USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
On January 15. 1916, Mr. Eskelson suffered an attack of heart disease while entering an interurban railway car in front of the Baldwin hotel in Hutchinson to return to his home near Kent station and before medical assistance could be secured was dead. Mr. Eskelson for many years had been regarded as one of the leaders of the considerable Swedish colony in this county and his sudden death was widely mourned by his many friends. He was an ardent Republican and had served his home township in the capacity of trustce and as treasurer. He and his wife were earnest mem- bers of the Swedish Lutheran church at Hutchinson and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, namely: The late John Eskelson, who at the time of his death was the owner of eighteen hun- dred acres of land in Clay township, his widow now being the largest land-
157
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
owner in Clay township; Peter, born on October 28, 1848, a well-known retired farmer living on his fine farm in Clay township; Christine, who mar- ried Allman Peterson, a Clay township farmer, both now deceased; Mollie, wife of Jacob C. Hartshorn, of Los Angeles, California; Lena, wife of James Freese, of Hutchinson, and Hannah, wife of Peter Strandberg, a well- known farmer of Clay township, living on the old Eskelson homestead.
ANDREW JACKSON HUCKLEBERRY, JR.
Andrew Jackson Huckleberry, Jr., one of Reno county's best-known young practical farmers and an extensive buyer of horses and mules, whose operations extend all over the plains and mountain states, is a native of Texas, having been born in the town of San Angelo, in Tom Green county, that state, on December 28, 1884. son of Andrew Jackson and Lilly ( Hum- phrey ) Huckleberry, pioneers of this county, who were temporarily residing in Texas at that time, the former of whom is still living in this county, at the age of seventy-eight, and the latter, born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1852, died in 1903.
The senior Andrew J. Huckleberry, who is a remarkably well-preserved old gentleman and who is still living on his fine place in Salt Creek town- ship, which has been his home since 1872, the year after the first permanent settlement in Reno county, is one of the most interesting figures hereabout, a veteran of the Civil War, a gentleman of much learning and wide infor- mation, widely traveled, courtly in his ways, after the manner of the old school, and a most engaging conversationalist. He is a Hoosier by birth, having been born in Clark county, Indiana, on the banks of the Ohio river. He received an excellent education and as a young man was engaged as bookkeeper on one of the fast packets then plying the waters of the Ohio, later being promoted to the position of shipping clerk. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted in the Fourth Indiana Cavalry and served for four years, participating in all the notable engagements taken part in by that gal- lant regiment, including the battles of Chattanooga and Murfreesboro, and marched with Sherman to the sea.
At the close of the war, Mr. Huckleberry settled in Saline county, Mis- souri, where he shortly afterward married Lilly Humphrey. a Kentucky girl then living there, and successfully engaged in business. In the spring of 1872, attracted by the promising possibilities presented in this part of
158
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
Kansas, he came to Reno county, the first permanent settlement having been made here the year before, and homesteaded a quarter of section 20, town- ship 23. range 7 west. in Salt Creek township, and there made his permanent home. To this tract he later added, by purchase, an adjoining quarter sec- tion, and on this well-kept and admirably-improved old home place he is now spending in quiet comfort the pleasant "sunset time" of his life. Mr. Huckleberry was among the very first settlers of Salt Creek township. He came to Reno county with about fourteen hundred dollars in money and among his other possessions, most precious in the pioneer community, were three head of mules, a team of horses and a new wagon, he having been the first man in the township to own a team of horses or mules. One of the other settlers was the proud possessor of one horse and one ox, which he used effectively in team work. The early settlers were glad to bargain with Mr. Huckleberry for work on his place, taking in pay therefor the use of his teams with which to haul buffalo bones to Hutchinson, at that time a flourishing market for these "natural products of the soil." As a pioneer, Mr. Huckleberry passed through all the hardships of the grasshopper plague and the later plagues of flame and drought and his vivid recollections of that period form an inexhaustible and accurate source of information regarding that unhappy chapter in the history of Reno county. In the early eighties Mr. and Mrs. Huckleberry left this county, the state of Mrs. Huckleberry's health at that time seeming to require a change of climate, and for fifteen years were in residence elsewhere, first living in Texas, then in Arkansas and then in New Mexico. Though ever regarding his homestead place in Salt Creek township as his permanent home and being pleasantly situated there in the household of his son, who for some time has been the practical manager of the place, Mr. Huckleberry has spent much of his time in travel and is thus a man of wide and general information. He is a member of the Methodist church at Partridge and ever has displayed a proper interest in good works hereabout. He is a Republican and while giving a good citizen's attention to the political affairs of the county, never has been a candidate for public office. Besides his son, the junior A. J. Huckleberry, Mr. Huckle- berry has a daughter. Ada, who married William C. Layman and lives on a farm south of Arlington, this county.
.A. J. Huckleberry, Jr., was but a small boy when his parents returned to Reno county to make their definite home. During the period of his school days his parents moved to Hutchinson in order that he might live there and receive the benefits of the city schools. Upon completing the common- school course, he attended the State Agricultural College at Manhattan. In
159
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
1903 he married and for some years past has been in active charge of the old home farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Salt Creek township, where he makes his home. Most of his time, however, is spent in buying horses, his operations in this line taking him all over the plains and monn- tain states, he being one of the most extensive dealers in horses and mules in Kansas. Upon the outbreak of armed hostilities in Europe in 1914, he contracted with the British, French and Italian governments to furnish ani- mals for war purposes and has shipped since then more than two thousand horses and mules.
On May 9, 1903, A. J. Huckleberry, Jr., was united in marriage to Maud Gregg, who was born in Worth county, Missouri, daughter of the late William M. Gregg and wife. Mrs. Huckleberry's mother is a resident of this county, her home being in Enterprise township.
GEORGE TURBUSH.
George Turbush, one of the leading factors in the mercantile and bank- ing circles of Nickerson, Reno county, Kansas, has for many years been identified with the progressive element of this section. His birth is recorded as having taken place on June 22, 1845, in Albany, New York, where he was reared. For nearly four years prior to his removal to this part of the country, he was engaged with the Clinton Wire Company, of Clinton, Mas- sachusetts. Terminating his connections with this concern, he removed to this county, where he arrived in January, 1874.
Just the year previous to the last named date, George Turbush was united in marriage to Helen A. Haskins, a native of New York state, and to their union were born these children: Elmer E. and Ernest F., both born in this state. Elmer E. was married to Anna Foley, and is living in Denver. Colorado, while Ernest married Nellie Shears and resides in Nickerson, Kansas. The wedding of George Turbush and Helen Haskins was solemn- ized in January, 1873. Soon after his marriage, George Turbush became the owner of a soldier's homestead, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, which he sold in 1883. He then entered the hardware business in Hutchinson, Kansas, and continned in that place and enterprise for a period of ten years. Some three years prior to the termination of his business con- nections in Hutchinson, Kansas, he had engaged in the same business in Nickerson, Kansas, to which place he finally removed. While in Hutchin-
160
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
son, Kansas, he was the president and manager of the Hutchinson Hard- ware Company. For ten years he served his community as its mayor and has also been a director of the Nickerson State Bank, of which institution he was also one of the incorporators.
George Turbush enlisted for service in the Civil War in December, 1863, in the Eighth Regiment, of the Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war under General Sheridan. He is now a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is also a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to the chapter and commandery. In his religious affiliations he is connected with the Congregational church.
GEORGE R. BOWSER.
The late George R. Bowser, who, at the time of his death, in 1901, was regarded as one of the largest landowners and most substantial and success- ful farmers of Lincoln township, this county, was a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in Armstrong county, that state, July 18, 1837, son of John and Julia Ann (Burnhanı) Bowser, both natives of the same county, farm- ing people of the sturdy sort, members of the Church of the Brethren, com- monly called Dunkards, frugal in their ways and earnest in all their doings.
In 1854 John Bowser and his family and Jonathan Martin, a neighbor, and the latter's family, decided to push on out of Pennsylvania into the then West. The two families, disposing of their lands and all their belongings save such portables as they conveniently could pack into their wagons as a nucleus for the housekeeping that would be necessary in their new homes, drove out of Pennsylvania, through Ohio and through Indiana into Illinois, in which latter state they bought farms near each other in Schuyler county and established new homes in what was then practically pioneer country, and there John Bowser and his wife and Jonathan Martin and his wife spent their last days, having established comfortable homes in the midst of their broad acres in which their declining years were passed.
When the long journey from Pennsylvania was made there were two youthful members of the party who, even then were sweethearts, George R. Bowser, then seventeen years of age, and Jane Martin, slightly the lad's junior. She, too, had been born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, daugh- ter of Jonathan and Lydia ( Sylvus) Martin, both also natives of Pennsyl- vania and farmers, who left their home a few miles north of Kittanning,
MR. AND MRS. GEORGE R. BOWSER.
٠
16I
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
along the Allegheny river, together with the Bowsers, to make their home in Illinois, in which latter state they spent the rest of their lives, Mrs. Mar- tin, who was born in 1820, dying in 1865; her husband, who was born in 1818, surviving until 1904. George R. Bowser and Jane Martin grew to maturity on their neighboring farms in Illinois and on March II, 1861, were married. After his marriage, George R. Bowser rented farm lands in Illi- nois and lived there as a tenant farmer until 1868, by which time rents had become so high that he and his wife decided to push on farther West, seeking cheaper land, packing their necessary belongings in a covered wagon they and the two or three small children by which their union then had been blessed, moved over into Missouri, where the family made a home on rented land for eight years, at the end of which time they came to Kansas, locating in Reno county, arriving in Hutchinson on May 27, 1876. Mr. Bowser bought a farm on the "Sun City Trail" in Reno township and there he and his family made their home for four years. He then traded that tract for the relinquishment of a timber claim in Lincoln township, the same being the northwest quarter of section 24, of that township, and there established a permanent home. Several years later, when it came time to "prove up" his claim, he found that through no fault of his own all the provisions of the law governing the entry of timber claims had not been rigidly followed out and that he had no title to the land which he had improved and on which he had established a home. However, the land officers permitted him then to home- stead the place and thus he got title to it, after all.
When the Bowsers settled in this county they were very poor and had little but their willing hands and stout hearts to back them in the struggle which the pioneers of that period were compelled to undergo. The first few years, therefore, what with the bad seasons and the blighting winds, were discouraging, indeed, and it is not unlikely that if they had had funds suffi- cient to pay their passage out, they would have left the county, as so many others did during that time. But they "stuck it out," and in the end were greatly rewarded, for at the time of his death, on May 25, 1901, George R. Bowser was the owner of eleven hundred and eighty acres of fine land in this county and was besides independently rich in money, all made on the land and in the cattle and the hogs that he sent to market during the many active years of his life. Mr. Bowser was a Democrat and took a good citizen's part in the political life of his community, at one time serving the township as assessor. He and his wife were active members of the Harmony Baptist church in Lincoln township and did well their part in promoting proper con-
(IIa)
163
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
ditions of living during the early days when that community was being organized.
After the death of Mr. Bowser, his widow managed the farm for a few years, ever having been a strong, capable woman and an admirable manager, and during that time bought and paid for two farms, thus adding more to the family's already extensive landed wealth. She then decided to divide the estate among her seven children and each one received eleven thousand eight hundred dollars, or its equivalent in land, and Mrs. Bowser. still has a large annual cash income from the investments made with the remainder. Mrs. Bowser still makes her home on the old home place, which now is owned by her youngest son, Arthur, who is unmarried and also makes his home there. There were seven children born to George R. and Jane (Mar- tin) Bowser, as follow: Lemon, a well-to-do farmer, living near Darlow, in this county; Curtis, who lives on a three-hundred-and-twenty-acre farm on the Ninesca river in this county; Nettie, who married Louis B. Werkeiser, a big sugar-beet farmer near Greeley, Colorado; Frank, who lives in Ne- braska: George, who lives on a farm adjoining the old home place in Lincoln township; Arthur, who lives with his mother on the old home place, and Daisy, who married Clarence Hamilton and also lives on a farm in Lincoln township. The Bowser family is very properly regarded as one of the most substantial families in that part of the county and all the members of the same are held in high regard by their many friends thereabout.
LEMON BOWSER.
Lemon Bowser, a well-to-do and progressive farmer of Lincoln town- ship, this county, and one of the best-known men in the Darlow neighbor- hood. is a native of Illinois, having been born on a farm in Schuyler county, that state, March 6, 1862, eldest of the seven children born to George R. and Jane ( Martin) Bowser, both natives of Pennsylvania, who moved from that state with their respective parents to Illinois, where they were married, later moving to Missouri, whence they came to Kansas, locating in Reno county in 1876, becoming well known among the early pioneers of Lincoln township and large landowners, George R. Bowser having been, at the time of his death, in 1901, the owner of eleven hundred and eighty acres of fine land in this county. His widow is still living on the old homestead in Lin- coln township, where she enjoys many evidences of the respect and esteem
163
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
of that entire neighborhood. In a memorial sketch relating to the late George R. Bowser, presented elsewhere in this volume, there is set out a full history of this interesting pioneer family, to which the reader is respect- fully referred in this connection.
Lemon Bowser was about six years of age when his parents moved from Illinois to Harrison county, Missouri, and in the latter place he received what meager schooling he was able to get in his youth, but as he was the eldest child and his parents at that time were not in affluent circum- stances by any means, he was kept busy on the farm assisting his father even from a very early age and his attendance at school was quite limited. He was fourteen years old when the family came to Kansas and settled in this county, having driven through in two covered wagons, driving seven head of cattle, and after that he had even less opportunity for schooling, for the manifold tasks of developing the pioneer farm on the old "Sun City Trail" required all the assistance he could give his father. In 1881 the family moved to what became the Bowser homestead in Lincoln township and there Lemon Bowser lived until his marriage, in 1888, working dili- gently in his parents' behalf, a large factor in getting them well started on the road which led to their eventual wealth. After his marriage, Lemon Bowser for a few years rented land in Lincoln township and in 1892 bought the northeast quarter of section 22, in that same township, the farm on which he ever since has made his home, and straightway began to improve the same and has since added to this quarter an eighty adjoining, it not being long until he had one of the best-developed places in that section, and in the Elmer neighborhood he has an eighty-acre tract. In ICOI he erected his present comfortable and commodious farm house, and the other buildings of the farm are in keeping with the same. In addition to his general farm- ing, Mr. Bowser is also largely interested in the raising of purebred Perche- ron horses, his colts of that strain being in wide demand throughout that section. He also is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of pasture land in Minnescah township, which he inherited from his father, and is accounted one of the substantial men of his neighborhood. In other affairs he has displayed a good citizen's activity and is now president of the Darlow Telephone Company, previous to his elevation to the head of that concern having been treasurer of the company. Mr. Bowser is an ardent Socialist in his political views and is one of the most vigorous advocates of the prin- ciples of that party in this county.
On August 22. 1888, Lemon Bowser was united in marriage to Martha E. Tharp, who was born in West Virginia, daughter of John and Mary
164
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
Jane Tharp, for years well-known pioneer residents of Reno county, who moved to Oklahoma in 1900, where Mrs. Tharp died in 1915 and where Mr. Tharp still makes his home, and to this union two children have been born, Grover, born in 1889, who married Minnie Klein and lives on a farm in the Elmer neighborhood in this county, and Earl, born in 1892, who lives at home with his parents. The Bowsers have many warm friends in Lincoln township and throughout the county and are held in high regard by all.
GEORGE B. SHORT.
George B. Short. a well-known and progressive young farmer of Salt Creek township, this county, is a native son of Reno county, having been born on a farm in Salt Creek townhsip, not far from his present place of residence, October 6, 1887, son of George M. and Mary (Crook) Short, both natives of Greene county, Illinois, where they grew up and where they were married, the former of whom, born in 1858, died on February II, 19II, and the latter, born on March 6, 1863, is still living, making her home with her children.
In 1884, not long after their marriage, George M. Short and his wife left Illinois and came to Kansas, settling in Reno county and buying an unimproved tract in Salt Creek township. Mr. Short improved that place, erecting substantial buildings on the same and brought the farm to an excel- tent state of cultivation and there the family made their home until 1899, in which year he sold the farm and bought the southwest quarter of section 34, in the same township, the old T. B. Hand farm, one of the first tracts brought under cultivation in Salt Creek township in pioneer days. Two years later Mr. Short bought the "eighty" adjoining on the south, across the line in Center township, and on the new place he spent the rest of his life, except the last year, when he lived in Partridge, being accounted one of the most substantial farmers in the neighborhood, in addition to his general farming being also an extensive feeder of live stock, making a specialty of the raising of purebred Poland China hogs. Mr. Short was a Democrat and took an active part in local politics, having been an office-holder in Salt Creek township during nearly all of the time of his residence there, serving the township variously in the several capacities of trustee, clerk and in other ways. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Modern Woodmen of America, in the affairs of both of which orders
165
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
he took a warm interest, and during their residence in Illinois he and his wife were members of the United Brethren church. They were the parents of four children, namely: Howard C., who lives on a farin near Bluffton. Arkansas; George B., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch ; Mayo W., unmarried, who lives at Newton, this state, and Mrs. Annabelle White, who lives on a farm in Center township, this county.
Following his schooling in the district school in the neighborhood of his home, George B. Short attended the county high school at Nickerson for four years and worked on his father's farm until his marriage, in 1910. after which, for three years, he was engaged in the transfer business at Partridge. Upon the death of his father, in 1911, he was made administra- tor of the latter's estate and in 1914 moved onto the home farm and has ever since made his home there, doing well with his agricultural operations. Mr. Short is a Democrat and during his residence in Partridge rendered excellent public service as a member of the city council.
In February, 1910, George B. Short was united in marriage to Sylvia W. Hand, who was born on the pioneer homestead on which she now lives. daughter of T. B. Hand and wife, pioneers of Salt Creek township, the former of whom is now deceased and the latter living in California, and to this union one child has been born, a daughter, Beatrice, born on December 25, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Short take an active interest in the general social affairs of their neighborhood and are held in high esteem by their many friends throughout that neighborhood. Mr. Short is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Partridge and takes an active interest in the affairs of that popular order.
GEORGE WASHINGTON MOURN.
George Washington Mourn, one of the best-known pioneer farmers of Reno county, proprietor of a fine farm in Valley township and for many years one of the leaders in the community life of that neighborhood, is a Virginian, having been born in Monroe county, that state (now in West Virginia), February 27. 1841, son of Hoke and Jane Mourn, both natives of that same state, the former of whom was killed by a fall from a hay loft in 1859. Hoke Mourn and wife were the parents of four children. three sons and one daughter, the latter of whom is dead, the subject of this sketch having two brothers, James and Edward. The Widow Mourn mar-
166
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS.
ried, secondly. Herbert Shorthold, and died in McLean county, Illinois, in 1878.
George W. Mourn attended school during his boyhood in a log school house five miles from his home, walking that distance twice each day dur- ing the school terms. He was reared to detest the slave-holding system and when the Civil War broke out his sympathies were with the cause of the Union. Despite his violent opposition to secession, however, he was forced into the service of the Confederate army by conscription, but presently man- aged to desert and took service with the cause of the North as fireman on the government steamboat "Victor 2," continuing such service on the Ohio and Big Kanawha rivers for three years. He had married in 1861 and in the fall of 1865 returned to West Virginia and began working as a carpen- ter for his brothers-in-law, Henry O. and William M. Smith, the latter of whom afterward became a contracting carpenter in Hutchinson, this county. In 1868 George W. Mourn and family and one of Mrs. Mourn's brothers started West with a three-horse team and wagon. Upon reaching Missouri the brother became ill and the party stopped in Boone county, that state, where they remained three years, at the end of which time, in November, 1871, Mr. Mourn and his family came to Kansas, locating in Reno county. thus becoming among the very earliest settlers of this county. Mr. Mourn homesteaded eighty acres and a timber claim of one hundred and sixty acres in section 32. Valley township. and there established his home. He built a shanty of box boards and settled down to the strenuous task of developing his claim. In the spring of 1872 he "broke" ten acres and got in a bit of corn. That same year he worked with the construction crew of the Santa Fe Railroad Company and thus made a little ready cash. Buffaloes at that time were still plentiful on the plains and the family had no difficulty in obtaining fresh meat, but other supplies were not so easily obtained, Newton, the nearest market and postoffice, being twenty-five miles away; while Mr. Mourn had to drive eighty miles to mill the first few years he lived in this county. When the grasshoppers came, in 1874, he saved his cabbage patch by keeping wet grass fires about the patch for two weeks.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.