USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 70
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For two years following his discharge from the Union service, Mr. Phillips was employed in a New York nursery. In 1869 he came to Nemaha county, Kansas, in search of a homestead and eventually found it in one of the garden spots of the great West. For ten years he worked at his trade of carpenter and farmed in the meantime in Capioma town- ship. In 1879, he bought eighty acres in section 23, this township, and improved it with a home and buildings, trees and shrubbery. He later added another eighty acres, located in section 22, and now owns a quar- ter section of fine land. His second "eighty" was improved at the time of purchase. Of late years this aged veteran has been taking life easy and has turned over the management of the farm to his son.
In the same year of his departure for Kansas, Mr. Phillips was mar- ried to Francelia Potter, who was born in Jefferson county, New York, February 12, 1843, and departed this life in February, 1893. Three chil- dren were born to this marriage, as follows: Daniel, a mining engineer employed in old Mexico; William, married Nellie Partridge, and is farm- ing the home place ; Fred, a locomotive engineer employed on the Great Northern railway at Livingston, Mont. Four children have been born to William and Nellie Phillips, as follows: Grace, Kathryn, Helen and Mary. For the past ten years Mr. Phillips has lived happily and con- tentedly with his son and daughter-in-law, whom he has known and loved since her babyhood.
Mr. Phillips is a stanch Republican in his political belief and it is a matter of pride with him that he cast his first vote for Abraham Lin- coln for President while on the field of battle, although his vote neces- sarily had to be sent from his headquarters to his home precinct for counting. During his residence in Capioma township, he has filled prac- tically every township office, such as trustee, clerk and treasurer of the township. He is a member of the Sabetha Grand Army Post, and en- joys the distinction of being without doubt the oldest living pioneer settler in Capioma township.
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William M. King, proprietor of a half section of land in Capioma and Adams townships, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, Oc- tober 15, 1868, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Lanning) King, to whom were born eleven children, eight of whom are living. George King was a farmer in Pennsylvania and died when William M. was seven years old. He was born in 1835. Mrs. Elizabeth King was born in Pennsylvania in 1834, a sister of John Lanning, of Sabetha, and is now living at Connellsville, Pa.
William M. King left his native State in 1883 and came to Sabetha, Kans. He worked as farm hand and was employed in a lumber yard until he rented a farm north of Woodlawn, in Capioma township. He rented this farm until 1899, and then bought an eighty-acre tract in sec- tion 19, Capioma township. He has made many improvements on his place and has added to his acreage until he owns 320 acres in Capioma and Adams townships as a reward for his industry and good financial management.
Mr. King was married to Hattie Bladget, November 5, 1890, and four children have been born to this union, as follows: Ernest, Lester, Clay- ton and Gale. Mrs. King was born in Nemaha county, October 1, 1873, and is a daughter of Richard and Melissa (Rhea) Bladget, who are living on a farm in Capioma township.
Mr. King is a Republican, but finds no time for politics and prefers to devote his whole time and attention to the needs of his large farm and his growing family of children. He and Mrs. King are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
William E. Thompson, farmer and stockman, Capioma township, was born at Des Moines, Iowa, November 19, 1872, and is a son of Rev. Samuel F. and Margaret (Lytton) Thompson, who were the parents of four children, as follows: Fred D., Anderson county, Kansas ; William E., the subject of this review ; John A., living in Morris county, Kansas, and Walter, who died in infancy. Rev. Samuel F. Thompson was born at North Media, Il1., June 24, 1846, and was there reared and began his studies in preparation fo the Presbyterian ministry at Monmouth College. When the Civil war began, he abandoned his studies and enlisted for the Union service in an Illinois regiment of volunteers and served from February, 1864, to the time of his final discharge, in September, 1865. He resumed his ministerial studies after the close of the war and in the spring of 1870 he was sent by the United Presbytery as a missionary to Colorado, where he worked in behalf of his church denomination for twelve years. In 1882 he came to Nemaha county, Kansas, and rented a farm four miles south of Sabetha for a time. He also lived on a farm near Baileyville. In 1904 he moved to Morris county, Kansas, and is re- siding on a farm in that county. Rev. Samuel F. Thompson was twice married, his first marriage taking place with Margaret Lytton, Novem- ber 19, 1869, and she died in 1874. His second marriage took place February II, 1886, with Mary Marsh, who was born in Kentucky, and
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this union has been blessed with three children, as follows: Mrs. Hattie G. Roy, Morris county, Kansas; Earl F., Montana; Mrs. Helen G. Roy, Montana ; Mrs. Elsie M. Anderson, Morris county, Kansas.
William E. Thompson was reared on the farm and was educated in Harmony School. For six years he worked out as farm hand and at the age of nineteen years he rented a farm three miles south and a mile east of Sabetha. In 1892, he moved to Woodlawn and rented land in Cap- ioma township for ten years. With his savings he bought eighty acres south of the Woodlawn store, but sold this tract in 1907 and bought his present home farm of 160 acres, which he has improved considerably.
Mr. Thompson was married, April 12, 1899, to Miss Mary McCoy, born in Capioma township, August 6, 1876, a daughter of John and Mary (McFall) McCoy, whose biographies are given elsewhere in this volume. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, as follows: Irene, Leland, Helen, Richard, Lena and Harold. Mr. Thompson is a Republican in politics, and is an excellent citizen and an industrious farmer, who is esteemed by his many friends and acquaintances.
Emil R. Burky, prosperous farmer of Capioma township, was born June 3, 1868, in the canton of Berne, Switzerland. Since boyhood, he has been diligent and hard working and in his youth took charge of his father's farm while his father was working at his trade of carpenter.
He is the son of Daniel and Eliza (Rufenacht) Burky, natives of Switzerland, who were the parents of two children, as follows: Mrs. Emma McClain and Emil R., the subject of this review. Daniel Burky was born in April, 1842, in the canton of Berne, Switzerland, and learned the carpenter's trade in his youth. He became a contractor and builder and plied his vocation in Kansas after his immigration to Nemaha county, Kansas, in February, 1879. He first stopped in Sabetha and from there sent for his family, who followed him to this country in June of the same year. Mr. Burky lived in Sabetha and followed his trade until 1882, and then moved to Woodlawn, Kans. In 1884, he bought an unimproved tract of 120 acres in section 29 of Capioma township, and made his home thereon until 1908, when he retired to a home in Sabetha, where he died in 1909. Mrs. Burky, mother of Emil R., was born in Switzerland in December, 1847, and is now keeping house for her son, Emil.
Emil R. Burky, subject of this review, was eleven years old when the family left Switzerland. He had studied in the French schools in his native land and after coming to Kansas he continued his studies while taking care of his father's farm. While he was still a youth the care of the farm devolved upon him, because his father was kept busily employed with his building operations. He became a student at the Baptist Seminary at Morrill, Kans., in 1900, and two years later he studied at Campbell College, Holton, Kans. This study was under- taken with a view to prepare himself for the teaching profession, which he followed for seven years in Brown and Nemaha counties with ex-
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.cellent success. In the meantime he created one of the best improved farms in Nemaha county from the tract of prairie land which his father purchased in 1884. His success as an agriculturist is attested by the fact that he increased the land holdings from the original 120 acres to the large total of 400 acres, and has achieved some reputation as a live stock breeder. Sixty acres of the Burky farm is sown to alfalfa, and - the farm produces over 100 head of cattle annually. For the past year Mr. Burky has been engaged in the breeding of sheep, and has proven that sheep are money producers on Kansas land. He has also dealt ex- tensively in mules, and of late has embarked in the breeding of Perch- eron horses, and maintains an excellent stud on his farm.
Mr. Burky is an independent Republican, who is one of the leaders of his party in Nemaha county. He served as justice of the peace, school trustee and township clerk, and was a candidate for registrar of deeds on the Republican ticket in 1908, but was defeated by the very narrow margin of ninety votes by John M. Taylor. He is a member of the Baptist Church and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica and the Knights and Ladies of Security. The Burky farm is a very historic one because of the fact that the old Atchsison trail crosses the south quarter section in section 32, and on the northeast eighty the old north trail was plainly marked in the early days.
Oscar S. Ashley, owner of a fine farm of 160 acres in Capioma town- ship, is a progressive and enterprising agriculturist who is a specialist in animal husbandry. He has achieved more than a local reputation as a breeder of Durham cattle and Percheron horses and has made a striking sticcess as a citizen and farmer.
Mr. Ashley was born at Laporte, Ind., April 25, 1856, and is the only son of Elburtus and Mary (Spaulding) Ashley. Elburtus M. Ashley, his father, was born at Hartland, Vt., February II, 1828, and became a car- penter. When a young man he removed to Laporte, Ind. From Indiana he went to Wisconsin and became a pioneer in that State. He removed to Black Hawk county, Iowa, in 1857, and was also a pioneer in that state. His thorough American ancestry caused him to enlist on August 15, 1862, in Company D, Thirty-first Iowa Volunteers, and he was made sergeant of his company. Mr. Ashley participated with his regiment in many hard fought battles during the Civil war, and he accompanied Gen- eral Sherman's command in its historic march from Atlanta to the sea, and received his final discharge from the service at the close of the war. After the war, he followed his trade of mill wright and carpenter in Iowa until 1872, and then migrated to Nemaha county, Kansas, arriving at Sa- betha on October II, 1872. During the following winter, he worked at his trade in the growing village, and in the spring of 1873, he rented land two miles south of Sabetha where he lived for fifteen years while tilling different farms. For some years he cultivated the farm owned by Louis Turner, his father-in-law. Mr. Ashley died at the home of his daughter in Capioma township in 1882. He was twice married. His first wife,
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Mary Spaulding, born November 17, 1837, and was married June 10, 1855, and she died October 13, 1857. In 1860, Mr. Ashley was again mar- ried to Mary Ann Turner, a native of Laporte City, Iowa, and who bore him three children, as follows: Mrs. Flora Cady, of Vermont; Mrs. Minnie Glenn, wife of Thomas Glenn, of Capioma township; Birdie, wife of Charles Glenn, Capioma township.
Oscar S. Ashley was reared to young manhood on his father's farm, and lived at Laporte City, Iowa, until fourteen years of age, and attended school in his native State. After coming to Kansas with his parents in 1872, he finished his schooling at Sabetha when the school building con- sisted of one small room. He remained with his father on the farm in Rock Creek township until 1883, and then rented land for a few years. In 1885, he moved to a farm of eighty-seven acres near Price, Kans., given to Mrs. Ashley by her father, which he improved with buildings, orchard and well, and farmed this tract until he sold it in 1908. He then bought 160 acres in section 2, Capioma township, which was improved at the time of his purchase. Mr. Ashley raises wheat, oats, alfalfa, and corn, and has the only ten acre plot of prairie hay in Capioma town- ship. He specializes in Durham cattle and Percheron horses.
Mr. Ashley was married December 31, 1882, at the old Trees homestead in Brown county, Kansas, to Sarah Rebecca, daughter of Andrew Jackson Trees, a Kansas pioneer whose biography is given else- where in this volume. Mrs. Ashley was born in Clermont county, Ohio, November 28, 1858. Four generations of the Trees family were living until recently. Mr. and Mrs. Ashley are the parents of ten children, as follows: Wesley, born September 5, 1883, and died May 10, 1895; Bernal, born November 27, 1885, and is assistant auditor for the Metro- poiitan Street Railway Company at Kansas City, Mo,; Blanche, widow of Frank McNergney, lives with her parents, and has a child, Quentin, born in April, 1911 ; Maud, born January 2, 1889, a teacher in the schools of Powhattan, Kans .; the fifth child died in infancy ; Zella, born April 19, 1892; Fannie, born January 5, 1894, a teacher in the Oneida schools; Fernie, born May 24, 1896; Frances H., born March 12, 1898; Dessie, born October 12, 1900, and died February II, 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Ash- ley are ambitious for their children's success in life, and have seen to it that each child has received the benefits of a good education. This is'a very commendable trait of theirs and is in keeping with their general progressive ideas.
The Democratic party has always had the allegience of Mr. Ashley, and he is a staunch supporter of Democratic principles. He has served as a member of the local school board in both Rock Creek and Capioma townships, and also filled the post of road overseer in Rock Creek town- ship. He is affiliated with the Central Protective Association, and is an all 'round good citizen, who is proud of the fact that he is a Kansas pio- neer, and he and Mrs. Ashley have good and just right to be proud of their fine family.
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Francis Marion Starns, Sr .- It is probable that an interesting vol- ume, entitled "Sixty Years in Kansas," could be written concerning the career of Francis M. Starns, the oldest retired pioneer and veteran of Sa- betha, Kans. He was not only a pioneer in the struggle to redeem a wil- derness of prairie and make it habitable for mankind, but he was actively engaged in the border warfare and the struggle to make Kansas a free State, and was one of the first in this section of the State to advocate the cause of prohibition, in behalf of which he has been a life long ad- vocate, espousing the cause of prohibition at a time when he incurred the hostility of even his friends and neighbors because of his outspoken tendencies in voicing his convictions.
Francis M. Starns was born at Geneva, Kane county, Illinois, De- cember 1, 1836, and is a son of James and Matilda (Ware) Starns, who were the parents of eight children, six of whom are living, as follows: Eliza, widow of William McBride, Jamestown, Kans .; Francis Marion, the subject of this review; William H., retired Civil war veteran, Ot- tumwa, Iowa ; James F., retired farmer, Sabetha, who was a soldier in the Eighth Kansas infantry ; Martha J., widow of John Fletcher, Pomona, Cal .; Milton J., a retired Civil war veteran of Salina, Kans. The other two children of the Starns family died in infancy, and it is a very re- markable, fact that there has not been a death among the children of James and Matilda Starns in seventy-five years. James Starns was born in East Tennessee, February 14, 1799, and was a son of William and Abigail (Crabtree) Starns, natives of Carolina and descendants of colonial ancestral stock. James died December 22, 1888. Matilda, his wife, was born near London, Madison county, Ohio, in 1809, and died in 1870. James and his wife came to Kansas and joined Francis M. in 1856, driving across the country via the ox wagon route.
In his younger days, Francis M. Starns followed the trade of brick maker and carpenter. When he was still young his parents moved from Illinois to Indiana, and in 1844, they made a settlement at Ot- tumwa, Iowa, where he received the major part of his schooling, at- tending school for about three months of the year. In 1856, he came to Kansas and settled on 160 acres of raw, unbroken prairie land, one and a half miles northeast of Sabetha, in Berwick township, Nemaha county. His parents came to the State during that same year, driving a team of oxen. They built a log cabin, which served as their first home in Kansas, and Francis M. tilled his land until the outbreak of the Civil war and then enrolled as a member of Company D, Eighth Kansas in- fantry. His greatest battle was at Chickamauga, where he was wounded in the right forearm and incapacitated for duty. He received his hon- orable discharge from the Union service at Nashville, Tenn., in 1864. and returned to his farm near Sabetha. It is well to remark here that he took part in the border warfare and was detailed by Jim Lane and John Brown for border service in keeping order along the border of Kansas and Missouri and protecting the State from forays of the border ruffians
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FRANCIS M. STARNS.
DR. W. G. BOUSE.
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and pro-slavery men. In those early days when towns were few and far between, there was not town on the site of Sabethia and his nearest trading point was White Cloud, Kans. Mr. Starns well remembers the famous "grasshopper years" and the hardships incidental to the loss of his crops-but time and patience changed conditions in Kansas and he prospered as the years rolled on, and he tilled his fine farm of 160 acres until his retirement to Sabetha in 1907, at which time he disposed of his acreage at a good price. He is well-to-do and is interested in the Mu- tual Telephone Company of Sabetha.
Mr. Starns has been three times married. His first marriage was in 1857, with Eugenie Archer, of Pontiac, Ill., and who died in 1858. His second marriage was in 1859, when he married Isa J. Vassar, born in Gentry county, Missouri, February 21, 1840, and died August 13, 1908. Seven children blessed this union, as follows: Mrs. Alice E. Haigh, Baldwin, Kans .; John F., a carpenter living at Fremont, Neb. ; Mrs. Mary Bird, Sabetha, Kans .; Martha, wife of E. P. Buck, deceased; Francis M., Jr., a blacksmith and auto dealer, Oneida, Kans .; Ada, de- ceased ; Nellie E., wife of B. Roberts, a carpenter. On September I, 1909, at Colorado Springs, Colo., he married Mary E. Offutt, born in Montgomery county, Maryland, August 17, 1845, and who came to Holt county, Missouri, with her parents when six years old. She attended the normal school at Peru, Neb., and the Oregon, Mo., Normal College, and taught in the district schools of Missouri for ten years.
Mr. Starns is a Prohibitionist in politics. Since 1884 he has been a sincere and active advocate of prohibition, and was one of the original prohibition men of Kansas. When he first advocated and talked in favor of prohibition among his Methodist Church brethren, his fellow members were not ready to adopt his views regarding the matter. He is a strict prohibitionist and has lived to see the cause which he has so consistently advocated during many long years gain ground year after year and has seen its spread and adoption in many States, cities and counties of the Union, and is hoping that the Almighty will spare him long enough to see his beloved cause a nation-wide affair and adopted by a national vote of all the people of the country.
Dr. William G. Bouse .- Among the professional men of Centralia, Kans., few stand higher in the esteem of the community or higher in their profession than Dr. William G. Bouse, general physician and sur- geon for the Missouri Pacific Railway Company. He enjoys in addition the large practice to which he is entitled by virtue of his medical and surgical skill.
Dr. Bouse was born December 27, 1876, in Lewis county, West Virginia, and is the son of Jesse S. and Amy (Clark) Bouse, to whom six children were born, one of whom is now dead, and of whom Dr. Bonse was the fourth child. His father was born in West Virginia in 1842. From 1862 to 1865, he was enlisted in the Union service under General Sheridan, serving in the cavalry. He fought valiantly for three
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years without being wounded. In 1880 he came to Whiting, Kans., where he farmed ten years, and then he moved to Holton, Kans., where he died in 1900. Jesse S. Bouse was the son of Jesse S. and Jennie (Nel- son) Bouse, both natives of Virginia. The family is of German origin. Dr. Bouse's mother was born in West Virginia in 1846, and is now living with Dr. Bouse.
Dr. Bouse resided on a farm in Jackson county, Kansas, and at- tended district school until he was nineteen years old. He then worked as a farm hand at $18 a month. In 1897 he went to Camden University, where he pursued a teacher's course. He taught school from 1899 until 1902, and then entered the medical college at Topeka, where he was graduated in 1906. The same year he went to Bancroft, Kans., and began his medical practice. Nine months later he moved to Wetmore, Kans., and in 1909, he moved to Centralia, where he has built up a large and remunerative practice. He owns a fine modern residence and office in Centralia. In 1905 he was married to Mary C. Nichols, who was born in 1881 at Holton, Kans. They have two children, Mary M., aged seven, and Alice E., aged three years. Mrs. Bouse was a teacher of art at one time and her exhibitions attracted wide and favorable attention among art lovers. She is the daughter of Raphael Angelo and Alice (Little) Nichols. Her father was born in Illinois and was a jeweler. The mother was born in Indiana and is still living in her native State.
Dr. Bouse is a member of these lodges: Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Modern Woodmen of America, Ancient Order of United Workmen and Knights and Ladies of Security. He is a Republican, but is not especially active in politics, as his medical practice keeps him very busy. There are few more skillful physicians and surgeons than Dr. Bouse and he has justly been prosperous because of his genius.in the medical profession.
William Smith .- The late William Smith, of Sabetha, was a very useful citizen who not only accomplished a great deal of good in behalf of his fellow citizens while a resident of this earthly habitation of ours, but he provided well for his family. He was a useful man in many ways; keenly interested in advancing the cause of better farming methods and improving the live stock of the neighborhood. He engaged in breeding of pure bred swine and achieved a great success in the venture; as a township official he was a great success, although an independent in politics and outspoken in his convictions. His honesty and integrity were proverbial and won him the respect and esteem of all his acquain- tances. Even after his retirement from active farm work he worked in behalf of the cause of education and became prominent in civic affairs in Sabetha.
William Smith was born at Galva, Ill., December 15, 1864, and was a son of John and Sarah (Lafferty) Smith, natives of Scotland and Ire- land, respectively. His father immigrated from Scotland when a young man and after a residence of some years in Illinois he came west in
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1858 and made a settlement in Capioma township, Nemaha county, Kansas, at a time when it was possible to pre-empt government land. He hauled cottonwood lumber for his house building from Atchison. This home stood for forty-five years and was burned in 1915. John Smith prospered in Kansas and was a live stock man who specialized in hogs. He became quite wealthy and was a large land owner before his demise, which occurred November 26, 1903.
William Johnson, who became prominent in Nemaha county, ac- companied Mr. Smith to Kansas in search of a homestead.
William Smith was six years of age when his parents came to Ne- maha county and he was reared to young manhood on the home farm in Capioma township. He attended Campbell College at Holton, Kans., after completing the course in the district schools and was considered to be a well read man. On his wedding day he received a gifty of eighty acres of land which formed the nucleus for his large farm of 320 acres which he accumulated with years of hard work and good management on his and his wife's part. For several years he was engaged in breed- ing Poland China swine, which he exhibited at different county fairs and live stock shows with fair success.
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