History of Butler County Kansas, Part 78

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


USA > Kansas > Butler County > History of Butler County Kansas > Part 78


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When Mr. Glancey and his wife came to Butler county they had two children, who had been born in Michigan, Mary and Jesse, and after coming to Kansas two more children were born to them, Edith Estelle and Lyman. Their children are all now married and in com- fortable circumstances.


Mr. Glancey is a Republican and has taken a keen interest and a prominent part in local politics for a number of years, and has often been a delegate to Republican conventions, and for years he has been treasurer of his school district. . He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.


William C. Waldorf, a prosperous farmer and stockman of El Do- rado township, is a Kansas pioneer. Mr. Waldorf is of New England parentage. His father, William Waldorf, Sr., was a native of Vermont and of German ancestry. William, Sr.'s, father was a native of Ger-


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many, and when a young man immigrated to America and settled in Vermont, where he lived for a time and was married. Later he mi- grated to Pennsylvania and from there to Putnam county, Ohio, where he and his wife spent their lives.


William C. Waldorf's mother bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Hensel and was a native of Richland county, Ohio. Her father was of Pennsylvania Dutch parentage and died in Richland county, Ohio. William C. Waldorf's parents first settled in Putnam county, Ohio, but later removed to Morrow county, and from there to Holmes county, that State, where the mother died. The father, William Waldorf, Sr., was a soldier in the Civil war, as was also William C., the subject of this sketch. The father served in Company I, Sixteenth regiment, Ohio infantry, and died while in the service in a hospital at Milliken's Bend, La., in April, 1863.


William C. Waldorf was one of a family of ten children, the fol- lowing of whom are living: Samuel, a sketch of whom appears in this volume ; Mrs. Mary J. Cramer, Mansfield, Ohio; Mrs. Anna N. Apple- man, Corsica, Ohio; Mrs. Sarah E. Wrenn, Boston, Mass. : William C., the subject of this sketch, and Mrs. Elvira E. Gilbert, Hutchinson, Kans.


When William C. Waldorf was about fourteen years of age, he left home and went to live with the family of a stockman in Wayne county, Ohio. Mr. Waldorf was born September 14, 1845, and enlisted August 7, 1862, in Company H, One Hundred and Second regiment, Ohio in- fantry, and thus it will be seen that he lacked just one month and seven days of being seventeen years old when he elected to bear arms in defense of his country. He served until the close of that great conflict, and endured many hardships and privations, as well as the dangers in- cident to the life of a soldier, and at the close of the war, received his honorable discharge. He then returned to Ohio, where he followed farming for a time, when he went to Shelby county, Illinois.


Four years later he went to Iowa county, Iowa, and after spending about a year there, returned to Shelby county, Illinois, where he re- mained until 1870. He then came to Butler county, Kansas, with a colony of people from Maringo, Iowa, numbering twenty-four in all. They drove from Iowa to Butler county with a train of seven wagons, and made the trip between September 6 and November 6, 1871. Mr. Waldorf and some of the others of the party settled in Fairview township, Butler county, and about a year later, he went to McPherson county, where he was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising until 1902, when he returned to Butler county and bought a farm in El Dorado township, one mile south of the city limits of El Dorado. Here he owns 175 acres of some of Butler county's most valuable land. Mr. Waldorf resides on his place, but rents the land to his son, and Mr. Waldorf is practically retired.


October 21, 1873. William C. Waldorf and Miss Phoebe Apple- man were united in marriage. She is a daughter of John R. and Mary


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(Waldorf) Appleman, and was born in Wood county, Ohio, December 14, 1855. The Appleman family came to Butler county in 1870 from Maringo, Iowa, when Mr. Waldorf came, and located in Fairview town- ship. Later the parents removed to Great Bend, Kans., and from there to St. Louis, Mo., where they died. To Mr. and Mrs. William C. Wal- dorf have been born ten children, as follows: Jessie V., who married Charles E. Parks, El Dorado township; Samuel J., who lives at Dexter, Cowley county, Kansas; Charles A., who is engaged in the grocery business at El Dorado; Harry R., who was a railroad man and was killed in Denver; John M. operates the home place; Gertrude married Gus Benjamin. Kokomo, Ind .: Emma and Mamie reside at home ; Bur- ton and Louis died in infancy.


While living in McPherson county Mr. Waldorf took quite an active part in politics and served as township trustee and held other offices of trust and responsibility. He has been a life-long Republican. and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic; Lew Wallace Post, El Dorado; and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is also a member of the Christian church. Mr. and Mrs. Waldorf are one of the pioneer couples in Butler county, and can relate many interesting incidents of pioneer life on the plains when they first came here in 1870. At that time the country was new and frontier conditions pre- vailed to a great extent. Wild game was plentiful and wild turkey and prairie chickens were just common every day articles of food.


S. Shaffer, a prominent stockman and farmer of Benton township and early settler in Butler county, is a native of Ohio. He was born in Starke county, and is a son of Conrad and Sarah Shaffer. His father died in early life leaving four children, two of whom are now living : S., the subject of this sketch, and Oliver, who now resides at Forgan, Okla. The mother married again in Ohio, to M. W. Priest, and in 1870 thie family came to Kansas and located in Benton township, Butler county, where they pre-empted 160 acres of land. When they came here Em- poria was the nearest railroad point, and Wichita was just in its initial stage There were only two little stores there and only two long cabins between Benton and Wichita.


Mr. Shaffer began life for himself in 1877 when he bought a claim of 160 acres, for which he paid $50. After farming for a short time he sold his place at a good profit and bought 160 acres in Towanda town- ship, and now owns 320 acres, which constitute one of the finest farms in Butler county, and which is known as the "Shaffer Stock Farm." Mr. Shaffer is considered to be one of the most successful farmers and stockmen in Butler county, having met with uniform success in that field of endeavor.


Mr. Shaffer was married in 1881 to Miss Sophrona Dunmire, a daughter of George and Anna Dunmire, of Illinois. Mrs. Shaffer has five living brothers, as follows: Robert, Seattle: James lives in Ore- gon ; George, Iowa ; Denton, Chandler, Okla., and William. Tulsa, Okla.


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To Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer have been born the following children: Mrs. Elsie Poorbaugh, Zelma, Okla .; Edna, Mabel, Albert B. and Mrs. Ethel Boedecker, all living in the vicinity of Benton, Kans.


Mr. Shaffer lived alone on his claim in Benton township for the first five years, and endured all the hardships and inconveniences of pioneer life, and yet with it all, he enjoyed himself. Buffalo hunting was his favorite sport, and he has killed a great many buffalo on various hunting expeditions. Like all experienced buffalo hunters, he under- stood the habits and traits of those animals, and it is very interesting to hear him tell of some of the clever things which he gives the buffalo credit for knowing and doing. He says that large herds of buffalo were guarded by the buffalo bulls, after the plan of the picket line of an army, and sometimes this guard would be composed of several of these animals, who would frequently take up a position five or six miles from the herd, and when they saw any one approaching they apparently gave some sort of an alarm signal, and the whole herd would imme- diately sweep across the plains like the wind. One of the difficult problems, he says, of the buffalo hunter of the early days was to get by these guards or sentinels and get within the range of the herd to begin his execution.


Mr. Shaffer has taken a commendable interest in local affairs and has given especial attention to the public schools, always having been an advocate of good schools, and all his children have obtained good educations, and Edna and Mabel are teachers. Mr. Shaffer served on the school board of his district for twenty-five years.


Mrs. J. E. Harding, of Benton township, belongs to a family of Butler county pioneers. She was born in that part of Virginia, that is now West Virginia, in 1849, a daughter of Michael and Matilda Gidley, natives of Virginia, and of old Virginia stock, the former being of Eng- . lish and the latter of Irish descent. They came to Butler county, Kan- sas, in 1870, and for a time lived in a tent, surrounded by the primitive conditions of the plains, and they homesteaded 150 acres in Benton township. and during their second year on their claim they built a small house of native lumber.


Michael Gidley, Mrs. Harding's father, dug the first well in Benton township, and the water from this well supplied fourteen families, many of whom came a long distance to this well for their supply of water. He drove from where Benton. now stands to the present site of the city of Wichita when there was not even a trail across that stretch of prairie, and made the first wagon tracks between those two points.


Like most of the carly settlers, he was forced to do almost any kind of work for meager compensation in order to make both ends meet during the strenuous pioneer days. He frequently walked to Towanda. a distance of six miles, and after sawing wood all day, would return home carrying a stick of wood, which furnished fuel with which to cook his breakfast. After he had paid the expenses of filing on his claim lie


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had a cash capital of seventy-five cents to begin life in a new country. Prices of provisions were as high as money was scarce, corn costing $2 per bushel, and other provisions in proportion.


The abundance of game, however, furnished the early settlers a plentiful supply of meat, their main food of that nature being venison and prairie chickens. Mr. Harding killed a great many deer, often in close proximity to his home. One day he stood on the south door of his cabin and shot a deer, and looking over his shoulder out of the opposite door he saw another one, which his unerring aim soon converter also into the family meat supply.


J. E. Harding and Miss Mattie Gidley were married in 1867, and came to Butler county in 1870, homesteading 160 acres of land in Ben- ton township. Mr. Harding was a native of Charleston, Me., born February 7. 1839. When seventeen years of age he left his New Eng- land home and went to Illinois, locating at Odell, where he remained until August 12, 1862, when he enlisted in Company M, First Illinois light artillery, and served until the close of the war. He participated in, many of the important battles of that great struggle and received his honorable discharge July 24, 1865, with a spotless military record to his credit. He was severely wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863, but rejoined his command as soon as he was able.


Mr. Harding was a carpenter, and after coming to Butler county worked at his trade, while his faithful wife and little family "held down the claim" on the barren plains. Mrs. Harding also cared for her aged parents, cultivated some ground and looked after the cattle. In the early days all their supplies were hauled from Emporia. There were practically no roads, but merely a trail across the country, with no bridges across the streams, and Mrs. Harding recalls that the first year they lived here the season was a very wet one and the swollen streams made travel almost impossible, and wagon trains which were hauling supplies to the Indians and others farther west than Medicine Lodge. were detained here for weeks, being unable to ford the streams.


To Mr. and Mrs. Harding were born the following children ; Nora L., Benton, Kans., who was born in Illinois; Mrs. Nellie A. Morehead, Benton, Kans. ; Mrs. Matilda M. Wagner, Benton, Kans. Mr. Harding died July 15, 1907. Mrs. Harding resides in Benton township, and be- longs to that type of American pioneer women who were not only here and saw the development of the great West, but performed their part in the great role of empire building.


Edgar A. Spalding, a prominent farmer and stockman of Benton township. belongs to a pioneer Butler county family. Mr. Spalding was born in Tazewell county, Illinois, October 2, 1855, and is a son of Richard C. and Elsie M. Spalding, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of New York. The mother died in Illinois, and the father and children came to Butler county, settling at Towanda in 1869. A year or two later the father bought 160 acres of land and was engaged in


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farming and stock raising until his death, December 28, 1912. He was a successful business man and a good citizen.


The Spaldings were among the very first settlers in Butler county, and Edgar A., who was about fourteen years old when they settled here, has a rich store of many interesting recollections of pioneer days. Emporia was their nearest trading point of any consequence, there being no Wichita at that time. In 1870 the elder Spalding did some work on the Meade ranch, which was located where the city of Wichita now stands, and that year was about the beginning of the settlement of Wichita. He, with James R. Meade, broke the first ground in Wichita. There were few permanent settlers in Butler county at that time, and Mr. Spalding says that his father frequently killed deer and buffalo, which were their principal sources of meat. The "sand-hill" plum was also gathered in large quantities and served as an article of food.


Mr. Spalding was educated in the public schools and remained with his father on the home farm in early life, and about the time he reached the age of twenty-one he took charge of the farm, and through industry, guided by more than ordinary business ability, he has become one of the leading farmers and stockmen of Butler county. He was married October 4, 1882, to Miss Serepta Mooney, a daughter of Rev. Isaac Mooney, a Butler county pioneer, a narrative of whose life appears in this volume. To Edgar A. and Serepta (Mooney) Spalding have been born the following children: Mrs. Margaret E. Leuszler, Kansas City, Mo .; Mrs. Georgia Jackson, Lankershin, Colo .; Mrs. Grace Kenoyer, Kansas City, Mo .; Edgar A., Jr., Benton; and Harriet I., Benton.


Mr. Spalding takes a commendable interest in local affairs and has served as trustee and clerk of Benton township. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, and he and Mrs. Spalding belong to the Christian church.


Dr. O. N. Lightner, a prominent Butler county physician and sur- geon, now engaged in the practice of his profession in the thriving town of Benton, is a native of Iowa. Dr. Lightner was born at Hillsdale, that State, in 1881, and is a son of John C. and Helen S. (Tawney) Lightner, the former a descendant of Revolutionary ancestors of German-English descent. Helen S. Tawney, Dr. Lightner's mother, is of French-Swiss ancestry, and a direct descendant of Bishop Jacob Mast. of Switzerland. who sailed from Rotterdam. November 3, 1750, and located at Philadel- phia, Pa., and the direct line of descent from him to Dr. Lightner's mother is as follows: Jacob Mast married Magdalene Holler : Magda- lene Mast married Christian Zook; David Zook married Susana La- Fevre ; Katherine Zook married Abraham Tawney, and Helen S. Tawney was born to this marriage and married John C. Lightner, and they are the parents of Dr. Lightner.


John C. Lightner came to Kansas with his family in 1884, locating in Sumner county, and he and his wife now reside at Wichita. He is


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a Civil war veteran, having served in the Second regiment, Iowa in- fantry, until he was discharged on account of disability, which inca- pacitated him for further military service.


Dr. Lightner was three years old when he came to Kansas with his parents, and has always been a hustler, having practically made his own way in the world and defrayed the expense of his own education. He made his first money riding one of the lead horses to a binder, and later, while attending school at Wichita, sold newspapers. Having com- pleted his academic and classical education, he matriculated in Wash- ington University Medical School in 1901, and was graduated from that institution with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1905. After pass- ing the examination before the Kansas State Board of Medical Regis- tration, the same year, he went to Old Mexico, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession until 1911.


He then returned to Butler county and practiced at Andover one year, after which he took a post graduate course at Tulane University, New Orleans, La. From there he went to Cuba, and after passing the examination in the medical department of the University of Havana, he became superintendent of the hospital of the United Fruit Company, at Preston, Cuba. He remained in that position until 1914, when he be- came afflicted with tropical fevers, which necessitated his returning to the North. He resigned his position, and in 1914 located at Benton, where he has a large practice and is one of Butler county's busiest physicians. The United Fruit Company has made Dr. Lightner a liberal offer, in the way of a large salary, to return to his former post in Cuba, but he has declined to accept the same, being content with his present practice.


. Dr. Lightner was united in marriage on August 16, 1906, with Senorita Isable Pina, a daughter of Gen. Niconor Pina Celia Vasques de Pina, of Ocompo, Tamanlipas, Mexico. Mrs. Lightner is a descend- ant of the Viscounts of Spain. To Dr. and Mrs. Lightner has been born one child, Oscar Santiago, born July 25, 1907.


E. T. Harper, of Benton township, well known in Butler county as a successful farmer and stock breeder, is a native son of this county. He was born in Benton township in 1876, and is a son of Dr. L. A. and M. L. (Nelson) Harper. The mother was a daughter of Edwin and Maria Nelson of Wisconsin, and she was a native of that State.


Dr. L. A. Harper came to Butler county with his parents in 1870, they being among the early settlers of this section. Dr. Harper was born near Hartford, Wis., March 9, 1847, and attended the district and village schools. In early life, he taught school a number of terms, and later took a course in a Milwaukee commercial college. He then at- tended medical college at Cleveland, Ohio, and prepared himself for the practice of medicine. He came to Butler county with his parents in 1870, and practiced his profession for a number of years, but was com- pelled to give it up on account of failing health. He was an invalid for


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a number of years, and a patient sufferer, who bore his afflictions with fortitude. He died August 10, 1902, and is remembered as a kind friend and good neighbor who always entertained a broad sympathy and kindly feeling for his fellow man.


Dr. Harper and wife were the parents of three children, as follows: E. T., the subject of this sketch ; Flora E., Augusta, Kans., and Mrs. Susan M. Snodgrass, Towanda, Kans.


E. T. Harper was reared in Benton township and received a good public school education. Mr. Harper has made farming and stock rais- ing his study and occupation. He specializes in Ayrshire cattle, and is also quite an extensive and successful hog raiser. He owns one of the fine farms of Benton township, and is one of the substantial men of Butler county.


Mr. Harper was married July 3, 1902, to Miss Nellie M. Fuller, a daughter of Milo and. Frances Fuller of Andover, Kans. Two children have been born to this union, as follows: Luman M., and Clifford N.


Mr. Harper is a Republican and takes an active interest in local affairs, and the well being of the community. He is especially inter- ested in good schools, and has been a member of the school board for a number of years. He has also been clerk of Benton township.


S. McGlade, one of the leading farmers and stockmen of Benton township, Butler county, is a native of Ohio. He was born at Dresden, May 14, 1851, and is a son of John and Mary Jane (Mutchler) McGlade. The father was born in 1828 in Ohio, and the mother was also a native ยท of Ohio, and a daughter of Henry Mutchler, who was of German descent. John McGlade died in Illinois in 1880, and his wife came to Butler county, Kansas, in 1882, and now resides in Wichita. They were the parents of the following children: Henry, Champaign, Ill .; John, Augusta, Kans .; Albert, Red Bluff, Cal .; Mrs. Frances Howe, Wichita, Kans .; Mrs. Ida Evans, Binger, Okla .; Mrs. Lettie West, Monte Rose, Cal., and S., the subject of this sketch.


Mr. McGlade was married in 1878, to Miss Martha L. Rainey, a daughter of William and Mary Jane Rainey, of Ohio. The Rainey fam- ily came to Kansas in 1878, and the parents are both now deceased. They were the parents of the following children: John, Decatur, Ill .; James, Wichita, Kans .; Mrs. Emma Rethl, Chatsworth, Ill .; Mrs. Ella Hull, Rosalia, Kans., and Martha L., now the wife of S. McGlade, the subject of this sketch. To Mr. and Mrs. McGlade have been born three children : Clarence, engaged in farming and stock raising near Augusta ; Frank and Hazel Mary, residing at home.


Mr. and Mrs. McGlade had been married about a year when, in 1879. they came to Butler county, Kansas, and bought eighty acres of land in Benton township, and engaged in general farming and stock raising. They prospered and added to their original acreage until they now own 400 acres of land which is considered to be one of the best farms in But- ler county. Mr. McGlade is a successful grain raiser, but has given


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special attention to the stock business, and raises and feeds large num- bers of cattle, sheep and hogs. He attributes what success he has had largely to the fact that he has aimed to feed the grain and hay that he has raised to his cattle on the place and to sell his cattle, or the finished pro- duct, of his farm at a profit, and at the same time maintain the fertility of his place. He has also endeavored to raise a sufficient amount of feed on his own place for his stock. However, he has varied at times from this general rule, exceptions being unavoidable. He is a strong advocate of the cash basis method of business and believes in paying as he goes. He has succeeded in interesting his boys in farming and stock raising, and they are enthusiastic twentieth century farmers.


Mr. McGlade is a great advocate of the farm as a substantial home for future generations, and believes that the "back to the soil" movement is the logical solution of abnormal sociological conditions of the con- gested centers of population. He believes that the present prices of farm products offer unusual opportunities for the producer. He is one of the successful farmers of Butler county whose career might well be studied and emulated.


F. H. Penley, president of the First National Bank and a leading factor in the business affairs of Augusta, is a native of Maine. He was born at Bethel, Oxford county, in 1856, a son of Charles Freeland and Abbie (Locke) Penley, also natives of Maine. They were the parents of three children, as follows: F. H., the subject of this sketch; Alice Man- ley, a Baptist missionary in India, who began her career in that capa- city in 1879, as a representative of the Augusta First Baptist Church, and A. E. Penley, a grain and seed dealer, Delta, Colo.


F. H. Penley came to Kansas with his parents in 1870, when he was about fourteen years of age. The family settled about two miles north of Augusta where the faher took up a claim and followed farming and stock raising. This was an early day in the settlement of Butler coun- ty, and the Penleys were one of the pioneer families of that section. F. H. spent his youth on the home place and received a good common school education. At the age of twenty-one. he engaged in farming and stock raising, and for thirty years was successfully engaged in that business. In 1901, he was instrumental in organizing the Augusta State Bank, becoming vice-president of that institution, and has been identi- fied with that bank as a leading stockholder and officer to the present time, although the bank has been reorganized and is now the First Na- tional Bank.


The Augusta State Bank was organized in 1901, with a capital stock of $10,000.00, and one year later was reorganized, becoming the First National Bank of Augusta, and the capital stock increased to $25,000.00 and it has a surplus of $5,000.00. This bank has a record of fifteen years of prosperous and successful banking to its credit, and is one of the solid banks of the State, and some of the best business men of Au- gusta and vicinity are among its officers and stockholders. The present




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