Thomas E. De Voe

THOMAS E. DE VOE, one of the successful agriculturists of Cherokee County, owns a farm of 400 acres in sections 21 and 23, township 33, range 24, in Crawford township. He was born in 1867, in Noble County, Indiana, and is a son of Benjamin H. and Mary J. (Rosenbury) De Voe.

Benjamin H. De Voe was born in Wayne County, New York, November 14, 1826, and is a son of Jesse and Martha (Van Fleet) De Voe, also natives of New York, where they died, having reared five children. Mr. De Voe was raised on a farm in New York, and obtained a common-school education. In 1857 he moved to Noble County, Indiana, where he remained until 1878. Then he came to Cherokee County, Kansas, and located on his present farm, the northeast quarter of section 28, in Crawford township which he purchased from Henry Miller, who had bought it from an early pioneer. Mr. De Voe has been a large and successful farmer, but now rents his land. He first married Ann Eliza Longyar, of New York, who died in 1858 in Indiana, leaving five children, viz: Mrs. Sarah Hall, of Cherokee County; Jesse, a farmer and tile manufacturer of Indiana; William, a farmer of Indiana; Albert, a resident of New York; and Eloise, who died about two years ago, in Cherokee County, Kansas, aged 40 years.

In 1859, Benjamin H. De Voe married, for his second wife, Mary J. Rosenbury, of Indiana, who is a daughter of Andrew and Justina (Metland) Rosenbury. She was born in 1841, in Ohio, and accompanied her parents to Indiana, where they died in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin H. De Voe have six children, namely: Stephen, who is engaged in the poultry business at Long Beach, California; Mrs. Hattie Capron, of Crawford township; Thomas E.; Mrs. Tena Coe, of Fort Scott, Kansas; Mrs. Libbie Gager, of Joplin, Missouri; and Frank, of Crawford township.

The subject of this sketch was 11 years of age when he came to Cherokee County, where he was mainly reared and where he attended the common schools. He spent the period between 1887 and 1890 in California, and then returned to Cherokee County, purchasing his present excellent farm in 1895. He has improved his property and has it under a good state of cultivation. He raises hay as a specialty, but meets with good success in all lines.

Mr. De Voe married Cassie Row, who was born in Owen County, Indiana, in 1872, and is a daughter of Jesse A. and Hannah (Nice) Row. Mrs. Row died in Cherokee County, March 5, 1883, aged 41 years. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Row were as follows: Lovina, wife of Warren E. Kale, who lives in the State of Washington; Ida, wife of A. Auman, who resides in Spring Valley township, Cherokee County; Chapman, who resides in South McAlester, Indian Territory; Lewis, deceased, who left a family, that lives in Columbus; Mary, wife of Rainy Kyler, who lives in Monett, Missouri; Cassie, who became Mrs. De Voe; Abram, who lives at Weir City; Nora, wife of Milton S. Porter, who lives at Joplin, Missouri; and Altha, wife of Jack Graham, who lives in Cedar Point, Kansas. The second marriage of Mr. Row was to Sarah Dobbins, and they have two children; Rilla, wife of Calvin Card, of Galena, Kansas; and Lena, who is at home. Mr. Row, for two terms, was assessor of Lyon township, where he resided from 1879 to 1890, when he removed to his present home, in Barton County, Missouri. He was born April 21, 1842, in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and removed to Indiana in 1851, and to Cherokee County, first, in 1867. He returned to Indiana, in 1870, but came back to Kansas in 1879.

Mr. and Mrs. De Voe have three children,—Clyde E., born January 5, 1894; Ralph C., born February 5, 1898; and Evan, born May 13, 1902.

In politics, Mr. De Voe is a Populist and his father votes independently. The family is well known in Crawford township and the townships adjoining, and all belong to the county's contingent of substantial citizens.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Carolyn Ward, instructor from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 3/11/97.