USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 46
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"A man was found who had served in the English navy,-Captain Biekerton. The canon was placed in his hands and after loading it, he announced that he would give the enemy a copy of the Kansas Her- ald of Freedom. The bullet went through the log fort. The cannon was loaded again and with a voice that all could hear the Captain an- noneed that they should have a copy of the Kansas Tribune. After this bullet went through the fort up came a white flag. Titus and eighteen prisoners were taken. The return to Lawrence in the latter part of the afternoon, with the prisoners, and the triumph of the three victories, cannot be described.
"Colonel Titus, who was wounded, and the other prisoners were placed in the hands of this man, and he secured Dr. S. B. Prentice to attend to the wounded. The battle of Franklin was the Bunker Hill in the Kansas warfare, except that the victory was more telling and the results came sooner. The prisoners were soon exchanged for free state prisoners who were being held under the bogus territorial govern- ment under sham charges that they might be prevented from working for the free state canse. The people of Missouri went on preparing for the taking of Lawrence, for they realized it would be impossible to hold slaves in a state with such a town as Lawrence in it. Three armies were recruited in Missouri and were on their way to Lawrence. This was in September. 1856, and an election for president of the United States would be held in November. The Democratic leaders in the East decided that the war in Kansas must be stopped or the party would be defeated. If Lawrence should be destroyed by Missourians, the election would go against them. £ Governor Shannon, the territorial governor, was withdrawn and Mr. Gerry was appointed to fill his place. Ile arrived in the territory while the army from Missouri were on their way to take Lawrence. Governor Gerry ordered some United States troops, a battery of flying artillery, from Fort Leavenworth into Dong- lass county, stationing them near Lawrence.
"The Missouri army was then encamped a few miles east of Law- renee on the Wackurusa Creek and the advance guard was so near Lawrence that it was exchanging shots with the Cabbott Guard Company. which company had been raised by this man. The rifles had been furnished him by Dr. Cabbott. of Boston, in case he could raise a com- pany. Every free state man was in his place and the women of Lawrence were doing their part. On Sunday night or Monday morning the attack would be made, despite the fact that the Missourians had twenty-eight hundred men to the free state's six hundred. At this
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stage, Governor Gerry located this battery of flying artillery upon the hill south of Lawrence and asked the Cabbott Guard to support their artillery in case of a battle. The governor then went to the head- quarters of the Missouri army and told them they must return to Mis- souri. If Lawrence were destroyed, then the election would go against the Democrats and all would be lost. The officers, supported by the men, informed the governor that they had come to wipe Lawrence from the earth and that they intended to do it. The governor replied that he had the United States troops ready and that he should use them to protect Lawrence; that he had orders from the president of the United States to do so. The Missourians deliberated all night but finally saw that they could not hope to succeed with the United States troops united with the free state men, and so returned to Missouri. Thus ended the
contest in Kansas Territory to make it a slave state by force of arms.
"There was fighting in southern Kansas later which grew out of local difficulties. The successful capture of the fort at Franklin and the other two forts was the death knell to the introduction of slavery into Kansas. The loss of Kansas to the South brought secession. Secession brought the war, and the war brought emancipation. Thus Providence often seemingly employs the most insignificant means to bring about very important results. In this case there has been built a mighty nation which may yet control the governments of the world."
U. S. GUYER .- A well known and influential member of the Kansas bar, U. S. Guyer is actively engaged in the practice of his profession in Kansas City, Kansas, and holds an assured position among the men of prominence and influence, being active in social and official circles. A native of Illinois, he was born December 13, 1868, in Pawpaw, Lee coun- ty, being the youngest child in a family of eight children, of whom six survive.
Rev. Joseph Guver, his father, was born in Chambersburg, Pennsyl- vania, in 1828. He was a minister in the United Brethren church, and held pastorates in various places in Kansas, where his death of- curred in 1896. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Lewis, was born in Maryland. She survived him, and is now a resident of Kan- sas City, Kansas.
After attending the public schools of the several places in which his father was employed as a preacher of the gospel, U. S. Gnyer entered the Leander Clark College, in Toledo, Iowa, where he was graduated with the class of 1894. Three years later he was graduated from the University of Kansas, in Lawrence. Continuing his studies, Mr. Guyer was graduated from the Kansas City School of Law with the class of 1902, and was very soon after admitted to the Missonri bar and to the Kansas bar. Ile began his active career as a teacher, and for five years was principal of the Saint John's High School. He has ever taken a deep interest in educational matters, and is now one of the trustees of the Leander Clark College, of Toledo, Iowa, his ahna mater.
Mr. Guyer is a Republican in politics, and has served one term as judge of the City Court, and for one term was mayor of Kansas City, Kansas. Fraternally he belongs to Wyandotte Lodge, No. 3, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; to Wyandotte Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch
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Masons; to Caswell Consistory, No. 5; and is a thirty-second degree Mason. He likewise belongs to Wyandotte Lodge, No. 440, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
WILLIAM L. WOOD .- Prominent among the foremost citizens of Kansas City, Kansas, is William L. Wood, a man of talent and eulture, and the worthy representative of a distinguished pioneer family. A son of the late Dr. George B. Wood, he was born in what is now Kansas City, Kansas, but was then Wyandotte, Kansas, August 17, 1863.
Born December 25, 1823, in Syracuse, New York, George B. Wood grew to manhood in his native state, and was there edueated. In 1849, Inred westward by the discovery of gold in California, he followed the emigrant's trail over mountain and plain to the Pacific coast, and there spent some time hunting for the precious metal. Returning home by way of the Isthmus of Panama, he continued the practice of medicine in the Empire state until 1859, when he located as a physi- cian and surgeon in Kansas City, Missouri. A short time later he took up his residence in the old City of Wyandotte, Kansas, now known as Kansas City, Kansas. During the Civil war he offered his services to his country, and served as a surgeon in the army. IIe subsequently became very active in the affairs of his adopted home, and was very influential in advancing the growth of Wyandotte City. In 1875 and 1876 he and his brother, Luther Wood, built the first street car line in the eity, the road extending from Sixth street, on Minnesota avenue, to the state line. Active in public affairs and one of the most noted physicians of the place, he became a leader in matters of importance, and in 1874 served as mayor of the city. In August, 1886, Dr. Wood removed to Altamonte, Florida, where he spent his remaining days, passing to the higher life November 29, 1887. Dr. Wood married Anna Bonham, who was born in Berryville, Clarke county, Virginia, in 1838, and died on the 9th of June, 1910. Of the five children born to Dr. and Mrs. Wood, four are living, as follows: Mamie C., wife of Irwin I. Groff; William L., the special subject of this brief biograph- ieal record; and Harry H. and De Witt, twins.
Acquiring a practical education in the public schools of old Wyandotte and Kansas City, Kansas, William L. Wood began his active career as an employe of his father, being a driver on the street cars. He subsequently spent a year and a half as a cattle herder in Texas, and after his return to Kansas City, Kansas, embarked in the real estate business. Beginning the study of law, he had as instructors J. O. Fife and Harry McGrew, and made such progress that in the spring of 1898, by examination, he was admitted to the bar.
Mr. Wood's chief motive for entering the legal profession was that of righting a wrong done to his father many years before. As far back as 1859 Dr. Wood acquired an interest in two hundred and fifty acres of land lying between the state lines of Kansas and Missouri, obtaining it from Silas Armstrong, Chief of the Wyandotte Indians. In the spring of 1867, either in March or April, the river overflowed its banks, entting a new channel and leaving seventy-five aeres of his traet of land an island. Subsequently the Armour Packing Company, the Fowler Packing Company and the National Water Company, drove piles around the island, diverting the channel so that the waters of the
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Missouri and Kaw rivers flowed to the north side of the island. Then the packing companies and the water company, with the assistance of the City and the Railroad companies, filled in the old river bed with debris and refuse of all kinds, and took possession of the land. Mr. Wood, knowing of his father's interest in the property, made a business of assembling the facts, and in order to ascertain the legal situation regarding the transaction brought suit against the various parties to reclaim the land, and after a long and stubborn fight in the courts won the case against the defendants.
Fraternally Mr. Wood belongs to Wyandotte Lodge, No. 3, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; to Wyandotte Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons; to Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 21, Knight Templars; to Cas- well Consistory, No. 5; to Ararat Temple, of Kansas City, Missouri ; and has the honor of being a thirty-third degree Mason. Politically he is a staneh Republican.
Mr. Wood married, September 28, 1887, Blanche Hudson, who was born in South Charleston, Ohio. Her father, William J. Hudson, a native of England, came to the United States when young and settled in Clark county, Ohio. He served in the Civil war as a member of the Squirrel Rifles, and was afterward engaged in the drug business at South Charleston, Ohio, where he was a citizen of much prominence, serving as justice of the peace, and being elected mayor of the city on the Republican ticket. Mr. Hudson married Virginia C. Freeman, who was born and bred in Ohio, and Mrs. Wood was their only child. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have one child, George H. Wood, a graduate of the Kansas City, Kansas, High School.
FRANK R. ALDEN .- Prominent among the leading undertakers of Wyandotte county is Frank R. Alden, of Bonner Springs, who has made a thorough study of the art of embalming as now practised, and has a good understanding of the business in which he is engaged. Although he has been in this city but four years, he has won a fair share of patronage. A native of Kansas, he was born, in 1876, in Johnson coun- ty, and was there brought up on a farm.
William Alden, his father, was born in Vermont, of substantial New England ancestry, the name Alden being held in high honor in that section of the country, his birth having occurred in 1837. In 1856 he started westward with a band of emigrants, being wagon master and boss of a company of overland freighters bound for Salt Lake City, the journey across the country being made in wagons, the majority of which were drawn by cattle, although a few mules were employed. He subsequently located at Westport Landing, Kansas, and during the Civil war belonged to the Kansas State Militia. In 1862 he bought land in .Johnson county, and on the farm which he improved was actively en- gaged in agricultural pursuits until retiring from business, relegating the management of his estate to his son, Dell M., with whom he and his good wife now live. 3 He is a staunch Republican in politics, and a Methodist in religion. £ He married Agnes Low, a native of Iowa, and of their union five children have been born, namely: Fanny, wife of C. Avent, a ranchman in Burlington, Wyoming; Minnie, wife of A. M. Sparhawk, of Portland, Oregon; William, a farmer in Johnson county,
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Kansas; Frank R., the special subject of this sketch ; and Dell M., living on the old homestead, as mentioned above.
Brought up on the home farm, Frank R. Alden attended the dis- triet schools until sixteen years of age, after which he continued his studies at Baker University, in Baldwin, Kansas, for a year. He sub- sequently assisted in the care of the home farm until 1905, when he entered the Barnes' School of Anatomy and Embalming, in Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1907. Coming immediately to Bonner Springs, Mr. Alden established himself as an undertaker, and has gained an extended reputation for efficiency throughout the community, his professional skill being recognized, while his kindly courtesy and broad sympathies have won him hosts of friends. Ile is a Republican in politics, but not an office seeker.
Mr. Alden married, in 1902, Laura Du Bois, of Leavenworth county, Kansas, and their only child, Irene, is now eight years old. Mrs. Alden, who is a very pleasant and agreeable woman, ably assists her Inusband in his work.
JAY L. CARLISLE .- Wide-awake and energetic, Jay L. Carlisle has for many years been intimately associated with the development and material growth of Kansas City, Kansas, which is his home, many bene- ficial projects having been successfully established through his efforts. A native of Indiana, he was born June 29, 1874, at Fort Wayne. He vame to Kansas at the age of five years and to Wyandotte county when nine where the remainder of his childhood days were spent.
Daniel N. Carlisle, his father, was born at Beaver Dam, Ohio, in 1845. He was for a number of years a resident of Fort Wayne, Indi- ana, from there coming with his family to Kansas City, Kansas, in 1882. For some time after locating here, he dealt in live stock, buying and selling on commission. Embarking in the real estate business in 1888, he operated extensively, establishing several subdivisions and platting Adam's, King's, Mount Auburn and Carlisle Place Additions. His pet scheme was to build a dam in the Kaw river at Muncie, but his death in 1891, put an end to the plan. He was a Republican in politics. His wife, whose maiden name was Martha Lawrence, was born in Michigan in 1851, and is now living in Kansas City, Kansas. She has four child- ren, namely : Jay L., with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned ; Mary, wife of Charles P. Craig; Addie J .; and Lula W.
Attending first the public schools of Kansas City and Argentine, Jay L. Carlisle completed his elementary education at Emporia College. He thien began the study of law in the office of John Hale & Fife, and in April, 1897, after being with Mr. Hale seven years, was admitted to the bar by examination. Mr. Carlisle was actively engaged in the practice of liis profession until 1904, when he took up his present line of indus- try, engaging in the building and real estate business as junior member of the firm of Grubel & Carlisle. An active worker in the Grandview Improvement Association, he was a potent factor in having the traction line built out to the city additions, a movement of inestimable value as regards the upbuilding and growth of that locality.
Politically Mr. Carlisle is a zealous advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, and in 1904 was chairman of the Democratic County Committee. On December 8, 1910, he was appointed police
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judge, and is rendering the city excellent service in that capacity. Fraternally Judge Carlisle is a member of Wyandotte Lodge, No. 440, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; of Pride of the West Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and is connected with other bene- ficial societies.
On May 1, 1901, Mr. Carlisle was united in marriage with Maud Munagle, a daughter of John and Anna Munagle, of Kansas City, Missonri, and they have three children, namely : Eunice, Ida May, and Gertrude.
JOHN AUGUSTUS THOMPSON .- One of the most active, alert and far- sighted business men of Wyandotte county, John Augustus Thompson, of Edwardsville, has been influential in the establishment of many of the more important enterprises of this section of the state and is an able and honored representative of its horticultural interests. He was born June 6, 1854, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and comes of substantial New England stock.
M. L. Thompson, his father, was born in Connecticut in 1820, and died August 7, 1905, in Kansas. In 1859 he followed the trail of the emigrant to Kansas, crossing the prairie, "as of old the Pilgrims crossed the sea," locating in Baldwin, where he was a pioneer hotel keeper. He was a man of culture, interested in advancing the educational interests of his adopted home, and was one of the first trustees of the Baker Uni- versity. During the Civil war he was appointed quartermaster at Fort Seott, and for a while after that period was engaged in the com- mission business at Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1864 he moved with his family to Edwardsville, Wyandotte county, being one of the original settlers of that place. He became prominent in public affairs. serving as postmaster, and as justice of the peace was known far and wide as Judge Thompson. He died at his home in Edwardsville in 1905, as
above mentioned. He married Sarah G. Schweizer, who died at Ed- wardsville, Kansas, in 1890. Five children were born into their house- hold, as follows: John Augustus, of this sketch; Emma M., widow of Dr. D. C. Murphy ; Charles W., a dentist at Holton, Kansas; Herbert, a student at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence; and an infant daughter who died aged two months. Judge Thompson was identified with the Republican party, and belongs to the Ancient, Free and Ac- cepted Order of Masons. Religiously he was a member of the Christian church, and an elder.
Jolm Augustus Thompson was educated in the publie schools of Baldwin and Leavenworth, and as a boy of about fifteen years came with his parents to Wyandotte county. Having a natural taste for horticulture, he subsequently learned the nursery business, and, with others, bought large tracts of land in Wyandotte and started, near Edwardsville, the Edwardsville Fruit Farm, which was the first large orchard in the county. Mr. Thompson still retains his interest in horti- culture, and is a life member of the Kansas State Horticultural Society, and also belongs to the Missouri Valley Horticultural Society.
Mr. Thompson has ever been at the fore front in the establishment of beneficial projects, and he was instrumental in having built the first independent Telephone Exchange in Wyandotte county, of which he is now the manager. In 1909 he organized the Edwardsville State Bank,
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and has sinee served as president of that institution. He is a steadfast Republican in politics, easting his maiden presidential vote for Hayes, and he was township trustee of Delaware township for two terms. He was a member of the school board of the district for ten years and its treasurer, and previous to this was elerk of the township board one term. He is a member of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Order of Masons; of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and of the Rebekahs, as is also his wife. He is an active member of the Central Protective Association, and one of the trustees of the Methodist church.
Mr. Thompson married, May 22, 1873, Rhoda E. Marnoch, who came from London, England, to Kansas with her parents when twenty years of age and settled in Edwardsville. Neither of her parents are now living. Four children have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, namely : Judge Charles E., a noted lawyer and judge of Kansas City, Kansas; Harry M., who died at the age of nineteen years; John A., Jr., a graduate of the Kansas Agricultural College, is now a veterinary surgeon in the employ of the United States Government, and is chief veterinarian on the island of Panay, one of the Philippines; and his twin sister, Augusta, died February 10, 1884.
WILLIAM A. MORRIS .- One of the successful but unassuming mem- bers of the Kansas bar, William A. Morris, of Kansas City, Kansas, has won an excellent reputation for skill and ability in the practice of the legal profession, and holds high rank among the leading men of his com- munity. A son of Lorenzo Morris, he was born October 5, 1857, in Favette county, Ohio, where his earlier life was spent.
A native of Ohio, Lorenzo Morris was born in 1834, in Clinton county. Becoming a farmer from choice, he located in Fayette county, where he cleared and improved a good farm, continuing in his pleasant occupation until his death, in Ohio, in 1906. Ile was a man of honest integrity, mueh respected throughout the community, and was a trust- worthy member of the Methodist Protestant church. He was a Republi- can in polities, but never an aspirant for publie office. He married Deborah Plummer, who was born in Kentucky, in 1838, and died in Ohio in 1884. Six children were born of their union, as follows: William A., the special subject of this brief biography; Walter; Jona- than ; Olive; Elwood ; and David.
Completing the course of study in the schools of his native county, William A. Morris attended Adrain College, in Adrain, Michigan, after which he studied law with Hon. Mills Gardiner, at Washington Court Ilonse, Ohio. At Columbus, Ohio, in April, 1881, he was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession in Wichita, Kansas. Locating at Kansas City, Kansas, in 1895. Mr. Morris has lived here since, and as a lawyer has met with unquestioned success, his legal accomplishments and skill being recognized by his large clientele. Ile is a staunch Republiean in politics, a member of the Methodist Protes- tant church, trustee of the Kansas City University, and a member of the executive committee of the Young Men's Christian Association.
Mr. Morris married, June 17. 1886. Cora M. Miller, who was born in Butler, Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of four children, namely : Edith, Grace, Willard and Margaret.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTON LF4 1 TILDEN FC AID
BONNER SPRINGS SANITARIUM DR. H. C. HAYS, SUPT.
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
HENRY C. HAYS, M. D .- A man of broad mind and generous cul- ture, endowed by nature with a high order of talent, Henry C. Hays, M. D., of Bonner Springs, Kansas, is actively identified with one of the most exacting of all the professions to which a man may devote his time and energies, and in which he has met with remarkable success, being known as one of the foremost physicians of Wyandotte county. Beginning his career with some special advantages as regards heredity and environment, heing the son of Rev. George P. Hays, D. D., for some years the pastor of the Second Presbyterian church of Kansas City, Mis- souri, he has sturdily and systematically applied his abilities to his chosen work, and the success which he has attained brings vividly to mind the truth of the statement recently made by Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, of Brooklyn, who says: "Men rise to greatness by their oppor- tunities, but there are thousands of opportunities and only a few men who are ready to take advantage of them. Whenever a chance sudden- ly throws upon a man the spotlight of success it is because he, while his companions were idling, had prepared himself for the chance that he knew would some day come."
In January, 1891, on the very first day of the year, the Bonner Springs Sanitarium was organized, the object being to found an institu- tion in which nervous diseases of all forms could be specially treated. A high elevation of land near Bonner Springs, overlooking the Kaw river, was selected as a favorable site for the beautiful stone structure which has since been erected for the purpose, a location which has proved satisfactory in every respect, the freedom from the city's dust, heat and bustle, with the pure, invigorating air and abundance of sun- shine everywhere about, bringing rest, health and strength to the numerous patients here treated.
In June, 1905, Dr. Henry C. Hays, the special subject of this brief sketch, assumed the management of the Bonner Springs Sanitarium, and under his efficient control it has become one of the useful and suc- cessful institutions of the kind in the country. Early realizing that an individual can reach a much higher degree of perfection in one special branch of industry rather than dissipate one's energies over an entire field of endeavor, Dr. Hays made a close study of the nervous system, the cause of its diseases and their treatment, and his practice along these lines has so constantly increased that it now demands almost his entire attention. In the management of the Sanitarium the Doctor has the assistance of a fine corps of skilled physicians, trained nurses and an efficient matron.
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