Biographies of Woodson County, Kansas

WOODSON COUNTY, KANSAS

BIOGRAPHIES

AGNEW, WALTER J.

Walter J. Agnew is a young man of enterprising spirit, progressive, energetic and wide-awake to possibilities in business and to the opportunities of life in general. He is numbered among the native sons of Kansas and is a representative of one of the leading families of this portion of the state. He was born in Anderson County, November 8, 1866 and is a son of the late honored citizen of Center township. Woodson County - William Agnew - who was born in County Down, Ireland, near the city of Belfast, February 29, 1832. At the age of twelve years he was left an orphan. In his father's family there were six children of whom the surviving members are: Joseph, a resident of Rice County, Kansas; Mary, widow of Fred Brown, of Montreal, Canada, and Jennie, who is living in Glasgow, Scotland. After the death of his parents William Agnew resided with a Mr. Moffett, his maternal uncle, until sixteen years of age when he resolved to try his fortune in America. He came alone to this country and during his early residence in the United States remained in New York. He afterward became a farm hand in Pennsylvania and later in Ohio and thus he acquired a start in life gaining the nucleus of the handsome competence which he afterward acquired.

Upon his return to America after a visit to the Emerald Isle in 185_, Mr. Agnew at once came to Kansas, locating at Garnett, Anderson County. Not long afterward he was followed by the lady whom he wedded - Miss Mary Jane Gregg - and after their marriage they settled upon a homestead claim in that county, Mr. Agnew giving his attention to the improvement of his property and the cultivation of his fields until after the inauguration of the Civil war, when he offered his services to the government, enlisting as a member of Company G, Twelfth Kansas infantry. His command served in Arkansas and Missouri and he remained in the army for three and a half years loyally aiding his adopted country in her struggle to preserve the Union. He was mostly engaged in guard duty but participated in a number of skirmishes and minor engagements. When hostilities had ceased and the country no longer needed his aid he received an honorable discharge and returned to his home in Anderson County, where he continued his farming operations until 1871, when he removed to Franklin County. In 1873 he came to Woodson County and purchased a quarter section of land on Owl Creek. The land was in its primitive condition as shaped by the hand of nature, and with his usual energy and resolute purpose he began the development and improvement of the fields which he transformed into rich tracts. At the time of his death he had made the farm one of the most productive and attractive in this part of the state.

In his political views Mr. Agnew was a stalwart Republican and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his ability called him to the office of township trustee, in which he served for several terms. He was prominent in local political circles and was usually a delegate to the county conventions of his party where his opinions carried weight, as his judgment was known to be sound and reliable. He died December 19th., 1891 and his wife passed away on the 20th of February, 1896. Their children were: William F., of Woodson County; Walter Jr.; Elizabeth J. and Rosa M.

Walter J. Agnew secured his preliminary education in the district schools and supplemented it by study in Sanders' Normal, at Fort Scott, Kansas. He was trained to the work of the farm in his youth and on attaining his majority became associated with his father in business. He has always resided on the old homestead farm, and continued his business connection with his father until the latter's death. He has since managed the property and the well tilled fields and thrifty appearance of the place indicates his careful supervision and commendable business methods.

On the 29th, of December, 1897, Mr. Agnew was married to Miss Anna E. Bigelow, a daughter of Edwin W. and Margaret (McGavran) Bigelow, who came to Kansas in February, 1882, from Dupont, Indiana. Her father was born in Clinton County, New York, and died in Woodson County, Kansas at the age of sixty years. His children are: Edwin T., of Smithfield, Nebraska; Ray, wife of G. W. Simpson, of Council Grove, Kansas; William M., of Hotyt, this state: L. C. of Beckhan, Oklahoma; Charles H., of Elwood, Nebraska; Mrs. Agnew and Nelson L. and Margaret and Joy of the household. The Republican party receives the endorsement of Walter Agnew through his ballot at the polls and he keeps well informed on the issues of the day, but does not seek office as his time is occupied with his farming interests, whereby he is acquiring a gratifying measure of success. The family is one of prominence in the community, honored and respected for the possession of qualities of sterling worth. (Source: History of Allen & Woodson Counties, Kansas, by Duncan L. Wallace, 1901 pages 753-755, submitted by Peggy Thompson)

ALLEN, JOHN FRANKLIN

John Franklin Allen, postmaster, was born at Yates Center, December 22, 1889, son of Greenup J. and Florence Irene (Powell) Allen. Greenup J. Allen was born at LaPlata, Missouri, February 27, 1852, and farmed until his death at Yates Center, May 29, 1903. His wife was born at Cornwallis, West Virginia, June 6, 1862, and died at Yates Center, September 5, 1904.

John Franklin Allen attended school at Yates Center, graduating in 1908 and the following year attended Kansas State Agricultural College, where he was made a member of Sigma Theta Pi. Since August 8, 1923, he has held his present position as postmaster. He is a Republican.

He is a member of the Gilead Lodge No. 144 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the National Association of Postmasters, the Red Cross, the First Presbyterian Church, and the American Legion.

From August 5, 1917, until June 28, 1919, he served in the United States Army as mess sergeant, Company L, 137th Infantry, sergeant, 19th Company, General Service Infantry, Fort Logan, Colorado.

On September 8, 1919, he was married to Mamie Eva Starkebaum at Iola. She was born at Higginsville, Missouri, May 2, 1897. Residence: Yates Center. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 27)

CARROLL, WILLIAM

One of the most popular members of the county government of Woodson County is William Carroll, who has recently finished his second term as sheriff. Mr. Carroll has spent all his life since infancy in this section of Kansas, belongs to a family of pioneers of Woodson County, and his own career has been one of hard work and exceptional fidelity to every interest committed to his care.

He was born in Kane County, Illinois, November 2, 1868, but was brought to Kansas when about two years of age. His father, Michael Carroll, was born in Southern Ireland in 1829, and as a youth came to the United States in 1845. He lived in Kane County, Illinois, for a number of years, followed railroading and also spent several winters in the South working on the levees. In 1870 he brought his family out to Woodson County, Kansas and homesteaded eighty acres four miles north of Yates Center. There he and his family endured those ups and downs which where part of the fortune of every Kansas household in the early days, but altogether he prospered, did a good part by his family and was able to retire about a year before his death. He died on the old home farm in 1910. He was a loyal democrat, and a member of the Catholic Church. Michael Carroll married Miss Johanna Terrell, who was born in Ireland in 1835 and died on the farm in Woodson County in 1901. They had a large family of children: James who died in Woodson County in 1891; Mary, wife of M.F. Moore, who served as under sheriff with Mr. Carroll; Pierce, who died at the age of eight on the home farm in Woodson County; William C.; Dennis, who died in childhood in Woodson County; Frank, who also died young; John, a farmer in Woodson County; Mrs. Kate Kelley, whose husband is foreman in the cement plant at Iola, Kansas; Josie, wife of Martin Deviny, a carpenter at Neodesha, kansas; and Edward, who died in infancy.

William Carroll grew up in Woodson County, attended the rural schools for his education, and up to the age of fifteen remained at home and assumed such burdens and responsibilities as were proportionate to his strength. He began life as a farmer and continued along those lines for 16 1/2 years. The greater part of the time he spent with W.M. Cooper, one of the leading cattle men of this section. On leaving the service of Mr. Cooper he spent two years on the home farm, then for two years was with F.H. Conger, another cattleman, and for 8 1/2 years was with Mr. Bedford, a liveryman at Yates Center.

Mr. Carroll was elected sheriff of Woodson County in 1912, but in 1914 was re-elected. It was a splendid tribute to his personal popularity and his qualifications for the office that he was chosen on the democratic ticket in a county which is normally republican by fully 900 majority. Mr. Carroll had 367 votes more than his republican opponent. His present term of office expires in January 1916.

Mr. Carroll is a member of Oak Hill Lodge No. 71, Knights of Pythias, of Yates Center, of which he is a past chancellor commander, and is also a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is unmarried.(A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, Volume 5; by William Elsey Connelley; pg. 2562-2563; Lewis Publishing Company; Chicago and New York; 1918)

DAVIS, CALVIN ARTHUR

The superintendent of the Cudahy Refining Company at Chanute, Kansas, Calvin Arthur Davis, is one of the sons of the Sunflower state who has worked his own 'way to position and independence. A product of the farm, when he started upon his career his equipment consisted of ambition, determination and good common sense, and these qualities he directed so well that he soon became recognized as a man from whom large things could be expected. Promotion naturally followed, and his career has since been one of constant advancement.

Mr. Davis was born on a farm south of Fort Scott, in Bourbon County, Kansas, August 24, 1880, and is a son of Calvin and Hattie H. (Peterson) Davis. The family came originally from Wales and settled in Virginia, during the Colonial era, later branching out to Kentucky and other southern states. Luther Davis the grandfather of Calvin A., was born in 1815, in Kentucky, and prior to the Civil war was a planter and slaveholder near the city of Lexington. From Kentucky he went to Cumberland County, Illinois, where he farmed until the spring of 1877, at that time coming to Kansas and homesteading a tract of 160 acres of land in Butler County. There he passed the remaining years of his life in agricultural operations, becoming one of the substantial and highly respected citizens of his community. His death occurred on his farm, in 1885.

Calvin Davis, father of Calvin A., was born on his father's farm near Lexington, Kentucky, and was educated in the public schools of Cumberland County, Illinois, to which locality he was taken by his parents when a lad of seven years. He was reared as an agriculturist and followed that vocation in Illinois until the spring of 1878, when he came to Butler County, Kansas, as a pioneer, and homesteaded 160 acres of land near Eldorado. He remained there for only two years, however, and in the spring of 1880 took up his residence in Bourbon County, near Fort Scott, where he bought a partly-improved property. This he farmed until 1883, when he made another move, this time locating in Woodson, near Toronto, where he has a well-cultivated tract of eighty acres. Mr. Davis is still actively engaged in farming and stock raising and is known as a practical and progressive farmer and as a citizen who takes an interest in the community welfare and assists in beneficial movements. He is a democrat, but has not held office, and his fraternal affiliation is with the Modern Woodmen of America. He has held a number of lay offices in the Christian church, of which he has been a member since youth. Mr. Davis was married in Cumberland County, Illinois, to Miss Hattie H. Peterson, who was born in that county in 1852, and they have had the following children: Luther, who resides in Woodson County and is a farmer; Calvin Arthur; Audrey, who is the wife of John Harris, an oil tank builder of Oilton, Oklahoma; Omar, who is engaged in farming in Woodson County, Kansas; Orian, also an agriculturist there; Louis, who likewise follows the vocation of farming in Woodson County ; and Mabel and Caroline, who reside near Toronto with their parents.

Calvin Arthur Davis received only ordinary educational advantages in the public schools of Woodson County, where he completed the eighth grade course. However, he has made the most of his opportunities, and through observation and reading has made himself a well educated man. He was reared amid agricultural surroundings, remaining on the home farm until he was twenty-two years, of age, but did not care 'for the life of a farmer and, accordingly, in 1902, came to Chanute, where he accepted a minor position with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. During the three years that he was identified with this line he was promoted several times, and in 1905 left the employ of the railroad to enter the service of the Kansas Oil Refining Company, with which he remained two years, gaining a good working knowledge of the refining business. In 1907 he entered the employ of the Chanute Refining Company, and steadily worked his way upward to the position of superintendent, which office he has held since May, 1914. The plant was purchased by the Sinclair Oil Refining Company, in June, 1916, and the name changed to the Cudahy Refining Company, Mr. Davis being retained in the capacity of superintendent, a position for which he is singularly fitted by training and experience. The plant of this concern is situated one and one-half miles south of Chanute, and has a daily capacity of 2,700 barrels, oil coming from the Oklahoma fields. Mr. Davis is the owner of his own residence, at No. 1302 South Forest Avenue, Chanute, and a valuable farm of eighty acres four miles south of Chanute. In politics he is a democrat, but has found his time occupied with his business to an extent that keeps him from taking more than a good citizen's interest in public matters. He is fraternally affiliated with Cedar Lodge No. 103, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Chanute Camp No. 852, Modern Woodmen of America.

In 1904 Mr. Davis was married at Yates Center, Kansas, to Miss May Austin, daughter of Steve and Rachel (Rhoades) Austin. Mr. Austin, who was a farmer, is now deceased, but the mother still survives and makes her home at Toronto. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have two children: Fay, born April 21, 1907, and Clair, born August 11, 1910. (A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, By William Elsey Connelley, Submitted by Barbara Ziegenmeyer)

HAMM, JAMES (Sister of Sarah Elizabeth Hamm)

James W. Hamm, one of the enterprising young business men of Humboldt, was born in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1865. His father, William B. Hamm, (born 9 Aug 1832 D Clairon PA died 6 Nov 1887 Allen Co, KS) was also a native of the Keystone State, and was a carpenter by trade, following that pursuit for many years in Pennsylvania. In 1878 he removed to Kansas, locating on a farm five miles northwest of Humboldt, in Woodson County, where he carried on agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred in 1887, when he was fifty-five years of age. His widow still survives him and is now living in Humboldt. She bore the maiden name of Catharine M. Servey, is a native of Clarion County, Pennsylvania, (b 30 Jun 1885 and died 21 Apr 1909 Yates Center KS) and was married in 1852. By their union were born six children, one of whom died in childhood, while five are yet living, namely: Mrs. Mary Weckerly, of Yates Center, Kansas; John C., one of the leading attorneys of Evanston, Wyoming; Sadie, (Sarah Elizabeth Hamm) now Mrs. (Millard) Kesterson, of Portland, Arkansas; James W. of this review and Albert, who is living with his mother.

James W. Hamm pursued his education in the public schools of Pennsylvania until fourteen years of age and only attended school for six months after coming to Kansas. He was, however, an extensive reader of newspapers, and thus in the evenings, after the day's work was done, became familiar with the events that mark the world's history. He worked upon the home farm until 1886, when, in connection with his brother, J. C. Hamm, he purchased the Allen County Courant, a Democratic paper published in Iola. They continued to issue that journal for two years, when they sold the plant to A. C. and W. W. Scott, who removed it to Oklahoma and established there the Oklahoma Journal. After disposing of his interests in that journal Mr. Hamm spent some time in travel and was for a short time a resident of Evanston, Wyoming, but in 1890 returned to Humboldt, and in that year was married. After his marriage he settled on a farm north of the city, and there still resides, giving a part of his time to agricultural pursuits in connection with other business affairs. He was for some years general agent for the Page Woven Wire Fence Company of Adrian, Michigan. In 1897 he engaged in the ice business, erecting a small plant which he operated in connection with an ice house on the bank of the river, the building having a capacity of seven hundred tons, which he fills with ice sufficient to supply a large patronage through the hot summer months. He has recently added to his manufacturing enterprises a sorghum mill and evaporator, which is operated by steam and has a capacity of two hundred gallons per day, also a hydraulic cider press, the name of the firm now being Hamm Bros. (Transcribed & submitted by Christine Walters)

HOFFMAN, SAMUEL E.

Samuel E. Hoffman was born in Pennsylvania about 1835. He came to Kansas from Iowa, locating in Neosho Falls, Woodson county, in 1858, being the first lawyer in the county. He was a member of the Wyandotte constitutional convention in 1859 and was elected to the first state senate. He was also one of the agents appointed to select lands granted to the state by the general government, 1861-62. He is now a resident of St. Louis, Mo., and engaged in banking. (Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society 1907-1908, Vol. X, edited by Geo. W. Martin, Secretary, State Printing Office, Topeka, 1908, page 239)

LAIDLAW, H.T.

One of the biggest crops of Kansas is the hay crop. The buying of hay from the individual producers and its marketing naturally forms a big business in itself. It is the distinction of H.T. Laidlaw, of Yates Center, that he is the premier hay merchant of Kansas. In certain years, if not as a regular thing, he has undoubtedly handled greater quantities of hay than any other individual dealer in the state. Mr. Laidlaw is a well known business man of Yates Center, and is one of the leading cattle men of that locality.

His ancestors came out of Scotland and were Colonial settlers in New York. His father, Thomas Laidlaw, was born in Delaware County, New York, in 1829. He grew up in his native county and as a young man removed from Canada, where he married Mrs. Catherine (Robinson) Laidlaw, wife of a distant relative. She was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, in 1830, and died in Bourbon County, Kansas, in December 1881. Thomas Laidlaw followed farming in the Province of Ontario, and at Sparta in that Province H.T. Laidlaw was born January 31, 1861.

When the latter was seven years of age the family came to Kansas in 1868, Thomas Laidlaw acquiring an undeveloped farm in Bourbon County. In May, 1884, he removed to Yates Center, and became associated with his two sons in the hay and cattle business. He continued more or less active in these lines until his death in February, 1906. He was an influential republican, served as township treasurer and for a number of years filled the office of alderman at Yates Center. He was also a liberal giver and worker in the Methodist Church, and served as deacon and trustee. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Laura Belle, wife of W.C. Baker, a bookeeper and stenographer living at San Francisco, California; John W., who for the past thirty years has been a farmer in Sedgwick County, Kansas; H.T. Laidlaw; and Charles B., who for many years was a partner of H.T. Laidlaw at Yates Center, still retains buiness interests there, but is making his home at Orange, California.

H.T. Laidlaw passed through the grade schools in Bourbon County, and his life was lived on his father's farm until 1884. In that year he came to Yates Center and with his father and brother Charles engaged in the hay and cattle business. Since 1903 Mr. Laidlaw has handled this large business on his own responsibility. Mr. Laidlaw ships hay to nearly every state of the Union. He also does an extensive cattle business on his fine ranch of 1,920 acres situated 3 1/2 miles south of Yates Center. That ranch is the home of about 200 head of high grade Hereford cattle.

Mr. Laidlaw has a fine home on South Main Street, having built his modern residence at the cost of $5,000 in 1907. He also has a half interest in a business block in Yates Center, and was formerly vice president of the Yates Center National Bank. For two terms he gave his home city a vigorous administration as mayor, and for a number of years filled a place in the council. In 1910-1912 Mr. Laidlaw represented Woodson County in the State Legislature. During his term he was a member of the ways and means, telephone and telegraph, local judiciary and other important committees. A measure he introduced was one to compel railroads to furnish a physical valuation of their property. This bill passed the House but met defeat in the Senate. Mr. Laidlaw is a trustee of the Yates Center Episcopal Church.

In 1889, at Yates Center, he married Miss Annie Knight. Her mother, Mrs. Mary Knight, lives with Mr. and Mrs. Laidlaw. They have one child, Paul K., who married Pearl Cantrell, and they make their home on Mr. Laidlaw's ranch. (A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, Volume 5; By William Elsey Connelley; page 2563; Lewis Publishing Company; Chicago and New York; 1918)

LAMB, ARNOTT R.

Arnott R. Lamb of Coffeyville, an able and prominent member of the Montgomery county bar, bears the distinction of being a native Kansan, having been born in Toronto, Woodson county, Dec. 8, 1887. He is a son of Giles H. and Bessie (Shipp) Lamb, both of whom are natives of Warren county, Indiana, where the former was born Feb. 22, 1859. Both parents were reared in Indiana and were married there prior to their coming to Kansas in 1882. They first located on a farm near Toronto, but later removed to the town of Toronto, where the father of Mr. Lamb was principal of the public schools for about three years. The senior Mr. Lamb took up the study of law, was admitted to the bar, and later was elected county attorney of Woodson county, after which he removed to Yates Center, the county seat of Woodson county, where he has continued to reside to the present time (1911). He has gained an enviable reputation in the legal profession and in politics. In 1897 he was elected state senator as the Republican candidate, and as a law maker won the respect and admiration of his constituents and of the general public.

Arnott R. Lamb was reared at Yates Center and there received his early scholastic training. He was graduated in the Yates Center High School at the age of sixteen, and when seventeen years of age he became a teacher in the schools at Piqua, Kan. He then entered the law department of the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, where he was graduated in 1908. After his admission to the bar in that same year Mr. Lamb located at Coffeyville, Kan., where he has steadily advanced toward the front in his profession. In politics he is a stanch Republican and, in 1910, was elected judge of the Coffeyville city court to serve for a term of two years.

In 1909 Mr. Lamb was united in marriage with Miss May Davis of Parsons, a granddaughter of J. W. Peak, a well known citizen of Parsons, Kan. (Kansas Biographical, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, pages 842-843, Transcribed as written by: Millie Mowry)

TRUEBLOOD, RICHARD HARRISON

When it comes to long continued service in the newspaper field, some mentioned must be made of Richard Harrison Trueblood, who has been identified with the Yates Center News for fully thirty years, is its editor and manager, and more than anything else his energy, his knowledge of journalism, have been effective in making that not only the official paper of Woodson County but a strong and vital organ of public opinion in that section of the state.

Mr. Trueblood comes of long-lived and sturdy family stock. He is not the only living representative of his family. His father is alive, he has brothers and sisters who are doing their part to make the world better, and so far as known there is not a single one of the name since the original ancestry came out of England and settled in North Carolina in colonial times who have done anything to discredit the lineage.

Going back to one of the early generations, Mr. Trueblood's great-grandfather was Mark Trueblood. He was born in North Carolina in 1786, a few years after the close of the Revolution, but before the thirteen colonies has been knitted together as an undivided and indivisible nation. Mark Trueblood had the spirit of the pioneer. He crossed the mountains and found a hoome in the old Northwest Territory, settling in Lawrence County, Indiana, when Indiana was still a territory. Late in life he retired to Daviess County, Indiana, and died there in 1868. He had been reared by a Quaker and was always faithful to that religion. His wife was Millington Askin, who was born in North Carolina and died in Indiana at the age of sixty years. A brief notice of their children is as follows: William, who died in Sullivan County, Indiana, where he was a farmer; Jesse, mentioned below; Richard, who was a farmer and died in Daviess County, Indiana; Henley, who spent his life as a farmer in Daviess County; Millington, who died in Greene County, Indiana, the wife of Doctor Hilburn.

Jesse Trueblood, grandfather of R. H. Trueblood, was born in the Territory of Indiana in 1814 and was three years of age when Indiana became a state of the Union. He grew up in his native state, married there and spent his life as a farmer. Politically, he was a whig in the early days and subsequently became a republican, and though reared a Quaker he afterwards joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died in Daviess County in 1890. Jesse Trueblood married Charlotte Scott, who was born in Indiana in 1819, and died on the old homestead in Daviess County in 1891. Their children were: Phoebe J., who married Nathaniel Chambers, and they came to Kansas as pioneers of the territory and homesteaded land in Woodson County in 1858, spending their last years in that county; Mark, who is a retired farmer living at Loogootee, Indiana; Henry S. mentioned below; William H., a farmer in Daviess County, Indiana; Richard, who was a soldier of the Union army, and spent the rest of his days as a farmer in Daviess County, where he died in March, 1916; Martha, who died in Daviess County in 1876, the wife of Peter Ragle, now living a retired life in Daviess County; Almira, who lives at Odon, Indiana, the widow of John Hayes, who was a farmer; Jesse C. a physician and surgeon at Loogootee, Indiana; James, on a farm in Daviess County; Alice, wife of Albert Stickles, farming people in Daviess County; Elizabeth, wife of Fred Shaffer, a farmer in Daviess County; John, on the home farm in Daviess County; Sarah A., who died in 1900 in Daviess County, the wife of Mr. Smiley, who is a farmer still living there. There were thirteen children in this family and as noted all of them grew to manhood and womanhood.

Henry S. Trueblood, who is himself a pioneer of Woodson County and now resides at Yates Center, was born in Greene County, Indiana, December 9, 1838. He was educated in the rural subscription schools maintained in the early days of Daviess County, Indiana. His life was spent on his father's farm until he was nineteen, and after that he clerked in a store three years, and then followed farming in Indiana for ten years. He came to Kansas and settled in Woodson County in 1871, taking up a homestead of eighty acres on Turkey Creek. He made that his home for about eight years, and had experience of the usual vicissitudes enjoyed or suffered by Kansas people of that decade. He became well known over the county and following his election to the office of county clerk removed to Yates Center. He was county clerk four years, and prior to that had served four years as trustee of Liberty Township. After his retirement from the office of county clerk he and A. F. Palmer engaged in the mercantile business and their relationship was dissolved only by the death of Mr. Palmer. Mr. Palmer's place was taken by E. L. Gault, and the firm of Trueblood & Gault is still in existence, and one of the principal firms for the handling of general merchandise in Yates Center. They have a large and well equipped store on Main Street. Henry S. Trueblood also owns a farm on Turkey Creek, and has a residence on East Rutledge Street.

He is an active member of Woodson Post No. 185, Grand Army of the Republic, and is serving as its quartermaster. In January, 1865, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fourty-third Indiana Regiment of Infantry with Company K and was with the Union armies until mustered out October 24, 1865, at Nashville, Tennessee. His principal service was in Tennessee, and for a time he was stationed at Fort Donelson. His brother, Richard Trueblood, above referred to, had enlisted in August, 1861, in Company C of the Twenty-seventh Indiana Infantry, and was in service three years, during the most bitterly fought portion of the war. He was with the Army of the Potomac, participated in many of its engagements, including Antietam, and in the three days' battle of Gettysburg he was wounded and was again wounded during the Atlanta campaign at Resaca.

Henry S. Trueblood gives vigorous expression to his advocacy of the republican party, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was formerly affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belongs to Yates Center Lodge, No. 99, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and to the Commercial Club of Yates Center.

In 1861 in Daviess County, Indiana, he married Miss Julia Gowan. He was born in Greene County, Indiana, in 1842. Their children are: Richard H.; William H., who served as register of deeds in Woodson County four years and is now assisting with the Yates Center News; Charles A., who for the past eighteen years has been assistant postmaster at Yates Center; Cora B., who died in infancy, and Clara A., who died when one year old; Flora D., wife of E.L. Gault, a Yates Center merchant and business parter of Henry S. Trueblood; Lillian E., who resides at home with her parents.

Richard Harrison Trueblood was born in Daviess County, Indiana, January 15, 1863, and was about eight years of age when the family came to Woodson County. As a boy he attended the rural schools kept in Liberty Township, and the first eighteen years of his life were spent quietly and without special event on his father's farm. On leaving home he came to Yates Center, and attended school there one year, at the same time serving his apprenticeship in the printing trade. He learned the art preservative with the Yates Center News, and in July 1886, bought an interest in that old and influential journal. Since then he has been editor and manager and his business partner in the ownership is F.L. Stephenson, president of the Commerical Bank of Yates Center.

The Yates Center News was established in 1877 by Abe Steinbarger. It has published the news fearlessly and has advocated its convictions of right with equal fearlessness now for forty years. It is republican in doctrine and has a large circulation over Woodson and surrounding counties. The plant and offices are well equipped, and modern machinery prevails, though in the early days of the newspaper's history its equipment was somewhat primitive.

Mr. Trueblood has always been personally identified with the welfare of the republican party in his section of Kansas. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, belongs to the State Editorial Association, to the Yates Center Commercial Club and has held all the subordinate offices in Gilead Lodge No. 144, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Yates Center. His home is on Rutledge Street, and he also owns the building on Main Street in which the News in published.

In April, 1913, at Wichita, Mr. Trueblood married Miss Jessie M. Hulsey, daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth A. Hulsey. Her father was a farmer in Georgia and is now deceased. Her mother resides with Mr. and Mrs. Trueblood. The latter have one child, Richard Hulsey, born in June, 1914. (A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, Volume 5; By William Elsey Connelley; pages: 2260-2263; Lewis Publishing Company; Chicago and New York; 1918)

HUNT, MELVIN E.

No more capable officer has ever filled the position of sheriff in Woodson County than Melvin Ellison Hunt who for two terms acted in that capacity, discharging his duties without fear or favor. He is now extensively engaged in dealing in stock and is accounted one of the enterprising and prosperous business men of Yates Center.

A native of the neighboring state ofMissouri. Mr. Hunt was born in Schuyler County on the 2d of April, 1852, a son of Jesse Hunt, one of the pioneers of that locality, who was descended from a prominent family of Virginia. One of his brothers went to Idaho at a very early day and there reared his family including a son who is now governor of that state. Jesse Hunt was born in Louisville, Kentucky, about 1816, and in 1842 removed to Schuyler County, Missouri, where he spent his remaining days, following the dual pursuit of farming and stock raising. He was not long permitted to enjoy his new home however for his death occurred in 1854. In Tennessee he was united in marriage to Miss Martha E. Hale, who died in Schuyler County, Missouri, in 1886. Her father, William Hale, was one of the most extensive slaveholders of eastern Tennessee. He was a native of Virginia and had several sons and daughters, the most of whom spent their lives in Tennessee and Kentucky. Unto Jesse and Martha (Hale) Hunt were born the following children: James, who died in Jasper County, Missouri; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Wesley Redifer, her death occurring in Dallas County, Missouri; Hulet, who died in Schuyler County, Missouri; Martha, the wife of William McVey, of that county; Minerva, wife of J. B. Mud, of the same country; Jesse, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church located in _____, Missouri; Melvin E., of this sketch and George who is living in Woodson County.

Melvin E. Hunt was reared in the usual manner of farmer lads. His educational privileges were limited and experience has been his most efficient teacher, her lessons proving of value to him in the practical affairs of life. At the age of seventeen years he started out to make his own way in the world, working on ranches and farms, first in Missouri and later in Clay County, Texas. Returning to the former state he then engaged in farming and stock-raising on his own account and in 1884 he came to Woodson County, arriving in the month of March. He first located in Liberty township where he engaged in the raising of stock and grain following those pursuits until elected to the office of county sheriff when he removed to Yates Center. In 1895 he defeated the Republican candidate for that office by three hundred and seventy-five votes and in 1897 he was again elected by an increased majority, a fact which clearly indicates that his duties had been discharged most acceptably promptly and faithfully. His record on retiring from office as spotless as when he entered it and four years of creditable service were added to his life's history. On the 1st of January, 1900 he retired from office and resumed his former business of dealing in stock, of which he is such an excellent judge that his labors have been crowned with a very gratifying degree of success.

Mr. Hunt was married in Schuyler County, Missouri, March 8, 1872, to Cordelia V. Huff, a daughter of George Huff, who throughout the greater part of his active business career resided in the vicinity of Rock Island, Illinois. After his death his widow married Charles Shaw. By her first marriage she had two children -Mrs. Hunt and George, the latter a resident of Pratt County, Kansas. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have been born three children; Willard E., who married Blanche Hyde and is now with the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company; Charles of Yates Center and Marvin who is still with his parents.

In his social relations Mr. Hunt is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias and an Odd Fellow and in the last named organization has taken all the degrees. He has been a staunch Democrat in politics since casting his first presidential vote for Samuel J. Tilden and has always taken a deep and abiding interest in the success of his party and in the promotion of public interests intended for the general good. (Source: History of Allen & Woodson Counties, Kansas, by Duncan L. Wallace, 1901 pages 755-756, submitted by Peggy Thompson)