USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 26
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 26
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Spafford Merrill married Athalia Rush, of New York. She died February 28. 1878, in Morgan County, Illinois. Their children were: Oscar R., of Moran, Kansas; George L. and Eva, wife of Charles Orwig. of McDonough County, Illinois, Robert Merrill, of Warren, Ohio, is a half brother of our subject.
George L. Merrill put himself to the carpenter trade in Concord, Illinois, at an early age. By the death of his parents he was without a home at the age of thirteen years. He remained about Concord till 1883 when he started west and soon brought up in Iola, Kansas. He was in company with W. H. Berkihiser, known in Moran, and found work in that town at once. He followed his trade till 1890 when he engaged in the lumber business with Honstead & Berkihiser. The firm changed to Merrill & Honstead some months later and finally, in 1896, to its present name.
On questions of public policy, in Nation and State, the early Merrills
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were Republicans. The faith of his fathers our subject has espoused and his politics is well known in Moran, where lie has served as Clerk of the city.
November 30, 1884, Mr. Merrill was married in Moran to Ida M. Cox, a daughter of Peter Cox, of Vigo County, Indiana. The latter died in Moran and left two children, viz .: Amy, wife of A. Lisenbee, and Mrs. Merrill. Mr. and Mrs. Merrill's children are: Oscar L., Alma M. and Amy E.
Mr. Merrill is a Workman, an Odd Fellow. a Rebekah and a member of the ladies auxiliary to the Workman-the Degree of Honor.
E ZRA N. WILLETT, of Moran, is one of the pioneers to eastern Allen county. He came to the county with his parents in 1868 and has been a resident of it since. His father, John Willett, located three and a half miles east of Iola, on the farin adjoining Gas on the east, and was a resident of the county till 1880 when he took up his residence in Parsons, Kansas. He, however, died in Iola in 1882 at the age of seventy-eight years.
John Willett was born in the state of Pennsylvania, reared there and came west by degrees to Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and finally to Kansas. He was married to Nancy Landis in the state of Ohio in the year 1835 and his widow resides with the subject of this review. The latter was born in 1818 and is the mother of: Wesley Willett, of Seattle, Washington; Sam E. Willett, of Malone, New York; Ezra N., our subject, born January 20, 1856; Ira Willett, of Miami, Florida; Lew E., wife of C. A. Sensor, of Denver, Colorado; Mary, wife of Jacob Fitzpatrick, of Wichita, Kansas, and Cynthia E., of Denver, Colorado.
Ezra N. Willett has passed all but twelve years of his life in Kansas. He was born in the state of Illinois, Pike county, was educated in the common schools of Kansas and is responsible for his own financial and social standing. He remained with the family near Iola till nearing his twenty-first birthday when he identified himself with the eastern portion of the county by entering a piece of the indemnity strip, his claim, now his farm, being the southwest quarter of section 19, township 24, range 21. His early efforts at farming and farm-improvement were very crude and the first two years he spent on the claim were years of not the greatest possible prosperity. He hauled coal from Fort Scott to Iola to earn some of the means to sustain him and in other menial ways he maintained an honor- able existence till his farming venture was made to pay. His first house was a ten by twelve box and his second one twelve by sixteen which gave way, in 1889, to his present farm cottage.
In 1878, February 28, Mr. Willett was married to Amy McNaught, a daughter of the late James R. McNaught, of Moran. Their children are: Zella and Ethel, aged sixteen and eleven years, respectively.
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M ELVIN L. LACEY .- The Lacey family is one of the conspicuously prominent ones of Allen county. It was established here more than a score of years ago and the heads of its numerous households are men of integrity, of great respect, ability and undoubted personal honor. One of their number is the subject of this brief sketch, Melvin L. Lacey. He was born in Jackson county, Michigan, March 7. 1853, and is a brother of Edward D. Lacey, of Allen county. He is the youngest of six children, the others being: . Anna, deceased, wife of James Wright; Mary J., wife of William Harper, of Champaign county, Illinois; Edward D., William H., of Allen county, and George W., of Moran, Kansas.
M. L. Lacey began life, really, in boyhood. He learned farming and engaged in it for some years, as a hired man. He was married in Iroquois county, Illinois, in 1874 to Ivy Robinett, a daughter of Eleaser Robinett, an Ohio farmer, who went into Illinois from Pickaway county, Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Lacey's children are: Arthur, married to Mattie B. Green, resides in Blue Mound, Kansas; Archie F. and Harry E. Lacey, young farmers of Marmaton township.
Mr. Lacey came to Allen county in 1887 and spent twelve years in Moran where he controlled the transfer and express business of the town. In 1899 he moved to his farm, the south half of the south-east quarter of section 19, township 24, range 20, one of the desirable and fertile tracts of Allen county.
In politics our subject is in line with the conduct of his elder brethren. He is well known as a Republican and served in the city of Moran three years in the council and as its city marshal. He is a member of the dis- trict school board and 'holds a membership in the Methodist church.
A LLEN B ISAAC, well known as a citizen and farmer of Marmaton township, Allen county, came to Kansas in 1877 and located in this county. He spent the first year in Humboldt and, having cast about over the county foi a satisfactory location he chose Marmaton township and took up his residence therein. He settled section fifteen, on the south line of the township, improved a good farm and has resided in that vicinity, almost continuously, since.
Mr. Isaac came to Kansas from Illinois. His father, Elias Isaac set- tled in Bureau county, Illinois, in 1833, going there from Washington, Indiana. At this latter place our subject was born May 30, 1826. Elias Isaac was born in North Carolina in 1804. He was a son of John Isaac, who left the "old Tar Heel" state in 1808 and went into Daviess county, Indiana, where he died. He had five sons, Samuel, John, Elijah, Allen and Elias. Allen spent his life about Beardstown, Illinois. John died in Edgar County, Illinois, and Elias died in Bureau county, Illinois, in 1890. The last named learned tanning in his early life, followed it to some ex- tent but drifted into farming and made that his life work. He was dis-
LosHosley
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charged from the ranks as a soldier of the Black Hawk war for disability. He married Mary Black whose parents were from Kentucky. She died in 1892 at the age of eighty-seven years.
Elias and Mary Isaac were the parents of Allen B .; Ardilla, married Aaron Stephenson and died; John M. Isaac, of Malden, Illinois; Mahala, wife of John Winans, of Carson, Iowa; William Isaac, of Malden, Illinois, the oldest white child born in Bureau county; Mary E., widow of John Cass, of Bureau county; James W., of Hastings, Nebraska, is deceased, and Nancy, deceased, who married Marion Hite, of Bureau county, Illinois.
Allen B. Isaac spent his youth on the farm and acquired his education in the country districts. He engaged in mercantile pursuits on reaching his majority and his interests were in a general store in Malden, Illinois. Twelve years in the store sufficed and he left the counter for the plow. He was on the farm, still, when his attention was drawn to the advantages of the west. This he heard through Ross and Knox, who were then engaged in the emigration business, and he came out, saw, was pleased and located.
May 3. 1853, Mr. Isaac was married to Paulina Seger, a daughter of Andrew Seger, who came into Illinois from Ohio but who was formerly from near Syracuse, New York. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac are: Charles L., of Allen county; Lincona, wife of Al Moore, of McLoud, Okla- loma, whose first husband was A. B. Bainum. The Bainum children are: Neal, Genie, Claude and Eva; Clayton Isaac, of Allen county; Dres- den Isaac, of Allen county; Ada, wife of Thomas Thore, of Choctaw, Oklahoma; George Isaac,' of Chicago, Illinois, and Clifford Humboldt Isaac, born at Humboldt, Kansas, resides with his parents.
Mr. Isaac became a Republican with the earliest of the party voters. His first presidential ballot was cast for Hale, the Free Soil candidate and with the Republican party he has acted since 1856. His adherance to the party tenets has been steadfast and his belief in them constant and un- faltering, He took a prominent part in county politics from the first in Kansas and his name has been associated with others, in time past, as a suitable candidate for public trust.
AMES L. HOSLEY-The beautiful home of James L. Hosley is located J in Anderson County, but much of his land lies in Allen County. His possessions are a monument to his enterprise, unflagging industry and capable business management. He owns twelve hundred and thirty-five acres of fine land in the two counties, but at the time of his marriage he did not possess a dollar. His life history so clearly illustrates the possibilities that lie before men of determined purpose who are not afraid to work that it should serve as a source of inspiration and aid to all who are forced to start upon a business career empty-handed.
James L. Hosley was born in Barry County, Michigan, on the 13th of
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November, 1843. His father, Jonathan Hosley, was a native of Massa- chusetts and at an early period in the development of the Wolverine State emigrated westward, taking up his residence there. He was united in marriage to Miss Lima F. Fisher, and upon a farm in Michigan they re- sided until 1859, when they came to Kansas and settled in Osage town1- ship, Allen County. The father died here in 1878 and the mother, surviv- ing him for many years, passed away in 1894. Of their six children, four are yet living and are residents of Kansas.
James L. Hosley, the third in order of birth, pursued his education in the common schools of Michigan. When a youth of sixteen years he came with his parents to the Sunflower State and assisted his father in the opera- tion of the home farm until after the inauguration of the Civil war. His patriotic spirit was aroused by the attempt of the South to overthrow the Union, and donning the blue he joined Company E, of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry on the 5th of December, 1861. He served throughout the remain- der of the war, participating in many battles and skirmishes. Among them were those of Clear Creek, Coon Creek, Ft. Gibson, Lindsay's Prairie, Prairie Grove, Cane Hill, Maysville, Newtonia, Waldon and Mazard Prairie. All those battles occurred in Arkansas and were most hotly con- tested. Mr. Hosley was captured at the last named on the 27th of July 1864 and was exchanged on the 22nd of May, 1865, after being held as prisoner of war for ten months. He will never forget the first day, which was one of the saddest of his life, nor the day of his release, which brought great happiness, for his experience as a Rebel captive was anything but pleasant. He was sent to Tyler, Texas, and there remained until the close of hostili- ties. During the entire period he had to sleep . upon the ground and his rations were limited. He would much have preferred to take his chances with his comrades upon the field, facing the enemy in battle, rather than remain in inactivity in the far South, enduring treatment that was, to say the least, not enviable. For days he had nothing but a pint of meal in which the cob of the corn was also ground. Upon being exchanged he was sent to Duvall's Bluff, Arkansas, where he received an honorable discharge on the 21st of June, 1865. Although in a number of important engage- ments he was never wounded. With a most creditable military record he returned to his home, conscious of having faithfully performed his duty as a defender of the old flag.
On again reaching Kansas Mr. Hosley began farming and dealing in stock ou a small scale. He completed his preparations for a home by his marriage to Miss Emeline West, a native of Ohio, who came with her parents to this State in 1858. The wedding was celebrated in 1868, and the lady has ever proved to her husband a faithful companion and help- mate. At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs Hosley had only money enough to buy a package of soda, which cost fifteen cents, but they began work with a will and the fruits of their labor are seen in the extensive landed possessions which now constitute the Hosley estate. As his financial resources have increased Mr. Hosley has continually added to his property until now he has twelve hundred and thirty-five acres of rich,
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productive land in Allen and Anderson counties. He has this well stocked with horses and cattle, keeping about one hundred and fifty head of cattle and a large number of horses. He has only good grades of stock and therefore has no trouble in securing a ready sale on the market. His resi- dence is just across the line in Anderson County. It is a beautiful struc- ture, and its tasteful furnishings and attractive exterior make it one of the most pleasing homes in all the county. He certainly has every reason to be proud of his business record. He does not owe a dollar to any man and his possessions have been acquired entirely through his own efforts and through the assistance of his capable wife. Honesty has characterized all his dealings, and added to this has been indefatigable energy that has overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his path, enabling him to gain a plane of affluence.
In his political views Mr. Hosley is a stalwart Republican. He joined the party when he became a voter and has never wavered in his allegiance to its principles. He maintains a pleasant relationship with his old army comrades through his membership in Major Rankin Post, G. A. R., at Kincaid, and delights in recounting and recalling the scenes of life on the tented field or upon the field of battle. He possesses the true western spirit of enterprise and progress that has been such an important factor in the substantial upbuilding and development of the middle west.
H ARVEY OLMSTEAD .- There are 110 rules for building character; there is 110 rule for achieving success. The man who can rise to an enviable position in a community and in the business world is he who can see and utilize the opportunities that surround his path. The conditions of human life are ever the same, the surroundings of individuals differ but slightly, and when one man passes another on the highway and reaches the goal of prosperity before others who perhaps started out before him, it is because he has the power to use advantages which probably encompass the whole human race. There have been no exciting chapters in the career of Mr. Olmstead, but an untiring industry and a steadfastness of purpose have enabled him to work his way steadily upward and gain a position of affluence among the substantial agriculturists of Allen county.
He has the distinction of being the first white child born in Fairfield township, Bureau county, Illinois, the date of his birth being the Ist of May. 1842. His father, Elijah Olmstead, was a native of Canada and married Electa Hall, a native of Ohio. In 1842 they removed to Illinois, locating in Fairfield township, Bureau county, among the first settlers there. The father was not permitted long to enjoy his new home, for death claimed him in 1846, when he was forty-eight years of age, and his wife survived only until 1848. They had two children, Harvey and J. E. Olmstead.
The subject of this review remained in Illinois until eleven years of
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age. His parents having died, he went to live with his grandparents and they removed to Hamilton county, Iowa, where he acquired his education in the common schools. In the fall of 1856 he became a resident of In- diana, where he was employed as a farm hand until 1861. In that year the troubles between the north and the south culminated in civil war and his sympathy with the Union cause prompted his enlistment as a member of Company A., Twenty-first Indiana Infantry, with which he served until the fall of 1862, when he received an honorable discharge. The following year he re-enlisted and became first sergeant in Company C, of the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry. He was then at the front until after the star-spangled banner had been planted in the capital of the southern confederacy. Re- turning to his Indiana home he tliere remained until the month of Decem- ber, when he went to Illinois and secured work as a farm hand, being employed in that capacity for two years. He was then married and began farming on his own account, upon rented land, remaining in Illinois until 1882, when he came to Kansas, taking up his abode in Osage township. He first purchased eighty acres and subsequently added to it another tract of eighty acres, so that to-day he owns a valuable quarter section.
On the 6th of October, 1867, occurred the marriage of Mr. Olmstead and Miss Mary Oviatte, a native of Summit county, Ohio. Unto them were born four children: Frank H., a book-keeper in Hot Springs, Arkan- sas; Hattie A., Fred E. and Vera. The elder daughter was born in Sum- mit county, Ohio, and accompanied her parents to Iowa, there residing until twelve years of age when she came to Kansas. She acquired the greater part of her education here and spent one year as a student in Stan- berry College, Stanberry, Missouri. At the age of eighteen she began teaching school and for twelve years she followed that profession in Kansas while for two years she was principal of the Withington schools at Hot Springs, Arkansas. She is also numbered among the popular teachers of Allen county. In June, 1900, she received the nomination on the fusion ticket for the office of county superintendent of schools and was elected by a majority of two hundred and eighty-two votes. The election was cer- tainly a triumph for she overcame the usual Republican majority of six hundred and fifty. The Olinstead family is one of prominence in Allen county, its members enjoying the high regard of many friends. The career of our subject has been both commendable and gratifying, for along legiti- mate lines of business he has won success and at the same time has retained the confidence and good will of his fellow men by reason of his honorable methods.
OSEPH C. BEATTY, one of the large feeders and farmers of Allen J county, came to Kansas in 1877 and settled in Osage township. At that date Humboldt was the county metropolis and many of our leading settlers were located from that point, being located by the well-remem-
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bered real estate man, G. W. Hutchinson. Mr. Beatty was one of these settlers. He chose the valley of the Osage river, bought a farm therein and has since called it his home. For some years beginning with 1880 Mr. Beatty was not an active farmer. He engaged in the butcher business in Iola, being interested with "Beatty Brothers," and later their interests were transferred to the furniture business there. In 1886 he became a part- ner in the Fort Scott Wholesale Grocery Company and remained with the concern till 1888, at which date he returned to the Osage River farm.
In the conduct of the farm Mr. Beatty has given the stock business the chief place in his affections. This branch of industry calls for a genius not common to the average farmer and its successful conduct, upon a large scale, is consequent upon the especial adaptability of its promoter. The growth made in this industry by our subject within the past dozen years marks him as one of the successful feeders and the extent of his operations gives him a wide acquaintance through Allen, Anderson and Bourbon counties.
By nativity Mr. Beatty is an Irishman. He was born near Belfast July 8, 1854, and was a son of David Beatty who left Ireland in 1855 and took up his residence near Kincarden. Canada. In 1869 the family took another jump westward, this time locating in Sonoma county, California. David Beatty, father of our subject, was married to Mary Crawford, whose death occurred in Allen county in 1880. Their children were: William, who died in California; John C., of Los Angeles, California; Elizabeth, wife of William Caldwell, of Cloverdale, California; Mary J .. widow of R. A. Kerr, of Los Angeles, California; Joseph C .; James T., of the Fort Scott Wholesale Grocery Company, and David R. Beatty, of Beaumont, Texas.
Joseph C. Beatty was equipped for a career of business in Healds Business College in San Francisco, California. He began life in the sheep business in Sonoma county and drifted from that into the cattle business, on a moderate scale. The conditions for handling cattle extensively were not so favorable in California and he was induced to return east, to Kansas, where there was a prospect of acquiring cheap land and greater range for stock. In Allen county the area of his farm and ranch has kept pace with the extent of his herds and his six hundred and twenty acres comprises one of the desirable pieces of property in the county.
Mr. Beatty excels not only as a man of affairs but as a citizen. His conduct has been, toward his neighbors, of such a character as to win and maintain their confidence, commercially, socially and politically. He has been identified with county politics, as a Republican, for many years and, as an intimation of the weight of his opinion it is only necessary to say that candidates for office are always anxious to know "how Beatty stands" with reference to them.
July 29, 1880, Mr. Beatty was married to Mrs. Mattie Fielding, a daughter of W. W. Neville, of Garnett, Kansas. The Nevilles were from Hart county, Kentucky, to Illinois and from Illinois to Kansas in 1870. Mr. Neville married Catherine Conover who bore him four children: John, of Lawrence, Kansas; Mrs. Melissa Hunley, of Garnett, Kansas, and Mrs.
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Beatty. All are surviving. Mr. Neville died in 1895 at the age of seventy-five years while his widow makes her home with Mrs. Beatty.
Mr. and Mrs. Beatty's children are: Luretta May, Sophomore in University at Ottawa, Kansas; Clarence N., a student in the Moran high school, and Joseph Harold. The family are members of the Baptist church.
C HRISTOPHER K. MILLS, of Deer Creek township, the well known Irish-American farmer and stock man, has passed a generation, a score of years in Allen County. He came here in 1880 with plenty of means and bought land in section 17, township 24, range 19, one-half of the section, and improved and brought the large farm under cultivation. The stock business he was made familiar with in his youth and it was but natural, under favorable circumstances, that he should turn his attention to it when settling upon the broad prairies of Kansas.
As tlie name would indicate, Mr. Mills is an Irishman. He was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, December 25, 1829. His father, Thos. Mills, died in the Emerald Isle, leaving a family of five sons and six daughters, of whom Christopher K., was the oldest son. The latter's ad- vantages as a boy were those only of the country lad with poor but respect- able parents whose chief aim from day to day was to do a bigger day's work tomorrow than they did today. The practice of this plan taught all the children to work, especially the eldest son, and so when he left Ireland to join the vast throng of his countrymen in the United States he did so, well equipped with the elements that win success. He boarded a sailer at Liverpool and after eleven weeks put into New York harbor He cast about for a hold and took any honorable employment yielding a revenue for his support. He went into the country about Kingston, New York, and hired for seven dollars a month with a promise of more as he earned it. Upon leaving New York State he went into western Pennsyl- vania and made his home about Pittsburg for twenty years. He invested his wages in a team as soon as he could purchase one and engaged in teaming and freighting. To this he added farming, also, and ere many years found himself in possession of the implements and the experience to win a fortune.
With the proceeds of his years of toil in cash Mr. Mills brought his large family to Kansas where he could the better utilize the labor of his sons and where a promise of greater reward awaited his coming. The sons remained with the homestead in Allen County till things were well started when they scattered here and there as each reached the period of his majority.
Seven of the eleven children of Thos. Mills came to the United States. Those surviving in addition to our subject are: James, of Clark County, Missouri; Patrick, of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; Michael of south- east Missouri, and Bridget, wife of Thos. Convoy, of Denver, Colorado.
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