USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 16
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 16
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December 26, 1866, Mr. Wright was married in Ripley township. Huron county, Ohio, to Tacy P. Green, a daughter of William A. and Adah (Kebby) Green, who came into Ohio from Rhode Island. The Green children are; Eliza Green, Susan, George, Mary, Harrison, Tacy, Whitford and Rilla. Mr. and Mrs. Wright's surviving children are: Adah A. and Blanche Wright. Two sons, Herbert and Ralph, are dead.
W ILLIAM MERCHANT, of Wise, Allen county, whose residence in Allen county for the past thirty years has been mutually bene- ficial to the county and to himself and whose citizenship and patriotism is of a high and commendable order, was born in Fayette county, Ohio, October 9, 1825. His father was William Merchant who accompanied his widowed mother into Highland county, that state in 1813. Berkley county, Virginia, was their native heath and there our subject's father was born in 1800. He was married in Fayette county in 1822 to Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of Isaac Smith who also went to Highland county from Berkley county, Virginia. Soon after his arrival in Ohio William Mer- chant the first was bound to a blacksmith in Greenfield and only became a
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farmer after many years spent at his trade. He became one of the sub- stantial men of his community, was public spirited and influential and was an "old side Methodist." His father, Abraham Merchant, belonged to one of the old families of the "Dominion" State. His origin and that of his paternal ancestors is not a matter of tangible record.
Our subject's maternal ancestors were the Bulls of Virginia. Their history dates back to Colonial days and theirs were some of the Patriots wlio crossed blades with the British in the days of "seventy-six."
Elizabeth Merchant died in 1893 at the age of eighty-eight years. Her children were: Isaac, William, John, of Chicago, Ill .; Jonah, of Leesburg, Ohio; Abraham, who died in California in the service of his country; Naham, deceased, was a soldier in California; Sarah, deceased, who married Jacob Kaylor, Rebecca, who became the wife of Hugh Snyder, and Nancy, who resides in Jay county, Indiana, is the widow of Charles Fishback.
William Merchant, our subject, was schooled in the log cabin school houses of Ohio and grew up on the farmn. July 19, 1849, he married Sarah, a daughter of John Breakfield, whose family was also irom Berkley county, Virginia. Mrs. Merchant was born in Fayette county, Ohio, February 28, 1828. In 1850 Mr. Merchant left his father's place and took possession of a tract of his own purchase. This he cultivated till 1870 when he was induced to dispose of it and become a resident of Kansas. For twenty years he devoted himself to intelligent cultivation and manage- ment of his Ohio farin and his experience and his accumulations placed him in an advantage when located upon his Allen county farm. He pur- chased on Deer Creek the John Martin tract of 160 acres and out of his earnings both before and since 1870 he has added five other quarters mak- ing a total of 960 acres. His is at once a farm and a ranch for Deer Creek bottom excels in the production of grain while the prairies and hill land furnish fine range accessible to the waters of the creek.
The patriotism of the Merchants is noteworthy and unbounded. Wherever their country calls there they respond, even with their lives. During the Civil war William Merchant volunteered for the defense of Ohio and was one of the Morgan pursuers. Two of his brothers enlisted in the volunteer service and thus the cause of the Union was upheld and the loyalty of the Merchants demonstrated. In politics, as in war, our subject has been on the right side. His ancestors were Whigs and he cast his maiden vote for Gen.' Taylor, and for Gen. Scott, the last two Whig candidates for the presidency. He was a Fremont man in 1856, a Lincoln man in 1860-4 and a supporter of Grant, Hayes, Blaine, Harrison and Mckinley. As for actively engaging in local political frays Mr. Merchant never does. His moral attitude leads him to the support of municipal candidates who stand for principle instead of spoils. His whole life is one long Christian example and moral lesson. He became a Christian in early life and has done much religious work in the home and in the pulpit. He is a licensed preacher of the Methodist church and his talks are filled with earnestness and Christian zeal. Mr. and Mrs. Mecrhant's children are:
& I Northrup
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Eliza E., who married Bela Latham; Josephine, widow of Arthur Latham; Mary E. Merchant, and Nancy J., wife of William Moffit, of Folsom, New Mexico.
William Merchant is one of the strong characters of Allen county. His distinguishing marks are his pronounced sincerity, his unstinted honesty and his intense Christian simplicity. He is a man among men and a gentleman without taint or suspicion.
L EVI LEE NORTHRUP .- The history of a community is largely made up of the biography of a few individuals, and the history of Iola and Allen county can never be written without including also the record of L. L. Northrup, one of the pioneers of the county, and from the date of his arrival until the day of his death one of the largest factors in its business.
L. L. Northrup was a son of Lewis Northrup, a brick mason, and of Eliz- abeth Lathrop, and was born in Geneseo county, New York, April 12, 1818. There were three other sons, Rev. G. S., who died at Geneva, Kansas; Ezra L., who died at Rippon, Wisconsin, and Charles Northrup whose whereabouts have been unknown since the period of the Civil War.
When but two years of age, by the death of his mother, the family home was broken up and Levi L. Northrup was taken into the household of an uncle at Elmira, New York, by whom he was brought up. His schooling was only such as the very indifferent common schools of that day afforded and his education was, therefore, limited.
As he approached manhood he was put to learn the woolen manu- facturing trade, and in 1840 he had saved enongh out of his wages to be able to engage in the business on his own account, which he did at Albion, New York. His business prospered and the young factor seemed fairly started on the road to wealth when, in 1846, his factory was burned and there was little left of the accumulation of six years of work and care.
Nothing daunted, however, the young man set to work again and it was not long till he was again engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods this time at LaFayette, Indiana. But the same misfortune overtook him here as at Albion for he had not long been in operation when fire swept away his plant, and his resources, for the second time, were ser- iously crippled. A third time he set up in the same business, the last time at Thorntown, Indiana, where an uncle became his partner and where, for some years a thriving business was done and the foundation of a modest fortune started.
In 1858, at the earnest solicitation of the Union Settlement Company, which had bought a large body of land in Allen county, Kansas, and had laid out the town of Geneva, he disposed of his interest in the
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woolen mill and removed to this state, bringing, as his entire capital, a sm all stock of general merchandise and a saw-mill; the whole representing an investment of, perhaps, three thousand dollars. He located first at Geneva, but when the town of Iola was laid out, a year later, he estab- lished a brauch store there. Three years later, the expectation of its founders, that Geneva would grow into a city, not having been realized, Mr. Northrup removed with his family to Iola, and in 1869 he concentrated all his business interests in the latter town which ever afterward remained his home.
Up to this time he had been engaged only in general merchandising, but he now established a bank, the first in Iola, which soon became one of the most important factors in the business life of the town. One of the few Kansas banks that lived through the panic of '73, it became steadily more strongly entreuched in popular favor, until its large business war- ra ited its re-organization in 1900 as a National Bank. As the "Northrup National Bank" it has become known and is generally recognized as one of the leiding financial institutions of southeastern Kansas. It may be of in- terest to note in this connection. that the small two-story building originally erected for the use of the bank, and which was famed at the time as the fin- est building south of Ottawa, has now given way to the Masonic Temple, the new bank having transferred its business to the splendid structure that bears its name.
In 1877 Mr. Northrup practically turned the business of his store over to his oldest son, O. P. Northrup, who managed it with marked ability and success until failing health, which resulted in his death, in 1892, com- pelled him to give up his place to his younger brothers, in whose name the store has ever since been conducted.
After relinquishing the management of the store, Mr. Northrup gave his entire attention to the bank, to the lumber business which he had established about the same time, and to large landed and other outside interests, continuing, until overtaken by his last illness, with marvelous industry and activity, to look after the least details of a great and always growing business.
Mr. Northrup was married at Thorntown, Indiana, February 27. 1849, to Mary E. Pearce, a daughter of John S. and Jane (Code) Pearce who came to the United States from England and of whose seven children four survive: Thos. E. and John A. Pearce, farmers near Edgerton, Kansas, and Mrs. C. E. DeVore, of Bushnell, Illinois, and Mrs. Northrup. Of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Northrup but three survive: Frank Altes, Lewis Lee and Delmer Pearce Northrup, for many years actively and successfully engaged in business in Iola.
Although all his life an unremitting and indefatigable worker. Mr. Northrup enjoyed robust health until about three years before his death when he suffered an attack of lagrippe. He was present at his desk, not- withstanding his enfeebled condition, until a few months before his taking- away, March 3, 1896. Two days later. when the funeral services were
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held. business in Iola wa- suspended while the friends of a lifetime joined in paying tribute to his memory.
The foregoing is a brief sketch of a busy, eventful and successful life. It is the story of a boy born in poverty and obscurity, orphaned in infan- cy, thrown upon the world with meager education and with no capital but his own brains and skill and industry and character, fighting his way step by step until he had amassed a large if not a great fortune. And this fortune was not made by any sudden or unworked for stroke of "luck," or by some fortunate speculation It was accumulated slowly and as the result of economy, good judgment and tireless industry.
Mr. Northrup was intensely loyal to his town and was always counted upon as one of the large contributors to any enterprise that was to be undertaken for the advancement of public interests. In the early days when it was a question whether the Missouri Pacific railroad should come to Iola or go to a rival town, it was Mr. Northrup's open purse and active effort that did more than anything else to secure the prize for Iola. He was especially earnest and effective in his efforts to have Iola's natural gas field developed and utilized. In short he gave freely in time, labor and money, to any and every undertaking that promised to advance the interest of Iola.
Next to the town in general, the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a life long member, was the most especial object of Mr. Northrup's interest and care. In the beginning, when the struggling church was occupying a little building on the corner of State and West streets, Mr. Northrup personally did the janitor work and attended to all the little "chores" that had to be done to keep the house in order and have it ready for the various meetings. And for a great many years, indeed from the time of its organization until his death, he bore one-fourth of the entire expense of maintaining the church. He was a teacher in the Sunday School for nearly a full quarter of a century, and as long as his health permitted he was a regular attendant upon all of the services of the church. The faith in the Christian religion, which prompted all these good works, was the faith of a little child, unquestioning and undoubting, and it abided with him to the very end, so that he leaned upon it as upon a staff when he walked down, without fear and without repining, into the valley of the shadow.
Like most men who devote themselves successfully to business pur- suits, Mr. Northrup cared little for society. In his own home, however, he was most hospitable to his guests and loving and indulgent to his wife and children. Always and in all things a modest man, there was never any display, any vain show of wealth; but the family home was always the home of comfort and contentment and true happiness.
The large businesses which Mr. Northrup so firmly established,- merchandizing, banking and lumber,-have been most successfully con- tinued by his sons, who have shown in the management of their large estate many of the qualities of sagacity, industry, public spirit and un- swerving honesty that were shown by their father in its accumulation. So
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that in the considerable city which Iola has now beconie, "the Northrups" occupy the same relative position as their father occupied before them in the then modest village, and the family name stands now, as it has stood in Iola and in Allen county for more than forty years, as the synonym for business enterprise, success and integrity.
F REDERICK KETTLE-Among the practical, progressive farmers of Carlyle township, Allen County, is numbered Mr. Kettle, who was born in England, April 22, 1859, a son of Robert and Jane (Roland) Kettle. The mother died at the age of thirty-five years, but the father came to America in 1873, and is now living near Iola, at the age of seven- ty-six years.
Mr. Kettle, of this review, was reared in the land of his birth and at the early age of twelve years entered the employ of the Britania Rolling Mills, with which he was connected until the time of his emigration to America. These were the largest rolling mills in England, utilizing one thousand tons of metal each week. As his educational privileges were limited he attended night schools. In the year 1881 he crossed the Atlan- tic and has since been a resident of Allen County, Kansas. When he ar- rived here he knew nothing of farming, having never seen an ear of corn growing, or had hold of a cultivator handle up to that time; but he possessed a resolute spirit and readily adapted himself to his new surroundings.
In 1882 Mr. Kettle was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Menzer, a native of Germany and a daughter of Conrad Menzer, a resident of Iola, who came to Kansas when Mrs. Kettle was only twelve years of age. After his marriage Mr. Kettle began farming on his own account, renting land. He lived upon two rented farms, making his home on each for about nine years. He then purchased about eighty acres of land on Deer Creek and the rich, productive soil enables him to raise from fifty to seventy-five bushels of corn per acre. One of the first things he learned in connection with his life in the new world was always to have the best of everything, and this he has followed in equipping his farm with buildings and machinery. His has been an industrious and active life and through his well directed efforts he has acquired a competence. He raises cattle and hogs, to which he feeds his corn, and in the sale of his stock he has acquired a good income.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kettle have been born seven children, namely: Libbie and Lillie, twins; Agnes J., Hattie H., Florence M., George F., and Robert R. They have been trained to habits of industry and are now very helpful to their parents. In his political views Mr. Kettle is a Re- publican, and while he is thoroughly conversant with the issues of the day he has never sought nor desired office, preferring to give his entire time and attention to his business affairs.
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S HERMAN G. ROGERS-Sherman G. Rogers is actively and prom- inently connected with educational interests in Allen County, his ability in the line of his chosen calling having won him prestige as an instructor. His life cannot fail to prove of interest, showing as it does the opportunities that lie before men of determined purpose, for at the early age of eleven years he started out to earn his own living and has since been depending entirely upon his own resources. Such a history is an exemplification of the lines of the poet who wrote:
"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate Can circumvent or hinder or control The firm resolve of a determined soul. Gifts count for little; will alone is great; All things give way before it, soon or late."
Professor Rogers was born in Adams County, Indiana, on the 23rd of January, 1868, his parents being James and Margaret (Pitts) Rogers, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, The mother died in 1875, leaving four children, of whom Mr. Rogers of this review is the youngest. He was then eleven years of age. In 1879 his father removed to Kansas, purchas- ing a farm in Osage township, Allen County, but was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, his death occurring about three months later. Sher- inan G. Rogers was then left an orphan, and, receiving no patrimony, he was forced to provide for his own livelihood. Having acquired his pre- liminary education in the common schools he desired to further perfect his knowledge and to this end he pursued a two years' course in the Fort Scott Normal, meeting the expenses of his normal study with money which he had himself earned. Subsequently he learned telegraphy at Moran and secured a position on the Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad, but after a year he resigned in order to enter upon educational labor. He successfully passed the teachers' examination, received his certificate and secured a school in the district where he had acquired his education when a boy. For seven years he has been a representative of the profession, being employed in various parts of Allen County, and is now for the fourth term acting as teacher in the East Liberty school district. As a student he was thorough, fully mastering the branches to which he gave his consideration, and now he has the faculty of imparting clearly and concisely the knowledge he has acquired. At the present time he is devoting his leisure to the study of medicine, under the direction of Dr. O'Flyng, of Elsmore, perusing the medical text books after his day's work in the school room is ended. His strong force of character, laudable ambition and resolute purpose will en- able him to achieve success in whatever line of life lie decides to cast his lot. He is also engaged in teaching several classes in vocal music, pos- sessing considerable talent in that direction. He is now serving as choris- ter and Sunday School superintendent in the Methodist Episcopal church in Elsmore. It would be almost tautological in this connection to say that he is a man of broad mind and progressive spirit, for these have been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. Although he is a young
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man, his career is one worthy of emulation, being characterized by marked fidelity to duty, by earnest purpose, by manly principles and sincere actions.
L YMAN F. PALMER, Iola's reliable marble and granite cutter, came
into Kansas in 1893 and located for business in Burlington. He re- mained at that point until October, 1895, when he saw the future of the gas belt and established himself in Iola. He was formerly from Chicago, Illinois.
E G. GILBERT-Northeast Allen County, or what is now Osage town- ship, is fortunate in the possession of many of our splendid citizens. In the year 1860 when the first settlers stole across the border and laid the foundation for homes and thereby established civilization within its borders Edward G. Gilbert was of the few. He entered the southwest quarter of section twenty, township twenty-three, range twenty-one, built a cabin and returned to his home in Ohio. He reached there on election day and helped elect Lincoln the first time. The events leading up to the Civil war transpired rapidly and its outbreak caused him to delay his return to Kansas. He remained in Ohio, participated in some of the events which ended the war and then turned his face toward his new home. He took possession of his cabin near the river, furnished it with a peg bedstead, box cupboard and antiquated chairs and began a bachelor's existence. The work of reducing nature with art which he began then he has continued with such success and such profit as to place him among the large land- owners of the county.
All that is left of the settlers of 1865 is Mr. Gilbert, the Tucker broth- ers and Charlie Ross. The Brays and the Manns, pioneers, are all gone, and the prairie which Mr. Gilbert predicted would all be settled in his time and which many thought could not happen, is all settled, improved and turned into one vast field and meadow.
Mr. Gilbert came to Kansas from Champaign County, Ohio, He was born in Harrison County, West Virginia, December 9, 1832, and is a farm- er's son. Amos Gilbert, his father, was born in Buck's County, Pennsyl- vania, of Quaker parents. In about 1850 the latter came into Ohio where he died in 1854, at fifty years of age. His wife, who was Phebe Wilson, died in 1852. Of their seven children six survive. viz .: Edward G., Mary, wife of George Millice, of Mechanicsburg, Ohio; Ann E., widow of N. B. Johnson, of Champaign, County, Ohio; Benjamin B., of Champaign, County, Ohio; George and Amos G., also of that county; Nellie, deceased, wife of G. M. Nelson.
Edward G. Gilbert acquired only a limited education. He began life
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without other than his physical resources and earned his first money as a wage worker on a farm. He was induced to come to Kansas by an old ac- quaintance, Mr. Black, who settled in Anderson County in 1858, and he made the trip by rail to St. Louis, by boat to Kansas City, and by stage (for $11) to Mound City, Kansas.
August 19, 1866 Mary E. Tucker became Mrs. Gilbert and took pos- session of his residence (a log cabin 14x16) and all its furnishings. Mrs. Gilbert was a daughter of Robert Tucker who came to Kansas from Missouri but was a Virginian by birth.
Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert's children are: Mary, wife of Rev. Geo. W. Trout, of Rochester, New York; Millie J., wife of Hiram Huffman, Robert E., who married L. Harvey; Conney, deceased and Cora Gilbert.
Mr. Gilbert went into the army toward the close of the war. He enlist- ed in Company F., 134th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, one hundred day service, under General Butler's command. He contracted lung fever and was warned that he would die if he entered the army but it did not deter him.
Mr. Gilbert has been one of the most influential men in the politics of Allen County. He cast his first vote for General Scott and his next for Fremont and on down the Republican ticket to November 6, 1900. Thir- teen times has he presented himself at the ballot box to make his choice for President and only four times has he failed of his man. Mr. Gilbert possesses, in a high degree, the confidence of his fellow countrymen which fact, alone, is worth a life time of active industry and personal sacrifice.
J AMES WHALLON ROLL, successful farmer and highly respected citi- zen of Carlyle township, Allen County, was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, near Glendale, December 28, 1836. His father, Samuel V. Roll. was one of the pioneers of Hamilton County, going there in 1805 from Mendham, Morris County, New Jersey. The latter was born at Mendham in 1788 and died in September, 1885. In early life he was a saddle and harness maker. His father, Abram Roll, bought a large tract of land near Cincinnati(the 25th ward of that city )and opened a farm there. Samuel V. Roll 10de over across the mountains into Ohio on horseback and was offered the square in Cincinnati where the Galt house stands, for his horse. Samuel V. Roll was a gentleman well known as a pioneer, took a conspicu- ous part in the affairs of his locality and the second Abolition ballot cast in Springfield township, Hamilton County, was cast by him. He married Nancy A. Whallon, daughter of James Whallon, a large farmer and a Jerseyman. Their marriage resulted in the following issue; Samuel, de- ceased; James W .; Lavina, deceased; Nancy, deceased; John, deceased and Benjamin, of Mt. Healthy, Ohio.
James W. Roll grew up at Glendale and was educated in College Hill, Ohio. He taught in the public schools five years and then entered the Cincinnati Business College as one of the professors. Following this con-
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