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 47
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 47
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 47
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The firm of Anderson Bros. enjoys a large pat- ronage in its job department, from which it issues some of the finest work of its kind in the county. The Indicator is the official paper of Pottawatomie County, as well as one of the leading newspapers of Northwestern Kansas; it is a social paper of some prominence, while its influence in political circles is widely felt both by the Republican party and its opponent.
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S YLVANUS W. ROSS, M.D., senior mem- ber of the firm of Ross & Spangler, Phy- sicians and Surgeons, Westmoreland, Pot- tawatomie Co., Kan., is one of the most distinguished citizens of the town and a recognized leader in the county in all matters pertaining to the theory or practice of his chosen profession. He is a native of Brown County, Ohio, where he was born Oct. 6, 1850, to David and Unity (Evans) Ross. The grandfather of Dr. Ross, David Ross, Sr., was a native of the North of Ireland, and emi- grated to America in the early part of this century, settling in Highland County, Ohio, in which place the father of our subject was born in the year 1812. Samuel Evans, the maternal grandfather of the Doctor, was a native of Maryland. When a
young man he emigrated to Preston County, Va., but shortly after removed to Brown County, Ohio, where he remained until the close of life. The date of his settlement in the latter county was about 1800. Unity Evans was born in Brown County, Ohio, and remained under the parental roof until her marriage to David Ross.
Mr. and Mrs. David Ross were the parents of seven children, as follows: Samuel E., Jonathan A., Duncan F., David, Clarinda; Sylvanus, the subject of this notice; and Franklin P. In 1858 Mr. Ross removed his family to Ray County, Mo., and settled on a farm. Mrs. Ross exchanged her earthly residence for a heavenly one in 1873, her departure taking place from the farm in Missouri on September 16th. Mr. Ross joined her in a better land in 1888, the spirit vacating its tenement of clay on December 29, in Manitou Springs, Colo.
Sylvanns W. Ross was reared on the farm of his parents, and received his education in the common schools of his adopted State. In 1872 he began a course of reading in Materia Medica, in the office of A. G. Lewis, M.D., then a resident of Dawn, Mo., and remained there until 1874, when he attended one course of lectures at Missouri Medical College during the winter of 1874-75. Upon the conclusion of the term he returned to his first preceptor and continued his reading until 1877. In the fall of that year he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, and was graduated from that institution with high honors in 1878, on the 14th of February. Immediately upon leaving college he located in Proctorville, Caldwell Co., Mo .. and entered upon the practice of his profession. In November, 1882, Dr. Ross removed to Pottawatomie County and located in his present place, where he has since resided, build- ing up a good practice and winning for himself the good will and esteem of all who come in contact with him.
May 13, 1875, Dr. Ross was married to Miss Mary P. Steele, a daughter of Lieut, James Steele, who died from the effects of a wound received while fighting for the Union in the battle of Frank- lin, Tenn. Ile was First Lieutenant in Company F, 44th Missouri Infantry. Mrs. Ross was a sweet, intelligent Christian lady, whose graceful manners
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and amiable disposition endeared her to her own family and friends, and made her an ornament of the social circle in which she moved. Her death, which occurred in 1887, on January 9, was an irre- parable loss to her devoted husband and two lovely daughters, Clara D. and Cora B., but her faith in the Redeemer of mankind sustained her through the pain of parting with her loved ones, and assures them that if they follow in her footsteps they will finally be reunited in the land where partings are no more, and where the inhabitants never say, "I am siek." Mrs. Ross was, during life, a consistent member of the Christian Church. Dr. Ross is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has attained to the degree of Royal Areh Mason. Ile is a large- hearted and generous minded man, who takes a deep interest in the welfare of his town, and sets himself energetically to work to further its interests in every legitimate way.
ACOB W. PARROTT. The thrifty and en- terprising farming community of Whiting Township, Jackson County, acknowledges Mr. Parrott as one of its most valued mem- 'bers. Ile makes his headquarters at a well-regil- lated farm, about a mile west of the town of Whit- ing, which was purchased by him in 1880, being then a quarter-section of raw land, over which a plowshare had never passed. By a course of un- flagging industry and perseverance through many difficulties, it has been transformed into a valuable estate, all neatly enclosed with substantial fencing, and having upon it a fine frame dwelling, a story and a half in height, and in area 22x36 feet. The main barn and the other outbuildings indicate in a marked manner the progressive mind of the pro- prietor. Mr. Parrott made his permanent removal upon his farm on the 1st of May, 1880, he having purchased it prior to this.
The son of Jolin and Mary (Copeland ) Parrott, of Ohio, the subject of this sketch was born March 2, 1828, at his father's old homestead in Fayette County, Ohio. John Parrott, Jr., was the son of John and Elizabeth (Hall) Parrott, who removed from the vicinity of the French Broad River, in
Tennessee, to the Buckeye State, as early as 1812. Their family consisted of six sons, viz: Thomas, Henry, Wesley, John, Samuel, George, and three daughters. To John. Jr., and his excellent wife, there were born three sons and five daughters, Jacob W. being the second son, and all are living. The father died at the old homestead in Fayette County, Ohio. This property is still in the family, owned by the elder brother, John A.
The subject of this sketch, when twenty-one years old, was first married in his native county, and became the father of three children. The mother of these died in the fall of 1857. Mr. Par- rott, in the spring of 1858, left Ohio, and going to Illinois, worked in Stark, Peoria and other coun- ties, and was married May 2, 1859, at Decatur, to Miss Margaret, daughter of John and Melissa (Lu- cas) Stapleton. The parents of Mrs. Parrott died in Iowa, when she was a small child. Mrs. Parrott was boru in Logan County, Ill., to which she returned after the death of her parents, and where she met her future husband.
Mr. and Mrs. Parrott began their wedded life on the farm in Ohio, which Mr. Parrott had opened up from the wilderness in his younger days, living thereon until April, 1880. Of his first marriage there were born three children, the eldest of whom, Joseph G., is married, and the father of eight chil- dren; he lives on a farm north of Whiting; John A. is a resident of Ohio, lives on a farm in the neighborhood of the old homestead, and has one child; Mary J. is the wife of J. F. Carder, and they live in the vicinity of Netawaka; they have three children. The nine children of the second marriage of our subject, are recorded as follows: Three died in infancy and early childhood; Theodore F., who is married and the father of four children, is a resi- dent of Whiting; Ida May is the wife of I. W. Spencer, a farmer of Nebraska, and they have two children ; Rachel II. married L. C., the son of David Bender, a prominent citizen of Whiting Township, and they live on a farm near Whiting; Thomas A., William E., and Albert J., are at home with their parents. Mr. Parrott, politically, votes the straight Republican ticket, and in his school district officiates as Director and Road Supervisor.
During the progress of the Civil War. Mr. Par-
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rott served with the 100 days' men in Company F, 168th Ohio National Guards. The various regiments thus employed, received from the Presi- dent of the United States, a card of thanks for val- uable services at the battle of Cynthiana, Ky., June 11. 1864. Upon this occasion a company of 100 men fought 3,000 of John Morgan's men, meeting them first in an open field. Being out- numbered, they had orders to fall back to some buildings in the town, and while on their retreat, Mr. Parrott received a minie-ball in the right hip from the effects of which he still suffers. He man- aged to extract the ball himself, after the doctors had unsuccessfully probed for it and could not lo- eate it. As may be supposed, the brave Ohio boys were all captured, but the next morning the Union forces took the town again, and the wounded mnen fell into the hands of their friends, while the able- bodied men were run off and paroled. Mr. Parrott receives a monthly pension from the Government, but the sum ($4) is not by any means commensurate with the inconvenience and suffering which he has endured on account of his wound.
TEPHEN BREWER. For solid worth and reliability, no citizen of Whiting and vicin- ity, is deserving of more honorable men- tion. than the gentleman with whose name we introduce this sketch, and who has made a re- cord both as a good citizen and as a war-scarred veteran in the Union Army. The native place of our subject was Harrison County, Ind., and there he was born Jan. 27, 1840. Ile afterward removed with his parents to Bureau County, Ill., where he was reared to manhood. At the age of twenty-two he enlisted in the defense of the Union, being mus- tered in with Company K, 57th Illinois Infantry. He took an active part in the battles of Fts. Ilenry and Donelson, the engagement at Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, and later in the battle of Corinth on the 3d and 4th of October, 1862, when Van Dorn and Price made a desperate effort to retake the city. While the regiment was lying at Corinth after the battle, our subject was sent with a detach- ment to escort a number of prisoners about 100
miles south to Mattoon, Miss. These prisoners were to be exchanged, and the expedition was made under a flag of truce without arms.
The regiment also accompanied Sherman in his advance on Atlanta, being engaged at Snake Creek Gap, Resaca and Kingston. Thenee they marched to Rome, Ga., and after the fall of Atlanta, aceom- panied Sherman on his march to the sea. On the way thither they were in an engagement in the rice swamps before Savannah. When the latter eity was taken, our subjeet was honorably dis- charged, his time of service having expired some time before this. He returned home via New York City, having served actively three years, three months and fourteen days. He had fought for his country, offered his life in her behalf, and no one rejoiced more than he when peace was finally de- clared, and the Union was preserved.
Prior to the time of his enlistment, our subject was united in marriage, Jan. 19, 1860, withi Miss Amanda M. Burke, daughter of William and Amanda (Fredenburg) Burke, of Bureau County, Ill. The Burke family were of Irish ancestry, and formerly resided in New York State. After his return from the war, Mr. Brewer followed farming in Illinois until 1871, when, accompanied by his family, he removed to Atchison, Kan. For three years he operated as a teamster, and then commeneed to labor on a rented farm comprising 200 acres. Con- tinuing in this manner for a period of five years he was enabled to save enough money to buy his pre- sent homestead, which is situated on seetion 1, in Whiting Township. His residence stands in the corner of Jackson County, within two miles of the depot at Horton, a beautiful little eity with all the modern improvements. The first house in that town was built only about three years ago, and it is now a thriving, prosperous village of 4,000 peu- ple. The farm which Mr. Brewer purchased had been broken and partially improved, but he has brought it to a good state of cultivation, making it one of the finest estates in the county.
On one of the most attractive spots of his farm, which he purchased in 1880, Mr. Brewer erected a fine two story residence 26x38 feet, with an L i 4x16. It is finished on the exterior in first-class style, hav- ing a mansard roof, while the interior reflects the
G.W. Hartwell
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taste of the mistress of the house, being cozily and neatly furnished. On the farm is a windmill, which supplies two wells, one twenty rods away. It also has 250 feet of pipe to tanks at a distance. There are sheds, stables, cribs, and other important acces- sories of a well-regulated farm. The orchard con- tains about 100 apple trees, besides cherries, Rus- sian mulberries, apricots, pears, several varieties of grapes and smaller fruits. In 1880, Mr. Brewer bought a quarter-section of land in Brown County, and this he has cultivated. He devotes twenty acres to young timber, and the remainder is mainly utilized as a stock farm, and in this respect has been financially remunerative.
Of the six children born to Mr. Brewer and his excellent wife, all are living, and are named respec- tively: Stephen R., Mary A., Leonidas J., Mamie Elma, Guy William, and Herschel L. Stephen as- sists in the work on the homestead; Mary A. is the wife of George A. Smith, and they live on their farnı in Brown County, Kan .; Leonidas is married and resides in Jackson County, near Whiting; the three youngest children are under the parental roof and attend the High School at Horton. As will be supposed, Mr. Brewer is a strong Republican, and is heartily in favor of what tends to the advance- ment of his party. He takes a deep interest in the G. A. R., and has been Commander of the Whiting Post, for two years. He is universally respected, and with his family, stands high in the estimation of the community.
G EORGE WASHINGTON HARTWELL, Justice of the Peace in Spring Creek Town- ship, and a gentleman otherwise prominent in his community, makes his headquarters at a fine homestead embracing 320 acres of improved land on sections 14 and 15. He is an old and highly respected citizen of Pottawattomie County, a soldier of the Union army, a member of Grubb Post, G. A. R., at Reeseville, an active and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Blaine, and, in fact, one of the most valued pioneers of the county. In the early days his house was open for religious meetings and in his
church he has officiated as Class-Leader, Stew- ard and Superintendent of the Sunday-school. Politically in the early days he was an old-line Whig, and after the abandonment of his party eor- dially endorsed Republican principles which he has since sustained. Personally, he is of cheerful and buoyant disposition and one of those men who make friends where ever they go.
The subject of this sketch is the offspring of an old and highly respected family, being the son of John Hartwell, a native of Geneseo County. N. Y. His paternal grandfather resided on his own farm twelve miles from the city of Rochester, his property lying on the old National pike road, and he also kept a stage house. He spent his last years in the Empire State. The great-grandfather of Mr. Hartwell was born in Wales, whence he emi- grated at an early date, probably during the Col- onial days. John Hartwell served as a mail carrier in the war of 1812 and afterward employed himself in agricultura! pursuits. Upon leaving his native state he settled in Delaware County, Olio, whence he afterward removed to Urbana, Champaign County, and there spent his last days. In his native state he served as sheriff of the county a number of years and was a prominent member of the A. F. & A. M. He married Miss Mary Cart- wright, a native of Geneseo County. N. Y. ller father was killed in the Revolutionary War, and her mother was thus left with a family of eight children whom she supported by knitting, sewing and teaching. She spent the last years of her life with her son George W., our subject, in Crawford County, Ill. She was a lady of more than ordinary worth and a member in good stand- ing of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The three eldest daughters, Matilda, Miranda and Melinda are deceased. Jolin is a resident of Mar- shall County, this State; Lodima lives in Crawford County, Ill. ; Laura resides near Independence, Kan ; George W., our subject was next to the youngest; Mary died in Robinson, Ill.
George W. Hartwell was born near Zoar. Dela- ware Co., Ohio, Jan. 12, 1821, and was but four years old at the time of his father's death. Ile soon began assisting his mother and remained with her until a youth of sixteen years. Being
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obliged to go to work at an early age his school advantages were exceedingly limited. At this time he hegan an apprenticeship at brick-making becom- ing a master of the trade, and when nineteen years old left home and going to Illinois, located near Pal- estine where he entered land and engaged in brick- making, manufacturing this material for the first buildings in Robinson. He also learned brick- laying and plastering and put up some of the first buildings in that town, About 1847 he turned his attention to farming. improving two farms of 160 acres each.
In February, 1862, the Civil War being in pro- gress, Mr. Hartwell entered the army as a recruiting officer, but at Jonesboro, Ill., was attacked with palsy of the throat and stomach and was obliged to return home. Since that time he has been a con- stant sufferer from this trouble. In August of that year, however, having somewhat recovered, he enlisted as a regular soldier in Company E, 98th Illinois Infantry, being mustered in at Centralia and went South with his regiment. During the battle of Murfreesboro, he was taken ill and was sent to the camp hospital where he remained three months. There being then little prospect of his final recovery, he was obliged to accept his honor- ble discharge March 23, 1863, on account of phys- ical disability.
Returning home Mr. Hartwell sojourned in Crawford County, Ill., until 1866, then he removed to Olney, Ill., where he followed painting, then sell- ing out removed to Hancock County, that State, purchasing a gristmill near Bowen, which he oper- ated until he was obliged to abandon it on account of loss. In the spring of 1869, being thus left without means, he set out for the farther West and coming " to this State located on 120 acres of his pres- ent farm which he purchased for $1,200. IIe also homesteaded 160 acres adjoining and started his boys at farming, while he picked up his trowel and brush and made the money to pay for the farm by painting and plas- tering. The family occupied a small log honse the first winter and otherwise practiced close econ- omy in order to make both ends meet. They were prospered in their labors and we now find them finely situated amidst all the comforts of life and
many of its luxuries. Mr. Hartwell has brought his land to a high state of cultivation, but it is now operated by other parties, he having practically retired from active labor. He bears the distinction of being the oldest remaining settler along Bluff Creek.
On the 1st of April, 1847, Mr. Hartwell was married in Robinson, Ill., to Miss Eliza, daughter of John Nichols. John Nichols was born in Virginia, where he was reared to man's estate and married and in the fall of 1830 removed with his family to Illinois and entered 3,000 acres adjoin- ing the present site of Robinson. In due time he became an extensive stock-dealer driv- ing his herds to Chicago and Cincinnati. IIe spent his last years near Palestine. The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Hartwell was Susanna Merritt; she, like her husband, was a native of the Old Dominion and both were members of the Bap- tist Church. She died in 1842.
Mrs. Hartwell was born July 6, 1828, in Green- brier County, Va., and was the youngest of a family of ten children, three of whom are living and mak- ing their homes in the vicinity of Robinson, Ill. She was reared to womanhood in Illinois, whither she removed with her parents when only two years of age. Of her union with our subject there have been born three children, the eldest of whom, a son, Thamar C., is married and resides in Horton, Kan .; John G. is engaged in the livery business in Con- cordia, Kan ;. Merritt W. is a prominent farmer in Spring Creek Township.
A lithographie portrait of our subject may be found on another page of this volume.
AMES A. D. FRAZELL, late proprietor of the Garrison Hotel, at Garrison, Pottawato- mie County, was born in Madison Co., N. Y., Oct. 17, 1826, and died Feb. 7, 1889. He was the first child reared and educated in the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio, and remained in that vicinity until a man of twenty-five years. . In 1851 he sought the farther West, sojourning for a time in Iowa, and then, in 1860, came to Kansas Territory, settling in Linn County. The following year, upon
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the call for three months' men to assist in putting down the Rebellion, he enlisted as a Union soldier, and served about six months. Later he re-en- listed in the regular army, and soon afterward was appointed Hospital Steward, which position he held until the close of the war.
After receiving his honorable discharge from the army Mr. Frazell, returning to Kansas, located in Clay County, where he had left his family, and re- mained there until 1885, during which year he took up bis abode in Garrison, where he spent the re- mainder of his life. In the meantime he had es- tablished a post-office at Fancy Creek, and was instrumental in having the route continued to Waterville. There was first a semi-weekly, and then, through the efforts of Mr. Frazell, a tri- weekly mail. In 1872 he had the route extended to Minneapolis. Subsequently he withdrew from the mail route, and removing to Clay Center, con- dueted an hotel until his removal to Garrison. In the latter place he also followed the hotel business until his deeease.
Mr. Frazell was married in Boone County, Iowa, March 27, 1851, to Miss Cynthia A. Spurrier. This lady was born in Vermilion County, Ill., May 30, 1834, and was the daughter of George and Frances ( Williams) Spurrier, natives of Kentucky and the father a farmer by occupation. They left the Blue Grass regions in 1830, removing to Illinois, where they sojourned for a period of twenty years. In 1850 they moved across the Mississippi into Iowa, and were residents of the Hawkeye State for nineteen years. In 1869 they came to Kansas, set- tling in Riley County, where Mr. Spurrier died at the advanced age of eighty-two years. The wife and mother afterward made her home in Clay Cen- ter, where her death took place likewise at the age of eighty-two years.
Frazell is a very intelligent and refined lady, and highly respected in her community. Bayard was the third child of his parents, and was born in Boone County, Iowa, Dec. 12, 1855. He was edu- eated in the common sehools of Clay County, Kan., and is a very eapable and enterprising business man, holding a good position in his community, and contributing his quota in building up the reputation of the place.
Robert A. Frazell. the father of James A. D., was a native of Onondaga County, N. Y., and born in 1800. In 1828 he removed to Columbus, Ohio, and thenee, in 1851, to Iowa. Ile came to Kansas in 1860, loeating in Linn County, and nine or ten years later removed to Clay County, where he died at the age of seventy-five -years. He was a blacksmith by trade, and a steady-going, honest citizen, generally respected in his eommnu- nity. He belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and during the latter years of his life was a sound Republiean. The Frazell family traces its aneestry to France.
'Mrs. Rebeeea P. (West) Frazell, likewise a na- tive of the Empire State, was born Sept. 12, 1799, and was the daughter of Stephen West, a farmer by occupation, who spent his entire life in New York State, and died at an advanced age. Of her union with Robert A. Frazell, there was born a family of six children, viz .: James A. D., Stephen, Mary, Sarah, Angeline P. and Frances M. There are only three living-Mary, Angeline and Fran- ees M. Mary and Sarah were twins.
BNER C. KNAPP. The subject of this sketeh is one of the early settlers of Pot- tawatomie County. and is a prominent farmer living on section 12, Shannon Township, where he owns a fine farm of 200 acres of choiee land. He is now (1889) Treasurer of the township, and has served acceptably to his constituents and creditably to himself, and was the choice of his party for re-election. He is a classes.
Mr. and Mrs. Frazell began their wedded life together in Boone County, Iowa. The household circle was completed by the birth of ten children, only four of whom are living, viz. : Bayard T'., Fran- cis P., Luella A. and Mollie L. The deceased are : George, Otterbine, Alvina, Cora E., William and Florence. Mrs. Frazell and her son Bayard are | genial, warm-hearted man and very popular with all carrying on the hotel in an admirable manner, keeping a first-class house in every respect. Mrs. ] Our subject was born in Warren County, Pa.,
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