USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 17
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STEPHEN S. LEIGHTY.
Stephen S. Leighty, a well-to-do and well-known retired farmer of Lin- coln township, this county, now living in a pleasant home at 100 Eleventh avenue, east, in the city of Hutchinson, to which place he moved in the fall of 1911, he then having retired from the active labors of the farm, is a native of the great Keystone 'state, having been born on a farm in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1853, son of Stephen S. and Eliza (Hut- son ) Leighty, the former of whom was born on that same farm and the latter of whom was a native of the state of Maryland.
The senior Stephen S. Leighty grew to manhood on the farm on which he was born and upon the death of his parents bought the interests of the other heirs in the place and there spent all his days. He married Eliza Hut- son, who died in 1863, leaving nine children, as follow: William, a veteran of the Civil War, who now lives in Stafford county, this state; Henry, a farmer, living in McDonough county, Illinois: Catherine, who married Mil-
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S. S. Leighty D Family
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ton Blair and lives on a farm near the town of Prairie, in Oklahoma; Zach- ariah Taylor, a farmer of Fayette county, Pennsylvania; Rebecca, who mar- ried Joseph Piersol and also lives in Fayette county, Pennsylvania; Anna S., who lives in Stafford county, this state, widow of Robert Rankin; Stephen S., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Eliza J., who married Dempsey Woodward and lives in Ohio, and Agnes, who married George Cox and lives in Woodson county, this state. Upon the death of the mother of the above children, the elder Stephen S. Leighty married, secondly, Mary Hare, also now deceased, and to this second union three children were born, Emma, who married Chester Gwinn and lives at Uniontown, Pennsylvania ; Grant, who lives on the old home place in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and John, who lives in Washington, same state.
Stephen S. Leighty, Jr., was reared on the home farm in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, receiving his education in the district school in the neighbor- hood of his home. He was ten years old when his mother died. He con- tinued living at the old home until his marriage at the age of nineteen, after which his father bought a farm adjoining the home place and put him in charge of the same and he there made his home until 1882, in which year he came to Kansas, locating in this county, where he bought a quarter of a sec- tion of school land in Lincoln township, the same being in section 36 of that township, and there established his new home. Mr. Leighty was successful in his farming operations from the very beginning of his residence in this county and when he retired from the farm in September, 1911, and moved to Hutchinson, he was accounted to be very well-to-do. For his original quarter section in Lincoln township Mr. Leighty paid fourteen hundred dol- lars into the school fund. For that identical quarter section he since has refused an offer of sixteen thousand dollars. As he became established on his place, Mr. Leighty gradually increased his land holdings until he became the owner of four hundred and sixty acres of fine land in Lincoln and Yoder townships, which he still owns. In 1897 he erected a fine, modern farm- house on his place, which is considered to be one of the best-improved farms in that section of the county.
In addition to looking after his extensive agricultural interests Mr. Leighty found time to give his attention to various other enterprises in the neighborhood and for years was considered one of the most active and enter- prising citizens of Lincoln township. He helped organize the Darlow Live Stock and Grain Exchange and was the first president of that useful organ- ization. He also helped to organize the Darlow Telephone Company and (12a)
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for years was a director of the same, doing much to promote the extension of the telephone service in that part of the county. In civic affairs also he took an active interest and for eight years served as township treasurer, while for twenty years he served as a valued member of the school board. Mr. Leighty was a Republican when he came to Kansas, but he went over to the cause of the Populists and when that cause declined and ceased to be, he became a Democrat and is still affiliated with that party. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church at Hutchinson and he is a mem- ber of the board of trustees of that organization.
On November 13, 1872. Stephen S. Leighty was united in marriage to Nancy J. Harper, who was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Anna (Wadsworth) Harper, and to this union six chil- dren have been born, namely: Harper, a farmer of Yoder township, this county: William G., who is farming part of his father's place in Yoder township; Stephen S., III, who owns a farm in Ford county, this state, where he makes his home : Clyde W., who also owns a farm in Ford county, where he makes his home: Sabina E., who is attending college at Winfield, and Alice, who married George Getter and died at the age of twenty-three. Mr. and Mrs. Leighty have adopted Alice Margaret Leighty, the daughter of Harper. the eldest son.
ALBERT E. HARDEN.
Albert E. Harden, a well-known and progressive farmer of Grant township, this county, is a native of Iowa, having been born on a farm in Van Buren county, that state, April 1, 1865, son of Levi and Elvira (Brad- ford ) Harden, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Rhode Island, who were married in Iowa and Mr. Harden later came to Kansas, being numbered among the pioneers of Reno county.
Levi Harden was born in Hocking county, Ohio, January 19, 1834, son of Even and Maria ( Wolf) Harden, both natives of that state, the former of whom was born on April 13, 1803, and the latter, October 2, 1814, who later moved to Fowa, where his last days were spent. Even Harden dying at the age of fifty-six years. He and his wife were the parents of eight chil- dren, of whom Levi was the eldest, the others being as follow: Jacob. born on April 26, 1836, now deceased : John, June 13, 1838, deceased ; Will- iam, June 23, 1840: Eliza. May 6, 1843: Isabelle, April 14, 1846; George, February 12, 18449: Martha, October 20, 1852, and Philip, March 3. 1856,
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deceased. Levi Harden was well grown when his parents moved to lowa. On December 31. 1863. in that state, he was united in marriage to Elvira Bradford, who was born near Providence, Rhode Island, July 3. 1840, daughter of Albert Bradford and wife, the latter of whom was a Phillips, and who were the parents of three sons and four daughters: Mrs. Marie Corbett, of Texas; Miss Evelyn; Mrs. Laura Sandheim, of Seattle; Mrs. Elvira Harden : Alonzo, a veteran of the Civil War, now living at Hayward, California; Leander, also a veteran of the Civil War, lives in Bonaparte, lowa, and Walter, also of Bonaparte, lowa. Albert Bradford was a direct descendant of Governor Bradford of Colonial fame. He moved from Rhode Island with his family to Iowa and there spent the remainder of his life, a resident of Van Buren county. To Levi and Elvira ( Bradford ) Harden but one child was born, the subject of this sketch, whose mother died on July 31, 1867. Levi Harden married, secondly, Mrs. Fannie (Berry) Doughty, widow of J. Doughty, who was the mother, by her first marriage, of two children, Homer G. and Mary Virginia. To this second union three children were born, Sophia, born on October 16, 1872, who died at the age of sixteen ; Lamiel J .. May 24, 1874, and Dora, December . 26, 1876, who now lives in Oklahoma. On March 17, 1877, Levi Harden came to Kansas and settled in Reno county, where he bought a quarter of a section of land on which he lived until his retirement from the farm. He is now making his home with a daughter in Oklahoma. He is a member of the Evangelical church and is a Mason.
Albert E. Harden was about twelve years old when he came to this county with his father and he grew to manhood on the home farm. On February 26, 1890, he married Mattie Moorman, who was born at Sandy- ville, Iowa, January 5, 1869, and located on the farm on which they are now living in Grant township, this county. In 1911 Mr. Harden erected his present modern farm house and he and his family are very pleasantly situ- ated. The house is equipped with electric lights and many of the con- veniences of modern life. Mr. Harden is a progressive farmer and is doing well on his well-kept place of two hundred acres. He takes a good citizen's part in public affairs and has been a member of the local school board since 1901. To Mr. and Mrs. Harden three children have been born, Evert Earl, born on May 1, 1893; Leon Clyde, March 13. 1895, and Alva Anthony, December 30, 1897, all at home.
Mrs. Harden's father, William Henry Moorman, a well-known retired farmer of this county and a veteran of the Civil War, was born in High- land county, Ohio, August 12, 1840, son of John Thomas and Mary (Van
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Pelt ) Moorman, the former of whom was born in Campbell county, Vir- ginia, February 20, 1810, and the latter in Belmont county, Ohio, July 28, 1856. John T. Moorman was the son of Reuben and Lydia ( Johnson) Moorman, both natives of Virginia, the former born on March 25, 1777, and the latter, January 25, 1779. Reuben Moorman was a soldier of the Amer- ican Revolution and after his death in 1817 his widow moved to Ohio to accept a grant of land tendered by the government in behalf of his services. Reuben Moorman's parents, Micajah and Effie Moorman came to America from Wales and settled in the colony of Virginia. They were Quakers and founded a now widely connected family in this country. John T. Moor- man went over into Ohio with his widowed mother and there he married Mary Van Pelt, member of a pioneer family of Belmont county. After their marriage he and his wife settled in Highland county that same state, where they lived until 1849, in which year they emigrated to Iowa and settled on a quarter of a section of land in Warren county. There John T. Moorman died on December 23, 1882. His wife died many years before. He and his wife were the parents of five children: Childress E., Malinda, William H., Childs and Sarah, of whom William H. is the only survivor.
William H. Moorman was reared on the pioneer farm of his parents in Warren county. Iowa, and there grew to manhood. He received an excel- lent education and all his life has been a great reader. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted for service in the Thirty-fourth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served about four years, or until the regiment was mustered out at the close of the war, during which time he never lost a day of service. He was present at the siege of Vicksburg and participated in numerous of the most important engagements of the war, including Sher- man's campaign to the sea. On December 8, 1865, he married Sarah C. Anthony, who was born in Hamilton county. Indiana. September 12, 1843. daughter of William and Matilda ( Curry) Anthony, the former of whom was born in Butler county. Ohio, in 1812, and the latter in Franklin county. Indiana, in 1818. After his marriage William H. Moorman engaged in farming in Iowa until 1878. when he moved to Kansas, settled in Stafford county and in 1881 came to Reno county with his family and has lived here ever since. an employee of the car-repair service of the Santa Fe rail- road until his retirement in 1903. To him and his wife six children were born, as follow: Walter. of Reno county, born on October 27, 1866; Mattie, wife of Mr. Harden ; Malinda, who died in infancy: Lizzie, at home, born on July 9. 1873: Fannie Edna, November 23. 1878, who died on March 21, 1903. and Elmer O .. of Oklahoma, born on June 9. 1884.
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JOHN SCHARDEIN.
John Schardein son of Bernard and Christine ( Randolph ) Schardein, was born seven miles from Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 24, 1837. Bernard Schardein was a weaver by trade, and was born in Alsace, France, in June, 1808. There he was reared and married. His wife was born on December 24, 1810. He came to America in 1833 and located near Cincinnati, where John was born. He went by steamboat to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1835. and became a grocer. He later moved to Clark county, Indiana, and pur- chased one hundred and forty acres of land. He was the father of five sons three of whom were soldiers in the Union army. Philip died of disease at Savannah, Tennessee, and was buried at Shiloh. Adam was wounded while fighting in the Shenandoah valley, and died at Williamsport, Maryland. John, who enlisted August 31, 1861, served three years, was shot twice by spent bullets receiving a ball in the foot, which still causes lameness. He also received a wound in the breast. He participated in the battles of Ft. Henry, Ft. Donelson, Champion's Hill, Vicksburg. Shenandoah Valley, Ft. Mornoe, and took part in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., at the close of the war. He suffered from ophthalmia in a New Orleans hospital during his service. Bernard Schardein and his wife were both members of the Christian church and both died in Clark county, Indiana.
John Schardein was educated in the schools of Ohio and Indiana. He married his first wife, Nancy Mckinley (distant relative of President McKinley), on April 20, 1857, in Clark county, Indiana. To this union was born one child, Luella Miller, now of New Albany, Indiana. Mrs. Nancy Schardein died in 1862, and in 1865 Mr. Schardein married Eliza Jane Grady, who died on November 18, 1915. Their children are as fol- low: John, AAddie, Charles, Clara ( deceased), Edward, Ethel (died in infancy ), Hettie and Frederick.
After he returned from the war, Mr. Schardein went to Macoupin county, Illinois, where he lived for thirteen years, renting land which he farmed. In August, 1878, he chartered a car from Macoupin county, Illi- nois, to Sterling, Kansas, and drove from there to Reno county, to join a friend. He homesteaded a timber claim of one hundred and sixty acres in section 20, Salt Creek township, where he lived until 1908, when he retired from active farm labor and moved to Nickerson. He always took an active interest in the development and improvement of his community, and organ- ized school district No. 101, and gave the site for the school building as
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long as used for that purpose. He was a stockholder in the elevator com- pany, in the telephone company and in the State Bank at Nickerson. After his wife's death, he and his daughter, Addie, kept house. Mr. Schardein died on March 31. 1916. He was a member of the Christian church, and belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he took an active interest.
PETER C. JONES.
Peter C. Jones, a well-known merchant tailor of Hutchinson, this county, is a native of the gallant little land of Wales, having been born there, in the town of Adwy Clawy, on May 21, 1854, son of Peter and Anne ( Mat- thews) Jones, the former of whom was born at Mold, Wales, and the latter near that town. In 1870, the subject of this biographical sketch then being sixteen years of age, the Jones family came to America, locating in Williams- town. Pennsylvania, where the elder Jones resumed his vocation of tailor, to which he had been reared in his native home. Some years later Peter Jones and his wife retired from Williamsport and joined their son, Peter C .. who meanwhile had located at Kankakee, Illinois, later coming thence with him to Kansas, when he made his home in Emporia, where their last days were spent. They were members of the Church of England, and were the parents of five children, namely: John M., a tailor in Fredonia, Kansas : Thomas N., now deceased, who for years was a well-known tailor in Emporia, this state: Peter C., the immediate subject of this sketch; Mary, who died in girlhood, and Mrs. Maggie Gelispe, a widow, who, in con- nection with her son. is operating a tailor shop at Collegeview. Nebraska.
Peter C. Jones practically grew up in his father's tailor shop and from childhood had been trained to the skillful use of a needle and to all the arts of the tailor's trade. Upon arriving in this country at the age of sixteen he became a journeyman tailor and for some time traveled quite extensively over the eastern section of the country, finally locating at Kankakee, Illinois, where he carried on his trade until 1879, in which year he came to Kansas, locating at Emporia, where he worked as a tailor until 1884. He then brated in Hutchinson, where he entered the employ of his elder brother. J. M. Jone .. who Ind opened a tailor shop there some time before, and there he remained until 1892, in which year he returned to Emporia and opened & shop of his own, which he conducted for six years and then, in 180 8. returned to Hutchinson, where he opened a shop and where he has
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remained ever since, most of which time his popular establishment has been located at 10 Sherman street, east, where he enjoys a fine patronage.
In 1877, at Kankakee, Illinois, Peter C. Jones was united in marriage to Dora Knocke, a native of Germany, who, in 1868, when she was eleven years of age, came to this country with her parents who located at Kanka- kee, and to this union four children have been born, namely: Allen, who has charge of the instruction in the tailoring department of the Kansas state reformatory at Hutchinson; Edwin, cashier of the Guymon-Petro Mercan- tile Company, of Hutchinson; Walter, a prominent young lawyer and now city attorney of Hutchinson, a sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume, and Charles, who is buying and selling manager of a mill at Haven, this county. The Jones family has a very pleasant home at 626 Sherman street, east. Mr. Jones is a member of the Masonic order, of the Court of Honor and of the Knights of Pythias, in all of which orders he takes a warm interest.
NELSON T. BARRETT.
Nelson T. Barrett, the well-known lettuce grower of Hutchinson, this county, the products of whose extensive green-houses are shipped in car- load lots to all the chief cities of the Central West and who is one of the best-known dealers in his particular line in this part of the country, is a native of the great Empire state, having been born at Middletown, in Orange county, New York, April IT. 1860, son of George and Elizabeth (Purdy) Barrett, both of whom were born in that same county, the former of Eng- lish descent and the latter of Dutch descent, who later became Kansas pioneers and well-known residents of Reno county.
George Barrett owned a grocery and dry-goods store at Middletown, but sold the same in 1862 and moved to Newberg, New York, where he was engaged in the same line of business until 1874, in which year he came to Kansas and located in Reno county. Upon arriving here he homesteaded a tract in Lincoln township, took a timber claim and bought some railroad land, his holdings altogether aggregating three hundred and twenty acres. He established a home on his place and remained there a couple of summers, "proving up," and then resumed his calling in the mercantile line, becom- ing manager for the Rodney Ferguson store at Hutchinson. In 1877 he went to Kansas City, where he established a grocery store at 803 Main street and was there engaged in business until 1882, in which year he went
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to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where for two years he engaged in the whole- sale produce business. Meanwhile he had become seriously crippled by a severe attack of rheumatism and in 1884 retired from business and returned to Reno county. He had retained forty acres of his homestead tract and on that small farm spent the remainder of his days, his death occurring in 1910. he then being seventy-five years of age. His widow is still living, past eighty years of age, and has a pleasant home at 225 Avenue A, east, in Hutchinson. To George Barrett and wife six children were born, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest, the others being as follow: Ida M., who married Charles Pellette, now deputy county treasurer of Reno county, living at Hutchinson; Carrie, who married Homer Meyers, cashier of the bank at Sylvia, this county; Grace, who married Henry Zimm, well-known jeweler at Hutchinson: Minnie, who married M. J. Hosmer, a well-known traveling salesman, of Hutchinson, and Florence, who married Ernest East- man, connected with the Carey industries in Hutchinson.
Nelson T. Barrett was fourteen years old when he came to Kansas with his parents in 1874 and the work of his young manhood was definitely identified with the pioneer farm in Lincoln township. When his parents moved to town he remained on the farm. Being the eldest child and only son, he early took charge of affairs on the farm and by the time he was twenty years old he had brought two hundred and forty acres of the place under cultivation. Then, in 1880, he left the farm and went to Kansas City. For one summer he was employed there in a wholesale fancy-grocery store and then, in 1881, he pushed out to the farther frontier and for a year was engaged in trapping and hunting in the West. He then took employ- ment with the United States government and for a year drove a stage coach in the Black Hills, later spending three years in the quartermaster's depart- ment. Mr. Barrett still recalls, with a very pardonable measure of pride, that during those wild, rough days on the frontier he was the only man of his acquaintance who was a "teetotaler." In the latter part of 1884 Mr. Barrett returned to his father's farm in this county, later renting the old Doctor Myers farm in Lincoln township, which he operated until 1890, in which year he went to Oklahoma and bought a quarter of a section of land near Guthrie, where he remained until 1899. He then sold out and returned to Hutchinson, where, in 1900, he bought a block of ground west of the 600 block, between Ninth and Tenth streets, and established his present exten- sive green-houses, engaging in the culture of lettuce, and has made a great success of his business. He has sixty thousand feet of glass, covering fifteen
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS. 18,5
green-houses, the whole expanse being devoted to lettuce culture and he does an enormous winter business, shipping his product to Kansas City, Leaven- worth, Oklahoma City and other points throughout the Central West. Mr. Barrett is a member of the Hutchinson Commercial Club and takes an earnest part in the general affairs of the city.
In 1888 Nelson T. Barrett was united in marriage to Ada May Burton, and to this union six children have been born, as follow: Stanley, who is the proprietor of green-houses on First street in Hutchinson; Mark; who is associated with his father in business, and Gale, Lawrence, Willis and Dorothy.
EDWARD S. HANDY.
The late Edward S. Handy was for years recognized as one of the leading dealers in real estate in Hutchinosn. During his long connection with the realty business there he laid out numerous additions to the city and in many ways was active in the promotion of the city's growth. He was one of the real pioneers of Reno county, and for several years served as clerk of the district court, during which time he became thoroughly familiar with realty conditions in pioneer days and no man in the county possessed a more accurate knowledge of realty values in this section of the state than he. Mr. Handy was an honored veteran of the Civil War and took an active part in the affairs of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic. His widow, who is still living at Hutchinson, was also one of the real pioneers of this county and was a witness of the whole of the won- derful development which has marked this region since the early seventies.
Edward S. Handy was born in Clark county, Illinois, February 28. 1846, son of Thomas and Jane E. (Scranton) Handy, the former of whom was the first male child born in that county, son of John Handy and wife. who were among the earliest settlers of that part of Illinois. John Handy ยท was a native of the state of New York. Thomas Handy became one of the most substantial farmers of his neighborhood and was also the owner of a saw-mill. He married Jane E. Scranton, member of one of the pioneer families of that section of the state and to that union six children were born. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted for service in behalf of the Union arms in Company F. Seventy-ninth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out with the rank of captain at the close of the war. At the battle of Chattanooga he was captured by the enemy and after
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being kept in various Southern prison pens was sent to Libby prison at Richmond. He was one of the famous one hundred and eight who tunneled out of that prison, but was recaptured in sight of the Union lines and was kept prisoner until presently exchanged. Two of Captain Handy's sons, the eldest. Charles, and the subject of this sketch, served in his company .and Charles Handy gave up his life to the cause of the Union during the fierce engagement at Kenesaw Mountain. Georgia. Another son, George Grant Handy, was for years engaged in the hardware business at Hutchinson, this county. Upon returning home at the close of the war Captain Handy resumed his place on the farm and was accidentally killed in his saw-mill in 1867.
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