Miss Susannah Bond, the subject of this sketch, settled in the Solomon valley, when it was in its primitive state and is one of the oldest remaining settlers.

Miss Bond is a native of Lawrence county, Indiana, born in 1825. Her parents were John and Alice (Nelms) Bond. Her father was a native of North Carolina and her mother of Georgia. They both died in Orange county, Indiana, her mother in 1854, and her father in 1857.

Miss Bond is the youngest and only living member of a family of fourteen children. She emigrated to Kansas with two brothers and a sister and all lived together. Nathan was deceased December 11, 1871, Sarah M., in 1889, and John N. in 1891. They came to Kansas in 1866, and filed on the land included in her present farm in 1867. The year previous they spent in Dickinson county, and during the Indian uprisings they located in Daviess county, Missouri. In the meantime other parties made an effort to secure her claim and in 1869 she returned, contested her right, and again returned to Missouri.

In 1870 she again came to Kansas, settled on her homestead and has since resided in Cloud county. Miss Bond was here during the first Indian raid, and witnessed some of the results of their depredations - the dead and wounded settlers. She lived in a dugout until her present residence was erected about fifteen years ago. She has experienced the hardships incident to life on the frontier. One-half of her dugout fell in during a heavy rain storm, and her efforts were many times seemingly baffled trying to keep the wolf from the door.

Miss Bond has always taken a great interest in church work and has lived the life of a consistent Christian woman. She has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church during the greater part of her seventy-seven years. Her father was a local Methodist Episcopal preacher. The Methodist Episcopal church of Glasco was organized in 1870, and Miss Bond was the first to unite with the congregation. Mrs. Adrastus Newell, William Abbott, Miss Bond's two brothers, her sister and herself composed the entire membership at the time of organization. Miss Bond lives on the old homestead and a niece, Mrs. D.D. Hannum, and family five with her.