KSGenWeb Digital Library Biographical Sketch of S. W. Myers Brown County, Kansas

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The following transcription is from a 750 page book titled "Genealogical and Biographical Record of North-Eastern Kansas, dated 1900.  These have been diligently transcribed and generously contributed by Penny R. Harrell, please give her a very big Thank You for her hard work!

S. W. Myers is one of the well known citizens of Powhattan township, Brown county, and is also one of the veterans of the Civil War.  He came to Kansas in 1871 and has been a resident of this county since 1892.

Ohio is his native state, his birth having occurred in Sandusky county, on the 3rd of September, 1843, the same year in which President McKinley was born.  His father, Samuel Myers, was a native of Pennsylvania and was of German descent.  Having arrived at years of maturity he married Sarah Lefler, who also was born in the Keystone state and was of German lineage.  They were reared in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and their marriage took place in Wayne county of the latter state.

They became the parents of four sons and six daughters: Catherine; Rebecca; John, who was a soldier in the Civil War; Sarah; Samuel W.; Mary Ellen; Amanda; Hannah; Francis and William.  Of these children John was a soldier in the Civil War.  He served with the Twenty-eighth Iowa Infantry and laid down his life upon the altar of his country. 

In 1855 the family left Ohio, removing westward to Toledo, Iowa, where they were among the first settlers.  In 1870 the parents took up their abode in Smith county, Kansas, near Smith's Center, and there the father died, at the age of seventy-one years.  He was a farmer and carpenter, following both pursuits, and in his political views was a Republican.

His wife passed away at the age of seventy-nine years, and, like her husband, was a consistent and faithful member of the United Brethren Church.  Samuel W. Myers was a lad of twelve years when he accompanied his parents on their removal from Ohio to Iowa.  He was reared among the wild scenes of a pioneer farm and early became familiar with the arduous task of clearing, developing and improving land.

Habits of industry and honesty were instilled among the children of the household and in the common schools of the neighborhood they were made familiar with the elementary branches of English learning.  Experience and observation, however, have largely added to Mr. Myers' knowledge and he is now a well informed man.

Prompted by a spirit of patriotism he responded to the country's call for aid in 1862, enlisting as a member of Company F, of the Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteers, under the command of Captain John Staley and Colonel William E. Miller.  He participated in a number of important engagements, including the battles of Port Gibson, Champion Hills and the siege of Vicksburg.  On the 24th of October, 1863, he was captured by General Dick Taylor's troops and was held at Alexandria for two months, after which he was exchanged.  He once sustained a gunshot wound, but usually was found at his post of duty.

Other engagements in which he participated were those at Sabine Cross Roads, Jackson, Miss., Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek.  Fearlessly he followed the old flag into the thickest of the fights and when the war was over he received an honorable discharge at Savannah, Georgia, on the 31st of July, 1865.  He was paid off at Davenport, Iowa, and then returned to his home in Tama county, where he engaged in farming until 1871.

Mr. Myers was married in Toledo, Iowa, on the 19th of October, 1865, to Miss Emma A. Donalson, who prior to her marriage was a successful teacher.  She was born, reared and educated in the Hawkeye state, her parents being Andrew and Roxanna (Morton) Donalson, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Vermont.  Her parents had eleven children, and two of their sons were soldiers in the Civil War: Irenius, who was a member of the Twenty-fourth Iowa Infantry and is now in Oklahoma; and Tiberius, who belonged to the same regiment and is now living in the state of Washington.

The record of the Donalson family is as follows: Eusebius, who died at the age of sixteen years; Zilpha L.; Irenius; Tiberius; Moletta Louise; Melissa; Mila Ann; Mary Velina; Orson; Marana A. and Watson N.

The parents both died in Tampa county, Iowa, the mother at the age of sixty-three, the father when seventy-five years of age.  He was a farmer by occupation and in politics was a Republican.  He belonged to the Freewill Baptist Church and was a citizen of sterling worth, true to every manly principle.

In the year 1871 Mr. Myers came to Kansas, taking up his residence in Smith county, where he secured a homestead upon which he lived until 1889.  He then removed to Dundy county, Nebraska, where he remained until 1892, when he came to Brown county, Kansas.  Here he has since engaged in farming and his progressive methods and well directed labors have secured to him a comfortable competence.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Myers has been blessed with nine children: Mrs. Elsie Hollaner; Mrs. Effie Hennon; William S.; Mrs. Josephine Faulkender; S. Edwin, who was a member of Company D, Twenty-second Kansas Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish American War and served until honorably discharged, being stationed at Camp Alger and Camp Meade, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Addie Woodward; Mrs. Ella Myers; Harry Jay; and Albert, who died at the age of two years.

Mr. Myers holds membership with the Grand Army of the Republic and takes great delight in the reunions of his old army comrades, in which stories of the camp fire and of field are related.  He is known as a worthy citizen of the community and an enterprising agriculturist, and he and his family are respected by all who know them.

Last update: Friday, July 18, 2003 20:22:20

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