USA > Kansas > Butler County > History of Butler County Kansas > Part 72
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One summer the ranch had on pasture 1,000 head of steers from Old Mexico. Among the bunch of wild eyed bad actors were a couple of outlaws, and at any round up of the herd the two outlaws would break away. At the last round up these two steers made no change in their usual habits, and when Cain, with George Ramsey and Hart Lenord, found them they were with a little bunch of natives in a rough and hilly part of the range along the banks of the creek. When the boys ap- proached the little herd one of the outlaws broke away from the bunch and made for the rough ground up the creek. George and Hart stayed with the herd and the red outlaw, while Elmer started after the other. The big grey could outrun almost any steer, and after a spirited little chase Cain was able to rope the steer. His intention was to take the captive back to the herd, but the long horned old Mexican had other plans and they were aggressive plans, too. Evidently the rope was not a stranger to him and he sought to use it to his own advantage. With all the strength of his muscles and his 1,200 pounds of weight, he pulled the rope taut, then suddenly, with the spring of the rope, he lunged wickedly at the horse and rider. These tactics he repeated sys- tematically time after time and more than once the horse's tail was lifted on the points of the long horns. The situation was ticklish, to say the least, but Cain, who had never before turned loose a roped steer, had no intention of doing so now. So the fight continued. With his next lunge the maddened steer crossed to rope and Cain, quick to see his advantage, stuck his mount with his spur in an earnest effort to break the neck of his wicked antagonist. Many times in a tight place, it
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is the unexpected that happens. When the rope again pulled as tight as the strength of horse and steer could exert, the off strap on the saddle broke and Cain landed twenty feet from his horse, but still astride the big saddle. Never before was the situation so fraught with grave danger to the cowboy. His first act was to loosen the rope from the saddle horn and then, slipping backwards to a position behind his saddle, he raised the saddle on end and crouched behind it. The steer, making ready for another of its wicked lunges, backed up to get the spring of the rope, and finding himself loose, he ran away over the hill, while Cain breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that the black outlaw had this par- ticular method of fighting, being one of the kind which always back up to get the spring of the rope before seeking to gore his antagonist, saved Cain's life. These adventures are only common examples of the life of the cowboy. Many situations, sometimes of almost daily occurence, try the nerve and cool judgment of the men who follow this strenuous calling. Your cowboy is usually a man who sees the humorous side of life as well as its more somber tints. One day Elmer Cain and Hart Lenord went after a couple of two-year-olds which had crawled through the fence into another pasture. The men roped the steers, but the one on which Cain put his rope showed the stubborn side of his nature to such an extent that he simply would neither lead nor drive. Pulling the rope tight with his horse in the path leading to the gate, Cain, with his temper considerably ruffled, walked to the rear of his stubborn charge and laid hold of his last appendage. With a vigorous twist of the steer's tail, he spoke to his well trained animal, which pulled like a work horse. This heroic treatment changed the steer's mind somewhat and in this way he was taken out. While this drama was being enacted, Hart rode over the hill, and at the sight he rolled off his horse with mirth.
During the twenty-six years that Mr. Cain was in the employ of the A. C. Ramsey ranch there existed between him and Mr. Ramsey a per- fect understanding and appreciation of each other's merits. Besides the perfect confidence in his ability and judgment, on which he relied im- plicitly. Mr. Ramsey in many ways took pleasure in showing his appre- ciation of a man of the Elmer Cain type. These manifestations of his regard were often shown by the gift of a fancy pair of spurs, a bridle or a fine saddle. all dear to the heart of a cowboy. Though now follow- ing the staid and tame business of farming, Mr. Cain prizes among his choicest possessions these mementos of his cowboy days and the friend- ship of Mr. Ramsey.
On the occasion of Mr. Cain's marriage, February 12, 1908. Mr. Ramsey presented Mr. Cain and his bride a handsome house and lot in De Graff. A fact worthy of mention, which stands forth con- spicuously different from the life and character of the average cowboy, and which seems to show more clearly the strength of the character we have attempted to portray, is the exemplary habits of the man with whom this review is concerned. Although his environment was such
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that the habits could easily have been .formed. Mr. Cain never used tobacco or intoxicating liquor, of any kind, in his life. Instead of devel- oping into a prodigal spendthrift, which would have been an easy road to travel. for to the average cowboy, money is of no apparent value, and cattlemen as a rifle being great spenders, Mr. Cain saved his wages, and to his credit it must be said, that during those long, hard, dry years, when life on a Kansas farm was little more than a struggle for exist- ence, it was these same wages that kept the mortgage off his father's farm.
Before he left the Ramsey ranch, Mr. Cain bought forty acres of land, two and one-half miles west of DeGraff, to which he has since added another 160, making a total of 200 acres. This farm is well im- proved and is directly across the road from the big ranch over which he rode for many years. Mr. Cain is now one of the prosperous and progressive farmers of .Lincoln township. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge at Burns and he also belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees at El Dorado.
L. A. Hamilton, of Fairmount township, is a Marion county pioneer who, after residing there for ten years, moved to Wilson county, where he resided for thirty-one years, thence to Butler county in February, 1912. L. A. Hamilton was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 11, 1847, and is a son of James H. and Lydia (Rowe) Hamilton, natives of Pennsylvania, the former of French and the latter of German descent. L. A. Hamilton was reared and educated in Pennsylvania, and in 1871, left his Pennsylvania home and came to Kansas and home- steaded a claim in Marion county, not far from the Butler county line. He reached here in May and got off the train at Florence at midnight during what was one of the heaviest rain storms that he ever exper- ienced. The following morning he started out in search of a claim in Butler county, with a view of locating in Fairmount township. After walking all day through the rain he succeeded in finding shelter that night in the cabin of a claimer, which seemed to be the only one com- pleted in that neighborhood. He kept up his search and in a few days found a suitable claim in Marion county, which he homesteaded, as above mentioned. Here he engaged in farming and stock raising, and while he generally raised good crops, it was impossible to make much money on account of poor markets and low prices. He has hauled corn to Peabody, which he sold for fourteen cents per bushel, and was cheated on the weight at that. Hogs were worth two and a half cents per pounds, and the fall following the visitation of the grasshoppers, hogs only brought one cent a pound.
Mr. Hamilton was unmarried when he came to Kansas, and for the first two years he "batched" most of the time, and on June 12, 1873, he was married to Miss Arrena Harris. She was born in Iowa, a daughter of John and Nancy (Grove) Harris, natives of Ohio, and carly settlers of Iowa. Prior to her marriage, Mrs. Hamilton came to Kansas and
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was living with a sister when she met Mr. Hamilton. To Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have been born four children: Burton D., who resides at home with his parents; Maggie, deceased; and Pearl and Earl, twins, also living at home with their parents ..
After spending about ten years in Marion county, Mr. Hamilton removed with his family to Wilson county, where he was successfully engaged in farming and the dairy business for twenty-four years and in 1912 came to Butler county. In 1912 he bought the northwest quarter of section 16, Fairmount township, where he has since made his home and followed general farming and stock raising. While living in Wilson county he owned property in this county, and now he still owns property in Wilson county.
When Mr. Hamilton came here he found a country almost in its primitive state. The great, broad, limitless plains stretched in every direction as far as the vision could reach, and the deer, the antelope and other wild game were in abundance; and the buffalo could be found in great numbers just a little farther west. Mr. Hamilton went on a buffalo hunt in 1873 in the vicinity of Medicine Lodge and killed two buffalo, and at that time great herds of buffalo roamed the plains in western Kansas and Mr. Hamilton says that he saw one herd there that contained thousands of buffalo.
Mr. Hamilton is a Republican and takes a deep interest in the well being of the community and the affairs of his county and State.
J. E. Vandeberg, a Civil war veteran and contractor and builder, has been active in the building world in Butler county for thirty-two years. Mr. Vandeberg is a native of New York, born in Ulster county in 1840, and is a son of Stephen and Sallie (Crispell) Vandeberg, natives of New York.
J. E. Vandeberg received a common school education, and when a young man served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade in his native State, and was thus engaged in the early sixties when the country was rent by rebellion, and the president called for volunteers to defend the Union. Like thousands of other loyal, patroitic boys of the North, Mr. Vandeberg responded to his country's call and enlisted in the Eighty- ninth regiment, New York infantry, which was commanded by Colonel Fairchilds. He participated in many important battles and numerous minor engagements and skirmishes. He was at the battles of Fred- ericksburg, Cold Harbor, South Mountain, and was with General McClel- lan in the Peninsula campaign, and was at the midnight capture of the fort near Norfolk, Va. His regiment was the first to enter Petersburg where they remained several months, and after having served his country faithfully and well he was honorably discharged at the close of the war. After being mustered out of service he returned to New York. and again engaged in the peaceful pursuit of his mechanical vocation.
In 1884 Mr. Vandeburg heeded the siren call of the West and came to Kansas, locating in Butler county, where carpenter work and building
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has since occupied his attention. During these years he has constructed more buildings in Douglass than any other man, and he has practically built that town, including most of the churches, business blocks and dwellings. He has a well equipped shop with power machinery where he works up unfinished material into doors, window frames, mouldings, and all finishing products used in the finer class of carpenter work. He is a natural mechanic and has always taken great pride in his work. It is first nature to him, and he almost regards his tools, lathes and ma- chinery as intelligent human beings and companions in his work.
Mr. Vandeberg was married in 1902, to Miss Sarah E. Essex. They have no children. Mr. Vandeberg is a Republican, and ever since casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, he has supported the policies and principles of that party. He is a member of the Congregational church.
Nathan Frank Frazier, Jr., capitalist and banker, resides in El Dorado, the city of his birth, where he was born March 13, 1882. He is a son of the late Nathan Frank Frazier and wife, who, prior to her marriage, was Miss Emma Crook. He was reared in his native town, and there received his preparatory education in the public schools, then entered Lake Forest Academy, Lake Forest, Ill., from which institution he was graduated in 1903. After graduation he was em- ploved at Kansas City, Mo., for a short time, and then returned to El Dorado, where he became associated with his father, and assisted him in handling the latter's extensive business interests. In 1905 he, with his father and brother, Ray E. Frazier acquired large oil properties in southeastern Kansas and Oklahoma, and organized several oil com- panies, with headquarters at Bartelsville, Okla. Our subject became an officer and director in these companies and still retains those inter- ests, which have increased in value and have been very profitable.
Mr. Frazier is active vice president and one of the largest stock- holders in the Citizens State Bank of El Dorado, and is active in the conduct of the daily affairs of that institution. He also has large hold- ings in farm and grazing lands in Kansas and Oklahoma, and owns and operates a farm comprising 1,000 acres, a few miles south of El Dorado. This farm includes in its acreage some of the richest bottom land in the State, equipped with the most modern improvements, and, in fact, is one of the model farms of the State.
On September 28, 1905, Mr. Frazier was united in marriage to Zona, daughter of Harry T. Brown, of El Dorado, and to their union have been born three children: Sarah Margaret, born January 19, 1909; Mrs. Frazier comes from one of the best families of the State, and is a prominent and popular participant of the social life of El Dorado. Her pleasant home is often the scene of gracious hospitality. Mr. Fra- zier is a prominent member of the different Masonic organizations, being a member of Patmos Lodge No. 79, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; El Dorado Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; a Scottish Rite Mason of Wichita Consistory, No. 2, and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, Midian
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temple, of Wichita, He is also a member of Wichita Lodge No. 427, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Frazier has inherited much of his father's business acumen and ability, which, added to the excellent training received from the latter in the direction of his large and varied interests, has well fitted him to carry forward the prestige, which the Frazier family has attained as financiers in the commercial world.
Ray E. Frazier, president of the Citizens State Bank of El Dorado, Kans., was born in El Dorado, September 15, 1876. He is the eldest son of the late Nathan Frank Frazier and Emma (Crook) Frazier. He received his education in the public schools of El Dorado and at Went- worth Military Academy. Lexington, Mo., graduating at the latter school in 1859. He began his business training as an employee in a minor position in the Merchants National Bank, of which his father was president. There he evinced an aptitude for a business life and applied himself so earnestly to his duties that upon the organization of the Citizens State Bank he was made assistant cashier and then vice presi- dent. On the death of his father in 1907, he succeeded him as president of the bank and has ably carried forward the extensive interests of that institution. He has inherited his father's keen business insight, and is possessed of a pleasing personality and a faculty of making friends and holding them. He has extensive interests in oil and farm lands in Kan- sas and Oklahoma, and owns valuable farm lands in Missouri.
On June 17, 1903, Mr. Frazier married Miss Henrietta Ellet, daugh- ter of Edward C. Ellet, the former banking associate of Mr. Frazier's father. Mr. Ellet, for many years a resident of El Dorado, is now de- ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Frazier have one child: Henrietta, born Novem- ber 13, 1905. Notwithstanding the arduous duties attendant to his large business interests, Mr. Frazier finds time to participate in the social and fraternal life of El Dorado, and the love of athletics and out- door sports gained in college days is still indulged, principally by hunt- ing and fishing.
In politics he is a Republican. He has attained to the Scottish Rite degree in Masonry and is affiliated with Midian Temple Shrine, Wich- ita. Mrs. Frazier, a woman of culture and of rare, personal qualities of friendship, is a recognized social leader in El Dorado, and presides with charming grace and hospitality in a delightful home.
Nathan Frank Frazier .- To have accomplished so notable a work as did the late Nathan F. Frazier, in connection with Kansas banking, would prove sufficient to give precedence and reputation to any man, were this to represent the sum total of his efforts; but Mr. Frazier was a man of broad mental ken, strong initative, and distinct individuality. who left not only a lasting impression in the field of enterprise men- tioned but also was a most potent factor in the commercial and agricul- tural development of southern Kansas, and his activities were of impor- tance in Oklahoma and Missouri.
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Nathan F. Frazier was a native of Iowa, born on his father's farm, in Henry county, near the town of Salem. October 13, 1846, a son of Francis H. and Lydia (Fisher) Frazier. The father was a native of In- diana and a descendant of an old Quaker family, antedating the Revolu- tionary war. He removed from Indiana to Iowa prior to its organiza- tion as a territory, becoming one of its earliest pioneers. Of the children of Francis H. and his wife, four survive: Mrs. Caroline Campbell, Mrs. Charlotte Williams and Levi Frazier, residents of Salem, Iowa; and Seth Frazier, of El Dorado, Kans.
The childhood of Nathan F. Frazier was spent on his father's farm in Iowa, and his early education was obtained in the district schools of his native country. Early in the sixties, while yet in his teens, he left home to become a wage earner, his equipment consisting of a pair of willing hands and a stout heart. In company with another boy from his home neighborhood, he journeyed to Kansas, and secured employ- ment as a driver for the Ben Halliday stage line, their route running . from Hays, westward. Indians and numerous outlaws frequented the section and the occupation was one of hazard, so much so that the stages ran, two together, one for passengers and the other carrying soldiers as guards. Later, Mr. Frazier and John Betts purchased a wagon train, and with oxen as motive power freighted to California. The direct result of his schooling among frontiersmen and all classes who broke the way for civilization was made manifest in his after life, by his firmness and cool- ness under all conditions, his quick and ready insight and unerring judgment and his keen perception of human nature.
In 1868 Mr. Frazier and his associate, Mr. Betts, disposed of their freighting equipment and, with a combined capital of $3,000, located in El Dorado, where they engaged in the grocery business, Mr. Betts at- tending to the selling, while Mr. Frazier hauled the goods from Leaven- worth, Lawrence and Emporia. The Osage Trust and the Diminished Reserve Lands had just been opened and settlers were flocking into the rich Walnut Valley ; various industries were springing up in El Dorado, and their business was a profitable one. Mr. Frazier took up a home- stead on Turkey creek and spent a portion of his time there, in farming. Later, with C. M. Foulke, he engaged in the general merchandise busi- ness. His initial enterprise in the field of banking, in which he after- ward realized more than State-wide prominence, was in 1880, when, with Gen. A. W. Ellet, he established the Bank of El Dorado, as a private concern, with a capital of $10,000. This business was disposed of, in 1885, to W. T. Clancy, and Mr. Frazier organized the Merchants Bank of El Dorado, of which Gen. Alfred W. Ellet was president and he cash- ier. This later became the Merchants National Bank and absorbed the Exchange National, the merged institutions becoming the Farmers & Merchants National Bank of El Dorado, with Mr. Frazier as president. In 1899 Mr. Frazier disposed of his holdings in the institution and or- ganized the Citizens State Bank of El Dorado, known as the Frazier
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Bank, in which he was the dominant executive until his death, in 1907, and which, during the nine years of his management, became the largest, as regards deposits, in Butler county. His record in the establishment, conduct and success of banks in Butler county is without parallel, and he was justly proud of his reputation as a banker. He had early in life acquired the habit, desire and love of making money. His shrewd business jidgment. keen insight in business affairs and his knowledge of men and things, coupled with his indomitable will and energy, enabled him to rank with the leading financiers of the West. He held extensive commercial relations, aside from his banking interests, having mining interests in lead and zinc at Joplin, Mo .. stocks in street railway and other corporations, and large bodies of valuable farming lands in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. He organized and was president for many years of the Oklahoma Mortgage & Trust Com- pany of Guthrie, Okla., which did a large and exceedingly profitable business. In 1896 he purchased from the receiver, Maj. W. N. Ewing, the assets of the Wichita National Bank, comprising some of the most valuable, improved business property in Wichita and paid all claims against the failed institution in full, realizing a handsome profit from the holdings. He also, for a number of years had valuable hay con- tracts with the Kansas City Stock Yards Company, buying extensively in Kansas and adjoining States. He was an ambitious and tireless worker, conservative in his business methods, and his business integrity and honesty were unquestioned. He left at his death one of the largest estates in Kansas, an estate which represents the brain, pluck and en- ergy of one man who, with his peculiar, natural tact. ever saw the pro- pitious moment and availed himself of it.
Though essentially a business man, Mr. Frazier was interested in public affairs, and during the course of his career served as city council- man of El Dorado, as postmaster, and as auditor of Butler county. In politics he was a Republican.
On February 4, 1872. Mr. Frazier married Miss Emma, daughter of Squire John Crook of El Dorado, a pioneer of 1867. They were the par- ents of three children: Ray E., Nathan F. Jr., and Edna, the wife of Hon. J. B. Adams, who survive him. The wife died.
The tributes of respect and in many cases of affection called forth by the death of Mr. Frazier have seldom been equaled in the State in the passing away of a citizen. His own standard of life was high and it was seen in the development of what grew to be, under his direction, one of the most successful banking institutions in Kansas. In a large measure his life work was finished ; it had met to a great extent the fullness of his ambition. But infinitely more precious and of personal consequence to him was the fact that he died rich in the possession of a well earned pop- ularity, in the esteem which comes from honorable living, and in the af- fection that slowly develops only from unselfish works. In his business life he was the embodiment of honor, as he wa sin his social and domes- tic life, the perfection of love and gentleness.
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James B. Dodwell of El Dorado, is a pioneer business man of Butler county. The career of Mr. Dodwell is considerably out of the ordinary and of unusual interest. He was born in New York City in 1845, and was left an orphan when a baby, and reared by the Children's Aid So- ciety until about ten years of age, when he was bound out to a woman named Carolina Hawley. His new home was anything but pleasant, and his lot was that of the orphan boy who received no kindness, few advantages, and his recreation was mostly work. He almost welcomed the Civil war which broke out about the time he was sixteen years of age. It gave him new hopes and aspirations to have some place to go, when he ran away from his unhappy home.
Enlisting in the army was considered quite an ordeal for most men and boys at that time but young Dodwell hailed with delight an oppor- tunity to escape from his unpleasant and irksome home, and serve dily organized and appreciative military authority. He accordingly ran away from home and enlisted in the Fifty-sixth regiment Illinois infan- try. He was too young to go in the ranks as a regular soldier, and be- came drummer boy in the regimental band. He participated in a num- ber of important engagements, notably among which was the battle of Shiloh, and he was with his regiment in numerous skirmishes. Later he joined the First regiment Illinois light artillery, Captain Bonton, in charge.
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