Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 888 - 889

THOMAS B. McCORMICK, one of the most enterprising representatives of the stock‑raising interests of Lincoln Township, is eligibly located on section 24, about three miles from the new station of Furley, where he superintends the cultivation of 160 acres of land, and has attained quite a reputation as a breeder of good grades of horses, cattle and hogs. He came to Lincoln Township in its pioneer days, and has been one of the privileged men who have been permitted to watch the rapid growth of Southern Kansas, and identified themselves with its closest interests.

            A native of the Prairie State, our subject was born in Morgan County, on the 29th of February, 1840. There were born to his parents, Valentine S. and Lunanah Robinson (Abbott) McCormick, four children, of whom Thomas B. was the second. His father and mother were both natives of Ohio and Virginia. The paternal grandparents, James and Betsey McCormick, were natives of Virginia. On the mother's side, Grandfather Thomas Abbott, a native of Ohio, carried his gun in the War of 1812, and also fought the Indians on the frontier of Ohio Territory, before it was admitted into the Union as a State. Grandfather McCormick later did good service in the Black Hawk War. The grandparents spent their last days in Illinois.

            Valentine McCormick, upon coming to Illinois in 1828, made a clearing in the wooded portion of Morgan County, of which he continued a resident over thirty years, in the meantime opening up a fine farm. His death took place in the spring of 1873, when he was about sixty-five years of age. The mother died in 1865. The stepmother survived until in December, 1880. Our subject served an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade in Morgan County, after acquiring his education at the district schools, but upon the outbreak of the late war, enlisted for the three-months service in Company A, 68th Illinois Infantry, and was mustered into the service at Camp Butler. He was most of the time engaged in provost duty around Alexandria, Va., and was there at the time of the second battle of Bull Run. He was also on guard duty for a time at Camp Butler, where also he was discharged at the expiration of his term of enlistment. He sought to re-enter the ranks, but was rejected on account of disability.

            Upon being compelled to return to civil life, young McCormick resumed work at his trade in Jacksonville, Ill., and vicinity, and was there married, in 1864, to Miss Effie M., daughter of John and Caroline (Wyatt) Eskridge, who were natives respectively of Ohio and Indiana. Mrs. McCormick was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, in 1843, and was the elder of the two children of her father; the latter died in Cumberland County, Ill., forty-three years ago. Her mother lives in Scott County, Ill. Her only sister is Mrs. Ruark, who also lives in Scott County. Mr. McCormick, after his marriage, continued a resident of Morgan County, Ill., until the fall of 1870, then making his way west of the Father of Waters, homesteaded a quarter-section in Lincoln Township. This was a tract of raw prairie, and the first lumber which he hauled for use upon his new farm was transported from Neosho Falls, a distance of 110 miles. His principal trading-point at that time was Emporia, a distance of 100 miles, the round trip occupying four or five days. After the erection of a house, Mr. McCormick planted an orchard, and now has the whole of his land under a good state of cultivation, stocked with graded Morgan and Norman horses, and thoroughbred Durham and Short-horn cattle. His present homestead, his fat herds, the convenient and substantial buildings, the fertile fields and all the other appurtenances of the modern country estate, form a most pleasant feature in the landscape of Lincoln Township.

            Mr. McCormick, as one of the earliest settlers, assisted in organizing the school districts of his township, of which he has been Trustee, and occupied other local positions of responsibility. Although taking little part in politics, he uniformly votes the Republican ticket. His estimable wife and daughter are members in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Furley. He follows his trade occasionally, and his mechanical genius has been the means of saving him the outlay of hundreds of dollars, while he has the satisfaction of knowing that his buildings are all put up in a substantial manner.

            The five sons and one daughter born to our subject and his wife were named respectively: Frank H., Charles Ernest, Grace L., Clement V., Clarence A. and Henry A. Charles E. died when a bright lad a little over eight years old; Frank H., on the 26th of December, 1886, was married in Lincoln Township, this county, to Miss Lily Zellor. This lady was born near Newark, Ohio, Dec. 25, 1864, and is the third child of James and Caroline (Wells) Zellor, natives of West Virginia, who both died in Ohio some years ago. This son, soon after his marriage, settled on the home farm, where he has since resided and assisted in its management. He is the father of one child, Don C.

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