A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 47

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

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Mr. Bay was married in Iowa, Septem- ber 27. 1876, to Miss Maggie J. Sloan, a daughter of H. R. and Charlotte ( Gibson ) Sloan. She is a native of Ohio and with her parents went to Iowa, where the family were numbered among the carly settlers. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bay five children have been born: Lottie F., an accomplished lady well known in Hutchinson and vicinity, who is now the wife of Emmet Hutton, one of the proprietors of the American Steam Laundry, of Hutchinson; Clyde and Del- mer, at home: and two who died in infancy. Like many other settlers in pioneer times

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Mr. Bay frequen ly wid freighting between Wichita and Medicine Lodge, Lake City and other points, during the winter months, in order to bring in some ready money. He is numbered among the early settlers, whose labors contributed in large measure to the development and progress of the county and he is yet actively interested in all movements for the general good. In politics he has al- ways been a stalwart Republican, but has never aspired to office, and has never con- sented to serve in public positions, save on the school board. In his fraternal relations he is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Kingman Lodge, No. 99, and he also has membership relations with the Modern Woodmen Camp at Pretty Prairie. His example should serve as a source of inspiration and encour- agement to others, showing what can be accomplished even in the face of great diffi- culties, when one has the will to dare and to do, and when labor is guided by sound business principles.

W. HENRY WILSON.

W. Henry Wilson has well earned the proud American title of a self-made man, for in the active world of business he has overcome difficulties and obstacles and en- tirely unaided has worked his way upward until he is now numbered among the most most prosperous representatives of agricul- tural interests in central Kansas. He owns a farm of sixteen hundred acres in Wash- ington township, Rice county, but makes his home in Hutchinson, from which place he superintends the operation of his land and the raising of stock.

Mr. Wilson was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, February 23. 1839. his par- ents being Isaac and Mary ( Roberts ) Wil- son. The family is of English lineage and was founded in America by Henry Wilson, who was born on the "merrie isle" and be- longed to a wealthy family there. his father being an extensive ship owner. At the age of twelve years he went to sea and was ma- rooned on a lone island. Finally he went to America, locating in eastern Pennsyl-

vania, where he married Miss Mary A. Sny- der, a German lady. They went across the mountains to Waynesburg. Greene county, Pennsylvania, and there spent their remain- ing days. At the time of the Revolutionary war Henry Wilson served his adopted coun- try as a drummer in the American army. Throughout his active business career he followed farming and died in Greene county, Pennsylvania. The parents of our subject were both natives of that county. The fa- ther learned the tanner's trade in Waynes- burg, the county seat of Greene county, and on leaving that place went to Newton and subsequently to Morristown, Pennsylvania. In 1849 he took up his abude in Bureau county, Illinois, and later went to Putnam county, that state, where he died in 1875. He was one of the early settlers of the Prairie state and became an extensive land owner there. In his political faith he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican and in public affairs he was quite prominent, although he never aspired to public office. Of the Methodist Episcopal church he was a zealous and consistent member, was a strong advocate of the temperance cause and endorsed every reform movement which tended to uplift mankind. In ante-bellum days he was an ardent Abolitionist and did effective work in behalf of the slaves by making his home a station on the "under- ground railroad," which line conveyed many a poor bondsman to liberty in the north. He started out upon his business career in very limited circumstances but prospered as the years passed by and also won that good name which is rather to be chosen than great riches. He was twice married and by the first union had five children, of whom four åre yet living, namely: James, a farmer of McPherson county, Kansas: W. Henry; John, a farmer of Reno county : and Mar- garet, the wife of Emanuel Hise, of Reno county. . After the death of his first wife the father married Phoebe Martin, of West Virginia, and they had three children : Frank, of East Portland, Oregon: So- phronia, the wife of John Montgomery, of Horton, Kansas; and Isaac, of Arlington, this state.

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W. Henry Wilson spent the first ten years of his life in the Keystone state and then went with his parents to Illinois, where he was reared to manhood in Bureau and Putnam counties. His educational advan- tages were very meager. He attended the common schools to a limited extent but liis father was a poor man and needed his assist- ance upon the home farm, where he lived and labored until thirty-three years of age. While residing in Putnam county he was married June 4, 1866, to Mary D. Lackey, who was born in Broome county, New York, June 22, 1847, a daughter of John W. and Rachel ( Mitchell) Lackey, the former a na- tive of the Empire state and the latter of Wayne county, Pennsylvania. The father was a carpenter by trade and when Mrs. Wilson was a maiden of ten summers he re- moved with his family to Bureau county, Illinois, arriving there in 1857. He then turned his attention to farming and later went to Peoria county, Illinois, where he remained until he came with Mr. Wilson to Kansas and secured a claim in Rice county. There he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1897, while his wife passed away in 1891. They were the parents of ten children: Orlando R., of Kansas City ; Eugene, deceased ; Mrs. Wilson ; Geraldine, the wife of James P. Brady, of Ellsworth county ; Curtis G., a farmer of Rice county ; Fidelia, the wife of Edward Bich, of Rice county ; Franklin G., a farmer of that coun- ty: Jerome, deceased; Fred, a farmer of Pratt county; and Agnes, the wife of Charles Burdick, of McPherson county.

After his marriage Mr. Wilson engaged in the operation of the old home farm in Illinois until the spring of 1872, when he shipped teams and implements to Newton, Kansas. He first pre-empted the southwest quarter of section 6, township 21. range 5. in McPherson county and was the first man to develop a farm in that township. During the first year his nearest neighbor was Lewis Thomas, who lived ten miles south in Reno county. For two years after his arrival buf- faloes were killed in this vicinity and in the spring of 1874 he killed on his place the last one seen in the neighborhood. He built a box

house, sixteen by thirty-two feet. hauling the lumber from Newton, and after remain- ing there for a year he secured a homestead claim in Rice county-the north half of the northwest quarter and the west half of the northeast quarter of section 2, township 21, range 6. Here in 1873 he built a dugout in which he lived for about eight years, when he removed to another farm-the southeast quarter of the same section, which he pur- chased in 1873. In 1874 he had eighty acres planted in corn and anticipated selling his crop for a dollar per bushel to drovers, after which he intended buying yearling Texas cattle at three dollars per head ; but his plans were set at naught, for it was the year of the grasshopper scourge when his crops were entirely destroyed. Through the fol- lowing winter he had a hard time to get along and frequently his food supply was exhausted and he did not know where he was to obtain the next meal, but a way was opened up and in the spring he obtained a situation at hauling rock to Hutchinson. The next year he raised a good crop and thus once more got a start.

Mr. Wilson began raising and dealing in stock and in 1878 had fifty head of cattle. For twenty years he has handled from four to eight hundred head of cattle annually and each year feeds for the market from one to two hundred head and at times as many as five hundred. He has added to his farm 1111- til it now comprises sixteen hundred acres, of which two hundred and fifty acres is un- der a high state of cultivation, while much of the remainder is used for grazing pur- poses. He has a good grade of shorthorn cattle and has raised from one hundred to three hundred head of hogs each year, while he also keeps on hand a good grade f horses and mules, having sixteen head of work horses and mules besides young animals. The buildings upon his place are substantial and commodious. There is a seven-room residence with good cellar and extensive cat- tle barns, one hundred and ninety-two by thirty feet. There is also a feed grinder with engine to operate it and living water upon the place, the feed yards being supplied with water tanks and all modern conven-

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iences for the care of the stock. Mr. Wil- son remained upon the farm until May, 1897, when he purchased his comfortable residence in Hutchinson and removed to the city, although he still operates the place, keeping a reliable foreman in charge. He has a team in town and at least once a week drives to the farm in order to see that every- thing is being well conducted. He has given his attention exclusivly to his farming and stock raising interests and is one of the pros- perous self-made men of this portion of the state.

In politics Mr. Wilson is a stalwart Re- publican. voting with the party since cast- ing his first presidential ballot for Lincoln. The cause of education has always found in him a warm friend. He assisted in or- ganizing the first school district in Wash- ington township, Rice county, and was one of its first directors, serving in that posi- tion for many years. In the fall of 1874 he became the first overseer of highways and continued in that office until he refused longer to serve. For the past four years he has been a member of the First Presbyterian church, of Hutchinson, and since 1879 he has been a member of Victoria Lodge, No. 212. I. O. O. F., of Little River, Kansas. Such in brief is the life history of one who came to Kansas in limited circumstances and has found here the opportunity he sought of gaining success through earnest and un- remitting labor. Well does he deserve his prosperity, which is the just reward of in- defatigable and honorable effort.

CHARLES ROBINSON.

The pinceer history of central Kansas is familiar to Charles Robinson from active connection with the experiences of frontier life in this portion of the state. His history forms a connecting link between the primi- tive past and the enterprising present, from the days of dugouts, sod houses and un- improved farms to those of marked pros- perity, when farms are supplied with splen- did accessories and conveniences for carry-

ing on agricultural pursuits, while in the towns and villages are found all of the en- terprises and business establishments known to the older east. Mr. Robinson now en- gages in feeding and shipping stock, mak- ing his home in Ellsworth. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, March 31, 1846, and is a son of William and Mary Robinson, both of whom were natives of England, whence they crossed the Atlantic to Canada in early life, locating in Ontario, where they were married. The father was a drover and stockman, and about 1838 went to Michi- gan, locating in Detroit, where he engaged in the stock business until 1862. He then moved to Niagara Falls, New York, and after two years became a resident of Iowa City, Iowa. His death occurred in that state in 1883, and his wife, who still sur- vives him, is now living in Omaha, Nebras- ka. Charles Robinson is the third in order of birth in their family of eight children, the others being George W., who served in the Civil war as lieutenant in a Michigan cav- alry company and was killed in the cavalry charge at Marksburg. Virginia, in 1864: Ed- win, a stock dealer in Vinton, Iowa ; Arthur A .; Albert, a stockman of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charlotte A., who became the wife of E. A. Benson, of Omaha, Nebraska, and died in October, 1900; Belle, the wife of Theodore Robinson, of Plankinton, South Dakota': and Harriet, who died in early womanhood.

Charles Robinson spent his boyhood days with is parents and attended school until the spring of 1862, when, at the early age of sixteen years, he responded to his country's call for assistance. and enlisted in the Twenty-fourth Michigan Volunteer In- fantry, as a member of Company I. His command was associated with the Second, Sixth and Seventh Wisconsin Infantries and the Nineteenth Regiment of Indiana Volun- teers, in forming the First Brigade of the First Division of the First Army Corps. This was known as the Iron Brigade and as such attained fame for the loyalty and un- daunted valor of its members. The brigade took part in all the severe battles of the Army of the Potomac. The troops saw

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service at Fredericksburg. Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and at the last named Mr. Robinson was severely wounded by a gun- shot in the left shoulder, necessitating his remaining in the hospital at that place and Baltimore and in a convalescent hospital from the Ist of July until the 19th of De- cember, when he was discharged.

Mr. Robinson then went to Colorado to engage in business, but on account of the Indian troubles, supplies could not be pro- cured in that district and he again entered the government service, with which he was connected from January, 1865, until the following November, as a member of the Second Colorado Cavalry, which was en- gaged in guarding and protecting the stage routes and wagen trails from Denver east- ward to Leavenworth. He was mustered out of the volunteer service at Leavenworth in November, 1865. but remained in the government employ as a driver of supply trains, proceeding westward from Leaven- worth. His time was thus passed for two or three years. In 1866 he came to old Fort Ellsworth, where he remained for a few months, when he resumed driving on the Santa Fe trail to Fort Union and other southern points, also going to Denver on the Denver trail. In 1868 he returned to Ellsworth county, which has practically been his home since 1866. He took up a claim in 1868, on section 12, Empire town- ship, where he secured one hundred and sixty acres of land, upon which he erected a two-room-log house, fourteen by sixteen feet. with an "L" twelve by twelve feet. This was a roomy mansion for that day and continued to be his home until 1875. There he engaged in handling stock in connection with the raising of cereals, and soon made the first mentioned branch an important in- dustry, keeping on hand between one and two hundred head of cattle. In 1878 he left the farm and removed to Ellsworth, where he engaged in the transfer business, employing a number of teams in that way. About 1891 he embarked in the stock busi- ness, buying, feeding and shipping, and to this enterprise he has since given his entire attention, being one of the largest shippers

in the county. He has feed yards conveni- ently located near the town limits on the river side. where he constantly feeds large numbers of cattle. He ships in grain for this purpose and is now doing an extensive business, which yields to him a good profit.

Mr. Robinson has been twice married. On the 27th of April, 1873, he wedded Sa- rah E., a daughter of Robert and Sarah Hudson, prominent pioneer people of Ells- worth county. She was born in Canada, but came with her parents to this locality in I866. Her death occurred November 9, 1875, and Mr. Robinson was again married May 9, 1877, his second union being with Sarah M. Cunningham, who was born May 9, 1859. in Marshall county, Illinois. By liis second marriage he has eight children : Charles A., who is associated in business with his father, and Clara P., Belle, Harry, Mary, Irma, Nira and George. The Re- publican party receives his loyal support and in religious faith he is a Presbyterian. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Repub- lic, holding membership in Ellsworth Post, No. 22, G. A. R., in which he has filled all of the offices, and is the past commander. He also belongs to Ellsworth Lodge, No. 109, I. O. O. F., in which he is past noble grand; to Golden Belt Encampment. No. 47, in which he is a past chief patriarch, and he has been a representative to the grand lodge. His name is also on the membership rolls of Ellsworth Lodge, No. 186, A. O. U. W., of which he is past master workman, and on the membership list of Select Knights. His long residence in Kansas classes him among the honored pioneers of the state, and he has aided in laying the foundation for the present prosperity and progress of this portion of the common- wealth.

GABRIEL LONG.

Gabriel Long, who follows farming on section 33, Galesburg township, Kingman county, and whose postoffice is Waterloo, ranks among the honored and well known

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citizens of this portion of Kansas. He came here with the Missouri Valley settlement in 1878 and took up his abode on his present farm in March, 1879, it being a part of the Osage Indian trust land. He had previously been a resident of Chariton county, Mis- suuri, but was born in Caroline county, Vir- ginia, fifty miles from Richmond, Novem- ber 13. 1833. His father, Richard Long. was a native of Spottsylvania Virginia, born in 1812, and was a son of James Long, a native of England. The latter had a son, Gabriel, who served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and it was in his honor that our subject was named. Richard Long spent his boyhood and youth in the Old Dominion and there married Gabriella Gale, a native of Care line county, Virginia, and a daughter of John Gale, who was born in England. In 1838 Mr. and Mrs. Long made the journey overland to Missouri and established a new home in the far west. They were the par- ents of sixteen children, of whom thirteen reached years of maturity, namely: James M., Gabriel. Elizabeth, Sarah, Margaret, John, Richard. Fanny. Josiah, William, George, Mollie and Lucius. The father was a surveyor and did much work in sur- veying the new country. He also followed farming, and his death occurred in Mis- souri at the age of seventy-seven years. In politics he was a Democrat and from the age of twenty-one years until his death, he was a faithful member of the Baptist church. His wife. who belonged to the same church, died at the age of seventy-four.

Gabriel Long was a little lad of five sum- mers when the family removed to Missouri, and there he was reared to farm work. while in the public schools he obtained his educa- tion. After entering upon his business ca- reer, he served as manager of a tobacco fac- tory for two years and was engaged in the manufacture of brick for a similar period. Coming to Kingman county in 1878, he took up his abode upon his present farm in March of the following year. The land was wild and unimproved, and with characteris- tic energy, he began its further development, transforming it into one of the valuable properties in this portion of the state. It

has all the modern improvements, and com- prises one hundred and sixty acres of pro- ductive land, which annually yields to him good harvests.

Mr. Long was married November 15, 1860, to Margaret Isabella Stevenson. She was born in Kentucky and was a daughter of James R. Stevenson, also a native of that state, where occurred the birth of her moth- er: whose maiden name was Sarah Givens. They had eight children, and in 1858 they removed with their family to Missouri. Mrs. Stevenson died October 8, 1901, at the ad- vanced age of ninety-one years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Long have been born nine chil- dren, seven who are yet living: Edward B., a resident of Galesburg township; John S .; William C .; Ernest, a well known editor of the Kingman Journal; Effie Smith; Wal- ter, who is now a clerk; Lee L .; and Cecil B. They also lost two children, William C., who died at home at the age of thirty years, and Joseph R., who died at the age of twenty-four, leaving a widow and two chil- dren. Three of the sons, Lee L., Walter and Ernest, have all become successful teach- ers. The mother and five of the children hold membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian church. Mr. Long gives his political sup- port to the Democracy and is deeply inter- ested in everything pertaining to the wel- fare and progress of his community along lines of substantial improvement. His home is noted for its hospitality. He is frank and genial in manner, and he and his family en- joy the warm regard of very many friends throughout Kingman county.

LOUIS WIEGEL.

The fatherland has furnished to Amer- ica many of her valued citizens, and among the number is Louis Wiegel, who owns a valuable and highly improved farm on sec- tion 10, Salt Creek township, Reno county, Kansas. He was born in Hanover, Ger- many, February 2, 1836. His paternal grandfather. Louis Wiegel, was a tailor by occupation, and was the father of one son

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and a daughter. He reached the age of about asty years and was then called to the home beyond. His son, also named Louis, and the father of our subject, was born in Hanover, Germany, about 1806, and his death occurred in Pennsylvania, in about 1886. He married Anna Crittenden, the wedding being celebrated in Germany in 1832, and in 1846 they left their little home across the sea and sailed for the new world, landing at Baltimore, Maryland, after a vov- age of eight weeks. After their arrival they resided in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, for about a year, and then removed to what was known as Locust Grove in that state, where he worked in the coal mines for two years. He then moved to Mckeesport, Pennsylvania, where he remained for six years and was then able to purchase an eighty-acre farm in Monroe county, Ohio, which had been improved, and as time passed he added forty acres more to that tract, becoming the owner of a valuable and desirable home. He came to this country with but little capital, but by taking advan- tage of opportunities and by unabated en- ergy and good management he won a hand- some competence and was numbered among the substantial citizens of his adopted land. He was a carpenter in Germany, but after his arrival here he worked for a time in a foundry in Pennsylvania, securing any em- ployment that would yield him an honest liv- ing and assist him in becoming familiar with the English language. Mr. and Mrs. Wiegel were the parents of twelve children who grew to years of maturity, eight sons and four daughters, six of whom were born in Germany. All were married and had families of their own, and nine of the num- ber still survive. The father of this family died at the home of a younger daughter in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and the mother died December 4, 1001, in her eighty-ninth vear.

Louis Wiegel, the third child in his father's family, received but limited school privileges in his native land, and at the early age of eleven years he began work in the coal mines. He remained under the parental

revi until sixteen years of age when he again entered the coal mines, and from that time until his majority he gave his father the benefit of hi, earnings. During the Civil war he floated government cond down the Ohio river and in the summer of 1864 he enlisted for service in the Fifteenth Penn- sylvania Cavalry and served one year. He was at Chattanooga, Nashville and in the march from Atlanta to the sea. and his reg- iment was almost constantly on the move. He was married when twenty-two years of age, in the fall of 1858, to Caroline Balt- housen, a native of Germany. This union was severed by the hand of death on the 30th of October, 1868, when the wife was called to the home beyond, her death oc- curring in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, She left three of her six children, namely : Louise, the wife of Samuel Ivel, of Pennsyl- vania, and they have five living children : William, who is engaged in farming in Cas- tleton, Reno county, and has eight children : and Caroline D., who is still at home. Af- ter the death of his wife and mother the father was again married, his second union being with Miss Jane Taylor, also a native of the Keystone state and a daughter of John and Catherine ( Bluebaker) Taylor. The father was killed on a railroad in 1900, at the of seventy-six years, and his widow still survives him, residing with one of her sons. This worthy couple were the parents of seven children, but one son is now de- ceased. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Wiegel has been blessed with five children, as fol- lows: Edwin, a resident of Dallas, Texas. and the father of one son; Katie, wife of Philip Elliott, who resides east of Nicker- son, and they have three children; John, who is serving as a soldier in the Philippine Islands; Anna, the wife of George Leonard. a successful physician of Hutchinson ; and Emma May, a winsome little lady of eleven years. The son, John, is a member of the Fourth United States Cavalry, stationed in the Philippines, and has participated in many fights and skirmishes, the principal one being at the bridge, when General Law- ton was killed.

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 47

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