USA > Kansas > Cherokee County > History of Cherokee County, Kansas and representative citizens > Part 65
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In the matter of politics the McCombs fam-
ily were stanch Democrats prior to the war. since which time they have supported the poli- cies of the Republican party. When a resident of McPherson County, John T. McCombs acted as deputy sheriff and held other minor offices. Both brothers are members of the G. A. R. and of the A. H. T. A., and both are regarded most highly by their friends and neighbors.
m OSES F. MERRILL, a prominent farmer of Cherokee County, who lives in section 24, township 32, range 22, in Sheridan township, was born in Warren, Grafton County, New Hampshire, January 15, 1826, and is a son of Nathaniel and Betsy (Bixby) Merrill. His parents were both New Englanders; the for- mer a native of New Chester, New Hampshire, and the latter of Vermont. The father lived all his life in Warren, and was married there, and there is where both the father and mother died. A successful farmer, he was the proud owner of one of the largest farms in his sec- tion. Besides the occupation of farming, he could, like the typical New Englander, turn his hand to anything. In politics he was a Democrat, though never taking a very active part in the affairs of his party. A member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he was a leader in all religious affairs. He was widely known and highly esteemed for his strict re- ligious views, his upright character and his charity for all.
The family numbered seven children : Mo- ses F., our subject ; Nathaniel, living in Graf- ton County, New Hampshire ; Asa B., who also makes his home in New Hampshire; Laura, who married Ira Weeks of Grafton County, New Hampshire; Sabina, the widow of Joseph Snow, who was a farmer of Crawford County, Kansas; Ruth D., wife of Levi Whitcher, of
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HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
Hollis, New Hampshire; and George B., of Grafton County, New Hampshire.
Mr. Merrill acquired his education in the home schools of his native State and in Brook- lyn Center, now included within the city of Cleveland, Ohio. The first 20 years of his life was spent at home, working on the farm. On April 20, 1846, he went to Brooklyn Center, Ohio, where he attended school for two years and taught for awhile, afterwards becoming a teacher in the Illinois schools where he taught for two winters in Will County. Later he spent some time in Mississippi and Louisiana cutting wood for a living. Returning to Illi- nois and later going to Iowa, he entered 360 acres of land in the latter State and bought 160 acres. This land he improved a great deal, making farms out of the wild expanse of prai- rie, and at the same time he became interested in sawmills. Returning to Will County, Illi- nois. he spent some time there, and later in Indiana worked in a nursery, where he grafted over 50,000 trees and the second season he took charge of the business in the absence of the proprietor. He remained there four years and then returned to Guthrie County, Iowa. Mr. Merrill has owned several farms and improved many acres of land. At one time he was owner of three farms in Atchison County, Missouri.
In 1867, Mr. Merrill purchased land in Kansas. His farm now comprises 320 acres in Sheridan township, in sections 23 and 24, township 32, range 22. He is now retired from active work and rents his farm out. But with his knowledge of planting and sowing, of different varieties of land, and his experi- ence in different States, he keeps alive his in- terest in his farm and other farmlands, though not actively engaged in the work. During the Civil War, Mr. Merrill was a member of Com- pany H, 58th Reg., Missouri State Militia. He is a Republican in politics though he has never been active in the work of his party. In
religious affairs he has always been active as a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Merrill married Mary H. Snow, of Bangor, Maine, in Guthrie County, Iowa. Mrs. Merrill died June 16, 1900, aged 59 years, two months and four days. Our subject started in life a poor boy and made his way up, until he is the owner of fine farms and a good home. He has won success by attending strictly to business, and by honest and upright dealings, has well earned the respect and high esteem in which he is held by all who know him.
Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Merrill accom- pany this sketch, being presented on foregoing pages in proximity to this.
J AMES PORTER, who can claim the distinction of being one of the oldest settlers of Cherokee County, having come to his present farm in Garden township, with his pioneer father, in 1858, was born October 15, 1847, in Jefferson County, Missouri, and is a son of James and Anna (Carr) Porter.
The father of our esteemed subject, who was also a native of Jefferson County, Mis- souri, died at his home in section 35, township 34, range 25, in Garden township, January 30, 1897. The mother was born in Virginia and died in 1872. Of their three children who reached maturity, our subject is the youngest and the only survivor.
In the fall of 1857, the father of the subject of these lines crossed the Missouri line into Cherokee County, Kansas, in search of a home on these fertile, undulating prairies. Although many early settlers found the Indians vengeful and dangerous, Mr. Porter soon established friendly relations with them which continued through life and were of material benefit to him, whether in bartering for their skins and
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pelts, at the Falls, on Shoal Creek, or in being their companion on fishing and hunting ex- peditions. The first winter spent on the banks of beautiful Spring River, east of Baxter Springs, but early in 1858 he purchased of a Cherokee Indian, named John Blythe, the pres- ent farm of our subject,-a quarter section in section 35, township 34, range 25, in Garden township. About 20 acres of the land was under cultivation and a log house and stable had been built. Mr. Porter and family lived on this farm until 1863, when the troubles in this section incident to the Civil War forced many Union men and sympathizers to become refugees. Mr. Porter and family remained in the vicinity of St. Louis, Missouri, until 1866, when they returned to the farm in Garden town- ship and began making improvements. This has been his son's home ever since. In 1900, James Porter, our subject, erected a substantial farm residence and for many years has enjoyed the abundant products of his fertile, well tilled acres.
In January, 1872, Mr. Porter married Armilda Allen, who was born in Missouri, and they have five children, viz: Queen (Mrs. Oscar Barter), of Webb City, Missouri; Charles, who married Emma Carver, and has three sturdy sons,-Roy, Ray and John; Stephen, who married Annie Beach, and re- sides in the Indian Territory; Nora (Mrs. Charles Hollingsworth), who resides at Galena, and has two children,-Mabel and Ivan; and Fannie, the latter living at home with hier parents.
Mr. Porter remembers the little log school house where he received his tuition. Its ac- commodations were meager, for the residents of this country were still struggling with the problems of existence. He has always re- cognized the claims of education and much of the excellence of the present public school
system in Garden township is owing to his in- telligent work as a member of the School Board. He has also always been an advocate of good roads and has used his influence in their construction in the township, casting his vote for public improvements, regardless of fear or favor. He recalls the time when the woods teemed with interest, when deer and wild tur- keys were abundant and the streams were full of fine fish. He is one of the well known men of Garden township and feels almost a fatherly interest in it, by reason of his long residence here.
R ICHARD ORLANDO THOMAS, a well known farmer living near Baxter Springs, in Spring Valley township, was born in Morrow County, Ohio, September 12, 1857. His farm is located in section 15, township 35, range 24, in Cherokee County. He belongs to an old and honored family of Ohio, who originally came from Wales. The first family bearing that name, upon coming to America, settled in Harmony township, Morrow County, Ohio. At the or- ganization of the township, it contained only one family that was not related to the Thomases. The earlier settlers bearing this name followed the occupation of farming, though the grandfather of our subject became a minister of the Gospel and for many years was a preacher in the "old-time" Baptist Church.
David Thomas, the father of our subject, was born in Wales in 1809, and moved with his parents to this country. He grew to man- hood in Ohio, receiving his education in the schools of Morrow County. Following the example of his ancestors, he became interested in farming and followed that occupation all his life. He married Mary Jane George, a
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1
daughter of Enoch George, both of whom were natives of Wales. Their family consisted of the following children : Enoch G., who died in Cherokee County in 1902; Mary Jane, widow of James Ogden, now the wife of Rev. Mr. Shumacker, a Baptist minister of Morrow County, Ohio; Annie, wife of Joseph Denman, a farmer of Morrow County, Ohio; Richard Orlando, subject of this review; and a child that died at the age of two years. David Thomas and his wife lived their lives in Mor- row County, dying within a few weeks of each other, in 1862.
Richard Orlando Thomas received his early education in Morrow County, Ohio, and later completed it in the schools of Mercer County, of the same State, at the age of 21. After leav- ing school he learned the trade of carpenter, and followed that occupation for several years, part of that period being spent in Noble Coun- ty, Indiana. In 1883 he concluded that the West held greater opportunities for the trades as well as the farmer, and moving to Kansas, located in Cherokee County. Here he engaged in farming and stock-raising and later became interested in the putting up of hay in the Indian Territory, and but recently acquired valuable mining lands there.
On June 14, 1882, just one year previous to his removal to Kansas, Mr. Thomas was united in marriage to Jennie Cordell, daughter of George Cordell, a farmer of Marysville, Missouri. To this marriage seven children were born, all of whom are living, as follows : Annie Myrtle, Mary Bernice, Bessie, Grace, Lee, Charles and Howard. These children are all at home attending school.
Fraternally, Mr. Thomas is a member of the A. O. U. W. He is a lifelong Democrat. As members of the Baptist Church, all of this family are interested workers. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are well known and are held in the highest regard by all who know them.
H. TROTTER. Of the rural fam- ilies whose close connection with the development of Cherokee County merits special mention in this volume, is that of the gentleman whose name is used as the caption of this review, which is one of the most worthy. Mr. Trotter has been a citizen of the county since 1883. coming from Indiana, the State of his birth. He resides in section 27, township 33, range 23, in Salamanca township.
The Trotters are an old and honorable fam- ily in America, and are originally of Scotch- Irish extraction. The father of W. H. Trot- ter, John Trotter, was born in 1798, in County Armagh, Ireland, where his parents had set- tled upon their removal from Scotland. When WV. H. was 17 years old, the family sailed from Belfast, for America, the three-months trip in a sailing vessel being in marked contrast with the seven or eight day voyage of the present time. The "Great West", which at that time was the Ohio Valley, then proved a stronger attraction than the crowded city, and they journeyed to Harrison County, Indiana, using the route then common, from Baltimore to Pittsburg, and down the Ohio by flat-boat. They settled on a farm, where the parents passed the remainder of their lives. Their fam- ily consisted of eight children, the youngest of whom, James, is still living in Indiana at the advanced age of 73 years. John Trotter followed farming, and flat-boating on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, during his lifetime. dying in 1862 at the age of 64 years. He was a man of influence and standing and served as county commissioner and township trustee. Like his father, he was of the Scotch Presby- terian faith, and a strong pro-slavery man. He married Mary Fleshman, a native of Harrison County, Indiana, whose parents were Virginia Dutch, from Shenandoah County, Virginia. She lived to be 77 years of age, dying in 1892.
L. MURRAY PERKINS
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in Harrison County. Of their eight children, four died in Indiana, as follows: James H., at the age of 48 years; Leslie C., in 1901, at the age of 60 years; Mrs. Mollie L. Martin, in 1897; and Henry Clay, in infancy. Those liv- ing are: Mrs. Lucy Lopp, of Indiana; Jonas B., a stone and brick contractor, who lived in Cherokee County from 1884 to 1901, and now resides in Joplin, Missouri ; Embree T., a con- tracting carpenter at Louisville, Kentucky ; and W. H., the subject of this sketch.
W. H. Trotter was reared on the Indiana farm and had the advantage of a good school and refined home surroundings. A course in the high school was followed by a year's study in the university. For several years thereafter he taught school successfully, but was induced to turn his attention to agriculture, an occupa- tion he has since followed. Upon coming to Cherokee County he spent about three months in Columbus, in the meantime looking about for a favorable location. He finally purchased 80 acres of unbroken prairie, a part of his present farm, and later the northeast quarter of section 34, township 33, range 23. This farm of 240 acres, in all, well fenced and cultivated, with its eight acres of orchard and its many shade trees, and with a fine modern house and good outbuildings, stands to-day as a sample of what intelligent and consistent "Down East" farm- ing will accomplish in Kansas. For, Mr. Trot- ter uses the system of rotation of crops, and the good old "Hoosier State" methods, which, with proper variation as to climate, will always prove successful.
Mr. Trotter became a family man in 1882, in his home county. Mrs. Trotter was Mary M. Highfill, born in Harrison County, Indiana, in 1852. She is a daughter of James F. High- fill, a farmer, and also a native of Harrison County. Her brother, Cary M. Highfill, spent several years in Cherokee County, and farther West, and then returned to Indiana, where he
died in 1892. Mrs. Trotter's three sisters,- Mrs. Martha Stonecipher, Mrs. Katherine Stevens and Mrs. Helen Taylor,-all reside in Harrison County, Indiana.
To Mr. and Mrs. Trotter have been born four children as follows: One who died in in- fancy; James S., who was born in 1888, and died three years later ; Elsie C., born in 1891, and Chester H., who was born in 1892, and died July 12, 1904.
During his career in Cherokee County, Mr. Trotter has been very much alive to the in- terests of the community in which he resides. Anything that promotes the public interests finds in him a warm supporter. He is an en- thusiastic advocate of good schools, having been for the past 18 years a member of the local School Board. He has also served two terms as treasurer of the board of township trustees. As soon as the rural telephone was demon- strated to be a possibility, Mr. Trotter became earnestly interested in it, and he is now presi- dent of the Mitchell Telephone Line. Politi- cally, a stanch Republican, he follows in the footsteps of his father in religious affiliation, and is an elder of the Presbyterian Church at Columbus. Both he and his family are of the type that prides itself in the qualities of good citizenship,-uprightness, industry and in- tegrity.
L MURRAY PERKINS, a record of whose life is an unusual and exceed- ingly interesting one, is one of the best known citizens of Baxter Springs, Kansas. He traces his ancestry in the Perkins line to John Perkins, who arrived at Nantucket in Captain Pierce's ship "Lion," in 1631. He died at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1654. His son, Jacob Perkins, was the father of Joseph Perkins, "The Deacon," who was the
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first of that name to settle in Norwich, Con- necticut.
Joseph Perkins was born June 21, 1664, and died in August, 1726. On May 22, 1700, lie married Martha Morgan and their son, Joseph, who was a physician, was born October 25, 1704, and died in 1794. Dr. Joseph Per- kins was the father of Dr. Elisha Perkins, who was born January 16, 1741, and died Septem- ber 6. 1799.
On September 23, 1762, Dr. Elisha Perkins was married to Sarah Douglas, who was born April 18, 1744, and died August 10, 1795. She was a daughter of Lieut .- Col. John Douglas and a granddaughter of Deacon William Doug- las, of Plainfield, Connecticut. The last named was a great-grandson of Robert Douglas, who was born in Scotland in 1588. William Doug- las, a son of Robert, and known as "Deacon," was also born in Scotland, in 1610. In 1640 he landed at Cape Ann and settled in Boston. He moved to New London, Connecticut, in February, 1660, and became the head of one of the most worthy families in the colony. His education for those times was very liberal. His son, also named William and known as "Dea- con," was born in April, 1643, and his grand- son, Deacon William Douglas, the grandfather of Sarah (Douglas) Perkins, was born Feb- ruary 19, 1672. Among the Probate Court records, saved after the burning of Plainfield, Connecticut, in 1781, by the British, was found the will of the last named, Deacon William Douglas. His son, Lieut .- Col. John Douglas, was born July 28, 1703, and was a man of no little importance in his day. He was lieutenant- colonel of the 8th Connecticut Regiment, the best equipped of any in the colony; they wore scarlet coats, which had been taken from a prize vessel. Two of Colonel Douglas's sons,- Gen. John Douglas and Col. William Doug- las,-acted with distinction in the Revolution- ary War. As noted above, his daughter Sarah
married Dr. Elisha Perkins, the great-grand- father of our subject.
Dr. Elisha Perkins was the father of 10 children, and of these the one in direct line of descent to L. Murray Perkins was Benjamin D., born June 24, 1774. He was educated at Yale and finally went to London, England, to study medicine, and our subject still preserves the card, dated January 1, 1799, that entitled him to admission to the lectures on anatomy. Dr. Benjamin D. Perkins married Mary Mur- ray, a daughter of John Murray, Jr., of New York, and Catherine Bowne, his wife. Dr. Perkins died October 13, 1810. He was the father of two children: Caroline, who died unmarried and in her minority ; and Benjamin D., Jr.
Through the marriage of Dr. Benjamin D. Perkins and Mary Murray, our subject traces his descent from Robert Murray, who was owner of the famed country home called Mur- ray Hill, now included in New York City, and for many years considered the most aristocratic residence portion of the metropolis. Robert Murray's father, John Murray, who was familiarly known and spoken of as "The Good," was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1699. He was a gentleman of Clan Athol and a Presbyterian by birth and was active in the Wars of the Pretenders. He came to America with his son Robert in 1722. John Murray, Jr., was the brother of Lindley Murray, the grammarian, and author of the English gram- mar which bears his name and is a universal textbook. Mrs. Robert Murray, the mother of Lindley and John, is said by Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage to have saved American independence by detaining Lord Howe to dine with her, long enough to permit Israel Putnam to cross the lower end of Manhattan Island and join the forces of George Washington, before Howe was able to overtake him. This detention and the stories told by the fair friend-saved 4,000
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men, who otherwise would have been cut off and captured. Through John Murray, Jr.'s wife. Catherine Bowne, the subject of this sketch is descended from Thomas Bowne, who was born in England in 1595, and landed in Boston in 1649. In company with his son John, he erected in 1661 the house in Flushing, Long Island, known as the Bowne house, in which George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends, preached in 1662. Because the house was used for Friends preaching, John Bowne was de- ported for trial to Holland by the Dutch Gov- ernor. Peter Stuyvesant. However, after an investigation by the authorities, he was returned to his home, and Governor Stuyvesant was severely censured for his action in the matter.
Benjamin D. Perkins, Jr., was born in 1807 and died in September, 1831. He received his education in New York City, where he was born, but lived with his parents in their home at Flushing, Long Island, where he was occu- pied in farming on a large scale. He married Mary Shotwell of Rahway, New Jersey, who was born February 2, 1809, and died Decem- ber 25, 1876. They were the parents of two children : L. Murray, our subject; and Ben- jamin Douglas, who was born April 2, 1832, and died August 3, 1888.
L. Murray Perkins was born at Flushing, Long Island, September 6, 1829. His educa- tion was obtained in West Town Boarding School and Haverford College, institutions of the Society of Friends, located near Philadel- phia. He finished these courses of study at the age of 16 years. Since early childhood he had evinced a desire to visit the country where coffee grew, and in 1847 he made a trip on the bark "Z. Ring" to Rio Janeiro, Brazil, where he remained some time. In 1849 he went around Cape Horn to California. Before leav- ing New York he had obtained a map of the world and each day's run was marked upon it, as well as the ship's course. This map went
around the world after our subject left the ship at California and it was later returned to him. It is preserved among many other souvenirs of his travels. He returned home in 1850, but soon went to Europe, and again went to Europe after a short visit home in 1851. In 1852, he returned to America and on December 24th of that year was united in marriage with Caroline Campbell of Raliway, New Jersey, who died February 4, 1861. On February 24, 1874, he formed a second union with Elizabeth R. Enders, also of Rahway, New Jersey. The time intervening had been spent in farming in New Jersey. In 1882, he came West to Baxter Springs, Kansas, where he has since resided.
By his first marriage he became the father of four children, namely : Benjamin Douglas, born January 16, 1854, and deceased February 24, 1861 ; Frank Marbury, born May 16, 1856, who married Nettie Mullin, of Iowa, and has two children,-Grace E. and Frank M .; Ira Campbell (who resides in Sapulpa, Indian Ter- ritory, of which city he is mayor), born Decem- ber 25, 1858, who married Ella Burgess, of Ohio, and has three children,-L. Murray, Jr., Caroline C. and Ruth E .; and Carrie Campbell, born September 16, 1860, deceased August 14, 1861.
Mr. Perkins has a palatial residence in Bax- ter Springs, surrounded by beautiful and well kept grounds. His home is adorned with many curios collected during his travels in almost every country on the globe, rivaling in some re- spects those of the Smithsonian Institution. Included in this collection are antiquities from Rome; articles from the ruins of Pompeii; curios from Ceylon ; a large ebony spear inlaid with ivory from India; a beautiful robe from Canton, China; a variety of things from Scan- dinavia, including a pair of mounted owls and a reindeer ; a Turkish water pipe; Persian rugs ; Japanese jinricksha and a set of shoes for house and street wear; Egyptian relics; a variety of
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mounted heads of elk, moose and bison from Norway and America; a snake-covered cane from the Philippines; Turkish, Egyptian, Chi- nese and Japanese embroideries; and giant clam-shells from New Guinea, weight 405 pounds. This is a very valuable collection and excells anything of the kind in the State of Kansas.
A cousin of our subject, Hon. George Per- kins Marsh, born in 1801, was resident minis- ter at Constantinople, also minister at Turin when it was capital of Italy, and later at Rome, being appointed by President Lincoln. He died at Val Ambrosia, July 24, 1882, and was buried in a Protestant cemetery at Rome. Meinbers of all legations united in showing him honor by attending his burial. Another cousin, Susan Marsh Lyman, is wife of United States Sena- tor Edmunds, of Vermont.
Mr. Perkins is a member of the Friends' Church, but the rest of the family are Presby- terians. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter. His portrait accompanies this sketch.
AMES RICHARD HISLE, senior member of the firm of J. R. Hisle & Son, general merchants at Scammon, was born in Kentucky in 1850 and is of German descent. When he was three years old, his parents moved to Missouri, and there he grew to man's estate on his father's farm.
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