History of Butler County Kansas, Part 67

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

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But the "spirit of the West." and the "call of the wild" had taken firm hold in his nature, and the spring of 1865 found him with the out- fit of a hunter and plainsman, traveling again towards the setting sun. Journeying southwest from Westport, he became more and more im- pressed by the charm of the country, over which he rode day after day.

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with its limitless undulating expanse of tall, blue stem, as far as the eye could reach, unbroken except by narrow belts of small timbers along the streams. He was imbued with the spirit of the prairie and the desire to possess some of his land as his own, became so strong that when he reached the region of the Whitewater in what later became Clifford township, he decided to stake his claim and build a home. Here in this great open space and great distances, near the banks of the Whitewater, he built his lonely cabin. The spirit of the pioneer, the call of the wild, was a dominant feature of the Ferrier blood, and the great, unfenced country that was before him, appealed strongly to his imagination, no doubt, but he could see the wonderful future of this, as yet, almost unpeopled land. The rank growth of prairie grass. ten feet high in the draws, indicated the richness of the soil and his dream of a home and of many broad acres with himself as the owner, was not without foundation.

It is truly said, that men who attain much are dreamers, so to speak, as the attainment of their desire first takes place in the mind of the dreamer. His dream of a home and a large acreage of this fertile region became a reality. Many years before his death, Mr. Ferrier was the owner of 1,400 acres of this well fenced and well improved land -- of fertile fields of corn and alfalfa. From 1865 to 1868. settlers were few, in fact, until 1868, his only neighbor was John Adams, whose cabin was five miles down the Whitewater. During those years, nature, in her wildest form, offered the only means of a livlihood, and to these few first settlers, the gun and the trap were the main dependence. One winter Mr. Ferrier shot, and trapped over 600 dozen prairie chickens, which he shipped to Westport. From 1869 to 1872, settlers came rap- idly. In 1871, Mr. Ferrier was married to Mrs. Jennie B. Borbridge. She was born in Indiana, her parents. Benjamin and Jennie Ferguson, came to Butler county in 1870. They settled on a farm in Clifford township, coming from Carroll county, Indiana, of English extraction. Mr. and Mrs. Ferrier shared, alike, the life of the early settlers, and were happy and contented with their lot. They were the parents of three children, the youngest of whom was two years old, at the time of the mother's death. November 29, 1884.

Taking up the cares of business and looking after his orphaned children, to whom he was now both father and mother, Mr. Ferrier, as was his nature, put his best effort into the task before him. And in the decade following his wife's death, he added considerable to the building of the fortune for which the foundation was laid, and the little log cabin was erected on his lonely claim in 1865. In 1895 he was married to Katie Block, the second child of David and Katherine Block. She was born in Russia in 1874. Her parents, both natives of Germany, immi- grated to Russia and shortly after the birth of Katherine, came to America. They settled in Florence, Kans., in 1874, and after four or five years' residence there, and at Hillsboro, they settled in Butler

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county. Mr. Block died in June, 1912. The mother's death occurred in the same month, two years later, (1914.)

By his first marriage, Mr. Ferrier was the father of three children, two of whom are living: Lewis W. Ferrier, who lives in Searchlight, Nev .. where he is superintendent of the Red Wing Mining and Mill- ing Company of Nevada; Mary J. (Ferrier) Liggett, the deceased wife of J. M. Liggett, and Wm. J. Ferrier, a successful farmer and business man of Clifford township, whose home is not far from where his father settled a half century ago with a pony, a shot gun and $26 in cash. By his second marriage, Mr. Ferrier was the father of nine children: Nellie E .; Harold H .; Leonard L .; Ida M .; Fred T .; Iva L .; Edna R .; Emma K., and Theodore L.

Thomas L. Ferrier died December 19, 1914. Thus briefly sketched is the life and career of a remarkable man. He was of the type who have truly been called empire builders.

Howard Lathrop, a prominent farmer and stockman and an early settler in Clifford township, is a native of New York. He was born in Genesee county, July 27. 1843, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Her- rick) Lathrop. Elizabeth Herrick was a native of Newberryport, Mass., and was of German descent. John Lathrop was born in Rutland county, Vermont, in the town of Pittsford and was a son of Adgate and Martha (Clifford) Lathrop and was born May II. 1794, and died February 22, 1887. The Lathrop family is of Engish descent and were among the very earliest settlers in New England. A representative of this family came to this country with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower in 1620. John Lathrop came from Pittsford. Vt., to Genesee county, New York, in 1812. That section of New York State was heavily timbered and at that time a dense wilderness, but that country has long since been far famed for its beauty of scenery and fertility of soil. He made the trip from Vermont with an ox team and cart, and was twenty-one days enroute. He cleared and improved the farm and reared his family there and spent the remainder of his life. He was a man held in high esteem by all who knew him and was one of the substantial citizens of his time. In early life he was a Whig but later became a Democrat. He held numerous of- fices of trust and responsibility and was prominent in the political af- fairs in Genesee county.

He was married to Elizabeth Herrick in 1840. She was born in New- berryport. Mass., August 4, 1810, and died in 1905. They were the parents of six children of whom Howard, the subject of this sketch was the sec- ond in order of birth.

Howard Lathrop grew to manhood on the home farm in Genesee county, and received his education in the district schools. The school year consisted of four months, and his educational career. insofar as schools were concerned, ended when he was fifteen years old. He earned his first money by working for his father on the home farm at $200 a a year, and this arrangement continned for five years. He bought a

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farm in Genesee county about 1865, which he later sold at considerable loss on account of the instability of the currency at that time, due to the high price of gold. However, he saved $1,200 out of the transaction and in 1872 came to Butler county, Kansas. He bought 440 acres of school land in Clifford township from Daniel Elder, and still owns that proper- ty. He paid $5.00 per acre for his first land, going into debt for the en- tire purchase price. Later he bought additional land, and now owns 1.700 acres of land in Clifford township. He has been engaged in general farming and stock raising and is one of the successful men of Butler county. Besides his farming operations he is interested in other local enterprises. He was a stockholder in the Butler County Telephone Com- pany and is president of the Peabody State Bank. He was one of the organizers of that institution, in 1899, and has been a member of the board of directors since that time, and was vice president for a time.

Mr. Lathrop was married March 22, 1870, to Miss Jennie Young. a native of New York, and a daughter of Rev. William and Hester ( Knapp) Young, natives of New York. The father was a minister in the Christian church. To Mr. and Mrs. Lathrop have been born the following children: Frank, Ida, Charles, Clifford, William Y., all of whom reside in Butler county, except Charles H., who lives just across the line in Marion county, at Burns.

Mr. Lathrop is a Republican and has taken an active part in politi- cal affairs, although the extent of his interest in office holding, so far, has been to help the other fellow. He is one of Butler county's substan- tial citizens and is widely and favorably known.

Harry Turner, a leading farmer of Fairmount township, is a native of England. He was born at Norfolk, January 29, 1851, and is a son of Robert and Mary (Davis) Turner, natives of England. His father was an Episcopalian minister and the parents died when Harry was about fifteen years old. The family consisted of Harry and a younger sister. Harry was educated in a private boarding school in Ramsgate, Kent, on the English Channel, where he received a very thorough course of in- struction. In 1856, shortly after the death of his parents, when he was about fifteen years of age, he immigrated to America. After remaining a short time in New York, he went to Chicago, and then to Hobart, Ind., and shortly afterwards to Minnesota. He was in Minnesota about a year, and during that time became acquainted with some men from Kan- sas and when they returned to this State, he accompanied them to Mi- ami county. When he came to this State he did not have a dollar. After working for a time in Miami and Osage counties, he came to Butler county in 1881. This appeared to be quite a new country then, com- pared with the present day conditions. He says, that in going from El Dorado to Fairmount township there were only two miles of road on the section line. All the rest of the way the trail ran diagonally across the section lines.

When Mr. Turner came to Butler county, he leased land for a num-

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ber of years, and engaged quite extensively in cattle and hog raising. In 1900, he bought a farm on section 20 known as the old Clark place, which was homesteaded by James Clark about 1874. and the old stone barn which Mr. Clark built is still standing and is one of the old historic buildings of that section.

Mr. Turner was married in 1879 in Osage county, Kansas, to Miss Mary Dooty, a native of DeKalb county, Missouri, born in 1860. She is a daughter of J. B. and Serena (Harper) Dooty, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of North Carolina. The Dooty family came from Missouri to Kansas and settled at Lawrence shortly after Quantrill raided that town. After spending four years in Douglass county, in the vicinity of Lawrence, they removed to Osage county in December, 1868, and from Osage went to Miami county and in 1880 came to Butler coun- ty. The father. Rev. J. B. Dooty, was a Methodist minister. He died April 11, 1889. He was recognized as an able preacher and a gentleman of noble Christian character. His widow now resides in Osage county with her son. There were six children in the Dooty family, of whom Mrs. Turner is the second in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have no children.

Mr. and Mrs. Turner are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Turner is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having been identified with Whitewater Lodge No. 268 for twenty-five years. He is a Progressive Republican, and for years has been active in the ranks of the Republican party, having served as chair- man of the township committee for twenty years. He has served on the local school board for a number of years, and has also been clerk and treasurer of Fairmount township a number of terms. He has always been a close student of the best literature as well as of men and affairs . and there are very few standard English or American authors whose works he has not read. His favorite author is Dickens, although he greatly admires Wilkie Collins' writings. Mr. Turner has an extensive acquaintance throughout Butler county, and is one of the substantial citizens of Fairmount township who has met with well merited success.

Oliver P. Brumback, a Butler county pioneer and Civil war veteran, comes from an old and distinguished American family whose members participated in the Revolutionary war. under Washington. Mr. Brum- back was a native of Kentucky. He was born August 17, 1830, a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Estes) Brumback. The father was a native of Virginia and a son of Peter Brumback. Peter Brumback, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. in 1750, and lived to be ninety-six years old, dying April 6. 1846. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary war, serving in the Continental army throughout that long and tedious struggle of seven years, for a new Na- tion. He was twice wounded by British bullets, receiving one wound at the Battle of Camden. Oliver P. Brumback often discussed incidents of the Revolutionary war with his grandfather, he being sixteen years of age when the latter died.

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In 1854, Mr. Brumback went from Kentucky to Schuyler county, Il- linois where he was married to Miss Susan E. Allphin, a native of Schuyler county. She is a daughter of Reuben and Susan (Brumback) Allphin. Reuben Allphin was born in Boone county, Kentucky, and was a soldier in the Mexican war, in which his son William also served. The Allphin family are of French origin. Reuben Allphin was a son of Zebulon who was a native of Orange county, Virginia, where lie lived at the time of the Revolutionary war but was too young to enter the service. His father was a native of France and a member of the old Bourbon aristocracy.

To Oliver P. Brumback and wife have been born the following children : Austin M., born in 1857; Mrs. Clara (Perry) Gaylord, born in 1859, and died in Texas; Virgil and Viola, twins, born in 1861 ; Grace, born in 1864, married George L. Haskin; Everett, born in 1866; Charles E., born in 1868; Edgar, born in 1870, served as county attorney of But- ler county, being the youngest man ever elected to that office, and is now deceased; Harry W., born in 1873, deceased ; George W., born in 1875, deceased ; William, born in 1877.

During the Civil war, Mr. Brumback raised a company in Schuyler county, Illinois, which was mustered into service as Company F, One hundred and Nineteenth regiment Illinois infantry, and he was elected first lieutenant of the company at its organization. This company re- ceived its baptism of fire at the battle of Shiloh, and Mr. Brumback was in the thick of the fray. They then went to Jackson, Tenn., under Grant and after campaigning in the West for some time, Lieutenant Brum- back's health failed, and in 1863 he resigned his commission. He also had a brother Benjamin who served in the Union army throughout the · Civil war.

After resigning from the army Mr. Brumback returned to Schuyler county, Illinois, and was engaged in the general mercantile business at Huntsville, Ill., until 1870. In April of that year, he came to Butler county, Kansas, driving across the plains from Illinois, the trip requir- ing four weeks. After reaching here, he camped with his family on the banks of the Whitewater and filed on the northeast quarter of section 26, Milton township. He soon began to make improvements on his place and engaged in farming and stock raising and for forty-six years his home had been on this place in Milton township. His was a success- ful career. He never shirked a responsibility, or duty, whether it was that of father, husband, citizen or soldier. He was of the type of men of whom not only his family, but his neighbors and fellow citizens were justly proud. Mr. Brumback passed away February 8, 1916.

N. R. Chance, a Civil war veteran and Butler county pioneer, who has spent forty years of his life in this county, is a native of Indiana. He was born in 1844, and is a son of William Chance, a native of North Carolina. N. R. Chance was one of a family of four children, two of whom are now living: William lives near Leavenworth, Kans., and

N. R. CHANCE

MRS. N. R. CHANCE

RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. N. R. CHANCE, AUGUSTA, KANS.

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

N. R., the subject of the sketch. N. R. Chance went to Iowa with his parents when a boy. He received his education in the common schools and followed farming in Lucas county, Iowa, until 1874, with the ex- ception of a period during the Civil war, when he served as a member of the Forty-sixth Iowa infantry, enlisting in 1864, at the age of twenty years.

At the close of the war he was mustered out of service at Daven- port, Iowa, and returned to the farm in Lucas county. In 1874 he came to Kansas, locating in Butler county, seven miles southwest of Augusta, in Bruno township. It will be remembered by those familiar with the early history and discouraging days of Kansas that this was the year of the grasshopper visitation. Many settlers were discouraged and left the State following the visitation of the grasshoppers, but Mr. Chance was not the kind of a pioneer to be driven from the plains of Kansas by any ordinary type of grasshoppers. He says that even with his forty years of life in Kansas that he likes the State a little better each year than he did the preceding one. He belongs to that school of sturdy pioneers who not only made Butler county what it is, but were the builders of the great State of Kansas, and have just cause to be proud of their achievements.

When Mr. Chance settled in Bruno township he bought his claim from Daniel Golden, for which he paid $1,000. The place was slightly improved, having a small four-room house with about twenty acres of prairie broken and some hedge. Here Mr. Chance was successfully en- gaged in farming and stock raising until 1899, when he removed to Au- gusta, where he built a comfortable and commodious residence, where he now lives. He has added to his original purchase of land, and now owns 640 acres of valuable farm land, 400 acres of which is located in Pleasant township and the rest in Bruno.

Mr. Chance was married in 1865 in Iowa to Miss Mary E. McKnight, a native of Ohio. Two children were born to this union, as follows : Mack T., a traveling salesman for the Potts Drug Company, who resides at Wichita, and Charlie C., a farmer and dairyman in Sedgwick county. Mr. and Mrs. Chance celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary De- cember 24, 1915, in Augusta. Both their children were present and also their eight grandchildren. Mr. Chance is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security and the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is one of the substantial citizens of the county.

Park M. Snorf, a prominent farmer of Milton township, belongs to one of the very earliest, pioneer families of Butler county. He was born near Niles, Mich., July 6, 1855, a son of Milton C., and Mary Elizabeth (Patterson) Snorf. His mother was a native of Darke county, Ohio, and a daughter of John Patterson, who was a native of Ireland and an early settler in Ohio. Milton C. Snorf was born in Darke county, Ohio, in 1830, and after reaching manhood, went to Vigo county, Indiana, where he worked on a farm and at the carpenter trade.

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When the Civil war broke out, he responded to the president's second call for troops, enlisting as a private, and was later promoted to corporal. He participated in a number of important engagements, among which was the siege of Vicksburg, and he was with Sherman on his march to Atlanta, participating in the battle of Atlanta and the march to the sea. He was in the grand review at Washington at the close of the war, after which he was discharged, having served about four years. He then returned to his wife and three children, who were at the home of her parents in Darke county, Ohio.

Shortly after the war. Mr. Snorf returned to Vigo county, Indiana, with his family, where he fitted up an emigrant wagon, and in the spring of 1867, started for Kansas, and they were on the road the greater part of that summer. They first located near Lawrence, and the follow- ing April, hit the trail again, this time with Butler county as their destination, and on April 9, 1868, they reached the northwestern part of this county. Here they filed on a claim in section 36 of the con- gressional township, which was later named Milton township, in his honor.

The Snorf family were the first white settlers in Milton township. The father built a one room cabin. 16x20 feet on his claim, about sixty rods west of the Whitewater river. He followed farming eight or ten years here, when he removed to Plum Grove, and clerked in a general store for Stark Spencer. In 1881, Mr. Snorf, with his family, went to Oregon, but the following year, returned to Butler county, engaging in the mercantile business in Plum Grove until the new town of Brain- erd was started, when he engaged in business there. About three years later he became possessed by the spirit of adventure again, and he and his youngest son started across the plains in a prairie schooner, going to San Louis Valley, New Mexico. He took up a claim there, and after remaining about two years, returned to Butler county, and en- gaged in the grocery business at Whitewater, continuing in that busi- ness until his death, June 10, 1904. His wife preceded him in death a number of years, having passed away November 15, 1880. They were the parents of seven children, two of whom are now living, Park M., the subject of this sketch, being the second in order of birth.

Park M. Snorf was about thirteen years of age when the family first came to Butler county, and while yet practically a young man. he has seen Butler county developed from the wild, unbroken primitive state to its present condition. He has seen much of frontier life, not only in Butler county, but also farther west. He made the trip to Oregon with the family, and passed through a wild and uninhabited country. He spent considerable time in Cripple Creek, Colo., during the palmy days there, when the gold excitement ran high. He has had considerable experience as a hunter, and recalls having killed a buffalo just a few miles west of Newton. From 1872 to 1874, he was employed as a cowboy on a Texas cattle ranch and also herded cattle in Butler

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and adjoining counties. On one of his drives, he saw a great herd of buffalo, consisting of countless thousands of these animals, in fact, buf- falo could be seen as far as the vision could reach. He has frequently killed buffalo, and has had lively encounters with these animals after they had been wounded.

Mr. Snorf was married March 1, 1874, to Miss Clementine Brenner. She was born in Illinois, December 1, 1853, and is a daughter of Martin and Mary A. (Shaibles) Brenner. The mother was a native of Ohio, and the father of Pennsylvania. After their marriage in Ohio, they removed to Illinois, and, during the Civil war, came to Kansas, locating at Leavenworth. . Here the father engaged in freighting between Leav- enworth and Ft. Scott, Ft. Gibson, Lawrence, and other points. While on a trip to Lawrence, he was informed that Quantrill was burning the town and murdering the inhabitants, but he continued his trip, and when he reached there, he found the place in ashes, and many of the inhabitants had been killed. One of the men who escaped, rode back to Ft. Leavenworth with him, and gave him a saddle which he kept for a number of years. Shortly after the close of the war, and upon the advent of the railroads, he abandoned the freighting business, and for a few years, was a guard in the State penitentiary at Lansing. In 1872, he came to Butler county with his family, where he homesteaded and spent the remainder of his life. He died in 1914. his wife preceding him in death a number of years, she having died at Leavenworth during the Civil war.

To Mr. and Mrs. Snorf have been born the following children: Mary E., born March 18, 1875, and died July 3, 1875; Ida F., married James H. Adams, El Dorado, Kans. ; Minnie Esther, married William Starkey, Findley, Kans .; M. C., resides in Butler county; Effie, mar- ried Andrew O. Clawson, resides in Butler county, and Frank M., resides at home.

P. M. Snorf is a Republican, as was his father, and he and his wife are members of the Baptist church. Mr.'Snorf is one of the successful farmers and stockmen of Milton township, and the Snorf family history forms a conspicuous part of the story of Milton township and Butler county.

J. T. Hughes of Milton township, is one of the sturdy old pioneers of Butler county, who for over forty-five years has been a part of the life and progress of this county. Mr. Hughes was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, November 1, 1834. His parents were Jacob and Sarah (Gallagher) Hughes, natives of Virginia, the former of English and the latter of Irish descent. Jacob Hughes was a son of Thomas Hughes, an Englishman who settled in this country at an early date.

Jacob Hughes and his family removed from Kentucky to Indiana in 1838, when J. T. was four years of age. Young Hughes grew to man- hood in Indiana, and on January 1, 1860, was united in marriage with Margaret Hass, a daughter of Jacob and Julia (Kinney) Hass, the for-

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History of Butler County Kansas, Part 67

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