Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state, Part 122

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Brothers
Number of Pages: 1258

USA > Kansas > Clay County > Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state > Part 122
USA > Kansas > Riley County > Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state > Part 122
USA > Kansas > Washington County > Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state > Part 122

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).

During the winter of 1884-85 Mr. Horton ac- cepted a position with a Chicago mercantile firm and for nearly two years was engaged as a travel- ing salesman. He finally concluded that farming was better adapted to his tastes and inclination, and after this experience returned to agricultural pur- suits in which he has since been occupied. He and his estimable wife lean to the doctrines of the U'ni- tarian Church, but are not connected with any relig- ious organization. Politically, Mr. Horton sup- ports the principles of the Republican party and is also a Prohibitionist.

The father of our subject was Dwight A. Ilor- ton, likewise a native of the Green Mountain State and a blacksmith by trade which he followed all his life. Ile was a sober, industrious man and a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Ile married Miss Lucy J., a daughter of

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Gardner Hunt of Vermont, and quite late in life re- moved to Henry County, 111., where he died in 1886. The parental household included three children only, Francis L., Henry D., and Eliza A. The two last mentioned are residents of this State. Mr. Horton has had his share of pioneer life and its labors and is amply deserving of mention in a work designed to perpetuate the lives of the early settlers of Northern Kansas.

h IRAM WRIGHT. This gentleman is one of the leading citizens of Barnes Township, Washington County, where he carries on the business of farming and deals largely in stock. He owns 240 acres of valuable land, on seetion 27, and the estate is well improved and bears all necessary and adequate buildings. Mr. Wright has been a resident there since 1870, at which time he came to this State, and purchased a small tract of land. He had very little means, and to the resources of this State, combined with his own enterprise and thrift, is due his present fine financial standing.

The paternal grandfather of our subject was Alexander Wright, a native of Ireland, who cmi- grated to America before the Revolutionary War. His son Alexander. the father of our subject, was born in Washington County, N. Y., in 1800. He removed to Delaware County in early life, and there resided until 1843. At that period he changed his residence to Williams County, Ohio, where he died in 1866. Ile was a farmer in mod- erate circumstances. Ile was a Whig in politics and afterward a Republican, and held some minor offices. The mother of our subject bore the maid- en name of Orpha Cook. She was a daughter of Nathaniel Cook, a native of the Empire State. Her own birth took place in Delaware County, in 1809. and she departed this life in Steuben County, Ind., in 1880. She had borne her husband six children. named respectively, Antoinette, Margaret, Tobias J., Hiram, Olive and Susan.

He of whom we write was born in Delaware County. N. Y., Dec. 18, 1836. Ile was but a

small lad when his parents removed to Ohio, and there he passed his youth and manhood. He re- ceived a common school education, and in the in- tervals of school life was employed in sueli labor upon the farm as his strength would permit. On arriving at the. years of maturity he engaged in the occupation to which he had been reared, which lie carried on in the Buckeye State until his re- moval to this county, as before mentioned.

Mr. Wright found a fitting mate in Miss Anna Barber of Williams County, Ohio, with whom he was united in marriage, Feb. 17. 1864. The bride was born in Rensselaer County, N. Y., in 1845, and is a daughter of Israel and Amanda (Maxwell) Barber. She has borne her husband six children. named respectively, Elba E., Erastus V., Olive M., Burnett C., Tobias J., Jr., and Urial.

Mrs. Wright is a lady of high literary talent and has devoted almost all her life to authorship. She has a great many works before the public and enjoys an enviable reputation as a writer. Not only is she successful in her chosen work, but her ability is displayed also in the management of her domestic affairs, and in the training of her children, whose manners and morals she carefully guards.

Mr. Wright is a generous and public spirited cit- izen. Ile has served his neighbors in some of the minor offices. A good neighbor, a kind husband and father, and a courteous gentleman, he has the esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.

ARL MOLT. The subject of this notice occupies a leading position among the pros- perous and enterprising German citizens of Little BIne Township. and is amply worthy of mention in a work designed to perpetuate the names and records of those who have assisted in the development and growth of Washington County. Hs is the friend of education, is liberal and public-spirited and is in all respects one of the substantial men of this region.

Mr. Molt is a native of Germany and was born May 20. 1837. He was placed in school at an early age and pursued his studies in accordance with the laws and customs of his native country until a lad

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of fourteen. Ile remained thereafter a resident of his native province until a man of twenty-eight years and then not satisfied with the outlook, finan- cially, resolved upon emigrating to America. Ac- cordingly, in 1865, he embarked on the long voyage hither and first landed upon American soil in New York City. Thence he set out directly for the West, coming to this State, and settled in Marys- ville Township, Marshall County. He lived there until 1869, then coming to Washington County purchased 160 acres of land on section 6, Little Blue Township, of which he has since been a resi- dent.

Mr. Molt landed in America with a capital of $2 in his pocket and has accumulated his present pos- sessions by honest labor and the exercise of the strictest economy. He has always made it a rule to live within his income and to meet his obliga- tions when they become due. In addition to gen- eral farming, he is considerably interested in live stock and his fat horses and cattle are a pleasing feature of the homestead. He was reared in the doctrines of the Lutheran Church to which he loyally adheres, belonging to the church at Han- over. Upon becoming a voting citizen of the I'nited States, he allied himself with the Republican party to which he has given his cordial support.

While a resident of Marshall County, this State. Mr. Molt took unto himself a wife and helpmate. being married Dec. 8, 1867, to Miss Lydia Ann Schultz of that county. Mrs. Molt was born in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1852 and is the daughter of George and Elizabeth (Rienbold) Schultz, who were natives of the Buckeye State. They came to Kansas in 1860 settling in Marshall County, where Mr. Schultz still lives. The latter, in 1862, dur- ing the progress of the civil war, enlisted as a private in Company E, 13th Kansas Infantry, and did faithful duty as a soldier in Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory. The Schultz family in- cluded five children, viz: Daniel F., Lydia A., Julia A .. Sarah E. and Rebecca. Mr. and Mrs. Molt are the parents of mine children, viz: Fred- erick, George, Elizabeth, Ella, Charles, Mena, Clara, Christian and Ida.

The father of our subject was Detlef Molt, like- wise a native of Germany, where he spent his entire

life, engaged in farming. He was a member of the Lutheran Church and died about 1849. Ilis wife, who in her girlhood was Elizabeth Iide, was born and died in Germany, passing away at the advanced age of ninety-three years. The parental family included eight children, viz: Johan, Louisa, Mar- garet, Detlef, Ilans, Fredricka, Carl and Christian. Six of these are living. four in America and two in Germany.

RS. SARAH GARRETT was born within six miles of Belfast, in County Down, Ire- land, Aug. 21, 1821. Her parents were Robert and Mary E. (Iluddleston) Petti- grew, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The father was a farmer. The marriage of Miss Sarah Pettigrew took place Aug. 11, 1847, the groom being James Garrett, son of Hugh and Margaret (Clark) Gar- rett.

In 1867, Mr. and Mrs. Garrett left Ireland and came to America, landing in New York, where they remained a short time. Thence they removed to Fayette County, Ill., where they bought a farm, upon which they lived for eleven years. In the fall of 1878, they came to Kansas and settled in Washington County. Their estate comprised 160 acres on section 11. Mill Creek Township, where Mrs. Garrett still resides. The farm has been well improved, and the productive acres bear marks of careful tillage. The residence is a neat frame building, with pleasant surroundings. One son and one daughter reside in it with their widowed mother.

Mr. Garrett departed this life Dec. 19, 1884, at the age of sixty-two years. He was an esteemed and respected citizen of the county, and a man of known integrity and inflexible honesty. He lived a Christian life, and left a good name as a highly prized inheritance to his family. IIe was a member of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he was a Republican. though not an office seeker or office holder.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Garrett was blessed by the birth of seven children. The first born, Mary L., married Fletcher McWilliams, a farmer

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of Mill Creek Township; they have ten children. llugh is a successful merchant of the little town of Morrow; (See sketch.) Margaret married James McWilliams, a farmer of Mill Creek Township; Jane is the wife of Ross Hannon, an agriculturist; they have two children. Sarah E. is unmarried and at home; Arabelle died in 1888; she was un- married. She passed away in the earlier ycars of her young womanhood, being twenty-five years of age. Robert J., the youngest ehild, is single . and at home.

Mrs. Garrett is a lady of retiring disposition, self abnegating, tender hearted, and sympathetic. She reveres the memory of her departed husband and of her daughter Arabelle, whose recent death fell as a heavy affliction upon her mother's heart and is still an ever present sorrow. Beside those of her children who reside with her, Mrs. Garrett has living within a few miles, her two married daughters and her son Hugh.

AMES R. KNOX, of Manhattan Township. is operating successfully as a farmer on a fine body of land belonging to Mr. Purcell. lle is a close calculator, industrious and painstaking in his work, a man who arrives at his opinions in a deliberate manner and one who is not easily moved from them when once they are formed. He has for a wife and helpmate, a lady of more than ordinary intelligence and who is the efficient assist- ant of her husband in all his worthy undertakings. They are pleasantly located on section 8, and enjoy the confidence and esteem of their neighbors.

The native place of Mr. Knox was in Westmore- land County, Pa, and the date of his birth Oct. 2, 1841. His parents are Samuel and Catherine (McDowell) Knox, natives of Pennsylvania, while the paternal grandparents came from Scotland.

Upon the outset of the Civil War, Samuel Knox although past sixty years of age, enlisted as a Union soldier in Company E, 11th Pennsylvania Infantry and was killed at the time of the taking of the Weldon Railroad, near the Yellow House in Virginia, in the fall of 1864. Ile was also at the battle of Gettysburg July 3, 1863, and was promoted to the

rank of Commissary Sergeant which he held at the time of his death. The mother died about thirty years ago when a young woman of thirty- three years.

The nine children born to Samnel and Catherine Knox are recorded as follows: Rebecca became the wife of James Shrum and is the mother of two children ; she died in Westmoreland County, Pa. in 1862. Jane was first married to ,Joseph Fry, who joined the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry, was taken prisoner at Sulphur Springs, Va., in September, 1863. and died in Andersonville Prison the follow- ing year, leaving one child; his widow was married a second time to William Hamlin who died in 1884 in Pennsylvania, leaving two children. Henry served two years in the Eastern army during the late war and was in most of the important engage- ments of his regiment. He married Julia A. Fry and there were born to them three girls and seven boys; he lives in Westmoreland County. Pa. . Jacob lives in Clyde, Cloud County, this State and is oc- enpicd as a butcher ; he served in Company C. 84th l'ennsylvania Infantry; he married Lucy Streeter and there were born to them four children. Su- sannah Mary died in Westmoreland County, Pa. in 1886; she married Thomas Murphy and left three boys. Mr. Murphy served in a Pennsylvania regiment, a part of the 6th Army Corps, as a C'or- poral. Cerdelia A. lives in Edwards County, this State; she married John Laher, a farmer, and they have a large family of children. Christina is un- married and lives in Newton, this State; the young- est child died unnamed in infancy.

James R. Knox attended the common school during his boyhood and at an early age commenced working in the coal mines of his native county. During the progress of the Civil War he enlisted in Company D, 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and participated in fifty-seven engagements, serving until the close of the war and receiving his dis- charge in 1865. Then returning to his native county he farmed one year, but in 1867 came to Kansas and settling in Manhattan, worked five years as a plasterer and stone-mason. In 1872 he moved to his present farm on section 8, on the Blue Bot- toms. two miles and a half northeast of Manhat- tan. LIe has had control of about 1,000 acres for

If& Montgomery.

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a period of seventeen years, and has recently pur- chased for himself 263 acres of land lying directly north of his residence and known as the Wisner homestead. It requires no small amount of in- genuity and forethought to make farming uniformly profitable, and Mr. Knox has been especially fortu- nate in this respect.

The subject of this sketch was married Dec. 17, 1866. in Westmoreland County, Pa., to Miss Lizzie Shrum. Mrs. Knox was born June 19, 1853 and is the daughter of Johnston and Nancy ( Breneiser) Shrum who were likewise natives of the Keystone State. Her father died when she was a little past seven years old and the mother four years later. The parental family consisted of five children, the eldest born being Albert, who is unmarried and a resident of Vicksburg, Miss. Christy died when twenty-one years old in Vicksburg, Miss .; Peter died when twenty years old at Bernard, Ark .; Sylvan is a locomotive engineer on the Santa Fe Railroad ; he married Miss Mary Graham at Mill- wood, Pa .; they have two children and are now resi- dents of La Junta. Col.

To Mr. and Mrs. Knox there have been born three children, viz: Edward. Albert and Christie B. Mr. Knox has very little to do with public affairs, otherwise than voting the straight Republi- can ticket, and does not belong to any secret society.

W J. A. MONTGOMERY, Editor of the Clay Center Democrat, is one of the prominent and well known journalists of Kansas. A

native of New York State. he was born in West- field, Chautauqua County, August 12, 1853, and is the son of James L. and Amelia H. (West) Mont- gomery, who were natives respectively of New York and Pennsylvania, the father born on the same farm as his son, the subject of this sketch.

The paternal grandfather of Mr. Montgomery, also named James, was born in Huntingdon County, Pa., and later in life became one of the very first pioneers of Chautauqua County, N. Y., where he settled in 1805. He was widely known through- out that region as "Deacon " Montgomery, owing to his prominence in the Presbyterian Church in

which he took an active part. He came by this trait naturally, the family being of the old Scotch Covenanter stock and lineal descendants from the younger brother of Neil Montgomery, Earl of Lain- shaw of the Scottish peerage. Beyond him the family trace their ancestry to Count Roger de Montgomery, a noble of Brittany who accompan- ied Duke William the Conqueror. to England at the time of the Conquest, he holding the rank of Gen- eral in William's army.

For several generations anterior to that time the Montgomerys had held high rank in their native land, being noted as warriors-a trait still possessed by many of their descendants. In the division of the lands of the conquered kingdom, Roger de Montgomery received an estate in Scotland. In the seventeenth century, during the persecution of the Covenanters, to which sect many of the Mont- gomerys adhered, the ancestor of this branch of the family escaped to the North of Ireland. The first of the name of whom record is made after coming to America was William Montgomery, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He came about the year 1700, sojourning briefly in Huntingdon County, Pa., then settling on the border. He was contemporary and intimately ac- quainted with Gen. Richard Montgomery, the hero of Quebec, who, however, was not of the same fam- ily or was at best but a very distant relative.

Deacon James Montgomery purchased a farm of 100 acres on the shores of Lake Erie from the Hol- land Land Company. He cut logs, burned them and leached the ashes to make potash, which he hauled to Buffalo and across to Canada on the ice in order to obtain money to pay for his land. He became prominent in the new settlement and was one of the principal figures in the early history of Chautauqua County in which he wielded a great in- fluence, and was beloved and respected by all who knew him. Ilis was the first marriage solemnized in the new country-Miss Victoria McPherson be- coming his wife. She was a native of Scotland and had come to this country with her parents. Both lived to the age of seventy-two years and died not far apart. being nearly of an age, the wife passing away in March and the husband in Octo- ber. 1863.

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To James and Victoria Montgomery there were born eleven children, of whom the following named survive: Sarah is the widow of Francis Johnston and lives with her children in Henry, South Dako- ta; William is an Attorney at Hayes City, this State; Joseph is retired from business and a resi- dent of Chicago, Ill .; Hugh is connected with the Home for Disabled Soldiers near Leavenworth. One son, William, was drowned when about nineteen years old; another son, Hamilton, met deatlı in a similar manner, while in active service in the Un- ion Army and building a pontoon bridge across the Duck River in Tennessee. Alexander, a min- ister of the Presbyterian Church, died in 1861 at Beloit, Wis .; Victoria, Eleanor, and Julia were all married.

James L. Montgomery, the father of W. J. A., was born August 19, 1826. He attended the acad- emy at Westfield, in Chautauqua County, N. Y., and at an early age developed great love for ath- letic sports in which he became very proficient, and while not quite up to the usual stature of the Mont- gomery family who were rarely under six feet in height, he became the champion wrestler of West- ern New York. While engaged in a friendly bout he broke his right leg and it being improperly set was shortened, which occasioned him to walk with a slight limp, but otherwise caused him no special in- convenience, excepting his rejection on two occa- sions when he endeavored to enter the Union Army. When a young, unmarried man he went to Wisconsin where he engaged in lumbering and re- mained until 1853. Then returning to the old homestead he took charge of it and extended his filial care to his parents in their declining years. Remaining there until 1865 he then removed to Fulton, Ill., where he re-engaged in the lumber business. Two years later he was seized with the Kansas fever and emigrated to Douglas County where he engaged in farming until his death, which took place February 3, 1873.

The father of our subject inherited from his sire those principles of rigid integrity and uprightness which had characterized the latter. In fact if there was any difference in their characters, it was in fav- or of the younger James. The unbending stern- ness of his father was softened in him, he being af-

fable and pleasant and greatly beloved by all who knew him. He early connected himself with the church in which he was a lifelong member and for the last fifteen years of his life was a Ruling Elder therein. IIe took a warm interest in public matters, but always avoided office for which he had a dis- taste, his disposition being rather retiring than oth- erwise. He was an original Republican and was act- ive in the formation of that party in his native State.

James L. Montgomery was married November 22, 1852, in Wisconsin, to Amelia H. West, who was born October 4, 1833, and emigrated from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin with her parents two or three years prior to her marriage. She is still living and a resident of Lawrence, Kan. She also was a member of the Presbyterian Church and a devout Christian woman. To her and her husband there were born six children, five of whom are now living, and the eldest of whom is the subject of this sketch. Charles and James are unmarried; Mary is the wife of John A. Lee, and all three are residents of Los Angeles, Cal .; Alexander is a farmer in Douglas County, this State; Helen, the second daughter, died at the age of eighteen years at Lawrence and her remains were interred beside those of her father.

William J. A. Montgomery spent the first twelve years of his life on the homestead in Westfield, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., making the most of the ex- cellent educational advantages placed at his disposal, entering the Westfield Academy when a little more than eleven years old. Upon the removal of his parents to Illinois, in 1865, he followed up his early advantages in the excellent schools of Fulton, fin- ishing his education at the age of fourteen, when he was graduated from the High School in that city. Shortly afterward his parents came to Kan- sas. Like other boys, he had a great desire to see the world and at the age of sixteen years went to the southwestern frontier of Kansas, where he spent a year, going thence to Texas, which State he thor- oughly explored, both in its settled and unsettled portions, incidentally taking a trip of 200 miles into Old Mexico. This frontier experience was enliv- ened with several encounters with hostile Indians and Mr. Montgomery still bears the scars as me- mentoes of that time.

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In 1872 Mr. Montgomery took charge of a herd of cattle near Austin, Texas, and drove them all the way to the western boundary of Wyoming Terri- tory. Next, returning to Laramie City in the winter of 1872-73, he engaged in railroading and in an ac- cident near Wyoming lost a part of his left hand. That satisfied his ambition in that direction, al- though he remained in the employ of the company for a time longer, but the death of his father called him home to assume the settlement of the estate. In the fall of 1874 he began teaching at Black Jack in Douglas County and was very successful, while at the same time he had abundant opportuni- ty for the exercise of his literary tastes which he followed for eleven years, constantly gaining in reputation and improving in scholarship and final- ly receiving the highest grade of State certificate. In 1885 he established the Democrat at Stockton, Kan., which he disposed of the following year. Then removing to Clay County he established a paper of which he has since, with the exception of one year, been the editor. The paper is an expo- nent of Democratic doctrines. especially advocat- ing the principles of low tariff and National curren- cy. The editor is a close critic and as a eonse- quence keeps a watchful eye upon the actions of his political opponents. Much attention is given to local affairs, no happening of importance being allowed to pass unnoticed. The paper is fairly well supported, its advertising patronage being on the increase and its circulation, especially among the farmers, is not confined to its political friends. The office is well equipped for job printing of which it does a good share,

On the 12th of August, 1877, while teaching in Douglas County, Mr. Montgomery was married to Miss Nellie S. Lind, who was born in Missouri, January 17, 1859. The six children born of this union are all under the parental roof and named respectively, Mabel M., Maude M., Mae M., Hugh H., William C., and Helen C. Mr. Montgomery's early training naturally inclined him to the Repub- lican party, but his residence in the South changed his political ideas and he has, since his majority, acted with the Democratic party. In 1884 he was nominated for the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction on the Democratic State Ticket,

but of course was not elected in Kansas. Ile takes an active interest in the affairs of the Democratic party in the State, county and city. Like bis an- cestors, he is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

'A lithographie portrait of this worthy descend- ant of an ancient family will be found on another page of this volume.

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Portrait and biographical album of Washington, Clay and Riley counties, Kansas, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of the state, Part 122

Author: Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Brothers Number of Pages: 1258

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Brothers
Number of Pages: 1258