History of Butler County Kansas, Part 57

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

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F. W. Robison was united in marriage October28, 1908, with Leila

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M. Harris, of El Dorado, a daughter of C. L. Harris, a prominent attor- ney of that place and former State senator. Mrs. Robison is a graduate of the El Dorado High School, and also studied language and music at Mannheim, Germany, and later was a student at Monticello Seminary, Godfrey, Ill.

In addition to his interest in the field of banking Mr. Robison is a member of the firm of Girod & Robison, importers and breeders of pure bred and high grade Holstein cattle. Their place is well equipped and especially adapted for their purposes and they usually have on hand about 200 head of cattle.

Since coming to Towanda Mr. Robison has identified himself with the interests of his adopted town and takes a leading part in any move- ment the object of which is for the betterment of the community, and is one of the progressive young men of Butler county. Mr. Robison owns eighty acres, the south one-half of N. E. quarter section 36, adjoining sec- tion 31, on which is located the Wrightman & Foster oil field, and it is in the heart of the oil field, a deep well having been brought in recently, just east of his land, another northeast and a shallow well on the north- west. Mr. Robison bought this land since the oil development began, and it will no doubt be a very profitable investment.

W. G. Turner, of Towanda, came to Butler county when a boy, just past thirteen years of age, and since attaining his majority has been a conspicious figure in the public life of his adopted county. His fellow citizens have given expression to their confidence in his ability and in- tegrity by electing him twice to the office of sheiff of Butler county, and also electing him to the legislature.

Mr. Turner is a native of Illinois and was born in Shelby county in 1861. He is a son of John and Agnes (Elwood) Turner, both natives of England. They were the parents of seven children, one of whom died in infancy, and the others are as follows: Mrs. Elizabeth Noble, Wichita, Kans .; Mrs. Hanna Priest, deceased; Thomas E., Wichita; Mrs. Belle Miller, Wichita; Mrs. Jane Agnes Mooney, Towanda, and W. G., the subject of this sketch.

W. G. Turner was reared in Shelby county, Illinois, to the age of thirteen years, where he attended the public school. In 1875 the Turner family came to Kansas and located in Butler county, one mile west of Towanda, where the father followed farming until his death in 1883 and his wife died at Wichita while there on a visit, a few years later. They are both buried in the Towanda cemetery. When a young man W. G. Turner engaged in farming which he followed for a number of years, and still owns one of the productive and well kept farms of Towanda township which consists of 200 acres of valuable land.

In 1897 Mr. Turner was elected sheriff of Butler county and per- formed the duties of that office in such a satisfactory manner that at the expiration of his term of office of two years, he was re-elected to succeed himself and on account of a change in the law he held the office of sher-

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iff for an additional year, making five years in all. During Mr.Turner's administration of the office of sheriff the famous Jessie Morrison case was tried three tinies. This case not only attracted attention in Kansas but was given considerable notice by the press throughout the United States. In 1905, Mr. Turner was elected a member of the legislature on the Democratic ticket and won for himself a very creditable record as a member of the lower house of the Kansas legislature. His friends in- sisted that he be a candidate for re-election and he permitted his name to remain on the ticket but made no canvass nor effort for re-election, and succeeded in escaping the office by the narrow margin of twenty- seven votes. In 1914 he was the Democratic candidate for sheriff of But- ler county but was defeated. He is now manager of a store at Towanda.

Mr. Turner was married in 1886 to Miss Amanda Vandebogart, of Towanda. She is a daughter of Michael and Lydia Vandebogart, early settlers of Butler county who came here from Michigan in 1871, settling in Towanda township about three miles northeast of town. They were natives of New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Turner have been born two children : Thomas A., who occupies the home place a half mile east of Towanda, married Blanche Gorman, and they have one child, Har- riet Irene ; and Lydia, married H. S. Wait, proprietor of the Towanda Drug Store. Mr. Turner is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias, all of Towanda. In the course of his career as a public official, Mr. Turner has acquired a large acquaintance and many friends throughout Butler county and perhaps is one of the best known men of the county.

Albert Pyle, owner and operator of the electric light system at To- wanda, Kans., has been identified with Butler county for over forty-five years. Mr. Pyle was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1848, and is a son of Harrison and Marie (Horton) Pyle, natives of Ohio. Albert Pyle was reared to manhood in his native State and educated in the public schools. In 1868 he went to Illinois and settled in McLean county, where he was engaged in farming for three years and in 1871 came to Kansas, settling in Rosalia township, Butler county, where he home- steaded a quarter section of land. Later he sold that place and bought another one three miles farther south on the Little Walnut river. Here he was engaged in the stock business on his 440 acre farm for a number of years when he sold it and settled on a place in Towanda township where he followed farming and stock raising until 1913 when he re- moved to Towanda.

In 1912 Mr. Pyle secured a franchise for lighting the city of Towanda and installed an arc light system at a cost of approximately $4,000, and thus gave Towanda its first electric light. The venture did not prove profitable at first but Mr. Pyle was not discouraged and has been rewarded in recent years by very satisfactory and profitable re- stilts. He has considerable other interests in Towanda and vicinity in addition to his electric light plant investment. In 1911 he erected three

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store buildings on Main street which are now fully occupied by busi- ness enterprises and form an important part of the business district of the town.

Mr. Pyle was united in marriage at Chillicothe, Ohio, to Miss Johanna Piper, a daughter of M. M. Piper, a pioneer of Ross county, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Pyle have been born six children, as follows: Lewis, farmer, near Towanda, Kans .; B. C., butcher, Towanda; W. H., a prominent stockman, Weston, Neb .; Mrs. B. F. McComas, Jackson county, Missouri ; Mrs. Nellie- Ralston, of Towanda township, and Mrs. Ollie Logan, of Towanda, whose husband, an engineer and electrician, is manager of the Towanda Electric Lighting Plant, for Mr. Pyle.

Mr. Pyle has seen many changes in Butler county, since he and a brother came here in 1871. They had no capital but came to a new and undeveloped country with the determination to succeed and notwith- standing that they encountered many discouraging features incident to early life in Kansas, Mr. Pyle has gone on and succeeded beyond his ex- pectations and today is one of the substantial men of his community and one of the leading industrial factors of Towanda.

G. E. Garrison, a well known grain dealer of Towanda, Kans., is a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, and is a son of John A. and Mary (Jones) Garrison, both natives of Virginia, who were the parents of three children, as follows: John, resides in New Mexico; Mrs. Ella Brown, Arkansas, and G. E., the subject of this sketch. When G. E. Garrison was two years old his parents removed to West Virginia. where the father died in 1865. The mother afterwards married M. N. Josephs and they became the parents of six children, as follows: Mrs. Orma Ullum, Leon, Kans .; Mrs. Ida Ashenfelter (deceased) ; Abram S., Potwin, Kans. ; Frank, Furley, Kans. ; Rolla, Potwin, Kans., and Mrs. Maud Rolf, Potwin, Kans.

When G. E. Garrison was thirteen years old he came to Kansas with his step-father and mother, who resided for a time at Topeka. This was in 1871, and about one year later they removed to Osage county, locating near Carbondale. Here they resided for three years, and in 1876 came to Butler county and settled on a farm on the Whitewater, near the old town of Plum Grove. They purchased a farm of 160 acres for $3 per acre. G. E. remained at home on the farm until 1895, when he engaged in farming on his own account for a short time and then went to Potwin and engaged in the feed, grain and creamery business. Seven years later he sold his business at Potwin and engaged in the feed and grain business at Towanda, where he has built up an extensive grain and feed business and also deals in coal. He handles. large quan- tities of kafir corn, wheat and oats. He has a grain elevator with a capacity of 7,000 bushels, and at the present time is adding 3,000 bushels to its capacity.

As a grain producer and dealer, Mr. Garrison has met with a variety of experiences in conforming with the inevitable whims of Kansas sea-

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sons. For instance, in 1912 he shipped out of Towanda fifty-two car loads of kafir corn, and the following year, which was a dry season, he shipped forty-two car loads of corn into Towanda, which he sold for local consumption. Between the bad years of the early days he can re- call some productive ones which were as extremely good as others were bad. In 1875 he paid $2.75 for seed corn, which he had shipped from Iowa for his own use, and he produced from that seed corn one of the finest crops within the history of his recollection, which averaged about ninety bushels per acre. Mr. Garrison relates many interesting inci- dents of early life on the plains and recalls many of the old pioneers who resided in his neighborhood when he came to Butler county, among whom might be mentioned John Wentworth, Joseph Adams, Chris Jacobs, Joseph Fornie, Mr. Schutz, Mr. McGill, Mr. McSnorf and William Brennan.

Mr. Garrison was married in 1897 to Miss Minnie Horton, of Towanda, and two children have been born to this union: Otis Horton and Amylee, both students in the Towanda schools.

M. E. Varner, a successful farmer and stockman, of Towanda town- ship, is a native of Iowa. Mr. Varner was born in 1866, and is a son of I. D. and Ruth (Baker) Varner, both natives of Monroe county, Ohio. The mother died at Towanda in 1910 and the father has been an invalid for the past two years. They were the parents of ten children, seven of whom are living, as follows: Mrs. Mary Winkler, El Dorado, Kans .; Mrs. Susan Steel, Wichita, Kans .; M. E., the subject of this sketch, and Mrs. Emma Lamb, of El Dorado, twins; Mrs. Dulcie Cook, Clark county, Kansas ; E. A., Fairview township, and F. H., Clifford township.

The Varner family were pioneers of Butler county, coming here in 1871. and located in Towanda township. The father homesteaded the northwest quarter of section 12, township 25, range 4. Their claim was located on the open prairie, and settlers came in quite rapidly about that time. as it was about the beginning of the rapid settlement of that sec- tion. The country was still in a wild and primitive state and M. E. Varner, who was a boy about five years of age at that time, remembers of seeing deer and antelope in the vicinity of the early Warner home. The buffalo, however, had taken up his grazing ground further west, across the Arkansas. Although a boy, Mr. Varner remembers many instances of early life on the plains. About the year that they came to Butler county he recalls an experience with a prairie fire. His father was some distance from home, working with his ox team on a place which he had rented on the west branch of the Walnut, and one of the periodical early day prairie fires was sweeping across the plains, carried forward by a strong southern wind. The father escaped the flames with his oxen by starting what was called a "back fire" and burning the grass in his immediate vicinity, which afforded a place of safety for him- self and oxen by the time that the prairie fire approached.

M. E. Varner has made farming and stock raising the principal busi-

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ness of his life, giving special attention to the raising and feeding of cattle. He raises large quanties of corn and alfalfa, which he generally feeds to his own cattle. Mr. Varner was married to Miss Cora Wash- burn, of Fairview township. Her parents came from Ohio and settled in this county in the eighties. To Mr. and Mrs. Varner have been born three children, all of whom are at home: Florence, Grant W. and Wilma. Mr. Varner is a substantial citizen and bears the distinction of being one of the youngest old pioneers of Butler county. He is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 163, Towanda, Kans.

E. A. Shriver, a successful hardware dealer at Towanda, Kans., is a native son of Butler county, having been born in Towanda township in 1873. He is a son of Joshua Shriver, a Butler county pioneer, fur- ther mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. E. A. Shriver was reared on a farm in Towanda township and attended school at dis- trict No. 37 and the Towanda High School. He remained on the home farm until he was twenty-four years old, when he began clerking in the hardware store of Patterson' Brothers at El Dorado and remained with that firm for six years. In 1904 he engaged in the hardware business in partnership with A. J. Glass at Towanda, under the firm name of Shriver & Glass. This concern had a successful business from the start and each year has shown an increase of patronage and they now have one of the extensive hardware stores of Butler county. They carry a complete line of hardware, paints, wire and farm implements, including the McCormick harvesting machinery. The reliableness of this firm and their straighforward method of doing business has won the confi- dence and patronage of hundreds of satisfied customers in Towanda and vicinity.

Mr. Shriver was united in marriage in 1898 to Miss Olive Glass, a daughter of James Glass, a native of Indiana, who settled in Butler county in the eighties. He died at Towanda in 1908 and his remains were buried in the El Dorado cemetery. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Olive Wood, was also a native of Indiana, and died in Butler county in 1895. To Mr. and Mrs. Shriver have been born four children, as follows: James, who died at the age of two years; Jose- phine, Harry and Garner.

Mr. Shriver is a keen and progressive business man and takes an active interest in all matters tending for the civic or commercial better- ment of Towanda and Butler county. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is also fraternally identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Fraternal Citizens.

Joshua Shriver, of Towanda, Kans., is a veteran of the Civil war and a Kansas pioneer who has spent over forty-five years of his life in Butler county. He was born at Elkhart, Ind., in 1841, and is a son of Daniel and Lavina (Nuzum) Shriver, both natives of Virginia, who removed to Indiana at an early date. The following children were born-

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to Daniel and Lavina (Nuzum) Shriver: Joshua, the subject of this sketch : William, Elkhart, Ind .; Rufus, Elkhart, Ind .: Frank, Peabody, Kans .; Anne (deceased) ; Mrs. Matilda Hoover, Peabody, Kans .; Mrs. Phoebe Lambert, Goshen, Ind .; John (deceased), and Noah (deceased).

Joshua Shriver spent his boyhood days in his native State and was educated in the public schools of Elkhart. About the time he reached his majority he enlisted at Elkhart, Ind., in Company E, Seventy-fourth Indiana infantry, serving from 1862 until June, 1865, when he was hon- orably discharged at Indianapolis on account of the close of the war, after having served about three years. His career as a soldier was an active one and he participated in many important battles of that great struggle, as well as a number of lesser engagements and minor skirmishes. He was at the battle of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and the Atlanta campaign. He was at the battle of Jonesboro, and the constant series of engagements on Sherman's march, beginning with the battle of Resaca, and when the war closed he was at Goldsborough, N. C. While Mr. Shriver's military career was an unusually hazardous one, he escaped without an injury and never spent a day in a hospital.

At the close of the war Mr. Shriver returned to Goshen, Ind., where he was engaged in farming for about six years, and in 1871 came to Kansas, locating in Towanda township, Butler county, about one and a half miles east of Towanda. Here he homesteaded 160 acres and en- gaged in farming. He broke the prairie and converted his place into one of the productive farms of Butler county, and was engaged in farming and stock raising until 1913, when he removed to Towanda, where he is now living in retirement. Mr. Shriver has well earned the title of pioneer and is one of the men who had faith in the future of Kansas during its days of uncertainty, and in recording the story of these men, a work of this character is fulfilling its most important function.

Mr. Shriver was married in 1868 to Miss Nannie McGuffin, of Goshen, Ind. She was a daughter of James McGuffin and Sarah (Stuart) McGuffin, natives of Indiana and of Scotch descent. To Mr. and Mrs. Shriver have been born the following children : Charles, Leon, Kans .; John, Pine Bluff, Ark .; E. A., hardware merchant, Towanda, Kans., a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Fred G., Towanda, Kans. ; James, farming the home place in Towanda township; Mrs. Ella Oten, McPherson, Kans. ; Mrs. Bertha Stewart, Benton, Kans., and Mrs. Nellie Bishop, Amarilla, Tex.

Mr. Shriver has been in poor health for the last few years, having been afflicted with partial paralysis since 1912. However, his mind is as clear as ever, and his recollection of the pioneer days in Butler county is most vivid, and he tells in an interesting and entertaining way the many adventures and experiences of the early day pioneers who laid the foundation of Butler county, as one of the foremost political subdivisions of the Kansas of today and the future.

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Matsy Braley, an extensive contractor and builder, of Towanda, Kans., who is also interested in farming and stock raising, is a native of Ohio, and has lived in Butler county since 1873. He is a son of Joel S. and Marilla (Kelly) Braley, both natives of Meigs county, Ohio. They were the parents of two children, as follows: Mrs. Theora Davis, who resides in Towanda township, and Matsy, the subject of this sketch.

The Braley family came to Butler county in 1873, when Matsy, whose name introduces this sketch, was fourteen years old. They lo- cated on the southwest quarter of section 15. Towanda township. Here the father engaged in farming and stock raising and followed that occu- pation until his death in December, 1899, and his widow resides on a place which they purchased some years after locating in Towanda town- ship, and which adjoins the original homestead.

Matsy Braley received his education in the public school at Towanda · and recalls among his early teachers, Calvin Rayburn, Josie Dutton, R. S. Miller, Vol. P. Mooney and Miles Jacoby. The old school house where he attended school has long since disappeared, and the place which it occupied is now the site of Porter's barn. After leaving school Mr. Braley learned the carpenter trade and has followed carpenter work and contracting quite extensively in Towanda and vicinity. He has built a number of residences in Towanda, including those of O .. L. Thomas, Collins Sarder, J. W. Tucker and Art Reeves. Mr. Braley also carries on farming and stock raising on his 240-acre farm, which is situated one-half mile south of Towanda, and is one of the successful agriculturalists of Towanda township.

When Mr. Braley came to Butler county with his parents, the real pioneer conditions of Butler county prevailed. Dried buffalo meat was on sale for ten cents per pound, and many things that happened in those early days made lasting impressions on his mind. He remembers when the country was swept by grasshoppers in 1874, when everything in sight was destroyed. He says that they had a young orchard of 200 peach trees and that the grasshoppers not only ate the leaves, but stripped the little trees of bark. The following year, however, new sprouts came up from the roots and the trees eventually developed, seemingly none the worse from the effects of the grasshopper treatment.

Mr. Braley is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias, holding membership in both of these lodges at Towanda, Kans. He is a progressive and public spirited citizen and is ever ready to co-operate with any movement for the betterment of his town, county or State.

Bishop Brothers .- This enterprising and progressive firm is com- posed of Emmet and James Bishop, and they rank among the success- ful dealers in Percheron horses and Holstein cattle of Butler county. Both Emmett and James Bishop were born in Benton county, Arkansas, and their parents both died when the boys were very young. James was taken by an uncle who resided in Missouri, and was reared to man-

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hood and educated there. Emmett was reared in Arkansas and was educated in the public schools of Benton county. In 1891, he located in Bates county, where he followed farming until February, 1899; he then went to the State of Washington, where he remained until No- vember of that year, when he came to Butler county, and he and his brother James entered the employ of J. C. Robison at the Whitewater Falls stock farm. After remaining there about a year the two brothers went to Oklahoma to harvest a crop of wheat which they had there, after which they returned to Kansas, making Towanda their perma- nent home.

James entered the general store of M. Orban, Jr., as a clerk and Emmet entered the employ of the D. M. Osborne Machine Company, and was on the road for that company for two years and then entered the employ of the J. I. Case Company, of Racine, Wis., traveling for that company four years. While Emmet was on the road, James began to deal in Percheron horses, in a small way, and in 1908 was joined by his brother, Emmet, and the partnership which was formed at that time still exists. J. C. Robison had an interest in the business up to that time, but in 1909 Bishop Brothers became the exclusive owners.

The Bishop Brothers have been unusually successful in their ven- ture and are among the representative Percheron horse dealers of the State. They usually have on hand about seventy-five head of Percheron horses and their farm, three and one-half miles southeast of Towanda, and stables, located at Towanda, are well equipped and adapted to this line of business. During the past year they have added a new feature to their business and are rapidly building up a trade as dealers in Hol- stein cattle, and now have on hand about 150 head of pure bred and high grade animals. They have 320 acres of land, about half of which they reserve for pasture and the other half is under a high state of cultiva- tion. The Bishop Brothers are among the leading horse and cattle men of the county.

Mrs. Rebecca Hammond, widow of the late Isaac Hammond, is one of the noble pioneer women of Butler county. She was born in Summit county, Ohio, in 1843, and was reared and educated there. Her father, Jacob Isenberger, was also a native of Ohio, and belonged to one of the pioneer families of that State. The late Isaac Hammond was a native of England and immigrated to America with his parents who settled in Illinois when he was four years old. Here he grew to manhood, was educated in the public schools, and remained on the home farm until the Civil war broke out, when he enlisted in an Illinois regiment, and served until the close of the war. After receiving his honorable discharge from the army, he returned to his home in Hancock county, Illinois, where he and Miss Rebecca Isenberger were united in marriage, pursuant to their engagement which had taken place before Mr. Hammond enlisted in the army.

In the spring of 1871, Mr. and Mrs. Hammond came to Butler coun-

ISAAC HAMMOND AND WIFE, REBECCA HAMMOND, AND GRANDCHILDREN Reading from left to right: Florence Valentine, Richard Valentine (standing), John Isaac Hammond (in front), Mildred Hammond, and Myrl Hammond.

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ty, Kansas, driving the entire distance from Illinois, with a team and prairie schooner. They camped on the banks of the Whitewater, and Mrs. Hammond remained with the wagon while her husband rode over the surrounding country in search of a suitable claim. It was several days before he found one which was satisfactory, but one night upon his return, he told his wife that he had found a location. She had told him before he started out that, in making his selection, he must pick a good claim for she said, "When I settle on a place I'll never leave it." For- tunately Mr. Hammond did make a good selection, and it was the fam- ily home for thirty-seven years. They immediately proceeded to their claim, and lived in a tent there, made of their wagon cover, from May I to August 17. They began farming and stock raising on their claim and prospered, and at the time of his death in August, 1908, Mr. Ham- mond owned 800 acres of land which is still owned by the family. He was an industrious and capable business man and a progressive citizen ; and a man who made the world better, for having lived in it. To Mr. and Mrs. Hammond have been born the following children: Walter, died at the age of twenty-eight; Mrs. Jennie Valentine, Greeley, Colo .; Harry, farmer, Augusta; Sydney, farmer, Augusta; Ike, farmer, Augus- ta; Gladys, died in infancy, and Ray, farmer, Towanda.

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History of Butler County Kansas, Part 57

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

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