USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 90
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The incidents of his service during the long war were numerous, but space limit prevents here the mention of only two wounds and two captures, The wounds were not so serions as to cause him to leave his company and his capture at Strasburg ended suddenly in his escape at night, while the one at Winchester. Va., Sept. 19, 1863, terminated sim- ilarly after twenty-four hours imprisonment.
The freeing of the family slaves made it necessary for Mr. Lewis to go into the fields and make a hand. The same afternoon he reached home, he began planting corn. He spent a year on the old home and then went to Hardin Co., Ky., where he made a farm hand for six months. He then entered Garnettsville College, where he was a stu- dent for nearly one school year. lle went north then and worked on
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a farm in Knox Co., Il., for one summer. Jasper Co., Missouri, was his next objective point and there he chose a location, stocked up quite heavily with Texas cattle purchased and driven ont of the Lone Star State by himself. When through with Missouri he came to Kansas and selected his future home in Montgomery county.
Elias T. Lewis was a son of Robert Lewis, a native of Culpeper Co .. Va., born in 1785. The father was principal of Hamony Sidney College for a number of years. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and made up a company among the students of his college for service in that war. He was commissioned Capt. of the company and was pro- moted to a Coloneley before the war closed. He was a son of Pleasant Lewis, a Revolutionary soldier, who had one child, viz: Robert. The latter married Lucinda McDonald, twelve children being their issue, namely: Robert, William, Washington, who occupies the old Virginia home; John, near Lexington, Va .; Joseph, of Bates Co., Mo .; Samuel, of Meade Co., Ky .; Elias T .. our subject: James, Charles (the foregoing were all Confederate soldiers); Mrs. Mary Norcross, Mrs. Jemima Me- Guire, of Craig Co., Va .; Mrs. Henrietta Henderson, of Meade Co., Ky.
For his wife Elias T. Lewis chose Kate H. Wright, born in Wash- ington Co., Ky., and a daughter of Nathaniel and Matilda (Moore) Wright. Kentucky people. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, namely: Mrs. lda Spaulding, of Independence, with three children : Helen, Roberta and Zella; Robert W., a veteran of the Spanish-Ameri- ean war. May 3. 1898, Robert W. enlisted in Co. "G," 20th Kansas, Capt. Elliott, Col. Funston, and saw service in the Philippines.
The mother of Matilda Moore, the grandmother of Mrs. E. T. Lewis -was a Wallace-a sister of the father of Gen. Lew Wallace.
Mr. Lewis is a Democrat and was twice named by his party for a county office-County Treasurer and Probate Judge. He has been Treasurer of his township several terms and is a member of the A. O. U. W. and of the Baptist church. For the past twenty-five years he has devoted himself largely to buying, raising and shipping stock, at which business he has shown his ability and capacity. His genuine citizenship is undoubted and his standing in his county marks him as a worthy man.
T. E. TREGEMBA-One of the latest additions to the business in- terests of the stirring city of Independence is the Glen Lumber Com- pany, of which T. E. Tregemba is Secretary. Mr. Tregemba is himself somewhat new to the city, he having come here in 1899. The splendid character of his business ability, however, soon made for him a large place in the esteem of the business public, and he is to-day one of the leading men of the city.
Mr. Tregemba is of English extraction, his parents, John and Chris-
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tiana (Hosking) Tregemba, having come to the United States in 1865. They settled in Marquette county, Michigan, where they remained for five years (engaged in mining), and where our subject was born, Angust 12, 1869. In 1870, the family settled in Osage county, Kan. Besides our subject there was a family of five children.
The parents are members of the sturdy yeomanry of Kansas, self- respecting and prosperous, and active communicants of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Tregemba of this notice passed the period of youth and boy- hood on the farm, where he developed a strong physical frame, and in the excellent schools of his home district secured a good foundation for the later business course which he took at Lawrence, Kan. His first venture was as a general merchant in Overbrook, Kan., from 1889 to 1892. For a period of seven years, succeeding. he was chief book-keeper for a milling company at Oswego, Kan, and in 1899, as stated, located in Independence. He here engaged in the lumber business with sne- cess, and in the early part of the present year became one of the organ- izers of the Glen Lumber Company, of which he is Secretary. This com- pany is extensively engaged in the sale of all kinds of building material, and does a large and increasing business all over the county.
Mr. Tregemba's domestic life was happily initiated June 16, 1900, when he called to preside over his home Miss Anna Holmes, of Oswego, Kan. Mrs. Tregomba is a daughter of Charles and Jennie Holmes. To the marriage have been born a pair of twins, Helen and Miriam. Mr. and Mrs. Tregemba are prominent workers in the Presbyterian church, he being a Ruling Elder in that organization. Business interests pre- vent him from taking more than a voting part in polities, but he can always be depended on to support the policies of the Republican party. Hle served in the city council from April, 1901, to Aprit, 1903, during which period his keen business sagacity was of value in the set- tlement of the many questions which came before that body. The char- actor of his citizenship is on that high plane which thinks the best none too good in the moral and material development of the city.
M. A. FINLEY, M. D .- One of the most successful and popular young physicians of the county is Dr. Finley, of Cherryvale, whose large and increasing practice mark him as an able exponent of his profession. He is rapidly attaining distinction in surgery, having performed some very delicate and successful operations within the last year.
Dr. Finley was born in the State of Missouri, Saline county, June 15. 1869. He is a son of James Y. and Elizabeth JJ. (Stewart) Finley. The father was a native of Missouri and the mother of Tennessee. The father was a farmer during the carly part of his life, later engaging in
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
the banking and mercantile business. He was a man of attractive per- sonality and was very widely known in that section of the state.
Our subjeet's grandfather, together with two brothers and three sisters, settled in Saline county. Mo., in the early thirties, where they became widely known for their many cardinal virtues. Our subject's father remained in that county until he was fifty years of age and then removed to an adjoining county, where he died in 1891, aged fifty-six years. He was a consistent and active worker in the Cumberland Pres- byterian church, as was also his wife, who is now a member of the family of her son in Cherryvale.
Dr. Fintey was the oldest of seven children. The second child, Isa- belle, married Lafayette Mortimer and resides in Labette county, Kan- sas; W. B., oil and gas driller of Cherryvale: the fourth child, Mary L., died in infancy; J. C. resides on the old homestead in Labette county. He married, in November, 1902, Miss Ethel Gibson: Miss Rose, is a mil- liner in Cherryvale. and Mand is a student in the high school, class of 1903.
The Doctor received his preliminary education in the district schools of his native county and later attended an academy at Green- field, Missouri. He then became a student in the Kansas State Normal at Emporia, from which he graduated in the Latin course in 1893. He taught before going to the State Normal, and after teaching several yearshetook up the study of medicine and for two years attended the Ili- nois Medical College of Chicago; thence to St. Louis, where, in 1897, he graduated in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. In these differ- ent institutions he was a popular student, having been elected at St. Lonis as the valedictorian from a class of one hundred and two mem- bers
Upon completing his course Dr. Finley came immediately to Cher- ryvale and began the practice of his profession. He is a student still and is known throughout medical circles as a contributor of valued articles to the "Kansas Medical Journal" and the "St. Louis Clinique," the latter being the official publication of his Alma Mater. The Doctor is a close reader of current medical literature and is active on the social side of his profession. being a member of the local County Medical So- ciety and also of the "Southeast Kansas Medical Society," and the larger state organizations, in all of which his voice is heard in the dis- enssions which are the features of the yearly meetings. lle is also a member of the American Medical Association.
While the Doctor is giving his attention to the general practice of his profession, he has, in later years, given special attention to rectal surgery, in which line he has achieved most flattering success. In the community in which be has been a resident he takes an active and help- ful interest, having served the city as alderman for a period of three
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years and also one year as City Physician. He is a member of the Mod- ern Woodmen and of the Knights and Ladies of Security.
The domestic life of Dr. Finley was initiated in 1898, he having been joined in marriage on that date to Miss Pearl, daughter of Charles A. and Elizabeth Hancock, of Emporia, Kansas. The Doctor and his wife are leading members of the Presbyterian church, in which he is an Elder. They move in the best social circles of the city and are re- garded in the community with feelings of the greatest estecem.
JAMES BULGER-The gentleman whose name heads this article is one of the genuine pioneers of Montgomery county and when he set- tled in West Cherry township, white settlers were rarely to be seen. It was in the spring of 1868, that he located on a quarter of section 35. township 31, range 16, for the purpose of carving himself out a home. A rude cabin, the familiar and substantial residence of the first settlers, was created on his claim and in it he housed his family for a period of ten years. His new farm was a location of Patrick Boland, for which Mr. Bulger paid the sum of $800.00, and on it he resided, engaged in its intelligent improvement and development, for thirty years, owning it still, but deserting it only for the convenience and comfort of his son's home near by.
James Bulger is a Canadian by birth. Ilis native place was in County Beanhornway, Province of Canada East, and his birth occurred March 17, 1838. lle remained in his native locality till he was twenty- five years old, when he sought the United States and became an employe on the Union Pacific Railway, then building toward the Golden Gate. lle remained with the road three years as a bridge carpenter and then left the west, went to Chicago and was married. In a few months he and his young wife came to Kansas and began their life on a new farm on the frontier in Montgomery county. The reduction of wild nature kept them busy for a few years, and the fencing of the farm and its provision with the frontier buildings necessary for the shelter of their seant sup- ply of stock. Modern and substantial improvements came with the lapse and successes of years and, after thirty-five years, the comforts of a contented home are, by the family, enjoyed.
James Bulger, Sr., was the father of our worthy subject. He was born in County Wexford, Ireland, and was a son of Hugh Bulger, who had four sons, James, John, Luke and Thomas. All of these sons came to America and were reared as farmers. James married Mary Granels, a County Wexford lady, and reared eight children, namely: Mrs. Mary Hendratty, Hugh, James, Ann, Thomas. John, Luke and Kate; the latter a sister in a convent.
Rose Garvey a Canadian lady, became the wife of the subject of this sketch. She was a daughter of Patrick Garvey, who married a Miss
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Lawler, Mrs. Rose Coyl, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, is the oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Bulger. She has chilrden : Thomas and John; James is the second child; Mrs. Mary Piffer is the third child. She resides in Pueble, Col., and has one child, Wauneta; Mrs. Lucy Riggs, of Pueblo, is the fourth. and the others in their order are: Maggie. Eliza and Ed- ward,
In 1887, Mrs. Bulger died and her husband's household is presided over and cared for by their younger daughters. The family are mem- bers of the Catholic church and, in politics, Mr. Bulger is a Democrat.
SENECA E. THOMAS-The gentleman whose name introduces this biography is widely known in Cherry township. Its citizenship has known him favorably for many years and it is pleasing to record in this work the narrative which shall identify his household with the material development of Montgomery county .
His family originated in Sharon, Connectient. where the Thomases had lived for several generations and where he was born March 29, 1849. His parents were James H. and Harriet (Edget) Thomas. The father learned the machinist's trade and was employed in the engine works at Sharon, Connecticut until his departure from the state in 1862. On leaving the "Nutmeg State" he settled in Ottawa, Illinois, where black- smithing constituted his particular line of work. He resided on a farm near town, and on this his children took their first lessons in practical agriculture. While in that state his wife died, in 1870, at forty-tive years of age, and in 1876, he came to Kansas, where, at the home of our subject, he died, aged sixty-four years. Five children constituted his family, namely: Lewis II., James E., Emma, deceased; Mrs. Ellen Man- chester of South Dakota, and Seneca E., of this notice.
The work of the farm occupied Seneca E. Thomas during his period of youthful development and the home of his parents was his own till his marriage Dec. 10, 1868, at which time he set up a household of his own, going to Benton county, Indiana, where he resided until the year 1876, when he established himself a citizen of Montgomery county, Kansas.
Mr. Thomas married Mary JJ. Hendricks, whose father, James Hen- dricks, was a cousin of the late Vice President Hendricks, of Indiana. Mr. Hendricks married Naney Farrow in the State of Virginia, where they were born, and both came to Indiana, young and vigorous; the wife riding the entire distance on horseback . Mrs. Hendricks was a niece of Col. William Farrow, of Greencastle, Indiana, and was mar- ried at fourteen years of age, rearing a family of nine children. The Hendrickses left Indiana in an early day and made settlement in Illinois, where they passed away, the father at sixty-two and the mother at eighty years old. Of their family, those deceased are: Thomas, Mary,
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Maria and John. Those surviving are: Mrs. Malinda O'Brien, James, Mrs. Mary J. Thomas, wife of our subject; Mrs. Libbie Thomas and Joseph. John Hendricks enlisted in the First Indiana Heavy Artillery and served his three years in the field; from 1861 to 1864. He then veter- anized and finished ont the war, experiencing much of the arduons serv- ice of the great Civil War. Following the close of hostilities between the two warring sections of our country ; he enlisted in the regular army and spent ten years in this service, making a total of fourteen years' service in war and peace.
Mr. Thomas' first home in Montgomery county was on a small sixty acre farm on which he erected, what would now be considered a toy house-12x12 feet in dimension -and in these modest surround- ings he and his faithful wife were content to remain 'fill their industry rewarded them with more commodions quarters. The farm was improved commensurate with their ability and they were happy in their surroundings 'till a confiagration visited them in 1902 and destroyed their barns and granaries, containing their farm implements and vehicles, a blow which was almost paralyzing in its consequences. Bul, nerved to the occasion, Mr. Thomas proceeded immediately 10 rebuild and the destruction of yesterday is replaced by the re-creation of today.
Mr. Thomas is an admirable citizen, obliging. agreeable and easily approachable by all. These and other traits account for his wide popularity. He is disposed to look always on the bright side of things, and while he suffers from the pangs of misfortune, melancholy never seizes him and, encouraged and cheered by his constant companion- his wife-life is as sweet to him under adversity as under prosperity. His farm, which is in the proven oil and gas belt of Cherryvale, has become valuable and he is surrounded by many luxuries of life.
In politics, Mr. Thomas is a Republican and he has served his town- ship as Justice of the Peace. He is an Odd Fellow and a Rebekah and served Cherryvale Lodge of the former for twelve years as a Trustee. He is also a Modern Woodman.
W. E. WORTMAN, editor of that sprightly weekly journal, the Elk City Enterprise, and the efficient postmaster of that prosperous village, the gentleman named herein combines qualities which make him a most popular citizen. His connection with Kansas affairs began two decades ago, since which time he has been a firm supporter of its institutions, and of the local community in which he cast his lines.
On the 10th of October, 1901, the citizens of Elk City were called on to mourn the death of one of her old soldier citizens, a man whom they had learned to revere for his many noble qualities and for the sterling character of his citizenship among them. This gentleman
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
was the father of the subject of this sketch, Jacob G. Wortman. Mr. Wortman was a native of the Buckeye State and there grew to man- hood, learning the trade of a shoemaker. At the breaking out of the Civil War he was following his trade in Marion county, Ohio, and there enlisted as a private soldier, JJuly 6, 1862, in Co. "E," 96th O. V. I. This regiment became a part of the Thirteenth Army Corps, and was sent to the southwest, where, during the war, it saw most trying service. It crossed the bridge at Cincinnati with the full complement of 1,100 men; it returned three years later with less than three hundred to tell the story of those three years of suffering and privation, endured nncomplainingly for the honor of "Old Glory." After participating in the battle of Arkansas Post, Mr. Wortman was at the siege of Vicksburg, after which he engaged in the Red River campaign. It was in this campaign that the regiment suffered such terrible loss, in one battle losing every line officer but one. In this same battle Mr. Wortman had several marvelously close calls, at one time having his mustache shaved by a bullet as clean as if by a razor, his clothes pierced in two different places, and a loek of his hair cut from the top of his head; this latter incident ever after reconciled him to his rather diminutive height, as, if he had been an inch taller the wound would have been a fatal one. After this campaign the regiment went via New Orleans to Mobile where it participated in the fall of that city and the sieges of Forts Morgan and Spanish.
After his return home, Mr. Wortman continued to work at his trade in Ohio until 1884, when he settled in Elk City, where until two years before his death he continued to ply his vocation. His health failing, he gave up the bench and helped about the printing office, pre- ferring to wear ont rather than rust out.
J. G. Wortman was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, October 23, 1835, and in 1861, was joined in marriage to the lady who now survives him, nee Miss Harriet L. Warwick, daughter of John Warwick. To the marriage were born : W. E., our subject; Huldah L., now Mrs. O. D. Wright, a farmer of this county; children-Hazel. Jacob. Paul and Walter; Sadie M., wife of Prof. Castillo of the county high school; children-William, Harriet, Elizabeth and John; Wayne J .. of Elk City, married Inez Easley; one child-Irene.
The eldest of this family, W. E. Wortman, was born in Marion county, Ohio, January 19, 1862. He received a good common school education and at an early age was apprenticed to the printing trade in the office of the Caledonia Argus, where he remained five years. He then came to Kansas with the family, and after working at the case four or five years, bought the Enterprise. Under his management this journal has become something more than a mere chronicle of the news of the community and is a credit to the town. In February of 1898, Mr. Wortman was appointed postmaster of Elk City and has since
JOSEPH H. NORRIS AND FAMILY.
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served with entire satisfaction to the patrons. He lives with, and cares with singular devotion for, the mother who in his earliest infancy gave her husband to his country and fought the battle of life singly and alone.
JOSEPH HURLBURT NORRIS-AAmong the worthy and repre- sentative citizens of the county engaged in agriculture is Mr. Joseph H. Norris, who, since 1876, has cultivated the farm on which he now resides, six miles due east of Independence. Mr. Norris is a gentleman of fine education and training, having for a number of years in his early life been an educator of no mean reputation in the good old Hoosier State. lle has done much through the intervening years to encourage the establishment of good schools in the county, and has used his influence at all times in the amelioration of the ills of his fellowmen.
Mr. Norris comes of excellent patriot stock, his grandfather Joseph Norris having been one of the Minute Men of the Revolution. He lived in Long Island at that time and later moved ont to Charleston, West Virginia. He finally settled in Boone county, Ind., where he passed away. His son, Joseph, the father of our subject. was born in Long Island in 1804. He was reared in Indiana, the family having removed to that state when he was a lad of 12 years. He lived in Dearborn and Jefferson counties and in 1834, Joseph removed to Grant county, Wis. In Dearborn county he married our subject's mother, Sarah Ward, and whose premature death in 1850, caused the father to return to Boone county, Ind., then the residence of JJoseph, Sr.
Our subject was then a lad just entering his 'teens and he passed the remainder of his adolescent period in attendance on the district schools. He was then sent to Asbury (now the famous DePauw) University, and later to the academy at Thorntown, then presided over by John C. Ridpath, who afterward became famous as a historian. At the age of twenty he left this institution and entered the school- room as a teacher and for many years pursued this vocation with unusual success. Believing that Kansas had in store for him a better field, he, in 1876, left the fernle to others, and coming to Montgomery county purchased the land on which he now resides. Nearly three decades of patient and unremitting toil, together with intelligent hus- banding of his resources, has placed him in comfortable circumstances, and he is now able to take life more easily. As before intimated, Mr. Norris has been a most potent factor in the development of the county and is held in great favor by a large circle of friends. Formerly a Republican, he has since 1890, voted and worked with the Populist party. While a Republican, he was elected to the legislature and was a member at the time the first prohibition law was passed. In 1890, he was elected clerk of the district court by the Populist party.
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Mary Gordon, daughter of Richard and Sarah Gordon, a farmer of Drum Creek Twp., became the wife of our Joseph Il. Norris in 1881. This lady lived but a short time after giving birth to a son. Oscar ML. by name, and who, at nineteen years, suffered death by drowning in the St. Croix river. He was a manly boy and his death cast a deep gloom over the household. The death of his mother occurred in Feb- ruary of 1882, and in 1884, Mr. Noris brought to preside over his home Miss Dorothy A., daughter of Gilbert and Mary (Pool) Dominy. The latter is now deceased, but her husband resides in Independence, hav- ing been for many years one of the honored yeomen of the county. Mrs. Norris is the mother of three bright children-Sarah, seventeen; Katie, fifteen, and Joseph, eleven years of age.
JACOB L. VAN DYNE-The family which is here named has been prominently and honorably associated with the development of Mont- gomery county for nearly four decades, the gentleman whose name appears above having come to the county with his parents as a four- teen year old boy, in the year 1869. Since that date they have been identified with the growth and prosperity of the county and have always given their voice and vote to the best measures of government proposed to be adopted in their local community.
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