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 69
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 69
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 69
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The paternal grandfather of our subject was Elkanah Sherman, likewise of Rhode Island, and a substantial farmer, who finally left his native State and emigrated to Chemung County, N. Y., in which place he spent the remainder of his days, dying when quite advanced in years. Japhet Sher- man was one of three sons who had accompanied their father to New York State, and was there mar- ried to Miss Hannah Holmes, a native of the latter State. Mrs. Sherman came of a good family, and after the birth of two children, Japhet Sherman and his wife emigrated to Ohio, and there the former died in his prime when about forty years of age. His wife is yet living, and makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Caroline Heaton, in Wood County, Ohio; she has now arrived at the ad- vanced age of ninety-four years. Her mother had lived to be ninety-six years old, and her father, Zebudiah Holmes, was very aged at the time of his death. The Holmes family generally was a long-lived race.
The subject of this sketch was the third son of his parents, and the first of their children born in Ohio. The household circle was completed by the birth of five sons and one daughter, all of whom lived to mature years, presenting an admirable spectacle of health, strength and intelligence. Two sons served in the Union army during the Civil War and one yielded up his life for his country, dying of illness in the hospital. The other lived to return home, and is now a resident of Michigan. The balance of the children are all married, and have families of their own.
Hiram Sherman was reared to manhood in his native county, where he attended the common school in his boyhood and assisted in the various employments of farm life. He left his native State while still unmarried and located in LaPorte County, Ind., where he employed himself as a carpenter, and met his fate in the person of Miss Julia Boothe, to whom he was married April 11, 1856. Mrs. Sher- man was born in Albany County, N. Y., in 1833,
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and removed with her parents to Michigan when quite young. Later, they returned Eastward as far as LaPorte County, Ind., where their daugh- ter, Julia, developed into an attractive womanhood and met her future husband. She is a very bright, intelligent lady, and has been the assistant of her husband in all his worthy undertakings. There have been born to them five children, only four of whom are living. One daughter, Maude, died at the interesting age of sixteen years, after having completed a thorough education ; she was a prom- ising maiden, and a child in whom her parents took great pride. The survivors are: Charlotte, the wife of Charles Powers, a farmer of Sherman Township; Florence, Mrs. Jacob Alsopp, living on a farm in Sherman Township; Zelda, the wife of D. E. Brown. a farmer of Sherman Township; and Blanche, who remains at home with her parents.
Mr. Sherman cast his first Presidential vote for Zachary Taylor, and is an ardent supporter of the principles of the Republican party. Otherwise than serving as Township Treasurer, he has steadily de- clined the responsibilities of office. Ilis success has been the result of plodding industry and good management, while the sterling worth of his char- acter has drawn around him hosts of friends, Mrs. Sherman is a member in good standing of the Christian Church.
LFRED DODSON, Notary Public, has been a resident of Jackson County for many years. A native of Tennessee, he was born July 25, 1819, near Cumberland Gap, Claiborne County. He acquired a good common- school education near Athens, MeMinn County, the same State, where he passed his youth. In 1841 he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Patty, who was born near Knoxville, Knox Co., Tenn .. in 1815. They later removed to the Platte Pur. chase near De Kalb, Buchanan Co., Mo., in the spring of 1844. There he farmed for many years, and there most of the children born to himself and wife were reared to maturity. Their offspring numbered six.
Ilaving, in 1860, purchased a farm of 160 acres
on North Cedar Creek, Jackson County, three years later he removed there. It is yet his home and that of his only unmarried daughter, Martha A. Dodson. The wife and mother died there in 1875.
'Squire Dodson is a practical business man and enjoys the full confidence of his large circle of friends. In 1868 he was elected Justice of the Peace, serving eighteen years. He was also ap- pointed Postmaster at North Cedar, and served thirteen years. He was appointed Notary Public one term by Gov. St. John, one term by Gov. Glick and one term by Gov. Martin. His present com - mission will expire in 1892. He does no little business in loaning money for others on real estate and notes of hand. His farm, with ample means out at interest, enables him to live at his case in a ripe and useful old age.
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ENNIS V. COX, merchant, farmer, Jus- tice of the Peace and otherwise prominent in the town of Blaine, is numbered among its most intelligent and enterprising citi- zens. He is the offspring of an excellent family, being the son of John G. and Mary (Huff) Cox, who were both natives of New Jersey. They came to the West at an early date and John G. Cox de- parted this life in Tazewell County, Ill., in 1863, at the early age of forty-five years. His occupation was farming and he was a reputable and intelligent citizen. The mother survived her husband many years, dying in June, 1888, when nearly seventy- two. The parents were married in 1840 and reared a family of four children of whom Dennis V. was the eldest born. The others, Gertrude S., Henry and Jolin, are residents of Pottawatomie County. Kan.
The subject of this sketch was born in Cran- bury, N. J., Dee. 19. 1842, and his parents soon afterward emigrated to Illinois, and thereafter lived successively in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois. Dennis was reared to farming pursuits and became a resident of the Sunflower State in 1872. He home- steaded the north half of the south-west quarter of section 22, Clear Creek Township, upon which he began farming and which be still owns. He es-
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tablished himself as a general merchant with a partner in 1879 under the firm name of Downey & Cox, and they are still doing business together. Mr. Cox was appointed Postmaster of Blaine when the town was first started, in 1873. and held the office until the election of Cleveland, in 1884. He has officiated as Township Trustee two years and was elected Justice of the Peace in November. 1888, which office he still holds.
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Mr. Cox was married Oct. 10, 1866, to Miss Amanda E., daughter of James Clayton of Taze- well County, Ill. To them there have been born eight children, six of whom are living and two of them married. Mr. Cox gives the most of his at. tention to mercantile pursuits and official duties although superintending the operation of his farm. He is a stanch Republican, politically. a member of the Masonic fraternity and likewise belongs to the A. O. U. W.
R ASMUS PAULSEN. This gentleman is an enterprising Dane, whose intelligent citi- zenship, good morals and thrift in his chosen occupation, are an honor to the country of his adoption, and the cause of re- spect from all with whom he comes in contact. Mr. Paulsen was reared on a farm near Nybake, Den mark, in which town he was born April 3, 1844. He received a good fundamental education in his own language, and since coming to America has used his native intelligence in acquiring a good knowledge of English. In 1871, being then about twenty-seven years of age, he crossed the briny deep and began his residence in the United States. He spent a year in Chicago and then came West, and while on a visit in Atchison met the lady whom he chose as a companion in life. This young lady was Miss Maggie Hansen, of Whiting Township, Jackson County, and she being desirous of returning to her home Mr. Paulsen offered her a seat behind his team with his services as escort. The companionship in a ride of this nature, gives a much better knowledge of character than would be attained in a much longer time under more for- mal circumstances. and the young couple pro-
gressed rapidly in their acquaintance, an acquaint- ance which was crowned by their marriage on Oct. 13, 1873. Mrs. Paulsen is a daughter of L. C. Hansen and Mette Jacobson, and her father was a son of IIans Nelson and Margrette Christeson, while her mother was a daughter of Jacob Chris- teson and Bertha Anderson. The parents came from Denmark in 1869, and after living in St. Joseph, Mo., for a time, moved to this township, where the father bought land.
Immediately after his marriage Mr. Paulsen purchased the forty acres on which his father-in- law lived and eighty acres adjoining it. It was then wild land, but his efforts have reclaimed it and brought it to a fine state of improvement. About three miles of fence inclose and divide the estate. and a well built house is pleasantly located a quarter of a mile from a road on each side and on ground overlooking the whole place, which is one and a half miles due north of Whiting. There are about fifty apple trees on the place,some of them the largest in the neighborhood, together with cher- ries, peaches, Russian mulberries, walnuts, grapes. and a great variety of small fruits, all bearing, and all set out by Mr. Paulsen.
When our subject bought his estate, open prai- rie was all around him and the section was sparsely settled. During the first year, on the 10th day of November, the fire fiend came rushing over the prairie and threatened to destroy everything they had. A fortunate change in the direction of the wind turned the dread element aside and they man- aged to save their house. On the 12th day of August, 1874, the crops gave promise of a fine har- vest, but before night the grasshoppers came in force and began their work of devastation. Begin- ning on the corn crop, they had it almost destroyed by the next day, and in a few days every green thing, even to the potato vines. had been devoured by the rapacious insects. Great distress was occasioned among the settlers who found it hard to get through the winter, as even their stock had nothing to eat, and the next spring they had to pay $1 per bushel for seed corn.
In the struggles and discouragements of life Mrs. Paulsen bore her share with good will and a hope- ful spirit, gleaning such comfort as might be in the
yours Respectfully S. C. Pean
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darkest days, and rejoicing in the prosperity which crowned their efforts. Three daughters have come to bless their fireside, and their active intelli- gence is an ever present delight to their parents. Metta B. is now a miss of fifteen, well advanced in her studies and it is the intention for her to attend school at Quincy, Ill., and compl. te her preparation for teaching at the Holton University. Laura C., at the age of ten years, wrote a story. that was sent to the university at Holton, where it is shown to visitors as the composition of a preco- cious child. The ambition of Miss Laura, how- ever, is not in the line of authorship, hut in that of music. Nellie S., their remaining daughter, is still too young to have exhibited any marked talent in any one line.
Mr. Paulsen is a believer in and a supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church, but the children attend the Baptist Church, which is much more conveniently located for them.
The subject of this brief sketch is a son of Paul Thomsen and Matte Hendrickson. His father was a son of Thoms Larson, and the family were farmers in Denmark, owning large landed estates. The land was sold in the last generation and the children, nine in number, with the exception of one married sister came to America. The father and mother made their home with our subject after the marriage of their daughter. The father died Aug. 30, 1886, the mother still remains with them at an advanced age.
h ON. SAMUEL E. REAM. The distin- guished gentleman whose life is here given in its principal outlines, and whose portrait is presented on , the opposite page, resides on section 36, Franklin Township, Jackson County, Kan. For many years he has been identified with the growth and development of that county, and is regarded as one of its most useful citizens. He was born near Elizabethtown, Laneaster Co., Pa., July 24, 1847, and passed his youth on his father's farm. When only fifteen years of age he enlisted
in Company C, 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry, and gallantly fought in defense of the Union. His +term of service in that company and regiment ex- pired in about seven months, and he thereupon re- enlisted in Battery C, Independent Pennsylvania Artillery, and served to the close of the war, be- ing mustered out with the rank of Sergeant.
Although a mere youth, our subject served his country faithfully, and in the battle of Gettysburg was severely wounded in the hand, shoulder and head, besides having four teeth knocked out. He took part in the battles of South Mountain, Antie- tam Creek and Fredericksburg, the latter of which occurred Dec. 12, 1862. He was also in the three days' fight-May 1, 2 and 3-at Chancellorsville, in 1863. His wounds were painful, but he did not let them prevent him from fighting with his bat- tery, and was promptly on hand when the tedious and bloody battle of the Wilderness began. After one day's hard fighting, however, the battery was so crippled, it having served continuously from the commencement of the war, that it was ordered to the rear, and stationed in Washington, D. C., to do guard duty; it remained a portion of the garrison of that city till the close of the war, when Mr. Ream was mustered out of service and honorably discharged at Pittsburg, Pa., June 30, '1865. '
The record of our subject during the heroic struggle maintained by the Union arms against the desperate valor of the South, is a grand and noble one, and it creates no surprise to learn that he comes of good fighting stock. His father, Jacob Ream, a native of Lancaster County, Pa,. was a soldier in the Mexican War; his grandfather, Abra- ham Ream, was a soldier in the War of 1812; and the great-grandfather, Jacob Ream, was a hero of the Revolutionary War. The descendant of such a brave and honorable line of ancestors has no need to sigh for a patent of nobility from any king; the dignity of American citizenship out- weighs all honors that might be conferred by any foreign prince. The mother of Mr. Ream was Maggie ( Palmer) Ream, a native of Lancaster County, Pa., where she died July 8, 1883. The father survives and resides at the old homestead at the advanced age of ninety-three years. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Ream were the parents of fourteen
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children, eight of whom were boys. Our subject is the tenth child in order of birth.
Upon receiving his discharge from the Govern-" ment Mr. Ream returned to the farm of his parents in Lancaster County, Pa. Soon afterward he took a trip to Kansas, where he remained a short time, then departed for his home in Pennsylvania. He attended school for the two years succeeding the close of the war, remaining at home during that time and then went to the Normal School at Mil- lersville, Pa., where he remained till he was gradu- ated after three years' faithful study. His next step was to enter the school-room in his district in the capacity of a teacher, and his success was so marked in that line that he was engaged year after year for eight years.
During the early part of 1878 Mr. Ream took up his residence in Kansas, locating in Jackson County, where he taught school for seven terms in Frank- lin and Garfield Townships. Upon his arrival in Jackson County he bought eighty acres of im- proved land on section 25, and afterward purchased eighty acres on section 36. He settled on the lat- ter place, and it has been his home from that time to the present. He now owns 175 acres all under good cultivation and finely improved.
In the fall of 1886 our subject was elected to the State Legislature and served one term; in Jan- uary, 1889, he was appointed to the position of Clerk in the Senate of the Kansas Legislature for a term of four years. He is a member of Will Wendell Post, G. A. R., and of the Holton Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He takes quite an active part in political affairs, and adheres firmly to the princi- ples of the Republican party. Although not a member of any church, he takes quite an interest in religions matters, and contributes liberally to the support of the various religious organizations of the community in which his lot is cast.
The subject of this sketch is one of the most prominent citizens of Jackson County, and one of whom it is justly proud. He is very popular with all classes, and the future has, no doubt, greater things in store for him than any the past has given. His experience in the War of the Rebellion was a long and varied one, but the night upon whielt President Lincoln was assassinated is the
most memorable in his life, and made the deepest impression upon his memory. Mr. Ream was a witness of that awful tragedy when the murderous zeal of John Wilkes Booth prompted him to the com- mission of a crime that caused nations to wecp. As stated above, the regiment of which our subject was a part. was stationed at Washington as a portion of the garrison, and Mr. Ream was in Ford's Theatre the night on which our beloved President was so cruelly shot by the cowardly assassin, who was not afraid to creep up behind an unarmed man and foully deprive him of life, in order that he might receive the applause of those as wicked as himself. A truly brave man could not have committed the deed, and all citizens of our glorious country, North or South, unite in consigning: the perpetra- tor of so vile a deed to the infamy he so richly de- serves.
G EORGE HARMAN, editor and proprietor of the Valley Falls Republican, is an enter- prising young journalist of marked talent, which, if well-directed and perseveringly followed, will doubtless gain for him an enviable position among the newspaper men of the West. IIe was born in Crawford County, Mo., Nov. 14, 1867, and is consequently but a little over twenty-two years of age. His father, Moses Harman, is editor of The Lucifer, of Valley Falls, and was born in Pendleton County, W. Va., Oct. 12, 1830. The mother hore the maiden name of Susan Shook. They were the parents of two children only, the one besides our subject being a daughter, Lillian, who is two years his junior, and is the wife of E. C. Walker, editor of Fairplay, and whom she assists in his editorial and general office work.
Young Harman spent the first twelve years of his life on his father's farm in Missouri, and then entering the office of the New Era, in Valley Falls, to which his parents had removed in 1877, com- menced learning the printer's trade, working at the case for three years. The year following he spent with a traveling theatre company, and subsequently for a short time started out as. what in polite terms is denominated a "typographical tourist," but in plain English, "a tramp printer." After becoming
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satisfied with his wanderings he returned to Valley Falls, and for two years was employed as foreman of his father's office. In September, 1889, he founded the Valley Falls Republican, which is now a six column quarto, full of local and general news and rapidly gaining in popularity. Mr. Har- man is a favorite both in business and social circles, and a member in good standing of the I. O. G. T.
DDISON HARMON. Among the business enterprises of Valley Falls, Jefferson County, thie livery and feed stable of the gentleman above-named is well worthy of notice as one of the thriving establishments of the place, and its proprietor is deserving of bio- graphical notice in this volume, not only because of his being a successful business man of the city. but because as an individual he possesses traits of character which fit him for representation.
The parents of our subject were Peter and Cath- erine (Shaffer) Harmon, the former a native of Lancaster, Pa., and a miller by trade, and the latter a native of Maryland. Their family con- sisted of five children, of whom our subject is the only survivor, three of the family dying of scarlet fever during their early years, and being buried in one grave; the other one, Henry, died at the age of twenty-four years, leaving a widow and two children, who now reside near Little Sandusky, Ohio.
The gentleman whose name initiates this sketch was born in Mercer County, Pa., Nov. 30, 1826, and lived there until he was fourteen years old, when he accompanied his parents to New Brighton, Pa. (now Beaver Falls), in which city he continued his education in the common schools, and then en- gaged in the livery, fecd and transfer business, carrying it on for seven years. At the expiration of that time he removed to Marion County, Iowa, and spent the years from 1855 to 1857 in the town of Pella, whence he then removed to a farm in Mahaska County, the same State, and not far dis- tant from the town. There he carried on farming and stock-raising until March, 1873, when he came
to Kansas and began farming in Jackson County, remaining there some four years.
The next move of our subject was to Jefferson County, and during the following three years he was employed on the ranch of E. M. Hutchins, near Valley Falls, this work being succeeded by an equal length of time in the livery stable of the same gentleman. He then carried the mail between Leavenworth and Oskaloosa, and Winchester and Perryville, two years in all, after which he returned to Valley Falls, and began the business of transfer and express delivery, to which he added the livery and feed stable in December, 1889.
At the home of the bride, on the 4th of July, 1848, the rites of wedlock were celebrated between Mr. Harmon and Miss Eleanor Lindsay, an estima- ble young lady who was born within fifteen miles of Philadelphia, and is a daughter of Oliver Lind- say, who died in Valley Falls in 1889. Mrs. Har- mon has borne ten children, but five only are now living. The oldest and youngest of these children -- Eli M. and Grace-are unmarried; Harry M. married Lidy Smith, and they have three children -Maude, Addison and Grace; Rebecca married Edward Loveland, of Valley Falls; she has borne three children, of whom two daughters -- Nora and Grace -- are now living; Frank A. married Malley Sippy, lives in Valley Falls, and has one son- Iliram H.
Mr. Harmon is a believer in and supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and takes an interest in the issues of the day, although he is not an office-seeker. He is a reliable citizen, and industrious, hard-working and unassuming man, and is highly respected throughout the community and elsewhere where he is known.
ACOB H. SNYDER. It is usually safe to judge a man by his surroundings, and Mr. Snyder may accordingly be properly num- bered among the better class of citizens in. Liberty Township, where, by his industry and good management he has built up a valuable homestead and secured something for a rainy day. His home- farm embraces eighty acres of choice land on sec-
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tion 8, while he has 160 acres in' Nemaha County. The first mentioned is embellished with suitable buildings, and is supplied with all necessary ma- chinery for the sowing and reaping of grain be- sides the general cultivation of the soil. The Sny - der family live in a modest and unpretentious manner, but there is about their home an air of solidity and comfort, which is delightful to look upon. The master is recognized as one of the most public-spirited men of his community, well read and well informed, and he has for his companion a lady in every way his equal, and who has done her share in gathering around them the comforts which they now enjoy. Both are members in good stand- ing of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Snyder has taken quite an active part in politics and uni- formly supports the principles of the Republican party.
The City of Brotherly Love was the native place of Mr. Snyder, and the date of his birth June 10, 1833. His father, Jacob H. Snyder Sr., was like- wise a native of Pennsylvania, and married Miss Sarah Fields, who was born in Philadelphia. They lived for a time in the latter city, whence the father in 1837 went to St. Louis, Mo., where he estah- lished himself as a comb-maker, and was the pio- neer of St. Louis in this business. He was joined by his family two or three years later and died there Dec. 18, 1848.
Mrs. Sarah Snyder, after the death of her hus- band. became the wife of George W. Crump. She came to Kansas in 1855, and died in Lawrence, Jan. 5, 1878. Of her first marriage there were born eleven children, Jacob H. being the third. He was about seven years old when he went with his mother and the other children from Philadelphia to St. Louis, where he lived from the spring of 1843 to 1852, being then a youth of nineteen years.
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