Part III, Napoleon Bonaparte Rees Remembrances
April 6, 1916
(Vesper continued)
A.S. Sutton came from Harrison County, Ohio, to Kansas in 1875 and bought the Schofield ranch and went into the sheep business on a large scale -- had as many as 7,000 sheep on hand at one time. Mr. Sutton built a large stone house and the largest stone barn in the county. He ran the sheep business for several years. Mr. Sutton had a family of two boys and one girl, Netty, who married Samuel Stine. Both she and her children were killed in a cyclone, entirely destroying their house. Mr. Sutton then sold out to J.E. White and moved to Cloud County, Neb., and afterwards went to Montana where he now resides. He is now about 85 years old. J.E. White came from Bates County; he owned about a thousand acres of land in Lincoln County. He was a cattleman and a farmer and raised 50,000 bushel of corn in one year and he claimed he raised it at a cost of six cents per bushel. Mr. White went to California for the benefit of his health, but got no relief, and came back to Kansas in 1904 and died and was buried in the Vesper Cemetery. His family consisted of his wife and three daughters, namely Lillie White, Minnie White, now Mrs. Bruce Middlekauff, and Dora White who is still single. The estate was left to his wife and three daughters valued at $100,000. Through due respect to Mr. White in behalf of his family, one of the finest monuments in the Vesper Cemetery was erected to his memory. The Stines came from Hagerstown, Md., in 1871. John Stine, Louis Stine and Sam Stine. They all settled at Vesper and homesteaded land. Lewis Stine moved to Oklahoma; John went to Holton, Kan., and Sam went to Washington, Kan. The Stine brothers were brothers to Mrs. George Lewis, and these people were all good citizens in Lincoln County, and were also good farmers and went through all the hardships that it took to settle up a new country like this was at that time. W.H. Hickey was an old settler, who came from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Lincoln County in 1870. He settled on the land near Vesper and had one of the best farms in the county. He was a hard working old bachelor. In 1890 he married Miss Jennie Lyons and raised a large family of girls and one son. He died the year 1912 and left his family in good circumstances -- a farm worth $20,000. Mr. Hickey was an old soldier and served in the Second Light Artillery [can�t read one word]. Now comes the Tooles-- Coleman Toole and John Toole, both came from Pennsylvania in 1871 and settled on the land. That part of which Vesper is now built on. Coleman Toole was a cattleman and a farmer, a man that was well known and a jolly Irishman and his family consisted of three boys and two girls. All are living and survive Mr. Coleman Toole. Mr. Toole left a large estate unsettled. Mr. John Toole also owned land near Vesper and was a farmer and lived there for many years; he had a wife and two children who survived him after his death some 10 years ago. The family still own the land and rent it out and they now all reside in Kansas City. Now comes Barley Flaherty and he came from Pennsylvania to Kansas in 1871 and located at Vesper on the Saline river and owned lands on both sides of the river. He had three boys, namely: Patrick, Martin and Billy Flaherty; he lived in Kansas over 40 years and was a great wheat raiser and handled lots of hogs. Mr. Flaherty is buried in the cemetery on his own farm. The family still survive and run the old farm. D.W. Stoner came to Kansas in 1874 and bought land close to Vesper and moved his family there in later years. The writer knew Mr. Stoner the time he came to Lincoln and he stayed overnight with the writer. Mr. Stoner is a gentleman in every respect and is well educated and one of our best citizens. He has stayed with the country through the hot summers, prairie fires and wind storms and is now living at his own leisure for what prestige he has derived by exercising good judgment on the basis of good economical management to the credit of the good old state of Kansas.
April 13, 1916
(Vesper continued)
William Baird came to Kansas in 1871, from Warren County, Ohio, and settled on a claim near Vesper, and built the first frame house in Vesper Township. He was a mechanic and worked the most of his time at his trade, and his shop was a dugout in the bank of the Saline river, and in this shop he made the first wagon that was made in Lincoln County for Uncle Mart Hendrickson in 1874. Mr. Baird superintended the construction of the first school room in Vesper Township in 1874. He was elected trustee of Pleasant Township. Took in all of Vesper and Grant Townships, taking in all the land south and west of Pleasant to the county line. In 1874 he leased 320 acres of land from Bill Davis -- now including the Mike Powers land. Mr. Baird built the first windmill in Lincoln County. The first day of September, 1874, the grasshoppers lit down upon them and destroyed their whole crops. Then Mr. Baird and his family moved to California, where he engaged in the mill-right business. He also helped to cut the timber off of Losson Peak, where the active volcano is now. He then returned to Kansas in 1876 and took up a claim on the south side of the river opposite his old claim, where he has lived since 1878. He was the first man to put in an irrigating plant. Uncle Johnny Hill by assisting from this plant became the noted Glen-colle-irrigating garden [sic], one of the best vegetable gardens in Lincoln County. Mr. Baird�s family, wife and five children: Scott Baird, John Baird, Forest Baird, Netty Baird, now Mrs. James Loy, lives near Vesper schoolhouse, Mabel Baird, now Mrs. J.H. Bagley, lives at Salina, Kan. Mr. Bagley is a contractor and he overseen the construction of the depot at Headville on the Salina-Northern railroad out of Salina. Scott Baird has moved to Graham County, Kan.; John Baird lives south of Vesper on his farm that he has owned for several years. William Baird lives on the old home farm. He is an old soldier and served in the 8th Indiana Calvary, and first served in the Army of the Cumberland and was captured at Stone River and was sent to Libby prison, and afterwards went with Sherman�s march to the sea. The writer has known Mr. Baird for many years and also made pictures of his melon [can�t read; maybe "patch"] in the fall of 1880; after he had started to irrigate he had a vast amount of melons and the largest melons I ever saw. He also had the finest sweet potatoes, and one would remark that you could see just how far the irrigation went to a row. Mr. Baird has one of the finest orchards in Lincoln County. Three years ago I visited at his orchard and he showed me three trees, and from these same trees, that after the apples had been picked and packed, ready to ship west to Plainville and other western towns, brought the fancy price of $100. Mr. Baird is a man who is over 76 years old and is an energetic man, considering his age. He is known all over Lincoln County as an old settler and has stood the storms, hot winds, grasshoppers and dry weather, and like many others is now living a retired life. In 187X John Hastings came from New Jersey and located on Oak Creek, in Section 20. He had a wife and three girls, and was a "printer" by trade. He had a dairy on Oak Creek, and later years moved it to Wilson and carried on a dairy there for years, but he is now living at Lucas, Kan. In 1877 Joe Bryant came from Ohio to Lincoln County with his wife and five children, three boys and two girls. He then sold out and moved to Wilson and bought 40 acres of land, adjoining Wilson. William Stone came from Ohio to Kansas in 1876, with his wife and three girls, and located on Oak Creek, where he ran a large dairy but later years he moved away. Thomas Wise came from Scranton, Pa., and had a wife and two children. He was a coal miner and worked in the Vesper mines. Thomas Cole came to Lincoln County, Kan., in 1877 and bought a large tract of land on Oak Creek and the Saline river, and afterward sold out to the Lincoln Land Company in 1898 and about this time George Elrod took charge of the Lincoln Land Company and he run it for 10 years, and then sold out to Elmer West. Mr. West run the ranch several years, and he now lives on the river south of Rocky Hill (at one time known as the Newlon place). Henry Wolford came from Wythe county, Va., in 1877 and located on Section 14, south of Vesper, and had a wife and blessed with a family -- 10 children, but his family, nearly all of them, died with that so-called dread disease, diphtheria, caused him to get discouraged. He then left this part of the country and moved to Oklahoma, at which place he now resides.
April 20, 1916
(Sylvan Grove Settlement)
Hutch Farley came to Kansas in 1868, with his family and father, settled on a claim at Twin Grove. Mr. Farley was a man, who was well known all over Lincoln County in the early days. He was a man who stood up for Kansas, when the Indians were the chief drawback to contend with. He was a man who laid with his rifle placed under his head every night in those days. Mr. Farley was blessed with the first-born child in the western part of the county. Mr. Felps [sic; Phelps?] and his wife came to Lincoln County in 1871 and took the claim adjoining Mr. Farley. Nat Bliss and wife came from Massachusetts and had a wife and two children and hustled with the country to help settle it. W.T. Beskell, wife and one child came to Kansas in February 1871 and took the first claim at the mouth of Wolf Creek. A.T. Biggs, with his wife and two children, settled southwest of Sylvan Grove. Mr. Biggs was well known all over Lincoln County; he was a man who was well educated and was one of the best County Superintendents and built up the schools and was appreciated by the people in general; he was also a tiller of the soil, and helped to settle up the country in an early day. Mr. A.T. Biggs was an old soldier and served from Ohio in the war of �61-65 and after all his toil and hardships he was laid down to rest beneath the land he had toiled so hard and to save his hard earned money. Mr. Biggs died only a few years ago. H.L. White and wife and two children came to Kansas in the year of 1871 and settled on the land adjoining Mr. Biggs on the south; he was a farmer and lived there for years. S. Snales [sic] came to Kansas in 1871 and had a wife and two children and located in the same neighborhood and was a farmer. John Riley, wife and two children located in the same neighborhood and was a farmer, and lived there for several years. C.M. Heaton came to Kansas in March 1871 and located at Twin Grove and his wife came later. Charley was an old soldier, and he lived at the "Grove" for several years and helped to build up that part of the country; and had one of the best farms at Twin Grove, but in later years he moved to Lincoln where he has lived the longer portion of his time in Kansas. Mr. Heaton was and is a prominent citizen and has held several public offices and has given general satisfaction to all the public. Mr. Heaton has gone through all the hardships of this country for the last 45 years, in order to make good, and has in the meantime erected a nice residence for a home to enjoy and live a so-called retired life. He also owns a tract of land in Florida, besides some other resident dwellings in Lincoln. Sam Bloomfield came to Kansas in an early day and settled near Twin Grove; he was the first surveyor in Lincoln County. Robert Dinwitty settled on the quarter where the Merriman & Masterson mill was located. A.D. Cross was the first to have a store located there. The writer remembers well of the time when the Merriam [sic; it is spelled two different ways here] & Masterson mill was built which was in the year of 1874. The mill transacted an extensive business for several years before a flood came and took it down the river in the year of 1903, and consequently the mill was never erected or replaced again, but will never be forgotten in the memory of the old settlers in time to come, which will be a fond recollection to the most of them. M.W. Hurlbut, his wife and daughter, of which the daughter was the second child born in the west end of Lincoln county; they located on a claim near Twin Grove, lived there for several years. Frank Johnson came to Kansas in the year 1871, from England. Mr. Freeborne came from Pennsylvania in 1870 and settled on East Twin Creek and lived there for several years, and then moved to some other parts unknown to the writer. H.S. Buzick Sr. and wife and children, Ira, Clay and A.R. Buzick and Alice Buzick, one girl of whom they raised, afterward became the wife of Ira Buzick, were located at Sylvan Grove.
April 27, 1916
(Sylvan Grove continued)
1870 � Henry Buzick was the man who started what is now called the Buzick ranch � the ranch contained something over 1,000 acres, and his son, Lon, as he was called, afterward run the ranch for many years through the summers of hot winds and grasshoppers, and built up fine buildings and improved their ranch to one of the best ranches in western Kansas � Ira Buzick was one of the most [can�t read] lawyers in the state and especially as a criminal lawyer; Ira was one of these periodical men through life [sic]; nevertheless, he realized a large practice in his line, and was looked up to as a man who was worthy of being at the [can�t read] of the government, if he had been so inclined that way; his wife and son still survive him, as he is laid to rest in the Lincoln Cemetery. William Laten [sic], a boy whom H.S. Buzick Sr. raised, and who lived in that part of the country; Charley Meyer, Fred Meyer, Ben Oswald, and William Hilmer, were all single men and came from Germany on April 1, 1871, and settled south of the "Grove" on section 22. These people all came to this country and settled down; and made good citizens and stayed with the country and helped to build it up. Marriam and Masterson built the mill at Sylvan Grove in 1876, and Frank Lee worked on the mill. A.B. Cross, Will Morgan, L. Morgan and George Morgan were all old settlers around that part of the country. There was Grandpa Lambert, including his wife and their two sons, John and James also. John Farnsworth and wife and two boys. Mr. Farnsworth was a farmer and only stayed a few years in the country. John Putman, wife and one boy and one girl, were early settlers in that part of the country. Mr. Kies, wife and two girls and two boys came from Iowa. Mr. Bunt, wife and daughter came to Kansas in 1874, and bought out Hutch Farley�s old place at Twin Grove. Herman Witte, his wife and family came to Kansas in 1874. M. Kelley and wife and James Kelley and his brother came to Kansas in 1874. Johnnie Richardson and wife and two boys and two girls came to Kansas in 1874 and lived in Sylvan Grove for many years and carried on the blacksmith business for years; he was an Englishman and was a soldier in the war of the rebellion of 1865. George Ide came from Iowa in 1875 with his wife and family and settled northwest of Sylvan Grove. Phillip Gable, wife and son came to Kansas in 1870 and bought out Hutch Farley. Grandpa Lawson, his wife and one child, and Joe Lawson all came to Kansas in 1876. Abram Wing and four sons came from Iowa in 1876; they were millers. Mr. Ruppenthal and wife and two children came to Kansas in 1873; his son is now Judge of the District Court of Russell County. F.F. Franz and wife and two daughters settled on Section 22, south of Sylvan Grove in 1874. These people came to help settle up this part of the country. Collins Hoyt came to Kansas in 1876 and took a claim on section 26 and helped to settle up that part of the country in the times that are past and gone. Andy Klotz and wife, and two children came to Kansas in March 1875 and settled on Section 30, southwest of Sylvan Grove. Andy was a man who was well known around Sylvan Grove. Horton Hoyt and wife and one child came to Kansas in 1877 and settled in the same neighborhood and also went through the hardships of an early day settler. John Pugh came to Kansas in 1874 and had a wife and three sons and one daughter and settled on west Twin Creek. He was a farmer and helped to till the soil of Kansas. Mr. Coover and wife and two sons came to Kansas in 1875 and settled in the Twin Grove neighborhood in later years. Nathaniel H. Coover became principal of the high school at Wilson. William Coover is living on the old home place in Highland Township. Jake Rife and wife and one daughter settled northwest of Twin Grove on section 21 in the year 1877. The "writer" knew practically all the people who settled in that part of the country, and we must say that they were all good reliable citizens, and went through the hardships that it took to settle up a new country in the early dates, and these worthy people, one and all, are deserving of due credit of enduring the conditions, subject to an "old settler" from the early day up to the present day.
May 4, 1916
(The Lyden Case)
In the year of 1875, there was a mysterious murder which occurred in Lincoln County, and these are the facts in the case as near as the writer is able to relate: A well known and educated man by the name of John Lyden, who had been one of the armed guards placed over Ezra Hubbard, was the victim of foul play, the full secret of which probably will never be solved or revealed; the facts so far as they occurred at the time as follows: John Lyden, a wealthy stockman of the Elkhorn, was shot and killed as he sat at his breakfast one morning by the hands of some unknown party, the shot being fired from under the table. The body was concealed under the bed all day; and at night, was conveyed in a wagon to the vacated home of Dr. Seibert, who had built one of the finest homes in the county, but later left it, and at this time and place designated, the body was thrown into the well, and the house was burned down and some of the charred timbers was thrown into the well, and the body remained in the well for some time before it was discovered but nevertheless, in the meantime, a young man by the name of Millard Eaton, who had been working for Mr. Lyden, rounded up his cattle and drove them to Ellsworth and loaded them on the train and shipped them to Kansas City in the name of John Lyden; Eaton went to Kansas City with the cattle and returned by way of Salina; leaving $1,000 in a box, with a certain doctor, and then he came to Lincoln and from Lincoln he went out home and had a big party, and he seemed to have plenty of money to spend. By this time people of the neighborhood and community began to wonder of what had become of the so-called John Lyden. Eaton then came to Lincoln Center on Sunday evening. A certain already notorious bad character, suspicion to himself [sic] by driving from Salina to Lincoln in two hours and a half, and taking Millard Eaton away with him, and after which time, Eaton was seen no more in Lincoln, but rumors had it that he was seen in Kentucky by the Lincoln County sheriff, who went there with the intention of bringing him back, of which he did not do. All sorts of surmises and rumors were current, notwithstanding the incident finally closed without anyone being identified to a certainty as to the crime committed. After Eaton had disappeared a searching party composed of F.A. Schermerhorn, Tone Bishop, [T.A.] Walls and Grubb found the body of Lyden in the well. Mr. Tone Bishop climbed down into the well and seen blood on the sides of it. The body was underwater, and then some of the citizens employed a private attorney to look into the matter. Several parties were suspected of being implicated. It was not supposed that Eaton did the shooting himself but it does seem probably that he was there when the crime was committed. Those early day conditions of such nature are not a pleasant thought to our memory but long to be remembered by one and all of the old settlers in that part of the neighborhood.
May 11, 1916
(Denmark Settlement)
L. Rasmussen came to Kansas in the month of September 1868 and came from Junction City to Lincoln County. Tom Strange hauled Mr. Rasmussen and two other fellows from Elkhorn post office to Denmark for which he charged the fancy sum of $5 for each passenger. This was an ordinary price for carrying passengers in those early days. Mr. Rasmussen moved his family March 1870 from Junction City when he returned from Denmark in March 1870. Cris Bunk, C. Anderson and L. Rasmussen all came from Junction City at the same time. Cris Bunk moved with an ox team to Ft. Harker and from there to the Elkhorn, and from there to Denmark; these people are all dead. Mr. L. Rasmussen and wife and Cris Anderson and his wife came to Ft. Harker and then moved to Denmark. (One of the most important history of the Danes on the Spillman.) The first settlement was made on the Spillman on the southeast quarter of section 23, by Lorenzt Christensen in February 1869; his brother homesteaded beside him at the same time. Eskild Lorenzten and wife Stine, and Otto Peterson, John Maikoff, Mr. and Mrs. Mickel, all came during the winter and lived near each other. They faced the many hardships, pioneering in the winter and cold days in February. Lorenzt Christensen was hueing logs for a dugout some distance from any house and had the misfortune to cut his foot very badly with the ax, and he was obliged to lay out in the open all day before any help arrived; his nephew who was with him kept up a fire; in the evening he was rescued by John Strange. The next May there was an Indian raid. All the Danes but Peter and Lorentz Christensen and their families were killed or captured. These two men fought the Indians all day and at night made their way with their families to Schermerhorn�s ranch. Then they went to Fort Harker and later to Junction City and there they remained until Jan. 1, 1871, and when they returned they brought with them from Junction City: John Larsen, N. Nielson, A. Rasmussen and the next April the ranks of the Danish colonists were further swelled by James Morgensen, Peter Nielson, Peter Anderson, August Hanson, C. Bank, C. Anderson, Hans Swenson, Alaf Holnberg, Olie Peterson and Nels Peterson [all spellings as written]. All these people lived long and were prosperous and came out on the winning side of prosperity, but with one exception, by Mr. Cris Anderson who was killed by a runaway, who was greatly missed by all in that vicinity. Those who still remain at Denmark own beautiful and valuable and pleasant homes. It took a long time in those days to subdue the wilderness and make it bloom as a rose, and the present generation, whose way is made easier in consequence to their credit, cannot be too grateful to these good old faithful so-called old settlers of their vicinity. The first school, a log building, was erected in 1875. C. H. Jensen was the first postmaster and storekeeper in the settlement, and his location was next to the present school house site north of the road. Lorentz Christensen operated the first blacksmith shop and did work for a very large scope of the country, and furthermore we will say in the windup, that our Danish people are very energetic people who are to be complimented for the same.
May 18, 1916
(Continued from last week)
[In] last week�s issue, we stated that Tom Strange hauled Mr. L. Rasmussen and two other parties from the Elkhorn post office to Denmark and charged them $5 for each passenger, which is wrong � should read $5 for the three, which was the regular rate.
(Grasshopper panic of 1874)
The grasshoppers visited Lincoln County in the month of August one afternoon at about 4 o�clock. The sun became darkened and there was a cloud appeared in the northwest and it looked as there might have been a heavy rain approaching. When at this critical period, and behold, the "grasshoppers� commenced to light down upon us, and those golden wings glittered in the sunset at night. To behold the next day, they had eaten up all the corn fodder, that was upon the land. Nothing being left for the stock to eat. Many of the people were left destitute, and the township trustees proceeded to get busy and spent their time the following winter in distributing supplies, considering the fact that everything was eaten up. After the "hoppers" had settled down, the people then took courage. And went ahead and plowed the ground and sowed wheat again. Late in the fall, the grasshoppers laid their eggs in the ground, and when the springtime came they commenced to hatch out, and the spring was favorable and the crops commenced to grow; then the young "hoppers" commenced to feed upon the fat of the land. The people then began resorting to some plan, to get away with these "pests". The writer (N.B. Rees) at that time invented a grasshopper machine, which was so constructed so as to run over the field which caught a great many of them before then began to fly. Many people had pans to drag over the fields to catch them, and by having coal oil in the pan to kill them. Many people down the Saline river between Lincoln and Salina, dug trenches on one side of the field and drove the little hoppers in the ditch and thereby covered them up. By the time the wheat had grown up and began to head, the grasshoppers had grown and their wings was grown, they commenced to fly away and raised up and started South for the Atlantic Ocean and where they practically all landed. The country had some crop that year, but a great many people left the country and went back East, seeking for better conditions, and those who stayed, had a hard time and were up against a hard proposition, as relative to making both ends meet. The government then got busy and did their part by proceeding to send out aid to these faithful people of Lincoln County who stayed by the country, regardless of conditions which existed at that time. Caused more or less, from the effects of the grasshoppers, and the goods which were sent out for their aid, was respectfully and carefully distributed out to the people from the Lincoln County Courthouse. Government officer handled the supplies. Kansas was left in a critical condition at this period of her history, and conditions were such that it required an abundance of courage and staying qualities to overcome and offset matters in order to counteract said named conditions and thereby for the people to stay with the country and make good their adventure and receive their reward which was honorably due them. Those who did stay are to this day receiving their reward for the sacrifice they have made and derive a prestige thereby that will counteract all conditions. The Sunflower State is the "Banner" state of the Union today, with all her millions of bushels of wheat, corn and cattle, with railroads in nearly every county, to carry away her product. The land was practically all mortgaged at one time and it was not considered worth $5 an acre. Today the most of the land is valued at from $35 to $150 per acre. As the county has became more settled, the rainfall has greatly increased. This goes to show that Kansas has made itself what it is today, in the period of about 45 years. Notwithstanding [can�t read] with all its hardships and [can�t read].
Part I
Part II