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 34
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
HOMAS W. WADICK is an enterprising farmer and stock-raiser, who owns a fine farm on section 4, township 5, range 10, Cleveland Township. He was born within twelve miles of Brockwell, Lower Canada, Dec. 26, 1842. His father was William Wadick, of Elora, Upper Canada, where he emigrated in 1851. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary Middleton, was of Scotch descent. Her father and mother were both born in County Wexford, Ireland, whence they emigrated to Canada in 1839.
Our subjeet was the eldest of eight children. Ann
Rew Joseph Wilson lyon Fraternally
301
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
is unmarried; Ellen E. and Mary, who are in the convents at Monroe and Mt. Clemens, Mich. Ar- thur, who is married and has four children, lives near the old homestead in Canada; William J., who is also married, and lives near the old home; Mar- garet is the wife of an officer in the prison at To- ronto, and has four children; and James, who is a machinist in Toronto, Canada. Our subject came to Palo Alto County, Iowa, in July, 1866, to Kan- sas in April, 1872, and traveled throughout the western part of the State, when he came back to this place and worked nearly a year at his trade of a stone cutter, particularly on the public school building at Waterville. On the 10th of Novem- ber, 1872, he bought 160 acres, where he has since lived. He now owns a fine farm of 440 acres, well stocked with graded Ilerefords, Poland-Chinas and Berkshires.
Thomas Wadick was married Oct. 10, 1872, to Miss Catherine Corteen, whose parents were na- tives of the Isle of Man. Born and educated there, she lived with her parents until she emigrated to the United States in 1872. By this marriage Mr. Wadick has six children-William A., Thomas A., James F., Joseph E., Robert F. and Henry C.
Mr. Wadick began life upon but little capital; he is a good, upright citizen, and of exceptional intelligence. He is fond of his books, and possesses an extensive law library. Ile and his family are firm Catholics, though his wife's parents are Wes- leyan Methodists. He is a Republican in politics.
R EV. JOSEPH WILSON, whose portrait on another page, lends added value to this volume, is a minister of the Universalist Church,and Pastor of Grace Chapel, Frank- fort, and is recognized as one well-fitted for the dis- charge of his responsible duties. He was born Sept. 22, 1831, in Westmoreland County, Pa., near what is now known as West Newton, and is the son of John and Elizabeth (Porter) Wilson, who were likewise natives of the Keystone State. Both of his grandfathers were natives of Ireland.
The father of our subject was a farmer by oc-
cupation, and when the latter was a child the parents removed to Tuscarawas County, Ohio, settling near New Philadelphia, and later located in the vicin- ity of Princeton, Bureau Co., Ill. There the father died in 1870, the mother having passed to rest when her son Joseph was four years of age. The father was a second time married to Mrs. Lily (Gorsuch) Karenhapock. Of the first marriage there was born five children, namely: Vear P .. James R., Samuel, Joseph, our subject, and Mary M. Vear P. is a resident of Denver, Col., and President of the company known as V. P. Wilson & Sons, publishers ; he married Miss Maria Dotts, of Tnscarawas County, Ohio, and they are the parents of twelve children. Samuel died near Abilene, Kan., in March, 1886. Mary M. died in Illinois at the age of twenty years.
When twenty-three years of age our subject was united in marriage with Miss Jane Shaw, near New Philadelphia, Ohio. Soon afterward they located in the vicinity of Princeton, Ill., where they re- sided for seventeen years, and in the meantime our subject purchased 173 acres of land near Walnut, Ill. In 1871, leaving the Prairie State, he came to Kansas and settled near Abilene, where he carried on farming for five years, and improved two farms. In the fall of 1876 he came to this county and purchased his present farm which comprises a fine tract of land 400 acres in extent. Mr. Wilson makes a specialty of live-stock, also of fruit, hav- ing an orchard of 700 apple and peach trees of the best varieties. Upon his farm is a stone quarry from which material has been taken for the con- struction of some of the best business houses in Frankfort.
Mr. Wilson began his ministerial labors as a lay preacher at the early age of twenty-six years, and has continued his pious duties since that time. He is the only minister of the Universalist faith on the line of the Central branch of the Union Pacific Railroad. He completed his classical education in the college at Delaware, Ohio, where he was a student three years. Originally he was a Democrat, and voted for James K. Polk, and after that he was a strong Republican, until the organization of the Greenback party, and its consolidation with the Union Labor party, of which he was the regular
302
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
nominee for State Senator in 1886, making a large number of stirring campaign speeches in this county, and coming within 116 votes of his oppo- nent. lle was a great admirer of Peter Cooper, for whom he voted in 1876. Socially, he belongs to the Masonic fraternity. Lodge No. 67, at Frank- fort. in which he has filled all the Chairs besides representing it in the Grand Lodge. He is also identified with the Vermillion Lodge, No. 110, 1. O. O. F., in which he is now Vice-Grand.
To Mr. and Mrs. Wilson there have been born ten children, viz .: William W., John B., Mary E., (deceased), Uriah S., Vear P., Nora M., Viola P., David and two babes that died in infancy unnamed. William W. married Miss Mary M. Bain, and has four children. The other children are unmarried and at home with their parents. Mr. Wilson is a man of considerable ability, and is popular among the people. His farm lies one mile northeast of Frankfort, and is embellished with a large, hand- some stone residence, occupying a prominent and beautiful site in the northwestern corner of section 27. In addition to being a first-class farmer, he is a good financier. He has served as Justice of the Peace four years, and Collector, Clerk and School Trustee, being a member of the School Board for nine years. While in Illinois, he was also Township Supervisor.
AVID GUTIIRIE. The rapid growth and development of St. Bridget Township, is dne to the men who first took up their abode here, many of them'settling upon the raw prairie, from which they have constructed first- class farms and comfortable homesteads. Among them may be mentioned the subject of this sketch, who is snugly established on eighty acres of land, the whole of which he has brought to a good state of cultivation. lle makes a specialty of fruit rais- ing, having devoted six acres to peaches, apples, pears, plums, apricots, cherries, gooseberries, grapes. enrrants, raspberries, strawberries, and whortle- berries. His trees and vines are beginning to bear. and he anticipates in the near future handsome re
turns from the outlay of time and labor. He has a goodly number of forest trees, inelnding a pecu- liar specimen called the honey Mexican, which pro- duces a very good quality of honey.
The dwelling of our subject is a small frame house, comfortable, although not very commodious, while adjacent are the various outbuildings re- quired, including an apiary within which are sev- eral hives of bees. The family includes seven sons, who, it is hardly necessary to say, are the pride of their parents' hearts. They are named respect- ively, Jacob W., John S., Aaron A., David, Evans, Alexander, and Franklin. One son, Milton A., died at the age of twenty months.
A native of Lee County, Ill., our subject was born March 6. 1846, at Guthrie's Grove, and is the son of William Guthrie. who was born and reared in the city of Cork, Ireland. The latter emigrated to America when a young man of nineteen years, well-equipped with a good education and careful training. Grandfather Guthrie had died in Ire- land, when his son William, was a mere child, and the latter was adopted by Capt. Rainer, a noble- man of Cork, who treated him much as his own son, giving him an excellent education. After his arrival in New York City, the father of our sub- ject operated as clerk in a store one year, then made his way to Pittsburg, Pa .. where he found young men enlisting as soldiers for the Black Hawk War. He also proffered his services as a soldier, and was in the army five years. In the meantime he was present at the capture of the old chief him- self. Later, coming to Northern Illinois, he stood upon the present site of Chicago when it was marked by only nine houses. For one day's work he could have become the possessor of any lot in the village. He, however, made his way further westward, and utilized his land warrant by secur- ing land in the vicinity of what is now Guthrie's Grove, in Lee County, Ill.
Our subject's father was united in marriage with Miss Matilda, daughter of Joseph Ross, one of the oldest pioneers settling on the eastern line of Lee County, Ill. Mr. Ross was a native of Virginia, where he was reared to man's estate, and married Miss Mary llunt, of Charleston, Va. They spent their last years in Illinois. When twenty-five
%
303
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
years of age, Mr. Guthrie went into Taylor County, Iowa, where in due time he met and married, in 1872, Miss Eunice Easter, daughter of Jacob and Bathsheba ( Blunt, Easter, who were formerly of Ohio. The Easters upon coming to Iowa, settled in Van Buren County, where Miss Eunice was born. Her parents are still living, and are now residents of Taylor County, Iowa. After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Guthrie settled on a farm in Taylor County, where they lived nine years, and then re- moved to Atchison County, Mo. A year later our subjeet purchased in this county the land which he now owns and occupies. It must be acknowledged that he has contributed his full quota to the growth and development of this region. His perseverance and industry ean searcely fail of their legitimate reward. He has obtained a fine start, and has abundant reason to expect "continued prosperity."
G. EDWARDS, M. D. Before entering upon the life of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch and who is a prominent physician and surgeon of Marysville, a few words regarding his parents will not be amiss. His father, Joseph Eawards, was born in Virginia and there lived until his maturity, being a farmer and stock-raiser. Moving to the famous Blue Grass region, he married Miss Hannah Morgan, who bore him four sons and five daughters, all of whom lived to mature years. The father continued the business of stoek-raising, removing to Clark County, Ill., in the year 1851, dying there in the fall of 1856. The mother survived until the year 1883. The parental family consisted of William M., now a practicing physician in Colby, Kan .; Giles, who died in the army, during the late Civil War; Levi, now deceased; our subject; Mrs. Matilda Maxie and Mrs. Malinda Bartlett, now widows residing in Illinois ; Mrs. Sarah Meeker, also residing in Illinois, and Mrs. Frances Fraucis.
The subject of our sketch is a native of the Blue Grass State, where he was born Sept. 15, 1837, and
where he remained until the age of fourteen, when his parents removed to Illinois. In the latter State he finished his education, graduating at Marshall College, after which he studied medieine with Dr. Frank White, professor of Materia Medica in St. Louis Medical College. After having read with Dr. White for sometime, Mr. Edwards took his lectures at the college in which his instructor was a professor, graduating in the class of '61. Feeling that his country needed his services he de- termined to devote the energies of his young man- hood to her and therefore enlisted in the Union service, being enrolled in the 1st Missouri Cavalry. HIe was with his regiment but a short time, being detailed to the post hospital at Jefferson Barraeks, then engaged at the post hospital in Jefferson City, and later spending a year in the post hospital at Raleigh, Mo. After this hospital experience he spent some time in field service, then for eight- een months was fulfilling the duties of his profes- sion in the general hospital on Hickory street, St. Louis, Mo. From this time until the elose of the war he was in the field, taking an active part in the actions at Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove and a num- ber of skirmishes. Although naturally a large man Mr. Edwards weighed only 130 pounds when discharged from the service, his health having been very much shattered by the arduous labors and exposure of those years of active patriotism. Soon after the close of the war our subject eame to Marysville and located for practice, and is now the oldest resident doctor in the county.
During the busy days of hospital service in St. Louis, Dr. Edwards found time for wooing, and in 1864 was married in that eity to Miss Carrie Wright, an estimable and educated lady. She was born in Mobile, Ala., and was the daughter of I. Wright and when a young lady removed to St. Louis with her widowed mother and lived in that city until after her marriage. To her was born one child, Lillian B., who still gladdens the hearts of her parents in the home circle.
Dr. Edwards is the most trusted surgeon in the county. For the last eight years he has held the position of local surgeon for the St. Joseph and Grand Island branch of the Union Pacific Railroad. He was one of the original members of the North-
304
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
ern Kansas Medical Society which was established in 1884, and was its first president. He was also at one time president of the Marshall County Med- ical Association and is at the present time Treas- urer and Censor of that body and Vice-President of the Railroad Medical Society of Grand Island, Omaha & Kansas City. He also holds honorary membership in the Nebraska Railroad Society. Dr. Edwards was President of the Pension Examining Board up to the time of Cleveland's administration. He has been an active Republican worker but not an office seeker and he belongs to the Central Re- publican Committee of this Congressional District. Ile is a man of more than ordinary ability as the above facts will show, and is highly esteemed by all who know him, not only as a well read surgeon but as one of nature's noblemen. 1Ie is a member of the Masonie fraternity. He is a warm personal friend of Dr. Livingston of Plattsmouth, Neb.
G EORGE WASHINGTON DUFFY, SR. The results of perseverance and industry have probably no finer illustration than in the career of Mr. Duffy, who is one of the leading men of Noble Township. Ile settled within its limits during its pioneer days, and has borne no unim- portant part in bringing this part of the county to its present condition. During the years past he labored early and late, and is now in the enjoy- ment of the reward which usually follows a course of industry and the practice of economy. He owns and occupies a beautiful homestead, embracing 320 acres of land, comprising a portion of sections 22 and 23. Public-spirited and liberal, he is a uni- versal favorite in his community, both in business and social circles, and especially prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Our subject is the offspring of an excellent fam- ily, being the son of John Duffy, who was born and reared in Ohio. Thenee he removed during his early manhood to the vicinity of Marietta, Ohio, where he carried on farming until 1833. Then, resolving to seek the more western country, he emigrated to Illinois and entered a tract of land
in the vicinity of Bloomington, McLean County. There he spent the last years of his life. He broke a vast amount of prairie along the Rock River, and was subjected to all the hardships and priva- tions of pioneer life. Ile was a man of decided views and an earnest supporter of the Democratic party.
The mother of our subject was Lydia (McCoy) Duffy, a native of Ohio and of Scotch descent. After the death of her husband she sold her property and removed to Dallas City, Ill., where her death took place about 1880 .. . She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The parental house- hold originally included eight children, of whom George W., our subject, was the fourth in order of birth. The others are named respectively : James and Samuel, deceased; Joseph, a resident of Dallas City, Ill .; Susan, deceased; Mary, a resi- dent of Kansas; Charlotte, who lives in Dakota, and Elizabeth, a resident of Missouri. Samuel during the Civil War served as a Union soldier in an Illinois regiment, and died in Arkansas. Joseph served his full term of enlistment.
The subject of this sketch was born at the old homestead, near Marietta, Ohio, Nov. 27, 1827. He was five years old when the family removed to Illinois, and remembers the time when wild game was plentiful in McLean County. He pursued his early studies in the log schoolhouse, and was only twelve years old at the time of his father's death. He remained with his mother until twenty years old. He remembers the time when the present site of Bloomington was simply marked by three or four log cabins. He hauled grain to Chicago in 1842, and at the age mentioned began farming for himself.
In 1850, during the gold excitement, our subject erossed the plains to California, landing in Placer- ville after a journey of four months. A few days after his arrival he commenced teaming between Placerville and Sacramento, at which he made con- siderahle money. Ile spent a year on the Pacific Slope, then returned home via the Isthmus of Pan- ama and New Orleans, but with the intention of revisiting the Golden State. Circumstances trans- pired which caused him to change his intentions, and in the spring of 1855 he repaired to Minne-
305
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
sota, taking with him his live stock, and located on a tract of land twenty miles from Red Wing, where he was one of the first settlers. lle improved a farm of 280 acres, which proved particularly favorable to the raising of wheat, and which be- came the source of an ample income. Ile effected fine improvements, and this farm was designated as one of the most valuable in that region of coun- try. He made a specialty of live stock, breeding French draft horses, and maintained his residence there for a period of seventeen years. Selling out in 1874, he came to this county and located on his present place, purchasing first 160 acres of raw land, and later adding to it a like amount. He has constructed first-class modern buildings, having a fine house and a good barn, with all the necessary outbuildings for the shelter of stock and the stor- ing of grain. A windmill conveys water to what- ever point desired, and the farm is equipped with modern machinery for plowing, sowing and reap- ing. Upon this farm stand some of the oldest trees in Noble Township. There is a large orchard and a grove, and the land is watered by a branch of the Vermillion. It is largely devoted to stoek- raising-in fact, nearly all the grain which it produces is utilized in the feeding of cattle and swine. Of the former Mr. Duffy feeds usually 100 annually, and about 350 hogs. He does his own shipping. The operations of the farm are carried on by three teams of fine draft horses, and are eon- ducted with that skill and thoroughness which sel- dom fail of generous returns.
In MeLean County, Ill., our subject was married, March 7, 1849, to Miss Lydia Arnold. This lady was born in Ohio, on the 7th day of November, 1830, and the result of her union with our subject was the birth of six children, viz: Ann J., Mrs. King, of Henry County, Mo .; Anderson, who is farming on 120 acres of good land in Noble Town- ship; Ira, who is engaged in selling organs and pianos in Nebraska; George W., Jr., who is farm- ing in Noble Township; Frank B., who is engaged in selling musical instruments and sewing machines, having his headquarters at Seneca, Kan .; and Cora, Mrs. Weston, who is the wife of a leading grain merchant of Frankfort.
During his residence in Minnesota Mr. Duffy
was quite prominent in local affairs, holding the offices of County Commissioner and Justice of the Peace for many years. Here he has filled the same positions, and has likewise served as School Di- rector. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Vermillion, in which he has officiated as Class-Leader and Steward. At pres- ent he is a Trustee, and assisted substantially in the erection of the church edifice, besides being a member of the building committee. He has been sent as a delegate to various church conventions, and is an active worker in the Sunday-school. Po- litically, he votes the straight Democratic ticket, and has been prominent in the councils of his party in this section.
The father of Mrs. Duffy was Jolm Arnold, who was born and reared near Marietta, Ohio, where he carried on farming during his early man- hood, and thenee emigrated to Hancock County, Ill. In 1850 he crossed the plains to California," where his death took place soon afterward. The mother, Mrs. Mary (Kile) Arnold, was likewise a native of Ohio, born near the early home of her husband. After his death she removed to Good- hue County, Minn., where her death took place; she was a member in good standing of the United Brethren Church. The four children of the par- ental family were named respectively: Lydia, Mrs. Duffy, Isaac and Samuel, residents of Vermillion; and Manly, who is farming in Noble Township. Mrs. Duffy was born in Ohio, Nov. 7, 1830, and was twelve years of age when her family removed to Illinois, where she was reared to womanhood, and where she lived with her parents until her marriage.
OCHESTER SWART is the owner and occu- pant of a pleasant farm on section 9. Wells Township. He is a native of Madison County, Ind., and was born March 26, 1845. He is a son of Gilbert and Lydia (Dun) Swart. His father was a nativeof Virginia, and of German descent, while his mother, who was born in Indiana, traced her ancestry to Ireland.
Gilbert Swart, upon leaving his native State,
306
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPIIICAL ALBUM.
first settled in Ohio, and thenee removed to Ind- iana, and finally in the year 1864, to Knox County, Ill. There his wife died in December, 1884, and there he continues to reside. The paternal family consisted of nine children, five of whom are now living. They are: Arretta, wife of Alexander Hamilton, of Illinois; Rochester, John D., of Ne- braska : Marcus D. L., of Illinois; and Elizabeth A., of the same State.
The gentleman of whom we write, was reared to farm pursuits, and received a common-school edu- cation. In March, 1864, being then nineteen years of age, he enlisted in the Union Army, and was en- rolled in Company E, 34th Indiana Infantry. Ile participated in the engagement at Palo Alto. on the Rio Grande River, where he was captured by the enemy. After an imprisonment of four days, he was released on parole at Brownsville, Tex. He was subsequently exchanged, and continued in the serviee until February, 1866, when he was honor- ably discharged. He then located in Illinois. and in 1886, he came to this county, and settled upon the eighty acres which he has sinee made his home. Ilis land is fertile and well-improved, and its owner is successfully carrying on the pursuit of agri- culture.
Mr. Swart is a believer in, and supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and never fails to cast his vote in its interest. Ile is a member of the A. F. & A. M. Lodge. Not yet having found the lady of his choice, Mr. Swart is keeping bache- lor's hall. He is an industrious and upright man. and highly respected by his fellow-citizens.
ENRY SPEALMAN, a highly respected eitizen of Oketo Township, where he is profitably engaged in farming and stock- raising. was one of the pioneers of this portion of Marshall County, and in perform- ing the laborious task of reclaiming a valuable farm from its wild prairies. he has greatly aided in its development, and has materially added to its wealth. ]Ie is a native of the State of l'enn-
sylvania, born Feb. 15. 1820, to John G. and Mary Spealman, also natives of the Keystone State. An unele of our subjeet took part in the War of 1812. Ilis father was a blacksmith by trade, but subse- quently devoted himself to farming. He and his wife spent the early years of their married life in Pennsylvania, finally removing from there to Mason County, Ill., of which they thus became early set- tlers, and afterward casting in their lot with the pioneers of Ogle County, that State. There the father died twenty-five years ago, and the mother followed him to the grave two years later. They had seven children. four of whom are now living.
He of whom we write was the sixth child of his parents, and he grew to a robust, manly man- hood amid the scenes of his birth, obtaining his education in the subscription schools of the day. At the age of twenty-two he began life for him- self, having previous to that time assisted his father in his work. He was first employed in some rolling mills in Columbia County, Pa. Two years later he took a trip through the Southern States, being desirous to see something of the country, and he spent the winter of 1844 in New Orleans, working in a cotton press till May. 1845. We next hear of him in Galena, Ill., where he was em- ployed in a brickyard. After that he returned to Pennsylvania, and remaining there a year, he came westward again as far as Illinois, and continued to be an inhabitant of the Prairie State till 1866. In that year he came to Kansas and located on this spot. where he has ever since made his home. It was raw prairie then, with no indications of its present value as one of the most highly productive and best improved farms in this vieinity. His was the pioneer task of breaking the soil and prepar- ing it for tillage, besides erecting suitable buildings for every necessary purpose, and the condition in which it now is, with its 240 acres all under fine cultivation, devoted principally to the raising of corn and oats, of which it yields abundant harvests, with its fine orchard and beautiful grove of maples and cotton-wood trees, planted by his own hands, and with its comfortable dwelling and neat out- buildings, shows well the care, labor and money expended in bringing about the great change.
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.