WILLIAM A. CORMANY
Wililam A. Cormany, during a period covering more
than a half century William A. Cormany has been a resident of Fort Scott, and in this time has been closely identified
with the agencies that have made for progress along material, educational and moral lines. Coming here a veteran
of the Civil war, in 1866, he entered newspaper life as owner of the Fort Scott Monitor, and since then his activities
have branched out in various avenues of business. He is one of the few remaining of the early settlers of the city,
and looks upon its present prosperity with the eye of a proprietor.
Mr. Cormany is a son of William and Margaret (Goldsmith)
Cormany, the former of whom was born in Edinburg, Scotland, in 1810, and the latter in Pennsylvania, of Dutch descent,
in 1813. William Cormany was brought to the United States in 1813, by his parents, the family settling in Pennsylvania,
where he met and married Margaret Coldsmith, and in 1840 they started for Ohio in a covered wagon. When they were
twelve miles from the little Town of Lithopolis, Fairfield County, Ohio, the wagon broke down, and before the journey
could be resumed, the son, William A., was born, January 27, 1841. Several weeks later the little party again got
under way and finally reached their destination, at Lancaster, Ohio, where the father worked at his trade of harnessmaker
and also engaged in the manufacture of black-snake whips, contracted for by the United States Government. In 1862
the family went to Illinois, and there the mother died in the following year. She really grieved herself to death
over the fact that she could learn nothing as to the fate of her three eons, George, Jacob and William A., who
served through the Civil war as Union soldiers. Jacob Cormany was given a medal of honor for carrying his wounded
captain from the field of battle under fire. The father survived the mother for some time, dying in 1880. He had
been a soldier during the Mexican war, while William A. Corman's maternal grandfather was an American soldier during
the War of 1812.
William A. Cormany attended the public schools
of Lancaster, Ohio, but never graduated therefrom, the greater part of his education having come from the school
of experience. As a youth he was bound over to a printer at Lancaster, where he served three years, during which
time he received $30 per year for his services. After ten years of service he received a diploma, as was the custom
of that .day, signifying that he was a full-fledged journeyman printer. Armed with this, he went to Cincinnati,
Ohio, but soon found out he had much to learn in regard to the printing business. His first salary at Cincinnati
was $5 per week, and as his board and room cost him $4.75 it left the young man little for himself, but he was
persevering and ambitious and decided to "stick it out." His persistence was rewarded, for after several
months he was placed in the showbill department of the Cincinnati Commercial, and there made splendid headway,
soon becoming considered as an expert in the art of showbill printing. At this time Mr. Cormany's career was interrupted
by the Civil war. He came of good fighting stock on both sides of the family, and when the call came for volunteers
to defend the Union, he responded, and April 12, 1861, enlisted in Company D, Sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
This regiment was one of the first to go into action at the front and participated in the engagements at Laurel
Hill, Carrick's Ford, Elkwater, Muzo Flats, Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville and Stone River, at which last- named battle
Mr. Cormany was captured by the enemy, and held prisoner for nine months, the last three months of which time he
was incarcerated in the notorious Libby Prison. That he suffered all the hardships and privations that were the
portion of captured Union soldiers is shown in the fact that when captured he weighed 140 pounds, and when released
weighed 89% pounds. After his recovery he fought at Chickamauga, Brown's Ferry, Orchard Knob and Missionary Ridge,
and two days before his regiment was mustered out of the service, in June, 1864, was promoted second lieutenant
for conspicuous bravery in leading a charge on Fort Resaca. When the Sixth Ohio was mustered into the service it
totalled 1,031 men, and when mustered out but 327 of the original muster remained, and this regiment was the first
in point of general health in the entire Northern army.
At the close of his military service, Mr. Cormany
returned to Cincinnati, but soon became dissatisfied with his condition and believing that he could better himself
in the West, in 1866 he came to Fort Scott, where, on March 1, he purchased the Monitor. With this publication
he contined to be identified for many years, building it up to be one of the strong and influential newspapers
of the state. Later various other business ventures secured the benefit of his ability and energy, and at the present
time he is one of the best known men in Fort Scott in the fire insurance field. It was but natural that a man of
Mr. Cormany 's ability should be called upon for public service, and as city councilman, and finance commissioner
under the commission form of government, he accomplished much for the advancement and general good of his adopted
city. Mr. Cormany is a republican, and is affiliated with the Baptist Church. He belongs to the Grand Army of the
Republic, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the United Commercial Travelers, and is prominent in
Odd Fellowship, being past grand master of the Grand Lodge of Kansas.
On August 27, 1864, Mr. Cormany was married at
Mount Carroll, Illinois, to Miss Susan Emmert. Mrs. Cormany's brother was Hon. D. B. Emmert, who was elected in
the fall of 1869 as state senator of Kansas. He was a noted man in public life, a brilliant writer, and a close
friend and associate of Hon. Eugene Ware, eminent Kansas lawyer and poet. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Cormany: Ora, who is the wife of Grant , Frankenburger, of Cimarron, New Mexico; Grace, who is the wife of W. B.
Shirk, of Kansas City, Missouri; Charles E., of Milwaukee, who fought as a soldier during the Spanish-American
war; Ada, who is the wife of C. E. Warner, who was adjutant of the Twentieth Kansas Regiment under General Funston,
in Cuba, during our late war with Spain; and W. N. Cormany, of Fort Scott, who is commercial freight agent »f
the Missouri Pacific. Mr. and Mrs. Cormany have fourteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. They celebrated
their Golden Wedding Anniversary in the mountains of New Mexico, August 27, 1914. (A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, By William Elsey Connelley, Submitted by Barbara
Ziegenmeyer)
CALVIN ARTHUR DAVIS
The superintendent of the Cudahy Refining Company
at Chanute, Kansas, Calvin Arthur Davis, is one of the sons of the Sunflower state who has worked his own 'way
to position and independence. A product of the farm, when he started upon his career his equipment consisted of
ambition, determination and good common sense, and these qualities he directed so well that he soon became recognized
as a man from whom large things could be expected. Promotion naturally followed, and his career has since been
one of constant advancement.
Mr. Davis was born on a farm south of Fort Scott,
in Bourbon County, Kansas, August 24, 1880, and is a son of Calvin and Hattie H. (Peterson) Davis. The family came
originally from Wales and settled in Virginia, during the Colonial era, later branching out to Kentucky and other
southern states. Luther Davis the grandfather of Calvin A., was born in 1815, in Kentucky, and prior to the Civil
war was a planter and slaveholder near the city of Lexington. From Kentucky he went to Cumberland County, Illinois,
where he farmed until the spring of 1877, at that time coming to Kansas and homesteading a tract of 160 acres of
land in Butler County. There he passed the remaining years of his life in agricultural operations, becoming one
of the substantial and highly respected citizens of his community. His death occurred on his farm, in 1885.
Calvin Davis, father of Calvin A., was born on
his father's farm near Lexington, Kentucky, and was educated in the public schools of Cumberland County, Illinois,
to which locality he was taken by his parents when a lad of seven years. He was reared as an agriculturist and
followed that vocation in Illinois until the spring of 1878, when he came to Butler County, Kansas, as a pioneer,
and homesteaded 160 acres of land near Eldorado. He remained there for only two years, however, and in the spring
of 1880 took up his residence in Bourbon County, near Fort Scott, where he bought a partly-improved property. This
he farmed until 1883, when he made another move, this time locating in Woodson, near Toronto, where he has a well-cultivated
tract of eighty acres. Mr. Davis is still actively engaged in farming and stock raising and is known as a practical
and progressive farmer and as a citizen who takes an interest in the community welfare and assists in beneficial
movements. He is a democrat, but has not held office, and his fraternal affiliation is with the Modern Woodmen
of America. He has held a number of lay offices in the Christian church, of which he has been a member since youth.
Mr. Davis was married in Cumberland County, Illinois, to Miss Hattie H. Peterson, who was born in that county in
1852, and they have had the following children: Luther, who resides in Woodson County and is a farmer; -Calvin
Arthur; Audrey, who is the wife of John Harris, an oil tank builder of Oilton, Oklahoma; Omar, who is engaged in
farming in Woodson County, Kansas; Orian, also an agriculturist there; Louis, who likewise follows the vocation
of farming in Woodson County ; and Mabel and Caroline, who reside near Toronto with their parents.
Calvin Arthur Davis received only ordinary educational
advantages in the public schools of Woodson County, where he completed the eighth grade course. However, he has
made the most of his opportunities, and through observation and reading has made himself a well educated man. He
was reared amid agricultural surroundings, remaining on the home farm until he was twenty-two years, of age, but
did not care 'for the life of a farmer and, accordingly, in 1902, came to Chanute, where he accepted a minor position
with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. During the three years that he was identified with this line
he was promoted several times, and in 1905 left the employ of the railroad to enter the service of the Kansas Oil
Refining Company, with which he remained two years, gaining a good working knowledge of the refining business.
In 1907 he entered the employ of the Chanute Refining Company, and steadily worked his way upward to the position
of superintendent, which office he has held since May, 1914. The plant was purchased by the Sinclair Oil Refining
Company, in June, 1916, and the name changed to the Cudahy Refining Company, Mr. Davis being retained in the capacity
of superintendent, a position for which he is singularly fitted by training and experience. The plant of this concern
is situated one and one-half miles south of Chanute, and has a daily capacity of 2,700 barrels, oil coming from
the Oklahoma fields. Mr. Davis is the owner of his own residence, at No. 1302 South Forest Avenue, Chanute, and
a valuable farm of eighty acres four miles south of Chanute. In politics he is a democrat, but has found his time
occupied with his business to an extent that keeps him from taking more than a good citizen's interest in public
matters. He is fraternally affiliated with Cedar Lodge No. 103, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Chanute Camp
No. 852, Modern Woodmen of America.
In 1904 Mr. Davis was married at Yates Center,
Kansas, to Miss May Austin, daughter of Steve and Rachel (Rhoades) Austin. Mr. Austin, who was a farmer, is now
deceased, but the mother still survives and makes her home at Toronto. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have two children: Fay,
born April 21, 1907, and Clair, born August 11, 1910. (A
Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, By William Elsey Connelley, Submitted by Barbara Ziegenmeyer)
CUMMINGS, JAMES
SCOTT
James Scott Cummings, physician and surgeon, was born at Bloomingdale, Indiana, June 8, 1851, son of John McClung
and Catherine Ann (Beadle) Cummings. John McClung Cummings was born in Green Briar County, Virginia, September
20, 1820 and until his death at Carlyle, Kansas, April 26, 1876 was a prominent farmer and stockman. His ancestry
was Scotch-Irish. Catherine Ann Beadle was born in Clark County, Kentucky, April 14, 1832 and died at Bronson on
May 8, 1898. Her ancestry was English.
James Scott Cummings attended common school in Indiana and the Rockville (Indiana) High School two years. He studied
under private tutelage in Kansas and received his medical degree from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery
where he was the winner of first prize in his final examinations.
Admitted to practice on February 26, 1880, Dr. Cummings has in connection with his practice, owned and operated
a drug store in Bronson (1898-1914). At the present time he is president of the Bank of Bronson.
A Democrat, Dr. Cummings, served as coroner of Bourbon County from 1898 until 1902, as a member of the Kansas legislature
in 1913, and was a candidate for re-election in the autumn of 1914. From 1872 until 1879 he taught in country schools.
His marriage to Libbie Ray was solemnized at Rocklow, Kansas, September 22,1861. They have one daughter, Mabel
Cummings, born June 14, 1883, who married Griffith Rees Hughes.
Dr. Cummings removed from Rocklow to Bronson in 1882 where he has since resided continuously. He erected the fifth
house in the new town. He is a member of the Bourbon County and the Kansas State Medical Societies and the American
Medical Association. For many years he was a member of the board of education of Bronson, retiring in 1918. He
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Lodge No. 268 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Bronson,
and the Scottish Rite body at Fort Scott. His hobby is Sunday School work. Residence: Bronson. (Illustriana Kansas,
by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, Page 284)
CUMMINGS,
LIBBIE RAY
Libbie Ray Cummings was born at Nobleville, Indiana, September 22, 1861, the daughter of Andrew Jackson and Permelia
Jane (Hovey) Ray. Her father ws born in Whitestown, Indiana, October 6, 1836, and died at Eureka Springs, Arkansas
on December 11, 1898. His wife Permelia, was born at Wolcotville, Indiana, April 2, 1843, and died at Eureka Springs
on February 12, 1904.
On September 22, 1881, Libbie Ray was married to James Scott Cummings at Rocklow, Kansas. Dr. Cummings who is a
physician, surgeon and druggist was born at Bloomingdale, Indiana, June 8, 1851. They have one daughter, Mabel
Cummings, born June 14, 1883, who is married to Griffith Rees Hughes.
Mrs. Cummings is a Democrat. She is the possessor of a medal for services rendered as chairman of Red Cross activities
during the World War. Her interests center in her home, church and study clubs, and in civic work. She is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Order of Eastern Star, the Degree of Honor and the Royal Neighbors of America.
Residence: Bronson. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, Page 284)
DAVIS,
CALDWELL
Caldwell Davis, farmer and stockman was born in the country in Bourbon County, Kansas September 6, 1869 son of
Jonathan McMillan and Eve (Holeman) Davis. Jonathan McMillan Davis was born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, June
21, 1837 and died near Bronson, March 15, 1893.
Eve Holeman was born near Greenbush, Illinois, January 29, 1843 and died near Bronson, Kansas, March 15, 1917.
She was made postmaster and the rural postoffice was established in her home.
Caldwell Davis, graduated from district school in 1886, and attended business college in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1889.
On September 13, 1891 he was married to Delia Belle Owens near Beloit, Kanssa. Mrs. Davis was born near Bronson,
Kansas January 15, 1871 and is active in club and farm organization work. To Mr. and Mrs. Davis were born four
children, three of whom are living. Daniel Miller, born August 20, 1892, died October 18, 1910; Bernice, born July
11, 1897 married Aubrey J. Bradley; Belle, born February 23, 1902, married Harry E. Morrow; and Caldwell, Jr.,
born June 4, 1911.
An independent Democrat, Mr. Davis, was candidate for the legislature in 1926 and was elected representative for
a special session of 1930 and in the regular election of 1930 and for the session of 1932. He is the executive
committeeman for the second district for both the Taxpayers and the Taxpayers Educational League. Residence: Bronson.
(Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, Page 299)
PEARSALL, URI BALCOM
Uri Balcom Pearsall.-To have accomplished so notable a work as did the late Uri B. Pearsall in connection with
the commercial development of the city of Fort Scott would prove sufficient to give precedence and reputation to
any man, were this to represent the sum total of his efforts ; but General Pearsall was a man of broad mental ken,
strong initiative, and distinct individuality, a potent factor in the early railway development of southeastern
Kansas, and he served with distinction in the Civil war, in which his services were of incalculable value to the
Union cause.
Uri Balcom Pearsall was born in Owego, Tioga county, New York, July 17, 1840, son of William Sutton and Eliza (Balcom)
Pearsall. His ancestors, paternal and maternal, were among the early settlers of America, and numbered among them
are men who achieved distinction in frontier-life of those early days, in the commercial era which followed, in
the French and Indian war, and later in the war of the Revolution. Charles Balcom, a maternal ancestor, was a native
of England and a younger brother of Lord Balcom. He immigrated to the Massachusetts colony, in 1720, and became
a man of large property and influence. The Pearsall family, are also of English descent, founded in America, in
1740, and became residents of Long Island. William Sutton Pearsall became a pioneer settler of Tioga county, New
York, shortly after the close of the War of 1812. He was the most extensive land owner of his time in that section
of the state, one of the founders of Owego, built the first dam on the Susquehanna river and operated both lumber
and flour mills.
General Pearsall was reared in Owego, N. Y., and acquired his education in Oxford Academy in that town. When he
became sixteen years of age his father suffered business reverses, and he removed to Wisconsin and entered the
employ of his uncle, Uri Balcom, an extensive lumber operator at Oconto. At the outbreak of the Civil war, in 1861,
on President Lincoln's first call, he raised an infantry company, known as the Oconto River Drivers. Previous to
securing equipment they were drilled with "peavies" in the place of muskets, and Capt. C. M. Pearsall,
the only son of the General, has in his possession two of those necessary implements of the old-time river driver,
used by his father's company. Mr. Pearsall was elected first lieutenant of the company, but refused a commission,
preferring to serve as a private. As a member of Company H, Fourth Wisconsin infantry, he saw his first service
and remained with this regiment until 1862. He was promoted to corporal and orderly sergeant, and in 1862 to second
lieu tenant, and was detailed as aide to Gen. W. T. Sherman. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Forty-eighth
Wisconsin, in 1863, and colonel in 1864, but was detailed as engineer in the Department of the Gulf and never took
command of his regiment. While serving as engineer he constructed the Red River dam, at Alexandria, which was the
means of saving Admiral Porter's fleet, as well as preserving that section to the union forces. He was brevetted
brigadier-general, March 13, 1865, and was successively in command of Fort Riley, Fort Scott and Fort Larned, Kansas,
during the Indian campaigns of that year. He was mustered out at Fort Leavenworth, Dec. 30, 1865. On completion
of the Red River campaign he received a vote of thanks from Congress, in recognition of his invaluable services,
and subsequent to his death Congress allowed his widow a comfortable competency in further recognition of his services.
He was wounded at Dry Tortugas, Fla., and never fully recovered, this injury eventually causing his death. In March,
1866, he located in Fort Scott, Kan., and engaged in the manufacture of lumber and flour and dealt in cattle. He
was elected county treasurer of Bourbon county in 1874 and was reelected in 1876 and again in 1878. In 1880 he
established a wholesale nursery business, which became the largest west of the Mississippi river, and a large export
trade was built up. It was largely through his efforts that the national government established its tree inspection
service on imported shipments. He continued in the wholesale nursery business until 1897, when he was forced to
make an assignment, due to the defalcations of an employee of his bank and to the drought in Kansas, Texas and
Oklahoma, where his nursery product had been sold and on which he failed to realize. He was for three terms mayor
of Fort Scott, built and owned its street railway, and also built, owned and operated the first independent telephone
line in Kansas. He was president of the Ft. Scott Board of Trade and was recognized as that city's wealthiest and
most progressive citizen. He was a director in the First National Bank of Ft. Scott, of the Missouri Pacific railway
and of the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis railway. In October, 1898, he was appointed quartermaster of the
National Soldiers' Home at Leavenworth, and served in that capacity until his death, Feb. 28, 1907. General Pearsall
had attained the Knights Templars and Scottish Rite degrees in Masonry and was prominently identified in the work
of that order. With Major Martin he founded Hugh De Payne Commandery at Fort Scott. A lifelong: Republican, he
was one of the influential men of his party in Kansas, but was disinclined to accept office in his later years.
General Pearsall married March 29, 1866, Miss Josephine M. Peck, daughter of Phloem T. Peck, of Clarksfield, Ohio,
and a sister of Maj. E. J. Peck, of the Forty-eighth Wisconsin infantry, the General's old regiment. Mrs. Pearsall
had five brothers, all of whom served in the Civil war-Major Peck, previously mentioned; two who became captains,
and two who were lieutenants. On their leaving for the front her father, a cripple, turned over to her the management
of his 2,000 acre property, including 1,000 sheep-a rather large undertaking for a young woman. General and Mrs.
Pearsall were the parents of seven children, of whom two, with his widow, survive his death. Lottie Mell, the eldest,
born April 29, 1867, is the widow of Frank Worcester, who was associated in business with General Pearsall. Mrs.
Worcester resides in Enid, Okla., the mother of three children-Jessie Marie, Uri Balcom and Charlotte, who is the
wife of Hubert Lynch, a jeweler of Wichita, Kan. Capt. Charles McAllister Pearsall, the surviving son, was born
in Fort Scott, Kan., May 4, 1878. He was educated in the public schools of Fort Scott and engaged in clerical work
in Kansas City until 1897, when he became private secretary to the general superintendent of Railway Mail Service
at Kansas City, Mo. The year of 1899 he spent in Mexico, seeking health. In 1900 he accepted a position in the
offices of the Great Western Manufacturing company at Leavenworth, where he remained until June, 1903, when he
became chief clerk under his father at the National Soldiers' Home, and served in that capacity until July 13,
1908, when he was appointed to his present office, that of quartermaster with the rank of captain. He is unmarried.
The deceased children of General and Mrs. Pearsall are Mark Uri, born in 1869, died in childhood; Guy Balcom, born
in 1873, married Clara Shoulder of Ft. Scott, Kan., and died in 1894; Eugene, born in 1884, died in childhood;
Mary, born in 1880, died in 1882, and Uri Balcom, Jr., born in 1887, died in childhood. (Kansas Biography, Vol.
III, Part 2, Pages 808-810, Transcribed by: Millie Mowry)
ARMOUR,
CLARENCE MARION
Clarence Marion Armour, county assessor and United
States commissioner, was born in Hume, Missouri, October 25, 1873. His father, Alexander Armour, was born in Mercer
County, Pennsylvania, and died at Eldorado Springs, Missouri. Mildred Elizabeth Speece, wife of Alexander Armour,
was born near Logansport, Indiana, and died in Eldorado Springs, in November, 1911.
Educated first in country school, Clarence Marion Armour later attended Kansas Normal College, where he was active
in debate.
On March 1, 1898, he was married to Mattie May Oliver at Fort Scott. Mrs. Armour was born in Marmaton, Kansas,
June 13, 1873. There are two children, Clarence, born August 15, 1900, who married Lola Moody; and Charles, his
twin, born August 15, 1900, who married Claire Blumn. Clarence is an electrician and a radio operator, while Charles
is a railroad fireman and an automobile mechanic.
Mr. Armour was elected sheriff in 1919, serving until 1923. Mr. Armour was elected county assessor in 1925 for
a four year term, and was re-elected in 1931. He is a Republican.
Since 1929 he has been engaged in the real estate business in partnership with E. L. Mays at Fort Scott part time.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Moose, Modern Woodmen of America, and the Fraternal Aid Union.
Residence: Fort Scott. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 41)
