USA > Kansas > Cherokee County > History of Cherokee County, Kansas and representative citizens > Part 51
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
Mr. Smith was a type of the best pioneer class, honest, upright, deeply religious and pos- sessing the calm judgment which many among the pioneers lacked. His death in 1854 was a serious loss to the little community. Troubles came but they never drove him from his home- stead and there he passed away. His worthy wife survived until 1863. the troubles incident to the Civil War despoiling her home and breaking up her family, clouding the last years of a most admirable and exemplary life.
Marcus Lafayette Smith is the fifth of the family of seven children, consisting of four sons and three daughters, of which family two daughters and three sons still survive. He was born May 13, 1844, two miles east of the city of Galena, across the line in Missouri, and his boyhood was passed on the farm. His educa- tion was such as could be secured in a subscrip- tion school which was a primitive log structure that stood on the present site of Central City. The floor was of puncheons and the benches were slabs, while a long slab desk sufficed to hold the copy book and the few scattered text- books. Three months in the year was the limit of his school attendance, yet who shall say, in considering Mr. Smith today, that modern methods and appliances are necessary in the education of a useful and successful citizen.
After, the death of his father, Mr. Smith continued to farm the home land and was mak- ing satisfactory progress when the Civil War broke out. Taking the advice of the officers of the Union Army, Mrs. Smith decided to remain on her homestead, but our subject and his brother. were taken prisoners, their home was despoiled and for four months the sons were confined at Little Rock and Fort Smith. Finally they were exchanged at Helena, Ar- kansas, proceeded up the Mississippi River to St. Louis and then by train to Rollo, that be- ing the terminus of the railroad line ; two days later, our subject's brother died, at Marsfield,
435
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
Missouri, from the hardships of prison life. In the spring of 1862, Mr. Smith reached home, having come the distance from Rollo on foot. He did not feel secure from capture, but put in a small crop on the land, hoping for the best, and in the following July moved his aged mother and his family to Humboldt, Kansas. On the following day he enlisted in Company M, 9th Reg., Kansas Vol. Cav., and saw much service on the border, and in Arkansas, serving until the close of the war under Captain Mc- Connell and Colonel Linn.
After the war had ended, Mr. Smith, with the rest of the family, moved back to the old dismantled home, rebuilt the log houses and for a while followed farming on the old fields. Finally he left the farm and went down on the river and settled at the point where old Boston Mills was afterward built on land where he settled. He remained there until 1870. This property, situated two and a half miles north- west of Galena, he traded for a farm due north of Galena, to which he moved and where he continued to follow the pursuits of agriculture until about 1873. Then he returned to Boston Mills and engaged in storekeeping for three years, when he removed his stock and family to Lowell. There he continued in the mercan- tile business for a number of years, but in the summer of 1880 he removed to Sumner County, Kansas, where he was extensively in- terested in farming, stock-raising, merchandis- ing and banking. For some time he also en- gaged in a mercantile business at Canyon City, Colorado. When the Cherokee Strip was about to be opened, he returned and remained at Wichita until the time came, when he moved to Perry with a transfer outfit and for about two years, with three good teams, did an im- mense transportation business. In 1896 he returned to Galena, where he had begun to develop mines on his property and settled per-
manently, engaging in mining until 1903. Since then he has resumed merchandising.
Mr. Smith was married in 1866, in Mis- souri, to Mary L. E. Kelly, who is a daughter of John D. Kelly, a prominent man of South- eastern Missouri, and they had three children, of whom two grew to maturity: J. F., who married Amanda Cummings and has three chil- dren,-Flossie May, Fleta and Marcus Lafay- ette, and Nannie J., who is the wife of J. P. Broomfield, of Galena, and has one child,- Maude Lee. The family belong to the Chris- tian Church.
Mr. Smith has taken an active part in Galena affairs. He has served on the Lowell township board, on the School Board and as a member of the City Council of Galena. Fra- ternally, he is an Odd Fellow and has passed all the chairs. He belongs also to the Frank P. Blair Post, G. A. R., of Galena. Politically a stanch Republican, he has many times been honored by appointment as delegate to various conventions.
Mr. Smith has witnessed almost all of the development of this section. He can recall crossing from Spring River to Osage Mission, a distance of 60 miles, by ox-team, not a single dwelling the whole way and not a foot of it where he could escape those early pests, the green flies and numerous snakes, many of them of a poisonous variety.
D EWITT CLINTON WILLIAMS, who resides in section 22, township 33, range 25, in Shawnee township, is one of the most prosperous agricul- turists of Cherokee County. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 1, 1841, and is a son of Rev. Joel and Sarah Jane (Swords) Williams, and a grandson of Joel Williams.
436
HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
The Williams family is of Scotch-Irish ex- traction. Joel Williams was a native of Penn- sylvania, and in early life had quite a reputa- tion as an Indian fighter. He moved to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, where he conducted the first hotel, and became a man of wealth and promi- nence in the young city.
Rev. Joel Williams was born in Pennsyl- vania, and when a small boy accompanied his parents to Cincinnati, Ohio, when that place was little more than a steamboat landing, and the inhabitants frequently found it necessary to seek shelter from the Indians in a block house. When Joel was 16 years old his father died, leaving a large estate, his share of which was a farm of 300 acres and $10,000 in money. He secured a good education, and after grad- uating from Oxford College, edited a paper in Steubenville, Ohio, for awhile. He later en- gaged in mercantile business and being obliged to leave the affairs of the concern to the care of his partners, much of his fortune disap- peared through their mismanagement. He was always a very religious man, and shortly after his marriage was ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and became an itinerant preacher. In the fall of 1841, he set- tled upon the land in Clinton County which he had inherited, and in the meantime kept a store near the town of Sabina. Ohio. He did not re- main long in the Methodist Church, but soon became a preacher in the United Brethren Church. He removed to Williamsburg in 1852, and remained there until his death in 1856, con- tinuing to preach until the last. He was joined in marriage with Sarah Jane Swords, danghter of Kinsey Swords, a native of Steubenville, and a turner by trade. The following named children blessed this union: Charlotte I., deceased, who was the wife of William Rosser ; Kinsey Swords, who died as a result of wounds received at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, near Atlanta, Georgia; DeWitt Clinton: Joel
Harris, of Rockford, Minnesota; Ann Eliza, second wife of William Rosser; Granville Franklin, of Bloomington, Ohio; and Emma Jane, wife of John A. Johnson, who lives near Sabina, Ohio. Mrs. Williams was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church from the time she was II years of age. She died in 1867, aged 54 years.
Owing to the loss of his father's fortune, DeWitt C. Williams received a very meagre education in the common schools. At an early age he went to work in the chair factory at Williamsburg, and when 20 years old became apprenticed to the trade of tile and pottery making. He continued at this work for about eight years, but found it did not agree with his health. He then moved West to Carroll- ton, Missouri, where he stayed one winter, and was married April 1, 1869. On the night of his marriage he started with his bride for Kan- sas. That year he took a homestead in Salina County, where he farmed for 18 years. He greatly improved his farm, and sold it to good advantage. He served for a time on the School Board and as justice of the peace, while living there. In 1886 he came to Cherokee County and until 1894 rented and farmed different places. In that year he bought a tract of 80 acres, and by dint of hard work and good man- agement has increased his holdings to 547 acres in Shawnee township. He makes a spe- cialty of hay raising and cuts about 400 tons. being the largest hay producer in the county. His reputation as such is extensive, and he is sometimes called "Hay" Williams, letters fre- quently being thus addressed to him. He also has about 90 acres in corn and 70 in oats. and uses most of his grain for feed. He has 12 head of horses and 40 head of cattle. In busi- ness affairs he has displayed unusual ability. He is an untiring worker, and the success he has attained is due to his individual efforts.
On May 2, 1864, Mr. Williams enlisted in
437
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
Company A, 154th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., and was honorably discharged September 1, 1864. On April 1, 1869, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Nancy A. Nevius, a daughter of William Nevius, a native of Indiana. To them have been born 10 children, as follows : Clement F .; Mary Malvina, who died at the age of 16 years; Jacob B .; Benjamin N .; Lutetia S., wife of J. Holmes Lucas, of Shaw- nee township; Sarah Jane; Ralph Waldo; Lottie E .; Ruth E .; and Olive Alberta, who was burned to death in April, 1900, at the age of six years. Of the living children, Mrs. Lucas is the only one not at home. Politically, the subject of this sketch is a stanch Republi- can, he has been a member of the School Board many years and at the present time is a director.
AMES O'MALLEY, a prominent farmer of Cherokee County, whose farm lies in section 3, township 32, range 23, in Ross township, was born March 4, 1847, in County Limerick, Ireland.
His parents, John and Mary (Clancy) O'Malley, were also born in Ireland, where they were married; they lived in County Lim- erick until 1847. Emigrating to America, John O'Malley located in New Jersey, where, after the family joined him, they farmed for seven years. Then they moved to Bureau County. Illinois, where they remained until 1868. At this period they again turned their faces west- ward, and another year found them settled on 160 acres of wild land in Cherokee County, Kansas, where Scammon now stands. Besides being one of the pioneer farmers here, John O'Malley was also the owner of the first coal mine opened in this section. His death oc- curred in 1876, on the home place, to the in- provement of which he had given so much time and labor. The death of his wife occurred
some time earlier, in Bureau County, Illinois. Both were devout members of the Catholic Church. Mr. O'Malley was a Democrat, in politics, although never aspiring to office. The family consisted of 11 children, nine of whom were born in Ireland and two in America. Those living are: Patrick, of Montgomery County, Iowa; Catherine, of Henry County, Illinois ; James; David, a resident of Scammon, and Fannie (Mrs. Michael Fleming), of Ross township.
James O'Malley came to America in 1849, with his mother and the children, the father having preceded them two years previously. In March, 1864, James enlisted in Company F, 53d Reg., Illinois Vol. Inf. He was with Sherman in his "March to the Sea" and was discharged at Chicago, Illinois, July 22, 1865.
Upon his return home, Mr. O'Malley stayed one year, and was employed in different occu- pations. He then rented and cultivated a farm in Bureau County, Illinois. Here he married, in 1868, to Mary Swain. To them have been born II children, nine of whom are living, as follows: John, a miner, who resides in Stone City ; Jane, now the wife of Henry A. Rockefeller, an engineer, of Ross township; Rosie, now Mrs. Reno, whose husband is a miner at Stone City, Kansas; Lena, wife of Michael Wagner, a pit boss at Stone City; Kate, wife of George Lanning, a miner, of Scammon; William A., who lives at home, and is employed in the mines; and Maude, Patrick and Mabel, who are at home. Two children, Margaret and Michael, died when very young.
After his marriage, the subject of this sketch farmed in Illinois until 1871, when he came alone to Cherokee County, Kansas, his wife following in June of that year. They located on the northwest quarter of section 3. township 32, range 23, in Ross township. The land was all wild, and only a small portion
438
HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
was broken the first year. During the winter Mr. O'Malley moved to Scammon where he found employment in the coal mines. For three years the family spent their summers on the farm and the winters in Scammon. The crops put in on the farm were sod corn and fall wheat, which yielded well when the seasons were favorable. Their home consisted of a small, box house at first, to which additions were made later, until it was a comfortable home, and they occupied it until 1904, when a beautiful new, two-story house was com- pleted, which has nine large rooms.
The work of the farm comprises general farming, and the care of horses, hogs, cattle and mules. All kinds of fruit trees were planted some years ago, and now produce large quantities for home use and market. The im- provements on this farm were all made by the owner, and he justly deserves the peace and plenty which come from hard labor, persever- ance and pluck.
Mr. O'Malley has always been a man of in- fluence in the county, and has taken an active interest in affairs. As a Democrat, he is a familiar figure at all the local public gatherings of that party, although he does not care for office. He has been treasurer of the township 12 years, and for 16 years has served on the School Board. He and his family are highly regarded in the county, where they have so long resided.
O. JOHNSTON, one of the promi- nent farmers of Crawford township, operating the west half of section 8, township 33, range 24, has been a resident of the county since 1885. He was born in Monroe County, Missouri, in 1860, and is a son of Jolin A. and Catherine (Link) Johnston.
John A. Johnston was born in what is now
West Virginia, formerly included in Virginia, and removed to Missouri in young manhood with his bride. He located in Shelby County in 1881, and died there on his farm, February 7, 1901, aged 76 years. His wife died in 1862. He was a prominent farmer and a good citizen. He was a member of the Baptist Church. The subject of this sketch has two brothers and a half brother, and a sister and a half sister, viz. : William R., of Aurora, Missouri ; George L., of Paris, Missouri ; Mrs. Ella Wedding, of Maud, Missouri; Eva, of Maud, Missouri; and John T., of Macon, Missouri.
The subject of this sketch was reared in Missouri where he attended school and learned the practical details of farming, which he has successfully followed all his life, with the ex- ception of two years when he was engaged in mining in Galena. In 1885 he came to Chero- kee County, Kansas, and located one mile north of Columbus. He remained two years on the Housholder farm, and then moved to the Scovel farm in Salamanca township. There he con- tinued for seven years,-up to 1894,-when he spent one year on the Stanley farm. Thence lie moved to the Cheney farm in Crawford town- ship, and six years later to the farm belonging to George M. Fisher, which he now cultivates. Mr. Johnston is a careful, scientific agriculturist and success has invariably attended his farm- ing operations, which have covered so many years that he may justly be considered an authority on the fertility and productiveness of Cherokee County soil.
On April 6, 1882, Mr. Johnston was mar- ried in Shelby County, Missouri, to Mollie Medley, who was born in Shelby County, De- cember 19, 1862, and is a daughter of Ashford and Mary ( Heathman) Medley, early residents of the county. Later, they removed to the Indian Territory, where Mr. Medley is still engaged in farming. His wife died in the Indian Territory, May 9, 1902, aged 62 years.
439
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
Mrs. Johnston has 12 brothers and sisters, namely : John W., engaged in mercantile pur- suits in the Indian Territory ; Henry, who died there six years ago; Wesley and Frank, who are farmers in the Indian Territory ; Evans M., who is a resident of Missouri ; Ashley and Loen, who are farmers,-the former, in Missouri, and the latter in the Indian Territory ; Mrs. Georgia Rogers, who died in the Indian Territory, in December, 1894; Callie, who died in May, 1895; Mrs. Ava James, who died January 29, 1900; and Mrs. Jennie Burns and Mrs. Lucy Brewer, who live in the Indian Territory.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have seven chil- dren, viz .: Alta, born in Missouri, March 24, 1884, who is the wife of John Gray, and lives in Cherokee County ; Lulu, born January 20, 1886; Carrie, born June 20, 1888; Fred and Gertrude (twins), born March 6, 1891; Ar- thur, born October 29, 1893; and Carl, born February 5, 1901. The six last named were born in Crerokee County, and reside at home. Mrs. Johnston is a member, and the rest of the family are attendants, of the Baptist Church.
Politically, Mr. Johnston is a Democrat, and is now serving as school director of Dis- trict No. 79, in Crawford township. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and belongs to he Anti-Horse Thief Associa- tion.
OHN PAGE, one of the oldest and most successful mine operators in Chero- kee County, is an influential citizen of Galena and has witnessed the city's growth from its infancy. He has aided ma- terially in its development and has frequently been called upon to accept some position of public trust.
Mr. Page was born in England, January 21, 1848, and is a son of Richard Barmby Page. His education was very limited and at
the age of 12 years he left home to make his own way in the world. At the age of 19 years he sailed for America, landing in New York City. The same year he journeyed West to Kansas City, Missouri, and for a time clerked under H. C. Craig, agent of the old Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad at Paola. Mr. Craig is now general superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph for the "Frisco" system. Our subject removed to Joplin, Mis- souri, where he engaged in dyeing and clean- ing clothes and caps for some years, and is still well known there to the older settlers of the city. While there he also engaged in mining on the old Baker tracts. He came to Cherokee County, Kansas, in 1880, and located at Galena, where he sold peanuts on the streets for a time, at the same time being interested in mining. He would work all day and frequently until midnight, and it was by such industrious efforts that he forced his way to the front. For a period of 23 years he has been manager of the Illinois Lead & Zinc Company, formerly known as the Bloomington Mining Company, and was the man to sink the shaft where James Murphy is now excavating. He struck ore at 13 feet for the Bloomington company; its suc- cessor has 228 acres, which it leases in 10 and 20 acre tracts. Under the excellent manage- ment and supervision of Mr. Page, this com- pany has been very successful. He was one of the organizers of the Central Mining Company, which he still owns, the officers of the company being at the present time: Richard Page, president; Mrs. Annie Page, vice-president ; Pearl Page, secretary, and John Page, treasurer and manager. This mining land was leased from the John M. Cooper M. & M. Company. This company is about to take up more land and its affairs are in excellent condition. The John M. Cooper M. & M. Company organized the New Century Zinc & Lead Mining Company in 1902 and Mr. Page was elected president.
440
HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
This company controls 1,000 acres of land. Our subject served seven or eight years as city sexton, two terms on the School Board, and from 1889 to 1892 was mayor of the city, its progress being marked during his administra- tion.
Mr. Page was first united in marriage with Barbara Ashenfelter, who died leaving one daughter, Mrs. Daisy Stough, who resides in Colorado and has five daughters and one son. He formed a second union with Annie Klein, a native of Buffalo, New York, and they are parents of five children, namely : Richard, Pearl, Irene, James and Marie. Mr. Page lives with his family in a comfortable home on Main street, south of Eighth. Fraternally, he has been an Odd Fellow for many years and was a member of Unity Lodge, in Manchester, England. He is past noble grand of Galena Lodge and has passed all the chairs. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, and numerous insurance orders.
AMUEL OSCAR McDOWELL. one of the oldest and best known citizens of Columbus, which city he has served five times as mayor, was born March 3, 1848, in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and is a son of Dr. Calvin C. and Eliza Jane ( Yea- man) McDowell.
The McDowell family is of Scotch extrac- tion, but both parents of our subject were born in the United States, the father in Virginia and the mother in New Jersey. They migrated to Indiana in youth and the mother died when Samuel O. was a child of four years. Dr. Calvin C. McDowell was born September 20. 1820, and died in Cherokee County, Kansas, in October, 1883. He was one of the promi- nent men and eminent physicians of Cherokee County, to which he came in the fall of 1866.
He took a leading part in the early land strug- gles of that time, carried on farming and prac- ticed his profession and through his whole life was one of the notable men of this section. He was one of the founders of a town called Wirtonia, which has been absorbed by a stronger community. His father, who had been a salt manufacturer at Kanawha, West Virginia, and who was a veteran of the War of 1812, died at Dr. McDowell's home in Cher- okee County, in the fall of 1881, aged 87 years.
Samuel O. McDowell attended the schools of Indiana until the age of 14 years. When only 15 years of age, he enlisted in Company M, IIth Reg., Indiana Vol. Cav., and served for the succeeding 16 months, mostly in Ala- bama. The fortunes of war fell heavily upon this loyal lad, for injuries came to him in the pursuit of duty which necessitated the amputa- tion of his left arm. After his return home, he completed his interrupted education at the Stockwell Collegiate Institute, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and in the spring of 1869 was married. After marriage he engaged in teach- ing for a short time and then returned to Kan- sas, having made a prospective settlement in 1867. In the spring of 1870 he located at Columbus, Cherokee County, and took charge of the post office, his brother being postmaster, until the following January, when he was ap- pointed to the office and served in the same for IO years, until January, 1881.
In 1876, Mr. McDowell purchased the Columbus Courier, then a reform paper, and changed the policy to that of ardent Republi- canism, successfully conducting it until 1887. With A. T. Lea he founded the Galena Miner, at Galena, and was one of the best known news- paper men in Southeastern Kansas for many years. As a zealous and trustworthy party man, he was honored by the Republicans on many occasions and gave faithful service
AC
JAMES T. SMALL
443
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
through years of public agitation. For four years ( 1884-85-86-87) he was sergeant-at- arms of the State Senate; was executive clerk to Governors John A. Martin and L. U. Hum- phries (1887-88-89) ; and in 1889-1890 and a part of 1891 he was chief clerk of the Kan- sas State Penitentiary. Since then Mr. Mc- Dowell has been an editorial writer and silently interested in various business enterprises. Formerly he was a member of the Republican State Central Committee and has served as a delegate to many important conventions, his leadership long being recognized.
On May 1, 1869, in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, he was married to Birdie Mckinsey, daughter of John and Catherine Mckinsey, who died in October, 1898, leaving a daughter, -Mrs. W. M. Pye, of Kansas City, Missouri. His second marriage in April, 1904, was to Mrs. Lucilla E. Walrod, of Indianapolis.
Mr. McDowell has long been a very promi- nent member of the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, serving as noble grand in the former order and has just retired from the office of grand chancellorship of the Knights of Pythias of the State of Kansas. He has been active in this organization since 1880, is a member of the Uniform Rank and commanded the Second Regiment for six years prior to becoming grand chancellor. He has also been one of the leading members of the Grand Army of the Republic, which he joined in Indi- ana, five months after its organization and is past post commander of John A. Dix Post, No. 59, of Columbus.
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.