USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 57
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 57
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104
William D. Jewell was only two years old when his parents removed to Michigan, where he was reared upon the liome farun amid the wild scenes of frontier life. He attended the common schools, which, however, were of a rather primitive character, owing to the unsettled condition of the county, in which the Indians outnumbered the white population five to one. Through association with the red men our subject learned to speak their language as well as he could the English tongue. At the age of thirteen he began an apprenticeship as an engineer, and for several years was employed as an engineer in a large distillery. He afterward secured a similar situation in a sawmill, where four hundred men were employed, and served as engineer in connection with that enterprise until his removal to Kansas in 1870. Here he located in the southwest corner of Salem township, where he has since made his home, his farm being pleasantly located five miles southeast of Humboldt. He secured a homestead of eighty acres, and added to his property from time to time until he now owns one hundred and eighty-one acres of rich and arable land. The farm is divided into fields of convenient size by well-kept fences, and everything about it is characterized by neatness and order. He has an attractive resi- dence and beautiful shade trees surround his home. There is a good barn
482
HISTORY OF ALLEN AND
and other substantial outbuildings and he has a small vineyard and a good orchard of six acres planted with fine varieties of apple trees.
When he arrived in Kansas Mr. Jewell's cash capital consisted of four hundred and eighty dollars which he had saved from his earnings in Mich- igan. He had to pay a very high price for his team and when he had be- come settled for the winter his funds were exhausted, but he was not discouraged with this condition and resolutely set to work to earn a liveli- hood for his family. As the years have passed his financial resources have increased, and to-day he occupies an enviable position among those who have reached a place of independence.
In 1869 Mr. Jewell was united in marriage, in Michigan, to Seraph A. Whitford. Her father, George Riley, was a native of New York and died in Kansas at the home of his daughter in February, 1900, at the age of eighty-two years. Mrs. Jewell's mother is living with her at the age of eighty-three years. She bore the maiden name of Hannah A. Dailey, and was a native of New York. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Jewell have been born six children, all of whom are living, namely: John Leslie; Estelle, wife of William Grenane, of Neosho county, Kansas; Wesley, at home; Nellie J., wife of Sedley Yount, of Allen county; Nettie and Iva, at home.
Mr. Jewell is a public spirited and progressive citizen. He takes a deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the county. At the time of the Civil war he manifested his loyalty to the government by enlist- ing in Company K, Twelfth Michigan Infantry, with which command he served two years and eleven months. He participated in the battle of Saline Cross Roads and in many smaller engagements and skirmishes, and when the war was ended received an honorable discharge, returning to his home with a creditable military record. That his fellow townsmen recog- nize in Mr. Jewell worth and ability, and that he is one of the popular citi- zens of Allen county is shown by the fact that at the convention held in Iola in June, 1900, he was unanimously nominated for Probate Judge by the People's convention without his knowledge or consent, but was defeated at the election.
D. WEBSTER BOSTWICK, of Iola, has been one of the conspicuous . characters in the settlement and development of Allen county. To lim is due in a great measure the credit for the actual work done in the location of a large per cent of the country population of the county and to his ingenuity as an immigration promoter is due the credit for the settle- ment of much of our eastern domain in Allen county. His name went from tongue to tongue through the east and his fame followed closely in its wake. No man who makes real estate his business in Allen county is as widely known as Web Bostwick and, in the olden time, 110 combination of dealers in the county possessed a wider or more universal confidence of the homeseeker from the east than Bowlus & Bostwick.
483
WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.
Web Bostwick came to Allen county November 11, 1866, and the fol- lowing year located upon his brother's, H. C. Bostwick's, farm on Deer creek. Some three years later William Davis came along from Colorado and offered him his price for the place and he moved down to the Anderson and Finley ranch (that now is). What is now the Allendale Stoek Farm was then an unbroken prairie and Web went onto it, broke a portion of it out, as any farmer would have done, began its improvement and in seven years sold it. This concluded his career as a farmer. He moved into Iola at once and entered the real estate business with Bowlus & Richards. The railroad lands of the county were just coming onto the market then and this agency handled almost the entire holdings adjacent to Iola. For eight years this firm remained intact and undisturbed in its enjoyment of a main- moth and lucrative business. Investors poured into the county from all directions and speculators and settlers vied with each other in the acquire- ment of tracts suitable for farms, for ranches and for investment. Retiring from this noted firm Mr. Bostwick joined D. B. D. Smeltzer in a loan and real estate business for some years and later was a partner with Judge H. W. Taleott in the same business. In 1895 he joined the well known townsman, Nels Acers, with whom he is yet a leader in the matter of handling eity and country property.
The selling of real estate in Allen county was, in itself, an easy and pleasant business but to do so in defiance of an element of our citizens whose edict had gone out against it and whose threats were upon the lips of all was an undertaking involving much hazard, with possible loss of life. From 1875 to 1885 the settlers on the disputed lands in the east part of onr county determined not to have any more of the land sold by the agents of the railroad companies, desiring to have it entered as public domain and by persons whose interests would, from the start, be identical with their own. They even provided a penalty, or rather, suggested as a penalty for any agent violating this ukase, a bit of inch rope. It is stated that the rope was bought with which to square accounts with our subject but he never abandoned a trip nor lost a meal on account of it.
D. W. Bostwick was born in Portage county. Olio, October 21, 1840. His father, Daniel Bostwick, was a millwright, foundryman and manu- facturer of woolen goods. The latter was born in New York, went into Olio early and settled in Portage county. From this latter place he located in Park county, Indiana, and was in business there during, and for some time, after the war. He married Sophia Fondersmith, originally DeFondersmith, a Pennsylvania German lady. Late in life this venerable couple came to Allen county and passed their remaining years here. Mr. Bostwiek died in 1876 at the age of seventy-six years, and his wife died in 1881 aged seventy-nine years. Their children were: Clarentine, deceased, who married Lewis Hine; Dr. Henry C. Bostwick, of Tacoma, Washing- ton, surgeon of Ninth Kansas and now a Representative to the Wash- ington Legislature; Levenes E. was killed in the Civil war as Captain of Company A, One Hundred and Fourteenth Indiana Volunteers, while in his seventeenth engagement; D. Webster; Maria, deceased, wife of An-
484
HISTORY OF ALLEN AND
drew Jackson Clark, of Tacoma, Washington; and Amfield S., deceased, who married Samuel Doren.
D. W. Bostwick grew up at Rockville, Indiana. He enlisted in Com- pany G, One Hundred and Thirty-third Infantry and served in the western department. He took part in the Chickamauga and Nashville campaigns and, at the close of his service, was in the Independent sharpshooters.
Mr. Bostwick was married in Allen county in Iola, 1869, to Clemen- tine C., a daughter of Dr. M. DeMoss, who was born and educated in Oxford, Ohio, and was one of the characters of Iola for many years. His wife was Miss Margaret C. Kennedy who was born and principally raised in the city of Washington. Their children were ten in number.
Mr. and Mrs. Bostwick's children are: Hattie B., a stenographer and type-writer in Tacoma, Washington; Misses Grace F. and Ella M .. teachers in the Iola city schools; Levenes H., a printer of Iola, and Pearl M., wife of R. E. Donaldson, of Seattle, Washington.
The early Bostwicks were Whigs and their posterity dropped naturally into the Republican party, following the issues of the war.
L EWIS HENRY WISHARD, principal of the 4th ward school of Iola, and one of the prominent and capable educators of Kansas, is essen- tially a Kansan. He has passed all but ten years of his life in the State and all that he is and has is credited to his adopted State.
Mr. Wishard was born in Vermillion county, Indiana, February 3, 1866, and is a son of a farmer and stock man of Butler county, Kansas, J. H. Wishard, who was born in the same county in 1830. The latter is a son of James L. Wishard, a veteran of the War of 1812, who went into Indiana about 1829 and settled in Vermillion county. He enlisted in the army from Kentucky, in Colonel Johnson's regiment, and partici- pated in the battle of the Thames. He was a son of an Irishmau who settled in Kentucky about the beginning of the 19th century and whose brother settled near Philadelphia. Some of the posterity of these early Wishards spell the name with a "t", but wherever they are and however the spelling of the name they descended from the same Celtic ancestors.
James L. Wishard married a Lytle and reared seven children, two of whom left families: William, of Renssalaer, Indiana, and Archibald Wishard, whose family resides in Los Angeles, California.
J. H. Wishard married Elizabeth Fassett, a daughter of David Fassett, of West Virginia, near Winchester. The children of this union are: James E. Wishard, of Burlington, Arkansas; Frank M. Wishard, of Spencer, Iowa; Attie Wright, of Augusta, Kansas and Lewis H. Wishard, our subject.
L. H. Wishard attended the country schools of Butler county, Kansas, in his early youth and graduated in the Augusta city schools in 1884. He
483
WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.
Itaught school a year and clerked in an Augusta store a year and taught still another year. In 1887 he entered the Kansas State Normal School and finished the Elementary course in that institution in 1889. He became principal of the high school at Solomon City, Kansas, and occupied the position two years when he was elected to the principalship of the city schools. He remained with the schools six years in that capacity and withdrew from school work, then, to perform his duties as Secretary of the Iola Manufacturing company. In 1898 he entered the Iola schools as principal of the ist ward building and has con- cluded three years of successful school work in the city. He has instructed in County Institutes in Dickinson county and in Allen county; in the latter six years consecutively.
December 24, 1891, Mr. Wishard was married in Iola to Anna M., a daughter of the late Moses Pickell. Mrs. Wishard was born in Valparaiso, Indiana, February 8, 1868, was educated in Iola, and was one of the capable teachers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Wishard's daughter. Mary E., was born March 19, 1899.
Mr. Wishard is a member of the State Teachers' Association and is an able and useful member of the Allen County Teachers' Association.
D ANIEL HORVILLE-The pioneers of a country are the ones who lay broad and liberal foundations of society and engage the atten- tions of the world by their qualities of daring, determination and tenacity. They furnish the plans for the development of a new country and provide the brain and sinew for their execution. As good men as ever preached a sermon or settled a homestead were among the pioneers to Allen county. They came from all quarters of the east, even across the Atlantic, and took up their residence here with a sincere desire to do an honorable part in the development of the county. One of these men, and a character well known and highly regarded, was Daniel Horville, whose brief history is presented herewith.
"Dan" Horville's origin is French. He was born in the province of Loraine-when that country was French territory-in February, 1824. He is a son of Michael Horville, a successful farmer and stock raiser near Pu - vergne, and who died there some years since. He was twice married, his first wife, Catharine Ansel, being our subject's mother. Another son, Michael Horville, left a family, at death, near the French-German town above mentioned.
Daniel Horville left France about the time he came of age, sailing from Havre for New York. He had little capital and found little labor of a re- munerative character while in the city. When financial matters forced an- other move he made his way down to Cincinnati, Ohio. While there he had a miscellaneous lot of jobs out of which he accumulated some money. His next move was westward into Owen county, Indiana, where, in
486
HISTORY OF ALLEN AND
Spencer, he opened a small store. He remained there something near two years, when, in company with James Wood, father of "Bob" Wood, of Iola, he made another move toward the setting sun, this time locating in Lexington, McLean county, Illinois. Mr. Wood offered him a good busi- ness arrangement to engage in mercantile pursuit and he accepted, opening a store at this point. They shipped their goods to Peoria up the Illinois- river from St. Louis and freighted them across the country in the old west- ern style. Mr. Horville prospered in his Lexington venture and remained in business there till 1856. Selling out that year he made his fifth and last trip westward. He had made a preliminary trip to Kansas and decided to. locate in Allen county and in 1856 he came to stay. He stopped one mile east of Iola, on Elin creek, temporarily, and the next year homesteaded the- Sleeper place, southeast of the Elm creek wagon bridge. Some three years later he purchased the Lewis claim on the Neosho river, to which he re- moved and in which community he has resided since. In an early day, as. now, Mr. Horville was not regarded a poor man. The capital he brought with him to Kansas was sufficient for his needs and, with it, he was enabled. to handle matters requiring cash which men without his advantage could not touch. He saw a golden opportunity to engage in the cattle business. and seized upon it. The range was wide and free, and stock could be raised with little cost but labor. His hopes have been so fully realized in this line of industry all these forty years that he has remained in the business. Scarcely a citizen in Allen county can recall when Dan Horville was not a "cattle man." With his successes in this line caine successes in other lines. and his general prosperity took form in expanded domain and in its sub- stantial improvement and development. His broad acres number above a thousand and the yearly business he transacts, in the buying and selling of stock and grain, runs up into the thousands
January 1, 1862, Mr. Horville was married to Margaret Ann Bird, a daughter of Amor Bird, a former Ohio settler. The children of this union are: Flora Horville, Louis E. Horville, Mrs. Bird Foust, whose children arc Dorothy and Kenneth; Frank and Ralph D. Horville; Katie, wife of Walter C. Teats, of Iola, and Misses May and Grace Horville.
In public matters Mr. Horville was once an active participant. In the early days of Allen county he was a Republican but his views changed in the early seventies and he has since affiliated with Democracy and its allies. He was elected Commissioner of the county in 1873 and was a care- ful and conservative guardian of the county's funds. For fifteen years lie served on the school board in his district 'and in this capacity was looked to largely for the success of each term of school.
The history of Daniel Horville reveals a man who has not lived in vain. In no material thing has he been a failure and in all things has he played a manly part. His remarkable succes es have not bred in him or his family any element of aristocracy, on the contrary his home is-accessible to the most lowly and his society an encouragement to honest labor. The active supervision of his interests are in the hands of his first son, Louis E., whose demonstration of his capacity occurred on the first opportunity. The
487
"WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.
Matter was equipped with a commercial education, is a friend to progressive iideas and is in every way worthy the confidence reposed in him.
G EORGE A. AMOS .- In the "learned professions" merit alone can win advancement. When success must depend upon the various mental attributes of the individual, neither wealth nor influential friends can aid one in the progress toward fame. The man who has attained. prominence at the bar is therefore entitled to great credit, for as he lengthens the distance between himself and mediocrity it is the indication ·of great zeal, marked ability, close application and thorough knowledge. It has been through the exercise of these qualities that George A. Amos has attained a position at the bar that might well be envied by many a practitioner.
Mr. Amos is now residing in Humboldt. He was born in Springfield, Illinois, on the 4th of September, 1841. His father, Josiah F. Amos, was a native of Maryland and in 1836 emigrated to Illinois. He was au archi- tect and carpenter, and in the capital of the Prairie State he engaged in the lumber business. He married Miss Julia Hay, a native of Kentucky, and unto them were born three children: George A., of this review; John M., who is now in business in Springfield; and Sarah E. Shepherd, a resident of Los Angeles, California. In the public schools of Springfield, Illinois, George A. Amos acquired his education. Entering upon his business career, he was connected with the lumber trade, and in August, 1869, he removed to Humboldt, Kansas, where he was again engaged in the lumber business until 1873. He then sold out and began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar by the district court of Allen county, November 21, 1874. On the 15th of January, 1880, he was admitted to practice in the federal court and was admitted to the supreme court July 6, 1887. He has been very successful, having the confidence of his clients and of the public, and has demonstrated his ability by the many verdicts he has wo11 favorable to the people whom he represents. In 1882 he was elected county attorney of Allen county and throughout his term he served in a most creditable and satisfactory manner. In 1884 he was re-elected. His father died in 1889 and Mr. Amos returned to Springfield, Illinois, to settle up the estate, remaining in his native city five years. During that time he was elected city attorney of West Springfield, but when his business inter- ests were satisfactorily ended there he returned to Humboldt, and since 1894 has been continuously practicing his profession in Allen county. He is a strong advocate before a jury and concise in his appeals before the court. He began as all others do in the practice of law-at the bottom round of the ladder-and his present prominence has come to him as a re ward of honest endeavor, fidelity and recognized ability.
His efforts have not been limited alone to one line, for he is a director and one of the stockholders in the Humboldt Brick plant. Socially he is
488
HISTORY OF ALLEN AND
connected with the Masonic fraternity and has taken the Knight Templar degree of the York rite. His life exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the- order and he has the high regard of his brethren of the craft.
On the 30th of October, 1866, Mr. Amos was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Andrews, of Wapakoneta, Ohio, a daughter of Colonel G. W. Andrews of that state. They had two children, Georgia C., who is now the wife of John H. Armel, of Humboldt, and Anna R., a very bright young. lady, who died November 23, 1890. Mrs. Amos passed away on the 16th of August, 1885. Mr. Amos remained single for ten years and. was again married, his second union being with Miss Laura Warner, who. became his wife August 13, 1895. She was also a native of Ohio. They enjoy the hospitality of many of the best homes in Humboldt and their circle of friends is extensive. Mr. Amos has those qualities which give him strength in business circles, and his advancement in professional life- is due to his business ability, his determination and his laudable ambition. He is an indefatigable worker, which means that he is a student, accurate: in his analysis and of broad learning.
L EANDER STILLWELL is not a citizen of Allen county, having re- sided in Erie, Neosho county, for many years, but as the Judge for eighteen years past of the District of which this county is a part he has be- come so familiar a figure here and has done so much toward shaping the history of the county, that this volume would not be complete without at least a brief sketch of his honorable and distinguished career.
Judge Stillwell was born in Otter Creek precinct, Jersey county, Illi- fois, on September 16th, 1843. His father, Jeremiah O. Stillwell, and his- mother (whose maiden name was Ann Eliza White, ) were natives of the state of North Carolina, but emigrated to Illinois in 1834. Judge Stillwell received a limited and meager common school education. His early life was spent on a farm in the backwoods of western Illinois until a few nonths after the beginning of the War of the Rebellion. On January 7, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Sixty-first Illinois Infantry, re-enlisted in said company and regiment as a veteran volunteer in Feb- ruary, 1864, and was mustered out with his regiment as first lieutenant of his company some months after the close of the war, having served con- tinuously nearly four years. During his term of service he participated in the battle of Shiloh, the siege of Vicksburg and numerous other battles and skirmishes. After his discharge from the army, he studied law at the Albany, New York, Law School, and was admitted to the bar in Decem- ber, 1867. He emigrated to Kansas in May, 1868, locating at Erie, in Neosho county, where he engaged in the practice of law. He has resided in Neosho county continuously ever since he came to Kansas.
He was married in May, 1872, to Miss Anna L. Stauber. Five chil- dren have been born to them, four of whom are yet living. He was elected
489
WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.
to the lower house of the Kansas legislature in 1876, was elected judge of the Seventh Judicial District in 1883. and re-elected to said office in the years 1887, 1891, 1895 and 1899. He enjoys the distinction of having been a district judge in Kansas for the longest period of time that the office has been held by any judge in any of the different districts in the State, since Kansas was admitted into the Union,-a distinction which is, in itself, a most eloquent eulogy, showing as it does that his conduct on the bench has been such as to win and hold the respect and confidence of the people.
In politics he is a Republican, and has been from his boyhood.
J OHN W. BALE was born April 20, 1843, in Hart county, Kentucky, and is of German lineage. His great grandfather, William Bale, was a native of Germany, and on emigrating to America owned and operated a gristmill on Brash creek, in Green county, New Jersey at a very early day. He was a millwright by trade. His son, Peter Bile, the grandfather of our subject, was born in New Jersey and became a prosperous farmer of Ken- tucky, owning between five and six hundred acres of land on Leon Camp creek in that State. Jacob Bale, the father of our subject, was born in Hart county, Kentucky, in 1818, and still resides there. He received excellent school privileges and at one time was probably the best educated man of his county. He worked in a powder mill and also followed farming and stock raising, but for some time past has lived retired, still residing on the old homestead. He was married in 1842 to Miss Elizabeth Pointer, who was born in 1824, a daughter of Edward Pointer who removed from one of the southern states to Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Bale be- came the parents of the following children: John H., W .. T., Robert, Mrs. Nancy Richardson and Mrs. Mattie Murray, all of whom are living in Ken- tucky with the exception of the subject hereof.
Mr. Bale, of this review, resided on his father's farm in Hart county, Kentucky, until eighteen years of age, when he responded to his country's call for aid, joining the Union army on the fifteenth of October, 1861, as a - member of Company F, Fifteenth Kentucky Infantry, under Captain Carroll and Colonel Pope. The regiment proceeded to New Haven and to Bacon creek, and after participating in the battles at Bowling Green, Nashville and Huntsville, returned to Louisville, Kentucky. Subsequently Mr. Bale with his command participated in the engagements at Perryville, Stone River, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, and the campaign as far as Atlanta, and Jonesboro, Georgia. He was mustered out January 17, 1865, at Louisville, having loyally served his country for more than three years.
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.