History of Butler County Kansas, Part 95

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 95


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96


Mr. Elder is a Democrat, and since his boyhood, has been more or less active in the local councils of the Democratic party, and has always taken a keen interest in the welfare of his party. In 1910 he became a candidate for the office of county commissioner for the first district of


854


HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


Butler county, and was elected by a majority of 137 in the district, and four years later, was re-elected to that office by a majority of about 350. These results evince something of the personal popularity of Mr. Elder, inasmuch as the normal Republican majority in this district is estimated about 200. Mr. Elder not only overcame this majority, but bears the distinction of being the first man elected to succeed himself to the office of county commissioner in the first district.


When the oil and gas boom struck Butler county, Mr. Elder took a great many leases, and his speculations in that direction have proven very profitable.


Mr. Elder is a thirty-second degree Mason, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.


James T. Welch is a Kansas pioneer and an early settler in Milton township. Butler county. He came to Butler county in 1882, and after spending a short time there, he went to Newton, Kans., where he re- mained until 1886, working at his trade, which is that of a carpenter. - In 1886, he came to Brainerd, which was then a new town, that being the same year that the railroad was built through that section.


Mr. Welch was born in Fulton county, March 4. 1847. His mother died when he was five years old, and two years later his father passed away, and he. therefore, was left an orphan at an early age. His lot was that of an unfortunate orphan child. His guardian placed him in the hands of a family in the neighborhood, and the treatment, which he re- ceived as a boy, early developed within him a spirit of self preservation, and a confidence in his ability to shift for himself. He learned, one night. that he was to be whipped the next morning, for some minor fracture of the family rules, and after thinking the matter over, he de- cided in his boyish mind that he would not be present when the whip- ping took place, and accordingly during the night, he slid down a light- ning rod. and that was the last seen of him in that neighborhood.


He was twelve years old at that time, and, for a few years, drifted around, from one place to another, working at whatever he could find to do, and finally got employment at Payson, Ill., where he got an opportunity to learn the carpenter trade. From there, he went to Stone Prairie and became a successful contractor and builder for a number of years. From there, he came to Kansas, in 1882, as above stated.


Mr. Welch was united in mariage to Miss Lucy A. Strawmatt, a native of Pike county, Illinois, born May 29. 1869, and a daughter of William and Margaret (Chambers) Strawmatt. A more extended his- tory of the Strawmatt family appears in the sketch of Mrs. Mary Sturdy- vin, a sister of Mrs. Welch. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Welch resided for a short time at Newton, Kans., when they went to Guthrie. Okla .. where they remained a short time, when they came to Butler county, and bought a farm near Whitewater, which they have im- proved, and which is the present family home. To Mr. and Mrs. Welch have been born the following children: James T .. Jr., born August 24.


.


855


HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


1891, a carpenter residing in Whitewater, and well known for the excel- lency of his workmanship; Cecil T., born April 1, 1896, graduated from in Whitewater High School in the class of 1914, and later took a course in a business college at Chillicothe, Mo., and is now teaching school; and Fannie R. Welch, the only girl, was born February 1, 1904. The Welch family is well known and highly respected in the community.


Joseph Weatherby, a Kansas pioneer and Civil war veteran. now living retired at Whitewater, Kans., was born in Logan county, Ohio, November 3, 1838. He is a son of Jesse and Eliza ( Haines) Weatherby, and comes from old American stock. Jesse Weatherby, the father, was born in Mt. Holly, N. J., in 1812. His parents were Benjamin and Sarah ( Matthis) Weatherby. During the War of 1812, Benjamin Weatherby served as major of a New Jersey regiment. He was at the battle of Lundy's Lane and other important engagements. He lived to the ad- vanced age of ninety-five years. He was a son of Septomas Weatherby, a native of New Jersey, and of English descent. Eliza Haines, mother of Joseph Weatherby, was born near Petersburg, Va., a daughter of Joseph and Rachel (Ballinger) Haines, natives of Virginia. Joseph Haines was a son of Allen Haines, also a native of Virginia, and of Scotch-Irish descent. Some time shortly after 1820 the Haines and Bal- linger families migrated from Virginia to Ohio, settling in Logan and Champaign counties, and many of their descendants now reside in that locality.


In 1816, when Jesse Weatherby, the father of our subject, was four years of age, his father, Benjamin Weatherby, migrated from New Jer- sey with a colony of immigrants, who drove across the Allegheny Mountains with a wagon train, which consisted of about forty wagons, and settled in the little frontier town of Columbus, Ohio, and here Ben- jamin Weatherby built the fifth house in that little village, which has since developed into the city of Columbus. About five years later Benjamin Weatherby moved with his family about fifty miles farther west. Indians were the principal inhabitants of that section then. Herc Jesse Weatherby grew to manhood and was married to Eliza Haines, and the young couple began their married life on a tract of land which Jesse's father leased from Henry Clay, and Joseph Weatherby, the sub- ject of this sketch, when a boy remembers having seen Henry Clay at times when he visited his grandfather, Benjamin Weatherby. Jesse Weatherby was a soldier in the Mexican war and served under General Scott. And one of the first incidents that made a lasting impression on the youthful mind of Joseph Weatherby was the Mexican war. After returning from the Mexican war, Jesse Weatherby remained in Ohio until 1858, when he went to Illinois. settling in McLean county, near Bloomington, where he resided until about the close of the Civil war. when he went to Iowa. In 1875. he came to Kansas and located in Barton county, and later went to Indian Territory and made his home with his son, Robert, until his death in 1896.


856


HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


When the Civil war broke out, Joseph Weatherby enlisted on August 12, 1862, in Company K, One Hundred and Seventh Illinois infantry, under Capt. Sol. Williams. This regiment was assigned to Burnside's army until after the siege of Knoxville, when Burnside was assigned to the East. The regiment was attached to the Twenty-third army corps under General Schofield, and with this corps was with Sherman on his campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas. Mr. Weatherby was mustered out at Raleigh, N. C., June 21, 1865, when he returned to Washington and later returned to his Illinois home.


Mr. Weatherby was united in marriage on October 5, 1865, to Miss Mary E. Simpson, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Carlisle) Simpson Mrs. Weatherby was born in Ohio, and her parents were natives of Vir- ginia, and of Scotch descent. After their marriage .Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby began life on a farm in McLean county, Illinois. They re- mained there until 1876, when they came to Kansas and located in Bar- ton county, where Mr. Weatherby homesteaded a claim, which at that time was on the real western frontier. He remained there until 1884, when he removed to Harvey county and settled three or four miles west of Whitewater, or rather where Whitewater is now located. He fol- lowed contracting and building for several years and erected a great many buildings in the new growing town of Whitewater. He built the first church in Whitewater. which was his first work in that town. After following contracting and building for a number of years, he accepted the position as foreman on Lord Harrison's ranch in Murdock township, and later returned to Whitewater, where he has since lived retired.


To Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby have been born the following children : William E., deceased ; Cora E., now the wife of Samuel Motter, of Mur- dock township ; Emma J., deceased, wife of Charles D. Miller, who is also deceased, and they left one son. C. J. Miller, who now lives with Mr. Weatherby ; Alice M. married Andrew J. Ulmer, Harvey county, Kansas.


Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Weatherby is a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public, the Masons, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has been a life-long Republican and cast his first vote for Abraham 'Lin- coln. He has taken an active interest in local politics, and has served in several local offices of trust and responsibility.


Thomas Smiley, a prominent pioneer and well known merchant of Rock Creek township, is one of the founders of Smileyberg, where his store is located. This town was established by Thomas Smiley and Barney Berg, and thus the name Smileyberg. In 1904 Barney Berg bought eighty acres of land on the northeast corner of section 21, and here established a blacksmith shop. In 1908 Thomas Smiley came from Augusta and erected a small store building, 16x20 feet, on this corner, and put in a small stock of groceries and dry goods. The following fall he built an addition to his store and also increased his stock of goods.


857


HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


Mr. Smiley started in business here with the policy of reasonable prices and fair dealing, and the rapidity of the growth of the business was beyond his greatest expectations. The volume of business done at this store compares favorably with the business of the leading stores of Douglass or Augusta.


Thomas Smiley was born in Canada on the banks of the St. Law- rence river, seven miles from the New York State line, in 1867. He is a son of James and Martha (Paul) Smiley, both natives of Glasgow, Scotland. James Smiley and family went to Canada in 1828 and located in the vicinity of Montreal. They were the parents of six children, of whom Thomas, the subject of this sketch, is the youngest. In 1866 Mr. Smiley left Canada and migrated to Indiana, where he and his brother were engaged as contractors, furnishing wood to the railroads for loco- motive fuel, and also ties. They were principally engaged in supplying the Wabash railroad with these materials. They were very successful in their undertakings, and were of the progressive type of business men. They built a saw mill near Logansport, Ind., which they later sold and removed to Kokomo, Ind., where Mr. Smiley had charge of a lumber yard for several years.


Mr. Smiley was married to Miss Martha Church, a native of North Carolina, and to this union three children were born, all of whom died in infancy. From Kokomo, Ind., Mr. Smiley and his wife came to Kan- sas, first locating at White Cloud. After remaining there about three years they came to Augusta, and later followed farming on the present site of Rose Hill for about four years. This was about the time of the Wichita boom. Mr. Smiley became interested heavily in Wichita real estate, and when the collapse came in real estate he collapsed also, financially, and lost considerable money. He then went to Augusta and entered the employ of Sisco Brothers and sold merchandise for them throughout the country. He drove a wagon and covered a broad scope of territory; he made money for his employers and friends for himself. He formed a wide acquaintance and built up a reputation for honesty and integrity, which was an important asset when he started in business for himself, and many of his customers today are people who traded with him twenty-two years ago when he drove for Sisco Brothers. Mrs. Smiley died in 1893, and Mr. Smiley has never remar- ried. He is a substantial citizen and is a Republican.


D. H. Welch .- In February, 1912, D. H. Welch became a partner of Thomas Smiley in the mercantile business at Smileyberg. Mr. Welch was born in Buchanan county, Missouri, in November, 1855. He came to Butler county, where he was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising for a number of years. His first mercantile venture was at Udal, Cowley county. When Mr. Welch entered into partnership with Mr. Smiley, he bought one-half interest in the business, and they are now equal partners. The business is constantly growing, and both Mr. Welch and Mr. Smiley are thorough going business men, whose


858


HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


frank and fair methods of dealing have won the confidence of a large and constantly increasing patronage.


Mr. Welch was married to Miss Mary McWilliams, a native of Missouri. She died in 1896, leaving no children. Mr. Welch is a wide- awake business man and takes a keen interest in local affairs. He is a Democrat.


Samuel W. Adams, now deceased, was a Butler county pioneer and a Civil war veteran, who took a prominent part in the development of Rock Creek township. Mr. Adams was born in Boone county, Kentucky, August 16, 1847. He was a son of Samuel W. and Jane (McGinnis) Adams, natives of Kentucky. Samuel Adams, the subject of this sketch, grew to manhood and was educated in his native State, and on Septem- ber 9. 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine E. Snod- grass. a native of Pendleton county, Kentucky, born November 1, 1850. Her parents were Joseph and Sarah Ann (Wallace) Snodgrass, natives of Kentucky, the former of Scotch and German extraction, and the latter of Scotch descent. To Mr. and Mrs. Adams were born the following Children : Stella, David E., deceased, and Frank and Dessie. The three surviving children live with their mother in Rock Creek township.


In March, 1870, the spring following their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Adams drove from their home in Kentucky to Cincinnati, Ohio, where they shipped their goods to Kansas and came to this State by rail. They first settled in Johnson county, where they leased some Shawnee In- dian land on the Shawnee reservation in Johnson county. They remained there until April, 1871, when they loaded their personal possessions in a prairie schooner and started in a southwesterly direction, with a view of locating in Cowley county. When they reached Rock Creek township, Butler county, their journey had been so much interrupted up to this time by swollen streams that they decided to cast their lot with Butler county, and Mr. Adams pre-empted the southeast quarter of section 17. Later his father and two of his brothers settled in Butler county, and two brothers of Mrs. Adams also came here. The first home of the Adams family on the plains of Butler county was a 16x16-foot, one-room structure, built of native lumber, which later, however, was succeeded by a more comfortable and commodious farm residence. When Mr. Adams came to Butler county he had no horses, but broke the prairie with oxen, and he managed to get along in this way for a number of years. His start in Butler county was not unlike that of the average pioneer, but industry and capable management, with good business judgment, brought more than ordinary success to him, and at the time of his death he was one of the prominent and influential men of Butler county.


1


When the Civil was broke out Mr. Adams was still a boy in his teens.'and notwithstanding that he was only fifteen years old, he enlisted August 6, 1862. in Company G, Seventh Kentucky cavalry. After having served three years, he was discharged July 10, 1865, with an honorable


859


HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


military record to his credit. He participated in many important and hard-fought battles, and at one time was taken prisoner and was confined in the Confederate military prisons for a number of months.


Mr. Adams was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and also supported the policies and the principle's of the Democratic party. He took an active part in the local organization of his party, and served two terms as trustee of Rock Creek township. He died October 11, 1902, and Mrs. Adams now resides on the home place. She is a typical repre- sentative of that noble band of pioneer women who did their part nobly and well in conquering the prairie and making an empire out of the desert.


Henry Bally, a prominent farmer and stockman of Rock Creek town- ship, has been a resident of Butler county for thirty-eight years. He was born in Ashland county, Ohio, May 19, 1845, and is a son of Yost and Elizabeth (Bare) Bally, natives of Germany. The parents were married in their native land and immigrated to America some time between 1820 and 1825, settling in Pennsylvania. At an early day they moved to northern Indiana. and from there to Ashland county, Ohio. In 1847. when Henry was about two years of age, the family migrated to Illinois and settled in Woodford county, about twenty miles from Peoria. At that time Peoria was a small village of less than one hundred inhab- itants and had only one grocery store. The parents spent the remainder of their days in Woodford county, the father dying in February, 1878, and his wife departed this life in 1882. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom Henry was the ninth in order of birth.


Henry Bally grew to manhood on the home farm in Illinois and received his education in the public schools, such as were provided in those pioneer days. When the Bally family located in Woodford county. the father bought land for $3.40 per acre, and the same land today is worth $340 per acre.


In 1869 Henry Bally married Miss Martha A. Bunch, a daughter of Joseph and Phylenia (Moorehouse) Bunch, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Massachusetts. Mr. Bunch was a Republi- can and a strong Union man during the Civil war, and one of his sons served in the Union army during that conflict. After his marriage Mr. Bally engaged in farming in Illinois, and met with a reasonable degree of success until the panic of 1873, when he lost all. He then decided to go farther west where opportunities were greater, and in 1878 came to Kansas and located in Rock Creek township, Butler county. His capital was limited and he began operations in a small way. He increased his holdings from time to time until he has become one of the substantial and well-to-do farmers and stockmen of Rock Creek township, and today is a leader in his community.


To Mr. and Mrs. Bally have been born three children, as follows: Bertha, married L. M. Base, of Rock Creek township: Harry, died at the age of four years, and Nora, married Arthur J. Watkins, of Rock Creek township.


860


HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


Mr. Bally is a Republican and takes a keen interest in political affairs, but has never aspired to hold political office. Mr. and Mrs. Bally are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and prominent in the community in which they reside. They belong to that type of pioneers who, by self-sacrifice. have made Butler county what it is today.


Mrs. Mary Sturdyvin, a Kansas pioneer woman and one of the early hotel keepers of Whitewater, Kans., was born on a farm near Pittsfield, Pike county, Illinois. July 25, 1866. Her parents were William and Maggie (Chambers) Strawmatt. Her mother was a native of Indiana, and a member of a pioneer family of that State. She was a daughter of John and Margaret (Adams) Chambers, the former of English and the latter of German descent. They probably came from Pennsylvania to Indiana. William Strawmatt, the father of Mrs. Sturdyvin, was born in Pike county, Illinois, August 4, 1827. His father was a boatman on the Mississippi river, and was drowned when William was about five years old.


William Strawmatt grew to manhood on the Illinois prairies, and was married on January 8, 1859. He enlisted in August. 1862, in an- swer to President Lincoln's call for volunteers, and became a member of Company G. Ninety-ninth regiment, Illinois infantry, and served for three years, during which time he saw much hard service. . He partici- pated in the battles of Second Bull Run. Shiloh, The Wilderness, siege of Vicksburg, Fort Donelson and many others. He was captured and confined in Libby prison for a time, but escaped a few weeks later, only to be recaptured and sent to Andersonville prison. He was wounded twice at the second battle of Bull Run, and the close of the war he was mustered out of service and honorably discharged and returned to his home in Illinois.


In 1870 Mr. Strawmatt and his family left Illinois and drove to Holt county, Missouri, where he bought a farm and remained there for eight years. In 1878 he migrated to western Kansas with his family, and homesteaded a claim in Rush county. Three years later he sold his claim there and came to Butler county, settling in Murdock town- ship, and was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising here until April 19. 1893. when his wife died and he disposed of his farming interests and spent the balance of his days in retirement with his chil- dren. He died at the home of Mrs. Sturdyvin on March 19, 1907.


Mrs. Sturdyvin was about twelve years of age when the family came to Kansas, and saw much of the pioneer life of the western part of the State. She remembers having seen buffalo on the plains, and Indians were no uncommon sight during her first few years in this State. She was married on September 25. 1881, to George H. Roach, whom she met at a ball at La Crosse, Kans. George H. Roach was born in Washington county, Illinois, May 14, 1858. a son of William and Mary (Cochran) Roach, natives of Ohio, both of whom died when George H. was a small child. He was reared by his grandparents, and


861


HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


when a young man went to western Kansas and was engaged in the cattle business, where he met his future wife. He homesteaded a quar- ter section south of Brainerd, and here Mr. and Mrs. Roach lived for over two years. Their oldest child, George W. Roach, was born January 29, 1884. He now resides at Hutchinson. Another son, Glenn H. Roach, was born at Edgecomb, May 1, 1886, and lives in San Fran- cisco, Cal. After residing on their claim, near Brainerd, they moved to Edgecomb and conducted a general store, blacksmith shop, feed stable and kept the postoffice. Four years later they removed to the new town of Brainerd, where they remained until 1890, engaged in the mercantile business. They then moved their stock of goods to White- water, which was then a new village. Here George H. Roach died on December 8. 1900, and Mrs. Roach continued the business for two years, and for six years prior to this time had also conducted a hotel at White- water. In 1902 she removed to El Dorado and the following year re- turned to Whitewater and engaged in the hotel business again, which she conducted about six months.


On September II, 1903, Mrs. Roach was married to Edward F. Sturdyvin. They spent the winter of 1903 and 1904 in St. Louis, Mo., and from there went to Madisonville, Ky., where Mr. Sturdyvin was superintendent of a mine for a time, when they returned to Whitewater. After remaining there for some months they went to Oklahoma, where Mr. Sturdyvin bought a farm in the foothills of the Ozarks, and after remaining there about a year they returned to Whitewater and engaged in the hotel business. This was in May, 1911, and Mr. Sturdyvin died on September 1, 1912. Mrs. Sturdyvin conducted the hotel until April, 1914, when she sold it. Mrs. Sturdyvin is an extensive land owner and has accumulated most of her property by her own efforts. She is a capable business woman, and has been very successful. She owns a half section of land in Oklahoma, which is rich in coal and oil deposits, as well as timber. She also owns a quarter section in Scott county, Kansas, and is a stockholder in the Anticline Oil Company of Oklahoma City. and she also owns a cozy home in Whitewater.


Mrs. Sturdyvin is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, No. 178. Whitewater, Kans .. and has held all the offices in that lodge. She is also a member of the Daughters of the Revolution, and has been vice grand, noble grand, chaplain, secretary and district deputy. and has been a delegate to the grand lodge several times. She is also a member of the Whitewater Commercial Club, and takes a keen interest in local affairs.


F. S. Allen, owner and proprietor of the Boyden Abstract Com- pany of El Dorado, Kans., has been identified with the abstract business practically all of his life, and the Boyden Abstract Company is one of the best known institutions of its kind in southern Kansas, and its his- tory, and that of its predecessors, is the history of the abstract business in Butler county.


862


HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY


The first abstract business in El Dorado was started in 1868 by I. W. Cameron. David Boyden bought Cameron out in 1879, and Boyden conducted the business about twenty years. Some time in the seventies David Bronson wrote a set of books and also S. L. Shattell, and after some changes the business was consolidated. This consolidation was brought about by the purchase of all interests concerned by R. H. Haz- lett. W. B. Crough and F. S. Allen. Later the Butler County Abstract Company made a set of books, which Hazlett, Crouch and Allen bought. This was in 1895, and in 1899 Mr. Allen became the sole owner of the institution.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.