Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 360 - 361

CHARLES B. HASKINS. There is a peculiar interest attached to the history of the pioneers of any portion of our great State, and particularly of that part of it with which we are closely connected. In this connection a brief sketch of Charles B. Haskins, the first settler of Salem Township, will be of unwonted delight to those who like to keep posted in such matters. He is a resident on section 5, where he carries on quite successfully the vocations of farming and stock-raising. 

     Mr. Haskins is a native of Lagrange County, Ind., and was born July 20, 1840. His parents, Willis and Jane (Jackson) Haskins, were natives of the State of New York, the former of English and the latter of German ancestry. His father was a soldier during the War of 1812, and was in the engagement at Sackett's Harbor among others, and afterward became a pensioner of the Government for his services in that contest. Of the large family of children that were born to them, the following are still living: George, Albert and Eugene, all of Lagrange County, Ind., and Charles, the subject of this sketch. The latter was reared to manhood on a farm in his native State, and received in his boyhood days a fair education in the common schools of the Hoosier State. He has been quite a reader all his life, and has become well versed in many subjects and on all the current topics of the day. 

     While calmly employed in the peaceful vocation of a farmer's life, the storm of war which had been gathering for so many years over our beloved country, broke, and bidding adieu to home and its influences, Mr. Haskins enlisted June 6, 1861, in Company A, 21st Indiana Infantry, under the command of Col. McMillin. This regiment participated in the expedition to New Orleans under Gen. Butler, which started from Fortress Monroe, Va., and with that noble band of heroes our subject took part in the entire campaign, and was in the battles of Fts. Jackson and St. Phillips, at the mouth of the Mississippi, and in the battle of Baton Rouge. Subsequently he was with the regiment when the corps, under Gen. Banks, proceeded up the Red River, and was in several engagements that were fought with the Confederate troops under Gens. Kirby Smith and Dick Taylor, the two principal ones being at Pleasant Hill. He remained in the department of the Southwest until he received his discharge, July 6, 1864. He had served his country faithfully for three years, and Fame has enrolled his name among the thousands of other "brave boys in blue," on the pages of our country's history in characters which time can never efface. After his discharge he returned to his native State, but having acquired a taste for army life, in May, 1866, he enlisted in the 5th Regiment of the regular army, and was stationed on the frontier, principally in New Mexico, where he participated in several skirmishes with the Indians. After serving three years he received his discharge in May, 1869, at the military camp, which then stood where Wichita is now located. At that time the business interests of the future metropolis of Southern Kansas were represented by an Indian trader within the stockade. 

     Resuming his duties as a civilian in December, 1869, Mr. Haskins pre-empted 160 acres of land, on section 5, in what is now known as Salem Township, being the second one to take up land in that portion of the county, Mr. Ransom having preempted a quarter-section before him. He immediately settled on this land, which was then in its entire primitive condition, on which not even a furrow had been turned, and by dint of energy and industry has brought the land to a high state of cultivation, erected a fine and handsome residence, substantial barns, and made other general improvements, until to-day it is as valuable a piece of property as there is in Salem Township. He has seen this section of the county, which he found a vast wilderness covered with weeds and grass, developed from its state of pristine loneliness into a land covered with fine farms, handsome residences, excellent schools and noble churches, and has helped in the good work of bringing about the change that has been almost miraculous. By adding to his original purchase Mr. Haskins is now the owner of a noble estate, which covers some 360 acres of land, and he is ranked among the prosperous and wealthy citizens of Sedgwick County. 

     On the 4th of October, 1880, our subject was united in marriage with Miss Fannie M. Foulke, a native of Champaign, Ill., who was born Nov. 1, 1861. She is a daughter of Watson and Olive (Sayles) Foulke, who came to Kansas when Mrs. Haskins was about five years old, and are now living in Reno County. The fireside of Mr. and Mrs. Haskins has been brightened by the birth of three children: Olive J., who was born July 8, 1881; Gertrude, April 14, 1883; and Jean, Dec. 23, 1884. Politically Mr. Haskins is a pronounced Democrat. 

     The family of Mrs. Haskins is pre-eminently a pioneer one. Everett Foulke, her grandfather, was one of the first settlers in Champaign County, Ill., and her father and mother, who settled in Kansas in 1866, were among the first to locate in Southern Kansas. Her parents had a large family, of whom the following are living: Edward, a resident of Morton County, Kan.; Emma, wife of M. H. Search, of Sedgwick County; Lester and Myron, in Reno County; Gracie and Amy, at home with their parents; and Fannie M., Mrs. Haskins.

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