USA > Kansas > Atchison County > History of Atchison County, Kansas > Part 65
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For many years he was an active and influential figure in the political lite of Platte county, and he was a poet who left many evidences of creative literary ability which are still prized among the archives of the county. He resided in Missouri until 1860 and then came to Kansas where he spent the remainder of his days, dying in Mt. Pleasant township in 1862. His wife survived him and lived to an advanced age, dying in 1892, having been born in Rosamount county, Maryland, near Curlew. They reared a fine family of nine children, of which George W. was the third child.
George W. Thompson, with whom this review is directly concerned, grew to sturdy manhood in old Kentucky, and was educated in the neighborhood
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schools. Since boyhood, he has been a student and is at this day one of the best read men of his generation. He learned the trade of bricklayer under his father and followed the trade while living in Missouri. As early as 1854 he came to Kansas, on the day following the passage of the Kansas- Nebraska act which threw the Territory open to settlement. He came up the Missouri river in a small boat and landed at the mouth of Nine Mile creek in Leavenworth county. After investigating the possibilities in this county, he filed upon a Government claim and went back to his home in Platte county, returning in January of 1854 to erect a log cabin. This erected, he again went home, returning in November and roofed his cabin with clap- boards made by him and his brother, and built a stone chimney and daubed the chinks with mud. He located permanently on his claim January 15. 1855, and on his way nearly lost his oxen in the river. In the meantime a man named Dunham had jumped his claim, and it became necessary for him and Dunham to compromise matters and divide the land which was considered valuable because it had a very fine spring of good, pure water available. Two years later Mr. Thompson sold his claim and entered 160 acres of land in Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county. He moved to Atchison June 14. 1856. He developed this farm and lived on it for forty-eight years, or until 1914, when he came to Atchison to reside with his daughter, Mrs. Keats.
Mr. Thompson was married in Missouri in 1850, to Rebecca Stigers, a native of Knox county, Ohio, born April 18, 1831, a daughter of Conrad Stig- ers, a native of Germany. The mother of Mrs. Thompson was Mary Snell Stigers, who was born in Virginia, of French parents, and whose father was shipwrecked on the coast of Virginia. She was a direct descendant of the famous French family of D' Estang, and her father was a connection of Count D' Estang. To Mr. and Mrs. George W. Thompson were born nine children : Benjamin T., born October 11, 1850, in Missouri, and died March 12, 1902; Mary Katharine, born October 2, 1854, wife of Asa Barnes, of Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county ; John Emmet, born February 17, 1857, in Atchi- son county, and now residing in California ; Harriet M., born April 2, 1850, wife of T. M. Grant, Atchison county ; Louis T., born May 8, 1861, died May 1, 1864; Mrs. Dora T. Keats, born March 21, 1864, wife of H. T. Keats, of Atchison : George McClelland, born May 20, 1867, a farmer, Mt. Pleasant township; Clara Thompson, born September 5, 1870, and Albert T., born October 5, 1873, died in infancy.
The Thompson family is one of the oldest in America and is of English origin. The founder of the family came to Virginia with Capt. John Smith in 1607, and through the marriage of John Rolfe with Pocahontas, the
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princess daughter of old King Powhatan of the Indian tribes of Virginia, the family and successive generations claim to have Indian blood in their veins. They are or were connected with the famous Pickett family, of whom General Pickett was a member. It will thus be seen that on one side the present mem- bers of the family can lay claim to being descended from the nobility and on another to being descended from an Indian princess and one of the earliest of the old Virginia gentlemen. It is not to be wondered that the founder of the family in Atchison county has made such a fine record during his long residence here.
Mr. Thompson has always taken an active and influential part in the political affairs of Kansas, and has been a life-long Democrat. He has the unique distinction of having voted for but one candidate who was elected President, and that was Franklin Pierce in 1852. This is probably due to the fact that he has always been independent in his voting, and acted upon his own convictions when it came time to cast his ballot. His last vote was cast for Theodore Roosevelt. When Populism was in vogue in Kansas he voted for the Populist candidate for President. It was only natural that he himself become a candidate for office on account of his education and the inherent gift for leadership. He served as a member of the Kansas legislature at the sessions of 1867, 1868 and 1869, and has been a candidate a few times since. At another time, early in his career, he was elected superintendent of public instruction in Atchison county, but refused to serve, and sent in his resigna- tion. His last candidacy for the legislature was given him by the fusion of the Populists and Democrats, but he was defeated by White by a very small majority. During the campaign of 1866, he was asked to become a candi- date for the legislature by many Republican friends and upon the advice of his many friends in the county, he cast his votes for both Ross and Pomeroy for the positions in the United States Senate. It is a matter of history that both Ross and Pomeroy were elected to represent Kansas in the United States Senate, Ross subsequently making himself very conspicuous by voting against the impeachment of Andrew Johnson.
This fine old pioneer was also a soldier in the Civil war, and served as first lieutenant of the company commanded by Capt. Asa Barnes in the battle of Westport. Mrs. H. T. Keats, daughter of Mr. Thompson, has in her possession a number of interesting souvenirs of this battle, among them being the belt buckle, and bayonet worn by her father in the battle, and the company's flag, Captain Barnes' shoulder straps, and James Binkley's cap box, in addition to having some of the Government scrip, with which the soldiers were paid. The colonel of the Twelfth regiment was Colonel Louis
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L. Treat, another member of the company being T. L. Cline. Very few of the members of this company or regiment are now living.
On October 8, 1915, this noted old pioneer was eighty-eight years old and still vigorous, mentally. His power of thinking is not much diminished, and he is still a reader and student. Constant reading and thinking, we are told, is conducive to longevity and Mr. Thompson has always been a great reader and student of history and philosophy. He is a man, self-made and self-taught, and is blessed with a keenness of intellect far above the average. His life has been a well rounded and useful one, and he has had a career of which he and his children and grandchildren can well be proud. His long life has been clean and for years he has been a stern advocate of temperance and has practiced his own belief. In his younger days he was a noted and powerful orator who had the ability to thrill and sway his hearers. Few men can look back over a longer vista of years, well spent in honest pursuits, and in behalf of his fellow men than George W. Thompson. All honor to him as the oldest and most distinguished living pioneer of Atchison today.
B. F. TOMLINSON.
B. F. Tomlinson, deceased, was a pioneer merchant and meat packer of Atchison, and left behind him an imperishable record for honesty and fair dealing, which has never been surpassed in the mercantile history of the city. He was born December 25, 1838, in Covington, Ky., a son of Leroy Tom- linson, who was also a native of Kentucky. The mother of B. F. Tomlinson died when he was a small boy, and as a consequence little is known regard- ing her antecedents. The Tomlinsons are a very old American family. Le- roy Tomlinson was a commission merchant and meat packer, who later re- moved from Covington to Louisville, Ky., and became prominently identi- fied with the business interests of that city. He conducted a large packing establishment and handled as high as 100 beeves at one time in his abattoirs, wholesaling the product of his packing houses to meat merchants in the cities and towns bordering the Ohio river.
B. F. Tomlinson, with whose career this review is directly concerned, was reared and educated in the city of Louisville, Ky., and when he was but fifteen years of age his father died, his stepmother dying one year later. Be- ing an only child, he was left with the responsibility of his father's extensive business. The excellent training which his father had given him, here came
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into good stead, and he carried on the packing business successfully, paying, in the course of time, a considerable indebtedness which his father had in- curred. After his marriage in Louisville in 1860, he continued to conduct his business in Louisville until 1870, at which time he disposed of his pos- sessions and came to Atchison. Here he engaged in the butcher and pack- ing business, and soon held a prominent place in the mercantile life of the city.
B. F. Tomlinson was married September 11, 1860, to Miss Elizabeth Alexander, who was born May 11, 1840, in Bedford, Ind. She was a daugh- ter of Robert M. and Emily (Legrant)' Alexander. Her father was a coach- maker by trade, and removed from Bedford, Ind., to Louisville, Ky., where he died in 1900, at the age of eighty-nine years. Much interesting history can be narrated concerning the mother of Mrs. Tomlinson, who was born in New Orleans, and was one of three children born to her parents, who were of French origin. The elder Legrant was a drygoods merchant in the southern city, and the story goes, that on one of his regular trips to Cincinnati, Ohio, to buy a stock of goods for his store he left two of the children at home, and on arriving in Cincinnati he placed Emily in charge of a Scotch family by the name of McDonald, and with whom he had been in the habit of stopping while on business in Cincinnati. Emily at that time was twelve years of age, and was a prime favorite with the McDonald's who begged her parents to leave her at their home during the time which would elapse until Mr. and Mrs. Legrant made their next trip from New Orleans to Cincinnati. They did so, but sad to relate, the little girl never saw nor heard from her parents again, and what became of them she never learned, and she was consequently reared to womanhood by the kind foster parents. In an earlier year than this at New Orleans, and at a time when Emily's father was very sick with rheumatism, a band of over one hundred Indians was encamped near the Legrant home at New Orleans. One of the other children was also afflicted with cancer of the face. The medicine men of the Indian tribe effected a cure of both the cancer and the father's rheumatism. The Indians were very affectionate toward Emily and called her the "pretty squaw," which was only natural, as she grew up to become a very beautiful woman, eventually becoming the wife of Robert M. Alexander, and after her husband's demise. made her home with her daughter at Atchison, where she died in November of 1904, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years.
B. F. Tominson died in January, 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Tomlinson were the parents of eight children : Martha J., wife of Louis Nelson, of St. Joseph, Mo., and mother of one child, Frank B .; Emma T. Bosanko, deceased. left
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one son, Harry ; Lydia, wife of Frank Russell, of St. Paul, Minn., and mother of one son, Clarence Russell; Alice, wife of W. L. Johnson, of Atchison ; Anna A., wife of Charles Robertson, of Chicago; Robert, a resident of Co- lumbia, Mo., and who has one daughter, Ecce Tomlinson; Franklin, de- ceased; Birdie died in infancy. The mother of these children is now three score and fifteen years of age, but does not appear to be over fifty years old. She is remarkably well preserved and has a keen mind, and is especially proud of her husband's record and fine family of children.
Mr. Tomlinson was a member of several fraternal societies, among them being the Modern Woodmen, the Knights of Honor, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was politically allied with the Democratic party, but never sought political preferment. He was well and favorably known and highly respected in business circles in Atchison, his greatest and kindliest trait being his generosity in giving assistance to the poor and deserving of the city. He was always ready to listen to the call of the suffering and improvident, and never turned away a supplicant in dire need empty handed. It might be said of him that he was too generous for his own financial wel- fare, but he sincerely believed in the wholeness of his nature in giving of his sustenance to those whom he deemed in need. The indulgence of this Chris- tian trait of giving naturally endeared his memory to a host of friends, who will long remember him. Few men were more liberal or kinder than this upright gentleman.
JOHN D. HAWK.
In the science of agriculture, as well as the learned professions, there are always men who are naturally endowed with the powers of leadership. and are so progressive and energetic that they lead in the van of better and more productive farming where others follow. Atchison county has its quota of these progressive agriculturists who are not content to be just com- mon, every-day farmers, but are ambitious to become specialists in agricul- tural work. John D. Hawk, of Benton township, Atchison county, holds a place in the front rank of successful and enterprising farmers in Atchison county, and is the owner of one of the most productive and best equipped agricultural plants in the county, or northeast Kansas. His farm comprises 170 acres, located in section 2, range 618. Benton township. A good farm home sets well back from the road, in the rear of which is a large red barn, 86x46 feet, hip roofed and flanked by a modern silo, built in 1910,
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and which is the first wood silo erected in Atchison county. Mr. Hawk is beginning the breeding of thoroughbred Jersey cattle, and at the present time has a fine dairy herd of twenty-five head, among which is a number of pure breds . Leading this herd is "Shawan Majesty," a pure bred bull. He also specializes in Poland China hogs, and is meeting with success in the breeding and raising of live stock. Mrs. Hawk keeps a pure strain of Black Langshan poultry and handles this end of the farm work with profit and satisfaction.
John D. Hawk was born November 19, 1875, on a farm in Coshocton county, Ohio, a son of Lafayette T. Hawk, of Benton township, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. He was seven years of age when his parents removed to Atchison county, Kansas, from their Ohio home. Here he at- tended the district school, and had the advantage of one year's study in the county high school. He worked on the home farm with his father until 1898, when he beagn for himself in the spring of that year on the McClennon farm which he rented for two years. After his marriage he removed to his pres- ent place which is the old Law homestead. He erected the present barn and the large poultry house on the place and made various other improvements including the building of the silo.
Mr. Hawk was married March 15, 1899, to Miss Alice M. Law, who has borne him eight children, of whom seven are living: Walter Gale, born Jan- uary 12, and died February 1, 1900; Herbert, aged fifteen years; Kenneth, born November 19, 1902; Dorothy, aged ten; Mateel, nine years old; John, aged six years ; and twins, Vera and Veda, born December 12, 1911. The mother of these children was born in Toronto, Canada, a daughter of Edwin and Mary Alice Law, both of whom were born in England. Edwin Law comes of a family of singers, and it is a matter of record that his mother sang before Queen Victoria on one occasion, and was noted throughout Eng- land as a singer of note. The Laws immigrated from England and first set- tled in Canada, going from there to Ohio, and after a short residence in the Buckeye State, migrated to Doniphan county, Kansas, from whence they came to Atchison county and purchased the farm where Mr. and Mrs. Hawk now reside. There were five children in the family : Alfred Law, Ella, Alice, Walter, and one died in infancy. Mrs. Law died on the farm, and Mr. Law died in Canon City, Colo. After his first wife's death, Mr. Law again mar- ried, and had one daughter, Lillie, by his second marriage.
Mr. Hawk is a Republican, but his activities do not tend to political affairs. For several years he has been actively identified with agricultural affairs in Atchison county, and his influence has ever been exerted in behalf
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of better farming. He is president of the Atchison County Farm Bureau, of which institution he is one of the organizers. In connection with Fred Sutter. Alexander McClennon, he assisted in the promotion of the Farm Bureau and its establishment, and the consequent employment of County Agent Taylor as a skilled farm farm instructor. This is now considered as one of the finest and most beneficial moves ever made in the county in behalf of the farmers of the county, and even the most incredulous who were unwilling to support the movement are now coming into line and becoming enthusiastic over the possibilities for bettering farm conditions in the county as the result of the efforts put forth by its zealous supporters. This committee during the winter of 1914-1915 visited every part of the county, in the preliminary organization and missionary work, and enrolled 200 farmers as supporters of the project. Mr. Hawk is likewise president of the Atchison county Farmers' Institute. He attends the Christian church, of which Mrs. Hawk is a member, and is fraternally affiliated with the Central Protective Association.
HERBERT J. BARBER.
A man's standing in the community where he resides or transacts his business affairs is usually gauged by his usefulness to society and his activities in behalf of the general good of his fellows. If he be of the class of citizens who are seeking to benefit the community in which he is engaged in business, he is a decided benefit to that community. Such an individual is Herbert J. Barber, banker of Cummings, Kan. Mr. Barber is a native of the Sun- flower State, and is a son of one of the early pioneers. The story of Moses Barber, his father, Union veteran, Kansas pioneer, and one of the first suc- cessful fruit growers of Atchison county, is interesting and borders on the romantic to a considerable degree. Over fifty years ago, directly after his honorable discharge from the Union service at Leavenworth, Moses Barber set out on horseback to find a place for a home in Atchison county. He found the homestead, and at the same time found a sweetheart who later became his wife and fought the good fight with him through the lean years and good ones until he attained to the realization of his ambitions to obtain a com- petence. He became widely known as the "Apple King" of Kansas as a result of his remarkable success as a grower of apples, and cultivated what was in all probability the largest apple orchard in existence in the State of Kansas in his day. His son, Herbert, has followed in his father's footsteps
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. Ilrs. . lary (.Mallard ) Barter
Moses Barter
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and is fast making a name for himself in the field of finance. Speaking in a biographical sense, Herbert J. Barber was born on the old homestead of his father in Mt. Pleasant township, April II, 1871, a son of Moses and Mary (Hubbard) Barber, the former a native of Rhode Island, and the latter a native of Virginia.
Moses Barber was born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, April 22, 1833, a son of James and Elizabeth Barber, natives of Rhode Island, of co- lonial ancestry and English descent. A brother of James was Colonel Barber, who served in the War of 1812, and the grandfather of Moses Barber was a Revolutionary soldier. Moses was reared to young manhood on his father's farm in Rhode Island, and then migrated westward to Illinois. After a residence of a few years in Illinois he came to Kansas and was a resident of the State upon the outbreak of the rebellion of the Southern States. He en- listed in Company I. Second regiment, Kansas cavalry, in 1861, and was soon promoted to ranking sergeant of his company. He served his country well and faithfully and took part in several hard fought engagements with his regiment, and received his honorable discharge at the close of the war at Leavenworth, Kan. After receiving his discharge from the service he set out on horseback in search of a homestead, riding the faithful cavalry horse which had carried him through the strenuous days of the Civil war. His route led him in a northwesterly direction from Ft. Leavenworth through Atchison county. He stopped for sustenance and rest at the home of a fam- ily named Hubbard at Parnell, Kan. Mr. Hubbard was a pro-slavery and State rights man who had removed from the Southland in 1855 after two years in Missouri, a State rights advocate, and although Mr. Barber was his guest, they had frequent clashes over the troubles of the South and war inci- dents. The bitterness of the great conflict had not yet been obliterated. and it was only natural that the Union veteran and State's rights man should have disagreements. This was not all of their troubles, as time soon deve- loped. Mr. Hubbard had an attractive daughter, and thereby hangs a tale of romance. Mary Hubbard was the acme of beauty in the eyes of young Barber and he purposely stayed around in the neighborhood that he could be near Mary and do his courting despite the evident antipathy of Father Hub- bard. In fact, Moses often said later, "That was the reason I stayed there." The attraction between Mary and Moses grew into friendship, friendship rip- ened into love, and the son of the North and the daughter of the South were married. The parental opposition to this natural outcome of the meeting of two young souls who were evidently destined for each other was so great
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that a quiet marriage was necessary. Moses and Mary quietly departed one day and returned to the parental roof as man and wife. Mr. and Mrs. Hub- bard soon afterwards decided to accept the inevitable and become fond of their son-in-law. Time and subsequent events proved that Moses and Mary were well mated and the marriage, if a hasty one, proved to be very happy in the years to come. Mr. Hubbard soon afterward went west to satisfy the gold fever which obsessed him and Moses Barber settled down on his father- in-law's farm which he purchased, thus beginning a highly successful career as an agriculturist. The first home of him and his young wife was a little log cabin which formerly belonged to the Hubbards, but as prosperity came as the reward of years of careful husbandry, he erected a handsome farm residence of thirteen rooms which still stands on the place, built in 1882. Mr. Barber was one of the first men in Kansas to see the possibilities in fruit growing and early began to develop that part of the farming avocation. He planted four or five acres of apple trees as a start in his horticultural experi- ments, and his success with his first orchard was so gratifying that he in- creased his apple orchards to sixty acres of bearing trees. He became widely known as the "Apply King of Kansas." While managing his immense fruit orchard he did not neglect the other side of the farm work and cultivated assiduously and successfully his large farm of 320 acres of land in Mt. Pleas- ant township. In the early days he was a large cattle feeder and made large shipments to the stock markets.
Moses Barber was married May 15, 1865, to Miss Mary Hubbard and this union was blessed with two children: Mrs. Abigail Brayman, of Wick- ford. R. I., and Herbert J., with whom this review is directly concerned. Mr. Barber departed this life July 3, 1896, after having lived a long and useful life which was profitable as well as happy. Mrs. Mary (Hubbard) Barber, his surviving widow, was born May 7, 1845, in Roanoke county, Virginia, and was a daughter of Clark and Rebecca Hubbard, both of whom were born and reared in Virginia and came to Kansas in 1855. Mrs. Barber resides with her son, Herbert J., in Atchison, Kan.
Herbert J. Barber attended the district school of his neighborhood in Mt. Pleasant township and later pursued a course in the Atchison Business College. After finishing his business course he returned to his father's farm and took charge of the fruit growing and general farming. Later he spent three years in Colorado in the employ of a Denver wholesale book and station- ery house. In 1894 he returned to the home farm and successfully managed it until 1908. He then removed to Cummings, Kan., and assisted in the
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