USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 34
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Bernhardt Zangg was a Swiss by nativity. He was born in the province of Berne. April 12. 1840, and was a son of Ulrich and Elizabeth (Funkhouser) Zaugg, somewhat extensive and well-to-do farmers of the province. The parents were born and died there and were communicants in the Lutheran church. Fourteen children were born to them. the sec- ond oldest being Bernhardt of this sketch. Two sisters and two brothers of them came to the United States. Bernhardt in 1868 and Peter and the sisters-Mrs. Elizabeth Euberg, deceased, of Colorado, and Mrs. Barbara Avenerins, of Ottawa, Kas .- following later on. Bernhardt Zaugg was fairly educated in the schools provided for his station in Switzerland and learned the butcher's trade. He passed through Castle Garden, robust and strong, and made his way to Saint Joseph, Missouri. where he ob- tained work at his trade. Leaving the Missouri town, he drifted down to Baxter Springs, Kansas, from which point he came to Independ- ence.
Montgomery county was the scene of Mr. Zaugg's effective work. With the aid and counsel of his wife he laid the foundation for and built a modest fortune. While he was young and full of vigor no task requir- ing industry was he nnable to accomplish and it can be safely stated that he amassed his wealth by intelligent and properly directed effort. The farm he owned in the river bottom sold for $16,000.00, a greater sum than was paid for a like estate before that time in Montgomery county. His wife, whom he married in Independence December 24, 1872, was an ever-present aid to his ambition. She was Bernhardtina Tanner. born in Switzerland January 24, 1844. and a daughter of Conrad and Elizabeth (Sonderheger) Tanner. Her parents had five children of which number she is the sole survivor. Mrs. Zaugg was educated liberally in the ordi- mary schools of the Swiss republic and, as it happened, came to the United States the same year her husband did. She passed from New York to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and came on to Kansas as soon as the government treated with the Osage Indians for their reservation. She and her late husband began life in an humble way and the quarter of a century in which they labored together their efforts achieved financial re- sults that were gratifying indeed. Her aid of different industrial enter-
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prises of Independence show her to be progressive and public-spirited. The brick plant, the cracker factory and the cotton mill have each been beneficiaries of her generosity and it is with a spirit of loyalty to her favorite city that she is prompted to these favoring acts.
As pioneers Mr. and Mrs. Zaugg were among the first. As citizens they performed a modest but positive part in the internal affairs of Mont- gomery county and sustained their names unsullied and unimpeached.
JAMES F. BLACKLEDGE-No other county in the state owes its phenomenal development to the fire and snap of youth to a greater extent than does Montgomery. Here in the years immediately succeeding the great Civil War, settled men whose youthful fiber had been steeled by war's exacting duties, and who are now referred to as "old settlers." Though still active, they have gradually given way to the younger ele- ment, whose educational equipment fits them to take up the more compli- cated work of advancing civilization. Among this number the gentle- man whose name initiates this paragraph is noted as a leader, adding to the restless energy of youth the sound judgment that comes from suc- cessful contact with the business world in various capacities.
James F. Blackledge is the present efficient cashier and manager of the Caney Valley National Bank, of C'aney City. The place of his nativ- ity was Rockville, Indiana, the time October 29, 1869. He is the youngest son of William and Phoebe ( Johns) Blackledge, his parents belonging to that sturdy class of artisans which has made the "Hoosier State" famons in the field of labor. The parents are natives of Ohio, the father born in 1832, and upon arriving at manhood becoming a builder and contractor in Indiana. In this state he passed his early manhood and cheerfully laid aside the implements of peace to wield the sword in the glorious cause of freedom during the three long years of the Civil War. In 1879. hecasthis lot with the "Sunflower State," settling first in Oswego, then at Coffeyville, where he and his wife now reside, honored members of socie- ty. Seven children were born to them, three boys and two girls yet liv- ing.
A lad of but ten years when he first looked upon Kansas prairies, Mr. Blackledge lays claim to being a Kansan "to the manor born," the en- tire formative and educational period of his life being passed within the borders of the State. The foundation of his excellent education was laid in the district schools, from which he passed to a course in Salina Col- lege. At nineteen, after passing a creditable examination in the Civil Ser- vice, he received an appointment in the railway mail service as clerk, his first run being on the Ft. Scott & Webb City R. R., from Ft. Scott to Webb City. The facility which he rapidly acquired in the service and a fine grasp of the more intricate problems which came up for solution al-
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most daily, soon marked him for promotion, and he was tested in many different positions in the succeeding five years, in all of which he proved efficient.
The marriage of Mr. Blackledge. in 1890, had thrown him into con- tact with a master of finance in the person of his father-in-law, E. P. Al- len, president of the Bank of Independence, and with whom, in 1893, he became associated in a banking venture in the then village of Caney. Joint purchasers of stock in the Caney Valley Bank, they operated it as a state bank until 1900, when it was incorporated under the name now known, with a capital of $25,000.00. Under the splendid management of Mr. Blackledge, this bank has become one of the solid financial institu- tions of the county, with a working deposit of nearly $100,000.00. If one thing more than another has contributed to Mr. Blackledge's success in the business world, it is his absolute fidelity to a trust, and the careful consideration he gives to the minutest detail of the work.
Politics, as such, proves of but little interest to Mr. Blackledge. He votes with the Republican party, and. yielding to the solicitation of friends, has served his municipality in the board of councilmen. To this he adds the sinecure of city treasurer.
The home life of our subject has been peculiarly felicitious, Miss Mattie H. Allen, daughter of E. P. and Mary Allen, becoming his wife as stated above, in 1890. To this union have been born four bright children-Ralph T., Paulina, Gwynne and Mercedes.
Mr. Blackledge is a member of Masonic Blue Lodge, a K. of P. and an M. W. A. and Mrs. Blackledge is a member of the Presbyterian church.
ELIZABETH BRYANT-The lady mentioned is one of the most in- teresting of the few pioneers of Montgomery county still left. She de- lights in reminiscences of the early days when wild game and the wilder Red Man roamed in undisputed possession of the prairie, and can tell many tales of adventure in which the "noble Red Man" figured, and gen- erally to his discredit. Mrs. Bryant came to Kansas in 1858, with her husband and family, first settling in Atchison county, thence, in 1860, to Coffey county, where they resided during the war. In 1867, they moved down into Montgomery county, where they have ever since been among its best citizens.
Mrs. Bryant was born in Vermilion county, Indiana, on the 31st of Jannary. 1836, the daughter of John and Fannie (Harper) Geer, both natives of Kentucky. John Geer was one of the carly settlers of the "Hoosier State," having come from Kentucky when a five-year-old boy. He lived in Indiana until 1853, when he removed with his family to Iowa, and in which state he died at the advanced age of eighty years, the wife
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at seventy-one. In August of 1855, Mrs. Bryant was married to Hezekiah F. Bryant, a native of Kentucky, born April 12th, 1832. He came over into Indiana when a boy and accompanied Mr. Geer's people when they moved out to lowa. They rented a farm for several years in Iowa and, in 1858, came to Kansas, as stated. The family were living in Coffey county when the war came on and Mr. Bryant at once enlisted. This left Mrs. Bryant to look after affairs at home and for the entire period of the war she bravely fought the battles necessary to keep her young family to- gether-and who shall say the brave women did not have battles to fight that took as high a degree of courage and as great display of generalship as were required on the actual field of carnage.
Early in 1861, Mr. Bryant enlisted in the Ninth Kansas Cavalry, and served nearly five years with that organization, participating in many important engagements of the west. As stated, the family moved down into Montgomery county in 1867, where they located a claim on Elk river. This was in pioneer days, in truth, when but few white families were in the county, and when thieving Indians roamed over valley and hill. The Bryants were unfortunate enough to become the victims of these pests, losing their only team soon after their arrival, and even a coat and brace of revolvers that bad been carelessly laid aside. Claim-jumpers were an- other species of varmint the new settlers had to reckon with. While Mr. Bryant was gone on his trip back to Coffey county for the rest of the family, an effort was made to jump his claim, which his return in the nick of time prevented. As it was, the family moved into their cabin be- fore the roof was put on and slept the first night under a few rough boards. The first year was one of privation and almost of suffering, but after their first erop was raised it became easier, and, as years passed, hard work brought prosperity and plenty to their door.
This first farm was cultivated until the year 1885, when it was sold and a move made to where Mrs. Bryant now resides, two miles from Tyro. Mr. Bryant died on the 14th of March, 1889, at the age of fifty- six years eleven months and twenty-eight days, in Saint Andre Bay, Florida, while in search of bealth. He was a man whose fine traits of character won to him many friends. He cared little for public life, but was most envious of the good will of his friends and neighbors, among whom he was exceedingly popular.
Mrs. Bryant was the mother of eight children : Marion, deceased in 1886; John W., James, Benjamin N., deceased at one year and eight months; William A., R. Simeon. Ida May, deceased in infancy; and an unnamed infant.
Of this family. William A. has dutifully remained at home, caring for his mother. He was born in Coffey county in 1867, and has passed the entire period of his life at home. The farm which he cultivates evi- dences in its well-tilled acres the stroke of a master hand, and presents
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as fine an appearance as any in the confines of the county. He makes a specialty of breeding fine horses and takes great pride in driving the best in his stable, in the cultivation of his farm. His devotion to his mother is a matter of common remark, and he has resolutely remained single with the purpose of giving her the better care. He is regarded in the com- munity as a worthy son of a worthy father, whose many virtues he so aptly illustrates.
JOHN CRICK-John Crick, a farmer of Louisburg township, Mont- gomery county, is a native of Old England, where he was born. in Boln- hurst. on the 25th of February, 1842. His father was James H. Hopwood, and his mother Sarah Crick. The parents lived and died in the Old Country, where, in Bedfordshire, our subject was educated and learned his trade.
In the year 1866, the latter crossed the ocean and located in Phila- delphia, where he worked at his trade, as a machinist, with the firm of Bement & Dongherty, and also with the Sellers Tool Co. He remained in Philadelphia about one year and then went to Susquehanna, the same state. where he entered the employ of the New York and Erie Rail- road. Later, he came to Chicago and worked for the Rock Island Rail- road Company. He was with the Kansas Pacific for two years at dif- ferent points and then, finally. abandoned the life of a machinist and. in 1871, located on the farm where he now resides. This farm consists of 160 acres of fine land, which our subject keeps in a high state of cultiva- tion. It is stocked well with the best grades of cattle and horses and shows the skillful hand of the master agricultorist.
The domestic life of Mr. Crick began April 15th, 1863. on which date he was joined in marriage with Mary. a daughter of Valentine and Cla- rinda (Durand) Cryderman. Mrs. Crick's father was a native of Canada, where he was born in 1816. In early manhood he located in Indiana and there married. He, later, moved to Illinois, where Mrs. Crick was born, she being one of a family of ten children, viz: George. deceased ; Amelia, first married John Smith, but is now the wife of Edward Hays; Silvia, deceased wife of Jesse N. Gallamore, her children being : Nellie, Rose, Ivy, Jessie, Florence, Clarinda, Maude, Amy and Vane; the fourth child is Mrs. Crick ; Merritt L., lives with his mother in Wilson county. Kansas; James Valentine. Amos married Cornelia Ragland, lives in Neodesha, Kansas; William Adna. John married Dora Wellming and lives in Wash- ington, and an infant unnamed.
To. Mr. and Mrs. Crick have been born a family of six children, as follows-Nettie. born January 4th, 1875, resides at home; Jesse, born October 5th, 1876; Daisy B., born July 14th. 1879; Amy E., born Septem- ber 22nd, 1881; Harry, born November 12th, 1884, and Frank V., born
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Sept. 7th, 1886. Of these children, Jesse, the oldest son, enlisted in the Spanish-American war in the spring of 1898, and served until his dis- charge at San Francisco. November Ist, 1899. Hle resided, for a time, in Missoula, Montana, and is now an employe of the Northern Pacific rail- way, and at present resides in Agnascolientes, Mexico, where he is a loco- motive engineer.
Mr. and Mrs. Crick are devont and consistent members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church and are leading members of society in the com- munity, where they interest themselves in every cause which looks to gen- eral betterment. He has never sought publie office, and is pleased to sup- port the principles of the Republican party by his vote. He is a charter member of William Penn Lodge of Elk City, I. O. O. F. He joined this order in 1870, in Wyandotte. Kansas, and has been a life-long member of the same. Those who know Mr. Crick and his family best are uniform in their opinion of the splendid character which they maintain in the community.
JAMES A. MeDOWELL-Since 1869, there has lived, five miles from Elk City, a gentleman, who, by his upright character and by his unity of purpose has earned the esteem of a large community of friends. There are few in the ranks of the "old settlers" of the county who are better or more favorably known than Mr. MeDowell, and we present his record in brief, that posterity may know him, and something of his antecedents.
October 9th, 1858, marks the date of birth of Mr. MeDowell, in Cald- well county, Kentucky. He is of Irish extraction, his father, Allen Me- Dowell, having been a son of Alexander, who was the Irish founder of this American family. They settled in Kentucky, where Allen MeDowell was born, and where he married Martha Freeman, daughter of Hardy F. Freeman, of a North Carolina family, which settled in Caldwell county, Kentucky.
Allen MeDowell enlisted in the Union army during the Civil war, and died at home while on a furlough, but his widow still lives and resides with her son, our subject.
James A. MeDowell was a lad of ten years when his mother settled in Montgomery county, Kansas. With her came her father, together with a brother and two brothers-in-law. Each of the male members of the party preempted a quarter section of land in Louisburg township, as also did our subject's mother. The latter proved up on her claim, sold out and purchased the farm of eighty acres upon which Mr. MeDowell now resides, and which he has continued to cultivate since he grew to man- hood.
Mr. McDowell married. in January, IS93, Miss Lola Lewis, daughter of Abraham and Martha (Reed) Lewis. To this marriage have been born
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three children: Alvis, born December 8th, 1894; Frances Anna, boru March 28th. 1896; and James Allen, born Inne 7th, 1898.
The farm on which Mr. McDowell now resides is not extensive in acreage, but it is well kept and shows the hand of an intelligent and skilled agriculturist.
In fraternal lite, Mr. McDowell is a member of the Modern Wood- men of America, and in politics he affiliates and votes with the Republi- can party.
CAPT. J. E. STONE-This name is an honored one in Montgomery county, where its bearer has resided for many long years, he being one of the earliest settlers in the southern part of the county. Capt. Stone set- tled in the county soon after the war and one year prior to the laying ont of the townsite of Caney. Here he purchased a large body of land, on part of which now stands that city. During his residence here, Capt. Stone has filled several important publie positions, notably that of county, sheriff, in which office he served two terms, and as postmaster of the city of Caney, a position he has held since 1897.
Capt. Joseph E. Stone is the eldest son of Jonathan and Sarah ( Stev- ens; Stone. His birth dates in the state of Maine, where he was born, in Waldo county. on the 26th day of July, 1842. Ilis parents were by ocen- pation farmers. The records give the date of the birth of Jonathan Stone as March 27th, 1816, his death occurring July 20th, 1883. The dates of birth and death of the wife are respectively, March 27th. 1818, and January 15th. 1900. These parents reared a family of five children. Capt. Stone passed the days of his youth and young manhood on the home farm, his early education being that which was common in those days in the country districts of the east. With this as a foundation he attended ses- sions at the Maine State Seminary, and at the early age of sixteen had qualified himself for the noble work of a teacher. He taught success- fully for a period of five years in the country districts about his home. As the rumblings of war became more and more distinct the young teacher followed events with an all-absorbing interest and when opportu- nity offered he was ready to offer his life as a sacrifice on the altar of de- votion to country. He enlisted in Company "B." of the 44th U. S. Color- ed Infantry, a regiment recruited with white officers and colored troops. Capt. Stone was enlisted as second lieutenant and was later promoted to first Fentenant, which position he was holding at his discharge. He par- ticipated in several important engagements and was at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. Ilis regiment was sent to the extreme south int- mediately after the surrender and he was mustered out in the city of New Orleans. The service, however, had proved so fascinating to our sab- jeet that he soon re-enlisted in the regular service, this time as first lieu-
J E. STONE.
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tenant of Company "B." 125th Colored U. S. Infantry. In this position he experienced service on the plains for two years and then closed his military life at Fort Leavenworth, in December of 1867.
A trip to the old home in Maine preceded his settlement at Lee Sum- mit, Jackson county, Missouri, where he conducted a commission busi- ness until the spring of 1870. This year marks the date of his coming to Kansas, the exact day of his landing in the vicinity of the present city of Caney being the 11th of May. He took up a claim just north of Caney and since that time has been one of the largest individual land owners in the county. His holdings aggregate at present some 1,200 acres, 500 of which adjoins the city limits. Some idea of the strides real estate have taken in this vicinity may be gathered from the fact that this land, bought at $7.00 an acre, is now valned in the neighborhood of $100.00.
Capt. Stone has figured actively in the development of Caney. In 1886, a company was organized, of which he became president, and which purchased 240 acres north of the city. This was platted and is now a part of the city proper. He has built himself a handsome residence on the corner of Fourth avenue and Wood street, where he is passing an active and pleasant old age.
As stated, the public life of Capt. Stone comprised two terms in the office of sheriff. in the early days, and his present position of postmaster. IJis experience in the former office was immediately after his arrival in Kansas, and was in a day when it took a man of some nerve to adminis- ter the office. Our subject can tell many a good story of "border war- fare." when the man quickest with his gun was the master of the situa- tion. During his term as postmaster at Caney the office has passed from a fourth-class to a presidential office. His administration of the office has been eminently satisfactory to the patrons and the department at Washington. In financial circles Capt. Stone is known far and wide. He is vice president and one of the principal stockholders in the Home National Bank of Caney, and is regarded as one of the solid men of the southern part of the state.
Our subject has been most active in political life, and it is not ful- some praise to say that the present condition of the Republican party is due in large measure to his wise counsel and efficient management as chairman of the County Central Committee.
The marriage of Capt. Stone occurred in February of 1874, while serving his second term as sheriff. The event occurred in Independence ; the lady's name. Anna Vansandt, a native of Missouri, a daughter of Elijah and Mary R. Vansandt. Mrs. Stone was a lady of many excel- lencies of character and on her death. May 16th, 1897, she was mourned by a large circle of friends throughout the county. She was the mother of five children, all of whom are living: Arthur F., Herbert G., Myrtle May, Roy M. and Edwin Earl. This latter son inherited the taste for
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military life from his father and is at present a member of the U. S. Cav- alry, 14th Regiment, stationed at Fort Grant, Arizona.
Forceful, yet. withal, most kindly, shrewd in the management of his affairs, yet generous to a fault; helpful in his association with friends and neighbors. Captain Stone merits the large measure of esteem in which he is held in Caney and Montgomery county.
ISAAC M. ARGO-In the vicinity of Costello, lives some of the most enterprising and industrious farmers of Montgomery county, among whom is the gentleman whose name heads this notice. He has been a resident of the county for nineteen years and he and his family are es- teemed for their many splendid qualities and personal virtues.
Isaac M. Argo dates his birth from the year 1854, in Champaign county. Ilinois. His parents, David and Mary (Shreve) Argo, came to the town of Neodesha, Kansas, in 1872, near which place they preempted a claim and where they continued to reside until their death.
Our subject was eighteen years of age when the family came to Kan- sas and he aided his parents in opening the farm until he passed his legal majority. He then began life on his own account and, in 1891, started an establishment of his own, being joined in marriage that year with Miss May. daughter of JJames H. and Margaret ( Weller) Ashibaugh. His wife's father was a native of Hardin county, Kentucky, where he was born in 1817, the mother, also, being a native of the same county and state. They were early pioneers of Montgomery county, Kansas, having settled here in 1869, and preempted the farm where Mr. Argo now resides. Two of his daughters, Mary and Martha, also took and proved up a claim of a quarter section of land nearby. Mr. Argo died in 1882, and his wife pass- ed away in 1889. leaving six children : Mary I., now deceased; Martha A., who married Garland Watson and lives near Kansas City ; Margaret, deceased ; Victor, who lives in Colorado; George J., also of Colorado, married Fannie Ashbaugh, and has a son, William; the youngest child was Mrs. Argo.
To the home of Mr. and Mrs. Argo have come two children : Victor N .. born February 1. 1884, and David, who was born July 23, 1902. In his social relations Mr. Argo is most happy, being a member of the Mod- ern Woodmen, and ready at all times to take part in any movement which has for its object the improvement of society about him. He is not active in the matter of politics, but is pleased to support, by his vote, the plat- form of the Populist party.
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