USA > Kansas > Leavenworth County > History of Leavenworth County Kansas > Part 45
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
In the home where they now live, Mr. Taylor and Millie Schrimpf were married in 1880. She is the daughter of Henry and Anna (Rhule) Schrimpf, natives of Germany. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, as follows: Arno, born December 27, 1880, now lives on the home place; Emmett, born July 30, 1882, married Lena Huston, and lives in Tonganoxie; Anna, born September 11, 1884, at home with her parents.
Thomas Taylor has always raised a high grade of cattle and has done general farming. At present he has his land rented and lives retired in his home. He is a member of the Methodist Church and is a democrat in his politics.
Hugh A. Hallenbeck, substantial and successful farmer of Reno Town- ship, who owns 246 acres of well-improved land, is a son of an early settler of Leavenworth County. Mr. Hallenbeck was born March 7, 1859, in Lee County, Illinois, a son of George W. and Jane (Wells) Hallenbeck.
George Hallenbeck was born August 2, 1829, in Albany, New York, and when a very young man left his home and located in Lee County,
573
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
Illinois. He rented land and farmed until 1868, when he purchased ninety- three acres of land, which a year later he traded for eighty acres of land in Leavenworth County. In a covered wagon, he moved his wife and family, with all the family goods and possessions. It took them a month to make their perilous journey over new roads and country. They crossed the Mississippi at Quincy, Illinois, and the Missouri River at Weston, Missouri. This eighty acres, located two miles southeast of Tonganoxie, was their home for many years and formed the nucleus of his farm. He owned in, 1895, when he disposed of all his land, 220 acres. After that he lived with his children. Mrs. Jane (Wells) Hallenbeck was a native of Prince Edward Island and died at her home in Leavenworth County, Kansas.
George W. and Jane (Wells) Hallenbeck are the parents of the fol- lowing children: Hugh A., the subject of this sketch ; Louise, Mrs. George Farrell, of Thornton, Iowa; Jessie, Mrs. Perry Burkhead, Herferd, Oregon; Claude, deceased; George B., in Kansas; Catherine, wife of John Todd, Tonganoxie, Kansas; Mabel, wife of John Watkins, Wichita, Kansas; and John, in Nebraska. George W. Hallenbeck was married the first time in Ohio to Louise Brown, later deceased. They had one child, Charles, who is also deceased.
Hugh A. Hallenbeck was reared on his father's farm and has always followed farming. He attended the Hawk Hollow district school in Stranger Township. When thirty years old, Mr. Hallenbeck purchased sixty-five acres of land near Tonganoxie, and operated it for twelve years. He disposed of this land and then purchased the present 166 acres of land, adding eighty acres to this later. Both of these farms are well improved with farm buildings, each having two good barns. Mr. Hallenbeck's home is a large and spacious house of eleven rooms.
December 31, 1889, Hugh A. Hallenbeck and Jennie Spray were mar- ried in Tonganoxie Township. She is a daughter of John and Ruth (Staf- ford) Spray. The former a native of Indiana and the latter of Osceola, Iowa. They were married in Kansas, where they were early settlers. They are both deceased. They died in California. To Mr. and Mrs. Spray, three children were born, as follows: Laura, Mrs. S. Bell, of California; Jennie, wife of the subject; and Nettie, deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Hallenbeck are the parents of six children, as fol- lows: Claude, at home; Grace, wife of J. Crab, on the eighty acres be-
574
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
longing to his father; Charles and Mildred, twins, in high school at Lin- wood, Kansas; an infant, deceased, and George, at home.
Mr. Hallenbeck does general farming and dairying. He owns forty head of Shorthorn cattle. He is interested in local affairs of his township and served as township treasurer in 1890 in Stranger Township. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and is independent in his politics.
Charles E. Johnson, a well-known farmer of Tonganoxie Township, was born in Mitchell County, Kansas, February 17, 1879, the son of A. C. and Ann (Mack) Johnson, both natives of Michigan.
A. C. Johnson was a Civil War veteran, who answered President Lin- coln's call for men for ninety days. He enlisted with the Michigan volun- teers and lost a leg at the Battle of Bull Run. He was married in 1862, to Ann Mack, who was born in 1846. They came from Michigan to Mit- chell County, Kansas, with ox teams and pre-empted 169 acres of land and also 160 acres of timber culture land. They lived in a dugout. After- wards A. C. Johnson and wife moved to various parts of the United States, going from Kansas to California, thence to Rogue River valley, Oregon, where he farmed for three years. They then went to the state of Wash- ington, and settled at Cleveland, Washington, where he was engaged in the mercantile business. He died at Spokane, Washington, in 1909, and his wife died at Alberta, Canada, in June, 1911.
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Johnson, as follows: Frank, deceased; Herbert A., Redcliff, Canada; Ada, married Thomas Hooker, Bickleton, Washington; Charles, the subject of this sketch; Fredie, died in infancy ; and Edna E., wife of Benjamin Plowman, Candish, Canada.
Charles E. Johnson attended school in Iowa and the business college at Lawrence, Kansas. Mr. Johnson came to Leavenworth County, Kansas, in 1912, from Washington, where he had lived for a time.
February 21, 1912, Charles E. Johnson and Elizabeth Duncanson were united in marriage. She was the daughter of James and Rachel (Gossett) Duncanson, pioneers of Leavenworth County. The former was born in 1839 in Ohio and the latter June 24, 1838, in Ohio. They were united in marriage September 13, 1860.
James Duncanson and wife came to Lawrence, Kansas in May 22, 1868, stayed there two days, incidentally met I. B. Dutton, who then lived east of Tonganoxie on or near Stranger. Mr. Dutton invited him to his home
575
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
to see that part of Leavenworth County. Brought him to Tonganoxie, where he decided to locate which he did two days later. He bought a lot the next week, built a house and moved into same in less than one month from the date of leaving his home in Ohio. In June of same year he bought a quarter section of land of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. During July he proceeded to "break sod" on twenty acres of this quar- ter, planted corn, and in December harvested several loads of corn, hav- ing resided in the state just seven months.
Mr. and Mrs. Duncanson resided continuously on this farm, having moved there in April, 1869, until their deaths, or more than fifty years.
They had the real pioneer "grit" and stood up and pressed forward under losses and trials that would have discouraged any but the bravest. The second year they were here the grasshoppers came by millions, and ate everything but the prairie grass, and in 1870 the drought literally dried up everything but the prairie grass. Discouraged, but not vanquished they made this farm a haven of comfort and plenty where their many friends often came for a day of real happiness.
James Duncanson was one whom to know was to wish to know better, whose promise was unbreakable and whose word was a bond. He was a reader and a thinker, and a mine of information on all questions of worth, taking an active interest in all that was vital to the community; he pos- sessed a remarkable memory and a uicqk wit. He descended from an old pioneer Kentucky family, his mother being a niece of Gen. Jubal Early, of Confederate fame.
Mrs. Duncanson was a woman well fitted by nature, heredity and train- ing for the part she was to play in the development of the West. She never complained of the hard times, nor sighed for the flesh pots of old Ohio, that she had freely given up, but she had a steady faith in working and trusting as became a pioneer, the descendant of a race of pioneers who helped in the building of the State of Ohio. Her great-grandfather, John Gossett, was a member of the first Legislature of Ohio, and her great- grandfather, Boatman, helped in framing the constitution of that state. In her sphere she proved herself a worthy daughter of such empire builders.
Her father, Abraham B. Gossett, became a member of John C. Fre- mont's expedition of engineers that crossed the plains in 1835. They reached Pike's Peak on that first trip. During that journey he fell in love with eastern Kansas and made plans to come there but "border troubles" prevented until too late for him.
576
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
James Duncanson was commissioned a lieutenant during the Civil War but never was in actual service. He was located at Camp Dennison. For over fifty years, James Duncanson and wife labored on the farm and reared their family. They won the esteem and friendship of many friends during their long and useful lives. Mrs. Duncanson died September 12, 1916, and James Duncanson died March 4, 1920. He was a charter mem- ber of Henri Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Tonganoxie, and was a Mason for sixty years, and he was also a member of the Eastern Star.
Mr. and Mrs. James Duncanson were the parents of eight children, as follows: Sylvia E., born July 1, 1861, died in 1904; Wilbur M., born August 4, 1864, resides at Valley Falls, Kansas; Amelia, born January 1, 1867, died August 14, 1867; Alfred, born November 24, 1868, died in Ton- ganoxie, July 28, 1869; Nancy, born June 10, 1871, died September 25, 1889; Mortimer, born July 2, 1873, a farmer in Tonganoxie Township; Rachel Elizabeth, born October 3, 1878, the wife of Charles E. Johnson; Frederick, born July 19, 1880, resides in Pueblo, Colorado.
Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Johnson are the parents of one child, Charles Cardner, born on present farm, May 25, 1913. Mr. Johnson is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Farmers Union. He is also a member of the Farmers Co-operative Exchange at McLouth, Kan- sas. He is a republican and one of the substantial, enterprising farmers of Tonganoxie Township.
Miss Lucy Baker, a co-partner with her sister, Mrs. Mary Ellen Dawes, in the ownership and managing of 110 acres of land in Stranger Township, is a native of England. She was born near Durham, England, on Broad- wood farm, a daughter of David and Anna Marie (Thompson) Baker.
David Baker was born near York, England, and was engaged in the wholesale tea business in London, England, before coming to the United States, in 1869. He came to New York state and remained there until 1870, coming to Stranger Township, Leavenworth County, Kansas, in that year. Upon his arrival he purchased 160 acres of land, the present home of the daughters. Anna Maria (Thompson) Baker was born in Reeth, Yorkshire, England, and died in 1888 on the farm in Stranger Township. David Baker died in 1898.
Mr. and Mrs. David Baker were married in England and they were the parents of eight children, as follows: Lucy, the subject of this sketch ;
577
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
Ann Maria, Mrs. Anthony Thistlethwaite, with Miss Lucy; Mary Ellen, widow of Edward K. Dawes, who died in 1893; Mary Ellen Dawes now lives with the subject of this sketch; Emily, deceased, was the wife of Alfred Thistlethwaite now living in Kansas City, Missouri; Margaret Evangeline, died in 1901; Thomas Hedley, married Mary Thistlethwaite; David, Kansas City, Missouri, married Hattie Driesbach; and Herbert Henry, of Stranger Township, married Kezia Nickson.
Lucy Baker taught school for two years in Stranger Township and Mrs. Dawes taught in the Indian schools for twenty-three years and taught in the district schools of Stranger Township six years. Miss Baker and her sister, Mrs. Dawes, are capable and successful farmers and are highly repected in the community in which they live. They are members of the Friends Church, an organization of which their parents were also members.
John Sedgwick, deceased, who for many years was successfully en- gaged in farming and stock raising in Stranger Township, is a native of England. He was born in 1844, in Chester, England, the son of Thomas and Margaret (Lloyd) Sedgwick, natives of England, who spent their lives in their native land.
John Sedgwick left England in 1860 in company with his cousin, John Lloyd. They landed at New York and settled in Yates County, New York. Mr. Sedgwick was drafted in the United States army during the Civil War. He was a private in Company D, Regular New York Volunteer Infantry. He was discharged April 5, 1865.
After his discharge he returned to live with his uncle, Charles Lloyd, in Yates County, New York. It was here that he was married, April 10, 1869, to Emma Penfold. She was born November 16, 1849, in Kent, Eng- land, the daughter of Richard and Frances (Fullager) Penfold. They are natives of Kent, England. Richard Penfold was born in 1818 and Frances (Fullager) Penfold in 1830. They were married in July, 1846, in Kent, England, and in 1850 settled in Yates County, New York.
In company with their son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. John Sedgwick, Richard and Frances Penfold came to Leavenworth County, Stranger Township, in 1870. They followed farming all during their long and useful lives and died on the farm which they purchased at this time. Richard Penfold died December 15, 1896, and Frances Penfold died March 30, 1912. They are both buried in Glenwood Cemetery. Frances (Fulla- (33)
578
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
ger) Penfold lived to see five generations of her family. Her grand- mother, Sarah Smith, of Kent, England, was the mother of twenty-four children. This included three pairs of twins. She outlived her three husbands and all but three of her children.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Penfold were the parents of seven children, as follows: Percella, Benjamin, both deceased; Emma, the wife of John Sedgwick, of this sketch; Richard, deceased; Lucy, deceased; Anna, widow in Douglas County, Kansas; and Lydia, now Mrs. Jordan B. Peters, whose sketch appears in this volume.
John Sedgwick came to Kansas in 1869 and purchased eighty acres of land in Stranger Township, which was his home all the years of his life, He returned to New York and came back with his wife and her people, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Penfold. He followed general farming and stock raising and was always interested in the local affairs of his community. He served on the school board for many years and at the time of his death, March 30, 1912, was the owner of 315 acres of well improved land.
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Sedgwick, as follows: Francis, wife of Daniel Sleeth, Leavenworth; Ada, wife of Oscar Beck, of Montana; John, on the home place; Mary, married William Cannon, of Farley, Missouri; and Agnes May, died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Sedgwick were members of the Methodist Church. Mrs. Sedgwick makes her home on the old home farm and is enjoying the fruits of many years of hard labor. She has fifteen grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.
Jordan B. Peters, an enterprising farmer and stockman of Stranger Township, was born on a farm in Platte County, Missouri, December 10, 1860. He is a son of Christopher and Cynthia Ann (Hatfield) Peters.
Christopher Peters was born in Virginia in 1824. He was reared and educated in his native state and in 1849 was married to Cynthia Ann Hatfield. She was born in Virginia in 1824 and was the mother of six children, as follows: Julius, deceased; Susan, Mrs. John Cline, Tonga- noxie; John, deceased; Eliza, deceased; Jordan B., the subject of this sketch; and William, died in infancy. Christopher Peters was married the second time to Lou Flannery, who bore him two children, Dallis and an infant, both deceased. His third marriage was to Francis Comstock and nine children were born to this union, as follows: Hyatt, Platte
.
579
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
County, Missouri; Wyatt, Platte County, Missouri; Lulu, Mrs. Will Theis, Platte County, Missouri; Francis, deceased; Ida, Mrs. John Thies, Platte County, Missouri; Ada, Mrs. David Swaezer, Higbee, Randolph County, Missouri; Herman, Platte County ; and an infant, deceased.
Christopher Peters came to Platte County, Missouri, in 1856 and settled in Lee Township, where he farmed eighty acres of land purchased by him at this time. He died July 14, 1898, on the old home place and his wife, Cynthia Ann Hatfield, died in 1864 on the same place. They were buried in the family burying grounds four miles from their home.
Jordan B. Peters was reared to manhood in Platte County, Missouri, and received his education in the Farley School. He remained at home and assisted his parents until he was twenty-one years old. He then worked by the month for farmers in his vicinity. He did this until 1885, when he was married. He then began farming rented lands which he continued until 1896, when he purchased his present 160 acres of land. He has made extensive and substantial improvements. He carries on general farming, raises cattle and hogs and conducts a dairy.
Jordan B. Peters and Lydia Penfold were married at Lawrence, Kan- sas, February 3, 1885. To this union one child has been born, Homer, born February 8, 1889, in Platte County, Missouri. He is a World War veteran, but he never went overseas. He was drafted October 25, 1918, in Company 40, 10th Battalion, Number 165 Depot Brigade. He was sent to Camp Travis and was discharged December 5, 1918. Homer Peters is the township clerk and is at home with parents.
Lydia (Penfold) Peters is a daughter of Richard and Frances (Fulla- ger) Penfold, natives of Kent, England. The former was born in 1818 and the latter in 1830. They were married in July, 1846, in Kent, Eng- land, and in 1850 settled in Yates County, New York.
In company with their son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. John Sedgwick, they came to Leavenworth County, Stranger Township, in 1870. They followed farming all of their long and useful lives and died on the farm which they purchased at this time. Richard Penfold died December 15, 1896 and Frances Penfold died March 30, 1912. Both are buried in Glenwood Cemetery. Frances (Fullager) Penfold lived to see five generations of her family. Her mother, Sarah (Smith) Fullager, of Kent, England, was the mother of twenty-four children. This included three pairs of twins. She outlived her three husbands and all but three of her children.
580
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Penfold were the parents of seven children, as follows: Percella, Benjamin, both deceased; Emma, the wife of John Sedgwick, whose sketch appears in this volume; Richard, deceased; Lucy, deceased; Anna, a widow in Douglas County, Kansas; and Lydia, Mrs. Jordan Peters of this sketch.
Jordan Peters is a Democrat. The Peters family is well known and highly respected in Leavenworth County.
Miss Julia Cooper and Mrs. T. C. Dews, joint owners of 192 acres of land in Stranger Township, are daughters of Samuel and Eliza (Sylvester) Cooper. They were the only children born to their parents. Miss Julia Cooper was born January 25, 1870 and Mrs. Bessie (Cooper) Dews was born November 15, 1879, on the place which they own."
Samuel Cooper was born August 27, 1839 in Ashtabula County, Ohio, where his father, Joseph Cooper, was a farmer. He was reared in his parents' home and labored with them on the farm until the Civil War, when he enlisted in 1861 in Company Eleven, New York Battery. He was mustered into service January 6, 1862 and served during the entire war. He was discharged in 1865 and then came to Stranger Township, Leavenworth County and purchased 112 acres of the present homestead from the railroad company. He built a three room frame house, where he lived alone until joined by his wife in 1868.
Samuel Cooper and Eliza Sylvester were married in the spring of 1868. She lived on an adjoining farm, with her parents, who were natives of England and had come to the United States in 1850. They first located in Illinois, then came to Missouri for a short while and finally established their home in Stranger Township, Leavenworth County, Kansas. Eliza (Sylvester) Cooper was born April 7, 1845, in Derbyshire, England, and died March 29, 1913. Samuel Cooper died November 17, 1906, and they are both buried at the Tonganoxie Cemetery.
March 8, 1903, Bessie Cooper was married to T. C. Dews, born 1880 in Kansas, the son of Charles and Tabitha Dews. To this union three children have been born, as follows: Samuel, born December 4, 1904, at home with parents; Edith, born April 30, 1911, at home; and Jessie, born November 20, 1916.
Mr. and Mrs. Dews and their sister, Miss Cooper, are members of the United Brethren Church and Mr. Dews is a Republican.
1
581
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
Henry Klinkenberg, a substantial and well known farmer and stock- man of Stranger Township, who has been a resident of Leavenworth County, Kansas, all of his life, is a native of Holland. He was born July . 19, 1870, the son of Nicholas and Klausena (Walters) Klinkenberg.
Nicholas Klinkenberg was born in 1821 in Holland and was married to Klausena Walters in Holland. She was born in 1824. They settled in Leavenworth County, Kansas in 1871 and followed farming all of their lives. Mr. Klinkenberg was a carpenter and brick layer in his native land, and followed his trade to some extent in Leavenworth County. He farmed the Hurd place in Stranger Township at first, later the eight mile place, then farmed one mile from the Hoge Church. From this farm he pur- chased eighty acres one mile west of Henry Klinkenberg's present farm. It was here he died in 1891. Klausena Klinkenberg lived to be ninety- three years old. She died March 13, 1917.
Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Klinkenberg, as follows: Two died in infancy in Holland; Hebo, deceased; Jennie, a widow in Lockport, New York; Rufus, Stranger Township; Gertrude, Mrs. J. L. Orr, on the home place; John, Basehor, Kansas; Walter, farming south of home place; and Henry, the subject of this sketch.
Henry Klinkenberg attended the McGuiness District School Number Thirty-eight and remained at home with his parents until his marriage, when he farmed rented land and purchased the present 160 acres in 1905. Mr. Klinkenberg does general farming and stock raising and is a suc- cessful farmer.
Mr. Klinkenberg has been married twice. The first time he was married in Leavenworth, December 25, 1899, to Margaret Orr. She died June 6, 1906. To this union two children were born, as follows: Margaret, at home; and Chester, at home.
December 27, 1911, Henry Klinkenberg and Mrs. Catherine Parish were married. She is the daughter of Robert and Hanora (Buckley) Erwin. Robert Erwin was born in County Limerick, Ireland, in 1823 and came to the United States when a young man. He farmed rented land in New York State for a few years and then he came to Marshall County, Illinois, and rented land. He made his home here for twenty years. In 1878 he with his family came to Stranger Township and purchased eighty acres of land. He farmed this for a short time and disposed of it, making his home at Leavenworth, Kansas. He did teaming until his retirement, when he made his home with Henry Klinkenberg. He died in Septem- ber, 1916.
582
HISTORY OF LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
Hanora (Buckley) Erwin was a native of Tipperary, Ireland, where she was born in 1825. She settled in New York after her arrival in the United States and it was here that she was married. She died in Marshall County, Illinois, in 1875. Her mother and father were the parents of six children : Mary A., Mrs. John McCaffrey, born in New York State; John, born in New York State, deceased; Robert, deceased; Mrs. Henry Klinken- berg, of this sketch, and her twin brother, James, of Jefferson County, Kansas, born in Illinois ; and Ella, Mrs. Mace Jacques, of Monnett, Missouri.
Mrs. Catherine (Parish) Klinkenberg was married the first time at the Hoge Church, June 25, 1885, to Charles Parish, by Father Brown. Three children were born to this union, as follows: James William, born August 9, 1886, married Rose Kinnman, lives at Kansas City, Missouri; Robert Leo, born September 25, 1888, died December 11, 1919, buried in Glenwood Cemetery at Basehor, Kansas. He was married to Luda Vaughn December 4, 1916. One child was born to this union, Charles Billy, born December 23, 1917. Mrs. Klinkenberg's .other child is Hanore Ruth, a musician, who is on a vaudeville circuit. She was born June 21, 1894.
Henry Klinkenberg is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Klinkenberg is a member of the Pythian Sisters, the Royal Neighbors and the Women of Wood Craft Auxiliary.
John McFarland, the present deputy county assessor of Leavenworth County, is one of the widely known and popular county officials of this county. He was born in New Orleans August 27, 1865, a son of James and Margaret (Dwyer) McFarland.
James McFarland is a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, where he spent the first twenty-four years of his life. Upon his arrival in the United States he enlisted in the army, in which he served for eleven years. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War and was in the seige at Vicksburg and with Sherman on his march to the sea. He was dis- charged from active service in 1866. He was appointed as a citizen in the commissary department, where he remained until his death, December 22, 1888. He was buried in Mt. Muncie Cemetery. Mr. McFarland was first sergeant in Company E, First United States Infantry, while in ser- vice and he served his adopted country with a devotion rarely seen. Margaret (Dwyer) McFarland was also a native of Ireland. She is seventy-six years of age and lives at Scio, Oregon, with her daughter.
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.