USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 51
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Mr. Oliver was born in East Tennessee, in the year 1828, and is a son of Walter and Frances (Riddle) Oliver. It was grandfather James Riddle who participated in the Revolutionary struggle and who, after that event, immigrated with his family, to the Blue Ridge Slopes of Tennessee. He settled in MacMinn county, where he continued to reside during the remainder of his life. As his father died before our subject reached mature years, the latter is not familiar with the family history on that side. However, the Olivers are known to be of Welch descent' and this branch of the family settled in East Tennessee in a very early day. Mother Oliver lived to a very great age, dying in 1893, in her ninety-third year. She was a woman of strong character and kept her
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faculties almost up to the last. She reared five children : Elizabeth, Sarah Jane, William T., James and Eneinda.
Mr. Oliver, of this review, was reared in East Tennessee, and, in 1852, moved to Marion county, Illinois. Here he continued to reside nn- til 1855, when he joined the Free State men, who were coming into Kan- sas for the purpose of securing the state to the cause of liberty. He set- tled at Lawrence, having driven through from Marion county, in the primitive prairie schooner of that day. He rented land in the vicinity of Lawrence and, until 1861, was a participant in the exciting incidents which have made Lawrence the center of interest since that day. In the latter year, he moved down into Woodson county, where he remained during the period of the war, and from whence, in 1868, he came down into Montgomery county and purchased one hundred and sixty acres, a part of the farm on which his present home is situated.
At a later day, as prosperity came to him, he added one hundred and thirty acres to his domain, and now possesses a tract of as fine farming land as could be found in the county. Mr. Oliver is one of the old pio- neers who went through all the hardships and trials incident to the "early times" in the "Sunflower State." and his success in life is all the more gratifying because it is so well earned.
The domestic life of Mr. Oliver was begun, in 1866, by his nnion with Mrs. Sarah C. (Swayford) Murray, as a partner for life. To them have been born twelve children, as follows: Rebecca, who married Charles Wieninger and resides at Independence, with four children: Eva, Nellie Pearl, Henry and Thomas; James, who died June, 1901; Mary, Mrs. Jasper Wolf, of Chautauqua county, Kansas ; her children being: William, John, Albert Ollie and Edna ; Eldora, Thomas, who died in infancy ; Wil- liam Albert, who died at thirteen years; Martha, who resides in Inde- pendence, is the wife of George Page; Sherman is still at the old home and is married to Amanda Wheeler; Joseph, who married Carrie Newton, is a farmer of Sycamore township and has a daughter, Florin L .; Emery married Myrtle Farris and resides on the home farm: John and Henry Arthur are young men residing at the old home; and Robert Leonard, who died at the age of thirteen years.
No more respected family has residence in Lonisburg township than that of Mr. Oliver. Their connection with the social life of the neigh- borhood, in which they have so long resided, has been such as to elevate the moral tone of the community, they being active workers in the Friends' church, during this period. In matters of public import, Mr. Ol- iver has taken a good citizen's part, and has always exerted his influence in securing the best in matters of education and local government. His political belief is in the principles, as laid down in the Republican plat- form, he having been a supporter of that party from the very beginning of its existence. He has voted for every Republican president since Fre-
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mont and is proud of the fact that the entire Oliver connection easts its ballot in sympathy with his views. Mr. Oliver is a citizen of whom Montgomery county may well be proud.
ADAM U. HADSELL-Of the many worthy and enterprising farmers in Parker township, none is more deserving of mention than the gentleman whose name appears above. He came to this county in 1878, when he located on a farm two miles west of Coffeyville. His father. Horace V. Hadsell, was a native of Vermont, and was a farmer, having followed that occupation all his life. His death occurred, in New York, at the age of sixty-three years, his wife dying at the age of fifty years. The family consisted of seven children, five of whom are living, viz: Anna B. Wilson. Nathan D., Lilian Dinehart, all of Middlesex, New York ; Roy D., of Winfield. Kansas; and Adam U., the subject of this. sketch.
Adam U. ladsell was born in Yates county, New York, October 13, 1845. llis young life was spent. chiefly, on the farm in his native county, and his education was received in the common schools of that state. His first wife, nee Sarah Tyler, was also a native of New York, was born December 29. 1845, and was a daughter of Roswell R. Tyler, a native and pioneer of Middlesex county. The mother's maiden name was Sarah W. Wood. Both of these parents died in New York.
Mr. Hadsell came to Kansas, in 1878, and purchased eighty acres of uncultivated land, two miles west of Coffeyville. Mr. W. W. Tyler accompanied him to Kansas, and, together, the two families occupied a small tenant house, until our subject could build a small house on his own land. He possessed, at that time, money enough to buy eighty acres of land, at six dollars an acre, and to build thereon his little house. But with restless energy, and resolute purpose that few men possess. he has increased his possessions to four hundred and thirty acres of the choic est land. On this land he has built a large substantial home, and two large barus, one for cattle and one for horses. Besides his farming inter- ests. he has raised and sold cattle, seldom feeding them through the win- ter, but selling them direct from the pasture to shippers.
Mr. Hadsell has. during his residence in Kansas, acquired sufficient property toinsurea good degree of independence and to provide his family with many of the luxuries of life. He takes no particular interest in pol- ities, yet he has been elected treasurer of the township for two terms, and has been a member of the school board fifteen years. He is a Republican, his first presidential vote being cast for Abraham Lincoln, in 1864. Hđ is also a member of the A. O. U. W., K. & L. of S. and Triple Tie.
Mr. Hladsell's first wife died January 18, 1895, leaving children: Cordelia, who died in infancy ; Tyler, deceased ; Anna, Charles, Jesse and
A. U. HADSELL AND WIFE.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Howard are at home. His second marriage occurred May 23, 1897, his wife being S. Adella Tyler, sister of the first wife. Mrs. Tyler is a native of Yates county, New York, where she was born September 9, 1857. To this marriage two children have been born : Hazel and Willie.
Mr. Hadsell has always been prominently identified with the best in- terests of his township and county, and,also, in educational affairs, has most ably represented the school, and worked for its best interest.
ISAAC O. SLATER-In January, 1872, there came to Montgomery county and settled in Independence township Isaac O. Slatter, of this personal sketch. He purchased the claim-right of a settler on section 30, township 33, range 16, and, into a log cabin built by his prede- cessor. James P. Brown, he moved his family and proceeded with the work of farm improvement, and thus, county development.
Isaac O. Slater had been identified with the west something over five years when he settled in Montgomery county. Upon leaving his na- tive state, he became a settler of Cedar county, Iowa, which, in about three years, he left and took up his residence on a farm in Portage conn- ty, Wisconsin. Becoming dissatisfied there he decided to seek the prai- ries of Kansas and, in the fall of 1871. he brought his family and his few effects and limited means to this state and entered the state in January, 1872.
The story of his life, as a general farmer, is interesting rather for the monotony of it than for the positive, successes and disastrous reverses that it contains. Privations were experienced and some hardships endur- ed, but on the whole, a general upward tendency was maintained and a well-improved and profitable farm of two hundred and forty acres has taken the place of the original bleak and untamed homestead. Be- vond grain raising, and a dip at the wool industry, in a small way, he has not ventured, being content with such interests as he could personally supervise.
Mr. Slater was born in Shenango county, New York, November 12, 1833. ITis forefathers were from New England, his father, Job Slater, being born in Massachusetts, in 1787. The latter was, for a short term, a soldier in the war of 1812, enlisting from New York, whither his father, Isaac Slater, took his family, near the close of the eighteenth century. Isaac Slater, the grandfather, died in Shenango county, New York, at ninety-two years of age. He was in direct descent from an Englishmau who settled in the "Old Bay State" in Colonial times and reared a large family of children.
Job Slater married Phila Beckwith, a daughter of Joseph Beckwith, of Shenango county, New York. Mrs. Job Slater was born in 1802. Her children were: Horatio, who died December 12, 1902, at eighty-two years
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old, in Shenango county, New York; Amanda, wife of Morris Brown, of Cattaraugus county, New York; Louisa, deceased, who married James Colwell, of Shenango county, New York; Barton, Mary, deceased wife of Henry Holley, of the same county; Isaac O., our subject; Lu- cetta, now Mrs. Henry Bartlett, of Shenango county ; and Clarinda, who died unmarried.
Isaac O. Slater passed his childhood and early manhood in the coun- ty of his birth. The country schools provided his education and his home was under the parental roof till past his majority. However, he "bought his time" some months prior to coming of age and worked at the carpen, ter's bench, as an occupation, for a time. Following this, he was em- ployed in a shingle mill and, in 1860, became an avowed farmer. He was married in March, of that year, his wife being Mary Ann Howe, a dangh- ter of William Howe, of Shenango county, New York. In 1866, he left the scenes of his youth and began the wanderings which, finally, brought him to Montgomery county, Kansas.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Slater are: Orlando H., who married Anna Foster and died at thirty-one years, leaving one child, Lena, who died at eight years; Nellie, wife of James Tucker, of Kansas City; Barton W., a teacher in Elk county, Kansas; Albert, of Montgomery county, is married to Claude O'Brien ; Kirklin, of Montgomery county, is married to Josie Rains.
In the matter of politics, Mr. Slater's record is that of a party man, on national and state issues, without question or equivocation. His fore- fathers were Whigs and when the Republican party announced its first candidate for the presidency, our subject was for him. He has filled a few of the important township offices, because they were selected for him and awarded to him at the polls, and has, in a modest way, performed other service, which has shown his public spirit and his encouragement of progress and enterprise in the county.
JOSEPH BLACKMORE, JR .- One of the worthy members of the ag- ricultural class of the county is Joseph Blackmore, Jr., who resides on a farm of four hundred and eighty acres, five and one-half miles from Elk City. He is here extensively engaged in general farming and stock raising. and is one of the well-to-do men of his township.
Born in Somersetshire, England, in 1846, Mr. Blackmore is a son of George and Catherine (Trick) Blackmore. Ile comes from an ancestry which has for centuries been engaged in tilling the soil. His grandfath- er was Thomas Trick. His parents reared a family of seven children, of whom James Blackmore, the eldest, died in Akron, New York. His wid- ow, Mary Mills, now resides at Batavia, New York, with her four child- ren : Susie, Charles, George and Rhoda ; George Blackmore is now deeeas
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ed; Jacob still resides in England; Keziah is deceased; the fifth child is Joseph, our subject. Rhoda and William are both deceased.
Joseph Blackmore, Jr., was reared to man's estate in the country of his birth, and, on the 21st of September, 1868, he married Elizabeth, a daughter of John Mitchell. Mrs. Blackmore was orphaned at a very tender age, her father suffering death by being thrown from a horse before she was born, and her mother dying when she was but three years old. A brother of Joseph, James Blackmore, came to America, in 1850, and lo- cated near Akron. New York. It was through him that Joseph was in- fluenced, in 1868-shortly after his marriage-to cast his lot with Amer- ica. The latter located in Niagara county, New York, where he rented his brother's farm, for a time. His desire to secure, cheap, a home caused him. in 1870 to come west to Kansas, where, near Independence, he preempted one hundred and sixty acres. Hle resided there for five years and then purchased a farm in Park township but. after two years. again sold and went to Liberty. For nineteen years, he was one of the enterprising farmers of that township but, in 1901, concluded to again make a change. He purchased his present tract, lying in Lonisburg and Sycamore townships, where he has since resided.
Mr. Blackmore has ever been a snecess in his line of business and the property which he now owns represents the accumulations of his own labors.
To Mr. and Mrs. Blackmore seven children have been born : Bessie C., born in Angust of 1873, married George Parks, a farmer of Liberty township; their three children being: Clandie. James and Mattie: George B., born February 7, 1876. resides at Crane. this county ; William T., born December 24, 1878, lives at the old home; James M., born October 25. 1880 ; Harry F., born July 31, 1883; Audry Pearl, born September 10, 1884, and Charles M., born August 29. 1885, are also children at home.
The character for probity and uprightness sustained by Mr. Black- more in the county is of the very highest order and both he and his fam- ily are much respected in the community where they reside. His resi- dence in several parts of the county, makes him a man of wide acquaint- ance, and both he and his family are held in high esteem in all these different communities.
CYRUS F. DANIEL-Sycamore township has many good citizens, but none more respected than the gentleman whose name is herewith given, he having been a resident here since 1883. He is a thorough-going industrious farmer who makes things win.
The birth of Mr. Daniel occurred August 20, 1854, in Pettes county, Missouri. At seventeen. his parents removed to Bates county, Missouri, where Cyruscontinued to reside until the date of his coming to Mont- gomery county, Kansas. Here he has been uniformly successful, his farm
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of one hundred and seventy-two acres, on section 25-31-15, being one of the best in the county. His efforts have been largely in the line of grain and stock. He is active in the social and political life of the community, and has served, acceptably, four terms as township trustee.
Cyrus Daniel comes of southern stock, his father having been a na- tive of North Carolina. His christian name is Charles and he is now a resident of Sycamore township, carrying his seventy-five years without much sign of declining vigor. His wife, nee Mary Wicker, was also a native of North Carolina, the daughter of Eli Wicker. Eight children were born to them, as follows : David H., deceased ; DeWitt F., of Ottawa, Kansas; Cyrus F., Hannah E. Young, of Sycamore; Charles B., Inde- pendence: William B., of Denver, Colorado; Robert, of Junction City, Oregon ; Emma Young, of Pine Ridge, South Dakota; and James, of Sycamore.
Of this family, Cyrus married Mattie E., daughter of John W. and S. Elizabeth (Smith) Sage. Mrs. Daniel is a native of Missouri. To her have been born : Arthur, who married Mattie Holmes and lives on the old homestead in Sycamore; he has one daughter, Florence; Bessie mar- ried D'un Snyder, and resides in Sycamore. The following are still at home : Susie B., Lela, Jerry F., Alice and Edith.
DIOGENES S. JAMES-Ex-County Clerk D. S. James is one of the pioneers of Montgomery county. July 4, 1870, he settled in Rutland township, where his father, Joseph L. James, took up a claim on the Osage Diminished Reserve, made a farm of it and still resides there. Ohio county, Kentucky, is the native place of our subject and he was born February 4, 1857. His family was one of the old ones, being set- tlers there in the early years of the nineteenth century and emigrants from the State of Virginia, where Samuel James, the grandfather of Diogenes S. James, was born. The last named was a soldier in the carly Indian war, under General William Henry Harrison, and participated in the famous battle of Tippecanoe, in 1811.
Joseph L. James was born in Ohio county, Kentucky, in 1827, grew up on the farm and served in the Kentucky Home Guard. When he emi- gratod from there, he made the trip to Kansas with three yoke of oxen and began life in Montgomery county in a primitive way. He has con- ducted himself as a plain honorable farmer here, has taken some interest in local polities and was a Republican till the formation of the Green- back party, when he joined issues with it. For his wife, he chose Mar- tha Shelton, a daughter of Shelton, a Kentucky farmer. In 1893, Mrs. James died, being the mother of Sylvanus, of Rutland town- ship; Mary, wife of John Sewell, of Bolton; Diogenes S., Harvey K., a teacher of Montgomery county, Kansas; Aurora, who married W. C.
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Sewell, of Bolton; Sarah, now Mrs. A. JJ. Puckett, of Woodward county, Oklahoma; Laura, wife of John Findley, of Bartlesville, Indian Terri- tory ; Dora, wife of Waltham Hudson, of Montgomery county; Alice, who married C. E. Roberts, of Oklahoma; and Joseph B., of Montgomery county, Kansas.
D. S. James acquired a common school education and, at nineteen years of age, married Martha Ilall, a daughter of the venerable Mexican war veteran, Joseph Hall, of Caney township, Montgomery county. Mr. Hall was also a soldier in the Civil war, being a lieutenant of a Kansas regiment. Mr. James engaged in farming in his native county and re- sumed it in Montgomery county, Kansas, in the sparsely settled region of Rutland township, upon his advent here. He was in uninterrupted and quiet possession of his calling till November, 1897. when he was elected Clerk of Montgomery county, by the Fusion forces of the county. He succeeded John Glass in the Clerk's office and was reelected, in November, 1899, for another two years' term, and when this expired, he inherited the extra year of 1902-on account of a change in the law of succession- and held, therefore, five full years. He retired from office, in January, 1903, with a record of duty faithfully performed, and, in the spring of the same year, took his family to the Bristow, Creek Nation, his future home.
Mr. and Mrs. James have a family of seven children, as follows : Floyd, who married Carrie Terry ; Mittie M., Etta, Charles, Roy, John and For- est. Mr. James is an Odd Fellow and a Workman.
JAKE MOORE-The subject of this record is one of the well-known business men of Independence. He has resided in Montgomery county since the year 1878. when he located on a farm, in Sycamore township, and was engaged in its cultivation till his removal to the county seat, in 1889 He engaged in the livery business, at the old Trent stand, and was there ten years when, in August, 1899, he took charge of the popular stone barn and is conducting a livery and transfer business.
Jake Moore came to Montgomery county, from Barton county, Mis- souri. He was a resident of the Missouri county, for a time, to which point he was an emigrant from Fountain county, Indiana. In this latter county and state he was born, August 15, 1854. He is a son of the late Newble Moore, a farmer and early settler of Fountain county, Indiana, and horn, perhaps, in Ohio. The father died in Montgomery county, Kansas, March 25, 1889. at seventy-two years of age. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Richardson, was born in Ohio and died in the State of Missouri. Their children were: Priscilla, who married Charles Mullenour and died in Marion county, Illinois: Phoebe, who died in the same county, was the wife of Stephen Lewellyn ; Isaac, who died in In-
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dianapolis, Indiana, was a Civil war soldier, a member of the Twentieth Indiana regiment; William, who died in Barton county, Missouri; James, who passed away in Montgomery county, Kansas; Maggie, now Mrs. Richard Hines, of Barton county, Missouri; Jake, our subject; and Albert.
Our subject was not fortunate, as a youth, in his educational equip- ment, having the most meager advantages along this line. He learned little, aside from hard work, and came to maturity an industrions but un- learned young man. The vocation he learned in boyhood, he followed, till his advent to Independence and embarkation in the livery business. His financial interests in the latter are extensive, having a stock of seventy- five head of horses, innumerable vehicles of many descriptions and being proprietor of two barns. The livery trade in the city is his and he has merited the favor of the traveling public.
By his first marriage, Mr. Moore has no children. His second wife, who was, nee Frances Topping, he married in Montgomery county, Kan- sas. She was a daughter of Robert Topping, known near Buffalo, Kan- sas, but originally from Pennsylvania. Mrs. Moore died, in August, 1888. leaving the following children, viz: Berton, who married Lue Hu- go, and Edward, are both employed with their father; and Miss Flor- ence, of Independence. In November, 1893, Mr. Moore married Mrs. Addie Grubb, widow of Charles Grubb and a daughter of William Her- rington. Ray Grubb is Mrs. Moore's only child.
The political history of the Moores of this house, shows them to have been strongly identified with the Democratic party. They have been inconspicuous, however, in party affairs, and content themselves merely with casting a straight party ticket in important political contests,
CASPER ROTTLER-In 1864, the subject of this brief review sailed away from Europe, on the steamship "America" to make his home in the new world. He was leaving his native Germany, where he was born, at Kington, in Wittenberg, Prussia, February 20, 1840. His father, Nafer Rottler, was a miller, was born in Prussia, was a son of Ohmor Rottler, a native German of Russian antecedents. The grandfather rear- ed five children, as follows: John, Joseph. Dora, Nafer and Genevieve. Xafer Rottler married JJosephine Staus, who bore him eight children, as follows: Mrs. Josephine Macht, Mrs. Theresa Stans, Mrs. Amelia Weaver, of Nebraska ; Mrs. Mary Krebbs, of Nebraska; Casper, our sub- ject ; and Agnes, who married a Witter, of Germany.
Casper Rottler attended the schools popular in his country till he was fourteen years of age, when he went to work in his father's flouring mill. Subsequently he learned cabinet-making and followed it three years. On leaving Germany, he sailed from Bremen and was two weeks
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crossing the Atlantic. He disembarked at New York City, in May, aud went direct to Iowa City, lowa, where he was employed, in a mill, for a short time. March 1, 1865, he enlisted at Moline, Illinois, for service in the Union army, for a period of one yeor. His command was Company "I," Twenty-eighth Volunteer Infantry, under Capt. Daugherty. The reg- iment was stationed at Mobile, Alabama, for four months, and was then ordered to Brownsville, Texas, where Mr. Rottler was mustered out, March, 1866.
Returning from the army, he made his way back to Iowa City, where he was married and remained about one year, going thence to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was employed, at various kinds of labor, for three years. He then came into southern Kansas and stopped in Neo- desha, where he resumed mill work, and was so engaged for eleven years. He came into Montgomery county next and was employed, in a similar manner, in various places, for three years and then, 1886, purchased his present farm, in section 17, township 31, range 16, and has been occupied with its cultivation and improvement.
Mr. Rottler married Magdalena Schaup, a daughter of Henry and Louise Sehaup, German people. Seven children have resulted from this marriage, namely: William, of Montana, with one one child, Howard; Augustus, of Montgomery county; Mrs. Mary Hansley, of the same county, with two children, Leslie and May ; Amelia, wife of Henry Henk- ey, of Labette county, Kansas; Sarah, Clara and Fred, still with the parental home.
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