USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 86
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SAMUEL CURTIS.
Samuel Curtis, one of Marshall county's most substantial citizens and the proprietor of the largest farm operated under individual management in this county, his ranch just east of Vermillion being one of the best- equipped farm plants in this part of the state, is a native of the state of Michigan, but has been a resident of Kansas since he was twenty years of age. He was born on a farm in vicinity of Ovid, in Shiawassee county, Michi- gan, May 14, 1857, son of Edwin Marcus and Mary Ann ( Blanchard) Curtis, natives, respectively, of Massachusetts and of Vermont, both members of old Colonial families, who settled in Michigan and became substantial farm- ing people in the Ovid neighborhood. They later moved to Laingsburg and spent their last days there.
Reared on the paternal farm in Michigan, receiving his schooling in the
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neighboring schools and from boyhood trained in the ways of farming. Samuel Curtis remained in Michigan until he was twenty years of age, when. in 1877, he came to Kansas and began farming in the vicinity of Caney, bringing to this state with him seed wheat from Michigan. He made a success of his first crop, but the second crop was taken by cinch bugs. Mr. Curtis then disposed of his interest at Caney and in 1879 moved to Brown county, where he remained, further engaged in farming, until his marriage in the spring of 1881, when he moved over into Nemaha county and bought a farm of eighty acres of unimproved land in section 31 of Center town- ship, that county, near the Marshall county line, northwest of Vermillion. going in debt for the same to the amount of eight hundred dollars. There Mr. Curtis built a house, broke the land and at the same time broke an "eighty" adjoining on the north. As his farming operations developed he leased three other "eighties" and there he continued farming quite successfully until 1890, in which year he disposed of his home tract to advantage and moved over into Marshall county, buying the northeast quarter of section 12 of Vermillion township, established his home there and has ever since resided there, long having one of the best-improved places in that part of the county. Upon taking possession of that place Mr. Curtis found but sixty acres of it broken and the only building on the same a small shed of a barn, all the present substantial and up-to-date improvements on the place therefore having been made by him. As he prospered in his operations Mr. Curtis added to his holdings until he now is the owner of a ranch of nine hundred and eleven acres, the largest farm operated in Marshall county. and to all of which he gives his personal oversight. His wife is the owner of one hundred acres in the adjoining county of Nemaha, making ten hun- dred and eleven acres under the Curtis ownership and management. For years Mr. Curtis gave much attention to the raising of cattle, handling about six hundred and fifty head annually, but of recent years has not been so extensive a feeder. He also handles one hundred and fifty or two hundred head of pure-bred Duroc-Jersey hogs a year and has done much to improve the strain of swine throughout that section. Mr. Curtis employs six mar- ried men on his place, the families being housed on the farm, and his opera- tions are conducted in strict accordance with modern agricultural methods. Mr. Curtis was the first man in his part of the county to recognize the neces- sity of proper fertilization of the farm lands of this section and in 1902 bought the first machinery for that purpose sold in Vermillion.
On May 24. 1881. Samuel Curtis was united in marriage to Lucy M. McClanahan, who was born at Macon, Missouri, daughter of James and
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Eliza (Towne) McClanahan, natives of Ohio, who were married in Mis- souri and later came to this state, settling in Brown county. where they spent their last days. James McClanahan was a "forty-niner" and later settled at old Albany in Nemaha county, this state. in the early fifties, and there his first wife died. He then returned to Missouri and during the Civil War period was superintendent of a coal mine at Brevier, in Macon county, that state. There in 1862 he married, secondly, Eliza Towne and in 1865 returned to Kansas and again settled in the neighborhood of old Albany, north of Sabetha, but later traded his land there for a farm north and east of Sabetha and there spent the rest of his life. The home place there is still in the possession of the family, now owned by a brother of Mrs. Curtis. By descent on the maternal line Mrs. Curtis is a member of the Betty Washington chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, at Law- rence, taking descent from James Towne, a soldier of the patriot army during the Revolutionary War. James Towne, born in 1756, died in 1837. His wife, Lucy Bettis, to whom he was married in 1778, was born in 1758 and died in 1843. Their son, Oliver Towne, born in 1779, married Damens Luce, and their son, Nathaniel Towne, born in 1807, in Ohio, married, in 1829, Matilda Hevil, born in 1800. Nathaniel Towne died in 1846 and his widow survived him until 1872. Their daughter. Eliza Towne, born in 1830, was married in 1862, as noted above, to James McClanahan and Mrs. Curtis is one of the children born to this parentage.
To Samuel and Lucy M. (McClanahan) Curtis seven children have been born, namely : Edna M., who married A. B. Beacham and is now liv- ing at Powell. Wyoming; Rose E., who began in the automobile business at Lincoln and is now engaged as an automobile salesman at Kansas City; Floyd Towne, who is engaged on the home farm; Norman Ivan, who is now developing a homestead farm in the neighborhood of Gillette. Wyoming; Stella, a member of the class of 1917, Mt. St. Scholastica Academy, at Atchison, and Lucy and Gloria, both still in school. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis are members of the Presbyterian church and have ever taken a proper part in local good works, as well as in the general social activities of the com- munity in which they live. Mr. Curtis is an independent Republican. Fra- ternally, he is affiliated with the local lodges of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Knights and Ladies of Security, in the affairs of all of which organiza- tions he takes a warm interest.
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JOHN CLIFTON, M. D.
Dr. John Clifton, one of the best-known physicians of Marshall county and who has been practicing his profession at Vermillion for nearly twenty years, during which time he has done much for the development of that thriving village, was born on a farm in the near vicinity of Meredosia, in Morgan county, Illinois, October 20, 1864, son of John W. and Elizabeth (Hoover) Clifton, natives of Indiana, who later returned to their native state, where the latter spent her last days and where the former is still living.
John W. Clifton was born in 1840. He became a farmer in Illinois and was living there when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted his serv- ices in behalf of the Union and served as a member of the Twenty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Not long after the completion of his military service he moved with his family to Fulton county. Indiana. where he is still living a a ripe old age. His wife died there in 1880. They were the parents of nine children.
Not until he had reached years of maturity did Doctor Clifton turn his attention to the study of medicine. He was but a child when his parents moved from Illinois to Indiana and he grew to manhood on a farm in Fulton county, that state. At the age of eighteen years he began teaching school in the district schools of his home county and for twelve years was thus engaged, meantime completing the academic course at the Valparaiso (Indiana) Normal College. In 1888 he married and afterward began the study of medical works. In 1896 he entered the Central Medical College at St. Joseph, Missouri, and was graduated from that institution in 1898.
In the next year, 1899. Doctor Clifton opened an office for the prac- tice of his profession at Vermillion and has ever since been located there, having an excellent practice in and about that flourishing village. Doctor Clifton is a diligent student and keeps fully abreast of the advance made in his profession. He is a member of the Marshall County Medical Society and of the Kansas State Medical Association and in the deliberations of these learned bodies takes a warm interest. The Doctor is a Republican of the unadulterated variety and ever since becoming a resident of Marshall county has given his earnest attention to local political affairs.
In 1888, while living in Indiana. Doctor Clifton was united in mar- riage to Rose Bailey, who was born in that state, a daughter of Dr. Allan Bailey and wife, of Akron, Indiana, and to this union four children have been born, Archie, deceased; Beatrice, who married Roy Talbert and is
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now living at Topeka; John and Jessie, at home. Doctor and Mrs. Clifton are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a proper part in church work and in other local good works. The Doctor is an active lodge man and is affiliated with the local lodges of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Pythias and of the Knights and Ladies of Security, in the affairs of which several organizations he takes a warm interest.
THOMAS J. FARRAR.
Thomas J. Farrar, a well-to-do retired farmer and landowner, of Rock township, former trustee of that township, former member of the board of county commissioners of Marshall county and an honored veteran of the Civil War, is a native of the old Buckeye state, but has been a resident of this county since 1880. He was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of London, in Madison county, Ohio, March 10, 1843, son of Henry and Melinda (Chenoweth) Farrar, the former a native of England and the latter of Ohio and the former of whom became a Kansas pioneer, spending his last days on his farm in the vicinity of Beattie, this county, a well-to-do and influential pioneer citizen.
Henry Farrar was born in Yorkshire, England, on March 19, 1815, and was but five years of age when his parents came to this country, settling in the vicinity of Cincinnati, later moving on up into Madison county, Ohio, where Henry Farrar grew to manhood and where he married Melinda Chenoweth in 1837. Afterward he employed himself in farming pursuits in that county and became the owner of about six hundred acres of land in the vicinity of London, the county seat. He also took an active part in local civic affairs, served his township as assessor and in other public capa- cities and was also treasurer of his school district. In 1873 Mr. Farrar dis- posed of his interests in Ohio and came to Kansas, realizing the possibilities that awaited the pioneer in this section of the state, and bought a tract of land in Guittard township, this county, the next year, 1874, establishing his home there. He was an excellent farmer and prospered in his operations, presently becoming the owner of fifteen hundred and twenty acres in Guit- tard and Rock townships, which he afterward divided among his children. He maintained his home on his original farm, about one mile southeast of Beattie, where he spent his last days, his death occurring there in 1895, in the residence he built there in 1880.
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Henry Farrar was twice married. His first wife, Melinda Chenoweth, died at her home in Madison county, Ohio, in 1857, at the age of forty years. To that union ten children were born, seven of whom grew to maturity, those besides the subject of this sketch being as follow : Mrs. Owen Thomas, deceased; Horatio N., an honored veteran of the Civil War and a pioneer of this county, now deceased, a memorial sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume: Jonathan, a substantial farmer of Vermillion township, this county; Mrs. Margaret Crooks, living near Frank- fort : Mrs. Isabelle Durkee, deceased, and William H., of Stevens county, this state. On September 30, 1858, in Madison county, Ohio, Henry Farrar married, secondly, Mrs. Rachel (Gregg) Scal, who was born in that county. and to that union two sons were born, Romeo, a mechanic, of Blue Rapids. and Spurgeon, of Chicago. The mother of these children died in Chicago and was buried in this county. By her previous marriage to John W. Seal. who died about 1855, she was the mother of one child, a daughter, Eva. who married John Warner, of this county.
Reared on the home farm in the vicinity of London, Ohio, Thomas J. Farrar was living there when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted his services in behalf of the Union and went to the front as a member of Com- pany C. First Regiment, Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, and saw service with that command in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, later being detailed to guard prisoners of war at Chicago. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Farrar returned to his home county in Ohio in 1864 and in 1865 was married there. He established his home on a farm in Oak Run township, that county, and there resided until 1880, when he came to Kansas, his father having located in this county several years pre- viously, and in 1881 he bought his present farm in Rock township. this county. On that place when he bought it there was a small, two-room house and an orchard had been planted on the place. He at once set about improv- ing the place and it was not long until he had one of the best-improved farms in that part of the county. At his home place in Rock township Mr. Farrar owns one hundred and sixty acres and he also has a farm of one hundred acres in Vermillion township. Since 1908 he has been living prac- tically retired from the labors of the farm, though continuing to keep an eye on the management of the same. Mr. Farrar is an ardent Republican and has ever given his close attention to local political affairs. In 1895 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners from his dis- trict and served very acceptably during his incumbency in that important office. He also has rendered service as trustee of his home township.
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As noted above, it was in 1865, in Madison county, Ohio, that Thomas J. Farrar was united in marriage to Anne Holway, who was born in Devon- shire, England, and who left there in 1861 and came to this country with a sister, settling in Ohio. She completed her schooling at Oberlin, engaged in teaching school in Madison county and was thus engaged at the time of her marriage to Mr. Farrar. Some years later, in 1868, her parents, Robert and Elizabeth (Hartnell) Holway, came to this country and settled in Madi- son county, Ohio, where their last days were spent. To Mr. and Mrs. Farrar ten children have been born, two of whom died in infancy, the others being as follow : Imogene, who married James Temple and is now deceased ; Robert H., who married Lulu Storm and is farming in Rock township; Mary E., who is at home with her parents: Frank C., deceased : Thomas H., who married Clara L. Clark and is farming in Wells township: Nellie J., a trained nurse and a graduate of the Wesley Hospital, Kansas City; Anne IV., who is teaching school at Sterling, Kansas, and Iasarah, a graduate of the Frankfort high school, now teaching at Delphos. The Farrars are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a proper interest in the various beneficences of the same, as well as in the general social activities of the community in which they live, helpful in promoting all agencies hav- ing to do with the advancement of the common welfare. . Mr. Farrar is an active member of the Frankfort post of the Grand Army of the Republic and is now serving as chaplain of that patriotic organization.
ELI GIERHART CARNEY.
Eli Gierhart Carney was born in Etna, Licking county, Ohio, January 16, 1839, and is a son of James and Lovesia (Gierhart) Carney. James Carney was born and reared in the state of Ohio. He was the son of John Carney, who was born in the north of Ireland and was of Scotch-Irish descent.
On coming to the United States John Carney was married to Bridget Chaney, who was a daughter of Sebidea Chaney, who was a very early set- tler of Ohio. The Chaneys were of Welsh descent. When John Carney's family were grown up and married they moved to Lagrange county, Indiana. and settled there in the years 1838 and 1840, all coming to that place with the exception of his son, James.
Daniel and Anna (Hanna) Gierhart were the parents of Mrs. Lovesia
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Gierhart Carney. These parents were reared near Hagerstown, Maryland, and were the descendants of old Colonial stock and of German descent. They moved to Greenfield township, Fairfield county, Ohio, while it was still in a state of nature. He was a justice of the peace for many years and was noted for his good judgment in getting parties to settle their difficulties before the cases came to court. He was a blacksmith by trade and was a great help to the early settlers when that part of the country was being opened up. He was a member of the Lutheran church.
James and Lovesia Gierhart Carney had the following children born to them: Daniel J. H. Carney, now deceased; Eli Gierhart Carney; Sarah Bitsbarger and Elizabeth Delinger. Sarah Bitsbarger lives at Ft. Wayne, Indiana: Elizabeth Delinger died in the state of Michigan about 1900. James Carney, the father of E. G. Carney, died on January 18, 1844. Love- sia G. Carney, mother of E. G. Carney, was a good weaver. She could weave almost any kind of cloth worn by farmers of that day, and could cut out and make it up. She could do all kinds of work that usually fell to the lot of the women of her time. She was a member of the Presbyterian church and lived up to its teachings. She died at Ft. Wayne, Indiana, January I, 1881.
E. G. Carney learned the blacksmith trade when he was fifteen years old. After he had served over four years apprenticeship he started a shop in Jefferson, Fairfield county, Ohio. On June 24, 1860, he was married to Catherine Alspach, who was the daughter of John D. and Elizabeth (Heim- baugh) Alspach. They were both born and raised in Fairfield county, Ohio. Their parents were among the early settlers and were of German descent.
After following the blacksmithing for eleven years, E. G. Carney came to the state of Kansas, arriving in Frankfort. Marshall county, on Novem- ber 9, 1871. Shortly after coming here he bought a claim of John Rayen in section 6. township 3, range 10. He did some smithing and also engaged in raising the bigbone Poland China hogs. When he proved up on his claim he traded it for two hundred acres of raw land in Murray township, section 3. To this tract he has added and he now has four hundred and forty acres in his home farm. He also owns a fine farm in Franklin county. containing two hundred and ninety-six and three-quarter acres. His home farm is well improved and is in excellent condition for cultivation.
Eli G. Carney is a supporter of the Democratic party. In 1867 he became a member of the Nepthalia Lodge No. 262, Free and Accepted Masons, in Carroll, Fairfield county, Ohio. Mr. Carney does not belong to any church, but is a believer in all churches that are well based on Holy
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Writ : and he also holds that it makes little difference to what church a man may belong, if its teachings are lived up to. Mrs. Carney has been a mem- ber of the church since her girlhood. She has been a kind wife and a kind mother and an industrious woman.
To Eli G. and Catherine Carney the following children were born: John H., Alta, Eli E., Charles, deceased : Oliver O., Alice and Catherine M. All these children are living on farms near the . parental home. Catherine Alspach Carney was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, June 24, 1843.
WILLIAM L. McKEE.
William L. McKee, one of Center township's best-known and most substantial farmers and the proprietor of a quarter of a section of fine land in that township, a part of the section upon which his father settled upon coming to Kansas in the early days of the settlement of Marshall county, is a native of the Dominion of Canada, but has been a resident of Marshall county since the days of his boyhood and has therefore been a witness to and a participant in the development of this county since pioneer times. He was born on a farm in Smith township, five miles from Peterborough, in the county of that name, province of Ontario, Canada, June 4, 1856, eldest of the seven children of John and Mary Ann (Findlay) McKee, both natives of Ireland, of Scottish descent, who became pioneers of Marshall county and here spent their last days.
John McKee was born in County Donegal, Ireland, October 23, 1828, and was but an infant when his parents emigrated to Canada in 1830 and settled in Peterborough county, Ontario. There he grew to manhood and in Smith township, that county, began farming on his own account after his marriage in 1852, remaining there until the fall of 1869, when he came to Kansas on a prospecting trip and in September of that year bought a section of railroad land in Center township, this county, section 17, for which he paid five dollars and twenty-five cents an acre. He then returned to his home in Canada, disposed of his affairs there and brought his family to Kansas, arriving at Frankfort on January 15, 1871. The first month was spent with his brother, William McKee, three and one-half miles south of his homestead, and there the family remained while a house was being erected on the place in section 17. The house was built in the center of the section and into that new home the family moved in August, 1871.
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John McKee was an excellent farmer and it was not long until he began 10 get his section under cultivation, quickly becoming regarded as one of the leading farmers and stockmen in that part of the county. Among the early improvements he made on his place was the planting of an orchard covering twenty acres of his tract and a vineyard covering a half acre or more, that orchard developing into one of the finest orchards in Kansas. He also planted long stretches of hedge and the improvements surrounding his home made of the place one of the most attractive farm plants in the county. Mr. and Mrs. McKee were members of the Baptist church and upon the organization of a congregation of that denomination in that neigh- borhood, the Center Baptist church, Mr. McKee donated two and one-half acres of the southeast corner of his section on which to erect the church, of which for years he was a deacon, Mrs. McKee died on April 20. 1890, and in October, 1896, Mr. McKee retired from the farm and moved to Marysville, where, alternating his residence there with visits to his chil- dren, he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on August 29, 1913. He was an ardent Republican and ever gave his earnest attention to local civic affairs, but was never a seeker after public office.
On June 11, 1852, John McKee was united in marriage, in Canada. to Mary Ann Findlay, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, March 4, 1835, and who was thirteen years of age when she emigrated with her parents, William Findlay and wife, to Canada, the family settling in the Peterborough neigh- borhood in Ontario, where she lived until her marriage to Mr. McKee. To that union seven children were born, of whom the subject of this sketch, as noted, above, was the first-born. the others being as follows: Mrs. T. M. Bishop, of Frankfort, this county ; Nina, who married S. M. Ferrell and is now living at Vance, Mississippi: Florence, wife of Theodore Polack, of Marysville: Susan, deceased, who was the wife of Allen Reed, also now deceased, and Robert and John, twins, who died before the family left Canada.
William L. McKee was fifteen years of age when he came to Marshall county with his parents in 1871 and he ever since has made his home on the home place in section 17 of Center township, a period of more than forty-five years. From the time the family came to Marshall county he was a valuable assistant to his father in the labors of developing and improv- ing the home place and is now the owner of the northwest quarter of the section his father bought upon coming here. In addition to that he farms another quarter section and is doing very well in his operations, conducting
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his place along modern lines of agriculture, being accounted one of the up- to-date farmers in that part of the county.
On October 20, 1896, William L. McKee was united in marriage to Louise Fitzgerald, who also was born in Smith township, Peterborough county, Ontario, January 14, 1867, daughter of Thomas Edward and Agnes (Hall) Fitzgerald, who were born and reared in Canada, the former of Irish and the latter of Scottish descent, who spent all their lives in their native land. To this union one child has been born, a son, Maxwell Fitz- gerald McKee, born on April 23. 1898, who is assisting his father in the management of the home farm. Mr. McKee is a member of the Center Baptist church and Mrs. McKee, of the Methodist church of Marysville. They take a proper interest in church affairs as well as in other neighbor- hood good works and have ever been helpful in promoting worthy causes thereabout. Mr. McKee is a Republican and takes a warm interest in polit- ical affairs, but has never been included in the office-seeking class.
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