A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 120

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084

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1498

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

In 1869 Jonathan D. Gale removed westward with his family, coming to Kan- sas and for a time maintaining his home in Topeka. In 1870 he took up a homestead claim in the Solomon valley and in the spring of that year removed with his family to this place. The country was new and undeveloped and for several years they lived in pioneer style. They had the only frame house for many miles. around. all other buildings in the locality being either sod houses of dug-outs. Their domicile, though thus better than the average, contained but one room, and different portions of the same were devoted to the various depart- ments of the domestic economies. It may well be understood that the pioneer settlers endured many privations. They had to go to Solomon City for flour and meal, and largely subsisted on buffalo ineat, venison and wild fowls. After many days of hard and unremitting labor the land was broken, the sod being turned by means of a highi breaking-plow, drawn by oxen. but after being placed under cultivation the virgin soil yielded in prolific measure. The broad prairie, however, was like a vast wilderness, the grass growing so high that a man rid- ing on horseback could be seen only by one in his immediate proximity. In 1872 the settlers had their crops planted and in good growing condition when they saw what ap- peared to be an oncoming storm in the dis- tant horizon. Gradually the black cloud came nearer and nearer and finally settled down on bush, tree, corn and all other vege- tation, and soon there was not a green thing to be seen on any side. for the cloud was comprised of grasshoppers and the scourge could not have been worked more complete devastation than it did on this oc- casion, and also in the following year. This great affliction to the settlers entailed untold suffering and loss, and is now a matter of history. Since that time, however, crops have yielded in abundance and the people have generally prospered.

After a time the health of Jonathan D. Gale became much impaired, and with a view to recuperating his energies, he started on a tour of the far west, being accompanied

by his wife and daughter Minnie. They tra- versed the sublime old Rocky mountains and passed some time in Nevada, having been there located on the banks of the beautiful Truckee river; in Washoe county. In 1878, however, they returned to the old home- stand in Ottawa county, Kansas, as lid also the son, George Frederick, who had in the meantime been at- tending high school in the east. He went to visit his uncle, James M. Gale, in Illi- nois. and while there had also learned the trade of harness and saddle making, and he eventually entered the employ of I. W. Slaughter, of Minneapolis, Kansas, and later was engaged in the harness business for himself at Larkin, this state. He still later removed to Americus, Lyon county, where he conducted a store and also served in the office of postmaster. In Emporia, on September 7, 1885, he was united in mar- ridge o Orilla Elwilda Finuf, and event- ually removed to the state of Washington, where he is now successfully engaged in business, being proprietor of the "Blue Store," in the thriving town of Chehalis.

Mary Emma Gale, the elder daughter of Jonathan D. and Leannah ( Parks) Gale, was married. at the parental home. near Minneapolis, Kansas, in the spring of 1873, to Thomas Stump, and they became the parents of two sons,-Arthur Delbert, born in May, 1875: and George Frederick, born January 1. 1877. Their home was on a fine farm south of Ada, Ottawa county, and there the (levoted wife and mother died on the 8th of May. 1881, having been a zeal- out and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and having retained the love of all who knew her. Her elder son was a member of the National Guard of Kansas, and at the time of the Spanish- American war enlisted as a volunter, becom- ing a member of Troop G, Seventh United States Cavalry. under Captain T. B. Dugan. He accompanied his troop to Cuba. where he served faithfully until he received his honorable discharge, with the rank of cor- poral. He and his brother resided for a number of years with their aunt, Mrs. Min- nie E. Parks, who has ever maintained a

RESIDENCE OF MRS. MINNIE E. PARKS.

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

den interest in their welfare. Arthur D. 1 .... makes his home in Der. . F. postes in Fairhaven. Washington.

ing been married, in Seattle, But thate. .. Memur 1. 1800.

Dr. Jonathan D. c.

Contacte di so signal bear :

and who directed his course meinegrity. was finall c

revanl on the 23 . of March, 1900. He was man . i high intellectual jeme

in individuality, and in all the ratio

He gave careful study to the medicine, and during the later Years of his life was successfully engaged j !! the practice of the healing art. ie Bed at his have it Orange, Lesere unity, Mis- souri, where he had resided :" about len

eler returns." From a memorial tribute appeasing in the Urine Inte the time of his death we make the following es Quete: "Dr. Jonathan Di Gre He' at his nome on Second street, Ethy - ci. Friday, March 23. 1900, after an ill Four weeks, and the funeral services were cog- doctel by Rev. L. A. Smith, at the late residence of the deceased, at the oriclick Sat- urday aftrnoon, while interment was made in Urmago cemetery. He was born in Bar- thelemew county, Indiana. on the 19th of June. 1829. thus being seventy-one years and nine months of age at the time of his death. His early life was passed in Indi- ana. but he spent many years in the west. being at some period of his life a citizen of every state between the Mississippi river and the Pacific coast. He was a member of the Christian church and an exemplary fol- lower of the teachings of the divine Master. If he ever did anyone an injury it was not inten 'e '. A good man has left us." Refer- ring to his de th the Ottaw County Index. published at Minneapolis, Kansas, - cke as "The deceased was the father of Mrs. Minnie E. Parks, of Delphos. Kansas. and was formerly a resident of Ottawa county, where he made his home with his family for many years, but failing health

caused him 10

he finally located in Missouri, where he re- Dr.

lic

HORMIS JO MATH.

Nimi :12

They

'There i- ... eath the sum1

i pohet gaip & mellow fruit Or rainbow-tinted flowers.

"There is no death; the leaves may fall. And flowers may fade and pass away : They only wait through wintry hars. The coming of the

"There is no death. An angel form Walks o'er the earth with silent tread;

Hedear- reg les Janela And then we call them de ...

The dear immortal spirit- tre .: For all the lessalles Comesee 1- Tie-there i- moodleath."

Standing in the gre ofthe full of a life and character like that Gale we may see clearly the meantimt and finger use of human existence, and when this male man passed to his reward the life infinite gained a new glory as death placed its tender seal upon his mortal lips. His

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

was the faith that made faithful, his mem- ory rests as a perpetual benediction upon those who came within the sphere of his in- fluence, and in the passing of such a man the grave is truly robbed of its victory and death of its sting.

Minnie Ellen, the youngest child of Jonathan D. and Leannah ( Parks) Gale, was married, in Kansas City, Missouri, on the 2d of September, 1884, to George Wash- ington Parks. His father, Brazila. M. Parks, was born September 5, 1826, and on the 7th of January, 1846, married Miranda Edwards, who was born near Dresden, Mus- kingum county, Ohio, April 2, 1828. 1m- mediately after their marriage they removed to Indiana, and there three of their chil- dren were born: Merriam, born May 15, 1847: Eliza Jane, October 16, 1849; and Matilda, January II. 1851. In 1852 the family removed to Illinois, where occurred the birth of Thomas Parks. April 27. 1853; Elizabeth, December 30, 1855 ; David, April I. 1859; George Washington. May 16, 1862; and Bert M., December 28, 1875. In that state the father owned a fine home and was engaged in farming and stock-raising. In December, 1875, he sold his Illinois prop- erty and came to Kansas, being accompanied by his wife and all of their children. Mrs. Miranda (Edwards) Parks died July 9, 1895, and is survived by her husband, who still retains his home in Ottawa county. Kansas. Mrs. Parks was a woman of noble and gentle character, and was loved by all who knew her and had due appre- ciation of her many excellent qual- ities of heart and mind. while she was ever sustained by a deep faith in the teachings of the lowly Nazarene, being a devoted Christian woman. Brazila Parks, her husband, is descended from David Parks, whose parents came from England and settled in Georgia, whence he removed to Bedford county, Pennsylvania, where the father of Brazila M. was born, his mother having been a native of Mary- land.

On the 17th of October following their marriage George W. and Minnie E. (Gale) Parks began housekeeping on a farm three

miles west of Delphos, Ottawa county, Kansas. Mrs. Parks painted the little house, both inside and out, and made the home attractive and comfortable, while her husband planted shade and fruit trees and erected the necessary buildings demanded in connection with the work of the farm. They labored assiduously and indefatigably, were careful and economical, and were soon enabled to liquidate the indebtedness of seven hundred dollars which encumbered their farm. As the years passed by, their efforts have been attended with marked prosperity. They now own five hundred and thirteen acres of valuable land, with fine forest trees about their home, with a good orchard of small fruits and with substantial and commodious buildings. In fact theirs is one of the model farms of the state, sup- : plied with all the conveniences and ac- cessories of a modern country seat. In the year 1895 their fine residence was complet- ed. the same being of modern and attractive architectural design and equipment, having fourteen rooms and being furnished in a style that bespeaks the refined and artistic tastes of the owners. Mrs. Parks has shown special talent as an artist, and many attractive specimens of her work are s1. in the pictures which adorn the home. The farm is under a most effective state of cul- tivation, two hundred and forty acres be- ing annually devoted to wheat, two hundred to corn and twenty-five to alfalfa, while special attention is also given to raising high-grade cattle. horses and swine.

To Mr. and Mrs. Parks have been born six children, whose names with dates of birth, are as follows: Charles Erasmus. October 17, 1885; Gertrude, December 8. 1887: Georgie Vernon, April 3, 1889: James Lloyd, May 20, 1890; Clyde Gale, September 25, 1892; and Emma Cleora Aurilla, July 10, 1895. The eldest daugh- ter, Gertrude, died March 29, 1889, aged one year, three months and twenty-one days, her loss being a severe blow to her devoted parents. Mrs. Parks is a lady of superior mental culture, having distinctive literary and artistic taste and talent. She reads ex- tensively and is a frequent contributor to

Mers Meusie E. Parks.

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

the local newspaper press, having been the author of a number of effective poems and temperance stories. She is an active worker in the Temperance Lodge and her two c'est sons are members of the Independent Order of Good Templars. She is a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking an earnest interest in its work and in its collateral benevolences and being prom- inent in the work of the Sunday-school and the Home Missionary Society. The family are extremely popular in the best social life of the community, and as a representative "; me of the sterling pioneer families of the state Mrs. Parks may well look back with pride upon her ancestral record and upon the life and labors of her honored ia- ther.

HUMPHREY TYLOR.

.As a creditable representative of Indi- ana and a progressive Kansas farmer Mr. Tilor is consistently accorded considera- tion in this publication. His homestead is in section 4. Sumner township, Reno c unty. and his postoffice address is Ha- ven. Mr. Tylor was born in Lawrence county. Indiana. February 27, 1847, a sen of Thomas J. Tylor, who was reared and married and lived out his days in that county.

The father and mother of Thomas J. Tylor both died when he was seven er eight years old, and their six children. of whom Thomas J. was second in or- der of birth, were left homeless. al were im und out to farmers here and there. Andrew, the first born, camari1- ed a company in the Union army dur- ing the Civil war, and later was a car- penter in Iroquois county, Illinois. George. who was a farmer, lived and died in Law- rence county, Indiana. Patrick fourth and John the fifth child of their par- ents. Polly married Robert Andersen. A prosperous farmer of Lawrence county, In- diana. who died there, leaving several chil- dren, one of whom lives in that county, two at Newton, Kansas, and one in Iowa. Thom-

. J. Tylor became a bound boy after the death of his parents and was insufficiently supplied with foul and clothing and other- wie treated so unkind', that he ran away from his legal matter and for a time lived with his sister, Polly Anderson, working around as opportunity offered. Eventually he found employment at lumbering and also Warned the trade of wagonmaker, and later m life he became the water of a forty-acre farm on Gullet's creek. Lawrence county, In- diana. on which sawmill and his wagon-shop. He married. in Lawrence county. Indiana, about 1840, Names Kov, whose born in North Car- lina, about 1818, and who was taken to Ken- tucky by her parents when

eighteen, and from there to I.

tv. Indiana. In the last year of his life Mr. Tylor bought one hundred and sixty acres of land on Salt creek, in Lasciare county, Indiana, and erected on it a steam sawmill, the product of which he intended to raft down stream to market, but before hi- en- terprise was under way he died. on March 2. 1854, and the farm and mill were last, The gether with five hundred dollars in cash which he put into the venture. He was Democratic in politics Real was a descr 1 Spring Creek Baptist church, near his home. whose house of worship was created for at the expense of himself and bis idher in- law. on land which the latter donated for the purpose.

Thomas mi Pare Par Kanlagen parents of the subject of this it maternal line. lived out their homestead in Lawrence county, Indi were fogiel on their farm the

vais a Democrat and a Baptist deacon. Mrs.

land. settl.

entire 1 which he was disinherited by h - fini- ilv. In 1875 the win i Tiu Tylor went to K land which adjoined that

lived in his family and in that of her mar- riedl daughter. in se until her

1502

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

death, which occurred February 2, 1901. She bore her husband six children, three of whom are living, and the following facts concerning them will be of interest in this connection : Milton enlisted, in the fall of 1861, in the Seventh Regiment of Illinois Cavalry, and served through the Civil war, being discharged four years and five months after his enrollment. After the war he be- came a farmer, and he is now living in re- tirement in Colwich, Sedgwick county, Kan- sas. William died in infancy, of whooping- cough. Mary Ann married Mortimer Holmes and they located in Linn county, Kansas, where she died leaving a daughter named Epsie. Humphrey, who is the im- mediate subject of this sketch, is the next in order of birth. Sarah Jane, a frail girl, died when seventeen years and eleven months old in Edgar county, Illinois. Amanda married W. F. Stevens, who served his country as a soldier during the entire period of the Civil war and later was a prominent farmer near Maize, Sedgwick county, Kansas, and who is now living in re- tirement at Wichita.

When his father died and his mother was left in greatly reduced circumstances with a number of children to take care of, Humphrey Tylor was only a little more than seven years old : but, young as he was, while his mother spun and wove to keep her little household together, he did what he could to assist her and drove their ox team to break a little patch of ground on which they planted corn. Not long afterward his mother was obliged to sell the ox team to pay a debt, and they were left to carry on their farming operations with a little mule and a spring wagon and two cows. In his last sickness the husband and father had been greatly worried at the thought that his children might be separated and bound out after he was gone, as he and his brothers and sisters had been in their unfortunate childhood, and he urged his faithful wife to prevent such a calamity if possible. Their little farm was involved, for the mother had signed away her interest in it to aid her hus- band to build his steam sawmill, and event- ually even their humble home was lost : but

fortunately, about the time of their deepest trouble, her father's estate was settled and she received from it two hundred dollars in cash, with which she removed her family to Edgar county, Illinois, where she rented a farm, the property of a great-uncle of the subject of this sketch.

At the time of the outbreak of the Civil war Mrs. Tylor's eldest son enlisted as a soldier in the Union cause and Humphrey assumed charge of the farm, which he man- aged until 1874, when with the whole fam- ily, except his eldest brother, he came to Linn county, Kansas, making the journey with teams. He farmed there one year, and in July, 1875, he and his mother homestead- ed adjoining claims in what is now Sumner township. In the fall he returned to Linn county. January 6, 1876, he was married, at Paris, Edgar county, Illinois, to Jane Mering, and in the spring they located on his claim in Sumner township. Miss Mering was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, Oc- tober 4. 1852, a daughter of John G. and Mary ( Helmick ) Mering. Her father was born in Pennsylvania and settled early in Ohio, eighteen miles from Cincinnati, whence he removed to Dearborn county. In- diara, where he bought a farm which he cultivated until the fall of 1863, when he removed to Edgar county, Illinois, to a farm which was one mile from the Indiana line. In 1864 he was drafted and placed in the Fifty-first Regiment, Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, and in. the first battle in which his regiment participated-the battle of Frank- lin-he was shot in the mouth, and he died December 8. 1864. John Mering, Mrs. Tylor's grandfather, was born in Pennsyl- vania, of parents who were of German de- scent, and, eventually removing to Ohio. he became the owner of a large gristmill near Cincinnati, and was killed by being kicked by a horse. Mary ( Helmick ) Mering was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, June 17. 1820. a daughter of Philip Helmick, a prom- inent farmer, who was noted in Ohio for his fine stock and who died there honored by all who had known him. John G. and Mary (Helmick ) Mering had nine children, of whom Mrs. Tylor was the sixth in order of

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

birth and of whom five are living. Margaret married John Kelso, who is a cooper at Paris, Illinois: Elizabeth died in Edgar county, Illinois, in 1899: David P., an in- valid, lives at Paris, Illinois: John died in infancy, in Dearborn county, Indiana : George W., a farmer. lives in Edgar coun- ty, Illinois; Frances C. died at Paris, Illi- nois : Anna S. died in Lincounty. : and Ira W. is employed as a motorman by a street-car company in Terre Haute. In- diana.

About the time Mr. Tylor and his wife took up their life together in Sumner town- ship. Mr. Tylor's eldest brother located a half of a mile east of his claim and their mother had previously entered a claim ad- joining Humphrey's. Two of Mr. Tylor's sisters furnished forty dollars with which to buy lumber to build a house for their mother and Mr. Tylor did all the work in its con- structon. On his own claim the latter erect- ed first a sod house, in which he and his wife lived a year. and then a twelve- by-fourteen-foot frame house in connec- tion with the sod house. which became the kitchen of their enlarged residence. A few years later Mr. Tylor built an addition, sixteen by twenty feet in di- mensions and one and one-half stories in height, and three years ago he erected an- other addition. of two stories, and four- teen by twenty-two feet in lateral di- mensions, so remodeling the balance of the house as to make of the whole a most comfortable modern residence. During the first year of his residence in Sin- ner township he broke eighteen are of his mother's claim and ten acres of his OWI7. and also took care of

that had been entered by

Amanda. He raised twenty-five are- sod corn, and the grasshoppers ate that and also his early wheat and his fodder. The vicinity was entirely destitute of trees. the being at that time only one or two native trees of any size, one of which stood on the riverside between his claim and Hutch In 1877 he set out a peach orchard mit acres, many of the original trees of which

are still fruitful, and in 1880 he started an apple orchard, and to this date he has set out an aggregate of about one hundred trees. While giving his attention mainly to gen- eral farming he has from year to year raised a respectable number of horses and hog .. In tooo he devoted fifty acres to wheat, thir- tv to corn, eighteen to oats and the remain- der of his farm to pasture. Avoiding debt, he has advanced steadily in a financial way, and it is with considerable interest that he compares the present development of central Kansas with the condition of that part of the state when he first saw it, while he speaks quite interestingly of the fact that when he built this first stalde he was obliged to go to the Chikaskia river for the poles out of which his framework was made. the round trip consuming three days.

Since the organization of his township Mr. Tylor has much of the time filled the of- fice of road overseer, and he has been a mem- her of the local school board. first as clerk. then as director and later as treasurer. Asile from his participation in the election of Jerry Simpson to his first term in congress. he has acted consistently with the Repub- fican party, having been influential in getting Republican voters out to primaries and hav- ing been a delegate to Republican county conventions in his county. He has been a communicant of the Baptist church since 1871, when he joined that body at Vermilion Station. Illinois, and his membership in the Bethel Baptist church dates back to 1881. while the congregation, not yet having a regular house of worship, met at the Bethel Schon house: and shortly after it occupied its church building he was ordained concen for life, as his father and grandfather were Pory him, and he has long been active in Sunday school work. Mrs. T. regler of the Baptist church since i've They have had three children : Their daughter 1. ( 28. 1876, and is the wife of Frank Terry, who lives on the farm which was mestenie! by Mr. T : : 's mother; their

1504

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

in Garfield county; their son. Willie MI., born February 2, 1883, is in school at Nickerson, Reno county, Kansas.

The mother of Mrs. Tylor is living on a farm in Edgar county, Illinois. Mrs. Ty- lor's father's grandfather on his mother's side, one Battenburg, who was probably born in Germany, located early in Pennsylvania and moved thence to the vicinity of Cincin- nati. Ohio, where he won.celebrity as a man- ufacturer of pianos and dulcimers and as a singer and composer of music. He was a pioneer preacher of the United Brethren faith in Ohio, and at the age of ninety- eight was living in the family of Mrs. Ty- lor's aunt Catharine, near Dayton, Ohio. Mrs. Tylor remembers having seen an old rosewood piano of his manufacture in the house of her great-aunt, Sallie ( Battenburg) Pinger, in Ohio.

WILLIAM H. WHITE, M. D.

William H. White is the oldest repre- sentative of the medical fraternity en- gaged in constant practice in Barton county. He came here before any of the physicians now living within the borders of the county, and for many years he ministered to the needs of suffering humanity, riding long distances over the prairies in order to alleviate pain and disease. During twenty-five years his acquaintance has continually grown and throughout much of that period he was re- garded as the loved family physician in many a pioneer home as well as in the homes which have been erected in later years. Now, however, he is living a retired life, residing on an excellent farm of two hun- dred acres.

The Doctor was born in Oswego coun- ty, New York, in the town of Fulton. July 6, 1833, and is a son of John R. White, a merchant and lumber dealer. In early life he began work under the direction of his father, acting as a clerk, and when twenty- two years of age he took up the study of medicine with Dr. Serles, of Galesburg, Illi-

nois, and in order to further perfect him- self in his chosen calling he entered the Eclectic Medical College, of Pennsylvania, in which he was graduated July 4, 1863. His course, however, was interrupted by his service in the Civil war, for when hos- tilities were inaugurated by the south he responded to the country's call for aid, en- listing as a member of Company H. Sec- ond Illinois Light Artillery. He served with that command for two years and then, after receiving an honorable discharge, re- sumed the study of medicine, which he com- pleted in Pennsylvania, as before stated. Returning to the Mississippi valley, he be- gan practice in Centralia. Illinois, where he remained for two years, after which he spent two years in St. Louis, Missouri. His next place of residence was in Wichita, Kansas, where he continued for three years and dur- ing that time he served as coroner of the city. In 1875 he came to Barton county, becoming one of the earliest settlers within its borders, and has seen a wonderful trans- formation here, as the primitive conditions of pioneer life have been replaced by the im- provements and conveniences of the twen- tieth century. The sod house has long since given place to the substantial and commodi- ous residence, which forms an important feature of farm life, as well as town life. and indicates the prosperous condition of the people. When he began practice in this country there were no fences and no roads. and travelers had to find their way across the prairies as best they could. Dr. White in his professional capacity was often called upon to leave his home and go through a storm to the house of the patient and there was not a tree or grove to break the force of the wind. He has never refused to re- spond to the call of the sick and suffering. no matter what hardships were entailed upon him in the performance of his pro- fessional duties. He entered land where he now lives in township 20, range 14, and in 1898. the place having become very dear to him, he chose to locate thereon, expecting to make it his place of abode during his re- maining days, and the splendid improve- ments constitute this one of the most valu-

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 120

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084