USA > Kansas > Portrait and biographical record of southeastern Kansas, containing biographical sketches of prominent citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States and the governors of the state of Kansas > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
April 17, 1873, Mr. McClure was united in mar- riage with Miss Sarah C., daughter of Benjamin F. and Mary J. (Marsh) Gibbs. She was born in Hancock County, Ind., April 17, 1854. Her par- ents, who were natives respectively of Ohio and Tennessee, removed to Indiana in childhood and there married and resided until 1870, when they
232
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
came to Kansas. Their home is now in Blue Mound. They had a family of seven children, three of whom are now living: A. Ward, who is engaged in the hardware business in partnership with his father at Blue Mound; Mrs. McClure, and Mazie L., who is at home.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. McClure has resulted in the birth of six children, namely: Leonard G., who was born September 11, 1874; Ina B., born November 19, 1876; Orrin, who died April 1, 1892, at the age of thirteen years; Carl L., who passed away at the age of six months; Ralph C., who died May 28, 1888, when thirce years of age; and Frank D., who was born November 1, 1891. In religious affiliations, Mr. McClure is identified with the Baptist Church, while Mrs. McClure is a Methodist. Socially, he is a member of the An- cient Order of United Workmen, and in his politi- cal relations he is a Republican. He is one of the prominent stockmen of the county, and has for a number of years engaged extensively in stock- raising.
G EORGE II. CROZIER, one of Linn County's most progressive and successful farmers, is a resident of Centreville Township, and owns a large farm on section 15. Ile is of imme- diate Irish descent. IIis parents, Richard and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Crozier, were natives of the Emerald Isle, and were united in marriage in County Tyrone. About 1827 they emigrated to the United States and settled in Tompkins Coun- ty, N. Y. In 1846 they removed west to Illinois and located in Schuyler County, where Mr. Crozier died in March, 1854. Three years afterward his widow came to Kansas, and died in Centreville Township, Linn County, in March of 1867.
In the family of Richard Crozier there were nine children who lived to maturity, namely: William, Richard, John, James A., Lucinda, Mar-
tin A., George II., Mary A. and Hannah J. George H. was born in Tompkins County, N. Y., June 15, 1845, and was about five years of age when taken by his parents to Schuyler County, Ill. There his boyhood years were passed, and there he gained a common-school education and a thor- ough knowledge of agricultural pursuits. After his father's death he accompanied his mother to Linn County, where he has since resided, with the exception of two years (1859 and 1860) spent on the Pacific Coast and in New Mexico.
Farming has been Mr. Crozier's life occupation, and he is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres, upon which he has made first-class improvements and erected a residence of modern style of architecture. Ilis first marriage took place in Franklin County, Kan., in March, 1867, his wife being Miss Marietta, daughter of Deacon Har- rison Reed, of Franklin County. She was born in Schuyler County, Ill., about 1846, and died in Centreville Township, in October, 1875. Four children were born of this marriage: Hattie, the wife of Fred Shank; Marietta, Mrs. Michael Zim- merman; Georgia, who died when about one year old; and Ellen.
February 27, 1892, Mr. Crozier was united in marriage with Miss Mary C. Jones, who was born in Allamakee County, Iowa, March 29, 1854. The parents of Mrs. Crozier were Hiram and Almira (Dennis) Jones, natives of Ohio, who married and located in Indiana. Thence they removed to Allamakee County, Iowa, and from there to Law- rence County, Ill., later to Texas, where Mr. Jones died in the spring of 1860. Afterward Mrs. Jones married Thomas M. May, and she now resides in Sheridan Township, Linn County, Kan. Seven children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Jones, viz .: Flora A., Fannie A., Erastus H., Mary C., Horace W., Jolın N. and James D.
No man in Centreville Township takes a warmer interest in its progress than Mr. Crozier, and no one has contributed more unselfishly to its welfare than he. In all local affairs he takes an intelli- gent interest, and gives his support to the Repub- lican party. Energetic and enterprising, he has made a success of his chosen occupation, through which he has attained a competency. He believes
233
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
that Kansas is unsurpassed by any state in the Union as an agricultural centre, and entertains the greatest anticipations of its prosperity in future years.
W ILLIAM HENDERSON, a prosperous farmer of Linn County, resides on section 22, Valley Township, where he is an ex- tensive property owner. His landed possessions aggregate four hundred and fifty acres included in one farm, and here he has erected a substantial set of farm buildings, including a dwelling for his family that is conceded to be one of the most ele- gant in the township. Within its spacious walls he and his accomplished wife dispense a gracious hospitality to their hosts of warm personal friends and to the stranger as well.
Mr. Henderson is a man who has made his way in the world unaided by any extraneous circum- stances. Orphaned in childhood, he was early in life thrown upon his own resources, and the extensive property that he has accumulated rep- resents the result of years of arduous toil. The biographer has been unable to gain any definite in- formation concerning his ancestry, and of his par- ents but little is known. It has been learned, how- ever, that they were for a time residents of Harrison County, Ind., whence they removed to Mahaska County, Iowa, in an early day and there remained until death.
Born in Harrison County, Ind., October 28, 1846, our subject was early orphaned by the death of his parents. He was reared to manhood in Iowa, receiving a fair education in the common schools of Mahaska County. At the age of about eighteen he enlisted, September 10, 1864, as a soldier in the Civil War, his name being enrolled as a member of Company D, Thirty-third Iowa Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war. He was honorably discharged July 17, 1865,
at New Orleans, La. There had been nothing un- usual in his experiences in camp or field, and he fortunately escaped without either having been wounded or imprisoned.
Returning to Mahaska County, Mr. Henderson engaged as a farmer in the employ of others, re- ceiving his wages by the month. While residing in Mahaska County he was there married, Septem- ber 3, 1868, to Miss Mary E., daughter of James and Susan (Pattison) Walker, both of whom were natives of Washington County, Pa. They were married in the Keystone State and subsequently removed to Knox County, Ohio, and from there went to Mahaska County in 1856. In 1869 they removed to Linn County and both passed away at their home in Valley Township. They had a fam- ily of nine children, of whom eight grew to man- hood and womanhood, Mrs. Henderson being the youngest of the eight. She was born in Knox County, Ohio, March 14, 1843, and was about thir- teen years old when she accompanied her parents to Mahaska County, where she grew to woman- hood. Her maternal grandfather, Rev. John Pat- tison, was a clergyman in the Presbyterian Church, and died in Washington County, Pa. The fam- ily is of Scotch ancestry.
In the spring following his marriage Mr. Hen- derson came to Linn County and for four years operated a sawmill. Later he bought a tract of one hundred and sixty acres on section 22, Valley Township, of which he has been a resident since 1876. He has a fine farm of four hundred and fifty acres, upon which he has built a number of structures for the storage of grain and shelter of stock. In addition to general farming he has en- gaged to some extent in stock-raising, in which he has met with more than ordinary success.
Mr. and Mrs. Henderson are the parents of three living children: Leona, who is the wife of Thomas E. Rowe; Emma S. and Wilda O. Four children died in infancy. Mrs. Henderson has been identified with the United Presbyterian Church from girlhood and is actively interested in religious enterprises. In polities Mr. IIender- son acts with the Republican party and has held a number of local offices, rendering satisfactory ser- vice to his constituents. He and his wife are peo-
234
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ple of culture and refinement, generous to those in need and active in their support of all worthy en- terprises. They are highly regarded in this com- munity.
b ON. PERCY DANIELS, Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of Kansas, was born in Woonsocket, R. I., September 17, 1840, and is the sec- ond son of Judge David and Nancy (Ballou) Daniels, both of whom died when he was a lad of six. In his childhood he was the recipi- ent of fair educational advantages, and after com- pleting his literary studies he devoted considera- ble attention to the study of civil engineering at Providence, but was obliged to discontinue on account of a severe illness. During a slow con- valescence he stayed with relatives at Worcester, Mass.
Persistence was a prominent trait in the charac- ter of young Daniels, and whatever he undertook he rarely abandoned unless prevented by an im- movable barrier. An incident illustrating this trait occurred while he was ill. Among the math- ematical books he used in school was one contain- ing a thousand problems, without a rule for their solution, and at the time of studying the book he had failed to solve seven of the sums. When ill he again studied these examples and solved every one of them without writing a figure. The last and most intricate required three days, and just as it was completed a blood vessel above his eye broke, and for months afterward his life hung by a thread.
At the opening of the Civil War our subject commenced the study of military tactics, which he pursned during his convalescence, and in the fall of 1861 lie enlisted in a company of home gnards. At the first drill he was put into the awkward squad, at the second he was made Orderly-Ser- geant, and at the third the commander resigned and he became Captain. He spent the winter of 1861-62 in a lumber camp in the pineries of Mich-
igan. Returning east in May, he enlisted in the Seventh Rhode Island Infantry, and opened a re- cruiting office in Woonsocket in June, 1862, where most of Company E was raised during the next two months. July 26, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant, and on the 4th of September was promoted to be First Lieutenant. Soon after the battle of Antietam the regiment joined the army of General McClellan and pursued the retreating forces of General Lee as far as Fredericksburg, where they participated in that disastrous battle.
In the spring of 1863 the regiment accompanied General Burnside to the west, and in May they were ordered to re-enforce General Grant at Vicksburg. After the capture of that city they took part under General Sherman in the pursuit of the army of Gen. Joe Johnston, and the cap- ture of Jackson, Miss., after which they were ordered back to Kentucky. Then came the East Tennessee campaign, where the winter was spent in guarding lines against guerrillas and building roads. With the liberation of East Tennessee, the regiment was sent to Virginia in time to cross the Rapidan with the Army of the Potomac at the opening of the great campaign of 1864 and served with credit until the Army of Northern Virginia laid down its arms at Appomattox. During this campaign of three hundred and forty days the regiment took part in twelve battles and lost many men in these engagements, and at the battles of Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor the regiment lost one-third of the men engaged in each battle.
At the opening of this campaign our subject was fourth Captain, but in a short time was as- signed to the command of the regiment over the senior captain, and in June was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel. After the mine fight he was brevetted Colonel, and after the battle of Popular Grove Church, September 30, he was assigned to duty on his brevet rank. He was present and on duty in every fight in which the command took part, and was in one assault independent of the regiment. He also had charge of a portion of the construction of roads, fortifications and bridges required during the siege of Petersburg, and in that work both the regiment and its commander were strongly complimented by the regular army
235
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
engineers. In December the Seventh Regiment, having been partly filled up by consolidation with the re-enlisted veterans of the Fourth Regiment, was sent to complete and help garrison the famous Ft. Sedgwick, and they remained on duty there until the assault and capture of Petersburg. The enemy wanted to take the fort and position to raise the siege, and it was expected that the vigilance and persistence of the regiment and its commander would prevent such a result, which expectation was fully realized by subsequent events. After the fall of Petersburg they took part in the pursuit and capture of the remainder of Lee's army.
After the war Colonel Daniels was in Kentucky and Tennessee for two winters engaged on rail- road work and prospecting, and the appreciation of his services in the army by his superiors is indi- cated by the following extract from a letter writ- ten by General Burnside to him as he was prepar- ing to go south in 1865:
"I desire before parting with you to express my sincere thanks for the gencrous, loyal, efficient and gallant service you have always rendered me dur- ing our long service together. I know of no one who deserves better of his country than you. You will carry with you my sincere prayer for your health, happiness and prosperity. I am sure that the same energy, talent, loyalty and gentle- manly deportment that have made you one of our best officers will make you a useful citizen and a kind friend to the community in which you may settle."
From the south Colonel Daniels came to Kan- sas.
In June, 1867, he took a trip east and re- turned to Kansas accompanied by his bride, for- merly Eliza A. Eddy, of Leicester, Mass. They lo- cated on the neutral lands at Crawfordsville, where Colonel Daniels opened a country store, and while conducting that establishment also improved the farm four miles northwest of Girard, where he now resides. Upon disposing of his store he en- gaged in farming and surveying until 1873, when he accepted a position in the city engineering de- partment of Worcester, Mass., and remained in the employ of the city until 1878, meantime being promoted to be City Engineer. From 1879 until
1881 he was a resident of Providence, R. I., where he engaged in business as a civil engineer and at- tended to the settlement of a brother's estate. In the spring of 1881, accompanied by his family, he returned to Kansas. Since that time he has been engaged in railroad work about two years, and served as Surveyor of Crawford County for five years.
Ilis attention in 1888 being drawn to the con- dition of the farmers, and their lack of prosperity, Colonel Daniels commenced an investigation in order to satisfy himself whether the condition of affairs was not a direct result of Government pol- icy and the enforcement of a new commercial practice entirely in behalf of other interests. In July of that year he published an open letter con- taining the seven cardinal points of his political faith, in which he demanded the Australian bal- lot system, large restrictions of immigration and a graduated tax on the estates of the millionaires, and asked the Republican party to endorse these demands.
Continuing his investigations, in 1889 Colonel Daniels delivered the now well known course of lectures that was published under the title of "A Crisis for the Husbandman," and as a result of his investigations, which were inaugurated with a hope to induce the Republican party to abandon its hypocritical position on the tariff and taxation questions, he left the party he had defended for nine and twenty years. In January, 1890, he pur- chased the Girard Herald to defend his position and if possible convince the voters of Crawford County of the reasonableness of his demands, and especially of the necessity for the graduated estate tax, or some similar expedient. In October, 1891, the specific proposition contained in the "Crisis" lectures was adopted and endorsed by the People's party county convention, as it had already been by the County Alliance, and the next week Colo- nel Daniels sold the paper to the veteran news- paper men, Dr. A. G. Lucas,the present chicf edi- tor. Since then he has actively engaged in no other enterprise than the management of his farm.
Since joining the reform movement in 1889, Colonel Daniels has taken an active part in for warding its interests and defending its position.
236
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
In October, 1889, he was a delegate to the State Alliance, the St. Louis convention in December of the same year, to the Cherryvale convention that nominated IIon. T. J. Hudson for Congress, and the Omaha convention that nominated Gen- eral Weaver for President. At the People's party convention at Wichita, June 17, 1892, he was nominated for the office of Lieutenant-Governor, to which honorable position he was elected by a handsome majority.
During the winter of 1892-93 Governor Dan- iels served as President of the Senate, and on the 11th of March, Senator Thatcher, the Republican leader in the Senate, introduced the following resolution and moved its adoption:
"RESOLVED, That the dignity, ability and cour- tesy of the President of the Senate, Hon. Percy Daniels, during the present session of the Senate have given him a worthy place in our esteem; that we bear a cheerful and hearty recognition of his eminent desire to act impartially and justly with all questions, many of them difficult, that came before him for settlement; and that we ask him to carry with him our best wishes for his peace and prosperity."
This resolution was unanimously adopted by a rising vote.
A sketch of the life of Governor Daniels would be incomplete were no mention made of the scheme for graduated property tax, with which his name is inseparably associated. This scheme demands a graduated tax on the estates of mill- ionaires, for the purpose of compelling the plun- derers to disgorge, and for making restitution to labor for the wrongs of the past. The tax proposed is one per cent. for amounts above §1,000,000, in- creasing to eighteen per cent. on estates above $10,- 000,000. A bill is now before Congress which was drawn by Colonel Daniels, and provides not only for the assessment and collection of this tax, but for the apportionment and expenditure of the vast sum it would produce. The bill provides that the pro- ceeds shall be proportioned among the states: one- third in proportion to area; one-third in proportion to population, and one-third in proportion to wealth; and that it shall be expended, first, for pay ing the pensions and settling the accounts of the ex-
soldiers against the Government; second, for em- ploying all idle American labor on extensive in- ternal improvements in every state, in building and improving country roads and water-ways, and in constructing and maintaining storage reservoirs and forest parks; third, in paying all expenses of the militia. This bill also provides for a tax on emigrants; it provides for a graduated snc- cession tax, beginning with one per cent. on $100,000. It provides for the payment from this fund for all assessments for national, state, county, township and city purposes. It provides for an accurate assessment of all the property in this country owned and controlled by any person, and that a record of the whole estate (within the limits of the United States) of every citizen shall be kept in the office of the assessor of the district of which the owner is a resident. It provides that the secretary of every corporation shall make an annual return for the use of the assessor.
The services which in the past Colonel Daniels has rendered the people of Kansas entitle him to rank among the eminent men of the Sunflower State, and it is but fair to suppose that the future will bring to him even greater honors than the past; and that he will be instrumental in securing for the people even greater privileges and larger blessings than heretofore. In fact, his energy and abilities are of such a character that death alone will terminate his activities. As long as life shall last his labors to promote the welfare of the peo- ple will be unceasing and his interest in their prosperity tireless.
$0 ...
S AMUEL McCOLLAM. No better repre- sentative of honest manhood can be found than the above-named gentleman, an in- fluential citizen of Lincoln Township, An- derson County. He is a native of Ireland, and was born November 17, 1828.
The parents of our subject were Frank and Eliza- beth (Kirkpatrick) McCollam, both natives of Ire-
237
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
land. After their marriage, they settled in their native county, where the mother died. The fa- ther then emigrated to America, where he spent the remainder of his days and died in this county at the home of our subject. The grandfather, John MeCollam, died in County Antrim, Ireland.
Of the five living children born to Frank and Elizabeth MeCollam, Samuel is the second. He lived in his native country until 1850, and then came to the United States and set- tled in Pennsylvania. He lived there for two years and followed farming and boating, and at the end of that time sold out and removed to Lee County, Ill. In April, 1857, he came to Anderson County and settled in Lincoln Township, where he bought the claim on which he now resides, and which has been finely improved with all the mod- ern appliances necessary for successfully operating a farm. The neat and attractive appearance of the outbuildings speaks of the good taste of the owner and of the industry necessary to convert an uncultivated traet into such a valuable farm. Ilis landed possessions aggregate about five or six hun- dred aeres, all in Lincoln Township.
Mr. MeCollam was happily married in Philadel- phia, Pa., January 15, 1858, to Miss Margaret Tweed, a native of Ireland, who was born Feb- ruary 11, 1829. This most worthy lady is an un- fortunate victim of paralysis but endures her afflie- tion with great fortitude and reconciliation, and is tenderly cared for by her devoted husband. Notwithstanding this severe trial, the home of this estimable couple is often the scene of social gath- erings, and the hospitality with which one is greeted leaves a pleasant remembrance. Five children have blessed the union of our subject and his wife, namely: John, Frank; Eliza, wife of Til- ford Perry; Rachael, wife of William Perry; and Sarah, who is a school teacher.
Mr. McCollam takes an active part in local and political affairs and always finds time to devote to the cause of religion. He and his wife have been connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years and he has held some important offices therein. His high sense of honor and truth has won for him the respect of the entire com- munity, and his success as a substantial agricultur-
ist of Anderson County is well merited. He is one of the solid men in the vicinity of his home, and a true and reliable man in the fullest sense of the term.
P ETER S. PADDOCK, a prominent citizen of Blue Mound Township, Linn County, now residing upon section 16, three miles south of Blue Mound, is numbered among the substantial and enterprising general agricult- urists of the state. Arriving in Linn County in 1866, our subject has shared in the trials and dif- fieulties experienced by the majority of residents within the borders of Kansas, and, aided by un- varying industry and a fund of courage, has self- reliantly achieved a position of independence and gained a comfortable competence.
Mr. Paddock is a native of Knox County, Ind., and was born July 1, 1844, in the home of his parents, Morrison and Susan (Steffy) Paddock. The father was a native of Onondaga County, N. Y., but the mother, of southern nativity, was born in Virginia. They met and married in Indi- ana, and continued to make their home in Knox County until their removal, in the fall of 1866, to Kansas. Journeying thither with teams, the family traveled to Blue Mound Township, where the father took up one hundred and sixty aeres of land, which he entered from the Government, and upon which he continued to reside until his death, at sixty-three years of age, in November, 1883. The mother still remains upon the old farm, which has been brought up to a high state of cultivation.
The eight children who shared in the love and care of the parents are: Cornelia, wife of Albert J. Bruce, a successful farmer of Linn County; Peter S., our subject; M. D. La Fayette, who died in Linn County; Harvey W., a citizen of Linn County; Mary Jane, wife of Mitchell Ross, of Blue Mound Township; Henry, who passed to his
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.