USA > Kansas > Crawford County > A Twentieth century history and biographical record of Crawford County, Kansas > Part 31
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Mr. Hornaday was born in Warren county, Ohio, October 1, 1843. His father, Christopher Hornaday, was born in North Carolina and came with his parents to Ohio when he was a boy, grew up in that state, and married Miss Lucinda Zentmyer, a native of Ohio and of German parentage. He died when a comparatively young man, in 1843. His wife afterward married Thomas Simmons and moved to Indiana, where she resides, a widow, at the age of eighty-three. She had three children by her first husband: John, deceased; Germina Rominger and Christopher; and two by her second marriage: Sarah Simmons and George E. Simmons.
At the age of twelve years Mr. Hornaday went with his mother to Indiana, and during the remainder of his boyhood days attended the country schools and did farm work. In July, 1862, when in his nine- teenth year, lie enlisted in Company I, Sixty-seventh Indiana Infantry, and served for three years of the hardest period of the war. He was captured at the battle of Mumfordsville, Kentucky, and was afterwards paroled. He was in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post, thence to the siege of Vicksburg, and at Jackson, Mississippi, and at Port Gibson and Fort Blakely. He was struck by a spent ball at Vicks-
Louis Kumm
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burg. but not injured sufficiently to keep him from duty. He was dis- charged at Galveston, Texas, in May, 1865, and went home with a creditable record as a soldier of the Union. He was married in the fol- lowing year, and in 1873 he brought his family out to Crawford county. Kansas, and after two changes located on the farm which has been the scene of his profitable labors to the present time. His place is well located, convenient to market, the land is productive and well culti- vated, and the large house and barn and other buildings are surrounded by delightful groves of fruit and shade trees, so that altogether it is one of the prettiest farmsteads in the country roundabout. He does general farming and stock-raising, and his efforts have always been very suc- cessful.
May 25, 1866, Mr. Hornaday married Miss Ella Rominger, who was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, a daughter of Charles and Mary A. Rominger. Seven children have been born to them: Harry E., who died August 5. 1904. was county superintendent of public in- struction, and his sketch appears elsewhere in these pages: Estella Silli- man, of Colorado; Martha F. Kegga, of Illinois; Ethiel, who was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun: Bertha, who died at the age of two years: and Jessie and Charles, at home. Mr. Hornaday affiliates with the McCune lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and in politics is a Republican.
LOUIS KUMM.
Louis Kumm, the oldest jeweler of Pittsburg, Kansas, and now a member of the well known firm of R. V. Kumm and Son, has been established here since 1882, which was a time of beginnings for the now prosperous commercial and industrial city of Pittsburg. He is both an old and a successful citizen of this part of the state, and his career of over sixty years has been in the main devoted to the jewelry business, which he took up when a boy, and by his persistence along the same line.
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his skill and excellent business judgment has reached an enviable place in the business world and in the esteem of his fellow citizens. He has likewise been prominently identified with the public affairs of each community in which he has made his home, and wherever he has touched the world, whether in the conduct of private affairs or in some public capacity, he has commanded respect and exhibited the true strength of his noble character.
Mr. Kumm was born at Belleville, Illinois, in 1841, being a son of Jacob and Mary (Kinzel) Kumm. His father was a native of Germany. and in 1840 emigrated to America, first settling in Belleville, Illinois, but in 1845 brought his family to St. Louis, where he continued the trade of cabinet-maker, which was his principal vocation through life. He and his wife were both taken away on the same day, during the cholera epidemic which visited St. Louis in 1849.
Mr. Kumm received his education and learned the jeweler's trade in St. Louis. Before the war and while still a young man, he went to Sedalia, Missouri, and engaged in the jewelry business. His enterprise became very profitable, and by large investments in real estate he further increased his fortune, but during the hard times following 1873 the shrinkage in real estate values caused him to lose heavily. He also took a prominent part in Democratic politics while in Sedalia, and for four years was president of the city council, serving during a part of that time as acting mayor.
In 1882 Mr. Kumm took a trip through southeastern Kansas, and was so favorably impressed with the location and prospective advantages of Pittsburg that he decided to move here, which he did at once. At that time the town was small, but the coal mines then in operation indicated such a vast field for industrial and commercial enterprise in the vicinity that the future of Pittsburg was certain and a substantial city was a matter of only a few years' growth and development. Mr. Kumm be- gan the jewelry business as soon as he located here, being the pioneer in that line. His store has a fine reputation in Pittsburg, and from the
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first has commanded the best trade of the city. The business is con- duced under the firm name of R. V. Kumm and Son, and the establish- ment was first located in the old postoffice building at Third and Broad- way, but later was changed to its present location at 515 Broadway.
Since coming to Pittsburg Mr. Kumm has not been so much inter- ested in politics as he was while in Missouri, but has been the candidate of the Democratic party for county commissioner and for city treas- urer, but his party is in a permanent minority in this county and he was therefore defeated. He has fraternal affiliations with the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar. Mr. Kumm was married at Sedalia in 1865 to Miss Rosalie Virginia Brent, and they have four children living: Charles, who is a member of the firm; Miss Rosalie Virginia, who wedded William L. Newcomer, of Topeka, Kansas, a commercial man : Harry, who is the teller in the First National Bank of Pittsburg, and has had seven years' experience in the banking business : and Miss Bessie, who graduated from school in the class of 1904.
THOMAS L. SCOTT.
Thomas L. Scott, manager of the Pittsburg Hydraulic Stone Com- pany, and a capitalist interested in various industries, is one of the earlist settlers of southeastern Kansas, and has been connected in a prominent manner with the industrial and business interests of this region. He is a man of great activity and enterprise, far-sighted in matters of industrial development, and able to take advantage of oppor- tunities and bring his plans to a successful culmination.
Mr. Scott was born in Marshall county, Virginia, in 1848, being a son of Mathias and Lulidia ( Phillips) Scott, both natives of Waynes- burg, Pennsylvania. and the latter being now deceased. His father removed from Pennsylvania to Virginia, and in 1853 brought his family west and settled in Clark county, Missouri. In 1878 he came to Barton county, Kansas, and a few years later he followed his son
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Thomas to Pittsburg, where he is now living retired. Up to the time of the Civil war he followed the occupation of a cabinet-maker, and from that time until his retirement was a prosperous farmer.
Mr. Thomas L. Scott was reared and received his education mostly in Athens, Clark county, Missouri, finishing his schooling at St. Frances- ville. When his school days were over he came to Cherokee county, Kansas, and started the first drug store at Columbus, which was then a village just coming into existence, the railroad not having reached there at the time. In 1870 Mr. Scott sold out this business, and then took up railroad contracting. His first work in this line was at New Orleans and vicinity, and during the several years in which he followed contracting he was in Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Iowa, northern Missouri, Indian Territory and Arkansas. In 1879 he moved his family to Pittsburg, which had been founded only a short time before, and this has been his home and headquarters ever since, although his duties as railroad contractor have caused him to remain away for long periods of time.
Mr. Scott has been identified with several large enterprises in this city and vicinity. He is a director of the Alexander Land and Lumber Company, whose headquarters are at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and which firm manufactures and deals in lumber, having a number of retail branches throughout Indian Territory. Mr. Scott has recently estab- lished in this city the Pittsburg Hydraulic Stone Company, which is a new industry and of which he is manager. This concern is engaged in the making of artificial stone for building purposes, and the product has been found to be of the highest quality and is being extensively used in building. The company has a similar plant at Fort Smith, Arkansas. called the Fort Smith Hydraulic Stone Company.
Mr. Scott was some years ago elected police judge of Pittsburg and served in that office for one term. He is a prominent Mason, having gone through the York Rites and being a member of the commandery and the Mystic Shrine. He was married to Miss Caroline Neff, of
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Farmington, Iowa, in 1868, and they have four children: Mrs. Lydia Lanyon, Mrs. Mary Braznell, Mrs. Fred Bresee and Forest R. Scott.
JAMES WILSON.
James Wilson, a representative of the agricultural interests of Crawford county now engaged in farming about a mile west of Girard, was born in New York on the 21st of October, 1830. His father, John Wilson, was a native of Scotland, and after crossing the Atlantic to America became a resident of the Empire state. Subsequently he removed westward to Missouri, where his remaining days were passed, his death there occurring in 1840. His wife, Mrs. Catherine Wilson, also a native of Scotland, long survived him, departing this life in 1879.
James Wilson was a lad of only ten years when taken by his parents to Missouri, and he remained under the parental roof until sixteen years of age, when he started out to make his own way in the world. He began learning the engraver's trade, and later at the time of the gold excitement in California he drove an ox team to that state in 1852. He started with a party in the month of April and arrived at his destina- tion in September, after which he spent five years on the Pacific coast and then returned home by way of the water route. When he had again reached the Mississippi valley he turned his attention to farming in Illinois, and in the year 1881 he came to Crawford county, Kansas, where he purchased his present home. Here he has since been engaged in general agricultural pursuits and has a well developed property, from which he annually garners good harvests as a reward for the care and labor which he bestows upon the fields.
He is progressive in his farming methods, practical in his work, and through his careful supervision of his business interests has gained a good living for himself and family.
On the 24th of December. 1862, Mr. Wilson was united in mar- riage to Miss Sarah Utley, a daughter of Preston and Nancy Utley.
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both of whom are natives of Kentucky and are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have been born seven children: Edward P., a resi- dent of Pittsburg, Kansas; Laura, who is assistant in the postoffice at Pittsburg; William, a twin brother of Laura, now acting as a street car conductor in St. Louis, Missouri : Edith, the wife of William Davies, a resident of Grant township, Crawford county ; Kate G. and Elmer E., both at home; and Clara, the wife of M. G. Slawson. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Girard, and in his polit- ical affiliation Mr. Wilson is a Republican, having continuously sup- ported the party since its organization. Few men have a more intimate knowledge of the development and growth of the middle west than has the subject of this review. He became a resident of Missouri in 1840, when but ten years of age, and he has witnessed the progress and im- provement which have been continuously made as the settlers have claimed. the land and transformed it into rich farms dotted over with comfortable homes. His residence in Crawford county covers a period of twenty-three years, and he is justly accounted one of the respected and worthy early settlers of his community.
ABRAM BAXTER.
Abram Baxter, a retired farmer in Pittsburg, Kansas, has lived in Crawford county for over thirty years, and for a number of years was actively and successfully engaged in farming and stock-raising. He was one of the pioneers of the county, and helped develop it into the great agricultural community which it now is, at the same time sharing in the profits which were the rewards of that industry. He has also leen interested in other enterprises within the county, and was especially prominent in the public affairs of his township. Some years ago he retired from personal participation in farming and has since resided in Pittsburg, where he has from time to time placed the proceeds of his former industry in several commercial or financial enterprises. He
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has been recognized throughout his career here as a man of stanel and solid character, possessed of an energy that accomplishes what it under- takes, and honorable and upright in all his dealings both in public and private life.
Mr. Baxter was born at Cold Spring on the Hudson, New York, March 17, 1836, a son of W. T. and Libby ( Hummings ) Baxter. His father was a native of Newburgh, New York, was a machinist by trade, and for a number of years was employed in the machine shops at West Point. About 1860 he came out to Illinois to join his son Abram, locating on a farm near Geneseo, Henry county. He lived to a good age, and died July 20, 1899, in San Francisco, whither he had gone to live with his daughter. His wife, who was a native of Connecticut, died at Geneseo, September 20, 1891.
Mr. Abram Baxter was educated in the Cold Spring schools, and learned the trade of machinist in the shops at West Point, New York. It is a matter of general interest that one of his last pieces of work in the shops there was performed on the frigate Merrimae, which was built for the government at those shops, and which afterward fell into the hands of the Confederates and was converted into the terrible iron- clad monster that spread terror among the Union ships until they found a champion in the little Monitor. In 1857 Mr. Baxter came west, and after stopping a few months in Sycamore, Illinois, in search of a suitable location, went back to New York, but later returned to Illinois and located at Geneseo, in Henry county, where his father and the rest of the family afterward joined him. He was engaged in farming and stock-raising there for several years. In March, 1865, he enlisted, at Dixon, Illinois, in Company G, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and during the remaining months of the war served in Ten- nessee. in the vicinity of Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville, and after the war was for a time connected with the Freedmen's Bureau at Memphis.
In 1872 Mr. Baxter came to Kansas and located in Baker township,
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Crawford county, four miles east of the present city of Pittsburg, which was not in existence at that time. He bought a farm, and became a successful and prominent farmer and stockman of the county. He developed a fine farm from the bare prairie range of those days, and he still owns his place, although in 1889 he moved into Pittsburg and has since built a beautiful residence in this city. He took a prominent part in the public affairs of Baker township, and served one terin as town- ship trustee. He was also an active spirit in the building of the Joplin and Girard Railroad, and was one of the directors of the road until it was sold to the Frisco system. Since the opening of the coal industry in the Pittsburg district he has at various times held interests in coal mines. He has been very successful in all his enterprises, and has a solid standing in the financial circles of the county.
Mr. Baxter was married at Newburgh, New York, October 8, 1856, to Miss Hannah E. Westlake, daughter of Benjamin Westlake. They have five living children : Sylvester W .. now a resident of Kansas City : Leonard C., manager of the Long-Bell Lumber Company's branch establishment in Pittsburg: Norman, who lives on his father's farm; Dr. Millard F .. who is practicing medicine in Joplin, Missouri: and Eliza L., the wife of Walter L. Baird. Mr. Baxter is a prominent Mason, and has been affiliated with the order since 1863.
WILLIAM BEEZLEY.
William Beezley, who follows farming and stock-raising and is one of the well known breeders of fine cattle in Crawford county, is pleas- antly located about a mile and a half west of Girard. He is also entitled to representation in this volume because of the fact that he is an honored veteran of the Civil war and is one of the revered patriarchs of this community, having passed the eighty-fifth milestone on life's journey. He was born in Clark county, Ohio, two miles east of the city of Spring- field, on the IIth of January, 1818, and was a son of John and Eliza-
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beth (Ellsworth) Beezley, who became residents of Ohio at a very early period in its development. They crossed the Ohio river where now stands the city of Cincinnati, but at that time its site was marked by only one log cabin. John Beezley was a miller by occupation, and his father, William Beezley, built the first gristmill in the state of Ohio. The family were actively connected with the early pioneer develop- ment of that state. and John Beezley continued to make his home in Ohio until his death, which occurred in 1890, when he had reached the very advanced age of ninety-four years. His wife passed away in 1875 at the age of seventy-eight years.
William Beezley was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life in the Buckeye state, and early became familiar with the hardships and difficulties which fall to the lot of pioneer settlers. He was educated in the subscription schools, for at that time the public-school system had not been established in his home locality. He also added largely to his knowledge through reading and by instruction received from his parents. In his hoyhood days he became familiar with the arduous work of developing new land and of carrying on the home farm, and he lived with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-four years, working for his father for three years after he had attained his majority. He left home in 1857 and made his way westward to Logan county, Illinois, where he purchased one hundred and thirty acres of land, and began farming on his own account. As his financial resources increased he added to his property from time to time until he was the owner of four hundred acres, and was accounted one of the most enterprising and suc- cessful agriculturists of his community. He carried on his farm work until July, 1861. when he offered his services to the government as a defender of the Union cause. His age would have exempted him from military service, but his patriotic spirit prompted his enlistment and he became a member of Company F. One Hundred and Sixth Illinois In- fantry, with which command he went to the front. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg, was in the battle of Highland. in 1862, the
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battle of Little Rock, Arkansas, and several smaller engagements. His meritorious conduct on the field brought him promotion from time to time and when he was discharged at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on the Ist of August, 1865, he held the rank of captain.
When the war was over Mr. Beezley returned to his farm in Illi- nois and continued to engage in its cultivation until 1876, when he traded a quarter section of his Illinois land for a half section in Potta- wattamie county, Iowa. In 1893 he was the owner of six hundred acres of land there, having added to his original holdings. In that year he sold his property in Iowa and came to Crawford county, Kansas, where he purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He also has a farm of two hundred and forty acres adjoining this prop- erty, and in connection with the raising of grain he devotes considerable attention to the breeding of fine cattle and has upon his place some of the best stock to be found in this part of the state. He has always made a specialty of Shorthorn and Red Polled cattle.
In 1844 Mr. Beezley was united in marriage to Miss Pollie Ann Castle, and they became the parents of seven children: John F., who is now deceased: Casius, who was killed in the Civil war, while serving as a defender of the Union : Joseph N., who died in infancy ; James, who is living in Graham county, Kansas; Emeline C., the wife of R. N. Boyle, of Graham county; Charles T., who is manager for an insurance company in Des Moines, Iowa; and Jennie, the wife of Cornelius F. Stockton, a resident farmer of Crawford county. In 1881 Mr. Beezley was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, and on the 22d of Decem- ber. 1884, he was again married, his second union being with Anna Fawcett, a native of England. They have four children : Benjamin R., George F. and Elmer C., all of whom are students in the high school at Girard : and Roy C., a lad of ten years, at home.
Mr. Beezley and his family have long been connected with the Methodist Episcopal church, and now attend the services of the church of that denomination of Girard. He is a member of the Masonic fra-
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ternity and he belongs to the Grand Army post at Macedonia, Iowa. While residing in that state he served as county commissioner of Potta- wattamie county for one term, elected to the position on the Republican ticket. From the organization of the party he has been a stanch advo- cate of Republican principles, and has kept well informed on the ques- tions and issues of the day. He has now passed the eighty-sixth mile- stone on life's journey and has, therefore, witnessed much of the growth and development of the republic. He was born during the fifth presi- dlent's administration and has lived through a period of great material development and of national progress. He rode in the first train that ran over the first railroad built in Ohio, the line being called the Cin- cinnati & Little Miami road. He has also witnessed the introduction of the telegraph and the telephone and of much modern machinery used in industrial and agricultural life. In his farming operations he has kept pace with the universal progress and has always owned well im- proved property abreast with modern improvements.
FLOYD W. CURRY.
Floyd W. Curry, who has a responsible position in the office of the Wear Coal Company at Pittsburg, is a young man of much business ability and worthy character, and has made a very creditable record for himself during his residence here, which has been since he was a boy. He enjoys the esteem and confidence of his company, and his standing in all the circles of Pittsburg is the very best.
Mr. Curry was born at Richwood. Union county, Ohio. August 6, 1874. being a son of John W. and Mary J. (Cook) Curry. The history of the Curry family in America contains some notable names, especially in the military affairs of the nation, and Union county, Ohio, has been honored by the presence of the family from its very earliest history down to the present time. There was born near Belfast. Ireland, in the early part of the eighteenth century. one Robert Burns Curry, whose
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great-great-grandson is our present Mr. F. W. Curry. He served throughout the Revolutionary war, and from a second lieutenancy in the second battalion of Miles' Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment was promoted, on April 8. 1777, to captain of the same, and was known and honored by that title during the rest of his useful life.
Colonel James Curry, a son of Captain Curry and the great-grand- father of Mr. Curry, was also born near Belfast, Ireland, on January 29, 1752. He came to America and served in Dunsmore's Indian war in Virginia, and was later a soldier in a Virginia regiment during the Revo- lution. September 14, 1778, he was made captain in the Fourth Vir- ginia Infantry. When the war was over and the tide of emigration set westward from the fringe of Atlantic colonies, he was among the first to cross the Alleghanies and wend his perilous way to the territory of Ohio. He settled in Union county and reared his family there, it being necessary for him to guard his family and property from the Indians by means of a shotgun. From that time to the present men and women of the name of Curry have lived and wrought in Union county, and been esteemed and worthy members of society.
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