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 33
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ASPER M. BROADY, a prominent farmer and successful stock-raiser of Blue Mound Township, resides on section 14, township 20, range 21, his farm occupying a location in the extreme southwest corner of Linn County. llere he owns six hundred acres of valuable land, which he devotes to the raising of cereals, and also engages extensively in raising stock. For fifteen years or more he has been the agent for o: e thiou- sand acres of land, which he controls, the owner residing at Lawrence, this state. As a stock-raiser
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he uses good judgment in the purchase of stock, as well as in breeding the various grades, and from their sale he annually receives a handsome income.
Born in Adams County, Ill., July 4, 1837, our subject is the son of John C. and Anna (Wigle) Broady. The family is of British extraction, and has been represented in the United States for sev- eral generations. The father of our subject was born in Kentucky in August, 1812, and was reared to manhood upon a farm. When a young man he migrated to Illinois and located in Adams County, being at that time about twenty years of age. There he purchased a small tract of land, to which he added from time to time until he became the owner of two hundred and fourteen aeres. So much did he enhance the value of his property by the improvements he placed thereon, that the place was valued at $10,000. When, in March, 1878, his eyes were closed in death, it was felt throughout his community that one of its best citi- zens had been removed from the scenes of liis use- fulness.
The maiden name of the mother of our subjeet was Anna Wigle; she was born in 1818, and died in the fall of 1879. Nine children had blessed her marriage, seven of whom are now living. Our subject is the eldest of the number; Osear, at the age of seventeen, was killed by the falling of a log he was assisting his father in loading on a wagon; Jefferson II. is an eminent lawyer of Ne- braska and resides in Lincoln, that state; Margaret is the wife of Jasper Davis, of Linn County; John C. is an attorney of Quincy, IH .; Dolphus S. is a farmer residing in Adams County, Ill .; Viola is the wife of Henry Rhodes and resides in Carroll- ton, Mo .; and Ione resides with her brother in Quincy. The senior Mr. Broady was active in politics as a stanch Democrat, but steadfastly re- fused to accept public office. His parents were members of the Presbyterian Church, his father being a Deacon in that denomination, but he never united with any religious organization.
Our subject was reared on a farm, and being the eldest child of the family, he labored assiduously in clearing the land and aiding in the maintenance of the family. IIe was the recipient of common- school advantages, and at the age of eighteen
commenced to teach school, following that pro- fession for eighteen successive winter seasons and farming during the summer. In March, 1863, he married Miss Orra Whitcomb, who was born in Adams County, Ill., January 23, 1843, being the daughter of Wyman and Lury (Brockway) Whit- comb. IIer father was born in Vermont in 1798, and when a young man migrated to Ohio, where he was united in marriage with Miss Lury Brock- way. In 1833, accompanied by his family, he re- moved to Illinois and settled in Adams County, where he engaged in farming on two hundred aeres of land he owned there.
In politics, Mr. Whitcomb was an ardent snp- porter of the Democratic party, and for sixteen consecutive years represented his township on the County Board of Supervisors, being prominent in the councils of his chosen party. Though not iden- tified with any religious organization, he was a be- liever in the Christian religion, and was a strictly honest man, conscientious and upright in his deal- ings with all. Ilis death took place March 8, 1886; his wife passed away September 29, 1888. They were the parents of nine children, of whom the following seven attained maturity: JJasper, who resides in Adams County, Ill .; Arvilla, Mrs. James Taylor, who died in Bourbon County, Kan., February 23, 1891; Dwight, whose home is in Hancock County, Ill .; Eliza, who married Israel Camp, and lives in Bourbon County, Kan .; David, a resident of Adams County, III .; Moses, a farmer of Bourbon County, Kan .; and Orra, the wife of " our subject. Two died in childhood.
In 1865 Mr. Broady came to Kansas, making the journey overland, and arriving at his destina- tion in September of that year. In 1860 he pre- empted one hundred and sixty acres where he now resides, but at the time of his settlement here the land was wholly unimproved. For one year Mr. Broady operated as a renter, meantime devoting as much time as possible to making improvements on his place. In January, 1867, he settled on the farm, and soon afterward embarked in the stock- raising business. Ile is now the owner of six hun- dred acres and engages extensively in the live- stock business.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Broady was blessed
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by the birth of four children, one of whom died in infancy. The others are: Otto, who resides in Linn County; Anna, who died of scarlet fever at the age of nineteen years; and Marguerite, who is with her parents. Mr. Broady is a stockholder in the First National Bank at Garnett, this state. In politics he is a stanchi Democrat, and has been hon- ored by his party with the nominations for town, county and legislative offices, but as the Democrats are in a minority in this section, he has suffered defeat with the remainder of the tieket. He gives his unqualified support to public-spirited enter- prises, and is one of the progressive citizens of the community. .
HOMAS LINDSAY, M. D. Very few save those who have trod the arduous paths of the profession can picture to themselves the array of attributes, physical, mental and moral, and the host of minor graces of manner and person, essential to the making of a truly successful physi- cian. His constitution must needs be of the hard- est to withstand the constant shock of wind and weather, the wearing loss of sleep and rest, the ever-gathering load of care, and the insidious ap- proach of every form of fell disease to which his daily round of duties momentarily exposes him. Such a physician we find in Dr. Thomas Lindsay, who in his own person so closely resembles the ideal we have attempted to sketch above. lle is the oldest physician in Anderson County, and has practiced medieine in Garnett since March, 1857.
Like many of the representative citizens of the county, he owes his nativity to the Buckeye State, being born in Harrison County, August 6, 1826. His parents, David and Martha (Orr) Lindsay, were natives of Ireland and Pennsylvania respect- ively. The father was born in County Down, and was of Scotch-Irish descent, inheriting the sturdy characteristics of the former and the wit
and enterprise of the latter. Thomas Lindsay, the grandfather of our subject, was also born in County Down, North of Ireland, and was there married. After the birth of one son (the father of our subject), Mr. Lindsay and family crossed the ocean and located in one of the Carolinas. About 1810 he moved from there to Jefferson County, Ohio, and still later to Guernsey County, that state, where his death occurred about 1832, at an advanced age. He was the father of eight children: David, John, Rosetta, Mary Ann, Eliza- beth, Thomas, Samuel and Amelia.
David, father of our subject, was born March 3, 1800, and was a small boy when he came to America. He was reared on the farm, and being of a thoughtful, studious turn of mind, educated himself, and later taught school. He became a minister in the Presbyterian Church, and pursued this worthy calling the remainder of his days, preaching in various towns in Ohio. In 1842 he emigrated to lowa, and located near Birmingham, Van Buren County, but became disabled, having fractured his thigh bone by falling from a stage coach. He died at the age of eighty years. Ilis wife survived him until 1885, and died at the age of eighty-five years. The following children were born to them: Lydia Ann, Robert Orr, Thomas, Mary Jane, Esther Jane, David Huston, Martha, John, Samuel, Mary and Elizabeth.
The original of this notice was sixteen years of age when the family moved to Iowa, and he re- ceived his education in public and private schools. Later he read medicine with his uncle, John Lind- say, in Carroll County, Ohio, and later attended the Western University Medical College, from which he graduated in 1854, although he had practiced with his uncle after 1849. Following this he came west and stopped in Iowa, where he remained one year. In 1857 he made his appear- anee in Garnett, and in 1862 he was commissioned Surgeon in the Twelfth Kansas, serving until June, 1865. Since that time he has practiced his pro- fession at Garnett, and no one stands higher in the estimation of the people than he.
Doetor Lindsay was twice married, first, in 1851, to Miss Agnes Sharp, daughter of William B. Sharp. She died in 1856 in Iowa, leaving two
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children: William S., a physician of Topeka, Kan., and David, a physician of McPherson, Kan. In 1859 the Doctor married Miss Martha Smith, a native of eastern Ohio and a daughter of William Smith. To them have been given three children: Samuel W., a druggist of McPherson, Kan .; Clara S. and Elizabeth. Politically, Doctor Lindsay is a stanch Republican. He represented Anderson County in the Territorial Legislature in 1859, be ing the first under county representation. In 1867 the Doctor was again a member of the State Legislature. In 1873 he was appointed United States Examining Surgeon for Pensions, a position he still holds. He is local Surgeon of the Santa Fe Railroad Company, and is a member of the Na- tional Society of Railroad Surgeons. He is also a charter member of the State Medical Society. Doctor Lindsay still owns land near Garnett, the same that he pre-empted thirty-five years ago.
OSEPH STEPIIENS, the owner of a mag- nificent farm of six hundred and twenty acres, located in Centreville Township, Linn County, is by birth and training well fitted to win success in agricultural pursuits, his father having been a life-long farmer and a de- scendant of a long line of ancestors who devoted themselves to the tilling of the soil. Our subject was born in Fulton County, Ill., July 26, 1839, and is the son of James Stephens, a native of Kentucky, who was born in 1801. The mother, Margaret (Peck) Stephens, was also born and reared in Kentucky, the year of her nativity being 1812.
The parents were married in the state where they had passed the happy years of childhood, but after remaining there a short time journeyed to Illinois, and in the early part of the '30s were numbered among the pioneers of Fulton County, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
The Illinois homestead welcomed to its fireside a large family of children, namely: William, John, Mary A., Peter, Enoch, Joseph, Ellen, George, Jackson, Angeline and Marion. Our subject, the sixth in order of birth, was educated in the little schoolhouse of the district and aided in the work of the farm.
Beginning life for himself Mr. Stephens con- tinued to cultivate the fertile soil of Illinois, and it was not until he had reached thirty years of age that he decided to try his fortune in another state. Ile traveled through the west for some two or three years, and then returning to Fulton County, Ill., was, upon the 12th of January, 1871, united in marriage with Miss Mary E. McDaniel, also a native of Illinois. Three children blessed their union, William, John and George. Four years and four months after their marriage the es- timable wife and mother passed away mourned by many friends and sorrowing relatives.
For a second time our subject entered the bonds of matrimony, and May 18, 1876, married Miss Sarah J. Beaty, a native of Coshocton County, Ohio, who was born August 15, 1850. Iler par- ents, Isaac and Esther (Conner) Beaty, were na- tives of Ohio and were reared, educated and mar- ried in the Buckeye State. Journeying to Fulton County, Ill., in the fall of 1851, they have since continued to reside there. Nine children shared in the comforts and care of the home. They were in order of birth Jackson, Peter, Robert, lliram, Daniel, Sarah J., Sebillia, Lewis and Lavinia.
Mr. and Mrs. Stephiens have been blessed by the birth of four children, Isaac, James, Esther and Eva. For many years our subject has been a val- ued member of the Baptist Church, and both he and his good wife are active in the religions and benevolent work and enterprises of their locality. The sons and daughters of the household are re- ceiving excellent educational advantages and are preparing themselves for the duties of life, having been trained to habits of industrious thrift and self-reliance. Removing from Fulton County, Ill., Mr. Stephens located in Linu County, Kan., . in 1878, and settling upon a fine farm where he now makes his home has improved the broad acres with a comfortable residence, commodious barus
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and other buildings. He has brought the land to a high state of cultivation and now profitably conducts one of the most valuable farms in Linn County.
OHN TURKINGTON. The rapid develop- ment and almost marvelous growth of Crawford County have to a great extent enriched many men by the increase in value of their lands, assisted by their own indus- try and efforts in farming. Among the class is the subject of this personal history. He is a leading farmer and stock-raiser of Sheridan Town- ship, making his home on section 8. He was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1819.
At the age of fifteen years, our subject resolved to try his fortune in America, and leaving his people behind, sailed for the land of the free and landed in New York City. He remained in that city for some time with an unele who resided there, but soon after left his unele's home and went to Orange County, N. Y., where he worked for $7 per month during the summer season. Mr. Turk- ington remained in and about New York nearly one year, and then shipped for New Orleans, and while on the journey to that place was caught in a storm and given np for lost, but finally came ont all right. He was employed by a sugar planter near New Orleans as a time-keeper for two years. Removing to Ohio he resided for a time in Greene County, where he worked as his trade, that of a machinist.
At Xenia, Ohio, Mr. Turkington was married to Eliza J. MeCrary. They remained there until 1867, when they located in Crawford County, on their present homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Turking- ton were the parents of nine children, two of whom are deceased: W. E., who is a resident of Cherokee; James H., deceased; Lizzie, wife of George Meyer;
John; Eleanor, wife of Myron Degar; George; Oliver, who is at home; Lottie and Minnie.
When our subject arrived with his family in Crawford County, he bought the farm where lie now resides, and has added to it until he now owns one section of land, all of which he has acen- mulated sinee arriving in the state. He has never sold any corn since coming to the state, but has kept the place well stocked with cattle of all kinds. He does his own shipping, and his farm is con- sidered one of the finest in the county, and all the improvements on the place have been made by himself.
The Turkington family are all members of the Presbyterian Church at Monmouth, a church which Mr. Turkington aided materially in con- structing. Politically, he was an old-line Whig, an Abolitionist, and after the war was a Republi- ean, but since the organization of the People's party he has been identified with it. IIe is a con- servative business man, and one who is well liked. Industry, energy and economy are his cardinal virtues, and they have brought a merited success to crown his efforts. The genial, generous and so- ciable character of both himself and wife has en- deared them to all with whom they has come in contact, and they merit and receive in the highest degree the respect and confidence of the commu- nity in which they live.
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L EWIS ELDER. It matters little what oc- cupation a man may seleet for his life call- ing, so long as it is honorable. If he is honest, upright and courteous in his intercourse with others, and possesses energy and determina- tion, he will succeed. If more deference is paid to the followers of any one voeation in preference to another, it is to the farmers, on whom the pros- perity of our nation to such a large degree de- pends. The southern part of Kansas has proved an El Dorado to thousands of agriculturists, who
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have come hither from the east, and who, by dint of hard work, have developed the resources so liberally provided by nature.
The subject of this sketch, now a prominent farmer and stock-raiser of Lincoln Township, Crawford County, was born in Bedford County, Pa., and there spent the years of his boyhood and yonth, receiving a limited education in the schools of the Keystone State. At the age of twenty, re- solving to seek a fortune in the far-famed west, he went to Indiana, and resided in that state for six years. There he married and there he was be- reaved by the death of his wife and child. On coming to Kansas in 1871 he purchased one hun- dred and sixty acres, comprising a portion of his present estate of two hundred and forty acres of well improved land. At the time of locating in this county, lie was the owner of a good team and wagon and $120 in cash. From that beginning he has accumulated his present possessions, and the results speak more eloquently than words of his energy and excellent judgment as a farmer and business man.
In Crawford County in 1872 Mr. Elder and Miss Lydia Konkel were united in marriage, and to them have been born nine children, as follows: Eva, wife of Samuel Tope, and a resident of Col- orado; Curtis, Bertha, Rossa, Flora, Hulda, Edda, Christian and Ada. From the beginning of the Civil War the sympathies of Mr. Elder were on the side of the Union, and in August, 1862, he enlisted as a member of Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry, in which he served for about six months. He was then, on account of disability, honorably dis- charged from the service.
As a member of the People's party, Mr. Elder takes an active interest in public affairs, and is now ofliciating as Trustee of the township in which he resides, having been twice elected to that position. He also served as Town Clerk for one year and Town Treasurer for two years. In his social connections he is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, being an influential member of the post at Proctor. His wife is a member of the Church of God, and he supports the various religious and benevolent projects of the
community, although not actively identified witlı any church.
Referring to the ancestral history of our subject, we find that his paternal great-grandfather was a native of Ireland, and after coming to the United States, settled in Pennsylvania. The father of our subject, John Elder, as well as Grandfather James Elder, were natives of Pennsylvania. The former married Miss Louisa Vickroy, who was born in the Keystone State, and they became the parents of three children who attained mature years, Lewis being the eldest of the number.
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B ENARD II. KELLING has been a resident of Anderson County since 1872, when he came here from Washington County, Iowa, and located in Jackson Township, on sec- tion 29. Mr. Kelling was born in Prussia, Janu- ary 31, 1835, and when but one and a-half years of age was brought over to America by his parents, Benard and Helena Kelling. The father died in Comanche, Iowa, about six months after arriving
there, and the mother passed away in Rock Island County, Ill. Soon after the death of the father, the family removed to Rock Island County, where our subject lived until he was sixteen years old, when he crossed the plains to California, being eight months on the way. He lived at various places along the Pacific Coast for five years, work- ing by the month part of the time and subse- quently finding employment in the mines. Hle returned to Rock Island County and remained there a few months, and then went to Iowa, where he was employed by a railroad company for two seasons, after which he tried farming for about a year.
At the time when so many people were going to Pike's Peak, our subject was among the very first to go, but he was satisfied there only a short time, and returned to Illinois. He re- mained there another brief period and then went to Washington County, Iowa, where he engaged in farming. While living there he was united in
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marriage to Catherine Seber, in 1861. By her union with Mr. Kelling, this good lady became the proud mother of three children, Alex HI., William B. and Frederick L., and went to her final rest in that county in 1880. Two years later our sub- jeet was again married, his second choice of a life companion being Mrs. Mary E. Durstine, nee Gorton. Mrs. Kelling was born in Vermont, March 29, 1849, and was the widow of C. Wilson Durstine, who died in April, 1881.
When Mr. Kelling was first married, he settled in Washington County, lowa, and stayed there until the spring of 1872, when lie came to Kansas and located in Coffey County. Ile remained there until the following autumn, at which time he established himself in Anderson County, and located on section 20, this township. From there he came to his present place of abode, one mile south. Mr. Kelling possesses a clear intelleet, and is a man of wide experience and extended infor- mation. He has improved his estate, which com- prises five hundred acres, and it is considered one of the best kept farms in the county. Besides gen- eral farming, our subject is engaged quite exten- sively in the raising of stock, and keeps some of the best grades always on hand. He has never been an office-seeker, but attends strictly to his own affairs at all times, thus finding but little time to devote to polities.
Mr. Kelling is known and respected for the honesty and sincerity of his character, and has the friendship of some of the best men in the com- munity. His genial and hopeful disposition, com- bined with a persevering nature, is the secret of his success in life.
C HIARLES N. BACON, residing on section 20, Ladore Township, is one of the foremost of the citizens who have aided in the ad- vancement and development of Neosho County. He is a leading farmer and stock-raiser, one of the ablest of its business men and financiers, and one who has been long and honorably identified with
its public life. His character, keen insight, wide experience and large publie spirit, are universally recognized by his acquaintances, and his name is associated with many enterprises that have proved of incalculable benefit to the township and county.
Born at Painesville, near the city of Cleveland, Ohio, the subject of this sketch first opened his eyes upon the scenes of earth September 3, 1843. He was the third of six children born to the union of David N. and Harriet (Stevers) Bacon, natives re- spectively of Genesee County, N. Y., and Erie Coun- ty, Pa. It is supposed that the paternal grandfather of our subject, David Bacon, was a native of Ver- mont; certain it is that he was an early settler of New York and a resident of Genesee County for many years. At the age of fifteen our subject left the shelter of the parental roof and became a sailor on the Lakes, being thus engaged for about seven years, and during the last two years of this time he held the position of mate of his vessel.
At the breaking out of the Civil War, Mr. Bacon enlisted in December, 1861, as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Ohio Infantry, in which he served over three years, being mus- tered out on the 20th of January, 1865. Ile then returned to his seafaring life and for two years sailed on the Lakes. Later he engaged in the mercantile business for two years. In the fall of 1869 he and his brother M. H. purchased a tract of land in Ladore Township, Neosho County, where they engaged in stock-raising. Three years after- ward the partnership was dissolved by the death of the brother, since which time our subject has been the sole owner and proprietor of the prop- erty. He now has three hundred and twenty aeres, upon which he engages in general farming and which are embellished by a suitable set of farm buildings.
In January, 1873, Mr. Bacon married May, daughter of William Higgins, a native of Ohio, who removed thence to Inchiana and Iowa and from there came to Kansas. Four children were born of this union, Ella, Hattie, Grace and Elsie. Throughout his entire life Mr. Bacon has been firm in his allegiance to the principles of the Re- publican party and takes an active interest in po- litical affairs. While residing in Ohio he enjoyed
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