USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 66
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Hle married Caroline Yeager, who was born at Reading, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 7, 1817, and to this union four sons were born, of whom the sub- ject of this sketch was the last-born, and is now the only survivor, the others having been Charles, Milton and John. John W. Bain enlisted for service in the Union army at the outbreak of the Civil War and went to the front with an officer's commission. The second son. Milton, also became a sol- dier of the Union and died in service, March 24, 1862, at the age of twenty- three years. The third son, John, served throughout the war and was mus- tered out as a sergeant. John W. Bain originally was a Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party became affiliated with that party and remained faithful to its principles. He and his wife were earnest mem- bers of the Presbyterian church. He died on September 7, 1866, and his widow died on October 22, 1875.
Millard F. Bain was reared in the city of Philadelphia and received his education in the schools of that city. Upon completing the course in the high schools at the age of sixteen he entered the employ of the largest print and dye works in that city and when failing health caused him to leave that establishment five years later he held the second highest position there. In 1877 he came to Kansas in search of health, the reputation of the salubrious climate of the Sunflower state having long before that become well estal lished in the East, and in 1878 homesteaded the northwest quarter of section 22 in Walnut township, this county, later taking an adjoining "eighty." and there he has made his home ever since. When Mr. Bain took the place there was a small sod shanty on the same, but the next year he crected a small frame house, twelve by fourteen feet in ground dimension, and in the fall of that year married and established his home. That small house sufficed for a residence for Mr. Bain and his wife for a number of years, but was after awhile replaced by a better and more commodious home. Mr. Bain prospered in his farming operations and is now the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, well improved and profitably cul- tivated. Mr. Bain was one of the most active of the pioneers of that part in local civic affairs. He helped to organize the township and to create the school district in the neighborhood of his home and in other ways was active in the work of creating proper social conditions thereabout in pioneer days. In 1801 he was elected as a member of the board of commissioners of Reno county and served in that important capacity for eleven years. He also served four terms as township trustee.
It was on November 25, 1879. that Millard F. Bain was united in mar- mage to lda T. Posey, who was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, Octo-
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ber 31, 1862, daughter of Owen H. and Margaret ( Linderman) Posey, who came to Reno county in 1879 and are still living here. To Mr. and Mrs. Bain seven children have been born, as follow: Caroline, who married Fred Baker; Anna, who married Martin Haston; Mabel, who married Frank Haston; Edna, who married Walter Johnson; Ethel, who married Charles Johnson; William, who married Nellie Lattimer, and Mildred, who is at home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Bain are members of the Methodist church and for many years have been active in local good works. Mr. Bain is a Republican and ever since locating in Walnut township has been regarded as one of the leaders of that party in that section of the county.
LAWSON WATSON.
In the memorial annals of Reno county few names stand out with more distinctness than that of the late Lawson Watson, a well-known, progres- sive and public-spirited farmer of Miami township, who was run down and killed by one of his teams of horses at a point a quarter of a mile east of the town of Turon on February 144, 1903. Lawson Watson was a Hoosier by birth, having been born in the city of New Albany, Indiana, across the river from Louisville, August 20, 1865, son of Michael and Margaret ( Braden) Watson, natives of Ohio, who later became well-known residents of Reno conuty.
Michael Watson was born on June 15, 1807, and later moved to the city of New Albany, Indiana, where he married, moving thence to Owens- boro, Kentucky, where he made his home until 1885. in which year he came to Kansas with his family and homesteaded a farm in Miami township, Reno county, the same being lot 2 and the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 3, Miami township, where he established his home and where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on December 14, 1897. His widow, who was born at New Albany, Indiana, May 12. 1823, survived him about fifteen years, her death occurring at West Plains, Missouri, June 13, 1912. Michael Watson was a good citizen and took an earnest part in the civic affairs of his community. He and his wife were the parents of three children, the subject of this sketch having had a sister, Louisa, who died in childhood, and a brother, Michael, a farmer, of West Plains, Missouri.
Lawson Watson received his education in the schools of Owensboro,
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Kentucky, and was about twenty years old when he came to Reno county with his parents. He immediately devoted his attention to farming and presently bought the southeast quarter of section 10, on which he engaged quite extensively in general farming and stock raising and where he made his home until his tragic and untimely death in 1903. Mr. Watson gave a good citizen's attention to local political affairs and served for two years as trustee of Miami township, to which office he was elected on the Demo- cratic ticket, and was a member of the school board for many years. He was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and in the affairs of that popular organization took a warm interest.
On December 22, 1897, at the home of the bride's parents in Miami township, this county, Lawson Watson was united in marriage to Mrs. Sarah Evans, widow of J. M. Evans daughter of Francis M. and Sophia (Newlin) Sprout, and to this union two children were born, Margaret, born at Turon, this county, December 30, 1900, and Lawson E., also born at Turon, January 7, 1903, Mrs. Watson owns a very pleasant home on the east side of Burns street, between Kansas and Nebraska streets, in Turon, besides two other houses in that thriving little city and two farms in this county and is very comfortably situated.
Mrs. Watson's first husband, J. M. Evans, was a farmer of Grundy county, Missouri, who died at Maywood, Frontier county, Nebraska, June 9. 1893. She was born at Trenton, Missouri. Her father, Francis M. Sprout. a well-known and well-to-do resident of this county and an honored pensioner of the government for distinguished services rendered during the Civil War, was born in Union county. Indiana, May 23, 1836, son of Will- iam and Hannah ( Nelson) Sprout, natives of North Carolina, who moved with his parents from Union county to Marshall county, Indiana, where he lived for fifteen years. The family then moved to Grundy county, Missouri, and there he made his home for thirty-five years, or until his removal to Miami township, this county. Mr. Sprout is an active Repub- lican and during his residence in Missouri served for four years as trustee of his home township. For four years he held the position of treasurer of Miami township and for three years served on the school board. The service for which Mr. Sprout receives a pension of forty dollars a month from the government was rendered during the Civil War as a member of Company B. Twenty-third Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, under command of Colonel Grundy. His service covered a period of eighteen months, during which time he spent six months and eighteen days in. Con-
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federate prisons, having been confined at Macon, Georgia; Mobile, Ala- bama, and in Libby prison at Richmond, Virginia. At the battle of Shiloh he lost his right arm and later received his honorable discharge.
Francis M. Sprout was twice married, his children by his first wife, who was Sarah Winters and who died in Grundy county, Missouri, on May 26, 1861, being Mary, wife of L. W. Moberly, a farmer of Milan, Missouri, and William, a merchant and banker, of Starbuck, Washington. His second wife, who was Sophia Newlin, was born near Jacksonville, Illinois, daughter of Abraham and Sarah (McAfesh) Newlin, and died at her home in Miami township, this county, February 3, 1907, since which time Mr. Sprout has made his home with his son, John, a prominent farmer of Miami township, a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume. To this second marriage eight children were born, namely : Sarah, widow of Mr. Watson; John N., a farmer of Miami township; James H., a farmer of Grove township, a biographical sketch of whom also appears elsewhere in this volume; Minnie, widow of Aurelius Evans, who died suddenly at his home in Miami township on December 13, 1915; Scott, a farmer, of Miami township; Allison, a farmer of Bell township; Emma, wife of Edward Gregg, a farmer of Grove township, and Zed, a farmer of Bell township.
FRANCIS M. WILEY.
Francis M. Wiley, one of the most successful and prominent farmers of Reno conuty, Kansas, was born in Decatur county, Indiana, on December 10, 1843. He is the son of Thomas and Hester (Critser) Wiley, the former of whom was a native of North Carolina, where his birth occurred in 1816. Hester (Critser) Wiley was born in 1818 in Kentucky, and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Critser, the former of whom was a soldier of the War of 1812, and served under General Hull. in the campaigns along the Canadian border. He was at one time taken prisoner and served his prison sentence along with many others of his comrades. After the War of 1812, Mr. Critser located in Decatur county, Indiana, where he was engaged in farming for a number of years, and where he died in 1895.
The father of Thomas Wiley died when Thomas was but a small lad, and the youngest of three children. Thomas Wiley died in 1863, at the time his son, Francis M. Wiley, was serving his country as a soldier in the Civil
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War. Thomas Wiley was much interested in the old school Baptist church, vet he was not a member. He was also interested in the success of the Democratic party, and took an active interest in the political affairs of that time. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wiley were the parents of the following children: G. W., Sarah. Francis M., Mary, Melissa, Henry, Josephine, Cass and Laura. of whom Mary, Henry and Laura are deceased.
Francis M. Wiley was educated in the schools of Clark county, Illi- nois, where his parents had located when he was but seven years of age. In early life he married Mary J. Taylor, the daughter of George W. and Alena Jackson ( McDonald) Taylor, the latter being named for General Jackson. Her people were slave owners and took an active part in the development of the South. Mrs. Wiley has one brother. James C., a prom- inent farmer of Adrian, Missouri, and a sister. Annie McDonald, now deceased. She also has four half-brothers, Albert, John, Monroe and George and one half-sister, Isabel.
Mr. and Mrs. Francis Wiley are the parents of the following children : Clark. Charles, Flora and Vera. Clark married Ida Whittaker, and lives at Macksville, Kansas. They have five children, Harland, Marion, Clytie, Faye and Verda Jean. Charles, a resident of Kinsley, Kansas, married Ada Man. and they have one. son, Horace. Flora became the wife of Ernest L. Nokdler, a resident of Dodge City, Kansas, and they have one son, Galen W. Vera Snow, the youngest of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Wiley, is a music teacher by profession, having charge of the violin department in the high school in her home town, and is also assistant piano teacher in the same place.
Francis M. Wiley came to Kansas in 1869, having located first about four miles from Florence. Later he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in Grant township. Reno county. In 1872 he was married and made his home on the farm in Grant township until ten years ago, when he removed to Nickerson and retired from active farm life. He sold his holdings of eight hundred acres in Grant township and invested in six hun- dred and forty acres in Ford county, and two. hundred and forty acres in Hodgeman county.
Mr. Wiley and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. and take an active part in all church work. Mrs. Wiley takes much interest in the Foreign Missionary Society of the church, and was at one time the secretary of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, of the Hutchinson district, Kansas. The Francis M. and Mary J. Wiley school Hiingwhan,
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China, was named in honor of her active and successful work in the mission- ary field.
Mr. Wiley served his country as a soklier during the Civil War, from August 14, 1862, until July 12, 1865, under the command of General Thomas. He took part in some of the most important battles of the war and received several injuries while in service.
Mrs. Wiley is the president of the Chautauqua Reading Circle and was the president for four years of the local Foreign Missionary Society. She is a member of the church choir, and has been for five years a district steward of the church at Nickerson, of which Mr. Wiley is a member of the board of trustees.
Two of the children of Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Wiley, Clarke and Charles, after having taught school for a number of years, are now engaged in the hardware and furniture business in their home town. and are very successful in their chosen line. In 1916 Charles sold his interests in the store to his brother, and bought a farm near Kinsley. Kansas, where he expects to make his future home.
"Mr. Wiley may well be called one of the pioneers of this section, and has done his part in the development of this prosperous county. He can recall many incidents of early life on the plains and himself engaged in the hunting of buffalo on the plains, the hides being sold in Great Bend and Hutchinson at a handsome profit. In the spring of 1916. Mr. Wiley sold all his interesets in Reno county. He purchased property and located in Dodge City, Kansas.
DAVID H. HINDS.
David H. Hinds has for thirty years been one of the prominent farmers and progressive citizens of Reno county. His parents were both of West Virginia stock. His father, John Hinds, was born near Middleburn. West Virginia, in 1837, and settled near New Matamoras, Washington county, Ohio, about 1859. Three years afterward he enlisted at Marietta. Ohio, in Company C, Seventy-seven Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for four and one-half years. He took part in the battles of Shiloh. Nashville, Mark's Mill and Richmond and was mustered out of the army at Washington, in 1865, after having participated in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C. In October, 1884, he settled in Grove (now Miami) township, Reno county, Kansas, and took up one hundred and sixty acres
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of land. being the northeast quarter of section 23, township 26, range 10. He resided in this county until his death, which occurred at Hutchinson, February 14. 1905. He was prominent in lodge circles, being a thirty- second degree Mason and a Knight Templar. He was also a member of the Baptist church and of the Republican party.
David H. Hinds' mother was Margaret Fry, who was born near Wheeling. West Virginia, in 1830. She has the distinction of serving the mical for the first train sent out over the Baltimore & Ohio railroad from Baltimore to Wheeling on the Grafton division. She is of the Baptist persuasion and her present residence is at Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was married to John Hinds in 1860 and they were the parents of a large family, as follow: John F., deceased; Sarah, the wife of Richard Sarson, who is in the express business in Colorado Springs; Lydia, the wife of L. M. Todd. a farmer of near Wellsville, Franklin county, Kansas; Mollie, deceased, who was the wife of Robert Smith, of Leadville, Colorado; William, deceased: Lottie, the wife of James Harrison, a farmer living near Vinland, Douglas county, Kansas; Jennie, wife of Albert Davidson ; Rosa. the wife of Robert Stuart. a miner of Goldfield, Nevada; David H., who was born on January 28, 1866, in Washington county, Ohio. He was educated in the graded schools of New Matamoras. He accompanied his parents to Kansas in 1884, and in 1901 he bought one hundred and sixty acres in the northwest quarter of section 23. In 1909 he added eighty acres to this farm, all of which he still owns.
On March 2. 1892, David H. Hinds was married in Grove township to Maggie Dickhut, the daughter of Charles W. and Margaret (Stark) Dickhut. She was born near Quincy, Schuyler county, Illinois, on Novem- ber 14. 1871.
Charles W. Dickhut was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. on March 2. 1833. He emigrated to Kansas, in October, 1878, and homesteaded and timber-claimed three hundred and twenty acres of land in Grove (now Miami) township. He was for some time a member of the school board of district No. 119, and also filled the office of township trustee. He was a Mason, a Republican and a member of the Methodist church. His death occurred in Nickerson on October 27. 1907. His wife, Margaret (Stark) Dickhut, was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. November 9, 1837. Her residence is now in Turon, Kansas. Besides Maggie, the wife of David H. Hinds, they had a family of five sons, one of whom is deceased, and five daughters.
If I thompson
Mary Though son
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To Mr. and Mrs. Hinds have been born three children, as follow : Otto, born on January 3, 18944, in Miami township, a thresher and lives in Turon; Claude. April 12, 1896, who is a farmer in Reno county; Mar- garet. January 2, 1907.
The family resides in Turon, but Mr. Hinds personally superintends his farm in Miami township. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is independent.
HENRY S. THOMPSON.
Henry S. Thompson, president of the Kansas State Fair, one of the most prominent ranchmen of Reno county, the man who fostered the pleas- ant village of Sylvia from the time it was nothing but a bare plan on a sheet of paper to its present prosperous proportions, and who also has taken a prominent part in most of the forward-looking movements which have added to the general welfare of this region any time during the past thirty years, is a Kentuckian by birth, but has lived in Reno county since 1882, and is very properly looked upon as one of the pioneers in the wonderful work of developing this favored section of the state. He was born in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, on January 13, 1851, son of Alfred and Emily (Hall) Thompson. the former of whom was a well-to-do market gardener, as well as a greenhouse and nursery. man, who owned the first nursery in the state of Kentucky, this nursery being located on the ground on which the present city of Louisville is built. Mr. Thompson's father and mother were both of English origin, natives of the Isle of Wight.
Henry S. Thompson received his education in the public schools of Louisville, and in 1882 came to Reno county, Kansas. In company with some other men from Kentucky, he purchased about eighteen thousand acres of land from the railroad company for a cattle ranch, and served as manager of the great ranch known as the "Anderson Ranch." In IS91 this ranch was sold and the land subdivided, and at that time Mr. Thompson purchased his present ranch containing seventeen hundred acres, on which he now lives.
From the very beginning of his residence in Reno county. Mr. Thomp- son has taken a very active interest in the development of the western part of the county and about 1885, not long after coming here, formed the town company which was organized to build the town of Sylvia. When the
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townsite was located he succeeded in having the line of the Kinsley branch of the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad surveyed through Sylvia and the future of the town was thus assured. From the beginning of the days of the old county fair here, Mr. Thompson was one of the leaders in that movement, and when the old fair ground was converted to the uses of the Kansas State Fair, he was one of the most active promoters of the latter enterprise and has been so for years. He now is president of the Kansas state fair, located at Hutchinson, and is very properly looked upon as one of the 'leading agricultural experts in the Southwest. He is also a member of the state board of agriculture.
On June 13, 1885, Mr. Thompson was married in the house where he now lives to Mary Shepherd, a native of Ohio, the daughter of Nathan and Lucinda (Mardis) Shepherd. Mrs. Thompson's father was an early settler of Reno county, largely interested in cattle while living in Ohio, and served as manager of the "Thompson Ranch" after coming to Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have no children of their own, but have reared to woman- hood their neice, Miss Grace Shepherd, a young lady of rare artistic talent. Mr. Thompson has always taken an active interest in politics, and served his district in the Legislature in 1905, 1907 and 1911. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Hutchinson, and both he and his wife are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Sylvia.
THOMAS J. DECKER.
Thomas J. Decker, one of the oldest and best-known citizens of Reno county, as well as one of the real pioneers of this community, for many years a prominent resident of Hutchinson and since 1899 a resident of Turon, this county, is a native of Illinois, having been born at Sunbeam, in Mercer county, that state. March 14, 1837, son of Moses and Elizabeth ( Reasoner-) Decker, the former a native of New York state and the latter of Ohio. Moses Decker was born in 1788 and was twenty years old when he went from New York to Norwich, Ohio, where he married Elizabeth Reasoner, who was born in that place in 1795. They later moved to Illinois and thence to Viroqua, Wisconsin, where they spent their last days. Moses Decker died on August 4. 1860, he then being past seventy-two years of age. His wife had preceded him to the grave, her death having occurred on January 3. 1859. at the age of sixty-four years, eleven months and
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sixteen days. They were the parents of fourteen children, of whom but two are now surviving, the subject of this sketch, who is the youngest, and his sister, Eliza, who married Ira Stevens, a farmer of Victory, Vernon county, Wisconsin, and now lives at Williams, in Hamilton county, Iowa.
Thomas J. Decker was but a child when his parents moved from Illinois to Wisconsin and he received his early education in a log school house near the village of Viroqua, in the latter state. He was reared as a farmer and also learned the butcher's trade. On November 1, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company C, Eighteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. After two years of service he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and that was his rank when mustered out with his regiment at Louisville, Kentucky. He received his final dis- charge at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 4, 1865. During his long military service Mr. Decker was in nineteen battles, including those of Shiloh, Champion's Hill, Vicksburg and Atlanta, but was never wounded nor captured by the enemy. During a part of his service he was attached to the army of General Grant, but most of his service was performed in the army of General Sherman.
At Viroqua, Wisconsin, February 19, 1862, Thomas J. Decker was united in marriage to Helen Longmire, who was born at St. Johns, New Brunswick, December 30, 1842, daughter of Capt. John W. and Matilda . (Parsons) Longmire, both of whom were born in London, England, the former on January 1, 1800, and the latter, March 29, 1813. Captain Long- mire was lost at sea on November 28, 1842, and thereafter, for thirteen years, his widow engaged in the fishing business, shipping cargoes from New Brunswick to Boston four times a year. She later moved to Wiscon- sin, but when the Deckers came to Kansas she accompanied them and died at Huntington on February 17, 1888. Mrs. Decker had a brother, John W. Longmire, who enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil War and died of typhoid fever during that service, on October 28. 1861, and was buried in the cemetery at the National Soldiers Home, at Wash- ington, D. C. Fifty years later Mrs. Decker, while on a visit to Washington, located his grave as grave No. 3644 in the National Soldiers Home cemetery.
Upon the completion of his military service Thomas J. Decker returned to Wisconsin, where he remained until in May, 1871, when he and his family came to Kansas, by the "prairie schooner" route, settling at Sedg- wick, where they remained only about two months, at the end of which time they came on to Reno county, thus being numbered among the very earliest
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