USA > Kansas > Jackson County > Portrait and biographical album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 43
USA > Kansas > Jefferson County > Portrait and biographical album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 43
USA > Kansas > Pottawatomie County > Portrait and biographical album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 43
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W ASIIINGTON I. PRIEST, joint proprie- tor of the Whiting News, which is pub- lished in Whiting, Jackson County, has already shown his ability in the conduct of that sheet, in which he is assisted by his brother, W. E. Priest. The News was purchased by the Priest Bros., in 1889, and has been enlarged and improved, and now ranks among the best papers of the county. It has a large and increasing eirenlation, and its
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advertising columns are well patronized by the business men of the town and county. The paper is a well-edited and neatly printed six-column. eight-page folio, and is deserving of the patronage of every family in the county. In addition to the usual items of news, each week brings some well- written article from some of its correspondents, the best in the county being members of the corps. Politics are entirely tabooed in the publication, although Mr. Priest is personally an ardent Republican.
Mr. Priest is a son of W. G. and R. L. Priest, and the family is of Scotch stock. The grandfather was a sailor for many years, and finally settled in Ohio, whence he came from his native country, Scotland. Our subject is a native of the Buckeye State. having been born in Fulton County, March 12, 1856. While he was quite young his parents went to Michigan, afterward moving to Missouri, then to lowa, and finally settling in Bement, Ill., when he was but seven years of age. At that early period in his life he began to learn the printer's trade, but owing to failing eyesight he left the office at the expiration of two years, and became a painter.
We may well conclude that the journalistic in- stinct was strong in young Priest, for at the age of twenty-one, he, in partnership with another man, started the Lovington Enterprise, at Lovington, Ill. They continued the publication for two years. when our subject sold his interest and accepted a position as foreman of the Bement Gazette, which place he held for five years. He then purchased the Gazette plant, but had the misfortune to lose the office and all its contents by fire before the insurance was transferred.
In this conflagration, Mr. Priest lost everything he possessed, as his room, in which his private effects were kept, adjoined the office and was also destroyed. His most precious possession, and one which no money could replace, was a scrap book whose contents he had been collecting for years, and which were the only preserved specimens of his mother's compositions in prose and poetry, she having in her young days been a writer of some note. After this catastrophe Mr. Priest returned to the brush for a living, and continued his work
as a painter until, in company with his brother, he bought out the News.
The wife of Mr. Priest was in her maidenbood Miss Rebceca J. Marshall. She was born in Wayne County, Ill., and is the daughter of Marques Mar- shall. She is a lady of culture and refinement, and one in whom her husband finds a kind but able critic, and an appreciative judge of his work in the field of journalism. Their happy union has been blessed by the birth of five children: Capitola Pearl, Lota Luella, Edith Lisle, and the twins. The latter were born on the 4th of March, 1889, and being, as their father claims, born Republicans, have been christened Harrison and Morton.
Mr. Priest wields the pen of a ready writer, and displays sound reasoning, keenness of perception, and an accurate judgment, both in the editorial columns and in sifting the mass of items from which to compile the news which his sheet contains. These qualities, together with his appreciation of what is best and most worthy of publication, lead to the confident expectation that his influence will be extended, and his name more widely known in the ranks which already include so many talented men and women.
ILLIAM H. SUMNER. This gentleman is the oldest employe and conductor on the Central Branch of the Union Pacific Rail- road in Kansas, and is a well-known resident of Whiting, Jackson County. During his long exper- ience as at railroad man, he has passed through some trying experiences where coolness, quick judgment, decision and bravery have been called for, and he has proved equal to the occasion. His birth took place in Hillsdale, Columbia Co., N. Y., Sept. 3, 1836, and he was reared on a farm, obtain- ing the meager education afforded by the public schools in those days. At the age of thirteen years be started out in life as an apprentice to a brick- layer, and after acquiring the trade, took a position as fireman on the New York Central Railroad, in the year 1850. For eight years he filled different positions on that road. and then engaged in mer- cantile business in his native town, continuing so
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occupied until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he sold out and entered upon a more danger- ous life.
Going South, Mr. Sumner helped to operate the Louisville & Nashville Railroad during the war, this service being exceedingly hazardous, even more so than that of the soldier. Trains were often fired into by the Rebels, and in many instances were ditched or bridges burned, and in fact, the life of a railway man in the Southern States during this eventful period was anything but a pleasant one. Five times Mr. Sumner was taken by the enciny, the capture in each case being accomplished by the de- railing and ditching of the train. Twice he was taken prisoner by John Morgan's men, and on several occasions met the notorious raider, of whom as a soldier he has a high opinion, as Morgan would never allow his men to kill his prisoners. Mr. Sum- ner was conductor of the train which Morgan captured at Woodburn, Ky., and which carried thirteen car loads of mules and six car-loads of horses. The horses were taken by the Confederate General, who then set fire to the train, destroying it and the mules. The boys on the train renamed the station, christening it " Muleburn " instead of Woodburn. On another occasion the train was ditched near Lebanon, Ky., and Mr. Sumner, his engineer, and two brakemen took to the woods and escaped capture by walking back to the junction thirty miles distant, traveling all night and all the next day.
Mr. Sumner remained on the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad until the fall of 1864, when he went to Wisconsin and secured a conductorship on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, his run being from Milwaukee to LaCrosse. His next change was to a train on the Pan Handle, with a run between Richmond and Logansport, Ind., his home being in the latter place. In 1868 he went to Des Moines, Iowa, and took a position on the Rock Island route, where he continued until 1877, when he changed to the Central Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad, running a train from At- chison west as far as the road was finished, which at first was to Washington County, Kan .; Concor- dia and Beloit afterward being the passenger divis- sion. Except during the war, Mr. Sumner has al-
ways run on passenger trains. While a conductor on the Rock Island, his train went into the washont of a culvert, killing the engineer, fireman and one passenger. During his twelve years run on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, with the large and full trains of that road, he has never had a passenger hurt.
In 1878, Mr. Sumner moved his family to Whit- ing, where he had bought land and owned the Whiting House, the only hotel in the town. He quit the road for a short time to run the hotel, but the second year sold out and built a fine cottage home in the southwestern part of the town. The place comprises four village lots, and the large grounds with their adornments make, with the resi- dence, a beautiful home. He had previously owned a quarter section of land two miles southeast of town, upon which he made many improvements. He later bought ninety-five acres adjoining the city, which is under a fine state of cultivation and bears marked improvements. On it he has erected a large barn at a cost of $1,300, and has one of the most complete systems of water works in the county, pipes conveying the fluid from the reservoir to the house, barn, hog and cattle lots, and the force being supplied by a large windmill. The place bears a fine orchard of 600 apple trees, and a large quan- tity of grapes and other fruits, including a great variety of the small fruits. This place is carried on by Mr. Sumner himself, and on it he has some fine black Galloway cattle, which are registered thor- oughbreds from imported stock, in the herd being the fine young bull " Ladd," which has a complete pedigree.
Mr. Sumner was married in his early life to Miss Christina L. Smith of Hillsdale, N. Y., who died not many months after their marriage, leaving a daugh- ter-Christina L., who is now the wife of William P. Reynolds of Whiting, formerly of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have two children-William S. and Frank.
In December, 1860, Mr. Sumner was again mar- ried, the bride being Miss Sarah J., daughter of John and Margaret (Thompson) Hardick. Iler fa- ther was a wholesale shoe dealer in Hudson, N. Y., for thirty years, and both ancestral lines belong to the Empire State. Her grandfather Hardick bore
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the given name of Philip, and died during the childhood of his son, John. Mrs. Sumner's grand- mother Hardick was called " Betsey," her proper name being Elizabeth, and her family, the Grahams, were among the first settlers of that country. They lived in Hudson when the nearest trading point was New York City, and they were obliged to make the trip in a sloop, taking a week to go and come. At that place Betsey Hardick passed her entire life, living to the ripe age of ninety-two years. Mr. Sumner and his present wife have had two children -Mamie, a young lady at home, who was edu- cated in the High Schools of Leavenworth ; and Frank, who died in infancy.
Mr. Sumner adheres stanchly to the principles of the Democratie party. He was one of the original members of Lodge, No. 250, A. F. & A. M., in Whiting, and is also a charter member in Jackson Lodge, No. 214, I. O. O. F. In the Masonic order he has advanced to the degree of Knight Templar. Mrs. Sumner is a charter member of Rebecca Lodge No. 72. She is also a worthy member of the Pres- byterian Church.
W W. SARGENT, editor and proprietor of the Holton Signal, has worked his way up until he stands well at the head of his pro- fession, although he is still a young man. He is endowed with keen, clear vision and much literary talent, and his ably edited paper, the only organ of the Democratic party in Jackson County, wields a marked influence in politics in this section of the State. Mr. Sargent is a native of Ashland County, Ohio, Ang. 20, 1858, being the date of his birth. He is the son of Leonard Franklin Sargent, who was born near Peterboro, Canada. His father, Philip Sargent, was born in the North of Ireland, and was one of the early settlers of the country near Peterboro, and there he lived many years, but his last days were spent in Holton, Kan. The maiden name of his wife was Margaret Coulter, and she was likewise of Irish birth. They were Presbyterians, and always true to the faith.
The father of our subject was reared and edu- cated in his Canadian birthplace, and there learned the trade of a machinist, which he followed there
till he came to the "States," in 1856. He located in Ashland County, Ohio, and was employed there at his trade till his removal to Illinois, in 1867, when he established himself as a machinist in Litchfield. The following year he came to Holton and opened a wagon shop, which he carried on till his death, which oceurred Nov. 2, 1886. The maiden name of the mother of our subject, who makes her home in this city, was Mary A. Treace, and she was born in Ashland County, Ohio. Her father. George A. Treace, was born in Pennsyl- vania. He removed from there to Ohio, and was a pioneer of Ashland County. He was both a farmer and a millwright, and he bought a tract of land, and besides improving a farm, he worked at his trade, continuing to live on his Ohio homestead till his death. The maiden name of his wife was Maria Sigler. She was born in Pennsylvania, and died on the home farm in Ashland County. The father of our subject was always a Republican from the forma- tion of the party till the day of his death, and he ever took an intelligent interest in political and public affairs. He was a member of Holton Lodge, No. 34, 1. O. O. F.
W. W. Sargent, of this biographical review, was the only child of his parents. He was given good educational advantages in the public schools of his native State, and in the city sehools after he came here. In 1872 he commenced to learn the printer's trade in the office of the Holton Express, and worked there three years, and he was employed in the office of the Topeka Times after that. In 1878 he entered upon his career as an editor, re- turning to Holton and establishing the Holton Signal, which he has published ever since with success. This bright, newsy paper is the only one in the county that voices the policy of the Demo- eratie party, and is well supported, having a large number of subscribers. On the 23d of December, 1887, Mr. Sargent's office was burned, and the entire outfit destroyed, excepting the books and files of papers. Not a whit discouraged by this serious misfortune, he at once energetically set about securing new machinery, presses, etc., and fitted up a fine office, and during the time did not lose a single issue of his paper. Mr. Sargent is a spirited, independent, wide-awake young man, well-
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equipped for the journalistie profession, with a successful past and a promising future. He is a facile and forcible writer, and possessing a mind well stocked with useful information, discusses in- telligently in the columns of his paper all subjects that are of general interest to the reading public. And while he is an intense partisan, he is not ag- gressive, but with sterling sense uses tact and moderation in all arguments and in presenting the issues of the times to the people. He is one of the leading spirits of the young Democracy of Kansas, and in 1884 was the candidate of his party for Presidential Elector for the 1st Congressional Dis- trict, and he has been Chairman of the Democratic Central Committee for the past eight years. He is a prominent member of Holton Lodge, No. 34, I. O. O. F., and of Friendship Lodge. No. 15, K. of P.
W ALTER PARMENTER. The subject of this sketch came to Kansas Territory in the fall of 1856, in time to assist in the mak- ing of it a free State and putting himself on record as a public-spirited and liberal-minded citizen-one who willingly endured toil, hardship and sacrifice for the sake of the future good, not only of himself and his immediate interests, but of those that should come after. Ile is widely and favorably known to most of the old residents of Franklin Township, Jackson County, among whom he has sojourned for so many years and built up for himself the record of an honest man and a good citizen.
A native of Pittsfield, Vt., Mr. Parmenter was horn March 29, 1833, and lived there on his father's farm until after reaching manhood. He was twenty- three years old when coming to Kansas, and settled first in what was then Calhoun, but is now Jackson County, taking up a Government claim on section 35, in what is now Franklin Township. He was then a single man, and proceeded with the improvement of his property in bachelor style until the 9th of Feb- ruary, 1860. On the evening of that day he took unto himself a wife and helpmate, Miss Sarah E. Jones, the wedding being celebrated at the bride's home in Cedar Township. The wedded pair com-
menced housekeeping on the new farm in a man- ner corresponding to their means and surroundings, little occurring to break the quietude of their lives until the opening of the War of the Rebel- lion. Mr. Parmenter watched the conflict until August, 1862, and on the 19th of that month en- listed as a I'nion soldier in Company B, 11th Kan- sas Infantry, in which he served until the elose of the war. He received his honorable discharge and was mustered out at Ft. Leavenworth, after which he returned to his farm and family, and as a tiller of the soil has been uniformly pros- perous. He owns 300 acres of land in Franklin and Cedar Townships, and has made good improve- ments on the home farm.
To Mr. and Mrs. Parmenter there have been born four children, the eldest of whom a danghter, Harriet E., is the wife of O. F. Winner, and lives in Cedar Township; Mary E. married Ezra N. Garber, and lives in Franklin Township; Ruth H., Mrs. J. P. Duffy, is also a resident of Franklin Township; Walter G., the only son, died when about five years old. Mr. Parmenter is a sound Republican, politically, and has held the school offices of his township. He identified himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church many years ago, of which his wife is also a member in good stand- ing, and in which Mr. Parmenter has filled the offices of Class-Leader and Steward.
The father of our subject was Walter Parmenter, a native of Massachusetts, who married Miss Mary Daley, who was born in Vermont. After their marriage they settled in Pittsfield, the latter State, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The father served from the opening until the close of the War of 1812, and the paternal grandfather dis- tinguished himself as a patriot in the Revolution- ary War. To Walter and Mary Parmenter there was born a family of ten children, eight of whom. two daughters and six sons, lived to mature years. Six are now living, and Walter, Jr., was the eighth child. Mrs. Parmenter is the daughter of Harlan C. and Ruth H. (Zell) Jones, who were natives re- spectively of Alabama and Virginia. After their marriage they settled in Warren County, Ohio, and thence removed to Parke County, Ind. From there, in the fall of 1855, they came to what is now Jack-
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son County, Kan., settling on Cedar Creek, in Cedar Township. There the father died, on the 12th of April, 1870; the mother is still living, making her home in Mayetta, Mrs. Parmenter was the eldest of ten children, and was born in Warren County, Ohio, April 13, 1838.
G EORGE SMITH, a retired farmer and capitalist of Holton, was one of the earliest pioneers of this city and county, and from the day of his settlement he has been a prominent factor in their upbuilding, having, with great pub- lic spirit, contributed liberally to all schemes to promote their growth, and seeking in all ways to advance their highest interests materially, morally and socially. On account of his well-known and fearlessly expressed opinions concerning the evils of slavery, he had to leave Missouri where his life had been endangered and came to Kansas in terri- torial days to build up a home under these sunny skies, and to sympathize with and aid those noble, courageous, self-sacrificing settlers who were fight- ing for the [admission of the Territory into the Union as a Free State.
Mr. Smith, whose native place is Erie County, N. Y., was born Sept. 25, 1811, a son of Ilumphrey and Nancy (Walker) Smith, the father born either in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, and the mother a native of Boston, Mass. Her father, Robert Walker, was born in England, and when a young man he came to America as a soldier of the British Army during the Revolution. Being impressed with the justice of the cause of the Colonists, he took sides with them and became a loyal citizen of this coun- try. Hle married a lady of American birth, but of English ancestry, named Atwater.
Humphrey Smith was a pioneer of Western New York, locating there when the country was a bowl- ing wilderness, with scarcely any other inhabitants than the Indians and wild animals. In March, 1816, he again became a pioneer, starting for the far dis- tant frontier territory of Missouri, accompanied by his wife and three children and other families, embarking on a flatboat on the Alleghany River, and floating down that stream and the Ohio, and
then paddling up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to Boonsville, Mo., where' they stopped a short time, and then proceeded to Howard County, of which they became the earliest settlers. Mr. Smith lived there three years and then removed to Ray County, where lie resided until 1821, when Clay County became his home. He there bought a tract of wild timbered land, and improved the water power by making a dam and building a grist and sawmill, the first in that section of the coun- try. Before that the pioneers had had to grind their corn themselves in a mortar, and they sub- sisted entirely on home products, their food being cooked before the open fire in the rude fire-place, and the mothers and daughters spun and wove all the cloth and made every garment worn by them- selves and other members of their families. Mr. Smith's patrons came from ten to twenty miles dis- tant, and as there were no markets near for their grain, distilleries were plentiful all through that region. St. Louis, 300 miles distant, was the near- est market and the people used to go there with teams for their supplies. In 1840 the father of our subject became a pioneer of still another State, moving to Iowa and casting in his lot with the few settlers of Dallas County who had preceded him. He invested his money in a tract of Government land, and utilized the water power by building a sawmill which he operated some years. He then returned to Smithville, Clay Co., Mo., and there his earthly pilgrimage ceased at the venerable age of eighty-three years. His parents, Abraham and Margaret (Davenport) Smith, were pioneers of Erie County, N. Y., where they spent their last years. They reared a family of fifteen children. There were eight children born to the parents of onr subject, seven of whom grew to maturity; Doctor, Erastus. George, Calvin, Julia Ann, Da- mon, liram.
George, of whom we write, was in his fifth year when his parents removed to the Territory of Missouri, and he well remembers the incidents of that memorable journey and of the primitive pio- ncer life that obtained in those parts in that day.
Ile remained with his parents till his marriage, and after that he farmed with his father one year He then proceeded to the Platte Purchase in Mis-
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souri, and was one of the first white men to locate there. He had a claim on which he lived about a year, and then traded it for a better one, which was also situated on the Platte Purchase, thirteen miles east of Westport, he paying $50 to boot. The land had not yet come into the market, and the country was almost in a state of nature, but very little having been done towards cultivating the fertile soil, and the deer and other wild animals had not retreated before the few settlers in that region. When the Government had surveyed the land and offered it for sale our subject bought it at the land office at Plattsburg, paying $1.25 an acre for it. When the trouble arose between the Free- State men and the pro-slavery element in Kansas his sympathies were distinctly with the former, and being quite free in the expression of his senti- ments he aroused the enmity of his neighbors who were strongly in favor of slavery, and they threatened to hang him. As that was not a pleas- ant prospect even for such a man of nerve as Mr. Smith, he wisely determined to remove to Kansas. Accordingly in April, 1857, he started on horseback for the Territory to seek a suitable location, and traveling to the present site of the city of Holton, which had just then been staked out, although not a building had been erected, he was pleased with its surroundings, and bought a claim joining the vil- lage, for which he was to pay $50. He paid $15 in cash, and at once went to work to build a log cabin. Returning to Missouri for his fam- ily, he yoked a pair of oxen and a pair of cows to a wagon, on which he loaded his household goods and then with his wife and children traversed the plains to their future home. Not having cash enough to enter his land here he went back to Mis- souri and borrowed 8700 at 20 per cent. without giving security, and he then entered 528 acres of wild prairie land near Holton. When the town site was entered he furnished $200 of the money necessary to pay for the land, and in return received sixty lots now included in the city limits, some of which he donated to different individuals for the purpose of building up the town, and he has always thus identified himself with the best inter- ests of the county, of whose entire development he has been a pleased witness, and while aiding its
growth he has accumulated a large amount of property by his industry and perseverance, and good judgment, and is numbered among its wealthy citizens.
Mr. Smith has been twice married. He was wedded to Miss Melinda Brown, a native of Ken- tucky, March 27, 1836. After a happy, brief mar- ried life of three years she died April 5, 1839. Three children were born of that union, two of whom were reared: Naney, who married G. C. Taylor and now lives in Texas; Philena, who mar- ried the Rev. James Lawrence, a presiding elder in the Methodist Church. She is now deceased. The second marriage of our subject, which was solemn- izen Nov. 5, 1840, was to Miss Surilda Shelton, a native of Woodford County, Ky., and a daughter of William and Mary (Cullen) Shelton. Eight children have blessed the wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, of whom the following seven grew to manhood and womanhood: William S .; Mary, wife of John T. Warren; Sarah F., wife of A. H. Miller; Walker; A. Burlingame; Eugenia, wife of John M. Lavely; Narcissa, wife of Edward E. Burkett. Humphrey, the first-born son of our subject and his wife, served three years and three days in the 5th Kansas Regiment, a member of Company A, and bravely laid down his life for his country at Little Rock, Ark. William, their second son, was a member of the same regiment, and he did gallant service during four years in the late war, and was for a time held prisoner by the enemy at Ft. Tyler, Tex. The family were still further represented on Southern battle fields by all the sons- in-law who did good service in the war. The en- tire family are all Republicans in their political views.
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