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 55
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Mr. Smith came to this county in 1861, and for two years thereafter was a resident of St. Bridget Township. In July, 1862, he took the station of the Ben Holiday Stage Line, which was located where his home now stands, on Little Vermillion Creek. and he kept this station three years, being very successful financially. In the meantime he entered 160 acres of land in Murray Township, and the same amount in Nemaha County, the latter be- ing located on either side of Clear Creek, and admirably adapted to stock purposes. There was for several years no trading point nearer than Sen- eca. twelve miles away, and Mr. Smith for two years thereafter was the only settler in Murray Town- ship.
Our subject was born in Switzerland County. Ind .. Feb. 28. 1832, and is the son of James Smith, a native of North Carolina, and who was a farmer by occupation. The latter remained a resident of
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his native county until reaching manhood, and was then married to Miss Naney Vernon, who was like- wise a native of North Carolina, and born in Rock- ingham County. Her parents were Southerners, and of English ancestry. After marriage James Smith and his wife remained residents of their na- tive county until after the birth of six children. They then removed to Shelby County, Ind., set- tling in the unbroken wilderness of that region, as early as 1830, and building up a home amid the timber, through the slow process of felling trees, grubbing out the stumps and laboriously preparing the soil for cultivation. There they spent the re- mainder of their lives, the father dying at the ad- vanced age of eighty-six. The mother survived her husband some time, and passed away at the age of eighty-five.
Our subject was the seventh child and fifth son of his parents, and the first one of the family born in Indiana. Of the thirteen children, ten lived to become men and women, and nearly all were married and became parents. Seven are yet living and are located mostly in Indiana. David, like his brothers and sisters, was reared on the farm, and received a very limited education. He attained to manhood in his native county in Indiana, and was there mar- ried to Miss Emily Shockley. This lady was born and reared in Hancock County, Ind., and is the daughter of Samuel and Naney ( Murnan) Shock- ley, who were early settlers of that region. They came to Kansas in 1861, and settled on a farm in St. Bridget Township, where they spent the remain- der of their lives. Mr. Shockley died at the age of fifty-six years. He had been prominent in lo- cal affairs, and in the years 1857-58. was a mem- ber of the Indiana Legislature, to which he was elected by the Democratic party. To this party he had given his allegianee since becoming a voter. The mother survived her husband a number of years, passing away at the ripe old age of seventy- two.
Mrs. Smith was carefully reared by her excel- lent parents, and received her education in the dis- triet school. She grew up to an amiable and attractive womanhood, and by her marriage with our subjeet has become the mother of ten children, four of whom are deceased, namely : James B., who
died when he was a promising young man of twenty years; Anna J., who died when four years old; Charles A., who died when a child of twe years. and Naney L., who became the wife of Charles Phillips. and died seven months after her wedding. The sur- vivors are recorded as follows: Amanda F. was formerly a teacher, but is now the Postmistress of Axtell. John D. is the assistant of his sister in the post-office, and makes his home with his parents; Sarah E. is the wife of S. B. Funk, and resides on a farm in Murray Township; Harry B., Mary and Thomas H. are at home with their parents. Mrs. Smith and several of her children are connected with the Methodist Church. Our subject, politic- ally, like his father before him, votes with the Democratic party.
5
Le YMAN W. CHESLEY, formerly a teacher of note both in this county as well as in the East, some years ago retired from that pro- fession to follow agricultural pursuits. He owns a farm of 120 acres on section 26, Vermillion Town- ship, and has a comfortable stone residenee and necessary outbuildings. The land lays finely, and is very fertile, and was purchased in 1873. Mr. Chesley is interested in all affairs of State and Na- tional moment, and votes the Republican ticket. His official record will bear the closest scrutiny, and the most minute inspection, as the interests of his county are ever uppermost in his mind, and while economic and prudential in all measures, he yet favors anything that will aid the local government. For three years he has been Township Trustee of Vermillion Township, a position he yet retains.
Born Dee. 23, 1838, in Barnstead, N. II., our sub- ject was the fifth of seven sons and one daughter born to Benjamin and Sarah ( Bodge) Chesley, both natives of the old Granite State, where the father was a tiller of the soil. The grandfather of Lyman Chesley, was Aaron Chesley, also born in New Hamp- shire. and a farmer. The remote ancestors on this side of the house came from England in 1640, and were early settlers of New Hampshire. Aaron Chesley married, and there gradually gathered
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around his fireside a family of seven children, all now passed to rest. They were: George, Aaron, Benjamin, the father of our subject, Eleazer, Ruth, Mary, and Eliza. When Benjamin had attained to years of maturity, he married Miss Sarah Bodge, daughter of Daniel and Eliza Bodge, and a descen- dant of an old New England family of English origin.
Working thus with mutual interests and ambi- tions, Benjamin and Sarah Chesley lived in quiet happiness and content in their New Hampshire home, which nestled in a pleasant little valley on the banks of the Suncook River. In due time the quiet of their home was disturbed by the presence of seven rollicking, healthy, fun-loving boys, among whom the one daughter was the pet and idol. Their children were: Aaron, the grandfather's name-sake, Daniel, Mary A., John D., Benjamin F., Lyman W., Charles, and Calvin. Aaron enlisted in the United States Navy, and served under Farragut at New Orleans. While on duty on the war-ship "San Jacinto," he was accidentally drowned in Charles- ton, (Mass.) harbor during the month of October, 1862. lle was thirty-three years old at the time of his death, and unmarried. The second son, Daniel, is a farmer near Barnstead, N. H. He is married and has a family. The only daughter. Mary, married George F. Killam, who passed away twenty-six years ago, leaving her a childless widow. Her present home is in Lawrence, this State. John B. is engaged in farming near Barnstead, N. H .; Benjamin F. is also a resident of the Granite State; Charles enlisted in the 2d Colorado Cavalry, and was killed in the month of October, 1864, at the battle of Newtonia, Mo., an engagement fought be- tween the Federal forces under Gen. Blunt, and the Confederates under the leadership of Sterling Price. The youngest child in this family, Calvin, who was engaged in the practice of dentistry in Barnstead, N. II., died Sept. 28, 1889.
Passing the days of boyhood on his father's farm, our subject can peruse with all the interest and en- thusiasm of youth itself, that beautiful little poem, "The Barefoot Boy." Fortune seemed to favor our subjeet in some respects, for he gained what in those days was granted to few. a good education, taking an academic course at the Blanchard Aca-
demy, in l'embroke, N. H. Leaving New England soil when he became of age, in 1859, New Jersey was for a time his home, and the scene of his labors. He was no idler in the vineyard, but for four years was actively engaged as a teacher near Patterson, N. J.
Coming West in 1864, Mr. Chesley spent some time in Western Missouri and in Lawrence, Kan. lle finally settled in Marshall County, in 1867, and taught sehool several years in the neighborhood of his present residence. For a few years he was with- out home ties, but in 1873 chose a wife, and on May 13, that year, was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Morrison, daughter of William and Margaret Morrison, residents of Frankfort. Four of the five children born to our subject and his wife, are living, namely : Nellie, Myrtie, Charles, and Koester. The third child and eldest son, George K., died when one year old. For only a few years, was it granted that the faithful compan- ion and loving mother should be spared to those who needed her care and love. May 4, 1887 was the date of her death. Mr. Chesley was thus de- prived of the one nearest to him, the faithful friend, the loving wife, and the active co-laborer ever at his side. Society too, sustained a loss, and had a vacant place difficult to fill, while the poor and necdy missed their sympathizing and helpful friend.
S AMUEL D. McKEE, lawyer and real es- tate dealer in Frankfort, is one of its best known citizens. lle was born in Tusea- rawas County, Ohio, April 17, 1831. Ilis grandfather, James McKee, a native of Ireland, died at New Cumberland, in 1864, aged seventy-seven. His wife died three years later at the same age. Their son Robert, father of our subject, formed one of a family of six children, and was reared upon the farm. lle was married, in Hagerstown, Md., to Sarah Dunlap, a native of Ohio, and daughter of Samnel Dunlap, of German descent. He made farming his life work, but engaged for a short time in mercantile business. He also learned cabinet-making, at which he worked in connection
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with farming. lle was for several years Justice of the Peace, and County Commissioner of Craw- ford County, Ohio. He was a member of the l'res- byterian Church. In his earlier years he belonged to the Whig party. and after its abolition was a Republican. He had a family of ten children. of whom our subject was the second. Alfred is a a farmer, and, with his family, is now living in Westmoreland, Kan .; Ann died before attaining the age of twenty years; James and his family re- side in Allen County, Ohio. where he is engaged in farming: Robert W. is a retired farmer, who, with his wife and children, resides in Ft. Wayne, Ind .; Jane is the wife of John Caldwell, whose sketch occupies another page of this ALBUM, and lives southwest of Frankfort; John C. was engaged in mining at Crystal Spring, Colo., where he died in 1880, being about thirty- five years of age and unmarried; Leonard V. is cashier of the State Bank of Frankfort; he was Mayor of the city in 1887, and has been Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor, and Trustee of Rock Township, in which he resided for several years; he married Miss Jane B. Blaire, a native of Ohio. Lecta is the wife of 1. M. Bloom- quist, who is engaged in tailoring in Frankfort; they have no children; Martha was the wife of Daniel Schaaf, and died in 1878.
Our subject was reared on a farm, and remained in agricultural employments until twenty five years of age. He then engaged in general merchandis- ing in Beaver Dam, Ohio, in which business he continned four years. lle also ran a sawmill dur- ing that time. In August, 1864, he enlisted in the 100-day service, joining Company E, 157th Ohio Infantry, and was on duty at Washington, D. C. lle was Captain of his company, in which his brother, R. W., was a corporal, L. V., a private, and A. J., First Sergeant.
In 1871 our subject came to Frankfort, where he began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1878. He practices in all the courts, both State and United States. For several years before his admission to the bar he was engaged in collec- tions and real estate business, which he still carries on in connection with his legal practice.
Mr. McKee was married, in Beaver Dam, Ohio, Aug. 9, 1854, to Miss Cynthia Ann Edgecomb.
She and her parents were natives of the Buckeye State. She died Oct. 31, 1864, in Beaver Dam. She had been the mother of five children: Will- iam, who died in infancy in 1856, and a son and three daughters who survive to mourn her loss. Charles E. married Miss Frances McCannon, and is engaged in the butcher business in Frankfort; Martha A. is the wife of Henry W. Hawk, of Frankfort, and the mother of two children; Sarah J., wife of Edward Davis, a miller, of Concordia, has four children; Emma married A. D. Hall, who is engaged in the livery business at Bluffton, Ohio, and has one child.
The second wife of our subject was Rosanna, daughter of James Reeves, to whom he was mar- ried, at Sima Dam, Sept. 18, 1865. She bore him one child, Ammadilla, who died at the age of fif- teen years. Oet. 18, 1869, Mr. McKee was a third time married, the bride being Emma J., daughter of Willis Bird. She bore her husband five chil- dren. Lillian and one unnamed died in infancy; Ellen, Samuel and Ada E. are still at home.
Mr. McKee has been a member since 1862 of Frankfort Lodge No. 67. A. F. & A. M. Ile has been a Republican ever since there was such a party, and has been delegate to the county con- ventions and member of county Central Commit- tees. He has been very prominent in municipal affairs. having been City Clerk for four years and City Attorney for the same period. Ile is a man of shrewdness in business, with an intelligent and legal mind, firm principles, and is a man of mark in the city which he has made his home.
miles.
P ATRICK HUGHES, the owner of 620 acres of fine land in St. Bridget Township, came to this region about thirty-two years ago when there was not a settler between his present place and Big Blue, a distance of eighteen He expected then to have the range to himself for all time to come, as he never supposed that it would be settled up. at least during his life- time. The traveler in going over this portion of the country now encounters a series of well-de-
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veloped farms and all the evidences of civilization. There was no market for produce and consequently no hard cash in the pocket of the pioneers from this source. When in need of money, he and others repaired to the river to work in order to get cash with which to purchase the necessary articles of food and clothing. Mr. Hughes experienced all the dangers and difficulties of life on the frontier and has lived to witness the changes, which if re- lated as they occurred, would make a story stranger than fiction.
The subject of this sketch was born in County Galway, Ireland, March 17. 1827. His parents were James and Bridget (Scarrett) IInghes. the former of whom spent his entire life in his native Ireland, dying about forty-five years ago. Patrick emigrated to America when twenty-two years old. forty years ago, preceding his two brothers, James and Michael. From New York city he emigrated to the vicinity of Crawfordsville, Ind., where he was employed on the railroad for a while and then found work in a packing house. The money which he thus earned he sent to his mother in Ireland to pay her passage and that of his brother and sister, to America. The mother is still living and makes her home with the sister in Nebraska, a few miles north of the farm of our subject; she has now reached the advanced age of eighty years.
While a resident of Crawfordsville, Ind .. Mr. Hughes was married Feb. 7, 1854, to Miss Mary, daughter of John Connell, of County Galway. Ireland, where the latter lived and died. About two years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes in the winter of 1856, took up their abode in Leav- enworth, where our subject for two summers em- ployed himself as a laborer and thus earned money with which to secure his land, for which he paid $1.25 per acre. He moved upon his present place with his little family in 1858 permanently, having prior to this time removed several times back and forth. lle lived upon his original purchase, north of the St. Bridget Church, about ten years, then sold out his property on section 11, and purchased school land on section 16, this being now his home- stead. He assisted in the organization of St. Bridget Church, also in the erection of the church cdifice, quarrying much of the rock with his own
hands on his own farm, upon which is some of the finest stone for building purposes in this locality. This is now leased to a party of Kansas City men and he realizes handsome profits. His dwelling is built of the same material and forms a substantial structure.
Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have eight children living. all of whom, with the exception of the eldest, were born in Kansas. James is unmarried and remains at home with his parents; Margaret is the wife of Joe Duncan, of Leavenworth, where Mr. Duncan is em- ployed in the wholesale grocery store of Putnam & Taylor. with which firm he has been for the last seven years. He in the meantime has purchased eighty acres of land on section 22, St. Bridget Township, where he purposes removing in the spring of 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Duncan are the parents of one boy. Miss Kate Hughes, an accom- plished young lady, is in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, at Evanston, Wyo. Ter. Mary Ann remains under the parental roof. Ellen is married and lives near Grand Island, Neb. Patrick, Jr .. John and Norah, remain with their parents. Mr. Hughes, politically is a stanch Dem- ocrat, and in religion is a member of St. Bridget Catholic Church.
ILLIAM ACKER. The subject of para- mount importance to the inhabitants of any country is that of schools, and those having charge of them, and we think we are borne out by the facts in the case, when we affirm that the early settlers of the West, at their very first op- portunity established as excellent a school system as was possible, when the circumstances and avail- able material are considered. It gives ns pleasure to sketch the leading incidents in the career of any- one to whom the instruction and care of those of ten- der years is given. Mr. Acker was elected to the responsible position of Superintendent of Public Instruction of Marshall County, in the fall of 1888.
Mr. Acker was born in Seneca, Kan., March 19. 1862, and when only four years old came to Noble
il
RES. OF JACOB MOHRBACHER, SEC. 18. ELM CREEK TOWNSHIP.
=
RESIDENCE. OF CHARLES CURS, SEC. 28. WALNUT TOWNSHIP.
RESIDENCE OF ESQ. AUGUST FRAHM, WATERVILLE, KAN.
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Township, Marshall County, where his adopted father, Delos W. Acker, engaged in farming and brickmaking. On the farm William Acker passed his youthful days, finishing his education at the Kansas Normal School, situated at Paoli, being grad- uated in the class of 1883, He had already turned his attention to teaching, and after his graduation resumed this vocation. The following year he taught at America City, Nemaha County, this State, afterward accepting a position in the gram- mar department of Marysville school, and was suc- cessively Principal of the Axtell, Logan and Waterville schools. Upon leaving the latter school he was elected to his present office.
This is Mr. Acker's first political venture, he hav- ing been nominated by the Republican party, of which he is a prominent member. He is a young man of more than ordinary ability and of high moral character-one peculiarly fitted for the high position which he occupies. Scholarly in a supe- rior degree, with the experience and peculiar tact which the successful educator needs, Mr. Acker is in a fair way to reach the lofty heights to which a well directed ambition can point. Mr. Acker is a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 234, of Ax- tell, and M. W. A., and Lodge of Perfection, Scot- tish Rites, of Marysville.
It may be well to note a brief outline of the history of Mr. Acker's parents. His father was John Spencer, a native of Indiana, but who came to Kansas at an early day and there married Miss Ellen Smith. William was their only child, and when he was about three years old his mother died at Seneca, Kan., where the family were living. Soon after, his father, who was a farmer by occupa- tion, was killed by the upsetting of a stage. Thus William at a tender age was left an orphan, but, unlike many others, became the possessor of a good home and excellent advantages through his adop- tion by Mr. Acker of Noble Township.
The subject of our sketch was united in mar- riage, Sept. 7, 1887, to Miss Ellen Sheridan, who had been engaged in teaching school at Marysville for the previous five years. Miss Sheridan is a na- tive of Miami County, Kan., having been born June 27, 1861, and making her home in that county until nineteen years of age. She is a
daughter of William D. Sheridan, who was born in Armstrong County, Pa., and married Miss Ma- linda MeLafferty. Mr. Sheridan moved to Kan . sas in 1857, and followed the occupation of a farmer, But after remaining there a few years he removed to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, but finally returned to Miami County, in 1868. He now, with his wife, is a resident;of Gage County, Neb.
P HILO D. HARTMAN, editor of the True Republican, of Marysville, has been a resi- dent of Kansas for the past twenty years. He is a native of DeKalb County, Ill., where he was born July 11, 1841, his parents being Elias and Almira (Churchill) Hartman. The father was a native of Luzerne County, Pa., and in his youth was an employe on the then famous Erie Canal in New York State. In 1833 he decided to remove West, and in that year arrived at Chi- cago, Ill., among the earliest visitors to that place. There was then but one frame house there, and nothing to indicate its future greatness. He stayed there but a brief period, refusing an offer of eighty acres of land in what is now the heart of the city, in exchange for a team of Indian ponies, which at the time were sunk in the mire, the would-be trader offering to take his own risk in getting them out, so little value at that time was set upon the land. Refusing the offer, Mr. Hartman extricated the ponies, and continued his journey sixty-one miles West. He traded his team for a land claim of 160 acres, in what was called the Ohio Grove settle- ment on the Kishwaukee Creek. There he made his home for a good many years, dying at Syca- more, four miles from where he first settled, in March, 1887, at the age of seventy-seven years. In 1851 he had removed to Sycamore. and engaged in the mercantile business, in which he continued until the panic of 1857, when he sold out to his partner, and went back to his farm. He remained there until 1867, when he traded for a hotel in Cortland, which he conducted for three years. He then gave up active business life, and going back to Sycamore, spent the rest of his days there. He
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was a man of active business mind, and ready to seize the opportunity to add to his means. As soon as he had made a small beginning in DeKalb County, he began buying and improving land, and selling out piece by piece only to repeat the opera- tion. In this way he accumulated considerable means, and during his later years. was in comfort- able circumstances, although he had only his team and wagon as capital, when he arrived in DeKalb County. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and was known as a strictly upright man, whose word was as good as a note, and he had the respect and esteem of every one who knew him.
Elias Hartman was a single man when he came West. In 1838 he was married at Ohio Grove, to Almira Churchill, who is now living with a mar- ried daughter in Sycamore. She was born in Gen- esee County, N. Y., in 1820, and had removed to Illinois with her parents in 1835, they being among the pioneers of DeKalb County. Mr. and Mrs. Hartman had six children, the eldest of whom, lliram Delos, died at the age of eight years. The survivors are: Philo D. ; Mary, wife of C. W. Hunt, a commercial traveler. whose home is in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Rosetta M., who has been twice mar- ried, first to Alonzo Joslin, after whose decease she was married to llenry Briggs, a farmer in De- Kalb County, Ill .; David W., editor and publisher of the Genoa Issue, at Genoa, Ill., of which place he is also Postmaster; and Della M., who is mar- ried to John M. Kenyon, an attorney at law at Sycamore.
Philo D. Hartman was about ten years old when his parents removed to Sycamore. where he at- tended the common and High Schools, completing his education in a select school at that place. When but fifteen years old, he left school of his own ac- cord in order to learn the trade of a printer. He entered the office of the True Republican, and there he stayed until the failure of the concern, when he turned his attention to the trade of a tin- ner, at which he was engaged at the outbreak of the war. Inspired by patriotism, be at once re- sponded to the first call for troops, and three days after the firing on Ft. Sumter. on April 18, 1861, he enlisted in the first company which left Syca- more. They went into camp at Dixon, Ill. and
were mustered into United States service on May 24. 1861, as Company F, of the 13th Illinois Infan- try. They were enlisted for three years, or during the war. being the first regiment from Illinois to be mustered in for that length of time. They were at first attached to the army of the Southwest un- der Gen. John C. Fremont; were afterward trans- ferred to the army of the Tennessee, and finally became a part of the army of the Cumberland. They took part in the engagements at Wet Glaize, Mo., Oct. 14, 1861; Lynn Creek, Mo., Oct. 16. 1861; Chickasaw Bayou. Dec. 27 and 28, 1862, where their commander, Col. Jolin B. Wyman, was killed; Arkansas Post, Jan. 11, 1863; Deer Creek, April 7, 1863; Black Bayou, April 10, 1863; Jack- son, Miss., May 14, 1863; siege of Vicksburg, May 18, to July 4, 1863; siege of Jackson, Miss., July 10 to 16, 1863, and Brandon, Miss., July 19, 1863.
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