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 144

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 144
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 144
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 144

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).

Mr. Loofbourrow has been twice married. On March 9, 1861, in Indiana, he was united with Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Montgomery, whose maiden name was Adams, and who was born in New Lisbon, Columbiana Co., Ohio. She died Oct. 18. 1864, aged twenty-three years, at Portland, Jay Co., Ind., leaving one child, Rosaltha L., now the wife of S. S. Simpson, of Clay Centre. this State. On Dee. 31, 1865, Mr. Loofboorrow contracted a second marriage with Miss Sarah M Arnett, a na- tive of West Jefferson, Ohio, where her parents. E. V. and E. A. Arnett, still reside, Mr. Arnett being now eighty years of age and Mrs. Arnett three years younger. She was born March 9. 1847, and is yet living. This union has been blessed by the birth of two children, one of whom. Mary E., died in Doniphan County, aged two years four months and fourteen days. The survivor is Orpha E. A., who lives with her parents.

Since making his home in Leonardville, Mr. Loofbourrow has been honored by an election to the responsible position of Representative of the Fifty-eighth District in the Kansas Legislature. serving in the regular session of 1885 and in the special session of 1886. He was appointed on sev- eral important committees, and discharged the du- ties entrusted to him in a manner ereditahle to himself and satisfactory to his constituents. On

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the 9th of August, 1889, he was appointed Post- master of Leonardville, a just recognition of his services to thè Republican party. He is a member of Sergeant Mercer Post, No. 194 G.A.R., and was also a member of Arcadia Lodge of Good Tem- plars during its existence. He was, in 1885, Grand Chief Templar of the State, and was a member of Home Lodge, K. of P., which, however, is now extinct. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Loof- bourrow is a Trustee and Secretary of the Board. In every relation of life he has always borne the reputation of an honest, upright man and a good citizen, and among the people with whom he has cast his lot, he is held in high esteem.

C HARLES R. NYCE has been connected with the extensive farming interests of Washing- ton County for a period of eight years, and in that time has brought his farm, in Washington Township, to a high state of cultivation, and has otherwise greatly improved it, so that it may be classed among the finest of the well-appointed farms in this locality.

Our subject was born Jan. 12. 1839, in the town of Lehman, Pike Co., Pa. His father, Daniel Nyce, was a native of the same township, coming of an old Dutch family that originated in Holland. The first ancestor to come to America was Hans De Neus, and his son John, the next in order of birth, changed the spelling of the family name to De Nyce, while his son William, more democratic, dropped the De, and the family have since called themselves simply Nyee. The next in line was the grand- father of our subject, George W. Nyce, a Pennsyl- vanian by birth, a man of great energy and business talent, who was connected with various enterprises, which he successfully carried out. He owned considerable land in Pike County, and owned a mill and a stage-line for a time, besides keeping a hotel on the banks of the Delaware River, which was his home until his death. The father of our subject was reared and married in his native State, and learning the miller's trade, followed it until

1842, when he removed to New York and devoted himself to farming, buying a farm in Steuben Connty. In 1851 he became a pioneer of Wal- worth County, Wis., traveling with his family to Buffalo with a team. and thence by lake steamer to Milwaukee, and then by team again to their des- tination. He selected a tract of oak openings in a beautiful section of the country, and, after build- ing a house, commenced to develop a farm. The country roundabout was sparsely inhabited in those days, and Milwaukee was the nearest market, but it was not his fortune to live to see the growth of the county to any great extent, as he died Nov. 25, 1857, in the midst of his nsefulness, and a valnable citizen was thus lost to the community. The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Belinda Rosenkrans. She was born in Sussex County, N. J., and died on the home farm in Walworth County, Wis., Aug. 20, 1870. Her father, Dr. Simeon Rosenkrans, was a physician in New Jersey, where he spent the greater part of his life, although his last years were passed in Steuben County, N. Y. There were seven children born to the parents of our subject, of whom the following is recorded: Simeon R., died at the age of twenty-six; George W., lives in Washington Township; Sarah E., of Washington Township; James O., died in Wal- worth County, Wis .; Hiram S., and Hannah M., twins, the former dying in the army and being buried in Walworth County, Wis., and the latter living in Washington Township: Charles R., our subject.

Mr. Nyce was the youngest of the family, was twelve years old when his parents emigrated to Wisconsin, and the remaining years of his boyhood and youth were passed amid the pioneer scenes of a newly settled country, in attending the primitive schools and in assisting his father on the farm. After that parent's death he lived on the homestead with his mother, helping her in its management, until he was eighteen years old. Then he and three of his elder brothers bought a farm in Sugar Creek Township, Walworth County, and there re- sided and farmed together twenty-three years. In 1880 our subject, desiring to try agricultural pur- suits on the rich soil of Kansas, came hither to seek a suitable location. He explored Norton, Jewell,

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Mitchell, Marshall and Washington counties, and being most favorably impressed with the advan- tages of the latter, he resolved to make his home there for the future. So he returned home, and sell- ing his property in Wisconsin, came directly to Washington Township in the fall of the same year, and looking about carefully for a place that suited him in every particular, he decided on the farm on which he now resides, and in the following March it came into his possession by purchase. A small one-story frame house and 100 aeres of the land broken, constituted the only improvements. He soon sold eighty acres of his land to his brother George, and has since developed the other eighty acres into a good farm, erecting a neat set of frame buildings, placing the land under excellent tillage, planting fruit and shade trees, and thus adding to the beanty as well as to the value of the place.

surrounded with every comfort that filial love can devise.

Mr. Nyce is a man of excellent principles and of good, solid common-sense, and since making his home in Washington Township, by his straight- forward, manly conduct in his relations with others and his fair and just dealings, has won the trust and esteem of the entire community, and is consid- ered an addition to the citizenship of the place.

h ENRY BROWN, Postmaster of Brantford, came to Kansas in 1872, settling at once in Washington County. His home has been in the vicinity of Brantford since that time. He is of English birth and ancestry, having first opened his eyes to the light in Buckstein, Sussex Co., England. He left England in 1855, and em- barked on the American vessel, " Yorktown," which after a prosperous voyage landed him in New York City.

Mr. Nyce and Miss Margaret M. Clark were united in marriage, March 3, 1877, and two chil- dren complete their pleasant household circle : George S., born Jan. 9, 1878, and Robert H., born Sept. 5, 1885. Mrs. Nyce is a native of Potter County, Pa. Her father, William Clark, was a Mr. Brown remained in the metropolis until the following year, then repaired to the city of Albany, N. Y., where he also sojourned one year. At the expiration of this time he set out for the West. halting in Madison, Wis., of which he remained a resident three years. Then returning to New York State he lived in Syracuse three years, and in 1861 emigrated as far West as Chicago, Ill. There he remained until the great fire of 1871. Being then burned out he came to Kansas the following year with comparatively nothing, and purchased a home- stead claim of a "squatter" from which he improved his present good farm. chair-maker, and followed his trade in Pennsyl- vania many years, until his removal to Rockford County, Ill., about 1860. After living there two years he returned to Pennsylvania, and subse- quently went from there to Fond du Lac, Wis., where he worked at his trade and kept a hotel, and later he took up his residence in Chilton, where he opened a provision store, and there his death oc- curred July 26, 1868. The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Nyce was Lucinda Youker, and she was born in Pultney, Steuben Co., N. Y., and was a daughter of John G. Youker, a native of the same State, as was his father, so far as known, be Mr. Brown, upon starting out in life for himself. was equipped only with a pair of strong hands and a persevering disposition, together with those habits of industry which had been inculcated into him in his boyhood. When settling in Brantford Town- ship he was surrounded by a wild and uncultivated country, with not a very cheerful outlook, but he was determined to find out if there was anything in a course of industry and frugal living. The re- sult has been satisfactory, and in addition to his bearing the same name, and he was of Dutch pa- rentage. Mrs. Nyce's great-grandfather spent his entire life in New York State, and her grandfather was reared and married there, and did not move from there until he was quite old, when he went to live in Pennsylvania for awhile, and subsequently went to Michigan to live with his children, and died in that State the same year, at the age of eighty-three. Mrs. Nyce's mother now makes her home with her, and is spending her deelining years | first investment, he has now eighty acres of land in

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Republic County, all his property being situated on the county line. He lived on this farm until 1886, then retiring from the more arduous duties of agri- culture, purchased property in Brantford, to which he removed and is now living comparatively at his case, the labors involved in the store and postof- fice, being little more than recreation. In these duties he is aided by his excellent wife, who is fully qualified to be his assistant. Mr. Brown is a stanch Democrat, and received the appointment of Postmaster, under the Cleveland administration. He and his wife are members of the Adventist Church.

While a resident of Chicago, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Fitzgerald, in 1864. Mrs. Brown is a native of New Haven, Conn., and is the daughter of James Fitzgerald, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to America early in life, and after his marriage settled in New Haven. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown there have been born five children, viz: Harriet, Charles J., Ilarry, Eveline and Estella.

Thomas Brown, the father of our subject, was likewise a native of England, and spent his entire life upon his native soil. He learned shoe-making early in life, which he followed as long as he lived. He married Miss Mary A. Pechurst, a maiden of his own shire, and there were born to them thirteen children, namely : John, Harriet, Fanny, Ellen, Henry, George, Mary A., Alfred and Thomas, who were reared to mature years, and four who died in early childhood.

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AMES M. SHAW is one of the oldest settlers of Clay County, his pleasant and valuable estate being located on section 24. Blaine Township. In 1869 he came to the county and took up 160 acres under the Homestead Act. There were no roads in the county at that time, and but few settlers, men constituting the greater number of the inhabitants, in the village of Clay Center there being but three ladies. Mr. Shaw has added 160 acres by purchase to his homestead. and the entire farm is now in a state of cultivation and improvement highly satisfactory. He has been

ably assisted by his devoted wife, who has been his helpmate and chief counselor for years. In their respective capacities they have done much pioneer labor, and enjoy the esteem of a large circle of ac- quaintances and friends.

The subject of this sketch is a son of James and Martha ( West) Shaw, both of whom were natives of the North of Ireland, the father being of Scotch and the mother of English descent. Early in the present century, probably about the year 1820, Mr. and Mrs. James Shaw emigrated to America and settled in Pennsylvania. Their son James M., was born in Philadelphia, Sept. 28, 1827, and grew to manhood in that city. He attended the public schools until about sixteen years of age, acquiring a good foundation upon which to build the knowl- edge which he subsequently obtained through read- ing and 'observation. Upon leaving the school room he was apprenticed to learn the machinist's trade, serving until of age.

Having acquired his trade Mr. Shaw worked for a time as a journeyman, and then took charge of a department in a wall paper manufactory at Phila- delphia, continuing as Superintendent there for several years. In 1855, he removed with his family to Des Moines County, Iowa, where he en- gaged in farming until 1869, in which year they came to this county and identified themselves with the pioneers of Kansas.

The marriage of Mr. Shaw took place Nov. 14, 1848, the bride being Miss Mary Cairns, a native of Ayrshire, Scotland. She was born Feb. 16, 1825, and is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Edgar) Cairns, who were also natives of Scotland. When quite young her parents removed to Glasgow, where she was reared and educated. She was about twenty years of age when the family came to America, taking passage on a sailing vessel at Glas- gow, and after a tedious voyage of six weeks and three days landing at New York City. They at once went to Philadelphia, where both parents sub- sequently died. Mrs. Shaw was the eldest in a family of seven children. Her brothers and sisters are: Eliza, wife of D. J. Ross of this county ; Ann, wife of William Pringle of Camden, N. J .; Sarah, living in Philadelphia: William, whose home is in the same place; John at Denver, Col .; and Alex-

Unlawful

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ander of Philadelphia. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cairns were members of the United Presbyterian Church.

To Mr. and Mrs. Shaw eleven children have born, seven of whom are now living. William E. is now residing in Kansas City, Mo .; Mary is the wife of Burton Foote, of this township; James W. lives in this township; Samuel. Alfred, Richard and Lizzie are still at home.

Mr. and Mrs. Shaw belong to the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and he is now serving as an Elder in that organization. Both are active mem- bers of society, where their genial manners, their fund of information and experience, and their up- right characters give them prominent positions.

G EORGE W. CAMPBELL, Clerk of the Court, Riley County, a gentleman of talent, ability and high personal character, is con- sidered a decided acquisition to the citizenship of Manhattan, where he has taken up his residence. His portrait, which appears on another page, is in like manner an important acquisition to this vol- ume. He was born in Jersey City, N. J., Feh. 3, 1849, a son of George P. and Eliza A. (Watson) Campbell, natives respectively of New York and New Jersey. The paternal grandfather of our sub- jeet was a pioneer of Washtenaw County, Mich .. where he bought a large traet of land in the midst of the primeval forests, eleared and improved a fine farm, and was a resident there until his death. having accumulated in the meantime a handsome property.

The father of our subject was reared in Michi- gan, and when he attained to manhood, ambitions to secure a better education and to see something of the world, he left the old homestead, although his father wished him to stay at home, and he thus forfeited his share of his father's wealth. He proceeded to visit the East, and we next hear of him as teaching school on Long Island and elsewhere. He finally learned the daguerrean's art, and going to IIelena, Ark., opened a gallery there, and was conducting a successful business, when he was stricken in 1852, with a fever, and his promising career was soon

closed by death, while he was yet in manhood's prime. He was a man of much culture and of re- fined tastes, a gentleman and a scholar, whom to know was to respect and honor. By his untimely death his wife was left with two children to care for, our subject and his brother Louis, the latter of whom died in Leavenworth in 1859.

At the time of her husband's death Mrs. Campbell was in Ann Arbor, Mich., with her children. She bravely shouldered the responsibility of their sup- port, and removing to Cincinnati shortly afterward managed a boarding-house there with good sue- eess for some years. In 1857 she boldly resolved to face the dangers and hardships of life on the frontier, believing that she could utilize her eduea- tion where school teachers were so much needed by the intelligent, heroic, determined, thrifty elass of men and women who were bravely struggling to maintain their rights on the soil of Kansas, and to gain its admission into the Union as a free State. With her children she embarked on a steamer on the Ohio, and proceeding to Leavenworth, in the Territory of Kansas, she secured a position as teacher in one of the schools of that eity, thus be- coming a pioneer of the profession in this State. With characteristic foresight and good judgment. she bought a share in the town site of Manhattan in 1858, and in 1860 came to this city from Leaven- worth on a stage and located her property.

Mrs. Campbell subsequently went to Ft. Riley. and thenee returned to Leavenworth, and in 1860 retraced her way eastward, and took up her resi- dence in New York City, where she resided until 1863. In that year she again made her home in Cincinnati and went into business there. opening a book and news store and a circulating library. which she managed with her usual suecess until 1866. She then once more became a resident of Kansas, living in Manhattan until 1868. when she opened a book store and a millinery establishment in Ogden, and has ever since been prosperously en - gaged in business there. Soon after going there she bought a lot in the city and erected a dwelling on it, and afterward invested some money in a homestead of thirty-seven acres near Ogden. which she still owns and which has greatly increased in value since it came into her possession, not only on

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account of improvements that she has made, but also on account of the rise in the valuation of real estate. Mrs. Campbell is a woman of rare tact and business capacity, combined with more than ordi- nary energy and force of character, and her present prosperous circumstances are due solely to her own exertions.

George W., of whom we write, was given good educational advantages, attending school in Leavenworth, afterward being a pupil in the public schools of New York City, and later of Cincinnati. During his residence in the latter city he assisted his mother in her store, and also acted as her clerk in Manhattan. After their removal to Ogden he built his mother's house, and also erected buildings on the homestead. In 1875 he bought the stock and building of a druggist in Ogden, paying for it in installments, and, adding a stock of general mer- chandise, continued to carry on an extensive and flourishing business until 1889. In 1887 his store and stock were destroyed by fire, but with charac- teristic enterprise he immediately renewed his stock and opened a store in an adjoining building. In 1889 he turned over his stock to Charles East- man, who is acting as his agent in the business, he having been elected Clerk of the Court of Riley County the year before, his duties in that office pre- cluding the possibility of close attention to the management of his store.

Mr. Campbell was married in 1878, to Miss Eugenia F. Parish, a native of Canada, and a daughter of Lewis and Laura Parish, early settlers of Riley County. Three children have been born of this marriage-Clarence C., Laura J. and Louie M. Mr. Campbell is a man of fine mental endow- ments, who without wealth or influence has won for himself an honorable position in the history of this county. By a singularly blameless and upright life he has gained the confidence of all with whom he associates, his career as a business man, as a public officer, and as a private individual being without blemish. While he was a resident of Ogden he took an active part in the administration of its gov- ernment, served as a member of the City Council, and was City Treasurer. For several years he was a member of the Union Sunday-school of that city. He served two terms as Township Treasurer, and

also as Postmaster from 1876 to the administra- tion of President Cleveland. He has always been an earnest supporter of the Republican party, inter- esting himself much in politics. He and his wife sustain pleasant social relations with the best peo- ple in Manhattan, and in their attractive home dis- pense a charming hospitality with characteristic tact and geniality.

As an officer, Mr. Campbell never forgets that he is a servant of the people, and his promptness and courteous treatment of every one having business relations with him are making him hosts of friends. He is one of the very few whom prosperity cannot spoil.

OHN C. ELWELL, proprietor of the C'en- tral Hotel at Linn, Washington County, is one of the most prominent young men in the township, where he is well-known for his bright and active mind, his pleasant manners and his good qualities as a host. He is the proprietor of one of the best inland hotels in Northern Kan- sas, and does all that he can to provide for the com- fort of his guests, keeping a careful eye on all the appointments of the establishinent, and seeing that everything is managed in a first-class manner.

Mr. Elwell was born in Putnam County, Ind., three miles southeast of Bainbridge, July, 19, 1856, and lived on the parental farm until he was thir- teen years old. attending the common schools of the vicinity. In 1869 he accompanied his parents to Knox County, Ill., where they settled on a farm upon which our subject remained until July, 1882, when he came to this county. He first settled in the town of Washington, and was there engaged in the furniture business for fifteen months, with W. P. Elwell as partner. In the fall of 1883, he came to Linn, and entered into the hotel and livery busi- ness, selling out the latter three years later, and continuing the business of inn-keeping alone since that time.

The parents of our subject are Isaac C. and Mar- garet (Crouch) Elwell, both of whom were born in I'nion County, Ind., the natal day of the father being Oct. 4, 1828, and he being a son of Abraham Elwell, a soldier of the War of 1812. The father

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of Mrs. Isaac Elwell was called Nathan Crouch. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Isaac El- well, six now survive: Our subject, Samuel C., Lorena, Emma, Riley and Albert. As the elder Mr. Elwell is afflicted with deafness. all the busi- ness affairs are iu the hands of his son John, with whom the parents reside.

The subject of this sketch belongs to the A. O. U. W. He is a devotee of the principles of the Re- publican party and takes great interest in the wel- fare of that organization, although he never seeks official honors. The parents of Mr. Elwell and his sister Lorena are members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. The prosperity that has attended the business efforts of our subject is due to his untiring energy, as much as his fine personal quali- ties of mind and character, and is only a just re- ward for his labors.

AD 6

P. RONEY, Police Justice, of Washington, although one of the younger members of the bar in this county, has already acquired an enviable reputation as an able and talented lawyer, and he is in every way fitted for the responsible position that he is so well and satisfactorily filling. Ile is a native of the State of Pennsylvania, born in Butler County, Sept. 17. 1857, to Robert E. and Sarahı (Maxwell) Roney, likewise natives of that county. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Roney. was a farmer and spent his last years in But- ler County, dying there in 1885. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Maxwell, and she was a native of that county and a daughter of Adam Maxwell. The father of our subject learned the trade of a car- penter, and was engaged in that calling in Butler County till 1856. In that year he established himself at his trade in Scioto County, Ohio, and was profita- bly employed in its prosecution there till 1883, when he came to Washington County, and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, buying a valuable farm four and one-half miles south of Greenleaf. He was busily engaged in its management and im- provement till the spring of 1889, when he rented his farm, and coming to Washington, has since lived

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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 144

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

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