USA > Kansas > A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II > Part 106
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MR. AND MRS. J. H. WILSON.
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he is an ardent Republican, and religiously is a prominent member of the Methodist church, being formerly an exhorter. In In- diana he married Miss Malinda Ray, who was also born in that state and is still liv- ing. Unto them were born six children, of whom our subject is the oldest. In order of birth the others are as follows: Mary Nancy Ellen, wife of Lawrence Cummings, a farmer of Newkirk, Oklahoma : Oliver E., who resides on his father's farm near New- kirk: James M., a farmer on the Ponca reservation, Indian Territory : Emsley P .. a stock buyer of Ponca City on the Ponca reservation : and Roselle N .. wife of Bert Eaton, a barber of Newkirk, Oklahoma.
Upon the old homestead in his native county Jesse H. Wilson grew to manhood, and remained under the parental roof until twenty-one years of age, when he started out in life for himself as a farmer. Before leaving Indiana he was married, in Hen- dricks county, to Mrs. Sarah L. Howell. who was born in Dayton, Ohio, and is a daughter of Aaron and Margaret ( Wood- riff ) Hiles. Her mother is now deceased. but her father is still living and makes his home in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her first husband was James Howell, by whom she had two children : Harvey H., who is now engaged in general merchandising in Cun- ningham. Kansas, and is a prominent citi- zen of that place: and Herbert. who makes his home with our subject but is farming for himself. The children born to our sub- ject and his wife are Faunes and Lewren, both at home.
In: 1884 Mr. Wilson came with his father to Kansas and settled in Kingman county on the farm where he still lives. purchasing the southeast quarter of section 6. Union township. from one of the early settlers of the county. At that time it was only slightly improved, and his first home here was a sod house, which a year later was replaced by a substantial frame residence, fourteen by twenty-eight feet in dimensions. The first year of his residence here Mr. Wilson broke forty acres of land, and in connection with the operation of his own land he also worked for others for a few years. For sev-
eral years he gave his attention exclusively to farming, having little stock aside from a few hogs, and he raised principally corn and potatoes. On locating here his stock con- sister of but one cow and three horses, but he has gradually given more and more atten- tion to the stock business until to-day he keeps one hundred head of cattle-graded shorthorns and Herefords .- as well as a fine drove of thoroughbred Poland China hogs, including several registered animals. He feeds a large number of hogs each year, and it is well worth a visit to his feeding lot when his hogs are getting in shape for mar- ket, for there is no finer stock in central Kansas. When matured they will weigh from six to seven hundred pounds, and in addition he also has a number of fine horses of the Blue Bull and Wilkes breed. Ile is recognized as one of the best judges of well bred swine in this section of the country. From year to year Mr. Wilson has pros- pered in his business affairs, and has added to his property. enlarging his farm by the purchase of eighty acres of land, which is the south half of the northeast quarter of section 7. Union township, and also the northeast quarter of section 6 and south- west quarter of section 6, which was all raw prairie when it came into his possession. The entire farm is now fenced and well im- proved with good buildings. In 1894 he erected a good barn, thirty-eight by forty feet in dimensions, which can accommodate twenty horses, and also has a large grain and forage capacity. Five years later he greatly enlarged and remodeled his house, so that it is now a seven-room structure, with porches on both the east and west sides. He also has a two-acre grove and orchard. which adds greatly to the attractive anear- ance of the place.
In politics Mr. Wilson is independent. but his fellow citizens. recognizing his worth and ability, have called upon him to fill various offices. He has already served two terms as township treasurer, and was again elected to that office in the fall of Tooo. He was also a member of the school board and road overseer for a time. He is a man of influence in his community, and is
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highly respected and esteemed wherever known. Mr. Wilson was reared in the Methodist church, but later embraced the Quaker faith, to which he still adheres.
HENRY C. SMITH.
Henry Carey Smith, who is numbered among the enterprising and progressive farmers of Jewell county, where he has made his home since 1887, is a western man by birth, training and preference, and the spirit of energy and advancement which dominates this section of the country is manifest in his business career. He was born in Cass county, Iowa, November 19, 1857, and is a son of Hiram and Naomi (Dillon) Smith. His father was born in Virginia January 14. 1805, and was the eldest son of eight children born to Levi and Abigal Smith. In the year 1813, when a bare-footed boy of eight years, he moved with his parents to Union township, Clin- ton county, Ohio, and remained there until he was twenty-five years of age. During that time he became associated with the Dillon family, and removed with them to Vermilion county, Illinois. On the 24th of May, 1832, he was married to Naomi Dillon, who was born December 14, 1813, the eldest of ten children born to Luke and Charity (Wright) Dillon, and a native of Ohio. Unto this union were born eleven children, eight sons and three daughters, six of whom are now living, namely : Luke, an artist in Villisca, Iowa; William, proprietor of a music store in Griswold, Iowa; Reuben, a night watch in Kewanee, Illinois ; Oliver, a farmer of Jewell county, Kansas; and Abigal, who is living with her brother Henry, north of Mankato, Jewell county. Austin and Charity died when quite small : Levi died at the age of forty-four, James at the age of fifty-five and Hanna when sixty-three.
Hiram Smith, in 1855. removed with his family from Illinois, and in the same year lo- cated on a half section of new land in Cass township, Cass county, Iowa, two and a half
miles north of the present site of Griswold. There he soon made a comfortable home for himself and family, and on this farm his death occurred November 9, 1857, at the age of fifty-three years, his death re- sulting from typhoid fever. Our subject was then less than a year old, and he was reared by his widowed mother, who labored under many disadvantages in rearing her family, and she taught them to live consist- ent Christian lives. She was formerly of the Quaker faith, but after removing to Iowa she united with the Christian church. She resided on the old homestead until June 25, 1890, when she died of heart failure at the age of seventy-six years. Her son Levi served for a short time in the Civil war, marching under the command of General Sherman through Georgia. Will- iam served for three years as a soldier in the Union army during that struggle, being a member of Company I, Twenty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was in a number of the hard-fought battles.
In the district schools near his boyhood home Henry C. Smith pursued his prelim- inary education, his knowledge having since been largely supplemented by reading, ex- perience and observation. He assisted in the cultivation of the fields upon his mother's farm and early became familiar with all the departments of farm work, remaining at home until 1887. In March of that year he came to Jewell county, Kansas, and locat- ed on a farm not far from his present home, five miles north of Mankato. This land was partially improved, and with characteristic energy he began its further development. His first house was a little frame structure. sixteen by twenty-four feet, with eight-foot ceiling. In 1890 he purchased his present farm, and has since made many substantial improvements thereon, so that it is now sup- plied with all the modern accessories and conveniences of a model farm of the twen- tieth century. He has built a splendid barn and residence, and has four hundred and twenty acres of rich land, on which he raises both grain and stock, and in both branches of his business he is meeting with credit- able success. He has a large orchard and
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raises fruit extensively. On the Ist of May, 1880, Mr. Smith married Miss Sophronia E. Pierson, who was born in Pottawattomie county, Iowa, in 1862, and they have had five children, two sons and three daughters. The eldest, Ira O., died at the age of four- teen months. Those living are Minnie, Jennie. Edgar and Nettie. Mrs. Smith had five brothers and four sisters, seven of whom are still living, and with the exception of one sister, Mrs. J. M. Barr, of southern Kansas, all reside in Iowa. Mrs. Smith is a twin sister of H. L. Pierson, who died of rheumatism of the heart in February, 1894. She is a daughter of Granville and Elizabeth (Fray) Pierson, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Ohio. They are now residents of Potta- wattomie county, Iowa, being identified with the agricultural interests of that lo- cality. Her father was a loyal soldier of his country in both the Mexican and Civil wars, and is now seventy-six years old.
Mr. Smith was reared in the faith of the Republican party and cast his first vote for Hon. J. A. Garfield, but in 1892 he voted for J. B. Weaver and has ever since sup- ported the Reform ticket. For two years he filled the office of township treasurer. Both he and his wife are members of the Church of Christ, take an active part in its work and contribute liberally to its support. He has been superintendent and secretary of the Sunday-school for a number of years, and for a long period has been an elder in the church. His life is consistent with his profession, his honesty being proverbial, while in all business transactions he is straightforward and reliable. He has now reached the age of forty-five years.
ROBERT G. PATTERSON.
The subject of this sketch, who is one of the leading farmers and business men of western Kansas, was born in the north of Ireland. September 25. 1845. and is a son of William and Jane (Gray) Patterson. His mother died when he was three years
old, and in 1849 he came to America with his father, on board the sailing vessel River- dale. They remained one year in New York and then located in Sauk county, Wisconsin, where the elder Patterson engaged in farm- ing, which he continued until his death, when he was about forty-five years old. Be- fore he was twelve years of age Robert G. Patterson was obliged to provide for his own support. For a year after his father's (leath he worked for a farmer at five dollars a month, and the next year he earned eight dollars a month. After about five years' ex- perience as a farm hand he and two other men bought a thresher, which they operated every year during the threshing season until the machine was worn out. During the spring and summer months he worked for lumbermen at logging, rafting and kindred work.
On the 14th of October, 1868, Mr. Pat- terson married Mary J. McMurray, who was born in New York city, a daughter of Robert and Hannah ( Ferguson) McMur- ray, natives of the north of Ireland. In due time Mr. and Mrs. McMurray removed from New York city, whence they had come- from Ireland, to Michigan, where the for- mer died at the age of about forty-four years and where his widow died April 30. 1902, aged eighty-one years. Robert G. and Mary- J. ( McMurray) Patterson have had eleven children, five of whom, named as follows, are living: Jessie, Edward, Lydia, Maud and Harry. The two eldest. Jessie and Ed- ward, are married. Mr. Patterson provided his children with excellent educational ad- vantages, for he believes that at this age education is a powerful weapon in the battle of life. notwithstanding the fact that he "picked up" his own education, and is as good a business man as lives within the bor- ders of Jewell county.
After his marriage Mr. Patterson farmed for two years on a rented farm in Wisconsin. On the 6th of May. 1871. he left the old home in Wisconsin for Jewell county. Kansas, where he arrived on the IIth of June following. He settled on sec- tion I. in Vicksburg township, in a ten-by- sixteen-foot board shanty, built of green
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native timber on four corner posts, which were set into the ground. In this shanty two of his children were born, but the younger died at the age of four weeks. the son of our subject. Shortly afterward a log addition was added to this primitive dwelling. In the year : 1876 this residence was replaced by a more commodious stone dwelling, a story and a half in height, with a basement, and this continued to be their home until 1883, when they removed to the farm adjoining Omio. This village has since disappeared, and on their farm they have erected a commodious and substantial residence, at a cost of about five thousand dollars.
Mr. Patterson made a substantial start in his business career in Kansas by the pur- chase of a lumber business in Formoso, Jewell county, for three thousand dollars. That enterprise he managed successfully for about ten years and then sold it for eleven thousand dollars. He now owns sev- eral large farms, including a homestead of three thousand acres, every acre of which is tillable and which is one of the largest farms of its kind in this part of the state. He is also the owner of considerable town property, and it is often remarked by those who note the facility with which he handles his large interests that he manages them with less apparent effort than is put forth by many men in the management of a forty-acre farm. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and though he wields much influence in his party he has been too busy to accept the numerous public offices that have been offered him by his fellow citizens. He is a member of the Masonic order, and he and his family are communicants of the Adventist church.
Robert Caldwell, the grandfather of Mrs. Edward Patterson, was one of the early settlers of Jewell county, and his memory is held in kindly recollection by all who knew him. His advent into the county antedated that of Mr. Patterson, and at his death, which occurred when he was eighty-eight years of age, he was doubtless the oldest homesteader in the county. He built a wire fence around his land and gave
to the public a lot for a cemetery, in which his old neighbors laid him away to rest. His granddaughter married Edward Patterson,
Mr. Patterson of this review, is a public- spirited man, who has at heart the best in- terests of his township, county and state, and who is fully in accord with the progress- ive policy which has marked the latter day history of the Republican party. His fel- low townsmen have come to know that he may be safely depended upon to respond helpfully and liberally to any demand for the advancement of the best interests of any considerable number of the people of his township or county. A friend to educa- tion, his influence has always been for the betterment of the public school system, and he has been generous in the support of re- ligious worship in his part of the county.
HARRY M. STONE.
The fine old Keystone state of the Union has contributed a due quota to the personnel of the best citizenship of the state of Kansas, and among her native sons is numbered Mr. Stone, who is one of the rep- resentative and successful farmers and stock-growers of Barber county, where he has maintained his home for the past twen- ty years, so that he may be consistently termed one of the pioneers of this favored section of the Sunflower state.
Mr. Stone was born in Bedford coun- ty, Pennsylvania, on the 27th of April, 1860, being the son of the late D. F. Stone, who was born in the same county and who died in Medicine Lodge, Barber county, Kansas, on the 12th of September, 1901. His father was likewise a native of the Keystone state, where the family was es- tablished in an early day and where the name has ever stood for sterling worth of character and for honorable and useful man- hood and womanhood. D. F. Stone was reared on the parental farm in Bedford county, receiving a common-school educa-
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tion. Upon attaining years of maturity he assumed connubial responsibilities, taking for his wife a lady who is likewise a repre- sentative of one of the sterling old families of Pennsylvania. She still makes her home in Medicine Lodge, having attained a ven- erable age. While our subject was a mere child his parents removed from Pennsyl- vania to Illinois, locating in Geneseo, where they continued to make their home until 1879, when they decided to cast in their lot with the vigorous young state of Kansas. They located on a farm near Lyons, Rice county, where the father was engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising until his final retirement from active business, when he came to Medicine Lodge, the thriv- ing county seat of Barber county, and here passed the remainder of his life. He held the unqualified confidence and esteem of all who knew him, being a man of strong char- acter, marked energy and utmost kindli- ness. To D. F. and Catherine Stone were born eight children, namely : Harry M., the immediate subject of this review : Louisa, the wife of Clark Conkling, of Lyons, Kan- sas: Florence, the wife of a Mr. Hall. of Barber county: William, who died young ; Daniel, a successful farmer of Barber coun- ty : and Frank. Howard and Emanuel, who remain with their mother in the city of Medicine Lodge.
Harry M. Stone was reared to the age of five years in his native county in Penn- sylvania, and then the family removed to Henry county, Illinois, as has already been intimated. There he was trained to the sturdy discipline of the farm, gaining a deep appreciation of the dignity and value of honest toil and endeavor, while his edu- cational advantages were such as were af- forded in the public schools of the betlity and peri. . l. He accompanied his parents on their removal to Rice county, Kansas, being a youth of nineteen at that time, and in this state he has ever since maintained his resi- dence. He remained in Rice county for a period of five years and then came to Bar- ber county, where he took up a tract of leon! in the Osage Indian district, entering a pre-
emption claim of one hundred and sixty acre, and there he devoted his attention to farming and stock-raising until 1899, when he purchased his present fine farm, in Mel- icine Lodge township, the same comprising two hundred and eighty acres of most fertile and prolific bottom land. eligibly located in the Medicine valley and constituting one of the best farms to be found in Barber county, the land being well adapted for the raising of grain, while gigantic crops of alfalfa hay are harvested annually. The land is particularly well watered, has about forty acres of fine timber, good orchards, a com- modious and substantial residence and other excellent farm buildings, while the entire farm is well fenced. An exceptional attrac- tion offered is that of a fine fish pond on the place, the same affording excellent speci- mens of the finny tribe for domestic use. Mr. Stone is thoroughly progressive in his meth- ods and his enterprise and good judgment are shown in every detail of the equipment and management of his estate. He gives special attention to the raising of high- grade live stock, including horses, cattle and swine. One hundred and seventy acres of the place are under effective cultivation, and the property is one which is constantly in- creasing in value under the fostering care of the able owner, who is recognized as one of the representative and influential citizens of the county, while his characteristics are indicated by the high standing which is his in the community. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, but he has never sought political offices, thoughi he has taken a public-spirited interest in all that has tended to conserve the advance- ment and material prosperity of his home county and state. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church and his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has served for many years as a member of the school board of his district, appreciating the value .i goed schools and doing all in his power to promote local edu- cational interests. Fraternally he is identi- fied with the lodges of the Independent Or- der i fuld Fetters and the Knights of
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Pythias in the city of Medicine Lodge, be- ing a popular member of each and having a large circle of friends in the county where he has passed more than half of his life. He has attained a noteworthy success through his own well directed industry and consecu- tive application, and is to be considered in this compilation as one of the representative men of his county.
On the 24th of December, 1891, at Sun City, this county, Mr. Stone was united in marriage to Miss Orpha English, who was at the time a popular and successful teacher in the public schools. She was born in Louisiana, Pike county, Missouri, in which state she was reared and educated. Her fa- ther, Cornelius English, devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, and he died at Eldred, Kansas, at the age of sixty-eight years, hav- ing been a devoted member of the Presby- terian church. His widow, whose maiden name was Susan Scott, now maintains her home in Medicine Lodge. They became the parents of seven children, namely: Benja- min, Cynthia, Collins, Robert, Orpha (Mrs. Stone). Mattie, wife of Mr. Jones, of But- ler county, Missouri, and Lizzie, wife of Mr. Frazier, of Oklahoma. Our subject and his wife have four children: Howard C., Les- ter M., Mabel L. and Madge.
GRANT KIRKPATRICK.
Not many of the leading farmers of Reno county, Kansas, were born on the farms on which they now live. One such, however, is the subject of this sketch, whose residence is in the southeast one- fourth of section 2, Sumner township, and whose post-office is at Andale. Grant Kirk- patrick, who is a prominent farmer and stockman, was born on his farm, located as has been stated, May 19, 1873, a son of William H. Kirkpatrick, who was born in Brown county, Ohio, May 4, 1840, and was a farmer all his life. The father of William H. Kirkpatrick was a native of Ireland and by trade a weaver. In the course of events
he came to America and settled in Brown county, Ohio, where he married Sarah Brat- ton, a native of that county, who died at the early age of twenty-six years in the county of her birth, where he survived her until his death in 1889.
William H. Kirkpatrick, father of Grant Kirkpatrick, was educated in a district school near his parents' home in Brown county, Ohio, and became a farmer. In 1861 he enlisted in the Fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and did gallant service as a soldier during the Civil war for three years and three months, until he was honorably discharged and mustered out in 1865, with the rank of lieutenant. Dur- ing a part of the time he was under the command of General Grant and for a month he was confined in Libby prison as a pris- oner of war. After the war he returned to Ohio and bought an improved farm of seventy-five acres, about four miles from Ripley. January 5, 1865. he married Amanda Dixon, who was born in Brown county, July 10, 1840, a daughter of Har- rison and Cinderella (Pickril) Dixon, na- tives of Ohio. Mr. Dixon, who was a farmer, was of Irish extraction, and his fa- ther Harrison Dixon, Sr., was an American soldier in the war of 1812-14. He died when his daughter Amanda was only nine months old, and his wife, who was of Ger- man ancestry, survived until 1869.
William H. Kirkpatrick lived in Brown county, Ohio, until 1868, when he removed to a farm near Pontiac, Illinois, and after one season there he went to Crawford coun- ty, Kansas, where he farmed four years and a half. He made the two long journeys by a wagon and had many noteworthy experi- ences by the way. In 1873 he again moved with teams, this time to Reno county, with his wife and five children, to the present home of his widow and son, in the southeast one-fourth of section 2, Sumner township. At that time his only neighbors were Mr. Schultz, three-quarters of a mile away, and John Gill and Wright Chase, still further on in the same direction. There was not a tree standing on his land and great herds
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of buffalo roamed at will over the prairie, sometimes coming outo his claim, where he killed one. His first house was somewhat of a novelty in the prairie country, for it was built of cottonwood logs which he cut near the Arkansas river and hauled to his claim, but it resembled some of the other houses in central Kansas at that time in hay- ing only one room. During his first year there he broke ten acres and planted it to corn. July 5, 1874. there came a report that Indians were on the warpath and in- tended, to massacre all the settlers in cen- tral Kansas and most of the settlers fled to Hutchinson and Wichita, the bolder ones congregating for mutual protection at the homes of some of their number. The Kirk- patrick family went as far north as Mr. Whitbeck's, where several families had gathered and there awaited developments. It sen became apparent that the alarm was false and the next day they went back home. That year Mr. Kirkpatrick broke twenty- five acres more and had what appeared to be a promising crop of corn, which, August 5. was destroyed by an immense swarm of grasshoppers. They, resembling a great cione. seemed to come out of the sky at the northwest and descended upon the claim. While improving his farm Mr. Kirkpatrick worked at times at whatever he could find to do, for times were hard and he was un- der as heavy a financial load as he could carry. He led an active life almost to the day of his death, which occurred in 1894, and was one of the prominent men of his township, where he was awarded the honors of a pioneer. As a Republican he was active in political work and was frequently a dele- gate to county conventions and he filled the ofices of road overseer and township trus- tee and was for years a member of the local school board. He was one of the charter men ers of Haven Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and from the age of fifteen years until his death was a communicant of the Christian church, with which his wife has long been identified, and for years was a deacon in the Mount Hope church, of that sect. He has a brother and a sister-
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