A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 83

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

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tional. In connection with the raising of cereals best adapted to this sail and cli- mate he has also followed the live-stock business to some extent.

On the 21st of October, 1887, was cele- brated the marriage of Mr. Walker and Miss Anna M. Shaw, a daughter of Eph- raim and Olive M. (Austin) Shaw, the latter of whom died in May, 1897, and the former in July, 1901. Mrs. Walker was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, and in 1881 came with her parents to Kansas, locating first in Rice county and three years later they came to Kingman county, where the father pre-empted the farm on which our subject now resides. He was a Prohi- bitionist in his political views, and at one time he served as trustee of Rural town- ship. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Shaw were born three children,-Ella, Clarence and Anna M. Six children have blessed the union of our subject and wife, namely: Ralph B., Alta B., Dean O., Hazel Fay and Homer Ray (twins) and Boyd N.

Mr. Walker gave his political support to the Republican party in former years. but is now identified with the People's party, and he has ever taken an active and commendable interest in the public affairs of his locality. For five years he served as the efficient justice of the peace and for six years he was a member of the school board. He is broad in his views and lib- eral in his judgment, strong in his convic- tions and earnest in his opinions. He is of a social disposition, courteous and go. nial in manner, and throughout the cus in which he has so long made his h nie he has a host of warm friends.

P. B. COLE.

In a history of the på meer dere content of Barber county P. B. Com. mention, for he has resided within: ::. hr- ders for twenty three years and has den- fore, witnessed the greater part ii : growth and development, taking his att i reclaiming its wild lands

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civilization and promoting progress along many lines that have led to substantial im- provement and desired advancement. With brave heart and resolute spirit he faced the dangers and trials incident to frontier life, and in his business career, by steady perse- verance and enterprise, he has gradually advanced until he is now one of the most successful and extensive stock-raisers in this part of the state. His land lies both in Barber and Comanche counties. When he first settled in this locality few homes had been established in this section of the state and there was only one house between Sha- ron and Harper, but great changes have since taken place and the plains are now thickly dotted with the pleasant homes of a contented and prosperous people.

Mr. Cole is a native of Cooper county, Missouri, his birth occurring at Palestine, twelve miles south of Booneville, on the 2Ist of May, 1839. His paternal grand- father. William Temple Cole, came from Kentucky to Missouri with Daniel Boone. in 1801. He was a noted Indian hunter, fighter and scout, and was a very prominent pioneer, whose labors were of the greatest benefit and value in the early development of the state. His was the first home in that part of Missouri in which he took up his abode and there his family went through all the experiences of frontier life in a region where the comforts of civilization were unobtaina- ble and where the Indians were still seen. The grandfather was killed by the In- dians .- a sacrifice which seems to have been required in the settlement of the "far west." and for which the present generation should he deeply grateful.

Samuel Cole, the father of our subject, was born in Kentucky, in 1798, but was reared in what was then Cole, but now Cooper. county, Missouri, amid the wild scenes of the frontier. the red men being almost his only neighbors. He became a famous hunter and was an expert shot. Throughout his entire life he indulged in the hunt. first because of the pioneer con- ditions, and later because of his love of the sport. He married Sallie Briscoe, a lady noted as a beauty and pioneer belle and a

representative of a prominent family. She was a daughter of Colonel Andrew Briscoe, who was an officer in the state militia, and was a leading and influential citizen of Cooper county. He owned a large planta- tion which he operated with the aid of slaves. Samuel and Sallie Cole became the parents of seventeen children, nine sons and eight daughters. All of the sons grew to mature years, and four daughters attained woman- hood, but four also died in childhood. Two brothers passed away after reaching adult age and one sister died in womanhood. Our subject, who was the fifth son. is the only one living in this part of Kansas. The mother, who was a lady of intelligence and culture. and also possessed good business ability, as well as many excellent traits of heart and mind. died at the age of fifty years. The father afterward married again and had two daughters by the second marriage.f He reached the ripe old age of ninety-one years, passing away in 1891. Throughout the greater part of his life he had followed farming and stock-raising, and in ante-bel- huum days owned some slaves. Fond of hunting, in his later life, he always took a hunting trip each fall and laid in a stock of venison for the winter supply. For years he had the government contract for mak- ing moccasins and shoes for the Indians. and he was a well known and honored pioneer, whose labors contributed in a large measure to the development of his portion of the country.

P. B. Cole was reared on the frontier. His education was acquired in the schals of Bellair. Missouri, and when in his 'teens he assisted in the stock business. aiding in caring for the cattle. He early took charge of the farm, the stock and the slaves. and he still owns a large interest in the old home- stead upon which he was reared. His two older brothers made an overland trip to California in 1849, at the time of the dis- covery of gold on the Pacific slope, and thus much of the work of the home farm devolved upon him. but he was equal to the task, which he performed most capably.

At the age of nineteen Mr. Cole was united in marriage to Miss Fanny Schutler,

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

who has indeed been a true wife and help- mate to him. She was born in Virginia. and is a daughter , i laccby Godfrey and Ma- rt ( Kesburger) Schutter, Bath di when Were natives of Virginia, while the former was of German lineage. They became early settlers of Cooper county, Missouri, and the inher it wod the tailor's trade, which he had learned in early life. They held mem- bership in the Methodist church, and the father died in that faith at the age of eighty- one years, while his wife passed away in middle life. Mrs. Cole being at that time six- teen years of age. The home of our sub- ject and his wife has been blessed with five sons and three daughters, namely : Charles, who is an expert shot and hunter and a well-to-do cattle man of Comanche county. Kansas: Samuel, a stockman of Barber county, Kansas; Holbert, who resides in Cheyenne. Arapahoe county, Oklahoma : Mrs. Fanny Gough, of Deerhead. Barber county: P. B., who is living near Sharm : Monroe, a stockman of Comanche county ; Mrs. Sally Fuller, of Medicine Lodge town- ship: and Mamie, who is one of the success- fal teachers of Barber county. She is also an experienced horsewoman, and her skill with the rifle rivals her brother's power in that direction.

Fren his bochond days Mr. Cole. . F this review, has always kept a pack of hounds and greatly enjoys the chase, hunt- ing wolves, covotes and rabbits. He came to Barber county in 1879 and has since been numbered among its progressive and enter- prising agriculturists, always living in the neighborhood of Medicine Lodge. He has prospered and is to-day the owner of five hundred and sixty acres of well improved In addition to his comfortable resi- dence there is a large barn, sheds. feed lots and other equipments for the care of grain and stock. His landed possessions aggre- gate altogether forty-five hundred acres in Comanche county, in addition to the home farm, and he keeps from five hundred to fifteen hundred head of cattle in the two counties, and two hundred head of horses and mules. He has applied himself check to his business interests and his persistent

purpose and enterprise have formal the foundation of his splendid success. In his political views he is a stalwart Demarat. unswerving in his advocacy of the principles of the party. He has served as themain trustee, although his township is a Repub- lican stronghold,-and this fact indicates his personal popularity and the confidence re- In sed in him by his fellow townsmen. In religious belief he is a Baptist. He has the southern characteristics of hospitality and a genial manner. He loves a good story and can tell one, and throughout the county in which he has long made his home he is pop- ular and well liked.

TAYLOR C. NICIIOLS.

Tavler C. Nichols, an extensive stock- man of Lake City township, Barber o anty. residing on section 31, was born in Harri- som county, Kentucky, January 7. 184. His father, Dennis Nichols, was born either in Kentucky or Maryland, and in his youth resided in Harrison county, where he was married on Christmas morning of 1844, to Evalyn Berry, a native of that county, and a daughter of John Berry, a farmer there. Dennis Nichols was a stock trailer. drover and farmer, and resided in Harrison county, Kentucky, until 1859, when he emi- grated to Missouri, where his death recurre i on the 15th of September. of the same year, when he was in his fifty-ninth year. In pol- itics he was a Whig, and in religions With was connected with the Christian church. He was twice married and by the first union had three children : James, John and Eliza- beth. all of whom are marriedl and reside in Kentucky. the two sons being residents of Lexington, James being a prominent horse- man. By the second marriage there were three children: William K., a prominent stockman of Lake City, Kansas: TaylorC .: and Berry D., who was prospecting in Ari- zona when last heard from three years ago.

Taylor Nichols was only ten years of age when his father died. He made his home with his mother until her death, in

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1869, and after that he operated the old homestead there until 1875, when he came to Barber county, Kansas, pre-empting one hundred and sixty acres of Osage Indian land. Upon this farm he still resides, being numbered among the pioneer agriculturists of the community. He began stock dealing on a small scale, but gradually increased his herd until now he is one of the extensive representatives of that line of business. When he first came here there were thous- ands of turkeys along the timber bottoms of the Medicine river, and they were as tame as barnyard fowls. Mr. Nichols would come out in the night and shoot them as they roosted on the trees, getting in a few minutes all he could carry home. Antelopes, too, were numerous, and buffalo were also some- times found. His brother, William, how-, ever, was the greater hunter of the two, and while they frequently hunted and killed deer and antelope together; it was usually Will- iam who carried the gun and did the firing. In 1876 three stray buffaloes passed this way and he and his brother pursued and killed two of them. During his long resi- dence here Mr. Nichols has experienced many hardships and difficulties, such as fall to the lot of the early pioneers, but prosper- ity has at length rewarded his long years of earnest effort, and from time to time he has added to his original homestead until his ranch now covers seven hundred and twenty broad acres. It is well watered by a creek, and in addition to this place he has leased three hundred and twenty acres for grazing purposes. He has a herd of two hundred fine domestic cattle of the Short- horn and Hereford breeds. His - pioneer home has long been replaced by a fine mod- ern residence which was built in 1900 and stands in the midst of pleasant surround- ings. He has a fine apple orchard, has pro- vidled good shelter and corrals for the stock, and has all modern equipments upon his place.

Mr. Nichols was married March 15, 1882, in Kansas City, to Evelyn Barkley, who was born in Saline county, Missouri. December 22, 1859, a daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Miller) Barkley. Her father was

born in Jessamine county, Kentucky, and her mother in Augusta county, Virginia, January 2, 1834. They were married in Sa- line county, Missouri, where they resided for several years, Mr. Barkley owning a farm, although he was a machinist by trade and possessed an inventive train of mind. Among his inventions was a hemp brake of great value. He enlisted in Price's army during the Civil war, saw much service, par- ticipated in many hard battles and became captain of a company. While ill in Au- gust, 1862, he was killed by Union scouts. His widow is still living and resides in St. Joseph, Missouri, with her son, John O. Barkley. Mrs. Nichols comes of Scotch- Irish ancestry on both sides, and on the paternal side is a direct descendant of Lord Berkley. Her maternal grandfather was a first cousin of General Custer's father. Mrs. . Nichols is one of a family of four children : Mattie, the wife of William K. Nichols, a stockman of Lake City; Mamie, the wife of O. W. Watkins, a leading lawyer of Eure- ka Springs, Arkansas; Mrs. Nichols; and John, commission merchant and local freight agent for the Missouri Pacific Railroad at St. Joseph, Missouri. Unto our subject and his wife has been born but one child, Clar- ence G., a sturdy, manly lad who is of much assistance to his father.

In his political views Mr. Nichols has always been a Democrat, takes an active in- terest in the party, has served as a mem- ber of the central committee of Lake City township, and has been a delegate to the con- ventions of the party. He served by ap- pointment as county commissioner in 1884 and in all life's relations he has been an up- right, honorable man. He owes his suc- cess to his capital management and lauda- ble ambition and is to-day regarded as one of the leading farmers and stock-raisers of the community.

SAMUEL E. SHAFER.

The prominent farmer of Macon town- ship. Harvey county, Kansas, whose name is above has his homestead on section 28, of

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the township mentioned and his post-office connections at Newton. He was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, January 7, 1835, a son of Joseph Shafer, who was born in eastern Pennsylvania, January 22, 1802, and died at Warren, Warren county, same state. June 3, 1870. Joseph Shafer's father. who was an able farmer, was born and lived and died in eastern Pennsylvania. Sarah Oberlin, who married Joseph Shafer and be- came the mother of Samuel E. Shafer, of Macon township, was born in eastern Penn- sylvania. November 19, 1804.

Joseph and Sarah (Oberlin) Shafer were married about 1825. They sold their small farm in eastern Pennsylvania and re- moved to Venango county, Pennsylvania, where they became the owners of about seven hundred acres of land and reared to mature years nine of their ten children, five of whom are still living. Their daughter Elizabeth is the widow of Andrew Fisher and one of her children is living. Henry Shafer, of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, has two children. Joseph Shafer lives in western Pennsylvania and has three chil- dren. Samuel E. is the immediate subject of this sketch. Simon Shafer lives in Kent county, Ohio. The parents of these children were Evangelists, devoted to all the inter- ests of their church. Mr. Shafer was killed while walking on the railroad track, June 3. 1870. and Mrs. Shafer died May 8, 1884, and they are buried at Warren, Pennsyl- vania.

Samuel E. Shafer obtained a meagre schooling at such schools as were main- tained near his boyhood home and was reared to the practical work of the farm. He remained under the parental roof during his earlier years and after his marriage lived for two years on his father's farm of seven. hundred acres, much of which was timber land. He then went to Mercer county. Pennsylvania, where he made a cash pur- chase of a three hundred acre farm for eight thousand dollars. He began making money at stock breeding. breeding and selling many sheep and cattle, and in two years sold his farm in Mercer county at a profit of two thousand dollars. He bought another farm

in the same county, on which he lived for eleven years. In the fall of 1876 he would that farm, which consisted of one hundred and eighty-five acres, for less than it had cost him. In the spring of 1877 he went to Kansas, arriving at Lydon, Osage county. on the 2d of March. He farmed on rented land for a year and a half in Osage county and then removed to Harvey county, where he has lived since the fall of 1878. For six years he lived on a rented farm a mile south and a mile west of his present homestead. upon which he located in the fall of 1884. He bought his first eighty acres of land there. upon which there were some small im- provements, for twenty-two hundred dol- lars. His second eighty acres was pur- chased in August, 1898. He now owns one hundred and sixty acres. all under good im- provements and provided with a good res :- dence and ample outbuildings. It is a mat- ter of local history that Mr. Shafer's original eighty acres was first taken up by Samuel Sarvey several years before the railway was constructed through Newton and when Newton was a tough frontier town, in which cowboys held a high carnival and "bad men" often shot to kill. Mr. Shafer devotes him- self to mixed husbandry, but has raised many cattle, horses and hogs.

May 24, 1860. Mr. Shafer was married to Maria Ann Phillipps, who was born in Mer- cer county. Pennsylvania, April 12, 1842, a daughter of Samuel and Susan (Wyania) Phillipps. natives of eastern Pennsylvania. who had removed to the western part of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Shafer have had ten children, who will be mentioned in the order of their birth: Elmer E. Ellsworth Shafer is a railroad man living at Newton. Kan- sas, and has two sons. Frank Orlando Shafer is married and lives at Pueblo, Con - rado. Susie Edora Shafer married Charles C. Tozer, of Newton, Kansas, and has five children. Effie Pearl Shafer is the widow of Frank Biddlecome and has two sons, aged respectively eleven and thirteen years, who live with their grandfather. Mrs. Biddle- come is a professional nurse and a bright. active business woman. and as a demonstra- tor she has traveled much in different states.

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Harry Sumners Shafer. M. D., of Denver, Colorado, who was graduated in May, 1901, in the medical university of that city, has a wife and one son. Joseph Milton Shafer was engaged in mining in Colorado for about eight years, but a disease of his eyes Congleton left home and went to Mills county, Iowa, taking up his abode there in 1855. Not long after the inauguration of the Civil war he laid aside all business and personal considerations in order to join Company A of the Fourth Iowa Infantry, of compelled him to abandon that business. which he became a member on the Ist of Samuel Edward Shafer was killed July I. 1896, at the age of twenty-two years, by the

1 caving in of a mine at Wilbur, Colorado. i Sarah Alma Shafer graduated May 1, 1902, in St. Mary's Hospital, at Pueblo, Colorado, as a professional nurse. Floyd Bates Shafer, who is farming for himself in Ma- con township and is speculating in hogs in partnership with his brother, Joseph Milton Shafer, is not married. Edna Maria Shafer, nineteen years of age and the youngest of the family, is a graduate of the Harvey county schools and is the County Sunday- School Association's secretary.

Politically Mr. Shafer was formerly a Republican, but during recent years has been a Populist. Mrs. Shafer is a member of the Evangelical church.

GEORGE W. CONGLETON.

George W. Congleton is the efficient postmaster of Otego and is also a repre- sentative of the mercantile interests of that town. The spirit of western enterprise and progress is manifest in his career and has been a salient feature in bringing to him creditable prosperity. He was born in Alle- gheny, Pennsylvania, February 6, 1839, and is a son of John and Isabella ( Mills) Con- gleton. His father was born in Scotland and when a young man sought a home in the United States, locating in Paterson, New Jersey, where he was married on the 3d of December, 1828, to Isabella Mills. He was a weaver by trade and followed that pursuit for some time. On leaving New Jersey he removed to Allegheny, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1852. His wife, who was also born in the land of hills and heather, died in 1858.

At the age of sixteen years George W.

1 July, 1861, serving under Captain William R. English and Colonel, afterward General, Grenville M. Dodge. With the command he proceeded to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, where he was mustered into the United States service on the 6th of August, and then went to Rollo, Missouri, where he remained until February, 1862.' His regi- ment then joined the Curtis expedition against Springfield and afterward went to Batesville, Clarenden and Helena, Arkansas. The Fourth Iowa was also in the siege of Vicksburg, Mr. Congleton being present un- til the surrender of the city. He was also in the engagements at Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain and the entire Atlanta campaign and went with General Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea, which proved that the strength of the Confederacy was almost broken. The last battle in which he participated was at Bentonville, North Carolina, after which he took part in the grand review in Washington, where "wave after wave of bayonet-crested blue" passed by the stand upon which stood the President watching a victorious host. In Louisville, in August, 1865, Mr. Congleton was mus- tered out. His military service was one which displayed marked valor and loyalty and his army record is one of which he has every reason to be proud. His eldest brother, John A. Congleton, who had gone south when a boy, enlisted in the Confed- erate army in Alabama and served through- out the war in defense of the southern cause.

Returning to Mills county, Iowa, Mr. Congleton, of this review. there remained until 1872, the year of his removal to Jewell county, Kansas, where he secured a home- stead claim in Limestone township. He was actively connected with farming interests until November 1, 1897, when he was ap- pointed postmaster, a position in which he is now creditably serving. His administra-

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tion has been pleasing to the public and again he has demonstrated his fidelity to the best interests i his country.

Mr. Congleton has five children : Will- iam [ ... Negen On. George R., Edwin M. and Nonte. The family enjoy the warm regard of a large circle of friends in the com- munity. Mit. congleton is a member of Jim Lane Post. Grand Army of the Republic, at Mankato, and is also identified with the Ma- s wic fraternity, the beneficent principles of which he exemplifies in his honorable life.

WILLIAM SANDERSON.

Willian Sandersen, who carries on gen- era! farming two miles north of Mankato, was Tern in Morgan county, Illinois, Nether 12 1840. His father, Robert Sanderson. was a native of England and in that country wedded Jane Ward. Soon after their marriage they came to the United States and located in Morgan county, Illin . where the father spent his remain- ing dias, bis death recurring in 1863. His widow afterward removed to Iowa and died in Storey county, that state, in 1sos. Upon the ': the farm in his native state the sub- ject of this review spent his early youth, eur'y los ming familiar with all the labors that fall to the beat the agriculturist. He parsted it's education in the district schools and gainel a fair knowledge of the English i ranches of learning which fit one for life's work. In 1867 he removed to Storey coun- ty. I wa. where he remained until June. IS-0. when he came to Jewell county, Kan- sas. His Brother. Robert Sanderson, has always lived with him and been associated with him in all his farming enterprises as an equal partner. They have been together since their early manbocd and have been as- o diated with the work. expenses and profits . i their business and the relation between them is largely an bleal one and no repre- sentative of the community enjoys to-day a higher degree the confidence and trust of their fall w men then ol the Sanderson Ire thers.

William Sanderson was united in mar- Hage to Delphia Lamb, a native of Henry county, Indiana, and a daughter of Daniel and Miriam (Draper) Lamb, both of wheni are now deceased. Her father removed to boa in the '50s and located in Storey coun- tv. where he remained until November. DS 4. when he joined the Eighth Iowa br- fantry, and for one year served as a soldier in the Union army. He was quite promi- nent in local political affairs and filled the office of township trustee, justice of the peace and a member of the board of super- visors of Storey county. Socially he was identified with the Grand Army of the Re- : peuil:lic and at his death, in July, fgDI, he was deeply mourned by many friends whom he had made in every walk of life. Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson have been blessed with two children : Mrs. Alice Brown and Roy San- dersen. Our subject has a splendid farm. two miles north of Mankato, which is im- praved with a pleasant residence, a good orchard and all modern equipments. He raises a good grade of stock and in the cul- tivatien of the fields be follows the latest improved methods. His business reputation is unassailable and in private life he is a genial, social gentleman who makes friends wherever he goes.

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 83

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