USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 50
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 50
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Mr. Robinson was married in Iola March 1, 1876, to Elnora I. Proctor. Their children are: Agnes, wife John Thompson, and Theo P.
Mr. Robinson has taken a prominent and sincete interest in public affairs in Iola, having served on both the City Council and the Board of Education. He is a reliable and conservative business man and it is well for Iola that his lot has been cast with her.
J
JACOB H. LADD .- The late Jacob H. Ladd, of Iola, was born in Lees-
burg, Highland county, Ohio, February 23, 1843. He was a farmer's son and resided on the family homestead until November 9, 1868, when he started for Verdi, Kansas. He remained there only temporarily and came to Iola in December following. He was a carpenter and wagon make and engaged in that business in this city. He died March 6, 1884. He was married December 7, 1871, to Amelia DeMoss, a daughter of Dr. Morton DeMoss, one of the early physicians of Iola. Mr. Ladd's children are: Delia Ladd, of Iola; John Ladd, of Sheridan, Wyoming; Mabel L., wife of L. C. Beatty, of Iola, and Jacob Ladd, of Iola.
A LTES H. CAMPBELL .- Conspicuous among the attorneys at the bar of the Seventh Judicial District of Kansas is Altes H. Campbell. Born in Allen county, two miles east of Carlyle, on the itli of May, 1862, he is all but a pioneer. His father, James H. Campbell, located in that county in 1860, settling on Deer Creek where, between farmning and law,
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he reared and maintained his family. He was an emigrant from Switzer- land county, Indiana, where he was born in 1818 and reared and educated. He was a son of William Campbell, a relative of Colonel Harrod, who founded Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and with others came from South Caro- lina to aid in the founding of that city, about the time of Boone's period of greatest adventures. James H. Campbell was admitted to the bar in In- diana. In 1866 he was elected county attorney of Allen county and when his term expired he was sent to the Kansas State Legislature by the Repub- licans of his county. He practiced law till 1872 when he engaged in farm- ing and stock raising in Anderson county, Kansas, afterwards removing to Colony, in that county, and later to Iola where he died in 1889. In 1860. Bethia A. Simpson became the wife of James H. Campbell. She was a daughter of Matthew Simpson, a cousin of Bishop Simpson, of the Method- ist denomination. Matthew Simpson was one of the early educators of Allen county and was, for a time, Superintendent of Public Instruction. He was a man of strong personality, was a pioneer among teachers and impressed the boys and girls of the early seventies, in Allen county, with the seriousness of his cause.
Of the seven children born to James H. and Mrs. Campbell only three survive: Altes H., Mary J. and James H. Campbell. The last named is .one of the firm of Campbell & Burrell, druggists, of Iola, and the mother, brothers and sister all live in the same yard.
A. H. Campbell passed his early life amid the environments of the farmn. The common schools are responsible for his education and when he left the farm it was to take a clerkship in Colony, Kansas. Following this employ- ment he was placed in charge of a steam hay-press and operated it till 18 82 when his uncle, "Cy" Simpson, appointed him to a position in the Iola post office. His preparation for the law had been going on all the time he was baling hay around Colony and his spare hours while in the post office were passed pouring over Blackstone, Walker's American Law etc. In 1884 he left the post office and went into the office of A. C. Bogle, a leading attorney of Iola at the time, and under his direction carried on a course of systematic reading, continuing the same later with Hon. Henry A. Ewing, a prominent member of the bar of Allen county. In August 1885 he was admitted to the bar before Judge Leander Stillweil.
"Alt" Campbell was poor, almost to poverty, when he was struggling for admission to the bar, and after his admission found it necessary to sup- plement his legal earnings by taking employment outside of his profession. He mastered stenography by study from the book without a teacher aud did considerable court reporting. A few months he was cashier of the Bank of Allen County and when Iola took on her first Democratic post- master he was invited into the office to give direction to the initial move- ments of the office force. Among the first acts in his professional career was to form a partnership with Hon. Charles E. Benton, then of Iola but now Assistant Attorney of the Missouri Pacific Railroad with office at Fort Scott. The firm of Benton & Campbell gave way and that of Campbell & Hankins succeeded it. Campbell & Porter followed and was terminated
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by the untimely death of John Porter. In 1900 Mr. Campbell associated with him John F. Goshorn, County Attorney of Allen county.
Mr. Campbell is admitted to practice before all the courts of the state, and in the United States Circuit and District courts. From 1993 to 1895 he served as County Attorney, being elected as a Democrat, and has filled the office of City Attorney of Iola three terms and was elected Mayor of the city in April 1901. Politically he was always a Democrat until the adop- tion of the Chicago platform in 1896 when he left that party and cast his lot with the Republicans.
June 12, 1888, Mr. Campbell married Mrs. Mary Jeanette English, a daughter of Cyrus S. Potter, one of the well known citizens of Iola and formerly of Watertown, New York. Mrs. Potter was Miss Adelaide E. Wafiel and their children are: "Nettie" Campbell, wife of our subject; Bert Potter, of Iola; Irwin Potter, of Coffeyville, Kansas, and Rev. Leslie Potter, Rector of Grace Church in Kirkwood, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell's children are Leslie J., Carl B. and Helen.
In summing up the life of one whose race is only half run it is our privilege to touch slightly upon the attributes which form the mental con - position, and thus the character, of him whose name introduces this review. Reared without wealth, but in honor, Alt Campbell chose the paths of rectitude and virtue. He was ever a gentleman and when his preparation for life had been completed and he took his station among the men of his county it was with the determination to shun duplicity and avoid dishonor. In his profession his clientage has been drawn to him not only because he was learned in the law but because of his sincerity as a counsellor and of his standing and ability before the court.
As a citizen of Iola Mr. Campbell has an abiding faith in the future of his town and whatever aid he can render is done without expectation of reward. He is a Mason and Odd Fellow, a Workman and a member of other fraternal associations. In the business circle of his community his substantial worth is a matter of common recognition, and in his home his family possesses a loyal, indulgent and devoted head.
N IMROD HANKINS, of Iola, among Allen county's venerable pio- neers and a gentleman who has performed his part in the moral, material and political upbuilding of his county, was born in Vermillion county, Illinois, March 1. 1831. He is a son of Fielden L. Hankins, a Virginian, and a tarmer and soldier of the war of 1812. The latter was married to Miss Fannie Drury, a lady of Virginia birth and of the age of lier husband. This union was productive of eight children, three sons and five daughters, viz: Deborah Hays, who died in Iola in 1895 at the age · of eighty-four; Davis Hankins, who died in Andrew county, Missouri, at the age of sixty years; Wesley Hankins, who died in McDonough county, Illinois, in 1885; Emily Hays, of Leon, Kansas; Andrew J. Hankins, of
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Good Hope, Illinois; Rev. William Hankins, of Iola, and Nimrod, our subject.
Grandfather Drury was a Methodist minister in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. His wife lived to be near one hundred years of age.
At the age of seventeen years Nimrod Hankins began life as a farmer and continued it in Illinois, and in Kansas till recent years. He left Illi- nois in 1856 and came to Allen county, Kansas. He located near Iola in the fall of the same year. When the war broke out he enlisted at Iola in Company E, Ninth Kansas Cavalry, October 17, 1861. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Lynde and the company by Captain Flescher. He enlisted as a private but was soon promoted to Orderly Sergeant and later to First Lieutenant and for six months he was on detail as recruiting officer. His service was spent largely in running down Bushwhackers, one year of his enlistment being passed on guard duty along the Missouri and Kansas line. The regiment was sent south toward the end of the war into Ar- kansas, stopping at Fort Smith and Little Rock, spending several months in that state. The regiment was disbanded at Duvalls Bluff and there our subject was mustered out.
November 1, 1855, Mr. Hankins was married to Elizabeth A. Case who was born November 20, 1844. She was an Allen county teacher and a daughter of Aaron and Amelia Case who came to Allen county in 1857 from Franklin county, Kansas. Mr. Case came to Kansas in 1852 and was a trader among the Sac and Fox Indians on the Marias des Cygnes river. He erected one of the first store buildings in Cofachique and, when that place seemed destined to die he removed bis stock to Iola where he fol- lowed merchandising till his death, December 1862. Mr. Case was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1822, and was married in 1843 to Amelia Foster who was born in Clay county, Missouri. His widow resides in Fre- donia, Kansas. Their children are: William E. Case, a leading merchant in Fredonia, Kansas; Mrs. Nimrod Hankins; Mrs. Laura E. Hunt, of Fre- donia; Mrs. Louise J. Hudson, of Fredonia; Mrs. Belle Lakin, of Fort Scott, Kansas, and Richard Case, of Fredonia.
Mrs. Nimrod Hankins taught a subscription school in Cofachique in 1859, the first school taught there. Afterward she spent three years in the public schools of the county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hankins have been born six children, four of whom survive: William C. Hankins, an attorney and abstracter of Iola; Miss Olive Hankins; Richard N. and George D.
Nimrod Hankins is well known as a Democrat. His ancestors es- poused the principles of the old time faith and when he came to responsi- bility and citizenship he followed in their footsteps. His political life has been as quiet as his social life. He filled the unexpired term of J. L. Arnold as Probate Judge, by appointment of Governor Lewelling, which is the sum total of his official service. He is slow of speech, pleasant and affable in manner, droll at times and full of dry humor. He measures to the full height of our standard of citizenship and possesses the entire con- fidence of his neighbors and friends.
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C HARLES F. J. BARTH .- In connection with the pioneer develop- ment of the state Charles Frederick Jacob Barth, now deceased, is worthy of honorable mention. His name is inseparably interwoven with the early history of Allen county, and through the years of his residence here he was a valued citizen who contributed in appreciable measure to the upbuilding and progress of his community.
A native of Germany, he was born in Udenheim, in Rhine-Hessen, January 18, 1837. His father. Charles Frederick Barth, was principal of the high school of that city, and was a man of strong character and marked intellectuality. His eldest son, George Barth, is a banker in Frankfort-on- the-Main, in Germany. Another son, Philip, is a carpenter of New York City. Their mother was Phillipena Barth. Charles F. J. Barth, of this review, spent his early boyhood in his native land, and there served an apprenticeship to the cabinet-making and upholstering trades. At the age of fourteen he became a member of the German Reformed church and for a time served as its pianist, having been well trained in music. At the age of fifteen he secured his father's permission to come to America and sailed for New York city. There and in Passaic, New Jersey, he followed the pursuits with which he had become familiar in his native land, and as he journeyed westward he followed various occupations. In Missouri and Wisconsin he engaged in farmning. He was in the former state at the time of the Civil war. He responded to the first call for volunteers and served for several months in the Missouri State Militia. He afterward enlisted in Company I, Sixth Kansas Cavalry, and was a comrade of Dr. Gillihan, of Iola. During the early part of his service he was at the front on the field, but afterward was promoted to hospital steward. He had previously studied medicine and had been clerk in a drug store and those qualifica- tions secured him his positions in the hospital. He received an honorable discharge at Leavenworth, Kansas, at the close of the war, and immedi- ately afterward went to White county, Illinois, locating there in August, 1865. The following year he came to Allen county, and in 1868 took up his residence on the farm where his family now reside.
At Duvalls Bluff, Arkansas, he had made the acquaintance of Miss Martha J. Rice, of Carmi, Illinois, who was engaged in teaching at the former place, and on the 13th of September, 1865, they were married. The lady was born in Kentucky, December 15, 1843, and is a daughter of Henry F. Rice, of Ca:mi, that state. Her father was born in Marion county, Kentucky, and died near Iola in 1880, at the age of sixty-two. His wife was, in her maidenhood, Mary Kertley Thompson, of Hopkins- ville, Kentucky. She died in Marion county, Kentucky, in 1852. Unto our subject and his wife have been born five children: Margaret A., de- ceased; George H., of Iola; Willie C., who is agent of the Rock Island Railroad, at Broughton, Kansas; Charles F. and Anna E., who reside with their mother.
After coming to Allen county, in 1868 Mr. Barth homesteaded the east half of the southeast quarter of section twelve, Iola township, and through-
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out his remaining days he devoted his energies to farming, cultivating his fields and improving his place until his life's labors were ended in death, January 29, 1900. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, in Iola. and possessed sterling principles of character which were manifest in his integrity and positive convictions of right and justice in his associations and dealings with his fellow townsmen, among whom he lived for thirty- two years. He was a man of domestic tastes, faithful to every home duty, and he considered no personal sacrifice too great which would enhance the happiness or promote the welfare of his wife and children. His Christian- ity was manifest in his interest in the intellectual and spiritual development of his children, in his faith and trust in God through life, and in his resig- nation to the Divine will at death. His life stands in exemplification of the power of integrity and uprightness in the affairs of life and his mem- ory remains as a blessed benediction to all who knew him.
H ARRY BRAGG-To instill into the minds and hearts of the young respect for great attainments, reverence for great virtues, and to excite generous emulation, by holding up as examples for admiration and imitation the lives of the wise, the great and the good, is commenda- ble and right. But the field of example should be extended, and lessons of industry, energy, usefulness, virtue, honor, the true aims of life and the sources of happiness, should be gathered and enforced from all the various provinces of human labor, however humble. Our country is eminently in need of increasing intelligence in agriculture, commerce and mechanism. Those great divisions of labors should be rendered not only lucrative and respectable as they are but honorable and attractive to the young in all classes of society. The lives of leading merchants, farmers, manufacturers, mechanics,-of all who by honest labor have achieved success in the differ- ent occupations, should be written and commended to the young men of the republic. The path of labor and usefulness should be indicated as the highway to honor.
Harry Bragg, now one of the leading merchants in southern Kansas, has attained to his present creditable position entirely through his own efforts. He was born in Shropshire, England, February 9, 1850. His father, William M. Bragg, was born in London, England, and was married to Miss Margaret M. Pace, of Shropshire, in 1844, where he was Master of a school under the patronage of and maintained by the Duchess of Suther- land (then Mistress .of the robes to the Queen) on one of their estates in that county. In this position he remained until he came to America in 1852. locating at Bellevue, Iowa. Moving to Kansas in 1869 he took up 320 acres of land and engaged in farming, which occupation he followed until he moved to Humboldt in 1889, laying aside the arduous duties of a farmer's life, and at which place he now resides at the age of seventy-eight, keeping books in the office of his son. His wife died at the age of seventy-
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five years. They had nine children, of whom Harry was the fourth in order of birth.
In taking up the personal history of Harry Bragg we present to our readers the record of one who is very widely and favorably known. He remained in Iowa during his youth and at the age of twelve years he began to learn the tinner's trade. When his parents came to Kansas he remained in the Hawkeye State in order to finish learning his trade, and in 1870 he came to Humboldt, his father having previously located in Neosho county. He secured a situation as tinner in the shops of Redfield & Signor, with whom he remained for twenty months, after which he spent six months in the employ of J. R. Lowey and later was with J. P. Johnson in the hard- ware business under the firm name of Johnson & Bragg, which connection was maintained from 1876 until 1886, when Mr. Bragg purchased his partner's interest and has since continued the business alone. He now has the largest hardware and farm implement store in southern Kansas and is doing a business of fifty thousand dollars a year. He has followed most systematic and honorable business methods, and his straight- forward dealing and moderate prices have gained to him a very liberal patronage.
Mr. Bragg was married in 1873 to Miss Ella Rouse, a native of Warren county, New York .. Her father, N. B. Rouse, removed with his family from the Empire State to Kansas and in 1870 came to Humboldt, Kansas. Mrs. Bragg has indeed been a faithful companion and helpmate to her his- band, and to her aid he largely attributes his success. He had to borrow two hundred and fifty dollars with which to purchase tools when he began business in Humboldt, but both he and his wife worked hard, she doing dressmaking in order to enable him to get a good start. Together they saved the money, and now as a result of their industry and economy, they are enabled to enjoy many of the comforts and luxuries of life. They have one child, Lucile, an interesting intelligent and popular young lady of Humboldt. She was graduated in the high school of this city, afterward she studied in the State University at Lawrence, and subsequently matricu- lated in Lombard College at Galesburg, Illinois, where she graduated. She is now acting as her father's bookkeeper.
In his political affiliations Mr. Bragg is a Republican but has had neither time nor inclination for public office. He has attended some of the county conventions, however, and, as every true American citizen should do, feels an interest in political affairs. Socially he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. He occupies a leading position in business circles in this county and his record is well worthy of emulation.
M ARION INGELS was born in Morgan county, Indiana, September 17, 1844. His ancestors removed from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, and thence to Indiana, casting in their lot with the pioneer settlers of that
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State. Samuel Meranda, the grandfather of our subject, was a soldier in the War of 1812. Thomas Ingels, the father of our subject, was a native of the Hoosier State, and in 1843 married Miss Elizabeth Meranda. By occu- pation he was a farmer, following that pursuit throughout his active lite. He died in 1859, at the age of forty years, while his wife survived until 1895, and passed away at the age of sixty-nine. They had six children, of whom five are now living, namely: Marion; John, of Center, Indiana; Mrs. S. R. Gideon, of Washington, D. C .; George, of Alva, Oklahoma, and Samuel, of Hemlock, Indiana.
Elder Ingels was reared upon his father's farm and through the winter months attended the district schools of the neighborhood until twenty years of age, when his uncle, James Ingels, sent him to Abingdon College, in Illinois, where lie remained until his graduation. He was educated for the teacher's profession, but he soon began preaching in connection with his teaching, and continued so to do for five years, since which time he has abandoned teaching for preaching the gospel of the Christian church. He has filled pastorates at Bryant, Abingdon, Cuba, Lewiston and Illiopolis, Illinois; and at Leanna, Oswego, Chetopa, North Topeka and Coffeyville, Kansas. He was united in marriage to Miss Libbie Frazier, June 6, 1869. Miss Frazier was born in Ursa, Illinois, November 11, 1848. Her father Lemuel G. Frazier, was a native of Kentucky, but removed to Adams county, Illinois, when a mere child where he grew to man's estate, raised a large family and died. He gave his daughter excellent educational priv- ileges, and in 1873 she was graduated in Abingdon College, with the degree of bachelor of science. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Ingels has been blessed with two sons, Thomas L., who married Miss Jennie Little, of Savonburg, Kansas, and is living on his father's farm; and Harry P., now twelve years of age.
Elder Ingels continued his ministerial work in Illinois until the fall of 1882, when he came to Kansas and purchased eighty acres of land in east Cottage Grove township, near Leanna, Allen county. He has made splendid improvements upon his farm and has a most attractive home, which stands in the midst of highly cultivated fields. There is also a large orchard upon his place and all modern improvements, and in the periods of his rest from the ministerial duties he finds pleasure in the work of the farnı.
He returned to Illinois in 1895 for a period of two years to educate his son Thomas in Eureka College. During these two years he did evangelistic work in Michigan and Illinois. He was State Sunday school evangelist of Kansas for six years and is now engaged in evangelistic work under the State missionary board of the Christian church. Mr. Ingels took the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1869, and that of Bachelor of Arts in 1873, in Abingdon College and he and his wife taught therein during the two college years beginning in the fall of 1875. He prepares the lessons for the Christian Endeavor Quarterly, and does other religious literary work. He has found in his wife a most able assistant. She is a most earnest worker in the missionary field, and is president of the Woman's
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Christian Board of Missions in Kansas, an important position which she has filled for a number of years. Mr. Ingels is one of the leading ministers of the Christian church in this State, having filled positions of trust on the State board of the Interdenominational Sunday school work, and on the State boards of his own church. He is a man of thoughtful, earnest purpose, of strong intellectual endowments, of broad charity and kindly nature, and by all denominations, as well as his own people, is held in the highest regard.
JACOB ERICSON is a stock and grain farmer, living in Elsmore town- ship, Allen county. He has always resided in the middle west and is characterized by the true western spirit of progress and advancement. He was born in Knoxville, Knox county, Illinois. His parents were Ole and Elna Ericson, both of whom were natives of Sweden. (See sketch of Eric Ericson. )
In the common schools of his native town Jacob Ericson pursued the studies which fitted him for the practical duties of a business life. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-eight years of age, farming till he was twenty-two years of age and mining the next six years. Dur- ing his boyhood he learned the painter's trade and followed that pursuit through the summer months, while in the winter season he worked in the mines. His home, however, was upon a farm and he thereby became familiar with the labors of the field. He was married in 1888 and after- ward took up his abode in Knoxville where he engaged in the painting business through the succeeding period of seven years. During that time he had saved earnings enough to enable him to come to Kansas, where he had two brothers living, and purchase a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He has made good improvements upon the place and is still adding to his farming facilities. His farm is located two miles west of Elsmore and is approaching one of the finest in the entire community, for he is pro- gressive and enterprising and as far as possible is adding to his place all the modern accessories. He raises stock and grain and keeps on hand good horses to do the farm work.
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