Biographies Index

BUTLER COUNTY, KANSAS

BIOGRAPHIES

WOLF, AARON MONROE

Aaron Monroe Wolf, a Butler County pioneer and prominent citizen of Bruno township, was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, near the town of New Lisbon, June 11, 1846. He is a son of George and Lydia (Fetterhoff) Wolf. The mother was a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent, and the father was born in Columbiana county, Ohio. He was a son of Jacob Wolf, who was a son of Henry Wolf, a native of Germany, who immigrated to America and settled in Virginia during Colonial times. He was a soldier in the American army during the Rev-olutionary war, and served throughout the seven years of that long and tedious struggle which ended in independence. After the Revolutionary war, Henry Wolf with his family traveled 300 miles northwest from their Virginia home and settled in the wilderness of the Northwest Territory, a part of which later became the State of Ohio, and when that State was organized and divided into counties, the Wolf family was in Columbiana county.

When Aaron M. Wolf was nine years Old, in 1855, he removed with his parents to Steuben county, Indiana, and here he grew to manhood and received a good education. After attending the district school he attended an academy at Angola, and in early life was engaged in teaching, and in all he taught eight terms. During the Civil war Mr. Wolf served for two years, 1864 and 1865.

In 1870 Mr. Wolf came to Butler county, Kansas, in company with a friend from Indiana, Freeman James. After coming here each preempted a quarter section of land, Mr. Wolf taking the northwest quarter of section 5, Bruno township. He immediately began improving his claim. He first built a small cabin, 14x16 feet. He broke some prairie and remained on his claim until 1873, when he returned to Indiana, remaining until 1878, when he came back to his Butler county farm.

Mr. Wolf was first married in 1876 to Miss Mary Elliott, a native of Ohio. She died December 1, 1879, leaving one child. On February 23, 1883, Mr. Wolf was married to Miss Jennie Gray, a daughter of John Gray, a Butler county pioneer who emigrated from Ireland in 1869, and settled in Hancock county, Illinois, where he remained until 1879, when he came to Butler county with his family, settling in Bruno township.

He was a very successful man in a financial way and accumulated considerable property. He died May 12, 1915, and his wife died January 24. 1901. They were the parents of four children, of whom Mrs. Wolf was the third in order of birth. She was born on February 22, 1862.

The following children were born to Aaron Monroe and Jennie (Gray) Wolf: Tina, married A. E. Gilbert, Chillicothe, Mo.; Emerson, Bruno township; Lyell, Bruno township; E. W., Augusta, Kans.; Norman G., at home; Milton, at home; Floyd, at home, and Edna, at home.

Mr. Wolf came to Butler county with very little capital, and by his own unaided efforts, in the face of adversities which confronted the early settlers of the plains, he has raised a large family in a way that is a credit to both himself and his county, and accumulated a competence and is today one of the substantial and prosperous citizens of his county. He struggled through the lean and uncertain years of the early days in Butler county, but was never discouraged. His ancestors were men of resolute character, before whose determination the wilderness of Ohio vanished, and was succeeded by civilization and its institutions, and he emulated their example in the part that he has played in reclaiming the West. Mr. Wolf freighted between Emporia and Wichita, in 1870 and 1871, and after coming here, dug wells, cut wood, and, in fact, did anything to earn an honest dollar, and his industry and thrift of former days have been rewarded.

Mr. Wolf is a stanch Republican, and takes a keen interest in political affairs. For years he was a member of the school board, and served as director and treasurer for four terms. He has been justice of the peace since 1901 and notary public since 1905, receiving his first commission from Governor Hoch, and since that time, has been recommissioned a notary public by Governor Stubbs. He represents the Butler County Fire and Tornado Insurance Company, and the many details in connection with his various responsibilities makes a very busy man of Mr. Wolf. He is a member of the Anti Horse Thief Association, and one of Butler county's substantial citizens. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 769-771)

FOSKETT, HERMAN T.

Herman T. Foskett, a pioneer of Butler county and prominent farmer and stockman of Fairview township, was born in Medina county, Ohio, October 31, 1854, and is a son of Fordyce and Lydia (Phillips) Foskett. The father died in 1860, leaving the widowed mother and four children. Fordyce Foskett, the father, was born in Charlestown, Mass., December 16, 1816. He was the son of Hosea, who was also a native of Massachusetts, and a prosperous and well-to-do man for his time. He migrated from Massachusetts to Ohio with his family in the thirties, and Fordyce D. Foskett here met Lydia Phillips and they were married October 21, 1847. She was born in Bristol township, Ontario county, New York, July 6, 1827, a daughter of Daniel and Achsah (Simmons) Phillips, the former a native of Massachusetts, and the latter of Vermont. Daniel Phillips was a son of Zebulon Phillips, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and aid-de-camp to General Washington. In 1831 Daniel Phillips left New York State with his family and went by boat from Buffalo, N. Y., to Cleveland, Ohio, and from there to Huron county, where the family settled, and the parents spent the remainder of their lives.

Herman T. Foskett was one of a family of four children born to Fordyce D. and Lydia (Phillips) Foskett, as follows: Amarilla, now the widow of H. H. Hulbert, a pioneer settler of Butler county; Hosea G., deceased; Ella C. married P. W. Crawford, Seville, Ohio, and Herman T., the subject of this sketch. About ten years after the death of the husband and father, Mrs. Foskett and her son, Herman T., then a boy about sixteen years of age, left Ohio and came to Kansas, coming as far as Florence by rail. They lived about a year with Mrs. Foskett's daughter, Mrs. H. H. Hulbert, and in 1872 homesteaded a claim on section 17, Fairvew township. They built a small cabin, 12x14 feet, and bought a yoke of oxen and a wagon for $110. Mrs. Foskett wanted a cow and started out with her ox team and boy in search of some one who had a cow for sale. She was directed to a Mrs. Cowley, who lived two miles north of El Dorado, where she bought a cow, for which she paid $50, $5 for a pig, and fifty cents each for three hens and a rooster. When Mrs. Foskett had loaded her pig and chickens in the wagon and tied the cow behind the wagon and was ready to start' with her oxen, Mrs. Cowley remarked that when she reached home she could imagine that her place was well stocked, that the bawling of the cow, the bleating of the calf, the cackling of the hens, and the crowing of the rooster ought to make her think that she was living on a real farm.

Thus Herman Foskett and his mother started in the stock business in Fairview township, and in a few years they were well on the road to prosperity. They have always raised considerable stock and conducted quite a large dairy, keeping" from eighteen to twenty, cows. Mrs. Foskett's butter was always in demand and she found a ready sale at top prices for it. Even during grasshopper year, when other settlers were hard up, and many were forced to accept aid, the Fosketts were in a fairly prosperous condition. They had a nice orchard of about 100 trees when the grasshoppers came, and in order to save the trees from devastation, Mrs. Foskett went from time to time among them, shaking the grasshoppers off each tree and succeeded in saving the trees from complete destruction, which was the fate of most of the young orchards of the country.

Mrs. Foskett and her son operated the farm jointly until 1907, when Herman bought his mother's quarter and now owns 240 acres of well improved and productive land near Rock creek, a tributary of the Whitewater. Mr. Foskett was married in 1882 to Miss Euretta Rutherford, a daughter of Daniel Rutherford, who came to Kansas from southern Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs Foskett have been born two children: Edith L.: deceased, and Ethel Lydia. The Foskett family is well known in Butler county and are of the representatives of this county. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 771-772)

STEPHENS, H. CHARLES

H. Charles Stephens, a successful farmer and stockman of Fair-mount township, has been brought up in the stock business, and since his boyhood, has been identified with that industry on an extensive scale. Mr. Stephens is a native of Kansas, born at Peabody, September 22, 1884. He is the eldest son of Henry and Louisa (Merkle) Stephens, the former a native of Germany and the latter at Illinois. Henry Stephens was nine years old when he and his widowed mother immigrated to America and settled in LaPorte county, Indiana. A few years later, they removed to Iroquois county, Illinois. They remained there until about 1872, when Henry Stephens came to Kansas. He was about twenty-one years old then. He bought three quarter sections of land in Marion county, and after improving one quarter, he sold it at a very good profit and later he improved the other two quarters, building a large rock barn and a good residence, making of it the best improved farm in southwestern Kansas at that time, and sold it for $10,000, which was considered a high price in those days. Shortly after selling that property, Mr. Stephens bought ten sections of land in Butler and Marion counties and later established what was known as the Stephens Ranch on a part of it in Butler county. He stocked his place and engaged in the cattle business, following the old ranchers' ideas of handling cattle until 1895. He then conceived the idea of a better plan of conducting the cattle business. He built an elevator and equipped the place with proper machinery for grinding feed, etc., and in 1897, he bought twenty acres of land adjoining the Santa Fe stockyards at Peabody, where he built an elevator with a capacity of 50,000 bushels of grain, and installed modern machinery, and during the next four years, he fed and fitted for market over 6,000 head of cattle, and the combination of his ranch with this plan of feeding proved most profitable. In 1902, Mr. Stephens sold his elevator and feeding station, at Peabody, to Arnold Berns, who is now conducting the business along the plans which Mr. Stephens followed.

After selling the Peabody station, Mr. Stephens and his sons went to Jackson county, Missouri, where they bought 400 acres of land where they established a similar institution, and the youngest son, John Stephens, now owns and is operating it, successfully. Henry Stephens was a man of unusual foresight and business capacity. He came to Kansas with about $4,000 capital, and at the time of his death, November, 1913, his estate was conservatively estimated at $175,000.
H. Charles Stephens, whose name introduces this sketch, owns 400 acres in Fairmount township, which is a part of the original Stephens ranch, and is, no doubt, the best equipped ranch for cattle feeding today in Butler county. He has a commodious barn, 70x144 feet, grain elevator, and grinding machinery. His barn has a capacity of 200 tons of hay, and his stables are capable of accommodating 200 head of cattle. In addition to his extensive cattle feeding business, he is also breeding Percheron horses and mules on a moderate scale. However, cattle and hogs are the chief factors of his business.

Mr. Stephens was married in 1912, to Miss Julia Baird, a native of Comanche county, Kansas, and reared in Wyandotte county. Her father, H. L. Baird, was one of the first homesteaders in Comanche county, coming from Ohio to this State. Mr. and Mrs. Stephens have two children, H. Charles, Jr., born March 10, 1915, and Alice Louisa, born May 19, 1916. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 772-773)

WHITESIDE, THOMAS J.

Thomas J. Whiteside, a pioneer farmer and merchant, now deceased, was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, May 22, 1844, a son of Jenkin and Elizabeth (Neighbor) Whiteside, early settlers of Ohio. Jenkin Whiteside was a native of Tennessee, and a son of James Whiteside who emigrated from Ireland to the United States prior to the American Revolution. After coming to the United States James Whiteside, in the course of a few years, went to central Tennessee, where he was married and lived for many years, when he removed to eastern Ohio with his family and settled in the heavily timbered country near Wills Creek. He bought land in Coshocton county from a Philadelphia land company, who had bought a large tract of land when Ohio was still a part of the Northwest Territory. Here James Whiteside spent the remainder of his life.

Jenkin Whiteside was one of their younger children. He was born on the plantation in Tennessee and was a young man when his parents went to Ohio. He was married in Ohio to Elizabeth Neighbor, a native of Pennsylvania, her parents being of German descent. Jenkin Whiteside and wife were the parents of nine children, of whom Thomas J. was the fourth in order of birth. He grew to manhood on the farm in Coshocton county and attended the district schools. On August 22, 1862, he enlisted in company A, Eighty-eighth regiment, Ohio infantry, under the command of Captain Henley. They were of the Home Guard of Ohio and had the Knights of the Golden Circle under surveillance. He was discharged July I, 1865.

Mr. Whiteside was united in marriage to Miss Amanda Jane Roach, a native of Guernsey county, Ohio. She was born January 29, 1847, and was a daughter of William and Mary (Cochran) Roach, natives of Ohio. The Roach family came from Dublin, Ireland. Mary Cochran was a daughter of William Cochran. After their marriage Thomas J. Whiteside and his wife settled on a farm in Coshocton county and lived in Coshocton and Guernsey counties about three years, and in the fall of 1869 went to Iowa. In April, 1871, they started in a covered wagon to Kansas. The journey required about four weeks over bad roads and in wet weather and after reaching Humboldt, Kans., where the land office was located, they decided to locate in Butler county. After reaching Towanda, the party camped for a few days and Mr. Whiteside located a claim in Murdock township. They built a small sod house and covered it with a wagon cover, and lived in it that fall, when they moved into a more pretentious home where they lived until the fall of 1874.

After the ravages of the grasshoppers, and a deed for the farm was secured from the Government, the family started for Ohio and, after a stay of about a year in Illinois, they reached Ohio. In 1879 they returned to the Kansas farm where they lived until 1888, when they removed to Brainerd, where Mr. Whiteside owned a livery stable and general store. After the railroad was built through Whitewater, the livery stable was traded for land in Missouri and the family moved to Maries county, Missouri, where Mr. Whiteside died March 8, 1893, when the family returned to Butler county.

Mr. and Mrs. Whiteside were the parents of the following children: U. G., born February 22, 1866, Butler county; William C, born August 7, 1868, Whitewater, Kans.; Bertha E., born August 29, 1871, and died June 6, 1896; E. W" born September 21, 1873, Butler county, Kansas; Frank M., born January 20, 1877, died February 2, 1900; Thomas and Jennie, twins, born November 10, 1879, Jennie is now the wife of Roy Nye, Butler county. Kansas; John, born December 16, 1882; Olive M., born May 9, 1885, married C. H. Shuman, Butler county; Mary T., born December 5, 1887, married J. C. Fresh, El Dorado, Kans. All the members of the Whiteside family are industrious, thrifty and prominent in Butler county. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 773-774)

HULBURT, H. H.

H. H. Hulburt, a pioneer of Butler county, and an early day educator, now deceased, was born near Seville, Medina county, Ohio, March 22, 1848. His parent's were pioneers of the western reserve, a land grant located in the northern part of Ohio.

H. H. Hulburt was reared in Medina county, Ohio, and received a good common school education. On March 22, 1868, he was united in marriage, in Medina county, Ohio, with Miss Amarilla Norton Foskett, a daughter of Fordyce and Lydia Foskett, both descendants of pioneer American families. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Hulburt settled at Seville, Ohio, where Mr. Hulburt followed school teach-ing, principally, in the winter time, and farmed during the summer seasons.

In the spring of 1871, the Hulburt family came to Kansas, coming as far as Emporia by rail where they took the stage coach for El Dorado, arriving at the latter place at 1130 in the morning. Shortly after coming here, they homesteaded in Fairview township, their claim being the northeast quarter of section 26. Here they built a little cabin 12x14 feet, and began life on the plains of Butler county. In the fall of that year, Mr. Hulburt was employed to teach a school in Plum Grove town-ship, on the present site of Potwin, and for the next fifteen years, he was one of Butler county's well known and successful school teachers. He was also engaged in farming, although naturally, he was inclined to intellectual pursuits, and never ceased to be a student throughout his life. He was the first clerk of "Fairview township. He died July 6, 1898. He was a man of deep, religious convictions, a member of the Baptist church, and a good citizen.

After the death of Mr. Hulburt, Mrs. Hulburt continued the business of the place with the same uniform success, with which it had been previously conducted. Shortly before Mr. Hulburt's death they had bought eighty acres more, for which they had gone into debt. She soon paid out on this, and has prospered and made money. She has raised cattle extensively, and gone into dairying to quite an extent, and has won a reputation in that line of work for making a very superior grade of butter. She is a woman of unusual business ability, and has successfully carried out any projects which she has undertaken. She has been a member of the Baptist church for many years, and has been very active in the work of that denomination.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hulburt have been born five children, as follows: R. C. farmer, Fairview township; Grace, married Carl Parsley, and they live near El Dorado; Chester, lives at Meade, Meade county; "Laura, deceased, and two other children who died in infancy. The Hulburt family are well known in Butler county, and belong to the pioneers who reclaimed Butler county, from the great American desert, and builded one of the great counties in the State of Kansas. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 774-775)

FERGUSON, J. C.

J. C. Ferguson, a Butler county pioneer, who settled in the vicinity of Whitewater over forty-five years ago, is a native of Kentucky. He was born near Hartford, Ohio county, October 5, 1841, and is a son of John E. and Christine (Taylor) Ferguson, both also natives of Ohio county, Kentucky. John C. was the youngest of a family of six children, and he and his brother, G. W., are the only members of the family now living.

John C. Ferguson remained in his native State until 1865, when he removed to Illinois, locating in Macon county. At that time land could be bought in that part of Illinois for from $12 to $16 per acre, and Mr. Ferguson speculated some in city and suburban real estate during his residence of five or six years in Decatur, Ill. In 1870 he came to Kansas and settled on eighty acres of land in Butler county, which is now occupied by a part of the city of Whitewater. He remained there but a short time, however, when he filed on a quarter section, one mile east of the present site of Whitewater. His claim was "jumped," and for a number of years the matter was in litigation in the Butler county courts, and finally Mr. Ferguson received his land patent. He says that the litigation cost him considerably more than the land was worth at that time, but that he felt his claim to be a just one, and fought it out, regardless of costs or consequences, and won. He resided on this claim for a number of years when he sold it and bought some school land in Harvey county where he was successfully engaged in farming until 1908, when he removed to Whitewater where he has since resided, and is one of the substantial men of the community.

Mr. Ferguson was married October 22, 1879, to Miss Mattie E. Pershing, a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Isaac and Sarah Pershing, also natives of Pennsylvania. The Pershing family removed from Pennsylvania to Illinois, locating in Hancock county in 1855, when Mrs. Ferguson was four years of age. In 1875 they came to Kansas, locating in Butler county. Mrs. Ferguson died September 9, 1907. She belonged to that high type of American pioneer women and lived a consistent Christian life. Mr. Ferguson is a Democrat, and is inclined to liberality and independence in his political views. Mr. Ferguson passed through the many hardships, incident to pioneer life, nearly a half century ago. When he came to Kansas, Butler county was almost in its primitive state, and when he reached here he had less-than $25, but he was ready and willing to work for success, and he has succeeded. He is a man of strong will and tenacity of purpose when he believes he is right; and when he sets out to accomplish a certain thing, he is not easily persuaded to abandon his purpose. He has been a student of men and affairs all his life, and possesses a broad field of human knowledge, gathered from the experience of a lifetime. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 775-776)

SOWERS, WELLINGTON

Wellington Sowers, a prominent Butler county farmer and stock-man who has been a conspicuous success, was born in Coshocton county, Ohio. His parents were Adam and Elizabeth (Malloy) Sowers, the former a native of Germany. They were the parents of four children, as follows: Adam M., died at Leon, Kans., at the age of forty-one, and left a widow, who now resides in Oklahoma; Wellington S., the subject of this sketch; Frank, Warsaw, Ohio, and Mrs. Laura Lowery, Warsaw, Ohio.
Wellington Sowers was educated in the common schools of his native State, and after leaving school, worked by the month for thirteen years in Ohio and Kansas, and worked during that time for only two or three men. He says he "stole" the last employer's girl, for whom he worked, and has her yet. Mr. Sowers came to Kansas in 1885 and bought 520 acres in Bloomington township where he now lives. Since then, he has added 240 acres more to his holdings in Bloomington and Logan townships, and has followed farming and stock raising. His places are well improved with good dwelling houses, barns, feed granaries, etc. He usually keeps about 100 head of cattle, among which are some registered shorthorns, and twenty head of horses and mules, and sells a carload, or more, of hogs annually.
Mr. Sowers was married in April, 1890, to Mollie Butts of Little Walnut township. Her father, D. G. Butts, came to Butler county in 1870, and located in Spring township. He died in May, 1915. He was a prominent stockman and farmer, and well known throughout southern Kansas. Her mother, Rachel Butts, lives on the home farm.

Mr. and Mrs. Sowers have one son, Archie G., who married Grace Snodgrass, of Little Walnut. They are living on the home place in Bloomington township. Mr. Sowers is a progressive, public spirited citizen, and belongs to that type of men who do things every day. To the industry and ability of such men, Butler county owes its greatness. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 776-777)

KINSEY, P. R.

P. R. Kinsey, a leading merchant of Rose Hill, Kans., was born in Ohio, October 25, 1862. He is a son of A. E. and Sarah (Rimes) Kinsey, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of Pennsylvania. They were the parents of eight children, as follows: William, janitor of the Washington school, Wichita, Kans.; James L., died in Leadville, Colo., during Leadville gold excitement; Mrs. Branson, of Wichita, Kans.; P. R., the subject of this sketch; Charles E., Kansas City, Mo.; Mrs. Elizabeth Myers, Wichita, Kans.; Mrs. Sarah E. Landon, Derby Kans., and Albert, Topeka, Kans.

P. R. Kinsey came to Kansas with his parents in 1876; they located in Gypsum township, Sedgwick county, and bought 160 acres of school land. His parents spent their lives there. P. R. followed farming on his father's farm for a number of years, and in 1887, bought eighty acres, one mile north of Rose Hill. Since then he has bought eighty acres, which he sold a few years ago. Mrs. Kinsey inherited 160 acres of valuable land, making 240 acres in all. Mr. Kinsey has followed general farming and specialized rather in stock; he fed a carload of cattle every year, buying and raising calves, which he found to be very profitable. Mr. Kinsey left the farm in 1901, and came to Rose Hill, Kans., where he bought one-half interest in the Hall & Canfield store. The next fall, he bought Mr. Hall's interest, and has since been the sole owner and proprietor. He carries a stock of general merchandise which is kept up to the minute. He has a large patronage, which has been won by fair dealing and honest methods.

Mr. Kinsey was married November 28, 1886, to Mary J. King of Pleasant township. Her father, George King, was a pioneer of 1873. He was a native of Bedfordshire, near London, England, and died at Rose Hill, Kans., February 4, 1910, and is buried in Rose Hill cemetery. Her mother, Frances Jane Axtell, was also a native of Bedfordshire, England, and died at Rose Hill, February 5, 1907. Mr. King's hardest day's work, says his daughter, was when he walked eighteen miles to Wichita, cut a cord of wood and walked back home. The King family suffered many hardships in the pioneer days. The father cut wood on the Walnut river and hauled it with a team of horses to Wichita, where he sold it for $1.50 per cord. As Mr. Kinsey says, "That was not making money fast, but it kept them from starving."

Mrs. Kinsey had the dangerous and unusual experience of being bitten by a rattlesnake when a young girl. She was on the home place in Pleasant township, helping her father load oats at the time. The snake was thrown on the wagon with the oats where the girl was, and the reptile struck her three times with its poisonous fangs. Her father drove rapidly home, and then rushed to a neighbor, Mr. Sampson, one and one-half miles away for whiskey which he kept in the house. She lay for a week without being moved, and it was a miracle that her life was saved. She taught school for six years in Butler and Sedgwick counties, prior to her marriage. Her parents came direct from England and suffered many hardships before they got a foothold in the new country. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 777-778)

CAIN, CHARLES V.

Charles V. Cain, a Civil war veteran and early settler who has been a dominant factor in the development of Butler county, is a native of New York. He was born in Elmira, November 12, 1840, a son of William H. and Lucinda (Valleau) Cain, both natives of New York. William H. Cain was born in Oneida county, October 20, 1809, and died October 20, 1846. Lucinda Valleau was born in Tompkins county, November 11, 1813, and was a daughter of Theodore and Elizabeth (Linderman) Valleau, the father being a native of Orange county, New York, and the mother of Tompkins county. The Linderman family are of German descent, and the Vallcaus are descendants of French Huguenot stock, whose ancestors settled in North Carolina early in the eighteenth century. Lucinda (Valleau) Cain died in Butler county, September 15, 1899, at the home of her son, William H. Cain.

Charles V. Cain was six years old when his father died, and in 1852, when he was twelve years of age, his mother removed with her family to Ann Arbor, Mich. About a year later young Cain went to live with a sister of his father in Dupage county, Illinois. After remaining there about three years he returned to New York and worked on a farm at Horseheads, near his old home. In 1859, he went to Rockford, Ill., and the following spring went to Springfield, Ill. He was employed there by an old Kentuckian named Jack North. It will be remembered that Springfield was the home of Lincoln, and young Cain, who was an enthusiastic Republican, attended the ratification rally at Springfield, after the nomination of Lincoln and he was rewarded for his enthusiasm by his Kentucky employer, the next morning, by being "fired." He then returned to Rockford and entered the employ of F. H. Manny, a manufacturer of reapers who was a competitor of Cyrus McCormick.

He remained there until 1861, and a year later returned to Rockford, and on August 8, 1862, enlisted in Company K, Seventy-fourth regiment, Illinois infantry. His company was assembled at Rockford, and on September 28, went to Louisville, Ky., under the command of General Buell. They participated in the battles of Perryville and Nashville, after which Mr. Cain was taken ill and sent to a hospital where he remained until March, 1863. He rejoined his regiment at Murfreesboro in June, 1863, and afterwards guarded supply trains near Chattanooga, in the Sequa Tchie Valley. After the battle of Chickamauga his command joined the main army at Chattanooga and took part in that battle and also the battle of Missionary Ridge, and then was sent to Knoxville to the relief of General Burnside. During the winter of 1863 and 1864 he was detailed on foraging expeditions, and to operate grist mills in eastern Tennessee. They then went with Sherman and he was at the battle of Dalton and a number of other engagements along the line of that famous March, and after the fall of Atlanta, they were sent back to Nashville, and took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. On October 28, 1864, he was granted a thirty day furlough and upon his return served in the expedition in pursuit of the Confederate general Hood, and spent the winter of 1864 and 1865 at Huntsville, Ala., and in the spring of 1865, started on a march north, through the mountains of Tennessee, and was in that locality when Lee surrendered. He was then ordered back to Nashville, where he was mustered out in June, 1865, and discharged at Chicago, Ill.

Mr. Cain then returned to Dupage county, Illinois, where he remained until 1870, when he came to Butler county, Kansas, and bought 480 acres of school land for $4 per acre. Mr. Cain came to Kansas with a considerable amount of capital, compared with other settlers of that time, and was able to engage in farming and stock raising on quite an extensive scale, from the start. In the early days he gave employment to a large number of men in connection with his various enterprises and operations, and in that way helped the new country in a material way. He carried on large farming operations and prospered in the cattle business. In 1901, he sold most of his land, and since that time has lived in Potwin, practically retired.

Mr. Cain was married September 4, 1874, to Miss Nancy N. Wentworth, a native of Ross county, Ohio, and a daughter of George Wentworth. The Wentworth family removed from Ohio to Jackson county, Missouri, at an early day, and located near the Clay county line, in the neighborhood of where the James and Younger boys lived. George Wentworth was unable to serve in the army during the Civil war, but was a strong Union man, and was a member of the Missouri State militia. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cain: Estella V., married E. McCarty, Lincoln township, Butler county, and Lou R., married Mark H. Johnson, Princeton, Wis. Mrs. Cain died February 17, 1896. In 1913 Mr. Cain went to Choteau county, Montana, and homesteaded 160 acres of Government land which he proved up on, and received his final title October 16, 1914. He has improved his Montana place some and has a good comfortable house on it. Thus it will be seen that he has practically been a pioneer all his life, as the border line of the frontier moved westward, he has followed it.

Mr. Cain is a stanch Republican and has taken an active part in Butler county politics. He has served two terms as township trustee and was postmaster of Potwin for six years. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a charter member of the Knights and Ladies of Security of El Dorado, Kans., Lodge. He has always been interested in the welfare of the community, as well as the State and Nation and is a progressive citizen who heartily supports any worthy enterprise. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 778-780)

STRATFORD, E. D.

E. D. Stratford, one of the pioneer lawyers, of Butler county, was born in Vevay, Switzerland county, Indiana, October 15, 1852. He is a son of John and Sarah (Lewis) Stratford who were natives of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, respectively. They were the parents of three children: J. L. Stratford, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, now living at Creswell, Ore.; J. C, a photographer, also a resident of Creswell, Ore., and E. D., the subject of this sketch. E. D. Stratford attended the public schools in Indiana, and later took a course at Howard College, Kokomo, Ind., and after coming to Kansas he attended for a time the State Normal School at Emporia, Kans. He came to Butler county in 1873, and after teaching school a number of terms, read law with Judge A. L. L. Hamilton at El Dorado, and was admitted to the bar in 1878.

Since coming to Butler county, Judge Stratford has been actively identified with the Republican party. Shortly after being admitted to the bar, he was elected probate judge, and at the expiration of his first term, was reelected and served a second term. In 1887, he was elected to the legislature from the northern district of Butler county, and represented his district in the session which followed.

Mr. Stratford has always taken an active interest in educational matters, having served three years as one of the regents of the Kansas State Agricultural College, at Manhattan, and seven years as a member of the El Dorado board of education. Mr. Stratford was appointed a special agent of the United States General Land Office, in 1899, and served in that capacity four years, during which time he performed service, in Oregon, California, Oklahoma, Missouri and Alaska. He spent more than a year in Alaska, with headquarters at Sitka, during which time he became thoroughly acquainted with the geography and resources of that far off country.

In 1903, Judge Stratford returned to El Dorado and resumed the practice of law, associating himself with Vol. P. Mooney. This partnership continued for twelve years, or until Mr. Mooney was appointed probate judge by Governor Capper in September, 1915, to serve out the unexpired term of that office made vacant by the death of Judge McCluggage. Judge Stratford is now serving his second term as a member of the El Dorado city council.

Mr. Stratford was married, February 27, 1883, to Miss Jennie Long, who was born in Livingston county, Illinois, January 1, 1875. She was the daughter of Robert and Mary Long. Her father died when she was a child, and the mother brought the family to Butler county in 1876, and settled in El Dorado, where she became postmaster, holding that office for a number of years. To Mr. and Mrs. Stratford have been born six children, as follows: (Charles W., married Elsie Howe, who was born, educated and resided in El Dorado until her marriage; "Charley" has been for eight years connected with oil supply houses in Drumright and other points in Oklahoma. Oscar E., married Jessie Perry, well known in Kansas as a newspaper writer of unusual ability, who prior to her marriage was for some time editor of the El Dorado "Republican," and later a writer on the staff of the Wichita "Eagle;" Gussie, the only daughter, is a teacher in the El Dorado public schools; John R., a farmer in eastern Colorado; Ray A., a student at the State Agricultural College at Manhattan, and Clark, a student in the El Dorado High School. All the children have graduated from the El Dorado High School, except Clark, who is yet a student.

Judge Stratford has always been a progressive and public spirited citizen. No man in El Dorado has given more of his time and energy, for the material, and educational advancement than Mr. Stratford. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 780-781)

SHOWALTER, GEORGE M.

George M. Showalter, one of Butler county's successful farmers and stockman, is a native of Iowa, born in 1869. He is a son of Samuel and Belle Showalter; the father was born in West Virginia, and Belle Greenland Showalter, the mother, was born near Mt. Carroll, Ill. The Showalter family came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, in 1876, and located on a farm in Gypsum township, where the father bought 320 acres of land, which is still in the family Samuel Showalter died in 1904 in Wichita, and his wife now resides there in the home he bought prior to his death. 'This home is modern and commodious, very much in contrast to the one built on the old homestead in 1876, which was 12x16 feet, and in which they lived eight years.

George Showalter, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the country schools of Sedgwick county. His parents were very desirious that he should have a college education, and then take up the profession of law, but he chose farming and stock raising instead, in which he has made an unqualified success. He owns 1,200 acres in Pleasant township, which is one of the best farms in the county. It is well improved with a modern home, large barn 44x80 feet, silo 14x30 feet, with ten foot basement.

Mr. Showalter was married, in 1894, at Wichita, to Loretta Estella Swindell, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of Joshua Swindell, who came to Kansas in 1880, and settled in Pleasant township. Her mother was Gula Wilson, prior to her marriage. She was a native of North Carolina. Mrs. Showalter has three brothers living, as follows: Roscoe, Adolphus and Ernest. Mrs. Showalter's father came from Indiana to Arkansas, and from Arkansas, he came to Butler county with an ox team, and had twenty-five cents when he got here. He used oxen for several years after he came. Their first home was 14x16 feet, in which they lived ten years. Mrs. Showalter's father came with a mule team, as he thought horses could not live here then.

Mr. and Mrs. Showalter are the parents of nine children, all of whom are living at home, as follows: Floyd C, William E., Gracie L., Gula B., Roy E., Earl L., Worth L., Edna A. and Leburn G. Mr. and Mrs. Showalter have worked hard, and their efforts rave been crowned with success. Mr. Showalter has three sisters, all graduates from Kansas State Normal, and all of whom were very successful school teachers in Butler and Sedgwick counties. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 781-782)

CHURCH, JAMES H.

James H. Church was an early settler in Butler county, and is now a prominent farmer and stockman, and has contributed his share to the stock business which has made Butler county famous. Mr. Church was born in Champaign county, Ohio, in 1848, a son of R. W. and Mary (Reece) Church, natives of New York. There were seven children in the Church family, only one of whom, besides James IT., is now living, Mrs. Nancy Long.

James H. Church was only three years old when the family removed to Iowa. This was in 1851. He grew to manhood in that State and was educated in the public schools. In 1870, he came to Kansas and settled in Bloomington township, Butler county. He was engaged in farming and stock raising here about eighteen years, when he returned to Iowa, and after remaining here ten years he came back to Butler county in 1899. This time he settled in Walnut township, where he bought a quarter section of land, five miles southeast of Augusta, and has since been successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising and is one of Butler county's most substantial citizens. Although still undeveloped. Mr. Church's land lies in the rich oil and gas field in the vicinity of Augusta, and the mineral value of his property, at the present time, baffles the knowledge of the most skilled expert, as there are some large producing gas wells in the immediate vicinity or adjoining Mr. Church's place.

Mr. Church was married in 1877, to Miss Mary E. Sherwood, a resident of Bloomington township. She is a daughter of Martin Van Buren Sherwood, who now resides in Noble county, Indiana. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Church, only one of whom is living: Alva Reuben, born in Iowa, and now lives on the home place with his parents.

Mr. Church is familiar with pioneer methods and the real pioneer days of Butler county. When he came to this county he came by railroad to Junction City, Kans. He drove from Junction City, Kans., bringing with him three ox teams, and one team of horses. After settling in this county, he took an active part in the political organization of the county, and the promotion of its institutions. He took part in the organization of Bloomington township, and also of the Webster school district in that township, and assisted in building the first school house, which was constructed of native timber. This building was blown down by the storm in 1876, and another was built in its place, which has since been discarded and replaced by still another building. He was here when the< grasshoppers came in 1874, but says that the grasshoppers did very little damage to his crops as they were grasshopper proof that year, having been already burned up by the prolonged drouth. Mr. Church has a distinct recollection of how the hungry hopper horde swept over the plains and devoured every green vestige of vegetation, and says that the approach of the millions of these insects sounded like the coming of a great storm, and at first he thought that it was a storm.

Mr. Church is a member of the Fraternal Union, at Augusta, and is one of the substantial citizens of the community, who by his industry and thrift has accumulated a sufficiency of this world's goods. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 782-783)

HAYMAN, GEORGE F.

George F. Hayman, chief engineer of the El Dorado waterworks, belongs to a Butler county pioneer family. He was born in Meigs county, Ohio, on the banks of the Ohio river, in 1858, and is a son of H. H. and Emeline (Casten) Hayman, natives of Maryland. They were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Mary R. Hudson, who came to Kansas with her parents, and died here in 1875, and has a son, C. F., now living in Chicago; R. H., Middleport, Ohio; Thomas, died in Ohio; Mrs. Rosa A. Fountain, died in Butler county; C. A., night watchman at the Boston Store, Wichita, Kans.; George F., the subject of this sketch; H. C, resides on the old homestead in Fairview township.

George F. Hayman was about twelve years of age when he came to Butler county with his parents, in 1870. They settled on the northwest quarter of section 34, Fairview township, where the father homesteaded a claim. One of the daughters, Mrs. Hudson, and the eldest son, R. H., also homesteaded claims. The father died in 1873, and the mother passed away in 1883. George F. grew to manhood on the old homestead in Butler county, remaining there until 1890, when he went to Ohio, and remained in that State and in Chicago, Ill., until 1894. He then returned to Butler county, and on March 1, 1894, he entered the employ of the city of El Dorado in the waterworks department, as engineer, and has had charge of that department of the system for twenty-two years.

Mr. Hayman was married January 10, 1916, to Miss Millie Barker, of Eureka, Kans., a daughter of James Barker, who died in California in 1915, and the mother now resides at Pomona, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Hayman have no children, and reside in their cozy home, 211 Griffith street.

Although, comparatively a young man, Mr. Hayman is an old settler in Butler county. In fact, he is an older settler than he is a man, for the reason that he came here when he was a boy, and had an opportunity to observe many of the early day incidents and doings when they made a greater impression on his mind than they would a more mature person. He recalls the scarcity of food and the hardships of the pioneers, during the winter which followed the devastation of this section of the country by the grasshoppers, in 1874. During that time he recalls that a ray of hope came through the gloom of despondency to him, in the shape of a barrel of pork and a barrel or beans which were sent to him by an uncle who lived in Kentucky. The pioneers had other troubles in those days besides grasshoppers and scarcity of food. Ague was prevalent, and one thing that the early pioneers could always depend upon, no matter how uncertain the crops and the weather, and that, the chill was always sure to come at the regularly appointed time. However, the Hayman family, after suffering with the ague for several months, wrote to a doctor who was a relative of theirs, at Pocomoke City, Md., who prescribed "Fowler's Solution," which in a short time gave relief.

The early pioneers' lives were not all made up of grief, grasshoppers and ague; they had their amusements and pastimes which they enjoyed, perhaps fully as much as people enjoy what they call good times now days. They had their dances, the literaries, and other pastimes which have left bright spots in their memories. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 783-784)

POSTON, W. B.

W. B. Poston, a successful farmer and stockman of Butler county, was born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1859. He is a son of Archibald and Martha Poston, natives of Indiana. The former died in Wayne county, Indiana in 1871, and the latter died at Halstead, Kans., December 4, 1915. They were the parents of seven children, one of whom died in infancy. The others are as follows: Jacob, lives near Kinsley, Kans.; Mrs. Amy Hall, Castleton, Kans. She and her husband have fourteen sections of land near Jetmore, Kans., and are extensive stock raisers; John, unmarried, is in the mining business at Joplin, Mo.; Aurelius was a railroad man and was accidentally killed at Dodge City, Kans., in 1903; Angie died at the age of twenty-six at Halstead, Kans.

W. B. Poston was educated in the common schools of Indiana and has followed farming and stock raising all his life. He came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, March 1, 1878, with his mother, who was a widow. She had bought 160 acres there prior to coming, and the family located on this land. W. B. was the mainstay of the family and made the living. He came to Butler county in 1890 and took charge of the Jonathan Thomas farm at Rose Hill. Mr. Poston says he owed Thomas $520.00 when he came, and he paid eight per cent, on it. He had a hard time to make both ends meet, but he paid it off by hard work and good management. He bought hogs and cattle and fed them for the market. He bought the farm of Thomas Widar, in 1912, which consists of 140 acres, adjoining the townsite of Rose Hill. He paid $10,400 for the place, and has since improved it considerably, adding a silo and fencing the main farm, hog tight with cross fences. He buys cattle and feeds two cars each year and raises a great many hogs. He has fifty acres of alfalfa, and he says that alfalfa is the best crop grown on the farm. He fills his silos usually with kafir corn, but says Indian corn is the best for that purpose. "The main thing in any line of business is to know the details of it, and hustle," says Mr. Poston, and he thoroughly understands his line.

Mr. Poston was married November 24, 1887 to Lyclia Morris, of Valley Center, Kans. Her parents are both deceased. Her father, David Morris, was a native of Kentucky and died in Missouri. Her mother, Rebecca Kemper, was born in Indiana and died in Marion county, that State.

Mr. and Mrs. Poston have two children, as follows: Morris, a graduate of Emporia College. He also attended Chicago University one term, taught at Bucklin, Kans., one year and one year at Ft. Madson, Iowa. At present he is attending Ames Agricultural College, and also teaching, and Edith, a graduate of Emporia College, class of 1915, and teaches Latin and English in LeRoy High School, LeRoy, Kans.

Mr. and Mrs. Poston are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Rose Hill, Kans., and are well known and highly respected in the community. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 784-785)