Cloud County
KSGenWeb
GEORGE W. MACY.
Among the early farmers who still remain on their
original homestead is G.W. Macy, the venerable landmark and founder of
the little hamlet of Macyville, who traces his lineage back to the
Mayflower. Mr. Macy is a native of North Carolina, born in 1819. He is a
son of Asa and Hannah (Stanley) Macy, both of whom were born on the
Island of Nantucket. The Macys were of Quaker origin and left England
their native land, where they were oppressed, and sought liberty in
America; settling on Nantucket Island. In 1780, they joined a larger
body of Friends who came over from England and settled in North
Carolina, among whom were the Stanleys, his maternal ancestors, who were
also adherents to the Quaker faith.
This family of Stanleys were
a branch of State Superintendent Stanley's and Governor Stanley's
ancestors. Mr. Macy's maternal grandmother was a Worth. The Macy
ancestors for two generations he buried in the ancient Deep River
cemetery of North Carolina.
Mr. Macy retained the Quaker
principles instilled into him from infancy and did not enter the service
of the United States at the breaking out of hostilities in 1861. During
this year he was enroute to Kansas, but owing to the turbulent times
stopped in Indiana. In 1863, he again started for the "Sunflower" state,
but the war was waging fiercely and they were making things "hot" up and
down the Mississippi. When the Macys arrived in Keokuk they met
recruiting officers who declared a willingness to make it safe for them
to travel through the country, and they journeyed overland to Syracuse,
Nebraska, where Mr. Macy procured a homestead and farmed until 1871.
In the meantime he had not given up his longings and intentions of
emigrating to the fair land of Kansas to secure homesteads for his
children, and accordingly disposed of his Nebraska land and on April 24,
1871, ate dinner on the ground he afterwards homesteaded. Mr Macy had
two brothers-in-law who had visited this country in 1858, and their
glowing description of Kansas inspired him with zeal to come. He took a
pre-emption claim which he held for his son, A.N., until he became of
age. His other son, A.F., had attained his majority and secured an
adjoining claim; and a son-in-law, the late John Beesley, located land
in the same locality.
Mr. Macy was married in 1842 to Lydia
Gordon, a native of North Carolina, and a daughter of John Gordon whose
ancestors were from the Highlands of Scotland. The Gordons were also
noncombatants in Revolutionary days and during the Rebellion, for they
were also of the denomination of Friends. Her paternal grandfather was
beaten on the head by the Tories and had three ribs broken, while they
were trying to compel him to enter the ranks of the Revolutionary
service, but he was a Quaker, remaining firm in his faith and refused to
go. John Gordon died in 1846. His wife died in 1844. They lived in North
Carolina all through the war and received harsh treatment from both
sides. Mrs. Macy's parents are both buried in Deep River cemetery.
To Mr. and Mrs. Macy five children have been born, three of whom are
living: Asa Franklin, Alfred Newton and Mary Jane, widow of John
Beesley. Mr. Macy cast his first vote for William Henry Harrison, a
Whig; he has since voted the Republican ticket. He has served as justice
of the peace. He is member of the Society of Friends at North Branch,
just beyond the Jewell county line.
Mrs. Macy who had been his
constant companion through life died in 1881, and Mr. Macy lives with
his children.
Asa F. Macy, the eldest son of G.W. Macy, is a
carpenter, farmer, and stockman, living on his original homestead
adjoining his father's. He was married in 1874, the memorable
grasshopper year, to Clara L. Gilliland. Her father was James Gilliland,
who came to Kansas in 1872, from Missouri, and settled in Republic
county near Wayne, where he died in 1874. Her mother died in 1900. She
had lived with Mrs. Macy more than twenty years.
Mr. and Mrs.
A.F. Macy are the parents of five children, Bert E., who farms with his
father; Mary Edna, wife of U.C. Moore, a farmer one mile east of
Macyville; Avis, wife of George Dildine, a farmer one mile north of
Macyville; and two little sons, Emery and Eeverett. A.F. Macy is a
Republican in politics and was the nominee of his party for commissioner
against Peter Hansen in 1892. He has been clerk of the school board in
district number fifty-one for twenty years and township clerk for three
years. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Alfred N. Macy, the youngest son, owns one hundred and sixty acres
of land on the original town site of Macyville. He was married in 1884,
to Laura Rushton, one of the estimable daughters of Enos Rushton (see
sketch). To this union five children have been born, four of whom are
living: Roy E. (deceased), Irena J., Jessie O., George H. and Oliver H.,
aged fourteen, thirteen, eleven and eight years respectively.
The
Macys, both A.F. and A.N., are progressive, industrious and
representative farmers of the Macyville community.
ALFRED AMOS MANN.
One of the old settlers and representative farmers of
Summit township is A.A. Mann. He is a native of Monroe county, Ohio,
born in 1841. He was raised on a farm, receiving a common school
education, and at the age of twenty-one enlisted in the service of the
United States army, Company C, 116th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in August,
1862. His regiment operated principally in the Shenandoah valley and
wound up at Appomattox. Mr. Mann was mustered in as a corporal and was
detached to drum corps.
He was in the battles of Winchester,
Virginia, June 14, 1863, Piedmont, Virginia, June 5, 1864, Lynchburg,
June 18, 1864, battle of Winchester, September 19, 1864, Fisher Hill,
September 22, 1864, Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864, Ft. Gregg, April 2,
1865, Appomattox, April 9, 1865. Of the fifty-two men in their company,
thirty were killed and wounded in the battle of Piedmont. They were
under the command of General Wildes, who often expressed himself in no
measured tones as to the bravery and efficiency of this regiment and
said it was an honor for any man to be able to say, "I belong to the
116th."
After the war, Mr. Mann returned to Ohio, his native
state where he remained until coming to Kansas in 1872. Mr. Mann was
married in April, 1862, to Nancy O. Coen, who was also a native of
Monroe county, Ohio. They came as far as Solomon City in 1872, and from
there to Cloud county with an ox team and settled on the farm where they
now live, his original homesteaded, and where they have experienced all
the hardships of the early settler.
They first built a log house
with a dirt roof where they lived several years. Mr. Mann relates how at
one time they were without anything to eat except flour and about one
"batch" of that, not even salt, nor grease. Forced to resort to
something Mr. Mann started for an unknown destination in quest of
something to eat and met his sister, who handed him five dollars that
had been sent from their home in Ohio. The providential sending of this
money bridged them over. The first July in Kansas he had no money nor
land broke out; a prairie fire came doing much damage which added to
their hardships.
Mr. Mann is of German origin, his ancestry were
among the early settlers of Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather was sold
to a sea captain to pay his passage to America and to pay the debt
fought in the Revolutionary war. He was wounded in the thigh. They were
a race of farmers who settled in Pennsylvania and later moved to Ohio
where they took up woodland.
Mr. Mann's father was born in Ohio
and was rocked in a cradle made a hollow log. His mother was Phoebe
Strahl, also of Ohio. Mr. Mann is one of nine children, six of whom are
living. A brother, Thomas David, is a prominent farmer of Mitchell
county; Lydia, widow of L.D. Carleton, is a resident of Manhattan,
Hannah E., wife of A.W. Burdur, a farmer of Summit township; Barnett G.,
a farmer and Esther Josephine Finch.
To Mr. and Mrs. Mann eight
children have been born, all of whom are living. George W., a farmer
near Superior, Nebraska. Hiram T., a miner of Sumpter, Oregon. E.A., a
farmer near Vermillion, Kansas. Phoebe E., wife of F.E. Gildersleeve, a
farmer of Summit township. C.J., a farmer near Bloomfield, Oklahoma.
Mary J., wife of H.H. Swaney, a farmer of Summit township, Lydia and
Anson.
Politically Mr. Mann is a Republican; attended to the
duties of trustee of Summit township for two terms. He is a member of
the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons and the Grand Army of the Republic,
No. 173, at Scottsville. The family are members of the Christian church
at West Asher, Mitchell county. The Mann family are talented singers and
an acquisition in that capacity to church work and musical circles. Mr.
Mann has one hundred and eighty acres of land which is principally
adapted to wheat growing, and he has five acres in apple orchard and
other small fruits.
JOHN A. MANN.
An old settler
and progressive farmer of Cloud county is J.A. Mann, a native of Hawkins
county, Tennessee, born in 1842. He is a son of McMinn and Elizabeth L.
(Bradshaw) Mann, both of southern birth. His father was an extensive
planter in Tennessee and Georgia, moving to the latter state when our
subject was a small boy. The Mann ancestry were of Scotch origin,
emigrated to America, settled in Virginia in colonial times, and later
removed to Tennessee. Mr. Mann's paternal grandfather was a soldier in
the War of 1812. J A. Mann is the eldest of a family of ten children,
seven of whom are living, five in Kansas and the others have drifted to
the far west.
Mr. Mann was educated in the subscription schools
of Georgia and in 1819 emigrated with his parents to Illinois, where he
enlisted in the United States army, under Captain Carmichael of Grant's
corps and McClelland's brigade. He served three years, and during that
time participated in the battles of Fort Henry, Shiloh, Fort Donelson
and many other engagements and skirmishes; came out with several bullet
holes in his overcoat, but escaped bodily injury. After the war Mr. Mann
returned to his home in Illinois and in 1866, with his parents and two
other families, emigrated to Kansas. They came overland with six wagons
drawn by ox-teams and were six weeks making the trip. They arrived in
July, the grass had been eaten down by the buffalo and was dry and sear,
the country was new, the settlers far distant from one another and the
prospect was very discouraging. The father's possessions were ten
children and one hundred and fifty dollars in money. Mr. Mann had four
hundred and fifty dollars. They both took up homesteads on Chriss creek,
which takes its name from a man who took up school land at the mouth of
that stream in 1860.
Mr. Mann participated in several buffalo
hunting expeditions. On one of these trips he started November 15, 1866,
and was gone until Christmas, bringing back a wagon load of buffalo meat
for his father's family. They killed sixty cows and brought home the
hind quarters. They also suffered the loss of a yoke of oxen, which cost
one hundred and fifty dollars, from storm and starvation, on this
expedition. On one trip to Chapman creek to mill he was delayed by a
storm for three weeks, during which time the family lived on meat and
hominy, having no flour to make bread. They had made a few improvements
and were just getting in a condition where they could exist when the
Indian troubles began and they were forced to abandon their home. In
1869 they returned and this year an abundant crop was raised. From this
they began to prosper and in 1874 there was not a claim in the country
unoccupied. Mr. Mann's father died in 1884 and his mother in 1889.
Mr. Mann sold his homestead in 1887, moved to Oregon, bought a farm
which he sold one year later, and then returned to Kansas and purchased
a farm three and one-half miles north of Glasco. His farm consists of
two hundred and forty acres. Among other improvements there is a fine
basement barn. His chief industry is wheat and stock raising. Mr. Mann
and his family own a pleasant home in Glasco, where they now reside.
Mr. Mann was married in 1871 to Permelia Snyder, a daughter of
Captain Snyder, of Glasco. She was deceased in 1887, leaving seven
children, five of whom are living, viz: Henry, foreman of a fine horse
ranch near Portland, Oregon; Albert, pilot In the railroad yards in
Kansas City; Lewis farms with his father; William, a farmer, and Hattie,
a Cloud county teacher. Mr. Mann was married in 1888 to Ella, widow of
James Axley, by whom she had two children, Myrtle and William. Mr. and
Mrs. Mann are the parents of two bright little girls, Olive and
Florence. Mr. Mann is a Republican in politics, and a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Grand Army of the Republic.
F. X. MANNA.
One of the most remarkable men of Clyde is
F.X. Manna, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Manna had the sad misfortune
to lose his eyesight when a young man of twenty-six years, while rafting
timbers on a river in the logging camps of Wisconsin. He was struck in
the eye by a file that had been inserted in a stick; caustic was applied
by the oculist who treated him, which destroyed the remaining sight,
rendering him totally blind, not discerning daylight from darkness.
Though deprived of his sight Mr. Manna possesses a keen intuition and
has engaged in almost every enterprise; mercantile, real estate and on
down to "swapping" horses, and seldom gets the worst of a deal. He seems
contented and reconciled to his fate, gets on in the world, and with
these great odds against him is making more of a success in life from a
financial standpoint, than many of his fellow townsmen and friends who
have two good eyes. His income is about ninety dollars per month.
Mr. Manna located in Clyde in 1867, when there were less than a half
dozen buildings in the city. His possessions were less than twenty
dollars. He came with friends, among whom were the Bolanges. He worked
by the day at odd jobs. Later he rented a shanty and started a
confectionery and cigar stand and in that way got his start. He
afterward became associated with Francis Girard and opened a saloon.
They prospered in this business, accumulated rapidly and within three
years they owned three farms. For several years Mr. Manna was interested
in Bull Run ferry, three miles above Clyde, and another on the
Republican, opposite Clyde. He homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres
of land which he sold in 1887 and bought a bottom farm across the
Republican river, one and one-half miles from Clyde, which he still owns
and has repeatedly refused six thousand dollars for. He owns and erected
the building the postoffice is now in, in 1884, at a cost of forty-one
hundred dollars, and before the building was erected he refused
twenty-seven hundred dollars for the lot. He also put up the building
now occupied by Delude Brothers, in 1882, at a cost of about four
thousand dollars. He sold this building at one time and subsequently
with Mr. Rigneir bought it back again, making a margin of about eight
hundred dollars in the deal. He also owns two very desirable cottages in
Clyde.
Mr. Manna is a native of Canada, province of Quebec, born
in 1836. When quite a young man he went to Wisconsin, where he worked in
the pineries until losing his eyesight, as related in the beginning of
this sketch. Mr. Manna has never been married. He has two brothers
living In the state of Washington, a sister in Rhode Island and a
brother in Iowa. He is a member of the Catholic church.
A. R. MARCOTTE.
The success of Dr. Marcotte, a young practitioner
of Clyde, evidences the tendency of the young man to lead in all the
avocations of life. This is less conspicuous among the professions
because less common, perhaps, but the pre-eminence of the young man is
general in a positive degree, even in the province of medicine. Less
than a half century ago none but the snowy heads of the old veterans of
this calling would have been trusted to the administering of physics.
Although only practicing in his profession since June, 1902, Dr.
Marcotte gives promise of becoming one of the leading M.D.s, and already
commands the respect of the medical fraternity. He is a son of Dr. F.L.
Marcotte, a leading physician of Concordia for many years. It was with
his father that young Dr. Marcotte began the study of medicine.
He was born in Concordia in 1879. He was reared and received his early
education in the high school of his native city. He finished a
three-years' classical course in St. Viateur's College of Bourbonnais,
Illinois, and and a four-years' classical course in St. Mary's College.
After having read medicine at different intervals in his father's
office, Dr. Marcotte entered upon a course in the Kansas Medical College
of Topeka, in 1898, and graduated in 1902. The following June he became
associated in the practice of medicine with Dr. W.B. Beach, of Clyde.
Though his career has been brief he has won the confidence and good
will of his patrons and is building up a substantial and lucrative
practice.
Since the above sketch was prepared our subject's
father, Dr. Frederick Louis Marcotte, has been deceased, and Dr. A.R.
Marcotte has removed to Concordia, where he will succeed to his late
father's practice.
Dr. F.L. Marcotte was for many years a leading
physician of Concordia and known to the people of Cloud county since
1879. He received the degree of bachelor of arts from St. Viateur's
College, which is located at Bourbonnais, Illinois, where Dr. Marcotte
was born October 3, 1857. Later he studied medicine and graduated in
1878 from the Northwestern University Medical School of Chicago,
Illinois. After one year in Mateno, Illinois, where he began the
practice of medicine, Dr. Marcotte removed to Concordia. Except four
years spent in California he has practiced medicine there continuously
since 1879, and was one of the most successful physicians of that city.
His untimely death, which occurred in Leavenworth, March 17, 1903, was
universally mourned.
BERTHA A. MARLATT.
In
reviewing the history of Cloud county, no name stands out more
pre-eminently or more conspicuously among the educational workers than
the name of Bertha A. Marlatt, the retiring county superintendent, who
has been associated with the schools of Cloud county since her advent
into the community in August, 1888.
When Miss Marlatt left her
Ohio home, the place of her nativity, and drifted westward, she had
mapped out for herself the career of a teacher, and accordingly began
her first school work in Cloud county. After teaching successfully in
several of the country districts, Miss Marlatt taught a total of four
years In the Glasco schools. She has twice been tendered a position in
the Concordia schools, but was offered a higher salary elsewhere, and
declined for that reason.
Miss Marlatt received her early
education in the district schools of Ohio, and after going through the
High school of New Lisbon, took a two years' course in the Normal school
of Canfiefd, Ohio. In 1898 she was elected to the office of county
superintendent of Cloud county on the Republican ticket, was re-elected
in 1900 and appointed to fill the vacancy from June until May, 1901,
occasioned by changing the beginning of the term of office.
Miss
Marlatt has made an exceptional record in application, never having lost
an hour from indisposition, but at all times and under all circumstances
has been found at her post of duty. She has never missed but one summer
institute since coming to Cloud county, nor a Teachers' Association
within the past eight years. She has been a member of the examining
board for about six years, and also president of the Cloud County
Teachers' Association. In 1901 she was elected secretary of the
thirty-ninth annual Kansas State Teachers' Association that convened in
Topeka, and also had that honor conferred upon her the present year,
1902. On Thanksgiving day, November 27, 1902, fifteen counties were
represented in a teachers' association held at Clay Center, Kansas.
Through the energy of Miss Marlatt, the banner offered for the largest
number of representatives from any one county was carried away by the
fifty-six teachers in attendance from Cloud county. They also secured
the association for the coming year; the first time in the history of
its organization that the banner and the association have been given to
the same county.
The first two years of Miss Marlatt's term in
office she visited almost every school twice, spending nearly a quarter
of a day with each. The last two years, she has given a full one-half
day, with but a few exceptions, and visited a number of them twice.
During the first springtime of her office reign she spent from six to
nine hours daily on the road. The roads were in an unusually bad
condition, and not knowing how to reach the districts conveniently, made
her duties exceedingly arduous. From January 9, 1899, until January 9,
1903, she traveled with horse and buggy a total of ten thousand miles,
which, at an average of five miles, good and bad roads, makes two
thousand hours spent in the buggy.
Miss Marlatt instituted the
district associations now held in various parts of the county, and they
have been quite successful.
Sixteen new school houses have been
erected during her career in office, and in three of them furnaces have
been placed, namely: Districts Nos. 75, 76 and 68. The highest per cent
of attendance that has ever been attained by the schools of Cloud county
was in 1901, very few falling below ninety, and most of them ranging
from ninety to one hundred.
Miss Marlatt is self-educated, paying
her own way through school, and at a time and place when opportunities
were not so great as those offered to young men and women of Cloud
County at the present time. Hence she has not much patience with the
student who says he can't go through school dependent at least partly
upon his own resources. She lived in a berry country where many hands
were given employment. The berries were picked and shipped to various
cities. Miss Marlatt says she never looks upon a "berry patch" without
recalling her childhood days, for in this humble pursuit she earned the
means of educating herself. About this time she conceived the idea of
going west, where the avenues of school work seemed more accessible. To
carry out this plan required money. So, getting her courage together,
she approached a good old Quaker neighbor who was pruning his raspberry
bushes, and asked for the loan of forty dollars, saving she "wanted to
go to Kansas to teach school." The old gentleman looked dubiously upon
her as he replied: "Thee going out there? Thee will get scalped." But he
granted the loan, and a few days later Miss Marlatt found herself in
Concordia with but little more than a dollar of the borrowed fund left
in her purse. She was among strangers, and far from home in the "wild
and wooly west;" but facing the inevitable, she dared not to do
otherwise than succeed, and went to work with that resolution uppermost
in her mind.
The world pays deference to the man or woman who
succeeds in life solely through their own resources and attains
position. This has been accomplished by Miss Marlatt, and is a fine
example to the student struggling for an education. As an official Miss
Marlatt is admirably qualified by natural ability, and this, coupled
with her broad fund of acquired knowledge, has done much in the way of
promoting progressive projects. She is a woman of much strength of
character, possessing a kind and genial disposition. The teachers find
her sympathetic and generous, ever ready to extend to them helpful
suggestions and encouragement when needed. The fact that she, herself,
began at the bottom of the ladder and climbed persistently, but not
without discouragements, has in all probability rendered her more
generous to the rising young teacher that comes under her jurisdiction.
Miss Marlatt's father, William Marlatt, was a Pennsylvanian by
birth, subsequently settling in Ohio, where he died in 1878. Her mother
is of southern birth, having been born in the city of New Orleans, but
came north during the war and located in Ohio. She still lives at the
old home near Columbiana.
Miss Marlatt's sister Ella, who for
several years was a resident of Cloud county, is married and living in
Ogden, Utah. Miss Mary Marlatt, who has been associated with the schools
of Cloud county for five years, and is also a very successful teacher,
is a sister. She is at present engaged in district No. 8. Lawrence
Marlatt, who for five years was in the employ of the Glasco State Bank,
is a brother. He is engaged in the insurance business and resides in
Glasco. Miss Marlatt is an active member of the Christian church, and
the Concordia congregation owes much of its success to her zeal.
EDWARD MARSHALL
The subject of this sketch is Edward
Marshall, now of Barnard, Lincoln county, Kansas, but for years one of
the best known and most highly respected citizens of Cloud county, both
socially and politically. Mr. Marshall is a native of "Merrie England,"
the land that has sent many of her stalwart sons and daughters across
the blue waters of the Atlantic to assist in making this great
commonwealth one of the foremost among the nations of the world.
Mr. Marshall was born 1843, and when a youth of twelve summers emigrated
with his father's family to Nova Scotia, and two years later to
Wisconsin, where he received a common school education, and when but
eighteen years of age responded to the call of his adopted country for
men and enlisted in Company H, First Wisconsin Infantry, serving three
years under the distinguished General Thomas, in Sherman's army. After
he was discharged he returned to Nashville, Tennessee, just as Hood made
an attack on that city, and Mr. Marshall was commissioned captain of a
company in the quartermaster's forces. He remained one year at
Nashville, but finding himself at a disadvantage and unpopular because
of his northern proclivities, he returned to his former Wisconsin home
and bought an interest in a stage line. Four years subsequently he
removed to Dodge Center, Dodge county, Minnesota, where he, with other
interested parties, established a grain, livery and implement business.
During most of this time he served as city marshal. In 1872 he emigrated
to Kansas and located in the unsettled territory now included in Oakland
township, which Mr. Marshall helped to organize in the summer of 1874.
It included thirty-six sections of land, or six square miles. Here Mr.
Marshall took advantage of his homestead right and filed on one hundred
and sixty acres of "Uncle Sam's" broad domain. He did not need to sing
with the poet any more, "No foot of land do I possess, a pilgrim in the
wilderness." Everything had a thrifty appearance and Mr. Marshall wanted
quality rather than quantity, and so did not use his soldier's right and
pre-empt a quarter section. This year was followed by drouth and
grasshoppers and he witnessed the Arcadia transformed into a fruitless
desert and underwent the hardships and discouragements of the average
settler. Entering upon a political career, he left the farm in 1885, but
retained his land until 1898.In 1895 Mr. Marshall was elected to the
office of sheriff of Cloud county on the Republican ticket. The
temperance question was before the people at this election and Mr.
Marshall promised if elected he would close every saloon in Cloud
county. This promise was carried out within four months after he took
his office, the saloon interest being completely routed. He was
re-elected two years later and the joints and saloons under his
jurisdiction suffered severely. In 1898, when he sold his farm, Mr.
Marshall engaged in mercantile pursuits in Concordia. One year later he
removed his stock of goods to Barnard, where, associated with his son
J.C., they are doing a prosperous business. His stock consists of a full
line of merchandise and in connection they handle the Deering goods and
do a large trade in the implement line. They do business under the firm
name of Marshall & Son.
Mr. Marshall was married in Ravenna,
Ohio, in 1868, to Mrs. Elizabeth Hart. To this union three sons and two
daughters were born. The eldest son, J.E., is traveling salesman for a
Topeka paper company; J.A. is editor and publisher of the Jamestown
Optimist; J.C. is associated in business with his father; Ada is
employed as saleslady in the general merchandise store of Scott & Lintz,
of Concordia, and Lida is housekeeper for her father, the mother having
died in 1888. Mrs. Marshall was a member of the late President
Garfield's church at Ravenna. She was a cultured woman and to her
counsels her children doubtless owe much of whatever honor or success
they may attain. Mr. Marshall is a member of the Christian church, while
his children attend the Baptist church.
J. AUSTIN MARSHALL.
The subject of this sketch, J. Austin Marshall, a son
of Edward Marshall (see sketch), is a Kansas product, having been born
in Cloud county, August 1st, 1873. He enjoys the distinction of having
first seen the glimmer of day in a dugout on his father's homestead in
Oakland township, when there was no lumber to be had unless hauled from
Junction City, or other places equally distant.
Mr. Marshall
remained on the farm until he had attained his twentieth year. Aspiring
to newspaper work he entered the printing office of his brother, John
Marshall, then owner and publisher of the Concordia Daylight. Possessing
a somewhat restless spirit, coupled with a desire for adventure and
excitement, the mysteries of hypnotism had an attraction for our
subject, and after serving one year of apprenticeship in his brother's
office, he penetrated the mysterious workings of hypnotism, became an
adept in the science, and toured the states of Kansas and Arkansas in
this vocation. His entertainments called forth many interesting
newspaper comments and his fame as a hypnotist spread far and wide.
After three years of traveling he returned to Concordia, and again
entered the printing office of his brother. Possessing considerable
journalistic talent, he interested some of Concordia's politicians and
prominent citizens, who backed him in a political scheme and through
their influence he purchased the Daylight of Marshall & Jones, which he
ran very successfully, but subsequently consolidated with the Empire. He
later sold his interest to T.A. Sawhill and established the Concordia
Press. Mr. Marshall employed good talent and for several months the
Press was one of the county's leading papers.
Early in 1902 he
became interested in the Jamestown Optimist, relieving the editor, A.B.
Collins, a political aspirant, that he might canvass the county in the
interest of the office which he sought. He continues with the Optimist,
which has a large subscription list and good advertising patronage from
the Jamestown merchants.
In 1900 Mr. Marshall's name was
presented to the Republican county convention for the office of clerk of
the court, but was defeated by four votes. He did not make a canvass of
the county, nor was it announced that he was a candidate until a few
days prior to the holding of the convention. Though not permitted to
become a candidate again in 1902, he took an active part in the
campaign, and did all he could in a personal way, and through the
columns of his paper to promote the success of his party by electing its
candidates.
Mr. Marshall was married in 1896 to Mabel, a daughter
of S.B. Glidden, one of Concordia's old citizens.
Editor Marshall
has recently sold his paper, the Jamestown Optimist, to Mr. Kimmal, a
local photographer of Jamestown.
MOSES MARSHALL.
Of the many changes wrought by "Father-Time" since the advent of Moses
Marshall on the Republican river, near the present town of Ames in 1874,
where he settled on the old Thorp homestead, perhaps none appeal to the
calendar of his busy life more sensibly as a reminder of fleeting years,
than that his seven sons whose future destiny and welfare prompted him
to emigrate to the new western field, but who were too young to take up
land, are now great, stalwart, broad shouldered men, all but two of whom
are surrounded by families. Mr. Marshall was a well-to-do stone mason,
worked in the rolling mills and had accumulated what the early Kansan
considered a fortune. He bought the old Thorp place, paying Mr. Berry,
who then owned it, two thousand dollars. The old cabin, the first house
built on the west side of the Republican river is still standing and is
distinguished as being the most ancient landmark in the county. Mr.
Marshall also bought eighty acres of the Swearinger claim and a year
later, the relinquishment of Pat Mitchell of two hundred and forty
acres, a homestead and timber claim, making a total of four hundred and
eighty acres.
Mr. Marshall is a native of Londonderry, Ireland,
born in 1820, but, looks ten years younger. He has been a man of more
than ordinary strength and his hurculean frame is still erect for the
weight of his eighty-three years. When eighteen years of age he engaged
in many wrestling matches and was the prowess of any man in his
locality. About this time Mr. Marshall became imbued with the idea of
coming to America, and to overcome his father's objections threatened to
join the Queen's Life Guards, which won his parents' unwilling consent,
but he had not been settled in Pennsylvania but a short time ere his
father and the other members of the family followed in his footsteps and
joined him ub the United States of America, where his parents both died
at an advanced age; his father was ninety-seven. Soon after our
subject's marriage to Letitia Criswell, a young woman whose parents were
from Ireland, with Scotch-Irish ancestry, they took a boat for
Minnesota, and pre-empted land where the city of Minneapolis now stands,
but desiring waterpower, he changed his location and went further north
where he could land at $1.25 per acre. The land around the present site
of Minneapolis was $3.60 per acre. In this state all their nine children
(except the youngest) were born. Mr. Marshall has a brother and sister
living in Pennsylvania, both younger than himself, an older brother died
in December, 1902, and a sister that was his senior died in January,
1903. Mrs. Marshall died March 19, 1894, and since her death W.C., the
oldest son, with his family live on the home place.
The seven
sons and two daughters born to this worthy couple are as follows: W.C.,
of whom mention has just been made is a prosperous farmer and stockman.
He was born January 23, 1857. His wife is one of the estimable daughters
of that well known old settler, L.O. Fuller. They are the parents of
three children, one daughter and two sons. Lelitia P., the oldest
grandchild of the Marshall family was born in the historical old cabin,
November 14, 1881. Their eldest son Robert F., was born December 20,
1884. Their youngest, William R., was born February 1, 1891. W.C.
Marshall feeds and ships cattle and hogs, keeps from one hundred to one
hundred and fifty head of the latter and is interested in two hundred
acres of land. He is a public spirited man, has served as clerk of the
school board for six years and is one of the solid citizens of the Ames
community. Jennie B., the oldest daughter of Moses Marshall is known in
educational work all over the county. She is one of the most successful
and has taught more terms of school than any teacher in Cloud county,
but owing to failing health has retired and makes her home with her
sister and brothers. She was born November 1, 1858, began her school
work in 1876 and taught continuously until 1898, one year in Minnesota
and eight years in District No. 1. She is a very accomplished and worthy
woman. Samuel H., born February 16, 1860, a grain dealer of Glen Elder,
Kansas. Martha S., born January 6, 1862, is the wife of Arch Quinett, a
prominent farmer and owner of a fine estate, the Richard Coughlin
homestead. Robert J., born July 18, 1863, is a resident of Carroll,
Iowa; he is a railway bridge builder. Moses Scott, born May 7, 1867, is
a policeman of Everett, Washington. He inherits his father's rugged
physique, is six feet, one and one-half inches tall and weighs two
hundred and thirty pounds. Arthur S., born November 17, 1870, is a
resident of Clifton, where he is engaged in the music and sewing machine
business. He is also a band leader, and has under his instruction four
bands at the present time. Ames once had the "only band" in the county,
and the seven Marshall boys were members, hence it bore their name. John
R. is the giant of the family. He is six feet four inches in height. He
was born May 9, 1873. He is a foreman in the export elevator of the
Missouri Grain Company, located at Moberly, Missouri. Joseph T., born in
Kansas, September 27, 1875. He is a resident of Dakota. With the
expectation of promotion and a railroad career, he is section foreman.
Moses Marshall stands in the family alone in his Democratic principles,
for all of his sons are Republicans, a somewhat remarkable situation.
Mr. Marshall owns three hundred and fifty acres of land that ranks
with the finest in the county, and it is reasonable to suppose Mr. Thorp
would make a good selection when the "whole earth" was his to choose
from. The Marshalls lived in the primitive cabin, where the first
settlers congregated to hear Reverend West preach, repaired it, replaced
the puncheon floor by boards, added a room and lived there until 1885.
The original fireplace extended across the entire end of the cabin. The
Marshalls are all good citizens and honorable people.
JOSEPH H. MARTIN.
J.H. Martin of Solomon township, is a
progressive and prosperous farmer. Mr. Martin farmed rented land until
he bought a part of the "Jake" Cossell homestead, in 1897, which is
situated one mile northwest of Glasco. A new and handsome cottage
residence enhances the pleasing effect of this desirable farm of eighty
acres.
Mr. Martin was born in McLean county, Illinois, in the
year 1859, his parents being Robert and Marla (Sewerds) Martin. He is
the second son of a family of nine children, seven living, viz: Charles
Edgar, a farmer of Lane county, Kansas; Anna, wife of Norman Jordan, one
of the most successful farmers of the Solomon valley; John D., a farmer
near Des Moines, Iowa; Frank A., a farmer of Grove county, Kansas; Cecil
a farmer of Solomon township, is married to a daughter of George
Colwell, a farmer living near Glasco; Emily, is the wife of J.H.
Suiters, a farmer of Gove county, Kansas.
Mr. Martin was reared
on a farm in Illinois and educated in the common schools of that region.
In 1879, he came to try his fortunes in the great agricultural state of
Kansas and settled in Mitchell county, where he farmed until 1883, and
then transferred his residence to Cloud county. His parents joined him
in 1879, and, like him, changed their residence from Mitchell county to
the vicinity of Glasco. His father died the same year (1883), and his
mother in the spring time of 1890.
Mr. Martin was married in the
spring of 1885, to Belle Snyder, a daughter of those old pioneers,
Captain and Mrs. Snyder of Glasco. She is a woman of culture and refined
instincts. They are the parents of one child, Roy D., aged fifteen
years, a fine, handsome boy and a good student. Mr. Martin's political
views are such as to cause him to vote the Democratic ticket. Socially
he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen
and Fraternal Aid Society of Glasco. He is one of the substantial men of
the Glasco community and a good citizen and neighbor.
J. C. MASON.
J.C. Mason is a farmer, extensive stock feeder and
shipper and a member of the firm of J.C. Mason & Son, dealers in general
merchandise - the only store in Meredith, where they do a thriving
business of about $20,000 annually. Their capital stock is $4,500 and
composed of hardware, clothing dry goods, groceries and everything found
in a complete stock of general merchandise.
Mr. Mason is a son of
George W. and Elizabeth (Chipman) Mason, both natives of Kentucky, who
emigrated to Missouri soon after their marriage and where J.C. was born
in 1847, and grew to manhood in the town of Richmond. G.W. Mason was an
extensive merchant in the city of Richmond for many years and died there
in 1861. Both the Masons and Chipmans were families of southern
proclivities and were slave owners in Missouri. G.A. Mason owned twenty
or more, several of them remaining with the family as faithful servants
several years after Mrs. Mason's death in 1878.
J.C. Mason was
educated in Richmond, Missouri, and began his career as clerk in his
brother's store. He is one of four children, two of whom are living. A
sister, Octavia, wife of Doctor William Baron, of Richmond, Missouri. A
brother, George W. Mason, Jr., who was a prominent merchant and stockman
of Richmond, was killed in a railroad wreck while shipping stock to St.
Louis in 1874. J.C. Mason became a partner in his brother's store and at
his death became sole proprietor, continuing the enterprise two years.
At the end of that period he sold his interests in Richmond and
established himself at Knoxville; after three years of successful
operation there he sold and bought a stock farm. Six years later he
disposed of the farm and came to Kansas locating in Miltonvale in 1890,
where he bought, fed and shipped stock for three years.
Mr. Mason
discovered what he thought to be - and he reckoned well - a promising
outlook for a general merchandising business at Meredith in connection
with his stock interests. He came with money to invest and energy to
assist in building up a business in that line. In advance of this
venture he had visited Cloud county several winters buying and shipping
stock.
In 1890 he brought his family, located permanently, and in
1893 rented the old Parks homestead adjacent to Meredith where he still
resides, and feeds from one hundred and fifty to two hundred head of
cattle, and from two hundred to three hundred head of hogs. Mr. Mason
was married in 1873 to Alice Ringo, a daughter of Andrew H. and Margaret
(Wirt) Ringo, of Kentucky.
Andrew Ringo was a merchant interested
at Richmond, Liberty and Gallatin, Missouri, with residence in Richmond,
under the firm name of Wirt & Ringo. Her father died in 1880 and her
mother in 1873. Mrs. Mason is one of eight children, all of whom are
living, scattered over various states of the Union. A brother, W.E.
Ringo, was a member of Price's band and served during the entire war. He
was county clerk of Ray county for eight years and is now collector of
taxes.
To Mr. and Mrs. Mason four children have been born, the
eldest of whom is George, associated with his father in the store. He is
a competent young business man, who received his education at Wesleyan
College, Salina. The daughters are: Daisy, who assists her father in the
store; Edna, a graduate of the Miltonvale schools, and Alma.
Mr.
Mason is a Missouri Democrat and is the present postmaster of Meredith.
The Mason hospitality is of the proverbial Missouri quality, where his
neighbors, friends and strangers alike, always find their "latch string
hanging out."
HONORABLE W. T. MATHEWS.
When the
annals of this section shall have been written for permanent record the
name of "Wils" Mathews, as he is known to his friends, will be mentioned
as the first postmaster, and one of the earliest to engage in
merchandising in the city of Miltonvale. With the courage and
perseverance that marked the early settlers of Kansas he struggled with
the fickle goddess of fortune, through the quicksands and vicissitudes
of various enterprises, and relates his experience in a way that bears
with them the conviction that he made history.
He became a
citizen of Cloud county in 1873 and took up a homestead two and
three-quarters miles northeast of the present town of Miltonvale; his
two brothers, James and George, following a few weeks later. They are
also residents of Miltonvale and have extensive business interests
there. They gave up the ghost at one time and wandered back to their old
Missouri home, but finding no satisfactory opening there they "screwed
up" their courage and returned to Kansas.
In 1881 Mr. Mathews
opened a country store. The following year the railroad was built and he
brought his stock of goods to the town site of Miltonvale and has since
been a prominent factor of the town. He has met with many reverses but
there are few enterprises that do not have their dark days.
In
1883 his store along with the whole block was burned to the ground with
a loss to him of over $3,000; in the autumn of the same year he became
associated with his father and bought the grocery business of James
McCloud which they sold in 1885. Mr. Mathews then became interested
along with his brother George and Mr. Bond and erected an elevator under
the firm name of Mathews & Bond, Mr. Mathews owning one-half interest.
In 1893 it was set on fire by a spark from a Santa Fe engine. They were
awarded a small amount of insurance, but before judgment was passed the
railroad went into the hands of a receiver. They pressed their claim
carrying it to the Supreme court, where they were awarded damages and
insurance, but lost $3,600 in the deal.
As if to make the old
maxim good, "Misfortunes never come singly," he then went into the
cattle feeding business and when he shipped them upon the market the
following April, came out $1,500 in debt and a mortgage on his home.
Although unfortunate in his investments he continued to buy, feed
and ship cattle and made some shipments that netted him $2,000 and more.
In the meantime he operated an extensive implement business which has
endured until the present writing and he is recognized as one of the
most successful salesman in the county. In 1901 one of his implement
houses was demolished by a wind storm.
Mr. Mathews also has a war
record. In 1864 a flaxen haired youth of fifteen years, he ran away from
home and enlisted in the army, but his ambitions were curtailed by the
ending of hostilities.
In his earlier life he learned the
blacksmith trade which served him well in the early days of Kansas, for
money was not so current then as in late years and the transfer of goods
was as often based on the primitive mode of exchange as on cash value.
We will briefly state a deal he made with a Frenchman which reveals
something of his ingenuity in that direction and how after driving
cattle a few months the early settlers would sacrifice much for a team
of horses. The Frenchman had two yoke of faithful plodding oxen that had
turned the sod of his homestead and were for sale or trade. Mr. Mathews
had a span of old "plug" horses which he dressed up in brand new harness
gorgeous with red trimmings. He sallied out to meet the Frenchman and
after the dickering customary to such trades the bargain was closed, Mr.
Mathews getting the two yoke of cattle along with a barrel of molasses,
two dozen chickens (equivalent to legal tender in those days), a cow and
two calves, with corn enough to feed all winter, in fact the Frenchman
had but little left save his wife.
Mr. Mathews is a native of
Logansport, Indiana, where he was born in 1848. When three years of age
his parents moved to Iowa and six years subsequently to Adair county,
Missouri, where he was reared on a farm.
His father is Elias
Mathews who was a North Carolinian by birth but came to Indiana in his
early childhood. In 1850 he crossed the plains to California where he
mined successfully for three years, but most of his life has been spent
farming. He is spending his declining years alternately with his
children, his wife having died in 1898. She was Sarah E. Covey, a native
of Indiana. To their union eight children were born, six of whom are
living. Besides James and George, already mentioned, there is a brother
in Birmingham, Alabama, and one a resident physician of New York City,
and two sisters in Kirksville, Missouri.
W.T. Mathews was married
in 1872 to Anna Raredon and the following year came to Kansas, where all
their children except the eldest were born. The first son, Victor T., is
a graduate of the Miltonvale high school. He is an electrician and
engineer who deserves great credit, as he acquired the profession by
practical application, the outgrowth of which secured him a lucrative
position with the Electric Light and Water Works Company of Marengo,
Iowa. He has been with them four years. Arthur W., the second son, is
married and lives in Washington, Kansas. They have two children, a son
and daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Mathews have four daughters, viz: Ida, wife
of Fred Kuhnle, who have one child, a son; Clara, wife of I.J.
Bumgardner, a farmer, six miles from Miltonvale; Laura, who keeps books
in her father's store, and Blanche, a little school girl.
Mr.
Mathews served three terms as mayor of Miltonvale, is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and of the
Order of the Select Knights. He has one of the best homes in the city,
is a man of genial and cordial manner and one who in the earlier
settlement of the county must have contributed much good cheer,
regardless of hardships and misfortunes. Time has not dealt harshly with
him and he is still a hale-fellow - well-met-western-man.
JAMES McARTHUR.
The subject of this sketch is James McArthur,
an attorney, the only man of his profession in the town of Miltonvale
that has been admitted to the bar. He is associated with Mr. Shay in
collection and real estate deals, under the firm name of Shay &
McArthur. Mr. McArthur is a native of Scotland, born in Paisley, now a
suburb of Glasgow, in 1848. At that time there were a dozen miles
between Glasgow and his native town, the space now being built up in a
solid city. His father was John McArthur, a shawl maker, working in the
factory at Paisley, where the celebrated Paisley shawls are
manufactured. When Mr. McArthur was two years old he came with his
father's family to America and settled in North Adams, Massachusetts,
where his father died in 1857. His mother was Jane Gillespie. She was
born near Edinburg, Scotland. She died in North Adams in 1892. Mr.
McArthur is one of three living children: A sister in Chicago and one in
North Adams.
At the age of fifteen years Mr. McArthur enlisted in
the United States army in 1863. but was not accredited until 1864. His
first regimental service was in the battle of the Wilderness, when he
was but sixteen years old. He was slightly wounded at Cold Harbor. He
was in the battles of Spottsylvania and with Sheridan on his famous
ride. He saw active and hard service and after the first battle would
have welcomed gladly a return home. After the war he returned to
Massachusetts and subsequently to Wisconsin, where a sister had preceded
him. In 1873-4 he read law in the office of George N. Crawford, of
Omaha, Nebraska. Shortly afterward he entered the mail service, was
stationed in Texas, where he remained until 1882 and came to Clyde,
where he formed a partnership with the law firm of Cornforth & Gray.
Early in the year 1885 he was admitted to the bar in Concordia, and a
few months later became associated with Charles Proctor in the real
estate business and was very successful.
Mr. McArthur was married
in Wisconsin, in 1869, to Maria McDonald daughter of Edward and Hannah
McDonald, of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Their family consists of six
interesting children. Mr. McArthur is a Republican politically and is an
active politician. He was a candidate during his residence in Nebraska
for representative of his district, at the age of twenty-six years. His
opponent was elected by only four votes. He is a member of Clyde Lodge,
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Washington Chapter at
Huston, Texas. Mr. McArthur is a man of pleasing address, genial manner
and a highly esteemed citizen.
GEORGE McBRIDE.
In
no line of business or trade is the average purchaser more dependent
upon the dealer, than in the purchase of a jewel or watch. Not one among
a score of persons is competent to judge the value of either from its
external appearance, hence the jeweler should be a man of unquestioned
integrity such as George McBride, one of Clyde's enterprising jewelers
has proven himself to be.
Mr. McBride came to Clyde in September,
1898, where by honest dealing he has built up a prosperous business in
his line. He is established in the front of the drug store of Doctor
C.H. Angevine, where he carries an attractive and well selected stock of
goods.
Mr. McBride is a native of Sangamon county, Illinois,
where he was born in 1855, and reared on a farm. His parents were
Jefferson and Ann (Messer) McBride. The McBrides are of Scottish origin
who settled in Kentucky in an early day, and when Jefferson McBride was
a lad of ten years he moved with his parents to Illinois. The Hessers
were among the early settlers of Virginia. Mr. McBride began a career
for himself at the age of eighteen years. He came to Kansas in 1875,
after having followed various vocations and located in Cloud county. In
1877, he bought a timber claim which he lived on and farmed several
years, sold and became interested in a mercantile establishment at
Simpson. One year later established a jewelry business in Jamestown
where he held forth until coming to Clyde.
He married in 1878, to
Lillian Briggs formerly of Allamakee county, Iowa, near Spirit Lake,
where she was born in 1862. When a child her parents removed to Michigan
and settled in Wayne county, near Yipsilanti, and in 1871, emigrated to
Kansas. Her father was Justus Briggs, a farmer and lived in the vicinity
of Glasco near Courson's Grove.
Mr. and Mrs. McBride are the
parents of two children; Mabel, wife of John Hayes, a native of
McDonough county, Illinois, who settled in Clyde in 1877, but returned
to Illinois to locate in Kansas again in 1889. They settled in Edwards
county where he with his father engaged in merchandising and stock
business. In 1889, they purchased the Commercial livery barn which they
sold a year and a half later and engaged in the grocery business. Mrs.
Hayes is a talented musician. Was organist of the Christain church at
Jamestown when a mere child but fourteen years of age. Is at present
organist of the Christain church in Clyde. She was deputy postmistress
at Jamestown for more than two years, and was book-keeper at the
"Regulator," Clyde's most extensive store at the time of her marriage.
She is a graduate of the Jamestown schools. The son, Clyde, is a young
man of nineteen years.
Politically Mr. McBride is a Republican.
He is a prominent Mason of fifteen years standing. Mr. Hayes is also a
Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen of
America. Has been through all the chairs of the Knights of Pythias
lodge. The family are members and regular attendants of the Christian
Church.
JAMES McBRIDE.
The subject of this sketch
came to Cloud county in 1872 and homesteaded his present farm. Mr.
McBride was born in Brown county, Kansas, when that part of the state
was on the frontier, before the passing of the homestead law, when land
was one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre and before there was a
railroad or telegraph wire in the state. Mr. McBride is the oldest born
Kansan whom the writer has met in the county, an honor he may justly
feel proud of.
His parents were William and Eliza (Starns)
McBride. His paternal grandparents emigrated to Ohio from Scotland
during their early married life, where William McBride was born. A
sister of the grandfather is still living there at the age of
eighty-eight years. Mr. McBride's father died in 1881, on the farm he
homesteaded in Cloud county and where his wife who survives him still
lives. Mrs. McBride was born in Indiana. Her father was James Starns and
her mother, before her marriage, was Matilda Ware. James Starns was born
in Tennessee and removed to Ohio, the birthplace of her mother. They
both died in Brown county, Kansas, in 1845. Mrs. McBride emigrated with
her parents to Iowa when she was but fifteen years of age and when that
state was a territory, a wilderness just beginning to be settled. They
emigrated to Brown county, Kansas, in 1856 and for several years lived
in dread of the Missouri border ruffians. Jim Lane and his men were
camped within a mile of their home and they knew him personally. The
family necessarily endured many hardships on the frontier and have lived
in all sorts of primitive homes.
James McBride, the subject of
our sketch, is one of ten children, all of whom are living but the
eldest daughter. There were five sons and five daughters. Ellen died at
the age of twenty-six years. Emily is the wife of Kenneth McCray, of
Decatur county, Kansas. John an engineer of Salix, Iowa. James, the
subject of this sketch. Mrs. Clara Todd, of Sedan, Kansas. Clay, a
farmer near Jamestown. Finley, a harnessmaker of Mankato. Effie, wife of
E. Peck, of Clyde. Gertrude, wife of William Hartwell, of Jamestown and
Ethan, the youngest son, lives with his mother on the homestead. They
are all residents of Kansas except one brother who is in Iowa.
James McBride was married in 1884 to Georgianna Muir. She was born in
Scotland and came with her parents to America when six years of age,
located in PennsyIvania and emigrated to Rooks county, Kansas, in 1880.
For ancestry see sketch of Mrs. Janette McBride, of Jamestown, who is a
sister.
Mr. and Mrs. McBride have had born to them four children,
three daughters and one son. Gloria May and Lulu Gertrude are
prepossessing young ladies of eighteen and sixteen years, respectively.
Archie Alexander, their only son, is a promising lad, and Anna Belle, a
bright little girl of six years.
Mr McBride owns eighty acres of
land; each of the sons were given that amount by their father who was a
well-to-do farmer and owned four hundred and eighty acres of land before
dividing it between his boys. Mr. McBride is a Republican in politics;
fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
has been associated with the Jamestown Lodge fourteen years. He is also
a member of the Ancient Order United Workmen.
MRS. JANET McBRIDE.
The Commercial Hotel of Jamestown is appreciated by
those who have had the good fortune to be numbered among its guests. The
building was erected by J.E. Fitzgerald in 1880, to supply the needs of
the new and growing town, and was christened "The Pomeroy," in honor of
James, the son of Senator Pomeroy, but was later changed to "The
Commercial." The hotel was opened by a man named Norton, and after
various changes and vicissitudes of landlords and proprietors it fell
into the hands of Mrs. McBride, the subject of this sketch.
It
had never before been a success, and when its present owner assumed
control, the fortunes of this enterprise were at a very low ebb, and
there was little to indicate the prosperity and popularity it now
enjoys.
The neat and well appointed office, with its linoleum
covered floor, was a dingy, dark room with smoke steeped walls and
lighted by the glimmer of one small lamp. The present handsomely
furnished parlor was of like character; instead of the rich velvet rug
that now delights the eye, a hemp carpet strewn with ashes and coal dirt
did duty as a covering for the floor; comfortable chairs have replaced
the ordinary wooden ones, beautiful pictures decorate the walls, and the
cheerless room that once passed under the name of "parlor," gives
evidence of refined taste. The dining room contains a handsome veneered
oak sideboard, bric-a-brac, elegant chandelier, soft carpet and rugs
with bright papered walls as a background, are such as would adorn a
home of refinement. The term "home" is applicable for the atmosphere of
this little inn that seems to move along without the slightest friction,
is permeated with a degree of rest and comfort not often found in
hotels.
The patrons of the Commercial hotel must contrast with
interest the present fitness of things as compared with the dining room
under the previous management; for the floors were bare, the two long,
crude, homemade tables were covered with dingy red linen, and the same
faded material served as curtains for the windows. The two lamps with
their smoked chimneys, did not shed much radiance over the equally
scanty repast. The present best guests' sleeping apartment was furnished
with two beds, bare floor, and a huge pan filled with ashes served as a
cuspidor, while the slumbers of the commercial traveler, politician,
candidate, or whoever chanced to come that way, were disturbed by a
surfeit of bed bugs grazing over their anatomy. The property was a
perfect wreck with neither well nor cistern.
Mrs. McBride bought
the hotel during the hard years of 1893-94. She began without capital
and for two years or more encountered many obstacles, but she furnished
her house by degrees and as her little daughters, three in number, grew
large enough to lend their assistance, her burdens were lightened, for
no mother was ever blest with more dutiful or more devoted children.
From 1896 until 1899 the crew of the Missouri Pacific pay car took their
breakfasts at the Commercial hotel. Paymaster King ate his last
Thanksgiving dinner there, and was lavish with his compliments of the
service and spread. Superintendent Luke was also a guest on this
occasion.
Mrs. McBride was born in Scotland and came with her
parents to Kansas. She was married in 1882 to John McBride, by whom she
had three children. The eldest daughter, Ada Lucile, is the wife of L.A.
Tabor. The Tabors came from the state of New York to Kansas and were
bankers in Holton and Blue Rapids. Since the death of their father, Ira
Tabor, the three sons, R.A., L.A., Otis and a sister, Mrs. Frank Scott,
are associated together in a bank at Irving, Kansas. L.A. Tabor followed
railroad office work for twelve years, but one year ago purchased a fine
farm one mile east of Irving, on the Big Blue river, and is in extensive
wheat grower and stock raiser. The Tabors are all men of high honor,
good business qualifications and strict integrity. Margaret and Gloria,
the second and third daughters, sixteen and fourteen respectively, are
excellent students and make the best of their educational advantages.
They are both graduates of the common school branches, Gloria received a
diploma, which represented the highest honors in her class. Margaret is
a faithful student and the possessor of an exceptionally bright mind,
but the lack of physical strength has partly retarded her progress.
Mrs. McBride is of Scotch birth. Her parents were Andrew and Jane
Downey (Frain) Muir, who emigrated from Scotland, their native land, in
1865. They settled in Newcastle on the Beaver river, in the state of
Pennsylvania. Two years later they removed to Sharon, Mercer county.
Andrew Muir was born April 27, 1831, in Kirk Muir Hill, Lanarkshire, and
when twelve years of age removed to Chapel Hill, which was his permanent
home, and where Mrs. McBride was born and lived until coming to America.
The annals of Scotland show that the Muirs were prominent in that
country among the landed gentry. They descended from titled and wealthy
noblemen and "Kirk Muir Hill" was named for them. In that historical
place occurred the births of preceding generations, as far back as the
records can be traced. They owned large landed estates, and were fine
stockmen and horsemen. They are of the same lineage as John Muir, the
noted Scotch Presbyterian clergyman. The Muirs were a religious people,
devoted to their church. Mrs. McBride's father was a ruling elder and
led the choir in the most prominent church of Chapel Hill. He was a man
of fine personality and a musician of considerable note. He was engaged
in the coal mining industry and having followed that vocation since his
youth, he was well fitted to operate with practical success. Mr. Muir
superintended a colony of over two thousand workmen and not having so
many officials as there would be in a similar enterprise in this
country, he paid the salaries to the employes personally.
After
locating in Pennsylvania he was with the Pierce Coal Mining Company and
for several years sunk shafts and opened new mines at both Newcastle and
Sharon. He later superintended the coke ovens of A.J. Egbert in Mercer
and Venango counties. McBride's maternal grandfather was an employe in
the house of Butry and while with them in the West Indies was kicked by
a horse and died from the injury several months subsequently. His pay
went on and his wife continued to draw his salary until she married
again. By her marriage to Mr. Wilson two sons were born; the eldest of
whom learned the mining business from Mrs. McBride's father, succeeded
to his position when Mr. Muir left Scotland and was manager of the same
coal colony until his death a few months ago. The other brother was a
railroad conductor in Scotland.
Mrs. McBride is one of ten
children, all are living and prosperous. There are six sons and four
daughters. Five of her brothers are Rooks county farmers. The sixth
lives near Portland, Oregon. One sister is a resident of Kansas City,
one in Franklin City, Venango county, Pennsylvania, and the other near
Jamestown. In 1878 the eldest son and brother, Andrew L., emigrated west
and located in Stockton, when that town consisted of but one cabin. Soon
after he homesteaded there another brother followed. This induced the
father, whose health was on the decline, to join his sons in the west;
he also secured land near Stockton, and lived there until his death, in
January, 1887. The wife and mother survives and is a resident of
Stockton.
Mrs. McBride is well deserving of the success she has
attained and it has not been secured without heroic effort on her part,
and she has exhibited genuine Scotch determination. The large shade
trees and wide lawn, with its flowering shrubs and tall stalks of
vari-colored hollyhocks nodding in the bright sunlight, add to the
attractiveness of the place. Mrs. McBride makes the welfare and comfort
of her guests her chief aim, and few cities of the population of
Jamestown can boast of so well an equipped hostelry.
MARY E. McCALL.
The subject of this sketch, Mrs. Mary E. McCall, is
the widow of the late Honorable James H. McCall, one of the very
prominent men of Republic and Cloud counties. They settled near Seapo,
in Grant township, Republic county, in the year 1872, before that
village, a busy trading post, was virtually killed by the railroad
making a new town, thus cutting off its traffic. Although residing in
that county seven years, Mr. McCall was more or less associated with the
people and interests of Cloud county, often visiting Concordia. He was a
progressive man and most certainly demonstrated what can be accomplished
without capital. As a stepping stone to success he possessed those
admirable qualities, pluck, grit and enterprise. "Be sure you're right,
then go ahead," seems to have been his motto and he followed it to the
letter.
Mr. McCall was a native of New Athens, Ohio, but in his
youth came with his parents to Illinois, subsequently entered Wilmington
College of Pennsylvania, where he graduated, after which he returned to
Illinois and taught school for several years and later became
superintendent of a coal mine. It was during this period of his life
that he met and married Miss Mary E. Galloway, in 1870. She was a native
of Green county, Ohio. The Galloway family were of Scotch-Irish origin.
Mrs. McCall's parents are both deceased; her father in 1872 and her
mother in 1899. Mrs. McCall is one of nine children, five sons and four
daughters, six of whom are living, viz: The eldest brother was killed by
lightning in the city of Jamestown on July 4, 1901, leaving a wife and
four children. He had taken his team to the barn and seemingly was
stricken down as he stepped to the door. J.M. Galloway of Clay Center.
Robert H., a farmer near Courtland was county clerk of Republic county
four years. Her youngest brother, J.E. Galloway is in the Creek country,
in Oklahoma. Her sisters are Mrs. Elizabeth R.K. Miller of Mercer
county, Illinois, and Mrs. Belle Park of Republic county, Kansas.
When their first child was an infant six weeks old Mr. and Mrs.
McCall emigrated to Kansas. Of the four children born to them, but one,
a son Thomas G., has lived to bless and brighten their home. He was
married in 1900 to Marie Powell of Jamestown and they have since made
their home with his widowed mother. This son has been a solace to her
lonely hours from infancy to manhood, "The childhood shows the man as
morning shows the day."
After reaching "sunny" Kansas and looking
over the land, Mr. McCall selected his homestead and after making a few
needed improvements, his financial circumstances seemed somewhat
discouraging but not lacking in perseverance and possessing a keen
foresight for business discerned where capital could be nearly doubled.
Sheep raising at that time drew his attention and he borrowed money
investing it in a flock which proved to be remunerative and placed him
in a position to return the borrowed capital. From that venture he went
steadily on, keeping clear of debt and accumulating each year adding to
and increasing his investments. He was very successful in the sheep
raising industry selling at a good profit before the enterprise became
overdone, thus not losing as so many of his neighbors did. His flock
averaged about one thousand head.
During Mr. McCall's residence
in Republic county, he was appointed commissioner to fill a vacancy and
was elected to that office the two years following; served four years as
county superintendent of schools and took a great interest in
educational matters, knowing full well the value learning had been to
him. Physically Mr. McCall was not a strong man, but possessed a
wonderful energetic temperament and was an excellent financier. In the
year 1881, he decided to retire from the laborious life of the farm and
removed to Jamestown where he established a successful hardware
business, but this venture proved too much of a burden for his strength
and he disposed of this enterprise just prior to being elected to the
house of representatives in 1888, where he served his county with honor
and credit to himself.
When Mr. and Mrs. McCall removed to
Jamestown there were but few inhabitants. They purchased one of the best
residence properties which they greatly improved, thus making a
beautiful home. Fine trees afford a grateful shade in the long summer
days and the feathered songsters flit to and fro. A well kept lawn adds
greatly to the appearance of the home. Before removing from Republic
county Mr. McCall sold the homestead and purchased one hundred and sixty
acres of land near Jamestown, and shortly afterwards purchased another
quarter section, making a total of the west half of section 22. This
land is above the average in fertility of soil and is under a high state
of cultivation.
In politics Mr. McCall was a Republican but after
the Prohibition party was organized, he affiliated with them. Mr. and
Mrs. McCall were both brought up in the United Presbyterian church. Mrs.
McCall is an amiable and womanly woman, with cultured and refined
tastes, everything around and about her denoting a love for the
beautiful. She was, in her early life a teacher and endeared herself to
her pupils seeking to endow them with her gentle and refined attributes.
She was a member of the Jamestown city council of women. Mrs. McCall is
living out her useful days as befits a true woman and feels in sympathy
with those less prosperous than herself. "The chime of sweet bells in
tune," is a living picture of her days as they come and go.
HONORABLE C.W. McDONALD.
In the early days of Concordia C.W.
McDonald was a conspicuous figure. Until 1901 he had been a resident of
Cloud county for many years, being among the first settlers and
interested in various business enterprises.
He represented Cloud
county in the legislature in 1885, was editor of the Concordia Empire
for several years, practiced law, and was president of the National Bank
of Concordia. He was fortunate enough to draw a prize at the opening of
the Strip in Oklahoma, where he has since located.
HONORABLE BOYD H. McECKRON.
In casting about for a man or a
personality worthy to extol, we do not find any whose praises are more
in evidence than those of his friends and fellow citizens of the late
B.H. McEckron. It is often when the recipient "has crossed the divide"
that we realize that his name is a household word. but Mr. McEckron's
pathway was smoothed by many appreciative utterances, while his name
will go down to posterity as one of those early settlers who contributed
largely to every good cause, was ever on the side of right amd justice,
and taking an intelligent interest in his town, his county and is state.
He was a valuable member of the legislature. A more staunch Republican,
a truer man, a more worthy citizen could not be found.
Mr.
McEckron was born June 17, 1834, in Hebron, Washington county, New York.
He was a son of A.S. McEckron, who was born in 1800. He was originally a
woolen goods manufacturer and later a farmer. In 1876, having retired
from active business life, he visited Kansas. His death occurred in
1880. Mr. McEckron's paternal grandfather, Jacob McEckron, was a soldier
in the American struggle for freedom. His mother, Anna (Donoldson)
McEckron, was born in 1800 and died July 2, 1861, and was buried on the
Fourth of July. She was a quiet, unostentatious and conscientious woman.
Both parents were devoted members of the Presbyterian church.
B.H. McEckron was educated in Delaware Academy, Delhi, New York,
receiving a thorough education in the higher English branches, in French
and the sciences. Before entering the academy he had nearly learned the
carpenter and joiner's trade, which he pursued for several years during
the summer, but followed the profession of teaching school during the
winter. From 1866 to '68 he was engaged as bookkeeper and foreman for
D.A. Goodyear, a lumber dealer at Portage City, Wisconsin. In February,
1868, he paid a visit to his native home in New York, shortly afterward
removing to Kansas and homesteaded land in the Republican valley, near
Ames, in Cloud county, where he lived until 1874.
Then he removed
to Concordia after receiving the appointment as registrar of the United
States land office, which position he filled to the entire satisfaction
of the public for over nine years. Mr. McEckron took part in the war of
the Rebellion, enlisting September 2, 1861, in Company E, Second
Wisconsin Cavalry, and served until November 28, 1862, when he was
discharged for disability, being unable to walk. His army life was
passed mostly in Missouri and Arkansas in the campaign against the
guerrillas and bushwhackers.
In 1868 he was elected
superintendent of public instruction in Cloud county. Before the
expiration of his term he was elected representative to the legislature
from Cloud county in 1870, and unanimously re-elected in 1871 and again
in 1873. In the latter term he was chosen speaker of house of
representatives. He was always a Republican, his political career
beginning with the birth of the party. His first vote was cast for John
C. Fremont for president.
He was married April 16, 1864, to Miss
Adaline M. Parmenter, of Randolph, Wisconsin, who was a native of
Niagara county, New York. Mrs. McEckron was born April 22, 1842, and
died in February, 1897. Mr. McEckron died one year later, July, 1898.
Three children, who survive them, were born to this union: George M.,
Maud and Alex S.
In 1881 Mr. McEckron bought an interest in the
Palace drug store. In 1883 he assumed entire control, buying his
partner's interest, and continued in the business until his death.
HONORABLE JAMES J. McFARLAND.
The subject of this
sketch, J.J. McFarland cast his destiny with the future of Clyde oil the
afternoon of St. Patrick's day, 1871. He is of Irish parentage but of
English birth and emigrated to America when a lad of less than a dozen
years and settled in the vicinity of Poughkeepsie in the state of New
York. After having lived a short period in several of the New England
states, Judge McFarland removed to Michigan in 1854. The state militia
was organized under Captain Gibbons and after an effort to enter the
ranks of the 10th, 12th and 13th regiments, they were taken into the
13th Michigan.
Judge McFarland was appointed lieutenant through
service rendered but the Governor was desirous of bestowing special
concession upon the son of an old friend, and our subject surrendered
his papers that the young recipient of the Governor's favor might be
commissioned to the office of lieutenant. Judge McFarlaiid was then
assigned to the Quartermaster's department where he remained until the
close of the war. They were captured twice having their horses
confiscated and their wagons burned. Their movements were confined to
West Virginia and the regiment witnessed the surrender of Lee at
Appomattox. After this event took place Judge McFarland entered the
employ of the Government and was stationed at Richmond, Virginia, until
coming to Clyde in 1871. In the meantime he had read law in the city of
Richmond and was admitted to the bar of Cloud county in 1876, and during
his professional career has managed many technical cases with dexterity
and skill.
Judge McFarland was married in 1869 to Mary Frances
Dandridge, a cultured southern woman who traces her antecedents in a
straight line to the ancestors of Martha Washington. Judge and Mrs.
McFarland are the parents of eight sons and one daughter, all of whom
are living except one. Their eldest son served in the Philippine war.
Two are residents of Saint Louis and two in Chicago. Claude, the
youngest son, lives at home. The Judge and Mrs. McFarland live with
their widowed daughter, Mrs. Mary Bechard, who is one of the most
charming and accomplished young women of Clyde and a popular favorite
with her associates. Mr. Bechard died in 1901, leaving his young wife
and one little daughter, a remarkably bright and interesting little
girl, Mary Frances, named for her grandmother.
Judge McFarland
has been a life long Democrat and has been elected to several local
offices: Mayor of his town, a member of the council several times and
police judge. He was appointed postmaster under Cleveland's
administration and Mrs. Bechard as his assistant made a very efficient
clerk.
DONALD McINTOSH.
One of the old settlers
who withstood his share of the trials and conflicts of frontier life is
Donald McIntosh. He came from Canada where he was born, to Cloud county,
May 29, 1866. In his life there is a bit of interesting history. He was
one of the "Lopez Filibustering Expedition" which had for its object the
annexation of Cuba to the United States, and transpired in 1850. A short
sketch of this affair is given in Barnes' history, page 193. The
expedition consisted of three ships. Two of them were captured by the
Spanish ship Tizezara, and Lopez and the officers were executed. The
captain of the ship which Mr. McIntosh had the good fortune to be on
kept up a good steam and by throwing overboard all their cargo reached a
neutral fort and evaded the enemy who were in close pursuit. There were
six hundred in this expedition. Mr. McIntosh enjoys the honor of being
among the few survivors of the crew, and perhaps the only man in the
state of Kansas, who was on that expedition.
HONORABLE DUNCAN McKELLAR.
Duncan McKellar spent the earlier years of his
life in the city of London, province of Ontario, Canada, where he was
born in 1829. Mr. McKellar comes from a long lived race, many of them
dying from sheer old age and some almost reaching the century mark. Mr.
McKellar has always been associated with public matters; was
commissioner in his Canada home for a period of eleven years. In his
early life he lived on a farm, then he engaged in the saw mill and
lumber business for fifteen years.
Prompted by the failing health
of his wife, Mr. McKellar came to the new western country in 1870, and
settled near Ottawa, in Franklin county, where he farmed two years. Mrs.
McKellar was Margaret McCall. The hope of benefitting her health proved
futile and she died in May, 1871, leaving a son and daughter, Donald P.
and Mary A. Donald is a prosperous man, owning a tract of land near
Jamestown and is salesman for the J.C. Gibson Granite and Marble Works
of Atchison. The daughter is married to A.J. Certain, a produce buyer of
Clyde.
In May, 1872, Mr. McKellar came to Jewell county and
homesteaded land in the southeast corner of the county. When he took up
his claim, the land for miles around was unoccupied, but within a few
months the tide of emigration did not leave a vacant quarter section.
Mr. McKellar traveled extensively through the Rocky Mountain region and
was on the town site of Leadville when that city was platted, and
assisted in building the Harrison Reduction Works, the first masonry
done in Leadville. This was in 1877.
He helped to organize, was
the first justice of the peace, and was instrumental in the
establishment of the first postoffice in Allan township, Jewell county,
Kansas. He circulated the petition and his uncle, Archibald Paul, who
died in 1901, was appointed postmaster. It fell to Mr. McKellar to
supply a name and he said inasmuch as they were hoping for better things
he would suggest West Hope and it was adopted.
In 1879 Mr.
McKellar returned to Canada and married Mary O'Neil, who is a member of
an old Ontario family, her father locating in that province on the site
of London in 1819, and helped to survey the new town. R.H. O'Neil, of
the banking firm of R.H. O'Neil & Sons, was a brother. He was a
prominent banker there for forty-five years and never held a note in his
possession that drew over six per cent interest. He died in 1900. J.H.
O'Neil, another brother, has been in the town of Lucan, Ontario, for
almost half a century, and is a wealthy lumberman.
By the second
marriage Mr. McKellar has a daughter, Frances, who in 1898, in company
with her mother, visited Canada, where she took a course in music. She
is a bright and talented young woman. She assists her father in the
office; is capable and perfectly conversant with the business.
Mr. McKellar sold his homestead in 1893. In 1885 he took his pre-emption
right of one hundred and sixty acres in Jewell county, which he still
retains. In the same year he came to Jamestown and established a real
estate, loan and insurance business which he continued until the present
time with the exception of a short interval when he sold goods on the
road.
In 1897 he bought the B.F. Gould residence, which he has
remodeled, laid walks of flagging, planted trees, etc., making it a
desirable residence property. Mr. McKellar is one of the eight men from
Kansas appointed by Governor Lewelling as a delegate to the Gulf
Transportation Congress held in Chicago in September, 1892.
Mr.
McKellar's parents emigrated to Canada in 1825, settled in the
wilderness of woods, cleared the land and lived there continuously until
their deaths. They were the parents of eight children, the eldest was a
daughter, Catherine, who died in 1863. Mr. McKellar is the eldest of
seven sons who grew to manhood. John, is a farmer in Canada. William was
a major in the Twenty-sixth Battalion of the British army and saw
fifteen years of service in Canada and Scotland.
He had retired
from the service and was killed by a cable car in Loudon, Canada, in
1899. It was during a strike, a raw recruit turned a switch and suddenly
reversing it the car ran over Major McKellar, cutting his arm off,
mutilating his breast, and killing him instantly. He left a wife and two
children. He was a division instructor and was sent to various points in
Scotland and Canada. He graduated from the military school in Toronto
and in tactics from a military school in England, where he received his
commission.
Archibald was a hardware merchant. During the
invasion of 1867 he was captain of a militia and while in this service
he caught the cold which caused his death. Four of the McKellar brothers
were in the battle of Ridgeway. Peter, a blacksmith in Ontario, lives
within three miles of the old homestead. Malcom, a lieutenant in the
invasion of 1867, was young and tender, unusued to hardships, and like
his brother, caught cold from exposure, from which cause his death
ensued. Dugald died in 1892.
Most of Mr. McKellar's ancestry and
relatives were in public life and military men. His father was a major
in the Canadian rebellion of 1836. Four of his paternal granduncles who
were army officers under Napoleon participated in the battle of
Waterloo. General Archibald McKellar, member of Kent county, and
minister of agriculture, was a second cousin.
Mr. McKellar is a
Democrat, but his father and brothers were Tories (equivalent to
Republican), and when he ran for commissioner they all voted against
him, but he was elected, receiving two to one. Mr. McKellar is now
serving his third term as mayor of Jamestown and has conducted the
city's affairs in a satisfactory way. He has been township clerk for a
number of years and has held other minor offices in the city and
township.
He is a prosperous business man, has a large list of
farm and city properties for sale and represents the best insurance
companies to be found and enjoys the confidence of his patrons. He is a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of fourteen years'
standing and has been through all the chairs of the order and is a
member of the Encampment. Mr. McKellar and his family are members and
workers of the Christian church. At the last convention Mr. McKellar
received the nomination on the fusion ticket for probate judge of Cloud
county and run with credit to himself and the party that nominated him,
but the Republican sentiment defeated him. Had Mr. McKellar been elected
he would have undoubtedly proven an efficient officer.
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