USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 59
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Stephen and Nancy Martin, pioneers of that section, the former of whom - was a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky, whose last days were spent on their homestead farm in southern Indiana. During the many years of their residence in Reno county Mr. and Mrs. Crotts have never locked the doors of their hospitable home, which in early days, as noted above, was freely opened to all comers and this pioneer hospitality has been maintained all the days since.
EDWARD E. SHIRCLIFF.
Edward E. Shircliff, son of Bernard C. and Sarah H. (Turner) Shir- cliff, was born in Haydenville, Ohio, March 6, 1871. His father was born in Baltimore, Maryland, October 22, 1823, and died in Chatauqua county, Kansas, March 10, 1894, his death being the result of an accident caused by his team running away. He followed the occupation of a farmer and coal miner ; was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a member of the Methodist church. His political affiliation was with the Democratic party. Sarah (Turner) Shircliff was born in Baltimore, Maryland. March 23, 1835, and died July 12, 1911. Her father was among those who were attracted by the California gold fever in 1849, and was one of the pioneer settlers in that state. He died in California in 1856. Besides the subject of this sketch Mr. and Mrs. Shircliff were the parents of the following children: Frank, born in Haydenville, Ohio, in 1856; died at that place in 1873. William H., born in Haydenville, Ohio, September 23, 1858; he is now in the government employ in the agricultural department, at Washington, D. C. Homer W., born in Haydenville, Ohio, April II, 1866: he is a farmer in Chatauqua county, Kansas. John, born in Hayden- ville, Ohio: he was killed in a railroad accident. Charles B., born in Hay- denville, Ohio, May 7, 1873; he is a farmer in Douglas county, Washington. Mary E., born in Haydenville, Ohio, June 3. 1875; married James E. Fer- guson, a wholesale grain dealer in Hutchinson, Kansas: the name of the firm being the . Ferguson-Shircliff Grain Company.
Edward E. Shircliff moved to Chatauqua county, Kansas, in 1881, with his father. He attended the district schools in that county and worked on the farm during the busy season. In 1894 he secured employment in the Fridge and building department of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and con- tinued in that service until 1907, when he engaged in the grain business with
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James E. Ferguson, at Winfield, Kansas. In 1908 the firm removed to Hutchinson, where the business has since been continued. The Ferguson- Shircliff Grain Company have offices in the First National Bank building, No. 508, and is doing a prosperous business.
Mr. Shircliff is a member of the Hutchinson Commercial Club and the Hutchinson Board of Trade, and is otherwise identified with the business enterprises of the town and county. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, at Fort Smith, Arkansas: he is independent in politics. On March 31, 1907. he was married, in Elk City, Kansas, to Myrtle G. Barnes, daughter of John A. and Angelina (Gregory) Barnes; she was born in Osborne county, Kan- sas, December 6, 1883. Her father was a farmer, and was born in Indiana; her mother was born in Iowa.
Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Shircliff : Myrtle L., born in Winfield, Kansas, December 31, 1907; and Emmett E., born in Hutchinson, February 10, 1913.
WARREN D. JEWELL.
Warren D. Jewell, one of the best-known pioneers of Reno county, a prominent retired farmer of Valley township, now living comfortably sit- uated in the pleasant village of Haven, is an honored veteran of the Civil War and for many years was one of the leading men of affairs in that part of the county in which he so long resided. He was born on a farm in Clinton county, Ohio, November 13, 1843, son of Reuben and Mary (Van Zant) Jewell, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Ohio, who later became pioneers of this section of Kansas.
Reuben Jewell was born in Onondaga county, New York, March 3. 1815, son of Warren D. Jewell, an Englishman, who had come to the United States with two of his brothers. He settled in New York state; one of his brothers settled in Massachusetts and the other in New Jersey. Reuben Jewell became a shoemaker and when twenty-three years old, in 1838, moved to Ohio, locating in Hillsboro township, Highland county, where he worked at his trade and where he married Mary Van Zant, who was born in Ohio in 1818. In 1846 Reuben Jewell and his family moved from Ohio over into Indiana and for a time lived in Ripley county, later moving to the city of Richmond, in Wayne county, where Reuben Jewell was working at his trade when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted in Company K, Fifty-seventh (38a)
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Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, attached to General Buell's com- mand, and served until honorably discharged on a physician's certificate of disability incurred in line of duty. Upon the conclusion of his military service he returned to his home at Richmond and remained there until 1870, in which year he came to Kansas with his family, locating in Butler county, whence, the following year, he moved over into Sedgwick county, where he entered a soldier's homestead, which he improved and after holding the same a few years, sold and returned to Butler county, whence, later in life, he moved to Hutchinson, this county, where he died at the home of his son, George E. Jewell. June 17, 1899.
ยท To Reuben and Mary (Van Zant) Jewell eleven children were born, namely: Sarah J., deceased; John William, also deceased; Warren D., the subject of this biographical sketch; Mary E., who married Spencer String- ham, who is a well-to-do farmer in Texas; Jacob Henry, a painter, living in Oklahoma: Anna Eliza, who married Zachariah Hodson, a farmer of Ed- wards county, this state; George Edward, for years prominently identified with the salt industry at Hutchinson, who died in that city on June 19, 1915; Margaret L., a widow, living in Colorado; Samuel, died in infancy ; Willie A., a farmer in Oklahoma, and Carrie, wife of J. L. Moore, of Okla- homa City.
Warren D. Jewell was about three years old when his parents moved from Ohio to Indiana and his early education was received in the Richmond subscription schools, the tuition fee for his last year of schooling being paid with money earned by himself working on farms. He was but eighteen years old when, August 20, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, Eighty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for service during the Civil War. and served until the end of the war, his regiment being mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, June 14. 1865. then returning to Indiana, where he received his final honorable discharge about the Ist of July following. The Eighty-fourth Indiana was engaged in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, and Mr. Jewell was right in the thick of things, participating in the battles at Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and thence on into the Atlanta campaign with Sherman; later being trans- ferred to General Thomas's command and participating in the battle of Franklin, generally regarded as having been the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, then to the battle of Nashville, thence into Alabama and from there taking part in the general advance on Richmond, which was happily inter- rupted by word of the surrender of Lee at Appomattox.
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After the close of the war Mr. Jewell returned to his home in Indiana, and in 1868 came West, locating in Tama county, Iowa, where he worked on farms until the spring of 1872, when, in company with a party of rela- tives and friends he came to Kansas, driving through Wichita on the Fourth of July, that year. Mr. Jewell, upon arriving in Reno county, entered a sol- dier's claim to the northeast quarter of section 8, in Albion township, and proceeded to develop the same. That was the year after the opening of this county to settlement and buffalo were still plentiful hereabout. Mr. Jewell passed the first summer as a member of the household of his brother-in- law, but in the fall constructed a dug-out on his place and "bached it" until his marriage, in the spring of 1874, when he erected a frame house twelve by fourteen feet ground dimensions, the lumber for which he had hauled from Wichita. In 1879 he moved from that homestead to another in section 7, Valley township, where he established his permanent home and where he lived for many years. From the very beginning he did well in his farming operations and as he prospered added to his original quarter section in Val- ley township until he became the owner of more than six hundred and forty acres there. He also presently became a heavy investor in Hutchinson town property, but later traded that property for farm lands, which he sold to advantage. Mr. Jewell was an excellent farmer and his home place in Val- ley township became one of the best-improved farms in that part of the county. As his children grew up and began operations for themselves he was able to give them all a good start, at the same time retaining a very handsome competence for his declining years. On November 1, 1910, Mr. Jewell retired from the farm and since then has made his home in Haven, where he is very pleasantly situated. Mr. Jewell is a Republican and from the days of his boyhood has taken an earnest interest in the affairs of that party, long being regarded as one of the leaders of the party in this county, though he has never been included in the office-seeking class."
On May 6, 1874, Warren D. Jewell was united in marriage to Sarah Seley, who was born in Cass county, Michigan, February 21, 1844, daughter of Isaac I .. and Sarah Jane ( Price) Seley, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Ohio. Isaac L. Seley was a son of Jere- miah Seley, a soldier in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War. It was in 1872, the same year in which Mr. Jewell came to Reno county, that Sarah Seley, against the advice of her parents, who had also come to Kan- sas, homesteaded the northwest quarter of section S, in Albion township, this county, adjoining the claim entered by Mr. Jewell. The expenses at-
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tending the settlement of her claim exhausted all the money she had brought with her and in order to make money to pay for the labor of breaking her land, she engaged in trapping and became a very successful huntress. her fame in that line spreading throughout the state until she became widely known as "the lady trapper of southern Kansas." With the money thus earned and also by engaging in teaming between Wichita and this county, she was able to pay for developing her claim and was one of the first per- sons thereabout to set out an orchard. Her parents, who had settled in the southern part of the county, did not live long after coming to this county, Isaac L. Seley dying in 1878 and his widow in 1875.
To Warren D. and Sarah (Seley) Jewell seven children were born, as follow: Lanetta, who married Alexander Culberson and lives on a farm given her by her father: Charles L .. who lives on a farm in Salt Creek town- ship, this county: James R., who died in I891; Alfred W., who lives on a farm in Valley township: Alonzo W., who lives on a farm in Sumner county, this state; Oscar M., who lives on the old home place in Valley township. and Sylvia H., who married John Imel and lives in Harper county, this state. The mother of these children died on March 12, 1914, and on June 21. 1915, Mr. Jewell married, secondly, Mary A. Tooley, who was born in Illinois and who for some years had been a resident of Liberal, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Jewell have a very pleasant home at Haven and take an earnest interest in general community affairs. Mr. Jewell is a Mason and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in the affairs of both of which organizations he takes a warm interest.
ROBERT S. JONES.
Robert S. Jones, a well-known and progressive farmer, the owner of a quarter of a section of well-tilled land in Reno township, this county, is a native of the great Blue Grass state, having been born on a farm near the town of La Grange, in Oldham county, Kentucky, February 8, 1861, son of John G and Elizabeth (Anderson) Jones, both natives of that same state, who owned a small farm in the La Grange neighborhood, both of whom are now living in Hutchinson, this county, the former having entered hi- eighty-sixth year in 1916 and the latter her seventy-seventh year.
John G. Jones remained neutral during the progress of the Civil War and remained on his farm in Kentucky until 1887, in February of which
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year he and his family came to Kansas, having disposed of their interests in Kentucky, and homesteaded a farm in Hamilton county. Seven years later Mr. Jones sold that farm and moved to Brazoria county, Texas, where he remained two years, after which he moved to Kickapoo county, Oklahoma, where he entered a tract of school land and where he remained a year, at the end of which time he sold out and he and his wife, in 1899 moved to Hutchinson, this county, where they are still living. They are members of the Baptist church and their children were reared in that faith. There were ten of these children, namely: Margaret, who married James L. Gill and lives in Albany, Missouri ; Robert S., the subject of this biographical sketch ; J. F., a farmer, living northwest of Great Bend, in this state; William G., a house painter, living in Hutchinson ; James A., who died in 1912; Mrs. Jennie Hendrickson, who died in California in 1912; Mary, who married T. L. Downing and lives in Brazoria county, Texas; Walter, a Missouri farmer ; Atha, deceased, and Clarence A., a carpenter, living at Hutchinson.
Robert S. Jones was reared on the home farm in Kentucky and being the eldest son of the family his youth was spent in assisting his father, his schooling being limited to about one month in the year. Consequently, his education was much neglected in his boyhood, but he has since "picked up" a very good and quite serviceable education. He was twenty-six years old when the family came to this state and he assisted in getting his parents established on the homestead farm in Hamilton county. Two years later, in 1889, he came to this county and located at Hutchinson, in order to work at "day's work," so that he might be able to send back some ready cash to his father. For a few months he worked for John Rowland, in Clay town- ship and then worked by the day, putting up hay and husking corn, being engaged in the latter occupation all that winter. In the spring of 1890 he worked on the farm of Dr. James Myers, in Lincoln township, and then for two years was employed in the salt works at Hutchinson. Then he mar- ried, went in debt for a team of horses and a set of harness and rented a farm. In this latter vocation he prospered, and in 1906 bought the south- west quarter of section 6, in Reno township, this county, where he estab- lished his home and where he ever since has resided. He has greatly im- proved the farm and has long been regarded as one of the substantial citi- zens of that part of the county. Mr. Jones is a Democrat and in 1914 stood for the nomination for sheriff of Reno county, but was defeated at the primaries. He is a member of the district school board and takes a good citizen's part in public affairs.
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On October 1, 1891. Robert S. Jones was united in marriage to Rebecca Nuckolls, who was born in Iowa, and her parents died in Indiana when she was a young girl. In 1884 she came to Reno county with her brother, William, and seven years later was married to Mr. Jones, to which union six children have been born, as follow: Bessie. born on August 7, 1892, who married John Armstrong and has two children, Leota M. and Ruby R .; Walter. December, 1895, who is at home; Leota, in October, 1897, who is at home: James, December 19, 1908, also at home; Harry and Harold, twins, born on October 20, 1905, and Joseph C., April 12, 1901, died on November 17. 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are members of the Baptist and Methodist churches, respectively, and Mr. Jones is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Anti-Horse Thief Association, in the affairs of which organizations he takes a warm interest.
ARCHIBALD W. McCANDLESS.
Archibald W. McCandless, member of the firm operating the extensive plant of the Hutchinson Lumber and Planing Mill Company, former dep- uty county treasurer of Reno county, one of the pioneer school teachers of Hutchinson, formerly and for years actively identified with the banking interests of Hutchinson and for more than thirty years a member of the school board of that city, is a native of the great Keystone state, but has been a resident of this county since 1879, when he came here as an earnest young school teacher from Illinois. He was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, April 19. 1855. son of Allen and Mary Jane (Shingles) Mccandless, Loth natives of that same county, who later moved to McDon- ough county, Illinois, where the mother died in 1861.
In 1862 Allen McCandless enlisted in Company I, Seventy-eighth Regi- ment. Ilinois Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front as sergeant of his company. He was killed in battle at Griggsville, Tennessee, in 1863, leav- ing three young children orphaned, indeed, the subject of this sketch having had two younger sisters, Belle, who married C. C. Woodworth and lives at Rock Falls, Illinois, and Emma, who died in young womanhood. Archi- bald MeCandless was about eight years old when he was left an orphan and he was sent back to Pennsylvania, where for two years he made his home with an uncle; then was sent back to Illinois, where he was given a home in the family of his uncle, J. P. McCandless, at Macomb. There he
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completed his common-school education and was graduated from the high school, after which he began teaching school and was thus engaged, at the same time serving as deputy clerk of courts of that county until 1879, in which year he came to Kansas and secured a position as a teacher in the schools of Valley township, Captain Hoagland, a war comrade of his father, being trustee of that township at that time. The next year Mr. McCandless was called to a position in the Hutchinson high school and ever since he has taken a conspicuous and useful part in the educational affairs of that city. Two years later Mr. McCandless was appointed deputy county treas- urer and two years later was made cashier of the private bank of James F. Readhead in Hutchinson. In the meantime, in 1882, he had married and after serving as cashier of the Readhead bank for a year his father-in- law, James St. John, bought the bank, retaining Mr. McCandless as cashier, and operated the same under the firm name of the James St. John Com- pany, this arrangement continuing until the bank was sold in 1898. In 1900 Mr. McCandless and Mr. St. John organized the Hutchinson Lumber and Planing Mill Company and established their present plant at 13 Sher- man street, West, where they ever since have been successfully engaged in business, doing a general milling and house contracting business. Mr. Mc- Candless is a Republican and ever since coming to this county has taken a prominent part in the affairs of that party, for some time having served as treasurer of the county Republican committee. In 1885 he was elected a member of the Hutchinson school board and has been retained in that im- portant position ever since, during which time he has had a hand in the erection of all the school buildings now doing service in Hutchinson and has been a useful and influential factor in the development of the Hutchinson public school system to its present high state of efficiency.
In 1882 Archibald W. McCandless was united in marriage to Anna St. John, of Hutchinson, who was born in Iowa, daughter of James and Margaret St. John, early and prominent residents of Hutchinson, and to this union four children have been born, as follow: Junia, who married A. R. Scheble, one of the proprietors of the Richards-Scheble Candy Manu- facturing Company, of Hutchinson, a biographical sketch of whom is pre- sented elsewhere in this volume; Margaret, at home; Forest, who is engaged with his father in the affairs of the lumber company, and Allen W .. a stu- dent in the high school.
Mr. and Mrs. McCandless are members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. McCandless is an elder, and take an earnest part in the various
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social and cultural activities of their home town. Mr. McCandless is one of the directors of the Mutual Building and Loan Association of Hutchin- son and is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the Modern Woodmen of the World. in the affairs of which organization he takes a warm interest.
OSCAR S. WESPE.
Oscar S. Wespe, well known throughout all southwestern Kansas as general manager of the district offices of the International Harvester Com- pany, with headquarters at Hutchinson, this county, was born in Chicago, son of Frank and Catherine (Kistner) Wape, the former of whom was a native of Switzerland and the latter of Germany.
Frank Wespe was reared as a farmer in his native country and when twenty years of age came to America, locating at Chicago, where he became connected with the building trades and was thus engaged until some years after his marriage, when he moved to a farm near Homewood, Illinois. Catherine Kistner, whom he married in Chicago, had come to this country with her parents when she was eighteen years of age, the family locating in Chicago. The Wespes lived at Homewood until 1877, in which year they came to Kansas, locating in Reno county, which then was but very sparsely settled, and bought a tract of railroad land in Lincoln township, where Frank Wespe spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1901, at the age of eighty-three years. His widow is still living in Wichita and is past eighty- seven years of age. To Frank Wespe and his wife five children were born, as follows: Valentine, who lives at Honeywell, this state; Oscar S., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Henry, who lives on a small tract of land near Hutchinson; Rosa, who married H. W. Metcalf.
Oscar S. Wespe received his elementary education in the public schools of Chicago, and the public schools of Reno county. He accompanied the family to this county upon their removal here in 1877 and assisted in the development of the home farm in Lincoln township until 1886, in which year he married and engaged in the live stock and farm implement business at Partridge, this county, and was thus engaged for three years, at the end of which time he bought a quarter of a section of land in Center township and moved onto the same, with the expectation of becoming a practical farmer. His wife's health, however, at that time was not equal to the strain
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of farm life and in 1890 Mr. Wespe moved to Hutchinson, where he took charge of the implement department for the Frank Colloday hardware and implement store and was engaged in that business until 1898, in which year his services were engaged by the McCormick Harvester Company as a sales- man. After two months of service for that company he revealed such admirable capacity for the work in hand that he was given charge of the company's sales in the territory of southwestern Kansas, his position tech- nically being known as that of a "blockman," and he remained thus employed in the interests of the McCormicks until that company was reorganized and taken over by the International Harvester Company of America in November, 1903, at which time his services were transferred to the latter company, with which he ever since has been employed. He continued his position as "blockman" until 1905, in which year the company made him assistant gen- eral agent for southwestern Kansas, with headquarters at Hutchinson. In 1908 Mr. Wespe was made general agent of all the business of the Inter- national Harvester Company in that large stretch of territory west of Hutchinson, along the Santa Fe railroad to the Colorado line; all south of that road to the south Kansas line and four counties in Oklahoma. The company's offices and warehouses in Hutchinson, over which Mr. Wespe has charge, are situated on D avenue, a plant covering two hundred by one hundred and fifty feet, a part of which is three stories in height, the remain- der two stories, where all sorts of up-to-date farming implements are handled. Mr. Wespe has under his direction from twenty-five to fifty traveling sales- men, according to the season, and in the warehouse there are employed thirty- five men during the busy season.
On September 25, 1886, Oscar S. Wespe was united in marriage to Anna Smith and to this union two sons have been born, Orville S., who attended St. Mary's College and is now advertising manager of the Beaumont Journal, and Earl F., who is employed in the claim department of the Illi- nois Central Railroad at Chicago.
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