USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 55
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The Sheffields are of English extraction, having emigrated to this country prior to the Revolutionary war, in the person of the great- grandfather of our subjeet, who was one of a party of twelve who pur- chased Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island, from the government. Here they formed a colony and, for years, the descendants of the original twelve continued to cultivate the island. The father of John P., John, also, was born on the island, in 1793. He married Jennette Briggs, a na- tive of the island, and, in 1833, removed to Ohio. To these parents were born seven children, three of whom are now living: James F., Huldah and John P. The parents lived to a ripe old age, the father dying at sev- enty-one, the mother at sixty-one years.
John P. Sheffield was born in George township, Athens county, Ohio. May 27, 1844. He was-reared on a farm, where he learned the lessons of thrift and economy, which have served him so well, during life, and was given the advantages of a district school education. At eleven years old, he went to live with an older brother, but, at seventeen, returned to take charge of the farm for his father and continued to discharge this filial duty until the death of both parents.
On the 14th of April, 1872, Mr. Sheffield was married to Lavina Guernsey, of Lake county, Indiana (born April 4, 1853), and, the follow- ing year, came to Kansas. The greatest misfortune that can happen to man, was the lot of Mr. Sheffield, on the 3d of March, 1880, when, at the early age of twenty-seven years, the mother of his children was taken away. She is remembered as a lady of many noble qualities, and the two children, William and Lavina, and the husband, still cherish her men- ory. l'pon arriving at maturity, the daughter married Charles F. Smith, the exact date being October 1, 1902, and now lives on the home farm with her father. Her husband was born in Crawford county, Kansas, on the 20th of August, 1882, the son of James W. and Mollie (Cullison) Smith, natives of Kentucky and Indiana, respectively. They located in Crawford county, in 1871, and, later removed to Montgomery county, where they are now living. Charles F. Smith has been his own man since the early age of nine, and is a young man of many sterling qualities which make him popular with a large circle of acquaintances.
Mr. Sheffield and ;his household are regarded with the greatest re- speet in the community, where they have so long resided.
LEMENT L, KiMELEA In the spring of 1893. the subject of this review became identified with Montgomery county. He came as an em- ploye of the Independence. Gas Company, then doing its initial work in the development of the gas and oil belt of southern Kansas. Hle was from Paola, Kansas, the home of the prime movers in the formation of the
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Independence Gas Company .in which county of Miami, his parents were settlers from Adams connty, Ohio, in 1884.
By nativity, Mr. Kimble is an Ohioan. He was born in Adams coun- ty-the home of the family for several generations-October 2, 1870. Hle is a mixture of English and Irish stock, his father being the grandson of an Englishman and his mother a daughter of Irish immigrants to the "Buckeye State." The original Kimble, of this American family. settled in one of the counties of Maryland, in the first years of our national his- tory and brought up his family there. A son. Elijah Kimble, followed the tide of emigration westward, in the early years of the nineteenth cen- tury, and founded the family of Kimbles in Adams county, Ohio. He settled a new farm there and brought up his family, according to the rural customs of that day. His wife was a Bradford and their family comprised eight sons and two danghters. David B. Kimble. the father of onr subject, was one of their sons, and he was born about 1839. The lat- ter's bringing-up was without particular incident and for a wife. he chose Mary Connor. During the Civil war, he entered the army, in 1862, and helped fight the battle of Shiloh. Becoming disabled. by disease, he was finally discharged for disability. But he, afterward, and toward the close of the war, did duty as a nurse'on board.one of the warships.
In civil life, the pursuits of the farm claimed the attention of David B. Kimble, after the war, in Ohio and until 1884, he maintained his resi- dence in his native state. Ile and his wife maintain the family home in Paola, Kansas, and are the parents of six children, of which number Clement L. is the third and only son.
C. 1 .. Kimble acquired his foundation principles of an education in the common schools of Kansas. He became a teacher in the country schools, on approaching manhood, and, after two years' work in Miami county, decided to strengthen himself by work as a student in the Kan- sas State Normat School. fle spent the years 1890 and 1891 there and did the work of an irregular course, ahnost np to the professional year. On retiring from the normal, he taught another year, in the common schools and then joined the Independence Gas Company, as bookkeeper. and became identified with Montgomery county ;- ;
The Independence Gas Company was charterbil. in 1893. with a capital of $50,000 and C. L. Bloom was chosen president ; A. P. McBride, secretary ; J. D. Nickerson, vice-president, and W. P. Brown, of Coffey- ville, treasurer. In 1896, the capital stock of the coffpany was increased -at a reorganization-to $100,000 and the samierofficers were chosen president and secretary, while A. C. Stich was Hedted vice-president and A. W. Shulthis treasneer. The third change fi the capital of the company, took place in 1901. when its stock was iflereased to $250,000, and Mr. McBride took Shulthis' place as freasiifer and C. L. Kimble was
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added to the official board, as secretary of the company; the other offi- cers remaining the same.
While Mr. Kimble is in no sense a politician, he affiliates with the Republican party. His father was an Ohio Democrat and was a modest but earnest supporter of the cause, while a citizen of the "Buckeye State." Masonry is a matter in which our subject has taken much inter- est and his rise from the Blue Lodge, which he entered in 1898, to the Shrine at Leavenworth and the Consistory at Wichita, since then, marks an achievement, unusual in its importance and significance in fraternal work.
JOHN C. THOMAS-In June, 1869, John C. Thomas settled in Montgomery county, an emigrant from Jo Daviess county, Illinois. In company with father and mother, he left the town of Council Hill, with a team and a few household effects, and the journey to Kansas occupied something over a month. A sister of our subject was also in the party and, in August, the mother died and was laid away in a rude pine box, made of dry goods boxes, by a neighbor. Father and son each took a claim in Drum'Creek 'and West Cherry townships, respectively, where the former died, February 10, 1870. The cabin, which our subject erected, was a small one ;- 12x14 feet, and he made it his home for only a couple of years, when a new and more pretentious one appeared.
Indians, located near his cabin, begged and stole Mr. Thomas' prop- erty and they even ordered him to leave his claim. A claim- jumper built a shanty on the claim, formerly owned by his father, but our subject tore it down and, some time later, lost all his improvements, by fire, at the hand, it was believed, of the baffled claim-jumper. This loss was a disaster that caused hardships and mental suffering to Mr. Thomas. Provisions were high-flour $8.00 per hundred, bacon 25 cents per pound and shelled corn $2.00 per bushel-and it was months before he recovered from the effects of the blow. In 1872, he rented his farm and went to Sedalia, Missouri, where he worked, as a machinist, for twelve years, returning, then, to his farm, able to carry on, successfully, the improvement and cultivation of his place.
John C. Thomas was born at Tywardreth, Cornwall county, Eng- land, November 23, 1846. In 1852, his mother and three children emigrat- ed from there to the United States (the father, however, having come four years before) and settled in Jo Daviess county, Illinois. The father was John Thomas and the mother was Sarah Cook, a lineal descendant of Capt. Cook, the famous navigator. Her father and mother were James and Elizabeth (Sleeman) Cook. John Thomas, grandfather of our subject, was born in County Cornwall and married Kittie James of the same county. Their children were: John and Mrs. Kittie Hitchens.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
John, Jr.'s children were : John C., our subject ; Mrs. Sarah A. Bunney, of Central City, Colorado; James L., of Pinole, California; and Mrs. Ruth Fuller, of Denver, Colorado.
John C. Thomas married Rebecca Warren, a native of Camden county, Missouri, and a daughter of Thomas L. Warren. His wife died, leaving a son, Perry, of Oakland, California, a hospital engineer. Mr. Thomas' second wife was Emma A. Cordes, of Morgan county, Missouri, and a daughter of Frederick Cordes, a German settler of that state. The children of this union are: Walter C. and Oscar L., both with the pa- rental home.
The Thomas family of this record were miners, both in England and the United States. Our subject worked in the lead mines of Illinois and in the coal mines of Ohio and in the lead and zinc mines of Wisconsin, and came to Kansas to build him a home. He has taken a good citizen's interest in public affairs, has served his district school board ten years, has been a member of his township political committee and was chosen a delegate to the Republican State Convention of 1902.
WILLIAM H. HARTER-When one begins to talk about "early days" in Montgomery county, it is necessary to reckon with the gentle- man whose honored name is herewith given, as his coming dates to the time when a single log cabin marked the site of Independence and when the aborigines of the prairie roamed in undisputed freedom over hill and dale. The years which have passed since then, have furrowed the face and whitened the locks, but have failed to age the heart; youth springs eternai in the old pioneers.
William Harter's nativity dates in Carroll county, Indiana, of the year 1836. He is the eldest of the seven children born to Andrew and Delilah (Hewett) Harter, the names of the other children being: Isaac, a farmer, residing in Drum Creek township; Elizabeth. who married John Raplogle and lives in Carroll county, Indiana; Lewis, of Carroll county; Frank, of Seattle, Washington; Sarah, Mrs. Miles Flora, of Carroll county, Indiana; Delphine, wife of William Lytle. living in Carroll county. Indiana.
Mr. Harter grew to manhood and married in Carroll county, the year being 1868, and his wife's maiden name was Rachel Baley; also, a native of Carroll county. The following year, our subject and his wife came to this county, where they made settlement on part of the large farm which they now own. in conjunction with Mr. Harter's brother.
At that time, "Poor Lo" was in evidence in the county, to the number of 3,300, and not always the most peaceable nor the most trustworthy. The trials of the very early pioneers of the county, with the Indians, were many, their thieving propensities being the most annoying. It was nec-
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
essaryto watch stock all the time, and nothing of value could be laid down for a single moment.
Mr. and Mrs. Harter have reared three children, two of their own, and an adopted child. Charles A. lives on the old homestead farm and is one of the promising young men of the county; JJessie M., the daughter, lives with her parents. An adopted child, Jane, is now the wife of Clarence Osborne, a farmer of the county.
The farm owned by the Harters is a fine body of four hundred acres, part of it but two miles from the center of the thriving county-seat town of Independence, and its broad acres show the hand of the experienced agricultorist. The standing of the Harter family, among the yeomanry of the county, is unquestioned, and the helpful character of their citizenship has done much to raise the general moral level. Mr. Harter has never taken a very active part in the public life of the county, but has always been a consistent supporter of the Republican party. He is a man who combines many of the noble qualities, so marked in pioneers, and num- bers his friends by the hundreds in the county.
MARTIN BRADFORD SOULE-The esteemed gentleman whose name introduces this brief sketch, is the efficient and popular Probate Judge of Montgomery county. Twenty years have passed since his iden- tity with the county became a fact and, since his advent here, in the fall of 1883. he has demonstrated an unselfish, patriotic and public-spirited citizenship.
The town of Waterville, Maine, gave him birth, on the 27th of Janu- ary, 1838, and in the "Pine Tree State," and its educational institutions developed him into a well-rounded, strong and intellectual young man. His antecedeuts were Colonial people of Massachusetts, near Duxboro, of which state, Daniel Sonle, father of our subject, was born in 1792. Dan- iel Sonle was a son of Jonathan Sonle, whose French forefather estab- lished the family in the British colonies of America, some time in the eighteenth century. Jonathan Sonle followed pastoral pursuits and, in 1796, he settled at Waterville, Maine, where he died, in 1836, at the age of eighty-four years. He married Honore Souther, who survived to ninety-six years of age, and was the mother of : Zebide, who died in Wis- consin : George. Palotiah, Sullivan, Charlotte and Althea, who passed away in Maine, including Daniel. Daniel Sonle grew up in Waterville and was a Maine soldier in the war of 1812. He joined the army, as a re- eruit, toward the end of the war and, on returning to civil life, resumed the occupation of his father. He married Mary Hayden, born in 1800, at, Winslow, Maine. She died in 1857 and he in 1881. Their children were: Mary J., who died unmarried; George H., of Orange, Massachu- setts: Ann K., of Waterville, Maine, who married Elhanan Cook ; Olive
JUDGE M. B. SOULE.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
L., whose first husband was George W. Hubbard and whose second was Mr. Edgar, now residing at St. Charles, Louisiana; Martin B., our sub- ject ; John W., of Boston, Massachusetts; Daniel A., deceased; Sidney C., of Mankato, Minnesota ; and Richard C., of Waterville, Maine.
Judge M. B. Soule passed the years of his minority in the country about Waterville. First, the academy and, then, Waterville College, now Colby University, at Waterville, supplied him with the sinews of an edu- cation. He was just settling down to the life of a farmer when, in 1862, he enlisted in Company "E," Sixteenth Maine Infantry, Capt. A. D. Leavett and Cols., respectively, Wilds and Tilden. Ilis regiment was assigned to the Second, or Robinson's, Division and in the First, or Rey- nold's Corps-Gen. Paul's Brigade. It rendezvoused at Augusta, the state capital, and was ordered to Arlington Heights, where it lay till the battle of Antietam, when it was ordered into the field, and took part in the battle of Fredericksburg, in December, 1862. The battles of Chancel- lorsville and Gettysburg followed, the next spring and summer, and, in the latter engagement, Mr. Soule was shot in the right elbow and, about a year later, was discharged from the service.
After the war and, on beginning civil life anew, Judge Soule decided to enter a profession, and read law with Renben Foster, of Waterville, in 1865 and 1866. He then took a course in the Albany Law School, Al- bany, New York, and was in the class with Mr. Conger, now U. S. Minis- ter to China. In June, 1866, he was admitted to the bar, in New York, and, in January, 1867, was admitted to practice in Waterville, Maine, and opened an office there at once. The year 1870. he went out to Minne- sota and opened an office, in Worthington, where he resided and was in active practice ten years. He then removed to Knoxville, Tennessee, and, two years later, came to Kansas and took up his residence in Cherryvale. For several years he was associated with Judge E. D. Hastings, as a law partner, in Cherryvale, and his honorable standing in the profession and his ability as an advocate and counselor was popularly recognized. His election to the office of Probate Judge, in 1900, forced his temporary abandonment of the law. in favor of the public service.
Judge Soule has received recognition, as a political factor, wher- ever he has been permanently located and his service has been partially rewarded by public office. For three terms. he was County Attorney of Nobles County, Minnesota, was on the council and mayor of Cherryvale and served five years on its school board. His first Presidential vote was cast for Mr. Lincoln and he has cast a ballot for every Republican can- didate since. He was elected Probate Judge of Montgomery county, by a majority of about three hundred votes, and was reelected, in November, 1902, by six hundred and thirteen majority. His public service, like his private life. has been most honorable and sincere and, in whatever capac-
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ity he has labored, right and justice have been his guiding precepts and principles.
March 11, 1869, Judge Soule was first married, in Haverhill, Massa- chusetts, his wife being Annie E. Mitchell. She died, in 1874, without is- sue and, October 6, 1878, he married Barbara Cosler, of Worthington, Minnesota. September 29, 1885, the Judge married Hattie Harvey, a daughter of James Harvey, an Englishman. Mrs. Soule was born in Wisconsin, December 26, 1855. Mary L. and Martin H. are the children of the Soule household and they are the issue of the JJudge's last mar- riage.
Judge Soule became a Mason forty years ago and holds his member- ship in the Blue Lodge at Cherryvale. He is a prominent local G. A. R. man and is an Elk.
JAMES PHILIP HUBBARD-The subject of this notice came into Montgomery county, in 1884, and purchased a farm, in section 13, town- ship 33, range 15, which he has developed and improved and made one of the attractive and valuable homesteads of Independence township. He purchased the farm from Madison Vandavier, well known to the early settlers about Independence, as an eccentric, who came into the locality with a pet bear of the trick order and from which exhibition he gath- ered up the means with which to purchase a tract of land in this new country. With the small beginning which had been made, Mr. Hubbard proceeded with the making of a home in Kansas and his efforts, supple- mented by those of an industrious wife and dutiful children, has placed him in a position of comparative case and independence.
James P. Hubbard is a native of the State of New York. He was born in the year 1847. on the 3d day of September. His father was Richard Hubbard, a daguerreotyper in early life and then a carpenter. The latter was born in Norfolk county, England, in 1818, was a son of Thomas Hub- bard, and came to the United States, with his parents, about 1828. The family settled in Onondaga county, New York, where, at Corning, the grandparents of our subject died. They had a family of ten children, in- cluding the following : Philip, who died in New York state; Martin, who died in Bartholomew county, Indiana; Thomas, who served in the Con- federate army from Texas, was wounded, captured and died in Camp Chase, Ohio; Wilbur, who died a soldier in the Union army; Richard, father of our subject ; Eliza, deceased wife of S. V. Lee, of Manhattan, Kansas; Susan, who married David Jacobs and died in New York; Mary, who died in Manhattan, Kansas, was the wife of John Barnes; Martha, now Mrs. Seymour Schley, of Topeka, Kausas. Richard Hubbard mar- ried Elizabeth Swartman, a daughter of an Englishman. In 1857, he moved out to Bartholomew county, Indiana, where he died, in 1876. He
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was the father of six children, as follows: Charles H., of Bartholomew county, Indiana; Mary, deceased; James P., of this review : Edward, de ceased ; Frederick, of Bartholomew county. Indiana, and William, de ceased.
James P. Hubbard grew up from boyhood in and around Jonesville, Indiana, with only the advantages of the country youth. He attended school a few months, during the winter terms, and made a hand on the farm in summer. He contributed of his meager earnings to the main- tenance of the parental home, till he reached his majority, and continued to labor, as a farm hand, till the opportuntiy arose whereby he could "erop on the shares." Ile finally purchased a farm and was engaged with its cultivation and improvement till his advent to Kansas.
September 8, 1871, Mr. Hubbard married Indiana McHenry, a daugh ter of Richard MeHenry, from Ohio. Mr. McHenry was the father of a large family of children. Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard's children are : Richard H., born January 22, 1872, is still with the family circle ; Elizabeth, born in February, 1875, is the wife of William Courtright, of the Indian Ter ritory ; Ollie, who married Elmer DeMott, of Montgomery county, Kan- sas; Emery and James, yet with their parents.
In his political relations, Mr. Hubbard is a Republican. His father was a war Democrat, but the issues of that time and the results of it caused the son to seek a different political home and he has been an un. yielding partisan of the protectionist faith since. He holds a membership in the "subordinate" of the 1. O. O. F.
ALBERT W. SHULTHIS-A survey of the financial institutions of Independence reveals an array of citizenship connected with their man- agement, prominent in the business world and conspicnous as pioneers or early settlers of Montgomery county. The youngest of them has serv- ed his quarter of a century with his institution-has grown up in its ser- vice-and has, for ten years, been its efficient cashier. We refer to Albert W. Shulthis, of the Citizens National Bank. He came to Indepen- dence with his parents in 1876, a boy of fourteen, and the next year en tered the Hull Bank as office boy. By actual experience, he familiarized himself with every menial and clerical duty about the institution, be- came its book-keeper and in 1891, was appointed assistant cashier. Since 1894. he has held the position of cashier and, thus, briefly. is reviewed his connection with one of the important concerns of Montgomery county.
A history of the development of the Citizens National Bank discloses the fact that it first took shape as a private bank. In 1871, C. H. and Edgar Hull organized the Hull Bank. with a capital of $34,000.00. They rondnoted it until 1883. when it was purchased by A. C. Stich and Henry Foster, and the name changed to The Citizens Bank, with a capital of
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
$40.000.00. and was conducted as a private institution until 1894, when it nationalized with a capital of $50,000.00 and a surplus of $10,000.00. Its first President was Henry Foster, and its first Cashier, A. C. Stich. Mr. Stich succeeded Mr. Foster as President in 1894, and at the same time Mr. Shulthis took the position vacated by Mr. Stich.
From its inception to the present. the Citizens National Bank has been a prosperous and progressive institution. Its officers and managers have been men of marked ability in commercial eireles and, as a conse- quence, its assets have consisted of live and substantial securities and its capital and surplus always strengthened rather than impaired. It is the oldest bank in this portion of Kansas and, under its present manage- ment, is especially reliable and strong. Since nationalization its capital has increased from $50,000.00 to $100,000.00 and its assets from $150,- 000.00 to $450,000.00. The deposits amount to $300,000.00 and its bnsi- ness is principally local in character.
Albert W. Shulthis was born in Quincy, Illinois, March 17, 1863. He is the youngest of ten children and a son of George and Magdalene (Win- gert) Shulthis, both native of Darmstadt, Germany, where their families had resided for generations before them. The father was born in 1807, and died in Qniney, Illinois, in 1893. He was married in that city, where he was a pioneer and where he settled down as a shoemaker. His sav- ings he invested in city real estate and, in time, it made him comfortable and independent. He finally engaged in the retail shoe business, and, later on, in the wholesale business, retiring at near seventy years of age and spending some years as a resident of Independence, Kansas. His wife died in 1882, at the age of sixty-six, and eight of their children still survive.
The public schools knew A. W. Shulthis as a pupil no more, after his fourteenth year. From thence forward to the present, the salient fea- tures of his life work have been referred to. He is devoted to business and the interests of his bank and his family chiefly monopolize his time. He is a member of the commercial elub of Independence, and exerts an in- fluence in the promotion of enterprises to the city's advantage. May 1, 1888, he married Mary B. Sewell, a Tennessee lady. Their children are : Beatrice and Muriel.
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