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 81
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 81
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 81
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Jedediah Stark prosecuted farming in Franklin County, Mass., during his early life, then emigrated to Erie County, N. Y., locating in the Holland Purchase He spent his last years in Bennington, Vt. The mother was Lydia Stafford, a native of Connecticut, and the daughter of Stukeley Stafford, likewise a native of that State, and a soldier of the Revolutionary War; he died in Franklin County, Mass. Mrs. Lydia Stark departed this life in Port- land, Chautanqua Co., N. Y., about 1845. She was the mother of seven children, all of whom, with the exception of the subject of this sketchi, are deceased. They were named respectively : Betsey, Mary, De- borah, Patience, Lydia, Stukeley, and Nathan J.
Mr. Stark was eight years old when his parents removed to New York State, making the journey overland, and over the snow in sledges. He at- tended the common schools of Erie County, and when twenty-three years old, was apprenticed to the mason's trade, which he learned thoroughly, and in due time engaged successfully as a con- tractor. In 1843 he removed from Erie to Chau- tauqua County, where he sojourned five years.
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We next find Mr. Stark in Ingham County, Mich., where he followed his trade for a time, and finally secured 120 acres of wild land, from which he opened np a farm and prosecuted agriculture until 1865. That year he changed his location to Henry County, Ill., spending the following summer in Kewanee. In the fall of that year he turned his steps toward the farther West, coming first to Law- rence, this State. He only remained here a short time, however, returning within a few weeks to Illi- nois, but in the spring of 1866, he again sought the young State of Kansas, bringing with him his fam- ily, and locating on a farm in the vicinity of Perry. Ilere he secured 160 acres on the Kaw bottoms, and became agent for the town site of Perry, in the in- terest of the Union Pacific Railroad Company with which he was connected twelve years. The first year of his arrival here he erected the Perry House, the first hotel in the town. He officiated as "mine host," and engaged in the real-estate business for a number of years.
Finally, in 1880, Mr. Stark formed a partnership with David Rarick, of St. Louis, Mo., and pur- chased the town site of Perry from the Union Pacific Railroad Company. He was fortunate in disposing of lots, and has put up a large number of dwellings. He is still largely interested in town property. In 1870 he embarked in the lumber trade, instituting the first yard in the town. Ile was successful from the start, transacting a large business. In 1885 he took his son into partner- ship, and under the firm name of N. J. Stark & Son, they operated until 1889, when the son purchased his father's interest in the business, and the latter practically retired. Mr. Stark has had the happy faculty of making a success of most anything which he has undertaken, and being a liberal and public- spirited citizen, the people of this region have cause to look upon him as one of their public bene- factors.
Mr. Stark was first married in Erie County, N. Y., Dec. 14, 1839, to Miss Mary Annis. This lady was born in Sudford, Orange Co., Vt., and died in Michigan in 1857, leaving five children, the eldest of whom, a son, Byron. is married and engaged in general merchandising at Petoskey, Mich .; Louisa died aged about thirty years; Martin when a lad of
fourteen years, enlisted at the opening of the war in Company G, 12th Michigan Infantry, and served until the close of the war. He was captured by the rebels, and held a prisoner at Tyler, Tex .. seven or eight months. After the war closed he went South, and has been lost track of. Mary is deceased; Francis M. is a lumber dealer at Perry. The present wife of Mr. Stark, to whom he was married, June 14, 1858, in Michigan, was in her girlhood Miss Harriet Van Guelder, a native of Lenawee County, that State.
Politically, Mr. Stark is an uncompromising Democrat, and is in favor of prohibition. He served as Justice of the Peace eight years in Michigan, and six years in Kansas, until resigning the office. He was Mayor of Perry two terms, and has held various other offices of trust and responsibility. In Michigan he was an active member of the I. O. O. F., and at present belongs to the Masonic lodge at Oskaloosa, and the Chapter at Lawrence. The Presbyterian Church at Perry acknowledges him as one of its chief pillars. Although well advanced in years, Mr. Stark is hale and hearty, able to accom- plish, mentally and physically, more than many younger men. His good management and wise in- vestment of capital have rendered him indepen- dent, financially.
G EORGE H. McPHERSON. This gentleman is the owner of several hundred acres of fertile land in Jefferson County and is an old settler of Kansas, in which he first located in 1854. He has had a varied experience in frontier life as a pioneer farmer, and as a freighter over the Western plains and mountains, and many a page might be filled with incidents which he has wit- nessed or in which he has participated, but which it is impossible to include in a volume of this na- ture, and which, though interesting to read, would prove still more entertaining if given by word of month by Mr. McPherson himself.
The subject of this brief sketch is a native of Kentucky and a descendant of an ancient and hon- orable Scotch ancestry. His grandfather, Alex- ander McPherson, left the land of Bruce and Wal-
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lace prior to the Revolutionary War to become a citizen of the New World, and sympathizing thoroughly with the colonists in the determination to avoid "taxation without representation." he served six years under Gen. Washington in the first great struggle for American Independence. His first settlement was made in Virginia, whence he moved to Kentucky, being one of the first set- tlers in the section where he made his home, and entering it shortly after the renowned frontiersman and scout, Daniel Boone, after whom the county was named .. His death took place about the year 1830, on the old homestead in the Blue Grass State. His grandson, our subjeet, has a broad-ax which was owned by him and that did the hewing for a large settlement in that State, and with which the father of our subject did the hewing for his cabin upon first coming to Atchison County, Kan. The weapon is yet a good one and capable of still farther frontier service in the hands of an efficient woods- man.
The father of our subject also bears the name of Alexander and he followed farming in his native State, Kentucky, for some years. There he married Miss Tirzah Hughes, a native of Boone County, who bore him six children. Alexander F., who was next younger than our subject, died in Jack- son County, Mo., in April, 1846, unmarried. Thomas J. departed this life in the same county in December, 1848, he also being single. Sarah Eliza- beth married John Taylor, and lives near Atchison, Kan., where their home has been since 1854; they have four sons and two daughters. Charlotte, who died in May, 1855, in Atchison, Kan., was the wife of James Wigglesworth ; they had one child, Will- iam, who was murdered in Buchanan County, Mo., in 1885, as the result of a quarrel originating in a horse trade. Martha Ann was the wife of John M. Hendrickson; she died at the residence of our subject in February, 1887, leaving three sons.
The natal day of our subject was July 30, 1822, and his birthplace the paternal homestead in Boone County, Ky. He received the usual training of a farmer's son in a new country, acquiring as thorough an education as could be obtained in the schools of that day, which were kept up by subscription, and which were held in the old-fashioned log school-
houses with puncheon floors, slab benches, and greased paper windows. He was a lad of thirteen years when his parents moved to Missouri, settling in Jackson County, twelve miles below Indepen- dence. There they remained until 1851, when they changed their residence to Buchanan County. In the meantime, in 1847, he of whom we write had gone to Platte County and settled near Wes- ton, and the following spring went back to Jack- son County, where he remained a year, after which he began freighting on the plains from Ft. Leav- enworth to Sante Fe, one trip consuming nearly six months time. He was in the employ of J. B. Smith & Co., Government freighters, and upon quitting them returned to Jackson County and sojonrned in Sibley a twelvemonth.
During this time Mr. MePherson had been investing his savings in land and endeavoring to accumulate property and attain to a position of comfortable financial standing and prosperity. On May 16, 1850, he landed where East Atchison, Mo., now is, and where at that time there was noth- ing but a wood-yard, and selecting a location three miles cast, entered 160 acres of Government land. He remained there until the fall of 1854, when he pre-empted a quarter section seven miles northwest of Atchison, Kan., on the Atehison and Topeka road. His father settled there at the same time, taking an adjoining claim, and his brother William and sister Martha came West with their parents.
Mr. McPherson passed through the troublous times of Kansas' history without experiencing any serious difficulty. He was a Pro-slavery man and believed in giving the States equal rights nnder the Constitution, and desired that the question as to slavery in Kansas should be left to actual set- tlers and not to squatters. During 1862 he engaged in freighting from Atchison to Denver and to Ft. Smith, Ark., running two outfits with five yoke of oxen each to the latter place.
Six years after locating in the neighborhood of Atchison, Mr. MePherson purchased an additional 160 aeres, and in 1864 sold out the entire half sec- tion, and in the fall of the following year bought another farm in Atchison County, consisting of 320 aeres. On this he remained until 1883, when he sold and removed to this county, settling in
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Oskaloosa Township, on the place where he now resides. He first purchased 410 acres, subsequently adding 128 acres, making the fine estate of 538 acres. Ile has since let his oldest son have eighty acres and his landed estate now comprises 458 acres of improved and valuable land. Upon his estate are found commodions and substantial farm buildings, a windmill and other improvements such as might be expected on the farm of a prosperous and progressive agriculturist. The residence which he now ocenpies was erected in 1886, and is a two- story frame structure, 40x16 feet, with a an "L" 16x29 feet, convenient in design and attractive in appearance.
Mr. McPherson is engaged in general and mixed farming, and raises high grades of Short-horn and Jersey cattle for the market, and also Clydesdale, Norman and Morgan horses, and Poland-China hogs. He is a thorough going Democrat and has set as a delegate in several county conventions and also acted in that capacity during the State convention in 1882, when Governor Glick was nominated. He holds membership in the A. F. & A. M. fraternity. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist and his wife of the Christian Church, and both are accorded a due measure of regard for their good qualities and intelligent, upright lives.
The first marriage of Mr. McPherson took place in Missouri, Oct. 21, 1846, and his worthy com- panion was removed from him by the hand of death on the 4th of July, 1864, the sad event occurring near Atchison, Kan. She was born in 1825, and was therefore thirty-nine years of age at the time of her decease. She left four children, of whom the first born, Zenas, is now living in Oregon and is unmarried ; Luther is also single; Malinda is still at home; Sarah married Charles Meadowcroft and they live on a part of her father's farm.
The rites of wedlock were celebrated between Mr. MePherson and his second wife Nov. 25, 1864, and their union has resulted in the birth of two children; Mary and Alice. Mary is the wife of Arthur Evans, lives a half-mile west of her pater- nal home, and is the mother of one child. Alice still resides under the parental roof. The maiden name of the present Mrs. McPherson was Hes- ter A. Rowe and she was the widow of Daniel
D. Hendricks, by whom she had four children. John D. is a dentist in Hollister, Cal. ; he married Miss Emma Cooper and they have five children. William E. is unmarried and lives in Tulare County, Cal. Daniel D. married Miss Florence Gartside, and died when twenty-three years old. leaving no children. Henry T. is a single man and is engaged in the practice of dentistry at Hanford, Cal.
E MANUEL AULT, who is the occupant of a fine brick residence in Valley Falls and the owner of other valuable property in Jeffer- son County, has been a resident of Kansas for eight- een years, and is a valued citizen, his manly and upright character, his superior intelligence, and his financial ability, alike meriting the respect of his as- sociates. He has passed his three score years and ten, and can look back over a well-spent life, rejoicing in the successful outcome of his efforts, enjoying his well-earned prosperity, and moving gently for- ward to the eternal reward after earthly life has ceased.
The natal day of our subject was Nov. 2, 1818, and his place of birth in Ross County, Ohio, and his parents, William and Mary (Cross) Ault, both of whom were born in the Old Dominion. They went to Ohio in 1816, settling in a heavily wooded region and rearing a family of seven children. Three daughters: Esther A., Mary and Emily are now deceased; our subject, Reason, William, and Ambrose survive. The father died on the old homestead in 1852, and the mother survived until 1870, when she breathed her last in Chillicothe, Ohio.
His boyhood having been spent in a region which was at that time considered far out on the frontier, the earliest recollections of Mr. Ault are of the farm life of such settlements. and of educational work pursued in subscription schools which were held in buildings of the most primitive construction. A log cabin with a clapboard roof, windows of a single row of lights, where a log had been left out, split pole seats, desks formed by placing boards on pins in the wall, a stick chimney, and a huge fire- place in one end of the building-these were the
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surroundings under which he acquired a good knowledge of the elementary branches of an English education.
After attaining sufficient years and knowledge, Mr. Ault taught school during the winter seasons for several years, teaching two terms in his home distriet, and in intervals carrying on agricultural pursuits in his native county. In 1845, he moved to Allen County, Ind., and located in the woods twelve miles west of Ft. Wayne, where he literally hewed a home from the wilderness, himself cutting the logs to build his house and clearing a spot on which to raise sufficient crops to support life. He returned to his native county in 1848 and continued his vocation of farming there until 1869, when he removed to Jackson County, Mo., settling on a prairie farm.
After a sojourn in Missouri of about two years, Mr. Ault sold his property there and removed to Olathe, Kan., and in the spring of 1872, to a farm in Johnson County, twelve miles distant. This estate he operated until the spring of 1887, when he sold it and the following fall bought the resi- dence which he now occupies and became a dweller in Valley Falls. He purchased another brick resi- dence on coming here, and he now owns three residence properties in the city, a farm of 160 acres two miles west, and seventy-five acres two miles south, of Valley Falls.
On Nov. 17, 1842, Mr. Ault celebrated his mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth Ortman, daughter of John Ortman, of Maryland, who was a pioneer of Ross County, Ohio, where Mrs. Ault was born. The union has been blessed by the birth of eight chil- dren and the parents have been bereaved of two sons-Lyman, who died in his twenty-first year and Austin at the age of twenty-eight years. The sur- vivors are: John W., Addison, William Fletcher, Mary C., Elda A. and Sarah E. John married Lizzie Middleton and lives in Colorado; their fam- ily comprises three children-Mabel E., Olive and an infant son. Addison married Mary A. McEl- wain, lives in Delaware Township, Jefferson County, and has five sons -- Alvin W., Arthur L., James Percy, Harley A., and Warren O. Mary married Thomas Jefferson Long, also of this county and lias four children: Sarah I., John E., Fletcher and
Alma E. Elda married William A. Penisten, also of this county, and has one child-Flora E. The deceased son, Anstin, was the husband of Emma Nichols and the father of one daughter, Nellie May.
Our subject's grandfather, William Ault, was a native of Germany and so also were both the grand- fathers of Mrs. Ault, her grandfather Ortman having come to America when eighteen years old. Her father was a soldier in the War of 1812.
Mr. Ault is a sturdy Republican. He never seeks office but was persuaded to fill the position of Township Trustee in Ohio for several years. He and his wife are members in good standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
W ILLIAM HARRISON WIBLE takes rank among the leading farmers of Jefferson County, and his home in Kaw Township is one of the finest and most attractive to be seen in traversing the country round about. Ile is one of the old soldiers to whom the Nation is indebted for the preservation of the Union, and the prosperity and peace which now Iless us. He has high stand- ing in the community as a progressive farmer, an intelligent and trustworthy citizen, and a man of honor and uprightness in his private character.
In the paternal line Mr. Wible is of German descent and on his mother's side he comes of good Irish stock. The Wibles were for many years resi- dents of Pennsylvania, and Andrew Wible, the grandfather of our subject was born in Lancaster County. that State. He became an early settler in Allegheny County, first engaging in teaming at Lawrenceville and Pittsburg and subsequently oc- cupying himself with agricultural pursuits, -and becoming quite well-to-do. His son, Adam, was born in Allegheny County, became a land owner and a prominent farmer there, and died at the age of forty. four years. He was a Democrat and a member of the Presbyterian Church. The wife of Adam Wible, bore the maiden name of Jane English, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and came to Allegheny County, Pa., with her father when she was seventeen years old. Nine children were born to her and her husband, five of whom
FARM RESIDENCE OF W. H. WIBLE, SEC.31. KAW TP., JEFFERSON CO. KAN.
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lived to mature years; of these our subject and one sister alone survive. Mary, ( Mrs. Ingram), Lizzie and Margaret are deccased; Mrs. Sarah Hadil lives in Allegheny County, Pa. Mrs. Jane Wible died in the Keystone State in December, 1873.
The gentleman whose name initiates this sketch was born near Allegheny City, Pa., Oct. 6, 1841. and reared on the farm, receiving common-school advantages during his early boyhood. His father died when he was only eleven years old, and his mother and her children carried on the farm, of which our subject had charge from the time he was fifteen years old. On attaining his majority in October, 1862, he enlisted in Company G., 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, was mustered into the Union service at Pittsburg and sent to Harper's Ferry. There the command did picket duty, scouting and skirmishing to protect the place under the orders of Gen. French.
In June, 1863. when Lee crossed the river, the Union forces were ordered to evacuate Harper's Ferry, and went to Frederick City, Md., scouting between Lee's army and the Potomac River. They burned the pontoon bridge on which the Confeder- ate forces had crossed the river, and Mr. Wible carried a part of the way the two gallon jug of coal oil which was used in starting the blaze. The command had a skirmish with the guard that was left and took some prisoners, Returning to Frederick City they joined Pleasanton's cavalry command, crossed the river and went down the valley to Hedgeville where they rejoined the re- mainder of their regiment. They had a skirmish at ledgeville, and then went on a raid through Western Virginia.
` A skirmish at Warm Springs and the battle of Rocky Gap were the last of Mr. Wible's active work for a time. During the battle at the Gap he was shot in the left shoulder, a minie ball pene- trating and cutting through part of the lung, causing him to spit blood. The regiment was dis- mounted at the time, and as the shot struck Mr. Wible while he was slightly stooped in getting ready to fire his life was saved, but the wound would have been fatal had the ball struck him a trifle lower. He was taken prisoner Aug. 27, 1863, and lay in the Rebel. hospital at White Sulpur
Springs nearly two months with no care but that bestowed upon him by his comrades. A wonder- fully strong constitution enabled him to pull through but for many months he was unfit for duty. The prisoners were taken to Richmond, Va .. and after spending a few days in Libby Prison were confined in Pemberton Warehouse three wecks. Mr. Wible being thought unfit for duty, was pa- roled and exchanged at City Point in November, 1863, and being sent to Annapolis, received the very best of treatment at the hospital. Ilis wound healed in about a year, although he still bears the deep marks, the bullet having taken out a piece of the collar bone. He was placed in the 2d Battalion of Veteran Reserves and as soon as he was able did hospital duty until he was honorably dis- charged in March, 1864, at Annapolis Junction, by order of Gen. Lew Wallace.
Being obliged to abandon all thought of further service in the army Mr. Wible returned home and carried on the farm until the spring of 1868, when he came to Kansas. Ile purchased 160 acres of land, which was partly improved. and for which he paid $3,500, and turned his whole attention to farming, in which he has been more than ordinarily successful. He now owns 299 acres of valuable land with exceptionally fine buildings and all need- fnl improvements, including an orchard six acres in extent. The place is supplied with water by a never failing spring, has fine pasture lands, and an ample acreage devoted to tame grass. Mr. Wible raises and feeds cattle and hogs, and ships his own stock. He also has driving horses of half grade, Membrino Messenger and Echo Chief stock. The beautiful dwelling in which the family now resides was erected in 1889 and its internal appearance is as indicative of the taste and housewifely skill of the mistress of the home, as is the order which reigns without a manifestation of the enterprise and capability of our subject. On another page of this volume will be found a view of their com - modious residence.
Topeka, Kan., was the scene of an interesting event when on Dec. 30. 1869, W. H. Wible was joined in holy wedlock with Miss Mary Armstrong. The bride was born in Butler County. Pa., Jan. 28, 1848, and when sixteen years old came to. Leaven-
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worth, Kan., becoming an inmate of her brother's home and since that time continuing to reside in this State. Her father, Thomas Armstrong, was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., whence he went to Butler County, where he engaged in farm- ing. He belonged to the Pennsylvania State Militia, was appointed Ensign by Gov. Findley in 1814, and Second Lieutenant by Gov. Schulze in 1828. He was a prominent and enterprising man and was for years a member of the Presbyterian Church. His death took place April 3, 1860, when he had reached the age of seventy-three years. His wife, Frances, daughter of Daniel Drake, was born in Washington County, Pa,, and was a lineal descendant of Sir Francis Drake, whose exploits belong to the history of the early navigation of American waters. She died Oct. 3, 1875, at the age of seventy-five years.
Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong were the parents of twelve children: David H. now lives in Mercer County, Pa .: Samuel, in South Topeka, Kan .; James is deceased; Susannah, now Mrs. McNees, lives in Butler County, Pa .; Sarah A. is deceased ; George W. resides in Butler County. Pa .; Rebecca, Mrs. McCune, in Lawrence County, Pa .; Archibald is deceased. Thomas enlisted in the 134th Pennsyl- vania Infantry for a nine month's term of service, and after being honorably discharged re-enlisted as a member of the 100th Pennsylvania or the "Roundhead Regiment;" he participated in several battles among them being the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, where he was killed. Alexander W. also belonged to the 100th Pennsylvania Infantry, he enlisted in 1862, and had served a year when he was honorably discharged on account of physical disability ; he has since died. While serving his country, he was at one time with his regiment en route from Beaufort, S. C., their vessel ran into another, and the terrible collision threw a number of soldiers into the ocean. Among them was Alexander, who remained in the water three and one-half hours, and contracted a cold from which he never fully recovered. Frances J., now Mrs. Quackenbush, lives in Holton, Kan., and Mary E. is the wife of our subject.
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