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 44

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 44
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 44
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 44

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).

The father of our subject was Zipron Cobb. like- wise a native of Orange County, N. Y., and the son of Noah Cobb, who was also born in that county, but later removed to Luzerne County, Pa .. where he spent his last days. Zipron Cobb followed farming until about forty-five years old, in his na- tive county, then going to Luzerne County. Pa .. put up a saw and grist mill, with the intention of oper- ating these. The high water, however. swept away the buildings and machinery. entailing great loss. and Mr. Cobb, being about ruined financially, re- sumed his old pursuit of farming, in the vicinity of Carbondale. Pa. Later he engaged in huekster- ing, which he followed until 1866, That year he

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came to Kansas, and made his home with his son at Valley Falls where his death occurred in 1874.

The father of our subject was twice married, and by his first union there were born three children, viz .: Lewis, an old settler and prominent farmer of Jefferson County, this State; Rebecca .I. (Mrs. Burke), of Pennsylvania, and William N., residing near Greenleaf, Kan. The mother of our subject was in her girlhood Miss Elizabeth Buchanan, daughter of James Buchanan. a well-to-do Penn- sylvania farmer. She was born in that State, of which she is still a resident, her home being near Scrantonville. She is a member of the Baptist Church, and aged about sixty years. Of her union with Zipron Cobb there were born six children. viz .: Irene E., a resident of Scranton. Pa., George W., the subject of this sketch; Frances E. and Lucy J., both residents of Scranton, Pa .; Cyn- thia J., in Tennessee; and Martha B., in California. William N. Cobb, the half brother of our subject, served three years during the late war in a Kansas regiment.

ETER HAGEN, of Mulberry Township. ranks A. No. 1 among the farmers and stockraisers in the northwestern part of Clay County, he having a finely developed tract of land, 180 acres in extent on section 30. There are few finer estates in the Republican River Valley, the land being amply watered by Mulberry Creek, and, by the wise management of its present owner, having been brought to a high state of cul- tivation. This farm was purchased by Mr. Hagen in 1879 and he has sinee made it his home.

The birthplace of the subject of this sketch was in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, where he first opened his eyes to the light Sept. 2, 1848. He is thus in the prime of life and the prospeet is that he has before him many years of usefulness. He is descended from pure German stock, being the son of Jacob Ilagen, likewise a native of Ilanover and a farmer by occupation. The latter spent his entire life in his native kingdom, dying in 1861, at the age of fifty-two years. He had been prosper- ous, financially, through the long management of a

large estate, although not becoming a landowner himself. In religion he was a Lutheran.

The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Rega Ileld. She likewise was a native of Hanover and of pure German ancestry, her home being in the Grand Duehy of Oldenburg. She is still living and has now arrived at the advanced age of seventy-five years. She, too, was trained in the doctrines of the Lutheran church to which she still adheres. Peter, of this sketch, was the third in a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters, four of whom are living and all married. Peter is the only one of the family who came to the United States. He was carefully trained at home and obtained a good education in the com- mon school. Upon the outbreak of the Franco- Prussian War he enlisted and formed one of the body guard of the old King William, being one of 250 good sized soldiers chosen for this office, Ile was at Frazalis when William was proclaimed Em- perior of consolidated Germany, after the sur- render of the French, in January, 1871. It is well known to those acquainted with history that the old Kaiser took particular pride in his soldiers and would have none about him who were of insuffi- cient weight or stature. Mr. Hagen still maintains the fine proportions, physically, which gained him the post of honor during his military career.

After the close of the war Mr. Hagen repaired to Oldenberg where he attained to his majority. Finally, not being satisfied with his condition or his prospects in his native land, he, in 1879 set out for the I'nited States from the port of Bremerhaven on the sailing vessel "America" bound for Balti- more, Md. After being landed safely at his desti- nation he started for the West, coming at once to this State, which has since been his home. He was first married in Clay Center to Miss Mary Hinrichs, who was born in Oldenburg in 1852 and came alone to America in 1880. Their wedding follow- ed shortly afterward, Mrs. Ilagen being "the girl be left behind him," and to whom he was betroth- ed before leaving his native country. She depart- ed this life at Clay Center, July 10, 1885, leaving one eltild, a son, Ilenry, who is now at school and living with his father.

Returning in 1887 to his native land, Mr. Hagen

RESIDENCE OF PETER HAGEN, SEC. 30.(R.2.E) MULBERRY TP., CLAY CO. KAN

FARM RESIDENCE OF WM.H.DRAKE, SEC.28. CLIFTON TP., WASHINGTON CO,KAN.

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was a second time married in Oldenburg, to Miss Fredricka Onken. She likewise was born (in October, 1864), and reared in Oldenburg, and was orphaned by the death of her parents when quite young. She was carefully reared and received a good edneation in her native tongue. Of her un- ion with our subject there are no children. Mrs. Hagen has one brother who lives in Iowa and two sisters who reside in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. | years was chiefly employed in farming pursuits. When ready to establish a home of his own he was married, in Farmington, Oakland Co., Mich., to Miss Emma Cox, a native of Somersetshure, En- gland, March 2, 1859. Mrs. Drake came to Amer- ica with her parents when quite young. The latter were John and Mary A. Cox, and they settled in Oakland County, Mich., about 1860. They are still living on a farm, being each about sixty years old. They are most excellent and worthy people, highly respected by all who know them.

Hagen are Lutherans in religion and people more than usually intelligent and progressive. Their tasteful home gives evidence of culture and refine- ment in a marked degree. Mr. Hagen endorses the principles of the Democratic party although med- dling very little with polities. His farm buildings are neat and substantial and adjacent is an orehard of 120 choice trees in good bearing condition. A fine grove adds to the embellishments of the place. while at the same time affording grateful shade in the summer and a protection from the blasts of winter. A lithographie view of Mr. Hagen's resi- dence is shown on another page.

ILLIAM H. DRAKE, one of Clifton Town- ship's leading citizens and land owners, is the proprietor of 400 acres. finely located on seetions 27, 28 and 33. He came to Washington County in 1879 and purchased his land the following year. Prior to this he had been a resident of Oak- land County, Mich., the latter being his native State. He was born near Ann Arbor Nov. 22, 1835. and is the son of Gouverneur Drake, a native of Orange County, N. Y. The latter when a young man emigrated to Michigan, settling in Washtenaw County about 1830, and preempted land in Lodi - Township. He began life there among the heavy timber with his young wife, formerly Miss Almira Rose and a native of his own State.

The father of our subject hewed out a farm from the wilderness of the Wolverine State, constructing a good homestead where both parents lived until the elose of the Civil War. Then they removed to Ann Arbor, and a few years later to Ypsilanti, where Mrs. Drake died when about fifty years old. | Stackpole, Sr .. who was born May 17, 1780. He

Mr. Drake in due time took up his residence with his son-in-law, Mr. Marshall. of Lodi Township, Washtenaw County, and died there when about seventy-five years old. Ile became a Republican soon after the organization of that party, and with his estimable wife was, religiously, a Methodist.

The subject of this sketch was reared and edu- cated in his native county, and during his younger

Mrs. Drake spent her childhood and youth in an uneventful manner under the parental roof. becom- ing familiar with all housewifely duties and reeeiv- ing her education in the common schools. Three children were born to her and our subject and named respectively, Kernel A., Pearl and lola. Mrs. Drake believes in the doctrines of the Metli- odist Church. Mr. Drake, politically, is a sound Republican, and, socially, belongs to the A. O. U.W. A view of the home place is shown in this book.

C APT. F. W. STACKPOLE. of the firm of Stackpole & Tobey, bankers, Washington and Greenleaf, is one of the leading men of Washington County, and a prominent factor in promoting its financial interests, and thus advanc- ing its growth and development. He is a worthy representative of an old New England family. and is himself a native of that part of the country, born in Thomaston, Knox Co., Me., April 28, 1844. His father, Captain Harris Stackpole, was also born in that famous old sea- port town, .Inne 18, 1816 the date of his birth, and that was also the birthplace of his father, James

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was the son of another James Stackpole, who was born in Somerworth, N. II., May 12, 1744, and in 1765 became an early settler of Thomaston, where he reared his family and spent the remainder of his life. The maiden name of his wife, to whom he was married in May, 1767, was Judith Thomp- son, and she was born in Harpwell, Me. The grand- father of our subject was their seventh child, and as he grew to manhood he became a house carpen- ter, a shipbuilder and also a lime-burner, and spent his entire life by the sea in Thomaston. The maiden name of his wife, to whom he was married in 1805, was Mary Spear, and she was born July 11, 1786. They were the parents of thirteen child- ren, of whom the father of onr subject was the sixth in order of birth. When he was eighteen years old he began the life of a sailor, and at twen- ty-five had risen to the command of a vessel in the merchant marine service in the American and European trade. At the age of forty he had been so fortunate to accumulate a handsome competence, and since then has lived in retirement in Thomas- ton, engaged in no active business. His marriage with Miss Martha J. Mitchell was consummated July 25, 1841, and the years, numbering nearly half a century, that they have traveled life's road to- gether have been fraught with peace and happiness to them. She was born in Thomaston in Novem- her, 1821, the eldest of the six children still living of Cyprian and Lucretia (Davis) Mitchell. Her father, who was a farmer and a native of Maine removed to Thomaston in 1780.

The subject of our sketch was given the advan- tages of a liberal education, the preliminaries of which he obtained in the public schools of Thomas- ton. The bright, studious lad was then sent to Wesleyan Seminary, an excellent institution of learning at Kent's Hill. Me., and he subsequently became a student in Spear and Sawyer's Commer- cial College in Boston, from which he was gradu- ated with high rank as a scholar in 1864. having obtained a fine business education. He had previ- ously made several voyages with his father and hav- ing a natural taste for the sea desired to enter the naval service. After he was graduated he made application for admission to the United States Navy at Charlestown, Mass, But being offered the

command of the sailing vessel " Ninevah " at the same time he entered the merchant marine service instead, and for twenty years was captain of a merchant vessel. lle commanded the " Nineval," plying between New York and European ports, two years, and then the " Joseph Fish," engaged in the New York and South American trade, eleven years, and the remainder of the time till January, 1884, he commanded the "St. Nicholas " and " Manuel Llaguano," in the New York and San Francisco trade. When the White Star Line of steamers was organized he was offered command of one of those vessels, but he declined, as he preferred sails to steam. While yet in the prime of life, Captain Stackpole decided to abandon the sea and try to live once more on land, turning his talent for busi- ness in other directions. With characteristic shrewdness and discernment, noting the fine oppor- tunities for a capitalist to make money in this State, he came to Washington County with his family to establish his home in Washington city, and to invest some of his money in the banking business, establishing banks in Washington and Greenleaf in partnership with Mr. Tobey. The complete success that has met his financial sehemes has justified them, and he and his partner are doing a large and rapidly growing business, handling a great deal of money, and by their strictly honora- ble transactions they have secured the patronage of the leading business men of the county and their fullest confidence.

July 31, 1872, Captain Stackpole and Miss S. Elizabeth Tobey were united in marriage, and to them has been born one son, Frederic Tobey. Mrs. Stackpole was born in Thomaston, Me., March 31, 1848, and is a daughter of William and Lucinda Tobey. She also comes of a seafaring people, and her paternal grandfather, Capt. Lemuel Tobey, com- manded a vessel in the merchant marine service. He married Sally Sanborn, and was washed over- board off Cape Hatteras. The wife died in Port- land, Me.

Captain Stackpole is a man of large heart and broad sympathies, and his genial, cheerful temper make him a general favorite. Of firm, decided character and marked ability. the citizenship of this city and county received a decided accession on

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his advent here, and he has given an impetus to the business interests of this part of the county. lle and his wife stand high in social and religious circles, and they are members of the Baptist Church, liberal in its support and generously aid- ing its good work; he is identified with the A. F. & A. M .. as a member of Orient Lodge, No. 10, of Maine.

ILLIAM GUERNSEY WILDER. Among the well-regulated farms of Swede Creek Township, that of Mr. Wilder deserves mention as being the home of one of its highly re- spected citizens. Mr. Wilder is a prominent man in his community and in good circumstances, sur- rounded by all the comforts of life. Genial and companionable, he makes friends wherever he goes and believes in extracting from life all the com- fort it will afford. He owns and operates 240 acres of land on sections 1 and 12, his residence being on section 12.

In noting the ancestry of Mr. Wilder, we find that his paternal great-grandfather was a native of England, and that his grandfather was a Vermont farmer in fair circumstances. His father, Ebenezer Wilder, a native of the Green Mountain State, was born in Windsor County in 1805. When coming to years of discretion he emigrated to Warren County, N. Y., and from there to C'attarangus County, where he purchased a small tract of land, from which he improved a farm and where he still lives, but is now retired from active labor. After the organization of the Republican party he identi- fied himself with it and has for many years been a prominent member and a Deacon in the Close Com- munion Baptist Church.

The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Doreas Horton. She likewise was a native of Vermont, and died in Warren County, N. Y., when her son William was a youth of seventeen years. The parental family included nine children, of whom the eldest daughter living, Mrs. Almira Han- cock. is a resident of Cattaraugus County, N. Y .; Nahum is deceased; Maria, Mrs, Cooper, is a resi-

dent of New York State; William G., our subject, was the next in order of birth: Lueinda died in Iowa, and Johanna died in New York State; Dan- iel died in New York State when nine years old; Lee is in Cattaraugus County, N. Y .; Job is a resident of California. During the late Civil War he served in a New York regiment from the first year until the close. Nahum was in an Iowa regiment and served until near the close of the war, when he was discharged on account of physical disa- bility.

The subject of this sketch was born near Weston, Windsor Co., Vt., April 7, 1833, and was seven years old when the family removed to the Empire State. He received very good advantages during his youth, and when seventeen years old began working out on farms in Warren County, N. Y., and was thus employed most of the time until 1853. That year he emigrated to Iowa by rail to the Mis- sissippi River, and thence by stage and on foot to Indianola, which was then a hamlet of a few houses. He engaged as a carpenter and joiner and lived there until 1864.

In the year above mentioned, Mr. Wilder set out overland for Northern Kansas with a team and wagon, erossing the Missouri at St. Joseph. Com- ing into Riley County he homesteaded eighty acres of land on section 12, Swede Creek Township, upon which there was not a shrub, neither had a furrow been turned. There had been a rude log house erected by William Deal. He commenced in true pioneer style the building up of a homestead. and endured the usual hardships and privations of life on the frontier. In 1864 the monotony was broken in upon, as he went out to skirmish against the Indians.

Besides the original homestead Mr. Wilder has five acres of timber on seetion 11, 155 acres of im- proved land on seetion 1. and eighty acres on the Blue Bottoms. This is all good land and 100 acres are under the plow, Adjacent to the dwelling is an orchard of 250 trees besides trees of the smaller fruits, and the various outbuildings necessary for the general purposes of farm life. The farm is largely devoted to stock-raising.

Mr. Wilder, while a resident of Indianola, was married, in 1859, to Miss Frances Milton. This

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lady was born in Ohio, and died at the homestead in Swede Creek Township, Kan. March 13, 1884. There were born of this marriage the following child- ren : Lovina, Luey A., who died in Indianola from ac- cidental poisoning when twenty-seven years old; Charles, Louey Ann, Franklin Lee and Eugene, de- ceased; Marietta, Wilbur and Edith. On the night of Feb. 11, 1873, the dwelling of Mr. Wilder caught fire and the flames spread so swiftly that before they could be reseved two children, Loney Ann and Franklin Lee, aged seven and five years, perished in the flames. Mrs. Wilder never recovered from the shock of this bereavement and disaster, and transmitted her own fear of fire to the children who were subsequently born, they having a nerv- ous dread of this element in every form.

Mr. Wilder has been a member of the Seliool Board of his district for the past fifteen years. He assisted in organizing the district and in building the school-house. No man is more warmly inter- ested in the cause of education. He has served sev- eral times as a juryman and was Road Supervisor two years. In polities he is Republican first, last and altogether.

NDREW J. MORRISON, one of the Com- missioners of Washington County, is num- bered among its most cultured and intelligent citizens. Nature has endowed him with more than ordinary capacities, a fine in- tellect, the love of learning and the qualities moral and social which have so much influence in raising and maintaining the standard of a commu- nity in an educational and intellectual point of view. It has been said that the home surround- ings of a man are usually the true indication of his character, and judging from this, that of Mr. Morri- son is one which may be worthily emulated by all. There are around him the evidences of cultured and refined tastes, and one of the main features of his home-life is the large and well-filled library comprising works of the best authors on the social, civil and political questions of the day. A care-

ful self education and much thought, have raised Mr. Morrison to a point much above the average, making him a man with whom an hour may always be spent pleasantly and profitably.

The town of Middlesex, Mercer Co., Pa .. was the native place of Mr. Morrison, and his birth oeeur- red March 17, 1831. His father was a prosperous farmer, and Andrew J. was reared amid the quiet scenes of agricultural life in the Keystone State, re- maining a member of the parental household until reaching his twentieth year. Then starting out for himself he crossed the Mississippi River into Wayne County, Iowa, where he purchased a farm which he conducted from 1851 until 1858. Then selling out he returned to Pennsylvania, and pur- chased a farm in Mercer County, upon which he lived until 1864. Selling out once more, he re- turned to the West and established himself on a farm in Appanoose County, Iowa, where he so- journed until 1879. Then disposing of this prop- erty he removed to Adair County, Mo., where he purchased a farm but only lived there one year. Selling out once more he, in the spring of 1880, came to Washington County, Kan., and selected his location in Farmington Township, of which he has since been a resident. He owns 120 acres of good land, where he has effected substantial, modern improvements in the way of a comfortable dwelling, a good barn and the necessary ontbuild- ings. The land is devoted to general agriculture with a fair assortment of live-stock, and yields to its proprietor a comfortable income.

Mr. Morrison. at the outbreak of the Civil War. was a resident, of his native State and on Ang. 27, 1861, enlisted as a Union soldier in Company B, 100th Pennsylvania Infantry, in which he served two years. He was mustered in as a private and given his honorable discharge as Second Sergeant. He participated in the Sherman expedition, during 1861-62, and in the fight at Chantilly, Va., where he was wounded three times, once in the left hand. losing his forefinger, once in the ankle and onee in the left side. Afterward he was assigned to hos- pital duty at Washington, D. C., for ten months and then given an honorable discharge. Subse- quently, after going to Iowa, he was made Lien- tenant Colonel of the Second Regiment of

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Appanoose County militia, and was familiarly known as "Colonel."

In Appanoose County, Iowa, on Oct. 18, 1856, the subject of this notice was united in marriage with Miss Sarah L. Miller. Mrs. Morrison was born in Shelby County, Tenn., Jan. 11, 1840, and after becoming the mother of one child, who died in infancy, she departed this life in Appanoose County, Sept. 28, 1857. Mr. Morrison contracted a second marriage Nov. 28, 1871, with Mrs. Eliza- beth Chrisman. This lady was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, Nov. 29, 1842. She is the daughter of Andrew and Mary (Byers) Morrison. Of her union with our subject there is one child, a daugh- ter, Byrninna M., born Dec. 18, 1873.

In the election of November, 1885, Mr. Morri- son was chosen County Commissioner. and was re- elected in the fall of 1888. lle has. since a young man, been prominent in local affairs wherever he has resided. In Wayne County, Iowa, he was elected Clerk of the District Court, and while in Appanoose County, that State, filled the offices of County Treasurer and County Recorder. Ile is a sound Republican, politically, and keeps himself well-posted upon the political issues of the day. Hle and his excellent wife are members in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church. in which Mr. Morrison has held most of the offices and been one of its chief pillars. From his youth up he has taken an active interest in educational matters. Personally, he is possessed of that kind and courteous demeanor which commends him at once to all with whom he associates, as a gentle- man "to the manor born."

John Morrison, the father of our subject, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, whence he emi- grated to the United States in his youth. He set- tled in Mercer County, Pa., and was married to Miss Elizabeth Veach, (Sept. 18. 1828, in Trumbull County, Ohio.) who was a native of that county. They removed to Pennsylvania and settled in Mer- cer County, where John Morrison owned a farm and engaged in farming. and where both parents spent the remainder of their days on the home farm. There was born to them a family of eight children, of whom Andrew was next to the eldest. There are now only five of the family living, there

being besides our subject his two brothers -- the Rev. William Veach Morrison, D. D., a prominent minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New England, and Wilson W., a well-to-do farmer of West Middlesex. Mercer Co., Pa .; Margaret A .. now Mrs. Baird, resides in Mercer County, Pa .; Elizabeth J., now Mrs., McBride, who resides in Halstead, Ilarvey Co., Kan. Mrs. Morrison has been twice married; her first husband was John M. Chrisman, who died in the army Oct. 18, 1862, in the hospital at Keokuk, lowa. Of this union there were born three children -- two sons and one dangh- ter; the latter is deceased. The former are J. W. I .. who resides in Putnam County, Mo., and J. F., re- siding in Kansas City, Mo.

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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 44

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

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