USA > Kansas > Cherokee County > History of Cherokee County, Kansas and representative citizens > Part 35
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Arcenith F. Walker and his wife were reared in Illinois, the father in Bond County, and the mother in St. Clair County, and they came to Neosho township, Cherokee County. Kansas, in 1867. Mr. Walker has followed farming and stock-raising ever since. Of their nine children, seven still survive, namely : Jolin, a stonecutter by trade, who is married and re- sides on his farm in Lyon township; Edward, also married, who lives on his farm in Lola township; William, who also has a family, and lives on his farm in Lyon township: Stephen L., about whom we write; Daniel A., who is a dentist in the town of McCune, Crawford County, Kansas; Frederick A., who is an attor- ney at Weir City; and Walter, who is a high school student. Jennie married S. D. New- ton, and was accidentally killed in 1896, at the age of 28 years, leaving a family of four little children. Myrtle died at the age of 18 months.
Mr. Walker was reared in Cherokee Coun- ty, and is a product of hier public schools. From the Columbus High School he went to the Kan- sas Normal College at Fort Scott, and then took up teaching as a profession. This he fol- lowed for eight years through Cherokee Coun- ty, in the meantime preparing for the serious study of the law. After two years spent with C. D. Ashley, a prominent attorney of Colum- bus, he was admitted to the bar on September 25, 1900, and practiced alone until January, 1903, when he formed his present partnership with Judge .A. H. Skidmore. He is considered one of the most promising of the younger mem- bers of the bar, and his past success may be taken as an indication of his future. His quick- ness and ability joined to Judge Skidmore's
learning and experience make a combination of exceeding strength, and the firm handles a large part of the important legal business of this section.
During the late Spanish-American War. Mr. Walker enlisted in Company F. 22nd Reg .. Kansas Infantry, U. S. Volunteers, and re- mained six months in the service, being sta- tioned at Camp Alger and other points in the East, with the rank of sergeant.
Mr. Walker's family consists of a wife and son, the latter a bright lad bearing the name of Maurice Andrew. Mrs. Walker was formerly Minnie Mayhew, whose mother, Mrs. Sarah Mayhew, resides in Columbus. The Mayhew family came to Cherokee County in 1880, and here Mrs. Walker was a successful teacher for about nine years. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Politically, Mr. Walker is a Republican. Like his father, who is a veteran of the Civil War, he is patriotically devoted to his country while at the same time he is fully awake to the needs and the opportunities of his county and city. Possessing a winning address and ster- ling traits of character, many are found to pre- dict a bright future for this able young at- torney.
D E WITT C. SEIBERT, deceased, was one of the early settlers of Cherokee County, and for many years was identified with its important affairs. He was born in Washington County, Mary- land, July 11, 1846, and died in Cherokee County, February 10, 1902. His parents were Henry and Elizabeth ( Martin) Seibert.
Henry Seibert was born November 26, 1815, in Washington County. Maryland, and died July 26, 1871, in Carroll County, Indiana. His wife, Elizabeth Martin, was born April 7, 1822, in Bedford County. Pennsylvania, and
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died October 26, 1867. The Seiberts have all 1:een Democrats in politics, and Presbyterians in religion, and both they and the Martins were prominent men and women in their day. Wil- liam Martin, a brother of the late Mr. Seibert's mother, as one of the responsible men of his locality, was selected as one of the jury called in the case of John Brown, the agitator. Mr. Martin still survives and lives at Harper's Ferry, being an old man now. The late Mr. Seibert was one of a family of eight children. viz: Mrs. Catherine Mullendore, who died at Dodge City, Kansas ; Mrs. Rachel Barnes, who died at Delphi, Indiana ; Mrs. Susan E. Barnes, of Danville, Illinois ; De Witt C .: Emma, who died in Illinois: David, who died on his farm in Indiana ; Abram, who died in Indiana ; and Lewis, who died in boyhood.
The late Mr. Seibert removed with his par- ents to Carroll County, Indiana, when five years of age, and remained there until the fall of 1876, when he came to Cherokee County, and settled on a farm about four miles from Co- lumbus, in Crawford township. Here he pros- pered, and the farm is still owned by his widow, who leases and oversees it personally. In De- cember, 1901, lie removed to Columbus, but enjoyed his pleasant home there but a short time, his death occurring in the following Feb- ruary. He was active in politics, and fre- quently served in township offices. He joined the organization of Odd Fellows while a resi- dent of Indiana.
On February 8. 1870, in Indiana, Mr. Sei- bert was married to Belle F. Wharton, who was born September 17, 1852, in Carroll County. Indiana, and is a daughter of John and Ann A. ( Montgomery ) Wharton. John Wharton was born July 12, 1812, in what was then Mifflin. but is now included in Juniata County, Penn- sylvania, of Scotch-Irish parentage. At the time of his death he had been a ruling elder of the Rock Creek Presbyterian Church for over
50 years, having joined this iligious body m 1832. On February 2, 1866, Mr. Wharton was initiated into Rockfield Lodge. I. O. O. F .. No. 301, and as long as he lived he took an active part in the workings of the order. On March 23. 1837. Mr. Wharton married Aun . 1. Montgomery, who was born at Lewistown. Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, February 23. 1819, and died at Logansport. Cass County. Indiana, July 29. 1901. Her parents came to America from County Tyrone, Ireland, accom- panying their parents to Mifflin County, Penn- sylvania, where they settled down to farming in the fertile Tuscarora Valley. Great-grand- father Wharton served seven years in the Rev- olutionary War, and was taken prisoner by the Indians. Mr. Wharton survived until June 6. 1900, dying on his farm in Carroll County. Indiana, after a residence there of 62 years. In early life a Whig, he later adopted the prin- ciples of the Republican party.
Mrs. Seibert was the youngest of seven children who arrived at maturity, namely : Wil- liam W., a farmer near Logansport, Indiana. and a veteran of the Civil War; Mrs. Lizzie J. Anderson, who died at Mattox, Virginia, in June, 1899; James, a very successful farmer near Bringhurst, Indiana, who was Ist lieuten- ant of Company A, 9th Reg. Indiana Vol. Inf .. and served through four years of the Civil War: S. Edward, also a veteran of the Civil War, who is now engaged in the grocery busi- ness in Chicago: Mrs. Mattie Jordan, who re- sides at Lake Cicott, Indiana: Robert. who is in the employ of the Chicago & Alton Railway Company at Bloom- ington, Illinois: and Mrs. Seibert. The last named was reared and educated in Indiana and there met and married the late De Witt C. Seibert. They had three children, namely : Leila. Lewis and Harry. Leila. who is now the wife of Dr. P. R. Sayer.
a prominent dentist of Columbus, was
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born December 5, 1870, in Carroll County, Indiana. Lewis, who was also born in Car- roll County, March 17. 1874, is interested in farming in Cherokee County; he was married on March 19, 1899, to May Overholser, and has one son, -- Clinton. Harry, who was born in Cherokee County, February 2, 1877, is en- gaged with S. W. Hough, in the undertaking business at Columbus, and on December 28, 1898, was married to Margaret Gaither.
.As before stated, Mrs. Seibert finds pleas- ure and occupation in personally overseeing the homestead farm of 160 acres, and she also owns the handsome family home in Columbus. She has been a member of, and an active worker in, the Presbyterian Church since her childhood. About the time of his marriage, Mr. Seibert became a member of the same denomination, and from 1877 until his death he served as an elder in the Columbus Presbyterian Church. He was a man of upright life and Christian spirit. He commanded the respect of all who knew him, and his death was a distinct loss to Cherokee County.
h A. LARUE, cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of Columbus, the oldest financial institution in Cherokee County, was born in 1868 in Ben- ton County, Iowa, and is a son of T. P. LaRue, the well known capitalist of this section.
Mr. LaRue was a pupil in the public schools of Iowa, and was 18 years of age when he came to Cherokee County, Kansas. Two years later he entered the banking institution of which his father was president, and in 1891 was made cashier. This bank was founded in 1882 by Dwight & Schott: it passed into the hands of Jarvis, Conklin & Company and was then bought by T. A. LaRue in the fall of 1887. The change in name was accomplished in 1902. Its capitalization is $50,000, and its undivided
profits are about $5,000. Its officers are: T. P. LaRue, president ; Isaac Wright, vice-presi- dent ; H. A. LaRue, cashier ; and A. M. Albin, assistant cashier. Mr. LaRue's time is devoted to the business of the bank, and to looking after his extensive real estate investments.
Mr. LaRue married Ella H. Hughes, who came to Kansas in 1880 with her parents. Her father is deceased, but her mother resides in Columbus. Mr. and Mrs. LaRue have one son, Robert H., who was born in Columbus. Mrs. LaRue is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Politically, Mr. LaRue is identified with the Republican party. At present he is serving as treasurer of the Columbus Board of Educa- tion. His fraternal associations include the Masonic Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter at Columbus; and the Knights of Pythias. Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, all of Columbus.
OMMODORE F. COOL, one of the substantial citizens of Columbus, a member of the Logan Abstract & Loan Company of this city, was born in McLean County, Illinois, and is a son of H. and Esther ( Haner ) Cool.
The father of Mr. Cool was born in West Virginia and moved in 1856 to Illinois, where he followed farming until 1870. Then he moved to Cherokee County, Kansas, and se- cured a farm in Lyon township. He died in the fall of 1896. He had served as justice of the peace and on school boards, and had been active in political affairs. The mother of Mr. Cool was born in Illinois, and died in Cherokee County, Kansas, in 1884. The children, he- sides the subject of this sketch, are,-J. W., a farmer in Lyon township, Cherokee County; Mrs. R. D. Oliver, of Webb City, Missouri ; Mrs. Tom Murphy, of Meade County, Kansas ;
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J. E., of Salida, Colorado; and Clarence, of San Francisco, California.
Commodore F. Cool remained at home until he attained his majority. His early life, from the age of seven years until that of 22, was mainly devoted to maintaining himself and lay- ing a foundation for a very liberal education. At the age of 22 years he attended the Quaker Academy for a month, and was a pupil later at Fort Scott, teaching in the meantime, and thus providing himself with funds, so that in 1889 he was graduated with the degrees of B. A., and B. O., at the Kansas State Normal School at Fort Scott, and in 1893 at Emporia he secured a life certificate. The accomplish- ment of this desire meant a great deal, for it was secured entirely through his own unas- sisted efforts, and indicated a perseverance and concentration which will be winning factors through his later life in the business world. He continued in the educational field, serving as principal of the Humboldt High School, then as superintendent of the Scammon schools and then from 1897 to 1901, as county superin- tendent of schools. In the fall of the latter year he resigned the position to become a teacher of elocution, oratory and English in the Cherokee County High School. In June, 1903, Mr. Cool entered into partnership with J. Wilbur Logan, forming the Logan Abstract & Loan Company, an enterprise which is a lead- ing business institution of the city.
Mr. Cool married Catherine Vincent, who for 12 years previously had been a teacher in the Columbus schools. They have three chil- dren,-Christine, Victor Vincent and Court- ney Franklin.
The parents of Mrs. Cool, David and Rachel Vincent, were early settlers at Colum- bus, where Mr. Vincent conducted a hotel and restaurant for a number of years. His death occurred some years since, but Mrs. Vincent
still survives and is a member of Mr. Cool's family.
Mr. Cool has been identified with educa- tional matters ever since he has resided in Co- lumbus. He was president of the board of trustees of the Cherokee County high school, and had much to do with securing its location and getting it into operation. Formerly he was a Republican, but is now a Populist, having been elected county superintendent on the Fu- sion ticket. Since the age of 17 years, he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is an active worker in the churchi, Sunday-school, and Junior League, of which he is now superintendent.
L J. SLEASE, who has been engaged in mercantile pursuits at Columbus since 1886, and is now one of its leading citizens, was born in Arm- strong County, Pennsylvania, in 1858, and is a son of Jacob and Mary (Baker nce Lucas) Slease.
Jacob Slease was a farmer all his life and owned a fine property in Pennsylvania, where his death occurred in 1898, at the age of 70 years, after two visits made to Cherokee Coun- ty, Kansas. In politics, he was an old-line Democrat. The mother died on the home farm in 1895. They reared six children to maturity, namely : John and Harvey, farmers in Penn- sylvania ; L. J., our subject ; George M., who, with Harvey, owns the old homestead; and Emma Jane, who lives on the old homestead with her brothers.
Mr. Slease was 21 years of age when he came to Cherokee County, in 1879, after con1- pleting a good, common-school education and teaching about three years. After coming to this section, he taught school three years near
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Weir City. Ife removed then to Columbus and accepted a clerkship in the Branin Brothers' bookstore, where he remained for three years. until the building was burned. He then en- tered into partnership with W. J. Branin, and for about five years was engaged in book sell- ing, in the front of the post office, moving as the post office was moved. He then sold his in- terest, to engage in his present successful en- terprise.
Mr. Slease is proprietor of the "Fair" which he opened up in what was known as the Branin Building, where he continued two years. Then he removed to the Scammon Building, on the east side of the square. In April, 1896, he iroved to the Opera House Building, in which he is interested as a stockholder. This is one of the finest locations in the city. Here the bus- iness has been developed into a dry goods. clothing, boot, shoe and notion emporium. Mr. Slease carrying a very heavy stock which is accommodated in a building 110 feet deep by 40 feet in width, modernly equipped. The services of four courteous ladies and the same number of gentlemen, on opposite sides of the building, are required, in addition to the assist- ance rendered by Mr. and Mrs. Slease and their son, Charles M. They have devoted close at- tention to the upbuilding of this enterprise for the past 12 years, and have met with gratifying success. Mr. Slease is one of the city's capi- talists ; he is one of the heaviest stockholders in the Columbus Vitrified Brick & Tile Company, and is also interested in the Cherokee County Lumber Company, both successful organi- zations.
Mr. Slease was married in Platte City. Mis- souri, to Maggie Slease, who was born in Penn- sylvania, and who had been prior to her mar- riage a successful teacher in Northern Kansas. They have two intelligent, capable children,- Charles M. and Helen Mary. The former is his father's bookkeeper and cashier. He at-
tended school at Columbus, beginning at the age of six years, and never missing a day until he graduated at the County High School in 1902. This perseverance and attention to duty have accompanied him into business life, and he is laying the foundation for a future prosperous career. The daughter is a student in the Coun- ty High School, and although but 16 years of age is already a valued instructor in instrumen- tal music. She has been the organist for the Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school for some years, and is the assistant church organist. Her talents promise to bring her into prominence in the musical world. The finely improved home of the Slease family is situated in the northern portion of Columbus, and is one of the most valuable residence properties in the city.
Politically, Mr. Slease is a Democrat. In 1901 he was elected mayor of the city, on the Citizens' ticket, and served from 1901 to 1903. His fraternal relations are with the Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, at Columbus. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
OL. W. S. NORTON, who for the past five years has been a valued cit- izen of Columbus, is one of Chero- kee County's most prominent and wealthy residents, a large mine and land owner, a political leader and a sociable, whole-souled gentleman. He was born in July. 1845, at Paris, Illinois, and is a son of Amos and Eliza- beth ( Frasier) Norton.
Amos Norton was born in 1826 in Cincin- nati, Ohio, and was a nephew of "Little Ben" Norton, the noted territorial Senator from Ohio, who was also the first Senator elected from that commonwealth when it became a State. In 1854 Amos Norton visited Kansas but did not locate here, settling at Buffalo, Mis- souri. In 1855 he purchased land south of
,
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Buffalo, in Dallas County, Missouri, and was engaged in farming and stock-raising until the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted as quartermaster of the 14th Regiment, Missouri State Militia, and was captured and killed by Turner's band of guerrillas, on April 2. 1863. His widow, who was a daughter of William Frasier, of Kentucky, died at the home of the subject of this sketch in Columbus, in 1901, in advanced age. Of their three sons, only Colonel Norton ever became prominent in this section1.
The adventurous and interesting career of Colonel Norton dates from his 15th year, when he left his home at Buffalo ( where his father had located. bringing the family from Edgar County, Illinois, when our subject was nine years old) and enlisted in the Missouri State Guards. This took place May 4, 1861, and for 10 months he served in Company A of this organization and then for 90 days. in the Home Guards, and later, in the 8th Regiment, Missouri Vol. Cav., from which he was honor- ably discharged in September, 1865. with a commission. The close of the war found him, like many others, in doubt as to his future, dif- ferent localities presenting their claims, but many having serious drawbacks attached. Thuis his venture into Old Mexico only resulted in a breakdown of health. and January, 1866, found him back at work on the home farm. In the following summer he first came to Chero- kee County, Kansas, a section in which he is now so well known and so highily valued.
At this time, on account of a heavy fire loss, Colonel Norton was some thousands of dollars in debt ; all his obligations have long since been discharged, dollar for dollar. He located one and a half miles west of the present site of Galena on government land which had been transferred to James F. Joy, the pro- moter and builder of the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad. Settlers who had lo-
cated were exempt and could keep their lands. Colonel Norton purchased from the heirs of John Ross. In three years he broke out and seeded a portion of the tract, made improve- ments, secured the location of a post office at the crossroads town of Checo, served as its first postmaster and then sold out to Rev. Mr. Stephens, whose son is now a business man of Galena. Mr. Stephens succeeded as postmas- ter, and served as such until the organization of the town of Galena.
In 1869 Colonel Norton began school teach- ing near Carthage, Missouri, and lived there until February, 1871, engaging also in freight- ing between Granby and Sedalia. He then settled in Joplin, where he began his mercantile career and his mining operations. His earlier mining ventures were in lead and zinc, but his present operations are confined mainly to coal mining and are extensive and successful. He owns over 2,000 acres of land in Cherokee County, 600 of which are included in two stock ranches, one located south of Lowell, and the other, northwest of Columbus, the rest of the property being coal and farming land. For 15 years he had given his attention closely to his coal and mercantile enterprises, but in the fall of 1903 he closed out the latter, which had been conducted at Scammon.
Colonel Norton is a lawyer by profession, and was in active practice from 1881 to 1900. having been admitted to the bars of Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas. It is not remarkable that a man so identified with such large business in- terests, should be also prominent politically. He was reared in the traditions of the Democratic party, but has long been affiliated with the Re- publican party, and served as State Senator from Cherokee County, from 1888 to 1892. He served for six years as mayor of Baxter Springs, and has been a leading factor in almost all of the public affairs of this section for the past 30 years.
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On April 11, 1883, Colonel Norton was married to Mary A. Stall, who was probably the first female infant born at Fort Leaven- worth, Kansas, her father being a lieutenant of United States Dragoons, who subsequently met death from wounds, during the Civil War, at Andersonville Prison. Mrs. Stall died in California. Colonel and Mrs. Norton have two children,-Maude, who is yet a student at col- lege, and Claude, who is a student in the Mis- souri Military Academy, at Mexico, Missouri. Mrs. Norton and her daughter are members of the Presbyterian Church. The Colonel has liberal views, but they never take him very tar from orthodoxy.
His social and fraternal associations are with the Columbus G. A. R. Post, in which he has filled chairs at Baxter and Galena, and with the Masonic Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Chap- ter of Columbus.
P R. SAYER, D. D. S., secretary and treasurer of the Sayer & Puttkamer Mining Company, of Cherokee County, and one of the leading den- tal practitioners of Columbus, was born in 1872 near Des Moines, Iowa, and is a son of G. W. and Margaret ( Malone) Sayer.
The parents of Dr. Sayer moved from Iowa to Kansas in 1876 and settled near Manhattan, where they were engaged in farming until the spring of 1889, when they came to Cherokee County, and now reside in the vicinity of Crest- line. They had the following children : P. R .; William and Roy, of Cherokee County ; T. V., formerly a dental practitioner, but now inter- ested in mining ; and Charles.
P. R. Sayer was reared in Kansas and was a pupil in the common schools of Cherokee County. In 1896 he entered the office of Dr. J. O. Houx, for the study of dentistry, and also took a literary course in the State Normal
School at Fort Scott. He remained two years with Dr. Houx and in 1899 opened an office of his own at Columbus, where he has met with the most satisfactory success. He has a finely equipped suite of rooms in the LaRue Building.
Dr. Sayer has been quite extensively inter- ested in mining operations for some years, giv- ing attention to lead and zinc working in the Galena district and, as stated, is an official of the Sayer & Puttkamer Mining Company, the president and general superintendent of which is John Puttkamer, and the vice-president, T. V. Sayer. The property is considered very val- uable, and the developing work now in pro- gress gives every promise of rich returns.
At Columbus, Dr. Sayer married a daugh- ter of DeWitt C. Seibert, who was an early set- tler of Cherokee County. They have two chil- dren,-Constance Annabel and Grace Emeline. They enjoy a pleasant home with beautiful sur- roundings, in the southwestern part of the city. Dr. and Mrs. Sayer are members of the Pres- byterian Church.
Fraternally, Dr. Sayer is a member of the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, and he belongs also to the State Den- tal Association of Kansas. Politically, he is identified with the Democratic party.
P. LARUE, president of the First National Bank of Columbus, and one of the leading capitalists of Cherokee County, was born in 1844 in Morrow County, Ohio, and is a son of Aaron LaRue.
The LaRue family is of French extraction, and the American branch was instituted by Huguenot refugees who became prominent in the State of Virginia and, later, in Ohio. Aaron LaRue was born in Virginia in 1800, and died in Iowa in 1885. He took his family to Iowa
ANDREW SHEARER
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in 1856, and settled on a farm in the vicinity of Vinton, in Benton County.
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