iuarriaL;('  in  Itcaver  county.  Pa.,  with  Louisa  Sanford. 
The  family  of  eleven  children  which  she  has  borne  to  her  husband,  are 
scattered  to  the  four  points  of  the  compass,  but  all  occupy  honorable 
positions  in  the  communities  in  which  they  reside.  The  eldest  child  was 
John  H.,  now  a  practicing  physician  in  Morgan  county.  Mo;  Francis  L. 
is  a  stock  dealer  at  Independence,  Kansas;  Luther  N.  is  a  farmer  and 
stock  raiser  in  North  Dakota;  John  B.  is  a  physician  and  practices  in 
the  State  of  Washington;  Mary  Louisa  married  Serena  Campbell  and  is 
now  a  widow,  living  in  Oklahoma;  Ella  F.,  wife  of  E.  J.  D.  Miller,  re- 
sides in  North  Dakota ;  t^na  L.  is  the  wife  of  farmer  Robert  L.  Smith,  of 
Johnson  county.  Mo. ;  Herman  D.  lives  in  the  Indian  Territory ;  Margaret 
J.  married  Charles  Hite,  a  farmer  of  South  Dakota;  Amos  resides  in 
North  Dakota,  and  Perry  is  a  farmer  residing  in  Liberty  townshp. 

In  the  different  communities  in  which  James  Braden  has  resided 
during  his  life  time,  he  has  held  a  prominent  and  helpful  position  and 
has  always  been  consistent  in  his  endeavors  for  the  uplifting  of  society. 
He  has  always  been  a  consistent  su]ij)orfcr  of  the  educational  institutions 
of  the  communities  where  he  has  resided  and  has  voted,  during  his  lift* 
time,  the  Eepublican  ticket.  In  matters  of  religious  concern,  he  and  his 
family  are  consistant  members  of  the  Presbyterian  church  and  liberal 
supporters  of  the  same.  His  coming  to  the  county  is  regarded,  by  those 
who  have  his  acquaintance,  as  a  decided  gain  to  the  rural  population  in 
the  local  community  in  which  he  is  making  his  residence. 

The  sons  are  nearly  all  members  of  some  society.  Herman  is  a  Ma- 
son, Frank  and  Dr.  J.  A.  are  Modern  Woodmen,  Perrv  is  an  Odd  Fellow. 


EDWARD  B.  WEBSTER— Edward  B.  Webster,  one  of  the  more 
recent  settlers  of  West  Cherry  township,  is  a  native  of  Polo,  Illinois, 
having  been  born  in  Ogle  county.  May  20th,  1844.  He  has  been  identified 
with  the  west  since  the  fall  of  1870,  and  his  experience  as  a  farmer  has 
extended  somewhat  over  the  States  of  Iowa.  Nebraska,  Missouri  and  Kan 
sas,  and  in  March,  1892,  he  purchased  his  farm  of  three  hundred  and 
twenl\  acres  in  section  10,  township  31,  range  Ki.  which  has  profitably 
responded  to  his  intelligent  and  energetic  effort. 

The  youth  of  Edward  B.  Webster  was  passed  iu  the  country  and  his 
•education  obtained  in  the  rural  schools.  August  2Cth,  1802,  he  enlisted 
in  Company  "D,"  92nd  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  his  immediate  commanders  being 
Capt.  Lyman  Preston  and  Col.  Smith  D.  Atkins..  His  regiment  was  as- 
signed to  the  Army  of  the  West,  under  Gen.  Rosecrans,  during  the  greater 
part  el  his  service.  His  was  a  company  of  mounted  infantry  and  moved 
aliom  with  the  cavalry  forces.    He  was  in  the  Chickamauga  campaign  and 


340  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

in  the  Atlanta  canipai'in.  np  to  the  battle  before  the  city,  when  he  was 
shot  through  the  right  lung  and  was  forced  out  of  the  ranks  for  about 
two  months.  He  returned  to  his  command  after  his  partial  recovery  and 
was  with  it  'till  mustered  nut  <if  the  service.  June  22nd.  1S(1.~.  at  Conrad, 
North  Carolina. 

He  took  up  the  work  of  the  farm  again,  after  the  war  chised.  and  re- 
mained in  Illinois  'till  the  fall  of  ISTfl,  when  he  moved  to  Wappelo 
couut\ ,  Iowa,  where  he  resumed  farming  for  twelve  years,  at  which  time 
he  made  a  move  into  the  far  western  plain,  settling  in  Anteloi^e  county, 
Nebraska.  There  he  took  up  a  claim  on  the  public  domain,  which  he  held 
and  cultivated  'till  the  autumn  of  188J>,  when  he  returned  southeast  and 
rented  a  farm  in  -Jackson  county.  Missouri,  and.  three  years  later,  came, 
to  M(<Ltgomery  county,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Webster  is  a  sou  of  George  E.  Webster,  born  in  Delaware  county. 
New  York.  The  father  pioneered  to  Illinois,  took  up  government  laud, 
and  helped  to  build  the  Erie  canal,  before  his  departure  from  the  "Em- 
pire State."'  He  was  a  son  of  Elijah  Webster,  whose  children  were: 
George,  Jerrad,  Oscar.  Navadis.  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Schriver.  Mrs.  Roxy  A. 
Burger,  and  Mks.  Maria  O'Kane.  George  Webster  married  Sarah  Shaver, 
a  native  of  Delaware  county.  New  York,  and  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
Catherine  (P.urhouse)  Shaver.  George  Webster  and  wife  had  two  child- 
ren: Wellen  H..  uf  Loveland.  Colorado,  and  Edward  P...  of  this  review. 

In  Wajijielo  county.  Iowa.  Edward  R.  Webster  married  Clara,  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary  A.  iGleason)  I'achwood.  The  issue  of  their 
marriage  are:  Mabel,  wife  of  C.  D.  Shepard.  of  Washington.  She  has 
three  children,  James,  Daniel  and  Earnest;  Robert,  of  Bakersfield,  Cal., 
married  Ella  Ogden;  Edith.  William,  H)arold  and  Blanche. 

Mr.  Webster  belongs  to  the  Anti-Horse  Thief  Association,  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board  of  his  district  and  honors  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Re])ulilic  with  his  name  on  the  roll. 


JOHN  B.  REA — The  interesting  character  whose  name  introduces 
this  biography  has  been  numbered  among  the  citizens  of  Montgomery 
county  since  Novcniliei-  2Sth,  1875,  the  year  he  established  himself  on  sec- 
tion 3,  towiisliiji  :;:!.  range  14.  and  began  the  first  work  in  the  develop- 
ment of  his  Kansas  home.  As  a  character  he  is  unique,  in  that  the  story 
of  his  life  endiraces  the  experiences  of  wide  travel,  beginning  with  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  continuing  through  many  years  of 
the  next  quarter  of  a  century,  during  which  time  the  sun  shone  on  him 
from  many  distant  points  of  our  American  continent. 

Born  in  Logan  county,  Ohio,  November  28th,  1825,  and  reared  and 
educated  there,  at  twenty-four  years  of  age  he  went  to  Mahaska  county. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  34I 

Iowa,  where  he  passed  one  year  as  a  hand  on  a  farm.  The  following 
spring — 1850 — with  a  small  company,  he  made  the  trij)  with  an  ox  team 
to  Placerville,  ralifornia.  being  from  May  1st  to  Sei)teml)er  1.5th,  on  the 
journey.  He  engaged  in  mining,  but  at  the  end  of  a  year  had  saved  but 
little  (.$400.00)  from  his  wages,  and  decided  to  return  home.  He  took 
the  brig  "Imaum"'  for  San  Juan,  crossed  Nicaragua  lake  and  thence 
down  the  San  Juan  river  to  Greytown.  There  he  took  a  steamer  to  Ha- 
vana, Cuba,  and,  a  week  later,  sailed  to  New  Orleans  and  up  the  Mis- 
sissippi river  to  St.  Louis.  By  stage  he  went  to  Carthage,  Illinois,  and 
thence  to  his  starting-point  in  Iowa,  where  lie  soon  began  his  journey,  by 
horse,  to  his  home  in  Ohio. 

In  December,  1852,  he  married  and  returned  at  once  (to  Mahaska 
county.  Iowa,  where  he  purchased  a  farm,  cultivated  it  a  year  and  then 
took  his  departure  for  his  eastern  home.  In  1857,  he  again  went  to  the 
Pacifle  coast,  taking  ship  at  New  York,  crossing  the  isthmus  and  stop- 
ping at  San  Jose,  where  he  worked  on  a  farm  one  year.  He  staged  it 
from  Los  Angeles  to  Sherman,  Texas,  and  spent  two  years  on  a  farm 
there.  Hostilities  between  the  North  and  the  South  caused  him  to  return 
to  his  friends  and  he  enlisted,  at  Oskaloosa,  Iowa,  in  Company  "K,"  33rd 
Iowa  Inf.,  under  Col.  Samuel  Rice.  He  was  in  the  Department  of  the 
West  and  passed  much  time  in  Arkansas,  from  his  enlistment  in  August, 
1862.  He  participated  in  the  engagement  at  Helena,  July  4th,  18G3,  and 
was  in  the  hospital  at  Little  Rock  during  the  Red  river  campaign.  Re- 
joining his  command,  he  went  with  it  to  New  Orleans,  to  Mobile,  andafter 
taking  the  latter,  went  to  Fort  Blakely,  from  which  point  his  regiment 
was  ordered  to  the  Rio  Grande  river,  in  Texas.  After  doing  some  ser- 
vice on  this  extreme  frontier  the  force  returned  to  New  Orleans,  by  the 
wav  of  Galveston,  and  was  mustered  out  in  the  "Crescent  City"  in  June, 
1865. 

The  war  over,  Mr.  Rea  resumed  farming  in  Ohio  for  a  year,  and 
then  went  back  to  Iowa,  where  he  was  married  the  second  time,  Septem- 
ber 12th,  1866.  This  same  year  he  started  west  and  south  in  a  wagon  and 
located  in  Johnson  county,  Kansas,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  and 
owned  it  'till  1873,  when  he  disposed  of  it  and  moved  to  Batesville,  Ar- 
kansas. There  he  remained  'till  the  beginning  of  the  journey  which 
brought  him  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas. 

His  beginnings  in  this  county  were  as  primitive  as  any.  His  resi- 
dence was  14x16  feet  to  start  with  and  the  conveniences  about  the  place 
were  fill  improvised  and  temporary.  He  has  given  his  time  to  grain  and 
grazing  and  his  modest  surroundings  have  been  the  result. 

John  B.  Rea  was  a  son  of  Allen  Rea,  a  farmer  and  native  of  Culpeper 
county,  Virginia.  His  grandfather  was  Joseph  Rea,  of  Culpeper  county, 
and  of  Irish  stock.  The  eight  children  of  Joseph  Rea  were:  Robert,  Allen, 


342  UlSTORY  OF   MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY^,  KANSAS. 

Thoinus.  Isaiah.  Margaret.  Sarah,  Elizabeth  and  Deborah.  Allen  Rea 
married  .Maria  I'.ishop  and  was  the  father  of  twelve  children,  viz:  Mrs. 
Snsainiah  Shark,  (ieorjie  M!..  John  B..  Mrs.  Marv  J.  Hender.son,  Mrs. 
Charlotte  Hisev.  Deborah.  Mrs.  Margaret  Crowder,  Mrs.  Saniantha  Davis, 
Koljevt.  .Mrs.  Louisa  Davis,  .I(«<ei.li.  of  Olatlie,  Kans..  and  Carlisle,  of  Con- 
way, Missouri. 

John  P..  Kea  married,  first,  Hannah  Wiekersluini,  who  bore  him: 
Joseph,  of  Tennessee,  whose  four  children  are  Frank,  Mrs.  Deborah  Rob- 
ertson, Capitola.  Mary  and  Virgie:  Mrs.  Robertson  has  four  children: 
Thomas,  William,  Flora  and  Manue;  William  is  deceased;  Mr.  Rea,  our 
subject,  married  for  his  second  wife,  Mary  J.  Rice,  of  Jennings  county, 
Indiana,  and  a  daughter  of  James  and  Calydia  (Adams)  Graham,  natives 
of  Kentucky,  Two  children  were  the  fruit  of  this  union,  namely:  Saman- 
tha  Pilgrim,  deceased,  and  Mrs.  Nellie  Jones,  of  Montgomery  county. 
Kansas.    The  children  of  Mrs.  Jones  are  Vivian  Alfa  and  Charles,  twins. 

;Mr.  Rea  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  of  the 
A.  H.  T.  A.  Hie  has  ever  maintained  himself  a  worthy  citizen  and  his 
standing  in  his  community  and  county  is  above  reproach. 


GEORGE  W.  LIPI'Y— In  the  spring  of  1872,  the  worthy  citizen 
whose  name  is  prefixed  to  this  sketch,  left  Fulton  county,  Illinois,  and 
drove  his  little  family  across  the  state  of  Missouri  and  into  Wilson 
«ounty,  Kansas.  After  a  temporary  sojourn  he  went  over  into  Elk 
county  and  took  a  claim,  which  he  held  'till  the  fall  of  1874,  when  he  sold 
it  and  came  to  the  Verdigris  river  in  Montgomery'  county,  where  he  has 
since  made  his  home.  His  original  farm  comprised  only  forty  acres, 
where  he  finally  located,  and  to  the  development  of  it  and  to  the  acquire- 
ment of  broader  acres  was  his  attention  earnestly  directed.  So  intense 
and  concerted  were  the  efforts  of  his  wife  and  himself  exerted  that  an  es- 
tate of  four  hundred  and  fifty  acres  now  represents  their  farm.  Their 
home  is  in  section  17,  township  31,  range  16,  and  the  house  which  covers 
them  was,  originally,  a  simple  log  cabin.  In  its  construction  their  funds 
exhausted  themselves  before  the  cover  was  provided  and  the  family  watch 
was  sacrificed  to  buy  material  for  the  roof.  But  this  modest  pretension 
served  the  family  as  a  home,  and  "there  is  no  place  like  home."' 

George  W.  Lippy  was  born  in  Miami  county,  Ohio,  and  brought  up  in 
Fulton  county,  Illinois,  His  parents,  John  and  Sarah  (Zepp)  Lippy, 
settled  in  the  latter  place  when  George  was  only  a  baby.  John  Lippy  was 
born  in  :Maiyland  and  was  of  German  stock.  He  was  the  father  of  ten 
children,  namely  :  F.lizabeth  and  Catherine  Lasswell,  George  W„  John, 
i:]irliiam,  Mrs.  Susanna  Markley.  Arminda  Lee,  Mrs.  Jane  Schlegel,  Mrs. 
Edna  Lee  and  William. 


JOHN.   B.  REA  AND   FAMILY. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  343 

Tlie  birth  of  George  W.  Lippy  occurred  April  11th,  1844.  His  whole 
life  was  rural  in  environment  and,  September  8th,  1870,  he  married  Eliza- 
beth Markley.  Mrs.  Lippy  was  born  in  Fulton  county,  Illinois,  February 
4th,  1847,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Conrad  Markley,  a  native  of  Ohio.  The 
Markley  children  were:  Conrad,  .Joseph,  ilrs.  Margaret  Cornwell,  Mrs. 
Susannah  Kiclinnls.  .T.nksuii.  .Inhii.  Klizalii'ili.  Mniy.  Conrad  Markley 
married  Kuth  Fosicr.  a  daiiulitrr  ol'  I'.cii jaiiiiii  ami  ATiianda  (Cone)  Fos- 
ter, and  their  chihlivii  wcic ;  Amanda  Walliih.  ICli/.aheth  Lippy,  wife  of 
our  .subject;  Louis  C,  Margaret  ("atron,  -Jolin,  Thomas,  Jackson  and 
Joshua.  The  first  Markley  children  mentioned  above  were  heirs  of  Jona- 
than Markley.  of  Pennsylvania,  father  of  Conrad  Markley,  Mrs.  Lijipy's 
father. 

Mr.  Li])py  and  wife  have  four  children,  to-wit :  Nora  Catron,  of  Ok- 
lahoma, with  five  children:  George,  ^Margie,  Ruth,  Louis  and  Ralph; 
Margaret,  wife  of  G.  S.  McEvers,  of  Montgomei'y  county,  with  three 
children:  Maurice.  Millie  and  Martha;  John  and  Ruth  Lippy,  at  the 
family  home. 

The  industry  and  thrift  displayed  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Liiijiy  as  they 
passed  through  life  has  been  one  of  the  marked  features  of  their  family 
trait.  The  management  of  their  affairs  indicates  an  unusual  business 
sagacity  and  the  possession  of  such  an  estate  as  theirs  only  compensates 
them,  in  a  measure,  for  the  sacrifices  they  have  made.  Misfortune  has 
come  to  the  family  in  recent  years  in  the  mental  aberration  of  the  father, 
rendering  him  incompetent  to  assume  charge  of  the  domestic  affairs.  His 
noble  wife  has  taken  her  place  at  the  helm  and  the  onward  and  upward 
movement  of  their  iiecuniarv  affairs  has  suff'ei-ed  no  abatement. 


MATHIAS  BLAES — The  gentleman  whose  life  work  is  bi'iefly  sum- 
marized in  this  article,  is  a  representative  of  one  of  the  numerous  fami- 
lies of  Montgomery  county  whose  material  interests  mark  them  among 
the  successful  people  of  the  municipality.  The  distinction  of  being  pio- 
neers of  the  county  also  belongs  to  them  and  they  have  comported  them- 
selves with  credit  as  citizens  of  a  great  and  growing  commonwealth. 

Mathias  Blaes  is  well  worthy  the  honor  of  being  the  head  of  the 
Blaes  family.  His  public  spirit  and  enterprise,  his  general  air  of  prog- 
ress and  his  extensive  financial  interests  all  conspire  to  this  end.  His  be- 
lief in  the  encouragement  of  worthy  objects  has  been  demonstrated  by  a 
liberal  support  of  the  same  and  his  open  method  of  transacting  business 
is  a  matter  of  general  comment. 

The  Blaes's  were  settlers  from  Cook  county,  Illinois,  and  came  to 
Montgomery  county  in  1869.  Mathias  Blaes,  our  subject,  was  born  near 
Chicago,  Illinois,  January  26th,  1856.  He  comes  of  pure  German  stock, 
his  father,  Jacob  Blaes,  and  his  mother,  Elizabeth  Mbrch,  having  been 


344  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

born  in  Prussia.  Tlie  parents  were  married  in  1840,  in  Chicago,  having 
conie  from  Germany  in  that  year,  and  settled  in  Cook  county,  Illinois. 
From  that  date  until  18(59,  they  followed  the  varied  occupations  of  the 
farm,  and  when  they  came  to  Montgomery  county  they  entered  land — all 
who  were  of  the  projjer  age — and  a  large  body  of  the  public  domain  was 
thus  gathered  together.  The  father  passed  away  at  eighty-four  years  of  age, 
while  the  mother  still  survives  and  is  seventy-flve  years  old. 

Seventeen  children  were  born  to  this  pioneer  couple,  fourteen  of 
whom  still  li\e,  namely:  Christian,  Mary  E..  .Jacob,  Elizabeth,  Andrew, 
Mai  bias.  -lohn,  Henry,  Nicholas,  Mary  ti..  Kate.  Kegina.  Anton  and  Anna. 
'These  children  are  scattered  from  Arkansas  to  California,  and  are  main- 
taining tliemselves  as  good  citizens  in  their  respective  abiding  places. 

Mathias  Blaes  was  a  Ijoy  of  thirteen  years  when  his  life  was  cast 
with  the  outpost  of  civilization  on  the  Kansas  frontier,  and  among  the 
■scattered  fragments  of  Black  Dog's  and  White  Hair's  Osage  bands.  The 
last  obstacle  to  pioneer  progress  was  not  removed  with  the  depai'ture  of 
the  Indians,  for  floods  and  grasshopjiers  and  chinch  bugs  came  along 
and  for  some  years,  in  the  early  seventies,  the  lot  of  the  white  man  was 
hard.  Discouraged  but  not  disheartened,  the  Blaes's  fought  their  battles 
against  adversity  without  yielding  and  came  off  gloriously  victorious  in 
the  end. 

The  district  sdiool  was  the  only  one  accessible  to  Mr.  Blaes  and  ha 
acquired  the  ground-work  of  a  con.mon  and  practical  education.  He 
made  his  home  with  his  parents  'till  April  3rd,  1883,  when  he  married 
Theresia  Koehler,  who  came  to  the  United  States  from  Bohemia  at  six 
years  of  age,  and  to  Kan.sas  with  her  parents  in  1879,  and  settled  in  Wil- 
son county. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blaes  began  their  married  life  on  their  farm  two  miles 
north  of  Cherryvale.  Agriculture  and  stock  raising  was  the  chief  pro- 
duct of  the  farm  until  recent  years,  when  the  mineral  development  of  the 
locality  proved  it  to  be  rich  in  oil  and  gas,  and  this  product— from  the 
"Spindle  Top  Farm,"  as  it  has  been  named — yields  its  own  handsome  re- 
1u)ns.  each  (juarter.  in  royalties,  from  the  operators  of  the  lease.  Eleven 
oil  wells,  many  of  which  occupy  the  high  plateau  overlooking  Cherry- 
vale,  produce  crude  petroleum  and  a  good  gas  well  supplies  the  pumping 
station  and  the  residence  of  Mr.  Blaes  with  nature's  perfection  of  fuel. 

The  improvements  on  "Spindle  Top"  farm  ;iic  in  kcc]iiiig  with  the 
substantial  condition  of  its  proprietor;  large  Iwnsidiy  iisiilciirc,  ample 
barn  room  and  other  conveniences.  The  farm  coniains  iwu  Inindred  and 
twenty-two  acres  and  is  cultivated  as  assiduously  as  if  the  family  treas- 
ury were  not  teeming  with  riches  drawn  from  the'  bowels  of  the  earth.  Its 
fields  are  rich  and  fertile  and  are  stocked  amply  with  the  various  domes- 
tic animals  common  to  a  well  conducted  farm. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  345 

Ten  rliiUlren  have  blessed  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.hie^.  and  all 
have  learned  to  speak  their  mother,  as  well  as  the  Enfjlish,  tongue.  Ger- 
man is  the  langnaoe  of  the  family  circle,  while  Enf'lish  was  learned  in 
school  and  in  contact  with  the  outside  world.  The  children  are:  Agatha, 
Adolph  J.,  Carl  II..  Arnold  Kdward.  Antoinette,  Colette.  Theresia  B., 
Frank  Joseph.  Anna  1,..  and  Omer  W. 


EDWARD  J.  TK1P.LE— An  early  settler  of  :Montn:"mery  county 
who  has  emphasized  his  presence  here  by  ])ositive  and  substantial  life 
achievements,  is  Edward  J.  Trible,  of  Rutland  townshi]).  Ecbruary,  1S70. 
marks  his  advent  to  the  county,  at  which  early  date  he  cond)ined  the  busi- 
ness of  a  freighter  with  that  of  a  settler,  and  entered  a  tract  of  the  public 
lands  in  Independence  township,  as  a  starting  point  in  his  citizen  career. 
He  came  to  the  county  with  mule  and  ox  teams  laden  with  flour  and  corn, 
which  he  sold  to  the  Osages,  then  quartered  in  their  villages  about  over 
the  county  and  the  farm  which  William  Brust  now  owns  is  the  site 
where  Mr.  Trible  put  forth  his  maiden  efforts  on  a  Kansas  farm. 

Edward  Trible,  like  other  pioneers,  made  his  first  home  in  Mont- 
gomery county  in  a  log  hut,  which  he  erected  with  his  own  hands.  His 
stable  matched  his  house  and  a  "shanghigh"  fence  enclosed  his  field.  Chief 
Nopawalla's  camp  was  only  a  fourth  of  a  mile  from  him  and  a  friendly 
intercourse  between  the    settler  and  the  Aborigines  was  maintained. 

In  1872,  Mr.  Trible  went  on  a  buffalo  hunt,  fifty  miles  west  of  his 
claim,  and  killed  all  the  meat  he  could  haul.  At  that  date  Butler  and 
Cowley  counties,  and  all  the  country  west  of  there,  was  full  of  that  large 
game,  and  it  served  the  pioneers  in  good  stead  during  a  scarcity  of  native 
meat  and  short  crops.  This  meat  our  subject  sold  at  Joplin,  Missouri, 
and  in  that  vicinity  he  remained,  working  about  the  lead  mines,  for  three 
j-ears,  returning  thence  to  Montgomery  county  and  settling  the  farm  he 
now  owns.  He  was  then  without  means,  so  to  speak,  and  he  roughed  it 
and  starved  it  until  Providence  came  to  his  rescue  with  earth's  bounteous 
crops.  He  lived  in  a  log  cabin  here,  too.  and  the  temporary  buildings  of 
the  modest  farmer  covered  him  'till  their  destruction  by  fire,  in  1892, 
when  the  home  of  the  present  day  arose  and  gave  him  shelter.  He  is 
located  on  a  tract  of  school  land  in  section  .36,  township  32,  range  14,  and 
is  classed  among  the  thorough-going  and  thrifty  citizens  of  his  township. 

December  25th.  1844,  Mr.  Trible,  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Devon- 
shire, England.  He  grew  up  there  to  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  when  he 
sailed  for  America  and  landed  at  Quebec,  Canada.  He  went  direct  to 
Alton.  Illinois,  and  thence  to  Macoupin  county,  that  state,  where  he  re- 
sided until  1867.  In  the  spring  of  1864,  he  enlisted  at  Camp  Butler,  111., 
in  Company  "F,"  133rd  Vol.  Inf.,  Capt.  Dugger  and  Col.  Phillips.    He 


346  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

did  guard  dutv  at  Rock  Island,  Illinois,  during  his  entire  service  and 
was  "^mustered  out  at  his  place  of  enlistment  December,  1865.  After 
spending  a  short  time  at  home  he  migrated  to  Barton  county,  Missouri, 
from  which  point  he  started  on  his  journey  to  Kansas  and  to  M'ontgom- 
ery  countv. 

Edward  .1.  Trihle  was  a  son  of  -Tolin  Trible.  whose  father  and  mother 
were  the  parents()f.I()lin,i:d\vai(l.  Al.nmi  and  f^amuel.  John  Trihle  married 
Mary  Oliver  in  Devonshire,  and  was  the  father  of  six  children,  as  follows: 
Mrs."  Grace  Elred.  of  Carlinville,  111.;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Hobson,  of  Carrol- 
ton.  111. ;  Mrs.  Mary  Fink,  of  Lamar,  Mb. ;  John,  of  Girard,  111. ;  Margaret, 
-wife  of  Peter  Denby,  and  Edward  J. 

In  1872,  Mr.  Trible  married  Mary  J.  Compton,  a  native  of  Ross 
county,  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  Wilson  and  Sarah  (Brake)  Compton. 
The  issue  of  this  marriage  is  six  children,  namely:  Mrs.  Maude  Greer, 
with  children,  (ileiin  and  Audra ;  Mrs.  Grace  Furgeson;  Wiltz,  of  Kansas 
City;  Maggie,  Elbirt  and  Blanche. 

"  The  first  wheeled  vehicle  known  in  England  was  made  by  John 
Oliver,  the  maternal  great-grandfather  of  Mr.  Trible.  He  lived  in  the 
county  of  Devonshire,  where  the  family  annals  have  existed  from  a  very 
-earlv  time. 


ALEXANDER  C.  GREER— In  1884,  the  subject  of  this  personal 
reference  came  to  Montgomery  county  and  identified  himself  with  the 
settlers  of  Rutland  township,  where  he  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  sections  27  and  33,  township  32,  range  14.  He  emigrated  from 
Morgan  county,  Indiana,  where  his  birth  occurred  October  11th,  1841, 
and  where  he  grew  up  on  a  farm.  His  father,  John  A.  Greer,  was  a  pio- 
neer there  from  Scott  county,  Kentucky,  and  a  minister  of  the  Christian 
church,  dying  the  year  following  our  subject's  birth. 

Rev.  John  A.  Greer  was  a  native  Irishman's  son,  James  Greer  being 
his  father.  James  Greer  accompanied  his  parents,  Stephen  H.  and  Ruth 
(Anderson)  Greer  to  America  as  a  child,  where  he  married  and,  in  Ken- 
tucky, reared  his  family  of  seven  children,  viz:  James.  Nathaniel,  Henry, 
Alvin,  Ruth,  Mrs.  Sophronia  Smith,  Mrs.  Martitia  Berry,  and  John  A. 
The  last  named  married  Nancy  Elsey,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
(Montague)  Elsey,  native  Kentucky  people.  Ten  children  sprang  from 
this  union,  as  foUows:  James,  John  E.,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Carroll,  Lyman 
M.,  ]Mrs.  Ruth  Williams,  Nancy  J.,  William  H..  Mrs.  Amanda  M.  Poor, 
Alexander  C,  and  Sarah,  deceased. 

Stephen  H.  Greer,  our  subject's  great-grandfather,  came  from  Ire- 
land to  Maryland  and  served  about  five  years  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

The  opportunities  of  Alexander  f'.  Greer,  in  youth,  were  only  such  as 
-came  to  a  country  boy  of  his  time,  and  he  grew  up  with  a  strong  body, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  347 

a  moral  and  uprioht  yount;  man.  August  30th,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany "F,"  5th  Ind.  Cav..  ('apt.  Felix  Graham— afterward  colonel— and. 
later,  under  Col.  Thomas  F.  F.utler.  in  the  2.3rd  Army  Corps,  commanded 
by  Gen.  Sherman.  He  was  in  twenty-two  different  engaoements  during 
tiie  war  and  escaped  both  wounds  and  capture.  He  was  in  the  fights  at 
Bean  Station.  Bluntville.  Tenn..  and  Bufflington's  Island.  He  helped  cap- 
ture Gen.  Basil  Duke  and  eleven  hundred  men.  with  a  mere  posse  of  fifty 
men.  From  Kentucky  the  command  went  into  Tennessee,  where  it  scout- 
ed over  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  and  fought  the  battles  of  Raytown, 
Strawberry  Plains  and  Walker's  Fort.  The  regiment  then  returned  to 
Louisville.  Kentucky,  from  whence  it  soon  embarked  on  its  journey  to 
join  Gen.  Sherman,  for  the  Atlanta  campaign.  On  this  campaign  the 
cavalry  led  the  advance  and  brought  on  the  fighting  all  the  way  down  to 
the  city.  After  the  Confederate  stronghold  surrendered,  Mr.  Greer's 
command  was  sent  back  to  Louisville,  where  he  went  to  the  hos])ital  with 
a  fever.  He  was  discharged  from  there  May  20th.  \S(\~).  and  is  now  a  pen- 
sioner on  the  roll  of  honor. 

Since  the  war.  farming  has  occupied  the  attention  of  Mr.  Greer.  He 
was  married  in  1807.  Rhoda  Parker  becoming  his  wife.  She  was  born  in 
Morgan  county,  Indiana,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Starling  and  Mary 
(White)  Parker,  of  Jackson  and  Morgan  counties,  that  state.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Greer  have  been  born  eight  children,  viz :  Mrs.  Ruth  Hutoka,  of 
Neodc-'ha,  Kansas;  Mrs.  Lily  M.  Botts,  of  Montgomery  county,  with 
children:  Laura,  Ella.  Margaret  and  Marie;  Mrs.  ^Margaret  M.  Malcom, 
with  three  children:  Ira.  Eva,  and  Ethel,  deceased;  Mrs.  Dora  Hewitt, 
of  Independence.  Kansas;  Everett  E.,  of  Neodesha ;  -lohn  E..  of  Indepen- 
dence; Mary  J.  and  Alice,  yet  on  the  family  homestead. 

In  politics  Mr.  Greer  affiliates  with  the  Republicans  and  has  been 
chosen  to  fill  several  local  offices  of  his  township.  He  has  attended 
county  and  district  conventions  in  a  delegate  capacity,  and  has  comport- 
ed himself  as  becomes  a  patriotic  and  worthy  citizen. 


LUCIXDA  W.  ALLISON— One  of  the  modest  citizens  of  West 
Cherry  township  and  one  who  has  passed  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century 
within  the  limits  of  Montgomery  county,  is  Mrs.  Lucinda  W.  Allison,  of 
this  record.  She  came  to  the  county  with  her  late  husband,  Jackson  Al- 
lison, and  settled,  temporarily,  west  of  Independence,  but,  two  years  later 
purchased  the  eighty  acre  tract  in  section  20,  township  31,  range  16, 
where  her  home  has  since  been  maintained. 

In  DeKalb  county,  Tennessee.  Mrs.  Allison  was  born,  March  21st, 
1845.  Eight  years  later,  she  accompanied  her  parents  into  Kentucky, 
where,  in  Logan  and  afterward  in  McClain  counties,  she  grew  up.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  William  C.  and  :Martha   (BeldenI   Doss  and  was  the 


•j^S  HISTOUV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

oldest  of  four  cliiUlreu,  viz:  Lucinda,  Ursula,  wife  of  Thomas  Sams,  of 
Logan  county,  Kentucky:  Mrs.  Maria  J.  Tines,  of  Butler  county,  Ken- 
tucky, and  Marv  E.  William  C.  Doss  was  a  son  of  Jonathan  Doss,  who 
married  a  l'rit«"hit  and  reared  an  only  child.  The  father  was  an  Irish- 
man and  the  mother  a  Tennesseean,  and  their  home  was  in  Virginia. 
William  C.  Doss"  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Martha  Belden,  of 
Logan  county.  Kentucky,  but  the  former  a  Virginian  by  birth. 

June  otii.  1871.  Lucinda  W.  Doss  married  Jackson  Allison,  a  native 
of  Franklin  county.  Kentucky,  and  a  son  of  Harrison  Allison,  a  Virgin- 
ian, with  Scotch-Irish  lineage.  Jackson  Allison  was  one  of  four  in 
family,  namely:  Jackson,  John,  Eli  and  Josejih. 

Soon  after  her  marriage,  Mrs.  Allison  and  her  Inishand  removed  to 
McClain  county  and  reiuained  there  'till  their  emigration  toward  the 
setting  sun.  Mr.  Allison  passed  his  life  as  a  farmer  and  died  February 
2Cth,  1901.  Among  his  first  acts  as  a  young  man  was  his  enlistment  in 
the  Ton  federate  army,  where  he  served  as  wagon-master  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  being  in  the  army  for  a  i)eriod  of  four  years.  After  the  war 
he  was  a]>iiointed  jailor  in  Calhoun.  McClain  county,  but  in  the  west  his 
life  was  a  (]uiet  and  unassuming  one.  lie  left  two  children  at  his  death, 
Elmo,  of  Montgomery  county,  with  children.  Lcla  and  Conrad  H.;  and 
Miss  Ella  Allison,  at  home. 


THOMAS  W.  ANDERSON— When  Montgomery  county  was  yet  an 
outpost  of  civilization  and  the  Red  Man  still  held  sway,  Thomas  W.  An- 
derson, of  this  sketch,  united  his  fortunes  with  the  sparse  settlement  of 
Independence  township,  and  entered  a  tract  of  land  near  Independence. 
He  engaged  actively  in  the  development  of  his  new  farm  and  ownd  it  un- 
til 1876,  when  he  exchanged  it  for  interests  in  Cherryvale,  in  and  around 
which  place  he  has  ever  since  resided. 

Coles  county.  Illinois,  was  the  native  place  of  ;Mr.  Anderson,  and 
there,  December  11th,  1836,  he  was  born.  James  Duncan  Anderson  was 
his  father  and  his  mother  was  Lucinda  Tlirelkeld,  both  parents  being  na- 
tives of  Kentucky.  In  1832.  they  left  their  native  state  and  settled  in 
Coles  county.  Illinois,  where,  in  i841.  the  father  died  at  forty-five  years, 
while  the  niother  lived  to  be  forty-eight  years  old.  Of  their  four  child- 
ren, Thomas  W.  is  the  sole  survivor. 

Being  left  without  jtarents  at  eight  years  of  age.  our  subject  was 
reared  under  the  care  an<l  guidance  of  his  maternal  grandparents.  Con- 
ditions were  such  that  an  education  was  imjiossihle  to  him  and  a  term 
of  three  months  in  a  country  school  was  all  the  school  advantage  he  had. 
The  Threlkeld  home  was  his  home  'till  December  5th,  1855,  when  he  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Helton  and  the  young  couple  set  out  to  do  for  themselves. 

Mrs.  Andeison  was  born  in  Tennessee,  in  1837.  was  a  daughter  of  An- 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY',  KANSAS.  349 

drew  Jind  Maliudu  Neal  (Black)  IJeltou,  of  Tenness(H>,  uud  English  birth, 
respectively,  lu  1854.  the  Heltons  started  to  Texas  bv  river  boat — down 
the  Ohio  and  up  the  Red  river — and  while  going  u\>  Ihe  latter  Andrew 
Helton,  the  father,  was  stricken  with  cholera  and  died  .Marrh  i^i'ud.  1854, 
at  forty-nine  years  of  age.  This  misfortune  dishearifiicd  ilic  ninilicr  and 
children,  and  they  returned  to  their  Illinois  home,  whi-n-  .Maiinda  Ibdton 
died,  January  1st,  1S5G.  at  forty-two  years  old. 

The  Helton  children  were :  Leanah  E..  born  April  .30.  1830 ;  Alfred 
C,  born  August  20th,  1831,  and  died  in  1852;  James  F.,  born  October 
30th,  .1833,  died  in  Kansas  City ;  Mary  H.,  born  October  22nd,  1835 ; 
Elizabeth,  born  December  27th,  1837;  Enieline  F.,  born  September  27, 
1840;  Milton  E.,  born  November  14th,  1843;  Thomas  M.,  born  November 
9th.  1845;  Henry  C.  born  March  18,  1848;  Laudou  H.,  born  May  2,  1850, 
and  George  W.,  born  July  16,  1853. 

Early  in  1865,  Thomas  W.  Anderson  enlisted  in  the  123rd  Illinois 
Vol.  Inf.,  but  was  subsequently  transferred  to  the  61st  Illinois  regiment, 
in  which  he  served  'till  the  close  of  the  CMvil  war.  Returning  to  his  fam- 
ily, he  continued  farming  in  his  native  state  'till  1869.  when  he  came  to 
Kansas  and  passed  a  year  at  Fort  Scott.  On  coming  into  Montgomery 
county  he  found  it  what  he  desired,  identified  himself  with  its  agricul- 
tural interests  and  has  done  a  modest,  tlumgh  substantial,  part  toward 
the  niaterial  development  of  the  county. 

AA'hen  he  became  identified  with  Cherryvale,  he  took  up  plastering, 
but  followed  the  trade  only  a  short  time,  when  he  erected  a  few  houses 
for  rent  and  bought  a  few  acres  near  the  city,  and  has  been  occupied 
largely  with  the  care  and  improvement  of  his  property.  In  1892,  he  was 
appointed  postmaster  of  Cherryvale,  being  the  second  Democratic  incum- 
bent of  that  otMce,  commissioned  for  four  years.  His  activity  in  politics 
in  behalf  of  nmny  aspiring  friends  commended  his  candidacy  "to  the  favor 
of  his  party  and  his  appointment  to  the  postmastership  was  the  result. 
He  has  been  justice  of  the  peace  of  I»rum  Creek  township  and  as  a  citizen 
has  comported  himself  with  dignity  and  patriotism. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anderson  have  ten  surviving  children  out  of  a  family  of 
twelve  as  follows:  Lemuel  E..  born  Se])tember  5th.  185(i ;  Mary  oiive, 
born  November  12.  1858,  is  the  wife  of  William  Richie;  Lucinda,  born 
October  7th,  1860,  is  now  Mrs.  C.  Friley ;  Stanley  A.,  born  July  31st,  1862, 
died  September  13th,  1864 ;  William  F.,  born  September  7th,  1864 ;  Isaac 
T.,  born  October  29th,  1866 ;  John  J.  W..  born  May  1st.  1869 ;  Louisa  M., 
born  March  4th,  1872,  is  married  to  M.  L.  Brooks;  Thomas  T.,  born  June 
9th,  1874,  and  died  November  5th,  1885;  Cyrus  R.,  born  August  17th, 
1876,  was  a  soldier  in  the  20th  Kansas  in  the  Thilippine  Islands;  Sallie 
Kate,  born  May  29th.  1879,  is  now  Mrs.  Oliver  Hedley.  and  Charles  Uitts, 
born  September  5tli,  1882.     Lemuel  Ray  Anderson,  a  grandson  of  Mr. 


350  HISTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

and  Mrs.  Anderson,  was  boi'n  May  1st,  1900,  and  is  being  reared,  trained 
and  educated  by  tlieni. 

Having  acMiuircd  a  modest  competency,  Mr.  Anderson  is  passing  bis 
declining  years  in  partial  retirement.  But  for  the  presence  of  their 
grandson  lie  and  his  wife  would  be  alone  in  their  comfortable  and  bds 
pitable  home,  just  nortlnvest  of  the  city  limits. 


JOHN  T.  ("LAY— John  T.  Clay  is  one  of  the  largest  farmers  of 
Liberty  township.  He  was  born  in  Pike  county,  Ohio,  March  14,»183S. 
His  father,  Thomas  Clay,  a  native  of  Virginia,  married  Elizabeth  Moore, 
also  a  native  of  Virginia.  They  came  to  Ohio  with  their  parents,  when 
very  young,  settling  in  I'ike  county,  where  Mr.  Clay,  Sr.,  died  at  the  age 
of  se\enty  years.    The  mother's  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  sixty-five. 

There  were  seven  children  in  the  family,  all  deceased  except  our  sub- 
ject. John  T..  the  only  survivor  of  the  Clay  family.  The  latter  was  reared 
irwOhio,  where  he  had  only  limited  opportunities  for  getting  an  educa- 
tion. His  marriage  to  Sarah  Moore  occurred  February  (>,  1861.  The 
war  coming  on.  Mr.  Clay  did  not  enlist,  but  furnished  a  substitute  to  fill 
his  place.  He  did  jiatriotic  service  by  staying  at  home  and  raising  corn, 
wheat  and  stock,  to  help  feed  the  large  army  of  T'nion  soldiers,  that  had 
to  be  fed. 

In  1881.  he  came  to  Kansas  and  settled  fourteen  miles  west  of  Wich- 
ita, where  he  bought  a  half  section  of  land.  He  lived  there  two  years,  but 
became  dissatisfied  and  sold  his  land  in  1888,  and  removed  to  Mont- 
gomery county.  Here  he  bought  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  on  the 
Verdigris  river.  Two  hundred  acres  of  this  was  bottom  land,  covered 
w'ith  heavy  timber  at  the  tinie  of  its  purchase,  but  now  it  is  all  in  the 
very  best  cultivation,  and  In-  laiscs,  on  an  average,  two  thousand  bushels 
of  wlieat  evciy  yi'av.  besides  ilionsands  of  bushels  of  corn.  His  stock 
consists  of  lioi^s.  ]irineinally,  a  large  nnnd)er  of  which  he  feeds  every  year. 

His  home  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of  a  large  bluff,  where  the  cold 
west  or  north  winds  cannot  reach  it,  and  is  located  six  miles  due  north 
of  Coft'eyville.  After  years  of  hard  work  and  untiring  industry,  Mr. 
Clay  li,-is  made  for  himself  one  of  The  mos't  i.rodnctive  farms  in  the 
count \. 

Twelve  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clay,  viz:  Charles 
and  Daniel,  deceased;  Thomas  V.,  who  lives  in  the  Indian  Territory; 
Catherine,  wife  of  W.  K.  P.ever;  Amanda,  wife  of  S.  R.  Selbv;  Elizabeth, 
Mrs.  Charles  E.  ^McC.rkle;  and  Louisa,  wife  of  ^Marion  McCorkle.  Five 
childien  died  in  infancx. 

Politically.  :Mr.  Ci'ay  is  a   i  ><• rat.     He  has  held  oflice  at  different 

times,    liaxing   been    treasurer   of    Lilteity    townshi])    two    terms.      He    is 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  351 

well  ;m<l  l;iv()i-al)ly  known  and  is  worthy  of  the  respect   and   honor    in 
which  he  is  held.  " 


.TA:MKS  E.  KIN(\\II)— The  siil)je<t  of  this  personal  narrative  be- 
lame  identified  with  Kansas  first  in  l.ss.l.  at  whieh  time  he  emigrated 
from  Chariton  connty,  Missonri.  and  settled  in  Clark  county,  Kansas.  He 
became  identified  with  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  river  in  1875, 
when,  in  company  with  his  brother.  Alexander,  and  an  uncle,  the  trip  was 
made  from  Orange  county,  Indiana,  into  Missouri  and  settlement  made 
in  Chariton  county. 

In  Orange  county,  Indiana,  Mr.  Kincaid  was  born  November  3,  1856. 
His  parents  were  farmers  and  his  childhood  and  youth  were,  therefore, 
passed  in  a  country  home.  His  education  was  obtained  in  an  attendance 
upon  the  winter  terms  of  a  country  school  and  when  he  reached  his 
eighteenth  year  his  career  as  a  pupil  ceased. 

While  a  resident  of  Missouri  he  maintained  himself  on  a  rented 
farm  and  spent  ten  years  in  the  state. 

With  two  teams  and  equipments,  as  his  partial  accumulations,  he 
departed  for  western  Kansas  in  the  autumn  of  1885,  and  experimented 
with  farming  out  there  for  four  years.  This  venture  proved  a  mistake, 
for  he  virtually  lost  his  savings  of  former  years  and,  ''broke"  and  almost 
stranded,  he  went  to  Cowley  county.  Kansas,  where  he  worked  Charles 
Hendricks'  farm  on  the  shares,  taking  one-third  of  the  crop.  He  remained 
in  that  county  till  1894,  when  he  became  a  seeker  of  fortune  in  the  new 
Oklahoma  country  and  made  the  race  for  a  claim.  He  obtained  one  in 
"K"  county,  lived  three  years  of  the  seven  passed  there,  in  a  "dug-out," 
proved  up  on  his  farm  and,  in  1000,  sold  it  for  .f3,500.0n  and  returned 
to  Kansas.  This  time  he  settled  in  Montgomery  county,  where  he  pur- 
chased of  George  T.  Guernsey,  four  hundred  acres  in  Rutland  township, 
the  farm  lying  in  sections  25  and  3(5,  township  32,  range  14. 

Grain  farming  occupies  Mr.  Kincaid  principally,  but  cattle  and  hogs 
yield  him  a  profit  from  the  surplus  from  his  fields. 

Jlr.  Kincaid  was  orphaned  at  the  early  age  of  four  years.  His  moth- 
er passed  away  in  less  than  a  year  after  his  birth  and,  in  18C3,  his  father, 
also,  died.  His  father  was  William  Kincaid  and  his  paternal  grandfath- 
er was  Alexander  Kincaid,  a  native  of  Kentucky.  The  family  of  the  last 
named  comprised  Andrew,  George.  William,  Mi-s.  Belzora  F.  Walker, 
Mrs.  Frances  Edwards,  Mrs.  Mary  Padgett,  Mrs.  Cordelia  Poe  and 
Henry  A. 

William  Kincaid  married  Belzora  Bishop,  a  daughter  of  Rufus 
Bishop,  of  Tennessee.  The  children  of  this  marriage  were:  R.  Alexander, 
of  Chariton  county,  Missouri ;  James  E.,  of  this  review. 

In  1878,  James  E.  Kincaid  married  Margaret  J.  Padgett,  of  Indiana, 


352  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

and  a  (laui;lit('r  of  Joseph  aud  Barbara  Tadgett.  Joseph  William  died 
at  thirteen  mouths.  Charles  Edward  died  aged  about  two  years.  Emily 
B.  and  Oliver  M.  are  the  children  born  to  Mr.  and  :Mrs.  Kineaid. 

William  Kim-aid's  life  was  brief  but  active  and  devoted  to  the  work 
of  the  farm.  He  was  born  at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  and  went  into  Indi- 
ana as  a  young  man.  He  enlisted  there  in  Company  ''A,"  Sixty-sixth 
Voluteer  infantry.  War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  furloughed  home  on  ac- 
count of  wounds.  He  rejoined  his  command,  was  taken  sick  and  died  in 
the  hosi)ital  at  Pulaski.  Tennessee. 

The  death  of  the  parents  of  James  E.  Kimaid  was  a  blight  upon 
his  life  through  childhood  and  youth.  He  knew  no  iiermanent  and  wel- 
come home  till  he  made  one  for  himself  and  when  he  began  life's  stubborn 
battle  it  was  single-handed  aud  without  financial  help.  Although  he  has 
experienced  a  number  of  I'everses.  his  ambition  has  never  flagged  and  dis- 
couragements have  been  brushed  away.  He  has  always  maintained  him- 
self among  the  best  citizens  of  his  county,  where  he  has  occasionally  lieen 
honored  with  public  trusts. 

He  is  a  Eepublicau.  jiolitically.  and  was  treasurer  of  his  township 
in  "K"  county,  Oklahoma.  He  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the 
Christian  church  and  he  is  a  Workman  and  a  member  of  the  Fraternal 
Aid  .'.nd  A.  H.  T.  A. 


JACOB  B.  KLINEFELTER— One  of  the  substantial  settlers  of 
Montgomery  county  who  came  to  it  among  the  first  years  of  its  municipal 
existence  was  Jacob  B.  Klinefelter,  of  Cherry  township.  He  was  pre- 
pared for  a  life  of  "ups  and  downs"  on  the  frontier  by  a  service  of  nearly 
four  and  a  half  years  in  the  volunteer  army  and  the  sound  of  martial  mu- 
sic had  hardly  died  within  him  when  the  civil  march  toward  the  prairies 
of  the  west  began.  If  he  encountered  hardships,  they  were  tame  incidents 
in  his  career,  and  if  fortune  smiled  upon  him  it  was  but  nature's  symbol 
of  aj>|ireciation  of  the  sacrifices  of  one  of  her  noblemen. 

It  was  in  1871  that  ^Nlr.  Klinefelter  came  to  ^lontgomery  county,  sin- 
gle and  with  limited  means,  and  for  the  first  three  aud  one-half  years  he 
was  a  wage  earner  by  the  month ;  first  for  the  jiioneer,  George  Evans,  and 
second,  in  the  old  saw-mill  established  on  the  Verdigris  river  nearby.  He 
then  entered  a  tract  of  the  public  domain,  six  miles  north  of  the  present 
city  (.f  ('herryvale  and  at  once  occupied  himself  with  the  work  of  its  im- 
])rovement.  Beginning  with  1879,  he  was  absent  from  his  farm  for 
eight  years,  having  migrated  to  Colorado  where  he  was  first  employed  in 
I'ailroad  work,  as  foreman  of  a  yiack  train  for  the  company  building  the 
road,  and  subsf^picntly  lie  went  into  tiie  mines  and  labored  in  the  dig- 
"inirs  for  seven  vears. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  353 

I'.flniiiiiij;  to  Montgomery  county,  he  resumed  the  eultiviulon  of  his 
fiirm.  His  soil  is  rich  and  black  and  produces  an  abundance  of  grain 
and  seeds.  It  is  conveniently  iini)roved  and  the  profits  from  its  surface 
liave  placed  its  owner  far  beyond  the  pangs  of  want.  He  has  his  place 
well  stocked  and  manages  it  with  that  intelligence  that  always  marks 
the  successful  farmer. 

Jacob  B.  Klinefelter  was  born  in  York  county.  Pennsylvania,  .July 
4,  1880.  and  his  ancestors  were  of  the  early  settlers  of  that  place.  His 
parents.  Peter  and  ^lary  ( P.akerl  Klinefelter,  were  born  in  that  county 
and  lived  there  till  IS.'di.  wlien  they  emigrated,  and  settled  in  Christian 
county.  Illinois.  There  the  father  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  and  the 
mother  at  six  years  younger.  Of  their  four  children,  only  two  survive, 
namely:  Cornelius,  of  Illinois,  and  Jacob  B. 

A  limited  attendance  u])on  the  counti'y  schools  sufficed  for  the  men- 
tal training  of  Jacob  B.  Klinefelter.  He  accompanied  his  parents  to  Illi- 
nois, where  he  was  married  to  Anumda  Pierce,  who  soon  died,  leaving  a 
child.  Mary,  still  living  in  the  "Prairie  State."  When  hostilities  broke 
out  between  the  divided  sections  of  our  country  in  18(U.  Mr.  Klinefelter 
was  among  those  who  responded  to  the  President's  call  for  75,000  troops. 
He  enlisted  in  the  Eighth  Indiana  battei'y  and  began  his  part  at  putting 
down  the  rebellion  at  \Yilso7i  creek.  Chief  among  his  fifteen  hard-fought 
battles  were:  Wilson  creek,  second  battle  of  Corinth.  Stone  River.  Chicka- 
mauga.  Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain,  Dalton,  Resaca,  Ken- 
nesaw  Mountain.  Peachtree  Creek.  Atlanta,  Franklin  and  Nashville.  He 
was  in  many  smaller  fights  and  skirmishes  and  had  many  "close  calls" 
during  his  four  years,  four  months  and  twenty  days  in  the  army.  He 
carries  scars  made  by  two  Rebel  balls  and  while  he  was  thus  severely 
wounded  he  never  permitted  himself  to  be  captured,  preferring  death  to 
imprisonment  in  a  Southern  stockade. 

From  August,  lS(i.5,  till  his  advent  to  Kansas  Mr.  Klinefelter  was  a 
farmer  in  Christian  county,  Illinois.  When  he  had  entered  land  in 
Montgomery  county,  he  saw  the  necessity  of  a  heli)-mate  and,  August 
2.3,  1872.  he  married  Eva  Heltz.  born  in  Germany,  September  29,  1851. 
When  seven  years  old.  Mrs.  Klinefelter  came  to  the  United  States  with 
her  ]«.irents,  John  and  Christina  (Barsch)  Heltz.  and  for  twelve  years 
resided  in  Indiana.  In  1870,  they  came  on  to  Kansas  and  settled  in 
Montgomery  county,  where  the  mother  died  in  1902,  and  where  the  father 
survives  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  Ten  children  were  born  to  this 
venerable  couple,  the  seven  living  being:  Katie,  Maggie,  Michael,  Eliza- 
beth. Susan.  .John  and  Mrs.  Klinefelter. 

The  issue  of  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Klinefelter  was  five 
children,  viz:  Emil.  Ada,  William,  Maynard  and  Lizzie,  all  of  whom  still 
surround  the  family  "hearthstone." 

For  thirteen  vears  Mr.  Klinefelter  tilled  the  office  of  justice  of  the 


354  IIISTOKY  OF   MOXTGOMEKY   CorNTY,  KANSAS. 

peace  of  liis  towiisliij).  llis  first  vote  was  cast  for  •'John  and  Jessie"  in 
the  Fieniont  cainpaign,  and  his  next  Presidential  ballot  for  Abraham 
Lincoln,  whom  he  personally  knew  many  years  before  he  became  Presi- 
dent. Re].ublicanism  has  always  remained  his  slo<ian  and  he  has  al- 
wav.i  nnifed  his  elforls  with  that  iiartv  in  Montjiomery  county. 


THOMAS  J.  WARNER— On  a  farm  in  Lewis  county,  West  Vir- 
ginia, Thomas  J.  Warner,  of  Rutland  township,  was  born,  December  10, 
1806.  He  came  to  mature  yeai's  about  his  native  heath  and  acquired  the 
rudinients  of  a  country  school  education.  He  left  the  old  home  in  1896 
and  went  into  old  Virginia  where,  in  Rockbridge  county,  he  was  engaged 
in  farm  work  for  four  years.  Deciding  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  west,  he 
returned  home  in  a  few  months  and  then  migrated  to  Welch,  Indian 
Territory,  in  September,  1001.  Having  not  found  the  object  of  his  .search, 
after  a  few  weeks  he  came  up  into  Kansas  and,  at  Jeft'ei'son.  in  Mont- 
gomery c(uinty,  he  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  which 
he  parted  with  at  sale  after  cultivating  it  one  year.  He  came  to  Rut- 
laud  townshij)  from  Independence  creek  and  owns  now  a  quarter  section 
of  section  14.  township  33,  range  14. 

Mr.  Warner's  father  was  George  O.  ^\;^•n(M■,  horn  in  Pendleton 
count\.  West  Virginia,  and  a  son  of  John  Warner.  The  latter  had  chil- 
dren AVilliam,  Zebedee,  George  G. ,  James,  of  Taylor  county,  W'ist  Vir- 
ginia; M.  J.  H..  of  Labette  county,  Kansas;  MIrs.  Rebecca  Smith  and 
Catherine.  George  (!.  Warner  married  Lucinda  Clark,  of  Lewis  C(mnty, 
West  Virginia,  and  a  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  (  Bonnett)  Clark. 
The  five  children  of  lliis  union  were:  Ida  F. ,  Thomas  J.,  John  M..  of  Cal- 
ifornia; William  W..  of  West  Virginia;  Mrs.  Glennie  Zinn,  of  Ritchie 
county.  A\'est  ^'il•ginia. 

April  24.  1S!»0.  Tliomas  J.  Warner  married  Irena  J.  Mohler,  of 
Rockbridge  county,  ^'irginia.  a  daughter  of  David  H.  and  Mary  V.  ( Shel- 
ton)  Mohler.  of  A'irginia  and  West  Virginia,  respectively.'  The  two 
children  of  Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Warner  are  Mary  L.  and  Ida  M. 

The  varied  innsiiits  of  the  farm  have  occupied  Mr.  Warner  through 
life.  The  effoiis  of  his  active  life  have  been  fairly  rewarded  and  he  is 
toda^-  master  of  ilic  situation  that  confronts  him.  In  jiolitics  he  is  a 
Democrat  .-ind  lie  and  liis  liold  allegiance  to  the  Methodist  church. 


CHARLES  WASSERM'AN  LAMP.— It  is  our  i.rivilege  to  relat^^ 
in  this  sketch,  a  few  of  the  events  in  the  life  of  one  of  the  few  mountain- 
eer characters  of  the  old  time,  yet  remaining,  and  to  suggest  a  career 
filled  with  exciting  and  romantic  incidents  enacted  from  the  metropoliti- 
cal  shore  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  placid  waters  of  the  Pacific  and  over 


HISTORY   OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  355 

jilnin  ;iii(l  iiioiiiitaiu  of  tlie  northwest.  An  experience  jtleaned  from  :i 
iniiilile  that  started  from  the  nietroiiolis  of  the  "Empire  State"  in  l.Sr,2, 
and  ended  si.xteen  years  later  in  the  iniiist  of  a  hand  of  Osagcs  on  the 
virj;ii!  jirairies  of  Kansas. 

The  frontier  lias  heen  almost  obliterated  and,  with  its  passing,  the 
characters  who  were  identified  with  it  have,  many  of  them,  gone  to  their 
reward  on  tlie  otlier  shore.  Their  lives  were  spiced  with  incidents  of  ex- 
ploration and  conquest  which,  if  recited  in  intricate  del  ail,  would  rival, 
in  interest,  some  of  the  experiences  of  "Kit  Carson"  in  the  Rockies  or  of 
James  B.  Hicock,  the  once-famous  "Wild  Bill"  of  the  western  plains. 
Yet  few  of  tliem  left  any  connected  narrative  of  their  experiences  and 
"went  away"  with  the  pages  of  their  book  of  life  bhnik  as  to  the  essential 
facts  of  theii-  romantic  careers. 

History,  as  told  in  the  lives  of  the  people  and  confined  to  the  real 
affairs  of  life,  possesses  a  peculiar  interest  in  the  study  of  man  and  indi- 
cates his  trend  of  mind,  or  mental  bent;  and  while,  in  this  particular  sub- 
ject, we  touch  upon,  in  a  general  way,  the  events  which  have  transpired 
as  a  result  of  his  early  inclinations,  it  furnishes  us  with  an  insight  into 
his  makeuj)  and  heljis  the  reader  to  understand  the  man. 

Charles  W.  Land)  has.  as  inferred  from  the  introduction  hereto, 
had  a  somewhat  checkered,  though  honorable,  career.  His  life  has  been 
surrounded  l)y  all  the  arts  of  peace  and  it  has  led  him  into  paths  w-here 
dang^r  lurked  and  where  the  brutal  assassin  only  awaited  the  discovery 
of  his  presence.  The  sj)irit  of  adventure  which  seized  him  on  the  ap- 
proach of  man]H)od,  in  New  York  City,  and  urged  him  to  the  summit  of 
almost  every  American  mountain  peak  and,  unscatlied.  through  the  lair 
of  many  a  human  foe,  has  been  gratified,  and  his  advent,  as  a  pioneer, 
among  the  scattered  settlers  of  Montgomery  county,  marked  for  him  a 
new  life  and  the  opening  of  a  new  career. 

Born  in  Hartford  county,  Connecticut,  July  10,  1S:?(I,  he  was  a  son 
of  (Jernian  jiarents,  his  father  being  Thomas  Lamb  and  his  mother  Fan- 
nie Wasseriiian.  both  of  German  birth.  The  i)arents  moved  to  Xew  York 
City  during  the  childhood  of  our  subject,  where  they  died  at  eighty-four 
and  eighty-two  years,  respectively,  leaving  four  children,  as  foilows: 
Fannie,  Catherine,  Nathan  and  Charles ;  the  first  three  being  citizens  of 
California,  at  the  Golden  Gate. 

Charles  W.  Lamb  grew  up  in  New  York  City,  where  he  acquired  a 
fair  education,  beginning  life  as  a  clerk  in  a  wholesale  establishment  in 
the  city.  He  mastered  the  details  of  merchandising  in  the  nine  years  he 
was  thus  enijiloyed  and.  at  twenty-two  years  of  age,  yielded  to  a  consum- 
ing desire  to  roam  and  went  to  the  fi'ontier  in  the  west  and  opened  a 
store  in  Nebraska.  Four  years  later  he  again  became  restless  and  leaped 
across  the  plains  to  Colorado.  He  engaged  in  the  mining  and  mercantile 
business  in  that  state,  becoming  more  and  more  infatuated  with  the  wilds 


356  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

of  the  fill-  we.st.  His  ainbitiou  not  vet  satiated,  he  traversed  the  rocky 
raiiiies  to  tlie  northwest  and  threaded  the  territories  of  Idaho.  Montana, 
Wa.slinif;ton  and  even  made  himself  somewhat  familiar  with  the  British 
norths  est. 

As  he  stopped  ak)ng  the  way  to  prospect  some  ore-bearing  region 
or  to  resnnie  a  merchant's  life  or  to  practice  at  the  blacksmith's  forge, 
he  took  ])art  in  the  att'airs  of  the  people  and  came  to  know  the  white 
man'>'  crude  civilization  of  the  frontier.  His  journeys  he  made,  carrying 
his  pack  in  the  saddle,  and  as  he  climbed  the  rugged  mountains  and 
pierced  the  dark  canons  of  the  Rockies  and  Sierras,  on  many  an  occasion 
he  felt  the  chill  that  danger's  warning  gives  and  oftentimes  barely  es- 
caped with  his  life.  Sixteen  years  of  a  strenuous  life,  unsurpassed  in  the 
intensity  of  its  excitements  and  unequaled  in  its  tension  on  the  human 
nerves,  sufficed  to  gratify  his  youthful  longing  and  Mr.  Lamb  wended 
his  way  eastward  and  chose  his  future  home  in  Montgomery  county, 
Kansas. 

In  1S*)S.  he  took  a  claim  five  and  one-half  miles  north  of  where  Cher- 
ryvale  now  stands  and  founded  a  civilized  colony  right  among  old  White 
Hair's  band.  The  haunts  of  the  Red  Man  were  everywhere  about  him 
and  the  shrill  and  terrifying  bark  of  the  coyote  added  to  the  wildness  of 
the  s'-cne.  Jliles  of  space  sej)arated  neighbors  and  a  trip  to  the  nearest 
town  ( onsnmed  days  of  time.  But  time  turned  the  frontier  into  settle- 
ments and  the  civilizing  agencies  of  a  composite  citizenship  brought 
order  out  of  chaos  and  established  all  the  institutions  of  peace.  To  the 
credit  of  T'harles  W.  Lamb  let  it  be  said  that  he  participated  in  all  this 
change  and  was  a  part  of  it  himself.  He  has  acquired,  by  industry,  title 
to  three  hundred  acres  of  land  and  has  equipped  it  with  all  the  heredita- 
ments necessary  to  make  it  a  valuable  and  attractive  place.  His  farm  is 
in  section  17  and  lies  on  Drum  creek,  at  the  mouth  of  which  stream  the 
famous  Indian  treaty  was  made. 

Vv.  Land)  was  united,  in  Oinaha.  Nebraska,  in  marriage  with  Eliza- 
beth '^'ansickel.  a  Xew  Jersey  lady  and  a  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Sarah 
Vansi.kei.  Mrs.  Land)  was  born  May  -27.  L*^:^?.  and  is  a  rei)re.seutative 
of  one  of  the  ancient  American  families,  her  forefathers  having  come  to 
the  Xew  World  from  Germany  three  hundred  years  ago.  The  Vansickels 
ac(|uired  a  large  body  of  laud  in  New  Jersey,  which  has  remained  undis- 
turbed in  the  family  name.  Two  children  have  blessed  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  Lamb,  namely:  Charles,  Jr.,  who  resides  in  Sumner  county, 
Kansas,  and  who  has  children,  Windell  and  Bessie,  by  Miss  Elizabeth 
Windcll.  now  his  wife.  Bess,  wife  of  W.  D.  Barker,  is  their  second  child,, 
and  she  resides  in  the  parental  home.  She  has  two  children,  Fannie  and 
Arthur  Barker. 

Mr.  Lamb  became  a  1  »eiii(i(ial  early  in  life  and  has  aided  the  ef- 
forts of  (hat   parly   in   many  camiiaigns.     He  has  been  a  justice  of  the 


HISTORY  OF   MONTC;OMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  357 

peace  a  uuinl)er  of  times,  in  Cherry  township,  and,  in  all  things,  has 
maintained  himself  an  upright  citizen. 


GEORGE  H.  WHITMAN— A  gentleman  who  has  had  a  rather  re- 
markable career,  especially  in  his  earlier  years,  whose  genial  and  versa- 
tile personality  is  a  factor  of  much  attraction  to  his  host  of  friends  in  the 
county,  is  George  H.  Whitman,  a  leading  implement  dealer  of  the  rural 
village  of  Liberty.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  wide  experience  in  business  and 
social  life  and  is  a  most  companionable  man.  He  has  traveled  over  many 
portions  of  the  world  ''with  his  eyes"  open  and  has  profited  by  the  mental 
breadth  and  depth,  that  travel  brings. 

George  H.  Whitnuin  is  a  native  of  New  York  State,  born  in  Mont- 
gomery county,  in  the  year  1833,  and  a  son  of  George  and  Susannah 
(Green)  Whitman.  At  four  years  of  age,  his  parents  removed  to  the 
then  far-distant  State  of  Illinois,  where  they  settled  in  Peoria  county, 
where  Mr.  Whitman  was  reared  to  manhood.  His  father  was  a  Method- 
ist Episcopal  minister  and  labored  in  Illinois  until  his  death  in  1847.  He 
left  a  family  of  four  children,  of  which  our  subject  is  the  eldest.  The 
others  are:  Emily,  who  married  James  Moore  and,  after  his  death, 
Charles  Lister,  and  lives  at  Wellstield,  Illinois;  Isaac  A.,  lives  in  Colora- 
do; and  Fanny,  who  was  the  wife  of  Walter  Vale,  is  now  deceased. 

When  a  youth  of  nineteen  years,  Mr.  Whitman  left  home  and  crossed 
the  plains  to  the  Pacific  coast.  He  then  took  passage  ou  a  vessel  and 
visited  China,  being  in  that  country  when  Commodore  Perry  did  such 
splendid  service  in  opening  the  Japanese  ports  to  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States.  From  there  he  went  to  London,  England,  and  then  re- 
turned to  New  Orleans.  After  a  period  in  this  city  he  again  shipped  on 
board  a  vessel  bound  for  France  and  visited  Havre.  That  was  in  18.55, 
and  in  the  latter  part  of  that  year  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Illinois, 
where  he  remained  and  where  he  lived  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  war. 

He  enlisted  in  the  army  in  the  latter  part  of  the  war  and  served 
until  September  of  18(55.  Upon  returning  from  the  war,  he  settled  in 
Bureau  county,  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  until  1874,  the 
date  of  his  settlement  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  He  purchased  a 
quarter  section  seven  miles  southwest  of  Independence,  for  which  he 
paid.fl, 100.00.  He  cultivated  this  property  for  some  years,  then  sold  it  and 
removed  to  the  town  of  Independence  and  for  a  number  of  years,  was 
"outside  man"  for  the  implement  firm  of  Funk  &  Whitman,  in  1886.  he 
returned  to  Illinois  where  he  spent  five  years,  after  which  he  moved  to 
Wappelo  county,  Iowa,  and  remained  here  three  years,  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. In  1804.  he  came  to  Liberty  township  and  purchased  a  farm  one 
mile  south  of  the  village  of  Liberty,  paying  $2,200.00  for  one  hundred 
acres.     He  held  this  for  a  period  of  four  years  and  then  disposed  of  it 


35o  Hisiuiti   ut    Mfj.y  iK^njMr.n.1   i^uuimi,  i^ai-«02ia. 

to  the  Foster  Brothers  and  engaged  in  the  implement  business  with  his 
son,  Newton  E.  Whitman.  Four  years  hiter,  he  sold  his  interest  to  a  son, 
Clinton  A.  Whitman,  since  which  time  the  style  of  the  firm  has  been 
Whitman  Brothers.  This  is  one  of  the  largest  implement  firms  in  the 
county,  maintaining,  besides  their  Liberty  establishment,  a  branch  store 
at  Oherryvale  and  doing  a  very  large  and  prosperous  business.  They  are 
agents  for  the  Milwaukee  harvester  and  binder,  one  of  the  best  on  the 
market,  and  of  which  they  sold  during  the  season  of  1902,  forty-six  new 
machines.  They  are  also  agents  for  the  J.  I.  Case  line  of  implements  and 
the  Canton  line  of  implements,  all  of  which  are  popular  and  excellent 
makes  of  machinery. 

On  the  7th  day  of  March.  18<!1.  George  Whitman  was  joined  in  mar- 
riage to  Mary  J.  Pettit.  a  native  of  New  York  (Niagara  county).  Eight 
children  were  born  to  this  union,  of  whom  seven  still  survive,  viz: 
Eudora  E.,  wife  of  I).  F.  Blue,  of  Liberty  townshi])-,  Clarissa,  wife  of 
Stephen  Gray,  of  Marshall  county,  Illinois;  Ira  P.,  died  in  infancy; 
Henry  Eugene,  who  is  married  and  lives  in  Marshall  county,  Illinois; 
Fannie,  at  home;  Clinton  A.,  who  is  married  and  lives  in  Cherryvale; 
Newton  E.,  of  Liberty,  Kansas;  and  Luther  E.,  who  lives  near  Winfield, 
Kansas. 


JAMES  H.  SCOTT — The  well-known  citizen  whose  name  initiates 
this  historical  sketch  has  passed  twenty-three  years  as  a  resident  of  Mont- 
gomery county.  He  first  saw  the  county  in  1879  and  in  the  following 
year  brought  his  family  out  from  the  east  and  established  them  on  his 
Independence  township  farm,  in  sections  22  and  23,  township  33,  range 
15,  uKidest,  fertile  and  substantially  and  attractively  improved. 

Mr.  Scott  is  of  Irish  birth.  Belfast  was  his  native  city  and  his 
natal  day  and  year  were  December  (•,  184(1.  His  father  was  Rev.  James 
Scott,  a  Methodist  ministei'.  and  his  mother's  maiden  name  was  Jane 
McGregor.  The  father  was  born  in  17!li;  and  died  at  New  P.urnside.  Illi- 
nois, in  1880.  The  mother  bore  eiglit  children — five  of  whom  came  to  the 
United  States — the  mother  died  in  Ireland  when  our  subjeit  was  a  small 
boy.  Those  of  the  family  now  living,  beside  James  II..  a're :  William  M., 
of  Belfast.  Ireland,  and  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Threldkeld.  of  Hampton,  Kentucky. 
Rev.  James  Scott  located  at  Quincy,  Illinois,  when  he  first  came  to  the 
new  world  and  was  engaged  in  religious  work  for  over  fifty  years.  He 
afterward  established  his  family  in  Brown  county,  Illinois,  and  there 
James  II.  Scott,  of  this  record,  was  brought  uj). 

Our  subject  was  the  fourth  of  five  children  in  the  family  and  came 
to  maturitv  on  a  farm.  lie  ac((uired  a  good  common  school  education 
and  hiniseif  engaged  in  (caching  distri.t  s.ln.ol  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil   war.      He  enlisted  at    Metropolis.    Illinois,  August   11,  18(il,  in 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  359 

'Company  "K,"  Twenty  nintli  Infantry,  Capt.  J.  A.  Carniichajl's  com- 
pany. The  reginieni  was  assi<j;ned  to  Grant's  command  along  the  Missis- 
sippi river  and  participated  in  the  battles  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson, 
in  which  latter  enoajicment  Mr.  8cott  received  a  wound  in  the  left  shoul- 
der, but  instead  of  entering  the  hospital,  he  furloughed  home  and  there 
recuperated  in  the  quiet  among  friends.  Returning  to  his  regiment,  he 
took  part  in  the  second  battle  of  Corinth  and  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg. 
Alargepartof  the  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  being  captured  at  Holloy  Si)rings 
Mississippi,  Company  "K"  was  placed  on  board  one  of  the  Federal  gun- 
boats and  performed  service  in  the  navy  for  some  six  months,  or  until 
the  captured  portion  of  the  regiment  was  "exchanged"  and  rejoined  their 
comrades  and  resumed  their  old  i)Osition  as  an  integral  part  of  the  con- 
quering army.  Being  orderly  sergeant  of  his  company,  ^Ir.  Scott  was 
made  captain  of  one  of  the  twenty-four  pound  howitzers  of  the  gunboat 
while  in  the  navy.  The  regiment  rendezvoused  in  the  vicinity  of  Vicks- 
burg after  the  fall  of  the  city,  for  some  months,  and  when  it  moved,  went 
to  Natchez,  Mississippi,  where  scouting  and  guarding  and  patrol  duty 
occui)ied  its  time  till  September,  18(54,  when,  owing  to  his  increasing 
deafness,  our  subject  was  mustered  out. 

Eeturning  home,  Mr.  Scott  continued  teaching  school  and  took  up 
the  study  of  medicine,  continuing  both  till  his  hearing  became  so  bad 
that  he  was  forced  to  abandon  them.  He  owned  a  farm  in  the  county 
where  he  lived  and  the  cultivation  of  it  occupied  his  attention.  Since 
that  date  he  has  been  a  farmer.  He  has  not  been  actively  engaged  in  the 
work  himself — being  much  of  the  time,  in  later  life,  an  invalid — but  his 
interests  have  lemained  those  of  the  farmer  and  so  he  has  classed  him- 
self. 

May  ij.  1872.  -Tames  H.  Scott  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mary  A. 
Wright,  a  daughter  of  .John  R.  Wright,  who  married  Maria  H.  Sterling. 
The  Wrights  were  from  Mt.  Holly,  Morris  county,  New  Jersey,  where 
Mrs.  Scott  was  born  March  11,  184.5.  Mr.  Wright  died  in  Pope  county, 
Illinois,  in  1889,  and  his  wife  survived  him  till  189.",  when  she  also  passed 
away.  Their  children  were  Amos.  Coojier  and  Martlia,  all  deceased;  Mrs. 
Scott;  Ella,  wife  of  James  L.  Murphy,  of  Metropolis,  Illinois;  Lucy,  who 
married  Anson  Neely,  and  died  leaving  one  child;  Archer,  of  Poj)e  coun- 
ty, Illinois;  and  Emma,  also  deceased. 

The  family  of  M,r.  and  Mrs.  Scott  consist  of  the  following  children, 
namely:  Maria  J.,  born  in  1873;  Martha  P.,  of  Ottawa,  Kansas,  born 
1875;  Lillie  K.,  born  1877;  Walter  J.,  born  1880;  Rov  H.,  born  in  1882; 
Stella  A.,  born  1884;  and  Charles  E.,  born  1886. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Scott  affiliates  with  the  Republican  party.  His  am- 
bition has  been  only  to  see  a  fair  and  proper  administration  of  public 
aflfairs  and  to  be  permitted  the  full  and  free  enjoyment  of  the  blessings 
of  our  Republic. 


^VILLIAM  H.  FROST — In  inentiouing  the  pioneers  of  Montgomery 
county  it  is  api)ropriate  to  include  in  the  list  all  those  who  made  settle- 
ment in  the  year  1870,  as  well  as  those  scattered  few  whose  lot  was  cast 
with  the  county  at  an  earlier  date.  While  many  of  the  throng  of  immi- 
grants of  1870  have  passed  to  the  great  beyond,  there  are  still  conspicu- 
ous examples  of  those  hardy  and  determined  advance  guard  of  civiliza- 
tion left  to  tell  the  story,  and  among  them  is  the  venerable  William  H. 
Frost,  of  this  review.  In  comparison  with  the  great  flood  of  emigration 
which  came  out  of  the  east  to  settle  the  plains  of  the  west,  the  quota 
from  New  England  is,  in  numbers,  inconspicuous  and  unimportant. 
But  the  shortage  in  quantity  is  fully  made  up  in  the  quality,  for  the  New 
England  emigrant  was  of  sincere  purjiose.  vigorous  and  active  mentality, 
and  industrious  in  a  high  degree.  All  these  attributes  apply  strikingly 
to  the  subject  of  this  article  and  the  fulfillment  of  his  destiny  has  been 
achie\ed  in  Montgomery  county. 

William  H.  Frost  was  born  in  Oxford  county,  Maine,  November  4, 
1826.  His  forefathers  were  of  the  colonial  stock  of  New  England  and 
were  employed  with  agricultural  pursuits.  His  father  was  William 
Frost — born  in  1800  and  died  at  his  old  home  in  1866 — and  his  mother 

was  Mary   Stevens,  a   daughter  of  Stevens,  a   re])resentative   of 

another  of  the  ])ioneer  families  of  Maine.  William  and  Mary  Frost  were 
industrious  and  thrifty,  bore  themselves  highly  honorable  before  the 
world  and  were  consistent  members  of  the  ]SIeth<)dist  church.  Mary 
Frost  died  in  1833  and  William  took,  for  his  second  wife.  !Mary  Files,  who 
was  the  mother  of  the  last  named  child  in  the  following  list,  all  of  the 
others  being  the  issue  of  William  and  Mary:  -Joel,  who  died  in  Maine; 
Charlotte  S.,  who  married  Harmon  rumniings  and  resides  in  her  native 
state;  Harriet,  wife  of  Henry  Smith,  of  Massachusetts;  Warren,  who 
died  young;  Levi,  also  deceased;  William  H.,  our  subject;  Nathaniel  and 
Laura,  twins,  the  latter  the  widow  of  Charles  Haskell  and  living  in 
Norway,  ^Maine;  I'olly,  who  married  Lennell  and  lives  in  Lewis- 
ton,  :Maine;  and  Koswcll,  siill  in  the  old  "Pine  Tree  State,"  on  the  home 
farm. 

The  subject  of  this  review  began  life  as  a  farmei",  but  soon  deserted 
the  calling  and  became  identified  with  railroail  building,  in  the  dejjart- 
ment  of  grading  and  laying  of  track.  He  was  eni|iloyed  on  the  Boston  and 
Lowell  road,  on  the  Scranton  and  Great  Bend,  in  IVMinsylvania,  on  the 
douliiing  of  the  track  on  the  York  and  Erie  road,  on  the  ('anandaigua  and 
Niagara  Falls  railway,  on  the  Illinois  Central,  in  Illinois,  and  its  exten- 
sion from  DuliTHiue  into  Iowa,  and,  lastly,  on  the  Warren  and  Mineral 
Point  railroad,  concluding  his  wi)rk  in  18.57.  He  reengaged  in  farming 
in  Stephenson  county.  Illinois,  just  before  the  rebellion  broke  out,  and 
enlisted  from  that  ((lunty  in  ('(iiiiiiany  "A,"  Ninety-second  Infantry,  as 
orderly  sergeant.    He  was  pidinntcd,  in  time,  to  first  lieutenant  and  was 


HISTORY  OF   MONTCiOMEUr  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  361 

discharfied  with  tliat  comiiiissioii  at  Coiuord,  Nortli  Carolina,  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  Within  six  months  after  the  Ninety-second  Illinois  entered 
the  service,  it  was  mounted  and  became  a  cavalry  regiment  and  in  Kil 
Patrick's  command.  Mr.  Frost  was  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  par- 
ticipated in  the  Atlanta  campaign  and  went  through  with  Sherman's 
army  tp  Savannah.  He  was  with  his  regiment  and  took  part  in  the  work 
done  by  the  victorious  army  in  its  march  through  the  Carolinas  and, 
when  the  war  was  over,  his  regiment  was  detained  at  Concord,  North 
Carolina,  for  six  months  when  it  was  ordered  to  Chicago,  Illinois,  where 
it  was  paid  ofif  and  discharged,  July  7,  1865. 

For  the  tive  years  succeeding  the  Civil  war,  Mr.  Frost  was  employed 
with  his  farming  interests  in  Illinois.  In  the  fall  of  1870,  he  disposed 
of  his  possessions  there  and  came  to  Kansas,  taking  up  his  location  in 
Fawn  Creek  township,  Montgomery  county.  He  purchased  a  quarter 
section  of  land  and  was  occupied  with  its  improvement,  and  with  other 
interests  kindred  to  the  farm,  till  1887,  when  he  left  his  estate  of  two 
hundred  and  seventy  acres  to  other  hands  and  became  a  resident  of  Inde- 
pendence. During  the  course  of  rural  development  in  his  neighborhood, 
the  Missouri  Pacific  railroad  built  through  the  township  and  established 
the  station  of  Jefiferson  near  Mr.  Frost's  farm  and  a  part  of  the  little 
village  of  Jefferson  is  actually  located  on  his  land. 

Mr.  Frost  was  united  in  marriage  first,  in  Stephenson  county,  Illi- 
nois, in  1855,  with  Elizabeth  Dann,  who  died  in  Montgomery  county, 
Kansas,  in  1887,  leaving  the  following  children,  to  wit :  Burton  and  Ella, 
of  Jefferson,  Kansas,  the  latter  the  wife  of  Aiusworth  Cummings;  Lora, 
who  married  Samuel  Hooker  and  resides  in  White,  South  Dakota;  and 
Charles  A.,  of  Colorado  Springs.  Col.,  whose  wife  was  Miss  Victoria  Hall. 
May  30,  1890,  Mr.  Frost  married  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Rhodes,  an  Illinois  lady 
but  of  New  York  birth. 

In  politics  the  early  members  of  the  Frost  family  acted  with  the 
Whigs,  but  when  that  old  party  ceased  to  exist  our  subject's  father  and 
one  son  joined  issues  with  the  Democrats,  The  other  sons,  including, 
of  course,  William  H.,  l)ecame  Republicans,  and  whatever  political  record 
the  latter  has  made  has  been  achieved  in  the  ranks  of  that  party.  In 
church  matters  he  is  a  Baptist  and  has  been  a  deacon  in  the  Independ- 
ence congregation  for  many  years.  In  business  matters  his  safety  and 
reliability  are  noteworthy  facts.  He  retired  from  the  farm  w  h  a  com- 
petency sufficient  for  his  future  comfort — a  reward  for  the  laber  and  re- 
sponsibilities of  earlier  years.  When  the  Commercial  National  Bank 
was  organized,  he  was  one  of  the  stockholders  and  succeeded  Ex-Gov- 
ernor Humphrey  as  its  vice-president  in  1888.  As  a  citizen,  Mr.  Frost's 
life  stands  as  a  worthy  example  to  the  generations  of  today  and  is  an  in- 
spiration to  them  to  live  rightly  before  men. 


•562  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

DA^'rD  nECKMAX— Thirty-three  years  ngo,  in  February  of  1870, 
the  ojeDtleman  whose  name  appears  at  the  head  of  this  review,  filed  on  the 
claim  upon  which  now  stands  the  pleasant  rural  village  of  Liberty. 
Those  were  the  days  of  the  beginning  of  things  in  ^Montgomery  county, 
when  the  coyote  and  Indian  roamed  over  much  of  the  county  at  will  and 
each,  in  his  way,  made  it  interesting  for  the  lone  white  settler  in  his 
scaTitily  covered  shack.  As  Mr.  Heckman  sits  in  his  comfortable  modern 
i-esidencc,  surrounded  with  all  that  goes  to  make  life  desirable,  he  can 
hardly  realize  the  many  changes  that  have  come  to  pass;  but  that  they 
are  here,  he  is  well-assured,  and  satisfaction  is  his  only  feeling. 

The  Heckmans  are  from  the  "Keystone  State"  and  are  of  German 
descent.  David  was  born  in  Armstrong  county,  in  1847,  and  is  the  son  of 
Abraham  and  Esther  (Clingensmith)  Heckman,  Abraham  in  turn  being 
the  son  of  I'hilip.  who  came  to  the  county  in  an  early  day  and  died  there 
at  the  ago  of  sixty  years,  in  1839.  These  early  members  of  the  family 
were  tillers  of  the  soil.  Abraham  still  residing  on  the  old  homestead.  He 
was  ninety-one  years  of  age  on  the  24th  of  July,  1902.  He  is  the  father  of 
ten  children,  eight  of  whom  are  still  living — Henry  is  in  Oregon;  Mary 
Ann  in  rennsylvania ;  Peter,  William,  .Tolni  and  Caiherine  (twins),  and 
Margaret  are  also  in  the  "Keystone  State." 

I>avid  Heckman  grew  to  manhood  amid  the  pains  and  jdeasures 
(and  lliere  were  both)  of  farm  life  in  his  native  county,  remaining  on  the 
homestead  until  he  was  twenty-three  years  old.  He  then  came  west  and 
located,  as  stated  above,  in  Liberty  township.  He  immediately  erected 
the  i)rimifive  residence  of  that  day.  which  had  the  distinction,  while 
it  stood,  of  being  the  first  one  in  the  town  of  Liberty,  which  was  after- 
ward laid  out  on  the  claim  located  by  Mr.  Heckman.  Our  subject  deeded 
the  claim  on  llie  241h  of  July,  1871.  and  immediately  sold  it  to  Capt.  Mc- 
Taggart  and  ('a])t.  Heard,  who  platted  the  town  in  the  same  month.  Mr. 
Heckman  conlinucd  1<>  engage  in  agriciulture  until  18<7,  when  he  pur- 
chased a  stock  of  g Is  and  ojicned  a  store  in  the  town,  in  company  with 

Edward  J$arnett,  uiidci-  llie  firm  name  of  Barnett  &  Heckman.  The 
style  of  the  firm  changed,  in  1881,  to  Heckman  Bros.,  and  in  18SG,  to 
David  Heckman,  our  subject  buying  his  brother's  interest.  He  has  con- 
tinued the  business  since  and  is  regarded  as  the  leading  merchant  of  the 
village.  Mr.  Heckman's  citizenship  has  been  of  that  unselfish  character 
which  looks  to  the  interest  of  his  town  and  county,  rather  than  the 
aggrandizement  of  self.  He  has  always  taken  great  pride  in  the  town 
and  has  proved  his  friendship  by  many  practical  demonstrations,  admin- 
istering, at  times,  the  unpaid  ])ositions  of  trust  necessary  in  the  munici- 
pal affairs,  and  sacrificing,  cheerfully,  time  and  money  in  its  advance- 
ment. In  stale  and  national  aflairs.  :Nrr.  Heckman  sui)ports  the  Demo- 
cratic party. 

Mrs.   Heckman,   i)ri()r   to   187."),   was   Emma   A.    Barnett.      She   is  a 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEEi-  COUNTY^,  KANSAS.  363 

daughter  of  Edward  and  Lucretia  Barnett.  both  parents  deceased. 
Thej  were  worthy  and  respected  residents  of  the  county  for  long  years. 
But  ( ue  child  was  born  to  Mrs.  Hecknian,  its  death  occurring  in  infancy. 
As  a  solace  to  their  loneliness,  they  adopted  a  little  girl,  Miss  True 
Thornton,  who  is  now  an  inmate  of  their  home. 


T.  H.  EARNEST — One  of  the  best  known  men  in  Montgomery 
county  and  a  man  who  has  had  a  prominent  part  in  its  development,  is 
the  gentleman  here  mentioned,  T.  H.  Earnest,  at  present  the  efficient 
postmaster  of  Cherryvale,  and  ex-Register  of  Deeds  of  the  county.  He  has 
passed  the  greater  part  of  his  life  here,  in  connection  with  the  railroads 
of  the  state,  having  been,  for  a  number  of  years,  conductor  and  yard- 
master  on  the  Santa  Fe  system. 

Sangamon  county,  Illinois,  was  the  place,  and  July  15,  1857,  the  date 
of  the  birth  of  our  subject.  He  was  a  son  of  P.  L.  and  Elizabeth  A.  (Thomp- 
son) Earnest.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Sangamon  county,  Hlinois, 
while  the  mother  was  born  in  the  "Keystone  State."  The  former  was, 
during  life,  extensively  engaged  in  the  lumber  business,  and  in  August, 
1867,  removed  to  Ottawa,  Kansas,  where  he  resided  a  number  of  years. 
He  removed  to  Cherryvale  in  1883,  where  he  was  one  of  the  prominent 
factors  in  the  city's  development  and  where  he  died,  on  the  27th  of  Octo- 
ber, :!898,  having  attained  seventy-  two  years  of  age.  He  was  a  consist- 
ent member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  and  was  a  highly  respected  and 
deserving  citizen.  While  in  Ottawa,  he  served  a  term  of  four  years  as 
postmaster,  and  in  the  several  communities  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected, was  always  a  man  of  affairs.  Mrs.  Earnest  survives  him,  being 
tenderly  cared  for  in  the  home  of  our  subject.  She  is  the  mother  of  ten 
children,  but  three  of  whom  are  now  living. 

T.  H.  Earnest  passed  the  period  of  his  boyhood  in  Ottawa,  Kansas, 
where  he  received  a  thorough  training  in  the  town  schools.  He,  however, 
was  a  boy  of  spirit  and  of  great  independence  and,  at  the  early  a^ge  of 
thirteen  years,  he  entered  upon  an  active  career  as  a  railroader.  He  was 
one  of  a  crew  running  between  Ottawa  and  Kansas  City,  at  that  age,  and 
did  his  work  so  efficiently  that  he  was,  later,  given  a  position  as  a  con- 
ductor. In  this  position  he  continued  until  1881,  when  he  became  yard- 
master  for  ten  years.  His  popularity  in  the  community  resulted  in  his 
election,  on  the  Republican  ticket,  in  1889,  to  the  office  of  Register 
of  Deeds.  In  the  election  of  that  year,  he  was  chosen  by  a  good  round 
majority  and  two  years  later,  was  re-elected,  serving  a  period  of  four 
years  in  the  office,  and  conducting  its  affairs  with  great  satisfaction  to 
his  constituents.  On  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office,  Mr.  Earnest 
returned  to  the  railroad  and  continued  in  his  position  as  yardmaster 
until  his  appointment  as  postmaster,  on  the  9th  of  December,  1902,  one 


364  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

of  tln>  tirst  jippointiiRMits  iiuule  liy  Iho  Roosevelt  adniiuistration.  No  more 
obligiiifi  or  po])nlar  official  has  ever  uiinistered  to  the  wants  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Cherryvale  than  he. 

Marriage  was  contracted  by  our  subject  ou  the  (itli  of  Sei)teniber, 
1881.  Mrs.  Earnest,  prior  to  that  time,  was  Miss  Flora  E.  Thompson. 
She  iv  a  native  of  the  State  of  Iowa  and  is  the  daughter  of  W.  H.  Thomp- 
son, row  deceased. 

An  iiitercsiiiig  family  have  l)e<'n  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Earnest,  the 
eldest  of  whom.  William  L..  is  his  father's  assistant  in  the  ofiSee,  as  is 
also  Grace  B..  who  acts  as  stam]>  clerk.  Harry  clerks  in  the  grocery 
house  of  J.  F.  Kring.  while  Koy  E..  Jessie  B.  and  Hazel  J.  are  bright 
young  school  children.  ;Mrs.  Earnest  is  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Methodist  l''4)iscoi)al  church,  and.  jirior  to  her  marriage,  was  one  of  the 
pojuiiar  and  efficient  "school  marms"  of  Montgomery  county.  In  fra- 
ternal mailers.  :Mr.  Earnest  affiliates  with  Ihe  A.  O.  U.  W.  and  in  politi- 
cal atVairs.  acts  with  Ihe  Republican  party,  in  the  councils  of  which,  in 
his  c.mnt\.  he  is  looked  ujjOu  as  a  safe  adviser. 


JOSEPH  L.  JAMES— In  ISTO.  there  settled  near  Wayside,  in  Mimt- 
gomery  county,  the  gentleman  whose  name  precedes  this  article,  together 
Avith  a  considerable  family,  all  from  the  "Blue  Grass  State"  of  Ken- 
tucky. His  children  have  been  reared  in  the  precincts  of  the  county  and 
are  now  res])ecle(l  members  of  different  communities  in  the  west,  and 
filling  responsilde  ]ilaccs  in  society.  The  family  is  held  in  high  esteem  in 
the  county,  always  having  stood  for  virtue  and  equity  wherever  they  have 
i-esided. 

Joseph  L.  James  was  Ix.rii  in  Ohio  counly.  Kenln.ky.  on  the  7lh  of 
March.  1827,  the  s(m  of  Sanni.-l  James  and  Sally  Bonih.  The  family  is 
of  English  descent,  grandfather  John  James  having  immigrated  to  Vir- 
ginia in  an  early  day.  whei'e  he  was  prominently  identified  with  the 
tobaci-o  business,  having  been  an  inspector  of  tobacco  at  Richmond  for 
a  nnnd)ei-  of  yeai-s. 

Samuel  .lames  was  reared  to  manhood  in  the  "Old  Dominion  State" 
and  came  to  Kentucky  with  his  parents  and  their  family  of  ten  children 
and  located  in  the  then  vast  wilderness  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state. 
There  the  ](arents  continued  to  reside  until  their  death.  Samuel  James' 
education  was  limited,  owing  to  lack  of  facilities  in  that  primitive  re- 
gion, but  he  managed  to  secure  enough  to  be  able  to  transact  the  oi-dinary 
business  of  life.  He  remained  in  the  home  neighborhood  until  his  mai'- 
riage  to  Sallie  Borah,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  of  Dutch  ancestry. 
To  this  marriage  there  was  born  ten  children,  as  follows:  Jefferson,  de- 
ceased at  sixteen  years:  JIagdalene,  ^Irs.  l>loyd  Rodgers,  of  Kentucky; 
her  children  are:  Sarah,  Emerson.  .)ohn  and  .M]phonso  I  twins).     Several 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMEUY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  365 

of  thc-se  sons  arc  (luiti'  in-diuiuent  in  public  life  in  the  "Blue  Grass  State." 
The  third  child  of  Saniucl  Jaiiics  was  Joseph  L. ;  the  next  younger  was 
Lucy  Jane,  who  married  Captain  Devol ;  Sally,  Mrs.  Ho<-ers,  of  Ohio 
county,  Kentucky;  S.  Jl.,  also  a  resident  of  the  home  county;  John  A., 
killed" during  the  war;  and  Kelly,  who  died  in  infancy. 

Joseph  L.  James  was  reared  to  manhood  in  the  "Blue  (Irass  State," 
and  on  December  25,  1850,  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Martha  A. 
Shelton.  This  lady  was  a  daughter  of  Ralph  Shelton,  of  Butler  county, 
Kentucky,  and  came  to  Kansas  with  our  subject,  where  she  died  October 
25,  1892.  Mr.  James  continued  to  reside  in  Kentucky  until  the  year  1870, 
when,  on  July  5,  he  arrived  in  Montgomery  county  and  located  on  the 
farm  which  is'now  his  home.  His  preemption  consisted  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  and  consists  of  very  fine  land  upon  w^hich  he  has  erected  many 
substantial  improvements  since  the  date  of  his  settlement.  He  passed 
through  the  hardships  of  the  pioneers  of  that  early  day,  but  has  a  rich  re- 
ward in  the  splendid  home  which  is  the  result  of  his  labor. 

During  his  residence  in  the  county,  Mr.  James  has  taken  an  active 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  community,  serving  in  the  ditferent  unre- 
munerative  oflflces  of  school  district  and  township  and  always  evincing 
a  livelv  interest  in  atfairs.  A  Democrat  in  his  earlier  years,  he  has,  since 
the  rise  of  the  Reform  party,  given  his  allegiance  to  the  furtherance  of 
reforms  in  government  as  iiropc.sed  by  its  platforms.  In  matters  of  relig- 
ious moment,  he  and  his  family  have  been  loyal  supporters  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  and  have  been  a  source  of  great  strength  to  that  denomination 
since  their  coming  to  the  county. 

The  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  have  all  grown  to  mature 
years  and  have  families  of  their  own.  The  eldest  was  Paulina  A.,  born 
bctoL)er  1,  1857,  and  died  December  6,  1858;  Sylvanus  A.,  born  January 
17,  1853,  married  Melissa  Webster  and  is  a  farmer  of  Rutland  township ; 
his  children  are:  Hettie,  Allan,  Curen,  Edith,  Ella,  Taul  and  Alice;  Mary 
James  born  March  IS,  1855,  married  John  Sewell,  proprietor  of  a  hotel 
at  Bolton  ;  her  children  are  :  Seymour,  Lloyd,  Etta,  Mary,  Gertrude,  Grace, 
Lilly  and  Ethel.  Diogenes  S.,  who  is  mentioned  extendedly  in  this  vol- 
ume; Harry  K.,  born  September  11,  1858,  is  a  farmer  and  school  teacher, 
and  married  Eliza  Kelly;  his  three  children  are:  Opal,  Pearl  and  Ruby; 
Aurora,  born  July  8,  18(i(),  married  William  C.  Sewell  and  lives  in  Fawn 
Creek  township  with  her  children.  Gentry,  Annie,  Walter,  Stella,  Harry, 
Paul  and  James;  Sally  O.,  born  April  17,  1862,  lives  in  Oklahoma  with 
her  husband,  A.  J.  Puckett;  Laura  J.,  born  April  21,  18G1,  married  John 
Finle>.  a  druggist  of  Bartlesville,  Indian  Territory;  Joseph  B.,  born 
Marcii  2C,  1860,  married  Ella  Bell,  of  Caney  township,  and  now  resides 
on  Mr.  James'  farm  with  their  daughter.  Hazel  Lucile;  Martha  A.,  born 
June  18,  1868,  is  wife  of  Walter  Hudson  and  lives  in  Rutland  township 
with   their  three  children— Earl.   Harold  and   Marie;    Moriah    A.,   born 


366  HISTORY  01''  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

.lamiiiiy  L'C.   ISTO.   maiiicd   Cniiio  KolxMts  and   is  a    lanii.M-  and   school 
leaclKi-  in  ()l<lah..nia  :  liicv  iiav.-  two  cliildien— Kalpli  and  tVril. 


MRS.  MARY  ItADKX— The  subjiMt  of  this  brief  notice  is  a  repre- 
seniative  of  one  <if  the  worthv  and  noted  families  of  Montgomery  couuty. 
Sin((  the  Centennial  year  she  has  resided  in  the  city  of  Independence, 
where  she  and  her  late  husband  attained  prominence  and  substantiality 
in  social  and  commercial  life. 

Mrs.  Haden  is  of  pure  (lernum  stuck  and  was  born  in  Ontario,  Can- 
ada, (in  the  lOth  of  JVbriiary,  1857.  Her  paients,  George  and  Margaret 
(  Kichart )  Becker.  \\  ere  born  in  the  French  |)rovince  of  Alsace,  now  a 
]iait  <<■  the  German  Knijiire.  ilrs.  Becker  was  a  daughter  of  George  and 
-Marg;, ret  (Koth  I  Kichart  audluidchildren,  Mary, widow  of  John  W.  Baden 
<if  tins  sketch:  :Mrs.  Anna  Hiebler.  of  Mancos.  Colorado;  John,  of  Denver, 
<'oloiado;  Mrs.  Kate  Nessel,  deceased;  Mrs.  Kmma  Dittmer,  of  lude- 
penchnce.  Kansas;  ^Mrs.  Louise  Condon,  of  Denver,  Colorado;  and  Lena 
Becker,  who  resides  with  Mrs.  Baden. 

(Jeorge  Becker  came  to  America  a  young  man  and  settled  in  Canada, 
whei(  he  was  a  resi<lent  until  IStio,  when  he  brought  his  family  into  the 
i'niicd  States  and  esialilished  himself,  for  a  brief  i)eriod.  at  Somouauk,  Il- 
linois In  ISi'i!!.  he  idenlified  himself  thoroughly  with  the  west  and  took 
\i\<  his  location  at  Humboldt.  Kansas.  He  is  a  farmer  by  occupation 
and  still  resides  near  Humboldt. 

.Mary  (Becker)  Baden  grew  to  womanhood  in  Ihunboldt,  Kansas. 
Her  education  was  limited  by  the  character  of  the  schools  of  the  place 
and  at  nineteen  years  of  age  she  came  to  Montgomery  county  and  made 
tier  home  in  Independence.  February  22,  1879,  she  married  John  W.  Baden 
a  rising  young  merchant  of  the  city  and  a  native  of  Hanover,  Germany, 
hi  his  family  were  brother  and  sisters,  John  W.,  Henry  and  I'eter.  Mrs. 
:Mary  Dittmer,  of  ilontgomery  county,  was  an  only  sister  of  these  broth- 
ers. John  W.  Baden  learned  the  cooper's  trade  in  Hannibal,  Missouri, 
where  he  first  settled  on  coming  to  the  United  States.  He  came  to  Mont- 
gomery county,  Kansas,  and  ran  a  cigar  factory  in  Independence  for  a 
tinse.  He  engaged  next  in  the  grocery  business  in  the  county  seat  and,  in 
]iartner.ship  with  his  brother,  Henry,  built  up  a  large  and  tiourishing 
business.  He  was  shrewd  as  a  financier  and  gave  much  promise  of  becom- 
ing a  man  of  great  wealth.  He  was  cut  down  in  the  prime  of  his  useful 
uess.  April  iT),  l.SS!).  a  severe  loss  to  his  firm  and  to  the  community  and  an 
irreparable  loss  to  his  family.  He  left  five  children,  vi/.:  Hl'nry,  William, 
John  F.,  -Vnna  M.,  Emma  M.  and  George  Edward. 

.Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baden's  lives  have  shown  best  in  lli(>ir  work  as  citizens, 
in  behalf  of  their  favorite  church.  Commendable  religious  seulimenls 
<lon;irat(Ml  their  natures  and  in  the  Lutheran  organization  in   Indeiiend- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTYj  KANSAS.  367 

ence  tlieii*  active  work  and  (Leir  influence  have  had  a  beneficieut  etTect. 
Mrs.  Baden  lias  continued  the  good  work  begun  by  them  both  and  wher- 
ever a  religious  or  an  educational  cause  can  be  forwarded  bj'  a  reasonable 
api>enl  to  her  generosity  it  is  seldom  withheld.  She  manifests  a  commend- 
able ]mbiic  s(iiri1  toward  worthy  objects  which  jjromise  good  to  the  fu- 
ture and  lends  a  friendly  ear  to  the  cause  of  public  enterprise. 


O.  T.  H.\V\V.\KD— For  the  past  three  years  one  of  Elk  City's  most 
successful  financial  institutions,  the  Elk  City  Bank,  has  been  under  the 
management  of  the  gentleman  herein  named.  Mr.  Hayward  was,  for 
many  years,  one  of  the  county's  most  successful  farmers  and  still  owns 
one  of  the  best  four  hundred-  acre  farms  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
state.  He  became  interested  in  banking  several  years  ago  and  discov- 
ered such  an  aptitude  for  the  business  as  to  cause  his  selection  as  presi- 
dent of  the  above  institution.  The  bank  is  one  of  the  solid  enterprises 
of  the  town,  having  been  doing  business  now  for  twenty-one  years.  It 
is  capitalized  at  $10,000,  with  .f30,000  surplus,  and  carries  deposits  ag- 
gregating .f  124,730,  with  loans  of  ||152,.528.  Its  official  roster  is  as  fol- 
lows, rresident,  O.  T.  Hayward;  vice-president,  L.  W.  Myers;  cashier, 
W.  1>.  flyers;  directors,  il".  L.  Stephens,  J.  W.  Berryman,  L.  W.  ISIyers, 
W.  1>.  Myers  and  O.  T.  Hayward. 

(>.  T.  Hayward  is  a  native  of  Illinois,  born  in  Christian  county, 
January  G,  1848.  His  parents  were  Robert  and  America  (Lee)  Hayward, 
the  fatiier  a  native  of  Connecticut,  the  mother  of  Virginia.  They  were 
married  in  Christian  county.  Illinois,  where  they  were  among  the  earliest 
pioneers  of  that  section  of  the  State.  The  mother  died  here,  in  18.57. 
She  was  a  member  of  the  Bresbyteriau  church,  a  most  devout  woman  and 
"full  of  good  works."  The  father  died  in  1868,  at  sixty-flve  years.  He 
was  not  a  communicant  of  the  church,  but  was  a  great  Bible  student  and 
of  most  exemplary  character.  Their  family  consisted  of  thirteen  children, 
of  whom  but  four  are  now  living. 

Mr.  Hayward  was  reared  to  manhood  on  the  home  farm,  receiving 
a  good  common  school  education,  and  being  well  grounded  in  the  homely 
virtues  incident  to  a  well-ordered  farm  community.  At  nineteen,  he  began 
working  for  himself  and  for  three  years  continued  in  the  home  neigh 
borh&od.  An  attack  of  "western  fever"  at  this  time  culminated  in  his 
settling  in  Montgomery  county  on  a  claim  four  and  one-half  miles  east 
of  Elk  City,  in  Louisburg  township.  He  improved  this  for  several  years 
and  then  purchased  the  first  piece  of  the  farm — which  he  now  owns — later 
adding  to  nuike  up  the  four  hundred  acres.  This  farm  is  at  present  in 
charge  of  one  of  his  sons.  The  years  of  intelligent  cultivation  put  upon 
this  piece  of  land  by  our  subject  resulted  in  its  being  classed  among  the 
most  desirable  pieces  of  farm  property  in  the  county.    He  resided  on  the 


368  IIISTOKY  OF   MONTGOMEKY  COCNTY,   KANSAS. 

farm  until  18 — .  when  he  took  up  his  residence  in  town.  Mr.  Hayward's 
long  connection  with  the  agricultniists  of  the  county  makes  him  a  famil- 
iar tignie  throughout  This  section  and  an  undoubted  authority  on  land 
inveslnients.  Socially,  he  attiliates  with  the  Odd  Fellows,  in  which  or- 
ganization he  has  tilled  all  the  chairs,  and  in  church  counectiou,  he  and 
his  family  are  communicants  of  the  ("hristian  denomination.  He  votes 
with  I  lie  Democratic  party. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ihiywai-d  was  an  event  of  the  ICth  of 
February,  18T:>.  She  was  a  daughter  of  -T.  J.  and  Nancy  (iregory.  her 
christian  name  being  Sarah.  Her  i)aren1s  now  reside  in  Louisburg.  To 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayward  have  been  born  seven  children: 
Allie  .1.,  .Mrs.  Lair:  Frederick,  of  Oklahoma;  Adda  May.  Mrs.  W.  D. 
Myers,  of  Elk  City,  with  one  child.  Arlena;  William  Lee,  a  farmer  at 
Frederick,  Oklahoina,  married  Bertha  Rice,  now  deceased  and  has  one 
child,  -lohn  O. ;  Minnie  O.,  who  married  F.  L.  Johusou,  of  Columbia.  Mis- 
simri— one  child,  ILiyward;  Walter  W.,  resides  on  his  father's  farm,  nuir- 
ried  I'dna  Worley;  (ieorge  L„  a  clerk  in  the  bank;  and  Charles  G..  a 
schoolboy.  These  children  are  all  splendid  examples  of  what  correct  train- 
ing will  accomplish  and  are  taking  their  part  in  the  dift'ereut  communi- 
ties of  which  they  are,  working  meniliers.  ]Mr.  H-ayward  is  a  worthy  ex- 
ample of  what  industry  and  economy,  coupled  with  sound  business 
sense,  will  do  for  the  average  American  boy,  and  his  career  should  be  an 
insiiiralion  to  the  and)itious  vouth  of  the  day. 


S.VMFEL  HOWLBY' — A  successful  business  man  and  tiuaucier  of 
Independence,  and  a  gentleman  whose  presence  in  the  west  dates  back  to 
(lie  early  sixties,  when  he  identitied  himself  with  the  frontier  and  barren 
region  of  ("alifornia,  and,  in  1880,  cast  his  fortunes  with  Montgomery 
countA,  Kansas,  is  Samuel  Bowlby,  whose  name  precedes  the  introduc- 
tion to  this  article.  His  name  has  gone  abroad  in  the  county  as  a  dealer 
and  speculator  in  real  estate  and  the  winnings  which  have  rewarded  his 
judgment  have  i)laced  him,  financially,  among  the  solid  and  independent 
men  of  the  county.  His  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  in  connection 
with  .western  meii  and  methods  has  thoroughly  assimilated  him  and  he 
enters  into  the  spirit  of  modern  progress  as  a  leader  and  not  as  a  dull 
follower  in  the  wake  of  our  inevitable  fidvance. 

Like  the  march  of  civilization,  the  Bowlbys  have  kept  pace  with  the 
westward  advance  from  their  oiiginal  home  in  New  Jer.-;ey,  where 
Thomas  Bowlby  was  born,  to  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi  valley, 
acr()ss  "the  great  American  desert"  to  the  silver-capped  peaks  of  the 
I{ockies.  The  arts  of  the  husbandman  have  been  pursued  with  every 
halt  and  the  slopes  of  the  Mississippi  basin,  from  Ohio  to  the  crest  of  the 
Bo.-kies.  have  responded  to  the  family  touch. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  369 

A  glance  at  the  family  history  of  the  Bowlbys  shows  them  to  be  in 
digenous  to  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  where  Thomas  Bowlby,  the  iiaterual 
grand  father  of  our  subject,  I'eared  a  family  of  nine  children,  as  follows:  lie- 
becca.  Ebenezer.  Samuel  C,  Adam  R.,  Jacob  M..  Louisa,  Mary,  William  I. 
aud  David.  Adam  R.,  our  subject's  father,  was  born  October  28,  1804, 
and  died  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  in  185.5.  His  first  wife  was 
Martha  McDaniel,  of  Batestown,  New  Jersey,  who  died  in  1831:,  leaving 
him  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  viz :  John  M.,  a  farmer,  of  Maroa,  Illinois, 
who  married  Mary  Ann  Fitzwater  and  has  children  :  Kittie,  Elmer,  ("ora. 
Emma  and  Nona;  the  second  son,  W.  I.,  mai'ried  JIargret  Haywood  and 
has  two  children,  Birt  and  William ;  and  the  daughter,  Anna  M.,  married 
Mr.  Carrel  for  her  first  husband  and  Mr.  Saltzman  for  her  second,  and  is 
now  I  widow.  Her  children.  Flora  and  Belle,  are  daughters  of  Mr. 
Oarrei. 

Adam  R.  Bowlby's  second  wife  was  Mrs.  Mary  McGrew.  whom  he 
married  in  1810.  She  was  a  native  of  Batestown,  New  Jersey,  also,  and 
was  born  in  1810.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Armina  (Garey). 
Oliver,  who,  in  1825,  settled  in  Clermont  county,  Ohio,  where  Mary  mar- 
ried Andrew  McGrew,  whose  three  children  were  Martha,  Thomas  A.  and 
Oliver,  surviving.  The  last  named  is  a  resident  of  Springfield,  Illinois. 
She  and  Mr.  Bowlby  were  the  parents  of  four  childven,  as  follows:  Sam- 
uel, the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Andrew  M..  Armenia  aud  l>avid.  An- 
drew resides  in  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  Armenia  was  the  wife  of  Daniel 
Blosier.  of  Indejiendeuce.  Kansas,  and  has  children :  Georgia,  Birt.  Jes- 
sie (deceased).  Samuel  and  Bonnie.  David  Bowlby  is  a  farmer  and 
stocknian,  near  Stockholm,  Oklahoma.  In  1881.  Daniel  Blosier  and  wife 
became  residents  of  Independence,  where  the  husband  engaged  in  the 
carriage  business,  in  connection  with  Samuel  Bowlby,  of  this  review. 
Some  years  later  he  removed  to  Springfield,  Missouri,  where  he  and  his 
wife  both  died.  Samuel  Oliver  was  born  in  1783  and  died  in  1839,  while 
his  wife  was  born  in  1700  and  died  in  1852.  Their  children  were:  John, 
Mary,  William,  Rebecca,  Margaret,  Caleb,  Sally  Ann,  Susan  and  Samuel, 
all  born  in  Batestown,  New  Jersey. 

In  March,  1841,  Samuel  Bowlby  was  born  in  Clermont  county, 
Ohio.  His  youth  was  passed  in  the  atmos])here  of  the  farm  and  his  life  was 
thus  rural  and  his  educational  acquirement  from  the  country  school.  He 
left  his  native  place,  upon  attaining  his  majority,  and  crossed  the  con- 
tinent to  the  Pacific  coast  where,  in  California  and  Idaho,  he  spent  the 
next  live  years  at  work  in  the  mines.  He  next  engaged  in  the  stock  busi- 
ness in  Colorado  and  later  dropped  down  into  New  Mexico,  where  he  con- 
tinued the  same  avocation  and  also  became  interested  in  mercantile  pur- 
suits. In  1880.  he  dis])osed  of  his  ])ossessions  in  the  mountains  and  es- 
tablished his  connection  with  Independence.  Kansas,  where  he  purchased 
pvdiierly   on   Second  street    and.   tor   more   than   twentv   rears,  has  been 


|e   I*  t9  F»  I*   t' 


370 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


iiiort'  (II-  less  extensively  enoaoed  in  handling  city  real  estate.  In  1888, 
be  betanie  the  owner  of  his  jiresent  home  and  i^everal  farms  near  the  city 
are  on  the  tax  rolls  in  his  iiaiiic. 

In  1878.  Mr.  Bowlhy  iiiairicd  Murlha  -T.  Arnett.  in  Las  Vegas,  New 
Mexico.  Mrs.  Bowlby  was  born  in  Madiscm  connty,  Arkansas,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Martha  -T.  (Wood)  Arnett,  who,  in  1868,  iden- 
tified themselves  with  the  far  west.  :Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bowlby's  children  are: 
Dollic.  born  in  18T».  died  at  six  years  old;  Daisy  May.  born  June  1,  1885, 
died  July  1.  1887;  and  Juanita.  the  youngest,  was  born  January  1.  1890. 

As  a  resident  of  Indei)endence.  Mr.  Bowlby  has  taken  a  sincere  inter- 
est in  its  nninicipal  affairs,  having  served  four  years  on  its  common 
council.  For  a  number  of  years  he  has  been  officially  with  one  of  its 
institutions  he  assisted  in  organizing  and  has.  for  nineteen  years,  been  a 
member  of  its  board  of  directors  and  a  large  holder  of  its  stock.  lie  is 
widely  known  throughout  Montgomery  county  and  an  universally  warm 
and  fViendlv  feeling'is  entertained  for  him  wherever  he  is  known. 


MAKTIN  L.  STEPHEN!^— One  of  the  very  early  settlers  of  Mont- 
gomery county  is  the  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  personal  nara- 
tive.  He  is  the  owner  of  a  splendid  estate  of  five  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Louisburg  township,  in  which  he  settled  as  early  as  1868.  He 
has  witnessed  the  gradual  growth  of  the  substantial  improvements  which 
luis  made  his  township  noted  for  its  handsome  properties;  his  own  not 
losinii  in  comparison  with  the  best. 

.Mr.  Stephens  came  to  Kansas  fiom  Kentucky  and  settled  first  in 
Jellcrson  county,  in  May,  1869.  but  the  m.mth  of  -Inly  following  he  came 
into  .Montgomery  county,  where  he  has  since  resided  and  where  his  life 
achievements  have  been  wrought.  He  is  a  descendent  of  one  of  the  pioneer 
families  of  the  "Corn  Cracker  State."'  and  was  born  in  Whitley  county, 
in  1845.  He  was  a  son  of  Solomon  and  Rachel  (^lurphy)  Stephens,  and 
a  grandson  of  Elisha  and  Sallie  iRiclimondl  Stephens.  The  grand-par- 
cnts  were  from  the  first  settlers  of  Whitley  county,  where  their  position 
as  farmers  rendered  them  among  the  well  known  j.eople  of  their  locality. 
They  brought  ui>  nine  children  in  the  old  Kentucky  home  and  there  pass- 
ed awav.  the  father  in  1S(;4  and  the  mother  in  I'.MMt.  The  names  of  their 
issue  were:  William.  Solomon,  l-^lizahcl  li.  -loci.  .Margaret.  -lames.  Sarah. 
Joshua  and  I'Jisha. 

Tlie  children  of  Solomon  ami  K'aclicl  Stciilicns  were:  Sarah,  who  mar- 
ried William  Kyan  and  resides  in  Ellis  comity,  Kansas.  Her  children 
are:  Sidney,  (iranvil.  John,  Elisha,  Susan,  Thomas.  Welle,  Martha  and 
William.  Clark,  the  second  child  of  Solomon,  married  Jennie  Stevens, 
having  one  child,  named  Lurinda.  Nancy,  the  third,  married  W'illiam  C. 
West,  a  Tennessee  farmer,  and  has  issue:     Catherine,  Sarah  and  Wil- 


#  t  •>  ►  »  y^yAV»:,v, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  37  I 

liani.  Henry  T.,  the  fourth,  resides  on  the  old  Stephens  homestead,  and 
is  the  father  of:  I'rinces  M.,  Harvey  E.,  Bertis,  I'earley  May,  Truey, 
Alice,  Ida  ^Maude,  Daisy  Jewel,  Henry  Ernest,  Atley  Albert,  Wni.  i\. 
Goodman,  Susan  Myrtle  and  Goldie  E.  Betsy,  the  fifth,  became  the  wife 
of  Josejth  Ryan,  of  P>utlervil!e,  Ind.,  and  has  children:  Jane,  William, 
Julia,  Henry,  John,  Sarah,  Lucretia,  Malinda  and  Moses.  I'atsie,  the 
sixth,  of  Solomon's  family,  married  Richard  Trammel  and  is  a  resident 
of  Whitley  county,  Kentucky.  The  next  child,  Elizabeth,  married  J.  B. 
Ryan,  now  a  fiirmer  of  Rush  county,  Kansas,  and  her  children  are:  Wil- 
liam, Keziah.  Francis,  Martha  and  Sarah.  The  eighth  child,  Annie,  mar- 
ried Richard  Wilson,  of  Elk  City,  Kansas,  and  is  the  mother  of:  John, 
James  Franklin,  Nellie.  Laura.  Loretta  and  Wm.  Harvey.  Susan,  who 
married  Marion  Ryan,  of  Rice  county,  Kansas,  lias  children:  Wil- 
liam. Bettie  Ann.  Ella.  Lottie,  Volney,  Ebin  and  Flossie.  The  tenth, 
Solomon  ;M.  Stephens,  married  Susan  Davis,  of  Whitley  county.  Ken 
tucky.  The  eleventh,  married  Wm.  Meadows,  of  Whitley  county.  Ken- 
tucky, with  children:  Mary,  Albert,  Hettie.  Edward  and  twins,  Minnie 
L.  and  ilaretta  F.,  and  Rachel  and  one,  name  unknown.  Rebecca  Jane, 
the  twelfth,  died  in  infancy. 

On  the  2nth  of  July,  1879,  Martin  L.  Stephens  married  Malissa.  a 
daugliter  of  -Tames  and  Eliza  (Reno)  .Javens,  who  settled  in  Louisburg 
town^hiji.  in  18Gft.  and  were  emigrants  from  Beaver  county.  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  ^Irs.  Stephens  was  born.  To  this  marriage  were  the  follow- 
ing (hildren  born:  ^leshach  M..  born  February  27th,  ISfil,  married 
]\Iyr1le  McHenry,  of  Elk  City,  Kansas;  has  one  son.  named  Herald 
Paul:  but  reside  in  Louisburg  township;  Robert  Herbert,  born  June 
2nd,  1883;  Josejihine,  born  August  9th,  1888;  and  Stella  Alice,  born  Jan 
uary  29th,  189.5. 

Taking  up  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephens  are 
entering  the  ])eriod  of  advanced  age  with  all  the  comforts  of  life.  The 
industry  and  economy  of  earlier  years  was  a  guaranty  of  this  condition 
of  inde])endeuce  and  their  wise  generosity  with  the  things  with  which 
bounteous  nature  has  provided  them  shows  our  subjects'  capacity  to  ap- 
preciate and  their  ability  to  enjoy  the  material  favors  thus  bestowed. 

Mr.  Stei)hens  has  given  his  endeavors  to  the  cultivation  of  his  farm, 
l)ut  has  taken  an  interest  in  public  affairs  of  his  township  as  well.  He 
has  acted  with  the  Republicans,  being  one  of  that  party,  and  was  once 
chosen  treasurer  of  his  township  and  member  of  the  County  High  School 
Board.  He  regards  honor  as  the  chief  characteristic  in  man  and  prac 
tices  a  high  standard  of  it  himself. 


OLIVER  P.  GAMBLE — One  of  the  pioneers  of  Montgomery  county 
gentleman  who  has  been  connected  with  the  varied  private  affairs 


2J2  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

of  liis  i-ouiily,  is  Oliver  I*.  (Jainble.  of  IndciKMuleiu-e,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  He  came  to  the  county  the  1:2th  day  of  Aujjust,  ]8(!!t,  and  located 
on  a  claim  in  Independence  township,  which  he  imju'oved,  partially,  and 
disposed  of.  and  passed  the  next  four  years  on  a  new  farm  near  Table 
Wound.  In  1879,  he  moved  into  Sycamore  township  with  his  real  hold- 
iufjis.  i.iid  has  since  been  accpiiriug  tract  after  tract  of  its  fertile  soil,  until 
he  is  listed  for  taxes  on  seven  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land.  Since 
ISSd.  he  has  been  a  resident  of  Independence,  giving  his  attention  to  labor 
of  a  lighter  and  more  congenial  character  than  that  of  the  farm  and 
where  lie  also  has  some  substantial  financial  connections. 

Oliver  P.  Oanible  came  to  Kansas  from  Allegheny  county.  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  was  born  August  14th.  184(1.  His  father,  Samuel  H. 
Gamble,  was  born  in  the  same  county  and  state  and  was  a  son  of  John 
Gamble,  a  paymaster  in  the  army.  War  of  181L'.  In  civil  life  the" grand- 
father was  a  school  teacher,  and  hotel  keeper  on  the  Baltimore  and 
Washington  turnpike.  He  died  about  18G6,  at  the  age  of  ninety  years. 
Samuel  H.  Gamble  passed  his  life  in  his  native  county,  was,  by  occupa- 
tion, a  farmer,  and  died  in  1887.  He  was  one  of  the  following  family : 
Oliver.  Samuel  H..  Hiram,  John.  James  and  Mary. 

Samuel  H.  Gjunble  married  Margaret  Irwin,  a  daughter  of  John 
Irwin,  a  representative  of  one  of  the  old  families  of  Allegheny  county, 
I'ennsvlvania.  He  lived  an  active  and  successful  life,  was  a  Democrat 
"till  the  formation  of  the  Eepublican  party,  when  he  changed  politics 
and  became  a  Republican.  His  children  were:  Sarah,  wife  of  Caleb 
p:dmundson.  of  Allegheny  county.  I'a.;  Harriet,  deceased,  married  :Mr. 
Breidenthal;  Oliver  1*..  Dr.  Jno.  H.,  who  died  in  18D8;  Rebecca,  wife  of 
Wm.  Hay  den,  of  McKeesport,  Pa. 

inn-  sul)ject  passed  his  youth  and  eaily  inaiihi>od  in  various  em- 
ployments, with  coal-hauling  and  working  on  lock  No.  3,  on  the  ;NIonon- 
galiela  river  predominating.  At  twenty-two  years  of  age  he  enlisted  in 
("ompany  "E."  155th  Pa.  Inf..  Col.  E.  J.  Allen,  and  was  in  the  service  in 
the  war  "of  the  Rebellion  from  August.  18()2,  'till  April,  1803.  His  initial 
tight  was  the  battle  of  Second  Bull  Run,  then  followed  Antietam  and 
Fredericksburg,  where,  December  13th,  he  was  wounded  in  the  right 
elbow  by  "buck  and  ball"  and  put  out  of  action.  In  April,  1803,  he  left 
the  service  and  as  soon  as  he  had  recovered  sufficiently  to  make  a  hand 
at  work,  came  out  to  Miami  county,  Kansas,  where  he  secured  employ- 
ment with  Wilson  and  Irwin,  driving  team  for  them  on  consliuctioii  of 
the  Fori  Scolt  and  Gulf  railroad.  He  remained  in  that  viciiiily  lill  iscii. 
when,  with  a  small  sup])ly  of  legal  tender,  he  made  his  way  to  .M(iiiti;oiiicry 
county  and  became  a  permanent  citizen. 

For  ten  years  after  he  left  the  farm  Mr.  Gamble  was  a  contract 
teamster  in  Independence,  and,  following  this,  he  engaged  with  the  rental 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEay  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  373 

and  k-aii  department  of  the  Citizens  National  P.ank.  wliei-e  lie  has  charge 
of  a  large  and  important  bnsiness. 

Tn  February,  1874.  Mr.  Gamble  married  Harriet  Hefiey,  a  daughter 
of  Levi  Hefiey,  a  Kentuekv  gentleman,  who  came  to  Montgomery  county 
early,  from  Belleview,  Iowa.  John  and  Cade  Hefiey,  brothers  of  Mrs. 
Gamble,  are  well  known  citizens  of  Independence,  and  a  sister,  Mrs. 
Lucinda  Chapman,  resides  in  Burden,  Kansas,  and  another  sister,  Mrs. 
Agnes  Rowe,  resides  in  Portland,  Oregon.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gamble  have 
no  children.  Mr.  Gamble  is  i)roniinent  in  local  firand  Army  circles,  is 
Past  Commander  and  attended  the  national  encampment  of  the  order 
at  Washington,  D.  C. 


W  ILLIAM  S.  ITAYS— On  historic  Squirrel  Hill,  where  are  now  the 
boulevards,  the  stately  homes  and  the  wealth  and  fashion  of  the  city  of 
Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  settled  the  head  of  a  family  whose  posterity 
is  numbered  among  the  substantial  citizenship  in  our  American  daily 
life,  and  whose  antecedents  include  the  good  blood  of  some  of  the  favored 
families  of  the  British  Isles.  James  Fleming  came  from  ^^cotland,  in 
1764,  and  settled  at  Ft.  Pitt,  where  he  opened  the  first  store  and  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  land  from  the  heirs  of  William  Penn.  This  tract  em- 
braced about  all  of  the  land  at  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers  and  the 
high  point  overlooking  the  rivers  and  country  below  was  called  "Squirrel 
Hill."  Gen.  Braddock  opened  this  country  with  his  military  road  in 
1755,  and  with  the  growth  of  Pittsburg  "Squirrel  Hill"  became  the 
famous  suburb  of  the  city.  James  Fleming  was  the  maternal  great- 
grandfather of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  the  Flemings  and  the 
Hays's  fulfilled  their  missions  and  rendered  useful  and  patriotic  service 
in  many  avenues  of  their  country's  development. 

On  his  maternal  grandmother's  side  Mr.  Hays  is  a  lineal  descendent 
of  the  famed  Flora  McDonald  who.  although  offered  thirty  thousand 
pounds  by  the  enemies  of  Charles  Edward  for  the  surrender  of  the  fugi- 
tive prince,  refused  to  reveal  his  identity  and  saw  him  safely  aboard  a 
French  man-of-war,  disguised  as  her  maid.  Her  niece,  born  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland,  in  1776,  was  our  subject's  grandmother,  and  she  died  on  "Squir- 
rel Hill"  in  1874.  James  Fleming,  grandfather  of  our  subject,  reared 
eight  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  Lewis,  a  veteran  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, died  April  9th,  1903;  Josiah,  who  raised  a  comj)any  at  New  Orleans 
about  1835,  to  fight  for  the  freedom  of  Texas  from  Mxican  oppression,  and 
was  betrayed  by  Santa  Anna's  men  in  Texas,  who  murdered  twenty-seven, 
in  all.  of  this  company ;  James  was  a  wealthy  Southerner,  who  had  a  po- 
sition in  the  navy  j'ai'd  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  and  furnished  sons  for  "Stone- 
wall" Jackson's  army;  William  Hays  was  drowned  in  the  Monongahela 
river  while  attempting  to  rescue  a  man;  Willason  Hays  died  while  pass- 


374  IIISTOKV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

ing  tlii-ougb  the  IiHiian  Tenitoiy,  in  18."):!;  and  Robert  died  in  California. 

Tliis  i)ran(li  of  tlie  Ilays  family  emanated  from  Roliert  Hays,  grand- 
fathf-r  of  William  S.  Hays,  of  this  review,  who  came  to  America  from 
Ireland  at  fonr  years  of  age,  dnring,  or  just  after,  the  Revolutionary 
war.  Robert  Hays  mai-ried  a  Hughey,  who  came  to  this  country  from 
Scotland  when  very  young,  with  the  Neals — her  cousins — who  were  mur- 
dered by  the  Indians  at  Bloody  Run,  Pa.,  in  178(1.  Kphraim  Hays  was 
one  of  a  family  of  eight  children,  and  married  Mary  Fleming,  both  of 
whom  died  near  I'ittsbnrg.  I'a.,  at  sinentyeight  and  seventy-six  years, 
respectively.  Their  children  were:  (ieorge.  who  died  young;  ilaggie 
and  Emily',  who  reside  in  Pittsburg;  Mary,  who  died  in  10(11;  Robert,  of 
Steubenville,  Ohio;  James  P..  of  Haltimore.  .Md.,  the  father  of  the  <mly  otl- 
spring  of  this  family;  and  William  S.,  our  subject. 

Dr.  George  Hays.  Colonel  of  the  8th  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  and 
Gen.  Alexander  Hays,  who  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  are 
of  the  same  family  as  the  subject  of  this  notice.  Hugh  Hays,  who  died  in 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  was  the  father  of  Will  S.,  the  poet  and  ballad- 
writer  and  stalf  correspondent  of  the  Courier-Journal.  Dock  and  Robert 
Havs,  lawyers  of  Louisville,  and  K.  W.  Hays,  cashier  of  the  First  Nat- 
ional bank  of  Kentucky  for  thirty-live  years,  were  also  sons  of  Hugh 
Havs,  and  belonged  to  the  same  general  family. 

'  William  S.  Hays  came  to  manhood  about  Pittsburg,  Pa.  When  he 
took  uji  the  serious 'duties  of  a  loyal  citizen  it  was  to  enter  the  army  as  a 
private  in  ('omi>aiiy  "<',"  l():?rd  I'a.  Inf.,  in  1861.  His  regiment  formed 
a  part  of  the  Army  of  I  lie  Potomac  and,  for  lack  of  space,  eliminating 
interesting  details  df  his  service  and  contining  the  sketch  to  the  main 
facts  of  our  subject's  history,  we  find  him,  rain-soaked,  in  front  of  the 
Rebel  forliticat ions  at  Williamsburg  on  the  night  of  May  nth,  1802.  He 
was  with  McClellan's  army,  chilled  to  the  bone,  yet  ready  to  renew  battle 
when  dawn  should  break. '  He  was  the  first  of  a  number  of  volunteers  to 
respond  to  a  request  for  tree-climbers,  to  investigate  the  jjosition  of  the 
<»nemy's  forces,  and  found  them  to  have  retreated  to  Richmond.  Mr. 
Hays  belonged  to  Casey's  Division  of  the  4th  Corps,  which  sufliered  so 
severely  at  the  hands  of  the  Confederates  at  Fair  Oaks  and  Seven  Pines, 
and  our  subject  was  probably  nearer  the  Rebel  capital  at  this  time  than 
any  oilier  "boy  in  blue,"  until  its  evacuation. 

On  the  night  of  May  30th,  1862,  Hays  and  McKee,  bunk-mates,  were 
stationed  on  tlie  Fortress  Monroe  and  Richmond  road,  in  a  down-pour  of 
rain,  and  in  the  morning,  cold  and  hungry  and  still  unrelieved.  No  fires 
wei'e  jrllowed  on  i)icket  and  McKee  said:  "I'll  dig  a  hole  and  build  a  fire 
bcldir  the  i)ickct  line,"  they  were  in  such  distress.  A  few  pine  knots  and 
a  malcii  soon  had  their  cofl'ee  steaming,  when,  suddenly,  a  voice  called 
■out,  Mhat  smells  awful  good,  Yank.  I  wish  I  had  some"!  A  rebel  picket 
was  within  twentv  feet  of  them  and  undiscovered.     "All  right.  Johnnie, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  375 

what  have  you  to  trade?"  "Nothing"!  "Nothing  to  trade,  nothing  to 
eat,"  said  the  Yanlis.  "Can  you  swap  a  Richmond  paper  for  coffee?" 
And  in  about  twenty  minutes  McKee  and  the  Johnnie  had  made  the  ex- 
change and  the  news  that  Joe  Johnston's  army  of  05,(100  men  was  fixing 
to  gobble  up  a  part  of  McClellan's  army  was  gleaned,  and  between  twelve 
and  one  o'clock  the  whole  of  the  Rebel  army  started  the  fun  by  paying 
their  respects  to  Hays  and  McKee.  McKee  fired  at  the  rebel  skirmish 
line,  the  rebel  picket  clipped  the  brim  of  McKee's  hat.  Hays  got  in 
the  third  shot  and  the  tremendous  engagement  was  on.  The  two  Yan- 
kee pickets  were  too  late  in  retreating  and  were  made  prisoners  and 
started  toward  Libby  prison.  A  cannon  ball  struck  a  tree  presently  and 
so  scattered  the  cavalry  escort  that  our  Federal  friends  made  their  es- 
cape among  the  pines.  As  Mr.  Hays  came  along  to  different  Union  bat- 
teries, he  found  them  horseless  and  almost  manless,  and  some  of  them  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  He  aided  in  dragging  Fitch's  battery  through 
Gen.  Couch's  Division,  a  half  mile  to  the  rear,  and  got  it  into  action.  It 
was  in  this  engagement  that  Mr.  Hays  met  a  son  of  his  uncle,  Fleming, 
whose  sons  went  into  the  Confederate  army.  They  exchanged  experi- 
ences afterward  and  it  was  discovered  that  at  several  places  they  had 
faced  each  other  in  deadly  conflict.  Continuing  through  the  period  of 
his  service,  Mr.  Hays  was  in  every  engagement  or  raid  his  company  took 
part  in.  in  one  of  which  every  third  man  in  it  was  killed  or  wounded. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  there  was  not  much  left  of  the  original  103rd 
Pennsylvania  regiment.  Five  years  after  the  wai*,  three  companies  of 
it  had  not  a  survivor,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  regiment  had  either 
been  killed,  wounded  or  taken  prisoner. 

Ju  the  performance  of  duty,  Mr.  Hays  was  always  willing  and 
prompt,  as  a  soldier,  and  the  fear  of  man  was  not  in  him.  When  ofl: 
duty,  he  often  ventured  far  beyond  the  lines  of  the  camp,  irrespective  of 
the  proximity  of  guerrilla  bands,  and  the  boys  claimed  that  he  knew 
everybody  within  five  miles  of  camp.  Just  before  the  end  of  the  war. 
Colonel  Leghman  ordered  him  off  of  the  picket  line  and  into  the  hospital 
for  treatment,  and  the  surgeon  who  examined  him,  discharged  him  and 
sent  him  home  to  die.  "But  Bill  wouldn't  die.  His  mother  patched  him 
up  with  some  herbs"  and  his  iron  constitution  did  the  rest.  Although 
he  recovered,  he  is  troubled  with  a  recurrence  of  his  army  aflfliction,  pe- 
riodically, and  has  frequently  been  brought  "near  death's  door.  While 
his  service  and  his  ailments  from  service  would  entitle  him  to  be  a  pen- 
sioner on  the  roll  of  honor,  he  has  never  drawn  one  cent  from  the  gov- 
ernment since  it  settled  up  with  him  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Resuming  civil  life,  Mr.  Hays  went  south,  but  found  the  feeling 
against  the  Union  soldier  too  bitter  to  warrant  his  remaining,  and  he 
took  Horace  Greely's  advice  and  "came  west  to  grow  up  with  the  coun- 
try."    In  1868,  he  camped  on  the  Osage  Diminished  Reserve  for  the  first 


37^  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

time  and  roamed  over  the  southwest  awhile.  Deciding  to  locate  in 
ilonlgomery  county,  he  first  located  a  claim  at  the  junction  of  the  Verdi- 
gris and  Elk  rivers,  hut  the  sudden  overflow  caused  him  to  change  his 
plans  and  he  entered  land  just  belowHell's  Bend,"  on  the  Verdigris, 
"where  Hell  broke  loose  regularly,  once  a  week."  He  fought  off  and  out- 
stayed the  claiiii-jniiiiiers,  destroyi'd  llieir  foundations  and  tore  down 
their  houses,  while  he,  himself,  nuide  his  home  in  his  wagon-box. 

Ee  engaged  in  the  cattle  business  in  his  new  home  and  was  dis- 
puted the  right  to  either  cut  hay,  or  even  live  on  the  land.  After  some 
trouble,  peace  was  made  with  Mad  Chief  and  his  band  of  Osages,  and  lit- 
tle, save  the  thieving  and  ])etty  offenses  of  the  In.dians  and  Hell's  Bend's 
gang,  served  to  worry  or  disturb  the  pioneers.  Mad  Chief  was  a  lieuten- 
ant iii  "Beever's  band,"  the  chief  of  which  accosted  Mr.  Hays  with  the 
query  as  to  why  he  was  there,  and  ended  the  interview  with  the  threat 
that  every  white  man  would  be  driven  oft'  of  the  reservation.  The  pow- 
wow ended  in  a  compromise  between  Hays  and  the  Indians,  after  a  day's 
wrangle.  Hays  agreeing  not  to  put  up  hay  only  on  the  Elk  river  bottom. 
He  permitted  the  Osage  ponies  to  feed  at  the  stacks  in  winter,  and 
presented  the  chief  a  beef,  whenever  the  cattle  were  brought  in.  Mr. 
Hays'  first  hay  was  burned  by  Indians  as  soon  as  it  was  put  in  windrow. 

On  one  occasion,  Mr.  Hays  broke  up  the  firing  of  his  haystacks 
by  the  Indians,  by  taking  one  of  them  oiit  of  the  crowd  and  driving 
him  across  the  prairie,  for  punishment,  at  the  hands  of  the  Indian  agent. 
At  another  time,  he  returned  a  bunch  of  horses  to  some  timid  settlers 
from  a  northern  county,  simply  going  into  a  corral  where  the  Indians 
had  driven  them,  cutting  them  out  and  driving  them  off,  after  the  band 
had  demanded  money  for  their  ransom,  and  refused  to  deliver  them  up 
to  their  owners.  At  several  times,  Mr.  Hays  was  ordered  off  the  reserva- 
tion by  the  agent,  but  he  forgot  to  go.  Because  of  his  firmness  with  the 
Osages,  some  of  them  felt  a  grievance  toward  our  subject,  and  made  ef- 
forts to  run  him  off,  but  they  made  no  headway  at  this.  This  dissatis- 
faction continued  till  the  spring  of  1870.  when  the  Osages  fired  all  the 
hay  hf"  had  and  left  him  without  feed  for  his  stock,  burned  some  of  the 
cattle  in  the  corral,  and  many  calves  in  the  prairie  grass. 

From  18C9  to  1871,  there  were  three  log  houses  burned  on  Mr.  Hays' 
claim,  two  box  houses  destroyed  and  four  log  foundations  cut  up  and 
burned.  His  claim  was  ordered  vacated  by  the  agent,  who  told  him, 
through  letters,  that  he  never  should  have  a  foot  of  the  Diminished  Re- 
serve. Once  he  sent  V.  S.  Marshal  Hargrave  to  arrest  him  and  take 
him  out  of  the  Indian  country,  but  for  some  good  reason,  the  marshal 
didn't  do  it,  and  after  an  ac(|uaiutance  had  sprung  up  between  them, 
Harnravc  said,  one  day.  "Bill,  if  I  had  known  the  kind  of  a  man  you  are, 
I  don'l  know  where  you  would  be  today.  I  started  1o  arrest  vou  once, 
by  (irdci-  of  I.  T.  Cilison.  and  on  my  way  up  I  met  a  lot  (if  Osages  going 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  377 

down  to  the  agent  with  a  story  of  youv  'round-nji'  with  them,  and  the 
version  they  gave  of  the  affair,  led  me  to  think  yon  were  the  devil,  and 
I  had  no  business  with  you  without  soldiers." 

Every  summer,  for  fourteen  years,  Mr.  Hays  spent  the  summer  on 
the  trail.  He  operated  in  Kansas  and  the  Territoi-y  and  everybody 
seemed  glad  to  meet  "Bill  Hays."  from  Red  river  to  the  Kansas  line.  He 
had  several  hundred  acres  fenced,  in  the  Cherokee  Nation,  and,  under  the 
act  of  the  Touncil.  no  man  was  allowed  to  fence  more  than  fifty  acres. 
But  many  fenced  a  thousand  acres  and,  often,  the  Cherokee  officer's  depu- 
ties came  along,  with  their  wire  cutlers,  and  let  down  fences  evei-y- 
where.  An  old  Irish  woman  complained  to  the  authorities  that  "it  bate 
the  divel  that  thim  bonus  coot  ivry  body's  fince  but  thot  mon  Hoais,  and 
divel  the  bit  did  the  slinks  touch  et !" 

The  region  of  the  Tei-ritory  was  a  wild  country  until  recent  years. 
It  was  full  of  bandits  and  petty  thieves,  and  the  only  two  subjects  dis- 
cussed by  them,  apparently,  was  "cattle  and  kill.''  The  marshal 
rounded  up  a  motley  crowd  of  law-breakers  every  year,  and  yet  each 
year  the  crop  grew  larger.  Mr.  Hays  was  brought  into  contact  with 
them,  in  the  course  of  his  work,  but  escaped  their  wrath,  and  had  no  se- 
rious mixu])  with  them.  The  Daltons  were  luxd.  but  no  wor.se  than  some 
other.-s.  He  met  them  often,  and  saw  them  the  day  they  lay  dead  in  Cof- 
feyville,  when  they  tried  to  outdo  Jesse  .lames,  by  robbing  two  banks  at 
once. 

In  manner  and  bearing,  Mr.  Hays  is  unassuming  and  unpretentious. 
He  is  averse  to  i)ushing  himself  forward  and  reserves  no  special  merit 
to  himself.  He  has  led  a  successful  life  and  been  a  conspicuous  and  use- 
ful citizen  of  Montg(unery  county,  and  it  is  meet  that  some  such  ex- 
tended mention  of  his  experiences  as  this  should  ai)pear  in  a  history 
of  his  own  county.  He  has  never  married,  having  passed  his  life  in  the 
families  of  neighbors  or  tenants,  and  being  "uncle"  to  them  all. 

Farmingandtheraisingof  stock  have  constituted  only  a  small  portion 
of  the  interesting  experiences  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Hays.  He  was  in  the 
banking  business,  when  the  panic  of  1892  came  on,  and  the  story  of  his 
defense  of  the  depositors,  against  the  attemi)ted  assimilation  of  the 
bank's  funds,  to  their  own  advantage,  by  some  of  those  near  to  the  insti- 
tution's management,  would  furnish  something  of  a  sensation  to  the 
patrons  of  the  defunct  bank. 

Mr.  Hays  makes  no  pretense  to  i)olitical  leadership  and  has  little 
sympathy  for  professional  politicians.  He  has  no  use  at  all  for  the 
chronic  office-seeker,  and  not  the  greatest  regard  for  the  candidacy  of 
any  man  looking  for  votes.  However,  against  his  wishes,  he  was  nom- 
inated, in  1881,  for  county  commisioner,  and  was  pitted  against  the 
"political  sweep-stake  as  a  vote-getter  in  Montgomery  county,"  whom 
he  defeated.     It  was  during  his  official  incnmbency  that  the  outstanding 


378  UlSTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

warrants  of  the  county  were  called  in,  paid  off  and  cancelled,  and  the 
countT  levy  reduced  from  one  dollar  to  seventy  cents.  The  county  did 
business  on  a  cash  basis  and,  so  far  as  the  member  from  Sycamore  was 
concerned,  "the  board  turned  its  l)ack  on  all  proposed  contracts  that 
contained  nothing  but  cheap  talk,  smiles  and  boodle."" 


THOMAS  FRANKLIN  BURKE— Ex-register  of  deeds,  Thomas  F. 
Burke,  of  Independence,  has  resided  in  Montgomery  county  twenty 
years.  Fourteen  years  of  that  time  he  was  engaged  in  farming  in  Syca- 
more township,  and  only  abandoned  rural  pursuits  to  assume  public 
office,  to  which  he  had  just  been  chosen.  After  five  years  of  official  ser- 
vice, in  one  of  the  most  important  jiositions  in  the  gift  of  the  people  of 
Montgomery  county,  he  retired,  and  became  a  member  of  the  real  estate 
firm  of  Heady  &  Burke. 

Mr.  Burke's  parents  were  early  settlers  of  Macon  county.  Illinois, 
Micajah  Burke,  his  father,  emigrating  from  Hardin  county,  Kentucky, 
in  1832,  and  founding  the  family  on  the  bleak  prairies  of  the  ^'Sucker 
State."  Virginia  was  the  original  American  home  of  the  family,  and 
early  in  the  century  just  iKist,  John  H.  Burke,  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject," joined  the  throng  of  immigrants  to  Kentucky,  remained  there  some 
years,  and  accompanied  his  son,  Micajah.  into  :Macon  county,  Illinois, 
where  he  died,  in  1854.  He  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  married  and  had 
a  family  of  two  sons  and  six  daughters.  James  P.urke  was  his  other  son 
and  Lp  brought  up  a  family  in  Illinois. 

Micajah  Burke  was  born  in  Virginia  in  lS(i:',  and  died  in  1803.  The 
labor  of  the  farm  furnished  him  with  employment  through  life  and  he  and 
his  wife,  nee  Lucy  Ann  Pasley,  of  Kentucky,  reared  a  family  of  seven  chil- 
dren. Mrs.  Burke  was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Henry  H.  Pasley,  a  Methodist 
minister  of  Hardin  county,  who  was  a  native  of  the  State  of  Kentucky. 
Mrs.  (Pasley)  Burke  died"  in  1802,  at  seventy-two  years  of  age,  being  the 
mother  of:  John  IL.  of  Macon  county.  Illinois;  James  W.,  deceased; 
Robert  Y.,  of  lola,  Kansas;  Thomas  F..  Adelpha  f".,  deceased,  wife  of 
Henry  Stevens,  of  Macon  county,  Illinois;  Josejih  W..  of  the  home  county 
in  Illinois;  and  Lewis  \K.  of  Pueblo,  Colorado. 

Thomas  F.  Burke  grew  up  in  the  country  where  school  advantages 
were  not  (tf  the  first  order.  His  enlistment  in  the  army,  for  service  in 
the  Civil  war,  marked  his  exit  from  the  domestic  and  parental  fireside. 
He  joined  Company  "A,"  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Illinois  Infantry, 
first.  Col.  Tupper,  and,  later.  Col.  I\Iaddox.  The  regiment  formed  a  part 
of  Grant's  army,  operating  on  the  Mississipi)i  river,  and  its  first  engage- 
ment, in  which  Mr.  Burke  participated,  was  at  Haines"  Bluff.  Then 
came  Champion  Hills,  and  the  siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg.  The 
armv  then  came  up  the  river  to  Memphis,  and  started  on  its  journey  from 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  379 

there  to  join  the  Federal  troops,  operating  in  the  east.  Mr.  Burke  took 
part  in  the  Jlissionary  Ridge  battle  and  was  present,  with  his  regiment, 
at  the  relief  of  Oen.  Biirnside.  at  Knoxville.  Tennessee.  During  that  win- 
ter, the  command  with  which  Mr.  Burke  was  serving,  was  stationed  at 
Larkinsville.  Alabama,  and  the  following  spring,  it  took  up  the  work  of 
the  Atlanta  campaign,  at  Resaca.  Georgia.  Was  in  battle  at  Dallas.  Big 
Shanty  and  Kennesaw  Mountain,  in  which  latter  the  troops  charged  the 
Confederates  and  cai)tured  their  redoubt.  The  One  Hundred  and  Six- 
leentli  then  went  to  Rossville.  Georgia,  on  orders,  and  was  in  the  fight 
of  the  21st  and  22d  of  September,  in  front  of  Atlanta.  On  the  28th,  it 
was  at  Ezra  Chapel,  where  Mr.  Biirke  was  struck  on  the  head  with  a 
Rebel  ball,  which,  in  time,  caused  blindness  of  the  right  eye.  After  a 
term  in  the  hos]>ital.  at  ^Marietta.  Georgia,  he  returned  to  his  regiment, 
and  was  in  the  fight  at  Jonesboro.  The  command  then  marched  back 
to  Atlanta  and  followed  Hood  to  the  Tennessee  river,  near  Chattanooga; 
returned  to  Atlanta  and  took  up  the  march  "to  the  sea."  Mr.  Burke  pai"- 
ticipaled.  with  his  company,  in  the  charge  on  Ft.  McAllister,  at  Savan- 
nah, in  which  engagement  he  was  color  bearer,  and  he  believes  he  placed 
the  first  banner  of  the  stars  and  strijies  on  the  Rebel  works.  At  Savannah 
the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Illinois  was  embarked  aboard  a  ship 
for  Pocataligo,  South  Carolina,  where  it  disembarked  and  went  to 
Charleston  and  on  to  Goldsboro.  North  Carolina.  Took  part  in  the 
engagement  at  Bentonville.  North  Carolina,  marched  on  through 
Raleigh,  to  Petersburg,  and  into  Richmond.  Virginia,  the  late  Confeder- 
ate capital.  Leaving  there,  the  army  marched  to  the  Grand  Review  at 
Washington,  D.  C  and  terminated  its  services  and  celebrated  its  vic- 
tories in  the  grandest  military  display  the  world  ever  saw.  Mr.  Burke 
was  discharged  at  the  Capital,  but  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois, with  a  promotion  from  private  to  color-sergeant,  and  with  three 
years  of  arduous  and  patriotic  service  to  his  credit. 

On  returning  to  his  old  home,  our  subject  donned  the  habiliments: 
of  a  farmer  and  resumed  civil  pursuits  where  he  left  off  three  years  be- 
fore. For  thirty-two  yeai's.  in  Illinois  and  in  Kansas,  he  continued  at 
his  favorite  calling,  and  only  separated  from  it  at  the  liehest  of  the 
people  to  assume  public  ofHce. 

October  22,  1871.  Mr.  Burke  married  Ellen  Nesmith.  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  Nesmith,  a  lawyer  by  jirofession  and  an  Ohioan  by  birth.  The 
Nesmiths  were  English,  their  family  home  being  Londonderry,  which  this 
branch  left,  came  to  America,  and  settled  at  Londonderry,  Connecticut, 
awav  back  in  Colonial  times.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burke  are: 
Walter  S.,  of  Denver,  Colorado;  Alice  G.,  wife  of  Morris  Humes,  of  Em- 
poria. Kansas;  Bessie  F.,  and  Arthur  N.,  of  Denver,  Colorado. 

In  his  political  life,  Mr.  Burke  is  an  avowed  Republican.  He  has 
ever  taken  a  keen  interest  in  local  politics,  and  was  first  elected  Register 


380  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

of  Deeds  in  November,  1897,  by  a  majority  of  sixty-six  vots,  being  the 
only  candidate  on  his  ticket  to  ''pnll  tlirough."  In  1899.  he  was  reelected, 
this  time  receiving  a  majority  of  three  hundred  aud  fifty-two  votes,  and 
being  again  the  only  Republican  candidate  to  win  on  tlie  county  ticket, 
except  the  surveyor  and  coroner.  His  service  as  county  recorder  was  ef- 
ficient and  ])ains-tnking  and  it  included  the  time  from  January,  1898,  to 
•Tanuarv.  19n:{. 


THOMAS  WHISTLER— What  shall  Montgomery  do  when  these 
"first  settlers"  have  ])assed  to  their  reward?  There  seems  to  have  been 
something  in  the  virgin  soil  of  her  boundless  ])rairies  which  inoculated 
them  with  the  virus  of  contentment  and  good  nature,  x'fitriotism  and 
devotion  to  the  state  of  their  ado])tion.  They  broke  the  sod  and  from  its 
upturned  loam,  drew  inspiration  for  the  battle  of  life,  which  carried 
them  safely  through  the  heat  of  the  day,  aud  which  still  gives  forth  its 
benign  influences  as  they  enter  the  evening  shades.  Retired  from  the 
activities  of  life,  they  yet  exercise  a  potent  influence  in  the  conduct  of 
afi'airs  in  the  wise  council  whicli  they  give  to  the  younger  generation. 

In  Thomas  Whistler,  of  Elk  (Mty,  is  found  one  of  these  first  settlers 
of  the  county,  the  singularly  correct  life  which  he  has  lived  having 
brought  to  him,  in  a  large  measure,  expressions  of  appreciation  aud 
good  cheer  from  a  very  wide  circle  of  friends.  Mr.  Whistler  is  a  native 
of  Maryland,  born  in  the  county  of  Baltimore,  November  9,  1836.  Samuel 
Whistler,  his  father,  and  Elizabeth  Ford,  his  mother,  were  natives  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  respectively,  and  in  their  day,  were  loyal 
and  respected  citizens,  whose  lives  were  without  blemish.  The  father 
was  a  worker  in  iron  and  also  followed  the  plow  in  season.  He  died  at 
the  age  of  fifty-six  years,  his  wife  surviving  him  some  years,  and  passing 
away  during  the  CO's.  There  was  a  family  of  six  children:  Abram, 
John  and  Elizabetii  are  now  deceased;  Lottie,  Mrs.  Richard  Herbert,  a 
widow,  living  in  Pennsylvania;  Mary,  Mrs.  Thaddeus  Crow,  resides  in 
Virginia ;  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Mr.  Whistler  was  reared  to  the  rigors  of  farm  life,  and  there  devel- 
oped that  constitnlion  which  has  carried  him  through  iiearly  seven 
decades  of  a  busy  life.  He  worked  on  the  home  farm  until  September 
of  18r.2,  when  he  caught  the  step,  which  swung  past  him,  for  the  battle- 
fields of  the  south  and  took  up  arms  for  the  defense  of  the  L^nion.  His 
enlistment  was  as  a  private  soldier  in  Company  "G,"  Second  Maryland 
Volunteer  Infantry,  Army  of  the  Potomac.  His  service  was  entirely  in 
the  east,  his  company  being  in  many  of  the  great  struggles  which  took 
place  between  Lee  and  the  dift'erent  leaders  on  the  Union  side,  and  stood 
grim  i'.nd  silent  across  the  ])athway  of  that  i)roud  chieftan  at  Ai)])omat- 
tox,  as  he  vainly  endeavored  to  extricate  himself  from  the  toils.     During 


3ENI.   MURFHY. 


ill  men  lire  equal  before 

1  to  till  until 
!  .  which  was 


married.  The  wife  of  his  youth  was 

(■ied  in  1856,  and  who  died  at  twenty- 

.hildreur  Mary  and  John.     The 

:^i«minent  factor  in-the  county's 

f)f  tvv.s't,   ;I!m1   is  Tlo^T  a   ropro- 


nndinpntt*'? 


m 


(iver  'lie  vast  loalm.  and  introduce  an  active,  enorjjetic  force,  armed  witli 
the  arts  of  peace  and  with  a  single  thought — the  building  of  homes.  In 
this  category  of  distinguished  jtersons,  our  subject,  Benjamin  Murphy, 
belongs.  He  was  here  in  Montgomery  county  among  the  first,  neigh- 
bored— according  to  the  custom — for  a  time,  with  the  aborigines,  and 
from  the  day  of  his  advent,  was  consumed  with  the  idea  of  achieving 
a  home.  It  was  the  1st  day  of  November,  18G8,  that  he,  with  others  from 
the  same  fioint.  located  on  Elk  river,  taking  his  claim  in  section  9,  town- 
ship 32.  range  15.  and  also  a  part  of  section  10,  embracing  a  quarter  sec- 
tion, in  all,  which  he  imjuoved  and  resided  on  for  many  years.  His  home 
is  almost  on  the  bank  of  the  sinuous  Elk  and  the  substantial  character 
of  his  domicile  indicates  the  permanence  which  swaved  him  in  an  carlv 
day. 

V.v.  Murphy  had  been  a  resident  of  Kansas  for  ten  years  when  he 
settled  in  Montgomery  county.  He  was  a  jiioneer  to  ("oft'ey  county  and 
settled  near  LeRoy.  from  which  point  he  brought  Jiis  family  to  Mont- 
gomery county,  in  1  Stilt.  He  was  born  in  Posey  county.  Indiana,  Jan- 
uary k;,  l!S:}4.  and  is  a  son  of  Jesse  Murphy,  who  went  with  his  father, 
James  Murphy,  into  Posey  county,  in  1804.  ifrom  North  Carolina.  James 
Murphy  left  Indiana  and  went  to  the  Republic  of  Texas,  where  he  could 
own  slaves,  and  died  in  Anderson  county,  now  the  State  of  Texas,  in 
1861.  His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth  Cox,  who  died  in  Posey  couuty.  In- 
diana, being  the  mother  of  six  sons,  namely :  Jesse,  John,  Aaroji ,  James, 
who  died  in  Oregon,  Noah,  and  Thomas,  who  died  in  Texas.  John  died 
in  Il.'JDois.  ;ind  Noah  and  Aaron  died  in  Indiana,  while  Jesse  died  in  Illi- 
nois, in  isno.  (irandfather  Murphy  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  isii.',  and 
helped  fight  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  under  Gen.  Harrison. 

Jesse  Jhirphy  was.  like  his  father,  a  farmer.  He  married  Sarah 
Russell,  who  suivivcil  liim  two  yrais.  ami  bore  him  four  children,  as 
follows:  William,  nf  Illinois;  .lames,  dc.i^ased;  John,  who  lives  in  Illi- 
nois, and  Henjamiii,  our  subject.  These  sons  grew  u])  in  the  new  coun- 
try of  Illinois,  where  there  were  few  opportunities  for  boys  without 
means  and  no  advantages  for  an  education  worth  the  name.  The  con.se- 
(pienci'  was.  P.enjamin  learned  little  beyond  reading,  writing  and  a  smat- 
tering of  arithmetic.  March  ti.  IS.jO,  he  married  Sidney  Tiner.  a  daugh- 
ter of  Richard  Tiner.  from  Tennessee.  Mrs.  Tiner  wasa  Jenkins.  Mrs. 
Sidney  Murphy  died  in  Montgomery  couuty.  Kansas,  in  1873,  leaving 
nine  diildren.  namely:  Richard  and  Elnora,  who  died  without  heirs; 
Queen  \'..  wife  of  Henry  Primmer,  of  Pueblo.  Colorado;  William,  of 
Labette  county,  Kansas;  Emma,  Mrs.  John  Hooper,  of  Montgomery 
county,  Kansas;  (Jeorge,  of  Independence,  Kansas;  Effie,  wife  of  J.  H. 
Carpenter,  of  the  Indian  Territory;  Jesse,  and  Ida,  wife  of  William 
McCjoud.  January  25,  1876,  Mr.  .Miirjiliy  manicd  .Mrs.  Maria  McCarney,. 
widow  of  Thomas  McCarnev.  and  a  daughter  of  John  and  Zeruah  (Barn- 


HISTORY  OF   MOXTOOMERT  COUXTY,  KANSAS.  383 

hard)  Black.  Mr.  IJlack  emigrated  from  his  native  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, to  Morrow  county,  Ohio,  where  Mrs.  Murphy  was  born,  but  now 
resides  with  our  subject,  at  eighty-eight  years  of  age.  Mrs.  Murphy  was 
born  August  12,  1843,  and  is  the  third  child  of  her  parents,  the  others 
being:  Henry,  of  Gi'eenwood  county,  Kansas;  Ann  E.,  wife  of  Joseph 
Underhill ;  Lydia,  wife  of  William  Sterling,  of  Henning,  Minnesota. 
Ezra  ^IcCarney,  of  Independence,  Kansas,  is  Mrs.  Murphy's  first  child. 
Her  others  are  Ada,  deceased;  Cora,  wife  of  James  H.  Newmaster,  of 
Montgomery  county,  and  Earl,  yet  under  the  parental  roof. 

Benjamin  Murphy  left  Illinois  in  1858,  with  an  ox  team,  bound  for  the 
prairies  of  Kansas.  He  had  scarcely  become  acclimated,  when  he  respond- 
ed to  Ihe  call  of  the  President  for  troops  to  put  down  the  rebellion  of  1861. 
He  enlisted  in  Company  "F,"  Ninth  Kansas  Cavalry,  at  lola.  under 
command  of  Col.  Lynde,  and  served  on  the  border,  between  Missouri  and 
Kansas,  and  in  Arkansas  and  the  Indian  Territory,  during  his  three 
year's  period  of  enlistment.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Prairie  Grove,  and 
Newtonia,  and  saw  much  skirmishing  and  rough-and-tumble  service.  His 
three  and  one-half  years  experience  in  the  tield  fitted  him  for  a  life  on  the 
border  and  among  the  Red  Men,  when  he  came  to  settle  in  Montgomery 
coiinty.  Nopawalla's  band  of  a  few  hundred  Osages.  was  camped 
not  far  from  his  homestead,  and  Chetopa  and  Strike  Axe  were  farther 
up  Elk  river,  with  the  warriors  of  the  tribe,  and  with  these  bands  some 
little  intercourse  was  indulged  in  by  the  settlers.  The  collecting  of  trib- 
ute ofl  of  the  settlers  and  the  satisfying  of  an  unsatiable  appetite,  from 
the  larders  of  the  same,  were  the  uses  to  which  said  settler  was  put.  The 
Red  JMan  also  indulged  in  a  little  horse  stealing,  to  break  the  monotony 
of  the  seasons,  but  the  losses  of  the  "Pale  Face"  on  account  of  this  di- 
version were  insignificant. 

Mr.  Murphy  has  participated,  with  his  fellow  townsmen,  in  the  af- 
fairs of  local  government,  and  has  never  failed  to  take  the  interest  of 
a  good  citizen  in  political  contests.  He  has  served  on  the  school  board 
and  ouce  was  postmaster  of  the  little  town  of  Radical.  He  holds  a  mem- 
bershii)  in  the  United  Brethren  church. 


CAPT.  LYCT'RGUS  C.  MASON— In  the  following  biographical  re- 
view, posterity  is  tendered  the  salient  events  in  the  life  record  of  the  pio- 
neer, patriotic  and  honored  citizen,  of  Independence,  Capt.  L.  C.  Mason, 
The  date  of  his  settlement,  the  period  of  his  residence  and  the  distin- 
guished character  of  his  citizenship,  all  conspire  to  render  him  a  person 
of  renown,  and  it  is  these  attributes  which  furnish  the  inspiration  for 
this  article,  and  the  honor  of  the  man  which  justifies  its  production. 

The  oracle  of  fate  decreed  his  nativity  a  hallowed  spot.  Born  where 
■was  nurtured  the  youth  of  our  martyred  President,  and  where  conditions 


j'^4  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

and  (ir.unisiances  jiistilied  his  siigjiestive  but  f()iiiiiioni)lace  titlo  of 
"Kailsplittev."  Lvciiryus  <'.  Mason  grew  up,  amid  the  sarred  memories  of 
the  Tresident's  youth,  and  came  to  manhood,  strengthened  and  animated 
by  the  success  of  his  public  life.  A  native  of  Indiana,  and  of  Spencer 
county,  ("apt.  ilason  was  born  October  1.  1840.  His  father.  Christopher 
J.  Mason,  was  born  in  Ohio  county,  Kentucky,  in  1813,  and  grew  up  and 
married,  in  liis  native  county.  Ellen  Morgan,  and  in  1832,  crossed  the 
sinuous  and  watery  boundary  of  the  state  and  settled  in  Spencer  county. 
Indiana.  There  the  frontier  couple  established  themselves,  in  the  heavy 
woodland,  and  began  the  process  of  hewing  oiit  a  home.  Like  many  of 
the  Kentucky  pioneers,  the  Masons  were  from  Virginia,  where  J.  H.  Ma- 
son, the  grandfather  of  our  subject,  was  born,  nuirried  Elizabeth  Jack- 
son, a  cousin  of  the  famous  ex-President  and  expounder  of  Democratic 
doctrine,  and.  about  18(MI.  took  his  family  into  the  new  Commonwealth 
of  Kentucky,  (irandfathcr  ]\Ias{in  was  born  about  1779  and  died  in  Han- 
cock county.  Kentucky,  in  1S()3.  His  children  were  eight  in  number,  and 
none,  save  Christopher  J.,  emigrated  from  his  Kentucky  home.  They 
were:  James.  Joseph,  Henrv,  Christopher  J.,  .Marv,  Margaret,  Jane  and 
Elvira. 

Christoidier  J.  ;Mason  sjient  sixty-four  years  near  the  scene  of  his 
Indiana  settlement,  contributed  no  little  to  the  material  and  internal 
develoiiment  of  his  county,  and  died  in  October,  1896.  forty-nine  years 
after  the  death  of  his  wife.  Their  children  were:  Coi-delia  J.,  wife  of 
Dr.  J.  H.  Houghland,  of  Rockport.  ludiana ;  W.  T..  a  banker  of  Ihe  same 
city;  and  Cajit.  Lycurgus,  of  this  notice. 

<i rubbing,  sprouting,  rail-making,  farming  and,  lastly,  attending 
school,  constituted  the  annual  routine  of  L.  C.  Mason's  early  life,  with 
strongly  marked  emjihasis  ui)on  the  physical  occupations.  Getting  an 
education  was  insignificant,  in  comparison  with  the  physical  developer^ 
chopping  and  grubbing — and  if  he  dug  into  his  books  half  as  much  as  he 
dug  into  the  ground,  he  was  sure  to  become  an  accomplished  scholar. 
In  October.  1861.  he  enlisted  in  Company  "P"."  Fifty-eighth  Indiana  Vol- 
unteers. Capt.  Crow's  company,  regiment  in  command  of  Col.  Carr.  ilr. 
Mason  was  mustered  in  as  a  sergeant  of  his  company,  and  the  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Louisville  from  Princeton.  Indiana,  and  it  became  a  part 
of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  Ater  the  battles  of  Stone  river,  Chick- 
amauga  and  Missionary  Kidge.  our  subject  was  transferred  to  the  engi- 
neering corjis.  with  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant.  His  was  a  company  of 
pontoniers.  and  aided  in  bridging  every  important  stream  from  Chatta- 
nooga to  Atlanta,  from  which  latter  point  it  went  with  Sherman's  army 
to  the  sea.  The  Captain's  company  helped  bridge  all  the  streams  about 
Savannah,  and.  after  the  fall  of  that  city,  marched  north  through  the  Car- 
olinas  with  the  victorious  Federal  forces.  On  to  Richmond,  building 
bridges  enroute  and,  finally,  to  Washington,  D.  C,  where  it  participated 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  385 

ill  tho  Gniiid  review.  At  Savannah,  our  subject  received  his  cajjlain's  coni- 
misnion,  and  was  in  command  of  bis  company  from  then  to  the  final  mus- 
ter out  and  discharge,  at  Indianapolis,  in  August,  186.^. 

On  resuming  civil  pursuits,  Capt.  Mason  engaged  in  the  produce  and 
tobacco  business,  flat-boating  on  the  Ohio  river.  He  engaged  in  traffic 
with  planters  along  the  lower  Mississippi  river,  and  occasionally  made 
trips  to  New  Orleans.  For  five  years — 1866  to  1871— he  followed  this 
species  of  domestic  commerce  and  closed  the  business  with  an  accumu- 
lation of  some  capital  and  a  roving  and  wandering  habit.  His  army  life, 
also,  contributed  to  his  spirit  of  unrest,  and  he  came  west  in  response  to 
this  peculiar  mental  bent.  He  came  to  Cherryvale,  by  rail,  and  staged 
it  across  to  the  new  town  of  Independence,  in  Montgomery  county,  Kan- 
sas. His  first  home  in  the  county  was  the  Caldwell  House,  then  kept  by 
Larimer  &  Allen,  and  named  in  honor  of  U.  S.  Senator  Caldwell,  of 
Kansas.  At  Humboldt,  enroute,  he  met  Lyman  U.  Humphrey,  who  in- 
duced the  Captain  to  become  a  citizen  of  southern  Kansas.  He  spent 
the  first  two  years  as  a  loan  broker  and  drifted,  gradually,  into  grain, 
pork  J  nd  cattle  buying,  following  it  till  1876,  when  he  purchased  a  farm 
in  the  Verdigris  bottom,  just  east  of  the  county  seat,  and  entered  upon 
its  cultivation  and  imjirovement.  His  farm  now  embraces  .seven  hundred 
acres,  as  valuable  an  estate  as  the  county  aff'ords.  He  owns  much  valua- 
ble property  in  Independence,  and  his  homestead  on  the  east  bluff,  over- 
looking the  valley  of  the  Verdigris,  is  one  of  the  handsome  places  iu  the 
city.  He  is  a  heavy  stockholder  in  the  First  National  Bank  and  has 
been  vice-president  of  the  institution  since  1887. 

Captain  Mason  is  well  known  as  a  Republican,  lie  was  iionored  by 
his  townsmen,  in  1881,  to  the  chief  magistry  of  the  city,  and  was  re- 
elected to  the  otfice  the  following  year.  He  has  declined  other  political 
honoiv,  preferring  private  life  to  the  encumbrances  and  annoyance  of 
public  office. 

After  two  years  spent  in  Jloutgomery  county,  ("apt.  Mason  started, 
June  1.  1878,  on  an  extended  tour  of  Europe.  He  loft  New  York  and 
reached  (Jlasgow,  Scotland,  without  important  incident.  He  visited,  re- 
spectively, Edinburg.  Loudon,  Amsterdam,  up  the  Rhine  to  Vienna, 
where  he  attended  the  "AA'orld's  Fair"  two  weeks,  being  honorary  com- 
missioner to  the  celebration  from  Kansas.  He  visited,  next,  Trieste,  Ven- 
ice, Rome.  Naples,  saw  Mt.  ^Vsnvius  and  the  leaning  tower  of  Pisa,  was 
on  top  of  St.  Peter's  cathedral  in  Rome,  passed  through  the  German  Em- 
pire and  capital,  viewed  the  Swiss  mountains  and  the  beautiful  city  of 
Geneva,  passed  through  Lyons  and  spent  some  time  in  Paris,  France. 
While  in  (Sermany  visited  Strasburg,  and  in  Berlin  saw  the  great  soldier 
and  Emperor,  William  I,  of  Prussia.  He  returned  to  London  from  Paris 
and  visited  the  Parliament  House  and  other  noted  places,  saw  the  great 
commercial  jiort  of  the  world.  Liverpool,  and  sailed  for  America   from 


3»t)  niSTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Glasfrow  in  Sopteniber,  reaching;  home  in  October,  after  an  absence  of 
four  months. 

October  23,  1873,  Capt.  Mason  married  Mary  V.  Britton,  an  Indiana 
lady  and  a  daughter  of  Thomas  P.  Britton.  whose  ancestors  were  also 
Virginians.  Thomas  P.  Britton  was  married  to  Miss  Evaline  Bayless,  a 
native  of  Tennessee,  but  of  Virginia  ancestors,  August  21,  1829.  Mrs. 
Mason  is  proud  of  the  fact  that  her  great-grandfather,  Benjamin  Bayless, 
was  a  revolutionary  soldier.  She  had  several  uncles  who  served  in  the 
Mexican  war  and  also  had  a  brother  in  tlie  Mexican  war,  and  one.  Frank 
L.,  served  in  the  Civil  war,  18G1-6.5,  and  was  a  prominent  man  in  Texas 
during  the  reconstruction  period.  Oen.  Forbes  Britton,  a  graduate  of 
West  Point,  uncle  of  Mrs.  Mason,  was  very  prominent  in  the  settlement 
of  Texas.  Mrs.  Mason  was  born  in  Spencer  ccmnty,  Indiana,  in  184.'5,  and 
is  the  mother  of  Evaline  E.  and  Eugenia  Mason,  educated  and  accom- 
plished daughters  and  the  life  of  the  family  circle.  Capt.  Mason  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  ]\lasonic  fraternity  in  a  dual  sense,  holds  a  membershij)  in  For- 
titude Lodge  and  his  daughters  belong  to  the  Eastern  Star.  Their  suj)- 
])ort  in  religious  nmtters  is  given  to  the  Presbyterian  <hur<li.  of  which 
the  family  are  consistent  members. 


WILLI A]N[  LASSEY— Since  the  year  1S78,  the  subject  of  this  per- 
sonal review  has  been  a  citizen  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  Until 
lecentlv.  he  maintained  a  leading  position  as  a  farmer  in  West  Cherry 
townsliip,  but  is  ntnv  withdrawn  from  active  affairs  and  is  in  modest  re- 
tirement in  the  city  of  Independence. 

With  no  atlcinpt  at  extravagance  in  statement,  the  Lasseys  have 
been  aggressive  Ainciicans  and  have  been  a  jtositive  factor  in  our  internal 
development.  \^  ln'ivvcr  fortune  has  cast  llicm,  the  members  of  this  branch 
of  the  familv  have  .Hcupied  a  conspicuous  [.lace  as  citimis  and,  in  peace 
or  in  war.  duty's  first  call  has  been  obeyed.  As  artisans  or  as  farmers 
have  they  led  lives  of  usefulness,  and  with  this  brief  reference  to  their 
position  "the  life  storv  of  our  subject  is  here  narrated. 

William  Lassev  was  born  in  Monroe  county.  Michigan,  Novendier  20, 
1841.  His  parents.  William  and  Mary  (Richardson)  Lassey,  were  im- 
migrants from  Yorkshire.  England,  where  the  father  was  born  in  1808. 
In'lS^a,  the  latter  came  to  the  United  States  and  resided  for  two  years 
in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  going  thence  to  Monroe  county,  Michigan, 
where,  near  the  town  of  Monroe,  he  erected  the  first  paper  mill  built  in 
the  "Wolveiine  State."  He  was  a  millwright  by  trade  and  was  employed 
at  this  and  in  the  operation  of  factory  and  farm  for  more  than  forty 
years.  His  wife  died  after  their  fourth  child  was  born,  and  for  his  sec- 
ond wife  he  married  Mrs.  .Jane  (  Inglis)  (lardner,  a  Scotch  lady,  who 
bore  him  two  children  and  died  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  iu  1883. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  387 

The  issue  of  his  first  marriage  were:  William,  Jr.,  of  lliis  notioe,  who 
was  the  third  child ;  Richard,  the  oldest,  wlio  died  a  Federal  soldier  in 
Libby  prison ;  John,  of  Monroe  county,  Michif^an ;  and  Mary,  wife  of  Har- 
mon Ellinger.  of  Sycamore  township.  By  the  second  marriage  the  two 
ch ildren were: Joseph H..  of  Cloud  county,  Kansas,  and  Sarah,  who  resides 
with  her  brother,  William.  The  father  died  in  1887.  Mrs.  Jane  Lassey 
had  two  daughters  by  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Gardner,  viz:  Jane,  wife  of 
David  Navarre,  of  Sycamore  township,  and  iliuion.  wife  of  Herman  Xes- 
sel,  of  Monroe.  Michigan. 

As  Mr.  Wm.  Lassey,  Jr.,  api)roa(lied  his  majority  the  great  Civil  war 
came  on  and  when  he  would,  in  the  natural  course  of  events,  engage  in 
civil  pursuits,  patriotism  promjilcd  his  enlistment  in  the  army.  He  .join- 
ed Company  "A,"  4th  Michigan  Inf.,  three  months'  men,  in  April,  1861, 
and  was  elected  orderly  sergeant  of  the  company.  He  re-enlisted  in 
August  following  and  served  continuously  'till  his  term  of  enlistment  ex- 
pired in  August,  1864,  when  he  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  at  Detroit, 
Michigan,  after  a  service  unusual  for  its  rigor  and  intensity.  He  took 
part  in  twenty-three  hard-fought  battles,  from  first  Bull  Run  down 
through  the  calendar,  including  the  siege  ot  i''orkiown,  Hanover  Court 
House,  Mechanicsville,  New  Market,  Malvern  Hill,  Harrison's  Landing, 
Gainesville,  second  Bull  Run,  Antietam,  Shepardstown  Ford,  Fredericks- 
burg, Chancellorsville,  Gainesville,  Ya.,  Gettysburg,  Brandy  Station,  Bris- 
tow  Station,  Rajipahannock  Station  and  Mine  Run. 

On  leaving  the  army  Mr.  Lassey  engaged  in  the  business  of  railroad- 
ing. In  1878,  in  company  with  his  father's  family,  he  came  to  Kansas, 
to  build  them  a  home,  when  Montgomery  county  was  being  settled  up,  and 
the  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  which  has  recently  been  aban- 
doned, evidences  the  thrift  and  independence  which  the  household  has 
enjoyed.  He  is  a  l>eniocrat  in  politics,  a  Presbyterian,  an  Odd  Fellow 
and  a  member  of  ilcl'hersou  Post  G.  A.  R. 


JAMES  MURI'HY— The  substantial  farmer  of  West  Cherry  town- 
ship whose  name  heads  this  personal  notice,  has  an  abiding  faith  in  the 
continued  ascendency  of  Montgomery  county.  Its  agricultural  and  min- 
eral wealth  give  assurance  of  i)ermanency  and  the  character  of  its  citi- 
zenship is  a  guarantee  of  its  continued  and  onward  march.  When,  in 
1879,  Mr.  Murphy  saw  Southern  Kansas  for  the  first  time,  its  appearance 
was  in  striking  contrast  with  the  internal  development  which  has  taken 
place  since.  In  1880,  when  he  located  in  Montgomery  county  and  set- 
tled on  section  35,  township  31,  range  16,  the  work  of  liome  improvement 
had  only  just  begun.  He  caught  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm  with  the  i-est, 
and  the  raw  quarter,  with  the  little  shanty,  has  broadened  to  a  half  sec- 


00»  1I1^5TUHY    OK    MUNTUOMEKY   L'OUNTY,   KANSAS. 

tion,  with  splendid  horeditamonts  and  with  a  wealth  of  fertility  and  pro- 
ductiveness that  brings  gratifying  returns. 

Mr.  Murphy,  though  of  Irish  blood,  is  a  native  of  the  "Wolverine 
State."  He  was  born  in  Macomb  county.  Michigan.  August  2,  18.">4.  and 
lived  in  that  state  until  he  was  twenty-four  years  old.  His  father  was 
Humphrey  Murphy,  likewise  his  grandfather,  both  native  of  County  Cork, 
Irelaiid.  Cirandfather  ^Murphy  came  to  the  United  States  with  his  family, 
and  first  stopped  in  Troy,  New  York,  but,  eventually,  came  on  to  Detroit, 
Michigan,  and  in  that  state  i)assed  his  active  mature  life  as  a  farmer. 
Humphrey  Murphy,  Jr.,  came  with  his  parents  to  .\merica  when  a  lad  of 
nine  ^ears.  When  a  young  man  he — in  ISIO — went  to  California,  during 
the  gold  excitement,  via  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  spent  about  three 
years  there,  working  at  different  points  along  the  coast,  but  chiefly  around 
Marysville.  He  was  successful  and  returned  to  Michigan,  bought  a  farm 
in  Macomb  county  and  there  died.  While  a  child  of  about  three  years  old 
his  father  went  to  Rio  Jeniro.  Brazil,  but  only  i"emained  a  short  time, 
returned  to  Ireland,  and,  after  a  short  residence  there,  came  on  to  the 
United  States,  as  above  stated. 

Humphrey  I^furjiby,  Sr..  married  Mary  Murphy  and  had  one  child, 
only,  who  was  the  father  of  James,  of  this  review.  Humphrey  Murphy, 
Jr.,  married  IMargarct  ^Slclnorney.  a  native  of  County  Clare,  Ireland,  and 
a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Muri)hy.  Eight  children  were  born  of  this 
union!  as  follows:  James,  our  subject;  John,  of  Seattle,  Washington; 
Thomas,  of  liay  City,  Michigan ;  Mrs.  Mary  Friedhoff,  of  Tortland,  Ore- 
gon; Charles  B..  of  the  Klondyke;  Catherine,  Ignatius,  of  Macomb  ccmnty, 
Michigan;  and  Cornelius  J.,  of  the  same  state. 

James  Murjdiy  married  Ella  Laduke,  born  in  the  same  county  and 
state  with  himself.  Her  birth  occurred  April  2,  1865,  and  she  was  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Clarissa  (Frink)  Laduke,  natives  of  Canada  and 
New  York,  i-esjtectively.  Two  children,  ITumi>hrey  and  Edward,  make 
pleasant  the  Imme  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  :Murpby,  and  are  stalwart  and  useful 
young  men. 

Id  his  youth  Mr.  Murjiby  attended  the  common  si'hools  of  bis  native 
Michigan  and.  when  seventeen  years  old,  became  useful  as  a  man  of  the 
farm.  When  he  left  home  in  1879,  and  sought  sunny  Kansas,  he  spent 
a  year  as  a  woi-kman  on  the  Southern  Kansas  railway.  Then,  purchasing 
the  first  quarter  scition  of  Ills  ])resent  farm,  be  b(>came  a  member  of  the 
old  ciaft,  and  has  done  an  etlcitive  work  in  the  Tnaterial  upbuilding  of 
Montgomery  county. 

He  is  a  l)<>mo(  lat  iu  politics  and  acts  with  his  i)arty  from  motives 
of  patriotism  rather  than  for  spoils.  He  has  served  as  a  member  of  his 
district  school  board  for  eleven  years,  and  holds  a  mend)ership  in  the  A. 
H.  T.  \.     The  I'ainiiy  ate  mend)ei's  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  389 

AMANDA  J.  DAUGHERTY— Posterity  will  be  iuterested  iu  the 
settler  of  the  frontier.  Their  trials,  their  hardships  and  sacrifices  will 
be  read  with  a  zest  that  the  experiences  of  others  do  not  furnish.  Amanda 
J.  Daugherty  was  among  the  early  comers.  As  the  wife  of  Jacob  C.  Tay- 
lor, she  drove  into  Montgomery  county,  in  October,  1870,  from  LeRoy, 
Mower  county,  Minnesota,  being  nine  weeks  on  the  journey.  They  had 
two  teams  with  them,  and  from  Kansas  City — wlierc  one  driver  de- 
serted— she  took  the  reins  of  the  missing  driver  and  comiilclcd  the  over- 
land voyage  to  their  destination. 

The  first  three  days  passed  in  Mdnlgomery  county,  were  as  campers 
along  the  Verdigris  riviT.  Miiiong  the  Osagcs,  when  Mr.  Taylor  traded  one 
of  his  teams  to  setllci-  .McCullough  for  his  claim-right  to  a  quarter  in 
section  28,  township  31,  rage  10.  Into  their  13x13  log  cabin  the  family 
moved,  which  yet  forms  one  room  of  their  more  recent  and  modern  resi- 
dence. In  April,  1871,  Mr.  Taylor  was  drowned  in  the  Verdigris  river, 
leaving  his  widow  and  baby  boy  almost  within  the  grasp  of  starvation. 
Food  was  scarce  in  their  larder,  for  a  time,  and  once  peas  formed  their 
sole  and  only  diet.  Beyatt,  a  half-breed  Indian,  learning  of  their  condi- 
tion, supplied  flour  and  other  provisions,  until  the  stringency  of  the  times 
was  otherwise  relieved. 

Eight  months  after  her  husband's  death,  our  subject  married  N.  A. 
Daugherty,  a  settler  of  Montgomery  county,  of  the  year  1870.  The  latter 
took  a  claim  on  Salt  cre«k,  was  engaged  in  farming  and  improving  his 
land.  Mr.  Daugherty  is  a  son  of  John  and  Rachel  Daugherty  and  was 
born  in  Ohio.  His  experiences,  as  a  pioneer  of  this  county,  were  some- 
what parallel  with  those  of  other  settlers  of  his  time  and  he  has  a  record 
of  an  industrious  and  well-spent  life.  The  noted  Indian,  Mad  Chief,  was 
his  neighbor,  and  when  he  died,  the  Daughertys  helped  lay  him  away  in 
the  Indian  biirying-ground,  near  the  Verdigris  i-iver. 

Nathan  A.  Daugherty  enlisted  in  Company  "G,"  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  in  1862,  and  served  under  Gen. 
Milroy,  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  where  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  was 
in  captivity  about  forty  days,  seven  days  being  spent  on  Belle  Isle.  He 
returned  to  his  regiment  in  November,  1863,  and  served  under  Gen.  Grant 
until  May  6,  1864.  He  was  wounded,  in  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness, 
on  that  day.  and  discharged,  on  account  of  wounds,  February,  1865. 

Amanda  J.  Daugherty  was  born  in  Tanneytown,  Maryland,  April 
1,  1841.  She  was  a  granddaughter  of  Jacob  Slaughenhaupt,  a  German, 
who  had  nine  children,  as  follows:  Samuel,  Jacob,  John,  Betty,  Catherine, 
Barbara,  Annie,  Margaret  and  Susan.  Jacob  Slaughenhaupt,  Jr.,  mar- 
ried Susannah  Hill,  a  native  of  Carroll  county,  Maryland,  and  a  daughter 
of  Clement  and  Elizabeth  Hill,  natives  of  England.  Of  this  union,  eight 
children   were    born,     nanielv:       Marv    Batdorf,    Annie     Caldwell,    of 


390  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Lowden,  Iowa;  Amanda  J.,  of  this  review;  Jacob,  of  Ouray,  Colorado; 
the  remaining  four  are  deceased. 

Amanda  J.  Slaughenhaupt  first  married  Jacob  C.  Taylor.  Mr.  Tay- 
lor was  born  in  rennsylvania.  and  his  parents  were  William  and  Nancy 
Taylor,  of  that  state.  The  young  couple  were  married  in  1862,  in  Cedar 
county,  Iowa,  and  afterward  moved  to  Illinois,  then  to  Wisconsin,  later 
to  Mfssouri  and  to  Minnesota,  and.  finally,  to  Kansas.  Of  their  mar- 
rige.  a  son  was  born,  Charles  Taylor,  a  well  known  farmer  of  West  Cherry 
townshii),  ^Montgomery  county. 


SMITH  B.  SQUIRES— We  initiate  this  article  with  the  name  of  a 
pioneer  whose  residence  in  Montgomery  county  has  been  continuous  since 
the  23d  of  June,  18G8.  at  which  date  he  settled  in  Sycamore  township, 
and  began  the  long  and  tortuous  road  to  success,  through  the  medium 
of  a  Kansas  farm.  He  had  scarcely  attained  his  majority,  but  he  had 
passed  througli  a  military  experience  that  made  young  men  old  and  this, 
with  a  decided  turn  toward  versatility,  earned  him,  at  once,  a  position 
among  the  useful  and  prominent  young  men  of  the  county. 

The  "Keystone  State"  furnished  myriads  of  the  best  settlers  of 
Kansas,  and  the  shops,  the  farms  and  the  counting-houses  sent  delega- 
tions of  her  sons  to  "Bleeding  Kansas"  to  help  in  the  first  work  of  na- 
ture's reduction  in  the  development  of  our  great  state.  Smith  B.  Squires 
came  with  these  clans  and  began  his  journey  toward  the  Occident  in 
Bradford  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  his  birth  occurred  March  21, 
.1846.  His  father  was  George  W.  Squires,  a  blacksmith,  born  in  Brad- 
ford county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1825.  The  latter  served  tw-o  years  in  the 
army,  during  the  rebellion,  as  a  government  horse-shoer,  having  charge 
of  a  shop  at  .Murfreesboro,  Tennessee.  He  came  to  Kansas,  at  the  head 
of  his  family,  in  1808,  and  died  at  Humboldt,  in  1881.  He  made  his  trade 
the  occupation  of  his  life.  Charles  Squires,  who  was  born  in  Marysville, 
Connecticut,  made  the  journey  across  the  mountains,  into  Pennsylva- 
nia, In  a  two-wheeled  cart,  of  the  most  primitive  pattern.  He  died,  in 
1864,  leaving  ten  children.  At  twenty-two  years  of  age.  Charles  Squires 
married  Mai-y  Webb,  and  when  lie  ended  his  long  journey  westward,  he 
was  in  Herrick  township.  Bradford  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  left 
an  orphan  at  seven  years  old.  with  two  other  children,  and  was  bound 
out  !it  Marysville,  Connecticut,  to  a  ship-yard  master,  where  he  learned 
ship-blacksmithing,  and  when  he  chose  the  spot  for  his  home  in  the 
"woods"  of  the  "Keystone  State,"  be  was  four  miles  from  his  nearest 
neighbor.  He  died  at  eighty-seven  years  of  age,  in  1864,  and  his  wife 
lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  The  following  were  among  their 
family  of  thirteen  children:  Judson,  George  W.,  Constance,  Charles, 
Pembroke,   Lydia,   who  married   Asa   Bixby;   Harriet,   Susan,   wife  of 


HISTORY  OF   MONTOOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  391 

Boweu;  Albiiia,  who  married  John  Angle;  and  Kebecca,  wife  of 

Frederick  Baldwin.  The  Sijuires'  of  this  record  were  of  Scotch  ante- 
cedents, their  forefathers  having  settled  in  New  England  dnring  the 
American  Colonial  period. 

George  W.  Squires  made  his  second  trip  west  in  1855,  when  he  lo- 
cated in  Milldgeville,  Illinois.  There  he  met  with  financial  misfortune, 
lost  all  his  property.  Sending  his  wife  and  three  children  back  to  Penn- 
sylvania, while  he  "rustled"  a  new  stake  in  the  west,  he  made  his  way  to 
the  Pacific  coast,  where  wages  were  good  and  work  was  plenty.  In  two 
years,  he  had  accumulated  sufficient  to  "start"  again,  and  he  returned  to 
Pennsylvania  and,  on  the  North  Branch  canal,  he  purchased  an  acre  of 
ground  and  built  a  small  tavern.  He  opened  the  place,  met  with  success, 
erected  a  larger  house  and  added  a  feed  yeard  to  his  place.  For  eight 
year.=i  the  family  labored  and  lived  there,  and  saw  their  savings  all  swept 
away  in  an  hour  and  lay  in  ashes  at  their  feet.  The  west  again  seemed 
to  beckon  the  father  and  he  came,  with  his  family,  to  Wilson  county,  Kan- 
sas, where,  near  what  is  now  the  city  of  Neodesha,  he  purchased  an 
eighty-acre  tract  of  land,  where  he  passed  his  remaining  years  of  life.  He 
was  a  quiet,  plain  man,  without  political  ambition,  and  was  a  Repub- 
lican.   For  his  wife,  he  married  Ellen  Bixby,  of  Scotch-Irish  stock,  and 

a  daughter  of  Bixby,  a  native  of  Rhode  Island.     Their  children 

were:  Smith  B.,  our  subject;  Andrew  F.,  a  prominent  farmer  of  Wilson 
county.  Kansas;  Matilda,  wife  of  W.  A.  Phillips;  Elizabeth,  who  mar- 
ried Dekalb  West— both  deceased;  Adda,  wife  of  Ira  Berry,  of  Ft.  Scott, 
Kansas. 

The  educational  advantages  of  Smith  B.  Squires  were  of  the  rural 
type  and  were  somewhat  interfered  with  by  his  youthful  entry  into  the 
army,  during  the  Civil  war.  In  the  mouth  of  November,  1801,  he  en- 
listed in  Company  "D,"  Eighty-fourth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  and 
gave  two  years  and  five  months  to  the  service  of  his  country.  His  regiment 
belonged  to  both  the  First  and  Second  Brigades  of  the  Second  division 
of  the  Third  Army  Corp,  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  he  took  part  in  bat- 
tle at  Kerntown,  Wincliester,  Front  Royal,  Port  Republic.  Cedar  Jloun- 
.tain  and  Second  Bull  Run.  His  first  enlistment  expiring,  he  reenlisted 
in  the  First  New  York  Veteran  Cavalry,  Company  "G,"  and  was  engaged 
chiefly  in  patroling  the  Federal  lines  in  the  Big  Kanawa  Valley,  in  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  was  in  the  saddle  almost  continuously  during  the  winter 
of  1864-5.  He  was  discharged  June  23,  1865,  returned  to  his  father's 
home  and  went  to  work  at  the  blacksmith's  trade.  He  was  master  of  his 
trade  when  he  came  to  Kansas  and,  while  there  was  not  sufficient  in  this 
line  to  keep  him  busy  then,  it  helped,  along  with  other  employments,  to 
sustain  him,  and  provided  many  a  dollar  he  would  not  otherwise  have 
had.  He  was  able  to  turn  his  hand  to  anything  with  a  good  degree  of 
proficiency,  but  sawmilling,  blacksmithing  and  farming  occupied  him 


392  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

largeh,  and  bo  finally  settled  down  to  fanning.  His  operations  inehided 
stock  and  grain  raising,  in  a  modest  way,  and  when  he  left  Sycamore 
towns-hip,  to  assume  connty  ofiice.  his  farm  lay  in  sections  12  and  24, 
township  .31,  range  15. 

Ii!  municipal  affairs,  he  has  rendered  valuable  service,  and  he  has 
never  been  passive  in  county  politics.  He  served  his  township  as  its 
treasurer,  was  twice  elected  its  trustee,  and.  in  November,  1897,  the  Fu- 
sion party  elected  him  sheriff  of  Montgomery  county.  He  was  reelected 
in  1890  and  served,  in  all,  five  years,  retiring  from  office  in  January,  1903, 
His  right  to  the  office,  as  a  hold-over,  under  the  new  law— passed  in  1901— 
■was  contested,  in  1902,  by  the  Governor's  api)ointee,  mei-ely  to  test  the 
law',  and  it  was  the  only  office  so  contested  in  the  state. 

Mr.  Squires  was  first  married  Ajiril  29.  1866.  the  lady  of  his  choice 
being  Sarah  Donnelly,  who  died  December  20.  1897.  The  issue  of  this 
marriage  were:  George  W. ,  Ellen,  wife  of  Willis  Monfort;  Grace,  who 
married  Cassius  Mcreck;  James  O. .  and  Clara,  wife  of  Patrick,  Clen- 
non,  all  residents  of  the  Indian  Territory.  May  15,  1899,  Mr.  Squires 
married  Alice  Clements,  a  daughter  of  J.  J.  Williams.  She  was  born  in 
Morganfield,  in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  in  1852. 

In  Odd  Fellowship  and  Masonry,  Mr.  Squires  has  abiding  interest, 
being  a  member  of  the  ''subordinate."  and  having  taken  the  Royal  Arch 
degree,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.    He  is  also  a  Modern  Woodman. 


PATRICK  H.  CALLAHAN— Seated  in  the  dooryard  of  the  comforta- 
ble rural  home  of  P.  H.  Callahan,  one  of  the  most  substantial  of  Sycamore 
township's  citizens,  the  biograjihcr  was  given  the  following  resume  of  his 
life  and  family  history: 

Grandfather,  Owen  Callahan,  was  lioin  in  l>ublin,  Ireland,  In  this 
city  he  continued  to  reside,  and  was  married  and  reared  a  family 
of  four  sons:  Luke,  Thomas.  Richard  and  James.  All  these  sons  but 
Richard,  took  up  the  occupation  of  farming,  at  which  they  passed  their 
lives.  liichard  apprenticed  himself  to  the  carpenter's  trade  and.  during 
his  life.  i)nrsued  that  avocation.  He  married,  in  Ireland,  Elizabeth 
Moye-s.  a  lady  of  English  descent,  who  became  the  mother  of  ten  chil- 
dren:  Thomas  S.,  now-  a  resident  of  the  old  home,  in  Dublin,  Ireland; 
Lecia  Leonard,  resides  in  Dublin;  Louise  Deakin,  Brooklyn,  New 
York;  Richard,  died  in  Rock  Island,  Illinois;  Joseph,  also  resides  in 
Dublin:  Eliza  Baker,  Muri)hyshoro.  Illinois;  and  Patrick  H..  the  es- 
teemed subject  of  this  review.     Three  others  deceased. 

.Vs  noted,  Patrick  H.  Callahan  is  the  youngest,  but  two,  of  this  fam- 
ily. He  was  born  on  the  4tli  of  April.  1828.  in  Dublin,  in  which  city  he 
continued  to  reside  until  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age.    At  the  early  age 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOilEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  393 

-of  eleven,  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  carpenter's  trade,  and  became  a  full- 
Hedged  journeyman  and,  leaving  home,  he  crossed  the  channel  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  continued  to  follow  his  trade,  in  various  places,  until 
184S,  when  he  turned  his  face  westward  toward  the  great  Rei)ublic  of 
the  United  States.  He  landed  in  New  York  City  on  the  4th  of  May,  of 
that  .^ear.  and  remained  there  until  1854,  employed  at  his  trade.  Hear- 
ing that  Rock  Island,  Hlinois,  afforded  better  advantages  for  young 
mechanics,  he  came  west  to  that  place,  and  was  a  resident  there  until  the 
year  1870,  the  date  of  his  coming  to  this  state,  with  his  son-in-law,  IJen- 
jamin  Jones.  He  made  the  trip  overland,  and,  upon  his  arrival  in  Mont- 
gomei-y  county,  filed  upon  the  land  which  now  constitutes  his  farm — 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  section  7,  township  31,  range  15 — since 
which  time  he  has  added  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  has  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land. 

Mr.  Callahan  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  his  section  of  the  county, 
and  v-hen  he  settled  there  he  had  i)lenty  of  wild  neighbors,  in  the  shai)e 
of  antelope,  deer,  wolves  and  Osage  Indians.  He  built  a  small  cabin,  and 
began  the  battle  of  life  anew,  on  the  verdant  prairie. 

As  a  helpmeet  in  this  battle,  Mr.  Callahan  had  his  life  companion, 
whose  name,  prior  to  their  marriage,  in  July,  1850,  was  Catherine  Baker. 
Mrs.  Callahan  was  a  native  of  New  York  City,  and  was  christened  by 
Bishop  Matthews  Vas.ser,  the  founder  of  the  famous  girl's  school,  Vas- 
sar  College.  Her  parents  were  Thomas  and  Mary  Baker,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  County  Meath,  Ireland. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Callahan  were  blessed  with  eleven  children.  Those 
living  are:  Mary  Jones,  Montgomery  county,  her  children  being:  Mary, 
Ida,  Arthur,  Rose,  Harry,  Florence,  Lou,  Leslie  and  Barton;  Thomas, 
resides  in  Walnut,  Kansas,  his  children  being:  Herbert,  Edward,  Freder- 
ick, Lawrence,  Vance,  Maurice,  Aubi-ey  and  Rosalie;  Mrs.  Kate  Cook, 
resides  in  this  county  with  her  children:  Frank,  Lovel,  Roy  and  Nellie; 
Mrs.  Nellie  Stephens,  deceased,  also  resided  in  the  county;  her  children 
are:  Mary, William,  Catherine,  Thomas,  Margaret  and  Nellie;  William  is  a 
farmer  of  the  county  and  has  one  child,  Mary ;  Harry,  the  youngest  child, 
I'esides  in  Oklahoma  and  has  one  child,  named  in  honor  of  his  grandfath- 
er, the  subject  of  this  sketch. 


MARVIN  L.  TRUBY— In  this  brief  biography  the  attention  of  the 
reader  is  called  to  the  life  work  and  antecedents  of  a  pioneer  settler  of 
Montgomery  county — John  Truby — of  whom  the  subject  of  this  article 
is  a  direct  descendant  and  worthy  successor.  He  came  to  the  county 
just  when  its  business  and  social  life  was  forming  and  emphasised  the 
sincerity  of  his  purpose  by  estalishing  himself  in  a  business  which  became 
the  chief  commercial  enterprise  of  its  character  in  Independence  and 


2g^  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

which,  under  the  control  and  management  of  his  son,  Marvin  L.  Truby, 
of  this  review,  has  become  the  leading  jewelry  house  of  the  county. 

John  Truby  was  born  near  Elkhart,  Indiana,  in  1830.  His  parents 
were  of  Tennsylvania  German  stock  and  his  father,  rhiliji  Truby,  settled 
in  the  new  country  about  Elkhart  at  a  very  early  iieriod  in  the  history 
of  the  "Hoosier  State."  The  latter  was  a  blacksmith  and  had  five  sons, 
all  of  whom  became  jewelers.  John  learned  his  trade  in  South  Bend,  In- 
diana, and  was  engaged  in  business  at  Lincoln,  Illinois,  until  1871,  when 
he  decided  to  seek  favor  and  fortune  in  Kansas.  He  opened  out,  as  a 
watch  maker  and  jeweler,  in  one  of  the  two  buildings  of  the  block  bound- 
ed by  Eighth  street  and  Penn.sylvania  avenue,  and  by  Main  and  Myrtle 
streets.  His  store  room  was  a  small  frame,  set  on  piles  over  the  ravine, 
which  crossed  the  townsite  then,  and  occupied  the  lot  on  which  the  Com- 
mercial National  Bank  now  stands.  It  was  approached  by  two  or  three 
steps  leading  up  from  the  street  and  he  carried  on  his  business  there  for 
some  years.  He  remained  and  continued  in  the  block  till  1880,  when  he 
moved  to  the  block  north  and  was  succeeded,  in  1889,  by  his  son  and  was, 
even  then,  until  his  death,  an  active  factor  in  the  conduct  of  the  firm's 
business. 

In  his  business  life  and  in  his  private  life,  John  Truby  was  a  sin- 
cere, clean  and  honorable  man.  He  was  absorbed  in  his  own  afi'airs,  yet 
he  was  loth  to  shirk  a  public  duty  when  it  was  requii'ed  of  him.  Next 
to  his  own  pi'ogress.  he  was  interested  in  the  welfare  of  his  town  and  he 
gave  much  of  his  time,  both  as  a  citizen  and  as  an  ofiBcial,  to  the  promo- 
tion of  measures  to  that  end.  He  was  several  terms  a  member  of  the  city 
council,  and,  i)erhaps,  twenty  years,  he  aided  in  the  management  of  the 
business  affairs  of  the  city  of  Independence.  While  serving  as  chairman 
of  the  improvement  committee  of  the  council,  he  started  the  movement 
in  favor  of  heavy  stone  sidewalks,  and  it  spread  and  largely  enveloped 
the  city.  The  innumerable  ways  in  which  he  demonstrated  his  public 
spirit  and  unselfish  devotion  to  municipal  affairs,  marked  him  strongly 
as  one  of  the  controlling  forces  in  its  progressive  and  onward  march.  He 
was  interested  in  Masonry  and  was  an  enthusiastic  Knight  Templar.  He 
supported  Democrat  principles  and  policies  and  exercised  no  individual 
preference  for  any  religious  denomination. 

In  1859,  he  married  Sarah  E.  Dufif,  a  daughter  of  J.  E.  Duff,  of  Lo- 
gan county,  Illinois.  Mrs.  Truby  was  born  in  184.3,  and  makes  her  home 
in  Independence.  In  189(),  after  a  wedded  life  of  thirty-seven  years,  Mr. 
Truby  died,  leaving  the  following  children :  Ettie,  who  married  G.  A.  Har- 
l)er  and  died  witliout  issue;  Lizzie  T.,  wife  of  W.  W.  Martin,  treasurer  of 
the  Leavenworth  Soldiers'  Home;  Marvin  L.,  our  subject;  Lieffy,  whose 
first  husband  was  the  late  S.  C.  P^lliott,  a  young  attorney  of  much  promi- 
nence and  promise,  of  Independence,  but  who  is  now  the  wife  of  James 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  395 

C.  Stoue,  well  known  as  a  banker  in  Leavenworth,  Kansas;  Irene  and 
Daisv  Truby,  of  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

Marvin  L.  Truby  was  but  five  years  old  when  be  accompanied  his  par- 
ents to  Independence,  Kansas.  He  was  born  in  Logan  county,  Illinois, 
August  4,  186G.  He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  this  city  and 
acquired  the  trade  of  watchmaker  and  a  knowledge  of  the  jewelry  busi- 
ness by  constant  association  with  his  father.  The  date  of  the  beginning 
of  his  career  in  business  is  almost  as  indeterminable  as  the  end  of  it,  but 
for  twenty-tivc  years,  at  least,  he  has  been  known  to  the  trade  of  his 
town.  In  ISS'.t.  ii,'  siir, ceded  his  father  in  the  proprietorship  of  the  Truby 
jewelry  business  and  has  maintained  it  one  of  the  substantial  mercantile 
establishments  of  the  city. 

June  26.  1887,  the  wedding  of  M.  L.  Truby  and  Minnie  M.  Bishop 
occurred.  Mrs.  Truby  is  a  daughter  of  William  T.  Bishop,  a  prominent 
pioneer  merchant  of  Independence,  Kansas,  whose  store  was  situated  on 
the  site  of  the  office  of  the  Independence  Gas  Company.  Mr.  Bishop  set- 
tled in  Independence  in  1870,  came  here  from  Liberty,  Missouri,  and 
lived  in  the  first  plastered  house  in  town.  He  died,  while  in  business,  in 
1880,  leaving  his  widow — nee  Maggie  Bright — with  six  chilren.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Truby's  two  children  are  Marvin  F.  and  Prudence. 

Mr.  Truby  has  achieved  high  honors  in  Masonic  circles.  He  joined 
the  order  in  1891,  is  S.  W.  of  Fortitude  Lodge,  of  Independence,  Scribe  of 
Keystone  Chapter  and  P.  C.  of  the  Commandery  of  Knights  Templar.  He 
is  a  member  of  Abdallah  Temple  A.  A.  O.  N.  M.  S.  and  holds  membership 
relations  with  the  Wichita  Consistory,  thirty-second  degree.  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  thirty-third  degree  Masons,  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C  in  1901,  he  was  elected  Knight  Commander  of  the  Court 
of  Honor.    He  is  also  an  Elk. 


JOHX  B.  ADAMS — Among  the  first  settlers  of  Montgomery  county 
is  John  B.  Adams,  of  Independence,  one  of  the  promoters  of  and  a  mem- 
ber ot  the  firm  of  the  Security  Abstract  Company,  a  corporation  doing 
business  in  this  city.  Mr.  Adams  accompanied  his  father  to  the  county  in 
1869.  and,  as  a  lad  of  fourteen  years,  aided  him  in  the  reduction  and  im- 
provement of  a  new  farm  in  Fawn  Creek  township,  where  their  settlement 
was  made.  Little  had  been  done,  however,  when  the  family  took  up  its 
residence  in  Independence — in  1871 — and  from  thenceforth  our  subject 
has  passed  his  life  in  this  city. 

He  was  born  in  Clayton  county,  Iowa,  September  23,  1855,  and  his 
parents  were  John  Q.  and  Phoebe  (Ballow)  Adams.  The  father  was 
born  on  the  townsite  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  in  1822,  a  child  of  pio- 
neer parents.  Samuel  Adams,  our  subject's  grandfather,  brought  his 
familv  out  from  Massachusetts  into  the  wilds  of  Indiana,  early  in  the 


396  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

ninetopiith  feiitiiry,  and  passed  away  a  citizoii  of  that  state.  He  married 
ilrs.  Adams  and  reared  a  family  (if  fonr  children.  His  oldest  son,  John 
Q.  Adams,  left  Indiana  in  1847  and  settled  in  Clayton  county,  Iowa,  and, 
in  1857,  settled  in  Green  county,  Illinois.  While  there,  the  rebellion 
broke  out  and  he  enlisted  in  Company  "E,"  Sixty-first  Infantry,  as  fii-st 
serg;eant,  and  served  three  years  and  four  months.  He  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Shiloh,  took  part  in  Granfs  Mississipjii  canqiaign  and  in  the 
Red  river  expedition.  He  was  married  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  in  1848,  to 
a  daujihler  of  George  Ballow,  a  Yirginia  fientleman,  who  came  west  and 
resided  in  the  States  of  Iowa,  Illinois  and  finally  settled  in  Linn  county, 
Missouri,  where  he  died,  in  1894,  at  the  age  of  ninety -three  years. 

On  settling  in  Independence,  Kansas,  John  Q.  Adams  engaged  in  car- 
penter work,  and  was  a  builder  of  some  of  the  pioneer  structures  of  the 
town,  among  them,  the  Caldwell  House.  He  continued  this  till  1875, 
when  he  died,  from  the  effects  of  an  accident.  His  widow  survived  him 
till  1902,  when  she  passed  away,  aged  seventy-five  years.  Their  children 
were  eight  in  number,  namely":  Charles  H.,  of  Independence;  John  B., 
of  this  review;  Susan,  wife  of  George  McNaughton,  of  Kansas  City,  Mis- 
souri; Stella,  who  died  in  1900,  was  the  wife  of  Charles  Joyce,  of  Inde- 
l)endence;  and  Frank  S..  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri.  George  A.  and  Eliza 
died  in  -.nfancy. 

John  H.  Adams  was  educated  in  the  jmblic  schools  of  Illinois.  He 
begai:  life,  as  a  jirinler,  in  the  otlice  of  the  Independence  Tribune,  and 
was  there  from  1871  to  1874.  He  became  a  clerk,  then,  in  the  Independ- 
ence i»ostoffice  and  filled  the  position  seven  years.  His  next  regular  em- 
ployment was  as  deputv.  under  Clerk  of  the  Court  H.  M.  Levan.  On 
retiring  from  the  court 'house,  he  formed  a  i.arluership  with  Thomas  S. 
Salathiel,  and  hccame  a  member  of  the  Security  Abstract  Company,  upon 
its  inceiitiou. 

October,  1883,  Mr.  Adams  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mary  W. 
Grew,  a  daughter  of  the  late  pioneer  and  farmer,  John  W.  Grew,  who 
settled  the  farm  at  the  mouth  of  Drum  creek,  and  resided  there  at  the 
time  of  the  making  of  the  famous  treaty  with  the  Osages.  Mr.  Grew 
came  to  Montgomery  county  in  1869,  and  resided  here  till  his  death,  in 
1902.  He  was  of  ISIassachusetts  origin  and  in  his  early  manhood  was 
mad'  of  a  whaler  out  of  Woods  Hole,  near  Fair  Haven.  In  1849,  he 
went  lo  llie  California  gold  fields,  and  returned  to  New  England  by  the 
Islbmiaii  route,  in  1852.  He  first  came  to  Kansas  in  company  with  ex- 
(Jov.  Ivobinsou  and  settled  in  Douglas  county.  There,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Adams 
was  born,  January  15,  1861.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams  were  the  parents  of 
three  diildren  and,  September  11,  1901,  the  wife  and  mother  pas.sed  away. 
Tli(^  children  are:  M.  Lucile,  Grace  and  Gladys. 

Mr.  Adams  has  been  identified,  in  a  modest  way,  with  the  politics 
of  Montgomery  county.    He  was  reared  a  Kepulii  an  and  voted  that  ticket 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  397 

until  tlie  t'U'ition  of  llan-ison.  Having  had,  all  aloug,  free  trade  senti- 
ments, when  the  silver  agitation  first  claimed  attention,  he  broke  with  the 
Itepnlicans  and  became  a  snjiporter  of  J.  B.  Weaver  for  President.  He  has 
afhliaied  with  the  allied  jiai-ties  since  and  is  now  a  Bryan  Democrat.  He 
was  cliaiiinaii  of  the  committee  of  the  allied  forces  of  Montgomery  county 
in  1S!)(;.  when  llie  comity  went  from  450  Republican  to  4.')0  Hemocratic. 
Fiatciimlly.  lie  is  a  Mason,  a  ilaeabee  and  a  Workman. 


THOMAS  McHARGUE— During  the  memorable  and  fatal  "panic 
of  1873,"  a  few  settlers  were  found  wending  their  way  toward  the  setting 
sun.  They  were  from  the  congested  east  and  were  in  search  of  homes 
for  their  families,  where  land  was  cheap,  and  where  their  compeers  were  a 
social  unit.  With  the  contingent  who  settled  in  Montgomery  county,  this 
year,  came  Thomas  McHargue,  whose  name  introduces  this  i-ecord.  He 
started  on  his  westward  journey,  from  Moultrie  county,  Illinois,  whither 
he  went  from  Parke  county.  Indiana,  the  next  year  after  the  Civil  war. 
He  was  born  in  Laurel  county,  Kentucky,  February  8.  1837.  His  father 
was  James  McHargue  and  was  born  in  the  same  Kentucky  county,  in 
1805,  and  resided  there  till  1851,  when  he  removed  to  Parke  county,  In- 
diana, where  he  died,  in  1801.  The  latter  passed  his  life  as  a  farmer,  had 
no  military  career,  was  a  Whig  in  politics  and  was  a  member  of  the 
United  Brethren  church. 

A  brief  reference  to  the  McHargue  geneology  discloses  the  fact  that 
the  forefathers  of  our  subject  belonged  to  an  old  American  family.  The 
great-grandfather  of  Thomas  McHargue  was  the  Irish  emigrant  who 
founded  this  worthy  American  family.  He  settled  in  South  Carolina  and. 
afterward,  his  family  scattered  westward  and  took  up  their  homes  in  the 
State  of  Kentucky.  The  name  of  this  pioneer  was  -Tames  McHargue  and 
his  sons  were:  James.  William,  Samuel,  John  and  Alexander.  The  last 
named  was  killed,  in  1810,  while  raising  a  log  house,  in  Laurel  county, 
Kentucky.  He  reared  children  as  follows:  William,  who  died  in  Ken- 
tucky. Lissie.  deceased;  Kiddle,  Martha,  who  became  the  wife  of  John 
Barten,  died  in  Indiana ;  and  Abner,  who  died  in  Green  county,  Indiana. 

James  McHague,  father  of  our  subject,  married  Phoebe  Dugger,  a 
Tennessee  lady,  born  1808,  and  died  about  1843.  A  large  family  resulted 
from  this  union,  as  follows:  Elizabeth,  married  Benjamin  Richards  and 
died,  in  1900,  in  Parke  county,  Indiana;  Alexander,  of  Parke  county, 
Indiana  ;  William,  who  died  in  the  same  county,  in  1866;  Sarah,  of  Parke 
count\.  is  the  wife  of  Daniel  Martin;  Andrew,  of  the  home  county  in 
Indiana;  Thomas,  of  this  notice;  Martha,  who  died  in  1884,  unmarried; 
Stephen,  of  Parke  county,  Indiana. 

The  environment  of  Thomas  McHargue,  in  early  life,  was  that  of  the 
country  youth  and  his  opportunities  for  education  were  limited  to  a  few 


400 

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'lIKt.MAS  M.  IIAZEX— In  the  person  of  Thomas  M.  Hazeu,  of  this 
article,  we  are  j.resented  with  a  native  sou  of  West  Cherry  township, 
Montj^oniery  county,  where  his  birth  occurred,  June  6,  1871.  The  farm, 
wliich  he  owns,  was  the  old  family  homestead,  and  is  situated  in  section  9, 
township  ;!1.  ranjie  KJ.  and  contains  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres.  On 
this  farm.  Keuben  L.  Hazen.  his  father,  settled,  in  1873,  and  improved, 
cultivated  and  occujiied  it  till  his  death,  in  the  year  1000. 

Keuben  L.  Hazen  was  born  near  Athens,  Vermont,  lived  there  many 
years,  and.  finally,  came  west  to  Illinois  where,  in  1861,  he  volunteered  for 
servi<e.  in  the  Sixty-tirst  Illinois  Infantry,  Company  "F,"''Col.  Dan  Grass. 
He  ex]ierienced  nmch  arduous  service  and.  aniong:  other  engagements,  was 
in  the  battle  of  Shiloli.  He  came  to  Montgomery  county  and  entered,  in 
187(1.  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  iu  section  34,  township  31,  range  l(i, 
and  in  the  little  cabin  on  this  farm  his  son,  our  subject,  was  born.  This 
he  ov.ned  until  1873.  when  he  purchased  the  tract  first  described  herein, 
where  the  remaining  years  of  his  life  were  spent.  He  married  Mary  A^ 
Robinson,  a  native  Illinois  lady,  who  bore  him  two  children,  and  died  in 
1808.  A  daughter  and  a  son  were  the  result  of  their  marriage,  namely: 
Mary,  wife  of  William  T.  Brown,  of  Sycamore,  with  children:  Jesse, 
Ruby,  James,  Lee  and  Thomas;  and  Thomas  M.,  of  this  review. 

Thomas  M.  Hazen  attended  the  country  schools  and  has  passed  his 
life  in  agricultural  and  i>astoral  pursuits.  For  his  wife,  he  married  Effie 
Reed,  an  Indiana  lady,  and  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Reed,  natives 
of  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  resj)ectively.  Mildred  and  Ethel  are  the  two 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hazen. 

In  politics,  our  subject  is  a  Republican,  but  the  charm  of  politics  has 
no  attractions  for  him.  He  is  devoted  to  the  calling  of  his  youth  and  is 
essentially,  a  tiller  of  the  soil  and  a  promoter  of  the  arts  of  peace. 


(  Il.MMJ^S  YOE — In  this  brief  article,  it  is  our  purpose  to  present 
the  sj'.lient  jioints  in  the  life  of  one  of  Independence's  earnest  citizens;  to 
mention  a  few  of  the  events  which  have  been  influenced  by  his  ell'orts,  as  a 
citizen  of  Montgomery  county. 

Tlie  distinction  of  being  one  of  the  early  residents  of  the  county  seat 
belongs  to  Jlr.  Yoe,  and  he  established  himself  here,  soon  after  he  at- 
tained his  majority.  He  has  been  a  part  of  the  mechanism  of  the  •■Trib- 
une" office,  since  it  was  founded,  and  named  the  ''South  Kansas  Tribune," 


HISTORY  or   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  4OI 

Febiinu-y.  1871,  and  one  of  the  partners  in  interest  sinre  1S74.  Associated 
with  his  brother,  he  has  successfully  promoted  the  interests  of  the  leadinj: 
Republican  newspaper  of  the  county  and  thus,indirectly.  has  contribuT 
ed,  in  no  uncertain  way.  to  the  material  advancement  in  all  lines  of  local 
industry.  Town  building,  at  the  county  seat,  has  been  fostered  and  the 
unbroken  and  fertile  prairies  have  been  filled  with  virtuous  and  Indus 
trious  people,  many  of  whose  settlements  were  prompted  by  the  coluniiis 
of  the  zealous  and  loyal  Tribune. 

'Mr.  Yoe's  departure  for  the  west,  took  place  at  Rushville,  Illinois, 
where  he  was  born,  September  22,  1849.  The  common  schools  provided 
hismental  training  and  his  life  was  passed,  in  youth,  chiefly,  as  a  laboring 
l)oy.  At  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  joined  his  brother,  at  Shelbina,  Mis- 
souri, and  entered  the  latter's  newspaper  office,  where  he  really  began  his 
business  career.  Since  that  day,  Yoe  brothers  have  been  inseparable. 
When  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  decided  to  establish  himself  in  the 
news)>aper  business,  in  Kansas,  in  the  winter  of  1870,  our  subject  was  re- 
garded one  of  the  indispensable  adjuncts  of  the  office,  and  helped  launch 
the  original  Tribune.  The  success  of  the  paper  has  ever  aroused  his 
deepest  sympathy  and  warmest  enthusiasm  and  that  success  is  due,  in 
no  small  measure,  to  the  wise  management  and  good  business  judgment 
(if  Chiirles  Yoe. 

In  August,  188l(,  Mr.  Yoe  married  Agnes  Overfleld.  a  daughter  of 
Thiuiias  Overfield.  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Lawrence,  Kansas,  as  well  as  a 
jiioneer  to  ^Montgomery  county. 

While  Eei)ublicanism  has  been  chief  in  the  heart  of  Mr.  Yoe,  he  has 
eliminated  j)olitics  from  his  life,  as  a  business,  and  has  demeaned  him- 
self as  a  party  worker,  and  not  as  an  aspirant  for  public  office.  He  was 
honored  by  Governor  Stanley,  with  the  ajipointment  of  Secretary  of  the 
State  Board  of  Charities,  to  fill  an  unexpired  term,  and  this  was  the  only 
office  he  ever  filled.  As  a  man,  his  citizenship  is  unalloyed  and  his  intiu 
ence  carries  weight  in  his  party  and  in  his  county.  He  is  a  member  of 
The  Methodist  congregation  in  his  city  and  his  consistency  is  exemplified 
in  his  wiirks. 


(  HAKLES  A.  CONNELLY— Connected  with  the  Tribune  Printing 
t'diiipany.  of  Independence,  and  one  of  the  proprietors  of  that  important 
industrial  enteri)rise,  is  Charles  A.  Connelly,  expert  and  artistic  printer 
and  fiirenian  of  the  mechanical  department  of  this  historic  and  pioneer 
institution.  Since  his  advent  to  the  county  he  has  been  a  part  of  the 
working  force  of  the  Tribune  company  and,  since  189(>.  one  of  its  owners 
and,  as  above  stated,  chief  of  one  of  its  important  departments. 

.Mr.  Connelly  has  spent  his  years  in  Kansas,  in  Jlontgomery  county. 
He  a<  rouipaiiied  his  parents  hither  from  Parke  county,  Indiana,  where 


400  HISTORY  OV  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Mr.  (ii-iiy  is  one  of  llio  sterling  young;  men  of  Louisburg  township, 
and  is  making  a  sik  icss  in  life.  He  and  his  wife  are  consistent  members 
of  the  Methodist  Kpisiopal  cluirch,  and  he  is  a  supitorter  of  the  princi- 
ples of  the  DeiiK.crati.-  party. 


'i  IIO.MAS  M.  HAZKX— In  the  person  of  Thomas  M.  Hazen,  of  this 
artiilc.  we  are  presented  with  a  native  son  of  West  Cherry  township, 
Mnnigoiiiery  roniity,  where  his  birth  occurred,  June  6,  1871.  The  farm, 
whiih  he  own.*,  was  the  old  family  homestead,  and  is  situated  in  section  9, 
township  ;{1.  range  Ki.  and  contains  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres.  On 
this  farm.  Keuben  ]>.  Hazen.  his  father,  settled,  in  1873,  and  improved, 
(■ulti\ated  and  occupied  it  till  his  death,  in  the  year  1900. 

Kcuben  L.  Hazen  was  born  near  Athens,  Vermont,  lived  there  many 
years,  and.  finally,  came  west  to  Hlinois  where,  in  1801,  he  volunteered  for 
service,  in  the  !<ixty  first  Illinois  Infantry,  Company  "r,""'Col.  Dan  Grass. 
He  e.\(ierienced  much  arduous  service  and,  among  other  engagements,  was 
in  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  He  came  to  Montgomery  (-ounty  and  entered,  in 
1S70.  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  section  34,  town.ship  31,  range  16, 
and  in  the  little  cabin  on  this  farm  his  son,  our  subject,  was  born.  This 
lie  ov.iied  until  1873.  when  he  jmrchased  the  tract  first  described  herein, 
where  the  remaining  years  of  his  life  were  spent.  He  married  Mary  A* 
Kohinson.  a  native  Illinois  lady,  who  bore  him  two  children,  and  died  in 
1S9S.  A  daughter  and  a  son  were  the  result  of  their  marriage,  namely: 
!\lai-y.  wife  of  William  T.  Brown,  of  Sycamore,  with  children:  Jesse, 
Kuby.  .lairies,  T.ee  and  Thomas;  and  Thomas  M.,  of  this  review. 

Thomas  M.  Ila/.en  attended  the  country  schools  and  has  pa.ssed  his 
life  ii!  agriiultural  and  iiastoral  pursuits.  For  his  wife,  he  married  Effie 
Keed.  an  Indiana  lady,  ;ind  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Reed,  natives 
of  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  resjjectively.  Mildred  and  Ethel  are  the  two 
rhihhcn  of  Mr.  and  ihs.  Hazen. 

In  politics,  our  subject  is  a  Republican,  but  the  charm  of  politics  has 
no  attractions  for  him.  He  is  devoted  to  the  calling  of  his  youth  and  is 
essentially,  a  tiller  of  the  soil  and  a  promoter  of  the  arts  of  peace. 


<  II.\I\I,I]S  YOE — In  this  brief  article,  it  is  our  purpose  to  present 
the  salient  points  in  the  life  of  one  of  Independence's  earnest  citizens;  to 
mention  a  few  of  the  events  which  have  been  influenced  by  his  etforts,  as  a 
citizeii  of  ^lontgomery  county. 

The  distinction  of  being  one  of  the  early  residents  of  the  county  seat 
belongs  to  Mr.  Yoe,  and  he  established  himself  here,  soon  after  he  at 
tained  his  majority.  He  has  been  a  part  of  the  mechanism  of  the  ••Trib 
unc"  othcc,  since  if  was  founded,  and  named  the  "South  Kansas  Tribune,  " 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  4OI 

Febiuaiy,  1871,  and  one  of  the  partners  in  interest  since  1874.  Associated 
with  his' brother,  he  has  successfully  promoted  the  interests  of  the  leading 
Republican  newspaper  of  the  county  and  thus,indirectly,  has  contribut 
ud.  in  no  uncertain  Avay,  to  the  material  advancement  in  all  lines  of  local 
industry.  Town  building,  at  the  county  seat,  has  been  fostered  and  the 
unbroken  and  fertile  prairies  have  been  filled  with  virtuous  and  indus 
trious  people,  many  of  whose  settlements  were  prompted  by  the  columns 
of  the  zealous  and  loyal  Tribune. 

Mr.  Yoe's  departure  for  the  west,  took  place  at  Rushville,  Illinois, 
where  he  was  born,  September  22,  1849.  The  common  schools  provided 
hismentaltraining  and  his  life  was  passed,  in  youth,  chietiy,  as  a  laboring 
boy.  At  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  joined  his  brother,  at  Shelbina.  Mis- 
souri, and  entered  the  latter's  newspaper  office,  where  he  really  began  his 
businf-ss  career.  Since  that  day,  Yoe  brothers  have  been  inseparable. 
Wlien  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  decided  to  establish  himself  in  the 
newspaiier  business,  in  Kansas,  in  the  winter  of  1870.  our  subject  was  re- 
garded one  of  the  indispensable  adjuncts  of  the  office,  and  helped  launch 
the  original  Tribune.  The  success  of  the  paper  has  ever  aroused  his 
deepest  sympathy  and  warmest  enthusiasm  and  that  success  is  due,  in 
no  small  measure,  to  the  wise  management  and  good  business  judgment 
of  Chiirles  Yoe. 

In  August,  1880,  ]\Ir.  Yoe  married  Agnes  Overfleld,  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  Overfleld.  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Lawrence,  Kansas,  as  well  as  a 
])ioneei-  to  Montgomery  county. 

\A'hile  Republicanism  has  been  chief  in  the  heart  of  Mr.  Yoe,  he  has 
eliiiiiiiated  politics  from  his  life,  as  a  business,  and  has  demeaned  him- 
self as  a  jtarty  worker,  and  not  as  an  aspirant  for  public  office.  He  was 
honored  by  Governor  Stanley,  with  the  appointment  of  Secretary  of  the 
State  Board  of  Charities,  to  fill  an  unexpired  term,  and  this  was  the  only 
office  he  ever  filled.  As  a  man,  his  citizenship  is  unalloyed  and  his  influ- 
ence carries  weight  in  his  party  and  in  his  county.  He  is  a  member  of 
The  ^lethodist  congregation  in  his  city  and  his  consistency  is  exemplified 
in  his  works. 


(  HARLES  A.  CONNELLY— ('onnected  with  the  Tribune  Printing 
Coiiiliany.  of  Indejiendence,  and  one  of  the  proprietors  of  that  important 
indiisiiial  enteriirise,  is  Charles  A.  Connelly,  expert  and  artistic  printer 
and  fmeuian  of  the  mechanical  department  of  this  historic  and  pioneer 
institution.  Since  his  advent  to  the  county  he  has  been  a  part  of  the 
working  force  of  the  Tribune  (-(UMiiany  and,  since  1890.  one  of  its  owners 
and.  as  above  stated,  chief  of  one  of  its  important  departments. 

Mr.  ('<mnelly  has  spent  his  years  in  Kansas,  in  Montgomery  county. 
Hi-  a(  ciinipanicd  his  j)arents  hither  from  Parke  county,  Indiana,  where 


402  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY',  KANSAS. 

his  birth  ocouri-ed  August  12.  1800.  Charles  T.  Connelly,  his  father,  was 
also  a  native  of  Parke  county,  where  he  entered  the  9th  Indiana  Battery 
for  service  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  After  the  war  he  married  Mary 
McCord  and  adopted  teaching  as  his  jirofession,  which  he  followed  for 
thirty  years.  On  bringing  his  family  to  Montgomery  county  he  located 
in  Independence,  later  removed  to  Coflfeyville,  where  he  subsequently  be- 
came city  marshal,  in  which  capacity  he  was  serving  when  killed  by  the 
Daltt.ns,"  in  October,  1892. 

The  common  schools  and  Bloomingdale  Academy,  in  his  native 
county,  sufficed  to  give  Charles  A.  Connelly  a  fair  education  and  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  years  he  began  the  printers'  trade  in  the  office  of  the  Satur- 
day Evening  ^Mail.  in  Terre  Haute.  Indiana.  When  he  left  this  office  the 
next  ;iear  and  took  a  position  with  the  Tribune,  of  Independence,  he  oc- 
cupied an  humble  place  at  the  case  and  it  was  by  years  of  constant  strug- 
gle and  self-determination  that  he  finally  reached  the  top  rung  of  the  lad- 
der and  was  rewarded  by  an  invitation  to  become  a  member  of  the  firm. 

All  through  life  it  has  been  his  consuming  desire  to  become  master  of 
his  trade.  Ingenuity  has  been  everywhere  apparent  with  him  and  the 
perfection  of  his  art  the  acme  of  his  ambition.  All  of  the  mechanical 
work  of  the  office  comes  under  his  critical  eye. 

In  March,  1894,  Mr.  Connelly  married  Olive  M.  Stout,  an  Illinois 
lady.    Glenn  and  Margaret  are  the  issue  of  this  union. 

Mr.  Connelly  is  a  Republican,  has  served  on  the  city  council  of  In- 
dependence and  was  a  S])ecial  census  eiuuiierator  of  his  locality  in  1900. 
He  holds  a  niembershij)  in  the  Methodist  church  and  enjoys,  in  a  high 
degree,  the  confidence  of  his  fellow  townsmen. 


MICHAEL  C  Mc8 WEENY— Michael  C.  McSweeny.  oil  and  gas  well 
contractor  of  Cherryvale.  was  born  in  Allegheny  county,  N.  Y.,  January 
30,  1846.  His  parents  were  Thomas  and  ;^iary  (('lark)  McSweeny,  both 
natives  of  Ireland.  In  the  30's  the  father  came,  while  yet  a  young  man, 
to  the  United  States,  where  all  his  active  life  was  s])ent  in  farming.  He 
died  in  Pennsylvania  while  on  a  visit,  in  1899,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven 
years.  His  wife,  who  was  a  devout  member  of  the  Catholic  church,  died 
February  7,  1898,  in  her  63d  year.  To  them  were  born  seven  sons  and 
two  daughters:  John,  of  Toledo,  O. ;  Michael,  subject  of  this  review; 
Thomas,  of  Boston;  James  J.,  of  Cherryvale;  Hugh  F.,  of  Chicago;  those 
deceased  are:    Martin  L.,  Celia  A.,  Melissa  M.  and  Leonard  E. 

After  his  school  days  were  over,  Mr.  McSweeny  left  the  farm  for  the 
oil  business,  and  has  been  connected  with  this,  and  with  machinery  per- 
taining to  the  business,  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of  three  years, 
which  were  spent  in  New  Mexico  as  an  engineer  in  the  employ  of  a  stamp 


....:::«.«.««««^««^l 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  403 

iHill  and  smelter.  From  the  southwest  Mr.  McSweeny  came  to  Kansas. 
He  located  at  Fort  Scott  first,  where  he  drilled  four  wells,  then  drilled 
the  "first"  holes  at  Garnett,  Humboldt,  Coffeyville  and  Cherryvale.  Ho 
has  (hilled  more  wells  than  perhaps  any  other  man  in  the  west. 

Mr.  McSweeny  came  to  this  county  with  his  family  in  1889,  and  has 
since  resided  in  c'herryvale.  He  stands  well  as  a  citizen,  is  enterprising 
and  industrious,  and  in  his  line  is  without  an  equal  in  the  state.  In  the 
municij)al  life  of  the  city  Mr.  McSweeny  has  taken  an  active  part,  serving 
efficiently  in  the  council  for  three  years. 

In  1882,  our  subject  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Lockhart.  Mrs. 
McSweeny  is  a  native  of  Lake  county,  Ohio,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Lizzie  (Burns)  Lockhart,  natives  of  Ireland.  The  Lockharts  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1852  and  settled  in  President  Garfield's  home  town  of 
Mentor.  O.  The  father  was  a  farmer  and  died  in  1851,  the  wife  dying 
soon  after  at  the  age  of  forty-three  years.  The  children  living  are: 
Henry,  of  Albuquerque,  N.  M.,  and  Anna  J.,  Mrs.  B.  F.  Palmer,  whose 
husband,  during  life,  was  very  closely  identified  with  the  oil  fields  of  the 
east.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  :McSweeny  have  a  family  of  six  children:  Anna,  who 
died  a1  three  years,  in  New  Mexico ;  Mary  J.,  who  is  attending  Sisters  of 
St.  Joseph  Academy  at  Fort  Scott,  and  is  a  graduate  of  the  Cherryvale 
High  School ;  Joseph,  a  school  boy ;  John  L.,  Charles  M.,  and  Francis. 
The  family  are  devout  communicants  of  the  Catholic  church,  Mr.  Mc- 
Sweeny being  one  of  the  trustees.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Select  Knights, 
and  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Justice. 

Full  of  the  restless  energy  of  his  race,  and  possessed  of  much  busi- 
ness sagacity,  Mr.  McSweeny  is  one  of  the  kind  of  men  always  found  in 
the  van  of  progress.  Cherryvale  owes  him  much,  and  he  and  his  family 
have  the  good  will  of  all  her  citizens. 


JAMES  W.  HARLEY— One  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  the  county 
and  at  the  present  time  a  resident  of  Elk  City,  where  he  is  interested 
quite  largely  in  real  estate,  is  James  W.  Harley.  He  is  a  man  in  middlg 
life,  and  has  shown  a  good  degree  of  business  sagacity  during  the  past 
few  years,  in  the  handling  of  real  estate,  which  has  placed  him  in  the 
ranks  of  the  well-to-do  citizens. 

Mr.  Harley  is  a  Canadian  by  birth,  having  been  born  in  the  Province 
of  Quebec,  in  1862.  He  is  a  son  of  William  and  Mary  Ann  (Wiggins) 
Harley.  who  were  of  English  descent.  In  18G3,  his  parents  left  Canada 
-iind  settled  in  the  Neosho  valley,  four  miles  east  of  Neosho  Falls,  Kansas. 
They,  later,  returned  to  Canada,  where  the  father  died,  the  mother  still 
being  a  resident  of  Brantford,  and  is  hale  and  hearty  at  sixty-seven  years 
of  age.  Grandfather  Wiggins  came  to  Kansas  in  1857  and  settled  in  An 
derson  county,  where  he  died  of  cholera  a  few  years  later. 


404  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

James  ^\'.  Hurley  passed  liis  boyhood  on  the  farm  in  Anderson 
comity,  and  at  the  age  of  twelve  years  received  the  ajjpointment  of  page 
in  the  United  States  Senate,  where  he  served  a  i)eriod  of  fonr  years,  and 
the  exjierience  which  came  to  him  at  that  time  was  such  as  to  give  hin, 
a  splendid  knowledge  of  men  and  atfairs — a  knowledge  which  has  been  of 
value  to  him  in  later  life.  In  18S8,  he  came  out  to  the  "Suurtower  State" 
and  settled  in  IClk  «"ity.  where,  shorlly  after,  he  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Armilda,  <laughter  of  A\'illiam  II.  ( 'oieiiiiin,  a  farmer  of  T.ouisburg 
township. 

]>iiectly  after  coming  to  Elk  <'ity,  Mr.  Harley  invested  a  portion  of 
his  earnings  in  two  blocks  of  property  in  the  city,  in  whose  future  he 
had  great  faith,  and  this  proved  a  very  wise  investment. 

For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  Harley  was  connected  with  the  Missouri 
Pacific  railroad,  working  as  a  section  hand.  During  this  period  he  kep/ 
his  eyes  open  for  the  u.'<e  of  his  extra  funds  and,  being  of  a  thrifty  and 
saving  disposition,  was  enabled  at  the  end  of  eleven  years  to  purchase  a 
farm  of  fifty-five  acres  in  Loui.sburg  township,  adjacent  to  Elk  City,  and 
which  he  still  owns. 

Mr.  Harley  had  the  misfortune,  on  the  Tth  of  .January,  ISiJT,  to  lose 
his  wife  by  death.  His  three  children  are:  Horton,  born  February  L'O, 
1SS9;  Percy,  born  August  2(t,  ISild.  anil  Fannie,  born  l>ecember  8.  IS!):'.. 


FRANK  J.  FRANTZ — One  of  the  jiioneers  of  Montgomery  county  is 
he  whose  name  heads  this  personal  review.  He  came  into  the  county  in 
the  fall  of  IStiO.  with  his  parents,  who  settled  on  Bluff  creek,  seven  and 
one-half  miles  south  of  Independence.  His  father,  Barney  Frantz,  en- 
tered and  patented  a  tract  of  land  there  and  it  afterward  came  into  the 
possession  of  his  son.  In  1880,  the  old  home  was  finally  disposed  of  and 
our  subject  has  been  occupied  with  rural  improvement  and  development 
elsewhere,  since. 

Frank  J.  Frantz  is  a  native  (if  Monroe  county,  Pennsylvania,  and 
was  born  November  6,  LS51.  His  father  was  born  in  the  same  county,  like- 
wise bis  grandafther,  Philip  Frantz,  who  died  when  our  subject  was  in 
his  infancy — about  1852.  The  Frantz  family  is  one  of  the  old  ones  of 
Monroe  county,  having  settled  there  during  the  Colonial  period  of  our 
country's  history.  It  is  of  German  origin,  as  the  name  indicates,  and  it 
has  had  to  do  purely  with  the  agricultural  and  stock-raising  pursuits. 
Barney  Frantz,  father  of  our  subject,  died  in  :Montgomery  county  in  1S71, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  Phiii]!  Frantz.  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighty 
tiv(>.  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  ISli'.  o])erated  a  saw-mill  as  well  as  to 
conduct  a  farm.  His  family  of  nine  children  were:  Joseph.  Barney, 
.Vdaiii.  Charles,  Henry,  Samuel.  Peter.  Hiram  and  a  daughter,  Kate,  who 
inarried Hawk  and  moved  out  to  Ohio. 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  405 

Barney  Fi-autz  married  Matilda  Flyght,  who  survived  him  twenty- 
five  years  and  died  at  Benedict,  Kansas,  in  1896.  Her  children  are: 
Frank  J.  our  subject ;  Mary,  widow  of  Isaac  Howard,  of  Independence, 
Kansas;  Amanda,  who  married  Brown  Langstaff;  Sylvester,  of  the  In- 
dian Territory,  and  Sadie,  wife  of  Francis  Banks,  of  Howard,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Frautz,  of  this  record,  was  limitedly  educated  in  the  country 
schools  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  nmrried  in  August,  1872,  his  wife  be- 
ing Mary  E.  Laird,  a  daughter  of  L.  W.  Laird,  who  came  to  Montgomery 
county  from  Missouri,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Independence.  He  mar- 
ried Maria  Harmon  and  is  the  father  of  four  children,  of  which  number 
Mrs.  Frantz  is  the  oldest.  Mr.  and  Jfrs.  Frantz's  children  were  two  in 
number,  namely:  Charles,  born  in  1878,  and  Ida  May,  who  died  in  1898, 
at  the  age  of  seventeen  years. 

When  Mr.  Frantz  left  the  old  home  on  Bluff  creek  he  took  possession 
of  the  J.  D.  Grouse  place,  where  he  resided  'till  1893,  when  he  purchased 
parts  of  sections  10  and  1.5,  in  township  33,  range  15,  where  he  owns  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  well  tilled  and  substantially  improved.  He 
is  one  of  the  thrifty  small  farmers  of  his  township  and  his  standing  as 
a  citizen  is  as  substantial  as  his  standing  as  a  business  man.  He  is  a 
Republican  in  politics  and  is  a  German  Baptist  in  religion. 


MAJOR  P:1'HKAIM  W.  LYON— The  comparatively  brief  period  cov- 
ered by  the  life  of  the  late  Major  Lyon  in  Montgomery  county  marked 
him  as  a  citizen  of  unusual  merit  and  standing  and  it  is  meet  that  his 
brief  memoir  be  presented  in  this  work  as  a  compliment  to  the  character 
of  his  citizenship  and  to  his  genuineness  as  a  man. 

From  early  life  until  death  ended  his  useful  career,  Ephraim  W. 
Lyon  was  a  printer.  He  learned  his  trade  in  Saginaw,  Michigan,  where 
he  afterward  founded  the  first  daily  jiewspaper,  ''The  Daily  Courier," 
and  v»-as  identified  with  its  publication  for  a  number  of  years.  He  left 
his  case  in  1861  to  aid  in  the  preservation  of  the  LTnion  and  was  commis- 
sioned Captain  of  Company ,  8th  Michigan  Infantry.    He  enlisted  at 

Flint  and  his  regiment  formed  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He 
was  in  the  service  four  years  and  was  promoted  to  be  Major  in  the  field, 
and  was  discharged  as  such  officer  after  an  active  and  honorable  service 
with  his  command. 

He  was  a  Democrat  in  his  position  on  governmental  questions  and 
advocated  the  claims  of  his  party  in  an  able  and  clear  manner.  In  his 
management  of  the  "Cherryvale  Bulletin,"  which  he  founded  in  1882,  he 
demoiistrated  his  capacity  as  a  newspaper  man  and  developed  the  full 
strength  of  his  party  by  his  ability  as  an  editorial  writer.  He  was  not  a 
college  man,  having  educated  himself  in  a  print  shop,  and  by  absorption 
in  contact  with  the  world  of  thought  and  thi'ough  the  lessons  of  experi- 


406  HISTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

eucp.  He  was  lionored  bv  his  i>nv\\  with  the  appoiutuieut  of  postmaster 
at  Cherrvvale  during  President  ("U'veUiud's  lirst  term,  in  a  small  measure 
a  reward  for  his  lonf!;  and  faithful  party  service.  In  society  matters  he 
was  a  CiiApter  and  ('(mimandery  Mason  and  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian  church. 

Major  Lyon  was  born  in  Geneseo  county,  New  York,  June  10,  1831. 
He  was  one  of  three  children  and  was  orplianed  at  five  years  of  age.  He^ 
married  Kllen  Pratt,  who  died  in  Saginaw,  Mich.,  August  7,  1872.  Theii 
children  were:  Leila,  wife  of  Alexander  McMichael,  of  Aspen,  Colo.; 
Will  ]'.,  of  Independence,  Kansas:  Fred  W.,  of  Grand  Junction,  Colo. 
Two  other  children,  now  deceased,  were  the  isstie  of  a  second  marriage  of 
Major  Lyon. 

\\  ill  1'.  Lyon,  second  child  of  our  subject,  was  born  in  Saginaw, 
Michigan,  July  23,  1866.  His  education  was  acquired  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  town  and  he,  also,  started  life  as  a  printer.  He  was 
associated  with  his  father  during  the  latter's  lifetime  and  wound  up  his 
newspaper  career  with  the  sale  of  the  ''Cherryvale  Bulletin"  in  1891.  In 
1890,  he  came  to  the  First  National  Bank  of  Independence,  Kansas,  as 
book-keejier  and  assistant  cashier  and  has  been  identified  with  the  insti- 
tution since.  He  is  a  director  of  the  bank  and  devotes  his  entire  time  to 
its  welfare. 

June  10,  1S91,  \\'.  P.  Lyon  married  Jennie  Remington,  daughter  of 
the  late  ('apt.  Kemington,  notice  of  whom  appears  in  this  volume.  Roger, 
Allen  C.  and  Leila  M.  are  the  issue  of  this  marriage.  Mr.  Lyon  is  a  Demo 
crat,  and  a  Blue  Lodge,  ('hapter  and  Knight  Templar  Mason,  and  a  work- 
ing member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 


DAVID  S.  COOK— One  of  the  leading  farmers  of  Montgomery 
county  and  an  old  settler  who  has  made  a  success  iu  life,  is  the  gentleman 
here  mentioned,  David  S.  Cook.  He  resides  on  a  splendid  farm  of  out 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  three  and  one-half  miles  from  Elk  City.  In  the 
years  which  have  passed  since  his  settlement  in  the  county,  he  has  ac- 
cumulated several  nice  properties,  owning  a  fine  farm  of  three  hundred 
and  forty  acres  on  Elk  river  and  another  of  two  hundred  and  five  acres 
near  the  town  of  Coffey ville.  These  properties  are  the  result  of  industry 
and  good  nuinagement  during  the  thirty  years  he  has  resided  in  this 
county. 

David  S.  (-ook  was  born  iu  Erie  county,  Ohio,  in  1841,  and  is  a  son 
of  .lohn  and  Martha  (Stephens)  Cook.  The  family  is  of  German  descent 
on  til"  father's  side,  John  Cook  having  emigrated  from  Hesse-Da vmstadt, 
<icrniaiiy,  in  the  year  18:i3,  and  located  iu  Erie  county,  but  later,  removed 
to  \\  illianis  countv,  Ohio.    Henrv  Cook,  a  brother  of  John,  who  had  serv- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  407 

ed  in  the  German  army  during  the  war  with  Napoleon,  also  came  to 
America  at  that  time  and  located  on  a  farm  in  Erie  county,  and  is  now 
deceased. 

Mr.  Cook,  of  this  notice,  was  reared  in  Williams  county,  Ohio,  where 
he  received  a  good  common  school  education  and  assisted  in  the  cultiva* 
tion  of  his  father's  farm.  In  October  of  1864,  he  was  joined  in  marriago 
with  Caroline,  a  daughter  of  Clark  Backus,  a  farmer  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  who  also  operated  a  saw-mill.  Our  subject  purchased  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  acres,  which  he  cultivated  until  the  year  187.0,  when 
he  sold  it  to  Mr.  Backus  and  removed  to  Bates  county,  Missouri.  He, 
however,  remained  here  but  one  year  and,  in  the  spring  of  1871,  came  to 
Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  and  located  the  farm  on  which  he  now  re- 
sides. Here  he  has  continued  his  rcsidciK  c  and  has  devoted  his  attentioQ 
particularly  to  the  develoiunent  of  the  resources  of  his  farm,  which  is  one 
of  the  best  bodies  of  land  in  the  county.  It  is  devoted  to  general  farm- 
ing and  stock  raising  and  is  supplied  with  evei-ything  in  the  shajje  of 
buildings  and  machinery  which  go  to  make  up  the  modern  farm  outfit. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cook  have  reared  three  children,  as  follows :  Ray,  born 
in  1866,  died  in  January  of  1903.  He  married  Lizzie  Deere,  of  Mont- 
gomery county ;  Mary,  who  married  Elijah  McCaul,  a  farmer  living  three 
miles  northeast  of  the  Cook  farm.  Her  children  are:  Eva,  Emma,  Lloyd 
and  Herman ;  Susan,  the  last  of  the  list,  lives  at  home  with  her  parents. 

The  correct  and  upright  life  which  Mr.  Cook  has  lived  in  Montgomery 
county  since  his  settlement,  has  resulted  in  endearing  him  to  a  large  cir- 
cle of  friends  in  every  part  of  this  and  adjoining  counties.  He  and  his 
family  have  had  very  much  to  do  with  maintaining  the  high  moral  tone  of 
the  immediate  section  of  the  county  in  which  he  resides,  and  are  deserv 
ing  of  mention  in  a  volume  devoted  to  the  more  worthy  residents  of  the 
countv. 


JOB  DEER— This  leading  and  influential  agriculturist  and  stock- 
man of  Montgomery  county  lives  with  his  family  in  a  commodious  and 
comfortable  home  at  No.  401  Noi*th  Second  street.  Independence.  He  has 
been  a  resident  of  the  county  since  1881,  the  earlier  portion  of  the  time 
having  been  passed  on  farms  in  difl'erent  parts  of  the  county,  one  of 
which,  an  eighty  acre  tract,  he  still  owns. 

Mr.  Deer  was  born  in  Fountain  county,  Indiana,  April  26,  1848,  the 
son  of  Urial  and  Frances  (Long)  Deer,  natives  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky, 
respectively.  They  were  thrifty  farmers,  pioneers  of  the  blue  grass 
region  of  Kentucky,  and  later  of  Fountain  county,  Indiana.  Here  they 
lived  out  the  measure  of  their  days,  the  mother  dying  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-six,  the  father  marrying  a  second  time  and  dying  in  1889,  at  tho 
advanced  age  of  seventy-six.    They  were  faithful  adherents  of  the  Baptisi 


4o8  UlSTOKV  Ol-  MONTtiOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

ehui'ch  U»l<i  stlioul)  and  were  pioiuiueut  in  every  work  that  meant  the 
betterment  of  the  social  or  religious  condition  of  their  neighborhood.  In- 
tensely patriotic,  they  engaged  enthusiastically  in  the  work  of  ameliorat- 
ing the  condition  of  the  soldiers  and  their  widows  and  children  during 
the  war,  the  father  possessed,  in  a  high  degree,  the  confidence  of  Indiana's 
grand  old  war  (Joveruor,  Oliver  P.  Morton.  There  were  seven  children  in 
the  first  family  and  two  in  the  second,  seven  living. 

Job  Deer  was  reared  to  farm  life  in  the  old  "Hoosier  State,"  and  se- 
cured a  fair  common  school  education,  though,  like  many  another  lad  of 
his  time,  it  was  sadly  interfered  with  by  the  great  Oivil  War.  He  was 
most  restive  under  the  age  limit,  and  welcomed  the  day  when,  at  sixteen 
years  of  age,  he  entered  the  service  of  his  country.  He  became  a  member  of 
Comi)any  "G,"  13:?rd  Ind.  Vol.  Inf..  and  was  immediately  sent  into  the 
heart  of  the  enemy's  country,  doing  guard  duty  at  Bridgeport,  Ala.  Hi 
■cannot  be  said  that  our  subject  was  very  favorably  impressed  with  th( 
character  of  the  service  he  was  called  on  to  render,  but  he  did  his  duty 
faithfully,  until  the  measles  put  him  into  the  hospital,  where  he  remained 
until  the  expiration  of  his  service.  Returning  home,  he  was  rapidly  re- 
cruited under  the  watchful  care  of  his  oldest  sister  and  again  sent  forth 
to  do  his  i)art  in  the  gi-eat  struggle.  This  time  he  became  a  private  in 
Company  "E,"  149th  Ind.  Inf.,  and  again  went  to  the  far  south  for  gar- 
rison duty.  Here  he  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war,  leaving  Decatur. 
Ala.,  in  October  of  ISO."),  and  being  mustered  out  at  Nashville  shortly 
after. 

Mr.  Deer  rcmaiiicd  in  Indiana  until  1881,  engaged  in  general  labor 
ing  work  until  1878,  when  he  married  and  settled  on  a  farm.  He  located 
on  a  quarter  section  in  Fawn  Creek  township,  Montgomery  county,  in  the 
spring  of  1881,  which  he  sold  in  1884  and  removed  to  Rutland  township 
and  resided  five  years,  then  spent  a  short  time  in  Independence  township, 
when  he  moved  to  town,  since  which  time  he  has  been  engaged  in  handling 
stock. 

He  was  married  on  the  2.-)th  of  December,  1877,  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Sur- 
baiigh,  a  native  of  Indiana,  daughter  of  Rev.  A.  Surbaugh,  a  minister  of 
the  M.  Vj.  church.  To  this  marriage  there  were  four  children  born: 
Frances,  a  young  lady  at  home ;  John  B.,  a  clerk,  married  Gertrude  Wad- 
man;  A.  ciyde,  a  High  school  student;  and  a  deceased  infant.  On  the 
(Jth  of  October,  U)()2,  the  family  was  called  on  to  mourn  the  unspeakable 
loss  <if  tiie  mother.  In  all  respects  Mrs.  Deer  was  a  most  exemplary 
cliaiailcr.  She  was  especially  devoted  to  husband  and  children.  No 
service;  was  too  great  for  their  comfort,  and  the  loving  care  with  whicll 
she  blooded  over  her  little  flock  was  a  subject  of  gracious  wonder  among 
her  host  of  friends.  Truly  may  it  be  .said,  "Gone,  but  not  forgotten.' 
She  w  as  a  consistent  and  active  member  of  the  Friends'  church,  where  hei 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  4^9 

loss  is  greatly  felt.  Mr.  Deer  is  an  elder  in  that  duirch,  is  especially 
active  in  the  cause  of  temperante.  and  is  fonnd  leading  in  every  work 
which  looks  to  the  uplifting  of  humanity.  The  solid  character  of  his  citi- 
zenship is  a  matter  satisfactory  to  his  hosts  of  friends. 


IGNATIUS  STKECKKK— In  the  autumn  of  18ti9.  there  came  to 
Montgomery  county  a  German  settler  whose  service  in  peace  and  in  war, 
in  his  native  land,  had  amjily  equijiped  him  for  the  hardships  incident  to 
a  frontier  life.  It  was  Ignatius  Strecker,  of  this  notice,  who  took  a  claim 
near  Coffey ville  and  passed  a  brief  time  there.  For  his  claim  he  was  paid 
the  sum  of  $2,000.00,  and  then  began  a  brief  residence  in  Cowley  county, 
Kansas.  Coming  back  to  Montgomery  county,  in  1S74,  he  settled  on  .-> 
farm  in  section  3,  townshiji  :n.  range  10.  where  he  owns  two  hundred  an^. 
twenty  acres. 

Ignatius  Strecker  was  born  in  Helmsdorf.  Prussia.  October  18,  18414 
and  was  a  subject  of  the  German  king  "till  1808.  His  father  was  Jacob 
Strecker,  and  his  grandfather  was  .Toseiih  Strecker.  both  native  of  Helms- 
dorf village  and  were  son  and  grandson  of  John  Strecker.  of  the  same 
town.  The  last  named  married  Maria  C.  Schoenfeldt,  of  that  village,  and 
to  them  eight  children  were  born,  the  oldest  being  Joseph,  who  married 
Maria  E.  Rogge.  The  issue  of  this  latter  union  were :  Adam,  Jacob, 
Catherine  and  Maria.  Jacob,  Jr..  married  Maria  A.  Menge,  of  Lengen- 
field.    This  couple  had  four  sons :    Joachim,  Adam,  John  and  Ignatius. 

For  his  wife  Ignatius  Strecker  married  Agnes  Inglis,  a  daughter  oi 
William  and  Sarah  (Galligher)  Inglis,  of  Paisley,  Scotland,  and  County 
Donegal,  Ireland,  respectively.  Mrs.  Strecker  was  born  at  Sault  de  Ste 
Marie,  Michigan,  September  18.  1852,  and  accompanied  her  parents  to 
Montgomery  county.  Mr.  Inglis  enlisted  in  Monroe  county,  Michigan, 
in  1848,  in  Col.  Winans'  regiment,  and  served  under  (len.  Scott  in  the 
Mexican  war.  He  was  in  battle  at  Vera  Cruz,  helped  take  the  City  of 
Mexico,  and  was  woiinded  at  the  National  Bridge.  In  May.  1870,  he  came 
to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  and  located  on  the  (lain),  now  the  farm 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Strecker. 

Mr.  Strecker  served  three  and  one-half  years  in  the  Austria-Prussian 
war.  He  served  under  Gen.  Ulack.  commanding  the  4th  Battery,  and  toolr 
part  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Koenig  (iratz.  During  his  service  he  was 
three  times  severely  wounded,  a  saber  laying  open  a  deep  gash  in  hia 
lower  jaw  and  a  musket  planting  a  leaden  missile  permanently  in  one  o* 
his  legs,  a  wound  which  has  always  given  him  trouble  and  physical  suf 
fering  In  March,  1808,  he  sailed  for  the  United  States  and  soon  after 
made  his  appearance  as  a  settler  in  Montgomery  county.  His  industrial 
efforts  have  all  been  directed  in  the  line  of  agriculture  and  stock-raising 
and  the  present  finds  him  one  of  the  substantial  men  of  his  township. 


To  Mr.  and  Jlrs.  Strecker  have  been  born  nine  children,  viz:  Sarah, 
wife  of  John  Englert,  with  two  children.  Ignatius  E.  and  Joseph  A.; 
Mary  and  Agnes,  with  the  parents  at  the  old  home;  Jennie,  wife  of  Daniel 
Maher;  William  J..  Beatrice  J..  Catherine  E..  Christine  and  Ig- 
natius E. 


HARRIET  A.  HART— Among  the  hosts  of  gallant  defenders  of  the 
nation's  flag  during  the  trying  days  of  the  Civil  war,  who  turned  their 
faces  westward  to  seek  a  home  on  the  broad  prairies  of  Kansas,  was 
Lieut.  Silas  Hart,  of  Highland  county,  Ohio.  He  settled  with  bis  family 
in  Drum  Creek  township,  where  he  purchased  a  portion  of  Uncle  Sam's 
domain  and  began  life  anew.  Lieut.  Hart  died  in  1879.  A  man  of  in- 
tensely patriotic  impulses,  kind-hearted  and  generous  to  a  fault,  he  was 
mourned  sincerely  by  his  comrades  of  the  G.  A.  R.  and  the  hosts  of 
friends  he  had  made  in  his  adopted  state.  He  was  born  in  1838,  in  High, 
land  county,  Ohio,  and  was  a  son  of  Wm.  and  Beulah  (Nordike)  Hart. 

In  September  of  1801,  he  enrolled  his  name  among  those  destined  to 
live  forever  in  the  annals  of  a  grateful  country,  and  went  forth  to  do 
and  to  die  for  "Old  Glory."  He  became  a  private  in  Company  "B,"  40th 
Ohio  "\'ol.  Inf.,  and  by  reason  of  meritorious  conduct  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle was  advanced  to  a  First  Lieutenancy.  He  was  mustered  out  in  1864. 
His  service  was  in  the  middle  west  and  south  and  comprised  participa 
tion  in  the  battles  of  Chickauiauga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary 
Ridge,  the  memorable  Atlanta  campaign  and  Jonesboro.  His  command 
then  became  a  part  of  the  army  which  followed  Hood  back  into  Tennessee, 
and  he  was  present  at  (he  bloody  battles  of  Franklin  and  Xashville. 
Lieut.  Hart  then  returned  to  the  home  of  his  boyhood,  where  there  waa 
waiting  for  him  the  sweetheart  whose  prayers  and  tears  had  sustained 
him  through  the  hours  of  danger  and  on  the  dreary  march.  The  marriage 
was  consummated  at  once,  the  date  being  December  8,  1864.  The  name 
of  the  lady  who  had  thus  won  the  gallant  soldier  boy  was  Miss  Harriet  A. 
Graham,  daughter  of  Robinson  and  Elizabeth  (Strain)  Graham,  and  who 
now  survives  her  soldier  husband. 

Mrs.  Hart  was  born  in  Highland  county,  Ohio.  Grandfather  Strain 
and  also  Grandfather  Graham  were  early  pioneers  of  that  county,  where 
they  carved  their  homes  from  the  virgin  forest  and  endured  the  trials  and 
hardships  of  that  early  time  with  the  fortitude  for  which  their  class  was 
proverbial.  After  marriage  Mr.  Hart  went  to  Southern  Tennessee  and 
engaged  in  the  lumber  business  for  a  time;  thence  to  AVaterloo,  Ala.  This 
section,  however,  was  not  to  his  liking,  and  in  1871,  as  stated,  the  family 
turned  their  faces  westward. 

Mr.  Hart  left  a  family  of  five  children  :    Olin,  born  in  March  of  18G6; 


SILAS  HART  (Deceased 


412  inSTOKY   OV    MONTUOMEltY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

\\'int  ;\ii(l  his  niotlior  was  Miss  Roiiiig,  whose  family  comprised  the  ful- 
lowinj;  thildroii ;  Morgan,  William,  Jonathan,  Aaron,  Nathan,  Mrs. 
Weaver  and  Mrs.  Morgan.  Nathan  took  up  his  residence  near  Philadel- 
phia late  in  life,  and  there  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven.  Their  child- 
were:  Samuel  S.,  of  Scranton,  Pa.;  Mary  A.,  wife  of  E.  H.  Henson,  of 
Smyrna,  Del.;  Miss  Anna,  of  Philadelphia.  Pa.,  and  Nathan  8.,  of  this 
record.  The  father  served  with  the  construction  corps  of  Gen.  Thomas 
during  a  i>ortion  of  the  Civil  war  and  his  first  son,  Samuel  S.,  enlisted  in. 
the  ILMItli  Pa.  Heavy  Artillery,  in  ISiiii,  and  served  "till  the  close  of  the 
war. 

The  district  schools  pru\idcd  our  subject  with  a  fair  education  and 
he  learned  the  trade  of  carjienlei'  and  mill  wright.  For  twelve  years  he 
was  a  carpenter  in  Coluinbus,  Ind.,  and  then  failing  health  forced  his 
emigration  from  the  state.  He  sought  Kansas  and  the  pure,  fresh  air  of 
Montgomery  county  restored  him.  General  farming  and  the  operation  of 
his  stone  quarry  (which  supplies  the  country  all  about  with  sidewalk 
and  building  stone)  have  claimed  his  time  and  his  removal  to  Kansas  has 
not  proved  a  failure.  On  coming  to  the  "Sunflower  State"  he  stopped  in 
Jefferson  county,  coming  thence  into  Montgomery  to  his  pre.sent  location, 
a  year  later. 

September  18,  1873,  Mr.  Wint  inarrii-d  Mary  J.  Erhart.  the  ceremony 
being  performed  by  Rev.  Todd,  of  Willsboro,  Indiana.  Mrs.  Wint  is  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  Erhart,  who  resided,  later  on,  in  Montgomery  county, 
Kansas,  and  died  here  in  189.3.  Mr.  Erhart  was  born  in  Adams  county, 
Pa.,  in  1809,  and  in  1839  immigrated  to  Bartholomew  county,  Ind.  He 
married  Eliza  Hegge,  who  pas.sed  away  in  Indiana.  Their  children  were: 
Thomas,  deceased;  Eprhaim,  Catherine,  Hizina  E..  Mary  J.  and  Jason,  de- 
ceased. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wint's  children  are:  Chester  Leroy,  Linton  Fay, 
who  died  in  Jctleison  county,  Kansas,  at  ten  vears;  Daisy  and  Chester 
Arthur. 

The  Wints  of  this  house  are  Republicans. 


WILLIAM  F  McCONNELL— The  subject  of  this  brief  record  is  one 
of  the  pioneers  of  Independence  township.  He  located,  with  his  parents, 
on  thf  west  line  of  the  township  in  1871,  and  has  been  identified  with  the 
community,  now,  nearly  thirty-two  years.  He  is  Bolton's  third  and  only 
blacksmitli  and,  mechanically,  he  is  an  e.xample  of  a  purely  and  strictly 
self-made    man. 

William  F.  .McConnell  was  born  in  Green  county,  Indiana,  June  22, 
1857,  and  is  a  son  of  the  venerable  John  McConnell,  of  Bolton,  Kansas. 
The  latter  was  born  in  Ohio,  in  1831,  and  at  ten  years  of  age  left  the 
-"Buckeye  State"  and  accompanied  his  parents  to  Indiana,     His  father 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  413 

was  James  ;NrcConnell,  who  came  to  tlie  T'nited  States  fresh  from  Erin's 
Isle  at  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  died  in  Green  county,  Indiana.  Of 
his  five  sons  and  three  daughters,  .Jolin,  our  subject's  father,  was  thd 
oldest.  John  MeConnell  was  married  to  Minerva  Dyer,  a  daughter  of 
TVllliam  Dyer,  of  German  extraction.  Mrs.  Minerva  MeConnell  died  in 
18!»(>.  at  sixty-six  years  of  age,  being  the  mother  of:  William  F.,  Jane,  wife 
of  :Mari()n  Matthews,  of  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  and  Mary  E.,  who  married 
J.  C.  Tatterson,  of  Bolton,  Kansas. 

John  MeConnell,  father  of  our  subject,  settled  on  a  tract  of  hind  in 
section  13,  now  in  Rutland  township,  improved  it,  farmed  it  'till  his  re- 
tirement to  Bolton  and  still  owns  it.  On  this  farm  his  son  came  to  man- 
hood and  in  the  district  he  attended  the  country  school.  Observing  the 
necessity  of  a  blacksnuth  in  this  remote  valley  of  the  county  he  decided  to 
become  one  himself  and  accordingly  equipped  himself  with  the  proper 
paraphernalia  for  the  work.  His  experience  was  simply  that  of  the  first 
blacksmith,  and  when  his  trade  was  learned  he  was  no  doubt  a  more  efr 
ficient  workman  than  that  original  one.  He  maintained  his  shop  at  the 
old  home  "till  1890  when  he  bought  the  shop  of  Bolton's  second  blacksmith 
and  moved  his  family  to  the  village. 

October  10,  1877,  Mr.  MeConnell  was  united  in  marriage  with  Rose 
Ann  Cline,  a  daughter  of  ex-Probate  Judge  Daniel  Cline,  mentioned  else- 
where in  this  work.  Mrs.  MeConnell  was  born  September  23,  1858,  and  is* 
the  mother  of  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  namely :  -John,  who  is  asso- 
ciated with  his  father  as  a  blacksmith  ,and  has  taken  to  wife  Inez 
Spangle;  Edna,  Taylor  and  Lessa  MeConnell. 

Mr.  MeConnell  is  a  Republitan  and  is  a  member  of  Fortitude  Lodge 
A.  F.  and  A.  M.,  of  Independence. 


SAMUEL  F.  GRAY— Xoveml>er  4,  1868,  Samuel  F.  Gray,  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Boone  county,  Missouri.  The  next  year  hi.s 
parents  came  to  Kansas  and  settled  in  Wilson  county,  temporarily,  and 
in  1870.  took  up  government  laud  in  ^fontgomery  county,  where  they 
still  reside. 

While  our  subject  is  not  native  of  the  soil  of  Montgomery  county, 
his  life  has  been  practically  spent  here  and  all  he  is  he  owes  to  the  in- 
fluences and  environment  of  this  county.  In  childhood  life,  his  daily  as- 
sociates were  the  aborigines  of  White  Hair's  band  and  between  them  a 
mutual  and  lasting  attachment  sprang  up.  He  communed  with  speech- 
less nature  and  drank  deep  draughts  of  ozone  from  the  fresh  and  health- 
ful air.  Body  and  mind  expanded  simultaneously  and  the  rural  exercise 
developed  a  strong  physique  and  laid  the  foundation  for  an  active  and 
vigorous  life. 


414  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

The  limit  of  parental  eoutrol  was  reached  at  tweutvoue  years  ami 
Mr.  Gray  married  and  set  up  for  himself.  He  spent  the  first  three  years 
in  Neosho  county  and  then  returned  to  his  home  neighborhood  in  Mont- 
gomery county.  In  1897.  he  ceased  to  be  a  tenant  and  became  a  land 
owner,  buying  an  eighty  in  section  16,  township  31,  range  16,  where  he 
maintains  his  present  home.  The  old  family  homestead  he  also  culti- 
vates and  is  employed  with  the  raising  of  grain  and  stock. 

Samuel  F.  Gray  is  a  son  of  Jackson  Gray,  mentioned  in  a  sketch 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  He  is  the  third  child  of  his  pareuts  and  married. 
£rst.  Martha,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  Hausley,  of  Wilson 
county,  Kausas.  His  wife  died  in  1804,  leaving  two  children.  Edward  and 
Howard.  For  his  second  wife  ]\lr.  Gray  married  Rosella  Beathe,  born  in 
Highland  county,  Virginia,  and  a  daugliter  of  Josejih  and  Louisa  Beathe. 

Mr.  Gray's  disposition  leads  him  to  a  strict  attention  to  business. 
He  is  conscious  that  labor  has  its  reward  and  that  there  is  no  excellence^ 
without  it.  and  his  substantial  jxisition  today  has  resulted  from  a  close 
adherence  to  the  spirit  of  these  truths. 


C.  A.  CLOTFELTER— One  of  the  best  known  business  men  of  the 
City  of  Cherryvale  is  C.  A.  Clotfelter.  for  many  years  connectd  with  the 
livery  business  at  that  place,  and.  now,  under  the  firm  name  of  Clotfelter 
&  Son.  His  acquaintance  is  general  over  Montgomery  county  and 
cornering  counties  near  the  city,  where  his  duties  as  an  auctioneer  have 
taken  him.  He  has  for  years  been  one  of  the  leading  sale-cryers  of  this 
section,  and.  perhaps,  better  known  in  this  line  than  in  the  other.  He  ii» 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county  and  has  filled  a  distinct  niche  in 
neighborhood  affairs. 

The  i)arents  of  Mr.  Clotfelter  were  natives  of  Norlli  Carolina,  where 
they.  Uroyal  and  Martha  Jane  Clotfelter,  were  born.  The  father  died  in 
184G.  at  the  early  age  of  forty  years,  and  the  mother  became  the  wife  of 
Peter  Bolinger,  and  died  in  1861,  at  the  same  age.  There  was  but  one 
child,  our  subject,  by  the  first  n)arriage.  and  by  the  second,  five  daugh- 
ters were  born,  four  of  whom  are  now  living. 

C.  A.  Clotfelter  was  born  in  Cajie  Girardeau  county,  Missouri,  on  the 
2.3rd  of  September.  1843.  He  received  a  fair,  common  school  education 
and.  in  1861.  left  home  and  began  life  for  himself  as  a  farmer.  In  1862, 
he  entered  the  employ  of  the  government,  as  quarter-master,  being  in 
charge  of  a  government  corral.  In  1863,  he  worked  as  a  freight  and  stock 
dealer  for  a  private  party,  being  assistant  wagon-master.  He  continued 
with  this  party  until  1866,  the  greater  part  of  his  service  having  ueen  in, 
the  wild  northwest  and  being  attended  with  much  hardship  and  many  ex 
citing  experiences  with  bad  Indians  and  worse  white  men.    At  this  time 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  415 

he  befjan  business  for  himself  as  a  freighter  between  Fort  Bend,  Montana, 
and  Helena  and  Deer  Lodge,  Mont.,  and  Corning,  Utah.  He,  later,  made 
trips  to  the  Pacific  coast  and  continued  in  this  sort  of  life  until  1870, 
when  he  came  back  to  civilization,  settling  in  Mound  Citj,  Kansas,  where 
he  spent  the  winter  of  1871.  He  then  came  to  Montgomery  county  and  be- 
gan a  grocei'y  and  feed  business  in  Elk  City,  and,  after  a  short  experience 
there,  opened  a  general  store  in  Cherryvale.  in  partnrship  with  his  uncle. 
J.  R.  Baldrum. 

A[r.  Clotfelter's  first  experience  in  the  livery  business  was  begun  in 
January  of  1873,  in  partnership  with  (".  W.  Booth,  which  firm  continued 
■with  success,  until  1889.  Mr.  Clotfelter  then  again  left  the  state,  going 
to  Colorado  and  engaging  in  the  stock  business,  which  he  conducted  for 
several  years.  In  1897.  he  returned  to  Cherryvale,  and,  in  company  with 
his  son,  began  the  present  business,  which  he  has  since  continued.  They 
have  one  of  the  most  accommodating  and  complete  livery  barns  in  the 
city,  running  twelve  carriage  horses,  and  are  doing  a  satisfactory  busir 
ness. 

At  various  times,  our  subject  has  been  connected  with  the  oflScial 
life  ot  the  city  and  township,  and  has  acted  as  constable  for  a  period  of 
six  years  at  one  time  and  four  years  at  another.  He  was  also  in  the  oflSce 
of  sheriff  and  was  a  deputy  for  nine  years. 

His  marriage  occurred  in  1872,  his  wife's  maiden  name  having  been 
Sarah  J.  Browning,  daughter  of  J.  W.  and  Sarah  Ann  Browning.  Mrs. 
Clotfelter  is  a  native  of  Indiana.  She  is  the  mother  of  Carl  and  Carrie; 
the  son  being  the  partner  of  his  father,  in  the  livery  business.  Carl  mar- 
Tied  Emma  E.  Nichols  and  has  two  children — Siras  E.  and  John  M. 

Living  a  long  and  active  life,  in  this  busy  world,  and  keeping  his 
character  unsullied  before  mankind,  Mr.  Clotfelter  stands  today,  one  of 
the  most  respected  citizens  of  the  conmnmity  in  which  he  lives,  and  he 
and  his  family  receive  the  kind  wishes  of  a  very  large  circle  of  friends 
and  acquaintances. 

In  fraternal  life,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order.  Blue  Lodge, 
Chapter  and  Commandery,  and  also  belongs  to  the  Modern  Woodmen  and 
the  A.  O.  U.  W.  His  wife  and  family  are  active  and  helpful  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 


ANDREW  M.  TAYLOR,  M.  D.— In  any  western  community,  there 
is  always  a  group  of  choice  spirits,  who  are  referred  to  as  "old  settlers." 
They  are  the  people  who  initiated  things — who  saw  the  infant  communi- 
ty, IS  it  were,  shake  off  its  swaddling  clothes  and  start  forth  on  its  jour- 
ney to  maturity.  Caney  is  not  without  these  honored  witnesses  to  her 
birth  and  her  early  infancy,  and  the  gentlman  whose  name  heads  this 


4l6  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

l>aiaj;rniili.  is  one  of  them.  Dr.  Andrew  Tavlor  was  the  first  plivsieiair 
to  settle  in  Caney.  autl  has  the  further  distinction  of  being  the  parent 
of  one  of  the  first  white  children  horn  within  her  limits. 

Dr.  Taylor  was  born  in  Fianklin  county,  Maine.  October  it.  1834. 
His  father,  William  Taylor,  was  a  native  of  the  same  state,  as  was  also 
his  mcitlier.  wlmse  maiden  name  was  Amy  Oaks.  The  parents  were  farm- 
ers, by  occupation,  and  lived  out  their  days  in  their  native  state,  respect- 
ed and  honored  citizens.  The  husband  died  at  seventy,  the  wife  at  fifty 
years  of  age,  their  family  having  consisted  of  eight  children,  but  two  of 
whom  are  now  living,  our  subject  and  William  W.,  of  Maine. 

Dr.  Taylor  was  reared  to  farm  life,  his  prescholastic  education  be- 
ing received  in  the  little  log  school  house  of  that  early  period.  He  was 
later,  given  a  good  literary  education,  in  an  advanced  :icadem\.  and  at: 
twenty-one,  began  the  study  of  medicine,  under  the  precejitorship  of  his 
brother.  Dr.  J.  (i.  Taylor.  For  the  completion  of  his  medical  studies,  he 
came  out  To  the  great  west,  matriculating  in  Rush  ;Medical  College. 
then  in  its  infancy,  but  long  since  o!ie  of  the  famous  schools  of  medicine. 
Here,  he  graduated  in  tlie  class  of  1838,  and  immediately  entered  on 
the  i)ractice.  at  Packwaukee.  Wisconsin.  Twelve  years  were  passed  at 
this  point,  when  the  Doctor  changed  his  location  to  Hancock,  where  the 
war  found  him  busy  in  his  work,  but  not  to  so  great  an  extent  as  t(j 
drowQ  the  distressed  cry  of  the  slave.  He  enlisted,  as  a  private  soldier, 
in  Comj)any  "D."  Thirty-seventh  Wisccmsin  Yoluntei-r  Infantry,  in  which 
organization  he  served  to  the  close  of  the  war,  for  the  most  part  in  hos- 
pital work.  He  was  appointed  hospital  steward,  then  assistant  surgeon, 
and  was  finally  advanced  to  be  surgeon  of  his  regiment.  Taking  up  the 
practice  again,  at  his  home,  he  remained  in  Wiscon.sin,  until  1800,  when 
he  came  to  Kansas,  settling  in  the  ue\y  town  of  Caney.  At  that  time, 
there  were  but  three  houses  in  the  village,  and  the  country  was  full  of 
Indians,  they  not  having  left  The  reservation  as  yet.  The  doctor  was  a])poinT- 
ed  trustee  of  the  townshiji.  and  in  that  office,  laid  out  all  the  roads  about 
Caney.  a  task  so  well  accomidislied  as  to  necessitate  but  one  or  two 
changes.  During  all  these  years,  he  has  been,  continuously,  in  tli(>  ])rac- 
tice,  though,  in  later  years,  he  confines  himself  to  office  practice,  in  con- 
necTion  wiTh  his  drug  business. 

Dr.  Taylor  has  served  The  ciTy,  in  various  capacities,  during  all  these 
years,  and  has  never  lost  faith  in  its  future  greatness.  In  the  early  days, 
he  acted,  for  a  i)eriod,  as  postmaster,  and  has  always  taken  a  lively  inter- 
est in  the  educational  affairs  of  the  community.  Of  a  social  disposition, 
he  has  been  a  gi-eaT  factor  in  the  development  of  that  sociability  aiuj 
freehandedness,  which  has  come  to  be  one  of  the  distinguishing  features 
of  Caney.  and  which  makes  it  so  desirable  a  place  of  residiMic(>. 

In  his  family  life,  the  Doctor  has  been  especially  blessed,  he  and  his 


HISTORY  OH-  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  4I7 

good  wife  having  traveled  life's  road  together  for  the  past  forty-three 
years.  Mrs.  Taylor  bore  the  name  of  Fannie  S.  Kabcock,  prior  to  1859, 
when  she  consented  to  join  fortunes  with  the  rising  young  physician  of 
the  community.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Amasa  an<l  Betsy  (Angel) 
Babcock,  and  was  born  in  New  York  State.  But  one  daughter  of  the 
three  children  she  has  borne,  is  now  living,  Amy  G.,  wife  of  Mr.  H.  H. 
Graves,  associated  in  the  drug  business  with  the  Doctor.  Charles  O. 
lived  to  the  age  of  forty  years,  while  William  died,  a  boy  of  nine. 

No  more  honored  and  highly  icsix'ctcd  citizen  lives  in  Caney  than 
Dr.  Taylor.  He  has  been  prominently  iind  honorably  associated  with 
its  entire  history  and,  in  the  evening  of  life,  he  can  look  back  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  having  been  the  means,  at  least  in  part,  of  building  up  a 
community  which  can  not  be  surpassed,  for  enterprise  and  push,  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  state. 


MRS.  SARAH  F.  MATHEWSON— Mrs.  Sarah  Mathewson.  a  well- 
known  resident  of  Montgomery  county,  is  a  native  of  Bradford  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  born  January  2.3.  1844.  Her  jiarents  were  Joel 
M.  ind  Elizabeth  (Gross)  Tozer,  both  natives  of  the  "Keystone  State." 
Her  father  was  a  son  of  Col.  Julius  Tozer.  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
whose  name  is  honorably  associated  with  the  war  of  1812. 

Col.  Tozer  married  Hannah  Conklin,  a  daughter  of  Ananias  Conk- 
lin,  and  to  the  marriage  were  born  thirteen  children :  Hannah,  Elsie, 
Betsie.  Samuel,  Julius.  Lucy,  Dorothy,  Guy,  Albert,  Susan,  Joel  M.,  Mary 
A.  and  Cynthia.  Joel  M.  married  Elizabeth  Gross,  the  fourth  child  of 
Philip  and  Hannah  Gross,  whose  family  numbered  six  children :  Elsie 
Knowles,  of  Scranton,  Pennsylvania;  Julius,  of  Bradford  county.  Penn- 
sylvania; Job,  of  Ashland,  Oregon;  Sarah  F.,  of  Montgomery  county, 
Kansas;  Ida,  of  Bradford  county,  Pennsylvania;  and  Guy,  of  Dallas, 
Texas.  Sarah  F.  Tozer  became  the  wife  of  William  H.  Mathewson,  who 
w^as  born  in  Palmyra.  New  York,  March  23.  1823.  His  father  was  a  native 
of  Connecticut  and  the  mother,  who.se  maiden  name  was  Harriett  Ste- 
phens, was  born  in  the  "Keystone  State."  the  daughter  of  Ira  and  Sybil 
Stephens.  There  were  eight  children  in  the  Mathewson  family:  (Jeorge, 
Elizabeth,  Washburn,  William.  Coiistniit.  Harriet  Delano.  Elias,  Emily 
Tozer  and  Lydia  Buck. 

William  H.  Mathewson  and  wife,  Sarah,  with  their  three  children, 
Dora,  George  and  Mary,  came  to  Montgomery  countv  in  February  of 
1882,  and  located  on  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  where  they 
now  reside.  Only  two  of  the  children  survive :  Dora  Young,  of  Kansas 
City,  whose  three  children  are  Glenn.  Clyde  and  Dale;  and  George,  living 
at  home  with  his  mother,  and  superintendent  of  the  farm. 


4l8  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEEY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

I'rovioiis  to  his  resideuce  in  Kansas,  Mr.  Matliewsou  passed  a  period 
of  eleven  years  in  Oregon,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming  and  gold 
digging,  returning  to  Pennsjivauia,  where  his  marriage  occun-ed.  He 
was  a  man  of  superior  education,  having  had  excellent  opportunities  in 
his  youth,  taking  a  full  course  at  the  Athens  (Pennsylvania)  academy. 
He  died  in  Rosedale,  Kansas,  a  suburb  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  Febru- 
ary 20,  1900. 


JAMES  FRANK  COOK— As  the  traveler  passes  through  the  rural 
disti'icts  of  Montgomery  county,  he  is  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the 
greater  portion  of  those  now  tilling  the  soil  are  men  of  quite  mature  age. 
This  is  due,  largely,  to  the  movement,  which  has  been  going  on  for  some 
years,  toward  the  great  cities,  which  have  absorbed  much  of  the  fresh, 
young  blood  of  the  farm.  However,  this  condition  is  evidently  changing, 
for  there  are  numbers  of  young  men  connected  with  the  farming  indus- 
try of  the  county,  who  have  sounded  the  depths  of  wisdom  and  have 
learned  that  the  glamour  and  glitter  of  city  life  is  scarcely  to  be  compared 
with  the  solid,  substantial  and  invigorating  life  of  the  farm.  The  gen- 
tleman whose  name  appears  above  is  an  exception  to  the  apparent  rule, 
being  one  of  the  young  farmers  of  the  county,  and  his  success,  in  the  de- 
velopment of  his  farm,  has  been  marked  and  gratifying. 

Mr.  Cook  conies  from  the  old  "Hoosier  Slate,"  a  state  which  has  con- 
tributed many  of  its  best  citizens  to  the  u]ibuilding  of  the  great  State  of 
Kansas.  He  was  born  in  Green  county.  Indiana,  in  1860,  and  is  a  son 
of  Augustine  and  Nancy  (Ferguson)  Cook.  The  Cooks  became  residents 
of  Indiana  many  generations  since,  our  subject's  father  having  been  born 
and  reared  to  manhood  in  that  state.  When  -lames  was  a  youth  of  nine- 
teen years,  the  family  immigrated  to  Kansas  and  purchased  a  farm  in 
Louisburg  township,  Montgomery  county,  Ihe  same  constituting  the 
farm  which  James  is  now  cultivating.  The  parents  passed  their  active 
lives  on  this  farm,  and  reside  now  in  Fredonia,  Kansas.  Augustine  Cook 
served  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  in  the  Thirty  first  Indiana  Volunteer 
Infantry,  being  in  the  service  three  years  and  twenty  days. 

James  Fi-ank  (V>ok  has  passed  his  entire  life  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil  and  is  one  of  the  progressive  young  farmers  in  his  part  of  the  county. 
He  is  well  versed  in  the  nature  of  dilfei'tMit  soils  and  their  adaptatio.n  to 
certain  crops  and  he  is  an  excellent  judge  of  cattle  on  the  hoof.  His  ener- 
getic, intelligent  management  of  the  old  home  faiiii  has  resulted  in  bring- 
ing it  to  a  high  state  of  cull  ivat ion  and  in  adding  handsomely  to  his  pri- 
vate e.\che()uer. 

The  married  life  of  Mr.  Cook  began  February  24,  1880,  when  he  was 
united  with  Catherine  Callahan.    Mrs.  Cook  is  a  daughter  of  Irish  i)ar- 


JOEL  W.  REED  AND  FAMILY. 


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HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  42  I 

keen  couipetilion,  is  the  mIiovc  iiiuiicd  t;ciillciiiaii,  whoso  foiccfiil  and  iu- 
telligent  iiielhods  have  iiiaikcd  liini  as  a  fimiic  leader  in  a  wider  field 
than  the  local  courts. 

Samuel  II.  Karr  is  a  jtracl  iciuj;  aitoriic.v,  located  at  ( "aney,  where  he 
ha.s  Oi-tahlished  a  reputation  for  careful  and  painstaking  effort  in  his 
chosen  field.  The  decade,  inniiediately  iiieceding  the  Civil  war,  is  reniem- 
l)ered  as  being  one  of  the  heaviest,  in  niatters  of  immigration,  ever  known 
in  this  country.  These  immigrants  came  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe, 
but  owing  to  local  conditions  in  Ireland,  that  hardy  race  furnished  the 
largest  quota.  Among  the  number,  were  the  parents  of  our  wprthy  sub- 
ject, Robert  and  Jane  (Lord)  Harr.  the  year  1858  being  the  date  of  their 
arrival  in  America.  They  settled  in  or  near  Virginia,  Cass  county, 
Illinois,  later  removing  to  Keardstown  ,  then  to  Kock  Island,  Illinois. 
Then  they  turned  their  faces  westward  and  located  near  Independence, 
Kansas.  Here  the  father  died,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight,  the  wife  still  sur- 
viving and  residing  on  the  old  homestead.  To  these  parents  were  born 
eight  chilren,  Samuel  H.  being  the  second. 

Samuel  H.  Barr  was  born  in  Virginia,  ("ass  county,  Illinois,  on  the 
16th  of  April,  1801.  He  received  a  fair  education  in  his  youth,  his  ap- 
plication being  of  such  nature  as  to  fit  him  for  teaching,  which  vocation 
be  took  up,  on  coming  to  Kansas  with  his  parents,  in  1882.  He  made  a 
reputation  as  one  of  the  best  of  the  county  teacheis  and  wielded  the  fer- 
ule fcr  a  period  of  six  years.  During  ])art  of  this  time,  he  busied  him- 
self with  the  study  of  law,  under  the  guidance  of  Hon.  S.  C.  Elliott,  of 
Independence.  In  1888,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  came  to  Caney 
the  same  year.  His  success  was  assured  from  the  start  and  his  connec- 
tion with  the  interests  of  the  little  city  lias  been  of  the  highest  value  in 
the  intervening  years. 

Mr.  Barr's  chief  business  is  in  his  law  jnaclice.  hut  he  finds  time  to 
devote  to  other  interests,  in  some  degree.  He  is  looked  iqion  as  one  of  the 
staunch  wheel-horses  of  the  city,  having  put  his  shoulder  to  ttie  wheel 
in  the  dark  days  when  the  future  looked  somewhat  dubious.  If  it  had  not 
been  for  a  few  kindred  spirits,  Caney  would  most  likely  have  been  a  mere 
way  station,  on  the  "road  to  nowhere."  Mr.  liarr  is  one  of  the  stockhold- 
ers and  secretary  of  the  Caney  (!as  Comiiany.  which  he  was  instru- 
mental in  organizing,  in  1900.  Another  successful  local  institution  with 
which  he  is  connected,  is  the  <'aney  brick  ])lant.  which  is  fast  becoming 
one  of  the  leading  industries  of  the  city.  In  municijial  affairs,  he  has 
been  most  helpful,  serving  as  city  attorney  for  a  number  of  terms,  and  for 
five  years  was  an  active  and  valued  member  of  the  school  board. 

Mr.  Barr  has  a  natural  taste  for  politics  and  has  been  exceedingly 
helpful  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  i)arty  of  Jefferson  and  Jackson, 
in  whose  principles  he  is  a  thorough  believer.  As  chairman  of  the 
County  Central  Committee,  from  1888  to  100(».  he  led  manv  successful 


422  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

(■anij)ingris.  and  succeeded  in  unifying  the  party  in  the  county,  in  a  great 
degree.  From  11(00  to  1902,  he  was  a  member  of  the  State  Central  Com- 
mitte.  where  his  counsel  was  of  gieat  value  to  the  party.  Socially.  Mr. 
Barr  affiliates  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  the  A.  O.  U.  W.  and  fhe  Mod- 
ern AA'oodnien  of  America.  The  friends  of  this  ])opular  attorney  are 
unanimous  in  juedicting  a  more  than  ordiimry  career  for  him,  and  he 
holds,  in  a  marked  degree,  their  respect  and  admiration. 

.lOHN  M.  ALTAFFKR— The  sunny  southland  has  contributed  lil)er- 
ally  ol  its  native  sons  toward  the  sterling  citi/.enshi])  of  our  western 
commonwealths.  They  have  been  young  men  reared  under  the  malign  in- 
fluence of  an  unholy  social  institution,  whose  destruction  they  offered 
their  lives  and  sacrificed  all,  save  honor,  to  ])revent,  and  who  have,  in  the 
military  camp  and  on  the  field  of  battle,  been  umde  conversant  with  their 
power  and  worth  and  have  sought  out  the  plains  of  the  west  as  offering 
the  greater  opportunity  for  working  out  their  own  destiny.  In  propor- 
tion to  the  great  western  flood,  the  current  of  this  immigration  has  been 
inconsiderable,  but  its  character,  when  viewed  from  its  influence  upon  the 
social  and  political  fabric  of  a  new  state,  has  rendered  it  an  important 
factor  in  the  formation  of  our  new  century  civilization  in  the  west.  As 
pioneers  in  the  settlement  of  the  western  prairies,  they  have  manifested' 
the  same  sincere  determination  in  the  develoiimeni  affairs  of  their  munici- 
palities as  their  neighboi'  fiom  other  dimes  and  with  ditTerent  youthful 
environment.  Their  object  has  l)een  to  ]>i'oniote  a  civilization  of  the  com- 
mon peo])le;  to  foster  a  s])ii-it  of  personal  freedom,  consistent  with  the 
rights  of  all  and  the  laws  of  their  state,  and  to  encourage  a  feeling  of 
brotherly  love  among  a  ])eo]ile  with  a  common  cause.  This  i)resents  the 
situation,  as  api)licable  to  the  noinial  settler  from  the  South,  and  illus- 
trates the  attitude  of  tiie  suliject  of  ihis  review,  during  the  period  of  his 
residence  in  Montgomery  county. 

John  M.  Altaffer  is  one  of  the  characters  of  Montgomery  county.  He 
settled  here  on  the  28th  of  February.  1S72,  during  the  formative  period  in 
municipal  a!id  social  art'airs,  and  immediately  identified  himself  with  it 
all.  He  puichased  a  farm  in  section  17.  to\\nshi|i  :?:>,  range  Ifi. the  property 
of  Lee  Fairleigh.  and  resinned  the  occupation  of  his  youth — farming. 
Dui-ing  his  thirty  <in(>  years,  his  inteiest  in  agriculture,  as  a  farmer,  and 
as  the  r.  S.  (lovernnienl's  lepoiter  on  <  rop  conditions,  together  with  his 
inclination  lowaril  active  particiiiat ion  in  municipal,  social  and  jiolitical 
atfaiis  liave  marked  his  prominence  as  a  lili/ if  bis  county.  Condi- 
tions made  it  necessary  for  him  to  move  into  a  (lioneer's  "cabin."  His 
career  has  Ix'en  s]iic(>d  with  some  successes  and  sfime  rever.ses.  He  has 
kept  i>ace  with  the  onward  tendency  of  his  county  and  his  estate  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  marks,  in  a  degice.  the  extent  to  which 
his  iiidustrv  has  been  rewarded. 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  4*3 

By  nativity,  John  M.  Altaffei'  is  a  Virginian.  He  was  born  in 
Rockingham  county,  "The  Old  Dominion,"  January  19,  1845.  Flis  fath- 
er, Reuben  Altatfer,  was  born  in  the  same  county,  in  1800,  spent  liis  life 
at  farming,  and  died  in  ISfiO.  The  latter  was  a  son  of  a  Pennsylvafiian 
and  fi  grandson  of  a  Swiss  settler  of  the  "Keystone  State."  Joseph  Alt- 
affer,  our  subject's  grandfather,  moved  his  family  down  into  Virginia, 
near  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  spent  his  remaining  years 
in  Rockingham  county.  He  married  ^liss  Seevly  and  was  the  father  of 
three  sons  and  nine  daughters.  Those  who  can  now  be  identified  were : 
Reuben,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch ;  John  and  Joseph.  Of  the 
daughters,  Margaret  married  a  Saufley,  Susan  married  Jacob  Whitnier, 
Ann  married  Daniel  Whitmer  and  Sallie  married  Benjamin  Byerly, 
Reuben  Altaffer  married  Salome  Whitmer,  a  daughter  of  Martin  Whit- 
mer, of  German  descent,  who  settled  in  the  "Old  Dominion"  from  Penn- 
sylvania. Mrs.  Reul)en  Altaffer  died,  in  December,  1890,  at  eighty-seven 
years  of  age,  leaving  five  children,  namely :  Martin  J.,  of  Rockingham 
county.  Virginia;  Elizabeth  A.,  wife  of  Peter  AV.  Hartman,  of  the  same 
Virginia  county;  Margaret  F.,  unmarried;  John  JI.,  of  this  notice,  and 
Benjfinin  F.,  deceased. 

On  a  farm,  near  Port  Republic,  Virginia,  our  subject  came  to  man- 
hood's estate.  He  had  scarcely  passed  beyond  the  schoolboy  period,  when 
he  enlisted — September,  18(>1 — in  the  state  militia,  preliminary  to  the 
service  to  come  later.  In  the  spring  of  1S()2,  he  was  mustered  into  the 
Twelfth  Virginia  Cavalry,  under  Col.,  afterward.  Gen.  Ashby.  The  regi- 
ment was  a  part  of  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia,  and  under  the  com- 
mand of  "Stonewall"  Jackson.  It  jiarticipated  in  the  heavy  campaign- 
ing of  that  famous  chieftain.  It  was  stationed  at  Harjjer's  Ferry,  after 
the  Union  forces  surrendered  there,  and  went,  next,  into  the  valley  of  the 
Shenandoah  and  met  Sheridan's  forces  at  Gross  Keys  and  at  Travellion 
Station.  During  the  last  months  of  the  war,  it  was  in  Wade  Hampton's 
corps.  Gen.  Rosser's  division,  and  took  part  in  the  great  cavalry  fight, 
when  the  final  movement  out  of  Richmond  took  place.  Mr.  Altaffer  left 
the  regiment,  after  the  fight  at  High  Bridge,  on  the  retreat  from  Rich- 
mond, and  was  at  his  home,  fifty  miles  away,  when  the  final  dissolution 
and  surrender  of  the  Gonfederate  army  took  place. 

After  the  war,  Mr.  Altaffer  sjtent  two  years  on  his  mother's  farm, 
straightening  matters  up  and  restoring  the  old  home  to  something  like 
its  ante-bellum  condition.  He  spent  the  next  two  years  on  bridge 
work  on  the  Mississippi  river,  the  notable  structure  of  this  kind  on  which 
he  was  employed  being  the  Quincy,  Illinois,  bridge.  Returning  home, 
in  1869,  he  was  married,  January  19.  of  that  year,  and  the  following 
three  years  he  passed  as  a  farmer. 

Mrs.  Altaffer  was  Lucy  J.  Williams,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Sal- 
lie  (Hooke)  Williams,  of  Scotch-Irish  and  English-Irish  extraction.  Mrs. 


Altaffer's  gieat-grandfathpi-  was  an  American  emigrant  from  the  Brit- 
ish Isles.  The  children  of  James  and  Sallie  Williams  were  Martha,  de- 
ceased; and  Mrs.  Altaft'er.  The  father  died  in  1857,  at  thirty-nine  years 
and  the  mother,  in  1848,  at  twenty-seven  years.  Mrs.  Altaffer  was  born 
August  12.  1847.  and  has  no  children.  She  and  her  husband  are  members 
of  the  United  Brethren  church. 

Mr.  Altaffer  came  to  his  majority,  a  Democrat.  He  acted  with  that 
party,  in  Kansas,  till  the  Fusion  idea  took  ])rominence,  when  he  joined 
forces  with  the  op])osition  to  the  l{ciMiI)li(  an  party  and  l)ci-aine  one  of  its 
active  and  influential  factors. 

During  President  tiranl's  tirst  term,  Mr.  Altaft'er  was  appointed 
statistician  of  the  Agricultural  Dei)artnicnt  for  Montgomery  county  and, 
for  thirty  years,  he  has  made  monthly  reports  to  the  dei)artment,  as  fq 
crop  conditions,  yields  pei  ure,  and  other  information  regularly  re- 
quired. He  also  keeps  a  weather  re<'ord  for  the  government  and.  during 
the  summer  season,  makes  weekly  reports  of  his  observations  to  the 
state  bureau  at  Topeka. 


ALP'RED  J.  UlTTS— Alfred  J.  Uitts  came,  with  his  parents,  to 
Montgomery  county,  in  1874.  He  was  born  April  1,  ISIjS,  in  Johnson 
county.  Indiana,  and  at  the  age  of  eight  years,  the  parents  moved  to 
Boone  county,  Indiana,  and  from  there,  came  to  Kansas.  They  located 
on  a  farm  of  one  Imndred  and  sixty  acres,  three  miles  west  of  Independ- 
ence, for  which  the  father  paid  |4.()()().  After  his  death,  Alfred  purchased 
the  shares  of  the  other  heirs  to  the  i)roperty,  and  is  now  the  sole  owner 
of  the  old  home.  In  addition  to  this,  he  is  owner  of  eighty  acres  in  Syca- 
more townshiji.  and  rents,  from  an  aunt,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
acres,  wliere  he  lives;  besides,  he  (iwtis  eighty  acres  in  Independence  town- 
ship. 

Johnson  H.  litts.  tli.'  failiiT.  was  boiii  near  Louisville,  Kentucky. 
January  25,  182ti.  His  whole  life  w.is  spent  on  the  farm,  and  he  had  no 
other  interests,  outside  of  the  iiccii|)at  ion  of  larniing.  He  lived  in  Ken^ 
tucky  until  he  was  twenty  tive  years  of  age.  then  i-emoved  to  Indiana, 
where  he  T-emained  twenty  years,  afterward  coming  lo  Montg(unery 
county.     His  death  occurred  in  Howell  county.  .Missouri. 

Johnson  K.  litts,  by  liist  marriage  had  two  children:  Frank,  of 
I'arsons,  Kansas.  :inil  Naomi  While,  of  Montgomery  county.  His  second 
wife  was  ^Margaret  IJiiMinerinei-,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  to  her  were  boi-n 
two  children  :  Jasper  and  Alfred  J.,  our  subjecl. 

Alfred  J.  Fitls  was  educated  in  the  jniblic  schools  of  Indiana  and 
Kans.ns.  which  hi-  attended  nnlil  he  was  twiMity  y<'ars  of  age.  Having  been 
educated  in  the  jaiblic  schools.  Iiis  inlercsl  in  (iieni  has  been  constant  and 
heh.fnl  in  his  home  comnuinilv.     He  li:is  be.-n.  for  nianv  vears.  a  memlxn- 


inSTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  425 

of  Ih.'  scIkm.I  lii.iiid.  Miul  ill  :i  s(Mi:il  \\:iv,  holds  ni(Mnl»Tsliip  in  llio  A.  H. 
T.  A. 

X()V(MiilK'r  ."),  1S7!),  .Mr.  litis  was  uiiiicd  in  niari'iaKt'  with  Laura  A. 
rttcihack.  a  native  of  Jolinson  county.  Indiana.  She  c-aine  to  .Montgom- 
ery county.  Kansas,  in  IStJft.  witli  lier  jiaients.  Iverson  and  l-'liy-abelh 
(I'arkhui-sti  rttcihack,  native  Indiana  |ie(.|de. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Uitts  have  only  one  child:  Iverson,  wlio  married  Corda 
A'an  .\usdal,  a  native  Kansas  ijirl. 


.lOSEl'H  11.  KEl])~One  of  the  younger  mendiers  of  the  agricultural 
class,  but  -whose  parents  were  early  settlers  in  the  county,  is  Joscyth  H. 
Beid,  who  resides  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  one  mile 
from  Elk  City.  Jauies  W.  Reid,  his  father,  was  a  native  of  Tazewell 
county.  Illinois,  where  he  was  born,  in  the  year  1845.  the  son  of  James 
H.  Reid,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  located  in  Tazewell  county,  Illinois, 
in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

In  1847,  he,  with  his  family  of  five  children,  removed  to  McCracken 
county,  Kentucky,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  removal  to 
Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  in  18(58,  where  he  died.  He  was  the  parent 
often (hildren,  as  follows:  Milton  E..  Mary,  Newton,  James,  Sarah — the.se 
having  been  born  in  Illinois;  and  Napoleon,  Scott,  John,  Daughtery  F., 
and  Ahnerinda.  Of  this  family,  James  married  Sarah  Mikel,  the  date  of 
their  marriage  being,  December  21,  1870.  The  event  took  place  in  Inde- 
pendence township,  of  this  county,  and  to  their  marriage  were  born  three 
children,  the  first  an  unnamed  infant,  deceased;  Joseph  H.,  who  consti- 
tutes the  subject  of  this  review;  and  the  third  child,  who  also  died  un- 
named. 

The  mother  of  these  children  was  born  in  Adair  county,  Missouri, 
in  the  year  1840,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Edward  and  Lucy  (Newton) 
Mikel.  Her  father  was  a  leading  farmer  of  that  county  and,  in  1869, 
came  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  and  settled  on  a  claim  in  Inde- 
pendence township.  He  i)reempted  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land, 
six  miles  southwest  of  the  county  seat,  where  they  have  continued  to  re- 
side, and  where  they  reared  a  family  of  twelve  children,  six  of  whom  are 
now  living,  viz:  Hugh,  who  resides  in  Schuyler,  Missouri;  Sarah,  the 
mother  of  our  subject;  Martha  J.,  married  James  Edwards,  and  resides 
in  the  Indian  Territory;  Adaline,  who  married  Enos  Berger,  of  Okla 
homa;  Emma,  wife  of  Edward  Staley,  of  Independence  township;  and 
Alfred,  of  the  Indian  Territory. 

Joseph  H.  Reid  is  the  only  living  child  of  his  parents,  and  was  born 
in  Independence  township,  in  1873.  He  has  passed  his  entire  existence 
within  the  bounds  of  the  county,  receiving  a  good  district  school  educa- 
tion.   He  has  always  been  connected  with  the  farming  industry  and,  in 


426  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

1896,  he  pui(has(Ml  his  present  farm  of  one  hnndred  and  twenty  acres, 
lying  in  Louisbuij;  township,  ten  miles  from  the  county  seat.  He  is  a 
young  man  of  integrity  and  perseverance  and  the  success  which  has  at- 
tendetl  him  in  these,  his  early  years,  augurs  well  for  an  encouraging 
future. 


CHARLES  H.  KERR— A  representative  of  a  pioneer  family  and 
one  of  the  successful  young  business  men  of  Independence,  is  Charles  H, 
Kerr.  He  was  born  in  this  city  October  29.  1873,  and  is  a  son  of  the  late 
well-known  John  Kerr,  one  of  the  pioneer  mechanics  of  the  county  seat. 
The  latter  came  here,  in  1870,  and  erected  a  frame  building  in  the  hollow 
that  originally  crossed  the  townsite  and  used  it,  for  a  time,  as  a  carriage 
and  wagon  shop.  The  building  stood  till  the  fire  of  1881,  when  it  was 
consumed  and  the  brick  storeroom,  three  doors  north  from  the  First  Xa- 
tional  Bank,  rose  on  its  site. 

•lehn  Kerr  came  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  from  Canada.  He 
was  born  in  the  Province  of  Quebec,  in  1836,  and  was  of  Scotch  ]ta rents. 
He  nuirried  Lydia  Slusser,  a  lady  of  Gei-man  blood,  but  of  Ohio  birth. 
His  wife  was  a  native  of  Williams  county,  Ohio,  and  was  married  in  that 
county,  ,  January  1,  1867.  She  resides  in  Independence,  Kansas,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-three  years,  while  her  husband  passed  away  in  1902.  Their 
only  child  is  the  subject  of  this  brief  review. 

The  public  schools  of  Independence  gave  Charles  H.  Kerr  his  educa- 
tion. He  completed  the  high  school  course,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  and 
then  took  a  commercial  course  in  Spaulding's  Business  College,  in  Kan- 
sas City.  Engaging  in  business,  he  employed  with  the  drug  firm  of  O.  J. 
Moon,  of  Independence,  at  ten  dollars  per  month,  as  a  druggist's  appren- 
tice. After  ten  months,  he  went  to  John  St.  Clair  and  still  later,  into 
the  service  of  F.  F.  Yoe,  of  Independence.  Leaving  this  last  firm,  he  went 
to  Ft.  Scott,  Kansas,  and  took  a  position  with  Hunter,  the  dryggist,  for 
a  time.  On  deciding  to  change  employers  again,  he  went  to  Cedarvale, 
Kansas,  where  he  was  with  R.  H.  Rowland  till,  moved  by  a  desire  to  en- 
gage in  business  for  himself,  he  opened  a  drug  store  in  Elk  City,  in  1898, 
which  business  he  lost,  by  fire,  January  12,  1902.  While  in  Elk  City,  he 
])rojiuited  and  placed  on  its  feet,  a  gas  and  oil  company,  which  did  some 
successful  development  and  is  now  one  of  the  substantial  and  permanent 
concerns  of  that  locality.  Returning  to  Independence,  in  the  spring  of 
1902,  he  jturchased,  on  June  1,  the  entire  stock  of  the  late  O.  J.  Moon,  his 
old  employer,  and  his  is  one  of  the  leading  drug  houses  of  the  city.  He 
has  [)ut  in  the  finest  drug  stock  in  Southern  Kansas,  in  the  building  lo- 
cated on  the  site  once  occujiied  by  liis  father's  carriage  shop.  This  store 
is  one  of  the  sights  of  the  city. 

.Mr.  Kerr  was  married  iii  Oak  Vallcv.  Kansas.  October  2!).  1900.  his 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  427 

wife  being  fan-ic  Snyder,  a  (laufjliter  of  J.  K.  Snyder,  formerly  of  the 
State  of  I'ennsylvania.    A  son.  Jolm  Kerr,  is  the  issue  of  this  marriage. 

Tn  Masonry,  ilr.  Kerr  lias  taken  all  the  degrees.  He  holds  a  member- 
ship in  the  Independence  Uliie  T.odge  and  Chapter,  in  Abdalah  Temple, 
at  Leavenworth,  and  in  the  Wicliila  Consistoi-y,  thirty-two  degrees.  He 
is  a  Jlodern  AVoodman,  a  Workman,  a  K.  of  1'.  and  an  Elk. 


AKTHfR  W.  EVANS.  .M.  D.— The  jirofessLm  (.f  medicine  in  Mont- 
gomery county  has  been  given  a  forward  impetus  and  the  medical  staff 
strengthened  and  honored  by  the  jiresence  and  active  work  of  Dr.  Arthur 
W.  Evans,  of  Independence,  whose  worth  inspires  this  personal  review. 
For  nine  years,  as  a  citizen  and  physician,  has  the  doctor  l)een  identified 
with  this  county,  and  his  skill  in  therapeutics,  diagnostics  and  surgery. 
has  won  him  a  success  which  establishes  him  in  the  forefront  of  medical 
jurisprudence. 

Dr.  Evans  represents  the  school  of  homeopathy  and  is  a  product  of 
the  Hahnemann  Medical  College,  Chicago.  His  ability  to  thoroughly 
harmonize  theory  and  ])ra(tice  and  the  personal  traits,  which  contribute 
materially  to  his  suciess,  are  jieculiarly  his  own,  and  are  in  happy  con- 
cord in  his  prdfessional  W(irk.  l'>y  education  and  training  a  Kansan,  by 
inclination,  purely  western,  but  by  nativity  eastern,  he  was  born  in  Cin- 
cinnati. ()lii(i.  October  20,  1803.  His  father,  Arthur  Evans,  is  a  native 
of  Buckinghamshire,  England.  The  latter  was  born  in  1837,  was  a  son  of 
Noah  Evans,  who  founded  this  branch  of  the  family,  in  the  United 
States,  in  1849,  and  who.  with  his  wife,  lies  buried  in  Spring  Grove, 
near  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Noah  Evans  was  a  merchant  in  Hamilton  county, 
Ohio,  where  our  subject's  father  grew  up  and  learned  merchandising  with 
a  friend.  The  latter  was  identified  with  Cincinnati,  until  1872,  when  he 
came  out  to  Kansas  and  established  himself,  in  Lawrence,  till  1875,  when 
he  removed  to  Eureka,  where  he  is  engaged  in  the  hardware  business.  He 
was  married  in  18 — .  his  wife  being  Mary  Leishun,  of  Wales,  born  in 
1837.  The  three  children  of  this  union  are :  William  A.,  of  Eureka,  Kan- 
sas; Dr.  Arthur  W.,  of  this  notice;  and  Lucy,  wife  of  Dr.  Higgins,  of  Em- 
poria, Kansas. 

The  public  schools  of  Eureka  gave  Dr.  Evans  his  early  training  and 
he  graduated  at  the  academy  there,  at  the  age  of  nineteen.  He  took  up 
the  study  of  medicine,  under  Dr.  W.  H.  Jenny,  of  Kansas  City,  and  with 
Dr.  Higgins,  of  Emporia.  He  spent  four  years  in  the  celebrated  Chicago 
medical  college,  previously  referi-ed  to,  and  graduated  from  it,  in  1892.  He 
tooka  post-graduate  course,  in  the  Chicago  Polyclinic  and  located  in  Kan- 
sas City,  Missouri,  for  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  1894,  he  estab- 
lished himself  in  Independence,  Kansas,  where  his  office  has  come  to  be 
thronged,  daily,  with  the  afflicted  and  the  infirm,  eager  to  be  treated  by 
his  restoring  hand. 


428  HISTORY  OF  MOXT<;OMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

May  14.  1S!»7.  Dr.  Evans  man'iecl.  in  Indopeudence,  Mrs.  Carrie 
Wallace,  a  daufilitcr  of  Benjamin  and  Melitta  Armstrong,  and  a  grand- 
daughter of  Ool.  N.  B.  Bristol,  whose  sketch  appears,  elsewhere,  in  thil 
work.  Mrs.  Evans  was  born  in  Illinois,  but  has  resided,  since  girlhood, 
in  Mdntgomery  county,  Kansas.  Dr.  Evans  is  a  Modern  Woodman,  a 
Knight  of  Pythias,  an  Elk,  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  member  of  the  Blue 
Lodge.  Chapter,  Commandery,  Council  and  Shrine,  Ancient  Free  and 
Ac<c|i(ed  JIasons.  His  professional  jiojmlarity  scarce  exceeds  his  social 
achicvcnients  and  his  symj)athetic  nature  goes  out  in  professional  ser- 
vices U)  the  poor,  as  well  as  the  rich.  His  liberality  is  extended  toward 
worthy  objects,  in  proportion  to  their  imjjortancc,  and  his  public  spirjt 
is  of  the  substantial  and  ever-present  kind. 


v^AMCEL  M.  rORTEK— Moiilgoiiiery  county  has  reascm  to  to  proud 
of  the  high  character  of  her  bar.  The  past  is  secure,  in  the  high  standing 
attained  by  many  of  its  members,  while  the  many  brilliant  young  men 
now  practicing  before  her  courts,  bid  fair  to  maintain  the  standard. 
The  gentleman,  whose  name  is  presented  above,  has  earned  the  distinction 
of  occupying  a  leading  posilion  among  the  legal  fraternity,  not  only  of 
his  own  county,  but  in  many  of  Ihe  surrounding  counties,  as  well.  He 
is  especially  strong  in  the  field  of  title  law,  and  has  given  deep  study 
to  questions  pertaining  to  the  legal  status  of  the  Indian,  before  ouv 
courts.  He  has  met  and  vanquished  many  of  the  best  legal  minds  of  tlio 
country,  on  tlicsi>  (jucsiions,  and  has  established  a  reputation,  for  legal 
acu7nen,  not  surpassed  liy  any  of  his  cotemporaries. 

Samuel  M.  I'orter  comes  of  a  family,  whose  members  have  been  hon- 
orably and  prominently  identified  with  the  annals  of  our  country,  since 
the  days  of  the  great  struggle  foi-  independence, and  in  which  Moses  J. 
Torter,  grandfather  of  our  subject,  took  a  very  pidniinent  part,  having 
been  en  the  staff  of  General  Washington,  during  that  sang\iinai'y  conflict. 
The  latter  was  the  son  of  English  parents,  who  had  cmigraled  to  the  hills 
of  Vermont,  many  years  before  the  war.  They  there  developed  that  inde- 
pendence of  spirit,  which  characterized  all  the  people  of  that  section,  and 
many  of  whom  fought  valiantly  in  the  ranks,  when  the  issue  was  joined 
with  the  mother  country. 

.Moses  J.  Torter  was  born  in  ^'enllllnt  aiid  reared  amid  the  hardships 
of  jiioneer  life,  fie  was  one  of  the  fiist  to  take  u\t  arms  and  soon  so  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  to  atli'acl  the  attention  of  his  superiors.  He  partic- 
ipated in  many  of  the  hard-fought  battles,  and  .for  six  years  was  privi- 
leged to  endure  the  hardships,  which  were  so  uncouii)lainingly  partici- 
pated in  by  the  great  head  of  the  army  aiul  his  personal  stafl',  and  was 
[•resent  at  the  last  great  battle,  where  the  world  was  "turned  upsid(> 
down"  by  (he  masterly  tactics  of  him  who  was  "first  in  war,     first     in 


S    M.   PORTER. 


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BISTOKY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  43 1 

the  jitMiius  of  his  mental  faculties  unawakened  till  the  dawu  of  manhood 
and  then  emharrassed  by  the  obstructions  and  adversities  of  inojiulent 
surrouiidinjjs,  still,  by  his  own  boot-straps,  as  it  were,  he  raised  himself 
out  of  the  mire  of  illiteracy  to  become  an  untrammeled  and  literate  man. 
Broadening  with  the  experience  of  years  and  ripening  with  the  approach 
of  maturer  life,  he  presents  an  example  of  the  self-made  man,  worthy 
the  attention  of  the  student  of  this  local  work. 

Eeferring  to  his  nativity  and  geneology,  Joseph  Fritch,  our  subject, 
was  born  in  Ross  county,  Ohio,  September  26,  1855.  His  father,  .Joseph 
A.  Fritch,  was  a  contractor  and  builder  in  early  life  and  was  born  in  the 
Province  of  Alsace,  then  France,  twelve  miles  from  the  city  of  Stras- 
burg,  in  the  year  1808.  Joseph  Fritch,  the  grandfather  of  Felix  J.,  of 
this  notice,  was  a  wine  maker  and  cask  manufacturer  of  wealth,  whose 
fortune  was  largely  dissipated  by  a  Napoleonic  decree,  causing  the  issu- 
ing of  scrip  and  pledging  the  property  of  the  Catholic  churcli  for  its 
final  redemption.  In  1825.  the  grandfather  came  to  the  United  States, 
settled,  fo"r  a  time  in  I'ennsylvania,  and  then  moved  to  Ohio,  where  he 
died,  at  the  age  of  ninety-six.  By  his  two  marriages,  he  reared  a  large 
family  of  children.  His  son,  Joseph,  had  the  advantages  of  a  superior 
intellectual  training  and,  having  a  bent  for  the  study  of  the  languages, 
mastered  seven  of  them  and  became  able  to  speak  any  of  them  fluently. 
He  learned  the  cooper  trade  but  took  up  carpenter  work  and  finally  ex- 
panded his  efforts  into  the  contractor's  field.  In  1868,  he  came  to  Kan- 
sas and  located,  with  his  family,  in  Leavenworth.  In  1870,  he  settled 
upon  a  new  farm  in  Wilson  county,  near  Fredonia,  where  his  children 
grew  up,  and  finally  departed  from  the  parental  roof.  He  married  Bar- 
bara Vinson,  a  daughter  of  George  Vinson,  an  Englishman.  Barbara 
Fritch  was  born,  in  Tennessee,  in  1818,  and  died  in  1899.  She  outlived 
her  husband  seven  years  and  was  the  mother  of:  Sarah,  now  a  sister  in 
the  Convent  in  Columbus,  Ohio ;  George  W.,  of  Fredonia,  Kansas ;  Frank, 
deceased ;  Mary,  a  nun  in  the  Dominican  Convent  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  and 
manager  of  St.  Mary's  Academy  at  Shepard,  Ohio;  Flora,  deceased; 
Mrs.  Clara  Tiyiton,  of  Guthrie,  Oklahoma ;  Felix  J.,  our  subject ;  and 
Kate  E.,  wife  of  C.  B.  McGinley,  of  Oklahoma  City. 

At  twelve  years  of  age,  F.  J.  Fritch  quit  school,  for  the  time  being, 
and  e!!tered  his  father's  shop,  in  the  manufacture  of  school  furniture.  He 
was  fond  of  mechanics,  and,  for  many  years  after  the  removal  of  the 
family  to  Wilson  county,  Kansas,  he  aided  his  father  in  the  erection  of 
buildings  here  and  there  over  the  county.  During  this  time,  he  spent 
three  years  as  a  laborer  on  railroad  work,  cutting  the  first  stick  of  tim- 
ber out  toward  the  head  of  Choctow  Creek,  east  of  Sherman,  Texas, 
while  the  construction  of  the  railroad  was  going  on. 

After  his  return  home,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years,  he  was 
l)ersua(led,  by  a  sister,  to  take  writing  lessons,  with  the  result  that  in  a 


432  IIISTOUY  01'   MONTCOMIOKY   COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

short  time,  he  wrote  ;i  fail-  hand  and,  in  consequence  of  which,  he  was 
chosen  editor  of  the  jiapei'  of  the  neijililiorliood  literary  society.  The  very 
iii<>ht  he  was  elected  its  editor,  lie  hail  {ione  In  Ihe  society  nieetinfj  to  help 
'•break  it  up."  a  jiroceedinj;  which  his  disjiosition.  at  that  lime,  cherished 
as  a  "hil  of  fiiii."  The  distinction  thus  nnwittin<ily  thrust  n|)on  him, 
touched  his  juidc  and  aroused  his  sense  of  justice  and  <;ave  him  his  first 
effective  shove  toward  a  W(ulhy  and  useful  life.  He  made  a  marked  suc- 
cess of  the  society  pa])er.  with  (he  aid  of  his  refined  sistei's,  and  became 
one  of  the  ]ioiiul;ir  youn^  men  of  the  locality.  He  soon  afterward  attend- 
ed, as  a  iiupil,  in  the  same  school  house,  and  was  induced  to  attend  the 
<-ounty  institute  the  followinji  summer.  He  aii])lied  himself  so  diligently 
toward  the  attainment  of  his,  now,  ultintate  object,  that  he  earned  the 
third  hijihest  uradc  ai  the  county  examination.  He  be<;an  teaching 
i-ountry  school  .is  soon  .is  he  was  Icj^ally  (|ualitied  and  was  engaoed  in  the 
work,  with  little  lo.ss  (»f  lime,  till  l.S'.MI.  He  was  principal  of  the  schools 
at  I'.laine,  Kansas,  for  three  years,  and  finished  his  school  work,  as  princi- 
]ial  of  schools,  at  ('hautau(iua  S])rinj;s,  in  1889.  He  spent  two  years  read- 
iiij;  law  with  T.  -I.  Hudson,  in  Fredonia — from  twenty-seven  to  twenty- 
nine  'cars  of  .It;!' — and  wlien  his  last  term  of  school  closed,  he  went  se- 
rionslv  into  the  law  business.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Sedan,  Kas., 
ami  did  his  first  ])ractice  in  the  jtistice  court  in  (Miautauqua  Springs.  In 
18'tO.  he  came  to  Indei)endence,  fifteen  hundred  dollars  overdrawn,  and 
purchased  an  interest  in  the  law  business  of  Thos.  W.  Stanford,  and  the 
liartners  practiced  togetlier  one  year.  Then  he  opened  an  office,  alone, 
and  was  so  situated  till  the  spring  of  1903,  when  he  formed  a  jyartner- 
shiji  with  .lohn  W.  I'.ertenshaw,  a  young  and  promising  attorney  of  In- 
dejjendence.  and  the  firm  of  Fritch  &  Bertenshaw  is  one  of  the  ]>opnlar 
new  firms  of  the  city. 

For  three  years,  Mr.  Fritch  was  Dejtut.T  ('lerk  of  the  Kansas  Su- 
preme (  •ourt,  under  John  Jlartin,  of  Tojteka."  He  had  studied  shorthand 
after  beginning  tlM^  ])ra<'tice  fif  law  and,  in  seven  months,  became  able 
to  report  cases  and  take  testimony  in  the  district  court.  In  1897,  he  was 
assistant  secretary  of  the  Kansas  State  Senate,  by  ajipointment  of  thq 
Leedyadministration.  He  has  filled  a  vacancy,  by  appointment,  as  city  at- 
torney of  Independence  iind  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the  office 
of  county  attorney. 

In  May,  1885,  Mr  Fritch  married,  in  Blaine,  Kansas,  his  wife  being 
Cora  M.,  daughter  of  Judge  H.  W.  Hazen,  of  that  i)lace.  The  issue  of 
this  union  is  two  sons,  Joseidi  Leo  and  Fraidc  J.  and  two  daughters,  both 
now  dead. 


JOSEPH   H.   OKAVIOS— The  father  u{  Josejih   H.   Craves.    1  lender 
son  <!raves,  was  a  native  of  N'irginia.     He  was  born  in  ISdS  and  mhimmI. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTOOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  433 

•with  liis  parents,  to  Ohio,  when  only  four  years  old.  After  his  marriage, 
1o  Rebecca  Ann  Perkins,  he  removed  to  Missouri,  aliout  the  year  1857, 
where  he  died,  in  18(18.  Mis  wife  lived  until  June,  18!>."..  when  she  died, 
■at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years.  There  were  seven  cliildrcii.  six  of  whom 
are  now  living. 

Joseph  H.  Graves,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  14th  of  July,  1844.  He  was  twelve  years  old  when 
his  fsitlier  moved  to  Missouri.  His  opportunities  for  an  education  were 
few,  for,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  enlisted  as  a  private,  in  Company  "I," 
Fourth  Missouri  Cavalrj',  and  served  twelve  months  and  reenlisted  in  the 
Twelfth  Missouri  Cavalry,  Company  "M,"  and  served  throughout  the  war. 
He  w;is  in  many  hard  battles;  the  battle  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  was 
sixtytive  days  in  the  saddle,  skirmishing  and  fighting,  and  was  neither 
wounded  nor  captured.  After  the  war,  he  returned  home,  where  lie  was 
married.  December  20.  18(!fi.  to  Mary  J.  Conkel.  a  native  of  Pennsylvania. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  Keuben  and  Elizabeth  (Kline)  Conkel.  both  na- 
tives of  Pennsylvania.  The  father  died  in  Indiana,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven  years.    His  wife  still  survives  him  and  lives  in  Independence,  Kan- 

For  seven  years,  immediately  following  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Graves, 
he  worked  as  a  day  laborer.  This  sort  of  "hand  to  mouth"  existence  was 
not  i)leasing,  however,  to  either  him  or  his  wife,  and  they  resolved  to  end 
it  by  taking  advantage  of  some  of  the  cheap  land  in  the  southwestern  part 
of  Kansas.  They,  therefore,  settled,  in  1873,  in  Sumner  county,  where 
they  bought  a  claim.  A  year  in  this  part  of  the  country  was  sufficient  to 
give  them  a  case  of  homesickness,  and  they  made  their  way  back  to  ^lis- 
souri.  In  1884,  they  again  resolved  to  try  what  Kansas  could  do  to  bet- 
ter their  condition,  and  this  time  settled  on  a  farm  near  Independence. 
They  soon  found  that  they  had  struck  the  right  country  and,  in  a  short 
time,  traded  for  the  present  farm,  located  two  and  one-half  miles  south- 
east of  Caney.  Here  they  have  one  of  the  prettiest  situations  in  the  coun- 
ty, their  farm  lying  on  high  rolling  prairie,  which  gives  them  a  com- 
manding view  of  the  valley  below,  where  the  enterprising  little  city  ot 
Caney  lies  in  full  view.  The  south  line  of  the  farm  is  but  sixty-five 
rods  from  the  state  line.  Tlie  appointments  are  of  the  best,  a  large  and 
handsome  residence,  an  immense  barn  and  other  outbuildings  necessary 
to  the  conduct  of  a  first-class  farm.  The  family  of  seven  children  are  as 
follows:  Charles  W.,  a  business  man  of  Caney;  Harry  H.,  also  in  business 
in  Caney;  Elizabeth  Ann,  Flety  May,  Ida  Alice,  Daisy  Melissa  and  Mag- 
■gie  Maud. 

Mr.  tJraves'  first  vote  was  cast  for  Abraham  Lincoln  and  he  still 
tsupjtorts  the  party  which  espouses  that  cause. 


434  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMEET  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

JOHN  G.  EKDilAN— One  of  the  Gei'manAuierican  farmers  of 
Montgomery  county,  whose  residence  herein  has  lent  an  influence  for 
good  in  the  general  rural  development  of  recent  years,  is  the  gentleman 
whose  name  introduces  this  personal  notice.  His  advent  to  the  county 
dates  from  February,  1885,  when  he  established  his  family  on  a  part  of 
section  3,  township  33,  range  15,  when  he  converted  a  good  mechanic  into 
an  equally  good  and  successful  farmer.  He  is  a  settler  from  Adams 
county.  Illinois,  where,  at  Quincy,  he  grew  up  from  childhood,  learned 
his  trade  and  embarked  successfully  and  honorably  in  the  affairs  of  life. 

Air.  Erdman  was  born  in  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia,  near  the  town  of 
Muhlhausen,  March  4,  1844.  His  father  was  John  M.  Erdman,  of  the 
town  of  Muhlhausen,  and  his  mother  was  Auna  E.  Bang.  In  1851,  the 
parents  sailed  from  Bremen,  bound,  on  a  sailing  vessel,  for  New  Orleans, 
Louisiana.  They  continued  their  journey  from  New  Orleans  up  the 
Mississippi  river  and  ended  their  trip  at  Quincy,  where  the  parents 
passed  their  remaining  years  and  died,  the  father  in  1800  and  the  mother, 
Janiuiry  12,  1871,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  The  father  was  a  carpen- 
ter and  his  early  efforts  inthe  United  States  were  given  in  the  upbuilding 
of  the  city  of  Quincy.  then  a  mere  village  on  the  bank  of  "The  Father  of 
Waters."  Two  of  the  three  children  of  this  venerable  couple  lived  to 
reach  maturity,  viz :  John  G.  and  his  brother,  John  Alartin.  who  died  in 
Los  Angeles,  California,  in  1890. 

John  G.  Erdman  learned  his  trade  in  his  vigorous  youth,  becoming 
proficient  in  both  wood  work  and  blacksmithing.  With  the  exception  of 
three  years,  when  he  was  sojourning,  temporarily,  in  Marysville,  Cali- 
fornia, he  was  a  resident  of  Quincy,  111.,  till  his  advent  to  Kansas.  In  1864, 
he  crossed  the  plain,  driving  a  team,  and  made  the  trip  to  California,  be- 
ing located  at  Marysville,  near  Sacramento,  where  he  remained  three 
years,  and  where  he  followed  his  trade.  He  returned  east,  by  wafer,  and 
disembarked  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  where  he  took  rail  for  his 
home  in  Quincy.  Resuming  his  trade,  he  engaged  with  W.  T.  and  E.  A. 
Rogers,  of  Quincy,  with  whom  he  continued  eleven  years.  Being  a  short 
while  in  the  steam  and  gas  fitting  business,  on  his  own  account,  he  dis- 
continued it  and  employed  with  the  well  known  hay{)ress  manufacturer, 
George  Ertal,  where  he  remained  four  years.  Following  this,  he  was  em- 
ployed, as  a  blacksmith,  for  iliicc  years,  in  a  wheel  factory  and  the  sav- 
ings he  accumulated  in  tlnsr  ciLiliiiiMi  years  constituted  the  capital  with 
whidi  he  came  out  to  Aioiiigoniciy  county,  in  1884.  and  purchased  the 
farm  which  he  has  developed  into  an  attractive  homestead.  He  found 
here,  a  small  field  of  twenty  acres  plowed,  the  jdace  bajren  of  buildings, 
and  little  else  was  there,  in  sight,  to  indicate  that  it  had  been  touched  Ity 
the  ci\ilizing  hand  of  man.  A  commodious  farm  residence  now  domi 
ciles  the  family  and  am])le  l)arns  and  sheds  give  shelter  to  the  stock  of 
the  farm.    The  mention  of  these,  constitutes  only  a  suggestion  of  what 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  435 

has  iM'en  done  by  the  industrious  household,  under  the  supervision  of  its 
paten.al  head.  Mr.  Erdman  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  aires  of  the 
section  in  which  he  lives  and  makes  it  all  produce  al.undantly  and 
prosjjer. 

Aj)ril  8.  1869,  Mr.  Erdman  married,  in  Quincy.  ]\I;ny  I'.nieiiiii^r.  a 
lady  ef  Mecklenburg;  birth.  Her  father,  John  Brueninji.  came  over  from 
Germanv  to  Illinois,  in  an  early  day,  and  followed  cabinet  making  in 
Quincv.' where  he  died,  in  June.  1900,  at  eighty  years  of  age.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Erdman's  children  are:  John  F.,  Henry  W.,  Ida.  wife  of  Henry 
Meyer,  of  Elk  City,  Kansas;  Sophia  and  Mary.  Mr.  Erdman  votes  the 
Republican  ticket' and  worships  with  the  German  Lutheran  congrega- 
tion, in  Independence. 


WILLIAM  W.  :M(K1NNEY— In  Louisburg  township,  of  this  county, 
on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  there  has  lived,  since  1886,  a 
gentleman  who  has  the  distinction  of  being  a  veteran  of  the  Mexican  war. 
He  served  in  that  struggle,  under  General  Winfleld  Scott,  from  the  Gulf 
coast  to  the  Mexican  capital.  This  veteran  is  W.  W.  McKinney,  the 
subject  of  this  review,  now  seventy-eight  years  of  age.  and  he  looks  back 
upon  a  long  life  of  stirring  activity  with  the  consciousness  of  having  per- 
formed each  requirement  of  manhood  as  it  was  presented  to  him. 

Mr.  McKinney  was  born  in  Pulaski  county,  Kentucky,  in  the  year 
1825.  His  parents  were  Flemon  and  Ann  Delilah  (Gregg)  McKinney. 
He  is  a  grandson  of  William  McKinney,  who  emigrated  from  his  native 
State  of  Virginia  to  Kentucky,  at  a  very  early  period,  in  the  settlement  of 
the  "Blue  Grass  State."  The  family  are  of  Scotch  descent,  the  great 
grandparents  of  our  subject  having  come  to  America  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century. 

Mr.  McKinney's  parents  passed  their  entire  lives  in  the  "Blue  Grass 
State."  His  mother  died  in  Pulaski  county,  while  he  was  yet  a  child, 
and  his  father  located  in  Louisville,  after  the  Civil  war.  They  reared  the 
following  children,  viz:  Elizabeth,  William  W..  Pauline  B..  John  G., 
Hiram  K.  and  Lucinda ;  all  deceased  but  Hiram  K  and  William  W.  By 
a  second  marriage,  Flemon  McKinney  had  the  following  children: 
James  F.,  Charles  H.,  Nancy,  Pauline  and  Eliza  Ann;  and  by  a  third 
marriage,  were  two  children :  Margaret  and  Emma. 

William  McKinney  received  his  education  in  Pulaski  county.  Ken- 
tucky, and  continued  to  reside  upon  the  old  homestead  until  1886.  He 
enlisted  in  the  Mexican  war,  in  1847.  as  a  volunteer  in  Company  "C," 
Fourth  Kentucky  Volunteer  Infantry,  for  which  service  he  now  receives 
a  pension  of  |8.00  per  month.  He  married,  in  18-18,  Lora  Ann,  a 
daughter  of  Alexander  and  Elizabeth  (Lawson)  Reid,  of  Pulaski  county, 
Kentucky,  and  to  whom  were  born  children,  as  follows :  Mary  Elizabeth 


436  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

aud  Cyremis  J.,  deceased;  Naucy  Ellen,  wife  of  Joseph  M.  Hubble,  a 
farmer  of  Pulaski  county,  whose  four  children  are:  Lena.  Edgar,  Annie 
and  William;  James,  who  first  married  Sdidirona  Vaught,  who  died,  De- 
cember 3,  1893,  leaving  four  children:  Elmer  J.,  Pearl,  Rose  and  May; 
his  second  wife  was  Annie  Goodwin,  daughter  of  Alfred  Goodwin,  a  farm- 
er of  Montgomery  county,  whose  two  children  are:  Fannie  and  Mary; 
JohnTalbottMcKinney,  married  :Mary  P.elle  Uryant,  a  daughter  of  Henry 
Bryant,  a  farmer  of  Kentucky;  her  children  are:  Oscar,  William  B.,  Alba 
and  Lela;  Sarah  L.,  is  the  wife  of  B.  J.  Vaught,  a  farmer  of  Pulaski 
county;  her  children  are:  Victor  G.,  Fanny  A..  Allie,  Neatie.  Fauna, 
Beatie  and  Mocella;  W'illiam  F.'s  first  wife  was  Myrtle  Skinner,  daughter 
of  Dr.  M.  W.  Skinner  of  Kansas,  and  after  her  death — which  occurred 
May  1,  1896 — he  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Lilly  Vaught,  daughter  of 
Fountain  F.  and  Margeret  (Dungan)  Vaught,  farmers  of  Pulaski  county, 
Kentucky.  The  Vaught  family  consists  of  eleven  children,  five  of  whom 
are  now  living,  as  follows:  Boen,  Pulaski  county;  Elisha,  Parke  county, 
Indiana;  Ansel,  Estell  and  Jlrs.  McKinney. 

William  F.  McKinney  was  born,  in  ISdi',  in  Pulaski  county,  and 
received  his  education  in  the  common  schools  of  I  hat  county  and  at  the 
University  of  Lebanon,  Ohio.  He  was,  for  a  period  of  ten  years,  station 
agent  for  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  at  different  points,  but 
has  for  several  years,  been  managing  his  father's  farm,  in  Louisburj^ 
township. 

The  social  position  of  the  McKinney  family  is  ;i  commanding  one 
in  the  county.  The  correct  and  ui)right  lives  which  have  been  lived  by 
our  subject  and  his  children,  has  established  for  them  a  most  enviable 
reputation.  Their  character  and  citizenship  is  of  the  best  and  they  are 
held  in  high  regard.  Politically,  they  support  the  i)arty  of  Lincoln  and 
Garfield,  and  are  devoted  members  of  the  Christian  church. 


THOMAS  J.  STRAl'B— I'robably  the  youngest  Register  of  Deeds 
of  ^Montgomery  county  is  Thomas  J.  Straub,  of  this  review.  He  is  a  na- 
tive of  the  county  and  is  a  son  of  pioneer  parents,  Francis  J.  and  Eliza- 
beth !  Wilkinson)  Straub,  the  former  of  whom  took  up  a  tract  of  the  pub- 
lic domain,  in  Liberty  township,  in  the  year  1860.  He  was  a  settler  from 
Missouri  but  was  born  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  January  24,  1847.  His 
parents  were  of  German  birth  and  his  father,  Henry  ■).  Straub,  brought 
his  family  to  Wisconsin  in  an  early  day,  resided  there  lill  some  finie  in 
the  .^(I's  and  Iheu  moved  down  into  Missouri,  where  his  younger  cliiidicii 
grew  tip. 

Frances  J.  Straub  came  to  manhood's  estate  on  the  farm  and  ac 
quired  a  limited  education  in  the  country  schools.  He  espoused  the  side 
of  the  union,  during  the  Rebellion,  and  enlisted,  in   ISCli.  in  the  Twelfth 


HISTORY  OK   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  437 

Missouri  Cavalry.  He  served  two  aud  one -half  years  in  the  South  and 
when  discharged  from  the  service,  returned  home  aud  reengaged  in  civil 
pursuits  there  till  18G9,  when  he  anticipated  Horace  Greely's  advice  and 
came  west.  The  "claim"  he  took  in  Montgomery  county,  he  improved 
and  resided  on  until  1902,  when,  having  lost  his  companion  and  having 
brought  his  children  to  years  of  maturity,  he  accompanied  his  son  to  In- 
dependence, where  he  now  resides.  September  20,  1871,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Wilkinson,  a  gentleman  of  Irish 
birth,  whose  early  American  home  was  maintained  in  the  Dominion  of 
Canada.  There  liis  daughter,  Elizabeth,  was  born,  in  1846.  She  accom- 
panied her  father  to  Kansas  and  settled  in  Montgomery  county,  in  1869, 
and  died  in  Liberty  township,  on  the  12th  of  September,  1902,  after  a 
married  life  of  nearly  thirty-one  years.  The  children  of  this  union  were: 
Etta,  who  died  at  twenty-one  years;  Ivan  E.,  of  Baker  City,  Oregon; 
Thomas  J.  and  Kate  E.,'  twins,  the  latter  of  whom  died  December  24, 
1898 ;  and  Ulysses  G.,  who  died  June  2,  1901. 

Thomas  J.  Straub  was  born  November  29,  1878.  He  followed  the  ways 
of  the  farm  youth,  till  the  spring  of  1898,  when  he  enlisted  in  Captain 
Elliott's  company  of  Twentieth  Kansans,  for  service  in  the  Spanish- 
American  war.  The  regiment  rendezvoused  at  San  Francisco,  Califor- 
nia, till  October,  1898,  when  it  was  embarked  aboard  the  transport  In- 
diana, for  Manila,  to  assist  in  the  reduction  of  the  Spanish  stronghold 
in  the  Pacific.  December  1,  the  transport  anchored  in  Manila  Bay  and 
the  Twentieth  Kansas,  on  being  disembarked,  was  given  a  position  on  the 
outpost  of  Manila.  It  remained  on  this  species  of  guard  duty  till  the 
Filipino  outbreak,  on  the  4th  of  February,  1899,  when  it  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  all  the  fighting,  from  Caloocan  to  San  Fernando,  the  follow- 
ing June.  On  the  2:!d  of  February,  our  subject  was  on  picket  duty  within 
the  city  of  Manila,  when  it  was  expected  that  the  Filipinos  of  the  place 
would  undertake  to  massacre  all  the  English-speaking  and  Spanish  resi- 
dents, and  when  the  city  was  thrown  into  a  turmoil  of  excitement  by  the 
recent  discovery  of  such  a  plot.  But,  few  lives  were  sacrifieed,  other  than 
Filipinos,  during  the  night,  and  morning  relieved  the  tension  and  assured 
the  safety  of  the  city.  Mr.  Straub  participated  in  the  battles  of  Tuhuli- 
han  river,  Calumpit  and  Malolos,  in  addition  to  those  previously  men- 
tioned, returned  to  the  United  States  on  board  the  transport  Tartar,  by 
way  (if  Hong  Kong  and  Yokahoma,  aud  reached  San  Francisco  October 
lo,  1899,  and  on  the  2d  of  November  following,  ended  a  flying  trip  across 
the  continent,  with  the  regiment,  to  take  part  in  the  reception  tendered 
the  fomous  Twentieth  by  the  citizens  of  Kansas  at  Topeka  on  that  day. 

Mr.  Straub  finished  his  education,  on  his  return  home,  in  the  com- 
mercial college  at  Sedalia,  Missouri,  and,  following  the  completion  of  his 
course  was,  for  five  months.  Deputy  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  in  Mont- 
gomery county.     In  January,   1902,  he  severed  his  connection  with  the 


^jS  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

office  ;iii(i  returned  to  Liberty  towushiii.  from  which  he  soou  afterward 
aiinouMced  his  eaiulidacy  for"  the  (.ffice  :)f  Reyi^^ter  of  Deeds.  fie  wa.s 
iiuiiiiiialed.  against  two' corapefitors.  and  was  elected,  in  November,  by 
a  majority  of  three  hiindred  and  seventy  live  voles,  lie  was  installed  into 
office*  danuary  12.  1003.  to  succeed  T.  V.  Hurke.  He  is  a  Republican  and 
cast  his  mai<ien  Tresidential  vole  for  the  lamcni.'d  William  McKinley. 


HKNKV  HHADLEY.  M.  1».— A  j.lcasanl  drive,  one  half  mile  east 
of  the  little  city  of  Caney.  in  .Mon1j;(imery  county,  biings  one  to  the 
splendid  stock  farm  of  Dr.  Henry  I'.radley,  ;•.  gentleman  whose  strong 
]i(>rsonality  has  affected,  in  a  marked  degree,  the  develojunent  of  the  sec- 
tion m  wliich  he  lives  and  whose  jdeasing  address  and  kindly  niannei 
has  nuide  him  the  center  of  a  Lost  of  friends. 

Dr.  Rradley  comes  of  "Buckeye"  stock,  having  been  born  in  Indiana 
on  the  '22d  of  March,  1845.  His  father,  Michael  Bradley,  was  a  native  of 
Ohio  and,  on  arriving  at  manhood's  estate,  was  joined  in  marriage 
to  Leah  (Jlick.  also  a  "Biickeye.''  They  moved  to  Indiana,  about  184(1,  and 
settled  in  Miann  county,  in  the  virgin  forest,  and,  in  True  pioneer  fashion, 
carved  out  a  home,  and  where  they  continued  to  reside  until  the  death 
|>f  the  father,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  The  wife  survives  him,  ai 
.the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  She  was  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  of 
whom  Henry  is  the  fourth. 

Dr.  Henry  Bradley  drew  inspiration  from  the  fields  of  the"Hoosier 
State,"  attending  to  the  duties  of  farm  life  and  acquiring  such  education 
as  was  possible,  in  the  district  school  of  that  time,  with  its  slab  benches 
and  puncheon  floors  and  teachers  who  spared  not  the  rod,  in  the  making 
of  the  future  scholar  and  statesman.  He  was,  later,  favored  with  a  three 
years"  caurse  at  a  Pi-esbyterian  academy,  at  Wabash,  Indiana,  and  then 
commenced  the  study  of  his  profession.  He  finished  his  studies  at  a  med- 
ical college  in  Marion,  graduating  in  February  of  1882.  With  his  "sheep- 
skin" under  his  arm,  he  immediately  came  west,  locating  at  Tyro,  in  Mont- 
gomeiy  county.  Here  he  built  up  a  splendid  practice,  but,  yielding  to  the 
excitement  of  the  time,  in  the  opening  of  the  Oklahoma  country,  he  went 
down,  secured  a  claim,  and  stayed  until  he  had  proved  up  on  it,  in  the 
meantime  doing  some  practice  at  his  profession.  Kansas,  however,  had 
sunk  her  seeds  of  contentment  so  deep  into  his  nature  that  he  re 
solved  to  sell  out  and  return,  and  Montgomery  again  claimed  him  as  a 
••itizcn.  He,  however,  had  become  weaned  from  the  profession  to  which 
he  had  devoted  thirty  years  of  his  life,  and,  in  conjunction  with  his  son, 
imrchased  a  farm  and  began  the  business  in  which  they  are  now  engaged. 
Here  they  make  a  point  of  handling  nothing  but  the  best  stock,  and  do  a 
large  business  in  horses  and  mules. 

Dr.  Bradley's  family  consists  of  wife  and  one  son,  Nathaniel,  who 


J.   E.   HARDIN. 


% 


\-!  f*  If  r  I'  I 


<" 

■ 

i  *  *  *  i 

'«" 


»^»  •  ♦>>  •  >^l 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  44  I 

of  oil  senf  from  this  section,  to  the  refinery  at  Neodeslia,  tlie  date  Iwinj; 
February  12.  189.3. 

Any  word  of  coniniendation  on  the  character  of  Joseph  E.  Harden 
will  seem  entirely  superHuous  here,  as  nearly  every  reader  of  this  volume 
will  have  personal  knowledge  of  him.  SuflBce  it  to  say,  that  he  and  his 
family  ai-e  in  every  respect  worthy  the  great  esteem  in  which  they  are 
held  imd  merit  the  universal  good  wishes  with  which  they  are  showered. 


('HARLOTTIO  T.  K  1  HKl'ATKK'K— In  the  autumn  of  1870,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  jiersonal  notice  caiMc  into  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  with 
her  husband,  the  late  Hardin  \\'.  Kirkpatrick,  well  remembered  by  the 
early  settlers  of  \\est  ("lierry  townslii]).  The  two  settled  on  a  claim-right, 
bought  of  one  l<]dward  Hurt.  f(u-  which  they  paid  the  sum  of  $900.00, 
and  remained  there  twelve  years,  going  thence  to  their  new  farm,  in  sec- 
tion 3.  township  31,  range  1(J,  which  was  entered,  as  a  claim,  by  Mr.  Mc- 
Goveru.  Here  the  family  had  its  permanent  home  and  here  Mr.  Kirkpat- 
rick died,  February  10,  190.">. 

Mrs.  Kirki)atrick  was  born  in  Scott  county,  Hlinois.  January  13. 
184.5,  and  was  a  resident  of  that  county  till  her  departure  for  Kansas. 
Her  parents  were  lOdward  iind  Delilah  (Haxter)  Elliott,  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania    and     Kentucky,   resi)ectively.     Edward   Elliott  was  a  son  of 

Elliott,  who  removed  from  the  "Keystone  State"  to  Kentucky  and 

subsequently  became  a  i)ioneer  of  Scott  county,  Illinois.  Edward.  Thom- 
as and  Harriet  Hamilton  were  the  three  children  of  the  original  Elliott, 
herein  mentioned,  and  by  his  marriage  with  I)<^lilah  Haxter,  Edward 
Elliott  reared  eight  cliildren.  namely:  \Ailliam  H.,  Mrs.  Julia  .\.  Cline, 
Mrs.  Marv  Hamilton.  .Mrs.  Caroline  Dawson,  John  S..  Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Kel- 
ly. Mrs.  .Vmanda  E.  Fletcher  and  Mrs.  Charlotte  T.  Kirkpatrick. 

Hardin  W.  Kirkimtrick  was  born  in  Winchester.  Scott  county.  Hli- 
nois, and  was  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Jane  R.  (Summers)  Kirki)atrick, 
natives  of  Jlonroe  county,  \'irginia,  and  of  Todd  county,  Kentucky,  res- 
pectively. The  elder  Kirk()atricks  had  four  children,  namely:  Hardin 
W.,  Samantha  H.,  Mrs.  Alice  A.  McEvens  and  Mrs.  Emmorilles  Edmoud- 
son.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kirk}>atrick  became  the  parents  of  five  children,  viz: 
Harry  E.,  of  Montgomery  county,  has  three  sons:  Roy,  Ivan  C.  and  Burt 
R. ;  Chas.  S..  of  Latah.  Washington,  has  a  daughter,  Mildred.  Those 
deceased  are :  Edward,  Vera  and  an  infant. 

In  his  young  manhood,  Hardin  W.  Kirkpatrick  learned  cabinet- 
making,  but  when  about  twenty  years  of  age,  he  abandoned  the  trade  and 
became  a  teacher  in  the  country  schools,  for  some  time.  At  the  opening 
of  the  Civil  war.  he  enlisted,  as  a  private,  in  Company  "F,"  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  After  Hie  war,  he  returned 
to  his  native  pla<-e,  with  a  minnie  ball  in  his  arm,  and  followed  farnnng 


442  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEBY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

till  he  left  the  east  to  become  identified,  in  the  same  manner,  with  the 
west. 

As  a  citizen  of  Montgomery  conuty.  he  practiced  industry  and 
brought  up  his  family  to  useful  and  upright  lives.  He  was  a  prominent 
factor  in  local  politics  and  was  called  to  serve  in  public  office  by  the 
voters  of  his  township.  He  held  the  office  of  treasurer  one  term  and  was 
a  number  of  years  trustee  and  justice  of  the  peace.  He  affiliated  with 
the  allied  forces,  as  against  the  dominant  political  party  of  the  county, 
and  contributed  his  mite  toward  the  overthrow  of  Republicanism. 


JOSEPH  S.  HENDERSON— Brought  int..  .Monigomery  county  in 
infancy,  when  nature  was  supreme.  Josejjh  S.  Henderson  is  numbered 
with  the  pioneers.  It  was  October  1.  1809,  that  his  ])arents  entered  the 
county  and  became  i)ernianent  settlers  here.  Their  location  was  made  on 
section  29,  township  82.  range  15,  which  tract  was  substantially  im- 
proved, in  time,  and  which  has  remained  the  continuous  abiding  place 
of  the  family.  The  head  of  the  family  early  took  rank  as  one  of  the  pro- 
nouncedly successful  farmers  of  the  county  and  his  landed  accumulations 
and  excellence,  as  a  citizen,  have  made  him  widely  known  and  highly 
esteemed. 

William  D.  Henderson,  father  of  our  subject,  is  well  on  the  shady 
side  of  life.  Arduous  and  continuous  lalior.  for  a  third  of  a  century,  in 
a  new  country,  has  tiually  told  on  him.  and  in  the  zenith  of  his  achieve- 
ments and  when  ready  to  enjoy  life,  he  is  broken  in  spirit  and  emaciated 
and  wasted  in  body.  He  came  to  Kansas,  a  sti'ong  and  ambitious  man, 
and  while  achieving  his  ambition,  his  strength  has  wasted  away.  The 
accumulation  of  his  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  of  land  and  the 
rearing  and  stai'ting  of  a  large  family  on  successful  careers,  furnish  the 
briefest  synopsis  of  the  events  of  his  career.  He  was  born  in  Johnson 
county,  Indiana,  in  183.5.  He  grew  to  manhood  on  the  farm  and  married 
Susan,  a  daughter  of  James  R.  Debo.  also  of  Indiana  origin.  The  issue 
of  this  marriage  is  the  following  children:  f'arrie,  wife  of  Andrew  Mc- 
Ginnis.  of  Wilson  county.  Kansas;  Miss  Louella.  Nannie,  who  married 
Solon  Swartz,  of  Montgomery  county;  Amy,  Mrs.  (J.  W.  Riggle,  of  Mont- 
gomery county;  Joseph  S.,  the  subject  of  this  i)ersonal  review;  Eliza- 
beth, wife  of  W.  S.  rtterback,  of  Oklahoma;  Jlinnie,  who  became  Mrs. 
J.  S.  Inman,  of  Montgomery  county;  and  Frank,  yd  on  the  old  home- 
stead.   Four  others  died  young. 

Joseph  S.  Henderson  is  a  jiroduct  of  the  connliy  schools  and,  while 
growing  up.  became  familiar  with  all  the  "ins  and  outs"  of  farm  work 
and  development.  He  had  a  fine  ojtportnntiy  to  gel  accniainted  with  hard 
work  and  he  accejited  the  condition  without  complaint.  Fie  resided  with 
his  parents  till  i)ast  the  twenty-fifth  milestone  of  life  and  then,  Noveiii 


HISTOUV  OV  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  445 

ber  2<J.  1894,  uiariied  Effle  J.  Hiowu,  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Brown.  Mv. 
Brown  came  to  Kansas  from  Illinois,  where  Mrs.  Henderson  was  born, 
but  was  originally  from  Tennessee.  He  is,  now,  a  resident  of  Oklahoma. 
Mrs.  Henderson  was  born  on  the  11th  day  of  December,  1809,  and  is  one 
of  a  family  of  four  children.  Three  children  are  the  issue  of  this  union 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henderson,  namely:  Homer,  Jessie  and  Edith  M. 

In  politics,  the  Hendeisons  of  this  branch  are,  and  have  always  been. 
Democrats.  For  many  years,  William  D.  served  on  the  school  board  in 
his  home  district  and  thus  contrilmted  of  his  time  toward  advancement 
in  public  education. 


(UOOKiilO  W.  ilOOXEV — Tune  4.  1858,  George  W.  Mooney,  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  at  Fort  Aladison,  Iowa.  He  lived  the  life  of  a  farmer 
boy  in  his  yoiitii  an<l  the  first  twenty-.six  years  wei'e  passed  in  his  native, 
county.  After  three  years,  si)ent  as  a  teamster  in  Ft.  Madison,  he  remov- 
ed to  Taylor  county,  Iowa,  where  he  resumed  farming  and  continued  it 
for  twelve  years.  Coming  thence  to  Kansas  and  settling  in  Montgomery 
county  he  pur<'has('<l  eighly  acres,  in  section  3fi,  township  31,  range  16, 
wher;^  he  maintains  himself  at  home. 

Mr.  Mooney  is  a  son  of  George  Mooney.  a  native  of  Ohio,  who  left 
the  farm  there,  came  into  Iowa  and  engaged  in  the  operation  of  a  saw- 
mill. He  was  a  son  of  an  Irishman,  Charles  ;^[ooney,  whose  youthful 
home  was  in  the  State  of  Maryland.  Charles  Mooney  had  sons,  Daniel 
and  (leorge.  and  the  latter  married  Kosanna  Piatt,  a  Virginia  lady.  John 
and  Hannah  were  their  two  children,  the  latter  becoming  Mrs.  Joseph 
Shetller.  of  Missouri.  Jane  Smith  became  the  second  wife  of  George 
Mooney.  She  was  a  IVnnsylvania  woman  and  was  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Jlary  Smith.  The  issue  of  this  second  marriage  were:  Smith,  of  Illi- 
nois; :Mrs.  Elizabeth  Knock,  of  Ft.  ]Madison,  Iowa;  George  W.,  our  sub- 
ject; and  Rachel,  who  resides  with  her  brother  George. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Mooney  has  been  an  uneventful  one,  in  the  light  of 
political  or  other  excitement,  and  has  been  passed  mainly  within  range 
of  his  own  home  and  under  the  shadow  of  "his  own  vine  and  tig  tree." 
His  household  is  presided  over  by  his  younger  sister  and  both  acknowl- 
edge a  close  and  sym])athetic  relationshi])  with  the  plain  people.  Mr. 
Mooney  is  a  Democrat  and  has  a  mend)ership  in  the  A.  H.  T.  A. 


HAKKV  i:.  I'.RIGHTON— The  weekly  newsjjaper  is  an  institution 
to  wliich  may  be  attributed,  in  a  large  measure,  the  remarkable  develop- 
ment of  the  great  west.  Through  no  other  agency  could  the  advantages 
of  this  section  have  been  placed  before  the  people  .so  fully,  and  it  is  grati- 
fying to  find  here  and  there  a  publisher  who  has  been  partially  repaid  for 


444  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

the  painstaking  effoi-t  he  has  made  to  serve  his  town  aud  eouuty.  The 
popuhirity  of  the  geulleniau.  here  introduced  to  our  readers,  is  attested 
by  the  splendid  support  given  his  very  excellent  paper,  the  Caney  Weekly 
Chronicle,  of  which  he  has  been  editor  and  publisher  since  1892. 

Mr.  Brighton  is  an  Illinoisan  by  birth,  Tazewell  county  the  place  aud 
December  22,  18(37,  the  time.  He  is  the  son  of  Israel  M.  Brighton.  The 
father  was  a  native  of  the  "Hoosier  State,"  where  the  Civil  war  found 
him  a  young  man  of  loyal  spirit  and  a  will  to  help  "break  the  Afric's 
chain."  He  went  to  the  front  and,  for  three  years,  was  engaged  in  the 
service,  as  a  member  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Indiana  Cav- 
alry, participating  in  many  of  the  hard  fonglit  baltles  of  the  war.  Turn- 
ing his  implements  of  war  into  the  pruning  hooks  of  peace,  he  left  the 
"Hoosier  State"  and  settled  in  Illinois,  where  he  was  shortly  married  to 
Mary  E.  Logue,  of  "Buckeye'"  nativity.  In  1868,  they  joined  the  stream 
of  emigration  setting  in  toward  the  west  and  became  one  af  the  pioneer 
families  of  Montgomery  county.  For  six  years  the  family  lived  on  a, 
farm  near  Independence,  then  removed  to  that  place,  where  the  father 
soon  died,  being  carried  off  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five  years.  The  wife 
still  resides  in  Indejjendence,  bearing  her  sixty-eiglit  years  with  remark- 
able activity.  She  is  the  mother  of  three  stalwart  sons  and  one  daughter, 
our  subject  being  the  eldest.  Hold  N.,  the  second  son,  imitated  the  spirit 
of  the  father  and,  during  the  war  willi  S]iain.  served  valiantly  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Fortieth  V.  S.  Infantry.  He  had  completed  his  term  of  ser- 
vice and  was  returning  on  board  one  of  the  government  transports  when 
he  was  attacked  with  a  malignant  disease  and  carried  away.  The  young- 
er son  is  Edgar  M.  and  the  daughter  is  :Mrs.  I  >.  N.  liall,  ofKik  City.' 

Harry  E.  Brighton  narrowly  escaped  being  numbered  with  the  native, 
Kansans,  being  but  nine  months  old  when  he  landed  in  Montgomery 
county.  In  education,  he  is  the  inodnct  of  the  sj)lpndi(l  s<hool  system 
of  his  adopted  state,  and,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  entered  a  i)rinting  office, 
second  only  to  the  public  sclnxd  in  the  work  of  education.  This  was  in 
1882,  and  Mr.  Brighton  has  been  in  the  bnsiness  contiiiuonsly  since  that 
time.  He  worked  at  the  case  until  ISiil.  when  he  Mssociated  himself  with 
W.  S.  Irving  and  bought  the  CoHVyville  News,  lie  retained  his  interest 
in  the  News  but  a  year  when  he  sold  out  to  his  partner,  and,  coming  to 
Caney.  worked  for  a  year  in  the  office  of  the  Caney  Times.  Again  he 
essayed  the  role  of  editor  and  publisher,  this  time  purchasing  the  Caney 
Chronicle,  in  association  with  Mr.  ("harles  Taylor.  The  Chronicle  was  a 
good  newspajier  pi'ojierty,  but  needed  the  energetic  attention  of  two  such 
men  as  were  now  in  charge.  It  soon  took  rank  as  one  of  the  best  papers 
in  southern  Kansas  and  has  maintained  its  high  standard  since  the  re- 
tirement of  Mr.  Taylor,  whose  interest  was  bought  by  onr  subject,  in  1896. 
The  secret  of  Mr.  Brighton's  success,  is  his  untiring  devotion  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the   comniunilv   in    which    he   resides.      The   Chronicle   is   always 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  445 

open  to  tell  the  story  of  ("ane.v's  suj)erior  advantages,  and  much  of  the 
marvelous  ])rogress  of  that  enterj)rising  little  city  is  due  to  the  adver- 
tising it  has  received  in  its  columns.  Politically,  the  Chronicle  is  a  firm 
supporter  of  the  policies  of  the  Republican  party  and  its  strong  utter- 
ances, dui'ing  the  days  of  Reform  ascendancy,  did  much  to  turn  the  tide 
again  in  favor  of  what  Mr.  Brighton  fully  believes  to  be  the  salvation 
of  the  country. 

The  family  of  Mr.  Brighton  consists  of  wife  and  four  children: 
Maud  M.,  Thomas  H.,  Hobart  A.  and  a  little  girl  one  year  old.  Mrs. 
Brighton,  whom  he  married  on  the  25th  of  December,  1889,  was  Miss 
Ida  L.  Oompton,  daughter  of  W.  W.  Compton,  an  early  settler  of  Kan- 
sas. They  live  in  a  nice  residence,  where  they  dispense  a  gracious  hospi- 
tality to  a  large  circle  of  friends. 

Mr.  Brighton  is  a  member  of  I.  O.  O.  F.  and  A.  O.  U.  W.  and  both 
are  members  of  the  M.  E.  church. 


JOHN  N.  DOLLISON— Well  and  most  favorably  known  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Montgomery  county,  as  a  teacher,  public  official  and  worthy  citi- 
zen, is  he  whose  name  initiates  this  personal  record.  Eight  years  a 
teacher,  four  years  in  charge  of  public  education  in  the  county  and  nine- 
teen years  a  citizen  here,  constitutes  a  brief  synopsis  of  the  life  of  J.  N. 
Dollison,  as  spent  in  Montgomery  county. 

Born  in  Guernsey  county,  Ohio,  April  4,  1854,  Mr.  Dollison  was  a 
son  of  a  farmer,  William  E.  Dollison,  who  brought  his  family  into  Owen 
county,  Indiana,  ab(mt  1857,  and  soon  thereafter  settled  in  Clay  county, 
the  same  state.  William  E.  Dollison  was  born  in  Guernsey  county, 
Ohio,  in  1815,  and  passed  away  in  Independence,  Kansas,  in  1893.  He 
was  a  son  of  John  Dollison,  born  in  Tennsylvania,  and  reared  the  follow- 
ing tiunily :  ^^'illianl  E.,  John  K.,  (i('<iri;c.  J.iines,  Harvey,  Mary,  wife  of 
James  Rowland,  and  Sarah,  who  iii:miiil  Morgan  C.  Neff  and  moved  to 
Wisconsin.  Wm.  E.  Dollison  married  Susannah  M.  Laird,  a  lady  of  Irish 
antecendents  and  a  daughter  of  James  Laird,  who  crossed  the  Atlantic 
ocean  at  twenty-five  years  old.  To  this  couple  were  born  six  sons,  two  of 
whoin,  Jasper  W.,  of  Rector.  Arkansas,  and  John  N.,  of  this  review,  are 
living. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  learned  farming  in  youth  and  he  followed 
it  till  he  was  twenty-four  years  old.  He  had  the  j)rivileges  of  the  com- 
mon schools  and,  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  began  teaching  a  country 
school.  He  continued  this  line  of  school  work  for  some  nine  years,  also 
acquiring  some  experience  in  graded  school  work.  He  increased  his 
educational  endowment  by  attendance  upon  a  private  normal  and,  with 
his  experience  in  teaching,  came  to  Kansas,  in  1884,  equipped  to  take  his 
place  among  the  successful  teachers  of  the  county.     For  three  vears  he 


446  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

was  onjiajred  in  country  school  work  and  for  eight  he  was  connected  witii 
I  lie  fjiaded  schools  of  Independence,  being;  principal  of  one  of  the  wards 
of  the  city.  In  ISDti,  he  was  elected  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
of  Monij;iinicry  county  and.  two  years  later,  was  reelected  to  the  same 
office.  His  administration  of  the  office  was  most  efficient  and  had  to  do 
with  encourufiing  country  school  grading  and  the  establishment  of  a 
system  of  examinations  for  jiromotion  to  the  county  high  schools  and 
city  schools.  The  County  High  School  was  established  .  during  his  term, 
and  he  aided  much  in  encouraging  a  sentiment  in  its  fav(n'  and  was  ex- 
offic'o  chairnian  of  the  board.  Upon  leaving  the  Superintendent's  office, 
he  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business  in  Independence,  where  he  and  his 
son  a>e  now  well  established. 

September  1!»,  1878.  Mr.  Dollison  nmrried,  in  Clay  ct>unty,  Indiana, 
Sarah  1).  Xels<Hi,  a  daughter  of  I'hilip  and  Martha  (Birchfield)  Nelson. 
The  children  of  this  marriage  are:  O.  Vere,  a  graduate  of  the  city  and 
county  high  schools,  a  jjartner  with  his  father  and  was  married  July  10, 
1902.  to  Olive  Parker:  Merton  Iv.  witli  the  Long  Hell  Lumber  Co..  of 
Indej'endence. 

.Ml-.  l>ollisoii  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  ('hai)ter.  is  an  Odd  Fellow 
and  jilliliaics  with  the  Democratic  party. 


WILLI A.M  T.  OLIVKH— William  T.  Oliver,  a  resi^ected  and  worthy 
representative  of  that  occu)>alion  dignified  by  such  men  as  Washington — 
farming — resides  on  a  well  cultivated  farm,  three  miles  from  the  stirring 
market  town  of  Elk  City.  He  is  approaching  the  evening  of  life,  and 
has  reached  a  point  in  his  career  where  he  can  lay  aside,  to  some  extent, 
the  implements  of  industry  and,  thereby,  lighten  the  burdens  of  life. 
He  comes  of  jiatriotic  stock,  his  grandfather  having  been  one  of  the 
"immortals"  wlio  bravely  took  up  arms  against  English  fy-ranny,  in  the 
days  of  the  war  for  American  independence. 

Mr.  Oliver  was  born  in  East  Tennessee,  in  the  year  1828,  and  is  a  son 
of  Walter  and  Frances  (Riddle)  Oliver.  It  was  grandfather  Jamea 
Kiddle  who  particii)ated  in  the  Kevolutionary  struggle  and  who,  after 
that  event,  immigrated  with  his  family,  to  the  Blue  Ridge  Slopes  of 
Tennessee.  He  settled  in  .MacMinn  county,  where  he  continued  to  reside 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  As  his  father  died  before  our  subject 
reached  mature  years,  the  latter  is  not  familiar  with  the  family  histor\f 
on  that  side.  However.  tli(>  Olivers  are  known  to  be  of  Welch  descent 
and  this  braiuli  of  (he  family  settled  in  East  Tennessee  in  a  very  earlj! 
da.\.  .Mother  Oliver  lived  to  a  very  great  age,  dying  in  1893,  in  hen 
ninety-third  year.     She  was  a  woman  of  strong  character  and  kept  her 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  447 

faculties  almost  up  to  the  last.  She  reared  five  children:  Elizabeth, 
Sarah  Jane,  VYiliiani  T.,  James  and  Lucinda. 

Mr.  Oliver,  of  this  review,  was  reared  in  East  Tennessee,  and,  in 
18!i'2,  moved  to  Marion  county,  Illinois.  Here  he  continued  to  reside  un- 
til 1855,  when  he  joined  the  Free  State  men,  who  were  coming  into  Kan- 
sas for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  state  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  He  set- 
tled at  Lawrence,  having  driven  through  from  Marion  county,  in  the 
primitive  prairie  schooner  of  that  day.  He  rented  land  in  the  vicinity 
of  Lawrence  and,  until  18G1,  was  a  participant  in  the  exciting  incidents 
which  have  made  Lawrence  the  center  of  interest  since  that  day.  In  thg 
latter  year,  he  moved  down  into  Woodson  county,  where  he  remained 
during  the  period  of  the  war,  and  from  whence,  in  1868,  he  came  down 
into  Montgomery  county  and  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
a  part  of  the  farm  on  which  his  present  home  is  situated. 

At  a  later  day,  as  prosperity  came  to  him,  he  added  one  hundred  and 
thirty  acres  to  his  domain,  and  now  i)ossesses  a  tract  of  as  fine  farming 
land  as  could  be  ft)und  in  the  county.  ^Ir.  Oliver  is  one  of  the  old  pio- 
neers who  went  through  all  the  hardships  and  trials  incident  to  the 
"early  times"  in  the  "Sunflower  State,"  and  his  success  in  life  is  all  the 
more  gratifying  because  it  is  so  well  eai'ued. 

The  domestic  life  of  Mr.  Oliver  was  begun,  in  1866,  by  his  union  with 
Mrs.  Sarah  C.  (Swayford)  Muiray.  as  a  partner  for  life.  To  them 
have  been  born  twelve  cliildnMi,  as  follows:  Rebecca,  who  married  Charles 
Wieninger  and  resides  at  IndejifiHlence,  with  four  children:  Eva,  Nellie 
Pearl,  Henry  and  Thomas;  James,  who  died  June,  1901;  Mary,  Mrs. 
Jaspei'Wolf,  of  ("liautan(|ua  county,  Kansas;  her  children  being:  William, 
John,  Albert  OIlie  and  ICdna ;  Eldora,  Thomas,  who  died  in  infancy;  Wil- 
liam Albert,  who  died  at  thirteen  years;  Martha,  who  resides  in  Inde- 
pendence,isthe  wife  of  George  Page;  Sherman  is  still  at  the  old  home  and 
is  married  to  Amanda  Wheeler;  Joseph,  who  married  Carrie  Newton, 
is  a  farmer  of  Sycamore  township  and  has  a  daughter.  Florin  L. ;  Emery 
married  Myrtle  Farris  and  resides  on  the  home  farm ;  John  and  Henry 
Arthur  are  young  men  residing  at  the  old  home;  and  Robert  I^eonard, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years. 

No  more  respected  family  has  residence  in  Louisburg  township  than 
that  of  Mr.  Oliver.  Their  connection  with  the  social  life  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, in  which  they  have  so  long  resided,  has  been  such  as  to  elevate 
the  moral  tone  of  the  community,  they  being  active  workers  in  the 
Friends'  church,  during  this  period.  In  matters  of  public  import,  Mr.  Ol- 
iver has  taken  a  good  citizen's  part,  and  has  always  exerted  his  influence 
in  seturing  the  best  in  matters  of  education  and  local  government.  His 
political  belief  is  in  the  principles,  as  laid  down  in  the  Republican  plat- 
form, he  having  been  a  supporter  of  that  party  from  the  very  beginning 
of  its  existence.    He  has  voted  for  every  Republican  president  since  Fre- 


moiit  and  is  proud  of  the  fact  that  the  entire  Oliver  connection  casts  its 
ballot  in  sympathy  with  his  views.  Mr.  Oliver  is  a  citizen  of  whom 
Mont^diiKM-y  counly  may  well  be  proud. 


sketch. 

A(] 

lam  r. 

11: 

hIscI 

I84r,. 

His   V. 

Dili: 

!•;   lit 

counly 

.  and  1 

lis 

edur 

state. 

His  til 

I'St 

wife. 

Ah.V.M  r.  HADSELL— Of  the  many  worthy  and  enterprising 
farmers  in  Parker  township,  none  is  more  deserving  of  mention  than  the 
gentleman  whose  name  appears  above.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1878, 
when  he  located  on  a  farm  two  miles  west  of  Coffeyville.  His  father, 
HoiiUi'  V.  Hadsell,  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  was  a  farmer,  having 
followed  that  o<-CHpation  all  his  life.  His  death  occurred,  in  i^ew  York^ 
at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  his  wife  dying  at  the  age  of  fifty  years. 
The  family  consisted  of  seven  children,  five  of  whom  are  living,  viz: 
Anna  U.  \\ilsoii,  Nathan  I).,  Lilian  Dinehart,  all  of  Middlesex,  "New 
York;   Hoy   I).,  uf  Wintield.  Kansas;  and  Adam   l'.,   the  subject  of  this 

was  liorn  in  Yates  county.  New  York.  October  l.'J, 
»  was  spent,  chiefly,  on  the  farm  in  his  native 
itioii  was  received  in  the  <-ommon  schools  of  that 
nee  Sarah  Tyler,  was  also  a  native  of  New  York, 
was  born  December  2!».  184."),  and  was  a  daughter  of  Koswell  R.  Tyler,  a 
native  and  pioneer  of  Middlesex  county.  The  mother's  maiden  name 
was  S;>rali  ^V.  Wood.     Hoth  of  these  parents  died  in  New  York. 

Jlr.  Hadsell  came  to  Kansas,  in  1878,  and  i)urchased  eighty  acres 
of  uncultivated  land,  two  miles  west  of  Coffeyville.  Mr.  W.  W.  Tyler 
accompanied  him  to  Kansas,  and,  together,  the  two  families  occupied  a 
small  tenant  house,  until  our  subject  could  build  a  small  house  on  his 
own  !;iii(l.  lie  ])osscssed.  at  that  time,  money  enough  to  buy  eighty  acres 
of  land,  at  six  dollars  an  acre,  and  to  build  thereon  his  little  house.  But 
wiiii  restless  energy,  and  resolute  purpose  that  few  men  possess,  he  has 
increased  liis  ])(>ssessi()ns  to  four  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  the  choic^ 
est  land.  On  this  land  he  has  built  a  large  substantial  home,  and  two 
large  barns,  one  for  cattle  and  one  for  horses.  Besides  his  farming  inter- 
ests. ]je  has  raised  and  sold  cattle,  seldom  feeding  Ihein  through  the  win- 
ter, bi't  selling  them  direct  from  the  pasture  to  shijiiiers. 

Mr.  Hadsell  has.  during  his  residence  in  Kansas,  accpiired  sufficient 
])roi)ertytoinsuiea  good  degree  of  independence  and  to  jtrovide  his  family 
with  many  of  the  luxuries  of  life.  He  takes  no  jtarticnlar  interest  in  pol- 
itics, yet  iie  has  been  elected  treasurer  of  the  townshi|(  for  two  terms,  and 
has  heeii  a  member  of  the  school  board  fifteen  years.  He  is  a  Republican, 
his  first  jiresidential  vote  being  cast  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  18ti4.  Ibl 
is  also  a  member  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W.,  K.  &  L.  of  S.  and  Triple  Tie. 

Mr.  IladseH's  first  wife  died  January  18,  1805,  leaving  children: 
Coidelin,  who  died  in  infancy;  Tyler,  deceased;  Anna,  Charles,  Jesse  and 


It    I*   19   f^  19   I*   I 


iVTORT  OF  MONTGOMBBY  COUNTT,  KANSAS. 

•  iii"ud  of  the  fact  that  the  entire  Oliver  conri-  tu'>!  r;it.is  k- 
mpathy  with  hie  vifvs.     Mr.  Oliver  is  a  citizen     of    whon, 


-id   eaterprisiiij, 

ne  ilebeiMug  1)1  mention  than  the 

lie  came  to  this  rouuty  in  1878, 

•.v!-si  of  Ooffe.wille.     His  father, 

it,  and  was  a  fanner.  Laving 

-ath  occurred,  in  T^ew  York, 

ig  at  the  age  of  fiftj-  years. 

^"e  of  whom  are  living,  viz: 

nit,   all   of  Middlesex,  ^ew 


,    m|_  i.urcLasrd  ♦■iijhiy   acres 

ileyvillo.     Mr.  W.  W.  Tyler 

the  two  families  occupied  a' 

jLi  I  v\;aki  build  a  small  house  on  his 

imo.  iiionov  enough  to  buy  eighty  acres 

>;.  huH,!   ,Iio,-,-.:n   l^\<'-i.:U-  l.-MiKr,      Uut 


iiesides  his  taruiing  iutci- 
■dinir  Them  Ihrongh  the  win 


1 


Mr. 
proitcrt; 


sufficient 
is  family 


I  I  •  I  wmTm* 


•  •  % 


450  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEEY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

old,  iu  Sheuiuigii  county,  New  York;  Amanda,  wife  of  Morris  Brown, 
of  Cattaraugus  eounty,  New  Yorli ;  Louisa,  deceased,  who  married  Jame^ 
Colwell.  of  Shenango  county,  New  York;  Barton,  Mary,  deceased 
wife  of  Henry  Holley,  of  the  same  county;  Isaac  O.,  our  subject;  Lu- 
cetta,  now  Mrs.  Henry  Bartlett,  of  Shenango  county;  and  Clarinda,  who 
died  unmarried. 

Isaac  O.  Slater  passed  his  childhood  and  early  manhood  in  the  coun- 
ty of  his  birth.  The  country  schools  ])rovided  his  education  and  his  home 
was  under  the  parental  roof  till  pasi  Jiis  majority.  However,  he  "bought 
his  time"  some  months  prior  to  coming  of  age  and  worked  at  the  carpen- 
ter's bench,  as  an  occupation,  for  a  time.  Following  this,  he  was  em- 
ployed in  a  shingle  mill  and,  in  18(50,  became  an  avowed  farmer.  He  was 
married  in  March,  of  that  year,  his  wife  being  Mary  Ann  Howe,  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  Howe,  of  Shcnango  county,  New  Y^ork.  In  1866,  he  left 
the  scenes  of  his  youth  and  began  the  wanderings  which,  finally,  brought 
him  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas. 

The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Slater  are:  Orlando  H.,  who  married 
Anna  Foster  and  died  at  thirty-one  years,  leaving  one  child,  Lena,  who 
died  at  eight  years;  Nellie,  wife  of  James  Tucker,  of  Kansas  City;  Barton 
W.,  a  teacher  in  Elk  county,  Kansas;  Albert,  of  Montgomery  county,  is 
married  to  Claude  O'Brien;  Kirklin,  of  Jlontgomery  county,  is  married 
to  Josie  Eains. 

In  the  matter  of  ]iolitics,  Mr.  Slater's  record  is  that  of  a  jiarty  man, 
on  national  and  slate  issues,  \\ithoul  (jiiestion  or  e(|nivocation.  His  fore- 
fathers were  Whigs  and  when  the  Kcpuhlican  party  announced  its  first 
candidate  for  the  presidency,  oui'  snbjei-t  was  for  him.  He  has  filled  a 
few  of  the  important  townshij)  ottices,  because  they  were  selected  for  him 
and  awarded  to  him  at  the  polls,  and  has,  in  a  modest  way,  performed 
other  service,  wliich  has  shown  his  jiublic  spirit  and  his  encouragement 
of  progress  and  enterjtrise  in  the  county. 


JOSEPH  BLACKMORE,  JK.— One  of  the  worthy  members  of  the  ag- 
ricultural class  of  the  county  is  Joseph  Blackmore,"  Jr.,  who  resides  on 
a  farm  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  five  and  one-half  miles  from 
Elk  City.  He  is  here  extensively  engaged  in  general  farming  and  stock 
raising,  and  is  one  of  tlie  well-to-do  men  of  his  township. 

Born  in  Somersetsliire,  England,  in  1846,  Mr.  Blackmore  is  a  son  of 
George  and  Catherine  (Trick)  Blackmore.  lie  comes  from  an  ancestry 
which  has  for  centuries  been  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil.  His  grandfath- 
er was  Thomas  Trick.  His  i)ai'ents  reared  a  family  of  seven  cliildren,  of 
whori  James  I'.lackmore,  the  eldest,  died  in  Akron,  New  York.  His  wid- 
ow, ^lary  Mills,  now  resides  at  Batavia,  New  York,  with  her  four  child- 
len  :  Susie.  Cliarlcs,  (leorge  and  Rluida ;  George  Blackmore  is  now  deceas- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEnY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  451 

«(1;  Jacob  still  resides  in  Englaiul ;  Keziah  is  deceased;  the  tifth  child 
Is  Joseph,  our  subject.    Rhoda  and  William  are  both  deceased. 

Jtseph  Blackniore,  Jr.,  was  icared  to  man's  estate  in  the  country  of 
his  birth,  and,  on  the  21st  of  Sei»teiiibei-,  1868,  he  married  Elizabeth,  a, 
daughter  of  John  Mitchell.  Airs.  lUackmore  was  orphaned  at  a  very 
tender  age,  her  father  suffering  death  hv  being  thrown  from  a  horse  before 
she  was  born,  and  her  mother  dying  when  she  was  but  three  years  old. 
A  brother  of  Joseph,  James  lilackmore.  came  to  America,  in  1850,  and  lo- 
cated near  Akron,  New  York.  It  was  through  him  that  Joseph  was  in- 
fluenced, in  18C8— shortly  after  his  marriage— to  cast  his  lot  with  Amer- 
ica. The  latter  located  in  Niagara  county,  New  York,  where  he  rented 
his  bv<.ther's  farm,  for  a  time.  His  desire  to  secure,  cheap,  a  home 
caused  him,  in  1870  to  come  west  to  Kansas,  where,  near  Independence, 
he  preempted  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  He  resided  there  for  five 
years  and  then  purchased  a  farm  in  Park  township  but,  after  two  years, 
again  sold  and  went  to  Liberty.  For  nineteen  years,  he  was  one  of  the 
enterprising  farmers  of  that  township  but,  in  1901,  concluded  to  again 
make  a  change.  He  purchased  his  present  tract,  lying  in  Louisburg  and 
Sycamore  townships,  where  he  has  since  resided. 

Mr.  Blackniore  has  ever  been  a  success  in  his  line  of  business  and  the 
property  which  he  now  owns  represents  the  accumulations  of  his  own 
labors. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blackmore  seven  children  have  been  born :  Bessie 
C,  born  in  August  of  1873,  married  George  Parks,  a  farmer  of  Liberty 
township;  their  three  children  being:  Claudie,  James  and  Mattie;  George 
B.,  born  February  7,  1876,  resides  at  Crane,  this  county ;  William  T., 
born  December  24,  1878,  lives  at  the  old  home;  James  M.,  born  October 
25,  1880;  Harry  F.,  born  July  31,  1883;  Audry  Pearl,  born  September  10, 
1884.  and  Charles  M.,  born  August  29,  1885,  are  also  children  at  home. 

The  character  for  probity  and  uprightness  sustained  by  Mr.  Black- 
more  in  the  county  is  of  the  very  highest  order  and  both  he  and  his  fam- 
ily arc  much  respected  in  the  community  where  they  reside.  His  resi- 
dence in  several  parts  of  the  county,  makes  him  a  man  of  wide  acquaint- 
ance, and  both  he  and  his  family  are  held  in  high  esteem  in  all  these 
different  communities. 


CYRUS  F.  DANIEL — Sycamore  township  has  many  good  citizens, 
but  none  more  respected  than  the  gentleman  whose  name  is  herewith 
given,  he  having  been  a  resident  here  since  1883.  He  is  a  thorough-going 
industrious  farmer  who  makes  things  win. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Daniel  occurred  August  20,  1854,  in  Pettes  county, 
Missouri.  At  seventeen,  his  parents  removed  to  Bates  county,  Missouri, 
where  Cyrus  continued  to  reside  until  the  date  of  his  coming  to  Mont- 
gomery county,  Kansas.    Here  he  has  been  uniformly  successful,  his  farm 


452  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMEllY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

of  one  hundred  and  seventj-two  acres,  on  section  25-31-15,  being  one  of 
the  best  in  the  county.  His  efforts  have  been  largely  in  the  line  of  grain 
and  slock.  He  is  active  in  the  social  and  political  life  of  the  community, 
and  has  served,  acceptably,  four  terms  as  township  trustee. 

Cyrus  Daniel  comes  of  southern  stock,  his  father  having  been  a  na- 
tive of  North  Carolina.  His  christian  name  is  Charles  and  he  is  now  a 
resident  of  Sycamore  township,  carrying  his  seventy-five  years  without 
much  sign  of  declining  vigor.  His  wife,  nee  Mary  Wicker,  was  also  a 
native  of  North  Carolina,  the  daughter  of  Eli  Wicker.  Eight  children 
were  born  to  them,  as  follows:  David  H.,  deceased;  DeWitt  F.,  of  Ottawa, 
Kansas;  Cyrus  F.,  Hannah  E.  Young,  of  Sycamore;  Charles  B.,  Inde- 
pendence; William  B.,  of  Denver,  Colorado;  Robert,  of  Junction  City, 
Oregon;  Emma  Young,  of  Pine  Ridge,  South  Dakota;  and  James,  of 
Sycamore. 

O^"  this  family,  Cyrus  married  Mattie  E.,  daughter  of  John  W.  and 
S.  Elizabeth  (Smith)  Sage.  Mrs.  Daniel  is  a  native  of  Missouri.  To  her 
have  been  born :  Arthur,  who  married  Mattie  Holmes  and  lives  on  the 
old  homestead  in  Sycamore;  he  has  one  daughter,  Florence;  Bessie  mar- 
ried Pun  Snyder,  and  resides  in  Sycamore.  The  following  are  still  at 
home;  Susie  B.,  Lela,  Jerrv  F.,  Alice  and  Edith. 


DIOGENES  S.  JAMES— Ex-County  Clerk  D.  S.  James  is  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Montgomery  county.  July  4,  1870,  he  settled  in  Rutland 
township,  where  his  father,  Joseph  L.  James,  took  up  a  claim  on  the 
Osage  Diminished  Reserve,  made  a  farm  of  it  and  still  resides  there. 
Ohio  county,  Kentucky,  is  the  native  place  of  our  subject  and  he  was 
born  February  4,  1857.  His  family  was  one  of  the  old  ones,  being  set- 
tlei's  there  in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  emigrants 
from  the  State  of  Virginia,  where  Samuel  James,  the  grandfather  of 
Diogenes  S.  James,  was  born.  The  last  named  was  a  soldier  in  the  early 
Indian  war.  under  General  William  Henry  Harrison,  and  participated 
in  the  famous  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  in  1811. 

Joseph  L.  James  was  born  in  Ohio  county,  Kentucky,  in  1827,  grew 
up  on  the  farm  and  served  in  the  Kentucky  Home  Guard.  When  he  emi- 
grated from  there,  he  made  the  trip  to  Kansas  with  three  yoke  of  oxen 
and  began  life  in  Montgomery  county  in  a  ])rimitive  way.  He  has  con- 
ducted himself  as  a  plain,  hqnorable  farmer  here,  has  taken  some  interest 
in  local  politics  and  was  a  Republican  till  the  formation  of  the  Green- 
back party,  when  he  joined  issues  wilh  it.     For  his  wife,  he  chose  ^lar- 

tha   Shelton,  a  daughter  of  Shelton,   a  Kentucky   farmer.     In 

1893,  Mrs.  James  died,  teing  the  mother  of  Sylvanus,  of  Rutland  town- 
ship; Mary,  wife  of  John  Sewell,  of  Bolton;  Diogenes  S.,  Harvey  K., 
a  teacher  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas;  Aurora,  who  married  W.  C. 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  453 

Sewell,  of  Boltou;  Sarah,  now  Mrs.  A.  J.  Piickett,  of  Woodward  county, 
Oklahoma;  Laura,  wife  of  John  Findley,  of  Bartlesville,  Indian  Terri- 
tory; Dora,  wife  of  Walthani  Hudson,  of  Montgomery  county;  Alice,  who 
married  C.  E.  Roberts,  of  Oklahoma;  and  Joseph  B.,  of  Montgomery 
county,  Kansas. 

D.  S.  James  acquired  a  conmion  school  education  and,  at  nineteen 
years  of  age,  married  Martha  Hall,  a  daughter  of  the  venerable  Mexican 
war  veteran,  Joseph  Hall,  of  Caney  township,  Montgomery  county.  Mr. 
Hall  was  also  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  war,  being  a  lieutenant  of  a  Kansas 
regiment.  Mr.  James  engaged  in  farming  in  his  native  county  and  re- 
sumed it  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  in  the  spai-sely  settled  region  of 
Rutland  township,  upon  his  advent  here.  He  was  in  uninterrupted  and 
quiet  possession  of  his  calling  till  November,  1897,  when  he  was  elected 
Clerk  of  Montgomery  county,  by  the  Fusion  forces  of  the  county.  He 
succeeded  John  Glass  in  the  Clerk's  office  and  was  reelected,  in  November, 
1899,  for  another  two  years'  term,  and  when  this  expired,  he  inherited 
the  extra  year  of  1902 — on  account  of  a  change  in  the  law  of  succession — 
and  held,  therefore,  five  full  years.  He  retired  from  office,  in  January, 
1903,  with  a  record  of  d\ity  faithfully  performed,  and,  in  the  spring  of 
the  same  year,  took  his  family  to  the  Bristow,  Creek  Nation,  his  future 
home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  have  a  family  of  seven  children,  as  follows :  Floyd, 
who  married  Carrie  Terry;  Mittie  M..  Etta,  Charles,  Roy,  John  and  For- 
est.   Mr.  James  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  Workman. 


JAKE  MOORE — The  subject  of  this  record  is  one  of  the  well-known 
business  men  of  Independence.  He  has  resided  in  Montgomery  county 
since  the  year  1878.  when  he  located  on  a  farm,  in  Sycamore  township, 
and  was  engaged  in  its  cultivation  till  his  removal  to  the  county  seat,  in 
1889.  He  engaged  in  the  livery  business,  at  the  old  Trent  stand,  and  was 
there  ten  years  when,  in  August,  1899,  he  took  charge  of  the  popular 
stone  barn  and  is  conducting  a  livery  and  transfer  business. 

Jake  Moore  came  to  Montgomery  county,  from  Barton  county,  Mis- 
souri. He  was  a  resident  of  the  Missouri  county,  for  a  time,  to  which 
point  he  was  an  emigrant  from  Fountain  county,  Indiana.  In  this  latter 
county  and  state  he  was  born,  August  1.5,  1854.  He  is  a  son  of  the  late 
Newble  Moore,  a  farmer  and  early  settler  of  Fountain  county,  Indiana, 
and  born,  perhaps,  in  Ohio.  The  father  died  in  Montgomery  county, 
Kansas,  March  25,  1889,  at  seventy-two  years  of  age.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Mary  Richardson,  was  born  in  Ohio  and  died  in  the 
State  of  Missouri.  Their  children  were:  Triscilla,  who  married  Charles 
MuHcnour  and  died  in  Marion  county,  Illinois;  Phoebe,  who  died  in  the 
same  county,  was  the  wife  of  Stephen  Lewellyn;  Isaac,  who  died  in  In- 


(lianapolis,  Indiana,  was  a  Civil  war  soldier,  a  member  of  the  Twentieth 
Indiana  regiment;  William,  who  died  in  Barton  county,  Missouri;  James, 
who  passed  away  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas;  Maggfe,  now  Mrs. 
Richrrd  Hines,  of  Barton  county,  Missouri;  Jake,  our  subject;  and 
Albert. 

Our  subject  was  not  fortunate,  as  a  youth,  in  his  educational  equip- 
ment, having  the  most  meager  advantages  along  this  line.  He  learned 
little,  aside  from  hard  work,  and  came  to  maturity  an  industrious  but  un- 
learned young  man.  The  vocation  he  learned  in  boyhood,  he  followed,  till 
his  advent  to  Independence  and  embarkation  in  the  livery  business.  His 
financial  interests  in  the  latter  are  extensive,  having  a  stock  of  seventy- 
live  head  of  horses,  innumerable  vehicles  of  many  descriptions  and  being 
proprietor  of  two  barns.  The  livery  trade  in  the  city  is  his  and  he  has 
merited  the  favor  of  the  traveling  public. 

By  his  first  marriage.  Mr.  Moore  has  no  children.  His  second  wife, 
who  was.  nee  Frances  Tojjping.  he  married  in  Montgomery  county,  Kan 
sas.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Robert  Topping,  known  near  Buffalo.  Kan 
sas.  but  originally  from  Pennsylvania.  Mrs.  Moore  died,  in  August 
1S88.  leaving  the  following  children,  viz:  Berton.  who  married  Lue  Hu 
go.  and  Edward,  are  both  employed  with  their  father;  and  Miss  Flor 
ence.  of  Independence.  In  Novemlier.  180.3.  Mr.  Moore  married  Mrs, 
Addie  Grubb,  widow  of  Charles  (irubl)  and  a  daughter  of  William  Her 
rington.     Ray  Grubb  is  Mrs.  Moore's  only  child. 

The  political  history  of  the  Moores  of  this  house,  shows  them  to 
have  been  strongly  identified  with  the  nemocratic  party.  They  have  been 
inconspicuous,  however,  in  party  affairs,  and  content  themselves  merely 
•with  casting  a  straight  i.arty  ticket  in  JTnpuitant  pdlitical  contests. 


<'ASn:K  KOTTLKK— In  1S(U.  the  subje.r  of  this  brief  review 
sailed  away  from  Europe,  on  the  steamship  "America"  to  make  his  home 
in  the  new  world.  He  was  leaving  his  native  Germany,  where  he  was 
born,  at  Kington,  in  Wittenberg.  I'russia.  February  20.  1840.  His  father, 
Xafer  Bottler,  was  a  miller,  was  born  in  Prussia,  was  a  son  of  Obmor 
Rottler,  a  native  German  of  Russian  antecedents.  The  grandfather  rear- 
ed five  children,  as  follows:  John.  Jo.seph.  Dora.  Xafer  and  Genevieve. 
Xafer  Rottler  married  Josephine  Htaus.  who  bore  him  eight  children,  as 
follows:  Mrs.  Josephine  Macht,  :Mrs.  Theresa  Staus.  Mrs.  Amelia 
Weaver,  of  Nebraska;  Mis.  Mary  Krebbs.  of  Nebraska ;  Casper,  our  sub- 
ject; and  Agnes,  who  married  a  Witter,  of  Germany. 

Casper  Rottler  attended  the  schools  j.oiiular  "in  his  country  till  he 
was  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  work  in  his  father's  flouring 
mill.  Subsequently  he  learned  cabinet-making  and  followed  it  three 
years.    On  leaving  Germany,  he  sailed  from  Bremen  and  was  two  weeks 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  455 

crossing  the  AtUmtio.  He  disembarked  at  New  York  City,  in  May_,  ajid 
went  direct  to  Iowa  Oity.  Iowa,  where  he  was  employed,  in  a  mill,  for  a 
short  time.  March  1,  18fi5,  he  enlisted  at  Moline,  Illinois,  for  service  in 
the  T  iiion  armv,  for  a  period  of  one  yeor.  His  command  was  Company 
"I,"  Twentyeifihth  Vohintoer  Infantry,  under  Cai)t.  Daugherty.  The  reg- 
iment was  stationed  at  Mohilc.  .Maltania.  for  four  mouths,  and  was  theu 
ordered  to  Hrownsville.  Texas,  where  Mr.  Bottler  was  mustered  out, 
March.  18(10. 

Ketuining  from  the  army,  he  made  his  way  back  to  Iowa  City,  where 
he  was  married  and  remained  about  one  year,  going  thence  to  Kansas 
City,  Missouri,  where  he  was  employed,  at  various  kinds  of  labor,  for 
three  years.  He  then  came  into  southern  Kansas  and  stopped  in  Neo- 
■desha,' where  he  resumed  mill  work,  and  was  so  engaged  for  eleven  years. 
He  came  into  M<mtgomery  county  next  and  was  employed,  in  a  similar 
manner,  in  various  places,  for  three  years  and  then,  1880.  purchased  his 
present  farm,  in  section  17,  township  31.  range  1(J,  and  has  been  occupied 
with  its  cultivation  and  improvement. 

Mr.  Rottler  married  Magdalena  Scliau]i,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Louisc!  Schaup,  German  people.  Seven  children  have  resulted  from  this 
marriage,  namely:  William,  of  Montana,  with  one  one  child,  Howard; 
Augustus,  of  Montgomery  county;  Mrs.  Mary  Hausley.  of  the  same 
county,  with  two  children,  Leslie  and  May;  Amelia,  wife  of  Henry  Henk- 
ey,  of  Labette  county,  Kansas;  Sarah,  Clara  and  Fred,  still  with  the 
parental  home. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Rottler  is  a  Re]>ul)lican,  and  has  been  a  member  of 
his  district  school  board  for  four  vears. 


WILLIAM  J.  CHARLTON— Among  the  worthy  and  respected  small 
farmers  of  Sycamore  township,  whose  honored  name  is  held  in  such  es- 
teem as  to  require  special  mention  in  this  volume,  is  William  J.  Charlton. 
Mr.  Charlton  is  not  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county,  but  has  been 
here  fruflBcient  time  to  become  thoroughly  identified  with  the  county's 
interests. 

David  Charlton,  grandfather  of  William,  left  the  Fatherland  in  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  as  a  young  man,  and  became  a  citi- 
zen of  the  ''Old  Dominion  State."  Here  he  married  and  reared  three 
children:  John,  Orena  and  Isaac  B.,  the  hitter  becoming  the  next  in  line 
of  William's  branch  of  the  family.  He  married  a  Virginia  maiden  of  the 
name  of  Elizabeth  Black  and  the  resulting  family  numbered  twelve,  as 
.follows:  James  M.,  deceased;  Mary  Ann  Young,  lives  in  Oregon;  George 
W.,  deceased;  Eliza  J..  Mrs.  Ferryman,  of  Missouri;  John  W.,  deceased; 
Sydney  J.,  deceased;  W.  J.,  subject  of  this  sketch;  Martha,  deceased; 
Elizabeth  Young,  of  Salem,  Illinois;  Isaac  N..  deceased;  Amanda  L.  and 


Melvina,  deceased.  These  early  members  of  the  family  were  respected 
farmers  of  the  middle  class  and  contributed  their  share,  in  that  day  of 
cruder  civilization,  to  the  upbuilding  of  society. 

William  J.  Charlton  was  born  in  Marion  county,  Illinois,  December 
81.  1836,  to  which  county  his  ])arents  had  removed  from  Virginia.  He 
was  given  a  good  primary  education  in  the  school  of  his  home  district 
and  remained  an  inmate  of  the  home  until  his  marriage,  this  event  not 
occurring  until  1857.  He  then  became  connected  with  a  livery  business, 
in  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law,  .J.  W.  Farthing,  in  the  nearby 
town  of  Odin,  at  the  same  time  superintending  tlie  woi-k  on  his  farm.  Af- 
ter a  period  of  some  three  years,  he  removed  to  Kiumunda  and  engaged 
in  a  general  merchandise  business  with  John  Alexander.  A  desire,  how- 
ever, 1o  test  the  "Sunflower  State"  led  to  his  severing  relations  with  this 
firm,  in  1877.  and,  coming  to  Chautauqua  county,  where  he  purchased  a 
farm  and,  for  fourteen  years,  was  one  of  the  active  agriculturists  of  that 
county.  In  February  of  1891,  he  secured  twenty  acres  of  section  8-32-16, 
lying  on  the  banks  of  the  Verdigris  river,  which  has  since  constituted 
his  home. 

Prior  to  18.57,  Mrs.  Charlton  was  Elizabeth  Huff.  Her  parents  were 
respected  farmers  of  Marion  county,  Illinois,  where  she  was  born  and 
reared.  Her  father  was  Samuel  A.  Huff,  her  mother  Lucretia  Dedman. 
Four  children  became  inmates  of  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charlton, 
were  given  careful  hainiiig  and  good  educations,  and  are  now  in  homes 
of  their  own,  tilling  rcsjionsildc  jMisitions  in  life.  Their  names  are  James 
R.,  mentioned  elsewhere  in-rein ;  Adelia,  married  Henry  Hayward  and  is 
a  resident  of  Montgomery  county,  Cora  is  Mrs.  Oliver  Beemer,  of  Ok- 
lahoma Territory;  her  one  child  is  .Tessie;  the  youngest  daughter,  Mamie- 
married  (ieorge  Underwood  and  lives  in  the  countv  with  her  two  chil- 
dren. May  and  William. 

William  J.  Charlton  has  always  evinced  an  intelligent  and  lively  in- 
terest in  affairs  about  him  and  has  been  a  factor  in  the  social  life  of  the 
different  communities  of  which  he  has  been  a  member.  While  in  Chau- 
tauqua county,  he  served  a  period  of  four  years  as  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  in  his  district.  In  matters  of  re- 
ligious moment,  he  is  active  and  helpful,  as  is  Mrs.  Charlton,  also.  They 
are  members  of  the  Christian  denomination,  and  .in  Chatauqua  county, 
Mr.  Charlton  was  one  of  the  trusted  officials  of  the  church,  serving  six 
years  as  an  elder. 


(iI-:OK(!10  W.  SHOOrMAN— A  Montgomery  county  farmer  who  has 
made  much  of  opportunity,  and  by  careful  management,  has  accumulated 
a  nice  property,  is  Mr.  George  W.  Shoopman,  living  one  and  one-half 
miles  due  south  of  Cherry  vale,  in  Drum  Creek  township.     A  habit  that 


GEO.  W.  SHOOPMAN  AND   FAMILY. 


Mr.  Shoopnin 


^^^^■.  '-    'fK^.  , 


m^ 


itience  Bab  ■ 
'ivirriage    'v'.  ^ 

:.  and   i.!!/;_ 
Missouri; 


character. 


ujiiji  betii :  Loauii,  Lcvinu  J.,  ^Vri^iui'  JL..  riuLs  ij.  .iiiu  AIuiii.dii  J. 
T<.  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shoopraaa  but  two  children  have 


I     I    l«  1%  It  f^  ff  r  I"  r   T 
I    I    ••  !♦  t*  f*  »•   ■ 
1'  I-  H  t«  ■    f    ' 

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f<l     •!.    Ij     l«     l«    I*     • 


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HISTORY  OF  MONTOOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  457 

Mr.  Shoopiiian  formed  tiuite  early  in  life,  of  attending  strictly  to  hia 
own  affairs,  is  responsible  for  his  success;  though  this  does  not  meafi 
that  our  subject  may  not  be  approached  readily,  for  his  geniality  is 
proverbial  in  the  neighborliood  where  he  is  best  known. 

Mr.  Shoopman  came  to  the  county  from  Cass  county,  Illinois,  where 
he  was  born,  in  1S41.  He  is  a  sou  of  AYilliani  and  Sarah  (Smedley) 
Shoopman,  who  lived  and  died  on  the  old  homestead,  preempted  from 
the  government  by  Grandfather  Shoopman,  in  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  There  were  eight  children  in  the  family  which  they 
there  reared.  Of  these,  David  and  Thomas  are  now  deceased.  The  living 
are:  William,  a  farmer  living  in  Cass  county,  Illinois;  .John  resides  in 
California;  Nicholas,  of  Cass  county,  Illinois;  Nancy,  who  married  Noah 
Showalter  and  lives  in  Idaho;  her  children  are:  Liddie,  Lulu,  Dora, 
Noah,  William,  Alfred,  Bell,  Bertie.  Lewis  and  Harley;  George  W.,  Mrs. 
Patience  Baker  (see  elsewhere  in  this  volume  for  her  sketch).  By  a  form- 
er marriage  William  Shoopman  had  three  children,  Jacob  and  Mary, 
deceased,  and  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Elijah  Davis,  resides  in  Jackson 
county,  Missouri;  among  her  eleven  children,  are:  Edward,  William, 
Hannah,  James,  John,  Sarah,  Wright,  Mason,  Frank,  David  and  Mary. 

George  W.  Shoopmau  is  the  fifth  child  of  the  above  family.  He 
was  reared  to  the  humdrum  life  of  the  farm,  the  first  event  of  importance 
in  his  life  being  his  enlistment  for  the  great  Civil  war.  He  had  watched 
the  gathering  of  the  tempest  with  intense  interest  and,  when  opportu- 
nity offered,  gladly  went  forth  to  battle  for  the  flag  he  loved  so  well. 
February  of  1802,  found  him  a  member  of  Company  '"E,"  Sixty-first  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  Col.  Daniel  Grass  commanding 

His  service  was  not  of  the  guard  duty  or  dress  parade  character. 
His  regiment  joined  Grant's  troops  soon  after  the  fall  of  Ft.  Donelson 
and  first  smelled  powder  at  Shiloh.  The  siege  of  Corinth  and  Vicksburg 
followed.  He  was  at  the  engagement  at  Salem  Cemetery  and  wound  up 
his  military  career,  so  far  as  important  battles  were  concerned,  at  Jack- 
son, Tennessee.  He  was  fortunate  in  escaping  injury,  nor  did  he  get  a 
chance  to  inspect  the  bull-pens,  used  as  prisons  by  the  Confederates. 

On  the  loth  of  March,  1866,  Mr.  Shoopman  was  happily  joined  in 
marriage  to  Ellen,  daughter  of  William  and  Mahala  (Brown)  Goodpas- 
ture. They  were  natives  of  Tennessee,  high-class  farmers  of  Overton 
county,  and  were  the  parents  of  the  following:  Ellen,  Sarah  E.,  now  Mrs. 
W.  J.  Horrom,  of  Logan  county,  Illinois,  with  children :  Leona,  William, 
Pearl,  Elmer,  Eugene,  Bessie,  Gertrude  and  Hildred;  Thomas  J.,  of 
Menard  county,  Illinois,  has  four  sons  and  one  daughter;  Ova  E.,  mar- 
ried Oliver  Maltby,  a  merchant  at  Oakford,  Illinois;  her  children  are: 
Clemma,  Maud  and  Jesse.  The  other  children  are  deceased,  their  names 
having  been :  Leann,  Levina  J.,  Arthur  H.,  Fini-s  E.  and  Malinda  J. 

To  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shoopman  but  two  children  have 


460  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

TPIOMAS  S.  SALATHIEL— The  geutleman,  whose  name  heads 
lhis  |ieisonal  reference,  is  a  representative  of  one  of  the  pioneer  families 
of  ^Idiitjromery  county.  He  is,  by  nativity,  as  well  as  by  traiiiinri;.  a 
Kansiui.  being  born  in  Douglas  county,  October  23,  ISGO.  His  father, 
John  Salathiel,  of  Independence,  pioneered  to  the  Territory  of  Kansas, 
in  18.^4,  having  brought  his  mother  out  to  the  new  town  of  Lawrence,  in 
that  year  of  the  separation  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  the  formation 
of  the  latter  into  a  territory,  with  its  present  boundaries.  Mr.  Salathiel, 
Sr.,  was  a  resident  of  Lawrence  till  his  mother's  death,  directly  after 
Avhich  he  settled  on  a  farm,  some  ten  miles  from  the  town,  where  he  was 
living,  during  the  (Juantrell  Raid.  He  joined  IMumbV  comiiany  for  the 
"hojied-they  wouldirt-lind-'em"  pursuit  of  the  guerrilla  band,  and  this 
and  the  voliiiitcer  service  he  rendered,  when  Price  threatened  Kansas,  was 
all  thv^  military  service  he  rendered  during  the  Civil  war. 

John  Salathiel  was  born  April  30,  183G,  in  Lawrence  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  townsite  of  Ironton.  His  father,  Morgan  Salathiel,  was  out  in 
that  country,  as  a  geologist  in  the  interest  of  a  coal  company,  search- 
ing for  coal  lands.  He  afterward  moved  to  Cincinnati  and  died,  in  18.51. 
while  a  resident  of  that  place.  He  was  born  in  Wales,  British  Isles, 
about  ITnti,  married  and  has  two  surviving  children:  John  Salathiel  an(l 
Mrs.  ]\Iary  Howell,  of  Lawrence,  Kansas.  In  1849.  John  Salathiel  crossed 
the  "i>iains"  with  the  great  throng  bound  for  the  California  gold  fields, 
but  soon  returned  home  and  remained  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  until  his  ad- 
vent *<)  Kansas,  in  company  with  his  mother.  He  was  one  of  the  early 
merchants  of  Lawrence,  but,  in  18(50,  became  a  farmer  in  Douglas  coun- 
ty aTid  remained  such  till  1871,  when  he  came  south  into  Montgomery 
count\.  and  purchased  a  claim,  on  Sycamore  creek,  two  miles  north  of 
the  historic,  but  eccentric,  town  of  Radical.  He  remained  a  farmer  until 
1880,  when  he  came  into  Independence  and  engaged  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness with  which  he  has  since  been  connected.  He  married,  in  Lawrence. 
Kansas,  in  18.58,  Jemimah  Corel,  a  daughter  of  Henry  Corel,  who  settled 
just  east  of  Lawrence,  in  an  early  day ;  a  part  of  the  old  farm  being  now 
the  city's  beautiful  cemetery.  Mr.  Corel  was  a  settler  from  West  Vir- 
ginia, but  both  he  and  his  wife  died  early,  thus  orphaning  a  family  of 
eight  young  children.  The  following  children  have  been  born  to  .Tohn 
and  Mrs.  Salathiel;  John,  deceased;  Charles,  of  Case  Postoffice,  Okla- 
homa ;  Margaret,  wife  of  Frederick  Newcomb,  of  Coffey  county,  Kansas ; 
Thomas  S..  our  subject;  Henry  M.,  who  .served  in  the  Philippines  with 
the  Twentieth  Kansas;  Walter  S..  a  student  in  the  State  University  of 
Kansas,  who  served  with  the  Fortieth  IT.  S.  Volunteers  in  the  Filipino 
insurrection ;  Agnes  and  Mary. 

Thomas  S.  Salathiel  began  life  as  a  clerk  in  his  father's  store  in  In- 
dejiendence.  In  1880,  he  went  to  Denver.  Colorado,  and  engaged  in  the 
wholesale  commission  business,  but  sold  out  the  next  vear  and  came 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  461 

buck  to  Kansas.  He  engaged,  with  Henry  Baden,  to  travel  for  his  whole- 
sale house,  and  was  on  the  road  one  year.  In  1892,  he  entered  the  law 
department  of  the  State  University  and  graduated  there  in  1894.  He 
opened  an  oflBce  for  practice  in  Independence,  and  in  1898,  he  was  the 
Republican  nominee  for  county  attorney  of  Montgomery  county.  He 
was  admitted  to  i)ractice  before  the  District  and  Supreme  Courts  at  Law- 
rence, in  1894,  and  the  law  and  the  investigating  and  clearing  up  oi 
titles  occupy  his  attention. 

July  22,  1896,  Mr.  Salathiel  married  Emma  Wharton,  a  daughter  of 
the  late  Dr.  R.  T.  Wharton,  who  settled  in  Independence  in  1886,  from 
Martinsville,  Indiana.  The  only  child  of  this  union  is  Frederick  Funs- 
ton  Salathiel. 

In  company  with  J.  B.  Adams,  Mr.  Salathiel  organized  the  Security 
Abstract  Company.  The  company  is  erecting  the  Security  Absti-act 
block,  a  business  and  office  building,  on  one  of  the  valuable  plots  on 
Main  street. 


ANDY  PRITITT— The  subject  of  this  article  introduces  to  out  read- 
ers a  public  officer,  chosen  from  the  ranks  of  labor,  and  clothed  with  tha 
executive  authority  of  Montgomery  county.  While  all  our  public  ser- 
vants represent  some  form  of  labor  in  our  social  fabric,  yet  few  of  them 
are  the  embodiment  of  the  labor  Idea  and  called  to  serve  by  the  positive 
voice  of  toil.  His  selection  for  this  responsible  office  is  not  only  a  com- 
pliment to  Mr.  Pruitfs  qualities  as  a  citizen  and  a  man,  but  it  is  an  en- 
dorsement of  the  idea  he  represents,  and  places  the  stamp  of  public  con- 
fidence upon  its  intentions  and  purposes. 

Andy  Pruitt  is  a  young  man,  not  yet  in  the  midday  of  life.  He  waa 
born  in  Marys  county,  Missouri,  of  Kentucky  parents;  on  the  18th  of 
March,  1868.  His  father  and  grandfather,  James  W.  and  William  Pruitt, 
respectively,  were  South  Carolinians  by  birth,  and  were  farmers  by  oc- 
cupation. The  grandfather  settled  in  Kentucky  in  the  early  years  of  the 
last  century,  and  there  James  W.  Pruitt  grew  up  and  was  married.  The 
latter  was  born  iii  1828,  and  married  Elizabeth  Lightfoot,  a  lady  born 
and  reared  in  Simpson  county,  Kentucky.  In  1867,  they  took  up  their 
residence  in  Marys  county,  Missouri,  where  they  resided  until  1880, 
when  they  made  their  final  move  westward  and  settled  in  Montgomery 
coniily.  Kansas.  Here  the  father  died  in  1886,  but  his  widow  still  sur- 
vives, and  is  the  mother  of  the  following  childrren :  Effie,  wife  of  -Jeff 
Asmussen ;  John  W.,  of  Kansas  City.  Missoiiri ;  Andy,  and  Susie,  who 
married  Charles  E.  Royce,  and  resides  in  Butler  county,  Kansas. 

From  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  Andy  Pruitt  was  a  railroad  man.  He 
acquiied  a  smattering  of  an  education  in  the  country  schools  prior  to 


462  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

this  y(>iithfiil  be<>iiini!ig  of  life  and  took  his  first  lessons  in  railroad  work 
at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder — on  the  section.  He  took  employment  with 
the  Missouri  Paeitic  Haihvay  ('om|)any,  and  remained  with  it  some  live 
years,  and  then  emi)loyed  with  the  Santa  Fe  Company,  in  the  car  inspec 
tion  department  a1  Cherry  vale,  where  he  was  at  work  eleven  years  aftei'- 
ward,  when  nominated  hy  the  Kepuhlicans  for  sheriff  of  Montgomery 
county. 

Plis  nomination,  in  19(H,  followed  close  upon  the  passage  of  the  bien- 
nial election  law,  which  law  appeared  somewhat  uncertain  on  the  point 
of  the  termination  of  the  terms  of  office  of  the  then  incumbents  of  the 
sheriff's  offices.  It  was  decided  to  make  a  test  of  the  law  by  one  appoint- 
ment, and  our  subject  was  selected  as  the  victim  (as  it  resulted)  to  make 
the  contest.  Clothed  with  an  appointment  from  the  Governor,  he  made 
a  demand  on  Sheriff  8(]uires  for  the  office  and  was.  of  course,  refused. 
Quo  warranto  proceedings  were  brought  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
state  and.  after  four  months,  a  decision  was  handed  down,  declaring  the 
api)OJntee  ineligible,  and  the  hold  ovei'  the  rightful  incumbent  of  the  of- 
fice. The  following  year  — l!)(»2--tlie  Republicans  nominated  5Ir.  Truitt 
for  sheriff  by  ai-clamati(tn,  and  his  election  ensued  in  Xovemiber,  his  ma 
jority  being  :>71  votes.  .January  12,  1!»03,  he  took  the  oath  of  office  and 
is  proving  him.self  a  capable  and  iioi)ular  official. 

January  31.  ISItO,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Andy  Truitt  with  Lillian 
Bennett,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  •!.  IJenuett,  of  lola,  Kansas.  The  wed- 
ding occurred  in  Toronto,  Kansas,  where  Mrs.  Pruitt  had  I'esided  for 
twelve  years.  Her  parents  were  married  in  the  State  of  Hlinois,  and  her 
mother's  nmiden  name  was  Christina  Plymeir.  Mrs.  Pruitt  is  the  third 
of  five  children,  and  is  her.self  the  mother  of:  Elmer,  Harry  and  Ray- 
mond, three  promising  boys. 

Mr.  Pruitt  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  Woodnmn,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
State  Sheriffs'  Association. 


TFTOMAS  O'CONNOR— For  twenty  six  years  Thomas  O'Connor  has 
lived  within  five  mile.s  of  Elk  City,  in  Louisburg  township.  He  is  a  de 
scendant  of  sturdy  Irish  stock  and  his  residence  in  the  county  has  secured 
for  him  a  rejjutation  for  good  citizenship  unsurpassed.  County  Derry. 
Ireland,  was  the  place  of  his  birth,  the  year  being  1824.  He  was  a  son  of 
Bernard  and  Catherine  (Washburn)  O'Connor,  who  passed  their  lives 
in  their  native  land.  A  brother,  Samuel  O'Connor,  came  with  our  subject 
to  America,  in  1847.  They  located  in  Philadelphia,  where  Thomas  re- 
mained until  1874,  when  he  came  out  to  Shelby  county,  Indiana,  where 
he  engaged  in  gardening  until  1877.  He  then  came  out  to  Kansas  and 
purchased  the  farm  upon  whii-h  he  now  resides,  consisting  of  one  hun 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  463 

dred  aud  thirty  acres,  and  has  been  engaged  in  general  farming  and 
stock  raising  since  that  time. 

Tn  1855,  Martha,  daughter  of  Alexander  and  Margaret  (Markham) 
Mullholland,  became  the  wife  of  Thomas  O'Connor.  Her  parents  were 
from  County  Derry,  Ireland,  but  she  was  born  in  Patterson,  New  Jer- 
sey. Her  demise  occurred  in  August  of  1866,  her  three  children  being: 
Margaret,  who  married  William  Ross,  of  Indiana;  Thomas,  who  married 
Louisa  Owen  and  lives  in  Kansas  City,  with  four  children:  Fannie^ 
Myrtle,  Frederick  and  John;  and  Joseph,  who  is  now  deceased. 

In  1880,  Mr.  O'Connor  again  entered  matrimony,  being  joined  in 
marriage  with  Mrs.  Mahuldah  Stevenson.  Mrs.  O'Connor  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  Joel  and  Nancy  (Sproel)  Gregory,  natives  of  Kentucky,  the  Greg- 
ory family,  prior  to  that,  having  lived  in  Virginia.  Mrs.  O'Connor's  first 
husband  was  Horace  Stevenson,  whom  she  married  in  Shelby  county,  In- 
diana, in  1859.  By  this  marriage  there  were  six  children :  Joel,  a 
farmer  of  Louisburg  township,  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  with  child- 
ren :  Mary,  William,  Catherine,  Thomas,  Margaret,  John  and  Nellie ; 
Rose,  the  twin  sister  of  Joel,  married  Adam  Lewis,  and  resides  in  Win- 
field,  Kansas,  with  children:  Onia,  Carrol,  McKinley  and  Edward;  Nancy, 
born  in  March,  1862,  first  married  E.  B.  Evans,  whose  two  children  were : 
Horace  and  William.  At  his  death  she  married  B.  J.  Dickover  and  now 
resides  in  Denver,  Colorado;  Augustus,  born  in  December  of  1863,  mar- 
ried Eva  Southerland,  whose  seven  children  are:  Horace.  Nancy,  ^Ma- 
huldah,  Augustus,  Eva,  Mary  and  Charlotte ;  William,  born  in  March  of 
1866,  married  Mary  Selacke,  and  their  six  children  are:  Nettie.  George, 
Leonard,  ^^'illia^l,  Albert  and  Thomas;  Edward,  born  in  April,  1868,  mar- 
ried Eva  (iiiy.  has  a  daughter.  Rose,  and  resides  in  Wyoming. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  O'Connor  have  been  worthy  residents  of  Montgomery 
county  for  nearly  three  decades,  and  have  always  evinced  a  disposition  to 
favor,  by  their  intluence,  such  measures  as  look  to  the  betterment  of  con- 
ditions in  society  about  them.  In  matters  of  religion,  he  is  a  devout  com- 
municant of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  while  she  is  a  Methodist.  The 
Democratic  platform  meets  more  nearly  the  principles  of  government 
held  by  our  subject  than  any  other,  aud  he  believes  it  to  be  the  best  for 
our  country. 


liEORGE  A.  PARK — The  desirability  of  Independence  as  a  resi 
dent  point  is  responsible  for  the  j)resence  of  quite  a  number  of  that 
splendid  class  of  citizens  generally  referred  to  as  "retired  farmers."  In 
some  instances  these  have  disposed  of  all  their  holdings  and  are  passing 
the  declining  years  of  their  lives  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  the  toil 
of  earlier  manhood.  Others  retain  small  pieces  of  farming  land  in  tho 
country  and  are  thus  enabled,  to  some  extent,  to  keep  xip  the  habits  of 


464  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

indn^t^.v  foruii'd  iu  their  youth.  Of  this  hitter  ehiss  is  the  ftentleman 
whose  name  we  here  present,  his  determination  to  ircnr  out.  rather  than 
rust  out.  being  an  entirely  creditable  one. 

The  statement  of  a  few. brief  facts  relatin<>  to  the  family  history  of 
Mr.  Park  carries  tis  hack  to  the  New  England  states,  the  father  of  our 
subject.  Rowland  Park,  being  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  the  mo- 
ther, Hannah  Mills,  of  Vermont.  The  father  was  a  worker  in  iron,  and 
had  the  name  of  being  esjiecially  skillful  in  those  days  when  the  hand 
played  so  much  more  ]»art  in  the  world's  labor  than  now.  After  finish- 
ing his  apprenticeshiit,  he  came  west  to  Ohio,  lirst  stopping  in  Cleve- 
land, in  the  year  1832.  For  fifty-two  years  he  plied  his  trade  in  the 
counties  of  Lorain,  Huron,  Wyandotte  and  Hardin,  removing  to  Labette 
county,  Kansas,  in  1884,  where  he  died  June  4,  1887,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one  years.  The  wife  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  in  1883.  Hhe  was  the 
mother  of  thirteen  children,  six  of  whom  are  now  living. 

George  A.  Park  was  born  in  Ijorain  county.  Ohio.  January  8,  1835. 
The  lirst  event  of  importance  in  his  life  was  the  great  but  glorious  trag- 
edy in  the  nation's  life — the  Civil  war — in  which  he  jdayed  an  honorable, 
and  to  him  a  most  memorable  part,  for  he  lost  his  good  right  leg  in  the 
service. 

Mr.  Park  enlisted  on  February  17,  18(U,  in  Company  "A,"  Slst  Ohio 
Vol.  Inf..  as  a  jjrivate.  This  regiment  was  sent  immediately  to  the  front 
and  arrived  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  glorious  campaign  in  which  Hher 
man  proved  the  truth  of  his  own  trite  saying,  "war  is  hell."  Our  sub 
ject's  first  battle  was  at  Re.saca ;  then  came  Rome  Cross  Roads,  Dallas, 
Big  Shanty,  Kennesaw  Mountain  and  finally.  Atlanta.  Here  the  Slst  saw 
hot  service  from  the  day  that -the  gallant  McPherson  fell  until  the 
capitulation  of  the  city.  While  on  the  skirmish  line  on  the  25th  of  August, 
1864,  a  ball  struck  Mr.  Park  on  the  right  knee,  removing  the  knee  pan 
and  necessitating  amputation.  This,  of  course,  put  a  stop  to  further 
soldering  on  his  part.  He  si)ent  a  month  in  the  Marietta  hospital,  thence 
to  Nashville,  and  arrived  home  November  11th,  the  day  of  President  Lin- 
coln's second  election.  He  now  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade,  an  occu- 
pation which  he  has  followed,  together  with  farming,  since  that  time.  He 
purchased  his  first  land  in  Ohio,  in  1870,  a  piece  of  timber,  which,  though 
crippled,  as  he  was,  he,  himself,  cleared.  This  he  sold  in  1883,  and  the 
following  year  moved  to  Labette  county,  Kansas.  He  bought  a  quarter 
section  here,  but  in  1890,  disposed  of  it  and  settled  in  Montgomery 
county,  where  he  bought  the  farm  which  he  now  owns,  a  quarter  section 
in  Caney  township.  He  cultivated  this  farm  until  1899,  when  he  rented 
it  and  moved  into  the  county  seat. 

The  married  life  of  Mr.  Park  dates  from  July  13,  18G1,  when,  in 
Kenton,  Ohio,  he  was  joined  to  Miss  Angeline,  daughter  of  Robert  and 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  465 

Martba  (Shultz)  Stevenson.  The  parents  of  Mrs.  Park  were  of  the  thrifty 
farming  cla.ss,  prominent  members  of  the  M.  E.  church,  in  which  denomi- 
nation the  father  was  a  local  preacher.  The  mother  was  born  November 
14,  1813,  and  died  November  8,  1861,  the  father's  birth  occurring  March 
28,  1814.  and  his  death  April  27,  1896.  They  still  live  in  the  blessed  in- 
fluences which  were  set  adrift  by  their  holy  living.  Their  children,  be- 
sides Mrs.  Park,  were:  William,  a  soldier  of  sixteen  years'  service,  two 
of  them  in  the  Civil  war,  now  resides  in  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. ;  .Joseph,  a 
farmer  near  A'alparaiso,  Ind.,  and  Martha.  Mrs.  John  Pruitt,  of  Trinidad, 
Colorado.  To  the  marriage  of  our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been  born 
children  as  follows :  Byron  C,  deceased  in  infancy ;  G.  B.,  married  Gene- 
vieve McKinley,  whose  children  are:  Emmett,  Iris  and  Lester;  Adah, 
Mrs.  William  O.  Duulap,  whose  children  are:  Percie,  Blanche,  Curtjs^ 
Georgia  and  Alexander;  Ralph  E.,  of  Weston,  Ohio,  married  Wanetta 
Vandenburg,  whose  one  child  is  Ralph  Victor;  Rolla,  a  merchant  of  Tyro, 
Kansas,  married  Maggie  Knotts,  children:  Arthur  and  Lowell;  Sidney 
F.,  single,  Bartelsville,  I.  T. ;  Leafy,  of  Sturgis,  South  Dakota;  Mattie, 
Mrs.  Fred  Dobson,  whose  children  are:  Esther  and  Angle;  Frankie  L., 
a  teacher  at  Tyro,  and  Robert  R.,  deceased. 

Mr.  Park  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  and  in  politics  votes  the  So- 
cialist ticket.  He  is  a  gentleman  whose  sterling  qualities  have  brought 
to  him  the  respect  and  esteem  of  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  neighbors, 
and  whose  career  has  been  entirely  creditable. 


JAMES  R.  CHARLTON— November  17,  1877,  James  R.  Charlton, 
ex-County  Attorney  of  Montgomery  county,  began  life  as  a  citizen  of 
Kansas.  He  was  prompted  to  seek  the  west  to  engage  in  educational 
work  here  and  to  thus,  in  early  life,  shape  his  course  along  lines  of  pro- 
fessional activity.  Subsequent  events  have  shown  the  execution  of  such 
plans  to  have  led  him  from  the  school-room  to  journalism  and  finally 
into  the  practice  of  law. 

A  youth  of  nineteen,  he  first  located  at  Sedan,  and  soon  thereafter 
became  a  teacher  in  the  country  schools  of  Chautauqua  county.  He  had 
received  his  education  in  the  High  School  of  Odin,  Illinois,  and  was 
authorized  to  teach,  under  the  law,  before  he  left  his  native  state.  While 
carrying  his  three  terms  of  school  work  he  was  prosecuting  the  study  of 
law  under  the  direction  of  J.  D.  McBrian,  of  Sedan.  In  Auust,  1880,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Winfield,  Kansas,  and  taught  two  terms  of 
school  before  entering  the  practice.  In  1884,  he  located  in  Elk  City, 
where  he  began  law  practice  in  1885.  He  founded  the  Elk  City  Enter- 
prise, a  weekly  paper,  with  Democratic  principles,  and  published  it  about 
four  years.    He  was  justice  of  the  peace,  police  judge  and  city  attorney 


466  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMEEV  COUNTV,  KANSAS. 

of  Elk  City  and  was  a  resident  of  the  place  until  December,  1890,  when 
he  removed  to  the  county  seat. 

His  early  political  training  led  Mr.  Charlton  into  the  Democratic 
party.  His  political  course  was  along  these  lines  until  the  political  up- 
heaval of  1890,  when  he  joined  issues  with  the  new  party  of  that  year, 
and  has  acted  with  it  since.  He  was  elected  county  attorney  in  1890, 
served  one  term  and  was  unanimously  nominated  for  a  second  term,  but 
declined,  and,  in  1894,  oi)ened  an  oflSce  in  Caney,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided. He  is  city  attorney  of  Caney  and  has  a  large  law  business  in  the 
nearby  counties  of  the  state  and  in  the  Indian  Territory  on  the  south. 

James  R.  Charlton  was  born  in  Marion  county,  Illinois,  July  21, 
1858.  His  family  was  one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  that  county,  for 
William  J.  Charlton,  his  father,  was  born  there  in  183C.  Isaac  Charlton, 
his  grandfather,  left  Virginia  in  1824,  and  settled  some  of  the  wild  lands 
near  Salem,  Illinois.  Isaac  Charlton  was  born  in  1800,  and  died  in  1876, 
leaving  six  children,  viz :  James,  Wesley,  Sidney,  Newton  and  William 
J.,  father  of  our  subject. 

Mention  of  William  J.  Charlton  is  made  on  another  jiage  of  this 
volume.  It  is  sufficient  in  this  connection  to  state  that  he  was  well 
known  in  Odin,  Illinois,  as  a  farmer  and  a  merchant,  and  that  he  lived 
in  Chautauqua  county,  Kansas,  from  1877  'till  1901.  when  he  located  on 
the  Verdigris  river,  near  Independence,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Charlton,  of  this  review,  married  in  Chautauqua  county,  Kan- 
sas, April  3,  1881,  Hattie  M.  Hutchison,  a  daughter  of  John  Hutchison, 
from  (Minton  county,  Indiana.  The  latter  married  Eliza  Moore,  and 
reared  three  children.  Earl,  only  cliil.l  of  J.  K.  and  Mrs.  Cliarlton,  was 
born  January  3,  1887. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Charlton  has  been  an  active  church  worker. 
While  he  is  a  member  of  and  holds  a  pastorate  in  the  Christian  church 
he  has  done  effective  work  in  the  evangelistic  field,  in  Oklahoma.  Wash- 
ington and  other  places.  He  was  pastor  of  the  Christian  church  in  Caney 
in  189.5-6,  was  then  state  evangelist  for  Kansas  for  one  year,  and  is  now 
serving  the  Caney  charge  again. 


I'.ENJAMIN  F.  MASTERMAN,  M.  D.— During  the  period  of  pioneer 
settlement  of  Montgomery  county  there  came  to  Independence  one  of  its 
permanent  citizens,  a  gentleman  whose  influence  and  power  made  itself 
felt  in  after  years  in  the  public  and  professional  interests  of  the  county, 
seat,  and  whose  individuality  has  stamped  itself  indelibly  upon  the  so- 
cial fabric  of  the  county.  This  pioneer  character  was  Dr.  B.  F.  Master- 
man,  of  this  review,  Ihe  dale  of  whose  advent  to  his  new  home  was  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1870. 


u\\ 


V   •>  ■•  ■• 

^  —  It  1^  I 
♦  It  • 


«.rr,i,v  OF  Mr»;Tt;t)MF,BY  COUNT!,  KANSAS. 

of  the  place  until  December,  1?: 

n.^i  Mr.  Charlton  into  the  Dc;;. 

.  these  lines  until  the  political  up- 
with  the  new  pi^'tj  of  that  ye;u', 
^  elected  county  attorney  in  1890., 
nominated  for  a  second  ternj,  but 
.■  in  Caney,  where  he  has  since  t<: 
;iiMi"!v     .))  i,niu y  and  has  a  large  law  business  in  the 
the  state  and  in  the  Indian  Territory  on  the  south, 
rlton.  was  born  in  Marion  county,  Illinois,  July  21, 
was  one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  that  county,  for 
n,  his  father,  was  born  there  in  1836.    Isaac  Charlton, 
;t  T;r'.;ini;i  iu  1824,  and  settled  so;!;,    '-f  ihi.-  v;i]<]  laml;! 
'rlton  was  born  in 
1 's,  Wesley,  Sidney 


rl!,i:li-en.     Iv 
ry  3,  1887. 
uiy  years  3Ir> 


1. 11,  a  daughter  of  John  Hutchiwon 

latter  inarried   Eliza  Moore,  am 

liild  of  J.  K.  and  Mrs.  Charlton,  wa 


Charlton  has  been  an  active  church  workti. 

i  1;   iic  is  a  member  of  and  holds  a  pastorate  in  the  Christian  church 

iii    :ius  done  effective  work  in  the  evangelistic  field,  in  Oklahoma.  Wash- 

liu!':!"  ami  oiiicr  ipia<'>.     Mi'  was  pastor  of  the  Christian  church  in  Caney 

;;  .list  for  Kansas-for  one  year,  and  is.  now 


Tt. — During  the  period  of  pioneer 
to  Independence  one  of  its 


■nee  and  power  made  itself 


I.  I,  11 
.      1.    I      ll 

I  I  I  I 
I      I      •      I      I 


m  m  J»-  r 


F.   MASTERMAN,   M.   D. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  469 

Mr.  Banks  is  one  of  Lake  county,  Ohio's  native  sons,  and  was  born 
October  13,  1839.  His  parents,  Orin  and  Olive  (Brown)  Banks,  were 
natives  of  Scoharrie  county.  New  York,  and  born,  the  father  January  25, 
1803,  and  the  mother  March  12,  1805.  They  were  married  in  1823,  and 
settled  in  Lake  county,  Indiana,  in  1845  and  stopped,  first,  in  LaPorte 
county.  They  passed  their  lives  as  country  people,  were  upright  Chris- 
tian folk  and  were  thrifty  as  farmers  of  their  time.  They  died  in  Lake 
county,  Indiana,  the  father  October  29,  1857,  and  the  mother  January 
27,  1887.  The  Banks's  were  of  Scotch-Irish  origin  and  the  Browns  of 
English  lineage.  Tin-  imrciits  both  belonged  to  old  families  of  the  east 
and  reared  a  larg<'  famiiy  nf  children,  as  follows:  Charles,  of  Salina, 
Kansas;  Elisha,  of  .MrlMi<'rs(in  county,  Kansas;  Parley,  of  Lake  county, 
Indiana;  Mary  C,  wife  of  Simon  White,  of  LaPorte  county,  Indiana; 
George  L..  of  this  notice;  Nathaniel  P.,  of  Lake  county,  Indiana;  Sarah 
L.,  wife  of  W.  B.  Adams,  of  Montgomery  county,  Kansas. 

George  L.  Banks  spent  his  youth  and  early  manhood  in  LaPorte 
count^ .  Indiana,  and  had  the  advantage  of  a  good  country  school  educa- 
tion. The  Civil  war  came  on  just  after  he  had  reached  his  majority,  and 
was  concerned  with  the  serious  affairs  of  peace,  but  he  enlisted,  June  6, 
1861,  in  Company  "C,"  15th.  Inf.,  under  Col.  Geo.  D.  Wagner.  The 
regiment  was  ordered  at  once  into  the  field  and  it  took  part  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Greenbriar  and  Elk  Water  that  same  year.  As  the  war  progressed 
it  participated  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh,  Perryville,  Stone  River  and  Mis- 
sionary Ridge,  where  Mr.  Banks  was  wounded,  and  rendered  unfit  for  ser- 
vice for  some  weeks.  During  his  later  active  service  he  was  in  battle  at 
Charleston  and  Dandridge,  Tennessee.  He  was  discharged  from  the 
armv  June  25,  18G1.  In  1897,  he  received  from  the  Secretary  of  War  a 
medal  of  bronze,  appropriately  engraved  and  inscribed  in  commemora- 
tion of  distinguished  service  while  in  line  of  duty.  Engraved  on  the  face 
of  the  medal  is : 

"The  Congress  to  Color  Sergeant  George  L.  Banks,  15th  Indiana 
Infantry, 

"For  gallantry  at  Missionai-y  Ridge,  Tennessee.  November  25,  1863." 

The  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  ^^■ar  notifiying  Mr.  Banks  of  the 
honor  accorded  him  and  announcing  the  issuing  of  the  medal  states  the 
specific  acts  of  gallantry  and  is  herewith  made  a  part  of  this  record: 
MEDAL  OF  HONOR. 
War  Department,  Washington,  D.  C,  Sept.  21,  1897. 
George  L.  Banks,  Esq.,  Independence,  Kansas. 

Sir: — You  are  hereby  notified  that  by  direction  of  the  President  and 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  Congress  approved  March  3,  1863, 
providing  for  the  presentation  of  medals  of  honor  to  such  ofiicers,  non- 
commissioned  officers   and   privates   as   have   most   distinguished   them- 


470  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

selves  in  artion.  a  t'on<>rPSsional  ;Me(lal  of  Honor  has  this  day  been  pre- 
wuted  to  you  for  most  distin<;uislie(l  -ialluntry  in  action,  the  foHowing 
being  -a  statement  of  the  ]iarti(iilar  service:  At  Missionary  Ridge,  No- 
vember '25,  1S()3,  this  sohlier.  tlien  a  ('()h)r  Sergeant,  loth,  Indiana  Vols., 
in  the  assault,  led  his  regiment,  calling  upon  his  comrades  to  follow,  and 
when  near  the  summit  he  was  wounded  and  left  behind  insensible,  but 
having  recovered  t^onsciousness  rejoined  the  advance,  again  took  the  flag 
and  carried  it  forward  to  the  enemy's  works,  where  he  was  again  wound- 
ed. In  the  brigade  of  eight  regiments  the  flag  of  the  loth  Indiana  was 
the  first  i)lanted  on  the  parapet. 

Tlie  medal  will  be  forwarded  to  yon  Ity  registered  mail  as  soon  as  it 
shall  have  been  engraved.  Respect  fully. 

K.  A.  AL(iEK,  Secretary  of  War. 

.\tiei-  the  war.  Mr.  I'.aiiks  resinned  farming  in  Indiana  and  continued 
it  with  a  fair  measure  of  suci-ess  'till  his  dejiarture  for  the  broad  prairies 
and  the  jiure  air  of  Kansas,  in  the  sjiriug  of  1871.  blatters  were  in  a 
forniiitive  state  in  Montgomery  county  and  lie  aided  in  organizing,  and 
was  the  first  clerk  of  school  district  No.  !)1.  and  the  school  house  was 
named  "The  Banks  School  House"  in  his  honor.  He  entered  and  patent- 
ed a  piece  of  laud  and  was  occupied  with  its  improvement  'till  December, 
1S8C,  when  he  disposed  of  it  and  transferred  his  residence  to  Angola,  In- 
diana, where  he  became  the  proprietor  of  a  hotel.  Remaining  there  only 
a  short  time  he  removed  to  Camden,  Hillsdale  county,  Michigan,  where 
he  resided  six  years,  returning  thence  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas. 
From  1892  to  1895,  he  was  a  resident  of  Independence,  and  the  latter 
year  moved  out  to  his  farm  in  section  8,  township  33,  range  15,  where  he 
owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  He  owns  an  eighty  in  section  17,  and 
is  regarded  one  of  the  successful  and  reliable  farmers  of  his  county. 

Octolier  9,  1864,  Mr.  Banks  was  united  in  marriage  with  Olive  W. 
Chandler,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  P.  and  Betsy  (Woodmanse)  Chandler, 
of  Vermont.  Mrs.  Banks  was  born  at  Caledonia,  Vermont,  August  2.'). 
1842,  and  died  December  12,  1902.  She  was  her  husband's  companion 
for  thirty -eight  years  and  bore  him  three  sons:  William  N.,  Charles  B. 
and  Arthur  A.,  all  honorable  young  men  of  Montgomery  county. 

(ieorge  L.  Bank's  political  action  has  been  exercised  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Rejiublican  party.  He  has  ever  manifested  a  good  citizen's  inter- 
est ir  local,  state  and  national  aft'airs  and  his  face  has  been  a  familiar 
one  i:i  local  gatherings  of  his  party.  He  filled  all  the  oftices  of  Fawn 
Creek  township.  He  is  prominent  in  the  State  Grand  Army  and  is  com- 
mander of  the  Southeast  Kansas  Association  of  old  soldiers.  He  belongs 
to  the  .subordinate  lodge  ludeitendent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He  is  ii 
.memlier  of  the  A.  H.  T.  A. 


UlSTOBl*  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  47  I 

JOEL  ARMOUR  STEVENSON— Joel  Armour  Stevenson  is  one  of 
the  well-to-do  and  progressive  representatives  of  the  agricultural  class 
living  near  the  rural  community  of  Costello.  He  comes  from  Indiana, 
having  been  born  in  Shelby  county,  that  state,  in  the  year  1860.  Horace 
Stevenson,  his  father,  was  a  son  of  Armour,  who,  in  his  day,  was  one  of 
the  earliest  pioneers  of  Dearborn  county,  Indiana,  having  removed  to 
that  state  from  New  York  in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Our  subject's  mother  was  Mahuldah  Ann  Gregory,  also  of  an  old 
pioneer  family  of  the  "Hoosier  State."  Horace  Stevenson  was  the  fourth 
of  a  family  of  eleven  children,  and  was  reared  on  the  family  homestead 
in  Dearborn  county  and,  at  maturity,  settled  in  Shelby  county,  where 
he  was  engaged,  for  a  time,  in  teaching  school,  and  where  he  met  and 
married  his  wife.  The  children  born  to  Horace  and  Mahuldah  Steven- 
son were:  Joel  and  Ro.se,  twins;  Rose  being  now  Mrs.  Adam  Lewis; 
Nancy.  Augustus,  William  and  Edward  are  the  remaining  numbers  of 
the  family. 

Joel  A.  Stevenson  passed  the  period  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  on  the 
"Hoower  State"  farm  and  was  given  a  district  school  education.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen,  he.  in  the  fall  of  1878,  accompanied  his  mother  to  Kan- 
sas, his  father  having  died  in  1870.  (The  mother  subsequently  married 
Thomas  O'Connor  and  is  now  a  resident  of  the  county.)  Mr.  Stevenson 
remained  with  his  mother  until  he  set  up  an  cstalilisliment  of  his  own, 
when  he  purchased  what  is  known  as  the  Ashbaugh  farm,  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  where  general  farming  and  stock  raising  occupy  his 
time.  He  was  married,  in  188.5.  to  Ellen,  daughter  of  P.  H.  and  Cath- 
erine (Baker)  Callahan,  referred  to  elsewhere  in  this  work.  The  wife  of 
Mr.  Stevenson  died  October  30,  1901,  leaving  a  family  of  seven  children, 
as  follows:  Mary,  born  October  8,  1886;  William,  born  November  26, 
1888  ;Catherine,  whose  birth  occurred  December  9,  1890;  Thomas,  born 
March  9,  1893;  Margaret,  born  March  6,  1895;  John,  born  March  9. 
1898;  and  Nellie,  born  March  4,  1900. 

Since  Mr.  Stevenson  became  a  citizen  of  the  county,  he  has  evi- 
denced great  interest  in  building  up  her  institutions  and  has  always 
given  his  influence  to  the  betterment  of  conditions  in  his  immediate  com- 
miinity.  He  and  his  family  are  active  members  and  supporters  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  south.  In  fraternal  life,  Mr.  Stevenson 
has,  for  some  time,  been  a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen,  and  is  a 
Populist  in  political  belief. 


DAVID  VANCE — Thirty-three  years  in  Kansas  is  sufficient  to  have 
seen  wonderful  changes,  and  especially  in  Montgomery  county,  for  the 
whole  county  was  then  one  vast  range,  given  over  to  the  countless  cattle 


^■j2  HISTOny  OK  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

that  loauied  over  the  fertile  prairies.  The  Osages  still  lin«>ered  iu  the 
bottoms  ami  the  nearest  trading  jioints  were  Humboldt  and  Ft.  S((»tt. 
The  farm  youth  of  today,  who  hitches  to  his  rubber-tired  vehicle  and 
drives  into  town  but  a  few  miles  away,  over  roads  which  lead  past  highly- 
cultivated  farms,  with  their  modern  residences,  presents  a  strange  con- 
trast to  the  lad  of  thirty  years  ago.  who  hooked  his  slow-going  ox-team 
to  the  lumber  wagon  and  drove  whole  days  over  the  lonely  trail  to  the 
nearest  trading  point. 

David  Vance  is  entitled  to  incnibcrship  in  an  "old  settlers'  "  organi- 
zation, for.  in  1870.  he  tirst  looked  upon  Montgomery  county  soil.  He  has 
taken  the  full  number  of  degrees  in  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life,  and  is 
now  enjoying  the  fruits  of  faithfulness  in  the  early  days,  his  highly- 
-cultivated  farm,  four  miles  northeast  of  Caney,  being  evidence  of  careful 
and  persistent  effort  along  agricultural  lines.  Mr.  Vance  was  born  in 
LaFayette  county,  Tennessee,  October  '2i'}.  1838,  the  son  of  Joseph  and 
Polly  (Leath)  Vance,  the  former  a  native  of  Virginia,  the  latter  of 
'Tennessee.  They  married  in  Tennessee  and.  later,  the  father  removed 
to  LaFayette  county.  Missouri,  where  he  died,  at  sixty-two.  the 
wife  having  })assed  away,  in  Tennessee,  at  the  age  of  forty-five.  Their 
family  consisted  of  twelve  children,  six  of  whom  are  now  living. 

Mr.  Vance  was  reared  to  farm  life,  learning  well  the  homely  lessons 
of  parient  toil,  which  still  marks  his  movements.  On  the  11th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1860.  he  took  unto  Jiiniself  a  wife,  iu  the  prson  of  Mary  E.  Hall,  a 
native  of  the  same  county,  and  settled  down  to  farm  life,  in  the  home 
neighborhood.  liut  he  was  not  destined  to  pursue  the  even  tenor  of  his 
way,  tor  the  following  year,  the  storm  of  war  broke  and  swept  all  loyal 
citizens  into  the  army.  Mr.  Vance  became  a  member  of  the  First  Tenn- 
essee Mounted  Infantry,  and  did  valiant  service  for  the  flag  he  loved  so 
well,  participating  in  son»e  of  the  smaller  skirmishes  and  battles  in  the 
middle  west.  He  came  ofl:  without  harm,  though,  during  one  skirmish, 
had  an  uncomfortably  close  call,  the  toe  of  his  boot  having  been  shot  off. 
That  .scourge  of  the  soldier,  the  measles,  however,  was  not  so  considerate 
of  his  comfort,  and  he  still  carries,  in  his  body,  the  effects  of  its  ravages. 

After  the  war.  Mr.  Vance  settled  in  Lawrence  county,  Indiana,  and 
in  1808,  came  out  to  LaFayette  county,  ^Missouri,  and,  as  stated,  in  1870, 
located  in  Montgomery  county.  Kansas.  Here  he  first  took  up  a  claim 
on  Cheyenne  creek,  but  soon  «old  and  bought  the  eighty  acres  of  school 
land  where  he  now  resides.  He  Iiad  the  misfortune,  in  I8ii(i.  to  lose  his 
wife,  by  death,  leaving  him  two  little  daughters,  Laura  Fxllc  and  Sarah 
•Jane.  These  daughters  grew  to  womanhood  and  married.  Lama  ln'coming 
the  wife  of  C.  C.  Turk  and  removing  to  Oklahoma,  and  Sarah  finding  a 
husband  in  George  O.  Arnold.  She  liecame  the  mother  of  five  bright  chil- 
.dren  and.  on  the  7th  of  June,  181)8,  was  carried  off  by  an  attack  of  can- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS,  475 

<pr  of  the  stoinath.  The  husbaiul  and  children  are  now  inmates  of  Mr. 
Yauee's  home,  wliere  they  receive  the  loving  care  of  a  proud  grandfather. 
The  children  are  unusually  well-conditioued,  both  physically  and  men- 
tally, their  musical  ability,  esi)Ocially.  having  attracted  most  favorable 
notice.  Their  names  arc:  i:dgar  F.,  Mary  E.,  Iva  I.,  Sylvia  E.  and 
Nellie  Eelle. 

Mr.  Vance  has  always  had  the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  neigh- 
bors, who  have  elected  him,  at  difl'erent  times,  to  offices  of  trust.  He 
votes  with  the  l'()i)ulist  jiarty,  and  in  social  life,  holds  membership  in  the 
A.  H.  &  T.  A.  and  the  Crand  .\rmy  of  the  Republic. 


JOHN  HENRY  KEITH— The  Keith  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  in 
American  history  and  was  prominently  identified  with  our  colonial  pe- 
riod. It  furnished  a  Colonial  Governor  for  Pennsylvania  and,  when  the 
Revolution  came  on,  demonstrated  its  patriotism  in  the  ranks  of  the  Co- 
lonial forces.  They  were  of  Scotch  ancestry  and  the  archives  of  the 
Commonwealths  of  IVnnsylvania,  Yirginia  and  Kentucky,  show  them  to 
have  played  an  inii)ortant  and  honorable  part  in  the  history  of  their 
states.  Governor  Keith  is  one  of  the  grand-ancestors  of  the  subject  of 
this  review. 

Daniel  Keith  was  born  in  Mrginia,  in  17T(>,  and  died  in  Warrenr 
county,  Kentucky,  in  187.5.  He  was  the  great-grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  notice  and  the  founder  of  his  branch  of  the  Keith  family  in  the 
state  of  Daniel  Boone.  He  served  in  the  Henry  Clay  regiment  of  Ken- 
tucky troops  in  the  ;Me.\ican  war,  took  part  in  the  Taylor  campaign  and, 
among  other  achievements,  aided  in  the  capture  of  Monterey.  He  nmr- 
ried  Miss  Gardner  and  had  three  sons,  namely:  John,  William  and 
Isaiah. 

John  Keith  and  ^lary  Ivlwards  were  the  paternal  grandparents  of 
our  subject.  The  former  was  a  native  Kentuckian,  born  in  1815,  and 
died,  in  Warren  county,  in  1891.  He  engaged  in  the  ministry  in  early  life, 
after  having  completed  an  academic  education,  and  became  a  power  for 
good  all  over  the  state.  He  was  a  forcible  speaker,  was  an  expounder 
of  the  doctrines  of  immersion  and  close  communion  and,  on  the  issues 
of  the  Civil  war,  took  strongly  to  the  side  of  the  Union.  He  and  Mary 
(Edwards)  Keith  were  the  jiarents  of:  Daniel,  Ivey,  George  and  Henry. 

Ivey  Keith,  father  of  John  Keith,  of  this  record,  was  born  in  Ed- 
monson" county,  Kentucky.  January  14,  1846,  and  passed  his  active  life 
a  farmer  and  grower  of  stock.  Warren  county  has  been  his  home  from 
youth  and  in  18(i;^.  he  enlisted  from  that  county  for  service  in  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion.  His  was  "I"  company  and  his  regiment  the  .52nd  in- 
fantry. He  served  as  a  private,  was  in  several  battles  and  was  wounded. 
He  has  taken  a  good  citizen's  interest  in  the  affairs  of  Lis  county  and  lias 


474  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

alBliated  with  the  Republican  party.  He  married  Jennie  Finney,  born 
in  Warren  county.  Kentui  ky,  February  17.  1840.  and  a  daughter  of  Jack 
and  Lucinda  (Thomas)  Finney,  people  of  Iri.sh  blood.  The  issue  of  this 
marriage  is  John  H..  of  this  notice;  Addie.  wife  of  Buford  Larrance,  of 
Kentucky;  Clay,  of  the  Indian  Territ(U'y;  Euclid,  a  farmer  and  lumber 
dealer  of  Kentiicky ;  Emmet,  Samuel  E.  and  William  L..  of  Kentucky. 

John  H.  Keith  came  to  manhood  on  the  farm  and  was  educated  in 
the  common  schools,  academy,  normal  school  and  business  college.  Ready 
for  life's  responsibilities,  he  chose  teaching  si-hool  as  a  profession,  while 
casting  about  for  the  real  work  of  his  life.  A  few  terms  sufficed  and  he  en- 
gaged in  a  systematic  preparation  for  the  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  Warren  county,  Kentucky,  Novendter  14,  1889.  and  spent  the  first 
two  years  after  admissiou  to  j)ractice  in  his  native  county.  In  February, 
1892,  he  left  his  native  place  and  located  in  ]Muscogee,  Indian  Territory, 
where  he  resided  'till  October,  1893,  when  he  made  Coffey ville,  Kansas, 
his  home.  For  ten  years  he  has  lieen  engaged  in  the  active  and  effective 
practice  of  his  profession  in  Jlontgomery  county,  and  is  among  the  well 
known  members  of  the  bar. 

Mr.  Keith  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  politics  of  his  town  and 
county.  He  was  City  Attorney  of  Coffey  ville  five  years,  was  chairman  of 
the  Democratic  County  Central  Committee  for  three  years  and  now  rep- 
resents the  29th  legislative  district  in  the  Kansas  legislature.  He  was 
chosen  in  a  Republican  district,  where  he  ran  three  hundred  votes  ahead 
of  his  ticket,  and  was  one  of  two  Deomcrats  on  the  county  ticket  elected. 
In  the  legislature  of  1903,  he  was  a  member  of  the  committes  on  Judici- 
ary, Railroads,  Mines  and  Mining  and  Private  Corporations.  In  a 
business  way  he  is  connected  with  several  Coft'eyville  enterprises,  of  some 
of  which  he  is  confidential  adviser. 

Mr.  Keith's  family  consists  of  two  sons.  Walter  and  Paul.  In  frater- 
nal matters  he  is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen,  a  Select  Knight  and 
an  Elk. 


I1.\RVEY  DUNCAN — Harvey  Duncan,  a  well  known  farmer  of 
^Montgomery  county,  is  a  native  of  Fulton  county,  Illinois,  and  was  born 
January  30"  1854.  His  parents,  Solomon  and  Rebecca  Duncan,  were  born 
in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  a  state  famed  beyond  the  seas  for  its  beautiful 
women  and  fine  horses."  The  mother's  family  came  from  the  state  most 
noted  for  its  old  families,  the  good  old  State  of  Virginia. 

Harvey  Duncan  was  one  of  nine  children.  They  are:  David,  Molly 
Real,  Anna  Herrell,  John,  Harvey,  Lida  Taylor,  James,  deceased,  and 
two  died  in  infancy. 

In  the  autumn  of  1870,  the  family  came  to  Montgomery  county,  driv- 
ing three  teams  overland,  and  carrying  their  furniture  and  provisions 


C.  C.  SURBER,   M.  D. 


»  r  »'»  f»  f  »- 


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►  •>.^v^».v 


HISTOBY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  475 

witli  them.  Their  journey  occuiiied  live  weeks,  of  hard  and,  many  times, 
very  tiresome  travel,  but  at  hist  it  was  finished  at  Independence.  Here 
they  purchased  a  chiim,  located  one  and  a  half  miles  north  of  the  village, 
and  for  it  they  paid  !yi,400.  A  contest  arose  over  this  claim,  and.  after 
four  years,  a  decision  was  given  in  favor  of  Solomon  Duncan.  Soon  after 
this  Harvey  located  on  a  claim  next  to  his  father's,  and  work  was  be- 
gun on  a  blockhouse,  in  which  the  family  lived  for  six  years,  when  they 
erected  the  brick  house  now  owned  by  T.  M.  Bailey. 

The  Duncans  had  close  acquaintance  with  many  of  the  Indians,  see- 
ing a  great  deal  of  them  in  the  earlier  years  of  their  residence  in  Kansas. 
They  numbered  among  their  acqiiainliinces :  (Miicfs.  l?ig  Hill  -Toe,  Toby, 
Wild  Cat.  White  Hair  and  Chetopa. 

Harvey  Duncan  married  Edith  Dreuner,  a  native  of  Illinois,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Jacob  and  Mary  Drenner.  of  Virginia.  To  them  have  been  born  four 
children:    Lina,  a  teacher;  Grace,  Jay  S.,  and  John  W. 

With  the  exception  of  five  years  spent  in  Independence,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  the  meat  business,  and  afterward  as  proprietor  of  the  In- 
dependence Hotel,  which  he  managed  successfully  for  several  years,  Mr. 
Duncan  has  spent  his  life  on  the  farm.  In  1891,  he  bought  the  eighty 
acres  of  land,  where  he  now  lives,  in  section  13-31-15.  This  farm,  which  is 
the  home  selected  as  a  permanent  abiding  place,  is  neat  and  well  kept, 
speaking  well  for  the  energy  and  good  management  of  the  owner. 

Mr.  Duncan  is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amerjca  and 
the  I.  O.  O.  F.  Politically  he  is  a  lifelong  Republican,  and  has  served  his 
party  faithfully,  as  a  member  of  the  school  board.  In  matters  concerning 
public  education  in  the  district,  no  one  shows  a  greater  interest  or  works 
harder  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times  than  he. 


CASSirS  C.  SURBER,  M.  I>.— There  is  presented,  in  the  subject  of 
this  brief  personal  record,  a  native  Kansan,  who  has  rendered  valuable 
service  to  the  profession  of  medicine  in  Montgomery  county.  He  occu- 
pies a  position  among  the  list  of  successful  physicians  of  Southern  Kan- 
sas, and  it  is  with  pardonable  pride  that  we  tlius  briefly  refer  to  his  pro- 
fessional and  social  achievements. 

Dr.  Surber  has  been  a  resident  of  Montgomery  county  less  than  ten 
years.  He  located  here  in  October,  1894,  direct  from  Delphos,  Kansas, 
but  formerly  from  Perry,  his  old  home  in  Jefferson  county.  He  began 
the  practice  of  medicine  in  Ottawa  county,  Kansas,  going  out  toward  the 
frontier  at  once  upon  the  completion  of  his  medical  course.  He  remained 
there  ten  years,  and  then  chose  the  more  settled  and  substantial  portion 
of  the  state — Montgomery  county — for  the  field  of  his  future  labors  and 
the  scene  of  his  greater  success. 


476  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

He  is  of  pioueer  Kansas  parentafje.  He  was  boi-n  in  Douglas  county, 
January  20,  1SG2.  four  years  after  his  father  settled  there.  In  1868,  his 
parents  located  at  Perry,  in  Jefferson  county,  Kansas,  where  they  reared 
and  educated  their  childi-en.  l>r.  l>avi<l  Surber,  our  subject's  father,  was 
a  pioneer  settler  from  the  State  of  Indiana.  He  was  born  in  Indiana  in 
1829.  His  father  was  the  Rev.  Henry  Surber,  a  Canipbellite  preacher, 
and  an  early  settler  of  the  "Hoosier  State."  The  latter  took  his  family 
to  Iowa  in  the  early  settlement  of  that  state  and  he  aided  materially  in 
shaping  the  moral  sentiment  of  his  community.  He  was  a  positive,  de- 
termined, vigorous-spoken  man  of  the  old  school,  to  illustrate  which 
qualities  it  is  only  necessary  to  present  one  conspicuous  incident.  Dur- 
ing the  early  years  of  the  progress  of  the  Civil  war  Southern  Iowa  con- 
tained a  small,  but  troublesome  and  outspoken,  secession  sentiment.  It 
became  noised  about  that  this  element  had  planned  to  disturb  the  Rev. 
Surber  in  his  effort  at  preaching  on  a  certain  evening,  and  finally  break 
up  his  meeting.  Mr.  Surber  learned  of  this  design  and  took  with  him 
two  good  Colts  pistols  and,  when  he  arose  to  begin  service,  laid  them  up 
in  front  of  him,  at  the  same  time  remarking  what  he  had  heard  and  stat- 
ing that  the  first  fellow  that  made  a  crooked  move  could  expect  to  be 
taken  care  of  by  the  blue-barreled  six  shooters  doing  picket  duty  for  the 
evening.  The  house  was  filled  and  the  disturbing  element  was  out  enforce 
and  occupying  front  seats,  and  nobody  seemed  to  enjoy  the  meeting  more 
than  they. 

Dr.  David  Surber  was  the  oldest  of  four  brothers.  As  his  father  re- 
sided chiefly  near  the  frontier,  as  the  family  grew  up,  educational  privi- 
leges were  somewhat  limited.  He  chose  medicine  as  his  life  work.  He 
completed  his  i)rofessional  preparation  in  the  Cincinnati  Medical  Col- 
lege and  soon  afterward  came  to  Kansas.  He  married  Eliza  J.  Stewart, 
which  family  also  furnished  one  or  more  excellent  physicians.  By  this 
union  there  are  two  surviving  children,  viz:  Dr.  C.  C,  our  subject,  and 
Mrs.  (iertrude  Eakin,  of  Bonner  Springs,  Kansas. 

After  the  public  schools  of  Perry,  the  State  University  of  Kansas 
provided  Dr.  C.  C.  Surber  with  the  means  of  a  higher  education.  He 
finished  the  course  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  institution  in  1881, 
and  to  him  was  issued  the  first  certificate  of  graduation  from  that  dejtart- 
ment.  He  entered  the  Kansas  City  Medical  College  immediately  on  leav- 
ing the  University,  and  completed  its  course  in  March,  1S84,  and  opened 
his  first  office  at  Delphos,  Kansas. 

Dr.  Surber  was  married  at  Perry,  Kansas,  in  1886,  and  has  a  son, 
Paul,  twelve  years  of  age.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Kansas  State  Medical  So- 
ciety and  of  the  Montgomery  County  Medical  Society.  He  is  secretary  of 
the  pension  examining  board  of  ^lontgomcry  county.  In  politics  the  Sur- 
bers  of  this  family  are,  without  exception,  Rei)ublican,  and  it  pleases  the 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  479 

two  voars.  chiefly  in  Ihe  study  of  comparative  anatomy.  In  1891-2-3,  he 
wa.s  a  studont  in  llie  T'nivwsity  Medical  Pollege,  of  Kansas  City,  Mis- 
soiii-i,  and  in  1S07-S,  ho  attended  the  Medico  Chinirgical  Institute,  from 
Avliich  he  gradualed  tlie  hitter  year.  He  befjan  practice  in  Clay  county, 
Kansas,  in  18!t;i,  and  continued  it  through  the  .years  1893-4-5-6,  and  then 
took  np^hc  work  of  completing  his  medical  education  in  Kansas  City,  as 
])ef(.r,»  stated. 

Dr.  Krugg's  residence  in  CotTeyville  has  witnessed  his  accession  to  a 
most  creditable  and  gratifxing  ]>(isilion  in  the  medical  fraternity.  He 
has  clung  steadily  to  his  determination  to  devote  his  time  to  his  profes- 
sion exclusively,  and  in  doing  so  he  has  won  his  way  to  social  and  finan- 
cial success. 

October  1C>,  1893  ,at  Lincoln,  Kansas,  Dr.  Krugg  married  Eliza 
Montgomery,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Eliza  Montgomery,  originally  from  Mas- 
sachusetts. The  two  children  of  this  union  are:  Mary,  born  in  Decem- 
ber 1-t,  1902,  and  Consuela  V.,  born  in  1897.  Dr.  Krugg  is  a  Democrat, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  A.  O.  I-.  W.  and  of  the  Knights  and  Ladies  of 
Securitv. 


CHARLES  M.  STARK— Charles  M.  Stark  may  clearly  be  classed 
among  the  old  settlers  of  the  county,  as  he  came  here  away  back  in  1868. 
Those  were  the  days  when  the  ''noble  Red  Men"  still  trod  the  prairie  and 
when  the  few  whites  of  good  character  needed  to  stand  firm  for  the 
"majesty  of  the  law"  against  half-breed  cow  thieves  and  renegade  white 
men,  whose  absence  from  civilization  became  necessary  on  account  of 
their  malodorous  reputation.  But  with  the  settling  of  such  men  in  the 
county  as  our  subject,  conditions  gradually  changed,  and  long  ere  the  last 
decade  of  the  century  opened,  Montgomery  county  came  to  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  orderly  communities  in  the  state.  ^Ir.  Stark  resides 
in  Louisburg  township,  on  his  original  pre-emption  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  which  evidences  in  its  neat  and  well-kept  appointments  the 
great  amount  of  care  lavished  upon  it. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Stark  occurred  in  Scott  county,  Indiana,  in  1838. 
His  fi'ther,  Nathaniel  B.  Stark,  was  a  son  of  Charles  Stark,  one  of  the 
very  earliest  settlers  in  Scott  county,  where  he  located,  after  the  removal 
of  the  Indians,  in  1811.  He  had  resided,  prior  to  that  time,  in  Henry 
county,  Kentucky.  Nathaniel  B.  Stark  was  born  in  the  latter  state  and 
was  but  seven  years  of  age  when  his  parents  moved  into  Indiana.  Here 
he  grew  to  manhood  amid  the  scenes  of  pioneer  life  and.  at  maturity, 
married  Margaret  Coons.  In  1849,  the  family  moved  out  to  Edgar  county, 
Illinois,  where  the  father  plied  his  trade  of  carpenter  until  his  death  in 
1864.  There  were  seven  children  born  to  our  subject's  parents,  as  fol- 
lows: JIalinda,  who  married  W.  W.  Crossfleld,  and  is  a  widow,  residing 


in  Chautauqua  county,  Kansas;  Martha,  Mrs.  E.  M.  Horton,  Chautauqua 
(•ount\  ;  Sarah,  wife  of  W.  H.  Deani.  of  LaHarpe,  Kansas;  Jane,  who  mar- 
ried James  M.  Stark,  and  resides  in  Elk  county,  Kansas;  Nathaniel  J.,  of 
San  Diego,  California ;  Josiah  M.,  residing  in  Louisburg  township,  and 
Charles  M..  who  constitutes  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Charles  M.  Stark  was  twelve  years  of  age  when  his  father's  family 
settled  in  Illinois,  and  from  that  time  until  his  thirtieth  year  he  con- 
tinued to  be  a  resident  of  Edgar  county.  In  18(50,  he  was  happily  joined 
in  marriage  with  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Sarah  (Shawler) 
Bartmess,  peojile  of  Kentucky  origin.  Mrs.  Stark  was  born  in  Edgar 
county.  Illinois.  In  the  spring  of  18GS,  Mr.  Stark  and  his  family,  to- 
gether with  his  mother  and  brothers  and  four  sisters,  settled  in  Mont- 
gomery county,  Kansas.  It  is  simple  justice  to  say  that  Mr.  Stark  has 
had  a  most  wholesome  influence  on  the  development  which  has  come  to 
the  county  since  that  early  day,  and  fully  merits  the  esteem  in  which  he 
is  held.  He  and  his  family  have  been  su])porters  and  memliers  of  the 
Christian  church  for  years,  and  have  entered  into  the  social  life  of  their 
community  in  its  varied  activities  with  a  spirit  of  much  helpfulness. 

To  our  subject  and  wife  have  been  born  children  as  follows:  John 
F.,  born  November  18.  1864,  resides  in  the  Indian  Territory,  married 
Josie  Stewart,  and  has  four  children :  Clara,  Marian  T.,  Bertha  May  and 
Buelah ;  Harmon  F.,  born  December  G,  1867,  married  Maggie  Faris.  They 
reside  in  Chautauqua  county.  Kansas,  with  their  children:  Hattie, 
Charles,  Alvin,  ('larence  and  Oscar;  Early  A.,  born  March  3.  1876,  mar- 
ried Mamie  Hope,  and  has  a  daughter,  Eline,  and  resides  in  Montgomery 
countA. 


SULLIVAN  LOMAX — The  efficient  school  man  who  jnesides  over 
the  destinies  of  public  education  in  Montgomery  county,  is  Sullivan  Lo- 
max.  the  subjct  of  this  biographical  review.  He  is  widely  known  to  the 
jtrofcssional  educators  of  the  county  and  is  favorably  regarded  by  patrons 
and  Tcarlicis,  alike,  for  the  practical  manner  in  which  he  handles  the 
cause  <pf  pulilic  education.  His  ])lucky  rise  from  obscurity,  against  both 
])liysical  and  liiiancial  ohslarh's.  to  tlic  licad  of  tiic  cdnrnTi.mal  interests 
of  a  great  county,  is  a  feat  to  be  admired  and  an  acliicvenient  worthy  of 
niuch  I'raise. 

Sullivan  Loniax  was  born  in  Orange  county,  Indiana,  August  31, 
1872.  His  father,  who  was  a  carpenter,  was  Abel  Lomax,  who  died,  in 
1880,  at  the  age  of  forty-five  years.  He  was  a  native  of  the  same  county 
and  state,  where  his  father,  Quinton  Lomax,  settled  in  an  early  day. 
Quinton  Lomax  was  a  farmer  and  politician  and  was  elected  State  Sena- 
tor ,  froiTi  his  district,  by  the  Democratic  party.  He  was  born  in  the 
State  of  Marvland  and  had  sons:  Abel,  Laniska,  Junius  and   William. 


Aliel  l.diiiMX  married  Tainar  White,  who  died  in  Oiaiige  county,  Indiana, 
ill  ISTS.  Tlie  issue  of  their  marriage  was  the  following  children:  Wil- 
liam, of  Channte,  Kansas;  Quinton,  of  Orange  coiint.v.  Indiana;  Sullivan, 
our  subject;  Asahel  and  Ezra,  twins,  and  Mattie,  wife  of  George  E. 
Skidii'ore. 

Orphaned  at  the  age  of  eiglit  veais  and  made  motherless  when  a  child 
of  six,  Sullivan  I.omax  was  brought  fa<e  to  face  with  life's  stern  realities 
at  a  tender  age,  Handicajujed,  as  he  was,  he  made  the  most  of  his  few 
oiiporlunities  and  resolved  to  dedicate  his  faculties  to  a  virtuous  and  use- 
ful life.  He  worked  at  choring  and  odd  jobs,  for  his  keep,  while  attend- 
ing countiy  school;  did  farm  work,  such  as  he  was  able  to  do;  blacked 
boots  when  prompted  to  do  so,  as  a  means  to  a  legitimate  and  cherished 
end,  and  the  money  which  he  saved  from  these  sources,  he  expended  in 
acquiring  a  higher  education.  He  came  to  Kansas,  in  1885,  with  his 
brother  Quinton,  stopjied  near  Oherryvale  and  herded  cattle  for  Gilbert 
Baker,  for  a  time.  The  next  winter,  he  lived  with  the  family  of  Alexan- 
der Campbell  and  worked  for  his  board  and  went  to  school.  He  contin- 
ued, in  this  way,  till  he  reached  the  goal  of  a  teadier's  license,  when  he 
became  the  master  of  a  country  school.  His  lirst  term  was  finished  in 
18!tl  i.nd  his  last  one  in  the  fall  of  1900.  when  he  was  nominated  by  the 
Republicans  of  Montgomery  county,  for  Gounty  (Superintendent,  and  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  one  hundred  an<l  thirty  votes.  In  1002.  he  was 
named,  by  his  party,  to  succeed  himself  and  was  elected,  in  November, 
by  a  majority  of  seven  hundred  and  eleven  votes.  The  work  of  his  office 
has  been  efficiently  carried  out  and  the  high  standard  attained  by  his 
predecessor,  maintained  and  improved. 

May  4,  1897,  Mr.  Loniax  married  Adah  Lewis,  a  daughter  of  J.  P. 
Lewis,  of  Eureka  Springs,  Arkansas.  Mr.  Lewis  married  Rachel  Brown 
and  has  a  family  of  six  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Loniax  is  the  only 
daughter.  She  and  Mr.  Loniax  are  the  parents  of  a  son  and  a  daughter,: 
Otho  W.  and  Elzene,  the  daughter  being  the  first  born.  Mr.  Loniax  is  an 
Odd  Fellow,  a  Modern  Woodman  and  a  member  of  the  Knights  and 
Ladies  of  Security. 


JOHN  r.  SHEFPl ELI >— Thirty  years  ago  there  came  to  Montgom- 
ery county  the  gentleman  whose  honored  name  precedes  this  paragraph, 
and  who  has  since  been  one  of  her  niost  inlhientiiU  riti/.eiis.  He  lived, 
for  nine  years,  in  the  town  of  Independence,  then  jmrchased  the  juesent 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  where  he  has  since  demonstrated 
what  excellent  agricultural  sense,  coupled  with  a  penchant  for  hard 
work,  can  accomplish  in  southern  Kansas.  There  are  no  pyrotechnics 
in  the  life  of  Mr.  Sheffield — he  is  just  a  good  plain  citizen,  but  he  is  all 
that,  and  in  the  highest  and  truest  sense  of  that  term — a  man  to  whom 


482  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

the  strauger  will  bo  directed,  as  one  of  the  solid  men  of  the  couiinunity. 

The  Sheffields  are  of  English  extraetiou.  having  emigrated  to  this 
eountry  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war,  in  the  person  of  the  great- 
grandfather of  our  subject,  who  was  one  of  a  party  of  twelve  who  pur- 
chased Block  Island,  off  the  coast  of  Rhode  Island,  from  the  government. 
Here  they  formed  a  colony  and,  for  years,  the  descendants  of  the  original 
twelve  continued  to  cultivate  the  island.  The  father  of  John  P.,  John, 
also,  was  born  on  the  island,  in  1793.  He  married  Jennette  Briggs,  a  na- 
tive of  the  island,  and,  in  1833,  removed  to  Ohio.  To  these  parents  were 
born  seven  children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living:  James  F.,  Huldah 
and  John  P.  The  parents  lived  to  a  riije  old  age,  the  father  dying  at  sev- 
enty-one, the  mother'  at  sixty-one  years. 

John  P.  Sheffield  was  born  in  George  township,  Athens  county.  Ohio. 
May  27,  1844.  He  was  leared  on  a  farm,  where  he  learned  the  lessons  of 
thrift  and  economy,  which  have  served  him  so  well,  during  life,  and  was 
given  the  advantages  of  a  district  school  education.  At  eleven  years  old, 
he  went  to  live  with  an  older  bi-other,  but,  at  seventeen,  returned  to  take 
charge  of  the  farm  for  his  father  and  continued  to  discharge  this  filial 
duty  until  the  death  of  both  j)arents. 

On  the  14th  of  April,  1S7*_',  Mr.  Sheffield  was  married  to  Laviua 
Guernsey,  of  Lake  county,  Indiaiui  (born  April  4,  18.53),  and,  the  follow- 
ing year,  came  to  Kansas.  The  greatest  misfortune  that  can  happen  to 
man.  was  the  lot  of  Mr.  Sheffield,  on  the  3d  of  ^lardi.  1S8(I.  when,  at  the 
early  age  of  twenty-seven  years,  the  mothei'  of  his  chihlreu  was  taken 
away.  She  is  I'emembercd  as  a  lady  of  many  noble  (|ualities.  and  the  two 
children,  Willi^uii  and  Lavina.  and  tiie  Inisliand.  still  cherish  her  mem- 
ory. U])on  arriving  atiiiaturity.  Hie  daughter  married  Charles  F.  Smith, 
the  exact  date  being  October  1,  llMIl",  and  imw  lives  on  the  home  farm 
with  her  father.  Her  husband  was  l)()rn  in  ('Tawford  county,  Kansas,  on 
the  20th  of  August,  1882,  (he  .son  of  .lames  \V.  and  MoUie  (Cullison) 
Smith,  natives  of  Kentucky  and  Indiana.  resj)ectively.  They  located  in 
Crawford  county,  in  1871,  and,  later  removed  to  Montgomery  county, 
where  they  are  now  living.  Charles  F.  Smith  has  been  his  own  man  since 
the  early  age  of  nine,  and  is  a  young  man  of  many  sterling  qualities 
which  nmke  him  jtopjiliM;  with  a  large  circle  of  acquaintances. 

ilr.  Sheffield  andiUis  household  ai-(>  regarded  with  the  g7-(>atest  re- 
siiect   in  the  conuiiuiiitv  where  tliev  have  so  lonj-  resided. 


.   1. 

i:mi;nt  i.,  Ki'MiUj: 

-In   the  spring  of   IS".*:'.,   liie  siibje 

cl   of  this 

revi 

e\\ 

\irr:\u.r   iiiclili'lied^wiitl 

li  Montgomery  county,     lie  came 

as  an  em- 

plo; 

.(■  0 

r  I  lie    ln.le|u;iuleiii:e  (J 

as  <'(ini|iaMy,  then  doing  its  initia 

1  wink  in 

li.e 

(](\ 

elo)inien(   ol'llie  g,i,s 

and  oil   bi-ll   of  .soulhern   Kansas. 

He  was 

irol 

n  l'; 

u;la,  Kansas,  the  iioiiii 

'  .>f  Hie  prime  movers  in  the  format 

i.m  of  the 

HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  483 

ln<i('l>(iuli'ii(('  (Jas  Coinpiuiy  .in  which  ioiiut,v  of  Miiiini.  his  parents  were 
settlers  from  Adams  eounly.  Ohio,  in  1.S84. 

!'.>  nativity.  Jlr.  Kimble  is  an  Ohioan.  He  was  born  in  Adams  ooun- 
tv — the  home  of  tlie  familv  for  several  jjeneralions— Otobcr  2.  1870.  He 
is  a  mixture  of  Kn<;lish  and  Irish  slo.k.  his  father  i.<-in}r  the  jiiandson 
of  an  lOiifilishman  and  his  mother  a  dan};h(er  of  Irisli  imiiii<;iaiits  to  the 
"Htiekeye  State."  The  ori<;inal  Kimble,  of  this  Aineri.aii  family,  settled 
in  one  of  the  counties  of  Maryland,  in  the  first  years  of  our  natiomil  his- 
tory aisd  broufilit  up  his  family  there.  A  son.  Klijah  Kimble,  followed 
the  tide  of  emifji-ation  westward,  in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  founded  the  family  of  Kinibles  in  A<laiirs  county,  Ohio.  He 
settled  a  new  farm  there  and  brouf>ht  uj)  his  family,  according;  to  the 
rural  customs  of  that  day.  His  wife  was  a  Krad/ord  and  their  family 
comprised  eight  sons  and  two  daughters.  David  B.  Kimble,  the  father  of 
our  subject,  was  one  of  their  sons,  and  lie  was  hom  about  1839.  The  lat- 
ter's  bringing-up  was  without  particular  incident  and  for  a  wife,  he  chose 
Mary  Connor.  During  the  (Mvil  war,  he  entered  the  army,  in  1862,  and 
helped  fight  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  Becoming  disabled,  by  disease,  he  was 
finally  discharged  for  disability.  Rut  he,  afterward,  and  toward  the 
close  of  the  war,  did  duty  as  a  nurse  on  board  one  of  the  warships. 

In  civil  life,  the  ptirsuits  of  the  farm  claimed  the  attention  of  David 
B.  Kimble,  after  the  war,  in  Ohio  and  until  1884,  he  maintained  his  resi- 
dence in  his  native  state.  He  and  his  wife  maintain  the  family  home  in 
Paola,  Kansas,  and  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  of  which  number 
Olemeut  L.  is  the  third  and  only  son. 

P.  L.  Kimble  acquired  his  foundation  ])rin(-ijiies  of  an  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  Kansas.  He.  became  a' teacher  in  the  country 
schools,  on  approaching  manhood,  and.  after  two  years'  work  in  Miami 
county,  decided  to  sti'engthen  himself  by  work  ais  a  student  in  the  Kan- 
sas State  Normal  School.  He  spent  the  years  18(»0  and  1891  there  and 
did  the  work  of  an  irregular  course,  almost  up  to- thip  ])rofessioual  year. 
On  retiring  from  the  normal,  he  taught  anothel-  year,  in  the  common 
schools  and  then  joined  the  Independence  ()as  roii{]>aiiy.  as  bookkeeper, 
and  became  identified  with  ^lontgomery  county.    .:  •■ 

The  Independence  (ias  ('om]iany  was  chiir'tei'eiiT.  in  189:'.  with  a 
capital  of  foO.OOO  and  (".  L.  Bloonr  was  .  lioscu  j.resideiVt  ;  A.  V.  McBride, 
secretary;  J.  1).  Nickerscm.  vice  incsidcut.  aud  W.' I'.  Brown,  of  Cotfey- 
ville,  treasurer.  In  189().  the  capital  stork  ot  tli»;  coinijany  was  incieased 
— at  a  reorganization — to  |10l),0t)ll  and  the  saine'otticers  were  chosen 
president  and  secretary,  while  A.  C.  Sti<h  wasVleVt<id  vice-president  and 
A.  AV.  Shulthis  treasueer.  The  third  chh)4>e'  in'  the  capital  of  the 
comi)any.  took  idace  in  1901,  when  its  stock'  ws^s  increased  to  $250,000, 
and  :>lr.  :\IcBride  look  Shulthis'  place  as  treasurer  and  C.  L.  Kimble  was 


484  HISTORr  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

added  to  the  official  board,  as  secretary  of  the  conipauy;  the  other  offi- 
cers remaining  the  same. 

While  Mr.  Kimble  is  in  no  sense  a  politician,  he  affiliates  with  the 
Republican  party.  His  father  was  an  Ohio  Democrat  and  was  a  modest 
but  earnest  supporter  of  the  cause,  while  a  citizen  of  the  "Buckeye 
State."  Masonry  is  a  matter  iu  which  our  subject  has  taken  much  inter- 
est and  his  rise  from  the  Blue  Lodge,  which  he  entered  in  1898,  to  the 
Shrine  at  Leavenworth  and  the  Consistory  at  Wichita,  since  then,  marks 
an  achievement,  unusual  in  its  importance  and  significance  in  fraternal 
work. 


JOHN  C.  THOMAS— In  June,  18(><),  John  C.  Thomas  settled  in 
Montgomery  county,  an  emigrant  from  Jo  Daviess  county,  Illinois.  In 
company  with  father  and  mother,  he  left  the  town  of  ("ouncil  Hill,  with  a 
team  and  a  few  household  effects,  and  the  journey  to  Kansas  occupied 
something  over  a  month.  A  sister  of  our  subject  was  also  in  the  party 
and,  in  August,  the  mother  died  and  was  laid  away  in  a  rude  jiine  box, 
made  of  dry  goods  boxes,  by  a  neighbor.  Father  and  son  each  took  a 
claim  in  Drum  (-reek  and  West  Cherry  townships,  respectively,  where 
the  former  died,  February  10,  1870.  The  cabin,  which  our  subject  erected, 
was  a  small  one,  12x14  feet,  and  he  made  it  his  home  for  only  a  couple  of 
years,  when  a  new  and  more  pretentious  one  appeared. 

Indians,  located  near  his  cabin,  begged  and  stole  Mr.  Thomas'  prop- 
erty and  they  even  ordered  him  to  leave  his  claim.  A  claim- 
jumper  built  a  shanty  on  the  claim,  formerly  owned  by  his  father,  but 
our  subject  tore  it  down  and,  some  time  later,  lost  all  his  improvements, 
by  fire,  at  the  hand,  it  was  believed,  of  the  biifflcd  claim  jumper.  This 
loss  was  a  disaster  that  caused  liar(lslii|)s  and  mental  siitl'cring  to  Mr. 
Thomas.  Provisions  were  high — tiour  ;$8.0(»  per  hundred,  bacon  2.5  cents 
per  pound  and  shelled  corn  |2.00  per  bushel — and  it  was  months  before 
he  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  blow.  In  1872,  he  rented  his  farm 
and  v.ent  to  Sedalia,  Missouri,  where  he  woi'ked,  as  a  machinist,  for 
twelve  years,  returning,  (lieu,  to  his  farm,  able  to  carry  on,  successfully, 
the  improvement  and  cultivation  of  his  place. 

John  C.  Thomas  was  born  at  Tywardreth,  (Cornwall  county,  Eng- 
land, November  2;{,  1846.  In  1852,  his  mother  and  three  children  emigrat- 
ed from  there  to  the  [Inited  States  (the  father,  however,  having  come> 
four  years  before)  and  seltied  in  Jo  Daviess  county,  Illinois.  The  father 
was  John  Tlioiiias  and  the  mother  was  Sarah  Cook,  a  lineal  descendant 
of  Capt.  Cook,  (lie  famous  navigator.  Her  father  and  mother  were 
James  and  Elizabeth  (Slec^man)  Cook.  John  Thomas,  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  was  born  in  County  ('ornwall  and  married  Kittle  James  of  the 
same   county.     Their   childi-eu    wer*^ :    John    and    Mrs.    Kittle    Hitchens. 


HISTORY   OF    MONTGOMEBY   COUNTY^   K-ArSHAa.  +03 

John,  Ji-.'h  children  were:  Jolin  (\.  <mr  snhjcci ;  Mis.  Sarah  A.  Hnnney, 
of  Central  City,  Colorado;  Jainos  L..  of  Pinole.  California;  and  Mrs. 
Ruth  Fuller,  of  Denver,  Colorado. 

John  C.  Thomas  married  Rehecca  Warren,  a  native  of  Camden 
county,  Missouri,  and  a  daughter  of  Thomas  L.  Warren.  His  wife  died, 
leaving  a  son.  Perry,  of  Oakland,  California,  a  hospital  engineer.  Mr. 
Thomas'  second  wife  was  Emma  A.  Cordes,  of  Morgan  county,  Missouri, 
and  a  daughter  of  Frederick  Cordes,  a  German  settler  of  that  state.  The 
children  of  this  union  are:  Walter  C.  and  Oscar  L..  hoth  with  the  pa- 
rental home. 

The  Thomas  family  of  this  record  were  miners,  both  in  England  and 
the  United  States.  Our  subject  worked  in  the  lead  mines  of  Illinois  and 
in  the  coal  mines  of  Ohio  and  in  the  lead  and  zinc  mines  of  Wisconsin, 
and  came  to  Kansas  to  build  him  a  home.  He  has  taken  a  good  citizen's 
interest  in  public  affairs,  has  served  his  district  school  board  ten  years, 
has  been  a  member  of  his  township  political  committee  and  was  chosen 
a  delegate  to  the  Republican  State  Convention  of  1002. 


WILLIAM  H.  HARTER— When  one  begins  to  talk  about  "early 
days"  in  Montgomery  county,  it  is  necessary  to  i-eckon  with  the  gentle- 
man whose  honored  name  is  herewith  given,  as  his  coining  dates  to  the 
time  v.'hen  a  single  log  cabin  marked  the  site  of  Independence  and  when 
the  aborigines  of  the  prairie  roamed  in  undisputed  freedom  over  hill  and 
dale.  The  years  which  have  passed  since  then,  have  furrowed  the  face 
and  v.hitened  the  locks,  but  have  failed  to  age  the  heart;  youth  springs 
eterno.i  in  the  old  pioneers. 

William  Harter's  nativity  dates  in  Carroll  county,  Indiana,  of  the 
year  1836.  He  is  the  eldest  of  the  seven  children  born  to  Andrew  and 
Delilah  (Hewett)  Barter,  the  names  of  the  other  children  being:  Isaac, 
a  farmer,  residing  in  Drum  Crwk  township;  Elizabeth,  who  married  John 
Raplogle  and  lives  in  Carroll  ccmiity.  Indiana;  Lewis,  of  Carroll  county; 
Frank,  of  Seattle.  Washington:  Sarah.  Mrs.  :^!iles  Flora,  of  Carroll 
county,  Indiana;  Delphine,  wife  of  William  Lytic,  living  in  Carroll 
connly,  Indiana. 

Mr.  Harter  grew  to  manhood  and  married  in  Carroll  county,  the 
year  being  1868,  and  his  wife's  maiden  name  was  Rachel  Baley;  also, 
a  native  of  (^arroll  county.  The  following  year,  our  subject  and  his 
wife  came  to  this  county,  where  they  made  settlement  on  part  of  the  large 
farm  which  they  now  own.  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Harter's  brother. 

At  that  time,  "Poor  Lo"  was  in  evidence  in  the  county,  to  the  number 
of  3,?.00.  and  not  always  the  most  peaceable  nor  the  most  trustworthy. 
The  trials  of  the  very  early  pioneers  of  the  county,  with  the  Indians,  were 
many,  their  thieving  propensities  being  the  most  annoying.     It  was  nee- 


essarvto  walrh  stocU  all  the  tiiiic.  Mini  notliiiis  "f  value  could  he  laid  down 
for  a  siiijilc  iiioinciii. 

Mr.  and  Mis.  HartiM-  have  icaicd  tliicc  cliildren,  two  of  their  own, 
and  'in  adojited  child.  Charles  A.  lives  on  the  old  homestead  farm  and  is 
one  of  the  jiroiiiisiiij;  yoiin.s  men  of  the  county:  Jessie  M.,  the  daughter, 
lives  with  lier  j)arents.  An  adopted  child,  Jane,  is  now  the  wife  of 
<Marei)ce  Osborne,  a  farmer  of  the  county. 

The  farm  owned  by  the  Harters  is  a  fine  body  of  four  hundred  acres, 
jiart  of  it  but  two  miles  from  the  center  of  the  thriving;  county-seat  town 
of  Indejiendence.  and  its  broad  acres  show  the  hand  of  the  experienced 
agriculturist.  The  standing  of  the  Harter  family,  among  the  yeomanry  of 
the  county,  is  un(|uestio!ied,  and  the  helpful  character  of  their  citizenship 
has  done  much  to  i-aise  the  general  moral  level.  Mr.  Harter  has  never 
taken  a  very  active  part  in  tlie  ]»ublic  life  of  the  county,  but  has  always 
been  a  consistent  supporter  of  the  Republican  party.  He  is  a  man  who 
combines  many  of  the  noble  qualities,  so  marlved  in  pioneers,  and  num- 
bers his  friends  bv  the  hundreds  in  the  countv. 


MAKTIN  HH.VDFOKD  SOUI.E— The  esteemed  gentleman  whose 
name  introduces  this  brief  sketch,  is  the  efficient  and  popular  Probate 
Judge  of  Montgomery  county.  Twenty  years  have  passed  since  his  iden- 
tity with  the  county  lM'<aiiie  a  fact  and,  since  his  advent  here,  in  the  fall 
of  18S3,  he  has  demonstrated  an  unselfish,  patriotic  and  public-spirited 
citizenship. 

The  town  of  Waterville,  Maine,  gave  him  birth,  on  the  27th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1838,  and  in  the  •■I'iiie  Tree  i^tate,"  and  its  educational  institutions 
develojiedhini  into  a  well  rounded,  strong  and  intellectual  young  man.  His 
antecedents  were  ('oloiiial  ](eo]ile  of  Massachusetts,  near  Dnxboro,  of 
which  state,  Daniel  Soule,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born  in  1702.  Dan- 
iel Soule  was  a  son  of  Jonathan  Soule,  whose  French  forefather  estab- 
lished the  family  in  the  Uritisii  colonies  of  America,  some  time  in  the 
eighteenth  ceiitiiry.  Jonathan  Soule  followed  pastoral  pursuits  and,  in 
179G,  he  settled  at  Waterville,  Maine,  wliere  he  died,  in  1830,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-four  years.  He  married  Hoiiore  Souther,  who  survived  to 
ninet,\-six  years  of  age.  and  was  the  mother  of:  Zebide,  who  died  iri  Wis- 
consin: (Jeorgc.  I'alotiah,  Sullivan,  Charlotte  and  Althea,  who  passed 
away  in  Maine,  including  Daniel.  Daniel  Soule  grew  uj)  in  \A'aterville 
and  was  a  .Maine  soldier  in  the  war  (d"  1812.  He  joined  the  army,  as  a  re- 
cruit, toward  the  end  of  the  war  and,  on  returning  to  civil  life,  resumed 
the  occuiiation  of  his  father,  lie  married  Mary  Hayden,  born  in  1800, 
at  Winslow.  Maine.  Slie  died  in  IS.","  and  he  in  1881.  Tlieir  children 
were:  Mai-y  J.,  who  died  unmairied  :  (ieorge  II..  of  Orange,  Massachu- 
setts: .\nn  K..  of  Waterville.  .Maine,  who  iiiaiiied  Klhanan  Cook;  Olive 


•^;c_,y-*^-f^:'j.- 


ite^^^^^^ 


I*  I)  I*  I 

M  f r  l»    , 

1%  »*  I    I 


.VIA 

»»  '»  •#  , 


\.  KANSAS. 

'.iiig  of  value,  could  be  laid  <iu\v!> 

;rif  r'-T!iirrn    t'wn  of  their  own, 

;  i  farm  and  is 

.-^  (lawghtev, 

the  wife  of 

ily  of  foxir  hundred  acres, 

'   thriving  county-seat  town 

1(1  iis  hioaii  Hcies  slio»  the  hand  of  the  experienced 

-vandin};  of  the  Harter  family,  among  the  yeomJinry  of 

-;iif,'i,('   .i-!,i    h,- iiMiM-'-.ti  !-p.:iv:!.-iAp  of  j-iipjp  (.jtj^enship 

Harter  has  never 

II IV.  but  has  arlwaya 


luu  pal/'i 


spin 


.  ■ill  the  271  h  !■:"  .T:;nu- 
■  i'iue  Tree  SLalt,"  aiid  Jt.s  ciiucation-  ' 
well-rounded,  strong  and  intellectual  V' 
•  in,  :mI   >^  .iiilc  of  Massachusetts,  near 

'  i<t  our  subject,  was  born  lu  i'i\)J,.    hau 
:   '^(Hile,  whose  French  forefather  estab- 

■'-  ""    ■■'"■•'.  ->■>'"  time  in  the 

suits  and,  in 

!«.  at  the  age 

-  ■iiuicr.    wild   survived   to 

Zebide,  who  died  iii  Wis- 

:iim1    Allhea,   vho  pa---s'^d 


t    I    •#  %  a^  w  a^  • 


»>:«vx«»;^*>:v>x\»>. 


JUDGE  M.  B.  SOULE. 


HISTORY  OK  MONTliO.MKKY  COUNTY.  KANSAS.  489 

was  the  father  of  six  children,  as  follows:  Cluules  M.,  of  Hartlioloinew 
county,  Indiana;  Marv,  deceased;  James  I'.,  of  this  review;  Edward,  de 
ceased;  Frederick,  of  liartholoniew  county,  Indiana,  and  William,  de 
ceased. 

James  1*.  Hubbard  grew  up  from  boyhood  in  and  around  Jouesville, 
Indiana,  with  only  the  advantages  of  the  country  youth.  He  attended 
school  a  few  months,  during  the  winter  terms,  and  nia<le  a  hand  on  the 
farm  in  summer.  He  contributed  of  his  meager  earnings  to  the  main- 
tenanc-e  of  the  parental  home,  till  he  readied  his  majoiity,  and  continued 
to  labor,  as  a  farm  hand,  till  the  <i](p(irtuntiy  arose  whereby  he  could 
"crop  on  the  shares."  He  finally  jturi  liascd  a  farm  and  was  engaged  with 
its  cultivation  and  improvement  till  his  advent  to  Kansas. 

Septeinbei  S.  1871,  Mr.  Hubbard  married  Indiana  McHenry,  a  daugh 
ter  of  l{i(  liard  McIIenry.  from  Ohio.  Mr.  McHenry  was  the  father  of  a 
large  family  of  children.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hubbard's  children  are:  Richard 
H.,  born  January  22,  1872,  is  still  with  the  family  circle;  Elizabeth,  born 
in  February,  1875,  is  the  wife  of  William  Courtright,  of  the  Indian  Ter 
ritory;  Ollie,  who  married  Elmer  DeMott,  of  Montgomery  county,  Kan 
sas ;  Emery  and  James,  yet  with  their  parents. 

In  his  political  relations,  Mr.  Hubbard  is  a  Republican.  His  father 
was  a  war  Democrat,  but  the  issues  of  that  time  and  the  results  of  it 
caused  the  son  to  seek  a  different  political  home  and  he  has  been  an  un- 
yielding partisan  of  the  protectionist  faith  since.  He  holds  a  membership 
in  the  "subordinate"  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 


ALBERT  W'.  SHULTHI8— A  survey  of  the  financial  institutions  of 
Independence  reveals  an  array  of  citizenship  connected  with  their  man- 
agement, prominent  in  the  business  world  and  conspicuous  as  pioneers 
or  early  settlers  of  Montgomery  county.  The  youngest  of  them  has  serv- 
ed his  quarter  of  a  century  with  his  institution — has  grown  up  in  its  ser- 
vice— and  has,  for  ten  years,  been  its  efficient  cashier.  We  refer  to 
Albert  W.  Shulthis,  of  the  Citizens  National  Bank.  He  came  to  Indepen- 
dence with  his  parents  in  187(5,  a  boy  of  fourteen,  and  the  next  year  en 
tered  the  Hull  Bank  as  office  boy.  By  actual  experience,  he  familiarized 
himself  with  every  menial  and  clerical  duty  about  the  institution,  be 
came  its  book-keeper  and  in  1891,  was  appointed  assistant  cashier.  Since 
1894,  he  has  held  the  position  of  cashier  and,  thus,  briefly,  is  reviewed  his 
connection  with  one  of  the  important  concerns  of  Montgomery  county. 

A  history  of  the  development  of  the  Citizens  National  Bank  discloses 
the  fact  that  it  first  took  shape  as  a  private  bank.  In  1871,  C.  H.  and 
Edgar  Hull  organized  the  Hull  Bank,  with  a  capital  of  $34,000.00.  They 
conducted  it  until  1883,  when  it  was  purchased  by  A.  C.  Stich  and  Henry 
Foster,  and  the  name  changed  to  The  Citizens  Bank,  with  a  capital  of 


490  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

J4(),0(I0.(I(».  and  was  conducted  as  a  private  institution  until  1894,  when 
it  nationalized  witli  a  capital  of  I.IO.OOO.OO  and  a  snr])lus  of  flO.OOO.OO.  Its 
tirsl  I'icsident  was  Henry  Foster,  and  its  first  Cashier,  A.  C.  Stich.  Mr. 
Stich  succeeded  :Mi-.  Foster  as  President  in  1S!>4,  and  at  the  same  time 
Mr.  Sliulthis  took  the  position  vacated  by  Mr.  Stich. 

From  its  inception  to  the  present,  the  <'itizens  National  Bank  has 
been  a  prosperous  and  progressive  institution.  Its  officers  and  managers 
have  been  men  of  marked  ability  in  coinmercial  circles  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, its  assets  have  consisted  of  live  and  substantial  securities  and  its 
capital  and  surplus  always  strengthened  rather  than  impaired.  It  is  the 
oldest  bank  in  this  ])ortion  of  Kansas  and,  under  its  present  manage 
ment,  is  especially  reliable  and  strong.  Since  nationalization  its  capital 
has  increased  from  .fuO.OOO.OO  to  |1()0,()()().00  and  its  assets  from  |150,- 
000.(10  to  .«4."(»,()(  10.(10.  The  deposits  amount  to  $300,000.00  and  its  busi- 
ness is  i)rincipally  local  in  character. 

Albert  W.  Shulthis  was  born  in  Quincy,  Illinois,  March  17,  1863.  He 
is  the  youngest  of  ten  children  and  a  son  of  George  and  Magdalene  (Win- 
gert)  Shulthis.  both  native  of  Darmstadt,  Germany,  where  their  families 
had  ivsided  for  generations  before  them.  The  father  was  born  in  1807, 
and  died  in  Quincy,  Illinois,  in  lS!t3.  He  was  mari-ied  in  that  city,  where 
he  was  a  pioneer  and  where  he  settled  down  as  a  shoemaker.  His  sav- 
ings lie  invested  in  cit.\  real  estate  and,  in  time,  it  made  him  comfortable 
and  independent.  He  liii.illy  engaged  in  the  retail  shoe  business,  and. 
later  o7i,  in  the  wholesale  business,  retiring  at  near  seventy  years  of  age 
and  spending  some  yeais  as  a  resident  of  Independejice,  Kansas.  His 
wife  died  in  1882,  at  the  age  of  sixty-sis,  and  eight  of  their  children  still 
survive. 

The  jniblic  schools  knew  A.  W.  Shulthis  as  a  pupil  no  more,  after  his 
fourteenth  year.  From  thence  forward  to  the  present,  the  salient  fea- 
tures of  his  life  work  have  been  referred  to.  He  is  devoted  to  business 
and  the  interests  of  his  bank  and  his  family  chiefly  monopolize  his  time. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  commercial  club  of  Independence,  and  exerts  an  in- 
fluence in  the  promotion  of  enterprises  to  the  city's  advantage.  May  1, 
1888,  he  married  Mary  B.  Sewell,  a  Tennessee  lady.  Their  children  are: 
Beatrice  and  Muriel. 


I'EKKY  S.  HOLLINGSWORTII— The  gentleman  whose  name  in 
trodmes  this  article  is  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Montgomery  county 
and  is  widely  known  as  a  banker  and  man-of-affairs.  His  connection 
with  the  county  began  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  since  and  as  a 
merchant,  stockman  and  flnancier  his  reputation  has  been  established 
and  his  success  has  been  attained. 

Perry  S.  Holliugsvvorth  was  born  in  Peoria,  Illinois,  January  1,  1853, 


UISTOKY  OF  MONTGOMEBY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  49I 

:iii«l  ;n:i  son  of  Uicliiinl  and  Hcln'cca  ( Ilastinfjs)  Holliii'iswoidi,  v.-ncial.hr 
(^nakfr  parciils,  wlio  arc  liliorally  iiicnfioiied  clsi'wluMc  licioin. 

The  Slate  (if  Iowa  ^avc  to  I'.  S.  Ilolliiijiswoiili  liis  [tlivsical  and  men- 
tal (icvi'lo|)Mi('nt.  Tlif  jiuisnits  of  tlic  laiin  conl  riliiitcd  to  liis  nuiSculav, 
and  the  jiulilic  siliools  and  llic  rnivcrsitv  of  tlic  state  lo  his  niontal  train- 
infj.  lie  };radnat<'d  in  tlic  latter  institution  in  1S7(I.  and  bcj^an  life  on  the 
farm,  lie  chantied  his  vocation  after  two  years  and  became  a  merchant 
in  the  town  of  West  liranch.  H«'  remained  there  until  his  emi-jration 
from  the  state  in  LSTti.  and  threw  in  his  fortunes  with  the  settlers  of 
Montfionierv  couut.v,  Kansas.  His  tirst  venture  here  was  in  the  book  and 
stationery  store  in  Independence,  which  he  conducted  five  years.  Retir 
iu<)-  from  the  store  he  engaged  in  the  cattle  business  until  1S8C,  and  en 
tered  the  Caney  Valley  Bank,  at  <'aney.  as  cashier.  He  disposed  of  his 
interest  in  that  institution  in  1804.  and  purchased  an  interest  in  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Independence  and  became  its  president.  Upon  the 
death  of  Mr.  Remington  and  the  entry  of  Mr.  Allen  as  an  active  factor  in 
the  management  of  the  bank,  the  latter  became  president  and  ilr.  Hol- 
lingsworth  became  cashier. 

Ill  March,  1873,  occurred  the  first  marriage  of  Mr.  Hollingsworth. 
His  wife  was  Mary  Cole,  and  she  died  in  1880,  leaving  a  son,  Archer  W. 
Hollingsworth,  of  Collinsville,  Indian  Territory.  The  latter  is  a  mer 
chant  and  is  married  to  Mattie  Walker.  The  second  marriage  of  our 
subject  took  place  in  July,  1884,  his  wife  being  Alice  Slusser,  an  Ohio 
lady,  who  came  to  Montgomery  county  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  John  Kerr. 
Mrs.  Hollingsworth  was  a  daughter  of  J.  B.  Slusser,  of  Ohio — and  of  Ger- 
man blood, — but  orphaned  by  the  death  of  both  parents  at  an  early  age. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hollingsworth's  children  are:     I'earl  E.  and  Dale  R. 

The  political  record  of  P.  S.  Hollingsworth  is  pretty  well  summed 
up  in  the  word  Republican.  The  family  has  contributed  its  mite  toward 
the  success  of  this  party  from  its  birth  down,  and  there  seems  to  have 
been  little  ambition  for  political  distinction  among  the  family  member- 
ship. Mr.  Hollingsworth,  our  subject,  was  chosen  the  first  Mayor  of 
Caney,  and  he  held  the  office  several  years,  but  this  seems  to  have  grati- 
fied his  political  desires.  In  Masonry  he  has  taken  the  Knights  Templar 
degrees,  holding  a  membership  in  the  Blue  Lodge,  Chapter  and  Comman- 
dery  at  Independence,  and  in  the  Council  at  Topeka  and  in  Abdalah  Tem- 
ple, O.  M.  S.,  at  Leavenworth. 


JOHN  T.  HENDERSON— One  of  the  largest  owners  of  real  estate 
in  Montgomery  county  and  a  citizen  whose  name  will  be  recognized  as 
among  the  most  substantial  in  Southern  Kansas  is  John  T.  Henderson"^ 
of  Independence.  He  is  a  direct  descendant  of  an  old  German  family,  and 
came  to  Montgomery  county  in  1872. 


492  HISTORY  OK  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Mr.  Hciulersmi  was  hovu  on  (lie  2ii(l  of  March,  lSr)S,  in  Jackson 
cou'ny.  Indiana.  His  fatlior  was  William  S.  Henderson,  and  was  born 
Febii'.a r.v  10,  18;>6.  at  Louisville,  Kentmk.v,  and  died  in  Sycamore  town- 
ship, M<)nt<iomer_v  county,  December  .".0,  1885.  By  occupation  he  was  a 
brick  moulder  and  was  also  a  contiactor  of  brick  work.  He  married  Su- 
saiin;!}i  Henderson,  born  in  .lohnson  county,  Indiana,  October  (Itli,  1840. 

On  the  father's  side  our  sulijecl's  fjrandfatlier  was  Daniel  Henderson, 
born  in  Madison,  Indiana,  November  18,  1800,  died  September  20,  1875. 
He  married  I'ermelia  Cook,  who  was  born  -Inly  15,  1800.  This  was  a 
direct  descendant  of  the  noted  (Jan-  family,  whose  remote  ancestor,  An- 
dres Cair,  settled  in  what  is  now  Madison  county,  Mrjiinia,  in  1732, 
tofiether  with  three  hundred  I'alatines  from  the  old  country,  who  es- 
tablished the  first  Lutheran  churdi  in  America.  These  people  left  the 
old  country  to  escajje  the  persecution  set  on  foot  by  Leopold,  Areh-Bishop 
of  Salt/.burn,  who,  having;  discovered  that  many  of  the  subjects  of  his 
king  had  renounced  the  religion  of  Rome,  determined  to  reduce  them  to 
submission  or  to  banish  them  from  the  country.  During  the  reign 
of  ('li:,rles  V.,  in  Germany,  from  1519  to  1.500,  that  monarch  conferred 
upon  the  Gaars  a  coat  of  arms,  the  family  at  this  time  being  one  of  the 
most  prominent  in  the  Fatherland.  The  Gaars  originally  came  from 
Franconia.  The  name  "Garr,"  or  "Gaar,"  is  distinctly  German  in  its 
origin,  and  is  not  traceable  to  the  Celts,  the  Gauls,  the  Goths  or  the 
Romans. 

The  domestic  life  of  Mr.  Henderson  began  in  1892,  when  he  was  join- 
ed iii  nmrriage  to  Maybelle  Madden.  They  have  reai'cd  two  children; 
Ethel  Mav,  born  February  4,  1894,  and  -Tolin  Strotlier,  born  August  U<. 
1895. 

Mr.  Henderson  settled  in  Montgomery  county  in  1872,  and  located  in 
West  Cherry  township,  where  he  has  since  held  residence.  He  owns  three 
farms  in  tlie  county,  containing,  in  all,  300  acres.  The  farm  in  Drum 
Creek  township  was  left  by  his  wife's  father  to  him,  and  lies  in  West 
Drum  and  Cherry  townships,  and  contains  240  acres. 

Mr.  Henderson  is  engaged  in  the  wholesale  flour  and  feed  business 
in  Indeiiendence,  which  he  started  in  -Inly,  1902.  He  is  not  a  member  of 
any  church,  but  his  wife  communes  with  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists. 

Mr.  Henderson  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  a  large  circle  of  friends  in 


KORRIS  BENNETT  BRISTOL— At  Sixth  and  Myrtle  streets.  Inde- 
pendence, in  one  of  the  oldest  houses  on  the  townsite,  lives  a  gentleman 
who  looks  back  over  thirty-three  years  to  the  day  when  he  first  placed  foot 
on  Montgomery  county  soil.  He  is  one  of  the  best  known  characters  in 
the  county,  and,  by  reason  of  his  rectitude  and  Jiis  industry,  merits  the 


large  inoasure  of  esteem  meted  out  to  him.  There  is  something  eminently 
fitting  and  proper  in  the  association  of  this  "gentleman  of  the  old  school" 
witli  ilic  house  which  he  occupies.  In  its  early  days  it  reared  its  head 
sunu'w  hat  higher  than  lis  nciglihois,  was  (lie  first  "plastered"  house  of  the 
coiiininiiity,  wliile  the  coming  of  its  master,  Norris  B.  Bristol,  made  a 
distinct  addition  to  the  village  population.         ... 

Mr.  Bristol's  four  score  and  four  years  set  lightly  upon  him,  his  ab- 
stemious and  correct  life  making  him  hale  and  hearty  at  an  age  which 
generally  dims  the  mind  and  totters  the  step..  His  birth  occurred  at 
Fulton,  Oswego  county,  N.  Y.,  August  12,  1819..  He  there  received  a  good 
common  school  education  and  remained  at  home  until  after  he  had  cast 
his  first  presidential  vote,  the  head  of  which  ballot  read  "Martin  Van 
Buren."  He  then  started  in  life  for  himself,  comirig  west  to  Ottawa,  Il- 
linois, where  he  engaged  in  the  grain  business  for  a  period  of  thirty 
years,  oj>crating  one  of  the  largest  elevators  in.  tjiat  section  of  the  coun- 
try. With  his  son-in-law,  Benj.  Armstrong,  he  then  came  to  Indepen- 
dence, Kansas,  landing  on  the  townsite  December  6,  1870.  They  immedi- 
ately coiimicnced  the  erection  of  the  house  before  mentioned,  which  was 
distiiiguished,  later,  as  the  ollice  of  the  U.  S.  Land  oflBce. 

Since  that  era  Mr.  Bristol  has  been  prominently  identified  with  the 
development  of  the  county  and  with  the  growth  of  Independence.  In 
1872,  he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  T'nited  States  Commissioner,  which 
he  administered  with  satisfaction  until  its  abolishment  in  1885.  During 
this  jieriod  he  also  sei'ved  a  term  as  .lust  ice  of  the  Peace.  His  politics 
has  changed  since  that  early  day,  in  1S4I).  and  he  has,  for  years,  affiliated 
with  the  Republican  party. 

In  1815,  Mr.  Bristol  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Mary  Eddy,  a 
daughter  of  William  Eddy,  of  Somonauk,  Illinois,  a  prominent  Metho- 
dist divine  of  that  section.  They  reared  but  one  child,  Melitta  M.  F. 
Bristol,  who  was  married,  in  1870,  to  Benj.  Armstrong.  Mr.  Armstrong 
is  a  son  of  John  and  Margaret  (Trumble)  Armstrong,  natives  of  Illinois. 
The  family  originally  came  from  Ohio  and  were  pioneers  in  the  "Sucker 
State."  He  is  one  of  a  family  of  twelve;  those'l.iving  are:  Mrs.  Fannio 
Barber,  of  Sheridan,  Illinois;  Joseph,  also  of  Sheridan,  Illinois;  Mrs. 
Sam  Parr,  of  Ottawa,  Illinois;  and  Benjamin.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Armstrong 
are  the  parents  of  two  children :  Carrie,  noAv  IMrs.  Dr.  Arthur  W.  Evans, 
of  Independence,  and  Fannie  B.,  wife  of .  Charles  L.  JIcAdams,  druggist 
of  Independence,  who  have  one  son,  Carl.  Mr.  Bristol's  family  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  church  and  connect  themselves  cordially  with 
movements  for  the  betterment  of  society  in  general. 


THOMAS  N.  SICKELS— In  the  material  development  of  Indepen- 
dence, Thomas  N.  Sickels  has  performed  a  modest,  though  distinct,  part 


Miiil  ;i  siir\('.v  of  (he  ticld  of  ;ich»is  who  have  achieved  vicloiics.  iiiouhled 
sciitiiiiciit.  or  wiclilcd  iiidiu-iice  for  f>()od,  reveals  him  as  a  chaiadter  most 
worthy  to  l)e  ic|)icst'iited  in  the  pei'soiial  annals  of  Montgomei-.v  comit.v. 
<'omiiti;  to  Ihc  romil.v  a  younj;  man  of  thirty-one,  full  of  hope  and  am- 
hitious  to  occupy  an  honored  phice  in  the  all'airs  of  men,  he  has,  for  years, 
been  liefore  the  foot  linlils  in  the  drama  of  life  and  has  won  the  esteem 
and  contidence  of  his  ninnici(ialily.  As  salesman,  as  government  clerk 
or  as  editor  and  piddisliei'  of  a  daily  paper  of  Inde]>endence,  the  honesty 
of  his  motives  and  the  sincerity  of  his  purpose  have  never  been  ciuestioned. 

Mr.  Sickels  came  to  Montgomery  county  a  pioneer.  In  the  autumn 
of  ISTO.  his  career  in  Ih.-  county  I.egan  witli  a  clerkship  in  the  mercantile 
cstahllshinent  of  the  pi-oiiccr,  W.  T.  l'>isho|),  whose  ])lacc  of  business  was 
located  where  the  otti<e  of  the  lnde|>endence  (ias  ('oni]iaiiy  now  is.  Leav- 
ing Mr.  l'.ishop,  he  accepted  a  position  in  the  (ioveinnient'  Land  Oflice  in 
the  city,  which  he  tilled  for  a  perio.l  of  eight  years  and.  on  severing  his 
connection  with  it,  puicliased  the  "Daily  Heporter"  and  undertook,  at 
once,  the  conduct  of  the  (taper.  While  devoted  to  the  interests  of  his 
l)ubli(ation,  he  has  at  the  same  time  enlisted  "for  the  war'"  in  the  catise 
of  his  city  and  county  and,  with  voice  and  [len,  he  has  contributed  ma- 
lerially  to  a  sentiment   which  has  yielded  beneticial  municijial  results. 

('(■miug  to  Ivansa..s  in  the  spring  of  187(1.  .Mr.  Sickels  stojtped  brietly 
in  the  village  of  Oswego,  in  Labette  county.  He  had  come  to  the  west  t(j 
identify  himself  with  it  and  his  search  for  a  place  of  much  promise  did 
not  end  'till  he  reached  lnde|iendenee.  He  had  j)assed  two  years — just 
j)rior--in  VtM-uon  county,  Missouri,  but  his  fear  of  becoming  entangled  in 
the  moss  on  the  backs  of  his  neighbors  cause<l  him  to  desert  the  state  and 
he  has  never  been  sorry  of  the  change. 

().  tober  L'2,  18:5!).  Thomas  N.  Sickels  was  born  in  Indianapolis.  In- 
diana. He  was  a  son  of  Rev.  William  Sickels,  a  I'resbylerian  minister, 
a  pioneer  and  influential  factor  in  the  atl'airs  of  that  denominaticm  in  In- 
diana. The  founding  of  ITanover  follege,  in  that  state,  resulted  largely 
from  liis  efforts,  and  he  pass<'d  his  entire  life  in  church  and  edii<alional 
work.  He  was  born  in  New  York  stale,  was  (nlucated  in  Jetlerson  College 
and  was  descended  from  Holland  stock.  He  married  Alma  Coe,  a  daugh 
ter  of  Dr.  Isaa<'  ( 'oe,  one  of  the  [lioneer  ]ihysicians  of  Indianapolis.  Dr. 
<"oe  was  widely  known  for  his  interest  in  Sabbath  school  work,  and  a 
nioncnient  to  him  in  C^'own  Point  cemetery  in  the  capital  city  attests  to 
his  distinguished  sei'vi<'.e  as  a  founder  of  Sabbath  schools  in  the  state. 

To  Uev.  and  Mrs.  Wn».  Sickels  were  born  four  sons,  namely:  l{ev.  W. 
\V.,  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana;  Kev.  E.  ('.,  of  Dixcm.  Illinois;  Isaac  ('., 
who  died  in  N'ernon  coiinly,  Mi.ssouri;  and  Thomas  N.,  of  this  revie\\. 

Thonms  N.  Sickels  was  educated  in  the  city  schools  of  Indianapolis. 
Indiana,  spent  two  years  iu  Jeffeivson  College,  near  rittsburg.  and 
iiradnated  from  there  in  1800.     On  finishing  his  education  he  passed  a 


year  im  a  Missouri  faiiii  and  then  looated  in  Chicago,  where  he  became 
associate  coniiiicrcial  editor  of  the  "Chicago  Times."'  Six  months  later, 
oriii  Anf>ust,  1S(>12.  lie  enlisted  in  the  <Miicaj;o  ^lercatitile  Battery,  and  was 
snbseiiiiently  promoted  to  a  First  Lieutenancy  in  the  10th  U.  S.  Artillery. 
He  remained  in  the  service  'till  ^larch,  18CG,  when  he  resigned  and  went 
back  to  Missouri  as  superintendent  of  a  minicig  company.  His  army 
record,  in  brief,  comprises  service  on  the  Yazoo'  river  in  the  Vicksburg 
campaign,  siege  of  Vicksburg,  battle  of  Arkansas' :Post,  and  thence  to  tha 
Department  of  the  Gulf  and  remained  apound  New  Orleans  'till  he  quit 
the  service.  ■•      ■    ."<•■• 

Mr.  Sickels  married  Harriet  E.  McNeil  in' -Vernon  county,  Missouri, 
May  21,  1867.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Col.  R.  W.-MoNeil,  and  is  the  mo- 
ther of:  Walter  S.,  William  N.,  of  Chiloccbi-Oklaboraa;  Mrs.  Caroline  C. 
Taylor,  of  Independence;  Pansy,  Jamesand'  Edw3i"d;      •' 

Mr.  Sickels  has  supported  the  KepubH<;nn  "party  and  its  principles 
all  his  life  and  his  official  service  in  a  politica'l'waytomprises  one  term  on 
the  Board  of  Education  of  Independence.  .'He  js^a-'member  of  and  elder 
in  the  Presbyterian  church.  ■  :     •       ....'uh  .:,  ■ 


THOMAS  F.  MORROW— Thomas  F.  Moff ow- ^Wie  of  the  soldier 
farmers  of  Fawn  Creek  township,  has  b6eii  a.'rtsld'eilt  of  Montgomery 
county  since  1870.  He  came  to  Kansas,  financiA'lly  crippled  and  passed 
through  some  bitter  experiences  in  his  efforts  to.^'cure  a  home  for  him- 
self and  children,  but,  by  his  exertions,  at  l^ist  wefcaifie  the  obstacles  of 
pioneer  life  and  is  now,  in  the  evening  of  his  dar'eer,  ablfe  to  enjoy,  peace- 
fully, the  fruits  of  the  prosperity  which  has  «dme  to  him  in  these  later 
years.  ■    •'      ■  ;  .    ■: 

.V  native  of  Ohio,  Mr.  Morrow  was  born  in' Noble  county.  May  26, 
1844.  Gershom  Morrow  was  his  father  and  Naney  Huffman  his  mother. 
They  were  both  natives  of  the  "Keystone  State,'*  had  removed  to  Ohio 
in  childhood  and  married  in  Belmoilt  county.  ■  They  continued  to 
reside  there  until  1865,  when  they  came  west  to  Ralls  county,  Missouri, 
where  the  mother  soon  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-five  years.  The  father 
married  a  second  time,  Belzcw'a  C.  Heskett,  of  Somerfleld,  Ohio  (still  re- 
siding in  Missouri),  becoming  his  wife.  Mr.  Mori-ow  died  April  9,  1902, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years.  The' children  of  the  first  marriage 
were  nine,  six  of  whom  are  living,  viz:  John  S.-and'  Nancy  M.,  deceased; 
Klizalteth  S.,  Mrs.  James  Norman;  Charles  S.,' Sarah  S.,  wife  of  Mr. 
Hashnian;  Thomas  F. ,  Mary  J.,  who  also  married  a  Norman;  Ruth  A.. 
Mrs.  (Jalloway;  and  Melissa  R.,  deceased.-  To  the  second  marriage,  the 
following  were  born:  Ida,  Martha  A.,  Gershom  L.  and  Almira,  now  Mrs. 
Harris. 

Thomas    F.    Morrow    was    a    lad    of    seventeen    years,    engaged 


4Q6  niSTOUV   OF    MONTGOStERY   COINTY.  KANSAS. 

(lulifiillv  al  vvi.rk  on  iUc  liomc  faiiii,  when  war's  Inii.l  alarm 
i-everliciaiPil  llir.iunli.ml  (lie  (•(.niitr.v.  lie  iimncdialclv  jilaced  liis 
name  on  llie  roll  and  on  llic  -Jnd  of  February.  18fi"J.  took  oath  to  sujijiort. 
by  arms,  tlic  con.sddilion  of  his  nation.  .Vs  a  privalc  soldier,  lie  enlisted 
in  Coiiii.any  "I,"  -Jdlli  (t.  Vol.  Inf.  lie  ].roceeded  lo  the  front  and  jiassed 
the  sucieedint;  foiii-  yeai\s  in  (he  tierre  eonliict  of  battle  an<l  llironiili  the 
lon<i  :  nd  weary  niarrli  inlervenin};,  tinally  re((>i\inj;  an  honorable  dis- 
charge, on  (he  Hidi  of  .July  IStiri.  His  .s(>rvi(e  was  passed  in  the  use  of 
powder  and  ball,  in  many  of  (he  tiei'ce  condicts  of  the  niiildle  west  and 
south.  He  was  wi(li  (;ian(  at  Fort  l>onelson.  a(  the  bloody  fight  at  Shi- 
loll,  and.  at  Itoliver,  he  met  (he  enemy.  I'''or  the  three  months  jireceding 
the  N.ition's  Itirtfwlay  ^>(  1H(>:{,  he  pai'tieipated  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg. 
Preeediug  this  he  wan  at  Uayniond,  .lackson.  Champion  Hills.  Hig  Itlaek 
and  then  pa.ssed  titrougli  the  Atlanta  Campaign.  He  was  with 
Sherman's  host.s  as  tlu>y  iiiarehed  to  the  .sea,  and  saw  the  Stais  and  Hars 
come  down  at  Savannah,  and,  la(er,  a(  Shephard  and  Ilradford  and  Port 
Poeatella  and  OrniHlinrg,  He  jiai'tieipated  in  the  last  scene  of  the  war. 
the  capture  of  <Jen.  Johnston  at  Kaleigh,  \.  <\,  and  (hen  juoceeded  with 
the  tiinmphant  army  to  Washington,  where  he  marched  in  that  last  great 
]»ageant,  the  (irand  Keview.  l''rom  here  he  came  back  to  I.,ouisville.  where 
he  received  his  discliarge  and  returned  home  wi(h  (he  c(msciousness  of 
dutv   faithfully    perfoi-iiietl. 

His  father  having  remove<I  lo  Mis.soiiri  during  his  abscTicc,  li<-  re- 
pair>M(  to  that  state  and  in  Kails  county,  on  the  •2:>tU  of  October.  ISd.J.  was 
joined  in  marriage  to  Martha  S.  Heskett.  Mis.  .Morrow  was  born  on  the 
L'lst  of  -July.   is:',7,  in  Ohio,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Lecuiidas     and     VAv/.n 

Heskett.     Her  parenl.s  had  also  re ved  to  Missouri  during  tlu'  war.  Mr. 

and  Mrs.  Morrow  I'ontinued  to  live  in  Missouri  until  187lt.  when  they  go,t 
together  their  jiossessions  and  started  for  the  "Sunflower  State."  In 
Fort  Scott,  they  jturcha.sed  a  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  wagon,  with  which  they 
made  the  trip  to  Montgomery  county.  Here  they  located  a  claim  in  the 
eastern  part  of  FawH  Creek  township,  six  miles  northwest  of  Cotfeyville. 
Their  finances,  after  the  payment  on  their  laud,  was  at  a  very  low  ebb, 
they  having  $~>i\  lef('((»  begin  the  battle.  However,  they  were  both  in  good 
health  and  jirocecded  resolutely  to  carve  out  a  home  in  the  state.  To 
enumerate  all  the  trials  through  which  they  jiassed  in  those  early  days 
would  take  more  space  than  this  brief  article  can  allow.  Sutfice  it  to  say, 
that  none  of  the  old  settlers  had  a  "hai-der  row  to  hoe"  than  Mr.  Morrow 
and  his  devoted  wife.  They  were  finally  enaliled  to  get  a  deed  for  a  i)or 
tion  of  the  claim  which  they  preenijited  and  aie  now  living  on  the  original 
quarur  section.  The  improvements  on  this  farm  are  of  tlie  subslantial 
character  and  it  n<tw  indicaies  (he  (hiir(y  and  careful  manageineiii  of  a 
man  skilled  in  husbandry. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Morrow  has  Im-cu  of  tlie  most   uiniglil  chaijKter  and 


HISTORY  OK  MONTGOMEEY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  497 

liis  iiiti'llificnl  p;ir(  icipal  ion  in  tlie  duties  \vlii<li  (nine  to  ilic  itatiiotic 
citizen  has  Itpcn  of  the  most  li('li)t'nl  natuic.  He  lias  lii'cn  lionored  with 
the  selection  In  adniinistei-  the  to\viishi]i  clerk's  ((ftice  for  two  terms,  and 
has  ahso  participated  in  the  selection  of  edncational  facilities  for  his 
scho(d  district  at  dift'eient  times.  Fraternal ly  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Masons,  of  the  A.  H.  T.  A.  and  of  the  (i.  A.  R.  Fn  politics  lie  supports 
the  principles  of  the  Kepublican  platform  and  is  a  consistent  and  life-long 
uiemlier  of  the  Methodist  I'^jiiscopal  dinrch. 


WIIjLIAM  F.  LAWSON— In  the  introduction  to  tliis  jiersonal 
notice  appe^irs  the  name  of  a  farmer  of  Fawn  Creek  townsliip,  whose 
nineteen  years  of  life  on* Kansas  farm  has  contributed  not  only  to  the 
county's  welfare,  but  has  been  a  positive  force  in  the  amelioration  of  his 
own  condition.  He  is  entitled  to  credit  for  the  commendable  way  in 
which  he  has  disposed  his  time  and,  but  for  the  comparative  brevity  of  his 
residence  here,  he  would  enjoy  the  distinction  of  a  i)ioneer. 

William  F.  Lawson  is  a  native  of  Ohio.  Richland  county  gave  him 
birth  on  the  14th  of  June,  1850,  of  parents  John  and  Margaret  (Snyder) 
Lawson,  the  father  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  the  mother,  also.  The  lat- 
ter were  married  in  their  native  state  and  soon  thereafter  moved  to  Ohio 
and  lived  for  a  time  in  Richland  county,  afterward  going  to  Defiance 
county,  where  their  remaining  years  of  life  seem  to  have  been  spent.  The 
father  was  born  in  18114  and  died  in  1889,  and  the  mother's  birth  occurred 
in  ISdn  and  her  death  in  1884.  Fourteen  children  resulted  from  their 
union,  foui-  sons  of  the  number  serving  in  the  Union  army,  war  of  the  Ke- 
bellioi;,  and  of  the  family  five  yet  survive.  Of  the  sons  who  were  soldiers, 
only  two  lived  to  see  the  end  of  the  war.  William  F..  who  was  the  young- 
est child,  reached  his  majority  under  the  parental  roof  and  obtained  only 
a  country  school  education.  He  learned  the  carpenters'  trade  and  the 
first  A  ears  of  his  life  were  devoted  exclusively  to  its  pursuit.  He  came 
out  to  Kansas  in  1880,  and  purchased  a  small  tract  of  seventy-three  acres 
in  Montgomery  county,  the  nucleus  of  his  present  farm.  He  went  to  Ne- 
braska and  spent  one  year,  then  a  few  months  in  Michigan  and  then 
spent  three  years  in  Illinois,  and  in  1884.  brought  out  his  family  and  ef- 
fects with  the  ultimate  intention  of  growing  into  and  closing  his  career 
as  a  farmer.  He  continued  to  ply  his  trade  in  Montgomery  county,  has 
done  all  his  own  building  and  much  work  for  others.  His  own  improve- 
ments are  substantial  and  somewhat  imjiosing  and  add  strikingly  to  the 
dome." I  icily  of  his  estate.  Under  his  guidance  and  direction,  his  domain 
has  v.idencd  in  extent  and  now  emhraies.  instead  of  less  than  eighty 
acres,  three  hundred  acres,  which  jilaces  him  in  the  category  of  larye 
farmcis  of  the  county.  His  farm  is  six  miles  west  of  Coffeyville,  and  lies 
in  sections  one  and  two,  township  34,  range  15. 


49°  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

OrtoluT  2!t,  1883.  Anna  E.  Getrost  became  tbe  wife  of  William  F. 
Lawson.  She  was  a  daughter  of  (Jeorge  W.  and  Lucy  E.  (Powell)  Get- 
rost, and  was  born  in  Crawford  county,  Ohio,  August  9,  1848.  Mr  Get- 
rost was  a  native  German,  came  to  the  United  States  a  boy  and  n^arried 
a  Pennsylvania  lady.  Two  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Wrs.  Law- 
son,  i.aiiicly  :  William  11..  ninclccii  years  old.  and  Emanuel  .M.,  aged  fif- 
teen yea  IS. 

From  this  article  it  will  be  seen  that  Mr.  Lawsou's  opportunities 
were  limited  to  those  of  his  own  carving  and  his  advantages  only  those 
common  to  the  poor.  Empty  handed,  then,  was  his  beginning  in  life  and 
the  results  of  his  labors,  coupled  with  those  of  his  wife  and  sons,  have  al- 
ready been  told.  He  affiliates  with  the  Democratic  i)arty  and  has  U?eu  a 
school  clerk  for  nearly  ten  years,  and  was  re-elected  in  1903  for  a  term  of 
thi'ee  vears.  •  .,  . 


PETER  H.  FOX — Among  the  well  known  farmers  of  Fawn  Greek 
township  and  a  gentleman  who  has  taken  a  lively  inter-est  in  practical 
agriculture  in  Montgomery  county,  is  Peter  H.  Fox,  of  this  sketch.  For 
near  a  score  of  years  he  has  planted  and  harvested  of  the  crops  indigenous 
to  Southern  Kansas  soil,  and  nature  and  industry  have  rewarded  him  in 
the  possession  of  a  valuable  estate. 

Mr.  Fox  is  a  native  of  Lower  Paxton  township,  Dauphin  county,  Pa., 
and  was  born  July  13,  1836.  He  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  old  German 
families  of  the  "Keystone  State" — Fuchs,  who  settled  there  many  gen- 
erations ago.  Flenry  B.  Fox  (changed  from  Fuchs)  was  his  father,  and 
Lydia  (Miller)  Fox  his  mother.  Roth  were  born  in  Pennsylvania  and 
passed  their  lives  on  the  farm.  The  father  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six 
and  I  he  mother  at  fifty-six.  being  the  jiarents  of  two  children,  sons:  John 
A.  ni:(l  Peter  H.  Owing  to  their  surroundings  the  sons  were  farm  lads 
and  pupils,  while  growing  up,  in  the  district  school.  John  A.  died  in 
18!i7,  and  to  Peter  H.  is  left  the  responsibility  of  perpetuating  the  family 
name. 

Our  subject  was  the  first  born,  and  after  leaving  the  country  school, 
attended  the  Harrisburg  Academy  several  terms.  Next  he  enrolled  in  the 
P.urr  &  P>urton  Seminary,  in  Vermont,  and,  later  on,  entered  Rens- 
salaer's  Polytechnic-College,  where  he  graduated  in  the  three  years' 
course.  His  education  finished,  he  joined  the  engineering  corps  on  the 
Northern  Central  Railroad,  and  had  charge  of  the  same  for  one  year.  He 
spent  a  year  then  superintending  U.  S.  Sen.  Don  Cameron's  farms,  and 
then  returned  to  his  line  of  railroad  work,  where  he  continued  for  four- 
teen years.  Leaving  this  service  in  1884,  he  went  to  Nebraska,  but  the 
following  year  came  to  Kansas  and  settled  in  Montgomery  county.  He 
owns  a  farm  of  more  than  three  hundred  acres,  six  and  one-half  miles 


tf  !■»  f*  f 


I 


ill 


M^  * '  '    81 

fi 

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1 

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til 

i«#  »#  vr  ^1 

it,  1.  •.H 

^noTORY  OP  M'^y'ty^OMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

st  became  the  wife  of  William  ''\ 
tre  W.  and  Lucy  E.  (Powell)  Gof 
'  •hid.  August  9,  1848.     Mr  ti<-t- 
•d  States  a  boy  and  n-arried 
!i  bom  to  Afr.  and  TMrs.  Law- 
ins  (lid.  and  "'  '  "I  ■  ■■■■ 

u  that  Mr.  1,. 

.    iiii'il<'il   ju  liu'?^!^  Of  iiis  nn;i  I  living  and  his  ;i.h,i!if;i-   >   ...i;v  it.as.^ 

luion  to  the  jioor.    Empty  handed,  then,  was  bis  beginning  in  life  and 

;  Mills  if  lii.s  l,i'or,is,  coupled  witli  flMise  "f  his  wife  and  sons,  have  al- 

iiintes  with  tli  !>arty  and  lias  baen  a 

■II  vears,  an(i  in  1903  for  a  term  <>^ 


..,       ,   ...liin  coiinty.  Pa. 

^■■nt  oi  one  of  the  old  Gennar. 

iio  .settled  there  many  gen 

;  i^i  .K  Fiichs)  was  his  father,  an  i 

ii  were  born  in  Pennsylvania  ;i' 

ither  died  at  the  age  of  seventy  r 

^, rents  of  two  children,  sons:  Johu 

oundings  the  sons  were  farm  Iad» 

di-trirt  st^hool.     John  A.  died  in 

rpetuating  the  familv 

:'g  the  country  school 

>xt  he  enrolled  in  the 

I'r  on,  entered  Reni^ 

in   the  three     ye.ar.« 

iie  jMiiivd  i,ii-  >;iigineering  corps  on  t\\t- 

liad  charge  of  fhe  same  for  one  year.  He 

..    r      S     S'  n      i;,ni    C;!!,!,  i-,iii"s    r:iri!,s     :ni." 


>    ••     •<     ij 


I   f  M  »<  i^  1^  ^  • 


vv.-.y.r.rvAv;. 


PETER  H.   FOX. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  501 

Joiu's,  iwi)  cliildicii  were  born,  namely:  Fannie,  who  first  married  Alfred 
D.yer  and  iiad  two  cliildren.  Otto  and  Carrie,  and  whose  present  husband 
is' Amos  Linscott,  with  two  cliildren,  Charles  and  Linn.  Charles  Jones  is 
Mrs.  Davis'  second  child.  In  1S7.").  our  subject  became  the  wife  of  Jef- 
ferson M.  Davis,  an  Illinois  man.  This  marriage  produced  four  children, 
as  follows:  Laura,  wife  of  Peter  TriTumel,  of  Wilson  county,  with  a  child, 
Buanna;  Ida,  who  married  Joseph  Obermier,  of  Montgomery  county, 
with  one  child,  (Jlenn;  and  Floyd  and  Robert  Davis,  yet  with  the  family 
home.    JetlVrson  .M.  Davis  died' August  IG,  1889. 


JOHN  H.  BATES— John  H.  Bates,  a  well-known  resident  of  Mont- 
gomery county,  was  born,  in  Princeton,  Illinois,  August  27,  1852.  He 
was  a  son  of  Jacob  P.  Bates,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  a  grandson 
of  George  Bates,  also  a  native  of  the  old"Bay  State,"  where  his  family 
of  fifteen  children  were  born  and  reared.  The  children  of  the  last  named 
were:  Erasmus,  Russel,  Jacob  P.,  George,  Joseph,  Henry,  of  Springfield; 
Isaac,  of  Salem,  Oregon ;  Sarah  Van  Horn,  Julia  Pei'kins,  Almeda  Em- 
ery, Ora,  deceased ;  Lucy  Edson,  of  Canada,  and  three  died  in  infancy. 

Jacob  P.  Bates,  our  subject's  father,  married  Elizabeth  Parks,  a  na- 
tive of  Massachusetts  and  a  daughter  of  Nathan  Parks.  Their  marriage 
produced  Le  Roy  S.,  of  San  Antonio,  Texas;  George  P.,  of  Sherman, 
Texas:  John  H.,  of  Montgomery  county;  Helen  J.  Innes,  Lulu  B.  Hyde. 
Emma  L.,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Frank  E. 

When  John  H.  Bates  was  a  child  in  arms,  his  parents  removed  to 
Knox  county,  Illinois.  Here  he  was  kei)t  in  the  public  schools  until  he 
was  fifteen  years  of  age,  when  his  father,  who  was  an  agent  for  the  New 
York  Home  Life  Insurance  Company,  died,  leaving  a  large  life  insur- 
ance. With  this  money,  the  children  were  enabled  to  acquire  a  more  lib- 
eral education  than  the  common  school  afforded  and  John  was  placed 
in  school  in  Galesburg,  where  he  was  a  student  or  two  years.  At  the  age 
of  twenty,  he  came  to  Ottawa  county,  Kansas,  and  secured  a  claim  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  but  was  compelled  to  wait  one  year  before  en- 
tei'ing  it.  He  remained  there  .seven  years,  when,  in  an  effort  to  better 
his  condition,  he  made  a  number  of  moves,  staying  but  a  few  years  in 
each  place.  He  visited  the  following  places :  St.  Joe,  Missouri ;  Ottawa 
county,  Kansas;  Rogers,  Arkansas;  New  Mexico,  Pierce  City,  Missouri, 
and  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  In  the  spring  of  1893,  he  located  in 
Montgomery  countv,  on  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  acres  of  land,  in  sec 
tion  I!  32-1  .J. 

Mr.  Bates'  marriage  occurred  July  0,  1878.  His  wife  was  Eliza,  a 
daughter  of  John  Q.  and  Patience  Adams,  the  father  being  a  native  of 
Ireland  and  the  mother  of  England.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bates  have  been 
born  I5ve  children:  Alberta  Smith,  of  Montgomery  county,  who  has  one 


,liil(l.   I»r;m;  I'.diia  C  Kllis.  of  Montooiiu'iv  .niiiilv:   l)..ia   lO. ,  ricrc.v  A. 
and  Helen  :  the  last  three  are  all  liviiiji  at  home. 

Mf.  Hales  has  had  iiianv  and  vaiied  ex](eiienres.  He  was  at  Rogers. 
AiUansas,  dtirinj;  the  boom,  atul  made  ijood  moiiev.  hnt,  afterward,  lost 
a  larsjc  jiortion  of  It  in  New  Mexico.  No  other  exjierience  is  so  varied 
as  th.it  of  cowboy,  in  wliii  h  caj.acitv  In-  worked,  for  some  time.as  a  .vouiig 
man.  driviii<j:  on  the  trail.  Ilowexci.  Ilie  j;reater  ]iart  of  his  life  has  been 
sjtent  in  farniinfi.  and  ]irobabl> no  other  farmer  is  held  in  hifiher  respect, 
as  is  shown  by  his  rejieated  elections  to  ofHce.  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  his  district.  He  has  served,  in  this  cajiaciiy.  for  nine  consecu 
tive  years,  and  is  fitted  by  edmation.  «'X]ierieiice  and  ability,  to  work  for 
the  best  interest  of  education.  He  also  acted  as  1o\M)shi]i  trnstee  in  Ol 
lawa  (ounty.  He  is  a  mend)er  and  trnstee  of  the  Sei-ond  Baptist  church 
of  Independence,  and  is  also  a  member  of  the  A.  H.  T.  .\..  the  Sons  and 
Daughters  of  -Insti.e.  aii<l  the  F.  A.  A. 


•lOIIN  I.  HILL  Om-  of  the  prominent  business  men  of  ( 'otl'eyville 
is  .loliii  I.  Hill,  president  and  general  manager  of  the  Cotfeyville  Mercaii 
tile  Company,  doing  a  wholesale  grocery  business.  He  has  been  a  resident 
of  the  city  since  1S!»S  and  has  shown,  in  numerous  instances,  that  he 
has  its  interests  at  heart.  He  is  a  Kentuckian.  hy  nativity,  and  his  par- 
ents. Nathan  and  Margaret  (Jlaholml  Hill,  moved  to  the  "Blue  Grass 
State,"'  in  18(i0.  from  the  western  i)art  of  Virginia.  They  settled  in  Can- 
iionsliurg.  where  the  father  conducted  a  mercantile  business,  until  1877, 
when  he  moved  to  Cheroliee  county.  Kansas,  and  where  be  engaged  in 
farming.  He  subse<]uen1  ly  removed  to  Wilson  county,  and.  shortly  be- 
fore Ins  death.  1o  Topeka. 

Nathan  Hill  was  born  in  \'irginia.  Noveinber  2:!.  1S37.  and  died  in 
Topeka.  Kansas.  July  .SI.  KMtL  He  was  a  man  of  restless  energy  and 
good  business  capacity,  and,  in  the  dilferent  communities  in  which  he 
resided,  claimed  the  i-espect  and  esteem  of  all.  The  jiarents  were  both 
members  of  the  >b-thodist  chur(-h.  the  mother  being,  now,  a  resident  of 
Chicago.  Their  five  children  were:  Felicia  J.,  now  a  resident  of  Los  An- 
geles, California,  the  wife  of  .1.  \V.  McKinley,  contractor  and  carpenter; 
Olive  C.  Hill,  lives  near  Charleston,  West  Virginia;  Cliarles.  deceased, 
was  a  merchant  in  Iowa  City.  Iowa;  and  Margaret,  who  resides  in  Chi 
(•ago,  the  wife  of  F.  H.  (Juise.'    .(ohn  I.  is  the  eldest  uf  the  family. 

The  birth  of  .Mr.  Hill,  of  this  sketch,  o.-curred  in  Moyd  county.  Ken 
tiiil;\.  -Inly  '.I.  ISiid.  Huring  the  seventeen  years  of  his  boyhood  in  this 
rouiit  .  he  became  I  hm-onghly  imbtied  with  the  Kentucky  spirit  of  cour 
lesy.  a  fai  t  whiih.  in  later  years,  had  much  to  do  with  his  great  success 
as  a  traveling  salesTiian.  He  secured  a  good  education  and.  after  the  fam- 
ily ciniie  to  Kansas,  tatight  school  several  terms,  before  he  reached  his 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  503 

iiiiijoiit.v.  In  tlio  spring  <»f  1882,  he  acfopted  a  position  with  the  Park 
h\irst Davis  .Meicaiilile  Coiiipaiiv,  of  Topeka,  and  continued  with  them 
until  1S!)S,  in  liic  caitacilies  of  l)()okk(H'])er  and  cashier.  In  the  spring 
of  thai  year,  lie  came  lo  ("otVeyviile  and,  in  connection  with  several  others, 
fonncd  the  company  which  has  since  carried  on  a  wholesale  business,  un 
der  the  name  of  the  t'oll'eyville  .Mercantile  Company.  Incorporation 
was  made  on  March  r>,  (he  oHicers  of  the  comi)any  heinj;:  -I.  I.  Hill,  presi- 
dent; K.  N.  Selby,  vice-president;  J.  11.  Smith,  secretary;  and  il.  S.  Mc 
Nabney.  treasurer.  Under  the  energetic  manaiiemeiit  of  .Mr.  Hill  and  his 
associates,  the  company  has  had  a  i)rosperous  and  successful  career,  and 
has  become  one  of  the  fixtures  in  the  business  circles  of  southern  Kansas. 
The  building  occupied  is  50x140,  three  stories  and  basement,  covering, 
in  all,  28,000  feet  of  floor  space.  The  trade  of  the  house  is  confined  to 
Kansas,  Oklahoma  and  the  Indian  Territory,  the  firm  having  six  travel 
ling  salesmen,  and  employing  ten  persons  in  the  house. 

Mr.  Hill's  family  consists  of  wife  and  six  children:  Anna  May, 
George  Irving,  Maud,  John  W.,  Esther  and  Henrietta.  The  marriage  of 
Mr.  Hill  occurred  .Tune  10,  1885,  in  Topeka.  Mrs.  Hill  was  Miss  Fannie 
Kistler,  a  native  Kan.sas  girl,  the  daughter  of  B.  F.  and  Sarah  (Ham) 
Kistler.  Mrs.  Hill  coml)ines  (pialities  of  graciousness  and  true  refine- 
ment, which  make  her  a  i)o]iular  member  of  Colfeyville  social  circles.  Both 
parents  are  active  workers  in  the  Methodist  church,  Mr.  Hill  being  a  trus- 
tee in  the  same,  and  the  present  efficient  superintendent  of  the  Sunday 
School. 

Mr.  Hill  is  prominent  in  the  Masonic  order,  in  the  Woodmen  and 
the  Maccabees,  and  votes  the  Republican  ticket.  He  is  a  live,  earnest, 
helpful  citizen,  and  deserves  the  large  measure  of  esteem  in  which  he  is 
held  in  his  a<lopted  city. 


J.VMICS  W.  RUAtJG — An  example  of  what  conscientious  effort  and 
close  attention  to  business  will  acoom])lish  in  sunnj'  Kansas,  is  atfordeil 
in  the  career  of  James  W.  Bragg,  a  prominent  representative  of  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  county,  for  the  past  thirty  one  years,  living  four 
and  one-half  miles  northeast  of  Havana,  on  the  farm  which  he  reclaimed 
from  the  virgin  prairie. 

Mr.  Bragg  was  born  in  Adams  county,  Illinois,  on  the  23d  of  Octo- 
ber, 1845.  Benjamin  Bragg,  his  father,  was  a  native  of  the  "Green  Moun- 
tain State,"  where  he  married  Hannah  Rich,  born  in  New  Hampshire. 
The  parents  removed  to  Illinois,  in  an  early  day,  settling  in  Adams  coun- 
ty, where  they  lived  out  their  lives,  the  father  dying  at  seventy-three,  the 
mother  three  years  later,  at  the  same  age.  There  were  eight  children  in 
the  family,  all  of  whom  are  living,  as  follows:  Benjamin,  ^larcellus. 
George,  Mary,  wife  of  Andrew  Lindsey;  Emily,  wife  of  William  Denny; 


504  HISTORY   OK   M<)NT(JOMKKY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

Sjuali.  Mrs.  Moses  Coiiovcr;  ;ui(l  Ilfiirict  l:i.  now  Mrs.  Million  SiH'ncer. 

James  J$ia};}j;  was  the  sixth  child  of  the  faniilv.  He  was  brought  up 
to  farm  life  and  received  a  fair  education  in  tlie  common  schools  of  his 
district.  He  remained  at  lionie  until  hi-  liad  attained  liis  majority,  and, 
on  October  24,  lS(i7,  was  joined  in  marriajre  witli  lOllen  I'.  Smitli,  a 
danglner  of  William  and  Ellen  (McCuirel  Smith.  Itoth  of  whom  were 
natives  of  Ireland.  The  father  <ame  to  .Vmerica  when  but  se\e7iteeu  years 
of  afjc,  the  mother  also  being  in  <-hildhood  when  she  made  the  journey 
across  the  ocean.  They  met  and  married  in  New  .leisey  and.  later,  came 
out  ti>  Hlinois.  settling  in  Adams  couut.\.  Ib-rc  tlu-y  resided  until  their 
death.    They  were  the  parents  of:  William  .)..  H<lwin  and  ICllen. 

Soon  after  the  nuirriage  of  Mt-.  Uragg.  he  began  to  look  abimt  him 
foi-  land  for  a  suitable  lioine.  Land  was  Ingli  in  tiie  east  and  he.  there 
for<>,  resolved  to  try  the  west,  in  1S71.  lie  landed  in  .Montgomery 
couuiy  and  soon  found  a  farm  to  his  taste,  in  ttie  jiii-ce  of  land  which 
he  now  owns.  Industry,  jjerseverancc  and  discietion  have  sni(|)lied  him 
with  a  competence  for  these  latter  days,  and  a  home  as  good  as  can  be 
found  in  the  county. 

In  his  social  relations  to  the  community,  Mr.  Itragg  is  in  happy  ac- 
cord with  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  neighbors,  who  admire  his  many 
virtues.  He  is  a  member  of  the  A.  H.  T.  A.,  and  in  jiolifical  matters,  is 
one  of  the  leading  Socialists  of  the  county. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Uragg  are  the  jiarents  of  four  cliildi-en.  all  respected 
members  of  society,  two  of  the  daughters  having  married  prosperous 
young  people  of  the  neighborhood.  Their  names  are:  Mai-y  <'.,  w'ife  of 
Dr.  (Jeorge  Randall;  Etfie,  ilrs.  AValter  Howersock ;  Nannie  and  William, 
the  only  son.  who  died  in  infancy.  Nannie  is  a  iiojinlar  teacher  of  this 
count  V. 


JOHN  DUNCAN— In  the  year  issd.  ih.'rc  aiiived  in  Montgomery 
county  the  gentleman  whose  name  is  lierc  a|)|>ende(l  and  who  now  resides 
on  :i  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty  a<res.  tive  miles  soutlieast  of  the 
counts  seat  town  of  Indejiendem-e.  lie  has.  since  that  time,  been  one  of 
the  county's  most  |)rosiierous  and  rejiresentative  farmers  and  has  shown, 
by  Tnany  actions,  the  sjilendid  character  of  his  cilizensliip. 

John  Duncan  was  born  in  Fulton  county.  ]lliiu>is.  in  the  year  1852. 
His  Jiarents  were  Solomon  and  Kebec<a  (ICmerinei  Duncan.  These  par- 
ents were  originally  from  the  "Hlue  (Jrass  State"  and  were  farmers,  as 
were,  also,  their  ancestors.  The  maternal  grandfatlier  of  our  subject 
was  a  resident  of  eastern  Kentucky,  living  in  the  beautiful  section  of  the 
slate  wlier<'  is  now  I  he  cily  of  Lexington,  and  where  lie  cultivated  one  of 
the  liest  fainis  in  Ilia  I  scdion.  He.  later,  removed  to  Montgomery  coun- 
ty and  setll.'d  a  mile  iioiili  of  Independence,  where  he  imrchased  ;i  farm. 


M.   D.   CURRIER. 


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Mr.  IMinr:iti  wmm  icaicil  in  his  iiali\('  rmiiilv.  where  he  received  a 
}I0()(1  ruiimiuii  school  ('.III.  ill  ion.  His  voulii  was  |)iised  in  the  rigorous 
work  of  the  fiiiiii  and  he  icniaincd  a(  home  until  he  was  twenty-three 
years  of  a!>c.  At  that  time,  he  slarli-d  out  in  the  world  for  himself, 
reutiii.i:  a  farm  in  the  nci^hliorhood,  which  he  cultivated  for  a  year,  and 
as  stated  aliovc,  catnc  to  Montgomery  county,  wheie  he  has  since  lived. 
He  owns  one  of  the  ItesI  farms  in  the  county,  well  stocked  with  horses 
and  cattle,  and  which  he  devotes  to  general  farming.  He  is  one  of  the 
most  successful  farmers  of  the  ciuinty  and  is  first  and  foremost  in  every 
cause  which  looks  to  the  hetlerment  of  his  fellow  citizens  al)out  Iiim. 

He  has  not  given  a  great  (h'al  of  attention  to  public  matters,  but  has 
held  .some  of  the  minor  offices  in  his  township  and  is  always  on  hand  to 
aid,  ')V  his  vote,  the  policy  of  the  Republican  jiarty.  In  matters  of  relig- 
ious faith,  he  and  his  family  arc  liberal  suj. porters  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal ( liurch. 

The  married  life  of  .Mr.  Duncan  began  in  the  year  1878.  wlien  he  was 
joined  in  nuirriage  with  Miss  Allie  Hart,  t^he  was  a  daughter  of  Rich- 
ard and  (leitrude  (Walker)  Hart,  and  was  born  in  the  old  "Green 
Mountain  State"  of  Vermont.  Richard  Hart  was  a  native  of  Old  Virgin- 
ia. He  is  now  decea.sed,  biit  his  wife  still  resides  in  Hlinois,  at  a  very  ad- 
vanced age.  Ml-,  and  Mrs.  Duncan  have  reared  three  interesting  children, 
as  follows:  Homer,  the  eldest  son.  married  Nellie  Davis,  daughter  of 
John  and  ;Mary  Davis  of  this  county,  and  whose  one  child  is:  Bessie;  Lot- 
tie, the  elder  daugliter,  is  residing  at  home  with  her  parents,  and  Edna, 
the  youngest,  is  a  scho<d  girl  at  home. 

I(  is  not  fulsome  pi-aise  to  say  that  no  more  substantial  citizen  re- 
sides within  the  borders  of  the  county,  than  Mr.  Duncan,  and  he  and  his 
family  are  held  in  the  greatest  esteem  l)y  a  large  circle  of  friends  and 
neighbors. 


MILO  D.  (TRRIER— The  retired  mechanic  and  pioneer  of  Mont- 
gomery county,  who.se  tiistory  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  article,  briefly,  to 
narrate,  is  Milo  D.  Currier,  of  Fawn  ('reek  township,  whose  country  es- 
tate challenges,  in  attractiveness  and  extent,  that  of  any  other  citizen  of 
his  community. 

(t  was  not  as  a  farmer,  however,  that  his  career  has  been  spent  and 
his  success  achieved — altliough  farming  was  the  first  occupation  he 
learned — but  as  a  mechanic  and  tradesman,  which  field  of  effort  he  occu 
pied  for.  at  least,  a  third  of  a  century,  and  from  which  he  retired,  at  Cof- 
feyviile,  in  1S!)8,  and  .soon  thereafter,  began  the  improvement  and  develop- 
ment of  his  present  estate. 

October  22,  1822,  Milo  D.  ("urrier  was  born,  in  Montville,  Medina 
count;.,  Ohio.     He  {»as.sed  his  childhood  amid  village  scenes  and,  on  the 


506  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

approach  of  mature  years,  they  were  changed  to  the  environiueut  of  the 
farm.  When  his  father.  Thomas  Currier,  gave  up  his  trade  of  a  stoue 
mason,  it  was  to  acconijiany  liis  two  sons,  Thomas  M.  and  Milo  D.,  to  the 
farm,  where  he  passed  his  last  years  as  an  invalid,  alone,  save  for  tlie 
companionship  of  his  two  faithful  Ixiys.  The  father  was  born  in  Vermont, 
in  1798.  and  died  at  the  age  of  forty  seven  years.  His  father,  ^^argent 
Currier,  was  a  Vermont  soldier  in  the  Ameiican  Hevolution  and  received 
a  wound,  at  the  battle  of  IJnnker  Hill.  After  the  war,  some  years,  he 
pioneered  to  Ohio  and  settled  near  the  city  of  ('leveland.  In  that  local- 
ity, his  family  grew  \\\)  and  in  Cuyahoga  county,  liis  i-eniains  lie  buried. 
His  son,  Thomas  M.,  married  Fannie  l>ille.  of  wliiih  union  our  subject, 
Milo  I).,  was  a  product. 

When  a  little  child,  Milo  1  >.  Currier's  motlier  died.  He  passed 
through  the  stages  of  childhood  and  youth  without  the  loving  and  tender 
care  pud  instruction  of  this  good  woman  and,  in  early  manhood,  was 
handicapped  by  the  physical  incompetency  of  his  father.  When  he  was 
finally  deprived  of  the  presence  of  his  father,  by  the  archangel  of  death, 
he  was  then  brought,  consciously,  face  to  face  with  the  stern  reali- 
ties of  the  world.  In  childhood,  he  lived  about  tlie  community,  among 
friendi^'  of  the  family,  and  really  never  learned  tlie  sacrediiess  and  the 
sweet  influences  of  a  home  till  lie  made  himself  a  home  and  discovered 
them  there.  He  was  married,  in  February.  184.'),  to  Lestina  I?.  Tracy,  a 
Vermont  lady,  and,  in  184(),  moved  to  Dane  county,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  purchased  a  modest  farm,  expanded  it  to  two  hundred  acres,  improved 
the  whole  and  sold  it  and  locate<l  in  ^laishall.  Dane  county,  where  he 
engaged  in  wagon-making.  He  carried  on  this  business,  in  the  "Badger 
State,"  till  1870,  when  he  came  to  Kansas  and  settled  in  the  town  of 
Parker,  Montgomery  county,  and,  after  lemainiiig  there  at  his  trade  five 
years,  moved  to  ColFeyville,  where  he  <'oiitinued  liis  trade  for  Tweuty- 
three  years,  or  until  his  final  settlenieiit,  as  ]iievionsl\  stated.  He 
purchased  a  half  section  of  land,  six  and  one-half  miles  west  of  CotTey- 
ville,  u])on  which  he  erected  a  sjilendid  residence  and  otlier  buildings  in 
keeping  with  a  highly  improved  farm.  Here,  in  the  i-oin]iaiiy  of  the  fam- 
ily of  liis  daughter,  he  is  enjoying  an  earned  and  deserved  rest.  His  jier- 
.sonal  ajiartments  are  fitted  up  to  suit  his  tastes  and  an  air  of  one  in 
easv  and  comfortable  cii-cnmstanccs  perva(h's  the  suirouiidiiigs.  In 
185V.,  .Mrs.  Cuirici-  died.  an<l  the  next  year  he  iriarric.l  .Minllia  Morrell, 
who  was  his  ioiii]iaiiio!i  twenty  live  years  when  she.  too.  died  and  has 
now  no  surviving  issue.  l!y  his  hist  marriage.  .Mr.  Curlier  has  n  daugh- 
ter, I'"mnia  (".,  wife  of  M.  S.  Vogan,  wlio  is  cnllivaling  our  subject's 
farm.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vogan's  children  are:  t •harles...Jonatiiati  .M..  Albert. 
Estella  and  Franklin.  This  is  an  industrious  family  and  tlieii-  condiiet  of 
the  fnrni  mark  them  as  competent  and  successful  farmers. 

Mr.  Currier's  has  been  a  life  of  activitv.     He  has  labored  to  gralifv 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  SOQ 

tial  improvements  upon  the  farm,  the  last  one  being  a  iK'aiitifni  resi- 
dence, one  of  the  finest  in  this  part  of  the  county.  His  farm  is  situated 
four  and  three-fourth  miles  from  the  county-seat  town  of  Indeitendence. 
In  all  that  goes  to  make  up  a  good  all-round  citizen,  Mr.  (Jrittin  exhibits 
all  the  qualities  of  that  character.  In  political  alBliation,  he  works 
with  (he  I'opulist  parly,  prior  to  the  rise  of  which  he  voted  with  the 
Democratic  party.  The  Tnited  Brethren  church  eniolls  himself  and  wife 
upon  its  list  of  members. 


JOSEPH  JACKSON — The  late  pioneer,  whose  name  is  announced 
at  the  opening  of  this  article,  was  a  man  of  substantial  business  traits, 
was  favorably  known  over  a  wide  area  of  Montgomery  county  and,  as  a 
farmer,  did  an  important  work  toward  the  reduction  and  improvement 
of  his  locality.  His  rise  in  the  county  was  from  a  primitive  beginning 
and  when  he  died,  .\ugust  14,  1900,  his  estate  was  one  of  the  valuable 
ones  of  the  county,  growing  out  of  efforts  on  the  farm. 

Joseph  Jackson  began  life  in  the  I'nited  States  under  somewhat  em- 
barrassing conditions.  He  was  a  foreigner,  unacquainted  with  our  ways 
and  (Hstoms,  and  with  little  knowledge  of  our  institutions.  The  first 
prospect  that  confronted  him,  on  reaching  America,  was  that  of  hard 
work,  in  a  coal  mine  in  Luzerne  county,  Tennsylvania,  but  he  did  not 
shirk.  His  life  was  ahead  of  him  and  he  was  ready  to  make  the  most  of 
his  lot.  Such  men  deserve  to  succeed  and  most  of  them  do.  Out  of  the 
coal  shaft,  into  the  ranks  of  the  Federal  army,  he  heli)ed  fight  the  great 
battles  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  and  the  integrity  of  the  flag. 
Back  to  the  coal  business,  for  a  brief  period,  and  then,  to  Kansas,  recites 
in  brief,  the  career  of  our  subject,  before  his  advent  to  Montgomery 
county. 

A  native  of  Northumberland  county,  England,  .Mr.  Jackson  was  born 
April  24,  18.31.  His  parents  were  William  and  Mary  (Truby  I  Jackson,  who 
brought  their  family  to  Luzerne  county.  Pennsylvania.  ali<»ut  1850.  The 
father  was  a  sailor  in  early  life  and  when  he  reached  the  coal  fields  of  the 
"Keystone  State,"  he  went  to  work  in  a  mine.  His  wife  was  a  French  lady 
and  a  daughter  of  a  captain  in  the  French  army.  They  both  died  during 
the  Civil  war — one  day  apart — at  about  sixty  years  of  age,  and  are 
buried  at  Timoqua,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  M.  E.  churchyard.  They  left  a 
family  of  five  children,  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  namely:  Henry. 
Robert,  Joseph,  Elizabcfh,  widow  of  John  Airy,  and  Catherine,  widow  of 
Jabez  Phillips,  of  Pennsylvania. 

Joseph  Jackson  was  united  in  marriage,  at  the  home  of  his  parents, 
December  3,  1851,  with  Jane  Bell,  a  daughter  of  Van  and  Jane  Bell. 
Mrs.  Bell  died  at  thirty-eight  rears  of  age,  while  her  husband  passed 
away  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven.     Mr.  Jackson  enlisted  in  18(i2,  .\ugust 


5IO  IlISTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

S.  in  ilii'  On.-  Hnndrcd  and  Twenty-fourth  Illinois  VohintetMs.  1o  whicli 
state  lie  liad  inij;iated  five  yeai-s  befoi-e.  His  enlistment  occnn'ed  at  Col 
chestei-  and  his  reniinent  formed  a  part  of  the  First  Hrifjade.  Third  r>ivis- 
ion  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps.  He  iiarticijiated  in  the  battles  of  Hay 
mond.  Ciiainpion  Hills,  siejje  and  caitture  of  Vicksbiiff;.  battle  at  .lackson, 
and  th.en  his  command  was  transferred  to  southern  Alabama,  wliere  he 
aided  in  the  assault  on  "Spanish  Fort"  and  the  capture  of  Mobile.  He 
was  at  ^'icksburJ^  when  the  mine  was  ex|)loded  and  was.  himself,  wound- 
ed at  Chamj. ion' Hills.  The  ball  passed  thr.ni-h  his  haversack  and  was 
checked  to  almost  a  sjieut  ball,  by  iienelrat in<>  thron<;h  his  plate  and  caj). 
which  laller  has  Ikhmi  preserved  to  the  family,  as  a  relic  of  war  days  and 
a  memento  of  the  .service  of  its  worthy  head.  His  wound  was  a  serious 
matter  with  Mr.  -lackson,  for  it  penned  him  up  in  the  hos]iital,  out  of 
which,  upon  his  |)leadin»',  ou  one  occasion,  he  was  taken  on  an  ambulance 
man!-,  in  order  to  keep  along  with  his  command.  Alth<ni},di  it  healed, 
in  time,  the  wound  left  its  pernuinent  effect  with  its  victim.  .\n  inci 
dent  (.cciirred  at  Vicksburg,  in  which  Mr.  Jackson  was  a  jiarticipaiit. 
whicli  showed  his  courage  and  utter  lack  of  fear.  On  one  occasion,  a 
Confederate  pulled  his  pistol  and  made  boasts  of  what  he  would  do  to 
the  '-Yanks."  but  before  he  put  his  threats  into  execution,  Joe  Jackson 
had  relieved  him  of  the  weapon  and  told  him  to  call  the  next  morning, 
but  lie  failed  to  call  and  Mr.  Jackson  brought  the  jiistol  home.  August 
15.  1865,  the  military  life  of  our  subject  ceased.  He  was  discharged  in 
Chicago,  as  a  sergeant,  and  at  once  rejoined  his  family  in  Colchester, 
HIinois. 

Taking  up  civil  pursuits  again.  Mr.  -lackson  bought  a  tract  of  coal 
land,  upon  whicli  he  sank  a  shaft  and  began  the  mining  of  coal.  He  em- 
ploved  a  small  force  of  men  and  did  (piite  a  busiiu'ss.  sliijtiiing  his  pro- 
duct to  (iuincy,  Illinois.  In  ISTO.  he  gathered  his  substance,  his  fanily 
and  his  etfects  together  and  brought  them  to  .Montgomery  county,  where 
he  iiurcha.sed  a  wild  tract  of  eighty  acres  of  land  on  Onion  creek.  -Vs  a 
farmer,  he  was  pronouncedly  successful.  His  management  of  his  af- 
fairs seemi'd  to  keep  them  on  the  ti]iward  tendency  and.  as  his  circum- 
stances warranted,  he  added  lra<t  after  tract,  until  his  estat<>  embraced 
five  hundred  and  sixty  four  acres.  This,  together  with  valuable  residence 
jiroperty  in  Independence  and  a  dejiosit  in  one  of  the  city  banks,  consti- 
tuted his  estate  at  his  death. 

To  .Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Ja<'kson  were  born  the  following  chilrdren.  namely: 
.Mar\  J.  wife  of  Walter  Funess.  of  Colchestei-.  Illinois;  Van  William, 
of  Colorado,  who  married  Ftlie  Cox  and  has  children:  .loseph.  .Jennie 
and  William,  and  Maltie  and  .Vrtliur,  deceased;  Margaret,  deceased,  mar- 
ried Charles  Uedwood  and  left:  .May,  -losejih.  Albert  and  l-^ldr.-d  ;  Kobert 
A.  and  Josejih  H.,  both  died  in  babyhood;  Josei.h.  :!d.  of  I  mh'iiendence, 
Kansas,   married   .Vugust    U,   1883,  and   has  children:    Lillie   .M..  Joseph, 


niSTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  5H 

.It'iuiic.  Lizzie,  .lolin,  Robert.  Ethel,  Floyd  and  Kate;  Sanniel  C.  H. 
(Chai'.iiiioii  Hills),  was  liorn  the  day  his  father  was  in  that  fi^ht,  mar- 
ried Hannah  Cillard  and  has  three  cliildren:  Nellie,  Stella  and  Flora; 
Lizzie,  wife  of  lOdward  Woody,  of  Independence  township,  has  the  fol- 
lowiii};  ehildren:  Calvin,  Morrill  and  May;  James,  born  November  30, 
18(19,  niariied  Rose  I'.ailey,  now  deceased,  himself  died,  iu  November, 
1900,  leaving  children:  Jennie,  Eddie,  Van,  deceased;  Walter,  Maggie, 
deceased;  Hose,  deceased,  and  Mollie;  and  Belle,  wife  of  Frank  Haniblin, 
of  Independence,  has  a  sou,  Elmer. 

Joseph  Jackson  and  his  wife  brought  their  children  u)i  to  believe 
in  (he  sacrediiess  of  the  Christian  religion.  They  were  both  members  of 
the  Methodist  church  and  lived  consistent  and  upright  lives.  ^Ir.  Jack- 
son was  a  niemter  of  the  Grand  Army,  was  a  Republican  in  jiolitics, 
and,  as  a  citizen  and  a  man,  his  life  is  worty  of  emulation. 


JOSEPH  BERRY — A  patriot  defending  the  cause  which  gave  birth 
to  the  "Sunflower  State,"  a  pioneer  subduing  nature's  wilds  within  her 
borders,  a  solid  and  substantial  citizen,  revered  and  honored  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  .Montgomery  county — this,  in  ei>itome.  is 
the  record  of  Lieutenant  Jose|)h  lierry,  farmer  of  Sycamore  township. 

William  Berry,  grandfather  of  .loseph,  was  one  of  the  inde})endent 
Irishmen  who  cliose  to  leave  the  land  of  his  birth,  rather  than  to  further 
stand  the  exactions  of  a  selfish  l^nglish  nionardi.  He  came  to  .Vmerica, 
iu  the  early  jiart  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  settled  in  the"Hoosier 
State,"  where  he  reared  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  their  names  be- 
ing: William,  James,  Joseph,  Isaac,  Polly,  Nancy,  Cecilia,  Sarali,  Mark, 
Haunah,  Samuel  (two  names  not  given).  Of  these,  Mark  married  Chris- 
tine Lozer,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  daughter  of  Christopher  and 
Ann  (Rolland)  Lozer.  both  natives  of  Switzerland.  Their  children  were: 
Joseph.  John  (deceased),  Elizabeth  Archer,  of  Ohio;  Hannah  Taylor, 
Mark  and  Christine,  also  of  the  "Buckeye  State;"  and  Ann  Van  Nort- 
wich,  now  deceased.  By  a  former  marriage,  to  I'olly  Hughes,  Mark  Ber- 
]-y  hud  one  chihL  Polly,  who,  when  last  heard  from,  was  living  in  Indiana. 

The  immediate  family  of  Jose})h  Berry  consists  of  wife  and  four 
children.  Mrs.  Berry  was  JIary  Jane  Hewitt,  born  in  Jefferson  county. 
New  York,  July  28,  1885,  the  daughter  of  (ieorge  and  Reheeea  (Fisk) 
Hewitt.  On  the  1st  of  September.  l!)()l',  Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Berry  <elebrated 
the  fiftieth  anniver.sary  of  their  wedding,  amid  the  rejoicings  of  many 
friends  and  relatives.  Of  their  children.  Ida  Tuttle,  with  her  two  chil- 
dren, Floy  and  Vesta,  live  in  Purdy,  .Missouri;  Ira  H.  is  a  locomotive 
engineer,  lives  in  Joj.lin,  Missouri;  he  has  one  son,  Hollis.  who  served 
in  the  Philippine  war;  EHie  Ilolbert.  resides  with  the  jiarents  and  has 
one  child,  Pauline. 


.Iusr|.li  I'.fiiy  was  lioiii  in  Holmes  coiiut.v.  Ohio.  April  21.  IWC. 
At  scMMitccri,  lu"  went  lo  Lucas  county,  where  he  sjient  ei}iht  yeai-s. 
tluMno  to  Michi<;aii,  where,  in  Lenawee  county,  he  married.  He  soon 
returned  to  Ohio,  where  he  resided,  iu  various  places,  until  his  coming 
to  Kansas,  in  lS(>(i.  He  resided  three  years  in  Lawrence  an<l.  in  the 
sprin^L!'  of  "O'.l,  inade  the  trip  to  ^lontj-oniery  county,  with  ox-team,  be- 
sides which,  the  siiic  family  i>()ss(>ssions  were  a  few  household  jtoods,  two 
cows  and  $:'>(). (li)  ill  moiie_\.  .Mr.  Berry  filed  on  a  ipiarter  section,  in  sec- 
lioii  l.!.!-.'  1.".,  ercclcd  .i  lo}>  cabin,  and  began  life  anew.  The  cabin  had  a 
liM.N  lldor  and  no  windows,  but  it  served  them  for  a  shelter  until  I'rovi- 
.lelicc  smiled  on  their  eti'orts  suirhiently  to  enable  tliciii  t<i  re]. lace  it  with 
a  mor;-  comfortable  home. 

Their  neighbors  were  the  Indians,  and  they  soon  be.ame  well  ac- 
(|Uaiii;ed  with  a  number  of  the  chiefs,  among  which  may  be  mentioned 
Xopowalla.  I'.eaver,  Wild  ("at.  One  Eyed  Tete  and  Old  Toby.  But  once 
were  they  molesteiL  and  that  was  on  account  of  the  Red  Man's  insatiable 
a])|>etite  for  liiiuor. 

The  Berrys  cultivated  the  oiiginal  pla.v  until  1882,  when  they  sobl, 
and  bought  the  present  farm,  in  section  12  :!2iri.  and  where  they  liave  con 
tinned  to  reside.  During  his  residence  in  the  cotinty.  Lieutenant  Berry 
has  ever  evinced  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  community, 
servitig  a  number  of  terms  on  the  school  lioard.  as  justice  of  the  ]teace, 
and  as  to\\nsliip  trustee.  The  family  are  members  of  the  Sycamore  Con- 
gregational church. 

Passing  now  to  the  war  record  of  Lieutenant  Berry,  the  biographer 
notes  that,  in  August  of  18(>1,  he  enrolled,  as  a  jirivate,  in  Company  "H," 
Third  Kegiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry,  under  Col.  Zahm.  Tliey  entered 
(ieii.  Wood's  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  were  at  Shiloh 
and  ivery  battle  of  imjiortance  following,  until  they  reached  Atlanta. 
ileif,  he  was  with  (Jen.  Wilson,  in  his  daring  raid  around  that  city,  and, 
again,  at  .lonesboro.  The  time  of  his  enlistment  having  expired,  Mr.  Ber- 
ry promptly  veteranized,  again  took  the  oath,  and  served  to  the  close  of 
the  war,  being  mustered  out  at  Columbus,  (3hio,  August  16,  1865.  He 
entered  the  army  as  high  jirivate,  was  advanced,  in  turn,  to  sergeant, 
sergeant-major,  second  lieutenant  and,  just  befoie  his  service  was  ended, 
to  tirsi  lieutenant.  He  was  in  the  brigade  that  had  the  honor  of  captur- 
ing -IctV  Davis,  at   1 1\\  insville,  Ceorgia. 


liAXIIOL  B.  SNIOLL — For  more  than  a  (juarter  of  a  century,  the 
subject  of  this  review  has  been  prominently  identified  with  the  interests 
of  agriculture  and  grazing  in  Montgomery  county.  The  prominence  of 
such  (oniiection  exists,  by  virtue  of  the  extent  and  success  of  his  ven- 
lurc,  owning,  as  he  does,  and  having  actively  cultivated  and  managed 


D.    B.   SNELL  AND  WIFE 


AS.                                     513 

au  a  iteiiieti 
Tennette.  A. 

Marsh,   hor 

■  tiier  ot  the  State  of  A^'s 
MHi?  bping:  Mrs.  Sar;i!.  s - 

...     Sl!,-il     ■..), 

••(1  a  splendid  ".si 

ri<.,',  ill.'  <iri;,   of 

'■itl'.'!! 

iioii,   tiuail> 

;.,uir 

business  life 

' 

Mr,  nn.' 

: 

p 

^^^^^^KSfo'y^ 

I*  It  1^  •♦  l»  f 


•1^  H  H 

ft  H  t*  I 
l«  •»  f» 


I    f    •   li^f*  &« 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  513 

;iii  t'suiti'  of  five  luindred  aiid  ninety  ancs.  Tln-sc  Itaionial  juissessions 
air  imrcly  the  outcome  of  and  liave  lesnlted  from  an  unabated  ell'oit  on 
a  Kansas  farm. 

The  year  IST.T  witnessed  (lie  advent  lo  Fawn  <'reeii  lownsliiii.  Mont- 
gomery county,  of  Daniel  H.  Siiell.  He  settled  on  Onion  creeii.  where  he 
j)urciiased  one  inindred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  with  scant  improve- 
ments, and  at  once  took  the  roail  to  wealtli — raisinj;  and  feeding  stock. 
He  was  a  settler  from  Slielliy  county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  a  resident 
eight  years,  and  to  wliich  point  he  migrated  from  Warren  county,  Ohio, 
where  his  birth  occurred  October  17,  18;<S.  The  Snells  were  of  Mary- 
land origin,  in  which  state,  Daniel  Snell,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born. 
The  latter  married  Sarah  I'eckiniiaugh,  a  Peunsylania  lady,  and  they 
passed  away  at  seventy-four  and  seventy-three  years,  respectively. 
Twelve  children  were  born  to  them,  six  of  whom  survive,  as  follows: 
Sarah,  Frederick  P..  ilary,  Euphemia,  Martha  and  Daniel  B. 

The  country  districts  of  his  native  county  furnished  the  scenes  of 
our  subject's  boyhood  and  the  education  he  ac»(Hired.  came  from  the 
juiniitive  school  house  and  in  the  primitive  wily.  He  served  his  parents, 
dutifully,  till  past  his  majority,  when  he  married  and  settled  on  a  rented 
farm.  His  marriage  occurred  in  18fi0  and  his  wife  was  Jennette  A. 
Marsh,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  O.  (Williams)  Marsh,  her 
father  a  native  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  her  mother  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
sissipjti.  Her  parents  had  six  children,  those  living  being:  Mrs,  Sarah  O. 
Jones.  Isaac  W.,  Mrs.  Snell.  Mrs.  Snell  was  born  in  Piqua,  Ohio.  August 
29,  1S87.  Soon  after  their  marriage,  she  and  her  husband  gathered  to- 
gether their  small  savings  and  moved  out  to  Illinois,  where  land  was 
cheaper  and  opportunities  somewhat  greater  than  in  Ohio,  After  a  few 
years  spent  in  that  state,  something  beckoned  them  farther  west,  where 
the  field  of  opportunity  was  unlimited  and  their  removal  to  Kansas  was 
the  result.  After  twenty-three  years  on  the  farm.  Mr.  Snell  purchased 
thirty  acres  of  land,  near  Jefferson,  on  which  he  erecti'd  a  splendid  resi- 
dence, which  he  at  once  occupied,  in  self-retirement  from  the  strife  of 
life.  He  erected  a  large  store-room,  in  Jetierson.  for  the  accomodation 
of  a  friend,  who  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business,  but  with  such  poor 
success,  that  Mr.  Snell  assumed  charge  of  the  stock,  for  his  own  protec- 
tion, finally  closing  it  out,  selling  the  building  and  ending  his  active 
business  life, 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Snell  have  four  living  in  a  fajnily  of  seven  children, 
viz:  Alma  L.,  wife  of  George  O.  Gould,  of  Colorado;  Laura,  deceased; 
Melvi'i  A.,  who  married  Daisy  Earnest ;  Sarah  E,,  deceased ;  Jennette  E., 
wife  of  William  Hockett,  of  Pawnee  county,  Kansas,  died  May  14.  1903; 
Clarence  E..  who  married  Olive  Koger.  and  Grace  Pearl,  wife  of  William 
D.  \^'ilson.    The  last  two  children  are  twins. 


In  politics,  Mr.  Snell  is  a  Populist,  and  he  fraternizes  with  and 
holds  membership  in  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

^Ir.  Snell's  sister,  Sarah  Snell,  is  living  with  him  and  has  been  for 
the  ]i;ist  thirtv-tive  years.  She  was  born,  January  9,  1815,  in  Hamilton 
county,  Ohio,  and  has  never  married. 


P.  W.  WEAVER — P.  W.  Weaver,  retired  farmer,  now  residing  at 
401  South  Sixth  street,  Independence,  lias  been  a  citizen  of  Montgomery 
countv  for  the  past  twenty-two  years.  During  this  time,  the  citizens  of 
the  cuniity  have  come  to  know  him  as  a  high-minded,  sincere  gentleman, 
whoso  evident  pui'pose  in  life  is  to  live  and  to  serve. 

Mr.  Weaver  is  of  "Hoosier  State"  nativity,  born  in  Parke  county, 
February  IC,  1837.  His  father  was  John  Weaver,  his  mother  Margaret 
Crecelius,  natives  of  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  respectively.  They  be- 
longed to  the  pioneer  farmer  class,  whose  genius  mastered  the  primeval 
forest  and  caused  it  to  blossom  forth  into  cultivated  field  and  pastured 
hillside.  Both  of  the  parents  lived  to  a  ripe  age,  the  father  dying  at 
eighty-four,  the  mother  at  eighty-five  years.  The  latter  was  a  consistent 
member  of  the  T'nited  Brethren  church  and  a  woman  of  superior  mould 
of  character.  The  former  was  of  that  stern  quality,  frequently  found 
among  the  early  ])ioneerR,  whose  love  of  country  amounted  to  a  religious 
creed,  and  whose  livi-s  (■(•niporled  with  the  purity  of  the  patriotic  senti- 
ment enshrined  in  their  hcaits.  This,  lie  particularly  and  forcibly  mani- 
fested during  the  Civil  war.  Too  old  to  enter  the  service,  he  sent  his 
son.  and  then  busied  himself  in  making  it  uncomfortable  for  the  Copper- 
heads who  infested  his  neighborhood  and  who  had  become  members  of 
that  traitorous  organization,  known  as  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Cir- 
cle. His  family  consisted  of  eleven  children,  five  of  whom  are  yet 
living. 

P.  W.  Weaver  received  a  fair  education  and  passed  his  life  in  active 
labor  on  the  farm  until  the  great  Civil  war  burst  in  all  its  fury — a  fury 
destiiu'd  to  eclipse  the  most  sanguine  of  history's  greatest  contlicts.  Pat- 
riotism having  been  :i  i)art  of  his  daily  sustenance,  it  was  not  strange 
that  our  subject  siionld  Ik'  one  of  the  first,  from  his  neighborhood,  to 
enlist,  lie  became  a  private,  in  Company  "11,"  Twenty-first  Indiana 
Volunteer  Infantry,  his  enlistment  dating  in  .lune  of  1S(!1."  His  I'egiment 
becani'  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  I'otomac.  but  was  .soon  changed  to  the 
First  Indiana  Artillery  and  .sent  to  the  extreme  south,  becoming  a  part 
of  the  Army  of  the  (iulf.  On  the  lower  Mississippi  and  about  New  Or- 
leans, he  saw  nuich  service,  during  the  winter  of  l.S(il-(i2,  his  first  battle 
being  nt  I!;itoii  Itouge,  Louisiana.  Ileic,  he  received  :i  Itall  in  the  wrist 
and,  with  many  other  wounded  .soldiers,  wiis  sent  to  the  hosj.ital  at 
New  Orleans.     On  Ihis  (rip,  he  was  a  witness  to  one  of  the  most  api.alling 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  517 

rATKICK  II.  LINDLEY— ratiick  H.  Liiulle.v  is  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  the  viila<ie  of  Havana,  in  ^[ontgcunerv  county,  where  he  is 
engaged  in  the  dnig  Inisiiicss.  The  Lindlc.v  family  is  one  of  the  best 
known  in  tlie  coniily.  hotli  the  father  and  mother  of  our  subject  having, 
for  over  twenty  years,  been  active  in  the  ministry  of  the  Quaker  church, 
and  in  which  capacity  they  have  traveled  all  over  this  section  of  the 
state. 

Patrick  Lindley  is  the  eldest  son  of  a  family  of  eleven  children, 
born  to  Isaac  and  Elizabeth  (Woody)  Lindley,  both  i)arents  and  chil- 
dren natives  of  the  "Floosier  State."  as  fully  apjtears  in  their  sketch  in 
this  volume. 

Patrick  Lindley  was  born  in  I'arke  county.  Indiana,  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1862.  The  period  of  his  adolescence  aud  young  manhood  was 
passed  on  the  home  farm  and  in  attendance  at  the  district  school  aud  an 
academy  near  by.  After  coming  to  Kansas,  he  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Santa  Fe  railroad  aud  remained  one  of  their  trusted  men,  until  August 
of  1890,  when  he  began  the  present  drug  business  in  Havana.  He  has 
here,  one  of  the  neatest  stores  in  the  county,  carrying  a  full  line  of  every- 
thing included  in  the  stock  of  an  average  drug  store  in  the  smaller 
towns.  His  courteous  treatment  of  the  large  trade  which  he  enjoys  has 
made  his  venture  a  profitable  one.  He  is  also  interested  in  agriculture, 
to  the  extent  of  owning  a  one  hundred  and  twenty-acre  farm,  just  outside 
the  limits  of  Havana. 

Mr.  Lindley's  tastes,  in  a  fraternal  way,  are  satisfied  by  membership 
iu  that  good  insurance  lodge,  the  Modern  Woomen.  while,  in  religious 
faith,  he  follows  the  training  of  his  youth.  Politically,  he  reserves  the 
right  to  vote  for  the  best  men  and  measures,  regardless  of  on  what  ticket 
their  rianies  appear,  or  by  what  party  a  measure  is  advocated. 

The  home  life  of  our  subject  began  January  5,  1890,  when  lie  brought 
Miss  Ella  Stanley  from  Indiana,  to  preside  over  it.  She  became  the 
mother  of  two  children.  Harry  and  Ethel,  aud,  on  February  27,  1896,  she 
passed  to  the  "great  beyond."  She  was  a  true  Christian  mother  to  her 
children  and  a  loving  and  devoted  wife,  whose  greatest  pleasure  was 
found  iu  miiiistciinii  to  tlic  wants  of  lici-  liouscliold. 


HIRAM  FOSTER— Piinicval  Moutgoiiiciy.  tlie  hanks  of  the  Elk, 
the  prairie  grass,  mounds  of  rock  and  unbroken  soil,  was  the  welcome  of 
Hiran;  Foster  when  he  arrived  iu  Kansas,  iu  the  early  spring  of  1870, 
from  Cedar  c(muty,  Missouri.  He.  with  his  wife  and  two  children,  made 
the  journey  overland,  by  team,  while  two  cows  were  driven  ahead,  that 
the  family  might  have  sustenance,  iu  si)ite  of  a  new  country.  The  family 
located  on  tlu^  banks  of  the  Elk  river,  but,  by  a  new  government  survey, 


that  (laini  was  lost  and  they  located  on  a  new  claim,  a  little  to  the  north 
of  the  first  one,  and  made  vacant  by  the  same  survey.  Later,  throufih 
a  contest,  Mr.  Fo.ster  lost  eigthty  acres,  adjoining;  his  present  home.  The 
old  log  cabin,  Avhich  had  been  erected  on  the  first  claim,  was  moved  to 
the  last  and  served  for  a  comfortable  residence  until  the  erection  of  a 
new  home,  occupied  by  the  family  at  the  present  time. 

Three  years  passed  before  Mr.  Foster  succeeded  in  getting  all  of  his 
farm  under  cullivation.  It  was  here,  on  the  banks  of  the  101k,  that  the 
Osage  Indians  gave  one  of  their  greatest  demonstrations  in  numerical 
strength.  It  was  iicrc  that  this  great  body  of  Indians  assembled  and 
camped  with  ail  their  belongings  foi-  weeks,  jircparatory  to  their  final 
migration  to  the  .south. 

Hiram  Foster  was  a  son  of  KIdred  Foster,  a  nalive  of  Connecticut, 
the  father's  father  being  Oliver  Foster,  born  in  New  England.  Oliver 
Foster  had  children :  Monroe,  Oliver,  Alonzo,  Eldred,  Michiel,  Mrs. 
Aurora  Woods  and  Rosa  V.  Chandler. 

Eldred  Foster,  the  father  of  our  subject,  married  Susannah  Chand- 
ler, a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  to  this  marriage  was  born  two  chil- 
dren: Hiram  and  Mary  Tichnel. 

Hiram  Foster  was  born  in  Madison  county,  Illinois,  March  23,  1847. 
and  he  remained  there  until  the  fall  of  1S<!8,  when  he  went  to  Cedar 
county,  Missouri.  He  married  Mary  Ashlock.  a  native  of  Illinois  and 
a  daughter  of  Richard  and  Harriet  Ashlock.  Tlieir  family  consists  of 
seven  children :  Eugene,  of  Montgomery  county,  who  has  one  child, 
Aaron;  Eldred,  of  Elk  county,  Kansas,  whose  two  children  are:  Irby 
and  Clarence;  Ira,  of  Montana;  Ballissie,  of  Montgomery  county,  whose 
four  children  are:  ^larian,  Hiram,  Bertha  and  Orvil;  Mrs.  Agnes  Alex- 
ander, of  Montgomery  county,  who  has  three  children:  Clarence,  Ralph 
and  P.ernard:  .ilrs.  liattic  .^mitli,  of  Oklahoma  Territory;  and  William, 
at  home. 

Mr.  Foster  has  followed  farming,  as  an  occupation,  all  his  life.  He 
has  served,  faithfully,  his  district,  for  six  terms,  as  a  meml)er  of  the 
scluxil  board,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Justice  and 
of  til."  A.  11.  T.  .\. 


IMCHAHD  II.  11(»LL1\(JSW()RTH— One  of  the  highly  resi>ected 
families,  which  lijnc  made  .Montgomery  famous  as  a  county  of  good 
homes,  is  that  of  the  gentleman  named  above,  whose  honored  head  resides 
in  CoH'eyville.  and  in  restful  (piiet  from  the  cares  of  a  long  and  active 
career  Mr.  Hollingsworth  has  passe<l.  by  a  full  dozen  years,  the  usual 
allotment  of  man,  and  yet.  is  hale  and  hearty,  having  lived  a  singularly 
cori-ect  and  abstenii.nis  life. 

Hollingsworth   is  aTi   old   lOnglisli  (^naker  name— the   family  settling 


f»  I*  f^  f*  r*  i* 


here  that  ; 
ipir  l)elongii  _ 

was  a  son  of  Eldied  Foster,  a 
ivij,,!j  oijyf,,.  pfisjij.,.    »)orn  ir> 


11,  Hiram,  l;- 

iinty,  who  \.. 

I  lie  .Sniitli,  of  \>k 


Agnes  Alex- 
UPii'-e.  Ralph 


.  ^sier  has  followof]  f-^ 
:  s  s,i,,.,:.  faithfully,  !.: 
'/toe'  ])o;\i-(l,  and  is  a  ii 
i  fli-  A.  H.  T.  A. 


•TTAT?n    IT.    ilOi.I.iy' 


ail  occupation,  a 
six  terms,  as  a  nuihiKv  cr  tii:^ 
•ns  and  Daughters  of  Justice  and 


!k'  highly  respected 

Minty  of  good 

u  head  resides 

'oug  an<l  :iiM'v,5 

'/.t-u  years,  ,! 

ig  lived  a  .-•; 

lamilv  settlic  ' 


. . . .  AWw 


R.   H.   HOLLINGSWORTH  AND  WIFE. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  52  I 

Our  subject  attended  ilic  s<  liuols  of  .hie  l»;iviess  county.  Illinois,  and 
worked  on  the  home  faviii  tiiiiil  his  ciilisfnieiil.  Aiifjust  !),  1S62,  as  a  pri 
vate  soldier,  in  Conipauy  "K."  Ninety-sixth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry. 
His  term  of  service  closed  in  ('hica}«:o.  June  10,  18().5.  The  war,  in  his 
case,  was  not  a  dress  jiarade  attair.  Continuous  and  rigorous  service 
characterized  the  whole  jieriod  of  his  enlistment.  The  regiment  became 
a  jiart  of  "rajr"  Thomas"  corps  and  arrived  at  ("hickamauga  in  time  to 
take  jtart  in  that  battle,  where  "the  rock."  all  day.  withstood  the  fren 
zied  charges  of  the  enemy.  Mr.  Todd  was  not  in  the  battle  proper,  as  he 
was  early  detailed  on  the  and)ulanie  torjis.  He.  however,  saw  jilenty  of 
"gun  play."  later,  as  he  participated  in  the  battle  which  followed,  "above 
the  clouds,"  and  in  the  entire  .\tlanta  camiiaign.  The  actions  in  which 
he  was  under  fire,  were:  Lookout  Mountain.  Hough  and  Ready. Dalton, 
Rock  Face  Mountain,  Buzzard's  Hoost,  Triune.  Kingston,  ("assville.  At 
lanta,  Lovejoy  Station.  Jonesboro,  Franklin  and  Nashville.  During  tho 
Atlanta  campaign,  he  was  under  orders,  ninety  days  continuously,  and 
immediately  engaged  in  the  return  march  after  Hood  into  Tennessee, 
where  he  took  part  in  the  bloody  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville.  He 
entered  the  army,  a  private,  and  filled  the  various  positions  until  he 
reached  a  second  lieutenancy,  and,  as  such,  he  commanded  his  company 
for  a  period  of  three  months.  His  service  was  faithful  and  long.  His 
reward  was  that  of  thousands  of  other  boys  in  blue — a  reunited,  undi- 
vided country. 

Upon  his  return  home.  Lieutenant  Todd  continued  farming,  in  Joe 
Daviess  county,  until  February  24,  1874,  when  he  located  in  Montgomery 
eounty,  Kansas.  Here  he  was  one  of  the  leading  agriculturists,  until 
1899.  when  he  removed  to  town  and  lias  since  lived  a  retired  life. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  occurred  February  2,  1858.  Mrs.  Todd 
was  Jane  M.  Lemon,  a  native  of  Missouri.  Her  parents  were  P.  V.  and 
Elizabeth  (McClellan)  Lemon,  both  now  deceased.  They  were  native 
Canadians,  farmers  near  the  great  falls  of  Niagara.  They  became  resi- 
dents of  Joe  Daviess  county.  HI.,  in  the  forties,  where  they  lived  out  their 
lives,  the  father  dying  at  seveutyuine,  the  mother  at  forty-one  years. 
They  were  parents  of  ten  children,  live  yet  living :  Mrs.  Todd,  the  eldest ; 
Mattie,  Mrs.  S.  S.  Hughes,  of  Chicago;  Louisa,  Mrs.  William  Mills, 
of  Emporia,  Kansas;  Addie,  Mrs.  Henry  Glindinning,  of  LaFayette 
county,  Wisconsin ;  Orpha,  Mrs.  J.  V.  Grabham,  of  Independence. 

The  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Todd  consists  of  six  children,  viz:  Frank 
E.,  a  farmer  of  the  county,  married  Minnie  Coleman  and  has  children: 
Harland,  Oscar,  Lena,  Russell  and  Frank ;  Jennie,  born  December  Ki, 
18C2,  died  October  19,  1871;  Howard  E..  born  June  10.  18G0.  died  Feb 
ruary  3.  1890;  Herbert  W.,  a  graduate  of  the  Valparaiso,  Indiana,  Nor- 
mal School,  and  for  years  a  successful  teacher,  but  now  a  bookkeeper 
for  the  wholesale  house  of  Rovse,  Hitanler  &  Co..  of  Wichita,     Kansas, 


522  HISTORY    OF    MONTOOMEKY    COUNTY,    KANSAS. 

and  is  iiianiwl  to  (icitrudc  H.  nilcniaii,  with  two  cliildreu:  Hubert  H. 
and  Loia  T.. ;  Wilbur  1>.,  died  iu  iiifauc.v ;  lOJsie  A.,  Mrs.  Frank  E.  Stoops, 
of  Ind('iH'ndenco.  All  of  tlii'so  cliildi'oi)  are  us«>ful  nieinbers  of  society 
and  a  credit  to  their  jiarents. 

>Ir.  and  Mrs.  Todd  have  alwa.vs  lakcii  an  active  and  licli)fnl  interest 
in  the  life  of  the  different  coninnuiities  in  which  the_v  have  lived.  They 
are  Uienibers  of  the  ('ongregational  church,  and  he  is,  of  course,  one  of 
the  honored  members  of  the  (i.  A.  R.  He  also  affiliates  with  the.  Sons  and 
Daughters  of  Justice.  In  political  matters,  lie  favors  the  policies  of  the 
Keiniblican  ])arty. 


J.  HOWAHI)  l>ANA— The  bar  of  Montgomery  county  has  recently 
known  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  as  the  jiublic  jirosecutor  of  the  county. 
Although  com])arafiv(»ly  young,  in  the  legal  field,  he  has  shown  himself 
to  be  (b'ft  and  vigorous,  as  a  counselor  and  attorney,  aiul  as  the  county's 
legal  ad\isor  and  jmblic  prosecutor,  to  be  wary  of  the  jiublic  weal. 

Mr.  Dana  is  one  of  tlu^  jdoneers  of  Jlontgomery  coiinly.  His  parents 
came  hither,  in  ISIJii,  when  he  was  two  years  old,  from  Washington  coun- 
ty, Iowa,  where  he  was  boin,  Septendier  2S,  lS(i7.  The  well  known  farmer 
of  Caney  township,  William  1.?.  Dana,  is  bis  father  and  was  born,  in 
Ohio,  in  the  year  lS2'.t.  He  was  married,  in  his  native  state,  to  Nancy 
Williams,  whose  father  was  a  Scolchman,  with  a  long  train  of  American 
antecedents.  The  Danas  are  among  the  American  Colonial  families,  of 
which  the  distinguished  Charles  A.,  late  of  the  New  York  Sun,  was  a  rep- 
resentative. They  have  been  prominent  in  American  history  and  have 
shown  themselves  to  be  scholars,  statesmen  and,  above  all,  patriots. 
Charles  A.  and  William  B.  Dana's  fathers  were  brothers,  the  father  of 
W^illiam  K.  being  Watson  Dana,  a  native  of  New  England. 

^^■illiam  H.  and  Nancy  Dana  were  the  parents  of  five  children,  viz: 
William  1...  of  Pittsburg,  Kansas;  Charles,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri;  Ed  T., 
of  l>allas,  Texas;  ^lelville  C.,  of  Weir.  Kansas;  and  J.  Howard,  of  this 
review. 

Howard  Dana  passed  his  life  on  the  farm,  as  a  boy  and  youth,  and 
in  the  schools  of  Caney  township,  ac(|uired  his  liberal  education.  For  a 
bigher  training,  he  attended  the  Kansas  Normal  College  at  Ft.  Scott, 
where  he  completed  the  scientific  course.  He  taught  school  before  he 
becaiiic  a  student  of  the  Normal  College  and  was,  for  three  years,  prin- 
cipal of  schools  at  Caiu-y,  Kansas.  He  continued  in  the  profession  till  he 
had  read  law  to  tinal  admission  to  the  bar,  when  he  at  once  began  its 
practice.  His  precejilor  in  law  was  .1.  K.  Charlton,  with  whom  he,  after 
ward,  formed  a  ijarliiersbij.  for  practice.  His  first  case  in  court  was  one 
embracing  a  charge  of  assault  and  ballerv  against  his  client,  Harrv 
Temi)le.  of  Tyro.    The  case  was  tried  regularlv  and  resulted  in  the  acquit- 


HISTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  523 

tal  of  the  iicciiseil;  Mr.  Dana  ttnis  scoriii-;  liis  first  victory.  In  litOO.  li>' 
was  elected  <"oniity  Attorney  and.  diirin<;  the  course  of  his  term,  several 
ini])ortan(  criniinal  cases  were  brou^lit  to  trial.  .John  Xelsoii,  for  tlie 
killin;-  of  Morris,  at  ("otfeyville ;  .lohn  Walker,  for  the  killing  of  Lancas 
ter.  and  Clarence  Hird  for  the  iimrder  of  Harry  Linton,  were  all  trieci 
and  convicted  of  their  crinies.  In  the  case  of  Trusketf  and  others,  pro 
nioters,  ajjainsl  the  Santa  Fe  railroad.  Mr.  Dana  represented  the  plain 
titt's  and  secured  a  judgment  for  !f4r). (1(1(1  in  their  favor. 

Mr.  Dana  was  united  in  marriage  with  Maud  Mulvaney,  in  hide 
pendence,  on  the  9th  of  May,  l.'<!t4.  .Mrs.  Dana  came  to  Kansas,  with  her 
parents,  from  Ohio,  and  is  the  motlier  of  two  sons:  Merle  and  I'aul.  Mr. 
Dana  is  a  Republican,  an  Odd  Fellow,  a  lilue  Lodge.  Chajiter  and  Com 
manderv  Mason  and  an  Elk. 


ANDREW  M.  MISHLER — The  gentleman  here  mentioned  is  a  mem 
her  of  a  family  which  has.  for  nearly  three  decades,  been  prominently 
identified  with  the  develojmient  of  Montgomery  county,  and  which, 
through  its  different  members,  reflects  credit  on  the  county's  sturdy  yeo- 
manrv  The  parents  and  six  of  the  thirteen  children  born  to  them,  are 
cultivating  farms  in  the  county  and  are  all  citizens  of  unusual  strength 
of  character,  whose  standing  none  can  gainsay.  Mr.  Andrew  Mishler 
is  the  eldest  of  the  family  and  lives  on  a  farm  of  recent  purchase,  four 
and  one-half  miles  from  Independence. 

The  parents  of  the  family,  Samuel  and  Louisa  (Ormon)  Mishler, 
reside  on  a  farm  in  West  Cherry  township.  They  are  natives  of  the 
"Hoosier  State,"  removing  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  in  187G, 
where  they  opened  a  farm  in  Drum  Creek  township.  They  are  of  that 
sturdy  stock  who  bravely  stood  the  hardships  incident  to  pioneer  life, 
and  whose  wise  counsel  and  upright  lives  have  furnished  inspiration  to 
the  present  generation.  Their  living  children  are  all  respectable  and  u.se 
ful  members  of  society,  their  names  being  as  follows  :  Andrew  M. ,  Henry, 
of  Manchester,  Kansas;  Jacob,  of  West  Cherry  tow'nship;  Emeline,  who 
married  Martin  Ormon  and  lives  in  Manchester;  David,  of  West  Cherry; 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Joseph  Marow,  living  in  Missouri;  William,  of  Drum 
Creek  township;  Hannah,  Mrs.  Robert  Brown,  of  Arkansas;  Sarah,  Mrs. 
B.  \\'hite,  of  West  Cherry  township;  Ellen,  wife  of  Frank  Hoagland,  of 
Blackwell,  Oklahoma  Territory;  Harry  and  Charles  are  deceased;  Harley 
lives  with  his  parents  in  West  Cherry  township. 

Andrew  M.  Jlishler  was  born  in  Indiana — Clay  county — in  186:2.  He 
received  a  fair  common  school  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
county  and,  at  fourteen  years  old,  accompanied  the  family  to  Kansas.  His 
lot  here  has  been  one  of  continuous  hard  labor,  but  as  he  comes  of  stock 
to  which  labor  is  as  bread  and  meat,  that  fact  does  not  worry  him  in  the 


524  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

least.  He  remained  at  home  until  his  marriaoe.  in  ISSi*.  He  has  culti- 
vated diffei-ent  farms  in  the  eouiity.  puritiasin"  the  jtresent  one  of  eighty 
aeres,  in  1902.  This  was  formerly  known  as  the  '■.lohn  Marsh  farm"  and 
undei'  the  intelligent  management  of  our  snliject,  is  fast  becoming  one  of 
the  best  in  the  county,  t^ince  his  ownershiji  began,  he  has  added  various 
improvements,  the  most  pretentious  being  a  roomy  addition  to  the  house. 

The  wife  of  Mr.  Mishler  was  Louise  B.  Stephens.  .She  is  a  native 
of  Bloomington,  Illinois,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Carrie 
(Hughes)  Stephens,  who  came  to  Kansas  in  1868  and  now  live  six  miles 
west  of  Independence.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mishler  are  the  ])arents  of  the  fol- 
lowing children:  Carl,  the  eldest,  who  lost  his  life  while  bathing,  in  July. 
1!K)2,  was  a  manly  boy,  of  a  rare  sunshiny  disposition,  and  was  the 
light  of  the  home  .  His  untimely  death  was  a  source  of  great  anguish 
to  his  jiarents  and  genuine  sorrow  to  his  numy  young  friends.  Nellie  is 
a  young  lady  at  home;  (Trace,  nine  years  old, Clara,  seven,  while  little  El- 
sie is  a  babe  in  arms. 

Mr.  Mishler  is  too  iinnh  of  a  worker  to  allow  politics  to  interest  him, 
excejit  on  electi(ui  day,  when  he  deposits  his  ballot  for  the  Republican 
nominees.  He  and  his  fannly  are  members  of  the  Methodist  church  and 
are  always  supporters  of  every  good  work  that  promises  well  for  the 
community.  The  character  of  his  citizenshiii  is  without  blemish  and  par- 
takes of  those  qualities  so  essential  in  tin-  individual  citizen,  honesty,  so- 
briety and  sincerity  of  purpose. 


CONKAI)  L.  ZACHER— One  of  the  best  known  men  in  Cherryvale 
is  Conrad  L.  Zacher,  since  188fi,  the  Standard  t)il  Comjiany's  trusted 
agent.  Mr.  Zacher's  residence  in  the  city  has  resulted  in  establishing 
a  reputation  for  good  citizenship  and  he  and  his  family  are  looked  upon 
with  much  favor.  He  has  always  evinced  a  lively  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  the  city  of  his  adoption,  and  has  served  her  faithfully  on  the  school 
board  for  several  terms,  during  one  of  which  he  was  its  honored  presi- 
dent. 

Tl;c  iiarents  of  our  subject  were  Frank  and  Caroline  Zacher,  who 
came  to  the  United  States  from  their  native  land  of  Austria,  about  184!t. 
This  removal  was  the  result  of  a  religious  persecution  then  going  on  in 
Austria,  against  the  Lutherans,  of  which  sect  the  Zachers  were  promi- 
nent members.  They  settled  in  Ripley,  Oliio,  where  the  wife  died,  aged 
fifty-one  years,  after  which  the  husband  went  to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas, 
where  he  died,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three.  Of  their  six  children,  five  are 
now  living. 

Conrad  L.  Zadicr  was  born  in  Hii.ley.  Ohio,  .Inly  :51.  18.52.  At  the  age 
of  four  he  was  liuuiid  out  to  a  jtoikiiackcr  of  the  name  of  Archibald 
Liggette,  and  in  his  home  was  reared  to  manhood  with  every  advantage 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  525 

tliat  ((Mild  liavc  been  {•iveii  a  son.  In  his  foster  fatlier's  establishment  ho 
leaiiu  il  the  trade  of  cooper,  and  at  twenty-two.  eanie  west  to  try  life  for 
himself.  He  foniid  emidoynient  with  the  Armonr  Packing  House,  of  Kan- 
sas ("ity,  but.  after  a  time,  became  connected  with  the  Standard  people, 
bejiinning  service  in  1.S7!).  lie  continud  with  tliis  company  in  Kansas 
City  rntil  ISSli,  the  date  of  his  transference  to  Cherryvale. 

Ml.  Zacher's  family  consists  of  a  wife  and  a  daughter,  Ruth,  by  a 
former  mari-iage.  Mrs.  Zacher  was  Alice  Lining,  prior  to  1901,  daughter 
of  Greeubnrg  and  ]\Iary  Lining.  Mr.  Zaelier  is  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist church,  while  he  is  enrolled  with  the  Masons,  the  A.  O.  U.  W.,  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.  and  the  Sous  and  Daughters,  of  Justice.  The  political  belief 
of  our  subject  is  probably  the  result  of  an  ineid.ent  which  occurred  in  his 
boyhood  home.  One  day,  while  the  gjeat  Lincaln  -was  delivering  a  speech, 
he  was  lifted  to  the  shoulders  of  a  bystander,,  and  from  that  point  of 
vantage  was  so  impressed  with  the  persotiality  of  the  man  as  to  ever 
after  be  the  tirin  supporter  of  the  pi-inciples  he  there  promulgated. 


JOHN  WALLACE  HOWE— The  pioneer  and  worthy  gentleman 
whose  name  initiates  this  brief  review,  has  witnessed  the  development 
of  Montgomery  county  from  its  incipiency  and  has  been  a  part  of  much 
that  has  been  done.  It  is  interesting  to  know  the  landmarks  of  the  fron- 
tier and  to  get  the  story  of  the  conquest  from  their  own  lips.  A  third 
of  a  century  is,  for  this  new  country,  a  long  time  to  be  identified  with 
the  s:ime  commuity,  yet  Mr.  Howe  occupies. just  this  position.  He  ar- 
rived in  this  county,  in  April,  1870,  and  settled,  in  Liberty  township, 
where  he  existed — as  was  then  frequently  the  custom — upon  what  he 
could  catch,  carpenter  and  at  other  miscellaneous  work.  It  is  no  misfor- 
tune, at  this  distant  day,  to  be  unable  to  remember  just  what  employment 
(uie  trusted  to  for  subsistence  in  this  new  coiintry  more  than  30  years 
ago.  Many  of  our  most  worthy  pioneers,  and  who  are  now  classed  with 
our  subject  as  leading  and  honored  citizens  of  the  county,  w'ere  unen- 
cumbered, as  to  i)roperty,  and  were  conijielled,  as  was  the  Irishman,  "to 
iiiakt>  their  living  by  their  wits."  Suttice  it  to  say,  Mr.  Howe  successfully 
passed  the  Rubicon  and  got  on  his  way  to  prosperity,  off  of  the  green  grass 
and  bleak  prairies  of  a  sparsely  settled  community  and  without  the  neces- 
sity of  explaining  how. 

John  W.  Howe  came  to  Kansas,  from  Breokenridge,  Missouri,  where 
he  located,  just  after  the  war,  from  Newburn,  Indiana.  He  was  born  in 
Bartholomew  county,  that  state,  July  5,  1847,  and  was  reared  and  liber- 
ally schooled  there.  His  father,  Isaac  Howe,  was  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  that  locality  and  came  from  the  north. of  Ireland,  where  his  birth 
occurred,  about  1801.  He  migrated  from  his  native  land  after  he  was 
grown  and  made  his  home,  first,  in  the  United  States,  in  the  citv  of  Cin- 


526  niSTOUY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COITNTY,  KANSAS. 

cinnati,  Ohio.  Then-  In-  mc(  ;ui.l  in.niii'd  Uosainia  Dmihip.  a  lad.v  fioiu 
the  North  of  Ireland.  They  moved  up  into  ISavlholoiiicw  county.  Indi- 
ana, where  they  reared  llieii-  family,  maintained  (lieir  rejmlation  as; 
splendid  citizens  and  died;  the  niotiier  in  lS!):i  and  the  father  in  1S!)4. 
The  issue  of  their  union  was:  Mary,  deceased:  Nancy  J.,  wife  of  Albert 
Richardson,  of  Itreckenridt-c,  Missouri;  Hehecca.  wlio  married  Charles 
A.  May.  of  the  same  |«Mnt  ;  .loiin  W.,  our  snliject  ;  I{oliert.  of  Mreckeu 
ridge.  Missouri;  VVilliain,  of  [{ichniond.  Missouri;  and  ("liarles  F.,  of 
Breckenridge,  Miss(»uri. 

Mr.  Howe,  of  this  record,  was  only  a  scl Ilioy  wlu'n  the  war  .if  the 

KebelHon  came  on.  At  just  past  sixteen  years  old,  he  enlisted.  Octol>er 
:5,  18f);;.  in  Company  "A,"  One  Hnndi'ed  and  Twentieth  Indiana  Infantry, 
Col.  \.  W.  Pratlier.  The  regiment  formed  a  part  of  the  First  Brigade. 
Fii'st  Division,  Twenty  (hinl  Army  Corps,  and  went  out  on  to  the  Atlanta 
eampaijin,  a  few  m(»ii(lis  after  Mr.  Howe  joined  it.  He  jjarticijiated  in 
nearly  all  the  engagements  h'.iding  up  to  the  cai)ture  of  Atlanta,  and 
■when  the  city  fell,  the  regiment  acef)m])anied  Schotield's  army  hack  to 
Nashville,  where,  and  at  Franklin,  IloodV  army  was  annihilated.  The 
command  was  then  sent  to  \\'ashington,  1).  C..  and  down  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina  to  Morehead  Landing  ami  u])  to  Newburn.  where  Hardie's 
Corps  was  encountered,  the  battle  really  occuring  a 
Howe's  regiment  went  next  t(t  ('harlotte,  by  the  way  1 
mnstered  out  at  the  former  place,  in  -lanuary,  ISC.C. 
of  oui-  subje.t  occurring  at  Iiirtiana]iolis,  Indiana,  in 
ruary. 

Resuming  peaceful  pursuits,  .Mr.  Howe  took  a  position  in  a  mill  at 
Newburn,  Indiana,  but,  in  the  autumn  of  IStiCi,  he  started  west,  stopping, 
as  previously  stated,  at  I'reekenridge,  Missouri,  where  his  lelatives  lived. 
His  trip  to  Kansas  was  'made  in  a  wagon,  in  com]iany  with  two  others, 
and  he  liegan  the  life  of  a  carpenter  in  Montgomery  county.  For  many 
years  of  his  life  he  has  been  identified  with  commercial  pursuits,  in  some 
capacity.  For  twenty  yeai's,  he  was  a  traveling  salesman,  for  five  years  a 
salesman  in  the  New  YnHi  Store,  in  Independence,  Kansas,  and  the  same 
number  of  years,  in  a  like  capacity,  wiHi  the  mercantile  house  of  Henry 
Baden,  and,  finally,  as  proprietor  of  the  New  York  Store,  of  Independ- 
ence, two  years.  Removing  his  stock  to  I'.lackwell,  Oklahoma,  he  disposed 
of  it  and  returned  to  Independence,  where  he  oiiened  a  clothing  store,  the 
firm  being  J.  W.  Howe  &  Company,  which  changed  hands,  by  sale,  in  two 
years,  and  Mr.  Howe  again  engaged  in  the  novelty  business,  which  he  sold 
to  the  DeBard  Dry  Ooods  Company,  in  HMIl. 

The  politics  of  Montgomery  county  has  known  .lolin  W.  Howe  as  a 
factor  for  many  years.  He  Itecame  a  Rei)ublican  before  he  left  the  mill 
tary  servi<-e  of  the  United  States  and  has  carried  the  standar<l  of  thai 
party  aloft  in  every  ('anipaign^siiTce  the  war.    Wliil(>  he  has  made  no  loud 


Wis 

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,    i;nrili('',mi 

■w  cu'inlv,    i.r 

iiitaiiM'd    theii 

rfiputiitiou      ;..s 

1Sn2    ^lM1   thr 

.  ■  of  Albert 

!  Charles 

■'':  Breckeu 

■  ^,V.i.,    o 

Ui(.iiiiiuiid 

,  I\]i;ssi)iu-i;  .a. 

i   Charlt's  F..  ..f 

■hoolbnY'wbeii  the  war  of  the 
oars  old,  he  enlisted,  Ot'tol)er 
Twentieth  Tniliana  Tnfnntrv, 


le  aetiial  nmster 
he  month  of  Fel)- 


tiiisuit'i.   Mr    llowp  tciiik  a  iiosition  in  a  mill  at 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY;,  KANSAS.  529 

Moufilii  iiolitiral  prcfiM-iiuMit.  content ino  himself  to  <!ist  his  vote  for  jjros- 
|»erit\  and  ]irof;ress.  as  set  forth  in  tlie  ])latfornis  of  the  Republicin 
l.arty. 

Mrs.  Kincaid,  prior  to  her  marriage,  was  Miss  Lou  Marshall.  She  is 
n  native  of  Ijeavenwoith.  Kansas,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Moses  and 
Lavinia  Marshall,  formerly  of  Illinois,  and  now  lionored  residents  of 
Chcrrvvalc,  wliere  .Mr.  Marshall's  ninety-two  years  distiii;;uislies  him  as 
tlie  oldest  man  in  town.  To  Mrs.  Kincaid  have  U>en  horn  three  children. 
Of  these,  Ixoliert  M.  was  the  eldest;  Maud  K.  married  ('.  !i.  Shanton  and 
lives  in  Colnnihus,  Kansas;  I'.lanche  M..  an  accomplislied  Jiiusician.  a 
graduate  of  in!isic  at  10m]>oria,  resides  at  home.  Rohert.  the  eldest,  was 
a  boy  of  unusual  promise,  when  death  claimed  him.  on  the  17th  day  of 
-)anu;\ry.  1S!I(I.  the  result  of  an  accident  hy  drowning.  With  a  number 
of  companions,  he  had  s])ent  the  afternoon  skating  and,  loath  to  lose  any 
of  the  splendid  sport  while  it  lasted,  tarried  late  with  a  comjtanion. 
Suddenly  the  ice  broke  under  him  and  before  sueoor  could  reach  him. 
he  sunk  to  his  death.  He  was  of  a  vivacious  temperament,  deeply  relig- 
ious and  studious,  and  most  popular  among  his  playmates,  and  his  un- 
timely death  was  felt  almost  as  a  personal  loss  by  every  citizen  in  Cher- 
rvvale. 


lOLIAS  M.  IX(iMIKi:— I-:iias  M.  Ingmire.  cme  of  the  class  which  has 
been  ajitly  styled,  by  a  pr(nuinent  writer,  as  "Knights  of  the  soil."  resides 
on  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the  county,  four  miles  from  ('oft'eyville.  in 
Fawn  Ci-eek  townshi)i.  Since  his  coming  to  the  county,  in  ISOd.  he  has 
shown  excellent  citizenshiji  and  is- much  esteemed  by  all  who  know  him. 

Mr.  Ingmire  belongs  to  the  '•immortal  few,"  now  fast  passing  away, 
who  fought,  l)le<l  and  all  but  died,  that  future  generations  miglit  have 
an  undivided  countiy.  Not  old  enough  to  secure  his  acceptance,  as  a  sol- 
dier, ill  ISC.l,  his  ])ersistence  succeeded  in  landing  him  in  the  ranks  before 
his  sixteenth  birthday,  the  date  of  his  enlistment  being  February  22, 
18(i:{.  ('(unpauy  "H,"  of  the  Sixty-third  Ohio  ^'olunteer  Infantry,  en- 
rolled him,  as  a  private  soldier,  and  he  served  until  the  close  of  the  war 
in  the  army  of  the  center.  His  service  was  active  and  strenuous,  until  the 
:50th  of  Jlay.  1804,  when,  at  the  battle  of  Dallas,  Georgia,  he  received  a 
grievous  wound,  by  the  bur.sting  of  a  shell.  This  finished  him  as  a  light- 
ing man,  and,  after  a  period  in  the  hospital,  he  was  sent  to  Indianapolis, 
where  he  put  in  the  remainder  of  his  service,  as  a  member  of  the  invalid 
lorps.    His  discharge  dated  the  17th  of  Ajiril.  ISO."). 

After  th(>  war,  ilr.  Ingmire  joined  his  parents  in  Iowa,  whither  they 
had  remo\ed,  during  the  struggle,  from  Hocking  county,  Ohio.  It  was  in 
.Muskingum  county.  Ohio,  that  the  birth  of  (uir  subject  occurred,  the  date 
being  December  K!,  1S47.  His  father.  Franklin  Ingmire.  had  come  to  the 
•  r.Hcl.:eye  State"  from  Mar\  laud,  as  a  \-ounu  man.  and  had  there  married 


530  HISTORY   OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Catherine  (liltbons.  Slie  became  the  mother  of:  John,  who  died  in  1862; 
Hester,  al.so  deceased;  William,  a  farmer  near  Cort'eyville;  Mag}i;ie  K., 
now  Mrs.  (invn;  Ida,  wife  of  Ed  Forshe,  and  Thomas,  hotii  residents 
near  Indiana]K)lis,  Indiana.  In  1!S()4,  the  {)arents  settled  in  Colfax,  Iowa, 
where  they  continued  to  reside  until  their  demise.  The  mother  died  in 
iSt;."),  at- about  forty-live,  the  father  in  1885,  at  seventyttve  years. 

Mr.  ln<imire  remained  under  the  hoTne  roof  for  a  !iumber  of  years, 
eiiiiuiicd  in  farming.  In  1871',  he  and  a  brother  resolved  to  see  what  Ne- 
braska liad  in  store  for  enter](risin<i-  youths,  and,  witli  nine  head  of  };ood 
horses,  made  the  trip  out  to  near  David  City.  They  weie  unfortunate, 
however,  in  arrivinj;  just  in  time  to  get  the  full  benefit  of  the  grasshojiper 
scourge,  and  the  following  year,  returned  to  Iowa,  feeling  themselves 
fortunate  in  the  possession  of  a  poor  old  "plug."  Nothing  daunted  by 
this  reverse,  Mr.  Ingmire  again  began  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  and 
was  soon  on  the  upgrade  to  comparative  i)rosperity.  This  time  he  made 
sui-e  of  the  matter  by  taking  unto  himself  a  helpmeet,  and  who  has,  in- 
deed, been  a  S])lendi(l  partner  of  all  his  joys  and  sorrows.  Mrs.  Ingmire 
was  (iertrude  H.  Dee,  prior  to  her  marriage  day,  May  18,  1876.  She 
was  born  in  Hancock  county,  Illinois,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Jackson  and 
Eliza  (Cain)  Dee,  natives  of  Vermont  and  Pennsylvania,  respectively. 
The  j'arents  married  in  Illinois  and,  in  1877,  moved  to  Jasper  county, 
Iowa,  where  Mr.  Dee  died,  on  the  .5th  of  September,  1902,  the  wife  still 
being  a  resident  of  Colfax.  In  their  family  were  fifteen  children,  the 
namesof those  reared  being:  .losephine,  Mrs.  Berkley;  (Jertrude,  Mrs.  Ing 
mire;  I^va,  Mrs.  English;  Harriett,  Mrs,  Cray;  (irant,  and  Mrs.  Jessie. 
Xiihols;  Clarkson  and  Francis  are  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ingmire  fol 
lowed  farming,  with  success,  in  Iowa,  tintil  18!)(),  when  they  sold  out  and 
came  to  their  present  farm.  They  have  here,  one  hundred  and  eiglity-five 
acres  of  fine  creek  bottom,  with  an  elevation  for  their  residence  and 
barns,  and  near  which  is  a  beautiful  artificial  grove.  The  intelligent 
methods  employed  by  Mr.  Ingmire  have  resulted  in  the  production  of  one 
of  the  finest  farms  in  the  county,  and  he  takes  a  pardonal)le  pride  in 
maintaining  it  so. 

Children  have  been  born  to  :\hs.  Ingmire,  as  follows:  .Adelberi 
i:idoi"i.  born  May  it,  1877,  has  been  a  trusted  employee  of  the  Missouri 
I'acitic  railroad  for  several  years;  Merle  Ernest,  born  Decend)er  17.  1878; 
<'arro!l  Kyan,  born  September  27,  1880.  These  boys  are  all  of  splendid 
cajialiilities  and  of  fine  moral  character,  a  credit  to  their  training.  In  a 
social  way,  .Mr.  Ingmire  is  a  valued  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Heidihlic,  Post  15:5,  of  CoHeyville;  a  ^lason,  a  member  of  the  A,  H.  T.  A. 
and  of  the  Triple  Tie,  and  both  he  and  Ills  uood  wife  are  members  of  th.; 

Knights  and   Ladies  of  SccurKy.      In  his  younger  manli 1.  while  in   lo 

wa.  Mr.  Ingmire  look  an  adive  pai-t  in  local  otlicial  matters,  but  has  lefi 


HlSTdUV    OF    MdNTCOMKUY    CIM'NTY.    KANSAS.  53  I 

-the  li.)I(lin}>-  of  olli.c  licic  lu  (.llicrs,  conteiitin-i  liinisclf  in  tli<'  sii|,|.()it  of 
tlie  Kei)iil»Ii(;ui  (i.'kcl. 


MARION  K.  KICLSO— Marion  E.  Kelso,  who  lives  in  one  of  the 
handsomest  lesidenees  in  the  county,  on  a  beauliftil  elevation  overlooking 
the  niial  village  of  Havana,  and  one  and  a  half  miles  from  that  plaee, 
is  another  of  the  "eleet  of  71,"  though  he  was  but  seven  years  of  age 
when  his  pai-ents  settled  in  the  county.  He  is  one  of  the  thrifty  farmers 
t(f  the  connty,  eoutiolling  1,14(5  acres,  and  his  place  is  the  embodiment 
of  neatness  and  rural  elegance,  and  bespeaks  the  careful  management 
of  a  ii'.aster  Inisbandman. 

The  father  of  Marion  K.  Kelso,  Thomas  Kelso,  was  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  was  reared  to  young  manhood.  Thence  he  migrated  To 
Johnson  county,  Iowa,  where  he  met  and  married  Sarah  Welch,  and 
where  he  continned  to  reside  until  1868,  and  where  his  wife  died  in  1805. 
>?he  left  him  with  a  family  of  six  children,  of  whom  our  subject  is  tho 
only  one  living.  The  father  came  to  Kansas  in  1808,  and  settled, 
first,  in  Lyon  county,  thence,  in  a  short  time,  to  Neosho  county,  where  he 
located  near  the  Osage  Mission.  He  was  attracted  to  Montgomery 
county  in  the  year  of  the  great  influx,  namely,  1871,  and  filed  on  a  claim 
upon  a  part  of  which  our  subject  now  resides.  For  a  number  of  years 
prior  to  his  death,  in  \SU2.  ^Ir.  Kelso  was  in  i)oor  health  and  thus  Ma- 
rion, very  early,  liecame  liis  father's  "right  hand  man."  They  spent  two 
years  together  at  I']ureka  Springs  in  the  vain  hope  of  imi)roving  the  fath- 
t^r's  health,  and,  with  this  excepticm,  Marion  Kelso's  residence  in  the 
county  has  been  continuous  since  his  seventh  year. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Johnson  county,  Iowa,  on  the  first  of  Ite- 
cember,  1804.  Deprived  of  a  mother's  love  and  care  when  but  a  bal>e  in 
arms,  he  grew  to  sturdy  manhood  under  the  father's  care  and,  in  the 
meantime,  secured  a  good  common  school  education.  August  11,  1887, 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Kelso  and  Miss  Belle  Lamb  was  celebrated.  Mrs. 
Kelso  is  a  native  of  Montgomery  county,  a  daughter  of  Elroy  and  Mary 
Lamb,  and  has  borne  her  husband  seven  children,  as  follows  :Pearl.  Thom- 
as, Iva,  Lesley,  Zora,  Floyd  and  Ernest. 

In  the  cultivation  of  the  homestead  of  three  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  Mr.  Kelso  finds  amide  opportunity  to  demonstrate  his  ability  as 
an  agriculturist,  his  other  holdings  being  rented.  His  handsome  and 
modern  residence  is  built  against  the  bluff  and  commands  a  most  lieaufi 
ful  view  of  all  the  surrounding  country. 

h;  the  social  life  of  the  community,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kelso  and  family 
are  hel|)ful  factors.  Their  influence  is  wielded  at  all  times  in  the  interest 
■of  better  conditions  in  the  matter  of  the  educational  and  civic  life  of  the 
coimimnity.  and   they  are  liberal   sujipoi'ters     of     good     schools,     good 


532  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

(•Imr(  lies  and  jiixxl  jioveriuiiciil.  Tlu-ir  place  is  secure  in  the  hearts  of  a 
host  of  friends,  wlioin  tliey  delijiht  to  honor  in  their  regal  and  hospitable 
home. 


11.  \\(H»l)KlN(i— II.  Woodrinj;.  grain  dealer  and  hu.ver  of  Elk  City, 
needs  no  word  of  introdiietion  to  the  citizens  of  Montgomery  county,  for 
he  has  always  been  here;  at  least,  so  long  that  the  "mind  of  man  runneth 
not  vo  the  contrary."  There  are  comparatively  few  now  living  in  the 
county  who  relate  occurrences  personally  observed  as  far  back  as  the 
spring  of  1871,  but  our  subject  is  one  of  these  few,  and  a  continued  resi- 
dence since  that  date,  together  with  a  life  that  has  been  an  open  book 
til  all.  has  made  him  a  person  of  much  interest  and  of  much  personal 
popularity 

.Mr.  Wiiodring's  ancestors  were  Holland  Untcli,  his  paternal  grand- 
parents, John  and  Christina  (^yolf)  Woodring,  having  come  to  America 
in  177S.  They  reared  a  family  of  twelve  children,  all  of  whom,  save  the 
father  of  Mr.  Woodring,  lived  to  an  advanced  age.  On  the  maternal 
side,  the  grandparents.  Christian  and  Margaret  (Miller)  Hahn,  were  of 
(xerinan  and  Scotch  descent,  respectively,  the  latter  living  to  the  remark- 
able age  of  ninety-eight  years. 

Our  subject's  parents  were  Jacob  and  Mary  A.  (Hahn)  Woodring. 
Jacob  Hahn  was  born  in  rennsylvania,  and  his  wife  in  Kentucky.  Jacob 
was  a  man  of  fine  qualities,  a  member  of  the  United  Baptist  church,  and 
of  good  influence  in  his  community.  Mrs.  ^^'oodring  is  remembered  as 
a  superior  wonuui,  a  most  devout  member  of  the  Methodist  church,  and 
of  great  devotion  to  her  family.  She  died,  at  the  home  of  her  son  in  Elk 
City,  February  11),  1878,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years.  The  husband 
ha<i  i)receded  her,  August  28,  1852,  at  the  age  of  flfty-four.  The  family 
born  to  them  consisted  of  ten  children,  but  three  of  whom  survive: 
(ieorge,  who  lives  at  Louisburg,  Tennessee,  aged  eighty  years;  Dr.  W.  W. 
Woodring,  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  I'tah,  aged  sixty-three;  and  the  subject  of 
this  sketch. 

H.  Woodring  was  born  in  Hardin  county,  Kentucky,  January  29. 
ISoC.  In  youth,  he  learned  the  painter's  trade,  which,  with  farming  and 
grain  buying,  has  constituted  his  occu]iation  during  life.  He  lived  in 
Kentucky  and  Bo<uie  county,  Indiana,  until  his  removal  to  Montgiunery 
count^,  in  1S71.  In  ISIil,  he  enlisted  in  Comiiany  "]},"  One  Hundred  and 
Fiftyfonrlh  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry.  This  regiment  was  a  part  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  his  comiiany  ari'iving  in  time  to  participate 
in  the  sp'ectacniar  fight  of  Winchester,  where  Black  Jack  Logan  did  such 
valiant  deeds  of  heroism  and  saved  the  day.  The  rest  of  his  service  was 
in  the  guarding  of  commissary  sujiiilies  at  Stevenson's  Station,  Virginia. 
His  discharge  dated  August  14,  IHO.j. 


C.  L.   BLOOM. 


'>ened  a  butcher  shop. 

■  ;i.M-nnvc.-i  of  til-  xV.l 


f  I  lilt   poiut 
le.  in  1880, 


>o  iioliingei 
,  Kaifsas. 


r»  r  t^  f*  I-  t 
••  I    •    I    »♦  » 


WT 


!■< 


a 


1^   i^   1    •    •    #    » 


mSTOKY   OF   MONTGOSIERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  533 

T']>()n  his  arrival  in  VAk  City  our  siibjoct  ojioiied  a  butcher  shop,  but 
after  seven  months  tooiv  u\)  a  claim,  s(>ven  miles  northwest  of  the  viHage. 
A  five-year  jierioil  here  was  followi'd  by  a  year  on  a  farm  a  mile  north  of 
town.  He  then  came  to  town  and  beuan  the  business  which  he  has  since 
followed,  that  of  liandliuf-  all  kinds  of  <;rain.  Duriiiji  ISIIS  !i!),  Mr.  Wood- 
ring  resided  at  Parsons,  having  been  ai)iiointed  .VssistanI  State  (Jrain  In- 
spector, with  head(juarters  there.  In  local  alVairs,  he  has  been  a  promi- 
nent factor,  having  served  as  Mayor,  (Councilman,  and  in  several  other 
responsible  offices.  In  social  and  religious  lines,  he  is  equally  prominent. 
He  is  trustee  of  the  Masonic  Lodge,  Sergeant  Major  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  and 
he  and  his  entire  family  are  valued  workers  in  the  Christian  church,  of 
which  he  is  a  deacon. 

Mrs.  Woodring  was  Miss  Melissa  J.  Cooper,  her  marriage  having 
been  an  event  of  April  3,  186G.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Burnside  and 
Eliza  (Bennett)  Cooper,  of  Thorntown,  Indiana.  Six  children  have  been 
born  to  the  union  :  Effie,  Mrs.  J.  J.  Carroll,  of  Neodesha,  one  child,  Faye; 
Dollie,  deceased  at  three  years;  Clandine,  wife  of  S.  H.  Piper,  an  attor- 
ney at  Independence,  two  children :  Alpha  W.  and  Genevieve;  Lida  C,  at 
home:  Grace  E.,  Mrs.  A.  B.  Shaffer,  of  Elk  City,  one  child:  Alberta; 
Harry  H.,  the  youngest,  is  a  bright  student  of  the  high  school. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Mr.  Woodring  and  his  fannly  consti- 
tute an  important  factor  in  the  life  of  Elk  City,  exerting  an  influence 
which  cannot  be  overestimated  in  its  power  for  good. 


CAMDON  L.  BLOOM — One  of  the  conspicuous  developers  of  the  min- 
eral resources  of  the  southwest,  and  more  particularly  identified  with  the 
gas  and  oil  development  of  southern  Kansas,  is  Camden  L.  Bloom,  of  Inde- 
pendence, President  of  the  Independence  Gas  Company.  His  geological 
researches  for  the  past  fifteen  years  have  led  to  a  quite  thorough  perfor- 
ation of  the  earth's  crust  from  I'aola,  Kansas,  where  he  began  work  in 
1887,  all  the  way  down  to  the  Indian  Territory  and  Texas,  and  have  re- 
vealed to  him  the  hiding  places  of  many  of  nature's  resources  and  havo 
been  instrumental  in  the  establishing  of  a  new  article  of  domestic  com- 
merce in  the  west. 

Mr.  Bloom  is  a  scion  of  the  Pennsylvania  Blooms,  having  been  born 
and  reared  in  the  "Keystone  State"  till  nine  years  of  age.  His  birth  oc- 
curred in  Clearfield  county,  March  14,  1868.  His  father  was  Amos  W. 
Bloom,  a  native  of  the  same  state,  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  now  a 
citizen  of  Miami  county,  Kansas.  The  latter  married  Rebecca  McCracken 
and  Camdon  L.  is  the  third  of  their  ten  children.  The  parents  left  their 
native  state  in  1877,  and  in  their  removal  to  the  west  stopped  three  years  in 
Fulton  county,  Indiana.  From  that  point  they  migrated  to  Bollinger 
county,  Missouri,  whence  they  came,  in  1880,  to  Miami  county,  Kansas. 


534  IIISWItY   OF    MONTCOMKUY    rOlNTV.    KANSAS. 

The  coimium  scliools  know  (inr  sulijcct  oiilv  till  liis  sixteenth  year, 
wlien  he  heranie  eonnected,  as  a  hand,  with  the  ojieiatiou  of  a  gas  drilling 
niaehine.  As  he  learned  the  business  he  hecame  more  interested  in  the 
possible  results  of  experimenting  with  the  innermost  parts  of  the  earth 
and  eventually  aeipiired  a  drilling-rig  and  began  operations  for  himself. 
Asamemberof  the  tirm  ()f  .McIJride  &  Hlooni.  he  contracted  much  develojt 
ment  work  in  Mianui  county,  where  the  gas  agitation  tirst  struck  Kansas. 
Ninety  per  cent,  of  the  drilling  done  there  was  by  this  tirm  and,  toward 
ISSS,  the  tirm  transferred  its  chief  oj)erations  to  the  vicinity  of  Neodesha, 
where  they  drilled  the  two  wells  which  jtroved  that  to  be  a  gas  and  oil 
field  o'  value.  In  188!>.  Mr.Hhuim  became  identified  with  .Montgomery 
county.  His  firm  was  associated  with  the  ]>eo|ile  of  ('ofl'e\ ville.  investi 
gating  the  gas  resources  of  that  locality  ancl  finally  took  u]>  their  jiroj) 
osition  and  did  the  development  woik  necessary  to  carry  it  ouf  success 
fully.  The  Coffeyville  Gas  ('omjiany  was  organized  with'  ('.  L.  Hloom  as 
President  and  the  city  jilant  partially  constructed  and  set  in  o]>eration. 
In  1S!)L',  McHride  &  I'.loom  came  to  lnde]iendence.  still  retaining  their 
holdings  at  ( "olfeyville.  and  began  drilliiig  for  gas  around  the  county  seat. 
They  were  the  pioneers  in  this  field  and.  after  great  mental,  jihysical  ancl 
financial  exertion,  opened  up  the  strong  gas  ]nessure  of  the  Bolton  field, 
assuring  the  future  of  Indejiendence  and  insuiing  the  material  indepen 
dence  of  its  benefactors. 

With  the  discovery  of  gas  came  the  rush  of  enterpri.se  to  Montgomery 
county.  The  cotton  twine  mill,  the  pajier  mill  and  the  ^lidland  (ilass 
(\>mpany  all  located  in  Indejiendence  and  Mr.  Bloom  ]ierformed  his  mod- 
est part  in  the  work  of  their  location. 

In  the  Bartlesville  oil  Held  McBride  &  Bloom  did  the  first  work  of 
development  for  Cudahy  of  Cliicago.  The  Cudahy  Oil  Company  also  de- 
veloped some  territory  in  the  Creek  Nation  through  this  firm.  Mc- 
Bride and  Bloom  hold  leases  of  Indian  lands  near  Bartlesville,  Indian 
Terrilorv,  and  its  scant  develojimenl  has  ]M-oven  the  real  \alue  of  the 
field. 

Ir  October.  IS!).".,  .Mr.  Bloom  married  in  Kansas  City.  .Missouri,  Mrs. 
Belle  Steele,  a  daughter  of  A.  T.  Sjiaulding.  Helen  Louise,  a  daughter, 
was  horn  October  (J,  1S09. 

Mr.  Bloom  has  united  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  Elks  fraterni 
tics  ;'n(i  is  a  Modern  ^^"oodman,  a  Workinan.  a  Maccabee  and,  in  politics, 

a   Dei rat.      He  was  elected  as  councilman  fi-om  tlie  4th  w-ard    in    the 

SI, rill-;  election  of  P.tO.S. 


WILLIA.M  H.  ALMN.  In  the  oitening  of  this  i)crsonal  record  W(> 
are  pleased  to  ])resent  the  name  of  the  splendid  citizen  and  substantial 
farmer.  William  H.  AUin.of  Fawn  Ci-eck  township.     His  identity  with 


HISTOKV    OF    MONTCOMIOUV    COHNTV,    KANSAS.  537 

Mr.  Miiharty  cMmc  to  tliis  viciiiily  willi  liis  |)ai(Mits  in  1870,  when  a 
boy  of  eleven  years,  and  lias  }>i(t\vn  np  anion-j  I  lie  jieojile  where  he  now  re- 
sides. He  was  horn  in  (ialcslmrj;,  III.,  on  llie  :{i(l  of  .Vpiil,  1859,  and  was  a 
son  of  Ale.xander  and  Kmily  (Mc(Jitf)  Mahalfy,  natives  of  the  Emerald 
Isle.  The  father  was  horn  in  1820,  and,  at  mat  iirily.  crossed  the  ocean  in 
search  of  fortune.  He  first  found  it  in  New  York,  where  he  met  and  mar- 
riedliiswife.Fromtliencehe.anie  ont  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  (Jaleshnrf-, 
where  he  remained  until  ISC.O.  when  he  came  on  to  Kansas,  and,  the  follow- 
inj"  year,  settled  his  family  on  a  farm  adjoining-  Tyro  on  the  south.  Hero 
he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days,  succeedinj;  by  hard  work,  and  good 
judgment,  in  a<(iiiirin<i  a  nice  little  coiii|.etemy  before  his  death.  He  was 
a  man  jios.sesing.  in  a  high  degree,  the  marked  characteristics  of  his  race, 
honest  to  a  fault,  and  generous  in  the  distribution  of  his  charity.  He 
died,  in  1892,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  and  his  wife  still  survives 
him,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven  children, 
viz;  Delila,  the  wife  of  K.  \.  Deiiney;  .Vnnice,  wife  of  ('.  L.  Keller;  John 
A.,  ^'irgiIlia,  deceased,  in  girlhood;  David,  managing  the  home  farm; 
Mary,  died  in  childhood;  and  one  died  in  infancy. 

Jrjhn  A.  Mahart'y  pas.sed  the  entire  jteriod  of  his  boyhood  and  youth 
under  the  home  roof,  dutifully  helping  to  care  for  the  family  until  he  had 
arrived  at  maturity.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three,  with  the  assistance  of 
Miranda  J.  I'arrish.  he  began  the  building  of  a  home  of  his  own,  the  date 
of  thtir  marriage  being  March  2,  1892.  Mrs.  Mahaffy  was  born  in  Wa- 
bash county,  Indiana,  on  the  .jth  of  December,  1875.  She  was  taken  into 
the  home  of  Dr.  liradley,  at  an  early  age,  and  was  reared  to  womanhood 
by  them  ,  coming  to  Kansas  and  being  married  in  their  home.  She  is  the 
mother  of  three  bright  children:  .VIger  Henry,  (Jeorge  Ed  and  Ida 
Blanche. 

Mr.  Mahalfy  was  engaged,  until  the  year  l!tl(2,  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits, when  he  set  up  his  present  mercantile  establishment.  He  carries 
a  nice  line  of  goods  and  his  courteous  treatment  of  custom  is  rapidly  se- 
curing him  a  large  trade,  rolltically,  he  suiijiorts  the  policies  of  the  Pop- 
ulist party  and  is  always  found  ready  to  aid  any  cause  that  looks  to  the 
Hj)building  of  his  home  town. 


A  R.  Qri(;(!~A  hardware  merchant  of  lOlk  City  and  one  of  the  old- 
est residents  of  I.ouisburg  township,  Mr.  A.  K.  Quigg  holds  an  honored 
place  in  the  hearts  of  a  large  body  of  its  citizens.  His  connection  with 
the  remarkable  development  which  has  come  to  Montgomery  county  in 
the  jiast,  has  been  of  a  most  substantial  nature,  and  places  him  in  the  list 
worthy  of  the  special  mention  accorded  those  whose  names  appear  in 
this  volume. 

Mr.  Quigg  first  c.ime  to  Kansas  in  180(5.     Eemaining  a  short  time 


in  each  of  Johnson  and  Franklin  counties,  lie  then  settled  in  Leroy,  Coflfey 
county,  and  engaged,  as  a  carpenter  and  builder.  The  year  1870  marks 
his  coming  to  tliis  county  and  his  location  in  l*>lk  City,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  cabinet  making  and  undertaking  business.  This  lie  abandoned  for 
the  hardware  business,  in  18TS.  and  his  connection  with  this  business  has 
been  continuous  and  successful  to  this  date.  l->lk  City  has  had  no  more 
earnest  advocate  of  its  interests  llian  he.  In  season  and  out.  he  has  spent 
time  and  money  in  the  advancement  of  its  interests  and  now  takes  a  par- 
donable pride  in  the  evidences  of  its  growth.  He  has  served  the  people 
of  his  township  in  several  of  the  minor  ofHces — Treasurer  and  Clerk-- 
and  has  used  his  influence,  at  all  times,  in  furthering  projects  which  had 
for  their  object,  the  moral  or  material,  advancement  of  his  cnmnninity.  He 
votes  the  Republican  ticket  with  regularity  and  is  looked  ujion  as  a  val- 
ued worker  in  the  ranks  of  that  party. 

Noting,  briefly,  the  salient  points  in  the  amcstial  histDi  \  of  our  es- 
teemed subject,  his  father,  Joseph  Quigg,  was  a  I'cniisyivanian.  born  in 
1811,  and,  with  his  i)arents,  went  to  Indiana  at  twelve  years  of  age. 
When  he  grew  to  manhood,  he  adopted  farming  as  an  fx-cupation.  follow- 
ing that  till  his  death,  in  1873,  He  was  a  man  of  intensely  patriotic 
mould,  an  out-and-out  Abolitionist,  fairly  worrying  him.self  sick  over 
the  fact  that  he  was  beyond  the  age  to  enter  the  army,  as  a  volunteer  sol- 
dier. He  married  an  Ohio  girl,  of  the  name  of  Lydia  Swain,  and  became 
the  father  if  nine  children,  as  follows:  Ira,  of  Indiana:  A.  K..  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Sallie,  widow  of  Harvey  Mendenhall:  Cyrus  B.,  of  In- 
diana: and  Frank.  Those  deceased  are:  Eunice.  William.  Mattie  and 
John. 

A.  R.  Quigg  was  born  in  Wayne  county.  Indiana,  April  14.  1S4:!.  His 
education  was  such  as  could  be  jirocnred  in  the  short  winter  mouths  in 
the  district  school.  He  helped  his  parents  on  the  farm  most  dutifully 
until  the  date  of  his  enlistment  in  the  army,  August  6,  1SG2,  when  he 
went  forth  as  a  sacrifice,  if  need  be,  for  an  undivided  country.  He  en- 
rolled, as  a  private,  of  Company  "K."'  Sixty  ninth  Indiana  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, and  in  the  very  first  battle,  that  of  KichirKuid.  Kentucky,  was  se 
verelv  wounded.  He  remained  in  the  scrvic<>  until  his  honorable  dis- 
charge, on  the  8th  of  August,  18G3. 

The  4th  of  May,  1871,  was  a  day  ma(h-  memorable,  in  the  life  of  our 
subject,  by  his  marriage  to  the  lady  who  now  presides  ovci'  his  home,  and 
who  has  been  a  s]i]cn(lid  partner  of  his  joys  and  sorrows.  Mrs.  Quigg's 
maiden  name  was  M.  J.  Sutton.  She  was  born  in  the  "Buckeye  State" 
and  is  the  daughter  of  Enoch  Sutton.  Four  children  have  come  to  bless  the 
marriage  of  our  subject  and  bis  wife:  .Mrs.  \V.  V..  Johnson,  of  Joplin,  Mis- 
souri, whose  three  children  are:  Hal])!!.  Paul  and  Helen;  Bertha.  Emma 
and  Frank. 

Successful  as  a  Inisiiiess  man,  hoiioied  b\    his  fellow  townsmen,  and 


IIISLDKV    111-    MuNr(ll»Mi;KV    CorXTV,    KANSAS.  539- 

revered  by  ;i  Uivav  circle  of  friends  and  ac(|U:iintances  in  the  county,  ^Ir. 
Qiiigg  is  passing  into  liappy  and  peaceful  old  age,  conscious  of  having 
nieasnied  up  to  all  the  re(iuirenien(s  of  a  good  and  loyal  citizen. 


.lOllN  i:.  \\iX(;.\KI)— Introducing  this  review  is  the  name  of  tlie- 
State  drain  Weighniastei-  at  rotVeyvilie.  He  is  one  of  the  successful  and 
wellkiiowii  fainiers  of  the  county  of  Montgomery,  of  which  he  has  been 
a  i-esideiil  since  ISSi',  and  of  the  state  since  two  years  before. 

Mr.  Wiiigard  comes  of  f)hio  origin,  in  Stark  county,  where  his  birth 
occurred  Septend)er  lU,  1S."..">.  Ilis  father,  .Joseph  Wingard.  was  born  in 
the  Si-.me  count  v,  October  .">,  lSi".t,  and  his  mother,  Maria,  a  daughter  of 
John  Speelman',  was  born  in  Holmes  county,  Ohio,  May  12,  1831.  The 
parei.ts  were  married  Septendu-r  S-l,  l.S.")L',  and  resided  in  the  vicinity  of 
Massillon  till  March,  isr.7,  when  they  moved  to  DeKalb  county,  Indiana, 
where,  at  Auburn,  the  father  now  resides. 

The  Wingards  of  this  generation  are  descended  from  John  Win' 
gard.  our  subject's  grandfather,  who  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, Sei)tember  i:*.,  1798.  The  latter  married  Polly  Zent,  born  in  the 
same  county.  March  19,  1790,  the  wedding  occurring  March  8,  1821. 
Their  children,  in  their  order,  were:  Jacob,  of  Williams  county,  Ohio; 
John,  who  died  in  the  same  county;  Joseph,  father  of  our  subject;  and  a 
daughter,  who  married  Cornelius  Clapper  and  resides  in  Stark  county,, 
Ohio.  In  the  spring  of  1829,  John  and  Polly  Wingard  left  the  "Key- 
stone State"  and  settled  in  Stark  county,  Ohio,  where  they  reared  their 
family  and  passed  their  lives. 

The  issue  of  .loseph  Wingard  and  wife  were:  Reuben,  deceased j 
Charles  F.,  of  Auburn,  Indiana;  John  E.  and  Ira  N.,  likewise  of  DeKalb 
county.  Indiana.  Reuben  was  born  December  9,  18.53;  Charles  F.,  Jan- 
uary 12,  18,57,  and  Ira  X.,  October  9,  1864. 

John  E.  ^^'ingard  was  the  second  child  in  his  father's  family  and 
recei\ed  a  good  common  school  education  while  growing  up  on  his  fath- 
er's farm.  The  Auburn  high  school  was  the  last  institution  he  attended, 
of  an  educati(mal  character,  and  when  he  assumed  his  independent  sta- 
tion in  life,  it  was  as  a  farmer.  When  he  left  Indiana  and  directed  his 
steps  westward,  it  was  toward  cheaper  land  and  the  ultimate  possession 
of  a  home.  He  stopj»ed  two  years  in  Crawford  county,  and  when  he  set- 
tled in  Montgomery  county,  he  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  in  sections  18  and  13,  township  33,  ranges  16  and  15.  Since 
his  first  settlement  he  has  purchased  an  additional  quarter  in  the  same 
township  of  Independence  and,  while  he  is  occupied  with  his  official  du- 
ties, he  also  does  all  of  the  farming  except  the  actual  work,  which  respon- 
sibility devolves  upon  his  young  and  manly  sons. 

Mr.   Wingard   was   married    in    DeKalb   countv.    Indiana.    Februarv 


540  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

10,  1876,  his  wife  being  Ella  I.  Vy\e,  a  daughter  of  Johu  Pyle,  formerly 
from  Stark  county,  Ohio.  The  issue  of  this  marriage  is  two  sons:  Frank 
Leroy,  aged  twenty  years,  and  Homer  Hester,  aged  fifteen  years. 

Mr.  Wingard  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  has  served  his  township 
as  trustee  twice,  has  worked  with  the  party  leaders  in  the  county  in  every 
campaign  and  was  appointed  to  liis  present  position  and  commissioned 
by  Gov.  Stanley,  in  1902.  He  became  interested  in  the  establishment  of 
rural  delivery,  early,  and  petitioned  for  one  of  the  first  rural  routes 
established  in  the  Third  Congressional  District. 


DR.  .JOHN  T.  DAVIS — Among  the  practicing  jihysicians  who  have 
attained  renown  in  Montgomery  county,  is  the  worthy  citizen  of  Inde- 
pendence whose  name  initiates  this  personal  record.  Since  the  year  1881, 
he  has  been  numbered  among  the  men  of  medicine,  that  date  noting  his 
advent  to  the  county  and  his  residence  in  Elk  City.  He  came  to  the 
county  seat  in  1892.  where  he  has  taken  front  rank  among  the  physicians 
of  his  school. 

Mr.  Davis  is  a  vigorous  example  of  the  sons  of  the  "Hoosier  State." 
His  birth  occurred  in  Warren  county.  Indiana.  February  2<>,  1853,  on  the 
farm  of  his  father,  James  Davis,  who  was  born  in  the  county  of  the  same 
name  in  Ohio,  in  1823,  At  ten  years  of  age,  the  father  accompanied  his 
parents,  Andrew  and  Zillah  (Grant)  Davis,  to  Warren  county,  Indiana, 
where  he  grew  up  and  married.  Andrew  Davis  was  a  Jerseyman  by 
birth,  left  his  native  state  in  the  fore  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  and 
lived  in  Indiana,  Illinois  and,  finally,  in  Kansas,  where,  at  Manhattan, 
he  died,  at  ninety-six  years  of  age.  He  was  of  Welch  stock,  his  father 
being  a  son  of  a  Welchman  whose  emigration  from  the  British  Isles  oc- 
curred during  the  contented  and  thrifty  jieriod  of  English  domination 
and  colonization  of  America.  Andrew  Davis"  father  was  a  wagon-master, 
under  Gen.  Washington,  during  the  Revolution,  and  he,  himself,  served, 
loyally,  against  the  P.ritish  in  our  War  of  1812.  He  had  seven  sons  and 
four  c^aughters,  as  follows:  James,  Josejdi,  deceased,  left  three  children; 
William,  of  Cass  county,  Missouri;  Caleb,  of  l{ice  county,  Kansas;  An- 
drew, of  Walla  Walla.  Washington;  Tliomas.  of  Los  Angeles.  California; 
and  John  G.,  of  Elk  county,  Kansas.  The  dauglil.-rs  were:  Mrs.  George 
Little,  of  Warren  county,  Indiana;  Mrs.  John  Kerns,  of  Manhattan,  Kan- 
sas; Mrs.  Millie  (name  not  known),  of  Indiana;  and  .Mrs.  Nelson  Farden, 
of  Warren  county,  Indiana.  Josejdi  and  John  Davis  were  Civil  war  sol- 
diers from  Illinois  and  Indiana,  respectively. 

James  Davis  married  Mary  Dawson.  l)orn  near  Cliillicothe,  Ohio, 
where  her  father,  "Neddie"  Dawson,  was  also  born.  Mary  (Dawson) 
Davis  died  in  1874,  being  the  mother  of  Kate,  who  died  at  twenty-three 
vears  of  age;  Edward,  of  Kingfisher.  Oklah(una  ;  Dr.  John  T. ,  Zillah.  who 


jlihniii; 
IB.  Kan- 

F;l*. 

i:ir  wl- 


hf.Okio, 


II-  f*  I*  f » f ' 


54*^ 


HISTOBY  OP  MO: 


10,  1876,  his  wife  beiug  Ella  I.  Pyle,  a  daughter  of  John  P.yle,  formerly 

from  Stark  county,  Ols'.i.    Thi>  issue  of  this  marriage  is  two  sons:  FranL. 

lomer  Hester,  aged  fifteen  years. 

■an  in  politicK.  has  served  hi-*  townsbiji 

■h  the  party  loaders  in  the  county  in  every 

inicd  to  liis  i)resent  position  and  commissioned 

hy  Gov.  Stanley,  in  1902.    He  became  interested  in  the  establishment  of 

i!ii:;"i  delivery,' early,  and  petitioned   tor  .rue   of  the  first   rural   routes 

;  in  the  Third  Congre^ion;  ' 


from  Stark  county 
!(.y,  aged  twen 
A(r.  Wingai  i 
H'ustee  twice,  I 

campaign  and  A\a 


i  ,;  IS — Among  the  practicing  physicians  who  have 

•  iitgomery  countv.  is  thp  worthy  "itizen  of  Inde- 
■  :..  .;(•  luur.f  initiates  this  ju-         ■  ■-••,.'       ■Mr  1881, 
i\  numbered,  among  the  ni'  .  ting  his 
',<{■■  county  and  his  i-esid<  "•  ^'^^ 
■ '!2,  where  he  has  takf'Ti  imv.t  :;p.;k  :•  ih.,..-  ;Ii:'  [, 

'  '-.urous  example  of  the  sons  of  Hi'^  "TT'-'>n!- 

irixni  county.  Indiana,  F<'i  •  ••n  'ii'c 

.-  Davis,  who  was  born  in  ilie  same 

At  ten  years  of  age,  the  i.;  ■  anied  his 

....-iits,  Auditrw  di.il  Zillah  (Grant)  IMvis,  to  Warreu  coiiuiy,  Indiana, 
Lire  he  grew  up  and  married.  Andrew  Davis  was  a  .Jerseyman  by 
'mill,  li'ft  his  native  state  in  the  fore  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  and 
\]\i:]  M,  'uliana,  Illinois  and,  finally,  in  Kansas,  where,  at  Manlnittan, 
':<  ('Nil.  :u  ninety-six  years  of  age.  He  was  of  Welch  stock,  his  father 
lieiiig  a  .-iou  of  a  Welchman  whose  emigration  from  the  Bi-itish  Isles  oc- 
curred, during  the  contented  and  thrifty  period  of  English  domination 
and  colonization  of  Amerita.  Andrew  Davis'  father  was  a  wagon-master, 
under  Gen.  Washingtoi',    '     ■       •'     Hevolulion,  and  he,  himself,  served, 


loyally,  against  the  Bi 
four  {.daughters,  as  foil" 
William,  of  Cass  county,  :-) ; 
drew,  of  Walla  Walla,  Washii 

■.vv-}  .Mill  (...  nf  Elk  county,  ! 
!  lounty,  Indi 
iiame  not  kr 


■w  of  1812.    He  bad  .seven  sons  and 

■^pph,  decea.sed,  left  three  children; 

'  i     of  I{ii-(i  county,  Kansas;  An- 

.  of  Los  Angeles,  California; 

laughters  were:  Mrs.  George 

.  Kerns,  of  Manhattan.  Kan- 

,a  ;  and  Mrs.  Nelson  Farden, 

•,i  !':ivis  %\'crc>Givil  war  sol- 


lillicothe,  Ohio, 
Mary    (D;nvson) 
'i,  bciuij,  die  n:u;;Ki   -.1   K;.>i.  •.\u...  •.l..jd  at  tw.  ■ 
ard.  of  Kingfisher.  nk1;ihoi«a;  Dr.  John  T. ,  / 


Vol 


.\\*2t?wv 


J.  T.  DAVIS,  M.  D. 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERT  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  543 

proiicliiiij;  olii  age.  he  has  continuously  caused  soniethinjj;  to  be  done.  His 
])n>niineiice  in  Montgomery  county  is  not  the  result  of  any  distinction, 
as  a  iiioneer,  but  as  a  sincere  and  devoted  citizen,  to  the  cause  of  his 
locality,  wlietlier  coniniercial,  jxtlitical  or  official.  Edgar  county.  Illinois, 
gave  origin  to  Mr.  Powell,  on  the  12th  of  Xoveinber,  IS.'W.  His  i)arents. 
Thomas  M.  and  laicietia  (  Dilll  Towell,  of  Kciitu.ky  birth,  came  into  the 
"Sucker  State"  fiom  Kentucky,  in  18;?;"),  and  entered  a  tract  of  the  ]iublio 
dom;iin  and  passed  their  lives  in  the  town  of  Paris,  where  the  father 
worked  at  the  blacksmith  and  carpenter  trade.  He  was  born  in  1800 
and  died  July  ."{,  ISTtl.  He  and  his  wife  were  faithful  niend)ers  of  the 
Christian  church,  of  which  he  served  as  deacon  and  trustee.  His  wife 
died  October  17,  1875.  at  sixty-three  years  of  age.  The  issue  of  their  mar- 
riage were:  Alexander  B.,  our  subject;  Sue  JI..  widow  of  <".  W.  Powell, 
of  Paris,  Hlinois;  and  Zara  E.,  of  Paris,  Edgar  county,  Hlinois. 

The  education  of  A.  B.  Powell  was  gleaned  from  an  attendance  upon 
the  common  schools  in  his  youth,  and  at  the  Paris  Seminary,  as  he 
neared  his  majority.  August  1,  18(^2,  he  enlisted  in  the  Seventy-ninth 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  his  command  formed  a  part  of  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland.  He  was  in  engagements  at  Stone  River,  Missionary 
Ridge  and  Culps  Farm  (while  on  detached  duty),  the  latter  being  his  last 
battle.  He  received  the  apjjointment  of  quartermaster-sergeant  and  per- 
formed those  duties  until  his  discharge  from  the  servii-e.  at  Nashville, 
June  27,  1864. 

On  leaving  the  army,  he  entered  railroad  work  at  Paris.  Illinois,  and 
resigned  liis  position  as  agent  to  accept  the  clerkship  of  the  Edgar 
County  Court,  to  which  he  was  elected  for  four  years.  His  reelection 
occurred  with  a  satisfactory  majority  and  he  Avas  the  incumbent  of  the 
office  from  1868  to  1876.  He  went  next  into  the  employ  of  the  .Midland 
Railway  Company,  as  their  superintendent  and,  in  twenty  months,  re- 
signed and  became  cashier  of  the  Edgar  County  National  Bank,  at  Paris, 
and  served  the  institution  eleven  months.  Resigning,  he  went  to  Colo- 
rado and  engaged  in  mining  in  Breckenridge  district  for  about  one  year. 
He  then  went  to  Albuquerque,  New  Mexico,  where  he  was  employed,  for 
a  few  months,  by  the  Adams  Express  Company.  Returning  to  the  east, 
he  engaged  in  contracting  railroad  ties  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  and 
was  in  that  business  some  sixteen  months.  This  work  closed  his  career 
in  the  east  and  he  came  to  Kansas,  in  the  spring  of  1882.  and  identified 
himself  with  Coffeyville. 

In  this  city  he  is  connected  with  the  real  estate,  loan  and  abstract 
business.  For  four  years,  he  served  Cotfeyville,  as  })ostmaster.  and  was 
widely  hailed  as  the  best  official  of  the  office  the  city  ever  had.  He  was 
appointed  by  President  McKinley  and  filled  the  position  four  years. 

Mr.  Powell  was  first  married  in  April,  1862,  to  Ella  Douglas,  a 
daughter  of  J.  T.  Douglas,  of  Logausport,  Indiana,  who  once  had  charge 


of  the  l>mv;ui  of  Indian  Affairs.  Tinw  sons  resnlted  from  this  niar- 
ria.ue.  namely:  John  ("..  of  (Miica^o.  Illinois,  manajier.  of  tlic  Associated 
Press  and  for  twelve  years  in  their  emjdoy;  .Jesse  M..  an  enjiineer.  resid- 
inji  ill  fhicai^o:  and  Hurt  H..  manaf;cr  of  the  tailorinj;  dejiartnient  of 
Biirnani.  Uanna  .^  Mnnj-cr.  of  Kansas  City.  Xovemher  !l.  ].^8li.  Mr. 
I'oweil  married,  at  Tei-re  Haute.  Indiana.  Frances  Kaiischon.  a  native  of 
Colojiiie,  Cerniany.  Two  children  liy  this  union  are:  Lulu  and  lOdward  (\ 
Mr.  Powell  is  a  Mas(»n  and  holds  a  mendtership  in  the  P.lue  Lod.ae.  Chap- 
ter and  Coniniandery.  He  is  an  ardent  Reinihlican  in  jiolitiis  and  has 
coinn:Mli,led  Cotlevvi'lie  Post   l.":!.  (i.  A.  K. 


MARSHAL  H.  ROSS— It  is  always  int.Mcslin-  lo  n<.le  the  succes- 
sive ste])S  in  the  progress  of  a  brainy  younii  man.  Theie  is  something  in- 
spiring in  the  manner  in  which  obstacles  are  oveicome  and  success  often 
snatched  out  of  the  very  .jaws  of  defeat.  The  stirring  little  town  of  Ha- 
vauna.  in  Montgomery  county,  uundiers  among  her  business  men.  one  of 
these ])usjiing, restless  characters,  whose  magic  toucli  seems  to  have  solved 
the  j)riibleni  upon  which  alcliemists  have  l)een  working  for  ages,  for  every- 
thing pros|)ers  which  receives  his  attention.  However,  there  is  no  mystery 
in  til"  success  of  Marshal  H.  Ross.  I'ersistent  application,  a  mind  that 
forms  its  judgments  (piickly  and  absolute  fidelity  to  a  jtromise,  once  given, 
these  are  the  only  .secrets  in  the  success  which  has  attended  him  in  his 

Tliirtyone  years  ago,  .July  :>.  of  l!Mt:i.  this  stirring  citi/.en  was  bom 
into  ihe  world,  which  he  tinds'easy  to  master.  A  few  brief  facts  concern- 
ing till'  history  of  tli<'  Ross  family  will  prove  of  interest  to  tlie  general 
reader. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Marshal  H.  Ross,  and  was  Ix.rn 
in  the  Slate  of  [-[entucky,  in  1813.  He.  there,  married  Mary  A.  Taylor, 
and  removed  to  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  where  he  was  a  lirick-mouUler, 
from  the  year  1S4:{  until  T855.  In  1855,  he  removed  to  Lawrence  county, 
Indiana,  and,  after  a  seven  years'  residence  there,  again  took  his  way 
westward,  this  time  .settling  in  Illinois,  and  frinn  thence,  in  1865,  t(v 
Kansas.  He  located  on  a  fjirm  in  Rutland  township,  which  he  cultivated 
for  several  vears,  where  he  died,  in  187:i.  He  was  a  man  of  restless  dis- 
l)osition.  but  withal,  a  good  citizen.  His  wife,  who  was  born  in  1814, 
survived  iiim  many  years,  (lying  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy  five.  She 
was  th«'  mother  of  five  children,  of  wliom  William  W..  the  fatlier  of  our 
subject,  was  born  in  Roone  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  lid  of  .July,  1839. 
He  i»assed  the  period  of  his  youth  in  Cincinnati  and  there,  in  ISIil,  mar- 
ried Kvaline  S.  (iarvey,  a  daughter  of  Obadiah  and  Mary  <iarv(>y,  tlia 
former  still  living  with  his  daughter,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-eight 
vears. 


IliM-diiig  tlic  call  to  arms.  Mr.  Uoss.  soon  after  Jiis  marriage,  enlisted 
in  til'.'  army,  as  a  teamster,  and.  Iliiee  months  rtfterwar*!,  was  promotcl 
1o  the  ]i(isition  of  \va};(>nmastei-.  In  this  position  lie  eontiimed  to  serve 
(Inriiiii  the  remainder  of  the  war.  never  havin}:  Iweii  away  fiom  his  eoni- 
mand  a  siiif«l(>  day  to  the  time  of  his  (listhai}:e.  at  <"a|ie  Ciradeau,  Mis- 
souri. Fpon  his  return  home,  he  resolved  to  try  his  fortune  in  the  west, 
and,  after  a  stay  of  ahout  a  year  in  Illinois,  settled  in  Linn  couiity,  Kan- 
sas, lu  ISClt.  he  came  out  to  .Monl};onieiy  rouiity  and  took  a  claim  in 
Rutland  townshi]),  which  he  held  fill  IHit.'i,  when  he  removed  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Havana,  the  place  of  his  present  residence.  He  is  a  gentlemau 
possessing  the  resjiect  of  his  fi-iends  and  neighbors,  and  has  served  as 
Justice,  both  in  Rutland  and  Caney  townships,  and  can  always  be  found 
on  the  right  side  of  any  question  involving  the  good  name  of  his  comnm- 
nity. 

Marshal  H.  Ross  is  the  only  child  of  liis  jiarents.  and,  as  stated,  is 
a  product  of  Kansas,  and  early  developed  a  penchant  for  "getting  on 
in  the  world."  When  but  a  lad  he  husked  corn  by  the  shock  and  with  the 
money  thus  earned,  bought  several  head  of  young  stock.  This  was  the 
foundation  of  the  fortune  which  he  seems  destiiCed  to  control.  He  is,  at 
present,  engaged  in  several  different  enterprises,  having  a  well-equipped 
livery  barn,  and  a  large  stock  barn.  He  is  also  dealing  in  coal,  grain, 
stock  and  real  estate,  and,  in  all  of  these  different  lines,  is  successful. 
He  owns  a  number  of  desirable  residence  projierties  in  Havana,  in  addi- 
tion to  a  handsome  cottage,  ereited  for  his  own  use.  A  fine  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  also  forms  one  of  his  p<>.ssessions. 

On  the  5th  of  August,  1S!I."),  Mr.  Ross  married  Mary  K.,  a  daughter  of 
Mori.ih  and  Mary  (Smith)  Hendrickscm.  Mrs.  Ross  was  born  on  the  Sd 
of  June,  1871,  in  Livingston  county.  Illinois.  She  is  a  descendant  of  a 
Revolutionary  hero,  her  father  having  been  the  son  of  I'hilip  Hendrick- 
son,  whose  wife,  Margaret  Snioch.  was  the  daugliter  of  George  Smoch, 
W'ho  served  undei'  (ieneral  A\'ashington.  and  who  lived  to  the  remarkable 
age  of  one  hundred  and  two  years.  I'hilip  llendrickson  was  a  native  of 
New  Jersey  and.  latei-.  removed  to  Indiana  connty.  IVnnsylvania,  where 
Moriah  Heudrickson  was  born,  (Ui  the  Mth  of  Mar<  ii.  1^57.  and  who  is  now 
the  only  one  of  nine  children  living.  The  latter  left  home  in  1859,  and 
came  out  to  Illinois,  where,  in  lStj2.  he  nuuried.  In  1875,  he  settled  on 
a  farm,  six  miles  east  of  Havana,  where  he  still  resides.  They  are  the 
pai-ents  of :  Milton,  James,  (Jeorge.  Alice  H.,  wife  of  Al.  Pittman ;  Mar- 
garet, wife  of  Marshal  Ross;  and  Sarah,  single  and  at  home.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Marshal  Ross  are  the  parents  of  three  intei-esting  children :  Frank- 
lin W:  Alta  Ulela;  and  Opal  Marie.  ,.  ..., 

It  is  needless  to  add  that  our  subject  is  enthusiastic  for  his  commu- 
nity and  has  a  healthy  intluen<-e  within  its  borders.     He  is  a  staunch  Re- 


publican,  and  a  genMeinan  whose  po]nilaritv  is  only  limited  by  hi 
quaintance. 


DAVID  L.  KUKKET— David  L.  Burket,  of  the  large  general  mer- 
cantile firm  of  Burket.  &  Kelly,  of  Elk  City,  is  an  example  of  what  per- 
sistence, in  following  a  given  line,  will  accomplish,  and  that,  in  these 
later  days,  when  one  hears  so  much  of  lack  of  opportunity.  A  short  half 
dozen  years  since.  Mr.  Burket  began  business,  against  sharp  comjietition, 
with  .?700  capital  invested.  His  present  establishment  covers  two  floors, 
80x50.  in  which  is  a  stock  valued  at  fl8,0t)0,  and  his  business  shows  a 
growing  tendency. 

Jlontgoraery  county,  Ohio,  was  the  birthplace  of  Mr.  Burket  and 
September  17,  1861,  the.  date.  He  is  a  son  of  Moses  and  Margaret  (Spit- 
ler)  Burket,  both  natives  of  the  '"Buckeye  State,"  their  people  before 
them  having  been  j)ioueers  in  the  first  state  carved  out  of  the  Northwest 
Territory.  The  father  followed  the  saw-mill  business  in  Ohio  for  many 
years  and  was  ])romine,nt  in  the  industrial,  social  and  political  life  of 
the  county,  until  in  189.1,  when  he  i-emoved  to  Gait,  Michigan.  Here  he 
has  been  engaged  extensively  in  fruit  culture,  having  a  fine  fruit  farm  of 
seven  hundred  acres.  The  parents  are  both  active  members  of  the  Dunk- 
ard  church  and  theiiv children  are  as  follows:  David  L. ,  Hester  C,  Mrs. 
Robert  Ardis;  Daniel  JF.,  and  Istmc  L.,  of  Michigan;  Jacob  L.,  of  Sand 
Point,  Idaho;  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Disbrough ,  Clarence  L.,  of  Michigan;  and 
Maggie  V.,  at  home  with  t!)e  parents. 

David  li.  Burket  r(8c#ived  his  education  in  the  schools  of  Union  City, 
Indiana,  and  wielding  the  ferrule  constituted  his  initial  venture  in  early 
life.  After  teachitig,  successfully,  five  years,  he  enteied  the  busine.ss  col- 
lege at  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  took  a  thorough  commercial  course.  In  1884, 
he  started  west  on  a  lour  of  invesligation,  and,  after  short  stops  in  Illi- 
nois and  western  Missouri,  came  to  Weir  City,  Kansas.  Here  he  engaged 
in  the  hotel  business  for  a  year.  Another  period  was  passed  in  the  pat- 
ent right  business,  and  then  he  settled  in  Elk  City.  For  four  years,  he 
clerked  for  Davis  &.  Watkins  and  then  went  to  Winfield,  Kansas,  where 
he  spent  three  and  onehalf  years  in  the  mercantile  business,  with  E. 
Youngheim.  This  brings  us  to  the  yeai'  of  (he  beginning  of  his  present 
business. 

It  is  not  fuLsoHH-  praise  to  say  that  (he  hustling  qualities  of  Mr. 
Burkel  are  not  to  l>e  surpas.sed  in  the  county.  Courleous  and  obliging, 
and  yet.  withal,  "diligenl  in  liusiness,"  he  is  fast  forging  to  the  front,  as 
one  (.f  the  county's  most  prosperous  and  snbs(an(ial  men.  He  takes  a 
keen  interest  in  (he  welfare  of  his  aihq.ied  ci(y,  and  has  served  in  both 
the  n.ayoi's  chair  and  on   (lie  common   council.     He  and  his  family  are 


WW.    p.   EOWEN. 


V   COUNTY^   KANSAS. 

uii;i  .\jti)i<idiBt  i'b«p«-li  ami  lu-  ■-  ■■  ..j.  i.nn  i 


'..V       f      ':,    '    V''.^-*'.*^    -■ 


an«l  .Taniep  M. 


rvil.IJAM  PHARES  Bo 

■'  -  (►eraonal  refei-ent-e  h..  ,■ 
nee  1882.  His  idenrhv  v 
lie  ohv  hns  been  so  ('on.--  ■ 


whose 


»  »  .« 


IIISTOUY   OF    .MUNTGOMKKY    COUNTY,  KANSAS.  547 

active  iiipiubers  of  the  Southern  Methodist  <hui(h  aiul  he  is  a  nieiTiber  of 
the  Jloderii  Woodmen. 

Tlic  marriage  of  our  subject  occurred  in  Elk  <'ity,  August  13,  1889. 
Mis.  r.uikel  was  Miss  Nannie  K.  Kelly,  daughter  of  James  M.  and  Mary 
Ann  Kelly,  old  and  honored  residents.  The  motlier  still  resides  in  the 
city,  the  father  having  died  December  29,  1902,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty  years.  At  the  time  of  her  marriage,  Mrs.  Hurket  was  one  of  the 
liojjuiar  school  teachers  of  the  city,  in  whose  schools  she  had  done  excel- 
lent work  for  a  number  of  years.  She  is  a  lady  of  culture  and  is  still 
l)romiiieiit  in  the  social  and  educational  life  of  the  community.  She  has 
borne  our  subject  two  bright  children:  Margaret  M.  and  .Tames  M. 


VVir.LIAM  PHARES  BOWEN— The  gentleman  whose  name  intro- 
duces this  personal  reference  has  resided  in  and  been  a  citizen  of  Inde- 
pendence since  1882.  His  identity  with  the  varied  public  and  private  in- 
teresls  of  the  city  has  been  so  conspicuous  that  he  can.  with  absolute 
propriety,  be  regarded  a  public  man.  While  now  exercising  the  functions 
of  public  office,  he  is  the  active  promoter  of  many  enterprises  that  affect 
the  public  welfare  of  the  county  seat.  .       , 

Mr.  Bowen  first  saw  Kansas  in  1876,  at  which  time  he  remained  about 
one  year,  returning  to  his  native  city  and  state  and  continuing  his  resi- 
dence there,  till  his  permanent  return  to  southern  Kansas  and  his  loca- 
tion in  Independence.  He  is  a  son  of  the  venerable,  active  citizen, 
of  Independence,  George  W.  Bowen,  of  the  Eagle  Mills,  whose 
advent  to  Kansas  occurred  in  1869,  but  whose  identity  with 
Montgomery  county  began  with  the  same  year  as  his  son.  The  father  has 
passed  his  life  as  a  miller,  learning  his  trade  back  in  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
in  the  days  of  primitive  milling — the  old  water  wheel  and  the  like.  In 
1848,  he  removed  from  his  native  state  and  located  in  Ottumwa,  Iowa, 
wherr-,  for  a  time,  he  was  the  senior  partner  in  the  lirm  of  Bowen  &  Wil- 
liams, and,  afterward,  being  the  sole  proprietor  of  the  mill.  He  was 
born  in  Jackson  county,  Ohio,  February  21,  1831,  b'lTt  was  brought  up  in 
Shelby  county,  and  in  Adams  and  Huntington  counties,  Indiana.  His 
father  was  Thomas  Bowen,  of  Athens  county,  Ohio,  a  farmer  and  a  gen- 
tleman with  Welsh  am-estry.  Thomas  Bowen  married  (Catherine  Hig- 
gins,  a  lady  with  German  antecedents,  who  bore  live  sons  and  six 
daughters.  George  W.  Bowen  first  married  Ellen  N.  Hackworth,  a 
daughter  of  George  D.  Hackworth,  people  of  Welch  descent.  In  1862, 
Ellen  N.  Bowen  died,  leaving  four  children,  namely :  William  P..  our  sub- 
ject; Clara  E.,  wife  of  Christopher  Haw,  of  Ottumwa.  Iowa;  Emma  A., 
who  married  Roger  W.  Berry,  of  Great  Palls.  Montana ;  and  Katie,  de- 
ceased. In  1864,  Mr.  Bowen  married  Angeline  Miller  and  has  a  son, 
George  M.,  with  the  Eagle  Mills,  of  Independenc<'.  Kansas. 


548  inSTORY    OF    .MONTCOMEUV    COINTY,   KANSAS. 

AMI  Ham  P.  liowon  was  born  in  Ottumwa,  Iowa,  August  31,  iSoo. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  he  engaged  in  the  business  of  milling  at  that 
place,  and  pursued  Ih^it  vocation  there  until  1876,  when,  at  the  age  of 
majority,  he  went  to  Jjabette  City,  Kansas,  .where,  for  about  one  year,  he 
was  employed  in  the  same  pursuit.  For  the  next  five  years,  he  was  asso- 
ciated with  his  father  in  his  native  city  and,  with  that  gentleman,  began 
the  milling  business  in  Independence,  in  1882. 

January  17,  1878,  he  wedded  Hester  Amelia  Purnell,  at  Ottumwa, 
Iowa.  She  is  a  daughter  of  William  Purnell  and  Rebecca  (;Miller)  Pur- 
nell. Four  children  have  resulted  from  this  uuion,  viz:  Louis  H.,  with 
the  Eagle  Mills;  Mary  A.,  Charles  E.  aud  Bertha  H. 

Mr.  Bowt'n  had  been  a  resident  of  Independence  iibout  two  years 
when,  in  1884,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  school  board,  first,  to  fill 
the  short  term  and,,  tljpn,  as  his  own  successor  for  two  successive  terms, 
in  1892,  he  was  elected  a  councilman  from  the  Fifth  Ward  and  served 
in  that  office  until  1890,  when  he  was  chosen  mayor  of  the  city,  which  of- 
fice he  held  till  1900..  .  Since  then  he  has  given  that  portion  of  his  time 
to  the  milling  busi.aess,^  \vliifl»  has  not  been  taken  up  in  promoting  and 
encouraging  enterprises  and  measures  for  the  weal  of  Independence. 

During  his  last  term,  as  a  member  of  the  city  council,  there  was 
much  agitation  over,  what  is  known  as  the  "water  works  question.''  The 
mayor  and  city  coun(;il,  and,  perhaps,  a  majority  of  the  people,  felt  that 
some  drastic  measures,  should  be  resorted  to  against  the  water  works 
company,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  better  water  and  higher  pressure, 
as  security  against  fires.  Mr.  Bowen  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on 
■water  works  and,  having  failed,  by  negotiations,  to  obtain  from  the  water 
company,  the  city's  just  rights,  he,  in  comjiany  with  the  mayor,  marshal!, 
city  r.ttorney  and  other  members  of  the  water  committee,  proceeded  to 
the  engine  room  and  forcibly  took  possession  of  the  works.  This  action 
resulted  in  litigatioij  that  is  still  pending  and  undetermined  in  the  Fed- 
eral Courts. 

During  his  adininistrati(m  as  mayor,  Mr.  Bowen  bent  all  his  untir- 
ing energies  to  this. Litigation.  During  his  first  term  in  the  mayorality, 
the  project  of  establishing  an  exiensive  brick  plant,  came  up,  and.  inci- 
dental thereto,  the  pi.oposit  Ion  to  j)ave  certain  portions  of  the  streets  of 
the  city  with  viti-iti(Ml  brick.  A  promoter  was  on  the  ground,  offering  the 
necess;iry  machinery  for  making  a  fine  (piality  of  brick.  Both  enter- 
prises, especially  the  first,  were  very  poi)ular  in  the  beginning,  but  before 
the  end,  the  incidental  ,|»liase  of  the  comjiound  proposition  ceased  to  hold 
favor  with  the  tax-paycr-s,  when  fliey  discovered  the  cost  of  it  would  be 
far  in  excess  of  their  cxpcclalions;  but,  with  others,  the  paving  project 
lost  none  of  its  oiiginal  [Kipularity.  Mr.  Boweu  spent  time  to  secure  the 
brick  plant  and  w|ien  it  was  an  accomplished  fact,  with  unflagging  in- 
dustry and  energy,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  i>aving,  which  was  success- 


Laurence  S.  and  Adaline  (Ford)  Wheeler.  When  our  subject  was  eleven 
years  old,  the  parents  came  west,  to  St.  Charles  county,  Missouri,  and, 
five  years  later,  settled  in  St.  Louis  county,  that  state,  from  where,  in 
1869,  they  came  on  to  Kansas  and  became  jiioneers  of  Montgomery  coun- 
ty. They  entered  land  near  where  Jetferson  was  afterward  founded,  and 
were  enii)loyed  with  its  imiirovement  and  cultivation,  when  they  died, 
the  father  at  seventy  foiu'  years  old  and  the  mother  at  sixty-nine.  They 
were  the  i)arents  of  eif;ht  children,  of  wluun  live  survive,  namely:  Edwin 
M.,  our  subject;  Charles  W.,  George  K..  Oscar  V..  and  Rertha,  wife  of 
Irviu  (iray. 

After  leaving  the  district  schools,  Edwin  M.  Wheeler  entered  the 
Schenck  Scientific  Military  Institute  at  St.  Charles,  Missouri,  but,  when 
done  with  his  work  there,  he  was  too  young  to  obtain  a  position  in  the 
regular  IT.  S.  military  establishment  and  he  turned  his  attention  to  in- 
dustrial pursuits.  He  came  to  Kansas  when  the  family  did  and  took  a 
claim  on  the  site  of  Jelferson,  Montgomery  county,  sold  it  and  took  an- 
other, and  repeated  the  practice  again  and,  finally,  bought  one  hundred 
acres  in  section  10,  township  33,  range  15,  on  which  has  his  reputation 
as  a  horticulturist,  been  made.  He  has  fifteen  hundred  choice,  bearing 
apple  ti-ees,  other  trees  of  various  fruits,  thirty  varieties  of  strawberries, 
fi'oni  which  thousands  of  (piarts  of  berries  are  annually  harvested,  black 
and  raspberries  in  great  profusion,  and  a  vineyard  filled  with  varieties  of 
grapes  best  a<lapte(l  to  soil  and  climate.  He  contracts  the  Montgomery 
county  market  on  strawlnTrics  and  a  good  fiuit  year  shows  his  farm  to 
be  one  of  the  lively  places  and  his  business  to  be  one  of  the  most  profit- 
able of  the  county.  His  farm  imjii-ovements  are  neat  and  substantial  and 
in  thorough  keeping  with  the  life  of  the  careful  and  pains  taking  owner. 

December  4,  1879,  Mr.  Wheeler  married  Clara  Broadbent,  whose 
father,  Andi-ew  Broadbent,  was  one  of  the  pioneers  to  Neosho  county, 
Kansas,  where  he  died,  in  1898.  Mrs.  Wheeler  was  born  in  LaCrosse 
county,  Wisconsin,  and  came  to  Kaiisa^s  with  her  parents,  when  a  little 
girl.  (The  history  of  the  family  is  prestuited  in  tlie  sketch  of  Albert  J. 
Broadbent,  in  this  work.)  Three  <hildren  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wheeler,  viz:  Daisy  D.,  wife  of  John  Wagner,  of  Dayton,  Ohio; 
Ray  C.  and  Robin.  The  sons  are  valuable  aids  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
family  homestead.  Mr.  Wheeler  has  no  aspirations  for  ])ublic  office,  yet 
he  has  been  justice  of  the  peace,  and  is  content  in  the  gratification  of  his 
ambition,  to  1h>  the  successful  and  leading  fruit  growei'  of  his  county. 


HENRY  HAA(t — Seventy-five  years  has  this  i)ioneer  of  Montgomery 
county  traveled  this  mundane  sphere,  sometimes  laboring  mid  the  mire 
of  the  slough  of  despond,  again  on  the  mountain  top  of  good  cheer  and 
prosperity,  but  always  with  a  heart  and  conscience  void  of  offense  toward 


the  Being  whose  religion  he  professed,  when  a  hid  of  fifteen  vears.  It  is 
not  a  light  matter  to  consider  the  life  of  a  good  man,  for  tliereiu  are  les- 
sons which,  heeded  or  passed  by,  have  their  fruitage  in  eternity.  The 
brief  space  allotted  to  the  biographer  precludes  specific  consideration  of 
the  lessons  taught  by  the  life  of  Henry  Haag,  but  we  feel  that  those  who 
are  careful  to  "read  between  the  lines"  of  this  sketch,  will  be  impressed 
with  their  value. 

Henry  Haag  is  one  of  Nature's  noblemen,  who  lives  with  his  son, 
Henry  (i.,  on  a  well-tilled  farm  of  one-hundred  and  seventeen  acres,  two 
aud  a  half  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Havana.  He  is  the  son  of  George 
Haag,  and  was  born  in  York  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  21st  of  Sep- 
tember, 1828.  His  father  was  a  native  of  the  same  state  and,  at  matur- 
ity, was  joined  in  marriage  to  Mary  Young,  also  a  native  of  Pennsylvania. 
He  passed  his  life,  as  a  miller,  in  his  native  state,  reared  a  family  of 
eleven  children,  and  died,  at  eighty-three,  while  his  wife  died  at  seventy 
years.  Eight  of  the  children  are  now  living:  Andrew,  Mary  Snell,  Lydia, 
Jarvis,  Elizabeth,  Margaret,  Fannie  and  George. 

Henry  was  the  ninth  member  of  his  parent's  family  and  was  reared 
to  the  life  of  the  farm  and  the  mill.  With  the  meager  education  then 
possible  to  be  secured  in  the  district  school,  he  set  out  alone  and  married, 
in  Pennsylvania,  in  18.")0,  Ann  Gladfelter,  and,  four  years  later,  moved, 
with  his  young  family,  to  the  then  pioneer  State  of  Ohio,  settling  in  the 
virgin  forest  of  ("lark  county.  Here  he  worked,  for  a  few  months,  and 
then  again  took  uj)  the  western  trail,  this  time  to  Illinois,  where  he 
stopped  sixteen  years.  He  then  moved  westward  to  Iowa,  and,  in  187.3, 
made  the  journey  that  landed  him,  without  a  penny,  in  the  "Sunflower 
State."  Nothing  daunted,  however,  he  took  a  claim  in  Caney  township, 
where  ill-luck  attended  him  a  number  of  years.  But  everything  comes 
to  the  man  who  "learns  to  labor  and  to  wait" — aud  especially  to  the 
farmer.  Kind  neighbors  soon  found  that  the  newcomer,  though  without 
much  of  this  world's  goods,  was  the  right  sort  of  "stuff"  for  a  good  citi 
zen,  and  rallied  to  his  support.  He  was  given  work  about  the  neighbor- 
hood until  he  could  raise  his  first  crop.  Matters  then  ea.sed  up  a  little, 
but  ti-e  time  of  deeding  came  and  he  was  not  able  to  do  so  without  plac 
ing  a  mortgage.  This  was  embai  lassing,  but  further  misfortune  fol 
lowed,  in  the  destruction  of  all  liis  buililings,  by  tire,  and  the  subsequent 
f(»reclosing  of  the  mortgage  on  his  faiin. 

Mr.  Haag  now  found  hiin.self  wheie  he  had  begun — everything  gone 
but  ho])e.  "Ho]ie  s]irings  elernal  in  the  hunuin  breast."  He  rented  a 
farm  and  worked  on  manfully,  ](iotiting  by  former  errors,  living  close 
and  saving  every  ])ossible  ]ienny,  until  he  was,  at  last,  enabled  to  pur- 
cha.se  the  piece  of  land  he  now  occuiiies.  This  he  and  his  sou  have  im- 
proved, from  time  to  lime,  until  they  are  in  possession  of  one  of  the  best 


HISTOKV    (IK    MONICOMKUV    ((IINIV.    KANSAS.  55.^ 

little  farms  in  the  county,  with  snbstiiiitinl  l.nililiii.us.  and  stacked  willi  n 
fine  grade  of  cattle  and  horses. 

In  Julv  of  1893.  Mr.  llaaj;  siitlered  llic  -realest  niistortnno  of  all, 
in  the  loss"  of  his  wife.  who.  with  true  womanly  heroism,  had  trod  the 
jialhs  of  adversity  with  him.  in  his  yonn};er  manhood,  without  complain 
iug.  She  was  the  mother  of  ten  .hildren.  as  follows:  all  of  whom  are 
dead  but  two:  Frances  iCIarki.  whose  whcrcahonts  is  not  known,  and 
Henry  (5. 

Of  this  family,  Henry  (1.  is  in  iharjie  of  the  home  farm.  He  married 
iu  1890,  Miss  Nettie  I'ritchard.  a  native  of  ("hamjiaifin  county,  Hlinois, 
and  who  came  to  Kansas  in  ISSti.    They  have  one  son,  (leoi-fje  Haag. 

Mr.  Haag  is  of  the  Presbyterian  faith,  having  joined  that  church 
when  he  was  but  fifteen  years  of  age.  Until  the  rise  of  the  Populist 
l)arty,  he  was  a  rock-ribbed  Democrat,  but  the  party  having  abandoned 
its  time-honored  principles,  he  has  since  sujiported.  by  his  vote,  the  jiarty 
of  reform. 


FREU  B.  SKINNEK — One  of  the  stirring  young  business  men  of 
Cofifeyville  is  here  introduced  to  the  reader.  He  is  manager  of  the  Gate 
City  Lumber  Company  and  has  an  abiding  faith  in  the  future  of  the  city 
where  he  has  had  his  home  for  years. 

Mr.  Skinner  is  a  western  man,  having  been  born  in  Washington 
county,  Nebraska,  October  8,  18C8.  He  is  a  son  of  James  L.  and  Lizzie 
(Newell)  Skinner,  natives  of  Michigan  and  Massachusetts,  respectively, 
the  father  being  in  the  transfer  business  in  Coffeyville.  The  latter  was 
reared  in  Michigan  and  made  the  trip  through  to  Nebraska,  in  a  wagon, 
in  1857.  He  settled  within  a  few  miles  of  where  the  city  of  Schuyler  now 
stand?,  crossing  the  river  at  Omaha — then  a  mere  watering  place.  He 
continued  to  reside  in  Nebraska  until  1870,  when  he  came  to  Johnson 
county,  Kansas.  He  farmed  there,  some  three  years,  and  then  came 
down  to  Coffeyville,  where  he  has  held  continuous  residence  since.  In  the 
famil^  which  he  has  reared,  there  were  five  children,  as  follows :  Fred  B. , 
Julia  A.,  wife  of  William  Francis,  manager  of  the  Coffeyville  Vitrified 
Brick  Company  .at  Cherry  vale;  Frank  M.,  undertaker  with  the  Coffey- 
ville Furniture  Company;  Lela  E.,  a  graduate  of  the  high  school,  class 
of  1902;  and  Addie,  a  high  school  pupil. 

Fred  B.  Skinner  was  but  six  years  of  age  when  the  family  removed 
to  Coffeyville,  and  is.  therefore,  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  product  of  her 
institutions.  He  received  a  good  common  school  education  and,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  accepted  service  with  the  S.  A.  Brown  Lumber  Com- 
pany. This  beginning  of  his  business  career  was  at  a  small  salary,  a  fig- 
ure which  would  have  had  the  effect,  with  many  a  boy,  of  making  him 
listless  and  inattentive  to  business.     But  he  continued  to  "saw  wood," 


554  HISTORY    OF    MOXT(;OMi:UY    COrNTY.    KANSAS. 

did  his  work  taiefuU.v,  kept  his  eyes  and  mind  on  the  details  of  the  busi- 
ness, and  the  inevitable  followed — he  soon  became  too  valuable  a 
man  to  allow  him  to  become  dissatisfied,  on  account  of  salary.  Mr.  Skin- 
ner has  served  with  several  of  the  leading  hnuber  companies  doing  busi- 
ness in  the  city.  In  1808,  he  accepted  his  present  place,  as  manager,  with 
the  Gate  City  Lumber  Company,  since  which  the  business  of  that  con- 
cern has  increased  largely. 

The  home  life  of  our  subject  began  in  1891,  when,  on  November  21, 
he  was  happily  joined  in  marriage  with  Mary  E.,  a  daughter  of  A.  F. 
Peterson.  Mrs.  Skinner  was  born  in  Green  county,  Ohio,  and  came  to 
Kansas,  with  her  parents,  in  ISSfi.  Slie  is  tlic  eldest  of  tive  children,  the 
others  being:  Mrs.  Irene  Day,  now  deceased;  Wilson,  a  Montgomery 
county  farmer;  Carrie,  who  resides  with  her  parents;  and  Edwin,  also 
a  fanner  of  the  county.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Skinner  has  been  born  a  son: 
Jesse  Leroy. 

In  the  social  life  of  tlie  community,  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Skinner  are 
prominent  factors,  Mrs.  Skinner  being  an  active  member  of  the  Method- 
ist church,  while  he  is  active  in  two  of  the  best  fr;-,ternities — the  A.  O.  U. 
W.  and  the  I.  0.0.  F.,in  the  latter  of  which  he  isin  both  the  Subordinate 
and  Encamjiment.  Too  busy  to  pay  much  attention  to  politics,  Mr. 
Skinner  yet  exercises  the  ])rivilege  of  casting  his  vote,  and  it  is  always 
recorded  in  favor  of  the  Kepublican  jiarty. 


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  (lce[)  gratitude  and  wins  the  unstinted  praise  of  the  recipients  of  his 
hospitality.  These  observations  apply  with  sjiecial  force  to  the  host  who 
caters  to  the  caprices,  whims  and  eccentricities  of  a  traveling  public, 
burdened  with  a  grist  of  kickers,  growlers,  grund>lers  and  non-de-scripts, 
with  ap])recintive  capacities,  real  vaccnms  in  themselves,  and  are  but  a 
slight  tribute  to  one  who  fills  so  imi)()rtaiit  a  niche  in  the  world's  bus- 
iness alfairs.  The  hotel  is  the  traveling  man's  home,  and  of  the  myriads 
of  hiiMilords  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 


HISTOHY    OF    .MONTfiOMEUY    CdUNTV,   KANSAS.  555 

III  ill!  its  api.ointiiients.  tlu-  ••Axtcll"  is  :i  liusicliy  widely  known  ainl  uni 
versallv  appreciated. 

Al'vo  .1.  A.xtell,  whose  name  is  l.oine  h\  llie  liotel  lie  owns,  is  tiie  pro 
prietor  of  tlie  leadinj;  .onimenial  house  of  Cheiix  vale,  and  dates  his  resi 
denee  in  the  county  from  the  sjnin;:  of  IS'lit.  when  he  became  the  owner 
of  the  Handley  hotel  and  lionoivd  it  with  his  own  name.  He  had  passed 
his  life.  chietiV.  in  the  hotel  l.usiness  and  liis  expeiience.  couj.led  with 
his  ahundant  native  talent.  hrouj;ht  him  into  favorable  contact  with  the 
commercial  fiateinity.  The  wide  jioimlaiity  of  his  house  is  not  only  of 
jiecuniary  concern  to  himself,  luit  it  is  one  of  the  beneficial  institutions 
of  and  a  positive  recommendation  for  the  town. 

Wyoming  county.  New  York,  f^ave  birth  to  Alvo  J.  Axtell.  in  the 
year  1852.  His  parents.  John  and  Willmina  (  Heach  I  A.xtell,  were  of 
Vermont  and  Pennsylvania  nativity,  resjiectively.  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  uji.  In  religious  belief,  the  father 
was  a  Universalist  and  the  mother  an  Episcopalian,  and  the  former 
fived  to  be  seventy-four  years  old.  while  the  mother  died,  in  1891,  at  just 
three  scoi-e  and  ten.  The  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  constituting 
their  interesting  family,  are  scattered  widely  over  our  continent  and  are: 
Joseph  I).,  of  Santa  Barbara.  California,  a  hotel  proi)rietor;  Zeruiah, 
wife  of  Dr.  A.  B.  Bottsford.  of  ('hicago,  Hlinois;  John  W.,  now  with 
the  "Axteir"  in  Cherryvale.  but  for  many  years  a  jiassenger  conductor 
on  the  Santa  Fe  Ry. ;  Zerina  A.,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Vaughn,  of  New  York; 
Wlntield,  a  hotel-keeper  in  New  York  state;  Dell  H.,  wife  of  Alonzo 
Wheeler,  proprietor  of  a  hotel  in  Anthony.  Kansas;  and  Alvo  J.,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  review. 

The  common  schools  of  his  native  state  furnished  A.  J.  Axtell,  his 
educational  i)rivileges  and,  when  his  school  days  were  ended,  he  secured 
a  clerkship  in  Post's  hotel,  in  Castile,  New  Y'ork,  and  w-as  so  employed 
several  years,  or,  until  the  death  of  his  employer,  when  he,  himself, 
l)ecanie  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  proprie- 
tor of  the  Commercial  hotel.  After  running  this  house  six  years,  he  re 
turnedtohisnative  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  W'allace  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  yiurchased  the  Handley  hotel,  in  the  spring  of  1899. 

His  methods  of  conducting  his  place  of  business  has  made  the  Axtell 


1^56  HISTORY  OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY.   KANSAS. 

hotel  one  of  the  best  known  iu  southern  Kansas.  Nothing  can  speak 
more  elotjuently  of  tlic  refineiiiciit  and  material  prosperity  of  any  com- 
munity than  the  estalilislmuMits  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  jiublic.  Their  house  is  niodernly  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,  188S.  Mr.  Axtell  was  united  in  marriage,  at  Liberty,  ]\Iis- 
souri.  with  Miss  Nora  L.  Leister,  a  daughter  of  J.  E.  and  Nellie  (Mc- 
Carthy) Leister.  Mr.  Leister  was  born  in  Kentucky  but  reared  in  Mis- 
souri and  passed  his  life  as  a  farmer.  His  wife  was  born  in  New  York 
state  and  is  an  honored  resident  of  Hannibal,  Jlissouri,  her  huband  hav- 
ing died  at  thirty  years  of  age. 

The  Axtells  have  lived  purely  business  lives.  While  their  social  na- 
tures have  been  cultivated  and  possess  a  warmth  and  a  charm  rarely  ex- 
celled, politics  and  other  side  issues  have  not  led  them  from  their  hearts' 
affections.  They  are  steeped  in  Keiiuhlicanism,  but  merely  exercise  their 
franchise  as  citizens  and  not  as  aspirants  for  otflcial  favors. 


GEORGE  T.  GT'ERNSEY— In  introducing  the  cashier  of  the  Com- 
mercial National  Hank  of  Independence,  the  eminent  financier  and  mau- 
of-affairs.  (ieorge  T.  Guernsey,  we  are  conscious  of  presenting  one  of  the 
real  characters  of  Montgomery  county;  a  man  whose  genius  and  adapta- 
bility to  the  affairs  of  life,  mark  him  as  one  of  the  notable  and  conspicu- 
ous citizens  of  the  municipality. 

When  he  came  to  Independence,  Mr.  Guernsey  was  an  unpreposses- 
sing youth,  with  a  fair  education  gained  in  the  common  schools,  and 
with  life's  plans  immature  and  unlaid.  When  he  took  the  position  of 
errand  boy,  in  Turner  &  Otis'  Bank,  in  1874,  there  was,  apparently, 
nothing  to  mark  him  as  destined,  in  manhood,  to  pilot  the  affairs  of  one 
of  the  strong  financial  institutions  of  the  state,  down  through  the  years 
of  business  harmony,  across  the  billowy  sea  of  panic  and  into  the  rhodes 
of  restored  confidence,  a  fete  requiring  sagacity  and  foresight  to  perform. 
]5ut  those  ten  years  with  Turner  &  Otis  wei'e  years  of  observation,  years 
of  pr-eparation  for  a  successful  career  in  that  field  of  endeavor,  in  after 
years. 

Mr.  Guernsey  was  fifteen  years  old  when  he  left  Dubuque,  Iowa,  to 
make  his  home  in  Independence.  He  was  born  in  the  former  city,  August 
11,  IS.'!),  his  ])arents  being  Kev.  Jesse  and  lOlizabeth  (Eaton)  Guernsey, 
of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  respectively.    The  father  was  a  Con- 


fVi'  -''"'■•^^ 


-it/        -•»♦* 


iOMERV  COl-.N 

aoutliern  Kausa.« 


i.-  roi^^ion  i)X  tile  i^iicsls  ;ii; ; 

1!  in,Nri;i-i'.  at  Liberty,  Mis 

■I  Nellie-  (Mr 

ared  in  W^ 


;  ashier  of  the  Com- 


unpreposses 


lue.  Iowa,  Xm 


A  »V  h  ^;  - 


GEO.  T.  GUERNSEY. 


IIISTOKY    or    MONT(iOMKUY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  559 

owns  OIK'  of  the  best  farm  iiroperties  in  the  count.v,  now  owning  four 
huiuiicd  iiiid  eij>hty  acivs,  all  told.  The  success  which  has  attended  him 
in  life  may  be  ascribed  entirely  to  his  own  etforts.  He  is  what  might  be 
called  a  self-made  man,  having  started  at  the  vei-y  lowest  round  of  the 
ladder. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Engels  have  been  born  two  children:  William  T.,  who 
died  at  three  years  of  age,  and  Wellington  T.,  who  married  Edna  L.  Bar- 
bour, and  is  a  successful  farmer  of  Fawn  Creek  township,  on  one  of  his 
father's  farms.  Mr.  Engels  is  not  given  much  to  participation  in  political 
life,  but  is  pleased  to  aid  in  tlie  success  of  the  Democratic  party,  by  his 


JOSEI'H  McNEAI^-C»ne  of  the  sturdy  and.  substantial  farmers  of 
Parker  township  is  Joseph  McNeal,  who  residtis  in  a  handsome  rural 
home,  six  miles  north  of  Cotfeyville.  His  r'goin^g.'j:  in  and  comings  out" 
before  the  people  of  Montgomery,  since  the, date.  of.  his  settlement  here, 
in  1880,  have  been  of  such  a  nature  as  to  secure  ;to  him  the  good  will  of 
every  one  with  whom  he  has  had  dealings,  and  he  aad  his  family  are  rated 
among  the  best  citizens  of  the  county.  ;  ,i; . 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1858,  in  Athens  county,  Ohio,  Joseph  began 
this  life  of  alternate  joy  and  sori-ow.  ■  The  greatrgraudparents  of  our  siib- 
ject  were  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle>  aud  there  reared  twelve  children, 
one  of  whom,  Malcolm,  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  and  became  the  parent  of 
Joseph  McNeal,  the  father  of  Joseph  of  whom. .we  write.  At  maturity, 
Joseph,  Sr.,  married  Mary  Wattrous,  a  native  of  .Connecticut,  but  of 
Welsh  descent,  and  they,  in  turn,  became  the  parents  of:  Mrs.  Mary  E. 
Williams,  Joseph,  Mrs.  Almeda  Taylor,  Mrs.  L.  E.  Selbe,  Mrs.  Lucinda 
Taylor  and  Mrs.  Nettie  Schader.  In  his  young  manhood,  the  father 
was  a  teacher  and,  at  twenty-one,  came  out  to  Ohio,  where  he  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade.  In  his  later  dajs  he  became  a  general  merchant 
and  lumber  dealer.  He  was  a  resident  of  Ohio  until  1888,  when  he  re- 
moved, with  his  family,  to  White  county,  Indiana,  and  there  died,  iu 
180G.  aged  seventy-two.  He  was  a  man  of  good  traits  of  character,  and  of 
most  patriotic  mould.  Although  a  man  of  family,  he  entered  the  army, 
as  a  private  soldier,  serving  three  years,  from  April  of  1861,  in  Company 
"K,"  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  partici- 
])ated  in  sixteen  of  the  battles,  fought  on  and  about  the  Potomac,  being 
under  the  dashing  Sheridan  a  portion  of  the  tim'e.  The  mother  of  our 
subject  died  in  1877,  aged  fifty-two  years. 

Joseph  McNeal,  our  subject,  continued,  in  dutiful  residence  at  home, 
until  he  had  attained  his  majority,  and  then  came  direct  to  Montgomery 
county.  He  worked  on  the  farm  of  Isaac  Wycoft",  for  a  perod,  and  then 
invested  his  savings  in  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  Verdigris  bottom 


560  iiisriii'.v  or  .m(»nii,u.mi;kv  corNTY.  Kansas. 

laiiil.  Ht'  colli iinicil  (o  iiii(irov('  (his  liac),  adding,  in  time,  sixty  acres 
nioic.  and  is  now  in  possfsHion  of  one  of  II10  choice  farms  of  the  connt.v. 
Th>-  ini]iroviMn(Mits  on  the  farm  ronsisl  of  a  handsome  residence  and 
hiiiic  liarn.  witli  conifortalde  ontlinildinjis  for  (he  further  care  of  stock, 
ami  a  splendid  orchard  of  well  sclcclcd  frni(  Irees.  This  property  is  the 
ri'snh  of  (he  unaided  ell'orls  of  Mr.  McNeal,  and.  in  very  large  part,  since 
his  coming  to  the  ■Siinllower  State." 

.Mr.McNeal  remained  in  a  state  of  single  blessedness  until  he  bad  pre- 
pared a  home,  when  he  hrouglit  to  it  a  Montgomery  county  girl.  Miss 
Henrietta  T'tterhack,  the  marriage  iM'ing  celel)rated  January  25,  1891. 
Mrs.  McXeal  is  a  native  of  the  "Iloosier  State,"  born  in  Boone  county, 
Xovendjer  22,  18t»7,  th.e^daughter  of  Albert  and  Susan  (Blakemore)  Utter- 
back.  These  parents  were  also  natives  of  Indiana,  children,  respectively, 
of  Henry  T'tterhack  and  Thomas  lUakemore.  both  of  English  descent. 
They  were  pioneers  of  the  county,  having  settled  near  Independence,  in 
l.SOn.  Here  the  father  died,  in  1881,  aged  forty  eight  years,  the  mother 
still  surviving  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  Her  six  children  are:  Melissa 
KenycMi,  Sarah  ('o|»eland,  Henrietta  McNeal,  Rose  Heape.  Alonzo  and 
Frank  all  of  wh()m  live  in  the  county,  except  Alonzo,  who  resides  in 
Colorado.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McNeal  have  been  born :  Lucy  E.,  Susan 
Ellen,  Joseph  H.,  Hildred  and  Sarah. 

The  period  of  Mr.  McNeal's  residence  in  the  county  has  been  marked 
by  an  intelligent  compreliension  of  the  duties  of  a  good  citizen,  and  a 
willingness  to  sa('ritice  time  in  the  interests  of  his  community.  He  is 
at  present  the  efficient  trustee  of  the  township.  Though  not  caring  for 
office  himself,  he  delights  in  helping  his  friends  in  the  I>enlocratic  party, 
in  (heir  aspii-ations. 


CHARLES  M.  HICKS— Charles  M.  Hicks  is  a  native  of  Green 
county,  Tenne.s.see,  and  was  born  Septendter  4,  1812.  His  father  was 
Lorenzo  Doll  Hicks,  a  native  of  Virginia.  The  latter  went  to  Tennessee 
when  a  small  boy  and  was  there  married  to  Catherine  Miller,  a  native 
of  North  Carolina.  'Andy"  Johnson  made  his  wedding  coat,  and  also 
performed  the  ceremony^  for  when  he  was  married  Johnson  was  then  a 
justice  of  the  peace.  L.  D.  Hicks  died  at  Montvale  Springs,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-live,  while  his  wife  came  to  Kansas  with  her  son,  where  she  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-eight  years,  and  lies  buried  in  the  Coffeyville  cemetery. 
A  family  of  ten  children  came  to  them,  five  of  whom  are  living,  viz: 
Lorenzo  Doll,  Jr.,  George  H.,  of  Texas;  Mary  Jane,  widow  of  J.  Wilkin- 
son, lives  in  Kan.sas  City;  and  Liua,  wife  of  Thomas  Tinet,  of  Coffeyville. 

Charles  M.  Hicks- w^as  the  second  child,  and  was  reared  in  Given 
comity    Tennessee,  and  lived  with  his  Grandfather  Miller,  until  the  be 


IIISIOUV    l>r    MDNTim.MIiKV    CUU.NTiV,   KANSAS.  56I 

j^iniiihi;  of  the  Civil  war.  His  opportunities  for  an  education  were  very 
liniit('(i,  iliosc  of  the  comitrv  scliool  being  all  that  were  wilhin  his 
reach.  He  enlisted  in  the  Thirteenth  Tennessee  Regiment.  Confeder- 
ate ti'oops.  and  served  diiring  the  entire  war.  He  was  in  several  great 
battles,  and  was  captui'ed  once,  at  Winchester.  Virginia,  but  made  his 
<'scai)e  (he  lirst  night,  by  sliiiping  away  from  his  guard.  After  getting 
Ihrough  the  (licket  line,  he  was  many  days  and  nights  getting  back  to  his 
i-ommand;  traveling  by  night  and  hi<ling  during  the  day,  and  at  last  ar- 
rived, worn  out  and  nearly  exhausted.  He  was  also  in  the  siege  of 
Knoxville.  (A  brother  of  Mr.  Hicks  and  other  relatives  were  in  the  Fed- 
eral army  at  the  same  time.)  At  the  close  of  the  war.  he  went  to  Middle 
Tennes.see  and  hired  out.  by  the  month,  for  two  years. 

In  187l'.  our  subject  came  to  Kansas.  He  nuide  the  trip  by  land,  in 
a  wagcm,  drawn  by  a  small  pair  of  mules.  He  stopped  on  the  Verdigris 
river,  north  of  Coffeyville.  and  hired,  by  the  moth,  to  work  on  a  farm. 
He  afterward  rented  a  farm  for  himself,  and  during  the  years  '74  and  '75, 
saw  some  pretty  hard  times,  having  lost  everything  by  the  grasshoppers, 
but  with  grit  and  perseverance,  he  went  to  work  hauling  wood  to  town, 
at  fifty  cents  a  cord,  that  he  might  buy  corn  at  a  dollar  jjer  bushel. 

In  187"),  he  went  to  the  Territory  and  leased  a  large  ranch  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  and  stock  raising,  being  one  of  the  first  white  men  to 
go  into  the  stock  business  in  that  country.  He  made  a  great  deal  of 
mon(-y  during  his  residence  there,  and,  in  1807,  came  back  to  Montgom- 
ery 'ounty,  where  he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  fine  bottom 
land  on  Onion  creek,  five  miles  northwest  of  Coffeyville.  Besides  his 
farming  interest  he  still  keeps  uj)  an  interest  in  the  cattle  business  in  the 
Territory,  and  is  also  rereiving  .f200  a  year  in  gas  leases.  When  be  came 
to  Kiinsas,  his  only  possessions  were  one  small  team  of  mules  and  thirty 
dollars  in  money,  and  his  success  in  business  may  be  attributed  solely  to 
his  restless  energy  and  resolute  purpose. 

Mr.  Hicks  married  ou  the  29th  of  March,  1867,  his  wife  being  Vir- 
ginia Nicely,  a  native  of  Virginia;  her  death  occurring  in  July,  1887. 
Mr.  Hicks  never  married  again,  and  is  living  alone  on  his  farm.  He  is 
a  mendKM-  of  the  Jfasons,  Keystone  Lodge  No.  1021,  Coffeyville.  Politi- 
cally, he  is  a  Democrat,  and  cast  his  first  vote  in  1902. 


.foSKl'H  S.  1!EXNETT— Four  miles  north  of  the  littlecityofCaney, 
resides  a  settler  who  came  to  Montgomery  county  in  1884 — to  quote 
his  own  words,  "eame  to  the  county  with  twenty-five  cents  in  my  pocket 
and  this  I  spent  for  stationery  and  postage  to  write  back  home  with." 
The  country  was  then,  practically,  new  and  our  new  settler,  Joseph  S. 
Iteiim  tt.  ajiplied  himself  to  the  task  of  earning  a  livelihood  and  of  hatch- 
ing the  egg,  as  it  were,  which  opportunity  had  laid.    His  education  was 


562  HISTOra'   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY_,   KANSAS. 

lueajioi'  ;iii(l  In-  was  without  a  trade  and  he  did  whatever  his  liands  found 
to  do. 

[Ic  caim-  iiilo  Kansas  and  settled  among  the  ex-soldiers  of  the  Union, 
enil>atiassed  hy  a  record  of  service  in  the  Confederate  army,  yet  the 
nianlv  principle  within  him  was  dominant  and  it  shown  out  at  every  con- 
tact, with  a  lustre  tliat  won  confidence,  and  the  race  to  civic  success  was 
early  won.  The  year  of  his  advent  to  Kansas,  he  secured  employment 
in  a  liotel  in  IndeiK»ndence  and  was  soon  able  to  make  a  payment  on  his 
first  tract  of  laud.  This  he  located  in  Caney  township,  comprised  forty 
acres  and  forms  a  part  of  his  present  home.  He  erected  a  modest  shanty 
on  it  and  began  a  rather  lonely,  but  positive,  existence  on  a  Kansas  farm. 
The  work  of  improvement  has  gone  steadily  on,  until  his  is  one  of  the 
profltiible  little  farms  of  the  county. 

P.y  nativity.  Mr.  Bennett  is  a  Keutuckian.  He  was  born  in  Taylor 
county.  January  2,  1845,  and  his  parents  were  Faris  and  Permelia 
I  Short )  Bennett.  The  latter  passed  their  lives  in  the  "Blue  Grass 
State."  the  mother  dying  many  years  ago,  while  the  father  passed  away 
in  lS!t:{,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  Five  children  constituted  the 
family,  by  the  first  wife,  and  the  second  one  bore  Mr.  Bennett  seven;  and 
still  a  third  wife  was  the  mother  of  three. 

.Jose]ih  S.  Bennett  was  the  oldest  of  the  family  of  fifteen  children 
and  his  surroundings  were  those  of  the  average  country  youth.  Although 
young  in  years,  he  was  prompted  to  a  military  career  in  the  volunteer 
armies  of  the  South,  by  a  desire  to  battle  for  a  cause  that  was  lost,  and 
he  became  a  i)rivate  in  the  cavalry  brigade  of  the  Confederate  chieftan, 
(Jen.  John  Morgan,  the  most  daring  of  the  Southern  leaders.  He  partici- 
pated in  "Morgan's  Raid"  into  Ohio,  where  he  was  captured  and  taken, 
first,  to  Camp  Chase,  and  thence  to  Camp  Douglas,  Chicago.  He  was 
confined,  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  for  nearly  a  year,  and  was  then  exchanged, 
with  others,  and  returned,  again,  to  the  field.  He  helped  fight  the  bloody 
battle  of  Stone  River,  besides  many  others,  and  retired  to  civil  life  when 
the  war  was  ended  and  the  Confederacy  overthrown. 

Peace  again  established  in  our  land,  Mr.  Bennett  sought  his  old 
home  and  was  busy  with  husbandry  there,  till  1884,  when  he  cast  his  lot 
with  the  straggling  settlements  of  Montgomery  county,  to  which  locality 
he  has  contributed  au  honorable  part  toward  the  building-up.  He  is  a 
gentleman  of  mature  and  safe  judgment  and  of  good  discrimination.  He 
manifests  some  interest  in  local  politics,  votes  with  the  Democrats  and 
has  iM'vci-  married. 


JOHN  R.  WATTS — Among  the  worthy  citizens  of  Independence 
whose  brawn  and  brain  has  figured  conspicuously  in  the  development 
and  progress  of  the  city,  is  the  gentleman  here  named,  a  contractor  and 


IlISTOltV    (II'    MONTIJOMICUY    COUNTY,.    KANSAS.  563 

l)iiild(r.  whose  liaiidiwoik,  l»i(li  in  i.iil.lic  and  \ni\:\io  liiiildiiijis,  is  found 
on  many  hands. 

.lolin  R.  Watts  was  Imhii  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  Dectnnber  19,  1844, 
a  .son  of  .losi'pli  S.  and  Mary  Ann  Watts.  Joseph  Watts  was  a  farmer 
l)y  occupation,  a  thresher,  and  was  widely  known.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
enerjiy  and  lived  an  u|iri};ht  and  consistently  moral  life.  He  and  the 
family,  which  lie  reared,  were  prominent  factors  in  the  social  life  of  their 
community.  He  died  in  ISfiti,  at  the  age  of  tifty-two  years,  his  wife  sur- 
viving him  tifteeii  years  and  dying  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  They  reared  a 
family  of  nine  children,  as  follows:  Sarah,  Mrs.  William  Boes,  of  Inde- 
pendence, K.m.xas;  .lane,  deceased;  William,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle 
of  (Miickainauga;  J.  K..  our  subject;  Joseph,  a  farmer  in  Boliver,  Mis- 
s(mri ;  .lames,  of  Independence;  Amanda,  Mrs.  James  McKinsey,  of  Bra- 
zil, Indiana;  Margan>t.  Mrs.  Jesse  Poor,  of  Harmon,  Indiana;  I^na.  Mrs. 
(icorjic  Sackett.  of  ]>ayton,  Ohio;  and  Cornelius,  of  Brazil,  Indiana. 

In  the  case  of  our  subject,  a  good  common  school  education  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  .seven  year  apprenticeship  at  the  carpenter  trade,  ending  in 
1865,  since  whicli  time  he  has  been  contracting  work  for  himself.  He  lo- 
cated in  I'arke  county,  Indiana,  where  lie  remained  until  the  spring  of 
1883,  the  date  of  his  coming  to  Independence.  Here  he  soon  became  one 
of  the  leading  contractors  of  the  county,  and,  during  the  two  decades  of 
liis  active  life  here,  has  handled  a  number  of  large  contracts,  notably 
the  I'.aden  warehouse,  the  Lutheran  church,  and  several  of  the  larger 
.■uid  more  handsome  residences  of  the  city. 

The  domestic  life  of  Mr.  Watts  began  in  Parke  county,  Indiana,  on 
the  isth  of  April,  18(58,  the  date  of  his  marriage  to  Mary,  a  daughter  of 
Edward  and  Mahala  Pratt.  Mrs.  Pratt  is  the  eldest  of  four  children,  the 
otheis  being  as  follows:  Keziah,  Mrs.  Dr.  Bence,  now  deceased;  Rosa, 
Mrs.  .Milton  Havlan,  of  Hollandsburg,  Indiana;  and  Dora,  deceased,  was 
Mrs.  (ieorge  Ames.  To  the  marriage  of  our  subject  and  his  wife  have 
been  born:  Priscilla.  Mrs.  Eugene  Evans,  of  Kansas  City,  with  children: 
John  aiul  Cora;  Eva.  Mrs.  Joe  Gee,  of  Independence;  Edmond,  of  Leaven- 
wort).  ;  Rosa,  Mrs.  ^'orhees,  of  Independence,  who.se  two  children  are : 
Floyd  and  an  infant;  Amanda,  Mrs.  Newton  Blakeley,  with  children: 
Ella  :ind  an  infant;  Bertha,  Frank,  Clcmmie  and  Ada  are  still  at  home. 

.Mr.  and  Mrs.  ^^'atts  are  active  members  of  the  Christian  church  and 
are  suiijiorters  of  every  good  cause  which  has  for  its  object  the  ameliora- 
lion  of  conditions  in  .society  and  the  uplift  of  humanity.  Mr.  Watts  is  a 
tiriii  iK'liever  in  the  jirinciple  of  organized  labor  and  has  long  been  a 
member  of  llie  Carpenters'  T'nion.  In  politics,  he  is  independent,  reserv- 
ing ilie  riglii   to  exercise  his  judgment  in  the  selection  of  the  best  men 


564  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

ALBERT  I'KKRY  McKRIDE— In  the  subject  of  this  personal  re- 
view, is  presented  a  native  Kansan,  whose  name  is  familiar  in  almost 
every  household  in  Montgomery  county,  and  whose  efforts  in  the  past 
decade  Iiave  yielded  momentous  results  and  have  been  of  immeasurable 
ini]»oitance  and  value  to  the  material  interests  of  the  county.  His  name 
and  fame  have  extended  beyond  the  confines  of  his  own  state  and,  in  the 
(levt'ldimient  of  the  subterranean  resources  of  southeastern  Kansas  and 
tiie  Indian  Territory,  the  name  of  A.  P.  McBride  stands  the  peer  of  all. 
TnniiC'llino;  the  earth's  crust,  has  been  his  life  work,  and  the  hidden 
truths  which  his  efforts  have  brought  to  light,  have  yielded  to  the  geolo 
gist  ,1  f\nid  of  i)Ositive  knowledge,  and  to  commerce  and  the  industries, 
an  impetus  that  will  endure  permanently  and  increase  with  the  lapse 
of  years. 

On  the  iMitli  day  of  February,  18G2,  Albert  P.  McBride  was  born  in 
Miami  county.  Kansas.  His  paternal  antecedents  were  from  West  Vir 
ginia  and  his  maternal  from  Tennessee.  His  father,  Thomas  J.  McBride. 
was  born  near  Whitehall,  Illinois,  a  sou  of  James  McBride,  of  Tennessee, 
whose  paternal  ancestor  emigrated  from  the  old  Virginia  state,  as  a  pio- 
neer to  that  state.  They  were  of  Scotch-Irish  lineage  and  descended 
from  a  pioneer  ancestor  who  established  himself  a  citizen  of  the  New 
World,  in  the  year  ITHO. 

Thomas  J.  ;M(Bri(ie  \\as  born  February  7,  1832,  was  brought  up  on 
a  farm,  subsequently  learned  the  blacksmith  trade  and,  finally,  entered 
the  nnnistry.  He  pioneered  to  Kansas  in  1858  from  Green  county,  Illi- 
nois— lirst  stopj)ing,  for  eighteen  months,  in  Bates  county,  Missouri — and 
jiarticipating  in  the  stirring  events  which  took  place  there,  both  before 
and  during  the  war.  He  enlisted  in  Company  "E,"  First  Battalion  of 
Missouri  troops — from  Cass  county — and  also  served  in  George  H. 
Hump's  Rangers.  Since  the  war,  he  has,  when  actively  engaged,  been 
employed  with  the  civil  pursuits  above  mentioned,  chiefly  in  Miami 
county,  Kansas,  and  has,  recently,  become  a  resident  of  Independence, 
Kansas.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  in  religion,  a  Baptist.  No- 
vember 3,  1853,  he  married  Lucinda  Barnett,  a  daughter  of  John  Bar 
nett,  formerly  from  Tennessee,  who  was  killed,  in  18G2,  by  Capt.  Irvin 
Walla's  gang.  Eight  children  were  the  issue  of  this  marriage,  seven  of 
whom  are:  John  A.,  James  H.,  William  T.,  C.  W.,  C.  M.,  I.  J.  and  W.  F. 
The  first  four  mentioned  are  Kansas  farmers,  and  the  others  are  gas  and 
oil  drillers  at  Butler,  Missouri.  The  fourth  son  in  the  family  is  A.  P., 
the  subject  of  this  notice. 

James  McBride,  Sr..  the  great-grandfather  of  Thomas  Jert'erson 
McBride,  comes  to  us  as  the  original  head  of  this  numerous  branch  of  the 
American  McI5rides.  With  four  other  brothers,  he  emigrated  from  the 
higlilands  of  Scotland,  about  1730,  and  made  settlement  in  the  Colony 
of   Virginia,   in    America.     The   other   brothers   were:    William,   Jaseth. 


H   •• 


•♦'-. 

T.y 


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i»  l»  f »  ff  i»  ir  r    ff 
-    -«  !•  »»  f.  ..  .     . 
I*  It  M  f    I 


504 

A 
view, 
every 
(leiadi 
illipii; 
and  !. 


HISTORY  OV  MONTGOVERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

LBKKT  I'ERRY  J[cBRIDE— In  the  subject  of  this  personal  re- 
is  preyjuitod  a  native  Kansan,  whose  name  is  familiar  in  almost 
UoviM-iiold  in  Montgomery  county,  and  whose  efforts  in  the  past 
}>.:i\--  yielded  momentous  results  and  have  been  of  immeasurable 
■  ■>•  i>  and  value  I0  the  niaierial  interests  of  the  county.    His  name 
is:-   have  extended  beyond  the  confines  of  his  own  state  and,  in  the 
■  -K-nt  of  tlie  subterranean  resources  of  southeastern  Kansas  and 
■    'i'enitory,  the  name  of  A.  P.  McBride  stands  the  peer  of  all. 
-   I  he  earth's  crust,  has  been  his  life  work,  and     the     hidden 
I  irh  his  efforts  have  brought  to  light,  have  yielded  to  the  geolo- 
fi:  iti  of  jtositive  knowledge,  and  to  commerce  and  the  industries, 
[letus  tliat  will  endure  permanently  and  increase  with  the  lapse 

day  of  February,  1862,  Albert  P.  McBride  was  born  in 
insas.     His  paternal  antecedents  were  from  West  Vir- 

.M,a!  li'.u:.  T:M,,.e*soe.     [iis  f'.ilior.  Ttii.Tan.^  J.  AK-Brido. 


uMfti  Hi   the  l«iew 


viiut'  v., IS  n.i.'h   i  ■■..11:.   ,.  ir-:y2,  was  brought  up  on 

ily  learned  the  blacksmith  trade  and,  finally,  entered 

'  pioueered  to  Kansas  in  1858  from  Green  county,  Illi- 

.-      ;t-i  .-I uj>).Mig,  for  eighteen  mouths,  in  Bates  county,  Missouri — and 

,..,ii-iicipating  in  the  stirring  events  which  took  place  there,  both  before 

,!id  during  the  war.     He  enlisted  in  Company  "E,"'  First  Battalion  of 

Missouri  troops — from  Cass  county — and  also  served     in     George     H. 

Mimic's  Rangers.     Since  the  war,  he  has,  when  actively  engaged,  been 

■•;ii|di)yed  with  tlie  civi!  ]•!.•    idis  abu\"  mentioned,     chiefly     in.   Miami 

■.iiiiy,  Ki'.tisas,  and  b:i  :i   resident  of  Independence, 

K;n;sr.s.     Ju  politics,  li'  in  religion,  a  Baptist.    No- 

viT:d,fV  3,   !85;i  he  maii  .1.  a  daughter  of  John  Bar- 

tuit.  furmerly  from  Teune.-ci  led,  in  1862,  by  Capt.  Irvin 

Walia's  gang.     Eight  children  i>  of  this  marriage,  seven  of 

whom  aiv:  John  A.,  James  H., ■  .  W.,  C.  M.,  I.  J.  and  W.  F. 

The  first  four  mentioned  are  Kansas  fai  iiieis,  and  the  others  are  gas  and 
'.ii  drillers  i!i  Butler,  Missouri,    The  fonrrh  son  in  the  family  is  A.  P., 
■     -:'ii.i'-.'i  ..    -!  •«  notice. 

the   ^  '  iier  of  Thomas     Jeffersoi: 


»r., 

as  the  oi'i 


nnnern'.is  branch  of  thf 


A.   P.    McBRIDE. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  567 

F'arniing  coiistitutod  the  occupation  of  Mr.  Shank,  in  Illinois,  until 
1SS2,  when  he  canie  out  to  Kansas,  first  going  to  the  extreme  western 
part  of  the  state,  wliere  he  decided  that  was  not  a  suitable  country  for 
him  to  settle  in,  and  he  came  to  Montgomery.  Here,  he  purchased  the 
farm  of  fifty-six  acres,  five  iniles  north  of  Coffeyville,  upon  which  he  has 
since  resided.  This  was  bare  praiiie  land,  without  improvements.  A 
small  box  house  was  erected,  and  continued  to  do  service  until  more  pros- 
perous times,  when  the  comfortable,  modern  home  which  now  stands  in 
its  place,  was  built.  The  farm  of  Mr.  Sliank  is  not  of  large  proportions, 
but  is  a  model  of  neatness  and  of  thrifty  appearance. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shank  have  exerted  a  wholesome  influence  on  society, 
since  their  coming  to  the  county,  and  are  most  highly  regarded  for  their 
many  virtues.  The  family  which  they  have  reared  consisted  of  but  two 
childien:  Myrtle,  now  the  wife  of  Frank  Walters,  a  minister  of  the  Chris- 
tian church,  in  Colorado;  and  Paul  D.  The  youngest  daughter,  Hattie 
E.,  was  the  victim  of  accidental  drowning  in  the  Verdigris  river,  on  the 
15th  of  June,  1892,  then  fourteen  years  old. 

Trior  to  September  3,  18G8,  Mrs.  Shank  was  Amanda  J.  Webster. 
She  's  a  native  of  Page  county,  Virginia,  born  July  26,  1849,  and  is  the 
daughter  of  Philip  Webster  and  Susan  Hollingsworth.  Her  father  died 
in  1S91,  at  sixty-seven,  in  Vigo  county,  Indiana,  where  the  family  had 
removed,  in  1859.  Her  mother  died  in  early  life,  and  Margaret  Ward 
was  the  second  wife  of  her  father.  By  the  first  mari-iage,  there  were 
five  children :  John,  James,  Barbara,  Mary  and  Mrs.  Shank.  In  the  sec- 
ond family,  there  were :  Thomas  J.,  Charles,  Frank,  Etta  and  Emma. 


EI)^^■.\R1)  .1.  W.Vri) — On  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres, 
three  miles  southeast  of  Coft'eyville,  resides  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  J 
Waud,  their  residence  in  the  county  covering  some  twenty-two  years.  Mr. 
Waud  is  well  known  throughout  the  west,  as  a  breeder  of  fine  horses, 
many  of  which  he  has  trained  for  the  track,  with  his  own  hand,  and 
which  have  shown  qualities  of  speed  creditable  on  any  course. 

Kensselaer  county.  New  York,  and  September  13,  1847,  will  serve 
to  mark  the  place  and  date  of  Mr.  Waud's  birth.  John  M.  Waud,  his 
father,  was  also  a  native  of  the  "Empire  State,"  his  mother,  Frances 
Lambly,  being  a  twelve-year-old  lass  when  she  came,  with  her  parents, 
to  this  country,  from  England.  They  were  married  in  New  York  state, 
and,  with  a  young  family,  in  1850,  removed  to  Kalamazoo,  Michigan.  The 
father  was  an  artist  in  early  life,  and  of  high  merit,  as  is  shown  by  a 
painting  still  in  possession  of  his  son,  being  a  life-like  picture  of  his 
favorite  hunting  dog.  Later  in  life,  he  became  interested  in  the  raising 
of  trotting  horses,  and  was  a  citizen  of  Kalamazoo  at  the  time  of  his 
demise,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years.     Mrs.  Waud  was  a  lady  of  supe- 


568  lUSTOUY    OF    MONT(;(lMi:ltY    ClirXTY.    KANSAS. 

riur  i.K'iital  attainineuts  aud  gentle  liiccdiiij;.  siiiv  ivin<;  him  several 
vcars;  lier  ajic  at  death,  beiiio;  seveiitv  tivc.  'i'licv  wfii'  the  i)avents  of  two 
sons  and  four  daughters;  Marniaduke  Wand,  now  resi<ling  in  Kalamazoo, 
and  i:d\vard:  and  Annie.  Franc's.  i:iien  and  Ceorgiana;  Annie  and 
Frances  are  deceased. 

lOdward  ^Vaud  was  ten  yeais  of  age  when  the  jiarents  moved  out  to 
:\li(higan.  He  was  reared  on  his  father's  stock  farm,  in  daily  association 
with  trainers  and  fanciers  of  thomnghbred  horses,  and  thus  became 
thoroughly  inoculated  with  tlie  love  for  horsetlesh.  which  has  con 
tinned  to  be  his  distinguisliing  trait  of  (haraiter  thrmighot  his  man- 
hood. And  it  is  not  at  all  strange  that  one  finds  in  him.  a  "gentleman  to 
the  manor  born."  One's  cliaracter  is  very  greatly  intinenced  by  the 
things  tij)on  which  his  thoughts  are  most  centered.  No  more  noble  or  in- 
telligent aninutl  has  been  furnished  man.  by  a  lieneticient  Creator,  than 
the  horse,  aud  he  who  handles  him  most  successfully  must  resjiond,  in 
kind,  to  the  attributes  of  character  exiiibited  in  such  marked  degree  by 
.that  i,nimal. 

Mr.  Waud  had  attained  the  age  when  bacludorhood  was  dangerously 
near  to  being  a  fixed  state.  l)efore  he  met  Mrs.  Nan<y  J.  Myers,  the  lady 
-who  now  handles  the  reins  about  his  handsome  rural  residence.  The 
marriage  was  an  event  of  March  12,  1881.  Mrs.  Wand  is  a  daughter  of 
James  and  Irene  (Greer)  Gillesjiie.  natives  of  Virginia  and  Ohio,  respect- 
ively. Iler  birth  occurred  in  Mercer  county.  Ohio.  June  15.  1840.  James 
(iillesj)ie  was  killed  by  guerrillas  in  Mexico,  while  there  on  a  business 
1ri]),  in  18r)2.  his  wife  dying  in  Indiana,  in  1S7S.  There  were  eight  chil- 
dren in  the  family,  the  two  still  living  being:  Mrs.  Waud  and  James  F. ; 
those  dect>ased  are:  Jefferson,  who  was  killed  in  tlie  battle  of  Jackson, 
Mississippi,  while  gallantly  defending  the  Hag;  Zerelda,  Julia,  Joseph, 
Melissa  and  one  unnamed. 

Shortly  after  their  marriage.  Mi-,  and  Mrs.  Waud  set  their  faces 
toward  the  "Sunflower  State"  and  found,  in  Montgomery  county,  condi- 
tions favorable  for  the  building  of  a  liome.  They  have  not  been  disap- 
pointed, as  in  the  case  of  others,  though  it  has  not  been  all  i)lain  sailing. 
.Mr.  V\'aud  has  I)een  generally  successful  with  liis  horses,  but  has  suffered 
two  Ix'avy  losses,  a  fine  animal  worth  ^.').0(l(l.  and  anotlier.  whose  market 
price  was  |;:],ltOI).  For  a  time,  he  did  mtich  of  his  own  training,  on  a 
track  kept  upon  the  farm,  but  has.  of  late  years,  allowed  this  adjunct  to 
return  to  its  original  state. 

During  his  residence  in  the  <onnty.  Mr.  \\  ;nid  has  made  many 
friends.  i)y  his  upright  methods  of  business.  He  lends  his  influence  to  all 
good  causes,  votes  with  the  l?ei>ublican  ]iarty.  and.  in  fraternal  matters, 
allili-ites  with  the  Knights  of  H<mor. 


HISIOKV   01'    >10NT(;0MKUV   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  5D9 

WII>L1AM  \V.  I'OST— Williiiin  W.  Post  was  born  in  Summit  ooun- 
ty,  Ohio,  NovemixM-  1,  1822.  His  fatlicr,  Homy  Post,  and  his  mother, 
Mary  A.  (Clark)  Post,  wore  natives  of  Connectieut.  In  1804,  the  family 
moved  1o  Ohio  and  settled  in  a  townshii)  where  there  were  hut  five  other 
white  families,  and  where  numerous  tribes  of  Indians  were  the  only 
other  residents.  The  father  died  July  4,  18(i(5,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two, 
and  his  wife  died  Oitoher  27,  18r)7.  There  were  eight  children,  three  of 
whon^  are  living  in  Iowa,  and  William  \V..  our  subject. 

William  W.  Post  had  only  a  common  school  education  and  lived  at 
home  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  was  married  in  1846,  to 
Sarah  Jane  .Millei-.  who  was  born  February  2.5,  1827.  His  wife  was,  a 
daughter  of  Allen  and  lOIizabeth  (liove)  Miller,  both  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Jlr.  Miller  came  to  Ohio  when  a  small  boy  and  died  there  at  the 
age  of  seventy-four,  his  wife  dying  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  There  were 
nine  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Post  is  the  .sole  survivor. 

Mr.  Post  came,  with  hi.s  family,  to  Kansas  in  1878,  settling  north  of 
Coffeyville,  where  lie  remained  seven  years.  The  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  on  which  he  now  lives,  was  bought  later,  but,  for  the 
last  few  years,  he  has  rented  his  farm,  not  being  able  to  attend  to  it  him- 
self. His  family  are  all  married  and  gone,  except  a  widowed  daughter, 
Mi's.  Alice  <".  .Murray,  wiio  is  looking  after  their  welfare.  There  were 
born  to  them,  viz:  ('lark,  of  Fawn  f'rti'k  towiishiji;  .Avery,  deceased;  Al- 
ice C,  Mrs.  George  Murray;  C-arrie,  deceased  wife  of  (Jeorge  Murray; 
W.  O.  Post,  now  a  resident  of  Ottawa.  Kansas;  and  Sarah,  who  died  in 
infancy.  Mr.  Post  held,  in  liis  home,  in  Ohio,  many  positions  of  trust; 
those  of  County  ronimissioner,  township  trustee,  constable  and  assessor 
of  his  township.  In  jiolitical  matters,  he  was  a  Democrat  until  McKlnley 
w'as  nominated  for  the  presidency,  when  he  voted  for  him.  In  business, 
he  sustains  an  enviable  reputation,  and  honor  and  integrity  are  synony- 
mous with  his  name. 

Mrs.  Alice  ('.  Murray,  daughter  of  William  W.  and  Mary  Jane  Post, 
was  born  in  Summit  county,  Ohio,  and  was  married  there,  to  George 
Murray,  in  1873.  In  1877,  they  moved,  with  their  family,  to  Kansas, 
where  Mr.  Murry  died,  in  1883.  He  was  born  in  Summit  county,  Ohio, 
July  20.  1849,  and.  at  his  death,  left  two  children :  Myrtle,  wife  of  John 
Shaw;  and  Wesley,  still  with  the  home.  He  served,  for  some  time,  during 
the  war,  in  Company  "C."  Third  V.  S.  Cavalry,  and  was  discharged  on  ac- 
count of  sickness. 


C.  W.  CAXXINti — In  this  review  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  a 
pioneer  whose  connection  with  Montgomery  county  dates  from  1870,  and 
whose  career  has  marked  a  progressive  movement  from  its  early  begin- 


570  HISTORY   OP    MONTGOMERY   COINTY,   KANSAS. 

iiinn;,  and  it  gives  us  satisfaction  to  present  a  few  fads  concei-uing  his 
origin  and  the  chief  events  of  his  life. 

Charles  W.  Canning  was  born  a  subject  of  the  British  Queen.  War- 
wickshire. England,  is  his  native  place  and  his  birth  occurred  May  30, 
1843.  He  was  a  sou  of  a  farmer  and  his  jtarents,  John  and  Martha  Can- 
ning, both  died  in  England,  the  former  at  the  age  of  seventv-eight  and 
the  latter  at  seventy-three  .vf!ns.  Of  their  seven  children,  five  are  yet 
iu  the  "old  country"  and  ('.  W.  is  the  youngest  of  them  all.  He  acquired 
a  liberal  education  and  filled  the  position  of  druggist's  clerk,  before  he 
was  twenty-one.  He  left  England,  for  the  United  Htales,  in  18ti4,  passing 
through  Castle  Garden  and  on  to  Monti-eal.  Canada,  where  he  remained 
three  years.  In  1867,  he  returned  to  the  United  States  and  stopped, 
temporarily,  in  Hlinois,  where  he  was  employed,  chieHy,  at  farm  work. 
In  1870,  he  made  his  final  journey  toward  the  setting  sun  and  established 
himself  in  Kansas.  He  entered  a  tract  of  land  in  Indej)endence  town- 
ship, which  he  improved  and  yet  owns,  and  which  served  as  the  nucleus 
of  his,  now,  valuable  estate  of  three  hundi-ed  and  sixty  acres,  within  the 
proven  gas  and  oil  territory  of  the  county.  The  ca])tain  gas  well  of  the 
district  was  drilled  on  his  farm,  in  the  summer  of  lOOl!,  and  its  product 
helps  to  supply  the  fuel  which  feeds  the  numerous  industries  of  Inde- 
pendence. 

Mr.  Canning  has  .gone  about  the  business  of  life  without  flare  of 
trumpets  and  in  a  quiet  and  unassuming  manner.  His  success  has  come 
to  him  as  a  result  of  good  judgment  and  shrewd  business  sense,  and  the 
public  only  knew  of  his  accumulations  as  they  came  in  sight  and  were 
officially  labeled.  He  owns  stock  in  both  the  Commercial  and  the  Citi- 
zens' National  Banks  and  a  comfortable  and  modest  liome  in  Independ- 
ence. He  left  the  farm  in  1895  and  has,  since,  occujiied  himself  with  a 
few  personal  afl'airs,  in  addition  to  the  sui)ervision  of  his  farm. 

December  10,  1867,  Mr.  Canning  niarrieil  lUlina  LaBarge,  a  Cana- 
dian lady  and  a  daughter  of  Framis  and  .Julia  LaBarge,  ])eople  of  French 
lineage.  The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Canning  has  been  a  hai)py  one  and 
without  issue.  They  live  in  each  other's  society  and  liave  a  strong  tie  of 
common  interest.  Their  home  is  hosjiitable.  alike,  to  friend  and  stran- 
ger, and  their  general  demeanor  is  that  of  jiersons  wishing  to  do  good. 
They  have  membership  in  no  religious  society  and  have  no  enthusiasm 
over  political  matters.  Mr.  Canning  holds  a  meudxisliiii  in  the  Elks  and 
thus  is  his  whole  fraternity  connection  summed  tip. 


SHEKBURN  L.  HJBBAKK  Sli.-rbiirn  llil.baid  ha.s  served  Mont- 
gomciy  county  seventeen  years,  continuously,  as  <'ounty  Surveyor  and, 
dtifitig  that  ]ieriod,  has  held  residence  in  <'hertyvale.  .Mr.  Hibbard  is  a 
New  lOngland  man,  having  been  born  in  New    Hampshire,  the  date  being 


msTouv  OK  MONr(;(>.\iKitY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  571 

December  5,  lSr)(».  His  pareiils  were  A.  H.  and  Maria  (Lang)  llibbard. 
both  lassiiifi  their  entire  lives  in  tlie  same  town.  Tliey  were  better-chiss 
farmers,  and  the  f'atiier  was  a  man  of  inllnence  and  jxjsition  in  the  eoni- 
muniiy.  havinp;  .served  freciuentl.v  in  the  township  oHices  and,  in  the  old 
days  of  ••mnsterinji,"  was  a  captain  of  the  militia.  Mis  death  occnrred 
in"l87(),  aged  si.\ty  years,  that  of  his  wife  in  1S!)2,  at  seventy-three.  They 
were  bolli  devoutly  relij^ious  and  members  of  tlie  Conj'rej^ational  ehureh. 
Of  their  five  ehildren,  four  ai-e  living:  Louise,  a  teacher  of  long  and  suc- 
cessful ex})erien(e.  now  a  resident  of  <'alifornia;  Ella,  Mrs.  William  At- 
kinson; Sherburn  L. ,  and  flarry,  who  still  i-esides  in  Woodville.  New 
Hampshire. 

Sherburn  L.  Hibbard  w.ts  icaied  to  farm  life,  passing  his  boyhood  on 
the  old  New  Kngland  farm,  until  seventwu.  Op[)ortuuity  then  ofifering, 
to  come  west  to  Michigan,  he  left  home,  and,  for  two  years,  clerked  in  the 
store  of  Fisk  I!ros.,  at  Lawreuce.  Not  satisfied  with  the  ordinary  educa- 
tion he  had  been  enabled  to  acquire  at  home,  he  then  entered  the  Uni- 
versity at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  in  1872,  taking  a  three  years'  course 
in  civil  engineering.  He  now  returned  to  his  New  Hampshire  home, 
where  he  was  offeied  a  position  in  the  schools,  and,  for  five  years,  engaged 
in  the  noble  profession  of  teaching.  It  is  truly  said  that  no  man,  having 
had  a  taste  of  western  life,  is  ever  satistied  t(»  go  back  east.  However 
that  may  l)e,  Mr.  Hibbard  again  came  west,  passing  three  years  in  Illi- 
nois, engaged  in  looking  after  the  farming  interests  of  his  brother-in- 
law,  and  doing  some  surveying. 

In  February  of  1884.  Mr.  Hibbard  became  a  citizen  of  Cherryvale. 
In  the  following  year,  he  was  elected  to  the  position  of  County  Survey- 
or, and  such  has  l)een  the  character  of  his  services  to  the  county,  as  to 
have  resulted  in  his  continuance,  in  that  office,  to  the  present  date. 

Mr.  Hibbard  tii-st  entered  the  state  of  matrimony,  in  1881,  in  his 
native  state,  Helen,  daughter  of  J.  J.  and  Mary  Kimball  being  the  lady's 
name.  Her  children, Hazen  K.  and  Joseph  P.  are  now  in  the  east,  the 
eldest  at  Dartmouth  College,  taking  a  course  in  electrical  engineering, 
while  Joseph  is  in  the  high  school  at  Wells  River,  New  Hampshire,  in 
preparation  for  Dartmouth.  The  mother  of  these  boys  died,  in  1887,  at 
the  early  age  of  twenty-six  years.  The  lady  who  now  presides  over  Mr. 
Hibbard's  home,  was  Miss  Jennie  Dixon  prior  to  1894,  a  native  of  Illi- 
nois, and  a  daughtei-  of  Israel  and  Kosetta  Dixon.  Israel  Dixon  died,  in 
1899,  in  his  seventy  sixth  year,  his  wife  now  being  an  honored  resident  of 
Cherryvale.  Two  children  have  come  to  the  home  of  Mr.  Hibbard,  since 
his  second  marriage:  Helen  L.  and  Genevieve. 

Mr.  and  Jlrs.  Hibbard  are  prominent  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  of  which  he  is  one  of  the  ruling  elders.  He  is  an  ardent  Re- 
publican in  ]iolitics,  Mild  is  held  in  great  esteem  by  all  jiarties. 


572  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

WILLIAM  N.  SMITH— There  came  to  Montgomeiy  eouuty,  among 
the  pioneers  of  the  year  1870,  one  whose  life  has  been  interwoven  with  the 
interests  of  agruculture  in  the  county  and  one  who.  althoxigh  now  inac- 
tive and  a  spectator  of  events  herein,  is  still  alive  to  whatever  pertains 
to  thf  material  or  other  worthy  interests  of  the  county.  In  this  connec- 
tion, we  refer  to  him  whose  name  introduces  this  personal  notice. 

William  N.  Smith  came  to  Kansas  by  "prairie  express,"  as  it  were, 
driving  all  the  way  from  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  settling  near  Tyro, 
among  a  few  neighbors  who  were,  many  of  them,  in  as  straightened  cir- 
cumstances as  himself.  His  few  personal  effects  wei'e  packed  away  in 
his  wagon  and  his  family  of  wife  and  two  children,  constituted  his  chief 
center  of  interest.  His  permanent  settlement,  near  Tyro,  occurred  some 
two  years  sTibso(|ueut  to  his  firsl  settlement  in  the  state,  which  settlement 
occurred  near  Lafontain,  in  Wilson  county,  about  the  first  of  the  year, 
1871.  Until  1SS4,  he  lived  uiton  rented  laud.  but.  that  year,  jiurchased  a, 
tract  in  Fawn  Creek  township,  which  he  improved  and  cultivated  till  his 
removal  to  Chautauqua  county,  in  1896,  and  located  near  Brownsville. 
Eeturning  to  Montgomery  county,  in  two  years,  he  took  up  his  residence 
in  Independence,  where  he  has  since  maintained  his  home.  He  yet  owns 
the  farm  near  Brownsville  and  another,  of  two  hundred  acres,  on  Rock 
creek,  in  Montgomery  county,  making  a  total  of  five  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land. 

Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  was  the  native  plate  of  William  N. 
Smith,  and  February  17,  1840,  was  the  date  of  his  birth.  His  father  was 
John  T.  Smith  and  his  granfather  was  an  Irishman,  who  married  an 
English  lady  and  settled  in  Bucks  county.  Pennsylvania,  and  reared 
three  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  there  died.  The  issue  of  this  worthy 
couple  were:  James,  who  ran  a  canal  boat  in  Pennsylvania  in  early  life; 
John  T.,  and  Charlotte,  who  became  the  wife  of  Lewis  Vandergrift  and 
was  a  resident  of  Peoria,  Illinois. 

John  T.  Smith,  our  subject's  father,  was  born  in  Bucks  county,  the 
"Keystone  State,"  and  was  married  there,  in  1839,  to  Ann  Bates.  His 
wife  was  a  native  of  the  same  state  and  was  born  in  ISlfi.  Their  chil- 
dren were:  William  N.,  Elwood,  decaeasetl;  Chas.  <".,  of  Marshall  county, 
llliuois;  Angeline,  deceased;  Arabella,  wife  of  John  Clift.  of  Fairbury, 
Illinois;  Louis  V.,  a  grain  merchant  of  Henry,  Illinois;  Brooks,  who 
died  at  fourteen  years;  Lottie,  who  became  the  wife  of  Thomas  Monier, 
of  Henry.  Illinois;  and  Jennie,  who  married  Jlr.  fJregory,  of  Marshall 
county.  Illinois. 

William  N.  Smith  was  his  father's  oldest  cliild.  He  was  reared  to 
industry  and  honesty,  in  his  native  state,  and  in  Illinois,  where  his  par- 
ents settled  when  he  was  a  boy.  His  fathei-'s  farm  furnished  scenes  of 
his  early  activity  and  his  life  was  somewhat  monotonous  and  prosaic  till 


??^ 


■■l>.^ 


!i^- 


I*  t*  It  1^  If  i»  ir  f 


;  rOEV   OK    WaNTvJOMKUY    COTNIY.    liA.NSAS. 

.  SMITH — There  came  to  ^Montgonierj-  county,  amoug 

year  1S70,  cue  whose  life  has  been  interwoven  with  ihe 

•Uure  in  the  county  and  oue  wlio.  although  now  inac 

I  )r  of  events  herein,  is  still  alive  to  whatever  pertains- 

;ii  1. 1  other  worthy  interests  of  the  county.    In  this  connec 

•n-  to  him  whose  name  introduces  this  personal  notice. 

ii,  X.  Smith  came  to  Kansas  l>y  ''prairie  express,"  as  it  wei'e, 

•  !  niiij  :iii  The  way  from  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  settling  near  Tyro, 

amorifr  a  few  neighbors  who  wet«^  many  of  them,  in  as  straightened  cir- 

cuTu«tances  as  himself.     His  few  personal  effects  were  packed  away  in 

his  wagon  and  his  family  of  wife  and  two  children,  constituted  his  chief 

center  of  interest.    His  permanent  settlement,  near  Tyro,  occurred  some 

two  .-scars  subsequent  to  his  first  .settlement  in  (he  state,  which  settlement 

occurred  near  Lafontain,  in  Wilson  county,  about  the  first  of  the  year, 

1871.    Until  1881,  he  lived  upon  rented  land,  but,  that  year,  imrchased  a, 

tract  in  Fawn  Creek  township,  which  he  improved  and  cultivated  till  his 

removal  to  Chautaniqua  county,  in  18i)i>,  and  located  near  Brownsville. 

i;i  iurning  to  Montgomery  cotinty,  in  two  years,  he  took  up  h}S  residence 

'  r>i;'i'!,f.,i,)(.;i(".  "  li'.,'i   he  has  since  manstaincd  his  luctn'.  ,  He  yet  owna 

He  and  anotl-  res,  on  Rock 

iiity,  makiu;.  inland  twenty 

Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  was  ihe  native  piai*  uf  William  N. 
Smith,  and  February  17,  1840,  was  the  date  of  his  birth.  His  father  was 
John  T.  Smith  and  his  gra'nfather  was  an  Irishman,  who  married  an 
English  lady  and  settled  in  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  reareii 
thi-ee  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  there  died.  The  issue  of  this  wortlr 
cor.ple  were:  James,  who  ran  a  canal  beat  in  Pennsylvania  in  early  life; 
'.liu  T.,  and  Charlotte,  who  became  the  wife  of  Lewis  Vandt-rgrift  and 
v,..-i  a  resident  of  Peori;i,  Illinois. 

John  T.  Smith,  our      '  "  born  in  Bucks  county,  the 

i^^ystoue  State,"  and  )  1839,  to  Ann  Bates.    His 

:■■  v,-;i=  a  nnli-'^  of  f  -  born  in  181fi.     Their  chil- 

-.  i;  Chas.  C.  of  Marshall  county. 

wife  of  John  Cliff,  of  Fairbury, 

'  Tl.-nry,  Illinois;     Brooks,  who 

he  wife  of  Thomas  Mooier, 

'.  .Mr.  Gregory,  of  Marshall 

'      He  was  )• 
jiiois,  when 

furrn  ><:..•.! 


*%  m  m 


WM     N.  SMITH. 


lilSTOItY   OK    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  575 

Miss  Nannie  K.  Williiinis  became  the  wife  of  our  sulijcct.  Jaimary  9, 
1885.    She  is  a  native  of  Indiana. 


rFOIIN  \V.  ISKOWN— One  of  the  recent  settlers  among  the  ranks  of 
the  afiricnlfurists  of  Montgomery  county,  is  John  W.  Brown,  who,  since 
the  sjning  of  l!Mt2,  lias  lived  on  the  Verdigris,  four  miles  north  of  Cof- 
feyville.  He  owns  on(>  of  the  best  small  farms  in  the  county  and,  while 
he  is  a  new-comer  to  this  county,  he  is  an  old  settler  of  the  state,  having 
removed  here,  from  Illinois,  in  1870,  and  settled  in  Cherokee  county. 

Mr.  Brown  was  born  in  Decatur  county,  Indiana,  August  30,  1850. 
Ilis  father,  Nehemiali  Brown,  was  born  and  married  in  Indiana,  his  wife 
being  Mary  A.  Meftord,  who  was  also  a  native  of  Indiana.  After  their 
marriage,  the  parents  removed  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Iroipiois  county. 
They  resided  tlicrc  as  farmers,  from  1854  to  187(i.  when  they  came  to 
Kansas,  and  settled  in  Cherokee  county.  Here  they  resided  until  1884, 
when  they  removed  to  Cowley  county,  where  the  father  died  at  the  age 
of  sixty-six,  his  wife  still  surviving,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  The  two 
children  were:  John  W.  and  Ezra;  the  latter  now  living  in  Oklahoma, 

John  W.  Brown  was  brought  up  to  regai'd  labor  as  most  honorable 
and  received  a  rather  limited  education  in  the  country  schools.  He  con- 
tinued to  reside  with  his  parents  until  after  his  majority,  when  he  began 
his  domestic  life  in  Cherokee  county,  January  5,  1881,  being  then  united 
in  marriage  with  Hannah  B.,  daughter  of  William  and  Emma  (Easter- 
ling)  Fortner. 

Mrs.  Brown  is  a  native  of  Hendricks  county,  Indiana,  born  Feb- 
ruary 27,  1853.  Her  parents  were  both  natives  of  the  "Hoosier  State," 
where  they  married,  and  ,with  a  young  family,  came  to  Kansas  in  1874, 
settling  in  Cherokee  county,  where  the  father  died  at  the  age  of  forty- 
eight,  his  wife  still  surviving  him,  in  Oklahoma,  being  at  the  present 
time,  of  the  age  of  sixty-nine.  Of  their  eleven  children,  nine  are  living: 
William  Herbert,  Mary  E.,  Mrs.  Bobbins ;  Hannah  B.,  Howard  E.,  Me- 
lissa J.,  Mrs.  Ilerington;  Florence  A.,  Mrs.  Sesher;  Ora.  Mrs.  Lockwood; 
Minnie,  Mrs.  Menor;  and  May  Fortner. 

After  the  marriage  of  our  subject,  he  took  up  land  in  Cherokee 
county,  but  soon  sold  out  and  went  on  a  "wild  goose"  chase  to  Ken- 
tucky. He,  however,  was  not  pleased  with  the  "Blue  Grass  State,"  and, 
after  a  ten  months'  stay,  returned  to  Kansas  and  settled  in  Cowley 
county,  on  a  farm,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  coming  to 
Montgomery  county. 

To  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown,  seven  children  were  born : 
Earl  Augustus,  born  February  22,  1882;  William  E.,  born  October  17, 
1883 -,  Harry  E.,  born  November  25,  1888;  Ivan  C,  born  September  17, 
1891;  Lillie  L.,  born  October  25,  1893;  Grace,  born  March  12.  1897;  and 
Mary  E.,  born  July  4,  1900. 


Ml.  r.rowii  is  a  iiKMiiber  of  the  Odd  Fellows  Lodge.  In  politics,  lie 
jieiu'iall.v  votes  for  the  man,  rather  than  the  party.  His  courteous  con- 
duct and  evident  spirit  of  fairness  has  made  for  himself  many  friends, 
durini:  the  short  time  of  his  sojourn  in  the  county,  and  he  an(l  his  fani 
ily  aro  re<;arded  as  a  welcome  addition  to  the  society  of  the  community 
in  whiih  lliev  reside. 


FJ)\VIN  liUSHNKLI — Kdwiu  Uushnell  is  one  of  the  oldest  settlers 
»)f  Fawn  Creek  township.  He  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  where  he  was  born 
July  1,  1843.  His  father,  William  Bushuell,  was  a  native  of  Herkimer 
county,  New  York,  while  his  mother,  Emily  Clough,  was  a  native  of  I'ell- 
ham,  and  was  of  English  descent.  Mr.  Bushnell's  jiarents  moved  to 
Ohio  when  he  was  a  small  boy  and  he  was  reared  and  married  there.  Ky 
occujiation,  his  father  was  a  farmer,  and  the  jiarents  moved  to  Michigan, 
in  1851,  and  settled  in  Clinton  county,  his  wife  dying  there  at  the  age  of 
forty-three  years.  Mr.  Bushnell  came  to  Kansas,  in  1859,  and  settled 
in  Franklin  county,  and,  ten  years  later,  he  moved  to  Montgomery  county, 
to  make  his  home  with  his  son,  Edwin,  and  died  here,  in  1886,  at  the  age 
of  se\enty-five  years.  Three  of  the  seven  children  are  living,  viz:  Welling- 
ton, of  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin;  Edwin,  our  subject;  Mary  Hathaway,  liv- 
ing in  Ohio.  Those  deceased  are:  Susannah  Thompson,  Charles,  Frank- 
lin E.  and  an  iufant. 

Edwin  Bushnell  was  eight  years  old  when  his  parents  moved  to  Mich- 
igan. His  oi)portunities  for  an  education  were  limited,  those  of  the  com- 
mon district  school  being  all  that  he  could  obtain.  He  lived  with  his 
parents  till  fifteen  years  of  age,  when,  at  the  death  of  his  mother,  he  went 
to  live  with  the  family  of  W.  T.  Davis  and  remained  with  them  until 
twenty  years  of  age.  He  enlisted,  in  18G3,  in  Company  "I,"  Tenth  Michi- 
gan Cavalry,  and  served  till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  never  participated 
in  an\  hard-fought  battle,  but  was  kept  on  the  move  all  tlie  time,  march- 
ing through  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  Kentucky 
and  Tennes.see.  He  was  captured  at  Strawberry  Plains  by  Joe  Wheeler, 
who,  not  having  any  place  to  keep  them  nor  anything  to  feed  them,  pa- 
roled the  prisoners  in  two  days.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  returned  to 
;Michii:an,  and  worked  by  the  month,  for  some  time,  when  he  started  for 
Kansas  and  located  in  Franklin  county,  about  18(>6.  He  afterward  came 
to  Montgomery  county  and  bought  one  hundred  and  forty-one  acres  of 
land  and  erected,  on  it,  a  small  house.  After  many  years  of  hard  work 
and  jirivation,  with  plenty  of  drouths  and  grasshoppers,  he  has,  now,  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  five  miles  southwest  of  Coffey- 
ville.  all  under  the  best  cultivation.  He  has  a  nice  home,  all  lighted  and 
heated  with  natural  gas,  supplied  from  a  gas  well  on  his  farm.  His  occu- 
jiatioii  is  stock  raising.  He  keeps  all  kind  of  stock-horses,  cattle,  hogs, 
shec|.  and  tine  wool  goats. 


IIISTOKY    OK    M0N'1'(;0MKKY    t'OrwlV^    KANSAS.  5// 

Ml-,  r.iishncll  is  a  self-nuule  man  and  is  of  sterling  worlh  and  of 
liiftii  moral  character.  Ills  business  transactions  have  been  attended 
with  a  degree  of  success,  which  may  be  ascribed  to  his  close  ai)plication 
and  industry.  His  wife,  Rosa  Miller,  to  whom  he  was  married,  October 
5,  187(!,  was  born  in  Marshall  county,  Indiana.  She  is  a  daughter  of 
Allen  K.  and  Martha  (McCoy)  Miller,  the  former  a  native  of  Kentucky 
and  the  latter  of  Ohio.  The  mother  was  of  Scotch  descent  and  her  people 
came  from  the  South  to  Ohio.  Mr.  Miller  came  to  Kansas,  in  1871,  and 
settled  in  Montgomery  county.  He  and  his  wife  are  living  in  Coffeyville, 
at  eightv-five  and  seventv-three  years,  respectively.  There  were  only  two 
child'ien:  William  and  m-s.  Husbnell ;  William  died  in  1873. 

:\lr.  and  Mrs.  I'.iislincll  have  four  children:  Roy,  resides  near  Holly, 
Colorado;  Will  and  Karl,  in  South  Dakota;  and  Irene,  at  home. 


S.  A.  SMITH — One  of  the  pioneers  of  Montgomery  county  and  a  gen- 
tleman who  had  a  large  share  in  the  growth  and  progress  of  the  city  of 
Independence,  is  S.  A.  Smith,  stone  and  brick  contractor,  residing  at 
401  East  Myrtle  street.  Mr.  Smith  came  to  Independence  in  1871,  and 
has  held  continuous  residence  here  since.  This  period  of  over  three 
decades  has  been  passed  in  honest  labor,  the  returns  of  which,  by  thrifty 
and  careful  management,  have  placed  him  in  easy  circumstances.  He 
has  always  taken  an  active  and  helpful  interest  in  tlie  city's  welfare, 
serving  a  number  of  terms  in  the  council  and,  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board,  where  the  practical  character  of  his  knowledge  was  of  much  ser- 
vice i:\  the  prosecution  of  the  public  enterprises  necessary  in  his  munici- 
palit\.  Mr.  Smith  is  a  leading  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.,  in  which  organ- 
ization he  has  passed  through  all  the  chairs,  and,  in  the  social  and  relig- 
ious life  of  the  coinnninity.  lie  and  his  family  are  prominent  factors.  In 
addition  to  his  business  in  town,  he  owns  and  operates  a  fai-m  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  acres,  on  Elk  river,  in  tlie  gas  l)elt  of  this  county. 

Briefly  referring  to  the  family  history  of  our  subject,  we  note  that 
he  is  of  English  descent,  his  father,  Dr.  William  B.  Smith,  having  been 
born  in  Nottinghamshire,  on  tlie  day  of  the  birth  of  Queen  Victoria, 
May  24,  1819.  He  grew  to  manhood  there,  saw  the  queen  crowned,  in 
1837,  studied  medicine,  and  came  to  this  country  in  time  to  take  part  in 
the  I>Iexican  war.  After  the  war,  he  settled  in  Louisa  county,  Iowa, 
married,  and  practiced  his  profession  there  until  18C0,  when  he  came  to 
Kansas.  He  settled  at  Leavenworth  and,  for  fourteen  years,  was  one  of 
the  leading  physicians  of  that  city.  He  served  one  year  in  the  army,  dur- 
ing the  Civil  war,  going  out  as  captain  of  a  company,  and,  later,  being 
commissioned  surgeon  of  the  regiment.  He  died,  at  Leavenworth,  in 
April  of  1875.  Harriet  Key,  liis  wife,  was  a  native  of  Louisa  county, 
Iowa.     She  was  the  daughter  of  George  Key,  whose  family  consisted  of 


seven  sons  and  seven  daughters,  three  of  whom  still  survive.  She  died, 
iu  ]855.  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven.  Dr.  Smith's  family  consisted  of  but 
three  children,  viz:  Emily,  who  married  Charles  Allen  and  is  now  de- 
ceased ;  S.  A.,  our  subject,  and  Fannie,  deceased  wife  of  Mr.  Edelblute. 

S.  A.  Smith  was. born  in  Louisa  county.  Iowa,  on  the  22d  of  Febru- 
ary, 1818.  His  ediication  was  secui'ed  in  the  common  schools,  after  which 
he  served  an  apprenticeship  at  his  present  trade.  Completing  the  required 
period,  he  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  worked  for  several  years.  In  1870, 
he  came  out  to  Allen  county  and  thence,  the  following  year,  to  Montgom- 
ery c(ninty,  Kansas.  He  married,  in  April  of  1872,  Mary,  a  daughter  of 
Henry  Dalley,  whose  children  are:  Harry,  a  bricklayer,  of  San  Francis- 
co, California  :  and  Eftie,  Ernest  and  Amy,  young  people  at  home. 


MAKTIN  ARM.STRONG— The  subject  of  this  review  is  one  of  the 
best  known  of  the  early  seKlers  of  Montgomery  county,  he  having  been 
a  resident  here  since  1870.  Thomas  Armstrong,  his  father,  was  a  native 
of  Ohio,  and  the  earlier  members  of  the  family  are  traceable  back  into 
the  old  "Keystone  State." 

Thomas  Armstrong  married  Maria  Bussard  and  died,  in  his  native 
state,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine  years.  The  wife  survived  him  many  years 
and  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight.  They  were  the  parents  of  nine  chil- 
dren: Martin,  Edward ,B.,  Salem,  who  was  accidentally  killed;  William, 
George,  also  killed  in,  an  accident;  Duma,  John,  and  Mary  Catherine  and 
Margaret  Ann,  twins. 

Martin  Armstrong  was  horn  in  Pickaway  county,  Ohio,  March  24, 
1838,  and  was  reared  witii  scanl  o[)portunity  for  an  education  and  in- 
ured to  the  toil  of  the  farm.  For  a  wife,  he  chose  Susanna  A.  Fox,  born 
in  rickaway  county,  Marcli  20,  1840.  She  was  the  daughter  of  John 
and  Sarah  A.  (P.ussard)  Fo.x,  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  To  this  marriage 
were  born:  Lucnn,  Zclda,  Susanna,  Henrv,  I'zni.  Eliza  Jane,  and 
Mary  K. 

The  liist  wcslward  move  ot  Mr.  Armstioiig  was  iiia(l(>  in  18(i;].  when 
he  went  to  lllindis;,  whore  lie  remained  seven  years,  engaged  in  agricultu- 
ral [inrsnits.  lie  (hen  came  to  Kansas,  st()]i]iing  in  Linn  county  some 
eighteen  months,  theme  to  Montgoiiieiy  cuiinty.  The  year  1872,  marks 
the  date  of  his  settlement  on  the  farm  on  wliieli  he  now  resides,  at  which 
time  it  was  a  bare  one  linndied  and  sixty,  without  a  single  improvement. 
The  first  house  on  the  i)lace  was  made  of  poles,  but.  in  time,  gave  way  to 
the  comfortable  residence  now  occu])ied  l)y  the  r.iiiiily,  and,  one  by  one, 
the  substantial  im[)rovemenfs,  now  seen,  were  mldeil.  The  farm  has  been 
the  home  of  the  family  sim-e  its  first  .setllenuMil.  exrept.  for  a  short  pe- 
riod, from  liioti  to  H((i:!,  which  was  spent  iu  the  Indian  Teriitory,  chas- 
ing that  Will  o'  the  Wisp,  the  raising  of  stock,  in  which  so  many  have 


IIISroKY   OF    MONTUOMEHY    COUNTY,    KANSAS.  579 

sunk  tlu'ir  hard  oaiiiod  doUai's.  There  are  four  .hildrcn  of  the  Arm- 
stroufi  family,  viz:  Noah,  Ken,  Amanda  and  Frank.  Noah  married  Dora 
Strohel.  while  Ken  found  a  wife  in  Mabel  Cla.ybauiih.  and  both  have 
homes  of  their  own.  Frank  and  Amanda  are  still  residing  at  home.  Mr. 
Armstrong  cares  little  for  public  life,  ])referrin|i  to  eujo.y  the  (juiet  of  his 
own  home.  Politically,  he  is  independent,  s«p|)orting  the  best  men  and 
measures,  roijardless  of  ])arty. 


\V.  A.  COKMACK— Next  in  importance  to  the  i)hysician  of  the  soul 
is  the  i>liysi(ian  of  the  body.  No  one  who  lias  sat  with  tense  nerves  and 
bated  breath,  as  the  i)liysi(ian  dia},fnosed  the  case  of  a  smitten  loved  one, 
but  will  agree  that  the  man  who  holds  the  issues  of  life  and  death  in  his 
hand,  should  be  sober  and  sincei-e,  of  absolute  honesty  and  thoroughly 
versed  in  his  profession.  Many  times  it  is  not  so  much  a  case  of  medi- 
cine. US  of  imi)licit  confidence  in  the  dispenser  of  the  medicine.  Among 
the  many  physicians  of  high  character  in  Montgomery  county,  none  ia 
more  deserving  of  the  truths  uttered  above,  than  the  gentleman  whose 
name  precedes  this  review,  a  general  practitioner  of  medicine  in  Cherry- 
vale  for  the  past  eighteen  years. 

Dr.  Cormack  came  to  Cherryvale  from  Carthage,  Missouri,  where  he 
had  lived  for  five  years,  prior  to  which  he  had  practiced  some  nine  years 
in  Illinois.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the  Eclectic  Medical  Institute  of  Cincin- 
nati,and  is  a  thorough  student  of  his  profession,  keeping  his  knowledge  of 
medical  therapeutics  up  to  date,  by  a  close  reading  of  the  best  medical 
journals  of  the  day,  and  by  association  with  his  fellow  practitioners  in 
the  difl'erent  medical  societies  of  the  county  and  state. 

The  nativity  of  Dr.  Cormack  dates  in  Macoupin  county.  Illinois, 
October  1,  1839.  He  is  a  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Cormack.  both  now 
deceased.  The  father  died  at  fifty-two,  while  the  mother  lived  to  the 
extreme  old  age  of  ninety-four  years.  They  were  both  devout  and  life- 
long members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  chiirch  and  much  respected 
for  their  many  noble  qualities.  Of  the  family  of  ten  children  which 
they  reared,  five  sons  are  still  living. 

The  domestic  life  of  our  subject  was  entered  \!])on  in  ISTti.  ]\Irs. 
Cormack  was  a  native  of  Illinois,  her  maiden  name  was  Miss  L.  E.  Kan- 
dall.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Woodson  H.  and  Cameron  Kandall.  To 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Cormack  have  been  born  two  children.  The  eldest,  Zoe  E., 
grew  to  lovely  girlhood,  but  the  flower  faded  ere  it  had  reached  its  full 
beauty;  she  died  at  thirteen.  I*;va  L..  the  second  daughter,  is  yet  a  mem- 
ber of  the  home  circle. 

The  Doctor  and  his  family  are  active  members  of  the  Methodist 
church,  while  he  affiliates  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  having  passed 
through  the  Blue  Lodge,  Chapter  and  Commandery.     Though  taking  lit- 


580  HrSTOEY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

tlo  interest  in  politics,  the  Doctor  is  always  pleased  to  aid,  by  his  vote, 
the  interests  of  the  party  of  Lincoln  and  Garfield. 


ALLISON  C.  DARROW— September  24,  1870,  there  settled  In 
Fawn  Creek  township,  Montgomery  county,  one  whose  history  has  been 
prominently  connected  with  the  farming  interests  of  that  locality  since. 
He  began  life  there,  as  many  others  did  at  that  time,  by  taking  up  a 
claim,  and  his  beginning  was  about  as  primitive  as  the  record  of  any 
pioneer  settler  will  reveal.  But  time  and  the  energy  of  man  has  worked 
wonders  in  this  portion  of  the  west,  the  past  third  of  a  century,  and  A. 
C.  Dai-row  has  reaped  a  bountiful  portion,  as  a  reward  for  his  share  in 
the  work  of  transformation. 

Chautauqua  county,  New  York,  was  the  birthplace  of  Allison  C.  Dar- 
row.  April  16,  1839,  were  his  natal  day  and  year  and  his  parents  were 
Cornelius  and  Lucinda  (Tillotson)  Darrow.  both  native  New  York  peo- 
ple. The  parents  had  seven  children  and  the  mother  died  in  her  native 
state.  The  father  migrated  to  Minnesota,  in  later  life,  and  near  Lan- 
sing lies  buried.  Their  children,  surviving,  are  three:  James  E.,  Cather- 
ine Augusta  and  Allison  C. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  came  lo  mature  years  on  the  farm  and 
acquired  a  fair  education  in  the  country  school.  He  went  down  into  Vir- 
ginia in  Se])tember,  1801,  and  there,  joined  the  Ninth  New  York  Cavalry, 
Company  "F,"  with  which  he  served  till  the  end  of  the  Civil  war.  He 
was  in  the  second  Bull  Run  fight,  was  captured  on  the  retreat  and  held 
in  parole  camp,  three  months,  when  he  was  exchanged  and  at  once  re- 
joined his  regiment.  He  participated  in  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania,  Cold  Harbor,  Fisher's  Hill,  Winchester  and  many  smaller 
ones,  and  was  shot  through  the  arm,  at  the  battle  of  Trevillion  Station. 
He  veteranized  at  the  expiration  of  his  first  enlistment  and  was  dis- 
charged at  Buffalo,  New  York,  July  17,  1865.  He  took  up  farming,  on 
discarding  his  military  uniform  and  remained  in  his  native  state  till 
1867.  when  he  went  to  Michigan,  where,  in  Ionia  county,  he  was  married, 
September  7,  of  that  year.  l)irectly  after  his  marriage,  he  came  west  to 
Newton  county,  Missouri,  from  which  point  the  young  soldier-veteran 
brought  his  little  family  to  Kansas. 

"The  Harrows  in  Motifgoniery  county"  would  be  an  appropriate  and 
interesting  cliaiitci'  of  itself,  if  sjiace  permitted  the  details  of  their  strug- 
gles, in  their  ciinib  from  tinancial  obscurity  to  a  high  plain  of  financial 
independence.  With  an  ;i|)ology  for  its  brevity,  we  oiler  the  simple,  but 
trite  statement  tli;i(  "a  long  and  strong  |>uir'  is  explanatory  of  their  suc- 
cess. As  the  dimensions  of  Iheir  estate  have  increased  and  its  area  has 
approached  the  acreage  of  a  section  of  land,  it  has  been  kept  well  stocked 
with  grades  and  the  products  of  the  farm,  grains  and  cereals,  have  been 


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A.  C.  DARROW  AND  WIFE. 


HISTORY   OF    XlONTfiOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  583 

died  iu  England,  Dpcrniber  23,  ISO"),  at  the  age  of  seveut.y  five  years. 
The  mother,  soon  after,  came  to  this  country  and  settled  in  Chicago, 
where  Sealy  L.  was  reared  until  ho  had  entered  his  'teens.  He  spent  four 
years  in  Canada,  then  returned  to  the  Lake  City  and  remained  until  1878. 
Circumstances  combined,  at  this  time,  to  turn  his  thoughts  toward  the 
Great  West,  and,  at  sixteen,  he  started  out  to  test  the  stories  which  had 
so  charmed  his  ear.  He  stoi)i>ed  in  Montgomery,  and  finding  employ- 
ment on  a  farm,  resolved  to  here  make  Ids  future  home.  Carefully  hus- 
banding his  resources,  he,  in  time,  had  saved  sufficient  to  make  the  first 
payment  on  the  present  farm  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres.  Home 
buiding  has  been  a  most  ])leasant  and  profitable  pastime  for  Mr.  Brown. 
He  is  one  of  (hose  optimistic  citizens  who,  like  1he  groat  bard  of  his  na- 
ti\i'  lic.iMi.  sees  ''good  in  everything."  He  loves  to  help  his  friends,  and 
llicv  (It  liulii  Id  return  it  in  kind.  In  business,  he  is  most  diligent.  As 
sIiiIimI  .ilioM',  he  has,  for  years,  given  careful  attention  to  hogs  and  poul- 
try and  has  had  most  flattering  success.  At  the  Kansas  City  Convention 
Hall  stock  show,  in  1902,  he  entered  a  cockerel  which  scored  94yo  points, 
taking  first  prize  among  three  hundred  birds.  This  bird  sold  for  more 
money  than  was  ever  before  paid  for  a  single  cockerel.  Within  the  past 
year,  Mr.  Brown  has  sold  .|1,1GT..50  worth  of  eggs  from  his  yards,  ship- 
ping them  to  all  points  in  the  United  States. 

Marriage,  with  Mr.  Brown,  was  an  event  of  -January  30,  1884.  Jo- 
hanna Ragan,  his  wife,  was  born  in  Jackson  county,  Missouri,  on  the 
29th  of  August,  1804,  the  daughter  of  Joseph  W.  Ragan,  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  of  Mary  Edgington,  of  Towa.  Soon  after  marriage,  the  Ra- 
gans  i-oltled  in  Kansas  City,  the  father,  in  liis  earlier  life,  being  a  teacher. 
In  1809,  the  family  came  down  into  the  then  "wilds"'  of  Montgomery 
county.  Kansas,  and  filed  on  a  claim,  two  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Coffey- 
villo,  Avhere.  later,  the  town  of  Claymore  was  built,  and  where  Mr.  Ragan 
conducted  the  first  hotel  thrown  open  to  the  public  in  the  county.  He 
died  at  this  place,  in  187.5,  aged  forty-five.  His  wife  survived  him  sev- 
eral years,  her  age  at  death  being  fifty-one.  Two  of  their  six  children  are 
now  living:  Mrs.  Brown  and  Emily  C.  Bonilly.  of  Coffeyville.  Mrs. 
Brown  was  at  that  age,  when  the  family  sotliod  in  the  county,  when 
events  are  deeply  iniiiressod  on  the  mind,  and  she,  yet.  holds  in  distinct 
memory,  many  of  the  thrilling  occurrences  of  that  early  day.  The  coun- 
try was  full  of  thieving  Indians  and  worse  white  men.  who  kept  her 
father  in  a  constant  state  of  alei-tness.  lest  lie  should  lose  everything 
portable,  in  the  way  of  stock  and  iin>iicvly.  The  security  and  i)eaceful- 
ness  of  the  present  is  in  marked  loniiast   lo  tlio.se  days'of  lawlessness. 

Tc  the  home  of  :Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  have  come  Three  bright  children: 
Thomas  L..  Josejih  A.  and  Edwin  McKinley.  The  hitler  name  is  an  index 
of  the  political  faith  of  our  subject,  this  bov  being  named  after  that  noble 
martyr  president.  Williiim  McKiiilcv.     Mr.  Brown  has  no  ],oli(i(al  aspi- 


584  HISTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

rations  of  his  own.  but  delights  in  furthering  the  interests  of  his  friends. 
He  Las  developed  into  a  fine  worker  in  the  different  conventions  of  his 
party,  and  is  a  member  of  the  County  Central  Committee,  and  of  the 
Congressional  Committee,  as  well. 


JAMES  C.  SLAYBAUGH— In  1879,  there  landed  on  the  town  site  of 
Inde])endence,  a  seventeen -year-old  "Buckeye"  boy,  full  of  the  hopes  of 
young  manhood  and  willing  to  dare  and  to  do  in  the  race  of  life.  Without 
waiting  for  something  to  turn  up,  he  immediately  got  his  lever  under  that 
"something,"  turned  it  up  and  went  to  making  clothes  for  the  people.  He 
did  this  with  such  success  that,  fifteen  years  ago,  he  was  able  to  buy  a 
nice  farm  and  has  since  been  living  the  independent  life  of  a  tiller  of  the 
soil. 

That  boy  was  the  gentleman  whose  honored  name  initiates  this  re- 
view. He  will  be  recognized  by  a  large  number  of  the  best  citizens  of  the 
county  as  a  man  whose  integrity  is  unsullied  and  whose  citizenship  is 
of  that  high  order  which  lifts  the  general  level  to  the  exalted  plane 
found  in  Montgomery  Co.  -Jas.  ('.  Slaybaugh  was  born  in  Richland  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  in  1862;  the  son  of  John  F.  and  Margaret  (Rodgers)  Slay- 
baugli.  The  father  was  a  worker  in  iron  and  also  a  farmer.  He  passed 
the  earlier  part  of  his  life  in  Richland  county,  in  the  "Buckeye  State," 
and  moved,  thence,  to  Hillsdale  county,  Michigan,  where  he  died,  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1902,  his  wife  having  passed  away  at  an  earlier  date,  at  forty- 
three  years  of  age.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  of  whom 
five  i'.re  now  living:  David  lives  in  Michigan;  Nettie  married  Eugene 
Dahlam  and  lives  in  Jackson.  Michigan;  the  third  child  was  our  subject; 
Isaac  lives  in  Michigan:  Frank  onlislcd  in  the  Spanish  war  and  has  not 
since  been  heard  from. 

James  secured  a  fair  education  and  early  discovered  an  independ- 
ence of  character  which  has  become  his  distinguishing  feature.  In  1879, 
he  left  home  and  set  out  for  the  far  west,  resolved  to  test  what  hard 
work  would  do  for  a  man  in  Kansas.  When  he  landed  in  the  state,  he  was 
without  capital  save  a  stout  heart  and  a  willing  mind,  two  elements, 
however,  which  must  necessarily  |ire(l(uiiinate.  whether  one  has  financial 
backiiig  or  not.  He  at  once  ajii>rcnlicc(l  himself  to  a  tailor  in  ludepend- 
ence  and  tlioronglily  learned  Ilial  trade  He  still  works  at  it,  at  times, 
though  he  lias.  f(ir  a  ininihcr  of  ycais,  occupied  himself,  in  large  part, 
with  farming.  In  1888,  he  j)urcliased  a  farm,  f(mr  miles  east  of  Inde- 
pemience,  where  he  has  since  continued  to  reside.  He  has  here  a  fine 
farm  of  eighty  acres,  under  a  good  state  of  cultivation.  Its  value  is  en- 
hanced by  1h('  fact  that  if  is  in  tlic  gas  licit,  and  Mr.  Slaybaugh  has  it 
leased  for  a  number  of  yeai's. 

The  married  life  of  our  subject  has  been  one  of  much  felicity,  begin- 


ISAAC  LINDLEY  AND   ELIZABETH  LINDLEY. 


iu  poliiica 
though  not 


MiHs  Kose  I. 
l.inTnn.  n     ' 


f  a  good  hoi 


>•>#« 


m&^. 


HISTORY   OF    MOXTGOMERV   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  585 

ninsi  in  1805.  the  lady  now  liis  wiiV  haviiif;  lieen  Miss  Rose  Linton.  She 
IS  the  (laujihter  of  W.  II.  and  Snsan  (Hickettt  Linton,  a  miller  and 
intockinan  of  Cherryvale.  Kansas.  The  Lintons  aie  also  Ohio  people.  Mrs. 
Slaybaugh  is  one  of  a  fainil.v  of  fonr  livinji  children  :  William  J.,  Francis 
and  Henry  being  the  other  members. 

In  politieal  belief,  ilr.  Slaybangh  atliliates  with  the  Republican  par- 
ty, though  not  given  much  to  ixilitics. 


REV.  ISAAC  LINDLEY— The  history  of  Kansas,  as  well  as  that  of 
the  nation,  may  not  be  written  without  prominent  mention  of  the  sect 
known  as  Quakers,  or  Friends.  From  the  days  of  their  public  whipping 
in  the  .streets  of  Boston,  for  the  sake  of  their  religion,  to  these  piping 
times  of  peace,  is  a  long  stretch  in  time,  but  not  greater  than  the  change 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  hearts  of  Christendom  concerning  this  pure- 
minded,  holy-living  people.  While  opposed  to  war.  the  Quaker  was  in 
honorable  evidence  in  tlie  strenuous  days  of  the  fifties,  in  Kansas,  and 
when  freedom's  debt  was  paid  and  the  floodgates  of  the  eastern  tide  of 
emigration  were  thrown  open,  he  was  found  in  goodly  numbers,  in  the 
advancing  throng.  Montgomery  county,  early,  became  the  center  of  a 
Quaker  community.  Avhose  splendid  influence  on  the  county's  moral  de 
velopment  cannot  be  estimated,  and  is  still  felt  in  evei'-widening  circles. 
The  pastor  of  this  denomination  in  Independence  is  the  gentleman  whom 
the  biographer  will  sketch  below,  and  whose  name  precedes  this  review. 

Rev.  Lindley  was  born  in  Parke  county.  Indiana,  August  5,  1833, 
of  southern  Quaker  stock;  his  father.  David  Lindley,  being  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  and  his  mother,  Kancy  Stalcup,  of  Tennessee.  The 
father  was  but  sixteen  years  of  age  when  his  parents,  actuated  by  a 
growing  repugnance  to  the  institution  of  slavery,  removed  to  Orange 
county,  Indiana.  They,  later,  removed  to  Green  county,  where  David  and 
Nancy  were  married  and  resided  until  1832.  thence  to  Parke  county, 
which  remained  their  home  to  the  time  of  their  death.  The  wife  died 
in  1S."2,  at  the  age  of  forty-six,  the  husband  in  1881.  at  seventy-six  years. 
David  Lindley  was  a  strong  Abolitionist,  and  was  active  in  furthering 
the  eflectiveness  of  the  '"underground  railroad,"  a  branch  of  which  passed 
but  a  few  miles  from  his  home.  Their  family  consisted  of  eight  children, 
three  of  whom  are  still  living :  George,  a  farmer  of  this  county ;  Cather- 
ine, widow  of  Monroe  Elmore  and,  later,  widow  of  William  Ray,  the 
former  a  gallant  soldier,  who  gave  up  his  life  at  the  battle  of  Peach  Or- 
chard. 

Rev.  Lindley  was  reared  'mid  the  refining  influences  of  a  good  home, 
his  primary  education  being  carefully  attended  to  in  a  Friends'  school. 
Having  advanced  far  enough  to  enter  the  school  room  as  a  teacher,  he 
alternately  taught  and  went  to  school,  paying  his  own  expenses  at  an 


586  UISTOKV    (»1-    Mll.Nr(;().MKl!Y    COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

academy  ;ir  Ulooiniiifidalo,  Indijuia.  In  1850,  he  was  elected  Surveyor 
of  Parke  coniity.  being,  subsequently,  reelected  twice  and  appointed  once. 
He  then  inherited  a  farm  from  his  father  and  gave  his  attention  to  that 
until  his  coming  to  Kansas  in  1881.  Here  he  purchased  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  three  acres,  in  Independence  township,  which  he  culti- 
vated for  several  years,  when  he  i-emoved  to  Independence  and  assumed 
the  jiasiorate  of  the  Friends'  church,  a  work  which  he  has  continued 
since. 

Kev.  Liiuilcy  is  an  caiiicst  worker  in  the  ^Master's  vineyard,  and  his 
labors  have  not  been  without  fruitage.  He  has  passed  several  years  in 
the  service,  having  begun  in  1873,  to  speak  for  his  Master.  Mrs.  Lindley 
has  also  been  an  excellent  worker,  and  is  superintendent  of  evangelistic 
and  pastoral  work  of  the  Elk  River  Conference.  Prior  to  March  1,  1860, 
the  date  of  her  marriage  to  Rev.  Lindley,  she  was  Elizabeth  Woody, 
daughter  of  James  and  Margaret  AVoody,  of  Indiana.  These  parents  were 
also  southern  Quakers  from  North  Carolina,  coming  to  Indiana  in  1829, 
where  the  father  was  a  blacksmith  and  farmer.  They  continued  to  reside 
in  the  state  until  their  demise,  which  occurred,  father,  November  30, 
1893,  and  the  mother,  September  2,  1897.  They  reared  a  family  of  ten 
children,  as  follows:  Jehu  H.,  of  Kingman,  Indiana;  John  W.,  farmer 
of  Montgomery  county;  Mary  A.,  deceased  wife  of  Thomas  Hadley; 
Brice,  who  died  in  young  manhood;  Levi,  of  Kingman,  Indiana;  Eliza- 
beth, Sarah,  Mrs.  (Jeorge  M.  Lindley,  of  Parke  county,  Indiana;  Han- 
nah, Mrs.  Hiram  Lindley,  of  Parke  county,  Indiana;  Lot  L.,  of  Berkley, 
Califoinia ;  and  Jane,  deceased  in  childhood. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lindley  have  been  born  eleven  children,  as  follows: 
Ruth  J.,  Mrs.  C.  E.  Morgan,  whose  children  are  mentioned  herein;  Pat- 
rick II.,  referred  to  on  another  page  in  this  volume;  Hannah  C,  whose  first 
husband  was  W.  Adkinson  and  who  is  now  Mrs.  William  Baker,  has  chil- 
dren :  Laura,  Nettie,  Byron  and  Opha ;  David  J.,  married  Flora  Robert- 
son and  has  children:  Lessie  E.  and  F^iy  J.;  Mary  S.,  Mrs.  A.  E.  Harvey, 
with  children :  lola  B.,  Hazel,  deceased,  James  A.,  Isaac  L.,  Martha  E. 
and  Ruth  G. ;  Levi  G.,  who  married  Eva  Neel,  has  a  child,  Ralph;  Barna- 
bas Ilobbs,  married  Ida  Mason  and  has  one  child,  Rex;  Elwood  S.,  mar- 
ried Millie  Parkhurst,  with  children:  Carl  and  Osee  B. ;  Howard  M.,  a 
base  ball  player,  of  T^avenworth,  Kansas;  William  F..  a  teacher;  and 
Hattie  J.,  high  school  student.  All  of  these  children  live  within  the  con- 
fines of  the  county  and  are  upright  and  useful  citizens.  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
Lindley  are  passing,  serenely,  along  the  latter  part  of  life's  journey,  hap- 
py in  the  esteem  of  a  large  circle  of  friends,  and  blessed  by  the  love 
of  their  children  and  grandchildren.  Their  influence  is  as  an  ever  widen- 
ing wavelet,  whose  onward  journey  shall  not  cease  until  it  laps  the 
shores  of  eteriiitv. 


HISTOKY   OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,   KANSAS.  589 

corporate  limits.  Though  not  as  actively  engaged  as  formerly,  Mr. 
Hawkins  still  looks  after  his  farm  property,  resolved  to  "wear  out" 
rather  than  "rust  out."  The  years  of  his  residence  in  this  county  have 
been  marked  by  usefulness  as  a  citizen. 

The  home" life  of  Mr.  Hawkins  was  initiated  on  February  8,  1874, 
when  he  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Mary  L.  Geyer.  Mrs.  Hawkins  is 
a  native  of  Iowa,  a  daughter  of  A.  and  Rebecca  Jane  (Tarr)  Geyer,  both 
parents  natives  of  Ohio.  They  lived  in  Ohio  for  a  time  and  then  removed 
to  Indiana,  some  time  in  the  fifties,  later  to  Iowa  and,  in  1870,  located 
in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  The  occupation  of  the  father  was 
farming  and  he  passed  his  life  in  that  peaceful  avocation,  his  death  oc- 
curring August  26,  1876,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  He  was  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Methodist  church,  as  is  also  his  wife,  who  is  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Cofl'eyville,  and  aged  seventy-eight  years.  Mrs.  Hawkins  is  a 
member  of  a  family  of  six  children :  William  R.,  Mrs.  Martha  A.  Fuller, 
Elizabeth  A.  Shultz,  Isaac  L.  and  Mrs.  Ella  Blackwell.  To  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawkins  there  have  been  born  five  children :  Jennie  S., 
who  married  Clair  Wilson  and  resides  on  a  farm  in  this  county  with  her 
daughtei',  Mary  Olive;  Joe  R.  is  a  clerk  in  Cofl'eyville;  Andrew  resides 
on  the  farm ;  Oliver  and  George  are  school  children. 

Mrs.  Hawkins  is  a  very  active  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  Mr.  Hawkins  has  never  joined  any  of  the  secret  orders  and  in 
political  belief,  favors  the  Republican  party.  He  is  a  most  genial  and 
companionable  gentleman,  and  his  observant  nature  has  been  such  as  to 
gain  much  valuable  knowledge  in  the  line  of  his  travels  throughout  the 
western  country.  His  mind  is  well  stored  with  many  interesting  anec- 
dotes, scenes  and  incidents  relating  to  his  journey.  Possessed  of  excel- 
lent judgment  and  untiring  energy,  he  has  prospered  in  his  business  af- 
fairs and  has  the  good  will  and  regard  of  all  those  with  whom  he  has  been 
associated.  Mrs.  Hawkins,  though  of  late  years  an  invalid,  is  of  obvious 
gentleness  and  refinement,  and  both  she  and-  her  husband  are  held  in  uni- 
form esteem  in  the  best  circles  of  Coffeyville. 


JOHN  S.  ORR — One  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Montgomery  county 
and  a  gentleman  prominent  in  both  civil  and  religious  matters,  is  the 
honored  bearer  of  the  name  which  precedes  this  sketch,  a  man  whom  to 
know  is  to  revere  for  his  many  noble  attributes  of  character.  Mr.  Orr 
has  been  a  resident  of  the  county  but  a  few  years,  but  in  that  time  he 
has  become  a  permanent  citizen.  He  lives  in  a  handsome  new  cottage 
on  his  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  one  mile  east  of  the  village 
of  Havana,  where  he  is  successfully  engaged  in  stock  raising  and  general 
farming. 

John  S.  Orr  is  a  native  of  Missouri,  where  he  was  born,  in  Davis 


590  iiisToisY  (ii-  M(i\ri;(i,Mioi;v  cdrN'i'v,  Kansas. 

<(>uiu\.  Mar.li  L'!t.  1S»;(»,  111.-  son  ..f  .|„liii  (1.  jind  1  (oicas  iKo.y.Mi  On',  ihe 
latter  now  an  iniatc  of  (lie  son's  lionie,  at  ilic  advanced  age  of  seventy- 
eight  years.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Kentncky,  but  who.  early  in  life, 
went  over  iiilo  Indiana,  wlieic  he  came  to  man's  estate,  being  given  a 
good  education  in  the  schools  of  Terre  Haute.  He  was  ,i  icaclicr  in  the 
schools  of  that  ]dace,  for  a  peiiod,  in  his  young  niaiili<iiid  and  llien  went 
to  Di.vis  county.  Missouri,  where,  in  ISr.S,  he  was  iiiaiiicd  to  the  lady 
mentioned  alxive.  They  continued  (heir  residence  in  thai  county  until 
ISIif..  To  thcMii  were  hinu  ele\'eii  children,  all  of  whom  are  living  but  one. 
Their  naiTies  follow:  Martha  A.,  wife  of  tlideon  (Jilrcath:  Hannah  .1.. 
:Mrs.  K.  \\.  Prewi-tt;  Mary  !>.,  wife  (.f  James  Koger;  Margaiel.  now  :Mrs. 
l^e  Hharp:  Catherine  M.,  wife  of  William  (iilrealli;  Lettie.  wife  of 
Charles  A.  I'.urke:  Thomas,  Koberl  and  llattie,  wif.-  <.l  W.  H.  Freeman. 

-Ic'lui  S.  <»rr  was  llie  (dd<-st  of  tliis  large  family,  lie  was  i-eared  in 
l>a\is  and  •lack.'^on  counties,  Mis.soiiri,  and  given  a  good  coiiiiihih  sihool 
ednciiion.  .\i  llie  age  of  eighteen,  he  left  home  and  came  to  Montgomery 
conn  I  \  Kaiis.is.  securing  work  on  a  farm,  near  lnde|iendence.  He  re- 
mained a  ciiizen  of  (he  county  until  after  his  marriage.Feb7-uary  7.  1889. 
when  he  renioviMl  to  (he  Territory  and  spent  the  succeeding  twelve  years 
there,  engaged  in  stock  raising,  making  it  a  nnisl  profitable  business.  In 
mm.  he  l-ame  back  to  Mt.nlgcunery  county  ami  has  remained  here  sime. 

The  maiden  name  of  Mrs.  Orr  was  Alfa  I'.rowii.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  I'erry  and  Elizabeth  ISrown  and  was  born  in  .lacks. mi  .•.iiinty. 
Miss.)iiri.  on  the' 1st  of  January,  187(1.  Her  i.ar.Mils  c,iiii.'  to  Kansas  in 
187:.'  and  settli'd  in  M.mtgomery  conniy.  Th.'r.'  w.m-.'  iMglit  cliil.lieii  in 
the  familv. 

To  the  m.irriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  (hr,  was  b.)fn.  f;isi.'  Ma.v.  a  b.-aiili- 
ful  little  daughter,  now  (ive  years  old. 

Both  ^Ir.  and  Mrs.  Orr  are  active  in  religious  alfairs.  1ia\ing  been 
members  of  the  Christian  church  many  years,  and  gixcn  liberally  in  time 
and  money  to  the  snpi>ort  of  that  firganization.  At  dilferent  j.eriods. 
^Ir.  Orr  has  served  in  (he  offices  of  deacon  and  elder.  In  political  attiil- 
iation.  lie  is  a  sup[>orter  of  the  party  of  Jetferson  and  takes  an  active  in- 
terest in  advancing  its  principles.  lie  is  now  serving  his  second  term 
as  township  clerk.  Fraternally,  he  is  an  active  member  of  the  Modern 
Woodinen  and  the  A.  H.  T.  A. 


ADAM  R  FEir Of  the  substantial  farmers  wli..  have  ma.le  a  snc- 

•ess  of  their  occupation  in  Montgomery  county.  n.)iie  is  m.n.'  w.ntliy  of 
<]>ecial  commendation  (lian  Adam  Feil,  a  stockman  i-.si.lini;  on  a  lour 
mnilred  and  eighty  aci'e  tract,  near  the  state  line,  five  mii.-s  southeast 
>f  Coll'eyville.  Mr.  Feil  has  Ijeeu  in  the  ccniuty  sin.-e  1S7S  and  has  a.- 
•umtilated  a  valuable  property  in  that  time,  by  hard  work  and  careful 


HISTORY   OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  591 

niiiiiiijiiMiioiit.  He  .stuiids  deservedly  hiph  in  tlie  estimation  of  liis  neigh- 
bors, and  is  a  citizen  wiiosc  jiresence  within  the  county's  bounds  adds 
strength. 

Adam  Fell  is  a  German,  born  and  bred.  The  date  of  his  birth  was 
the  2()th  of  December,  1839,  the  place  Baden,  (Jermany.  He  was  reared 
on  a  farm  in  the  Fatherland,  receiving  a  fair  education,  and,  like  all 
German  youths,  gave  three  of  the  best  years  of  his  life 'to  the  service  of 
his  country  in  the  army.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  began  to  think 
of  establishing  himself  in  a  home,  and  thus  found  his  thoughts  turned 
toward  the  great  republic  where  homes  wci-e  to  be  had  for  the  asking.  He 
landed  in  St.  Louis  in  lS(i4  and  soon  went  to  Moniteau  county,  Missouri, 
where  he  worked  at  farm  labor  and  rented  land  until  1870.  He  spent 
the  following  eight  years  in  Marshall  county,  Kansas,  and  in  Texas,  from 
which  state  he  returned,  in  1878,  and  located  on  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  his  present  farm.  Up  to  this  period,  Mr.  Fell  had  not  made 
much  headway,  foi-,  altliough  he  had  brought  .f.'jOO  with  him  from  the  old 
country,  his  losses  had  about  equalled  his  gains.  From  the  date  of  his 
settlement  in  Mdntgoniery,  however,  matters  began  to  "pick  up"  with 
him,  and  he  has  steadily  kept  on  the  upgrade.  His  farm  is  considered 
one  of  the  best  stock  farms  in  the  county,  he  having  placed  many  valua- 
ble improvements  on  it  and  brought  it  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 

As  intimated  above,  Mr.  Feil's  citizenship  has  been  of  a  high  order, 
the  respect  in  which  he  is  held  being  attested  by  the  fact  that  he  has 
served  a  number  of  terms  on  the  school  board  and  in  various  positions  of 
trust.  In  matters  of  political  moment,  he  acts  with  the  Populist  party, 
contenting  himself  with  helping  such  of  his  friends  as  aspire  to  oflSce. 

]V[r.  Fell  was  in  no  haste  to  enter  the  married  state,  being  what 
might  be  regarded  as  a  confirmed  bachelor  when  he  met  the  lady  whose 
presence  in  his  home  now  makes  life  worth  the  living.  The  marriage  was 
consummated  in  1880,  in  Montgomery  county.  Mrs.  Fell  was  Miss  Win- 
nie Morgan,  who  came  to  Kansas  from  her  native  State  of  Indiana,  in 
1871.  To  the  marriage  have  been  born  five  childi"en :  -Tohn  and  Susie 
(twins)  died  in  infancy;  those  living  are:  Bernhardt,  Minnie  and  Gus- 
tavus. 

Rich  in  the  qualities  which  go  to  make  up  a  solid  character,  and 
well-to-do  in  the  material  things  of  this  life.  Mr.  Fell  has  every  reason 
to  congratulate  himself  on  having  achieved  a  success  which  is  all  the 
more  gratifying  since  it- is  the  result  of  his  own  unaided  efforts. 


(JEORGE  BURGHART— On  a  sj.lendid  farm  of  two  hundred  acres, 
four  miles  northeast  of  Coffeyville,  lives  George  Burghart,  who  has, 
since  1875,  been  prominently  identified  with  the  development  of  Mont- 
gomery county.     He  came  to  the  county  in  straightened  circumstances 


592  iiisimtv  i>i-   M((NT(;uMi;i;v  i(ir\i'v,  Kansas. 

and  l>v  ilirifl  and  (•(•(•udni.v,  lias  Ix'conit'  llic  owner  of  oiu'  of  the  best  farm 
properties  in  his  section. 

Mr.  Burj-hart  is  a  nati\(>  of  (lie  •I'.ncke.ve  Stale,"  horn  near  Cleve- 
hind,  on  the  :ilst  of  April,  184:'..  lie  was  of  (iernian  descent,  the  son  of 
Lawience  and  CalluMine  (  M.yers)  I'.urj>harl,  both  of  whom  were  natives 
of  Germany.  The  parent.s  came  to  America  as  children  and  were  mar- 
ried, in  Oliio.  in  IHtr,.  Thc.v  moved  out  to  .Milwaukee.  \A'isconsin,  where 
the  father  abandoned  his  trade  of  jeweler  and  look  u])  fariiiinjr.  He  died 
in  that  state,  at  the  a^e  of  eif;ht.v-three,  his  wife  havin<i  passed  away 
many  years  previ<»us.  Only  three  of  their  eijilil  children  are  now  living: 
Daniel,  Henry  and  ( ieor^e. 

(ieor,ge  Bui'f'liarl  was  but  two  years  old  when  the  family  moved  to 
Wisconsin.  Here,  he  was  reared  to  farm  life  and  n^ceived  but  an  ordi- 
nary educati(m.  He  was  liusily  engaged  on  the  home  farm  when  the  toc- 
sin of  war  resounded  tliroujih  the  land.  He  was  not  of  military  a.^e  until 
]8()2.  in  which  year  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  (V)mj)any  "K."  Twenty- 
foiirtii  Wisconsin  Vcduiitecr  Infantiy.  lie  served  in  this  regiment  for 
one  year  and  was  then  discharged  on  account  of  di.sability.  The  period 
of  lli^  service  was  one  of  great  activity  and  he  saw  some  of  the  severest 
baltlcs  (.f  the  war;  at  I'erryville  and  Stone  Kiver,  and  in  many  smaller 
skiruiishes  in  the  middle  we.st. 

After  tiie  wai',  Mr.  IJurghart  continued  farm  life  and,  in  1809,  was 
nuirried  to  Mary  10.,  daughter  of  Isaac  A.  and  Elizabeth  (Eichard) 
Simpson.  Mrs.  I'.ui'gliart  was  born  in  Danville,  Illinois,  on  the  18th  of 
]\Iay,  1849.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  Chandtersville.  Indiana,  and  her 
mother  of  Jonesboro,  Tennessee.  They  were  mai-ried  in  Danville,  where 
the  father  still  i-esides,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty,  his  wife  having 
died  many  years  befoie.  Their  eight  children  were:  John  S..  of  Hoopes- 
ton,  Illinois;  Benjamin  I.,  of  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas;  Mrs.  Jane  Mc- 
("orklc,  of  Chicago;  Mrs.  Anna  WaKon,  of  Los  Angeles.  California; 
Lillie  B.  Simpson,  of  same  place;  and  .Mrs.  Sue  Stadler.  of  Nevada, 
Missouri. 

After  six  years  (»f  hard,  grinding  labor,  in  an  attempt  to  get  a  home 
in  Illinois,  Mr.  and  Mis.  ISurghart  turned  their  faces  toward  the  "Sun 
(lower  State."  The  journey  was  made  overland,  in  1875.  with  an  outfit 
which  was  conipo.sed  of  a  liorse,  a  mule  and  a  wagon,  all  of  "uncertian" 
age.  The  company  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mis.  Burgliart  and  their  three 
children.  Mr.  Biirghai-t  had  traded  for  a  "jiaiier"  farm  while  in  Illi- 
nois, and  when  he  arrived  in  Kan.sas,  found  it  to  be  a  worihless  jiiece 
of  land,  thus  losing  what  money  he  had  advanced,  rndisconraged.  how 
ever,  they  rented  a  farm  in  Montgomery  county,  on  which  they  i-esided 
for  five  years,  a  period  attended  with  tlie  greatest  hardshiiis;  bni  by 
persistent  effort  and  the  exercise  of  strictest  econcmiy  they,  at  last,  sue 
ceeded  in  making  the  first  payment  on  their  ](i-esent  farm. 


iiisToitv  OK  Mi).\T(;oMi:iiy  coitnty,  Kansas.  593 

This  farm  was  virgin  priarie  and  it  was  many  ycais  lieforo  the  com- 
fortable home  in  which  they  now  reside  was  Imilt.  Kvery  fence  and  tree 
and  building  on  it  indicates  the  labor  which  they  have  exj.ended.  and 
shows  what  persistent  and  consistent  effort  will  do  in  southern  Kansas. 
To  the  original  forty  acres,  another  one  hundred  and  sixty  lias  been 
added  and  many  substantial  improvements  have  been  placed  on  the 
farm. 

The  past  has  Imm'u  one  of  severe  labor  for  Mr.  Burghart  and  his 
family,  but  they  can  rest  secure  in  the  i)ossession  of  sutlicient  property 
to  carry  them  comfortably  through  their  declining  years.  His  family 
consists  of  six  children:  Lula  J.,  wife  of  Theodore  Jordon.  of  Parsons; 
Gordon  S.,  who  lives  in  Oklahoma;  Lillie,  wife  of  Ed.  Brown,  of  Coffey- 
ville;  Gwynne,  Loyal  and  Nina  are  children  at  home. 

While  giving  his  undivided  attention  to  the  improvement  of  his 
farm,  Mr.  Burghart  has  taken  a  citizen's  interest  in  the  institutions  of 
society  about  him,  and  has  always  given  his  influence  to  the  betterment 
of  locjil  conditions,  in  matters  of  education  and  religion.  He  is  a  staunch 
Republican  in  politics,  and  both  be  and  his  family  are  ajnong  the  coun 
tv's  best  citizens. 


LUCIUS  T.  BARBOUR— May  the  days  never  come  when  the  glo- 
rious deeds  of  the  boys  in  blue,  during  the  sixties,  shall  be  less  potent 
in  the  teaching  of  patriotism  to  the  youth  of  our  country.  Their  fame 
is  deathless — their  honor  should  be  lasting,  and  when  the  last  one  shall 
respond  to  "taps,"  a  grateful  nation  should  cherish  their  memory  in 
marble  shaft  and  "storied  urn." 

One  of  the  most  respected  of  the  old  soldier  element,  in  Montgomery 
county,  is  the  gentleman  whose  name  precedes  this  paragraph.  He  is  one 
of  the  oldest  .settlers  of  the  county,  and,  during  his  residence  here,  has 
made  for  himself  and  family,  a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  a  wide  ac- 
quaintance. 

The  family  of  which  Mr.  Barbour  is  a  descendent,  settled  in  Windsor, 
Connecticut,  in  the  person  of  Thomas  Barbour,  early  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  Dr.  Barbour,  one  of  his  posterity,  settled  in  Limesburg,  Con- 
necticut, and  became  the  progenitor  of  the'  branch  of  the  family  of 
which  our  subject  is  a  member.  A  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the 
family,  is  its  productiveness  and  extreme  longevity,  a  small  family  of 
children  rarely  being  found  in  the  list. 

Lucius  T.  Barbour  was  born  in  Ft.  Wayne,  Allen  county,  Indiana. 
September  2,  1841.  He  is  a  son  of  Myram  S.  Barbour,  a  native  of  New 
York,  and  Jane  Sutenfield,  who  was  noted  as  being  the  first  white  child 
born  in  Ft.  Wayne.  Myram  Barbour  was  a  pioneer  school  teacher  in 
that  town,  and  taught  school  for  a  number  of  years,  following  1835.    Ho 


594  HISTORY  OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

was  i  ]>roiiiiiH'iit  factor  in  the  growth  of  that  city,  and  went  to  Califor- 
nia, at  the  time  of  the  gold  excitement  of  1849,  but  returned  and  lived 
out  his  last  years  in  Ft.  Wayne,  dying  at  the  extreme  age  of  ninety-three 
yeai's.  He  was  a  strong  supporter  of  the  government  during  the  days 
of  till'  Civil  war,  and  did  much  to  encourage  loyal  sentiment  in  his  com- 
iiiunily.  The  Sutenfields  were  also  pioneers  of  that  portion  of  Indiana. 
Mrs.  JJarbour's  father  having  built  the  first  house  in  Ft.  Wayne.  The 
latter  was  prominent  in  the  military  life  of  that  section,  and  was  com- 
mander of  the  Fort  at  that  point,  for  a  number  of  years,  under  General 
Wayne. 

Mr.  n.nlioiir  was  reared  in  Ft.  Wayne,  receiving  a  good  primarj- 
education,  and  was  in  the  midst  of  a  collegiate  course  at  Antioch  College, 
Low  Springs,  Oiiio,  when  the  war  cloud  burst  with  such  fury  as  to  carry 
all  i),<triotic  young  nien  into  the  sei'vice.  The  Barbour  blood  was  not 
such  as  to  withstand  the  temptations  of  an  army  experience,  especially 
when  an  undivided  country  was  at  stake.  Our  subject  made  several 
attempts  to  enlist,  running  away  from  school  several  times,  but  each 
time  l)eing  balked  in  his  efforts,  by  his  father.  However,  in  1862,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  enlisting  in  Company  "H,"  Twelfth  Indiana  Volunteer  In- 
fantry. He  had  not  long  to  wait  for  the  smell  of  powder,  for,  in  five 
houis  after  he  took  the  oath,  he  was  under  fire,  in  the  battle  of  Richmond, 
Kentucky.  Here,  he  was  severely  wounded  in  the  left  leg,  the  wounding 
bullet  being  in  his  possession,  as  a  memento  of  that  incident.  After  a 
period  in  the  hospital,  he  rejoined  his  i-egiment,  and,  during  the  yeai's 
that  followed,  particii)ated  in  seventeen  hard-fought  battles  of  the  war. 
He  was  wounded,  again,  at  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  receiving  a 
ball  through  his  jaw,  losing  the  left  side  of  the  upper  jaw,  and  five  of 
his  teeth.  This  wound  was  more  serious  than  the  former  one,  and  he 
returned  home,  on  an  extended  furlough.  Besides  being  wounded  twice, 
Mr.  Barbour  was  captured  by  the  enemy,  on  the  22d  day  of  July,  1863. 
He  was  sent  to  Andersonville  prison,  later  being  transferred  to  Flor- 
ence, and,  again,  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  spending,  in  all,  nine 
months  and  twenty  days  in  the  foul  piison  pens  of  the  South.  At  the 
time  of  his  exchange,  he  had  become  so  inKiclated,  that  he  weighed  but 
seventy-two  pounds,  and  was  so  weak  dial  he  <()uld  not  stand  alone. 

jMr.  Barbour  was  with  the  regiment  in  that  greatest  sjnTtaile  of  the 
age,  the  Grand  Review  at  Washington,  D.  C,  where  he  icrcivcil  his  dis- 
charge, in  June  of  1865.  He  had  given  four  years  of  earnest  and  loyal 
service  to  secure  the  perpetuity  of  the  Republic,  founded  by  our  fathers, 
and  returned  home  with  the  consciousness  of  duty  well  and  faithfully 
done. 

Il  was  several  years  before  Mr.  Barbour  was  able  to  engage  actively 
in  the  battle  of  life,  but,  after  a  time,  he  engaged  in  the  drug  business 
in  Warsaw.     In  188."),  he  came  out  to  the  "Soldier  State,"  first  settling 


IllSTOItV    OF    MO.VTCOMKKY   rolNTY,    KANSAS.  595 

in  Ljiwrciicc,  wlicrc  he  cnjiiigcd  in  tlip  <;ro(eiy  bnsinoss.  Aftpr  a  jieriod, 
he  :i((i'i>(ed  a  position  in  the  Santa  Fo  railway  shops  at  Topeka,  and.  in 
1SS7,  came  to  MontjionuMV  counly.  Uove.  ho  ]mr(liasod  a  farm  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  aeres.  ni.oii  which  he  has  since  resided.  Tt  is  sit- 
uated seven  miles  nortliwest  of  ('otfeyvilie.  in  Fawn  Creel;  township. 
From  tlie  comfortable  farm  house  to  the  substantial  buidings  for  his 
stock,  and  to  the  well-kept  fields,  there  is  that  air  of  thrift  and  enter- 
l.rise.  which  bespeaks  the  master  hand  of  the  intelligent  agriculturist. 
He  makes  a  specialty  of  thoroughbred  Hereford  stock,  and,  also,  gives 
iinirii  :iitenti(m  to  the  raising  of  registered  trotting  horses,  some  of 
w  hicli.  in  past  years,  have  made  very  good  records  on  the  track.  There 
is  a  ucod  gas  well  on  the  farm,  and  his  house  and  barns  are  all  furnished 
with  light  and  heat  from  this  medium.  ;Mr.  Barbour  takes  an  intelligent 
and  patriotic  interest  in  the  atfairs  of  local  government,  and  has  served 
as  trustee  of  Fawn  Creek  township.  In  jiolitics,  he  is  a  staunch  Repub 
lican. 

Marriage  was  contracted  by  our  subject  on  the  14th  of  October. 
1S81.  his  wife's  maiden  name  having  been  Alice  Hoover,  by  whom  there 
were  born  four  children :  Edna,  Harry,  Jesse  and  McKinley.  By  a  former 
marriage,  to  Peter  Hoover,  Mrs.  Barbour  had  three  children :  Charles, 
Clara,  ami  Myron,  deceased.    (Mr.  Barbour  passed  away,  April  22.  19(13.) 


•lOTlX  W.  WALKER— One  of  the  old-time  settlers  of  the  county 
and  one  who  is  honorably  associated  with  its  history,  is  the  subject  of 
this  notice.  He  was  born  in  Ohio,  March  8.  1845,  and  is  a  son  of  Wil- 
liam ^A'alker.  a  native  Scotchman,  who  left  home  when  a  boy  and  went 
aboard  a  ship,  as  a  sailor.  He  remained  in  this  capacity  for  ten  years, 
during  which  time  he  sailed  all  over  the  world,  landing  in  America  about 
1S3.5.  Here,  he  was  employed  at  steamboating  on  the  Mississippi  river, 
and  was  one  of  the  crew  on  the  boat  sent  up  the  Arkansas  river,  bv  the 
Covernment,  to  pay  off  the  Indians  at  Fort  Gibson. 

William  Walker  married  Martha  Work  and  came  to  Missouri,  in 
1868,  and  settled  near  Jopliu,  where  he  died,  in  1891,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one  years,  his  wife  dying,  in  1886,  at  sixty-four  years  old.  They  were 
the  parents  of  eight  children,  four  of  whom  are  living. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  oldest  of  his  father's  family.  He 
\\as  leared  in  Ohio,  on  a  farm,  and  lived  with  his  parents  until  he  was 
tweniy-one  years  of  age.  His  education  was  received  in  the  common 
schools  and  he  graduated,  in  penmanship  and  bookkeeping,  from  Duff's 
r.usiness  College,  at  Pittsburg.  Pennsylvania.  He  came  to  Missouri,  in 
1S68,  and  settled  in  ■Tasi)pr  county,  where  he  remained  two  years.'  In 
lSt;S,  he  married  JIary  Rothanbargar.  a  native  of  Missouri,  and.  in  the 
sanie  year,  moved  to  Kansas  and  located  in  Old  Parker,  where  he  spent 


596  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

a  year  in  tlio  grocery  business.  He  then  bonglit  a  claim,  and  furnished 
the  UHMiey  to  prove  up  on  the  one  where  he  now  resides.  This  he  improved 
until  it  is  one  of  the  fine  farms  of  his  neighborhood,  with  substantial 
buildings,  among  which  are  a  large  barn  with  stone  basement.  There  is 
also  n  large  cellar,  built  by  Mr.  Walker  himself.  He  is  engaged  in  fruit 
farming  and  hog  raising,  for  the  market.  He  has  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  on  Onion  creek,  six  miles  west  of  Coffeyville,  devoted  largely  to 
alfalfa  and  kindred  products  of  the  farm. 

Mr.  Walker  was  a  resident  of  this  county  before  the  treaty  was  made 
with  the  Indians  and  saw  plenty  of  them  in  camp  on  his  farm. 

After  the  death  of  his  wife,  in  1884,  he  spent  the  time,  till  1892,  in 
Texas  and  Oklahoma.  After  four  years  more,  spent  in  his  old  home  in 
Missouri,  where  he  went  to  settle  his  father's  estate,  he  returned,  in  1896, 
to  his  Kansas  home.  There  were  five  children  in  the  family,  viz:  William, 
who  died  in  1902,  at  thirty-two  years  of  age;  Laura,  who  died  at  six 
months  old;  Albert  and  Clara,  still  at  home;  Benjamin,  who  was,  upon 
the  death  of  his  mother,  adopted  and  reared  by  J.  R.  Jones. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Walker  is  a  Democi-at,  but  prefers  to  support  the 
man,  regardless  of  jiolitics.  He  has  served  several  terms  in  minor  of- 
fices, having  bi-en  clerk  of  the  township  for  some  time.  He  is  an  in- 
dustrious and  honored  citizen. 


BRIDGET  MI:A(;HER— For  the  i»ast  thirty  years  the  lady  whose 
name  appears  aboNC.  has  been  an  honored  resident  of  Montgomery 
county,  together  with  her  husliaud  and  children;  his  death  having  occur- 
red on  the  home  farm,  on  the  1.5th  of  March,  1888.  She  is  the  widow  of 
Thomas  Meagher,  a  native  of  County  Tipperary,  Ireland,  where  he  was 
born,  in  181.5.  Mr.  Meagher  was  a  gentleman  who  possessed,  in  a  happy 
degree,  the  sturdy  characteristics  of  his  race  and  was  mourned  by  a 
large  circle  of  friends,  at  his  death.  He  was  a  devout  communicant  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  church,  and,  in  political  belief,  was  a  Democrat. 
At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  war,  he  volunteered  for  service,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  body  guard  of  General  Taylor,  during  his  campaign 
in  Mexico. 

Mrs.  Meagher  was,  also,  of  Irish  extraction,  having  been  born  in 
County  Tipperary,  in  the  year  1824.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Patrick  Mc- 
Cormick  and  removed,  with  her  parents,  to  the  United  States,  in  1841, 
and  located  in  New  York  City,  where  they  lived  for  the  succeeding  four 
years.  Mrs.  Meagher  was  joined  in  marriage,  February  2,  1852,  with 
Thomas  Meagher,  in  Iowa.  They  lived  there  until  1873,  when  they  set- 
tled in  Montgomery  county.  To  Mrs.  Meagher  were  born :  Kate — Jan- 
uary 5,  18.5.3— who  married  William  Mackle,  hotel  proprietor,  in  Caney, 
Kansas;  she  is  the  mother  of  eight  children,  five  of  whom     are     living 


JUDGE   DANIEL  CLINE. 


^EHT  COtWTT,  ir*»fW 


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■       ^  ^         9:         { 


k  •«'•••»•< 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEEY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  597 

as  follows:  Thomas  .].,  .James  W.,  Edward,  Lulu  and  Aunio.  Elizabeth, 
the  soroiid,  was  boi'n  Octobei-  24,  1876,  and  is  the  wife  of  I'atrick  Kel- 
ley,  and  lives  near  Canev.  Her  children  are:  James,  Annie,  Agnes, 
Maggie.  Katie.  William.  Frank  and  John.  Frank,  the  third  child,  is  a 
farmer  of  Rutland  township  and  is  married  to  Carry  Garr  and  ha.s 
three  children:  Dora,  Nora  and  Olive.  James  is  the  fourth  child,  lives 
in  Oklalionia,  and  his  wife  is  Nelliie  Ashland.  Thomas,  the  fifth  child, 
resides  in  I.os  .Vngeles,  California.  Daniel,  the  youngest  son,  resides 
with  his  mother  on  the  home  farm.  These  children  were  all  born  in 
Clinton  counly.  Iowa,  where  the  family  resided,  jii-ior  to  their  coming 
to  Kansas. 


DANIEL  CLINE— Daniel  Cline  is  one  of  the  old  guard  of  pioneer 
farmers  who  came  to  Montgomery  county  in  the  early  day,  braved  the 
hardships  incident  to  life  at  that  period,  reared  a  large  family,  served  his 
township  and  county  in  offices  of  both  trust  and  profit,  and  now  lives 
in  a  comfortable  home  in  Independence,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his  hard 
labor  and  careful  management. 

He  was  born  in  Carroll  county,'  Indiana,  February  22,  1835,  the  son 
of  Jacob  and  Mary  (Shirar)  Cline.  The  i)arents  were  both  born  in  Ger- 
many, the  father  in  180G,  the  mother  in  1795.  Jacob  Cline  came  to  this 
country,  in  early  youth,  and  settled  in  Corroll  county,  Indiana,  where 
he  passed  his  life,  engaged  in  the  saw-mill  business  and  in  tilling  the 
soil.  He  was  of  a  fainily  of  six  children :  Michael,  Leonai'd,  George, 
Daniel,  .John  and  Phoebe. 

Daniel  Cline  was  reared  on  the  farm  and  remained  at  home  until 
his  marriage,  in  November  of  1857.  The  first  event  of  importance,  after 
this,  was  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war,  which  found  him  ready  to 
do  aLd  die  for  his  country.  June  18,  1862,  he  enlisted,  as  a  private,  in 
Company  "A,"  of  the  Seventy-second  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry.  This 
company  formed  a  part  of  Wilder's  Brigade  of  Mounted  Infantry  and 
went  through  the  war  in  that  position,  participating  in  the  battles  and 
marches  accredited  to  that  celebrated  corps.  Mr.  Cline  served,  faith- 
fully, during  three  years  of  the  war  and  then  retired  to  the  walks  of 
peace,  conscious  of  having  done  his  full  duty.  He  continued  to  reside 
in  Indiana,  until  1868,  and  then  joined  the  tide  of  emigration,  westward 
bound,  for  the  new  State  of  Kansas.  He  first  located  in  Douglas  county, 
but,  the  following  year,  came  on  to  Montgomery,  where  he  settled  on  a 
farm,  seven  miles  southwest  of  Independence.  This  farm  he  continued 
to  cultivate,  with  success,  until  his  retirement  and  subsequent  removal 
to  the  city,  in  1890. 

Mr.  Cline  always  took  a  keen  interest  in  public  affairs  and  was  se- 
lected, at  different  times,  to  fill  offices  of  public  trust.    In  1873  and  1874, 


,59s  lllSTdUV    (IF    MONTCOMEKY    COrNTY.    KANSAS. 

lie  \v:is  clcricd  idwnsliiii  Inislcc:  in  IST.').  tieiisiiicv ;  :ii;ain,  liuslee.  in 
ISTti.  ;mtl  licasiircr.  in  ISTT.  Ilr  ilicii  continued  to  adniinistei"  this  of- 
ticc.  inilil  liis  ('Icciiun.  as  jiisiiic  of  tlic  iicacc.  in  18S1.'.  which  he  lield  two 
v('ai%s.  In  ISDO,  lie  was  iionorcd  wiili  election  to  the  ottice  of  I'rohate 
Judge  of  the  county,  and.  aijain.  in  ISDii.  seivini:  four  years  in  ttie  ofHee. 

F!"iteinally.  Mr.  ('line  is  a  nuMuher  of  the  I.  < ).  O.  F.  and,  also,  has 
a  niendiershii)  in  the  (irand  .\rniy  of  tlie  h'ej.iililic. 

The  maiden   name  of  llie  wife  of  Daniel  ('line  was  Sarah  .1.   i'.oyer. 

renniM'd.  willi  lie;  family.  h>  I'.nrlini^ion.  Carroll  conniy.  Indiana,  where 
she.  laicr.  niarrird  Mr,  I'liii.'.  as  stated  al)ove. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cline  rcai-ed  the  followinji  family:  Kosanna.  married 
\V.  F  .McConnell,  lilacksmil  li  and  fainier.  of  'nolton.  Mont.iiomery  connty; 
children:  -1.  W..  i:dna.  Tax  lor  an.l  l.c^sie;  Isaac  Xewlnn.  deceased  at 
eisihleen  nionilis;  lOli/.al.ei  h  .1.,  wife  ,,(  William  T.  Hockeli.  She  is  now 
deceased.  leavin.i;  three  children:  .Mary.  Clyde  and  Wardie.  :\lahala 
.Mar-^aref.  married  Henry  Sanders:  fonr  children:  Lillie.  Fred.  Fdgai' 
and  I'^rnie;  .Mary  Caroline,  wife  of  S,  II.  Conner,  a  farmer,  seven  miles 
sonlliwesf  of  Indejiendence ;  children:  Olie.  Nellie.  Estlier.  T^eslie  and 
Dani(d.  Rebecca  A.,  wife  of  Isaac  I ).  <  (berlioltzer.  of  TniU'iieTidcnce; 
childien  :  Edith.  Kalph.  Harold  and  Paul;  Ida  Belle,  wife  of  Fhilip  Near, 
a  plund)er  of  Erie.  Kansas;  one  eliild :  Elsie.  By  her  first  marriage,  to 
A.  W.  I'.etts,  there  were  the  following  cliildren  :  Eoy.  Carl,  deceased,  and 
Fern:  Charles  Thomas  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years;  Olive  May, 
wife  of  .M.  L.   I'^inley.  an  emjdoyee  of  the  glass  works  in  Independence, 


(ii:()K(if:  II.  DrCKWOKTH— A  gentleman  who  has  tlnn'oughly 
ideniitjed  himscdf  with  Cotfeyville  and  has  been  responsible  for  much 
of  the  spirit  of  restless  energy  which  characterizes  the  business  element 
there,   is  (leorge   H.  Duckworth,  since  1888,  engaged  in  the  real  estate 

.Ml-.  Dnckworlh  is  of  Kentmky  birth.  Bath  conniy  the  jdace,  and 
•lannary  '2.  l.s;!4.  the  time.  He  is  a  son  of  .Tohn  and  Catherine  (Moore) 
1  »nc-kw(>r(li,  who  were  wellto-do  farmers  in  the  "Blue  Grass  State," 
living  nnostentatious,  but  useful  lives,  and  passing  to  their  rest  with 
the  love  and  res]iect  of  family  and  friends.  They  were  deeply  devout 
and  active  mendx'rs  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  their  home  was  always 
open  to  the  men  of  (iod.  who  took  njton  themselves  the  hard  life  of  the 
itiTierant  minister.  The  fathei-  lived  to  he  sixty  years  of  age,  dying  in 
1S4S.  the  moih(M-  surviving  him  twelve  years,  her  age,  at  death,  being 
lift\  >e\cn.  Their  three  living  children  are:  George  H.,  James  J.,  a  re- 
tired farmer,  of  North  Salem,  Indiana;     and  Juelda,  widow  of  Jacob 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  6oi 

ary  10.  1S(»7.  Her  jiarents  came  to  the  state  from  Iowa,  in  18(>(),  and 
died  young,  the  father  a(  forty  two,  and  the  mother  at  twenty-eight  years. 
The  father  served  th<-  fnll  period  of  the  war,  as  First  Lieutenant  of  Com- 
pany "C,"  Fourteentii  Kan.sas  Volunteer  Infantry.  There  were  four 
children  l)orn  to  the  parents,  those  now  living  being:  .Tennie,  who  mar- 
ried A.  C.  Ward;  William,  and  Mrs.  Hamilton.  To  Mrs.  Hamilton  has 
been  born  a  son,  (Maude,  his  birth  occurring  September  24.  1887. 


RKX.I.VMIX  F.  UlTTFR  Ilenjaniin  F.  Kitter  was  born  in  Stark 
count.^.  Ohio,  on  the  lOtli  day  of  Septendter,  1S:}7.  Ilis  father  was  Henry 
Ritter.  a  native  of  .Vdams  county,  rennsylvania,  who  went  to  Ohio  in 
1812  iind,  in  18o2,  went  to  Indiana,  at  which  time  Indians  were  plenti- 
ful in  Ohio.  He  settled  in  Allen  county,  near  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana, 
where  he  died,  in  1871,  at  seventy-four  years  of  age.  His  wife  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-si.x.  There  were  eight  children  in  this  family,  of  whom 
only  two  are  living,  viz:  Benjamin  F.  and  Adeline  JIcDowell,  the  latter 
a  resident  of  Texas. 

Mr.  Ritter  was  only  fifteen  years  old  when  his  father  nuived  to  In- 
diana. Here,  he  received  a  common  .school  education  and  remained  with 
his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old.  On  the  22d  of  August, 
1861,  when  twenty-four  years  old,  he  enlisted  in  Company  "D,"  Thir- 
tieth Indiana  Infantry.  He  served  till  the  9th  of  September,  1862,  when 
he  was  discharged  on  account  of  disability,  caused  by  sunstroke.  He  was 
in  the  battle  of  Shiloh  and  several  snuiller  engagements.  After  his  dis- 
charge, he  returned  home  and  married,  January  1,  1863,  Mary  E.  Petty- 
john. Mr.  Ritter  lived  in  Allen  county  and  followed  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer  until  1885,  when  he  came  to  Kansas  and  bought  the  farm  where 
he  now  resides.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which  he  has 
improved  and  on  which  stands  a  substantial  stone  residence.  Mrs.  Mary 
E.  Ritter  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years,  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of 
July,  189-1,  leaving  eight  children:  John,  Charles,  George,  Henry,  Frank, 
Ella,  Jessie  J.  and  Deborah,  Mr.  Ritter  was  married,  the  second  time, 
to  Al'ce  Parker,  in  1899. 

-Mr.  Ritter  has  taken  some  interest  in  politics  and  has  served  as  trus- 
tee of  the  townsliip.  He  is  a  man  of  iionesty,  of  great  integrity,  and  has 
all  thf  qualities  that  go  to  make  him  a  desirable  resident  of  the  county. 


O.  EVANS — Well  and  widely  known  and  respected,  among  the 
farmers  and  stockraiser.s  of  Montgomery  county,  is  O.  Evans,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  article. 

Mr.  Evans  is  a  son  of  Samuel  Evans,  a  native  of  Virginia,  but 
who  moved  to  Indiana  when  a  boy.    After  some  vears,  he  met  and  mar- 


602  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

lied  Jli8S  Hannah  ^licliafl.  also  a  Virginian,  and  -wlio  was.  also,  brought 
to  Indiana,  as  a  child. 

Samuel  Evans  was  a  farmer.  lie  moved  from  Indiana  to  Mercer 
county,  Missouri,  in  the  fall  of  1837,  living  there  nnlil  his  death,  at 
sixty-five  years  of  age.  He  was  survived  by  his  wife,  Hannah  (who  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-seven),  and  seven  childreu,  viz:  John  Evans,  now 
in  Idaho  ;ratlierinenuff,  deceased;  William  Evans,  in  Idaho;  Dudley  W., 
of  Kirlcsville,  Missouri;  O.  Evans,  our  subject;  Mary  Holt,  living  near 
Hermitage,  South  ^Missouri;  Daniel  Evans,  youngest  child,  now  living 
in  Kansas  with  his  brother,  the  stockraiser. 

Our  subject  was  born  on  April  15,  1843,  in  Decatur  county,  Indiana^ 
where  he  lived  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  receiving  very  little  edu- 
cation, save  that  which  he  got  from  the  great  book  of  nature.  At  this 
time,  his  parents  moved  into  Missouri,  taking  their  children  with  them. 
Our  subject  lived  at  home  with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-six  years 
old,  when  he  was  married,  on  April  8,  1869,  to  Sarilda  Pickett,  who  was 
born  in  Mercer  county,  Mis.souri,  in  1848.  When  Mr.  Evans  married, 
lie  went  into  debt  for  eighty  acres  of  land,  which  he  improved,  and  by 
hard  work,  thrift  and  the  help  of  his  young  wife,  cleared  the  same  of 
debt,  and  on  which  they  lived  until  1881.  He  then  sold  out  and  moved 
to  Idaho,  thinking  to  do  yet  better  for  his  increasing  family.  Idaho,  not 
being  to  the  liking  of  the  man  of  the  juairie,  in  one  year,  he,  again, 
moved  to  Kansas,  where  they  jiurchased  four  hundred  acres  of  land  in 
Fawn  Creek  township.  This  land  Mr.  I'^vans  improved  and  lived  upon 
for  a  number  of  years.  In  additi<m  to  farming,  he  now  raised  fine  stock. 
In  1895,  he  bought  more  land,  three  hundred  and  thitry-six  acres  on 
Onion  creek,  three  miles  west  of  Coffey ville.  where  he  is  now  living. 

That  perseverance  and  industry  count  for  iniirli.  is  readily  seen  in 
the  life  and  accumulated  wealth  of  Mr.  l'>vaiis.  wlm.  hy  these  qualities, 
combined  with  a  shrewd  capacity  for  business,  has  made  a  very  sub- 
stantial fortune,  part  of  which  consists  of  a  valuable  farm  of  eight  hun- 
dred and  ninety-six  acres,  in  the  gas  and  oil  belt  of  Parker  township, 
besides  he  owns  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  a<-i-('s  in  Chautauqua  county^ 
Kansas. 

It  is  well  kno^\ii  that  his  unswcr\ing  honesty  and  genial  jiersonality 
have  contributed  not  a  little  toward  making  Mi-,  leans'  business  life 
a  success,  but  he,  himself,  attributes  it  to  his  strict  attention  to  all  busi- 
ness matters  and  never  allowing  trivialities  to  interfere  with  the  more 
important  affairs  of  life. 

I>uring  his  business  career.  Mi-.  I-;vans  lias  handled  \ery  large  num- 
bers of  cattle,  but  he  is  now  contemplating  a  i-etii-eineiit  from  business, 
and  so  is,  gradually,  reducing  the  number  of  cattle  until,  now.  he  has 
only  one  hundred  and  fifty  head.  He  has,  also,  retired  from  farming  and 
now  rents  most  of  the  numerous  acres  he  owns. 


HISTORY  OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  603. 

.Ml'.  i;v;iiis'  lot  ill  life  has  been  similar  lo  that  of  iimst  fariiicis.  iiiiich 
work  and  little  (>iay.  liut  still  unlike  many  faiiiieis.  it  lias  yielded  a  gmnd 
profit  and  he  can.  now.  take  a  well  earned  rest. 

Jlr.  and  Mrs.  i:vans  have  had  ten  childi-en  Ix.ni  to  them:  Xathauiel 
P.,  a  sniduate  of  the  State  Normal  at  KmiKiria,  but  who  died  in  1902, 
aged  thirty-two;  Hannah  Halehen.  of  Tyro;  Ida.  a  graduate  of  the  Em- 
poria normal  srhool  and  now  learhing  in  the  State  of  Washington; 
William  O..  farmer,  near  Tyro;  Sarah  S.  Dunbar,  deceased;  Nellie,  now 
attending  the  State  Xornial  (class  of  1'.)(I4|  ;  Abbie.  I'.irkley.  Edna  and  Ol- 
iver still  at  home. 

Politically.  Mi.  i;\ans  is  a  Democrat,  and  takes  an  interest  in  the 
politics  of  the  couiily.  of  which  he  is  so  prominent  a  resident,  but.  in  his 
home  jiolitics.  il  is  the  man.  not  the  party,  whicli  rules  his  vote. 


l-KAXK  CARL — In  the  spring  of  IJSti!),  a  young  German  boy  found 
himself  settled  on  the  prairies,  nine  miles  northeast  of  where  Coffeyville 
is  now  loeated.  This  young  man,  Frank  Carl,  w'a.s  thousands  of  miles 
away  from  his  native  country  and  without  friends  or  ac((uaintances.  He 
was  born  in  Cermany,  October  l."i,  18:]2.  His  parents  died  when  he  was 
a  small  child  and  he  was  taken  by  his  relatives,  who  brought  him  to  years 
of  maturity.  \\'hen  he  was  about  twenty-four  years  of  age,  he  learned 
of  the  country  across  the  sea.  and.  gathering  together  his  all.  he  set  sail 
for  America,  where  he  landed,  in  185(5. 

For  a  short  time,  he  worked  in  New  Jersey,  on  a  farm,  and  then 
went  to  Cincinnati,  near  where  he  followed  the  same  work  for  five  years. 
He  was  married,  in  1858.  to  llary  Eich,  a  native  of  Germany.  In  1861, 
they  moved  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Woodford  county.  When  the  great 
war  came  on.  he  enlisted,  in  August  of  1861,  in  Company  "K,"  Forty- 
fourth  Illinois  Infantry.  He  served  three  years  and  was  in  many  hard- 
fought  battles,  receiving  a  painful  wound  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 
In  1804.  after  three  long  years  of  hard  service,  he  was  discharged  and 
returned  home  to  Illinois,  where,  for  some  time,  he  was  engaged  in  the 
saw-mill  business. 

In  ISi;!).  .Mr.  Carl  moved  his  family  to  Kansas  and  settled  on  a  claim. 
nine  miles  northeast  of  Cort'ey\ille.  where  he  has  since  remained.  His 
farm  oonshsts  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  the  best  land  in  the 
county,  and,  on  it.  has  been  erected  a  good  residence,  a  large  barn  and 
good  substantial  outbuildings.  The  place  is  well  shaded  with  native 
trees,  which  Mr.  Carl  himself  ])lanted.  At  the  beginning  of  his  residence 
in  this  state,  the  i)lace  was  wild,  being  over-run  with  Indians,  and  it  was 
hard  to  get  provisions  and  other  needed  ai-ticles  from  Humboldt,  as  all 
these  had  to  be  hanled  by  wagon.  After  overcoming  all  obstacles^ 
grass-hoppers,  chinch-bngs,  etc. — he  finally  reached  a  po.sition  where  he 


604  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY.   KANSAS. 

could  rest,  and  turn  the  farm  over  to  his  sons.  T'ntil  later  years,  Mc, 
Carl  lias  handled  large  herds  of  stock,  but  dropped  this  industry,  also, 
with  his  retirement  from  the  farm. 

Mrs.  Carl  died,  in  1888,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years,  leaving  six  children: 
William,  Matthias,  Joseph,  Clara,  wife  of  Herbert  Dixon;  Annie,  de- 
ceased; and  Ella,  at  home  and  the  hou.sekeeper  for  her  father  and  broth- 
ers; Annie  was  the  wife  of  Jacob  Staats  and  lived  in  Cotteyville  until  she 
died,  leaving  one  child,  Carl  Wtaats. 


J.  C.  PICKERIXG — Cofteyville  is  essentially  a  home  town.  Few 
lines  of  business  but  are  represented  and  well  patronized,  within  its 
limits.  This  is  the  secret  of  her  prosperity  and  is  worthy  of  emulation 
by  other  municipalities  in  the  county.  One  of  the  lines  which  is  of  inter- 
est to  all,  is  that  engaged  in  by  the  gentleman  whose  name  appears 
above,  he  being  a  member  of  the  marble  and  granite  firm  of  Sellers  & 
Pickering.  This  firm  was  organized  in  1891.  and  lias  established  a  large 
trade  in  all  kinds  of  marble  and  stone  work.  Both  members  of  the  firm 
are  skilled  workmen  and  turn  out  a  ])roduct  which  is  not  surpassed  in 
style  and  finish. 

Pickering  is  an  honored  Engli.sh  name.  Thomas,  the  father  of  our 
subject,  having  been  born  and  reared  in  Northainjiton.  England.  He 
was  educated  for  the  ministry  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  circum- 
stances changed  the  trend  of  his  thought,  and.  with  his  young  wife,  who 
was  Elizabeth  Leek,  he  crossed  the  seas,  to  the  gold  tieids  of  Australia. 
Here,  he  did  quite  well,  but  was  not  willing  to  sacrifice  The  conveniences 
of  civilization,  though  that  sacrifice  might,  more  rajiidly,  bring  wealth. 
He,  therefore,  embarked  for  the  States  and,  about  1870.  settled  in  Miami 
count>,  Kansas,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  until  the  date  of  his  deatl^, 
in  1881.  The  mother  survived  him  some  eight  years,  dying  on  board  the 
steamship  Zelandia,  while  returning  from  a  visit  to  her  old  home,  in 
Australia.  Her  age  was  sixty-two,  while  that  of  Mr.  Pickering  was  fifty- 
eight  years.  There  were  four  children:  Harry,  a  farmer  of  Fontana, 
Kansas;  F.  G.,  a  banker  at  Mt.  Vernon.  Wasliiugton  ;  .1.  ('. ,  ;nid  Lillie  E., 
Mrs,  Albert  Folks,  of  Fontana,  Kan.sas. 

J.  C.  Pickering  was  born  in  England,  in  lS(i."),  uiid  came  to  the  United 
States,  alone,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years.  He  was  reared  and  educated 
in  England,  and,  on  arriving  at  the  age  of  eigliteen.  took  service  with 
a  marble-cutter  in  Paola.  Kansas,  D.  O.  Sellers,  and.  in  I  Sill,  he  went 
into  business  for  himself,  in  Coffeyville.  as  above  related. 

The  home  life  of  Mr.  Pickering  was  initialed,  on  Cliristnias  day  of 
1890,  when  he  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Maltic  E.  Scothorne.  Mrs. 
Pickering  is  an  Ohio  lady,  a  daughter  of  F.  A.  and  .lose].hine  ScothornCj 
who  removed  to  I'aola,  in  1880.     To  Mr.  Pickering's  home  have     come 


F,   N.  BENDER. 


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HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS.  6o5 

throe  l)iij;Iit  cliildron:  Benjamin  E.,  Alene  E.  and  Josephine  E.  Mrs. 
Pickcrinj;  holds  nienibersliip  in  the  Congregational  church,  while  he  is 
a  Mason,  and  a  nieniher  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  of  which  he  is 
Past  Chancellor,  having  filled  all  the  chairs  subordinate  to  that  one. 
Mr.  Pickering,  also,  holds  membership  in  the  Elks,  and.  in  political  mat- 
ters, votes  with  the  Republican  party. 


F.  N.  BENDER— Well  and  most  favorably  known  to  the  building 
trades  of  Independence  and  esteemed  as  a  citizen,  we  present  F.  N.  Ben- 
der's life  work,  in  brief,  as  a  factor  in  the  internal  development  of  the 
county  seat.  Comparatively  young  in  years,  but  old  and  trained  in  ex- 
perience in  the  craft,  his  efforts  have  accomplished  much,  as  a  more 
defiled  account  of  his  career  would  reveal. 

I[e  was  born  in  Fulton  county,  Illinois,  of  parents,  Tobias  and  Eliz- 
abetli  (Sinclair)  Bender,  the  father  a  retired  cabinet-maker,  of  Kansas 
City,  and  a  leading  member  of  the  M.  E.  church.  Tobias  Bender  was 
born  in  Dauphin  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1830,  and  began  his  wander- 
ings toward  the  setting  sun,  before  the  era  of  railways,  some  time  in  the 
40's.  His  trip  carried  him  down  the  Ohio  river,  up  the  Mississippi  and 
Illinois  rivers,  to  Peoria,  where  he  settled  and  resided  till  about  1856, 
when  he  moved  to  Fulton  ctmnty,  Illinois.  In  1882,  he  came  to  Kansas 
and  resided  on  a  farm,  near  Independence,  till  1897,  when  he  removed  to 
the  city  which  is  now  his  home.  Ilis  wife  was  born  in  the  State  of  Penn^ 
sylvauia,  in  1836,  and  is  a  devoted  mother  and  Christian  lady.  She  is 
the  motlier  of  ten  childi-en,  four  of  whom  yet  survive,  as  follows:  Mary, 
wife  of  Robert  Swartz,  of  Kansas  City,  Kansas;  F.  N.,  of  this  article; 
Jacob  S.,  of  Kansas  City,  a  plate-glass  woi'ker  and  an  inventor  of  some 
note;  Edward,  in  the  same  business  with  Jacob,  in  Kansas  City. 

The  birth  of  F.  N.  Bender  occurred  August  11,  1860.  His  education 
was  acquired  in  the  Illinois  public  schools  and,  at  the  youthful  age  of 
thirteen,  began  to  learn  his  trade.  He  continued  it,  zealously,  till  he 
had  jicquired  a  wide  knowledge  of  carpenter  and  cabinet  work  and  then 
became  a  journeyman  carpenter.  He  took  up  planing-mill  work,  in  1886, 
in  Kansas  City,  where  he  went  that  year,  remaining  some  ten  years.  As 
a  builder  in  Independence,  he  has  filled  contracts  on  some  of  the  good 
structures  of  the  city,  dwellings  and  business  houses,  and  his  work  has 
shown  him  to  be  master  of  the  trade  he  follows. 

July  3,  1884,  Mr.  Bender  married  Emma  Belle  Mills,  a  daughter  of 
Elisha  and  Margaret  (Burns)  Mills,  native,  respectively,  of  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Mills  was  a  hotel  man  in  Davenport  and  Buffalo, 
Iowa,  and,  from  1873  to  1883,  in  Independence,  Kansas.  He  was  born 
October  24,  1818,  and  died  December  4,  1001,  in  Independence.  His  first 
wife  was  Miss  Parker,  who  bore  him  six  children,  of  which  number  three 


6o6  HISTOUY  OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

vet  live,  viz:  Maik,  of  Colorado;  George,  of  Renwick,  Iowa;  and  Charles, 
of  Ida  Falls,  Idaho.  Three  of  the  seven  children,  born  of  his  second  mar- 
riage, survive  ^Ir.  ^lills,  namely:  Mrs.  Bender,  Lyle  L.,  of  Salt  Lake, 
Utah,  and  Ernest,  of  Indeitendence,  Kansas.  Mrs.  Bender's  mother  was 
first  mari-ied  to  Tlionias  Walker  and  has  four  children  living  by  that 
union,  as  follows:  Thomas,  of  Joplin,  !^iissiouri;  David,  of  Coflfeyville, 
Kansas;  Josepliine,  widow  of  .John  S.  James,  of  Davenport,  Iowa;  and 
Laura,  widow  of  C  W.  Middleton,  resides  in  Indeiiendeiue.  Mr.  and 
^[rs.  Bender's  children  are  Clyde  M..  deceased  at  ten  years:  Hazel  Crma, 
Lila    ^larie,  Oscar  X.  and  Harry. 

Mr.  Bender  has  passed  all  the  chairs  in  local  Oddfellowship.  He 
is  a  Hiember  of  the  Woodmen,  Red  Men  and  Elks.  He  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Inde]iendence,  in  IW2.  and  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics. 

'Sir.  Bender  is  a  Tiiusiciaii  of  sduic  udle  and  is  a  nicinhcr  of  the  Inde- 
pendence Concert  I'.aiid,  of  wlii(  h  he  is  ]ticsi(lent,  and  is  an  alto  jilayer. 


•lOSEPH  R.  JONES— Joseph  R.  Jones  was  horn  in  Tippecanoe 
county.  Indiana,  October  5,  1838,  and  is  a  son  of  Josei)h  Jones,  born  in 
Hamilton  county,  Ohio,  in  1802.  His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Mary 
Cass,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  but  who  moved  to  Indiana,  at  an  early  day, 
and,  in  lS:>tl,  moved  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Vermillion  county,  where 
lier  husband  died,  in  1808,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  She  died  in  187G, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  There  were  nine  children  in  this  Jones 
family,  as  follows:  James  W.  and  Eliza  Jane,  deceased;  Robert  A.,  living 
in  Chicago;  Caroline,  who  died  at  fifty-four  years  of  age;  JL'irinemna, 
who  died  in  ISt;:!;  .loseph  R,,  our  subject;  Mary,  wife  of  W.  H.  Harris, 
of  Dei  ver;  Sarah  and  Lewis  C,  deceased. 

Joseph  R.  Jones  was  reared  in  Vermillion  county.  Illinois,  where 
he  wfis  educated  in  the  district  schools.  In  1872.  he  came  to  Kansas  and 
bought  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  one  and  one-half  miles 
west  of  Cotfeyville.  At  first,  he  occupied  a  small  house  on  the  farm, 
until  he  could  build  a  home.  He  soon  launched  into  the  cattle  business, 
in  connection  with  farming,  continuing  each  year  to  increase  his  stock, 
always  feeding  a  large  number  through  the  winter.  The  farm,  lying  on 
Onion  creek,  furnishes  plenty  of  good  bottom  land  for  cultivation.  Tq 
the  jicrseveiance  of  its  owner,  is  due  the  high  state  of  cultivation  which 
this  land  has  rcadiiMl,  and  the  manv  imi)rovements  which  make  it  so  de- 
sirable a  home. 

In  I8S(»,  Mr.  .lones  was  married,  in  the  numih  of  May.  to  Emma  M. 
Davis.  Ilis  wife  is  a  native  of  Boone  county.  Kentucky,  where  she  was 
boiii  (Ml  the  Ith  day  of  Sej.tember,  1855.  Her  fa'theri  John  E.  Davis, 
was  a  iiati\e  of  Kentuckv,  and  married,  in  Indiana,  Martha  O.  Paul,  a 


IllSTOKV   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY.   KANSAS.  609 

however,  luuie  tli;m  tliiit  lie  bad  been  an  inmale  of  a  Confederate  prison 
;U  Ci.lialpa,  Alaliania.  and  it  is  believed,  be  died  at  that  i.la.e.  Wherever 
bis  binial  ]>la(e.  tbe  i>ratitade  of  a  reunited  ronnlr.v  <:alliers.  as  a  halo, 
over  his  unknown  jiiave.  His  wife  survived  biiri  niaii.v  years,  dying  in 
June  of  1SS7.  at  the  aj^e  of  si.\ty  ei^bt  years.  The  cbildren  born  to  her 
were:  Mrs.  .Mary  Hole,  of  .Montjioniery  .'ounly.  Indiana;  Henry  W. ,  Mrs. 
.Martha  Wilson.' -Mrs.  JIahala  .1.  Hut/.ler;  Amos  I...  of  Portland.  Indiana, 
Avbo  enlisted  in  1802,  in  Company  "H,"  One  Hundredth  Indiana  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  and  served  three  years;  xMis.  Nan<y  Homer,  of  Jay  coun- 
ty. Indiana,  is  the  youngest  and  is  deceased.  The  liusbands  of  JIartha 
and  Xau<  y  were,  also,  gallant  defenders  of  the  (lag. 

The  eilucation  of  our  subject  was  secured  in  the  districit  schools 
of  Indiana,  where  the  family  had  removed,  in  liis  early  boyhood.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  his  father  and  was  engaged  at  it  when  the  tocsin  of 
war  sounded  its  dread  alarm.  He  had  been  nurtured  in  a  patriotic  home 
and.  when  the  second  call  was  made,  enlisted  in  Company  "B."  Thirty^ 
fourtli  Regiment  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry.  A  good  deal  of  his  ser- 
vice was  rendered  in  the  use  of  tools.  His  first  enlistment  expired  in 
December  of  1803,  and  be  immediately  reenlisted  and  served  to  the 
close  of  the  war.  His  service  was,  for  the  most  part,  in  tlie  southwest. 
He  Wiis  present  at  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  Port  (iibson.  ('hampion  Hills, 
and  in  numerous  actions  west  of  the  river,  and  was  in  one  of  the  very 
last  brushes  of  the  enemy,  at  Brownsville,  Texas,  neither  side  being 
aware  of  Lee's  surrender.  Mr.  Duckett  came  out  of  the  service  unscath- 
ed, and  was  sick,  during  the  four  years,  but  a  short  ]»eriod.  He  was  sent 
to  the  Louisville  hospital  and,  after  jiartially  recovering,  asked  release, 
that  he  might  rejoin  his  regiment.  Being  refused,  be  wrote  out  his  own 
pass,  blutfed  the  steamboat  people,  and  reached  his  regiment  at  Helena, 
Arkansas,  an  incident  which  shows  the  patriotism  which  actuated  him^ 
in  the  discharge  of  his  militarv  dutv.  He  was  discharged  in  February  of 
1866. 

On  the  .-llttli  of  June.  I80(i.  Jlr.  Duckett  was  ba))i.ily  joined  in  mar- 
riage with  I'riscilla  A.  Evilsizer.  Mrs.  Duckett  is  a  native  of  Champaign 
county.  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  Leonard  and  Frances  (Dye)  Evilsizer. 
Leonard  Evilsizer  came  up  into  Ohio  from  North  Carolina,  when  a  boy 
of  thirteen,  became  a  farmer  and,  after  marriage,  moved  to  Jay  county, 
Indiana,  where  he  died,  in  1884.  His  wife  outlived  him  two  years.  They 
were  devout  members  of  the  Methodist  church.  Their  children  were: 
Minor,  deceased,  served  three  years  in  Company  "1']."  lOighty-ninth  In- 
diana: I'riscilla.  Margaret  A.,  deceased  wife  of  John  :\Iason;  Lewis  M., 
of  Portland,  Indiana;  Mrs.  .Mary  Holmes,  of  l>enepah.  Indian  Territory; 
Albert  W.,  of  Chicago;  Kiplier.  who  died  at  four  years;  James,  and  two 
unnamed,  died  in  infancy;  Sarah  M..  the  youngest  child  living,  is  the 
wife  of  1).  0.  Vincent,  of  Brazil,  Indiana. 


g,0  HISTORY   OK    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

ATi-  Duckett  followed  his  trade  in  Indiana,  until  the  spring  of  1887, 
when  he  came  to  Coffeyville.  Here,  he  has  figured  prominently,  as  a 
builder,  monuments  of  liis  handiwork  being  seen  in  many  residences,  and 
several  public  buildings,  lie  has  (aken  an  active  interest  in  affairs,  hav- 
ing served  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  several  terms.  He  is  an  hon- 
ored mend)er  of  the  Orand  Army  and  a  staunch  friend  of  organized  labor, 
being  a  member  of  the  Oar|)enter's  T'ni<m.  His  interest  in  politics  is 
simI1l.^  that  of  the  good  citizen,  voting,  on  election  day,  the  Kepublican 
ticket.  Both  he  and  his  good  wife  are  much  esteemed  in  the  city  of  their 
adoption,  and  where  they  exi)ect  to  pass  the  remainder  of  their  days. 


•JOHN  GASKILT.— In  the  year  1871,  a  date  which  marks  the  year 
of  his  majority,  John  (iaskill,  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  Caney  town- 
ship, came  to  Montgomery  county,  in  company  with  his  parents.  Mr. 
Gaskill  immediately  filed  on  a  claim,  and  he  has,  since,  been  one  of  the 
sturdy  yeoman  of  tiie  country.  He  now  resides  on  a  farm  of  three  hundred 
and  thirty  acres,  two  miles  fi-om  the  town  of  Tyro,  where  he  engages  in 
stock  rai.sing,  giving  some  aitenlion  to  raising  the  Wilkes  stock  of  horses. 
Of  these  aninials,  Mr.  (Iaskill  is  a  great  lover  and  delights  in  driving 
the  finest  horse  in  his  stal)le. 

Mr.  Gaskill  came  to  the  county,  from  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  family 
havinsj  been  i-esidents  of  the  far  eastern  State  of  New  Jersey,  where  he 
was  born,  in  Burlington  county,  on  the  2ntli  of  March,  1850.  When  he 
was  five  years  old,  the  family  moved  to  Michigan,  si)ent  five  years,  and 
then  spent  one  year  in  Missouri,  when  they  went  to  Iowa.  They  resided 
there,  until  the  date  of  our  subject's  settlement  in  Montgomery  county. 
He  received  an  elementary  education  in  the  country  schools.  For  the 
first  few  years,  he  found  it  close  figuring  to  meet  his  payments  on  his 
claim,  anil,  at  the  same  time,  extend  needed  heli)  to  the  support  of  his 
father  and  his  family.  It  was  through  suih  trials  and  tribulations  that 
Mr.  Gaskill  passed,  during  the  earlier  ix'iiods  of  his  existence  in  the 
county,  b\it  it  had  the  ellecl  of  teaching  him  the  value  of  money,  and  the 
necessity  of  making  the  dollar  go  as  far  as  possible.  He,  however, 
emerged  from  this  extrcnie  and  has,  for  a  numlier  of  years,  been  looked 
upon  as  one  of  the  .successful  farmers  of  the  c(ninty.  His  farm  is  one 
of  the  most  liighly  imiiroviMl  in  the  township,  its  improvements  being  of  a 
most  substanliar  characler.  Ills  l)arii  is  a  model  of  size  and  excellent 
arrangement  for  stock,  beiug  bulll  against  the  bliitt',  and  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  thoroughly  i)rotcct  his  animals  from  the  cold,  sweeping  winds 
of  winter.  P.esides  this  barn,  there  are  well-built  granaries,  and  other 
outbuildinns  for  sto.^k,  while  liis  residence  is  of  the  most  conimodious 
and  comfortable  cli;.rarler. 

In   chixjsing  a    partner   for   his   life's   journey,    Mr.   (iaskill    sehnMed 


M.   ADDINGTON,   WIFE  AND  DAUGHTER. 


Pojnilist  tickpi   receiving 


m^-:i 


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m 


li   •«   ■»  §»   t 

■•  t«  i»  r 


: 


HISTORY   01''    MON'TOOMEKY   COUNTY^   KANSAS.  6ll 

5Iiss  .M\r;i  Hiadley,  a  native  of  Missouri.  Tlii'  niairiajie  was  an  event 
of  New  Year's  day,  1882.  Mrs.  Gaskill  came  to  Kansas,  with  her  parents, 
Joseph  andMyra  Bradley,  in  1870.  Mrs.  (laskill  died  at  the  early  age 
of  thirty,  Feb'rnary  9,  1889,  leavinji;  tiiree  children,  viz:  (Miarles  W., 
Perry  L.  and  Bertlia.  In  1890.  xMr.  (iasiiill  married  Mrs.  -lane  Over])eck, 
a  native  of  Kockville,  Parke  county,  Indiana,  where  she  was  hoin,  June 
10,  18r)».  She  was  the  widow  of  Charles  A.  Overpc'ck.  who  died  March 
30,  1881,  leaving  a  son,  Harvey.  The  following  year,  she  came  to  Kan- 
sas, and  resided  near  Tyro,  until  the  <la1e  of  her  marriage.  By  their  last 
marriage,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gaskill  have  two  cliildren:  Lytle  and  Carl. 

'!  lie  years  which  have  passed  since  Mr.  (Jaskill  came  to  Montgomery 
( ouiii.w  have  been  years  of  busy  toil,  but  however  busy  with  his  own 
artaii  -;,  he  has  never  refused  to  devote  what  time  seemed  necessaiy  to  the 
ad\aii<('n\ent  of  the  welfare  of  his  particular  community.  Much  of  the 
s]ileiulid  reputation  which  Caney  township  lias  in  the  county,  as  to 
school  and  educational  facilities,  is  due  to  the  constant  and  earnest 
efforts  of  our  subject  in  this  line.  He  has  served  as  clerk  of  his  town- 
ship and  is  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fellow's  Lodge  of  Tyro.  In  matters  of 
politics,  he  takes  but  a  voting  interest,  the  Pojnilist  ticket  receiving  his 
suffrage.  He  and  his  wife  are  consistent  members  of  the  Christian 
church,  he  having  been  a  valuable  member  of  the  clnirch  board  since  1895. 

As  he  looks  out  njion  his  bi'oad  a<-res.  and  fine  thorougbred  stock, 
Mr.  (iaskill  does  so  with  the  knowledge  that  it  is  all  the  result  of  his 
individual  efl'ort  and  his  det(>rmination.  liis  close  a]»i»lication  to  the  busi- 
ness in  hand,  that  of  building  a  home.  He  is  highly  regarded  by  his 
aeciuaintames,  and  is  most  worthy  of  representation  in  a  volume  devoted 
to  the  best  citizens  of  the  count  v." 


I).  M.  ADDINtiTON— The  biographer  presents  here  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial citizens  of  Independeme.  proprietor  of  the  north  side  planing 
mill,  ,iud  general  contractor  in  wood.  Mr.  Addington  has  been  identified 
with  the  interests  of  Montgomery  county  since  1S79,  though  not  contin- 
uously, having  left  the  county,  at  difierent  periods,  for  short  intervals. 

The  Addington  family  is  of  l']nglish  Quaker  extraction,  coming  to 
South  Carolina  in  early  Colonial  days,  where  they  were  thrifty  planters 
and  large  slaveholders,  as  was  the  custom  of  that  section  and  time. 
Grandfather  William  A.  Addington  became  dissatisfied  with  the  condi- 
tions in  South  Carolina  and,  freeing  all  the  slaves  the  law  would  permit, 
came  up  to  Indiana,  bringing  with  him  the  remaining  sixteen.  This  was 
in  the  year  1804.  He  settled  in  a  new  country,  between  Richmond  and 
Newport,  and  there  carved  out  a  farm  from  the  virgin  forest.  He  was  a 
man  of  fine  character  and  did  much  to  initiate  correct  living  in  that 
earlv  dav,  in  that  section. 


6l2  HISTORY  OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

Our  subject's. father,  Joshua,  was  a  young  man  of  twenty,  when  the 
family  cauie  to  Indiana.  He  learned  the  trade  of  miller,  an  occupation 
which  he  followed  much  of  his  life.  He  married  Rebecca  Morgan,  a  na- 
tive of  Viroinia,  and  settled  two  miles  north  of  Richmond.  Remaining 
here  until  1840,  he,  with  his  father  and  several  others,  laid  out  the  town 
of  Ridgeville,  where  he  continued  In  live  until  his  death,  engaged  in  the 
milling  business. 

fn  many  respects,  he  was  a  remarkable  man.  His  energy  was  some- 
thing i»henomenal,  though  it  was  of  the  kind  needed  in  those  pioneer 
day.^.  He  was  an  ardent  believer  in  the  Quaker  faith  and  gave,  liberally, 
of  his  means  and  time,  to  establish  it  in  Indiana,  building  the  first 
Friends  church  in  the  state,  at  the  point  where  he  first  settled,  known 
for  long  years,  as  "Chester  Friends  Church."  In  political  faith,  he  was  a 
Whig.  He  died,  in  1848,  at  the  rather  early  age  of  fifty-six,  his  father 
dying  but  two  years  before,  but  having  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy.  His 
wife  was  a  woman  of  like  mould  of  character,  and  was  a  fitting  help- 
meet, in  those  fornuitive  days  of  society,  when  sternness  of  morals  was 
an  absolute  necessity.  She  died,  in  1851,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years. 
They  were  the  parents  of  the  following  children:  \Yilliam,  who  died  at 
two' years;  Jonathan,  who  died  in  1864;  Elizabeth,  Mrs.  J.  R.  West,  of 
Davis  county,  Iowa;  Maria,  Mrs.  Charles  Wilmot.  who  died  in  1880; 
Nancy,  widow  of  iienjamin  Anderson,  living  at  Eureka,  Kansas;  ;Minerva 
J.,  widow  of  William  Alexander,  of  Winchester,  Indiana;  I).  il..  our  sub- 
ject; Lorena,  deceased,  was  the  wife  of  (he  late  INliltou  Caty. 

D.  M.  Addinglon  was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Indiana,  July  9,  1835. 
The  crude  state  of  society  in  that  early  day  and  section,  ])revented  him 
from  receiving  much  in  the  way  of  book  education,  but,  with  the  advan- 
tages of  an  excellent  Christian  home,  he  came  lo  years  of  responsibility 
with  training  sutticient  to  fight  the  battles  of  life.  His  brother,  Jona- 
than, being  a  blacksmith,  he  took  \i\>  that  trade  and  followed  it,  in 
Lagro  and  on  the  Wabash  canal,  until  1S.">I,  when  his  eyes  became  af- 
fected, by  r(»ason  of  so  much  night  wcuk.  He  did  outdoor  work,  for  a 
time,  until  he  recovered  the  use  of  his  sight,  and  then  learned  the  trade 
of  millwright,  which  he  followed,  for  seven  years.  Again,  he  changed 
his  occupation,  this  time  learning  the  trade  of  carpenter.  He  now  re- 
moved to  Richmond  and  did  contract  work,  during  the  jieriod  of  the  war, 
his  eyes  lui'vcnting  his  being  accepted  in  the  service,  although  he  volun- 
teered tlire(-  dilleivnt  times.  He.  however,  did  s|)lendid  service  at  home, 
in  holding  in  clii-ck  llie  Coiijiei-Iiead  element  of  tlial  section,  which  was 
quite  strong  in  loraiilies.  lie  hcranic  llie  Innlcr  of  n  b.-nul  of  loyal  spir- 
its who  made  il  their  espeehil  business  to  tenet  out  llie  Rebel  sympa- 
thizers and  ell  her  make  tlieiii  take  (he  oath,  or  move  on  to  some  more 
congenial  clime. 

After  the   war,  our  subject    removed    to  a    farm,   near   IWuiker  Hill, 


HISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY.   KANSAS.  615 

and  respected  familv.  whose  individual  luenibeis  occupy  responsible  and 
honored  places  in  different  ^valks  of  life,  while  he  and  his  j^ood  wife  have 
exerted  a  most  healthful  influence  in  establishing  the  high  moral  tone 
which  pervades  their  immediate  community. 

The  grandparents  of  Mr.  Knock  were  Delaware  people.  They 
reared  a  large  family  and  passed  their  lives  in  their  native  state.  One  of 
the  sons,  Daniel  C.  Knock,  born  in  1810,  left  home  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
and  come  out  to  the,  then,  far  western  State  of  Ohio,  where,  in  1831,  he 
took  unto  himself  a  wife,  in  the  jjerson  of  I'hoebe  Easley.  This  lady 
was  a  native  of  the  "Buckeye  State,"  born  on  the  29th  of  June,  1811.  The 
year  following  their  marriage,  they  came  out  to  Illinois,  where  they 
were  pioneer  settlers  of  Fulton  county,  and  where  they  continued  to 
reside,  on  the  .same  farm,  for  fifty-five  years.  They  were  better-class 
farmers,  most  highly  respected,  and  lived  to  see  their  large  family  of 
children,  esteemed  members  of  society.  In  this  family,  there  were  thir- 
teen children,  as  follows:  John  F.,  who  died  at  thirty-three;  William  A.. 
of  Rocky  Ford,  Colorado;  Sarah  A.,  who  died  in  infancy;  Mary  J.,  de- 
ceased wife  of  Joseph  Price;  Daniel  E.,  of  Peoria,  Illinois;  Elizabeth, 
Mrs.  John  Russell;  Rachel  E.,  wife  of  William  Branson,  of  Fulton 
county.  Illinois;  Robert  B.,  the  subject  of  this  review;  Jasper  N.,  of  In- 
dependence; Edith  E.,  ^Mrs.  Dilworth;  Russell,  of  Wyanoka.  Oklahoma; 
Juan  F.,  of  Iowa ;  Phoelte  J.,  wife  of  J.  A.  Hooper,  of  Fulton  county, 
Illinois.  The  father  of  this  family  lived  to  the  rijie  old  age  of  seventy- 
five  years,  dying  in  1SS5,  and  the  mother  outlived  him  many  years,  death 
claiming  her,  August  14,  1900,  being  the  progenitor  of  two  hundred  and 
seventy-nine  children,  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren. 

Robert  B.  Knock,  the  gentleman  whose  honored  name  initiates  this 
revie?;.  was  born  in  Fulton  county.  Illinois.  December  22.  1844.  A  mere 
boy,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war,  he,  yet,  manfully  shouldered 
a  musket  and  went  forth  to  do  battle  for  the  honor  of  the  flag.  Company 
"G,"  Fiftieth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  enrolled  liiiii.  on  the  1st  day  of 
October.  ISCl.  as  a  private.  He  served  his  full  enlistment  of  three  years, 
returning  home  almost  a  physical  wreck,  resulting  from  a  severe  attack 
of  measles.  He  was  with  Grant  at  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  thence 
to  Shiloh  and  Corinth.  He  followed  Bragg  to  Chattanooga  and,  later, 
to  Atlanta,  jiarticipating  in  most  of  the  hard  battles  of  that  memorable 
campaign.  His  time  exi)iring  before  that  caniiiaign  had  been  fought  to 
a  finish,  he  was  comi>elled  to  return  home,  being  totally  blind  and  badly 
broken  in  health.  He  recovered  the  use  of  one  eye.  after  nearly  four 
years,  but  has.  ever  since,  been,  jteriodically.  troubled  with  loss  of  sight. 

Mr.  Knock  has  always  followed  a  farmer's  life.  In  August  of  1870, 
he  and  his  newly-wedded  wife  settled  on  a  claim  in  the  vicinity  of  where 
they  now  reside,  and.  in  1878.  sold  out  and  bought  their  present  farm. 
Here,  they  are  spending  the  evening  of  life  in  c()m])arative  plenty,  sur- 


6l6  mSTOUY    OF    MON'T(;OMERY   COFNTY.   KANSAS. 

rouiKicd  hy  loxinji  iliihinMi  and  loyal  fripiids,  who  are  ])rou(l  to  do  them 
honor,  'S\v.  Knock  lias  held  all  the  lownshii)  otlices.  and  has  been  justice 
of  the  ]iea(e.  for  a  nuiiiher  of  years.  He  is  at  present  Noble  Grand  of 
the  Odd  Fellows  lodf;e  at  Havana. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Knock  wei-e  married  on  the  14th  of  June,  1867.  She 
was  a  daujihter  of  J.  H.  and  Klizatteth  iSwaneyl  Hussey,  both  Dela- 
Avare  ])eoi)le.  (This  is  the  same  family  of  Husseys  which  were  dlstin- 
fiuished,  as  the  inventors  of  the  Hussey  reaping  machine.)  The  date 
of  .Mrs.  Knock's  birth  was  .January  11,  18.~)0.  Her  children  are,  as  fol- 
lows. Marian  L..  :Mrs.  ("harles  Ha";is,  of  Danville,  Illinois;  John  F.,  of 
Eureka  Springs;  I'hoebe  J.,  died  at  sixteen  years;  Minnie  E.,  wife  of 
Charles  Campbell,  of  Havana;  Virginia  R.,  ^Slrs.  F.  L.  Rickey,  of  Caney, 
Kansas:  Olive  (i..  :Mrs.  Terry  :M.  White,  of  Havana;  Franklin  E.,  of 
Farrv.  Oklahoma;  Irwin  1!..  Daniel  K..  Ethel  and  Jnlia  D..  all  at  home. 


JOSIIIA  IlOLLIDAY — loshiia  llolliday  has  been  the  eliicient 
weigh  master  of  the  city  of  CoHVyvine  since  the  Dalton  raid,  and  a  citi- 
zen of  the  city  for  the  ]iast  thriM'  decades.  He  was  born  in  Yorkshire,  Eng- 
land. February  --.  is:',;',,  one  of  si.xteen  children  of  Joseph  and  Alice  Hol- 
liday.  The  j.arents  died  in  l^nglaiid.  the  father  at  eighty-six.  the  mother 
at  seventy-eight  years. 

At  tiie  tender  age  of  seven  years.  .Mi-,  llolliday  was  emiiloyed  in  one 
of  the  neighboring  coal  mines,  and  remained  there,  engaged  in  various 
branches  of  the  work,  until  his  twenty-fourth  year.  He  then  studied  civil 
engineering  under  his  brother,  Josiah,  and,  in  May  of  1867,  be  boarded 
a  vessel  bound  for  America,  and.  after  a  t(>mpestuous  voyage  of  forty- 
five  days— during  which  the  vessel  lost  her  s.tils— landed  at  (Quebec.  Af- 
ter a  short  stay  in  this  city,  he  visited  various  of  the  lake  (owns  in  the 
employ  of  the  Crand  Trunk  railroad.  .M.out  ilie  time  of  President  Lin- 
coln's'election.  Mr.  Holliday  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  was  foreman, 
for  a  time,  of  what  are  now  known  as  the  Frisco  shoips.  He  then  worked 
in  several  dittereiit  towns  in  Missouri  and,  about  ISCl.  ci'ossed  the 
'•l.laii.s"  lo  Ihe  Koeky  mouiilains.  w  iiere  lie  speiii  a  year  in  tiie  enii.loy  of 
mining  couii)aiiii's  as  an  engineer. 

Keluriiiiig  to  .Missouri,  .Mr.  llolliday  began  his  first  ex|(ei'ience  in 
farming  for  himself,  in  Saline  rounly.  where  be  rented  a  (piarter  section 
and  put  in  a  cro]i.  .\fiei-  a  visit  home  lo  old  England,  he  continued  his 
farming  o].eratioiis  near  .Marshall,  and.  in  IST'-'.  .sold  (Uit  and  came  to 
CotVeyvilh'.  Thus  it  ajpi-ears  ibat  he  has  seen  mn.h  of  the  world  in  travel 
and  has  added  luncli  to  his  storehouse  of  general  information,  which  has 
induced  Ihe  cosmoi)olitan  characler  of  manner,  which  adds  charm  to  his 
conv(isatir)ii.  The  ('oll'eyville  of  today  has  little  resemblance  to  that 
■which  greeted  .Mr.  Holliday  on  that  first  visit,  and  he  is  proud  of  the  fact 


HISTORY  OK  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  617 

that  he  has  liwii  "i.aii  and  |iaircl"  (if  llic  sjilciMlid  <lcv('l<(|.iiicnt  whii-li 
lias  since  been  made.  .Mr.  Ih.llidav  suiieriiilendcd  tlic  i.laciiif;  of  llie  first 
steam  engine  in  tiie  town,  in  tlic  t1onrin«;  mill  of  Mlainc.  I'.nins  &  .McCon- 
neli  lii'otliers.  lie  worked  in  variims  capacities  until  IST.").  wlien  lie  took 
cliar<;(  of  a  switcii  enfiine  for  tlie  ]>.  L.  &  C.  railroad,  a  iiosilioii  wiiicii  lio 
held  continnously  for  sixteen  years  and  six  inontlis.  He  was  riinnin"; 
this  engine  at  tlie  time  of  tlie  noted  Dalton  raid  and  was  the  first  man  to 
enter  the  town  after  the  destrnction  of  the  "ganj;."  In  ISDii,  Mr.  Holli- 
da.v  was  appointed  weigliinaster  of  the  citv,  a  position  whicji  lie  lias  since 
administered. 

■Marriajic  was  coiili-adcd  by  our  siilijcil.  Se]ilciiili('r  17.  IS.'iC,  when 
he  was  joined  to  Harriet  higliam.  a  nativi^  of  ICngland.  i:iizal)etli  A.,  the 
only  child  of  this  marriage,  became  Mrs.  Watson,  and  died  soon  after 
her  marriage.  Her  mother,  and  our  subject's  wife,  died  in  1864,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-three  years.  The  .second  marriage  of  Mr.  Holliday  occurred 
in  1877,  on  the  24th  of  March,  the  lady's  name  having  been  Sarah  Stub- 
ley,  now  presiding  over  his  home.  Mrs.  Holliday  is  a  native  of  York- 
shire, Enghmd,  and  is  the  mother  of  six  children,  as  follows:  Mary  A., 
wife  of  William  I*.  Graliam,  a  contractor  iii  Wyoming;  Willie  and  John 
nie,  who  died  in  boyhood;  Esther,  Mrs.  Amos  Hutson,  of  Cofleyville; 
Rufus.  married  Lottie  L.  Bryan,  and  now  lives  in  Independence,  a  phar- 
macist, and  Charlie,  who  died  in  infancy.  The  mother  of  this  family  is 
the  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Stubley,  both  now  deceased.  After 
the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Mrs.  Stubley  again  married,  and  moved  to 
America,  and  settled  in  Newberg,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died  about  1895. 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holliday  are  active  members  of  the  Christian 
church,  of  which  Mr.  Holliday  has  been  in  official  connection,  in  former 
years.  He  is  a  worthy  member  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Justice. 
They  have  passed  a  long  and  honorable  life,  and  are  now  secure  in  thii 
love  and  affection  of  their  children  and  the  many  staunch  friends  they 
have  gathered  about  them. 


FRANK  B.  SEWELL-— There  came  to  tlie  county,  in  1809,  a  gen- 
tleman and  his  family  who  have  had  much  to  do  with  its  marvelous  de 
velopment  and  whose  connection  with  its  official  and  non-official  life  has 
at  all  times  been  most  circumspect  and  honorable.  The  name  preceed- 
ing  this  sketch  represents  the  youngest  member  of  the  family  at  that 
time,  he  having  been  but  six  months  of  age.  The  parents  were  Jo.  H.  and 
Margaret   (Hall)   Sewell,  still  honored  residents  of  the  county. 

Jlr.  and  Mrs.  Sewell  are  both  from  old  and  prominent  southern 
families.  Mr.  Sewell  was  born  in  Mobile,  Alabama,  and  at  eight  years  olf 
age  removed  with  his  parents  to  Tennessee.  Here  he  grew  to  manhood 
and  married.     Mrs.  SewelFs  maiden  name  was  Margart  Hall.     She  was 


6l8  HISTOUY    Ob-    MONTIJO.MKRY    COr.NTY,    KANSAS. 

born  in  IS;?"),  iu  Lewisbuij;.  Temi.,  and  was  the  daughter  of  a  prominent 
physician  of  that  town,  Dr,  Hugh  A.  Hall,  a  native  of  North  Carolina, 
and  a  graduate  in  medicine  of  Louisville  Medical  College.  Late  in  life 
he  removed  to  Eagleville,  of  the  same  state,  where  he  died  iu  1854.  A 
brother  of  Mrs.  Sewell's.  IL  C.  TTall,  was  a  member  of  the  town  company 
Avhich  laid  out  Independence. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  the  training  and  education  of  Mr. 
Sewell  having  been  received  amid  the  influences  of  southern  institutions, 
the  path  of  duty  led  plainly  into  the  army  of  the  Confederacy.  He  be- 
came a  volunteer  in  the  First  Tennes.see,  enlisting  at  Nashville,  in  18G1. 
and  serving  to  the  close  of  the  war.  He  participated  in  a  number  of  the 
sanguinary  conflicts  of  the  middle  we.st,  notably,  Perryville,  Chicka- 
maug;',  and  Missionary  Ridge.  At  Perryville,  he  was  wounded  in  the 
left  ;'nii.  and,  at  Chickamanga,  received  a  grievous  wound  in  the  lower 
jaw.  I'vUtv  to  his  entering  the  army,  Mr.  Sewell  had  been  engaged  in  the 
iiews])a|ier  business,  as  editor  of  the  Lewisburg  Gazette.  At  present,  he 
is  emjiloyed  in  tiie  Tribune  office,  at  Independence.  He  i)ublished  the 
first  ]iaper  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas — "The  Westralia  Vidette." 

Frank  Sewell  was  born  in  Tennessee,  in  18G9,  and,  in  October  of  that 
year,  was  brought  to  this  county.  His  education  was  secured  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  and  his  life,  so  far,  has  been  devoted  to  farming.  In  1888, 
he  w  IS  joined  in  marriage  to  Phoebe,  daughter  of  P.  V.  Hockett,  presi- 
•  leiil  lit  ilie  Commercial  National  Bank  of  Independence.  Mrs.  Sewell 
is  a  iiali\e  of  Parke  county,  Indiana,  where  she  was  born,  in  1871.  She 
came  to  the  county,  with  her  parents,  when  a  girl  of  eleven.  Mr. 
and  Jlrs.  Sewell  are  the  parents  of  five  children:  Fern  Lucile,  aged  thir- 
teen; Jo  H.,  Jr.,  eleven;  Gilbert  F.,  nine;  Margaret,  five;  and  Delia  Ma- 
rie, two  years. 

The  farm  which  Mr.  Sewell  cullivates.  is  located  three  miles  east  of 
Independence.  It  consists  of  seventy  acres  and  he  has  owned  it  since 
1892,  putting  on  all  the  substantial  improvements. 

In  the  social  life  of  the  communit.y,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sewell  are  impor- 
tant and  helpful  factors.  They  are  staunch  members  and  supporters  of 
the  Presbyterian  church  and  are  always  found  in  the  front,  when  any 
good  cause  is  being  advocated.  Mr.  Sewell  votes  the  Democratic  ticket, 
but  is  too  mucli  absorbed  in  the  work  of  his  farm  to  care  for  political 


HARRYJIENCKE—Thegeutleman  whose  name  initiates  this  record 
is  widely  known  as  a  commercial  num.  and  as  a  broker  and  manufactur- 
er's agent,  has  made  his  headipiarters  in  Inde])eudence  since  1879,  and 
his  residence  here,  since  1888.  He  was  born  in  the  northern  part  of  Ger 
many,  May  27,  1858,  and,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  with  a  liberal  edu 


SKIHBHH 


ARRY  JIENCKE. 


1^  It  t^  If  !• 


•.".'i^W 


HARRY  JIENCKE. 


HISTORY  OP    MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KAN.SAS.  621 

a  member  of  the  A.  H.  T.A.  He  and  his  family  are  esteemed  residents 
of  the  township,  and  are  most  worthy  of  representation  in  a  volume 
which  is  devoted  to  mention  of  the  prominent  residents  of  the  county. 


SAMUEL  H.  WADE— Samuel  H.  Wade,  a  prominent  farmer  and 
resident  of  Cherokee  township,  was  born  in  SomeiscI,  iMi^land,  on  the 
28th  of  January,  l.sr.7.  His  father,  Samuel  Wade,  and  indllicr,  Sarah 
(Butcher)  Wade,  emigrated  to  America  in  1857,  and  sctlhMl  in  Michigan, 
where  they  resided  till  ISGI,  and,  then,  moved  to  Illinois,  and  located  at 
Clinton,  where  the  mother  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine,  the  father  yet 
living  in  Clinton,  aged  eighty  years. 

There  were  six  children  in  this  family,  viz:  Edward,  Ellen,  Samuel 
H.,  John,  Annie  and  Mattie.  Samuel  H.  Wade,  our  subject,  was  the  third 
child  of  the  family,  and  was  but  eight  months  old  when  his  parents  came 
over  the  sea.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  Illinois,  where  he  acquired 
only  a  common  school  education.  When  Mr.  Wade's  mother  died,  he 
went  to  live  with  his  uncle,  William  Haberfield,  where  he  remained  until 
he  was  married.  The  uncle  and  aunt  having  grown  old,  Mr.  Wade  has 
built  a  neat  little  cottage  on  his  own  land,  and  sent  for  them,  that  they 
may  remain  with  him,  the  rest  of  their  days,  where  proper  attention  can 
be  bei-towed.  On  March  1,  1883,  he  came  to  Kansas  and  located  on  the 
farm  on  which  he  now  lives.  He  was  married,  December  19,  1883,  to 
Rosa  Potter,  a  native  of  Illinois,  who  came  to  Kansas  in  1882.  Mi-s. 
Wade  is  the  daughter  of  Sylvanus  and  Nancy  Potter,  who  live  on  a 
neighboring  farm. 

^Vhen  Mr.  Wade  came  to  Kansas,  he  had  only  a  small  amount  of 
money  with  which  to  buy  land,  and  he  invested  it  in  a  farm,  six  miles 
northwest  of  Coffeyville,  where  he  now  resides.  His  farm  now  comprises 
four  hundred  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  has  built  a  two-story  residence, 
and  good  comfortable  farm  buildings.  The  farm  is  well  improved  and 
well  cultivated.  All  his  property  has  been  acquired,  by  his  own  efforts, 
since  coming  to  Kansas. 

Politically,  Mr.  Wade  is  a  Populist.  He  has,  ably,  filled  the  office 
of  township  clerk,  three  times,  is  treasurer  of  the  township,  and  has 
served  thirteen  yeai-s  on  the  school  board. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade  have  four  children:  Grace  R.,  Stephen  S.,  Bes- 
sie, deceased,  and  Emery  Paul.  Mr.  Wade  is  a  member  of  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  Coffevville  Camp,  and  a  member  of  No.  86, 
A.  H.  T.  A. 


WILLIAil  C.  SEWELL— An  old  settler  and  a  man  honorably  asso- 
ciated with  the  history  of  this  county,  is  William  C.  Sewell,  a  native  of 


622  inSTOItY  OK  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

TeiiiiessiM'.  Ix.ni  .liiiic  H.  lSr,4.  His  fiitlii'i-,  .loscpli  (i.  Sewcll.  ;i  l.ladv- 
sinilli  ;iii(l  t'uriiicr,  iiiiiriicd  ( "jtllicriiic  MnylKni-y,  a  'renncssee  lady,  and 
cainc  lo  Kansas  in  1S7I,  and  .scUUmI  onOnion  cipek,  Indcpendenre  town- 
slii]i.  wlicrc  he  lmiii;li(  and  ini|H(t\('d  a  claim  lo  a  well cullivated  farm, 
in  DcccmlMT.  1SS1>,'  at  llic  aj^c  (.f  fifty-three  years.  Ilie  futlier  died,  hut 
llip  motlier  still  snrvives,  and  is  now  sixty-eif;lit  years  old.  ( »f  this  mar 
riaj>('.  tliere  were  four  eliidren,  lliree  of  whom  ar<'  lixint;.  iiaiiiely:  .lolin 
T,..'.\ndrew  C.  and  William  ('. 

William  <'.  Sewell  came  to  Kansas,  with  liis  parents,  in  1S71.  when 
he  w.'.s  sexcnleen  years  old.  His  ednc.-ilion  was  received  in  the  common 
schools  <.l  his  native  sl.ile,  and  his  marriajic  occnrred  in  May,  187C.  his 
wife  lieinii  ICIi/.ahel  h  .lames,  a  native  of  Ohio  county,  Kentucky,  and  a 
dauuhler  of  .Joseph  K.  -lanu-s.  mentioned,  liberally,  in  this  work.' 

.Mr.  Sewell  iM-fjan  life,  as  a  farmei-,  on  rented  land,  hut.  after  two 
years,  he  houjiht  an  untamed  farm  of  eif-hty  acres  and  lived  on  that,  for 
a  shoi  t  lime,  when  he  .s<dd  it  and  became  a  i-enter,  a,>;ain.  for  five  years, 
lie  houulil  aiHiihci  einhly  acre  tract,  tin-  farm  where  he  now  resides,  five 
miles  norllicasi  of  Tyro.  This  farm  he  has  im|)roved  and  made  one  of  the 
tinest  homes  in  his  townslii|i,  addinj;  more  land,  at  various  times,  until 
he  now  owns  four  hnndred  acres.  On  this  farm,  is  a  handsome  residence, 
built  on  a  hijih  elevation,  from  which  a  Rood  view  of  [ndeiiendence.  fif- 
teen miles  away,  and  all  llie  country  i-ound,  can  1k'  had.  He.  also,  has 
f;r)od  out  buildin<;s  and  a  lar>;e  Itai'ii,  lighted  with  natural  ji:\ft.  Gas  is 
nsed  in  iIk^  house  for  fuel  and  li^lils  and  for  a  1(U-cli  in  the  front  yard. 

It  was  by  resistless  enerf-y  and  unity  of  purpose,  that  ilr.  Sewell  has 
.attained  this  j;ratifyinn  pros|iei'ily.  lie  is  townsliip  treasuier  and  has 
.ser\cd.  as  such,  seveial  terms,  at  \arious  times.  In  i)olitics.  he  is  a  Popu- 
list. 

i'l  .Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Sewcll's  family  are  nine  children:  (ientrv  L.,  Anna 
r...  Walter  .\..  Stella,  Harry.  I'aul  and  James.  Three  of  tlie  children  are 
dead:  .Vdoljihus,  who  died  af  eleven  years;  Lydia  at  nine  years,  and 
I'raid-lin  at  i(>n  months.  fJonfry.  the  eldest,  married  Eunice  Ellings- 
worlh,  bul  the  oIIht  children  are  siufjle  and  at  home. 


•lOHX  C.  FIELDS— One  of  the  self  made  men  of  the  county  is  John 
< '.  Fields,  an  extensive  stock  raiser,  residinj;  on  a  farm  of  six  hundred 
and  fifty  acres,  one  nule  .south  of  the  lairal  villaoe  of  Tyro.  He  belongs 
to  tlial  res]i(>cled  band  of  men  who  settled  in  the  county  at  an  early  day, 
and  \\hose  individual  character  is  stam|K'd  u|ion  the  society  of  the  coun- 
ty. He  settled  ui)on  his  present  farm,  in  ISTI),  having  come  to  the  county 
a  year  ])rior  to  that  date. 

Noting  a  few  fads  in  the  cartHU-  of  Mi'.  Fields,  it  appeals  that  he  is 
a  native  of  the  "Keystone  State,"  where  he  was  boiu  on  the  Jlth  day  of 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  623 

October,  1848.  His  parents  were  John  and  Johanna  (Wallace)  Fields, 
well-to-do  and  respected  farmers  of  that  state,  where  the  father  died,  at 
forty-three  years  of  age,  his  wife  living  until  IStiH,  and  dying  at  the  age 
of  fifty-four.  There  was  liut  one  child  born  of  their  marriage,  the  father 
having  died  when  our  sulijcct  was  but  one  month  old. 

John  C.  Fields  received  a  common  school  education  and,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  came  to  Kansas,  stdjiiiing.  first,  in  Brown  county,  from 
where,  in  the  fall  of  that  same  year.  ISdll,  he  came  to  Montgomery  county^ 
Here,  he  camped  about,  in  dillerent  jiortions  of  the  county,  during  the 
winter,  seeking  the  right  place  to  locate  a  claim.  He,  finally,  settled  on 
the  location  he  now  owns  and  filed  upon  it  in  1870.  Here,  he  has  held  a 
continuous  residence  to  this  date,  and  has  added  a  great  number  of  fine 
improvements  and,  at  different  times,  added  to  its  area,  until  he  owns 
a  bod.\  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  acres. 

Jlr.  Fields  landed  in  the  county,  a  very  poor  man,-  having  little  mon- 
ey and  less  property.  His  splendid  success  is  due  to  his  energy  and  intel- 
ligent grasp  of  the  subject  of  agriculture,  he  being,  in  its  various 
bi'anclies,  a  master  workman.  He  is  one  of  the  best  judges  of  fine  stock 
in  southern  Kansas,  and  has  engaged,  for  a  number  of  years,  most  exten- 
sively, in  their  raising.  He  is  a  lover  of  good  horses,  and,  while  he  never 
trains  for  the  track,  has  raised,  on  his  farm,  some  speedy  animals  which 
he  de'ights  to  drive  to  his  own  turn-out,  and  is  never  happier  than  when 
"drawing  the  ribbons"  over  a  pair  of  his  best  horses. 

In  187.5,  Mr.  Fields  took  to  himself  a  wife,  in  the  person  of  Rachel 
Ellis,  a  daughter  of  Christopher  T.  Ellis,  of  Montgomery  county,  Tenn- 
essee, where  the  father  was  born  on  the  26th  day  of  January,  1828. 
The  latter  married  Mary  Uttley,  whose  birth  occurred  October  21,  1835. 
These  parents  came  to  Kansas  the  same  year  in  which  Mr.  Fields  settled 
on  his  farm,  and  took  a  claim,  one-half  mile  south  of  Tyro,  where  they 
now  reside.  Of  the  family,  Rachel  D.  is  the  wife  of  Mr.  Fields;  Lucinda 
F.  is  Mrs.  Albert  May,  of  Nowata,  Indian  Territory;  Lydia  V.  married 
Thomas  E.  Dunbar  and  lives  in  Fawn  Creek  township;  Mary  W.  is  Mrs. 
John  Messersmith  and  resides  in  Fawn  Creek;  James  A.  is  the  youngest 
child  and  lives  in  Oklahoma. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fields  have  been  born  five  children,  as  follows: 
Theodore  C,  Perry  A.,  Elfa,  John  and  Frankie,  all  of  whom  are  yet  at 
home.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fields  know  what  it  is  to  endure  the  hardships 
of  pioneer  life,  and  it  was  only  by  frugality  and  industry,  in  those  early 
days,  that  they  have  come  to  a  position  of  comfort  in  their  latter  days. 

Mr.  Fields  has  always  been  foremost  in  any  attempt  made  by  his 
community  to  better  conditions,  in  the  matter  of  educational  facilities, 
and  in  securing  the  best  local  government.  He  has,  at  times,  served  in 
the  different  unpaid  ofiSces  of  the  township,  and  has  always  evinced  a 
personal  interest  in  those  about  him.     In  matters  of  political  concern, 


624  UISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

\\v  is  tavoiablc  lo  l)<'iii<>cratic  in-iiiciplos,  auil  supports  that  ticket  by  his 
vote.  In  social  life,  he  is  Iciiowii  as  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows'  Lodge, 
and  ijivps  his  inrtucnn-  In  the  I'mtherance  and  spread  of  the  principles 
of  fr-itcrnitv. 


.)(»Si:i'H  KiCllAUi)  HALL— Tile  pioneer  tailor  and  early  settler 
of  rotfeyville,  mentioned  in  the  introduction  to  this  review,  has  passed 
thirty-one  years  within  (he  limits  of  the  county's  metropolis  and  has 
maintained  himself  in  active  liusiness  here,  almost  continudusly  since. 
His  life  lias  been  mudest  and  unassuming-  and  the  simple  details  of  his 
ever\-day  business  have  marked,  lari^cly,  the  events  of  his  career. 

Hewasboriinear  Fruisbnr<;,  <"hantau(iua  county.  New  York.  January 
14.  1S41.  and  was  reaicd  in  ("atarrangus  county,  till  LS.")!,  when  his 
fathei-  immij'rated  to  the  Slate  of  Iowa,  in  Linn  county,  in  which  state 
our  su.bject  readied  mature  years.  His  father  was  Joseph  Hall  and  liis 
mother.' ]:isie  Akin,  a  (hniKJit'er  of  I'hoebe  (Kroukite)  Akin.  Josejih  Hall 
was  (^ne  of  tive  sons,  viz:  Havid  and  Solomon,  who  died  at  Kochester 
and  Newcastle.  Pennsylvania,  res[>ectively ;  John,  who  died  at  Kochester, 
Pennsylvania;  Itichard,  who  died  near  New  Hri<;hton,  Tennsylvania ;  and 
Joseph,  who  pas.scd  away  at  Onaville,  New  York,  in  18(;:i.  at  tifty-six 
yeai-s  of  aj;e. 

J(<se])li  Hall,  fallier  of  our  subject,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
liecaii.e  a  car])enter  and  mill-vvright  and  plied  his  trade  in  both  the  east 
and  v.est.  His  wife,  who  died  in  1848,  left  him :  James  A.,  of  Palo.  Iowa ; 
Joseiih  Hichard.  of  dolfeyville,  Kansas;  John  A,  of  jMiami,  Florida. 
Elsie  and  Josepli  I),  died  in  infancy.  For  his  second  wife,  he  married 
Hetsy  Palmer,  wiio  pas.sed  away  the  nu)ther  of:  Mary,  wife  of  William 
Aldridjic  of  ("levelaud,  Ohio;  Prusia.  who  married  P.enjamin  Krown, 
of  Onaville,  New  Y'ork  ,  and  Frank  A.,  of  Jamestown,  New  York, 

At  the  age  of  twelve  years,  Josei)h  R.  Hall  had  the  misfortune  to 
lose  his  left  leg,  having  it  mashed  l»etween  a  tree  and  a  log,  while  work- 
ing in  the  timber.  This  accident  did  not  sap  him  of  his  energy  or  his 
courage  and  he  went  about  his  work  of  their  Oatarraugus  county  farm 
with  remarkable  convenience  to  himself.  He  was  about  thirteen  years 
old  when  he  was  taken  to  Iowa  and,  in  Marion,  that  state,  he  was  ]mt 
to  the  tailor's  trade.  He  worked  with  William  Kingon  three  years  ami 
for  John  B.  West,  for  a  time.  He  was  employed  with  William  Dumont, 
in  Cedar  Rapids,  and,  iu  Lyons,  he  hired  to  a  government  contractor. 
From  this  point,  he  went  to  Chicago  and,  soon  after,  to  Newcastle,  I'enn 
sylvania.  Hei-e  and  at  Warren,  Ohio,  he  spent  some  months.  At  Sharon, 
i'ennsylvania,  he  was  iu  the  service  of  Goldstein  &  Bohaws  for  three 
years."  Returning  toward  the  west,  he  worked  in  Chicago,  lor  bis  old 
cmpl<)yer,  for  a  time,  and,  thence,  to  Clarion.   Iowa,  whei-c  be   first   en- 


I    I    I*  IT  »^  f*  r  V 
I    ••  ■•  »•  t    -    ■ 


-apports  that  ticket  by  hi^ 


-Tlie  pioneer  tailor  and  early 


the   Hn 


i 


.    wliile  work- 

nergy  or  liis 

.u;;iis  ('■ouiity  t':ii  !i! 

Mint  thirteci!   ,.      ■  > 


JOS.  R.  HALL. 


HISTdUV   OF    MONTGOMEnY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  627 

Our  subject  \v:is  liorii  and  leaietl  on  a  farm  in  his  native  stale,  where 
he  attended  the  country  school,  until  the  openinji  of  the  ("ivil  war.  At 
the  a^e  of  sixteen,  he  "answered  the  call  of  his  country  for  vohinteers. 
and  enlisted,  in  July,  ISC.l.  in  Company  "A,"  Thirty-third  Indiana  Vol- 
unteer Infantry.  He  was  in  many  hard-fought  battles,  among  them  be- 
ing Ft.  Donelson,  rerryville.  Wildcat.  Kesaca.  I'eachtree  Creek  and  Ken- 
nesaw  Mountain.  He  inarched  with  Sherman  to  the  sea.  and  i.articipated 
in  the  last  battle,  at  Cohnubus,  South  Carolina.  He  was  one  of  the  sol 
(Hers  who  were  left  to  pass  in  the  (irand  Review,  at  Washington,  1>.  (;., 
afterv.ard  being  sent  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  he  was  discharged, 
August  25,  ]8fi5,  after  four  years  of  hard  service. 

Mr.  McCloud  was  married,  Deceiiilx'r  L'.".  IStin.  to  Elizal)eth  Barker, 
a  native  of  Hendricks  county,  Indiana.  She  was  born  June  IT,.  184."). 
Her  fatlier,  Samuel  I'.arker,  was  a  native  of  Norih  Carolina,  and  her 
mother,  Dorothy  Kushton,  a  native  of  Indiana. 

Samuel  Barker  came  to  Kansas  in  1880,  and  settled  in  Thillips 
county,  where  he  died,  his  wife  having  died  in  Indiana.  The  family  con- 
sisted of  nine  children:  Jesse  C,  Elizabeth,  William,  Ellen,  Ellsworth, 
Emma,  John  W..  James,  and  one  who  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  McClotid 
came  to  Kansas  in  1874,  and  located  in  Osborn  county,  where  he  lived 
one  year.  In  1891,  after  twenty  years'  residence  in  Marshall  county,  he 
came  to  Montgomery  county,  locating  east  of  Coffeyville.  One  year  later, 
he  came  to  his  ])resent  farm  of  fifty  acres.  Here,  he  made  a  nice  home 
for  himself  and  family,  all  the  im]irovements  on  the  farm  being  due  to  his 
untiring  efforts. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Mi-Cloud  have  been  born  sixteen  children,  fourteen 
of  whom  are  living:  Eunice  Moore,  Ada  JIcKelijj  and  Ida  Bartley.  twins; 
^Martha  Keedy ,  Rosa  White,  Lulu  Fransue,  Mary  Noble.  William, 
Maggie,  Grant,  who  died  in  the  Philippines,  a  member  of  the  Fortieth 
r.  S.  Regulars  in  the  Spanish-American  war;  Adelia  Noble,  George, 
Addie,  Sally,  Edith,  deceased,  and  John.  Mr.  McCloud  is  a  Republican 
in  i)olitics. 


I'RENTICE  SMYTH— The  leading  merchant  of  the  rural  village 
of  Jefferson,  was  born  in  Butler  county,  Pennsylvania,  December  16, 
]8ol.  His  father,.  Henry  Smyth,  was  born,  of  Irish  parentage,  in  the 
'■Keystone  State,"  September  20,  1822.  He  married  Margaret  J.  Wimer, 
also  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  born  August  4,  1831,  They  lived  in  the 
"Keystone  State"  until  18G6,  when  they  came  out  to  Crawford  county. 
Missouri.  In  1881.  they  settled  in  Fawn  Creek  township,  Montgomery 
county,  Kansas,  where  the  father  now  resides,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one 
years!  the  mother  having  died,  Deceml>er  11,  1895,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
four.     Tliev  reared  nine  children,  all  of  whom  are  now  living,  viz:  Pren- 


628  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

tice.  ilio  subject  of  this  sketch;  ZiUah  A.,  Mrs.  Ringeisen;  Elzena,  John 
H..  Si.i-ah,  Jlrs.  l>euiaiee;  Hannah,  ilrs.  Cory;  William  S.,  Gilbert,  and 
Mrs.  Ida  Fisher. 

I'rentice  Smyth,  whose  honored  name  heads  this  review,  was  the 
eldest  .son  of  this  family.  He  was  a  lad  of  fourteen  years  when  they  re- 
moved to  Missouri,  and  he  had  received  a  fair  education  in  the  schools  of 
his  native  state.  After  coming  to  Missouri,  he  added  sutiBcient  knowl- 
edge to  enable  him  to  enter  the  school  room,  as  a  teacher,  which  consti- 
tuted the  first  work  he  engaged  in  for  himself.  He  taught  two  years,  suc- 
cessfully, and,  in  1882,  came  to  Kansas  and  engaged  in  farming.  He 
first  rented  land,  but,  by  careful  economy,  was  enabled,  in  a  few  years, 
to  accumulate  snfticient  to  purchase  a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  near  the 
town  of  Jetferson.  He  continued,  actively,  in  the  work  of  the  farm,  until 
September  of  18!)(),  when  he  started  a  general  mercantile  business  in  the 
village.  By  close  attention  to  business  and  judicious  management,  he 
has  succeeded,  admirably,  he  having,  at  this  time,  a  tine  country  trade. 
In  connection  with  his  mercantile  business,  he  is,  also,  the  owner  of  t\ 
nice  hotel  property  in  the  village,  and  has  other  property  interests. 

Marriage  was  soleluinized  by  Mr.  Smyth,  as  an  event  quite  late  in 
life,  he  having  lived  in  bachelorhood  until" the  17th  of  April,  1901.  The 
lady  who  became  his  wife  was  Laura  P..  Lashley,  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Tabitha  Lashley,  all  of  whom  are  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  Mrs.  Smyth 
having  been  born  in  Bedford  county,  November  3,  1866. 

Mr.  Smyth  is  a  man  of  intelligence  and  good  judgment,  and  is  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  solid  men  of  his  part  of  the  county.  He  has,  for 
a  number  of  years,  been  active  in  participation  in  political  affairs,  being 
a  strong  supporter  of  Republican  principles.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
McKinley  men  in  the  state,  and  was  greatly  pleased  when  the  conven- 
tion, at  St.  Louis,  named  him  as  the  head  of  the  Republican  ticket. 
Under  his  administration,  Mr.  Smyth  served,  as  postmaster,  in  the  village 
of  Jefferson.  The  death  of  McKinley  was  deeply  felt  by  our  subject,  who 
regarded  it  as  a  distinct  public  calamity,  scarcely  to  be  retrieved.  The 
esteem  in  which  Mr.  Smyth  and  his  good  wife  are  held  in  the  community 
of  Jefi'erson,  is  most  uniform  and  just. 


JAMES  F.  PATTERSON — There  is  no  county  in  Kansas  whose  ag- 
ricultural population  is  of  a  higher  character  than  that  of  Montgomery 
county.  The  county  became  the  Mecca,  immediately  after  the  war,  of  a 
large  "number  of  the  "Boys  in  Blue,"  who  had  given  four  years  of  their 
life  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  institutions  formed  by  our  fathers.  Their 
experience  in  the  war  had  made  them  excellent  judges  of  human  nature, 
and  had  impressed  them  wilh  the  value  of  republican  institutions.  To 
be  a  good  citizen,  it  is  necessary  to  love  one's  country  and  be  ready  to 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  629 

"do  and  die"  for  it,  and,  for  that  reason,  the  soldier  boys  of  1801-65 
made  excellent  material  out  of  which  to  form  a  state.  Montgomery 
county  was  peculiarly  fortunate  in  securing  a  large  body  of  these  soldier- 
citizens. 

In  1S70.  tlierc  caiiic  to  tlic  county,  the  gentleman  mentioned  in  the 
introduction  to  this  sketch.  He  was  born  in  Marshall  county.  West 
Virginia,  in  1847,  and  was  a  son  of  James  Patterson,  who  was  the  son 
of  John.'  They  settled  in  Marshall  county,  from  Maryland,  at  a  very 
early  date,  and  have  many  descendants  there.  Our  subject's  mother  was 
Sarah,  daughter  of  Michael  Crow.  James  Patterson  was  born  on  Wheel- 
ing creek,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a  noted  Indian  fighter  of  that  sec- 
tion, and  an  intimate  friend  of  Lewis  ^^■ctzel,  famed  in  history  as  one  of 
the  most  courageous  frontiei-smen  in  that  section  of  the  state. 

Michael  Crow  was  an  avowed  enemy  of  the  Red  Man.  This  enmity 
resulted  from  the  cnu>l  massacre  of  two  beautiful  daughters  by  them, 
during  his  temporary  absence  from  home,  and  he  was,  ever  afterward, 
bitter  and  unsparing  in  his  efforts  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  daughters. 
A  portion  of  the  land  which  he  preempted  from  the  government,  is  still 
in  the  possession  of  the  Crow  family. 

James  F.  I'atterson  was  reared  at  Moundville,  West  Virginia,  where 
he  received  his  primary  education,  and,  later,  attended  school  in  Guernsey 
county,  Ohio.  His  father  died  when  he  was  about  fifteen  years  of  age. 
upon  which  event  he  returned  to  his  home  and,  for  a  number  of  years, 
worked  on  the  home  farm.  In  the  year  1869,  he  came  west,  to  Kansas, 
and  spent  a  short  period  at  Topeka.  In  March  of  1870,  he  came  to  Mont 
gomery  county,  where  he  located  on  the  quarter  section  which  now  con 
stitutes  his  farm  and  which  he  paid  a  squatter  .|60  to  quitclaim.  He  has 
reselded  here  all  the  intervening  years  and  is  regarded  with  high  favor 
by  all  of  the  early  residents  of  the  county,  as  well  as  a  large  circle  of 
friends  and  neighbors  of  later  years. 

In  the  year  1882,  Mr.  Patterson  was,  happily,  joined  in  marriage  with 
Matilda,  daughter  of  Jonas  and  Martha  (Phillips)  Gi'oves,  of  Noble  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  where  her  parents  were  leading  citizens  and  farmers.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Patterson  have  reared  a  family  of  nine  children,  seven  of  whom  are 
now  living,  as  follows :  Lewis,  Elizabeth  May,  Isabelle,  Frank,  Raymond, 
George  E.,  and  Charles.  Jlr.  Patterson  is  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and 
high  character  and  he  and  his  family  are  regarded  with  great  favor  by 
those  who  are  fortunate  with  their  acquaintance.  In  political  matters, 
he  favors  the  Populist  party,  but  previous  to  its  birth,  he  affiliated  with 
the  Democratic  party.  In  matters  of  religion,  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 


THOMAS  A.  STEVENS,  ^l.  I).— Materia  niedica  is  a  field  which 
has  attracted  some  of  the  brightest  minds  in  the  history  of  the  race.    And 


630  lIISniKV    (IF    MoNTl^OMKKY    COrNTV,    KANSAS. 

well  i;  iiiav.  The  in-olilciii  of  •■MI'i'  iiiid  dcalli"  is  (iiic  whose  sol\ition  is 
of  vast  iiiii.orliiiicc.  Tlic  "siiappiiifi  of  (lie  silver  tliread"  is  fmu<;ht  with 
such  Ireiiiendoiis  eoiise(|neii(cs  to  Ihe  individual,  tliaf  lie  is  fei<;ii  to  draw 
hack  fi-oiii  lakinji  the  final  steji,  as  lonji  as  |iossiiile.  .\iid  second  only 
in  inijiortance.  is  the  boon  of  health,  to  seciive  which,  once  lost,  fortunes 
are  as  feathers  in  the  halan<e.  The  physician  llnis  has  a  field  of  endeavor 
honndless  as  life  itself,  and  whose  ••rave  ics|M.nsihilities  challenfie  his 
most  thouj;htfnl  consideial  ion.  To  ihis  jii-ofession.  hcloiiiis  the  gentle 
man  iiKMiiioned  alicne.  and  whose  success,  in  his  chosen  tield.  has  heen 
..f  th(>  hij-hest  order. 

Itr.  Stevens  is  a  native  of  Indiana,  havinj;  U-en  horn  in  the  villajic  of 
Corydoii.  on  the  14th  of  March.  IsriCi.  lie  conies  of  a  family  which  is 
dislin<;iiislied  in  the  medical  winld.  his  father.  Dr.  -Joseidi  I).  Steven.s, 
haviiii;  heen  a  successful  praci  il  ioiier  tor  Ihe  past  foin  live  vears.  located 
at  Ihe  preseni  lime,  al  I'ern.  Kansas,  lie.  also,  is  a  ilativc  of  the  -lloos- 
ier  Slate."  where  he  married  .Maii;arel  .\.  .lolinson.  <if  \i( ciiiies.  He 
located  in  thai  classic  old  lown.  for  llie  pradice  (d  his  pi(dession.  and 
remained  Ihere  till  IST."..  In  Ihal  year,  he  came  to  Kansas,  and.  selecl- 
iiij;    I'eru   as   an   axailahle    poinl.    has    he.Mi    piomiiieni  ly      and      helpfully 

a  family  of  se\en  childn-n.  llie  molli<-r  dyiiij;  inlSTC.  al  ihe  a-.'  of  thirty- 
seven  years.  Of  Ihis  family,  .losejih  ( '.  was  edii.ale.l  lo  ihi'  medical  pro- 
fession and  now  praclices  in  ihe  Cherokee  Nation.  Kdward  .M..  anntlier 
son.  lives  in  I'eiii.  with  his  falher  and  four  sisters. 

Thomas  A.  Stevens  was  Ihe  eldest  son  of  this  family.  His  education 
was  Ihal  of  an  ordinary  \illa,si;e  hoy,  to  wliich  was  added  tlie  i-efining 
inlliience  of  a  cultured  home,  and  williin  whose  sacred  ].reeincts  the 
entire  jieriod  of  ad(deseiice  was  passed.  He  jireceded  Die  family  removal 
lo  Kansas,  by,  a  year.  a7•ri^■inJ;  at  Indejiendence  in  1S74.  He  soon  went 
to  Sedan,  where  he  tau};ht  scho(d.  the  following  tliree  years.  Deciding 
on  Ihe  medical  ]irofession.  foi-  his  life  work,  he  took  courses  at  the  St. 
Louis  medical  school  and.  also,  at  the  Kansas  City  Medical  ('ollejje.  He 
received  his  dejiree  from  Ihis  latter  institution,  iu  1802.  and  began  the 
pradice,  immediately,  at  Caney.  where  he  lias  since  resided. 

Dr.  Stevens  is  a  man  of  varied  activities  and  has  heen  a  powerful 
factor  in  Ihe  devidojinient  of  Caney  and  the  surroujiding  territory.  He 
has  been  coniiecled  with  many  of  its  liest  enterprises,  his  latest  venture 
beinj;  Ihe  establishment  <d'  the  Caney  Sanitarium  and  Hospital,  an  insti- 
lulioii  which  bids  fair  to  eclijise  anything,  in  its  line,  in  southern  Kansas. 

Dr,  Ste\cns  has  honoied  himself  and  the  city,  by  serving  two  terms 
-  ],'-;!>!i  l!t()(l--in  Ihe  otlice  of  mayor,  and,  for  the  last  seven  years,  has 
been  <tn  tin-  board  of  education'.  In  jtolilical  belief,  lie  siipjiorts  the 
Democrat  il'  ]iarlv.  and  is.  al  ]ircsent.  the  clerk  of  the  township,  in  which 
he  resides. 


I  i 


4 


l^4*i'  « 


T.  A.  STEVENS,   M.  D 


HISTORY   OK    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS.  635: 

in  a  niai'kod  dejjroc,  the  cliaractoristics  of  those  uoblp  jiioiioors  who  re- 
ckiinied  the  great  middle  west  from  lis  savage  state.  He  was  the  father 
of  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  icacticd  malniil.v.  as  follows:  Lewis,  of 
Buffalo;  Elizabeth,  Mrs.  Finfiock,  of  Waynesville.  Illinois;  Mrs.  Lucy 
Gillett,  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska;  Mrs.  Mary  Edwards,  )iow  deceased;  Mrs. 
Pauline  Shreve,  deceased;  Hardin,  deceased;  W.  Wcott.  of  I'.utl'alo  Heart, 
Illinois;  Marion  and  Harry,  of  the  same  place.  Of  this  family,  Hardin 
was  born  in  Sangamon  county,  September  16,  1846.  and  died,  in  Coffey- 
ville,  Kansas,  March  21,  1895.  He  married  Harriet  N.  Landis,  a  native 
of  Indiana,  and  now  an  honored  resident  of  Decatur,  Illinois.  To  them 
were  born:  Phillip  H.,  Louis  B.,  of  St.  Louis,  Miss(mri.  and  ilabel.  wife 
of  Frank  Skinner,  of  Coffeyville. 

Hardin  Cass  was  a  prominent  fruit  farmer  of  Sangamon  county, 
Illinois,  and  was  a  man  of  correct  and  industrious  habits,  though  a  rather 
short  life.  He  was  too  young  to  take  part  in  the  Civil  war,  save  for  a  brief 
period  at  the  close,  when  be  served,  as  a  private,  in  Company  "I."  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Thirty  third  Infantry, 

Phillip  H.  Cass  grew  to  manhood,  surrounded  with  the  elevating  in- 
fluences of  a  Cliristian  country  home.  The  foundation  of  his  later  educa- 
tion was  laid  in  the  excellent  common  schools  of  Illinois  and  Kansas. 
He  added  a  literary  and  business  course  at  Beatrice,  Normal  College  and, 
in  1893.  entered  tiie  \\'ai-  I)ei)artment  at  Washington,  as  record  clerk. 
He  reniained  in  this  service  .some  six  years,  during  which  he  employed 
his  spare  time  in  studying  law  in  the  Oeorgetown  Cniversity,  and  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  189(J.  In  1899,  at  the  clo.se  of  the  Spanish- 
American  war,  he  came  to  CotTeyville  and  opened  a  law  office.  The  suc- 
cess wliich  has  attended  his  elVorts,  thus  far,  augurs  well  for  his  future. 
The  efforts  of  Mr.  Cass  have  shown  him  to  be  a  capable,  safe  and  con- 
servative coun.sellor  at  law. 

Mr.  Cass  married,  October  4,  1899,  at  Washington,  1).  C..  :Miss  Flor- 
ence P.  Chase,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Adele 
Chase,  of  the  Capitol  Citv.  One  child  has  come  to  bless  their  home, 
Phillip  H..  Jr. 

Mr.  Cass  has  identified  himself  with  the  life  of  Coffeyville  in  a  help- 
ful way.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  while  his  wife  holds 
membership  with  the  i"nilarians.  In  fraternal  life,  Mr.  Cass  is  an  honor, 
ed  member  of  the  Mas(uiic  Lodge,  and  his  political  views  are  embodied 
in  the  platforms  of  the  Keiiuhiican  party. 


ANDREW  J.  DICKERSOX— Andrew  J.  Dickerscm  was  born  in 
Boone  county,  Indiana,  November  14,  1842.  His  father,  Fleming  Dicker- 
son,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  is  still  living  in  Indiana,  at  the  nmture 
age  of  ninety-three  years.     He  married  Jane  R.  Gwin,  a  native  of  Indi- 


634  HISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY^   KANSAS. 

ana,  and  of  Irish  descent;  both  of  her  parents  having  emigrated  from 
Irehind.  ^he  died,  in  1849,  at  the  age  of  forty-six.  To  them  were  born 
seven  chiklren,  all  of  whom  are  living,  as  follows:  Elijah,  Henry  J., 
Andrew  J.,  Snsan  Woods.  Mary  Smith.  Jane  MrCormiok.  and  Sarah  Key 
nolds.  For  his  second  wife.  Fleming  Diekerson  married  Folly  Clark. 
To  this  marriage  were  born  five  children :  Charles,  Viiginia,  John,  Ella 
and  William. 

Andrew  Diekerson  spent  his  boyhood  days  in  Indiana  on  a  farm, 
where  he  received  a  common  school  education.  In  the  fall  of  1863,  he 
enlisted  in  Company  "G,"  Thirtieth  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry.  He 
was  in  many  skirmishes  and  battles,  including  Ihose  of  Fulaski,  Colum- 
bia, Franklin  and  Nashville,  and  he  passed  through  these  without  being 
captured  or  wounded.  At  the  close  of  the  war.  he  A\as  mustered  out,  at 
Camp  Stanley,  Texas,  and  returned  home. 

On  the  ilth  day  of  January,  1862,  :Mr.  lUckcrson  was  married  to 
Sarah  Acton,  a  native  of  Indiana,  where  she  was  born,  on  August  7,  1816. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  James  and  Sarepta  Acton.  Her  father,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-six  years,  is  now  living  in  Indiana,  while  the  mother  died  at 
seventy-five  years  of  age.  Their  children  Tiumber  ten,  the  seven  living 
being ;"]\rahala  Acton.  Margaret  l>i(kers(iii.  Hazil.  Ilarton,  Simon,  James 
and  Thomas. 

Andrew  J.  Diekerson  came  to  Kansas  in  1SS.">  and  settled  near  Cof- 
feyville.  He  lived  here  until  1807,  when  he  l)()ught  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
aiid  twenty  acres,  six  miles  west  of  the  city,  where  he  I'esides  at  present. 
They  have  five  children:  Dora  Abstine.'  Olive  Harbiscm,  Flora  Arm- 
strong, Simon  and  Otis.  Mr.  Diekerson  is  a  member  of  the  C.  A.  R.  and 
has  alwavs  had  a  citizen's  interest  in  Democratic  politiis. 


I5EALE  A.  ROI'.IXSON— ,  Y.  S.—A  worthy  citizen  «if  Independence 
whose  professional  career  has  been  of  vast  good  to  the  animal  industry 
of  the  surrounding  country,  is  the  veterinary  surgeon.  Dr.  P..  A.  Robin- 
son. His  residence  in  the  county  has  been  comjiaratively  brief,  but  the 
efficiency  of  his  work  has  guaranteed  his  permanence,  as  a  citizen,  and 
it  is  mete  to  note,  briefly,  a  few  facts  connected  with  his  origin  and  his 
life  work. 

May  29,  1877,  Beale  A.  Robinson  was  born  in  Union  county,  Ohio, 
of  parents,  Guido  and  Laura  (Andrews)  Robinson.  The  father  was  born 
in  Delaware  county,  Ohio,  and  was  a  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Tay- 
lor) Robinson,  of  London,  England.  The  grandfather  was  an  artist, 
painter  and  geologist,  and  had  children :  Edwin,  Alfred,  Reuben,  Mary, 
Ferris,  Arthur,  Edward  and  Guido.  The  wife  of  the  last  named  was  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Effie  Andrews,  of  New  England. 

Dr.  Robinson  is  one  of  five  chilrden.  as  follows:  Gerard,  of  Ohio; 


UISIOKV    or    MDNTCUMKKV    COINTV.    KANSAS.  635 

Beale.  our  suli.jc<t  ;  i:ilis,  of  Ostniiido,  Oliio;  (inu-e.  wife  of Mackaflj 

of  Ostraiulo.  Ohio,  and  liu'z.  l)iirin<;  liis  hoyliood  and  youth,  Beale  A. 
worked  on  the  farm  and  contrihuted.  in  liis  natural  way,  to  the  domestic 
establishment.  He  attended  country  school  and  the  Dover  hi<>h  school, 
and  when  nineteen  years  old,  took  up  teacliiu};-  school.  For  two  years, 
he  was  a  country  teacher,  in  Union  c(mnty,  Ohio,  and,  at  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  came  to  Kansas,  on  a  bicycle,  in  coin])any  with  his  brothers. 
He  stopped  at  I'arsons,  several  months,  and,  deciding  to  study  veterinary 
surgery,  entered  the  well  known  college  of  that  profession,  in  Ontario, 
Canada,  from  which  he  graduated,  in  the  spring  of  1900.  He  returned 
to  Parsons,  Kansas,  and  was  in  the  practice  there  and  at  Beloit,  Kansas, 
until  his  advent  to  Independence,  in  September  of  1001.  Here,  he  is  asso- 
ciated with  Dr.  !■;.  K.  Srtive,  a  student  of  the  same  college  with  himself, 
and  the  firm  const  ilutes  one  of  the  strong  ones  in  veterinary  surgerj' 
and  practice  in  tlic  state. 


JOHN  H.  BL.VIK — fohn  H.  Blair,  who  was.  until  early  in  190.3,  a 
merchant  of  Havana,  and  a  young  man  of  s])lendid  executive  talents,  b\it 
now  a  resident  of  one  of  the  Teiiitories  of  the  southwest,  came  to  Kan- 
sas with  his  ])aients  in  lS(i(i.  and,  tluee  years  later,  to  Montgomery 
county,  where  his  residence  was  maintained  'till  his  removal  west.  His 
birth  occurred  in  Wappelo  I'onnty,  Iowa,  on  the  ard  of  ilarch,  1862,  he 
being  a  son  of  John  O.  and  Damaris  I.  (Briggs)  Blair.  His  parents 
were  of  the  sturdy  yeomanry  of  the  country  and  both  natives  of  Fountain 
county.  Indiana.  After  their  marriage,  they  resided  in  Indiana  until 
the  date  of  their  removal  to  the  birthplace  of  John  R.,  in  1856.  They 
moved  down  into  Kan.sa.s  on  the  date  stated  above,  and  settled  east  of 
Galesburg,  Neosho  county,  and,  in  1869,  filed  on  a  claim  near  Havana. 
They  were  thrifty  and  industrious  citizens,  the  right  kind  of  pioneer 
material,  and  used  their  influence  at  all  times  in  building  well  the  foun 
dations  of  Montgomery  society.  The  mother  passed  away  in  1886,  aged 
fifty-live  years,  the  father  reaching  the  ripe  old  age  of  three  score  and 
ten,  dying  Novendier  27,  HKtl.  Four  of  their  seven  children  are  living: 
James  W.,  John  K.,  Louisa  M..  now  Mrs.  Jones,  and  Daniel  W.  O.  Blair. 

The  training  of  our  subject  was  that  of  the  Kansas  pioneer  farm, 
with  somewhat  limited  school  facilities.  But  such  as  they  were,  John 
R.  made  the  most  of  them  and  managed  to  have  sufficient  education  at 
eighteen  years  to  (pialify  him  for  work  in  the  school-room.  He  taught 
successfully  for  two  years,  and  then  coming  to  Havana  began  his  career 
as  a  business  man,  as  a  clerk  in  the  general  store  of  Lockwood  &  Son. 
Four  years  of  faithful  service  here,  and  he  and  his  father  went  into  the 
real  estate  business.    After  two  years  our  subject  started  in  the  grocery 


636  HISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COU?>T\^   KA.N&AS. 

business,  in  connection  with  which  he  served  I'nole  Sam  as  postmaster 
under  the  administration  of  President  Harrison. 

Mr.  Blair  had  always  been  an  active  worker  for  the  success  of  the  Re- 
Ijublican  ticket,  and  this  fact,  together  with  his  excellent  standing  with 
the  business  men  of  the  county,  was  instrumental  in  his  being  selected 
as  a  candidate  for  county  treasurer.  He  took  the  oath  of  office  in  1895, 
and  two  years  later  his  conduct  of  the  office  was  endorsed  by  re-election. 
His  incumbency  of  four  years  in  the  county's  treasure-house  was  marked 
by  efficiency  aiid  faithfulness,  and  he  returned  In  private  life  with  the 
best  v>'ishes  of  his  constituents. 

Under  the  firm  name  of  the  Havana  Mercantile  Company,  Mr.  Blair 
— his  wife  also  being  interested — now  began  business  again,  on  a  much 
larger  scale  than  formerly.  His  success  was  most  marked,  the  firm 
occupying  a  large  two-story  brick,  filled  with  a  splendid  stock  of  general 
merchandise,  and  did  the  greater  part  of  the  Inisincss  in  their  line  in  this 
part  of  the  county.  Mr.  Blair  owns  two  residence  projierties.  one  in  In- 
dependence and  the  other  in  Havana. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  ]{lair  was  cunsunimated  on  the  13th 
of  October,  1889,  her  maiden  name  having  been  Lou  M.  Pettet.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  George  and  Nancy  (Gi-eer)  Pettet,  of  Independence,  and 
both  she  and  her  parents  are  natives  of  the  "Hoosier  State,"  coming  to 
Kansas  in  1868.  To  Mrs.  Blair  have  been  born  two  children :  Treva  G., 
born  July  14,  1890,  and  Lua  E.,  born  August  5,  1892. 

Secure  in  the  possession  of  the  good  wishes  of  a  large  ])ortion  of  the 
population  of  the  county,  with  an  honorable  public  record  and  a  success- 
ful business  career,  with  conjugal  happiness,  a  fair  portion  of  this 
world's  goods,  and  above  all,  a  splendid  optimistic  dis])osition,  always 
seeing  the  bright  side  of  life,  the  career  of  John  B.  Blaii'  in  his  new  home 
is  not  hard  to  prognosticate. 


CVUrS  M.  BI-KTON— Prominent  aiiKing  the  worthy  agriculturists 
(if  .Alontgomcry  county  is  C.  M-  Burton,  one  of  tlie  very  earliest  settlers  of 
the  county,  where  he  located  on  a  quarter  section,  in  Louisburg  township, 
in  the  year  1S(;9.  Later,  he  was  away  from  the  county  feu-  a  time  but  after 
a  shoit  al)sence  returned  to  the  same  township,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided. 

-Mr.  i'.nrlon  is  one  of  the  old  soldier  eli'iiicnl  iillraclcd  hither  by  the 
smiling  jirairics  of  Kansas  after  the  hardships  of  tlie  struggle  of  the  CO's. 
His  nativity  dates  in  the  "Buckeye  State,"  where,  in  Harrison  county, 
he  was  born  in  the  year  1834.  His  parents  were  Lee  S.  and  Hanna 
(Stone)  Burton.  Lee  S.  Burton  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Burton,  who  emi- 
grated from  England  to  Maryland  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century, 
and  settled   near  EUicott's  Mills,  and,   in   1815,   removed  to  Jefferson 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY^  KANSAS.  637 

couiit.N.  Ohio.  On  the  mother's  side,  Oraudfather  Stone  c-anie  from  Teun- 
sylvania  and  became  a  pioneer  of  Ohio.  Grandfather  Burton,  hiter  in 
life,  located  in  Harrison  county,  Ohio,  whore  he  reared  five  children,  two, 
only,  of  whom  are  living:  Samuel  and  Hannah,  who  reside  in  Boone 
countj,  Iowa.  Grandfather  Burton  died  on  the  old  homestead,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five  years,  his  wife  having  died  during  the  Civil  war. 

Our  subject  was  the  eldest  of  the  family,  the  second  child  being 
Caroline;  Thomas,  John  and  Israel  served  in  the  Civil  war;  Benjamin 
B.,  Lura  Jane,  Elizabeth  and  Neal.  Cyrus  M.  Burton  was  reared  in  Har- 
rison county,  Ohio,  and  resided  on  his  father's  farm,  until  his  enlist- 
ment, in  18(U,  as  a  private  in  Company  "A,"  One  Hundred  and  Sev- 
entieth Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  His  regiment  became  a  part  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  and  he  was  engaged  in  the  following  battles: 
Cedar  Creek,  Quaker  Gap  and  Winchester,  and  he  was  mustered  out,  in 
October  of  1864.  After  his  return  home,  he  cultivated  his  father's  farm 
for  a  year  and,  in  18(i9.  came  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  where  he 
settled  a  claim  in  West  Cherry  township.  He  cultivated  this  claim  until 
1883,  when  he  sold  it  and  removed  to  Chautauqua  county,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  two  hundred  and  eighty  acre  farm,  in  company  -with  his  brother, 
and  engaged  in  the  cattle  business.  They  continued  this  business  for  sev- 
eral \ears  and  then  sold  out  and  returned  to  Montgomery  county,  where 
our  subject  purchased  his  present  farm,  in  Louisburg  township.  It  con- 
sists of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  and  is  devoted  to  general  farming 
purposes. 

Mr.  Burton  was  happily  married  to  Mary  J.,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Jane  (Harmon)  Handley,  all  residents  of  Harrison  county,  Ohio. 
Mrs.  Burton's  father  was  a  farmer  of  that  county  and  reared  a  family  of 
nine  children,  of  which  she  was  the  eldest.  The  names  of  the  other  mem- 
bers were:  Nancy,  John  A.,  Phoebe,  Samuel  (deceased).  Patience,  Reason 
(deceased),  Albert  and  Marshall.  The  father  died  in  November  of  1864, 
in  his  forty-fifth  year,  the  mother  living  to  the  age  of  sixty-six,  and  pas- 
sing away,  in  Kansas,  April  3,  1888.  The  father  of  the  family  was  a 
gallani  soldier  of  the  Civil  war,  second  lieutenant  in  Company  "G,"  of 
the  Seventy-fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burton  are  the  parents  of  eleven  children :  Alice,  born 
January  5,  1862,  married  William  McCabe  and  resides  at  Cofl'eyville, 
with  their  four  children:  Ida,  Amy,  Owen  L.  and  Claud;  Minnie,  born 
January  4,  1863,  is  the  wife  of  Harrison  Truitt  and  lives  in  Chautauqua, 
counly,  Kansas,  with  three  children :  May,  Leona  and  Benjamin  H. ; 
Samuel  Lee,  born  December  12,  1864,  died  in  November  of  186.5;  Carrie, 
born  September  13,  1866,  is  Mrs.  William  A.  Meadows,  of  Chautauqua 
county.  Kansas,  with  seven  children :  Mattie,  Guy,  Siras,  Alice,  Viras, 
Ethel"  and  Alvis;  William  A.,  born  August  23,  1868,  is  a  Chautauqua 
-county  farmer,   married   Lettie  Cunningham,   and  has   three  children: 


Avis.  Alviii  :ui(l  Chnlvs;  .Icssic  T.iu'lla,  liorn  Ai.ril  24.  1873,  resides  at 
home;  Thoiiins  ]{..  hniii  July  28.  1875.  lives  at  Costcllo.  is  a  farmer  and 
married  Bessie  Frizell,  and  has  one  child:  Goldie;  Nannie  M.,  born  Jan- 
uary 29.  1878,  resides  in  Elk  City;  Cornelia,  born  Febrnary  8.  and  died 
April  20.  1870;  Cyrus,  born  Nove'nd)er  25,  1880,  married  :Maud  Harrison, 
and  resides  on  the  lionie  farm;  and  Joseph  1'..  born  November  10,  1881*, 
resides  at  home. 

Mr.  Rui-lon  has  always  been  a  leading  member  of  the  community 
in  which  he  resides  and  has  evinced  interest  in  the  institutions  which  go 
to  make  up  this  law-abiding  community.  He  is  an  ardent  Republican, 
in  politics,  and  he  and  his  family  are  active  members  of  the  Christian 
church. 


JOHN  ^^■.  BARLOW — For  a  number  of  years,  the  iron  work,  inci- 
dent to  the  commercial  life  of  Caney,  has  been  done  almost  exclusively 
by  this  "hardy  son  of  toil,"  and  whose  merry  anvil  has  rung  out  a  cheery 
song  of  prosperity,  since  he  first  tapped  its  flinty  face,  within  the  city 
limits.  Nor  has-  this  prosperity  been  the  result  of  brawn,  entirely ;  brain 
has  counted  in  the  story;  intelligent  management,  and  painstaking  effort 
to  please,  has  united,  with  a  skilled  hand,  to  make  its  owner  one  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  his  city. 

John  W.  Barlow  was  born  in  Neosho,  Missouri,  on  the  28th  of  Aug- 
ust, 18.57.  His  father's  name  was  Matthew  J.  Barlow,  a  native  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee.  He  settled  in  Missouri,  when  a  young  man,  where 
he  learned  the  blacksmithing  trade,  a  vocation  which  lie  followed  during 
his  entire  life.  In  Missouri,  he  met  and  married  Elizabeth  Alexander, 
also  f  native  of  Tennessee,  and,  after  a  number  of  years'  residence  there,, 
removed  to  Kansas,  in  the  spring  of  18f)3.  He  settled  in  Neosho  Falls, 
but,  in  June  of  the  same  year,  answered  the  call  of  his  country  and  went 
to  the  front,  as  a  member  of  Company  "31,"  Ninth  Kansas  Volunteer  Cav- 
alry. He  served,  in  this  regiment,  to  the  close  of  the  war.  his  discharge 
dating  July  11,  18(>5.  He  resumed  work  at  the  forge  and  lived,  for  sev- 
eral years,  at  Neoslio  Falls.  He  then  passed  sliort  ])eriods  in  Altoona, 
Fredonia  and  New  Albany,  where  he  died  in  1885,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six 
year?.  The  wife  still  survives  him  and  now  resides  in  Oklahonia  Terri- 
tory, at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-one  years.  The  family  of  these  par- 
ents consisted  of  lliicc  cliildren,  two  daughters  besides  our  subject,  Mary 
and  I-aura,  both  li\  ing. 

John  W.  passed  ills  childhood,  for  the  most  jiart,  in  Woodson  county, 
Kansas,  and  was  inured  to  the  hardships  and  piivations  of  the  early  set- 
tlers in  that  time.  He  learned  the  blacksmith  trade,  in  his  father's  shop, 
and  early  became  one  of  his  most  exjiert  hands.  He  remained  with  his 
father  until  his  death,  and.  after  a  short  trial  of  conducting  the  shop 


fir  r- 


I 


I  NTY,  KANSAS. 

,1.   !  wn  April  24,  1S73,  i. •■-  \'«.  ut 
n,  lives  at  (\)stello.  is  a  fariwv  aiiij 
iiild:  C.oldie;  Nannif  AT..  Vicc/.   'nn 
'DiTielia,  born  Fein;: 
r  25,  1880,  niarriei'     , 

^-(  i.u   r.    liui-n  Ni. 

•toa  lias  always 

!'.'si(!PS    ,111(1    llMS    :'• 

.]■,<]   he  ai!(l    ins.   fnitii 

:i)pr  of  the  ooinnmn 

.   inMin:l„„.s  whidl^ 

11                                                ■  jniblicau, 
V                                                    Christian 

11  a  young  man,  where 

:.ich   lu-    rnlloy^cl    ,^>nh).i^ 

)<]-■  ■■  , .!■;■,■   iu>  , 

lie  nm  and  iiiairied  Eli/ 

:iisii  ■•  ii:i;i\i-  (11 

•1,  after  a  number  of  year 

reii!0\e(l  to  Kn: 

.  :  it-  ■■[  fs!ia.     He  settle.!  :. 

but,  iu  June  ol 

';■  call  of  his  ctnuiUy  aiju  wcut 

to  the  front,  as 

Ninth  Kansas  Volunteer  Cav- 

airy.    He  servc:(.. 

.,,  ....   :_,... :'<"  "'■  ''"'  ■■«^"    i'''^  discharge 

dating  July  11,  1 

><tir).     He  resuniec                                                  '1,  for  sev- 

era  I  yi^ars.  ut  \'( 

>sl,..  Fa  U.S.     He  ,                                                        Altoona. 

Frpdoni;^  . 

■    >: '        •                                      ..V-  uf  fifty-six 

year  ■3.    ' 

■  >klaho«ia  Terri- 

■ff-V.    Mt 

ily  of  these  par- 

■i>v  subject,  Mary 

''V<io;^«:or  omint;''. 

id,  jiii 


'  -t  17   H 


JOHN  W.  BARLOW. 


HISTORY  OF   MONT(;OMEKY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  64I 

motlici-,  ilciioiulent  upon  liiiii.  he  felt  it  his  duty  (o  rnriain  :it  htuuc,  dur- 
iiijl  thiit  slrufijiie.  Hut  .lacoli,  iiowfvci-,  weiif  to  (he  front,  wliile  John 
assisted  in  raisinji  a  couipany  in  liis  home  townsliip,  and,  during  the  con- 
tinuauce  of  tlie  war,  failed  not  in  giving  the  goveiinnent  projiei-  and  loyal 
support.  In  18(>:{,  he  moved  out  to  Vigo  county,  Indiana,  where  he 
farmed,  until  the  dale  of  his  settlement  in  Montgomery  county,  in  1880. 
Here,  he  has  lived  the  life  of  a  good  and  (piiet  cilizcn,  unrullled  by  any 
exciting  event. 

Mr.  Hysung  buried  the  wife  of  his  yoiilli.  in  \H'X\.  Her  name  was 
Elizabeth  Itevore,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  daughter  of  Cornelius 
and  i:iizahclli  (  Duulap)  Deviu-e.  She  was  a  woman  of  superior  make-ug 
and  a  kind  mother  to  her  two  sons:  Cornelius  F.,  who  resides  in  Kansas 
City,  in  the  eniiiloy  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Ry.  Co.,  and  .lames  S.,  a  clerk 
in  Hakersfleld,  California.  The  present  wife  of  our  subject  was  the  wid- 
ow of  Charles  Brown,  one  of  the  victims  of  the  Dalton  raid.  She  is  an 
Ohioan,  and  a  daughter  of  Alfred  and  Th-ania  (Conant)  Morley,  her 
Christian  name  being  Emily  L.  Her  [larents  were  natives  of  Massachu- 
setts, where  they  married,  and  then  came  to  Ohio,  where,  at  Kirtland, 
they  passed  the  renuiinder  of  their  lives.  The  father  was  a  carriage 
maker,  his  age,  at  death,  having  been  seventy-seven  years.  The  wife  died 
many  years  earlier,  at  forty  four.  Tlie  children  were:  Watson,  of  Day- 
ton (Ohio)  Soldiers'  Home;  George  H.,  deceased;  ('harles  T.,  of  Paines- 
ville,  Ohio ;  Emily  L. ,  Lewis  A.,  of  Onoway,  Iowa  ;  Howard  C,  of  Youngs- 
town,  Ohio;  Elizabeth  Whiting,  of  AVhiting,  Iowa.  All  the  sons  of  this 
famil.^  enlisted  in  defense  of  "Old  Olory."  their  service  aggregating  a 
period  of  seventeen  years.  Mrs.  Hysung  was,  prior  to  her  first  nuirriage, 
a  suc(  essful  teacher,  having  taught,  some  ten  years,  in  the  States  of  Ohio, 
Iowa,  Michigan  and  Indiana. 

Mr.  Hysung  and  his  wife  are  of  excellent  standing  in  the  community 
where  they  have  residence,  and  enjoy  the  esteem  of  a  large  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances. 


MATT.  CKIFFIN— One  of  the  leading  farmers  of  Parker  township, 

and  none  re  i)rominently  and  honorably  associated   with  the  history 

of  his  county,  is  Matt,  (iriffin,  who  was  born  in  Adair  county.  Missouri, 
on  the  27tli  of  .January.  18u7.  His  father.  Lafayette  Criftiii.  was  a  native 
of  South  Carolina,  where  he  was  married  to  <"atherine  (iriltin,  a  native  of 
the  same  state.  They  nuived  to  Adair  county,  in  an  early  day,  where  they 
engaged  in  farming.  The  father  was,  accidentally,  drowned  there,  in 
18(!L  when  only  forty-seven  years  of  age.  His  wife  survives  him,  a  resi- 
dent of  Iudei)endence,  Kansas,  with  her  daughter.  She  came  to  Mont- 
gomeiy  county,  in  18(it),  and  is  one  of  the  old  settlers  of  the  county,  hav- 
ing gone  through  all  the  hardships  of  a  new  country,  with  the  burden  of 
a  large  family  to  rear.     Her  familv  consists  of  six  children:  Keturah, 


O42  HISTORY    OF    MONTCJOMEKl    CUUlMl,    UA.^»A». 

Frank.  Matt.  Mary,  William  and  Jefferson. 

Matt.  Griffin  "was  the  third  child,  and  .second  son.  He  was  only 
twelve  years  of  age  when  his  mother  moved  to  Kansas,  and  he  and  his 
older  brother  had  to  do  the  work  of  the  farm.  The  children  made  the 
most  of  the  opportunities  offered  by  the  district  school  and  some  educa- 
tion was  acquired. 

Mv.  Griffin  lived  with  his  mother,  till  his  marriage,  1879,  to  Cordelia 
Addie.  a  native  of  Ohio.  His  wife's  father  and  mother,  William  and 
Elizabeth  Addie,  were  both  natives  of  Ohio.  They  came  to  Kansas  in 
1868,  and  located  two  miles  north  of  Humboldt,  where  Mr.  Addie  died, 
in  1809.  at  thirty-eight  years  of  age.  In  1870,  the  family  moved  to  Mont- 
gomery county,  where  they  lived  for  a  number  of  years.  Mrs.  Addie  died 
in  Denver,  Colorado,  in  1900,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four.  There  were  only 
three  children  in  the  family:  Callie.  Delila  and  Mary. 

Matt.  Griffin  chose  for  his  occupation,  the  trade  of  a  baker,  and 
worked  at  the  business,  for  a  number  of  years,  at  Independence.  Kansas. 
After  acipiiring  a  sufficient  sum  of  money,  he  sold  out  his  business  and 
rented  a  farm  on  the  river,  where  he  lived  till  1901,  when  he  bought  and 
improved  one  hundied  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  five  miles  north  and  one 
mile  west  of  Ooffeyville.  Four  yeai-s  passed  before  he  moved  to  this  farm 
and  built  a  handsome  residence  and  large  barn.  Many  improvements 
are  being  made,  and  the  farm  is  being  fenced  with  tight-wire  fencing, 
and  the  jjlace  is  approaching  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the  township.  It 
is  adapted  f(U"  both  the  raising  of  hogs  and  cattle,  but  he  gives  the  most 
of  his  attention  to  the  former.  There  are  about  one  hundred  acres  of 
fine  wheat  and  <-orn  land,  and  to  the  north  of  his  house,  is  a  large  oak 
grove,  which  nuikes  a  fine  windbreak  for  the  house  and  liarns,  so  that  the 
stock  is  well  protected  in  winter. 

Mr.  Griffin  started  in  life  with  very  little  capital,  but  his  business 
transactions  have  lieen  attended  with  much  success,  which  may  be  as- 
cribed not  only  to  his  close  application  and  untiring  industry,  but.  also, 
to  the  liel]>ful  and  untiring  co-operation  of  his  wife.  To  them  prosperity 
has  come  in  the  last  fourteen  or  fifteen  years,  and  they  feel,  now,  that 
they  have  reached  the  pla<e  where  they  can  enjoy,  without  so  much  hard 
labor,  the  fruits  of  llieir  industry.  Only  one  cliild  lias  come  to  them, 
Maudie,  now  a  voung  ladv  in  her  'teens. 


1  west   and  a   half  mile  north 
rural  home  of  the  gentleman 
the  oldest  settlers  in  Montgom- 
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HISTORY  OF    MONTGOMEUY   OOTINTY,   KANSAS.  043 

Tlic  jilacc  of  bii'tli  of  Mr.  Dickey  was  in  Wnyno  coniily.  Ponns.vlva- 
liiii,  ilic  time  beinj:;  the  lltli  of  September,  1.S41.  He  is  a  son  of  William 
and  Eliza  (Smith)  Dickey,  the  former  a  native  of  ('onnecticut,  the  latter 
of  New  York.  After  their  marriage,  they  emigrated,  in  ISHG.  to  Lee  coun- 
ty. Iowa,  where  they  lived  five  years,  tlien  moved  to  Linn  connty, 
Kansas,  and,  there,  farmed,  dnring  the  i)eriod  of  the  war.  Tlien,  in  1866, 
they  moved  over  into  Bates  county,  Missouri,  and.  in  18(i9,  settled  with 
their  family,  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas.  The  father  purchased  a 
farm  near  lndei)endence  and  continued  to  reside  at  that  point,  until  his 
death,  in  1S71.  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years.  The  wife  died,  near 
Mound  Cily.  Kansas,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  To  them  were  born 
seven  cliildreu,  the  four  now  living,  being:  Sarah.  Mrs.  Brown,  of  Tenn- 
sylv.uiia;  Harriet.  Mrs.  Koot,  of  Linn  county,  Kansas;  Adaline,  Mrs. 
Smith,  of  this  county,  and  Williain  ('.,  the  esteemed  subject  of  this  re- 
view. 

William  (J.  Dickey  was  reared  to  the  hard  manual  labor  of  the  farm, 
his  education  being  secured  in  the  country  schools,  during  the  few  short 
winter  months.  He  renmined  an  innuite  of  the  home  and  participated 
in  ihr  different  moves  of  the  family,  until  their  arrival  in  this  county. 
He  had  already  entered  upon  his  first  business  venture,  while  the  family 
lived  in  Bates  county,  operating  a  grocery  store,  across  the  line,  in  Ver- 
non county,  during  the  three  years  of  their  residence  in  that  place.  After 
his  arrival  in  Montgomery  county,  he  took  up  a  claim  near  Independence, 
for  which  he  secured  a  deed,  and  then  sold  out  and  purchased  another 
farm,  one  mile  west,  where  he  lived  three  years.  He  then  went  to  Rut- 
land township,  where  he  bought  a  farm,  near  Havana,  and,  there,  contin- 
ued -,o  reside  for  the  ensuing  eleven  years.  AgaiTi,  he  disposed  of  his 
farm,  and.  after  a  short  period  in  Independence,  ]>urchased  the  j)resent 
farm  of  eighty  acres,  in  Fawn  ('reek  township.  Here,  he  is  engaged  in 
generr.l  farming  and  has  one  of  the  best  pieces  of  land  in  the  county, 
furnished  with  everything  in  the  line  of  buildings  and  iiiacliiiiery,  neces- 
sary to  the  handling  of  stock  and  the  caring  for  tlie  products  of  the  farm. 

In  the  matter  of  citizenshij).  Mr.  Dickey  stands  deservedly  high,  hav- 
ing always  sustained  a  splendid  reputation  for  honesty  and  integrity 
of  character.  He  has  given  much  attention  to  the  securing  of  the  best 
educational  facilities  for  his  nighborhood,  and  is  found  ready,  at  all 
times,  to  engage  in  any  movement  which  ^ooks  to  the  advancement  of  the 
people. 

On  the  17th  day  of  August,  in  lS(;i2,  Mr.  Dickey  heeded  the  call  of 
his  country  and  went  forth  to  do  battle  for  the  flag.  His  enlistement  was 
in  Company  "K."  Twelfth  Kansas  Volunteer  Infantry.  In  this  regiment 
he  served  a  i)eriod  of  three  years.  ])arti(ipatii)g  in  a  number  of  the  hard- 
fought  battles  of  the  west  and  many  of  the  smaller  skiiinishes.     He  was 


fortunate  in  returning  with  good  health  and  without  wounds.  His  dis- 
charge dated  on  the  30th  of  June,  1865. 

The  domestic  life  of  Mr.  Dickey  began  on  tlie  :M  of  December,  1872, 
when  he  married,  in  Montgomery  county,  Agnes  Cliamberlain.  Mrs. 
Dickey  was  born  near  Galena,  Illinois,  March  30,  1847.  Her  father,  Wil- 
liam rhamberlain,  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  married  Clyniena 
Owen,  a  native  of  T'enn.sylvania.  They  came,  with  their  family,  to  Mont- 
gomery county,  in  1809,  and  settled  near  Independence,  where  they  pass- 
ed the  remainder  of  their  days.  His  age  was  seventy,  at  death,  the  wife 
living  to  the  age  of  seventy-six.  Five  of  their  nine  children  still  survive: 
Agnes.  Mrs.  Dickey;  William,  Emily.  Mrs.  Itolton;  George  and  Oscar, 
all  of  whom  live  in  this  county.  To  the  marriage  of  our  subject  and  his 
wife,  seven  children  have  been  born:  Charles  and  William  H.  reside  in 
St.  Joseph,  Missouri;  Franklin  lives  at  liome;  Emma,  who  married  Guy 
T.  Brown  ;  Leonard,  who  lives  at  home;  Nellie  and  George  are  deceased. 

In  matters  of  political  n\oment,  Mr.  Dickey  votes  for  the  man  or  the 
princijile.  rather  than  for  a  particular  party.  Socially,  he  is  a  valued 
membei'  of  th(>  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  Both  he  and  his  family  are 
much  esteemed  in  the  communitv  in  which  they  reside. 


D.  W.  ('ATHI':i{S— 1>.  \V.  Catliers.  a  retired  cigar  mannfactuver  of 
riierryvale. Kansas, was  born  in  Fulton  county,  Illinois.  January  17.  ISfil. 
His  father.  George  W.  Gathers,  now  retired,  followed  the  trade  of  cooper, 
and  was  a  soldier,  for  three  years  and  three  months,  in  the  Civil  war. 
The  father  was  born  in  A])ril,  1833,  came  to  Kansas  from  Illinois  in  the 
earlv  ftO's,  and  is  the  father  of  ten  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living: 
Phoebe,  Mrs.  I'.  K.  Smith,  of  Cofteyville;  D.  W. ,  Eliza.  Mrs.  E.  J.  Stan- 
dard, of  Canton,  Illinois;  Charles,  who  died  at  two  years;  Lura  B..  Mrs. 
E.  J.  Glover;  Tillie  M.,  deceased;  Charles  V.,  of  ciierryvale;  Allen,  de- 
ceased ;  Fred  E.,  of  Foit  Scott,  and  Viola  E.,  of  the  class  of  1903,  high 
school.  Cherry  vale. 

D.  W.  Gathers  was  educated  in  Canton.  Illinois.  After  finishinfj 
school,  he  learned  the  business  of  making  cigars,  and  followed  that  busi 
ness  foi'  over  thirty  years,  [le  had  a  factory  in  Illinois  and  remainef^ 
there  until  he  came  to  Kan.sas,  in  1887,  at  one  time,  acting  as  travelin-y 
salesman  f(u-  his  business.  In  19(11.  the  trusts  interfered  so  with  his 
business,  that  he  closed  it,  and  l)ecame  a  farmer,  oil  and  stock  man,  own- 
ing two  Inimlii'd  and  forty  acres  of  good  oil  lands  in  :Montg(Hnery  and 
Wilson  coHiities.  He  was  a  mend)er  of  tlie  conniil  when  it  voted  to 
authorize  the  prospecting  for  gas,  the  first  in  the  gas  belt  to  do  this. 

Mr.  Catiiers  married  Kate  Morning,  a  ii.ilivr  of  Dakota  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  James  and  Caroline  (MudsoTi)  .Morning,  the  mother  a  native  of 
New  .fc'iscv.  ai'd  the  f;illier  -if  Illinois.    Their  home  is  in  Salt  Lake.  Utah, 


/^^ 


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JOSEPH   F.   KING. 


Jackson,  M 
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though,  for  sixteen  years,  they  were  residents  of  Labette  county,  Kans- 
sas,  moving  west  in  1890.  Mrs.  Gathers  is  one  of  eight  children,  viz: 
Samuel  A.,  of  Salt  Lake;  William  J.,  of  Albuquerque,  New  Mexico;  Mrs. 
Kate  E.  fathers,  James  I.,  of  Vinita,  Indian  Territory;  Rev.  Theodore, 
a  minister  of  the  First  Tresbyterian  church  of  :Madison,  Nebraska ;  Del- 
bert,  of  rarsons.  Kansas;  Arthur,  a  teacher,  and  Rose  E.,  of  Salt  Lake, 
Utah. 

Mrs.  D.  AV.  Cathers  has  two  children  living:  Loatha  and  Edna;  Ar- 
thur E.  is  deceased.  She  and  the  oldest  daughter  are  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  of  Cherry  vale.  Mr.Cathers  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.&  A.M., 
l'.  O.  O.  F.,  Woodmen  and  A.  O.  U.  W.  He  has  great  faith  in  the  resources 
of  ISrontgomery  county  and  is  thoroughly  westernized.  He  is  among  the 
most  worthy  and  well-to-do  citizens,  is  enterprising  and  believes  in  pro- 
gress.   His  home  is  one  of  the  handsome  places  in  the  city. 


JOSEPH  F.  KING— The  "old  soldier!"  Hew  shall  we  repay  him, 
how  measure  the  value  of  his  services  to  his  country?  Shall  it  be  in  pal- 
try dollars  and  cents?  Far  be  it  from  us,  the  beneficiaries  of  their  loy- 
alty, to  think  that  the  mere  pittance  received  as  a  pension,  discharges  the 
obligation  owed  to  them '.  Let  us,  in  the  few  brief  years  they  are  to  be 
here,  pour  forth  u]>on  them,  in  addition,  the  benedictions  of  a  grateful 
jtosterity.  Stand  with  uncovered  heads,  as  each  year  their  lessening 
ranks  file  by.  resolved  that  the  ghn-ious  country  which  they  saved  with 
their  blood,  shall  continue  its  benign  mission  of  ni>!ifting  humanity  to  a 
higher  |)lane  of  excellence.  The  biugrajther  is  always  ]iroud  to  record 
the  few  brief  facts  that  tell  of  duty  done  in  the  dark  days  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, and,  in  Joseph  F.  King,  of  Caney  townsliiii.  is  a  subject  which  fur- 
nishes the  necessary  material. 

Mr.  King  landed  on  Kansas  soil  in  18."i7.  and  was.  Ilins,  in  the  thick 
ofthe  fervid  battle  for  suiiremacy,  then  going  on  between  the  forces  of  tlie 
Free-State  patriots  and  the  liorder-Kuttians.  When  the  war  cloud  actual- 
ly burst,  he  was  one  of  the  tirst  to  enlist,  first,  in  the  Home  Ouards.  and 
then,  in  a  com])any  commanded  by  Caiit.  J.  H.  F<irnian,  which  became 
part  of  the  Tenth  Kansas  Infantry.  Aftei-  a  year's  service  in  this  organ- 
ization, he  received  honorable  discharge,  and.  iiimicdiately,  returning  to 
his  old  home  in  Indiana,  reenlisted  in  ("om]);iiiy  "A."  of  the  Twelfth  In- 
diana Volunteer  Infantry.  In  this  company  he  served  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  war.  jiarticipating  in  many  of  the  hard-fought  battles  and 
long  v.-earisome  marches  of  the  Army  of  tlie  Cnndierland,  and,  later,  with 
grand  old  "T'ncle  Rilly,"  to  the  sea.  A  jiartia!  list  of  the  battles  in  which 
Mr.  King  had  a  part,  follows:  Richmond,  Kentucky;  Siege  of  Vicksburg, 
Jackson,  Missionary  Ridge,  Resaca,  Big  Shanty,  Big  and  Little  Kenne- 
saw, Atlanta, Jonesboi'o, Macon, Savannah, Columbus, Benton vi lie,  Raleigh, 


'■'4"  11..-.V7.VX      ^/L       ..lV,.^.V......tv...      >.... 

t(>s<'tln'r  with  imiiu'ious  otlipr  skirmislics.  not  incut ioiicd  in  the  reports^ 
At  Ri<  IiiiioihI.  Kcntiicky,  :Mr.  King  was  uiilortiiiialc  ciiongh  to  get  within 
the  eiieiiiv's  line  and  was  oaptmed.  He,  liowever,  was  paroled  on  the 
fourth  day.  Again,  at  Athmta,  his  zeal  carried  him  too  close  to  the  ene- 
my. His  stay  with  the  "Johnnie  Rebs"  was  even  shorter  than  before,  as 
he  was  enabled,  by  the  l;»x  discipline  of  the  guards,  to  make  his  escape, 
and  to  jtarticipate  in  that  "glorious  march  to  the  sea."  His  company 
had  the  distinction  of  being  selected  to  lead  the  Orand  Review  at  Wash- 
ingtor.,  an  honor  which  it  richly  deserved,  atid  which  its  battle-scarred 
}nembers  bore  with  distinguished  credit. 

A  few  brief  facts  concerning  the  family  of  ifr.  King  will  not  be- 
amiss.  He  was  born  in  Jennings  county,  Indiana,  on  the  17th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1842,  a  son  of  George  W.  and  Nancy  (Boyd)  King.  The  parents  were 
natives  of  Ohio  and,  in  1857,  removed,  with  their  family,  to  Anderson 
county,  Kansas.  Here,  they  lived  out  their  days,  as  farmers,  loyal  to  the 
free  institutions  of  their  adopted  state,  which  the  father  served  during 
the  war,  in  the  home  guards,  and  in  several  different  oftices  of  trust.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight,  the  moUier  surviving  him  and  dying  at 
seventy-four  years.  They  reared  a  family  of  twelve  children,  the  four 
now  living  being:  Joseph  F.,  Elizabeth,  S\i]liam  and  R()bert  C.  Those 
deceased  are:  -laincs,  D.ivid,  lienjamin  M..  Ijiuiia,  Jnlin,  Oeoi"ge,  Lena 
and  Cynlhia. 

T'pon  his  return  from  Ihe  war,  ;\Ir.  King  was  joined  in  marriage  with 
Catherine  F.  Lewellin.  the  date  being  June  24,  1S(;.~).  Mrs.  King  was  a 
native  of  Jennings  county,  Indiana,  born  the  2()lh  of  November,  1844, 
the  daughter  of  James  and  Sidney  J.  (Scroggins)  Lewellin,  who  were- 
from  South  Carolina,  and  early  j)ioneers  to  Green  county,  Indiana. 

The  year  of  his  marriage,  Mr.  King  returned  to  Anderson  county, 
Kansas,  where  lie  eii^.-iged  in  farming  until  188:i,  when  he  bought  his 
present  farm  «f  ci^lilN  acres  in  Caney  township.  It  lies  two  miles  south 
of  the  village  of  lla\ana.  and  shows  the  care  of  a  practiced  hand,  in  the 
many  substantial  imi)rovenients  to  be  found  thereon.  ^Ir.  King  is  a  man 
of  parts,  in  his  townshiji,  iiaving  served  as  treasurer  and  clerk  of  the 
school  board  a  number  of  times,  and  in  various  other  positions  of  trust. 
In  poiitic;i]  belief  he  is  a  staunch  Reimblican,  and  delights  to  promote 
tlie  iii(<'ii'sis  of  iliat  |i:iil.\.  To  him  and  his  wife  have  been  born  a  family 
of  ten  children,  liul  four  of  whom  are  living:  Nancy,  wife  of  Fred  Wolsch; 
Minnie,  wife  of  David  M.  S])ring;  Joseph  !>.,  and  .\mos.  Those  deceased 
are:  James,  ;Mary.  George,  1011a  J.,  and  John  A. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  King  and  their  son,  Amos,  coini>rise  the  family  living 
at  home,  and  ;ill  are  icgarded  with  much  respect  in  the  community. 

Iniy  at  the  throttle  of 
i)f  this  honored  citizen 


JOSJO 

]'H   .\.   i! 

rCK'l 

j;v 

-A  .| 

iiarler 

of 

Migme 

on  tlie  -l 

•'i-isco' 

"  Hai 

lwa\- 

.  is  the 

!■( 

liiMi.ni    ur     .>..'.>  K.w.iir.ivi    <..jci>ii,    ix.i.s.-.v-..  ^4^ 

OH  llio  \'er(lij;iis.  Fi<mi  lliis  linrt.  which  was  once  ;ill  in  h('a\y  timlxM', 
lie  has  iiiado  (Hic  of  the  most  aitiaclive  farms  in  llic  counfy.  TTp  left 
fifteeu  acres  of  timber  f()r  a  jiaik.  on  the  east  si(h>  of  (lie  house,  which 
has  been  trinimed  uji  and  sodded  in  liltu'  jirass.  llis  residence  and  harn 
stand  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  his  farm  bein<i-  almost  surrounded  by 
water.  Besides  raisiufr  corn,  wheat  and  alfalfa,  he  is  engaged  in  raising 
hogs,  cattle  and  liorses,  feeding  and  shii)]»ing  on  quite  a  large  scale.  After 
thirteen  years  of  untiring  labor,  lie  has  made  for  himself,  one  of  the  nic- 
est homes  in  the  county,  all  due  to  ]ierse\i"iance  and  close  atention  to 
business. 

Mr.  Hite  was  married  the  :!()th  of  March.  ISllL'.  to  Jennie  L.  W. 
Webb,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  a  daughter  of  Charles  and  Columbia 
Webb,  who  came  to  Kansas  in  IS!!!),  an*!  settled  in  Montgomery  county, 
where  Mr.  Webb  died.  His  wife  survives  him.  and  lives  one  mile  west  of 
Bearing.  Mr.  Hite  has  tilled,  faithfully,  the  office  of  township  clerk,  and, 
also,  has  been  a  member  of  ihe  township  board  six  years.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  M.  W.  of  A.  at  Coffeyville.  and.  in  politi<s."  is  a  Kepublican. 


DAVID  MONROE  EDWARDS— David  M.  Edwards  was  born  in 
Independence  county,  Arkansas,  on  the  Sth  of  March,  1858.  His  father 
and  mother,  Benjamin  and  Martha  (Stephenson)  Edwards,  were  natives 
of  Tennessee.  Soon  after  their  marriage,  they  moved  to  Arkansas,  and 
settled  in  Independence  county,  where  they  lived  until  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  when  ^Mr.  Edwards  enlisted,  but  was  soon  taken  to  the  hospital 
at  Helena,  sick,  where  he  remained  about  six  months,  and  was  discharged 
on  account  of  disability. 

After  returning  home,  Benjamin  Edwards  moved  his  family  to  Illi- 
nois, and  remained  there  till  the  war  was  over;  soon  afterward,  return- 
ing to  Arkansas,  and  remaining  till  187-1,  when  he  moved  his  family  to 
Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  and  located  on  a  piece  of  land,  north  of 
Coffeyville.  The  sickness  which  he  incurred,  while  a  soldier,  remained 
with  him  all  these  years,  and  he  died,  in  1874,  at  the  age  of  forty-four. 
His  wife  survived  him  till  1802,  when  she  died,  at  sixty-three  years  of 
age.  The  family  consists  of  eight  children,  three  of  whom  are  living: 
David  Monroe,  William  and  John. 

David  Monroe  Edwards  came  to  Kansas,  with  his  parents,  in  1874, 
when  only  sixteen  years  of  age.  The  early  part  of  his  life  was  spent  in 
Illinois  and  Arkansas,  where  he  received  only  a  common  school  educa 
tion.  After  the  death  of  his  father,  the  res])onsibility  of  the  family  fell, 
heavily,  on  him,  and,  to  the  efforts  of  himself  and  two  brothers,  all  thanks 
are  due  for  the  comfortable  home  provided  for  the  mother,  who  remained 
with  him  until  he  was  married. 

February  4,  1880,  he  took  to  wife.  Miss  Alice  Hudelson,  a  native  of 


650  HISTOUY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

Illinois.  .111(1  ;i  daughter  of  William  and  Elizabeth  Hudelson,  fornierl.v 
of  that  state.  The  father  and  mother  came  to  Kansas  in  1872,  and  bought 
a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Verdigris,  all  in  heavy  timber,  which  Mr. 
Hudelson  cleared  and  made  a  valuable  farm.  He  died  on  this  farm,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-six  years,  while  his  wife  survives  him.  at  the  same  age. 
Of  the  two  children,  Mrs.  Alice  Edwards  is  the  oldcsl.  (lie  youngest  being 
lievi  H.  of  the  Indian  Territory. 

.\fter  ^\i:  Edwards'  marriage,  he  fanned  the  Iionie  of  his  youth,  for 
some  time,  and  then  came  into  jiossessioii  of  two  iiuiidred  and  twenty- 
six  acres  of  bottom  land,  which  his  wife  inherited  from  her  father,  which, 
witii  the  iiiiiirovemeuts  he  has  put  on  it,  is  one  of  the  best  farms  on  the 
Verdigris.  The  house,  a  large  two-story,  is  one  of  the  most  substantial 
farm  houses  in  the  township,  and  there  are  good  barns,  and  other  fai-ni 
buildings.  Ilis  farm  is  five  miles  north  of  Ooft'eyville,  and  is  completely 
surrounded  by  water.  His  principal  stock  is  hogs,  but  he  gives  most 
of  his  attenticm  to  the  raising  of  grain,  wheat,  corn  and  alfalfa,  the  lat- 
ter being  well  adapted  to  the  native  soil. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edwards  have  been  born  eight  children:  Emma 
(Jertiude.  deceased;  Willie,  deceased;  Oscar,  Oliver,  Rosa,  Nellie,  Jessie 
and  \'an(e. 

Mr.  Edwards  is  an  inde]iendent  in  politics. 


I'lIlLir  II.  DALKY— riiilip  H.  Dalhy,  the  leading  physician  of 
Havana,  was  born  in  Edwards  county,  Illinois,  on  the  l.'tli  of  ^lay,  1853. 
His  fallier,  David  Dalby,  was  a  native  of  Tong,  Yorkshire,  England,  and 
was  born  ou  the  15th  of  August,  1820.  He  came  to  America  when  only 
sixteen  years  of  age,  where  he  married  Louisiana  Brisenden,  a  native  of 
Albion,  Illinois.  He  was  a  lithographer  in  England,  and  a  carpenter 
in  America.  He  came  to  Kansas  in  1870,  and  settled  in  Montgomery 
county,  one  and  one-half  miles  east  of  Havana,  where  he  remained  for 
many  years.  He  died  at  the  home  of  his  daughter  in  lola,  on  the  6th 
day  of  July,  1902,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two,  his  wife  having  died  in  1877, 
at  seventy-four  years  of  age,  and  both  are  buried,  side  by  side,  in  the  Ha- 
vana cemetery.  To  them  were  born  eight  children,  seven  of  whom  arf^ 
living.  Zelphi,  wife  of  D.  H.  Pingree,  proprietor  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Hotel  in  lola;  W.  O.,  of  Seattle,  Washington;  Fanny  E.  Lemmont,  of 
('imarron,  Kansas;  Dr.  Philip  H.,  Sarah  JI.,  wife  of  Charles  Goe,  of  Elk 
City;  George  P.,  on  the  old  homestead  at  Havana;  and  Minnie  E.,  wife 
of  Dr.  John  Wright,  of  Elk  City. 

Dr.  Dalby  came  to  Montgomery  county  in  1870,  with  his  parents, 
when  only  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  received  his  education  in  the  schools 
of  this  county,  and,  in  1874,  he  went  to  Texas,  as  a  cattle  driver  and 
herder,  remained  one  yeai-,  and  returned  home  and  remained  on  the  farm. 


#  »  # 


tu>i  Eliiaijelii  lludeisoii 

aiae  to  Kaiisas  in  1872,  ai 

-:      I'i    -I     \,<-.:vy    limber,   \vh.    i. 

Ml  this  farm,  'i 
the  same  osi 


11 


farmed  thr 

[wi.;sesS)tm    of    two    ii'iiMir.Mi    an,,    .  ;■.  ,  i,  1 

lis  wife  iubfiitod  from  her  father,  whi'^^ 
,,t  ^,-1  :<-.  ->  njip  of  t-bo  h"st  farm'!  on  »'•■ 


iiip  II.   Dalhy,  the   leading  ph^ 

■  ■OTnitv,   nfiiuii-.  nil  1!i-  ^r,fh  of  ■ 


Hii! 


i«<#<»1l 


p.  H.  DALBY,  M.  D. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMEEY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  653 

period,  as  deputy  sheriff.  In  social  life  lie  holds  iiiembership  in  the  I.  O. 
O.  F.,  k.  of  P.,  A.  O.  U.  W.  and  the  Woodmen,  and  when  he  takes  a  hand 
in  politics,  it  is  to  aid  the  Democratic  ticket. 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  lU'KT— One  of  Fawn  Creek  township's  best 
citizens  and  farmers  was  born  in  Allen  county,  Indiana,  on  the  25th  of 
October,  1842.  His  father,  Silas  Burt,  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  where  he 
came  as  a  young  man  and  was  married  to  Mary  Wycoff,  a  native  of  that 
state.  In  1841,  they  moved  to  Indiana  and  settled  at  Ft.  Wayne,  where 
the  father  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  years.  By  occui)ation  he  was  a 
farmer  and  blacksmith. 

There  were  four  childi'en  in  the  family  of  Silas  Burt,  as  follows:  Su- 
san M..  wife  of  John  McCay  of  Charles  Mix  county.  South  Dakota;  John 
A.,  Rosa,  wife  of  Ingraham  Thorn,  of  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind.,  and  Silas,  of  Hai'- 
})er  county,  Kansas.  Mrs.  Burt  married  a  second  time,  to  John  M.  Cart- 
wright,  to  which  union  were  born  five  children,  three  of  whom  are  living, 
viz:  James,  living  in  Washington;  Marion,  whose  residence  is  in  Los 
Angeles,  California ;  Alfred,  of  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind.  Mrs.  Burt  died  at  the 
home  of  her  son,  John,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years. 

John  A.  Burt  was  reared  on  the  farm  adjoining  Ft.  Wayne.  He 
never  had  the  opportunity  of  acquiring  an  education,  but  made  the  most 
of  the  few  opportunities  he  did  have.  He  became  expert  in  one  of  the  use- 
ful trades,  that  of  a  blacksmith,  and  does  his  own  work  in  this  line  to 
this  day.  He  entered  the  army  in  February  of  1865,  and  did  good  service 
the  four  months  he  served.  He  was  a  mendier  of  Co.  "I,"  33rd  Ind.  Vol. 
Inf.,  and  was  discharged  at  Louisville,  Ky.  After  the  war  he  rented  land 
and  farmed  for  some  time. 

In  February,  1865,  just  before  enlisting  in  the  army,  he  was  married 
to  Charity  Cartwright,  a  native  of  Piqua,  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  James 
and  Elizabeth  Cartwright. 

Mr.  Burt,  having  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  uncultivated 
land  in  Kansas,  moved  to  this  state  in  1881.  This  land  had  an  incum- 
brance of  five  hundred  dollars  and  the  only  building  was  a  small  log 
house,  which  he  moved  into  and  occupied  for  two  years.  Influence  was 
brought  to  bear  on  him  to  get  him  to  abandon  the  land  and  not  try  to  pay 
the  debt,  but  he  persevered,  and  now,  as  a  result  of  that  perserverance, 
thrift  and  economy,  he  owns  four  hundred  acres  of  the  best  land,  lying 
Ihree  and  one-half  miles  southeast  of  Tyro.  The  land  is  without  incum- 
brance and  is  well  stocked  with  horses  and  cattle.  In  the  place  of  the  log 
house,  stands  a  modern  farmhouse,  and  not  far  away,  for  the  comfort 
of  the  stock,  is  a  good  barn. 

When  he  arrived  in  Kansas  Mr.  Burt's  only  possessions  were  a 
wagon  and  team  and  thirty  dollars  in  money.     To  attain  to  the  great 


654 


UlSTOKY  Ol-  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

isiicriiv  lit'  till'  [irt'si'iil,  hi-  stiii'ted  to  drilliiij;  wells,  keejiiiifi  up  this 
ii|i:tlioii   tor  several  years,  and  caii'vinj;-  on   tiis  fanniiiu  at  the  same 


'I'linv  are  seven  rliildren  in  the  Itiirl  fainiiy,  vjy. :  .Tolin,  at  Cedar- 
vale,  Kansas:  Maiv  Kayl.-,  diMvased;  Vilania,  wife  of  Willmr  liiirt,  of 
'I'mo:  \iola  Xoiiun,  oi'tm-o;  Mattie  .Mes.sfismitli.  Hellie  and  Susan  at 
home. 

.Mr.  Kurt  is  a  iniMiil.cr  of  the  Odd  Fellows  at  Tyro.  (1.  A.  K.,  Cottey- 
villr  I'osi.  and  A.  II.  T.  A.,  No.  I'.lL'. 


W  II.I.IAM  1'.  AlAiri'lX-  William  V.  Martin,  althoiiyh  not  an  old- 
timr  .M'ltler  of  .Moii|i;omery  eouiity,  is  one  of  its  most  enterprisin<i  farm- 
ers and  sio.k  lai.sers.  lie  was  horn  in  Montjfomery  county,  Ohio,  July 
1.  is.".'^.  Mis  father,  -lolm  S,  JIartin,  was  a  native  of  Duhlin,  Ireland, 
and  canir  to  America,  with  his  parents,  when  a  lad  fourteen  years  old. 
The  iiMithcr,  whose  maiden  name  was  Martha  ("liver,  was  horn  in  Mount 
Holly,  New  Jersey. 

John  Martin  was  reared  in  New  Yoik,  and  when  a  young  man,  went 
to  Ohio,  where  he  was  married.  He  learned  tlic  trade  of  carriage  maker, 
locating  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  1840,  where  he  manufactured  carriages.  He 
died  at  that  ]>lace  at  the  age  of  sixty-four.  His  wife  survived  him  several 
years  ,aiid  died  at  the  age  of  .seventy -eight.  There  were  eight  children: 
Mary  I',  and  Sarah,  decea.sed ;  James.  ^lartin,  John  S.,  ^^'illiam  P.,  .V.  E., 
and  (ieorge,  deceased. 

\\'illiani  V.  Martin  was  leared  in  Ohio,  wheie  he  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools.  When  he  l)ecame  of  age,  he  had  an  ambition  to  go  west. 
He  Thought,  by  doing  this,  he  would  have  better  ojjportunities  for  secur- 
ing a  home.  So,  in  1870,  he  came  to  Kansas  and  stopped  at  Toi>eka, 
where  he  went  to  farming  and  stock  raising.  He  succeeded  very  well 
in  his  eiiterpri.se,  so  much  so,  that  he  made  two  or  three  trips  to  Colorado, 
during  his  residence  there.  Later,  he  moved  to  Quennemo,  in  Osage 
connty.  and  bought  town  |)roperty,  but  afterward,  moved  to  Coffeyville, 
for  a  short  time.  From  Coffeyville,  he  went  to  Cherokee,  where,  for  six 
yeai's,  he  was  in  the  stock  raising  business, 

III  1808,  lieT)ought  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  on  which 
he  is  now  living,  seven  miles  west  of  Coffeyville.  This  farm  is  near  the 
state  line  and  is  a  natural  stock  farm.  The  home  is  a  beautiful  one,  sit- 
uated half  way  up  a  slope  from  the  main  road.  Tliere  is  a  nice  drive- 
way llirough  natural  oaks,  on  either  side.  Tn  front  of  this  farm  is  a  fine 
oak  grove,  cleared  of  underbrush,  making  a  fine  stock  slielter  in  winter, 
Mr.  ]\fartin  wa.s  married,  March  24,  1882,  His  wife,  ^laggie  Darling,  is 
a  native  of  Iowa,  and  a  dafighter  of  Samuel  and  Maria  Darling.  The  jiar- 
ents  came  to  Kansas,  in  about  1875. 


^fr.  aiul  ill's.  Martin  have  five  children :  Ellis  Louis,  Esther  May, 
Charles  A.,  John  S.  and  Mand  S.  Mr.  Martin  is  one  of  the  most  prosper- 
ous farmers  of  the  county.  This  prosperity  is  all  due  to  the  efforts  of  a 
man,  noted  for  his  honesty,  straightforwardness  and  perseverance.  In 
political  faith,  he  is  a  Democrat. 


ISAAC  KUETZ — One  of  the  leading  and  extensive  farmers  in  Fawn 
Creek  township,  was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Pennsylvania,  August 
14,  1832,  a  son  of  Isaac  Kurtz,  born  in  Chester  county,  that  state,  near 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  His  mother  was  Rachel  Longacre, 
of  Chester  county,  and  the  parents  moved  to  Illinois  in  18G1,  where  the 
fathei"  died,  from  a  fall  on  the  icy  streets,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years. 
The  mother  died  in  1SG9,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  leaving  five  surviving 
children,  viz:  D.  B.  and  E.  T.  Kurtz,  lawyers  of  New  Castle,  Pennsyl- 
vania; Mrs.  Frances  McMeen,  of  Fawn  Creek  township;  Mrs.  Deborah 
Lochman,  of  Illinois;  and  Isaac,  our  subject,  who  is  the  second  oldest 
of  the  surviving  children. 

Mr.  Kurtz,  of  this  sketch,  lived  in  Pennsylvania  for  the  first  twenty- 
seven  years  of  his  life,  and  received  his  education  there.  He  came  to  Illi- 
nois, in  1859,  and  settled  in  Bureau  county,  where  he  bought  land  and 
farmed  and  raised  stock.  He  came  to  Kansas,  in  1885,  and  located  on 
a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen  aci'es,  on  the  state  line,  eight  miles 
west  and  two  miles  south  of  Coffeyville.  He  located  on  the  state  line,  to 
be  near  the  Territory  and  have  pasture  for  his  stock,  having  six  hundred 
acres  of  leased  land  in  the  Territory,  for  that  purpose.  He  has  several 
large  fruit  orchards  of  apples,  pears,  and  peaches,  never  failing  to  have 
plenty  of  fine  apples  to  sell,  when  apples  are  high.  He  has  erected,  on 
his  farm,  a  beautiful  cottage,  and  has  many  good  substantial  granaries 
and  oiher  ont-buildings,  on  the  place.  He  has  a  number  one  gas  well  on 
the  place,  which  supplies  his  house  with  natural  gas.  At  this  time,  he 
is  one  of  the  largest  stock  dealers  in  the  county,  buying  and  shipping 
to  the  Chicago  market. 

Mr.  Kurtz  was  married  on  the  14th  day  of  March,  1867,  to  Mary  J. 
Ross,  a  native  of  New  Philadelphia,  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
Jlary  Ross.  Sfrs.  Ross  died  many  years  ago,  and  Mr.  Ross  is  living  at 
Emporia,  with  one  of  his  sons,  and  is  ninety  three  years  old. 

There  are  three  children:  Alcie,  wife  of  Charles  Engles;  Jennie,  wife 
of  F.  ^[.  Anderson ;  John,  living  on  the  home  farm,  is  married  to  Prudie 
Pollet,  a  native  of  Montgomery  county.  Kansas,  and  has  two  children. 


TITADDEUS     C.     FRAZIER,  M.  D.— A  distinguished  pioneer  of 
Montgomery  county,  who  has  been  a  prominent  figure  in  the  social,  pro- 


IVssioual  and  ix.litical  life  of  ConVvvillo  and  rarkcr  township,  is  Dr.  T. 
('.  Fra/.icr.  of  this  review.  He  came  liere  in  Ihe  incipient  stages  of  ccninty 
(level(  imient  and  wlieii  there  was  more  or  h>ss  jmlitical  chaos,  and  much 
jeahmsv  and  town  rivalry,  and  has  wielded  a  silent,  yet  potent,  influence 
in  the  final  adjustment,  which  resulted  in  the  unification  of  sentiment 
for  a  ^in<;le  town,  and  that  the  metroi)olis  of  Montgomery  county. 

hi  wliaii'ver  community  his  residence  has  been  maintained,  his  o](in- 
ions.  rcgur.liiig  the  proper' conduct  of  atfairs,  have  carried  weight  and 
events  seldom  proved  lliat  his  judgment  had  erred.  When  he  came  to 
.Montgomery  county,  in  October,  18(>!).  he  cast  his  lot  with  Parker,  the 
nietrojiolis  of  the  county,  and  bore  her  standard  with  enthusiasm,  until 
('oti'evville  inoculated  it  with  decay  and  rendered  it  a  hopeless  invalid, 
when  he  lent  his  eflorts  to  the  successful  rival  in  building  uji  a  business 
centei".  unsnrpaswd  within  the  county's  limits. 

While  his  first  concern  was  for  the  i)ractice  of  his  ].rofession.  the 
Doctor  could  not  refrain  from  part  icijiating.  with  his  neighbors,  in  the 
atTair.-  of  llie  local  government.  .\s  mayor  of  Tarker.  his  administration 
contributed  to  the  welfare  of  the  town,  and,  as  a  business  man  and  physi- 
cian, he  honored  the  calling  he  repre.sented.  Ills  position  in  Coff'eyville 
has  been  no  less  i)roniinent  and  his  services  no  less  sincere.  As  medical 
director  of  the  city  for  ten  years,  as  a  meud)er  of  the  common  council. 
and  as  mayor  for  four  years,  he  has  builded  wisely  and  well.  As  chief 
executive  of  the  city,  he  i)ersonally  sui)ervised  a  large  amount  of  jniblic 
work,  involving  an  exiiendit  ore  of  vast  sums  of  the  ]mblic  funds,  and.  in 
other  directions,  where  the  pid.lic  weal  could  be  lonserved.  his  voice  and 
his  hand  stood  ready  to  perform. 

The  iiiniimcrablc  ways  in  which  Dr.  Frazier  has  rendered  valuable 
service  to  his  community,  can  not  be  particularized  in  this  article.  Great 
credit  atla<lies  for  his  un.selfish  devotion  to  public  duty,  and.  yet.  his  time 
and  labor  were  given  without  financial  consideration  or  hope  of  reward. 
He  sacrificed  his  professional  practice,  to  the  welfare  of  his  town.  and. 
in  view  of  his  pecuniary  dependence,  what  greater  sacrifice  could  liave 
been  made? 

Thaddeus  C.  Frazier  is  a  native  of  Henry  county.  Tennessee,  where 
his  birth  occurred  December  14,  1841.  His  parents.  William  ^l.  and 
Judith  (Arnn)  Frazier,  were  farmers  of  North  Carcdina.  and  Holland 
stock,  respectively.  The  parents  remained  in  Tennessee,  until  1800.  when 
they  removed  to  Green  county,  Missouri,  and.  in  18(;;>.  settled  on  a  farm 
near  Sherman,  Texas.  In  1887,  the  family  home  was  transferred  to 
Wichita.  Kansas,  where  the  father  died  in  1897;  the  mother  jiassing  away 
in  Henry  county,  Tennessee,  in  184.5.  Two  of  their  four  children  survive, 
viz:  Thadde\is  V;.,  and  William  M.,  of  Wichita.  Kansas.  Another  son. 
Samuel  V.,  was  four  years  a  Confederate  soldier,  was  of  large  jdiysicpie, 
^\as  three  times  wounded,  and  is  now  deceased. 


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MERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

.    illr  and  Parker  tow; 
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Toss  po)itii;i: 


nil 

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T.  C.   FRAZIER,  M.   D. 


lilSTOKY  OF  MON'TOOiMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  659 

Frank  Wisdcii  was  hrongiit  up  in  Moiiljiouiei-y  county,  receiving  a 
roniiiioii  siiiodl  <>ducali()n,  and  living;-  witli  liis  parents,  until  his  marriage, 
wiiicli  event  took  jtlace  on  Xoveniljer  1.',  1S!»8.  His  wife  was  Miss  EllA 
Hohertson,  a  native  of  Montgomery  ccmnty,  and  daugiiter  of  .James  and 
Sjirah  ((iraiiani)  Koiiertson.  Mr.  Robertson  died  in  INSO,  at  forty  years 
of  age.  He  is  snivived  liy  liis  wife,  now  living  in  TJberty;  .Tames  N.,  liv- 
ing in  Illinois:  .Toel.  living  in  Oklalionia  Terriloiv.  aiid  Klla.  wife  of 
Frank  Wisden. 

After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Wisden  started  farming  on  his  own  account. 
He  rented  a  farm,  for  two  years,  and,  by  good  management  and  close  at- 
tention to  business,  he  was  enabled  to  accumulate  enough  to  purchase 
one  iiundred  and  fifty  acres  of  farm  land,  northeast  of  Coflfeyville.  This 
he  farmed  until  1001,  when  he  sold  out  and  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  on  Onion  creek,  three  and  one-half  miles  west  and  three-fourths  mile 
south  of  Coffey ville.  One  hundred  acres  of  this  farm  is  fine  bottom  land, 
the  rest  being  good  upland  jiasture,  on  which  is  located  a  nice  little  cot- 
tage and  good  bank  barn,  both  of  these  buildings  being  sheltered  from 
the  north  winds,  by  a  fine  oak  grove,  adding  much  to  the  apjiearance  and 
value  of  this  farm  and  forming  a  fine  feed  lot  for  the  high  grade  stock 
(horses,  hogs  and  cattle),  which  Mr.  Wisden  is  raising.  He  keeps  the  best 
of  horses,  the  kind  which  can  be  hitched  to  the  plow,  or  make  a  stylish 
ajipearance.  when  driven  to  a  buggy. 

Mr.  atul  ilrs.  Wisden  have  no  children.  Tn  jtolitics.  Mr.  Wisden  is  a 
Kepublican.  and.  in  energy,  he  is  a  Kausan,  and.  w  ith  his  Kansas  energy 
and  his  inherited  English  sturdiness,  he  makes  a  tine  model  for  all  young 
men  of  Montgomery  county. 


STAKKF.Y  11.  TTCKER — The  subject  of  this  personal  mention  is 
well  know  n  among  the  farmers  of  Rutland  township,  where  he  has  resid- 
ed since  1877,  the  year  he  made  .settlement  in  Montgomery  county.  His 
homestead  is  in  section  10,  township  33,  range  14,  and  he  is  the  owner 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land. 

Mr.  Tucker  is  one  of  the  progressive  tillers  of  the  soil  and.  while  he 
began  his  operations  on  a  rudely-improved  quarter  section,  his  success 
has  put  him  in  j)OSsessiou  of  a  tract  twice  that  area,  substantially  im- 
proved and  under  :i  good  state  of  cultivation.  Farming  in  Kansas  has 
recpiiied  the  same  tenacious  industrx.  as  farming  in  Kentucky,  in  Taylor 
county  in  which  state  our  subject  was  born.  .July  10.  184(i. 

He  came  to  his  majority  in  his  native  heath  and  acquired  the  rudi- 
ments of  a  coninmn  schocd  education.  He  was  twenty-six  years  of  age 
when  he  located  in  Hart  county,  Iventucky,  and  twenty-nine  years  of  age 
when  he  lu'cime  a  citizen  of  Jloutgomei'y  county,  Kansas.    In  this  county 


660  UISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

he  settled,  by  piircliuse,  the  tract  entered  bv  Jonathan  \A"elden  and  passed, 
by  def>d,  to  Andrew  Stamp,  whose  title  came  to  Mr.  Tucker. 

The  Tuckers  of  this  strain  were,  originally,  from  Virginia.  Edwin 
Tucker,  father  of  Starkey  H.,  was  born  in  the  "Old  Dominion"  and  ac- 
companied his  jiarents  into  Taylor  county,  Kentucky,  when  a  boy.  He 
was  one  of  the  following  family :  Barnard,  John,  Isaac.  Nancy,  Jefferson, 
Mrs.  JIary  A.  Wise,  Eliza  and  Edwin.  The  last  named  came  to  maturity 
as  a  farm  boy  and  married  Diana  Hays,  of  Marion  county,  Kentucky, 
a  daughter  of  Starkey  and  Nancy  (Wilkersou)  Hays,  born  in  Virginia. 
Four  sons  were  born  as  a  result  of  this  marriage,  viz:  Willis,  of  Taylor 
county.  Kentucky;  Starkey  H.,  of  this  notice;  William,  of  Oklahoma 
City ,  and  Norman,  of  Taylor  county,  Kentucky. 

Starkey  H.  Tucker  married  Lucibra  Smith  in  his  native  state.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Richard  and  Kachel  (Hays)  Smith,  and  is  the  mother 
of  seven  children,  namely:  Ida,  l'"dwiii.  M'illiaiii.  Hcviha  I'.urgey,  of  ^Ion- 
tana:  Richard,  Otto  and'Orville. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tucker  are  memhcis  of  the  Sotitliern  .Mc1lio<li-f  diuivh 
and  liave  reared  their  large  family  to  men  and  w.imc!!  of  iisefdliiess  and 
h.mor. 


I'KRRY  X.  ALLIN— I'romiuently  and  successfully  identified  with 
the  grain  business  in  Cott'eyville,  is  I'erry  N.  AUin,  whose  name  initiates 
this  ]tersonal  review.  He  is  a  son  of  the  well-known  farmer,  William 
H.  Allin,  of  Fawn  Creek  townshiji,  and  was  born,  April  10,  18(it),  in  Cedar 
county,  Iowa.  He  accomi)anied  his  jiarents  to  ^Montgomery  county,  Kan- 
sas, when  a  youth  of  fourteen,  and  his  ])rimary  and  higher  education  were 
obtained  in  the  country  and  in  the  Cotfeyville  schools. 

Assuming  his  station  in  life,  at  twenty  years  of  age,  he  took  up  cler- 
ical work,  in  the  First  National  Bank  of  Cotfeyville,  spending  four  years 
there.  The  two  years  succeeding,  he  passed  in  the  employ  of  the  Adams 
(irain  Company,  of  Cotfeyville,  and, the  next  year,  he  spent  as  an  assistant 
in  the  Caney  Valley  Bank.  Returning  to  Cotfeyville,  he  engaged  in  the 
grain  business,  as  an  employee  and  partner,  in  the  Adams  Grain  Com- 
])any.  In  July,  1901,  he  found  matters  in  the  company  working  some- 
what to  his  o./n  d'-advantage  and,  in  July,  1901,  organized  the  Perry  N. 
Allin  Grain  Company,  operating  twenty-flve  grain  stations,  with  gen- 
eral office  at  Cotfeyville,  Kansas. 

Aside  from  his  personal  and  individual  business.  Mr.  Allin  is  con- 
nected with  some  of  the  prominent  institutions  of  his  town.  He  lias 
served  eight  years  as  seci'etary  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Cofleyville,  of  which  board  he  is  a  member;  and  he  is  a 
stockholder  in  the  J'eoples'  Gas  Company.     He  is  a  Republican,  in  poll- 


CEO.   H.   PICKER  AND  WIFE 


home   IK 
1901      p: 


Montgomery    con 
t'"v  Anipricn  in  IN": 


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HISTORY  OV  MONTGOMEttY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  66 1 

tics,  and  a  Mason — Keystone  Blue  Lodge  and  Chapter,  of  Indeiiendence, 
St.  Bernard  Conunanderv,  Wichita  Consistory— Scottish  Rite. 

June  io,  1891,  Mr.  Allin  married  Anna  McCoy,  a  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam McCoy,  of  Cofteyville.  Grace  and  William  Perry  are  tlie  children 
of  this  marriage.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allin  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
churcli.  He  is  a  Knight  of  Pythias,  an  A.  O.  U.  W.,  an  Klk  and  a  Wood- 
men of  the  \\'orld.  He  is  a  member  of  Keystone  Lodge,  No.  102,  Coflfey- 
ville;  of  Keystone  Chapter,  No.  22,  Independence,  Kansas;  St.  Bernard 
Commandery,  No.  10,  Independence,  Kansas;  Wichita  Consistory,  No.  10, 
Wi.hita,  Kansas,  and  of  Abdallah  Temple,  Order  of  the  Mystic  Shrine, 
I^'a  veil  worth,  Kansas. 

.Mrs.  Allin  is  \\'<)rthy  Matron  of  CoOeyville  Chapter,  Order  of  the 
Eastern  Star. 


(;1-:0I;<;H  H.  IMCKI;H— The  snbjeit  of  this  sketch  was  born  in 
Lincolnshire.  England,  on  the  l.")th  of  April,  1S.")0,  and  died  at  his 
home  near  ('ott'eyville,  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  October  16th, 
1901.  His  parents  came  to  America  in  18.52,  settling  at  Fremont,  Ohio, 
where  they  lived  until  18(>5,  when  they  moved  to  xVuburn,  Indiana. 

Mr.  Picker  learned  his  trade  while  in  Auburn,  that  of  brickmason, 
stonemason  and  plasterer.  In  1872,  lie  was  married  to  Miss  Lucy  Jones, 
who,  with  one  adopted  daughtei-,  still  survive  him.  In  1877,  they  moved 
to  Kansas,  settling  on  a  farm  near  Cofteyville,  where  they  lived  until 
his  death. 

Mr.  Picker  was  a  contra<tor'  and  builder  and  worked  at  his  trade 
and  was  also  quite  an  extensive  farmer.  He  was  connected  with  the 
Coffeyville  Vitrified  Brick  and  Tile  Company,  and  was  a  memlier  of 
the  Cofl'eyville  Camp  No.  66-5,  M.  W.  A.  He  was  a  good  citizen  and 
neighbor,  and  in  his  death  the  community  lost  a  good  man.  He  was 
generous  to  a  fault  and  was  loved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 


THOMAS  .1.  BOOTH— A  citizen  whose  interests  have  been  so  diversi- 
fied, whose  business  connections  so  substantial  and  whose  character 
comparatively  so  unique,  can  not  fail  to  prove  of  interest  to  the  peruser 
of  local  history  and  should  have  a  place  in  the  detailed  affairs  of  the 
locality  which  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  volume  to  record.  Thomas  J. 
Booth  was  in  Montgomery  county  almost  from  the  beginning  and  from 
a  beardless  boy  to  a  man  in  the  afternoon  of  life,  his  history  has  been  inter- 
woven with  that  of  the  moving  spirits  in  the  every-day  affairs  qf  the 
county  and  presents  a  record  of  successes  which  indicate,  unmistakably, 
a  genius  for  grappling  with  men  and  affairs. 

A  pioneer  of  the  county.  Mr.  Booth  dates  his  advent  here  at  1870, 
when  he  accompanied  his  father's  family  hither  from  Des  Moines  countj-. 


i662  HI.STOUY  01''  MONTtiOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

I()\v;i.  and  settled  on  the  raw  prairie  near  While  Post  scliool  house,  six 
iiiih's  west  and  a  little  north  of  Indei)enden<e.  The  father  was  Milton 
J5ooth  who  died  after  eij;ht  years  of  residen.e  in  tli<'  connty,  at  seventy 
years  old.  Bedford  iMMuity.  West  Virj;inia.  was  (lie  laltei's  native  place 
and.  while  he  was  of  En<;lish  e.xtraclioii.  he  was  far  removed  from  his 
orij;iiial  liriiish  ancestor,  who  was  his  paternal  jrrandfather.  From 
West  \'ir};inia  he  came  out  to  .\dams  county.  Illintiis.  where  his  family 
was  born.  His  second  wifV  was  .\t;atha  .\dams.  who  died  in  Des  Moines, 
Iowa,  bein-;  the  mother  of  the  followin-:  Kileii.  wif.-  of  .Jonas  I'ickler, 
of  Montjiomerv  countv.  Kansas;  Fre<l.  of  Darby.  .Motitana;  .Minnie, 
decea.sed;  Thoinas  .1..  of  this  record:  Henry  and  diaries.  d.M-eased.  15y 
his  tirst  niarria-ie  there  w.'re  four  ehildren:  .lames,  of  I'uelilo.  Col.:  .Mrs. 
Susan  Iturnett.  af  l{ed  Oak.  la.,  and  Manpiis  and  Virj;inia.  de.  lasrd. 

In  Iowa  and  in  Kansas  our  subject  ariiuired  a  liberal  eduratiiui  in 
the  common  schools.  He  tauirhl  (<nintry  school  for  a  lime.  a>  an  intro- 
duction to  the  serious  side  of  life,  .and  then,  as  the  junicu-  incnilier  of  the 
firm  of  Shoemaker  and  I!o<ith.  eniratred  as  a  rattle  .l.-aler  and  shipper 
for  nine  vears.  This  business  irave  him  a  wide  acciuainlam-e  over  s<iuth- 
ern  Kansas  and  he  kn<-w  [lersonally  neai-ly  eveiy  permanent  settler  in 
Montjfomerv  county.  With  the  business  of  fariniiiL;.  and  stock  raising 
and  as  a  feeder  and  shipper  he  was  connected  until  ls!)4,  when  he 
laecame  interested  in  mercantile  pursuits,  displayint;  the  same  aptness 
and  adaptation  for  the  lu'w  business  as  for  the  old.  In  1894.  he  organized 
the  Union  Implement  ("omiiany.  of  Independence,  of  which  he  is  Secre- 
tary and  Treasurer  and  active  manager.  This,  with  other  important 
business  interests  in  the  connty.  employs  him  fully  and  warrants  his 
characterization  as  one  of  the  busy  men  of  Independence. 

In  the  month  of  October— :2:'.—l.S7y,  Mr.  Booth  married  Amanda,  a 
daughter  of  William  I'eebler.  who  settled  in  Montgomery  county  in 
the  same  year  with  the  Booths.  In  April,  I'JOl,  Mrs.  Booth  died,  leaving 
three  children,  as  follows:  Clyde,  of  Darby,  Montana;  Nellie,  book- 
keejier  for  the  I'nion  Imjdenient  t'omjiany.  and  Ethel. 

Mr.  Booth  is  connected  with  many  secret  and  insurance  orders  and 
besides  being  a  member  of  both  Woodmen  orders  he  is  an  Klk  and  a  high 
.Mason.  He  belongs  to  the  Blue  Lodge,  the  Chapter,  Commandery,  the 
Shriiu-  and  the  Consistory  at  Wichita,  .32d  degree.  He  is  a  Republican, 
without  a])ology  for  his  faith,  and  is  an  active  spirit  in  the  promotion  of 
enterprises  looldng  lo  the  public  weal  as  well  as  to  his  legitimate  per- 
sonal gain.  He  is  not  tied  to  formalities  and  not  in  sympathy  with 
straight-jacketism  on  many  lines  but  believes  in  a  reasonable  liberality 
of  thoughl  and  action  consistent  with  the  duties  of  a  good  citizen.  He 
is  endowed  with  a  wide  streak  of  good  mitiire,  looks  for  the  good  side  of 
all  things  and  is  universally  jiopular  as  a  lili/.en  of  the  county. 


HISTOUV  01'   MUNTUUMEKY  CUUNTY,  KANSAS.  665 

Montgomery  coiiiil.v.  l)ii(  I  his  sloj.  was  (inly  tcniiioiiiry  as  he  took  up 
his  ivsidciHc  iu  ('iiaiil:nii|iiii  .■oiiiily,  soon,  and  was  a  citizen  tliere  till 
1.SJS4.  Coniini;  ajiaiii  to  .Mon( jioniery  rouiily  in  1S1)4.  lie  pui-chased  the 
west  half  of  seriion  .-.li.  lowiiship  :::'..  lano.-  Hi,  and  has,  sin.-e  that  date, 
been  occui.icd  with  ils  inlelli;;cnl  an<l  snrressfiil  cult  ivalinn  and 
iiupi-oveiuenl. 

J.  Hai-dy  Smith  is  a  native  son  of  Hamilton  Co.,  Illinois,  his  birth 
takinj--  ]flace*  June  liL'.  is.-.i'.  .lohn  K.  Smith,  his  father,  was  a  farmer 
and  went  into  Illinois  in  IS.-.l  from  Monroe  county,  Tennessee,  where  he 
had  lived  many  yeais.  lie  was  horn  near  Newburu,  North  Carolina,  in 
1820,  and  dieii  in  Chanlamiua  Co.,  Kansas — where  he  settled  iu  1873 — in 
1895.  He  was  a  .son  of  Henry  Smith,  born  also  near  Xewburn,  N.  C,  and 
died  iu  Tennessee.  Henry  Smith  married  Sarah  Co.\  and  their  children 
were:  "Gatsie,"  who  married  .lohn  Presley  ami  died  in  Tennessee; 
Sallie.  died  in  Tennessee;  John  II..  subject's  father;  Samuel  H.,  of  West 
Tennes.see;  Ann,  who  married  Luther  Hicks,  of  Hamilton  Co.,  111.; 
Augustus,  of  Dade  Co.,  Mo.;  and  Salatha,  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  mar- 
ried John  Redburn.  John  K.  Smith  nnuried  Nancy  E.  Fosha,  a  daugh- 
ter of  .Jesse  Fosha,  of  the  State  of  Tennes.see.  Mrs.  Smith  died  in  1862. 
leaving  the  following  kssue:  Sarah,  who  died  in  189:^..  was  the  wife  of 
Joseph  1).  Mezo;  Wealthy  J.,  who  died  unmarried;  J.  Hardy,  of  this 
sketch;  Malinda,  widow  of  James  Neal,  of  Bolton,  Kansas;  Mary,  who 
died  in  ]8!l(),  was  the  wife  of  J.  B.  Tame,  of  Chautauqua  Co.,  Kansas. 

The  subject  of  this  review  was  educated  liberally  in  his  native  state- 
and  engaged  in  teaching  country  schools  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years. 
He  continued  the  jirofessitui  in  Illinois  and  in  Kansas  till  1882,  teaching 
his  last  term  in  Chautaucpia  Co.,  Kansas.  In  1884.  he  moved  to  the 
Cherokee  Nation  in  the  Indian  Terril<uy  and  was  engaged  in  farming 
and  raising  stock  there  for  ten  years,  his  success  at  which  providing 
him  with  the  means  whereby  he  was  enabled  to  jnirchase  and  own  his 
])resent  estate.  Keturning  to  Kansas,  he  so(m  nuide  the  investment 
which  put  him  in  possession  of  his  Independence  township  farm.  As  a 
home  and  an  abiding  jilace  for  contented  and  happy  people,  the  farm  was 
rather  forbidding.  It  was  unfenced.  possessed  no  barns  or  sheds  and 
jio  i-e.sidence.  save  a  small  log  house  and  a  box  lean-to.  This  condition 
has  all  been  changed  and  the  new  residence,  the  fences  and  cross-fences 
and  the  general  air  of  tlirifl,  rendci-  the  surroundings  inviting  and  indi- 
cate its  occnjiants  as  industrious  and  jirogressive  people. 

October  28,  1878,  Mr.  Smith  married,  in  Chautaui|ua  Co.,  Kans., 
Belle  Henry,  a  daughter  of  Monioe  Henry  who,  with  his  wife,  Melissa 
(lorby  were  the  parents  of  Sterling,  of  Niotaze,  Kansas;  .Vnna,  wife  of 
C.  n.  Wells,  of  VernKUitville,  Mich.;  Lucy,  who  married  Joseph  Elam. 
of  Dewey,  Ind.  Ty.;  Tommie,  wife  of  K.  J.  Swearingen,  of  Romona,  Ind. 
Ty.,  and' Mrs.  Smith,  the  oldest  of  the  family. 

The   isi-pie    of   the    marriage    of    Mr.    and    ^Irs.    Smith    are:      May, 


666  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

Arthur,  who  married  (lolda  Waguer  and  resides  near  .Ictl'crson,  Kaus.; 
Bert,  and  Ethel. 

A  review  of  the  Smiths'  political  history  shows  them  to  have  been 
Democrats  from  an  early  time.  Our  subject  has  maintained  the  tradi- 
tions and  practices  of  the  family— of  this  branch— and  has  taken  a 
lively  interest  in  the  political  battles  which  have  been  fought  in  Mont- 
gomery county  for  the  past  eight  years.  He  is  treasurer  of  school  dis- 
trict number  49 — "Clear  Creek" — and  is  a  warm  supiwifer  of  modern 
educational  methods. 


AHXEK  GREEN— The  name  which  iiiiii;iics  this  i.'vi.>\v.  will  i)Ossi- 
bly  be  more  familiar  to  a  large  number  of  Montgouiery  ((.uiity  citizens 
than  any  other  mentioned  in  this  volume.  In  the  three-fold  character 
of  one  of  the  average  farmers,  a  member  of  the  county  high  school 
board,  and  proprietor  of  one  of  the  best  threshing  outfits  in  the  county, 
Abner  Green,  of  Cherokee  townshij).  has  to  do  with  many  and  varied 
interests. 

Mr.  Green  is  a  Southern  man.  liaving  been  Imrn  in  Cliathaui  county, 
N.  C,  on  the  6th  day  of  October,  1842.  The  family  have  ])e('n  residents 
of  that  state  since  Colonial  times.  Harlan  Green  was  the  father  of  our 
subject,  and  Mary  Copland  his  mother.  The  mother  died  in  18.")1,  and 
the  father,  taking  his  young  children,  came  up  into  Indiana  the  same 
year  and  located  in  Orange  county,  for  two  years,  and  thence  to  Parke 
'count\.  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  liis  death,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
four  years.  Three,  only,  of  his  nine  clii 
Nancy,  wife  of  John  M.  Teague;  and  Abu 
After  settling  in  Indiana,  the  fatln-r  ag;i 
name  being.  Mildred  Ann  ("(xijkm-.  wh(l^ 
widow  of  Bruce  Stanley,  of  Indiana. 

A  lad  of  nine  years,  when  the  family 
Mr.  Green  was  there  reared  to  faiiii  litV  ami 
His  fatlun-  having  died  when  he  was  Imi 
to  live  with  James  AV.  Russell,  wliirc 
four  years.  He  then  began  life  for  1 
several  ditferent  counties  of  the  state 
in  the  army.  July  of  1863.     He  bccai 

Ind.  Vol.  Inf.  and  was  sent  for  service  to  East  Tennessee.  The 
character  of  his  service  in  the  army  was  at  once  severe  and  uninterest- 
ing, as,  by  a  chain  of  circumstances  which  neither  he  tior  his  superior 
officers  could  control,  the  regiment  was  kei»l  on  the  niaicli  almost  con- 
tinuously in  the  eastern  i»art  of  the  States  of  Tennessee  ami  Kentucky. 
On  many  of  the.se  long  marclies  the  regiment  was  forced  lo  foiagi-  upon 
the  country  for  its  subsistence,  and  many  a  day  Mi.  (lieeii  and  his 
compatriots  were  obliged  to  jiurloin  coin  from   the   jioor   mules   which 


en 

aie   now   living:  Yancy, 

the 

subject  of  this  review. 

mai 

iried.  the  second   wife's 

ine 

eliild.    .Mary   F..   is   the 

ved 

to  th<'  "Iloosier  Slate," 

(1     S( 

■cured  a  fair  education. 

ecu 

.  lie  left  home  and  went 

Ml.' 

his  home  ihe  following 

f  a  I 

1(1   worked   on   farms  in 

llie 

(late  of  liis  enlistment 

pri' 

vate   in   Co.   -B,"   115th 

IlISTOnV  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  667 

accoiniiiiiiii-il  the  ic<;iiii(  nl.  A  foi'cod  iiiairh,  wliich  llic  icfiiiiiciil  iiiadi^ 
oue  dai-k  and  slormy  iii^iit,  troin  Ci-ccnsvillt'  to  Hulls  (iap.  a  distance  of 
thirty  miles,  is  iiarliculaily  vivid  in  the  nicinory  of  our  subject,  as  many 
of  his  comrades  were  so  exliaiisled  that  they  died  either  on  the  way 
or  after  their  arrival.  Much  is  said  in  history  of  the  credit  due  to  men 
who  bared  their  breasts  to  shot  and  shell,  but  every  true  soldier  well 
knows  that  the  lonj;  weary  march,  without  projx'r  sustenance,  required 
as  high  a  degree  of  pal  riot  ism  as  was  sluivvn  anywhere.  Mr.  (Jreen 
was  not  present  at  a  single  battle,  but  afK-r  liis  honorable  discharge,  in 
February  of  1804,  lie  could  truthfully  say  that  he  had  seived  his  country 
faithfully  and  well. 

.Mr.  (Jreen  reliniied  (o  his  lioiiie  afler  the  war  and  lalpored  on  the 
Hutf  farm  nntil  the  ilale  of  his  marriagv,  September  ID.  ISdT.  For  tlu- 
following  six  yeais  he  worke<l  farms  on  shares,  and  by  the  day,  when, 
by  close  economy,  he  was  enabled  to  save  enough  to  purchase  a  small 
farm.  After  two  years,  he  removed  to  Sullivan  (■ounty,  where  he  spent 
four  .\ears  very  profitably  and  succeeded  in  saving  enough  to  make  his 
long  contemplated  removal  to  this  state.  In  the  spring  of  1879,  he 
purchased  IfiO  acres  seven  miles  nortlunust  of  C^)fteyville,  which  remains 
his  comfortable  home  today.  Mr.  tlreen  purchased  two  other  tracts 
which  he  has  deeded  to  his  children.  The  improvements  which  he  has 
added  to  his  farm  from  time  to  time,  are  such  as  to  make  it  one  of  the 
most  attractive  farm  properties  in  the  county.  To  a  large  native  grove, 
he  has  added  many  kinds  of  trees  and  shrubbery,  his  large  two  stoiy 
residence  being  surrounded  by  tasty  grounds  planted  with  evergreens 
and  all  furnishing  a  very  pleasing  picture  to  the  eye  of  the  traveler. 

The  etlorls  of  Mr.  (Jreen  have  been  directed,  for  the  most  part,  to 
farming,  but  for  .some  thirty-eight  years  he  has,  in  season,  superintended 
the  uperalion  of  his  thrashing  machine,  a  period  of  time  which  has 
made  Iiim  thoroughly  conversant  with  that  important  industry. 

As  the  "architect  of  his  own  fortune''  Abner  Green  has  every 
reason  to  be  proud  of  his  success  in  life,  as  it  is  all  the  result  of  indivi- 
dual elfort.  The  period  of  his  residence  in  Cherokee  township  has  beea 
one  of  helpful  activity  in  the  social  and  pMitical  life  of  the  county.  He- 
has  served  as  treasurer  of  his  township,  and  the  prominent  part  which 
he  has  always  taken  in  educational  affairs,  caused  his  election  on  the 
Republican  ticket  by  a  handsome  majority  to  a  position  on  the  Oountr 
High  School  board. 

The  lady  who  presides  over  the  home  of  our  subjeet  was  Miss 
Drucilla  Hutif,  daughter  of  Aaron  I),  and  I'riscilla  Hutf.  Jlrs.  Green  is  a 
native  of  I'arke  County,  Ind..  whi  re  she  was  born  on  June  20,  1845.  Her 
parents  are  both  deceased,  while  six  children  survive  as  follows:  Hanna 
Booth,  died  June  1st,  1!)0.'{;  Abigail  Heath,  Parthina  Morgan,  Indiana 
Carter,  Drucilla  CJreen,  and  C.  K.  Huff.  To  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Green  have  come  five  children,  as  follows:     Locha,  deceased  at  nine 


months;  Effa  J.,  Avife  of  Fred  J.  Burkhart;  Maiiford  A.,  a  farmer  of 
Oherokee  township  who  married  Maggie  livdic;  Manson  O.,  married 
Nellie  Davis  and  resides  in  Independence;  and  Lora  P.,  is  Mrs.  Ed 
Gardner  and  resides  in  the  Indian  Territory. 


WILLIAM  1).  WHELCHEL— Ovrr  tlii<H-  dfrndcs  luis  iliis  inonii. 
neut  and  worthy  representative  of  the  agricultural  class  followed  the 
plow  in  Montgomery  county.  Under  his  hand  he  has  seen  the  bare 
prairies  blossom  as  the  rose,  and  a  well-ordered  farm  take  the  place  of 
nature's  wild  waste.  Mr.  Whelchel  has  retired  from  ncti\e  farm  work, 
however,  and  is  enjoying  the  fruits  of  ])asf  labor  and  (Mimoniy. 

William  D.  Whelchel  was  born  in  Bates  counly.  Mo.,  iil  L^4."'>,  and 
is  the  son  of  John  J.  and  Louisa  (Bullard)  Whelchel.  Tin  y  wcm'  farmers, 
the  father  having  been  born  in  Indiaim  in  ISIS.  SIkhIIv  after  ilieir  mar- 
riage, the  parents  removed  to  Bates  county.  Mi>..  and  later  to  Linn 
county,  Kan.,  where  the  father  died  at  the  age  of  titty  four  ,\ears.  Their 
family  consisted  of  10  children.  AA'illiain  was  reared  to  young  man- 
hood on  the  Missouri  farm,  and  in  LStJli.  came  with  the  family  to  Kansas. 
He  rcnuiined  with  his  parents  until  his  mariiage,  .Ian.  .">.  IStJS.  Mrs. 
Whelchel's  maiden  name  was  Samantha  L.  ^^■iliiallls.  daughter  of  John 
R.  and  Sarah  (Adams)  Williams.  Her  father  was  born  in  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Baj)tist  church  at  eighteen,  and 
died  in  Ajjril  of  1881.  Her  mother  was  born  in  Benton  county.  Illinois, 
and  died  at  a  comparatively  early  age,  in  isiil,  aged  fifty-three  years. 
She  was  the  mother  of  twelve  children:  Eli/.abelh.  who  luarried  Wm. 
Dillon,  of  LaCygne,  Kan.;  Marion,  who  was  killed  in  the  Civil  \\ar;  Wm. 
R.,  of  Washington;  Harriet,  who  died  at  sixteen  years;  Thomas  J., 
Sarah,  John  and  Hattie,  also  deed.;  Augustus  W'..  of  California;  Mrs. 
Whelchel,  Elvira,  Mrs.  Wm.  Agnew,  of  the  Indian  Ty.;  .Mary  died  in 
infancy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whelchel  are  parents  of  eight'  children,  all  of 
whom  but  two,  are  living,  and  occu](ying  honoied  jilaces  in  society.  The 
eldest  was  John  C,  born  Jan.  15,  lS(i!>,  married  Ilattie  Noiris  and  is  a 
farmer  in  Oklahoma  Ty.;  his  children  are:  Doftie.  Inez.  Homer,  Clay- 
ton, Frankie  and  James;  Wm.  F..  born  Dec  IT.  1S7(».  mariied  Matilda 
Arizona  Williams,  wlio  died  Feb.  27.  r.M):;;  Charles.  Iioiii  .lime  4.  1S72, 
and  died  Janv.  L'f>,  1S7:!;  Ilattie.  born  Nov.  C.  Is7s.  and  died  Nov.  i!:5, 
l!Mlt»,wastliewifeof  Harry  DeMolt— left  one  .hild.  Tressie;  Waller,  of  Elk 
City,  mariied  Elhel  llan.-ock,  who  di.-d  .May  17.  liKIL';  .lames,  a  farmer 
of  i.ouisburg  township,  was  born  Oct.  of  iss'l.  :iiid  married  I'.ertha  Hope; 
(Jracie  Sunshine,  bm-n   Ort.  L':t,   ISS.'i.   is  a   studenl    of   llie      Montgomery 

County  High  Scl 1;  and  Chester  Iven.  born  .Ian.   111.  1S>S,  is  a  sturdy 

farm  lad  at  home. 

i-'or  a  time  alter  Ilieir  marriage.  Mr.  and  .Mrs.  \\-|iel(hel  liv.-d  in 
the  home  neighborhood,  and.  in   lS7lt,  <-ame  to  what  was  then  the  wilds 


•»  f*  t 

9t  W  9 


ISTORY  OP  \i 


Manson   O..  marri<^d 
Lova  P..   is  Mr?.    ^;:i 


iJli 


ind  a  vveli-orik'iti: 
■Icli.'l  lias  ictirod 


place  of 
;  111  work. 


wlio  died 
-1  deed.;  Axy- 

.    i'Jviiii,    \[i<.   Wni.  Ajruew.  of  ih,    ii 
-Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wht'khol  are  parents 

"  i\\r>.  .nv'  iiviiic.  '"i<i  or-  nin-';iji  lioiici. 


.!>•,  llaiiiaK...   Whi. 

nship.  was  born  O 

■.  horn  Oet.  23,  li-s 

•  liiMtl;  and  Tliesfer  h 

'  after  their  ni;ni ,,.  i' 
iliorliood,  ami 


>i«  ^ 


W.  D.  WHELCHEL  AND  WIFE. 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  67  I 

piece  of  work.  He  also  built  the  main  altar  in  the  liuleiieiidence 
Catholic  Church,  besides  doiiijj  work  in  other  churches  outside  of  the 
county.  He  is  a  finished  workman  in  liis  line  and  his  work  will  stand 
the  test  erf  criticism.  Uis  en(criirisin};  dis]i(isitiou  is  acknowledged  by 
all  good  citizens. 

Mr.  Imel  manicd  Stacy  1!.  l>arlin.u,  a  native  of  Kansas  and  a 
daughter  of  I',  li.  and  Nancy  i>arling.  from  .lackson  county,  Ohio.  Her 
]>arents  lived  on  a  farm  in  Labette  county,  Ks.  Mrs.  Imel  is  one  of  six 
children,  the  oldest  being,  Francis,  the  wife  of  John  Oliver,  of  Cherry- 
vale;  Tony,  a  minister  in  the  U.  B.  Church  of  Yates  Center,  and  A 
worthy,  influential  man,  who  has  nuide  much  of  opportunity;  Thomas, 
a  farmer  of  Labette  connty,  Ks. ;  Daniel,  of  Cherryvale;  Mrs.  Imel, 
Eunice,   Mrs.   William   Cooper. 

William  A.  Imel  and  wife  have  one  child,  Orlie,  who  is  the  joy  and 
pride  of  their  home.  They  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  and 
are  worthy  people  who  carry  the  good  will  and  esteem  of  a  large  and 
increasing  circle  of  acquaintances.  Mr.  Imel  is  a  member  of  the  A.  O. 
U.  W.,  also  the  W.  O.  W.    In  politics  he  is  an  ardent  republican. 


DR.  J.  T.  BLANK— Materia  mcdica  has  no  more  devoted  follower 
in  Montgomery  county  than  Dr.  Blank  of  Elk  City,  j)hysici:iii.  siiioeon 
and  dentist.  His  practice  in  these  three  lines  of  the  iirufcssioii  is  a 
large  one  and  lies  among  the  best  classes,  confidence  in  his  aliility  to 
master  of  the  situation  at  all  times,  being  the  mainspring  of  his  splendid 
success. 

The  doctor  belongs  to  llie  Eclectic  school  of  medicine,  being  a 
graduate  of  the  Cincinnati  institution,  class  of  1890.  He  immediately 
took  up  the  practice  at  Elk  City  and  is  now  reaping  the  fruits  of 
patient  and  painstaking  effort  in  the  earlier  years — years  in  which  he 
endured  the  varied  trials  that  come  to  every  young  professional  man 
with  a  persistent  complacency  which  finally  won  the  respect  even  of 
his  brethren  of  opposing  schools.  Of  late  years  he  has  given  especial 
attention  to  surgery  and  has  made  a  fine  reputation  in  that  difficult  art. 
He  is  a  close  student  and  has  at  various  times  contributed  articles  of 
much  merit  to  the  different  medical  journals  of  tlie  country.  In  the 
annual  state  meetings  of  the  Eclectic  Association  he  takes  a  prominent 
part,  and  thus  keeps  in  touch  with  the  best  thought  in  the  profession. 
The  doctor  is  a  member  of  and  medical  examiner  for  a  number  of  the 
best  fraternal  organizations,  notably  the  Woodmen,  Fraternal  Aid, 
Tonties  and  Royal  Neighbors.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  and  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W.,  in  which  organizations  he  has  been  a 
prominent  worker,  having  filled  ail  tln'  cliairs  in  each.  No  mote  jtopular 
citizen  resides  within  the  confines  of  thi^  nnniicipality  than  this  busy 
and  courteous  disciple  of  Aesculapius. 


6^2  IIISTOUY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COl  NTY,  KANSAS. 

I'assiiij;  to  tlic  f;iiiiily  liistoiy  of  onv  suhjcct.  the  bioyraiilicr  uott-s 
that  he  was  boiu  in  \V*'st  Virjiinia,  June  2:'.,  ISlKi.  tin'  son  of  Joliu  and 
Justina  (llillip)  Klank,  the  father  a  native  of  Holhind.  the  mother  of 
Germany.  The  father  was  a  pi-acticinj;  jthysitian  in  (Marksbnif;,  W.  \n.. 
for  a  number  of  year.s  prior  to  the  war.  lb-  enlisted  in  the  service  as  a 
surfi'eon  and  served  in  the  western  army,  and  at  the  i-lose  carried  on  his 
]>ersoii  tlie  scars  of  a  wound  received  in  baltle,  and  which  attested  his 
iovaliv  l<i  <-ouiitry  in  the  <hiys  of  jier  dire  need,  .\f1er  the  war.  the  family 
moved  lip  lo  .Mlooiia.  I'a..  and  in  ISTd.  raine  out  lo  Kansas,  tirsi  settling 
in  l»oni|iliaii.  liience  )o  Elk  county,  where  llic  fallier  jD'acticed  until  his 
deatii  ill  ISTt,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  The  mother  survived 
him  ic:iii\   \cais.  dying-  in  1897,  at  the  age  of  si.xly  seven. 

Dr.  -I.T.  IMan'k  married  in  ISilL'.  Jliss  Doia  llattan.  a  native  of  Illi- 
nois. Siie  was  a  lady  of  many  beautiful  nails  of  riiaia<lei-.  a  sjilen- 
did  moliier  lo  hei-  two  childreu.  Jay  and  Merrcl.  Ib-r  dealli.  which  oc- 
curred .laniiaiy  7.  1S!I!),  at  the  age  of  thirty-two  years,  was  a  sad  shock 
to  her  devoted  husband  and  (hildren.  Two  years  latc^r  the  doctor 
brought  to  ]ireside  ovei-  his  home,  Miss  Louisa  Kruschke.  a  native  Kan- 
sas girl,  daughter  of  Frederick  Kruschke.  Mrs.  Ulank  combines  in  a 
happy  degrcH'  the  qualities  so  essential  in  the  physician's  wife,  and 
both  she  and  her  husband  are  potent  factors  in  the  citv's  social  life. 
The  doctor  is  Vice  ]'resi(h-nt  of  the  P^clectic  Medi.al  .\ssn.,  meeting 
generally  at  Topeka. 


IIIOXKV  \y.  SIOLTZKK— Henry  \V.  Sell/.cr  was  born  and  reared  on  a 
farm  in  I'eoria  county.  111.  His  birth  occurred  Se],t.  4.  lS.-..->.  His  father, 
A^'illiam  Sell/.er,  was  a  son  of  a  native  (iernian.  Ilis  family  consisted  of 
three  sons:  John.  Jacob  and  ^\'illiam,  who  marTie<l  Catherine  Link,  a 
native  of  (iermany.  To  them  vveie  born  four  children:  John  1).,  a  resi- 
dent  of  ('hicago;  our  subject,  Henry  ^^'..  of  hHlejiendence;  Mary,  de- 
ceased; and  Catherine  A^'atzel,  a  I'esident  of  I'eoria,  HI.  His  wife  hav- 
ing died.  Ml'.  Scdtzer  married  Lizzie  (irittin.  and  to  this  second  mar- 
riage were  born  si.x  children:  Hurton,  T(uiard.  Nellie.  Frank.  ]\Iarion 
and  Oliver,  all  of  whom  reside  in  I'eoria,  III.  Honald  is  the  son  of  his 
third   wife,  Caiherine  I'indile. 

Henry  W.  Sell/.er.  the  subject  i,(  Ihis  skelcli.  has  also  f(dlowed 
farmiiig  ,-is  an  occupation,  and  thai  success  which  comes  from  intelli- 
genl  faiiniiig  has  c-oiiie  lo  him.  The  faiiii  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  where  he  MOW  lives,  in  Sediiui  I'l'-.!:!  I."i.  was  purchased  when  he 
came  lo  .Moiilgomeiy  <-onnly,  in  1!MM>.  In  jiolilics  none  has  ever  been 
truer  or  more  enl hiisiaslic  than  Mr.  Sellzer.  He  is  an  ai'dent  Rejuib- 
licaii,  and  has  always  served  his  jiarty  lo  I  lie  besi  of  his  ability.  As 
a  friend  i>f  education,  he  is  well  and  favorablv  known  in  his  native 
slate,   whei-e   for  several    vears   he  was  a    iiieiiiher  <d'   llic   board  of  edu- 


IIISTOKY  OF   MONTfiOiMEUY  COUNTY^   KANSAS.  673 

ciitioii,  anil   has  always   woiUoil   for   tlic  L.-st    iiil.iests  of   tlio  sthools, 
where  lie  resides. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  18S2.  ocdiind  (lie  maniage  of  Henry 
^\'.  Seltzer  and  Anna  Archabald.  a  daiifihtei-  of  Thomas  and  Susan 
(Kalli)  Archabald.  Mrs.  Seltzer's  father  was  a  nalivc  of  the  Isle  of  Man, 
and  his  wife  of  old  \'irfj;inia.  To  Mi',  and  Mrs.  Seltzer  have  been  born 
four  (liildren:  Orie  A.,  Katie  H..  Jay  H.  and  Edna  M.,  all  of  whom 
are  school  children  at  home. 


WILLIAM  COCHK.VN  HALL,  M.  D.  The  medical  profession  of 
Montgomery  county  and  of  the  city  of  Coffeyville  is  honored  by  the  dis- 
tinguished services  in  its  behalf  of  Ur.  William  ('.  Hall  of  this  review. 
For  sixteen  years  he  has  been  identified  with  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Coffeyville  and  the  success  of  his  practice,  his  high  character  and 
his  substantial  citizenship,  place  him  prominently  in  the  front  rank  of 
Montgomery  county  physicians. 

Highland  county,  Ohio,  was  the  birthplace  of  Dr.  Hall  and  his 
birthday  was  October  29,  18(!n.  His  father,  Carey  F.  Hall,  was  a  busi- 
ness man  of  a  speculative  turn  and  was  born  in  the  same  county  and 
state  October  20,  1836.  He  passed  his  life  in  Highland,  Adams  and 
Scioto  counties.  Ohio,  and,  for  a  short  time,  was  a  liotelkeeper  in  New- 
castle, Indiana.  Jacob  Hall,  grandfather  of  Dr.  Hall,  was  born  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1802,  and  came  out  of  the  Old  Dominion  State  with  his  father, 
George  Hall,  and  settled  in  Highland  county,  Ohio.  He  passed  his 
life  on  the  farm  and  married  Polly  Cochran.  Jacob  Hall  died  leaving  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  James,  Jesse  R.,  Mary  J.,  Matilda  A.,  Sallie,  Lucy  and 
Carey  F.  The  last  named  married  Hannah  Milburn.  the  mother  of  our 
subject.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Easter  A.  (Rice)  Mil- 
burn.  The  Milburns  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  that  Ohio  region 
and  were  from  Pennsylvania.  Carey  F.  Hall  and  wife  were  the  par- 
ents of:  William  C,  of  this  notice;  Louella  N.,  wife  of  J.  C.  Price,  of 
Montgomery  county,  Kansas;  I^uira  C.,  who  died  at  eighteen  years; 
Verdie  R..  wife  of  Hardie  Stanfield,  of  Cofi'eyville,  Kansas;  and  Carey 
Frank,  who  resides  with  the  mother  of  these  children  just  west  of 
Coffeyville. 

Dr.  William  <".  Hall  passed  an  uneventful  br)yhood  and  youth  and 
attended  the  common  schools  of  his  native  state.  He  acquired  his  ad- 
vanced literary  training  in  the  National  Normal  I'niversity  at  Lebanon, 
Ohio — Holbrook's  school — in  the  mean  lime  teaching  school,  and,  at 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  took  up  the  study  of  medicine  Avith  Dr.  James 
W.  Bunn,  of  West  I'nion,  Ohio.  He  was  a  student  in  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  from  which  institu- 
tion he  graduated  in  March,  1885.  April  1st  following,  he  located  at 
Latham,  Ohio,  and  began   active  practice.     In  February,  188G.  he  re- 


674  HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

moved  to  Sinking  Spring,  that  state,  where  he  remained  till  his  final 
removal  to  Coffeyville,  Kansas,  April  27,  1887.  His  practice  in  this 
city  and  community  has  been  most  active  and  has  become  of  great  im- 
portance not  only  to  himself  but  to  the  locality  as  well.  It  has  been 
attended  with  remarkable  success  and  does  honor  to  the  county  and 
great  credit  to  the  doctor.  He  is  division  surgeon  of  the  Mo.  V.  and 
Iron  Mountain  Railways,  local  surgeon  of  the  M.  K.  and  T.  Railway 
and  of  the  Santa  Fe  Railway;  is  one  of  the  staff  of  the  Good  Samaritan 
Hospital  of  Coffey ville,  and  was  president  of  the  Montgomery  county 
Pension  Board  during  Cleveland's  second  administration.  He  has 
served  as  President  of  the  Coffeyville  Board  of  Education,  is  President 
of  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  hospital  above  named.  He  has  many 
business  interests  of  importance  to  Coffeyville,  among  them  heing:  the 
erection  of  and  his  ownership,  with  Mr.  Mahan,  in  the  Hotel  Mecca;  a 
stockholder  in  and  holds  the  Presidency  of  the  Coffeyville  Pottery  and 
Clay  Co.;  he  is  President  of  the  Coffeyville  Chemical  Company  and  a 
Director  in  the  Peoples  Gas  Company,  in  the  Condon  Bank,  in  the 
new  glass  company  and  in  the  Coffeyville  Commercial  Club,  of  which 
two  last  he  is  also  Vice  President;  President  of  the  Coffeyville  (Kan- 
sas) Academy  of  Medicine  and  member  of  Adams  County  (Ohio)  Medical 
Society;  Montgomery  Co.  (Kansas)  Medical  Society;  Indian  Tenitory 
Medical  Society;  Kansas  State  Medical  Society;  American  Mediral 
Association,  and  Inteinational  Association  of  Railway  Surgeons. 

June  15,  1887,  Dr.  Hall  married  Sara  II.  Hite,  a  daughter  of  Rev. 
Addison  Hite,  a  Methodist  minister  of  Virginia  origin.  Mrs.  Hall  was 
born  in  Highland  Co.,  Ohio,  Sept.  16,  18G4,  and  is  the  mother  of  Levera 
May  and  William  ('arlton  Hall.  The  doctor  is  a.  Scottish  Rite  Mason, 
a  D(nn()crat  in  politics  and  a  member  of  the  Elks  lodge. 


OLIVER  PERRY  EKGENBRIGHT.  As  an  advocate  and  counselor 
at  law  and  in  the  field  of  politics,  do  we  l>est  know  the  gentleman 
whos(>  name  introduces  and  who  is  the  subject  of  this  brief  review. 
Skilled  in  his  profession  and  distinguished  as  an  orator,  he  is  an  ac- 
knowledged jiower  at  the  bar,  and  a  ]iolitical  commander  of  the  third 
congressional  district.  His  success  in  his  chosen  and  favorite  fields 
has  been  iironounced  and  his  position  infiuenfial  among  men. 

The  I'.rgenlirighfs  are  of  Teutonic  origin  and  "Eherenbreitstine" 
on  the  ri\('i-  lihine  in  liower  (Jernniiiy,  was  their  native  home.  The 
founder  of  this  Anietican  family,  .\ugust  "Ergenbreit,"'  was  the  great- 
grandfalher  of  our  subject  and,  about  1740,  he  added  his  presence  to 
the  ])()i)ulation  of  Virginia,  from  which  Colony  he  enrolled  as  a  soldier 
in  the  Continental  army  for  American  independence.  He  was  a  private, 
did  his  duty  throughout  the  struggle,  was  present  at  the  siege  and  cap- 
ture of  Yorktown  and  was  one  of  the  detail  to  carrv  the  news  of  the 


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W.   C.   HALL,   M.   D. 


HISTOUY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  677 

iug  boon  born  July  .'?.  ISTIJ,  so  near  tho  centennial  anniveisary  of  our 
nation's  birth  as  to  be  a  fitting  event  in  the  domestic  life  of  the  Hum- 
phrey family.  He  passed  through  the  city  schools  and  graduated  from 
the  high  school  in  his  native  town  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  Ambi- 
tious for  higher  education,  he  attended  the  Kansas  Stale  University  two 
years,  during  which  time  he  contributed  much  toward  his  maintenance 
in  the  institution  as  a  correspondent  for  the  Kansas  City  Star,  writing 
its  "TTniversity  Notes.''  Other  publications  have  known  him  in  a  like 
capacity  and.  as  editor  of  the  "K.  T^  Weekly,''  he  maintained  a  lively 
interest  in  the  college  journal  by  the  charm  and  originality  of  his 
editorials  and  by  the  pith  and  spice  of  his  ])aragra]ihs. 

On  closing  his  university  Avork,  Mr.  Humphrey  entered  the  Citizens 
National  Bank,  of  Independence,  where  he  was  book-keei)er  for  three 
years.  He  then  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Humphrey  and  Son, 
financial  correspondents  of  the  Union  Central  Life  Insurance  Company, 
of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  managing  its  investinents  in  southeastern  Kansas. 
In  1901.  he  was  elected  Treasurer  of  the  hoard  of  education  of  Inde- 
pendence, and  was  the  custodian  of  and  handled  the  funds  of  tlie  dis- 
trict, including  the  jiroceeds  of  the  school  bond  sales  amounting  to 
fortv  thousand  dollars. 

'December  2,  l!)()i'.  Mr.  lliiinphrey  married  Klsie  ('.  .Vnderson.  daugh- 
ter of  the  pioneer  merchant  and  well  known  citizen,  -John  M.  Anderson, 
•of  Independence.  Mrs.  Humphrey  was  born  in  Montgomery  county, 
Kansas,  November  3, 1871),  was  educated  at  Hardin  College,  Mexico,  Mo., 
and  is  a  charming  and  accomjdished  lady. 

In  fraternal  matters  our  subject  is  little  more  vhan  a  novice.  He 
became  a  mason  in  1900  and  has  taken  tlie  hiiic  lodge  and  chapter 
degrees.  He  is  a  member  of  the  IMii  l>elta  Tlieta  college  fraternity,  and 
imbibed  his  Republican  jiarty  ])roclivities  from  his  father.  Lyman  U. 
Humphrey,  Ex-Gov.  of  Kansas. 


CH.\ULKS  11.  Kl•:^■^"^:!^^^  one  of  I'arkcr  Townshiji's  re]>resenta- 
tive  men.  was  horn  in  Whiteside  county.  Ills.,  on  the  21st  day  of  July, 
1856.  His  father's  name  was  James  L.  Kennedy,  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  his  mother's  Elmiia  Robeits,  a  native  of  Indiana.  In  Septem- 
ber, 18.55,  the  parents  moved  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Whiteside  county, 
w^here  the  mother  died  in  IStJO.  at  the  age  of  thirty-three  years.  After 
this  event  the  fatliei'  moved  back  to  Indiana  and  jiassed  his  remaining 
years  there,  dying  in  1S!I7. 

To  them  were  born  six  children.  Emiiv  .1..  deed.;  Lewis  T. ,  .Vniasa 
R.,  deceased;  John  I »..  Charles  H.  and  Sarah    L.  deceased. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on  tin-  farm  in  Illinois. 
After  the  death  of  his  mother  he  went  to  live  with  an  uncle,  S.  R. 
Libby,  where  he  attended   the  common  schools  and   received  his  edu- 


Till-  iiarciils  (if  Dr.  Hcitt'iishiiw,  Edwin  and  A.  Mi-lissa  Jiertenshawv 
have  lonj;  been  ^)l•()Ininl'nt  asiiftilturists  of  the  eounty,  they  removing- 
here  in  1871,  from  their  native  State  of  Indiana.  They  settled  on  a  claim 
in  Lonisbiirj;  Tw  p..  but  have  since  removed  to  Independence  Twp.  Their 
family  consisted  of:  Dr.  Iv  .1.,  -lohn  T.,  an  attorney  at  Independence; 
Herbert,  a  dcniist  al  Indciicndencc,  and  JIoscv  <i.,  a  commercial  trav- 
eler. 

Dr.  Kertenshaw  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Ind.,  March  13,  1869. 
He  is  a  product,  in  education,  of  the  common  schools  of  his  home  town- 
ship and  of  the  high  school  of  Elk  City,  where  he  graduated  in  1889. 
He  then  entered  upon  the  study  of  his  jirofession  under  the  proceptor- 
ship  of  Drs.  J.  T.  Davis  and  T.  F.  ISerlcnshaw,  (the  latter  an  uncle)  of 
Louisbiirg  Twp.,  iM(»ntgomery  county,  Kansas,  jnactitioners  of  note  there. 
Continuing  witli  them  two  years  he  in  IS'.id,  icjiaired  to  Miami  Medical 
College  in  ('iiiciiinaii,  ami  in  ilic  spriiiji  of  IS!);!,  was  given  the  diploma 
of  that  instilntiini.  The  Isl  of  -lunc  found  him  located  in  Independence, 
where,  fm'  tln'  iciiiaiudi-r  of  liiat  year,  he  continual  the  ])ractice  in  con- 
junction witli  Dr.  \\  .  A.  .Mct'ulley.  In  -lanuary  of  1894,  he  opened  an 
office  in  Elk  Cily.  .\s  intimated,  Dr.  Iterlenshaw  soon  took  rank  among 
the  best  in  the  county  and  has  each  year  added  new  laurels  in  the  dif- 
ficult cases  which  he  has  successfully  handled.  He  takes  measures 
to  keep  in  close  touch  with  liis  profession,  being  a  constant  student  of 
the  best  medical  litejature,  and  a  member  of  the  different  medical  socie- 
ties within  his  jurisdiction.  lie  served  a  period  of  three  years  on  the 
pension  examining  boaid  and  is  examinei-  for  s(^veral  old  line  and  fra- 
ternal insurance  comi>anii's. 

Di-.  Hertenshaw  was  marric.l  Novcnibci-  I'lt.  is'.lli.  to  Miss  Laura  J. 
Cowell,  dauiiiiter  of  a  jiioMeer  fainilv  of  the  count  v.  and  ju'ominent  in  its 
historv.  a  brief  skdcli  of  whi<h  is  h'cre  ai-iiendcd.' 


DK.  HEXKY  (OWFLL.  -landfather  of  Mrs.  IJertenshaw,  was  a 
native  of  Xew  York  state,  wlici-e  lie  married  Eliza  McMaster,  and,  later, 
removed  to  (irant  coiuily.  N\'isconsin.  Here  he  was  for  yesirs  the  pion- 
eer pliysiciaii,  cdiilinuing  until  about  tlic  time  the  (Mvil  War  opened, 
wlien  he  went  lo  I'j lifoinia,  where  he  dii-d  in  tlic  seventies.  The  wife 
«lied  l;;t(M-  in  ^^■is(■onsin.  Thev  wei'c  tlic  parents  of:  l'\  A,,  now  deceased; 
Lucv,  deceased:  11.  W.,  of  Stockton.  Cab;  .b.sliiia,  of  Stockton,  Cal.; 
Adaline.  and  Williston.  dccca.sed;  F.  M.,  of  Si,,ckton.  Cal.;  and  IMioebe, 
Mrs.  liichard  iJiown,  of  t  lie  same  point. 

F.  A.  Cowell,  fallier  of  Mis.  I'.ertenslia w,  was  the  eldest  of  the  fam- 
ily.  He  gi-e\\  to  inanliooil  in  Wisconsin  ami  was  first  married  to  Jane 
Carson,  whose  cliildi-en  were:  -lolin  T..  and  Osi-ir  C.  deceased;  Charles 
L.,  of  Missoula,  Mont.;  Seldon  D..  Sfevensville,  Mont.;  Nannie,  Mrs.  J. 
W.  Greenough,  Missoula,  ;Mont.;  and  .Joseph  W.,  deceased.    The  mother 


JOHN  CASTILLO. 


I  first  wit- 


The  chikirei)  ■n-fci 
.1.,  deci'asfd;  Xanev 
ist'd;  Laura  <".,  Mr.- 
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WWW.'.'. 


HISTORY   (ir    MMNTCdMl-.KY    ('(irXTY.   KANSAS.  6Sr 

of  these  childreu  died  in  lS(i4  :iii<l  un  M:ucli  7.  ISCT.  Mr.  Ciwril  ninr- 
ried  Margaret  D.  Oarsoii.  a  si.ster  of  his  firsi  witV.  ami  (hiuKlitcr  of  Wil- 
liam and  Anna  Carson.  This  family  were  caily  |ii.in.tTs  of  .Mahoiiing 
connty,  Ohio,  from  whence  they  removed  to  California  in  1S.')(I.  Tliere 
the  father  soon  died,  the  mother  living  nntil  18<i(i.  The  iliildrcii  were: 
John  A.,  now  of  Minnesota;  Joseph  P.,  and  Sarah  J.,  diitascd;  Nancy, 
Mrs.  William  Ingersoll.  and  Chas.  O.,  both  deceased;  Laura  C,  Mrs. 
Timothy  Wannamaker.  deceased;  and  Margaret  1>..  now  a  icsident  of 
Elk  Viiy.  The  latter  is  the  mother  of  four  children:  Harry  W".,  of  I'.ait- 
lesvilie."  I.  T. ;  l.aura  .)..  .Mrs.  Dr.  Rertenshaw;  Crace  L.,  single;  Wal- 
lace \V..  a  carpenter  of  Klk  Cily.  .Mrs.  Cowell  lived  in  Wisconsin  nntil 
l.S(;4  and  came  to  Kansas,  living  here  nntil  1888.  In  the  year  18!»4.they 
came  to  Kansas  and  stojtjied  at  Elk  City,  settling  in  Montgomery  Co. 
Here  the  family  continued  to  reside,  though  making  several  trii)s  to 
California  of  extended  length.  Mr.  Cowell  died  June  121,  18!»(i,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-seven  years.  He  was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  many  tine 
traits  of  character!  He  was  a  life  long  member  of  the  Baptist  church 
and  was  a  prominent  factor  in  the  different  commuuities  where  his 
lines  were  cast. 


JOHN  CASTILLO.  Of  the  many  defenders  of  Hie  nation's  honor 
during  the  dark  days  of  1801  to  1865,  who  settled  in  Montgomery 
county  after  the  war,  none  is  more  deserving  of  representation  in  this 
volume  than  John  Castillo,  Justice  of  the  Teace  of  Louisburg  town- 
ship and  Ex-County  Commissioner  of  the  county.  He  has,  since  1874, 
resided  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  sixty  acres  in  this  township. 

In  Wayne  county,  Kentucky,  Mr.  Castillo's  birth  occurred  Feb- 
ruary 17,  1842.  His  father  was  Joseph  Castillo,  his  mother  Annie  Dod- 
son. "  The  Castillo's  are  of  pure  Irish  extraction,  his  grandfather,  Mat- 
thew Castillo,  having  been  a  native  of  Dublin,  emigrating  to  the  United 
States  shortly  after  the  Eevolutionary  War  and  remaining  in  Virginia 
until  1809,  when  he  came  out  to  Wayne  county.  Kentucky.  The  lat- 
ter's  wife  was  Mary  Ray.  They  reared  a  family  of  which  our  subject's 
father  was  the  eldest,  and  was  born  in  1805. 

Joseph  Castillo  married  his  wife  in  1833.  Their  children  were: 
Brazile,  Matthew  L.,  Michael,  Mary,  John  and  Joseph.  Of  this  fam- 
ily two  of  the  boys,  our  subject  and  Michael,  were  soldiers  in  the  Civil 
War;  members  of  Co.  "H,"  12th  Kentucky  Vol.  Inft.  They  enlisted  Oc- 
tober 3,  1861,  and  at  the  expiration  of  service  John  Castillo  reenlisted, 
in  January  of  1864;  he  enlisted  as  cori>oral  and  was  discharged  as  ser- 
geant. Upon  his  re-enlistment  he  became  Regimental  Commissary 
sergeant.  He  served  until  mustered  out  at  Greensboro  in  July  of  1865. 
The  regiment  of  which  he  was  a  part  was  in  the  following  engage- 
ments; Mill  Springs.  Siege  of  Corinth,  Perryville.  Siege  of  Knoxville. 
Franklin  and  Xashville,  and  in  the  tight  at  Wilmington.  North  Carolina. 


Aftf'i'  till'  war  our  subject  fontiuued  to  reside  in  the  "Blue  Grass 
Stale"  until  1S74,  wlien  be  located,  as  stated,  in  Montgomery  county. 
Here  he  owns  a  farm  of  one  hundred  sixty  acres,  the  splendid  character 
of  the  improvements  thereon  and  the  neat  appearance  which  it  pre- 
sents being  evidences  of  the  agricultural  ability  of  our  subject. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Castillo  was  an  event  of  the  year  1860.  Mrs. 
Castillo  was  I^au  M.  Simpson,  and  resided  in  Wayne  county,  Ken- 
tucky. She  was  the  mother  of  Elisha  J.,  now  a  teacher  in  the  Mont- 
gomery County  High  School,  whose  four  children  are:  William  Wort- 
man,  Harriet  Lean,  Sadie  Elizabeth  and  John  Cilhert;  John,  Jr.,  a  law- 
student  of  the  State  University  at  Lawrence;  Mary  A.,  wife  of  John 
M.  Cotton,  Clerk  in  the  Elk  City  Hank,  whose  children  are  Clyde  and  Cor- 
nelia; Sally  K.,  a  teacher  in  an  Indian  school  in  Utah;  Nannie  B., 
married  Frank  Drybread.  a  fanner  of  Louisburg  township;  her  chil- 
dren are — Elizabeth  and  Matilda.  Our  subject's  first  wife  was  a  lady 
of  many  excellent  (|ualities,  a  devoted  mother  to  her  children  and  was 
sincerely  mourned  at  her  death,  which  occurred  on  August  10,  1884. 
His  second  wife  was  Permelia  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  and  Nancy 
(Bobbitt)  Kandall.  The  marriage  was  solemnized  on  the  2.5th  of  De- 
cember, 1S85,  in  Neodesha,  Kas.  Mrs.  Castillo  is  a  native  of  Pulaski 
county,  Kentucky,  where  she  was  born,  21st  July,  1854.  Her  parents, 
later,  moved  to  Pettes  county,  Mo.,  where  they  died;  her  father  suf- 
fering death  at  the  hands  of  the  Bushwackers  in  1804.  To  Mr.  Castillo's 
second  marriage  has  been  born  one  child,  Irving,  born  June  12,  1888. 

During  the  residence  of  Mr.  Castillo  in  Montgomery  county,  he 
has  ever  evinced  a  deep  interest  in  the  moral  and  social  and  political 
life  of  the  county.  In  1884,  he  was  nominated  on  the  Republican  ticket 
as  a  candidate  for  Commissioner  of  the  First  District,  and,  being  elected, 
filled  that  office  three  years  with  great  efficiency.  He  has  been,  for 
one  year.  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Louisburg  township.  After  the  rise 
of.tlie  reform  party,  Mr.  Castillo  supported  that  party  'till  1896,  when 
he  became  a  free  silver  Republican  and  in  1900,  advocated  the  reforms 
l)ropo^ed  by  the  Populist  party.  As  to  future  politics  he  stands  by 
Bryan,  but  in  case  of  the  nomination  of  a  Gold  Democrat  Mr.  Castillo 
will  cast  his  influence  for  Roosevelt.  He  and  his  family  are  consistent 
members  and  literal  supporters  of  the  Christian  church  and  the  re- 
spect in  which  they  are  held  throughout  the  entire  county  is  most  uni- 
form. 


GEORGE  L.  REMINGTON.  During  the  comparatively  brief  pe- 
riod of  twelve  years  that  he  was  permitted  to  mingle  with  and  be 
one  of  the  citizens  of  Montgomery  county,  the  late  subject  of  this  rec- 
ord, George  L.  Remington,  lived  a  life  conspicuous  for  its  relation  to 
men  and  affairs,  for  its  usefulness  to  civil  and  social  institutions  and 


ccouomi(all.y  during  the  acquirement  of  his  body  of  land.  He  spent 
a  year  at  Havana  in  Oaney  township  while  preparing  himself  for  a 
pernu:uent  location,  and  where  he  finally  settled  is  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  mineral  belt  of  Montgomery  county. 

Mr.  Prather  was  born  in  Bartholomew  county,  Indiana,  February 
10,  1854.  The  Prathers  are  of  English  origin  and  the  American  branch 
springs  from  three  brothers  who  came  here  as  missionaries  several 
generations  back.  Walter  Prather,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born  in 
Clark  county,  Indiana,  in  1809,  and  died  in  Bartholomew  county  at 
past  eighty-fonr  years  of  age.  Farming  was  his  calling  and  he  passed 
his  life  in  circumstances  fitting  an  industrious  and  honorable  citizen. 
He  filled  the  office  of  County  Commissioner  and  was  elected  thereto 
as  a  Republican.  He  married  Mary  Weathers,  of  Jackson  county,  In- 
diana. She  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-four,  in  1877.  Her  children  were: 
Orlie,  wife  of  Henry  Marshall,  of  Madison  Co.,  Montana;  America,  who 
became  Mrs.  Henry  Warner,  of  the  same  place;  William  L.,  Jessie  F., 
wife  of  Elmer  Oyler,  of  Sedgwick  Co.,  Kansas;  John,  of  Oklahoma,  and 
Morton,  of  Sullivan  Co.,  Indiana. 

The  life  of  William  L.  Prather  was  influenced  by  rural  environ- 
ment when  he  grew  up.  The  common  schools  provided  his  education 
and  he  remained  with  the  parential  home  till  twenty-four  years  old. 
He  began  an  independent  career  as  a  farm  hand  and  for  five  years  he 
earned  a  monthly  wage  as  snch.  He  grew  into  independent  farming 
gradually  and  the  larger  portion  of  his  modest  accumulations  in  the 
Hoosier  State  was  achieved  in  this  way. 

November  9, 1884,  he  was  married,  being  united  with  Armina  Krien- 
hagen,  a  daughter  of  a  German  settler,  Henry  Krienhagen,  a  lifetime 
farmer.  Two  sons  have  been  born  of  their  marriage,  one  of  whom,  Ora, 
survives.  The  latter  was  born  January  8,  1895,  and  is  a  promising  boy 
in  the  second  grade  in  school.  Mrs.  Prather  has  performed  no  small 
part  in  the  achievements  of  the  family  on  the  prairies  of  Kansas  and 
the  nintual  confidence  which  she  and  Mr.  Prather  enjoy  is  a  potent 
force  toward  promoting  the  family  welfare. 

Mr.  Prather  has,  of  late  years,  participated  in  Peoples  Party  poli- 
tics, is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  and  is  a  director  of  school 
district  No.  4,  Pleas^ant  Valley.    He  is  a  member  of  the  A.  H.  T.  A. 


GRANT  HAINLINE.  Among  the  younger  element  of  the  business 
men  of  Cherryvale  and  a  gentleman  who  has  shown  his  spirit  and  in- 
terest in  his  town  is  Grant  Hainline,  the  gentleman  mentioned  in  the 
introduction  to  this  notice.  The  east  side  feed-mill  knows  him  as  its 
proprietor  and  he  has  been  so  connected  since  he  succeeded  Henry  A. 
Lowman,  its  founder,  in  1899. 

McDonough  connty,  Illinois,  was  the  native  place  of  Mr.  Hainline 


(loiiifsiic  nlTiiiis  lit'  Mi>ii(;;cimci'.v  (■oiiiil\.  lie  lias  passed  ninctcfii  vtars 
^\iIllill  iis  hoidris  and  a  .second  liuiucstcad  is  yieldiiifi  to  liis  iiia};ic 
toiuli  and  in  a  new  lo\vnslii|>  he  is  cstahlisliin;;  his  flood  name. 

All  lull-  K.  I'tific  is  descended  from  Amciican  antecedents  bnt  for 
many  years  the  family  lived  iindef  another  flap  and  owed  alh'Kiance 
to  another  nation.  ihirinK  the  eaily  years  of  the  century  just  jiassed 
Josiaii  i'aue,  father  of  our  snliject,  was  horn  in  tlie  Province  of  (^iiehec, 
Can.Hla.  His  father  settled  tii'cre  from  the  State  of  New  York  and  had 
other  cliildren,  as  fidlows:  Jolm,  Timothy,  Mrs.  Melvina  Robinson 
and  .Mrs.  .\nnie  Ueed.  Josiah  E.  Pajje  married  Salina  Koliinson,  a 
iiati\e  of  .loliet  county,  Canada,  and  a  danjihter  of  .lames  ]{obiiison 
and  wife,  of  Scottish  ai'id  Cafiadian  hirtli.  i-espect  ively. 

.losiaii  K.  and  Salina  I'afte  passed  their  lives  in  Hie  (jueen's  .\nier- 
ican  dominions  and  reared  nine  children,  nanndy:  .lolni  K..  of  Ore- 
<;on;  Kmeline,  (h-cea.sed;  Arthur  E.,  our  sid)ject;  .Mrs.  Emilv  .1.  Knu'- 
land,  of  Cana.hi  East;  Mrs.  Emma  A.  Stephens,  of  F.oston.  Massadin- 
setts;  Uilliam  M.,  (.f  Norton  county,  KaTisas;  Mrs.  l.ucy  E.  (il.-nney. 
of  Fall  Uiver,  Mas.sachusetts;  Heriierl,  of  Canada,  and  lienjamin,  of 
Jtoslon,  .Massachusetts.  The  parents  of  this  family  of  cliildren  were 
of  the  Episcopal  faith  and  in  his  active  and  mor!-  vif;()rous  life  the 
falhiM-  w.is  a  lumber-camp  foreman  and  was  also  Deimly  SheritV  of 
.loliet  county,  Canada  East. 

.Inly  17,  1S4S,  .\Hhur  E.  I'ajiC  was  born  in  .loliet  county,  tjuebec 
Jle  i-einaiiK-d  with  the  parental  home  till  |.ast  his  majority,  when  h" 
left  Canada  and  souf-ht  (he  United  States,  lie  went  out  into  the  world 
with  a  coiintrv  sclimd  education  and  learned  to  work  while  doini,'  duly 
on  the  farm  (if  his  boyliood.  He  first  sto|ii.ed  in  the  Ignited  States  at 
])ubu(iue,  Iowa,  and  did  fariu  work  tliere  till  he  liad  earned  siitlicient 
means  to  carry  liim  to  I'oweshiek  county.  Iowa,  where,  at  Deeji  Kiver, 
he  took  u\>  farm  work  and  continued  il  as  a  farm  hand  for  ftuir  years, 
in  the  sjirinji-  of  187:5,  lie  weul  to  Cl.iy  county.  Nebraska,  juirchased  a 
claim  ri<;lit,  euteri'd  tlie  land  and  was  occii|iied  with  its  cultivati.ui  and 
improvement  till  ISSt,  wlien  he  left  that  semi-frontier  re^non  and  sou<;lit 
the  fertile  and  mm-e  reliable  country  of  eastern  Kansas.  He  ]iiirchased 
a  quarter  section  of  land  in  Rutland  township.  ^[ont<;omeiy  county, 
and,  during  the  next  eishteen  years,  doubled  its  area  and  sold  one  of  ihe 
desirable  farms  in  the  township,  when  he  disjiosed  of  his  place  in 
October,  l!)l)2.  In  this  time  he  had  also  acipiired  a  tract  of  land  in 
West  Cherry  township,  which  lie  still  owns,  thus  markin<r  his  as  one 
of  tlie  successful  careers  among  Montfiomery  county  farmers.  In  Manh. 
1!tO:',,  he  boimht  one  hundred  and  sixty  acics  in  Independence  township, 
in  section  C.'township  32,  range  15,  wl'iich  he  is  converl  in.;;-  into  a  desira- 
ble Ikuiic. 

In  II]<>  year  1874,  Mr.  Page  married  S.irah  i:.  <'.arr.  whose  parents 
were  Kobert   E.  and  Louisa  Y.  (Snyder)  C.arr,  natives  of   N'iiirinia   aii<l 


M.  ASHBY   AND  WIFE. 


leasi  oi  «-i 


I       I      IT    1^    I*    f»    •♦   " 
l>    ••    ■»    #♦    ••    f 

II  •«  t»  r  » 


I 


M.  ASHBY  AND  \V|PK. 


HISTORY   OF    MONTCOMEUY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  689 

Kentucky,  respect ivoly.  Mrs.  Vuge  was  born  in  Johnson  conniy.  In- 
diana, Sept.  28,  18.j0,  and  is  the  mother  of  Robert  J.,  who  married  < 'oiji 
A.  Mills  and  has  a  diild.  Helen  B.;  Elmer  E.,  who  married  Miiini.'  V. 
Hif^fiins,  is  a  clerk  in  Scott's  store  at  Independence,  Kansas;  Homer 
\\'.,  audOren  K..  who  mairied  Tnhi  F.  Creer.  are  both  willi  llie  paicnial 
home. 

.\s  an  inslanic  ol'  wlial  dclcrmina(ii)n  and  iicrsevcrance,  ci.iiiilcd 
with  ami)le  ])hysical  \  ijior.  will  accomiilish,  it  is  in  place  to  slate  Ihat 
when  Mr.  I'a^i'  reached  Poweshiek  county,  Iowa,  he  had  but  "tifly 
cents  to  his  name."  His  ]>roi)erty  acciuirements  have  all  I'esiilted  from 
the  individual  efforts  of  himself  and  his  devoted  wife  ajid  mo.leslly 
stand  as  an  achievement  worthy  to  be  emulated.  In  politics  Mr.  I'ajre 
was  first  a  Denxxrat  and  then  a  Populist.  He  was  townsliip  Treas- 
urer two  terms  in  Rutland  and  member  of  the  schdol  board  twelve 
years.     He  is  a  member  of  the  .Viicient  Oidei-  of  rnit.-d   Woikmen. 


MILTON  ASHIIV  is  a  leadin-  farmer  and  old  soldier  of  Chero- 
kee township  and  was  born  in  X'ernullion  county.  111.,  on  the  27th  of 
October,  1S46.  His  father's  name  was  James  Ashby,  a  native  of  Bour- 
bon county,  Kentucky,  and  his  mother  was  Sarah  J.  Blakeney  of  the 
same  state.  \>'hen  small  children,  their  parents  moved  to  Illinois — in 
1829 — where  James  lived  and  died  in  Georgetown  township,  Vermillion 
county,  within  half  a  mile  of  where  they  first  settled.  His  dealli  oc- 
curred at  the  age  of  seventy-two,  but  his  wife  is  still  living  and  is  sev- 
enty-six years  (dd. 

"  Five  of  the  children  of  James  and  Sarah  Ashby  are  living.  Pleas- 
ant Ashby.  traveling  agent:  Eliza  Milner,  resident  of  Indiana;  Maitha 
Doop  and  Emma  Smith,  both  of  Montgomery  county,  and  Milton, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  is  the  first  born.  Milton  Ashby  was 
reared  in  ^'ernlillion  county,  111.,  and  his  education  was  received  in 
the  old  fashioned  log  school  house.  In  this  school  liouse  there  were 
not  the  new  patent  seats  of  today,  but  those  made  of  split  logs,  whose 
}K>lish  was  not  attained  at  the  factory,  but  by  contact  with  "jeans  and 
I\omes]iun"  for  many  years. 

A\'hen  the  war  was  on  he  enlisted.  February  4th.  ISti.").  in  ("omjiauy 
i:.  1.")l>tli  111.  Vol.  Inft..  and  served  till  after  the  close  of  the  war.  Ho 
would  have  entered  the  army  sooner,  but  his  age  preA-ented,  and  he 
was  held  over  until  the  2nd  of  February,  1866.  After  the  war  was 
over  he  returned  home,  and  stayed  with  his  parents  on  the  farm. 

His  marriage  occurred  August  28,  1870.  His  wife  was  Jfary  >r. 
Graves,  a  native  of  Vermillion  county.  111.,  and  a  daughter  of  Levi  IT. 
and  ^latilda  (Cook)  Graves.  After  his  marriage,  he  bought  eighty  acres 
of  land  and  cultivated  it  for  ten  years.  In  1884.  he  sold  his  farm  and 
came  to  Kansas,  and  bought  eighty  acres,  three  miles  northeast  of  Cof- 


feyville,  where  he  now  resides.  There  was  only  a  small  frame  house 
on  the  farm  where  they  lived  till  the  new  house  was  erected,  which  they 
now  occupy.  This  is  large  and  commodious,  with  modern  conveniences 
and  contains  eleven  rooms,  heated  and  lighted  with  natural  gas.  Be- 
sides this  beautiful  home,  there  is  a  large  barn  and  good  out  buildings, 
also  lighted  by  gas.  This  whole  farm  is  an  up-to-date  one,  everything 
being  kept  in  good  repair.  Land  has  been  added  to  the  original  eighty, 
until  now  the  estate  comprises  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

Mr.  Ashby  has  in  his  possession  the  first  tax  receipt  he  ever  re- 
ceived, which  amounted  to  sixty  cents,  a  sum  somewhat  less  than  his 
present  annual  tax.  On  the  farm  he  keeps  a  variety  of  stock — cattle, 
horses  and  hogs. 

In  politics  Mr.  .\slihy  is  a  Kepublican,  and  has  served  successividy 
as  treasurer  of  the  townsliip  two  terms,  and  trustee  one  term. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Asliby  have  four  children  living:  Lillie  A.,  wife  of 
D.  A.  Jones,  of  Coffeyville;  James  L.,  a  farmer;  Alva  M.,  also  a  farmer 
in  the  county;  Maud,  the  wife  of  Edwin  Peterson,  living  at  home  with 
lier  parents,  and  Bertie,  who  died  at  three  years  of  age. 


JOSEPH  S.  HAMER,  nuinager  of  the  Cherryvale  Grain  and  Live 
Stock  Association,  and  one  of  the  energetic  and  enterprising  citizens  of 
that  progressive  borough,  is  a  native  of  the  "Buckeye  State,"  born  in 
Logan  county,  October  7,  1854.  His  father,  Joseph  Hamer,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Pennsylvania  and  at  maturity  married  Elizabeth  Olingerman, 
a  native  of  the  Keystone  Stale.  The  father  was,  during  life,  a  well-to-do 
and  successful  farmer  and  stock  shipper.  He  passed  the  greater  portion 
of  his  life  in  Ohio,  but  in  1889,  came  to  Kansas  and  settled  in  Wilson 
county,  near  Lafontain.  Here  he  resided  and  engaged  in  farming  un- 
til 18!)(i,  when  he  became  an  inmate  of  the  home  of  our  subject  in 
Cherryvale,  and  during  a  visit  to  a  son  in  Ohio,  sickened  and  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-nine  years.  His  wife  still  resides  with  our  subject  and 
is  a  woman  of  strength  and  spirit  at  seventy-three  years  of  age.  To 
these  parents  were  born  six  children,  but  two  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing; a  son,  Daniel  A.,  residing  in  Ohio,  and  Joseph  S.,  of  this  skefch. 

Mr.  Hamer,  being  the  son  of  well-to-do  parents,  was  given  a  lib- 
eral education.  After  the  country  school  he  attended  the  Ada  Normal 
School  and  from  there  went  to  the  National  Normal  School  of 
Lebanon,  O.  To  this  literary  training  was  then  added  a  course  at  a 
commercial  college  in  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Hamer  did  not,  as  is  too  often 
the  case  with  young  men  who  are  favored  in  matters  of  education,  con- 
nect himself  with  city  life,  but  returned  to  Ohio  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, an  occupation  which  he  followed  with  success  in  that  state  until 
1883,  when  he  came  out  to  southern  Missouri  and  continued  there  quite 
extensively  in  the  raising  of  stock.     In  1889,  he  accompanied  the  fani- 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  693 

imeut  durinjj:  tlip  Civil  War,  iiud  bad  served  as  a  private  iu  the  Mexican 
War.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Christian  church,  his  wife  of  the  Meth- 
odist; both  are  now  deceased.  Their  family  consisted  of  three  sons  and 
four  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  living. 

William  B.  Parsons  was  educated  in  the  lola  schools.  After  leav- 
ing school  he  worked  on  the  farm  until  1880,  when  he  engaged  as  ,i 
brakenian  on  the  St.  L.,  Ft.  S.  &  W.  Ry.,  in  which  position  he  served 
for  one  and  one-half  years,  lie  then  .secured  a  position  as  conductor 
on  the  same  railroad,  retaining  the  run  for  two  years.  He  then 
changed  from  this  road  to  the  Southern  Kansas,  accepting  a  brake- 
man's  place,  but  soon  receiving  promotion  to  conductor.  Tiring  of  the 
road  service,  Mr.  Parsons  entered  the  shops  as  a  carpenter,  and  for 
three  years  was  thus  engaged.  The  "singing  of  the  rails,"  however,  was 
music  that  could  not  be  forgotten,  and  again  he  got  nearer  the  track, 
this  time  as  a  switchman  on  the  same  road.  His  present  responsible 
position  came  to  him  in  1896. 

Mr.  Parsons  has  been  a  resident  of  Cherryvale  since  1887,  and  has 
been  a  popular  and  helpful  citizen,  being  at  the  present  writing  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board. 

Marriage  was  an  event  of  1881,  with  our  subject,  when  he  was  hap- 
pily joined  with  Miss  M.  J.  Coulter,  a  native  of  Ohio  and  a  daughter 
of  W.  J.  Coulter,  of  Chanute,  Kan.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parsons  have  been 
born  three  children,  namely:  Raymond  F.,  Floyd  D.  and  Fred  F.  For  a 
number  of  years  prior  to  her  marriage,  Mrs.  Parsons  was  one  of  the 
eflScicnt  and  popular  teachers  in  the  schools  of  Neosho  county. 

Mr.  Parsons  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  of  the  A.  O.  IT.  W., 
and  of  the  Order  of  Railway  Conductors.  The  above  record  shows  him 
to  have  been  iu  the  employ  of  the  Santa  Fe  for  some  seventeen  years. 
a  period,  the  length  of  which,  attests  the  measure  of  his  value.  He  is  a 
worthy  citizen  and  has  a  lively  interest  in  all  enterprises  which  prom- 
ise outcome  for  the  communitv  in  which  he  lives. 


GEORGE  HARRISON.  A  pioneer  resident  of  Elk  City  and  rep- 
resentative citizen  of  the  county  is  the  gentleman  whom  we  here  men- 
tion, and  who  has  been  one  of  the  wheel-horses  in  the  development  of 
both.  Of  late  years  he  has  been  e^igaged  in  the  tin-smithing  business 
Mr.  Harrison  is  a  gentleman  of  undoubted  integrity  and  has  always  held 
a  high  place  in  the  esteem  of  his  many  friends.  He  has  served  the  city 
in  the  Mayor's  chair  and  in  the  common  council  and  in  many  ways  has 
proved  his  right  to  the  title  of  '"representative  citizen." 

Mr.  Harrison  is  a  native  of  Overton  county,  Tenn.,  born  on  the  25th 
of  November,  1S48.  His  parents  were  William  C.  and  Sarah  C.  (Hopkins) 
Harrison,  the  father  a  native  of  Tennessee  and  the  mother  of  Kentucky. 
They  were  farmers  by  occupation  and  resided  their  entire  lives  on  the 


694  HISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY    COINTY,   KANSAS. 

farm  where  Mr.  Harrison  was  born  on  the  7th  of  June,  1813.  His  death 
oi'curred  May  lii,  18!tl.  The  mother  was  born  October  20,  1836,  and  died 
November  L'A.  1S(;3.  They  were  the  i>arents  of  four  children,  our  subject 
bein^-  the  ehlest.  Tolly  married  .].  M.  Clark  and  is  now  deceased.  J. 
H.  resides  in  Newark,  Texas.  I'leasanl  is  a  faiiiier,  i  iiltivatin<i;  the  home 
farm. 

<ieoij;e  Harrison  was  reaj-ed  l<i  iiard  lal)oi-  on  Hie  farm,  using  his 
winters  in  the  acquirement  of  a  good  educalion.  liy  the  time  he  was  of 
suitable  age,  he  was  well  enough  eiiuipiied  to  enter  the  school  room  as 
an  instructor,  and  for  several  years  followed  that  occupation  success- 
fully in  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  his  last  work  of  that  nature  having 
been  done  after  his  coming  to  Montgomery  county,  teaching  two  terms 
in  the  KtOrh  district.  He  Hien  followed  farming  until  ISSl,  in 
which  year  lie  came  lo  KIk  ("ity  and  engaged  with  the  elevator 
people  i(ir  lincc  years.  He  then  changed  the  character  of  his  occupation 
and  learned  ilie  linners  trade,  which  he  has  followed  successfully  since 
that  time.  He  is  an  excellent  workman  and  adds  to  the  dignity  of  labor 
by  the  ciiara(  lei-  which  he  sustains  in  the  community.  He  takes  a  lead- 
ing pari  in  Hie  social  and  religious  life  of  the  city,  he  and  his  wife  being 
active  members  of  the  Christian  and  Haptisl  churches  respectively,  in 
which  he  is  an  Elder  and  has  served  accejitably  as  Superintendent  of  the 
Sabbath  School.  He  is  Secretarv  of  the  Masonic  lodge  and  is  also  a 
member  of  Hie  Woodmen.  His  jiolilical  preferences  lie  with  the  Demo- 
cratic partv. 

.Miss  Mary  Vl.  Owen  became  (he  wife  of  Mr.  Harrison  on  the  iiSth  of 
March.  ISTl'.  Siie  is  a  native  of  Tennessee  and  is  the  daughter  of  Ed- 
\\ai<l  L.  and  Xancy  Owen,  the  former  deceased  at  seventy-two  j-ears, 
Se])tember  7,  llHll.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harrison  are  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren— Edward  S.,  of  Ardmore,  T.  T.,  married  Angle  Lawrence;  Sallie  B., 
now  Mrs.  F.  W.  Sherman,  with  two  children:  (ieorge  and  Howard,  the 
latter  deceased;  William  O.,  at  home;  Maud  E..  Mrs.  M.  C.  Burton,  and 
Thomas,  who  resides  at  the  family  domicile. 

]\rr.  and  Mrs.  Harrison  are  most  worthy  members  of  the  community 
where  ihey  have  spent  the  major  ]iorti(iii  of  their  lives  and  the  respect 
in  which  Hiev  are  held  is  most  uniform. 


.lOIIX  \V.  .MILLEK  is  a  well  known  educator  and  farmer  of  Syca- 
more townsliijt.  He  has  spent  a  long  and  active  career  in  the  educa- 
tional life  of  the  county,  and  has  also  been  most  helpfully  prominent  in 
matters  of  moral  and  religious  moment.  He  has  taught  not  less  than 
twnty-five  terms  of  school  within  the  bounds  of  the  county,  has  served 
his  township  as  trustee  for  a  number  of  years,  and  has  for  seven  years 
been  Su])erin(endent  of  the  Congregational  Sunday  School  of  Sycamore 
tind  also  President  of  the  Sunday  School  Association. 


Mentioning  briefly  the  special  points  in  the  family  history  of  Mr. 
Miller,  the  biographer  notes  that  the  family  is  traced  to  the  Blue  Ridge 
mountain  country  of  West  Virginia,  where  John  Miller,  our  subject's 
grandfather,  was  born,  and  whose  union  with  Sally  Sands,  also  a  native 
of  that  state,  resulted  in  the  birth  of  eight  children:  Mrs.  Sally  Addi- 
son, John  J.,  Matthew,  Mrs.  Margaret  Baughnian,  ;Mrs.  Sarah  Hamrich, 
Mrs.  Louisa  Uodrill    and  Mrs.  Tolly  (Jutlip. 

Of  this  family,  John  J.  was  our  subject's  father.  He  was  born  in 
Braxlon  county,"^  March  Gth,  1883,  where  he  married  Diana  M.,  a 
daughter  of  Adonijah  and  Sally  A.  (Rodgers)  Harris,  all  of  whom  are 
natives  of  West  Virginia.  The  children  of  John  J.  Miller  were — Nannie 
W.,  who  married  Sam  Terry,  and  resides  in  Clackamas  county,  Ore.; 
John  W.,  the  esteemed  subject  of  this  sketch;  Sarah,  wife  of  Wm.  Terry, 
who  resides  in  Bristol,  I.  T.,  and  Matthew,  of  Grand  Forks,  B.  C. 

Owing  to  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War,  Mr.  Miller  removed  his  family  from  Braxton  to  Marion  coun- 
ty, West  Va.,  where  they  continued  to  reside  until  1866.  In  that  year 
they  came  out  to  Iowa,  but,  after  a  period  of  three  years,  settled  at  Car- 
thage, Mo.  Here  they  remained  a  little  over  a  year,  and  then  came  on  to 
Montgomery  county,  where,  in  the  spring  of  1871,  they  filed  on  a  claim 
in  section  2f),  township  31,  range  1.5,  Sycamore  Tp.  Here  the  usual  prim- 
itive style  of  box  house  was  constructed,  which  served  to  protect  them 
from  the  weather  until  the  great  tornado  of  1ST3  passed  over  the  coun- 
try. This  storm  completely  destroyed  the  home  of  the  Miller's,  and  the 
commodious  frame  dwelling  which  is  there  now  took  its  place. 

In  fraternal  life  Mr.  Miller  is  quite  active,  being  a  member  of  the 
Masons,  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  and  of  the  A.  H.  T.  A.  He 
is  one  of  the  popular  and  efficient  educators  in  the  county,  and  numbers 
his  friends  among  all  classes  of  societv. 


IRA  N.  TOWELL.  The  worthy  citizen  whose  name  introduces  this 
biography  owns  and  resides  on  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  acres  of  section 
32,  township  33,  range  1.5,  Independence  township,  where  he  settled  on 
his  advent  to  Montgomery  county,  in  the  year  1881.  His  farm  was  partly 
improved  by  William  Atkinson,  a  former  owner,  and  was  once  owned 
by  the  pioneer  E.  P.  Allen.  Mr.  Towell  emigrated  to  this  state  from 
Parke  countv,  Indiana,  and  is  one  of  several  of  the  Friends"  sect  who 
made  settlement  in  Montgomery  county  about  that  time. 

Parke  county,  Indiana,  is  where  Ira  N.  Towell  was  born  April  7. 
1856.  His  father,  Isaac  Towell,  was  a  native  of  Orange  county,  the  same 
state,  was  born  in  1817  and  died  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  in  1900. 
Henry  Towell,  grandfather  of  our  subject,  was  a  North  Carolinian — 
from  Orange  county  — and  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Orange  county, 
Indiana.     He  was  descended  from  the  early  American  Quakers  and,  if 


it  could  l)c  traifd.  no  doiilit  tlic  faniilv  lias  some  (^'olonial  history.  Isaac 
Towcll  iiiariicd  Aniv  .Maisliall.  a  daiijilii.T  of  William  Marshall,  whose 
danjililcr  Sarah  was  Isaac's  tiist  wife.  Hv  his  second  nianiajie  Isaac 
Towcll  was  the  father  of  William  II..  who  died  in  the  Inion  armv;  Eliz- 
abeth K.,  who  died  sinj^le;  Elwood  H..  of  I'arke  coiintv.  Indiana;  Hiram 
J...  of  Fountain  county.  Indiana;  Kiiih.  wife  of  Ira  Hadley.  of  Holton, 
Kans. ;  Sarah,  who  married  Llewellyn  IJowslier;  Ira  X..  our  subject.  UTid 
Lydia.  who  died  youns. 

A  coiiniion  school  education  was  all  that  ha  X.  Towel!  acpiiicd.  and 
Ih.il  in  Ihe  couuliy  s,liool.  He  jiassed  his  niajorily  around  liie  paicutal 
hearthstone  and  when  he  came  to  Kansas  his  |parenls  acconi|ianied  him. 
his  mother  dyin^  near  H(dton  in  1SS:{.  .lanuary  -2.  ISSf).  he  married  .Miss 
Helle  Farhnv.  a  dau};hter  of  Joseph  l-'ariow.  a  worfhv  citizen  of  I'.olion. 
Three  children  have  come  to  (h.-er  and  Mess  the  home  of  Mr.  and  .Mrs. 
Towell.  namely;  F.  Ernest,  horn  \ov.  IS.  ISSti;  .\it|iur.  Imuii  Feb.  i'.  IS'.KI, 
and  .M.  (Jolda!  born  Feb.  !l.  1S!)4. 

(!en«-ral  farmiiH_'  is  th<-  industrial  line  in  which  .Mi-.  Towell  has 
achieved  his  success.  He  has  been  bus\  all  his  life  and  bv  this  luadic,' 
lias  maintained  himself  unincumbei-ed  and  able  lo  meet  all  obli-at iou.s. 
He  is  libeial   in  imliiics  and  is  a   W Iman. 


.101 IX  .\TKiXSON.  Those  who  have  passed  a  score  of  years  in 
the  vicinity  of  Itolton  are  familiar  with  the  name  ijitroducing  this  article. 
Its  owner  is  one  of  the  modest  fainieis  of  Iiidejinedence  township  and 
IS  situated  oil  section  ."Id.  township  :v.\.  lanue  ITi.  He  cast  his  fortunes 
with  Moni^oiiieiy  count  v  in  .\u.misi.  is.s].  ;nid  is  an  emigrant  from 
Parke  comity.    Indiana,    wlier..   his   biilli    occurred    Xov.   2G,   IS-^i.      His 

father,  Thos.   .Mkinson.  settled  in  Ihe  w led  country  of  Parke  county 

in  isril.  and  was  (Uie  of  those  who  sjient  liis  life  battling!;  against  nature 
and  with  nature  in  the  pliysical  dey<dopment  of  his  section  of  the 
Hoosier  State.  He  was  born  in  Orange  county.  North  (^arolina,  in  1796, 
and  died  in  1S71.  .just  as  he  was  ne.iring  his  home  while  returning  from 
a  visit  to  his  native  heath.  He  was  a  son  of  John  Atkinson  of  North 
<'arolina  (Quaker  stock,  whose  antecedents  sejiarated  from  the  parent 
church  in  I'enns\  Ivania  and  established  themselyes  in  the  "Tar  Heel 
Slate."  Thos.  .\fkiiison  married  Marjorie  Lindley,  a  daughter  of  David 
l.imiley,  also  from  Xorth  Carolina.  The  childicn  of  this  marriage  were: 
JoTiatluni,  Mary,  wife  of  l^evi  Dix;  Sarah,  whose  first  husband  was  Thos. 
.Marshall  and  her  second,  ^yir.  Pedford;  Di.xon.  David,  of  Parke  county, 
Indiana;  Eleanor,  who  died  single;  Samuel  and  John,  twins,  and  Emily, 
of  Parke  county,  Indiana. 

John  .\fkiiison  of  this  sketch,  attained  his  majority  on  the  farm  of 
his  parents,  in  wlii(  li  coiiimunity  he  acquired  a  good  common  school  edvi- 
catioii.    He  accepted  the  calling  of  liis  fathei's  as  liis  own  and  devoted 


ISAAC  JAMES  AND  WIFE. 


:*    •#   ^ 


HISTOKY   01''    MONTUOMEISY   COl'NTV,    KANSAS.  697 

himself  iutcUisciitl.v  to  the  tilliug  of  (he  .soil.  For  n  life  coiupniiion  he 
chose,  iu  Fel)ruary,  18G;?,  Mary  fallen  Alkinsou,  a  daiijihter  of  Hiram 
and  Amy  (Marshall)  Atkinson,  who  has  shared  with  him  his  successes 
as  well  iis  his  rcveises,  for  foity  years.  In  comjiany  with  the  Lindleys 
and  Towells  they  came  1o  .Montj^omery  comity  in  1.S81,  and  have  since  re- 
sided on  their  farm.  Mr.  .Mkin.son  is  a  minister  of  the  Friends  church 
and  has  served  his  communily  in  thai  ca|iaiity.  He  is  comfortable  in 
his  surrouudiiiiis.  enjoys  the  luxuries  of  natural  .nas  and,  as  a  citizen,  is 
interested  in  the  civil  atliiirs  of  his  municipality. 

IS.\.\('  .JAMFS.  On  a  farm  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in 
Lonisbur^  townsliiji  i-esides  Isaac  -Tames,  one  of  the  leading  agricultur- 
ists of  Montgomery  county.  His  icsidence  on  this  farm  dates  from  the 
year  18N4.  and  lie  is  a  native  of  Missoiii-i,  where  he  was  born  near  Jeffer- 
son City,  t'ole  county,  in  1S47.  He  is  a  son  of  Mitchell  and  Margaret 
(Glenn)  James,  and  is  a  maternal  grandson  of  James  (ilenn,  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  in  Moniteau  county,  Missouri.  The  latter  gentleman 
was  born  in  Tennessee  and  immigrated  to  iNFissouii  at  a  very  early  day. 
Our  subject's  father  is  now  residing  in  High  Point,  near  Jefferson  City, 
Missouri,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  yeai-s,  but  his  mother  died  in  1886. 
They  were  the  jiarents  of  eight'children,  of  whom  Isaac  is  the  eldest.  The 
others  are:  Tynthia,  wife  of  Jacob  Cook,  of  Jlissouri;  Maggie,  Mrs.  John 
Louis,  of  Missouri;  Mary,  now  Mrs.  Failing;  ^^'illiam.  who  resides  in 
Missouri;  Rosa,  deceased;  ISettie,  wife  of  J.  C.  Richel,  of  Missouri,  and 
Katie,  who  married  Merido  Harris  and  wlio  also  lives  in  Missouri.  After 
the  death  of  the  mother  of  these  children,  the  father  again  married,  his 
second  wife's  name  having  been  BeckieMackiney,  who  is  the  mother  of 
four  children. 

In  1872,  Isaac  James  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Louisa  Richel. 
This  lady  was  the  daughter  of  John  and  Rickey  (Wilhanna)  Richel.  The 
family  was  of  Cerman  stock  and  came  from  the  Fatherland  in  ISit'i  and 
settled  in  Missouri,  where  they  became  well-to-do  farmers.  The  father 
is  now  decea.sed,  while  the  imtther  still  resides  near  Russelville,  Missouri. 
There  were  eight  children  in  the  family,  of  whom  four  are  yet  living. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  are  the  ]iarents  of  nine  children:  William, 
born  March  :;!t).  1874.  married  Fmma  El!ingt(Ui.  of  M(mtg(miery  county, 
and  is  a  farmer,  with  one  child  named  Isaac;  ^Maggie  A.,  born  February 
8,  1878,  was  a  twin  of  John  F.,  the  latter  deceased  in  infancy;  Andrew 
C,  born  November  1(».  187!t;  John  (\.  born  September  28,  1881;  Dora  A., 
born  November  20,  188:^,  died  August  21,  1884;  JIattie,  born  November 
20,  188.5;  May  Belle,  born  January  .^0,  1889;  Milton,  born  Ajiril  5,  1891; 
Louis  A.,  born  August  9,  189.'?,  and  Olive  M.,  born  November  .5,  IS9.5. 

Mr.  James  passed  the  jteriod  of  his  youth  on  the  home  farm  in  Mis- 
souri, where  he  received  a  good  comon  school  education,  remaining  on 
the  homestead  until  the  year  after  his  majority.     In  1884,  he  came  to- 


6g8  IIISTOUY   OK    >U)Nri;()MEUY    COINTY.   KANSAS. 

Montgomery  county  luul  located  on  a  farm  in  Louisbnrg  township,  ou 
which  lie  lias  continued  to  reside  to  the  present  time.  He  has  at  sundry 
times  added  many  substantial  improvements  to  this  farm  and  it  is  now 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  in  the  townshij).  He  devotes  it  to 
general  farming  and  stock  raising.  It  is  loialed  in  what  is  called  the 
Gas  IJelt  and  was  leased  by  ^h.  .James  for  oil  and  gas  purposes  to  an 
Elk  City  company. 

Mr.  James  has  always  taken  a  helpful  interest  in  the  public  affairs 
of  the  community  in  which  he  resides,  ami  has  tilled  some  of  the  minor 
offices.  His  political  principles  are  those  of  the  reform  party.  In  re- 
ligious matters,  he  ascribes  to  the  tenets  of  the  Presbyterian  faith,  while 
his  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  denomination.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James 
are  highly  respected  members  of  society  in  I-ouisburg  township,  where 
they  arc  iield  in  very  great  esteem  by  their  many  riieiuls  and  neighb(M's. 

ALHEKT  G.  HARPEK.  The  g.nilniijiii  whose  name  initiates  this 
brief  article  came  to  Kansas  in  the  year  isTH.  and  became  a  resident  of 
:Montgomery  county  in  1885.  March  ^:>  of  ilie  latter  year,  he  took  up  his 
lesidence  in  Independence,  where  he  has.  iiraiiii  ally,  since,  maintained 
the  same,  and  has  for  thirteen  years  been  sujierintendeut  of  the  city 
water  works.  For  seven  years  he  has  re])reseii(ed  ilic  Third  ward  of  the 
city  on  the  Board  of  Education  and  in  (his  jii-oniinent  way  has  exercised 
a  beneticent  influence  on  jmlilic   ciliiriii  imi   in    Indcjiendencc. 

Born  January  9,  1850,  in  \\arriii  coinily,  Ohio.  Mr.  Hari)er  is  a  son 
of  Benjamin  Harper,  whose  life  was  jiasscd  as  a  faiiner,  and  who  was 
born  in  the  same  county  and  state  with  his  son  in  the  year  1818.  He 
entered  the  T^uion  army,  Joining  the  lL*5tli  III.  lufl.  in  18(Ji2,  and  taking 
liart  in  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  among  others,  and  dying  in  Cumber- 
land Hosjiital,  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in  January,  lS(i4.  He  was  a  son 
of  Jose]ih  Harjier,  who  jiassed  away  in  Warren  county,  Ohio,  and  had 
a  family  of  three  sons.  Benjamin  Har])cr  married  Sarah  Hitesman,  who 
is  a  resident  of  Independence,  Kansas.  Their  children  were:  Wm.  H., 
of  Jeffersonville,  Tnd.;  ^Irs.  C.  H.  Thompson,  of  l.amar.  <'ol.:  Mrs  Maggie 
Jennings,  of  ('handler.  Oklahoma;  .Mbcri  (!..  of  ihis  notice,  and  E.  S. 
Harper,  of  Coffevville,  Kansas. 

The  common  schools  provided  .Mbcrt  G.  Harper  with  a  lil)eral  edu- 
cation. He  attained  his  majority  on  the  farm  and  began  life  as  a  farmer. 
In  18G0,  he  came  west  to  Vermillion  county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  his  native  calling  ten  years,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  period  he 
came  to  Kansas  and  became  a  resident  of  I'aisims.  lie  was  engaged  ou 
the  construction  of  the  cit^  water  iilant  of  llial  city  and  when  his  connec- 
tion ceased  there  he  came  to  IndejxMidence,  where  he  was  employed  in  a 
like  cajiacity.  With  the  exception  of  two  years  passed  in  Newport,  Ar- 
l;ansas,  as  Sn|)t.  of  its  water  works,  he  has  been  a  continuous  citizen  af 
Montgomery  county  for  (>ighteen  years.     He  became  Snpt.  of  the  water 


HISTORY   OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY^  KANSAS.  7OI 

the  National  Normal  University  of  Lebanon,  Ohio,  whore  he  graduated 
in  tlie  scientific  course,  in  1882.  He  entered  the  school  room  as  a  teacher, 
and  after  several  years  of  successful  experience  he  took  up  the  study  of 
medicine,  attending  his  first  course  of  lectures  at  Keokuk,  Iowa.  He 
then  enrolled  as  a  student  at  the  Kentucky  School  of  Medicine,  at  Louis- 
ville, in  which  institution  he  graduated,  in  1885.  He  then  came  to  Kan- 
sas, where,  for  several  years,  he  practiced  at  Kinsley,  in  Edwards  county. 
He  located  in  1890,  in  Cherryvale,  where  he  has  acquired  a  most  enviable 
practice.  During  his  residence  here,  he  has  participated  actively  in  p\ib- 
lic  affairs,  having  been  a  member  of  the  City  Council  for  a  number  of 
vears. 

The  I>octiir  and  liis  family  arc  leading  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  eliuieli  and  are  esteemed  memlieis  of  the  iikisI  exelii.sive 
social  circles  of  Cherryvale.  Eminent  in  his  profession,  noble  and  pure 
in  his  character,  Dr.  Seacat  is  respected  in  all  walks  of  life. 

Briefly  noting  the  salient  points  in  the  family  history  of  Di'.  Seacat, 
his  parents  are  Hamilton  and  Mary  A.  (King)  Seacat.  They  were  natives 
of  Harrison  county,  Indiana,  where  the  father  was  an  extensive  farmer 
for  a  long  period  of  years.  The  parents  were  both  devoted  members  of 
the  Methodist  church.  The  father  died  in  his  native  county.  Se]>tember 
7,  1S7!),  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years.  His  widow  is  still  residing  on  the 
old  homestead  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven.  It  might  be  noted  in  passing, 
the  Gresham  family,  of  which  Secretary  of  State  (iresham  was  a  mem- 
ber, is  connected  with  the  Seacat  family,  our  subject's  father  having 
been  a  first  cousin  of  Judge  (Jresham.  A  rather  remarkable  instance  is 
w'orthy  of  noting  here  concerning  the  longevity  and  activity  of  this 
family.  Our  subject's  great  aunt,  Mrs.  Sally  Rumley — mother  of  Judge 
Gresham — on  September  (J,  1901,  at  the  age  of  ninety-eight  years  (at  her 
home  near  New  Albany.  Tnd.)  tasked  herself,  unaided,  to  ]ii-e|iare  dinner 
for  her  fifty  guests,  who  had  as.sembled  to  celebrate  her  birdiday,  a  task 
which  she  performed  with  apparent  ease.  She  still  resides  in  the  same 
house  to  which  she  came  as  a  bride  in  1822. 

In  social  affairs,  he  is  a  member  of  the  \Ado(lmen,  of  the  Fraternal 
Aid  and  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Justice.  Politically,  he  is  an 
ardent  Reimblican,  and  contents  himself  with  casting  his  vote  for  the 
candidates  of  that  jiarty.  He  is  a  constant  student  of  his  ])rofession  and 
keeps  in  close  touch  with  it.  He  is  a  close  reader  of  the  best  lirerature 
and  is  a  member  of  a  number  of  the  different  associations.  ]irominent 
among  which  is  the  National  Association  of  Railway  Surgeons,  the 
American  Medical  Association  and  the  Kansas  ;Me(lical  Associalion,  and 
was  the  local  surgeon  for  the  Santa  Fe  ('(imiiany  for  a  jieiiod  of  eleven 
years. 

Dr.  Seacat's  nuirriage  occurred  September  1,  1S89,  when  iliss  J. 
Rosa  Gramly  became  his  wife.  Mrs.  Seacat  is  a  native  of  Baltimore, 
Maryland,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Rev.  C.  H.  and  Chesta  Gramly.     Her 


father  is  a  jnoinim'iit  diviiip  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  chiiMh  and  has 
lived  in  Kansas  since  ISSn.  He  is  now  on  the  superannuated  list  and 
resides  in  8t.  Louis,  Mo.  Mrs.  Seacat's  mother  died  in  1870',  aged  thirty 
years.  8he  was  a  woman  of  beautiful  character  and  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  chunii.  The  children  born  to  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Seacat 
are:  Charles  II.  Craiuly.  Lester  <i.  and  Chester  (I  (twinsi,  the  lafter 
deceased  at  one  y<'ar.    TJic  vounjicst  child  is  Leora  <irain1\. 

lUCHAKl*  H.  De.MOTT.  One  of  the  well  known  pioneers  of  .Mont- 
gomery  county  and  a  retired  fjirnier  of  Independence  is  the  giMitleman 
whose  name  introduces  this  jiersonal  record.  His  advent  to  the  county 
dates  from  IStii).  and  lie  was  one  of  a  colony  of  ininiii;raiits  from  .lolni- 
son  county,  Indiana,  several  of  whom  jierforiiii'd  an  ini]iorlanl  pari  in 
the  lural  development  of  the  ninnicijiality. 

Richard  H.  DeMott  was  horn  in  .Mercer  count  v,  Kent  nek  v,  April  17, 
1847.  His  father,  I'eter  De.Mott.  was  horn  at  Cove  Springs,  in  the  same 
county,  in  November,  181.'!.  and  was  one  of  ti\e  sons  of  Lawrence  L>e- 
Mott,  who  settled  in  Kentucky  from  New  Jersew  wlicrc  his  ancestors 
settled  in  1(;!»8.  \\'liile  the  family  cann^  fr(ua  Holland  tlicv  wen-  orig- 
inally from  France.  Lawrence  DeMott  died  in  Mercer  ccninty,  Kentucky, 
and  neaily,  if  m)t  <|uite,  all  of  his  children  removed  to  Indiana,  where 
nian\  of  them  died.  They  were:  Low,  William.  John,  Ixichard — all  of 
whom  passed  away  in  Indiana — I'eter,  who  died  in  Mmitgomery  connty, 
Kansas;  Kebecca,  who  ni.irried  Frederick  Low;  Sarah,  who  married 
John  Hobinsnn;  Dorolliy,  wife  of  Eli  I'eters.  and  Jane,  who  became  the 
wife  of  ilerril  Cleveland.  I'eter  DeMott  married  Indiana  Drnry,  who 
passed  away  in  Montgomery  county.  Kansas,  in  1871.  Her  husband  sur- 
vived her  till  T.IOI,  when,  in  Octob.M-  of  that  year,  he  died,  being  the 
fathei-  of  :\laigaret  J.,  who  married  Alfred  Carter;  William  L..  of  Mont- 
gomery connty:  IJieli.ird  II..  our  subje.t ;  Mary  E..  deceased  wife  of  Will- 
iam <!anett:  Nancv  A.,  deceased  wife  of  John  Hamilton;  Sarah  D., 
now  Mrs.  Frank  I'.oswell.  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana;  :\Iartha  K.,  wife  of 
Joseph  Reeves,  of  I'awnee.  Oklahoma,  and  Mag-ie  K.,  widow  of  Dora 
Parkhurst,  of  Indianapolis.   Indiana. 

Th.'  comon  schools  jirovided  Richard  II.  DeMott  with  tlii'  rudiments 
of  an  education,  lie  began  life  as  a  farmei-  on  his  new  farm  in  Mont- 
gomeiy  county.  He  continued  the  calling  without  serious  interruption 
till  SepiiMiibe'r.  l!)()-_'.  when  he  came  to  Tndepend.Mice  to  s].end  his  de- 
clining yeais.  Ills  farm  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  is  one  of  the 
well  im|iro\ed  and  productive  |ilaces  of  ln(le]iendence  townshij)  and  he 
owns  other  lands  in  addition  to  this. 

He  was  mairied  in  Johnson  county,  Indiana,  in  18(l(i,  his  wife  being 
Matilda  J.  I'arkhurst,  a  daughter  of  the  i)ioneer  and  wcalthv  retired 
farm<-r,  Robert  S.  I'arkhurst.  of  Indejiendence.  The  children  of  this 
marriage    are:    Lucinda.    wife    of    A.    R.    Faetheringill.    of    .Montgomery 


HISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  703 

<;ounty;  Chester  W.,  JI.  D.,  of  Independence,  a  graduate  of  Knsli  ^Icdieal 
College  and  practicing  medicine  with  Dr.  J.  T.  Davis,  I  In-  firm  being 
Davis  &  DeJIott ;  I'earl,  Frederick  F.  and  Lee  C,  twins. 

On  leaving  Kentucky  in  185G,  Peter  DeMott  went  up  into  Johnson 
countv,  Indiana,  with  which  he  was  identified  till  1869,  when  he  gath- 
ered his  effects  together  and  drove  his  teams  through  to  his  destination 
in  Kansas.  He  entered  land  near  Independence  and  was  an  active 
farmer  till  1874,  when  he  became  a  member  of  his  son  Richard's  house- 
hold and  remained  with  him  till  his  death. 

In  party  politics  the  DeMotts  of  this  branch  believe  in  and  practice 
Democracy.  The  tenets  of  faith  of  this  historic  old  party  were  imparted 
to  the  early  generations  of  the  family  and  their  children  and  grandchil- 
dren accepted  them  and  have  lived  by  them.  Richard  H.  DeMott  has 
served  as  Trustee  of  Independence  township,  has  taken  some  active  jiart 
in  county  politics  and  has  become  somewhat  known  for  his  political  acts. 


JONAS  HEEOHLY.  In  Somerset  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  May 
16,  1832,  Jonas  Beeghly  of  this  personal  record,  was  born.  When  he  was 
young  in  years  his  parents  moved  into  Ashland  county,  Ohio,  and  in 
1865,  he  located  in  Senaca  county,  that  state.  He  brought  his  family  to 
^loiit.Lii.niery  county,  Kansas,  in  October,  1883,  and  located,  first,  four 
miles  west  of  the  town  of  Index>endence.  In  1897,  he  removed  to  his 
present  farm  in  A\'est  Cherry  township,  located  on  section  15,  township 
32,  range  16. 

Mr.  Beeghly  \\as  a  son  of  Jolin  P.ceghly,  a  native  of  Somerset  county, 
Pennsylvania,  a  farmer,  and  a  son  of  John  Beeghly,  Sr.,  of  (lerman 
origin.  His  grandfatln-r  married  Miss  Florv  and  reared  Samuel,  David, 
John,  Mrs.  Kate  Arnold,  [Mrs.  Sallie  Milfer,  Mrs.  Susan  Miller.  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Flickinger. 

John  Beeghly,  Jr.,  married  Kate  Peck,  a  Pennsylvania  lady  and  a 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Eve  Peck.  Thirteen  children  were  the  issue  of 
their  marriage,  namely:  Abraham,  David,  Jonas.  Jacob,  of  Ashland, 
Ohio;  Joseph,  of  same  place;  Samuel,  of  Iowa;  Mahlon,  of  North  Da- 
kota; Mrs.  Mary  Trucel;  Mrs.  Anna  Clark,  of  North  Dakota;  Mrs.  Susan- 
nah Martin,  of  Ashland,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Kate  Hostetler,  of  Holmes  county, 
Ohio;  John,  of  Ashland,  Ohio,  and  Uriah,  of  Kansas. 

Elizabeth  Earner  became  the  wife  of  Jonas  Beeghly  in  Ashland 

county,  Ohio.    Her  father  was  Samuel  Harner  and  her  mother • 

Miller.  Four  children  have  blessed  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beeghly, 
as  follows:  Ezra  J.,  of  Iowa,  who  has  four  children;  Samuel  H.,  of 
North  Dakota,  with  one  child,  and  Frank  and  Emma,  yet  with  the 
parental  home. 

Mr.  Beeghly  is  a  Republican  and  is  a  member  of  the  (Jerman  Baptist 
church. 


704  IIISTOUY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

.(A.MKS  11.  (iltAVKS.  Among  the  old-tiiiic  settlers  (if  Moiitgcmicry 
couiitv  no  one  more  deserves  recognition  in  this  volume  than  James  H. 
Graves.  He  was  born  near  Racine,  Wis.,  March  1st,  1844.  His  fallier, 
Greenville  Graves,  was  a  native  of  Kentucl^y,  and  came  to  Illinois  with 
his  parents  when  only  ten  years  of  age.  He  was  reared  in  Vermillion 
county,  of  that  state,"  and  married  lliiTr.  Mary  Cddk.  a  native  of  Ohio. 
He  went  to  Wisconsin  in  the  early  years  uf  that  stnt(^  but  returned  to 
Illinois  in  1S44,  where  he  di.'d  al  the  age  ef  seventy  i-ight,  his  wife  having 
died  sixteen  years  befoit'.  Tiieic  weic  iiiiii>  childreii.  five  of  whom  are 
living:  Margaret  •!.,  <'ida.  Saiiiantlia,  .laiiK's  11.  and  l.arkin  T.  To  his 
se.'oiid  marriage,  id  Sarali  l»avis.  three  iliildreu  were  lidrii :  Flora,  -Tnlia 
and  Charles;  .'lulia.  alene.  is  living. 

.latues  II.  (Itaves  w.is  reared  du  the  tariu  and  lived  with  his  father 
till  1S(;4,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company  "C."  iL'th  111.  Vdl.  Inf.  With  this 
regiment  lie  served  till  the  close  of  the  war.  partieipating  in  several 
battles,  among  which  were  Dallas.  Kenesaw  Mounfaiii  and  Atlanta;  and 
was  with  Sherman  on  his  march  td  the  sea.  After  the  long  march  up 
through  the  Carolinas  he  was  taken  si(  k.  and  finished  liis  journey  aboard 
a  boar.  A  short  period  in  the  hospital  at  Alexandria,  and  then  to  Wash- 
ington, where  he  took  part  in  the  (Irand  Keview.  He  received  his  dis- 
charge at  Springfield,  Ills.,  in  .Inly.  \S(;:>.  IJeturniug  home,  he  remained 
in  Illiduis  until  ISCil,  when  he  started  for  Kansas,  an  uncle  accomi)any- 
ing  him  from  Kansas  Cilv  on. 

(Joing  to  I'aola,  Kansas,  they  joined  a  |i,irly  (d'  five  other  men.  and, 
together,  tliev  came  to  .Montgomerv  count  v  and  secured  claims.  Mr. 
C,rav.-s  is  the  only  diie  df  the  jiarty  wild  stayed  through  all  the  hard 
times,  and  deeded  his  land,  all  but  one  of  the  jiarty  dying  too  soon.  Mr. 
Graves  lived  with  liis  uncle  nntii  their  money  i^ave  out,  and  tliey  could 
gel  neilher  Work  nor  provisions  to  live  .u..  A  large  herd  of  Texas  cattle 
came  into  the  ((nmly  and  a  great  many  of  them  died  and  the  owners 
gave  awav  hides  foi-  skinning  and  in  this  way  the  boy  and  his  uncle  got 
through  the  winter.  For  thiee  vears.  Mr.  Craves  hired  out  as  driver 
and  drove  rattle  frotn  Texas,  stili  h.ilding  liis  elaini.  At  the  end  of  five 
vears  he  had  earned  enough  money  td  s.Miire  his  land,  which  he  had 
rented,  and   tlieu   letniiied   Id  his  old   home  in   Illinois. 

Se|iteniljei  till.  ISSO.  he  was  married  to  Nancy  r.anham.  of  Madison, 
Indiana,  and  a  n.ilive  (,f  the  state.  They  imm.-dialely  came  to  Kansas 
and  to(d<  possessicui  of  the  little  log  cabin  Ihal  had  been  built  before 
his  return  to  Illinois,  lleic  the  yoinig  eonple  went  to  work,  and,  by  per- 
severanct-  and  the  faculty  of  oveironiiug  ditlicnit  ies,  they  made  a  com- 
forlable  coniiieieiK  e  and  a  good  home.  His  farm  now  cduiprises  four 
hundred  and  I'i-iilv  acres  df  line  land.  n|idn  which  there  are  two  large 
residences.  In  aild'iiidii  to  the  cullivali(Ui  (d'  all  kinds  of  faiin  iiroducis, 
Jlr.  erases  is  interested  in  the  raising  of  stock. 

.lulv  i:.")lh,   IS'.ll,  death  claimed  the  wife  and  mother  of  the  tamily 


I 


'  ( 


I 


1804,  deatli 


V. 


J    H.  GRAVES  AND  WIFE. 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  707 

in  MiitltM'  coiiiity,  April  (i,  1S;{0.  Here  he  was  r#'ui»'(l  to  fjuiii  life  aud 
remained  until  the  date  of  his  coming  to  Kansas. 

As  the  mutterings  of  civil  strife  became  more  and  more  distinct,  Mr. 
Jones  watched  each  succeeding  event  with  a)i  alisorbing  interest  and 
was  ready  to  defend  the  honor  of  the  Hag  when  the  call  was  made  in 
the  fall  of  1861.  In  December,  he  enrolled  as  a  member  of  Company  "C," 
11th  Ky.  Inf.,  under  Col.  P.  B.  Hawkins,  and  which  became  a  part  of 
Generals  Crittenden  and  Hnrnsides'  Divisions.  The  bloody  battle  of 
Stone  River  initiated  him  into  tlie  "deliglits"  of  mortal  combat,  and 
later  at  Knoxville  he  had  a  month's  taste  of  siege  life.  At  Burne's  Sta- 
tion and  ("nmberland  (Jap  his  regiment  had  a  ))iiish  with  the  enemy, 
after  which  the  rest  of  his  service  was  mainly  in  long  and  weary  mai'ches 
over  the  States  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  (Jeorgia. 

Noting  somewhat  briefly  the  essential  points  in  Mr.  Jones'  family 
history,  the  biographer  records  that  he  is  a  son  of  William  and  Rebecca 
(Jones)  Jones,  both  natives  of  the  Blue  Grass  State,  but  of  no  blood  re- 
lation. Their  children  were:  Josiah,  Joab,  William,  Rebecca  and  Luvica. 
The  paternal  grandparents  of  our  subject  were  James  L.  and  Nancy 
Jones,  who  came  into  Kentucky  from  Virginia,  where  James  was  per- 
sonally aciiuaiiited  with  (icn.  Washington  and  served  under  him  as  a 
<'a])t;uii  in  the  War  for  Independence.  The  childr«»n  of  James  were:  Peg- 
gie, Philip.  Thomas,  R.  (i.  L.,  Moses,  Polly,  Nancy,  Nellie,  Rebecca  and 
William. 

The  iiiimcdiatc  family  of  ^^■illiam  Jones  consists  of  four  children: 
Charles  M..  Mena,  Clara  and  I^dward,  the  mother  having  died  in  April, 
1800.  Mr.  Jones  tirst  entered  wedlock  in  1853,  being  joined  to  Mary 
Deweese,  daughter  of  ^A'illiam  Deweese.  She  became  llie  mother  of  two 
children,  Klvira  and  Columbia,  all  of  whom  are  now  deceased.  His  sec- 
ond marriage  oicuned  Nov.  L'(>.  1S7."?,  tlie  maiden  name  of  the  mother 
of  his  children  being  Louisa  lEllenger)  Brost. 


S.  J.  HOWARD— The  gcnilciiian  whose  name  initiates  this  review 
is  the  etticient  assistant  cashier  of  the  Monlgomery  <'ounty  National 
Bank,  and  has  been  identilied  with  the  life  of  <"hrrryvale  for  some  fif- 
teen years.  He  is  a  son  of  J.  T.  and  -Jane  R.  (Williamson)  Howard,  both 
of  whom  are  natives  of  Illinois.  The  father  was  a  faruier  and  carpenter 
by  occupation.  He  was  a  man  of  intensely  ^Kitriotic  convictions  and 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  left  bis  family  and  enlisted  in  the 
service,  becoming  a  member  of  Company  "I,"  47th  111.  Vol.  Inft.,  in  1862. 
This  regiment  saw  exceedingly  active  service,  in  which  Mr.  Howard 
took  a  prominent  part,  serving  fiom  August  of  1862  to  August  of  1865. 
Although  in  many  of  the  bloody  battles  of  the  war,  he  did  not  suffer 
wounds,  nor  was  he  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  taken  prisoner.  These  facts 
are  the  more  to  be  remarked,  as  he  was  a  member  of  the  disastrous 


708  IIISTOKY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

Banks  Expecjitiqu  up  Ked  river,  which  endod  iu  the  death  of  so  many  of 
the  '"Boys  in.  Blue,"  or  to  the  wrecking  of  their  physical  health.  Since 
the  war  he  has  followed  his  trade  in  Kansas  City,  Kansas. 

Our  subject  was  the  eldest  of  five  children  and  the  second  child  was  u 
daughter,  Lizzie,  now  the  wife  of  C.  E.  Garrison,  telegraph  operator  at 
Albuquerque,  New  Mexico;  Addie  is  Mrs.  A.  D.  Hall;  Lorin,  of  Kansas 
City;  Elmer,  also  lives  at  Kansas  City. 

S.  J.  Howard  was  born  in  Woodford  county,  Illinois,  March  16,  1863. 
He  received  his  educatiou  in  the  common  schools  of  his  native  state,  and 
one  year  in  college  at  Eureka,  Illinois.  Upon  completing  his  education, 
he  returned  to  the  home  fai'ui,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  he  was 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  He  then  entered  the  banking  business,  starting 
as  a  book-kee()er  in  1891,  and  later,  being  promoted  to  the  position  of 
assistant  cashier,  which  position  he  is  now  holding  with  satisfaction  to 
his  employers. 

Mr.  Ho^yard  married  in  1888.  on  tiie  Utli  of  Fchrnaiy,  Miss  ilary 
I.,  daughter  of  Jauu's  Bell.  Mrs.  Howard  is  a  native  of  illionis.  Her 
fieople  j-eside  in  Montgomery  county  on  a  farm.  Slie  is  one  of  eleven 
children,  ten  of  the  family  now  living:  Mrs.  Howard,  Jennie,  wife  of  D. 
R.  Jones,  Moutgomcry  county;  Ettie,  widow  of  J.  D.  Orr;  Ella,  wife  of 
James  B.  James,  Montgomery  county;  Daisy,  Mrs.  S.  S.  Johns;  Frai]Ji, 
Martin  and  Boss  are  farmers  of  Montgomery  county;  Corda,  Mrs.  Walter 
Mull,  MontgouuM'y  county,  and  Miss  liertha,  single,  at  home.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Howard  are  the  parents  of  five  interesting  children:  Edith  L., 
Ruby  B.,  Ralph  F.,  Clarence  R.  and  Edna.  The  family  are  all  members 
and  active  workers  in  the  Baptist  chui'ch,  of  which  organization  Mr. 
Howard  is  Ti't'asurer.  Prior  to  Mrs.  Howard's  marriage  she  was  an 
efiScient  and  successful  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  her  reputation  as  an  instructor  and  disciplinarian 
was  of  the  best. 

In  fraternal  life,  Mr.  Howard  is  a  valued  mcmb.T  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  in  which  he  lias  passed  most  of  (he  local  chairs.  He  is  also  con- 
nected with  the  Modern  Woodmen,  of  which  organization  he  has  been 
clerk  f(M-  the  jiast  seven  year.s.  He  is  living  an  upiight  and  consistent 
life  ill  tlio  coinmnnity  au(l  is  held  in  very  high  esteem. 


EDWAUI)  n.  SIvlN.XKK— The  subject  of  lliis  personal  mention  is 
the  efficient  Ti'casiirer  of  .Montgoinei'v  county  and  has  been  a  citizen  of 
the  county  since  ISKf,.  His  material' connect  ion  with  the  affairs  of  the 
county  has  been  |)i'omineril  from  his  advent  and.  as  a  eilizen  of  Cauey, 
he  is  at  once,  a  leader  and  prominent  man of-affairs. 

A  nativ(M)f  Monroe  eounly.  New  York,  .Mr.  Skinner  was  born  June 
19,  1858,  and  was  a  son  of  Charles  Skinner,  a  native  of  the  same  state,  and 
of  Vermont  ancestry.     Tlie  latter  eame  west  toward  the  clo.'se  of  his  life 


HISTOKY   OF    MONTUOMElil'   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  709 

aud  died  at  Butler,  Missouri,  in  1888,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  He 
married  Mary  Bliss,  who  bore  him  an  only  surviving  child,  and  who  re- 
sides in  the  city  of  Kochester,  New  York. 

Edward  B.  ►Skinner  remained  in  his  native  state  till  past  his  major- 
ity, when,  in  187!),  he  went  west  and  located  at  Colorado  Springs,  Col- 
orado, where,  for  a  time,  he  was  in  the  sheep  Imsiuess,  but  lastly  in  the 
employ  of  the  Denver  &  Kid  (irande  Kaihvay  Company.  After  six  years 
spent  in  the  Kockies  country  he  returned  eastwarcl  and  found  his  choice 
of  locations  at  Caney,  Kansas.  Here  he  engaged  in  the  live  stock  busi- 
ness and  only  closed  it  out  when  he  was  elected  Treasurer  of  Montgom- 
ery county.  In  November,  1897,  he  was  the  candidate  of  the  Fusion 
forces — as  a  Democrat — for  the  office  he  holds  and  was  elected  by  a 
majority  of  only  fifteen  votes.  He  took  office  in  October,  1898,  and  the 
fall  of  1899,  he  was  again  elected,  liis  majority  this  time  being  nearly 
three  hundred  votes. 

To  his  favorite  town  of  Caney  ^\v.  Skinner  has  been  a  useful  citizen 
and  has  rendered  it  sincert-  and  unselfish  otficial  service.  His  first  office 
was  that  of  member  of  the  city  council,  where  he  served  two  years,  and 
his  second  public  position  was  that  of  Mayor  of  the  city.  This  latter  he 
filled  for  three  years,  and  the  interests  of  the  corporation  were  cared  for 
as  he  would  care  for  his  private  business.  His  frankness  and  honesty 
in  those  positions  and  his  personal  popularity  made  his  candidacy  for  a 
county  otfice  a  formidable  one,  and,  when  the  test  came,  it  proved  to  be  a 
successful  one. 

October  28,  18S7,  Mr.  Skinner  married,  in  New  York,  Miss  Frank 
AYhite,  a  daughter  of  J.  B.  White,  of  Kochester.  Four  children  have  re- 
sulted from  this  marriage,  namely:     Kay.  Tercy,  Ted  and  Marian. 

lu  1900,  ;\lr.  Skinner  secured  a  franchise  from  the  city  of  Caney  to 
furnish  it  gas  and  was  insfrumeiilal.  chiefiy.  in  the  organization  of  the 
Caney  Gas  Company,  of  which  he  is  the  general  manager.  Successful 
prospecting  was  done,  an  abundance  of  gas  discovered  and  the  Caney 
Brick  Company  was  formed  with  Mr.  Skinner  as  its  Tresideiit.  Leases 
covering  twenty  tlionsand  acres  of  land  in  Ciiney  townshi]!  arc  held  by 
the  gas  comjiany  and  its  jn-oven  value  ])ioniiscs  nuicli  mateiial  good  to 
Caney  and  to  the  jirime  movers  in  this  mineral  di'vplopment. 

In  the  fiateiiial  world.  Mr.  Skinner  afliliates  as  a  member  with  the 
Modern  Woodmen,  Kniyhts  of  rvthias  and  Elks.  He  is  a  Master  Mason 
and  is  a  I'ast  Noble  (iraiid  of  the  1.  (>.  ().  F. 


JAMES  D.  UrDD— The  possibiliti<-s  of  life  to  (me  without  the  ordi- 
nary i)reparation  of  youtli,  yet  having  and  being  endowed  abundantly 
with  the  essential  (jualities  to  a  successful  career,  are  strikingly  fur- 
nished in  the  ]>erson  whose  name  apjiears  in  the  introduction  to  this 
article.      As   an   example   of  ((iiisjiicuous   financial    and   business   achive- 


iiiciit  wiiliotit  anv  of  the  auxiliaries  of  an  education  to  encourage  him. 
Ills  jiosition  is  unusual  in  contrast  with  that  of  the  average  business  man 
of  our  day.  Orphaned,  even  before  liis  birth,  and  being  forced  from 
home,  as  a  child,  by  an  unfeeling  step  father,  he  was  doomed  to  carve 
out  his  own  destiny,  guided  largely  by  the  experiences  which  came  to 
him  from  day  to  day.  Nature  provided  for  the  misfortunes  of  infancy 
and  childhood  by  unusual  mental  endowments  such  as  capitalize  one's 
life  and  initiate  him  into  the  world's  affairs,  equijiped  for  the  successful 
career  which  is  finally  his. 

James  D.  Budd  is  a  native  of  the  Iloosicr  Stall'.  lie  was  born  in 
Hendricks  county,  Indiana,  on  Fi-b.  stli.  IS."..".  His  father,  Marcus  Budd, 
was  a  A'irginian  who  settled  in  Hendricks  county  in  the  early  fifties  and 
died  in  1854.  He  married  Margaret  Mct^loud  who  resides,  now,  in 
Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  as  Jlrs.  Margaret  Halston.  :\[is.  Minerva 
Welch,  of  that  city  and  our  sul>je(t  constitute  her  family  and  she  is  now 
76  year.s  old. 

'  As  expressed  above.  -lames  1).  I'.iidd  found  himself,  in  early  child- 
Lood.  without  that  parental  love,  guidance  and  advice  common  to  other 
children  and  so  necessary  to  the  proper  rearing  of  the  human  offspring. 
He  came  into  conflict  with  his  teacher  in  school  and  finished  his  educa- 
tion with  a  very  few  week's  attendance  u])on  a  country  school.  He  went 
to  live  with  a  prominent  farmer  in  the  neighborhood,  made  himself 
u.seful  in  many  ways  and  was  afterward  jilaced  on  the  regular  payroll. 
He  ci^ntiiiiied  a  fanii  tiaiid  till  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he 
employed  willi  a  walnut  imiilier  ((Mieerii,  cutting  down  trees  and  saw- 
ing o!f  logs  fur  sliii)iiieiit  to  the  factory.  In  time,  he  became  an  expert 
judge  of  walnut  timber,  could  estimate  intelligently  and  accurately  the 
contents  of  a  tree  and  was  promoted  to  a  position  commensurate  with 
his  ability  and  worth.  He  was  in  the  employ  of  Col.  Straight,  the 
famous  escai)ed  prisoner  of  war  and  tunneller  at  Libby  Prison,  and  con- 
tinued with  that  firm  till  about  the  time  of  his  departure  from  the  State 
of  Indiana  in  1S7G. 

I.eaving  his  native  state  lie  came  to  Kansas  and  established  himself 
at  liuilington,  engaging  again  in  the  walnut  Inmber  business.  He  had 
charge  of  the  business  (.f  his  firm  in  that  locality  and  accumulated  a  few 
hundred  dollars,  the  most  of  which  went  to  defray  the  expense  incurred 
bv  a  seiious  acrid<'nt  which  befell  him  shortly  after  he  went  there. 
While  carrying  a  iiianl  and  ax  togethei'  on  the  same  shoulder,  he 
attemjiled  to  (li-oii  I  he  maul  bi'hind  him  and  the  ax  followed  and  the 
blade  took  him  across  the  achilles,  as  he  raised  his  foot  backward  to 
intercej.t  the  fall,  and  half  severed  the  foot  from  his  ankle.  Soon  after 
recovering  from  this  accident,  he  came  down  into  Montgomery  county, 
Kansas,  on  a  prosi)ecting  tour.  He  cho.se  KIk  City  as  a  place  of  business 
and  located  there  in  1878,  engaging  in  buying  and  trading  stock  and 
flnallv  in  tlie  mercantile  business.     He  remained  there  till  July,  188^, 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  71I 

wheu  he  took  up  bis  residence  in  Independence  where  he  lia.s  since 
resided. 

About  this  era  Mr.  Budd  became  interested  in  invention.  The  idea 
seized  him  that  the  greatest  perfection  in  a  washing-machine  had  not 
yet  been  achieved.  He  followed  up  a  principle  which  suggested  itself 
to  hiia  and  in  ISSCi,  patented  a  machine  which  outrivaled  other  similar 
inventions  and  which  he  had  manufactured  and  placed  on  the  market. 
In  1895,  he  patented  an  improvement  to  his  machine  and,  in  1898,  took 
out  an  entirely  new  patent  covering  another  invention  much  superior 
to  the  first  one  and  which  is,  apparently,  the  climax  in  the  washing- 
machine  line.  For  the  manufacture  of  his  machine  George  and  Twedale, 
of  Constantiue,  Michigan,  erected  a  plant  and  supplied  the  demand  of 
the  country  for  a  number  of  years.  In  June,  1900,  Harvey  and  Son  of 
Constantine  equipped  a  jilant  for  making  the  machine,  also,  and  while 
the  plant  of  the  first  firm  had  a  capacity  of  50,000  machines  annually  the 
Harvey  factory's  capacity  is  100,000  machines  a  year.    From  early  in  the 

history  of  the  patent  Mr.  Rudd  was  in  partnership  with Hymer 

— the  firm  being  Budd  and  Hymer — but  in  1899,  the  firm  was  dissolved 
and  since  then  no  machine  can  be  obtained  except  they  be  purchased 
through  the  j)atentee,  himself.  More  than  two  hundred  persons  handle 
this  invention  in  the  T'nited  States,  fourteen  of  which  states  have  been 
opened,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  nmny  car  loads  of  them  are  annually 
consumed.  Little  else  has  consumed  Mi-.  Budd.  for  nearly  twenty  years, 
than  the  successful  invention  and  handling  of  his  jtatent.  Its  merit  has 
established  its  jtopularity  and  with  its  introduction  to  the  trade  began 
an  inflow  of  jtrofit  to  its  owner.  He  owns  valuable  real  property,  not 
only  in  Kansas,  but  in  Arkansas,  where,  in  Little  River  county,  he  has  a 
rich  bottom  tract  of  (!,000  acres,  situated  only  a  few  miles  from  Texar- 
kana. 

August   I'l.  1878.  .lames  1).   Budd  iiiaiiied   l>ciia   llcekman.  born  on 

the th  of 1859.    Mrs.  Budd  is  a  daughter  of  Sam  Beekman, 

of  German  lineage,  and  is  the  mother  of  Harry,  born  1879,  nmrried  to 
Maud  Morgan  and  has  a  son,  Marcus;  Roy  Budd,  of  Little  River  Co., 
Ark.,  is  married  to  Maud  Oliver:  and  Charles  and  IJonnie.  yet  with  the 
parental  home. 

Mr.  Budd  has  been  a  singularly  snc.essfnl  man.  His  ]icis(iiial  efforts 
have  won  him  the  confidence  of  men  looking  for  investment  and  the 
result  of  his  genius  has  been  the  erection  of  industrial  enterprises  and 
the  consequent  employment  of  labor.  From  the  dark  and  forbidding 
future  of  his  early  life  he  hewed  out  a  career  of  usefulness  and  jirotit  and 
the  woild  has  looked  on  in  encouragenieni  and  with  pride. 


CHARLES  JOYCE— A  belter  or  more  favorably  known  cili/.en  can- 
not be  found  in  Independence  than  Charles  Joyce,  one  of  the  pioprietors 


of  the  Opera  House  Drug  Store,  and  a  son  of  one  of  the  pioneer  farmers 
of  the  count}-,  William  Joyce,  now  deceased.  Our  subject  was  a  lad  of 
but  seven  jears  when  his  parents  moved  to  the  county  and  is  therefore 
entitled  to  be  regarded  as  to  the  manner  born.  He  received  a  good 
common  school  education  and  remained  on  the  farm  until  he  had  passed 
three  years  beyond  his  majority.  He  then  came  to  Independence  and 
entered  upon  the  w'ork  in  which  he  has  been  so  signally  successful.  He 
served  in  subordinate  positions,  first  under  F.  F.  Yoe  for  four  years, 
then  with  Thomas  Calk  until  1898,  when,  in  company  with  Drs.  Surber 
and  Masterman,  he  purchased  a  stock  of  drugs,  the  store  having  since 
been  operated  under  the  name  of  the  "Opera  House  Drug  Store."  The 
stock  represents  a  $9,000  outlay  and  is  kept  in  first-class  condition  by 
constant  supplies  of  new  and  fresh  material. 

Charles  Joyce  is  a  native  of  Indiana,  born  in  Marion  county,  Septem- 
ber 27.  1864,  the  son  of  William  and  Margaret  ((-lark)  Joyce.  The  father 
was  a  prominent  mei'chant  and  stockman,  having  business  interests 
near  Indianapolis  for  a  number  of  years.  In  the  spring  of  1871.  he  sold 
his  interests  in  the  '-Iloosier  State"  and  located  on  a  farm  in  Independ- 
ence Twp..  which  he  continued  to  cultivate  with  success  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  Sept.  L'O.  18<)!»,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-one  years. 
Our  subject's  mother  liail  dinl  March  17.  1890,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five 
years.  They  were  tlic  parciils  of  five  children — Elmer,  Mgr.  of  the 
Brown  Sui)ply  Co.,  ( •ortVyviiie.  Kan.;  Charles,  Thomas.  Jfgr.  of  the 
electric  light  ])lant  a  I  (ialvestou,  Texas;  Harry,  deceased  at  2:^.  years; 
and  Laura,  wife  of  W.  E.  Morrison,  a  farmer  oif  the  county. 

As  before  stated.  Charles  Joyce  needs  no  encomiums  in  a  work  of 
this  nature  to  exploit  his  good  ((ualities  to  the  jn'oplc  of  Independence. 
His  life  has  been  an  (>])en  book  before  them  and  llieie  are  few  in  the 
city  but  know  liis  wtuili.  P.y  persisleuce  and  studious  concentration  on 
the  object  he  sci  (lui  lo  attain,  lie  has  become  a  leading  member  of  the 
business  comiiimiit\  ami  an  intliicntial  lueiuber  of  its  social  life.  In 
Mnsoniy  lie  1i:is  taken  the  Itluc  Lodge,  ('hajitiM'  and  Commandery 
degi'i'J^-  bi'iiiu  at  jpieseiil  Sinior  W'lirden  of  the  latter,  and  is  also  a 
member  of  tlie  Mxstic  Sliriiie.  He  li:is  for  \-eai-s  been  a  prominent 
member  of  the  ^^■oollnleIl.  in  whicii  he  has  passed  through  all  the  chairs. 
In  the  city's  municijial  life  he  has  taken  an  active  and  intelligent  interest, 
having  bi'cii  for  the  ](ast  fom-  years  member  of  the  council  from  the 
1st  ward.  He  is  now  living  in'  (he  .-.(h  ward  and  out  of  i)<)litics.  In 
politics  he  siii)])or(s  (lie  jxdicies  of  the  Republican  j)arty,  and  is  regarded 
as  spleiulid  mateiial  for  future  otficial  preferment,  should  he  consent 
to  the  use  of  his  uauie. 

Marriage  was  contrMcted  by  our  subject  Maicli  21,  ISSl).  (he  other 
contracting  patty  being  Mis.  .M<Kee,  (hm^hii  r  of  -lohu  Adams,  a  farmer 
of  the  county.  To  her  were  born  (liree  cliildreii— Ivy  L.,  Hessie  T.,  and 
Mav,  the  latter  deceased  at   is  monlhs.     The  inodier  of  these  children 


I 


•5^ 


1 1%  ••  I 
it  l«  (# 


ll 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOilEEY  COI' 


1 


Onr  snbjf- 

i  tie  <ounty  a:. 

■  >.  to  i!iu  iiiuiiru  I'  born.     He  received  a  j,^^•.i 

and  remained  on  the  farm  until  he  had  passed 

aii.iitv      U"    Ik!!  .aiiie  to  Independence  and 

■   !ialiy  successfnl.    He 

Voe  for  four  years, 

1   -MaMtiuiaii,  lie  puiciiaiied  a  stotk  ut"  uiiig!-,  i 
li  operated  uirder  the  name  of  the  "Opera  Hon- 

:k  represi-iiU  a  .->'i  iiiut  outlay  and  is  kept  in  i\i   

stani  sir  and  fresh  material. 

rharU?  ive  of  Indiana,  born  in  Marion  county,  Septern- 

■•"•      ;-.!.!  !;-ini     -IM.'      \(-l.-r;l,-,.|      ;  i  '  I  ;1  rt  1     .1  ,  >  V,  ■,-  Tll,-fflth.- 


been  an  open  book  before  rheni  and  ■ 
V  Ids  worth.    By  pei'sisteuce  and  sniu. 
set  out  t^  attain,  he  has  become  a  leadi.ij: 
nmnitA'  and  an  influential  member  of  its  > 


has 


th 


Lnds'. 


member  of  the  ."  i 
member  nf  llii-  ^^  ." 
In  Ill^■  city's  municii 
haviii-    I.ii  ji  for  tit 


past  fou 
He  is  now  living 
he  supports  the  policies  of  thi-  Kupul 


Chapter   and 

■;   llu!   latter,   aiMi    is    il-.   a 

:    years  been   a  prominent 

-^■n  'l)ra:.-li  ;i.ll  the  chairs. 

i(ent  interest. 

iicil  from  tin- 

I'  {wlitics.     In 

aa  parly,  and  is  regarded 


li-ndid  material  for  future  official  preferment,  should  he  consen' 
:    i:s,     )f  his  nanie. 

was  con  J  rafted  li 
jiarty  being  Mrs.  M 
....ly.    To  her  were  bia  .       . 
ihe  iaiter  decea.sed  at  18  mom. 


CHAS.   JOYCE. 


mSlOUV   Ol"    MONT(j'0.MEKV    COLNTY,    KANSAS.  715 

selves  in  MoiitjioiiuTy  coimty.  Ih-re  Mrs.  Houtoii  died  in  187."),  at  iweuty- 
fight  jeais  of  age,  without  issue.  August  27,  1870,  he  uiaiiied  l>u( y  V. 
Yeager,  who  came  to  Kansas  in  18<i!»  from  her  birthnhuc  in  Iowa. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  A.  B.  and  Adda  Veager,  the  present  Dejmty 
I'robate  Judge  of  Montgomery  county.  The  Yeager  children  were  four 
in  nundier:  Edward  C.  Clara  T.,  Mrs.  Houton,  and  Frank,  deceased. 

Mrs.  Bouton's  residence  on  the  frontier  near  the  lines  of  Mont- 
gomery and  Labette  counties  brought  her  into  close  proximit\-  to  the 
notorious  Bender  family.  She  knew  John  and  Kate  well  and  became 
familiar  with  their  turnout  as  it  passed  to  and  fro  past  the  Yeager 
home  to  Cheriyvale.  >\'lien  the  gory  diseoveiy  was  finally  made  in  tlii' 
l{ender  orchard.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  lioutmi  were  oi'i  the  ground  and  saw  the 
bodies  of  their  victims  exhumed. 

When  Mr.  Bouton  came  to  Montgomery  county  the  claim  which  he 
took  was  widely  separated  from  civilization.  Independence  was  their 
trading  point  and  it  contained  no  semblance  of  a  town  for  a  year  after- 
ward. Erie  was  the  j)oint  where  he  went  to  mill  and  he  occasionally 
hauled  stuff  from  Ft.  Scott  and  Humboldt. 

In  the  politics  of  the  county  Mr.  Bouton  has  ever  taken  a  lively 
interest.  He  has  frequently  been  honored  with  public  office,  being 
elected  Trustee  of  Cherry  township  three  terms.  County  Commissioner 
by  election  from  1886  to  1893  and  Probate  Judge  of  the  county  from 
1895  to  1897.    He  is  a  radical  Republican  and  a  popular  party  man. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bouton's  family  consisted  of  six  children,  namely: 
Adda  L.  and  Charles,  lioth  deceased;  .\manda  E.,  wife  of  Cuy  B.  Dart- 
nell.  of  Cherrvvale;  Hibbard,  deceased;  Freddie  O.  and  Olla  Bell. 


JAMES  J.  MORRIS— In  sections  two  and  eleven,  township  33, 
range  14,  James  J.  Morris,  of  this  review,  maintains  his  home.  His 
settlement  in  the  county  dates  from  the  year  1880,  and  his  residence 
in  Rutland  township  began  with  that  year.  Five  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  comprises  his  farm  and  its  physical  condition  is  the  pleasing  out- 
come of  twenty-three  years  of  ceaseless  and  undiminished  effort.  He 
represents  the  progressive  rural  element  of  our  population  and,  in  his 
way,  has  contributed  to  the  warp  and  woof  of  our  local  civilization. 

James  J.  Morris  was,  it  seems,  decreed  by  fate  to  pass  his  life  in 
Montgomery  county.  It  was  in  that  county  he  was  born,  in  Indiana, 
Sept.  11,  1838,  and  in  no  other  county,  save  the  one  where  he  now 
resides,  has  he  had  a  home,  except  short  periods  spent  in  Pulaski  and 
Clinton  counties,  Ind.  His  father,  John  J.  Morris,  was  a  native  of 
Butler  county,  Ohio,  and  came  into  Indiana  during  the  first  third  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  William  Morris,  grandfather  of  our  subject,  was 
a  Yirginian  by  birth  and  had  children:  William,  James,  George  W., 
John,  Mrs.  Emma  Timmerman,  Mrs.  Betsy  Curry  and  Lovina.     John 


Morris  and  ]>u(iuda  Hagermau,  of  Butler  county,  Ohio,  became  man 
and  wife  and  reared  a  family  of  nine  children,  as  follows:  James  J., 
our  subject;  Sarah,  wife  of  Marion  Scott;  Mrs.  Jane  Brant,  Mrs.  Emma 
Robinson.  John,  of  Montgomery  county;  Mrs.  Martha  Iteis,  of  Indiana; 
George,  of  Col.;  Mrs.  JIargaret  Tony  lives  in  Missouii;  Joseph,  of 
Indiana,  and  Mrs.  Armilda  Fuller,  of  Missouri. 

In  185S,  Janu's  J.  Morris  married  Martha  J.  Koush.  a  native  of 
Clinton  county,  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  Sebastian  and  Amanda  (John- 
son) Roush.  Seven  children  have  come  to  bless  the  home  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Morris,  viz:  Sarah,  wife  of  William  Haish,  of  Montgomery  county, 
witli  (hildren:  (ieorge  and  Melvin ;  John,  of  Montgomery  county,  with 
one  ihild,  James;  Mrs.  Amanda  Degarmore,  of  Montgomery  county,  with 
childicii:  Minnie,  Frances,  I^eslie,  Oscar,  Ed,  Ophie,  Ora,  James  and 
Nina  .lam',  twins;  Charles,  of  Montgomery  county;  Oeorge,  of  the  same 
connlN.  with  children:  James  and  Myrtle;  Joseph,  with  children:  Walter 
and  Vivian;  .Mrs.  Emma  I'eaper,  of  Independence,  Kansas,  with  three 
children  :  Christie,  Martha  and  Harry.  Of  Mr.  and  :\hs.  Morris'  children. 
John  and  Amanda  are  twins. 

When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morris  launched  their  111  lie  craft  upon  the  sea 
of  life  their  capital  amounted  simply  to  their  energy  and  their  deter- 
mination to  win.  While  pursuing  the  even  tenor  of  their  way  they 
have  filled  a  nidie  in  the  social  and  business  world  of  their  community 
and  have  risen  by  i-ei;ular  slci)S  to  a  jiosilion  of  financial  independence. 


LEWIS  A.  HI'XDELL — In  this  utilitarian  age  when  the  trend  of 
jiopnhilion  is  so  larg.dy  toward  the  great  cities,  it  is  gratifying  to  note 
the  sm-cess  uf  those  voung  men  who  have  resisted  the  temptation  to 
leave  the  farm  and  are  engaged  in  the  noble  occupation  from  whose 
ranks  have  risen  some  of  the  greatest  :nen  which  this  country  has 
produced.  All  honor  to  them;  and  may  they  so  instill  into  the  minds 
of  their  progeny  a  love  for  the  soil  that  the  tinsel  of  city  life  will  have 
but  the  effect  of  turning  their  minds  the  more  contentedly  to  furrow 
and  field.  The  gentleman  whose  name  initiates  this  paragraph  is  a 
product  of  Montgomery's  schools  and  rural  society  and  is  a  fit  repre- 
sentative of  that  stirring  and  energetic  young  manhood  for  wliich  the 
county  is  famous. 

Mr.  Rundell  was  born  in  Charleston,  Mo.,  in  the  year  1S71,  and  is 
the  son  of  one  of  the  county's  most  respected  yeomen,  Mr.  Levi  E.  Run- 
dell and  his  wife,  nee  Miss  Mary  King.  The  father  was  born  in  the 
State  of  Mississippi,  Septemlier  4,  1831.  Having  lost  his  parents  early 
in  life,  Mr.  Rundell,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  went  up  the  river  to 
Madison  Co.,  Illinois,  where  Ite  engaged  in  farming  for  a  period  of  some 
twenty  years.  It  was  here  that  he  met  and  married  his  wife.  They, 
later,  removed  to  Charleston,  Mo.,  and  in  1874,  located  a  mile  and  a  half 


east  of  Independence,  near  where  they  now  reside.  Levi  Rundell  is  a 
man  whose  citizenship  at  all  times  has  lacked  nothing  of  those  essential 
qualities  necessary  in  the  framework  of  a  peace-loving  and  law  abiding 
community  and  his  friends  in  the  county  are  legion. 

Lewis,  the  son,  is  "a  chip  off  the  old  block,"  and  is  daily  proving 
his  right  to  the  good  will  wliich  is  his  by  inheritance.  He  was  given  a 
good  district  school  education  and  when  he  came  to  years  of  discretion 
began  farming  on  his  own  account.  In  1899,  he  purchased  the  farm  he 
now  cultivates.  It  lies  4  1-2  miles  east  and  1  mile  south  of  Inde- 
pendence and  consists  of  220  acres  of  as  good  farming  land  as  may 
be  found  in  the  county.  He  is  fast  bringing  this  farm  into  a  high  state 
of  cultivation  and  as  time  passes  is  adding  substantial  improvements. 
No  young  farmer  of  the  county  has  a  brighter  financial  outlook,  and 
none  stands  higher  in  the  general  estimation. 

Marriage  was  entered  into  by  Mr.  Rundell  in  1805.  Mrs.  Rundell 
was  Hester  A.  G.  Madden,  and  she  is  the  daughter  of  John  and  Keturah 
(Alatsler)  Madden,  respected  farmers  of  the  county.  She  is  the  mother 
of  three  bright  and  healthy  children  whose  respective  names  are:  Levi, 
seven;  Lewis,  four;  and  Lloyd,  one  year  of  age. 

In  religious  belief  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rundell  are  Methodists,  being 
workers  in  and  liberal  supporters  of  that  denomination,  while  in  politi- 
cal matters  the  party  founded  by  the  greatest  of  all  statesmen,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  receives  the  suffrage  of  oui'  honored  subject. 


HENRY  N.  BL^NDY — Tlie  gentleman  here  mentioned  is  one  of  the 
leading  business  men  of  the  prosperous  community  of  Liberty,  where  he 
has  conducted  a  drug  store  since  1895.  and  during  this  time  he  has  been 
prominent  in  the  development  of  this  section  of  the  county,  and  is 
always  in  the  front  of  every  cause  which  has  for  its  object  the  uplifting 
of  humanity  and  the  building  up  of  his  community. 

Mr.  Bundy  is  a  native  of  Indiana,  where  he  was  born,  in  Parke 
county,  in  the  year  18G1.  The  name  of  his  father  was  P.  H.  Bundy 
and  that  of  his  mother,  Rachell  Caschatt.  Mr.  Bundy  was  reared  to 
farm  life,  receiving  a  district  school  education,  together  with  some 
further  scholastic  training  at  Annapolis,  a  town  of  his  native  county  and 
near  which  his  father  was  one  of  the  prominent  farmers.  .  Our  sub- 
ject remained  under  the  home  roof  until  he  had  attained  his  majority 
and  in  the  fall  of  1882  came  to  Liberty,  Ks.,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
drug  business.  In  the  following  spring  Mr.  Bundy's  parents  came  to 
Liberty,  where  for  the  following  twelve  years  they  engaged  in  the  hotel 
business.  In  1895,  they  purchased  a  farm  in  the  township,  where 
the  husband  still  resides,  the  mother  having  died  in  1895.  There  were 
four  children  in  the  family:  W.  E.  Bundy,  a  physician,  living  in  lona, 
Jewell  countv,  Kansas,  married  Ella  Cook,  and  has  two  children,  Clvde 


-l8  mSTOUY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

iiiul  'Vvuv.  -Iciiiiv,  wild  uiarripfl  -lohn  (Jroeii  of   llliuDis.   now  a  Cuunly 
(■oiiiiiiissioiici-  ill  dial  stale,  r«'si(liii^  at  I'aliiicr.  Ills. 

Oiii-  subject  was  the  youngest  (if  ilic  family,  lie  iiianied  Emma 
Nicholson,  of  ('.oo.llaiiil,  Newton  connly.  Indiana.  .Mrs.  I'.nndy  is  the 
inniher  of  four  children;  Myrtle,  horn,  .lanuary  is.  ls,s;i:  I^ilph.  .Tan- 
iiaiv   2!t,  ISli;!;  Hazel,  Oct.  22,  l.SitC;  and  Kennelh.  Novenih.T  -J.  lsi)!(. 

'  .\li-.  and  .Mrs.  Hundv  are  leadiii-  factors  in  the  social  life  of  LilxTiy, 
Avheie  I  hex  an-  iv-anlcd  with  very  -n-al  rcs|M'(i.  .Mr.  I'.undy  is  a 
nienihei-  of  ihi.  .Masonic  fraternity  and  in  |ioliii,al  mailers  altiliaies  and 
voles  Willi  Ihe  Kepuhlhan  parly,  in  I  he  local  councils  of  which  In-  is 
re-arded  with  much  favor.  He  is  a  uenlleinan  of  altraciive  |,ersonalily 
and  his  Imsiness  ndalions  with  his  lar-e  trade  is  of  Ihe  hc^i   charadep. 


FU.WCIS    .M.    SrUFACK— The 
name  inlrodmes  this  brief  jieisonal  ski 
faiuili<-s  of  .M(Uitj;()ineiy  county  whose  ; 
ISSl.      lie   came   here  as   a  school  boy   and   h 
siieciinent  of  a  genuine  Kansaii.     As  a  yoi 
that  have  contributed  to  his  success  in   li 
ments  and  his  jtersoiial  worth  are  til   to  b< 

Francis   M.    Suiface  is   a    native    ot    i 
born    in    Darke    county,   Ohio,    March    22. 
Sui'face,   was  born   in   1818  and   is  a    vcncrab 
peinlence  township.     The  latter  brought    hi 
and  settled  on  a  tra<t  of  land  in  section  12. 
chased  of  L.  .\.   Walker,  well  known  as  a 
senior  Surface   has   been   an  active,   Innirly 
went    into   semi  ret irenn-nt   only   after   he    I 
suftieient  to  jnovide  for  his  comfort  in  his 
Republican  in   his  earlier  life  and  was  fici 
ventions  as  a  delegate  from  his  township 
Elizabeth   Bnyder.     The  children   of  this   n 
was   rtrwned   in    l']lk    river,   ]\Iontsomery    at 
h'ft  three  (diildren;  .lane,  wife  of  Free  Thoi 

Elizabeth,  who  married  William  Godwin,  of  Bolton.  Kansas;  Franci 
M.,  our  subject;  (Iharles  I.,  of  Montgomery  Co.:  Clara,  wife  of  I.incol 
Thompson,  of  lola,  Kansas,  and  John,  deceased. 

The  subject  of  this  review  was  educaled  in  the  common  school 
of  Montgomery  county  and  remained  a  com]ianion  of  the  domesli 
fireside  till  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  married  tlien.  Miss  Miiini 
Buck,  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Buck,  of  the  Indian  Territory,  but  formerl 
from  Indiana.  Mrs.  Surface  was  born  in  the  month  of  June,  ^S7'■ 
and  was  married  to  Frank  M.  Surface.  January  22.  lS!i:!.  She  is  lli 
mother  of  three  children,  as  follows:    Marion.  Fred  and  Eat  tie. 


;sful 

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lines. 

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in    August. 

1S07, 

,   and 

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of  Kans 

las 

City. 

,  Mo.; 

JiUllifaEtffi: 


)I-Y  0"    MOXTrn-^'r-pV    CO' 


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.     ,.>    <i     V«_lKTa'.ll.-     U'() 

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to  ivansas 

in  IS 

in  section  ]2.  i.  wi'si' 

;;   :::;,    r  :.:v' 

!',    i.ii 

••li;:-.:  ■:    •:'     i..    .-•.  .    \\':i 

ii'.'!-,  Weil  linown  as  ii  • 

;  .-;  .<,;     Siiit;i,'(     lia.-' 

Ki'ii  an  a<'tiv(-',  liearl; 

■■    -nl     iiil(,    seiui  I'l-'' 

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'  riPUt    to    pl'O' 

;il.!ifan  in  li  - 

Elizabeth. 

m:  n,iv  sr 

-  review  wa- 

iher  oi'  thre<'  chilflren,  as  follows:     Marion,  F 


et, 

i/-, 

^^ 

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B^^HI^^H^B  '^'''  M 

<■            ^  "'i^ 

i^E 

J' 

F.   M.  SURFACE  AND  WIFE. 


HISTORY    or    MOXTGOMKRY    (Or.NTY,   KANSAS.  72I 

iug.  Having  fulloMt'd  this  for  sonic  voais  and  llicn  liaxinj;  rntcreil 
mercantile  pursuits  at  Longton,  lie  bccaiiic  one  of  iIk-  well  known  and 
at  the  same  time  one  of  the  substautial  men  oi  the  i-onnly. 

Mr.  Wooldridge  was  born  in  liussell  eounty,  Kenliuky.  Felniiary 
17,  1833.  His  father,  William  Wooldridge,  was  born  in  the  same  county 
in  1801  and  died  in  Hojikins,  Missouri,  in  1880.  The  latter  was  a  son 
of  Richard  Wooldridge,  of  Virginia,  who  settled  in  Kentucky  before 
its  admission  into  the  union  of  states.  William  Wooldridge  grew  up  in 
the  wilds  of  Kentucky  and  took  for  his  wife  Agnes  Allen  Mho  died  in 
Iowa  in  1857.  They  went  to  Iowa  in  1846  and  lived  in  Davis  county 
and  were  prosperous  farmers  and  highly  respected  citizens.  The  chil- 
dren born  to  them  were:  Margaret,  Samuel,  Martha  E.,  John,  Nancy  B., 
William  R.,  Dicy  A.,  Mary,  Baxter,  of  Hopkins.  Missouri;  Julian  F.,  of 
I'hoenix,  Arizona,  and  Emily,  deceased. 

W.  R.  Wooldridge  aciiuired  a  common  school  edinaiinn  and  began 
life  as  a  farmer.  He  was  married  April  7tli.  1857,  his  wife  being 
Susan,  a  daughter  of  John  Jessee,  originally  from  Tennessee.  This 
union  resulted  in  the  following  children:  Walter  and  Dooly,  both 
deceased;  Margaret,  who  married  John  G.  Clark  and  died  leaving  two 
children;  John,  deceased,  likewise  Kenneth;  Lena  and  Mattie,  deceased; 
Esca.  of  Okhihoma,  and  Riley,  of  Independence,  Kansas,  who  married 
Iva  Urawfoi'd  and  has  a  daughter.  Civstal.  In  the  month  of  Sept., 
1898,  Mrs.  William  R.  Wooldridge  died,  after  n  married  life  of  forty- 
one  years. 

August  9th,  ISO:.',  in  Ringiidld  county,  Iowa.  Mr.  Wooldridge 
enlisted  in  company  •■(;.'  l-'lUli  Inf.  and  served  in  the  Department  of 
the  'SVest  under  Generals  ("urtis  and  Steele.  He  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  Helena  and  left  for  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  Aug.  10th,  reaching  there 
about  ten  days  later.  Broke  camp  at  Little  Rock  in  March  to  meet 
Banks  on  Red  River  and  during  that  march  he  had  his  left  arm  shot  off 
by  a  tM'elve  pound  shell  at  Spoonville  and  was  left  on  the  field  as  dead. 
He  was  taken  by  the  enemy  and  was  a  prisoner  at  Camden,  Ark.,  for 
five  months  and  about  Sept.  15th  was  marched  to  Tyler,  Texas,  in 
which  prison  he  was  confined  till  Feb.  15th,  1865,  when  he  was  taken 
to  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  furloughed  for  30  days.  He  proceeded  to 
Davenport,  Iowa,  where  his  discharge  from  the  army  occurred  June 
22nd,  1865.  Resuming  civil  pursuits  he  re-engaged  in  farming  and  con- 
tinued it  until  1883,  when  he  disposed  of  his  Iowa  interests  and  came  to 
Kansas.  He  spent  the  winter  in  Winfield  and  in  the  spring  of  1881 
moved  to  Longton.  He  maintained  his  residence  in  and  business  rela- 
tions with  Elk  county  for  16  years  and  then  removed  to  ^lontgomery 
county,  his  future  home. 

In  his  political  action  Mr.  Wooldridge  was  an  Inde]>eiideni.  with 
unfriendly  feeling  toward  the  dominant  political  jtaity.  When  the 
-several  elements  of  the  ojiposition  crystalized  into  a  new  party  he  joined 


font's  with  till'  (ii-eenback  party  and  later  became  a  factor  in  Peoples' 
Party  affairs.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Populist  convention  of  1896 
at  St.  I.oiiis.  While  not  a  Democrat,  he  believes  firmly  in  the  political 
tenets  as  aniioiiiici'd  bv  Mr.  P.rvaii. 


11\A  llADLEY — The  settlers  of  Montgomery  county  of  the  year 
18S2  number  among  its  band  the  substantial  farmer-  and  splendid 
citizen  of  Bolton,  Ira  Hadley,  of  this  brief  review.  He  came  in  response 
to  the  general  movement  of  the  time  and  place  toward  Kansas  and 
emigrated  from  Parke  county,  Indiana.  He  was  born  in  the  latter 
county  and  state  August  30,  ISlo,  where  his  father,  Simon  Hadley, 
settled  in  ISol  and  where  he  maintained  his  residence  till  his  death 
in  1896.  Simon  Hadley  was  born  in  ChatLam  county.  North  Carolina, 
in  1810  and  was,  consequently,  twenty-four  years  old  when  he  took 
up  his  residence  in  the  wooded  country  of  western  Indiana.  There  he 
aided  by  physical  effort  the  clearing  up  of  the  county  in  which  he  lived 
and  was  one  of  its  moderately  successful  farmers.  In  his  northwaM 
and  westward  journey  he  came  through  Ohio  where  he  sojourned 
temporarily  working  as  a  farm  hand  and  doing  other  manual  labor  as 
the  necessities  of  the  occasion  required.  He  was  a  son  of  Jacob  Hadley 
w^ho  died  in  Xorth  Carolina,  and  was  one  of  the  following  children: 
Jonathan,  who  went  into  Iowa;  William,  who  remained  in  the  Old 
Nortli  Stale:  Thomas,  who  died  in  the  state  of  his  birth — North  Caro- 
lina;     a   (laughter  who  died  in  Hendricks   Co., 

Indiana,  and  was  the  wife  of  Joseph  Ronsley;  Eleanor,  wife  of  Owen 

Liudley,  (lied  at  Prairie  ("enter,  Kaiis. ;  Susan,  who  married   

Harris,  of  Xorth  Carolina;  and  Eunice,  who  became  the  wife  of 

]\Iarshall  of  the  old  Carolina  home. 

Simon  Hadley  married  Eunice  Hobsoii  who  survived  until  19(12  and 
died  in  Parke  connty,  Indiana,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine.  Their 
children  were:  Eliza,  deceased;  Ira,  William,  of  P>loomingdale,  Indiana: 
Narcissa,  of  Marshall,  Indiana;  Elwood,  of  the  same  connty;  Rlioda, 
who  died  at  Rockville,  Indiana,  was  the  wife  of  M.  W.  Marshall;  Samuel 
and  Ruth,  of  Marshall,  Indiana,  and  .Mbert  and  ilahlon,  of  the  same 
county  and  state. 

Ira  Hadley,  our  subject,  passed  his  life  on  his  father's  farm,  in 
childhood  and  youth  and  received  a  country  school  training.  He  brought 
his  limited  accumulations  of  fifteen  years  of  independent  effort  with 
him  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  and  purchased  land  in  section  19, 
township  3o,  range  15,  where  he  owns  one  hundred  and  forty  acres. 
For  some  years  he  was  engaged  in  the  nursery  business,  having  several 
acres  of  his  farm  devoted  to  the  production  of  a  large  variety  of  horti- 
cultural plants,  with  the  promotion  of  which  industry  he  was  occupied 


HISTOUY   OF    MONTGOMEUY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  723 

until  18!t((.  As  a  farmer,  f?i'ain  raisiiiff  claiiiis  his  atit-ntion  and  lie 
goes  about  his  daily  task  iu  a  modest,  unassuiiiiu};  way. 

In  the  month  of  Jan.,  1S72,  Mr.  Hadley  was  uuuiicd  in  Fountain 
county,  Indiana,  his  wife  being  Ruth  H.  Towell,  a  daughlci-  <if  Isaac  H. 
Toweil  and  a  sister  of  Ira  X.  Towell  mentioned  on  another  page  of 
this  volume.  The  issue  of  this  marriage  is  as  follows:  Oliver  ().,  born 
in  1S75;  Clara  E.,  born  1877;  Euuiee  A.,  born  1S7!»;  John  W..  born  in 
1883;  and  Floyd  S.,  born  in  Kansas  in  188!). 

AYithout  fuss  or  show  ^Ir.  Hadley  has  gone  alxiut  the  alVairs  of 
life  and  has  merited  and  won  an  enduring  jiosition  iu  the  (estimation 
of  his  fellow  eitizeus.  He  has  been  true  to  his  family,  true  to  his 
neighbors  and  true  to  his  j)olitical  party.  He  has  been  a  Republiean 
all  his  life  and  the  isms  and  side-issues  of  designing  politicians  have 
not  attracted  liim  in-  larried  him  awav.     He  is  a  Mason. 


T.  (J.  TKl'MAX — I'roniiuently  identified  with  the  business  life  of 
the  city  if  Independence  for  three  decades  and  connected  with  the 
governing  body  of  the  municipality  over  half  of  that  period.  Mr.  T.  0. 
Truman,  proprietor  of  the  city's  leading  ice  manufactory  and  cold 
storage  jilant,  well  rejiresi  iits  a  type  of  citizens  whose  hustling  quali- 
ties have  not  only  brought  success  to  the  individual,  but  jiroiuinence 
to  the  city  as  well. 

The  year  1S71  found  Mr.  Trnemau  on  a  virgin  claim  in  Rutland 
Twp.,  where  he  for  two  years  tried  the  virtues  of  a  farmer's  life.  Tins 
not  being  to  his  taste  he  sold  out  and  moved  to  town,  where,  in  partner- 
ship with  John  Hebrank,  he  began  the  manufacture  of  beer  and  car- 
bonated drinks,  later  adding  the  ice  factory  and  cold  storage  plant.  The 
business  has  grown  with  the  city  and  is  now  one  of  the  most  extensive 
in  southern  Kansas.  Mr.  Truman  has  always  taken  an  active  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  the  city.  He  is  at  present  a  member  of  the  Common 
Council,  his  first  connection  Avith  that  body  beginning  in  1875,  when 
he  served  continuously  for  eleven  years.  Again,  in  1000,  he  became 
a  member  of  that  body,  the  date  of  his  present  incumbency.  During 
these  years  the  Council  was  called  upon  to  make  the  public  improve- 
ments necessary  in  the  early  growth  of  a  municipality,  and  much  of 
this  important  service  was  rendered  by  our  subject.  He  is  a  valuable 
member  at  the  present  time  as  he  knows  the  city  "like  a  book"  and  can 
give  the  location  and  history  of  any  i)ublic  improvement. 

J[r.  Truman  succeeded  in  getting  a  fair  education  before  President 
Lincoln's  first  call  for  troops.  On  the  20th  of  June,  1861,  he  enlisted 
as  a  private  in  Co.  "K",  2d  W.  Yd.  Vol.  Inf..  in  which  he  served  until 
November  of  1804,  particijiating  in  many  of  the  battles  and  skirmishes 
in  and  about  the  famous  Shenandoah  ^'alley.  At  this  date,  while  at 
IVew  ('reek,  he  suffered  capture,  together  with  five  hundred  others.     He 


was  takeu  to  Libby  Prison  and  for  four  months  experienced  the  horrors 
of  that  noted  institution,  tlie  date  of  his  exchange  being  Feb.,  18C5.  He, 
howcvci',  recovered  rapidly  from  the  rigors  of  prison  life  and  in  thirty 
(lays  was  a^ain  with  his  company  at  Fredericksburg.  The  assassina- 
tiiiii  (il  I  lie  I'rcsident  caused  his  company  to  be  detailed  for  service 
in  llic  iii]iliue  of  Booth  and  his  co-conspirators,  and  for  several  weeks 
our  subject  scoured  the  country  about  Washington.  After  participating 
m  the  tirand  Review  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Ft.  Sedgwick,  Col., 
1o  lake  ])arl  in  (liscii)lining  the  Indians  who  had  given  such  trouble  dur- 
ing (he  war.  .\fter  a  year  of  such  service,  he,  with  his  regiment,  was 
ninsteied  out  .May  1st,  186G,  his  record  for  faithful  service  to  liis  coun- 
ti'\  being  one  of  whicli  he  may  well  be  ])roud. 

On  his  return  home  Mr.  Truman  embarked  in  business  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  tirm  of  Wells  &  Truman,  lumber  merchants,  which  con- 
tirned  successfully  until  1868,  when  he  eame  wist  to  Kansas  City. 
Here  he  continued  in  the  manufacture  of  rougli  Jninber  until  the  date 
of  his  coming  to  Montgomery  county. 

]\[r.  Truman's  home  life  began  November  28,  1807,  the  date  of  his 
marriage  to  Elizabeth  Dewey.  She  died  in  1883  in  Tnde])endence  at 
the  age  of  forty  years,  leaving  no  children.  He  married  his  present 
wife  Iteceniber  li,  188fi,  in  West  Virginia,  her  maiden  name  having 
been  .Miss  Cnluuibia  A.  T.urk.  She  is  a  lady  of  much  good  sense,  ah 
acfiv  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  a  leader  in  the  social 
anil  charitable  work  of  that  organization. 

In  the  business  life  of  the  city  he  has  been  an  important  fai-tor. 
He  is  a  Directo'  in  the  Commercial  National  Bank  and  a  member  of 
the  Busiu' s<  .Men's  Commercial  Club.  In  the  fraternities,  Mr.  Truman 
finds  great  (leliglil,  as  he  is  a  thorough  believer  in  that  idea.  In 
Masonry  lie  has  passed  through  the  Blue  Lodge,  Chapter,  Commandery 
and  Shrine,  and  is  now  Treasurer  of  St.  Bernard  Commandery.  He 
i)ecan!e  an  Odd  Fellow  in  April  of  1872,  and  filled  all  the  chairs 
through  the  Encampment.  Our  subject  is  also  a  helpful  member  of 
the  Woodmen,  Elks,  G.  A.  R.,  and  of  the  affiliated  bodies  known  as  the 
Order  of  the  Eastern  Star  and  the  Rebekahs.  In  political  matters  Mr. 
Trunnin  is  a  staunch  Republican  and  is  one  of  the  wheel  horses  of  the 
local  organization. 

Passing  back  into  the  family  history  and  earlier  life  of  our  subject, 
his  birth  occurred  in  West  Virginia,  September  21,  1843.  He  is  the 
son  of  Absalom  and  Serena  (Diltz)  Tniman,  the  father  a  native  of  Cal- 
houn county,  Va.,  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  both  he  and  his  wife 
members  of  the  M.  E.  church.  They  died  within  a  year,  both  at  7f! 
years  of  age.  Their  family  consisted  of  five  children — Elizabeth.  Thomas 
C,  Henrv  D.,  Almira,  and  Francis  M. 


MARY  ANN  CLIFFORD— A  family  which  has  had  a  long  and  hon- 
orable career  in  Montgomery  county  is  that  of  which  Mrs.  Mary  Ann 
Clifford  is  now  the  head,  her  husband,  William  Clifford  having  died  in 
1877.  They  settled  on  a  claim  of  114  acres  in  Sycamore  township, 
section  8-31-15,  in  1871,  where  she  now  resides  with  her  son,  John  B.  and 
his  family. 

William  Clifford  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  the  son  of  Thomas  and 
Catherine  (Lawson)  Clifford.  The  names  of  their  nine  other  children 
were:  John,  Sarah,  Betsey,  Charles,  David,  Mary  J.,  Jane  and  Thomas. 

Mrs.  Clifford  comes  from  Westmoreland  county,  Pa.,  where  she 
was  born  November  10,  182(1;  the  daughter  of  Robert  and  Dorothy 
(Decker)  Irwin.  Robert  Irwin  was  the  son  of  Edward,  who  married 
Marth.q  McGatta,  and  reared:  Robert,  Polly,  Jeremiah,  John,  William, 
Henry,  Thomas,  James  and  Margaret.  Of  the  children  of  Robert  Irwin 
and  Dorothy  Decker,  Mrs.  Clifford  was  the  eldest.  Those  younger 
were:  Martha,  John,  Elizabeth,  Margaret,  Sarah,  Moria,  Alexander  and 
Robert. 

On  the  tenth  of  December,  1844,  Mary  A.  Irwin  became  the  wife 
of  William  Clifford.  He  was  a  young  man  of  considerable  prominence, 
having  prior  to  his  marriage  been  a  Captain  of  militia  in  the  "Keystone 
State."  He,  later,  left  that  state  and  became  a  resident  of  Rush  coiinty, 
Ind.,  fro7u  which  point  he,  for  many  years,  operated  in  produce  along 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers.  To  the  marriage  of  Mrs.  Clifford  were 
born:  Thomas  B.,  who  married  Mary  Flack  and  resides  in  Montgomery 
Co.,  Kas. ;  Sarah,  wlio  nmrried  deoige  Sharp  and  lives  in  the  Indian 
Territory  with  her  one  child.  Ralph;  Robert,  now  deceased,  married 
Olive  Bonty  and  left  three  children,  Ida,  Charles  and  Bert;  Charles  has 
one  daughter,  Olive  E.,  and  Benton,  a  son,  Robert  E.;  Gordon,  the  fourth 
child,  has  not  been  heard  from  for  twenty  years;  William  H.,  who 
married  Mary  J.  Hatt,  resides  in  Chautauqua  county,  Kansas,  and  hasj 
two  children — Harold  and  Byron — and  is  an  artist  of  note.  John  P.. 
Clifford  lives  on  the  homestead  with  his  mother.  He  was  born  in 
Westmoreland  county.  Pa.,  June  9,  1S."i5,  and  was  first  married  to 
Mary  Verbryck,  wliose  children  were :  Irwin  T.,  Clayton  H.,  and  Claud. 
His  present  wife  was  Addie,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Scott) 
Kington.  She  is  a  native  of  Illinois  and  her  parents  are  of  Virginia 
and  Ohio,  respectively.  She  is  the  mother  of  J.  Raymond  and  Paul  V. 
Charles  L.  the  seventh  child  of  Mrs.  Clifford  married  Sarah  Jane  Ver- 
bryck, lives  in  Independence  and  has  six  children:  Lela,  Pearl,  Guy, 
Homer,  Walter  and  Glenn;  the  youngest,  Cirrilda  Clifford,  married 
David  Hooper  and  lives  in  Montgomery  Co.  with  her  children :  Myrtle, 
Mable,  Clyde.  Bessie  and  Lee  R. 

Mrs.  Clifford  is  a  woman  of  many  strong  attributes  of  character, 
greatly  beloved  by  her  children,  and  held  in  loving  veneration  by  her 


-726 

friends    and 
.'xhihii    hn-  . 


■    M 

(l.\-I( 

;(iMic 

[;y  cd 

lie 

1-     .1 

lildn 

I'll    :ir 

'r^ 

in   li 

vcs  • 

of  ,,r. 

.1.  A.  UROW  X— Tlie  honorable  and  rcsponsildc  posiiion  of  Mayor 
of  KIk  <'ily  is  Leld  by  one  of  tlie  leadinj:  business  men  .d'  the  town!  J. 
A.  IJrown.  now  serving;  liis  seeond  teini,  and  one  of  I  he  niosl  jiopnlar 
otiieials  ihe  innnieipalily  lias  ever  had.  lie  is  a  man  of  I  he  mosi  earefnl 
business  habiis,  and  insisis  on  condnclin.u  public  business  on  the  same 
lines. 

Mr.  JirownV  native  stale  is  ilial  n(  New  V(nk,  where  lie  was  born, 
in  Erie  eountv,  Aiij^iist  1.  b^47.  lie  was  a  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth 
Brown.  His' father  was  a  native  of  En-land,  while  Ihe  mother  was 
born  in  New  .Jersey.  AVilliam  I'.rown  caiiK'  to  I  his  coiinlry  in  1S41, 
and  settled  in  Erie  Co.,  N.  V..  and  ihen  w<ni  In  Ciccn  Co.,  Wis.,  in 
bSoO,  where  he  has  passed  all  his  active  business  life,  lie  w.is.  for  lout; 
y<-ars,  a  larjie  dealer  in  j^rain,  and  was  also  connected  with  the  bankinj; 
business,  but  is  now  livin};  in  lei  ii-emenl.  Mrs.  Hrown,  his  wife,  died 
tU  the  afi'e  of  sixty-tive  yeais.  in  Monroe.  Wis.  Thev  reared  a  faiiiilv  of 
five  children  as  follows:     .).  A.,  Ellen,  dec'd,  Maria,  Nettie  and  Heniy. 

Our   subject    was   taken    to    Wisconsin    bv   his   jiarents   when    three 

years  of  a},'e.      In    his   childli 1    his   father   followed   farininfi   and   the 

son  «;rew  to  loxc  a  rural  life,  ihoiijrh  liavinj;  jiassed  the  latter  part  of 
his  boyhood  in  lown.  When  he  arrived  at  years  of  maturity  he  began 
fariniii};  for  himself,  and  after  his  letiirn  from  the  war,  continued  in 
that  line,  in  \\isconsin,  until  his  cominj;  to  Kansas,  in  1870.  He  took 
up  a  claim,  first,  in  Howard  county,  cultivated  it  for  several  yeai^s,  and, 
in  IS.sii,  sold  out  and  embarked  in  the  business  he  now  conducts  in 
Elk  Cily.  Bcfjinninj;  oii  a  modest  scale  he  irradually  added  to  his  stock 
and  floor  space  tintil  he  is  now  one  of  the  leadiiij^  merchants  in  the 
city.  He  has  a  handsome  two-story  building',  1(1(1x2.")  and  80x2.t  on  one 
floor.  I>otb  floor  and  basement  are  tilled  w  ith  a  choice  stock  of  general 
merchandise,  and  he  caters  to  a  ver_\   large  liade. 

Mr.  Brown  has  always  been  an  interested  worker  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  city  of  his  adoption  and  has  served  in  nearly  every  office 
of  trust  in  its  gift.  He  was  tirst  elected  Mayor  in  1S!»7,  served  two  years, 
and.  a  year  later,  was  again  elected.     He  lias  held  the  office  since  that 

li lo   ihc  eiilire  satisfaction   of  his  const  it  iients.     Jn  the  social  and 

reli^iious  life  of  Ihe  community  he  and  his  wife  are  potent  factors,  and 
are  leaders  in  every  enterprise  that  promises  to  advance  the  moral  tone 
of  the  peojile.  They  are  both  members  of  the  Christian  church,  in 
which  organization  Mis.  Bi-own  is  a  deaconess  and  consequentlv  a 
leader  in  the  work  of  the  church. 

Ml',  and  Mrs.  ]$rown  were  joined  in  marriage  .laniiary  1,  ISOS.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Kate  Mc\'ean  and  she  was  a  dautrhter  of  I'eter  and 


MRS.  KATE  BROWN,  WIFE  OF  J.  A.   BROWN. 


«•  4<  Ar  C 
»•  1^  ^ 
9^   It    a 


«    «    f 


*    «    H 


•.*.♦. 


11 


MCw 


IIISTOUY  OF   MONTGOMEUY   COUNTY,  KANSAS.  727 

Elizabotli  McVoan  of  Wiscousiu.  Her  mother  resides  at  Uroadliead, 
Wisconsin,  the  father  being  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  are  the 
parents  of  six  children — Libby  B.,  wife  of  J.  W.  Love,  of  Kansas  City, 
with  one  child,  Homer;  liOrena,  who  married  F.  C.  Strawn  and  resides 
in  Alva,  Ok.,  has  one  child,  Jo.scphine:  Nettie  J.,  Mrs.  L.  V.  Coleman,  of 
Poplar  Blntt',  .Missotiii;  Edna  K..  Frankie  and  Henrie  arc  children  still 
at  home. 

Mr.  Brown  is  a  member  of  the  (1.  A.  R.,  earning  his  right  to  belong 
to  that  grand  organization  by  service  on  the  field.  He  was  not  old 
enough  to  enter  the  army  at  the  breaking-ont  of  the  war,  but  as 
soon  as  he  could  "pass  muster"  he  became  a  private  in  Co.  "K,"  16tli 
Wis.  Inf.  His  regiment  arrived  at  the  front  in  time  to  participate  in 
the  Atlanta  campaign.  Its  first  taste  of  battle  was  at  Big  Shanty, 
whence  it  followed  "Uncle  Billy"  to  the  sea,  up  into  the  Carolinas, 
where  it  saw  secession's  banners  lowered,  and  the  stars  and  stripes 
again  floating  over  Ft.  Sumter.  The  hearts  of  its  loyal  members 
welled  with  pride  as  they  participated  in  the  Grand  Review,  the  grandest 
exhibition  of  fighting  men  ever  held;  and  then  home,  to  take  up  the 
thread  of  life  where  it  had  been  snapped  asunder. 


F.  E.  TAYLOR — County  Commissioner  Taylor  came  to  Kansas  and 
settled  in  Montgomery  county  in  1884.  He  emigrated  from  Muncie, 
Indiana,  in  which  state  he  was  born  in  Putnam  Co.,  October  13,  181.5. 
His  parents,  William  and  Catherine  (Tracy)  Taylor,  were  native  Ken- 
tucky people  who  moved  into  Indiana  about  1S4()  and  passed  their  lives 
on  a  farm.  The  father  was  born  in  18()ti  and  died  in  1856  while  the 
mother  was  born  in  1808  and  died  in  1851.  Their  children  were  ten  in 
number  and  were  the  following:  Eliza,  who  married  James  Burris  and 
died  in  Illinois  in  1901  at  seventy-three  years  of  age;  Susanna,  wife  of 
H.  Seward,  died  in  1860  at  twenty-five  years;  Georgianna,  who  married 
Perry  McCombs,  died  in  1869  at  about  twenty-two  years  of  age;  John 
W.,  of  Marshall  Co.,  Kansas;  Amelia,  who  died  very  young;  Mary  A., 
who  also  died  in  childhood;  Elizabeth,  who  became  Mrs.  ,Tohn  Robin- 
son, died  at  twenty-one;  F.  K.,  of  this  review;  Zachariah.  wlio  dii-d 
in  babyhood;  and  Mrs.  Catherine  Baize,  of  Newton,  111. 

The  district  schools  of  Indiana  furnished  the  educational  equij)- 
ment  of  F.  E.  Taylor.  He  accepted  the  occupation  of  his  fathers  and 
became  a  farmer  on  beginning  his  life  work.  In  July,  1862,  he  enlisted 
in  Company  "C,"  Lst  Indiana  Heavy  Artillery,  which  was  assigned  to 
the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  He  served  in  Banks'  Red  River  Expedition 
and  was  with  the  exjiedition  sent  to  the  reduction  of  Forts  Blakely  and 
Spanish  and  the  capture  of  Mobile.  Upon  the  expiration  of  his  enlist- 
ment he  veteranized  and  remained  "in  the  service  till  January,  1866, 
thus  seeing  three  and  one-half  years  of  service   without  casualty   to 


7-8  IIISTOKY    OK    MONTGOMERY    COUNTY,    KANSAS. 

liimself.  Kcsuiiiiiif;  bis  (icciii»atioii  in  civil  lift-  ln'  contiuucd  faiiaini^ 
iu  his  native  state  until  his  departure  for  Kansas.  He  established  him- 
self on  a  new  farm  in  Hutland  towiisliip,  Montgomery  county,  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres.  His  etl'oi-ts  were  rewarded  as  the  years 
passed  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  more  were  added  to  his  domain 
and  this,  and  his  residence  jirojierty  in  Independence  constitute  the 
niaj^or  portion  (if  liis  estate.  His  success  indicates  that  he  has  taken  a 
lively  and  active  interest  in  Kansas  a.uricultnre  and  wiicii  lie  retired 
from  the  farm  in  l!t(IO  it  was  in  response  to  a  wish  lo  rclic\c  liiinsclf 
and  wife  of  the  work  and  responsibility  of  the  farm. 

Xov.  17,  18G7,  Mr.  Taylor  married  .Malinda  J.  Smith,  a  (huighter 
of  Jonas  and  Kosanna  (Coopen  Smith,  both  deceased.  Five  children 
are  the  issue  of  this  niarriatic.  namfi_\  :  William  I!,  .of  Indcjiendence, 
ouci'  a  mercliani,  and  an  ex-teaclicr  of  llic  countv,  married  to  Dessie 
Alkiiisoii  and  has  cliildrcii:  I'ansie  and  .jewel:  Alary  K..  wife  of  J. 
1\.  Moore,  wiio  r<'sidcs  on  a  farm  near  Tvro.  lias  cliildicii.  liennie, 
Emmett.  Harry  and  Knbie  F.;  .Jonas  K.,  sinj^le  and  a  fannci-;  Aar.ui  C, 
also  a  farmer  and  unmarried,  and  .Mary  I\..  who  died  ai  iliicc  \i-ars. 
The  j.areuts  and  children  are  membeis  of  the  Christian  chinch. 

•  lonas  Smith  and  wife,  natives  respectively  of  Tennessee  and  South 
< 'aioliiia.eacliacconi])anied  his  jiareiits  to  Martin  Co.,  Ind.,  at  an  early  pe- 
riod and  were  married  in  that  <  imnty.  They  owned  and  operated  a  farm 
all  their  lives,  -lonas  Siuiih  died  in  IsTT.  a.i;ed  7s  y,-ais.  His  wife  died 
in  18r,().  ai^ed  4.-,  y.-ars.  The  names  of  iheir  children  are:  Benj.  F., 
Amelia,  Susannah,  -lolin.  decM:  .Malinda,  Casandei',  Amanda,  and  Docia. 
All  excejii  .lohn  lived  to  be  well  up  in  years.  Grandfather  Cooper  lived 
to  be  !is  years  old  and  Grandfather  Smith  was  87  years  old  at  the 
time  of  his  death. 

Mr.  Taylor  holds  a  membership  in  the  subordinate  and  encamp- 
ment of  Odd  Fellows,  in  the  Grand  .Vrmy  and  in  the  Eepublican 
]iarty.  He  was  elected  County  Commissioner  from  the  2nd  district  in 
1S!I7.  was  reclecie.l  in  liidO.  and  will  have  served  six  years  on  the 
board  when  his  term  expires  in  .lanuaiy.  1!MI4. 


WILLIA.M  .\ISTIN— The  younj-er  element  of  the  old  settlers  of 
Montgomery  county  is  worthily  represented  in  the  person  of  William 
Austin,  of  this  brief  sketch.  He  has  resided  in  the  county  since  1872, 
whicdi  year  his  ])arents  established  the  family  <me  mile  west  and  four 
miles  north  of  Cherryvale.  Mr.  .\ustin  was  born  in  Knox  count.v, 
Illinois,  .laiinaiy  22.  isiit.  .\bel  .\nsiin  was  his  father  and  his  mother 
Saiah  T.  Scott,  the  former  a  native  of  Ohio  and  the  latter  of  Hlinois. 
I'^irming  was  the  life  occniiation  of  .\liel  Austin  and  he  died  at  forty 
years  of  age  in  187r..  The  mother  returned  to  Hlinois  with  her  large 
family  on  the  eve  of  this  misfortune,  where  she  remained  till  her  sons 


iports  the  policies  of  i! 

■■]•■■>■:   und   Iirnlihful    1 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  73  I 

later,  went  into  a  drug  stoi-e  in  Warsaw.  In  1882,  he  came  to  Kansas 
and  enfiajicd  in  tlie  drng  bnsiness  at  Altaniont,  but  he  sold  out  later  on 
and  was  aiii)oinled  |)osl master  of  lliat  lit.v,  under  President  Cleveland. 
On  retiring  from  ottice  lie  becanie  a  tiaveling  salesman  for  a  drug  house. 
Following  tills,  he  elerked  four  and  onehalf  years  in  a  drug  store  in 
Cherryvale,  and  in  May  of  ]!t02,  wenl  into  bnsiness  for  himself  there. 
He  is  an  efflicient  and  safe  ]>rescii|)tion  clerk  and  holds  a  druggist's 
diploma  from  the  Kansas  State  r.(»ard  of  I'harnuicy. 

In  1878.  Mr.  Houghton  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Minerva  A., 
daughter  of  Tallman  ami  Hachei  i Warren)  Hlue.  Her  father  was  a 
native  of  Oliio  and  a  tanner  by  trade.  He,  later,  moved  over  into  Kos- 
ciusko county,  Ind.,  when-  he  died.  Mrs.  Houghton  is  the  eldest  of  three 
children,  the  others,  Kosella  and  .John,  being  deceased.  Her  father  was 
married  a  second  time,  Nellie,  a  minister's  wife,  being  the  child  of  this' 
marriage.  She  resides  in  Pennsylvania.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Houghton 
have  been  born  seven  children:  .Muriel  E.,  clerk  in  the  store;  diaries' 
F.,  who  works  in  the  pivss  brick  dejiartment  of  the  vitrified  brick  com- 
pany; Grace  E.,  Lee  II.,  Pearl  K.,  William  and  Howard  I). 

In  a  social  way  Mr.  Houghton  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order  and 
of  the  A.  O.  T'.  W.,  and  in  ])olitics  su[)|)orts  the  |)olicies  of  the  Democi'atic 
party.  His  citizenshi|i  is  of  tiiat  clean  and  healthful  variety  which 
secures  the  resjiect  ami  esteem  of  all. 


GEOKtiE  ELLIOT  COX  is  one  of  the  large  land  owners  of  Mont- 
gomery county,  being  in  control,  at  the  present  time,  of  a  domain  of 
eleven  hundred  and  fifteen  acies.  He  has  been  a  resident  of  the  county 
since  18(^1!),  in  which  year  he  settled  with  his  parents  in  Louisbuig  town- 
ship, where  his  father  jjurchased  a  large  body  of  land,  ujion  a  part  of 
which  this  son  now  resides,  ^\'illianl  Henry  Cox,  father  of  George  E., 
was  an  Ohioan  by  birth,  born  .Ian.  '27.  1821,  a  son  of  William  Cox,  who 
locate('  in  Bartholomew  county,  Indiana,  the  year  of  Henry  Cox's  birth. 
Here  William  Cox  continned  to  reside  until  his  removal  to  Johnson  Co., 
in  1841),  where  he  died  twenty  years  later.  His  wife  died  in  18:!4.  at  the 
age  of  thirty-sexcn  years. 

Wni.  Henry  Cox,  in  1S.">4,  married  Xamy  Cidlett.  a  native  of  .Johnson 
count^.  Ind..  and  a  daughter  of  .lames  Collett.  Prior  to  this,  he  married 
histirst  wife.  Levena  Elliott,  whose  three  children  were:  Elizabeth,  widow 
of  F.  M.  Coleman,  of  Elk  City,  and  IJenjamin  and  Emma,  deceased.  By 
his  second  nnirriage  were  born:  -James  M.,  who  married  Clara  Blair 
and  now  resides  at  Oak  Valley,  with  children:  Ethel,  Gladys.  Bernice, 
Herman,  Victor.  Alberta  and  James;  George  E.,  the  esteemed  subject 
of  this  review;  John  L.,  who  married  Laura  L.  Little,  and  resides  at 
Crane.  Kansas,  with  children:  Essie,  Hazel  and  Herbert;  Albert  T.,  who 
married  Ella  Jones  and  resides  in  Indei)endence,  being  editor  of  the 


--2  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

••Star  and  Kaiisan;"  their  four  cliildreii  arc:  Autlra,  Karl,  Paul  aud 
Ivannie;  Ira,  who  married  Gertie  Myers  and  resides  in  Anadarko,  Okla- 
homa, where  he  is  cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank.  Their  two  chil- 
dren are:  Burnell  and  Maxiue;  Annie  May  is  the  wife  of  Ka.v  Dirst,  and  re- 
sides at  Independence,  Kansas;  Chester  C,  who  married  Lillie  May  Har- 
mon of  Elk  City;  their  two  children  being:  Orlis  and  Nannie;  Silvia 
Gertrude  married  William  Johnson  and  resides  in  Columbia,  ^lissouri, 
with  one  child,  Lorin.  The  parents  of  this  family  continued  to  reside 
on  the  old  homestead  for  many  years,  but  luive  siven  up  the  active  life 
of  the  farm  and  are  now  residents  of  Elk  City. 

The  Collett  connections  are  Keutuckians.  and  grandfather  Samuel 
Collett  and  Elizabeth  Whiteacre.  his  wife,  liavini;  been  early  settlers 
in  the  "Blue  Grass  State." 

James  Collett  settled  on  a  claim  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  near 
Indianapolis,  and  became  a  man  of  much  prominence  in  that  portion  of 
the  state,  where  he  ^rev.-  quite  wealthy.  His  estate,  at  his  death, 
Mving  been  rated  at  $60,0(10.    Th.-  Colbtls  ar.'  of  Kn,iilish  descent. 

George  E.  Cox  was  born  in  .lolmson  county.  Indiana,  in  the  year 
1862,  and  there  he  took  his  first  stejis  toward  an  education.  He  con- 
tinued it  in  the  district  school  of  his  lionie  neighborhood — after  his  par- 
ents removed  to  Montgomery  county  and  lias  been  a  resident  of  the  old 
homestead  since,  with  the  excption  of  three  years  sjii-nt  on  a  farm,  a  mile 
northw.'sl  of  Klk  City,  when  he  Haded  for  the  old  linioe  place  of  two 
bundled  arres.  In  ISill.  he  bon-lii  of  his  fallier  three  iinndred  and  eight 
acres  ;i(ljoining  him;  in  1Sll."i,  he  |iurcliased  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
acres  adjoining  this;  in  ItMil.  he  added  one  hundred  and  f(mrteen  acres 
more  and  in  litOl',  ]niirhased  of  his  brother,  I.  E.  Cox.  thirty-six  acres  on 
Elk  river,  eight  miles  from  his  home  i)lac.'.  As  stated,  he  is  one  of  the 
most  extensive  farmers  in  the  county,  and  the  nianiiei-  in  which  he  con- 
ducts his  large  interests  clearly  marks  him  as  one  of  ihe  most  progres- 
sive and  efficient  members  of  the  agricultural  class. 

On  the  first  of  July,  is,sr>.  Mi-.  Cox  took  unto  himself  a  wife  in  the 
person  of  Fannie  Allen,  dauj^hter  of  I'inkuey  and  Maitha  Jane  (Free- 
man) McDowell.  Airs.  Cox  is  on<'  of  four  children;  James  Alexander,  a 
farmer,  of  Liuiisburs  townshiji.  elsewhere  reviewed  in  this  volume;  Mary 
Susan  and  William  Thomas,  deceased,  and  Mrs.  Cox,  the  youngest.  The 
mother  of  this  family  is  now  an  inmate  of  the  hiuiie  of  .lames  .McDowell. 
To  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cox  five  children  ha\c  been  born,  viz.: 
Claude  L..  born  October  IH,  1886;  (Jrace  Inez,,  born  i>.ceinber  1:2,  1S8T; 
AX'illiam  .\llen,  born  Sejrfember  .5.  188!);  Cecil  .May,  liorn  November  24, 
fsiCt,  an.l  .\nna  Fay<-,  born  October  4.  1S!I4. 

Mr.  Cox  is  i-egarded  as  one  of  the  [.romimnl  sjiirits  of  Louisburg 
townshi])  and  indeed  of  the  whole  county.  He  gives  a  large  part  of  his 
attention  necessarily  to  his  extensive  landed  interests,  liut  finds  time  to 
take  a  good  citizen's  part  in  the  administration  of  affairs  in  bis  conr 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  735 

Stovall,  of  (Jiitlirif,  Ok.  Ty. ;  Minnie  X.,  wife  of  F.  (i.  Wilson,  of  Inde- 
pendence; Miles  <)..  decciiscd,  in  liKIl',  at  twcnl  v-tliice  vcars;  Enicison 
W.,  a  brieklayw,  of  Okla.  Cil.v;  .Icnnic,  sinj^lc,  and  l>ais.v,  who  died  in 
infancy. 

F.  U.  Bi-ewstei'  is  a  native  of  Tuscarawas  county,  Oliio,  where  he 
was  boi'n  April  18,  1868.  He  came  with  the  family  to  Kansas,  and, 
after  securing  a  p;ood  common  school  education  learned  the  bricklaying 
trade  with  his  father.  He  was  his  father's  rijiht-hand  man  until  1891, 
when  he  besan  contracting  for  himself.  The  Haden  warehouse  in  Inde- 
})endence  was  his  first  contract,  and  his  success  in  this  inslance  has  been 
dnjilicrited  many  times.  Some  of  his  larger  contracts  are:  several  school 
houses,  the  Masonic  Temple,  Carl-Leon  Hotel,  and  the  Hollingsworth 
residence.  The  secret  of  his  success  is  possibly  in  the  fact  that  his  word 
is  as  good  as  his  bond,  and  when  he  enters  into  a  contract  to  jierform  cer- 
tain work,  the  specifications  will  be  followed  to  the  letter. 

Mr.  Brewster  and  his  family  are  active  members  of  the  M.  Iv  cliurch, 
while  he  affiliates  with  the  Masons  (Blue  Lodge,  Chapter  and  Comman- 
dery),  and  the  A.  O.  U.  W.     He  votes  the  Rei)ublican  ticket. 

Mrs.  Brewster  was  Miss  Mattie  Fla<k  jjrior  to  March  .30.  1802,  the 
date  of  their  marriage.  She  is  a  native  of  lndiaii;i.  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Nancy  Flack,  deceased.  Two  ( liijdren  liave  been  born  to  hi-r,  Ivan 
pjlsie  and  James  Russell. 


MILTON  DAVIS— The  family  of  which  Milton  Davis,  a  worthy  rep- 
resentative of  the  agricultural  class  in  <"lierokee  township,  is  a  member, 
originated  in  Wales.  In  the  ye.ir  Ki.'iO,  lour  brothers  crossed  the  ocean 
and  cast  their  future  with  the  i)eo]ile  who  had  fonnded  the  colony  of 
Maryland.  From  this  family  quartette  sprung  the  foiffatheis  of  our  sub- 
ject and  thus  the  head  of  the  family  represented  by  the  subject  of  this 
review.  From  Maryland  to  North  Carolina  their  posterity  spread  and 
our  National  history  is  tilled  with  the  names  of  ])atiiots  and  statesmen 
who  have  added  renown  to  the  already  brilliant  achievements  of  our  re- 
])ublic.  Captain  Isaac  Davis,  who  fought  valiiuitly  for  oiir  freedom  from 
British  rule,  was  a  descendant  of  this  and  a  grand  amrstor  of  our  snb- 
ject. 

ALlton  Davis  was  born  in  Terry  County,  Illinois,  Decembei-  114.  1S40. 
His  father  was  Joel  Davis,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  born  March  2mi.  1818. 
His  mother  was  Millie  Robertson,  a  native  of  the  same  stale.  b(Uii  March 
18,  1820.  The  nuirriage  ceremony  was  ()erformed  in  \\'ashington  Co., 
111.  The  paternal  grandparents  of  our  subject  removed,  in  LS22,  to  Illi- 
nois, where  Joel  Davis  was  reared  to  nuinhood  on  the  farm  and  resided 
until  1870,  when  he  came  to  Montgomery  county,  and  settled  in  Chero- 
kee township,  five  miles  east  of  Coffeyville.  There  he  died  August  5th, 
1892,  aged  seventy-four  years.     His   wife  died    in   June,  1890,   at   the 


age  of  scvciilv  years.  Kh-vrii  iliildtni  cmni.os.-d  ili.-  famil.v.  I'mii-  of 
whom  died  in  iiifaiicv.  Xi'wtoii  dii'd  at  thirl  \ -one  and  there  aie  now 
six  liviuj;:  Frank  M.,  William.  Joel,  Cliailes.  .Millon  and  .'\Iis.  Saiali 
Ci-aliam. 

Mr.  Davis  seemed  a  disiiiet  school  i-duration  and  was  still  at  home 
when  tile  call  was  made  for  ti-oo]is  To  pnt  down  The  rebellion.  In  the 
early  part  of  1S(;2,  he  enrolled  as  a  jnivate  in  Company  "A,"  101st. 
111.  Xo].  Inf.,  and  sei\-ed  his  connliy  to  the  close  of  the  strnggle.  He 
was  with  •■Incle  I'.illy"  Sherman  at  \'i(d<sbnro-.  accompanied  liim  across 
to  ("h.itlasooga.  to  .Vtlania  and  to  the  sea.  np  through  the  Carolinas  and 
to  the  (Irand  Review  of  the  l)attle-scai'red  veterans  at  tlie  Nation's 
<'aj)itol.  During  these  years  of  jieril,  he  had  many  narrow  escapes,  but 
returm-d  in  comiiai'atively  vigorous  health,  and  with  no  serious  wounds. 
He  was  struck  seveial  times  by  spent  balls  and  i)ieces  of  shell,  but  never 
lost  a  day  by  reason  of  his  wounds.  He  was  discharged  on  the  22u(\  of 
Jene,  18<i.'.,  iit  Springtield.  III. 

Mr.  Davis  i-emained  in  Illinois  engaged  in  farming  until  ISTl,  the 
date  of  his  settling  in  Cherokee  to\vnshi]i,  Jfontgomery  county.  He  re- 
sided thei-e  f(tr  three  yeais  and  then  bought  IfiO  acres  of  the  land  on 
which  he  now  I'esides.  He  has  i-edeenuHl  this  land  from  its  wild  state 
and  has  it  in  a  high  slate  of  cultivation.  To  The  original  quarter,  he  has 
added  another,  tlie  farm  now  comprising  .'IlMl  acres.  He  is  engaged  ex- 
tensively in  the  raising  of  cattle  and  hogs. 

Duiing  his  residence  in  the  county.  Mr.  Davis  has  taken  an  active 
and  heljiful  ])art  in  building  up  the  institutions  of  society  which  makes 
Montgomery  county  a  desirable  j)lace  of  residence.  Four  terms  has  he 
seiNcd  as  inislee  .if  his  townshi]i  and  he  has  acted  as  treasurer,  also, 
for  a  iiumbei-  of  terms.  Frateinally.  he  atliliates  with  the  Masonic  lodge 
at  Cotfeyville,  and  is  also  a  member  of  the  ("oiumandery  at  Tndej.end- 
ence.  His  vole  is  alwavs  counted  in  support  of  Th("  ]irin<-iiiles  of 
Democracv. 

November  .-.rd,  ISCI,  was  a  day  to  b.-  remembered  in  the  lives  of 
our  subject  and  his  wife,  for,  on  that  day.  the  latter  changed  her  maiden 
name  oif  KlizabeTh  Kobinson  to  that  ofDavis.  She  was  born  in  White 
c(mnl.\.  HI.,  on  Sepl(>mber  I:.*,  l!S4."(.  Her  father  was  George  Robinson, 
her  mother,  F.lizabeih  ( Iverfield,  both  natives  of  Virginia.  To  the 
marriage  of  .\lr.  and  Mrs.  Davis,  five  children  have  been  born:  Charles 
E.,  a  farmer  of  iliis  township:  l^eidella.  wife  of  IT.  .\.  Brown,  a  farmer 
of  tlie  lowuslii|i:  Kichai-d.  who  lives  at  ( 'offewille;  Nellie.  Mrs.  O.  A. 
Creen  of  Irnhpendence,  and  .Mvrtle.  Mrs.  FIbert  Drvden  of  Ft.  WoT-fh, 
Texas. 


W  II.I.IA.M  L.  F.OLTDX— February  IL'.  Isci',  William  L.  Bolton  was 
liorn  ill  ('edar  county,    Iowa.      He  was  twelve   vears  of  age  when   he  ac- 


UlSTOttY  OF   MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,   KANSAS.  737 

rompaiii.'d  liis  parents  from  his  native  state  into  Kansas  and  liccaine  a 
citizen  of  Butler  Co.,  later  of  Montfionier.v  rounly.  Here  lie  came  to 
maturity  and  was  educated  and  has  achieved  his  inalcrial  success.  He 
is  recofinized  as  one  of  the  men  of  promise  in  the  :i},Micultural  and  graz- 
in<j  world  of  Cherry  townshiii  and  is  pursuinj;  his  calling  with  a  modesty 
and  frankness  becoming  the  man. 

Mr.  Holton  is  a  son  of  James  Bolton,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  of 
Elsie  Thorn,  also  of  that  state.  In  1854,  the  jtarents  moved  ont  to  Iowa 
and  passed  many  years  in  Cedar  county.  They  also  resided  in  the  State 
of  Missouri  a  short  time  and,  some  years  later,  resided  in  Butler  county, 
Kansas.  They  finally  came  to  Montgomery  county  where  the  father  yet 
lives  and  where  the  mother  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  Six 
children  were  the  issue  of  their  marriage,  viz:  Mary,  Nancy,  Ellen, 
William  L.  and  James;  Nancy  and  William  L.  being  the  sole  survivors 
of  the  issue.     One  child  died  in  infancy. 

The  country  schools  of  Kansas  supplied  William  L.  Bolton  with  a 
fair  education  and  equipped  him  to  cope  successfully  with  his  fellow- 
man.  He  was  married  in  November,  1885,  his  wife  being  Emeline  Estes, 
a  daughter  of  Edniond  Estes,  and  widow  of  E.  S.  Estes  from  North  Caro- 
lina, ilrs.  Bolton  came  to  Kansas  with  her  first  husband  in  1883,  and 
located  on  Drum  creek,  five  miles  northwest  of  Cherryvale.  Their 
energy  and  iTidustry  ini])roved  this  farm,  brought  it  to  a  high  state  of 
cultivati(m  and  made  it  one  of  the  splendid  estates  in  the  Drum  creek 
valley.  Since  his  marriage,  Mr.  Bolton  has  assumed  diarge  of  the  affairs 
of  this  farm  and  its  cultivation  and  Tuanagement,  together  with  that 
of  his  own  farm  adjoining,  consumes  his  time  and  gives  him  ample  lati- 
tude to  demonstrate  his  prowess  in  the  battle  of  life.  The  homestead 
and  its  adjunct  comprise  a  tract  of  three  hundred  and  four  acres  and 
constitutes  one  of  the  best  wheat  and  stock  farms  in  Cherry  township. 
A  new  residence  has  sprung  up  and  other  substantial  improvements 
mark  the  progress  of  its  dual  and  worthy  owners. 

Mr.  and  5Irs.  Bolton's  marriage  is  without  issue.  They  are  hospi- 
table and  happy  in  their  home  life  and  are  without  ambition  beyond  good 
citizenship  and  a  fair  remuneration  f(H'  theii'  hones!  etl'oits.  Mr.  Bol- 
ton sui)ports  the  cause  of  K.-publicanism  at  the  polls  and  does  this  bit 
of  jiolitical  woi-k  from  i»urely  i>atriotic  motives. 


F.  W.  C.VKLIXCHorSE— It  is  said  that  a  man's  <  haracter  is  much 
affected  by  the  work  in  which  he  engages — that  the  mason's  frequent 
use  of  the  plumb  line,  the  carpenter's  use  of  his  sq\iare,  the  farmer's 
efforts  to  run  the  plow  in  a  straight  line  across  his  field — that  all  these 
exert  an  unconscious  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  individual.  If 
this  be  true,  it  accounts,  in  some  measure,  at  least,  for  the  upright  char- 
acter of  the  gentleman  above  mentioned.    Mr.    Garlinghouse  is  a  worker 


738  HISTORY   OF    MONXGOMERY   COUNTY^  KANSAS. 

in  marble,  and  the  reputation  which  he  sustains  In  his  home  town  of  In- 
dependence would  seem  to  indicate  that  there  is  something  in  the  above 
theory — he  Is  as  clear  cut  and  upright  as  the  shafts  which  show  his 
handiwork. 

Mr.  Garlinghous  is  following  the  trade  of  his  father,  (leorge  C.  Gar- 
linghouse,  now  a  resident  of  Oklahoma,  but  for  a  number  of  .years  in 
business  in  Montgomery  county.  He  and  his  wife,  nee  Helen  Salisbury, 
removed  to  Montgomery  county  from  McDonough  Co.,  111.,  with  their 
family  of  five  children.  They  resided  in  the  county  until  1894,  when  the 
parents  removed  to  Oklahoma.  The  names  of  the  children  are:  Eva 
E.,  now  Mrs.  C.  Gibson,  of  Cbanute,  Kas.;  F.  W.  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Opal,  Mrs.  P.  E.  Voyles,  of  Independence;  Clyde,  at  home  with 
his  i)arents;  Avis,  of  Independence. 

P.  W.  Garllnghouse  was  born  in  McDonough  county,  111.,  November 
16,  1SG7,  and  came  to  Kansas  with  the  family.  He  was  given  a  goo3 
education  in  the  common  schools,  after  which  he  learned  the  trade  of 
marble-cutter  under  the  watchful  and  experienced  eye  of  his  father.  In 
1891,  he  began  business  for  himself  in  Caney,  with  his  father  as  a  part- 
ner. The  firm  continued  three  years,  when  F.  W.,  bought  his  father's 
interest,  the  latter  having  determined  to  go  to  Oklahoma.  In  189.5,  Mr. 
Garlinghouse  moved  his  business  to  Independence  and  purchased  the 
marble  yard  of  ^Vnl.  Dawson,  where  he  has  since  been  engaged  success- 
fully. An  evidence  of  the  satisfactory  character  of  his  work  is  in  the 
fact  that  although  he  covers  a  large  field,  no  coniiiclitor  has  been  able  to 
establish  himself  here. 

The  married  state  was  entered  into  by  Mr.  Garlinghouse  in  Fort 
Sco+t,  Kansas,  the  date  being  October  .'{0,  1900,  the  contracting  party 
being  Flora  J.  Atkins,  daughter  of  William  Atkins,  the  whole  family 
natives  of  New  York  state,  where  the  father  still  resides,  the  mother 
being  deceased.  Two  childrn  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Garling- 
house: Donnle  F.,  and  Freddie  J.  Mrs.  Garlinghouse  is  a  lady  whose 
influence  for  good  is  felt  in  M.  E.  church  circles,  she  being  an  active  mem- 
ber of  that  organization.  Mr.  Garlinghouse  affiliates  with  the  Modern 
TN'ooduien  and  the  Kiiiglils  of  I'vthias.  and  is  Republican  in  jmlitical 
belief. 


ing  work.  Mr.  Wise  is 
:!(i,  isct;.  His  parents, 
me  state.  In  18«7,  the 
I'l-  to  ("herryvale  where 
the  niotluM'  died  in  1S77,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven  years.  She  was  a 
devout  member  of  the  M.  K.  church.  Tlie  father,  now  resides  in  Mound 
Valh'y,  Kansa.s,  where  his  two  oldest  sons  are  in  business. 


J.   F.    WISE— Wise  .^   Sinnel    are   1 

leadil 

Cherryvale,  also  large  jobbers  in  tin  an 

li  l>lll 

a  native  ()f  Illinois,  born  in  Cicen  conm 

Iv,  .\ 

W.  J.  and   Susan   Wis<-,   wei-e  natives  (i 

if    the 

family  removed  to  Ottawa,   Kan.,  and   ( 

•anie 

I  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  739 

Afr.  Wise,  Sr.,  rcsiMiiidcd  to  llu-  call  of  his  counlrv  in  the  days  of  the 
Bebellion,  becouiiufr  a  ineinber  of  Company  "<t."  59th.  111.,  Vol.  Inft.,  in 
which  he  served  faithfully  for  the  entire  period  of  the  war.  During  his 
early  residence  in  Montgomery,  he  lived  on  Cherry  creek,  one  and  one- 
half  niiles  north  of  Cherryvale,  and  then  moved  to  the  city  in  1873. 

J.  F.  Wise,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  the  third  of  four  children. 
L.  H.,  the  eldest,  and  J.  A.,  the  next  younger,  live  at  Mound  Valley  and 
are  partners  in  business  there.  The  youngest,  (I.  E.,  being  in  their 
employ.  J.  P.,  was  born  in  Illinois,  but  reared  and  educated  in  Kansas. 
At  eighteen,  he  began  his  active  business  career  as  a  clerk  in  the  drug 
store  of  Richart  &  Hockett,  of  this  city.  Thence  to  Mound  Valley,  where 
he  passed  seven  years  in  the  employ  of  F.  P.  Dicus  &  Co.  In  1895,  he 
entered  the  hardware  business  for  himself  at  Mound  Valley  and  there 
gained  valuable  experience  in  the  conduct  of  such  a  business.  Three 
years  later  he  came  to  Cherryvale  and  bought  a  half  interest  in  the  Cash 
Hardware  Company.  The  tirm  has  one  of  the  best  locations  in  the  town 
and  carries  everything  in  the  line  of  heavy  and  light  hardware,  also 
plumbing  and  gas  fixture  su]iplies.  Though  absent  for  a  considerable 
period,  Mr.  Wise  is  really  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  of  this  locality,  as  he 
came  here  at  six  or  seven  years  of  age,  and  thus  might  be  called  a  product 
of  Cherryvale.  He  is  a  keen  business  man  and  the  city  may  well  be 
proud  to  claim  him  as  a  citizen.  He  has  served  one  term  as  a  member 
of  the  comnioii  council  of  the  city  and  held  the  same  office  for  a  like 
period  in  Mound  Valley. 

In  1890,  Mr.  Wise  was  hajijiily  joined  in  marriage  to  Ida  P.  Hill  in 
Mound  Valley.  Mrs.  Wise  is  a  native  of  Missouri,  the  daughter  of 
Thomas  Hill,  of  Audrain  county,  that  state.  Hhe  was  for  four  years 
connected  with  the  firm  of  F.  P.  Dicus  &  Co.,  in  Mound  Valley,  a  portion 
of  which  time  Mr.  Wise  served  the  same  fii'm.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wise 
have  been  born  three  chihden:  I'aul  E..  Abbie  Dicus,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  four,  and  Ralph  J.  Both  parents  are  members  of  the  Presby- 
terian church,  of  which  Mr.  Wise  is  a  deacon  and  at  one  time  ruling  elder 
of  the  Mound  Valley  church.  He  is  a  member  of  the  K.  and  L.  of 
Security,  being  treasurer  of  the  same.  He  is  treasui-er  of  the  Aetna 
Building  and  Loan  Association  of  Topeka,  and  is  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  Cherryvale.  In  political  belief  he  ascribes  to  the  principles  of 
the  party  of  Lincoln  and  McKinley. 

Mr.  Wise's  brother  went  to  Mound  Valley  in  18M4.  forming  the  part- 
nership of  F.  P.  Dicus  &  Co.  The  firm  name  is  now  Wise  Bros.,  they 
having  purchased  the  interests  of  the  Dicus  Bros,  in  the  year  1900.  These 
gentlemen  are  well  and  favorably  known  in  their  county,  having  been 
in  business  since  1884,  at  Mound  Valley.  Mr.  J.  A.  Wise  has  been 
mayor  of  the  city  and  held  other  ])ublic  offices  of  trust.  L.  H.  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  council  and  treasurer  of  the  school  board,  also  an  active 


"40  IIISTOKY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

worker,  and  elder  in  the  I'resbyterian  cluircb.     .].  A.  has  two  children 
and  L.  H.  has  three. 

Mrs.  J.  F.  Wise  came  to  Mduiid  Vtilley  in  1883,  to  assist  in  the 
Office  work  of  F.  P.  Dicus  &  Co..  being  a  niece  of  the  Dicus  Bros.,  and 
afterward  l)ecanie  one  of  the  principal  salesladies  of  the  dry  goods  de- 
partment, giving  universal  satisfaction  to  the  firm  and  general  pnblic 
and  counting  her  friends  by  the  score. 


JOHN  FADLEli— In  the  subject  of  this  brief  article  is  presented 
one  of  the  more  recent  settlers  whose  identity  with  Montgomery  county 
matters,  dates  from  1882,  when  he  became  the  owner,  by  jjurchase,  of  a 
body  of  land  in  .sections  U  and  12,  township  33,  range  15,  upon  which 
he  has  since  made  his  home.  He  is  one  of  the  progressive  farmers 
of  Independence  township,  has  prospered  in  keeping  with  his  efforts  and 
has  become  one  of  the  substantial  men  of  the  agricultural  class.  He  has 
erected  a  modern  residence,  barn  and  other  improvements  necessary  for 
the  symmetrical  and  well-balanced  development  of  his  estate  and  is  the 
owner  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-seven  acres  of  land  in  the  county. 

John  Fadler  was  born  in  Perry  Co.,  Mo.,  March  5,  1849.  His  father, 
Adam  Fadler,  settled  In  that  locality  as  a  young  German,  fresh  from 
his  native  land  and  was  identified  with  it  as  a  successful  farmer  till  his 
death  March  1,  lS!tO,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five.  Adam  Fadler  left  Ger- 
many in  c()ni[>any  with  a  brother  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  and  what 
little  personal  etfecls  he  possessed,  were  lost  by  the  burning  of  their  ship 
at  sea.  Day  labor  was  the  (channel  through  wliich  he  acquired  his  first 
capital,  and  this  he  invested  wisely  in  real  estate  as  the  occasion  otTered. 
He  married  Easter  Meyers,  and  tlie  two  ])ut  forth  the  toil  and  the  exe- 
cutive ability  in  the  accumulatiDu  of  a  valuable  estate.  Mrs.  Fadler 
died  in  1861,  and  two  of  her  children,  only,  grew  to  maturity,  viz:  John 
and  Solomon.  The  father  of  these  sons  was  one  of  the  leading  citizens 
of  his  community.  While  he  deemed  his  ])rovince  to  be  a  laborer  in  the 
field  and  employing  liim.self  with  liis  own  alfairs,  he  gave  patriotic  atten- 
tion to  his  duty  as  a  citizen.  He  allied  himself  with  the  Republican 
party  in  jyolitics  and  was  an  active  member  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

Mr.  Fadler.  of  this  record,  came  to  maturity  on  his  father's  farm.  At 
about  eighteen,  he  sinrted  in  life  as  a  hand,  working  for  wages.  He  was 
in  the  lead  mines  in  SI.  I<'i-aiices  Co..  and  in  the  coal  mines  of  the  locality, 
and  for  several  years  s\h-u{  his  wages  as  he  got  them.  His  marriage 
induced  a  sjiirit  of  cconomv,  and  from  lS7(i  till  ISSII.  his  profits  as  a  miner 
were  carefullv  guai(b'd.  The  jtroceeds  of  six  years  labor  he  brought 
with  him  to  Kansa.s  and  Ihey  formed  the  nucleus  aboul  which  later  ac- 
cumulations have  centered. 

December  12,  lK7(i,  Mr.  Fadler  iiiarri.Ml  Mag-ie  ('.  CoiiKle.  a 
daughter  of  Uenben  and   I'llizahelh   iCIine)  Conkle,  formerly  from   ATle- 


<'  4  « 


eft- 

r  c  e 


Dicus  Bros.,  and 


DLEK— In  the  subject 
(•  recent  settlors  wlio.- c  i 
iroiu  1882,  when  In 
!  secti<;ns  11  and  i 


ha^e,  of  a 
i'on  which 


M    Inraiity  ; 
iiifii-d  with 


in  real  estate  as  i 
.  (^^•A  pnt  forth  t! 


Mr.  Fadh 

(.•HI     ciijlltetH!. 

;id  mine 

,  hi  S:.  Lra,hus  < 

several 

veans  sjx^nt  his 

,  -M.::!: 

(,i  :  i-iii.Miiv,  and  tV 

'he  proc.A'ii 

y  fdrnied  t 

i'J,,  iH7t>,    Mr.    FadUn' 

ibcn  and  Kli/.abeth  (<'l 

■  I'T  in  the 
iotic  atteu- 

';.'  pnhli.'mn 


JOHN   FADLER. 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS.  743 

JAMES  HELMS— Juue  3,  1833,  the  subject  of  this  notice  was  born 
in  Clinton  county,  Indiana,  and  in  infancy,  his  parents  removed  to  Iro- 
quois Co.,  111.  On  coming  of  age,  he  returned  to  Indiana  and  purchased  a 
small  farm  in  Newton  Co.,  where  his  efforts  were  concentrated  till  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  war. 

November  15,  1861,  he  joined  Co.  "B,"  51st  Ind.  Vol.  Inf..  Col. 
Able  D.  Strai<,'hfs  resiment.  belonging  to  the  4th  Army  Corps.  From 
its  rendezvous  at  Indianapolis,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  where  subject  was  taken  sick  and  sent  to  Bardstowu,  Ky., 
and  placed  in  the  hospital.  In  three  months  he  was  able  again  for  travel 
and  he  was  ordered  to  Mnmfordsville,  where  he  convalesced,  rejoning  his 
regiment  in  Alabama  after  the  tight  at  Corinth.  Mississippi.  He  jiartici- 
pated  in  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro  and  accompanied  four  regiments 
down  through  Georgia  to  Day's  Gap,  on  Crooked  creek,  where  their 
ammunition  gave  out  and  the  whole  command  was  taken  in  and  sent  to 
Rome,  Georgia,  as  i)risoners  of  war.  They  were  removed,  later,  to 
Atlanta,  and  finally  to  Richmond,  and  placed  on  Bell  Island,  where  they 
were  exchanged  seventeen  days  later.  Mr.  Helms  was  then  ordered 
to  Baltimore,  thence  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  on  to  Indianapolis,  where 
for  seven  months,  he  was  detailed  to  guard  Rebel  prisoners.  He  was 
then  sent  to  the  front  and  reached  the  field  at  Nashville,  Tenn.  He  took 
part  in  several  skirmishes  and  small  lights  and  did  what  he  could  toward 
winning  the  battle  of  Nashville  itself.  His  regiment  was  then  detached 
and  sent  to  San  Antonio,  Texas,  where,  Dec.  15,  18G5,  our  subject  was  dis- 
charged after  a  service  of  four  years  and  three  months,  a  veteran  volun- 
teer of  a  great  civil  war.  He  was  promoted  to  be  a  corixiral,  and  to  duty 
.sergeant,  and  reached  home  January  13.  1866. 

He  cultivated  his  little  Indiana  farm  till  187!t,  when  he  brought  his 
family  westward  and  settled,  for  the  time  being  in  Woodson  county. 
He  came  to  ilontgomery  county  in  1882,  and  located  on  his  present  place 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  section  11,  township  .33,  range  14.  a 
place  without  improvements  and  as  untamed  as  nature  left  it.  His  first 
residence  was  the  proverbial  log  cabin,  with  dimensions  14xl(),  and  this 
served  the  family  as  a  domicile  until  greater  atTlucmc  could  provide  a 
better  home. 

James  Helms  was  a  son  of  .lames  Helms,  a  farmer,  who  died  just 
prior  to  our  subject's  birth.  The  latter  was  the  oldest  of  three  sous, 
the  other  two  being  William  and  Thomas.  James  married  Rachel 
Taylor,  a  Tennsylvania  lady,  and  their  children  were:  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Sherrel,  Mrs.  Sarah  Davis.  .Mrs.  Nancy  Shevrel.  Thomas,  \Villiam, 
George  and  James. 

In  the  year  1859,  Eli/.alx-tli  .M.  Tiinmons  Ijecanie  tlie  wife  of  .lames 
Helms,  our  subject.  Her  native  place  was  Newton  Co.,  Ind.,  and  hep 
parents  were  Basset  and  Sarah  (.lohnson)  Timmons.  Tlie  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Helms  are:     Mrs.  Martha  Crosson,  of  Elk  City,  Kansas,  and 


Mi's.  Sarah  Brown,  a  resident  of  this  county.  By  a  former  marriage  to 
Ann  Eliza  Kaiuey,  tliere  were  born  two  children :  Eva,  who  died,  aged 
about  21  vears,  and  Ann  Eliza,  who  married  Joseph  Egbert,  and  resides 
in  Bates  Co..  Mo. 

In  his  political  beliefs  l[r.  Helms  is  independent.     He  is  a  member 
..f  Till'  Metlio.list   I'ldlcstaiil  rlnnch  and  of  the  A.  H.  T.  A. 


JOHN  FRENCH — The  gentleman  here  named  is  one  of  the  enter- 
prising and  thrifty  business  men  of  Cherryvale.  senior  member  of  the 
hardware  and  grocery  tirm  of  French  &  Raymond.  His  birth  occurred 
in  the  State  of  New  Hamjishire,  February  25,  1838,  his  parents  being 
Jesse  and  Ann  (Chaniberlin)  French.  The  father  was,  in  his  earlier  man- 
hood, a  successful  school  teacher  and  later  a  farmer.  He  was  a  man 
of  parts  in  his  locality,  there  being  scarcely  a  period  in  his  life  when  he 
was  not  an  incumbent  of  a  public  office.  He  served  with  distinction  in 
the  legislature  of  his  state,  a  coincidence  being  that  he  and  one  of  hfs 
sons  were  members  of  the  body  at  the  same  time.  He  was  born  in  the 
year  1800,  and  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety-six  years,  his  wife  dying  in  1899, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-three.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten  children, 
eight  still  living.  They  were  intensely  devoted  to  their  country's  wel- 
fare and  gave  three  sons  in  time  of  need,  whose  service  aggregated 
seven  and  a  half  years.  Of  the.se,  Henry  served  three  years  as  a  private 
in  the  11th  N.  H.  Vol.  Inf.,  oni'  subject  and  his  twin  brother,  Elias, 
enlisting  at  the  same  time.  Their  first  battle  was  at  Fredericksburg, 
where  Henry  was  wounded  and  subsequently  sjient  four  months  in  the 
hc^spitnl.  Returning  to  the  ai-my,  he  served  to  the  close  of  the  war, 
as  did  Elias.  Jlr.  French  served  some  IS  months,  was  twice  wounded, 
and  was  finally  discharged  for  disability. 

Our  subject  learned  the  machinist's  trade  jiiiiir  to  the  war  and  in 
1865.  came  out  to  I'earson.  Ind.,  where  he  worked  four  ye;ns;  thence 
to  Chicago,  where  he  entered  the  employ  of  Palmer  &  Fuller,  sash  and 
door  manufacturers.  He  was  a  faithful  employe  of  this  firm  for  a 
period  of  fifteen  years,  and  in  ;ill  that  lime  never  lost  a  day.  Ijabette 
county.  Kan.,  was  then  his  lionie  foi'  ten  years,  where  he  put  in  a  fine 
stale  <'f  euJtivatioii,  a  lialf  section  of  land.  In  1S94,  he  came  to  Cherry- 
vale  and  began  work  in  a  modest  way,  in  a  gun  repair  shop. 
On  J;,n.  1st.  lOO:',.  the  present  firm  was  formed,  and  purchased  the  Tuttle 
building,  a  laige  brick,  2S.\100,  and  with  three  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor.  They  addi-d  a  sfcxk  of  groceries  and  geiieial  haidware.  By  close 
attention  to  business  and  handling  none  but  tlie  best  goods,  they  have 
built  uj)  a  tine  trade,  and  are  increasing  theii-  business  yearly. 

Marriage  with  .Mr.  French  was  an  event  of  (tdoiier  14.  IStU),  his 
wife's  niaid<Mi  name  hiiviiiii  been  Libbic  Perkins,  a  sister  of  Hon.  B.  W. 
Perkins,    for    l<niir    vears    one    of    the    state's    honored    members    of    f^on- 


FRANK  D.  HOLLAND  AND  FAMILY. 


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HISTORY   OK    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS.  745 

gress.  This  family  were  oiijiinall.v  fi-om  Massaibnsi'iis.  I  he  cliihlrcn 
haA'ing- been  leared  in  Ohio.  To  tlic  iiiariiauc  nf  Mr.  Firnch  llicii'  was 
boi'ii  a  daughter,  who  died  in  infanc.v. 

Holding  niembeiship  in  no  seci-et  order  or  chnrcli,  Mr.  French  con- 
tents himself  with  looking  after  his  business  and  enjoying  the  lestful 
quiet  of  his  home.  He  cares  nothing  for  the  emoluments  and  honors  of 
public  office,  bur  is  uutsjidkcn  and  enthusiastic  in  liis  sup]Hul  of  the 
party  of  Lincoln  and  (iaitidd,  wiiiili  has  received  his  \<itc  almost  since 
Its  incejition. 


FKAXK  D.  HOLLA^;l)--^^•e  present  in  this  article  the  careei— in 
brief — of  a  gentleman  whose  New  England  origin  has  eqni])ped  him  with 
a  personality  peculiarly  his  own,  and  in  striking  and  favorable  contrast 
to  the  native  sons  of  Montgomery  county.  He  has  been  ideutitied  with 
the  west  for  the  past  eighteen  years,  and  thirteen  years  of  that  time,  he 
has  passed  in  the  vicinity  of  his  present  home.  He  owns  two  hundred 
and  ten  acres  of  section  !>,  township  33,  range  16,  and  has  been  occupied 
during  his  domicile  here,  with  the  business  of  acquiring  and  preparing 
his  family  and  himself  with  a  modest  and  unincumbered  home.  His 
efforts  in  this  county  have  shown  him  to  be  possessed  of  the  spirit  which 
achieves  worthy  and  substantial  i-esults,  and  it  is  such  settlers  who  con 
tribute  the  best  elements  of  our  citizenship. 

Frank  D.  Holland  comes  from  Androscoggin  Co.,  Maine.  He  was 
born  in  Lisbon,  that  county,  January  20,  1847,  and  his  ancestors  were 
of  the  pio-neer  settlers  of  the  "Pine  Tree"  state.  His  father  was  Capf. 
Henry  I.  Holland,  a  venerable,  wealthy  and  retired  citizen  of  Lewiston 
and  his  grandfather  was  Capt.  Daniel  Holland,  commanding  a  fleet  of 
fishing  vessels  on  the  New  England  coast  and  lost  at  sea  about  1815. 
The  grandfather  left  a  family  of  sons,  as  follows:  Daniel,  Richard, 
Michael  and  Henry.  Henry  Holland  was  a  self-made  man  who  learned 
the  tanner's  trade  in  youth,  at  Danville — his  birthplace — and  when  he 
acquired  the  means  with  which  to  engage  in  business  for  himself,  he  es- 
tablished himself  at  Lisbon  where  he  conducted  his  leather  factory  for 
many  years.  He  was  ever  an  active  man  in  his  county,  was  a  Whig  and 
then  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  represented  his  county  in  the  Maine 
legislature  of  3  860.  Toward  the  evening  of  life,  he  invested  largely 
m  real  estate  in  Lewiston,  which  holdings  grew  into  money  rapidly  with 
the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  city,  and  in  time  he  was  numbered 
among  the  wealthy  men  of  the  place.  He  married  Jane  M.  Thompson, 
who  was  born  in  Newfield,  Me.,  in  1816, — three  years  after  his  own 
birth — and  died  in  1866,  leaving  the  following  issue,  viz:  Charles,  who 
died  in  Maine,  and  has  a  son  in  Paris,  France;  Frank  D.,  of  this  mention; 
Sarah  J.  and  Edith  C,  both  principals  of  schools  in  Massachu.setts. 

Mr.  Holland  of  this  I'eview  acquired  a  fair  education  in  the  j>nblic 


746  HISTORY  OV  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

schools  of  liis  native  county.  .Superior  advantages  were  offered  him  for 
acquiiing  an  education,  but  his  inclination  was  for  play  and  fun  and  not 
for  books.  He  played  truant  many  a  term  when  his  parents  thought  him 
to  be  delving  into  Ills  lessons,  and  not  until  it  was  too  late  to  mend  mat- 
ters did  he  discover  the  misfortune  he  had  brought  on  himself.  He  was 
not  concerned  seriously  with  the  possibilities  and  res])onsibilities  of  life 
^haying  a  wealthy  parent— till  above  forty  years  of  age.  He  picked  up 
some  points  of  value  about  carpenter  work  and,  being  handy  with  tools, 
and  when  the  parental  contribution  was  withheld,  he  applied  himself 
industriously  to  the  cari)enter  trade.  He  remained  in  the  State  of  Maine 
till  1884.  when  he  came  out  to  Kansas  and  resided  for  a  short  time  in 
.Osage  county.  He  next  went  to  Envporia,  where  he  took  charge  of  a 
hotel,  and  while  here  met  the  lady  who  is  n(»w  his  wife.  Leaving  Lyon 
county,  he  came  to  Montgomery  county  and  began  liis  career  here  with 
"one  black  team"  as  a  starter.  A  judicious  investment  in  real  estate  ha-s 
enabled  him  to  solve  the  difficult  problem  of  finances,  to  a  limited  extent, 
for  the  present.  He  and  his  emergetic  and  industrious  wife  and  sons 
are  causing  substantial  improvements  to  be  made  in  their  new  home 
and  a  herd  of  cattle  and  other  stock  is  growing  up  around  them.  .V 
Jersey  stock  faiun  is  contemplated  and,  with  favoring  fortune,  and  with 
the  assuring  elements  of  personal  success  present  in  the  family,  their  am- 
l)ition  will  be  achieved. 

February  8rd,  1886,  Mr.  Holland  married  Mrs.  Eva  E.  .\ney,  a 
•laughter  of  Andrew  J.  Aney,  formerly  of  Oswego,  X.  Y.  Mr.  Aney  was 
a  butcher — as  was  his  father,  also,  Michael  Aney.  The  Aneys  were  old 
i-esidents  of  New  York  state  and  of  (Jerman  antecedents.  Andrew  J. 
Aney  married  Louisa  C.  Marble — originall.y  written  De  Marble.  Mrs 
Aney's  father  was  a  shoe  dealer  of  Syracuse,  New  York  and  she,  her- 
self, resides  in  Emporia,  Kansas.  Her  husband  died  in  1880.  He  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Civil  War  in  the  106th.  111.,  Inf.,  and  served  four  years  and 
three  months.  He  died  at  Sedalia,  Mo.,  leaving  the  following  children: 
.Mrs.  Holland,  born  in  Monroe  Co.,  Wis.,  Sept.  23,  18.55;  Jennie,  wife  of 
J.  W'eatherby,  of  Birmingham,  Ala.;  Charles,  of  Portland  Oregon;  Kate, 
of  F^mporia,  Kansas,  is  the  wife  of  Robert  Sims;  Annie,  who  died  at 
Kingfishei-,  Oklahoma,  was  the  wife  of  David  King,  of  Kingfisher,  Okla- 
homa; Dow,  of  Emporia,  Kansas,  and  Grace,  now  Mrs.  Charles  Frisby, 
of  Kansas  City  Mo.,  wife  of  the  son  of  one  of  the  well-known  engineers 
on  the  St.  Fe  Railway.  Mrs.  Holland  was  reared  in  Logan  county,  Illi- 
nois, and  resided  there  from  18.57  to  1885,  when  she  came  to  Kansas  and 
located  in  Emporia.  She  and  Mr.  Holland  are  the  parents  of  thi'ee  sons, 
namely:  Leroy,  .\d(lis  and  Doron,  aged  sixteen,  fourteen  and  twelve, 
respectively. 


.l.\MES  .M.  WILSON— Twenty-five  years  have  elaiiscd  since  Jam 
M.   Wilson  established  his  residence  in  Montgomery  county.     He  fir 


The  earliest  recollection  of  our  subject  is  of  the  itinerant  pi'eacber  and 
bis  hearty  welcome  at  all  times  in  the  ^Yaggoner  home,  where,  iu  the 
earlier  days,  services  were  always  held.  Later,  a  church  was  built  by  the 
family  and  a  few  neighbors.  The  parents  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  the 
father  dying  at  sixty-five,  and  the  mother  at  seventy-seven  years.  They 
were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  five  of  whom  now  survive. 

Our  subject  was  reared  on  a  I'ennsylvania  farm  and  in  1868,  came 
out  to  Decatur,  111.,  where  for  a  number  of  years  he  was  engaged  in  the 
grocery  business  and  other  lines.  His  father  having  been  a  large  dealer 
in  stock,  Jlr.  Waggoner  had  learned  much  concerning  the  business,  and 
upon  his  coming  to  the  county  found  the  knowledege  of  much  service  in 
connection  with  his  farming  interests.  The  county  has  no  better  judge 
of  horses  or  mules  than  our  subject.  He  owns  and  operates  two  fine 
farms  in  Drum  Creek  Twp.,  and  is  also  engaged  in  furnishing  shale  to 
the  brickyard. 

Mr.  SVaggoner's  ideas  of  citizenship  do  not  carry  him  into  the  field 
of  i)olitics,  though  he  takes  delight  in  furthering,  the  interests  of  the 
KojMibliean  party,  an  organization  which  has  received  his  support  since 
he  began  exercising  the  franchise.  He  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Knights  of  Pythias,  and  he  and  his  family  are  active  members  of  the  M. 
E.  church.  His  family  consists  of  wife  and  two  children:  Gertrude  C. 
is  at  present  with  her  parents,  while  Earl  Donald  is  a  sophomore  at 
Baker  University,  where  he  has  made  a  most  enviable  and  creditable 
I'ecord  as  a  public  speaker,  having  won  several  prizes  in  debate  and 
oratory.  His  future  has  much  of  promise  in  it.  Mrs.  Waggoner  is  a 
native  of  Decatur,  111.  Prior  to  ^September  29,  1874,  the  date  of  her  mar- 
riage to  Mr.  Waggoner,  she  was  Miss  Kate  M.  Stickle,  daughter  of  John 
Stickle,  who  reared  and  educated  her  most  carefully.  She  w-as  gradu- 
ated at  Jacksonville  Female  College  and  for  years  was  a  successful 
teacher  in  the  schools  of  Decatur.  In  the  social  and  church  life  of  Inde- 
pendence she  is  a  potent  factor,  her  early  training  being  such  as  to  make 
her  competent  to  fill  any  position  to  which  she  is  called. 


SIDNEY  A.  PRATT— For  the  past  two  decades  the  soil  of  Mont- 
gomery county  has  been  the  richer  and  the  moral  tone  of  her  society 
strengthened  by  the  presence  within  her  borders  of  tbe  family  whose 
honored  head  is  here  mentioned.  In  an  unobtrusive  and  quiet,  but  none 
the  less  effective  manner,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pratt  and  their  family  have 
exerted  a  most  wholsome  influence  along  lines  of  good  citizenship,  and 
deserve,  as  they  receive,  the  hearty  good  will  and  esteem  of  their  many 
friends  in  the  county. 

Kansas  is  indebted  to  the  old  "Hoosier  State''  for  this  contribution 
to  her  population,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pratt  both  being  natives  of  Parke  coun- 
ty.   Jfr.  Pratt  was  born  there  on  the  28th  of  December,  1835,  and  is  the 


s(.ii  of  .lames  and  Klivr  (I'latd  I'lalt.  tlir  jiai'dits  Ikmiij,-  tiist  cdiisiiis. 
Their  were  seven  cliildien  in  tlieir  faniilv— Sidney  A  ,  M\  r.iii  .1..  (if  lu- 
deiMMKh'nce.aiidlMiiil.v,  Hannah,  l^orinda,  i'hoebf  and  an  iniaiil,  deceased. 
The  parents  of  this  family  weic  of  tlie  thrifty  fanner  class  of  Indiana 
and  passed  th(>ir  entire  liyes  at  filling  of  the  soil,  the  father  d.yin-  on  tlie 
old  iionieslead  at  sevenly-six  years,  and  ihe  niolhei'  al  the  a.uc  of  tifty- 
six. 

Sidney  I'ratl  f(dlo\ved  the  occu|.alion  of  his  father  until  1SS4,  \u 
I'ai'ke  count  V.  In  that  year  he  purchased  the  farm  where  he  jiow  re- 
sides, three  miles  east  of  Independence,  and  has  sin<-e  participated  acT- 
iyely,  nipi  only  in  the  cuUiyation  of  Mont j;omery's  soil,  but  in  sustaiuiiifj 
her  eduialiomil  and  i'(di{;ious  institutions.  an<l  in  every  nio\enient  cal- 
culated to  elevate  the  tone  of  society  about   him. 

The  maiden  name  of  Mrs.  I'ratt'was  lli'tly  A.  Conner.  Samuel  and 
Elizal)etli  iDeal)  ('onner,  her  parents,  were  [lioneers  of  Parke  county, 
the  father  liavin;;  been  a  cariwiiter  and  farmer  by  occupation.  Their 
family  consisted  of  ei^lit  childri'n,  two  of  whom  died  in  Infancy.  The 
livinji  are:  Susan,  who  laari'ied  I>avid  Stever,  and  now  lives  in  (ieorgia  ; 
Louisa,  wife  of  James  Davis,  of  Coal  City,  Ind.;  Mr.s.  I'latt,  Allen,  of 
P.edford,  Ind.;  Mary,  deceased,  was  the  wife  of  (ieorse  < "arson,  of  Mo- 
mence.  Ills.;  Nancy  Jane,  died  at  18  years. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pratt  have  been  born  s.-ven  children,  now  men  and 
women  taking  their  places  creditably  in  Ihe  society  of  the  ditterent  c(un- 
innnities  where  they  re.<iide.  Myron  Allen  is  the  eldest;  a  carpenter  in 
the  em[doy  of  the  C.  &  E.  I.  railroad  in  Illinois.  He  married  Josejdiine 
Pilkington,  who  ha.s  borne  him  four  children — CJoldie,  Cloe,  Ahna  and 
Herman;  Edson  A.  is  an  engineer  on  the  C.  &  E.  I.,  living  at  I)alt(m,  111. 
His  wife  was  Emma  Ilhodenbaugh  and  his  ehildren  are:  Clyde  and  Hattie 
pjllen;  Zina  A.  is  a  cari>enter  living  at  Kansas  City.  He  married  Dora 
B.  Wilson,  a  native  of  Ohio,  whose  four  children  are:  George  C.  Clara, 
Mabel  and<;Cliaa-les:L.;  Hiram  Wilson,  a  stenographer  in  the  National 
Bank  of  Commerce  in  Kansas  City,  married  Mattie  Cordes.  of  Inde 
pendence,  of  German  parentage;  his  boy's  name  is  Merwin  W. ;  John 
S.  ehose  the  occupation  of  his  ancestry  and  lives  on  the  home  farm; 
James  is  stenographer  and  assistant  eashiei'  in  the  I'nion  National  Bank 
of  Manhattan,  Kan.  The  youngest  is  Olive  W.,  who  married  Fred  Bru- 
ington  and  resides  on  the  home  farm  with  their  one  son,  George  Sidney. 

The  above  will  serve  to  note  briefly  the  essential  jionts  in  the  history 
of  this  excellent  family.  Mr.  and  Mi's.  Pratt  are  members  and  liberal 
supporters  of  the  Methodist  church.  While  our  subject  has  never  sought 
office,  he  has  at  tiuius -filled  positions  of  tiusi  in  his  local  community, 
and  is  a  loyal  supporter  of  tlie  principles  of  government  taught  by  Jetfer- 
son,  the  sage  of  Monticello. 


,  J.  ^  % 

I     4rt  lh  #^ 

V   i  #•  t 


e  #  4; 


ft   !< 


9    i   % 


JACOB  E,   MENSCH. 


HISTORY  OF    MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,   KANSAS.  753 

diverted  to  the  serious  affairs  of  fitizenship  and  lie  became  iiileicsted  in 
the  new  ])()lieies  of  f>overninent  as  ]ir(iiiips«'(l  and  advucatcd  hv  tlii'  Fann- 
ers' Alliance.  He  esponscd  the  .aiisc  of  Ihc  rdonncrs  and  iMM-airic  Iheir 
standard-bearer  for  the  Ic-islaltnc  in   IS-.MI,  arid   was  casilv  (■I,m|...I.     He 

lail   was  defeated  bv  a  Itepid.iican. 

W'lnie  tillin.u  his  pastorale  at  Liti  lestnwii.  I'a..  Ilie  battle  .if  <iettys- 
bur-  was  fon.yht  and  he  acted  as  chaplain  of  the  14."ith  Ta.  ti(.o|is.  speiid- 
ini;  ninch  of  his  time  for  some  days  in  the  field  hospital  there  and  in 
adjacent  territory  nnder  the  auspices  of  the  Christian  ("omiiiission. 

Key.  Henry  was  a  son  of  Joseph  R.  Henry,  of  Adams  county.  Pa., 
who  passed  his  life  largely  in  the  drug  business.  His  father  was  George 
Henry,  with  (Jerman  and  Scotch-Irish  blood  coursing  through  his  veins. 
The  grandfather  niarrieil  .Julia  X.  Kosenmiller,  a  blood  relative  of  Com- 
modore I'orter.  She  was  a  native  of  .\dains  (oiiiity.  I'a..  and  was  the 
mother  of  an  onl.\  child,  -loseph  R.  Henry. 

llary  Ickes  becann-  the  wife  of  Joseph  R.  Henry.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  I'eter  and  Dorothy  Ickes,  Adams  county  people.  Two  children 
resulted  from  the  union  of  Joseph  R.  and  ISIary  Henry,  viz:  Sniauel  and 
Mrs.  Dorothy  Graff,  now  deceased. 

Nov.  2d,  1850,  Rev.  Henry  married  Kli/.abeth  S.  \\eaver,  of  Gettys- 
burg, Pa.,  a  native  born  Penusylvanian  and  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
^Margaret  (Eyster)  Weaver.  The  children  of  this  marriage  were  Mrs. 
:Mary  E.  Shinier,  of  Easton,  Pa.;  Joseph  R..  deceased,  and  William.  Mrs. 
Shimer's  children  are:  Elizabeth.  Alberta.  Emma,  Henry,  Lida  and 
John.  The  <hildren  of  Joseph,  de<eas<-d.  wer<':  ^^■illiam,  Sarah  E.,  Cath- 
erine ^r..  Ellen  ^I.  and  Samuel. 

By  a  singular  coincidence  Rev.  and  51rs.  Henry  were  born  on  the 
same  day.  May  3d,  1828,  he  being  eight  liours  the  older.  They  have 
jjassed  fifty-three  years  together  nnder  the  most  sacred  vow  and  the 
wife  has  been  an  ever-present  aid  to  her  husband  in  his  labors  in  active, 
as  well  as  in  retired,  life.  Rev.  Henry  was  prominent  in  the  administra- 
tive affairs  of  his  church  while  in  the  vigor  of  life  and  held  the  offices  of 
President  and  Secretary  of  the  East  Pennsylvania  Synod  of  the  Luth- 
eran church  four  years,  was  I'resident  of  the  Central  Synod  of  Penn.syl- 
vania  for  one  vear  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  General  Svnod  at  Harris- 
burg,  in  1S67. 


JOHN  F.  RINGLE— One  of  the  valuable  farms  of  Cherry  township 
is  owned  and  operated  by  John  F.  Ringle  of  this  review.  It  lies  less  than 
three  miles  from  the  city  of  Cherryvale  and  is,  in  ajipearance  and  pro- 
ductiveness, a  resultant  from  the  efforts  of  its  dual  owners,  John  F.  and 
Charlotte  Kingle.  These  worthy  settlers  came  to  Jfontgoinery  county 
in  1S7S,  and  ])ur(hased  a  farm,  paying  out  nearly  all  their  means    for  a 


754  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

title  to  I  lie  land.  In  their  cii'cunistances  it  iMi^quired  some  ingennitj  to 
keep  tlieir  little  craft  afloat,  but  the  eonihined  efforts  of  luishand  and 
wife  weathered  the  stoi-nis  of  drouth  and  flood  and  chinch  bugs  and  ac- 
(•oin|>lislied  the  task  of  improving;  their  home.  This  is  the  farm  they 
have  passed  twenty-five  years  of  their  life  on,  and  it  is  one  of  the  desir- 
able and  commercially  valuable  ones  of  the  county. 

John  F.  Ringle  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania, 
Sept.  22,  1845.  John  and  Sophia  (Boarts)  Ringle  were  his  jtarents,  the 
father  of  Westmoreland  county.  Pa.,  and  the  mother  of  Ohio  birth. 
After  their  removal  to  Stark  county,  Ohio,  in  1848,  the  father  learned 
the  stone  cutter's  trade,  at  which  he  worked  for  some  years,  but  becom- 
ing ultimately,  a  farmer.  He  died  in  Stark  county  at  fifty-three  years  of 
age.  while  his  wife  still  .survives,  there,  and  is  aged  seventy-nine  years. 
Nine  of  their  family  of  ten  children  were:  Albert.  J(diii  P..  Daniel. 
Amos.  Obediah,  who  died  at  four  years;  P,li/,abeth.  Pmma.  who  also 
died  unmai'ried;  Mary  A.  and  ■\^'illiam. 

The  district  schools  of  the  country  ])rovided  our  subject  Avith  the 
rudiments  of  an  education  and  he  made  his  home  with  liis  parents  till 
he  was  past  his  majority.  January  4,  1870,  he  married  Charlotte  Kej)- 
linger,  a  natixc  of  Stark  county,  (^liio,  and  a  daughter  of  Jesse  and  Re- 
becca ( Ileini  I  Kejiliuger,  both  natives  of  the  Keystone  State.  The  Kep- 
lingers  went  to  Ohio  as  childrini  and  were  married  there;  Mr.  Keplinger 
being  a  miller  in  early  life  but  later  a  farmer.  He  was  born  in  17!t9  and 
died  in  1855,  while  his  widow  sui^vives  him  in  DeKalb  county,  Indiana, 
at  seventy-three  years  old.  Mrs.  Ringle  was  born  Nov.  4, 1848,  and  is  one 
of  four  children:  Priscilla,  who  died  in  infancy;  Charlotte,  Rebecca,  who 
died  at  eleven  years,  and  Josephine. 

Mrs.  Keplinger  married,  the  second  time,  Charles  Baughman.  who 
died  leaving  nine  children,  namely:  Mrs.  Caroline  P.-intoii,  Sarah  C., 
Mary  A.  and  Florence  K..  deceased;  Charles.  Allen,  Marion,  Tabitha.  de- 
cease(^.  and  Magdalena. 

After  the  marriage  of  John  F.  Ringle  he  purchased  a  sixty  acre 
farm  in  Stark  county,  Ohio,  and  was  employed  with  its  cultivation  till 
he  set  out  for  Kansas.  In  their  climb  upward  in  Montgomery  county 
Mrs.  Ringle's  efforts  were  as  valuable  in  the  field  as  in  the  home.  The 
misfortunes  of  the  early  years  added  greatly  to  her  distress  of  mind  and 
such  real  home-sickness  as  she  experienced  never  afflicted  mortal  man. 
But  she  nei'ved  herself  to  the  inevitable  and  in  the  end  found  much 
pleasure  in  the  sacrifices  she  made. 

The  Ringle  home  comprises  160  acres,  is  adorned  with  beautiful 
trees  surrounding  a  commodious  two-story  residence.  Gas  serves  the 
household  for  fuel  and  it  comes  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth  just  be- 
neath their  own  possessions. 

Two  of  their  three  children  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ringle  still  have  with 
them  ;  the  other  having  died  in  infancy.  Those  living  are;  William  Edgar, 


a  stutk'ut  of  the  Baptist  College  at  Ottawa,  Kansas,  for  two  years,  and 
a  graduate  of  the  State  Uuivei'sit.y  of  Kansas.  He  is  now  Supl.  of  the 
("olfeyviUe  siiiools  and  is  niariied  to  Lillian  Newton.  Ida  Josepliine  is 
th<-  voniifivst  child  of  Mr.  and  .Mis.  Kingle  and  is  the  wife  of  I'eail  .\ustin 
Dai-iiug  and  resides  on  the  Kingle  homestead.  She  is  a  j;iadnate  of  the 
Cherryvale  hi;;li  srhool  ami  was  a  leacher  for  I'oni-  .\c'ars  before  she  mar- 
ried.    Emma  Sonliia  is  the  deceased  child  and  was  the  lirst  born. 


A.  G.  .McCOKMlCK— In  the  phenomenal  development  which  has 
been  yoinj-  on  in  the  southern  Kansas  gas  belt,  the  town  tif  Cherryvale 
has  been  a  potent  factor.  It  has  kept  pace  with  events  and,  thanks  to 
her  enterprising  citizens,  has  reaped  a  golden  harvest.  To  none  more 
than  the  gentlennin  herein  named  is  due  a  greater  degree  of  credit  for 
this  advancement.  ^Mr.  JlcCormick,  as  President  of  the  (L'herryvale  Gas 
Company,  and  a  stockholder  in  the  brick  plant,  lias  been  instrumental 
in  building  uj)  many  enterprises  in  the  city,  and  has  shown  in  numerous 
ways  that  he  has  Cherryvale's  interests  at  heart. 

He  was  born  in  Perry  county,  Ohio,  Ai>ril  7,  1844,  a  son  of  William 
and  Elizabeth  (Johnson)  McCormick.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, the  mother  of  \'irginia.  He  was  a  farmer  and  limeburner,  and 
started  the  town  of  Ma.xville,  it  being  built  on  his  land  in  Perry  county. 
He  was  widely  and  favorably  known  over  his  part  of  the  state,  and  died 
in  185.J,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years,  his  wife  preceding  him.  They  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  the 
state,  being  related  to  the  "Harvester"'  McCormick. 

A.  G.  McCormick  is  one  of  nine  children,  six  of  whom  are  living.  He 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  the  Buckeye  State,  but  his  edu- 
cation was  cut  short,  as  in  the  case  of  many  other  loyal  boys,  by  his  en- 
listment in  Company  "C,"  62d  O.  V.  I.  He,  later,  became  a  member  of 
Company  "G,''  184th  O.  V.  I.,  serving  two  years  in  the  two  enlistments. 
He  was  discharged  at  Nashville  in  1865. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  McCormick  came  to  Coffey  county,  Kan- 
sas, where  he  worked  on  a  farm  for  two  years,  then  took  up  a  claim  on 
Elk  river.  After  fifteen  years  residence  on  this  claim  he  came  to  Cherry- 
vale, and  engaged  in  shijiiiing  stock,  also  operating  a  coal  and  lumber 
yard.  He  sold  out  in  18SI!.  and  then — 1889 — became  connected  with  the 
Cherryvale  Gas  Company,  since  when  he  has  devoted  his  energies  to  the 
conduct  of  that  company's  affairs.  Mr.  McCormick  is  one  of  the  leading 
business  men  of  the  city  and  takes  an  active  interest  in  any  enterprise 
which  has  for  its  object  the  building  up  of  Cherryvale.  He  is  a  leading 
member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  he  and  his  family  are 
active  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

The  domestic  life  of  Mr.  McCormick  was  initiated  on  the  Ijth  of 
January.  1S71.  when  he  was  joined  in  marriage  to  Sara  E.,  daughter  of 


-56  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KAiNSAB. 

J.  II.  ;iu(l  S;ir:ili  Iv  Kfid.  To  this  luarriiijie  liave  been  born  four  cliildreii 
— Mcllv  F..  Mrs.  Frank  K.  Shmiianl.  of  Clierryvale;  her  ehildren  being: 
Liicilc  ami  .Mark;  Minnie  May  died  in  infaney;  Bertha  M.,  wife  of  S.  M. 
Stfil'iT.  with  rcsidrnce  in  Ninishi-w.  Cal..  and  Stella  M.,  a  student  in  the 

hilih  s,il<mL 

.Ml',  and  Mrs.  M,( -uiniick  and  faniil; 
Chcrr.wali'.  where  they  nnnibcr  their  frii 
circles. 


most   hi.!. 

.'hly  respec 

ted  in 

nion^-  til 

1.'  n)osl  ext 

■lusive 

DANIEL  G.  PARKS,  JK. — As  a  seventeen-year-old  boy,  to  whom 
the  world  was  just  opening  up  a  career,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  set- 
tled with  his  mother  on  a  farm  on  Elk  river,  in  Montgomery  county. 
This  was  in  the  year  of  the  great  immigration  to  the  county  in  1871. 
Daniel  Parks  has  been  a  resident  of  the  county  since  that  time,  and  his 
character  for  probity  and  uprightness  are  such  as  to  make  his  name  one 
of  the  honored  ones  on  the  roll  of  the  county's  population. 

In  the  year  1854,  on  the  15th  of  February,  ^Ir.  Parks  was  born  in 
Blair  county,  Penn.sylvania;  the  son  of  Daniel  J.  and  Susan  (Ropp) 
Parks.  He  was  one  of  eleven  children,  eight  of  whom  are  now  living: 
Mary,  the  wife  of  farmer  William  M.  Eddy,  lives  at  Crane  Station,  Mont- 
gomery county;  John  is  deceased;  the  third  child  was  Daniel  G.;  Jacob 
lives  in  Chautauqua  county,  Kansas,  and  is  married  to  Minnie  Garst 
and  has  three  children:  Fannie,  Lon  and  William;  Ellen,  married  Will- 
iam T{op]t,  an  Oklahoma  farmer,  and  has  four  children:  Julius,  Walter, 
Maud  and  Mary;  Geoige  mai'ried  Bessie  Blackmore  and  resides  on  the 
home  farm  and  has  three  children:  Claudia,  James  and  Mattie;  Julia 
married  John  Thompson,  a  farnun-  of  the  county,  and  has  six  children: 
James,  John,  Lula,  Margaret,  Grover  and  Emmet;  Samuel  L.  is  a  farmer, 
residing  in  Sycamore  township.  He  married  Stella  Goodwin  and  they 
have  tive  chilrden:  Rose,  Bessie,  Nellie,  Daniel  and  an  infant;  Nettie  i.s 
the  wife  of  William  Rennert.  a  farmer  of  Rutland  township;  their 
children  are:  Ona,  Orval  and  Ella. 

The  members  of  this  family  are  all  resjiectcd  factors  of  the  different 
communities  where  they  reside  and  are  flllini;  nsdnl  jiosiiions  in  life. 

The  parents  of  Daniel  G.  Parks  remained  in  tiie  east  until  after  the 
war,  when  they  removed  with  their  family,  in  18(i5,  to  Woodson  county, 
Kansas,  where  the  father  died  Sept.  11,  1871.  The  father  and  husband 
in  Coffey  county,  Kansas,  was  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War,  having  served 
gallantly  as  a  private  soldier  of  Company  "K,"  .35th  Iowa  Vol.  Inft.  He 
was  a  man  of  many  good  traits  of  character,  industrious  and  honest.  He 
died  a.s  a  result  of  a  breaking  down,  consequent  upon  the  hardships  of 
army  life.  After  his  death  his  widow  removed  with  her  family  to  Montj 
gomery  county,  as  above  stated,  where  she  jturchased  the  farm  upon 
which  our  subject  now  resides  and  which  he  purchased  from  the  heirs 


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DANIEL  G.   PARKS. 


niSTOKY   OF    MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  759 

wliicli  lia\('  hcioiiic  a  standard  article  with  those  who  handle  saddlery 
goods. 

Touching  briefly  the  pionts  in  the  career  of  this  enterprising  young 
Napoleon  in  business,  the  biographer  notes  that  he  was  born  in  DeWitt 
county,  111.,  July  10,  1871,  and  is  the  son  of  S.  B.  and  Arietta  M.  Clayton. 
natives  of  Ohio  and  Illinois,  respectively.  The  parents  are  respected 
residents  of  Cherryvale,  the  father,  as  stated,  being  a  member  of  the 
firm.  To  these  parenls  were  born  a  family  of  two  sons,  Eobert  F.,  the 
youngest,  being  in  the  saddlery  business  in  i-'t.  Louis. 

•J.  A.  ("layton  was  biought  to  Kansas  by  his  parents  in  1874.  They 
settled  (m  a  faini  in  ("owley  county,  where  the  children  were  reared  and 
given  a  good  common  school  education.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  Mr. 
Clayton  entered  ujjon  nu  ap])renticeship  to  the  harness  trade  in  Emporia, 
Kansas,  and  in  1891,  began  business  for  himself  at  Maple  City.  In  1892. 
as  stated,  he  came  to  Cherryvale,  and,  as  may  be  inferred,  is  one  of  the 
"strictlj-  business''  kind  of  men.  He  has  found  some  time  to  devote  to 
civicduties,and,as  in  his  private  aft'airs,  these  duties  have  been  performed 
with  energy  and  fidelity.  He  was  a  member  of  the  common  council  for 
four  years,  during  one  of  which  he  was  honored  by  his  associates  with 
the  piesidency,  in  which  position  he  was  acting  Mayor  of  the  city.  Both 
he  and  Mrs.  Clayton  are  earnest  workers  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  in 
which  he  is  an  Elder.  In  the  fraternities  he  is  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Knights  of  Tythias — in  which  he  ha.s  occupied  all  the  chairs — and 
of  the  Modern  Woodmen.  Politicallj',  an  ardent  Republican,  he  is  a 
valued  worker  during  the  campaigns  in  the  interest  of  that  party's  prin- 
ciples. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clayton's  marriage  was  an  event  of  November  29,  1893, 
at  Arkansas  City,  Kansas.  She  is  a  native  of  Iowa,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
H.  and  Martha  E.  Ferguson,  now  residing  at  Maple  City.  To  the  Clayton 
home  there  has  come  one  bright  little  son,  Hubert  Lee,  who  is  the  joy 
and  pride  of  the  household. 

With  material  success  already  assured,  a  happy  domestic  life,  and 
with  the  approbation  of  business  and  social  friends,  it  would  seem  that 
there  is  little  left  to  be  desired  by  our  subject.  His  career  should  be  the 
source  of  great  pride,  and  an  object  of  emulation  to  others. 


JOHN  MASON — Two  of  the  largest  individual  farmers  in  the  coun- 
ty and  gentlemen  who  have  made  farming  a  great  success,  financially, 
are  John  Mason  and  his  brother  Edward.  The  farm  of  the  former  con- 
sists of  240  acres,  and  lies  in  Rutland  township.  These  gentlemen  are 
vigorous  and  industrious  workmen  and  show  by  the  successful  conduct 
of  their  farms  what  may  be  done  by  industry  and  economy  in  southern 
Kansas. 

John  Mason  was  born  in  Devonshire,  England,  in  December,  1834. 


760  UlSTOUY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

He  rciuaiiKd  in  his  native  land  until  he  was  twenty-oue  years  of  age, 
when  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  ocean  and  located  at  Leavenworth,  Kan- 
sas. There  he  engaged  with  the  United  States  government  as  a  team- 
ster for  two  years.  He  remained  at  this  i)lace  until  18()9.  when,  in  the 
month  of  .tiilv.  he  located  <in  his  jiresciit  farm,  where  he  has  since  con- 
tinued   10   reside. 

jturinu  ili.^  war  and  inuiiedialelv  after.  Mr.  .Mason  was  contidential 
scoiii  and  messenger  for  tlie  famous  cavalry  leader.  "I'hir"  Slieridan. 

.\  brother  of  our  subject.  Henry  .Mason,  located  in  (nierokee  connty, 
where  he  siibse(|uently  died,  while 'still  another  brother,  .laiii.\s,  located 
in  and  died  in  Kniland  township.  The  jiarents  of  these  sons  died  in 
Kngland.  as  stated  in  the  sketch  of  Kdward  Mas(Mi  elsewhere  in  this  book. 

•l(din  .Mason  married  in  the  county,  in  1S7.'{,  Kmily  Howard,  a  nati\e 
of  Indiana.     She  came  to  Montgomeiy  connty,  Kansas,  with  her  jiariMits 

but  two  of  whom  ale  now  living.  \iz;  Minnie  Maw  who  mairied  ('land 
Kin-  of  Cotieyville.  with  her  two  children:  Kthel'and  Willie.  The  sei-- 
ond  child.  Thomas  Kdward,  now  resi<les  on  the  home  farm.  He  married 
Marv  L(dlv.  of  this  townshi]!.  and  Ihev  h.-ive  one  .hild.  John,  named  in 
honor  of  his  grandfather. 

.Mr.  Mason  is  a  man  who  attends  studiously  to  his  own  affairs,  con- 
cerning himself  veiy  little  with  inalters  of  laiblic  interest.  He,  how- 
<'ver.  can  alwa\s  be  deiiended  u])on  to  su])]port  measures  which  have  for 
their  object  the  betterment  of  conditions  in  his  neighlxuhood.  educa- 
tiiuially,  leligiously  m-  otheiwise.  He  is  a  consistent  mendx'r  and  liberal 
sujiporter  of  the  Fiiends  church  and  votes  the  Democratic  ticket.  He 
jiiid  his  family  are  lo(d<ed  ujkmi  as  one  of  the  juost  substantial  residents 
of  the  township,  where  all  unite  in  giving  them  the  esteem  which  they 
deserve. 


t'HARLKS  .\.  KN'.KXS — The  life  of  the  extensive  farmer  mentioned 
as  the  subject  of  this  sketch  almost  began  in  .Montgomery  county,  Kan- 
sas. He  is  a  natixc  of  the  Km]iiie  State,  but  was  only  five  years  of  age 
when  his  parents  cast  Hieir  lot  with  the  new  country  of  Kansas.  He 
was  born  .lanuaiy  1.!.  ISO."),  in  Oneida  county.  New  York,  and  his  father 
was  the  late  (ieiuge  II.  Evans,  who  pioneered  to  Montgomery  county  in 
iscii.  took  a  tract  of  land  as  a  claim  in  section  I'l,  township  31,  range  16, 
returi,<'(l  east  and  brought  out  his  family  the  following  spring  and 
housed  them  in  the  rude  cabin  provided  foi-  them  by  his  own  hands. 

(ieorge  11.  Kvans  was  born  in  Oneida  county.  New  York,  also,  his 
birthday  beitig  .lanuary  L'L',  is:ill.  His  father,  Th'onms  Evans,  was  born 
in  Tenby,  England,  August  t.  ISOl,  and  his  mother.  Elizabeth  Bailey, 
was  orjojnally  a  subject  of  an  lOnglish  king,  and  was  born  in  Wichwich, 
lOiid.,    October    l.j,    liSlii.      The    parents     established    the    family    in 


i!>,  when,  in  the 

,.    )i:n<    Sillff    OOP- 


i 


ill  It;. IN    iji    \iL»  ju^ijuliiuirtiooil,   tdu 
:<•  i>;  it  consistent  member  and  lib.' 

.Miiii,\  aiv  1  juL>cu  iij.uu  lit,  one  of 
wnship,  where  all  unite  in  givii,: 


•  hen  111..   ,  .  . 
!-^  born  Janii 
i-^  the  late  (. 


iiifi;  spring  and 

•wn  h'lTids. 


'iKT    l.X    1.812.      llie 


EVANS  AND    FAMILY. 


HISTORY  OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  763 

township,  the  subject  of  this  brief  sketcli.  He  setth'd  liei-c  from  Iiuliaiiji 
in  1885  and.  until  1S!>7.  resided  on  liis  farm  six  miles  nortli  of  Cherry  vale. 
He  has  protited  h\  his  i'X]icriciirc  in  Kansas  where  the  productiveness 
of  Mo7itj^omery  coniiiy's  soil  lias  niateiially  added  to  his  financial  stand, 
ing. 

Our  subject  is  a  native  of  tl aslci'ii   slmre.  havin":  been  born  in 

Sussex  county,  Delaware,  Sejii.  is,  1S40.  .lulm  Quiglej,  his  father, 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  I'ennsyivauia,  and  was  married  to  Margaret 
Valance,  a  lady  of  that  city.  .Vbont  1848,  the  parents  moved  westward 
and  located  in  Lal'orte  county,  Indiana,  where  they  died;  the  father 
passing  away  at  seventy-foui-  yeais  of  age  and  the  mother  at  sixty- 
two  years.  Of  their  old-time  f.imily  of  eigiiteen  children,  nine  lived 
to  maturity  and  only  foui'  yet  survive,  as  follows:  Thomas  L.,  George 
W.,  Mary  A.,  and  Leonard. 

George  W.  Qiiigley  attended  the  country  schools  of  Indiana 
irregularly  from  his  eighth  to  his  niueteenth  ,\i'ar.  He  was  yet  with 
his  jtarents  when  the  Hebellion  of  IStU  came  on  and  he  enlisted  in  the 
call  for  three  month's  troojis  in  the  !»th  Indiana  regiment.  He  reen- 
listed  for  three  years,  after  the  ex])iration  of  his  first  term,  in  com- 
pany "F,"  iJltth  Vol.  Inf.  The  war  not  yet  over  when  this  enlistment 
expired,  he  veteranized  and  supi)oited  the  fortunes  of  the  Union  'till 
its  last  foe  had  laid  down  his  arms.  His  divi.sion  was  commanded  by 
one  of  the  ^fcrooks  and  among  some  of  the  engagements  in  which 
he  ]iartici]>ated  were:  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  Stone  River,  Lookout 
Mountain,  Jlissionary  Kidge  and  Gettysburg.  He  was  captured  three 
times  but  always  made  his  escape;  at  one  time  overpowering  the  guard 
himself  and  enabling  forty  jtrisoners  to  get  away.  The  most  severe 
of  his  three  wounds  he  received  at  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  where  a 
bayonet  ])assed  through  his  wrist  and  came  out  under  his  thumb. 
He  was  knocked  down  three  times  within  ten  minutes  by  bullets  graz- 
ing his  skull,  on  a  certain  battlefield,  and  the  Rebels  contributed  a 
ball  to  his  right  hip  which  he  will  carry  to  his  grave.  No  matter  how 
hot  the  fight  or  Innv  severe  his  wounds  he  kept  his  face  to  the  enemy 
and  stayed  the  battle  tlirough.  He  wa.**  discharged  at  Indianapolis, 
Indiana,  with  a  service  of  four  years,  nine  months  and  four  days  to  his 
credit,  which  service  has  since  had  the  effect  of  dimming  his  eyesight 
almost  to  the  point  of  blindness. 

In  1872,  ]\Ir.  Quigley  married  JIary  Ann  Tate,  an  Indiana  lady  who 
died  in  189:.,  leaving  two  children:  Maggie,  wife  of  Alexander  Phebus, 
and  Jennie,  who  died  small.  In  1897,  Mr.  Quigley  married  Hattie 
"Munger,  who  came  to  Kansas  young  wifh  her  jjarents  from  the  State 
of  Illinois.  Millie,  George  Dewey  and  May  are  the  product  of  the  mar- 
riage of  ^Ir.  and  Mrs.  Quigley. 

The  Quigley  family  home  is  situated  six  miles  north  of  Cherryvale 
where  they  own  one  hundrtnl  and  twenty  acres.    Mr.  Quigley  has  been 


704  UlSTOKY    OK    MONTtiOMEKY    COUiNTY,    KANSAS. 

constable  of  his  township  and  while  he  was  bronsrht  up  ;i  Democrat 
his  politieal  0])inions  have  changed  and  he  now  <i;ives  his  support  to 
ihe  Republican   party  at  the  polls. 


W.  D.  VANDERPOOL,  M.  1).,  physician  and  surgeon  of  Cherryvale, 
Kansas,  was  born  in  Ray  county.  Missouri.  July  2Cth,  1852.  On  the 
father's  side  the  Yanderpools  are  of  Holland  Dutch  extraction  and 
on  the  mother's,  pure  German.  Grandfather  Anthony  Vanderpool  came 
from  Tennessee  to  Missouri  in  1880,  and  died  there  at  the  af>e  of  sixty- 
flve  years.     His  wife  was  a   des(<Midanl   of   the    Vount    family   of  Ten- 


Our  subject's  parents  were  S.  ( '.  Vanderpool  and  Susan  (ireen. 
They  were  both  native  Tennessee  ])eopl(\  The  fattier  was  a  farmer 
and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  came  with  his  jiarents  to  Ray 
county,  Missouri,  where  he  settled,  entered  land  and  became  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  the  state.  He  was  a  prominent  and  devout  member  of 
the  Baptist  church,  as  was  also  his  wife.  He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one,  W'hile  his  wife  died  at  the  age  of  fifty  years. 

Dr.  Vanderpool  was  the  ehh'st  of  four  children,  all  of  whom  are 
living.  The  second  child  was  .Amanda,  Mrs.  Sti'plien  Lybarger,  of 
Homestead,  Kansas.  The  third  child  is  Mrs.  ('.  .\.  Cowley,  who  lives 
.at  Cottonwood  Falls.  Her  husband  is  a  mercliant  and  siMved  two 
terms  as  Treasurer  of  Chase  county.  Kansas,  ^^■tlile  the  foiiith  child 
is  Dr.  ,7.  E.,  a  practicing  physician  of  Grove  <'ity,  Kansas. 

•  Our  subject  received  a  common  srlnxd  education  in  the  locality  in 
which  be  was  reared.  He  taught  school  for  seven  years  in  the  country, 
with  great  success.  While  employed  at  this  work  he  began  reading 
medicine,  as  he  could  find  time.  For  a  year  he  read  under  J.  D.  Gant^ 
of  Knoxville,  Missouri,  and  later  attend<»d  the  Missouii  ^Medical  College 
of  St.  Louis,  where  he  graduated  in  1882.  He  began  juactice  the  same 
year  at  I'lymouth.  Jlissouri,  where  he  lived  for  four  years,  afterward 
moving  to  western  Kansas,  where  lie  luaiticed  a  short  time  at  Leota. 
After  that,  for  fourteen  years,  in  Arlington,  Kansas,  whence  he  moved 
to  Cherryvale  in  1!»(I2.  He  is  the  jiroprietor  of  the  liesi  ei|iiiii|ied  drug 
store  in  the  citv  and  has  other  substantial  interests. 

He  was  married  in  188!),  to  Miss  May  H.  Ilehir.  a  ii.uive  of  Illinois, 
•and  a  daughter  of  .lames  Hehir,  who  was  a  nati\i-  ot  (' 
father  was  a  farmei-,  at  one  time  a  miner  and  was  a  soldiei 
HI.  Vol.  Inf.  lie  served  several  years,  returning  at  tli.' 
war  with  lie;illli  badly  impaired  by  rigorous  service  in  tin 
<1«'atli  occinred  in  ISSii.  ;it  the  ;iii;c  of  forty-eight,  his  wife 
two  veins  |iicvioiis  at  the  a^e  .if  lliirlv-lwo.  Their  one  c 
A'amierpool. 

To    the    inairiauc    of    Docior   and    .Mrs.    Naiideroool    h;i 


'aiiadii. 

The 

r  in  the 

8:ird 

close   o 

f   the 

le   field. 

His 

having 

died 

.•hild   is 

.Mrs. 

IS     bc'll 

born 

oue  child,  Olaiid  H.,  who  is  now  a  fifth  sirade  student  in  llie  city  school. 
Mrs.  Vanderpool  is  a  member  and  leading  worker  of  the  rresbvterian 
church,  while  the  Doctor  holds  a  membership  in  the  Afodern  Woodmen 
and  the  Ancient  Order  of  P.yramids,  his  wife  also  being  a  member  of  the 
latter  and  at  present  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  order. 

The  success  which  has  attended  Dr.  Vandepool  is  particularly 
gratifying,  in  that  he  is  a  self-made  man  in  the  truest  sense  of  the 
word.  He  taught  school  to  procure  the  means  to  secure  for  himself 
his  medical  education  and  began  at  the  lowest  "round"  of  the  ladder. 
He  and  his  wife,  who  is  a  valued  assistant  in  the  drug  store,  are  popular 
citizens  in  C'herryvale  and  are  potent  factors  in  the  city's  business  life 
and  the  esteem  in  wliirh  tlicy  arc  licld  is  general  and  uniform  in  this 
part  of  the  county. 


CYKl'S  (".  PAXSON,  M.  D.— In  18S4,  the  subject  of  this  personal 
sketch  united  his  fortunes  with  the  people  of  Montgomery  county 
and  became  a  citizen  of  Rutland  township.  While  his  professional 
duties  have  limited  his  sphere  of  action  in  the  direction  of  th<'  public 
welfare,  yet  he  has  crowded  into  tlie  intervals  of  professional  inaction 
many  acts  promotive  of  the  iniblic  weal  and  conducive  to  the  well-being 
of  his  locality. 

Cyrus  C.  Paxson  is  descended  from  Virginia  antecedents,  his 
I)aternal  grandfather  having  come  out  of  the  Old  Dominion  and  settled 
in  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  in  the  first  years  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
He  was  twice  married  and  reai'ed  a  family  of  twelve  children.  His 
name  was  Benjamin  l*axson  and  the  mother  country  of  his  European 
ancestry  was  England.  Charles  Paxson,  the  youngest  child  of  Benjamin 
Paxson,  was  born  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  in  1810,  came  west  into 
Indiana  as  a  young  man  and  died  in  Howard  county  in  ISo.S.  He  was 
a  farmer  and  was  united  in  marriage  with  Louisa,  a  daughter  of  Paul 
Cotliu  who  emigrated  from  North  Carolina  early  and  was  a  pioneer 
settler  of  Indiana.  Cyrus  C.  was  tlie  oldest  and  is  the  only  stirviving 
heir  of  Charles  and  Louisa  Paxson.  His  mother  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-seven,  leaving  him  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  Neces- 
sity compelled  him  to  seek  the  field  of  industry  to  supjily  the  necessities 
of  life  and  he  turned  bis  attention  to  farm  work.  He  labored  as  a 
monthly  wage  earner  'till  past  his  majority  when  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing with  a  degree  of  independence,  yet. as  a  renter.  He  continued  this 
some  ten  years  and  then  took  up  the  study  of  medicine  in  Howard 
county,  Indiana.  His  old  preceptor  was  Dr.  Holiday,  of  Parke  county, 
Indiana,  and  when  he  had  completed  his  preliminary  reading  he  entered 
Rush  Medical  College,  at  Chicago,  where  he  completed  his  course, 
graduating  in  1807.  He  located  for  practice  at  Ridge  Farm,  Illinois, 
in    ^'ermillion    county,   where   he   ministered   to    the   jdiysical    ailments 


766  HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

of  its  ciii/i'iislii]!  soiuo  twenty  years.  Fioin  this  jioint  he  tiansfencd 
his  family  and  his  interests  to  Montsonieiy  ((uiiity,  Kansas,  wlieie  ho 
is  (inc  of    rlie  esteemed  and  honored  citizens. 

I)i-.  I'axson  was  horn  in  Henry  cnniily.  Indiana.  Octolier  1,  is:>(i. 
Tiic  inral  schools  fnrnished  him  with  his  elementary  edncation  and  the 
activities  of  the  farm  and  field,  his  j)liysical  exei'cise  and  development. 
He  was  first  married  in  Indiana  in  lSr)(>,  his  wife  bein<i  ilatilda  Carter, 
who  died  in  ISfU,  leaving  one  child.  Flora  A.,  wife  of  John  Yates,  of 
Whiting,  Iowa.  November  lit,  1S(!7,  Dr.  Paxson  married  Louisa  Mack, 
who  moved  into  Indiana  from  Ohio  in  an  early  day.  By  his  second 
marriage  (he  doctor  ha.s  a  son,  Charles  M.  Paxson,  born  Nov.  11.  1868. 
Tlie  latter  is  Cnder  Sheriff  of  Montgomery  conntv,  Kansas,  and  mar- 
ried .\ddie  Wilev.  Their  children  are:  Orville.  Flora.  Llovd.  Vada  and 
Frank  M. 

Dr.  Paxson  manifests  no  interest  in  jiolitics  save  as  a  patriotic 
citizen  of  his  connly.  His  ancestors  were  Whigs  and  when  he  came 
to  choose  a  jtarty  he  pinned  his  faith  to  the  Ke|niblicans  and  lias 
proven  a  fii-m  and  steadfast  friend.  He  is  a  blaster  ilason  and  a  mem- 
ber of  Foi-titnde  TiOdge  of  Indejtendence. 


.WDKKW  J.\('KSON  P.rSP.Y.  M.  D.— In  (he  person  of  Dr.  A.  .1. 
linsliy  I  lie  peo])ie  of  Montgomery  eonnty  ai'e  presented  with  one  of  the 
anciciii  huidmarks  of  the  departed  frontier.  The  emblems  of  civiliza- 
tion have  o])li(ei'ated  all  evidences  of  the  primitive  border,  save  the 
hoary  headed  [)ioneer  whose  halting  speech  and  heavy  tread  mark  the 
near  apjiroach  of  the  final  day.  Weighted  with  years  yet  filled  with 
ho])e  and  enlivened  by  the  consciousness  of  duty  done,  our  subject 
awaiis  I  he  inc\  italilc  summons  with  resignation.  Having  spent  more 
lliaii  a  lliird  of  .i  century  in  identification  with  the  development  work 
of  a  m\v  country,  participating  in  its  toil,  ministering  to  its  afflicted, 
encouraging  its  dejected  and  rejoicing  in  its  successes  arid  achievements, 
he  occujiies  an  unusual  position  as  one  of  the  characters  of  his  county. 

During  (lie  year  ISO!*,  Dr.  Rusby  brought  his  family  and  effects 
from  Cosjioilou  county,  Ohio,  journeying  two  months  enroute  to  the 
Osage  lands  of  Kansas.  Two  teams  trans]iorted  the  liousehold  of  six 
and  (he  liitie  hand  was  unloaded  at  the  door  of  the  Chouteau  cabin, 
occu|)ying  (lieii-  half  sectioii  of  land  which  the  Doctor  had  purchased. 
A  claim  of  one  hundred  ami  sixty  acres  was  also  taken  and  within  six 
years  I  he  trait  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  was  under  board 
feni-e  fiom  tile  sawmill  of  Dickerson  and  Reeves  nearby.  As  the 
counliy  s<'((led  uji,  the  Doctor  reduced  his  realty  holdings,  reserving 
only  the  farm  in  section  34.  township  81.  range  10. 

For  a  few  years  the  Indiana  and  whites  occuiiied  Montgomery 
county  jointly.     The  white  man  was  there  by  sufferance  and   it  occa- 


i^^ismis^mL^^m 


ina  m  ]So»;.  Iijs 
a-  child.,  Florn 


s  point  he  transl<  rn-i] 
vAy.  Kansas,  wliero  Jur 

'  ji  and  tJio 

I .  iM       ,  i  .l.-velopment. 

•  bfinfj  Matilda  CaHpr, 

wif(   of  John  Yates,  f.f 

married  I-onina  Mark, 

V    ilav.     l{v  his  pi'fond 

>'K  Vforu  ?Jov.  n,  186S. 

Kansas,  and  mar- 

I>lov(l.  Vada  and 


Dr.  A.  J. 

one  of  the 

■;<  luis  of  civiliza- 

'lorder,  save  the 

tn-iid  lUitrli  tlio 

:■   y:>ib.  yet   filb'd    wifit 

;.itY   done,   onr  Hiibjecr 

;i  oiri!'  Njient  more 

i)i,-nt  work" 

-  afflicted, 

Mevenients, 

his  count V. 

lid   effects 

i.     .     .  ..lite  to  the' 

■1  the  household  of  six 
if  the  rhoiitean  cabin, 

..    Doctor  had   i i  ik-.-' 

as  also  taken  ani,. 
;htv   acres    was    m 


4 


•   1.   *S   •!  I 


A.  J.  BUSBY,   M.   D. 


ship,  near  Tahlc  Mouiui.  Here  the  fatlicr  died  a  f.w  vcars  lat.  r.  tlie 
inothcr  still  rcsidinj;  on  the  old  lionicstcafl. 

Mr.  Clifford  was  reared  and  educated  in  liis  native  connly  and  eou- 
tiuued  to  reside  with  his  parents  six  years  after  his  riiajoi-it y.  H(;  then 
engaged  in  farming  on  his  own  aceount  and  in  IMSS.  pui«has<'d  the  i)ie€ft 
of  land  he  is  now  cultivating.  It  lies  in  Indepench'uce  township,  three 
and  one-half  miles  southeast  of  the  county-seat,  and  consists  of  eighty 
acres  of  fine  laud,  well  watered  and  in  a  good  stale  of  cultivation.  The 
intelligent  methods  used  by  Mr.  Clifford  on  (his  farm  has  placed  him 
in  the  front  rank  among  the  successful  agriculturists  of  (he  county.  He 
is  looked  upon  as  an  authority  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  proper  crop 
rotation  and  is  an  excellent  judge  of  farm  animals  of  all  kinds.  In 
his  social  relations  Mr.  Clifford  is  most  happy,  numbering  among  his 
friends  the  leading  men  of  affairs  in  the  county.  He  is  not  inclined  to 
politics,  but  can  always  be  counted  on  to  support  by  his  vote  the  party 
of  Jefferson  and  Jackson. 

Marriage  was  contracted  by  our  subject,  November  12,  1S90.  Mary, 
daughter  of  John  and  Nancy  Flack,  was  the  maiden  name  of  Mrs. 
Clifford.  Her  father  was  a  resjjected  farmer  of  (he  county,  his  death 
occurring  in  1882,  his  wife  jiassing  to  her  rest  soon  after.  They  were 
natives,  respectively,  of  Worcestei',  Ohio,  and  Pittsburg,  Penn.,  and 
they  reared  a  family  of  seven  children — Frank,  Mary,  James,  Gardner, 
Mattie,  John  and  Ella. 

The  problem  of  life  is  well  on  towar<l  solution  when  we  have  found 
an  occni)ation  to  suit  us  and  have  health  of  body  and  mind  to  i)ursue  it. 
The  problem  is  being  solved  successfully  because  of  these  conditions 
being  met  by  o\ir  subject,  and  he  and  his  gocMl  wife  are  enjoying  the 
deserved  esteem  of  a  host  of  friends  and  neighbors  as  they  travel  along 
life's  journey. 


PATRICK  C.  <;LKNNEN— Had  the  rulers  of  Mreat  Britain  been  as 
wise  in  the  early  ])art  of  the  lltth  century  as  King  ICdward  of  the  present, 
the  Emerald  Isle  would  now  be  in  the  hands  of  a  loyal,  home-loving  and 
home-owning  people.  lint  'tis  an  "ill  wind  that  blows  nobody  good," 
and  (ireat  Britain's  loss  of  so  many  tine  citizens  i)roved  the  Great  Re- 
publii"s  gain. 

From  County  Tipperary,  Ireland,  there  came  to  this  country  in 
18:19.  Pierce  Clennen  and  his  son,  Patrick  C.  Clennen,  an  honored 
resident  of  West  Cherry  townshii),  being  then  a  twelve-year-old  lad. 
Pierce  was  the  son  of  Patrick,  and  one  of  five  children,  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  being:  James,  I'atrick,  Hetty  and  Mary.  Pierce  had 
married  in  his  native  connTy,  ^Margaret  McLaughlin  (daughter  of  Pat- 
rick i.    who   became    the    mother   of:    John.    I'atrick    < '.    (subject    of   this 


sketch)  William,  James,  Pierce,  Margaret  and  Katharine.  The  family 
settled  in  Huron  Province,  Canada. 

Patrick  C.  Clennen,  the  gentleman  whose  name  initiates  this  review, 
left  Canada  with  his  family  in  the  fall  of  1870,  and  came  out  to  the 
Sunflower  State,  where  he  took  up  a  claim  near  Girard.  This  he 
relinquished  the  following  spring,  and,  coming  to  Montgomery  Co. 
purchased  of  William  Tinker  his  right  to  160  acres  of  section  17,  range 
16,  township  32,  paying  therefor  |800.  This  has  since  constituted  his 
home,  though  by  his  skillful  hand  it  has  been  greatly  transformed  in  ap- 
pearance. Since  his  coming  to  the  county,  Mr.  (Menimen  has  been  a  i>o- 
tent  factor  in  shajting  its  institutions,  and  he  and  his  family  which  he 
has  ivared  stand  second  to  none  in  the  couiiiy  for  reliability  and  integ- 
rity. 

Mr.  Clennen  in  1859,  was  happily  joined  in  marriage  to  .Margaret, 
daughter  of  Daniel  and  Bridget  (Downey)  Moran,  the  parents  being 
natives  of  Kings  county,  Ireland,  while  she  was  born  in  the  Province 
of  Toronto.  The  fruit  of  this  union  has  been  seven  children,  as  follows: 
John,  who  married  Ann  Young  and  whose  children  are:  Maggie,  Mary, 
Lizzie,  Bertha,  Lena,  Leroy  and  an  infant;  John  lives  in  Cofteyville; 
Thomas,  living  in  Denver,  Col.,  married  L(mise  Trout  and  has  two 
children— Margaret  and  Howard;  Patrick  resides  in  Montgomery 
county;  his  wife's  name  was  Clara  S(iuires  and  she  is  the  mother  of 
Mabel  and  Thonuis;  Jasper,  of  Montgomery,  married  Ollie  Little  and  has 
one  child.  Howard;  Mary,  is  a  single  lady  at  home;  Maggie  is  Mrs. 
Josejih  Kellev,  of  this  county;  her  two  children  are:  Selva  and  Clara. 
The  voiinirest  of  the  family  is  William,  who  is  single  and  resides  in 
Dcnv'.T. 


E.  B.  PENN— The  gentleman  here  mentioned  is  one  of  the  leading 
contracting  carpenters  of  Independence,  and  sustains  an  excellent  repu- 
tation as  a  workman  and  citizen.  He  was  born  in  Highland  county, 
Ohio,  June  22,  184!),  the  son  of  Lloyd  and  Mary  (Core)  Penn.  natives 
of  Ohio.  Lloyd  Penn  was  a  well-to  do  farmer  and  influential  citizen 
and  passed  his  life  in  the  aforesaid  county,  dying  in  July  of  IStil.  He 
was  twice  married.  After  the  death  of  our  subject's  mother,  in  1852, 
he  took  to  wife  Mrs.  Harriet  Heiser.  To  the  flrst  marriage  there  were 
five  children— John  W.,  who  died  in  1861;  Kslher  .\.,  ]N[rs.  W.  H.  Head, 
of  Hillsboro,  ().;  William,  of  Leesburg.  (>.;  Jamrs,  of  Mt.  Carmel,  O.,  and 
E.  B.  Of  the  second  family  there  were:  Sli>|.li('ii,  of  London,  O. ;  Spencer, 
of  Cynthiana,  O.;  Kulh,  Mr.s.  John  Sliijilon,  of  Ifainsboro,  O. ,  and 
Joseph,  of  Pike  county,  Ohio. 

Our  subjecl  was  married  in  ISC!),  !.•  Ucbccca  A.  Caiiier,  who  is  the 
liiotluT  of :  John  I..,  a  bookkeper  of  St.  I.ouis,  iiiaiiird  Llllie  K'eed,  whose 
children   an-:   Uutli   aii<l    Ib-ster;   Hose  ().,   .Mrs.   -Iciivll   Otwell,  a    farmer 


JACKSON   GRAY  AND  FAMILY. 


i  1^  « 


*  1 1 


•rV 


J^  €  I 
«  «  ii 

«  f  f^ 


*  e  €  '\ 

I    i  ¥ 


JACKSON  GRAY  AND  FAMILY 


m 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  77  I 

ueai',  IndcpoHdence;  one  child,  Jei-aldine;  Cora,  a  milliner  of  rittslmig, 
Kan.,  and  Dora,  a  successful  teacher  of  the  county.  Mrs.  reuu  was 
born  in  the  kShenandoah  valley  of  Virginia,  the  daughter  of  Rev.  John 
M.  and  Mary  (Pitman)  Canter.  Her  father  was  a  prominent  minister 
of  the  I'.  B.  church  for  long  years  prior  to  tlie  war  in  that  section 
of  the  "Old  Dominion''  state,  and,  later,  in  Ohio,  and  was  noted  as  a 
most  successful  worker  in  revival  services.  Th(»  <'anter  home  was 
uufortunat<»ly  in  the  path  of  both  armies  as  they  i>assed  up  and  down 
the  valley  and  became  the  rendezvous  of  each  in  turn.  Rev.  Canter 
was  a  Union  sympathizer,  but  took  no  part  in  the  fighting;  he  and  his 
family  confining  their  attention  to  caring  for  the  wounded  of  both  sides. 
During  the  noted  battle  of  Fisher's  Hill  the  Canter  home  was  between 
the  contending  lines,  but  while  cannon  balls  frequently  struck  near  the 
house,  no  one  was  injured.  The  family  finally  found  it  necessary  to 
refugee  into  Ohio,  where  they  found  a  welcome  in  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Penn's  grandfather,  John  Canter,  who  lived  near  Hillsboro.  Rev. 
Canter  continued  his  labors  in  the  ministry  in  Ohio  until  his  death  at 
Athens,  June  6,  1888,  the  mothei-  having  passed  to  her  reward  in  1878. 
There  were  seven  daughters  in  the  family,  as  follows:  Mary  E.,  Mrs. 
Jacob  Hayse,  of  Independence,  Kansas;  Hester,  W..  Mrs.  Henry  Cantor, 
of  Inde])endence;  Martha  C..  of  Jones  Tropp,  Ohio;  Mrs.  E.  B.  Penn, 
Emily  J.,  Mrs..  A.  Neel,  of  Lawrence  county,  O. ;  Rosanna,  who  died  at 
nineteen,  and  Eve  F.,  Mrs.  Charles  Lake,  of  Indejieudence. 

E.  B.  Penn  received  a  fair  education,  after  wliich  he  was  apprenticed 
to  the  carpenter's  ti-ade,  his  first  etforts  for  himself  beginning  in  1871, 
in  Highland  county,  Ohio.  He  continued  operations  ther(>  until  1884, 
when  he  settled  in  Independence,  Kansas,  since  which  time  he  has  been 
identified  with  the  progress  of  the  city.  His  work  during  this  time  has 
been  of  the  highest  character,  many  of  the  best  r<'sidences  and  busi- 
ness buildings  of  tlie  city  having  been  erected  under  his  supervision. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  United  Workmen  and  of  the  Select  Knights,  is  a 
Republican  in  ]ioliti(s,  and  lie  and  his  familv  aie  leading  workers  in 
the  M.  E.  clinrch. 


JACKSON  (iRAY--In  the  early  spring  of  18(;!»,  Jackscui  (iray,  in 
company  with  the  settlers,  Sylvester  (Jray,  C.  W.  Leedy  and  Alfred 
Catron,  with  families,  drove  through  from  Carter  Co.,  Kentucky,  and 
each  head  of  a  family  took  a  claim  in  Montgomery  county,  Kansas. 
A  wife  and  three  children  and  a  few  household  goods,  together  with  his 
team,  constituted  the  Jackson  Gray  possessions  and  he  established 
himself  on  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  section  4,  township  31, 
range  10,  where  he  erected  a  small  cabin,  14x14  feet.  This  modest  and 
rude  dwelling  was  of  short  duration  for  it  was  fired  by  the  torch  of 
one  of  White  Hair's  band  of  Osages  and  the  family  was  left  homeless, 


and  even  ordered  not  to  rebuild  in  this  country.  The  baud  absented 
itself  from  the  county  soon  after  this  and  while  it  was  away  a  new 
house  went  u()  on  Jackson's  (juarter  and  its  owner  treated  the 
returning  band  so  kindly  and  dealt  with  them  so  liberally  that  he 
Avon  their  friendship  and  remained  un(lislnrl)ed  in  the  peaceful  posses- 
sion of  his  claim. 

The  tribe  so  ingratiated  itself  ujion  the  confidence  of  the  Gray 
family  as  to  warrant  the  parents  in  jx-rniitting  their  son,  Samuel, 
then  just  large  enough  to  run  about,  to  visit  the  village  of  White  Hair's 
people,  near  by,  and  play  with  the  little  papooses  and  be  thrown  up  in 
a  blanket  just  as  the  Red  Man  was  wont  to  do.  But  while  Mr.  Gray 
was  unmolested  in  his  residence  he  was  not  allowed  to  cultivate  more 
than  a  small  tract  of  land  until  the  Indians  were  removed  from  the 
county  in  accordance  with  the  anangenients  made  in  the  treaty  for  the 
Osage  Diminished  Reserve. 

When  the  county  was  left  in  iindispuliMl  ])(isscssiim  of  the  white 
man,  the  settlers  engaged  in  earnest  in  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  agricul- 
ture and  grazing.  Mr.  Gray,  among  others,  Avas  encouraged  to  exert 
his  best  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  family  and  to  the  end  that,  today,  his 
farm  embiaces,  instead  of  a  single  (juarter  of  laud,  five  hundred  and 
forty-five  acres,  much  of  which  is  under  and  yielding  to  the  magic  touch 
of  its  intelligent  and  practical  owner.  The  second  pioneer  cabin  gave 
way,  in  ten  years,  to  a  modern  and  ronifml.iblc  farm  residence,  then  one 
of  the  best  in  the  township,  r.ni  ns  ranir  ijito  existence  as  fast  as  they 
were  needed  for  the  acconinnKlatioii  ul  ilic  gi-iin  and  stock,  and  tlie 
decoration  of  the  laiKl.scapc  wilh  Irci-s  and  shrubs  during  all  thi-  years 
produced  a  })leasing  and  civili/.ing  cHimI  and  marked  the  Gray  settlers 
as  substantial  ami  jinigressive  ritizeiis. 

Jackson  Gray  was  born  in  Wythe  ( 
He  received  a  meager  education  in  the 
state  and  was  employed,  as  he  neared  i 
In  1801,  he  went  to  Carter  Co.,  Kentu.ky.  v 
was  occupied  witii  its  niltivalion  'till  li 
spring  of  ISr.n. 

Klizalieth  Cray,  iiiollier  cf  oni-  siibjcri.  was  a  native  of  Wythe  Co., 
Virginia.  She  hail  fuiir  cliildicn.  viz:  Svhesl.-i',  of  Neodesha,  Kansas; 
Mrs.  l-:iiza  .Vewnian,  (if  Smith  Co.,  \iiginia;  .lacksnn,  and  Mrs.  Mary 
I.eedv,  of  Montgoniei-y  counlv,  Kansas. 

Jackson  Gray  married  Calhei-ine  Sli.^llon,  a  naliv  of  Wythe  Co.. 
Virginia,  and  a  daughter  of  Creel  and  .Marv  i  llauniliell)  Slielhm.  of 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  respe.i  i  vely,  .Vlr.  and  .Mis.  (iiay  are  the 
parents  of  William  S,,  of  Monlgoniery  lonnly,  wilh  eliildr.'ii,  Samuel 
and  >\'illiam:  Samuel  (Irav,  of  .Monluomerv  rouiitv.  wilh  rliildren, 
Edward  and  ilow.ml,  and  .Miss  lairy  C.iay,  y.-l  wilh  \hv  domestic 
circle. 


^'il■ginia,    Sept.    i:'.. 

,    1S40. 

lools   then   comnmn 

to   the 

ihood,   as  a   bi'ick-mi 

i.ulder. 

re  he  puiiliased  a  far 

in  and 

removal    lo    Kansas 

in   the 

William  and  Leonora  Watson.  Tlu'ir  only  child,  Maud  Todd,  lives  at 
Independence,  Kansas.  To  a  second  wif(>.  Leonora  Watson,  a  sister 
of  the  first  wife,  was  lioin  one  ciiild,  Mrs.  Josie  Henneman,  of  Independ- 
ence. 

The  lady  who  now  presides  ov.-r  I  he  home  of  Mr.  Hork  was  ifary, 
daughter  of'.lohn  and  Susan  O'Dare.  They  have  one  son.  Tlieophilus, 
named  for  his  jia(eriial  grandfather. 


MILO  .M.  L()N(J — One  of  ilontgomery  county's  good  citizens  whose 
four  years"  residence  in  the  county  has  been  suthcient  to  establish 
the  fact  that  society  is  not  the  loser  by  reason  of  his  coming,  is  Milo 
M.  Long,  a  worthy  farmer  of  Independence  townshiji. 

Ml.  Long's  nativity  dates  in  Peoria  county.  III.,  April  i,  1815. 
For  fifty-four  years  he  lived  on  the  home  farm,  coming  to  Montgomery 
Co.,  Kansas,  in  March,  189!).  Mr.  Long's  family  is  an  old  and  honored 
one,  whose  different  members  in  their  time  have  contributed  much  to 
the  upbuilding  of  our  free  institutions,  and  were  always  found  on  the 
side  of  right  and  patriotism  in  the  different  contests  at  arms  which 
the  republic  has  waged. 

Henry  Long,  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject,  came  to  this 
country  from  Ireland  in  the  early  part  of  the  lltth  cenlnry.  He  married 
Miss  Irwin,  and  to  him  were  born,  near  Natchez,  .Miss.,  two  sons,  John 
and  James.  The  latter  at  maturity,  came  up  into  Illinois  and  was 
there  joined  in  marriage  with  Nancy  Proctor,  daughter  of  Reuben  and 
Sarah  ( Mathews i  Proctor.  Their  children  were:  Milo  M..  honored  sub- 
ject of  this  review;  .Mrs.  Mary  J.  Rose,  of  this  county;  John  H.,  of 
Oklahoma;  Sarah  ('.,  Mrs.  Richardson,  of  Illinois,  now  deceased. 

Mr.  Long  was  happily  joined  in  marriage  with  ]\Iary  E.,  daughter 
of  John  and  Kliza  (Henner)  Klertinan.  Mis.  Long  was  a  native  of 
Peoria  county.  111.,  boin  April  7,  INH'ti.  One  son,  Oscar,  now  a  school- 
boy, has  come  to  bleijs  their  home. 

In  his  Illinois  home  Mr.  Long  was  highly  regarded,  having  been 
for  a  number  of  years  a  member  of  the  school  Ixiaid  jind  also  piomi- 
nently  identified  its  a  memlx-r  of  the  A.  II.  T.  .\.  He  has  been  a  life- 
long member  of  the  Methodist  church  and  is  .i  staunch  Prohibitionist 
and  tem])erance  man. 


W.VLTKR  FKINK— The  venerable  genthMiuin  whose  name  intro- 
duces this  biograjdiy  has  been  a  resident  of  Montgoinery  county  for 
twenty-seven  years,  having  settled  heic  in  L^TO.  He  came  from  Macomb 
county,  Michigan,  in  which  state  his  parents  settled  in  1H?,~>.  The 
family  were  emigrants  from  Niagara  county.  New  Vork,  where,  at  the 
town    of   ("ambria    our    subject    v.as    born    .Inly    S.    ISiiC.      The    parents 


l)roii<;lit  their  f:miil\  \i\>  mi  n  .MicliifiMii  t;iriii  wii.Tr  I  lie  inincii.lcs  of 
}j;ood  c-itizonshii)  and  iii(liisir\    wcic  Imuj^IiI. 

Walter  Friiik  was  a  son  of  lOlias  and  a  jiiandson  of  Zafhaiiali 
Frink.  nalivcs  of  ('oniifci  iiiil.  in  whicli  slate  the  family  was  estab- 
lished al  a  \ery  larly  dale,  /aidiariah  Frink's  family  came  into  western 
New  York  when  lOlias  was  eleven  years  of  age.  He  had  five  children; 
Darias,  Elias,  Moses,  Ezra  and  Daniel.  Elias  was  born  at  Sterling, 
Conneetient,  and  was  married  in  New  York  to  Hannah  Carney,  a  Tenn- 
sylvania  lady  and  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Hannah  Tarney,  from 
down  on  the  Sns(iuelianna  river.  Tin-  children  of  Elias  and  Hannah 
Frink  were:  Marinda.  who  married  Thomas  I'hillijis;  Annie,  wife  of 
Charles  King;  Samnel.  Elias,  Walter,  Clarissa,  Herman  and  Ellen. 

Mr.  Frink  of  this  review  was  libeially  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  Michigan — suhscrii)tion  in  character — and  he  chose  farming 
as  his  vocation  which  he  followed  in  the  Wolverine  State  for  forty 
years.  He  then  came  to  Kansas  and  purchased  his  Montgomery  county 
farm.  He  chose  a  (juarter  section  in  section  27,  townshiii  :!!,  range  16, 
and  paid  its  owner,  Fat'rick  Doiigan,  .fL',.")!)!).!)!)  for  it.  Here  ho  has 
since  made  his  home  and,  while  having  no  family  of  his  own,  his 
home  is  jiresided  over  by  his  sister,  Ellen,  and  it  is  one  of  the  hospitable 
places  of  West  Cherry  townslii]).  In  jiolitics,  Mr.  Frink  leans  toward 
the  Democratic  party,  but  has  had  no  inclination  toward  i)iiblic  otli.'O 
and  no  ambition  of  tliis  nature  to  gratify. 


E.  COODKLL— NN'hat  imiiresses  the  transient  iiiosl  forcibly  in 
Independence  is  the  substantial  character  of  the  business  seel  ion  of  the 
city  and  the  evident  ])ride  taken  in  keejjing  its  ai)])earance  up  to-date 
by"  the  merchanls  atid  tradesmen  doing  business  there.  A  closer 
acc]naintance  with  tlie  personnel  of  the  business  element  dis(doses  the 
fact  that  this  ei\  ie  piide  is  due  to  a  few  choice  si)irits  who  have 
preached  this  seniiiueiii.  day  in  and  day  out,  for  years — and  verily  they 
have  their  reward.  The  name  of  one  of  the  genllenien  to  whom  such 
is  due  for  the  s])lendid  development  the  city  has  made,  api)ears  above. 
For  two  decades  Mr.  (ioo(h'll  has  been  part  and  parcel  of  the  city's 
growth,  his  cliaiaiter  tor  business  integrity  not  being  surpassed  by  any 
of  (he  many  good  men  now  connecled  with  the  business  interests.  He 
does  a  large  business  in  meat  proibicts,  and  in  many  resjieels  his  trade 
is  the  choicest  in  the  city. 

The  linckeye  State  was  the  jdace  of  .Mr.  Coodejl's  iialivity,  he 
having  b.'en  born  in  I'cutage  ((.unly,  Sei.tember  10,  1S4(I.  He  was  a 
son  of  Samuel  and  -lulia  (ioodell,  Ihe  former  a  native  of  Vermont  and 
the  latter  of  ( ■oiinect  ieul.  Thev  were  anumg  thai  class  of  early  ].ioneers 
who  met  the  foes  of  progress  and  faced  dangvrs  Ihal  iiiighl  well  apj.all 
the    stoutest     heart,    liavin-    s.-l  lied    t  iiere    immedialely    succeeding    the 


JACOB  SHUMAKER  AND   FAMILY. 


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HISTORY   OV    MONTGOMEKY    COUNTY,    KANSAS.  777 

Will-  of  1812.  Tbt-y  \vt'n>  tillers  of  tin-  soil  and  found  ils  exacting  lahors- 
too  arduous,  both  d.viiijj  within  oi};lit  days  in  1S4.");  Ilie  father  at  tliirty- 
ei^riit,  the  mother  at  thirty  six  years.  ()f  their  family  of  four  .liiidreu, 
our  sulijecl  is  llie  eldesi,  Ihe  olliers  heiiii;  :  Kmeline.  .\niie(ta,  Mrs.  H. 
]).  Coe.  of  I'orla^e  roiinly.  Ohio,  arid  .lane,  wife  .it  Ur.  CI.-iiU.  of  Washing- 
ton. 

E.  Goodell  received  an  excellent  education  in  the  common  schools 
«f  his  native  state,  to  which  was  added  scholastic  Irainiuf;  at  lliram 
College,  he  being  a  student  there  when  i1  was  under  the  charge  of  the 
lamented  I'resident  (iarfield. 

After  his  school  days  he  returned  to  the  farm,  wheie  he  was  engaged 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  \\;n:  In  January  of  LSGLl.  he  enlisted 
in  Company  "K,''  17th  Wisconsin  Inf.,  to  which  state  he  had  gone  but 
a  short  time  before.  His  regiment  became  i)art  of  the  Army  of  Ten- 
nessee and  he  participated  in  its  movements  for  a  period  of  eight  months, 
■when  he  was  honorably  discharged  from  the  service  on  account  of  sick- 
ness. Returning  to  Wisconsin,  he  put  in  the  winter  in  the  lumber 
♦ramp,  the  following  spring  coming  out  to  Kansas.  Here  he  settled  in 
Coffey  county,  where  he  was  engaged  in  fanning  until  1869,  the  date 
«f  his  settlement  in  Montgomery.  He  took  a  claim  in  Sycamore  Twp., 
■which  he  successfully  farmed  nntil  1883.  A  year  on  a  cattle  ranch 
preceded  his  coming  to  Independence,  where  he  has  since  resided, 
engaged  continnously  in  the  sale  of  meats. 

Mr.  Goodell  affiliates  with  the  Masonic  order,  and  is  always  found 
ready  to  engage  in  any  service  which  has  for  its  object  the  advance- 
ment of  his  municipality.  He  was  married  in  April  of  lS6o,  in  Le 
Boy,  Kansas,  his  wife  having  been  Mary  A.,  daughter  of  Benj.  and 
Sophrona  Randall.  Mrs.  Goodell  is  a  lady  of  many  excellent  traits  of 
character,  a  consistent  member  of  the  Christian  church,  in  whose  social 
work  she  takes  an  active  part.  She  is  the  mother  of  four  children, 
three  of  whom  have  left  the  home  roof  and  are  respected  members  of 
society.  Their  names  are:  John  E..  and  Clarence  H.,  connected  with 
their  father  in  business.  The  former  married  Miss  Retta  Neilson,  and 
the  latter  Maud  Sevier.  Mamie  is  living  in  Colorado,  the  wife  of  Earl 
Hamilton,  and  Bessie  is  a  school  girl  at  home. 


JACOB  SHT'MAKER— March  '2.  1850,  Jacob  Shumaker,  of  Cherry 
township,  was  born  in  Buffalo,  New  York.  His  parents  were  German 
by  birth  and  were  Jacob  and  Otheler  Ih-sil  Shumaker,  the  father  a 
native  Swiss.  They  left  their  native  ]>laces  at  different  times,  when 
quite  young,  and  met  and  married  in  Buffalo,  New  York,  where  they 
resided  until  1800,  when  they  moved  to  Des  Moines.  Iowa,  thence  to 
Missouri  and  settled  in  Buchanan  county,  near  St.  Joseph.  They  were 
farmers,  and  engaged  in   the  dairy   business   in   Missouri,   where   their 


770  IlISTOKY  OF  MONTUOMEKY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 

childri'u  ^rew  up  ;iiid  wlu-iv  both  father  aud  mother  passed  away, 
the  mother  at  sixt.y  years  of  age  and  the  father  at  sixty-seven. 

Six  children  comprised  this  family,  as  follows:  Jacob,  Michael, 
Barbara,  John,  Lena  and  Frank. 

Jacob  Shumaker  was  given  a  country  school  education  in  Missouri 
and  after  he  reached  his  majority  he  spent  some  five  years  in  sight- 
seeing and  travel.  He  visited  Nebraska,  Iowa,  Michigan,  Wisconsin, 
Ohio.  Indiana  aud  Illinois,  in  which  last  state  he  met,  and  subsequently 
married  Mary  ISaucr.  licturning  to  St.  Jose])li,  he  engaged  in  farming, 
and  ran  a  dairy  also.  He  continued  the  dual  business  until  1899,  when 
lie  sold  his  property  and  c;ime  to  Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  wliere, 
in  ("herry  tovvnshii),  he  purchased  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
splendid  land,  six  miles  north  of  Oherryvale.  His  farm  lies  on  one  arm 
of  Drum  creek,  has  plenty  of  bottom  laud,  the  timber-fringed  creek 
jiassing  through  and  supplying  an  abundance  of  stock  water.  He  has 
one  of  the  largest  bearing  orchards  in  the  county  and  the  productive- 
ness of  his  soil  never  permits  his  cribs  to  become  empty.  He  is  in  the 
natural  trend  of  the  gas  and  oil  vein  and  had  the  good  fortune  to 
locate  here  when  land  was  yet  cheap. 

The  Shumaker  faiiu  was  made  by  Jacob  Shumaker  and  his  wife. 
Their  etforts  from  their  marriage  through  the  years  that  followed  have 
brought  the  accumulations  that  finally  won  them  this  splendid  estate. 
The  growing  of  grain  ()ccn])ies  the  attention  of  the  household  in  their 
new  home  and  their  success  marks  Mr.  and  Mi's.  Shumaker  among  the 
substantial  farmers  of  their  locality. 

Eight  children  have  come  to  bless  the  home  of  the  Shuniakers,  as 
follows:  Jacob,  of  ^Vashingto^  state;  Emeline,  deceased;  (Jeorgc, 
Christina,  wife  of  H.  Xoduifth,  of  Washington;  Dora,  who  died  at  six- 
teen years,  and  Henry,  <ius  and  Matilda,  still  with  the  family  circle. 

In  politics  Mi-.  Shumakei-  is  a  I\ei)ublicaii. 


WILLIAM  WRIGHT— One  of  the  pioneer  druggists  of  Montgomery 
county,  and  one  whose  connection  with  the  business  interests  of  Elk 
City  antedates  the  re<'ollection  of  nearly  every  citizen  in  the  place  at 
the  present  date,  is  the  gentleman  herein  named,  widely  known  and 
honored  for  the  sterling  quality  of  his  citizenshii). 

Mr.  Wright  is  of  Irish  descent,  the  son  of  William  and  Margaret 
Wright,  natives,  resj)ectively,  of  County  Down  and  County  Monaghan. 
They  came  to  America  in  childhood  and  were  married  in  Canada,  where 
they  lived  until  1857,  when  they  settled  in  Kickapoo  City,  Kan.,  and 
later,  at  Ottawa,  where  they  died;  the  father  at  seventy-lhree  ycais. 
and  the  mother  at  sixty-three  years  old.  They  were  tin-  paiciils  of 
Ihiiteen  childien,  live  of  the  girls  and  three  boys  still  living. 

-Mr.   Wright,  of  Ihis  review,  was  born  in"  the  Province  of  Ontario. 


HISTORY   OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  78  I 

:\[RS.  ANX  KEHECCA  HENDERSON— In  April,  1871,  Janus  Hen- 
dorsou  and  liis  wife,  Rebecca,  left  Warren sburg,  in  Johnson  county, 
Missouri,  and  brought  their  family  of  five  children  through  to  Kansas 
in  a  wagon.  They  settled  in  Montgomery  county  where  Mr.  Henderson 
entered  land  in  section  10,  township  31,  range  Ifi,  oli  which  a  cabin  7x10 
had  previously  been  built,  and  into  this  a  portion  of  the  family  belong- 
ings were  stored.  Between  the  cabin  and  the  wagon-box,  the  house- 
hold found  shelter  the  fli-st  sunmier,  when  a  more  pretentions  log 
hrtuse,  20x20,  was  ereclcd.  in  whicli  the  family  \v;is  housed  tlie  suc- 
ceeding four  years. 

The  work  of  farm  devehtpmcnt  began  at  once  with  the  settlement 
of  the  Henderson  place.  During  the  earlier  years,  fences  were  put  uj), 
buildings  were  erected,  and  orchard  and  shade  trees  set  out  and,  as 
their  circumstauces  would  warrant,  more  land  was  added  to  the  home. 
Before  his  death  in  1898,  Mr.  Henderson  owned  a  tract  of  two  hundred 
acres,  successfully  tilled,  and  well  and  substantially  improved. 

Mrs.  Henderson  was  born  in  Wood  county,  Virginia,  January  27, 
1844,  and  left  that  state  with  her  parents  for  Washington  county,  Ohio, 
wh(>n  ten  years  old.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Silas  and  Elizabeth 
(Raines)  Malcom,  native  born  Virginia  ijcuplc,  farmers  and  residents 
near  the  city  of  Charleston.  Silas  .Mal((iiii  \v;is  a  son  of  William  Mal- 
com, a  Virginia  gentleman  with  Si-oTch  foicfa fliers.  The  children  of 
William  Malcolm  were:  Robert,  Jolni,  William,  Silas,  Elizabeth  and 
^Irs.  Polly  Dixon. 

Silas  Malcolm's  children  were:  William,  ihs.  Emeline  Howell, 
James,  Mrs.  Mary  Neal,  Mrs.  Sarah  Daugherty,  of  Columbus,  Ohio; 
John,  who  was  killed  in  the  Civil  war;  Mrs.  Rebecca  Henderson, 
Andrew,  of  Cal.;  Horace,  Mrs.  Nancy  Wright,  of  Marietta,  Ohio,  and 
Silas,  of  Cal. 

Ann  Rebecca  Malcom  was  married  July  4,  ISriS.  to  James  Hender- 
son, her  late  husband.  He  was  born  in  Columbiana  county,  Ohio,  Novem- 
ber 27,  1831,  and  passed  his  life  in  the  States  of  Ohio,  Tennsylvania, 
Missouri-  and  Kansas.  He  enlisted  in  the  Ohio  National  Guard, 
company  "K,"  14Sth  regiment,  under  Capt.  Wolcott,  Col.  Thomas 
Moore.  The  next  year  after  the  war  closed  he  moved  to  Johnson 
county,  Missouri  and,  five  years  later,  came  to  Montgomery  county, 
Kansas.  He  was  a  son  of  John  and  Jane  (Steele)  Henderson,  natives  of 
rennsylvania,  who  reared  other  children,  as  follows:  William,  Rachel, 
who  married  Benj.  Bay;  Allen,  Smith,  John,  Mrs.  Sarah  Crail,  Henry, 
Mrs.  Amanda  Crouse  and  Robert. 

The  children  of  Mrs.  Henderson  are:  George,  Charles,  of  Okla- 
homa, with  children  :  Alphonso  F.,  Alta,  Flossie  and  James;  Mrs.  Frances 
rhelon,  deceased;  John,  of  Montgomery  county;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  John- 
sou,  of  Neodesha,  Kansas,  with  two  children:  Myra  and  Joy;  Alonzo,  of 
Neodesha,  with  two  children:  I'auline  and  Harold;  Mrs.  Etta  Hurst,  of 


N.-odrslm.    Willi    oil.,    cliild,    CMvnrll;     Mrs.     Mvill,.    Wcs.olt,    of    W 
vouiilv.  Kiiusas,  aiMl  I'raiikliii  and  I«la  willi  tiic  faiiiilv  liuincstcad. 


SAMI'E1>  U.  (lONNKR— Otic  of  flic  siicc-ssfiil  fniiiins  and 
stdclc  laisiMs  of  Sycamoi-c  tc.wiisliiii  is  Saiimcl  II.  Coiiiicr.  Mr.  < 'oii- 
iici-  is  a  .voimj;-  man  coiiiiiai'ativtdy,  hiil  1)\  i'iicrj;\v  and  i^ood  liiisincss 
JiKljihiciiI  has  jda.ccd  liim.stdf  in  ilic  van  of  the  pi-occssion  in  Mont- 
jiomciy  county.  He  owns  a  larjjc  farm  and  rents  several  Inindicd 
aires,  all  of  wliicli  he  Iia.s  under  cultival  ion.  lie  has  li\ed  in  the 
countv  since  1hc  sjiriiis  of  ISSil,  and  has  a  host  of  friends  and  well- 
wishers. 

Samuel  Conner  looks  I.a<-k  to  I  he  old  Kc\  stone  Stale  as  the  jihicc 
of  his  hii-th,  the  lime  l.cin<;  Fchiuaiy  C,  lSi;T.  In  his  infancy  his  iiaicnts 
removed  to  \\'hitcsidc  county,  III.,  and  there  he  was  reared  to  farm  life. 
His  education  vva.s  sik  h  as  comes  to  the  averajic  farm  lad.  and  at  nine- 
teen, h(  hade  jiood-hyc  to  liona-  and  its  hallowed  a.ssociations  and  started 
out  in  life  for  himself.  For  the  first  few  years  after  comin.i;  to  the 
county  he  rented  land  of  thrw  different  parties,  and  in  1801.  came  to  this 
jilace  which  he  rented  for  :'.  years  and  then  was  in  ])artnersliiii  in  the 
stock  business  with  (Jeorfic  T.  (Juernsey  for  sexcii  years,  since  which 
time  he  has  conducted  business  alone.  He  now  li\es  on  a  ihi. c  limi- 
dred  and  twenty  acre  farm  which  he  rents  from  his  former  jiartnei. 
rentini!  another' i)lot  (.f  1(»(»  acres  from  II.  i;.  Hansen.  In  addition, 
he  has  a  quarter  sec(i<in  of  j.asture  land  of  his  ow  n,  in  Rutland  township, 
and  .".I'O  acres  in  Sycamore,  alto};ether  making  1)2(1  acres  wliich  lie 
has  under  contrcd.  He  is  interested  laiKflv  in  the  fe<'ding  of  cattle 
for  the  market,  liaviiip;  handled  successfully  as  hifjh  as  two  hundred 
and  eighty  head  at  one  time.  In  addition  to  the  i-aisinf;  of  corn  and 
forage  for  his  stock,  he  has  this  year  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  adcs 
in  wheat. 

The  social  life  of  Mr.  < 'onner  is  marked  by  a  };eniiine  interest  in 
conditions  about  him,  his  keen  insifjlit  into  ati'airs  cansin<;  his  selec- 
tion as  a  member  of  the  .scliool  board  and  as  trustee  of  his  towiisliiii. 
He  is  active  in  religions  afTairs,  being  a  member  of  tlie  I'nited  Hrelliicii 
church  at  Radical,  of  which  he  is  class  leader.  He  is  a  thorough  be- 
liever in  the  fraternal  principles,  and  is  jirominent  in  the  Woodmen, 
the  Koyal  Neighbors,  flie  Fraternal  Aid.  the  Home  Builders'  T'nion. 
and  the  A.  H.  T.  A.  Mr.  Connei-  is  a  slaiimh  l{e])nblican  and  is  look.d 
upon  as  available  timber  for  future  poliiical  preferment,  should  he  so 
desire. 

As  to  family  history,  the  following  is  to  the  jioini:  .lesse  ('on 
ner,  grandfather  of  oiii'  subject,  married  I'.eisv  Laiidis.  lioili  iiali\es  of 
the  Kevstone  Stale.  Their  children  were:  .lacob.  Mary  llarley.  Susan 
/eigler'.    Isaac.    Sarah.    Fli/.abeth    and    Ahram.      Of    this    family.    Isaac 


EDWARD  HOBSON  AND   FAMILY 


Srtrah   PittniM.i, 
Kansas:  Milioi, 


il  roference  pert;i 
Hohsn-     of  ■Rnf! 


I?-     *    # 


*-ijroliijit   iadv   .iii.i 

,.ii  dud  Miii  . 

.     The  issue  of  ti' 

-    Jool,  Aw.: 
..1    .t     \)    V- 

Hut  land  tow 

«  6  «  i 

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(  #  «  «  ^ 

.•   *•  >   f  1 


HISTORY  OP  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  KANSAS.  7S3 

mari-iod  Haniiab  naldeman.  also  a  native  of  rcnnsjlvania,  and  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Harriet  (Horning)  Haldenian.  Of  their 
children  our  subject  was  the  eldest,  the  others  Ix'ing  as  follows:  Har- 
riet Woody,  of  Montgomery  Co.,  Kansas;  Ella  McMillen,  now  deceased; 
Sarah  Pittman,  also  of  Montgomery  Co.;  Abram,  of  Brown  county, 
Kansas;  Milton,  a  clerk  in  the  oflSce  of  the  Kansas  City  Star,  and  Elmer, 
who  resides  with  our  subject. 

Samuel  H.  Conner  began  his  domestic  life  in  18S.5,  at  which  time 
he  brought  to  his  home  Mary,  daughter  of  Judge  Daniel  and  Sarah 
(Boyer)  Cline.  Mrs.  Conner  was  born  in  Carroll  county,  Ind.,  and  came 
to  Kansas  in  18G9.  Five  bright  children  are  inmates  of  the  Conner 
home,  their  names  being:  Ola,  Nellie  N.,  Esther,  George,  I^eslie  and 
Daniel  W. 


ED^\'ARD  HOBSON — This  personal  reference  pertains  to  on(;  of 
Montgomery  county's  pioneers,  Edward  Hobsou,  of  Rutland  township. 
He  ac(om]janied  his  paients  hither  in  1870,  from  Keokuk  county,  Iowa, 
where  his  birth  occurred  March  21,  1855,  and  where  he  resided  until  he 
was  fifteen  years  of  age.  The  settlement  in  Montgomery  county  was 
made  in  Independence  township,  where  the  father  purchased  the  Geo. 
Brown  claim  of  a  quarter  section,  which  was  the  family  abiding  place 
till  187(),  when  the  family  settled  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  E.  M. 
Koger,  where  the  father  died,  on  section  26,  township  32,  range  14.  in 
Rutland  township. 

The  Hobsons  of  this  notice  emanated  from  North  Carolina,  where 
Joseph  R.  Hobson,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born.  He  was  a  son  of 
Joseph  Hobson,  of  Guilford  county,  that  state,  who  pioneered  to 
Indiana  in  1821,  where  he  ran  a  saw-mill  and  a  grist-mill  of  the  primi- 
tive horse  power  pattern.  He  left  that  state  with  his  family  when  his 
son  Joseph  was  eighteen  years  old  and  settled  in  Henry  county,  Iowa, 
where  he  died,  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business.  The  children  of 
(Jrandfather  Hobson  were:  Peter,  Mrs.  Edis  Collins,  George,  Mrs. 
Eleanor  Hadley  Rogers,  Mrs.  Mary  Radcliff,  Joseph  R.,  Mrs.  Mc(iown, 
Saniuel,  and  Mrs.  Hannah  Rickley.  Joseph  R.  Hobson  married  Mary  Had- 
ley, a  North  Carolina  lady  and  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Hin- 
shaw)  Hadley.  The  issue  of  this  Hobson  union  were:  Joel,  Ann,  who 
first  married  Mahlon  Hadley,  but  is  now  the  widow  of  J.  D.  Engle,  of 
Kansas  City,  Kansas;  George,  of  Independence,  Kansas;  Joseph, 
deceased;  Martha,  wife  of  Albert  Johnson,  of  Independence,  Kan;>as; 
Edward  our  subject,  and  Isaac.  Joseph  R.  Hobson  married  Cyrena 
Coberley  for  his  second  wife.  She  was  a  North  Carolinian  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Reuben  Coberley. 

Edward  Hobson  has  resided  at  his  present  location,  on  section  26, 
township  .')2,  range  14.  in  Rutland  townshij),  since  attaining  his  major- 


7S4  IIlS'l'ORV   OK    MONTOOMKRY    fOfNTY,    KANSAS. 

ily.  Ui-  h.is  hccii  i.lciil  iticd  willi  all  the  work  of  farm  (l.'v.'loinnciit  of 
Ills  half  srclioii  of  land,  and  has  };i\cn  a  .i;ii<>d  acr.niiil  cvf  his  twcnty- 
scvcM  v<'ars  (if  a<-(ivc,  iM(h-|.cn<Jrn(  lilV.  In  addilioii  l<i  his  fanning.  1h^ 
follows  Ihivshin-  during  (ho  season,  lie  was  unilcd  in  inania'iv  willi 
Orla  .M.  I)a\is  in  1S77.  Sh,-  was  a  dan-hlrr  nf  .\nd.r-soii  .'nd  .Marv  .1. 
(.Inn, .si  Haxis,  and  .1  nalixc  of  .IctVcison  r.innly,  Iowa.  Two  childVon, 
Oiwin  and  Aviil,  havo  icsnllrd  from  Ihoii-  union.  Oiwin  is  nianird  (o 
llallio  Kakci-.  of  .iowcll  rount\,  Kansas,  and  now  icsidi^s  on  a  jiail  of 
II10  homo  plaro. 

.Mrs.  Haxis  slill  livrs  on  Iho  Inono  farm  in  Itnlland  lowii^lip;  hor 
hnsliand  .Ivin-   in    1S!I7,  af;vd  sixlv-oi-ht    vars. 

.Mr.   Ilohson  is  a   l*<iiMilist,  has  1 n  lownship  rh-rk  and   has  served 

Jiis  sidnxd  hoard  Icii  .years,  lie  is  a  Modern  Woodman  and  an  arti\e 
niemhi-r  of  the  Friends'  rhnirli. 


dOlIX  O'P.KiKN" -.Mr.  (Cl'.rien.  now  a  nlired  eilizeii  of  Ind.pen.I- 
enee.  was  for  many  years  identitii'd.  as  a  farmer  and  stockman,  wilh 
the  rural  coiniininify  of  Liberty  townshiii,  in  whieh  he  settled  and  took 
ii  (daini  in  the  year  IKCil.  This  f^ieat  length  of  lesideme  ^n  1  he  .-omity 
and  the  fact  of  liis  s<-l(lenieiit  on  the  (hen  fronti<'r.  entitles  him  I0  he  tlio 
distinction  a<corded  |»i(tne(MS,  and  as  such,  his  life  i-ecord  a]i|iears  on  fho 
pages  of  this  volume  for  the  information  and  gratification  of  jiosterity. 

January  ."!(),  1K41,  .lolin  O'I'.rien  was  born  in  I'ike  count  \,  <)liio. 
His  pai-ents,  Enoch  and  Nan.y  (Walls)  OM'.rien.  wer.-  both  natives  of  the 
same  county  with  himself,  the  father  born  in  180S.  and  the  mother  in 
1809.  Elijah  O'I'.rien,  paternal  grandfather  of  our  suliject.  >^ettled  In 
Ohio  early  in  its  history  as  a  state.  sery.Ml  as  a  soldier  in  the  XN'ar  of 
1812,  and  followed  (lie  trade  of  a  .lock  and  gunsmith,  lie  was  an  ex 
pert  workman,  and  in  this  his  son,  Eno(  h.  .also  excelled.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  eighty-four.  Only  three  of  the  iiiiM'  childien  of  Eno.  h  and  Maiy 
O'Brien  survive,  nanndy:  Nancy,  now  Mis.  William  Minni(k,  of  Mo.it- 
gomery  county,  Kansas;  i\Ioses,  a  farniei-  of  Liberty  (ownslii|).  the  same 
c-ounty,  and  John  of  this  notice.  .\  sister.  .Mrs.  Elizabeth  .\ddie,  dic-d  in 
Denver,  CoL.  in  July,  l!t01,  h'aving  a  daughter.  Mrs.  Matt  (irillin  of 
Montgomery  county. 

The  Pike  county,  Ohio,  sehoids  furnished  4. dm  O'Urien  with  a  'air 
knowledge  of  the  ihVee  "R's"  and  he  was  an  active  ai<l  about  the  f.imdy 
homestead  during  the  period  of  his  mimnitx.  lie  left  lionie  foi-  tin' 
west  a  young  man  of  twenty-eight,  his  bosoin  welling  with  hope  for  his 
future,  as  he  should  carve  i't  out  of  thi'  wild  an<l  unscho.ded  regions  of 
Kansas.  He  entered  land  in  Montgomery  county  and  passed  irnni'  than 
thirty  years  in  the  somewhat  monotonous  occu]iation  of  building  and 
developing  a  home.  The  results  of  his  efl(uts.  coupled  wilh  those  of  1  is 
.(h)mestic  aids,  are  shown  in  (he  possession  of  two  hundred  and     lineM' 


IIISToItY    III'    MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^   KANSAS.  7S7 

icssfiil  husiucss  cariMT.  .Mr.  Xewkirk  is  a  jJi-odiKl  nf  ilic  iiisiil  nl  imis 
and  social  t'livirouniciit  of  lOlk  ("ity,  and  it  niifiiil  he  addfd  this  fact 
casts  no  reflection  upon  citlicr;  for  no  more  ^cntlciiianlv  imsller  (an  be 
found  in  the  town's  environs. 

The  parentage  of  Mr.  Xewkirk  is  responsible  for  a  portion  of  his 
popularity,  as  (hey  were  among  the  chosen  few  of  the  old  settlers'  guard 
which  moved  in  on  the  erstwhile  ''cowpuncliers'  trail"  and  redeemed 
Montgomery  in  the  interest  of  good  morals  and  better  government.  His 
father,  Capt.  W.  C.  Xewkirk,  was  one  of  the  defenders  of  the  I'nion 
whose  thoughts  naturally  turned  to  the  child,  born  mid  the  throes  of 
incipient  rebellion,  and  where  he  was  sure  of  finding  other  untold  thous- 
ands whose  blood  had  been  spilled  in  securing  to  it,  forever,  the  ])rec- 
ious  birthright  vouchsafed  it  by  a  liberty-loving  peoide.  Capt.  Xew- 
kirk and  his  good  wife  were  natives  of  the  "Tloosicr  State."  her  maiden 
name  having  been  Sarah  B.  Eeynolds. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  Mr.  Xewkirk  ]ironi]itly  enlisted  and 
for  four  years  did  his  duty  bravely.  He  died  at  the  age  of  H2  years  tm  the 
!ltliofA|iriI,l!l(ll. mourned  by  the  entire  community.  Mrs.  Xewkirk  contin- 
ues to  be  an  honored  resident  and  is  held  in  the  highest  regard  by  all.  Her 
children,  of  whom  there  are  six  living  in  the  county,  are  all  useful  and 
respected  members  of  society  and  reflect,  in  their  sterling  ([ualities,  the 
careful  training  of  their  parents.  Two  are  deceased — Carrie  L.,  at  eight 
years,  and  Frederick  K.  at  twenty-eight.  Thomas  E.,  AA'illiam  T..  James 
L.,  and  Alonzo  are  successful  farmers  of  tlie  county.  The  one  daughter, 
Silver  B.,  married  Alonzo  Smith,  and  also  resides  on  a  farm. 

Robert  L.  X'ewkirk,  the  sixth  child  of  this  family,  was  born  on  the 
home  farm  April  4,  1ST4.  He  graduated  from  the  high  school  in  1899, 
and  soon  began  his  business  career  by  the  management  of  a  creamery 
at  Independence  for  a  year.  He  then  farmed  for  a  time  and  in  the 
spring  of  1901,  began  his  connection  with  the  firm  he  now  serves  so 
acceptably.  Like  his  lamented  father,  Robert  enters  into  every  project 
which  has  for  its  object  the  betterment  of  conditions  in  his  community, 
and  the  spirit  which  he  infuses  into  any  undertaking  with  which  lie  is 
entrusted  always  carries  it  to  a  successful  conclusion.  He  served  during 
the  year  1902,  as  clerk  of  the  township.  Of  the  fraternities,  he  affiliates 
with  the  Woodmen  and  the  A.  O.  U.  W.  In  politics  he  votes  with  the 
Democratic    party. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Xewkirk  occurred  on  the  24th  of  December, 
1901.  :Mrs.  X'ewkirk's  maiden  name  was  Rhoda  E.  Rains.  She  is  a  na- 
tive of  Kentucky  and  is  a  daughter  of  Matthew  and  Maftie  Rains,  resi- 
dents of  Independence.  Mrs.  X'ewkirk  is  the  mother  of  two  children, 
Rurnell  and  Julius  R. 


ySS  HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUiNTY,  liAiNBAS. 

HOWARD  M.  IlILI.— The  pioinotion  of  the  stock  and  bncdiiiji  in- 
tcrcsls  of  M(iiitj;(iiii('rv  county  arc  successfully  engaged  iu  by  the  young 
jMuneer  seltler  whose  name  initiates  this  jiersonal  review.  He  is  a  son 
of  on,-  of  the  pioneers  of  Wilson  county,  Kansas,  and  was  reared  from 
infaTirv  within  a  score  of  miles  of  (he  scene  of  his  ])resent  acti\ities. 
The  -SMamore  Sjirings  Stock  I'arni"  is  the  outgrowlli  of  his  idea  and 
Ihe  result  of  a  lient  exhibited  by  him  from  boyhood.  His  dominions 
comiuise  an  estate  of  five  hundied  and  twenty  acres,  stocked  with  the 
various  farm  animals  and  with  registered  heads  for  b(.th  his  stable 
and  his  herds. 

Having  come  to  tlie  adjoining  county  of  ^^■ilson  in  ISTli.  Mr.  Hill 
is  worthily  designated  in  this  article  as  a  jjioneer.  The  city  of  Neodesha 
was  tin-  s(<'ne  of  his  boyhood  and  youthful  activities,  and  from  its  high 
school  he  graduated  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  For  a  higher  education 
and  a  broader  culture,  he  entered  the  Kansas  State  University,  from 
which  he  graduated  in  1S!)0,  v.ith  the  degree  of  LI..  K.  He  did  extra  work 
in  ]i(ditical  eeonomy  and  natural  history  and  com]deted  the  law  course 
of  the  institution  also.  On  assuming  a  station  as  a  business  man  he 
took  th<'  position  of  cashier  of  the  Hank  of  Lafontain.  which  was 
esiablished  bv  his  father,  the  veteran  banker,  William  Hill,  of  N<'o- 
desha,  and  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  little  institution  during  the  five 
y(>ars  of  its  existence.  Following  his  natural  tendencies  he  then  de- 
voted hiinscdf  to  and  became  a  positive  force  as  a  farmer.  His  inti-rest 
in  live  stock  was  an  absorbing  one  and  took  form  in  an  ambition  to 
become  a  breed(>r  of  blooded,  or  fine  stock.  Short  Horn  cattle  and  For- 
cheron  horses  comprise  his  important  registered  stock,  "Iniitorted  Jlar- 
iner,''  of  the  S.otch  ".Missie-  family,  bred  liy  Wm.  Marr,  being  at  the  head 
of  his  herd,  ami  .lena,  of  the  Hrilliant  family,  and  bred  by  Dunlnim, 
Fletcher  &  Coleman,  of  Fort  Wayne,  111.,  is  his  famous  Percheron  stal- 
lion. A  half  dozen  fine  mares  of  the  same  blood  were  purchased  with 
him  at  the  Kansas  City  sale  of  Samuel  Hanna,  of  Howard,  Kansas,  and 
by  the  diffusion  of  this  blood  with  that  of  his  large  number  of  the  cmn- 
nioner  stock  the  general  iniprov<'menl   is  at  once  striking  and  aiijiarent. 

In  18flS.  Mr.  Hill  gave  a  sale  in  Kansas  City  of  registered  Hereford 
cattle  raised  on  the  Sycamore  S]>riugs  Stock  Farm,  thirty-five  head  bring- 
ing an  average  price  of  four  hundred  and  one  dollars  ($401.00),  the  high- 
est price  ever  brought  at  such  a  sale  in  Kansas. 

Howard  M.  Hill  was  born  in  Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  Nov.  28,  1870. 
His  father  was  born  near  Glasgow,  Scotland,  in  1832,  and  followed  the 
trade  of  a  printer  when  a  young  man.  His  parents  brought  him  to  the 
TTnited  States  at  ten  years  of  age  and  stopped  in  Ohio,  where  he  at- 
tained his  majority.  He  learned  the  printer's  trade  and  went  into  Wis- 
consin, Sauk  county,  where  he  published  a  newspaper  for  several  years-. 
He  was  married  in  that  state  to  Ellen  C.  Maxwell,  and  of  the  union  four 
sons  were  born,  as  follows:     Arthur,  Howard  M.,  Bert  and  Irving.     In 


HISTORY  OK    MONTOOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS.  789 

1S72.  lie  bi'oiijiht  his  family  to  (he  new  village  of  Neodcslia,  in  Wilson 
county,  Kansas,  where,  the  following  year,  be  established  the  Xeodesha 
Savintis  Hank,  which  grew  to  be  a  strong,  safe  and  popular  institution. 
AA'illiaiii  Hill  is  a  q\iiet,  unpretenlions  gentleman,  genteel  and  courteous, 
with  a  decidedly  commercial  bent.  His  life  has  been  moral  and  ui)right, 
if  possible,  to  a  fault,  and  liis  examide  (o  the  world  aboiil  him  has  been 
one  worthy  to  emulate. 

xMay  -M),  inOO,  Howard  M.  Hill  married  Rebecca  .M.  Cam])!..-!!  at  Al- 
luwe,  Ind.  Ty.  Mrs.  Hill  is  a  danghler  of  H.  M.  Campbell  and  has  two 
children:  r".  Maxwell  and  \Niiliam.  -Mr.  Hill  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and  is 
descended   from    Democratic   anci'strv. 


ELIJAH  I).  HASTINGS— The  bar  of  Montgomery  county  will 
stand  comparison  favorably  with  any  other  county  in  the  state.  The 
members  from  ('herry\ale  are  men  of  wide  knowledge  in  the  law  and 
of  successful  an<l  rxicnsive  practice.  Among  these  is  the  subject  of  this 
review,  E.  D.  Hastings,  who  has  been  connected  with  the  development 
of  th(;  city  since  lis  inception;  indeed  he  may  be  called  the  god-father 
of  Oherryvale,  as  it  was  tiirough  his  efforts  that  the  town  was  incor- 
porated by  Judge  Bishop  W.  I'erkins,  and  in  whose  ottice  our  subject  was 
present  at  the  tirst  election  of  otHcers  for  the  new  town. 

Benjamin  and  Elizabeth  (Smith)  Hastings,  the  parents  of  our  sub- 
ject, were  natives  of  the  State  of  Xew  Hampshire.  Benjamin  was  a 
farmer  and  mill-wright  and  during  his  life  was  most  widely  and  favor- 
ably known  among  the  Xew  Hampshire  hills,  living  to  the  extreme  old 
age  of  eighty-eight;  his  wife  dying  at  eighty-three.  They  were  devout 
and  consistent  members  of  the  M.  E.  church  and  were  highly  respected 
citizens  of  the  community  in  which  they  resided.  They  reared  a  family 
of  ten  children,  of  which  F^lijah  was  the  eldest. 

Mr.  Hastings  secured  a  good  common  school  education;  his  tirst 
scholastic  education  having  been  received  at  Kimball  Union  Academy, 
in  his  native  state,  from  which  he  graduated  in  18.j6.  He  immediately 
took  up  the  study  of  law,  his  preceptors  being  Amasa  and  Samuel  Edes, 
of  Newport,  New  Hampshire,  and  after  three  years'  study  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  practice,  and  at  once  located  at  C'harlestown,  New  Hampshire, 
changing  his  i>lace  of  practice  to  Filton  after  a  short  period,  where  he 
entered  the  army,  enlisting  in  the  fall  of  18(il,  in  the  0th  New  Hamp- 
shire Vol.  Inft.  He  immediately  went  to  the  front  and  his  regiment 
became  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under,  at  that  time.  General 
Burnside.  His  first  experience  with  powder  and  ball  was  at  the  second 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  where  he  received  a  j)ainful  wound  above  the  right 
knee.  He  was  sent  to  the  Union  Hotel  Hospital  in  Georgetown,  and 
after  three  months  received  honorable  discharge  from  the  army  on 
account  of  disability.     After  a  year  of  convalescence  at  home,  he  was 


790  HISTORY    OF    MONTUOMKKY    COl-NTY.    KA.NSAS. 

advised  i>i  lio  to  a  seaport  town,  and  for  seven  years  following  was  a 
citizen  of  I'.oslon,  .Mass..wliere  he  was  clieck  master  for  tlie  Old  Colony 
and  Fall  Kiver  Kailioad.  and  later  was  an  eiii|,loyc  of  tlie  K.  F.  Briggs 
directory  firm. 

Leaving  Boston.  Mr.  Hastings  came  west  to  St.  ]>ouis.  Mo.,  where  he 
engaged  for  a  nnndxn-  of  years  in  various  imrsnits.  In  1871,  he  formed 
a  law  jiartnersliiji  with  a  JMr.  iMiajiin  and  jiracticed  for  a  number  of 
vears  under  1  he  tirm  name  of  <'ha)iin  iV  Hastings,  and  then  followed 
illie  lif<'  insnianc.'  Imsiiiess  foi-  a  time.  Aftei-  ten  y.^ais"  i-csid.-nce  in  St. 
J.ouis.  he  located  in  Cherryvale.  tlic  <hitc  of  his  ;iriival  l)cing  .\ugust, 
1S7S.  Since  that  time  lie  has  heen  engaged  in  the  jnactice  of  his  i>ro- 
fession.  For  fifteen  years  he  has  been  a  paitner  of  M.  P..  Soule,  else- 
where rc|iiesented  ill  this  volume.  Three  years  later,  having  ill-health, 
he  gave  lip  the  practice  of  law  and  has  sin<e  been  eiigag<-d  in  writiiig 
lir(»  insurance,  representing  the  Pandy  Fire  and  .Maiiiu'  Conipaiiy  and 
the  (ierman  American  of  New  York. 

During  his  residence  in  Cherryvale  (jur  subject  has  taken  an  active 
interest  in  the  jmblic  life  of  the  city,  having  serv(^d  three  terms  in  the 
Citv  Council  and  a  like  period  as  City  Attorney.  In  social  life  he  is  a 
valued  member  of  the  Masonic  Order,  having  tilled  all  the  offices  of 
the  liliie  Lodge,  and  in  p(ditical  matters  acts  with  the  Kepulican  xjarty. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Hastings  was  an  event  of  Sejitember  6th,  18G8. 
Mrs.  Hastings"  maiden  name  was  Frances  A.  Corhiii.  She  is  a  native  of 
Newport.  New  Haiupsliire.  and  is  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Walter  and  Olive 
F.  (Fitch)  Corbin.  No  children  have  been  born  to  this  marriage.  The 
life  which  .Mr.  Hastings  has  Iwl  in  Cherryvale  has  made  for  him  a  last- 
ing I'eputation  among  her  citizens,  for  integrity  and  honesty  of  purpose, 
nnd  both  he  and  his  wife  numbei-  their  freiends  by  the  legion  in  the 
vountv. 


KI.I.VS  THOMAS  LEWIS— Among  the  substantial  pioneers  of 
Montgomery  county  is  Elias  T.  Lewis,  of  Rutland  township,  whose  set- 
tlement  here  was  made  in  the  month  of  June.  1S71.  On  the  2nth  of  that 
month  he  bought  the  claim  right  of  Mark  Beal  and  then,  later,  another 
eii^htv  adjoining,  the  (piarter  in  section  1.  townshij)  M:^,  range  If,  bring 
tliCn  entered  by  himself  and  forming  the  nucleus  of  his  first  and  perma- 
nent   1 e. 

Chief  Nop:iwalla  and  his  band  of  Osages  were  in  the  vicinity  of 
Mr.  Lewis'  settlement  and  their  presence  for  a  few  months  served  to 
remind  the  pioneers  that  their  settlement  was  really  on  the  frontier. 
While  Hair  and  Big  Chief  were  also  within  reach,  but  none  proved  a 
serious  menace  to  the  jieacefiil  occuiiafion  of  our  subject  of  his  newly 
ac<|iiired  land. 

Coming  into  the  countv  single,  as  he  did.   .Mi.   ]>ewis  went  baik   to 


it    W   9 


t     #    t.   e 


:?   .    V    .1    f    ^;   ; 
'     '■    "    t  #  fi 


,    «  e  «  . 


*    i    4 


••  l«  I*  •  I   I 

It  ft  ft  ff«r 


►VV. 


I 


1^  •'  I?  •}  f,  •  • 


'Id  Colour 


marriage.  The 
■  for  liini  a  last- 
osty  of  purpo:^'  . 
le  legion  in  llx- 


E.  T.  LEWIS  AND  WIFE. 


tiana  (Hoskinjj)  Ti-cf-tMiilKi,  liaviiif;-  <■ .•  lo  lln'    I'liilcd   Smics   in    ist;."). 

They  settled  in  Min(]ue(tc  county,    Mirhio.ni.   wli.-ir   ihry   icniaini'd   for 

live  years  (eiijiafiod  in  niininj;'),  and  when r  sulijiri   w:is  lioni.  Aiiyiisi 

IL*.  IHIil.  Ill  1S7(l.  Ihc  family  settled  in  Osa-^e  roiinly.  Kan.  Uesides  onr 
snbject  thciv  was  a   faniily'of  live  cliildivn. 

The  ].ar('nls  aiv  nicnii.ei-s  of  the  stiiidy  yromaiiiy  of  Kansas,  self- 
respectinj;-  and  prospcfons,  and  artivc  roniiiiunicanl  s  of  liie  .Mdliodist 
Episcopal   clnircli. 

Mr.  Tie-ieml.a  of  iliis  noli.o  j.as.sod  ilir  pniod  of  youth  and  boy- 
hood on  the  farm,  wlioic  he  dc\flo|icd  a  strong  |)liysical  frame,  and  in 
the  excellent  schools  of  his  home  disliici  secured  a  fi'ood  foundation  for 
the  later  business  course  which  he  look  at  Lawrence,  Kan.  His  first 
venture  was  as  a  ;;cneral  mcrchanl  in  Overbrook,  Kan.,  from  l.S.S!)  to 
1892.  Foi'  a  period  of  sc\cn  \cais,  suciccdin^-,  lie  was  chief  book-keeper 
for  a  millinji'  company  at  Oswcjio,  Kan.,,  and  in  IS!)!),  as  stated,  located 
in  Indejiendeiice.  He  here  cniiafjcd  in  the-  lumber  business  with  suc- 
cess, and  in  tiie  early  jiarl  of  the  ])resent  .M'ar  became  one  of  the  organ- 
izers of  the  Glen  laiinber  Coiiipany,  of  which  he  is  Secretary.  This  com- 
pany is  extensively  en}ia<;cd  in  the  sale  of  all  kinds  of  buildiiifi  material, 
and  does  a  larj»e  and  increasin};-  business  all  over  the  county. 

Mr.  Tregemba's  domestic  life  was  hai.i.ily  initiated  June  Ifi,  1900, 
when  lie  called  to  jireside  over  his  home  Miss  .\iuia  Holmes,  of  Oswego, 
Kan.  Mrs.  Tregemba  is  a  daughter  of  Charles  and  Jennie  Holmes.  To 
the  marriage  have  been  born  a  ]iair  of  twins,  Helen  and  Miriam.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Treg(Miiba  are  prominent  workers  in  the  Tresbyterian  church, 
lie  being  a  Huling  Elder  in  that  organization.  T{usin(\ss  interests  pre- 
vent him  fi'om  taking  more  than  a  v(ding  ]iart  in  politics,  but  he  can 
always  be  de])ended  on  to  sup])ort  the  jiolicies  of  the  I{e])ublican  ])arty. 
He  served  in  the  city  council  from  .\]iril,  1901.  to  .\]>ril,  190^,  during 
which  jieriod  his  keen  business  sagacity  was  of  value  in  the  set- 
tlement of  the  many  (luestions  which  came  before  that  body.  The  char- 
acter of  his  citizenship  is  on  that  high  plane  which  thinks  the  best  none- 
too  good  in  the  moral  and  material  develoimicnt   of  the  city. 


M.  .v.  FIXl.KV,  .M.  !>.— One  of  the  most  successful  ,nid  poi.ular 
young  physicians  of  the  county  is  Dr.  Finiey,  of  Cherryvale,  whose  large 
and  increasing  practice  mark  him  as  an  able  exponent  of  his  profession. 
He  is  rapidly  attaining  distinction  in  surgery,  having  performed  some 
yery  delicate  and  successful  operations  within  the  last  year. 

Dr.  Finiey  was  born  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  Saline  county,  June 
15,  1809.  He  is  a  son  of  .lames  Y.  and  Klizabeth  J.  (StewartlFinlev. 
The  father  was  a  native  ,>(  Missouii  and  the  mother  of  Tennes.see.  The 
father  was  a  farmer  during  the  early  jiart  of  his  life,  latei-  engaging  in 


Ilic  bauking  and  iiu'icantili-  Imsiucss.  He  was  a  man  of  attractive  \wr- 
sonalitj  and  was  very  widely  known  in  that  section  of  tlu^  state. 

Our  subject's  giandfathei-,  together  with  two  brothers  and  three 
sisters,  settled  in  Baline  county.  Mo.,  in  tlie  early  thirties,  where  they 
became  widely  known  for  their  many  cardinal  virtues.  Our  subject's 
father  remained  in  that  county  until  he  was  fifty  years  of  age  and  then 
removed  to  an  adjoining  county,  where  he  died  in  1891,  aged  fifty-six 
years.  He  was  a  consistent  and  active  worker  in  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian church,  as  was  also  his  wife  who  is  now  a  member  of  the 
family  of  her  son  in  t'herryvale. 

Dr.  Finley  was  the  eldest  of  seven  children.  The  second  cli.ld,  Isa- 
belle,  married  Lafayette  Mortimer  and  resides  in  Labette  county,  Kan- 
sas; W.  B.,  oil  and  gas  driller  of  Cherryvale;  the  fourtli  child,  Mary  L., 
died  in  infancv;  J.  (".  resides  on  the  old  homestead  in  Labette  county. 
He  married,  in'  XovcmlM-r.  IIKIL'.  Miss  Ktlicl  (iibsnn;  Miss  l{osc.  is  a  mil- 
liner in  Clievrvvale.  and  Maud  is  a  student  in  the  liigh  s.-h.ml,  class  of 
lf»03. 

The  Doctor  received  his  preliminary  education  in  tlic  district 
schools  of  his  native  county  and  later  attended  an  amdemy  at  Green- 
field, Missouri.  He  then  became  a  student  in  the  Kansas  t>tate  Normal 
at  Emporia,  from  which  he  graduated  in  the  Latin  course  in  1893. 
He  taught  before  going  to  the  State  Normal,  and  after  leaching  several 
yearshetook  u]i  the  study  of  medi<ine  and  for  two  years  attended  the  Illi- 
nois Medi.'al  College  of  ChicMgo;  thence  to  St.  L.niis.  wlu-re,  in  1897,  he 
graduated  in  iIk'  College  of  riiysi(  ians  and  Surgeons.  In  these  diflfer- 
eut  institutions  he  was  a  poimlar  student,  having  been  elected  at  St. 
Louis  as  the  valedirioi  i;in  from  a  .lass  of  one  Imndred  and  two  nu'm- 
bers. 

Upon  comi.leting  his  conrse  Dr.  Finley  came  immediately  to  Cher- 
ry vale  and  began  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  is  a  student  still 
and  is  known  throughout  medical  circles  as  a  contributor  of  valued 
articles  to  the  "Kansas  Medical  .lournal''  and  the  "St.  Louis  < 'lini(|iie,'' 
the  latter  being  th<'  oflicial  |.ublicalion  of  his  .\lma  .Mater.  The  Doctor 
is  a  close  reader  of  current  medical  literature  and  is  acii\e  on  the  social 
side  of  his  profession,  being  a  member  of  the  local  County  Medical  So- 
ciety and  also  of  the  "Southeast  Kansas  Medical  Society,"  and  the 
larger  state  organi/,ati(Uis.  in  all  of  wliicli  his  voice  is  heard  in  the  dis- 
cussions which  are  the  features  of  the  yearly  meetings,  lie  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Anu'ii.an   .Medical   .Association. 

While  the  Doctor  is  giving  his  attenticui  to  the  general  practice  of 
liis  profession,  he  has.  in  later  years,  given  special  attention  to  I'ectal 
surgery,  in  which  line  he  has  achieved  most  flattering  success.  In  the 
community  in  which  he  has  been  a  resident  he  lakes  an  active  and  help- 
ful  interest,   having  served   the  <'ity  as  alderman   for  a   period   of  three 


HISTOUV  OF    MO.NTliOMEUY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  795 

veins  ;ui(i  iilso  one  year  as  City  I'liysician.    He  is  a  iiieiiilicr  of  tlie  Mod- 
eiu  Woodmen  and  of  the  Kni^^lits  and  Ladies  of  Secniity. 

The  domestic  life  of  Dr.  Finlcy  was  initialed  in  IS'.IS,  lie  having 
been  joined  in  marriage  on  thai  dale  to  .Miss  Tearl,  danj;hlei-  of  ( Charles 
A.  and  Elizabetli  Hanco(  k,  of  Kniixjiia.  Kansas.  Tlie  Doclor  and  his 
wife  are  leading  niembeis  of  the  I'resliyterian  chnreh,  in  which  he  is 
an  Elder.  They  move  in  the  best  social  c'^'lcs  of  the  city  and  are  re- 
garded in  the  commiinity  with  feelings  of  the  greatest  esteeein. 


JAMES  IM  L(iEK— The  gentleman  whose  name  lieads  this  article 
is  one  of  the  genuine  jiioneei's  of  Montgomery  county  and  when  he  set- 
Tied  in  West  Cherry  lowushi]),  while  settlers  were  rarely  to  he  seen.  It 
was  in  the  s])ring  of  IStlS,  that  lie  located  on  a  (juarter  of  section  35. 
townshiji  SI,  lange  Iti.  for  tlie  i)iir|)ose  of  carving  himself  out  a  home. 
A  rude  cabin,  the  familiar-  and  subslanlial  residence  of  the  first  settlers, 
was  erected  on  his  claim  and  in  it  he  housed  his  family  for  a  period  of 
ten  years.  His  new  farm  was  a  location  of  I'atrick  Boland,  for  which 
Mr.  Bnlger  paid  the  sum  of  .fSOD.Itl),  and  on  it  he  resided,  engaged  in  its 
intelligent  iiii|)roveineiil  :irid  development,  for  thirly  years,  owning  it 
still,  but  (leserliiig  it  only  tor  llic  roiiveniem-e  and  c<niil'er1  of  his  son's 
home  near  by. 

James  Bulger  is  a  Canadian  by  birth.  His  native  place  was  in 
County  lieauhoinway,  Province  of  Canadii  East,  and  his  birth  occurred 
March  17.  1S:!S.  He  remained  in  his  native  locality  till  he  was  twenty- 
five  years  old,  when  lie  sought  the  Cnited  States  and  became  an  employe 
on  the  I'nioii  Pacific  Railway,  then  building  toward  the  (ioldeu  Gate. 
He  remained  with  the  road  three  years  as  a  bridge  carpenter  and  then 
left  the  west,  went  to  Chicago  and  was  married.  In  a  few  months  he  and 
his  young  wife  came  to  Kansas  and  began  their  life  on  a  new  farm  on 
the  fiontier  in  .\rontgomeiy  county.  The  leduction  of  wild  nature  kept 
them  busy  for  a  few  yeais,  and  I  he  fencing  of  the  fai-m  and  its  provision 
with  the  frontier  buildings  necessary  for  the  shelter  of  their  scant  sup- 
ply of  stock.  Modern  and  substantial  improvements  came  with  the 
lapse  and  successes  of  years  and,  after  thirty-five  years,  the  comforts 
of  a  contented  home  are,  by  the  family,  enjoyed. 

James  liiilger.  Sr.,  was  the  father  of  our  worthy  subjecj.  He  was 
born  in  <"ounty  W'e.xford,  Ireland,  and  was  a  son  of  Hugh  Bulger,  wha 
had  four  sons,  James,  John,  Euke  and  Thomas.  All  of  these  sons  came 
to  America  and  were  reared  as  farmers.  James  married  Mary  Granels, 
a  County  We.xford  lady,  and  reared  eight  children,  namely:  Mrs.  Mary 
Hendratty,  Hugh,  James,  Ann,  Thomas,  John,  Luke  ;ind  Kate;  the  latter 
a  sister  in  a  c(mvent. 

Kose  (iarvey  a  Canadian  lady,  became  the  wife  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.    She  was  a  daughter  of  Patrick  (iarvey,  who  married  a  Mis* 


790  HISTORY   OF    MONTUOMEBY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

Lawler.  Mrs.  Kose  CovL  of  Fort  vSiiiitli,  ArkiiDsas,  is  the  oldest  child 
of  Mr.  aud  Mrs.  Bulger.  She  has  chilrden:  Thomas  and  Johu;  James 
is  the  second  child;  Mrs.  Mary  Piffer  is  the  third  child.  She  resides  in 
Pueblo,  Col.,  and  has  one  child,  Wauneta ;  Mrs.  Lucy  Riggs,  of  Pueblo, 
is  the  fourth,  and  the  others  in  their  order  are:  Majiuie.  Eliza  and  Ed- 
ward. 

Ii!  1SS7,  Mrs.  Hul-er  dii-d  and  lier  liiishand's  household  is  ]>resided 
over  and  cared  for  by  their  younger  daughters.  The  family  are  mem- 
bers of  the  ("atholic  cliureh  and.  in  ixijitics.  Mr.  P.ulirer  is  a  Democrat. 


SEXKCA  E.  TllOM.VS— The  ,i;cnlleHian  whose  name  introduces 
this  biofira](liy  is  widely  known  in  ("berry  lownshiji.  Its  citizenship  has 
known  him  favorably  for  many  years  and  it  is  jileasini;  lo  record  in  this 
work  the  narrative  Avhich  shall  idenlify  his  household  wiili  ihe  material 
development   of   Montgomery   county    . 

His  fauiilv  originated  in  Sharon,  Connectieut,  whei-e  Ihe  Thomases 
had  lived  for  several  generations  and  where  he  was  born  March  LM),  18-10. 
His  parents  were  -lames  H.  and  Harriet  (Edget)  Thomas.  The  father 
learned  the  machinisCs  trade  and  was  emiiloyed  in  the  engine  works  at 
Sharon,  Connecticut  until  his  departure  from  the  state  in  1862.  On 
leaving  the  "Nutmeg  State"  he  settled  in  Ottawa,  Illinois,  where  black- 
smithing  constituted  his  ])articular  liiu'  of  work.  He  resided  on  a  farm 
near  town,  and  on  this  his  children  took  their  first  lessons  in  practical 
agriculture,  ^^'hile  in  that  stale  his  wife  died,  in  1870,  at  forty-five 
years  of  age.  and  in  ISlii.  he  came  l<>  Kansas,  whei-e,  a1  the  home  of  our 
subject,  he  dieil.  aged  sixty  four  years.  Five  children  constituted  his 
family,  namely:  Lewis  11..  .lames  E.,  Emma,  deceased;  Mrs.  Ellen  Man- 
chestln-  of  South  Dakota,  and  Seneca  E.,  of  this  nolicc 

The  work  of  the  farm  occuiiied  Seneca  E.  Thouuis  duiinii  his  period 
of  youthful  develoiunent  and  the  home  of  his  iiai<>nts  was  his  own  till 
his"  marriage  1  )c(  .  1(1.  ISCS.  at  which  lime  he  set  iij.  a  honsrliold  of  his 
own,  going  to  lii-nion  county.  Indiana,  where  be  resided  until  the  year 
1876,  when  he  eslabjished  himself  a  citizen  of  .Montgomery  county, 
Kansas. 

Mr.  Thomas  married  Marv  .1.  Hendricks,  whose  lather,  .lames  Hen- 
dricks, was  a  cousin  of  the  late  \ic.-  I'resideni  Hendricks,  of  Indiana. 
Mr.  llendiicks  niairie<l  Nancy  Farrow  in  the  State  of  N'irginia.  where 
They  were  born,  and  bolh  c;lnie  lo  Indiana,  \oun.i;  and  vigorous;  the 
wife  riding  Ibc  entire  distance  on  horsebacli  .  Mrs.  Hendricks  was  a 
niece  of  Col.  \\  illiam  Farrow,  of  ( ireeiicasi  le.  Indiana,  aud  was  mar- 
ried at  fourteen  vears  of  age,  rearing  a  familv  of  niin-  children.  The 
Hendrickses  left  in<liana  in  an  early  day  and  made  seiilenMnt  in  Illinois, 
whei'e  lliey  passed  away,  the  father  at  si.\ty-lwo  and  llie  mother  at 
eight\    years  old.     Of  llieir   family,   those  deceased   ai-e:   Tliomas,  Mary, 


UlSTOKY  OV   MONTGOMEUY   COUNTY,   KANSAS.  797 

]\I:iri;!  and  Joliti.  Those  surviving  are:  Mrs.  Maliuda  O'I'.ricii.  .lames, 
Mrs.  Mary  J.  Tlioiiias,  wife  of  our  subject;  Mrs.  Libbic  Tlioiuas  aud 
Josepli.  Jdliii  Ilciidricks  enlisted  in  the  First  Indiana  Heavy  Artillery 
and  served  liis  Hirer  years  in  the  field;  from  18G1  to  1S()4.  He  then  veter- 
anized aud  finished  out  the  war,  experiencing  much  of  the  arduous  serv- 
ice of  the  great  Civil  War.  Following  the  close  of  hostilities  between  the 
two  warring  secti'uis  of  our  countiT ;  he  enlisted  iu  the  regular  aruiy  and 
spent  ten  years  in  this  service,  uuikiug  a  total  of  foui'teen  years'  service 
in  war  and  peace. 

Mr.  Thomas'  liist  home  iu  Monlgomery  county  was  on  a  snuill 
sixty  acre  farm  on  which  he  erected,  what  wonld  now  be  considered 
a  toy  house — 12x12  feet  in  dimension  —and  in  these  modest  surround- 
ings he  and  his  faithful  wife  were  content  to  remain  'till  their  industry 
rewarded  them  with  more  commodious  quarters.  The  farm  was 
improved  commensurate  with  their  ability  and  they  were  happy  in 
their  surroundings  'till  a  conflagration  visited  them  in  1002  and 
destroyed  their  barns  and  grauaries,  containing  their  farm  imjjlenu^nts 
and  vehicles,  a  blow  which  was  almost  paralyzing  in  its  consequences. 
But,  nerved  to  the  occasion,  Mr.  Thomas  proceeded  immediately  to 
rebuild  and  the  destruction  of  yesterday  is  ri'placed  by  the  re-creatiou 
of  todav. 

Mr.  Thomas  is  an  admirable  <iti/,en,  obliging,  agreeable  aud  easily 
ai)]iroachable  by  all.  These  and  other  traits  account  for  his  wide 
j)opulaiity.  He  is  disposed  to  look  always  on  the  bright  side  of  things, 
aud  while  In^  suffers  from  the  pangs  of  misfortune,  melancholy  never 
seizes  him  and,  encouraged  and  cheered  by  his  constant  companion — - 
his  wife — life  is  as  sweet  to  him  under  adversity  as  under  prosperity. 
His  farm,  which  is  in  the  proven  oil  and  gas  belt  of  Cherryvale,  has 
become  valuable  aud  he  is  surrounded  liy  many  luxuries  of  life. 

Iu  ])olitics,  Mr.  Thmuas  is  a  Republican  aiul  he  has  served  his  town- 
ship as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  Rebekah  and 
served  Cherivvale  Lodye  of  the  former  for  twelve  vears  as  :\  Trustee. 
He  is  also  a  'Modern  Woodman. 


W.  E.  WOHTMAX.  editor  of  tliat  siirightly  weekly  journal,  the  Elk 
City  Enterprise,  and  the  efficient  postmaster  of  that  jirosperous  village, 
the  gentleman  named  herein  combines  qualities  which  make  him  a  most 
popular  citizen.  His  connection  with  Kansas  affairs  began  two  dec-ades 
ago,  since  which  time  he  has  been  a  firm  supporter  of  its  institutions, 
and  of  the  local  communitv  in  which  he  cast  his  lines. 

On  the  lOth  of  October,  1001.  the  citizens  of  Elk  City  were  called 
on  to  mourn  the  death  of  one  of  her  old  soldier  citizens,  a  man  whom 
they  had  learned  to  revere  for  his  many  noble  qmilities  and  for  the 
sterling   character    of    his    citizenship    among    them.      This    gentleman 


\v;is  iIm  fallicr  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  Jacob  (i.  Woiliuiui.  Mr. 
WOrhnaii  was  a  native  of  the  P.ucke.ve  State  and  there  <;iew  to  man- 
hood, Icaininj;  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Civil  War  lie  was  following  his  trade  in  Marion  county.  Ohio,  and  there 
enlisted  as  a  jirivate  soldier,  .luly  (i,  IStU,  in  Co.  "E."  !>(Jth  O.  V.  I. 
This  regiment  became  a  part  of  the  Thirteenth  Army  ('orjis,  and  was 
seni  to  the  southwest,  where,  during  the  war,  it  saw  most  ti-ying  service. 
Jt  cri..ssed  the  bridge  at  Cincinnati  with  the  full  complement  of  1,100 
men;  it  ictiuTied  three  years  later  with  less  than  three  hundred  to  tell 
the  story  of  those  three  years  of  suffering  and  privation,  endured 
uncoiii|ilaiiiingly  for  the  honor  of  "Old  Glory."  After  i)articipating  in  the 
battle  of  Arkansas  Post,  Mr.  Wortnuin  was  at  the  siege  of  Vicksburg, 

afti-r   wliiili    1 ngaged   in   the  Ked   River  campaign.     It   was   in   this 

campaign  that  the  regiment  suffered  such  terrible  loss,  in  one  battle 
losing  every  line  otWcer  but  one.  In  this  same  battle  Mr.  Wortnuni 
had  several  marvelously  close  calls,  at  one  time  having  his  mustache 
shaved  by  a  bullet  as  clean  as  if  by  a  razor,  his  clothes  juerced  in  two 
difterent  places,  and  a  lock  of  his  hair  cut  from  the  top  of  his  head; 
this  latter  incident  ever  after  reconciled  him  to  his  rather  diminutive 
height,  as,  if  lie  had  been  an  inch  tallei-  the  wound  would  have  been  a 
fatal  one.  After  ihis  cami)aign  the  regiment  went  via  New  Orleans  to 
Mobile  where  it  paiticiiiated  in  the  fall  of  that  city  and  the  sieges  of 
Forts  M<.igaii  and  Spanish. 

After  his  T-eturn  home,  Mr.  W'ortmaii  <(i}it 
tiade  in  Ohio  until  1881,  when  he  settled  in  IClk 
vears  before  his  death  he  conlinned  to  jiiy  his 
failing,  he  gave  u\>  the  bench  and  heli.ed  about  t 
felling  to  wear  out  rather  than  rust   out. 

.1.  (!.  Woiliuan  was  born  in  Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  October  li.'!, 
is;;."i,  and  in  ISIU,  was  joined  in  marriage  to  the  lady  who  now  survives 
him,  nee  .Miss  Harriet  L.  Warwick,  daughter  of  John  Warwick.  To 
the  marriage  were  Ii.uti  :  W,  F..,  our  subject;  nuldah  I..,  now  Mrs.  O.  1  >. 
AVright,  a  farmer  „f  this  ((Miiity;  children— Hazel.  Jacob,  Paul  and 
Waller;  Sadie  M.,  wife  of  Prof.  ("aslilh>  of  the  county  high  school; 
.iiildreii  -William,  Harriet.  Elizalteth  and  John;  Wayne  J.,  of  Flk  City, 
iiiaiiied   Inez  Easley;  one  child — Irene. 

Tl Idest   of  'this   family,   W.    E.   Wortiiian,    was   born   in    Marion 

comity.  Oliio,  .laiiiiaiy  lit,  ISCi".  He  lereived  a  good  common  scho(d 
ediiralioii  and  at  an  early  age  was  a[i|ireiitired  to  the  printing  trade 
ill  the  olliri'  of  the  Caledonia  Argus,  where  he  remained  five  years.  H(^ 
I  hen  caiiK'  to  Kansas  with  the  family,  and  after  working  at  the  case  four 
or  live  years,  bniighl  the  Enterprise.  I'nder  his  management  this 
joiiiiial  has  lie.oiiii-  s(Hiiething  more  than  a  mere  chronicle  of  the  news 
of  the  roiiiiiiiiiiily  and  is  a  credit  to  the  town.  In  February  of  18!t8, 
Mr.    Wort  man    was   a[iiioinled    [lostmaster   of   Elk    City   and   has    since 


Hied    to    work    a 

t    hi 

"ifv,  \\here  until 

1W' 

■ocation.      His   h 

call 

11'  iiiiiiting  otiice 

.  iii< 

JOSEPH  H.  NORRIS  AND  FAMILY. 


ry,  KANSAS.  799 

He  livf's  with,  and  cares 

.  '  :<  ..,) ,i)is(  infancy  gavi* 
ifo  singly  u,nd 


*     *    * 


«    t-   # 


■AWAY.        ins    sou.      ' 

Island  ill  1804.     I! 
to  thai  <9ta!''  iviic- 


Indiana,  the  famllv  havinfj  remoA-ed 

':?  T.'ars.     [To  lived  in  Dearboni  and 

•  "Jraut  county,  Wis. 

lluT,    Sarah    Ward, 


.r      '     y     I    t    ii 

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Vw... 


Hi 

■ 

JOSEPH   ;■ 

i<erved  with  entire  satisfaction  to  the  patrons.  He  lives  with,  and  cares 
witli  singnhir  devotion  for,  the  mother  who  in  his  earliest  infancy  gave 
lier  hnsband  to   his  coiintrv  and   fought   the  battl(>   of  life   singly  and 


JOSEPH  Hl'RLBUET  NORRIS— Among  the  worthy  and  repre- 
sentative citizens  of  the  county  engaged  in  agriculture  is  Mt.  Joseph  H. 
Norris,  who,  since  1876,  has  cultivated  the  farm  on  which  he  now 
resides,  six  miles  due  <'ast  of  Independence.  Mr.  Norris  is  a  gentleman 
of  fine  education  and  training,  having  for  a  number  of  years  in  his 
early  life  been  an  educator  of  no  mean  reputation  in  the  good  old 
Hoosier  State.  He  has  done  much  through  the  intervening  years  to 
encourage  the  establishment  of  good  schools  in  the  county,  and  has  used 
his  influence  at  all  times  in  the  amelioration  of  the  ills  of  his  fellowmen. 

Mr.  Xorris  conies  of  excellent  patriot  stock,  his  grandfather  Joseph 
Xoriis  having  been  one  of  the  ^Minute  Men  of  the  Revolution.  He  lived 
in  Long  Island  at  that  time  and  later  moved  out  to  Charleston,  West 
Virginia.  He  Anally  settled  in  Boone  county,  Ind.,  where  he  passed 
away.  His  son,  Joseph,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was  born  in  Long 
Island  in  1804.  He  was  reared  in  Indiana,  the  family  having  removed 
to  that  state  when  he  was  a  lad  of  12  years.  He  lived  in  Dearborn  and 
Jefferson  counties  and  in  1834,  Josejjh  removed  to  Grant  county,  Wis. 
In  Dearborn  county  h(>  married  our  subject's  mother,  Saiah  Ward, 
and  whose  premature  death  in  1850,  caused  the  father  to  return  to 
Boone  county,  Ind.,  then  the  residence  of  Joseph,  Sr. 

Our  subject  was  then  a  lad  just  entering  his  'teens  and  he  passed 
tlie  remainder  of  his  adolescent  period  in  attendance  on  the  district 
schools.  He  was  then  sent  to  Asbury  (now  the  famous  Del'auw) 
University,  and  later  to  the  academy  at  Thorntown,  then  presided 
over  by  John  C  Ridi)ath.  wlio  afterward  became  famous  as  a  historian. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  he  left  this  institution  and  entered  the  school- 
room as  a  teacher  and  for  many  years  pursued  this  vocation  with 
unusual  success.  Believing  that  Kansas  had  in  store  for  him  a  better 
field,  he,  in  1876,  left  the  ferule  to  others,  and  coming  to  Montgomery 
county  j)urchased  the  land  on  which  he  now  resides.  Nearly  thi'ee 
decades  of  patient  and  unremitting  toil,  together  with  intelligent  hus- 
banding of  his  resources,  has  placed  him  in  comfortable  circumstances, 
and  he  is  now  able  to  take  life  more  easily.  As  before  intimated,  Mr. 
Norris  has  been  a  most  potent  factor  in  the  development  of  the  county 
and  is  held  in  great  favor  by  a  large  circle  of  friends.  Formerly  a 
Republican,  he  has  since  1890,  voted  and  worked  with  the  Populist 
party.  While  a  Republican,  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature  and  was 
a  member  at  the  time  the  first  ]irohibition  law  was  passed.  In  1800.  he 
•was  elected  cleric  of  the  district  courl  by  tli<'  Popnlisl  jiarty. 


Mary  (".(udoii.  (iaii};ht(M-  of  Kichai-d  and  Sarah  (iordoii.  a  faiiiHM- 
of  l>niia  ("n-ck  Twp.,  lu'camc  (lie  wifV  of  our  .losc])h  11.  Noi-tis  in  ISSl. 
This  huiy  lived  hut  a  short  time  after  i^iviii^  birtli  to  a  son,  Oscar  M. 
by  iiaiiic.  and  wlio,  at  nineteen  years,  suffered  deatli  by  drowniuj;  in 
tile  Si.  Croi.x  river.  He  was  a  manly  boy  and  his  death  cast  a  deeji 
f;h.oni  over  I  he  household.  The  death  of  his  mother  occurred  in  Feb- 
ruary of  ISS-J,  and  ill  1SS4.  ^Ir.  Noris  hroiij;ht  to  ]ueside  over  his  h(mie 
.Miss  Dorolliy  .\..  dauj;hter  of  Gilberl  and  Jlary  (Pool)  Domiuy.  The 
latter  is  now  deceased,  but  her  husband  resides  in  lnde])endence.  hav- 
ing been  foi-  many  years  one  of  llie  lioiiored  yeomen  of  1he  c(mnty. 
Mrs.  Norris  is  tiie' iiMitlier  of  lliree  bii-hi  clMldreii— Sarah,  seventeen; 
Katie,  tifleeii.  and  -losepli.  eleven  years  of  ai;c. 


■  l.XCor.  !-.  \'.\\  DV.XK — Tile  family  which  is  here  named  has  been 
|u-omiiieiitly  and  liomuahly  associated  with  the  devel()]mient  of  Mont- 
.<>omei.\  county  for  nearly  fi>iir  decades,  the  i;entlenian  whose  name 
ajipears  above  liavinj;-  come  to  the  county  with  his  jiarents  as  a  four- 
teen year  old  boy,  in  the  year  lS(i!).  Since  that  dale  they  liave  been 
ideiitilied  with  the  firowth  and  i)i-os]ierity  of  the  county  and  have 
always  j;iven  their  voice  and  vole  to  the  best  measures  of  i^oveinmeiit 
Id-ojiosed  to  be  ailopted  in  their  local  communily. 

The  \aii  Dvnes  are  Iloosier  Stale  people,  where,  in  Wells  Co.,  John 
and  Kleanor  i  li(mdeyslielU  \'an  l>yne  reared  their  family,  dolin  Van 
Dviie  was  .1  native  Of  Ohio,  born  .luiie  I'S,  I.SIS.  Eleanor,  the  wife, 
vviis  born  there  November  2:;,  1S17.  To  these  ]iarents  were  born  eleven 
children  as  follows:  Christopher,  b<uii,  .March  S.  \i>:i7,  now  deceased; 
Frances,  born  .Inly  L'f.,  ]s:!S,  married  Cornelius  Truax  and  live.s  in 
<  Columbus.  Indiana;  Mary,  born  February  li'_',  1S4(I,  is  now  deceased; 
Klizabeth,  born  .lanuarv  l'(>,  fS42,  lives  in  .Missouri,  the  wife  of  Joseph 
Xeriiis;  Sara  .\nii,  born  December  1,  1S4:{,  lives  in  Oklahoma  City,  the 
wife  of  .losejih  S]iencer;  Xancv  -V.,  born  February  i:i,  1S4(),  married 
.lames  Xeriiis  and  both  are  deceased;  Matthew  .M..  born  April  5.  1847, 
is  a  farmer  <if  j.iherly  townshi]);  f.ydia.  horn  May  l."..  lS4f|.  is  deceased; 
<'viitliia  !•:..  born  .lanuarv  1."),  isni.  is  deceased;  .bdiu  (i..  born  May  7, 
isn:;,  is  deceased;  .lacob'L..  our  subject;  William  II..  Ixun  .\iuil  fL'lh, 
]SC)I>.  and   .lames,   born   Feb.   Kith,   ISIil^. 

.la<-oli  \'aii  Dyne  was  born  in  Wells  couiily,  Indiana,  Auj;ust  1ft, 
IS.").".  .\s  staled  he  came  to  Kansas  with  his  paicnls.  who  lo<-ated  two 
miles  from  .Mr.  \'an  DyiieV  |nesent  home,  and  where  he  was  reared  to 
man's  estate.  lie  remaine<l  on  llie  Ikmiic  farm  until  his  marriage, 
February  ll,  IS7(;,  ti>  .Martha  C..  daiij^liter  of  .loliii  and  Delilah  (Reed) 
Sjiickard.  .Mrs.  \'an  Dyne's  iiarenis  were  natives  of  Kentucky,  inunoving 
lo   Meiier  Co.,   .Miss(Miri,   where   Mis.    \'an    Dyne   was  born   on   the   17tli 


MaiJison,    IihI.;  .Iciiiiic   S.,   Kdwiu    I{..   of   K:is(    SI.    l.ouis.   111.,   aud    Mrs. 
licllarny. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  lii'llam.\  and  thoir  cnlirt*  lamilv  aie  active  membors 
of  the  Methodist  church  and  their  couneclion  with  tlie  social  life  of 
the  community  is  most  helj)fnl  and  n]jliftin;;.  They  are  the  recipients 
of  nniveisal  regard  from  a   laijic  circle  of  friends,   whom  they  delight 


W.  K.  I'KATT,  bookseller  and  stationer  of  Independence,  and  for 
several  yeais  a  member  of  the  city  council,  is  a  .young  man  of  sterling 
integrity,  whose  connection  with  the  business  aud  social  life  of  the  city 
has  been  of  a  character  to  make  him  many  steadfast  friends.  He  came 
to  the  city  in  1899,  and  has  been  in  the  stationery  and  book  business 
since  that  date. 

Kentucky  is  the  native  state  of  Mr.  Pratt,  liis  birth  occurring  in 
Madisonville,  Hopkins  county.  May  1(5,  1871.  His  parents,  Cliftou  J. 
and  t^arah  M.  Pratt,  still  reside  in  the  "Blue  (Jrass  State,"  where  the 
father  is  Attorney-General  of  the  state,  having  been  elected  on  the 
Republican  ticket  in  1899.  Judge  Pratt  was  among  the  loyal  people  of 
the  "Blue  Grass  State"  who  stood  by  the  I'nion  during  the  Civil  War, 
he  entering  the  union  army  as  a  courier  early  in  the  struggle,  and,  as 
soon  as  he  had  attained  the  proper  age,  became  a  full  fledged  soldier. 
He  was  in  the  service  during  the  entire  period  of  tlie  war,  ending  witli 
Sherman's  march  to  the  sea.  Upon  his  return  he  studied  law  and  has 
since  been  connected  with  the  courts  of  the  state.  He  was  for  five 
years  Judge  of  the  2nd  Judicial  District  of  the  state,  and  served  one 
term  in  the  state  senate  prior  to  his  election  to  the  judgeship. 

W.  R.  Pratt  is  one  of  two  living  children.  His  preliminary 
scholastic  training  was  secured  in  tlie  schools  of  his  native  town  to 
which  was  added  advanced  work  at  Eureka,  111.  He  entered  upon  his 
business  career  as  Associate  Editor  of  the  Eriington,  Ky.,  "Bee,"  but  at 
the  expiration  of  a  year  opened  a  bookstore  in  liis  native  town,  where 
he  continued  until  his  removal*to  Independence.  He  keeps  a  large  line 
of  stationery  and  such  goods  as  are  usually  found  in  a  well-regulated 
book  store,  and  his  shelves  are  filled  with  the  latest  and  best  in  liter- 
ature. Indeed,  it  is  remarked  that  citizens  of  few  towns  of  the  class 
represented  by  Independence  have  so  com]ilete  a  stock  from  which  to 
select  their  reading  matter. 

Since  his  identification  with  tlie  cily.  Mr.  I'ratI  has  taken  an  active 
and  helpful  interest  in  its  progress.  He  is  an  ardent  Republican  in 
politics,  and  is  prominent  in  the  councils  of  tliat  party  in  the  different 
local  campaigns.  In  1901,  he  was  elected  to  represent  the  4th  ward  in 
the  governing  body  of  the  city,  tlie  character  of  his  seivice  having  been 
eminently    satisfactory    to    his    coustitui'Uts.      He    is    a    member    of   the 


Christian  clinicli,  anil  is  opon  handed  in  his  support  of  worthy  chari- 
tabh^  entcrprisi's. 

Tho  domestic  life  of  our  subject  dates  from  June  2fi,  189:1,  when  he 
■was  joined  in  marriage  with  Miss  Helen,  daughter  of  J.  S.  Whittinghill 
and  Genoa  Frances  Gooch.  The  mother  died  Feb.  2n,  1881,  and  the 
father  resides  in  St.  Joe,  Mo. 

Mrs.  Pratt  is  a  true  type  of  the  southern  born  woman,  hospitable 
and  social  to  a  degree,  and  possessing  that  instinctive  knowledge  of 
society  and  social  customs  so  necessary  in  the  pi'esent  day  hostess.  Her 
three  children  are  Florence  E.,  Clifton  J.,  Jr.,  and  W.  K.,  Jr. 


JOHN  WALLICK— Away  back  among  the  pioneers  of  1870,  there 
came  to  Montgomery  county  John  Wallick,  of  West  Cherry  township, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch. "  He  had  journeyed  across  the  Mississippi 
valley  from  the  Prairie  State  by  team  and  wagon  and,  after  a  month 
of  weary  trudging  and  anxiety,  reached  the  Verdigris  River  in  Mont- 
gomery county,  Kansas,  where  settlement  was  made.  For  a  small  con- 
sideration William  Hendricks  was  induced  to  relinquish  his  claim  right 
to  bis  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  section  20,  township  31,  range 
16.  and  this  tract  became  the  first  home  of  our  new  sctlh'rs  and  formed 
the  nucleus  of  their  present  extensive  domain. 

In  that  early  time  the  widely  scattered  settlements  of  the  frontier 
granted  unrestricted  liberty  and  license  to  the  evil  doer,  and  while 
most  pe(i])le  were  engaged  in  the  legitimate  arts  of  peace  there  were 
lazy  and  worthless  Indians  and  occasional  dens  of  thieves  afflicting 
the  honest  toiler.  These  forays  of  the  midnight  prowler  kept  com- 
munities in  a  state  of  constant  dread,  for  no  respectable  settler  and 
])roperty  owner  felt  sure  of  exenijjtiou  from  their  attack.  Their  hiding 
places  were  in  out-of-the-way  places  along  the  river  or  back  in  the 
blufl's  and  the  plunder  of  every  des(ri])ti(in  that  found  its  way  to  "Hell's 
Bend"  or  to  the  wigwam  of  some  worthh>ss  Red  Skin  would  have  been 
the  envy  of  "William  Sikes"'  in  Oliver  Twist.  Hell's  Bend  was  the 
rendezuous  of  a  band  of  dcsjicradoes  and  was  situated  near  the  lionie 
of  Mr.  \\':illiil;.  Some  of  his  iicighbois  belonged  to  the  band  and  five 
of  thcni  scpvimI  Iciiiis  for  ihc  illegal  ]iart  they  took  in  aii]iroi)riating 
other  jicople's  ino|)c'ily.  Chief  "Sun  Down,"' 'of  the  Osages,  had  his 
liahil:.lion  near,  lor  a  lime,  and  became  a  familiar  figtir(>  over  the  town- 
ship as  well  as  al  llie  home  of  John  Wallick. 

The  lirst  habitation  of  Mr.  Wallick  in  Kansas  was  a  12x14  cabin 
which  was  on  the  farm  when  he  .selUed  lliere.  This  sufficed  the  family 
as  a  residence  "til!  some  time  in  1S72,  when  a  more  pretentious  box 
house  was  built  which,  in  turn,  was  the  abiding  ]ilai'e  of  the  household 
until  1882,  when  the  commodious  home  of  the  ],re.sen1  was  ere<ted. 

Farming  claimed  the  attention  of  our  subjeet  from  first  to  last.     His 


early  training  came  to  him  from  parents  fnll  of  rural  indiislTial  aitivity 
and  the  heart  of  the  son  was  laid  upon  the  possession  of  a  fai'iii,  in  fee 
simi»lo.  and  the  product  of  his  own  hand.  The  intelligence  with  which 
lie  builded  in  Kansas  is  revealed  in  the  possession  of  an  estate  of  three 
hundred  and  seventy  acres  and  its  splendid  improvement  and  in  the 
general  substantiality  of  his  business  connection. 

John  Wallick  is  a  native  of  Madison  county,  Oliio.  tvhere  he  was 
born  October  14,  1838.  He  is  of  (Tcrman  lineage,  his  grandfather, 
Michael  Wallick,  having  migrated  to  the  Ignited  States  as  a  young 
man — from  some  (ieiinan  state — and  settled  in  Bedford  county,  Penn- 
sylvania. The  Keystone  State  remained  his  home  afterward  and  there 
he  pursued  the  calling  of  a  blacksmith  and  farmer.  His  family  num- 
bered eight  children,  as  follows:  Andrew,  Philip,  Henry,  Michael, 
Elizabeth.  Ann,  Charlotte,  and  Samuel.  The  sons  were  soldiers  in  the 
War  of  1812,  and  Samuel,  our  subject's  father,  married  Susan  Silver  and 
left  his  native  county  of  Bedford  in  Pennsylvania,  when  young  in  years, 
and  settled  in  Madison  county.  Ohio.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten 
children,  namely:  Richard,  deceased;  Asa,  Michael,  Charlotte,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Silver,  of  Fulton  county,  Illinois;  John,  of  this  notice;  Wil- 
son S.,  of  Seward  county,  Nebraska;  Samuel,  of  Bushnell,  Illinois; 
Mrs.  Mary  J.  Everly,  of  Prairie  City.  Illinois,  and  AllMM-t  M.,  wlio  died  in 
infancy. 

Tn  1843,  Samuel  Wallick  brought  his  family  farlher  west  and  located 
in  Fulton  Co.,  Illinois.  Here  Jolin  was  leared  with  other  children  and 
secured  a  f;iir  education.  He  had  accumulated  a  little  projierty  when 
he  decided  to  become  a  .settler  and  a  citizen  of  Kansas  but  the  achieve- 
ment of  his  life  came  to  him  as  a  citizen  of  the  Sunflower  State. 

July  4,  1870,  Mr.  Wallick  married  Amanda  Markley,  a  native  Fulton 
county,  Illinois,  lady,  and  a  daughter  of  Conrsid  and  Ruth  (Foster) 
Markley;  the  i)areuts  native  Ohio  jieople.  Four  children  are  the  issue  of 
this  marriage,  viz:  Lillian,  wife  of  J.  W.  licit,  with  a  child,  Leroy 
Ivan;  Samuel  L.,  Conrad  and  Rulh  still  with  the  family  home. 

Mr.  Wallick  has  ((intentcd  himself  with  being  a  (]uiet,  industrious 
citizen.  He  has  tilled  the  offices  of  Clerk  and  Treasurer  of  his  township 
and  served  many  years  on  the  district  school  board.  His  wife  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Jlethodist  chui<h  and  he  holds  a  membership  in  the  Ancient 
Order  of  Fnited  W<Mkiiien  and  in  the  Knights  and   !,adies  of  Security. 


SOPHRONIA  HEXDKRSOX— The  family  of  which  .Mrs.  Sojihronia 
Henderson  is  now  the  head  came  to  the  county  in  1870.  and  settled 
where  she  now  resides,  in  \^'est  Cherry  township.  Section  8,  Range  IC. 

Mrs.  Henderson  has  attained  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-two  years, 
having  been  born  in  \\y*lie  c(niiily.  Xa..  July  1.  lSl!1.  Iler  paternal 
grandfather  was  l.eimard  P.inwii  a  native  of  the  same  state,  and  whose 


cliildn'ii  \ver<>:  David,  Kli,  Andrew,  Kalliarini-,  F-lizahctli  aud  ►Sarah.  The 
son  Andrew  married  Susannah  Leonai-d,  iif  the  same  county,  and 
thiujihter  of  Adam  and  FJiy.aiieth  Leonard,  Ohl  Dominion  State  people, 
'Potliemwei-ehoiii :  Sophronia,  l']iizabeth  (Ilammons),  Joseph  W.,  James, 
John,  Man-  (Coshwilleil  and  Sena,  wife  of  Henry  Hilderbrand. 

Mrs.  Henderson  left  \'irginia  when  a  child  of  eight  years  with  her 
parents,  who  settled  in  Johnson  county,  Ind.  Here  Sophronia  was 
reared  to  womanhood  and  in  1839,  married  Thomas  Henderson.  This 
gentleman  was  a  native  of  Hendricks  county,  Ky.,  and  was  the  son 
of  William  and  Patsy  (Raker)  Henderson.  After  their  marriage  they 
were  residents  of  Johnson  county  until  the  date  of  their  settlement  in 
Montgomery,  1870.  Here  Thomas  bought  from  an  Indian  of  the  name 
of  Barnaby  1(50  acres,  paying  for  it  |S0(».  It  was  without  improve- 
ments save  a  double  log  cabin,  and  in  this  the  family  resided  some 
seven  years.  As  ju'osjierity  attended  their  eft'orts  they  erected  the 
present  comfortable  home,  and  where  Mi-.  Henderson  died,  on  the  ."ith 
of  Sept.,  1894. 

The  following  are  the  childien  and  grand  children  o(^  Mrs.  Hender- 
son: Susannah  married  Strand  Henderson  of  Jlontgomery  county,  and 
has  seven  children,  as  follows:  John  married  May  Madden,  whose 
children  are  Ethel  and  John.  Daniel  married  Luella  Newell  and  is  the 
father  of  Ella,  Iva  and  Cora.  Frank's  children  are:  Maud,  Mary, William 
and  Murray,  who  nmrried  Millie  ('.  Foster,  children  Marion,  I'red  and 
two  others.    Then  comes  in  order  Anda.  deceased,  Eddie  and  t'ynthia. 

James  F.,  now  deceased,  married  Harriet  Deboe,  who  became  the 
m(>ther  of  Thomas,  whose  wife  was  Nancy  Gilkey  and  whose  children 
are:  May.  Alice,  Floyd  and  Sophronia;  Albert  married  and  has  one 
child,  Etta,  wife  of  Phett  Churchill,  her  five  children  are:  Elsie,  Mabel, 
Han;.,  Virgil  and  Chester.  William  lives  in  the  Indian  Territory.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Cokendiver  and  his  children  are:  All>ert,  Adelbert, 
Frank,  Lucy  and  Sena  Ann.  Jane  is  the  wife  of  Janu^s  ("ampbell, 
Montgomery  county,  whose  children  are  Sophronia,  who  married  Hart 
IJowers,  and  has  Earl  and  Edwin;  Mary,  wife  of  (Jeorge  (Joshwiller;  two 
childien — Hertha  and  Zelma;  William,  whose  wife's  name  was  Jessie 
Bowers  and  whose  children  are:  Eugenia.  Slelhi  and  .Mary;  Lizzie,  Mi"s. 
John  Nary,  wlmsc  rhildren  are:  OIlie,  Ethel.  William  and  Mary.  Flor- 
ence. Mrs.  Filkins,  lias  Earl  and  Fred.  Angeline  Wells  has  Dora  aud 
Marshall.     John  and  Luther  complete  Jane  Caniiibell's  family. 

-Mrs.  Alice  \'erbrick.  the  sixth  child,  lives  in  this  cnnntv  with  her 
children.  Thomas  and  Frederick. 

Mrs.  Anna  \.  Madden,  the  voungest.  also  has  two  ehildr.Mi.  Charles 
W.  and  Elsie. 


H.  W.  YOUNG. 


T  17tli,  1.8! 


''^  m   *  *•  i^  «^  •  i 


'  <  #  «  * 

«i    «r    t/   «'  U 


X  e  c  £ 

!^   f  r  fr 


■.   •?  ■!   ' 


HISTORY  OF  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY^  KANSAS.  807 

HEXRY  WILSON  YOUNG  was  born  at  Northvilk-,  Suffolk  coiiuty, 
"New  York.  December  17th,  1847.  His  father  was  Noah  Wilson  Young, 
whose  life  was  spent  in  farming  at  his  Long  Island  home.  His  grand- 
father was  raj)tain  Noah  Young,  who,  with  his  militia  company,  partici- 
pated in  one  of  the  engagements  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  who  served 
as  a  member  of  the  New  York  legislature  in  the  early  thirties,  as  a  col- 
league of  Jlillard  Fillmore,  who  afterward  became  president.  The 
family  was  of  English  descent  and  traced  back  to  Reverend  John  Young, 
who  came  from  Connecticut  to  Long  Island  about  KilO,  and  was  the 
spiritual  adviser  of  the  first  settlers  at  the  east  end  of  the  island. 

The  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  Dcncy  Jane  (Luce) 
Young,  daughter  of  Hallock  Luce.  The  Luce  family  is  said  to  have 
been  originally  of  French  extraction,  but  had  been  in  England  since 
the  Normau  conqu<'st.  Mrs.  Young's  mother  was  Sarah  Fanning,  who 
was  of  Irish  extraction,  while  Mr.  Young's  paternal  grandmother  was 
a  Reeves,  and  of  Dutch  descent. 

Noah  W^  Young's  family  consisted  of  six  children,  all  of  whom 
are  living.  Henry  W.  was  the  eldest  and  the  only  one  who  had  any 
disposition  to  roam,  or  ever  made  a  home  five  miles  away  from  the 
paternal  domicile.  The  others  were:  Drusilla  J.,  Edna  A.  (Hallock), 
Lcander  E.,  Daniel  R.,  and  Sarah  K.  (Hallock.) 

The  homestead  on  which  the  family  lived  is  on  fhe  north  shore  of 
Long  Island,  only  a  mile  from  Long  Island  sound,  and  about  two  and  a 
half  miles  from  Peconic  Bay,  which  here  bisects  the  island.  It  is  a  farm 
of  a  hundred  acres,  which  w:is  pnichased  prior  to  the  war  of  the  revolu- 
tion by  Rufus  Young,  great-grandfather  of  Henry  W.,  and  has  been  ever 
since  in  ])oss('ssioii  of  tlic  familv,  Ix'ing  now  the  prop<'rtv  of  his  voungest 
brother,  Daniel  R.  ' 

"Henry  Wilson,"  as  he  was  known  aiiKing  liis  school  males,  to  dis- 
tinguish him  from  other  Henrys,  obtained  his  education  in  the  district 
schools  and  at  Northville  Academy,  which  he  attended  in  the  winter 
until  seventeen  years  of  age,  being  engaged  in  farm  work  during  the 
summer  months,  after  his  twelfth  year.  In  1865,  when  eighteen  years 
old,  he  engaged  in  teaching  school,  at  Aquebogue,  Long  Island,  where 
his  father  had  taught  many  years  before.  His  mother  was  also  a  school 
teacher. ' 

In  1S6S,  having  gone  through  the  necessary,  prepai'atory  studies,  he 
entered  Washington  college,  Lexington,  Virginia,  but  owing  to  poor 
healtli.  did  not  remain  there  long.  In  the  fall  of  1870,  he  took  a  steamer 
trip  to  New  Orleans,  and  from  there  went  out  into  Texas  with  a  view 
to  locating,  hut  not  finding  the  country  to  his  liking,  returned  to  New 
York.  The  summers  of  1871-'72  and  '73,  he  devoted  very  largely  to  the 
study  of  botany  and  the  identification  of  the  indigenous  species  of 
plants  growing  on  the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island.  In  this  work  he 
was  associated  with  Elihu  S.  Miller,  of  Wading  River,  and,  together,  in 


SOS  HISTORY   OF    MONTOOMEKY    CUVISLX,   KAINBAa. 

1S74.  ihf.v  imhlisluMl  a  paniiililct  contaiiiiii''  a  coinidete  list  of  the  uative 
Mora  of  f^uUolk  county. 

On  account  of  bis  health,  in  the  fall  of  1S72,  he  set  sail  iu  the  bark 
Adaline  C.  Adams  for  Rio  Janeiro,  Brazil.  Yellow  fever  was  prevailing 
there  at  the  time  of  his  arrival,  about  Christmas;  and  before  his  return 
he  sutfered  an  attack  of  that  disease  and  was  cared  for  in  a  hospital 
where  none  of  the  attendants  spoke  a  word  of  English.  The  return  voy- 
age was  made  by  way  of  Cuba,  where  a  month  was  spent  at  Cienfuegos 
iu  loading  with  a  cargo  of  sugar. 

In  the  summer  of  1874,  he  was  again  seized  with  the  desire  to  follow 
Horace  Greeley's  advice  to  "go  west  and  grow  up  with  the  country." 
If^peaking  of  Greeley  is  a  reminder  that  he  received  the  news  of  Greeley's 
death  by  flag  signals,  away  south  of  the  equator,  from  a  swifter  sailing 
vessel,  a  mile  away,  that  had  left  New  York  a  week  later  than  the 
"Adaline  C.  Adams,"'  and  which  passed  the  latter  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Brazilian  penal  settlement  of  Feinando  de  Noronha,  a  rocky  and 
mountainous  islet  wIkm-c  tlic  had  iicoidc  nf  (hat  ciupire  expiated  their 
crimes. 

This  time  he  went  to  Chicago,  and  liimi  tlicrc  out  to  Ocjuawka, 
Illinois,  a  moribund  town  on  the  .Mississip|ii,  wliere  he  visited  Harry  N. 
Patterson,  a  botanical  corresiK)ndeiil.  Tattcrson  was  a  printer,  and 
whiling  away  the  time  in  the  village  piintiug  ofWce,  the  young  man 
from  the  east  got  to  dabbling  with  the  tyiies,  and  settled  the  problem 
of  his  career  before  he  knew  it  by  drifting  into  the  country  newspaper 
business.  After  a  winter  spent  in  teaching  school  at  Terre  Haute,  Hen- 
derson county,  Illinois,  and  a  suimner  triji  to  (Jeorgetown,  Colorado, 
where  he  set  type  in  the  office  of  llic  ••(  icorgetown  Miner,"  he  invested 
his  savings  in  the  pinchase  of  a  liaif  intei-est  in  the  Galva,  Illinois, 
Journal,  of  which  he  became  editor.  .\  f(^w  months  later  he  bought  out 
his  jtartner  and  became  the  sole  i)roprietor  of  that  paper.  He  con- 
ducted it  as  an  independent  journal,  although  a  pronounced  partisan 
personally,  a  delegate  to  Demociatic  stati'  conventions,  a  sjieaker  at 
Democratic  meetings  and  secretary  of  llie  1  »enioci'atic  county  central 
committee. 

\Vhile  living  at  Galva,  he  was  uniied  in  marriage,  January  31st, 
1878,  to  Annie  Eliza  .\yres,  daughter  of  \'.  M.  Ayres  of  that  place. 
Of  this  union  four  children  were  horn,  lleniy  Allen,  Lawrence  Ayres, 
Mabel  Leone,  and  .Marian  UrMsiihi.  Lawrence  and  Mabel  were  taken 
away  by  an  attack  of  diphtheria  in  Ociolier,  1S!I4,  at  the  ages  of  twelve 
and  six  vears,  .\ilen  is  now  associated  wilii  his  father  in  business 
and  .Marian  gradnaled  from  I  lie  Independence  city  scliools  in  June, 
1 !»(»:!. 

Ill  .\i)iil,  ISSl,  Mr.  Young  removed  to  Colfeyville,  Montgomery 
county,  Kansas,  and  established  there  the  "Cotteyville  Star."'  In  October 
of  tiie  same  year,  the  office  was  removed  to  Independence  and  the  pai)er 


HISTORY   OK   MONTGOMEKY  COUNTY,   KANSAS.  Sll 

liis   politicjil  ;i<lv('isari('s   th:il    tcstilics  lo   (lie  csliiiial  ioti   in    which   he   i^ 
h.'hl  l.v  liis  ii.':nvs(   iici-iilmis. 


WALTER  .1.  UKAWDON-AitioiifT  |h<'  Icadiiij;  iciJicsciitiitivcs  of 
(lie  agricultural  class  in  Lihcity  lownshi]!,  Ilic  l)i()j;ra|)li('r  fouutl  the 
gentleman  above  mentioned.  lie  has  already  made  for  himself  a  i)ei- 
manent  place  in  the  esteem  of  the  community  in  w  hicli  he  resides.  He 
lives  on  a  farm  of  160  acres  located  one  mile  from  the  town  of  Lihei'ty. 

Noting  briefly  the  points  in  the  ancestral  history  of  Mr.  Keardou, 
he  is  the  son  of  John  and  Ellen  (Ryland)  Heai-don.  John  Reardon  was 
born  near  Oswego,  New  York,  in  1S21.  and  died  on  the  !)th  of  March, 
1875.  His  wife  was  born  in  Shelby  county.  Tenn.,  in  1829,  and  died  in 
Lafayette  county,  5Io.,  in  Jlay.  ^*^Sl•.  They  were  nuirried  in  Iowa  and 
farmed  in  that  state  until  IS")!!,  when  they  removed  to  Jackson  county, 
Missouri.  The  fierce  political  turmoil  of  that  time  was  such  as  to 
make  it  an  undesirable  place  of  residence  and  they  returned  to  Iowa, 
where  they  settled  at  Dubuque,  and  where  they  lived  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  They  then,  again,  came  to  Missouri  and  took  up  their  residence 
in  Saline  county.  After  two  years  they  removed  to  Lafayette  county 
in  the  same  state,  where  the  husband  died  as  stated. 

There  are  four  children  now  living:  Ellen,  the  wife  of  James  Wil- 
liver,  residing  in  Lafayette  county,  Missouri ;  the  second  child  was  our 
subject;  the  next  youngest  is  John  M.,  who  lives  in  Ray  county,  Mis- 
souri; the  youngest  is  Maggie,  who  married  J.  'SA'.  Button,  a  farmer 
living  in  Oklahoma. 

Walter  J.  Reardon  was  born  in  Mills  county,  Iowa,  on  the  27th  of 
March,  1859.  He  made  the  different  moves  with  the  family  as  noted 
above,  receiving  his  education  for  the  most  part  in  Lafayette  county, 
Mo.  He  came  to  Montgomery  county  in  1878,  and  in  1887,  married  Min- 
nie M.,  daughter  of  James  H.  and  Harriet  (Richards)  Tole,  farmers  of 
the  township.  The  family  which  our  subject  has  reared  consists  of  six 
children:  Walter  Granville,  born  February  10,  1889;  James  Donald, 
born  October  17th,  1891;  Allie  Ruth,  born  February  2ud,  1894;  Minuie 
Beatrice,  born  April  22nd,  1897;  Chester  H.,  born  May  2Gth,  1900,  and 
Yelma,  born  February  2nd,  190:1  Mr.  Reardon  aided  his  mother  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  home  farm  until  April,  1878,  when  he  came  to  Kansas 
and,  in  1897,  purchased  the  farm  on  which  he  now  resides,  containing  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres.  He  devotes  this  laud  to  general  farming 
and  stock  raising  and  is  fast  becoming  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of 
his  section  of  the  county.  He  is  regarded  as  an  authority  on  matters 
of  agriculture  and  is  especially  noted  for  his  knowledge  of  good  stock. 
While  a  large  number  of  his  neighbors  have  yielded  to  the  solicitation 
of  the  oil  and  gas  companies  and  have  leased  their  farms  for  long 
periods  for  gas  and  oil  pui-poses,  Mr.  Reardon  has  thought   it  to  be 


good  policy  to  withstand  siu-h  temptations,  reasoning  that  if  it  is  woilli 
so  much  to  these  companies  it  is  certainly  worth  more  to  him.  Mr. 
Keardon  has  never  taken  any  very  active  part  in  the  public  life  of  tin 
community  but  can  always  be  counted  on  to  support  by  his  vote  the 
j)olicy  of  the  Democratic  party.  The  standing  of  himself  and  family  in 
tlie  community  is  of  the  best  "and  the  esteem  in  which  they  are  heUl  is 
uniform. 


nOMER  0VERHEI8ER— The  gentleman  whose  uauu-  i.r.cedes  this 
paragraiih  is  one  of  the  younger  element  doing  business  in  the  county 
seat  town  of  Independence.  A  teacher  of  marked  ability  for  a  number 
of  years  i)rior  to  bis  engaging  in  mercantile  life,  his  present  flattering 
success  is  all  the  more  creditable,  for  it  is  said  that  the  rather  hum-drum 
existence  of  the  teacher's  life  unfits  one  for  business.  As  a  member  of 
the  large  dry  goods  house  known  as  Tlie  Overheiser-Anderson  Mercantile 
ComiJany,  our  subject  is  making  rapid  strides  toward  a  leading  jtosition 
in  the  business  world. 

Mr.  Overheiser  is  a  Hoosier  by  nalivily,  having  tiecn  born  in  Rush 
county,  April  15,  1865,  the  son  of  Charles  and  Mary  J.  (Bates)  Overheiser. 
Both  of  these  parents  are  natives  of  Indiana,  from  which  state  they 
removed  in  1885,  to  a  farm  in  Montgomery  county.  After  cultivating  this 
farm  for  a  number  of  years,  Mr.  Overheiser  moved  his  family  into  town 
and  began  a  mercantile  business.  This  not  proving  to  his  liking,  lie  sold 
out  and  took  up  the  occupation  of  his  youth,  that  of  carpentering,  and 
in  which  he  is  now  engaged  in  the  city.  Mr.  Overheiser  is  a  gentleman 
of  rugged  traits  of  character  which  secure  him  in  a  high  degrt-e  the 
esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens.  He  and  his  wife  are  both  members  of 
the  church,  he  of  the  Advent  and  she  of  the  Christian.  Besides  our 
subject,  the  only  other  child  is  a  sister,  now  living  with  IIkmii  in  their 
home,  Mrs.  Cora  Jones. 

Homer  Overheiser  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  Indiana  and  Kan- 
sas, and  after  securing  all  that  the  district  schools  were  able  to  give  him, 
he  went  for  several  terms  to  the  State  Normal  at  Emporia.  Here  he 
became  enthused  with  the  idea  of  becoming  a  teacher  and  for  three 
years  succeeding,  taught  successfully  in  the  schools  of  the  state.  His 
father  desiring  to  quit  the  mercantile  business,  it  afforded  him  an 
opportunity  of  leaving  the  schoolroom,  though  it  can  be  said  with 
truth  that  he  left  the  profession  with  sincere  regrets,  having  found  it 
a  field  much  suited  to  his  tastes,  and  one  of  which  he  will  ever  have 
pleasant  remembrances.  This  change  in  Mr.  Overheiser's  life  occurred 
inlS!).'^,and  the  decade  that  has  passed  has  opened  up  a  new  and  enlarged 
views  of  life  to  him.  For  two  years  the  father  continued  to  hold  an 
interest  in  the  business,  then  the  firm  name  was  changed  to  that  of 
Overheiser  &  Anderson  by  the  admission  of  Mr.  Anderson.    The  present 


style  of  the  firm  dates  from  the  year  1893.  The  house  carries  a  very  large 
stock  of  dry  goods  aud  notions,  shoes  and  millinery  goods  and  enjoys 
a  trade  second  to  none  in  the  city.  Promjtt  aud  obliging  service,  together 
with  a  full  guarantee  as  to  the  high  character  of  their  goods,  has  built 
up  a  business  in  which  the  gentlemen  who  compose  the  firm  have  a 
just  pride,  and  to  which  they  are  giving  their  best  energies. 

Mr.  Overheiser  is  as  yet  a  single  man.  He  holds  membership  in 
the  Christian  church,  in  which  organization  he  is  an  active  worlier, 
being  at  the  present  time  one  of  the  Deacons  of  the  church.  In  fraternal 
affiliation  he  meets  with  the  Modern  Woodmen,  and  politically,  aims  to 
support  the  best  man  and  the  best  measures  regardless  of  party.  The 
esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by  all  classes  in  the  community  is  uniformly 
high,  and  judged  by  the  solid  character  of  his  past,  the  future  is  indeed 
one  which  seems  to  hold  naught  but  good  in  store  for  him. 


H.  H.  HARE — Among  the  representative  citizens  of  Montgomery 
county  the  author  of  this  volume  takes  pleasure  in  presenting  the  name 
of  Mr.  H.  H.  Hare,  stock  buyer  and  farmer,  with  residence  at  Elk  City. 
He  is  widely  and  favorably  known  in  every  part  of  the  county  and  is 
justly  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  substantial  of  its  citizens. 

In  passing  briefly  over  the  history  of  the  Hare  family  we  note 
that  it  was  found  in  North  Carolina,  covering  an  indefinite  period  up 
to  the  beginning  of  the  19th  century,  at  which  date  the  father  of  our 
subject,  B.  F.  Hare,  moved  over  into  Kentucky,:  where  he  was  joined  in 
marriage  to  Mary  DeBard.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  con- 
tinued to  till  the  soil  of  that  state  until  1839,  when  he  removed  his 
family  to  Illinois,  and,  later,  to  Johnson  county.  Mo.  Here  Mother 
Hare  died  in  1871,  at  fifty-one  years  of  age,  and  a  iew  years  later  the 
father  came  to  reside  with  our  subject ;  his  death,  occurring  in  1894,  at 
seventy-eight  years.  These  parents  are  held  in  blessed  memory  by  their 
large  family  of  children,  they  having  been  splendid  examples  of  the 
proverbial  pioneer,  upon  whose  honesty,  integrity  and  patriotism  were 
built  the  institutions  which  are  the  glory  and  wonder  of  the  civilized 
world.  They  were  both  active  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  and  their  home  was  always  open  to  the  itinerant  brethern  of 
that  faith.  Nothing  could  surpass  the  intense  feeling  of  patriotism 
exhibited  by  them  during  the  long  struggle  over  slavery,  both  prior  to 
and  during  the  war.  They  were  ready  at  all  times  to  make  any  sacrifice 
or  to  bear  any  burden  which  might  weaken  its. hold  on  the  country. 
When  the  dread  echoes  of  "war's  harsh  tocsin''  reverberated  from  hill 
to  dale  they  freely  gave  of  their  life's  blood  to  their  country,  no  less 
than  five  sons  and  two  sons-in-law  going  to  the  front  in  defense  of  "Old 
Glory.''  They  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children — George  \^'.,  of 
Pittsburg,  Kansas,  who  served  four  years  in  the  ioth  111.;  Elizabeth, 


Sl4  IIISTOltY    or    MONTGOMERY    COUNTY,    KANSAS. 

:Mrs.  Alcxainlcr  MiCnwcii,  ni.w  d.-ccMscd :  Mainiudiikc.  a  faiiiici-  in  Mis- 
soiiii.  will)  served  eif^liteeii  iiioiitlis  in  llii>  same  rej;iiiielit  as  imr  subject; 
Jiirclla,  Mrs.  ('as|)ei-  (ilotfeldcr,  nf  lliis  idiini.v.  whose  Imsliaiid  served 
four  years  in  llie  same  ref;iment  ;  Caliieiine.  widow  of  David  ( Jlotfelder, 
this  ('ounty.  who  also  s<'rved  in  the  S(ilh  III.  Inf..  and  died  of  si.kness  at 
Nashville  in  ISC:!;  H.  H.,  our  subject;  .left'eisen,  a  farmer  in  .Missouri, 
wIh)  served  thi-ee  years  iu  tlie  SCth  III.  i-ej;imeni;  .lam<'s.  of  I'.looni- 
inizloii.  III.,  served  in  the  Uth.,  III.;  Mart;aiei.  uidi.w  (,f  Irvin  Come,  of 
Clinton.  Me.:  .lernsha,  Mrs.  David  Tallon.  ef  Sedalia.  Mo.;  .Mary, 
deacesed  wife  of  .hdin  Foreman ;  .Vuiiiisla  of  Canev,  Kan.,  and  Thnmas 
deceased    in    childho.K). 

II.  II.  Hare  was  horn  in  Pciria  c<Minly.  Hi..  .March  !(.  1S4L'.  He 
allended  school  and  w<trked.oii  the  honii^  farm  nnlil  his  enlistment  in 
.\n}iiist  of  \sr,-2,  in  Co.  "K,"  SCth  III.  Inf.  He  si-rved  thronjih  tin-  entire 
war.  his  discliarf-c  at  Chicajjo,  dating;  in  -Inm'.  ISC.-,.  The  SC.th  became 
a  pait  of  the  .\riny  of  Hie  Cnnd)erland,  and  it  was  tiist  under  fire  at  the 
lialile  of  i'ei'r.\  ville.  I'.eninniiij;  then  with  Chickaniaiii;a,  the  lejiinieiit 
tellMwed  the  fortunes  «f  war  throujih  the  .\tlanta  cain]iai<>ii  to  the  sea, 
thence  lip  through  the  Caroliuas.  It  was  present  when  Col.  .\nderson 
jnil  "Old  (ilory''  back  on  Ft.  Sumpter.  and  was  in  line  of  battle  when 
.lohnstoii  surrendered.  It  participated  in  the  (Jrand  Keview  at  Wash- 
inirtim  and  then  its  ni<Miibers,  conscious  iif  liavin<;'  done  their  whole  duty 
to  their  cdiintry,  turned  their  faces  idward  ■•home,  sweet  home." 

TIh'  subse(|iient  life  of  (.iir  subject  has  1 n  that  of  the  strai^'ht  for- 

wai-d  i-e|presenlative  citizen,  faithful  In  e\cry  trust  rejiosed  in  him  and 
liearin^i'  his  share  of  the  burdens  which  snciet,\  im]ioses  ii])on  its  mem- 
bers. He  fanned  in  Johnson  connty.  Mo.,  fer  three  years  after  the  war, 
tlK'ii  ( ame  to  .Montf^oniery  connty,  and  after  ciiltivat inj;  a  claim  for 
several  years,  went  to  buying;  stock.  He  has,  for  twenty  years,  been  one 
of  the  largest  shippers  in  the  connty  and  is  also  interested  in  farming. 

Mary  0.,  daughter  (.f  Willis  and  Achsah  (Kinsley)  Hall,  and  a  native 
of  Hamilton  county,  became  the  wife  of  our  subject  September  2,  1800. 
Her  jieople  were  farmers,  the  father  a  native  of  Kentucky,  the  mother 
of  Nev,-  York  State.  P.oth  are  now  deceased,  the  father  dying  at  54  years 
in  Hlinois,  in  ISt;;',,  the  mother  coming  out  to  Kansas,  where  she  died  at 
the  honH>  of  her  daughter  in  IS'tf),  at  seventy-si.x  years  of  age.  The  par- 
ents were  both  highly  respected  residents  of  Illinois,  and  were  consistent 
members  of  and  workers  in  the  M.  E.  church.  Of  their  ten  children,  but 
live  still  survive:  Kmma,  Mrs.  John  Jackson,  of  M'ashingfon;  .\nianda, 
widow  of  James  Turner,  of  Denver;  Mrs.  Hare,  Jolm,  .\nies  and  .\lira- 
liam,  now  a  resident  of  California. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hare  were  Ikmii  :>  children,  as  follows:  William, 
of  Elk  Citv.  married  Itosa  lUistill— her  .liild.  .lames  Henry;  Herbert 
H..  a  clerk  in  Elk  <;ity;  J.  W.  D..  a  sliideiil:  .liiiiie,  died  young,  and 
Enid,  who  died  in  infancy. 


Ml-,  and  Mrs.  Hare  are  helpful  members  of  society  in  tlieir  coni- 
iininil.v,  always  ready  to  engage  in  any  service  looking  to  the  uplifting  of 
iiiimaiiity.  Mrs.  Hare  is  a  member  of  (he  M.  E.  church,  while  Mr.  Hare 
attiliatt's  witli  the  W()o<lmen,  and  is,  of  course,  an  honored  member  of  the 
(i.  A.  Iv.  In  politiial  faitli  he  supports  the  policies  of  the  Republican 
jiarty. 


BP:NJAM1N  M.  KENDALL — To  the  enterprising  spirit  of  the  busi- 
ness men  of  Elk  City,  is  due,  in  a  large  measure,  the  splendid  progress 
made  by  that  municipality,  and  it  is  not  hard  to  divine  its  future  if  the 
same  men  continue  to  shape  its  affairs.  Though  not  a  member  of  this 
business  circle  many  years,  the  gentlemen  above  named  has  proved  his 
right  to  be  numbered  among  the  most  enterprising,  and  the  drug  busi- 
ness which  he  conducts  so  ably,  reflects  its  share  of  credit  on  the  busi 
ness  section. 

Mr.  Kendall  is  a  native  Kansan,  born  in  Mitchell  county,  August 
4,  1879,  the  son  of  Edwin  N.  and  L.  C.  Kendall.  The  parents  were  na- 
tives of  New  Hampshire,  coming  to  Kansas  with  the  tide  of  Free  State 
men  who  threw  themselves  into  the  struggle  for  freedom  with  such 
zest  in  the  fifties,  and  who  lived  to  see  the  state  the  first  to  enter  the 
T'nion  free-born  by  the  suffrages  of  her  own  people.  They  settled  on  a 
farm  in  Mitchell  county,  where  they  were,  for  many  years,  prominent 
in  the  development  of  that  county  in  both  a  moral  and  material  sense. 

During  the  war.  Mr.  Kendall  served  in  the  IDth  Kan.,  Cav.,  the 
regiment  which  was  formed  to  hunt  down  the  abductors  of  Mrs.  Morgan 
and  Miss  White,  an  outrage  which  caused  profound  excitement  at  the 
time.  After  a  two  years'  chase,  they  were  finally  rescued  from  their 
brutal  captors. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendall  reared  a  family  of  five  children,  the  mother 
dying  in  Beloit  in  September  of  1001.  After  her  death,  the  father  came 
to  Elk  City,  where  he  now  resides.  They  were  both  consistent  adherents 
of  the  Christian  Science  faith.  The  names  of  the  children  follow:  Mary, 
Mrs.  John  Hunter,  of  Scottsburg,  Kansas,  children — Crystal,  Carl,  Cora 
and  Helen;  Herman,  of  Beloit,  Kansas,  married  Floy  Hillman,  one  child, 
Harold;  Earl,  also  of  Scottsville,  Kansas.  He  married  Martha  Carlton, 
one  child  resulting,  Carlton;  Benj.  M.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and 
Henry,  a  grocer  at  Beloit. 

The  excellent  common  school  system  of  the  state  furnished  the  foun- 
dation for  the  later  educational  training  of  Benjamin  M.  Kendall, 
which  was  continued  at  the  State  Cniversity  at  Lawrence,  where  he  took 
the  course  in  pharmacy.  After  his  school  days,  he  embarked  in  the  drug- 
business  at  Independence  and  continued  there  until  July  of  1902,  when 
he  bought  the  stock  of  C.  H.  Kerr,  of  Elk  City  and  has  since  done  busi- 
ness here.     Under  the  name  of  The  Eagle  Drug  Store,  he  conducts  one 


of  the  bcsi  idiaiinarics  in  tin-  county,  his  vcaily  sah's  shuwiiij;  a  licalthy 
iucrcasc. 

Mr.  K('n(hill  is  widi'-awake  to  the  best  interests  of  his  eity.  and  is 
always  found  ready  to  take  i)art  in  any  work  that  has  for  its  object  its 
advancement,  either  in  the  line  of  betler  government  or  material  wel- 
fare, lie  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fralernity.  Lod^c  No.  107,  Inde- 
I)endence.  With  his  present  iKipiilarily  witli  all  classes  in  his  eom- 
nuinity  and  his  soundness  in  bnsiness  ])rinci]ile,  it  is  nut  hard  to  prog- 
nosticate the  future  of  this  young  man. 

Mr.  Kendall  was  happily  married  -Inly  !>.  IIIOI.',  to  Ida.  daughter  of 
James  V.  and  Mi>ilie  Slradley;  both  daughter  and  parents  natives  of 
Illinois;  the  latter  now  decea.sed. 


II.  M.  SHAFFER— Among  the  proiuineni  and  lepresentative  citi- 
zens of  Elk  City,  is  R.  M.  Shaffer,  grain  and  coal  deah-r.  His  connec- 
tion with  the  bn'siuess  interests  of  the  town  dates  back  to  lS!t2,  and  prior 
to  that  he  had  been  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  the  county  for  thirteen 
veais.  Thiee  decades  of  circumspect  living  in  a  community  gives  a  man 
a  most  powerful  influence  in  shaping  its  moral  and  civic  life,  and  thus 
the  biograjdier  found  Mr.  Shartei  a  most  projjer  subject  for  a  volume  de- 
voted to  the  history  of  the  men  who  have  made  Montgomery  what  she 
is  to-day — among  the  best  counties  in  the  state. 

Alliens  county,  Oliio,  was  the  i)lace  of  the  birth  of  Mr.  Shatter  and 
July  11,  1S4(>,  the  date.  He  had  not  yet  finished  his  school  days  when 
the' roll  of  the  drum  tired  his  young  and  couiageous  heart  to  volunteer 
for  the  defense  of  Old  (Jlory,  and  right  valiantly  did  he  carry  himself 
during  the  four  long  years  of  that  sanguinary  conflict.  He  enlisted 
three  different  times  and  served  in  all.  three  yeais  and  lhr<M-  months. 
His  first  enlistment  was  in  Co.  "H,"  S7t  h  (I.  \'.  1..  .May  l-'.'i.  ISilii.  This 
regiment  became  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  I'otoinac.  and  was  stationed 
at  Harper's  Ferry.  It  had  .scarcely  got  its  Iwarings  when  the  Confeder- 
ates appeared  in  force  and  captured  the  whole  post.  The  munitions  of 
war  seemed  the  only  part  of  their  capture  they  cared  to  keep,  and  the 
regiment  was  parcded  en  masse  on  the  17th  of  September.  Res(dved  to 
see  more  of  the  war,  our  subject,  in  October,  om-e  luore  enlisted,  this 
time  in  Co.  "A,"  12!Hli  O.  V.  I.,  a  regiment  which  was  jiart  of  HurnsideV 
corps  and  whose  first  engagement  was  at  <'uinberland  Caji,  Tenn.  His 
term  of  service  e.\])iring  March  IS,  IStU.  Mr.  Shalfer  again  enlisted,  Co., 
"A,"'  of  the  :!Stli  O.  V.  I.,  enrolling  him  as  a  private  soldier.  He  served 
in  the  snpjily  depiU'tment  of  Shernum's  army  in  the  Atlanta  campaign 
until  the  fall  of  that  city,  and  then  joining  ilie  victorious  l(>gions  of  that 
general,  made  the  march  to  the  sea,  and  u|i  to  the  scene  of  the  final  sur- 
render. With  his  battle-scarred  comiianioiis.  he  |)articipated  in  that 
(Jrand  Review  which  has  never  ceased  to  he  the  subject  of  jieii  and  story, 


R.   M.  SHAFFER. 


©.  r  # 
«  *  * 


dii'iiiti'j;! 


ft  k  ^ 


'     ^  *  e 


broujihr  flu  ; 
st'(>ms  to  tun 


HISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS.  SI  7 

autl  tlicu  took  iiart  in  that  other  sublime  si)Octafh'  which  has  hccn  tlic 
woiuler  of  the  ages — the  peaceful  disintefiration  of  a  victorious  ai-uiy 
and  its  quiet  return  to  civic  life. 

A  fanner  for  three  years,  a  section  foreman  on  a  railroad  for  four,  a 
husbandman  on  his  own  land  for  seven  more,  all  in  Ohio,  broujiht  our 
subject  to  1871).  the  date  of  his  coming  to  Montgomery  county.  He 
bought  land  near  Elk  City  and  engaged  in  farming  >intil  1802,  when  he 
lemoved  to  town  and  entered  upon  the  business  he  now  conducts. 

During  his  residence  in  the  county,  Mr.  Shatter  lias  been  z<'aious  in 
forwai'ding  its  interests,  serving  in  ditterent  offices  of  trust  in  his  school 
disti'ict,  and  since  his  residence  in  town  has  been  continuously  a  meuiber 
of  the  common  council.  He  and  his  family  are  active  workers  in  the 
Christian  church,  of  which  he  is  an  Elder.  Fraternally  he  attiliates  with 
the  Masonic  order,  and  is  a  ])rominent  member  of  the  (J.  A.  K.,  of  the 
local  post  of  which  organization  he  has  been  Comnuinder  continuously 
for  nine  years.  Politically,  he  supports  the  jiolicies  of  the  Republican 
party. 

Noting  family  his((uy  l.Helly.  Mr.  Shaffer  is  a  son  of  William  11.,  and 
Ann  McNeal  Shulfer,  natives  of  the  Keystone  State.  After  their  mar- 
riage they  moved  to  Ohio,  settling  in  Athens  county,  where  the  father 
passed  the  renuiinder  of  his  life.  He  was  a  farmer  and  occupied  a  lead- 
ing position  in  the  community.  He  died  August  7,  18f>6.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Missionary  Baptist  church;  the  wife  is  a  member  of  the 
Christian  church  and  now  resides  in  Elk  City,  a  much  venciatcd  and 
loved  woman,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eigbtv  veais. 

The  familv  is  as  follows:  Our  subject,"  K.  M.;  David  W.,  of  Salem, 
Ohio:  .Martha  .).,  Mrs.  William  P.  Herrv,  of  Lamj.asas.  Texas;  .John  H.. 
of  Elk  Cilv;  Asbnrv  H..  of  Marseilles.  HI.;  Pox  (Vlenda.  of  Elk  Citv; 
Ami  (\,  of  Chauncey.  O. ;  Andrew  :\I..  of  Oakland,  111.;  Ceorge  W.,  of 
Brushy  Fork,  111. 

On  the  20th  of  Jlay,  ISdC.  Mr.  Shatfer  was  joined  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Mary  L.,  a  daughter  of  Wm.  H.  and  Elizabeth  (Roach)  Powell,  of 
Morgan  county,  Ohio.  :\Irs.  Shatter's  father  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
the  Wilderness,  the  mother  dying  in  18.50.  There  were  two  children  be- 
sides R.  M.:  Riley  E.,  of  Chauncey,  Ohio,  and  Maxwell  G.,  of  Burton,  Ks. 
To  the  marriage  of  our  subject  have  been  born:  Azra  W.,  a  minister  and 
singing  evangelist  of  the  Christian  church;  Charles  B.,  deceased;  Flora 
M.,  deceased;  Lizzie,  deceased;  Ollie  I.,  Mrs.  Ora  Fitzgerald,  of  Elk  City; 
Mamie  M.,  Mrs.  C.  D.  Close,  of  Neal  Kan.;  Nannie,  deceased,  and  Elza  R., 
of  Elk  Citv. 


DANIEL  ]*A INTER— Not  many  men  have  the  distinction  of  having 
brought  their  house  with  them  when  they  came  to  Kansas,  but  that 
seems  to  hare  been  true  of  the  gentlnian  whose  name  is  herewith  given. 


On  the  lltli.  of  March,  1885,  Daniel  Painter  hinded  in  Independence, 
brinfi'int;  with  him  the  lumber  out  of  which  was  built  the  "liuckeye 
House,"'  the  well-known  hostelry  on  Twelfth  and  Railroad  streets,  and  of 
which  Mr.  I'ainter  was  projirietor  for  a  number  of  years.  This  lumber 
had  been  sawed  by  our  suhjrit  away  hack  in  Ohio,  hence  the  name.  The 
Buckeye  House. 

Daniel  I'ainter  was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio,  April  13,  1844,  and 
is  a  son  of  John  and  Susannah  (Fair)  I'ainter,  both  pioneers  to  Ohio  from 
the  "Keystone  State."  They  belonfj,ed  to  the  sturdy  farming  class  who 
came  to  Ohio  early,  and,  by  dint  of  hardest  toil,  carved  out  a  home  in  the 
white  oak  forests  of  Wayne  county.  They  became  influential  and  promi- 
nent factors  in  the  political,  social  and  religious  life  of  the  county,  both 
being  leading  members  of  the  Evangelical  Association  church,  their 
liome  being  frequently  used  for  meetings  of  that  denomination.  Both 
parents  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  the  father  dying  in  1881,  at  eighty-six, 
and  the  mother  Dec.  26,  1901,  at  eighty-four.  They  reared  four  cliildren ; 
Elizabeth,  Mrs.  Samuel  Richard,  Wayne  county,  Ohio;  David,  who  died 
of  consumption  in  1804,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  resulting  from  the  ex- 
l)osures  of  army  life  in  over-exerting  himself  in  caiiyiug  the  dead  and 
wounded  from  a  boat,  wading  in  water  up  to  his  shoulders.  David 
enlisted  in  Co.  "E,"  120th  O.  V.  I.,  and  served  in  (he  Traus-Mississiiii(i 
army.  On  the  Red  River  expedition,  he  took  cold  and,  after  a  time  in  llic 
hospital,  came  home  to  die;  Samuel,  of  Sheridan  county,  Mo.,  and  Daniel. 
I  he  subject  of  the  sketch.  These  were  children  of  a  second  marriage,  the 
fathers'  tirst  wife  having  been  Susan  Brenker,  to  whom  were  born  six 
children — William,  deceased;  Jacob,  Catherine,  Mrs.  John  S.  Byers; 
Susannah,  Mrs.  John  Rice;  Mary,  deceased;  John,  of  Wayne  county, 
Ohio.  Of  this  family  Jacob  had  rather  a  remarkable  career.  He  was 
one  of  the  eiuliest  of  the  '49ers,  and  while  at  work  in  the  gold  field,  had 
many  thrilling  experiences  with  the  Indians,  having  engaged  in  twenty- 
seven  jiitched  battles  with  the  "varmints,"  it  being  necessary  to  work 
with  his  ritie  always  in  reach.  The  family  finally  lost  track  of  him,  and 
in  ISfili.  his  hrother  John  started  to  look  him  x^).  After  suffering  many 
hardships  in  the  wilds  of  the  mountains,  he  tinally  located  him  in  Silver 
City,  and  induced  him  to  return  home. 

The  first  event  of  importance  in  the  life  of  our  subject,  after  his 
school  days,  was  his  enlistment  in  the  Civil  War  at  the  age  of  eighteen. 
He  becanie  a  private  soldier  of  Co.  "E,''  120th  O.  V.  I.,  and  served  faitli- 
fiiily  until  October  14,  18G5,  his  discharge  dating  at  Houston,  Texas.  His 
regiment  vv;is  made  a  ])art  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  army,  and  saw  much 
of  the  hard  service  which  was  the  lot  of  the  I'nion  troops  in  the  swamps 
and  miasmatic  country  of  the  southwest.  He  was  in  seven  pitched 
battles — Chickasaw  Bluff,  Arkansas  Post,  Port  Gibson,  Siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  Jackson,  Snaggy  Point  and  Fort  Blakely.  Ujjon  returning  home, 
he  engaged  exclusively  in  farming  for  a  time,  and  then  purchased  a  saw- 


He  belonged  to  that  class  of  early  abolitionists  whose  effoils  kept  the 
question  of  slavery  before  the  nation  until  it  had  become  so  national 
in  its  character  that  its  settlement  became  an  absolute  necessity.  He 
was  an  active  supporter  of  the  "Underground  Railroad,"  and  on  its  rough 
roadway  helped  manj'  a  black  patriot  to  freedom.  He  lived  to  the  ripe 
a^r  (if  s(\(iii\-four  years,  dying  in  187C.  The  wife  had  preceded  him  in 
ISCiS,  hir  ■.\iir  being  sixty-four.  Thirteen  children  were  born  to  them,  tin; 
live  living  being:  our  subject;  Rachel,  Mrs.  Samuel  Hobson;  Rebecca, 
Mrs.  Jos.  H.  Mills;  John  C,  of  Indianapolis,  and  Cornelius  L.,  of  Moore- 
ville,  Ind.  Those  deceased  were :  Steven,  Matthew,  Jabez,  Mary,  Jona- 
than, James,  Amos  and  Levi. 

S.  Comer  was  reared  amid  the  quiet  and  correct  influences  of  a 
Quaker  home,  whose  spirit  of  justice,  equality  and  patriotism  was  early 
infused  into  his  nature  by  precept  and  example.  Tbe  boys  of  the  family 
were  taught  trades,  there  being  four  carpenters  and  one  painter.  Mr. 
Comer,  at  seventeen,  went  to  Iowa  with  his  parents  where,  for  three* 
years,  he  worked  on  a  farm.  He  then  took  up  the  carpenter's  trade,  and 
though  he  had  never  served  a  regular  apprenticeship,  his  lifelong 
familiarty  with  tools  enabled  him  to  soon  become  a  finished  workman. 
He  worked  in  Henry  county,  Iowa,  until  1871,  and  in  February  of  that 
year  came  to  Elk  City.  He  remained  here  but  a  short  time,  however, 
as  an  opening  offered  in  the  Territory  in  the  Government  Indian  service, 
and  proceeding  there  at  once,  remained  for  a  period  of  five  years.  He  re- 
members this  period  of  his  life  with  much  satisfaction,  as  his  influence 
among  the  Indians  was  such  as  to  make  them  very  tractable  and  docile. 
On  account  of  his  growing  family',  he  concluded  to  again  get  back  to 
civilization,  and,  buying  a  farm  in  Chautauqua  county,  in  1876,  began  a 
strictly  agricultural  life.  He  cultivated  this  farm  until  1887,  when  he 
sold  it  and  purchased  a  quarter  section  in  Salt  Creek  township,  which 
he  still  owns.  He  continued  to  reside  there  until  1897,  and  then  came 
to  live  in  town,  where  he  works  at  odd  times  at  his  trade,  on  the  princi- 
ple that  "it  is  better  to  wear  out  than  rust  out." 

In  the  different  communities  in  which  he  has  lived,  Mr.  Comer  has 
been  true  to  the  best  conceptions  of  civic  duty,  has  served  on  school 
boards  and  in  tbe  various  offices  necessary  in  the  conduct  of  any  well- 
regulated  community.  He  married,  March  24,  1858,  Sarah  A.,  daughter 
of  Peter  and  Rachel  J.  Hobson.  Mrs.  Comer  was  a  native  of  Iowa  and 
is  one  of  eleven  children.  Her  people  were  of  the  Quaker  faith,  and  very 
active  workers,  the  father  having  been  at  one  time  a  missionary  among 
the  Indians.  He  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-nine  years,  the  wife 
dying  at  the  age  of  seventy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Comer  had  seven  children  born  to  tliem  as  follows: 
Peter  H.,  who  died  at  twenty-four  years;  Xettie  J.,  now  Mrs.  R.  S.  Thorn- 
burg;  Rachel,  who  married  J.  W.  Lewis,  of  Sedan,  Kansas,  and  has  four 
children — Jessie,  Brent,  Kent  and  Dale;  Maria  L.,  Mrs.  W.  D.  Riley,  wife 


S>r2  IIISTOIiV    OF    MONTUOMKRY    CorX-iY.    KANSAS. 

(if  ;i  Cliiniinuiiiia  i(ninly  filmier,  throp  cliildri'ii-  M;nllKi  S..  Xcltio  K., 
Miui  .M;irir;  .\iiii:i  L..\v!i(i  died  in  infiiiicx  ;  llcihcil  S..;i  siirrcssful  ifaclitM- 
in  CiiiMilaiHiua  ,„uu\\  :  .l.iscpli  II..  a  stud.Mil  in  ilic  Siaic  N..i-ni;il  School 
;U  EniiKiiia.  wlicic  lie  is  titfiii}'-  himself  foi-  advaincd  woik  in  liis  ciioscu 
j)rofessioii.  iiavini;  already  liad  ^reat  siu-cess  in  sncli  work  in  I  he  Iiidns- 
tiial  school  a1  Topeka.  'The  inolhei-  of  these  cliildren.  aft.-r  a  life  of 
splendid  de\-otion  to  tluMn  and  her  home,  and  to  the  Friends'  chnrch  of 
which  she  was  a  liiii  hriulif  niemher.  entered  into  liei-  rest  -lannary  2'.\, 
1808.  ajied  tifu-ninc  \cars.  Mr.  ('(.niri-,  while  a  hirthri-lit  nienilier  of 
the  Friends-  chnnh.  i,as  a  nienihershii>  also  in  the  .Melliodisl  denoniina- 
tiou.  He  is  a  Mas<pn  and  his  political  prefer<MH-es  lie  with  ilie  Kepnl.li- 
ean  party.  Both  he  and  liis  family  are  the  recij.ients  ef  a  lai-r  nieasnie 
of  esteem  in  tlie  conntv  wheri'  thev  liave  made  their  li<inii'. 


KKV.  M.  ().  I'.AKXKS,  INdice  .Jud^e  and  resipected  citizen  of  the 
town  of  KIk  City,  is  one  of  the  more  ])rominent  of  tlie  '-old  soldier'"  ele- 
nu'ut  of  the  connty.  the  record  of  his  di'eds  dnrinj;  the  dark  days  of  re- 
bellion entillinfi  him  to  honoralile  mention  amon^  onr  most  worthy  citi- 
zens. 

Enterinj;  the  army  in  .Inly  of  ISCl.  In-  saw  active  service  nntil  his 
discharge  .Inly  -'S,  lSC.."i.  He  and  his  father  hecami'  jirivates  in  the  sann' 
comjiany,  Co.  -A,'  l:.'tli  Ky.  Inf.  Their  first  Itattle  was  at  the  siege  of 
Corinth',  after  which  they  iiarticij.ated  in  the  clias<>  after  Bragg  through 
Kentucky,  thence  to  Knoxville,  thence  south  ou  the  Atlanta  campaign. 
Kev.  Barnes  remembers  this  as  one  of  the  most  trying  periods  of  the  war; 
his  company  being  under  fire  for  121  consecutive  days,  and  scarcely  a  da.v 
of  that  time  Itut  it  received  one  or  more  dren(  liiugs  from  the  pitiless  rain. 
At  Jonesboro  tliey  turned  with  (leu.  Tliomas  to  follow  Hood  into  Ten- 
nessee, where  they  fught  the  bloody  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville. 
This  was  tlie  end  of  tlie  war  for  most  of  the  soldiers  of  the  western  army, 
but  not  so  for  our  subject.  He  went  around  via  Cincinnati  and  the  1?. 
&  O.,  to  Washington,  thence  south,  participating  in  the  battle  of  Ft.  An- 
derson. From  there  to  Wilmington,  to  (ioldsboro,  to  Raleigh  and  to 
(ireensboro,  where  lie  sheathed  the  sword  and  jouineyed  peacefully  and 
gladly  back  to  Louis\  ille.  conscious  of  duty  f;iithfully  jierformed. 

Bev.  Barnes  is  a  Keiitnckian  by  birth.  I'niaski,  the  connty  and  Octo- 
ber :*>1.  18:!T.  the  date.  His  parents  were  .lesiah  and  Deli'la  iTurpin) 
Barnes,  both  natives  of  the  Blue  Crass  Slate.  Ills  father  was  a  black- 
smith and  piiisned  his  occupation  in  I'ulaski  county  until  his  death  in 
IsTii.  a  I  the  age  of  i;;i  years.  Motlier  Barnes  died  iit  (J3  years  in  1873. 
They  wet-.'  worthy  anil  resjtected  citizens  of  their  county  and  in  the 
natiotis  distress  wet  e  most  y.e.ilous  in  its  sujiport.  The  father  entered 
the  aiTiiy.  though  ieall.\  e.xenijit  from  military  duty,  and  served  foi'  two 
\eais  in   the  middle   west,  where  he  part  icij)at(Hl  in   some  of  the   hard- 


fought  battles  as  his  son,  retiring  on  account  of  disability.  They  were 
the  parents  of  eight  children,  three  of  whom  yet  survive.  Our  subject  is 
the  eldest  of  these,  the  others  being  Martha  J.,  (Mrs.  Andrew  Lay),  and 
Eli  W.,  both  residents  of  Pulaski  county,  Kentucky. 

The  merry  ring  of  the  anvil  constituted  the  music  to  which  our  sub- 
ject developed  a  strong  physical  constitution,  his  mental  equipment 
being  such  as  could  be  secured  in  his  earlier  boyhood  in  the  district 
school.  He  was  engaged  in  helping  his  father  up  to  the  war,  after 
which  he  worked  at  the  anvil  until  1868,  in  his  home  county,  and  then 
joined  the  tide  of  emigration  which  had  set  in  so  heavily  to  the  west. 
Until  1884,  he  tried  several  of  the  more  advertised  counties  of  the  state, 
notably :  Johnson,  Butler,  Cowley  and  Franklin.  He  then  came  to  Mont- 
gomery and,  buying  a  home  in  Elk  City,  has  since  resided  here,  for  the 
most  part  engaged  in  working  at  his  trade.  His  title  of  Reverend  comes 
from  his  having  for  years  been  active  in  ministerial  work  in  the  Friends' 
organization.  He  is,  of  course  a  leading  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  and 
has  been  Chaplain  of  the  local  post  for  12  years.  No  more  worthy  citi- 
zen lives  within  the  bounds  of  the  county  than  Rev.  M.  O.  Barnes,  and  the 
esteem  in  which  he  and  his  family  are  held  is  uniform. 

Our  subject  has  been  twice  married.  The  wife  of  his  youth  was  a 
Kentucky  girl,  Miss  Mary  A.,  daughter  of  Isaac  Kelly,  to  whom  were 
born :  W.  T.  S.,  now  a  prominent  minister  of  the  M.  E.  church,  located 
at  St.  Joe,  Mo.;  Florence  W.,  deceased;  S.  F.,  a  farmer  of  the  county, 
and  Charles  B.,  a  blacksmith  at  Elk  City.  The  mother  of  these  children 
died  June,  1897,  and  on  Feb.  20,  1901,  Rev.  Barnes  consummated  mar- 
riage with  Mrs.  Millie  M.  Byers,  a  most  estimable  lady,  widow  of  the  late 
William  Byers.  Her  children  are:  Fern,  Hershal,  Mary  and  Orville. 
Mrs.  Barnes  is  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church,  and  both  she  and  her  family 
are  valued  workers  therein. 


THOMAS  A.  GARRISOX,  although  not  an  old  settler,  has  worthily 
identified  himself  with  Montgomery  county  and  Fawn  Creek  township, 
as  a  farmer  and  busines.s  man,  and  as  such  is  entitled  to  a  place  in  the 
history  of  Montgomery  county.  He  was  born  in  Madison  county,  Ind., 
February  18, 1833.  His  father,  Elijah  E.  Garrison,  was  a  native  of  Mary- 
land and  his  mother,  nee  Hannah  J.  Smith,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky. 
The  parents  were  married  in  Indiana  and  died  in  that  state,  the  father, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  the  mother  later,  also  at  seventy-five. 

Thomas  A.  Garrison  was  one  of  eleven  children,  and  was  reared 
on  a  farm  in  Indiana,  receiving  only  a  common  school  education.  He 
was  a  member  of  his  father's  family  until  of  age,  when  he  entered  a  flax 
factory  and  worked  there  for  four  years,  and  later,  bought  a  small  farm 
in  Wabash  county,  Ind.,  and  took  possession  of  it. 

He  was  united  in  marriage  to  Malentha  J.  Brothers,  September  (>, 


1875.  His  wife  was  a  nativo  of  Indiana  and  a  dani; 
«arab  (Stanly)  Brothers.  Her  death  ocniiicd  in  I.- 
parents  of  eight  children:  Ora  W..  Ma\i(l.  wife  ot 
decea.sed;  Winifred,  Joel  and  Hazel. 

Jlr.  (larrison  has  been  married  a  scconil  liiiir,  i 
Rifjer,  a  native  of  Indiana,  and  a  daii},'litrr  nf  F.  I)., 

In  later  years,  Mr.  (iarriscm  did  a  Inicksleriiiu  In 
denson  and  other  nearby  towns,  following;  this  ii(( 
years.  In  IDdl,  ;Mr.  (larrisoii  lanic  li>  Kansas,  scft 
townshii).  Montjioniery  county,  where  he  linii-lit  SO 
miles  east  of  Tyro. 

Mr.  Garrison  is  a  niendier  of  the  odd  Fi'lldws  i 
In  politics  he  is  a  Rej)ublican.  an<l  has  reeenliy  bi 
police  in  the  city  of  Cotfeyville. 


liter 

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1  night 

MRS.  r.VTlENCE  RAKER— The  majority  nf  tlie  names  introducing 
the  sketches  in  this  volume  are  of  the  sterner  .sex.  not  because  they  aie 
more  worthy,  but  custom  governs  such  .selection.  A  number,  however, 
will  be  found  to  represent  the  gentler  sex,  ladies,  who,  by  the  cruel  hand 
of  the  grim  destroyer,  are  fighting  tin-  battle  alone.  So<iety  bows  in  rev- 
i>rent  admiration  to  these  women,  who,  with  stout  hearts  and  strong 
wills,  take  up  the  burden  of  keeping  the  family  together  until  qualified 
to  fight  their  own  battles.  The  lady  wlmse  name  apjiears  above,  is  an 
esteemed  and  worthy  resident  of  Drum  Creek  to\viislii]i.  residing  two 
and  a  half  miles  from  Cherryvale  on  a  well-tilled  iiuarter  section  of  land. 

Mrs.  Raker  is  a  native  of  ("ass  county.  111.,  where  she  was  born 
October  20,  1847.  She  is  a  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah  (Smedley) 
Shoopman,  her  parents  having  been  early  homesteaders  in  Cass  county 
and  now  deceased.  They  reared  the  following  family  of  children:  Jacob, 
Mary,  David  and  Thomas  are  deceased;  Elizabeth,  the  widow  of  Elijah 
Davis,  residing  with  her  children  in  Cass  county.  Mo. ;  William,  lives 
in  Illinois;  John  in  California;  George  is  one  of  Montgomery  county's 
worthy  farmers,  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  book;  Nicholas  is  a  farmer 
residing  near  the  old  homestead  in  Illinois;  Nancy  married  Noah  Sho- 
waller  and  lives  in  hhilio;  Mrs.  Raker  the  youngest  child. 

In  P.eardstown.  III.,  on  the  Kllh  of  Fi-bruary.  lS7*i,  she  was  happily 
joined  in  marriage  to  Gilbert  R.  Rakci-.  a  farmer  of  that  county.  Mr. 
Raker  was  born  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  .May  10,  1844.  There  he 
grew  to  manhood  and  served  a  period  in  the  Confederate  army,  after 
which  he  settled  in  the  county  where  he  met  and  married  3Irs.  Raker. 
In  lS7i). they  settled  in  Mmitgomery  county.  Kansas,  on  a  farm,  and  Janu- 
arv  n,  lS!t7,  he  died  on  th<'  Flemings  farm,  two  and  one-half  miles  south 

.Mrs!  Uaker  is  the  mother  of  foni-  children:     Cora  K.,  born  December 


e:  #  » 


*>♦ 


«  ft  j^ 


•'    <    »  4    . 
-    <    f    »    ^    i 

^    <    ■»    *    •• 
■    *    ♦   # 
'    #   «    « 

*   4 


USTOBY.Or  MONTGOMEaY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


parcnrs  ' 


iif  William  and 
They  were  the 
•TettVi'v:  Rliza, 


!,iil,-s  r.i-I  of  Tyi-0. 

Mr.  (;;n-rison  is  a 
111  piiliiic-s  he  is  a  Rep\ib::cuii, 
liolice  in  ihe  city  of  Coflfeyville. 


until  qualified 


>\orUiy  ' 
residing 
w.iltor  aiKi  :r  ••-    h   m 

In  Beardsfowu,  Jjl 
y.hv 
W 


Tl    Tr;;;r;' 


>d  on  the  Y 

();>■  Diotllcr 


GILBERT  R.  BAKER  (Deceased)  AND  FAMILY. 


IMoii(j;iiiii(My  coniitv  in  1S70,  by  liis  iiiollici-,  llic  father  hiiving  died  when 
lie  was  tiiil  tijihlccn  moiilhs  of  ajic  lie  lias,  lliKnifili  iudiistry  and  ec^oii- 
oiiiy,  placed  liimself  in  Ihe  cate-ioiy  of  successful  farmers  of  "the  coiinty. 
"  111.  Ettei-  is  a  son  of  (ieoij;c  letter,  a  native  of  Moif-aii  comity,  Ind'., 
whose  fatlier,  Daniel  Ktter,  was  hoin  in  \ii-;;inia.  Daniel  Kiter  mar- 
ried ]\[aiv  Diilic,  and  llieir  union  iiioduced  si.xlcen  diildicn,  seven  of 
whom  aie:  Myia  Coslei.  i;.)se,  llpliiiani,  Levi,  ( ■Inisl.ipher,  ( i.-oi-e  and 
Diana  Diokes. 

(Jeoi-fjc  Ktler  maiiied  .Maiy  A.  Delio,  a  native  of  Indiana  and  a 
daufihtei-  of  Ransom  and  Khoda  illendeison)  Deho.  To  tlieni  were  boni 
four  cliiidren,  whose  names  are:  -lolm,  i-esidin«j  in  Monljiomery  county; 
Laura  Itell,  Saniu<-1,  the  <'steemed  subject  of  this  leview,  and  Mrs. 
Georgiana  A.  I'eny. 

lu  llSTO,  Hansom  Debo,  subjecl's  maleiiial  ■;iaiidfat  lief,  lof;cthef  with 
our  subject's  mother  and  her  thice  childr-en,  joined  a  ]iarfy,  composed 
of  Indiauii  families  and  came  to  .Moiitf;omei'y  county.  Kansas.  Mrs. 
Etter  filed  on  a  claim  of  SO  acres,  three  and  oii'e-half  n'liles  northwest  of 
Inde})eudence,  where  she  erected  the  usual  box  h(mse  of  the  time,  and 
continued  to  reside  for  the  ensuinji'  fifteen  .\eais. 

Samuel  Etter  was  reared  on  his  motlier's  farm  and  succeeded  in 
securin<>-  a  fair  common  schocd  education,  Ihoutjh  Ihe  period  of  his  boy- 
hood was  necessarily  spent  in  hard  labor  upon  the  farm.  He  dutifully 
renuiiued  at  luune  until  his  I'lsl  year,  and  then  bej;an  to  save  the  profits 
of  his  labor  for  himself.  He  worked  industriously  at  various  occupa- 
tions and  exercised  close  economy,  when,  in  1S!»."»,  he  was  enabled  to  pur- 
chase his  farm  of  Hid  acres,  before  describiMl.  He  has  given  particular 
attention  to  the  raising  of  ycmng  cattle  and  by  this  method  has  suceeded 
in  fully  jiaying  for  his  faini.  He  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  rising 
young  farmers  of  Sycannu-e  township,  and,  judging  from  the  past,  has 
a  splendid  future  before  him. 

KSejitember  :!(),  isss,  nc.uired  the  iiiari-iage  of  Mr.  Etter  to  Josie, 
daughter  of  Booker  and  .lane  (Kaiber)  Wilson,  the  parents  being  natives 
respectively  of  Kentucky  and  Illinois.  To  the  home  of  Mr.  Etter  have 
come  four  bright  childn-n;  Mamie  M.,  David  D.,  William  F.  and  Harley 
J.  Mrs.  Etter's  grandfalher.  Samuel  Marber,  was  a  s(ddier  in  Co.  "E,'"' 
Uth  Reg.  Kan.  ('a v. 

The  social  instincts  of  Mr.  Ktter  are  most  marked  and  he  has  entered 
into  the  social  life  of  the  community  with  a  true  citizen's  interest.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  A.  H.  T.  A.,  and  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 
Both  lie  and  his  familv  are  most  highly  regarded  in  the  couimunitv  in 
wliich  thev  live. 


MARTHA    1.   .FACK— This   worthy   resident   of  Sycamore   township, 
is  the  widow  of  the  late  ( ieorge  W.  .lack,  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of 


the  county,  who  settled  here  with  his  growing  family  in  ISTO  from  Tipton 
County,  Ind.  He  was  a  man  whom  to  know  was  lo  love,  energetic  and 
faithful,  and  alwavs  line  to  his  friends.  His  demise  occurred  April  1st, 
1884, 

He  was  a  uati\t'  of  Ohio,  horn  in  Washington  county,  March  t»,  1835, 
the  son  of  James  and  Rebecca  Jack,  the  former  born  in  Indiana,  the 
latter  in  Virginia.  This  couple  were  the  parents  of  ten  children,  as  fol- 
lows: John,  Sarah  Hoover,  Mary  Jackson,  James,  Elizabeth  Fauch, 
Benjamin,  Reis,  Ann  Hedley,  Rebecca  Decker  and  Lavinia  Brown. 

At  the  time  of  the  Civil  ^^'ar,  Oeorge  Jack  was  a  resident  of  Tipton 
county,  Ind.,  and  there,  on  the  28th  day  of  October.  1864,  enrolled  as  a 
I>rivate  soldier  in  Company  "I,'"  Sth  Ind.  Cav.,  Caj)t.  Oliver  M.  Powers 
commanding.  He  was  mustered  out  July  20,  1805,  at  I^exington,  N.  C, 
he  having  served  for  the  greater  j)art  of  that  time  as  a  courier. 

Prior  to  Mr.  Jack's  enlistment  in  the  army,  he  had  been  joined  in 
marriage  on  the  first  day  of  April,  1858,  to  Martha  I.  Decker,  the  lady 
who  now  survives  him.  Mrs.  Jack  is  a  native  of  Tennessee,  born  in 
Blunt  County  on  the  li)th  of  July,  1838.  She  is  the  daughter  of  William 
and  Jane  (Householder)  Decker,  her  father  having  been  a  native  of  the 
old  "Dominion  State.''  The  paternal  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Jack  was  a 
Decker,  of  Virginia.  To  him  were  born :  Isaac,  Henry,  Samuel  and  Wil- 
liam, the  latter  of  wlioni  left  ^'irginia  in  early  life  and,  in  Tennessee,  mar 
ried  Jane  Householder.  To  these  parents  were  born  seven  cliildren: 
Rachel,  Elizabeth  Handshoe,  Salina,  Henry,  Elias,  Samuel  and  Martha. 
The  latter  was  born,  as  stated,  and  wheu  fifteen  years  of  age  acconi- 
])anied  the  family  to  Tipton  County,  Ind.,  wheie  she  married  as  related 
above.  The  family  continued  to  be  residents  of  that  county  until  their 
coming  to  Montgomery  in  187(5.  Hei-e  they  joined  the  yeomanry  of  Syca- 
more township  and  have  been  respected  nicinbeis  of  society  since.  A 
family  of  seven  have  grown  to  nianlinod  and  w  (imaiihood,  and  taken  upon 
themselves  the  duties  of  citizenshi]i.  all  cslcciucd  members  of  society  in 
their  different  localities.  Their  names  are  as  follows:  Mary,  who  mar- 
ried William  Miner,  and  died  leaving  two  children— Rollie  and  .Mabel. 
The  grand-daughter  Mable  married  Jacob  P.arkei-,  and  has  .me  child— 
Jov  L. ;  William,  of  Arkansas  Citv,  married  Eudeina  Wyrick,  and  has 
four  children— Floyd,  :SIand,  Coildie  and  .May;  Florence  married  A.  J. 
Ross,  and  has:  Medy  R.,  Oral,  Jessie.  Carl,  Lloyd  and  Raymond;  Cale- 
donia B.,  married  A.  D.  Busby  and  has  Flossie,  .\ndrew.  Symbol  and 
Ethel;  Cora  married  Thomas  Slasher  and  their  children  are:  ("laud, 
Roy,  Nellie  and  Rollie;  Hugh  cares  for  his  mother  on  the  home  farm; 
Frederick  maifi.-d  Mandie  Cilkev,  and  lias  two  chihlren,  Elliel  and 
Gladys. 


GEOEGE  W.  PETTET— The  gentleman  here  inciilidiicl  is  ilic  [.res- 
ent Superintendent  of  Montgomery's  Poor  Farm,  whicli  iiisiiluiion  is 
located  in  Liberty  township.  He  is  one  of  the  early  .settlers  of  flie 
county,  having  settled  here  in  1877,  though  his  resideuce  since  llial  lime 
has  not  been  continuous. 

Mr.  Pettet  is  a  native  of  the  "Hoosier  State,"  born  in  Boone  county 
on  the  fourth  of  September,  1840.  He  is  a  son  of  Purgan  and  I'riscilla 
(Craimer)  Pettet.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Indiana,  while  the  mother 
was  born  in  Kentucky.  By  occupation  the  father  was  a  member  of  the 
medical  profession  and  practiced,  for  a  number  of  years,  in  tiie  county 
seat  town  of  Lebanon,  Boone  county,  and  where  he  died  in  the  year  1843, 
at  a  comparatively  early  age.  He  attained  considerable  prominence  in 
his  profession  and  was  a  man  of  attractive  personality.  The  wife  out- 
lived him  a  long  period  of  years,  passing  away  at  an  advanced  age  in 
1887.  She  was  the  mother  of  nine  children:  Mary  Ann,  who  became 
Mrs.  William  Wyatt,  and  now  lives  in  Pottsville,  Indiana.  William 
died  in  Indiana;  Catherine  died  in  infancy;  Elizabeth,  John  Martin  was 
a  gallant  soldier  in  the  Civil  War,  and  gave  up  his  life  for  his  country 
at  the  battle  of  Stone  River;  Thomas  Samuel  was  also  a  soldier  of  the 
Civil  War,  serving  three  years,  and  died  later,  in  Indiana;  James  is  also 
deceased;  Milton  V.,  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Richmond,  Kentucky, 
during  the  Civil  War.     The  youngest  child  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Mr.  Pettet  was  reared  in  his  native  county,  and  had  just  reached  the 
age  of  responsibility  when  the  war  cloud  burst  with  its  tierce  intensity 
upon  the  country.  He  enlisted  in  the  year  1861,  in  Company  "E,"  26th 
Ind.  Vol.  Inf.,  for  three  years,  and  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  ser- 
vice, was  mustered  out  at  Indianapolis.  He  then  re-enlisted  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  same  company,  and  served  two  years  longer.  During  his 
period  of  service  he  was  engaged  in  many  of  the  important  battles  of 
the  war  in  the  southwest,  some  of  which  were  Pi-airie  Grove,  Arkansas, 
where  his  regiment  lost  nearly  half  of  its  number.  He  was  at  the  siege 
of  Vicksburg  and,  when  the  Mississippi  was  opened,  went  down  the  river 
and  over  to  Mobile  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  siege  of  the  forts  near 
that  city.  He  returned  to  his  home  conscious  of  having  served  his 
country  faithfully  and  well. 

Mr.  Pettet's  marriage  occurred  in  ISC.G,  the  la(l.\"s  nann-  liaving 
been  Nancy  Greer,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  (Pctiie)  Greer, 
natives  of  the  "Blue  Grass  State." 

Mr.  Pettet  remained  in  Indiana,  engaged  in  agriculture,  until  the 
year  1877,  when  he  located  eight  miles  west  of  Independence.  Here  he 
engaged  in  farming  successfully,  until  1886,  and  then  sold  out  his  farm 
and  located  on  Little  Caney  river.  Four  years  later,  he  purchased  a 
livery  business  at  Havana  in  this  county  which  he  continued  to  operate 
until  1896.  He  then  sold  this  business  and  removed  to  Mound  Valley, 
Labette  county,  where  he  purchased  another  livery  stock  which  he  con- 


tiiiiKMi  t.)  oi.cialc  iiiilil  IS'.IS.  He  then  icluriK-d  1<.  MoiitjioiiuMV  coiiiity 
and  iMinliascd  a  lioiiic  proiicrtv  in  Hit-  counlv  scat  I  own  of  Indciicndcncc. 
His  prescut  aii]>oiu(iiu'nt  as  SniiiTinlcndent  of  Ihc  Poor  Farm,  dates 
from  January  I'd,  19(«.  This  farm  is  one  of  the  best  of  its  kind  in  the 
state  and  is  kept  in  a  very  liigli  state  of  ciiltivalion  and  presents  a  very 
neat  a[)pearaiice.  There  are  at  prescnl  twenty  inmates  of  tlic  insti- 
tution. 

The  family  horn  to  our  subject,  consists  .,f  lliicc  .hihlren:  .b-nnie. 
who  married  Lee  L.  (iarr.  a  native  of  Indiana  and  now  a  farmer  of  this 
county,  iier  two  ciiildren  are  .Tosepli.  twelve  years  of  ajie  and  Lulu, 
two  years  obi;  .Marfjaret  nuirried  -lames  K.  Ulair.  a  native  of  Iowa,  now 
of  Havana;  their  two  children  are:  Thei-a,  twelve  years  old  and  l,ua 
E. ;  the  third  child  was  Joseph  David,  who  married  Anna  Williams,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  Williams,  of  Illinois,  and  tiow  lives  in  Labette 
county,  Kansas.  He  is  a  carpenter  and  mechanic.  Josejjh  D.  Tettet  is 
a  practicinu;  physician  at  Mound  ^'alley.  T^abette  county. 

In  political  faith,  Mr.  I'ettet  suj)])orts  the  policy  of  the  jiarty  of  Lin- 
coln and  (iarfield.  and  is  a  consistent  mend)er  of  the  Friends"  church,  to- 
gether with  his  family.  He  is  a  citizen  whose  j.rivate  and  ]iublic  life  re- 
flects credit  on  the  county  of  his  adojition  in  which  he  numbers  his 
friends  bv  the  hundn-d. 


\\ILLI.\.M  W.  TVLEIi,  one  of  the  lar.iicst  land  owners  in  I'ark.-r 
township,  is  one  of  the  eastern  emigrants  who  settled  in  Montgomery 
county  and  was  born  in  the  "Empire  Stale."  Vates  county,  on  the  26th, 
of  April,  185:5.  Since  1878,  he  has  been  :i  citizen  of  .Montgomery  county 
and  now  resides  two  miles  west  of  the  cil.\  of  ( 'otle\  ville.  IJoswell  K. 
Tyler,  the  father  of  William,  was  also  a  native  of  New  York,  as  was  his 
mother  Sarah  IWood)  Tyler.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and 
j)assed  his  life  in  his  native  state,  dying  at  the  age  of  fifty-five.  His  wife 
survived  him  many  years,  being  seventy  years  old  at  her  death.  She 
was  the  mother  of  six  children:  Frank.  Harvey,  Mrs.  Sarah  Iladsell, 
deceased;  William  W.,  Mrs.  Nettie  Reynolds  and  Mrs.  Adella  Iladsell. 

William  \V.  Tyler  passed  the  period  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  in  the 
liealthful  occupation  of  fai'in  life,  in  Yates  county,  securing  a  fair  educa- 
tion in  the  country  school  duiing  the  sluut  winter  months.  He  re- 
mained at  I with  his  jtarents  until  he  had  attained  his  full  majority. 

Three  ,M-ars  later,  he  married  and  began  pre])arat ions  for  the  building" 
of  a  home  foi-  himself.  He  engaged  in  agriculture  in  his  home  neighbor- 
hood and  continued  it  till  the  spring  of  1S7S,  when  he  came  out  to  Mont- 
gomery (((uiity,  Kansas,  and  selected  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  of  raw 
l.raiiic'-.  wliich'now  constitutes  a  iiorlion  of  his  estate.  Here  he  and  his 
young  wife  began  the  battle  of  life  among  stiang(Ms  and  witli  com])ara- 
tively  small  means.     They  met   with  maiiv  hardships  incident   to  a  new 


V    t    4    t 


!  •     ^     ^   *:   V    . 


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*     *     9 


»•  ^  »  • 


iiiitv  st^al  town  of  IndepiM... 

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diuj.nhfer    of    Holi 


ov 


r  low 

..!(]  and  Lti 
Auiia   WilliM-:- 
lives'  in    i." 


ts  in  Parker 

o.iilid   in  Montgomery 

Ucs  county,  on  the  26tli. 


n  HadsMl. 
vontlj  in  tlift 


k 

9^. 

m 

r 

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PL 

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Hb 

#i 

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H^^^H 

W.  W.  TYLER  AND  WIFE. 


INDEX 

TO 

MONTGOMERY  COUNTY 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

Organization     5 

Location    6 

Land   Titles    7 

CHAPTER  II. 

Important  Events   9 

The  Drum  Creelv  Treaty 9 

The  Elk  Valley  Flood  of  1885. . .  10 
The  Volcani--  Upheaval  of  1894 

at  Coffeyville   16 

The  Reed  Family  Tragedy 20 

Why  Did  Pomeroy  Trust  York?.  24 
The    Montgomery    County   High 

School    27 

The  Dalton  Raid  at  Coffeyville  .  33 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Press  of  Montgomery  County     41 

Age,     The     Living     (Independ- 
ence)          45 

Argus,   The   Montgomery    (Inde- 
pendence)          45 

Bulletin,  The  Cherryvale  (Cher- 
ryvale)     46 

Call,    The    Weekly     (Independ- 
ence)          ■IS 

Call,  The  Daily  Evening   (Inde- 
pendence)         45 

Chief,     The     Osage     (Independ- 
ence)          45 

Circular,  The   (Coffej'^'ille) 44 


PAGE. 

Courier,  The  (Coffeyville) 44 

Courier,  The  Independence    (In- 
dependence          44 

Courier,    The    Daily    (Independ- 
ence)          44 

Courier,  The  Workingman's  (In- 
dependence)          44 

Champion,        The        Cherryvale 

(Cherryvale)     46 

Chronicle,  The  (Caney) 47 

Clarion,  The  Cherryvale   (Cher- 
ryvale)          46 

Commonwealth.      The      Kansas 

(Cherryvale)     46 

Democrat.    The    Kansas     (Inde- 
pendence)             43 

Democrat,       The       Montgomery 

County    (Coffeyville) 46 

Democrat.  The  (Elk  City) 47 

Bagle,  The   (Elk  City) 47 

Enterprise,  The  (Elk  City) 47 

Gaslight,   The    Coffeyville    (Cof- 
feyville)           46 

Globe.    The    Cherryvale     (Cher- 
ryvale)          46 

Globe,  The   (Elk  City) 46 

Herald,   The   Cherr.v-vale    (Cher- 
ryvale)          46 

Herald,  The  (Havana) 47 

Itemizer,  The   (Independence)..     45 
Intlependent,     The     Gate     City 
(Cotteyville)     46 


834 


HISTORY  01^    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY^   KANSAS. 


PAGE. 

Journal,    The    Coffeyville    (Cof-  ' 

feyville)     45 

Kansas   Populist,   The    (Cherry- 
vale)     45 

Kansan,  The  Independence  (In- 
dependence)       44,  89-63 

Light,  The   (Liberty) 47 

Monitor,   The   Montgomery    (In- 
dependence)          45 

News,  The  Cherryvale   (Cherry- 
vale)     46 

News,  The  Independence  (Inde- 
pendence)         45 

Phoenix,  The   (Caney) . .     47 

Pioneer,  The  Independence   (In- 
dependence)        43,  87,  88 

Press  and  Torch,  The  (Havana)     47 
Republic,  The  Cherryvale  (Cher-    . 

ryvale)     46 

Republican,      The       Cherryvale 

(Cherryvale)     4G 

Republican  -  Plaindealer.        The 

(Cherryvale)     46 

Recorder,  The  (Havana) 47 

Review,  The  (Liberty) 47 

Reporter,  The  Daily   (Independ. 

ence)     42, 45 

Record.   The    (Parker) 4S 

Ross"  Paper    (Coffeyville) 44 

Star,    The    Coffeyville     (Coffey- 
ville)           44 

Star,  The  Daily  Evening   (Inde- 
pendence)          45 

Star,  The  (Elk  City) 47 

Star,   The    Independence    (Inde- 
pendence)         44,  87 

Star    and    Kansan.    The    (Inde- 
pendence)    10,  44 

Southern    Kansas    Farmer,    The 

(Cherryvale)     46 

Telegram.   The    Morning    (Cher- 
ryvale)           40 


PAGE. 

Tribune,  The  South  Kansas  (In- 
dependence)        42,  63,  87 

Times,  The  (Elk  City) 46 

Times,  The  (Caney) 47 

Torch,  The  Cherryvale   (Cherry- 
vale)          46 

United  Labor   (Independence) . .     45 
Vidette,  The  Westralla  (Westra- 

lia)    43 

Vidette.  The   (Havana) 47 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Gas  and  Oil  Development. 


47 


CHAPTER  V. 
The  Political  History  of  Montgom- 
ery County '>4 

Organization  of  the  County..  fi5 

Temporary    County    Seat 55 

Election  for  County  Seat,  Con- 
test and   Result 56 

Commissioners  fix  Boundaries 

of   Townships o7 

First    Trustees 58 

Commissioners'  Wrangle  with 

County    Officers 58 

Prosperity  of  1871 59 

York  Defeats  Pomeroy 60 

Elections   of    1871-2 59 

Election  of  1873 61 

Elections  of  1874-5 62 

Elections  of  1876-7 63 

Elections  of  1878-9 64 

Election  of  1880 65 

Elections  of  1881-2 66 

Elections  of  1883-4 67 

Elections  of  1885-6 C8 

Elections  of  1887-8 70 

Elections  of  1889-90 70-71 

Elections  of  1891-2 71-72 

Elections  of  1893-4 72 

Elections  of  1895-6 73-74 

Elections   of   1897-8 75 


niSTOUY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 


835 


PAGE. 

Elections    of    1899-1900    (Con- 
stitutional  Amendment)  ...     76 
Elections  of  1901-2 77 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Towns  of  Montgomery  County.  ...     SO 

Lost  Towns: 

Claymore     120 

Coffeyville— Old  Town    122 

Colfax     81, 8G 

Montgomery  City   55, 81 

Morgantown   81 

Old  Liberty    81 

Parker    123 

Radical  City   12,  80 

Samaria     81 

Tally  Springs  122 

Verdigris    City    55-7, 80 

Westralia    55, 121 

Villages  and  Postoffices: 

Bolton     81 

Havana     82 

Jefferson    81 

Sycamore     82 

Tyro    80 

Wayside.  Bearing  and  Crane.     82 
Cities  of  Montgomery  County: 

Independence     83.  S5 

Land    Office    P3 

Town  Company  Troubles 91 

Incorporation      ; SO 

City  of  the  Third  Class 90 

First  School  House 88 

First  Sunday  School 89 

First  Saw-mill    87 

Frank  Bunker  and  Cabin 83 

First  Barbecue    86 

Haytown    86 

Mail  Facilities   89 

Mayor  DeLong's  Fight 95 

Hard  Times    96 

The  Hull  Baby 97 


I'AGE. 

The   First    Murder 100 

Building  th«  Mo.  Pac.  Ry.  100,  101 
Court  House  Bonds  Enjoined .  101 
Construction     of     the     Water 

Works     100 

Political  Fervor  of  1888 102 

Boniface  and  Stephenson  Con- 
victed       104 

Emmett  Dalton   Sentenced...   104 

First  Franchise  for  Gas 105 

Milton   Cannon    Murdered....   105 
Vote    on    Water    Works    Pur- 
chase       106, 108 

Murder   of   McTaggart 106 

Establishment    of    the    Brick 

Plant     106 

Twentieth  Kansas  Recruited.  107 
Extension  of  the  Santa  Fe  to 

Bartlesville     107 

Postoffice  Business  Increase.  107 
Destructive    Wind    Storm    of 

1901     108 

Establishment  of  Factories...   109 

Double  Murder    109 

Population     90,96.109 

Coffey^'ille     128 

Financial   and    Commercial .  . .   130 

Railroads     131 

Natural  Resources    132 

Manufactures     132 

A  Grain  Center 132 

Municipal  Advancement  133 

Schools   and   Churches 134 

Debt    and   Taxation 134 

Liberty     57,  134 

Caney     136 

Early  Settlers    137 

First  Newspaper 138 

Railroad  Bonds   138 

Incorporation    138 

Building   of    the    K.    O.    C.    & 

Sw.  Ry  139 

Discovery  of  Natural  Gas 139 


83t 


lOItY   Of   MONTGOMERY    C'OUNTV,   KANSAS. 


Chartering  of  the  C.  O.  &  T. 

Ry    139 

Places  of  Worship 140 

Elk   City    141 

First  Settlers  141 

Rise   and   Fall   of   Bloomfield, 

or  Fish  Trap 141 

M.  D.  Wright's  Advent 141 

Municipal  Government  Organ- 
ized       142 

Railroad   Agitation    143-4 

Prospecting  for  Gas 144 

Population     145 

Cherryvale    145 

Early  Beginnings    145 

Coming  of  the  Railroads 146 

Discovery  of  Gas  and  Oil 147 

The  Edgar  Zinc  Company....  147 

Brick  Plants   and   Factories..  147 

Banks     147 

Schools    148 

Churches   and    Pastors 148 

Telephone     149 

Water  Works  149 

Corbin    City    147 

Park  and  Auditorium 149 

Lodges  and  Associations 149 

Fairview   Cemetery    150 

Fires     150 

Hotels     150 

Municipal  Government    150 

Postmasters    151 

Town    Building    in    the    Southeast 

Corner  of  the  County 110 

Early  Settlers    Ill 

Religion     113 

Wedding    Bells    113 

First  Murder   114 

First      Preliminary      on      the 

Charge  of  Murder 115 

Bonding   the   County 116 

Murder  and  Mob  Violence 117 

Rival   Towns    121 


PAGK. 

Tally  Springs   122- 

Old   Cofteyville    12? 

Parker    123 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Medical  Profession 151 

The  Doctor  of  1870  and  His  Otit- 

flt     152 

The   Staff   of   the   Independence 

Medical  College 153 

Some  Early  Doctors 153 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Agriculture      154 

Indian  Agriculture   154 

The   New-Comers    155 

Exposition  Prize  of  1876 156 

Supremacy    of   the    "Cow    Man" 

Over  the  Farmer 156 

Adaptation  of  Crops 156-7 

Area  of  the  County  in  Acres.  . .  .  156 

Crop  Yields  and  Profits 157 

Products    157 

CHAPTER  IX. 

.Manufacturing     158 

CHAPTER  X. 

History  of  the  Bench  and  Bar 159 

General  Observations   159 

Status    of    the    Independence 

Town    Company    161 

Character    of    Population    In- 
duced Litigation   162 

District   Courts    162 

Location   of   Permanent   Capi- 
tal       163 

Wilson  County  Contest 163 

Appointment  of  First  .ludge..   164 
Eleventh       Judicial       District 

Boundaries 164 

Language  of  the  Statute  Fix- 
ing  Court    Terms 165 

First  Court  House 166 


IIISTOUY   OF   MONTfiO^^pRY   COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


837 


PAGE. 

Judges  of  the  District  Court 167 

Impeachment   of  Judge  H.   G. 

Webb     171-2 


County  Attorneys   180 

Attorneys,    or    Members    of    the 
Bar    188 


Personal  References  and  Biographies 


Acers,   N.    F 

Adams,   Ben 

Adams,  John  B. . . . 

Adams.  John  B. . . . 

Addington,  D.  M.  .  . 

Alger,    R.    A 

Allen,  E.  P..  20-2, 
y(_  Allen,  Dr   

Allen,  Richard   .... 

Allen,  W   

y,  Allen,  Sidney   

Allin,  Perry  N 

Allin,  \Vm.  H 

Alexander,  D.   P 

Allison  and  Bell 


PAGE. 
..  6G 
..      15 


56 

395 

611 

470 

64-5,76,100,312 

121 

32 

56 

56 

660 

534 

102 

88 


Allison,  Lucida  W 347 

Allison,   W.   A 58 

Altaffer,  John  M 72,  422 

American  flag    31 

Anderson,  John  J 70 

Anderson,  J.  M 107 

Anderson,    M.    N 38 

Anderson,  T.  L 515 

Anderson.  Thos.   W 348 

Andress.   Dr.   T.   F '-8 

Andrews,  Lindlay  M 189,193 

Anthony,  Geo.  T 63,  72 

Arbogast,  I.  R 46 

Argo,  Isaac  M 304 

Armstrong,  Ben.   M 62,  189,  193 

Armstrong.  Martin   578 

Ashby,   Milton    689 

Ashmore,  M.  L 58 

Atkinson.   Rev 89 

Atkinson.   John    696 

Austin,   William    728 


I'ACiR. 

Axtell,   Alvo   J 551 

Ayres.    Bert    S 35 

Ayres.   Thos.   G..   35-7-9,48,66,189,194 


Babb,  T.   C 35 

Babcock.  William   9 

Baden,    Henry    75,  105 

Baden,   Mrs.   Mary 366 

Bailey,  W.  J 77 

Bailey.   T.    M 68 

Baker.   G.   D. 43 

Baker,   Mrs.    Patience 824 

Baker,  Roy    77 

Baldwin,   J.    R HG 

Baldwin.   Lucius   M 36 

Ball,  CM 33 

Banks,  Alex  R 9 

Banks,  Geo.  L 468 

Banks,   Wm.    N 74, 189, 194,  281 

Barbee,  Mrs.  R.  C 22 

Barbour,  Lucius  T 593 

Barker,   Dr    153 

Barker,   Wharton    76 

Barlow,  John  W 638 

Barnes'  Garden    49 

Barnes,  Rev.  M.  0 822 

Barr.    S.    H 189,  194,  420 

Barricklow,  Joseph    63-5 

Barron  and  Hedden 123 

Bartles,   J.   A 139 

Bartlett,  W,  F 189,  195 

Barwick,    J.    J 189,194 

Bass,   Nathan    58-9, 189,  194 

Bates,  John  H 501 

Baylies,  Wm.  C 260 

Beach,    C.    T 62-3-4-5 

Beard,   Geo.    S 62 


838 


HISTORY  OP    MONTGOMEKY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 


Beard,  John    

Beardsley,   E.   M.  . . 
Beardsley,  Seth  M. 

Beatty.  Adam   

Beeghly,  Jonas    .  . . 

Begun,  E.  L 

Bell.  Dr.  J.  W 

Bell,  M.  S 


fAGE. 

94 

.  . .   189, 195 

58 

..   30-2.70-5 

703 

...   189.194 

137 

59 

Bell.   W.   H 63 

Bellamy,  John  F 189,  195.  801 

Bellamy,  Lura    ''2 

Benders,    The    24-7 

Bender,  F.  N S05 

Benefiel,  F.   M 72-3-6 

Bennett.  Joseph  S 561 

Bennett.  M.  V.  B 43,  191,189.  196 

Benson,   F.  D 39 

Berentz,   Henry    '?85 

Berry.   Joseph    511 

Bertenshaw,  Dr.  B.  J 679 

Bertenshaw.  John   189.  196 

Bettis.   F.   A 56,164 

Bethuran,  H.  A 55 

Beyett,  Alex   " 

Biddison.  A.  J 189, 196 

Billings.   Lewis    '(* 

Billings,  Arthur  189, 196 

Birch,  Thomas   102 

Bishop,  W.  T 82,90 

Black  Dog  10 

Black,   Geo.   A 189,  197 

Blackledge,  J.  F 297 

Blacklidge,  A.N 9 

Blackburn,  J.  W 189,  197 

Black  well.  J.  H 100 

Blackmore,   Joseph,   Jr 450 

Blaes,    Mathias    343 

Blaine,  J.   G 68 

Blair,  A.  V 189, 197 

Blair,  John   R 30,  72-3,  635 

Blank,  Dr.  John  T 671 

Blanton,   N.   B 122 


PAGE. 

Bloom.  C.   L 49,  53.'$ 

Bloxam,  Joseph   94 

Blue.   Mrs.    Jane 272 

Bolton.    Wm.   L 736 

Boone.   Albert  G 9 

Bond.  Thos.  L 58 

Boniface,  Tom    103 

Booth.   Thos.    J 661 

Boswell.    A.    P 34, 64-5-7-9 

Bouton,    Noah   E 70-1-3-4,714 

Bowen.    W.    P 106-7-9,547 

Bowlby.   Samuel    368 

Bowman.    Lewis    11,12 

Boyd,  John    62 

Braden.  Jim    117,118,119 

Braden.   James    338 

Bradford,  W.  A 46 

Bradley,   Dr.   Henry 438 

Bragg.  James  W 503 

Brewer.   W.    P 58 

Brewer.  R    58 

Brewster.   F.   D '734 

Brewster.  H.  A.  and  Co 31 

Brewster,    J.    H ..   35,49 

Brighton,   H.   E 47,138,443 

Bristol,   N.   B 189,197.492 

■--   Broadbent,  Albert  J 80,  587 

Broadhead,   J.   P 189,198 

Broadhead.  J.  T 64 

Broadwell.  Dick    34, 36-9 

Brodie.   G.   H 90 

Brock,   Thos.    H 59,  62-4, 166 

Brock,    J.    T 97,136,141 

Brown,  Allen    20 

Brown  and  Risburg 88 

Brown.   Charles    36-9 

Brown.   C.    S 62 

Brown,    D.    B 189,  197 

Brown,    Geo.    A 79, 85 

Brown.  J.   A 726 

Brown.  Rev.  J.  J 89 

Brown,  Joseph   D 189,198 


HISTORY  OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


Brown.   John    W.... 

Brown,   Perry   F 

Brown     D    B 

575 

68G 

189  198 

Brown,  Sealy  L, 

Brown,  W.  E 

582 

Brown,   W.   R 

Bruner,  Daniel   

Brunk,   P    S.  . 

64-5-7-9,70 

5(i 

76 

Brunton,    Wm.    H... 
Bryan,  W.  J 

309 

Bryant,  Elizabeth   .. 
Buckley,  Joseph  A. . 
Budd,  James  D.  .  . 

298 

646 

709 

Bulger,  James    

Bundy,  Henry  N 

Bunker,    Frank    

795 

717 

83-6,  92-3 

Burchard,   Geo.   W. . 
Burchard.  Frank   .  . . 

44,62,98,189,198 
102 

Burdick,  Squire   

•  . .  .                      14'' 

Burdick,  J.  A 

Burghart,  Geo    

591 

Burge,  J.  W 

Burke,  J.  W 

Burke,    Thos.    F 

75-6,378 

Burns.  J.  S 

Burnes,   R.   E 

Burn  worth,  J.  D 

123 

189,199 

105 

Burt,  John  A 

Burton,    Cyrus   M... 

g3g 

Busby.  Dr.  A.  J 

Bushnell,  Edwin    .  . . 

57-9,766 

570 

Butler,  H.  J 

146 

Caldwell,   John   T.  .  . 

Caldwell,    Mr 

95 

Calk,    Thomas    .  . 

go 

Callahan.  John    

Callahan,   Thos.    F. . 
Callahan,   Patrick   H 
Callow  and  Myers . . 

.   45,74,188-9,299 

71,104 

392 

82 

Campbell,  C.  E 

S3 

839 

PAGE. 
..  153 
89,  199 
..     77 


Campbell.  Dr    

Campbell.  B.  L 

Campbell,   P.   P 

Camp,   Adam    56 

Canada,   Green   L 112,121 

Canary,  Abe   64 

Canfield,  Thos.  H 43,  89 

Canning,    C.    W 569 

Cannon.   Milton    105 

Captain.   Augustus    9 

Carl.   Josie    150 

Carl,  Frank  603 

Carlton.  George  114 

Carlton.    Mike    114 

Carpenter  and    Crawford 87 

Carpenter,  C.  T 34 

Carson,  L.   M 280 

Carson,   O.   F 63,150,146 

Cass,  Phillip  H 189, 199,  632 

Cassidy,   M.   P 290 

Cathers,  D.  W 644 

Castillo.  John   68,  681 

Castle.    P.    B 45 

Caton,  Alice   46 

Cavert,   H.    0 324 

Cavenaugh,   Patrick    189, 200 

Chadburn,  Ed  15 

Chambers.   Wm 80 

Chandler,    Geo 66-9, 

70,  91-7, 101-2, 174, 189,  200,  733 

Chandler.   Joseph    96, 106,  733 

Chaney,  Di-.  G.  C 23,103-4-5,107 

Chaney.  E.  A 31 

Chanute.   Octavius    128 

Charlton.  J.   R..   47.71.140,188-9,201,465 

Charlton.  Wm.  J 455 

Chatham.   Jim    44 

Chetopa    10, 85 

Chouteau.  Ben   122 

Chouteau,   Lewis   P 9 

Chouteau,  Gusso   56 

Clark,   A.    B 59, 

62-4-6,  71, 128, 179, 187-9,  201 


HISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COl'NTY,   KANSAS. 


Clark.  A.  C 143 

Clark.   A.   M -15 

Clark.    E.    B 146 

Clark.  Edgar  M 189',  202 

Clark.  W.  G 190,  202 

Clark.  O.  G.  &  Co S2 

Clarke.   Hon.   Sidne.v 10 

Clarkson.   John    122 

Clary,  Perr.v   121 

Clay.  John  T 350 

Clayton,  J.  A 758 

Clennon.    Patrick   C 769 

Clemmer.  Geo.  \V '"•4 

Clevelanri,  Grover    70-2 

Clifford,  Mary  A 725 

Clifford.   John    B 725 

Clifford.    Thos.    B 768 

Cline.   Daniel    71-2-3, 597 

Cline.   David   A 28,73-6-7 

Clotfelter  &  Booth 150 

Ciotfelter,  C.  A 146,  414 

Clover,  Ben    71,  173 

Coffey,   Col    122 

Cole,  B.  E 77 

Cole.  J.  E 63 

Collins,  A.  J 321 

Coleman.  Wm.   H 691 

Comer.    S 820 

Compton.   Wm 58 

Condon.  C.  M.  and  Co 34,  41 

Connelly,    Chas.    T 38,  40 

Connelly,   Chas.   A 401 

Conner.  Samuel  H 7S2 

Cook,   James   F 418 

Cook,  David  S 406 

Conrad,   H.   W 55,67-8,76-8 

Conry,  George    127 

Corbin,  Jasom  O 58 

Corbin.  C.  J 64 

Cormack,  Dr.  W.  A 579 

Cotton,   William    317 

Cotton,    W.    N 56 


PA(JK. 

Cotton.    J.    S 63-4,  190,  203 

k  Courtney,   John    M 77,  146-8-9,  263 

Courtright.    Percy    L 190,203 

Coventry,   Chas S8 

Cowell,  Dr.   Henry 680 

Cox,  Geo.   E 731 

Cox.   Albert   T 45,  190,  202 

Cox,   Ira   E 190,203 

Craig.  J.   B 59.90-2.172,  190,204 

Crane.  H.  H 257 

Crawford.   H.   C 55,  121 

Crawford   &   McCue 88 

Cree.  Nathan   190. 204 

Crick.  John   300 

Crow.  Zachariah    112 

Grouse,   J.    1 94 

Cubine.  George  36-9,  41 

Cubine,   Georgie    32 

Cunningham.  B.  R 57.  62 

Currier.    Milo    D 505 

Curtis.    W.   A 747 

Cutler.  E.  R 190.205 

Datby.   Geo.    P 613 

Dalby,  Dr.  Philip  H 83,  650 

Dalton.    Emmett..   34-5-6-7-8-9.40-1,104 

Dalton,    Grat,    Bob 34-5-6-7-8-9,40-1 

Dalton.   Lewis    33 

Dana,  J.  Howard 77-8,140,188,522 

Daniel,   Cyrus   F 451 

Danehu.   James    113 

Dannettell.  U.  R 142 

Darnell.  D.  Y 190,  205 

Darling.   Joseph   R.- 741 

Darrow,  A.  C 580 

Daugherty.  Amanda  J 389 

Daugherty.  William    143 

Daugherty.  Mrs.  Mary  M 773 

Davis.   C.   M 190.  205 

Davis.   John    M 190, 205 

Davis.    D 48 

Davis.  Dr.  J.  T 21-3.  540 

Bavis,  Mrs.  Letitia 500 


IIISIOKY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 


I'AGE. 

Davis,  Milton   735 

Dawson,   William    94 

Debruler,  J.  N 86, 167 

Debs,   Eugene  V 76 

DeCourcey,   B.  W SI 

Deer.   Job    407 

Delano.    Secretary    2.5 

DeLong.  .lames    62-4. 

86.9.3-4-5-6,161,190,206 

Dempsey.   T.    B 190,208 

DeMott,    Richard   H 702 

Dennis.  Eli    115,  116,  121 

Dennison,   Dr 122 

Devore,    B.    F 59,63,7.3.102-3 

Devore.    J.    F 190,205 

Dietz,   Lewis   T 37 

Dickerson.  A.  J 633 

Dickey,  Wm,  C 642 

Dixon,  S.  M 73 

Dobson,   R.    M 329 

Dodd,    H.    H 63-4-5,102 

DoUison,   J.   N 29,32,74-6-7,445 

Dominey,   Gilbert    6G 

Donlavy.  J.  E 90-1 

Dooley.   H.   C 76.  190,  207 

Donaldson,  Col.   Samuel 190,207 

Duckett,  Henry  W 60S 

Duckworth,   Geo.   H 59S 

Duncan,   A.    M 121 

Duncan,  Harvey    474 

Duncan.    John    504 

Dunkin,  William   29, 

30-1.  62,  70-5,  91-5-6,  100-2,  190,  207,  250 

Dunlap,   G.  A 12S 

Dunlap.   R.    W 79 

Diiley,   A.    S 1-50 

Dunnett,    Daniel   W 190,208 

Dun  well,   Dr 59 

Durand,   Napoleon    719 

Dye,  F.   H 138 

Eaton.   John    A 70 

Eaton,  Ab 145 


Earnest,  Thos.   H. 

Easterly,  J.   P 

Ecret,   M.   P.  T. . . 

Edgar,   S.   C 

Edwards,   D.   M.  .. 
Eldridge.  T.  B 


841 

PAGi;. 
...   71,363 

46 

....   29,31 

147 

649 

...   59,159 

Ely.   Noah  &   Sons 131 

Elliott.   Capt.  D.   S 37, 

46,70,  107,  190,208 

Elliott,   S.   C 68-9,106,186-8,190 

Ellis,  C.  W 115,  190,  208 

Ehnerson,   J.   D 90-1,190,209 

Empfield.   A.   G 335 

Engels.  James  W 558 

Erdman.  John  G 434 

Eh-genbright.  O.   P.  70,188,190,210,674 

Ernest,   Ben    73 

Erret.    Chas.    T 44 

Estey.  Rev.  S.  S 32 

Etchen.    J.    P 74 

Etter,   Samuel    826 

Evans,  Dr.  A.  W 1.53.  427 

Evans,  Chas.  A 760 

Evans.  Elijah   190,  210 

Evans.  Geo.  H.,  Jr 71 

Evans,     0 601 

Evdns.   S.  A 83 

Ewing.  C.  T 147 

Fadler.  John   740 

Fagan,  Ed   122 

Fain,   William    112.  122 

Fairleigh,   H.   J 20 

Farlow.  N.  M 333 

Fay,  E.  W 58,190,210 

Fell,  Adam  B 590 

Felker,  Will    46 

Ferguson,   J.   0 77 

Ferrel.   H.   D 73-4 

Fields,    John    C 622 

Fike,    Mrs 113 

Finlay,  Geo.  W 705 

Finley,  Di-.  M.  A 793 


842 


HISTORY  OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


PACiE. 

FUzpalrick.  G.  W 190,  211 

Flannelly,  Thos.  J 77,181 

Fleming,  John    121 

Flener,  J.  A 137,458 

Fletcher  &   Stentz 81 

Fletcher.    Chas 190,210 

Flynn,   Peter  R 128 

Foote,  Miss  Laura 112 

Ford,  T.  0 60-2 

Ford,  W.  W 118 

Foreman,   W.   C 72-3 

Forsyth,    A.    P 69,292 

Foster,  Ed.  L 66 

Foster,  Edwin   56-8,  62,  96, 107 

Foster.  Mrs.   E.  L 22-3 

Foster.  Emery    190,  210 

Foster,    Goodell 56-7, 

79,  90-1, 163, 182-7,  190 

Foster,  George  69 

Foster,  Hiram    517 

Poster.   Thos 20 

Fowler.  I.  G 106 

Fox,   Peter   H 32-3,  77,  498 

Frazier,   J.    C 59 

Frazier,  Dr.  T.  C 154,  655 

Frantz,  Frank  J 404 

Freeman.  Luther 190,  211 

French,  John    744 

Fritch.    F.   J 73,190,211,430 

Frink.   Walter    775 

Frost.   Wm.   H 360 

Fugate.    Dr 153 

Fulton,  Isaac  B 27,  74 

Fulmer,   Geo.   W 70-1-4 

Gaines,   Bernard    190. 211 

Galey.  John  H !'iO 

Gamble,  J.  D 59, 190,  211 

Gamble,  O.  P 86,371 

Gardner.  N.  B 190,  211 

Garfield,   James    G 65 

Garlinghouse,  F.  W 737 

Garrett,   J.    S 56 

Garrison,  Thos.  A 823 


Gaski 


Johi 


PACK. 
..    610 


Gifford.    190,212 

Gilmore.   G.   E 20,  190,  212 

Gillula.   Paddy    85 

Givens.    John 28.  74-6-8,  278 

Glass.  John  W 72-3 

Glatfelder,  Levi   63, 13S 

Glick,   Geo.   W 66 

Goodell.    E 776 

Gottlieb,    G 100-7 

Grabill,   E.   D 57 

Graham,  J.  H.,  T.  C,  Allen 112 

Graham,  W.  W 57-8, 135,  166 

Grant,   H.   D 58. 100, 190,  213 

Grant,    U.    S 10 

Grass,  Col.  Daniel 63,91-6,190,212 


Grass,  Dr.  John 

Graves,  James  H.  . 
Graves.  Joseph  H.  . 

Gray,   D.   B 

Gray,  Hon.  Alfred . 
Gray,  Jackson  . . . . 
Gray.  Joseph  D.  . .  . 


153 

704 

432 

95 

156 

771 

399 

Gray.   Samuel    F 413 

Gregory,  Milton   11 

Green,  Abner   666 

Green.  Mr 15 

Greenlee,  Mrs.  Hattie  E 664 

Greer,    Mr 13 

Greer,   Alex   C 34fi 

Greer,  David   P 282 

Griffey,  Marshall   22 


Grifl 


Jefferson . 


508 


Griffin,  Matt   64t 

Grubb,    Benj 43 

Guernsey.  Geo.  T 556 

Guffey,  .las.  H 50 

Guilkey.   J.   F 74 

Gump.   Chas.   T 36 

Haag,   Henry    551 

Hack,  W.  H 31 

Haddox,  Mrs.  J.  W 100 


HISTORY   OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


843 


[•AGE. 

Hadley.  Ira   722 

Hadley,  H.  M 29 

Hadsell.  Adam  U 448 

Hancock,  W.   S 65 

Handley.   J,   A 150 

Handley,  M.  C 73 

Handley,  R.  B 75 

Hainline,  Grant   685 

Hall,   Joseph   R 624 

Hall,  R.  T 90 

Hall,  S.  A 190,214 

Hall,  Dr.  Wm.  C 673 

Hamer,  Joseph   S 690 

Hamner.    Capt 86 

Hamilton,   Van    C 599 

Hammill,    Robert 157 

Hanson,  Thos 57 

Harbourt,  T.   C 75 

Harbert,  Wm 15 

Hardrobe   10 

Harden,   Joseph   E 439 

Hare,  H.  H 813 

Harper.  Albert  G 698 

Harper,   Frank   G 108 

Harper  &  Wassam 45 

Harris,  J.  N 58 

Harrison,   Benj 70-2 

Harrison,   C.   N R3 

Harrison,    Geo 693 

Harrison,   Judge  Thos.   66,190,214,274 

Harrison,   Thomas    73, 294 

Harrod.  Capt.  W.  J 59,190,214 

Hart,  Harriet  A 410 

Barter,  W.  H 63.  485 

Harley,  James  W 403 

Harvey,  Gov.  J.  M.  .   6,  .55.  110. 135, 163 

Hasbrook,  L.   Benj 190.  215 

Haskell,  Dudley  C 66 

Hastings.  Elijah  D...   150.191,215,789 

Haverstick,  Wm.   C 67S 

Hawkins,  Andrew  588 

Hayden,    Thos 29,  30-1-3,  75 

Hays,  Will  S 66-7,  73,  373 


PAUi;. 
..  69 
..  367 
..  106 
..   400 


Hayes.  Rutherford  B 

Hayward.   O.   T 

Hazen.  H.  W 

Hazen.  Thomas  M 

Heape.   Wm.   A 288 

Hebrank.  Dale   108 

Heckert.   Sarah  J 581 

Heckman.  David    362 

Heddens.  J.  M 62 

Helphingstine     56-7-9.  62. 191,  215 

Hemphill,  J.  J 138 

Helms.   James    743 

Hendrix,   W.   R 191.216 

Hendrix.  William    90 

Henderson.  B.  F 191,  215 

Henderson,  Mrs.  Ann  R 781 

Henderson,   J.   S 442 

Henderson,  J.  T 491 

Henderson,  Sophronia  805 

Henry,    M.   D 92 

Henry.  Thos,  B 32.  327 

Henry.   Rev.   Samuel 71,  752 

Herring,    E 59,  62-3-5, 191,  216 

Heritage,  Maurice  and  George. ...     13 

^  Hester,  John  C 70-1 

'  Hibbard,   S.   b 68,  70-3-5,  570 

Hickey,  M.  L S9 

Hickman,    S.    B 122 

Hicks,  Chas.  M 560 

Higby,  A.  T 191,216 

Hill,  George   77, 107 

Hill,   Howard    M 788 

Hill,   John   1 502 

Hill,   Rufus  J 166,  191,  216 

Hillis,  A.  A 57-S 

Hines.   O.   E 121 

Hinkle.  J.  D 63-4.  184-7, 191 

Hite,  Chas.  P 64S 

Hobson,  Edward    783 

Hockett.  J.  C 146 

Hodges,  J.  W 62, 137-8 

Hogan,   Chas.   H 70 

Holdren,  J.  W 191,  219 


HISTORY  OF   MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


Holland,  Frank  D 745 

HoUiday.  Joshua   616 

Hollings worth.  P.  S 138,  490 

Hollingsworth,   R,   H 518 

Hollingsworth,  C.  L 35 

Hoober.   J.    B 97 

Hook,  John   71 

Hooker,  F.  H 13S 

Hooper,    C.    W 109 

Horner.  R.  E 224 

Horton,  Albert   H 63,  117 

Houghton.   Wm.    S 730 

Howard.    N.    F 121 

Howard.   Fred   R 40 

Howard.  S.  J 707 

Howe.   John   W 77,525 

Howell,    D.    W 83 

Howell.   Bill 115 

Hubbard,  Jas.   P 48S 

Hudiburg.  Abigail    273 

Hudson.  L.  T 108 

Hudson.  T.   J 29 

Hughbanks.  Etta  150 

Hull.  Chas.  A.  and  Edgar 97 

Hull.   Carrie    97 

Hull.  Latham    97 

Humphrey,   L.    U 42, 

59,63-4,71-2,102,174.191,219 

Humphrey,  L,  L 676 

Hurst.   George    61 

Huston.   Wm 62 

Hysung.  John   640 

Imel.  William  A 670 

Independence  Gas   Co 51 

Ingalls.   John   J 61 

Ingmire,   Elias   M 529 

Tnscho,  Alvin  J 306 

Irwin,  F.  D 86,  90 

Isham   Bros,   and   Mansur.  .   34-7-8-9,48 

Ives.  Norman   H 59.  96, 100 

Jack.   John   J 91 

Jack.    Martha    1 827 

Jack,   S.   K 138 


PAGE. 

.  ...  509 
75-6,  452 
...  697 
. ..  364 
...  91 
191.224 


Jackson.   Joseph    

James.   D.    S 

James.   Isaac    

James.    Joseph    L 

Jasper  &  Boniface 

Jennings.   T.    B 

Jennings.    Vick    45 

Jiencke.  Harry   61S 

Jimmerson.   HA 91 

Jocelyn.  F.   C 90 

John.   Jas.   M 191.  224 

Johnson.    W.    A 26 

Jones.  J.  A 50 

Jones.  J.  R 606 

Jones.    Miss    Mena 31 

Jones.   William    31 

Jones,   William    706 

Joyce,  Charles   711 

Judson  &  Saylor 91 

Judson.    L.    C 57,191,224 

Kaiser.   Henry    91 

Kalloch.    I.    S 9 

Keesler.  Mary  A 322 

Kearns.   Ale,\    127 

Keith.    J.    H 78,191.224,473 

Keller.    Miss    Anna 73-4 

Kelley.   James    58 

Kelly.  Jas.   P 141 

Kelley.  .las.  E 141 

Kelly.  Dr.  W.   B 154 

Kelso,  Marion  E 531 

Kendall.   Benj.   M 815 

Kennedy.    Chas.    L 677 

Kent.    C.    W 46 

Kent.   E.   Y 122 

Kercheval.    R.    P 18,191,224 

Kerr,   Chas.   H 426 

Kerr,  Mrs.  Geo,  \V 762 

Kerr.   John    94 

Kimball,   E.    C 57 

Kimble,   C.   h 482 

Kincaid,  C.   C 146-8,150,527 

Kincaid,  Jas.  E 351 


HI 


rOUY   01'    MONTGO MICKY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 


845 


i'A(;i';. 

Kincaid,   Wilson    33,  67,  76,  10.3 

King,  Joseph  F 645 

Kingman,  Chief  Justice 63 

Kingsley,  D.  W 69.  70 

Kington,   J.    H 62 

Kirkpatrick,  Charlotte  T 441 

Kirkpatrick,   S.   S 74 

Klappel,   John    57 

Klinefelter,  Jacob   B 352 

Kloehr,    John    J 38-9,40,651 

Kneeland,   I.   N 128 

Knock.   Robert   B 614 

Knokle   &   Debruler 88 

Knotts,  A.  W 35,77 

Knowles,  L.  M 57 

Kopple.  John  and  Samuel 141 

Kountz   (Kounce),  E.  K 55-6, 

112,114,122 

Kountz,  James  191.  224 

Kountz,  John  C 112 

Kring,.  John  F 658 

Krone,  D.  C 63.286 

Krugg,  Dr.  A.  A 478 

Kurtz,  Isaac   655 

Lamb.  C.  W 354 

Lassey.    Wm 386 

Lawson,   Wm.   F 497 

Leasure.  E.   D 77 

Leatherock.   Fred    146 

Lee,  Henry   127 

Lee,   John    58 

Lenhart,   Joseph    74, 80 

Lenhart,    S.   D SO 

Leslie,  G.   B 65-6-8, 148 

Levan,   H.   M 74 

Lewelling,    L.    D 72 

Lewis  &  Mossman 01 

Lewis,  E.  T 72-7,  790 

Light,   M.    B 191,  225 

Lindley,    P.    H 83,  517,  585 

Lindley,  Rev.   Isaac 585 

Lines  &  Cautfman 82 

Lippy,  Geo.  W 342 


I'AGK. 

Linton.  W.  H 

13 

Little  Bear   

10 

Little  Beaver   

10 

Livingston,    Wm.    P 

819 

Locke.  Wm.  N 

.  .  .  .    191,  225 

Logan.    Robert    E 

669 

Lomax.   Sullivan    77, 480 

Long.  Milo  M 775 

Loring.    191,225 

Lotterer,  F.  G 147 

Lushbaugh,   John    112,121 

Lyon,   Maj.   E.   W 46,  405 

Mahaffy,    John    A 536 

Mapes,  W.   H 172 

Martin,  Maj.  H.  W 123 

Martin.  Gov.  John  A 68.  130 

Martin.  W.  C 63 

Martin.    W.    N 93.  191,  225 

Martin,  Wm.   P 654 

Mason.   Edmund    507 

Mason.  John   759 

Mason.  Capt.  L.  C 49.  99.  383 

Mastin.  Bank   99^ 

Masterman.  Dr.  B.  F 21. 

66.  84.  99.  100.  153.  466 

Matthews.  John   C 326 

Matthews.    E.    E 191,225 

Matthews.   S.   V 66-8.191,226,327 

Matthewson,  Mrs.  Sarah  F 417 

May,  Wm.  J S9 

Mays,  W.   T.,  S.   W 112 

Maxon,   P.  B 93 

Meagher,   Bridget    596 

Mears,    E.    T 62-4,1)4 

Melotumuni    (12  o'clock) 10 

Mensch,   Jacob   E 751 

Merrill,   Bishop    95 

Merrill,  Wm.  A 191,  226,  308 

Merriman,  Chas.   M 574 

Merritt,   Charles    105 

MeWhinney  &   Fagan 56, 121 

Meyer,  Frank   102 

Miller,    Dr 94 


846 


[ISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY.   KANSAS. 


PAGE. 

Miller. 

J.   A... 

45 

Miller, 

Jake   .. 

117  to  120 

Miller. 

John  W 

694 

Miller, 

Peter    . 

123 

Millis, 

Mrs.  H. 

T 

94 

Mills,  Elisha  11 

Mills,   J.    A 191,226 

Mills,   Wm.   H 49,50 

Mills,    S.    W 58 

Mishler,  Andrew  M 523 

Mitchell,    C.    A 146-7,150 

Mitchell,  Thomas    66 

Moore,    Alex 66 

Moore,    A.    H 97 

Moore,   B.  F 147 

Moore,  C.  B 43-6 

Moore,  Jake   453 

Moore,  J.  A 29.  30-1,  75 

Moore,    P.    S 28,65, 70-3 

Moore,  Vin  W 191,  226 

Moon,  A.  J 191,226 

Moon,    Dr 153 

Mooney,  Geo.  W 443 

Moonlight,  Col.  Tom 68 

Montgomery,  Col.  James 55 

Montgomery.  G«n.  Richard 55 

Morehouse.  S.  B 55-S. 

119.136,166,191.226 

Moreland.  J 04 

Morgan.  C.  B 713 

Morgan.  J.   P 142 

Morgan.  Charles    79 

Moses,  Frank  C 72-3. 108 

Morrill.  B.   N 72 

Morris.  J.  H 66 

Morris.  James  J 715 

Morrow,   Thos.   F 495 

Mounger,  Henry  64-6 

Mull.   J.   J 73 

Munn.  C.  W 123 

Murphy.   Benj 381 

Murphy.  James    387 

Murphy,    Thos 9 


PAGE. 

Murphy.  W.   P 9 

Myrick.  W.  A 29,  31 

MacDonald.  E.  S 146, 151 

McBride,  A.  P 49,  564 

McCabe.  "Old  Man" 114-15 

McCaleb.  John   114 

McCarty.   James    13 

McCloud.   John   E 626 

McClung.  Mrs 89 

McClelland.  Geo.  W 191.  227 

McCollum.   M.   L 76 

McConnell  &  Mclntyre 43 

McConnell.  Wm.  F 412 

McCorkle.  James  F 825 

McCormick.  A.  H 57, 100 

McCormick.   A.   G 146,755 

McCoy.  Dr.   I.  H 13.14 

McCreary.   Joseph    67-8,  121. 132 

McCue.  Judge  J.  D 60-2-6-8. 

70-1-3.  91.  102-4-15.  175-8. 186-7, 191 

McCullagh,   John    63-5, 101 

McCulley.  Dr.  W.  A 21-3. 

45.  63-8,  94-7-8, 153 

McDonald.   John    58 

McDermott.  S.  F 191.  228 

McDowell,  James  A 301 

McEniry.  Michael   96. 191.  226 

McEwen.   Gen 25 

McFeeters.  W.   S 55.191.  227 

McFarland.    Dr 100 

McHargue.   Thos 397 

Mclntyre.   John    112 

McKinley.    Wm 74-6 

McKinney.  Wm.   W 435 

McMurtry.    Samuel    76-7, 304 

McNeal.  Joseph   559 

McSweeney.   J 49 

McSweeny.  Michael    402 

McTaggart.  Capt.  Daniel 55, 

67-8-9.  70-2-8-9.  102-6-7, 136 

McVean.  J.  H 191.227 

McWilliams,  W.  B 138 

McWright.    W 191,228 


HISTOKY   OF    MONTGOMEItY   COUNTY,   liANSAS. 


847 


PAGE. 

Nash,   Alex 71-2 

National  Supply  Co 52 

Neal,  Charles   100 

Neal,  Moses    9 

Nees,  S.  M 32 

Nettleton.    Gen 14:5 

Newkirk,  Robert   786 

New  York  Oil  &  Gas  Co 52 

Newton,   Mrs.   Ada ; 150 

Newton,   John    25a 

Newton,  Minnie  148 

Newton,   Revilo    29, 

31-3,  73-5,  146-8,  151,  269 

Nevins,  J.   M 94 

Nevins,  Mrs.  J.  M.  (E.  C.) 68,  94 

Nichols,  E.  S 93 

Nichols.   Reuben    191, 228 

Nickerson,  J.  D 49,  50, 104 

Noble,  T.   M 56 

Nolte,  J.   F 67 

Nollsch,  J.   A 83 

Nopawalla    10 

Norris,  Joseph   H 71-2-3,799 

Norton,  Henry   77 

Oakes.  Gary    63, 98 

O'Brien,  Fred   116 

O'Brien.  John  784 

O'Connor  &  McCuUey 45 

O'Connor.  Thomas    462 

O'Connor.   W.   T 191,228 

Oliver,  Wm.  T 446 

O'Rear,  R.  F 72 

Orr,  John   S 589 

Orr,  J.  A 191,228 

Osborn,  E.  A 16, 18.  29,  30,  67 

Osbom,  Roy   191,  228 

Osborn.  Gov.  T.  A 172 

Osborn,  William    142 

Overheiser,  Homer  812 

Overman,   Z.   R 56 

Overmyer.  David  72 

Page,  Arthur  E 687 

Page.  John  C 318 


PAGE. 

Page.   John    Q 191,229 

Painter.  Daniel    817 

Palmer,  J.  A 75-6 

Palmer.   F.   S 65 

Park,  George  A 463 

Parker,  York  &  Co 122-3-4-9 

Parker.   D.   T 123 

Parker,  J.  W 123 

Parkhurst,   R.   S 86.264 

Parks,   B.   P 191,230 

Parks,  Daniel  G 758 

Parsons.  A.  M 47, 191,  229 

Parsons,  Wm.  B 692 

Patterson,  Jas.  F 628 

Paul,    M.   J 100 

Paull,    Robert    289 

Paw-ne-no-pashe,   Joseph    9 

Paxson,  Dr.  Cyrus  C 765 

Paxson,  Chas.  M 76 

Peacock  &  Sons 44 

Peacock.   T.   W 191,  230 

Peck.  Geo.   R 91,149.175,191.230 

Peckham,   Col.   C.  J 59,192,234 

Peffer,  Wm.  A 46,  65, 174, 192,  234 

Penn,  E.  B 770 

Perkins.  B.  W. . .   62-4-8-9.70-1.129,172 

Perkins.  Luther 192.  235 

Perkins.   Joshua    7ni) 

Perry.  E.  W 44 

Pershing.  Rev.  J.  E 20 

Peterson.  S.   S 95,119 

Pettet,   Geo.   W 82» 

Pettibone.  S.  H 192,  236 

Phalp,    A 150 

Picker.   Geo.   H 661 

Pickering.  J.   C 604 

Piper.  S.  H 192,236 

Pitman,  Ben   141 

Pittman.   Thos.    R 63-7.83.663 

Polley.   Frank   B 58 

Pomeroy.   S.   C 24-6.60,03 

Porter,    S.    M 139,192,237,428 

Post,  Wm.  W 569 


HISTORY   OP    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 


PAGE. 

542 

112 

34-8-9,  40 

684 

803 

749 


848 

Powell.  Alex.  B.  .  . 
Powell.  Mrs.  E.  G. 

Powers,  Bill    

Prather.   Wm.   L.. 

Pratt.  W.   R 

Pratt.   Sidney   A.. 

Prentis,  Chas.   W 92 

Prentis  &   Warner 90 

Preston,    H 67 

Price,  J.  C 57 

Pruitt,  Andy  77,  461 

Pugh,  J.  H 90,175 

Purcell,   G.   W 192,237 

Purcell,  L.  1 46 

Quigg,  A.   R 537 

Quigley,  Geo.  W 752 

Rader,  Dr.  J.  A 75-8 

Ralstin  &  Coventry S7 

Ralstin  &  Stephenson 87 

Ralstin.   C.   M.   48.56,91,167,183-7,132 

Rammel    Bros 36 

Randle.  Elder  John 113 

Rea.   E.    S 536 

Rea.  John  B 340 

Reardon,  W.  J 811 

Reed    Bros 36-8 

Reed,   Geo.    W 20,  85,  105 

Reed,  Shell   86 

Reed,  Mrs.  Ella 21-2 

Reed,  Joel  W 419 

Reid,  Joseph  H 425 

Reeve,  Hiram  699 

Reeves,  J.  W 73 

Remington,   Geo.    L 21,682 

Renttro,  W.   S 59 

Reyburn.   J.    S 83 

Reynolds.   M.   W 9,93 

Reynolds,    Arthur    37-8 

Reynolds,  Cleveland  J 45-7,138 

Rice,  John  E 13 

Richart,  R.  F 146 

Ringle.  .John   P 753 

Ringle,  W.  E 32 


PACK. 

Ritchie.  J.  H 45-b' 

Ridgely.  E.  R 74-5 

Riggs,  Arley  77 

Ritter,   Benj.    F 601 

Ritter.   John    N 70,178 

Roberts.  Joe   112 

Robertson.   E.    C 121 

Robins,   Chandler    100 

Robinson,   Charles    9 

Robinson.  Beale  A 634 

Robinson,   W.    M 62-4 

Robinson.  Rev.  J.  J 720 

Rogers,   Mr 15 

Rogers.    Wm 138 

Rork.  Curtis   774 

Rood,    J.    P 63-4-5 

Ross,   A.   L 87 

Ross,   Sen.   E.   G 10,  44 

Ross,  J.  S 83 

Ross.   Marshall   M 544 

Ross.  William   117-18-19-20 

Rossiter.  J.  P 192,237 

Rottler.   Casper    454 

Rowley.  Capt.  J.  B 59.  6? 

Rucker.   Matt   M 98 

Rudd.   I.   H 62 

Rundell,  Lewis  A 716 

Rushmore.  W.  B 67 

Russel.    John    57 

Russum.  J.  S 62 

Ryan,  Dr.  James  W 477 

Salathiel.    Thos.    S 192,237,460 

Salter.   M.  J 63,93 

Savage.   A.   C 64 

Savage.  J.   P 112-14,122 

Schake,   Charles    631 

Schierlman.  Herman  J 639 

Scholl.  Father    105 

Scott.   A.    L 71-2,266 

Scott,  Eda   20 

Scott,   Frank   C 44 

Scott.  Capt.  H.  A..  .77, 107, 192,  238,  267 
Scott,  J.   L 57,95. 


OUY 


F    MCJNTGOMKRY  COUNTY,  KANSAS. 


849 


I'AGK. 

Scott,  James  H 35S 

Scott,  Lewis    112-17 

Scudder,  John  M r,7, 

60,115,119,173,192,238 

Sejman,  Carey   38-9 

Seltzer.  Henry  W 672 

Sewell.  J.  B 73 

Seacat,  Dr.  Geo.   M 150,  700 

Sewell,  Frank  B 617 

Sewell,  Joseph  G 330 

Sewell,   Wm.   C 627 

Selby,  Robert  N 607 

Shadley,   Lafayette    64-6 

Shaffer,  R.  M 816 

Shank,   Daniel    566 

Shannon,    Osborn    94,  192.  229 

Share,  J.  T S2 

Sharpless,  John   S3 

Shaw    Bros 115 

Shaw,  G.  B 150 

Sheffield,  John   P 481 

Sheesley,  Henry    106 

Shepard.  W.  H 35-6 

Shewalter,  M.   C 192,243 

Shoemaker,  Philip    105 

Shoopman.   Geo.   W 456 

Showalter,  John  W 192,239 

Shulthis,   Albert   W 489 

Shumaker,   Jacob    777 

Sickafoose,  Michael   192.  239 

Sickels,   Thos.   N 42-5,493 

Sickels,  Walter  S 45 

Sicks,  Jacob   315 

Simpson,  James    60 

Simpson.   J.   W 69.70 

Skidmore.  Judge  A.  R 30,  73-6 

Skinner,    E.    B 73-5-6,140,708 


Ski 


Fred 


553 


Slater.  Isaac  0 449 

Slaybaugh.   Jas.    C 584 

Sloan.  Wm.  H 293 

Slocum,  A.  R ''4 

Slosson's  Drug  Store 37-9 


PAGE. 
90,192,240 


Smart,  O.   P 

Smith,   Berryman    137 

Smith,  Chas.  K 38 

Smith.  Geo.   B 261 

Smith,   Rev.   J.   A 45 

Smith,   J.   H 137 

Smith.  Jasepr  N 137 

Smith,  J.  Hardy 664 

Smith,  M.  V 332 

Smith,   O.    M 137-8 

Smith,  Wm.  N 71-2,572 

Smith,   S.   A 577 

Smyth.   Prentice    627 

>  Snell,  Daniel  B 512 

Snelling,  G.  R 77,192,240 

Snow,  Geo.  C 9 

Snyder,   J.   K 57 

Soule,   Martin   B..   77,150,192,243,486 

Southard,  Whig   143 

Sowash,  John  H^ 

Sparks,   J.    A 20 

Spencer.  S.  F 192,240 

Squires,    S.    B 64,75-6,390 

Stahl,    M.    S 64 

Standard    Oil    Co 51-3 

Stanford,  Thos.  H...   73-6.181.192,241 

Stark,  Chas.  M 479 

Starkey.  Daniel   268 

Stephens.    M.   L 29.31-2,75,370 

Stephenson.   L.    T 56-7-S, 

86-9,  94-6,  104,  164-7, 192,  241 

Stevens.  Dr.  T.  A 140,629 

Stevenson,   Joel   A 471 

Stewart,  A.  A 44,60,66-8 

Stewart.    Dr 121 

Stewart.   James   H 320 

Stewart.   Joseph    192.242 

Stewart.   J.   T 72-3 

Stich.    Adolph    C 98,104-9,283 

Stich,   Carl    105 

St.   John,   John   P 64-6-S 

Stinson,  J.   E 45 


850 


[ISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY.   KANSAS. 


I'MiV.. 

Stone,  Capt.  J.  E 59, 

G2.  1,38.  140,  170,  302 

Straub.  Thos.  J 78,  436 

Strecker,    Ignatius    40ft 

Strike  Ax    10 

Stubbleffeld.   E.    E 779 

Sturgis,  Wm   9 

Sturman.  John    n7-lS-19-'20 

Sturtevant.   Ira   .1 499 

Sullivan  &  Levan 45 

Summer,   J.   A 138 

Surber.  Dr.  C.  C 153,  475 

Surface,   P.   M 718 

Suytlham,  E;l   121 

Swallow.   Dr S8 

Swarbourg,  John   114 

Swatzell,   Philip   L 192.243 

Swatzell.  J.   P 143 

Sweeney,  192,  242 

Sylvester.   \V.    0 58.85,192,253 

Tallman.   G.   J 128 

Tanquarry,    Drs 183 

Tasker,   Horatio    541 

Taylor,  Dr.  A.  M 137,  415 

Taylor.   P.   E 75-7.727 

Taylor.   N.    C 9 

Taylor.  W.   P 192.  243 

Thomas.  John  C 484 

Thomas.  Mayo    77-8.  188. 192.  243 

Thomas,  Seneca  B 79G 

Thompson,   C.   C 146,193.243 

Thompson,  Geo.  B 71 

Thompson.  Jack    112 

Thompson,  J.  M 192.  243 

Thorpe,  N.  B 146.151 

Thrall,   Dr 94 

Tibbils.   W.    H 192,244 

Tillman,    S 71 

Totltl,   Chas 77 

Todd.   E.   P 520 

Tonkinson.  Joseph    102 

Towell.    Ira   N 695 

Trask.   E.   R 43.86 


v.Uiv:. 

Tregemba,   T.   E 792 

Trible,   E.   J 345 

Trouvelle,   T.    P 91-4 

Truby.  John    394 

Truby.    Marvin    L 393 

Truman.   T.    C 723 

Truskett.   H.    A 271 

Triskett.  T.   W 77 

Tuck.  George   129 

Tucker.   S.   H 659 

Tulley.   Mark    71 

Turner,  Ed.  A 832 

Turner,  W.  F. 192,  244 

Turner    &    Otis 99 

Twiss,    John    A 112,117,118,119 

Tyler,  Wm.  W 830 

Uitts,  Alfred  J 424 

Umbenhauer,    Samuel    102 

Underbill.  J.  B 103-6 

Valiet,    Col 143 

Vance.  David    471 

Vanderpool,  Dr.  W.  D 764 

Vanderslice,    H 91 

VanDyne,  Jacob  L 800 

VanGundy,  Edward   ..   45.65,185-7.192 

Vasser.    "Old    Man" 113 

Vedder.  John  46 

Veeder.  N.  P 72-6-8 

Vore.   Lewis   H 619 

Wade.   R.   A 192.245 

Wade,   Samuel   H 621 

Wag.gnner,    Geo.   W 104,748 

>  Wagner,  John  E 625 

Wagner,  M.  0 192,  246 

Wagstaff,  Thos.   E 192,  245 

Waldschmldt,  Alex  87 

Wallace,  I.  B 13,68,70 

Wallace,  W.  P 729 

Wallick,   John    804 

Walker,  Rev.  P.  L 113 

Walker,  R.  L 55 

Walker,   L.    A 62,101-2 

Walker,  John  W 595 


IIISI'OUV    (IF    .\I().\T(i() 
I'AGE. 

Walker,   Miss   Mary H8 

Warner,   Will    H 44 

Warner,  Geo.  W 192.  246 

Warner.  Thos.  .1 354 

Wassam,   Dan    102 

Waters,   L.   C 192,246 

Waters,   H.    M 93 

Watisanka    10 

Watt.  Guy  1 108 

Watts.  John  R 562 

Watkins.    W.    H 44. 

58.89,92,128,192,246 

Waud,   Edward   J... 567 

Way.  Earnest  A 65-6-7 

Way.  J.  S 67 

Weaver.  Gen.  J.  B 65 

Weaver.  P.   W 514 

Weaverling.   W.   G 46 

Webb,   H.  G 128 

Webb,  Wm.   C 165-6-7 

Webster,  E.  B 339 

Wei!ep,  Representative 27 

Wells   Bros 37 

West.   John   N 58.  137 

Weston,   Samuel    192.  246 

Whelan.   Thomas    145 

Whelchel.   Wm.    D 66.S 

>  Wheeler,  C.  C SI 

AWheeler,  E.  M 81,  550 

'Wheeler,  Geo.  R 81 

Wheeler,  Peter    122 

Whistler,    Thos 380 

Whistler,   John   0 77-S.  381 

White.   Charles    57-8-9, 167 

White,  Eugene  B 11 

White  Hair  9 

Whitman,  Geo.  H 357 

Wier.   S.   A 94 

Wiggins.   S.   T 192,246 

Wisden,    F '. 658 

Witt,    Mr 15 

Willis.  A.  D 192.247 

Willis,   Frank    ...   58.  60.  170.  184-7,  192 


•;KY    f'OlNTY,   KA.NS.\S.  85I 

I'AGE. 

Willis.  J.  W 150 

Wilson,   Albert   L 146,193,247 

Wilson,  E.  E 25, 

64-6-7,83-6-9,90-1-2-3,103,111,256 

Wilson,  James  M 746 

Wilcox,   J.   H 76 

Wilkins,  W.  J 62 

Williams,  Will   108 

Wingard,  John   E 539 

Wingate.  G.   W 77 

Winters.   L.   D 77,  325 

Winters,   E.   B 608 

Wiltse,  D.  W 337 

Wiltse,   Harry    138 

Witham.  Martha   150 

Wine,  J.  J 757 

Wint.   Nathan   S 411 

Wise.   Charles    88 

Wise.  Joseph    14o 

Wise.   J.    F 738 

Wortman.   W.   E 47.143,797 

Wortman.   J.   G 798 

Wood.    Millard    P ' 68,70 

Wood,  William  B 310 

Woodrow,   J.   C 89 

Woodring,    H 532 

Woodruff,   J.    C 137 

Woods.  Mrs.   Eliza 13.  14 

Woodson,  Daniel   59 

Wooldridge.    Wm.    R 720 

Wooley  ( P.  P.  Cndt ) 76 

Wright.   C.   0 147 

Wright  &  Kirby 123 

Wright.  Greenberry   193,  247 

Wright.   M.   D 75,141-3,276 

Wright,   R.   W 83-6-9 

Wright,  William    77S 

W.vcoiT,   C.   H 57,114,193,247 

Wylie,  J,  A 66,78 

Wyohake    10 

Yates,  Capt.  G.  W 9 

Yeager,  A.   B 715 

York,   A,   M...   24-6,42,60-3,93,193,247 


S52  HISTORY   OF    MONTGOMERY   COUNTY,   KANSAS. 

PAGE.  PAGE. 

York.  Dr.  Wm 24  Zacher.  Conrad  L 524 

Yoe.   Charles    20.  42,  400  Zaugg,   B 295 

Yoe,    W.    T 42,  101,  311  Zenor.  W.  S 193.  249 

Young.  H.  W.    27.42-5.74,93,100-1,807  Ziegler.    J.    B 69,70.180,193,249 

Young,   Samuel    SO  Ziegler.  Wra  E .      ...   72-3, 188,  193,  248 

Younger,  Adaline  Lee 33 


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