A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 43

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 970

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counted one of the leading and enterprising agriculturists of Rockville township and- his well directed labor have brought to him a handsome profit.

Mr. Wernet was married in Rice county to Miss Rachel Bergman, who has proved to him a faithful companion and helpmate on the journey of life. Their union has been blessed with two children, --- Minnie and Harry. In his political views Mr. Wernet is a stalwart Republican and in religious faith is a Catholic, but his wife belongs to the Lutheran church. He is now in the prime of life, intelligent, enterprising and successful, honest in his dealings and of unquestioned integrity, his word being as good as his bond. His life record is an excellent example of what may be accom- plished in the new world, where effort is not hampered by caste or class, where abil- ity and worth are recognized and labor finds its just reward.

HANNAH WRIGHT.

The life of the late Aaron H. Wright, the name of whose widow appears above, was terminated untimely and the career thus ended was one full of promise. Mrs. Wright, who lives on section 7, in Huntsville town- ship, Reno county, Kansas, and wliose post- office address is Huntsville, is a woman of much character and ability and was to Mr. Wright a most worthy helpmeet and who has ably succeeded to the management of his home affairs.

Aaron H. Wright, was born in Mont- gomery county, Ohio, and died at his home in Reno county in his fifty-first year, No- vember 15, 1881. His father, Aaron Wright, from New Jersey, was an early settler in Warren county Ohio, and moved thence to Montgomery county. He was a tanner by trade and owned several farms, on which he had a tannery, and was considered a wealthy man in his time. He died at Brook- ville, Ohio, after having lived nearly eighty years. He was twice married and by his two wives had eleven children. His first

MRS. HANNAH WRIGHT.

AARON H. WRIGHT.

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wife, who was Ruth Hackett, was the mother of Aaron H. and eight others of his children, of whom only one, Sarah Burke of Darke county, Ohio, is living. Mrs. Wright's maiden name was Aten and she was of Low Dutch ancestry on her father's side. Her father was Adrian Aten, a na- tive of Maryland, who died in 1832, at the age of seventy-one years. His wife. Eliz- abeth Castle, was born in Virginia, now West Virginia, about 1788, and died near Clermont, Preble county, Ohio, in 1866. She married twice and had four children by each of her husbands. Three of her chil- dren by her marriage to Mr. Aten are now living : John Aten, her only son, lives in Darke county, Ohio, and has eight sons, all of them middle aged or approaching middle age. Elizabeth Aten married Rob- ert A. Clark, of Greenville, Ohio, and has two children.

Mrs. Hannah Wright, of Huntsville. township, Reno county, Kansas, widow of the late Aaron H. Wright, and daughter of Adrian and Elizabeth ( Castle) Aten, first attended school in a log house with pun- cheon seats, and all the recollections of her childhood and girlhood are of pioneer life. She married Aaron H. Wright February 22, 1853, and they lived on an eighty-acre farm belonging to Mr. Wright's father un- til after the death of Mrs. Wright's mother, when they bought the Aten place, on which they lived eight years, until they removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, where they bought an eighty-acre farm, which was their home until they removed to Kansas. They located on Mrs. Wright's present farm in 1879. which originally consisted of one hundred and sixty acres of Santa Fe rail- road land, for which Mr. Wright paid about five hundred dollars. The farm was new, uncultivated prairie land and they set about improving it and putting it under cultiva- tion, in planting fine orchards of apple. peach and cherry trees and numerous box elder and mulberry trees to provide needed shade in the summer season. For a time they lived in a box house covering a ground space of fifteen by twenty feet. Mrs. Wright's present residence is of ample size 17

and up-to-date in all its appointments. Her barn, which is first class in every respect, was built in 1893.

Mr. Wright gave his attention to general farming, which since his death has been con- tinued under Mrs. Wright's direction. She raises corn and wheat and gives considera- ble attention to hogs and cattle. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Wright inherited much prop- erty and their farm of one hundred and sixty acres has been divided into two farms of eighty acres each, one of which is owned by Mrs. Wright and the other by her sons. The following items of interest concerning the children of Aaron H. and Hannah (Aten) Wright will be of interest in this connection. Their son, Adrian Aten Wright, married Miss Jennie Garrwood, who died at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving four children, John, who is married ; Orville A., who is married : Ellery P., who is not married : and James A., a young man of eighteen years. Adrian A. Wright is the manager of his mother's home farm. Their son, A. B. Wright, is married and is en- gaged in farming near Huntsville. Their son, Orville E. Wright, is married and has four children. He was graduated in music at Cincinnati, Ohio, and for three years past has been musical director of the Day- ton, Ohio, high school. Their son, John Elmer Wright, is married and has a daugh- ter. He is a railway mechanic and lives at Hutchinson, Kansas. Their son, Harry A. Wright, is married and has a son. He formerly taught school in Nebraska and in Michigan and is now a missionary, laboring in the work of the Presbyterian Sunday- schools, under the auspices of the American Sunday-school Union, in southern Ohio. Their son, Charles Wright, is a student at Winfield College. of Winfield, Kansas. Their daughter, Margaret, married George Gantz, a farmer of Reno county, and has five children. Their daughter. Mettie, mar- ried J. Lewis Feggett and lives three miles southeast from her mother's farm.

Mrs. Wright has been a member of the Methodist church fifty-seven years, and her husband, who was gifted as a speaker. was an exhorter and in that capacity did effective

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service in Ohio. Some time before his death he entered Delaware College to prepare him- self for admission to the bar, but his healthi failed and he returned to his farm in Kan- sas, where he died after more than two years' illness.

J. M. PROFFITT.

A farm well developed and equipped, located on section 14, Raymond township, Rice county, is the property of J. M. Proffitt, who has been a resident of this portion of the state for almost thirty years. He arrived in the fall of 1873 and was one of the first to secure a homestead claim. He made his way to Kansas from Iowa, but is a native of east Tennessee, his birth having occurred in Sullivan county, that state, on the 21st of May, 1830. He represents one of the old families of Tennessee and his an- cestry can be traced back to the old world. William Proffitt, the father of our subject, was born in Sullivan county, Tennessee, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Miss Malinda Willard, also a native of that locality and a daughter of George Willard. who removed to Tennessee from North Carolina. Unto William and Malinda Proffitt were born six children, namely : Eulanda W., who is living in Iowa; John M. : Matilda, who makes her home in Mis- souri: George W. and Christina, who are likewise residents of the Hawkeye state: and Malinda, who makes her home in Iowa. The mother of this family died at the age of thirty-seven years, and the father passed the age of three score years and ten, being seventy-five years of age at the time of his death. His religious views were in har- mony with the teachings of the Baptist church, and with that denomination he held membership, while his political support was was given to the Democracy.

John M. Proffitt, whose name intro- duces this record, was a Tennessee farmer. and during the Civil war he served as eap- tain and superintendent of the Nitre Works in Tennessee. In that state, in 1855. he was

united in marriage to Miss Barbara Ellen Smith, who was born in Sullivan county, Tennessee, a daughter of Jasper and Rachel ( Hampton ) Smith. Her death occurred in Rice county, in 1874. She left eight chil- dren to mourn her loss, namely: G. C., who is a valued resident farmer of Ray- mond township; Mrs. Alice Davis, who is living in Oklahoma; John and Will, twins, both farmers of Rice. county; Mrs. Mary E. Eaton, of Missouri: Mrs. Sarah Riggs, of Oklahoma: and Mrs. Naney Mitchell and Mrs. Christina Reed, who are also liv- ing in Oklahoma. For his second wife Mr. Proffitt chose Miss Abigail Browning, the wedding taking place in 1876. The lady was born in Scotland county, Missouri, near Memphis, and is a daughter of Caleb and Elvira ( Fuller ) Browning, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Illi- nois. Both have now passed away, the mother's death having occurred in Iowa. in 1865 when she was thirty-three years of age, while the father died in 1880, at the age of eighty years. The mother left five children : America, who is a resident of Rice county : Ann, who died in this county ; Jesse, who is living in the same county ; and Zelpha, who became Mrs. Safford and died in Garden City, Kansas. The parents were members of the Baptist church, thus indicating their religious faith and prefer- ence. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Proffitt have been born five children, namely: Albert, Harvey, Jessie, Ray and Roy. £ The last two named are twins.

In the year 1865 Mr. Proffitt became a resident of Marion county, Iowa, where he opened up a new farm. continuing the work of cultivation and improvement until 1873. when he took a homestead of eighty acres and a tree elaim of one hundred and sixty acres in Raymond township, Riee county. He proved up on both places and afterward received his title from the gov- ernment for two hundred and forty acres of rich land. The work of further cultiva- tion and improvement has since been car- ried on and has resulted in making Mr. Proffitt's property one of the valuable and lesirable farms in this locality. He carries

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on general farming and stock-raising in a progressive manner and his has been a busy and industrious career, showing that earnest labor is competent to cope with all the diffi- culties and hardships of life and eventually win success. His study of political ques- tions has led him to espouse the cause of Democracy and he keeps well informed on the issues and questions of the day. He has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking. yet has served as township treasurer, as assessor and as a member of the- school board, and has ever discharged his duties in a manner reflecting credit upon himself, while at the same time his work has been satisfactory to his constituents. He is a member of the Baptist church, serving on its official board and is now one of the church trustees. He has passed the allotted Psalmist's span of three score years and ten, for he has now reached the age of seventy-two, but he still maintains an active interest in everything around him that tends to benefit his fellow men or to promote the material welfare of the com- munity. For twenty-eight years he has been a resident of Rice county, and where- ever he is known, he is held in warm esteem, for he possesses all those qualities which in every land and clime command respect and confidence.

BERNARD LAVIELLE.

Since the days of our struggle for inde- pendence Frenchmen have felt friendship for America and our American institutions and in the establishment of a Republican government in France the inhabitants of that country have had the heartfelt syn- pathy of Americans. Emigrants from France have been welcomed to all parts of the United States and for the most part they have developed into citizens of enter- prise and usefulness. Among the best known residents of central Kansas, of French nativity are Bernard and Isaac Lavielle, of Walnut township, Reno county, whose postoffice is at Avery.

Bernard Lavielle was born near Biscay,

France, July 15, 1844, and came to Amer- ica in 1874, in company with a man named Dacey and the latter's family. The two men started from their native land with considerable money in gold coin, but they were made the victims of a confidence scheme and arrived in America with prac- tically nothing. In 1874 Mr. Lavielle, John Dacey and eight others, constituting a party of ten, went west to Kansas City, Missouri, and thence to Sterling, Rice county, Kan- sas, where Mr. Lavielle arrived a little in debt. His success since that time has demonstrated the fact that he is not only capable of learning by experience but is pos- sessed of good business ability which was necessary only for him to exercise in order for him to better his fortune.

John Lavielle, father of Bernard and Isaac Lavielle, married Mary Gollare, and they had four daughters and five sons, and three of their daughters died young. Ber- nard and Isaac Lavielle had little oppor- tunity for education in France except that afforded by night school. Their father, who was possessed of well developed me- chanical ability, earned a living by making snuff boxes from horn, which he melted and pressed into various designs and which he lined with peach tree wood. His son Bernard has a snuff box like those made by his father, but this was made by his uncle, and also has a small gimlet with a horn handle, which his father used in work of that kind.

Bernard Lavielle walked from Hutch- inson, Kansas, to the vicinity of his present place of residence and found employment at ten dollars a month herding cattle for Thomas Bundser, in which he continued for six months. He lived a bachelor life with his brother for fifteen years, until 1888. December 10 of that year he mar- ried Miss Martha Deadmond, a native of Marion county, Illinois, and a daughter of James and Margaret (Johnson ) Deadmond, natives of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Dead- mond removed to Kansas in 1883, arriving at Sterling August 17. and they live on a good farm in Walnut township, where Mr. Deadmond busies himself as a farmer and

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as a mechanic. They have had ten chil- dren, of whom three are living. Mr. and Mrs. Lavielle have had seven children, of whom six are living, one daughter having died young. Those living were born at the dates here given: Ernest F .. April 15, 1891 ; Clarice May, September 6, 1892; Ora Aurelia, September 28. 1895: Marshall Ivory. November 7. 1897: James Irvin, February 19, 1899: Cora Almeda, Decem- ber 15, 1900.

Mr. Lavielle's land aggregates three hundred and twenty acres, embraced in two farms. He settled in Walnut township when the country was new prairie, pre- empting eighty acres and later homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres more and added to his acreage until he had acquired his present holding. His house is modern and comfortable and his barns and outbuildings are adequate to all demands upon them. In the fall of 1874 he walked from Kansas to Douglas county, Illinois, and the following spring he returned to Emporia, Kansas, and walked from Emporia to his present home. carrying a heavy pack on his back, and was three days in making the journey. He spent six months in New Mexico, where he was employed upon the construction of the Santa Fe railroad. His progressive char- acter is indicated by his material progress and prosperity and by the esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens. Four acres of his land is given up to a fine orchard of apple and peach trees, but he gives his attention principally to general farming. Wheat and corn are his leading crops, but he also raises some broom corn. He keeps about fifty head of stock cattle and eight horses and mules. His house is embowered among fruit and shade trees and he gives considerable attention to grape culture. His residence was erected in 1889, his large red barn in 1891.

Isaac Lavielle, son of John and Mary ( Gollare) Lavielle, is as well known in Walnut township. Reno county, Kansas, as his brother Bernard. He was born near Biscay. France, September 23, 1852, and was educated in his native town. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to learn

the manufacture of corks, in which he was employed for eight years, becoming an ex- pert workman and earning good wages. He and Bernard served as volunteers in the French navy for ten months, six months of the time in actual war. He marched twen- ty-eight consecutive hours overland to es- cape capture by the enemy and his feet were blistered so that his stockings clung to them. Early in 1875 he came to the United States and arrived at Hutchinson, Kansas, April 22, that year. May 5. fol- lowing, he reached Walnut township, Rena county, with ten dollars left out of the two hundred and thirty dollars with which he had left home.

Mr. Lavielle joined his brother in farming on their two original eighties of land, which lay side by side. They set up housekeeping together in a dugout, ten by twelve feet in size, covered with a thatched roof, and began breaking land with four wild steers, which Mr. Lavielle bought at Hutchinson, Kansas, for one hundred dol- lars, and one of which soon broke its neck. After that they worked the three in pairs and the difficulties under which they labored were increased by the fact that one of them was a wild and ferocious animal, which no one but Mr. Lavielle could control or han- dle. Like his brother he gives his atten- tion to general farming and he has at con- siderable trouble and expense provided him- self with orchards of fruit of various kinds. He took great pleasure in planting and watching the growth of his fruit trees and in setting out shade trees of different kinds. About eight years ago he cut down an im- mense cottonwood tree which had grown from a small twig which he had planted with his own hands.

Mr. Lavielle was married April 15, 1886, to Miss Josephine Boner, a native of Kankakee county, Illinois, a daughter of Joseph Boner, a farmer in Reno coun- ty. He located in in Kansas in Octo- ber, 1878. when Mrs. Lavielle was twelve years old. Isaac and Josephine ( Boner ) Lavielle have six children, named as follows: Louis M., who is fourteen years old; Lawrence is in his twelfth year ;

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Elert, who is in his tenth year: Alfred, who is in his eighth year; Pearl, who is five years old ; and Alta, who is five months old. The brothers are independent in politics and are consistent members of the Roman Cath- olic church.

NOAH BELLEW.

Deeply engraved on the pages of pioneer history of Reno county is the name of Noah Bellew, for he was the first settler in Miami township, and during his long residence in this section of the state has borne an important part in the substantial develop- ment and material improvement of the county.

Mr. Bellew is a native son of the Buck- eye state, his birth having occurred in Guernsey county, on the 28th of June, 1847. of which locality his father, Sammel Bel- lew, was also a native, his birth having oc- curred in 1823. The original ancestor of the Bellew family in America was the great- great-grandfather of our subject, who came to this country from the Emerald Isle. The grandfather of our subject. Joseph Bellew. was a prominent farmer of Ohio, and his wife was a member of the noted Astor fam- ily. Samuel Bellew was reared to the hon- est toil of the farm, and followed that occu- pation throughout his entire business ca- reer. About 1850 he removed to Vinton county, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his days. He was first united in mar- riage to Eliza Riggs, who was born in West Virginia, about 1826, and they became the parents of five children, one of whom, Jo- seph W., died at the age of seven years, and those still living are: Noah, the subject of this review : Mary Jane, wife of James L. Lay, a farmer of Yuma county, Colorado; Nancy A., wife of S. M. Johnson, who is engaged in the mercantile business in King- fisher. Oklahoma, and he has two sons ; and Isabella, now Mrs. Dyer, of Colorado. The mother of this family passed to her final reward at the comparatively early age of forty-two years, and the father was a sec- ond time married. Maggie Carns becoming

his wife. She bore him one son, Samuel. now a resident of Cheney, Kansas.

Noah Bellew, the immediate subject of this sketch, enjoyed but limited educational advantages during his youth, as his time was almost constantly employed upon his father's farm. Remaining in the state of his nativity until 1868, he then removed with his wife to Coles county, Illinois, and from that state came to Kansas on the roth of November. 1873, having been the first settler to locate in Miami township, where he immediately filed a homestead claim, his first . residence here being a box house twelve by sixteen feet. He still owns this farm, and in addition he also has another tract of one hundred and sixty acres, on which his son-in-law now resides. Both places are under an excellent state of culti- vation, and the improvements found upon his land are among the best in the locality. He has a beautiful orchard of four acres, containing apple, peach, pear and plum trees, while his residence is literally em- bowered with cottonwood, mulberry, maple and catalpa trees, many of his maple trees being eighteen inches in diameter. Six years ago, however, Mr. Bellew left his beautiful country home and located in Turon, where, in 1900, he embarked in mercantile pursuits and is now extensively engaged in dealing in groceries, notions, flour and feed. This is one of the leading business houses of the town, and in this line of trade he is meeting with a well merited degree of success.

The marriage of Mr. Bellew occurred in August, 1868, when Miss Annie Camp became his wife. She is a native of Vinton county, Ohio, and a daughter of Joseph and Rachel (Sprowl) Camp, early pioneers of Ohio and Illinois, where the father followed agricultural pursuits. They passed away in Coles county, Illinois, leaving six sons and two daughters. All of the sons were brave soldiers during the Civil war, and one. Walter Camp, was wounded in the en- gagement at Fort Donelson, from which his death occurred. His twin brother. John Camp, is a resident of Joplin, Missouri. Unto our subject and wife have been bra

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the f Wwing children: Louisa Belle, wife of O. M. P. Bowles, by whom she has three children, and the family reside on the Bel- lew homestead : Minnie E., at home. In political matters Mr. Bellew is an advocate of Republican principles, and for two terms he served as a township trustee, and while residing on his farm he was for ten years a school director. During the Civil war he served as a private in the Ohio National Guards, his military career covering a period of five months, during which time he was principally engaged in doing guard duty. He is indeed an honored pioneer of Reno county, and in the active walks of business life has ever been honorable and upright. commanding the respect of those with whom he has been brought in con- tact.

JOHN R. McLAURIN.

Canada has furnished to the United States many bright, enterprising young men who have left the Dominion to enter the busi- ness circles of this country with its more progressive methods, livelier competition and advancement more quickly secured. Among this number is Mr. McLaurin. He inher- ited somewhat of the strong. rugged, per- severing and plodding characteristics devel- oped by his earlier environment, which. coupled with the livelier impulses of his Scottish blood. made him at an early day seek wider fields in which to give full scope to his ambition and industry-his dominant qualities. He found the opportunity he vught in the freedom and apprecia- tion of the growing western portion of the country. Though born across the border, he is a thorough Ameri- can in thought and feeling. and is patriotic and sincere in his love for the stars and stripes. His career is identified with the prosperous city of Ellsworth, where he has acquired fortune and is an honored and re- spected citizen.

John R. McLanrin, who is now proprie- tor of the Lake Superior Lumber Company, at Ellsworth, was born in East Templeton,

in the province of Quebec, Canada. February 16, 1857. His grandfather. Alexander Mc- Laurin, was a native of Scotland, and in the year 1815 came to the new world, locating in Canada, where occurred the birth of his son, John McLaurin, the father of our sub- ject, who was for many years successfully engaged in the lumber business in Canada, but at length retired from active business life, having acquired wealth through the careful conduct of his industrial interests. He was very active in the Presbyterian church, in which he held membership and filled several of its offices. He was married in Canada, to Clarissa Dunning, and they be- came the parents of four sons, of whom our subject is the third in order of birth.

John R. McLaurin pursued his early ed- ucation in the public schools and in the Can- adian Literary Institute, at Woodstock, On- tario. His businesss training was received under the direction of his father, for dur- ing two years he was connected with his fa- ther's lumber interests. He then went to Ottawa, Canada, where he remained for five years, and on the IIth of October, 1881, he came to Kansas, locating in Wellsville, Franklin county, where he began business in connection with Mr. Laing. They pur- chased a lumber yard, which they conducted for about a year, when Mr. McLaurin sold out and went to Manitoba. There he en- gaged in the same business until the spring of 1884. when he removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he was connected with the wholesale grain and flour trade for a few months. In the fall of the same year, however. he disposed of his interests and in February, 1885, came to Ellsworth, where he has since been a representative of the lumber business. For a few years thereafter financial depression was manifest in the county, but he persevered and in course of time his business reached extensive propor- tions. In addition to a large line of lumber he carries paints and oils. He has erected all the buildings and sheds for the conduct of his enterprise, and in the winter months he ships in his stock of lumber so that it is ready for the opening of the following sea- son in the early spring. He is still interested

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 43

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 970

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 970