USA > Kansas > Barton County > Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas > Part 41
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his own account in 1884 and was fast laying the foundation for the fortune he has since ac- quired, and this rugged education and prepar- ation for the handling of a large landed estate has probably been the chief reason for his suc- cess. It has been acquired by great effort and self denial and he richly deserves the retirc- ment he no doubt longs for.
Jacob Alefs owns and farms eleven hundred and twenty acres of the best wheat, corn and alfalfa land in the county. It is located four and one-half miles northwest of Great Bend, and is practically in one body. It is in a high state of cultivation and the buildings, fences, etc., are in good repair. The residence is a twc-story frame, containing twelve rooms and a hall; it is enclosed within a neat yard and this plot is set with grass, shrubs and flowers. The large barn, granary, elevator and other buildings cluster about and they are all paint- ed so tastefully that they harmonize with the green foilage of the trees which park the whole surroundings.
Jacob Alets and Miss Elizabeth Miller were united in marriage on August 13th, 1884, and they have had four children born. Two died in infancy, and Daniel Alefs, 18, and Mae Alefs, 11, add sunshine to the home.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
PATRICK EMMET MURPHY
T HE life story of Patrick Emmet Murphy would be unusual in any other country than this where it seems all are self- made; but when spread on paper and the rough places glossed over one can read bc- tween the lines the struggles and hardships he and his family must have endured while mak- ing their start in this county. He landed at the depot in Great Bend in the spring of 1884 with his household goods, a team of mules and two cows, and when he had paid the freight had but one dollar left with which to begin his struggle for existence. Land was plentiful and tenants in demand and he soon had his family located and began the fight. When harvest came he worked for seventeen days with his team at good wages, and during the first year as a renter he kept things going by working for others when opportunity offered. The sec- ond year he decided to purchase railroad land -the price being around ten dollars per acre; divided into eleven yearly payments. To make this trade he had to raise $136 for the first payment. Fortunately one hundred of this could be had, but the other $36 was, as he first thought, an impossibility. Finally by mortgaging his mule team and paying 36 per cent interest, he secured the loan and becanic possessed of the first quarter section of his present farm of three hundred and twenty acres. Since then life has been less strenu- ous, and his farm has been made one of the
most fertile and best improved of his neigh- borhood, which is seven miles southwest from Great Bend. He has built there a two and one- half story frame, with nine large rooms, grown a grove of three acres of beautiful forest trees, has a barn 40x40, a cow barn 18x28, and numerous other outbuildings.
Patrick E. Murphy was born on August 10, 1856, near Montreal, Canada, and in 1866 came to Chillicothe, Mo., with his parents, John and Margaret Murphy, where they settled on a farm. There he was educated and remained until coming to Barton County, Kansas, on March 7, 1884. In addition to conducting his farm Mr. Murphy has been manager of the Moses Bros.' elevator at Dundee for thirteen years, and was elected commissioner of the Third district in 1908. His term is for four years and expires this year. He will no doubt be retained as his duties have been performed concientiously and to the satisfaction of all.
Patrick E. Murphy was married on January 10, 1882, to Miss Margaret Theresa Welch, of Livingston County, Mo., and they are the par- ents of ten children: Mrs. Catherine Keenan, of Liberty township; Thomas Emmet and John Francis Murphy, conducting a grocery store at Hoisington; Mary Magdaline, Agnes Berna- dine, Ralph Michael, Margaret Grace, William Walter, Lawrence Patrick and Edward Mathew all living at home.
HENRY JAMES CAMPBELL
H ENRY JAMES CAMPBELL was born Sep- tember 17, 1862, in Stark County Illi- nois. He remained in his native state until he was twelve years of age when he came to Barton County. He was accompanied by his father, they having made the trip from Illi- nois in a wagon. They located on the John Atkin farm in Clarence township. Henry's first work was on Ellinwood-McPherson branch of the Santa Fc Railroad. He began farming for himself when he was nineteen years old. He now farms 560 acres of land in this county and owns three quarters in Rush County and a section in Ford County. He was married in 1889 to Miss Mary Merten and they are the par- ents of four children. Mrs. Campbell's par- ents are old timers of the county and are men- tioned in another part of this book. The chil- dren are: Arthur, 22 years of age, is farming near Spearville; Frank, 20 years of age, Leslie, 19 years of age and Nellie, 14 years of age are
living at home. Mr. Campbell is one of those men who came here when he was but a child and has seen the country grow from an abode of buffalo and Indians to its present high state of cultivation. He is one of the large number of younger farmers who have taken up the work of developing the soil where their elders left off and are maintaining its high standing among the best counties of the State of Kan- sas. Mr. Campbell's home place is well locat- ed and is surrounded by fine shade and orna- mental trees. The residence contains seven rooms besides the closets, pantries, etc. The barn is 60 by 28 feet in dimensions, is well built and has a great deal of room. Mr. Campbell has found time to take an active part in the affairs of the community and has served on the school board as well as having held township offices. Mr. Campbell is one of the best known men in that part of the county and is an enterprising and progressive citizen.
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
JOHN TULLIS MORRISON
B EFORE becoming a peaceful farmer and retiring to Great Bend John T. Morrison was a member of Co. H, 13th Missouri Cavalry and he served in the states of Mis- souri, Arkansas, Colorado and Wyoming dur- ing the war of the rebellion, 1861-5, and par- ticipated in a number of battles, but as his regiment was stationed for the greater part of the time on the frontier their duty was to pro- tect the lives of citizens from the depredations of the Indians on the border. In 1865 he found himself stationed at Ft. Zarah where the city of Great Bend has since been built, and he now claims an earlier knowledge of this section than is possessed by those who came later. In describing the country he says it was a barren waste, covered with tufts of buffalo grass and inhabited by Indians, prairie dogs and ant beds. That there was little timber on the streams, and one taking a position about where the court house now stands, the barren mounds of sand across on the south side of the river looked like shocks of wheat. Rattle snakes, wolves, antelope and buffalo were too numerous to be comfortable, and the lat- ter were so thick that one in a low place often
mistook a herd on a rise in the distance for a cloud or coming storm.
John T. Morrison was born May 27th, 1842, in Gurnsey County, Ohio, on a farm, and when two years of age his parents moved to Wayne County, lowa. While receiving his schooling at the public schools of his district he worked for his father on the farm, and in 1861 volun- teered as a soldier and joined the 13th Missouri Cavalry. Three years after the close of the war, on January 26th, 1868, he married Miss Clarisa E. Ormsby, of Wayne County, Iowa, and they are the parents of five sons: Dr. Elmer E. Morrison, of Great Bend; Thomas C. Morri- son, merchant, Hoisington; Sydney M. Morri- son, who died in 1903; John C. Morrison, civil engineer, supposed to be in the Klondyke country, and Clarence E. Morrison, jeweler, of County, Kansas, in the fall of 1878, and home- steaded one hundred and sixty acres in Fair- view township, and later purchased another quarter of school land. He also owns his res- idence at the corner of Kansas Avenue and Eighth street, and he and his estimable wife take life easy.
DANIEL MILLER, Sr.
F OUR miles northwest of Great Bend is the the 80 acre homestead of Jake Miller, now the property of Daniel Miller, Sr. It is a comfortable little body of land and in a high state of cultivation. About two acres is set in orchard; a part in timothy and alfalfa and the remainder reserved for corn and wheat. It is enclosed with stone posts and wired, and then divided into fields of the most convenient size. There has been no attempt at display in the erection of the improvements, yet every cinvenience necessary for the com- fort of man and beast is there to be found. It represents the life work of a man born on a farm, who expects to die as he has lived. To part Mr. Miller from the soil which he loves would be cruel, but to separate him from the breeding and feeding cf horses, cattle and hogs would be a crime. He was born March 11, 1842, and is 70 years of age. The first twenty years were passed on a farm in Pennsylvania, the next nineteen on a farm in Ohio, and the past thirty-three years improving the farm on which he now resides.
On March 25, 1878, when Daniel Miller, Sr., came to Barton County and took possession of this place he had little besides the bare land, a wife and a large flock of youngsters. If the crops failed, which was not unusual, he knew that he would have to face a condition, and not a theory. Remembering that once in Ohio he had followed butchering for a time, Mrs. Mil- ler suggested that he take up that calling in
addition to his farm work and he decided to do so provided he could induce some good soul to trust him for the first animal to be slaughter- ed. John Cook, Sr., now deceased, sold him a steer for $15, and when dressed and delt out netted a profit of $7.00. Then others were bought and killed and a business established that fed the wife and little ones, and at the same time proved that Mr. Miller understood the buying, selling and slaughtering of stock, and that he was prompt pay and worthy. to be trusted. John V. Brinkman became advised of this and when Dan Miller decided that there was money to be made in buying, feeding and shipping cattle and hogs to the market backed him with what money he desired. He then began buying and shipping and was soon known as "Miller, the cattle man," over sev- eral counties, and it is said that he was the first man to ship in car lots from Barton Coun- ty. He has not become as wealthy as some, yet for honest dealing he stands at the top and we consider that his life work has been a grand success.
He married Miss Margaret Elizabeth Harter early in life and from that union these chil- dren were born: Mrs. Jake Alefs, Warren Mil- ler, Mrs. Chas. Gabbert, Arthur Miller, Mrs. William Schroeder, Daniel Miller, Jr., Mrs. Jas. A. Currey, Robert Miller, Mrs. Ed Schultz and Mrs. Walter Boyd. They are all prosper- ous and healthy and located within a day's drive of the old homestead.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
JUDGE CHANNEL P. TOWNSLEY
T HE ancestors of the subject of this sketch were of English origin. His father was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, his mother, Mary Griffin, in Baltimore, Maryland. When sixteen years of age, his father entered the American navy, and after four years ser- vice, he engaged in whaling in the Pacific ocean, during which service his vessel twice rounded Cape Horn, a very dangerous under- taking in those days. After serving a year and a half in this business he spent four years on the Sandwich Islands, being the only white man on the Islands. On his return he married and settled in Huntington, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the manufacture of carriages. From thence he removed to Pittsburg and af- terwards to Boonville, Missouri, and establish- ed himself in his former business. When the gold fever broke out he joined a party of gold seekers, and crossing the plains went to Cali- fornia, being eventually engaged in trade with the islanders who occupied the islands between San Francisco and China. He died there in 1856.
Channel P. Townsley was born in Hunting- ton, Pennsylvania, February 4, 1833. After the removal of his parents to Boonville, Missouri, he came under the instruction of Professor Kemper. of the Kemper Institute at that place. His vacations and leisure time he occupied in acquiring the trade of carriage making in his father's shop. After arriving in his eighteenth year he remained in Boonville one year after his father's departure for California, then went to California, Moniteau County, Missouri and began the manufacture of carriages at that place. Devoting his spare time to the study of law at the expiration of three years he remov- ed to Georgetown, Pettis County, and was there admitted to the bar and began the practice of law. He became city attorney and continued his practice until 1861 when he enlisted in the 40th Regiment Missouri State Militia. He was commissioned adjutant and joining General Lyons's command was in the battle of Wilson Creek.
He served four years in the state service with the rank of captain, his regiment being most of the time engaged in defending the borders against Price's troops and ridding the state of predatory brands of guerrillas and bush-whackers.
Returning to Pettis County at the close of the war, he settled at Sedalia, and again took up the practice and profession of law. In 1886 he was elected county and city attorney and in 1867 was elected to the State Senate on the Re- publican ticket. He was chairman of the pen- itentiary committee, and a member of the judi- establishing the State Agricultural College and State Normal School, being a member of the visiting committee, and also a regent of the State University. He was elected judge of the Fifth Judicial District, holding the position six years. On the expiration of his term of office
he resumed the practice of law for another year, when the Democratic party, advocating measures not in accordance with his views, naturally induced him to remove to the Repub- lican State of Kansas.
He came to Great Bend in 1875 and started in his profession. The next year he estab- lished the "Inland Tribune." Devoting his pa- per to the interests of the Republican party and the farming community, he obtained for it a wide circulation throughout the Arkansas Valley, where its influence was strongly felt. He married Miss Laura A. Moses, December 7, 1865. She was a resident of Rockford, Illi- nois, and daughter of A. G. Moses, formerly of New York. Ten children were born to the union, five of whom are still living. They are Chan P. Townsley of New York, Mrs. E. S. Le- land, of Troy, Kansas, Will Townsley, Charles Townsley and Laura Townsley of Great Bend.
As a representative of the people. Judge Townsley was deservedly popular. He was an able lawyer, keen-sighted and practical. As a resident of Barton County from the first he felt the need of letting the outside world know the advantage of county and state and he es- tablished the Inland Tribune which has grown continuously and which is a monument to him. A few years after the paper was started he changed the name to the Great Bend Tribune which name has continued.
He was noted as a writer of clear, concise English, and his editorial ability was such that the Tribune was a favorite among the re- viewers of newspapers as long as he contrib- uted to its editorial columns. He had oppor- tunities to accept positions as editorial writer on large publications but preferred to be abso- lutely free, to own his own paper and to work for himself,-his family and community. He had a deep faith in the future prosperity of Kansas and never an issue of the Tribune con- tained a doleful note concerning this locality. Plague or drouth might destroy crops, bad years might come, but he constantly preached the value of the land and the fact that condi- tions could not be bettered elsewhere. There was an optimism about the paper that undoubt- edly did its share in attracting the eyes of the outside world to this locality and in a favora- ble way.
As an editorial writer any subject which he did not subscribe to would appear ridiculous under the shaft of his ridicule and sarcasm. As a writer on topics of national interest he was unexcelled. His knowledge of the Bible and of Shakespeare was such that he could quote from these books upon any subject. It would be hard to state in which particular he excelled. That the majority might fail to sub- scribe to his beliefs did not affect him. He was unswerving in his fidelity to the people, honest in his beliefs and politically often took a stand foreign to the desire of party bosses, but which in the end proved him in the right. He left his
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
impress upon the community in which he lived and much of the upbuilding of Barton County is due to his stand for the right, during the crucial days when it was easier to over- look such things than to take a stand against them.
The end came to him August 4, 1907, after
a period of nearly three years suffering from a nervous breakdown, during which time he tried in vain changes of climate and location to improve his health. At the time of his death he was 74 years, 5 months and 21 days of age. His widow and five children survive him.
CALVIN QUINCY NEWCOMBE
A HISTORY of Barton County would be al- together incomplete without a sketch of C. Q. Newcombe, who, although not one of the very early settlers of the county came here when the country was in a formative state and did much toward the development of the earlier years. Mr. Newcombe was born in Batavia, New York, in 1823, and came from Flint, Michigan, in January of 1876, locating a homestead and timber claim on the east half of section 24 in North Cheyenne township. For a short time after coming to Kansas he located his family at Peace (now Sterling) in Rice County. At the time of his coming he pur- chased two sections of land from the Santa Fe Railway Company, being sections 17 and 19 in Independent township, and was at that time one of the largest land holders in that locality. He paid $2 an acre for this railroad land. Mr. Newcombe shipped the first full blood Short- horn cattle to Barton County, also the first full- blood Berkshire and Suffolk hogs. He shipped four car load of live stock from his old Michi- gan home, part of which was high grade and part fullblood stock. For one bull of his herd he was offered $500 which was an enormous price at that time. Many of the better herds of the earlier days were here as a result of these shipments of fine stock in 1876. He shipped a very fine trotting mare to this coun- ty at the same time which was doubtless the best in the county at the time, having a rec- ord of 2:30. The name of the mare was Lady
Nellie Seely. In the earlier years of his life Mr. Newcombe gave special attention to math- ematical studies and might be classed as an ex- pert along that line. From the time he was nineteen years of age he was engaged in civil engineering work, being employed in con- structing locks along the Erie Canal, railroad work of various kind and sewer work. It was but natural that within a few years after his location in Barton County, when his special qualifications became known, that he should be elected to the office of county surveyor, which office was tendered him by a very large vote in 1879. He served as county surveyor for three terms, moving to Great Bend at the time of his first election. His work as survey- or was of the very best. In 1889 he established a nursery business in Great Bend and conduct- ed this for about twelve years. Mr. Newcombe has been a devoted member of the Masonic lodge since his early life and has the record of being a Knight Templar longer than any other man now living in the State of Kansas, having been a member of that degree of the order for nearly fifty-five years. At the time of the writing of this history, although well up in years, and physically feeble, his mind is clear and bright, and he delights to talk of his early day experiences in Barton County. Mr. New- combe has three children, all of whom live in Great Bend and vicinity: Fred B., Sidney A. and Mrs. Millicent Treat.
PATRICK BOUGHAN
O N March 18, 1848 the subject of this sketch was born in Limerick, Ireland, which fact is intimation enough as to why his parents named him Patrick. That he would still be a son of the "ould sod' is probable but for the fact that he had nothing to do with his removal to this country, the parents bringing him here with them when he was 4 years of age. And they located in Cincinnati where young Patrick grew up among Germans but retaining his Irish brogue. At the age of 16 he was making his own way in the world and got a job as fireman on the old Ohio & Mississippi railroad, now the Cincinnati and Southern. He remained with that road four years being promoted to the position of en- gineer and then went to work in that capacity for the M. K. & T., in Missouri. He was an engineer out of Sedalia and in 1886 when the Missouri Pacific was built across Kansas he was made a conductor by the officials of the road and sent to the front in charge of a con- struction train. He was in charge of one of the first trains into Hoisington and was
conductor of the first construction train to reach Great Bend, his runs being out of Coun- cil Grove. He is now conductor on the Mis- souri Pacific, the oldest man in point of ser- vice in this section of the state and we be- lieve the oldest man in point of service on the road. He is a kind hearted, generous man, liked by everyone who knows him and is inclined to hide his charities and little kind- nesses under a gruffness that is assumed. For years no man in this section was better known than "Pat" Boughan and the only difference between the Pat of the old days and Capt. Boughan of the present is that he is a little more generous than ever, likes the young folks more and has received a promotion in title. He was married in 1870 in Vincennes, Ind., to Miss Emma McDonald. Three chil- dren, born to the union are living, Mrs. Jen- nie Bishop of Kansas City, Mo., Mrs. Ella Fish, of Eau Claire, Wis., and Will Boughan of Hoisington. His wife died in this city, Janu- ary 3, 1891.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
ARKANSAS VALLEY TELEPHONE COMPANY
W HEN you take the receiver from the hook on your telephone and within a a few seconds are in conversation with a party sometimes miles away, did you ever stop to think how much money was re- quired and how much time and energy had to be expended in order that you might enjoy this boon of modern civilization? Very few of us have done this and in writing the history of the Arkansas Valley Telephone Co., it will be seen that were it not for the fact the officers of this company are untiring in their efforts to make their system one of the best in the country, this section like other sections of the state would still be using the old style ring on, ring off phones. This company has kept just a little ahead of the demands made upon it for the best service and in October, 1911, the Great Bend Telephone Co., absorbed the system of the Larned Telephone Co., The Stafford Telephone Co., and later after these systems had been put under one management and were known as the Arkansas Valley Tele- phone Company's system the company pur- chased the Dodge City system and the Kins- ley system and all these formerly small ex- changes are now merged into one of the most extensive exchanges in the State of Kansas. The wires of this company branch out in ev- ery direction from Great Bend and this con- solidation into one organization has resulted in the construction of continuous, uniform toll lines which greatly improved the utility of the telephone in Central Kansas and has reduced the rates to a minimum consistent with the best of service. In the fall of 1911 work was begun which resulted in the entire reconstruc- tion of the company's exchange and equip- ment. This work was finished in June, 1912, and on June 15 the "cutover" was made and the old exchange was abandoned and Great Bend became the possessor of one of the most modern, up-to-date telephone exchanges in the country. This exchange employs in Great Bend in the neighborhood of two score people and during the construction work periods this number is great increased.
The first telephones that were installed in Great Bend were put in along in the eighties. These telephones were crude and not of much success. Later a company was organized and telephones put in all over town. By an order emanating from the supreme court regarding patents, all these instruments were taken out and burned. The town was without a tele- phone system again until a few years ago, when the late William Grimes started a new telephone company. The plant was originally an automatic affair, but was not a success.
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