Daniel L. Countryman

DANIEL L. COUNTRYMAN has been a resident of Kansas since September, 1880, has figured in several of the western counties as a successful teacher and is now member of the mercantile firm of Boulware & Countryman of Modoc in Scott County.

Mr. Countryman was born in Jackson County, Michigan, November 12, 1871, and was nine years of age when he came to Kansas with his parents. His father, Daniel Countryman, was born in Ingham County, Michigan, September 30, 1841, and died at Wakeeney, Kansas, March 17, 1910. He was left an orphan when a small child, his father having been a German and his mother an Englishwoman. Daniel Countryman served in the Civil war in the Ninth and Twenty-Eighth Michigan regiments, putting in a little more than three years as a soldier. At the battle of Murfreesburo he became a prisoner but was exchanged after a few days. He married Evelyn Clark, who was born July 27, 1854, and is now living at Wakeeney. Her father, William Clark, came from England and spent his active years as a Michigan farmer.

Daniel L. Countryman on coming to Kansas lived on the homestead taken up by his father near Wakeeney in Trego County, nine miles northeast of Wakeeney. As a boy there he attended the district schools and though his advantages were somewhat limited he qualified as a teacher at the age of twenty years. During the next fifteen years he followed teaching and farming alternately. Most of his work as an educator was done in Trego and Ness counties. For two years he was a member of the examining board under county superintendent J. M. Bistline in Ness County. For two years he had charge of the Utica School, and his home during those years was at Utica, from which point he operated his farm nearby.

After his last term as a teacher Mr. Countryman removed in 1906 to Modoc, Kansas, and engaged in merchandising with Mr. Boulware. The firm of Boulware & Countryman has done much to develop business activities iat[sic] Modoc. On their land south of the Missouri Pacific Railway they have built a store, lumber shed, elevator, coal house and wareroom.

Mr. Countryman served five years on the school board of Modoc and two years as township treasurer, and is now vice president of the Modoc State Bank. In 1914 he was a candidate on the republican ticket for representative to the Legislature, but was defeated. In 1896 Mr. Countryman supported William J. Bryan for president. He was a great admirer of the Nebraska orator and his views on national politics, and he twice supported Mr. Bryan, but since then has cast his ballot for republican national candidates. However, he is absolutely independent in his choice of political candidates and policies. His father having been a Grand Army man Mr. Countryman was at one time affiliated with the Sons of Veterans. Though not a member of any church denomination he takes an active part in both church and Sabbath school at Modoc.

On July 31, 1895, in Ness County, Mr. Countryman married Ada E. Webster, daughter of Reuben C. Webster, Sr. Mrs. Countryman was born in La Fayette County, Missouri, in October, 1872, and has lived in Kansas since 1876. She taught school in Stafford, Ness and Lane counties and also proved up a homestead in Ness County near Utica. She continued teaching for four years after her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Countryman had three children: Lloyd A., now attending high school at Scott City; Merton C.; and Cleora, who died when about three years of age. Mrs. Countryman's father was born in Kentucky in 1843, and though his relatives were southern sympathizers he proved his loyalty to the Union by serving as a soldier in the northern armies. He was a virile and thrifty man in business and agricultural affairs. He died at Scott City April 9, 1918.

During the disastrous prairie fire of 1915 Mr. Countryman was one of the heavy sufferers. The fire destroyed several buildings at Modoc, including Mr. Countryman's new house and all its contents. While this was a heavy blow, the loss only spurred him to greater efforts, and he has since been able to restore himself in the matter of his losses and now has better prospects for success than ever.

Page 2175.