USA > Kansas > Butler County > History of Butler County Kansas > Part 70
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To Mr. and Mrs. Mosier have been born the following children : Daniel E., Lincoln county, Oklahoma ; Stephen A., Lincoln county, Okla- homa ; Henry, deceased ; Louisa, married Frank Buckler, Lincoln county, Oklahoma ; Elizabeth, married A. G. Zimmerman, and lives on the home place in Fairview township; Mary Belle. married Shirley Ratts, Reno county, Kansas; Jane, married Chas. A. Ray, Butler county ; Lodema May, married Herbert Sooby, Butler county ; George D., Butler county ; Florence Ulda, married A. Ray, Champaign, Ill. Mrs. Mosier died Febru- ary 19, 1905. Since coming to Butler county, Mr. Mosier has built up a reputation for honesty and integrity, which gives him a place among the best citizens of this section of the State.
John F. Betz, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Fairview township, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1861, a son of Jacob and Mary (Roule) Betz, natives of Germany, the former of Baden, and the latter of Alsace. They came to the United States when young, and they were married in Cincinnati, January 4, 1851, and resided there until 1864, when they removed to Lima, Ohio. In 1872, they came to Kan- sas and located at El Dorado, reaching here March 22, 1872. Here the father engaged in the hotel business, conducting the Ohio House, which stood on North Main street where the Long-Bell lumber yard is now located. Owing to depression in business, and extended credit. Mr.
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Betz failed, and was practically penniless. He had bought a relinquish- ment from Tom Young, a stage driver, who had homesteaded the north- east quarter of section 25, and in the spring of 1873, the Betz family moved to this place, where the parents spent the balance of their lives. The father died June 27, 1902, and the mother departed this life March II, 1909.
John F. Betz was one of a family of five children, and was about eleven years of age when he came to Kansas with his parents. He was always industrious and ambitious, and even when his father kept the Ohio House, he established himself in the shoe shining business, and in that way, saved considerable money for a boy of his age. The Betz family were poor when they settled on their claim, and it required the greatest industry and closest economy to get a start. Finally, by the co-operation of John, with his parents, they succeeded in acquiring a yoke of cattle and some farming implements, and proceeded to break their prairie. John F. Betz has herded cattle for $3.50 per month in the early days, but he was of the type of young men who work for anything they can get, when unable to get their price. He was bound to do something. After the death of his parents, John purchased the interest of the other heirs in the estate, and later bought 320 acres of land and now owns 480 acres, which is one of the best farms in But- ler county, and he is well-to-do, and one of the substantial men of Fair- view township.
Mr. Betz was married in 1913 to Mrs. Myrtle Beach Kappes. She is a daughter of N. J. and Gertrude (Pierce) Beach, and is a native daughter of Butler county. Her father was a native of La Grange county, Indiana, and came to Kansas in the seventies. Her mother was a daughter of Martin Pierce, and came to Kansas from Illinois with her parents, and her father homesteaded a claim in Fairview township. Mr. Betz belongs to that determined type of pioneers who started life under difficult circumstances, and, by force of industry and business ability, has succeeded. He is a staunch supporter of the policies and principles of the Republican party, and takes a keen interest in local affairs. He has served on the school board and held the office of constable. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at El Dorado.
R. J. Ratts, now deceased, was an early settler in Fairview township. and one of Butler county's honored citizens. He came to Kansas in the fall of 1876, and for a time worked rented land on section 12, Fairview township. In the spring of 1880, he and his family went to Barton coun- ty, where they homesteaded a claim of government land. They remained there three years. Their crops were repeatedly destroyed by drouths. hot winds, hail storms, and they finally concluded to return to Butler county. In 1883. they sold their claim for $400 and, later, disposed of a timber claim on Rattlesnake creek in that county, for practically noth- ing. Upon returning to Butler county, they bought the northeast quar- ter of section 14, Fairview township.
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This place was practically unimproved, with the exception of a one- room shack, and a few acres of prairie had been broken. Mr. Ratts im- mediately began improving his place, and built a residence and other farm buildings, and among the first things he did was to set out a large apple orchard of about forty acres, and some peach trees. While the orchard was very productive under the capable and careful care of Mr. Ratts, it did not prove a very profitable proposition. It seems that ap- ple buyers endeavor to take every advantage of the producer, and through a process of culling they swat the profits of the producer. During one season, several hundred bushels were culled from Mr. Ratts's apple production, and he found it more profitable to feed his apples to the hogs than to sell them. During the winter of 1901 and 1902, he win- tered thirty head of hogs exclusively on apples, there being no other feed raised that season, on account of the drouth. Farming and stock raising were found to be profitable pursuits, and Mr. Ratts was very successful in his undertaking and made money in the stock business. In 1910, he bought an additional eighty acres, and at the time of his death owned 240 acres which is now owned by the family.
R. J. Ratts was born December 16, 1847, in Washington county, In- diana. His father, Thomas Ratts, was also a native of Indiana, and a son of Rinehart J. Ratts, who came to Indiana from Pennsylvania, and was of German descent. R. J. Ratts grew to manhood in Indiana, and when a young man, went to Edgar county, Illinois, where he had rela- tives. He was a vocal music teacher in early life. While in Illinois, he met and married Mary E. Coffman, a native of Edgar county, born De- cember 9, 1847. She is a daughter of William and Lydia (Ecre) Coff- man, natives of Virginia. The Coffman family came to Illinois shortly after the Black Hawk war, and the father took up government land there. in the heavily timbered country, and built a log house, which was later replaced by one of the fine residences of that county, and he and his wife spent their lives there. They were industrious and frugal people, and be- came well to do for their time. They were the parents of twelve chil- dren. of whom Mrs. Ratts was the eighth in order of birth.
Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Ratts began their married life in Edgar county, Il- linois, where they bought a small farm, and in 1876, came to Kansas, as above stated. To Mr. and Mrs. Ratts were born the following children : Ada, married F. W. Gates, Los Angeles, Cal .; Shirley N., Reno county, Kansas; O. E., Fairview township ; Flossie, married F. B. Lawhon, Ar- nett, Okla.
R. J. Ratts was a good citizen and a kind and devoted husband and father. He was deeply religious, and a faithful member of the Baptist church, and was a bible class teacher for a number of years. He was a prohibitionist in theory and practice, and an ardent supporter of the cause of prohibition. At one time he was a candidate for sheriff of But- ler county on the prohibition ticket and received very satisfactory sup- port. He died March 2, 1914, and his loss was not only felt in his own
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home, but in the church, and in the community at large. Both he and his faithful wife are entitled to much credit for the part which they have taken in the development of this county. . They came here and cast their lot with Butler county when, at times, the future looked unpromising, but they were of the type of people, who had a purpose and that was to make a home for themselves and future generations, and by persistence and enduring hardships, they finally won, and today Butler county is filled with prosperity and its future is not an etherial hope, but a sub- stantial and well founded promise of plenty.
J. J. Johnson, of Lincoln township, is not only known in Butler county as a successful fruit grower, but his reputation as a horticultur- ist extends beyond the limits of the State of Kansas. He is not only a practical fruit man, but one of the best posted men on the science of horticulture in the State. Mr. Johnson was born in Wayne county, Il- linois, in 1863. a son of Dr. W. N. and Mary (Galbraith) Johnson. the former a native of Tennessee, and the later of Illinois. After graduating from medical college, Dr. Johnson located in southern Illinois, and en- gaged in the practice of his profession. He located at Johnsonville, Ill., beginning practice there about the time the town was founded, and it was named in his honor. He was a capable physician, being a man of a natural scientific turn of mind, and a profound student of medicine ; and he attained a high degree of eminence in his profession He belonged to the doctors of the old school, and while he was a financial success, fees with him were matters of secondary consideration. He practiced medicine for the love of his profession, and with a view of alleviating suf- fering. He practiced in an epoch of the history of the medical profes- sion, before the age of specialists, multiplicity of operations and split fees. He practiced for sixty years, and on his eighty-sixth birthday, the Medical Association of Southern Illinois, gave a banquet in his honor.
J. J. Johnson was one of a family of nine children, and was the fourth in order of birth. He was reared in Wayne county, Illinois, and after receiving a good common school education, he attended college, and since that time has been interested in horticulture. In February, 1887, he located in Lincoln township, five miles north of El Dorado, Kans. Mr. Johnson began with limited capital, and has devoted himself all these years to fruit culture. He now owns of fine farm of 320 acres, well improved, with a splendid orchard of about 5,000 fruit trees. The num- ber of trees which he has had, has varied from time to time, the maxi- mum number being about 20,000. He has made a profound study of the science of horticulture, and is a recognized authority on the subject, and for many years, has been connected with the State Agricultural College at Manhattan, and his name appears on the pay-roll of that institution as a regular employee in conducting horticultural and agricultural ex- periments.
Mr. Johnson was married July 29, 1890, to Miss Myrtle May Cam- eron, a native of Butler county, and a daughter of John and Mary A.
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(Davis) Cameron. The Cameron family came to Butler county and homesteaded in Chelsea township in 1869. Mrs. Johnson saw much of the pioneer life of Butler county when a child and remembers of having seen deer and antelope here. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been born three children, as follows: Mary Alberta, principal of the high school at Lebanon, Kans .; Myrtle, a student in the State Agricultural College, at Manhattan and a member of the senior class; and Dorothy Joy, a stu- dent in the El Dorado schools.
Mr. Johnson is a man who applies himself with a definite object in view. He is thorough in his work and when he formulates an ideal condition, he bends every effort to its fulfillment. Besides their fine home on the Butler county farm, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have a nice home in Manhattan where they are also well known and have many friends.
Clyde Girod, of Fairview township, is not only the leading Holstein breeder of pure bloods in Butler county, but stands in the front rank of that industry in the United States. Clyde Girod is a native son of But- ler county. He was born in Fairview township, June 26, 1886, and is a son of Irenu and Martha (Shrader) Girod. The father is a prominent farmer and stockman of Fairview township, and a pioneer of that local- ity. He homesteaded in Fairview township, in 1870. Irenu Girod is a native of Leige. Belgium, and a son of a Protestant French minister. Martha Shrader, the mother of Clyde Girod, is a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Jacob and Martha Elizabeth (Ford) Shrader, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter, of Kentucky. The Shrader family were very early settler in Kansas, coming to this State from Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1859. They first settled in Jefferson county, and re- mained there until 1874, when they came to Butler county, and the father homesteaded in Fairview township. He died in 1900, and his wife departed this life in 1909.
Clyde Girod is one of a family of nine children, born to his parents, as follows: Jacob, farmer, Butler county ; Paul, farmer, Haskell county ; Philemon, Bellingham, Wash .; Irenus, Cowley county, Kansas ; Clyde, the subject of this sketch ; Estella, married Dare Wait, Towanda town- ship ; Mae, married Irvin Sciklebower ; Harvey, resides at home, and Er- nest, deceased .
Clyde Girod grew to manhood on the home farm in Fairview town- ship, and obtained a good education in the public schools, and in 1903, entered the State Agricultural College at Manhattan, Kans., attending that institution for three years, and was graduated. While a student at the agricultural college, he was convinced, after an exhaustive series of experiments, that the pure bred Holstein cattle possess many points of superiority over other breeds, and, in particular, in the production of butter fat. After graduating from college, Mr. Girod returned home, and took charge of his father's dairy business, in Fairview township. He bought a pure bred Holstein bull from C. F. Strow of Peabody, Kans., to head the herd of shorthorn grades, and the result was that
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his calves, at two years old, were better producers than the grade cattle at maturity. He then went to Omaha, Neb., and bought a carload of pure bred heifers at an average of $150 per head. That was the begin- ning of his pure bred herd of Holsteins, and he has met with unusual success. He is the pioneer of this industry in Butler county, and has developed a mammoth business. Soon after purchasing the herd at Omaha, he went to Wisconsin, and bought a carload of grade Holsteins, and sold them to his neighbors. In May, 1916, he bought the pick of the best pure bred Holsteins of the leading herds of Wisconsin, Ohio, and New York, investing $10,000 in these purchases.
The amount of Mr. Girod's sales of these cattle is enormous, and he. is known throughout the country as a leading breeder of pure bred Holsteins. He frequently sells 100 head per week, and his average sales during the year is fifty head per week. His investment in this breed of cattle, alone, is about $50,000, and his reputation as a breeder is so gen- 'erally known that orders which he received through the mail for calves alone amount to about $2,500 per year. He sells a great many pure bloods to different agricultural colleges of the various States. His herd bull is a $2,000 animal, and his other stock is of corresponding value.
While Mr. Girod is the leading Holstein breeder in this section of the country, his activity in the breeding world is not alone confined to cattle. He is a breeder of pure bred Percheron horses, and while he does not make an effort to specialize in this line, he is a recognized success. He is also a breeder of the original spotted Poland China hogs. One of the best proofs that Mr. Girod's customers are satisfied, and that his methods meet with public approval, and that his stock is up to the standard, is the fact that many of his sales are to old cus- tomers.
Mr. Girod owns 480 acres of land and leases 320 acres, which giv him 800 acres of a stock farm, which is pretty fairly utilized by his ex- tensive business. His cream production alone averages $8 per day, and he employs three men the year around to assist in his work. Besides his interests in Butler county, he owns a half interest with his brother in a Cowley county ranch, which is devoted to breeding pure bred Shorthorns.
Mr. Girod was married on February 27, 1907, to Miss Blanche B. Hanes, a native of Butler county, and a daughter of Elmer and Louise (Reeves) Hanes. To Mr. and Mrs. Girod has been born one child, William Kermit. Mr. Girod is a member of the Anti Horse Thief Asso- ciation, and is one of Butler county's most progressive men.
L. H. Mellor, a prominent pioneer contractor and builder of Butler county, located at Brainerd, was born in Wheeling, Va., now West Vir- ginia, September 14, 1858. He is a son of Levi and Elizabeth (Lambing) Mellor. The father was a native of Manchester, England, born in 1814. He grew to manhood in his native land, and learned the cabinet maker's trade, and when a young man, immigrated to America with his parents,
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and settled in Wheeling, Va., where he died March 29, 1858. Elizabeth Lambing, L. H. Mellor's mother, was a native of Pennsylvania, born in Westmoreland county, in 1830. She died at Ione City, Cal., August 2, 1887.
L. H. Mellor was the only child born to his parents, and about a year after his father's death, his widowed mother removed with him to Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, the home of Gen. Phil Sheridan. Mr. Mellor was well acquainted with the Sheridan family. Mr. Mellor grew to manhood and was educated in Perry county, and in early life learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed in that vicinity until 1885. He then came to Towanda, Kans., and after spending a few days looking over that section of the country with a view of finding a suitable loca- tion, he selected the new town of Brainerd. The railroad was building in that direction, but had not yet reached the town. When Mr. Mellor first went to Brainerd, the town consisted of one building, which was a boarding house. Mr. Mellor says that this building was a rickety old shack .and there was considerable rain that season and that the roof leaked like a sieve, and it was not an uncommon sight at this boarding house to see some one holding an umbrella over a boarder while he ate a meal. Much building was in progress, and in contemplation in Brain- erd and vicinity, which seemed to be a suitable location for Mr. Mellor, and he had no trouble in getting plenty of work at good wages at his trade. The next year his wife and child joined him here, and Brainerd has since been his home. He has been engaged in contracting and building practically since coming here, and he has been very successful in this line of work. Mr. Mellor has done practically all of the high class work in the way of building. in northwestern Butler county, as well as a great deal of work in Harvey county. He built every school house in Murdock township, and several in Milton and Fairview. He has done work from time to time for over thirty years for some of his patrons, and in the spring of 1916, he built his sixth house for one man. His work is done by contract, as well as by the day, and he has a reputation for close estimates and first class work.
Mr. Mellor was married May 20, 1884, to Miss Laura Leach, a na- tive of Perry county, Ohio, and a daughter of A. B. and Matilda (Holi- day) Leach, the father a native of Virginia, and the mother of Ohio. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mellor : Harry, real estate dealer, Whitewater; Mabel, married Thomas Lewis, Sedg- wick county, Kansas; Edwin, Brainerd; Herbert, residing at home ; Hazel. married Theodore Roth, Murdock township; Fred and Ruth, at home.
Mr. Mellor is a stanch Republican, and for many years has been active in the local counsels of his party. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, at Whitewater. The Mellor home at Brainerd is one of the finest residences of the town and evinces the industry and prosperity of its owner.
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Luther Reid .- The measure of success in any line of human en- deavor, is in proportion to the effort expended. This is an age-old max- im, but to the world at large, success is not all apparent; to the casual observer of the surface of life, it is impossible to determine to just what degree, this man or that man has been successful. The height of the climb up the ladder of success, depends to a great extent on the number and magnitude of the obstructions he encounters, as well as on his power to climb.
Luther Reid was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, nor reared in the lap of luxury. . He began the struggle of life alone and un- aided, and with little but the heritage of good honest blood in his veins, and a determination to make the most of his opportunities. He began by working on a farm for little more than his keep, and because of the lack of opportunity his early education was limited, and as a natural con- sequence the progress he made for several years was not great.
In January, 1870, Luther Reid was married to Sarah Kauffman in McLean county, Illinois, where he had lived a short time previously, go- ing to that State from Ohio with his employer. Sarah Kauffman was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. Her parents, David and Re- becca (Snell) Kauffman, were of German extraction, and were both na- tives of Pennsylvania. In November, 1865, they left their native State and migrated to Illinois. They settled on a farm in McLean county, and here they lived the balance of their days. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Sarah Kauffman Reid was the eldest.
For fifteen years following their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Reid lived on a farm in McLean county, Illinois. In the spring of 1885, they came to Buter county, Kansas. They bought the northwest quarter of section IT, Fairmount township, going in debt for the greater portion of the pur- chase price of the land. In the face of the vissicitudes that usually ob- struct the path of the pioneer and builder of new States, their progress was slow, but steady, and with the passing of the years, their industry and faith in their adopted State was amply rewarded, and from time to time they added to the original quarter section of land until their hold- ings totaled 400 acres. Their farm has been improved with a two-story modern home. good barns, out buildings, and is one of the farms on which the visitor to Butler county would look with admiration.
Mr. Reid was for many years engaged in the threshing business and was one of the most successful men in that business. In connection with his general farming and stock raising, he followed threshing until a few years before his death, which occurred March 6, 1906. Mr. and Mrs. Reid were the parents of eight children, as follows: Charles Reid ; Thomas Reid ; Minnie Reid, deceased ; Frank Reid ; George Reid ; David Reid ; Etta (Reid), the wife of S. T. Fowler ; and Olen Reid.
George and Olin Reid, konwn as the Reid Brothers, live with the mother on the old homestead, and are successful farmers and business men. In the main their business is the live stock industry, mainly sheep
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feeding and horse breeding. The breeding of top-notch Percherons receives the closest study, and in this work the results they have at- tained go to prove their fitness for the business. One Percheron colt of their breeding they sold at the age of eight months for $250. The brothers began the horse breeding business after the death of the father, and have been so engaged continuously up to the present. They are well and favorably known, and each year the circle of business acquaint- ances and friends is widened.
Mellville Hoss, of Milton township, was born in Indianapolis. Ind., March 29, 1853, a son of George W. and Harriett J. (Mitchell) Hoss. The mother was a native of Portland, Me., and the father was born in Ohio. He came to Indiana when a lad with his pioneer parents, who settled in Marion county, about six miles north of Indianapolis. Here George W. Hoss grew to manhood and received a good education in the public schools and later was a student at Asbury College, now DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind., where he completed the course and grad- uated. He ranked high as a scholar and an educator, and in 1871 was chosen president of Kansas State Normal School at Emporia. He held that position about three years, when he accepted the chair of English literature and elocution at Baker University, Baldwin, Kans. He and his wife are now deceased. They were the parents of two children, of whom Melville is the eldest.
Melville Hoss grew to manhood in Indianapolis, Ind., and received a reasonably good education, but as a boy he was never enthusiastic over his books. He longed for a big out of doors life. He wanted to be a farmer and be somewhere where there was lots of room, and when he came West with his father in 1871 and saw the broad expanse of green, rolling prairie, he longed for the out door life more than ever. In 1873, when the family returned to Indianapolis from Kansas, Mel- ville had an interest in a feed business there, but in 1876 he came back to Kansas and raised a crop of wheat on some land that his father owned in Douglass county, and in the fall of that year he came to But- ler county and bought the northeast quarter of section 16, Milton town- ship. His intention was to raise wheat. He made the acquaintance of T. C. Henry, who was then a successful wheat grower and known as the "wheat king," but after some experimenting he decided that cattle raising was the better proposition, and later he bought another quarter section in Milton township. He began in the cattle business in an humble sort of way and soon met with phenomenal success. He began with very little capital and went heavily in debt, paying a high rate of in- terest, and today he is in independent circumstances, and he has been fairly successful in the cattle business. He is an extensive feeder, and his place is well equipped for that branch of the cattle business.
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