Cloud County
KSGenWeb
OSCAR R. TAGGART.
Among the honored pioneers and citizens of
Cloud county is Oscar R. Taggart, who came overland to Kansas in 1867,
and in company with the late Judge Carnahan and William H. Anderson,
"bached" near Lake Sibley, where Mr. Taggart bought a settler's
relinquishment and homestead land in Sibley township.
His farm
being near the embryo town of Sibley, Mr. Taggart worked hard to secure
for it the county seat, but after failing, he transferred his interests
to Concordia, expecting to make his home there instead.
Mr.
Taggart was a member of the state militia, organized for the protection
of settlers, and participated in several skirmishes with the Indians. He
was one of the guards on duty when the Adkins boy was killed. They had
scoured the surrounding country and were just returning to camp when the
firing was heard. After the Indian uprisings were quelled Mr. Taggart
settled down on his farm. For two or three years the expenses were
greater than the profits, as the markets were so far distant
transportation to and fro consumed the income.
He still retains
the old homestead, which is one of the many fine farms in Sibley
township, with good buildings, orchards, etc. He owns a forty-acre tract
in section 30, one-half mile northwest of Concordia, on the Republican
river. This is wooded land and Mr. Taggart expects to clear the ground,
and believing that it is well adapted to horticulture, will transform it
into a fruit farm. In 1898 Mr. Taggart bought five acres of ground in
the Hagaman addition, erected a comfortable cottage on the corner of
Cedar street and Greeley avenue in 1901 and expects to make Concordia
his permanent home. Mr. Taggart has traveled over various parts of the
United States; journeyed overland through Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona
and California, spending eighteen months in his sightseeing expedition,
and, while he was pleased with the scenes and possibilities of those
states, he was quite content to continue in Kansas, saying, "this is
good enough for me."
Mr. Taggart is a native of Naples, New York,
born in April, 1849. He is a son of James and Mary J. (Harris) Taggart,
both of New England origin. His father followed various pursuits, such
as hotel keeping, saw milling and fanning. Prior to their residence in
Cloud county, the Taggarts lived in Michigan ten years. The father came
to Kansas one year later than his son and lived in the vicinity of
Concordia until his death in 1896. The mother lived in the home of her
son until her death in 1900.
Our subject received his early
education in the common schools of Michigan, followed by a three-years'
literary course in Colon Seminary, St. Joseph county, Michigan. At the
age of nineteen he began farming and later engaged in the grain
business.
Mr. Taggart was married January 1, 1870, to Emma
Collins, a daughter of William Collins, who settled in Cloud county in
1866, and a sister of William and John Collins, who were massacred,
along with the Cassel party, as related in the account of Indian raids.
Mrs. Taggart's father was of English birth. Her mother's paternal
grandfather was born in Ireland; her maternal ancestors were English.
She was a native of Maine, and while visiting England met and married
William Collins in the city of London. They emigrated to America and
settled in Illinois, where they resided until coming to Kansas in 1866.
To Mr. and Mrs. Taggart three children have been born, but one of
whom is living, Mattie, the wife of Henry Neal, a farmer near Hunter,
Oklahoma; they are the parents of three children, Mabel, Oscar and Fay.
Willie, their only son, was deceased at the age of one year. Carrie,
their youngest child, was deceased at the age of thirteen.
Politically Mr. Taggart is a Democrat and socially is a member of the
Knights of Pythias, Dramatic Order Knights of Khorasan and the
Benevolent Order of Elks.
JOHN TALG.
It has been
demonstrated by J. Talg, of Solomon township, that fruit of almost every
description can be raised successfully and with profit in Cloud county,
not only in abundance but of the finest flavor. Mr. Talg came to this
county in 1880 and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in
the hills that he back of the Solomon river, built a comfortable dugout,
which he still occupies, and proceeded to experiment in fruit raising.
He has an apple orchard of four hundred trees that yield large and
beautiful fruit, his crop in 1901 reaching three hundred bushels. He has
six hundred peach trees, large orchards of pears and plums and a
vineyard that yields quantities of luscious grapes. Mr. Talg has a
cellar filled with barrels of many varieties of wines and ciders. He is
not only one of the most successful fruit growers of Cloud county but
raises corn, and alfalfa, and keeps a herd of about thirty head of
native cattle.
Mr. Talg is a native of Prussia, Germany, born in
1835. He left his Fatherland in 1872, just after the Franco-Prussian
war, in which he served three years. He also took part in the campaign
against Austria in 1866. His father, Andrew Talg, was a fisherman and
died in Germany in 1855. Mr. Talg's mother was Mary Shoen, also of
German birth. She died in 1849. Mr. Talg is one of nine children, three
of whom are living, a brother and a sister, both living in Germany;
William, a shoemaker by trade, and Mary.
Mr. Talg, when a young
man, learned the stone mason's trade. When thirty-seven years of age he
emigrated to Baltimore, Maryland, where he worked at his trade until
coming to Kansas in 1880; he returned to Prussia two years later (1874),
and was married to Louise Mary Hill. Two children have been born to this
union, viz: Augusta, wife of Fred Hill, a tailor of Chicago, Illinois,
and William, who is associated with his father on the farm.
Mr.
Talg is a Republican in politics. Both father and son are members of
Lodge No. 214, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Simpson, Mitchell
county, Kansas. The family are members of the Glasco, congregation of
the Lutheran church.
Mr. Talg has a stone barn - with a basement
- 27x27 feet in dimensions, built in 1888. While he lives in a dugout,
it is modern and neat in appearance. His buildings are freshly painted
and everything bespeakes the German thrift.
TAYLOR & AHLBERG.
The firm of Taylor & Ahlberg carry one
of the best-selected stocks of footwear in northwest Kansas. The accompanying
illustration shows the well-appointed interior of their exclusive shoe
store, which would be considered a first-class enterprise in a much
larger city than Concordia.
The senior member of the firm is J.B.
Taylor, who came to Concordia in the interests of the J. Green Lumber
Company, and was with that concern four years, followed by three years
in the grocery business with Peter Betournay. Severing his connection
with these firms he bought grain for various dealers and for himself,
and is still interested in that line. Mr. Taylor is a native of
Stanford, Lincoln county, Kentucky, where he received a common school
education, alternating his studies with farm work. He was married in
1884 to Mary J. (Vaughn) Perkins, a daughter of Charles Vaughn, of Iowa,
where she was born. Politically Mr. Taylor is a Democrat and socially,
he is identified with the Knights of Pythias and Ancient Order of United
Workmen.
Since establishing their present business in Concordia
in 1896, Taylor & Ahlberg have demonstrated their ability to cater to
the needs of the public in their line and have built up a large
patronage. Their store is on Sixth near the Bon Marche.
Alfred
Ahlberg, the junior member of the firm, is a son of Charles Ahlberg and
the youngest of a family of eight children. His father died when Mr.
Ahlberg was a small boy, and his mother was deceased in 1885.
Ahlberg was born in Northport, Sweden, in 1859. When thirteen years of
age he apprenticed himself to learn the shoemaker's trade, which he
acquired very thoroughly, serving twelve years, half of that time
without receiving any remuneration for his labors. In 1885 he emigrated
to America and after a residence of six months in Clay Center, Kansas,
removed to Concordia, where he worked at his trade very successfully
until 1896, when he formed his present association with Mr. Taylor.
There is no better workman to be found than Mr. Ahlberg and his
knowledge of footwear asserts itself in their large and superior class
of goods. Mr. Ahlberg was educated in the common schools of Sweden. He
is a quiet, unassuming business man, who, has acquired a good start in
life by his industry, integrity and personal efforts.
JAMES M. TEASLEY.
J.M. Teasley, the subject of this sketch, is a
son of the late A.D. Teasley (see sketch of W.W. Teasley), and like all
the Teasleys he is a good citizen. When eight years of age he left his
southern home and emigrated with his parents to the western wilds of
Kansas, and settled in Cloud county, where he has been reared and
educated in district No. 58, and in the Glasco schools. He was born on a
plantation near Dalton, Georgia, in 1858.
J.M. Teasley is a chip
off the old block, and like his honest father and brothers, if he owes a
dollar can not rest until he pays it. Mr. Teasley started in life from
the foundation and has accumulated his lands and comfortable home, by
his own efforts and good management. He had no legacy left as a
beginning, but rented land and when he reached his majority had saved
enough of his income to buy forty acres of ground, which is a part of
his present fine farm. In 1883 he purchased eighty acres of the Bert
Doyle homestead. In 1897 he bought out the heirs of his father's estate;
the old homestead, where linger the memories of many pioneer incidents;
the old cabins that still stand as monuments to those exciting Indian
raids, were converted into temporary hospitals and the bed clothes
stained with blood from the wounds of his victims. A.D. Teasley bought
ammunition by the keg, and in these same rude huts the whole settlement
congregated for protection, for Mr. Teasley and his sons with their
unerring rifles were good shots and this was the recognized stronghold
of the community. In 1901 Mr. Teasley bought the north Doyle eighty and
now owns a total of three hundred and sixty acres of land second to none
in the Solomon valley for its fertility of soil and producing qualities.
Their residence is a handsome six room frame erected In 1885, situated
on a prominence of ground, from which one of the rarest panoramic views
of the valley is presented. Mr. Teasley has recently completed one of
the finest caves in the country; 10x14 feet in the clear, with walls and
floor of cement. He is one of the progressive farmers who is continually
making improvements. He has now under course of construction a rock shed
for his cattle 20x80 feet, 18 feet in height with a mow for hay. Fisher
creek runs through his land, and furnishes an abundance of wood and
water. There is also a spring that affords water at all seasons of the
year.
Mr. Teasley was married February 28, 1894, to Miss Martha
Mirget, a daughter of Silas and Anise (Brammer) Mirget, who came to
Kansas from southern Illinois in 1884. They now live in Delphos, Ottawa
county, Kansas. Mr. Mirget is a retired farmer Mrs. Teasley is one of
four children, viz: Mary, wife of Samuel Siders, a blacksmith of
Delphos; Sarah, wife of Wells King, a farmer of Ottawa county; and
Amanda, wife of Harvey Knight, a farmer of Cloud county. Mr. and Mrs.
Teasley are the parents of three interesting little sons: Earl and Loyd,
aged six and four years, and an infant of six months.
GEORGE W. TEASLEY.
George W. Teasley, a stockman and farmer of
Summit township, is the subject of this sketch. Mr. Teasley, is a native
of Georgia, born in Murray county, December 5, 1847. He is a son of
James S. and Susan W. (Reed) Teasley. His parents were both natives of
Elbert county, Georgia. His father was born November 15, 1801; his
mother September 8, 1805. The Teasleys were of English origin, - our
subject's grandfather being the emigrant. The Reeds were of Scotch
origin. James S. Teasley died April 12, 1963. In 1884 George W. Teasley
visited Georgia and returning brought his mother to live in his home
where she died March 5, 1892. Mr. Teasley received a limited education
in his youth for when he should have been in school the civil war was at
its height, and what he gained was for the greater part acquired at
home, but the roaring of shot and shell from cannon and musketry,
detracted the scholars' attention, and not knowing what moment they
might be "picked off" by some daring sharpshooter, was not conducive to
study.
March 23, 1866, Mr. Teasley left his southern home,
traveled by rail to Nashville, Tennessee, thence by steamboat to Kansas
City, consuming about five days enroute from St. Louis to Wyandotte, now
Kansas City, Kansas, where they boarded the Union Pacific train for
Topeka, the terminus of the railroad at that date. Mr. Teasley, with his
brother and family who accompanied him, procured an outfit, and via the
"prairie schooner" line turned their faces toward the Solomon valley.
A.C. Bagwell, one of their neighbors in the South, had traveled over the
beautiful valley during his army life, and when he returned to Georgia
reported its great possibilities to Allan Teasley and a Mr. Hayes. After
listening to his description of its grandeur they concluded it was an
opportunity to gain lands - the "opportunity that knocks but once at
every man's door," and they hastened to avail themselves of the
occasion. A sale was cried and without delay preparations were
facilitated to start them on their journey to the chosen spot of the
vast wilderness, where they must combat with frontier discomforts,
prowling savages, and hungry coyotes. When they reached the terminus of
the railroad their real experience began, but with that tenacity, energy
and courage that marked the emigrant to the frontier, they pressed on,
never losing the point of compass that directed them to the fertile
valley of the Solomon.
On the fifteenth of April, 1866, they
located the land south of Glasco, now owned by Charles Horn, where they
proceeded to dig a trench over which were stretched wagon bows covered
with canvas. In this improvised abode eleven people existed until a more
commodious house could be built. Mr. Teasley and his brother at once
began operations for farming and broke twenty-five or thirty acres of
sod in which they planted corn, pumpkins and melons. One peaceful, quiet
Sabbath morning our subject took his gun and sauntered forth to the
melon patch - as the Southerners' attachment for the luscious, watery
fruit almost rivals that of the sable children of that clime. Whatever
the day or conditions the pioneer settler usually carried his gun. As
Mr. Teasley surveyed the long stretch of country there was not an
obstruction or object for miles to break the view - but going a few
paces further in the direction of the river he turned and suddenly
comfronted two Indians, whereupon they began patting their breasts and
exclaiming, "Good Injuns," "Good Injuns." Mr. Teasley was appalled, and
raised his rifle to shoot, but upon their repeated protestations of
being "Good Injuns," Iowered his gun and as if to demonstrate his
friendship and good feeling offered his unwelcomed guests some melons.
But the gorgeous yellow coated pumpkins were more palatable to the
depraved tastes of the savages, who ate eagerly of the golden fruit.
After this repast the warriors exhibited their prowess and skill in
archery. They belonged to a friendly tribe of Pawnees, which numbered
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred, who were traveling through
the country, and these two braves were simply foraging for something to
eat.
During the autumn of 1866, the Union Pacific railroad was
extended westward from Topeka, and after having garnered his crops Mr.
Teasley worked on the railroad. Had there been more ground broken they
would have raised enormous crops, for the yield of corn was heavy that
year, but failures ensued in 1867-8. But the fruitful Solomon valley was
visited by the raid in 1868, and their home on the frontier shadowed by
dangers from Indian warfare. Mr. Teasley rode over to Asher creek to
investigate the rumors, and in the meantime the Indians came into the
settlement on Fisher creek, and with a field glass were seen skulking
all over the prairies. The depredations were confirmed and our subject,
along with his brother Allan Teasley and family, went to Franklin and
Miami counties where they railroaded several months and made good wages.
They employed men and sub-contracted work. They returned to Cloud county
in 1872, where Allan Teasley died (see sketch of George Washington
Teasley) and where G.W. continues to live on the old homestead.
Mr. Teasley was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth E. Jackson, of
Osawattomie, Kansas, September 10, 1872. Orangeville, Orange county,
Indiana was the birthplace of Mrs. Teasley. Her father was William Elias
Jackson, a farmer and carpenter. The family removed to Missouri in 1867,
and the following spring to Osawattomie. Mr. Jackson lived in the home
of Mrs. Teasley for eight years prior to his death, December 24, 1891.
Her mother was deceased one year later.
Mr. and Mrs. Teasley are
the parents of four children, namely: Ida May, wife of Amos Musser, a
farmer of Summit township: they are the parents of four children.
Luella, Stanley, Forest and Tamworth. Susan Alena, wife of Frank Clark,
of Concordia; three children brighten their home, Ruth, Dorothy and
Bernice. Gerty, is the wife of Frank Mooney, a farmer of Solomon
township. James was deceased at the age of eighteen months. Pearl, the
youngest daughter, is the wife of David Beesley, a farmer, of Summit
township.
In politics Mr. Teasley is a Populist and was elected
by that party to the office of County Commissioner, and has just retired
from serving his second term. His career as an official was marked for
its justness, never swerving from his ideas of duty and honor,
oftentimes bringing censure because no favors were shown. He was trustee
of Summit township during the year 1894. Socially Mr. Teasley is
identified with the Glasco lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons,
and the Fraternal Aid. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. Mr. Teasley owns a fine farm and raises wheat and corn. He keeps
a herd of fifty native cattle and a few Jerseys. Mr. Teasley and his
estimable family are among the best citizens of the Solomon valley and
have contributed to the promotion of every worthy cause.
WILLIAM WASHINGTON TEASLEY.
W.W. Teasley, one of the early
settlers, also one of the many prosperous farmers and foremost stockmen
of Summit township, was a native of Dalton, Whitfield county, Georgia,
born in the year 1846. His parents were David Allan and Rhoda Milligan
(Boatwright) Teasley, both natives of Georgia. Mr. Teasley's father
owned and successfully managed a cotton plantation. His paternal
grandparents settled in Georgia at an early day. The Teasleys left their
southern home to test the possibilities of the much discussed new
country of Kansas. His father, Allan Teasley, and his family were among
the first settlers on Fisher creek, in the year 1866, where he endured
the hardships of pioneer life with dauntless courage, bearing
privations, that his family might in later years reap the reward of his
efforts. He died on February 18, 1875 at the age of fifty-one years. He
was cutting wood in the timber, left his home early in the morning and
not returning at the noon hour, his wife instituted a search and found
him with life extinct - supposedly from heart failure brought on by over
exertion - leaving his little band to struggle on alone in the battle of
life. Mr. Teasley's mother was of Scotch origin and died June 8, 1886,
at the advanced age of seventy four years.
"To come to Kansas in
the early times without a dollar," was so frequent an occurance that it
was cited with pride rather than an event of something to be held back
from the neighbors lest they look down upon them as less adventurers.
All lived alike in houses of sod or logs. The dugouts was counted as the
warmest in winter and coolest in summer. To be the owner of a wagon and
a span of horses decorated with a rope harness was quite a rise in the
world from the yoke of oxen and home-made sled.
Our subject's
home was a one-room house built of stone, where six of his children
opened their eyes to the "great round world." Childhood knows nothing
but brightness and joy, and this little house brought them all the
comforts and pleasures of a palace. Appetites savored the buffalo meat
and bread made of corn meal. Buffalo were numerous and formed a staple
article of food, and from the skin robes for warm carpets and coverings
for the beds were made.
During the Indian raids of 1868, W.W.
Teasley with his family moved to Franklin county, but returned to their
homestead in 1870. Upon his arrival he was well pleased to meet his old
employer. "Uncle Tommy" Pinkerton, who was a contractor, and after the
usual salutations of "How are you getting along?" etc., Mr. Teasley
remarked with all the soberness of a judge, "Physically well, but
financially busted," and ventured to ask for a loan of fifteen dollars.
Such an amount in those days was seldom near at hand but credit was its
equivalent and the amount in goods from a general merchandise store was
soon put in shape to be taken home and prepared into wholesome meals.
When he finished his marketing he had a wagon load of purchases and felt
rich.
Mrs. Teasley's father in the year 1872, was the owner of
two cows only one of which gave milk, the other having "gone dry" for
lack of proper care. His son-in-law thinking he saw an opportunity to
make a little stake asked for the cow. The owner, little thinking
anything could be done to bring her milk back, consented to the deal. In
the first attempt the son-in-law secured about a spoonful of the lacteal
fluid, the next time two, and after repeated trials was well rewarded by
getting a flowing pall full of milk, which made nice rolls of butter,
illustrating that even in so small a venture, industry brings its
reward.
Mr. Teasley's home was seven miles from Ottawa, while
living in Franklin county, and upon the occasion of a show coining to
town all wanted to go. But "the price" could not be obtained. Mrs.
Teasley's father gave her the wherewithal for admittance and while
enroute to the city Mr. Teasley overtook a man with a balky horse,
accepted the proffered two dollars to help him out of his predicament
took the man into town, and to his wife's great surprise when she
entered the big tent, found him quietly "seeing the elephant" and all
the wonderful sights under the canvas.
Mr. Teasley homesteaded
his present farm March 15, 1872, and added to his land from time to time
until he was the possessor of one thousand acres. He has, however, sold
to his sons portions of this land, retaining for himself three hundred
and sixty acres. About eleven years ago Mr. Teasley suffered from a
stroke of paralysis, which disabled him for manual labor. His career has
been a financial success and even after losing the use of his limbs, Mr.
Teasley made in 1897, while seated in his conveyance, a profit of seven
hundred dollars on the sales of cattle, beside other financial bargains.
Mr. Teasley was married in December, 1869, to Mary Jane, a daughter
of Henry Stackhouse, a brother of the Reverend Stackhouse, who held
services and preached one of the first sermons in the Glasco community.
and all the early settlers remember how, like music, the first words of
the gospel fell on their listing ears; the words of comfort and good
cheer were at that time "pearls without price." Her father is still
living and resides in Mitchell county. Mrs. Teasley is the eldest of
eight children, and, with the exception of one brother living in Texas,
all reside in Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Teasley are the parents of
eight children, seven of whom have been spared to them, viz: Rhoda E.,
wife of W.G. Wells, of Concordia: David Henry, a farmer of Cloud county;
George Monroe and Thomas Wesley are both farmers and own land in Summit
township; Minnie Jane, wife of Isaac Moore, a farmer living seven miles
south of Concordia; Charles Calvin is associated with his father on the
farm, and Cora Adell, a prepossessing and industrious young woman,
living at home.
Mr. Teasley has practically retired from
financial transactions, having a sufficiency of this world's goods. He
is a Democrat politically, but has voted the populist ticket since the
organization of that party. He is a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows.
F. K. TETER.
F.K. Teter came to Cloud
county in 1870, and settled in Clyde where he became associated with
Walter Herman, and was an important factor in the building up of Clyde,
one of the pillars of the Baptist church and a prime mover in every
worthy enterprise. He had been a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows over fifty years. Mr. Teter died in Mena, Arkansas, October 17,
1900, at the home of his son-in-law, Ed Roach.
OBADIAH THOMPSON.
The subject of this sketch is Obadiah Thompson, who
came to Cloud county November 8, 1865. He was a native of Wisconsin. Mr.
Thompson was an old soldier of the Fourteenth Wisconsin. He joined that
regiment November 8, 1861, and was mustered out June 1, 1865, serving
over three years and six months. During this time he was in some very
severe engagements, among which were the battles of Pittsburg Landing,
Corinth and Tupelo, in the Siege of Vicksburg and the celebrated Red
River expedition, and several other engagements. He lived a retired life
and stood high in the esteem of his neighbors and friends.
WILLIAM THOMPSON.
The subject of this sketch is the late
William Thompson, who was one of the early settlers of the Solomon
valley, and a man whose memory is held in reverence by all his neighbors
and friends. He was the founder of the first Sabbath school in the
vicinity known as Fisher Creek; the promoter of the first school,
instrumental in the building of the first school house, and active in
every enterprising project. His was a life full of good and noble
impulses, and to such men as Mr. Thompson the Solomon valley country
owes much of its development.
William Thompson was a son of
Joshua and Anna (Likes) Thompson. He was a native of Harrison county,
Ohio, born in 1815. In his early manhood he moved to Vanceville,
Pennsylvania, and shortly afterward received the appointment of
postmaster and kept a village store for seven years. In 1855 he
emigrated to Ogle county, Illinois, where he kept a hotel, or rather
tavern, as they were called in those days. In 1871, during that period
of emigration when every road was thronged with prairie schooners,
freighted with families and their belongings, bound for the land of
Kansas, the Thompsons came to the Solomon valley and took their places
in the rank and file of those hardy early settlers. Mr. Thompson bought
the Aaron Spalding homestead, now owned by Mr. Louthan, and where they
lived through sunshine and cloud until 1892, when they sold the farm and
moved into Glasco, buying the home where Mrs. Thompson and her daughter
now live. Mr. Thompson was stricken with paralysis and died in 1892, at
the age of seventy-seven years.
Our subject was married February
29, 1839, to Mary Thompson, who is a native of Flushing, Belmont county,
Ohio, born in 1817. When Mrs. Thompson was ten years old her mother died
and she was reared by her maternal grandmother. In those days there were
no railroads and she, in company with a brother, walked to her
grandmother's home, the distance being one hundred miles. Mrs.
Thompson's paternal grandmother was a Canon, and the city of Canonsburg,
Pennsylvania, was named for her brother. Her maternal ancestry were
French. Her mother was Ann Groseau. Mrs. Thompson is a well preserved
woman and though nearing the century mark, she is active in both mind
and body. She is the only living member of a family of seven children. A
brother, Samuel Thompson, died about two years ago, at the age of
eighty-eight years. Her brothers were all tradesmen, noted for their
honor and integrity.
Mr. Thompson was one of ten children, none
of whom survive him. A sister, Martha Marsh, visited him a few years
prior to his death, after a separation of forty years. She had learned
of his residence through inquiry and without announcing her intention of
doing so came on a visit. Before making her identity known she stopped a
couple of days at the Haynes House, in Glasco, for the purpose of
determining whether her relatives were desirable acquisitions. She drove
out with a neighbor and asked for a night's lodging; when the name was
announced a joyful meeting followed between brother and sister who had
met as strangers. When talking over childhood days each remembered
instances that recalled their youth.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were
the parents of seven children. Rachel is unmarried and lives with her
mother. She taught in a dugout that had been a bachelor's residence, the
first school in the Fisher Creek settlement before the organization of
the district. It was a subscription school of perhaps a dozen pupils.
She also taught the first term in the new school house for a salary of
twenty dollars per month. The aged mother and her daughter have a very
comfortable home. They are members of the Presbyterian church. [Miss
Rachel Thompson was deceased in December, 1902. - Editor.]
JOHN M. THORPE.
One of the pioneers who shared in the
hardships of the frontier and one of the "main stays" of the new
settlement was John M. Thorpe. He came to the county in company with
J.M. Hagaman, whose lives having been spent on the wild prairies
together made them bosom friends. Being the head of a family Mr. Thorpe
did not enlist in the army but was patriotic enough to contribute two
sons. Mr. Thorpe was the first justice of the peace with jurisdiction
extending over the whole country. There were not many law suits but he
became a sort of general expounder of the law and people accepted and
were usually satisfied with his decisions. However, the early settlers
had enough to employ their time without going to law.
For a
considerable length of time there was no regular physician this side of
Manhattan or Junction City. This want was supplied by J.M. Thorpe who
apparently possessed considerable knowledge of the human system, with
remedies for its disorders. Many can testify to having been brought back
to health through his treatments. He generally performed these duties
gratuitously, and in this way made himself very useful. However, the
people were generally hale and hearty, as no one would come so far away
from medical aid who was not. Mr. Thorp removed to Russell county and in
losing him the county sustained a loss not easily repaired.
WILLIAM S. TOWNSDIN.
The subject of this sketch is W.S.
Townsdin, a retired farmer and one of the esteemed early settlers that
came to Cloud county in 1867, and has seen the country develop and
"blossom like the rose." He and his wife experienced many trials and
anxious days but did not suffer as many of their neighbors. Mr. Townsdin
does not regret having cast his lot in Kansas, but in the early
settlement of the country he felt the chances were against them, but in
later years when surrounded by their family of children who were
prosperous, they agreed "all was well," and that Kansas was one of the
fairest spots on earth. They were on the frontier for over two years
without the addition of a single new settler. They at one time lived in
the most commodious dwelling in the country and kept open house. Many
travelers in quest of homes in the new west have enjoyed their
hospitality.
Mr. Townsdin is a native of Huntingdonshire,
England, born in 1827. His parents were Samuel and Elizabeth (Dean)
Townsdin, both of English birth, where his father was a carpenter and
worked for the same employer all his life. Mr. Townsdin is one of eight
children, three of whom are living, two sisters, both residing in
England. Mr. Townsdin received a limited education in the village of
Huntingdon and at the age of fourteen years began a career for himself.
He located in Wales, where he worked at various things for about ten
years.
In 1852 he was married to Margaret Jones, a native of
Monmouthshire, Wales. She was a daughter of John and Mary (Davis) Jones
and one of fourteen children. At her mother's death, a half century ago,
twelve children, all of whom were married, followed her to the grave.
Mrs. Townsdin is now the only surviving member of the family. Mr.
Townsdin touched on American soil with his family In 1833, and settled
in Pomeroy county, Ohio, where he labored on public works for a period
of seven years. In 1860 he removed to Edwards county. Illinois, where he
farmed until 1867. A year later he came to Kansas.
He emigrated
with three teams to Cloud county, pre-empted a quarter section and
homesteaded one hundred acres of land one mile from the present city of
Concordia, which at that time was not even thought of. The Townsdins
were among the few settlers of Lincoln township, and are the only
remaining landmark of those pioneer days. Buffalo, elk, antelope and
wild turkey abounded and furnished their supply of meat. They
experienced many Indian scares and several persons were killed, but
while they were in constant terror and suspense they were never
disturbed. When there were neither roads nor bridges Mr. Townsdin hauled
corn from Manhattan, for which he had paid one dollar and twenty-five
cents per bushel.
He gradually drifted into the stock business,
bought a calf here and there, finally collecting quite a herd. He added
to his land until he owns several farms, of which he has retained four
hundred acres and owns several good residence properties in Concordia,
where he removed when he retired from the farm in 1883. The following
year he, with his wife, spent two years visiting England and Wales, and
has visited his native land once since that date.
To Mr. and Mrs.
Townsdin eight children have been born, seven of whom are living: John,
a farmer, who resides two and one-half miles east of Concordia; James, a
retired farmer of Randall, Jewell county, Kansas; Samuel, a farmer eight
miles east of Concordia; Charles, a commission merchant of Kansas City
(he owns three farms in Cloud county); George, a merchant of Randall,
Kansas; Mary J, wife of John Shrader, a farmer three miles southeast of
Concordia; Vincent, a stock and grain buyer of Randall, Kansas. The
Townsdin family are all prosperous and well-to-do, owning fine farms and
desirable personal property.
HONORABLE LEWIS M. TRUDELL.
One of the old settlers and retired farmers now living in Miltonvale
is Lewis M. Trudell, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Trudell was born in
Vermont in 1830. His parents were James and Bridget (Crapo) Trudell,
both of French origin. James Trudell came from France to Canada when a
young man and settled in the Province of Quebec, subsequently moving to
Franklin county, Vermont, where he farmed in the Green Mountain country
until his death in 1867. His wife died ten years later.
Lewis M.
Trudell was one of eleven children, four of whom are living, viz: Eli, a
farmer of Clay county, Kansas, and two sisters in Franklin county,
Vermont. Mr. Trudell began his career by working on a farm and after
several years bought a backwoods farm of two hundred and forty acres and
in 1855 chopped the first tree to build his cabin. In 1869 he came to
Illinois and settled in Henry county, where he farmed rented land four
years. In 1873 he came to Kansas and took up a claim in the western part
of Clay county, one mile distant from the Cloud county line, where he
built a sort of "stone stockade," covered with dirt, and lived in true
pioneer style for four years. In 1888 he traded his farm for a livery
stable in Miltonvale, which he conducted profitably for eleven years and
sold to his son, who, in turn, sold two years later to its present
proprietor, James Stelter. In 1890 Mr. Trudell bought a cozy residence
property, where he and his amiable wife are spending their declining
years. Mr. Trudell owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Starr
township - the original Adams homestead.
In 1849 Mr. Trudell was
married to Delia Domina, of Franklin county, Vermont. Her parents were
Canadian by birth and of French origin. Mr. and Mrs. Trudell have had
born to them seven children, five of whom are living viz: Moses L., of
Idana, Kansas, where he owns and operates an elevator and a lumber yard.
Eli, a prosperous farmer of Clay county; Marion E., wife of Albert
LaDue, a stone mason of Lead, South Dakota; Alice E. Burdick, of
Miltonvale (see sketch of Burdick's Hotel); Jennie, wife of W.C. Wolf, a
dentist of Tonkawa, Oklahoma. Corris died in 1890 at the age of
thirty-nine years, leaving a wife and six children. He was a business
man of Clay Center, Kansas; Nettie, deceased wife of Robert McNea, a
farmer of Clay county; she died in 1892, leaving three children.
Mr. Trudell enlisted in Company A, Ninth Vermont Volunteer Infantry at
the last call and served nine months; was on guard duty a greater part
of the time. He is a Republican in politics; has held the office of
justice of the peace for four years; was mayor of the town in 1896-7 and
has served on the board of city council.
This estimable couple
have been members of the Christian church for eleven years and are held
in the highest esteem by their neighbors and friends. Mr. Trudell has
the reputation of using his influence and best efforts for the promotion
of all things that tend to make better his town or country.
DAVID TURNER, SR.
In March, 1866, David Turner, Sr., the
subject of this memoir, with his son James, while on a prospecting tour
visited Kansas. After retracing their journey and making the necessary
preparations at their home in Nebraska, they returned to the new country
in the month of May, joined the Elk creek settlement and secured
government claims. During their early residence in Kansas they endured
many of the incidents of frontier lifeand endured them bravely as one
who dips into the future and is rewarded by visions of victory and
prosperity. The beautiful suburban home they now occupy is the original
homestead and proves the rare good judgment David Turner, Sr.,
possessed.
The Irishman said: "Taking up land in Kansas is like
betting $14.50 with 'Uncle Sam' against one hundred and sixty acres of
land, that they could not live on it five years." But the Turners won
out on this proposition. From the date of their arrival on Elk creek
they have been prominent factors of Clyde and vicinity, figuring largely
in every good enterprise. David Turner, Sr., was one of the original
town company and helped lay out the city of Clyde. He was the first
township trustee of Elk township, one of the early county assessors and
once elected county commissioner; though a staunch Democrat politically
he received his first nomination through the Republican party. He was
conceeded to be one of the best commissioners Cloud county ever had. He
maintained a potent interest in all enterprises originated in behalf of
the people; especially was his influence given to the promotion of the
public schools. For years he was a leading man in all matters pertaining
to the schools of Clyde, serving several years as member of the school
board.
David Turner, Sr., descended from an ancient and honored
Scottish family. He left Edinburg in 1849 to make a home in America. He
first settled in Dodge county, Wisconsin, where he farmed with the zeal
and energy of true Scotch yeomanry for fifteen years. Next they located
in Minnesota, but twelve months later we find him with his son forging
their way to the new west where as a result of earnest effort he
accumulated a modest fortune and power for good, having left an
influence with the locality where he was identified for so many years -
a name above reproach. David Turner, Sr., was deceased August 19, 1897.
Mrs. Turner, who survives him was Jean Law before her marriage and is
also of Scotch birth.
To Mr. and Mrs. Turner eight children were
born and all arrived at manhood and womanhood and were useful men and
women. James Turner, the eldest son, is Clyde's enterprising furniture
dealer, conducting the only business in that line in the city. He
established this enterprise in 1883 and in the meantime purchased the
stock of three different stores. James Turner is one of Clyde's most
representative citizens and like his father is active in educational
interests. He served thirteen years by election and an unexpired term by
appointment as a member of the school board. No man is more interested
in the developement and progress of Clyde or more loyal to the general
welfare of the community. John, who was a prosperous farmer, died in
1882. David, Jr., a furniture dealer of Anadarko, Oklahoma, was for many
years a farmer and esteemed business man of Clyde. William and Alexander
are farmers, living on the old homestead. Jean Margaret, is the widow of
William E. Reid and the mother of Albert T. Reid, the distinguished
artist, (see sketch elsewhere,) George S., Frank A., Llewellyn Arthur
and Jean Lucile. Mary E., who died in 1882, taught in the public
schools. Elizabeth, the youngest daughter, also taught school at Clyde,
before her marriage to Thos. Owen. Her death occurred in 1891.
The Turners are all Democrats politically. James Turner says the first
time he voted in Cloud county there were but six Democratic votes in Elk
township and three of those were accredited to the Turner family. In
religion they are connected with and regular attendants of the
Presbyterian church.
HONORABLE CHARLES W. VANDEMARK.
The VanDeMarks have contributed very materially to the growth and
prosperity of Clyde and have never been found wanting when any
enterprise was inaugurated for the best interest of their town, where
they have done as much by way of imparting their finances for the
promotion of Clyde as any citizen in their beautiful little city.
Mr.
VanDeMark located in Clyde in the winter of 1879-80 and with his
brother, M.V.B., who came the following summer, established the bank of
Clyde. M.V B. VanDeMark was made president and C.W. VanDeMark was
installed as cashier. This institution changed hands in 1886, and was
incorporated under the name of the State Bank of Clyde. The State Bank
was succeeded by the present Elk State Bank of Clyde. Mr. VanDeMark has
perhaps erected more buildings than any one citizen of Clyde. Among them
is the bank building of 1880. He erected one of the handsomest
residences in the county in 1884. It is a two-story frame building with
a basement; it is modern in all its appointments, heated by a furnace
and of artistic architecture. It is surrounded by a wide lawn and fine
shade trees and is situated on the south side of Washington street. In
1887 he built the VanDeMark block, a substantial two-story brick
occupied by stores on the first, and by offices on the second floor.
Mr. VanDeMark is a native of Junius. Seneca county, New York, born
July 13, 1841. At the age of seventeen he took a preparatory course in
Penn Yan, New York, and entered the Williams College at Williamstown,
Massachusetts, in the autumn of 1863, graduating in 1867, and began
reading law in the office of Major C.N. Emerson, of Pittsfield,
Massachusetts, a son-in-law of Judge Shaw, and United States collector
of Massachusetts. Mrs. Emerson is a sister of "Josh Billings." One year
later he entered the offices of Pingree & Barker as a student. The firm
was originally Rockwell & Colt. Judge Rockwell received the appointment
of judge of the superior court and the firm became Colt & Pingree, and
when Judge Colt was appointed judge of the supreme court the combination
assumed the firm name of Pingree & Barker. Judge Barker was subsequently
appointed one of the Judges of the supreme court and is the present
incumbent. He is a Republican in politics but his appointment was made
by the Democratic official, Governor Russell. A year later Mr. VanDeMark
became associated with William P. Porter of North Adams, Massachusetts,
under the firm name of Porter & VanDeMark. The original name was Davis &
Porter; the former becoming United States Senator. Mr. VanDeMark was
admitted to the bar at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, at the October 1869
term of the superior court by Henry W. Taft, who field the office of
clerk of the court about forty years, having resigned about two years
ago. Prior to having been admitted to the bar Mr. VanDeMark was
appointed clerk of the district court by Govenor William Claflin, of
Massachusetts, and Oliver Warner, Secretary of State, May 13, 1870,
which office he held until going to Pittsfield, and entering upon the
practice of law. May 17, 1873, he was appointed one of the Justices of
the district court of Central Berkshire by Governor W.B. Washburn, to
succeed John Tatlock, of Pittsfield, who was a professor of mathematics
in the college Mr. VanDeMark attended.
In September, 1873, Mr.
VanDeMark withdrew from the firm of Porter & VanDeMark and succeeded to
the office and library of John M. Taylor, of Pittsfield, who is now
vice-president of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance company. Mr.
VanDeMark practiced law in Pittsfield until January, 1877, but on
account of failing health visited southern California, spending the
winter at Santa Barbara and San Diego. The following summer he joined
his brother, M.V.B., in Chicago where he engaged in the lumber business.
Mr. VanDeMark was admitted to the bar of the state of Illinois June 13,
1877, and practiced law in Chicago until June 1878, when he was sent to
Texas on legal business and turned his attention for a year or more to
the speculation in lumber and made it a paying proposition. While
engaged in this enterprise he met Miss Addie Stevens, of Houston, Texas,
whom he married April 21, 1880. Mr. VanDeMark says he entered the bonds
of matrimony with Miss Stevens that he might assist in taming the
rebels; however she is of northern birth, born in the city of Chicago,
and removed with her parents to Houston, when about four years of age.
Her father was a car manufacturer and owned a factory in Chicago, but
when the war broke out he engaged in the manufacture of lumber. Her
maternal ancestors were the Abbotts who founded the city of Detroit,
Michigan. After this important event in Mr. VanDeMark's history he
resolved to try his fortunes in the west; located in Clyde and engaged
in the banking business as before stated, and resumed the practice of
law where he has resided continuously since. Was admitted to the bar of
Kansas August 12, 1881, and has had and still retains many interests in
and around the vicinity of Clyde. He is largely interested in farming
and horticulture. He owns six hundred and forty acres of pasture land,
which is a profitable estate located about six miles north of Clyde; one
hundred and twenty acres one mile east of Clyde; one hundred and sixty
acres one and one-half miles north of Clyde; one hundred and sixty acres
one and one-half miles northwest of Clyde; three hundred and forty acres
two and one-half miles north of Miltonville, making a total of one
thousand three hundred and fifty acres. He also owns a fifteen acre
tract of ground near Clyde - a fruit farm with an orchard of six hundred
fine peach trees.
Mr. and Mrs. VanDeMark are the parents of three
remarkably handsome and promising sons. The eldest, Martin V.B.,
graduated from the Clyde high school in 1901, and the present year
entered upon a regular classical course in the Washburn College, Topeka.
John V. carried away second honors in 1902 graduating class of the Clyde
high school and has just become (September, 1902) a student of Washburn.
Otis, the youngest son, is a namesake of his maternal grandfather. He is
a student of the Clyde high school. Their ages are nineteen, seventeen
and fifteen years, respectively.
Mrs. VanDeMark is an
accomplished woman, distinguished in musical circles for her rich and
cultivated soprano voice. Her solos have been a leading attraction at
the Presbyterian church in Clyde for years. Her mother Mrs. Stevens,
makes her home with her daughter and is a cultured and refined woman.
Mr, VanDeMark has one of the finest selected and most extended law
libraries in the county. His career as a legal practioneer has been one
of flattering success. He has always taken an active part in politics
and is a staunch Republican.
G. B. VANLANDINGHAM.
Perhaps no individual of the Solomon valley is better known than G.B.
VanLandingham. He is a public spirited, enterprising man and has done
his full share toward the improvement of his section of the country, and
is ranked among its most trustworthy citizens.
The place of his
nativity is Palmyra, one of the most beautiful little cities in the
state of Missouri. He was born September 30, 1845, and lived in his
native state until coming to Kansas in 1871. Mr. VanLandingham received
his earlier education in the common schools of his county and afterward
took a course in the Palmyra College. In 1863 he was enrolled in the
state militia under Federal authorities and again in 1864, but was each
time rejected for active military service by the examining surgeon on
account of a crippled ankle.
Since coming to Kansas he has been
engaged in various enterprises - agricultural and mercantile. He
homesteaded a claim in the Solomon valley, farmed successfully for many
years and was associated with his brother-in-law, Owen Day, in the
hardware business at Glasco, for a period of about ten years. He is also
a stock auctioneer and has conducted many sales, extending over this and
adjoining counties and is acknowledged as one of the best in the
country.
Throughout his life Mr. VanLandingham has been, a
devoted worker in the interests of the Democratic party, and in 1887
received from his constituents the nomination for sheriff of Cloud
county against Edward Marshall, and made a formidable foe, but was on
the wrong side to be elected in this county. The vote stood one thousand
five hundred and forty-three for Marshall and one thousand four hundred
and forty-one for VanLandingham. Although he has a "will of his own" he
is not aggressive. He is a philanthropic, honorable, high minded man,
full of generous impulses and his career is marked by many kind deeds.
He is extensively known over Cloud county and none of her citizens
possesses the general good will of the people to a greater extent than
he, and he is one of the old-timers who witnessed the marvelous growth
of this fair state, and is pretty well satisfied with the world as it is
revealed in Kansas.
JOHN M. VERNON.
Among the most
prominent farmers and stockmen of Cloud county is J.M. Vernon, the
subject of this sketch. A charming sense of rest pervades the atmosphere
of the Vernon home, where the comforts of the family, unlike many, are
regarded of greater importance than the care of stock, and in accordance
he has built one of the best residences in the county. In architecture
this house would grace a city avenue; in its appointments it as well
furnished as many a fashionable home, and illustrates forcibly that
culture, refinement and accomplishments need not be foreign to the sons
and daughters of the farm. No higher tribute can be paid Mr. and Mrs.
Vernon than a recognition of the fine instinct which distinguish their
family. Though reared in the school of industry, their education and
accomplishments have not been neglected and they are talented musicians.
Mr. Vernon is a native of Pennsylvania, born near the city of
Brownville, on a farm in 1842. The Vernons were in old Dutch family,
dating back to the early settlement of the state. He is a son of Joel
Vernon, who was born and died in the historical county of Fayette, where
the body of General Braddock lies buried. Joel Vernon died in 1867. Mrs.
Vernon was Eliza Connell, of Virginian birth and Scotch origin. Her
maternal ancestors were an old Pennsylvania family and descendants of
the family are still there on the homesteads they "tomahawked." She came
to Kansas with her son where she died at the age of ninety-one years in
1893.
Mr. Vernon is one of six children, five of whom are living,
viz: William, a farmer of Mitchell county; George, a miller of Comanche,
Texas; Rebecca, wife of J.C. Momyer, a retired minister of the
Cumberland Presbyterian church, their residence is Petersburg, Illinois;
Maggie E., widow of J.C. Ulery, of Pueblo, Colorado.
Mr. Vernon
was educated in the common schools of his county and attended college
for one year at Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. At the age of twenty years he
entered upon a career for himself. In 1872, came west and took the
homestead where he now lives and soon afterwards bought forty acres of
the Teasley homestead. He now owns one thousand five hundred acres of
land, three hundred and sixty in Wallace county, seven hundred and
twenty in Mitchell county and four hundred and twenty in Cloud county.
At the present writing has seven hundred and twenty acres of wheat on
his land. In 1894, he had two hundred acres of wheat which yielded
thirty-one bushels per acre.
Mr. Vernon was the promoter of
alfalfa growing in his neighborhood now one of the best paying
industries in Kansas. In 1897 he bought thirteen bushels of seed which
sowed thirty-three acres of ground as a trial venture. The third year
sold one hundred and sixty bushels of seed from the second crop which
netted him $1,025. This was the introduction of alfalfa as a paying
proposition.
Mr. Vernon and J.L. Hostetler were the first to
bring sheep into the Solomon valley. As a beginning they started with
sixty head each in 1873. Their herds increased to more than one thousand
head and wool growing became one of the foremost industries of that
valley. Mr. Vernon was one of the instigators of the organization known
as the Solomon Valley Wool Growing Association, (an account of which is
given elsewhere in this volume), and was its first secretary. He shipped
the first fine stock into the county and got his best start in Kansas in
the sheep raising business.
Mr. Vernon was married in 1874, to
Sarah Darrow, who was born in the state of New York, and came to Kansas
with her parents in 1870, and settled in Mitchell county where her
father took up a homestead one mile from the Cloud county line. Mrs.
Darrow died in 1887, and Mr. Darrow one year later. Mrs. Vernon is one
of ten children, seven girls and three boys, seven of whom are living;
two sisters in California, the others all in the vicinity of Cloud and
Mitchell counties.
Mr. Vernon's family consists of a wife and
seven children: Edgar, a farmer, living two and one-half miles of the
old homestead, married Pearl Simpson, whose father the town of Simpson
was named for. They are the parents of one child, a little daughter,
Mabel. Annie, the eldest daughter Is a talented musician on the piano
and violin, has taken a course at Lindsborg college and expects to
return and complete her studies. George, associated with his father on
the farm; Lizzie and Clara, also talented in music; John, a boy of
thirteen, and Albert aged eleven. Jesse, who had been an invalid for a
period of six years was deceased July 27, 1901, at the age of nineteen
years.
Mr. Vernon has one of the best improved homesteads in the
country; built a commodious house of eleven rooms in 1888, and built the
first large barn in the Solomon valley.
ROBERT H. VINING.
The late Robert H. Vining came to Kansas in March, 1868, and located
on Elk creek, in Republic county. On January 1, 1869, he was married to
Martha J. Oliver, who survives him and is now living in Clyde. Their
wedding was distinguished as the first marriage ceremony performed in
Republic county, and by the Reverend R.P. West, the pioneer preacher of
both Republic and Cloud counties.
Mr. Vining was born in Henry
county, Illinois, in 1846. Though very young, in March, 1862, he
enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Infantry. He
lost a leg in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain and was discharged at the
United States hospital at Camp Douglas, Illinois, in February, 1865. Mr.
Vining was patriotic and proud that his lost limb was given to the cause
of his country. He was well known throughout the northwest and had
served as marshal of both Clyde and Concordia. On October 12, 1888, this
old pioneer's sudden death was announced. Mr. Vining was familiarly
known as "Peggy," and was buried with patriotic honors, his body wrapped
in the emblem of his country. There is a bit of sentiment in connection
with this. Some time before his demise Mr. Vining and Jacob Sohlinger
entered into an agreement by which the surviving party should prepare a
flag to enwrap the body of his dead comrade. True to his obligation, Mr.
Sohlinger prepared the stars and stripes used for that purpose.
Mr. Vining was manager of the Western Detective Agency of Clyde, which
was established in 1879.
DAVID WESLEY WATSON.
The
subject of this sketch is D.W. Watson, a successful farmer and stockman
of Oakland township. He is a son of Thomas Watson, an early settlers of
Clark county, Illinois, who died in 1876.
D.W. Watson came to
Cloud county in 1870, with a capital of less than twenty-five dollars,
built a dugout and for several years barely eked out an existence. In
October, 1878, he was married to Clara E. Burkhart, daughter of J.E.
Burkhart, of Oakland township.
Mr. Watson's family consists of
four children, two boys and two girls; Walter Erwin is married to
Florence May Smith, and owns eighty acres of land adjoining his father;
Florence L. Eola, deceased; Clarence Eugene, aged sixteen; Ethel May,
and Lena Hazel, bright girls of thirteen and five years.
Mr.
Watson has a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, but attributes his
success to raising cattle and hogs. He keeps a herd of about one hundred
head of native cattle. He has been fortunate in all of his shipments and
made large gains on all but one. His farm is one of the best in Oakland
township, with a stock well that is inexhaustible. He is a quiet,
unostentatious man, but a good citizen and neighbor.
NICOLAS WEAVER.
The subject of this sketch is Nicolas Weaver, an
old settler, farmer and stockman of Solomon township. He is a native of
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, thirty miles distant from the city of
Pittsburg. He was born in 1847, and is a son of David B. and Jane
(Henry) Weaver. His ancestors were of German origin and among the early
settlers of that state. His father was born in Westmoreland county,
where he lived on a farm until his death by accident, which occurred
August 1, 1879. He was walking on the tracks of the Pennsylvania Central
Railroad and was struck by the fast express. There were cars standing on
the three tracks and though accustomed to walking there daily, he did
not see or hear the approaching train that caused his death. Mr.
Weaver's mother died when he was four years old, leaving eight children,
five of whom are living; one in Streator, Illinois, two in Palmerville,
Pennsylvania, and one in Boston. By a second marriage there were two
children.
At the age of nineteen years Mr. Weaver began to map
out a career for himself and emigrated to Livingston county, Illinois,
where he farmed until coming to Kansas in 1871, and homesteaded the land
where he now lives. Mr. Weaver began at the foundation, as seven dollars
was his cash capital when he arrived in Cloud county. The same year he
was married and moved into the 13x13 dugout, where they continued to
live seven years and experienced many hardships; but their hospitality
was not wanting and they kept any wayfarer that came their way. Although
often without flour or milk, they lived for days on shorts minus fat
enough of any kind to grease a bread pan, often drank coffee made from
parched corn and burnt molassess. There was no market for eggs or butter
when they had them, and many times they did not have a cent in their
possession for weeks, not so much as a postage stamp. They had just
arrived at the point where they could exist with some comfort when the
grasshoppers put in an appearance.
In 1878 he built a small frame
house of one room: two years later he added a kitchen, and in 1893 a
one-and-a-half-story addition, making a comfortable residence. In 1897
he erected a barn 26x36 feet. Mr. Weaver now owns three hundred and
twenty acres of land and has a wheat field this year (1901) of one
hundred acres. He has had some very large yields of wheat and corn, and
raises the latter when it fails in other localities.
Mr. Weaver
was married in 1871 to Isabella Boyd, a native of Hallcock county, near
Findlay, Ohio. She is a daughter of Alexander Hamilton and Alma
(Overholdt) Boyd, both natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married
and later settled in Ohio, and subsequently moved to Illinois. Her
father was a miller and a farmer. He died July 27, 1901, at the home of
his daughter, where he had lived since December, 1900. The Boyds were of
Irish origin.
Mrs. Weaver's great-grandfather came from Ireland.
Her paternal grandfather was a physician and had practiced medicine in
Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he lived for years and until his death.
Her maternal ancestors were German. Her maternal grandfather was a
minister of the Mennonite. faith. She is one of seven children, five of
whom are living, - one brother near Fremont, Iowa, and three sisters
with residence in Streator, Illinois.
To Mr. and Mrs. Weaver five
children have been born, four of whom are living. Their eldest child,
David B., died on Christmas Eve, 1897, at the age of twenty-five years.
He was stricken with typhoid fever while in the employ of a publishing
company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and died after an illness of two
weeks. He graduated from Streator (Illinois) Commercial College in 1892;
worked and paid his own tuition. He was an expert penman and taught
classes in penmanship. He had considerable artistic talent and executed
some creditable work in black and white. He also took a course of
penmanship in the pen department of Dixon College. He was a bright,
intelligent boy of much character and firmness of purpose. He was an
exemplary member of the Christian church. Frances, wife of A.J. Franks,
a farmer of Solomon township; they are the parents of one child, a
little daughter Odrey. Reno and Christopher are associated with their
father on the farm. Ralph, the youngest son, is farming in Iowa. Mr.
Weaver is a Democrat. His sons who have attained their majority vote the
Republican ticket. The family are members of the Baptist church.
MYRON E. WEBSTER.
Myron E. Webster is a native of
Christain county, Illinois, born in the year 1860. His father was Myron
P. Webster. Webster is a good old name and the subject of this sketch
traces his lineage back to the world renowned Daniel and Noah Webster,
and their descendants justly pride themselves on their "family tree."
Mr. Webster's mother was a native of Vermont; before her marriage she
was Julia Chase. After she removed to New York she met and was married
to Myron P. Webster. They emigrated to Springfield, Illinois at an early
day, traveling over the chain of lakes, and down the Illinois river in a
small boat, much after the pattern of canal boats drawn by horses on a
tow path at the side of the river, possibly not quite as quick transit
as by cars, but exceedingly safe, and in earlier days people seemed to
have more time to jaunt through the country. At that period only one
railroad ran through the state, and that is now the Wabash. When this
road was built the tracks were made of wood with iron nailed on the top.
Myron E. Webster is one of nine children, eight of whom are living and
all are residents of the state of Kansas; their homes embracing Clay,
Washington and Cloud counties, excepting a sister in Kansas City,
Kansas, and one brother in Ellsworth county. There are none so distant
as to make it impossible to meet occasionally in pleasurable family
reunions, where they can indulge in a retrospective rehearsal of
childhood days when cares were unknown.
Mr. Webster owned a small
farm in Washington county, near the Cloud County line, which he disposed
of, and in 1890, purchased the "Nick Guiger" farm on the main Elk creek,
one of the most desirable farms in the country, and under his management
it has been a great success. He had 13,000 bushels of corn carried over
for several seasons, some of it as far back as five years and his farm
was called "Egypt" because of the abundance of corn, when there was a
shortage in the country. People came from Concordia and other points
hauling it away in wagons and paid from sixty to seventy cents per
bushel; it was bought principally for feed. To the hungry stock it was a
priceless boon and if their satisfaction could have been expressed in
words they would have shouted, "Corn is king." Mr. Webster's farm lands
consist of two hundred acres in Cloud county and five hundred acres in
the Republican river valley in Clay county, where he had three hundred
acres in corn, two hundred of which was washed out by floods. He
generally plants two-thirds of his land in corn. In the years 1896-7 he
raised one hundred and twenty acres of corn that averaged fifty-five
bushels to the acre. He does not raise much stock.
Mr. Webster
was married in 1888, to Lora V. Matthews, a daughter of William
Matthews, who died in the army of a gunshot wound, and from
overexertion, gangrene set in causing his death. He was buried In
Nashville, Tennessee. Mrs. Webster's family emigrated to Kansas in 1879;
her mother now resides in Beatrice, Nebraska. Her family consists of two
sons and one daughter; one of the sons is older than Mrs. Webster and
the other younger.
To Mr. and Mrs. Webster have been born three
children; the eldest, Lila Gay, deceased at the age of eight years.
Longfellow beautifully tells us. "There is no flock however watched and
tended, but one dead lamb is there." An infant was deceased January,
1902. One daughter remains to her parents' loving care, Julia May. She
has considerable talent for music and her parents are ambitious to
cultivate the gift; she is also very apt in her studies and a general
favorite. Mr. and Mrs. Webster and daughter have recently returned from
an extended trip to the coast, after visiting many places of interest.
The Webster home, a pretty cottage, is beautifully situated near the
banks of Elk creek, which is a running stream of water, a greater part
of the year and is skirted by heavy timber. The stream is crossed by a
rustic bridge, reminding the beholder of a dainty picture painted by an
artist that loves a bit of sky, a purling stream winding its way through
mossy banks shadowed by overhanging trees where bright plummed birds
fearlessly sing from morn till dewy eve. The cottage is surrounded by
trees and a grassy lawn, adding much to its appearance. Mr. Webster
brought some cedars and pines from Washington to test their growth in
Kansas soil and climate. He had previously been rewarded by the fine
growth of a dozen or more evergreens.
In politics Mr. Webster is
a Republican, has been a member of the school board nine years, and
during, his reign a new school house has been erected. Mr. Webster and
family are members of the Baptist church, Clyde congregation. He is also
a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Ancient Order of
United Workmen. He is one of the very prosperous men of the township,
possessing a keen, shrewd eye for business which makes money, and money
begets many comforts and pleasures. Mrs. Webster has helped with true
womanly instincts to bridge over many difficulties, and has been a
helpmate and companion, an unselfish, devoted wife and mother.
HONORABLE RICHARD PARRIOTT WEST.
Reverend R.P. West, the
subject of this sketch, is one of the most prominent of the pioneer
settlers and figures very conspicuously through the pages of this
volume. He was not in reality one of Cloud county's settlers, but was
jointly connected with this and Republic county, where he resided.
Vermilion county, Indiana, is the place of his nativity. He was born
August 10, 1829. His father, Jacob J. West, was born in Greene county,
Pennsylvania. He was a carpenter by trade, but later turned his
attention to agricultural pursuits. A chapter in Mr. West's
grandfather's life bordered on the romantic. At the age of nine years he
was kidnapped in Liverpool, England, taken on board a vessel, brought to
Philadelphia and disposed of to a Quaker for the consideration of twelve
dollars. He lived with this family for a number of years and received
uniform and kindly treatment. He used a gun on the British in the famous
battle of Lexington, when but twelve years of age.
After several
times enlisting he finally entered for five years and served during the
war. At the battle of Cowpens he received a severe saber wound on the
head that disabled him the remainder of his life. When on a scouting
expedition he suddenly came upon a squad of red coats and instantly
recognized one as his brother. He revealed to him his relationship, but
the brother refused to believe him until shown a mark well known to the
brother, which no longer left a doubt in his mind as to his identity.
They embraced each other, but the next moment the "Johnnie Bull" began
upbraiding him for being a rebel. Jacob West died deaf and blind from
the effect of the saber wound. He was a self-made man, and, although he
had received but a common school education, by assiduous reading he
became a compendium of history and famous for his extensive knowledge of
current events. He settled in Illinois in 1837, He died in 1864. His
wife died on the same day. They laid aside the joys and burdens of life
and together entered the mysterious beyond.
When troops were
called upon to protect the stars and stripes and the honor of the
nation, Reverend West was among the first to respond and joined the
Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, June 11, 1861.
Although not in any engagements he was constantly at the post of duty
and dangers until he fell ill and was forced to enter the hospital.
Failing to fully recover his health he was honorably discharged March
27, 1862.
Reverend West was married October 22, 1848, in Piatt
County, Illinois, to Miss Margaret Murphy, who is a most estimable woman
and member of a highly esteemed family. Not having been blessed with
children of their own Mr. and Mrs. West adopted little May Glovin, a
bright child of eight summers, whom they reared and educated. At the age
of twenty-one years she was married to William H. Vicker, a very worthy
man. One child, Earl, was born to them, but scarcely three years of
married life had elapsed ere the "grim reaper," death, had taken her
home, preceded by her infant child two months.
Reverend West has
always been active in politics, believing that all great reforms must be
brought about through the intelligent use of the ballot. He is a staunch
Republican, although he has not at all times approved of the action of
his party's conventions, and believing that an honest Democrat is better
than a dishonest Republican, he occasionally put that belief into
practice.
In 1869-70 and also in 1876 he was elected to the house
of representatives of the state of Kansas, and at each session he
distinguished himself in aiding the progression of important work. Among
the many good bills he was jointly responsible for was one to refund his
county's (Republic) indebtedness, whose finances were in such condition
that its credit had sunk to twenty-five cents on the dollar. The passage
of his bill immediately brought it up to par, where it has since
remained.
As an "objector" Mr. West was a terror to all who had
"jobs" before the legislature, each and all of which he opposed with the
vigor and ability he possessed. He is the man who unearthed an attempted
eight thousand dollar bond steal of the late Colonel Samuel Wood, who
was killed in Stephens county several years ago. During the discussion
of the case Wood became so infuriated at the remarks of Representative
West that he lost control of his vicious temper and violently hurled an
ink bottle at Mr. West, who, fortunately, dodged the missile.
In
the early 'eighties Reverend West's friends put him in the field as an
Independent Republican candidate for the state senate, the district
being composed of Republic and Cloud counties, but he was defeated by
the regular Republican nominee, through the dishonest tactics of his
opponent's friends and workers. He has been active in politics ever
since and probably always will be until be is gathered to his "Father's
home."
In 1882 Reverend West moved to the then territory of
Washington and engaged in farming, but his old love for Republic county,
where he had spent nearly twenty years bravely overcoming, the hardships
of frontier life, and finally rewarded with peace, pleasure and plenty,
caused him to return. He bought a home in Osborne county, and from there
moved Concordia, locating in the eastern part of the city on Fifth
street, where himself and wife declare they will live the remainder of
their lives in this pleasant home.
Reverend and Mrs. West were
pioneers of Republic county and settled on a homestead near where
Bellville now stands, in 1863, when great herds of buffalo tramped over
his farm, both springtime and autumn, and when the coyote and the Indian
were too frequent visitors to make life safe and enjoyable. Here this
worthy couple kept "open house," where the weary and hungry traveler
always found a welcome to rest and partake of their bounteous meals
without charge.
Reverend West was licensed to preach by the
quarterly conference of Tuscola-Paris district of the Illinois
conference and was ordained in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1866. Immediately
after coming to Kansas he began his life work of preaching the
"everlasting gospel" in his own inimitable style and he was "the right
man in the right place." He was always present to bury the dead, to
chase the marauding bands of Indians, or to hold protracted meetings in
every settlement from Manhattan, Riley county, to Jewell county on the
west, and was eminently successful in bringing souls to Christ and
organizing congregations, nearly always at his own expense.
Reverend West withdrew from the conference on account of his wife's
failing health, who, from the beginning of his ministerial labors had
borne much of the burden of supporting the itinerant circuit rider's
home. Beside dispensing free salvation, Reverend West probably
contributed more of his worldly stores than many of his parishioners
accumulated in the same length of time. Mrs. West was an important
quantity, and while commending this fearless clergyman and politician
the credit due his devoted companion must not be overlooked. She at all
times shared in those days of grief and romance and while speaking of
these attributes, Reverend West facetiously remarked, "To Margaret Ann
be all the honor." This venerable and worthy couple have always enjoyed
the confidence and esteem of their fellow citizens and when the parting
adieus are said and life's journey ended, their many good deeds will
live on in the hearts of their neighbors and friends.
- [Reverend
R.P. West, the pioneer circuit rider of more than a quarter of a century
ago departed this life at his home in Concordia on the 11th of December,
1902. He traveled over the prairies on horseback before the days of
roads and bridges, administering spiritual advice and comfort to the
settlers of Cloud, Republic, Washington and Clay counties. Since his
advent in the state in 1863, he was a prominent figure in church and
political affairs as references in various parts of this work signify.
His aged wife survives him. - Editor.
JUDGE LORENZO WESTOVER.
Judge Westover who died in Wichita county,
Kansas, October 31, 1893, was a conspicious character in Cloud county. He
settled in Riley county in the spring of 1855, and was one of the first
settlers. He came to Clyde in 1870, where he became one of her most
distinguished citizens. He was at one time county attorney of Cloud
county, but his special efforts were towards prohibition and female
suffrage. Originally he was a Whig, then a Republican and lastly a third
party Prohibitionist. He was a man of many enemies and is said to have
taken advantage of Charles French, his step-son, whose guardian he was,
taking from him something like nine hundred dollars, which caused the
people of Clyde to entertain unpleasant recollections of him.
HONORABLE S.C. WHEELER.
S. C. Wheeler, who ably
represented the counties of Republic and Cloud in the senate during the
Alliance movement, is one of the best-known politicians as well as one
of the most prosperous and energetic men of Cloud county. Mr. Wheeler
was born in Greenfield township, Huron county, Ohio, in 1846, and lived
in the home of his parents until he responded to the call for more
troops and enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Ninety-first Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, in February, 1865. He was discharged the following
June for disability, while in a hospital at Perryville, Maryland.
After regaining his health he emigrated to Iowa, where he purchased
a small farm and engaged in agriculture for three years. After three
years of western life Mr. Wheeler removed to Berrien county, Michigan,
where he became a tiller of the soil, remaining three years. He then
located in the town of Pentwater, Michigan, which is situated in the
timber region of that state, and worked in a lumber camp. Three years
later he was appointed Superintendent of the Berrien county farm for the
poor.
Accepting the position he returned to his former home and
superintended that institution four years. But his vigorous nature
longed for broader fields and the boundless prairies of Kansas, where
his ambitions could soar unrestrained and where he could build a home
for himself and family. He came to Kansas during the era of emigration
in 1879, and on the 7th day of March landed in Buffalo township, where
he bought one hundred and sixty acres of what is now his present farm.
He has since added another quarter, making a half section of land second
to none in the county in point of fertility and productiveness.
Politically Mr. Wheeler is a Populist. He joined the Alliance movement
in 1889 and was elected state senator for Cloud and Republic counties at
a special election held for the purpose of filling the vacancy caused by
the death of E.E. Swearengin. He was the only Populist senator at that
session. In 1897 Governor Leedy appointed Mr. Wheeler member of the
state board of charities for Kansas, which position he filled with
satisfaction to the state and commendable credit to himself for two
years and two months, or until his term expired and the office succeeded
to by a Republican. At the last city election, held in April, 1903, Mr.
Wheeler was chosen mayor of Concordia.
On March 23, 1867, he was
united in matrimony with Miss Delora Ashley, of Adamsville, Michigan.
Mrs. Wheeler is a sister of John H. Ashley, whose biographical sketch
appears in this volume. Although Mr. Wheeler has gained prominence as a
public character he is what might be considered a home man and has
always spent his leisure hours enjoying the domestic felicity of his
family, which consists of two sons and a daughter. Their children are
all married. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have retired from the farm and occupy
a beautiful cottage home in Concordia, where they expect to spend the
remainder of their days at ease. They also have a large circle of
friends who enjoy their genuine hospitality. Mr. Wheeler is a man of
public spirit, always doing his part toward promoting any enterprise
which is calculated to benefit mankind.
E. C. WHITCHER.
E.C. Whitcher, of the firm of Whipp & Whitcher, abstracters, dealers
in real estate, and insurance, is a native of Warren, Grafton county,
New Hampshire, born in 1860. His father was Levi C. Whitcher, a New
Englander, who was engaged in different occupations - lumberman,
hardware dealer, and at the time of his death was farming. His mother
was Sarah A. (Weeks) Whitcher, also of New England birth and ancestry.
Whitcher was educated in the common schools of New Hampshire and
when fifteen years of age, began his career as a clerk in a mercantile
establishment. In 1883 he went to California, later returned and located
in Omaha, Nebraska, where he railroaded for two years, and was also
located at Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he filled the position of
passenger officer in the Union depot.
In 1886 he came to
Washington county, Kansas, where he clerked for two years and then came
to Concordia. Here he established himself in the mercantile business,
largely groceries, which he conducted for about five years, then sold
the same and became associated with Mr. Whipp in their present business.
His venture in the mercantile line was during the panic years, when all
alike suffered losses.
The present combination is a very
successful one. Mr. Whitcher bought the interest of D.M. Stackhouse.
This firm had formulated a set of abstract books, the only complete set
in the county, and were making a specialty of that line, having since
added real estate and insurance.
Mr. Whitcher enjoys the
distinction of being the only Democrat at the present time (1902)
holding city office, in 1901 being appointed city clerk. He has been
twice nominated for registrar of deeds but never made a canvass, from
the fact that he was on the wrong side to be elected. Mr. Whitcher was
married in 1888 to Lizzie Francouer, formerly of Illinois. She was
practically reared in Cloud county, as she came here with her parents
when an infant. Her father is Jospeh Francouer, a farmer of Lincoln
township, near Concordia. They are of French extraction and natives of
Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Whitcher are the parents of three daughters,
Lillian, Florence and Edith, aged, respectively, twelve, nine and four
years.
Mr. Whitcher owns a farm in Aurora township and retains
his interest in his father's estate in New Hampshire; has a comfortable
but modest home on Broadway and Thirteenth streets. He is a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen and Court of Honor.
W. C. WHIPP.
W.C. Whipp is one of the older residents
of Cloud county, having, with his parents, located in the central part
of the county in 1871. In 1879 he was appointed deputy registrar of
deeds, and with his brother, C.W. Whipp, who was then registrar of
deeds, founded the abstract business of Whipp & Company, which has ever
since been conducted in that name. In 1885 he was elected registrar of
deeds and served in that capacity till January, 1890. During this time,
in connection with D.M. Stackhouse, who was then county treasurer, and
who purchased an interest in the business, they compiled a complete set
of abstract books of the county. In the early part of 1880 E.C. Whitcher
purchased the interest of D.M. Stackhouse and has continued a member of
the firm. Mr. Whipp also retained his farming and stock interests and
now owns about five hundred acres of land.
Mr. Whipp is a native
of Illinois, where he lived until 1867. After three years in Iowa he
came with his parents to Cloud county In 1871. At that time there were
only about a half dozen houses in Concordia. His father, Martin T.
Whipp, a mechanic in his younger days, but later in life a farmer, was
of German origin, born in Kentucky and reared in Illinois, in the same
vicinity with Abraham Lincoln; his parents were born in Germany and
reared in Maryland. Mr. Whipp's mother was a native of West Virginia,
where her ancestors had resided for many generations; they were
originally of English origin. His parents died on the homestead in Cloud
county, the father in 1884 and the mother two years later.
Mr.
Whipp and Miss Jessie E. Banker, a daughter of Ezra B. Banker, were
married June 21, 1883, at the Banker homestead in Cloud county, Kansas.
They have three sons, respectively: Edward Bryan, aged eighteen; Harry
W., aged sixteen, and Russel Banker, aged nine years.
Mr. Whipp
is Republican in principle and has been more or less active in local
politics; he served about eight years on the city council. He has been a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows about twenty-five years,
one of the encampment a number of years, a member of the Modern Woodmen
of America, Knights and Ladies of Security, and of the Ancient Order of
Pyramids. He is one of the board of directors of the last named order.
Mr. and Mrs. Whipp are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of
Concordia.
BYRON M. WIARD.
All the various lines
of business considered, there is none dearer to the feminine heart than
all elegant, well-selected stock of jewelry, all the latest fads and
designs like those found in the elegant show cases of Byron M. Wiard's
store, or the valuable and delicately chased patterns of silverware
exhibited on the commodious plate glass encased wall shelves. It is one
of Mr. Wiard's characteristics to recommend only such goods as merit an
investment, and this admirable trait has gained for him the confidence
of his customers and its natural following - a wide patronage. In the
watch repairing department he has secured the services of "Billie"
Nyman, whose reputation as a jeweler is well established in Concordia.
Mr. Wiard originally halls from central Illinois, where he was born
in 1856. His parents were Rolland and Mary (Wright) Wiard, both of New
York birth. Norman Wiard, manufacturer of the Wiard gun, is a relative.
The Wiards settled at Elgin, Illinois, in an early day. Mr. Wiard's
father, died in 1875, and his mother was deceased in 1881. Mr. Wiard is
a twin, and one of a family of seven children. His twin brother, Myron,
is a jeweler of San Diego, California. At the age of seventeen years Mr.
Wiard began his career and after three years in a cigar store with a
brother in Waukegan, he decided the jewelry business would be more to
his tastes, and consequently joined another brother in Breckenridge,
Colorado, in 1880. Four years subsequently he came to Kansas, when the
state was booming and its many virtues being heralded abroad, and after
looking over several probable points he favored Concordia. Of the
jewelers who were here at that time he is the only one remaining. Mr.
Wiard has prospered. He erected the building he now occupies, in 1887, a
two-story brick, twenty-two by one hundred feet in dimensions, but he
expects to occupy the spacious rooms where the Kelly stock of goods is
being closed out, on Main street, first door east of Layton & Neilson's
drug store.
Mr. Wiard was married to Miss Ida Wones, a Concordia
young woman, who was educated in the convent of the Sisters of St.
Joseph. After having spent two years of study in optics Mrs. Wiard
entered the McCormick Optical School of Chicago in 1901, and from that
institution in ophthalmology, she returned to Concordia and established
a complete line of optics, in connection with the jewelry store, and has
had the entire management of that department ever since. Dr. Wiard has
given a very able series of "Eye Talks" through the columns of the
Kansan, describing various defects of that organ, followed by the mode
of treatment required to rectify the deficiency. In former years a woman
was seldom known prominently in the professional world, but among
instances where they have succeeded Dr. Wiard is distinctively one of
that number, pursuing optics with the greatest efficiency. She is a
woman of charming personality, as well as skill and ability, and
assuming the responsibilities of a profession have not detracted from
her refired womanhood. Dr. Wiard is a member of the American Association
of Graduates in Ophthalmology. Mr. and Mrs. Wiard are the parents of one
child, a bright and winsome little daughter, aged nine.
Copyright © 1996 - The USGenWeb® Project, KSGenWeb, Cloud County
Design by
Templates in Time
This page was last updated
08/28/2024