USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 54
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 54
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Isaac N. O'Brien spent the days of his childhood and youth in Ohio, and. at the time of his father's removal to Kansas was serving as Clerk of Common. Pleas court. He served from 1856 to 1858 and accordingly did not come to the Sunflower State until April 9, 1858, at which time he took up his residence in Humboldt and engaged in freighting from Leavenworth and Kansas City. When the war broke out lie joined the army and was de- tailed as a teamster. He was discharged in September, 1862, and went back to Ohio, and when the war was nearly over reenlisted as a substitute,. receiving sixteen hundred dollars for his services. As his command was, proceeding down the Ohio river, they received word that Lee had sur- rendered and were ordered back to be discharged, so that Mr. O'Brien was. only out four weeks the second time.
Throughout the greater part of his business career he has carried on: farming. He spent five years, however, in Chanute, where lie operated. the electric light plant and mills, and was also engaged for a time in the grocery business. In due time he returned to his farm where he is now extensively and successfully engaged in the raising of wheat, corn and hogs. His place comprises a tract of rich, never-failing bottom land on the Neosho river.
Mr. O'Brien has been twice married. First May 29, 1859, lie wedded, in Ohio, Miss Mary E. Were, and tothem were born a son and dangliter: Cornelius, born April 14, 1864, is now engaged in the transfer business in Cincinnati, Ohio; Mary E., born May 13 and died July 16, 1867. The mother died June 5, 1867, and Mr. O'Brien was again married February 11, 1872, his second union being with Miss Maggie P. Moore, of Pike county, Ohio. By this union six children were born: J. M., a prominent merchant in Humboldt; Grace and Hattie, both of whom have been college students and are now teachers in Allen county; Bertha, George and Perlie.
In his political affiliations Mr. O'Brien has always been a Republican. The honors and emoluments of public office have had no attraction for him, his attention being given to the farm, which has been the means of secur- ing for him a comfortable competence. He has long been a witness of the
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growth and development of southeastern Kansas, and Allen county num- bers him among her valued early settlers.
W ILLIAM W. MOFFITT, who has from early boyhood been de- pendent upon his own resources and has worked his way steadily upward, is now one of the most progressive and successful business men in Savonburg. A native of Franklin county, Indiana, he was born December 30, 1847, a son of Wesley and Elizabeth (Garrison) Moffitt. The father was a native of Pennsylvania, and when a young man removed to Indiana, where he met and married Miss Garrison, who had gone to the Hoosier state with her parents in her girlhood. Mr. Moffitt was a carpenter by trade, and followed that pursuit for a few years in Illinois, after which he came to Kansas in 1867, locating in Bourbon county, near Uniontown. He died in 1888, at the age of seventy years, while visiting in Nebraska. Five years earlier his wife passed away at the age of fifty-three. They had five children: William W., Mrs. Mary E. Lakin, Emma Pemrock, Charles and Mrs. Ella A. Cation.
Mr. Moffitt, of this review, spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Illinois, and mastered the common English branches of learning as tanght in the public schools. He came with the family to Kansas in 1867, when twenty years of age and remained with his parents till the age of twenty- five, when he was married to Miss Anna Morrison, the wedding being cele- brated on the 11th of February, 1872. The lady is a native of Guernsey county, Ohio They began their domestic life upon a rented farm near Uniontown, where Mr. Moffitt carried on agricultural pursuits for a year, and then removed to Neoslio county. Here he secured a claim in Grant township, and is to-day the owner of eighty acres of highly improved land. He continued farming until 1891, when he removed his family to Savon- burg, where he has since engaged in the grain and seed business, buying and shipping those commodities. His trade has constantly grown, and his business now amounts to sixty thousand dollars annually, for he handles the greater part of the grain raised in the southeastern portion of Allen county, having a warehouse in both Elsmore and Savonburg. He has ex- cellent facilities for carrying on the business and is prepared to pay the highest market price for grain, seeds and broom corn.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Moffitt has been blessed with two chil- dren, Edna and Elsa. They occupy a very pleasant residence in Savon- burg, which is owned by Mr. Moffitt, whose property interests also include his farm and the buildings in which he is conducting his business. In politics he has always been a Republican, warmly espousing the principles of the party, and he is now capably serving as Justice of the Peace in his township. Of the Odd Fellows Society, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America he is a representative, belonging to the local organizations in Savonburg. His life illustrates the power of honesty and diligence in the business world and is an example that is well worthy of emulation.
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G US ENGELHARDT, one of the well known and popular farmers of Elsmore township, Allen county, was born in LaGrange, Cook county, Illinois, and is of German lineage. His father, Charles Engel- hardt, was a native of Germany, and when a young man crossed the briny deep to the new world in 1856, settling upon a farm near Chicago. He was married to Miss Marie Harnish, who was also a native of Germany. An agriculturist by occupation, he engaged in the tilling of the soil in Cook county, Illinois, from 1856 until 1878, and during that time made consider- able money. He then determined to remove to the west, where he could buy land at a lower price, and in 1878 came to Kansas, where he purchased a farm of one thousand and eighty acres on Big Creek, in Elsmore town- ship,-one of the richest tracts in Allen county. He there resided until his death, which was caused by the accidental discharge of a gun. He was a man whom to know was to respect and honor for he lived an indus- trions lite, true to all noble and manly principles. His wife still survives him at the age of sixty-five years, aud is now living with her sons in Chi- cago. Mr. and Mrs. Engelhardt had nine children, namely: Alfred, Robert, Gus, Frank, Fred, Ed. and Mrs. Flora Consell. The last named is a resident of Wyoming, Illinois.
Gus Engelhardt was reared in Illinois until sixteen years of age, when le came to Kansas with his parents, remaining with them on the home- stead farm until he attained his majority when he crossed the plains to California and for one year worked at the carpenter's trade on the Pacific" coast. Since that time he has engaged in the operation of the farm in Allen county, which belonged to his father. He took charge of the place upon his father's death and has since successfully operated it, raising and feeding cattle and hogs in addition to the cultivation of the fields. He has excellent grades of stock upont he place and is a progressive agriculturalist, all appointments being modern, while the farm machinery is of the latest improved kind. He possesses good business qualifications and his capable management of the property has made it yield a good return.
Mr. Engelhardt was married April 7, 1897, to Miss Mary Teel, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Teel. She was born in Linn county, Iowa, and with her parents came to Kansas in 1877. By 'her marriage she has become the mother of an interesting little daughter, Mona Marie, born August 25, 1899. In his fraternal relations Mr. Engelhardt is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He votes with the Republican party, and assists his friends in obtaining office but has never desired official preferment for himself.
TOHN S. WILSON, of LaHarpe, is one of the more recent settlers of Allen county and he belongs to the thrifty and industrious class of Anglo-Americans who are so numerous in Elm township. He came into Allen county in 1889 from Tazewell county, Illinois, where he had resided fifteen years and whither he went from Livingston county, New York. In
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the latter state he was a neighbor of our fellow townsman, Henry Busley, and in locating in Allen county it was not strange that he should join farms with his old friend in their new home.
Mr. Wilson was born in Lincolnshire, England, November 15, 1843, and is a son of John Wilson, a laborer, who had two sons and three daughters, viz: Mary, deceased, wife of William Wakefield; Robert Wil- son, who is in Australia; Elizabeth, who is married to William Graham and resides in England; John S. Wilson, and Jane, wife of John Higgins, of England.
Our subject's mother was a school teacher and her maiden name was Lizzie Simpson. She reared her family to habits of industry and to prin- ciples of honesty and gave them such intellectual training as to equip them for successful competition with the world.
At nine years of age John S. Wilson began working by the year and at the age of thirteen he was able to earn three pounds. His labors were all given to farm work and the highest wages he earned (which was the highest paid) was twenty-one pounds a year. When he left England it was with sufficient funds to pay the passage of himself, wife and a child. He became a farm hand in his new but temporary home in Livingston county, New York, and when he had layed up two hundred dollars he bought a team and began farming rented land. He had accumulated a small surplus when he came to Illinois and a little more by the time he settled in Kansas, so that when he contracted for his home place of eighty acres he was only in debt a thousand dollars. In the eleven years he has passed in Allen county he has paid off his indebtedness and is clear of in- cumbrance with another eighty acres added to complete his quarter section.
In 1872 Mr. Wilson was married in Lincolnshire, England, to Susan Johnson who died at LaHarpe in 1891 leaving three children, as follows: Lizzie, wife of Simon Remsburg, a prominent young farmer of Iola town- ship; Robert W. Wilson, with his father, and Lydia Wilson, who died May 4, 1900, from accidental burning.
Mr. Wilson allied himself with the Democratic party when he became a voter in the United States and, in his quiet way, has given aid and com- fort to the enemies of the opposition for many years.
His pride in his home Mr. Wilson has made manifest in his constant and permanent improvement of his premises. His farm is one of the con- spicuously attractive ones on his highway and when any of the conven- iences of a farm are needed he provides them.
G I EORGE H. BACON was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, on Christmas day of 1827, his parents being Henry H. and Lois ( Mill) Bacon, also natives of that state. The son spent the first fifteen years of his life in the place of his nativity. His father died in Connecticut in 1840, at the age of forty-six years, and in 1842 he accompanied his mother
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on her removal to Indiana. Throughout her remaining days he cared for her, and she departed this life at his home in Kansas in 1874 when eighty- nine years of age.
While in Indiana George H. Bacon learned the trade of cloth dressing, which he followed for seven years. In 1853 he and his mother removed to Illinois, where he engaged in farming. His first work was at the car- penter's trade, which he followed for eighteen months, and from his earn- ings he saved three hundred dollars. He then visited New Orleans, but returning to Illinois worked on a farm for nine months, after which he pur- chased eighty acres of land, devoting his energies to its cultivation. In that enterprise he met with gratifying success.
In 1853 Mr. Bacon was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. F. Ridge, a native of Indiana, and in Illinois they resided until 1873 when they came to Kansas, Mr. Bacon purchasing two hundred acres of land in Elsmore township, where he has since resided. He has made splendid improve- ments upon his farm and has a very desirable property. In 1895 Mrs. Bacon died at the age of sixty-four years. They were the parents of ten children, six of whom are now living, namely: Charles W., who resides on a farm in Elsmore township; John E., of LaHarpe; Ella L., wife of Wesley Jones; Mary F., wife of C. S. Cox; Laura Kate, wife of E. W. Myler, of Burlingame, Kansas; Lizzie H., wife of B. F. Low, and Frank M., an adopted son.
Mr. Bacon has always been a strong temperance man and now has in his possession a pledge which he signed September 16, 1841, when fourteen years of age, and giving the names of the president and secretary of the organization Prior to the war he was a supporter of the Abolition party and on its organization he joined the Republican party, with which he has since affiliated. His life has been one of marked industry. A glance at his farm will indicate his careful supervision and progressive methods. He has now passed the seventy-third milestone on life's journey, and in the evening of life he receives the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded those whose record is an upright one.
C. W. NYMAN owns and operates a valuable farm of two hundred acres in Elsmore township. He was born in Clay county, South Dakota, on the 3rd of September, 1869, and is of Swedish lineage, being the eldest son of August J. and Matilda Nyman, both of whom were natives of Sweden. The father was born April 9, 1839, acquired his education in the public schools, and on the 30th of December, 1867, married Miss Matilda Swanson. For a number of years he had served as a grade con- tractor on the railroad. In 1868 he came with his young wife to America. locating first in Boone county, Iowa, where he worked on a gravel train. A year later they went to South Dakota, where Mr. Nyman secured a homestead and began farming, experiencing many of the hardships and
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trials that fall to the lot of the pioneer. The summers were short, the winters long and severe, and many blizzards rendered the lot of the settlers any- thing but enviable. After nine years Mr. Nyman sold his farm and on account of ill health returned with his family to Sweden, but after fifteen months he again came to America, reaching Kausas in 1878. He bought a farm of eighty acres where Savonburg is located, and later added to the property until he owns two hundred and sixty acres of the rich and pro- ductive soil of Allen county. Here he has built a fine country residence and large barns and is now in possession of a model country-seat, every- thing about the place being in first class condition. He is numbered among the progressive and substantial farmers of Allen county, and deserving of great credit for his success, for when he first arrived in America he had only twenty dollars. His excellent ability as a manager, combined with his unflagging industry, has enabled him to work his way steadily upward and today he is in possession of a handsome competence.
In politics August J. Nyman is a stalwart Republican, inflexible in support of the principles of his party. For a third of a century his wife has traveled lite's journey by his side and their home was blessed with three children. The two surviving are C. W. and J. O., the latter a prominent real estate dealer in Savonburg.
In taking up the personal history of C. W. Nyman we present to our readers the life of one who is widely and favorably known in Allen county. He spent the first eight years of his life in his native State, and then ac- companied his parents on their return to Sweden. His experience in the old country was an interesting period in his boyhood career. With the family he came to Allen county when nine years of age, and has made his home here continuously since, supplementing his early education, acquired in South Dakota, by study in the schools of Savonburg and also in learning the Swedish language. He assisted his father in the cultivation of the home farm and remained under the parental roof until twenty-one years of age, when he was married, on the 3rd of March 1892, to Miss Allie Freed, a native of this county, and a daughter of Daniel and Pleasant Freed. They now have a little son, Vernon, who is three years old.
After his marriage Mr. Nyman purchased eighty acres of land on the county line, a mile south and west of Savonburg, and with characteristic energy began transforming the raw prairie into richly cultivated fields. He erected a nice residence and added to its homelike appearance by planting trees about the place. His house is situated on the county line, and he owns also one hundred and twenty acres of land in Neosho county. The soil is rich and productive and a crop can be depended upon almost any season. He has a herd of good cattle, keeping on hand about forty head, and he also has good horses and mules, with which to operate his land and tend to the other work of the farm. In 1896 he became interested in the real estate business in Savonburg in connection with his brother, but after a year he sold out to his brother and returned to the farm, since which time he has devoted his energies exclusively to the cultivation of the fields and the raising of stock.
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In his social relations Mr. Nyman is an Odd Fellow and Rebekah and also belongs to the Ancient Order of United. Workman, to the Knights- and Ladies of Security and to the Anti-Horse Thief Association. In politics- he has been an earnest and energetic Republican since casting his first vote. In his farming methods he is practical and enterprising, and these quali- ties have made him one of the prosperous agriculturalists of the community,. while his genial manner has rendered him popular with many friends.
TAMES H. RUNYAN-For a quarter of a century James H. Runyan has. resided upon the farm in Elm township which is now his home, and. is a loyal citizen of Kansas: He has traveled in various states but has. never found a location as pleasing as Allen county and therefore with its; interests he has been long and actively identified. He was born in Warren county, Ohio, in 1827. His paternal great-grandfather, Henry Runyan,. Sr,, was a native of Holland, whence he crossed the Atlantic to America. When the yoke of British oppression became intolerable and the people sought independence he joined the colonial ariny, thus becoming one of the Revolutionary heroes. His son, Henry Runyan, Jr., grandfather of our subject, was born in what is now West Virginia, in 1775, and in that State occurred the birth of his son, Peter L. Runyan, the date of his birth being 1801. During the pioneer epoch in the development of Ohio, he removed. from West Virginia to the Buckeye State and in 1824 married Hannah Crosson, whose people moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1803. Of the children of Peter L. Runyan five are still living: Henry, of Butlerville, Ohio; James H .; Archie, of Blanchester, Ohio; Mrs. Rebecca Long and Mrs. Mary Flommerfelt, both of whom are residents of Butlerville.
James H. Runyan, the second of the family, early became inured to the hard labor incident to life upon a pioneer farm. In 1852 he went to Cali- fornia, attracted by the discovery of gold there and spent seven years on the Pacific slope engaged in mining and in running a pack train and trading post at the mines. In 1859 he returned to Ohio and after devoting six years to merchandising once more took up his abode upon the farm where he remained until his removal to Allen county, Kansas, in 1874. He spent about a year in Iola and then purchased the land on which he now resides. He found here a log cabin, while a small portion of the ground had been placed under cultivation. Each year he has added to the improvements upon the place until he has made it one of the best farms in Elm township; the well tilled fields yielding to him a golden tribute in return for the care and cultivation he has bestowed upon them.
In 1860 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Runyan and Miss Sarah S. Bird, whose people removed from New Jersey to Ohio. She is the only surviving one of a family of fourteen children. Mr. and Mrs. Runyan have five children, all living, namely: LeRoy, who is clerking for the Lanyon Zinc Company at Lanyonville, is married; George W., married, and is a
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railroad employe living in Neodesha, Kansas; Clement E., of California; Ed L., who is married and is in the real estate business in LaHarpe, and Mrs. Nellie Morrison who resides on a farm in Elin township. In politics the Runyans are Democrats, and in religious belief they are Methodists. Mr. and Mrs. Runyan of this review have been members or the church of that denomination for thirty years, and in their life exemplify their faith. Mr. Runyan has had no occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in Kansas, for here he has prospered, gaining a com- fortable competence, and at the same time winning the respect of his fellow men.
W ILLIAM J. FURNEAUX -- In his life record William J. Fur- neanx has manifested many of the sterling traits of his English and Scotch ancestors. He was born in Owen Sound, in Canada, September 4, 1867. His father, John Farneaux, was a native of England, born in Devonshire, and at the age of thirteen years he crossed the Atlantic to the British province in the new world, being reared and married in Canada. Miss Jennie Lawrie, who became his wife, was born in Scotland and was brought to Canada when five years of age. With his family John Fur- neaux removed to Brown county, Kansas, in 1869, locating upon a farm there. He had previously engaged in the manufacture of lye, but after coming to the Sunflower state devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits. At present he is living with his family in Barton county, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Furneaux became the parents of six children, five of whom are living, namely: Robert, William J., Helen, Henry and Grace, now the wife of Dan VanScoyoc.
The subject of this review was the second of the family. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-six years of age and was then married to Miss Aldora Gloyd, who was born in Bucyrus, Crawford county, Ohio, on the 14th of November, 1873. Her parents were Henry and Lavina (Grundrun) Gloyd, who came to this state in 1888, but are now living in Davis county, Missouri, where Mr. Gloyd has been employed by the Wabash Railroad Company for a number of years.
After his marriage Mr. Furneaux rented a farm and began life on his own account. He had a team, but few possessions beyond this and it was hard work that gave him his start. However, he possessed an unfailing amount of energy and determination and as the result of his well directed efforts he was soon enabled to purchase a farm.
Mr. Furneanx resided in Anderson county until 1894 when he sold his property there and came to Allen county where he purchased eighty acres of land a mile and a half east of Elsmore. Here he is making a nice home and with the aid of his wife he is advancing steadily on the road to pros- perity. The marriage of this worthy couple has been blessed with four children, namely: Roy, George, McNel and Eva. Mr. Furneanx has
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always been a stalwart Republican and is giving an unswerving support tos the principles of the party, but he has never sought or desired office, his; attention being fully occupied by his business affairs.
G EORGE H. YOUNG .- The record of George H. Young is that of a conscientious man who by his upright life has won the confidence of all with whom he has come in contact. He has passed the eighty-third milestone on life's journey and although the snows of many winters have whitened his hair he has the vigor of a much younger man and in spirits and interests seems yet in his prime. Old age is not necessarily a syn- onym of weakness and inactivity. It need not suggest, as a matter of course, want of occupation or helplessness. There is an old age that is a benediction to all that come in contact with it, that gives out of its rich stores of experience and is thus a benefit to others. Such is the life of Mr. Young, an encouragement to his associates and an example well worthy of emulation to those who are but starting out on life's journey.
He was born in Stokes county, North Carolina, October 24, 1817, a son of Robert and Mary (Astrop) Young, the former a native of the Old North state, while the latter was born in Culpeper county, Virginia. He died in December, 1857, at the age of seventy-two years, and his wife sur- vived him until 1864, passing away at the age of seventy-five. Nine chil- dren were born to them but only three are now living: Anna, who resides in North Carolina, at the age of ninety years; George H., and E. H., who is still living in the county where he was born seventy-six years ago.
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