USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 12
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 12
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In 1867 Mr. Pearson was united in marriage to Jane C. Dixon, a daughter of Robert and Mary (Wilson) Dixon. She was born in Fer- manaugh county, Ireland, in 1839. Her father died of cholera at Downer's Grove, Illinois, in 1863. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Pearson are:
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Alice K., wife of Frank Pettit, by whom she has two children, Charles P. and Ralph, their home being in Salem township; Mary E., wife of Willis Pettit, brother of Frank, and a resident of Elm township; Grace E. and J. Stella who are still with their parents. Two children, George I. and Rarrie M., died in infancy.
Mr. Pearson cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and has supported each presidential nominee of the Republican party since that time. He is recognized as one of its leaders in Allen county, and has taken a deep interest in political affairs since long before he attained his majority. In 1890 his party honored him with a seat in the House of Representatives. The Republicans were greatly in the minority and could carry through no measure alone. He was placed on the railroad committee and introduced the alien land bill which passed both houses of the assembly and became a law. In 1892 he was re-elected and became a member of the "Douglas" house which House the "Populist House" locked and barred from the Capitol as their solution of the dual house question. Mr. Pearson carried the sledge with which the "Douglas House" battered down the House door and took forcible possession of the chamber, February 15, 1893. He was again placed on the railroad com- mittee and was chairman of the fee and salary committee, and also the committee of cities of the first and second class. During this session of the legislature he introduced an amendment to the constitution that all taxes paid by the railroads for school and county purposes should be paid in money instead of work, and providing where municipalities, towns or counties had voted bonds in aid of railroads the taxes paid for school and road purposes should be divided among the districts, cities or counties, the money to be paid per capita in such manner as the legislature might direct. Mr. Pearson is still an earnest, honest conscientious worker for the good of his party and the upbuilding of the commonwealth. He has ever placed the party's welfare before self-aggrandizement and he is widely known as a patriotic citizen whose devotion to the general good is unquestioned. Over his public career and his private record there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil and he is justly entitled to the high regard of his many friends.
K EYSER .- This Allen county family is of recent date as to settlement in Kansas, having entered the state for the purpose of a residence in March 1881. In May following Benjamin Keyser, the head of the family, brought his household to Allen county and established his home in Iola. Benjamin Keyser had been reared a farmer in the east and to this pursuit did he devote himself the few years he lived in Kansas. He became the owner of a tract of land on Deer Creek, at Wise post office, and the last acts of his life were devoted to its culture: Once strong and of powerful physique Mr. Keyser was in the state of decline when he left
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his native Maryland for the west. Kansas was too new for him at that date and his hopes and expectations were not as rapidly realized as he felt they would be and this condition induced a further and gradual decline in health. January 9, 1889, he was stricken with apoplexy while reading his paper and passed away without regaining consciousness.
Benjamin Keyser was born in Frederick county, Maryland, October 24, 1821. He was one of thirteen children and a son of Philip and Elizabeth (Cannon) Keyser. The latter's children and grandchildren are as follows: Sophia, who married Samuel Heffner and died in Frederick county, Maryland, leaving Lewis, John and Sophia A. (Link); Margaret, who died single; Elizabeth, who married Joseph Crist and died in Frederick county, with issue as follows: Margaret, wife of Thos. Chilcote; Philip; Joseph; Charles; Henry; Celia, wife of Hens. T. C. Green, of Washington, D. C .; Luther and Melsino, who married Clayton S. Smith ; John Keyser, who died in Frederick county, and left the following children: Ephraim; William; Mary; Charles; Eugene; John; Dallas; Lewis and Nettie; Lewis Keyser, who died near Harpers Ferry, Va., and left Fannie; James; Elizabeth; Naomi; Joseph; Charles; Martha; Erma; John; George and Alice; Samuel Keyser, who died in Frederick county was the father of Walter; John; Margaret; Mary; Annie; George; Katie; Richard; Virgie and Cliffie; Jacob Keyser, who died in Lincoln, Neb., leaving Philip, Mary, Annie, Jennie, Fannie and Lewis; Ann Catherine who married Daniel Wachter and died in Frederick county, with issue as follows: Margaret, Sophia, Elijah and Mary; Joseph Keyser, who died in southern Pennsylvania and had two sons, names not known; Benjamin Keyser; Cornelius, who died in Baltimore, Maryland, with no children; Sarah, who married Henry Wachter and died in Frederick with the following children: Nathan, Howard, Sidney, Isaac, David, Emma, Charles, Newton, Annie and Mary; Savilla Keyser, who married Jacob Snook and died at Boonsboro, Maryland, left children as follows: A. Clayton, Scott, Marshall, Wallace and Harlin.
Philip Keyser, the father of our subject, was born in Washington county, Maryland, in 1733, was married there and removed to Frederick county where all his children were born. He was a blacksmith, but was engaged chiefly in farming and was a prominent citizen of his community. His success in business was of local note and his sons represented various lines of industry in their choice of livelihoods. He was a Democrat.
Benjamin Keyser passed his first fifty-nine years in Frederick county, Maryland. He was married there March 24, 1846, to Fredrica Elizabeth Zeigler, a daughter of Michael and Johanna (Schaffner) Zeigler. Michael Zeigler was born in Germany in 1783 and his wife was born in the same coun- try in 1795. They were married in 1818 and the next year they came to the United States. They were accompanied by a sister of Mr. Zeigler and a brother of Mrs Zeigler (wife and husband) who settled near Philadelphia. Pa. Michael Zeigler settled in Frederick county, Maryland, and passed the remainder of his life upon a farm. He died in March 1352 and his widow died in November 1863. Their children were: Hanna, who is a
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maid and resides in Frederick county; Henry, who died in Frederick City. Maryland, with issue as follows: Edward, Mary, Charles, Eugene, Clara, Kate, Annie, William, George, Clarence and Fannie; Fredrica, widow of Benjamin Keyser, born November 16, 1824; Susan, who married Isaac Wachter and died in Delaware, Ohio, left the following children: Annie, Alice, Frank, Lue and Daisy; Christian Zeigler who was killed in a railroad accident in the mountains of Pennsylvania in 1856, and died without heirs; Rebecca, who married John Hobbs and died at Nauvoo, Illinois, with a deceased daughter, Alice, as issue; Mary C., who married Ezra Staley and died near Frederick City, Maryland, with issue as follows: Minnie, Annie and Charles; and Louisa M., who died in Frederick City unmarried.
The childred of Benjamin and Fredrica Keyser are Chas. H., born March 25, 1847, resides in Pitkin county, Colorado; Milton W., born April 29, 1849, married Mary C. Mitchell and is one of the large farmers of Edwards county, Kansas; Alice J., born January 2, 1852, resides in Iola; Franklin A., born June 29, 1854, resides in Mineral county, Colo- rado, and Anna M., wife of L. W. Duncan, born March 9, 1862.
R EASON M. CUNNINGHAM is a representative of many important business interests of Allen county. Since 1885 he has been a resi- dent of Humboldt, where he has been the promoter of many enterprises which contribute not alone to his individual prosperity but also advance the general welfare by promoting commercial activity. A native of Indiana, he was born in Daviess county on the 22nd of March, 1856, his parents being Reason and Susan E. (Prewitt) Cunningham, the former born in Indiana in 1818, the latter in Kentucky in 1821. The father was a farmer by oocupation. In 1870 he removed to Kansas, arriving in Humboldt on the 19th of April, after which he purchased a farm near Leanna in the southern part of the county. Both he and his wife are still living, their home being in Humboldt. The father has attained the age of eighty-two, while the mother is seventy-nine years of age. They were parents of eight sons and three daughters, and two sons and one daughter have passed away. Elbethel B. was a soldier in the Civil war, He served for three years with Company I, Sixtieth Indiana Infantry, and then veteranized, remaining at the front until the cessation of hostilities. He participated in many battles but escaped the enemies' bullet, although he came nearly losing his life from the explosion of his ammunition box. The other children of the family are Mrs. Sarah E. Dickerson, who resides on a farm near Leanna; Robert H., an agriculturist; I. N., of Moline, Kansas; G. D. and W. S., who are residents of Humboldt, and Ollie, who is with her parents.
In taking up the personal history of Reason M. Cunningham, Jr., we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably
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known. He was fourteen years of age at the time of his parents removal to Kansas. After completing a common school education he continued his studies in the Fort Scott Normal and in the State Normal of Emporia. Kansas, providing the means for his tuition and other expenses by teaching at intervals and by farm work in the summer. For fifteen years he followed the profession of teaching, and was regarded as an excellent educator, having the ability to impart clearly and impressively to others the knowledge he had acquired. In 1885 he came to Humboldt, where he engaged in teaching through the winter, while in the summer months he followed the insurance business. Ultimately he dropped his educational work and has since given his attention to the insurance and real estate business, in which he has met with very desirable success. He has con- ducted many important realty transactions and is the owner of considerable valuable property, having a farm of one hundred and sixty acres near Humboldt, together with his residence, and other business property in the city. He also owns the grounds and ice plant building on the banks of the Neosho river and is a stock holder and the secretary and treasurer of the Humboldt Telephone Company. These various interests bring to him an excellent income, which classes him among the well-to-do citizens of the county.
Mr. Cunningham was married on the 27th of May, 1883, to Miss Nancy H. Booe, of Neosho county, a daughter of William Booe, who was a native of Indiana, whence he came with his family to Kansas in 1879. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham have been born five children, four of whom are yet living: Gertrude L., Vera M., Clay D. and Helen E. The third child, Glen, died at the age of eleven months. At the time of his marriage, Mr. Cunningham removed to Erie and purchased lumber of A. L. Taylor to build his house. That was before the day of railroads in this locality, and he had to haul his lumber by teams from Osage Mission.
In his political views Mr. Cunningham has ever been a stalwart Republican, and takes an active interest in promoting the party's welfare. He has served as a member of the county central committee, and for three terms filled the office of township clerk, while at the present time he is notary public. As a citizen he is progressive, lending his aid to any movement calculated to prove of benefit along material, social, intellectual and moral lines. He has made marked advancement in his business career through the possession of those unyielding elements which ever conquer success.
JOHN H. GARDNER, of Humboldt, whose connection with the interests of that city date back to 1870 when he came to it from Wash- ington, D. C., was born in Ann Arundel county, Maryland, July 4, 1840. His parents, John and Anna Hall (Watson) Gardner, were natives of the
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same state, his father being born in Ann Arundel county. His grand- parents were also native Maryland people. John and Anna H. Gardner were the parents of seven children, viz: Win. L., who died in Maryland in 1897; Elizabeth C., wife of James Crogen, of Washington, D. C .; Charles T., of Allen county, Kansas; Anna E., wife of Thos. J. Webster, died in Los Angeles, California; J. H .; Richard and Abner, of Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania. John Gardner's first wife died in 1849 and by a second wife he reared seven children all of whom reside in Maryland.
J. H. Gardner lett the old Maryland home during the war and went to Washington, D. C., where he was in the employ of the Adams Express Company during a period of the Civil war. Succeeding this he engaged in the fruit and provision business in that city and was so connected in a business way till 1870 when he decided to come west. On the 6th of May of the last named year he came to Humboldt, Kansas. It was his intention to return to the Capital City but, seeing a good opening for carpenters- and having learned that trade in his youth and early manhood-he decided to remain and found work at once. He formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Webster, to engage in contracting and the firm had in their employ the first two years a half score of men. In 1872 he engaged in the meat business and for twenty-five years was the leading butcher and meat man in the city. He not only killed and cut up meat on the block but killed and cured and did a considerable business as a packer, as well. He was amply rewarded for every effort put forth in the line of his business but as soon as he stepped aside to aid his friends, by endorse- ments or by a lift on some enterprise with a doubtful future, he got into the mire. The harder he tried to extricate himself from these burdens the deeper their own weight carried him into the bog. In time he was forced to yield up his business and much of his accumulations to satisfy his creditors.
Harry Gardner has not alone been prominent as a business man. He brought strong Republican proclivities with him from Maryland and as Allen was a strong Republican county he found use for his politics and real sympathy for his faith. He has been a formidable candidate for a county office on more than one occasion before Republican conventions and was nominated for county treasurer in 1887 but was defeated by a combination of circumstances for which his reputation was in no wise to blame.
Mr. Gardner was married in Humboldt in 1878 to Alice J. Smith, a daughter of Thos. D. and Julia A. ( Maxwell) Smith who came into Allen county with her family from Illinois in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner's children are: Charles R .. J. Thomas, Hazel, Mildred and Morris.
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G EORGE W. MOON is one of the the most substantial farmers of Allen county and represents a line of business that contributes in a greater degree to the substantial growth and prosperity of the country than any other calling to which man devotes his energies. He was born in Hamilton county, near Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 22nd of December, 1838. His father, Milton Moon was a native of New York, and by occupation was a farmer. His mother, Julia Mullen Moon, was a native of New Jersey, and a representative of a Quaker family. When twelve years of age Milton Moon accompanied his parents to Ohio, where he was reared and continued to make his home until his death which occurred in 1886, at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife died in 1866 at the age of sixty- five years.
George Moon remained at home intil about twenty years of age, when he began learning the milling business, serving as an apprentice under a Mr. Miller, of Union county, Indiana. He was employed in that capacity until the outbreak of the Civil war. He was then young, of courageous spirit and unfaltering loyalty, and in defense of the old flag he enlisted as a member of Company B, Sixty-ninth Ohio Infantry. He was made first sergeant. He little imagined the hardships and privations that were in store for him, but wherever he was found he was always loyal to duty and to the Union cause. The regiment withli which he was connected was sent directly to the front and was engaged in several skirmishes. He participated in only two pitched battles,-the engagements of Stone River and Chickamauga. At the latter he was captured and he experienced all the horrors of the southern prisons. It was on the 19th of September, 1863, at the burning of Reedi's bridge that he was captured and taken to Bell Isle, just opposite Richmond, Virginia. After remaining at that place for about two months he was transferred to Richmond, being incarcerated in Libby prison, a large tobacco house which the rebels had transformed into a place in which they might confine those who through the fortunes of war had fallen into their hands. The prison was very crowded and dirty and the soldiers only had about half rations, and though he considered the hardships very great, the conditions in Richmond were far better than those at Danville, Virginia, whither he was sent after three months spent in Libby prison. At Danville he remained for two months and was then transferred to Andersonville, where he remained for seven months. The conditions at that place were too horrible for description, for many of the prisoners were crowded into an open space with a high stockade all around with nothing to shelter them from the hot summer sun of the south. This prison was so crowded that they had hardly room to lie down. They had scarcely anything to eat and the sanitary conditions were the worst possible. The poor food and impure air brought death to many of the boys in blue. Sickness visited them and the sufferings were horrible. Mr. Moon entered that prison a strong man, but was almost a skeleton when he came out. He could hardly stand alone, but the bayonets and bullets of the guard forced him to move when the command was given. The sufferings
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and horrors of that prison are beyond description and only those who experienced incarceration there can fully understand the situation. When the men were taken prisoners they were robbed by the guards of all they possessed, including tents, blankets and much of their clothing. A promise was given that these would be returned, but they never were.
Mr. Moon was taken from Andersonville to Savannah where he remained for a few days and was then sent to Charleston, South Carolina, where, after a month spent upon the race track, he was transferred to Florence. He experienced there a repetition of the horrors of Anderson- ville. After remaining at that point for three months Mr. Moon was taken to Wilmington, North Carolina. The Union forces were so near, however, that the prisoners were rushed on to Goldsboro where relief came to themn. After suffering everything that human nature could endure, the subject of this review was at length paroled, sent to Wilmington and passed through the Union lines. He was then taken to Columbus, Ohio, and given a thirty days' furlough that he might return home, as he was greatly in need of rest and of those necessities of life which contribute to health and strength. On the expiration of his furlough he reported at Columbus and was there when the news of General Lee's surrender was received in May, 1865, and returned to his home with a record paralleled by comparatively few of the thousands of brave men who defended the nation in her hour of peril.
Returning to his home Mr. Moon resumed work in the employ of the man with whom he had learned his trade several years before. For three years he remained in this man's service as a most trusted and competent workman, and then started for the west, arriving in Humboldt on the Ist of April, 1868. He purchased a farm two and one half miles west of the city and has since resided here, giving his time and attention to the devel- opment of his farm in Allen county, and has acquired a comfortable competence for the evening of his life. He keeps the soil in good condi- tion by the rotation of crops and he is most progressive in all of his methods, while the neat and thrifty appearance of the place indicates his careful supervision.
Mr. Moon was united in marriage in March, 1867, to Miss Rachel Danzenbaker, a native of Indiana. Unto them have been born five chil- dren, but their eldest, Emma, died at the age of eighteen months. The others are: William, who is now married and living on a farm; Charles L., who studied telegraphy, but is now farming; Frank, who is pursuing a course of study in the Wichita College, and also devotes a part of his time to teaching, and George, who is with his parents. Mr. Moon has always been a stalwart Republican and has been elected as county com- missioner, in which capacity he served for three years. He was township treasurer for two terms, and has also been township clerk. He received the nomination of his party for representative, but in that year the Fusion ticket won, he being defeated by a very small majority. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and in this way maintains associations with his old army comrades. His has been a well spent life of activity,
Fred Horton.
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energy and honesty in all of its relations. As a citizen he is as true to his country as when he followed the stars and stripes on the southern battle- fields. His business methods have, ever commended him to the public confidence and support, and he is now regarded as one of the valued representatives of the agricultural interests of Allen county.
F RED. J. HORTON, Allen county's famous gas driller, has been the direct cause of more supreme happiness on the part of Iola's "original set" than any other person, living or dead. A few references, only, will establish this claim beyond the pale of successful contradiction. He is all but the discoverer of gas at Iola. It was he who opened the first great well at the "Northrup ford" and, for a few years, it was his drill, only, whose regular "thump" announced to the populace of Elm Creek valley the continued development of their gas field. At an hundred different points, in Allen and adjoining counties, has he penetrated the "sand" and more than sixty times has he brought to the surface that precious article, the greatest of Allen county's resources. In the discovery of the Olilfest well the citizens of LaHarpe were wont to believe their locality the center of the gas deposit in the valley and when the Remsberg "invincible," south of the city of Gas, burst forth both LaHarpe and Iola felt a jealous pang and vied with each other in their claims to its jurisdiction.
Fred Horton is a new-comer among the citizens of Allen county. He came to our state in the interest of the Palmer Oil and Gas Company and, for a time, was regarded among our temporary sojourners, only. His continued success in the determination of the extent of Allen county's gas territory led to his decision to take up his residence in Iola, where he is regarded among the permanent and substantial citizens.
Our subject was born in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, October 31, 1864. His father, Hector Horton, was a successful farmer. He was born in the town of Hector, New York, in 1819 and died in Tioga, county, Pa., in July, 1807. In early life he moved down into Tioga county, Pennsylvania, and was there married. He was one of the prominent men of his community, lived an honorable life and left an estate at his death. He was married to Permelia Emmick, a daughter of William Emmick, whose early home was near the site of Morris, Pennsylvania. Seven children were born to this union, viz: Charles A., of Butler county, Pennsylvania; Frank, of Freeport, Ohio; Anna M., wife of A. C. English, of Iola, Kansas; George E., of Freeport, Ohio; Fred J., our subject; Mary J., deceased, and Bert L. Horton, who maintains the old home in Pennsylvania.
The Hortons offer no apology for their Americanism. They were of the first families who left England for the Colonies and their descendants have filled our states and territories with some of the best blood of the
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ages. Thos. Horton, grandfather of Fred J. Horton, spent his life around Seneca Lake, in New York. He was first a boatman on that lake and afterward a distiller, with his factory at the head of the lake. He married Miss Anna Cully and died in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, leaving sons and daughters, viz: Elizabeth, of Jackson county, Mich., is the wife of John Kimball; Hiram, who died in Tioga county, Pa .; Susanna, of the same county, is Mrs. Jerre Houghton; Thomas, of same county; Hector; Sallie A., who married P. G. Walker and resides in Tioga county, Pa .; Semantha, wife of E. H. Hastings, of Wellsboro, Pa., and Ezra Horton. who died in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania.
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