USA > Kansas > Crawford County > A Twentieth century history and biographical record of Crawford County, Kansas > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
Mr. Brown was a son of John Griff Brown, who was a pioneer of Jersey county, Illinois. His wife was Catherine Colean, of French descent. and her family was also one of the first to settle in Jersey county. The father died after the war at the age of sixty-six, and the mother died at the same age. John G. Brown was a farmer all his life. and was a Democrat of the Jackson school, while his wife was a member of the Methodist church. They were the parents of nine children, five sons and four daughters. and two other of the sons were soldiers- F. M. being a member of an Illinois regiment and William M. being a member of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois, and shortly after his discharge was murdered.
Mr. Brown passed his early days on an Illinois farm, attending as
488
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
far as possible the public schools of his locality. In 1867 he was mar- ried to Miss Sarah Webber, who was born at Springfield, Illinois, a daughter of Phillip Webber, whose brother, Richard Webber, was a Springfield editor for many years. In 1882 Mr. Brown came out to Crawford county, and since that year has devoted his efforts successfully to the prosecution of farm enterprises. His farm contains one hundred and sixty acres, and his residence, the barn, orchard and all the equip- ments indicate better than a further description how progressive and prosperous he is in his work. He raises the general crops and also con- siderable stock, and has made his business pay well.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown during their happy married life of over thirty- five years have had ten children born into their home, named as follows: Ida; Fannie, who was assistant postmaster for a time; Edith; Harry ; Ella : Bertha, who is a very proficient music teacher : Grace: Webber ; Bessie, deceased; and Roy, who died in childhood. Mr. Brown is a stanch Republican. He and his wife and all the daughters are members of the Methodist church, and he is a church trustee. He also served on the school board for years, and has been a public-spirited and broad- minded citizen, performing his share of the civic duties and taking a deep interest in seeing that his community and county shall progress as rapidly as possible.
THOMAS F. JONES.
Thomas F. Jones, who is engaged in the real estate, loan and insurance business at Walnut. Crawford county, has been an enterpris- ing and active business man of various parts of the state for nearly forty years, ever since boyhood, and there are few men who have been more closely identified with the growth and prosperity of the south- eastern part of the state than he. He is a self-made man, and has been winning his own way since he was seventeen years old. He is popular and well known over a large section of Kansas, and is particularly
489
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
prominent in Walnut, where he has lived and had the center of his operations for almost thirty-six years.
Mr. Jones was born in Wyandotte. Crawford county, Indiana, September 23, 1849, a son of Robert and Mary ( Stockwell) Jones, wlio were Kentuckians by birth. His father was a lawyer, and spent nearly all his life in Indiana, where he died in 1893. at the age of seventy-three years. His wife had passed away in 1855.
Mr. Thomas F. Jones was educated in the schools of Indiana. He started out for himself at the age of seventeen, and on October 6, 1866, arrived in Fort Scott, Kansas. He remained only a short time there, and then went to Chicago. In 1868 he returned to Kansas, and on February 18 came to Walnut and began herding cattle over the free ranges, at that time there being hardly a single fence to obstruct passage in any direction across the county. After herding for a year he went to Fort Scott, and for two years was a clerk in a hotel there. He then became a clerk in Isaac Stadden's grocery, and continued in that busi- ness until 1880, five years of which time was spent on the road as a traveling salesman. He established his home and family in Walnut in 1876, and when he left the road in 1880 he located there and engaged in the real estate. loan and insurance business, which he has ever since continued with excellent success.
Mr. Jones was married, April 8. 1876, to Miss Mary E. Roe, a (laughter of Alonzo and Jane Roe. Her parents are both living in the town of Walnut, and her father is an old gentleman who has passed the eighty-fifth milestone of his career, and her mother has also attained to great length of years, being now at the age of eighty. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have four children : Helen G. is the wife of Charles G. Wood- worth. of Crawford county: Ruth is the wife of L. M. McCommon, of Vera. Indian Territory : Robert R. lives in Hutchinson, Kansas ; and Forest is at home. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Jones is prominent in Masonry. He affiliates with Vulcan Lodge No. 229. F. & A. M., at Walnut, also with the Chapter Hiram,
490
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
No. 30. R. A. M., with Palestine Commandery, No. 28, at Girard, and has crossed the sands of the desert with the Abdalah Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Leavenworth, Kansas. He is also a member of Lodge No. 206, I. O. O. F., at Walnut, and Lodge No. 116, A. O. U. W.
WILLIAM H. ANDERSON.
William H. Anderson, manager for the Ryley-Wilson Grocery Com- pany, at Pittsburg, Kansas, began his business career in this city in 1887. and has since risen to a place of prominence and influence among the substantial business men of Pittsburg and Crawford county. He is well versed in commercial affairs, and his genial personality and straight- forward methods of dealing have enabled him to carry on a big trade for his wholesale grocery firm in this section of the state.
Mr. Anderson was born in Piatt county, Illinois, January 1. 1864, being a son of George Clinton and Nancy J. ( Morris) Anderson. His father was a native of Ohio, and followed farming as a life occupation. He settled in Piatt county, Illinois, and from there moved to Jasper county, Missouri, where he farmed until his death, in 1873. Mr. An- derson's mother was born in Indiana, and is now seventy-three years old and lives at his home in Pittsburg.
Mr. William H. Anderson was but a child when the family moved to Missouri, and was only nine years old when he lost his father. He was reared on the Jasper county farm, and received his education in the district schools. He engaged in farming in that county until he was twenty-three years old, and in 1887 left the farm to go to Pittsburg, Kansas, which is not far from his Missouri home. This city was just then in its era of great industrial and commercial development, and was an inviting place for various enterprises. Mr. Anderson started in the grocery business with W. J. Ralph, with whom he remained six months and then sold out his share to Mr. Shell. He afterward bought an in- terest in the dray business of Silas Carr, and the firm remained for a
491
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
time as Carr and Anderson. Then Mr. Anderson's brother, E. F. An- derson, bought Carr's interest, and the business was carried on as the Anderson Brothers. Mr. Anderson subsequently bought his brother's share. and later sold half of the business to David H. Sterling, their important dray and transfer line being conducted at the present time under the name of Anderson and Sterling. Mr. Anderson still retains his partnership in this enterprise, although he gives his best energies and attention to his work as manager of the Ryley-Wilson Grocery Com- pany's branch in this city, having taken this position in 1897. This large wholesale grocery has its main center in Kansas City, but with a branch in Pittsburg and one at Parsons, and their trade extends all over this part of the country. Mr. Anderson is a very popular man among his associates, and has been the means of drawing a great deal of business to his firm.
Mr. Anderson's executive ability has been valuable to his city as well as to his business. He was a member of the city council in 1896. and in April. 1903, was again elected to that body as the representative of the second ward. He is chairman of the light and water committee. chairman of the buildings and grounds committee, and a member of the ordinance and of the finance committee. He takes a public-spirited in- terest in all matters pertaining to the welfare and progress of the city. and is always willing to devote his attention and efforts to such affairs.
Mr. Anderson affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Red Men and the Fraternal Aid, and in politics is a Republican. He was married at Pittsburg in 1893 to Miss Minnie Reynolds, and they have three chil- dren. Freddie F., Ivy Pearl and Opal May.
GIDEON P. COLE.
Gideon P. Cole, a representative of the agricultural interests of Crawford county, is now following farming and stock-raising just out-
492
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
side the city limits of Girard. He was born in New Brunswick, at the head of the Bay of Fundy, on the 20th of March, 1827, and has, there- fore, attained the seventy-seventh milestone on life's journey. He was the ninth in order of birth in a family of eleven children. all of whom are now deceased with the exception of himself and his sister, Mrs. Ruth Wheaton. His parents were Michael Grace and Cynthia ( Estabrook ) Cole, also natives of New Brunswick. The father was a farmer by oc- cupation, and spent his entire life in the land of his birth, his death there occurring in 1869, when he had attained the age of seventy-six years. His wife, surviving him for some time, passed away in 1885, at the very advanced age of ninety-three years.
Gideon P. Cole was reared in the usual manner of farmer lads to whom toil comes in early youth. When still but a boy he began work in the fields. He was educated in the schools of New Brunswick, and at the age of sixteen years he went to sea as a sailor, accompanying his brother Rufus, who was a sea captain. He followed that life for five years and then made his way into the interior of the American continent, journey- ing westward to Illinois. He afterward spent another year as a sailor and then returned to Stephenson county, Illinois, where he followed mill- ing and farming, conducting his dual pursuit there until 1868. In that year he sold his property and came to Kansas, driving across the coun- try to Crawford county. He located in the northeastern corner of this county, about two and a half miles southwest of Cato, and there he lived intil 1883. In that year he took up his abode at Farlington, where he remained for four years, and the succeeding year was passed in Girard, whence he removed to his present farm, pleasantly located just outside the city limits of Girard. Here he has one hundred and sixty acres of rich and arable land, and while living near Cato he was the owner of five hundred and thirty acres.
On the 25th of December. 1849. Mr. Cole was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Brown, a native of Michigan. They became the parents of nine children : Cynthia, who is now the wife of Leroy Hemmingway,
493
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
of Liberal, Missouri; Mary, the wife of E. B. Black, who resides in Cato, Kansas; George, who is manager for the Illinois Life Insurance Company, at Topeka, Kansas, and is prominent in public affairs, having served as county clerk of Crawford county for three terms, while for three terms he was also state auditor of Kansas; Theodore, who died at the age of three years: Saphronia, who was a teacher in Crawford county for five years and is the deceased wife of R. T. Grant: Nettie. who was a teacher in Crawford county for ten years and is the wife of Dr. M. Coryell, one of the pension examiners of Fort Scott and a practicing physician and surgeon there: I. H., who is hond clerk at Topeka, Kan- sas, and was deputy clerk for four years: Nettie, who died at the age of four months; and Charles, who died at the age of three years. The mother of these children passed away on the ist of August. 1870, and on the 12th of March. 1871, Mr. Cole was again married, his second union being with Sarah .A. Brook, a daughter of Cooper and Harriet (Griffin ) Brook, the former a native of New York, while the latter was born in Vermont. Her father died in 1885. having passed the eighty- second milestone on life's journey, and the mother passed away in 1894. when eighty-four years of age. To Mr. Cole and his second wife have been born seven children: E. Grace, who is engaged in teaching in the public schools of Kansas City, having followed the profession for seven years, she being a graduate of the schools of Girard and of the normal school ; Gertrude B., who was educated in music, and is the wife of H. W. Hudgen, of Fort Scott, Kansas: Olive M., who died at the age of five months; Willis G., who is a graduate of the business college at Ottawa, Kansas, and is now engaged in the laundry business at San Jose. Cali- fornia : Rufus P., who died at the age of three months ; Frederick O .. who died at the age of nineteen months: and Ralph Gideon, who is now a student in the high school at Girard.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Cole hold membership in the Baptist church, take an active part in its work and do all in their power to promote its influ- ence and extend its field of usefulness. For four years Mr. Cole has
494
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
been one of the deacons of the church. He belongs to Girard Lodge No. 93. F. & A. M., at Girard, with which he has been identified since 1862. and in his life he exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft. His polit- ical allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he has been justice of the peace and road supervisor, and was a member of the school board for fifteen years. He takes a very active interest in all that pertains to the public welfare here. and has co-operated in the material, intellectual. political and moral advancement of the community. He has led a busy and useful life. characterized at all times by honorable dealing and by everything that is fair and just in his relations with his fellow men. and in the evening of life he receives the unqualified confidence and re- spect of those with whom he has been associated.
WILLIAM MOCK.
Wilham Mock, engaged in the hay, coal, transfer and delivery busi- ness at Cherokee, is one of the early settlers of Crawford county, having come here in 1866, shortly after the war, in which he had given a due meed of faithful service and shown his patriotism to the fullest extent. He is well known and esteemed in the business circles of the town, and has accomplished a great deal in the years of his active career.
Born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, July 28. 1838. he spent the first nineteen years of his life in that state, where he received his educa- tional advantages and was taught to work and to prize industry and faithful diligence. In 1857 he moved west to the state of Illinois, and at Aledo, Mercer county, of that state, on August 6. 1862, he enlisted in the Ninth Illinois Infantry, in Captain Alexander G. Hawe's company. They were in camp at Cairo, Illinois, and then crossed to Paducah. Kent- tucky. They took part in the siege and capture of Fort Donelson, were at Shiloh under General Richard Oglesby, and at that battle Mr. Mock was wounded in both thighs. after which he was confined to the hospital for three months: was at the battle of Corinth, and some time later be-
495
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
came a part of Sherman's army in the Atlanta campaign, participating at Chickamauga, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Big Shanty, Burnt Hickory, and other engagements. For a time he acted as guard at the headquar- ters of General Dodge. On receiving his honorable discharge he re- turned home to Illinois.
Mr. Mock was a son of Samuel and Mary Ann ( Brower ) Mock, both natives of Pennsylvania, and of German stock. They moved out to Illinois in 1859. and in 1866 came to Crawford county, where the father, who was a Democrat in politics, died at the age of eighty-four. and the mother died at Fort Scott, aged sixty-four. They were ad- herents of the Presbyterian church. Samuel Mock had eight children, and three other of the sons were soldiers in the Civil war. namely : Abe, of the Ninth Illinois; Jesse, also of the Ninth, who died of wounds re- ceived at Shiloh ; and John, of the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Mr. Mock, as has been mentioned, came to Crawford county in 1866, and has since taken a prominent part in the various affairs of the county. His business at Cherokee is a prosperous one, and it continues to increase under his efficient and capable management. Mr. Mock is a Socialist in the political trend of his thought. He affiliates with Shiloh Post of the Grand Army.
He was married at Girard, in 1874, to Miss Mary E. Blurton, and they have spent a most happy married life of thirty years. She was a daughter of William and Lucy ( Pool) Blurton, both natives of Penn- sylvania, the former of whom, a farmer and Democrat, died in Mis- souri at the age of eighty-jour, and the latter is living in Cherokee at the age of eighty. Mr. and Mrs. Mock have the following children : Jesse. William, Ed, Mattie, Minnie, Florence, and Samuel, who met death by accident when seven years old.
CHARLES D. BELL.
Charles D. Bell, the prominent and well known mining and civil engineer of Pittsburg, Kansas, has had a remarkable career in his pro-
496
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
fession during the few years that his still youthful manhood has given him for such work. He has been connected with some of the foremost coal mining and railroad enterprises in the country, and since locating for independent work in Pittsburg he has found a wide field for his serv- ices and has made a well deserved reputation. His comprehensive knowledge and executive ability, gained through study in one of the leading technical schools of the country and by practical experience un- der most competent engineers and industrial magnates. enable him to undertake and carry into successful completion the most arduous and diffi- cult of mining operations, including not only the drawing of the plans, but the putting them into operation.
Mr. Bell was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1875, so that his birthplace and scenes of early life were among the industries in which he was to take such a prominent part when arrived at manhood. His parents were Samuel and Mary (Gamble) Bell. His father was a na- tive of county Antrim. Ireland, and came to the United States in 1840, when a very young man. settling in western Pennsylvania. He was a farmer during the active period of his life, but later retired to the city of Pittsburg, where he died in 1903. His wife, a native of Mckeesport, Pennsylvania. is still living.
Mr. Charles Bell finished his education in the Pennsylvania State Normal School in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he made a specialty in the course of mathematics, surveying and civil engineering. After leav- ing school he became a student. of both practice and theory, under his cousin. Selwyn M. Taylor, of Pittsburg. a distinguished mining engi- neer.
Mr. Taylor took his place among the authorities on coal mining during the early eighties. He had received his education in the Pitts- burg high school, and studied engineering under R. L. McCully, whose partner he became. Mr. Taylor became a millionaire, the foundation of his fortune dating from his discovery of the Klondike coke region of Pennsylvania, in 1895. which discovery came at a very opportune time,
497
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
the Connellsville coke region ( which the Klondike equals in richness) having begun to decline at that time. From this time forward Mr. Tay- lor's fortune developed rapidly. He formed several great coal com- panies, notably the Eureka Company and the National Coal and Coke Company, owning large mines and coking industries in western Penn- sylvania. He became associated with H. C. Frick in developing the San Bois coal fields in the northern part of the Choctaw Nation, Indian Ter- ritory, and had coal interests in other parts of the country. In fact his coal operations were almost world-wide, he being interested at the time of his death in an exploring expedition to the orient. the principal object of which was the discovery of coal fields. He was also the consulting engineer of the Fort Smith and Western Railroad, which was built through the coal fields of the Choctaw Nation. He suffered a tragic death on January 26, 1904. On that date a report reached his office in Pittsburg that an explosion had occurred in the Cheswick mines, four- teen miles from Pittsburg, owned by the Allegheny Coal Company, of which he was president, and that a large number of men were buried in the mine. Mr. Taylor went to the scene immediately, organized a relief expedition, of which he put himself at the head and went down into the mine. While making the search for miners he was overcome by the gas and, before he could be taken out, died. The Pittsburg papers of that date relate that Mr. Taylor died like a hero.
Mr. Bell worked under the skillful tutelage of Mr. Taylor for three years, in Pennsylvania and Michigan, the last year and a half being em- ployed in surveying and mapping mines in the Pittsburg district. He then became connected with the James W. Ellsworth Coal Company as engineer of construction in the erection of their No. I and No. 2 plants in Washington county, Pennsylvania, each plant having a capacity of four thousands tons of coal daily. He also made a survey of twelve thousand acres of coal land in that vicinity. He then became engineer for the Southwestern Connellsville Coal Company, the coal department of the Federal Steel Company, and served in that capacity for a year.
499
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
when the company was absorbed in the United States Steel Corporation, and his department was reorganized as the H. C. Frick Coke Company, for which company he was appointed division engineer. In January, 1902, Mr. Bell was commissioned by Frick and Mellon, the owners of the Fort Smith and Western Railroad, to go as mining engineer to the San Bois coal fields in Choctaw Nation. During his two years there he designed the plants, laid out the mines, erected tipples, set machinery, and did other important work for the road's extensive coal interests in that region.
In January, 1904, Mr. Bell opened his office in Pittsburg as a civil and mining engineer, and has already made such connections as to in- sure for him a fine future in this district. His large and important ex- perience enables him to cope successfully with the most difficult problems of mining engineering, and he has the important advantage of being able to do all the work in connection with the locating and erection of a mining plant, not only the surveying of the ground, but also the mechan- ical and architectural work, including the erection of buildings, tipples, setting machinery, etc. He has made a specialty of mining engineering. but he has also done much railroad and municipal work, and is compe- tent and thoroughly up to date in all departments of his great profes- sion. Mr. Bell has recently been appointed city engineer of the city of Pittsburg.
U. S. JUDD.
U. S. Judd, a retired farmer who is now spending the aftermath of many years of successful industry in quiet retirement at McCune, is one of the earliest settlers of Osage township, where he took up his residence in the year 1868, a short time after he had returned from his military service in the south, where he was one of the valiant soldiers for the Union. He was living in Illinois when the war began, and he enlisted at Springfield in September, 1861, in Company G, Tenth Illinois Cavalry,
499
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
under Captain Bates and Colonel Wickersham. They were in camp at Camp Butler, Springfield, later went to Quincy, and then to Benton Bar- racks, St. Louis, and from there to Mt. Vernon, Missouri. They were a part of General Steele's command and took part in various operations in the Mississippi valley up to and including the siege and capture of Vicksburg ; were then sent south, and took part in the Red River expe- dition ; and toward the close of the war marched across the Texas plains to San Antonio, where they remained during the first months of the re- construction period. They were then sent to Galveston and up north, and received honorable discharge at Springfield, Illinois.
Mr. Judd is a native of Canada, having been born near Toronto, March 20, 1837. a son of Evi and Louise Judd, both natives of Canada. When he was a baby he was brought by his parents to the United States, their first location being in Ohio, and then in Sangamon county, Illinois, near Springfield, where they were quite early residents. The father was a farmer, and died in Sangamon county at the age of eighty. Politically he was a Jackson Democrat. There were five children in the family, and one other besides Mr. Judd is living, namely, Susan Ramsey, of St. Louis.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.