Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 581 - 582 

NATHAN S. VANDEUSEN, who is located in the northeast corner of Rockford Township, on section 1, owns and operates a fine farm of 120 acres, and is making a specialty of stock‑ raising, handling some of the best cattle, horses and swine to be found in this section of country. His fine residence, pleasantly situated in a commanding position, invariably attracts the attention of the passing traveler as the home of a gentleman of cultivated tastes and ample means, and one who has contributed his full quota to the building up of Sedgwick County.

            Our subject first opened his eyes in the Empire State, his birth taking place in the town of Ellington, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., on the 30th of December, 1832. His parents, Harry and Eunice (Brown) Vandeusen, were natives of the same State as their son, and when the latter was a little lad six years of age he was left an orphan, his father having died in 1838, and his mother eight years later, in 1846. Besides our subject there was one brother and two sisters -- Eugene, Mary and Lovia.

            The mother of our subject after the death of her first husband contracted a second marriage, and the stepfather kept him hired out to different parties until nearly twenty-one years of age, after which time he took the authority to make his own contracts. He made his way into the State of Iowa, where he engaged on a farm, and continued two years. At the expiration of this time he returned East as far as Oil City, Pa., and became the employe of his uncle, Nelson Brown, who was engaged in the furniture business, and with whom he remained two years, and then returned to Iowa. There he farmed another two years, and thence went into Missouri, whence, in the fall of 1871, he came to this county, where he has since remained.

            Mr. Vandeusen first pre-empted a quarter-section, to which he subsequently added forty acres, the whole being wild and unimproved land, and which he has brought to a good state of cultivation. While a resident of Iowa he had been married on the 10th of March, 1867, to Miss Rosetta E., daughter of Harrison H. and Eliza E. (Granda) Moon, who were natives of New York State. Mrs. Vandeusen was born in Cattaraugus County, March 11, 1847, and had one sister and two brothers, namely: Arvilla; Edgar A. lives in Minnesota, and Alvaro H. lives in this township. Her father is deceased; the mother now lives in Derby, this county.

            The grandparents of our subject, who were natives of New York, lived to be over one hundred years old, and spent their last days in the State of New York. Eugene, our subject's brother, makes his home in Wichita. His sister, Mary C., lives in Nebraska; Lovia is deceased.

            Our subject has never taken a very active interest in politics, but reserves the right of the American citizen, and votes independently, although usually affiliating with the Republican party. His excellent wife is a communicant of the Christian Church.

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