Cloud County
KSGenWeb
S. M. RANSOPHER, M. D.
The subject of this
sketch is the late Dr. Ransopher, one of Clyde's most prominent and
useful citizens, pioneer physicians and the first druggist of Cloud
county. Dr. Ransopher came to Kansas in June, 1868, and settled
temporarily on Parson's creek; his intentions were to locate on White
Rock, in Republic county, where he secured a claim and erected a cabin,
but the Indian troubles began and some of his relatives and
acquaintances were among the victims of their murderous assaults.
Finding it unsafe to take his family there he gave up his claim along
with the improvements and settled in Clyde, March, 1869, occupying the
only frame house on the town site of Clyde at that time. It was owned by
Sylvester Way and stood on the lot where B.P. Morley's residence, built
by Judge Borton, now stands. From that time he was a continuous
resident, identified with the history of Clyde until the date of his
demise. He contributed in every instance his energies and financial
support to every advancement made in the city.
Dr. Ransopher was
born in Coshocton, Ohio, February 4, 1830, where he graduated from the
high school and began a career of teaching at the age of nineteen years.
After teaching in various states he drifted into Iowa when that country
was new and subsequently began reading medicine, taking his degree at
Eddyville, Iowa. During his early residence in Clyde, Dr. Ransopher
experienced many trying incidents. His practice extended over an area of
many miles, crossing swollen streams and bridgeless creeks, and he would
often encounter the dangerous and treacherous quicksands of the
Republican river. He was a familiar figure riding over the prairies on
horseback or in his buckboard, administering to the fever stricken
settlers. The following is an illustration of many similar instances:
One night during the dark of the moon Dan Lusadder walked from Clifton
over the roadless prairie to Clyde, a distance of eight miles to secure
the professional services of Dr. Ransopher for his wife, who was in
confinement with their firstborn, Gladys, known to many Clyde residents.
They were camped in wagons. Imagine this poor woman under those
circumstances waiting for the return of her husband with assistance for
which he had to walk eight miles through the unsettled region of
prairie.
Dr. Ransopher earned the lumber that built his first
drug store in the following way: Captain Sanders was up a tree
destroying a hawk's nest, whose inmates had been the happy recipients of
many of his young chickens. The mother bird flew down and scratched him
in the eye, inflicting a dangerous wound. Dr. Ransopher attended him and
for his services took in exchange cottonwood lumber for the framing of
his store building.
In 1883 Dr. Ransopher erected the substantial
brick building for a drug store now occupied by the grocery house of the
enterprising Sohlinger Brothers. The residence he built in 1869 and
hauled the pine lumber from Waterville, is still occupied by his family.
Perhaps the first tree planted in Clyde graces this humble but pleasant
cottage. This giant cottonwood, placed by Mrs. Ransopher and her son
Elmer, measures ten feet in circumference, with immense limbs and
spreading branches.
Dr. Ransopher fell down an open stairway,
which resulted in his death forty days later. He died January 28, 1890.
The love and esteem by which he was held in the hearts of his friends,
was signified by the suspension of business during the funeral services,
and the long solemn procession which followed his remains to the
cemetery.
Dr. Ransopher was married September 1, 1859, to Louisa
Dayton, who died September 30, 1861. To this union one child was born,
Mary, who died of diphtheria September 16, 1861. June 14, 1862, he was
married to Sarah E. (Law) Archer, widow of Solomon Archer, who is
supposed to have died in the army. By her marriage to Mr. Archer one
child was born, Mittie, wife of Dr. C.T. Gillespie, a dentist of
Jamestown. Mrs. Gillespie, with Judge Borton, carried the chain for C.0.
Huntress, the civil engineer who surveyed the town of Clyde. She was
assistant postmistress to "Uncle Heller" four years in the early part of
the seventies. Dr. Gillespie has been a resident of Kansas since 1880.
Much of that time has been spent traveling in his profession. For
several years he was located in Clyde, and the latter part of June,
1902, established a dental office in Jamestown, Kansas, where he has
built up a lucrative practice. To Dr. and Mrs. Ransopher three children
have been born, viz: Elmer, the eldest child, was born in 1863; he is a
druggist located at St. Anthony, Idaho. Carrie and Harry, twins, died in
1866.
Mrs. Ransopher's parents were Sarah and James Law. James
Law was a son of Mathew Law, a British captain who was surrendered by
Cornwallis to Washington at Yorktown in 1781. Dr. Ransopher was a
staunch Republican. During the Harrison campaign of 1888 he erected a
log cabin, emblematical of that candidate. He had two real live coons
and a barrel of hard cider, which made his place of business
headquarters for politicians and which created much interest. Others
followed by erecting cabins, but his was the first in Clyde.
W. E. RAY, A. M.
The subject of this sketch is Professor W.E.
Ray, who, so far as the writer knows, is the only man in Cloud county
entitled to the distinction of A.M. Professor Ray assumed the
principalship of the Clyde schools in 1899, and as a disciplinarian and
educator he is fast gaining wide-spread reputation. Under his management
the schools of Clyde experienced a phenomenal growth of prosperity.
Professor Ray is a native of central Illinois, born in 1862. He
began his career as a teacher in his native state. He received early
educational advantages and being of a studious turn of mind made the
most of his opportunities. He was a pupil of the Northern Indiana Normal
and took a post-graduate course in the State University of Nebraska,
doing special work. Prior to that time however, he had filled various
important positions and has been engaged in school work for fifteen
years aproximately. He is from a family of educators, having two
brothers engaged in teaching.
Mrs. Ray was Miss Calvin, of
Junction City. She graduated from the Junction City high school, was a
student of the Emporia Normal and one year in the State University. She
taught three years in the graded schools of Junction City and four years
in the Clyde schools; two years in the grammar grade and two years in
the high school. While in the State University, Mrs. Ray took a special
course in music and also studied under Frederick Root of Chicago. She
has a well trained voice.
Professor Ray has severed his
connection with the Clyde schools, resigning to accept a more lucrative
position in the Thomas county high school of Colby, Kansas. This
institution has been established six years and is fast gaining in
popularity. The enrollment the present year (1902) is one hundred and
fifty. Professor Ray will have four assistants and the department
consists of high school work exclusively.
Professor Ray has been
successful in Normal work; was one of the instructors in the Cloud
county Normal the present summer and has been referred to as one of the
most efficient in the state. The associations of Professor Ray in the
Clyde schools were pleasant, and he admits he has not enjoyed his school
work anywhere more than in Clyde. Fewer men have exercised a greater
individual influence or more directly inspired his students than this
experienced educator. His loss to the Clyde schools will be the Thomas
county high school's gain.
ALBERT TURNER REID.
It
is with pardonable pride that the people of this vicinity speak of the
celebrated artist, Albert T. Reid. He is referred to as one of the most
distinguished men Cloud county has ever had among its citizens, in a way
that reflects credit upon his high order of talent.
Concordia is
the birth place of this rapidly rising young man, but in the beautiful
little city of Clyde, his more recent home and where his mother still
resides, he first gave evidence of the great talent he possessed and has
since developed, making him nationally famous as a cartoonist and
illustrator. Mr. Reid is loyal to the friends of his boyhood days and to
the place of his nativity. He refers to Clyde and Concordia people with
a feeling akin to reverence and fully reciprocates their attachment for
him and their unbounded interest in his career. His father, the late
W.E. Reid, having been a lawyer and banker, the son was reared with the
supposition that he would follow in his father's footsteps. Hence,
little or no attention was given the artistic ability he evinced at an
early age, and to which all his energies were concentrated until his
unusual talents stood forth unchallenged.
While a mere boy he won
the prize offered by the Mail and Breeze of Topeka, for the best
cartoon, among any and all competitors. That he carried away the honors
from among the seventy-five sketches submitted proved him to be endowed
with more than ordinary skill. That was the turning point in his life.
Since then the demand for his work has steadily increased until he
stands today pre-eminently among the best illustrators and cartoonists.
His work is characterized for its strong originality.
He is still
a young man on the sunny side of middle life, full of aspirations, and
possessing the ambition to execute them, he has not yet reached the
climax of his career. At the beginning of his career in art, he spent
three years on the Kansas City Star. From there he went to the New York
Herald and then to the staff of "Judge," and became one of the
contributors to McClure's Magazine. All westerners are especially
acquainted with his regular contributions in the Kansas City journal and
the Topeka Mail and Breeze. His cartoons have made him a power in
politics. "In Varying Moods," a charming little volume, one of the
poetical gems of the day, by William Hamilton Cline, is beautifully
illustrated and decorated by Mr. Reid. His excellent drawings in "Cupid
is King," by Roy Farrell Greene, have been highly praised by the best
critics in the country. An admirable collection of his humorous drawings
illustrates Tom McNeal's Fables.
Mr. Reid is not only gifted in
art, but plays the piano with a skill that denotes more than ordinary
talent and has composed a number of pieces. Band masters Sousa, Innes
and Sorrentio have personally complimented his "Guardians of Liberty,"
march, and have played it to enthusiastic audiences during their tours.
Lew Dockstader, the famous minstrel gained many an encore with Mr.
Reid's "Dat Meddlin' Coon."
Mr. Reid is unostentatious in his
bearing and retains the simplicity of manner that would mark the earlier
years of a man's life before known to fame. Instead of a misguided
enthusiasm, what he has accomplished is only an index of what the future
holds for him, and although he is well known, is still rising in
prominence in the art world. The self-reliance he was called upon to
exercise in his work undoubtedly developed his talent and his
intellectual faculties as well. Natural ability, coupled with his zeal,
established for him a reputation accorded to but few western artists.
The wedding of Albert T. Reid and Miss Vera Low, which occurred in
October, 1902, was one of the most brilliant events ever celebrated in
Topeka. Mrs. Reid's talents will enable her to keep pace with those of
her husband, for she is an accomplished musician of rare ability and
possesses a beautiful voice. She is a leader in the social world. Mrs.
Reid is the daughter of Marcus A. Low, General attorney of the Rock
Island Railroad. She is the original of many of Mr. Reid's pen and ink
girls.
Mr. and Mrs. Reid's beautiful home at Thirteenth and
Fillmore streets in Topeka, is one of the most attractive in that city
of homes and the studio on the third floor is an interesting workshop,
from which Mr. Reid turns out the cartoons that provoke mirth, and mould
public opinion and the illustrations that adorn the pages of magazines
and books. This is the home of the "Reid Girl."
WILLIAM EMERY REID.
The public spirit entertained by the late William E.
Reid entitled him to a place in the rank of prominent citizens. As an
official he was keen, discriminating and exact; as a banker and business
man, cautious and conservative; as a citizen he was accorded a place
among those whose influence was wielded for the welfare and business
interests of the people and for the advancement of the country. He was a
man of scholarly attainments and his ability was recognized by all.
During the 'seventies there was no citizen of Cloud county who was more
intimately associated with its business interests, or who held a higher
place in the confidence and esteem of the people.
Mr. Reid was
born in Lanarkslure, Scotland, March 13, 1844. His father, John D. Reid,
survives him and has been an extensive contractor, constructing several
hundred miles of the Dubuque & Sioux City, Burlington & Missouri River,
Pacific & Western Union, and other railroads. He opened quarries at
Joliet, and there obtained the stone for the construction of the capitol
at Nashville, Tennessee, for which he had the contract. He has also been
prominent in the political affairs of Wisconsin. He now resides at
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, retired from the farm life he has been following
in recent years.
Our subject's mother also survives him. Before
her marriage she was Janette Gourlie, and is an accomplished woman. Mr.
Reid received his rudimentary education in the schools of Nashville,
Tennessee. He later entered the Union High School, of Joliet, Illinois,
and subsequently graduated from the Spencerian National Business College
of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and taught in the latter institution for one
year. He was ambitious, even as a young man, taught school in winter and
worked on the farm in summer, as a stepping stone to something more in
keeping with his tastes and desires, until in 1870 when he came west.
After traveling over various parts of Nebraska Mr. Reid drifted down
into Kansas and located in the new western town that did not bear a very
strong resemblance to the present thriving little city of Clyde, and
when the whole Republican valley was but sparsely settled. He
homesteaded near the town, improved the land, but engaged in the
mercantile business and afterward taught two terms of school at Clyde.
Mr. Reid held offices of trust and honor. In 1870 he was elected the
first Clerk of the District Court of Cloud county and was re-elected in
1872. In 1871 was elected county clerk and re-elected in 1873; holding
both offices two terms. In 1875 he was elected county treasurer,
re-elected in 1877 and held the office four years. He was also the first
agent of the Central Branch Railroad at Concordia. He was a member of
the Concordia City Council for several years and was one of the foremost
in every worthy project. He was a friend and worker in educational
affairs; was a director of the State Normal School of Concordia. He was
a director of the Republican Valley Railroad, director and secretary of
the Atchison, Republican Valley & Pacific Railroad from Concordia to
Scandia and an officer and director of the Central Branch of the Union
Pacific. Socially he was a Mason and Knight Templar of high standing;
also of the I.O.O.F., and had passed all the chairs of these orders.
Politically he was a republican. Reid was engaged in newspaper work at
one time and while under his control the policy of the Expositor was
changed to republican.
A year prior to our subject's locating in
Kansas City, where he died in less than four months, he was associated
with his brother, Walter G. Reid in the banking business at Smith
Center. Mr. Reid died April 8, 1887, at the age of forty-four years,
leaving a wife, four sons and one daughter who survive him and reside in
their pleasant suburban home at Clyde.
Mrs. Reid before their
marriage, June 9, 1872, was Jean M. Turner, one of the estimable
daughters of the late David and Jean Law Turner. (See sketch) Mrs.
Turner is a sister of Doctor James Law, president of Cornell University
Veterinary College, which position he has filled since this seat of
learning was instituted over thirty years ago. Mrs. Reid's family
consists of Albert Turner (see sketch). George St. John, their second
son, is manager of a large manufacturing company at St. Louis. He was
married October 15, 1902, to Miss Sibelle Waite a very excellent young
woman of Greenville, Illinois. Frank, the third son is now connected
with one of the largest railroad construction companies in the country.
He is a graduate of the law department of the Kansas University.
Llewellyn Arthur, the fourth and youngest son is physically disabled;
the effects of illness that occurred in his youth. But the unfortunate
result does not prevent him from taking a lively interest in the affairs
of the day, nor make him a less genial and companionable fellow; nor is
life to him by any means a solitary existence, for he is sanguine, full
of hope, and a great student, his mother's companion and counselor. He
is talented in art and music, and his literary efforts have already been
extensively copied. Jean, their only daughter, is just dawning upon
womanhood. She is a student on her first year in the Clyde High School
and is a gifted musician.
ARTHUR E. RENARD.
A.E.
Renard, of the firm of Choquette & Renard, furniture dealers, and also a
member of Renard Brothers' New York Grocery, is a native of France, born
near Paris in 1867. He is a son of John B. and Zella (Neveux) Renard,
also natives of France. Mr. Renard's father was a telegraph dispatcher;
he emigrated to Saline county, Kansas, in 1871, where the family resided
until 1895, when they came to Concordia, since which time he has lived a
retired life. John B. Renard served seven years in the army of France as
a musician, which took him over various parts of Africa, South America
and the West India Islands. He visited his native country in 1889 and
again, accompanied by his wife, in 1898. The venerable father of the
Renard brothers, when a soldier with the French army, was stationed from
1851-4 at St. Pierre, the seaport recently destroyed by the eruption of
Mount Pelee. He, together with other soldiers of his company, climbed to
the summit and reported finding the ground hot like an oven. Many of the
company could not reach the top and fell back overcome with the intense
heat. With this experience Mr. Renard naturally feels much interest in
the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelee.
A.E. Renard's paternal
grandparents came to America in 1851 and were thirty-two days crossing
the water. They settled in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in 1878 came to
Kansas, where they both died in 1885, at the age of eighty-four years.
Mr. Renard, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the Salina
Normal School, where he took a commercial course and graduated in 1891.
In his early life he worked on his father's farm (which he still
retains), but after finishing school clerked two years in a grocery
store and then accepted the position of cashier in the Ellsworth County
Bank, where he remained three years. In 1895 he came to Concordia,
forming a partnership with his two brothers, Aurore and Jule V., and
established the popular grocery known as the New York Grocery. They
carry one of the largest stocks in the city and control, in connection
with this business, the entire ice trade in the city, doing a business
of six thousand dollars annually in the ice trade, and from twenty-five
thousand to thirty thousand dollars in the grocery, and employ nine men.
In 1898 the Renard brothers formed a partnership with N.J. Choquette
in the furniture business, with a capital stock of about four thousand
dollars. They have, in connection, an undertaking department and make a
specialty of this line. Mr. Renard is a licensed embalmer of the state
of Kansas, a student of the Champion Embalming College of Kansas City.
Although a comparatively new firm, they do an annual business of from
twenty thousand to thirty thousand dollars and are steadily increasing.
A.E. Renard is one of four sons: Aurore, Jule V. and Emile, the
latter living on a farm in Saline county, Kansas. The Renard brothers
own eight hundred acres of fine bottom land in the heart of the wheat
belt in Saline county and raise on an average eight thousand bushels
annually.
Mr. Renard was married in 1895 to Virginia Serrault,
who was born and reared on a farm in Saline county, Kansas. To this
union three children have been born, viz: Lewis, the eldest child, and a
pair of twins, a boy and girl, Marcellus and Marcella, aged two years.
Mr. Renard is something of an inventive genius; he has patented an
extensible iron bedstead, which can be changed from three-quarter to
full size, and is destined to become a popular piece of furniture
adapted to small rooms, etc. He has patented it in the United States and
has applied for same in Canada and Belgium. He has refused twenty
thousand dollars for the right in the United States. He is also
patenting a buckle and a revolver. Mr. Burger is interested in the
latter. The gun will shoot sixteen shots and has no cylinder. A magazine
is supplied instead and acts by motion of the trigger throwing the
cartridge into the magazine.
Mr. Renard is a member of various
lodges and insurance companies, among them the Woodmen of the World,
Catholic Foresters, Home Forum, Modern Tontines, has been past commander
of the Maccabees and has been through most of the chairs of the orders
of which he is a member. Politically he is a Populist, though not
radical in politics. Himself and family are members of the Catholic
church, of which he is a trustee. Mr. Renard is considered one of the
reliable business men of Concordia, being industrious, enterprising and
public spirited. In the summer of 1902 the Renard Brothers purchased the
interest of N.J. Choquette and continue business at the same place.
ISAAC ALBERT RIGBY.
I.A. Rigby, attorney and
counsellor at law, is a Kansan, born and bred on Kansas soil, and has
grown to manhood in the city of Concordia. He was born in Doniphan
county in 1863. His father is J.A. Rigby, a retired contractor and brick
manufacturer, with residence in Concordia. J.A. Rigby came with the
pioneers of Kansas from Pennsylvania, his native state, in 1857, and was
personally acquainted with Jim Lane during the territorial era of
Kansas. He settled in Brown and Doniphan counties. The Rigby ancestors
are of English origin.
I.A. Rigby is one of five children:
Matilda J., wife of Cyrus Twitchel, a real estate dealer with residence
in Spokane, Washington; Mary E., wife of C.E. Branine, of Newton,
Kansas. Mr. Branine is an attorney of considerable note and state
senator from Harvey and McPherson counties, elected in 1900; has also
held the office of comity attorney. Mr. Branine is a young man but
thirty-five years old. Nannie A., wife of Ezra C. Branine, an attorney
and partner of his brother, C.E. Branine, under the firm name of Branine
& Branine, of Newton. George W. (see sketch).
Mr. Rigby completed
a course in the Concordia high school before he was thirteen years old.
After completing a business course in the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,
College he began on a career of teaching at the age of seventeen; taught
in the Concordia graded schools. He then entered the law department of
the Kansas University and graduated in 1885. Mr. Rigby has held various
positions of trust; was assistant cashier in the First National Bank of
Concordia (better known as Brown's bank). He was a member of the school
board in 1890. In the same year he ran for county attorney, but that
being the year of the Populist landslide, he was defeated. In 1898 he
was the Republican nominee for county attorney, but the Democrats and
Populists fused and he was beaten by a small majority.
He has
been for several years and is at present (1902) a member of the city
council and a member of the State Bar Association of the state of
Kansas; has been honored with the appointment of delegate to
congressional and state conventions almost every year. Was a delegate in
the convention that nominated Judge Morrell for governor, and Judge
Sturges for his seat on the bench.
Mr. Rigby first read law in
the office of the able attorneys, Solon O. Thatcher and J.W. Green, for
a term of two years, and subsequently graduated with high honors from
the law department of the Kansas State University. September 13, 1891,
he was admitted to the supreme court, and presented by Attorney General
Garland. Mr. Rigby has followed the practice of law exclusively, not
combining it with real estate, loans, etc. He was president of the
McKinley and Roosevelt club of six hundred voting members and
practically had charge of the campaign that year.
LEWIS M. RISHEL.
L.M. Rishel is one of the rising farmers of Summit
township. He is a native of Illinois, born in Henry county in 1858, and
a son of Benjamin Franklin and Martha Jane (Burdine) Rishel. His father
was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1835. Mr. Rishel's grandfather
emigrated from Germany, his native land, and settled among the
Pennsylvania Dutch of that state in an early day. His maternal
grandparents came from England and also settled in Pennsylvania. The
Rishels emigrated to Illinois, where L.M. Rishel, one of their nine
children, was born. When he was nine years old they moved to Johnson
county, Missouri. In 1873 they emigrated westward and settled in Dallas
county, Iowa. Three years later Mr. Rishel came to Kansas and bought a
farm eleven miles west of Beloit, where he lived six years.
In
1888 he married Amanda, a daughter of that worthy and much esteemed
pioneer, Allan Teasley. To Mr. and Mrs. Rishel two little daughters have
been born, Flora May and Rhoda Fern, aged respectively, twelve and ten
years.
Mr. Rishel's farm, which he bought three years ago and
where he now lives, consists of one hundred and sixty acres, which is
mostly wheat land. The school building of district No. 54, is located on
his farm. Mr. Rishel votes with the Populist party. The family are
members of the United Brethren church, Honey Creek congregation. Mr.
Rishel is an honest, industrious farmer and highly respected citizen.
HENRY ROGERS.
The subject of this sketch, Henry
Rogers, like thousands of his countrymen, has been adopted by "Uncle
Sam," and like the majority of English people, he attained success, and
is one of the progressive farmers of Lyon township. He was born in the
city of Bertford, England, in 1850. He received a common school
education in the Hertford city schools, and at the age of nineteen years
emigrated to Monticello, Iowa, where an uncle, George George, his
mother's brother, resided and who emigrated to Illinois in 1840, and
settled in Iowa as early as 1849.
Mr. Roger's parents were
William and Sarah (George) Rogers. His father followed the occupation of
baker. He died in England in 1874. Mr. Roger's paternal grandfather was
a native of Wales. His mother's ancestry were English people. She died
in 1870. He was one of seven children, three of whom are living. A
brother and sister died in England; John a railroad man and Jane, wife
of Harry H. Mansbridge, a merchant in the city of London.
Mr.
Rogers learned the cabinetmakers; trade in England, but discarded that
occupation and engaged in farming in Iowa, where he remained six years
and emigrated overland to Kansas in 1876. When he reached Cloud county,
his destination, he bought the relinquishment of Tom Bennett to his
present homestead. Prior to this, however, it was the original homestead
of the Yockeys, who figured so prominently in the Indian raids. Mr.
Rogers has erected most of the buildings and furnished the principal
improvements to the farm.
His land consists of one hundred and
sixty acres, about one half of which is wheat land, and is situated
seven miles northeast of Glasco. He keeps about forty head of fine
Hereford cattle. Mr. Rogers, with his father-in-law, drove five hundred
head of sheep through from Iowa. Mr. Rogers has acquired all his
possessions since leaving England. He landed in Iowa with fifty cents,
and in Kansas with barely enough to secure his land. His first team was
a yoke of oxen. In those days they exchanged work for commodities and
Mr. Rogers incidentally remarked, Frank Wilson helped him as he did many
other of the new settlers and added, "He was one of the best men the new
country ever knew, he had money and he circulated it for the benefit of
his neighbors." Mr. Rogers, like all of the early settlers, saw many
discouragements, but their wants were not so numerous as now, and he
soon found himself with a few acres of land under cultivation, raising
enough on which to subsist.
He was married in 1876, to Mary Cool,
a daughter of the Honorable Joseph Cool (see sketch of Mrs. Bates, who
is a sister of Mrs. Rogers.) To Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have been born five
children: Alfred, a farmer living in Lyon township, married to Hester
Williams. They have one child, an interesting little daughter,
Katherine. Rachel received a common school diploma from district No. 68,
and graduated from the Concordia high school in 1896. She studied music
in Lindsborg, has a cultivated voice and is an accomplished pianist. She
has been employed continuously since her graduation as teacher in
district No. 68. Rolla Raymond, received a common school diploma from
district No. 68, and is now on his second year at the Agricultural
College at Manhattan, Kansas. Ad Failing, a graduate of the common
school studies in district No. 68., and on his second year in the Glasco
high school. Emma Vine, a little daughter of eleven years.
In
politics Mr. Rogers is a Populist, has served several terms as treasurer
of his township and has been an efficient member of the school board for
several years. Mrs. Rogers is a cultured woman of fine instincts and a
member of the Universalist church of Delphos. Mr. Rogers is a member of
the Modern Woodmen, Glasco lodge. The Rogers home is an exceedingly
pleasant one, and they are among the representative families of Lyon
township.
CONRAD ROMEISER.
Conrad Romeiser, like
all the old pioneers of Cloud county, has made interesting history. He
landed in Solomon City, March 3, 1869. He was born in Hessen, Nassau,
Germany, in 1846, and has inherited the thrift of his nation. His
father, Nicholas Romeiser, served twelve years in the service of his
native country, entering the army when but seventeen years of age, and
remaining until discharged on account of disability. He then followed
farming and later engaged in the butcher and meat market business. He
died August 20, 1866. Mr. Romeiser's mother died when he was an infant,
leaving himself and brother, Peter M., who has risen from obscurity to
prominence as a citizen and enterprising man of Belleville, Illinois,
where he is a wholesale and retail merchant, doing an extensive
business. Their father by a previous marriage had two children and by a
third, five children.
Mr. Romeiser was educated in the schools of
his fatherland and just prior to attaining his majority set sail for
America. His destination was St. Louis, where his brother had preceded
him. He arrived in Chicago with one dollar and a ticket to St. Louis,
and borrowed one dollar from a stranger he had traveled with. He had
served an apprenticeship as butcher in Germany, but not speaking English
it was difficult to secure work at his trade, and he resorted to the
country, where he became a farm hand near Waterloo, Illinois, and where
he earned his first salary on Americal soil. He shook with ague for many
months, was bitterly discouraged and would have returned to his native
land could he have paid his passage.
In 1869 he and his brother
came to Kansas. They had heard many fabulous stories of the homestead
lands and through correspondence with the Studt brothers and a friend
they were induced to try their fortunes in the "New West." They selected
claims in the Solomon Valley, returned to Solomon City, walked from
there to Junction City, filed on their claims and walked back to their
new lands feeling like kings and princes.
As soon as spring
opened Mr. Romeiser walked to Junction City, where the Missouri, Kansas,
& Texas railroad was in course of construction and found work, remaining
until the railroad was finished within three miles of Emporia. He owed
his brother one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and much of his wages
went to meet this obligation. In the winter of 1869-70 he lived with the
Studt brothers, - Phillip and Jacob, - who were "baching" in the dugout
on their claim. Mr. Romeiser says, "he had no place to lay his head and
they took him in for God's sake." The following spring he again went to
Junction City, where he worked at all sorts of jobs - on the streets',
made bologna and was a general "roustabout."
In the summer of
1870 the country was rapidly filling up with settlers and he built a
dugout on his claim. He would return occasionally and build a big fire
so that the emigrants and neighbors could see the spiral smoke curling
upward from his chimney and know that "Cooney" was home and would not
jump his claim. In 1870 he hired Mr. Misell and Mr. Grittmann to break
some prairie land. At that time these men were not as expert with the
plow as they became later in life, and, with their oxen as animal power,
made very crooked rows. This same Grittmann walked and carried a gallon
bucket of lard all the way from Junction City to his claim on the
Solomon. He was slightly weary, perhaps, but as he thought of the
delicious gravy they could make, it became a precious burden and
comparatively light. Mr. Romeiser paid four dollars per acre for the
turning of his sod. The next year he traded and succeeded in getting
more done. For five years he did not have a horse or animal of any
description and operated his farm by working for his neighbors, and in
return getting their horses or oxen with which to till his ground.
Five years from the time he homesteaded he bought at forced sale an
old mare, so balky at times she would not pull "the hat off his head."
For this, his first article of stock, he paid sixty-six dollars and
fifty cents. Charles Horn loaned him part of the money for his
investment, which after all proved a good one, she being an excellent
brood mare and from her he raised fine colts. In 1874 Mr. Romeiser began
to prosper. He traded around and got two ponies, took a trip, and was
flourishing when the grasshoppers and drouth overtook the country. But
the grasshopper year proved the "fattest" for him as he left his
homestead that winter, went to Marysville, where he had friends, and
secured a place to work where he could get all he wanted to eat and
drink, returning to his claim in the spring with his face as round and
slick as an onion.
On account of the grasshoppers and drouth he
sold to Allen Teasley seventy-five dollars worth of hogs and donated
some poultry for good measure. In the meantime Mr. Teasley died and Mr.
Romeiser was sorely distressed, thinking the deceased might not have
made provision for the payment of this bill or it might not be
understood by the wife and sons. But upon inquiry he found the good wife
had saved the money for him. With this he bought plows and other things
needed on the farm.
He now began to add other land to his
homestead, in the meantime borrowing four hundred dollars for one year,
paying fifteen per cent interest. He engaged in stock raising and has
made his money in feeding and shipping hogs and cattle. He now owns
three hundred and twenty acres of fine land, and in 1894 built a
commodious house of six rooms and two wide halls. He has a large bank
barn 36x80, one of the finest in the county. he lived in a dugout for
about eight years and in 1882, built a small stone house over the cellar
which was then considered a pretentious home. His first dugout was on
the bank of the creek. During a wet season he was drowned out. It had
been raining several days, but he did not anticipate an overflow and was
sleeping soundly. He was awakened by D.W. Teasley shaking the door of
his hut and hallooing. He inquired the meaning of their excitement and
as he looked about, saw the dugout was flooded with water several feet
deep, his trunk and "baching" utensils floating around the room, and the
creek, a roaring, booming river. Mr. Romeiser at once repaired to the
little hog pen, kicked the boards loose and let the hogs out. The
struggling and half drowned swine were sticking their noses upon one
another's back to keep from drowning.
Mr. Romeiser was married in
1878 to Caroline Gnatkowsky, a native of Germany, who came with her
parents to America in 1871 and settled in New Baltimore. In 1877 they
came to Kansas and took up a homestead on the divide, where her mother
died in 1895, and her father in 1898. Mr. and Mrs. Romeiser have a
family of six children, viz: Herman, a farmer; Henry, with his father on
the farm; and four exceedingly bright little girls, Margaret, Mary,
Louise and Lenore.
Now while looking over his little home Mr.
Romeiser can have some satisfaction in recalling the hardships endured
while procuring it.
CAPTAIN BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ROSE.
B.F. Rose, the subject of this sketch, is a native of Ohio, born on
the town site of the present city of Dayton in 1841. His parents were
Thomas and Sarah (Irwin) Rose. His father was a native of Kentucky and
his mother of Maryland. His paternal grandfather was an Englishman and
emigrated to America when eighteen years of age. His paternal
grandmother was of Irish birth. His maternal grandfather was of Scotch
origin and his maternal grandmother a German woman. Mr. Rose is one of
seven children, three of whom are living, two sisters, one a resident of
Illinois and the other of Iowa.
Mr. Rose received a meager education
in the common schools of Ohio and when sixteen years of age removed with
his parents to La Grand, Marshall county, Iowa. On the 17th day of
September, 1861, he was mustered into the United States service at
Davenport, Iowa. He enlisted in Company B, Eleventh Iowa Regiment, under
Captain Charles Foster and Colonel Abram Hare. Captain Rose was a
valiant and courageous soldier, as his successive promotions
demonstrate. From a private he became a corporal, from a corporal to
orderly sergeant and later was commissioned captain over two
lieutenants. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, first and second
battles of Corinth, Iuka, siege of Vicksburg, Resaca, Nickerjack Creek
and Atlanta on July 22, 1864, where he was taken prisoner and detained
two months and seven days. During this time he was so well fed that his
weight decreased from two hundred and forty-six to one hundred and
fifty-one pounds.
He was released under a special exchange
arranged for by General Sherman, and rejoined his company; as he walked
through their camp grounds there was not a man in the company who
recognized him. He was afterward acting major and on the march to the
sea was in command of the regiment at different times. Was in command
from Atlanta to Savannah, where he embarked on board a vessel, and going
to Newport, South Carolina, he took up a march against the rebel
fortifications at Pocotaligo, South Carolina, and while there was given
leave of absence on account of illness and returned to his home. When
resuming his place in the army he journeyed by way of New York and
Newbern, North Carolina, arriving at his command, which was stationed at
Goldsboro, North Carolina, on March 27, 1865, from which place he was
mustered out of the service, under general order from the war
department. From there he visited Washington, District Columbia, and was
in that city when President Lincoln was assassinated.
Returning
subsequently to his home in Iowa, he was married August 17, 1865, to
Esther Coate, a daughter of Samuel T. and Harriet (Anthony) Coate, both
natives of Ohio, and both ministers of the Christian church. Mrs. Rose
is a sister of Elwood Coate, county treasurer of Cloud county. She is an
amiable woman and president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of
Concordia. To Mr. and Mrs. Rose three children have been born, but one
of whom is living. Their first born, Clarence Elwood, was deceased at
the age of eighteen months. Estella, a young woman of much promise, was
deceased at the age of twenty years. The youngest son, Clinton Emmett,
is one of the prominent educators in this part of the state. Although he
is a young man but twenty-seven years of age, he has for four years
occupied important positions in the Beloit high school. After having
been employed as assistant principal two years he was deservedly
promoted to the principalship, where he still continues and is
recognized as an instructor of superior ability. He received the
foundation of his education in Concordia. After graduating from the high
school he entered the State University of Kansas and finished a course
in that institution. He is acknowledged one of the best and most
thorough mathematicians in the state. C.E. Rose was married to Minnie
Agnetta Lawrence, who was a teacher in the Concordia city schools two
years. She is a native of Pennsylvania. Maud Rader, a granddaughter of
John and Jemima Wilkins, old settlers of Oakland township, found a home
with Mr. and Mrs. Rose when eleven years of age, remaining with them
until her marriage to J.W. Scott. They are now residents of Blue Hill,
Nebraska, where Mr. Scott secured a clerkship.
While in Iowa Mr.
Rose engaged in various pursuits; was in the mercantile business at
Quarry, Marshall county, Iowa, served as postmaster in the same town and
also as justice of the peace, township clerk, express agent, and bought
grain. After selling out his business interests in Iowa Mr. Rose
emigrated to Kansas in 1882 and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of
land in Meredith township, Cloud county, where he resided several years,
and later sold and purchased a quarter section adjoining, which he still
owns.
In 1890 he was elected to the office of clerk of the court
of Cloud county, removed to Concordia and held that office with
satisfaction to the public four years. Since that time he has been
successfully engaged in marble and granite works. In politics Mr. Rose
is a Populist. Fraternally he has been a Mason since 1865; he has
received the degree of Master Mason, Royal Arch Mason and Knight
Templar. He is a member of the Order of Woodmen and the Grand Army of
the Republic and has held the office of post commander. Mr. and Mrs.
Rose are estimable people and among Concordia's most esteemed citizens.
They own a comfortable and pleasant cottage, located on East Seventh
street, where they expect to enjoy life the remainder of their days.
ENOS RUSHTON.
"Father Time is not always a hard
parent and though he tarries for none of his children, often lays his
hand lightly upon those who have used him well; making them old men and
women inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and spirits young and
in full vigor. With such people the gray head is but the impression of
the old fellow's hand in giving them his blessing and every wrinkle but
a notch in the quiet calendar of a well spent life."
The above
quotation from Dickens applies to the rare personality of the late Enos
Rushton, one of the most highly respected, and most prominent men and
politicians of Cloud county. He was one of the first commissioners and
sat in almost every convention for more than twenty years; was one of
the best posted men in the county on parliamentary rules and was usually
chairman of the convention. Was chairman of the fifth congressional
district at the time of his death, which occurred at Weatherford,
Oklahoma, January 14, 1901.
Mr. Rushton was a native of
Lafayette, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, born October 22, 1839. His
paternal ancestors were of Scottish descent, and his maternal ancestry
were of German origin. Mr. Rushton served with distinction as sergeant
of Company B. nineteenth Iowa regiment three years. Was captured at
Morganza, Louisiana, taken to Tyler, Texas, where he was retained as a
prisoner for six months. They were captured on the twenty-ninth day of
September, 1864, and after a brief time were marched to Shreveport,
where they remained all winter, suffering for want of clothing and
blankets, having been robbed of all their possessions. They were taken
to Greenwood and from there made an escape on the twenty-sixth of April,
1865. The rebels became alarmed at the near approach of Steele's
cavalry, and ordered that all the Union prisoners be hurried off to
Tyler, Texas. To attempt to escape in such a country so far from Union
lines required a good deal of courage. They adopted the following plan
to escape: Dug a hole large enough for two on the level ground, covering
it over with brush, dirt and ashes. This last act was performed by a
comrade who did not feel strong enough to escape with them; there they
remained until the "Butternuts" had left the place when they came out
from their hiding and made for Alexandria, where they supposed they
would find the Union army, but met the advance. They encountered many
narrow escapes from falling into the hands of the rebels again, but in
these instances, as in many others, fortune favored the brave. They were
then assigned to the duty of provost guards in the third division of the
thirteenth corps.
A daughter, Mrs. Joseph Guipre, has in her
possession a daily paper which was published at Natchitoches, Louisiana,
bearing the date of April 4, 1864. On the margin of the sheet is a
message written by Mr. Rushton, which reads as follows: "I am feeling
all right again since getting into the Union." She also has a copy of
the paper, "The Daily Citizen," published in Vicksburg, July 2, 1863.
Mr. Rushton was present when the original copies were printed on the
historical wall paper edition. There were not enough for each soldier
and a second edition was gotten out, a copy of which was received by Mr.
Rushton at the old soldiers reunion held at Fairfield, Iowa. It is a
reproduction as found by the Union soldiers when Grant captured the
city.
Mr. Rushton was married to Jane Taylor, September 6, 1860,
in Wapello county, Iowa, and in 1873 emigrated to Kansas and located on
their farm in Summit township, where Mrs. Rushton died June 26, 1898.
Their five daughters survive them and all but one are residents of Cloud
county: Laura, wife of Alfred N. Macy; Susan, wife of T.N. Collins;
Olive, wife of Joseph Guipre; Emily, wife of Fred Guipre, and Nellie, a
nurse in the homeopathic hospital of Deliver, Colorado. The Rushton
daughters are all accomplished and educated women.
Mr. Rushton
was a life long politician. He was county superintendent of Wayne
county, Iowa, for four years, and at one time received the nounnation by
the Republican party for probate judge of Cloud county. He helped to
organize District No. 64, known as "Highland," which was changed after
his death to "Rushton," in honor of his memory. At the Cloud county
convention, which convened in Concordia, March 18, 1902, to elect
delegates to the congressional convention, they offered the following
resolution: "Since our last representative gathering, deaths has called
to his embrace one who for many years has been the most familiar figure
in a Cloud county representative convention, our congressional
committeeman, Enos Rushton. We recognize in his death the loss of a
citizen of the highest sense of honor, a man of sterling integrity and a
friend of every worthy cause.
FRANK B. RUPE.
The
subject of this sketch belongs to that band of noble men and women
called pioneers; who left their eastern homes to brave the dangers and
hardships of the frontier. Mr. Rupe was born in St. Joseph county,
Indiana, and emigrated to Cloud county March 26, 1866. He is a brother
of John B. Rupe, the veteran editor of the "Clyde Herald."
Frank
B. Rupe is justly proud of the distinction that he was the promoter of
the first movement towards the organization of the present townsite of
Clyde, the oldest town in Cloud county; and was an important factor in
the financial engineering of the enterprise. In the annals of the Elk
creek settlement Mr. Rupe's name will always occupy a place of
prominence for he has been conspicuous in every worthy cause and one of
the leaders in Christian and church work.
Mr. Rupe has attained a
fair success in life; owns two hundred and forty acres of land that is
parexcellent in quality. The dugout and log cabin of early days have
been supplanted by a commodious and handsome residence which stands near
the center of his estate and is charmingly located on the banks of Elk
creek. The east and west branches of the Elk find their confluence on
his farm. Mr. Rupe is known and appreciated as a gentleman of high
integrity and public spirit. He is entitled to these eulogiums because
of his upright character and sincerity of purpose.
HONORABLE JOHN B. RUPE.
One of the highest tributes that could be
paid Mr. Rupe, and one in which the writer feels assured all his friends
and fellow citizens would acquiesce, is that no one would associate with
him a thought unworthy of a true Christian gentleman. He is the very
soul of honor, unselfish generosity and integrity.
John B. Rupe
is a son of the Reverend Samuel Rupe, who was a resident of Sumptions
Prairie, St. Joseph county, Indiana, for over forty years, and was one
of St. Joseph county's sturdy pioneers. He died in June, 1885, in the
seventy-eighth year of his age. He had been a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church since his boyhood and was a preacher of local note. He
was an honest, upright, Christian man, greatly esteemed by his fellow
citizens. Samuel Rupe was born in Ashe county, North Carolina, April 4,
1808. He emigrated with his parents to the state of Indiana and settled
in Wayne county in 1812. When he had attained his majority he located in
St. Joseph county, where he lived and labored all the eventful years of
his life. Reverend Rupe was converted at the age of eighteen years and
received his first license to preach from the distinguished preacher,
Reverend James Armstrong, at a quarterly meeting held in a barn near the
town of Goshen, Indiana.
Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Rupe have been
interested witnesses to the development of Cloud county since its early
settlement, and are a part of its history, both pioneer and modern. They
are editors and proprietors of the Clyde Herald, which entered upon its
first volume in the city of Clyde, Thursday, May 9, 1879, and, since the
consolidation of the Empire and Blade, is the oldest newspaper in Cloud
county. J.B. Rupe & Company assumed the proprietorship of the Herald in
November, 1883, and under their management it has developed into one of
the best and most reliable papers issued in Cloud county. It advocates
the politics of the Republican party and the principles of prohibition.
It makes a bold and fearless stand for the principles of right and
vigorously defends them. It is a clean paper and receives as it so
justly deserves a large share of the public patronage.
The
American Economist, a paper devoted to the protection of American labor
and industries, often publishes clippings from the Clyde Herald. In its
issue of May 3, 1901, the following is noted: "Since the Dingley tariff
has been built, our exports have so enormously increased as to become
alarming to foreign nations." And again, "Europe had the new scare about
getting its share of trade under Cleveland, but it is McKinley that is
playing hob with her." "Oh, some say hogs were seven cents once under
Cleveland, but will you please remember that this was under his first
administration. See?"
Mrs. Rupe is a woman of fine business
qualifications and one of the main spokes the wheel that runs the Herald
office, and the paper owes much of its success to her energy and
ability. Mr. and Mrs. Rupe are among the earliest and most historical
characters of the county. The author uses the word character, for that
suits the action to the word and Dickens would have reveled in some of
their distinguished qualities as material for one of his famous novels.
He would have immortalized them.
The following biographical
sketch accompained with the pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Rupe appeared in an
issue of The Kansan September 28, 1899, and is well worthy of space in
these columns:
"TWO MIGHTY NICE PEOPLE.
"Two of the
quaintest characters in the newspaper work of Kansas are the subjects of
this sketch. They are Mr. and Mrs. John B. Rupe, editors and proprietors
of the Clyde Herald. Why do we say quaint? Because there is no other
paper in the state like the Clyde Herald. So we are going to say
something about them in connection with the splendid pictures of them
which we print. They will be surprised, we are sure, to see this, and it
will take them some time to guess where we got their excellent
photographs.
"John B. Rupe was born April 27, 1834, in St. Joseph
county, Indiana, near South Bend. In his youth he taught school a spell
and studied law at odd times and was admitted to the bar of that state
some time in the early 'fifties. The Pike's Peak fever got a good grip
on him and took him across the plains, and he was mining in a Colorado
gold camp when the war of the Rebellion broke out. He enlisted in
Company L, Second Colorado. He was first sergeant of his company. At the
close of the war Mr. Rupe came to Kansas with his brother, Frank, and
settled on a claim on Elk creek, and has lived on the farm and at Clyde
ever since. In the fall of 1866 he was chosen to represent the county
(then Shirley) in the state legislature. During this session it was Mr.
Rupe who had the name of the county changed to Cloud, in honor of
Colonel W.F. Cloud, of the Second Kansas Regiment. Mr. Rupe contended
then, and always has since, that the county was first named after a
woman of unsavory character Jane Shirley. Mr. Rupe was the first
representative the county had in the legislature.
"He was married
to Mrs. Mary L. Smith, May 27, 1867. Mrs. Rupe's name was Mary L.
Morley. She was born at Pristolville, Ashtabula county, Ohio, September
8, 1844. She came to Kansas with her parents in the spring of 1864. The
family settled on a claim about three miles east of the present site of
Clyde. She married Andrew W. Smith, December 4, 1864. Mr. Smith was
killed by Indians, on White Rock creek, near the Jewell county line, in
the fall of 1866. Only one child came to bless this union - Owen C.
Smith, who is in the employ of C.F. Armstrong, the creamery man. As
before stated, she was married to Mr. Rupe, May 27, 1867, and it seems
to us a more happily wedded pair never lived to bless each other. To Mr.
and Mrs. Rupe four children have been born, three of whom are living:
Louella V., wife of William McCarty, a farmer of Elk township; they are
the parents of seven children, viz: Winnie, Dessie, Leo, Auberon, Ivan,
Lauren and Gerald. The second daughter, Aldaretta A., is the wife of
William Wellman, a rural route mail carrier of Gallatin, Missouri; they
are the parents of four daughters: Zella, Opal, Crystal and India.
Frank, the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Rupe, is a rural mail carrier and
assists in the office very materially. He is married to Norva, a
daughter of Marion Winter, of Clyde. Isetta died in infancy.
"Mr.
and Mrs. Rupe lived on a farm, within a half mile of Clyde until 1884,
when the Herald was bought from I.S. Paradis, who had established it in
1878. Since the Rupes have owned it, it has never missed an issue or
been a day late - it is as sure to come out on Wednesday as the sun to
rise that day, so long as they are responsible for its publication and
physically able to get it out. For be it known that no outsiders are
permitted to touch their vile hands to such a sacred family affair as
the Herald. Mrs. Rupe, diminutive little body that she is, does all the
typesetting, making up and locking the forms ready for press. She is a
rapid type-setter and accurate. Of course she learned the trade in the
Herald office. The office is located in the rear rooms of their cozy but
unpretentious residence, some little distance from the rush and bustle
of the business houses, so that the Herald is a part and parcel of the
Rupe household and home. Mrs. Rupe is so small of stature that she must
needs stand on a box or sit on a high stool to put the types to clicking
in her printer's stick; but she is a nervous, energetic little woman and
seems never to be tired, and we have never yet seen her cross. The
editor, our friend, John B., is of phlegmatic mould. He takes life easy
and philosophically. He has one corner devoted to the sanctum, and in
that corner, or, in summer time, out in front of the office door in the
shade of a friendly box-elder, you'll surely find him, reading, writing
or perhaps dozing a bit.
"Both are earnest and enthusiastic
members of the State Editorial Association and the North-Central Kansas
Editorial Association, and Mrs. Rupe is the treasurer of the Woman's
Press Association of Kansas. None are more welcome at the association
meetings, none would be more missed were they to stay away. The Herald,
it is true, is not what one might term a great newspaper. It has a
monotonous, uneventful, placid existence, providing a sustenance to its
owners that might be better, yet they are content with what they have
and thankful it is no worse. The editorial tone call not well be charged
with being sensational - yet fireworks can be easily set in motion
thereabouts if anything should be said to John B. in derogation of
McKinley, the Republican party, or the Methodist Episcopal church.
McKinley should take a fit to set a match to the White House, or plow
the lawn in front of it, Rupe would weave a story in praise of his
foresight in forestalling some evil design of the Populist party.
Floods, cyclones, or earthquakes have no terrors for John Rupe, so long
as the Republican party doesn't burst up and the conference sends a good
Methodist preacher to the church at Clyde. Drouths do not derange Rupe's
happiness, near so much as the defeat of a Republican candidate on the
day of election. It makes no difference what the planks in the platform
say, nor whom the convention designates to stand on the platform, they
can bank for a certainty on one vote in Elk township for the Republican
ticket. Aside from the extreme radicalism of our friend on these few
points, the Herald is a strong supporter of good morals, adopts no
subterfuge for policy sake and is outspoken at all times. Their printing
office is a bit out of date, as good country printing offices go these
days, but they do not whine because it is no better. The financial
returns from their investment and their labor is not what one would
desire, but they do not complain. Keeping well abreast of the times by
much reading, enjoying fairly good health because of plenty of work to
do, and blessed with contentment as a crowning glory for all, they are
enjoying life's sunset midst the scenes that bring memories of
sanguinary hopes and more youthful days. May they live long to bless
mankind with their living lesson of contentment and, loving devotion as
husband and wife, is the wish of the Kansan."
G. L. SAMS.
The subject of this sketch, G.L. Sams is one of the most progressive
farmers of the Solomon valley. While his land does not consist of
extensive acres every available part of it is under a high state of
cultivation, and there is a charming sense of rest suggested by this
pretty country home with its vine covered cottage, well kept lawn,
stately windmill and other out buildings all freshly and brightly
painted; the house a model of neatness and good taste that bespeaks the
refinement and culture of its occupants.
Mr. Sams is a native of
Missouri, born in Shelby county, in 1842 and reared in Marion county. He
is a son of Joseph and Nancy (Yater) Sams. Mr. Sams' great-grandfather,
with three brothers emigrated from England to America and upon arriving
in the new world they took diverging paths and their identity was lost
to each other. The branch our subject sprang from settled in North
Carolina and from that state to Missouri in 1815, when his father was
but four years old and in the very earliest settlement of that state.
Mr. Sams' father was a farmer and lived in Marion county until his death
in April, 1889. His maternal ancestry were of German origin and settled
in Kentucky. His grandfather moved from that state to Indiana, where his
mother was born and from Indiana to Missouri in 1832. She died in 1881.
Mr. Sams grew to manhood in Marion county and received his education
in a log school house. He has been a farmer the greater part of his
life, rented his farm in 1882 and engaged in the harness business three
years, but returned to the homestead. In July of 1901, he became
associated with Thomas Shanks in general merchandise in Simpson,
Mitchell county, just over the line from Cloud. Their capital stock is
two thousand dollars. They are doing a successful business on a cash
basis.
Mr. Sams was married in 1871, to Miss Amanda Day, of
Marion county, Missouri, and immediately started for Kansas. She is a
daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Corder) Day, and was born in 1845. Her
father was a farmer and carpenter. The Days were of southern origin and
came from Kentucky to Virginia, and thence to Missouri, where her father
died before the war. Her mother died July 5, 1871. To Mr. and Mrs. Sams
two sons have been born. Joseph Clyde who has just attained his majority
is associated with his father on the farm and gives evidence of becoming
like him a practical farmer. Earl, aged seventeen, graduated in the
common school at Simpson and was a student of the Beloit commercial
college one year. He is manager of the general merchandise store of
Shanks & Sams, at Simpson. These sons are both intelligent and popular
young men.
Mr. Sams lives on the homestead he secured in 1871.
Their first place of abode was the primitive dugout and two years later
a cellar was dug and walled up with rock with floor and roof of dirt,
where they lived several years. Mr. Sams was at one time engaged in
sheep raising quite extensively and made it a success. He started on
fifty head of ewes to be raised on the share. This was in 1875, and he
continued in the sheep raising industry for about a dozen years. He sent
three hundred head west which netted him $1,000. He has a herd of forty
finely graded Shorthorn cattle and has been a successful hog raiser,
although in 1895 he lost about forty head from cholera. Mr. Sams is a
Democrat and takes an intelligent interest in political affairs. He has
been an efficient member of the school board of district number
thirty-nine for twelve years or more. The family are members of the
Baptist church at Simpson. Mr. and Mrs. Sams are very worthy and
estimable people and retain that hospitality the Missourians are famous
for. They are good citizens, people of integrity and highly esteemed.
HENRY SARGEANT.
Henry Sargeant homesteaded the Jack
Billings' farm but shortly afterwards removed to Clyde where he was
prominently connected with many enterprises. He was an old soldier of
the Mexican war and was also a veteran of the Civil was and an active
G.A.R. member. He had charge of the cemetery, was janitor of the school
building for several years - and was truly faithful. His daughter, Mrs.
Eliza Farmer, was a Clyde teacher for a number of terms and for
efficient work in that capacity is deserving of special mention.
W. F. SAWHILL, M. D.
One of Concordia's most progressive
physicians, Dr. W.F. Sawhill, hails from Philadelphia and opened all
office for the practice of medicine in March, 1883. By his skillful
methods and successful treatments Dr. Sawhill commands the patronage of
many of the most prominent people of the city. He is not only one of the
most competent practitioners but one of Concordia's most useful citizens
as well, and prominent in public affairs. He Is identified with the
school board, a body he is qualified to render efficient service. Dr.
Sawhill is a man of family and maintains a pleasant home.
MICHAEL SCHWARTZ.
A record of any one of the pioneers of
Cloud county can not but afford interest to the present generation and
furnish material for thought and reflection. They are not only the
heirs, but also the debtors to these hardy men and women who left their
eastern homes and associates, the friends of their happy youthful days,
to traverse the plains to the frontier, where with brave hearts and
frugal habits they materially assisted in the development of a truly
great state. To this class belongs Michael Schwartz, whose name will be
perpetuated as one of the earliest settlers of Sibley township. He
located his homestead in the autumn of 1865 and has been a resident of
the township a greater length of time than any of its present citizens.
Mr. Schwartz is a native of Wurternburg, Germany, born in 1834. His
parents were John and Margaret (Wolfe) Schwartz. Having been deprived by
death of a mother's counsels and care, our subject early in life
acquired a tendency to wander and when eighteen years of age emigrated
to America and settled in Chicago when the "Windy City" was of much less
importance than her millions on top of millions represent today. He did
various and sundry things for a livelihood until 1860, when, having
accumulated a small bank account, he removed to the state of Iowa and
secured eighty acres of land in Buchanan county, but when the call for
volunteers was issued the young German, who had adopted America as his
home, rented his land, responded to the first appeal and enlisted in
Company A, Fifty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and remained in the
service until the last bugle call. Within two weeks from the time of his
enlistment his company was stationed in the front rank. He was fortunate
enough to participate in the hard-fought battles of Ft. Donelson,
Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh, Corinth and many other engagements and
skirmishes, where hundreds of brave men fell, a prey to the enemy's
bullets, and escape without a wound. During his soldier life Mr.
Schwartz was married. He returned home on a furlough and reclaimed the
"girl he left behind him" - Miss Rosina Free, a young woman of his
native land from the kingdom of Wurternburg, but whom he first met in
America. Mrs. Schwartz came with her parents to the United States, when
ten years of age, and settled in Buchanan county, Iowa, in 1853. In 1865
our subject fitted up a team, a wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen, and
with his wife started in quest of a new country, which they found In all
the term implies. When they arrived in the vicinity of LeavenWorth they
met members of the militia, who told them of the new settlement at Fort
Sibley and directed them thither. They found the fortress on section 21,
just one-half mile east of their present home, and occupied by the
families of Byron Cross and Dennis Taylor. The soldiers had departed and
Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz also moved into a cabin, all of which were
fortified with logs. Mrs. Schwartz was fated to spend all the earlier
part of her life on the outskirts of civilization and became almost
immune to the usual Indian scares and braved the dangers alone for days
at a time and when there were five different tribes of savages in the
vicinity of their homestead. It was truly on the frontier in 1865, the
hills being covered with herds of buffalo and antelope and the wild
turkeys came in droves around the door of their sod-covered cabin.
Mr. Schwartz started from Iowa with eleven hundred dollars, but as
flour was tell dollars per hundred, corn meal five dollars and with
other articles of provision in proportion their little fortune
disappeared like mist before he sun. After the Indian uprising in 1867-8
Mr. Schwartz, like most of the settlers, left, temporarily, for safer
quarters, and not having raised a crop they were in reduced
circumstances until 1869, when he had corn to sell. With the year 1871
they began to prosper, and after that period, notwithstanding the
grasshopper visitation, they assumed measures for building a comfortable
and permanent home. In 1871 he bought the forty acres where his present
residence now stands and erected a habitable dwelling, which he has
remodeled, added to and continues to reside in. Mr. Schwartz's home is
near the new river channel, two miles north of Concordia, in Sibley
township, section 20. He now owns two hundred and three acres in this
locality and a quarter section in Aurora township, all under a fine
state of improvements. He has been successful as a stockman and has made
the bulk of his estate in raising hogs; he has also prospered in
producing cattle and horses.
Nine children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Schwartz, all of whom but one are living. They lost their third
daughter, Lucy, at the age of nineteen years. Caroline is the wife of
Charles Beahm, a successful farmer of Sibley township. They are the
parents of four children, Roy, Edith, Ivy and Ray. Susan is the wife of
William Pickering, of Martin, Missouri. They are the parents of one
child, Willie, aged five. Delia is the wife of William Finley, a Sibley
farmer. The other daughters are unmarried and live at home. They are
Eliza, Rosa and Lizzie, prepossessing young women. Mr. Schwartz's
daughters being in the majority, they have very substantially assisted
in the duties pertaining to farm life and are accorded much credit for
their share of the prosperity. Their son, Albert, is the second child, a
young man of twenty-two years.
Mr. Schwartz is a Republican and
takes an interest in political issues. The entire family are
industrious, enterprising people, who have contributed their quota
toward the development of local resources.
M.D. SCOTT
M.D. Scott is proud to herald the fact that he is a native Kansan,
having been born in Americus, Lyon county, in December, 1870. His
father, W.C. Scott, homesteaded in Lyon township, Cloud county, just
over the line from Ottawa, in 1871. In 1885 his parents removed to
Concordia, where Mr. Scott was educated and began the clerkship that was
but a stepping stone to an important mercantile career. His father's
family are now residents of Oklahoma. Mr. Scott is one of three
children, a brother in Aurora, Kansas, and Mrs. L.E. Abbott, of
Concordia, is a sister. Our subject's mother died when he was a small
lad and by a second marriage there was one child. The fifth day of the
fifth month in the year 1895, Mr. Scott was married to Miss Louise
Crumrine, who for three years had been a popular teacher in the
Concordia city schools. One child has been born to gladden their home a
little daughter, Frances, aged one and one-half years.
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