1905 History of Crawford County Kansas

CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS: William Simpson, Neal Humphreys, James Humphreys, William Franklin, Chad Brown, I. K. Brown, J. H. Coonrod, Sam James, J. H. Odom, Jonas Elliott, William Pearson, James Jones, Aaron Jones, Robert Mack, Mr. Shakely, Pascal Moss, H. B. Brown, Captain Rogers, Thomas Emmitt.

In the Spanish War was Frank Hagerman.

ROBERT ADAMS. Settled first on what is known as the Mason place. His two sons, J. Q. Adams and C. Adams, are still living. J. Q. Adams was at one time county surveyor.

MR. HOWARD was an early settler who died several years ago. His widow is still living at Arcadia and is the oldest person in Lincoln. Their son Bluford Howard lives on this farm also.

MR. FRANKLIN was one of the earliest settlers. At his house the Lincoln township election was held for several years. His sons, William and Jerry, were early settlers also. Jerry is dead and William moved to Bartlesville, Indian Territory, where he died.

The Wortleys were not early settlers. They came here in 1880.

WILLIAM STITLER settled in the township about 1867. He was a prosperous farmer, but lost most of his property when he went into the mercantile business in 1884. His oldest son, Harry, is a locomotive engineer in Texas. His daughter Sadie is now Mrs. Pete Fowler, and the other daughter, Mollie, is Mrs. John Hale of this township. Mr. Stitler is now in Oklahoma proving up a claim, commencing at the bottom of the ladder trying to climb.

LEVI HATCH was a soldier in the Sixth Kansas Cavalry. Settled in what is now Lincoln township before the war. His sons, Wesley and Lewis, are dead, and his son John lives on the old homestead. One of his daughters is Mrs. Henry Burden and another Mrs. Lou McGonigle. Mr. Levi Hatch was probate judge of Crawford county. Chad Brown went to his office for his marriage license. Not finding him there, he came on to Judge Hatch's home, where he found the judge, but he said he could not write out a license, and told Chad to have I. K. Brown write one and bring to him to sign. This Chad did, but when he returned to Judge Hatch's house he was gone, and Chad gave up chasing Judge Hatch and went to Ft. Scott for his license.

Old MR. PEARSON was an early settler and was one of five men in Lincoln township who was not a leaguer. He had two sons, William and Riley, who still live in Lincoln township, and two daughters, one of whom is now Mrs. John Smart, the other Mrs. Riley Dalton, both living in this township.

RILEY DALTON was an early settler. In 1866 a man jumped his claim. There was in those days an organization to protect the settlers. I. K. Brown was chairman of this committee. A meeting of this committee was called and a trial held, which decided that Mr. Dalton was the actual settler and the other man was ordered to vacate the claim, which he did. Of Mr. Dalton's children, his sons, Harvey, Sabe, Ben, Philip and Abe, live in Lincoln township and are all prosperous men. His two daughters are married, but do not live in the township.

GIDEON P. COLE settled in the township in 1868. His first wife was a sister of I. K. and Chad Brown. She died in 1870, leaving six children. Of these, Cynthia, with her husband, Leroy Hemenway, moved to Kansas with them and is now living in Liberal, Missouri. Mary, the second daughter, is now Mrs. E. B. Black, and lives at Cato. George E., the oldest son, early became injured so that he has always been crippled. He has held several places of trust, among them county clerk of Crawford county four years and state auditor six years. He now lives in Topeka. Sophronia, the third daughter, taught school several years. She was married to R. T. Grant in 1883. She died in 1899, leaving two daughters who live with their father near Girard. Nettie R., the fourth daughter, also taught school, and when George was elected county clerk, Nettie was his deputy, and a better one Crawford county never had. Irving H., the second son, became crippled also when a small boy. For years he worked in the Girard postoffice, and has been for five years bond clerk in the state auditor's office. In 1871 Mr. Cole married Miss Sarah Brooks of Sherman township, and they have four children. The oldest daughter, E. Grace, teaches school in Kansas City. The other daughter, Gertrude, is now Mrs. H. W. Hudgen of Ft. Scott. The older son, Willis, lives in California, and the youngest son, Ralph, lives at home with his father, near Girard. Mr. Cole brought with him the first piano that was in Crawford county. He kept in 1869 what was known as the Buck-horn tavern, where the stage between Ft. Scott and Girard changed horses. Among the guests at this tavern one night was C. Dana Savers, an attorney whom many old settlers will remember and who is now a great temperance worker in Nebraska, but in those days he was never known to be without his bottle of fire water. While talking in an eloquent way to the other guests, he became excited and rising to make his arguments stronger by gesture threw the bottle of whiskey from his pocket to the stone hearth.

B. C. Redlon was at one time the blacksmith in Cato. In the fall after buying the blacksmith shop he had enough money to pay for half a car load of cattle. He borrowed enough more to pay for the other half of car, and from this start he became a very successful stock-man, buying and selling cattle. At one time he owned in Lincoln and Sherman townships two thousand acres of land. He had two sons, Charley and Lloyd, and one daughter, Anne. Mr. Redlon now lives on a farm near Girard. I. K. Brown says he still has a wrought-iron stove-lid lifter that B. C. Redlon made himself while he was blacksmith at Cato.

WOOLERY COONROD, Sr., was one of the very first settlers in what is now Lincoln township. He settled on Drywood about a mile south of where Cato now stands, about 1856. He had quite a family and he and his wife, who were familiarly known as Old Daddy and Old Mammy, lived together sixty-three years, when he died. His wife followed him about a year later. His children were: Add, John, Franc, Jeff, William B., George, the sons, and Martha, Mary and Emily, the daughters—some of whom live in the township, others have moved away. Add Coonrod died several years ago, leaving a family who now live in the Indian Territory.

JOHN COONROD, Sr., lives on the treaty claim which he bought of the government. He was a member of the Sixth Kansas Home Guards during the Civil war. He is a member of the Christian church and is a strong temperance Democrat. In early days of Kansas Mr. Coonrod enjoyed a hunt with hounds, and he still keeps hounds, and it is a pleasure to him yet to go with his horse and hounds for a chase, bringing home anyway a jackrabbit. His three sons, Woolery, John and Dick, are in partnership in a general store at Drywood and farming, Woolery attending the store and being postmaster of Drywood, and John and Dick running the farm and attending to the stock. Mr. Coonrod's son Hilman is the Cato blacksmith. Callie Coonrod, his oldest daughter, was married in 1884 to Nathan Hutchins, who died in 1894 leaving her five small children, which she has worked nobly to raise and educate. Zona, the second daughter, taught school until her health failed. She and Mrs. Hutchins live together. The youngest daughter, Minnie, married Ora Williams, and lives in Cherryvale. Franc and Jeff Coonrod both live in Texas.

WILLIAM B. COONROD owns the old Coonrod homestead, and married Mrs. Elizabeth Fowler Reynolds. They have four sons and four daughters. Franc, the oldest son, is a prosperous farmer. He was married in 1899 to Miss Jessie Mack. They have two little daughters. Fowler, the second son, is on his own farm, across the line in Bourbon county. His wife was Miss Lizzie Hulbert of Arcadia. They have one little daughter. The oldest daughter, Nora, was married to Olin Kelly in 1900. They live on a farm in Crawford county and have two children, a daughter and a son. The other chilldren, Susie, Tom, George, Florence and Mattie, still live at home. George Coonrod was married to Miss Lucas. They live in the Indian Territory. Martha Coonrod was the wife of Elisha Black, Sr., one of the earliest settlers. Her daughter, Mrs. Conditt, lives in Lamar and, although left a widow years ago, she has given her children all good educations. Her other daughter, Mrs. Hightower, also a widow, lives in Texas. Her only son, E. B. Black, lives in Cato. He is a farmer. He has two children, Lee and Viva. Mary Coonrod was the wife of James Odom, an early settler. They had only one child, John W. Odom, who lives near McCune. Emily Coonrod was married to Henry Gaither and lives in the Indian Territory.

JONAS ELLIOT was one of the early settlers and a soldier the Sixth Kansas Cavalry. He lives about one-half mile east of the Hatch school house.

RUFUS BORING was an early settler and a soldier in the Sixth Kansas Cavalry. Mr. Boring settled on a farm east of where the Garfield school house now stands, later he moved to a farm a mile and a quarter east of the Hatch school house. About two years ago he sold this farm and moved to Englevale. He has now moved to Oklahoma. He has two sons and two daughters. The two sons, Ezekiel and George, are both married and live in Oklahoma. The oldest daughter married Mr. Phillips and lives in Englevale. The youngest daughter, Emma, was married to John Deering in 1904 and lives in Bourbon county.

I. K. BROWN was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, in 1840. He moved to Rockford, Bourbon county, Kansas, in the spring of 1858. Enlisted from there in the Second Kansas Battery in 1862. Was in the war until 1865. Moved to Cato with his parents, Ezekiel and Cornelia Brown, in the fall of 1865. He owns patent No. 1 of the Cherokee Neutral Land. He was married in 1867 to Miss E. Eva Johnson. He was township trustee of Lincoln township two years. He was nominated clerk of district court of Crawford county by the Republican party in 1892. He had six children. Dollie E., the eldest daughter, taught school successfully for several years. She was married to T. L. McWilliams in 1891 and lives in Crawford township on a farm. They have two sons. Owen C., the oldest son, taught school for several years. Won first prize in the Crawford County Oratorical Contest in 1893. He graduated from Ft. Scott Normal School in 1898, and then attended school at Ottawa University. He was married to Miss Louis Gates in 1898 and was ordained into the Baptist ministry at Cato that same year. He graduated from Ottawa in 1902, when he went to Boston to attend the Baptist Seminary at Newton Center. He has preached at a fashionable church every Sunday since he arrived there. He will graduate from the seminary in 1905, after which (in June) he goes to Kansas to accept a call in one of the leading churches of the state. He has one son, Carl Newton. Minnie C., the second daughter, was for several years organist for the church and Sunday school. She was married to Dick Nance in 1896. They have four children and live at Niotaze, Kansas. Nannie G., the third daughter, taught school two years and was married to Albert Farmer, who is a prosperous farmer of this township. They have one little son, Ralph. Chad, the second son, died when he was eight years old. Mary, the youngest daughter, is a promising young lady. She is the present organist for the Sunday school and church at Cato.

CHAD BROWN, son of Ezekiel and Cornelia Brown, was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, in 1843. He, with his parents and brother, moved to Rockford, Kansas, in 1850. He enlisted in the Third Kansas Infantry in 1861. He was also in the Tenth Kansas Infantry. He served over three years in war. He was married in 1867. He owns patent No. 2, Cherokee Neutral Lands. He bought, during the war, from Spencer Reynolds the two claims which he and I. K. Brown now own, and Mr. Reynolds said he might have his daughter Hattie to boot, and later Chad held him to this agreement, as Hattie did not object. They had six children, two of whom, Mollie and Chad, died in infancy. Ezekiel S., the oldest son, was born in 1868. He was married to Lorette Jolliff in 1889. He was a prosperous farmer near Cato for several years, but moved to the Indian Territory six years ago. They have eight children, the oldest of which, Ernest, lives with his grandfather, Chad Brown.

William H., the second son, attended school in Ottawa University, but was married when quite young to Miss Eva Snow, and settled down to farming. They have four children, and live near Hiattville, Kansas.

Nellie, the oldest daughter, was married in 1894 to Jonah Bixler, Jr. When a girl she was organist for the church and Sunday school. They are carrying on a dairy at Bartellsville, Indian Territory. They have four children and are prosperous.

Bertha M., the youngest daughter, taught school successfully a number of years, was church organist some time. She was married to Curt Deering in December, 1899. She never was a strong woman and after a lingering illness she died in the fall of 1903, leaving one daughter Hattie, two years old.