Henry Stephens

HENRY STEPHENS
One of the Most Extensive Cattle Feeders in Kansas

AN ARTICLE EXTRACTED FROM THE PEABODY NEWS 1901
Contributed by Charmaine Keith (charmain@southwind.net) 13 October 1998

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PEABODY NEWS
1901


The above views present scenes of the cattle feeding yards just south of the Santa
Fe Tracks in the east part of town, owned and conduced by Henry Stephens. This is one of the
giant institutions of Peabody that distributes more money among the farmers than any other
one thing in the town. These pictures do not do justice to the subject because it was
impossible to cover all the yards in them or to show one-fourth the cattle contained.

These yards occupy 20 acres of ground and consist of six main corrals with their
various pens and gangways. They will accommodate 2,000 head of cattle at one time, and when
these pictures were taken, contained 1,000 head of fine steers which Mr. Stephens was
fattening for the eastern markets.

Mr. Stephens came to Peabody from Gilman, Illinois, in 1872 and began farming,
buying and selling cattle in a small way. As his business grew he bought more land and now
owns five sections of well-improved land near town, all of which he has rented. Three years
ago he built these corrals and started into the cattle feeding business in earnest. He has
a special method of feeding cattle that has attracted much attention of the state because of
its success. Mr. Stephens generally feeds two bunches of cattle each year, commencing in
October and ending in June.

These feedings consist of in the neighborhood of 1,000 head at a time, making his
annual purchases and shipments about two thousand head a year. There are but two other men
between Kansas City and Denver who full feed more cattle than does Mr. Stephens. He buys
principally Western cattle and ships in by the trainload, and sells to the Kansas City and
St. Joe markets. He handles nothing but steers and feeds a mixture of corn, oats, bran, and
cotton-seed meal ground together in such proportions as he has found to be the most
effective.

He has been most successful in his feeding, his losses being but about one-tenth of
one per cent. Of 1,900 fed this year he has lost but two. This of course was due as much to
his shrewd and careful buying and his excellent judgment in estimation of the possibilities
of the animals.

The location of Mr. Stephens' yards means much to the farmers, as it provides a home
market for practically all the corn, oats, and hay they can raise, and generally at Kansas
City prices. As a rule Mr. Stephens makes the market price for Peabody.

One must consider a few figures to realize the amount of feed 2,00 cattle consume in
a season. It is estimated that Mr. Stephens pays annually $50,000 for feed. He uses from 600
to 800 bushels of corn and 4 tons of hay a day, which means 150,000bushels of corn and oats
and 900 to 1000 tons of hay each year. Connected with his cattle yards he owns and operates
an elevator of 40,000 bushels storage capacity, where he grinds all his feed.

He is assisted very much now by his son Charles, aged sixteen years, who is taking
great interest in the work and is developing a capacity for successfully conducting the
business.

Mr. Stephens is a very unostentatious man, industrious and economical, and has the
reputation of being one of the squarest and most reliable businessmen of our county. He owns
the fine residence in tow, besides his large farming and cattle interest.

Mr. Stephens is not given much to fuss and feathers, but when it comes down to
quiet, unassuming business he is right there.

The vast business he has built up here, that gives the visitor an impression that he
has struck a suburb of Armourdale, gives evidence of an executive ability far beyond the
average. As a neighbor and private citizen he has many warm friends and is highly spoken of
by them.


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KSGENWEB INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In keeping with the
KSGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may
be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied
material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit
or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and
libraries is encouraged. Any other use, including publication, storage in a
retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other
means requires the written approval of the file's author.
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