David Smith Goss, a Kansas pioneer, now living retired at Harper, was one of the first settlers of Harper county. He was born July 1, 1854, on a farm in Jackson county, Indiana, and is a son of Giles M. and Neatie (Goss) Goss. The father was a native of North Carolina, and comes from an old North Carolina family of Revolutionary stock. He was born March 21, 1823, a son of Daniel Goss who was born in North Carolina in 1792, where his father was also born in 1754, and served as a major in Washington's army, during the Revolution. Giles M. Goss left his native State, when only a boy of sixteen, and went to Indiana alone. Here he was married in 1842, and followed farming in Indiana until 1866, when he removed to Iowa with his family, locating in Davis county, where he was a successful farmer and stockraiser until 1876. During that year, he came to Kansas with a view of finding a suitable location, in the then new and undeveloped West. He was so favorably impressed with Harper county that he returned to Bloomfield, Iowa, and organized a colony known as the Goss and Glenn colony, which was composed of eleven families from that section of Iowa. The colony came on that year, and founded the town of Harper, a more detailed history of which will be found in another volume of this work. Giles M. Goss took up government land in Harper county, where he was a successful farmer throughout his life. He was active in the early development of the town and county. In politics he was a Republican, but would never accept public office. To Giles M. and Neatie Goss were born ten children, eight of whom lived to maturity: Martha, born in 1842, married Robert Humphrey, and died in 1867, leaving two children; Cyrus L., born in 1844, married Henrietta Whitaker, is now a farmer and stockman, Harper, Kans.; Hettie B., born in 1846, the widow of J. W. Stark, Los Angeles, Calif.; Clark C., born in 1850, married Mattie Kettleman, and is now deceased; David S., the subject of this sketch; Neatie, born in 1856, married Sylvester Walton in 1878, and died April 20, 1907; Lydia, born May 30, 1859, married Howard H. Jackman, and they have three children, Jessie, Reva and Waldo; Cora, born February 14, 1870, married Henry Van Vost. When Harper county was organized the present town of Harper was named Cora, in honor of Cora Goss, but later it was learned that there was already a postoffice in the State of that name, and it was changed to Harper. The wife of Giles M. Goss, and the mother of these children died November 2, 1880, aged fifty-three years, and in 1891, Mr. Goss married Miss Mary Drake. No children were born to this union. Giles M. Goss died October 6, 1893. David Smith Goss, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the public schools of Bloomfield, Iowa, and remained at home until February 1, 1877, when he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Bell Dunlap, a native of Bloomfield, Iowa, born February 19, 1853. She is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (White) Dunlap. Her father was a Pennsylvanian, born March 3, 1811, and died at Bloomfield, Iowa, September 27, 1881. The mother was also a native of the Keystone State, born May 20, 1816, and died at Fairfield, Iowa, July 21, 1898. They were the parents of nine children, as follows: Anson, born April 8, 1837, died in childhood; Mary E., born April 8, 1839, the widow of Evan Morgan and resides at Harper, Kans.; Thomas A., born May 16, 1841 now retired, and resides at Bloomfield, Iowa; Martha Ann, born January 29, 1843, the widow of James Morgan and resides at Harper, Kans.; Jane, born August 9, 1844, married Lee H. Green; Harriet, born February 17, 1847, married James Bloom, and they are both deceased; Adaline, married William Harken, and Eliza Belle the wife of David S. Goss, the subject of this sketch. When David Smith Goss was married, he and his bride made their honeymoon trip in a prairie schooner to Kansas, coming with the Goss-Glenn colony, and were among the first settlers in Harper county. They located on government land, east of the town site of Harper, and lived on this farm until 1885, and bought other land where Mr. Goss was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising until 1912, when he retired, and he and his wife now live in Harper. To Mr. and Mrs. Goss have been born four children: John Ralph, born December 19, 1877, and according to all known records was the first male white child born in Harper county, was married August 11, 1904 to Miss Grace Ungen, and they have five children: Orville, Gordon, Alice Belle, Ralto and Stella; Neatie Elizabeth Goss, born June 24, 1881, married Perry Pearl, October 11, 1911, and they have three children, Emery, Ima and Cleo; Wallace D. Goss, born May 11, 1889, and Clark, born May 11, 1897. The Goss family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and prominent in the community.