Samuel M. Stansbury

SAMUEL M. STANSBURY, a resident of Elm Grove township, Labette county, Kansas, is living in the northeast quarter of section 33, township. 34, range 19. He was born May 4, 1834, in Perry county, Indiana, and is a son of John and Mary (Rutherford) Stansbury.

John Stansbury was born in Maryland, and was a stone-mason and farmer by occupation. He was also a preacher of the M. E. church. He married Mary Rutherford, who was a native of Indiana. They reared the following offspring: Samuel M., William, Joseph, John, Benjamin, Sarah A., and Mary E.

Samuel M. Stansbury was six years old when his parents moved to Jones county, Iowa. Later they moved to Missouri, and still later to Woodson county, and then to Wilson county, Kansas. Mr. Stansbury enlisted October 15, 1861, in Company G, 9th Reg., Kans. Vol. Cav., and served three years and three months. Part of that time he was on duty as a scout in Colorado. After the war, he returned to Wilson county, where he lived until 1879. He then took up a claim in Harper county, Kansas, where he lived for one year, after which he moved to Missouri, and two years later to Winfield, Kansas, where he remained three years. He then went to Fort Scott, and to Arkansas. In the fall of 1890, he went to the National Military Home, at Leavenworth, Kansas, where he remained until 1893. He then went to the Kansas State Soldiers' Home at Dodge City, Kansas, where he remained about one year, when he returned to the National Military Home. He next moved to Denver, Colorado, then to Wichita, Kansas, and in November, 1899, settled in his present home. Mr. Stansbury had made his first trip to Labette county, Kansas, in 1863, when some Confederate soldiers, who had been killed by the Indians, were buried. He carries on general farming, and has 15 acres of fruit. He is very successful in the raising of the latter, and each year finds an increase in the products of his farm.

Mr. Stansbury was first married August 4, 1863, at Humboldt, Kansas, to Rachel E. C. Done, by whom he reared six children, as follows: John F., deceased; Mary M.; Lawrence R.; Eva F. G.; Benjamin M.; and Alice W.

Mr. Stansbury's second wife, whom he married November 30, 1899, was Mrs. Anna (Masters) Bickham, who was born in Fairmount, Ohio, in 1839. She is a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Masters. Samuel Masters was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and was a miller and carpenter by trade. His wife was also a native of New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Masters reared 11 children, of whom those living are: Eunice, John, Anna, William, Emma, Barbara, Caroline, and Rachel. Mrs. Anna (Masters) Bickham, Mr. Stansbury's present wife, first married Thomas D. Bickham, who died September 1, 1889, aged fifty-three years. He moved to Labette county in 1869, and located about nine miles south of Parsons, where he remained with his wife and family five years. He then sold out, and in 1874, moved to the northeast quarter of section 33, Elm Grove township, where Mrs. Stansbury has since resided. By her former husband, Mrs. Stansbury had 11 children, eight of whom are now living, as follows: Samuel, Ezra, Ella, Theodosia, Caroline, Rhoda, Thomas, and Alpha.

Mr. Stansbury is independent in politics. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Stansbury is a public spirited and upright citizen, and has many friends in Labette county, where he is very well known.