USA > Kansas > Butler County > History of Butler County Kansas > Part 94
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Mr. Ellis was united in marriage in September, 1886, with Miss Mary Hull, a native of Sangamon county, Illinois, and a daughter of John and Eliza (Blalock) Hull, the former a native of Ohio and the lat- ter of Illinois. The Hull family came to Kansas in 1869, settling in Wil- son county, where the parents spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis have two children. Gladys, the wife of Homer Marshall, Chelsea township, and they have one child, Mary L .: and G. J. Ellis, at- tending the public schools at El Dorado.
Worth W. Kemper, a successful farmer and stockman, of Plum Grove township, now residing in Whitewater, is a native of West Vir- ginia. He was born in Lewis county, May 18. 1860. Among his earli- est recollections are the closing days of the Civil war. The different sections of his native State were alternately in the hands of the Union and the Confederate troops, and in that section of the country, neigh- bors, and even brothers, differed on the great question involved in that conflict. Mr. Kemper recalls the existence of a cave in the mountain side near his home, where he and his little companions frequently played. This same cave was also used as a place of refuge of first one
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side and then the other, as the position of that section shifted from the control of one of the contending armies to the other.
Worth W. Kemper is a son of John Robert and Elizabeth (Sim- mons) Kemper. The father was a native of Virginia, and of German descent. The Kemper family dates back to Colonial days, in this coun- try, and was founded in the colony of Virginia in 1749. John Robert Kemper was a farmer, blacksmith, and preacher, and spent his life in West Virginia. His wife, Elizabeth Simmons, was a daughter of David and Sallie (Grogg) Simmons, natives of Germany. John Robert Kem- per and his wife were the parents of nine children, of whom Worth I' .. the subject of this sketch, was the fifth in order of birth.
Worth W. Kemper grew to manhood in Lewis county, West Vir- ginia, and was brought up on a farm, and, in his youth, learned to use his father's blacksmith tools. After reaching his majority, he went to West Union, W. Va., and worked at the blacksmith's trade about a year, when he went to Tyler county and worked at his trade for a time. Here he met Miss Tama B. Joseph, to whom he was married in March, 1882. She is a daughter of James and Nancy Joseph. After their mar- riage, Mr. and Mrs. Kemper lived in the little town of Camp. Tyler county, where Mr. Kemper worked at blacksmithing. Several members of the Joseph family had been in Kansas in the early days, and Mrs. Kemper's father had lived in Butler county when she was a girl, but had returned to Virginia in 1874, and, as a girl. Mrs. Kemper had many pleasant as well as some disagreeable recollections of life on the plains of Butler county in the pioneer days.
In the spring of 1883. Mr. Kemper and his wife and their infant son, James Ott, set out for Kansas. They located in the old, historic town of Plum Grove, now extinct. Their capital was limited, Mr. Kem- per having just $14 in cash, when they reached Butler county. He bought a small. two room house, which served as their home, and he also bought a set of blacksmith tools and a shop, for which he agreed to pay $300, when his note came due. As soon as he opened his black- smith shop to the public, work came in abundance, and he had all that he could do in the thriving little town of Plum Grove. However, there came a day, when the Missouri Pacific railroad was built, which missed the town of Plum Grove. and it was then that the old town began to slip from the map. Shortly after the railroad was built, Mr. Kemper moved his shop to the new town of Brainerd, and had plenty to do in his line of work there.
Three years later he moved to Potwin, where he conducted a black- smith shop about a year. Mr. and Mrs. Kemper then took up their home on the farm of her grandfather. Whitman Joseph, who was quite an old gentleman. Mr. Kemper operated the Joseph place, which was a very large farm, for seven years, until the death of Mr. Joseph in 1895. After the death of the old gentleman, Mr. Kemper bought a part of the farm, consisting of a quarter of section 8. Later he bought another
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quarter section from N. M. Joseph, which joins his first purchase, and he now owns a half section of rich bottom land on the Whitewater, which will compare favorably with any soil in the State of Kansas. He raises a great many cattle and also carries.on general farming. He is one of the best cattlemen in the country. He is equally as good a judge of market conditions as he is of cattle, and in twenty years of experience as a feeder, he has never lost money on a bunch of cattle, and he has handled a great many.
Mr. and Mrs. Kemper are the parents of four children : James Ott, a successful farmer and stockman, Plum Grove township; Iva, de- ceased : Lula, wife of J. O. Wilson, Murdock township, and Waldo, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Kemper reside in a beautiful, modern residence in Whitewater, where they are well known and have many friends. Mr. Kemper is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
August Hinz, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Fairmont town- ship, is one of Butler county's extensive land owners. Mr. Hinz was born in Germany, January 28, 1850, and is a son of Ernest and Augusta Hinz, both natives of Germany. When August was eight years old, the Hinz family immigrated to Canada, and the father located in the forests of the Province of Ontario, about eighty miles from the Michigan line. The family was poor, and had a hard struggle to establish themselves in their little home in the wilds of Canada, but by industry and thrift, they finally succeeded. There were six children in the Hinz family, and Au- gust was the third in order of birth.
August Hinz grew to manhood on the farm in Ontario, and in 1872. was married to Rosina Miller, who was also a native of Germany. Aft- er his marriage, August Hinz worked in a saw mill in Canada, and walked two miles to and from his work and frequently through snow four or five feet deep, working for $1.25 per day. During the first year of his married life, he saved $50 from his earnings, besides paying for his household goods and buying a cow, and at the end of four years, he bought a farm and made a substantial payment on the same. He built a log hut on his place and a small stable and began farming and clearing his land. He improved his place and built a large barn. He bought more land and in the course of time soon had 100 acres of well improved land. and even under adverse conditions he made money and prospered.
In 1884, Mr. Hinz sold his farm in Canada, and came to Kansas, and bought the northwest quarter of section 18. Clifford township. This place was practically unimproved. There was a small house and a sta- ble on the place, but neither were of any particular account, and Mr. Hinz proceeded to improve his newly acquired farm and soon had the place in fairly good condition, with good substantial buildings. Com- ing from a heavily timbered country, like western Canada, the Hinz family could not readily resign themselves to the broad, wind-swept plains of Butler county. The strong winds of the early days here, were
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particularly annoying, and in 1888, the family went in quest of a more agreeable abode. They rented their Butler county farm, and went to Oregon, where they remained about one year, when they returned to Butler county, and from that time on, Butler county has looked all right to the Hinz family. The more they saw of other parts of the country, the more they appreciated Butler county, and the Clifford township farm has been their home ever since, with no serious thoughts of a change.
Mr. Hinz has bought more land from time to time since returning from the coast, making his first purchase of an additional eighty in 1890. Two years later he bought another quarter section, until he has become the owner of 640 acres of land, one half of which is in Clifford township, and the balance in Fairmount township. He carries on general farming and stock raising extensively, and has been very successful in his un- dertakings, since returning to Butler county. He is one of the largest taxpayers in his township, and for many years has been considered one of the most substantial men, financially, in Fairmount township.
Mr. and Mrs. Hinz reared a family of seven children, all of whom are living and in comfortable circumstances. Mrs. Hinz died May 23, 1915. Mr. Hinz is a member of the Lutheran church, and he has always supported the Republican party, but is not active in political affairs.
Isaac Newland, of Bruno township, is a veteran of the Civil war and an early settler in Butler county. He came here in the spring of 1871, reaching Butler county in April of that year, and pre-empted the north- west quarter of section 9. Bruno township, and began life amidst the pioneer surroundings of that early day.
Mr. Newland was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 27, 1834, and his parents were Isaac and Elizabeth (Ross) New- land, natives of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch descent. When Isaac Newland was about a year old, his parents removed from Pennsylvania to Logan county where the father died in 1845, and the same year, the widowed mother returned to Pennsylvania with her children. Five years later, or in 1850, the family migrated to Illinois, settling in Han- cock county.
In 1859, Isaac Newland was united in marriage to Mirah Sullivan, a native of Pennsylvania, and of Irish descent. Seven children were born to this union, three of whom are living, as follows: Ida, married Charles McDaniel, Harve, Mont .; John A., Chaupique, La., and Etta, married Dr. A. O. Burton, Wichita, Kans. Mrs. Newland, the mother of these children, died in March, 1874, and in 1883, Mr. Newland mar- ried Mrs. Mary Graham Hollaway, a daughter of John and Rowena (Pettijohn) Graham, and widow of Floyd Hollaway, who died in 1875. by whom she had two children : Homer Hollaway, Seattle, Wash., and Henry Hollaway, Wichita, Kans.
While a resident of Hancock county, Illinois, Mr. Newland en- listed in Company D, Seventy-eighth regiment, Illinois infantry. This
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regiment was attached to the army of the Cumberland, and served under General Rosecrans, and later under General Thomas. Mr. New- land participated in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, and in a number of other engagements: At the battle of Missionary Ridge, he received an injury to one of his eyes, after which he was sent to a northern hospital and was discharged for disability, eight months later, and the injury left him partially blind in one eye to this day.
After coming to Butler county in the spring of 1871, Mr. Newland built a little cabin, 12X14 feet, of native timber on his claim, and pro- ceeded to improve his new home, where he has since resided, and been successful as a farmer and stockman. He is one of the substantial cit- izens of Bruno township, and is well and favorably known in Butler county.
Mr. Newland has been a life long Republican, casting his first vote for John C. Fremont, at the birth of the Republican party in 1856, and he has the satisfaction of having cast his vote for the great Lincoln in 1860, and again in 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Newland are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Andover.
Thomas S. Newland, a Civil war veteran and early settler of Butler county, is a native of Ohio. He was born in Logan county, January 18, 1842, a son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Ross) Newland, natives of Penn- sylvania, who were married in that State, and afterward removed to Logan county, where the father died in 1845. The mother and children then returned to Pennsylvania, to her old home in Washington county, and in 1850, the mother and her eight children embarked on an Ohio river boat at Wheeling, W. Va., with Illinois as their destination. Mr. Newland was a boy about nine years old when the family made the trip, and says he remembers that on the voyage up the river from Quincy, Ill., that the Mississippi was filled with floating ice. After a short stay at Quincy, the family removed to Hancock county, Illinois.
When the Civil war broke out, or to be exact, September 1, 1862, Mr. Newland enlisted in Company B, Seventy-eighth regiment, Illinois infantry. His regiment was at first attached to the army of the Cum- berland, and later took part in Sherman's march to the sea. Mr. New- land participated in many of the important and hard fought battles of that great conflict. He was at the campaign of Atlanta, and after the fall of that place, he was on the expedition through the Carolinas, when the war ended. He was in the Grand Review at Washington, and after- ward was sent to Chicago, Ill., where he was discharged and mustered out of service.
In 1871, he came to Butler county, Kansas, and filed on a claim in Bruno township, where he remained until 1874, when the grasshoppers came and destroyed every green blade of vegetation. Mr. Newland made up his mind that from the general appearance of the country after the devastation of these pests, that it was not a good place to live, and he sold his claim and went to California. After working on a ranch there,
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for three years, he went to Skagit county, Washington, on the banks of the Skagit river, where he pre-empted a claim, which he sold in 1885. He returned to Butler county, and has since made his home in Bruno town- ship.
Mr. Newland was married in 1874, to Miss Emma Rison, a native of Kansas, and to this marriage four children were born: C. E., Cold Springs, Okla .; Alice, married David Gorman, Cowley county ; W. H., Topeka, and Annie, married Augy Riley, Newkirk, Okla. The mother of these children died in Washington, in the spring of 1885, and the fam- ily returned to Kansas in the fallowing fall. In 1892, Mr. Newland mar- ried Mrs. Margaret Fitzgerald, a widow. She was a daughter of George Snook, a pioneer of Bruno township.
Mr. Newland is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Methodist Episcopal church, and has always been a stanch Republi- can.
W. G. Scrivner, a prominent farmer and stock raiser of Whitewater, Kans., is a native of Estill county, Kentucky. He was born January 4. 1854, and is a son of Joseph and Mary (Benton) Scrivner, both natives of Kentucky and descendants of old American families. The father was a prosperous farmer in Estill county, Kentucky, where he died in July, 1889. The mother departed this life at the old home in Kentucky in 1900. W. G. Scrivner was one of a family of thirteen children. He re- ceived his education in the subscription schools of his native State where he remained until 1875 when he came to Kansas, locating in Atchison county. He remained there during the summer of that year and in October came to Butler county with a brother, N. V. Scrivner, and located on land in Fairmount township.
The Scrivner boys had many experiences of an interesting char- acter during their trip from Kentucky to Butler county. They drove nearly the entire distance and rode mules. When they came to this county their capital was limited to about $10, but they set to work at once and like the average pioneers of the time made the best of the situ- ation. They broke the raw prairie and planted about on hundred acres of wheat that fall. The first few years were filled with discouraging conditions and repeated failures but they were not discouraged. They rented and operated more land from time to time. In 1885, W. G. Scriv- ner leased 320 acres, which was well stocked, and during the next three years his profits were $3,000. In 1889, he purchased a farm of 160 acres in Fairmount township and shortly afterward leased considerable land in that vicinity and he now owns 400 acres of well improved land in Fairmount and Clifford townships, and is one of the most substantial farmers and stockmen in northwestern Butler county.
Mr. Scrivner was united in marriage July 15, 1889, with Miss Mary J. Nolinger, a native of Butler county and a daughter of J. C. and Phoebe Ann Nolinger, natives of Indiana, born near Logansport. They were early settlers in Butler county, locating here in 1871. To Mr. and
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Mrs. Scriver have been born ten children, as follows: Claude B., Alfred S., G. P., Myrtle, Iva, Harvey, Henry, Benjamin, Dixie and one child who died in infancy.
In addition to his farming operations, Mr. Scrivner deals extensively in mules, and is perhaps the largest dealer of that character in Butler county. He also has various other local interests and is a stockholder in The Peoples State Bank of Whitewater. Mr. Scrivier's fraternal af- filiations are with the Masonic Lodge. the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica and the Fraternal Citizens, and politically he is a Democrat. In 1913 the family left the farm and removed to Whitewater where they have superior educational facilities.
A. A. Rice, a Butler county pioneer and early day merchant, now deceased, was a native of Defiance county, Ohio, born in 1840. He was a son of Oney and Lydia ( Bowers) Rice, natives of New York. Oney Rice and his wife came to Ohio, from New York City in the early thir- ties, and was the third family to settle in Defiance county. Ohio, per- manently. Oney Rice was an early day physician, and practiced his profession as successfully as the average physician of his time. He died in Ohio, however, when he was practically a young man.
A. A. Rice was the youngest of a family of four children, and he was reared in the pioneer surroundings of Defiance county, Ohio. He married Miss Julia Alden, a native of Defiance county. Mr. Rice lived on a farm in Ohio for some time after his marriage, and in 1877, came to Kansas on account of his wife's failing health. They located in Harvey county, and after remaining there a year and a half, returned to Ohio. In 1882, Mr. Rice and his family came to Kansas again, this time locating in Att- gusta, where he leased land and engaged in sheep raising, and had about 1,500 head, but on account of the low prices of wool and mutton, he de- cided to abandon that industry, and in 1887. traded his sheep for a stock of merchandise at Potwin, and engaged in the mercantile business there, which he conducted for several years. He died in February, 1894. His wife had departed this life in 1880. To A. A. Rice and wife were born three children, of whom F. A. Rice was the youngest.
F. A. Rice received his education in the public schools of Butler county, and was practically brought up in the mercantile business, for during his boyhood days, he assisted his father in the store at Potwin much of the time. In 1894, at the time of the father's death, F. A. was about twenty-one years of age, and he and his sister took charge of the business. The stock at that time was valued at about $1,500, and Mr. Rice set out to develop and enlarge the business, and make of it a pro- fitable and up to date mercantile establishment. and he has succeeded beyond any doubt. He now carries about $15,000 worth of stock and everything that is usually found in the department stores of the larger cities, is to be found here. He carries a full line of groceries, dry goods, clothing, hats, etc., and in addition to his regular mercantile line. Mr. Rice is an extensive dealer in automobiles, and is meeting with marked
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success in this new departure as well as in the regular mercantile lines. Mr. Rice has followed a system of square dealing, and has won the con- fidence of the public and built up a large business. He is one of the live merchants of Butler county.
Mr. Rice was married in 1899, to Miss Sarah R. Joseph, a daughter of James and Nancy Joseph, of Butler county. To Mr. and Mrs. Rice have been born the following children : Floyd, Meirl, Ronald and Ruth, deceased. Mr. Rice is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows at Potwin, and one of Butler county's leading citizens.
Joseph T. Hall, of Rock Creek township, was the second settler to locate in that part of Butler county which is now Rock Creek township. He came here in 1868, when Douglass consisted of two little log cabins, and the present site of Wichita, was occupied by only two log cabins also, or rather two cabins built of cottonwood poles. Wichita then was the headquarters of the Wichita tribe of Indians, and the chief lived in his tepee there.
Joseph T. Hall was born near Greenfield, Dade county, Missouri, May 4, 1845, a son of George Washington and Martha Jane Hall, the for- mer a native of Illinois, and the latter of North Carolina. George W. Hall. the father, was left an orphan when he was seven years old, and was reared by relatives. He grew to manhood in Dade county. He served in the United States army during the Mexican war, and marched with his regiment from his home in Missouri to Mexico, and served un- der General Scott. His regiment marched through Butler county over the Sante Fe trail, and camped on the banks of the Walnut river, about four miles from El Dorado, where they celebrated the Fourth of July, and had buffalo meat for dinner.
At the close of the Mexican war, George W. Hall returned to his home in Dade county, Missouri, where he lived until the Civil war broke out, when he enlisted in the Confederate army and was killed at the bat- tle of Wilson's Creek.
In 1866 Joseph T. Hall was united in marriage with Elender Bell, a native of Tennessee, born June 3. 1849. She was a daughter of Silas and Elizabeth Bell, members of prominent Tennessee families, and her father was a Mexican war veteran. About two years after their mar- riage, in the fall of 1868, Mr. Hall fitted up a prairie schooner, and he with his young wife, in company with five others, started west in search of future homes. Their outfit was hauled by two yoke of oxen, and the trip required about fifteen days. After looking the country over in the vicinity of where Wichita now stands, they decided that was too sandy, but after reaching the rich, broad bottom land of the Walnut valley, they decided to go no farther, and here they staked their claims in Rock Creek township. Mr. Hall erected a little log cabin, 12×14 feet, which was finished in the most primitive style, and proceeded to make his home on the plains of Butler county, and has never had occasion to regret the se- lection that he made at that time. He has been engaged in the cattle
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business on a moderate scale, and has met with very satisfactory re- sults. He has bought more land from time to time, and now owns 436 acres, part of which is located in Cowley county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hall have been born the following children: Cor- delia, married Wallace Parsons, a prosperous farmer of Cowley county ; John T., a well-to-do farmer of Rock Creek township ; Sarah Ann, mar- ried Clarence Littell, of Cowley county ; Robert Lee, lives near his fa- ther's place in Rock Creek township, and works the home farm ; James C., died in infancy.
Mr. Hall is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Anti Horse Thief Association, holding membership in all of the above orders at Douglass. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church, and Mr. Hall is a lifelong Democrat. Mr. Hall is one of the pioneers of Butler county, who has seen much of the develop- ment of this section of Kansas, and is entitled to no small amount of credit for the part he has taken in reclaiming the desert and building the empire of the West, and, notwithstanding all the hard times of the early days, Mr. Hall says that they enjoyed themselves.
George Elder, a member of the board of county commissioners of Butler county, is a well known farmer and stockman. Mr. Elder is a native of Kentucky, born in Marion county, June 28, 1860. He is a son of George and Mary Elder. George Elder came to Butler county with his parents in 1873, when he was thirteen years old. His father bought one-half section of land in Bloomington township. The senior Elder was an extensive cattle dealer in the early days, and for years, perhaps, bought and sold more cattle and hogs than any other dealer in Butler county. He died in 1896, and his widow now resides on the old home- stead in Bloomington township.
George Elder, the subject of this sketch, is one of a family of seven children, born to his parents. His early training was in the cattle business with his father, and he has been more or less interested in that industry all his life. In 1881, he bought his first land, and since that time, has added to his original purchase, and now owns over 700 acres in Bloomington, Douglass and Walnut townships.
In 1881, Mr. Elder was united in marriage with Miss Martha A. Dailey, a native of Kansas. She is a daughter of John and Mary Dailey, the former a native of Missouri, and the latter of Kentucky. The Dailey family settled in Butler county in 1872. To Mr. and Mrs. Elder have been born the following children: Mary, married D. F. Gunter of Douglass, Kans .; Orville, a successful cattle dealer and farmer of Butler county; Leonora, died in infancy, and George D., a successful veterinary surgeon, residing with his parents at Douglass.
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