History of Barton County, Kansas

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS

The subject of this sketch, Louis Plankenhorn, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, April 14, 1859, He came to Barton County in 1892, and bought land in South Bend township which is now his home place. This land is located in the northwest corner of section 16 and is in a high state of cultivation. In addition to this land Mr. Plankenhorn farms seventy-five acres of land adjoining the home place on the west. He was married August 17, 1882, to Miss Florence Job, in Wayne County, Indiana. They are the parents of two children: Ethel Christina, 26 years of age, who is now Mrs. F. W. Stewart and resides on a farm five miles north of Great Bend and Glenda Irene who is fifteen years of age and living at home. She is a student in the Barton county schools. Mr. Plankenhorn has taken a great interest in his home place as is evidenced by the fact that with all the regular work of raising a crop of staple products he has found time to improve the surroundings, and south of his home he has a fine orchard in which are found apple, plum, peach and other fruit trees. The residence consists of several rooms in addition to bath, pantries, closets, etc. The home is well built and neatly arranged and the shade trees about the house are well arranged and maintained in a most inviting manner. The barn is 30 by 52 feet and has an addition that is used as a cow barn, which is 20 by 48 feet in dimensions. Mr. Plankenhorn has one of the nicest home places in that section of the county and farms his land according to the best methods and is an enterprising and progressive citizen and has done much to make the part of the county south of the river one of the best of the crop producing sections.

William Henry Maybach was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, November 10, 1858. He received his early education in the public schools of that county and took a normal course which fitted him for teaching. He taught in the schools of Indiana for three years and returned to his native state at the end of that time and taught in the schools there for nine years. In May, 1885, he arrived in Barton county and began the building of a home and the development of the land on the southwest quarter of section 24 in Liberty township. This is the home place and is now known as "Cottage Grove Farm." He owns in all 800 acres of land, three quarters of it being in section 25 of Liberty township, and one quarter in South Bend township. Of this land Mr. Maybach farms a half section, the remainder being rented. Mr. Maybach was married in 1889 to Miss Ella Reichenbach of Orville, Ohio. To this union there was born one son, Fred, who is now 21 years of age. After finishing a course in civil engineering at the Agricultural College at Manhattan he accepted a position with the Santa Fe Railroad and is now in that company's employ with headquarters at Arkansas City. Mr. Maybach survived his first wife and was married to Miss Cora Waddle of Barton County in 1898. They are the parents of two children: Carl Henry, eleven years of age, and Marie Elizabeth, five years of age. Mr. Maybach has a well equipped farm, having all the necessary outbuildings and a residence of 8 rooms. One of the features of Mr. Maybach's farm is the orchard in which are found apple, pear, peach and plum trees as well as many varieties of berries. Mr. Maybach has been most successful in raising fruit as he uses modern methods and understands tree culture. He maintains good live stock and owes his success to using the best methods in the cultivation of the soil.

Of the old timers of Barton County who came here in the 80's the subject of this sketch, John Allison Hoge, is one who has remained and made a success of the farming business. He was born September 16, 1855, in Green County, Pa., and came to Barton County in 1886. He immediately engaged in the farming business and now owns three quarter sections of land in Liberty township all of which is under cultivation and being farmed under Mr. Hoge's supervision. He was married in Witzel County, West Virginia, in 1878, to Miss H. E. Haught. They are the parents of four children: Charles, 32 years of age, who is a practicing dentist at Kinsley, in this state; Ira, 28 years of age, engaged in the farming business near Offerle, Kansas; Sol, 26 years old, who is operating a farm near Lewis, Kansas and Thomas, 13 years of age who is a student in the Barton County schools. The home place has a modern eight room residence, a fine well built barn and other outbuildings. Mr. Hoge maintains a fine orchard in which he grows nearly all varieties of fruits common to this section of the country. Mr. Hoge has made a specialty of breeding and raising Galloway cattle and is considered an authority on all matters pertaining to this breed of cattle and he has done much to encourage the breeding of high class cattle in the county. Mr. Hoge owes his success to the practical farming methods which he has used in developing his farm into one of the most desirable in that part of the county. While Mr. Hoge takes an interest in all public affairs he has never held any public office other than at times being an officer of the township in which he resides. His place is located about three and one-half miles from Great Bend and is one of the best developed and most highly improved in Barton. Mr. Hoge came here at a time when the outlook for the future was not the brightest but by good management and a thorough knowledge of farming he has made a success of which he can justly be proud.

Robert Arthur Bidleman is one of those pioneers who came to Barton County in 1878, at a time when things were looking bright for the future and the new comers thought they had at last found a veritable garden spot. However, this year was followed by a most unsuccessful one. Then came the bad times and only those who were made of the kind of stuff of which real pioneers are made were possessed of the nerve to stick it out. Mr. Bidleman was one of these and he now lives on his home place which is located in section 23, South Bend township. It consists of 160 acres, all of which Mr. Bidleman farms in addition to a quarter section on which he farms in section 24. Mr. Bidleman was born November 5, 1859, at Schoolcraft, Kalamazoo County, Michigan. He went to school, and learned to farm in his home state before coming to Barton County on the date mentioned. He was married July 7, 1900, to Miss Minnie Witte of Great Bend. Mr. Bidleman has been on his home place about five years and is making improvements every year and this year will add a summer kitchen to his residence. The barn is 34 by 40, well built and commodious and always contains a good grade of work stock. A young orchard covering a piece of ground west of the residence is adding greatly to the beauty of the surroundings and contains fruit of several varieties that are common to this section of the country. Mr. Bidleman has held township offices and is an enterprising and progressive citizen. One of those who helped to make that part of the county lying south of the river one of the most desirable in its borders. He has seen a great deal of the early history of this county and knew the men who made it possible to make Barton County one of the best in the State of Kansas.

The subject of this sketch, Henry B. Unruh, came to Barton county in 1876 from Pennsylvania where he first located after leaving the old country where he was born in Russia-Poland, in 1852. By trade he is a weaver and sawyer but upon his arrival in this county he immediately took up the business of farming and located in the Mennonite Colony near Dundee. His home place consists of about 220 acres of land all of which is in a high state of cultivation. Mr. Unruh was married in 1873 to Miss Susan Dirks. Mr. Unruh survived his first wife who died in 1901. They were the parents of ten children. Mr. Unruh married Miss Kate Johnson of South Dakota, in 1902, and they have been blessed with four children. Mr. Unruh's mother died in the Old Country and his father passed away in this country in 1910. Mr. Unruh's farm is one of the best developed in that part of the county and he has always had it well stocked with the best of horses and cattle and all the necessary machinery for successful farming. With all Mr. Uuruh's work he has found time to work out and perfect an invention on which he has the patent that is some day destined to revolutionize the science of railroad building. The invention consists of an endless or continuous rail. It has received the endorsement of some of the leading railroad men of the country and had Mr. Unruh been so inclined he could have sold the rights to manufacture the rail to an eastern outfit but as they wanted it all without giving anything in return their offer was not accepted by Mr. Unruh. The invention is one of the most perfect of contrivances and it will do away with the jar and noise caused when a train goes from one rail to the next on the ordinary railroad. Mr. Unruh is in no hurry to dispose of his patent but is now contemplating the organization of a stock company to manufacture and sell the rails of his construction. Mr. Unruh is one of the best known men in the county and his invention has brought him no little fame and will in time reward him in a more substantial way.

Among the well known residents of Walnut township and one who had a great deal to do with the developing of that section of Barton County is Eldridge York. He was born October 12, 1863, in Ulster County, New York, and came to Barton County when he was twenty-one years of age. He purchased 80 acres of land on the Dry Walnut and later bought the old Gallon homestead in section 34 of Walnut township. He recently sold a part of his land but still owns 204 acres in Walnut township, and a quarter section of land in Ford County. He was married November 14, 1890, to Miss Sarah Gray of Ulster County, New York, and they are the parents of three children as follows: Walter E., 20 years of age; Emery G., 14 years of age, and Elmer L., 12 years of age. All the children are at home and are being educated in the schools of the county. The York home is nicely situated and the improvements are substantial and well built. The residence contains seven rooms in addition to closets, pantries, etc., while the barn is 50 by 62 feet in dimensions. The other outbuildings are all that one requires in the successful operation of a farm according to modern methods. Mr. York has always maintained a good grade of horses and cattle and until recently made a specialty of raising Chester White hogs, and thoroughbred Short Horn cattle. Mr. York gave this work a great deal of attention and was one of the most successful breeders of fancy hogs and cattle in that part of the county. He has been a member of the school board and has always taken an active part in the affairs of his community. Mr. York came here at a time when it needed men of experience and men who had faith in the future of the county to make it one of the best counties in the State of Kansas.

William Harrison Russell was born April 20, 1841, in the State of Indiana and is one of the really old timers of Barton County, having come here in 1874, during the month of September. He first located in Beaver township about a mile south of the county line. He remained there until 1901 when he moved to his present home place in South Bend township about eight miles south and west of the City of Great Bend. Mr. Russell enlisted in Co. E, 94th Illinois Infantry August 7, 1862, and served throughout the war. He was engaged in the battle of Vicksburg, and was with Grant all the way down the Mississippi, and took part in the Mobile campaign, one of the severest of the war. He can tell many interesting reminiscences of the big conflict and has a soldier's record of which he can be justly proud. He was married in McLean County, Illinois, to Miss Mary Newton in 1868 and they are the parents of three children: Ira, 40 years of age, who is now bookkeeper for the Butcher Packing Co. of Salina, Kansas. Ray, 26 years of age, who is one of the best known veterinarians in this section of the state. His office being in Great Bend where he with Dr. Cheney have one of the most up-to-date animal hospitals in this section of the country. Guy, who is 12 years of age, assists his father in the work of operating the farm. The home place consists of 160 acres of land in addition to which Mr. Russell owns a half section of good land in Ford County. On the home place is found a well built, commodious seven room house, a good barn and all the needed outbuildings that are usually found on the modernly equipped farms of Barton County. Mr. Russell came here at a time when it required nerve for the residents to stay and fight it out with the elements which seemed to make it harder and harder every year. It is to such men as Mr. Russell that Barton County owes her present high standing among the leading agricultural sections of the world. He has always been a progressive citizen and has seen this county grow from an almost barren waste to its present high state of cultivation.

Born near Madburg, Prussia, May 4, 1848, Wm. Gagelman came to America with his parents, Christopher and Katie Gagelman in 1864. They located near Bloomington, Illinois. In 1877, William was seized by the western fever and came across the plains and secured a location in Barton County by buying railroad land and since that time no man in the county has had more to do with its development and up-building than has Mr. Gagelman. For thirty-one years he was actively engaged in the farming business and by consistent effort and skillful management he accumulated more land, and at one time owned 1,600 acres in this county. He was married in 1873 to Miss Dora Barstal and to this. union there were born eight children: Lena, 38 years; Bertha, 37 years; Fred W., 36 years; Harry E., 33 years; Matilda L., 31 years; Clara Augusta, 29 years; Rosa, 27 years; Ida, 24 years. Mr. Gagelman's second wife was Miss Matilda Belz and they were married in 1894. They are the parents of two children: Martha Mary, 16 years and Olga Elsa, 14 years. All these children are living in the county with the exception of Matilda L., who resides in Kansas City. Mr. Gagelman retired in 1908 and since that time has been living in Great Bend. He occupies a comfortable, modern residence at 1205 Holland street and in addition to this property owns four other residences in the city and 1,060 acres of farm land. The farm land is being worked by Mr. Gagelman's sons and sons-in-law, all of his children being married with the exception of Ida, Martha and Olga, the latter two being students in the Great Bend schools. Mr. Gagelman is a member and trustee of the Lutheran church and with all his personal interests has found time to take a most active part in anything that has for its purpose the betterment of the county and city. He is a progressive and enterprising citizen and in addition to his holdings in this state is interested in mining properties in Missouri.

If years count George Richard Harders of "Wheat Land Farm" is neither an old man, an old citizen of the United States, or an early settler in Barton County. He is, however, one of its best citizens, and has bought and improved one of the best farms of his locality, which may be reached by traveling one mile north from the court house in Great Bend, and then twelve miles due west. In 1903 he purchased the Calvin Reeder farm of one hundred and sixty acres and paid twenty-five dollars per acre - and the wise ones shook their heads. He, however, knew what he was doing and went to work improving the place and at this writing has about the neatest little farm along the drive. He built a new house with nine rooms and a hall; a barn which will accommodate twelve head of horses and nine milk cows, and feed for the same; an elevator and granary; a cement milk house and several windmills. Then he picketed the lawn, garden and horse lots, wired the various fields, and painted the buildings so that they stand out and attract universal commendation. There is a young orchard and a grove of forest trees, a number of plants and shrubs, and these give a setting of green that is most delightful. The interior is furnished with all modern conveniences and is in the same good taste displayed outside, and as a home it is worth all in comfort that it has cost in dollars. This transformation has not been accomplished without much labor and thought and redounds to the credit of both Mr. and Mrs. Harders.

George Harders was born in Ostfriesland, Germany, March 6th, 1871, and came to America October 29, 1893. He first settled near Flannagan, Livingston County, Ill., where he rented and tilled the soil. In 1903 he purchased the land above described, and in January, 1904, removed his family here. He married Miss Anna Gerdsen on December 29th, 1899, in Livingston County, Illinois, and two children have blessed the union: Fred Herman, 11, and Mary Christina, 10.

The name Essmiller is the synonym of prosperity in Barton County, because the Essmiller Bros. have made a success of farming, breeding and selling stock just west of Great Bend, and are well known and highly respected in the community. The second brother, Diedrich Essmiller, came to Barton County in 1880, and settled one mile south of his present. location. He now lives five and one-half miles northwest of the county seat on the best improved section of land in the county. His first purchase was the Noah Brumbaugh homestead, and later the other three quarters. He has the entire tract in the very highest state of cultivation and his buildings are among the best, most convenient and commodious in his neighborhood. His house and barns are located about midway of the section on the east side, and are on the highest point on the farm. The house has 13 rooms, is a frame building and painted pure white.

He has a number of windmills pumping sparkling water from deep driven wells on the premises, and this is piped to the house for drinking and bathing, and to the barns and lots for watering stock. His buildings are lighted by an acetylene plant and supplied with other conveniences. The barns are among the largest in the county and will store the crops produced on the section, as well as house the work animals, cattle and hogs grown and in use on a place of this size.

Diedrich Essmiller was born in the Province of Hanover, Germany, September 27th, 1853, and is fifty-three years of age. He came to this country in 1872 at the age of nineteen and settled in LaCrosse County, Wisconsin, where he pursued the occupation of a farm hand for the succeeding eight years. In November, 1878, he was married to Miss Dora Weingarten, of LaCrosse County, Wisconsin, and they have a daughter and son, Lillie E, and Arnold F., both children making their home with their parents on the farm, although Miss Lillie was united in marriage to Kirby Evers on October 11th, 1906. There is a grandson, Elmer, a sturdy little farmer of eleven years, who assists his grandfather in the management of the estate. Besides the section mentioned above Mr. Essmiller is a joint owner with his brother Will in three quarters in Pawnee County, Kansas, which is well improved, and is known to have other interests and investments in the county.

When Mr. Essmlller settled in Barton County he was a comparatively poor man, and what he has has been accumulated by the hardest of work under adverse circumstances. The last few years, however, he has retired from laborous work, contenting himself with looking on and directing while his son and son-in-law, who lease the farm, perform the heavier duties. His success is the result of good judgment and hard work, and by being fortunate in selecting a kind of soil which has responded to his continued effort.

The subject of this sketch was born May 27th, 1857, near Bremen, Germany, and at this writing is in his fifty-fifth year. He came to America with his parents when seven years old and settled in LaCrosse County, Wisconsin. He received his education in the public schools of the neighborhood, and until he was twenty-five worked for his father on the farm. In the spring of 1883 he came to Barton County, and in 1890 bought a part of his present holdings from Fred H. Miller, who was an earlier purchaser from the Santa Fe Railway Company. He has since added other parcels until his home place embraces a whole section. His location is six miles west of the court house at Great Bend, and his farm is in the highest state of cultivation. His buildings are new, commodious, substantial and convenient, and built to house a growing family and to care for the crops and stock necessary on a large farm. His machinery and farm implements are of the up-to-date Kansas farmer kind, as is everything else on the Miller homestead.

Besides the section on which he lives, Mr. Miller owns a quarter out of section 5, near Heizer; one hundred acres of section 2, Buffalo township, and four hundred and eighty acres in Rush County, one mile south of Necoma.

In November, 1883, Henry F. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Sandman, of LaCrosse County, Wisconsin. The ceremony was performed in Great Bend, Miss Sandman having journeyed from her northern home to assist her future husband in making his fortune on what was then considered the Kansas plains. The union has been blessed by five children, viz: Georgia N., the wife of W. C. Otte, a farmer, living northeast of Heizer; Edna, wife of Frank Case, farmer, four miles north of Heizer; and Ernie, Robert and William who are still single and at home.

The success of Mr. Miller is the result of good judgment, economy and hard work during the first years of his residence in the county. He has faced conditions that were tragedies, which is the usual lot, of the man who tills the soil and depends on the elements to provide the moisture that makes them grow. During the twenty-eight years which he has resided in Barton County there has been harvests that were almost complete failures, and which barely provided seed and feed for the next year. Many crops have been bumper yielders and have made Barton County famous as a wheat producer.

The beautiful "High Valley Farm," the scene portrayed above is the home of John Albert and Lena Mausolf, twelve and one-half miles west from Great Bend, and it stands on a farm of four hundred acres that cannot be excelled in Barton County. The soil is a rich, brown, dark sandy loam, and every acre of it is tillable. It is well fenced and shows careful cultivation, and the growing crops and well filled granaries proves the management is not lacking. The residence is a story and a half frame, "T" shaped; has an enclosed porch across the front, and contains ten rooms. It is modernly furnished and supplies all the conveniences to be had in a city home of the same size and character. Around it are clustered beautifully leaved forest trees, and inside the iron paled lawn is a carpet of grass, and there are shrubs, plants and flowers sufficient to make it very inviting. A model creamery and wash house, built of concrete blocks, stands back in the yard, and across the driveway is the garage. To the right of this stand the barns, granary, elevator and other buildings which house the farm implements and shelter the stock.

John A. Mausolf was born in West Prussia Province, Germany, on December 20th, 1869, and came to America with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John G. Mausolf, in 1873, who first settled in New York City, remaining two years; removed to Jersey City where they remained five years, and then removed to Kansas and made a home in Garfield township, Rush County. The father died in Great Bend on February 5th, 1911, and the mother occupies a home in Great Bend. The marriage of Mr. Mausolf occurried in April, 1896, and the following summer he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of his present farm, paying therefore $1,750. In 1899 he purchased eighty acres at a cost of $1,000, and in 1906 he bought one hundred and sixty acres more for $5,500. The four hundred acres cost $8,250 at the time of purchase, and would probably sell for $40,000 today.

John Albert Mausolf was married to Miss Lena Gagelman of Barton County, on April 16th, 1896, and they have six interesting children - three boys and three girls, Alma, 15; Harry, 11; Erna L, 9; Alfred 6; Carl, 4; and Loreine, 1.

Of the old timers who came to Barton County in the early '70's none is better known than Ira Day Brougher, who arrived in this county in 1874. He was born May 14, 1843, in York County, Pennsylvania. He received his early education in the schools of that state and at the beginning of the war he enlisted in the 13th Pennsylvania and was a member of Company F. He began his enlistment June 9, 1862, and was honorably discharged January 3, 1863. He re-enlisted in the U. S. Military Railroad Department and saw active service until 1866. He took part in the battle of South Mountain, Maryland, and later lost his right arm as the result of a wound received at the battle of Antietem. At the close of the war he went to Philadelphia where he took a course in the Bryant-Stratton Business College. He graduated from this institution in 1868. This course of study fitted him for the occupation of book-keeper which he followed for several years in Philadelphia and New York where he held responsible positions with wholesale houses. He remained in New York City for two years and was there when he was seized with the idea to go west and grow up with the country, as was advised by Horace Greeley. He came direct to Barton County, Kansas in 1874 and homesteaded a claim in what is now South Bend township, about six miles southwest of Great Bend. He helped to organize this township and was the first trustee. He was engaged in the farming business from then on until he retired from active work on the farm in 1889. Mr. Brougher was elected county clerk of Barton County at the fall election of 1877, and held this office for three consecutive terms or six years. In 1889 he was elected to the office of Clerk of the District Court which office he held when Judge Clark was district judge of this judicial district. When Mr. Brougher first came to this section of the state the outlook was anything but bright for the future and although he was handicapped by having but one arm, he plunged into the thick of the development work and from his public service which is mentioned above it can be seen that he had time to take an active part in public matters as well as look after his private affairs. Mr. Brougher was one of those men who made this county one of the best in the State of Kansas out of a barren prairie waste. For a time after his arrival here there was a period when things looked mighty fine for the early settlers, but this was followed by several years which tried the hearts and souls of the pioneers, when they were compelled to combat not only the uncertainty of moisture but had to contend with the grasshoppers and other conditions over which they had no control. However it was fortunate that the population of Barton County at that time contained men, who like Mr. Brougher, could see the possibilities of the future and in spite of the undesirable conditions remained and developed the county's resources until it is now one of the most important in the State of Kansas. Mr. Brougher owns nine quarter sections of land in this part of the state; seven of them being in Barton and one each in Stafford and Hodgeman counties. He is also one of the directors of the German-American Bank of Great Bend and was one of the organizers and is still president of the Barton County Fair Association, an office which he has filled since the association was formed in 1900. He also has interests in the mercantile line in Great Bend and is counted as a progressive, enterprising citizen, and one of the men who blazed the way for others to make of Barton County one of the most productive agricultural sections in the world.

The Patterson family, of which Mrs. Isabel Patterson is the head, are probably as well and favorably known as any in county. Settling on home place March, 1876, public attention was directed to this family by the sudden death of Joseph Patterson, the father, and his two young sons on April 13th, 1879. It appears that on that day there was a thunder storm, accompanied by the usual rain flurry, and that in the yard was an unprotected ash hopper, which at that period was usually found on the premises of most farm homes and used for the purpose of making the family soap. A large flat rock attracted the attention of the husband as the best and most easily found protection for the hopper, and he requested his two young sons to assist him in placing the stone over the opening at the top. And, while in this act the three were stricken down in an instant by a flash of lightning with death as the result. During a residence of three years in one community Mr. Patterson and his family had endeared themselves to most of the settlers over a considerable section and the tragic incident caused comment for years following. Joseph Patterson was born May 6, 1838, in Virginia.

Mrs. Patterson's maiden name was Millikin, and she was born November 23, 1838, in Osgood County, Indiana. She was left an orphan at an early age and was adopted by a relative and grew to womanhood on a farm in Madison County, Ohio. She married Joseph Patterson at Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio, on November 14th, 1860. She was the mother of ten children. A daughter named Mary Sayler, who died August , 1909, John and Frank, the two sons mentioned above as being stricken by lightning, and these following: Wm. Patterson, residing in Los Angeles, California; Joseph Patterson, Jr., married Katie Tolbert, and resides near Albert; Stanley F. Patterson, married Anna Gruber, residence, Hutchinson; Sarah Patterson, single, residing with her mother; Orr Patterson, married Clara Goeldner, residence, Great Bend; Err Patterson, married Grace Zimmer, residence, home farm.

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Patterson, Sr., came to Barton County on March 8th, 1876, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land from the Santa Fe railway company at four dollars and forty cents per acre. Failure of crops caused them to forfeit this contract, and they repurchased a few years later, this time having to pay six dollars. The premises are well improved and grows good crops.

The birth of Charles E. Button antedates that of Barton County by about two years, because he was born Feb. 25, 1869, and was among the first organized body of pioneers assembled on the townsite of Great Bend in the Spring of 1871. Thus it happened that the two lives began almost simultaneously and their histories are practically one and the same. Mr. Button first saw the light in Peoria County, Illinois, and came to Barton County, Kansas, when but five years of age, accompanied by his parents, Almon H. and Annie E. Button. They arrived in the county in March, 1875, and settled four miles northwest of the farm described in this sketch, and it was then that life really began for little Charles, because his blood throbbed with the life of a new country. He saw Indians as they passed and re-passed his father's home; saw buffalo as they fed majestically on the range, and saw his father bring them to earth with a trusty gun with popular skill. The cowboy and his bucking bronco were the idols of his imagination and he longed for the day when he could be trusted with a pony and gun to roam the prairie and chase the Texas cattle as he saw them do. The stories then told of "Dutch Henry" and his gang of horse thieves are still fresh in his memory, as well as other frontier day yarns. He is a man who had a great deal to do with the early day history of his part of the county. He has improved his home place with exceptional skill and made of it one of the most attractive farms in his township. Mr. Button has always taken an active part in the affairs of his part of the county and is an enterprising and progressive citizen.

The life history here recorded of Joseph Thies, is the record made by one of the largest renters of land in Barton County. He was born in Belgium on May 15th, 1878, and emigrated to the United States in 1893, when but fifteen years of age, and has imbibed more of American ways than of the Fatherland. He stopped first near Chicago, Illinois, where he hired himself to a farmer to learn how to grow and till the crops of this country; and later he was employed by a transfer company in the city for nine years and came face to face with the business world in the busiest city on the American continent. Thus he fitted himself for the strenuous life he has pursued since coming to Kansas, which was in September, 1902. He first rented the six hundred and forty acre farm of W. N. Klepper, six miles southeast of Great Bend, and remained there until 1905. Then he tried his fortunes for three years nine miles southeast of Ellinwood, on a section owned by Henry Roetzel. He then returned to the Klepper farm and remained there until the fall of 1911, when he took charge of the Gus. Werhahn farm of three hundred and twenty acres, fourteen miles west of Great Bend, and he now hopes that he has secured the farm where he can put in practice the theories he has for conducting a large farm on an economical basis.

Joe has always had several side lines heretofore; such as owning and operating a threshing machine, corn sheller and trading in live stock. He has discarded the thresher and sheller, and will sell and breed horses, mules and cattle, and cultivate corn, wheat, oats and alfalfa in the future. He is a great hustler and Mr. Worhahn is fortunate in having him.

Joseph Thies was married to Miss Anna Frances Grommes, of Aurora, Illinois, on August 20th, 1902, and they have three interesting children: Elizabeth Cordelia, aged 8 years; John Nicholas, 7, and Frank Henry, 5.

Mrs. Thies was born in Aurora, Ill., on March 16th, 1881, and has adapted herself to farm life in Kansas amazingly well. She is a true helpmate for her hustling husband and is content with her chickens, butter making and the domestic department of a large farm, and much prefers the life to that of a crowded and overrun city.