USA > Kansas > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Kansas > Part 32
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
corps, Army of the Potomac. Mr. Taggart's company first went to Camp Curtain, near Harrisburg, and for a time guarded the railroads in Maryland. Mr. Taggart was with his regiment in the following engage- ments : Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Bristow Station, Pine Run, Tod's Tavern, Wilderness, Corbin's Bridge, Po River, Spottsylvania, North Anne, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, Rheims Station, Hatch's Run, Southerland Station, Sailor's Creek, Cum- berland Church, Farmsville and Appomattox. Mr. Taggart was never wounded, but his fortunate escape was not the result of any undue cau- tion, for he was in the thick of many of the hardest fought battles of the Civil war, and never shirked from danger or exposure to the enemy's fire. At Spottsylvania, for instance, after three color bearers had been shot down, he took the colors and carried them through the fight and for this gallantry and reckless regard for his own life, in the storm of leaden hail, he was promoted to color sergeant, and as a relic of former days of gallantry, he has in his possession a star from the old battle flag which he carried at Appomattox, and in the review of the Grand Army of the Republic that followed at Washington. At the close of the war he was mustered out and honorably discharged at Pittsburgh, Pa., June 3, 1865. He returned to his Cannonsburg home, and remained there until the following spring, when he came west and on March 28, 1865, reached Johnson county. Like many others, he "squatted" on the Black Bob reservation, the title of which, as is well known, was between the Gov- ernment and the Indians. Mr. Taggart took up 200 acres of land here and for fourteen years during the negotiations he had the use of this place without even paying any taxes. Later he added 280 acres to his original holdings, and he and his son Frank now have a fine farm of 480 acres in one body located in the townships of Aubry, Oxford and Olathe. After Frank reached manhood, his father took him into part- nership, and they operated together for a number of years, and for several years past Frank has practically conducted the business him- self. They are among the most extensive stock and grain raisers in Johnson county. In 1914 they raised 4,000 bushels of wheat and an equal proposition of oats, besides large quantities of hogs and cattle Mr. Taggart was married in September, 1868. in Olathe township, to Miss Mary Susanna Thompson, born in Coulterville, Ill., April 19, 1846. She is a daughter of Andrew M. and Margaret (Day) Thompson, the former a native of Adams county, Ohio, and the latter of Cadis, Ohio. The Thompson family removed to Illinois at an early day, and in 1864 came to Kansas, and located near Lenexa, Johnson county. The father bought land from the Shawnee Indians there and followed farming throughout the remainder of his life. He served in the Kansas militia during the Civil war, and as a result of the border conflict, met with considerable property loss. He died in Johnson county, November 9. 1899, in his seventy-ninth year. He became one of the prosperous farm-
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
ers of Johnson county. His first wife and mother of Mrs. Taggart, died in Illinois in 1853. To Mr. and Mrs. Taggart have been born two children, Frank Thompson, a farmer of Olathe township, and Mary, married Joshua Cantrell, of Olathe. Mr. Taggart is a Republican, and has frequently been a delegate to county conventions and has taken a keen interest in politics as a citizen but not as a politician. He has never aspired to hold political office, but as he expresses it "finds it to be more congenial and profitable to attend to his own business." Mrs. Taggart is a pioneer school teacher of Johnson county, teaching her first school in 1864, and followed that vocation for four years. She is a member of the United Presbyterian church and Mr. Taggart is a Covenanter.
Ralston Walker, a Civil war veteran and one of the extensive business property owners of Olathe, has for forty-six years, been a resident of that city. Mr. Walker was born in London, England, January 16, 1841, and when two years old immigrated to Canada with his parents, George and Ruth (Briden) Walker. The father was a farrier or veterinarian, and practiced his profession in Montreal, Canada, about two years, when he removed to Auburn, N. Y., and later to Penfield. In 1846 the family went to Michigan and located at Coldwater, where the father spent the balance of his life. The mother died at St. Joseph, Mich. Ralston Walker is the only survivor of a family of eight children. He received his education in the public schools of Coldwater, Mich., and when a youth learned the. shoemaker's trade, and for a number of years worked at his trade at various places in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, but like thousands of other young men of the early sixties, his industrial career was interrupted by the call to arms, when the signal gun was fired at Fort Sumpter. When the war broke out, he was a member of a military organization known as the "Coldwater Zouaves." At the President's first call for troops, the "Zouaves" volunteered, and were mustered into the United States service as Company C, First regiment, Michigan infan- try. They were sent directly to Washington, D. C., and from there to Alexander, Va. They participated in the first battle of Bull Run and Mr. Walker's active field service was cut short in that engagement. The remainder of his military service was spent in Confederate military pris- ons. He was one of nearly a whole regiment who were cut off from the main command and taken prisoners. He was confined in various Confederate prisons including the Ross warehouse, Richmond, Charles- ton, N. C., Columbus, S. C., Belle Island and Libby. While a prisoner of war he never ceased planning a way to escape, and on two occasions he succeeded in getting away by methods which demonstrated the cour- age of the daring soldier boy, as well as unusual resourcefulness. He never could reconcile himself to prison life contentment. While con- fined in the Ross warehouse, he took a chance and walked between the guards whose backs were turned for the moment and succeeded in
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
making his escape for the time in the dark, and several hours later while feeling his way along the river bank in search of a boat with which to make good his escape, he ran into a guard and was returned to prison. His second attempt to free himself from Southern prisons was at Colum- bus, S. C. He and two comrades, George Drury and John Smails, after days of patient toil and carefully laid plans, well executed, suc- ceeded in making their way out of prison. They dug a tunnel about twenty feet long, from a small shed where they were quartered, to liberty outside of the prison stockade. They did their digging during the nights. When everything was quiet, in the stillness and darkness of night, they proceeded to take up a board in the floor, and carry the dirt back from the excavation in a tin can. One of their greatest ob- stacles was to conceal the dirt, but they succeeded in accomplishing this successfully. After a week their tunnel was completed, and they selected the opportune time to escape, one dark, rainy night, and their plans worked to perfection. At dawn, the next day, they were safely hid in the country, quite a distance from the prison walls. They con- tinued to travel by night and hide by day, gradually making their way through the enemy's country, toward the friendly lines of blue. They secured food from negroes along the way, and slept in the brush in the day time. After being out about two weeks, and having traveled a distance of about 140 miles, they were discovered one morning, near Unionville, S. C., while hiding in the brush, preparatory to crossing the river that night. Soon after being discovered they were captured and shortly after sent to Bell Island prison and from there to Libby. The capture of the three Yankees was a sensational affair that morning near Unionville. When their presence was detected, the first move was to get all the dogs in the vicinity after them, and, as a matter of self- preservation, the three soldier boys were not long in getting out of the dog's reach, by climbing trees, where they quietly remained until the dogs were called off and the "Yanks" were invited to "come down the trees," by their newly found captors. Shortly after being returned to prison, Mr. Walker was paroled and returned to Washington where he was discharged from the service, May 20, 1862. He then returned to his Michigan home, and worked at his trade in various places until 1869, when he came to Kansas, locating in Olathe. He came from Kansas City to Olathe on the second train which was run to the latter town when the railroad was completed to that point. Here he followed his trade for a number of years, and, by close application to business and judicious investments, has accumulated a handsome competence. Since 1900, Mr. Walker has devoted himself to looking after his interests. He is one of the most extensive business property owners in the city of Olathe, owning eight stores, which occupy the middle of the block fac- ing the public square on the south side of the court house. He is a stock holder and a director in the Olathe Electric Light and Power Com-
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
pany, and one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of John- son county. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Frank- lin Post, No. 68.
Benjamin F. Hollenback, postmaster at Shawnee, is a real Johnson county pioneer, and has been postmaster at Shawnee since 1867, with the exception of Grover Cleveland's administrations. Mr. Hollenback was born in Kendall county, Illinois, March 4, 1836. His parents were Thomas and Susan (Darnell) Hollenback, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of South Carolina. Thomas Hollenback was a son of Clark Hollenback, of Ohio, and he immigrated to Illinois in 1831. He was a noted pioneer, plainsman and Indian fighter and served in the Black Hawk war. He went from Illinois to Missouri; he was a strong Union man and was driven out of Missouri on account of his political sentiments, by the bushwhackers, and in 1861, came to Kansas and located in Johnson county, where he remained about a year, when he went to Hillsdale, Miami county, where he was engaged in the mercan- tile business for a number of years. He died at Atchison, in 1879, aged sixty-six years. Thomas and Susan (Darnell) Hollenback were the par- ents of the following children : Clark, died in Elk county, Kansas, June 18, 1913; Benjamin, the subject of this sketch; Thomas, died in Miami county, in 1875; George, resides in Montana; Martha Tarrant, Kansas City; Mary, deceased; Clara, deceased; Helen, deceased, and Sarah, deceased. Benjamin F. Hollenback made the trip across the plains and over the mountains from Illinois to California in 1848. He went with an outfit that was made up of forty families, and they made the trip with ox-teams and wagons and were six months en route. They settled at Santa Cruz, Calif. Mr. Hollenback remained there about three years, when he returned to Illinois and remained in that State until 1855, when the family removed to Missouri. When the Civil war broke out, Ben- jamin F. and his brother, Clark, enlisted, August 16, 1862, in the Twelfth regiment, Kansas infantry, and served until the close of the war. He was at the battle of Big Blue and Westport, Mine creek, Shiloh and Newtonia, and during the war his regiment operated along the border between Kansas and Missouri and Arkansas and Indian Territory. He was in the campaign against General Price, and many others. At the close of the war he was discharged at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He then returned to Shawnee and engaged in the mercantile busi- ness with a partner; this was the first store opened in Shawnee after the war. After doing business for about a year, Mr. Hollenback bought his partner out and conducted the business until 1906. Mr. Hollen- back is one of the extensive land owners of Johnson county, owning 425 acres of very valuable land in this county, besides forty acres in Wyan- dotte county. His career has been a success and he is one of the well- to-do men of Johnson county. He was married in August, 1854, to Miss Catherine E. Brown, a native of Indiana, born in August, 1836, and the
TOP ROW-FRANKLIN P. HOLLENBACK, BENJAMIN H. HEDBURG, GERTRUDE H. HEDBURG. LOWER ROW-MRS. B. F. HOLLENBACK, B. F. HOLLENBACK.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
following children were born to that union: Frank, Olathe; Funandie Douglas, Florence, Kan .; Charles R., died in 1905; Benjamin, died in Chicago, in 1903; Willard P., died in Kansas City, in 1902; Phoebe B., died in 1897; Stalla M. Knauber, resides in Shawnee, Kan .; and two children died in infancy. Mr. Hollenback is a Republican and in the early days took an active part in politics. He has served as township treasurer for several terms and was elected county judge in 1868. He is a member of the Mason lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Shawnee Lodge, No. 54, and belongs to the Olathe Chapter, No. 19. He was made a Mason in 1867. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Captain Ames Post, Shawnee, Kan. Mr. Hollenback has an extensive acquaintance over Johnson county and is one of the grand old men who has performed his part nobly and well. He belongs to that army of pioneers whose courage knew no bounds in the fifties and who laid the foundation of the great West for the present and future genera- tions to build upon.
Ed Blair, the editor of this work, who, by the way, is not the writer of this biography-but merely the subject, is a Kansas product as well as a Kansas poet and author. Kansas was admitted to the Union, January 29, 1861, at Washington, D. C., and Ed. Blair was admitted to Kansas, January 1, 1863, near Fort Scott, Bourbon county. Therefore the State is about two years older than the poet, and it looks even more than that. Like most other poets worth while, Ed. Blair was born with a nat- ural gift of verse writing, and has been writing poetry since he was a mere boy, and thousands of readers, not only in Kansas, but in every State in the Union, have been reading the product of the pen of this "James Whitcomb Riley of Kansas" for more than a quarter of a century. Mr. Blair's works have been published broadcast, and critics and press have made many favorable comments on his writing. The Fort Scott "Tribune" says: "No truer to human hearts sang Robert Burns of his highland and murmuring streams, or Riley of his quaint neighbors in Indiana than does our Kansas bard of Kansas. He employs no satire nor does he dip into the depths of Byronic gloom, but as the bard sings, so sings his gentle muse. There is no wild love passion sweeping the string of his harp, but clear, perfect song of our everyday life, quaint in the imagery of his thoughts, yet they are the thoughts of our better moments." The Topeka "Capital" estimates Mr. Blair's writings as follows: "Kansas boasts of a number of men who can write good Sun- flower Verse, but none of these can do it more entertainingly than Ed. Blair." Commenting on Blair's "Bound for Kansas" Tom McNeal says in the "Mail and Breeze:" "It at once caught the ear of the public and was republished not alone in Kansas papers, but appeared in the leading papers of the country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. As writer of dia- lect verse, we consider him the equal of James Whitcomb Riley." Mr. Blair has written for various publications for years, and while his career
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has been a strenuous business one he has always found time to write. For years he wrote for relaxation and recreation, but never neglected his business. But he is now devoting himself exclusively to literary work and writes for a great many newspapers besides much special work to which he is devoting his time. In 1901 he published a volume entitled "Kansas Zephyrs" which had an extensive sale, and in 1914, he pub- lished another, "Sunflower Siftings," which was received still better by the public and the demand has been very satisfactory. Perhaps the greatest field of Mr. Blair's success is on the platform, in which he gives readings of his own poems, delineating the quaint humor shown in his verse so much appreciated by the public. Mr. Blair appears on the stage with ease and grace, and has a very pleasing delivery and an original way of getting his audience to grasp the spirit and humor of his theme. His peculiar style of verse, which gives the fullest expression to his quaint wit and humor, places him in that class of poet-humorists who make the world forget its hardheartedness and smile. Such a mis- sion in life seems more commendable than to be a captain of industry, and fix the price of grease or wreck a railroad instead of a train. Ed. Blair's parents, James and Mary (Snoots) Blair, were Kansas pioneers, the father was a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, born December 17, 1832, of Scotch-Irish descent. Mary Snoots was a native of Virginia. They were married in Ohio and came to Kansas in 1857. by boat down the Ohio river and up the Mississippi and Missouri to Westport. They drove from there to Fort Scott, and the father bought a "Squatters' Right" to 160 acres of land, four miles north and two miles west of Fort Scott, for $75.00. He was a blacksmith and built a shop on his place and followed blacksmithing and farming there until the time of his death, in August, 1905, at the age of seventy-two. He was one of the first black- smiths in that section of the State and lived through all the uncertain- ties of the pioneer days, and the dangerous and disagreeable features of the border war. He was a Free State man and served in the Kansas State militia. He participated in the battles of Mine creek and Big Blue. His wife preceded him in death about four years. She died in 1901, aged seventy-two. They were the parents of eight children as fol- lows : Addison, died in infancy ; Loretta, died in infancy ; Nixon, resides at Hubbard, Ore .; Lizzie, married Lincoln Hiatt, Vancouver, Wash .; Ed., the subject of this sketch ; Ira, died in 1909, at the age of forty-two; Elmer, died in infancy ; and John, resides at Portland, Ore. Ed. Blair was educated in the public schools and the Fort Scott Normal School and when seventeen years old began teaching in the public schools at Bour- bon county and followed that vocation for three years. He then began clerking for the Grange at Cadmus, Kan., and became its manager Janu- ary 1, 1886, and remained in that capacity until 1903, or over seventeen years, when he resigned to accept the management of the Spring Hill Cooperative Association Store, remaining there until May 1, 1914, when
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
he resigned that position to accept a like position with the Johnson county Cooperative Association at Olathe. He resigned from that posi- tion March I, 1915, and has since devoted himself to literary and news- paper work and the lecture platform. Mr. Blair was united in marriage September 2, 1885, at Fort Scott, Kan., to Miss Lula A. Hiatt, a native of Winchester, Ind., born September 29, 1863. She is a daughter of James M. and Mary (Kemp) Hiatt. The Hiatt family came to Kansas in 1864, and settled in Bourbon county, about four miles from Fort Scott, where the father followed farming throughout his life. He was accidentally killed by the breaking of an emery wheel and his widow now resides in Kansas City, Kan. Mrs. Blair was about four years old when her parents came to Kansas, and she was reared in Bourbon county, and received a good public school education, and was a successful teacher in Bourbon county for a number of years prior to her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Blair have been born two children, Streeter E., born July 16, 1888, gradu- ated from the Spring Hill High School, then entered Kansas University, where he was graduated in the class of 1911 with the degree of Bachelor or Arts. He was then principal of the Sabetha public schools for two years and held a similar position at Junction City one year, and is now engaged in the mercantile business at Fort Scott, Kan. He married Ca- mille Hook, of Sabetha, Kan., and they have one child, Betsy. Mr. and Mrs. Blair's youngest child, Mary Fay, is a graduate of the Spring Hill High School and Kansas University. She has given special atten- tion to music and languages and is now engaged in teaching.
Maj. John B. Bruner, of Olathe Kan., is a Civil war veteran, and one of the leading citizens of Johnson county. Major Bruner is a native of the Keystone State. He was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, July 29, 1837, and is a son of Abraham and Isabelle (Cole) Bruner, both natives of Pennsylvania, the former of German and the latter of Scotch-Irish descent. They both spent their lives in Pennsylvania and died at Lock Haven, Clinton county. Major Bruner received his edu- cation in the public schools and Muncy Seminary at Muncy, Pa., and spent his boyhood days on the farm, but in early life learned the watch- maker and jeweler's trade. In 1857, he came west, locating at Havana, Il1. In the spring of 1860, he got the "gold fever" which was epidemic in the middle West and went to Pike's Peak, Colo. He drove over the old California trail and found lots of Indians along the way. He says Indians were "plentiful but peaceful." He took a claim near Georgetown, Colo., and worked it about a year, when he returned to Illinois. The Civil war broke out while he was in Colorado and he returned to his Illinois home, determined to enlist and arrived at his home just in time to attend the funeral of his older brother who was killed in the service, and on December 18, 1861, Major Bruner enlisted in Fulton county, Illinois, to serve three years or during the war. He was mustered into the United States service at Bloomington, Ill., January 28, 1862, as sec-
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THE HISTORY OF SOLANO COUNTY.
Hastings. He was a Mormon agent, sent into California to seek an eligible site for the location of a colony of Mormons. He chose this point, at the head of Suisun Bay, and near the junction of the two great rivers of the country-Sacramento and San Joaquin-and laid out a town site. Owing to the fact that there was no timber land conveniently located, the Mormons refused to settle there. Bayard Taylor, in his "Eldorado," mentions the " Montezuma House," as it has always been called, as "the city of Monte- zuma, a solitary house, on a sort of headland, projecting into Suisun Bay, and fronting its rival three-house city, New-York-of-the-Pacific." Hastings established a ferry between the site now occupied by Collinsville, and the Contra Costa side of the bay, for the accommodation of travelers passing either way. This was probably the first ferry ever established on the Sac- ramento or San Joaquin rivers. Hastings remained at this place about three years, but when - the gold-excitement broke out he went into the mines. In the winter of 1853, L. P. Marshall and his sons John and C. K., arrived from the States with a band of cattle. In passing down the Sac- ramento river they came upon the adobe house built by Hastings, and were glad to take shelter in it from the storms. The house was in a very dilapidated condition, but was easily repaired, and served well the purpose. of a shelter. In and about the house they found numerous appliances for the manufacture of counterfeit coin, such as crucibles, dies, copper, etc. It is supposed that a band of counterfeiters had found the place deserted, and taken possion of it. It is possible, however, that Hastings had used them in coining money to be used by the Mormons when they arrived. Hastings had a sqatter's claim to the premises, which was bought by John Marshall for his father (the latter being at the time absent from the State) who gave, as a consideration, two mules and six head of cattle, all valued at $1,000 The second house built in the township was a frame-building, erected by F. O. Townsend, in 1853. It was located on what is now known as the Kirby farm. Lucco laid claim to all the land in this and Denverton town- ship as a Spanish grant, but he failed in establishing his claim, and in 1855 the land was declared to be Government land, and open for pre-emption.
COLLINSVILLE :- Collinsville is the only town in the township ; it is a ship- ping port on the Sacramento river, just at the de bouchure of that stream. In 1859, C. J. Collins pre-empted the land where the town now stands. In 1861, he surveyed a town plat and built a wharf and store; previous to this time the steamers, which plied the Sacramento river, had never stopped at this point. The embryotic town was christened for its projector-Col- linsville. Some time during the same year a post office was established here, and Geo. W. Miller was appointed the first Postmaster. In 1867, Mr. Collins sold his property to S. C. Bradshaw, and he changed the name of the place to Newport. The old Californians well remember Newport and the
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