USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 54
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JOUN HENRY KEITH-The Keith family is one of the oldest in American history and was prominently identified with our colonial pe- riod. It furnished a Colonial Governor for Pennsylvania and, when the Revolution came on. demonstrated its patriotism in the ranks of the Co- Jonial forces. They were of Scotch ancestry and the archives of the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania. Virginia and Kentucky, show them to have played an important and honorable part in the history of their states. Governor Keith is one of the grand-ancestors of the subject of this review.
Daniel Keith was born in Virginia, in 1776, and died in Warren county, Kentucky, in 1875. De was the great-grandfather of the subject of this notice and the founder of his branch of the Keith family in the state of Daniel Boone. He served in the Henry Clay regiment of Ken- tucky troops in the Mexican war, took part in the Taylor campaign and, among other achievements, aided in the capture of Monterey. He mar- ried Miss Gardner and had three sons, namely: John, William and Isaiah.
John Keith and Mary Edwards were the paternal grandparents of our subject. The former was a native Kentuckian, born in 1815, and ‹lied. in Warren county, in 1891. Hle engaged in the ministry in early life, after having completed an academic education, and became a power for good all over the state. He was a forcible speaker, was an expounder of the doctrines of immersion and close communion and, on the issues of the Civil war, took strongly to the side of the Union. He and Mary (Edwards) Keith were the parents of : Daniel, Ivey, George and Henry.
Ivey Keith, father of John Keith, of this record, was born in Ed- monson county. Kentucky, January 14, 1846, and passed his active life a farmer and grower of stock. Warren county has been his home from youth and in 1863, he enlisted from that county for service in the war of the Rebellion. His was "I" company and his regiment the 52nd in- fantry. He served as a private, was in several battles and was wounded. Hle has taken a good citizen's interest in the affairs of his county and has
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affiliated with the Republican party. He married Jennie Finney, born in Warren county, Kentucky, February 17, 1846, and a daughter of Jack and Lucinda (Thomas) Finney, people of Irish blood. The issue of this marriage is John II., of this notice; Addie, wife of Buford Larrance, of Kentucky; Clay, of the Indian Territory; Euclid, a farmer and lumber dealer of Kentucky ; Ennet, Sammel E. and William L., of Kentucky.
John H. Keith came to manhood on the farm and was educated in the common schools, academy, normal school and business college. Ready for life's responsibilities, he chose teaching school as a profession, while casting about for the real work of his life. A few terms sufficed and he en- gaged in a systematic preparation for the law. He was admitted to the bar in Warren county, Kentucky, November 14, 1889, and spent the first two years after admission to practice in his native connty. In February, 1892. he left his native place and located in Muscogee, Indian Territory, where he resided 'till October, 1893, when he made Coffeyville, Kansas, his home. For ten years he has been engaged in the active and effective practice of his profession in Montgomery county, and is among the well known members of the bar.
Mr. Keith has taken an active part in the politics of his town and county. He was City Attorney of Coffeyville five years, was chairman of the Democratic County Central Committee for three years and now rep- resents the 29th legislative district in the Kansas legislature. He was chosen in a Republican district, where he ran three hundred votes ahead of his ticket, and was one of two Deomcrats on the county ticket elected. In the legislature of 1903. he was a member of the committes on Judici- ary, Railroads, Mines and Mining and Private Corporations. In a business way he is connected with several Coffeyville enterprises, of some of which he is confidential adviser.
Mr. Keith's family consists of two sons, Walter and Paul. In frater- nal matters he is a member of the Modern Woodmen. a Select Knight and an Elk.
HARVEY DUNCAN-Harvey Duncan, a well known farmer of Montgomery county, is a native of Fulton county, Illinois, and was born January 30, 1854. His parents, Solomon and Rebecca Duncan, were born in the State of Kentucky, a state famed beyond the seas for its beautiful women and fine horses. The mother's family came from the state most noted for its old families, the good old State of Virginia.
Harvey Duncan was one of nine children. They are: David, Molly Beal, Anna Herrell, John, Harvey, Lida Taylor, James, deceased, and two died in infancy.
In the autumn of 1870, the family came to Montgomery county, driv- ing three teams overland, and carrying their furniture and provisions
C. C. SURBER, M. D.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
with them. Their journey occupied five weeks, of hard and, many times, very tiresome travel, but at last it was finished at Independence. Here they purchased a claim, located one and a half miles north of the village, and for it they paid $1.400. A contest arose over this claim, and, after four years, a decision was given in favor of Solomon Duncan. Soon after this Harvey located on a claim next to his father's, and work was be- gun on a blockhonse, in which the family lived for six years, when they erected the brick house now owned by T. M. Bailey.
The Duncans had close acquaintance with many of the Indians, see- ing a great deal of them in the earlier years of their residence in Kansas. They numbered among their acquaintances: Chiefs, Big Hill Joe, Toby, Wild Cat. White Hair and Chetopa.
Harvey Duncan married Edith Drenner, a native of Illinois, a daugh- ter of Jacob and Mary Drenner. of Virginia. To them have been born four children : Lina, a teacher; Grace, Jay S .. and John W.
With the exception of five years spent in Independence, where he was engaged in the meat business, and afterward as proprietor of the In- dependence Hotel, which he managed successfully for several years, Mr. Duncan has spent his life on the farm. In 1891, he bought the eighty acres of land, where he now lives, in section 13-31-15. This farm, which is the home selected as a permanent abiding place, is neat and well kept, speaking well for the energy and good management of the owner.
Mr. Duncan is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the 1. O. O. F. Politically he is a lifelong Republican, and has served his party faithfully, as a member of the school board. In matters concerning public education in the district, no one shows a greater interest or works harder to keep abreast of the times than he.
CASSIUS C. SURBER, M. D .- There is presented, in the subject of this brief personal record, a native Kansan, who has rendered valuable service to the profession of medicine in Montgomery county. He ocen- pies a position among the list of successful physicians of Southern Kan- sas, and it is with pardonable pride that we thus briefly refer to his pro- fessional and social achievements.
Dr. Surber has been a resident of Montgomery county less than ten years. He located here in October, 1894, direct from Delphos, Kansas, but formerly from Perry, his old home in JJefferson county. He began the practice of medicine in Ottawa county, Kansas, going out toward the frontier at once upon the completion of his medical course. He remained there ten years, and then chose the more settled and substantial portion of the state-Montgomery county-for the field of his future labors and the scene of his greater success.
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He is of pioneer Kansas parentage. He was born in Douglas county, January 26, 1862, four years after his father settled there. In 1868, his parents located at Perry, in Jefferson county, Kansas, where they reared and educated their children. Dr. David Surber, our subject's father, was a pioneer settler from the State of Indiana. He was born in Indiana in 1829. His father was the Rev. Henry Surber. a Campbellite preacher, and an early settler of the "Hoosier State." The latter took his family to lowa in the early settlement of that state and he aided materially in shaping the moral sentiment of his community. He was a positive, de- termined, vigorous-spoken man of the old school, to illustrate which qualities it is only necessary to present one conspicuous ineident. Dur- ing the early years of the progress of the Civil war Southern Iowa con- tained a small, but troublesome and outspoken, secession sentiment. It became noised about that this element had planned to disturb the Rev. Surber in his effort at preaching on a certain evening, and finally break up his meeting. Mr. Surber learned of this design and took with him two good Colts pistols and, when he arose to begin service, laid them up in front of him, at the same time remarking what he had heard and stat- ing that the first fellow that made a crooked move could expect to be taken care of by the blue-barreled six-shooters doing picket duty for the evening. The house was filled and the disturbing element was out enforce and occupying front seats, and nobody seemed to enjoy the meeting more than they.
Dr. David Surber was the oldest of four brothers. As his father re- sided chiefly near the frontier, as the family grew up. educational privi- leges were somewhat limited. He chose medicine as his life work. He completed his professional preparation in the Cincinnati Medical Col- lege and soon afterward came to Kansas. He married Eliza J. Stewart, which family also furnished one or more excellent physicians. By this union there are two surviving children. viz: Dr. C. C., our subjeet, and Mrs. Gertrude Eakin, of Bonner Springs, Kansas.
After the public schools of Perry, the State University of Kansas provided Dr. C. C. Surber with the means of a higher education. He finished the course of the Medical Department of the institution in 1881, and to him was issued the first certificate of graduation from that depart- ment. Ile entered the Kansas City Medical College immediately on leav- ing the University, and completed its course in March, 1884. and opened his first office at Delphos, Kansas.
Dr. Surber was married at Perry, Kansas, in 1886, and has a son, Paul, twelve years of age. He is a member of the Kansas State Medical So- ciety and of the Montgomery County Medical Society. He is secretary of the pension examining board of Montgomery county. In politics the Sur- bers of this family are, without exception, Republican, and it pleases the
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doctor to add his mite to the party's cause in his modest and unaspiring way.
JAMES W. RYAN, M. D .- Whose name initiates this review, is a gentleman widely known for his professional attainments and eminence in the domain of medieal and surgical practice. His connection with the west dates from the year 1889, when he became a resident of Kansas, and his fourteen years' associations with the leaders of his profession over the great plain, bounded on the west by the Rockies and on the east by the Mississippi, have given him a wealth of experience and contribut- ed a breadth of knowledge which render his position a distinguished one among the representatives of bis school.
The "Modern Mother of Presidents." is the state which produced Dr. Ryan. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. April 11, 1867, of Irish parents, and grew up and was educated in the city of his birth. His father, Pat- rick Ryan, was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1828. and his mo- ther, Anne Erwin, a daughter of Mary and John Erwin, was born in the same county at the village of Graignenemana, in 1836. The mother re- sides in Clermont county, Ohio, where Patrick Ryan settled on coming to the United States in 1847. He was an emigrant whose destiny in his new field of industry depended solely on his native capital, labor. He en- gaged in farming, which he followed 'till 1884, when, having served faith- fully the years of his more vigorous life and merited a release from its burdens of toil, he retired to private life to the passing of a peace-
ful old age. Nine children constitute t the issue of this venerable couple. six sons and three daughters, as follows: George W., a retired banker, of Penryn, California ; John, a farmer in Clermont county, Ohio; William, a retired farmer, of Salt Air, Ohio; Dr. James W., Martin, a farmer, of Clermont county, Ohio, and Lawrence, of Carlsbad. New Mex- ico. The sisters of these gentlemen are all with the mother and are : Kate, Mary and Julia. The father died in 1895.
James W. Ryan, our subject, passed his boyhood and youth in school. The public schools of Cincinnati and the University of that city pro- vided his literary training, and the Medical College of Ohio, from which he graduated March 7. 1888, prepared him for his professional career. He identified himself with Coffeyville the next year, as previously stated, and practiced here 'till 1896, when he was elected to the chair of anatomy in the University of Denver, Colorado, where he lectured for two years, resigning his position because of the telling wear upon his constitution, and returning to Coffeyville, where, when somewhat recuperated, he re- sumed active practice, and at once took his place as one of the leading physicians of Montgomery county. His great proficiency and his intense interest in his work has commended him to the confidence of the pro-
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fession in Kansas, and in 1901, his election to the Vice Presidency of the State Medical Society took place. He is a prominent contributor to medi- cal journals, is a seeker after medical truth constantly, and reaches out after all the intellectual and professional treats from the fountain heads of medical research. On account of his interest in professional meetings and his presence and membership in them, he has become widely known throughout the west and familiar with the national characters of the fraternity.
December 1, 1892, Dr. Ryan married Nannie Rammel. a daughter of Rev. Eli Rammel, deceased, and of Casandra Cash. Mrs. Ryan was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is the mother of one child. Max.
ALBERT ARTHUR KRUGG, M. D .- The ancient and honorable profession of medicine is worthily represented in Coffeyville by the gen- fleman whose name introduces this personal sketch. He came to this city March 28, 1898, and identified himself at once with the profession, in its active practice, and his worth as a physician and a citizen has com- mended him most favorably to the public confidence.
DI. Krugg's native place is Dodge county, Wisconsin. He was born October 20, 1864, and is a son of the venerable John Krugg, of Lincoln, Kansas, whose life has been passed as a farmer and whose residence in the "Sunflower State" dates from 1886. The father was born in Unke- mark. Prussia, in 1830, where the family had resided for many genera- tions, and was prominent in its rivil station. John Krugg left Germany soon after his marriage to Wilhelmina Meinhartz, and crossed the At- lantic ocean to the United States, locating in Dodge county, Wisconsin, where he took up his residence on a farm. Be trained his children to habits of industry, always maintained himself a highly moral and useful citizen and only retired from active work when he had attained a com- petency ample as a reward for the efforts of an industrious rural life. His family consists of five children, as follows: Mary, wife of Joseph Smith, of Lincoln, Kansas; Dr. Albert A., Mattie, who married J. C. Cooper, of Lincoln, Kansas; Lydia, now Mrs. Ed. Guptail, of Mitchell county, Kan- sas; and Miss Lovisa Krngg, of Lincoln, Kansas.
Albert A. Kingg's sphere of action in youth was confined to the limits of his native country neighborhood. The country school laid the foundation for his education and the High school in his native county rounded off the angles and prepared the way for the culture and polish of mature years. He began life as a farm hand at fifteen dollars a month, and his employers found his services worth an increase to seventeen and finally twenty dollars per month. His High school training was obtained from money saved from this farm work, and when he left Mayville, Wis- consin, he entered the Ohio State University, at Columbus, and spent
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two years, chiefly in the study of comparative anatomy. In 1891-2-3, he was a student in the University Medical College, of Kansas City, Mis- souri, and in 1897-8, he attended the Medico Chirurgical Institute, from which he graduated the latter year. He began practice in Clay county, Kansas, in 1893, and continued it through the years 1893-4-5-6, and then took up the work of completing his medical education in Kansas City, as before stated.
Dr. Krugg's residence in Coffeyville has witnessed his accession to a most creditable and gratifying position in the medical fraternity. He has clung steadily to his determination to devote his time to his profes- sion exclusively, and in doing so he has won his way to social and finan- cial success.
October 16, 1893 ,at Lincoln, Kansas, Dr. Krugg married Eliza Montgomery, a daughter of Mrs. Eliza Montgomery, originally from Mas- sachusetts. The two children of this union are: Mary, born in Decem- ber 14, 1902, and Consuela V., born in 1897. Dr. Krugg is a Democrat, and is a member of the A. O. U. W. and of the Knights and Ladies of Security.
CHARLES M. STARK-Charles M. Stark may clearly be classed among the old settlers of the county, as he came here away back in 1868. Those were the days when the "noble Red Men" still trod the prairie and when the few whites of good character needed to stand firm for the "majesty of the law" against half-breed eow thieves and renegade white men, whose absence from civilization became necessary on account of their malodorous reputation. But with the settling of such men in the county as our subject, conditions gradually changed, and long ere the last decade of the century opened, Montgomery county came to be regarded as one of the most orderly communities in the state. Mr. Stark resides in Louisburg township, on his original pre-emption of one hundred and sixty arres, which evidences in its neat and well-kept appointments the great amount of care lavished upon it.
The birth of Mr. Stark occurred in Scott county, Indiana, in 1838. His father, Nathaniel B. Stark, was a son of Charles Stark, one of the very earliest settlers in Scott county, where he located, after the removal of the Indians, in 1814. He had resided, prior to that time. in Henry county, Kentucky. Nathaniel B. Stark was born in the latter state and was but seven years of age when his parents moved into Indiana. Here he grew to manhood amid the scenes of pioneer life and, at maturity, married Margaret Coons. In 1849, the family moved out to Edgar county, Illinois, where the father plied his trade of carpenter until his death in 1864. There were seven children born to our subject's parents, as fol- lows: Malinda, who married W. W. Crossfield, and is a widow, residing
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in Chautauqua county, Kansas; Martha, Mrs. E. M. Horton, Chautauqua county ; Sarah, wife of W. H. Deam, of La Harpe, Kansas ; Jane, who mar- ried James M. Stark, and resides in Elk county, Kansas; Nathaniel J., of San Diego, California; Josiah M., residing in Lonisburg township, and Charles M., who constitutes the subject of this sketch.
Charles M. Stark was twelve years of age when his father's family. settled in Illinois, and from that time until his thirtieth year he con- tinned to be a resident of Edgar county. In 1860, he was happily joined in marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Peter and Sarah (Shawler) Bartmess, people of Kentucky origin. Mrs. Stark was born in Edgar- county. Illinois. In the spring of 1868. Mr. Stark and his family, to- gether with his mother and brothers and four sisters, settled in Mont- gomery county, Kansas. It is simple justice to say that Mr. Stark has had a most wholesome influence on the development which has come to the county since that early day, and fully merits the esteem in which he is heid. He and his family have been supporters and members of the Christian church for years, and have entered into the social life of their community in its varied activities with a spirit of nich helpfulness.
To our subject and wife have been born children as follows: John F., born November 18. 1864. resides in the Indian Territory, married Josie Stewart, and has four children : Clara. Marian T., Bertha May and Buelah ; Harmon F., born December 6. 1867, married Maggie Faris. They reside in Chautauqua county, Kansas, with their children: Hattie, Charles, Alvin. Clarence and Oscar; Early A., born March 3, 1876, mar- ried Mamie Hope, and has a daughter, Eline, and resides in Montgomery county.
SULLIVAN LOMAX-The efficient school man who presides over the destinies of public education in Montgomery county. is Sullivan Lo- max. the subjet of this biographical review. He is widely known to the professional educators of the county and is favorably regarded by patrons and teachers, alike, for the practical manner in which he handles the canse of public education. His plucky rise from obscurity, against both physical and financial obstacles, to the head of the educational interests of a great county, is a feat to be admired and an achievement worthy of much praise.
Sullivan Lomax was born in Orange county. Indiana. August 31, 1872. His father, who was a carpenter, was Abel Lomax, who died, in 1880. at the age of forty-five years. He was a native of the same county and state, where his father, Quinton Lomax. settled in an early day. Quinton Lomax was a farmer and politician and was elected State Sena- tor , from his distriet, by the Democratic party. He was born in the State of Maryland and had sons: Abel, Laniska, Junius and William.
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Abel Lomax married Tamar White, who died in Orange county, Indiana, in 1878. The issue of their marriage was the following children: Wil- liam, of Chanute, Kansas; Quinton, of Orange county, Indiana ; Sullivan, om subject; Asahel and Ezra, twins, and Mattie, wife of George E. Skidmore.
Orphaned at the age of eight years and made motherless when a child of sis, Sullivan Lomax was brought face to face with life's stern realities at a tender age. Handicapped. as he was, he made the most of his few opportunities and resolved to dedicate his faculties to a virtuous and use- ful life. Ile worked at choring and odd jobs, for his keep, while attend- ing country school; did farm work, such as he was able to do; blacked boots when prompted to do so, as a means to a legitimate and cherished end. and the money which he saved from these sources, he expended in acquiring a higher education. Hle came to Kansas, in 1885, with his brother Quinton, stopped near Cherryvale and herded rattle for Gilbert Baker. for a time. The next winter, he lived with the family of Alexan- der Campbell and worked for his board and went to school. He contin- ned, in this way, till he reached the goal of a teacher's license. when he became the master of a country school. His first term was finished in 1891 and his last one in the fall of 1900, when he was nominated by the Republicans of Montgomery county, for County Superintendent, and was elected by a majority of one hundred and thirty votes. In 1902, he was named. by his party, to succeed himself and was elected, in November, by a majority of seven hundred and eleven votes. The work of his office has been efficiently carried out and the high standard attained by his - predecessor. maintained and improved.
May 4, 1897, Mr. Lomax married Adah Lewis, a daughter of J. P. Lewis, of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Mr. Lewis married Rachel Brown and has a family of six children, of whom Mrs. Lomax is the only daughter. She and Mr. Lomax are the parents of a son and a daughter: Otho W. and Elzene, the daughter being the first born. Mr. Lomax is an Odd Fellow, a Modern Woodman and a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security.
JOUN P. SHEFFIELD-Thirty years ago there came to Montgom- ery county the gentleman whose honored name precedes this paragraph, and who has since been one of her most influential citizens. He lived, for nine years, in the town of Independence, then purchased the present farm of two hundred and forty acres, where he has since demonstrated what excellent agricultural sense, coupled with a penchant for hard work, can accomplish in southern Kansas. There are no pyrotechnics in the life of Mr. Sheffield-he is just a good plain citizen, but he is all that, and in the highest and truest sense of that term-a man to whom
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the stranger will be directed, as one of the solid men of the community.
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