Cloud County
KSGenWeb
JOHN EBERHARDT.
The subject of this sketch is John Eberhardt, a farmer and
stockman of Lyon township and a native of Germany, born near
Frankfort-on-the-Rhine in 1834. He had not yet attained his majority when he
touched the soil of the Western Hemisphere in 1848, and settled in Washington
county, Wisconsin. His father was Valentine Eberhardt, a thrifty German farmer.
He emigrated from Wisconsin to Kansas in 1874, and bought a farm adjacent to the
city of Salina, where he died in 1890. Mr. Eberhardt's mother was Anna Maria
Steele; she died when our subject - their only child was a small lad. His father
then married Catherine Artz, a half-sister of his first wife. To them were born
six children, five sons and one daughter, four of whom are living.
Mr.
Eberhardt removed from Wisconsin to Illinois, and at the call for volunteers he
enlisted in Company H, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, under Captain Hooker and General
Stone. They were most actively engaged in Virginia. He served three years and
during that period was under fire fifty-four times. Mr. Eberhardt was in the
hospital for one year, suffering from an accident occasioned by his horse
falling while crossing a creek near Alexandria, Virginia, and disabling him; in
fact, he has never fully recovered from the effects; has been a physical wreck
since the war and at times suffers intensely. Receives a pension of but eight
dollars per month. He is entirely deaf on the right side from a blank cartridge
fired against his ear by an Irishman.
Mr. Eberhardt emigrated to Iowa in
1868, and from there to Kansas in 1873, where he took up a homestead and later
traded for the place he now lives on. Mr. Eberhardt is a horticulturist and has
one of the finest peach orchards in the county, and a fine bearing apple orchard
of two hundred trees. His farm consists of one hundred and sixty acres and is
under a high state of improvement. The beautiful wooded little stream, Chris
creek, runs through his place.
Mr. Eberhardt was married in 1857 to
Eveline McHorn, and in 1867 to Miss Mary Ann Surgeon. By this second marriage
there are five boys and two girls: Frank C., a farmer of Bourbon county, Kansas;
Albert, a farmer of Lyon township; Valentine, Grant and John H. are interested
in the farm and stock at home; Lizzie, the widow of Clint Cossell, and Leola
May, aged fourteen.
Mr. Eberhardt is a man esteemed for his worth and
strict integrity, being possessed of many worthy traits of character, he has a
large circle of ardent friends.
MRS. HILDA ELFSTROM.
The
subject of this sketch is Mrs. Hilda Elfstrom, of Arlon township, whose
experiences in life are marked by accident and coincidence, but she has gathered
up the scattered threads of destiny and woven them into a beautiful combination.
The woof of the busy shuttle in the loom of life is not always smooth and fine,
or rose-colored in its line. "Mistakes she made not few, yet wove perchance as
best she knew."
Mrs. Elfstrom is the widow of Gustaf Elfstrom, who came
to Kansas in 1869, and settled on a homestead, their present farm in Arlon
township. Mr. Elfstrom was born in the central part of Sweden in 1840. His
original name was Alonson. His father died when he was a youth and his mother
married a man by the name of Elfstrom. According to an established rule of that
country a student whose name ended in "son" could not be admitted, consequently
when Gustaf Alonson entered the Lund University, where he graduated at the age
of nineteen years, he adopted his step-father's name. He has two half-brothers,
one of whom is very wealthy, being proprietor of a drug store in Stockholm,
valued at eighty thousand dollars. The other brother lives on the old estate, in
Sweden.
Mr. Elfstrom began his career as first mate on an American vessel
and for several years following was a seafaring man. He was in New Orleans when
the south seceded and was filled with a desire to enter the army, but Captain
Waite fell ill and Mr. Elfstrom, at Captain Waite's earnest solicitation and
offer of a lucrative salary, became commander of the latter's vessel, remaining
in that capacity for three years, sailing from Calcutta to New Orleans. His life
at sea was an eventful one and during the ten years thus passed he experienced
two thrilling ship wrecks. While on the high seas enroute from Calcutta to
Australia they came in contact with a pirate vessel and at once raised the
American stars and stripes, while almost simultaneously the robbers hoisted the
black flag, and both ships prepared to make ready for warfare; but the
plunderers' force was inferior and they withdrew. Mr. Elfstrom's vessel carried
cargoes to Melbourne, Australia, and while in the city he and some friends went
out with a guide who conducted them into the midst of a band of brigands. Mr.
Elfstrom was a linguist and spoke Italian and French and several other languages
fluently, and in this way discovered the plot, revealed the scheme to his
comrades, overpowered the freebooters and made their escape.
Mr. Elfstrom
finally grew tired of adventures at sea. He had read in the papers and various
other literature that was scattered broadcast over the land, of the fertile
fields of America, and more especially of the new state of Kansas, and of the
productiveness of her vast acres that could be secured for a mere pittance - a
land of promise where things grew without cultivation. With these alluring
prospects he gave up his life on the "briny deep" and sought a home in the far,
far west. - About the same time Mrs. Elfstrom's father decided to build a home
for himself and family in, the far-famed western country, and the two men met in
Junction City, the destination of many home seekers at that time.
In
company with a guide, the tourists who were destined to later become mutually
interested, journeyed together looking over the country in quest of homesteads,
and upon arriving in Arion township they found their goal, the end of their
final purpose. Mr. Elfstrom secured the homestead where his family now live and
his wife's father, Carl John Reymers, filed on land four miles further north.
Mrs. Elfstrom did not come with her father's family to their new home, but
remained at Fort Riley in the family of Colonel Hamilton, that she might learn
to speak the English language. Her father died the following autumn, September
15, 1869. A letter sent to Mrs. Elfstrom, apprising her of her father's death
did not reach her for two weeks, but Colonel Hamilton sent her home under an
escort of six soldiers and a sergeant. Soon afterward Colonel Hamilton was
ordered by President Grant to change his quarters to Jefferson Barracks, St.
Louis, and Mrs. Elfstrom accompanied them, and through this association she
gained an English education. Mrs. Elfstrom's place of nativity is Stockholm,
Sweden, where she was educated in a private school and under a governess in her
father's home. The Reymers were of German origin. Her great-grandfather settled
in Sweden, where he died, leaving a large estate which became involved in
litigation and was lost to her father, who was an intelligent and well educated
man. He was an extensive farmer in Sweden and operated a brickyard and a
tannery. She has two brothers who reside at Grant's Pass, Oregon, and are
prosperous men - Napoleon, a fruit grower and shipper, and Victor, a gardener.
Mr. and Mrs. Elfstrom were married in Clyde, Kansas, in 1870, editor J.B.
Rupe performing the ceremony. Their early married life was spent in a log house,
but they had some finance and were comfortable, happy and sanguine of the future
bringing them merited returns. Owing to the grasshoppers, the drouth and the
high price of provisions, they saw their means vanish like snow under the rays
of a warm sun, and like all the settlers of that period, they were reduced to
very economical living, but by constant and assiduous labor, coupled with frugal
domestic management, they had acquired a comfortable home, when, in 1880, the
husband and father, in the prime of his full manhood was cut down by the "grim
reaper."
Mr. Elfstrom was a powerful man and his love for sport
frequently induced him to compete with his comrades and friends in a test of
strength. On the fatal occasion which caused his death, several members of a
threshing crew who were at a neighbors, engaged in pulling "hand-holds" and Mr.
Elfstrom was matched against Julius A. Belo, another man of great strength. The
strain of this test produced the rupturing of a blood vessel and he died as a
result. Mr. Elfstrom was a man of more than ordinary intelligence, a rare
conversationalist, spoke several different tongues, and having had early
educational advantages, was a fine scholar, and through the knowledge gained by
extensive travel in various parts of the world he possessed a broad fund of
general knowledge.
Mrs. Elfstrom kept her little brood together, and
although she met with many reverses, has been rewarded with prosperity. In 1883
they erected a large stone residence, one of the best in the vicinity, which was
destroyed by fire the following year. With the assistance of neighbors and kind
friends they built a small frame building. There were discouragements, but her
boys were growing strong each day and the school of industry in which they were
reared made it possible for them to manage the farm work early in life and as
they grew to manhood, better days dawned until now they occupy one of the most
beautiful country homes in the community. The sons are practical farmers and
stockmen and are adding other lands to the homestead. Evar, the eldest son,
bought eighty acres adjoining in 1897, and in 1901 he purchased one hundred and
sixty acres near Maceyville. Harold, the second son, owns a quarter section in
the same locality. The brothers also rent land and are extensive wheat growers,
having on an average two hundred and sixty acres. They have made their money
raising wheat, cattle and hogs. Besides the two sons mentioned, there is a
third, Emile, who, like his brothers, is an industrious young farmer. The
daughters, four in number, are prepossessing and refined young women. Annie is
married to James Johnson, and they are the parents of three children, Ralph,
Hilda and an infant. Olga is the wife of Frank Moore, by whom she has had two
little daughters, Allie and Myrtle. Florence is the wife of Arthur Spicer; she
was a student of the Concordia High school one year. Alice, the youngest
daughter, is unmarried and lives at home. The children have been educated
principally in district No. 17. Thomas Malone was the first teacher of this
district and taught the term preparatory to drawing the state fund and was paid
in pork, flour, sorghum and sundry other articles. All three of the sons-in-law
are farmers of Arlon township. The Elfstrom boys are all Republicans of staunch
tendencies and are sober, honest and trustworthy young men who will make life a
success.
Mrs. Elfstrom is not a woman given to extravagant expenditure,
but her home is one of comfort and suggests a peaceful, happy abode. Personally
she is gifted with a bright intellect and is a woman of education and
accomplishment.
CHRISTIAN H. ELNIFF.
It has been said
biography yields to to other subject in point of interest and profit. Especially
is this true of the foreign element who have progressed along the various lines
of business since seeking homes in America. Many of them have gained wealth and
position by taking advantage of the opportunities afforded in the new world.
The subject of this sketch has adapted himself to the methods and customs of
the American people, and is one of them in spirit, as well as by adoption. Mr.
Elniff is a native of Denmark, born in Schleswig, in 1862. Had he been born two
years later, would have been a German subject, and, like hundreds of Danes, the
Elniffs came to this country rather than take up arms against their native land.
When ten years of age Mr. Elniff, with his father's family, sailed for the
United States, with Kansas as their final destination. They came directly to
Grant township, where they purchased one hundred and sixty acres of Normal
School land now included in the farm owned by Mr. Elniff, he having bought the
interests of the other heirs to the estate prior to his father's death.
Mr. Elniff's parents were Hans Christian and Catherine M. (Maybol) Elniff, both
natives of the Kingdom of Denmark. They owned a small tract of ground in their
native country but the father supported his family principally by daily labor
until coming to Kansas. Mr. Elniff is one of five children; four of whom are
living. John is in architect of superior ability, and resides in Kansas City. He
designed the handsome residence recently erected by O.W. Peterson. Fred H., now
of Denmark, was a resident of Jewell county, just over the line from Cloud
county, for more than a quarter of a century. He sold the farm and original
homestead to Hans Nelson. He is now a retired farmer, with an income that
enables him to live without labor.
Anna, their only sister, has been
twice married. Mr. Erickson died leaving her with several children. She is now
married to J.M. Iverson, and lives in Denmark. Both her former and present
husband were coppersmiths.
Mr. Elniff received a common school education
in his native country but what he has acquired in English, has been gained in a
practical way, for he started upon his career young in life. He bought the
homestead in 1883, receiving a bonded deed, until he had attained his majority.
One hundred and fifty dollars, the sum total of hoarded wage money, was all the
capital Mr. Elniff could command towards the purchase of a three thousand dollar
farm with no improvements other than a dugout. But this was the consideration to
be divided among five heirs. The papers were drawn up in the Danish language by
themselves and nothing was expended in attorney's fees. Provision was made for
the parents in their life time to live on the homestead with the son who
purchased it. It was also stipulated in the contract that a comfortable place be
at once provided, for the father was afflicted with asthma, whereupon Mr. Elniff
immediately erected the residence where he and his family now live, and was one
of the first good dwellings in the neighborhood.
Mr. Elniff's friends
considered him in the light of an inexperienced boy, and predicted a sudden
collapse of his "castles," but he was steadfast in his purpose and did not build
on the sand. He bought the farm on payment and by raising hogs and cattle, never
failed to meet them as they fell due. The father died one year after his son had
bought the homestead, and the mother was deceased in 1896. By industry and
perseverance Mr. Elniff has met with well deserved success on this side of the
Atlantic and stands today one of the most progressive farmers and stock men in
Grant township. His farm consists of four hundred acres, and is a valuable, well
improved estate, equipped with good, substantial buildings.
Mr. Elniff
for the past few years has been growing wheat and alfalfa. The proceeds from the
latter, in 1902, exceeding those of his wheat. He has a field of fifty acres of
alfalfa that yielded largely, and sold for a good round figure. Forty acres of
his farm is pasture, while the remainder is largely bottom land.
In 1885
he erected a barn 18 by 48 feet in dimensions with ten foot posts. In 1901 he
built a basement barn 20 by 44 feet with sixteen foot posts, and in 1900 a
commodious structure that includes a granary, implement shed, corn crib and
wheat bins. The main building is 36 by 44 feet with nine foot posts. Through the
center is a 14 foot driveway. His farm is one of the most complete in the
county.
A reservoir 88 by 88 feet and seven feet in depth is stocked with
German carp. A net drawn through the water will bring up from two to three
hundred fish. The reservoir is fed by water drawn from the well by a "Jumbo"
windmill. The wheel is a ponderous one, and if it were set upon a tower, instead
of so close to the earth, it would be a landmark, such as are seen in Holland,
and other European countries. From this pond of water, an ice house 15 by 17
feet in dimensions and eight feet deep is filled with clean cakes of well stored
ice. Then there is a stone chicken house with plastered walls and a blacksmith
shop equipped for his own convenience.
Mr. Elniff undoubtedly possessed
the attributes necessary to building up a home in a new country, although for
years the resources were not by any means varied nor was there an illusion of
excellent prospects, except in a distant and uncertain future. There were
repeated crop failures, and at one time Mr. Elniff became discouraged with
drought, grasshoppers, and chinch hugs, and in 1889 left Cloud county,
determined on finding a home elsewhere. After looking over the situation further
west he returned within a month fully satisfied, no better place than Cloud
county could be found. He worked very successfully for the Trower Brothers
Commission Company, of Kansas City and St. Joe for sixteen months, but decided
to give his time and attention to his farm and resigned that position.
On
February 28, 1885, Mr. Elniff was united in matrimony with Elena Amelia Ruud, a
daughter of H.A. Ruud, one of the oldest and most highly respected citizens of
Grant township. To Mr. and Mrs. Elniff five children have been born, four of
whom are living: Sophia Catherine, a young girl of sixteen years. The second
daughter is Anna Christina. The third daughter, Martha. Helgelena, is named for
both her maternal grandparents. May, the fourth daughter, is deceased. William
Richard, their only son, is a bright little fellow of three years. Mrs. Elniff
is a gentle woman, devoted to her family and home. Her father left Norway, their
native land, and came to America in 1868. Mr. Ruud had learned the tailor trade
in Christiana and was also night watch in the military service. After coming to
America, he worked on the railroad, doing construction work, and went as far
west as California. Returning to Chicago, he sent for his family and in the
meantime hearing of the new homestead law of Kansas, joined a company of men
going to Junction City, the terminus of the railroad. From this point they
walked over the country, and drifted into Cloud county. Mr. Torneby, who was one
of the company and a bachelor, had a dugout on his claim and offered shelter for
Mr. Ruud and his family. Mr. Ruud then sent for them, and the family accepted
the proffered hospitality until enabled to erect a dugout of their own.
The family at this time consisted of but one child (Mrs. Elniff), the other two
having died of scarlet fever. The remaining five children were born in Kansas.
The Ruuds experienced many hardships and were twice drowned out by the flood.
The first time their home was destroyed, provisions, articles of furniture, and
clothing, floated around on the water. Mr. Ruud rescued his family from drowning
by pulling them through the one window of their dugout. They were visited by a
second disastrous overflow in 1878, compelling the family to flee for their
lives. There were a pair of twin children; Mrs. Ruud taking one of them in her
arms and Mrs. Elniff, carrying the other, waded through water which reached to
their shoulders. Mr. Ruud had been without a team for several years, and when
the flood came upon them Mrs. Ruud risked their own peril to cut the ropes that
lariated a horse and some cattle. Through the shocks of wheat that were floating
all around them these terror stricken women waded to dry land.
Mr. Ruud
secured a yoke of steers and just as he had succeeded in breaking them for use,
one was struck down by a bolt of lightning and instantly killed. He was then
compelled to work for others and take breaking in exchange. Thus he was
handicapped for a considerable period. But the days of adversity passed and he
now owns two hundred and forty acres of land and is in comfortable
circumstances. He is one of the few who live on their original homesteads, many
of them having been swept in by mortgage.
Mr. and Mrs. Ruud have been
unfortunate with their children. Ida, a young girl, just dawning upon womanhood,
died at the age of sixteen years; Alma died at eight years; Lucy, a very
excellent young woman, died at the age of twenty-two; Albert, an exemplary young
man of twenty-six years, died in the autumn of 1902: Anton, the only living
child, except Mrs. Elniff, is unmarried and lives at home.
The subject of
this sketch was a Republican in his early career, but he has developed into a
reformer, and takes much interest in political issues. He has filled several
minor offices, having served as trustee of his township two years, and as member
of the school board. Himself and family are members of the Jewell county
Lutheran church. Mr. Elniff is a public spirited man, and any enterprise for the
benefit of the community receives his staunch support. He is an industrious,
energetic, jolly, wholesouled fellow, who counts his friends by the score, and
is deserving of the success which follows his undertakings. He began with
neither capital nor influence, and, unaided, has forced his way to prosperity.
From a tract of raw land a fine farm, well stocked, and supplied with all the
latest improved machinery, subbstantial buildings, windmills, etc., has
developed. Thus is verified the old adage that "Nothing succeeds like success."
WILLIAM ENGLISH.
William English, one of the early settlers
who experienced pioneer life among the frontiersmen north of Concordia and known
to the people who were in the county at that time, died in Frisco, Utah, in
October, 1885. He had removed there about ten years prior.
HONORABLE SIMEON OLIVER EVERLEY.
S.O. Everley is a progressive farmer and
one of the most successful horticulturists in the country, producing as many
peaches perhaps, as all the township combined. Six miles down the Monongahela
river from the historical city of Morgantown, West Virginia, the seat of the
State University, was where Mr. Everley was born in the month of May, 1846. His
parents were Reason Howard and Leurena (Morris) Everley. His father was of
German and Irish origin and was born near Morgantown. September 15, 1810. His
mother was of Pennsylvania birth. Her parents were early pioneers of that state,
blazed a road, and the lines of their land. They were married in 1835. The
mother died in 1882, after which the father came to Cloud county to live with
his sons, and died March 9, 1887. Reason Howard Everley was a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church for fully half a century and a class leader for
thirty years. His house was the temporary abode of the clergymen. All that is
mortal of this good man lies buried in the quiet little cemetery within the
shadow of Bethel church, Meredith township.
Mr. and Mrs. Reason Everley
were the parents of eleven children, eight of whom are living, R.C. Everley, a
very excellent man, died in Cloud county, January 15, 1888, at the age of
forty-four years, leaving a wife and seven children. He emigrated from Illinois
to Cloud county in 1872. He was a pillar of the Bethel church, superintendent of
the Sunday school, a prominent citizen and a man in the truest sense. He was
greatly missed in church work. He died ten months after his father. S.O. is the
next oldest child. The third son, I.A., is a farmer of Pennsylvania. Alonzo, who
was a successful teacher for eighteen years is now engaged in farming and stock
raising in Meredith township. Malinda, the eldest of the family, is the widow of
Raleigh Waters, who died near Junction City. She and her family are now
residents, of Colorado. Huldah, the deceased wife of Henry Hildebrand, died
leaving four children. Eliza Jane is the deceased wife of the late H.C. Baker, a
hardware merchant and ex-sheriff of Monongalia county, West Virginia. By their
demise five children were made orphans. A.G., is a wealthy farmer and has lived
in Illinois for more than thirty years. He has owned a half section of land near
Salina for twenty years. Simon Elliott, is also an Illinois farmer. Mary E., is
the wife of Benjamin Conn, a farmer near Point Marion, Pennsylvania, in the
vicinity of Mason and Dixon's line. Marion Evans is a farmer near Delphos, has a
finely cultivated tenor voice and is leader of Bethel choir. His wife was Rosa
Lee Johns, a daughter of Frank and Matilda Johns, a prominent Pennsylvania
family.
Mr. Everley's paternal grandfather was a slaveholder, but to
those who desired freedom it was granted at the age of twenty-one years. One day
he gave an old slave a new suit of clothes and his independence. The old darkey
was delighted at his owner's generosity but after wandering around for a few
days he returned glad to forego the franchise granted and spent the remainder of
his days in the household of his former master. The grandfather was a planter,
distiller and horticulturist. Mr. Everley's father inherited the still house and
operated it in his earlier life. At that time he was a Whig and later a
Republican and anti-slavery man. He lived on a public highway and kept an inn.
Often the fugitive slaves would make their flight under the cover of darkness,
traveling all night pursued by their owners and many times his father has sent
teams to carry them safely over Mason and Dixon's line. Our subject well
remembers accompanying them on some of these hasty departures. His father had
independent views and the courage to assert them. Upon one occasion he was
making a speech and the "Golden Circle" crew brought a rope and laid it at his
feet, threatening that if he finished his speech they would hang him. He defied
them and went on with his talk. He was one of two men in his township (Grant)
that voted for Abraham Lincoln.
S.O. Everley received a substantial
education. He was a classmate of and received honors over, I.P. Dolliver, of
Iowa, the noted orator and prospective candidate during the McKinley campaign.
Two years were spent in the Morgantown State University but he was prevented by
illness from finishing the course. He began his career as a school teacher, but
later dug the "dusty diamonds" in the coal fields of Pennsylvania and in 1874
came to Cloud county where a brother had preceded him, and took up a homestead,
his present farm. Their means were limited and they lived in a sod house from
December until June on a timber claim adjoining. Prior to building a dugout on
their own land they lived six weeks under a shelter afforded by a dozen boards.
They existed six years in their dugout but it was one of the most comfortable
dwellings of its kind in the community, with a board floor and roof. In this
humble abode divine services were held. Their first team were oxen, and in the
absence of a wagon they used an old sled summer and winter. In this vehicle,
with a trunk converted into a seat, they visited their neighbors and attended
church. Sometimes the oxen would take a sudden start and over backward its
occupants would go.
Mr. and Mrs. Everley were married on Christmas day,
1872, on her father's farm in Monongalia county, West Virginia. They were
participants in a double wedding, a brother being married the same day. Her
father was Thomas Abraham Haldeman, for fifteen years a carriage maker of
Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He served as justice of the peace there for seven
years. Mrs. Everley was born on "Pleasant Dale Farm," March 4, 1854. She was the
fourth child and the first girl to brighten her parents' home. Her father was an
ordained deacon in the Methodist Episcopal church of Morgantown and held that
office twenty-five years. Prior to that period he was a member of the
Presbyterian church. He was born February 28, 1825, and died at the old home May
2, 1902, in his seventy-seventh year, and was laid to rest four days later. He
was of German origin and one of eleven children. His mother was Siloam Shirer.
Her father was a self-educated man. His parents were poor but he acquired a good
education under many difficulties. Mrs. Everley's mother was Maria Louisa
Baldwin, born in Virginia, November 15, 1829; her father was in the war of 1812.
She was a descendant of "Morgan the Indian fighter," who was her
great-grandfather. In their family was the brave frontiersman's saddle, covered
with Indian skins. A murderous band of savages had committed a number of
dastardly deeds and was awaiting Morgan and his company, to deal death to them
and their families, but the whites escaped and captured the savages instead,
and, perhaps as an example to other marauding bands, skinned them, tanned their
hides, and converted the leather Into various things, among which was the
saddle.
Mrs. Everley is one of a family of six children, five living and
nearly all of an inventive turn of mind. Edward Allen Haldeman, a farmer of
Meredith township, was born October 2, 1848 and is a mechanic by trade. Benjamin
Franklin, born June 12, 1850, is a machinist in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and is
said to be the most proficient in the three cities of Pittsburg, Allegheny and
Birmingham. Among several inventions he has patented a brake car coupler. Josiah
VanKirk, born June 17, 1852, was an Ohio farmer and died March 22, 1879. Laura
Jane, born December 25, 1857, is the wife of Wallace Blackburn, of Chicago,
Illinois. Ella May, born August 1860, is the wife of Grant Jacobs.
Mr.
and Mrs. Everley have a remarkable family. There is an even dozen, six sons and
six daughters and there has never been a death in the family. The eldest child
is Zora Louise, wife of George Casselman (see sketch). Lila Inez is the wife of
C.F. Willers, a farmer and fruit grower and owner of "Cottage Grove Farm" in
Lyon township. They are the parents of one little son, Cecil Clayton. Mary Olive
is a stenographer in the office of Abbey & Ellison, abstract lawyers and mineral
water dealers of Abilene, Kansas. She first graduated in the common branches and
then taught three terms of school in Cloud county and one year in West Virginia.
She graduated from the Allen Commercial College of Abilene and made a record as
a student. She is also possessed of some literary talent. Albert Franklin Golden
is the first son. He graduated in the common branches, attended the Manhattan
Agricultural College in the winter of 1901-2 and has entered upon the avocation
of teaching the public schools. Oliver Vinima and Howard Haldeman both finished
the common school studies and assist with the work on the farm. The younger
children are Laura May, Victor Coil, Loyal Leslie, Marion Lee, Opal Floy and
Merl Gladys.
Mr. Everley is an Abraham Lincoln Republican, but after the
Populist party was organized, he affiliated with them in its conception. His
political career proper began with the organization of the Alliance party. He
served several terms as chairman of the Alliance central committee. In 1890, he
was elected representative for the sixty-second district, serving two terms. The
first year Mr. Frey of Miltonvale, was his opponent; the second year, Ed
Hostetler, then of Jamestown, was his competitor, but was defeated by a majority
of from three to four hundred. Mr. Everley was author of the fee and salary
bills reducing county expenses. He has been justice of the peace of his district
for eight years. While a resident of West Virginia, he was a member of a
military company. Mr. Everley is an active and unselfish worker for every worthy
movement, and as a useful man in the community, enjoys and merits the highest
esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Mr. Everley's farm
consists of three hundred and twenty acres of land. His extensive peach orchard
numbers four or five thousand trees. He also has a large plum orchard and many
other varieties of fruit. The family are earnest workers in the Methodist
Episcopal church and Bethel owns much of its success to the Everley families.
Mrs. Everley is a bright, intelligent woman and possesses in a high degree
the maternal elements that influence her children to become useful men and
women. She is a woman of considerable literary talent. The touching poem which
follows was written by her and dedicated to "The Mothers of Cloud County" whose
sons nobly responded to the call for volunteers during the late Spanish-American
war.
"As we listen for the tidings
From the islands far away,
We often think and ponder
Of the boys so blithe and gay
Who lightened all our burdens,
Who multiplied our joys,
And we pray that God will bless them,
The Cloud county boys.
How our mother hearts ached,
That warm, spring-like day.
As with kisses they left us
So eager for the fray.
And as they left the town,
With all its din and noise,
We prayed that God would keep them,
The Cloud county boys.
We think of them at morning,
As their father plods along,
How willingly they worked
And how cheery was their song!
But when the day is ended,
With its sorrows and its joys,
We pray that God will guard them
The Cloud county boys.
We know they will be brave,
And to their country true,
As they fight for the flag
Of the red, white and blue;
But when the battle rages,
And the result is on the poise,
We will pray, "Our Father spare them,
The Cloud county boys."
And when the war is over,
And our victory complete;
When our hearts beat time
To the coming of their feet;
As they rehearse deeds of valor
Worthy of great applause,
Then will rejoice the mothers
Of the Cloud county boys.
J. S. FAHLSTORM.
J. S. Fahlstrom is one of the pioneers of Cloud County,
where he has had his residence and his principal activities since 1870. Cloud
County was then a wilderness and he has witnessed practically every advancement
made here in the past forty-five years. His individual success calls for more
than passing mention, and few men starting out with only the capital of their
native intelligence and the strength of their hands achieve so much.
Mr.
Fahlstrom was born in Sweden in 1842. He attended schools only a few months
altogether, and his real education was gained in the school of experience, and
he says that he has never graduated from that university and is still a student.
He early began to cherish an ambition to make a success out of his life.
Everything was concentrated and directed toward that end.
The land of
promise appealed to him when a boy in Sweden and he felt that his fortune would
be made if he could come to America, where all men were politically equal and
where there was also equality of opportunity. In 1868 he left Sweden, having
just enough money to carry him to Chicago. From that western city he made his
way into Iowa, and there by hard manual toil was able to accumulate a little
fund necessary for his further advance. All that he heard impressed him strongly
with the possibilities of Kansas and therefore in 1870 he came out to Cloud
County and took up a homestead about four miles north and east of Concordia in
Sibley Township.
In spite of discouragements that came Mr. Fahlstrom made
this land yield its crops season in and season out, and the success that
attended his efforts on a quarter section was sufficient to permit further
investment. In a few years he had acquired an additional 440 acres, and this
brought his land holdings in Cloud County up to 600 acres. Even with that he was
not entirely satisfied, and feeling that Kansas was too small for his dreams of
land conquest, he went westward into the State of Colorado and there bought 800
acres. His Colorado land he rents to tenants. Thus at the present time he has
1,400 acres, a great part of it improved, in cultivation, and worth a vast sum
more than what he paid for it in cash. The entire 1,400 acres represents also
the achievements of his own hands and brain, and he has never had any other help
than what he could give himself. He confined his attention strictly to raising
the best crops of the field and the best grades of livestock. Whatever he does
he believes in doing well, and that he has adhered to this principle in practice
needs no other proof than what has already been stated.
In 1880 Mr.
Fahlstrom married Miss Louise Berggren. They are the parents of three sons: J.
E., S. M., and L. B., all of whom are unmarried as yet and are making worthy
progress toward independent success as farmers. The family are members of the
Lutheran faith.
Source: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, written
and compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical
Society, Topeka. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, copyright 1918; transcribed
1997.
S. V. FAIRCHILD, M. D.
The late Doctor S.V.
Fairchild, one of Miltonvale's most prominent citizens, was born in the state of
New York, June 26, 1853, and died November 26, 1898. Doctor Fairchild received
his medical education early in life and came to Kansas to establish himself in
his chosen profession. He was a hard student, attending medical institutes and
colleges, thus keeping abreast with the times. He was a skillful physician, a
big hearted man, and in sickness or adversity a true friend. His many deeds of
charity and kindness will live of the people of Miltonvale. His many deeds of
charity and kindness will live in the hearts of the people as a monument to his
memory for many years to come.
His funeral was conducted by the Woodmen
Lodge, of which he was a member. The march to the cemetery was led by the
Woodmen on foot, then came the choir and hearse, followed by the Doctor's team
with his lap robe, hat, badge and medicine case. The scene was an impressive and
effective one.
WILLIAM A. FARR, M. D.
Dr. Farr, one of the
leading physicians of Miltonvale, was born in Shelby county Missouri, near
Leonard, in 1871. He is a son of Frederick M. and Frances A. (Turner) Farr.
Doctor Farr's paternal grandfather was Benjamin Farr. He was educated for a
Christian minister, but went to California from his Kentucky home during the
gold excitement, and subsequently to Texas, where he died of yellow fever. The
Turners were an old Virginia family who came to Missouri in an early day and
where Frances Turner was born. Her father was a "Hard Shell" Baptist preacher,
and combined preaching with farming.
Dr. Farr was educated in the country
schools and after ten months in the Kirksville Normal School, he began a career
in the country districts, teaching in winter and farming in summer. In 1895 he
entered the University of Kansas City, continuing his farming operations in
summer to increase his fund for school tuition. He graduated in 1898 and began
the practice of medicine at Clifton, Kansas, where he became associated with
Doctor D.C. Tyler, a, physician of long practice there, remaining five months. A
year subsequently an opening was made at Miltonvale through the death of Doctor
Fairchild, and Doctor Farr located there in 1899. He started in as a young
physician, but is getting his share of the patronage as a general practitioner.
Doctor Farr was married December 27. 1899, to Nellie Sanders, a daughter of
W.C. Sanders, a merchant of Clifton, Kansas, formerly of Ithaca, New York, where
Mrs. Farr was born and lived until fourteen years of age, when her parents came
to Clifton, where her father engaged in the mercantile business. Doctor and Mrs.
Farr have one child, William Frederick, born December 21, 1901. Doctor Farr is a
Democrat, Modern Woodman of America, a member of the order of Brotherhood of
America and of the board of councilmen. He is enjoying a lucrative practice in
Miltonvale, where he has built and made a comfortable home.
J. D. FELL.
The subject of this sketch,
J.D. Fell, came to Concordia about nineteen years ago in the interests of the
Howell Brothers' Lumber Company. In 1881 he removed to Colorado to assume charge
of their yard there. They failed in July of that year and Mr. Fell returned and
accepted the position that he has filled with recognized ability for about a
dozen yearsthe management of the Chicago Lumber Company's Yards at Concordia.
Mr. Fell is a Canadian by birth. When four years old he removed with his
parents to Ogle county, Illinois, where he received a high school education,
alternating his pursuit of knowledge with work on the farm, for his father,
Erastus Fell, was a tiller of the soil.
At the age of nineteen our
subject began his career by working in a lumber yard. He was with a firm in
Greenleaf, Kansas, prior to coming to Concordia. He has practically grown up in
the lumber business and is a valued employe. In social and fraternal orders Mr.
Fell is particularly prominent, having made an enviable record, much to the
delight and approval of his brother co-workers. In less than a year after he was
initiated into the mysteries of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, he was elected
presiding officer and served as outer and inner guard of the grand lodge for two
years. There was no opposition to his further advancement, but Mr. Fell's duties
would not permit of his serving in the capacity of presiding office consequently
he retired in favor of a brother knight. He served one term as master workman of
the Ancient Order of United Workman, three years as master of St John's Lodge
No. 113, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, two years as commander of the
Commandery No. 42, and during both of these years the commandery ranked first in
the state. This honor was awarded them by Inspector E.W. Wellington, their
present official, who ranks among the most proficient in the country, Mr. Fell
now holds the office of grand captain of the guard in the lodge of the Grand
Commandery. His promotion has been rapid, as he has only been a member of the
order about three years. He is also serving at the present time as king, of
Concordia Chapter No. 45, and royal vizier of the Knights of Khorassan of
Concordia. Mr. Fell is also a member of the Order of Elks, Zabud Council No. 4,
Topeka, Kansas, Eastern Star, Woodmen Degree of Honor and Royal Neighbors.
Politically Mr. Fell is a Republican. He was elected a member of the Concordia
board of education on the independent ticket and served one year.
Mr.
Fell was married in 1883 to Miss Laura Mahaffey, of Washington county, Kansas,
but formerly of Ohio. Their family comprises three children: Nina, their only
daughter, who finished a course in the Great Western Business College, is a
stenographer and bookkeeper and is employed in her father's office. Claud and
Ralph are school boys aged fifteen and ten years respectively. Mr. Fell
maintains a modern residence at 521 West Seventh street.
The character of
citizenship that marks the career of Mr. Fell is of the highest type. He is a
polished, kindly gentleman, public-spirited, generous and progressive, the sort
of man that would make friends anywhere.
ASA FORTNEY.
Asa
Fortney, the present clerk of the court of Cloud county, comes from good old
Virginia stock of French origin. The name was formerly spelled Fordney, but
after becoming American citizens the name was changed by dropping the "d" and
anglicized by substituting the "t." The name Fortney is found in nearly every
state of the Union, a considerable number being in the ministry, some are
physicians, others are members of the legal profession, many have been educators
in both public school work and in the higher institutions of learning, some have
been superintendents of public instruction and others statesmen. Mr. Fortney's
grandfather, Daniel Fortney, was a native of France and married into the
Pickenpaugh family, of whom those of Morgantown, Virginia, are a branch. She was
a German woman and taught their children to speak their native tongue. They
emigrated to America in the seventeenth century and settled in Maryland, near
Harpers Ferry, where they bought land and farmed several years. Rumors reached
them of a country in the far west (Virginia), where the buffalo or bison and the
lithe-limbed deer wandered at will. Animated with a desire to visit this remote
region they sold their possessions in Maryland and settled in Virginia in 1795.
They bought land in Preston county, Virginia (now included in Monongalia county,
West Virginia), where they lived until their death. Their sons were Daniel,
Henry, Jacob and John. The sons of Daniel were John, David, William P. and
Barton. The sons of Henry were Hunter, David M., Aquilla and Jacob. The sons of
John were Elisha, Buckner, John H., Caleb and Thomas. The sons of Hunter were
Elisha, George, Aquilla, John and Asa - the subject of this sketch.
Mr.
Fortney received his rudimentary education in the common schools of Virginia,
followed by a two-years' course in the Mount Union College. He spent his earlier
life in educational work and was a very successful teacher. He had just attained
his majority when he came to Kansas in 1877. He came on a sort of prospecting
tour, allured by the desire of obtaining land, and purchased one hundred and
sixty acres, which he rented. Not being pleased with the newness of Kansas, as a
place of residence, he located temporarily in Illinois and taught school for one
year. The following year he bought another quarter section of Kansas land. For a
year he vacillated between the Sunflower state, Illinois and Virginia. But that
indefinable something that draws people back again who ever tarries within her
borders, brought Mr. Fortney to Kansas soil again in 1879. Having given his
attention to ministerial work in the meantime, he supplied the Methodist
Episcopal churches of Seappo and Fairview, and the next year Greenleaf circuit.
He ministered one year at Woodbine, Dickinson county, and since then he has been
engaged in farming and stock raising. He owns three quarter sections of land in
Sibley and Lawrence townships. Mr. Fortney's father was a Whig and one of the
organizers of the Republican party and he has inherited his father's principles.
He was nominated by the Republican party at their convention in 1902 and was
elected with an easy victory - was high man on every batllot.[sic]
Mrs.
Fortney, before her marriage, was Adie McKinney and was reared in the same
Virginia community with her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Fortney are the parents of two
children, a daughter and a son. Elizabeth Ellen is a young lady of eighteen
years, who has not yet finished school. William John is a school boy of sixteen
years. Fraternally Mr. Fortney is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, Concordia Encampment. That Mr. Fortney will prove a capable, efficient
and courteous official is conceded by all who know him. As a citizen he is held
in high esteem and in his home life maintains all the traditions of true
southern hospitality.
WALTER SCOTT FOSTER.
Among the young
men of Concordia who are fitting themselves to succeed in business enterprises
on their own responsibility, as numerous others have done, is Walter Scott
Foster, a trusted employe in the drug store of W.F. Neitzel, a position he has
occupied for three years. Mr. Foster has not always been engaged in this
capacity, but learned the harness trade in Scotland, his native country, and was
in the employ of Thomas Lamay, of Concordia, for two years.
Mr. Foster is
one of nine children born to George and Hannah (New) Foster. The late John New,
one of Clyde's old residents, was an uncle of our subject, having been his
mother's brother. Mr. Foster's father was formerly a druggist and chemist and
owned a drug store in the city of Hull. He was also in the civil service for
about fifteen years as revenue collector, but on account of ill health is
retired from a business career. Mr. Foster has two brothers in Kansas and one in
Missouri, but the other members of the family are in England.
Mr. Foster
was born in Scotland but is of English parentage. When a youth his parents
removed to Yorkshire, England, where they still reside. Socially Mr. Foster is a
member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a member of the Episcopal church
of England. Mr. Foster is an ambitious young man, for whom it is not improbable
the future holds marked success, for he is honorable, trustworthy and capable -
qualities never overlooked in the business world.
CHARLES NEWTON FRANKS.
The subject of this sketch is C.W. Franks, a son of
Jacob Franks. He came to Kansas when five years old; was educated in District No. 8
and the Glasco High School. Mr. Franks is a rising young farmer and stock man, hog
raising is his chief industry. He owns a tract of forty acres with a neat
cottage home and farms a part of his father's land.
He was married in
1898, to Luella Snyder, who is one of the excellent daughters of Captain and
Mrs. Snyder, and was one of Cloud county's popular teachers for more than eight
years. She graduated from the Glasco high school in 1890, and entered upon a
career of teaching at No. 18.
Politically Mr. Franks is a Republican. He
is a member of Glasco lodge, Knights of Pythias. He and his wife are regular
attendants at the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Franks is a member.
JACOB FRANKS.
Jacob Franks is one of the solid men of Solomon
township. He was born December 18, 1841, within a few miles of Portland, which
is the county seat of Jay county, Indiana. His parents were Aaron and Sarah
(First) Franks, who were of Pennsylvania birth and reared in Fayette county.
Aaron Franks was one of eleven children. His paternal grandfather was Jacob
Franks, who came from Germany to Pennsylvania in a very early day and
established the first church in that section of the country near the head waters
of Jacob's creek, from which it takes it name, the Jacob's Evangelical Lutheran
church; the creek was also named for him. He bought a farm and gave it to the
society and they built a church, which was called the "Dutch meeting house," as
the majority of the people were Germans. About fifty years ago this church was
replaced with a brick edifice which is still in good condition.
Mr.
Frank's maternal grandparents were of Dutch origin. His grandfather ran away at
the age of thirteen years without any money, and crossed the water. When he
landed on American soil the ship's captain bound him as an apprentiice to a
cooper for three years that he might pay for his passage across the water. He
served his apprenticeship and continued with his employer four years longer.
Having attained his majority he went to Pennsylvania where he took a tomahawk
right to a piece of land where he lived until his death. He was the father of
thirteen children, one of whom was Sarah First, our subject's mother. Jacob was
a family name with both the Franks and the Firsts.
Aaron Franks and Sarah
First were married and moved westward to Ohio, settling in Licking county, where
three of their family of children were born. Being desirous of securing more and
cheaper land they moved to Indiana where he bought a quarter of timbered
government land which cost $1.25 per acre. Being a new country it was very
unhealthy and the two eldest children died. Aaron Franks was drowned in 1842.
Mrs. Franks, the widow and mother, took her three remaining children and retuned
to Pennsylvania where she became housekeeper for a bachelor brother who proved a
benefactor. Mrs. Franks took care of him during his last illness and was well
repaid for her services. Mr. Franks' mother died in Pennsylvania in 1875 at the
age of seventy-five years.
In 1863, Mr. Franks married Sarah Caldron of
Fayette county, where they both had grown to manhood and womanhood in the same
circle of acquaintance. In the autumn of 1880, twenty-three years ago, they came
to Cloud county and purchased of Reed P. Bracken the quarter section of land
where they now live, four miles northwest of Glasco. Mrs. Franks is of German
origin. Her paternal great-grandfather emigrated from Germany to Fayette county,
in the early settlement of the state of Pennsylvania, and lived there until the
death of himself and wife. Her father was Ellis Caldron, a farmer, who died in
1872. Her mother died in 1892. To Mr. and Mrs. Franks seven children have been
born, five of whom are living. Miles, deceased at the age of thirty-one years,
leaving a wife, Celia (Benson) Franks, and little daughter Edna. He was a farmer
of Solomon township. He died in 1896. Andrew J., a farmer of Solomon township,
whose wife was Fannie Weaver, a daughter of Nicolas Weaver of Solomon township.
They have one child, Audrey Beryl. William, a resident and miner of Goldfield,
Colorado. His wife is Lydia Ulery of Pennsylvania. They have one child, Thelma.
Dora, deceased when an infant. Charles (see sketch), Lester and Bessie are at
home.
Mr. Franks' only sister is Mrs. Peter Miller of Dunkirk, Indiana.
Mr. Franks has improved his farm, built a large stone residence, and in 1899
built a basement barn 32 by 42 by 12 feet in height, and shortly afterward added
one hundred and sixty acres adjoining his land on the south. Most of his farm is
wheat land. Wheat raising is his chief industry and several years has had a
yield of from twenty to thirty bushels per acre. Mr. Franks is a Populist, has
served as township treasurer several times and has been a member of the school
board. The family are members of the Baptist church, Asherville congregation.
SAMUEL P. FRANKS.
One of the early pioneers of the Solomon
valley is S.P. Franks, who came to Washington county, Kansas with E.C. Davidson
in 1869, and the following winter took a homestead in Cloud county, three miles
northwest of the present site of Glasco, where he built a dugout, and as he
dryly remarked "batched with the coyotes and rattle snakes" until he was married
in 1880.
Mr. Franks lived in Ohio, the state of his nativity, until he
was fifteen years of age. He was born on a farm in Franklin county, in 1849. The
Franks are of German extraction and settled among the Pennsylvania Dutch in the
pioneer days of that state. His father, Jacob Franks, moved to Illinois, in
1864, and five years later emigrated to Kansas, where like all the early
settlers, they experienced many hardships.
S.P. Franks has killed
numerous buffalo on the Kansas prairies, bringing down as many as a quarter of a
hundred in one expedition, thus helping to "keep the wolf from the door." In
1875, he was one of the fifty or sixty men who hauled goods sent by the
government for the grasshopper sufferers. He held his homestead and managed to
eke out an existance by doing masonry and stone work which he learned soon after
coming to Kansas. In 1884, he sold his original homestead to E.C. Davidson, and
bought a farm on Third creek, in Solomon township, where he has lived sixteen
years.
Mr. Franks was married, in 1880, to Carrie A. Billingsly who came
with her parents from Iowa to Kansas, in 1876, and settled in Solomon township.
Her father is William Billingsly, now living in Mitchell county. She is one of
eleven children, all of whom but one are living in Kansas.
To Mr. and
Mrs. Franks have been born five children, viz: Gertrude, wife of Augustus
Teasley, a farmer of Solomon township; Amy, Nora, Edith, and Raymond, a little
son of six years. Mr. Franks has considerable fruit on his farm. He has a herd
of about fifty head of native cattle. He still works at his trade and has
assisted in constructing some of the best buildings in the Solomon valley. He is
an honest and industrious man. When asked about his politics he replied "I think
I am, and always will be, a Democrat." He is a member of the Glasco lodge of Odd
Fellows. Mrs. Franks is a member of the Rebekahs.
NICH0LAS M. FRENCH.
N.M. French is one of the early settlers of Grant township,
emigrating to Cloud county in 1873. The name French of English origin, the
great-grandfather and his six brothers having come to America from England and
serving as soldiers in the Revolutionary war. All the Frenches of this country
so far as have been found are descendants of these ancestors. They settled in
Vermont, where the father of our subject was born and lived until twenty years
of age, when the family removed to a point near Buffalo, New York, and one year
later to Canada, where he was united in marriage to Sarah Taylor and reared a
family of five sons and two daughters, viz: Nicholas M., Benjamin D., William
J., Daniel E., Walter S. and Bradford C. The daughters are Martha, wife of David
McCullough, of Grant township, and Mrs. Rosetta Jones, now of Illinois, but
formerly of Cloud county. At one time and for several years the entire family
were residents of Grant and Buffalo townships. David E. returned to Canada and
Walter S. and Bradford C. are in Oklahoma, the former, however, claiming a
residence in Buffalo township. In 1868 the French family removed from Canada to
Illinois and in September, 1871, emigrated to Kansas, where the father died in
1901 at the ripe age of eighty-seven years. The wife and mother survives him at
the advanced age of eighty-two years.
N.M. French located in Livingston
county. Illinois, in 1864. He tried the possibilities of California for two or
three years and various other places. Returning to Illinois he was married to
Caroline Markel, formerly of Ohio, her native state. She was a daughter of John
Markel, who died when she was but eleven years of age. The Markels were of
Pennsylvania Dutch origin, their ancestors being among the William Penn
colonists. Her mother was Jane J. Johnstone, of Ohio, and she died when Mrs.
French was seventeen years of age, leaving four other children, two sons and two
daughters.
Mr. and Mrs. French emigrated to Kansas in 1873. The first
four years their residence consisted of a frame house 12x22 feet in dimensions.
At the end of that period they erected a granary with a basement underneath.
This building was 20x3O, divided into three rooms, where they passed seven years
very comfortably. In 1885 Mr. French erected a handsome and commodious
residence, consisting of fifteen rooms, three halls and two cellars. It is a
modern building with up-to-date conveniences and beautiful surroundings. The
lawn is wide and seeded to blue grass, beautiful flowers bordering the broad
walks.
"Whence comes the beauteous progeny of spring.
They hear a still small voice 'awake,'
And while the lark is on the wing, from dust and darkness break,
Flowers of all hues laugh in the gale."
Mr. and Mrs. French are the parents of five children, who are being reared in the useful
school of industry and integrity that will mark their career through life. There
are no drones in this busy hive. The eldest son, A. Markel, is married and
resides on one of his father's farms, three miles south of the old homestead.
His wife, before her marriage, was Mary Daniel a daughter of Isaac Daniel, of
Grant township. The second son, Fred D.L., lives one mile south and one mile
east. He is married to Etta, a daughter of Alexander McMillan. The death of
their third son just before attaining his majority was a sad blow to Mr. and
Mrs. French. He died in February, 1889. Fay S., the fourth son, assists in the
duties of the farm. Dencie E., the eldest daughter, is an intelligent and
prepossessing, young woman. Osey Gail, a bright little daughter, aged eleven
years. This family of children have all received their education in the home
school district No. 65. with one exception. The eldest son took a law course in
the Lawrence University and was admitted to the bar in Douglas county, Kansas.
His preference for agriculture and an out door life prompted him to practically
give up his profession.
Mr. French owns seven hundred and nineteen acres
of fine land situated in Grant township. It would seem he must have brought with
him to Kansas one of Aladdin's lamps or a fairy wand, as his financial
circumstances were limited to a stock of ambition and an energetic wife who
stood at the helm with her husband through all his undertakings, and to her wise
counsels he owes not a little of his success. Years ago when Mr. French planted
the little slips of cottonwood, box-elders, walnuts and ash, that have since
grown to luxurious proportions, his wife sadly, almost tearfully, said, "I am so
homesick to see a bird or a tree." Her husband cheerfully replied, "These trees
will soon he large enough to climb," but the sad protest came, "I never expect
to stay in Kansas to see those trees large enough for that."
The large
grove that is the envy of many passersby is the result of this planting and
evidences the prophetic vision of Mr. French. Mr. French is one of the most
extensive wheat growers in the county and the highly cultivated farm and fine
improvements demonstrate that the wave of prosperity has rolled his way. He was
one of the first to sow a large acreage and now raises from two to three hundred
acres annually. He does not claim as heavy yields per acre as many wheat growers
and remarked to the writer, "When my wheat reaches seventeen bushels per acre on
an average I consider it good, When it reaches twenty-five bushels exceedingly
good, and when, it gets up to twenty-eight bushels it is a record breaker." In
the year 1897 he threshed between sixty-eight and sixty-nine hundred bushels,
the following year, sixty-five hundred bushels. This was of an excellent
quality, which he marketed at the goodly price of one dollar per bushel. In 1900
his yield amounted to but forty-five hundred bushels; the present season (1902)
he threshed about seventeen hundred bushels, the smallest yield excepting the
total failure of 1895, when he did not cut a bundle. Corn has been a second
consideration, as 1897 was the last planted by him to any extent. He has
forty-five acres of alfalfa, which has yielded heavily and brought good returns.
Mr. French is not a partisan politician, though he voted the Democratic
ticket several years. He is independent in his views and votes for the best man.
He has held various local township offices and is a member of the school board.
He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Jamestown. Mr. and Mrs.
French will in all probability spend the remainder of their days calmly and
contentedly under their own "vine and fig tree," enjoying their beautiful home
and its environments.
GILBERT L. FULLER.
Among the many
prosperous farmers and stockmen of Lyon township is G.L. Fuller. He is all old
settler, coming to Cloud county February 15, 1871, and homesteaded land five
miles southwest of Glasco, section 21 Solomon township. It was high prairie land
as he was not in the county early enough to secure bottom land. There was not a
sod turned, but within a few years he put this land in a high state of
improvement and lived there until one year ago (1900) when he bought the old
Mitchell homestead which had been in the hands of the Fuller family a quarter of
a century.
A brother, Joseph R., first bought the farm which he sold to
his father who died soon afterward. Mr. Fuller sold his homestead in 1900, and
bought out the heirs of his father's estate. He has added general improvements
to the good foundation already laid until he has made a very desirable and
pleasant home. His residence stands on the banks of Chris creek, which runs
through his land. The creek is skirted with timber which makes a charming
background for the red roofed cottage, sheds, etc. Nature could not have
provided a prettier setting for a home. The trees are of good size and In autumn
when nature has touched them with her paint brush they are gorgeous in their
colorings. The residence, an eight-room house, was built in 1883.
Mr.
Fuller has one of the largest basement barns in the township, 30 by 40 feet in
dimensions, 35 feet from basement to top, with shed 16 feet in width, the length
of the barn. He has also a fine apple, peach and plum orchard. He has some of
the best high graded cattle which he has been breeding for several years.
Mr. Fuller is a native of Green county, Illinois, born in 1849. He is a son
of Gilbert F. and Lydia F. (Ross) Fuller. His father was a New Yorker and after
several removals settled in Illinois, where he married Deliah Deneen. To this
marriage two children were born, a daughter who died in infancy and a son,
Josiah Buell, now living in Aspen, Colorado. By the second marriage there were
twelve children, ten of whom are living, eight sons and two daughters. A
brother, S.P., a farmer near Caldwell, Idaho; Joseph, a plumber in Chicago;
Elmer Elsworth, of Aurora, Kansas; Denman, of Kansas City. A brother, J.B.,
served four years in the United States service with the First Missouri Cavalry
of United States Volunteers. The mother lives near Wichita, Kansas, with her
daughter and two sons and where they own a half section of land.
Gilbert
F. Fuller died from a fall. He was carrying some tools into the barn one dark
night, stumbled and fell down an opening left for a stairway. He lived until
sunset the next evening, but did not regain consciousness in the meantime. He
was seventy years of age; was a stone mason, plasterer and carpenter. He was a
highly respected citizen.
G.L. Fuller was married December 13, 1876, to
Alice Newell, a daughter of A. Newell, one of the old timers of the Solomon
Valley. (See sketch). To this worthy couple have been born eight children, six
of whom are living, four sons and two daughters. One child died in infancy and a
son, Gilbert, died at the age of thirteen years; Walter Ross, is twenty-four
years of age, an industrious young man who assists his father on the farm; Clark
Raymond, sixteen years of age, and Mabel, Ralph Cook, Bertha and Wesley, aged
respectively thirteen, nine, six and four years.
LYMAN OTIS FULLER.
Among the old residents of Cloud county, none bear a
more honorable record than L.O. Fuller, who has faithfully discharged every trust
reposed in him and is ranked on the list of Shirley township's foremost
citiens.[sic] In 1870, his vehicle made one of the first wagon tracks south of
where the little station of Ames now stands. His existence in the new settlement
was fraught with many reverses, but his years of toll have brought happy returns
and he is now one of the well-to-do farmers of that locality who are enjoying
the fruits of their successful undertakings. Mr. Fuller is a thoroughly
up-to-date agriculturist and his farm is one of the best improved places between
Clyde and Minneapolis. The handsome residence, substantial and freshly, painted
barns are pleasing features of this old homestead where Mr. Fuller has spent the
better part of his years obtaining these gratifying results and where surrounded
by the environments that materially contribute to make life worth living, he
with his amiable and most estimable wife, will undoubtedly spend the remainder
of their lives.
Mr. Fuller came to Kansas with a capital of seventeen
hundred dollars, including his teams, but spent more than that amount the first
two years. He hauled the material for their first dwelling from Junction City, a
distance of sixty miles, and while this was under course of construction, camped
on the prairie in a tent for two months. Their first house was razed to the
ground but a few days ago. These old landmarks that sheltered the brave pioneers
will soon all have disappeared and while supplanted by the more pretentious
homes, there is a pathos lingering around the ruins of the little box house or
dugout that gave protection and kindly shelter to the homestead settler. About
the time Mr. Fuller filed on his land, other home seekers came into the township
and soon afterward school district No. 29 was organized. The district at that
time contained less than twenty families. The first officers of the district
were L.P. Fuller, director; Edward Cummings, clerk; Dennis Cummings, treasurer.
The first teacher was Annie McCray, now a resident of California. Among the
first settlers in the township were James and William Hays, father and son,
respectively, a daughter, Mrs. Woodward, Dennis and David Cummings, brothers. Of
these first settlers, Mr. Fuller is the only one remaining in the township.
The birthplace of Mr. Fuller is the town of Weatherfield, Wyoming county,
New York, born in 1832. His father, Orren Fuller, was an active and consistent
member of the "Free-Will" Baptist church, and was known over a greater part of
the state of Wisconsin, as Deacon Fuller. He was a poor man and reared a family
of nine children on the proceeds of fifty-seven acres of land; so small a domain
in the state of Kansas would scarcely be designated or dignified by the name of
farm. On this tract of land his father lived for a quarter of a century and
after all those years, sold it for a consideration of seven hundred dollars, and
in May, 1846, emigrated to Wisconsin, where he deeded one hundred and sixty
acres of government land, bought two yoke of oxen, a breaking plow, a cow and a
calf and left the two older sons to break the prairie, build a home and prepare
for the family.
He returned for his wife and the remainder of the family
full of hope for the future, but in the meantime fell in and did not return for
a year. During this interim, the youngest of the two sons was stricken with
remittent fever and died in the thinly settled district of that then new country
among strangers. From that time the father was an invalid and our subject being
the only son remaining at home, the management and responsibility of the farm
and support of the family devolved upon him. When he should have been in school,
circumstances compelled him to work instead, and consequently he received but a
limited education. Deacon Fuller died July 17, 1877, followed by the wife and
mother one year and three months later. Mr. Fuller's mother was of New York
birth, born near the village of Rome. She died October 16, 1878. Mr. Fuller is
the sixth of nine children, but three of whom are living, himself and two
sisters; Mrs. Susan A. Page of Wisconsin, and Mrs. Mary M. Bush of Warrensburg,
Johnson county, Missouri.
On the 4th day of July, 1852, Mr. Fuller was
united in marriage to Miss Permelia Winchell, of Wisconsin. Mrs. Fuller's
parents were Jesse H. and Leah (Lynn) Winchell. Her father was born in the state
of New York, but was a pioneer of Indiana, removing there with his father's
family when a small boy. He served seventeen days in the Black Hawk war and was
among the few surviving veterans of that uprising at the time of his death,
which occurred September 11, 1895. He died in the home of his daughter, where he
had lived fourteen years. Her mother died when Mrs. Fuller was but little over
two years old, leaving two children, herself and a baby sister. By a second
marriage there were nine children. After living in Indiana until he reached the
age of maturity, her father removed to Michigan, where he married and returned
to a point in Indiana, about seventy miles distant. He located and deeded two
hundred and eighty acres of land in Green Lake county (then Marquette),
Wisconsin, and moved to that state in 1846. He subsequently removed to
Minnesota, where the angel of death visited his home the second time, claiming
the wife and mother. He then broke up housekeeping and lived with his children.
Mr. Winchell was a pioneer of four states, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and
Kansas. His sons, Mrs. Fuller's half-brothers, with the exception of one were
all patriots; one was killed in battle and another died in the hospital.
Mr. and Mrs. Fuller have reared a family of eight children, all of whom are
living but one, Judith R., deceased wife of David Cummings, who died November
28, 1893, at the age of thirty-eight years, leaving a husband and eight
children. Their sons are all prosperous and successful farmers. John R. is one
of the prominent residents of Shirley township. Orren is a farmer of Cloud
county. Truman is a resident of Iowa, where he is engaged in farming. Hattie B.
is the wife of W.C. Marshall. Frank J. is a farmer of Shirley township and also
a successful teacher. Elmer O., the youngest son, superintends and manages the
farm and stock raising. He with his estimable wife live in the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Fuller. Mary E., the youngest daughter, is a prepossessing young woman.
With the exception of Frank who attended school in Concordia and Topeka for a
short time, the children have all received their education in the home district.
Mr. Fuller owes his prosperity to diversified farming, stock raising and
within his means. In 1892 he erected their present dwelling, a seven-room
residence. One of his barns is 36 by 66 feet with 12 foot to the eaves, and the
other 40 by 56 feet in dimensions. They are both built for hay overhead and
stock underneath. Mr. Fuller, with his son, has a herd of about fifty head of
graded cattle, but finds there is more money in raising hogs and keeps from
forty to seventy-five head. Several years ago he decided there could be a
fortune obtained in threshing and invested in a machine, selling some young
cattle to help pay seven hundred dollars, the cost of the thresher. The
transaction almost "broke him up in business," and was an experience dearly
purchased. His farm lies on the upland and the wells of this place cost Mr.
Fuller three hundred dollars. He dug one seventy-eight feet and discarded the
effort; at the suggestion of the water-witch, he sunk another well seventy-five
feet distant from the first, where he found sixteen feet of water, an
inexhaustible supply. Notwithstanding the craft of the water-witch, had he gone
down a few feet further he would have been rewarded the first time.
When
Mr. Fuller selected a home back on the rolling prairie, he was asked by James
Clithero, now of Concordia, "how on earth he could expect to make a livelihood
on the bluffs" and further asserted they would starve to death. But our subject
has made a home seven thousand dollars would not buy. It is a well known fact
that fully as large a number of farmers on the upland have as good homes and
surroundings as those on the bottom lands. Mr. Fuller is fond of reciting
incidents of the early settlement and in recalling the royal good times they
had. Their first residence though but 16x20 feet in dimensions, was extended to
the "society" of the neighborhood and entertained a dancing party that numbered
forty guests. The hardships were made lighter by these assemblies so common at
that time and to which all the old settlers refer with pleasant recollections.
During the first months of the Fuller's arrival in Kansas they were constantly
on the alert for Indians and while camped in their tents near their present
home, observed a light which moved at about the same speed a man would while
walking. They watched, wondered, conjectured and finally concluded it was
savages and prepared for defense, but as time passed and no imminent danger or
scalping knife seemed hovering over them they retired for the night. Being
anxious to know the cause for alarm they investigated matters the next morning
and found the supposed red skins were only James Hay who by the friendly glimmer
of a lantern was carrying goods from a wagon to his camp.
Mr. Fuller cast
his first vote for John C. Freemont, and remained the Republican ranks until the
organization of the People's party, believing in their principles he transferred
his faith and affiliated with the Populists. He has held township offices at
different periods and has been a member of the school board almost continuously
for eighteen years. In the latter capacity he is succeeded by his son Elmer, who
is now treasurer of the board. In sentiment Mr. and Mrs. Fuller are Baptists,
but as they are not conveniently near a congregation of that faith they are not
members of any church at present. Mr. Fuller is one of the solid men of his
township, and any plan for the benefit of the community receives his staunch
support.
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