History of Butler County Kansas, Part 48

Author: Mooney, Vol. P
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Lawrence, Kan. : Standard Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 946


USA > Kansas > Butler County > History of Butler County Kansas > Part 48


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Mr. Price was first married February 19, 1866, to Miss Lizzie E. Davis, a native of Jackson county, Ohio, and two children were born to this union: William S., the junior member of J. H. Price & Com- pany, and Hannah Ruan, now the wife of Edward C. Bent, Chicago, Ill. The mother of these children died July 16, 1870, in Lucas county, Ohio, and Mr. Price married Maranda Buchanan, of Pickering county, Ohio. The following children, who are now living, were born to this union: Rosada, lives in California; Archie, Cassoday, Kans .; James, Butler county, Kansas ; and Sherrod S., Blue Mound, Kans. The wife


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and mother of these children is deceased, and the present Mrs. Price bore the maiden name of Sarah Bowman. Mr. Price is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Methodist Episcopal church, and is of pleasing personality and courteous manner, which has won for him many friends in the community.


George J. Benson, of the firm of Kramer & Benson, one of the lead- ing law firms of Butler county, located at El Dorado, is the second son of William F. and Margaret Benson, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. George J. Benson was born October 27, 1883, in Chelsea town- ship. Butler county, Kansas. He attended country school until prepared for high school and then entered the El Dorado High School and was graduated in the class of 1903. He graduated from the law department of Kansas University with a degree of L. L. B. in 1906, and passed the State bar examination and was admitted to the bar in June, 1906. Mr. Benson began the practice of law in El Dorado July 1, 1906, associated with T. A. Kramer, and later became a partner under the firm name of Kramer & Benson.


Mr. Benson was married June 1, 1910, to Miss Mabel Sinclair, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hector Sinclair, of El Dorado, Kans. (a sketch of Mr. Sinclair appears in this volume). To Mr. and Mrs. Benson has been born one child, George Sinclair Benson, Jr., born December 2, 191I. Mr. Benson was elected county attorney of Butler county on the Demo- cratic ticket in November, 1913, and served one term in a capable and satisfactory manner.


Mr. Benson is a member of the Masonic Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Phi Delta Phi. He is a Democrat and has taken a prominent part in promoting the welfare of his party in this oun- ty, and has been chairman and secretary of the Democratic county cen- tral committee. He is a capable lawyer and an untiring student of the intricacies of the law, and his courteous and genial manner has won many friends.


George Hamilton, proprietor of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, Augusta, Kans., is one of the popular hotel men of southern Kansas. He was born in Durham, England, September 25. 1879, and is a son of Samuel H. and Anna (Pettigrew) Hamilton, the former a native of England, and the latter of New York. George Hamilton is the oldest of a family of four children, the others being as follows: John, was in San Fran- cisco at the time of the earthquake in 1906, and has never been heard of since ; Thomas, lives in San Diego, Cal. ; and Maggie, whose present address is unknown.


George Hamilton came to Wichita with his parents in 1887, when he was about eight years old and three years later the family removed to Butler county, where he received the greater part of his education and learned plumbing and metal working, and followed that line of business until May, 1915, when he leased the Fifth Avenue Hotel, which is the principal hotel of Augusta, and in fact the most complete


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hotel in Butler county. It is a massive stone structure, two stories high and is practically new. Mr. Hamilton made a wise move in engag- ing in the hotel business at the time he did. Augusta was just in the dawn of its new era, the great industrial activity accompanying the oil and gas development in that section, and practically since Mr. Hamil- ton took the Fifth Avenue Hotel, the place has been crowded to its limit. The house is well furnished and is a modern hotel in every par- ticular and is conducted on the European plan.


Mr. Hamilton was married at Wichita,. Kans., in 1915 to Miss Grace Lakin, of Lincoln, Neb., whose parents were pioneers of that city.


Mr. Hamilton's father died at Petersborough, Canada, in 1886, and the mother now resides at Rose Hill, Butler county, Kansas. Mr. Hamilton is a member of the Masonic lodge, having been made a Mason in 1906. Since engaging in the hotel business. he has proven to be a popular landlord and has made many friends among the patrons of his hotel.


Alvah Shelden was born in Fond du Lac, Wis., January 15 1849. His mother, whose maiden name was Louisa Vaught, was of Dutch parent- age, his father, Benjamin Shelden, of German descent. This ancestry accounted, in later life, for much of the thrift, economy, and steadfast- ness of purpose shown in his character. When Alvah Shelden was three years of age, his parents moved to Little Rock, Ark., and a year, or so later, to Helena, Karnes county, Texas, where his father was shot and killed in 1859 in his own dooryard by a rebel sympathizer or "cop- perhead," because of his fearless and out-spoken anti-slavery senti- ments. Martin Vaught, a brother of Mrs. Shelden, then living in Jef- ferson county, Kansas, started at once for Texas to bring back his wid- owed sister and five children: Olive, Alvah, Marion, Mary and John. He went on horseback, starting early in October, 1859, making the trip in thirty-five days. He remained in Texas until May, 1860, settling up affairs, when they started for Kansas in a covered wagon, drawn by five yokes of oxen. They also drove fifty head of cattle and eight horses through, making the trip in six weeks. The family had several adventures and miraculous escapes, coming through Texas and the Indian territory in that early period of their history, notably when crossing the Red River and the Cimarron, some Mexicans, who were assisting the stock to swim the rivers, were nearly drowned, and at other times, the Indians made several attempts to stampede the cattle. These incidents seem quite thrilling to relate in these days of high civilization in the Oklahoma State.


The Shelden family finally arrived at Chelsea, after their tem- pestuous trip, piloted by the ever faithful "Uncle Mart." They re- mamed until fall and then went to Paris, Ill., to live with Alvah's grand- father, John Vaught, a prominent and well-to-do farmer, where they remained until 1868. The "Call of Kansas" appealed to Alvah, now


ALVAH SHELDEN


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nineteen years of age, and as the head of the family, he, with them, turned westward, stopping in Chase county, Kansas, on the south fork of the Cottonwood river, and rented a farm. It was a bounteous crop year, and by dint of hard work and much saving, the family had a little money which they decided to put into a home. They came again to Chelsea township, and bought 240 acres of school-land on Cole creek. They built a native lumber house, much of it walnut. and Alvah, aided by his younger brothers and Uncle Martin Vaught, framed it finished it. Everyone who is at all familiar with early Kansas history, appreciates the hardships and privations incident to the development and the paying for a home at that time. Upon Alvah, the eldest of the three sons, the burden of it rested, but by his indomitable phuick and energy he accomplished it.


Always from a youth up, an inveterate reader, from the use of his grandfather's library, and from the country school, which he attended, he acquired his education. Aided by keen observation power, by an understanding of human nature and things, it was a liberal one. In 1872, he taught his first country school ; in 1874, he was assistant cash- ier in the Farmers and Merchants Bank of El Dorado, and in 1876, he was elected county superintendent of public instruction of Butler county. He was married January 28, 1877, to Miss Mary M. Lamb of Douglass. She was a teacher in the Douglass schools, and their court- ship dated from the first time they met, at the first teacher's institute in Augusta in April, 1872. Of this union there were six children born : Bertram Benjamin, June 29, 1878; Mary Myrtle, August 17. 1879; Ches- ter Conkling, August 30, 1880; Lida Lou, September 3, 1882: Bernice Barbara, July 19, 1885 ; and Marjorie Jane, October 14, 1890. Bertram died February 21, 1882, and Bernice, August 22, 1902.


In 1878 Mr. Shelden was re-elected to the superintendency of the county schools. In 1879 he was appointed postmaster of El Dorado to succeed Mrs. M. J. Long. He held the office five years. In March, 1881, he bought the "Walnut Valley Times" of T. B. Murdock, which he owned and edited thirty years. March 1, 1911, he retired from active work, transferring his newspaper and business to his son, Chester C. Shelden, who now conducts it. It was in June of the same year that he was stricken with angina pectoris, a disease of the heart, from which he never recovered, dying December 17, 1911. No more fitting sum- mary of his biography could be written than this from his old time friend and newspaper associate, George F. Fullenwider: "As a writer, Mr. Shelden was apt and forceful, and as an editor, able and emphatic, with opinions all his own, expressed tersely and plain. As a business man he was conservative, prompt, firm and successful. He was one whose advice and opinions were sought by his fellows, and considered sound. As a citizen, he was honored and respected ; as a friend. he was loyal and true. He was kind as a woman, big-hearted, generous to a fault, discriminating in his friendships and unyielding in his condemna-


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tion of wrong doing. He was always interested in the welfare of the community, and his efforts were in behalf of progress and enterprise. During his regime, the "Times" was a welcome visitor in more homes in Butler county, perhaps, than any other paper ever published here. He was always reaching out for the best in the newspaper world, nothing was too good for his paper and its readers. So well did he succeed that he ranked with the very best in the State, and he enjoyed a wide reputation as a writer and editor of ability. In proof of his enterprise, his special editions of which he issued more than any man in the State, namely the "Pink Edition," "Old Soldiers' Edition," "Farm- ers' and Stockmen's Edition, "Woman's Edition," have gone down in history, as some of the brightest and best newspaper work of that kind in Kansas. His public life and work is done, no more will he furnish "copy," or correct proof. The foreman has called "thirty" on his hook, and readers will look in vain for locals and editorials from his pen, but the fleeting years, in their onward march, cannot efface the memory of his good deeds, the influence he exerted, nor can time blot out the numberless pages he has written and left as a record for generations yet unborn.'


W. H. Noble, proprietor of the J. M. Noble & Son furniture store of El Dorado, is one of the progressive young business men of Butler county, and the J. M. Noble & Son furniture store is one of the oldest and most extensive retail furniture stores in the county. This business was established in 1882 by J. M. McAnally, and later the firm became McAnally & Musselman, and in 1884 J. M. Noble bought Musselman's interest, and the firm became McAnally & Noble, and this firm con- tinued to do business until February 10, 1913. Mr. McAnally died in 1910, but the estate retained his interest until the above mentioned date when Mr. Noble purchased the McAnally interest, and a strange coincidence in connection with this transaction was, that on the very day that the deal was closed, Mr. Noble died, suddenly, at Champaign, Ill., and since that time, his son, W. H. Noble, whose name introduces this sketch, has conducted the business.


Mr. Noble is thoroughly awake to the progress made in the vari- ous branches of the furniture business, and carries a much more com- plete and larger line than is usually found outside of the large cities. He aims to carry the best line of goods to be found on the market, among which might be mentioned the Sealy mattress, Liggett-Platt springs, Globe-Wernicke book cases, the Springfield model kitchen cabinet and the twin pedestal tables.


W. H. Noble is a native of Butler county and was born in El Dorado, December 5, 1887. His parents. J. M. and Sarah A. (Dickson) Noble were natives of Pennsylvania and Ireland respectively. Mrs. Noble came to this country with her parents when she was a child, and has made three trips across the Atlantic. She now resides in Wich- ita. J. M. Noble removed from Pennsylvania to Champaign county,


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Illinois, at an early day and from there came to Butler county, Kansas, where he was engaged in farming and stock raising until 1884, when he engaged in a furniture business, which he followed until the time of his death. He was sixty-one years of age. To J. M. Noble and wife were born two children, as follows: Jennie L., married George Ander- son and resides at Alva, Okla. ; and W. H., the subject of this sketch.


W. H. Noble was reared in El Dorado and educated in the public schools and Brumbach Academy and the College of Emporia. He was then employed about two and one-half years as clerk in the Missouri Pacific office in El Dorado, when he took over the management of the greenhouse and florist business which his mother had started some years previously. She is a great lover of flowers, and engaged in that work, first, for her own recreation and satisfaction, but by 1907 the constantly growing demand developed it into a commercial enterprise of considerable proportions, and at that time W. H. took charge of the business. He successfully conducted it until 1912, when he disposed of it, and after the death of his father's partner, he assisted in the furn- iture store until 1913, and since that time has devoted himself exclus- ively to the furniture business.


Mr. Noble was united in marriage September 15, 1907, with Mary Esther Tolle, a daughter of George W. Tolle, a sketch of whom ap- pears in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Noble have been born three children : Billy, Jack and Mary Esther. Mr. Noble is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and is a Democrat, and takes a keen interest in the affairs of his party, and has served as secretary of the Demo- cratic central committee of Butler county.


William H. Sandifer .- The Sandifer family is a pioneer family of Butler county, but they are more particularly a pioneer family in a broader and more comprehensive sense, dating back to Revolutionary times, and their members have been conspicuous as pioneers, soldiers and citizens of sterling worth, in connection with the history of this country for the past 150 years. The founder of the Sandifer family in America was William Sandifer who, before the days of the American Revolution, was engaged in the transfer business in his native city, London, England. and during the war with the Colonies, he was conscripted and forced into the English army. His sympathies, prior to that time, had been with the Colonies, and this act of conscription by the government did not change his views but strengthened his sympathy with the revolutionists. However, he served with the English army for a time, his command being located in South Carolina, and there is where the romance began that made the young Englishmen a full-fledged American. He met Sally Brock- man, a typical American girl of colonial times, and their friendship rip- ened into love, and they became engaged. Soon afterwards, young Sandifer deserted from the English army and enlisted in Washington's army, and fought in its ranks for the American cause until the close of the war. He was wounded at the battle of Brandywine, receiving a


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saber cut on the scalp which never fully healed. After the war he re- turned to South Carolina to claim his bride, believing that he had become sufficiently Americanized to marry an American girl. They were mar- ried and a few years afterwards went to Kentucky. This was shortly after that section of the country had been explored by the renowned Daniel Boone. William Sandifer and his wife spent the remainder of their lives and reared a family on the frontier of the "dark and bloody ground" of Kentucky.


One of the children born to William Sandifer and Sally Brockman was Joseph Sandifer, who was born in South Carolina, and like his fath- er, he was a soldier and frontiersman. He served in the American army during the war of 1812, and fought under General Harrison at the bat- tle of the Thames, where the celebrated Shawnee Chief Tecumseh was killed, and Sandifer saw the chief fall, as he was shot, and a comrade of his, named Cornwall Edwards, secured the old chief's rifle, during the battle. Mr. Sandifer often related the incident and described the gun in detail. He said it was of English make with a slight nick in the barrel, and that he often fired it himself. In later life Joseph Sandifer removed from Kentucky to Missouri. He died at Palmyra, Mo. Joseph Sandifer was the grandfather of William H., whose name introduces this sketch.


George M. Sandifer was a son of Joseph Sandifer and was born on Hanging Fork creek. Ky., July 21, 1832. He spent his boyhood days in Kentucky, and in early life learned photography and for a time was lo- cated at Somerset, Ky., and later at Liberty and Lancaster, that State. About 1858, he went to Knoxville, Tenn., where he remained about two years. Then he went to Rome, Ga., and was conducting a photograph studio there when the Civil war broke out, and he enlisted in the Third regiment, Georgia cavalry, serving in General Wheeler's division, Har- dee's Corps of Bragg's army. In the early part of the war, he was pro- moted to quartermaster with rank of captain, and much of the time was quartermaster of General Wheeler's division. At the close of the war, he returned to Rome, Ga., where he remained for a time, when he came back to his old Kentucky home, and after remaining for a time at Stan- ford, he went to Somerset, Ky., and conducted a steam mill until 1877, when he came to Kansas with his family. They drove through the entire distance from Kentucky to Butler county, and settled on a farm in Pros- pect township, three miles east of El Dorado. Here the father followed farming until 1891, when he again engaged in photography at El Dorado. He was an expert in his work, and had an extensive patronage. He dis- posed of his business in May, 1905, and died December 22, of that year, at the age of seventy-three. He was a member of the Christian church and was a Knights Templar Mason. His wife, to whom he was married at Somerset, Ky., bore the maiden name of Kazira Patterson Dutton. She was a native of Somerset and a daughter of J. S. and Martha (Ches- ney) Dutton, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, the former a son of David Dutton, a native of Germany, and an early settler in Kentucky.


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J. S. Dutton came to Kansas and located at El Dorado in 1871, where he spent the balance of his life. He died in August, 1886, and his wife passed away about the same time.


George M. and Kazira Patterson (Dutton) Sandifer were the par- ents of the following children: William H., the subject of this sketch ; Carrie, the wife of Judge G. P. Aikman, of El Dorado; Walter, died at, the age of twenty ; James, El Dorado; John, died at the age of fourteen, and Henry G., of El Dorado.


William H. Sandifer was born at Liberty, Casey county, Kentucky, December 26, 1857, and received a good common school education in his native State. He came to Kansas with his parents in 1875, as did the other members of the family. and was engaged in farming and stock raising in Prospect township until 1903. He then went to California, and after spending a few months returned to Butler county, and for twelve years was superintendent of the Butler county poor farm and since 1915 has been in the employ of an El Dorado lumber company.


Mr. Sandifer was married February 20, 1890, to Miss Belle Friend, of Austin. Tex., a daughter of John S. Friend, who now resides at El Dorado, Kans. The Friend family were early settlers in Butler county, coming here in 1868, when Mrs. Sandifer was a baby. To Mr. and Mrs. Sandifer was born one child, Ruth, now the wife of F. R. Thompson, who conducts the leading book and jewelry store of El Dorado, Kan's. Mr. Sandifer is a member of the Masonic Lodge, Modern Woodmen of America, the Anti-Horse Thief Association, and belongs to the Christian church.


Strother Gaines Pottle has for a number of years been prominent in the affairs of Butler county, and is one of the best known men in this section of the State. Mr. Pottle was born in Springfield, Ill., February 24, 1862, and is a son of Daniel and Mary Ellen (Jones) Pot- tle. The father was a native of Bracken county, Kentucky, and a son of Jeremiah and Martha E. (McDaniel) Pottle, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Kentucky. Daniel Pottle was born in 1834. and in 1835 was brought to Illinois by his parents, who spent the re- mainer of their lives in that State. Mary Ellen Jones, his mother, was a daughter of Strother G. Jones, and came from Kentucky to Illinois with her parents in 1845. The Jones family settled in Springfield. where the father was engaged in the mercantile business for a number of years. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-six, and his remains are buried in Oak Ridge cemetery, Springfield, Il1.


S. G. Pottle was one of a family of four children, born to his par- ents, the others being Jeremiah and Homer, who died in childhood. and Laura, who married S. J. Ecker, of Leon, Kans., and they now reside at Natchitoches, La. She was a Butler county teacher for a number of years prior to her marriage. The mother of these children died, and the father married for his second wife, Mary E. Ford, of San- gamon county, Ill., and one child was born to this union, Lulu. now


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the wife of Harry E. Wagenseller, of Springfield, Ill. Her mother died in 1878, and shortly afterwards the father and S. G. came to Kan- sas, locating in Pleasant township, where the father was quite exten- sively engaged in the cattle business until 1910 when he retired and went to live with his daughter, remaining there until his death, August 12, 1912. He was seventy-eight years old, and his remains rest in the National cemetery at Alexander, La. During the Civil war he served in Company I, Ninth Illinois cavalry. His sight became impaired, dur- ing his service in the army, and he never fully recovered from the afflic- tion. He was a great student all his life and especially well posted on the Bible.


S. G. Pottle was about sixteen years of age when he came to Butler county with his father, and for several years followed farming. He received a good common school education and attended the Augusta High School, and after following teaching for a time, entered the Fort Scott Business College, where he graduated in 1884. He also attended the Fort Scott Normal College after which he again taught school in Butler county, his last position in that line of work being the principal- ship of the Leon High School. He was editor and owner of The Leon "Indicator" for a few months, when he disposed of that paper to accept the position of deputy county clerk, under T. O. Castle and served for four years. He was also deputy clerk to John T. Evans for four years, and in 1895, he was elected to that office, and re-elected in 1897, serv- ing two terms, and during the latter year was the only Republican elected to office in the county and also was the only Republican county officer left in the county. In January, 1900, Mr. Pottle accepted a posi- tion with the "Mail and Breeze" and took an active part in the State po- litical campaign of that year. In 1901 he was appointed a deputy revenue collector in the United States revenue service for the district of Kansas and Oklahoma, and in that capacity served under Collectors Sutton and Simpson, serving until January, 1, 1905, with headquarters at 'Leaven- worth, Kans. He then returned to El Dorado and was employed in the El Dorado National Bank for four years, and for about two years was engaged in railroad construction work. In April. 1915, he was ap- pointed receiver of the Citizens State Bank at Chautauqua, Kans., and since that time has given his undivided attention to the affairs of that institution.


Mr. Pottle was married December 25, 1887, to Miss Gertie Godwin of Augusta, Kans., a daughter of H. C. Godwin, a Civil war veteran who was accidentally killed by a boiler explosion when Mrs. Pottle was a child. To Mr. and Mrs. Pottle have been born four children, as follows: Ethel, married H. C. Wear, Wichita, Kans .; Harry, an em- ployee of the Western Weighing and Inspection Bureau, Wichita, Kans .; Floyd, a student in the Miller Business College, Wichita, Kans .; and Lucille, a student in the Wichita High School.




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