A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 56

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

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In the country schools of Canada Joseph E. Johnston pursued his education and dur- ing his youth remained with his father on the home farm until 1882, when he went to Rockford, Illinois, remaining for a year. In the spring of 1883 he came to Minneapolis and accepted a clerkship in the store of Mr. Attridge, a grocer, with whom he remained for one year. after which he engaged in clerking for D. D. Snyder for two years. On the expiration of that period he formed a partnership with his brother, Matthew, and T. C. McCrum, under the firm name of J. E. Johnston & Company, and purchased the grocery store of Mr. Attridge, conducting the business for a year and a half, when they sold out and our subject formed a part- nership with J. H. Gentry in the feed busi- ness, which enterprise was carried on for a similar period. In 1891 he received an appointment from the live stock sanitary commission board as live stock inspector for

the state of Kansas, acting in that capacity for two years, when in 1893 he accepted a position as salesman with the firm of Gage Brothers. In 1895 he established his pres- ent business on the corner of Second and Concord streets, where he carries a com- plete and carefully selected stock of dry goods, clothing and furnishing goods, do- ing a business of from thirty to forty thou- sand dollars annually. His stock is valued at from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars and he employs four clerks. His trade is joys an unassailable reputation in business circles by reason of his straightforward methods.

ance worker. She was the instigator and | leader of many important movements of re- form in Illinois and accomplished great good. Mrs. Johnston's ancestors can be traced back to a branch of the Bancroft family of colonial fame. Her maternal grandfather, John Reed, was one of the first white children born in Ohio, and he mar- ried Johanna Sanoft, who traced her lineage back to George II. Mrs. Johnston's uncle, Joseph Barker Gage, was one of the vic- timis killed by the fall of Ford's theater, in Washington, D. C., in 1893. Her paternal ancestors, the Gages, were allied with some of the best New England families. Her ma- ternal ancestors belonged to the aristocracy, and when her grandmother, four generations removed. was married, Charles county. Maryland, was ceded to her by the king of England. Two interesting children grace the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Johnston. Ambrose and Bessie, born in 1887 and 1890, respectively.

In his political views our subject is a Republican, and while he keeps well in- formed on the issues of the day and mani- fests his political preference at the polls. he

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' has never been an aspirant for office. He belongs to Minneapolis Lodge, A. O. C. W. and is regarded as a valuable citizen, sup- porting all measures which tend to progress and upbuilding in the objective and subjec- tive phases of life. He has a comfortable home and interesting family and his prop- erty is an indication of his useful and active business career.

ISRAEL MARKLEY.

In pioneer days and amid pioneer scenes and experiences Israel Markley took up his abode in Ottawa county and his name is inseparably interwoven with the annals of central Kansas from that early epoch. He inaugurated many of the movements which have led to the business development and substantial improvement of the community ; he endured the hardships and trials of fron- tier life : he worked for the interests of the county along many lines and now has every reason to be proud of what has been accom- plished in this portion of the state. After many years of continuous and well directed labor, he is now practically living retired in Minneapolis, where he has a beautiful home -a fitting place to spend the evening of life, surrounded by the comforts that his toil in early life provided.

Mr. Markley was born on the isle of Eiley, Cambridgeshire, England, May 5, 1834, a son of Thomas and Betsey (Wat- son ) Markley. His father's people were a long-lived race. His paternal grandfather died in England and was followed to the grave by ninety of his descendants-chil- dren, grandchildren and great-grandchil- dren. Thomas Markley was one of a large family at the time when one of his brothers drank from a pool of impure water which brought on an attack of cholera that spread throughout the family, carrying away all but four, Thomas being among the surviv- ing members. He came to America in the early '50s and located in Niagara county, New York, where he followed various pur- suits for a livelihood and finally emigrated

to Michigan, where he died. His wife was of Scottish descent. In 1857 she came to the United States with nine of her twelve children and located in Lake county, Illinois. Her son Israel had come to this country the previous year and was engaged in ditching. Mrs. Markley remained in Illinois until 1865 when she came to Kansas to take up land for her family of boys. Here she met the usual experiences of life on the frontier. but was a brave and determined woman, whose memory is sacredly cherished by her chil- dren. She died in Minneapolis in 1878.

It was in the year 1857 that Israel Mark- ley came to Kansas, locating in Franklin county, where he purchased a tract of Indian or trustee land, which he held unimproved for seven years. In 1858. in company with his brother-in-law. Jacob Link, he took up some land in Saline county, built a cabin and bought some cattle. In 1864 he sold his improvements and took up one hundred and sixty acres of land in the Solomon river valley, which property he still owns. After the purchase had been consummated he re- turned to Saline county for his cattle and as he traveled across the country he slept with his clothes on. fearing an attack from the red men and the equally dreaded jay- hawkers.

In 1860 Mr. Markley was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary Link, a daughter of' Christian and Catherine ( Robb) Link, both of whom were natives of Germany, whence they emigrated to America in 1837, locat- ing in Morgan county, Indiana, where they lived until 1857. They traveled overland in company with another family and reached Leavenworth in the spring of 1857. The fa- ther. however, died en route and was buried at Springfield, Illinois. After a short time spent in Leavenworth the family went to Saline county, where they took up a claim. Mrs. Link's only son went into the United States service, but held his claim. the mother improving it by her own exertions and the aid which her daughters were able to give her. She was the first white woman to locate in Saline county and there she re- mained upon the farm until 1878, when she retired from active life, taking up her abode

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in Minneapolis, where she died in 1894. She was a remarkable woman, whose life was filled with many vicissitudes, but under all circumstances she displayed great fortitude. endurance and sterling womanly qualities which everywhere command respect and ad- miration.

Mr. and Mrs. Markley were married in' 1860. They went to Lawrence in a wagon drawn by oxen in quest of a justice of the peace, there being no one nearer with au- thority to perform the ceremony. They then came to Ottawa county and lived in a covered wagon until the cabin was built, and some- times they found their temporary quarters uncomfortably cold. The buffaloes would come up and sniff at their canvas house, seemingly wondering whence these intruders and reminding Mr. Markley that he was no longer "monarch of all he surveyed." However, he helped to drive them from the present site of Minneapolis and reclaim the wild region for purposes of civilization. Mr. Markley came to this valley on account of the water power afforded by the Solomon river, intending to carry on the milling busi- ness. In June, 1865, he began to build a dam. There was no grain raised in the locality at that time, but he had faith in the future of the country and realized that the broad level prairies would some day be transformed into rich grain fields. He put in a pair of burrs. His primitive mill had no roof save a covering of buffalo hides to protect the stones from the weather. He also built a sawmill of primitive construc- tion, and in the other he ground corn and made graham flour of the finest quality. His was the first mill in this part of the country and people came for one hundred and fifty miles or more with their grists. The dam which he built is the oldest on the Kam river, and with the exception of the one at Leavenworth was the oldest in the state. From pioneer days Mr. Markley has carried on the milling business, keeping in touch with the improved methods and with his modern machinery and equipments he now has one of the best mills in the state. Several years ago he was doing some repairing down in the wheelhouse, when a

coupling which they were hoisting slipped off the shaft and falling a distance of twen- ty feet, struck Mr. Markley on the head and sliding on down broke his knee. He recovered, but has never been as well since.

U'nto our subject and his wife have been born seven children, and the family circle yet remains unbroken by the hand of death. Catherine, the eldest, is the widow of Albert G. Smith, a resident of Kansas City, Mis- souri. Benjamin F. operates his father's mills and makes his home in Minneapolis. Elizabeth is the widow of Harry J. Sellers, who was superintendent of the Solomon Branch Railroad in 1884, which was the year of his demise. Mrs. Sellers lives in Minneapolis, but owns one of the best farms in the Saline valley, consisting of six hun- dred acres. She deals extensively in cat- tle and in the fall of 1899 her cattle com- manded the best price of any placed upon the market in this locality. James Y. is a resident farmer of Mount Vernon, Wash- ington. Mary is the wife of Harry McMil- len, who is state senator from this district. John H. is a farmer and stockman living near Bennington, Ottawa county. George W., who completes the family, carries on farming and stock-raising upon his father's farm.

When Mr. and Mrs. Markley came to Kansas the greater part of the state was a barren prairie. Several other families took up their abode in this part of the state the same summer and these brave pioneer people visited back and forth among their neighbors and attended church services which were held in the cabins of the differ- ent settlers, the journeys being made in ox- carts. While they do not care to have again the same experiences, they recall those days with pleasure, for a true spirit of helpfulness pervaded the community and hospitality reigned supreme. Mrs. Markley had in her possession an old paint mill, re- sembling a large coffee mill, which her fa- ther, who was a clockmaker, used in Ger- many for grinding paints used in decorating his clocks. In this mill she ground nearly all the corn and wheat they used for bread for nearly three years and also ground the

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grain for her neighbors. The mill is still in her possession as a relic of pioneer days. Many pleasures came to the pioneers, yet they had to meet many hardships and had some terrible experiences with prairie fires. often barely escaping with their lives and property. During one of these destructive fires a herd of about six hundred buffaloes were driven into Smoky river, and in their efforts to escape the flames were nearly all drowned. The bodies were so piled up that they formed a dam across the stream. It was a time of high water and in their ex- citement they plunged headlong into the river and pulled each other under. For a time a person could have stepped from one animal to another and thus crossed the swollen stream. But the pioneer days have long since passed with their pleasures and hardships. The county, however, owes a debt of gratitude to the early settlers who laid the foundation for the present prosper- ity and progress, and among this number is Mr. Markley. He now owns two hundred acres of valuable land adjoining the cor- poration limits of Minneapolis and has platted and sold portions of this land as town property, gaining a good profit there- from. He also owns his mill and in 1888 he completed a large. handsome brick resi- dence. It is built in modern style, conven- iently arranged, and is surrounded with beautiful and well kept grounds. Here he and his wife are spending the evening of life in a quiet and happy retirement, hon- ored and esteemed by all who know them.

JOHN LEWIS KING.

One of the talented young representa- tives of journalism whose present is pros- perous and whose future undoubtedly holds advancement and success in store for him is John Lewis King, who is now acting as reporter on the the Minneapolis Messenger and resides in Minneapolis, Kansas. He is a native of Iowa. born in Brighton, in 1878. his parents being James Lewis and Emily Ann ( Romans) King. The father was

born in Bartiett. Ohio, in 1844 and was of Quaker parentage. Ile was the first of the family to leave the faith of his fathers and against the known opposition of the sect to active participation in war and much against his father's wishes he entered the volunteer service of his country during the Civil war. serving for three months as a member of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regi- ment of Ohio Volunteers, after which peace was declared. He was educated in Plym- outh Academy and after his return from the war he engaged in teaching school for a time in his native state and in West Vir- ginia. Later he took up the study of law, but when oil was discovered in southern Ohio he turned his attention in that direction. While employed as an engineer in a mine he lost three fingers from his left hand and was thus disabled for further efforts in that di- rection. He then determined to emigrate to the west and making his way to lowa he began preaching as a circuit rider of the Methodist Episcopal church, although only twenty years of age at the time.

At the age of twenty-four Rev. King was married after which he took a course in the Iowa Wesleyan University, at Mount Pleas- ant. his wife supporting his efforts with her needle. In 1888 he was transferred from Sweetland Center. Iowa, to a pastorate in Beloit, Kansas, where he remained for three years, when he entered the pulpit of the church in Norton. Kansas, where he lived for five years. He afterward spent one year at Smith Center, this state. and then became pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church in Minneapolis, where he completed his fourth year in March. 1901. He has devoted his entire life to the work of the Christian min- istry and his influence has been of no restrict- ed order for his labor has been crowned with a rich harvests of souls.

Rev. King was united in marriage to Emily Ann Romans who was born in Iowa in 1850. of Kentucky parentage. Her an- cestors went to Kentucky in the days of Daniel Boone, who was a cousin of her ma- ternal grandfather. Nathaniel Green. of colonial fame, was her maternal-greatuncle. The grandmother of Rev. King is still living

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on the old Ohio homestead at the extreme age of one hundred and four years. She was born in 1796, at which time George Washington was serving his second term as president of the United States, and she has therefore lived under the administrations of all the chief executives of the nation down to and including that of President Mckinley, of her own state. She was thirteen years of age when Lincoln was born; eighteen when the battle of New Orleans was fought ; nine- teen when Napolean met his defeat at Water- loo and twenty-five years of age when he died in 1821, and was sixty-nine years of age when the war between the north and the south was fought. When she was a small girl English grammar formed a part of the course of study in Harvard College instead of one of the branches taught in the common schools. She was a young lady when the first steam- boat ascended the Hudson river, an old lady when telegraphy was invented. It cost thirty cents to send a letter announcing to friends in New York her birth in Baltimore. The United States then embraced but little more than the original thirteen colonies; Florida and Louisiana belonged to a foreign power : Illinois was the home of savages and the great west but a myth. In the whole world there was not a daily paper and very few weekly papers. She would have been incredu- lous had any one prophesied to her the tele- phone, telegraph and X-ray machine or that a horseless carriage would spin through the streets of her native town ; that men and wo- men would be allowed to attend the same col- leges or that woman would have any voice in the management of state affairs, but all this and much more that is wonderful has been accomplished during her life time, working a revolution in affairs and in history.

To Rev. and Mrs. King have been born seven children, six of whom are living. James William, the eldest, born in 1871, in Marion county, Iowa, had entered upon prep- aration for the ministry at Wesleyan Col- lege when the war with Spain was inaugu- rated. He volunteered. becoming a member of the Twenty-eighth Kansas Regiment, and went to the Philippines in 1899. With his command he afterward returned and in 1900

was elected clerk of the courts for Ottawa county, in which position he is now serving. Florence Almeda, born in 1877, is now pur- suing her last year's study in the normal course of the Kansas Wesleyan University. She has already taught several terms in Ot- tawa and Norton counties and is now further preparing herself for the work of an edu- cator. John Lewis is the next of the family. Edith Emma, born in 1881, was married in 1900 to Charles D. Rees, a farmer residing near Delphos, Kansas, and they have one child, Decatur King, born October 30, 1900. Ernest Stafford died in infancy. Chase Harlan was born in Beloit, Kansas, in 1891, and Mary Deborah in 1895.

John Lewis King, like his brother, was pursuing a course of study in the Salina Wesleyan College, thus fitting himself for the law when he enlisted for service in the Philippines with the Twentieth Regiment of Kansas Volunteers. He had spent two years in college and one year previously in the State University at Lawrence. He en- listed in Company M, Twentieth Kansas Infantry, May 10, 1898 and served until the regiment was discharged November 3. 1899. He joined the army as a private and with his command was sent to Topeka and there mus- tered into the United States service, where he was made a sergeant. Three weeks later he was sent to San Francisco, where the com- mand remained for five months. He was detached from his company and regiment and assigned to duty as clerk to the quarter- master general on the staff of General Charles King, the famous soldier and novel- ist, and on the 12th of November. 1898. he was transferred as clerk to the office of the quartermaster general of the division, and on the same day sailed for Manila on board the Newport. They reached Honolulu after eight days, remained there four days, and on the expiration of twenty-four days landed at Manila, where he was returned to his com- pany and regiment for duty. He was then with his command in every engagement, among them the battles of Caloocan. Mari- lao river, Babbag, the crossing of the Rio Grande, the storming of San Fernando, Quiquinto and other skirmishes. When

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the regiment entered Malabos, he unattend- ed went into the deserted house of Aguinaldo and appropriated a Spanish edition of Scott's Talisman. Mr. King still has this in his possession and values it highly as a souve- nir. One of the leaves was turned down, marking the place where the warrior had ended his reading. He also confiscated two empty whisky flasks, the labels indicating the good quality of which the rebel leader drank. The house was luxuriously and magnificently furnished.

When mustered out of the United States service after the return of his regiment to the Unied States, Mr. King again came to Min- neapolis and accepted a position as reporter on the Minneapolis Messenger.

HENRY CLAY MASON.

It was a spirit of adventure that led Mr. Mason to Kansas, but for thirty-five years he has made his home in this state, and throughout the decades he has borne an im- portant part in the work of improvement, development and progress. He feels just pride in the accomplishments of the com- monwealth and certainly deserves credit for what he has done in behalf of the state. When he located in Ottawa county it was upon the very border of western civilization. but with strong hearts and true the worthy pioneers began the work of cultivating the wild land and establishing the business en- terprise which lead to commercial prosper- ity ; the church and schools which lead to moral and intellectual development, and in all these Ottawa now takes rank with the best counties of the Sunflower state.

Mr. Mason was born on the island of Cuba. in 1844, and is a son of William and Lydia (Hurd ) Mason, the former a native of Thomaston, Maine. the latter of Massa- chusetts, born near Boston. About the year 1840 William Mason and his wife left their home in Dedham, Massachusetts, and went to the island of Cuba. he being sent there by a corporation formed in the interests of sugar manufacturing. He was made mana- ger of an extensive sugar plantation, and

remained on the island until the insurrection of the natives of Cuba in 1848, when he returned with his family to Massachusetts. However, he retained his interests on the island and spent each winter there until his (leath, which occurred in 1868. He became connected with a mercantile and commission business and carried on important commer- cial transactions.

Henry Clay Mason was educated in the graded schools of Newport and later en- gaged in clerking in his father's store. In the spring of 1865. however, he left New- port in company with another young man. both being about twenty years of age. It was more in a spirit of adventure than anything else that led them to visit the far famed west. of which they had heard so much. They had not intended to locate in Kansas, in fact had no settled plans as to the future. Each had about three hundred dollars in cash and little realized the value of money. After about a month's travel, in which they visited several of the large cities en route, they found themselves one bright May morning in the then frontier city of Leavenworth, Kansas, without money and without friends in this immediate vi- cinity. They had started out on a pleasure trip. not realizing that there was a limit to their finances. At Leavenworth, however, they realized that their romance was over and they undertook the task of securing em- ployment that would yield them a living. There were no vacancies which they could fill in any of the commercial pursuits and they finally found employment with a sur- veying company under government control. bound for northwestern Kansas. The party consisted of thirty men in the survey serv- ice and and an escort of three hundred United States cavalrymen, as they were destined for the region inhabited by hostile Indians. The work was mondtabus for young men from the city, yet it was not un- pleasant. and as they were two hundred miles from civilization, they wisely coll- cluded that they had better continue on until the work was completed. In November they returned to Leavenworth, where they were paid for their services.

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While on the survey they had formed the acquaintance of F. C. Rees, who was a mem- ber of the corps and had also been engaged in hunting and trapping for two years pre- viously in connection with his brother, D. S. Rees. These gentlemen had become greatly attached to Kansas and induced Mr. Mason and his friend to return with them to Ottawa county and locate land. The county at that time was on the extreme western edge of settlement and was a wild. unclaimed region. All of the gentlemen en- tered land and through the succeeding five years Mr. Mason engaged in farming. He also fought Indians occasionally, hunted buffaloes and went through the usual ex- periences of establishing a home on the fron- tier, where the usual comforts of the older east were lacking. In 1872 he sold his land, which gave him capital to invest in cattle, for cattle raising had come to be a leading industry, and from that time until the pres- ent he has made cattle raising a business and has found it a very profitable source of in- come, meeting with desirable and creditable success in the cattle business. In 1880 he sold out his ranch interests in the western part of the county and located in Minneap- olis, from which place he has controlled his business transactions, which have been ex- tensive and important. His energy and close application have resulted in bringing to him a handsome competence and his work has gained for him that sure reward of honest, indefatigable labor, when guided by sound judgment. All of his energies have been concentrated here, where he has made a beautiful home, his residence being one of the finest and most handsome in Minne- apolis.

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 56

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