USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 63
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David Funk was married in 1862 to Sarah L. Guffy of Putnam county, Ohio, and this union has been blessed with the following chil-
DAVID FUNK AND WIFE AND THE FUNK FARM HOME.
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dren : Henry, deceased ; Frank, Portland, Ore., city salesman for a large wholesale house; Esther; Molly ; May ; Flora, deceased; Carl, Portland, Ore., grocer; Ralph, a practicing physician at Powhattan, Kans .; Ches- ter, at home and managing the parental farm ; Mrs. Lottie Wenger, Price, Kans. The mother of these children was born September 7, 1844, and at the age of twelve years, began working out as domestic at from twenty- five cents to $1 per week until marriage. She is a daughter of Aquilla and Jerusha Ann (Ford) Guffy, the former of whom was born in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1816, and died April 4, 1862. The mother of Mrs. Funk was born in Warren county, Ohio, June 2, 1821, and departed this life, December 12, 1912, in Kansas, whither she came in 1865, after her hus- band's demise. Previous to his demise, Mr. Guffy, in 1860, had invested in 800 acres of land in Nemaha county, and had planned to make a home near Oneida, but death intervened. Mrs. Guffy remained in Kansas for about ten years, and then returned to Ohio, sold her Kansas land and married Michael Weaver, who died seventeen years later. After Mr. Weaver's demise, she again came to Kansas and made her home with her children until her demise. There were seven children in the Guffy family, as follows: Joseph, an invalid for the past seven years, Seneca, Kans .; Nancy Jane, deceased ; Phoebe Ann Burke, Oneida, Kans .; Sarah L., wife of the subject of this review ; John, deceased ; Mary M. (Shaffer) Largent, Ontario, Canada, and Rosa, deceased.
Mr. Funk is a Republican in politics and has taken an active part in the civic affairs of his township and county. Early in the eighties he served as township trustee, and for the past four years he has filled the office of township treasurer. Mrs. Funk has been a member of the Christian church since 1858 and is an active worker in the affairs of the church. David Funk is a loyal Kansan who will go down in history as one of the sturdy and successful pioneers of a great county and state; he is proud of the fact that he was a pioneer settler of Nemaha county, and the county is proud of him and his kind, who are the backbone and sinew of the civic body, and one of the good old American stock who have been pioneers and blazed the path of empire from the Atlantic coast to the far West through successive generations. It is a matter of note that Mr. and Mrs. Funk were rocked in the same cradle, the paternal homes of each being within sight of each other, in Putnam county, Ohio.
Peter T. Casey .- The late Peter T. Casey, of Corning, Kans., was born in the province of Nova Scotia, Dominion of Canada, June 23, 1844, and was a son of John and Margaret (Tulloch) Casey, who were the parents of ten children, two of whom survive, and of whom Mr. Casey was the third in order of birth. John Casey, his father, was born in Nova Scotia in 1813, and was a blacksmith by trade. In fact, for generations, the members of the Casey family have been smiths and were of sturdy, honest and industrious stock. John Casey never ven- tured beyond the borders of his native land of Acadia, and departed this life December 21, 1884. Peter T. Casey's mother was born in
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Nova Scotia in 1817. In the year following her husband's death, she left her old home in the Dominion, and made the long journey to Corn- ing, where she remained and was cared for by her son until her death, November 7, 1890.
Mr. Casey spent his boyhood in attending school in his native land and early learned to swing a hammer and sledge in his father's 'smithy. He grew up sturdy, strong and ambitious. The spirit of adventure and longing to come to the States obsessed him when he arrived at man's estate, and he made his way to Atchison, Kans., in 1867. He remained in this city four years and plied his trade with profit, saving during his four years of labor a sum of $600, which was sufficient to make a pay- ment upon a tract of farm land, which it was his ambition to own. In 1870, he came to Nemaha county and purchased a homestead of eighty acres for $1,500. This land is located in section 26, and was probably the site of the first blacksmith shop in Illinois township. Mr. Casey erected a smithy on his farm and soon had all the trade he could possibly manage and his services as a skilled blacksmith were in great demand by the settlers, who were coming into the township in ever increasing numbers. In fact, the Casey shop served the farmers of southern Ne- maha county from far and near, and he prospered. He sold his farm in 1871, and located in Corning at a time when the embryo village was but a trading point, with only one general store. Six years later he again went to the farm and remained on his farm until 1887. In that year he started a general store in the growing town and achieved a large measure of success, building up a considerable trade, which required that he carry over $6,000 worth of goods in stock. In 1889 he traded his store for the present beautiful home of the family and engaged in the banking busi- ness. He organized a company, which formed the Farmers State Bank of Corning, and filled the post of cashier of the bank for nine years. At the expiration of this period he again resumed his mercantile business, but sold out his store in 1900 to George Leuck & Company and retired from active business pursuits, well content with what he had accom- plished. At the time of his demise he owned stock in the Farmers State Bank and also owned 480 acres of farm land in Red Vermillion township, and possessed real estate in Corning.
Mr. Casey was married in 1873 to Miss Maria O. Swan, and five children were born to this marriage, as follows: Lela, deceased, wife of of L. S. Slocum; Nellie, deceased; Mrs. Jennie Keith, living in New Mexico; Mrs. Mabel Baker, Corning, Kans .; Alfred, farming near Corn- ing, Kans .; Mrs. Jennie Keith is a talented artist, who has done con- siderable artistic work in oil. Mrs. Maria O. Casey was born at Bremen, Cook county, Illinois, November 15, 1854. and is a daughter of Alfred and Frances (Church) Swan, natives of New York. Her father was killed while serving as a volunteer in the Union army during the Civil war, and Mrs. Casey's mother died soon after his death. The orphaned daughter then came to Nemaha county, Kansas, when twelve years old,
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and was reared in the home of her uncle, Frank Church, who gave her the advantages of a good education. She taught two terms of school in Nemaha county previous to her marriage with Mr. Casey.
Mr. Casey was a member of the Presbyterian church and was a liberal giver to religious needs. He was affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights and Ladies of Security. The Republican political party gener- ally had his allegiance and support and he filled the post of trustee of his township and also served as a member of the city council of Corning.
The death of this successful and highly esteemed citizen occurred on April 24, 1916, and was the result of an accident. Even in his later years it was Mr. Casey's wont to look after his farming interests in person, and he spent much of his time doing work in order to keep his mind and body in action. On the date mentioned above he was engaged in hauling fence posts to his farm, and the team which he was driving probably started while Mr. Casey was standing in the rear part of the wagon. The sudden jerk of the horses starting at a gallop is thought to have thrown him to the ground backward and death resulted from the injuries received. His body was found lifeless in the field. Peter T. Casey will long be remembered as a valued citizen of Corning and one of the real pioneers of Nemaha county, whose name is indelibly linked for all time to come with the building and development of a rich and fertile section of Kansas.
Clarkson A. Hilbert, grain dealer and farmer of Corning, Kans., is a member of one of the first pioneer families of Nemaha county, and has spent nearly his whole life within the borders of the county. The story of his career is an epitome of successful endeavor, and he has suc- ceeded at all of his undertakings. Mr. Hilbert was born in Atchison, Kans., October 17, 1869, and is a son of Henry and Eliza (Conard) Hilbert.
Henry Hilbert, his father, was born on a farm in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, November 29, 1844, and is a son of John and Sarah Hil- bert. John Hilbert, his father, was a miner by occupation, and died in 1844. when Henry was an infant. Henry Hilbert was reared on the family farm and, at the outbreak of the Civil war, he enlisted at Lion Lex, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in Company H, One Hundred Thirty-eight Pennsylvania infantry, and fought in his first engage- ment at Brandy Station, Va., and was in the battle of Spottsylvania Court House. He was taken prisoner by Confederates at or near Balti- more, Md., and was first interred in the prison camp at Danville, Va., from which point he was transferred to the notorious Libby prison. He remained in Libby prison for seven months and eleven days until his release. He was mustered out of the service in 1865, when the war was ended. In 1867, he went to Elkhart, Ind., and was employed in grubbing land and cradling wheat during his first season. In those days, the wheat was mowed with a scythe and cradle, and all hay and
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grass was mowed laboriously by hand. In 1869, he went to Atchison, Kans., and farmed near that city for one year, and then homeseated a quarter section of land in section 30, Harrison township, Nemaha county. He built a small home 14x20 feet in size with a height of ten feet. This home was built of concrete, and was one of the first build- ings of the kind, to be erected on the prairies, and the fifth house to be built in Harrison township. It is recalled that Mr. and Mrs. Hilbert gathered up pebbles and small stones from the prairie in an old wash boiler, and they carried water for the concrete mixing a distance of ninety feet. Building a home in this manner was very slow and hard work, but they eventually got the job done, and were proud of their new home. In the course of time, they enlarged the original small dwelling to one of comfortable proportions. During their first year on the farm, their stock of provisions were only fifty pounds of flour and fifty cents worth of sugar, which they used only on state occasions, when they had company for meals. During those first years, Mrs. Hil- bert became discouraged and cried because of the fact that their main provender for months and months was corn bread. One occasion when she was crying bitterly over their hard lot, Henry said to his wife, "Mother, let us go back East." This suggestion aroused her pride and latent spirit, and she replied spiritedly, "No, we came here to make a home, and here we stay." That was the true spirit of the pioneer men and women of Kansas, which enabled them to endure privations, pov- erty and hardships, and meant, in time, the winning of the great West. For the first four years of his residence in Kansas, Henry Hilbert never knew the luxury of a pair of leather shoes. He and his devoted wife were married in 1868. Mrs. Eliza Conard Hilbert was born in Schuyl- kill county, Pennsylvania, in March, 1845. The following children blessed this happy union, as follows: Clarkson A., subject of this re- view; Mrs. Margaret Conard, living in Illinois township; Isaac, died at the age of fourteen; William, a well known breeder of Belgian horses of Harrison township; John, living in California; Robert, a farmer of Illinois township ; Joseph, deceased.
Henry Hilbert retired from the farm in 1908, and is now living a retired life in Corning. He is one of the charter members of the. Corn- ing Grand Army post, and is universally esteemed as an excellent citi- zen.
Clarkson A. Hilbert was reared to young manhood on the pioneer farm in Harrison township, and attended the Harris district school. When seventeen years old, he entered 'Lecompton University, Kansas, located in Douglas county, and studied in that institution for three terms, studying bookkeeping and kindred subjects. He then worked out as a farm hand for one year prior to renting a farm in December, 1892. He rented land for six years in section 13 of Illinois township, and was enabled to buy the tract in 1898. This farm is well improved, and is located about three miles north of Corning. When Mr. Hilbert
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became the owner, he built a new home of eight rooms, erected a large barn forty feet square and practically rebuilt all of the fencing, which was in a delapidated state. He built his barn in 1904, and completed his residence in 1905. The Hilbert farm comprises 220 acres of land in a high state of cultivation. In March of 1915, Mr. Hilbert engaged in the grain business at Corning in partnership with E. A. Miller.
Clarkson A. Hilbert was married December 22, 1892, to Miss Nettie J. Kline, born February 22, 1873, in Perry county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Jacob L. and Mary E. (Crow) Kline, natives of Penn- sylvania, who immigrated to Nemaha county, Kansas, in 1882, and made a settlement in Illinois township. Mrs. Hilbert attended Pleasant Ridge school, district No. 17. Jacob L. Kline, her father, was born June 11, 1836, in Prairie county, Pennsylvania, and died June 5, 1915. His demise occurred in the Hilbert home, resulting from illness which came upon him, in western Kansas, near Garden City, whither he had gone to homestead a tract of government land. He was married to Mary E. Crow, May 14, 1871. They were the parents of two children, namely: Mrs. Nettie J. Hilbert, and George A., born September 14, 1875, a resident of Kansas City, Mo. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson Hilbert, namely: Mary E., a teacher in the Nemaha county schools ; Floyd O., the first born, is deceased ; Ctr- tis C., graduate of the Corning High School; Urbin R., deceased; Lester and Gertrude E.
Mr. Hilbert is allied with the Republican party, and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. For the past eighteen years, he has been a member of the district school board. Mr. and Mrs. Hil- bert are members of the United Brethren and the Methodist churches, respectively.
Edward S. Vernon, retired pioneer and Union veteran of Corning, Kans., has fought bravely in two great struggles during his long life, the first of which was in defense of the Union, where he offered his life and faithful service in behalf of his country on the bloody battlefields of the Southland ; the second was the equally brave. fight which he and his young wife waged on the Nemaha county prairies in the creation of a home in order that they might rear their family in comfort and have a competence in their decling years. They won-inasmuch as they were made of the material which is inherent in the American pioneers. After years of industry and honest striving to make a beautiful country home and a fruitful farm on the prairie, they are enabled to live in peaceful retirement in their comfortable home near the school grounds, where daily they take enjoyment from the happy play of the children of their friends and neighbors.
Edward S. Vernon was born near Zanesville, Ohio, November 13, 1842, and is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Spry) Vernon, to whom four children were born, one of whom, John W., recently died in Corn- ing; the second was Mrs. Eliza J. Woolard, deceased; William A., Osceola, Iowa, and Edward S., subject of this review.
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Samuel Vernon, his father, was born on a farm in Muskingum county, Ohio, June 12, 1810, and was a son of John and Elizabeth (Bowers) Vernon, the former of whom was a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, born January II, 1788, and died July 31, 1866. Mrs. Eliza- beth Vernon, grandmother of Edward S., was born November 24, 1790, and died April 25, 1880. It will thus be seen that Mr. Vernon is de- scended from pure American ancestry.
Edward S. Vernon was reared amid the rugged hills of his native county in Ohio and received his elementary schooling in a log school house, which he attended until the call came from President Lincoln for troops with which to quell the rebellion of the Southern States. He enlisted December 18, 1861, in Company F. Seventy-eighth Ohio in- fantry. Upon its formation the regiment was sent immediately to Fort Donelson, Tenn., and later the young soldier received his first baptism of fire at the great battle of Shiloh. The fighting from then on was continuous, and he fought in all of the fierce engagements around Vicksburg until the surrender of the city by General Pemberton with 30,000 Confederates. July 22, 1864, his command witnessed and took part in the fall of Atlanta, and he accompanied General Sherman's grand army in its victorious march from Atlanta to the sea, marching afoot all the way. He received his honorable discharge from the service July II, 1865, at Louisville, Ky. At the close of his service he was sergeant of his company. He was appointed corporal March I, 1863, and was appointed sergeant July 23, 1864. He at once returned home, and after farming with his father for a year, he rented a farm in the home neighborhood for three years. He then listened to the call of the great West for settlers to assist in the building up of a new domain as part of the United States, and he decided to come to Kansas in search of a permanent home. He and Mrs. Vernon came by train as far as Topeka, and then drove overland to the site of his homestead in section 32, Illinois township. His first house was a story and a half building, 16x24 feet in size. During 1875 a school session of three months was held in this then pretentious home, probably because it was larger than the average pioneer home. In the course of time Mr. and Mrs. Vernon prospered and added to their possessions until they owned 240 acres of land, which Mr. Vernon cultivated until 1897, and then retired to a home in Corning.
Mr. Vernon was married in 1866 to Miss Martha Stiers, who was born September 22, 1846, at Adamsville, Ohio, and is a daughter of John W. and Cornelia (Bagley) Stiers. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Vernon, as follows: Samuel W., a ranchman at Delta, Colo .; Frank W., Olathe, Colo .; Newton L., farming the Vernon home place in Illinois township; Mrs. Mae Maneval, Corning; Edward G., Law- rence, Kans.
Mr. and Mrs. Vernon are members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Vernon is a stanch Republican, who has taken an active part in civic
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and political affairs in his township and county. He filled the post of trustee of Illinois township, and served as a member of the school board of district No. 66 for twenty-one years, and was a member of the Corning school board for three years. He still takes an active interest in county affairs, and is usually found in the forefront of all matters tending to advance the interests of his home county and adopted State, which he has assisted so materially in making. He is greatly interested in the Grand Army of the Republic and is a valued and influential member of this once mighty organization. He was appointed commander of the Corning Grand Army Post in 1883, and filled this honorable position for eighteen years in all.
Frecey A. Clark, manager of the Corning Telephone Company, and owner and manager of the Electric theatre at Corning, is among the most progressive business men of the community. He is making a suc- cess of this business enterprise and is only waiting for bigger fields to open up before expanding his interests.
Mr. Clark was born November 25, 1889, in Harrison township, near Kelly, Kans. He is a son of James and Sarah B. (Shaffer) Clark. An- other son, Bert, is deceased. James Clark was born near Seneca, Kans., in 1867. He farmed practically all of his life prior to 1901. For two. years he managed the hotel in Corning. Then he worked in the cream- ery and also for the Lueck General Merchandise Company. He is now employed by the Brown-Smith general merchandise store, of Corning, and is constable of Illinois township. Mr. Clark is a Republican in pol- itics. The mother of Frecey Clark was born in Iowa.
Frecey Clark attended district school in Oklahoma and public school in Corning. He began working for the telephone company in 1907, and in 1913 was promoted to the managership. This rise speaks for itself concerning Mr. Clark's future and his ability. He opened a motion picture theatre in 1915, which is showing two pictures a week. He was married May 11, 1913, to Dottie Allen, daughter of Erve and Elizabeth (Wion) Allen. She was born near Corning, Kans., September 29, 1890. Her parents were early settlers, who still live on their farm in Illinois township. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark. They live in an excellent modern home in Corning and are among the most promising young people of the town.
Leonard M. Shaefer, a leading farmer and stockman of Home town- ship, Nemaha county, Kansas, was born in Ulster county, New York, July 4, 1865. His parents were Adam and Wilhelmina (Smith) Shaefer, to whom were born five sons and a daughter. Adam Shaefer, his father, was born in Germany in 1827, and left his native land when twenty- seven years old, in 1854. On the same ship on which he sailed was his intended wife. He settled in New York and worked in a glass factory at Ellenville, N. Y., until 1871. He took his savings in that year and came West for the purpose of making a home for himself and his family on the prairies of Nemaha county, Kansas. He made a settlement on sec-
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tion 26, in Home township, and paid $7 an acre for land, which has since increased in value many times. The first home of the Shaefers was a small affair, 16x20 feet in dimensions, with a small "leanto" kitchen. He lived on this tract for twenty years, and was a herder and feeder of cattle for many years. At this time, when Mr. Shaefer settled in Home town- ship, there were great tracts as yet unpeopled, which were used for cattle ranges, and Leonard Shaefer rode horseback for several seasons while looking after his father's herds as they grazed upon the prairie. Adam Shaefer died in 1892. His wife, Wilhelmina, was born in Germany, March 25, 1832, and died in March, 1904. The marriage of Adam and Wilhelmina Shaefer took place at Ellenville, N. Y. Both were members of the Lutheran Church.
Leonard M. Shaefer was five years old when the family settled in Nemaha county, and he soon learned to enjoy the freedom of the great outdoors and especially liked to ride horseback over the country and cheerfully herded cattle during the long summer seasons. He attended the Armstrong school and district No. 73, and received as much school- ing as the average Kansas boy in those days. He has always lived on the home farm of the Shaefers, and came into possession of the home place upon the death of his parents. Since becoming the owner of his 160-acre tract, he has built a handsome nine-room residence and made other substantial improvements, which have enhanced the value of his place. A three-acre wood planted by the elder Shaefer assists in beauti- fying the Shaefer home place and affords fuel and lumber for the farm. Mr. Shaefer is a member of the Farmers Union at Centralia.
He was married in 1890 to Susan Casto, who was born in Missouri in 1871. She is a daughter of William Casto, who came to Nemaha county and engaged in raising cattle and other live stock. He, William, died in Home township. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Shaefer, as follows: Mrs. Gertrude Myers, living near Sabetha; Al- bert, living in Idaho; Arthur, attending school at Grand Island, Neb .; Lloyd, at home with his parents.
Mr. Shaefer is a Republican. He and Mrs. Shaefer are active mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, and lead honest and kindly lives, at peace with all of their neighbors and highly esteemed by all who know them for their many good qualities. Mr. Shaefer is affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen lodge of Centralia.
Robert E. Wilson .- Fortune has certainly smiled upon Robert E. Wilson, of Home township, since his locating in Nemaha county, Kans., a little over twenty years ago. His home farm in Home township is well improved and highly productive as a result of his skill as a farmer, and his shrewd financial ability and good management have enabled him to become the owner of 1,120 acres of land, including a section of prairie land in Thomas county, Kansas.
Mr. Wilson was born in Davis county, Missouri, March 4, 1871, and is a son of Elwood C. and Sarah Ann (Handruth) Wilson, to whom
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