USA > Kansas > Marshall County > Portrait and biographical album of Marshall County, Kansas : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
The marriage of Mr. Halin took place Sept. 7, 1871, his bride being Miss Ottilea Engler, daughter of Prof. Carl and Caroline ( Behrend ) Engler. The mother died in Germany, and the father is now a resident of Home City. Mrs. Hahn was born in Germany Jan. 21, 1852, and has borne her husband nine children-Carl, Christian, Katie, George, Ot- tilea. Gustav. Ilenrietta, Lena and Otto.
The home of our subject is one of those well- kept places suited to the needs of an enterprising farmer, and an intelligent family. The buildings
are comfortable and attractive. Mr. Ilahn is a man of industrious habits, as his life well shows, possessing in a marked degree the traits of charac- ter, which make of him one of the most reliable and energetic citizens of the township. Ilis fel- low-citizens have shown their confidence in his ability by placing in his hands different school of- fices. He is now a member of the Union Labor party, though formerly in sympathy with the Dem - oerats. Ile has been President of the Society of the Lutheran Church, of which he and his wife are earnest and consistent members.
OHN B. RESER, the subject of this sketch, is most emphatically a self-made man in all that the term implies. He was born in Au- rora, III., March 29, 1846, and came to this county in 1870, locating a farm of 160 acres on sec- tion 30, Clear Fork Township. His farm, then a wild and unbroken prairie, has by his energy and enter- prise been brought to its present state of cultivation. It is now one of the model farms of the community, well-fenced and possessing all the requisite buildings and machinery for its successful operation ; it is in every respect all that a farm should be.
The parents of our subject, Anthony Reser and his wife, whose maiden name was Phileta Soul, were both natives of Ohio, and had nine children. Almira J., now Mrs. Shedden; Armena, Mrs. Lath- rop; Marilla, Mrs. Lewis; Charles W., John B., our subject, Alanson S., Dema M., Ella A .. now deceased, and Florence I. Dema and Florence are unmarried. John B. Reser, our subject was brought up and educated in Plato, Kane Co., III. He after- ward attended the Elgin Academy for two years, where he acquired an excellent education which he afterwards put to practical use by teaching school in Illinois for seven years. He came to this county in 1870, where he has lived ever since, except for two years which he spent in De Kalb and Kane counties, III.
The wife of the subject of our sketch was Phebe E. Ellithorpe, daughter of Stephen R. Ellithorpe,
280
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
of Burlington. Kane Co., Ill. Born in Burlington. she resided there with her parents until her mar- riage with Jolin B. Reser, which took place Aug. 17, 1869. Of this union three children were born -Myrt L .. Mettie A. and Ella A., a bright and intelligent family of whom any parents might be proud. - Although a prominent man. respected and admired by everyone. Mr. Reser has never sought public office, though he has served as Township Trustee and was Township Clerk for three years, and has also served for three terms as School Clerk. Mr. and Mrs. Reser with their two eldest children, are active and influential members of the Congre- gational Church. They are deeply interested in the moral and intellectual advancement of the com- munity where they reside.
TIOMAS J. MANN, a prominent and well- known farmer and stock-raiser of Oketo Township, has, on section 23, one of the best appointed and best managed farms in Mar- shall County, and also one of the finest residences within its bounds. Elsewhere in this ALBUM ap- pears a fine view of this beautiful structure, which not only produces a favorable impression on the exterior, but within is filled with evidences of skilled hands and refined tastes.
Our subject is a native of Ohio, having been born in Delaware County, June 20, 1839. He was third in order of birth of the ten children born to Eleazer and Lucy (Cook) Mann, natives respect- ively of New Jersey and Ohio. The father, a son of Shuey Mann, a native of New Jersey, was reared in Ohio, where his parents had removed in the early days of its settlement, and he there married a daughter of Capt. Cook, an officer in the War of 1812. They spent the early years of their wedded life in Delaware County.
Our subject passed the most of his boyhood in the State of his birth, and from his worthy parents received the careful training that so well fitted him for his honorable and useful career in after life.
At the age of fourteen, a manly, active, self- reliant lad, he left his old home and went to Iowa,
where he lived till he was seventeen years old. Not content with the quiet life that he was leading there, the spirited, venturesome youth desired to see more of the world. and determining to visit the Pacific Coast and find what life held for him there, he pushed on across the plains and mountains to Oregon and Washington territories, the journey in those anti-bellum days being fraught with dangers and perils that the modern traveler, comfortably seated in a luxurious Pullman car behind the swift iron steed, knows not of. Our subject remained in that part of the country one year, working in the cabinet shop of Hergan & Shanler. He then made his way to Idaho, where he was employed in split- ting clapboards and burning coal during the three ensuing years. At the expiration of that time he invested some of his money in ponies. and with them recrossed the plains to Jackson County, Iowa.
Desiring to become more settled in life and to have a home of his own, Mr. Mann was soon united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth West, and she has been to him all that a true wife can be, ever faith- ful to his interests, a blessed home-maker, a chiecr- ful helper, a wise counselor, a loving mother to their children, and he gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to her in bringing about their pros- perity. She is a daughter of the venerable Evan- der West, formerly of Jackson County, Iowa, now living in Seward County, Neb. Her mother, Mary West, died in 1887. Mrs. Mann was the second of seven children, and was born Nov. 15, 1842. Twelve children have blessed her marriage with our subject, of whom the following six are living: Charles, Herbert, William, Calvin. George and Mary. They have been carefully trained and educated to be useful members of society, and the sons are all connected with the Methodist Episco- pal Church, while in politics, they follow in the footsteps of their father, and are ardent supporters of the Republican party. and strongly in favor of the temperance movement.
After marriage Mr. Mann settled down to the life of a farmer, purchasing a farm in Jackson County, Iowa. He managed it successfully four years, and then came to Marshall County. this State, Sept. 10, 1869, being the date of his advent here. Ile cast in his lot with the pioneers of this
SOUTH HALF of NEW TOWN-SITE - MARIETTA, KAN .
A.DEPOT.
B. STOCKYARDS
C, MILL.
RESIDENCE OF ANGUS ME LEOD , SEC.2G. OKETO TOWNSHIP.
NORTH HALF of NEW TOWN-SITE MARIETTA , KAN.
RESIDENCE OF T. J. MANN, SEC. 23. OKETO TOWNSHIP.
283
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
section of the county, and bought a farm two miles east of this place, which he carried on till 1882. In that year he disposed of it at a good price, and going to Marysville opened a hotel in that city, which he managed one year. At the expiration of that time he came to Oketo and purchased his pres- ent farm. Besides the trials that the Kansas farmer often has to contend with in his agricultu- ral operations, Mr. Mann has had the additional bur- den of seven years sickness from an abscess in the back, caused by a runaway team, that nearly dis- abled him, and would have completely unnerved and discouraged a less resolute and strong- hearted man. Notwithstanding these drawbacks his success since coming to Kansas has been con- spicuous, and he is numbered among the solid, moneyed men of Oketo Township. He has a model farm, comprising 240 acres of land, under a high state of cultivation, 160 acres being in corn, with a fine set of buildings for every needful pur- pose, including a handsome residence, erected in 1887, and considered one of the best in the county. Everything about the place is in perfect order, and betokens the guidance of a master mind and hand. Mr. Mann is engaged extensively in raising stock of excellent grades, and handles ninety head of cattle, sixteen horses and fifty-five hogs. During the last two years he has had the misfortune to lose nearly 200 hogs a year. On his farm is the finest living spring in the county, which furnishes water for an artificial fish pond, ten feet in depth, fed through two tanks and pipes, the cost of its con- struction being 8250, and this year he has bad it stocked with German carp, 1,000 in number.
Mr. Mann has had a wide and varied experience in life, and as an intelligent observer and thinker, has profited thereby. He is a fine type of our self- made men, and all that he is, and all that he has, he owes to his own exertions, as when he set forth in the world to make his own way therein, his only capital was a sound intellect and a good physique, together with a shrewd, ambitious, self-helpful spirit. These same traits, while they have been prominent factors in bringing about his prosperons circumstances, make him an invaluable citizen, and as a pioneer of this State, for so he may be denom- inated, though not among the early settlers, he has
done good work in aiding the development of its wonderful agricultural resources and stock-growing interests. He and his wife are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he has served in the capacity of Steward. IIe is a member of the local School Board, and is earnestly interested in educational matters. He takes an active part in politics, formerly afliliating with the Democrats, but of late identifiying himself with the Repuub- lican party. He favors temperance legislation, and every such worthy canse finds in him a strong champion.
Mr. Mann, Mr. Mcleod, and Jacob Lawson have laid out jointly a town on the Ohio River Valley Rail- road eight miles north of Marysville, the plat con- taining forty acres beautifully situated on the Blue River, and from the lay of the land it is bound to make a fine village in the near future.
NGUS McLEOD, a young farmer and stock-raiser of more than ordinary intelli- gence and enterprise, is ably performing his share in upholding the great agricul- tural interests of Marshall County, and in him Oketo Township finds one of the most active and skillful members of its farming community. He is a son of Alexander McLeod, of Marysville Town- ship, a sketch of whose life appears on another page of this work.
Our subject is the eldest child of his parents, and was born in Scotland, March 25, 1856, being three years of age when he accompanied the family to America. He received his early education at Kincardine, Canada, and later attended the public schools of Bay City, Mich., and completed his studies in the excellent Normal School at Emporia, Kan. Thus liberally educated he was fitted for any career in life that he might choose to adopt, and he first entered the teacher's profession. teaching one year in this county. Wishing to still further equip himself for his work, he became a student in Thomas J. Bryant's Business College at St. Joseph, Mo., and pursued a full course in that institution. After leaving college Mr. Mcleod gave his at-
284
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
tention to farming, and has ever since pursued that vocation, remaining with his father till he was twenty-six, affording him valuable assistance, and at the same time gaining equally valuable experi- ence in carrying on agriculture. He then began farming on his own account, and has a valuable farm of 280 acres, all in a body, and under excel- lent cultivation, and supplied with a suitable set of buildings, including a neat dwelling, erected in 1884, and a substantial barn built in 1889. A view of the principal structures on his homestead is given on another page. His place is well stocked and he handles about two car-loads of cattle each year and the same number of hogs. This season (1889) his well-tilled harvest fields have yielded fine crops, so that he has a large surplus over what his stock can consume. Bringing an active and well-trained mind to bear upon the problems that confront every earnest and thoughtful farmer as to the best methods to be pursued in the cultiva- tion of his own particular plot of ground, our subject has met with the success that his efforts merit, and he is already regarded as one of our progressive and most successful farmers.
January 1, 1879. Mr. McLeod and Miss Nellie Taylor were united in marriage, and three children have been born of their happy wedded life, namely : Mary Bell, Alexander T .. Archibald W. Mrs. McLeod is the fourth child of Thomas and Mary (Sinclair) Taylor, of St. Joseph, Mo., they having had five children, of whom four are now living. Mr. Taylor is a blacksmith by trade, but he owns and operates a farm in Washington County, Kan. Mrs. McLeod was born in Canada, and was abont six years old when her family came to the "States." She received a good education in the public schools of St. Joseph, and a careful training in the parental household that well fitted her to preside over a home of her own. Both she and her husband are leading members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder, and both are very active in the Sunday-school as teachers, and he has been Superintendent.
Mr. McLeod possesses excellent business qualifi- cations, fine tact, and the canny thrift and keen foresight, undoubtedly inherited from his sterling Scotch ancestry, which are so essential to success
in any walk in life. Gifted with an irreproachable moral character, he is reputed to be a model young man, who is an honor not only to his family, but to the community at large. He is actively inter- ested in politics, and in him the Republican party finds one of its most honest and zealous supporters. He has proved that he has all the qualifications necessary for a public-spirited civic official, and he has served Oketo Township as Clerk, filling that office with characteristic faithfulness and ability.
OHN KANE. For the past twenty years this gentleman has been a busy, prosperous and honored resident of Marshall County, and both as a pioneer of the county and as a veteran of the Civil War, merits and receives the respect of all whose acquaintanceship or friendship he has made. His farm is situated on section 34 in Herkimer Township, and is universally conceded to be one of the best in the county, both in point of fertility of the soil and improvements made upon it by the owner. He is not only interested in general farming, but is a stock-raiser cf no small import- ance, making a specialty of Durham cattle, Poland- China hogs and Norman horses. In the raising of these he has been uniformly successful, and has been assisted financially by the selling of the stock he has raised.
A resident of his present farm since 1879, our subject has changed its outward appearance from the primitive condition of nature to a"thing of beauty;" where once wild animals ranged now the stock quietly graze; on the old camping ground of the Indians, the only lights visible are those shining ont with pleasant beams from friendly cottages ; the forest trees, scattered here and there irregularly in former years. now are outlined in graceful rows, symmetrical and beautiful, against the blue of the sky. In the midst of the surrounding landscape, as the principal feature visible to the eye, stands the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Kane. a commodious, recently erected frame house. Near it is a fine orch- ard of three acres. and in the background are corn- cribs, barn and other outbuildings. On all sides
285
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
stretches the fair land, responding with almost human sympathy to the work of the farmer, and bestowing upon him bountiful harvests of grain and fruits in season.
Mr. Kane naturally takes an honest pride in his military record.[having fought for his country dur- ing the period of the dreadful conflict between the North and South. He enlisted in August, 1861, in Company I, 38th Ohio Infantry, as a private. As the terrible contest deepened and thickened, his courage rose to the emergency, and with the neces- sity for immediate action his soul laid aside every fetter binding it to earth, and he was prepared to even die for the land he loved. For personal bra- very he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in May, 1864, a position he held until his discharge at the close of the war. Beiow we mention some of the battles in which he participated: Stone River, Mission Ridge; Jonesborough, Ga., thence with Sherman on his march to the sea, an ever-to- be- remembered march, during which the army was under constant fire. At Resaca our subject received a wound but was not disabled thereby. At Jones- borough, in September, 1864, he received a gun-shot in the left arm, which, although only a flesh wound, tore the muscles of the arm very considerably, and still is a source of frequently recurring pain to him. He took part in the grand review at Washington, D. C., and was mustered out of the service July 22, 1865. Thus was terminated an honorable period in the life of Mr. Kane, and although a time of horrors, yet in the midst of the sorrows were a few joys, and some pleasant and amusing occurrences, to which our subject enjoys referring, and of which he often thinks when memory goes back to those hours of struggle.
Of Irish and Scotch parentage Mr. Kane was born in Londonderry, Ireland, Sept. 12, 1841. In the Emerald Isle he passed the days and years of childhood, but when ten years of age came with his parents, Henry and Mary (King) Kane, to the United States. They took passage from Liverpool in 1851, in the sail-ship "Fidalia," which was anchored in New York harbor in thirty-three days after leaving the shores of England. Continuing their journey westward the family setttled in Ful - ton County, Ohio. and there the father died in a
few months succeeding his arrival in this country, the date of his death being June 26, 1852, when he had reached the age of forty-five years. The mother survived her husband many years, and passed to her final rest Oct., 13, 1886. They were both mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and the paternal ancestors as far back as the record ex- tends were natives of Ireland, while the mother's people came from Scotland to Ireland many gener- ations ago.
Preempting a claim of eighty acres in Herkimer Township, this county, in July, 1870, Mr. Kane there remained until 1879, and thence removed to his present farm, buying 160 acres, later adding to it 140 acres. all then in a wild condition, upon which few furrows had ever been turned. This was the basis of his present possessions, and has been the scene of his labors for these many years. When peace had once more returned to bless the country, and the tumult of war was being forgotten in the excitement of business prosperity, Mr. Kane turned his thoughts to domestic ties, and in found- ing a home of his own, chose as his wife Miss Sarah, daughter of Nicholas and Helen (Rector) Simmons. This lady was a native of New York, and came to Ohio when a child in company with her parents. The wedding celebration of our sub- ject and his excellent wife occurred in Fulton County, Ohio, on the 3d of September.1865, and for the next five years they resided in the county which had for so long been their home, and where they had so many warm friends. The parents of Mrs. Kane, Mr. and Mrs. Simmons, also came to Mar- shall County, May 10, 1870, and located in Herki- mer Township, where the father passed away in 1872, and the mother Jan. 25, 1888. They were either natives of Germany or of direct German descent.
The home circle was completed by the birth of seven children, of whom two, John F. and Lillian, were laid to rest by the grief stricken par- ents. There remain to bless the home five chil- dren, whose names are recorded as follows: Albert H., Mary E., William A, Leion W. and Lena T., all at home. Politically, our subject aims in local elections to cast his ballot for the one he deems most competent to discharge the duties devolving
286
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
upon him in official life, but in general elections he affiliates with the Republican party. When he first came to this county he not only had nothing, and was $400 in debt, but now enjoys the possession of a competence which will educate his children and protect his age from want.
RCHIE P. McLEOD. Scotland may be fitly described as a cradle of heroism. Cowardice, cither physical or moral, being considered almost in the light of a crime, by the noble people inhabiting either the highlands or lowlands of the country whose soil was trodden by such heroes as Wallace and Bruce, and their followers. They are a brave. generous, thrifty. intellectual, and for the most part moral and relig- ious people. Liberty-loving. and intolerant of oppression, their descendants in America, contrib. ute not a little to the capacity which this country has thus far shown to resist all abridgement of the proper liberties of its citizens. The Scottish emi- grant brings with him not only his love of freedom, but also a shrewd thriftiness that assures him a living in any situation, and makes him a desirable member of every community.
To this renowned and glorious people. celebrated in song and story, romance and history, Archie McLeod is proud to trace his ancestry. His par- ents, Duncan and Barbara (Patterson) McLeod, were both natives of North Carolina, of Scotch parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Dunean McLeod were married in their native State. and made it their home for some time, subsequently removing to Georgia, where they remained one year. They then gathered up their belongings and emigrated to Knox County, Ky., and lived there until a short time previous to their death. when they removed to Harrison County, Ky. They passed away from the cares and trials of life in the latter county, leaving the heritage of a good name to their children.
Archie McLeod was born near Macon, Ga., on Aug. 20. 1828, being the fifth in order of birth in a family of six children. His youth and carly
manhood were passed in Knox County, Ky., in which place he remained till 1851, when he went with his parents to Harrison County, where he fol- lowed farming and also taught school; employing himself in the latter ocenpation principally during the winter months. He was engaged in the pro- fession of teaching for the space of about ten years, making Clay and Harrison counties the theatre of his operations.
October 13, 1861. Mr. MeLeod, then in the very prime of life, enlisted, at Lexington, Ky., in Com- pany B, 6th Kentucky Cavalry, and served with true Scotch-American valor till Dec. 23, 1864, when he was mustered out and honorably dis- charged. Upon first entering the service he was eleeted Orderly Sergeant, but was promoted for distinguished gallantry in action, to the First Lieu- tenancy of his company, in September, 1862, and retained this rank till the time of his discharge.
In February, 1865, Lieut. McLeod departed from his home in Kentucky and located in Illinois. He bought a farm in Berlin, Sangamon County, and made it his residence for about four years. In September, 1869, he sold out his possessions and removed to Marshall County, Kan. Ile home- steaded land in Center Township, on Section 30, and immediately hegan improving it, with the intention of making it the permanent residence of himself and family. All the work necessary to make a comfortable home was pushed forward with vigor and spirit, and he owns at present 167 acres of well cultivated land. Farming and stoek-rais- ing occupies his attention exclusively. He makes a specialty of Norman horses, and his intelligent zeal has been rewarded with a large measure of success.
Mr. McLeod has been married three times, his first wife being Miss Frances Kinney, to whom he was united in Harrison County, Ky., Nov. 18, 1857. Mrs. McLeod was a native of Harrison County, and six months after her marriage was ealled away from the pursuits of life to enjoy the beauties of a home above. About five years after the loss of his first wife our subject was again married. the lady of his choice being Miss Garrard, a native of Ilarrison County. The wedding was celebrated in the same county, on May 26, 1868.
287
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
She became the mother of eight children: Anna. William R., Barbara, Edward D., an infant who died shortly after birth, Thomas, Hattie and Ev- erett. Mrs. Sarah McLeod died in Center Town- ship, Marshall County, Jan. 14, 1862, leaving a large circle of friends and acquaintances besides her family to mourn her departure.
September 11, 1884, Mr. McLeod was married to Miss Frances J. Means, a sister of J. W. Means, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. McLeod was born in Platt County, Mo .. Nov. 10, 1840. She is a well educated and very intelligent lady, fully able to occupy a leading place in the community in which she resides.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.