History of Butler County Kansas, Part 79

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


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MRS. F. H. PENLEY


F. H. PENLEY


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officers are : F. H. Penley, president ; H. W. Wilson, vice-president ; W. A. Penley, cashier ; A. R. Peckham, assistant cashier; and the directors are: J. W. Skaer, F. H. Penley, W. A. Penley, H. W. Wilson, John Guthrie, M. F. Taylor, W. W. Peckham, A. R. Peckham and W. B. Earll, and E. C. Penley.


Mr. Penley's activities have not been confined to any one field of endeavor. In 1908, he entered the mercantile field, and purchased the J. H. Butts & Son stock of hardware and implements and organized the Paul & Penley Hardware Company. This concern does an extensive business, and is one of the strong mercantile institutions in southern Kansas. Besides their Augusta store they have a branch store at Mul- vane, Kans., which does a business equal in volume to the Augusta store.


Mr. Penley is one of the pioneer oil and gas developers of the great Augusta field, and is extensively interested in that field of activity as a member of the Skaer Gas and Drilling Company. Few men are entitled to more credit for the greater Augusta than Mr. Penley. He is one of the substantial men of the community, and a dominant factor in the recent unparalleled development of Augusta and vicinity.


Mr. Penley was united in marriage in 1877, at Augusta, to Miss El- len F. Colburn. She belongs to a pioneer Kansas family and was born in Massachusetts. The Colburn family came to Kansas in 1854, when Mrs. Penley was a child. They settled at Lawrence, Kans .. and lived there when Quantrill, the notorious guerilla, sacked and burned the town. To Mr. and Mrs. Penley have been born four children, as follows: Walter, cashier of the First National Bank, Augusta, Kans., married Winnie Paul, of Augusta ; Earnest C., member of the Paul & Penley Hardware Company, Augusta, Kans., married Pearl Paul of Augusta; Ruth, mar- ried Roy J. Paul, a farmer near Augusta, and Charles W., a student of Baker University and member of the class of 1916.


E. A. Bachelder, a prominent farmer and stockman of Murdock township and a member of a Butler county pioneer family, is a native of New York. He was born in 1856, and is a son of Nathaniel and Rosanna Bachelder, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Ireland. They were the parents of the following surviving children : Nathaniel, Wichita, Kans .; W. H., Wichita, and E. A., the subject of this sketch.


The father was a carpenter in early life, back East, but removed to Illinois where he engaged in farming until 1873. He then came to Kan- sas with his family where he also engaged in farming, giving almost his entire attention to raising wheat. which he sold at a fair price. consider- ing the day and age, usually getting about a dollar a bushel, after haul- ing it to Wichita or Newton. The family lived in a box house 12X14 fect consisting of one room, when they first came to Kansas, the boys sleep- ing in a straw house. They found timber enough in the vicinity of their home for the frame work of the new house and other lumber, which was (46)


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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


used in its construction, they hauled from Newton. This house when completed consisted of four rooms and was considered one of the fine residences of that day, and frequently the young people came from a radius of thirty miles to attend dances there, Judge Mooney, the author of this work, being one of the young folks who often attended these dances.


Nathaniel Bachelder, the father, became one of the prosperous men of the community. and at the time of his death in 1903. he owned a half section of land. His wife died in 1886. E. A. Bachelder remained on the home farm until he was about twenty-five years of age when he began life for himself. In 1887, he bought 160 acres of land where he now re- sides and later bought another 160 adjoining it. He has met with uni- form success in his farming operations and has been unusually success- ful in raising horses, mules and hogs, which have yielded him very sat- isfactory profits.


Mr. Bachelder was married in 1878, to Miss Mahala Wallace, a daughter of T. J. and Mary Wallace of Missouri. Mrs. Bachelder is one of the following children: W. D. Wallace. Benton; Mrs. Martha Coch- ran, Bartlesville. Okla .; Mrs. Mary Cochran, El Dorado; Mrs. Georgie McMasters, Benton, Kans. ; Mrs. Rose Henry, Benton, Kans., and Mrs. Bachelder. The Wallace family were among the early settlers of Bour- bon county, Kansas, locating there in 1869. In 1872, they came west, lo- cating in Sedgwick county, then on the frontier. and Mrs. Bachelder re- members having often seen Indians wandering across the plains in bands of varying sizes.


The Wallace family suffered many hardships in those pioneer days, of which Mrs. Bachelder has a vivid recollection. She says when a girl she wore "government shoes" to school ; they were regular men's shoes, coarse and heavy, and she has gone to school without her dinner because there was none for her to take, but she rejoices in the fact that she has lived to see all this changed, but it is possible that the vicissitudes of these early days served a purpose. It was the acid test of endurance, and a case of the survival of the fittest. The privations of the early days were the great kindergarten of life that built character and fitted the boys and girls of the plains for the great task of building up a bigger and better industrial system of civilization than the world has ever known before.


Mr. Bachelder, while giving his own personal affairs close and care- ful attention, has always been able to find time to perform any duty that naturally falls to the lot of a progressive member of the community. He has taken a deep interest in education, and has served on the school board of his district for a number of years, and at present is the treas- urer of Murdock township.


Mr. and Mrs. Bachelder are the parents of the following children : Roscoe, Benton. Kans .; Mrs. Stella Leap, Furley, Kans .; Floyd, mar- ried Hazel Wait, of Murdock township, and resides in Murdock town- ship ; Ira. Theodore, Waunita and Berdine, all at home.


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A. W. Arnold, a prosperous farmer and stockman who, by his in- dustry, has not only made a comfortable home for himself, but has con- tributed to the development, beauty and productiveness of Butler county, is a native of Illinois. He was born in Peoria county in Jan- uary. 1854, and is a son of William A. and Louisa (Fisher) Arnold. William A. Arnold, the father, was a native of Vermont, born in Wind- ham county, that State, October 8, 1826, and when seventeen years old. he went to Illinois and located in Peoria county. He was married to Miss Louisa Fisher, June 6, 1850, and the following children of that union are now living: A. W., the subject of this sketch: Mrs. Lydia Edson, Benton, Kans., and Mrs. Mary Stowers, Brimfield, Ill. The father was a farmer near Brimfield, Ill., and is now deceased. He was a very religious man, and, for a number of years, was a deacon in the Baptist church. His wife, and mother of Mr. Arnold, is still living at the advanced age of eighty-two years.


A. W. Arnold came to Kansas in 1881, and the following year bought 160 acres of land in Murdock township, where he has since been engaged in general farming and stock raising. He has been very suc- cesful in his farming operations, and has given considerable attention to raising cattle and hogs, and has been unusually successful with the latter. He has a well improved farm with a comfortable residence.


Mr. Arnold was married in 1882 to Hattie Robinson Clark, a daughter of Elder Sumner and Cordelia Robinson, natives of Maine. The Robinson family came to Kansas in 1877, and settled in Sedgwick county, where the father bought 160 acres of land. There were eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, three living: Mrs. C. H. Dan- iels, La Harpe, Kans. ; Mrs. Albie Baird, Monte Vista, Colo., and Mrs. Arnold. To Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have been born four children, two of whom are living: S. A. Arnold, Beaver, Okla., and E. F. Arnold, Benton, Kans. Mrs. Arnold had one son by her former marriage, Al- bert F. Clark, Ridge, Ark. The Arnolds are well known in Butler county, and are reckoned among the substantial citizens of Murdock township.


Jesse A. Hawes, a veteran of the Civil war, who is one of the prom- inent farmers and stockmen of Murdock township, has been a resident of this county since January, 1877. Mr. Hawes was born in Illinois, February 14, 1845, and is a son of Peter J. and Julia Hawes, natives of Kentucky. The Hawes family is a prominent old American family, dating back to Colonial days. John Hawes. Sr., of Maryland, who was born in 1791 and became a prominent figure in American life, was a member of this family. The Hawes family came to Kansas, settling in Lincoln township, Butler county, in 1876. The father bought 160 acres of land upon coming here, which he later sold, and bought 240 acres in Linn county, and exchanged that tract for 120 acres in Butler county, near Augusta, and died on that place. After his death, his wife made her home with Jesse A. for a number of years, when she, too, passed


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away. They were the parents of the following children: Jesse A., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Isabelle A. Griggs, Washington; Mrs. Mary C. Zollers, Augusta, Kans .; Charles W., Augusta, Kans .; Mrs. Louisa F. McCann, Benton, Kans .; Joseph A., Benton, Kans .; Mrs. Nancy M. Mackey, Perry, Okla., and Marion C., Benton, Kans.


Jesse A. Hawes spent his boyhood days on the farm in Illinois, and attended the common schools until he was seventeen years old. On August 9, 1862, he enlisted in Company F. One Hundred Sixth regi- ment, Illinois infantry, and, during his term of service, his health failed, and he was discharged on account of physical disability.


Mr. Hawes was married September 1, 1864, to Miss Roselda L. Castle, and in 1876, came to Kansas, locating in Sedgwick county, near where Mulvane now stands, and came to Butler county in January, 1877. During his first four years here, he farmed rented land, and then bought 160 acres in Murdock township. After living on that place for twelve years, he sold it and bought the place where he now resides, which consists of 160 acres of fertile and productive land, which is one of the best farms in the county.


When Mr. Hawes first came to Butler county, he lived north of E! Dorado on the road traveled extensively by freighters, and they fre- quently stopped at his house over night. He recalls that they stopped at his place with the second printing press that was ever brought to El Dorado, and the roads were so muddy they could not haul it any far- ther, so they divided it, and hauled it to El Dorado in two loads. Game was plentiful when Mr. Hawes came here. He says, he has seen acres of antelope, but the littel fellows were not easy to kill.


Mr. and Mrs. Hawes have five children, as follows: Mrs. Grace Bauman, Mustang. Okla. : John H., Benton, Kans. ; Mrs. Jessie M. Gale, Red Rock, Okla .; Mrs. Maggie C. Ballard, Attica, Kans .; Charles D. Benton, Kans .. and Mrs. Isabelle V. Parks, deceased. Mr. Hawes has seen many changes since coming to Butler county, and has been an active factor in the great evolution of this barren and unpeopled waste, to one of the prosperous and productive sections of the country.


Samuel P. Gale, one of the prominent farmers and stockmen of Mur- dock township, is an early settler of that part of Butler county. He was born at Malden, N. Y., April 23, 1842, and his parents were Harvey and Ursula Gale. The father was born in Columbia county, New York, June 16, 1806, and is a descendant of Connecticut stock. He was married to Ursula Roberts, February 22, 1827, and two sons of this union are now living, Samuel P., the subject of this sketch, and Isaac J., who resides at Atlanta, Il1.


In 1872, Samuel P. Gale came to Butler county, settling in Murdock township, and homesteaded eighty acres of land, where he engaged in farming and stockraising. Since that time, he has bought another eighty acres, and now has one of the valuable farms of Murdock township, and has met with unusual success in his chosen vocation. However, like


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most of the other early settlers, he encountered many difficulties and dis- couraging features before he was properly started on the high road to success. When he came here he had only one horse, but succeeded in buying a pony on credit and for the first few years crops were poor, money scarce and hard times prevailed generally. Drouths, grasshop- pers, hail, cyclones, and hot winds kept most of the early settlers guess- ing, where they were going to get their next meal or sleep that night.


In 1874 Mr. Gale drove to Coffey county to get seed wheat and the following year had a good crop of wheat. This gave him a start, and for- tified him for a few more failures. His first house in Butler county was a one-room affair, 12×14 feet, which was replaced in due time by a more pretentious and commodious residence and the Gale farm is now well equipped with farm buildings and the place is under a high state of cul- tivation, presenting an attractive appearance.


Mr. Gale was married November 16, 1881, to Miss Henrietta C. a daughter of Henry and Helen Bush of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Bush were the parents of the following children : Mrs. Marguerite J. Pracht, Burns, Kans .; Hiram, Wichita, Kans .; Henrietta, wife of Samuel P. . Gale, the subject of this sketch; James. Gibson City, Ill .; William, Wichita: John, Whitewater, and Robert, Wichita. The Bush family came to Butler county in 1871, locating in Benton township, where they homesteaded 160 acres of land. Mrs. Gale recalls many of their exper- iences in the early days which were mostly made up of inconveniences and hardships. She says Rev. Isaac Mooney was their pioneer preacher. and the first time she went to church in Butler county, services were held in a hay barn. To Mr. and Mrs. Gale have been born two children : Henry, who resides at home, and Mrs. Ursula Chaney, Whitewater, Kans.


Mr. Gale has always taken an interest in township and county af- fairs. and served as justice of the peace for eight years; and during that time performed eight marriage ceremonies, and we have no record that any of his matrimonial knots were ever untied, which would indicate that the marriage ceremony was properly performed He is a supporter of good schools and for a number of years served on the school board.


M. P. Claypool, of Murdock township, is one of the successful farmers and stockmen, whose enterprise and effort have made Butler county one of the great, political sub-divisions of the State of Kansas. Mr. Claypool was born in Knox county, Missouri, in 1851, and he is a son of Josephus and Sarah E. Claypool, the former a native of Indiana, and the latter of Virginia. The Claypool family, consisting of the par- ents and five children, came to Kansas in 1870, settling on a farm of 160 acres in Murdock township, Butler county. When they first came here, the wagon in which they drove across the country was their only home, until they built a little house.


Their first home was built of native lumber, which was sawed at the little mill at Towanda. There were lots of deer here at that time,


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and prairie chickens could be found on the plains in countless numbers. The elder Claypool was quite a buffalo hunter, and made several trips, a little farther west where buffalo were still plentiful, and always re- turned with a good supply of meat. The settlers at that time depended largely upon buffalo, deer, and prairie chickens for their supply of meat. Staple supplies, such as meat and groceries, were very high priced ; flour and sugar were about twice the present price, and bacon was about thirty-five cents a pound, and money was scarce. M. P. Clay- pool killed lots of deer and prairie chickens, but his father did most of the buffalo hunting for the family.


M. P. Claypool recalls many incidents in the pioneer life of Butler county. Whitewater was a popular rendezvous for Texas cattlemen. who wintered large numbers of cattle there, and frequently the Texas cowboys attended local dances, in the neighborhood, dancing being the principal pastime of the young people. Sometimes the cowboys would get rough, but their rows were generally between themselves, and no serious harm resulted. The young men among the early settlers of Butler county were law-abiding, and, as a rule, a very honorable class of young fellows.


Mr. Claypool has made farming and stock raising his life's occupa- tion. In 1900, he bought the old home place in Murdock township, and afterward bought a quarter section adjoining it, and now has a splen- did farm of 320 acres. The neat appearance of the place bespeaks the industry and prosperity of its owner. Mr. Claypool keeps a number of work horses and usually keeps his place stocked with about seventy- five head of cattle, and an equal number of hogs.


In 1882, Mr. Claypool was united in marriage with Miss Cora Metz, the daughter of Thomas and Thurza Metz, who came to Kansas in 1880, and settled in Butler county. To Mr. and Mrs. Claypool have been born the following children: Mrs. Hattie Stuart, Benton, Kans .; Frank, Whitewater, Kans. ; Rilla, Whitewater, Kans .; Mrs. Della Mc- Cann, Benton, Kans. : Mrs. Pearl Mason, Furley, Kans., and Thursa, Gladys, Pauline, and Mildred, all residing at home.


The members of the Claypool family are well known in Butler county, and are highly respected. Mr. Claypool takes a lively interest in local affairs insofar as good citizenship is concerned, and has served as trustee of Murdock township for twelve or fourteen years, and has also served as township treasurer.


W J. Houston, a prominent citizen of Murdock township, is a dom- inant factor in the affairs of that township, and has been a part of the progress of Butler county for thirty-seven years Mr. Houston is a na. tive of North Carolina, and his parents, James F. and Mary ( Patterson) Houston, were descendants of old southern families of Scotch-Irish an- cestry.


W. J. Houston located in Butler county in 1879, coming here at the solicitation of Mr. Cameron, a real estate man, who brought him out to


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what was then known as the "Whitewater District." He did not buy land immediately upon coming here, but rented eighty acres and engaged in the stock business. After renting for two years he was so favorably im- pressed with the locality that he bought 160 acres in Murdock township and began the stock business on his own place. He "batched" for the first year and in April 1883 he was married to Miss Susan M. White, then a Butler county school teacher. She is a daughter of John White. a pioneer of Plum Grove township.


During the first year on his place, Mr Houston had made many im- provements, including a good residence, hay barn, stable, etc. He has combined stock raising with general farming and has been unusually suc- cessful. He now owns a section of fine productive bottom land, the value of which, when he bought it, ranged from $15 to $30 per acre. It is now worth between $75 and $100 per acre. Mr. Houston has followed the policy of feeding the grain product of his place to his cattle, which he has found to be the most profitable method of farming and stock raising. He is one of the successful alfalfa growers of this section, and has about 100 acres devoted to that crop.


To Mr. and Mrs. Houston have been born seven children, as fol- lows: Eula, Ona, Maggie, Orin, Zada, Alta, and William Harris, all of whom have received good educations and reside at home.


Mr. Houston is a student of men and events and a very close ob- server. He takes a keen interest in the public affairs of his county and State and has frequently been called to positions of trust and honor by his fellow citizens. He has served one term as county commissioner of Butler county, and in 1912 was elected to represent his district in the State legislature which he did with credit to himself and to the satisfac- tion of his constituents. While serving as county commissioner he con- ducted the affairs of the county in the same business like manner which is characteristic of his painstaking methods in his private business af- fairs. He has also held a number of local offices, having been a mem- ber of the school board for a number of years, and also justice of the peace of Murdock township. He says that Butler county has been good to him. He is a broad-gauged, big hearted and liberal minded man, who realizes and appreciates the honor and trust which his friends and neighbors have imposed in him. Mr. Houston saw much of the history of Butler county in the making, as it were, and is unusually familiar with the story of pioneer life of Butler county.


A. H. Martin, a Civil war veteran and prominent farmer and stock- man of Sycamore township, is a native of Illinois. He was born near Cairo, in 1841, and is a son of Henson and Mary (Holman) . Martin. The Martin family were very carly settlers in the Territory of Kansas. In 1854. the father settled on a claim in Atchison county, and A. H. was about thirteen years of age when the family settled there.


He remained on the home farm until the Civil war broke out, and on September 19. 1861, enlisted in Company C. Eighth regiment, Kan-


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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


sas infantry, for three years. He participated in all the engagements in which his regiment took part, and received his honorable discharge, October 3. 1864. He then returned to Atchison county, and purchased ninety acres of land, where he engaged in farming with an ox team. He raised broom corn in the early days, there, and one year, received $80 per ton for this product. In 1910, he came to Butler county, where he has since been engaged in farming.


Mr. Martin was married in November, 1864. to Miss Sophia Cox, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of John Cox. To this union have been born four children, two of whom are living, as follows: Mrs. Cora Woodburn, Ashton, Idaho, and Nellie, who resides in Jackson county, Kansas. Mrs. Martin died in 1883.


On March 6, 1884, Mr. Martin married Melvina Hadley, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of William and Melvina Hadley, who were very early settlers in Kansas, coming from Missouri to this State in 1856. To Mr. and Mrs. Martin have been born two children: Mrs. Myrtle Mulanax, Cassoday, Kans., and Robert, Beggs, Okla.


C. M. Dodge, a prominent farmer of Benton township and Butler county pioneer, was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, November 8, 1852, and is a son of Robert and Sarah (Kemp) Dodge, the former a native of Londondery, N. H., born January 27, 1819, and the latter a native of White Rock, Me. They were married November 22, 1846, and shortly afterward migrated to Wisconsin, when that State was an unbroken wilderness. The father was a shoemaker and worked at his trade in Wisconsin and did some pioneer farming until 1872, when the family came to Kansas, first settling on railroad land and shortly after- ward the father bought 160 acres in Benton township. Here he en- gaged in farming and stock raising and became fairly prosperous.


Robert Dodge was a pioneer of two States. When he went to Wis- consin that State was very sparsely settled, and was admitted to the Union about that time. There were no railroad facilities in Wisconsin then, and Mr. Dodge had to drive to Milwaukee, a distance of ninety miles, to sell his grain or other produce. It will be seen that before he came to Kansas he had received his training in the rough school of pioneer life.


C. M. Dodge, whose name introduces this sketch, is one of a family of the following children: Mrs. Lizzie Newberry, Long Beach, Cal. ; Selia, Soldiers' Grove, Wis .; Mrs. Anna Nottingham, Lawrence, Kans. : Mrs. Sarah Drake, Montezuma. Wis .; William, Sioux City, Iowa; A. G., Los Angeles, Cal .; and C. M., the subject of this sketch.


C. M. Dodge had just about reached the age of manhood when the family settled in Butler county. In those days he worked at anything at which he could earn an honest dollar. He hauled piling for the first bridge over the Arkansas river at Wichita. These trips were about thirty miles long, and he frequently slept on the ground under his wagon, with his horses picketed in that vicinity. He suffered much


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from the cold, and frequently the wintry winds of the plains were aug- mented by an early day Kansas blizzard. Out of the first money which Mr. Dodge earned on this work he bought an overcoat, which, if it did not add greatly to his comfort, it at least decreased his discomfort.


Soon after coming to Kansas, C. M. Dodge bought 160 acres of land and engaged in farming, which has been his chief occupation to the present time. The first house which he built on the place has long since given way to a beautiful farm residence, which, together with the well kept general appearance of the place, bears testimony to the capa- ble management and prosperity of the owner of this place.




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