USA > Kansas > Barton County > Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas > Part 39
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George L. Seeley, the manager and a ma- jority stock holder of this company, was born in Scranton, Pa., in 1874. He was married in Topeka, Kansas, in 1902, to Miss Susan A. Deyo and they are the parents of three chil- dren: George Lee, Fay Guernsey and Helen Elizabeth, all of whom are living at home. Under Mr. Seeley's management the business of this company has been extended until its products are now shipped to all points within a radius of 100 miles of Great Bend, besides having a large patronage at home. This is due to the fact that this company's out put is com- posed of the very best of material, mixed and made ready for use by the latest improved methods.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
MARION F. SOWARDS
M ARION F. SOWARDS of "Santa Fe Trail Farm," three and one-half miles southwest of Great Bend, was born June 20, 1847, on a farm in Columbia County, Wiscon- sin. He assisted his father and attended the public schools until September, 1863, and then enlisted as a private in the 4th Wisconsin Light Horse Battery and served in the Army of the Potomac until July, 1865. He was in the battles of the Wilderness; fought in front of Petersburg and on James River, and was in a continuous fight every day for six months. In 1864, at a skirmish at Signal Hill, eight or ten miles out of Richmond, he was wounded in the calf of his leg and taken prisoner and
Marion F. Sowards and family first came to Barton County in October, 1873, making the journey in a wagon and was six weeks on the road. He remained for a short period, and going farther west into Edwards county, en- tered a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres five miles southwest of Kinsley. He sold out in 1881 and returned to his old home in Wisconsin by wagon, where he remained one year, and in the fall of 1882 returned to Barton County to remain permanently. His home farm covers three hundred and twenty acres; he owns three small parcels amounting to one hundred and twenty-six acres in the neighborhood; a half section near Dundee, and
Residence of Marion F. Sowards
the confederate surgeons wanted to amputate the limb, but at his earnest entreaty he was spared this indignity and recovered. As a prisoner he was taken to Richmond and con- fined for three or four weeks in Libby and Castle Thunder, and then exchanged. Later he returned to his command and was mustered out at the conclusion of hostilities. He then returned to the farm and remained until Oc- tober 8, 1869, and was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth Rowell, of Columbia County, Wis- consin, a near relatives of Geo. P. Rowell, the head of the Geo. P. Rowell Advertising Agency of Chicago and New York. They have one child: Mrs. Violet Louise Holmes, of Barton County.
a quarter section in Buffalo township-making nine hundred and twenty-six acres in all. This is all well improved and under cultiva- tion, and is set in wheat, corn and alfalfa. Stock breeding is a prominent feature of this farm, and there is a herd of eighteen or twenty registered Shorthorns, and some of the better classes of draft horses, mules and hogs. The residence is a two-story white frame, set- ting well back from the highway, surrounded by forest trees, plants and flowers, and is ap- proached by a driveway through meadows of alfalfa. It is modernly furnished and has acetylene lights, bath and water connections. The barn is 36x48, and there are sheds, gran- aries, garage and other outbuildings, besides some tenant cottages on the estate.
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
THE LAKE IN CHEYENNE BOTTOMS
F OR a number of years during the early nineties, Central Kansas was visited by drouth, and the farmers began to des- pair and gave their thought and attention to the question of irrigation. Here in Barton County, and especially at Great Bend a num- ber of large land owners counciled with Mr. F. B. Koen, who had made a success in the construction of irrigation canals in Colorado and Western Kansas, and was a practical irri- gation canal builder. It is probable that at first, at least so far as the Barton County men were concerned, they did not have in mind the construction of a great lake, but as the plan developed this became an essential part of the scheme.
Seven miles north of Great Bend lay the Cheyenne Bottoms, an immense area of land which doubtless once formed the bed of a great lake. For its entire length, some twelve or fourteen miles, and varying in width from two and a half to five miles, surrounded on three sides by bluffs of about one hundred feet in heighth, nature seemed to have provided a reservoir such as was needed at that time to supply water to the drouth stricken region in Barton County. Among the local people who were much interested in this plan were J. V. Brinkman, G. N. Moses and others and a com- pany was formed known as the Grand Lake Reservoir Company. This company proceeded to construct an irrigation canal from a point on the Arkansas river as far west as Dundee to the Cheyenne Bottoms. It was the idea of the projectors that the lands in the Bottoms could be secured at a price not to exceed a dollar per acre, taken as a whole, but when the owners realized the immensity of the pro- ject values suddenly increased, and thousands of acres that had been always considered worthless were valued at a high figure. Of course trouble had been expected along the line of the canal but this was easily disposed of and was only a small affair compared with the other difficulties which now met the com- pany: To add to this Mr. Koen, with a knowl- edge of what the success of the enterprise real- ly meant to this county had considerable per- sonal trouble with the owners cf tracts of land and this tended to abstract the success of the operations. It became necessary to have some special legislation, granting the right of condemnation for the reservoir, and this being procured the company proceeded to condemn land and deposited with the county treasurer the amounts allowed by the condemnation com- missioners. Meanwhile work had proceeded upon the canal, and at the next flood tide of the Arkansas river a volume of water fifty feet in width, was carried into the reservoir for some three or four days.
To the casual observer it had the appear- ance, for a portion of the distance of running uphill, but there had been a first class engin-
eer over the line and his skill had solved the problem successfully. It was indeed a great sight, and many of the people interested con- cluded that a way had now been found for pro- viding moisture during the drouth periods. In the meantime a number of Kansas City parties had been interested in the proposition and Mr. W. J. Hallack who had been active in enter- prises at Detroit, Michigan, and had lately moved to Kansas City, undertook to engineer the financial part of the plan. The company was reorganized under the name of the Lake Koen Navigation, Reservoir and Irrigation Co., and there was added to the irrigation purposes the idea of having the lake of sufficient size to accommodate boats of a considerable size. A further condemnation was made along the line of the canal so that the canal might be widen- ed to one hundred feet. Most of the owners of land in the Bottoms appealed from the award of the commissioners and a flood of litigation as well as water met the projectors of the en- terprise. About this time A. E. Stillwell of Kansas City, builder of the Kansas Southern and Orient Railroads became interested and through his efforts the project seemed des- tined to be entirely successful, but the further use of the canal was delayed, pending the set- tlement of the litigation. There is no doubt however that the plan was feasible and that an immense lake could have again been made where nature had once provided one. The scheme however proved a failure and the main reason for the failure was one which never entered the minds of its projectors. A change came over the natural conditions and bounti- ful rains supplied the moisture needed for the crops in the Arkansas Valley, and even those interested in the project awoke to the fact that irrigation was no longer needed. Today the holders of the same lands which were to be covered by the waters of the great lake are in- terested in the formation of a company to drain a large part of the land which was to have been covered by the waters of this lake. Sub- sequent events have also shown that the plan would have failed for the reason that the rapid growth of the irrigation systems in eastern Colorado and western Kansas have eliminated from the central portion of Kansas practically all of the flood waters of the Arkansas river.
Those who were closest in touch with this plan from its inception and who still live in Barton County realize that aside from any value for irrigation purposes the construction of this lake would have brought immense ben- efits to the whole of the surrounding country. At least for the present the lands in the old lake bed still remain uncovered, yet the time may come when this plan so far as the con- struction of the lake is concerned will reach a successful realization.
296
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
WILLIAM R. BUNTING
W ILLIAM R. BUNTING, or Bill, as he was better known, had been a promi- nent figure in the life and history of Barton County since he arrived here in the seventies, until the time of his death. At different times he was engaged in business and in the public life of the county he took a prominent part. It was but a few days before he died that he brought his photograph for a cut to the office of the Tribune, where he was a trusted and faithful employee, and it did not seem possible
and after the death of his father, the mother and children came to Kansas overland in 1876, when the subject of this sketch was 18 years of age. They located on a claim in Stafford county and later Will took a claim himself. On July 4, 1876, he was united in marriage to Miss Retta Kinney, who survives him, and of the union six children, Mrs. Ray Brown of this city, Mrs. Lome Sherwood of Linton, Ind., Mrs. Edith Johnson, of Indianapolis, and Tom, Blaine and Vivian of this city survive.
William Bunting
that we would have to write his obituary for this volume. However this proved to be true and in losing "Bill" all the members of the Tribune force from the proprietors to the carrier boys lost a faithful friend and the community a loyal citizen.
W. R. Bunting was born March 14, 1858, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. At an early day the family moved to Missouri locating in Sedalia
The following was written for the Tribune by Elrick C. Cole and it pays Mr. Bunting a deserving Tribute for his public service to the people of Barton County :
"My first intimate acquaintance with Will Bunting was formed in 1888 when he was elected clerk of the court. Prior to that time he had been active in the political affairs of the western part of the county and had proven
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
himself a tireless worker. After his election, our offices adjoined and the duties of our re- spective positions brought us into close con- tact.
"No more active, painstaking official has ever served this county and his popularity at the close of his first term, caused not only his 1e-nomination, but also his endorsement by the Democratic party. In after years, he served this city, both as councilman and member of the board of education and he also served a
short term as sheriff. In every position of public trust he exhibited splendid executive ability and a constant effort to faithfully serve the people who had chosen him.
"Honesty and strict integrity marked n's every official act. His public service was splendid but he was never able to serve him- self. A man of great heart and great capabil- ities, he lacked a balance wheel. In his going from us as well as in his life with us, I am glad to remember him as my friend."
AN INCIDENT IN 1865
By George W. Crane
W HILE the editors of this volume were getting together the material for its pages, we had occasion to write to Geo. W. Crane & Co., publishers, of Topeka, Kansas, to get permission to run the story of "Old Jim Gibson." We received the following letter from Mr. Crane in regard to the story and he adds a very interesting story of days before Barton County had begun to be settled. The story of Jim Gibson will be found on page 151.
Topeka, Kans., June 24, 1912.
Tribune Publishing Co, Great Bend, Kan- sas. Dear Mr. Townsley: Responding to yours of the 21st, we say, yes. Use the story of Old Jim Gibson. It would be proper to add "From the Tales of the Trail by permission of Crane & Co."
An incident occurred while I was at Fort Larned in 1865, which always comes to me as illustrating the trait of the Anglo-Saxon to be cool and collected in times of great danger.
Dr. McNeal, the post surgecn at Fort Lar- ned was, with a dozen soldiers, escorting a train from Fort Zarah. About at the west line of Barton County they were attacked by a band of Indians. The train was corralled and it was agreed that whoever saw an opening should make the race through the Indian lines. The doctor was well mounted; he saw an opening and made the race.
Bullets and arrows blew thick around him but he got through safely. He reached the trail by a circuitous route and immediately saw two couriers who had been killed, stripped and scalped. He hurried on to the Post, and returned with a company of cavalry. No more Indians were seen. They picked up the dead couriers and conveyed them to Fort Larned in an ambulance. The doctor dressed them for burial and after all was attended to came to the Suttler's store and asked me for a glass of whisky. I handed him a bottle and large goblet. He was trembling and very pale. He took care of two gobletsful quickly. I asked what was the matter and if he was se- riously hurt. "No, eorge, I am simply scared to death." He soon recovered composure but retained the opinion that he was scared to death.
"And so it is, at times of extreme danger and when action is necessary, we are cool and nerved to perform the duty. When the trouble is all over and the nerves subside, we are lia- ble to go to pieces.
"This story I am writing, Townsley, is part- ly to illustrate a trait of character but prin- cipally as a reminiscense of the Old Trail in 1865.
"Very truly yours, GEO. W. CRANE."
PLEASANTDALE-(Schoenthal)
P LEASANTDALE or Schoenthal, as it is called in German, was the name of a vil- lage established by the colony cf Ger- man emigrants who arrived in Barton County in the 70's and located on the Sinoky river in Rush County and near what is now the town of Olmitz in Barton County. The following story of the settlement is given as told by Pe- ter Brack, one of the members of the colony and now a prosperous merchant of Barton County.
About 186 years ago by the provisions of
an edict issued by the Czarwitch Katherine of Russia, thousands of Germans moved from their native land into the domain of the Czarwitch. They were induced to make the change on account of the fact that Katherine had promised them exemption from military duty, gave them tools with which to till the land and by other provisions made what seem- ed at that time an excellent opportunity. How- ever, Alexander, the third ruler of Russia after Katherine took away these privileges, destroy- ing the royal edict and the luckless Germans
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
were compelled to serve in the army and other privileges were taken away. By this action on the part of Alexander, the liberty loving peo- ple who were affected by the new order of things, at once rebelled and decided that they would again seek freedom and opportunity in another land. Accordingly they emigrated to the United States. A colony was made up in the village of Popotchnaja which included a large number of the members of the Brack family-now well known in this county-and forty-seven other families, making in all a to- tal of 527 people. These hard working, perse- cuted people left their adopted land Septem- ber 8, 1876. They were compelled to pay $100 each for passports, when the price should have been not more than $10. They went first to Bremen, the trip requiring two weeks time and there waited for the boats that were to bring them to the new country. The leaders of the party, after a great deal of effort suc- ceeded in getting the steamship companies in- terested to the extent that many of them wanted the business and therefore the emi- grants were enabled to get a rate of (32 ru- bles) about $16.00 each for passage, but what the company lost in making this comparative- ly low rate they made up by charging big prices for everything on the trip over. The emigrants sailed on the ship "Salle" and ar- rived in New York October 21, 1876. They spent but one day in the big American city changing their Russian money for American bills and coin, and then started for Kansas City.
Long before the emmigrants arrived in this country they had made up their minds to lo- cate near Great Bend, Kansas, having heard good news from friends who were already lo- cated. The fare from New York to Kansas City was sixteen dollars. Upon their arrival they were besieged by agents of the Union Pa- cific and Santa Fe railroads. These agents were both German, one by the name of Smith, representing the U. P. and the other being a Mr. Reigleheimer. Each wanted the big party of emigrants on the line of their respective roads. Finally an offer of the Santa Fe of free transportation to Lawrence, Kansas, was ac- cepted. After their arrival there they occupied an old factory building, sleeping on the ground and cooking food as best they could. At Law- rence a meeting was held which resulted in the selection of eight men, known for their ability in judging soil, to go to points on the U. P. and select a location. This party was taken all over Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas, as far west as the Colorado line. The U. P. company paid all the expenses of this trip which required about ten days time after which the party returned to Lawrence. Then the Santa Fe company took the same repre- sentatives out on the same kind of a trip. The eight men on their return reported that the best soil they could find adapted to wheat rais- ing was between Russell, in Russell county, and Pawnee Rock, in Barton County. As all
the members of the party wanted to be on a river the colony was divided, half going to Russell on the Smoky river and the other half to Pawnee Rock on the Arkansas river. By the time they had all secured homesteads be- tween these two points they were practically in one community. The members of the col- ony who arrived at Pawnee Rock lived in a big emigrant house, formerly used as a saw mill were making trips to Larned and Hays City where they had business at the land of- fices. After about three weeks most of the col- onists had obtained land, Mrs. Brack, Peter Brack's mother, having bought seven quarters for $7,000. At this time Charles Lindas was running a big store at Pawnee Rock and he got most of the trade from the colony. Many of the emigrants paid the railroad company $5.00 per acre for land which it was after- wards learned could have been purchased for $2.50 direct from the company, the increase in tht price being the profit of the agents. During the first winter after their arrival the members cf the colony held a meeting to decide on building together in a village, as was the cus- tom in the old country.
It was the intention to have a set of offi- cers, schools, etc., as near like the custom in the old country as possible. Therefore a site was selected on section 11-17-16, just across the line in Rush county. It was given the name of Schoenthal, which in English means Pleas- antdale, and for a year and a half the little village prospered, but the residents finally learned that to prove up on a homestead it was necessary that thehomesteader live on his own quarter, therefore Pleasantdale was abondon- ed and the settlers took up their residence on their own land. After about four years, the colony by hauling rock to Otis were enabled to build a church, and even after the town of Pleasantlade was abandoned the church was and still is maintained. During the first few years of work done by the colony the returns were poor, crops did not grow as well as could be expected and it was only those who were possessed of oxen who could accomplishi much in the way of development work. Those who owned beasts of burden helped their neighbors. The Brack family in the years 1877-78 got fairly good returns, raising about forty bushels cf wheat to an acre, for which they received $1.15 per bushel.
During the first ten yeears many of the men members of the colony went away and worked on the railroad grades and in that way kept their families alive. In this way they strug- gled along until some of them were enabled to prove up on their land, and they then began to barrow money and buy horses and other animals so that they could farm with better re- sults. Many of the settlers thought they had accomplished a great deal when after proving up on their land they were enabled to borrow $800; some of them taking the mortgage money and left thinking they had done well. However, most of them stayed, and a majority of those
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
who went away came back broke and began all over again. There were incidents of people trading their homestead for a cheap shotgun or some such article cf about the same value. There was one man who traded his quarter for an $8 watch and said it didn't cost him much as it only cost him four dollars at that, mean- ing that he had paid that much to prove up after five years on the land. It was the cus- tom of these people for the bride's parents to take a newly married couple into the groom's home, and as a result of this the Brack broth- ers' mother had thirty-six in her family at one time. The oldest of the Brack boys was a
leader in the community, and after about ten years residence in this country he had saved a little money, sufficient to buy some quar- ters adjoining his land near Olmitz. Then Mr. Brack began to send back to the old country for friends and relatives and when they ar- rived here they would be given land with a chance to pay for it on easy terms and since that time the community around Olmitz, Albert and in that part of Barton County has grown and prospered but the little village of Pleas- antdale has passed away and remains only as a memory with those who made the trip on the Salle in 1875.
The following were the members of the col- ony from Russia that founded the village of Schoenthal near Olmitz:
Elizabeth Brack and three married sons. Henry W. Brack and wife, Marilies and four children.
George Brack and wife, Marick and one child.
Peter Brack and wife, Sophia. Phillip Brack, single.
Johannas Brack and wife, Justine and two married sons.
Phillip Brack and wife, Christine and two children.
Heinrich Brack.
J. H. Brack and wife, Krethe.
J. C. Brack, single.
Peter J. Brack, single.
John Brack, single.
Kate Brack, single.
Phillip Hergert, wife and son-in-law. Hy Schenerman, wife and several children. Adam Hergert, wife and several children. Philopp Peter Kleweno, wife and son.
Henry Kleweno, wife and son-in-law.
Henry Rapp, wife and several children. Christian Kleweno, wife and children. Johannes Schenerman, wife and children. George Schenerman, wife and children. Heinrich Schenerman, wife and one child. Conrad Schenerman, wife and children. Adam Schenerman, wife and two children. Karl Goetz and wife.
John Weigant, wife and two children.
Phillip Hardman, wife and children. Andrew Lesser, wife and children. David Lesser and wife.
Adam Ruhl, wife and one child. Johannes Kleweno, wife and two childrenl.
Johannes Stang, wife and one child.
Johannes Miller and wife.
Conrad Schenerman, wife and one child.
Heinrich Schenerman, wife and four chil- dren.
Conrad Schenerman and wife.
Conrad Wilhelm, single.
Domminick Burghart, wife and two chil- dren.
Of the names mentioned in the above list many have left this part of the country and gone to other points. The last mentioned, Domminick Burghart, was the village black- smith and tinner in Schoenthal for several years. Later he and his wife went back to Austria but the children, Frank and Rachel are bothel married and living in this state. Many of the Schenermans, Klewenos and Millers, Ochs and Schlegels have gone to the western part of the country.
Those who have remained in Barton Coun- ty are still living are as a rule well fixed and contented. Of course many of them have died during the years since Schoenthal was estab- lished, but their children are still here to go on with the work of building a home under more desirable conditions than those which caused them to leave their fatherland for the new world.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
C. F. DIFFENBACHER
A MONG the old timers of Barton County who took an active part in the political and general history of the county was C. F. Diffenbacher. He was born April 5, 1835, in Pennsylvania and came west in 1856. He settled in Illinois and for several years taught school in that state. When the civil war be- gan Mr. Diffenbacher enlisted and was dis- charged at the end of the war as First Lieu- tenant Company G. 18th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. During his residence in Illinois he held several positions of trust among them being assistant revenue assessor for the 9th Congressional District of the state, having received this appointment from Presi- dent Andrew Johnston. He resigned this of- fice in September, 1868 to run for the office of clerk of the circuit court and ex-officio re- corder of Cass County. He was elected and served several years. Mr. Diffenbacher came to Great Bend in 1873, his family following in 1874. Before coming to Kansas he studied law in the office of Pollard & Phillips of Beards- town, Illinois anu was admitted to the bar af- ter coming to Kansas. For a number of years he practiced in the state and federal courts of the state and for some time was associated with G. W. Nimocks in the law business. In 1884 he formed a partnership with D. A. Banta which continued .until the campaign of 1896.
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