A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 8

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

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ABRAHAM A. MYERS.

Abraham A. Myers, one of Kansas' Civil war veterans, and a much respected citizen of Reno county, is now living re- tired from the active duties of life in Hutch- inson, enjoying the fruits of former toil. He was born in Fountain county, Indiana. on the Ioth of March. 1832, a son of John Myers, who was a native of the Keystone state. his birth having occurred in York county April 20, 1803. He followed the trade of a cabinet-maker in early life, but afterward devoted his attention to the till- ing of the soil. His father. Abraham Moy- ers, as the family name was then spelled. was also a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter's father is supposed to have been born in Germany, as the maternal family is of German descent. When sixteen years of age John Myers, the father of our subject, accompanied his parents on their removal to Preble county. Ohio, where the family re- mained for several years, removing to Fountain county. Indiana. about 1829. where the grandfather purchased a farm and there spent the remaining years of his life. The son learned the cabinet-maker's trade. in Richmond. Indiana, which he there followed for a number of years and then removed to Fountain county, Indiana, about 1836. In that year he purchased eighty acres of land in Newton county, to which. in the course of time he added another eighty acres, and on this valuable tract he placed many improvements, there spending his remaining days. In early life he gave his support to the Democracy, but on the organization of the Republican party he joined its ranks, remaining faithful to its principles until his life's labors were ended in death, and on its ticket he was elected to the position of county commissioner of what was then Jasper county, but that part of territory has since been merged into New- ton county. His religious tendencies con- nected him with the United Brethren church, in which he served as a steward and class leader.

In 1829. in Preble county, Ohio, Mr. Myers was united in marriage with Nancy Snodgrass, who was born in Kentucky, but

MRS. A. A. MYERS.

A. A. MYERS.

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was reared in Ohio, while her parents were natives of Ireland. Her father. Benjamin Snodgrass, was a soldier in the Revolution- ary war. Her mother, who was born in 1808. died in Jasper county, Indiana, in 1848. Unto this worthy couple were born seven children, namely: Benjamin II., who passed away in death in Indiana, in 1865; Abraham A., the subject of this review : Salinda J .. wife of Isaac Marshall, a promi- nent farmer of Newton county, Indiana ; Nancy F., wife of W. F. Corbin, also an agriculturist of Newton county, Indiana ; John F., who still resides on the old home- stead in that county : Sarah Ann, who died in Newton county, Indiana, in 1854; and Bellsorah, who died in that county in 1858.

Abraham A. Myers spent his youth and early manhood on his father's farm, receiv- ing the educational advantages afforded by the subscription schools of that day, the schoolhouse which he attended having been built of logs and furnished with slab seats, while a large fireplace occupied one end of the building. The teachers were also very incompetent. their knowledge not extend- ing far beyond the three R's. Remaining under the parental roof until twenty-one years of age, our subject then began the active battle of life on his own account, working for a time as a farm laborer. In 1854 he purchased a small farm of eighty acres located near his old home, and upon that place he remained for several years. When the tocsin of war sounded over the land and brave and loyal men from all parts of the country answered the call to duty, Mr. Myers valiantly donned the blue, be- coming a member of Company B. Fifty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted for service on the 15th of December, 1861, and was soon afterward sent to the front, going first to Louisville, Kentucky, thence to Bardstown, that state, through Hall's Gap to Nashville, and their first engagement was at Shiloh, where they were under the com- mand of Colonel Straight. From that place they went to Corinth, thence to northern Alabama, back through Tennessee and Ken- tucky, and on the 8th of October, 1862, par- ticipated in the battle of Perryville. Their

next engagement was at Stone River. after which the brigade of which our subject was a member was mounted and sent on a great raid through Alabama and Georgia, under the command of Colonel Straight, but at Rome, Georgia, the entire brigade was sur- rounded and captured. As a prisoner of war Mr. Myers was then taken; to Belle Island and next to City Point, but at the lat- ter place they were exchanged an sent to the Union lines, after which our subject was ordered to Indianapolis and for a time was engaged in guarding prisoners. He next went to Nashville, thence to Chattanooga. and afterward to Knoxville. After taking part in the battle of Dandridge Mr. Myers received a thirty days' furlough and re- turned to his home. but in the spring of 1864 he again joined the Union forces, and at Chattanooga was engaged in guard duty until the fall of Atlanta. He participated in the skirmish at Columbus, Tennessee, also in the battles of Spring Hill. Franklin and Nashville, and in the last named engagement he received a musket ball in the left leg. above the knee, crushing the bone. He was carried from the field to the hospital, where he was obliged to undergo the terrible or- cleal of having the member amputated and he was afterward confined in the Cumber- land hospital. In March, 1865. he was sent to the Crittenden hospital at Louisville. Kentucky, afterward to the Jeffersonville hospital, at Jeffersonville, Indiana. and from there to Camp Douglas, at Chicago. Illinois, where he was discharged in August. 1865.

After his return from the war Mr. My- ers entered college at Westfield, Clark coun- ty. Illinois. the school being under the man- agement of the United Brethren church. Af- ter leaving that institution in 1868, he was elected county treasurer of Newton county. Indiana. serving in that position for two terms. of two years each. In. the fall of 1873 he came to the Sunflower state. pur- chasing one hundred and sixty acres of land in Haven township on the southwest quarter of section 19, township 24, range 4. after which he returned for his family, and on. their removal here his two stepsens drove

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through with teams, while the remainder of the family came by rail. He erected a story and a half residence on his land, which at that time was considered the best house in the locality, and at once began the arduous task of developing new land. He soon had fifty acres under cultivation, ten acres of which he planted with wheat and the re- mainder with corn, but that year, 1874, grasshoppers destroyed all of his corn. In company with others he returned to Indiana in the fall of 1874 and secured by donation a carload of corn, which they brought to this state and distributed among the poor and needy settlers. In those early days the buf- faloes still roamed over the country in large herds, and his two stepsons killed those ani- mals. As the years passed by he placed his farm under a fine state of cultivation, mak- ing it one of the valuable homesteads of the county, but in 1881 he put aside the ac- tive duties of farm labor and removed to Hutchinson, where he now resides in his beautiful residence at No. 208 Fourth ave- nue, there enjoying the rest which he has so truly earned and richly deserves.

On the 8th of August, 1871, in Kent- land, Newton county, Indiana, Mr. Myers was united in marriage to Eliza MI. Sheg- ly, who was born in that state in 1838. Her parents also claimed Indiana as the state of their nativity, and her father, George Shegly, was of German descent. Mrs. My- ers has been twice married, and by her first union had four children: George, who died in Hutchinson in 1899; Alice, the widow of John Haynes; John F., a successful farmer in Kingfisher township, Oklahoma; and Augustus, who follows agricultural pur- suits in Haven township, Reno county, Kan- sas. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Myers were born three children: William O., who died in Newton county, Indiana, in 1872; Grace, who received an excellent musical educa- tion in Hutchinson and Chicago, and is now engaged in teaching piano music in this city; and Rheta, at home. In this city, in 1887, Mrs. Myers was called to the home beyond, and her death was mourned not only by her immediate family but by a large cir- cle of friends, for she endeared herself to

many by her many noble characteristics. Mr. Myers affiliates with the Republican party, and is a prominent and worthy member of the Methodist church, uniting with that de- nomination in 1875. He maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades who wore the blue by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Joe Hooker Post, No. 17. He was a gal- lant and loyal defender of the stars and stripes, and in compensation for the efficient service which he rendered to his loved coun- try in her time of trouble and for the terri- ble loss which he sustained in battle he now draws a pension of forty-five dollars a month. He has a large circle of friends and acquaintances in the locality in which he makes his home, who esteem him highly for his many excellenices of character.

PHILLIP A. SMITII. 1

In every community the pioneer is justly marked for special honer. Those who share in the benefits of civilization give due credit to those who made possible the blessings which they enjoy. Among the pio- neers of Rice county. Kansas, who have been witnesses of its development and are still left to plan for its future, none were more highly respected than Phillip A. Smith, of Little River.

Phillip A. Smith was born in Knox county, Illinois, December 5, 1843, and was reared on his father's farm and educated in the common school. His parents, John and Mary (Gingrich) Smith, were both born in Pennsylvania, where they married. John Smith was a son of Conrad Smith, a farmer who also was a native of Pennsylvania, but was descended from German stock. Con- rad Smith was a soldier in the war of 1812, and did creditable service as a member of a Pennsylvania organization. He combined distilling with farming and in other ways was a man of decided enterprise. He re- moved from Pennsylvania to Illinois in 1836, and was a pioneer in Knox county, where he settled on land three years before

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it came into market. Then, in order prop- erly to enter the land and make his propri- etorship of it secure, he made the journey to Quincy and return on foot. He improved a good farm and extended his landed posses- sions until he owned three hundred and fifty acres. He began his life in Illinois in a log house, but later built a large frame house and ample barns and provided his farm with every essential to thorough and effective farming. He died at his homestead in 1864. at the ripe age of eighty-eight years. His children were named John ( father of the subject of this sketch ), Betsy. Jacob, George, Peter. Charles, Michael, Conrad, Rebecca, Catherine, Mary A., Barbara and Henry. The honored pioneer who was the father of these children was a lifelong member of the Lutheran church.

John Smith, father of Phillip A. Smith. was born, reared and married in Pennsylva- nia. He remained at home until he was twenty-five years old, doing farm work and assisting his father about the distillery. He then married and began farming on his own account and in 1835 removed to Illinois and entered land in Knox county, where he im- proved a farm and became a citizen of prom- inence and influence. When he settled there the country was new and sparsely settled and there were few neighbors within many miles. His financial ability was small at the beginning, but he was a hard worker and he was determined to succeed. He paid for and improved his original farm and as opportunity offered bought other land ad- joining it until he owned three hundred and fifty-four acres, all under profitable cultiva- tien. On his land were a commodious resi- dence. large barns and many outhouses be- sides three tenant houses. This fine prop- erty he acquired by hard work and good management, dealing fairly and honestly with all with whom he had business rela- tions. He was born December 9. 1804, and died in October, 1886. His wife was born in December. 1811. and died in March, 1892. They were Lutherans throughout life. They had nine children, who were born in the or- der in which they are here named: Susan married a Mr. Hendrickson. Leah died

young. John and Mary J. were twins, and Mary J. married A. Johnson, Margaret mar- ried J. Hefferman. Phillip A. is the innedi- ate subject of this sketch. Sarah A. married H. T. Sloan. Alexander is a prominent farmer of Little River township, Rice coun- ty, Kansas. Amanda married F. Hurlocker.

Phillip A. Smith was born, reared and educated in Illinois and remained under the parental roof until 1862, when he enlisted in Company K, Eighty-third Regiment, Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, which was included in the Army of the Cumberland. He served continuously until after the close of the war and did much hard and dangerous duty, par- ticipating in long forced marches, in numer- cus skirmishes and in some of the most des- perate battles of the war. During all that time he never shrank from duty and was never absent on furlough, and was never wounded or made prisoner. One can scarce- lv conceive of a more faithful soldier. When the war closed he was at Clarksville, Tennessee. He was mustered out of the service at Nashville, Tennessee, and sent to Chicago, Illinois, where he was paid off and honorably discharged. Then, after three years of unbroken absence from home. he returned and resumed farming with his father.

In 1866 Mr. Smith married and settled on a rented farm. He remained in Illinois until 1878, when he went to Kansas and bought land there. In 1879 he brought his family to the state by the ordinary modes of travel and settled where he now lives. He had made a good selection of land in the sec- ond bottom of Little River valley, where he had bought from a railroad company one hundred and sixty acres of smooth prairie. on which grew neither a tree nor a shrub. He built a small box house and got his fam- ily under its roof and then began breaking land. He carried the work of improvement and cultivation forward year after year. and achieved a satisfactory success. When he located in. Rice county the country was new and its people were poor, and in many minds there was doubt that the country would ever "amount to much :" but the peo- ple were persevering and resourceful and

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studied the land and found out how to work it to good advantage and eventually pros- pered, and Mr. Smith prospered with his neighbors. By hard work and good man- agement, he made his farm one of the best in the vicinity. It is fenced off into fields. pastures, orchards, and is dotted here and there with fine groves which he regards with much pride, for he sent back to Illinois and procured the maple seed and saw the trees grow where nothing had grown before. His house on this farm is two and a half miles south of the town of Little River, and it is surrounded by ample barns and other out- buildings. While giving his attention prin- cipally to farming, he raised some stock. A quiet man with no aspiration for political position, he has during all his mature life been a careful student of economic condi- tions. While he was firm in his convictions concerning questions of public policy, he was always open to new impressions and. consequently, in 1900, those who knew that he had been reared a Democrat were not greatly surprised when he announced him- self a Republican.

Mr. Smith married Miss Melissa Ebright, a woman of many good qualities of mind and heart, who was born in Ohio, February 5. 1844. a daughter of E. G. and Ruth ( Pyle) Ebright, who were natives re- spectively of Ohio and Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Ebright'removed to Indiana and later to Illinois and in 1857 they settled in Knox county in the state last mentioned. on a rented farm. Later they bought a farm where they lived many years and where Mrs. Ebright died. In 1880 Mr. Ebright went to Kansas, where he again married and settled in Rice county. on a farm on which he remained until his death. which occurred November 6, 1891. His first wife was a worthy and consistent mem- her of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he was a devoted Christian and an active church worker and was a class-leader for more than forty years. A man of the broad- est sympathy, he was always actuated by a feeling of charity toward all mankind. Mr. and Mrs. Ebright had only one child. Me- lissa, who married Phillip A. Smith. Mr.

and Mrs. Smith had children named as fol- lows: Ada A., who died in 1889, aged twenty years; Emory E., a farmer in Little River township; Delta O. and Ira F .. farm- ers in Rice county : Lettie M .. Sidney E. and Arthur J., members of the parental house- hold. Mrs. Smith is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, of the various inter- ests of which Mr. Smith is a liberal sup- porter. Mr. Smith was identified with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Grand Army of the Republic. He passed away October 4. I90I.

GEORGE M. HOFFMAN.

The career of the subject of this sketch is a somewhat remarkable one, illustrating as it does the possibilities for advancement which lie before men of enterprise and per- severance who will attempt earnestly to win success by honorable means.

George M. Hoffman, of Little River. Rice county, Kansas, came into the territory known as central Kansas when his compan- ions were Indians and buffaloes, and, living within the borders of Rice county before the county was organized, has seen the country advance from a primitive condition to one of industry and prosperity. Beginning his career in Kansas as an "ox-whacker." in the old-fashioned freighting business, he has be- come a banker and capitalist and a man of wide and forceful influence.

George MI. Hoffman was born in Frank- lin county, Indiana, February 7. 1843. a son of Henry and Anna M. ( Hornberger) Hoffman, who were born and married in Germany, where their first two children were born. Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman emigrated to America in 1840 and located in Franklin county, Indiana, where Mr. Hoffman cleared a tract of heavily timbered land. improved a farm and died in 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman were both descended from old and hoy rable German families and Mr. Hoff- man's father fought under Bonaparte at Moserw. Henry and Anna Hoffman, who were devout members of the Methodist

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Episcopal church, had three children,-Bar- bara, Anna and George M. Anna married E. Pape, a farmer who lived near Topeka, Kansas; and Barbara, who has never mar- ried. is still a member of her household.

George MI. Hoffman began the battle of life as a farm hand at the age of ten years and by the time he was sixteen had saved money enough to take him to Kansas, where he worked as a farm hand until 1863. Having passed the apprentice period of his life he cided to give up farming and in that year be- came an "ox-whacker" in connection with frieghting enterprises, in which capacity he made trips across the plains to Salt Lake and other points, all government and private supplies being transported overland at that time with ox teams. Mr. Hoffman did not find his occupation pleasant or without dan- ger, but it was profitable and he continued in it. taking his chances of losing his scalp in some Indian attack, and at length was able to put together a good freighting out- fit of his own. When he could secure con- tracts he transported supplies for the United States government, and when he could not he bought goods, took them west and sold them to as good advantage as possible. Once, while filling a government contract to deliver supplies at a certain fort in the In- clian territory near the Texas border. his cattle died of Texas fever and his business enterprise came to an untimely end.

With a view to making money with which to buy another team he became a cow- boy, and about 1870 began to handle cattle on his own account. He herded cattle with- in the present limits of Rice. Barton and Ellsworth counties before those political di- visions were organized or settled. Some- times he was annoyed. but was never seri- ously molested by Indians. Once when he was herding cattle at Great Bend on the Arkansas river, in Barton county, in the dead of winter, a severe storm drove his cattle and a herd of buffaloes to a common shelter, and in attempting to separate them he killed more than one hundred buffaloes and gave an Indian one-half of the hides for skinning them. The hides yielded him some profit which enabled him to give his enter-

prise a new impetus and from that day to this he has in a general way been successful. After the country became settled and range land was not available otherwise, he began to buy land for grazing purposes and spent much money in that way. After operating a long time in Ellsworth county, he bought land in Rice county in 1881 and built a large residence at Little River, where he has since lived, making the town his headquarters for the shipment of stock and grain. He never profited by the homestead law, as a quarter section of land was too small for his use, but has bought land by the section and has sold it whenever it became unnecessary to his business. At this time he is the owner of more than seven hundred acres. He has seen every farm improved and every village grow up for miles roundabout, and no man in central Kansas is richer in reminiscences of the pioneer days. In early times he be- came well acquainted with almost all of the noted mountain men, such as Bob and Kit Carson, James Bridger, etc., being the oldest white trapper in this part of the west.

In 1885 Mr. Hoffman organized a bank, which in 1898 was reorganized as the Citi- zens' National State Bank. of Little River. with a paid up capital of ten thousand dol- lars, in which he is the controlling stock- holder. The officers of this bank are George M. Hoffman, president; Lester Weight. cashier: D. G. Green. assistant cashier. It carries a large amount of deposits and does an extensive business in discounts. It is quartered in a substantial cut-stone build- ing arranged especially for its accommoda- tion, and in business circles is regarded as one of the strong financial institutions of central Kansas.

In politics Mr. Hoffman is independent. though he was originally a Democrat, and in 1900 voted for McKinley. He was mar- ried, in Ellsworth county, Kansas, to Miss Anna Martin, who was born in Illinois. June 6, 1856. Mrs. Hoffman is a daughter of George Martin, a native of England, who settled early in Illinois, and in 1862 was : pioneer in the Platte valley in Nebraska. where he farmed and herded cattle and had many exciting experiences with Indians.

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He remained there, however, master of the situation and lived out his days on his homestead. He had children as follows : Hepsibah Nathan, who lives in Nebraska ; Robert, who is dead: Hannah, who is Mrs. Hoffman: and William, who lives in' Ne- braska. By a previous marriage to a Mr. Weaver the mother of these children had a son named George Weaver, who became an elder in the Baptist ministry and was sent as a missionary to South Africa. where he was a witness of many interesting events in connection with the war between the Eng- lish and the Boers and who since his return to America has lived in Iowa. He is now making arrangements to return the third time, "taking his life in his hands" for their good. He owns eight hundred acres of fine land in Platte Valley, Nebraska. which he rents, showing that he does this work not for money but because he thinks it is his duty.

CHARLES E. WARD, M. D.

Charles E. Ward, a prominent and suc- cessful physician and surgeon of Little River, Kansas, was born in Meigs county, Ohio, June 2, 1865, a son of Mitchell and Catherine ( Piper) Ward, natives also of the Buckeye state, where they were married. The paternal grandfather of our subject. Joshua Ward, was a native of Ohio, was of English descent and was a blacksmith by trade. His death occurred in the state of his nativity. He was the father of eight children, namely: William, Levi, Michael. Lycurgus, Martin, Mitchell, Rebecca, who became Mrs. Vanschoyck, and Jane. Mitch- ell Ward, the father of our subject, was reared in Columbiana county, Ohio, where he learned the blacksmith's trade. When a young man he removed to Meigs county. that state, and there followed his trade until the outbreak of the Civil war. His loyalty then asserted itself and he became a member of Company B, Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. He saw much hard

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 8

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