USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 58
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Jefferson Griffin began his domestie life, in May of 1898, when he was joined in marriage with Miss Bell MeDongal, a daughter of William and Catherine (Smith) MeDougal. Mrs. Griffin's parents were married in 1867, her mother having been the daughter of James and Christiana ( Heekard) Smith. The parents of Mr. Griffin were prosperous and highly- respected citizens of the county, the father having lost his life, by drown- ing, when our subject was four months and sixteen days old. Mr. Griffin has always been a hard worker and, by the exercise of thrift and econo- my, has placed himself in the foremost rank of the agriculturists of the county. He purchased his present farm of eighty acres in 1895 and de- votes it to general farming, engaging, sometimes, somewhat heavily in the handling of stock. As time has passed, he has placed many substan-
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tial improvements upon the farm, the last one being a beautiful resi- denee, one of the finest in this part of the county. His farm is situated four and three-fourth miles from the county-seat town of Independence. In all that goes to make up a good all-round citizen, Mr. Griffin exhibits all the qualities of that character. In political affiliation, he works with the Populist party, prior to the rise of which he voted with the Democratic party. The United Brethren church enrolls himself and wife upon its list of members.
JOSEPH JACKSON-The late pioneer, whose name is announced at the opening of this article, was a man of substantial business traits, was favorably known over a wide area of Montgomery county and, as a farmer, did an important work toward the reduction and improvement of his locality. His rise in the county was from a primitive beginning and when he died, August 14, 1900, his estate was one of the valuable ones of the county, growing out of efforts on the farm.
Joseph Jackson began life in the United States under somewhat en- barrassing conditions. He was a foreigner, unacquainted with our ways and customs, and with little knowledge of our institutions. The first prospect that confronted him, on reaching America, was that of hard work, in a coal mine in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, but he did not shirk. His life was ahead of him and he was ready to make the most of his lot. Such men deserve to succeed and most of them do. Out of the coal shaft, into the ranks of the Federal army, he helped fight the great battles for the preservation of the Union and the integrity of the flag. Back to the coal business, for a brief period, and then. to Kansas, recites in brief, the career of our subject, before his advent to Montgomery county.
A native of Northumberland county, England, Mr. Jackson was born April 24, 1831. His parents were William and Mary (Truby ) Jackson, who brought their family to Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, about 1850. The father was a sailor in early life and when he reached the coal fields of the "Keystone State," he went to work in a mine. His wife was a French lady and a daughter of a captain in the French army. They both died during the Civil war-one day apart-at about sixty years of age. and are buried at Timoqua, Pennsylvania, in the M. E. churchyard. They left a family of five children, three sons and two daughters, namely : Henry. Robert, Joseph, Elizabeth, widow of JJohn Airy, and Catherine, widow of Jabez Phillips, of Pennsylvania.
Joseph Jackson was united in marriage, at the home of his parents, December 3, 1851, with Jane Bell, a daughter of Van and Jane Bell. Mrs." Bell' died at thirty-eight years of age, while her husband passed away at the age of seventy-seven. Mr. Jackson enlisted in 1862, August
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8, in the Que Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ilinois Volunteers, to which state he had migrated five years before. His enlistment occurred at Col- chester and his regiment formed a part of the First Brigade. Third Divis- ion of the Seventeenth Corps. He participated in the battles of Ray- mond. Champion Hills, siege and capture of Vicksburg. battle at Jackson. and then his command was transferred to southern Alabama, where he aided in the assault on "Spanish Fort" and the capture of Mobile. He was at Vicksburg when the mine was exploded and was. himself, wound- ed at Champion Hills. The ball passed through his haversack and was checked to almost a spent ball, by penetrating through his plate and cap. which latter has been preserved to the family. as a relie of war days and a memento of the service of its worthy head. His wound was a serions matter with Mr. Jackson, for it penned him up in the hospital. out of which, upon his pleading, on one occasion. he was taken on an ambulance marek. in order to keep along with his command. Although it , healed, in time, the wound left its permanent effect with its victim. An inci- dent ocenrred at Vicksburg, in which Mr. Jackson was a participant, which showed his courage and utter lack of fear. On one occasion, a Confederate pulled his pistol and made boasts of what he would do to the "Yanks," but before he put his threats into execution, Joe Jackson had relieved him of the weapon and told him to call the next morning, but he failed to call and Mr. JJackson brought the pistol home. August 15. 1865, the military life of our subject ceased. He was discharged in Chicago, as a sergeant, and at once rejoined his family in Colchester, Illinois.
Taking up civil pursuits again, Mr. Jackson bought a traet of coal land. upon which he sank a shaft and began the mining of coal. He em- ployed a small force of men and did quite a business, shipping his pro- duet to Quincy, Illinois. In 1870, he gathered his substance. his family and his effects together and brought them to Montgomery county. where he purchased a wild tract of eighty acres of land on Onion creek. As a farmer. he was pronouncedly successful. llis management of his af- fairs seemed to keep them on the upward tendency and, as his circum- stances warranted, he added tract after tract. until his estate embraced five hundred and sixty-four acres. This, together with valnabile residence property in Independence and a deposit in one of the city banks, consti- tuted his estate at his death.
To Mr. and Mrs. Jackson were born the following children. namely : Mary J. wife of Walter Enness. of Colchester. Ilinois: Van William, of Colorado, who married Effie Cox and has children: Joseph,: Jennie and William, and Mattie and Arthur, deceased ; Margaret, deceased. mar- ried Charles Redwood and left : May, Joseph. Albert and Eldred; Robert A. and Joseph H., both died in babyhood ; Joseph. 2d. of Independence, Kansas, married August 14, 1883, and has children: Lillie M .. Joseph,
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Jennie, Lizzie, John, Robert, Ethel, Floyd and Kate; Samnel C. H. (Champion Hills), was born the day his father was in that fight, mar- ried Hannah Gillard and has three children : Nellie, Stella and Flora; Lizzie, wife of Edward Woody, of Independence township, has the fol- Towing children : Calvin, Morrill and May; James, born November 30, 1869, married Rose Bailey, now deceased, himself died, in November, 1900, leaving children : Jennie, Eddie, Van, deceased; Walter, Maggie, deceased ; Rose, deceased, and Mollie ; and Belle, wife of Frank Hamblin, of Independence, has a son, Elmer.
Joseph Jackson and his wife brought their children up to believe in the sacredness of the Christian religion. They were both members of the Methodist church and lived consistent and upright lives. Mr. JJack- son was a member of the Grand Army, was a Republican in politics, and, as a citizen and a man, his life is worty of emulation.
JOSEPH BERRY-A patriot defending the cause which gave birth to the "Sunflower State," a pioneer subduing nature's wilds within her borders, a solid and substantial citizen, revered and honored through- out the length and breadth of Montgomery county -- this, in epitome, is the record of Lieutenant Joseph Berry, farmer of Sycamore township.
William Berry, grandfather of Joseph, was one of the independent Irishmen who chose to leave the land of his birth, rather than to further stand the exactions of a selfish English monarch. He came to America, in the early part of the nineteenth century, and settled in the"Hoosier State," where he reared a family of thirteen children, their names be- ing: William, James, Joseph, Isaac. Polly, Nancy, Cecilia, Sarah, Mark, Hannah, Samuel (two names not given). Of these, Mark married Chris- tine Lozer, a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Christopher and Ann (Rolland) Lozer, both natives of Switzerland. Their children were : Joseph. John (deceased ). Elizabeth Archer, of Ohio; Hannah Taylor, Mark and Christine, also of the "Buckeye State;" and Ann Van Nort- wich, now deceased. By a former marriage, to Polly Hughes, Mark Ber- ry had one child, Polly, who, when last heard from, was living in Indiana. The immediate family of JJoseph Berry consists of wife and four children. Mrs. Berry was Mary JJane Hewitt, born in JJefferson county, New York, July 28, 1835, the daughter of George and Rebecca (Fisk) Hewitt. On the Ist of September, 1902, Mr. and Mrs. Berry celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding, amid the rejoicings of many friends and relatives. Of their children, Ida Tuttle, with her two chil- dren, Floy and Vesta, live in Purdy, Missouri; Ira H. is a locomotive engineer, lives in Joplin, Missouri ; he has one son. Hollis, who served in the Philippine war; Effie Holbert, resides with the parents and has one child, Pauline.
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Joseph Berry was born in Holmes county, Ohio. April 21. 1826. At seventeen, he went to Lucas county, where he spent eight years. thener to Michigan, where, in Lenawee county, he married. Hle soon returned to Ohio, where he resided, in various places, until his coming to Kansas, in 1866. He resided three years in Lawrence and, in the spring of '69, made the trip to Montgomery county. with ox-team, be- sides which, the sole family possessions were a few household goods, two cows and $30.00 in money. Mr. Berry filed on a quarter section, in sec- tion 13-32-15, erected a log cabin, and began life anew. The cabin had a hay floor and no windows, but it served them for a shelter until Provi- dence smiled on their efforts sufficiently to enable them to replace it with a more comfortable home.
Their neighbors were the Indians, and they soon became well ac- quainted with a number of the chiefs, among which may be mentioned Nopowalla, Beaver, Wild Cat, One Eyed Pete and Old Toby. But once were they molested, and that was on account of the Red Man's insatiable appetite for liquor.
The Berrys cultivated the original place until 1882, when they sold, and bought the present farm, in section 12-32-15, and where they have con- tinned to reside. During his residence in the county. Lientenant Berry bas over evinced an intelligent interest in the welfare of his community, serving a number of terms on the school board. as justice of the peace, and as township trustee. The family are members of the Sycamore Con- gregational church.
Passing now to the war record of Lieutenant Berry, the biographer notes that, in August of 1861, he enrolled. as a private. in Company "H," Third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, under Col. Zahm. They entered Gen. Wood's division of the Army of the Cumberland, and were at Shiloh and every battle of importance following, until they reached Atlanta. Here, he was with Gen. Wilson, in his daring raid around that city, and, again, at Jonesboro. The time of his enlistment having expired, Mr. Ber- ry promptly veteranized, again took the oath, and served to the close of the war, being mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, August 16, 1865. He entered the army as high private, was advanced, in turn, to sergeant, sergeant-major, second lientenant and, just before his service was ended, to first lieutenant. He was in the brigade that had the honor of captur- ing Jeff Davis, at Irwinsville, Georgia.
DANIEL B. SNELL-For more than a quarter of a century, the subject of this review has been prominently identified with the interests of agriculture and grazing in Montgomery county. The prominence of such connection exists, by virtue of the extent and success of his ven- ture, owning, as he does, and having actively cultivated and managed
D. B. SNELL AND WIFE.
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an estate of five hundred and ninety arres. These baronial possessions are purely the outcome of and have resulted from an unabated effort on a Kansas farmı.
The year 1875 witnessed the advent to Fawn Creek township, Mont- gomery county, of Daniel B. Snell. He settled on Onion creek, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. with scant improve- ments, and at once took the road to wealth-raising and feeding stock. He was a settler from Shelby county, Illinois, where he was a resident eight years, and to which point he migrated from Warren county, Ohio, where his birth occurred October 17, 1838. The Snells were of Mary- land origin, in which state. Daniel Snell, father of our subject, was born. The latter married Sarah Peckinpangh, a Pennsylania lady, and they passed away at seventy-four and seventy-three years. respectively. Twelve children were born to them, six of whom survive. as follows: Sarah, Frederick P., Mary, Euphemia, Martha and Daniel B.
The country districts of his native county furnished the scenes of our subject's boyhood and the education he Required. came from the primitive school house and in the primitive way. ' He served his parents, dutifully, till past his majority, when he married and settled on a rented farm. Ilis marriage occurred in 1860 and his wife was Jennette A. Marsh. a daughter of William and Sarah O. (Williams) Marsh, her father a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and her mother of the State of Mis- sissippi. Her parents had six children, those living being : Mrs. Sarah O. Jones, Isaac W., Mrs. Snell. Mrs. Spell was born in Piqua, Ohio, August 29. 1837. Soon after their marriage, she and her husband gathered to- gether their small savings and moved ont to Illinois, where land was cheaper and opportunities somewhat greater than in Ohio. After a few years spent in that state, something beckoned them farther west, where the field of opportunity was unlimited and their removal to Kansas was the result. After twenty-three years on the farm, Mr. Snell purchased thirty acres of land, near Jefferson, on which he erected a splendid resi- dence, which he at once occupied, in self-retirement from the strife of life. He erected a large store-room, in Jefferson, for the accomodation of a friend, who engaged in the mercantile business, but with such poor success, that Mr. Snell assumed charge of the stock, for his own protec- tion, finally elosing it out, selling the building and ending his active business life.
Mr. and Mrs. Snell have four living in a family of seven children, viz: Alma L., wife of George O. Gould, of Colorado; Laura. deceased; Melvin A., who married Daisy Earnest ; Sarah E., deceased : Jennette E., wife of William Hockett, of Pawnee county, Kansas, died May 14, 1903; Clarence E., who married Olive Koger, and Grace Pearl, wife of William D. Wilson. The last two children are twins.
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In polities, Mr. Snell is a Populist, and he fraternizes with and holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Snell's sister, Sarah Snell, is living with him and has been for the past thirty-five years. She was born, January 9, 1815, in Hamilton county, Ohio, and has never married.
P. W. WEAVER-P. W. Weaver, retired farmer, now residing at 401 South Sixth street, Independence, has been a citizen of Montgomery county for the past twenty-two years. During this time, the citizens of the county have come to know him as a high-minded, sincere gentleman, whose evident purpose in life is to live and to serve.
Mr. Weaver is of "Hoosier State" nativity, born in Parke county, February 16, 1837. . His father was John Weaver, his mother Margaret Crecelius, Datives of Virginia and Tennessee, respectively. They be- longed to the pioneer farmer class, whose genius mastered the primeval forest and caused it to blossom forth into cultivated field and pastured hillside. Both of the parents lived to a ripe age, the father dying at eighty-four, the mother at eighty-five years. The latter was a consistent member of the United Brethren church and a woman of superior mould of character. The former was of that stern quality, frequently found among the early pioneers, whose love of country amounted to a religions creed, and whose lives comported with the purity of the patriotic senti- ment enshrined in their hearts. This, he particularly and forcibly mani- fested during the Civil war. Too old to enter the service, he sent his son, and then busied himself in making it uncomfortable for the Copper. heads who infested his neighborhood and who had become members of that traitorous organization, known as the Knights of the Golden Cir- cle. His family consisted of eleven children, five of whom are vet living.
P. W. Weaver received a fair education and passed his life in active labor on the farm until the great Civil war burst in all its fury-a fury destined to eclipse the most sanguine of history's greatest conflicts. Pat- riotism having been a part of his daily sustenance, it was not strange that our subject should be one of the first, from his neighborhood, to enlist. He became a private, in Company "IL," Twenty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, his enlistment dating in June of 1861. His regiment became a part of the Army of the Potomac, but was soon changed to the First Indiana Artillery and sent to the extreme south, becoming a part of the Army of the Gulf. On the lower Mississippi and abont New Or- leans. he saw much service, during the winter of 1861-62, his first battle being at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Here, he received a ball in the wrist and, with many other wounded soldiers, was sent to the hospital at New Orleans. On this trip, he was a witness to one of the most appalling
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catastrophies of the war, and one which, when the truth of its diabolism became known, caused the most intense feeling throughout the north. The vessel on which he was carried to New Orleans was The Morning Light. On the 5th of August, 1862, she was run into by one of the Union gunboats, and, in eighteen minutes, sank with almost her entire cargo of wounded and helpless soldiers. Mr. Weaver, being on the hurricane deck and having one good arm, was able to save himself, but hundreds of his comrades were drowned, like rats in a trap. Investigation proved that the deed was consummated by Rebel engineers, who had taken ad- vantage of the great demand for their craft in the Union navy, deserted, ostensibly, from the Confederates, took the oath of allegiance, and were at once placed in responsible positions.
His wound proving a serious one, Mr. Weaver was sent home, going by the way of Cuba and New York, having been discharged at New Or- Jeans, prior to his embarkation. He did not reenter the service.
Mr. Weaver engaged in agricultural pursuits, in Indiana, until 1881, when he came to Montgomery county and settled on a farm on Onion creek. Upon this he placed many valuable improvements and made it his home until 1899, when he moved to Bolton, and, in 1902, became a resident of Independence. He still owns an improved farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres in the gas belt.
In October of 1864, our subject was married to Miss Virena Morgan, a native of Parke county, Indiana, and a daughter of Kinchen and Sarah (Johnson) Morgan. To this marriage have been born two children : Onda A., a resident of Bolton, who married Pearl Lynch and has one child, Wayne; Ollie B., married William H. Roadruck and resides in Independence.
Mr. Weaver and family are leading members of the United Brethren church. he being a trustee and quarterly conference minister. He is also a member of the Masonic order, having taken the Blue Lodge degrees in 1863, and is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Looking back on a life, honorable in all its activities and resting seeure in the esteem of many friends, our subject is passing the eve of life in peace and contentment. "with charity for all, and malice toward none."
T. L. ANDERSON-Thomas L. Anderson, a large farmer and stock- man. of Fawn Creek township, was born in Ross county, Ohio, December 26. 1846. His father, James R., was a native of Ohio, and was there married to Mary J. Morris, also a native of that state. He was a farmer and stock raiser, and died in his native state, at the age of sixty-seven years. his wife having died at sixty years of age. The family consisted of eight children, seven of whom are living: John S., Thomas L .. James
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W., Lewis, Lincoln, Mary, wife of J. S. Steel ; Janett, wife of Alex. Steel, and Margaret, who died at nineteen years of age.
Thomas L. Anderson, was the second child, and was born and reared on the farm. Like a good many farm boys of his time, he received a limited education in the common schools, but, afterward, graduated in a commercial course at the Dayton (Ohio) Commercial College, under S. J. Greer. After coming of age, he began trading in stock, and also carried on a general mercantile business at Chillicothe, Ohio.
His marriage occurred on the 2d of January, 1867, when he was joined to Margaret JJ. Mackerly. Mrs. Anderson was a native of Ohio and daughter of Michæl and Mary Mackerly.
In the latter part of 1881, our subject came to Kansas and bought one hundred and thirty acres of meultivated land on the state line, seven miles west and two, and one-half miles south of Coffeyville, in Fawn Creek township, where.he went into the sheep business. He began im- proving his land, and, at the same time, invested heavily in sheep, but the fates were against him-so many of the sheep dying the first winter- and the second winter found him without a sheep, or anything to live on-having lost all .. In spite, of these discouragements, he kept up, and began work, as a carpenter or anything he could get to do. In time, he secured enough to start in the cattle business, and has since been farming and raising stock. Ile was "on the road" for ten years, for the Massillon Machine Company, selling threshing engines, and other ma- chinery, while his farm and . stock were growing in value. But, his per sonal attention and management being needed at home, he resigned his position, in 1902, and has; since given his entire time to his farm and stock.
Mi. Anderson has two hundred and ten acres of land, and leases from twelve to fifteen hundred acres in the Territory, which gives him ample room for farming and grazing purposes. He feeds from one hun- dred and fifty to two hundred head of cattle every year, and ships them to market. He also has a herd of seventy-five head of the black Polled Angus cattle. He boys grain and hay from his neighbors, thus creating a good market for the farmers close at home. Among the many improve- ments on the farm, are a nice residence and a large stock barn, 56x60, and a mill for grinding feed, which is run by natural gas.
Mr. Anderson's wife died December 6, 1895, leaving nine children : James M., of Independence ; Thomas 11., at home; Frank M., in the Ter- ritory: Otho, a Junior in the State Normal School at Emporia; Nellie, Emma, Ida, Ethel and Luto, at home. Mr. Anderson was married the second time. April 14, 1898, to Miss Netta Mackerly, who died June 29, 1903, and was a sister of his first wife. In politics, Mr. Anderson is a Populist.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
PATRICK H. LINDLEY-Patrick H. Lindley is one of the leading citizens of the village of Havana, in Montgomery county, where he is engaged in the drug business. The Lindley family is one of the best known in the county, both the father and mother of our subjeet having, for over twenty years, been active in the ministry of the Quaker church, and in which capacity they have traveled all over this section of the state.
Patrick Lindley is the eldest son of a family of eleven children, born to Isaac and Elizabeth ( Woody) Lindley, both parents and chil- dren natives of the "Hoosier State," as fully appears in their sketch in this volume.
Patrick Lindley was born in Parke county, Indiana, on the 4th of July, 1862. The period of his adolescence and young manhood was passed on the home farm and in attendance at the district school and an academy near by. After coming to Kansas, he entered the employ of the Santa Fe railroad and remained one of their trusted men, until August of 1890, when he began the present drug business in Havana. He has here, one of the neatest stores in the county, carrying a full line of every- thing included in the stock of an average drug store in the smaller towns. Ilis courteous treatment of the large trade which he enjoys has made his venture a profitable one. He is also interested in agriculture, to the extent of owning a one hundred and twenty-aere farm, just outside the limits of Havana.
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