Nathan Doak, the subject of this sketch belongs to that class of men that every community needs more of. Though not exercising an outward show, greatly benefits others within the range of his influence, and those who know Mr. Doak best speak most enthusiastically of his good qualities. He visited Kansas while in the employ of the government, removing the Sac and Fox Indians to the Creek Reservation in the eastern part of Indian Territory.

Attracted by the possibilities of the great future for the state of Kansas he came to Cloud county, the following year, 1869, and homesteaded land in Arion township; he hewed logs, manufactured shingles, and built the best house above ground in the community. Mr. Doak was born in West Virginia, fifty-two miles from Parkersburg, on the Ohio river, in 1840. He lived in the place of his birth until he entered his country's service in August, 1861. He enlisted for three years in Company C, Seventh West Virginia Infantry. He was in the hospital from a flesh wound received in the battle of Chancellorsville, and was off duty from May until the following September, and consequently was among the supernumeraries who were mustered out when his regiment was consolidated. They were under Colonel Joseph Snyder, and were constantly engaged in active service, operating principally in East Virginia. They took part in the battle of Gettysburg, Antietam, where his company lost heavily, Fredericksburg and many skirmishes. Mr. Doak enlisted in this company as a private and was promoted to Orderly Sergeant. In September, 1864, he re-enlisted in Company C. Sixth West Virginia Infantry, under Captain Josiah Bee. He was elected Sergeant and later promoted to Second Lieutenant, receiving his commission just at the close of the war.

Mr. Doak's paternal grand parents came from Ireland to Pennsylvania, where his father, Hiram Doak, was born, and after his marriage with Elizabeth Joseph, also of Pennsylvania, they settled in the part of the state since named West Virginia, where our subject was born. He was one of eleven children, seven of whom are living. His brother Almarine, was killed in the battle of Martinsburg, Virginia. George W., whose sketch follows, is a brother. There are two brothers and a sister in Osborne county, a sister in Nebraska, and Mrs Charles Dotson, of Concordia.

In 1873, Mr. Doak married a young woman who was reared in the vicinity of his Virginia home. She is a daughter of Zachariah Dotson, who died in 1863. The Dotson's were an old Virginia family. Her mother before her marriage was Eliza Eddleblute, a native of Pennyslvania. Mrs. Dotson was a very remarkable character, she came with her family of children and took up a homestead in Arion township in 1871. She was born in March, 1800, and died July 26, 1899. Her life was a long and eventful one and had she lived until next March, would have been a centenerian. She was born one hundred and seventeen days after the death of George Washington, and while Governor Adams was President of the young Republic, which then numbered but sixteen states. Since then the nation has been involved in eight wars, twenty-three presidents have been installed, and of that number, twenty have passed into the unknown realms.

During her thirty-seven, years of widowhood, she had lived with an adopted daughter that she had taken in her heart and home when an infant but five months old. Between this child and her foster mother, a remarkable attachment developed. This daughter, Ellen Moran, is now living with Mrs. Truesdell, of Concordia. Mrs. Dotson was the mother of eleven children, the grandmother of forty-seven children, and seventy-six great-grandchildren. Three of her sons fought for their country and remained with the flag until the last. Three of her daughters married military men, soldiers of the Civil war. She sheared the sheep, spun the yarn. wove the cloth and made it into garments for her children, thus within a few hours converting the raw material into clothing. She was a woman of far more than ordinary intellect and in her old age conversed intelligently of the progress made and genius developed within the years of her eventful life, retaining all her faculties to a wonderful degree.

To Mr. and Mrs. Doak five children have been born. Their eldest child was the late Minor Doak, deceased September 8, 1902, at his home in Arion township. He was but twenty-eight years of age, a young man in the prime of life, honored and esteemed in the community, and his death was the occasion of universal sorrow. A wife and two children survive him. Maud, the oldest daughter, is the wife of Urey Pitts, of Woodward, county; Oklahoma; Eliza, Eva and Walter. Mr. Doak is a republican politically and works faithfully for the principles of this party. He is a member of the G.A.R., Concordia Post. Mrs. Doak is a member of the Christian church, Range Line congregation. Mr. Doak and his excellent family are interested in all educational and worthy enterprises, contributing liberally to the support of every cause pertaining to the good of their community. Mr. Doak's farm consists of one hundred and sixty acres of fine land, and he occupies a pleasant cottage home with his estimable wife, daughters and son. Mrs. Doak is a noble, motherly woman, retaining the true southern hospitality that more than a quarter of a century of western life has not obliterated, that gives one the assurance of a hearty welcome.