Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 1056 - 1057

JOHN THOMAS CULP, who is living on section 21, Kechi Township, is extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising, and owns a large and valuable farm. He was born in Mineral County, W. Va., Oct. 6, 1831, and was the third child in order of birth of the five children born to John and Rachel (Baker) Culp, who were likewise natives of West Virginia. His paternal grandparents, John and Nancy Culp, were born in Virginia, and his maternal grandfather, Michael Baker, with his wife, was a native of Pennsylvania. The father of our subject was a farmer in his native State, and still resides there, near Cumberland, Md., at the advanced age of eighty-six, in the comfortable home which is the result of his early labors. His first wife, mother of our subject, departed this life in 1854, and in 1856 he married Margaret Seiver, a native of Virginia. Five children were born of that union, all of whom are living in the East.

             Our subject passed his boyhood and early manhood on the farm which had been his place of birth, assisting in the labors of tilling it, and helping to reap the harvests. He received his education in the subscription schools of that day, which were held in an old log cabin, with a space between the logs for a window. In May, 1856, be left the pleasant home of his youth to start out in the world to earn his living elsewhere, and we next hear of him in Adams County, Ill., where he had located, and was vigorously carrying on the occupation to which he had been reared. In a few years his success had been such as to justify his marriage with the young lady whom he had asked to share his life, Miss Martha Crewdson, and they were made one March 8, 1863. She was born in Adams County, Ill., in 1843, and was the youngest of the six children born to William and Mary Ann Crewdson, natives of Virginia. 

            After marriage our subject settled on a farm in Illinois, and continued there until the spring of 1875, when he came to Sedgwick County, Kan., and located where the Burton car works are now. He bought eighty acres of wild prairie land, and built thereon a house and barn, shipping the lumber from Hannibal, Mo. He afterward sold that farm, and bought 160 acres of prairie land where he now lives, thirty acres of which were broken. He immediately commenced its improvement, and now has it under a good state of tillage, and has built a substantial, commodious dwelling-house and barn. His farm is well stocked with graded Norman horses and Durham cattle. He has sold forty acres of his original purchase to be laid out in town lots, and gave four acres to the Burton car works. He also owns 480 acres of land in Meade County, Kan.

             The married life of our subject and his wife has been blessed by the birth of nine children, namely: Willie H.; Don, who died at the age of one month; Thomas Leo, Mary Stella, Rosa Lee, Rachel, Gracie Brown, Avis and Blanche. Willie is married, and has a feed store at Wichita. The other children are at home, and their parents are giving them the best possible educational advantages.

             Mr. Culp is a man of sound common sense, is just and honorable in his business transactions, is very public spirited, and is in every essential a good citizen. He is a strong Prohibitionist, and gives that party his hearty support, as he, in fact, warmly favors any movement that will elevate the moral status of the State. As a School Director, which office he has held the last nine years, he has done good service, and has contributed his share toward extending the educational facilities of this township. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as is also his excellent wife, who shares with him the respect of the entire neighborhood.

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