USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 49
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He was married in 1895 to Della L. Myers, who was born at Mor- rill. Brown county, Kansas, Augut 23, 1874, and is a daughter of Sol R. Myers, whose review appears in this historical work on Nemaha county.
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Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have one child, namely: Harvey M., born Decem- ber 13, 1904.
Mr. Johnson is prominent in the affairs of the Democratic party, and received the appointment of assessor of his township in 1911. So well did he perform his official duties, and so successful was his conduct of the affairs of his office that he was elected to the office in 1912, and again elected trustee in 1914. He is also a member of the school board of his district, and takes a keen and decided interest in township and county matters, as befitting a wide awake and intelligent citizen. He and Mrs. Johnson are affiliated with the Methodist church, and are well respected by their many friends and acquaintances throughout Nemaha county. Mr. Johnson ranks high in Masonic circles, and has taken all degrees of Masonry, including the thirty-second, and is a Mystic Shriner.
Daniel N. Price .- "The Snowdoun Stock Farm."-The biography of a successful man must, in order to be comprehensive and read intel- ligently, bring out the salient facts regarding his life work and show wherein lies the main features underlying the influences which have had a decided bearing upon his rise in life. Ambition has characterized the life work of Daniel N. Price, successful farmer and well known live stock breeder of Center township, Nemaha county, and much inherent intelligence and industry have enabled him to rise above the mediocre and make a life profession of his work. Mr. Price has long been the most successful breeder of thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle in northern Kansas. The product of his skill as a breeder has been exhibited at the county fairs held in Seneca, and he has been awarded first, second and third prizes on several occasions. Mr. Price disposes of his fine live stock at private sale on his place and realizes a comfortable income from these sales. The "Snowdoun" herd of Shorthorns, numbering fifty-two head, is headed by "Good Scotchman" and "Prince Imperial."
Daniel N. Price was born on a farm in Ogle county, Illinois, March 9, 1858, and is a son of Jacob and Ann Maria (Brown) Price, who reared a family of five sons and five daughters. Jacob Price was born in Washington county, Maryland, October 28, 1818, and was a son of Jacob Price, a native of Germany. Jacob Price, the father of Daniel N. Price, migrated from his native State to Ogle county, Illinois, Sep- tember 25, 1845, and four years later, June 14, 1849, he was married to Ann Maria Brown, who was born in Washington county, Maryland, September 27, 1829. Both parents were members of the United Brethren church. Jacob Price died in Illinois, May 25, 1885, and his wife departed this life in 1910. Of the ten children born to Jacob Price and wife, five are deceased.
Daniel N. Price remained at home with his parents until February, 1891, and then came west to Center township, then a part of Marion township, Nemaha county, Kansas, and he and his wife settled upon 320 acres which she then owned. Mr. Price has made a wonderful success of his farming operations since coming to Kansas and has greatly im-
DANIEL N. PRICE.
MRS. DANIEL N. PRICE.
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proved his farm with substantial farm buildings, including a horse barn, 28x58 feet in extent, and a cattle barn, 28x40 feet in dimensions, with sheds on three sides of the structure. He has devoted his attention and skill as a breeder to the production of fine Shorthorn cattle and has succeeded in making a name for himself in this particular line. Mr. and Mrs. Price moved to Baileyville in the spring of 1906, and resided in town seven years and then returned to the farm.
Mr. Price was married, December 24, 1890, to Miss Anna E. Good, and to this union have been born four children, as follows: Wava Leone, born June 25, 1895, and died September 12, 1907; Everett, born November 23, 1896, a student of animal husbandry at the State Agricul- tural College of Manhattan, Kans .; Elva May, born May 8, 1898, a student in the Seneca High School, and Nola, born August 7, 1908. Mrs. Price was born in Ogle county, Illinois, February 23, 1862, and is a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Plumb) Good, the former born in 1821. and the latter in 1825, whose parents were natives of Pennsylvania. Jacob and Elizabeth Good reared a family of ten children and are now deceased, the former dying October 26, 1886, and the latter, June 6, 1900. Previous to his death Jacob Good had purchased land in Nemaha county and made arrangements to move here.
Mr. Price is allied with the Republican party and takes an active part in political affairs in his county. He is the present treasurer of Center township, and is a shareholder and director of the Baileyville Bank. He and his estimable wife are members of the Baptist church, and Mr. Price is fraternally connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Price is one of the well-to-do farmers of Nemaha county, who is a thorough and loyal Kansan, interested in all good movements for the development of his county and State, and takes a keen interest in the welfare of his neighbors and the people of the county. He and Mrs. Price take a just pride in their fine family of children and are giving them every opportunity within their power to bestow in order to edu- cate them to became good citizens and take their rightful place in the social and civic life of their community.
Frank M. Althouse, well known farmer and breeder of Rock Creek township, was born in Andrew county, Missouri, March 26, 1861, and is a son of Herman and Susan (Howard) Althouse, whose life history is recorded in the sketch of Elmer E. Althouse, published elsewhere in this volume of Nemaha county history. Mr. Althouse accompanied his par- ents to Nemaha county, Kansas, in 1862. He received a district school education, and was reared to the farmer's life. In 1886, he began to work in his own behalf, and homesteaded land in Nebraska for two years, and also owned a tract of land in Colorado. After two years spent in home- steading, he returned to his home county, and bought his farm of 160 acres in sections 32 and 33, of Rock Creek township. The place was un- improved and only partly broken up for cultivation. During his tenure of this farm, Mr. Althouse has built a barn sixty feet square, and made (30)
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other good improvements. He is engaged in breeding Shorthorn cattle, and is making a success of the undertaking. He is also a breeder of Hampshire hogs, and has a large number of this valuable variety of swine. Mr. Althouse has a natural wood, covering ten acres on his place, but has planted more trees and an orchard so as to beautify the surround- ings of his home. The quarter section has been added to until he owns 240 acres in all ..
Mr. Althouse was married, in 1901, to Margaret Miller, born, in 1875, in Rock Creek township, a daughter of William H. and Caroline (Mer- cer) Miller, now living at Sabetha, and who were early settlers in Ne- maha county. Mr. and Mrs. Althouse have four children, as follows: Fred H., Floyd M., Marjorie and Mary E.
Mr. Althouse is allied with the Democratic party, but prefers to leave political matters to those who have the time and inclination to make a pursuit of politics. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a good, useful and upright citizen who has the respect and good wishes of many friends and acquaintances for his excel- lent demeanor.
Lawrence V. Sanford, one of the younger enterprising farmers of Rock Creek township, is a native of the Hoosier State and was born in Union county, Indiana, February II, 1882. His parents are Giles C. and Amanda (Swain) Sanford, to whom have been born seven children, six of whom are living, as follows: Fred L., who married Sarah, a daughter of Sol R. Myers, and resides at Peculiar, Mo .; Clark C., living on the Sanford home place; Lena, housekeeper for Lawrence V .; Emmett R., who married Ella Wood, of Bedford, Iowa, is a resi- dent of Missoula, Mont., a graduate of the Zanerian Art College at Col- umbus, Ohio, and a teacher by profession ; Perry, deceased ; Rosa V., at home ; Lawrence V., with whom this biography is directly concerned.
Giles C. Sanford was born in Union county, Indiana, May 10, 1840, and became a farmer. When war was declared between the North and South he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Indiana cav- alry and was first sergeant of Company D. and later received a lieu- tenant's commission. He fought at the battles of Nashville, Franklin, Wilson's Creek, Brentwood, Little Harpeth, Sugar Creek and others. He became afflicted with the prevailing scourge of measles and was confined to the army hospital for a few months. Aside from this dis- ease he suffered no serious trouble as a result of his arduous experience during the war. After the close of his war service Giles C. returned to his home in Indiana and married. He farmed in Indiana until Feb- ruary 18, 1885, and then migrated to Nemaha county Kansas, and bought 160 acres of land in section 30, Rock Creek township. At the time of his purchase of the Sanford home place it was improved very scantily, with a small house and a pole shelter for the live stock with the usual pioneer's roof made of prairie grass. Mr. Sanford built many improvements on the place more in keeping with his ideas of what a
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farm should have. and engaged in the breeding of Morgan horses. His farm consisted of 260 acres well improved at the time of his death, March 15, 1915. He was a member of the Masonic order and was well and favorably known throughout Nemaha county. Speaking in a gene- alogical sense, Giles C. Sanford was a son of Edward and Hepsabetli (Macy) Sanford, natives of Nantucket Island, and whose ancestry were descended from English immigrants who came from the ancestral home of the family in England soon after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plym- outh, Mass., in 1620. A record of this old American family which dates back from the sixteenth century is in existence. Descendants of Ed- ward Sanford and his brothers reside in Indiana and various States of the Middle West. The first settlement of the family when its members left their old New England home was in the western reserve of Ohio, where many revolutionary grants were made to revolutionary soldiers and their children. Mrs. Amanda (Swain) Sanford was born in Union county, Indiana, November II, 1841, and was a daughter of Nathaniel and Rhoda (Gardner) Swain, natives of North Carolina, who came to Union county, Indiana, in 1818. Mrs. Sanford resides on the Sanford homestead.
Lawrence V. Sanford attended the district school of his neighbor- hood and also studied at Oneida in the high school. He became a stu- dent at the Kansas State Agricultural College in 1900 and pursued the complete course in agriculture and animal husbandry and received his degree in 1904. He at once began farming in Nemaha county on the old homestead. Mr. Sanford has applied the science of agriculture which he learned at the State school to good advantage in the cultiva- tion of the farm and has made a striking and unusual success of his life work. He specializes in pure bred Shorthorn cattle, for the reason that it pays best to have good beef producing animals on the place. He is a stockholder and a director of the Oneida State Bank and finds time outside of his farming duties to take part in civic and social affairs and is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. It is only nat- ural to find that a man of his education and intelligence is an inde- pendent in politics.
Edward Pendergrass .- It is somewhat of a distinction to be probably the oldest living native-born resident of a township of Nemaha county, but Edward Pendergrass, born in 1862, is at least one of the oldest native-born Kansans in Rock Creek township. He is not only a pioneer by virtue of having been born in this county, but his father, Jolin Pen- dergrass, was one of the first settlers of the eastern part of Nemaha county and one of the earliest of the Kansas pioneers. Mr. Pendergrass is well known throughout the county and has a fine farm of 320 acres in Rock creek township.
John Pendergrass, his father, was born in Ireland in 1828 and left the Emerald Isle when twelve years of age. He crossed the ocean and lived in various parts of the United States until he came to Atchison,
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Kans., in 1856. Two years later he bought a farm in Berwick town- ship, Nemaha county, but did not develop it until after the Civil war. He served as a cavalryman in the Second Nebraska regiment of cavalry and did valiant service in behalf of the Union during the Civil war. He returned to his farm in Berwick township after his war service and lived thereon until his removal to Rock Creek township in the early seventies and lived there until his death in 1908. His wife was Miss Julia Culhane, who was born in Ireland in 1832, and died October II, 1885. Both parents were members of the Catholic church.
Edward Pendergrass assisted his father on the home farm until he was twenty-eight years old and then rented land from his father, who later gave him a deed to eighty acres. He has added to this modest beginning until he owns 320 acres, well improved and located five miles south of Sabetha in section 32 on the Nemaha-Brown county line. Forty acres of this tract is covered with natural timber, which is quite an asset in the way of providing both fuel and lumber for use on the farm.
Mr. Pendergrass was married in 1890 to Miss Agnes O'Kane, who was born in Ireland on February 17, 1871, and immigrated to America when she was eighteen years old. She departed this life on November 7. 19II, leaving six children to mourn the loss of a good and kind mother. The children are as follows: George, deceased; Roy, Walter, Julia, John, Ford and Nina.
Mr. Pendergrass is a Republican in politics, but has never been a seeker after political preferment. He and his children are members of the Catholic church.
George W. Montgomery .- Although George W. Montgomery, of Berwick township, was not reared on a farm and knew nothing practi- cally of the rudiments of farming when he began his career in Nemaha county, an inherent intelligence and the power of adapting his talents to a new vocation enabled him to make good and achieve a success far above the mediocre and commonplace. He became a specialist, made a success of a strange and entirely new avocation after spending years at the cabinet maker's trade, and is now one of the large landowners of this county.
Mr. Montgomery was born in a home on Federal street, Philadel- phia, Pa., October 13, 1851, and is a son of William and Martha (McGar- vey) Montgomery, who were the parents of five children. William Mont- gomery, his father, was born in County Farman, Ireland, December, 1825, and was brought to Pennsylvania by his parents when four years old. He learned the trade of cabinet maker in his youth in the city of Philadel- phia and resided in that city while working at his trade for twenty-four years. He then removed to Manchester, Ohio, and followed his trade until his death in 1895. His wife was born in Ireland in 1826 and died in 1856. The senior Montgomery was again married to Nancy Freeland who bore him two children.
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George W. Montgomery attended the schools of Manchester, Ohio, and learned the cabinet maker's trade. After he became proficient at his trade he worked with his father for three years and then went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was employed as skilled workman in a sash and door factory for seven years. While working at his trade he did considerable thinking; his thoughts turned to the idea that it might be possible for him to delve at his bench and lathe all of his life and he would probably never become well-to-do and always be a dependent worker. At this time the famous Horace Greely had been sending forth his great admonition, "Go West, young man, go West, and grow up with the country." Mr. Montgomery saw others going West and heard tales of the cheap lands to be obtained in Kansas and became imbued with the idea that if others could go west and succeed he could do it also. Accordingly he laid away his tools for the time being and came to Nemaha county in 1878. Knowing nothing of farming he took the shortest and most practical road to knowledge in the avocation upon which he had decided and hired himself out as farm hand at a wage of fifteen dollars a month. Two years later he became a renter and in 1880 he bought eighty acres in section twenty-one, Berwick township. This tract was unimproved and undeveloped. Mr. Montgomery built a small house, fourteen by twenty feet, set out trees and an orchard and a grove of shade trees, so that time and the Kansas soil would in a few years give his farm the appearance of an old homestead, such as can be seen everywhere in his native State. As the years passd and the trees and shrubbery grew his place became beautified and he made the necessary additions to his home. He likewise annexed the contin- gent land to his "eighty" on all sides and his large acreage now ex- tends to all four corners of the section and ernbraces 620 acres of fine land. Mr. Montgomery has specialized in thoroughbred live stock and has been successful as a breeder of Durham cattle and standard bred Percheron horses.
Mr. Montgomery was married in March II, 1885, to Anna Culver- house, and this union has been blessed with seven children, as follows: William, deceased; Mrs. Mattie Miller, living in Berwick township, and has one child, George L .; Charles, Robert, Alma, George, at home ; Bessie, is deceased. The mother of these children was born near Wilkesbarre, Pa., November 2, 1861, and is a daughter of Charles and Martha (Shiffer) Culverhouse, both of whom were natives of the Keystone State and immigrated to Nemaha county, Kansas, in January, 1872. The Culverhouse family settled on a farm on the county line soutli of Sabetha, later lived two years at Fairview, Kans., and then moved to Arkansas, where Mr. Culverhouse died in May, 1900. Mrs. Montgom- ery's mother makes her home among her children.
Mr. Montgomery is an independent in politics and votes according to the dictates of his conscience and good judgment. He allows no man or so-called political boss to inform him as to how he should vote
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or as to what political principles and tenets he should follow. He reads, studies, and decides for himself as to the merits of the various candidates and creeds. He and Mrs. Montgomery are affiliated relig- iously with the Baptist church. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
William Lukert, prosperous and enterprising farmer of Walnut township, Brown county, Kansas, is a native of Germany, and one of the adopted sons of Kansas who has made good in the land of his adoption, and is loyal and steadfast in his allegience to the land which has afforded him and his a comfortable substance and given his parents and brothers an opportunity to achieve moderate wealth and prestige.
Mr. Lukert was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, April 9, 1870, and is a son of Frederick Lukert, concerning whose career an account is given in the biography of John F. Lukert, county engineer of Nemaha county. Mr. Lukert left his native land in company with his parents in 1887, and was reared to young manhood on his father's farm in Walnut township, Brown county. He received his schooling in the district school of Rock Creek township in Nemaha county, and also went to school in Berwick township. His entire life associations have been almost entirely with Nemaha county people and, although Mr. Lukert lives just over the line in Brown county, he has the warmest spot in his heart for Nemaha county. He rented his father's farm in 1891, and in 1894, he bought his present farm of 147 acres. He has placed all of the improvements on this place which include a modern nine room residence, attractively painted in white and a large barn 34x64 feet in dimensions and other buildings. Eighty acres of Mr. Lukert's 364 acres lie in Nemaha county, Kansas.
Mr. Lukert was married, in 1894, to Barbara Keller, who was born in Germany on June 14, 1875. Three children have been born to this union, as follows: Paul, John and Marie, all of whom are at home with their parents,
Mr. Lukert is independent in his political beliefs, and votes inde- pendently, regardless of the party platforms or creeds as expressed by the leaders of the various political parties. He is a member of the Evan- gelical church, and is affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Work- men.
James F. Starns, retired farmer and Union veteran, Sabetha, Kans., was born in Fountain county, Indiana, January 20, 1842, and is a son of James and Matilda Starns, whose life stories are given in the biography of Frank M. Starns, written elsewhere in this volume.
The parents of James F. Starns left Indiana, when James F. was a boy, and made settlement in Wapello county, Iowa. This was in the pioneer days of the settlement and development of Iowa, and the settlers labored under great difficulties. Consequently, the children of James and Matilda Starns had very little schooling, and the most of school attend- ance that James F. ever got was for about three months of each year, dur- ing the winter time. Lack of suitable clothing and footwear was one of the serious drawbacks to education in the Starns family, and if the chil-
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dren had shoes to protect their feet from the bitter cold of winter, they attended the school sessions ; if not, they stayed at home. In 1856, James Starns and his family migrated westward to Brown county, Kansas. James F. was then fourteen years old, and able to do almost a man's work in the fields. For the first five years in Kansas, he broke prairie with a team of oxen.
On September 28, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Company D, Eighth Kansas infantry, which was enrolled in Nemaha and Brown counties, and started to the seat of war from Sabetha. Mr. Starns served under Generals Thomas, Sherman and Rosecrans, and was present at the great battle of Chickamauga, receiving a wound in the neck during that memorable battle. He took part in all of the great battles fought by the Union armies between Chickamauga and Atlanta, and served the Union in twelve southern States during his time of service. He re-en- listed as a veteran volunteer in east Tennessee in 1864. Comrade Starns was never taken prisoner for the very simple reason that he was too good a "runner," when his command was effecting a retreat when the odds were going against the Union forces. He received his final discharge at Leavenworth, Kans., January 9, 1866. Following his return home, he hauled logs to the saw mills for three years. In 1869, he began farming on rented land and later bought forty acres in Morrill township, Brown county, Kansas. He improved this tract with a house and farm buildings, and cultivated it for thirty-three years, and then traded it for an eighty-acre tract in Capioma township, Nemaha county. Three years later he sold this farm, and then bought forty acres north of Sabetha, in Berwick township, which he sold in 1915, and retired to a cottage home in Sabetha.
"Comrade" Starns was married in Richardson county, Nebraska, on December 24, 1869, to Elizabeth Eakins, who was born near Ottumwa, Iowa, October 15, 1849, and is a daughter of William and Marina (Vas- sar) Eakins, natives of Indiana and Missouri respectively. Mrs. Starns' parents made a settlement in Brown county, Kansas, in 1855. The fol- lowing children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Starns: Elmer, a book- keeper, Kansas City, Mo .; Howard, a graduate of the St. Joseph Veteri- nary College, and a practitioner at Humboldt, Neb.
Mr. Starns is a Republican and a loyal adherent of the principles of his party. For years he has-been a staunch and unswerving supporter of the party candidates. He is a member of the Grand Army post of Sa- betha, and is hale and vigorous for his age. He is proud of the fact that he was given the opportunity to offer his life in defense of the Union, and is also proud of the important fact that he is one of the oldest living pioneer settlers of Kansas. For sixty years, he has lived in Kansas and has witnessed the settlement and development of a great State and county. He has seen the prairies made to yield food for the millions of people in the nation and has witnessed the gradual transformation of an unsettled wilderness to a smiling and peaceful land of plenty, dotted with towns and cities and comfortable and prosperous farms.
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Charles W. Ridgway, owner and manager of a 480-acre farm in Adams township, was born in Polk county, Iowa, November 30, 1854, and is a son of Peter M. and Louisa M. (Hamlin) Ridgway, both of whom were natives of Virginia. Peter M. Ridgway, the father, was born at Wheeling, W. Va., in 1822, and was partly reared in that city, and was a son of David Ridgway, born in Ohio in 1788, who was descended from the Ridgway family of England, members of whom immigrated to the New England colonies in about 1700. The family of Ridgway is one of the oldest of the pure American strain. David Ridgway was one of the very first pioneer settlers of Iowa and removed to that State in about 1834, became the owner of 1,000 acres of land in Polk county, and made his original preemption on the site of part of the city of Des Moines. He bought up a great deal of land at the government sale price of $1.25 an acre and became one of the prominent and influential figures in the early civic life of Iowa. David Ridgway was the father of six sons and four daughters, as follows: Abraham J., born July 16, 1814; Isaac, born September 28, 1816; David, born December 20, 1817; John, born May 24, 1819; Catharine, born May 27, 1820; Elizabeth, born November 21, 1822; Peter M., father of Charles W., born April 30, 1824, and died March 17, 1879; Rachel, born December 29, 1825; Rebecca, born March 15, 1828; Samuel, born in 1830. David Ridgway died at Des Moines, Iowa, at the age of seventy-six years.
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