USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 64
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 64
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The father of this family died in 1854 when Randolph W. See was twelve years of age. In 1855 the family removed to Illinois, and the eldest son was soon married there. Our subject then began earning his own livelihood, working for James H. Shawhan, a prominent farmer of Douglas county, Illinois, and afterward for William Murphy. He was employed as a farm hand by the month until he entered the Union army on the 21st of July, 1862, joining Company H, Twenty-fifth Illinois infantry, under Colonel Kohler, while Lieutenant Buckner acted as captain. The regiment rendezvoused at St. Louis and thence went to Jefferson City, Sedalia and Springfield, going into winter quarters at Rolla, Mo. In the spring of 1863 they advanced on Price at Springfield, then went to Arkansas below Benton- ville, participating in the three days' fight at Pea Ridge on the 6th, 7th and 8th of March. He was wounded in the side and had his right leg shattered by a musket ball, after which he was taken to Cassville, where he remained in the hospital until July. He was then removed to Springfield, and later to Rolla, and in the fall was sent to St. Louis, where on account of the wounds sustained at Pea Ridge, he was honorably discharged September 19, 1863, having served for fourteen months.
Mr. See then returned to Illinois, and for some time continued in the employ of Mr. Murphy. He afterward rented land and began farming on his own account; his mother acting as his housekeeper until his marriage, which occurred August 10, 1865, Miss Martha Osborn, daughter of Levi Osborn, becoming his wife. Her mother bore the maiden name of Mary Parker, and was born in Fayette county, Ohio, October 29, 1815, her death occurring October 16, 1856. Mr. Osborn survived her and passed away in March, 1875. at the age of sixty-three, having been born in Ohio, January 11, 1812. Mrs. See was born in Douglas county, Illinois, July 5, 1848, and by her marriage has become the mother of four children, all of whom are living: Mary H., wife of D. P .: Neher, who resides near McCune, Crawford county Kansas; A. L., who is engaged in sheep raising at North Yakima, Washington, Frank E., an engineer in the employ of the Portland Cement Company at Iola, and Hattie L., wife of F. P. Tanner, of Iola.
Mr. and Mrs. See left Illinois in the fall of 1867, and came direct to Allen county, where he secured a homestead claim of eighty acres on section 26, Iola township. For thirty-one years he devoted his energies to
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the cultivation and further improvement of his property, and transformed the wild tract of land into a very valuable farm, which yielded to him an excellent return for the care and labor which he bestowed upon it. Thus he acquired a han isome competency, which now enables him to live retired, and in 1898 he removed to Iola, taking up his abode at No. 712 North Jefferson avenue, where he is now enjoying a well-earned rest, surrounded by many of the comforts which go to make life worth the living.
E DWARD H. FUNSTON, one of the most distinguished citizens of Allen county, was born in Clark county, Ohio, September 16, 1836. His father was Frederick Funston and his mother was Julia Stafford, both of Scotch Irish ancestry. He was reared on a farm, but was able to secure a good English education in the common schools and in the New Carlisle Academy. He began life as a school teacher, but this work was soon in- terrupted by Abraham Lincoln's call to arms, to which Edward Funston promptly responded, enlisting in the Sixteenth Ohio Battery, in which he was commissioned a lientenant. He served gallantly until the close of the war, when he was mustered out and returned to his Ohio home. Two years later he removed to Kansas, locating on the farm near Carlyle, Allen county, which has ever since been his home. His interest in public affairs, his zeal for the Republican party and his ability as a public speaker soon led him into politics, and in 1873 he was elected a member of the Kansas House of Representatives. His service was so satis- factory to his constituents that he was easily re-elected in 1874 and again in1 1875, the last time being chosen Speaker of the House. In 1880 he was promoted to the State Senate and at the close of his term in that body was elected to Congress. He was continued in Congress by the votes of the people of the Second district in 1884, '86, '88, 1890, '92 and '94, the seat being lost by a contest before a Democratic House in the last named year. Since retiring from Congress Mr. Funston has devoted himself energetically and successfully to the work of his farm, which is one of the most attractive as well as one of the most profitable in the county.
The foregoing is a very brief sketch of a long and honorable career, well illustrating the possibilities of American citizenship. Coming to a new state with substantially no capital except his physical, mental and moral strength, obliged always to provide first and by means of one of the most arduous and exacting of vocations for the support of his family, Mr. Fanston has still been able to maintain a position of commanding influence a.1.l power, a factor in the public life of the State and the Nation for nearly a quarter of a century, and it is a record that his family and his friends may well remember with pride. Of heroic mould physically, a thorough stud- ent of economic questions, a strong debater, with a steadfast faith in the in- stitutions of his country and in the principles of the party to which he gave his adherence, Mr. Funston won and for many years held a most enviable
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position in the political life of the State of his adoption. As a member of the National Congress his most effectual work was done on the committee of Agriculture, of which he was for several years chairman, for which posi- tion his long and successful experience as a practical farmer especially fitted him. It was during his chairmanship of this committee that the De- partment of Agriculture was advanced to the rank of the other great depart- ments of the Government with its head a member of the Cabinet, and in this organization Mr. Funston was the chief factor.
Although no longer actively engaged in politics Mr. Funston is no less · interested in the ascendancy of the principles in which he believes and his party gladly avails itself, in each campaign, of his effective services.
Mr. Funston was married in 1861 to Ann Eliza Mitchell and to them have been born: Frederick, James Burton, Pogne Warwick, Ella, Aldo and Edward Hogue, jr.
[AMES FINLEY was born in Vermillion county, Illinois, January 6, 1842. His father, John Finley, was a native of Dearborn county, In- diana, born May 2, 1814. In 1833 he accompanied his parents to Ver- million county, Illinois, locating upon the farm which he owned at the time of his death. He married Miss Frances Ray, also a native of Indiana, and her death occurred September 13, 1869, but Mr. Finley survived until July 31, 1900. He belonged to a family of seventeen children, ten danghters and seven sons. He was one of the pioneer settlers of Vermillion county, was a man of great strength and fortitude, and in all life's relations was honorable and upright, thus winning the high regard of those with whom he was associated. He passed away at the advanced age of eighty-six years and five of his seven sons survive him, namely: Mrs. Emily Cole, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, James, of Iola, Kansas; Mrs. Agnes Pryor, who is living in Danville, Artlınr, also of Danville, and Mrs. Fan- nie Cole, of the same city.
James Finley was reared upon the home farm in Vermillion county, and assisted his father in the operation of the fields until after the Civil war broke out, when stirred by a spirit of patriotism he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in Company A, of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois Infantry, September 7, 1862. for a three-years term. His regiment was immediately sent to the front and he participated in many of the most hotly contested engagements, including the battles of Perry- ville, Chicamanga, Kenesaw Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Jonesboro, Atlanta, Savannah and Bentonville, together with many others of lesser importance. He also went with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea, also on the march from Savannah to Richinond and understands fully what constitutes the hardships of war, yet he was always found at his post whether on picket duty or on the firing line, and with an honorable military record he returned to his home.
On the 25th of August, 1867, Mr. Finley was united in marriage to
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Miss Maggie Dimond, a native of Canada, who removed with her parents. to Michigan when a child and in 1865 came to Vermillion county, Illinois,. where she formed the acquaintance of Mr. Finley, who later, sought her hand in marriage. Unto them have been born two daughters: Oral, and Sabra, wife of Harry Canatsey of Iola.
In 188f Mr. Finley and his family came to Kansas and have since been residents of Allen county. He purchased two hundred acres of land in Salem township five miles east of Humboldt, and has since devoted his. energies to its further development and improvement. For the past three years, however, he has practically lived retired, having erected a fine resi- dence in Iola, which is now the place of his abode. He holds membership. in Vicksburg Post, No. 72, G. A. R., and thus he maintains pleasant rela- tions with his old army comrades. He started out in life without capital and had no influential friends to aid him, neither was his environment par- ticularly helpful. He has placed his dependence upon the more substan- tial qualties of energy and honorable dealing and has thus worked his way upward to the plane of affluence.
W ILLIAM H. ROOT .- Conspicuous among the mechanics who have aided in the material advancement of Iola and who have contributed liberally, in a substantial way. to its development is William H. Root. He knew Iola when it was in its swaddling clothes and as boy and man has followed its careers of adversity and prosperity through vil- lage and town and city. He is not a stranger to Kansas for he is one of her own. He was born in Anderson county the second of March, 1866, and has resided in Allen county since 1873.
Mr. Root was orphaned in childhood by the death of both father and mother and at the age of seven years he had fallen into the hands of Frank Root, of Geneva, together with a younger sister, Effie. Will and Effie Stigenwalt were adopted by Mr. Root and assumed the latter's name. The Stigenwalt family were of German origin. John Stigenwalt, our subject's grandfather, immigrated to the United States from some point in the German Empire and settled in Pennsylvania. From that state his son James, the father of our subject, together with his brother came westward by degrees to Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and to Kansas, reaching the last named state before the outbreak of the Civil war. John Stigenwalt's sons were James, John, Andrew, Thomas and George, of whom Thomas and Andrew reside near Los Angeles, California.
James Stigenwalt was a farmer and died at the age of twenty-eight years in 1870. He married Ruth, a daughter of John Hull, a Welchman, who came to Kansas from Illinois and lies buried at Earlton, Kansas. Mrs. Stigenwalt died almost simultaneously with her husband and left two sons and two daughters, viz: Ida M., wife of William Swiger, of Neosho county, Kansas; William H. Root, our subject; Otis H., who was reared by
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Bert Hodgson and holds that name, and Effie Root, who died in California December 15, 1891.
In the fall of 1876 Frank Root moved with his family to Iola to assume the office of County Superintendent of Schools. From that date our sub- ject's residence in the county seat begins. He was educated in the public schools of the town but quit school at sixteen years of age to take his initial step in business. His uncle Root was one of the partners in the hardware firm of Henderson & Root and Will rather grew up in their tin shop. At seventeen years of age he began regularly to learn the tinner's trade with Jacob Casmire and served his full time of three years. He was in the employ of Ewarts, and Lawyer, in Iola, as tinner and spent two years in Eldorado, Kansas, at the same work. Upon his return to Iola he did the tin work in the hardware store of J. W Coutant for one year. In 1890 he set up alone and for the past ten years has been engaged in build- ing up of one of the leading businesses in the city. One of the results of his ten years of unremitting labor is the Root business house on south Washington avenue, a two-story brick extending to the alley and having a width of twenty-five feet. The lower floor of this building Mr. Root uses himself as work shop and store for his line of builders' supplies and gas fittings and the like.
November 21, 1889, Mr. Root was married to Adda, a daughter of Warren Arnold, one of the pioneers of Allen county. The children of this marriage, surviving, are Florence A., Franklin P., Bernice and Katie Root.
Aside from personal considerations Mr. Root has manifested a lively and public-spirited interest in the welfare of Iola. This is demonstrated in his connection with enterprises originated for the public good, by the sub- stantial manner in which he has improved his properties and by his liberal aid and encouragement of whatever tends to the moral and educational ad- vancement of his home and county. A matter with which he is especially concerned and interested is the welfare of tlie Methodist congregation of Iola. For years has he affiliated with it as a member and his official con- nection with the body extends over a long period.
Mr. Root began his political career with a vote for Benjamin Harrison for president. His early training was from the head of that honest citizen and Christian gentleman, Frank Root, whose Republicanism passed through drouth and pestilence and war and never failed.
W ILLIAM M. BROWN, deceased, was one of the pioneers to Allen county, having settled within her borders October 18, 1856. He was an emigrant from Henry county, Illinois, and was, unlike most of Kansas pioneers, possessed of ample means to provide for his family wants in case of an extended failure of crops. He was a thrifty farmer in Illinois and came to the western plains to provide his family with an abundance of
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farm land in the hope of securing for them a more substantial hold upon the' world of things in their battle of life. He settled west of the Neosho river,. near Iola, where he became at once a prominent and conspicuous citizen. His prominence as a stock man and his extensive farming venture, for that day, made it necessary for him to employ much labor, and he did so fre- quently, when he really needed no one, simply to aid some worthy and struggling settler. His cribs, his cellar and his smoke-house were open to. the needs of his neighbors in the days of the drouth of 1860 and so much of the milk of human kindness did he possess that he was looked upon, almost, as Divinely sent to stay the hunger and to provide, in a measure, the com- forts of the destitute pioneers.
Mr. Brown made an experimental trip to Allen county in April of 1856, in company with Nimrod Hankins, and on this trip he purchased land to which he brought his family in the fall. He made the latter trip, like the former, by wagon which method of travel seemed to contribute much to his personal likes and comfort. Frontier life suited his tastes. His father went into Illinois as a pioneer and he, himself crossed the plains to Cali- fornia, with the forty-miners, in search of the metal which produced the excitement at Sutter's Mill.
William M. Brown was born in Floyd county, Indiana, May 14, 1823, and died near Iola December 27, 1865. He had just returned from a trip with his militia regiment, upon its march from the Price Raid journey, upon which trip he contracted a severe cold and death ensued from lung fever. He was a son of Samuel Brown who emigrated from Floyd county, Indiana, to Putnam county, Illinois, and died there at the age of ninety-two years. He was born near Lexington, Kentucky, June 1, 1799, and, it is believed, was a son of an Irishman. He was married May 10. 1851. to Lovina Ahers, who was born April 15, 1804. They were the parents of fifteen children at thirteen births 'and William Morton, our sub- ject, was their second child. The latter was first married January 19, 1844, to Sarah J. Myers. The issue of this union was Marion Brown, a soldier in the 9th Kansas, who died from the effects of wounds received in the battle of Stone Lane, Missouri. William M. Brown's second marriage oc- curred March 18, 1842. His wife was Nancy E., a daughter of John and Deborah (Hankins) Hayes. The children of this union are: Orrin Brown, of Montana; Ruth L. and Samuel Brown, of Iola; John Brown, of Utica, Illinois; Deborah, deceased, wife of Samuel J. Jordan, left three children in Iola, and Albert L. Brown, of Long Creek, Oregon. Mrs. Nancy ( Hayes) Brown married Daniel Horney and one child resulted from the union, a daughter, Miss Mary Horney.
Two of the fifteen children of Samuel and Lovina Brown died at birth. From first to last their names are: Martha, William M., Sarah, Mary and John, Alfred, Anna, Nancy, Lovina, Prudence, Louisa and Achsa and Albert. Their births covered a period of twenty years, from 1822 to 1842.
Samuel, son of our subject, was fifteen months old when his parents came to Allen county. He was born in Henry county, Illinois, July 11, 1865, and passed fourteen years of his life, in childhood, west of the Neosho
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river, in Iola township. He returned to LaSalle county, Illinois, in 1871, and worked there as a farm hand till 1882 when he returned to Iola. He engaged in painting and decorating, and in clerking, till 1892, when he drifted into the gas business. He became associated with W. S. Pryor, the father of the gas field, as his foreman of mains and service extension that year and when the Iola Gas Company succeeded Mr. Pryor as owner of the business Mr. Brown was a part of the assets, so to speak, and has continued as foreman of the plant.
November 30, 1893, Mr. Brown was married in Iola to Susie A., a daughter of John Reimert, one of the old and prominent mechanics of the city. Mrs. Brown was born in Pennsylvania, January 20, 1871. Her children are: Russell Reimert Brown, Orrin Crosier Brown and Cecil Martin Brown.
The early politics of the Browns was Democratic. When William M. Brown came to Kansas there was something in the condition of things which caused him to change his politics and he became a Republican. His sons espoused the same faith.
L EWIS D. BUCK-On the anniversary of American Independence there settled in Allen county a citizen whose interest in horticulture and agriculture have ranked him as one of the intelligent and successful men in his class. This well known settler is Lewis D. Buck, who estab- lished himself upon a prairie farm in Marmaton township three miles northi- east of Moran. He was without friends here, and consequently, without credit, and his "nickle," and the plug team he drove into the county consti- tuted his visible resources. The story of his first efforts at cropping is an interesting one and the methods employed to secure necessary implements and accommodations, by men in his reduced circumstances, would form a subject for an interesting essay upon pioneer life on the prairies of Allen.
When Mr. Buck came to Kansas he settled for a time in Douglas county. He remained tn the vicinity of Lawrence till the year 1876 when he loaded his few effects into his wagon and directed his steps toward Allen county. Ohio is Mr. Buck's native State. He was born in Putnam county, October 13, 1841, and is a son of a farmer, Benjamin D. Buck. The latter was born in 1802 in Oneida county, New York. He was married to Almeda Conant. He came into Ohio at the close of the war of 1812, and died in 1864. His wife died in 1892. Of their children, Seth, Ben- jamin, Lavina and Orson are deceased. Henry is at Columbus Grove, Ohio, and Lewis D., our subject.
Until the outbreak of the Rebellion Lewis D. Buck had had no ex- perience beyond the limits of the farm. His patriotism was aroused by the insult to our flag and he enlisted for its defense in Company A, 20th Ohio Infantry. He went into the service April 18, 1861, and served ninety days. His second enlistment was in Company K, 14th Infantry and he
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served as hospital nurse at Lebanon, Kentucky, and at New Albany, In- diana. He was discharged at the latter place in 1863 and passed the suc- ceeding two years in the Rocky Mountains. In 1865 he recrossed the plains to Kansas City, Missouri and secured employment with Myers, Lee and Low in that city as real estate solicitor. March 11, 1866, he was mar- ried to Elizabeth Gibson, a widow whose father, Albert Vaughn, emigrated to Jackson county, Missouri, as one of her pioneers and was from Ken- tucky. Mrs. Buck was born near Kansas City November 15, 1841. Her children were two, one by each marriage
In his career as a farmer in Allen county Mr. Buck has demonstrated one important fact, that small fruit will grow and mature here abundantly. His orchards are a prominent feature of his farms and his peaches, apples and other fruit products have been going to the Kansas City markets for many years. His success in this work is a matter widely known and in the horticultural meetings of the county his number on the program is one of the instructive features of the session. He is local reporter to the Secretary of the State Horticultural Society, of Kansas, and his enthusiasm has done much to stimulate interest in horticulture in Allen county.
Mr. Buck is a staunch Republican. He voted first for Mr. Lincoln and for thirty-six years he has been an unwavering supporter of the doc- trines of protection and sound money.
H TARMON SCOTT-The late Harmon Scott, of Iola, was one of the pioneers of Kansas and one of the early business men of Iola. He belongs to a family whose prominence has been recognized in Allen county for more than a third of a century and which has done its part in establish- ing an industrious, intellectual and patriotic citizenship in the State of Kansas.
Harmon Scott was born at Braddocks Field, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1828. He was a farmer's son and in 1833, his father moved into Ohio and, later, into Kentucky and in that State was our subject chiefly reared and educated. After attaining his majority, Mr. Scott went to Blooming- ton, Illinois, where he resided till 1857, coming thence to Kansas. He stopped first in the Territory in Johnson county where he took up a home- stead. He engaged in business in the town of Olathe, while awaiting the turn of events in the process of acquiring a title to his piece of government land, and this result being unfavorable to him he came to Allen county, in 1858, and became one of her permanent citizens, He engaged in the dry goods and grocery business with his brother, the late Dr. John W. Scott, 011 the corner where DeClute's clothing store now stands. In 1872 he be- came a railway mail clerk between Topeka and Kansas City. Leaving that service he spent two years on the farm on Rock Creek, returning to Iola in 1876.
In matters pertaining to the administration of affairs and to the welfare
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of Iola Mr. Scott was one of the foremost. He was twice elected Trustee of Iola township and made an efficient and honest public servant. The fact that he had managed his private business successfully was an index to the manner in which the public business would be cared for in his hands. He was one of the staunchest of Republicans, having joined that party from "the Old Line Whigs."
Mr. Scott enlisted in Company H, 9th Kansas, as a private and was promoted to first lieutenant of a company in an Indian regiment, designated as the 3rd Indian regiment. He was in active service until 1865, and in which he laid the foundation of the disease which ultimately caused his death.
E MANUEL SNIVELY, of Iola township, settled in Allen county in January, 1879, and for the past twenty-one years has devoted him- self to the intelligent and successful cultivation of her soil He settled upon section twelve, his farm being the claim entered by the Woodins, one of the early and well known families of the county.
Mr. Snively was from Alleghany county, Pennsylvania,, where he was born October 17, 1830. He was born on a farm and his father, Christian Snively, a son of Henry Snively, improved a tract of land there and be- came one of the substantial and reliable farmers of his county. Henry Snively went into Alleghany county from Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where his German ancestors settled many generations ago. They were not only farmers but were known in business and among early ones were soldiers of the Revolutionary war. Christian Snively was a public official many years of his life and he helped fight many of the battles of the Re- publicans in his county.
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