KSGenWeb Digital Library Biographical Sketch of Thomas T. Baxter 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!

Thomas T. Baxter.

One of the well known and prominent citizens of Brown county is Thomas T. Baxter, who located in Mission township in 1871 and has since made his home in this locality.  He was born July 20, 1845, near Carrollton, Caroll county, Ohio, and was one of triplets born unto John and Ellen Baxter.  The three children were given the names of Thomas, Sarah J. and Catherine and all are yet living, are
married and have families of their own.  This is a remarkable instance, as it is seldom that triplets live to grow up.

Sarah J. is now the wife of Monroe Wood, of Kansas City; and Catherine is the wife of Wesley James, of Ohio.  The Baxter family was founded in New England in early colonial days.  John Baxter, the father of our subject, married Miss Ella Moore, a native of Ireland, who was brought by her parents to America when three years of age and was reared and educated in Ohio.  Her father was Henry Moore, who was born in the Emerald Isle, but was of Scotch-Irish descent.

John and Ellen Baxter became the parents of ten children, namely: Mary, deceased wife of W. J. Moore, who was at one time a prominent citizen of Mission township, Brown county, but now resides in Texas; Andrew, who is living in Atchison county; Henry, who entered the Union service as a soldier in the civil war and died at the age of forty years; Thomas T.; Sarah and Catherine, whose history is previously given; Mrs. Maggie Hackney, of Schuyler county, Illinois; Hattie, the wife of D. Dorset, of Sumner county, Kansas; and Belle, the wife of Rev. H. Mayo, a Methodist minister now in Colorado.

In 1854 the family left their Ohio home and removed to Schuyler county, Ill.  The country was then wild, but during their residence of nearly twenty years there many changes occurred, the work of improvement being carried steadily forward.  The land was carefully cultivated and towns dotted the prairies, while all the comforts and industries of civilization were introduced.

Later John Baxter came to Kansas, locating on a farm now owned by our subject, but in 1892 sold that property and removed to Grasshopper township, Atchison county, where he is now living in the enjoyment of good health, although he has reached the age of eighty-three years.  In politics he is a Republican and socially he is a Mason, who zealously upholds the principles of the order.  His wife died in 1897, at the age of eighty-one years.  Both were members of the Methodist Church and people of the highest respectability.

Thomas Baxter was only nine years of age when his parents left the Buckeye state and removed to Schuyler county, Illinois.  There he attended the public schools and was trained to habits of industry and economy, which have proved important factors in his later success.  In 1871 he came to Kansas, locating on a farm of 80 acres, and later he purchased land of his father, so that he is now the owner of a valuable tract of 177 acres, which is pleasantly located about two miles from Willis, five and a half miles from Everest and twelve miles from Hiawatha.

The first land which he purchased was in a primitive condition, but his indefatigable labor soon wrought a great change in its appearance, for its was transformed into highly cultivated fields.  He hauled his first wheat to Atchison for market, but as the country became more thickly settled he had a nearer market for his products.  Among the improvements upon his place is an excellent orchard, containing 150 bearing trees. 

Mr. Baxter was married, in this county, in 1872 to Miss Mary Sharp, a daughter of Joseph Sharp, now of Oklahoma.  Her death occurred in 1880.  Two children were left to mourn her loss: Myrtle, who is now the wife of Lewis Wright, of Brown county; and Earl, a young man of eighteen, who assists his father, in the cultivation of the home farm.

In December, 1885, Mr. Baxter wedded Miss Mary Graham, a successful and popular school teacher of Schuyler county, Illinois, a daughter of D. P. and Martha J. (McCreery) Graham, of Schuyler county.  Three children have been born to their union, Grace J., Ralph Graham and Glenn, but the last named died in infancy.  Mr. Baxter votes with the Republican party and believes firmly in its principles and policy.

His wife is a member of the Methodist Church and with her family attends its services.  In manners he is frank, genial and affable.  His business dealings are honorable and straightforward.  Earnest labor has brought to him success and he is now numbered among the substantial residents of Mission township.

Last update: Friday, July 18, 2003 20:22:21

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