USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 41
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JAMES H. SCOTT-The well-known citizen whose name initiates this historical sketch has passed twenty-three years as a resident of Mont- gomery county. He first saw the county in 1879 and in the following year brought his family out from the east and established them on his Independence township farm, in sections 22 and 23. township 33. range 15, modest. fertile and substantially and attractively improved.
Mr. Scott is of Irish birth. Belfast was his native city and his natal day and year were December 6. 1840. His father was Rev. James Scott. a Methodist minister, and his mother's maiden name was Jane McGregor. The father was born in 1796 and died at New Burnside. Illi- nois, in 1880. The mother bore eight children-five of whom came to the I'mited States-the mother died in Ireland when our subject was a small boy. Those of the family now living. beside James H., are: William MI., of Belfast. Ireland. and Mrs. Mary J. Threldkeld. of Hampton. Kentucky. Rev. James Scott located at Quincy. Illinois, when he first came to the new world and was engaged in religious work for over fifty years. He afterward established his family in Brown county, Illinois, and there James H. Scott. of this record. was brought up.
Our subjeet was the fourth of five children in the family and came to maturity on a farm. He acquired a good common school education and himself engaged in teaching district school before the outbreak of the Civil war. He enlisted at Metropolis, Illinois, Angust 11, 1861, in
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Company "K," Twenty-ninth Infantry, Capt. J. A. Carmichael's com- pany. The regiment was assigned to Grant's command along the Missis- sippi river and participated in the battles of Forts Heury and Donelson, in which latter engagement Mr. Scott received a wound in the left shoul- der, but instead of entering the hospital. he furloughed home and there recuperated in the quiet among friends. Returning to his regiment, he took part in the second battle of Corinth and in the siege of Vieksburg. A large part of the Twenty ninth Illinois being captured at Holly Springs Mississippi, Company "K" was placed on board one of the Federal gun- boats and performed service in the navy for some six months, or until the captured portion of the regiment was "exchanged" and rejoined their comrades and resumed their old position as an integral part of the con- quering army. Being orderly sergeant of his company, Mr. Seott was made captain of one of the twenty-four pound howitzers of the gunboat while in the navy. The regiment rendezvoused in the vicinity of Vieks- burg after the fall of the city, for some months, and when it moved, went to Natchez, Mississippi, where scouting and guarding and patrol duty occupied its time till September, 1864, when, owing to his increasing deafness, our subjeet was mustered out.
Returning home, Mr. Scott continued teaching school and took up the study of medicine. continuing both till his hearing became so bad that he was forced to abandon them. He owned a farm in the county where he lived and the cultivation of it occupied his attention. Since that date he has been a farmer. He has not been actively engaged in the work himself-being much of the time, in later life, an invalid-but his interests have remained those of the farmer and so he has classed him- self.
May 5, 1872, James H. Scott was united in marriage with Mary A. Wright, a daughter of John R. Wright, who married Maria H. Sterling. The Wrights were from Mt. Holly, Morris county, New Jersey. where Mrs. Scott was born March 11, 1845. Mr. Wright died in Pope county, Illinois, in 1889, and his wife survived him till 1895, when she also passed away. Their children were Amos, Cooper and Martha, all deceased ; Mrs. Scott ; Ella, wife of James L. Murphy, of Metropolis, Illinois; Luey, who married Anson Neely, and died leaving one child; Archer, of Pope coun- ty, Illinois ; and Emma, also deceased.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Scott consist of the following children, namely: Maria J., born in 1873; Martha P., of Ottawa, Kansas, born 1875; Lillie K., born 1877; Walter J., born 1880; Roy H., born in 1882; Stella A., born 1884; and Charles E., born 1886.
In politics, Mr. Scott affiliates with the Republican party. His am- bition has been only to see a fair and proper administration of public affairs and to be permitted the full and free enjoyment of the blessings of our Republic.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
WILLIAM H. FROST-In mentioning the pioneers of Montgomery county it is appropriate to include in the list all those who made settle- ment in the year 1870, as well as those scattered few whose lot was cast with the county at an earlier date. While many of the throng of immi- grants of 1870 have passed to the great beyond, there are still conspicu- ons examples of those hardy and determined advance guard of civiliza- tion left to tell the story, and among them is the venerable William H. Frost, of this review. In comparison with the great flood of emigration which came out of the east to settle the plains of the west. the quota from New England is, in numbers, inconspicuous and unimportant. But the shortage in quantity is fully made up in the quality, for the New England emigrant was of sincere purpose, vigorous and active mentality, and industrious in a high degree. All these attributes apply strikingly to the subject of this article and the fulfillment of his destiny has been achieved in Montgomery county.
William H. Frost was born in Oxford county. Maine, November 4, 1826. His forefathers were of the colonial stock of New England and were employed with agricultural pursuits. His father was William Frost-born in 1800 and died at his old home in 1866-and his mother was Mary Stevens, a daughter of Stevens, a representative of another of the pioneer families of Maine. William and Mary Frost were industrious and thrifty, bore themselves highly honorable before the world and were consistent members of the Methodist church. Mary Frost died in 1833 and William took, for his second wife, Mary Files, who was the mother of the last named child in the following list, all of the others being the issue of William and Mary: Joel, who died in Maine; Charlotte S., who married Harmon Cummings and resides in her native state; Harriet, wife of Henry Smith, of Massachusetts; Warren, who died young; Levi, also deceased ; William H .. our subject ; Nathaniel and Laura, twins, the latter the widow of Charles Haskell and living in Norway, Maine: Polly, who married Lennell and lives in Lewis- ton, Maine; and Roswell, still in the old "Pine Tree State," on the home farm.
The subject of this review began life as a farmer, but soon deserted the calling and became identified with railroad building. in the depart- ment of grading and laying of track. He was employed on the Boston and Lowell road. on the Scranton and Great Bend, in Pennsylvania, on the doubling of the track on the York and Erie road. on the Canandaigua and Niagara Falls railway, on the Illinois Central. in Illinois, and its exten- sion from Dubuque into lowa, and. lastly, on the Warren and Mineral Point railroad, concluding his work in 1857. He reengaged in farming in Stephenson county, Illinois, just before the rebellion broke out, and enlisted from that county in Company "A." Ninety-second Infantry, as orderly sergeant. He was promoted, in time. to first lientenant and was;
WM. H. FROST.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 361
discharged with that commission at Concord, North Carolina, at the close of the war. Within six months after the Ninety-second Illinois entered the service, it was mounted and became a cavalry regiment and in Kil patrick's command. Mr. Frost was in the battle of Chickamauga, par- tieipated in the Atlanta campaign and went through with Sherman's army to Savannah. He was with his regiment and took part in the work done by the victorious army in its march through the Carolinas and, when the war was over, his regiment was detained at Concord, North Carolina, for six months when it was ordered to Chicago, Illinois, where it was paid off and discharged. July 7, 1865.
For the five years succeeding the Civil war, Mr. Frost was employed with his farming interests in Illinois. In the fall of 1870, he disposed of his possessions there and came to Kansas, taking up his location in Fawn Creek township, Montgomery county. He purchased a quarter section of land and was occupied with its improvement, and with other interests kindred to the farm, till 1887. when he left his estate of two hundred and seventy acres to other hands and became a resident of Inde- pendence. During the course of rural development in his neighborhood, the Missouri Pacific railroad built through the township and established the station of Jefferson near Mr. Frost's farm and a part of the little village of Jefferson is actually located on his land.
Mr. Frost was united in marriage first, in Stephenson county, Illi- nois, in 1855, with Elizabeth Dann, who died in Montgomery county, Kansas, in 1887, leaving the following children, to wit : Burton and Ella, of Jefferson, Kansas, the latter the wife of Ainsworth Cummings; Lora, who married Samuel Hooker and resides in White, South Dakota; and Charles A .. of Colorado Springs. Col., whose wife was Miss Victoria Hall. May 30, 1890, Mr. Frost married Mrs. Sarah A. Rhodes, an Illinois lady but of New York birth.
In politics the early members of the Frost family acted with the Whigs, but when that old party ceased to exist our subject's father and one son joined issues with the Democrats. The other sons, including, of course. William H., became Republicans, and whatever political record the latter has made has been achieved in the ranks of that party. In chureb matters he is a Baptist and has been a deacon in the Independ- ence congregation for many years. In business matters his safety and reliability are noteworthy facts. Ile retired from the farm with a com- peteney sufficient for his future comfort-a reward for the labor and re- sponsibilities of earlier years. When the Commercial National Bank was organized. he was one of the stockholders and succeeded Ex-Gov- ernor Humphrey as its vice-president in 1888. As a citizen, Mr. Frost's life stands as a worthy example to the generations of today and is an in- spiration to them to live rightly before men.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
DAVID HECKMAN-Thirty-three years ago, in February of 1870, the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this review, filed on the claim upon which now stands the pleasant rural village of Liberty. Those were the days of the beginning of things in Montgomery county, when the coyote and Indian roamed over much of the county at will and each, in his way, made it interesting for the lone white settler in his scantily covered shack. As Mr. Heckman sits in his comfortable modern residence, surrounded with all that goes to make life desirable, he can hardly realize the many changes that have come to pass; but that they are here, he is well-assured, and satisfaction is his only feeling.
The Heckmans are from the "Keystone State" and are of German descent. David was born in Armstrong county, in 1847, and is the son of Abraham and Esther (Clingensmith ) Heckman, Abraham in turn being the son of Philip, who came to the county in an early day and died there at the age of sixty years, in 1839. These early members of the family were tillers of the soil, Abraham still residing on the old homestead. He was ninety-one years of age on the 24th of July, 1902. He is the father of ten children, eight of whom are still living-Henry is in Oregon; Mary Ann in Pennsylvania; Peter. William. John and Catherine (twins), and Margaret are also in the "Keystone State."
David Heckman grew to manhood amid the pains and pleasures (and there were both) of farm life in his native county, remaining on the homestead until he was twenty-three years old. He then came west and located, as stated above, in Liberty township. He immediately erected the primitive residence of that day, which had the distinction, while it stood, of being the first one in the town of Liberty, which was after- ward laid out on the claim located by Mr. Heckman. Our subject deeded the claim on the 24th of July, 1871, and immediately sold it to Capt. Me- Taggart and Capt. Heard, who platted the town in the same month. Mr. Heekman continued to engage in agriculture until 1877, when he pur- chased a stock of goods and opened a store in the town, in company with Edward Barnett, under the firm name of Barnett & Heckman. The
style of the firm changed, in 1881, to Heckman Bros., and in 1886, to David Heckman, our subject buying his brother's interest. He has con- tinued the business since and is regarded as the leading merchant of the village. Mr. Heekman's citizenship has been of that unselfish character which looks to the interest of his town and county, rather than the aggrandizement of self. He has always taken great pride in the town and has proved his friendship by many practical demonstrations, admin- istering, at times, the unpaid positions of trust necessary in the muniei- pal affairs, and sacrificing, cheerfully, time and money in its advance- ment. In state and national affairs, Mr. Heckman supports the Demo- cratie party.
Mrs. Heckman, prior to 1875, was Emma A. Barnett. She is a
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
daughter of Edward and Lucretia Barnett, both parents deceased. They were worthy and respected residents of the county for long years. But one child was born to Mrs. Heckman, its death occurring in infancy. As a solace to their loneliness, they adopted a little girl, Miss True Thornton, who is now an inmate of their home.
T. H. EARNEST-One of the best known men in Montgomery county and a man who has had a prominent part in its development, is the gentleman here mentioned, T. H. Earnest, at present the efficient postmaster of Cherryvale, and ex-Register of Deeds of the county. He has passed the greater part of his life here, in connection with the railroads of the state, having been, for a number of years, conductor and yard- master on the Santa Fe system.
Sangamon county, Illinois, was the place, and July 15, 1857, the date of the birth of our subject. He was a son of P. L. and Elizabeth A. (Thomp- son) Earnest. The father was a native of Sangamon county, Illinois, while the mother was born in the "Keystone State." The former was, during life, extensively engaged in the Iumber business, and in August, 1867, removed to Ottawa, Kansas, where he resided a number of years. He removed to Cherryvale in 1883, where he was one of the prominent factors in the city's development and where he died, on the 27th of Octo- ber, 1898, having attained seventy- two years of age. He was a consist- ent member of the Presbyterian church and was a highly respected and deserving citizen. While in Ottawa, he served a term of four years as postmaster, and in the several communities with which he was con- nected. was always a man of affairs. Mrs. Earnest survives him, being tenderly cared for in the home of our subject. She is the mother of ten children, but three of whom are now living.
T. H. Earnest passed the period of his boyhood in Ottawa, Kansas, where he received a thorough training in the town schools. He, however, was a boy of spirit and of great independence and, at the early age of thirteen years, he entered upon an active career as a railroader. He was one of a crew running between Ottawa and Kansas City, at that age, and did his work so efficiently that he was, later, given a position as a con- ductor. In this position he continued until 1881, when he became yard- master for ten years. His popularity in the community resulted in his election, on the Republican ticket, in 1889, to the office of Register of Deeds. In the election of that year, he was chosen by a good ronnd majority and two years later, was re-elected, serving a period of four years in the office, and conducting its affairs with great satisfaction to his constituents. On the expiration of his term of office, Mr. Earnest returned to the railroad and continued in his position as yardmaster until his appointment as postmaster, on the 9th of December, 1902, one
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
of the first appointments made by the Roosevelt administration. No more obliging or popular official has ever ministered to the wants of the peo- ple of Cherryvale than he.
Marriage was contracted by our subject on the 6th of September, 1881. Mrs. Earnest, prior to that time, was Miss Flora E. Thompson. She is a native of the State of Iowa and is the daughter of W. H. Thomp- son, Pow deceased.
An interesting family have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Earnest, the eldest of whom, William L .. is his father's assistant in the office, as is also Grace B., who acts as stamp clerk. Harry clerks in the grocery house of J. F. Kring. while Roy E., JJessie B. and Hazel J. are bright young school children. Mrs. Earnest is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. and. prior to her marriage, was one of the popular and efficient "school marms" of Montgomery county. In fra- ternal matters, Mir. Earnest affiliates with the A. O. U. W. and in politi- cal affairs, acts with the Republican party, in the councils of which, in his county, he is looked upon as a safe adviser.
JOSEPH L. JAMES-In 1870. there settled near Wayside. in Mont- gomery county, the gentleman whose name precedes this article, together with a considerable family, all from the "Blue Grass State" of Ken- tucky. His children have been reared in the precincts of the county and are now respected members of different communities in the west, and tilling responsible places in society. The family is held in high esteem in the county, always having stood for virtue and equity wherever they have resided.
Joseph L. James was born in Ohio county. Kentucky. on the 7th of March, 1827, the son of Samuel James and Sally Borah. The family is of English descent, grandfather John James having immigrated to Vir- ginia in an early day, where he was prominently identified with the tobacco business, having been an inspector of tobacco at Richmond for a number of years.
Samuel James was reared to manhood in the "Old Dominion State" and came to Kentucky with his parents and their family of ten children and located in the then vast wilderness in the eastern part of the state. There the parents continued to reside until their death. Samnel James' education was limited, owing to lack of facilities in that primitive re- gion, but he managed to secure enough to be able to transact the ordinary business of life. He remained in the home neighborhood until his mar- riage to Sallie Borah, a native of Pennsylvania and of Dutch ancestry. To this marriage there was born ten children, as follows: Jefferson, de- ceased at sixteen years; Magdalene, Mrs. Lloyd Rodgers, of Kentucky; her children are: Sarah, Emerson, John and Alphonso (twins). Several
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
of these sons are quite prominent in public life in the "Blue Grass State." The third child of Sammel James was Joseph L .; the next younger was Lney Jane, who married Captain Devol; Sally, Mrs. Rogers, of Ohio county, Kentucky; S. M., also a resident of the home county; John A., killed during the war; and Kelly, who died in infancy.
Joseph L. James was reared to manhood in the "Blue Grass State," and on December 25, 1850, was joined in marriage with Martha A. Shelton. This lady was a daughter of Ralph Shelton, of Butler county, Kentucky, and came to Kansas with our subject, where she died October 25, 1892. Mr. James continued to reside in Kentucky until the year 1870, when, on July 5. he arrived in Montgomery county and located on the farm which is now his home. His preemption consisted of one hundred and sixty acres and consists of very fine land upon which he has erected many substantial improvements since the date of his settlement. He passed through the hardships of the pioneers of that early day, but has a rich re- ward in the splendid home which is the result of his labor.
During his residence in the county, Mr. James has taken an active interest in the welfare of his community, serving in the different unre- munerative offices of school district and township and always evincing a lively interest in affairs. A Democrat in his earlier years, he has, since the rise of the Reform party, given his allegiance to the furtherance of reforms in government as proposed by its platforms. In matters of relig- ious moment, he and his family have been loyal supporters of the Church of Christ. and have been a source of great strength to that denomination since their coming to the county.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. James have all grown to mature years and have families of their own. The eldest was Paulina A., born October 1. 1857, and died December 6, 1858; Sylvanus A., born January 17, 1853, married Melissa Webster and is a farmer of Rutland township; his chaldren are : Hettie, Allan. Curen. Edith, Ella, Paul and Alice ; Mary James born March 18, 1855, married John Sewell, proprietor of a hotel at Bolton ; her children are : Seymour. Lloyd, Etta, Mary, Gertrude, Grace, Lilly and Ethel. Diogenes S., who is mentioned extendedly in this vol- ume; Ilarry K .. born September 11, 1858, is a farmer and school teacher, and married Eliza Kelly ; his three children are: Opal, Pearl and Ruby ; Aurora, born July 8. 1860, married William C. Sewell and lives in Fawn Creek township with her children, Gentry, Annie, Walter, Stella, Harry, Pant and James; Sally O., born April 17, 1862, lives in Oklahoma with her husband, A. J. Puckett ; Laura J., born April 21, 1864, married John Finley, a druggist of Bartlesville, Indian Territory; Joseph B., born March 26, 1860, married Ella Bell, of Caney township, and now resides on Mr. James' farm with their daughter, Hazel Lucile; Martha A., born June 18, 1868, is wife of Walter Hudson and lives in Rutland township with their three children-Earl, Harold and Marie; Moriah A., born
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
January 26, 1870. married Carrie Roberts and is a farmer and school teacher in Oklahoma ; they have two children-Ralph and Cecil.
MRS. MARY BADEN-The subject of this brief notice is a repre- sentative of one of the worthy and noted families of Montgomery county. Since the Centennial year she has resided in the city of Independence, where she and her late husband attained prominence and substantiality in social and commercial life.
Mrs. Baden is of pure German stock and was born in Ontario, Can- ada, on the 10th of February, 1857. Iler parents, George and Margaret ( Richart ) Becker, were born in the French province of Alsace, now a part of the German Empire. Mrs. Becker was a daughter of George and Margaret ( Roth , Richart and had children, Mary, widow of John W. Baden of this sketch ; Mrs. Anna Hiebler, of Mancos, Colorado; John, of Denver, Colorado: Mrs. Kate Nessel, deceased; Mrs. Emma Dittmer, of Inde- pendence, Kansas; Mrs. Lonise Condon, of Denver, Colorado; and Lena Becker, who resides with Mrs. Baden.
George Becker came to America a young man and settled in Canada, where he was a resident until 1865, when he brought his family into the United States and established himself, for a brief period, at Somonauk, Il- linois In 1869. he identified himself thoroughly with the west and took up his location at Humboldt. Kansas. He is a farmer by occupation and still resides near Humboldt.
Mary ( Becker) Baden grew to womanhood in Humboldt, Kansas. Her education was limited by the character of the schools of the place and at nineteen years of age she came to Montgomery county and made herhomein Independence. February 22, 1879, she married John W. Baden a rising young merchant of the city and a native of Hanover, Germany. In his family were brother and sisters, John W., Henry and Peter. Mrs. Mary Dittmer, of Montgomery county, was an only sister of these broth- ers. John W. Baden learned the cooper's trade in Hannibal, Missouri, where he first settled on coming to the United States. He came to Mont- gomery county, Kansas, and ran a cigar factory in Independence for a time. He engaged next in the grocery business in the county seat and, in partnership with his brother, Henry, built up a large and flourishing business. He was shrewd as a financier and gave much promise of becou- ing a man of great wealth. He was cut down in the prime of his useful- ness. April 25, 1889, a severe loss to his firm and to the community and an irreparable loss to his family. He left five children, viz : Henry, William, John F., Anna M., Emma M. and George Edward.
Mr. and Mrs. Baden's lives have shown best in their work as citizens, in behalf of their favorite church. Commendable religious sentiments dominated their natures and in the Lutheran organization in Independ-
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