1903 Biographies - Cloud KSGenWeb (2024)

DR. JAMES COLLINS.

Dr. Collins has proven himself to be a man especially adapted to his profession. He is a native of North Carolina, born in Jonesville, Yadkin county, a division of Surrey county, in 1836. His father was William Collins, of Scotch and English parentage, who settled in Maryland, and subsequently in North Carolina, where he was born in 1789. William Collins was a veteran of the war of 1812. He endured many hardships, and at various times was on the verge of starvation. The soldiers of that day did not fare so well as the gallant "boys in blue" under the present government. He participated in the thickest of the fight in the battle of New Orleans. His company was mustered out at Mobile after two years service. He with seven of his comrades were left there sick and penniless, all suffering more or less from illness. They started on the return trip bound for their respective homes carrying the weaker ones on stretchers. William Collins was one of the three who survived and reached their homes.

Dr. Collins has a relic, a pair of steelyards, in his possession which he values highly, not only for their intrinsic worth, but as the only article he retains of his father's personal property. They were presented to William Collins from the hands of that illustrious soldier and statesman, Andrew Jackson. He gave them to him as a means of defense to slug the darkies with who came up to interfere, and to weigh articles of food - they weighed everything used in the commissary department. William Collins was a farmer by occupation. He died in 1852, at the age of sixty-three years. His father was a Revolutionary soldier. His mother lived to be one hundred and four years old. Dr. Collins mother was born in Stokes county, North Carolina, in 1797, and died in East Tennessee in 1856.

Dr. Collins is one of a family of eight children, only two of whom are living, himself and a sister, Sarah - widow of Hezekiah Jackson, who died in the hospital at Atchison, in 1901, leaving a wife and ten children. He was a farmer living in the vicinity of Simpson. A brother, Dr. Lewis Collins, was one of the most noted and successful practitioners in the country - a better practitioner than financier. His death resulted from being thrown from a spirited horse. He was hurled over an embankment and his neck broken. He died in Logan township, Mitchell county, Kansas, in 1883, leaving a wife and five children. Dr. Lewis Collins brought in a herd of fine Shorthorn cattle in 1875, which was one of, if not the first, herd of Shorthorns in the country.

Dr. Richard Collins, a dentist, who lived on a farm near Simpson and practiced his profession there and in Glasco, died unmarried in April, 1895. The eldest brother, Anderson Collins, was one of the first settlers to locate a claim on Lost creek. He was a prosperous farmer and stockman. He died in 1880, leaving a wife and large family of children. He had gone to Nebraska City on business, and died while there. Mary K., wife of Jesse L. Knight, died in Beloit in 1895, leaving one son and a daughter; Dr. Knight, the dentist of Glasco, is the son.

Dr. James Collins began the study of dentistry early in life, arid when they used practice as well as theory. At the age of seventeen years he went to his mother's family in Ray county, Tennessee, where he followed his profession for ten years in Knoxville, Kingston and various other places. From Tennessee he went to Somerset, Kentucky, where he practiced two years, in the meantime serving the Twenty-second regiment - which was stationed at Somerset - with dentistry. In 1864, he emigrated to Nebraska and settled on a farm in Nemaha county, where he lived until coming to Kansas.

He visited the beautiful Solomon valley while on a buffalo hunting expedition, and while looking over the ground with a view to locating, he inquired if his present farm was for sale, and instructed them to notify him if at any time it should become so. Henry Ashley, the original owner, decided to sell and per agreement, notified Dr. Collins, who bought the land through an agent. There were, practically speaking, no improvements; three acres of breaking and a log cabin, whose low timbers would not admit of an ordinary sized man standing erect. He now owns with his children two hundred and eighty acres of land. In 1881 Dr. Collins bought six Jersey cattle and has raised from them a herd that excels any Jersey stock in the country. He sold seventeen milch cows in one day during the year 1900. He keeps on an average from thirty-five to forty head and has a regular Jersey stock farm.

Dr. Collins is still active in his profession, has a portable office and an extended practice. When the law was passed in Kansas requiring the dentists to undergo a thorough examination he submitted papers which were pronounced as good as any in the state. He holds a first grade diploma, given by the State Dental Board of Examiners of Kansas. Dr. Collins took an active part in the populist movement until their ardor simmered down and left him neutral. He was one of the organizers of school district No. 39, and has been almost continuously a member of the school board. He was married in 1861, to Minerva Nall, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Rankin) Nall.

Thomas Nall was born and reared in Georgia, whose parents were an old family of southern proclivities. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was mustered out at Mobile. Mrs. Collins' paternal grandfather and four of his brothers, served through the seven years of the Revolutionary war, and all lived to relate the thrilling tales of experience. Mrs. Collins' mother was born in Green county, Tennessee. Her maternal grandfather was from England; her maternal grandmother was Scotch. Mrs. Collins was born in Bledsoe county, Tennessee, where her father emigrated from Georgia. She was one of three living children; a brother, James Nall, a retired miner of Josephine, Oregon is eighty-four years old. Until the summer of 1900 she had not seen him since she was three years old. She has a sister, Elizabeth Tollett, who lives in East Tennessee.

Mrs. Collins is the "Good Samaritan," or mother of the community. She has ministered to the needy and done more to alleviate suffering than any one individual in the vicinity of her home. She is kind, a benevolent woman and every worthy person receives recognition from her gentle and bountiful hand. The Collins family consists of six children, who are all useful members of society.

Thomas, a farmer of Lincoln county, whose wife was Susie Rushton, a daughter of Enos Rushton. They are the parents of five children, viz.: Flora, Nellie, Joseph, Enos and Susie. May began teaching, but prefers assisting her mother with the household duties. Jane, who graduated from the Southeastern Business College, of Wichita, Kansas, in 1894, has just entered upon her eighteenth term. She is employed the present year at Fairview. William, stationary engineer at Randall, Jewell county, Kansas, studied and practiced dentistry, but prefers engineering. Lola, who has been a teacher for six years, is a student at the Salina Normal University. Like her sisters she is a successful teacher. James, associated with his father on the farm, is a good-natured, energetic boy, and has a kind word for everyone.

HENRY COLTON.

Henry Colton is a progressive farmer and one of the most extensive breeders of hogs in the county. He has at this writing (November, 1901) one hundred and ten head of fine thoroughbred Chester Whites that are his especial pride. Among this number are fifty-two which he is feeding for the market. He has six brood sows whose increase aggregates fifty-six pigs. He has one pedegreed sow and nine thoroughbred pigs. Mr. Colton raises on an average from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and seventy pigs annually. During the month of September, 1900, he sold ninety-three April pigs for six hundred dollars; lumped them off to a Kansas City hog buyer. The proceeds of his sales in 1900 were $1,285.

The first ten or a dozen years of Mr. Colton's sojourn in Kansas he says "he had to rob Peter to pay Paul," and "rob Paul to pay Peter," but he had worked other people's land long enough and wanted a farm of his own, so he came to Kansas, the poor man's land, to secure one. In March, 1884, he bought what was the original homestead of John Pace, one of the early settlers of Cloud county. Mr. Colton put most of the improvements on the farm, remodeled the house, erected a substantial barn, sheds, a model and modern poultry house, etc. He was burdened with a debt of two thousand nine hundred dollars hanging over his head, but 1900 found him one of the most prosperous farmers and stockmen in the Solomon valley, with his farm clear of debt. He bought corn, fed hogs and raised good wheat; these were the industries that brought him to the front. He has been very successful the past four years.

Mr. Colton is a native of Jefferson county, New York, born February 12, 1838. He is a son of William Henry and Lucretia (Felt) Colton. His father was a Canadian by birth and served in the Patriot war of 1838, from which he never returned and was presumably killed. He was a blacksmith and wagon maker by occupation. The Felt ancestry were from the Green Mountain country of Vermont, and subsequently settled in Jefferson county New York. To this union three children were born. Edward and Edwin, twins. Edwin was a resident of Ottawa county for twenty-six years. In 1898 he moved to Oklahoma, where he now lives on a farm near Kingfisher. When her family of boys were small Mrs. Colton broke up housekeeping. Edward was placed with a family with whom he became dissatisfied, ran away from home at the age of fifteen years and has not been heard from since.

Mr. Colton received a limited education, working in summer and attending school in winter. He located in Indiana when nineteen years of age and began farming for himself. In 1866 he emigrated to Benton county, Iowa, where he farmed until coming to Kansas in 1884. Mr. Colton was married in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1862, to Esther Clark, a daughter of D.L. Clark, of Huron county, Ohio. Mrs. Colton was a successful school teacher in Ohio and Indiana. Her mother died when she was three years old and her father when she was nine.

To Mr. and Mrs. Colton have been born six sons and six daughters, viz.: James H., a farmer of Meredith township, married to Lydia Bates; they are the parents of one child, Neva. Edwin, employed as fireman on the Rock Island railroad, married Mary Hurley, a daughter of James Hurley (see sketch) they are the parents of three children, Ray, Frank and Theresa. Eva, the widow of William Mantz, is the mother of three children, Nona, Stella and Constance. Nellie, wife of Edwin Throckmorton, residents of Golden, Colorado, where he is employed as clerk in a store. He is a printer by trade. They have two children, Clare and Esther. Cynthia, wife of A.O. Holbert, a farmer and stockman of Meredith township; their family consists of two children, Fred and Lottie Marie. George, a member of the police force of Denver, Colorado, married Isabella Berry, of Deliver, formerly of Lincoln, Nebraska. Adelia, Lawrence and Laura, twins, (the latter died in infancy); Lucretia and Lenard, twins (the latter died in infancy), and Lester Grant, who was born on the aninversary of President Grant's birthday, and was named for that statesman. Adelia and Lucretia, prepossessing young women, are members of the household.

Mr. Colton is a Populist, politically. He has served his township two years as trustee, three years as treasurer and a member of the school board for several years.

GEORGE R. COLWELL.

The subject of this sketch, G.R. Colwell, a farmer of Lyon township and representative citizen, is a native of Nova Scotia, born on a farm near Kentfield, in 1848. He is a son of James and Eunice (Jordan) Colwell. James Colwell died in 1888, never having removed from Nova Scotia, where his wife still lives. G.R. Colwell is one of nine children; two sisters and a brother in Kansas, the former in Wyandotte county and the latter, William Colwell, a prominent farmer of Lyon township, Cloud county. One sister is in Oklahoma and the other members of the family are in Nova Scotia.

In his earlier life Mr. Colwell had some very interesting experiences. When he came to the United States he was a mere lad. His destination was the west. He arrived in Jefferson City, Missouri, penniless, pawned his trunk to pay his fare to Kansas City, and from there he traveled around until he found work. The experience was a new one for him, never having been more than thirty miles from home. When he arrived in Kansas City he had seven cents, and five of that was required to post a letter to his mother, the remaining two cents being all the money he had in the world, and his trunk in Jefferson City, He tramped three days ere he found work. Too honest to steal, too proud to beg, he ate raw corn for sustenance. He finally applied to an old man by the name of Breyfogle to work for his board, who hired him at fifteen dollars per month. Out of his savings he bought a team. In the winter of 1871 he emigrated to Cloud county and homesteaded the farm he still owns, four miles east of Glasco, section 9. The same year he returned to Nova Scotia and was married to Sarah McConnell, who died in 1873, leaving a son, who was also deceased at the age of ten years.

In 1877 he was married to Hester Wilson, who came to Kansas with her father, Frank Wilson, when she was a small girl. Mr. and Mrs. Colwell have two children: Ellen, wife of Cecil Martin, living on the old homestead. She was a student of the Concordia high school two years, and is talented in music. Frank, sixteen years of age, is in his third year in the Glasco high school. He is a farmer from choice but will not have the difficulties to surmount that his father had.

In the early 'seventies Mr. Colwell had hard rustling to keep the wolf from the door. He freighted and worked at various things; prospered perhaps as much as his neighbor, but accumulated very slowly until 1877. In the early part of the 'eighties he added one hundred and sixty acres of land to the homestead and a few years later another quarter section, until he now owns four hundred and eighty acres with good improvements, a fine apple orchard of two hundred trees which are sixteen or seventeen years old and fine bearers. Most of his land is wheat ground. In 1900 Mr. Colwell built a handsome cottage of six rooms in Glasco, where he now lives but still operates the farm.

Politically Mr. Colwell is a Populist. Himself and family are members of the Christian church. Mr. Colwell is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Aid.

BOSTON CORBETT.

There are not many antiquated or distinct landmarks in Cloud county, Kansas, for it is comparatively modern; but the deserted dugout, once the primitive abode of that peculiar personage, whose name has been heralded from continent to continent as the slaver of John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865, begins to savor somewhat of the uncanny and the approximate nearness of phantoms.

For fifteen years the little stone hut has not been inhabited save by gophers and bats. The writer, like many curious and speculative individuals, visited this interestingly historical place, and found the rafters falling into decay, the door and windows removed, but the yellow sandstone walls, which represent good masonry, considering the conditions, still stand intact, as a monument to the eccentric man who builded it. The poplar tree on the left and the cottonwoods on the right were doubtless planted by his hands, and stand as sentinels over the most historic and romantic spot of this section of country.

Most readers of this volume are familiar with the strange career of this singular man, but history is not given for the present only, but rather to be perpetuated down the long series of eventful times. The following data eminated from various sources and is the most authentic obtainable. The recent rumors afloat that he is soon to return, prove his identify and collect the one thousand three hundred dollars back pension due him has renewed public interest in Boston Corbett. His Christian name is John. He is of English birth and soon after emigrating to America attended a religious revival in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and to commemorate the event of his conversion during this awakening of the Divine Spirit he assumed the name of "Boston." He has always been eccentric, but the trend of his idiosyncracies has been toward religious fanaticism Corbett belonged to the Sixteenth New York Cavalry, and was a sergeant.

He was one of the select men summoned to pursue and capture John Wilkes Booth, the bloodthirsty and soulless assassin of the nation's idol, Abraham Lincoln, in April, 1865.

A comrade, Private Dalzell, in whose home Corbett visited after the killing of Booth, says in substance: After tracking the fugitive through woods and fields for days, he was discovered in a barn. Stolidly refusing the command to surrender, a torch was lighted, touched to the barn and the next moment violent flames were bursting forth from his place of refuge. The excited sergeant saw through the cracks between the boards, the emotional, brilliant, but superficial, tragic actor standing on a pile of hay, leaning on his crutch, pale with loss of blood from the wound he had received, pallid with excess of hatred and revenge, for John Wilkes Booth never knew fear.

Corbett watched him like a hawk, as Booth stood with back toward him, leaning on his staff for support, carbine in hand, the personification of the assassin - and in the critical moment when he had determined to die he was uniformly self-possessed and did not for a moment forget his part in the great tragedy he was acting. As the fire mounted up and around him, his face in the lurid light of the blazing barn grew ghastly pale. Each demand for his surrender was answered with the same sullen silence of contempt, scorn and defiance.

The burning building was surrounded on all sides by soldiers with pistols in hand, stationed within a few feet of each other. Inclosed beyond the possibility of escape the doomed tragedian was probably seized with a desire to send some of his pursuers into eternity, and suddenly raised his carbine to shoot. Corbett saw the move, and with the rapidity of lightning leveled his pistol and fired. Before the unerring aim of the little sergeant's gun, the presidenticide fell prostrate on the hay - where he had stood as if rooted to the spot - with a fatal wound in exactly the same place where the deadly missile from his gun had entered the body of President Lincoln.

His body was instantly dragged from the burning barn and stretched upon the ground; a moment later and the once impassioned tragedian was dead.

Corbett asserted to Private Dalzell that the actor never spoke after he received the fatal shot, and that all the nonsense about his dying words was the mere "clap trap" of sensational writers. As soon as Booth's fatality was disclosed the disconsolate officers inquired what rash fellow had dared disobey orders and slay their coveted victim, for it had been their purpose to capture him alive and have a grand state trial enacted after the manner of the great historical English regicide tribunals during the times of James II. But Boston Corbett had thwarted their plans and ambitions and all eyes were turned toward, him, for the soldiers who were stationed on his side of the building pointed to the sergeant as the guilty miscreant who fired the fatal bullet, and he was straightway placed under arrest.

From that fateful moment Corbett has never known a peaceful hour, and was a doomed man. After that eventful day one disaster followed another. The pistol with which he killed Booth was stolen from him the same night.

He was treated with scorn and disdain by his officers, and neglected by the government. While enroute to Washington he was stopped by masked men, and with a pistol placed against his breast, compelled to dismount and surrender his hard earned money the day he received it; not only every dollar he possessed was taken from him, but he was stripped of his clothing.

The officials at Washington were beside themselves with rage for having been deprived of the pomp and circ*mstance of leading the assassin in captivity and parading him through a public trial, of which they would have been central figures. Stinging with disappointment, they felt like further persecuting the man who had divested them of all this glory, but better counsel prevailed and he was released with a permit to retire from the service. Branded and disgraced, he was always spoken of with contempt by officers of the army.

The unfortunate fellow drifted from pillar to post. After saying his prayers at night - for he is a devout Christian - Corbett retires with a loaded revolver under his head and moans piteously during the long hours of the night. He is not a lunatic, as has been accredited him, but a strange, unhappy and eccentric man who doubtless suffers untold terrors, and has visions of "Nemesis pursuing him" wherever he goes; the troubled spirits of revenge will not let him rest. His constant fear remains the same and he is steadfastly on the alert for assassins. For many years after the death of Booth, threatening letters followed him everywhere. Private Dalzell writes he saw one of these letters, which was headed "Hell," adding: "You will be here soon," and signed "Booth." While at the Dalzell residence Corbett was the recipient of several of these uncanny messages and was never in a town ever so obscure that they did not reach him, each missive containing all sorts of threats. Corbett complained bitterly and justly of the neglect with which the government treated him. Mr. Dalzell says: "Let no one suppose it was remorse that rendered him unhappy, for Corbett was proud that he had killed Booth; nor let no one suppose it was regret, for he stoutly maintained that the Lord commissioned him to enact the deed and directed the contents of his weapon." He was asked by General Howard, "How in the world did you happen to send the bullet to the same spot, exactly to the tilting of a hair, where the fatal bullet found the life of Lincoln?" "The Lord directed it," was Corbett's only reply, and he believed it, even if Ingersoll did not.

In the latter part of the 'seventies Boston Corbett located in Cloud county, and finding eighty acres of land seven miles south and three miles east of Concordia that had seemingly been overlooked by the homestead settler or not deemed desirable, lying among the hills as it does, the wretched man sought a respite from his ungracious pursuers by establishing a hermit-like quarter, where he could live the life of a recluse. Corbett was a poor man, a hatter by trade, and unmarried. He built a dugout on his newly acquired possessions, where he lived several years. The floor and roof were of dirt after the fashion of the Kansas dugout; in dimensions it is about twelve by fifteen feet. In one corner of the room, from an excavation under the rock wall, a spring of fine water bubbled in, and flowed through an aperture to the outside. The furniture of this queer domicile, long since removed, was very meagre; it consisted of a home-made bedstead, a chair or two, an old musket and a Bible, the yellow leaves of the latter being well worn with time and frequent turning.

Corbett was small of stature, had a swarthy skin, a scant beard and wore his long, dark hair floating over his shoulders. He dressed in a singular manner and lived in perfect solitude. He sometimes visited his neighbors, who thought him mentally disordered, but he seldom or never entertained them in return. He was manifestly devoted to a little black pony which he called "Billy," and all the affection in his queer nature was bestowed upon "Billy," who was his constant companion. He associated himself with the Methodist Episcopal church, was one of the shouting brethren and very enthusiastic in revival work; would preach with a revolver in his pocket or a brace dangling from his belt.

In the early 'eighties, at the earliest solicitation of the ladies of the Presbyterian church of Concordia, who were endeavoring to give the public some special feature as an attraction for a large patronage. Boston Corbett was induced to promise a lecture, outlining events of the capture and slaying of President Lincoln's assassin, and his experiences in Andersonville prison, where he had spent ten months, and when emerging a physical wreck, he was ordered to the hospital, but against the orders of the surgeon he rejoined his company.

When the night for the entertainment arrived Corbett was greeted with an immense and enthusiastic audience. It was an established custom with the dispenser of the gospel to discourse from the scriptures, and some sentiment in the song that was rendered by the choir as an introductory, started him to sermonizing and he preached indefinitely without touching upon the interesting subject that practically drew the whole populace out to hear the story from the lips of this historic character.

Finally he was reminded by the pastor that he was to talk of Booth and Andersonville, whereupon Corbett most humbly apologized for his diversion and in a few terse sentences related the details of his capture and told how he was landed in the southern prison. Soon after entering, the sergeant met an old comrade who reported a session of prayer as being held in another part of the building, and Corbett hastened to that quarter. Then he gave the prayer meeting an oral treatment, expatiated on the subject for a half hour or more, and when again reminded that he had digressed, apologized graciously and said, in substance:

"We surrounded the barn in which we found Booth had taken refuge. We demanded that he surrender and he refused; we then set fire to the barn. By the light he saw one of our men and raised his gun to shoot him. I was peeping through the cracks, saw him raise his arm, and to keep him from killing one of our men, I fired and killed him. The bullet went into his head in nearly the same course that his bullet had entered Lincoln's head."

No more communicative an account than this would he give expression to of an incident that has called forth many articles during the last thirty-eight years, and of which no one was more cognizant than this distinctively peculiar individual.

The many incidents of Boston Corbett's career would fill a fair-sized volume. One blustering day in the autumn a prairie fire was raging near his claim and finally crept over on to his premises. Some neighboring men came to assist him in protecting his property, but to their dismay and astonishment his lordship confronted them with gun in hand and admonished his would-be assistants to vacate, with threats of shooting if they did not proceed to acquiesce. Immediately, the would-he protectors had Corbett arrested and brought to Concordia for trial. During the procedure, a man whom he had a fancied grievance against, entered the court room and as his imaginary foe walked down the aisle Corbett jumped to his feet, brandished a revolver and exclaimed, "There's another man come here to criminate me. Thank God I have no use for such a court as this; I am going home. I have a God that will take care of me." As he swung his formidable forty-five and walked hastily down the aisle, the judge, county officials, attorneys, even the legal light he had employed to defend him, sought refuge behind every available piece of furniture which offered protection. Unmolested, Corbett left the court room, sought his little black pony and rode away.

After taking the matter under consideration, the officers repaired to Corbett's dugout for the purpose of again bringing him in. Another surprise greeted them, however, for their host put in an appearance with a Winchester in either hand, and a countenance that boded ill, declaring in an uncivil way he would shoot the first man who dare attempt to lay hands on him, adding he would die rather than be taken. They replied they would return with a posse of forty men, whereupon he bade them come, fearlessly saying: "I have faced four hundred men and forty couldn't take me."

Corbett was left to enjoy the quiet solitude of his dugout, which was astronghold, ostensibly built with the view of defending himself, as he possessed a small armory that would have stood off a fairly strong siege. He was an unerring marksman and one of his favorite pastimes was to prostrate himself at full length on the grass and shoot birds as they flew through the air.

Corbett was given a position in the capitol. Sympathizing friends thinking something should be done for Boston Corbett, some position within the gift of the people tendered him, he was appointed sergeant-at-arms in the capitol at Topeka in 1887. While acting as doorkeeper in the east gallery of the house of representatives he created a novel sensation. The far-famed Corbett was a sort of curiosity to the general public. While passing to and fro along the corridor of the building one day his eagle eye and suspecting brain observed several clerks and janitors engaged in conversation, and fancying himself the subject of their merriment and probable derision, confronted Benjamin Williams, an assistant doorkeeper, with the accusation. Hot words ensued; Corbett gave vent to his constitutional irritation of temper. Losing entire control of himself he produced a dangerous looking knife and almost simultaneously made a pass at Williams. The frightened janitor did not tarry to longer discuss the situation, but rushed out of the hall into the outer corridor, followed by the frenzied sergeant-at-arms, while his associates in the offense flew with long and rapid strides in various directions. Overhearing the commotion, Sergeant-at-Arms Norton hastily repaired to the scene of action and endeavored to calm the enraged doorkeeper, but, as he approached, the new arrival upon the scene was startled by the distorted visage of Boston Corbett, who was livid with rage; his eyes gleaming like a Bengal tiger's, and as he flashed his revolver, warned Norton not to approach, under penalty of a bullet being sent crashing through his body. The sergeant-at-arms left Corbett holding the fort, for he realized it meant certain death to advance.

With gun in hand Corbett triumphantly passed to his post of duty in the gallery and as no one dared or attempted to approach him, the doorkeeper's attitude implied, "I am monarch of all I survey."

During the morning hours he passed with a soldierly tread up and down the triforium in full view of the convened house with his revolver swinging to the belt that encircled his waist, his eager, restless eyes alert to every sound or movement, like a sentinel watching over enchanted ground or doing duty where the fate of a whole army was dependent upon his vigilance.

By a recent action of the house the sergeant-at-arms had been given authority to discharge any officer under his jurisdiction, hence the executive lost no time in declaring a vacancy in this instance; however, no one seemed anxious for the position made vacant, or dared to interfere. When Corbett's anger had somewhat abated a newspaper reporter seated himself by the side of the sergeant, who occupied a place in the ladies' gallery, looking down upon assembled representatives, as if he might be seized with the idea at any moment that God had commissioned him to kill off the entire body of legislators.

Although his wrath had diminished he was still nervous and could not be engaged in conversation, and, regarding his visitor with suspicion, a moment later he left the newsgatherer seated alone.

The police were summoned and after considerable conniving and maneuvering to avoid a shooting affray, the officers succeeded in taking captive the sensational sergeant. He was seized by three officers, who threw him to the floor and disarmed him. The only words he spoke were: "You're a pretty gang."

That Corbett was insane and a dangerous man to be at large was the general verdict. On February 16, 1887, the office of Probate Judge Quinton, of Topeka, was thronged with anxious people to hear the testimony in the case of this peculiar man on trial for insanity. Corbett seemingly entertained an animosity for the newspaper reporters, and ere the hearing was to proceed ordered them all put out of the room.

After a long series of evidence the man was adjudged insane and placed in the asylum. Another sensation was created on May 26, 1890, by the wily sergeant making his escape from the asylum for the insane. He was exercising with others on the grounds when he espied a horse, which he quickly seized, mounted and sped rapidly away. He left the horse after reaching a safe distance, with orders to return the animal to its rightful owner, and pursued his way on foot. It was supposed he had gone to his homestead in Cloud county, but for more than a dozen years he seemed to have passed out of existence, only vague and indefinite news of the escaped inmate could be obtained, consequently he was marked on the asylum records "dead," and this verdict was accepted unquestionably by the public.

But in August, 1901, thirteen years later, Corbett was resurrected and at that date had been for four years a valued employe of W.W. Gavitt & Company, a proprietary medicine concern of Topeka, Kansas. He was in their employ for some time ere they associated him with the man who shot Booth, as he went under the name of John Corbett, but when later he resumed the name of "Boston," his identity was revealed. He is a successful salesman. Many towns in Texas bar the patent medicine man, but this strange individual does not heed the ordinances and has sold his wares in practically every town in the state. He also travels through Oklahoma and owns property in Enid. Both his employers and guardian, George A. Huron, of Topeka, have in recent times endeavored to persuade Corbett to return and draw the thirteen hundred dollars back pension due him from the government, not a cent of which he will ever be able to draw until the fact of his being alive is established by his own affidavit. It has been assured him his sanity will be verified and his release from the asylum legally secured, but Corbett is wily and superstitious and until a recent date absolutely refused to set foot on Kansas soil; but it is reported he has at last consented to return and claim the money that is legitimately his.

The winter Boston Corbett spent in Topeka he was a conspicuous character in Salvation Army circles, took an active part in their street exhibitions and was one of the most animated soldiers and loudest shouters in the barracks of their brigade.

ADELBERT D. CORNING

One of the genial and typical western pioneers of the Pipe Creek country is A.D. Corning, the subject of this sketch, who settled on his present farm in 1868. Upon meeting Mr. Corning for the first time the writer remarked that he was included among the first settlers of the community. Whereupon he replied in pioneer parlance, with a majestic wave of his hand toward a range of hills across the creek to the westward, "Do you see them hills yonder? Well, when I came here those hills were holes in the ground. Mr. Corning's farm was not the traditional, but the real Indian camping ground in the days of the redman. They were attracted there by a large spring on Pipe creek, which runs through his land. This desirable claim had been secured by some roaming buffalo hunters who had built a dugout and turned the sod on twenty-seven acres of ground. Mr. Corning traded a yoke of oxen for the relinquishment of this homestead. In 1869, from a twelve acre wheat field cultivated with a yoke of steers and a single-tooth harrow, he threshed four hundred bushels of wheat. He also raised three hundred bushels of corn that year and rejoiced in the belief that he had discovered the Arcadia of the "new world."

Mr. Corning is a native of Boone county, Illinois, born in 1848. He received his early education in the graded schools of Caledonia, Illinois, and took a two years' course in the Beloit, Wisconsin, High school. At the age of seventeen years he drove a team from Illinois to Denver, a distance of one thousand two hundred miles. This gave him a taste for pioneer life and in the spring of 1867 he came to Solomon City, where his father had preceded him one year and operated a portable saw mill as far up the Solomon river as the town of Delphos. A.D. Corning was active during Indian uprisings. Upon one of these occasions John Jones was sent to deliver a message of warning to the settlers. His horse gave out and the errand was carried out by Mr. Corning, who says he raced over the prairies and warned them "good and plenty."

Mr. Corning is a son of William and Lydia (Ingersol) Corning. From his mother's maternal ancestry he is a lineal descendant of the Hamlins, who were a distinguished old English family. William Corning was a wagonmaker by trade, born in Columbia, New York, in 1824, and as before stated came to Solomon City, Kansas, in an early day. He now lives in Minneapolis, Ottawa county, at the age of seventy-seven years. This venerable couple celebrated their golden wedding in 1896. The Corning family came to America from England, among whom was Samuel Corning, our subject's grandfather, of Albany, New York, who was born in 1616, and all the Cornings in this country are supposed to be from one or the other of these branches.

A.D. Corning is one of six children, five of whom are living: Rosaltha, deceased wife of William Chappel, a farmer of Ottawa county, Kansas. Mrs. Chappel died in 1900, leaving two daughters, Alice and Edna. Clara, wife of Al Johnson, an elevator engineer of Enid, Oklahoma. Elva, wife of Jerome Hollingsworth, of Minneapolis, Kansas. Fred, a ship carpenter of Stockton, California. Myrtle, wife of Will Fann, a cabinetmaker and ship builder of San Francisco, California.

Mr. Corning was married on the first day of the new year, 1875, to Nettie Coffin, a daughter of Abner Coffin, originally from a Quaker settlement in New York. Mrs. Corning enjoys the distinction of having taught the first school in Meredith township. The Coffins emigrated to Illinois in 1866, removed to Kansas two years later and homesteaded the farm in Meredith township, now owned by Ezekial Jones. In 1891 he went to Oklahoma, where he died in 1896, and where the wife and mother still resides. The Coffin family were New Englanders. Mrs. Corning was the oldest of ten children, five of whom are living: Orrin, a farmer living near Puyallup, Washington; Frances, wife of Henry Yount, a farmer near Dover, Oklahoma; Jesse and Lewis, the two youngest sons, are farmers, also living near Dover, Oklahoma.

To Mr. and Mrs. Corning have been born five children, three of whom are living: Bessie married to Earl Holph, a farmer of Meredith township; Dicie, deceased in 1885, at the age of seven years; Hazel, a very bright and promising girl, died in 1897, at the age of fifteen years; Burt, a school-boy of fourteen years, and Leah, aged thirteen.

Mr. Corning now owns three hundred and ninety acres of land, with two hundred and thirty acres under cultivation, and is one of the most desirable farms in Cloud county. He has thirty acres of timber, which is superior to that generally found this part of the state, he furnished the first bridge timber at Concordia, and considerable that has been used for the various bridges throughout the country. His farm is in a high state of cultivation with in abundance of fruit. Mr. Corning has been very successful in hog raising. Since 1875 he has sold twenty-five thousand dollars worth of hogs. He keeps a herd of from forty to fifty head of native cattle. He built the first frame house (of cottonwoods) on Pike creek in 1870, and the first frame barn in 1873. In 1882 he added on to and remodeled the house, and they now have one of the finest residences in Meredith township, a commodious eight-room house, beautifully situated in one of the bends of Pipe creek.

Mr. Corning's farm was in the line of the hail storm which came in 1889, and chopped through the shingles of the roof, tore through the screens and broke the window glass, killed twenty-two hogs and many chickens that were sheltered by the trees. He had one hundred acres of corn in hard roasting ear, from which not one ear was saved. Grass was pounded into the ground and a scene of desolation presented. Mr. Corning is a Democrat in politics. He served three terms as trustee of Meredith township and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Delphos Lodge No. 149. Mr. Corning is one of those, hale fellows well-met, whose friends are legion.

RICHARD COUGHLEN.

The impressive arch observed over the gateway as one advances near the long avenue, lined by trees, announces the approach of "Prairie Lea," the modern country home of Richard Coughlen. Of the prosperity inherited by the settlers of the early 'sixties none are entitled to a more substantial claim than Mr. Coughlen. He came to the vast area of prairie when in its true pioneer state - when on the frontier in the real meaning of the term. He remained all through the strenuous times of its sisterhood and endured years of anxiety ere conditions assumed good working order. He came to the state in May, 1862, and pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land on Elm creek, built a cabin and lived there seven years. The settlement was comprised of but four families, Hagaman, Thorp, Fenskie and Czapanskiy. In 1870 Mr. Coughlen rented his land on Elm creek, homesteaded on section 26, and later sold the former. Our subject's dreams of broad acres, far reaching in agricultural splendor, herds of cattle and horses, droves of hogs (that when sold upon the market add very materially to his ducats), vast fields of corn, huge bins of wheat and a comfortable, happy home are realized. The Coughlen residence is situated in a bend on the bank of Oak creek and is surrounded on three sides, north, east and west, by the timber of this stream - a charming location. This was one of the first good dwellings in the community, built in 1874. The lumber in part was hauled from Waterville, the terminus of the railroad, and a portion was obtained by drawing logs to Concordia and having them sawed at Mr Lanoue's mill. While engaged in this stage of the work Mr. Coughlen found his labors arduous and met with many reverses among them he was upset in the river while hauling logs, but a ducking was the least of this misfortune. The external membranous covering of his own body was impervious to the waves of the Republican river, but they were demoralizing to the buckskin pantaloons he wore, which shrunk into so small a compass as to necessitate their being cut from his body. But "it is an ill wind that blows nobody good." Mr. Coughlen changed the relative position and value of his contracted garments by braiding them into an ox whip.

Mr. Coughlen is a native of county Kings, Ireland, born in 1838. When a small lad he emigrated to America with his parents and settled in Madison county, New York, where his father and mother died. Having been left an orphan he subsequently began to roam and resided temporarily in various parts of the United States. He is the second youngest of a family of seven children. Three sisters survive and live in Iowa, Chicago and Streator, Illinois, respectively. Mr. Coughlen came from LaSalle county, Illinois, to Nemaha county, Kansas, in 1859. He and a nephew had started for the famous gold fields of Pike's Peak, but as they encountered the returning crowds, traveling in various modes, walking, wheeling barrows, carts, etc., the fields elysian seemed less alluring, and discouraged many people en route to the Eldorado. When our subject and his comrade arrived at Ft. Kearney they decided to turn their faces toward the new prairies of Kansas, which, if less illusive, seemed a safer proposition, and they retraced their journey over the Little Blue to Nemaha county. From this point the actual career of Mr. Coughlen found its beginning. With three yoke of oxen he freighted over the plains from the Missouri river to the gold diggings known as "Buck Skin Joe," across South Park, near Hartzell, Colorado, and continued in this intrepid traffic all through and after the war. After coming to Cloud county he made one overland trip; he moved his family to Nehama county to protect them from the Indians and hauled freight from Missouri to Colorado. During this period Mr. Coughlen experienced some hair breadth escapes. In 1865 two men were massacred within one hundred yards of Mr. Coughlen's camp. They were night-herders; the savages shot and wounded the men and then scalped them while still alive. The second boss of the crew had two arrows fired into his body, but recovered. The two victims survived long enough to give the details of the assault. After firing all the cartridges in the chambers of their revolvers the Indians came so close the wounded men threw their guns at them. The band was pursued by soldiers and many of them were killed.

Their camp, with its government quota of sixty armed men was aroused one starlit night on the Platte river by an attempted attack. The mules on the grounds gave evidence of hearing or scenting danger, as the Indians were seemingly after the stock with the intention of running it off. The entire party was ordered to be close to the earth, a moment later the outlines of the redskins were sighted against the horizon, the signal was given and when the volley of deadly shot and bullets was turned into the advancing band of savages, from shotguns loaded with buck-shot and long-range rifles in the hands of unerring marksmen, they beat a hasty retreat from what was evidently one of the most complete surprises they had ever been treated to in their thieving expeditions. The freighters could not discern their movements through the smoke-laden atmosphere, but hastily reloaded to prepare for the second fusilade if necessary. Many a dead warrior would have been left on the field if he had not been strapped to his pony, as is their custom, that their slain may be carried away. Mr. Coughlen was a member of the Kansas Militia and wielded his Springfield musket and Smith's carbine for several years on the frontier. He retains the Remington six-shooter that he carried during those days; it is a formidable looking weapon, and he has killed buffalo with it. Mr. Coughlen was one of the fourteen men who were organized to rescue Miss White from captivity among the Indians.

Mr. Coughlen was married to Mary Robertson in 1861. Of their four children, all lived to maturity. William Lincoln was deceased at the age of seventeen years. Jenette is the deceased wife of John Empire; two children survive her, Flo and Clarence. The two living children are a daughter and a son. Lizzie is the widow of William Townsdin, an Oak creek farmer; she is the parent of one child, a son, William Ira.

Mr. Coughlen at one time owned two sections of land but he deeded to Mrs. Townsdin one hundred and sixty acres in Osborne county, a quarter section in Washington county, another near Aurora and one hundred and sixty acres in the Solomon valley. The son is David R. Coughlen, who was a prosperous Cloud county farmer and stockman, until compelled to leave the farm and seek returning health in the southern clime of California.

In 1884 Mr. Coughlen was married to Miss Eliza Moore, a daughter of William Moore, who emigrated from Vermont to Wisconsin, where Mrs. Coughlen was born. She was visiting a relative in Kansas, where she met and married Mr. Coughlen. She is a refined woman who possesses the admirable trait of making home attractive.

Politically Mr. Coughlen is an out-and-out dyed-in-the-wool Republican. He has been identified with the Odd Fellows for a quarter of a century.

LEWIS CRANS.

L.J. Crans, one of the best-known attorneys and an early settler of Cloud county, is a native of Philadelphia. The date of his birth was January 26, 1826. He is a son of Peter and Harriet (Lewis) Crans. His father conducted a boot and shoe business in the early days of Philadelphia. He was a native of Orange county, New York, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. His family were numerous in New York; his ancestry were of German and Dutch origin and belonged to the early settlers of that section of the country. The paternal homestead went into the hands of the distinguished William A. Seward, who was a relative by marriage. The maternal ancestors were of English and Irish origin. His grandparents died when our subject was a mere child.

Mr. Crans is the eighth of a family of nine children and with the exception of one, all lived to ripe old age. He has one unmarried sister living, who is ten years his senior; her residence is in Philadelphia. Mr. Crans' last brother, Peter, died about two years ago at the advanced age of eighty-six years. With the exception of a brief time in Kansas this brother spent the greater part of his life in the city of Philadelphia.

Mr. Crans received his education in the public schools of the Quaker City and graduated as a member of the second class from the Central high school and subsequently had conferred upon him by that institution the degree of master of arts. After his graduation he took up the study of law in the office of his brother, Peter Crans, but before his admission to the bar he removed to the town of Kirbysville, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in lumbering and mercantile business. Mr. Crans was admitted to the bar at Clearfield in the early 'fifties. He was unanimously elected district attorney of Clearfield county, and devoted his entire attention to the practice of law in that city.

In the year 1861 he removed with his family to Philadelphia, where he continued the practice of law. He has striven for success in his profession and has been well rewarded for the effort made to gain the top round of the ladder of fame. While engaged in getting forces into the field for Governor Curtin, not as a soldier but as a private citizen, Mr. Crans, through an accident, lost the use of a limb, which entirely unfitted him for service and prevented him from entering the army, and through this circ*mstance, he removed to Philadelphia.

He later located in Jersey City and in 1871 emigrated to Concordia, Kansas, after stopping a short time at Junction City, awaiting the opening of the land office at Concordia. From that date he has been actively engaged, in the practice of law in Cloud and the northern counties of Kansas. His practice has been extensive and extended.

Mr. Crans was married on the 21st of July, 1847, to Margaret A. Peterson, a daughter of John and Naomi Peterson. Mrs. Crans' father was of Swedish ancestry who were early settlers on the Delaware river. Her maternal ancestors were among the English families who came over with William Penn. Mrs. Crans was born in Philadelphia.

Mr. and Mrs. Crans' family of six children were all born in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. Five of their children are still living. Charles, deceased, unmarried. The others are all married and have families living in different parts of Kansas. One son, Merwin, is a resident of Concordia. A daughter, Margaret A. Richardson, with her two daughters, live in the home of her father. Mrs. Crans, the loving, faithful wife and devoted, unselfish mother, after many years of patient suffering, was called to her eternal home. The touchingly beautiful devotion of her bereaved husband was universally remarked. He moved his office to the residence that he might be constantly by her side. Had she been spared her family a few months longer they would have celebrated the proverbial golden wedding, a magic name, a consummation hoped for by congenial companionship. Her death occurred May 17, 1896. The family of Mr. Crans are members of the Protestant Episcopal church and while he is not a regular attendant of any church Mr. Crans has a reverence for everything good and holy.

In November, 1901, the semi-centennial of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, was celebrated and Mr. Crans was the only living man at that time who participated in the organization of that body. Concordia was in its infancy when Mr. Crans settled there in the early part of 1871. J.F. Hannam, who was then a farmer west of Concordia, moved Mr. Crans, his family and their effects to Granny creek (now White's creek), where he and several of his children had entered land, whereon they anticipated devoting their attention to agriculture only.

Concordia consisted of but a few houses, and a number of active and energetic men engaged in the erection of other buildings with a determination to establish a thriving business point. The whole country at that time was covered with a soft carpet of short buffalo grass and only a very few trees to break the view - a long stretch of level land, but to the eye of a farmer great possibilities were discernible. The greater part of the country was uninhabited and the soil produced very little for the support of the settlers. This drawback caused the necessity of Mr. Crans moving into Concordia in order to eke out an existence and where shortly afterward an accident opened up to him the means of support through his profession. He found himself a failure as a farmer and his family were not inclined to remain without him upon the lands they had selected.

A difficulty having sprung up between the citizens of the town and the county, which claimed the title to the land, Mr. Crans, at the request of F.W. Sturges, Milton Reasoner, A.A. Carnahan and others, proposed what was then commonly called "jumping" the town site. In 1873 Mr. Crans consented to act as attorney for the inhabitants in a contest against the Town Company to enable them to throw open to actual settlers the most of the land contained within the town of Concordia. He became associated with Judge Sturges and Judge Carnahan. The Town Company abandoned its claim to what was yet government land, but through an arrangement between the local land office and the Town Company homesteaded and pre-empted claims for such lands as were entered. The gentlemen named with Mr. Crans then entered contests and after a hard struggle before the United States land office succeeded in securing to all the citizens and those who might afterward become such, the unpatented lands within Concordia.

Mr. Crans removed his family into the city, where he has continued to reside and always, not only as a lawyer, but a law-abiding citizen, with the welfare of his townsmen ever uppermost in his hopes, well knowing prosperous men make a thriving town.

GABRIEL CRUM.

Gabriel Crum, the subject of this sketch, landed in Cloud county in the year 1878, with fifty cents in his pocket and with a family that consisted of a wife who was ill and two small daughters, Effie and Hattie. He traded a horse for the improvements, and eighty acres of land, an uninhabitable dugout, belonging to Miss Manigan. He homesteaded the land and at once proceeded to build some sort of an abode. He earned the ridge log and poles for the roof by the primitive mode of exchanging work and in this case he labored seven days. After his house was built they did not possess an article of furniture to begin housekeeping on. He bought a stove on credit, also a bill of groceries; hung on to his fifty cents like grim death and came home feeling like a king, one of the happiest events of his life. Soon after getting settled in their dugout they were deluged with rain. The water came up to the railing of their homemade bedsteads and they were completely flooded. When the water subsided they were, figurativly speaking, sunk in mud.

These are a few of the many hardships Mr. Crum and his worthy family endured during their early residence in Kansas. A threshing machine came into the community. The men who contemplated buying were inexperienced and could not operate it. Mr. Dobbs, the agent who was selling them the machine, not having had much experience in adjusting machinery could not figure out the difficulty. Knowing Mr. Crum had worked in that capacity he sought him out and offered him twenty-five dollars to put the thresher in operation. Mr. Crum was overwhelmed by the munificent offer and affirms that it sounded louder to him than the heaviest peal of thunder he had ever heard. He set about to solve the problem and found the sieve had been put in upside down. He adjusted matters quickly and set the wheels and belts in motion. Agent Dobbs was so overjoyed that his prospective sale was not cut short by the machine refusing to work, took Mr. Crum around behind the thresher and thrust thirty dollars into his hand instead of twenty-five dollars. Imagine the smile that enveloped Mr. Crum's countenance as he shoved his wealth deep down into the pockets of his pantaloons. They then considered his services indispensible and offered him two dollars per day, full time, wet or dry, and he worked for them one hundred and twenty-three days. This was where Mr. Crum got his start.

Mr. Crum is a native of Ohio, born in 1844. When one year of age his parents moved to Wabash county, Indiana, where they both died of lung fever, leaving two sons, himself, aged five and a brother one and a half years. They found a home with a family named Crasher and when twelve years old drifted into Illinois with a family by the name of Fox. The two boys remained together and both enlisted in the Thirty-ninth Illinois Regiment, Company B, which became one of the most famous that entered the Potomac valley.

They were in this company two years and eight months and then enlisted in the Eighth Illinois Cavalry, Company M. He was mustered out at St. Louis in June, 1865, having served the entire term. His brother, William, was killed at the first day's battle of Gettysburg, at the youthful age of nineteen years. He enlisted at the age of sixteen. That he might not be rejected he put eighteen in his hat and nineteen in his shoe and remarked that he was between eighteen and nineteen. William was among the captured and thrown in Libby prison. He weighed one hundred and sixty-eight pounds when he entered and less than one hundred when released. Mr. Crum was in the battle of Rumley, February 22, 1862; Perthouse Bridge, August, 1862, and Winchester, June, 1862, where thirty-seven hundred and twenty of the Union boys were thrown in the trenches and the first defeat "Stonewall" Jackson ever suffered. He was in the battle of Berkley Springs, Bath, Virginia, and a great many raids and skirmishes. Most of the winter of 1864 they were after Mosby and the guerrillas. In one of these raids Mr. Crum's horse received five bullets.

After the war Mr. Crum returned to Illinois where he operated a thresher, header and corn sheller. In 1870, be moved to Lyons, Iowa, where he filled the position of night watch for two years; later returned to Illinois and in 1878, emigrated to Kansas. He was married February 23, 1870, to Melissa Bardon, a daughter of James Bardon, of Canada. Mrs. Crum was born in Augusta, Canada, and came with her parents to Ogle county, IIIinois when a young woman about sixteen years of age.

Mr. and Mrs. Crum's family consists of four children, three daughters and one son. Effie, wife of Charles Hogue, a farmer of Arlon township; they are the parents of two children, Mabel and Lewis, aged seven and five years. Hattie, wife of George Hogue, a farmer of Madison county, Iowa, near the city of Peru; he is a brother of Charles Hogue. Their children are Floyd Albert, aged three, and Velma Melissa, aged two. William, who works with his father on the farm, is unmarried. Lusina, aged sixteen, is a graduate of Fairview school, District No. 67. Mr. Crum is a Republican and takes an interest in legislative affairs. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Relief Corps.

Mr. Crum had a hard struggle his first few years in Kansas; at one time every plow, drag or other implement, including his land and stock, was under mortgage. He now owns two hundred acres of land, has a fine herd of native cattle and a commodious stone residence which is a comfortable fortune. His chief industry for a number of years has been cattle. Mr. Crum is an honest, industrious man; a genial, whole souled neighbor, and one of the best citizens of his township.

HONORABLE W. S. CRUMP.

Among the oldest residents of Clyde is W.S. Crump the subject of this sketch. In outlining Mr. Crump's career it can be said he is not only a member of the first hardware store of Clyde but has been one of the most prosperous business men and higly[sic] respected citizens. He has managed his affairs with judgment derived from both ability and experience. For several years he was associated with Mr. Bartlett under the firm name of Bartlett & Crump. They were the first firm of hardware men established in Cloud county, in 1869.

Mr. Crump is a native of Indiana, born in Bartholomew county, near the city of Columbus, on a farm in 1837. He is a son of William H. and Sarah (Smith) Crump. His parents died when he was young, leaving a family of four children, only one of whom beside himself is living - a sister who resides in Indiana. Mr. Crump lived on a farm until the breaking out of the Civil war when he became a sutler's clerk in the southern department of the United States army and was on duty through Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and Alabama.

Mr. Crump was married on January 1, 1861, to Sophronia Fish, who died in January, 1863, leaving two infant sons, Charles and Harry; the former is express agent with residence in Clyde, and the latter a farmer near Santa Fe, Monroe county, Missouri. In 1889, Mr. Crump was married to Martha Russel and to their union one son has been born, Wirt R., who is in his father's employ.

Mr. Crump affiliates with the Republican party and has always been prominently identified with political affairs. During his residence in Manhattan, Kansas, where he located in 1868, and before becoming a permanent resident of Clyde in 1872, he served on the board of councilmen which was the beginning of his political career in Kansas. In the spring of 1872, he was elected a member of the school board of Clyde and in 1875 a commissioner of Cloud county from the first district. In 1874, he was elected mayor of the city of Clyde and has served three different terms as member of the council. In 1880 he represented his district in the Legislature and served with distinction. In 1885, he was elected police judge and in 1888, justice of the peace.

Bartlett & Crump were succeeded by Rushmore & Son, and during an interval of several years between that event and embarking in the second enterprise of 1896, Mr. Crump was appointed, during Governor Martin's administration, a member of the State Board of Charities. He held this office from the spring time of 1885 until 1889. He has been treasurer of Elk township for several years and is the present incumbent. Mr. Crump has been a Mason since 1855, and one of the charter members of the Blue Lodge and of Concordia Chapter of Clay Center.

Mr. Crump owns a handsome residence property on Green street, where many of the old settlers located and have grown fine shade trees, making it one of the most desirable localities in the city. Mr. Crump is a man of fine business qualifications and when he re-established his store in 1896, his old customers fell in line to give him a patronage he had won by former years of honest dealing. He is a sagacious business man and his store is complete in its line. Mr. Crump has made a success of life and is a leader in every good enterprise and is one of Clyde's foremost citizens.

A. J. CULP.

The subject of this sketch is A.J. Culp, a prominent and successful farmer near Miltonvale, Kansas. Mr. Culp is a native of Indiana, born near Logansport, in 1861. His father was Valentine Culp, a native of Prussia, Germany, and left his home country to escape entering the standing army. Valentine Culp was the only one of his family that ever came to America. He settled in Indiana, took up land and lived there until his death in 1879, followed by the death of the wife and mother, six weeks later. Mr. Culp's mother was Elizabeth Harkey, who came with her father's family to America and were among the early settlers of Ohio and Indiana.

Mr. Culp's parents having died while he was yet in his minority, he was thrown upon his own resources and in order to acquire an education, had to work on the farm in summer and go to school in winter until he obtained the ability to teach, and thus he earned his way to the Valparaiso Normal School two years, and later, a commercial course in the Business College there. In 1885 he came west and had the good judgment to locate in Cloud county where he has taught in some of the best schools. Mr. Culp was a teacher in the grammar grade of the Miltonvale schools for four years and principal for one year. At the expiration of his school work in Miltonvale he became interested in farming and stock raising and gave up the vocation of teaching.

In 1890 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land one mile west of Miltonvale; the same year he married Miss Ada C. Proctor, who was also a Cloud county teacher for three years. Mrs. Culp was prepared for teaching in the Emporia State Normal. She is a daughter of Charles Proctor, (see sketch) and when he was elected to the office of clerk of Cloud county, she was his deputy during the term of four years. She is a refined, gentle woman and possesses more than ordinary talent in art, and many of her paintings adorn the walls of their beautiful home. Mrs. Culp inherited one hundred and thirty acres of land adjoining her husband's farm.

Mr. Culp remodeled, and expended about seven hundred dollars on their residence and has one of the most desirable country homes in the vicinity of Miltonvale. He bought and built up a herd of cattle by degrees until he now keeps an average of about sixty head. He started in Kansas with a capital of about eight hundred dollars. Mr. Culp has been a Republican from the first ballot. They are members of the Presbyterian church and take an active part in church work.

GEORGE M. CULVER.

George M. Culver, who is now serving his third term as county attorney of Cloud county, was born near Albany, New York, July 6, 1866. He is the third of seven sons. His parents were George W. and Margaret H. (Holton) Culver. His father was a native of the state of New York. He was a carpenter by trade, but emigrated to Republic county, Kansas, where he farmed until his demise in 1890.

Mr. Culver's mother was born near Cork, Ireland. She died in 1890, being an interval of only three months between his parents' death.

Mr. Culver received his early education in the country schools. His father's finances were limited and he could not give his son the educational advantages his ambitions craved, but his object was not relinquished until it became a reality, which has brought its well merited reward.

About six months after Mr. Culver had begun the high school course his parents moved temporarily to Colorado, and he entered the Greeley University, remaining three years, taking special work. This was in 1883, but in the meantime he taught school, beginning at the age of sixteen. He taught as a means of earning money to defray his expenses at the university. Beginning with 1888 he took a two years' literary course in the State University at Lawrence, Kansas. From this period he filled the position of principal in several of the best schools of northwestern Kansas. He was principal of the Beloit schools for five years; he had charge of the Bellville Republic county schools, and also of Cuba, in the same county. During this time he turned his attention to the study of law and read with various attorneys until admitted to the bar. Mr. Culver's career is a good demonstration of what a young man who has force of character can accomplish.

Mr. Culver moved from Beloit to Concordia in June, 1896, and opened a law office. He endeavored to form a partnership with several well established lawyers who enjoyed a lucrative practice, but our subject was young in years and young in profession, and according to their shrewd ideas, not a desirable partner.

To many sensitive, retiring natures their seeming lack of appreciation would have been a chilling blast, but to Mr. Culver it served as a stimulus. His clientage from the beginning was gratifying for a young man and stranger. It steadily increased and he gained the confidence and good will of the people until it found expression in his nomination for the office of county attorney of Cloud county. He was elected on the fusion ticket in 1878, was reelected in 1900 and again in 1902.

Mr. Culver was married in 1891 to Miss Mary J. Hair, a daughter of Dr. J. Hair, a retired physician now residing in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Hairs are Ohio people, but after various removals located in Republic county, Kansas, where Dr. Hair lived several years.

Mrs. Culver was born in Iowa. She is a graduate of the State University and has been a successful teacher. She was principal of the Republic city schools and was a resident of that town at the time of her marriage with Mr. Culver.

Mr. and Mrs. Culver are the parents of three bright, intelligent children, viz: Marguerite, Harold H. and George.

BISHOP JOHN F. CUNNINGHAM.

Long years of training and practical experience admirably qualify Bishop Cunningham for the responsibilities of his holy office.

For thirty-eight years he has given his entire time and attention to Christian labors for the spiritual welfare of his people.

Bishop Cunningham was born in the Parish of Irremore, County Kerry, Ireland, in July, 1842. His parents were John and Catherine (Fitzgerald) Cunningham. He received a preparatory course in the classical school of Listowel, Ireland, and graduated from St. Benedict's College, Atchison Kansas, in 1860. He then finished a theological course in St. Francis' Seminary, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (D.D.), and was ordained priest in the Leavenworth cathedral, Leavenworth, Kansas, August 8, 1865. He was the first Catholic resident pastor of Fort Scott, Kansas, he was there from 1865. until 1868, when he was transferred to St. John's church, Lawrence, June, 1868, where he built a new church and added very materially to their possessions, visited various parts of the east from 1873-6, collecting for Kansas sufferers and the Leavenworth cathedral debt. Bishop Cunningham was pastor of Assumption church, Topeka, Kansas, during 1876-82, and built the present handsome edifice there of that name, and also secured for that city valuable property for church purposes. January 1, 1881, he was made vicar general of the Leavenworth diocese and from 1882 to 1887 was rector of the Leavenworth cathedral, from which place he was consecrated bishop September 21, 1898.

Bishop Cunningham has witnessed a revolution in church work since his advent into the state. He has not only witnessed them develop but has been directly instrumental in the movement that has resulted in the springing up like magic of many costly and magnificent edifices.

JOHN V. CUNNINGHAM.

J.V. Cunningham is one of those intelligent farmers and stockmen with whom it is a pleasure to converse. He came from Daviess county, Missouri, - where he had farmed from 1857 to 1883 - to Cloud county, and bought the farm he now owns and lives on in Lyon township. He is a native of Belfast, Highland county, Ohio, born in 1836, and a son of William M. and Sarah Ann (White) Cunningham. His father was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1808. He was a farmer and stockman by occupation, and when quite a young man he moved to Ohio. After a short residence in Gallia county he settled in Highland county, and in 1857 emigrated to Daviess county, Missouri, where he died in 1875.

J.V. Cunningham's paternal grandfather and great-grandfather emigrated from the Emerald Isle to America in 1778, but were taken back by the British. They returned in 1784, and settled in Pennsylvania, and subsequently in Ohio, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Cunningham remembers having attended both of their funerals. His grandfather enlisted in the war of 1812, but was rejected for nearsightedness. He was born in 1772, and died in 1854 at the age of seventy-two years. His great-grandfather, who died at the age of one hundred and four, was born in Scotland in 1740, and died in 1844.

Mr. Cunningham's maternal ancestry were also of Scotch origin. His maternal grandfather was a Caldwell, and was with the Cunninghams when they were returned by the British. Both families came later and settled at Belfast, Ohio, an Irish and Scotch settlement. Almost the entire population of this vicinity are descendants of these colonists. His grandfather White's homestead was purchased by the county to be used as an asylum for the poor and has become one of the most noted institutions of this kind in southern Ohio.

Mr. Cunningham received his early education in the old log school house near his home in Ohio and began his early career by learning the painter's trade. At the age of twenty-two he began farming, which he has followed ever since. He served his country in the late war and was one of Company D, Twenty-seventh Missouri Infantry, enlisting in 1862, and was in active service for two years. He was in the division of the Western army, and participated in the battles of Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Near the close of the war he fell sick and was discharged for disability. Mr. Cunningham is one of the few who never received nor made application for a pension.

He was married in 1872, to Ebrala Frances Severe, a daughter of John D. Severe, a farmer of Daviess county, Missouri, formerly of Knox county. Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham are the parents of an engaging family of nine children, six girls and three boys, viz.: Charlie O., Annie B., Orda A., Ora S., Maud M., Jessie E., Erma E., Mary L., and Ruth.

Mr. Cunningham's farm consists of two hundred and eighty acres, upon which he raises hogs extensively and keeps an average herd of one hundred and fifty head of native cattle. They have considerable fruit of a great many varieties, and a fine orchard that yields regularly and abundantly.

Mr. Cunningham was a Democrat, but in recent years has affiliated with the Populist party in Daviess county, Missouri he served as under sheriff and assessor. He has held the office of treasurer of Lyon township and is the present justice of the peace. He and his estimable family are members of the Church of Christ, of the New Range Line organization, which convenes in the school building of district No. 56. He is a prominent member of Glasco Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

JAMES W. CUTSHAW.

Among the highly esteemed farmers and financially solid men of the Jamestown locality is J.W. Cutshaw, who came to Kansas in 1870 and homesteaded his present farm. He was born in Marshall county, Indiana, in 1843. When he was nine years old his parents removed to Michigan and settled in Berrien county, near Three Oaks, where Mr. Cutshaw was reared. When eighteen years of age he enlisted in Company K, Sixth Michigan Infantry, and served until 1863, When he was discharged on account, of a gun-shot wound received in Port Hudson, Louisiana, which disabled him for service. His company commander was Captain Ed. Bacon. Their lieutenant colonel was David Bacon - cousins. The warfare of his company consisted of guard duty, tearing up railroads, etc. Mr. Cutshaw returned to Michigan and lived in different localities of that state until 1870, when he emigrated west. He was unmarried when he secured his prairie claim and erected a little cabin and later a board house. But with the accession of a home all his own, "the young man's fancy lightly turned to thoughts of marriage," and in accordance was wedded to Miss Frances F. Wilson in 1877, whose acquaintance he had formed during his youth in Indiana. Of the eight children born to their union six are living: Grace L., a promising young girl of fifteen, died in 1893. Earl and Carl F. were born at the same birth and are very similar in personality. The resemblance between the twins is so marked they often exercise pranks on their hand-shaking friends. They are manly fine fellows twenty-three years of age. Earl J. is a student on his second year in the Kansas City Dental College. He had previously been a pupil of the Concordia high school for two years. Carl F., who represents the Continental insurance business, is located at Lincoln Center, Kansas. He is a graduate from the Concordia high school. Ralph Roscoe, aged twenty, is interested with his father on the farm. After a course in the Concordia high school he matriculated in the Great Western, Business College for two years. The other sons, Lewis Robert and Paul Fulsom, are young men of promise. They are aged nineteen and seventeen years, respectively. Fannie Louise, their only daughter, is a bright little girl of thirteen years. These children have been reared in the school of industry as well as book lore, for Mr. Cutshaw owns five hundred and twenty acres of land and is a large wheat and alfalfa grower as well as stockman. He owns thirteen quarter sections of uncultivated land in Thomas county, Kansas, which he purchased for ranching and speculative purposes, but believing it will produce good wheat, will put much of it under cultivation. His farm in Buffalo township is all first and second bottom land of excellent quality.

The parents of Mr. Cutshaw were Jesephus Arnold and Phoebe (Belangee) Cutshaw. His father was of Dutch origin and Pennsylvania birth. He lived for short periods in Ohio and Illinois, and later in Indiana. He gained a considerable fortune in the gold mines of California in 1849. The family came to Kansas in 1876, where the father and mother both died a few years later. There were six children: Mortimer, who lived in the same vicinity for many years, removed to California, where he died. Cecil Cutshaw, is a prominent farmer and lives on an adjoining estate.

Until the birth of the Populist party Mr. Cutshaw was a Republican, but is not a partisan politician and votes independently. Socially he is a member of the Woodmen and the Grand Army of the Republic. Although Mr. Cutshaw, has experienced his share of the early hardships he has given his sons better educational advantages than the average farmer boy receives and has accumulated an estate that warrants all the comforts of life. He is a typical western farmer and he and his excellent family are among the most desirable citizens or the community.

WILLIAM CZAPANSKIY.

The subject of this sketch enjoys the distinction of being the oldest settler of Cloud county, residing on his original homestead. Mr. Czapanskiy is a native of Prussia, Germany, born in 1831. His grandfather was a Russian, and books that were published in the Ianguage of his country when he died were buried with him, as is the custom of that country, when a peasant possesses books that can not be interpreted. Our subject worked in a mill in his native country for eleven years, and in the meantime was married to Miss Julia Fischer, in 1857, a young German woman. When their family consisted of but one child, Lewis, they decided to cross the ocean and find a home in America. They joined some of their countrymen in Wisconsin, with whom they had corresponded, and after having worked there about four months, he, with three other German families determined to seek homes on the frontier. Had they known all the difficulties and privations it involved it is doubtful if they would have braved them. They fitted themselves out with ox teams, some with one yoke and some two, our subject being among the former, and thus equipped with the necessary requirements, or such as their means justified, the little colony embarked over the "prairie schooner" line for the wilds of Kansas. After a journey of seven weeks, made more or less eventful by varied experiences, they arrived on the beautiful but unsettled prairies of Shirley township, Shirley county (now Cloud), Kansas, the mecca of their dreams. The families of J.M. Hagarman, J.M. Thorp and August Fenskie, comprised the only settlement on Elm creek at that time. The other two families were much discouraged at the outlook and returned. One young man enlisted in the army, but Mr. Czapanskiy had cast his lot in the new country and he had an abiding faith in the future, however distant it might be, and he immediately began preparations to secure a home. He sent a dollar to Junction City by Mr. Hagarman to pay for the filing on his land. The following year he raised a small crop of sod corn on the ten acres he had broken, hauled the proceeds one hundred and fifty miles to Ft. Kearney to buy the requirements of the household, and when he homesteaded in the spring of 1863, he felt like a duke, would scarcely have exchanged his possessions for a baronetcy. But later when the settlements fell victims to the Indian raids, the grasshoppers and the drouths, life on the frontier became a lonely dread. However, they were fortunate in not having suffered by Indian depredations other than the suspense incurred from the extreme danger to which they were exposed. About four hundred Iowas were passing through the country and attempted to raid their watermelon patch, but Mr. Czapanskiy boldly confronted them and with loud talk and suspiciously emphatic language ordered them to go. One old Indian took him by the shoulders and shaking him said "You little man, won't kill Indian." A neighbor locked himself in the house and when the maurauders had gone he found his melons, along with the vines, ruthlessly cut and torn in pieces. Mr. and Mrs. Czapanskiy's family consists of five sons and one daughter. Lewis, a well-to-do farmer five miles south of the old homestead; Gustavus, owns three hundred and twenty acres of land cornering his father's farm; Gotleib, owns one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the home place on the north; Rudolph's farm of one hundred and seventy acres, joins his brother Gotleib on the north; William, now owns two hundred and fifty acres and will inherit the homestead as the other heirs have been paid off. Their daughter Julia, is the wife of Henry Taylor, a hardware merchant of Palmer, Washington county, Kansas.

The sun never shown on fairer ground than the one thousand and twenty fertile acres included in the estate of the Czapanskiys. The sons are industrious, progressive fellows and have assisted very materially in accumulating this fine proporty.

Our subject visited Germany a year ago, where his parents both died poor peasants, and says he would not exchange his American freedom for the cramped conditions of his fatherland, but prefers his Kansas home. A brother and sister followed to this country; the latter is Mrs. Walno and lives near her brother on a farm. The Czapanskiys are members of the Lutheran church.