USA > Kansas > Cloud County > Biographical history of Cloud County, Kansas: biographies of representative citizens. Illustrated with portraits of prominent people, cuts of homes, stock, etc > Part 39
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
to the office of sheriff of Cloud county on the Republican ticket. The ten- perance question was before the people at this election and Mr. Marshall promised if elected he would close every saloon in Cloud county. This prom- ise was carried out within four months after he took his office, the saloon interest being completely routed. He was re-elected two years later and the joints and saloons under his jurisdiction suffered severely. In 1898, when he sold his farm. Mr. Marshall engaged in mercantile pursuits in Concor- dia. One year later he removed his stock of goods to Barnard, where, asso- ciated with his son J. C., they are doing a prosperous business. His stock consists of a full line of merchandise and in connection they handle the Deer- ing goods and do a large trade in the implement line. They do business under the firm name of Marshall & Son.
Mr. Marshall was married in Ravenna, Ohio, in 1868, to Mrs. Eliza- beth Hart. To this union three sons and two daughters were born. The eldest son, J. E., is traveling salesman for a Topeka paper company : J. . 1. is editor and publisher of the Jamestown Optimist: J. C. is associated in business with his father: Ada is employed as saleslady in the general mer- chandise store of Scott & Lintz, of Concordia, and Lida is house- keeper for her father, the mother having died in 1888. Mrs. Marshall was a member of the late President Garfield's church at Ravenna. She was a cultured woman and to her counsels her children doubtless owe much of whatever honor or success they may attain. Mr. Marshall is a member of the Christian church, while his children attend the Baptist church.
MRS. HILDA ELFSTROM.
The subject of this sketch is Mrs. Hikdla Elfstrom, of Arion township, whose experiences in life are marked by accident and coincidence, but she has gathered up the scattered threads of destiny and woven them into a beautiful combination. The woof of the busy shuttle in the loom of life is not always smooth and fine, or rose-colored in its hue. "Mistakes she made not few, yet wove perchance as best she knew."
Mrs. Elfstrom is the widow of Gustaf Elfstrom, who came to Kansas in 1869. and settled on a homestead, their present farm in Arion township. Mr. Elfstrom was born in the central part of Sweden in 1840. His original name was Alonson. His father died when he was a youth and his mother married a man by the name of Elfstrom. According to an established rule of that country a student whose name ended in "son" could not be admitted. consequently when Gustaf Alonson entered the Lund University, where he graduated at the age of nineteen years, he adopted his step-father's name. He has two half-brothers, one of whom is very wealthy, being proprietor of a drug store in Stockholm, valued at eighty thousand dollars. The other brother lives on the old estate in Sweden.
Mr. Elfstrom began his career as first mate on an American vessel and for several years following was a seafaring man. He was in New Orleans when
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the south seceded and was filled with a desire to enter the army, but Captain Waite fell ill and Mr. Elfstrom, at Captain Waite's earnest solicitation and offer of a lucrative salary, became commander of the latter's vessel, remain- ing in that capacity for three years, sailing from Calcutta to New Orleans. His life at sea was an eventful one and during the ten years thus passed he experienced two thrilling ship wrecks. While on the high seas enroute from Calcutta to Australia they came in contact with a pirate vessel and at once raised the American stars and stripes, while almost simultaneously the rob- bers hoisted the black flag, and both ships prepared to make ready for war- fare; but the plunderers' force was inferior and they withdrew. Mr. Elf- strom's vessel carried cargoes to Melbourne, Australia, and while in the city he and some friends went out with a guide who conducted them into the midst of a band of brigands. Mr. Elfstrom was a linguist and spoke Italian and French and several other languages fluently, and in this way discovered the plot. revealed the scheme to his comrades, overpowered the freehooters and made their escape.
Mr. Elfstrom finally grew tired of adventures at sea. He had read in the papers and various other literature that was scattered broadcast over the land, of the fertile fields of America, and more especially of the new state of Kansas, and of the productiveness of her vast acres that could be secured for a mere pittance-a land of promise where things grew without cultiva- tion. With these alluring prospects he gave up his life on the "briny deep" and sought a home in the far, far west. About the same time Mrs. Elf- strom's father decided to build a home for himself and family in the far- famed western country, and the two men met in Junction City, the destina- tion of many home seekers at that time.
In company with a guide, the tourists who were destined to later become mutually interested, journeyed together looking over the country in quest of homesteads, and upon arriving in rion township they found their goal, the end of their final purpose. Mr. Elfstrom secured the homestead where his family now live and his wife's father, Carl John Reymers, filed on land four miles further north. Mrs. Elfstrom did not come with her father's family to their new home, but remained at Fort Riley in the family of Colonel Hamilton, that she might learn to speak the English language. Her father died the following autumn, September 15. 1869. A letter sent to Mrs. Elfstrom. apprising her of her father's death did not reach her for two weeks. but Colonel Hamilton sent her home under an escort of six sol- diers and a sergeant. Soon afterward Colonel Hamilton was ordered by President Grant to change his quarters to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis. and Mrs. Elfstrom accompanied them. and through this association she gained an English education. Mrs. Elfstrom's place of nativity is Stock- holm, Sweden, where she was educated in a private school and under a gov- erness in her father's home. The Revmers were of German origin. Her great-grandfather settled in Sweden, where he died, leaving a large estate which became involved in litigation and was lost to her father, who was an
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
intelligent and well educated man. He was an extensive farmer in Sweden and operated a brickyard and a tannery. She has two brothers who reside at Grant's Pass. Oregon, and are prosperous men-Napoleon, a fruit grower and shipper, and Victor, a gardener.
Mr. and Mrs. Elfstrom were married in Clyde, Kansas, in 1870, editor J. B. Rupe performing the ceremony. Their early married life was spent in a log house, but they had some finance and were comfortable, happy and sanguine of the future bringing them merited returns. Owing to the grasshoppers. the drouth and the high price of provisions, they saw their means vanish like snow under the rays of a warm sun, and like all the settlers of that period, they were reduced to very economical living, but by constant and assiduous labor, coupled with frugal domestic management, they had acquired a comfortable home, when, in 1880, the husband and father, in the prime of his full manhood was cut down by the "grim reaper."
Mr. Elfstrom was a powerful man and his love for sport frequently induced him to compete with his comrades and friends in a test of strength. On the fatal occasion which caused his death, several members of a thresh- ing crew who were at a neighbors, engaged in pulling "hand-holds" and Mr. Elfstrom was matched against Julius A. Belo, another man of great strength. The strain of this test produced the rupturing of a blood vessel and he died as a result. Mr. Elfstrom was a man of more than ordinary intelligence, a rare conversationalist. spoke several different tongues, and hav- ing had early educational advantages, was a fine scholar, and through the knowledge gained by extensive travel in various parts of the world he pos- sessed a broad fund of general knowledge.
Mrs. Elfstrom kept her little brood together, and although she met with many reverses, has been rewarded with prosperity. In 1883 they erected a large stone residence, one of the best in the vicinity, which was destroyed by fire the following year. With the assistance of neighbors and kind friends they built a small frame building. There were discouragements, but her boys were growing strong each day and the school of industry in which they were reared made it possible for them to manage the farin work early in life and as they grew to manhood, better days dawned until now they occupy one of the most beautiful country homes in the community. The sons are practical farmers and stockmen and are adding other lands to the homestead. Evar, the eldest son, bought eighty acres adjoining in 1897. and in 1901 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres near Maceyville. Harold, the second son, owns a quarter section in the same locality. The brothers also rent land and are extensive wheat growers, having on an average two hundred and sixty acres. They have made their money raising wheat, cattle and hogs. Besides the two sons mentioned, there is a third, Emile, who, like his brothers, is an industrious young farmer. The daugh- ters, four in number, are prepossessing and refined young women. Annie is married to James Jolinson, and they are the parents of three children. Ralph, Hilda and an infant. Olga is the wife of Frank Moore, by whom
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
she has had two little daughters. Allie and Myrtle. Florence is the wife of Arthur Spicer; she was a student of the Concordia High school one year. Alice, the youngest daughter, is unmarried and lives at home. The children have been educated principally in district No. 17. Thomas Malone was the first teacher of this district and taught the term preparatory to drawing the state fund and was paid in pork, flour, sorghum and sundry other articles. All three of the sons-in-law are farmers of Arion township. The Elfstrom boys are all Republicans of staunch tendencies and are sober, honest and trustworthy young men who will make life a success.
Mrs. Elfstrom is not a woman given to extravagant expenditure. but her home is one of comfort and suggests a peaceful, happy abode. l'er- sonally she is gifted with a bright intellect and is a woman of education and accomplishment.
JOHN 11. ASHLEY.
The subject of this sketch. John H. Ashley, came to Kansas in 1879, and bought one hundred and sixty acres of State Normal school land in Buffalo township for a consideration of eight hundred dollars. Mr. Ash- ley possessed but little capital other than courage and industry, those important factors essential to success in Kansas and from these accessories he has built one of the best country homes in the county. Mr. Ashley came from the state of Michigan, where he had followed the occupation of farm- ing. He chartered a car through to Concordia, shipping a team of horses. about a year's supply of provisions and being in a timbered country, he had lumber on hand which was also brought through in the car. This they used in building their first residence, a house sixteen by twenty-four feet in dimensions, one and one-half stories high with boards up and down and a barn of the same architecture. A brother-in-law, the Honorable S. C. Wheeler, had preceded them and through his glowing description of the state and its possibilities Mr. Ashley was prompted to follow and has not regretted the venture. He has been prosperous from the beginning, although he has met with some reverses, prominent among which was the burning of his barn in 1880 by prairie fire, including a year's supply of corn for feeding purposes.
Mr. Ashley's paternal grandparents were Leonard and Sally ( MeDougal ) Ashley, of Canada. His parents were James and Polly L. ( Magee ) Ashley. His father, the Reverend James Ashley, a Free-Will Baptist minister, was born in Toronto, Canada. November 18. 1815. In the year 1826 the fam- ily emigrated to Huron county, Ohio, where, amidst advantages and disad- vantages, the boy who had not yet attained his majority developed into man- hood. His father was a farmer and unable to give his son superior edu- cational advantages, apprenticed him to a blacksmith that he might weld a livelihood out of that avocation. At the age of fifteen years he was con- verted to the Baptist faith and in 1841 began a successful ministerial career.
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Ile was an earnest advocate of Christian principles and his sympathy, affa- bility and colloquial gifts attracted all classes of people. New fields were opened, churches instituted and the Seneca quarterly meeting organized, where most of his pastoral and evangelical work was done and much good accomplished.
In 1855 he removed to Cass county, Michigan, where the remainder of his useful life was spent, laboring there for more than twenty-five years. During this period he preached twelve years in Sumnerville and in the meantime traveled a distance of eighteen thousand miles. In 1869 he was elected to the legislature, but would not consent to a second term because of the crookedness and corruptness of political affairs. He died March 23, 1882. Polly L. Magee was of Scotch ancestry and by her marriage with the Reverend James Ashley she became the mother of twelve children.
Our subject was born in Huron county, Ohio, in 1842 and was mar- ried in 1864 to Harriet Stephens, a daughter of David R. Stephens and the granddaughter of Lyman Stephens, who settled in Cass county, Michi- gan, in 1835, having emigrated from Oneida county, New York, via the Erie canal to Buffalo and thence to Detroit by boat, where they procured an ox-team. traveled overland and settled in Cass county. Mrs. Ashley's father was at that time thirteen years of age and drove a "breaking team for the compensation of twenty-five cents per day. The state at this time was new and their place of abode was a cabin roofed with bark peeled from the trees with which it was densely surrounded. Their wordly possessions consisted of a yoke of oxen, a wagon and twelve dollars in cash, but they went bravely to work and with strong arms and willing hands transformed the wooded land into tillable and cultivated ground. During the first win- ter five hundred Indians camped near their house but were of a peaceable and friendly tribe. Mrs. Ashley's father was a successful farmer and, with the exception of one, the oldest settler of Mason township, Cass county. Michigan. He ran a threshing machine for more than twenty-four years and purchased the first grain elevator in that locality. In 1867 he brought the second portable steam engine into the county. He died in 1896. one year following his golden wedding, leaving a wife who still survives and lives on the old homestead in Michigan, where all her married life has been spent. Before her marriage she was Ellen E. Roberts. The two sons, George L. and John L., both reside at the old homestead.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ashley four children have been born, viz: Arletta May, the eldest daughter, is the wife of Lee Judd, a carpenter with resi- dence in Oakland, California. Frank W., the eldest son, was married to Atha Gilbert, a daughter of J. H. Gilbert. who settled in Cloud county in 1883, and nine years later moved to Oklahoma, where he still resides near Hitchcock. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert were both teachers, the former having taught between twenty-five and thirty years and is well known in the schools of Cloud county. Frank W. Ashley owns eighty acres of land near his father's place. The second son. Will S., is unmarried and assists his
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
father on the farm. Mary LeEtta, a promising young girl of fourteen years, is at home.
Mr. Ashley served the last ten and one-half months of the Civil war in Company C. Second Michigan Cavalry, under Captain H. L. Hempstead and Colonel Johnson. During this time he saw active service and was in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. He was promoted corporal about a week after enlisting. His company won laurels during their brief exist- ence as the recruits of Company C, which was organized in 1861. During his war experience Mr. Ashley had two horses shot from under him.
From the original little box house erected at the time of locating in Cloud county a commodious residence of nine rooms has grown, sur- rounded and enhanced by a luxuriant grove composed mostly of box-elders. Under the cooling shadows of these trees the old veterans and members of the Grand Army of the Republic of Concordia assemble annually to rehearse experiences and extend the hand of fellowship to old comrades. Mr. Ashley follows diversified farming and also gives considerable atten- tion to fruit growing. and his prosperity is the result of his well-directed energies. He is a public-spirited man, a staunch Republican in his political views and takes an interest in everything pertaining to the promotion of all worthy causes. Mrs. Ashley is a woman of refinement and has been a true helpmate to her husband, assisting very materially in acquiring their pres- ent competency. The Ashley home is one of perfect harmony. Frank W. and his wife, since their marriage of ten years ago, have lived at his father's home as members of one family, hence, instead of losing their son they gained a daughter.
THOMAS B. HOLTZMAN. -
T. B. Holtzman. the subject of this sketch, came to Kansas in 1873, without capital but with an abundance of that goodly heritage, pluck and enterprise. He began life on a farm in a very humble way, having lived in a dugont for three months. He then built a one-room house known as a "box house," paid seven dollars per thousand for the shingles and hanled them fifty miles. Mr. Holtzman was single at that time-when girls were at a premium. His father filed on land adjoining and a few years later they built a comfortable stone house on his homestead.
Mr. Holtzman is a native of West Virginia, born on a farm in Preston county in 1849. His parents were John and Hannah ( Trowbridge) Holtz- man. His father's birthplace was Maryland, but early in life he removed with his parents to West Virginia. John Holtzman with his family emi- grated to Missouri in 1871, and two years later to Kansas. He died in 1892. at the age of sixty-two years. The Holtzmans, as the name implies, were of German origin. The Trowbridge ancestors were an old English family and settled in Virginia in an early day. His mother died in 1885. Mr. Holtzman is the only living child of a family of three children, the
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
other two having died in infancy. Mr. Holtzman and his father bought twenty-five head of cattle and a yoke of oxen. This purchase consumed all their capital, but their stock increased year by year until now he owns two hundred head which is one of the finest bred Shorthorn herds in the state. He has raised many hogs, marketing several car loads per year, often netting him twenty-five hundred dollars annually. In 1893 his hogs brought eight cents per pound. He gives considerable attention to fruit raising. Mr. Holtzman's farm is a sort of market, as he buys much of the surplus feed that is raised in his neighborhood. He also raises horses and mules and has some fine stock in that line. Mr. Holtzman is an extensive land owner. In 1882 he bought forty acres adjacent to his original claim from the proceeds of a load of hogs. In 1894 he purchased two hundred and forty acres lying one and three-quarters miles south and one-half mile west of his homestead, and in 1893 inherited his father's land. In 1901 he bought three hundred and thirty acres of land in Lawrence township, a fine property with one hundred and twenty-five acres under cultivation, watered by never-failing springs and intersected by Salt creek. Mrs. Holtz- man homesteaded land which she still retains. It is situated opposite the home place. They own a total of eleven hundred acres of valuable land. This estate has by the magic hands of industry become one of the most admirably conducted farms in Cloud county and yields a handsome income. The buildings of this fine country place all indicate there is a thorough and practical farmer at the helm. In 1882 Mr. Holtzman erected a handsome modern dwelling of nine rooms, surrounded by a well-kept lawn and located on one of those high points that afford a commanding view of the surround- ing country for many miles. A year later he erected a commodious barn.
Mr. Holtzman was married in 1877 to Maggie, a daughter of San- ford and Mary ( Patterson) Halbert. Her father was an old Virginian, born in 1808, and came to Kansas with his family in 1871, and filed on land near the Holtzman homestead, where he died in 1893, at the age of eighty- seven years. Her mother was born in Pennsylvania in 1812, and died at the age of thirty-six years.
Mr. and Mrs. Holtzman are the parents of two children, the eldest is a son, Homer, who is interested with his father on the farm and gives prom- ise of becoming like his sire, a success in life. He has been educated in the home district and one year in the Salina Wesleyan College. The daughter, Mae, a bright and promising young girl, is a student in the Great Western Business College of Concordia, taking a commercial course. She also pos- sesses a good deal of musical talent. Mr. Holtzman is in sympathy with the Republican party and works for its principles.
CHARLES KRISTOFFERSON.
The subject of this sketch, Charles Kristofferson, more commonly known as "Ericson." which is his Swedish cognomen, according to the custom of that country, deserves a conspicuous place among the old settlers
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who have risen from poverty to opulence. From a poor, penniless youth, a foreigner comparatively friendless and alone in the world, he has become the owner of one of the finest estates in Cloud county, and a good sized bank account.
Mr. Kristofferson is a native of Sweden, born in 1847. His father had secured employment for him on the railroad section in advance of his emigrating to this country and his employer forwarded money for his pass- age over, the amount to be reserved from his wages. Upon coming to America, in 1869, he first settled in Iowa and the following year came to Cloud county and homesteaded his present farm in Meredith township. In Sweden he occupied a position with a Swedish nobleman but was required to dress in livery. His wages were low and he saved nothing of his earn- ings. llis father is Eric Kristofferson, a farmer, and preceded his son one year to America and two years later came to Cloud county and took up a homestead adjoining his son's. The old dugout he occupied is still standing and in a good state of preservation. He is now retired and is living in Con- cordia, at the age of seventy-eight years. His grandfather and great grandfather were farmers in Sweden. His mother was Johanna Jenson and died when the subject of this sketch was thirteen years of age, leaving three children, one of whom beside himself is living, a brother, Eric Ericson, a stone mason of Concordia. He also homesteaded a place in Meredith town- ship. the farm now owned by Peter Johnson. Their father has buried four wives. By the third wife there is one daughter. Minnie Kristofferson, aged fourteen years. Mr. Kristofferson worked as a day laborer on the Union Pacific Railroad then in course of construction through Nebraska, and wit- nessed the first train that passed over that road to San Francisco. In 1872 he worked on the Kansas Pacific and saw the first train that ran from Kan- sas City to Cheyenne. He had only money enough to pay for his homestead right : no team. no stock nor implements with which to work his claim ; but his hopes were buoyed up by the thought that some day he would be able to see the uncultivated fields yielding crops of goklen grain. This vision of the future filled him with hope and with a light heart he worked by the day until he had earned a yoke of oxen. Before he had secured a team he had occasion to go to Solomon City for a supply of provisions and to procure a breaking plow to use when able to hire his neighbor's oxen. In the mean- time he had improvised a cart from the hindmost wheels of a wagon. With this vehicle he started from home, after eating an eleven o'clock meal, walk- ing and pulling the cart all the way to Solomon City, arriving there by nightfall. He secured his plow. a sack of flour and a few other of the nec- essaries of life and the next afternoon started homeward over the roadless prairies, hauling the cart. He had hoped to find some settler who would be traveling in his direction that he might attach the vehicle, but none com- ing that way he left on Monday afternoon, going as far as Minneapolis, where he stayed over night. He had provided himself with a lunch for his noonday meal the next day and started on his journey before dawn. The
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