USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 60
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It is only natural for ns to learn that William Winkler learned the miller's trade under his father's tutelage and succeeded to the owner- ship of the Winkler Blue River mills, at Monterey, Kans., after his father's demise, and operated them until fire destroyed the structure in 1894. He then took his working capital and removed to Nemaha county where he purchased 160 acres of land in Center township. Three years later he sold his farm and bought a hardware store in Seneca, which he operated with considerable success until 1904. He then traded his store for 325 acres of farm lands in sections 23, 25 and 26, in Mitchell town- ship, and has since successfully pursued the avocation of agriculturist and breeder. Mr. Winkler has made a great reputation for himself and his farm in breeding Poland China swine for the trade and has shipped the product of his skill to many discriminating buyers in all parts of the west and middle west. Several times he has exhibited his fine animals at the Nemaha county fairs and has won first prize for a sow and pigs and second for young gilts. He is also a skilled horticul- turist and takes pride in the fine apples grown in his orchards, and which have been awarded prizes at the fair. It is such farmers as Mr.
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Winkler who are bringing Kansas to the front among the agricultural states of the nation.
Mr. Winkler was married May 15, 1891, to Luella Glunt, at Garrison, Kans. This marriage has been blessed with the following children : Delpha, a teacher in the district schools near Goff, and a grad- uate of the Seneca High School; Frank, Pauline and William, Jr., at home. The mother of these children was born May 27, 1867, at Daven- port, Iowa, and is a daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Lydia (King) Glunt, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Winkler was one of a family of nine children, seven of whom are living. She was educated in the schools of Pottawatomie county, Kansas, whither the family removed from Iowa, and she also studied in the State Agricul- tural College at Manhattan, Kans., for a year ; pursued a classical course at Campbell College, Holton, Kans., for six months and taught school for seven years. She is a very intelligent and capable lady and a wise and kind mother to her children. Mrs. Winkler's parents reside at Garrison, Kans. Her father was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, and enlisted for service at Cario, Ill., in the Fourth Illinois infantry, and saw much hard service in the South; fought at Island Number 10, and the fighting around Vicksburg, receiving his discharge at the close of the war. He is affiliated with the Grand Army Post at Topeka, Kans.
Mr. Winkler is allied with the Democratic party and is high in the councils of his party in Nemaha county. When a resident of Seneca, he served as a member of the city council and has filled the post of school clerk in Mitchell township for ten years. He and Mrs. Winkler attend the Methodist church: Mr. Winkler is affiliated with the An- cient Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias. He re- ceived the appointment of postmaster of Monterey, under Postmaster General John Wanamaker, in 1890, and held this office five years.
William I. Davis .- William I. Davis, a leading merchant of Bailey- ville, Kans., was born September 30, 1871, at New Sharon, Iowa, and is a son of Clarkson and Elizabeth (Whaling) Davis, natives of Indiana and Pennsylvania, respectively. Clarkson Davis was born in Grant county, Indiana, March 5, 1847, and was a son of Mark Davis, a native of South Carolina. He was reared to young manhood in Indiana, and married Elizabeth Whaling, born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 16, 1852, and who bore him the following children: William I., with whom this. review is directly concerned; Alice, deceased; Mrs. Bertha Feyerabend, of Greenleaf, Kans. Clarkson Davis was a soldier in the Union army, and enlisted in a Wisconsin infantry regiment for service in the Civil war, in behalf of the Union. He migrated to Iowa and settled on a farm where he resided until 1880, and then came west to Washington county, Kansas, where he and Mrs. Davis are living.
William I. Davis was reared on his father's farm and attended the district schools of his neighborhood and the Osceola, Iowa, High School.
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After his marriage he rented land in Washington county, Kansas, for a period of seven years and then came to Baileyville, in Nemaha county, and bought a general store, in partnership with H. L. Wilson. This partnership continued until 1905, when he sold out his interest in the firm and later bought an interest in a store as partner with Mr. Benz. In 1907, this partnership was dissolved, and he has since con- ducted the store on his own account. He carries a complete stock of general merchandise and has an extensive trade among the farmers of the surrounding country side. Besides his business interests, Mr. Davis owns land in Nemaha county and has town property in Baileyville.
His marriage with Miss Minnie I. Wilson occurred December 24, 1893, and this union has been blessed with the following children : Winona, a graduate of the Seneca High School, and a teacher in Ne- maha county; Thelma and Morris. Mrs. Davis was born September 29, 1872, on a farm in Washington county, Kansas, and she is a daughter of Barton S. and Celia (Baker) Wilson, who immigrated to Kansas from Illinois and resided at Washington, Kans. Mrs. Wilson died in July, 1915.
Mr. Davis is a Republican in politics and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a live business man and a good citizen, who is rearing and educating his family to become good and useful citizens and members of society.
James Franklin Barrett .- James Franklin Barrett, farmer and live stock breeder, of Center township, was born in Hawkins county, Tenn., October 9, 1872, and is a son of Ezekiel and Rebecca (Church) Barrett, to whom were born six children, four of whom are living. Ezekiel Bar- rett was born in Hawkins county, Tenn., in 1836, and was of the pure old American stock whose ancestry settled in the Atlantic coast States in the colonial and settlement period of American history. Ezekiel was a farmer in his native state and when the war between the states broke out he enlisted in the Confederate army and served throughout the war. He is now living a retired life on his farm. He is a son of Nelson Barrett, who was one among the early pioneers of Tennessee. The mother of James Franklin Barrett was born in Tennessee, in 1845, and died in 1880. Ezekiel was married the second time to Ellen Merritt, who has borne him three children, and is still living in Tennessee.
James F. Barrett, lived on the parental farm until he was nineteen years of age and then came to Kansas, locating in Nemaha county, where he worked for five years as farm hand at a wage of $20 per month. He then rented land on his own account and in 1904 he bought his present farm of 80 acres in Section 14, Center township. He is a live stock fancier of note and keeps high grade Durham cattle, well bred Poland China swine and some good draft horses.
Mr. Barrett was married in 1899 to Hulda Weyer, who was born in Nemaha county, March 12, 1872, and is a daughter of Fred and Sophia (Schultz) Weyer, natives of Germany, and early settlers of this county.
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Fred Weyer was born in 1833, first settled in Wisconsin, after his emi- gration from Germany, and came to Nemaha county with his wife in 1860, and settled in Center township. He was accompanied by his two brothers and each of the boys bought government land. Fred Weyer built a log cabin which served as the home of his family until he could build a frame house and break up his' land with oxen. Atchison and White Cloud, Kans., were the nearest trading points in those days, and Indians were plentiful in the neighborhood. Mrs. Barrett can re- member seeing the Indians in camp on her fathers farm and hearing them beg for food. Mr. Weyer died in 1893, and his wife died in 1913, . at the age of seventy-one years. They were members of the German Lutheran Church.
Mr. Barrett is an independent Democrat who. votes as his con- science dictates and has never worn the party yoke at election time. He is a reader and thinker who believes in doing right by his fellow men and is consequently well liked and esteemed by all who know him.
James M. Talkington .- James M. Talkington, farmer, and one of the first settlers of his neighborhood, in Center township, was born in Morgan county, Illinois, June 2, 1847, and is a son of Alfred and Elizabeth (Campbell) Talkington, who were the parents of ten children, three of whom are living, and of whom James M. was the eighth child born.
Alfred Talkington was born in Kentucky in 1811, and followed agri- cultural pursuits until his demise in Illinois, in 1861. Elizabeth, his wife, was born in North Carolina, in 1814, and died in 1883. They were God fearing and industrious people of the true pioneer type, and were members of the Baptist church.
James M. Talkington, the subject of this review, was reared on the parental farm in Illinois, and lived in his native state until 1881. He then came to Nemaha county, Kansas, and first bought a farm near the town of Axtell, but sold it two years later and invested the pro- ceeds in an eighty acre tract in section 14, Center township. He has improved this tract until he has made it into an ideal farm home, and is living contentedly and comfortably here with just enough land to keep him busily employed.
Mr. Talkington was married in Missouri to Elizabeth Campbell, born in Buchanan county, Missouri, August 1, 1849, and departed this life in 1910. To this union were born the following children: War- ren B., steam fitter at Salem, Ore., who learned his trade at Fargo, N. D .; Dora, at home with her father; Bertha, wife of Charles Kirk, South Dakota ; William, auto machinist at Centralia, Kans .; Frank, a farmer of Center township ; Mrs. Rosa Shackleford deceased.
When James M. Talkington came to Kansas his worldly possessions wife and three children were loaded in two wagons which served as a means for his transportation from Missouri, whither he had gone from
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his old home in Illinois, previous to his migration to Kansas. He is an independent in politics and devotes his entire attention to his farm, and has never sought political preferment of any kind. Mr. Talkington has always enjoyed the best of health and is a great lover of home life and home comforts.
William W. Schlaegel .- William W. Schlaegel, farmer and stock- man, of Center township, was born October 5. 1866, on a farm near Chester, Ohio, in Meigs county. He is a son of Philip and Kathrine (Priode) Schlaegel, who were the parents of eleven children of whom seven are living. Philip Schlaegel was born near the river Rhine, Germany, January 17, 1840, and immigrated to, America with his par- ents in 1840. He was a son of Peter (born December 4, 1804, died June 7, 1893) and Mary. (born 1809, and died April 18, 1857) Schlaegel, who made a settlement in Meigs county, Ohio, near the town of Chester. Here the parents of William Schlaegel were reared and married. His mother, Kathrine (Priode) Schlaegel, was born aboard ship June 24, 1840, when her parents were crossing the Atlantic, enroute to America, from France. She died September 6, 1912. She was a daughter of Peter Priode, a native of France, who settled in Meigs county, Ohio, and died near Pomeroy, Ohio.
William W. Schlaegel was reared to young manhood in Ohio, and started out to make his own living when eighteen years old. He began as a laborer and section hand on the railroad, worked at this employment for a short time and then became a farm hand. In 1887 he migrated to Kansas, and settled on a farm near Oneida, in Nemaha county, where he worked as farm hand for $17 per month. Five years later he rented an eighty acres farm in Rock Creek township, which he cultivated until 1894, and then rented land in Marion township, near Baileyville, Kans. He carefully husbanded his resources, saving his money, and in 1900 pur- chased 160 acres of land in section 17, Center township, upon which he moved in 1908. He keeps good graded stock on his farm and Mrs. Schlaegel specializes in Buff Orpington poultry. Mr. Schlaegel favors the Duroc Jersey breed of hogs.
He was married in 1893 to Olive Thompson, who was born in Rock Creek township, Nemaha county, February 6, 1872. She is a daughter of Abram and Phoebe (Tucker) Thompson, natives of Ohio. Abram Thompson came to Kansas with his parents when a young man and died in Kansas in 1875. The Thompson family have an interesting fam- ily tree and genealogy which traces back thru the centuries to royalty in England. The progenitors of the American branch of the family emigrated from England to America in the pre-revolutionary days Phoebe (Tucker) Thompson was born in 1835, and died December 20, 1902. Mr. and Mrs. William W. Schlaegel are the parents of six children, as follows: Merrill, Kyle, Lois, Rachel, Oliver, Francis, all of whom were born in Nemaha county.
Mr. and Mrs. Schlaegel are members of the Presbyterian church,
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of which Mr. Schlaegel is a ruling elder, and to which denomination both give their loyal support to the end that a church might be kept going in their vicinity. At the present time the Presbyterian church services are held regularly in the school house in district No. 67. Mr. Schlaegel was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and is a Republican in politics.
Nels Polson .- People of many nationalities or ancestry make up the population of Kansas and Nemaha county, and it is no exception to the rule of the average Western community to find a few families of Swedish birth or ancestry in Nemaha county. It is generally found, also, that wherever you find an American farmer of Swedish birth, you find an industrious and progressive family. Our citizens of Swedish birth are among the most progressive and ambitious of any community and the Swedish immigrant quickly assimilates American ways and methods and is very soon rooted to the American soil. The farm of Nels Polson in Center township is an example of what can be accom- plished by an industrious son of the Norseland in a few years, with practically no means with which to begin. Mr. Polson has risen within the short space of twenty-three years, since he bought his first farm, to become one of the wealthy land owners of the county, and is one of the representative citizens of Nemaha county who has become a thorough Kansan.
Nels Polson was born in Sweden, March 8, 1863, and is a son of Pols Nelson and Panala (Nelson) Nelson, who were the parents of seven children, six of whom are living. His father was born near La- haln, Sweden, and here reared his family. He was born June 18, 1825, and died March 15, 1902. The mother of Nels Polson was born in 1837, and died in 1914.
In 1888, Nels Polson, with his bride, emigrated from his ancestral home in Sweden enroute to America in search of fortune, and the voyage consumed three weeks before the vessel landed on the American coast. He made his way westward from New York to Vermillion, Kans., and worked as farm hand for $15 per month for five years. During these years he carefully saved his money, and in 1893, he invested in 160 acres of land in Center tonship, Nemaha county, Kansas. His land was in section 19 of Center township, and was partly improved, but many substantial improvements have been added to the place by the present owner, who purchased it from Otto Campfield, an early Kansas settler. Mr. Polson has increased his acreage until his holdings now total 325 acres.
Mr. Polson was married in February, 1888, in Sweden. to Matilda Anderson, who has borne him the following children : Mrs. Alma Stalkup, Home township ; Alice, wife of J. Law, Center tonship ; Arthur, a public sales auctioneer ; Mary, Hulda, Ernest and Edward, at home with their parents. Mrs. Polson was born March 16, 1862, in Sweden, and is a daughter of Andres and Inger (Pearson) Anderson, the former of
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whom was born in 1823, and died in 1877; the latter was born April I, 1827, and died in Sweden in 1889. They were the parents of four chil- dren, of whom a son, Palm Anderson, is living in Oklahoma City.
It might be well to add here the names of the seven children of the Polson, family, inclusive, brothers and sisters of Nels Polson, as follows: Peter, Center township; John, Marshall county, Kansas ; Nels, subject of this review; August, living near Minneapolis, Minn .; Carl, a farmer living in Montana on a homestead claim near Lambert; Henry, Marshall county, Kansas ; one child died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Polson are members of the Swedish Lutheran Church. Mr. Polson is a Republican in politics, but has never sought office nor political preferment. He is essentially a home man, who takes a just pride in his accomplishments since coming to America, and is proud of his fine family of children. He is a self-made man, and his land holdings are practically free from debt, all earned through his own efforts and the assistance of his capable and devoted wife. The Polson farm is one of the best located agricultural plants in Nemaha county, and is within easy access of several markets, the land value of the acreage being in excess of $75 an acre.
Alexander Noble .- Alexander Noble, leading farmer and stockman, Center township, Nemaha county, Kansas, was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, April 21, 1860, and is a son of Thomas and Catharine (Hughes) Noble, to whom were born a family of three sons and four daughters. Thomas Noble was born in Longford county, Ireland, in 1809, and immigrated to America when sixteen years old, first settling in Illinois. He engaged in railroad construction work and later became a farmer. He died February 18, 1898. The mother of Alexander Noble was born in Illinois, February 1, 1837, and died October 20, 1899. She was a daughter of Richard and Jane Hughes, natives of Ireland.
The subject of this review was reared to maturity on the farm of his parents and attended the schools of his native county. When he was twenty-two years of age he rented land on his own account in Stephenson county, Illinois, until 1883, when he removed to Osceola county, Iowa, where he rented land until 1891. In that year he mi- grated to Nemaha county, Kans., and cultivated rented land until he was enabled to buy an 80 acre tract in Center township, which he im- proved by setting out trees and erecting a story and a half house 16x26 feet in dimensions and erecting the necessary outbuildings. He sold this farm at a profit and bought his present place of 160 acres in section 20, Center township, and upon which he moved his family in 1914. Mr. Noble is a breeder of Shorthon cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs and has made a success of his venture into Kansas.
Mr. Noble was married in 1882 to Miss Sarah Gholson, who was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, February 2, 1862, and is a daughter of Francis and Nancy (Allen) Gholson, who were the parents of six children. Francis Gholson, her father, was born in Illinois, and her
(36)
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mother was born in Tennessee. Both are deceased. Six children have been born of the marriage of Alexander and Sarah Noble, as follows: Alida, deceased ; Charles, deceased ; Margaret, deceased ; William, living in Center township; Forrest and Minnie, at home with their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Noble are members of the Presbyterian church and contribute liberally of their means to the support of this denomina- tion. Mr. Noble is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is a Democrat. He has served as a member of the school board in district No. 67.
Patrick Dignan .- The late Patrick Dignan, of Nemaha county, Kansas, was a pioneer in the true sense of the word, and rose from a poor Irish immigrant hoy to become one of the successful farmers of Nemaha county. Patrick Dignan was born in County Armagh, Ireland, January 16, 1844. When a boy he dreamed of the great country across the wide ocean and made up his mind to one day sail away from his native isle and seek his fortune in America. An uncle, Thomas Morgan, had immigrated to this country some years before and had established a home in Nemaha county, Kansas. When Patrick was enabled to make the ocean voyage he made his way across the continent and joined his uncle, receiving a warm welcome in the new land. This was in the early days of the settlement of Nemaha county and Thomas Morgan was among the first pioneers in this county. Consequently, Patrick Dignan knew the prairies in their wild, uncultivated state and learned to rough it with members of his uncle's family. He soon learned to do a man's work and was self-reliant at all times. He lived at his uncle's home until the great gold rush of the early sixties, when, the gold fever assailing him, he made the long trip to the gold fields in search of the precious metal. He remained in the gold mining region of Colorado for some time, and his trip was profitable to him not only from the stand- point of material gain but because of the experience and the broad out- look upon life, which, mingling with all classes of men, gave him on the frontier of civilization. He returned to Kansas in due time and began farming, while still making his home with Mr. Morgan. Shortly before his marriage he purchased a farm in Nemaha township, which he farmed and also taught school for a period of seven years near St. Bene- dict's. He cultivated his farm land in Nemaha township for twenty-eight years and then bought a tract of land in Mitchell township upon which he settled with his family and cultivated until his demise in 1906. Mr. Dignan was a successful farmer and was an extensive live stock man.
The married life of Patrick Dignan was a happy one, and he chose for his life companion, Miss Catharine Laughlin, whom he married July 6, 1874. This union was blessed with a fine family of children, as follows: Edward, a farmer living near Axtell, Kans .; Mrs. Mary Haug, residing on the home place of the Dignans; Alice, Sister Senor- ina, member of the Order of St. Benedict, at Mt. St. Scholastica's Acad- emy, Atchison, Kans .; James, a farmer living at Kelly, Kans .; Helen,
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also a sister, Marcella, Order of St. Benedict, deceased, 1908; Anna, de- ceased; Frank, Chicago, III .; Ethel, and Emmet, at home with their mother; Catharine, died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Dignan gave all of their offspring the advantages of a good education. The mother of these children' was born at Bangor, Me., April 23, 1855, and is a daugh- ter of Luke and Mary (McTigue) Laughlin, both of whom were na- tives of Ireland. Luke Laughlin, her father, was born in June, 1814, and immigrated to America in 1850. He learned the trade of stone mason when a youth, and he came as far west as Atchison, Kans., and worked at his trade until 1877. In that year, he decided to take up farming, and accordingly, came to Nemaha county, and purchased a farm, which he cultivated until his retirement to Seneca, where he died in 1908. Mary Laughlin, mother of Mrs. Dignan, was born in Ireland in 1826, and died in 1906. Mrs. Dignan received a good common school educa- tion, and remained at home with her parents until her marriage with Mr. Dignan. She and her husband fought the good fight together against drought, and overcame the vagaries of nature in its relation to the Kansas climate, and accumulated a competence. The first year of the wedded life of Patrick and Catharine Dignan was the first of the "grasshopper" years when the vast clouds of insects came down upon the smiling fields of the pioneers, and ate the growing crops, leav- ing devastation and woe in their path as they disappeared by the east and north. This was not encouraging to the young couple, but with true pioneer fortitude and bravery, they set themselves to repair the damage done and succeeded.
Patrick and Catharine Dignan were reared in the Catholic faith, and have always been supporters of Catholic institutions. Patrick Dig. nan was a man well respected and highly esteemed by all who knew him ; his integrity was beyond reproach ; his honesty was poverbial ; his industry was the wonder of his neighbors and friends; his financial ability was of a high order; and he left behind him when he passed to the Great Beyond from whence no man returneth, a reputation as a citi- zen, husband and father, such as is deserved only by good and true men.
Edgar E. Holston, lumber merchant, Goff, Kans., was born in Leavenworth county, December 4, 1872, a son of John T. and Mary E. (Manuels) Holston, (born in 1844), who were the parents of four chil- dren, as follows: Mrs. Nora Friend, Lawrence, Kans .; Edgar E., with whom this biography is directly concerned; Mrs. Nellie Walter, King- man, Kans .; William, Vermillion, Kans. John T. Holston, father of the foregoing children, was born in Edgar county, Illinois, January 19, 1840, was there reared to young manhood, and came to Kansas in an early day. He first settled at Wathena, Doniphan county, where he was married, and cultivated a farm. From Doniphan county he removed to Leavenworth county, and from there, moved to Soldier, Kans., where he was engaged in general merchandising. In August, 1911, he located at Vermillion, and is conducting a general store at that place.
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