USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 28
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 28
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Mr. Buckley, grandfather of our subject, died in the military service of the United States in the War of 1812. He went into the service from the state of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Elijah Davis died in 1897, leaving the following children: Catharine, who married William Fowler, resides in Noble county, Ohio; Levi Davis, of Taylor County, Iowa; William, our subject: Eli Davis, of Noble County, Ohio; Thomas Davis, of the old home county, and Mary, wife of Lowry Smith, of the same point. Those who passed away in early life are: Joseph, died in Appanoose County, Iowa; Abraham, died in the army, and Leroy, died in Ohio.
William Davis acquired no more than a country school education. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, 92nd Ohio Infantry, Captain E. G. Dudley and Colonel B. F. Ferring. He was mustered into the regiment at Marietta, Ohio, and it was ordered up the Kanawa valley. Among the important things done, unofficially, on that trip was the raiding of apple orchards and chicken roosts. The regiment was ordered by boat from Charleston, to Nashville, Tenn., where it went into camp for a time. From this point it proceeded to Carthage, Tenn., where it guarded the river a few months. Actual hostilities with the regiment began at Chicamaugua. Then followed Missionary Ridge where Mr. Davis lay at the foot of the hill and watched Hooker drive the Rebels off of Lookout Mountain. His own command helped drive them off the other side of the mountain. About this time Mr. Davis was called in for a detail and he was informed that he was
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the only man who had not been off duty in his company or on detail. The special service detail which he got took him away from his regiment perma- nently. He did not again see it till all were mustered ont; in June, 1865.
Mr. Davis took up the serious responsibilities of life when he left the arıny. He went back to the farm and was married November I, of the same year to Eliza J. Nicholson. They remained in Ohio till 1867 when they moved ont to Iowa as previously stated.
Mr. and Mrs. Davis' children are; Abraham L., of Stroud, Oklahoma; Mary C., wife of A. Morris, of Pawnee, Oklahoma: Margaret, wife of Chas. H. Ford, of Allen County; Joseph M. Davis, whose wife was Rachael Cul- bertson; Thomas E. Davis, whose wife was Ethel Wood; Minnie, now wife of Frank Miller.
A LBERT L. DANIELS, a resident of Carlyle township, Allen County, since 1881, and one of the substantial and progessive farmers of the county, came to the State of Kansas from Ford County, Illinois. In 1864 he went into Woodford County, that State, and resided in that county, Champaign, and Ford for seventeen years, or until his emigration to Kan- sas. Mr. Daniels was born at Woodbury, Vermont, January 26, 1844. His father, Luke Daniels, was born at Danville, Vermont, in 1802 and died in Woodbury in 1871. His father, the grandfather of our subject, was one of the early men and settlers of Danville, as was Luke Daniels. Their occu- pation was farming and these early ancestors were of the strong, rugged and honorable people of the community.
Luke Daniels married Maria Keniston, a neice of two Revolutionary soldiers, and a daughter of a soldier in our war for independence. Mrs. Daniels died in 1874 and was the mother of: Noah, who left Vermont a young man and was never heard from more; Alanson, of Vermont; Lovisa, wife of William Cook, of Hopkinton, New Hampshire; Samnel, who died in Vermont in 1898; George, of Vermont; Lovina, of Paxton, Illinois is the wife of H. H. Atwood, and Albert L., the subject of this sketch.
At twelve years of age A. L. Daniels was bound to a brother for eight years. He was liberally schooled and became competent to teach before his apprenticeship was ended. He paid liberally for the time he taught until his majority and made teaching a business till he was thirty-three years of age. He carried on farming on a modest scale the latter years of this period and between the two vocations he laid the foundation for a good degree of financial independence. As a teacher he was most proficient and successful and the five year season in the Swede settlement in Ford County, Illinois, marked an era in his career in the profession.
Mr. Daniels brought with him to Kansas a limited amount of capital. He purchased an eighty acre tract in section 17, township 24, range 19, and began its improvement and cultivation. His record as a farmer and
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stock grower has come to be known, for his efforts at both have been reasonably and properly rewarded. The breeding and growing of fine hogs has claimed a share of his attention and the business has long passed the experimental point with him. The area of his farm is three times the original one and there are greater opportunities for him in the future.
Mr Daniels was married in Woodford County, Illinois in 1868 to Clara Robinson, a daughter of Rev. Sumner Robinson, a resident of Benton, Kansas. Mr. Robinson is a native of the State of Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels' children are: Lula, wife of Hervey Bowlby; Erta, wife of Newton Reno, of Yates Center; Fred, who married Jane Busley; Cordie, Walter and Floy.
In their political affiliations our subject's forefathers were Whigs. His father espoused Democracy but the sons all became followers of Fre- mont and Lincoln and later Republican lights. In religious matters Mr. Daniels is an earnest advocate of Christianity and holds a membership in the Baptist church of Iola.
JOHN ELLISON POWELL, of the firm of Henderson & Powell, of J
Iola, is a son of John Powell, one of the early settlers of Carlyle town- ship, Allen county. The latter came to the county in 1860 and located upon a claim in section 34 where he opened a farm, improved it and has since resided upon it. He came to Kansas, directly, from Macon county, Illinois, previously from Madison county, Indiana, and starting his migra- tion to the westward from Sciota county, Ohio. He was born in that county January 31, 1826, and his father was John Powell, a farmer, who died at an early age. The latter's mother was the first white child born in Lawrence county, Ohio.
John Powell, our subject's father, married Rachel Quick, a daughter of James Quick, who was one of the first settlers of Carlyle township and emigrated from Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. The Powell chil- dren of this union are: Dora, wife of Orrin Lake, of Round Valley, Cali- fornia; P. Jasper Powell, of Anderson county, Kansas; Celena Powell, who married M. E. Hutchinson, of Iola; J. Ellison Powell; Mary Powell; Ada, wite of James Carter, of Iola; Emma and Cora Powell, teachers of Allen county.
J. E. Powell was born in Allen county, Kansas, June 4, 1860. He was schooled at Maple Grove and finished his education at the Fort Scott Business College. When he left the parental roof at the age of twenty-five years it was to engage in the real estate business at Buffalo, Kansas. Later he became associated with H. L. Henderson in the same business in Iola. The press for business in that line became so great in Iola that farming seemed more profitable and Mr. Powell retired to his farm in Geneva. Three years later when prosperity dawned upon our city and
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activity centered in real estate Mr. Powell again joined Mr. Henderson and the firm has been one of the prominent ones of Iola.
June 8, 1891, Mr. Powell married Dora, a daughter of Samuel Full- wider. Mrs. Powell was born in Anderson county, Kansas, June 15, 1868. Their children are: Narcissus, Jasper M., Fay M. and Ival Powell.
G EORGE MEREDITH .- Among the loyal and patriotic Anglo-Ameri- can citizens of Elm township, Allen county, whose enviable reputa- tion abounds throughout his township and county and whose substantiality has been acquired there is George Meredith, retired farmer, of LaHarpe. He came to Allen county in March 1870 and permitted George A. Bowlus to sell him a piece of grass land on the east side of Elm township. He was a young man then and possessed the courage and determination equal to overcoming the task of changing this grassy waste into a productive farm and an attactive home. He began the work of cultivation and improve- ment at once and, during the twenty-eight years which he occupied it, reached a point of financial independence worthy to be sought by our American youth. The loss of his wife in 1896 left him without companion- able surroundings and two years later he took up his residence in LaHarpe to be near friends and associates.
George Meredith was born in Herefordshire, England. April 3, 1830. He was a son of a small farmer, James Meredith, whose ancestors had :esided in the same shire for many generations. His mother was Maria Porter, and George was the seventh and last son of their family. He and his sister, Mrs. Mary Prosser, of Wilmington, Loraine county, Ohio, are the only members of the family on the west side of the Atlantic. He grew up on the little home farm in England and educated himself in Ohio, after he had reached the age of maturity. He left Liverpool March 25, 1849, aboard the "Caleb Grimshaw," a sailing vessel, and reached New York after five weeks of tossing and wallowing in the sea. He was destined for Oberlin, Ohio, where he had some acquaintance, and where he remained for five years. He worked about from place to place at the wages of ten dollars per month and, in 1854, came west to Davenport, Iowa. There he was employed as teamster for a miller and was engaged in milling either as employe or as an interested partner, in that city for many years. When the Civil war was in progress and the nation seemed so much in need of troops he determined to drop his business and enlist. He had notified his employer of this fact and the latter, desiring to retain his valuable helper, reported to the examining surgeon that Meredith was not an able-bodied man and that he was not competent for military duty and that, if he re- ported himself for enlistment, to so inform him. The scheme worked well and our subject was thus deprived of serving his adopted country in time of war.
When George Meredith came to Kansas he brought less than three
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hundred dollars with him. The land he purchased, on contract, was found to be in the "disputed belt" and he joined the League to aid in re- claiming the government title through the courts. He entered the quarter as a claim and supported the contest till it was seen that the railroad would win when he again bought the tract-this time at a higher price-and the controversy was then and there ended.
Mr. Meredith was married in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1854 to Esther Ravenhill who came to the United States in 1851 from England. She was born in 1826 and died without issue.
The first presidential vote of our subject was cast for General Scott, and when the Republicans put up their first candidate he supported him. The great Lincoln he also pinned his faith to, and the administration from 1897 to 1901 has no parallel. in his judgment, in important national achievements and in assnaging the anguish and discontent of our citizens as a result of a preceding administration.
C ARL OHLFEST .- For thirty years Carl Ohlfest has been a resident of Allen county, and during that period has been actively identified with its agricultural and industrial interests. He belongs to that class of en terprising American citizens that the Fatherland has furnished to the New World. His birth occurred in Holstein, Germany, on the 27th day of November, 1833, and his father, Carl Ohlfest, Sr., was also a native of the same locality. Our subject now has one brother living, John N., who is a valued resident of Allen county.
In the land of his nativity Carl Ohlfest acquired his education and learned the brick-mason's trade. Hoping to better his financial condition in America, he made preparations to leave Germany in 1856, and joined a company of six hundred emigrants who took passage on the westward bound vessel, Napoleon. He first located at Valparaiso, Indiana, where he followed his chosen trade for a number of years. In 1870 he came to Kansas, locating in Allen county, where he has since engaged in business as a brick-mason and farmer. He settled on a tract of prairie land a half mile south of the present town of LaHarpe, and with characteristic energy began its development, transforming the wild tract into richly cultivated fields constituting one of the finest farms of the county.
Mr. Ohlfest has been twice married. He first wedded Katrina Roeder, of Valparaiso, Indiana, and Della Mounsir became his second wife. The latter's great-grandfather, Adam Hahn, located in Maryland at an early period in the history of that state. Her father, Reuben Hahn, is still living, at the age of eighty-two years. She has three brothers and one sister living: D. H. Hahn, a physician at Wauneta, Kansas; R. H. Hahn, a cattle inspector in Oklahoma, and C. C. Hahn, an author of consider- able repute. His work, "In Cloisters Dim," has created much favorable comment among critics. Josephine, the only living sister of Mrs. OhIfest,
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is the wife of Mr. Olney, a boot and shoe merchant of Fresno, California.
In his political views Mr. Ohilfest has always been a Republican, un- swerving in support of the principles of the party. For many years he has been a member of the Lutheran church, while his wife belongs to the Presbyterian church. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is faithful to the duties of citizenship and to every rela- tion in life. He owes his prosperity entirely to his own efforts. His labors have never been performed in a desultory or intermittent manner but have been vigorously prosecuted, and his sonnd judgment has so enabled him to direct his efforts that he has gained therefrom a handsome competence.
L UTE P. STOVER, County Surveyor of Allen County, and a gentle- man with large farming and live stock interests therein, was born Feb- ruary 10, 1873, in Humboldt, Kansas. He is the oldest son of Tindall S. Stover, of Jola, and was reared in his native county. In the Iola schools where he graduated, he was noted for his original and inquisitorial nature and was noted as a specially bright and well-informed boy. His fund of information extended to subjects where small boys are not wont to tread and his powers of expressing his ideas were remarkably well developed. His teachers learned not to be surprised at any demonstration of learning, any technical inquiry or any impersonation of character from his lips and such a fund of humor ran through it all as easily to inark him an extra- ordinary and promising pupil. After leaving the Iola schools he went to the old Stover home in Maine and spent two years in the Blue Hill Acade- my. He finished his education with two years in the University of Kansas where he took an irregular course, chief among his studies being civil engin- eering and surveying.
Mr. Stover's business life began in the Indian Territory where he spent two years surveying and doing newspaper work. He was on papers in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and in Tallequah, Cherokee Nation, and came back to Iola to take charge of the business of the Stover Abstract Company. During this period of employment the Republicans nominated him for County Surveyor (in 1895) and he was elected by a majority of over 1300 votes. In 1897 he was again a candidate and this time the Fusion candi- date succeeded in getting his name on both the Populist and Democratic tickets and the Republican majority for this office was something over 300 votes.
During his incumbency of the surveyor's office Mr. Stover married a lady whose Allen County interests were extensive and he succeeded to the active management of her affairs. For three years from the first of 1897, he was chiefly engaged in the cattle business and in farming.
The marriage of our subject occurred February 1, 1897, the lady of his choice being Miss Madge, a daughter of the late pioneer, Paul Fisher.
January Ist, 1900, Mr. Stover joined Herman Tholen and Ben Achter,
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of Humboldt, in the formation of the Iola Wholesale Grocery Company and was chosen its Treasurer.
The political tendencies of Lute Stover are matters of general informa- tion. He was a Republican when a boy in knee pants and he took as much interest in elections as the average politician of today. He knew the leaders of the parties in the big states and was conversant with the current political events then as now. Upon the organization of the Iola militia com- pany he was chosen its captain and gave the boys their first serious lesson in military tactics.
E DMUND H. TOBEY-One of the leading farmers and stock men ot Allen County is Edmund H. Tobey, County Commissioner. He has resided within the confines of the State more than thirty years and in that time has established a reputation for industry, thrift and personal in- tegrity. He was born in Duchess County, New York, August 30, 1837. and is a son of Albert Tobey, who was born in the year 1800 in the State of Connecticut and his mother, nee Emuily Howes, was born in Sullivan County, New York. Of their family of four children Edmund H. was the youngest. The latter was married in 1859 to Miss M. L. Card, whose peo- ple came originally from Columbia County, New York.
Mr. Tobey came to the Sunflower State without means and went to work. His remarkable energy and tenacity coupled with the qualities al- ready enumerated have won him a high place among the substantial men of the county. He has accumulated land by the section and his herds of fat and stock cattle feed over his domains year in and year out. As a ship- per he is known extensively and his place is a market for acres of his neigh- bors' surplus corn.
Mr. Tobey has comported himself in a manner to win the confidence social and political, of his fellow citizens. Although he has been a pro- nounced Republican in politics his friends of the opposition have not failed to endorse his candidacy or aid his aspirations for public office. In 1900 he was nominated by the Republican County Convention for Commissioner of the Second district and he was elected by a majority complimentary to him as a citizen and satisfactory to his party.
"Maple Avenue," his home, is a product of Mr. Tobey's own ingenui- ty and taste. It lies one and a half miles south of LaHarpe and comprises his residence, barns and grounds adjacent. It is one of the most conspicu- ous places on the drive crossing Elm Creek and is of a character highly creditable to the substantial development of Allen County.
W ILLIAM TURNER-It is in this article that are presented the facts which led to the early development of the Iola gas field. It is the subject of this brief biography who was responsible for this early develop-
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ment and who has had no little connection with it. William Turner, superintendent of the LaHarpe works, of the Lanyon Zinc Company, is the person referred to in the introduction hereto. While on a visit to a sister in Elsmore township, Allen County, in 1896 he heard of Iola's gas find and decided to investigate its strength and merits, as fuel, etc., in the hope that he would find a desirable point for his employers, the Lanyons, to re- engage in the smelting business. After convincing himself that the volume of fuel necessary to operate any factory enterprise indefinitely, was under the city he consulted L. L. Northrup to determine whether any induce- ments would be offered to manufacturers to locate in Iola. Finding a readiness on the part of the latter gentleman to go to great lengths and sacrifices to inject a breath of real life into his town Mr. Turner reported the result of his find, with recommendations, to Robert H. Lanyou who visited Iola and verified the report. Negotiations were soon set in motion which resulted in the erection of the Lanyon Zinc Company's works No. 1, the' pioneer smelter in the gas belt.
William Turner's part in the development of the gas field was in the capacity of supervising constructor of the Robert Lanyon's Sons two large smelters at Iola and LaHarpe. Having done this and completed the work of building for that company he was placed in charge of the LaHarpe plant and was undisturbed in his position when the Lanyon interests went into the great consolidated company. Mr. Turner's career as a smelter man extends over a period of ten years. He became connected with the Lanyon's at Nevada, Missouri, in 1890, in the capacity of mill-wright and was with them two years there. In 1892 he was sent by them to Wauke- gan, Illinois, where he remained repairing and constructing four years. Upon leaving this point it was to take a vacation and visit his sister in Kansas, resulting in the discovery of the gas field and the construction of the first Iola smelter.
Mr. Turner was born in Delaware County, Indiana, April 17, 1852. His father was Jonas Turner who entered land in that county. The latter settled eight miles south of Muncie and resided there until his death in 1866. He was born in Green County, Ohio in 1812 and was a son of a wheel-wright, George Turner, who settled near Xenia, Ohio, very early and afterward went into Delaware County, Indiana. Walter Turner, father of George Turner, came to America during the French and Indian war as a soldier with the King's army. He felt his duty to his king greater than those to his adopted country and he did not serve with the patriots during the Revolution. He died near Xenia, Ohio, leaving as many as six sons: Joseph, Jonathan, Robert, Ambrose, Isaac and George. The latter married Fanny Oaks and died in Delaware County, Indiana. Their children were: Joshua, Jonathan, Jonas, George, Riley, Robert and John, all of whom reared families.
Jonas Turner married Patsy Gibson, whose father, William Gibson; was a southern man and a preacher. Mrs. Turner died in 1889 at the age of seventy-six years. Their children were: John, who died in 1863; Sarah, deceased, was the wife of William Felton; Jonathan Turner, of Delaware
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County, Indiana, a farmer; Phebe, deceased, left children by two husbands (James Lacey and Lasley L. Herold); June, wife of Joel Canady, of Els- more, Kansas; Philip Turner, of Delaware County, Indiana, and William, our subject.
At the age of sixteen William Turner began learning the machinist trade in Muncie, Indiana, in the old Phelps Foundry and Machine Shop. Before he had completed his term of service the shop closed and our sub- ject took up the carpenter trade. He worked in and around Muncie and practically completed the trade. He followed it many years, together with mill-wrighting, in Indiana and Wisconsin. He was located at Richland Center in the latter State and was in a saw-mill and furniture factory there for a time. From this point he went to Irving, Illinois, and resided five years. All the time he was on the road putting up mills of all kinds and because of this fact he was first induced to come to Kansas. He went to Humboldt in 1884 to put in the machinery of the Lindsay flouring mills. He put in a paint mill at Deep Water, Missouri and from this point went to Nevada where, after an elapse of time he became associated with the Lanyons.
August 15, 1875, Mr. Turner was married at Irving, Illinois, to Mary J. Carriker, a daughter of John Carriker, an early settler of Montgomery County, Illinois, and from North Carolina. Their only son is John Turner. who is married to Lue Ricketts and is a foreman for the Lanyon Zinc Com- pany. Josie Turner is the only daughter of our subject.
Mr. Turner is a Mason, Odd Fellow, Elk, Woodman and a Republican.
C LAUS BARNHOLT, of LaHarpe, a successful farmer and one of the early settlers of Elm township, is a character among the substantial men of his community. He was born in Holstein, now a part of the Ger- man Empire, March 21, 1836. His parents were in humble circumstances and his father supported his family at day labor as a timberman or woods- 111a1. The latter was Henry Barnholt, who died in Germany in 1884. He was born with the century and was first married to Annie Timm, who died in1 1838. Their other two children were Annie, wife of Hermann Hatz, and Hans Barnholt, both in the Fatherland. Henry Barnholt's second wife was Lina Ohlfest, a sister of John and Carl Ohliest, prominent and in- fnential farmers of Allen county. The children of this marriage were Catherine, widow of Carl Heeley, who resides in LaHarpe; Henry Barn- holt, of Holstein, Germany, and Carl Barnholt, of LaHarpe, Kansas.
Claus Barnholt came to the United States in 1868. He sailed from Hamburg on the "Itonia" for New York and located first at Valparaiso, Indiana. He had been accustomed to wage working in his native land and this was what he took up in America. He remained about Valparaiso two years and, in 1870, came to Kansas with the Ohlfests. The first five years in Allen county he passed as a farm laborer, working for the old and sub-
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