Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 198 - 200

LEWIS W. BAIRD.  There is no more attractive section in which to farm than the Arkansas River Valley.  Here are many splendid farms and enterprising farmers.  One of them, our subject, is a leading farmer and stock-raiser of Greeley Township.  He has a fine estate on section 34, and has been a resident of Kansas since 1871.  His early home was in Brown County, Ohio, where his birth took place Oct. 24, 1840.  He spent his childhood and youth attending the district schools, and becoming familiar with the various employments of rural life, and upon reaching manhood was consequently amply fitted for the career of a farmer, which he has since followed.

        The subject of this biography is the son of James and Martha (Bower) Baird, also natives of the Buckeye State, where the father followed agricultural pursuits his entire life.  He was born June 30, 1809, and died on the 14th of May, 1885, when nearly seventy-seven years of age.  James Baird was a good man in the broadest sense of the term, prominent in township affairs, and a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church for many years.  During the agitation of the slave question he arrayed himself on the side of the Abolitionists, and by aid of the "underground railroad" assisted many a fugitive to freedom,.  He was most of the time an office-holder in his native county, and a man who enjoyed in a marked degree the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens.

      Mrs. Martha (Bower) Baird, the mother of our subject, was born in Brown County, Ohio, Nov. 28, 1813, and is still living, remaining upon the old homestead in Brown County.  Her father was a native of Ireland, and her mother was born in America.  Mrs. Baird, like her husband, united with the Presbyterian Church many years ago, to the doctrines of which she still loyally adheres.  Of her union with James Baird there were born nine children, namely:  William S., Jane, Robert B., Lewis W., George N., James A., Albert M., Sarah E. and Jesse L.  Jane, Robert and James are deceased.  Robert served as a soldier in the Union army, and yielded up his life in behalf of his country, dying in the hospital at Willet's Point, N. Y., Sarah is the wife of James O. Smith, a hardware merchant of Winchester, Ohio; Jesse is a leading physician of Fincastle, Ohio.

      Mr. Baird, of our sketch, six days before reaching his majority celebrated the coming event by enlisting, Oct. 18, 1861, in Company A, 70th Ohio Infantry, for a term of three years, or during the war.  He was mustered into service at Winchester, Ohio, serving until the expiration of his term of enlistment, and veteranized on the 5th of June, 1863, in his old company in time to participate in the battle, and to assist in the siege and capture of Atlanta, also to march with the troops of Gen. Sherman to the sea, and was engaged in the storming of Ft. McCallister, Ga.  At the battle of Shiloh he was wounded by the bursting of a shell, and in consequence was off duty from April until November, and now enjoys a pension from the Government.  He received his final discharge from the army Aug. 27, 1865, at Little Rock, Ark.

      Mr. Baird, upon leaving the army, returned to his old home in Ripley, Ohio, and for two years afterward attended the High School at Russellville.  Having thus fortified himself for the ordinary business of life, Mr. Baird was married, on the 26th of January, 1868, to Miss Margaret J., daughter of Finney and Nancy Kirkpatrick, who were natives respectively of Kentucky and Tennessee, but at that time were residents of Ohio.  After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Baird located on a farm in Brown County, whence three years later they came to Southern Kansas, leaving their native State on the 20th of March, 1871, and locating on their present homestead in April following.  Mr. Baird made his first trip alone and lived in a dugout while he was building a house for the shelter of his family, who soon joined him.  This accomplished he began at once the cultivation of his land, which is now in this respect complete, much of it enclosed with beautiful hedge fencing, and the homestead is also conspicuous for a neat and substantial set of frame buildings.  His family includes five children, namely: Arthur L., born Feb. 12, 1869; Robert K., Nov. 1, 1872; Frederick C., Dec. 11, 1874; Martha R., Feb. 1, 1877, and James N., March 23, 1881.

      Finney Kirkpatrick, the father of Mrs. Baird, was born June 5, 1806, and was married four times.  Mrs. B. was the eldest child of the second wife, who was the mother of four children, namely:  Margaret Jane, Mrs. B., born Aug. 6, 1842; Robert S., Aug. 28, 1844; Melissa L., Sept. 17, 1846, and Nancy P.  Melissa; the wife of William C. Brown, lives in Greeley Township; Nancy P., Mrs. Thompson Edwards, lives in Ohio.  The mother was fairly educated, and a devout member of the Baptist Church.  Finney Kirkpatrick, in early life a Baptist, subsequently identified himself with the Christian Church.  Mrs. Margaret was born on the 6th of September, 1822, and departed this life at her home in Brown County, Ohio, May 28, 1854.  The entire household of the father of Mrs. Baird included eleven children. 

      Of the first marriage of Finney Kirkpatrick there were born six children, namely: Thomas W., June 3, 1831; Newton, Jan. 4, 1833;  Mary E., Dec. 27, 1834; Sarah A., Jan. 15, 1836; Elizabeth A., Feb. 28, 1838, and William H., May 24, 1841.  The third wife was the mother of John A., born Feb. 3, 1856.  The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Baird, Samuel Kirkpatrick by name, was a native of Ireland, a shepherd by occupation, and while attending his flocks put in his spare time knitting his own socks.  Mrs. Baird completed her education in the academy at Decatur, Ohio, and taught school thereafter seven years.  She is a lady of fine attainments, refined and intelligent, and edits the columns of the Mentor in the interests of the W. C. T. U., of which she is President in this township.

      Mr. and Mrs. Baird are prominent members of the Christian Church at Mt. Hope, and Mr. B., politically, is a stanch Republican.  He assisted in the organization of School District No. 78, in 1873, and socially, is Commander of S. A. Gilbert Post, G. A. R., at Mt. Hope.

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