A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 13

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

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S. T. HARVEY.

S. T. Harvey, one of Ottawa county's oldest and most prominent citizens and an ex-soldier of the Civil war, was born in Nova Sentia, on the oth of September. 1836, and is a representative of a promi- nent family whose members were eminently identified with the early history of New England. His father. Dr. George Harvey, was a successful physician and surgeon of Nova Scotia and the United States, and dur- ing the Civil war he served on gunboats on the Mississippi river with Commodore Por- ter's squadron. In 1840 the family removed from Novia Scotia to Clermont county, Ohio, and at Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the age .i eighty-four years, George Harvey, the father of our subject, was called to the home bernd. He had studied medicine and surgery in Glasgow. Scotland, and be- came a very able medical practitioner. His wife passed away at Moscow. Clermont county, Ohio, at the age of seventy-six years, and both were honored and worthy members of the Presbyterian church. Unto this worthy couple were born eight children, namely: Elizabeth Aston, a resident ci Oklahoma ; Georgia Wolf, also a resident of that territory: Samuel T., the subject of this review; Laura Shelley, of Clermont county, Ohio ; Hon. David Harvey, who was a soldier in the Civil war, a member of the Fourth Ohio Cavalry, and was the first dele- gate to congress from Oklahoma: Fred Harvey, who served as probate judge of Minneapolis, Minnesota : William, who also served as probate judge of Lincoln county, Oklahoma, where his death occurred : and Mary Gaskins, whose husband is a farmer in Kentucky. Both Fred and William served in the navy during the Civil war.

S. T. Harvey, whose name introduces this review. received an excellent education in the schools of Oxford, Ohio, and after putting aside his text-books as a student lie again entered the schoolroom as a teacher, having followed that profession for some time.

In 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil war,

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he donned the blue in defense of the Union cause, becoming a member of the Fourth Ohio Cavalry. under Colonel Kennett and Captain McGrew. He took part in the Wil- son raid and was in many of the important and hard-fought battles of the south, while much of his time was employed in active warfare against Generals Hood and Mor- gan's forces in and about Kentucky.

With an honorable military record Mr. Harvey returned to his home at the close of hostilities, and in 1871 he came to the Sun- flower state, securing a homestead claim in Ottawa county. In the following year, however, he returned to Ohio, and was there married to Annie Crapsey, who was a popu- lar and successful teacher prior to her mar- riage. She is a daughter of Jacob and Rachel ( Morris) Crapsey. The father was a prominent attorney, and the mother was a member of an old and well known family of Ohio, her father, Thomas Morris, hav- ing been prominently connected in political work with Henry Clay. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Crapsey were born eight children. namely: Thomas and Ed. who were brave and loyal soldiers during the war of the re- bellien, and for many years the latter was a prominent writer for the New York Times : Rev. Algernon S., of Rochester, New York ; Charles, who is a prominent architect; George, who makes his home in Cincinnati ; Viola, who for many years has been en- gaged with the M. E. book concern; Jeanette : and Mamie, wife of Hon. David Harvey, of Indian Territory. The union of our subject and wife has been blessed with seven children, as follows: Mary Wilcox, who was one of Ottawa county's popular and successful teachers : Ola Dyer, of Pond Creek. Oklahoma: Georgia Davis: Flora Ferguson: Marshall Archibald: Irene: and Winnie.

Mr. Harvey has followed the teacher's profession in both Ohio and Kansas, but he now gives his undivided attention to agri- cultural pursuits, in which his well directed efforts are attended with a high and grati- fying degree of success. His landed pos- sessions now consist of two hundred and forty acres of the finest land to be found in

the Solomon valley, on which he has made many substantial and valuable improve- ments. His fields are under an excellent state of cultivation, while in his pastures are found high grades of cattle, and in his lo- cality he is recognized as a prominent and successful agriculturist. His political sup- port is given to Republican principles, and for two terms he efficiently served as a mem- ber of the board of county commissioners, while many times he has been a member of the conventions of his party. He was made a Mason in Moscow, Ohio, and in the Grand Army of the Republic maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades of the blue. He has made for himself an enviable reputation, and is popular in social, business and political circles.

GEORGE R. KEESLING.

Another son of old Virginia who has made his mark in Kansas and contributed his share toward the general prosperity is George R. Keesling, a farmer on section 10. Hayes township, Reno county, whose post- office is at Peacreek.

George R. Keesling was born in Vir- ginia May 28. 1859, a son of James Har- vey Keesling, who was born in the Old Do- minion January 30, 1832. James Harvey Keesling was a son of George Keesling, a farmer of Virginia, who reared five sons and four daughters. all of whom are living and have families. George Keesling died about 1874. his widow a few years later. James Harvey Keesling married Mary Eliz- abeth Umbarger, who was born in Virginia June 4. 1838. Their marriage occurred in 1858, and they located on land belonging to Mr. Keesling's father, where they lived until 1871, when they located in Delaware county, Indiana. there making their home for a little over five years. October 7, 1876, they settled in Peace. northwest of Ster- ling. Rice county, Kansas, and they now live about seven and a half miles from Lyons, where they bought the land in 1876. They had ten children. namely: Corrine May,

Mr & Mrs George Keesling

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who died at the age of three years. George R .. is the immediate subject of this sketch. Mary, who married William Clayton, a farmer of Rice county, and they have three children. James H .. who lives near his par- ents, and has four children. Simon, a farmer in Haves township and has four chil- dren. Melinda, who married George Clay- ton and has one child. Sarah, the wife of John Honnon, of Oklahoma Territory, and has four children. Carrie, who married John Peterson, of Haves township, and has two children. Bert E., who lives near Chase. Rice county, and has one child; and Charles D., a farmer at Springfield, Ne- braska, and has four children.

George R. Keesling was brought up to hard work and had few educational advan- tages. He remained with his father until he was twenty-two years old. October 13. 1881. he married Miss Sarah Coffield, a native of West Virginia, born in 1858, and fourteen months and ten days older than himself. Mrs. Keesling was a daughter of Benajah Coffield, who was a man of influ- ence and importance in his community. She has borne to her husband twelve children, eleven of whom are living: Ed- gar Alton, born November 19. 1882; Lu- cile Pearl. an attractive young woman of seventeen years, who is acquiring an educa- tion and making a special study of music : Luther O., fifteen years old; Reka A., four- teen years old; Jesse E., twelve years old ; Walter A .. ten years old: Amy E., eight Years old: Earl R., seven years old: Ivory G .. five years old: Franklin, three years, and Leah Elizabeth, the baby of the family. She had a twin sister who died in infancy.

Mr. Keesling is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a Democrat and a Methodist. He is a gen- eral farmer who gives special attention to wheat and corn. cultivating some years nearly four hundred acres. He devotes one hundred and seventy-five acres to wheat and two hundred acres to corn. and it is worthy of remark that during the past twenty years his corn crop has never failed. He raises cattle. hogs and horses and usually sells from twenty to seventy head of cattle, about

fifteen horses and a hundred Poland China hogs a year. He erected his residence in 1899 and has built a barn and a large granary that has a capacity of ten thousand bushels. 1le has planted many fruit and shade trees and his farm is up-to-date in all its appointments. A man of athletic frame and much endurance, he has accomplished a good deal of hard labor and bids fair to live many years yet to enjoy the success he has won so worthily.

ROBERT T. ALLISON.

The memory of this honored pioneer citizen of Harvey county forms a distinct link between the epoch when civilization was first gaining a foothold on the western frontier, and that of the present period of marked enterprise and prosperity, as the glorious twentieth century rolls into the cycle of the ages. He was one of those venturesome men who braved the perils and hardships of the plains and mountains in the days when the Indians were yet a con- stant menace, and became familiar with the scenes and incidents of that stirring period, while in later years he has achieve l a not- able success in connection with the indus- trial activities of central Kansas, being the owner of one of the finest stock farms in this section of the Union and being honered as one of the progressive business men and sterling citizens of the commonwealth. Mr. Allison has been the artificer of his own fortunes, having been dependent upon his own resources from his boyhood, and to him is due a tribute of unequivocal respect for the subjective development of a strong and upright character and for the attain- ment of a high degree of success by means of legitimate and well directed endeavor. Thus it is signally consistent that a review of his life history be incorporated in a com- pilation of this nature. In an initiative way it may be stated that his finely improved and valuable stock farm is located : xxx- tion 36. Highland township, and that his postoffice address is Newton, a rural mail

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route affording him excellent facilities in the matter of mail service.

Robert T. Allison comes of stanchi Scotch-Irish lineage, and that in his char- acter abide the sterling attributes which have ever made this dual strain a valuable element in our composite social fabric, is evident even to the superficial observer. He was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of November, 1839, being a son of John Allison, who was born in the same county, in 1812, the son of Robert T. Alli- son, who was likewise a native of that county of the old Keystone state, showing that the family name has been identified with the annals of American history fromi the colonial epoch. The maiden name of our subject's mother was Eleanor Barr, and she was born in Indiana county, Pennsyl- vania. in 1817, while her death there oc- curred in 1848. Five of their six children are living at the present time. John Allison subsequently consummated a second mar- riage, and of this union one daughter was born. He was a farmer by vocation and also operated a sawmill upon his place, own- ing a well improved tract of one hundred and seventy acres.

The subject of this review received meager educational advantages in his youth, attending the primitive log school-house in the vicinity of his home as occasion per- mitted, and being but ten years of age at the time of his father's death. Shortly afterward he left home, and from that time forward he has been dependent upon his own resources. As a lad he was energetic and self-reliant and was ready to turn his hand to any honest work which came to him, and it is gratifying to note the titi- mate result of his earnest and long contin- uted endeavors, while it is but just that his efforts should be thus crowned with success. He began his independent career by work- ing on farms, and in 1856 he left his na- tive state and came west to Taylor county, Iowa, where he followed a similar line of occupation until the spring of 1860, when he joined the rush of gold-seekers crossing the plains to Pike's Peak, where the excitement was then at its height. He made the trip

in a company of about fifty individuals, the train consisting of nine teams. They start- ed from Iowa the last of April and arrived at their destination on the 15th of June, having had no serious encounters with the Indians. Mr. Allison was associated with four others in searching for gold in the placer mines of Colorado, being thus en- gaged for two seasons near Breckinridge. He then went to Denver, where he remained for a short time, while during the winter of 1862-3 he kept a stage station at Antelope. Later he worked on a toll road in the sand hills, and also was employed for a time in putting up hay for local ranchmen and for the stage company.

In the fall of 1863 Mr. Allison returned to Iowa, and then came to Denver again, driving a team and transporting freight. He returned again to Iowa and thence went to St. Joseph, Missouri, the great outfitting headquarters for dt se er ssing the plains in that period. In Tayler county, Iowa. on the 8th of Tane. 18 4. with an ex team, he started for Virginia City, Montana, and after following mining in that city the fol- lowing season he went to Helena, same state, filowed mining that season, and re- turned to Iowa in the winter of 1865.

Mr. Allison was united in marriage to Miss Lucetta Jane Osborn, who was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, in 1849, the daughter of Ira B. and Lucinda ( Ray ) Os- born, who came to Indiana from North Car- ulina, the father having been a shoemaker by vocation. Of their five children three are now living,-Lucetta J., the wife of our subject ; Emsley, who is married and who resides in California; and Eldora, the wife of John Allison, a brother of our subject.

After his return from Montana Mr. Al- lisen was a tenant farmer in Andrew coun- ty, Missouri, for two years, and in Non- away county for five years, at the expiration of which, in the spring of 1873, he came to Harvey county, Kansas. and settled on a farm of eighty acres, in section 2, Newton township, developing and improving the property and there continuing to make his home until the winter of 1892 .- a period of about seventeen years. He erected a

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good residence and other buildings on the place, set out a large number of fruit trees and otherwise made the farm a model. He disposed of the property in 1897, his son John G. becoming the purchaser, and then came to his present fine farm, a portion ci which he had purchased in 1883. In the fall of 1892 he erected his present commo- dious and attractive residence and the main portion of the large and well equipped barn. which is forty by seventy feet in dimen- sions, with sixteen-foot posts. The estate has an area of two hundred and forty-eight acres and on every hand are evidences of the enterprise, progressive methods and scrupulous care of the owner, who has made the place one of the most valuable in this section, while he has attained a high repu- tation in connection with the breeding and raising di high grade stock, having done much to further the development of this line of industry in the state. Mr. Allison devotes special attention to the raising of Holstein cattle, his herd averaging from sixty to one hundred head, all of high grade, the high standard being maintained through the thoroughbred specimens which he owns. From his stock farm he has made shipments of many fine milch cows to distant points. including Mexico and New Mexico, secur- ing high prices for the same. He keeps and raises registered bulls of the Holstein type and exercises much discrimination in the por pagation of the best grade of cattle. Mr. Abis n alsa has achieved marked suc- ces in the raising of pure-bred Poland- China swine, of which he has a fine herd, varying from twenty to one hundred head. while he also devotes no little attention to the raising .i excellent types of road and draft horses, so that it may be seen that his stock farm is particularly well equipped and that he has contributed in no small meas- ure to the promotion of live-stock interests. His farm is one of exceptional fertility, but nearly all the agricultural products from the same are utilized in the feeding of his stock, with the exception of the wheat, of which lie has raised as high as twenty-five hun - dred bushels in a season, and of corn as high as three thousand bushels. He also se-

cures excellent returns in the raising of ali- alfa and Kaffir corn, while he has upon the place a fine orchard of one hundred trees. and has otherwise improved the farm l the planting of hedges of Osage orange. having three miles of the same.

In politics Mr. Allison was originally identified with the Republican party. I. now gives his allegiance to the People- party, of whose principles and policies he is a stanch advocate. As one of the able and representative men of the county and as one thoroughly meriting the confidence in which he is held, Mr. Allison has naturally been called upon to serve in various offices of local trust and responsibility. He is nowy in the fourth year of his tenure of the office of trustee of Highland township, has served for a long term of years as road supervi. .. of which position he is incumbent at the present time, while he also rendered effect- ive service in the office of justice of the peace and as a member of the school bar of his district. He and his family are men- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. Our subject's life has been filled with cease- less toil and endeavor, has been character- ized by spotless integrity and has been pro- lific in good, so that he stands to-day secure in the esteem and good will of all who know him and surrounded by the tangible evi- dences of the success which has attended his efforts. The family holds a high post- tion in the community and the legitimate progress and development of this section owe not a little to the honored gentleman to whom this brief sketch is devoted.

In conclusion we enter a brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Allison, eight of them surviving at the present time: Lucinda died in infancy : John Grant, who was born in Nodaway county. Missouri, on the 2d of October. 1868, is a popular and successful railroad engineer, having had charge of passenger locomotives for the past ten years and be- ing at the present time a resident of Cali- fornia, in the passenger service of the Santa Fe Pacific railroad : he was married to Jen- nie Pearl Fowler. of Indiana county, Penn- sylvania, November 23. 1897: Samuel, the

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third child died in early infancy ; Alexander B., who now resides at Crowley, Louisiana, was born on the 22d of January, 1872, and has achieved a notable success in his busi- ness operations, being a young man of ex- ceptional ability and administrative power ; his early education was secured in the dis- trict schools and was supplemented by a course of study in the Lawrence Business College, at Lawrence, Kansas ; he is secre- tary and treasurer of a company operating four rice mills in Louisiana, is secretary of five canal companies, a stockholder in a na- tional bank and secretary of the Rice Asso- ciation of America ; he has attained this ex- ceptional prestige and success through his own efforts, having left home with just enough means to reach his destination and being also indebted to his elder brother for funds used in completing his education : the energy and talent of the young man may be understood in a measure when we state that he is now worth about thirty thousand dollars and is identified with enterprises which are destined to greatly increase his fortune; on the 21st of February, 1898, he married Miss Lucille A. Lyons, a daughter of Dr. Lyons, of Crowley, Louisiana ; Benja- min Allison, the fifth child of our subject. was born on the 23d of July, 1874, and he has charge of the old homestead farm, being an energetic, progressive and successful young agriculturist and stock-grower ; Wal- ter B., born on the 23d of October, 1877, is a resident of Crowley, Louisiana, having a rice farm there and being interested with his brother in rice mills and canals : he has been a resident of Louisiana for four years past and is proving a capable and successful busi- ness man : Harvey, the seventh child, is em- ployel as an engineer in one of the rice mills in which his brothers are interested. the date of his birth having been March 22, 1880: Eleanor, born August 14, 1882, is at the parental home; Ethel Ann, born Au- gist 21, 1884. died on the 29th of the fol- lowing March; Myra Belle was born Oc- tober 12, 1886, and Nellie on the IIth of May. 1889, and both are members of the home circle.

THOMAS P. WILSON.

Typically American and typically west- ern, will perhaps best describe the person- ality of the well known and honored subject of this review, who has passed practically his entire life west of the great "father of waters." gaining the marked individuality. self-reliance and mental vigor which are be- gotten of the somewhat free, unconventional and untrammeled life of the great west. which is a section of "largeness" from all points of view, and he has gained distinction in civic and public affairs, has proved stead- fast and honorable in all the relations of life and is honored for his ability and sturdy integrity of character. No one man has been more conspicuous in forwarding the industrial development and material ad- vancement of Barber county than he has, and for more than a quarter of a century he has been conspicuously identified with the cattle business in this section, being at the present time one of the most extensive stock-growers of this part. of the state and one of its representative citizens, maintain- ing his home and business headquarters in the thriving little city of Kiowa. to whose upbuilding he has contributed in a large measure.

Hon. Thomas Pitner Wilson is a native son of the Lone Star state, having been born in Tarrant county, Texas, on the 23d of November, 1857, being a son of Captain Lorenzo J. and Eliza ( Pitner) Wilson. Captain Wilson was born in the state of Kentucky, where he was reared to manhood and where his marriage occurred. He re- moved to Texas in an early day and became one of the influential men of the state. His attention had been attracted to that section of the Union during his active service as a soldier in the Mexican war, in which he served under Generals Scott and Taylor and made a gallant record. He had been one of the prominent citizens of Birdville, Tarrant county, Texas, and after his removal to Brazos county, Texas, as one of its pioneers, he impressed his individuality upon the his- tory of that section and wielded a marked

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and beneficent influence in public affairs. He espoused the cause of the Confederacy at the time of the Civil war and rendered distinguished service as captain of Company I. of one of the prominent Texas regiments. He died on the 23d of December, 1868, at the age of fifty-four years. Ilis wife, a wo- man of culture and gracious presence, was a member of a prominent old Georgia fam- ily, while her mother was a member of the Cromson family, which likewise was one of note in the south. Mrs. Wilson died in Denton county, Texas, at the age of fifty- two Years. Captain Wilson, the honored father of our subject, was one of the potent factors in the councils of the Democratic party, in whose cause he was an active worker, and he was incumbent of various offices of local character in Texas. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and was a man whose integrity of purpose was beyond cavil, while in per- sen he was of fine physique and a distinct military bearing, clearly representing in his makeup that great desideratum .- a sound mind in a sound body. Of his three sons We res rd that Abner T. is one of the lead- ing direct of Korra, Barber county, hav- ing been one of the first settlers in this lo- cality and being one of the extensive cattle- growers of Kansas and Oklahoma, while he is at the present time incumbent of the office rf president of the Oklahoma Live Stock Association: Thomas P. is the immediate subject of this review : and William E., like- wise a resident of Kiowa, is also one of the representative stockmen of this section.

Thomas P. Wilson was reared and edu- cated in Texas, and it may consistently be said that he practically grew up in the sad- dle. early beginning to enjoy to the full extent the free life of the great cattle ranges of the largest state in the Union. While yet a mere boy he thus became an ex- cellent judge of the values of live stock, and this early appreciation and knowledge has had much to do with conserving his magnifi- cent success in connection with this im- portant line of industry. At the age of nineteen years, just after the epoch which marked the disappearance of the buffalo

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 13

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