USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 39
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 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
Mr. Webster belongs to the Anti-Horse Thief Association, is a mem- ber of the school board of his district and honors the Grand Army of the Republic with his name on the roll.
JOHN B. REA-The interesting character whose name introduces this biography has been numbered among the citizens of Montgomery county since November 28th, 1875, the year he established himself on sec- tion 3, township 33. range 14. and began the first work in the develop- ment of his Kansas home. As a character he is unique, in that the story of his life embraces the experiences of wide travel, beginning with the middle of the nineteenth century and continuing through many years of the next quarter of a century, during which time the sun shone on him from many distant points of our American continent.
Born in Logan county, Ohio. November 28th, 1825, and reared and educated there, at twenty-four years of age he went to Mahaska county,
-
JOHN. B. REA AND FAMILY ..
341
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Iowa, where he passed one year as a hand on a farm. The following spring -- 1850-with a small company. he made the trip with an ox team to Placerville, California, being from May Ist to September 15th, on the journey. Ile engaged in mining. but at the end of a year had saved but little ($400.00) from his wages, and decided to return home. He took the brig "Imaum" for San Juan, crossed Nicaragua lake and thence down the San Juan river to Greytown. There he took a steamer to Ha- vana, Cuba, and. a week later, sailed to New Orleans and up the Mis- sissippi river to St. Louis. By stage he went to Carthage, Illinois, and thence to his starting-point in Iowa, where he soon began his journey, by horse, to his home in Ohio.
In December, 1852, he married and returned at once to Mahaska county, lowa, where he purchased a farm, cultivated it a year and then took his departure for his eastern home. In 1857, he again went to the Pacific coast, taking ship at New York, crossing the isthmus and stop- ping at San Jose, where he worked on a farm one year. He staged it from Los Angeles to Sherman, Texas, and spent two years on a farm there. Hostilities between the North and the South caused him to return to his friends and he enlisted. at Oskaloosa, Iowa, in Company "K," 33rd Iowa Inf., under Col. Samuel Rice. He was in the Department of the West and passed much time in Arkansas, from his enlistment in August, IS62. He participated in the engagement at Helena. July 4th, 1863, and was in the hospital at Little Rock during the Red river campaign. Re- joining his command. he went with it to New Orleans, to Mobile, andafter taking the latter, went to Fort Blakely, from which point his regiment was ordered to the Rio Grande river, in Texas. After doing some ser- vice on this extreme frontier the force returned to New Orleans, by the way of Galveston, and was mustered out in the "Crescent City" in June, 1865.
The war over, Mr. Rea resumed farming in Ohio for a year, and then went back to Iowa, where he was married the second time, Septem- ber 12th, 1866. This same year he started west and south in a wagon and located in Johnson county, Kansas, where he purchased a farm and owned it 'till 1873. when he disposed of it and moved to Batesville, Ar- kansas. There he remained 'till the beginning of the journey which brought him to Montgomery county. Kansas.
His beginnings in this county were as primitive as any. His resi- dence was 14x16 feet to start with and the conveniences about the place were all improvised and temporary. He has given his time to grain and grazing and his modest surroundings have been the result.
John B. Rea was a son of Allen Rea, a farmer and native of Culpeper county, Virginia. His grandfather was Joseph Rea, of Culpeper county, and of Irish stock. The eight children of Joseph Rea were : Robert. Allen,
342
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Thomas, Isaiah, Margaret, Sarah, Elizabeth and Deborah. Allen Rea married Maria Bishop and was the father of twelve children, viz: Mrs. Susannah Shark. George M., John B., Mrs. Mary J. Henderson, Mrs. Charlotte Hisey. Deborah, Mrs. Margaret Crowder, Mrs. Samantha Davis, Robert, Mrs. Louisa Davis, Joseph. of Olathe, Kans., and Carlisle, of Con- way, Missouri.
John B. Rea married, first, Hannah Wickersham, who bore him: Joseph, of Tennessee, whose four children are Frank, Mrs. Deborah Rob- ertson. Capitola, Mary and Virgie; Mrs. Robertson has four children : Thomas, William, Flora and Mamie ; William is deceased; Mr. Rea, our subject, married for his second wife, Mary J. Rice, of Jennings county, Indiana, and a daughter of James and Calydia ( Adams) Graham, natives of Kentucky. Two children were the fruit of this union, namely : Saman- tha Pilgrim, deceased, and Mrs. Nellie Jones, of Montgomery county, Kansas. The children of Mrs. Jones are Vivian Alfa and Charles, twins:
Mr. Rea is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the A. H. T. A. He has ever maintained himself a worthy citizen and his standing in his community and county is above reproach.
GEORGE W. LIPPY-In the spring of 1872, the worthy citizen whose name is prefixed to this sketch, left Fulton county, Illinois, and drove his little family across the state of Missouri and into Wilson .county, Kansas. After a temporary sojourn he went over into Elk county and took a claim, which he held 'till the fall of 1874, when he sold it and came to the Verdigris river in Montgomery county, where he has since made his home. His original farm comprised only forty aeres, where he finally located, and to the development of it and to the acquire- ment of broader acres was his attention earnestly directed. So intense and concerted were the efforts of his wife and himself exerted that an es- tate of four hundred and fifty acres now represents their farm. Their home is in section 17, township 31, range 16, and the house which covers them was, originally, a simple log cabin. In its construction their funds exhausted themselves before the cover was provided and the family watch was sacrificed to buy material for the roof. But this modest pretension served the family as a home. and "there is no place like home."
George W. Lippy was born in Miami county, Ohio, and brought up in Fulton county, Illinois. His parents, John and Sarah (Zepp) Lippy, settled in the latter place when George was only a baby. John Lippy was born in Maryland and was of German stock. He was the father of ten children, namely: Elizabeth and Catherine Lasswell, George W., Jolin, Eprhiam, Mrs. Susanna Markley, Arminda Lee, Mrs. Jane Schlegel, Mrs. Edna Lee and William.
343
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
The birth of George W. Lippy occurred April 11th, 1844. His whole life was rural in environment and, September 8th, 1870, he married Eliza- beth Markley. Mrs. Lippy was born in Fulton county, Illinois, February 4th, 1847, and was a daughter of Conrad Markley, a native of Ohio. The Markley children were: Conrad, Joseph. Mrs. Margaret Cornwell, Mrs. Susannah Richards, Jackson. John, Elizabeth, Mary. Conrad Markley married Ruth Foster, a daughter of Benjamin and Amanda (Cone) Fos- ter, and their children were: Amanda Wallich, Elizabeth Lippy, wife of our subject ; Louis C., Margaret Catron. John, Thomas. Jackson and Joshua. The first Markley children mentioned above were heirs of Jona- than Markley, of Pennsylvania, father of Conrad Markley, Mrs. Lippy's father.
Mr. Lippy and wife have four children, to-wit: Nora Catron, of Ok- lahoma, with five children: George, Margie, Ruth, Louis and Ralph; Margaret, wife of G. S. MeEvers, of Montgomery county, with three children : Maurice, Millie and Martha; John and Ruth Lippy, at the family home.
The industry and thrift displayed by Mr. and Mrs. Lippy as they passed through life has been one of the marked features of their family trait. The management of their affairs indicates an unusual business sagacity and the possession of such an estate as theirs only compensates them, in a measure. for the sacrifices they have made. Misfortune has come to the family in recent years in the mental aberration of the father, rendering him incompetent to assume charge of the domestic affairs. His noble wife has taken her place at the behn and the onward and upward movement of their pecuniary affairs has suffered no abatement.
MATHIAS BLAES-The gentleman whose life work is briefly sum- marized in this article, is a representative of one of the numerous fami- lies of Montgomery county whose material interests mark them among the successful people of the municipality. The distinction of being pio- neers of the county also belongs to them and they have comported them- selves with credit as citizens of a great and growing commonwealth.
Mathias Blaes is well worthy the honor of being the head of the Blaes family. llis publie spirit and enterprise, his general air of prog- ress and his extensive financial interests all conspire to this end. His be- lief in the encouragement of worthy objeets has been demonstrated by a liberal support of the same and his open method of transacting business is a matter of general comment.
The Blaes's were settlers from Cook county, Illinois, and came to Montgomery county in 1869. Mathias Blaes, our subject, was born near Chicago, Illinois, January 26th, 1856. He comes of pure German stock, his father, Jacob Blaes, and his mother, Elizabeth Morch, having been
344
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
born in Prussia. The parents were married in 1846, in Chicago, having come from Germany in that year. and settled in Cook county, Illinois. From that date until 1869, they followed the varied occupations of the farm, and when they came to Montgomery county they entered land-all who were of the proper age-and a large body of the public domain was thus gathered together. The father passed away at eighty-four years of age, while the mother still survives and is seventy five years old.
Seventeen children were born to this pioneer couple, fourteen of whom still live, namely : Christian, Mary E., Jacob, Elizabeth, Andrew, Mathias, John, Henry, Nicholas, Mary G., Kate. Regina, Anton and Anna. These children are scattered from Arkansas to California, and are main- taining themselves as good citizens in their respective abiding places.
Mathias Blaes was a boy of thirteen years when his life was cast with the outpost of civilization on the Kansas frontier, and among the scattered fragments of Black Dog's and White Hair's Osage bands. The last obstacle to pioneer progress was not removed with the departure of the Indians. for floods and grass-hoppers and chinch bugs came along and for some years, in the early seventies, the lot of the white man was hard. Discouraged but not disheartened, the Blaes's fought their battles against adversity without yielding and came off gloriously victorious in the end.
The district school was the only one accessible to Mr. Blaes and he acquired the ground-work of a common and practical education. He made his home with his parents 'till April 3rd, 1883, when he married Theresia Koehler. who came to the United States from Bohemia at six years of age, and to Kansas with her parents in 1879, and settled in Wil- son county.
Mr. and Mrs. Blaes began their married life on their farm two miles north of Cherryvale. Agriculture and stock raising was the chief pro- duct of the farm until recent years, when the mineral development of the locality proved it to be rich in oil and gas, and this product-from the "Spindle Top Farm," as it has been named-yields its own handsome re- turns. each quarter. in royalties, from the operators of the lease. Eleven oil wells, many of which occupy the high platean overlooking Cherry- vale, produce ernde petroleum and a good gas well supplies the pumping station and the residence of Mr. Blaes with nature's perfection of fuel.
The improvements on "Spindle Top" farm are in keeping with the substantial condition of its proprietor; large two-story residence, ample barn room and other conveniences. The farm contains two hundred and twenty-two acres and is cultivated as assiduously as if the family treas- nry were not teeming with riches drawn from the bowels of the earth. Its fields are rich and fertile and are stocked amply with the various domes- tic animals common to a well condneted farm.
345
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Ten children have blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Blaes, and all have learned to speak their mother, as well as the English, tongue. Ger- man is the language of the family circle, while English was learned in school and in contact with the outside world. The children are: Agatha, Adolph J., Carl H., Arnold Edward, Antoinette, Colette, Theresia B., Frank Joseph. Anna L., and Omer W.
EDWARD J. TRIBLE-An early settler of Montgomery county who has emphasized his presence here by positive and substantial life achievements. is Edward J. Trible, of Rutland township. February, 1870, marks his advent to the county, at which early date he combined the busi- ness of a freighter with that of a settler, and entered a tract of the public lands in Independence township, as a starting point in his citizen career. He came to the county with mule and ox teams laden with flour and corn, which he sold to the Osages, then quartered in their villages about over the county and the farm which William Brust now owns is the site where Mr. Trible put forth his maiden efforts on a Kansas farm.
Edward Trible, like other pioneers, made his first home in Mont- gomery county in a log hut. which he erected with his own hands. His stable matched his house and a "shanghigh" fence enclosed his field. Chief Nopawalla's camp was only a fourth of a mile from him and a friendly intercourse between the settler and the Aborigines was maintained.
In 1872, Mr. Trible went on a buffalo hunt, fifty miles west of his claim, and killed all the meat he could haul. At that date Butler and Cowley counties, and all the country west of there, was full of that large game. and it served the pioneers in good stead during a scarcity of native meat and short crops. This meat our subject sold at Joplin, Missouri, and in that vicinity he remained, working about the lead mines, for three years, returning thence to Montgomery county and settling the farm he now owns. He was then without means, so to speak, and he roughed it and starved it until Providence came to his rescue with earth's bounteous crops. He lived in a log cabin here, too, and the temporary buildings of the modest farmer covered him 'till their destruction by fire, in 1892, when the home of the present day arose and gave him shelter. He is located on a tract of school land in section 36, township 32, range 14, and is classed among the thorough-going and thrifty citizens of his township.
December 25th. 1844, Mr. Trible, of this sketch. was born in Devon- shire, England. He grew up there to the age of fourteen years, when he sailed for America and landed at Quebec, Canada. He went direct to Alton, Illinois, and thence to Macoupin county, that state, where he re- sided until 1867. In the spring of 1864. he enlisted at Camp Butler, III., in Company "F." 133rd Vol. Inf., Capt. Dugger and Col. Phillips. He
346
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
did guard duty at Rock Island, Illinois, during his entire service and was mustered out at his place of enlistment December, 1865. After spending a short time at home he migrated to Barton county, Missouri, from which point he started on his journey to Kansas and to Montgom- ery county.
Edward J. Trible was a son of John Trible, whose father and mother were the parentsof John, Edward, Abram and Samuel. John Trible married Mary Oliver in Devonshire, and was the father of six children, as follows : Mrs. Grace Elred, of Carlinville, Ill .; Mrs. Elizabeth Hobson, of Carrol- ton, Ill. ; Mrs. Mary Fink, of Lamar, Mo .; John, of Girard, Ill .; Margaret, wife of Peter Denby, and Edward J.
In 1872, Mr. Trible married Mary J. Compton, a native of Ross county, Ohio, and a danghter of Wilson and Sarah ( Brake) Compton. The issue of this marriage is six children, namely: Mrs. Mande Greer, with children, Glenn and Audra; Mrs. Grace Furgeson ; Wiltz, of Kansas City ; Maggie. Elbirt and Blanche.
The first wheeled vehicle known in England was made by John Oliver, the maternal great-grandfather of Mr. Trible. He lived in the county of Devonshire, where the family annals have existed from a very early time.
ALEXANDER C. GREER-In 1884, the subject of this personal reference came to Montgomery county and identified himself with the settlers of Rutland township, where he owns one hundred and twenty acres of sections 27 and 33, township 32, range 14. He emigrated from Morgan county, Indiana, where his birth occurred October 11th, 1841, and where he grew up on a farm. His father, JJohn A. Greer, was a pio- neer there from Scott county, Kentucky, and a minister of the Christian church, dying the year following our subject's birth.
Rev. John A. Greer was a native Irishman's son, James Greer being his father. James Greer accompanied his parents, Stephen H. and Ruth (Anderson) Greer to America as a child, where he married and, in Ken- tueky, reared his family of seven children, viz: James, Nathaniel, Henry, Alvin, Ruth, Mrs. Sophronia Smith, Mrs. Martitia Berry, and John A. The last named married Nancy Elsey, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Montagne) Elsey, native Kentucky people. Ten children sprang from this union, as follows: James, John E., Mrs. Elizabeth Carroll, Lyman M., Mrs. Ruth Williams, Nancy J., William H., Mrs. Amanda M. Poor, Alexander C., and Sarah, deceased.
Stephen H. Greer, our subject's great-grandfather, came from Ire- land to Maryland and served about five years in the Revolutionary war.
The opportunities of Alexander C. Greer, in youth, were only such as came to a country boy of his time, and he grew up with a strong body,
347
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
a moral and upright young man. August 30th. 1862. he enlisted in Com- pany "F." 5th Ind. Cav .. Capt. Felix Graham-afterward colonel-and, later, under Col. Thomas F. Butler, in the 23rd Army Corps, commanded by Gen. Sherman. He was in twenty-two different engagements during the war and escaped both wounds and capture. He was in the fights at Bean Station, Bluntville. Tenn., and Buffington's Island. He helped eap- ture Gen. Basil Duke and eleven hundred men, with a mere posse of fifty men. From Kentucky the command went into Tennessee, where it seout- ed over the eastern part of the state and fought the battles of Raytown, Strawberry Plains and Walker's Fort. The regiment then returned to Louisville, Kentucky, from whence it soon embarked on its journey to join Gen. Sherman, for the Atlanta campaign. On this campaign the cavalry led the advance and brought on the fighting all the way down to the eity. After the Confederate stronghold surrendered. Mr. Greer's command was sent back to Louisville, where he went to the hospital with a fever. He was discharged from there May 20th, 1865, and is now a pen- sioner on the roll of honor.
Since the war, farming has occupied the attention of Mr. Greer. He was married in 1867. Rhoda Parker becoming his wife. She was born in Morgan county, Indiana, and was a daughter of Starling and Mary (White) Parker, of Jackson and Morgan counties, that state. To Mr. and Mrs. Greer have been born eight children, viz: Mrs. Ruth Hutoka, of Neodesha. Kansas: Mrs. Lily M. Botts, of Montgomery county, with children : Laura. Ella, Margaret and Marie; Mrs. Margaret M. Malcom, with three children: Tra, Eva, and Ethel, deceased; Mrs. Dora Hewitt. of Independence. Kansas: Everett E., of Neodesha ; John E., of Indepen- dence : Mary J. and Alice. yet on the family homestead.
In politics Mr. Greer affiliates with the Republicans and has been chosen to fill several local offices of his township. He has attended county and district conventions in a delegate capacity, and has comport- ed himself as becomes a patriotic and worthy citizen.
LUCINDA W. ALLISON-One of the modest citizens of West Cherry township and one who has passed nearly a quarter of a century within the limits of Montgomery county, is Mrs. Lucinda W. Allison. of this record. She came to the county with her late husband. Jackson A]- lison. and settled, temporarily. west of Independence, but, two years later purchased the eighty are traet in section 20, township 31, range 16. where her home has since been maintained.
In DeKalb county, Tennessee, Mrs. Allison was born, March 21st, 1845. Eight years later, she accompanied her parents into Kentucky. where. in Logan and afterward in McClain counties, she grew up. She was a daughter of William C. and Martha ( Belden) Doss and was the
348
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
oldest of four children, viz: Lucinda. Ursula. wife of Thomas Sams, of Logan county, Kentucky; Mrs. Maria J. Tines, of Butler county, Ken- tueky. and Mary E. William C. Doss was a son of Jonathan Doss, who married a Pritchit and reared an only child. The father was an Irish- man and the mother a Tennesseean, and their home was in Virginia. William C. Doss' wife was a daughter of Isaac and Martha Belden, of Logan county. Kentucky, but the former a Virginian by birth.
June 5th, 1871, Lucinda W. Doss married Jackson Allison, a native of Franklin county, Kentucky, and a son of Harrison Allison, a Virgin- ian, with Scotch-Irish lineage. Jackson Allison was one of four in family, namely: Jackson. John, Eli and Joseph.
Soon after her marriage, Mrs. Allison and her husband removed to McClain county and remained there 'till their emigration toward the setting sun. Mr. Allison passed his life as a farmer and died February 26th. 1901. Among his first acts as a young man was his enlistment in the Confederate army, where he served as wagon-master in Kentucky and Tennessee. being in the army for a period of four years. After the war he was appointed jailor in Calhoun, McClain county. but in the west his life was a quiet and unassuming one. He left two children at his death, Elmo, of Montgomery county, with children. Lela and Conrad H .; and Miss Ella Allison, at home.
THOMAS W. ANDERSON-When Montgomery county was yet an outpost of civilization and the Red Man still held sway, Thomas W. An- derson. of this sketch, united his fortunes with the sparse settlement of Independence township, and entered a tract of land near Independence. He engaged actively in the development of his new farm and ownd it un- til 1876, when he exchanged it for interests in Cherryvale, in and around which place he has ever since resided.
Coles county. Illinois, was the native place of Mr. Anderson, and there. December 11th, 1836. he was born. James Duncan Anderson was his father and his mother was Lucinda Threlkeld, both parents being na- tives of Kentucky. In 1832 .. they left their native state and settled in Coles county, Illinois, where, in 1844. the father died at forty-five years, while the mother lived to be forty-eight years old. Of their four child- ren. Thomas W. is the sole survivor.
Being left without parents at eight years of age, our subject was reared under the care and guidance of his maternal grandparents. Con- ditions were such that an education was impossible to him and a term of three months in a country school was all the school advantage he had. The Threlkeld home was his home 'till December 5th, 1855, when he mar- ried Elizabeth Helton and the young couple set out to do for themselves.
Mrs. Anderson was born in Tennessee, in 1837, was a daughter of An-
349
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
drew and Malinda Neal ( Black) Helton, of Tennessee, and English birth, respectively. In 1854, the Heltons started to Texas by river boat-down the Ohio and up the Red river-and while going up the latter Andrew Helton, the father, was stricken with cholera and died March 22nd, 1854. at forty-nine years of age. This misfortune disheartened the mother and children, and they returned to their THinois home, where Malinda Helton died, January 1st. 1856. at forty-two years old.
The Helton children were: Leanah E., born April 30, 1830; Alfred C., born August 20th, 1831, and died in 1852; James F., born October 30th, 1833, died in Kansas City: Mary H., born October 22nd, 1835; Elizabeth, born December 27th, 1837; Emeline F., born September 27, 1840; Milton E., born November 14th, 1843; Thomas M., born November 9th, 1845; Heury C., born March 18, 1848; Landon H., born May 2, 1850, and George W., born July 16. 1853.
Early in 1865, Thomas W. Anderson enlisted in the 123rd Illinois Vol. Inf .. but was subsequently transferred to the 61st Illinois regiment. in which he served 'till the close of the Civil war. Returning to his fam- ily, he continued farming in his native state 'till 1869, when he came to Kansas and passed a year at Fort Scott. On coming into Montgomery county he found it what he desired, identified himself with its agricul- tural interests and has done a modest, though substantial. part toward the material development of the county.
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.