History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas, Part 45

Author: Duncan, L. Wallace (Lew Wallace), b. 1861. cn; Scott, Charles F., b. 1860
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Iola, Kan. : Iola Register
Number of Pages: 1066

USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 45
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 45

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Harmon Hobart was born in Cottage Grove township, Allen county, September 4, 1869. He is the son of ex-Sheriff Lewis Hobart, and was a country youth up to his twentieth year. His father was born near Oswego, New York, in 1840, and his grandfather was born in Dublin, Ireland. The latter Edward Hobart, owned and operated a steamer between the ports of Liverpool and New York and upon settling in the United States took up his residence near Oswego, in the Empire state. Some time prior to the Civil war he removed to MaComb, Illinois, where lie died at the age of eighty-nine years.

Lewis Hobart was reared on his father's farm in McDonough county, Illinois, and when the war came on he enlisted in the Sixteenth Illinois Infantry. After his discharge he attended Bryant & Stratton's Business College, in Quincy, Illinois, and graduated. He came to Kansas at once and worked as a farm hand till 1867 when he married Eliza J., a daughter of William Bartley, of Champaign county, Illinois. Mr. Hobart took a claim five miles south of Humboldt, improved it and resided upon it as a farmer and stock raiser til! 1889 when he assumed the sheriff's office to which the Republicans had elected him. He served two terms and has, since his retirement, been occupied with his large private interests and with handling real estate.

Harmon Hobart is one of a family of seven children. His education was acquired in the schools of his native county. He took the position of jailer and under-sheriff when his father became sheriff and filled the posi- tion with exceptional ability through his terms and those of his successor, Sheriff Ausherman. He was slow to become a candidate for the office and did not announce his willingness to accept a nomination till other candi- dates believed they had the prize well in hand. His nomination, the first time, came to him without a great contest and the second time without

382

HISTORY OF ALLEN AND

competition, and each time he was elected by majorities much in excess of the head of the Republican ticket.

When Mr. Hobart was elected sheriff he was twenty-eight years old, the youngest sheriff the county ever had. His entrance upon his first term: was no experiment. He had demonstrated his competency when deputy sheriff and the fact that all went smooth and without a jar was no surprise to the public. His administration will pass down into the archives as one- of the most able and successful in the county's history.

In 1900 Mr. Hobart became a partner with J. D. Arnett in the Iola- Telphone Exchange. When he has retired from public sevice the exten- sion and improvement of the telephone service will claim his time and attention.

February 23, 1898, Mr. Hobart was married to Estella, a daughter of George S. Davis, of Iola. Mrs. Hobart was educated in the Iola public schools and is an accomplished musician. She was born March 3, 1875-

Harmon Hobart is prominent in fraternal circles. Odd Fellowship, Pythianship and Masonry have claims upon him superior to none, save the domestic circle.

M. J. CHOLLETTE .- The late Cornelius M. Chollette, of Iola, who will be remembered with pleasure by the old settlers of this city, was born in the state of New York March 12, 1834. He was the last of seven children, four sons and three daughters, and was a son of Henry Chollette, whose ancestors were French. The identity of five of Henry Chollette's. heirs is as follows; Jonathan, who died in Wahoo, Nebraska, in 1896; William, Henrietta, Anna and Frances are residents of Galva, Illinois.

At the age of thirteen years Cornelius Chollette went into New York City and there learned the cabinet makers trade with his brother Jonathan. He remained there five years and came west to Henry county, Illinois. He followed his trade in that state till the latter part of the fifties when he returned to his native heath in New York, remaining till 1860. The year before the outbreak of the war he went into Pennsylvania and the next year enlisted in the Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, three months" service. He re-enlisted in the Fourth or Fifth United States Artillery and in the battle of Gettysburg fought near General Hancock's headquarters. He reached the rank of First Lieutenant and was for a time in command of his battery. He was in Sheridan's Shenandoah campaign and in the famous battle of Cedar Creek. At the expiration of his term of enlistment in the artillery be rejoined the army, this time becoming a member of Com- pany E, Fifty-sixth Pennsylvania. He was discharged in the autumn of 1865, having completed, in all, fifty-four months of active service.

Mr. Chollette returned to Henry county, Illinois, after the war, to which point his mother had moved, and he took care of her till her death. March 6, 1871, he came to Iola. He engaged in the lumber and furniture

belle Chollette

H. L. Henderson

383

WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.

business with Mr. White and continued it some years. He sold liis bnsi- ness to S. A. Brown, who was establishing yards all over eastern Kansas, and retired permanently from active business.

May 4, 1872, Mr. Chollette was married at Geneva, by Rev. S. M. Irwin, to Mary J. Hopkins, a daughter of William and Louisa Searles. Mrs. Searles homesteaded the place in Geneva township owned by Loftus Searles and died in Iola in 1872. The Searles went from LaGrange county, Indiana, to Springfield and in 1867 settled on the homestead in Geneva township. Mrs. Searles' children are: Charles W., in Iola; Loftus, Oscar, Orin Adelbert and John.

Mr. Chollette was a staunch Republican and was an enthusiastic Grand Army man. He attended many of their encampments and was fore- most in many things tending to awaken an interest in the local post. He died February 28, 1889.

H ENRY L. HENDERSON .- The subject of this sketch was born in Holmes county, Ohio, November 1, 1847, the son of Elisha Hender- son, a carpenter and weaver. Thrown on his own resources at the early age of thirteen years, he worked his way through the common schools, the academy and the college, graduating in 1871 from the University of Wooster, Ohio, with the first class of graduates from that school. The year following his graduation he conducted the Vermillion Institute, and the next year he was engaged as Assistant Professor of Latin and Science in the Wooster University. After holding this latter position for one year Mr. Henderson removed to Geneva, Kansas, where he conducted the Academy for one year, removing at the end of that time to Iola to take charge of the public schools of that city. The year following he accepted a flattering offer to take the chair of Latin and Mathematics in the Golden Gate Academy, Oakland, California, a position which he held until he reached the determination to exchange the teacher's profession for the mercantile business. Returning to Iola after teaching the city schools one year he engaged in the hardware business in which he continued until 1883. He then disposed of his interest in the hardware trade and engaged in the grocery business which he conducted for two years, leaving it to take up real estate, loans and insurance, to which he has ever since devoted most of his attention, being associated at present with Mr. J. E. Powell, under the firm name of Henderson & Powell.

Although never an office seeker Mr. Henderson's interest in the Re- publican party and his availability as a candidate on account of the high reputation he has always borne for integrity and business ability have com- pelled him to engage more or less actively in politics. Most of his work has been done for others, but in 1885 he reluctantly consented to become a candidate for county commissioner and held that office for two terms, a period of six years. In 1898, again at the solicitation of his friends, and

384

HISTORY OF ALLEN AND

not upon his own initiative, he accepted appointment as post-master of Iola, which office he still holds.

Before coming to Kansas Mr. Henderson was married to Mrs. Laura Leidligh. Four children have been born to them, of whom John H., Willis E. and Henrietta survive, and all of whom are graduates of the- Kansas State University.

The foregoing is but a bare outline of a busy, active, honorable and successful life. A life that well illustrates the possibilities of American citizenship, proving as it does that poverty is no bar in this country to edu- cation and culture, and that success rests upon character, capacity and industry and not upon inherited wealth or social position. Mr. Henderson commands the unqualified respect of the people among whom most of his- mature life has been spent because he has been faithful and efficient in every position of public trust, because he has conducted his own business with a careful regard for the right of others, and because in small matters as well as large he has observed the Golden Rule and told the truth.

C HARLES HIRAM BOULSON .- Stamped indellibly upon the mem- ories of the citizenship of Allen county is the life of one who filled an honorable place in one of the great professions, whose great sympathy for humanity effervesced from every pore and whose power for good was lim- ited only by the area of his experience and the boundaries of his oppor- tunities. A pioneer in the practice of homeopathy in Allen county he saw bris favorite school grow in the favor of the populace and his practice ex- tend to the uttermost parts of the municipality. Both as a man and a physician Dr. Boulson was loved for his integrity and for the great warm heart which throbbed in unison with that of the common people. His genial and kindly nature and his Christian character won him the uni- versal respect and confidence of his fellow county people.

Charles H. Boulson came into Allen county in 1877. He established himself in Iola where he was ever afterward one of the leading citizens. In the vigor of manhood he launched into practice and pursued it with energy and enthusiasm, day and night, for a quarter of a century and only loosened his hold upon his country work when the infirmities of age seemed leaning upon him. In early and middle life to call meant to secure his services. The matter of a fee was an after consideration so long that when he died he was a great creditor. In this practice he did himself an injury. With a correct accounting of all his earnings and a business-like and system- atic collection of the same he could have passed his last years in ease and independence. But his desire to relieve suffering wherever and whenever found was too strong to be overcome by mercenary motives, purely, and he died "in the harness," so to speak.

Dr. Boulson was born in Hanover, Germany, November 16, 1832. He was a son of a blacksmith. Hiram Boulson, who brought his family to the

385

WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.

United States in 1846 and passed some ten years of his life in New Jersey. He emigrated from there just before the war and became a pioneer of Anderson county, Kansas. During the Civil war he was employed by the Federal Government as a horse-shoer and as such he died before the war closed. He is buried in Anderson county. Hiram Boulson was twice married, his first wife being the Doctor's mothier. Of the five children of this union Edward Boulson, of Omaha, Nebraska, Henry Boulson, of Woodson county, Kansas, and Mrs. Mary Starkey, of Oklahoma, survive. Five children by a second marriage survive, viz: Dr. Isaac Boulson, of Oklahoma, Elmer W. Boulson, of Allen county, Kansas, Elijah and Harry Bonlson, farmers of Anderson county, Kansas, and Mrs. Libbie Rogers, of that county.

Dr. Boulson was educated in childhood in the German schools of Han- over and his youth was spent in school in New Jersey. He chose medicine as a profession in early life and pursued his studies to that end in Pennsyl- vania. He attended an Homeopathic College in Philadelphia and was there prepared for entrance upon the serious duties of his profession. He went to Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, to engage in practice, reaching there in his twenty-second year. While a resident of New Castle he made the acquaintance of Miss Sallie White whom he married August 9, 1855. Mrs. Boulson was a daughter of James and Ellen (Graves) White, old residents of Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, and the parents of ten children.

Dr. Boulson practiced in New Castle and in Birmingham, Pennsyl- vania, each about six years and was induced to join his brother-in-law, Dr. White, in a sanitarium venture in LaSalle county, Illinois. Matters so shaped themselves later on that Dr. Boulson turned his interest in the re- sort over to his partner and made his final move westward.

Iola was a struggling little prairie town when Di. and Mrs. Boulson cast their fortunes with it. The undeveloped condition of the country, alone, sufficed to warrant the doctor in deciding to remain here. The set- tlements along the streams thirty years ago were tolerably numerous but those on the prairies were scarcely visible to one another. The story of his experiences in his early practice here would be a repetition of the ex- perience of pioneer physicians of all ages and places. He drew rein at the door of all and out of it all came his unblemished and untarnished reputation.

Dr. Boulson fraternized with many of the popular societies. He was prominent as an Odd Fellow, which society cared for him so tenderly dur- ing his last illness, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen he was a faithful and valuable brother, and of the Select Knights and Select Friends. He believed in Republicanism and supported its principles through all the history of that party. He became a member of the Methodist clinrch in early life and was a deep student of the spiritual as well as the material life. Through all his illness he never once flinched from his great re- sponsibility. He suffered intensely for weeks and his only complaint was that he could not pass over sooner. When the end came on Sunday even-

386

HISTORY OF ALLEN AND

ing, October 7, 1900, he passed away peacefully and quietly in the assur- ance of that rest promised the people of God.

Dr. and Mrs. Boulson reared only one child, a son, the late James Boulson M. D. The latter died May 27, 1885, leaving a son, Kenneth Boulson, who resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota. An adopted son, Clyde Boulson, is a promising young man of Iola, and a companion and counsel- lor of his widowed mother.

R EV. LEWIS I. DRAKE .- A man of ripe scholarship and marked executive ability whose life has been consecrated to the cause of the Master and the uplifting of men, there is particular propriety in here di- recting attention to the life history of the Rev. Lewis I. Drake, who for nine years served as pastor of the Presbyterian church in Humboldt and is now connected with the field of missionary labor in Neosho Presbytery. He has devoted himself without ceasing to the interests of humanity and to the furtherance of all good works. His reputation is not of restricted order, and his power and influence in his holy office have been exerted in a spirit of deepest human sympathy and tender solicitude. There has not been denied the full barvest nor the aftermath whose garnering shall bring sure reward in the words of commendation, "well done, good and faithful servant."

Lewis I. Drake was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, August 7, 1826, a son of Jonathan Drake, who was born in New Jersey in 1782, a native of Huntington county. When nine years of age he accompanied his father, William Drake, of New Jersey, to the Buckeye state. The family located near Cincinnati, and when Jonathan Drake had attained to manhood he began business for himself by shipping flour and pork down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, by flatboat, to New Orleans. He afterward engaged in farming in Ohio, following that pursuit until his death, which occurred when he was forty-seven years of age. He married Miss Eliza Mead, of Connecticut, who was born June 10, 1793, a daughter of Jeremiah Mead, of the same state. Her mother was a descendant of the Pilgrims who made the first settlements in New England. To Jonathan and Eliza Drake were born five children, two of whom are living: Harriet A., wife of Dr. H. J. Cox, of Tamaroa, Illinois, and Rev. Lewis I. Drake. Jeremiah M. Drake, who was a Presbyterian minister, died in Lima, Indiana, in 1873. The mother passed away the same year. The father was a Whig in his politi- cal affiliations, and in his religious belief was a Presbyterian, rearing his children in the faith of that church.

Rev. L. J. Drake spent his boyhood in Springdale, Hamilton county, Ohio, near Glendale, was graduated in the seminary of that place and after- ward continued his studies under the guidance of his pastor. At the age of seventeen he began teaching in the academy of which he was a gradu- ate and afterward followed the same profession in other places. Later he

LEwes S. Drake

387

WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.

devoted some time to the study of medicine. When about twenty years of age he resumed college work in Hanover and was graduated in 1852. He is also a graduate of the McCormick Theological Seminary of Chicago, and therein was prepared for the high calling to which he has devoted his en- tire life. After being ordained to the ministry hie accepted the pastorate of the Presbyterian church at West Liberty, Logan county, Ohio, where he remained for thirty years, greatly beloved by his people and held in the highest esteem by those of other denominations. He afterward spent two years as the minister of the Presbyterian church in Holden, Missouri, and then resigned, accepting the pastorate of the church in Humboldt, Kansas, where he continued for nine years, doing effective service in the upbuild- ing of the church. He was formerly connected in a prominent manner with educational work in Ohio. He aided in establishing a college in Yellow Springs, that state, and in connection with ex-President Hayes was a member of the board of trustees of Wooster University, of Wooster, Ohio. In 1880 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Han- over College. In 1895 he resigned his charge in Humboldt and removed to his farm four miles south of Iola, since which time he has been engaged in missionary work in this presbytery.

Rev. L. I. Drake was married in Mt. Pleasant, Hamilton county, Ohio, May 10, 1849, to Miss Mary Ann Gaston, who was born May 9, 1830. Her father, David B. Gaston, was born in Hamilton county, No- vember 29, 1803. Our subject and his wite have become parents of ten children, four of whom are yet living: John W., a dentist now practicing in Chillicothe, Ohio; Mary, wife of J. B. Chamberlain, formerly of Hum- boldt, but now of Chicago; Mrs. Esther E. Aspinall, of Iola, and Ralph R., who has resided in Allen county since 1884. Ralph was born in West Liberty, Ohio, February 24, 1864, and drove alone in a wagon from the Buckeye state to Kansas. He has been twice married. He wedded Blanche Cain, of Ohio, and to them were born two children,-Hazel and Lewis. After the death of his first wife, he wedded Agnes Wagner, of Toledo, Ohio, formerly of Pennsylvania. Their children are Margaret and Frederick. Both Ralph Drake and his father have been lifelong Repub- licans. Our subject has never failed in any duty of citizenship, and has ever kept well informed on the issues of the day. He is a man of strong convictions yet of an abiding sympathy. As a speaker he is forceful and eloquent and his every utterance rings with sincerity and honest convic- tion. His mind, carefully disciplined, analytical and of broad ken, his deep perception and quick and lively sympathy, make him a power in his field of labor.

W TILLIAM LEWIS BARTELS, retired, of Iola, whose presence has been conspicuously recognized in the business and social world of Allen county for the past forty years, is one of the remaining pioneers of

388

HISTORY OF ALLEN AND

Kansas whose business career almost spans the history of his county and whose life, filling with years, has been crowned with the reward of honest, earnest and intelligent effort. He has not simply been in the county but distinctly of the county and, while he has witnessed most of the events of importance that have happened here he has caused some of them to happen and knew that others were going to happen. He had arrived at the age of responsible citizenship when he first saw Allen county and was equipped with a fair education, a good constitution, an abundance of energy and a good name. This combination, carefully guarded, will win in the race of any life and, when its cares have been laid aside. it can not be said that "it was all in vain."

"Lew" Bartels was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, May 11, 1842. He is a son of Christian Bartels, born in Hanover, Germany, in 1808. The latter was a miller's son and, in 1835, came to the United States. He has a brother, Lewis, who resides at Gypsum, Kansas, and another brother, Henry, who remained in Germany. Christian Bartels learned the tailor's trade in his youth and his first work in this country was done in Phila- delphia. He located at Zanesville, Ohio, about 1840 and was there mar- ried to Sarah Pryor, whose parents were among the first settlers of that community. In 1851 he went to Bureau county, Illinois, and located inl Sheffield. He had undertaken farming in Illinois and, feeling cramped for room and with the expectation of getting a "claiui," he came to Kansas in 1860. He pre-empted a quarter section on Onion Creek, on the south line of Iola township and died there in 1878. His widow died in Iola in 1898. Their children are: Amelia, widow of Jesse VanFossen, of Humboldt; Mary, died single; W. L .; Margaret, wife of D. B. Stephens, of Iola; Sarah, who married Robert L. Travis, of Humboldt, Kansas; Thomas M., a leading merchant of Iola.

Among the first things that Lew Bartels encountered on coming to Kansas was the Civil war. It was no trial for him to meet his obligation in this matter for he was a strong believer in the union of the states and cow- ardice was not a part of his makeup. He enlisted August 10, 1861, in Company G, Ninth Kansas, Colonel Lynde; and the first thing that was done was to raid the Rebels and Bushwhackers who sacked Humboldt. They were overtaken at Cabin Creek and a battle ensued. The fellows who burned Humboldt also came in for a raid and the Ninth did its duty toward them. The Ninth spent the winter of 1861 011 post duty at Humboldt and the next spring it was marched to Leavenworth, Kansas, and mounted. It took the Santa Fe trail for Fort Union, New Mexico, guarding the over- land stage line against the Indians and Rebels. The regiment returned to Leavenworth the same fall and Company G did provost guard duty around the city till the spring of 1863. The regiment guarded the southern border of the state and chased Quantrel's band of guerrillas in Missouri the greater part of the year. General Joe Shelby's men were encountered at different times in his feints on Kansas City and north Missouri. The spring of 1864 the Ninth Kansas was ordered toward Little Rock and had many brushes with the Confederates in Arkansas. Our subject enlisted as a private and

James Simpson

389

WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.

was discharged at Duvalls Bluff, Arkansas, January 16, 1855, being a sergeant and having seen three and one-half years of service.

Mr. Bartels tilled the soil the first four years succeeding the war. He went into Degenhart's harness shop at Humboldt, learned the trade and the business and spent three years there. He came to Iola in 1874 and opened a shop and did a thriving business in the old building on his present busi- ness . corner till 1885. He was then appointed Deputy Revenue Collector for fourteen eastern Kansas counties. He officiated in this capacity four and a half years and acquitted himself with credit to himself and with great satisfaction to the government. Upon the election of Harrison the Deputy force resigned in a body and, in reply to his letter of resignation his chief sent Mr. Bartels the following:

"In terminating our official relations I desire to say that I have always considered the business of the Second Division in safe hands, and to thank you for your care and fidelity in the discharge of your duties. Your selec- tion and appointment has never caused me a regret. I hope your pros- perity and happiness in future may equal your individual merits."

Retiring from the revenue service Mr. Bartels established himself in the hardware business and his house became one of the popular places of business in Allen county. He conducted its affairs most satisfactorily till April 1899 when he sold his stock and retired from active business. Dur- ing the year 1898 he erected tlie "Bartels Block," a two story brick 22X120 feet with basement and the following year his brick residence, on East Madison avenue, was erected, and he thus becomes the owner of two of the most attractive and substantial structures in the city.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas, Part 45

Author: Duncan, L. Wallace (Lew Wallace), b. 1861. cn; Scott, Charles F., b. 1860 Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Iola, Kan. : Iola Register Number of Pages: 1066

Author: Duncan, L. Wallace (Lew Wallace), b. 1861. cn; Scott, Charles F., b. 1860
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Iola, Kan. : Iola Register
Number of Pages: 1066