USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 47
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Mr. Hart left a family of five children : Olin, born in March of 1866;
SILAS HART (Deceased .
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Wilbur Lee, born in 1868, married Ada, daughter of John Price, and lived with their five children in Hart, La., where he is engaged in the lumber business. His children are: Wilbur, Delos, Bessie, Dean and Ruth ; Lu- cretia Belle, born in 1870, married A. L. Truax, and resides on a farm in this county with their three children : Glenn, Omar and Marilao; Clar- ence, born in 1873, married Hattie, daughter of F. M. and Adaline ( Trail) Calhoun ; Walter B., born in 1875, is the youngest of the family. He mar- ried Tessie Coleman, who is deceased ; Olin B. was married April 12th, 1903, to Oretia V. Calhoun.
Olin and Clarence Hart condnet operations on the home farm, which consists of two hundred and thirty-eight acres of splendid land. It is situated three miles from the enterprising city of Cherryvale and its gen- eral appearance of thrift and neatness marks it as one of the best farm properties in the county. Mrs. Hart and her family are Methodists in belief and combine all the qualities which mark the best class of citizens in the county. Their friends are legion and the esteem in which they are held in the county is universal.
NATHAN S. WINT-The gentleman whose name heads this article has, for a score of years, been a resident of Montgomery county. He set- tled here in 1883, purchasing a farm in sections 23 and 26, township 32, range 15, less than two miles from Independence. Here he has resided as a modest and progressive farmer since 1883, and here has he brought up his small family in the paths of industry and sobriety.
Mr. Wint comes of German stock. On his paternal side the Wints and the Romigs were of German origin, the Romigs being directly de- scended from the German Countess of Tuth. of Baden Baden, while his maternal ancestors were from the German-the Slotters-and from this honorable family was the famous merchant prince of Philadelphia, John Wannamaker, descended. The Wints came to the United States during the seventeenth century and settled near New York City-three of them, as the story goes-but later moved down into Pennsylvania and estab- lished themselves near Philadelphia, by "the old stone church," known to Revolutionary times. Like all American families, they multiplied and their posterity scattered throughout the length and breadth of the nation. Gen. Wint, of the United States troops, Spanish-American war, belongs to this numerous family and is a near relative of the subject of this sketch.
January 3. 1851. Nathan S. Wint was born near Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania. The following year his parents, Nathan and Anna (Slotter) Wint, removed to Scranton, Pa., where they resided during the youth and early manhood of their son. The father was born in the state of Pennsylvania and carried on milling through life. His father was Peter
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Wint and his mother was Miss Romig, whose family comprised the fol- lowing children : Morgan, William, Jonathan, Aaron, Nathan, Mrs. Weaver and Mrs. Morgan. Nathan took up his residence near Philadel- phia late in life, and there he died at the age of sixty-seven. Their child- were: Sammel S., of Seranton, Pa .; Mary A .. wife of E. H. Henson, of Smyrna, Del .; Miss Anna, of Philadelphia, Pa .. and Nathan S .. of this record. The father served with the construction corps of Gen. Thomas during a portion of the Civil war and his first son, Samuel S., enlisted in the 120th Pa. lleavy Artillery, in 1862, and served 'till the close of the war.
The district schools provided our subject with a fair education and he learned the trade of carpenter and mill-wright. For twelve years he was a carpenter in Columbus, Ind., and then failing health forced his emigration from the state. He sought Kansas and the pure, fresh air of Montgomery county restored him. General farming and the operation of his stone quarry ( which supplies the country all about with sidewalk and building stone) have claimed his time and his removal to Kansas has not proved a failure. On coming to the "Suntlower State" he stopped in Jefferson county, coming thence into Montgomery to his present location, a year later.
September 18. 1873, Mr. Wint married Mary J. Erhart. the ceremony being performed by Rev. Todd, of Willsboro, Indiana. Mrs. Wint is a daughter of Thomas Erhart, who resided, later on. in Montgomery county, Kansas, and died here in 1893. Mr. Erhart was born in Adams county, Pa., in 1809, and in 1839 innnigrated to Bartholomew county. Ind. He married Eliza Hegge. who passed away in Indiana. Their children were : Thomas, deceased : Eprhaim, Catherine, Elzina E., Mary J. and Jason. de- ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Wint's children are: Chester Leroy, Linton Fay, who died in JJefferson county, Kansas, at ten years; Daisy and Chester Arthur.
The Wints of this honse are Republicans.
WILLIAM F MCCONNELL-The subject of this brief record is one of the pioneers of Independence township. He located, with his parents, on the west line of the township in 1871, and has been identified with the community. now, nearly thirty-two years. He is Bolton's third and only blacksmith and, mechanically, he is an example of a purely and strictly self-made man.
William F. McConnell was born in Green county, Indiana, June 22, 1857. and is a son of the venerable John McConnell. of Bolton, Kansas, The latter was born in Ohio, in 1831, and at ten years of age left the "Buckeye State" and accompanied his parents to Indiana. His father
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
was James McConnell, who came to the United States fresh from Erin's Isle at twenty-one years of age. and died in Green county, Indiana. Of his five sons and three daughters, John, our subject's father, was the oldest. John McConnell was married to Minerva Dyer, a daughter of William Dyer. of German extraction. Mrs. Minerva McConnell died in 1896. at sixty-six years of age, being the mother of : William F., Jane, wife of Marion Matthews, of Kansas City, Kansas, and Mary E., who married J. C. Patterson, of Bolton, Kansas.
John McConnell, father of our subject, settled on a traet of land in section 13. now in Rutland township, improved it, farmed it 'till his re- tirement to Bolton and still owns it. On this farm his son came to man- hood and in the district he attended the country school. Observing the necessity of a blacksmith in this remote valley of the county he decided to become one himself and accordingly equipped himself with the proper paraphernalia for the work. His experience was simply that of the first blacksmith, and when his trade was learned he was no doubt a more ef. ficient workman than that original one. He maintained his shop at the old home 'till 1890 when he bought the shop of Bolton's second blacksmith and moved his family to the village.
October 16. 1877, Mr. McConnell was united in marriage with Rose Ann Cline. a daughter of ex-Probate Judge Daniel Cline, mentioned else. where in this work. Mrs. McConnell was born September 23. 1858, and is the mother of two sons and two daughters. namely: John, who is asso. ciated with his father as a blacksmith and has taken to wife Inez Spangle : Edna, Taylor and Lessa McConnell.
Mr. McConnell is a Republican and is a member of Fortitude Lodge A. F. and A. M., of Independence.
SAMUEL F. GRAY-November 4, 1868, Sammel F. Gray. of this sketch, was born on a farm in Boone county, Missouri. The next year his parents came to Kansas and settled in Wilson county, temporarily, and in 1870, took up goverment land in Montgomery county, where they still reside.
While our subject is not native of the soil of Montgomery county, his life has been practically spent here and all he is he owes to the in- fluences and environment of this county. In childhood life, his daily as- sociates were the aborigines of White Hair's band and between them a mutual and lasting attachment sprang up. He communed with speech- less nature and drank deep draughts of ozone from the fresh and health- ful air. Body and mind expanded simultaneously and the rural exercise developed a strong physique and laid the foundation for an active and vigorous life.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
The limit of parental control was reached at twenty-one years and Mr. Gray married and set up for himself. He spent the first three years in Neosho county and then returned to his home neighborhood in Mont- gomery county. In 1897, he ceased to be a tenant and became a land owner. buying an eighty in section 16, township 31, range 16, where he maintains his present home. The old family homestead he also culti- vates and is employed with the raising of grain and stock.
Samuel F. Gray is a son of Jackson Gray, mentioned in a sketch elsewhere in this volume. He is the third child of his parents and married, first, Martha, a daughter of William and Sarah Hausley, of Wilson county. Kansas. His wife died in 1894, leaving two children, Edward and Howard. For his second wife Mr. Gray married Rosella Beathe, born in Highland county. Virginia. and a daughter of Joseph and Louisa Beathe.
Mr. Gray's disposition leads him to a strict attention to business. He is conscious that labor has its reward and that there is no excellence without it, and his substantial position today has resulted from a close adherence to the spirit of these truths.
C. A. CLOTFELTER- One of the best known business men of the City of Cherryvale is C. A. Clotfelter, for many years connectd with the livery business at that place, and, now, under the firm name of Clotfelter & Son. llis acquaintance is general over Montgomery county and cornering counties near the city, where his duties as an auctioneer have taken him. He has for years been one of the leading sale-eryers of this section, and, perhaps. better known in this line than in the other. He is one of the early settlers of the county and has filled a distinct niche in neighborhood affairs.
The parents of Mr. Clotfelter were natives of North Carolina. where they. Froyal and Martha Jane Clotfeller, were born. The father died in 1846, at the early age of forty years, and the mother became the wife of Peter Bolinger. and died in 1861, at the same age. There was but one child, our subject. by the first marriage, and by the second, five dangh- ters were born, four of whom are now living.
C. A. Clotfelter was born in Cape Girardeau county, Missouri, on the 23rd of September, 1843. He received a fair, common school education and, in 1861, left home and began life for himself as a farmer. In 1862, he entered the employ of the government, as quarter-master, being in charge of a government corral. In 1863, he worked as a freight and stock dealer for a private party, being assistant wagon-master. He continued with this party until 1866, the greater part of his service having been in the wild northwest and being attended with much hardship and many ex- citing experiences with bad Indians and worse white men. At this time
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
he began business for himself as a freighter between Fort Bend, Montana, and Helena and Deer Lodge, Mont., and Corning, Utah. He, later, made trips to the Pacific coast and continued in this sort of life until 1870, when he came back to civilization, settling in Mound City. Kansas, where he spent the winter of 1871. He then came to Montgomery county and be. gan a grocery and feed business in Elk City, and, after a short experience there, opened a general store in Cherryvale, in partnership with his uncle, J. R. Baldrum.
Mr. Clotfelter's first experience in the livery business was begun in January of 1873. in partnership with C. W. Booth, which firm continued with success. until 1889. Mr. Clotfelter then again left the state, going to Colorado and engaging in the stock business, which he conducted for several years. In 1897. he returned to Cherryvale, and, in company with his son, began the present business, which he has since continued. They have one of the most accommodating and complete livery barns in the city, running twelve carriage horses, and are doing a satisfactory busi- ness.
At various times, our subject has been connected with the official life of the city and township, and has acted as constable for a period of six years at one time and four years at another. He was also in the office of sheriff and was a deputy for nine years.
His marriage occurred in 1872, his wife's maiden name having been Sarah J. Browning, danghter of J. W. and Sarah Ann Browning. Mrs. Clotfelter is a native of Indiana. She is the mother of Carl and Carrie; the son being the partner of his father, in the livery business. Carl mar- ried Emma E. Nichols and has two children-Siras E. and John M.
Living a long and active life, in this busy world, and keeping his character unsullied before mankind. Mr. Clotfelter stands today, one of the most respected citizens of the community in which he lives, and he and his family receive the kind wishes of a very large circle of friends and acquaintances.
In fraternal life, he is a member of the Masonic order. Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery, and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen and. the A. O. U. W. His wife and family are active and helpful members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
ANDREW M. TAYLOR, M. D .- In any western community, there is always a group of choice spirits, who are referred to as "old settlers." They are the people who initiated things-who saw the infant communi- ty, as it were, shake off its swaddling clothes and start forth on its jour- ney to maturity. Caney is not without these honored witnesses to her birth and her early infancy, and the gentlman whose name heads this
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
paragraph, is one of them. Dr. Andrew Taylor was the first physician to settle in Caney, and has the further distinction of being the parent of one of the first white children born within her limits.
Dr. Taylor was born in Franklin county, Maine. October 9. 1834. His father, William Taylor, was a native of the same state, as was also his mother, whose maiden name was Amy Oaks. The parents were farm- ers, by occupation, and lived out their days in their native state, respect- ed and honored citizens. The husband died at seventy, the wife at fifty years of age, their family having consisted of eight children, but two of whom are now living, our subject and William W., of Maine.
Dr. Taylor was reared to farm life, his prescholastic education he- ing received in the little log school house of that early period. He was later. given a good literary education, in an advanced academy, and at twenty-one, began the study of medicine, under the preceptorship of his brother, Dr. J. G. Taylor. For the completion of his medical studies, he came out to the great west, matriculating in Rush Medical College. then in its infancy, but long since one of the famous schools of medicine. Here, he graduated in the class of 1858, and immediately entered on the practice, at Packwaukee, Wisconsin. Twelve years were passed at this point, when the Doctor changed his location to Hancock, where the war found him busy in his work. but not to so great an extent as to drown the distressed ery of the slave. He enlisted, as a private soldier. in Company "D." Thirty-seventh Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in which organization he served to the close of the war, for the most part in hos- pital work. He was appointed hospital steward, then assistant surgeon, and was finally advanced to be surgeon of his regiment. Taking up the practice again. at his home, he remained in Wisconsin, until 1869. when he came to Kansas, settling in the new town of Caney. At that time, there were but three houses in the village, and the country was full of Indians, they not having left the reservation as yet. The doctor was appoint- ed trustee of the township, and in that office, laid out all the roads about C'aney. a task so well accomplished as to necessitate but one or two changes. During all these years, he has been, continuously. in the prac- tice, though, in later years, he confines himself to office practice, in con- nection with his drug business.
Dr. Taylor has served the city. in various capacities, during all these years, and has never lost faith in its future greatness. In the early days, he acted. for a period, as postmaster, and has always taken a lively inter- est in the educational affairs of the community. Of a social disposition. he has been a great factor in the development of that sociability and freehandedness, which has come to be one of the distinguishing features of Caney. and which makes it so desirable a place of residence.
In his family life, the Doctor has been especially blessed, he and his
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
good wife having traveled life's road together for the past forty-three years. Mrs. Taylor bore the name of Fannie S. Babcock, prior to 1859, when she consented to join fortunes with the rising young physician of the community. She was the daughter of Amasa and Betsy ( Angel) Babcock, and was born in New York State. But one daughter of the three children she has borne, is now living, Amy G., wife of Mr. H. H. Graves, associated in the drug business with the Doctor. Charles O. lived to the age of forty years, while William died, a boy of nine.
No more honored and highly respected citizen lives in Caney than Dr. Taylor. He has been prominently and honorably associated with its entire history and, in the evening of life, he can look back with a con- sciousness of having been the means, at least in part, of building up a community which can not be surpassed, for enterprise and push, in the southern part of the state.
MRS. SARAH F. MATHEWSON-Mrs. Sarah Mathewson, a well- known resident of Montgomery county, is a native of Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and was born January 23, 1844. Her parents were Joel M. and Elizabeth (Gross) Tozer, both natives of the "Keystone State." Her father was a son of Col. Julius Tozer, a native of Connecticut, whose name is honorably associated with the war of 1812.
C'ol. Tozer married Hannah Conklin. a daughter of Ananias Conk- lin, and to the marriage were born thirteen children: Hannah, Elsie, Betsie. Samuel, Julius, Lucy, Dorothy, Guy, Albert, Susan, Joel M., Mary A. and Cynthia. Joel M. married Elizabeth Gross, the fourth child of Philip and Hannah Gross, whose family numbered six children : Elsie Knowles, of Scranton. Pennsylvania ; Julius, of Bradford county, Penn- sylvania; Job. of Ashland, Oregon; Sarah F., of Montgomery county, Kansas; Ida, of Bradford county, Pennsylvania; and Guy, of Dallas, Texas. Sarah F. Tozer became the wife of William H. Mathewson, who was born in Palmyra, New York, March 23, 1823. His father was a native of Connectient and the mother, whose maiden name was Harriett Ste- phens. was born in the "Keystone State." the daughter of Ira and Sybil Stephens. There were eight children in the Mathewson family : George, Elizabeth, Washburn, William, Constant. Harriet Delano, Elias, Emily Tozer and Lydia Buck.
William H. Mathewson and wife, Sarah, with their three children, Dora. George and Mary, came to Montgomery county in February of 1882, and located on the farm of one hundred and sixty acres, where they now reside. Only two of the children survive: Dora Young, of Kansas City, whose three children are Glenn. Clyde and Dale; and George. living at home with his mother, and superintendent of the farm.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Previous to his residence in Kansas, Mr. Mathewson passed a period of eleven years in Oregon, where he was engaged in farming and gold digging, returning to Pennsylvania, where his marriage occurred. He was a man of superior education, having had excellent opportunities in his youth, taking a full course at the Athens (Pennsylvania) academy. He died in Rosedale, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, Febru- ary 20. 1900.
JAMES FRANK COOK-As the traveler passes through the rural districts of Montgomery county, he is impressed with the fact that the greater portion of those now tilling the soil are men of quite mature age. This is due, largely, to the movement, which has been going on for some years, toward the great cities, which have absorbed much of the fresh, young blood of the farm. However, this condition is evidently changing, for there are numbers of young men connected with the farming indus- try of the county, who have sounded the depths of wisdom and have learned that the glamour and glitter of city life is scarcely to be compared with the solid, substantial and invigorating life of the farm. The gen- tleman whose name appears above is an exception to the apparent rule, being one of the young farmers of the county, and his success, in the de- velopment of his farm, has been marked and gratifying.
Mr. Cook comes from the old "Hoosier State," a state which has con- tributed many of its best citizens to the upbuilding of the great State of Kansas. He was born in Green county, Indiana, in 1860, and is a son of Augustine and Nancy (Ferguson) Cook. The Cooks became residents of Indiana many generations since, our subject's father having been born and reared to manhood in that state. When James was a youth of nine- teen years, the family immigrated to Kansas and purchased a farm in Lonisburg township, Montgomery county, the same constituting the farm which James is now cultivating. The parents passed their active lives on this farm, and reside now in Fredonia, Kansas. Augustine Cook served in the war of the Rebellion, in the Thirty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, being in the service three years and twenty days.
James Frank Cook has passed his entire life in the cultivation of the soil and is one of the progressive young farmers in his part of the county. He is well versed in the nature of different soils and their adaptation to certain crops and he is an excellent judge of cattle on the hoof. His ener- getic, intelligent management of the old home farm has resulted in bring- ing it to a high state of cultivation and in adding handsomely to his pri- vate exchequer.
The married life of Mr. Cook began February 24, 1886, when he was united with Catherine Callahan. Mrs. Cook is a daughter of Irish par-
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JOEL W. REED AND FAMILY.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
ents, her father being Patrick Callahan, mentioned extendedly in this volume.
To our subjeet's home have come four bright children, whose names are: Francis Milford, born April 22, 1887; Frank Lovell, born March 10, 1890; Roy Homer, born April 22, 1894; and Nellie Catherine, born February 14, 1896. All of these children are members of the family home.
Mr. Cook and his family are respected members of the community in which they reside and take a lively interest in its religions and social life. He is a valued member of the Modern Woodmen and, in political mat- ters, takes much interest and has been a source of great strength to the Reform party in its effort to engraft some of its principles upon the legislation of the state. He has never sought office, but is content in the casting of his vote, on election day, for the Populist ticket.
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JOEL W. REED-Joel W. Reed, a prominent contractor and build- er, of Elk City, Kansas, was born in Shelby county, Indiana, June 6, 1849. His parents were John O. and Missouri (Gregory) Reed; the former be- ing a native of Ohio, and the latter of Kentucky. The father was a car- penter and builder, and moved to Indiana, in 1840, and was a pioneer of the locality where he lived. Many and large hildings are standing to- day, monuments to his skill as a workman. He had the honor of serving his country, as a soldier in two wars; first, in the Mexican war, where he served as first lieutenant until his discharge at its close, and second, in the Civil war, in which he enlisted Angust 2, 1862, as a private, in the Ninety-eighth Illinois regiment, Company "K." and, in a battle which occurred shortly after, at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, was severely wound- ed. He was removed to a hospital, at New Albany, Indiana, where he died, on the 18th of October. Mr. Reed was a man of splendid qualities, a lifelong and devont member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he was an officer for many years. His age, at death, was forty-six years, and his wife, the mother of Joel W., died at twenty-six, on the 18th of September, 1856.
By a former marriage-to Elizabeth Rouse-Mr. Reed had three children, viz : Mahala, deceased wife of Patrick Keenan ; Ann Eliza, Mrs. John Smith, of Los Angeles, California; and Melissa, who died in in- fancy.
Our subject was one of four children born to the second marriage of his father, viz Joel W .; Jacob L., a minister of the Kentucky Confer- ence of the M. E. church; Martha E., who married Abram Lewis, and is now deceased ; and John B., who resides near the old homestead in Indi- ana. After the death of the mother of these children, Mr. Reed married Anna MeDuffey, whose two sons were James B. and Charles S. W.
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