Biographies Index

BUTLER COUNTY, KANSAS

BIOGRAPHIES

SKAER, A. L.

A. L. Skaer, of Augusta, who is a prominent factor in the development of the oil and gas industry in Butler county, is a native of Illinois. He was born in Ashley, Washington county, in 1872, and is a son of George and Carolina (Seibert) Skaer, natives of Germany, who were the parents of twelve children, ten of whom are living, as follows: Henry, Tamora, Ill.; James, Wichita, Kans.; Mrs. Carrie McVay, Ing-ersoll, Okla.; E. C, Augusta; William; Walter; A. W.; G. P. and J. H., all residing at or near Augusta. A. L. Skaer came to Augusta with his parents in 1878, when he was about six years old. The family located about three miles east of town where the. father bought 320 acres of land. He bought additional land from time to time until he owned 1,100 acres, which is now divided among his children.
A. L. Skaer received a good education in the public schools of Augusta and began life as a farmer and later engaged in the automobile business at Augusta, which he has conducted in connection with his farming operations to the present time. For a number of years he handled the Ford and Buick cars, but now represents the Dodge Bros and the Chalmers companies. He does an extensive automobile business, and is considered one of the best posted men in that line of industry in this section. He owns 160 acres which was a part of the old home place, and which is located in the heart of the rich oil and gas producing district. There are now three producing wells on his farm and preparations are being made for drilling others. Mr. Skaer and four of his brothers constitute the Skaer Gas & Drilling Company and now have twelve producing wells, which are a source of immense profits to them. They are among the extensive operators of the district, and are carrying out extensive plans of development, and Mr. Skaer is now devoting his time largely to the oil and gas business.

In 1895, A. L. Skaer and Miss Nora Jones were united in marriage, Mrs. Skaer is a native of Augusta, and her parents were pioneers of that locality. To Mr. and Mrs. Skaer have been born two children, as follows: Fremont, a student in the Augusta High School and a member of the class of 1916, and Fern, who was graduated from the Augusta High School in the class of 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Skaer are well known in Augusta, where they have many friends. Pages 509-510)

HOLMES, G. F.

G. F. Holmes, police judge and justice of the peace, Augusta, Kans., is a Civil war veteran who for a quarter of a century has been identified with the interests of Butler county. Judge Holmes is a native of Indiana, born in 1842, and is a son of William S. and Elizabeth (Iseminger) Holmes. The father was a native of North Carolina, and when a child twelve years of age went to Indiana with his parents; the family, however, had lived in Kentucky about twelve years preceding their removal to Indiana. The mother came from an old Pennsylvania family of German descent. G. F. Holmes was one of a family of seven children, as follows: Mrs. Mary Wirt, lives at Benedict, Neb.; Daniel, died at Creston, Iowa; Mrs. Margaret A. Badger, of Chariton, Iowa; Martha B., died in infancy; G. F., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Kalista Martin, of Chariton, Iowa, and William S., also of Chariton.

G. F. Holmes received his education in the common schools of Indiana and Iowa, his parents removing to the latter State when he was twelve years old. He remained at home following the peaceful pursuits of the average boy until the Civil war broke out, when at the age of nineteen, July 8, 1861, he enlisted, becoming a member of Company B, Sixth regiment Iowa infantry. He participated in many important battles and at the battle of Shiloh was severely wounded, a musket ball passing through his right lung but being a young man of excellent physique and good health, he recovered from this severe wound in an unusually short time. He was discharged October 22, 1862, and after fully recovering from his wound, he reenlisted at Chariton, Iowa, and served until the close of the war. During his second term of service in the army, his regiment operated in the Army of the West and did considerable guarding of railroad property, especially in the locality of Memphis, Tenn. Mr. Holmes was finally discharged from the army at the close of the war with an unusually good military record. Besides receiving the wound above mentioned he experienced many narrow escapes. On the same day that he was wounded, his canteen was shot off.

At the close of the war he returned to Iowa where he was engaged in farming until 1870, when he was elected sheriff of Lucas county, and served in that capacity for ten years or until 1880. He then removed to York county, Nebraska, where he bought a farm, and for twelve years was engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1892 he disposed of his interests in Nebraska and came to Butler county, Kansas, and bought a farm adjoining the town of Augusta, on the west, where he resided until 1908, when he sold his farm and removed to Augusta.

Judge Holmes has served as police judge and justice of the peace for the past five years, and as a judicial officer, has won a wide reputation for fairness in the administration of the equity side of his court, as well as a broad knowledge of the law in the application of legal principles. Although Judge Holmes has passed the three score and ten milestone, he is a man of unusual physical and mental activity, and he has enjoyed the best of health during his long career. He says that he never took a dose of medicine until he was past sixty years of age, and that statement sounds very reasonable as he has every appearance of a man who does not need any medicine.

Judge Holmes has been twice married, his first wife being Miss Phoebe Badger, to whom he was married in 1863; she died in 1904, leaving the following children: Kalista Frickey; U. G., a farmer near Augusta; Martha D. Chance, Wichita, Kans.; Walter E., lives near Latham; Mrs. Bess M. Arnold, El Dorado, and Charles D., Augusta. Mr. Holmes's second marriage took place November 15, 1905, when he was united in marriage to Mrs. Henrietta DeMoss, of Augusta, Kans. Mrs. Holmes is a native of Kentucky and was left an orphan at an early age. Her mother died when she was three years old and shortly afterward her father was killed by bushwhackers in Kentucky during the Civil war. She was brought to Butler county when a mere child by an uncle, J. K. Withrow. Pages 510-511)

BECK, J. L.

J. L. Beck, who is engaged in the United States mail service as rural mail carrier out of Augusta, is a native of Missouri. He was born at Weston, and is a son of J. F. and Sophia (Wirth) Beck, natives of Germany. They came to America and located at Weston, Mo., in 1857, where they still reside; the father is eighty-four years old and the mother, seventy-nine. They were the parents of thirteen children, ten of whom are living , as follows: Mrs. Carrie Lamar, Platte county, Mo.; Mrs. Louise Roberts, Jackson county, Mo.; W. C, Weston, Mo.; Miss Katie Beck, Weston, Mo.; J. L., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Clara Ford, Jefferson county, Kans.; Mrs. Rosa Smithers, Platte county, Mo.; Mrs. Anna Thompson, Platte county, Mo.; A. H., Platte county, Mo., and Chris, resides in Colorado.

J. L. Beck received his education in the public schools of Missouri,, and at the age of twenty-two, engaged in farming for himself in Missouri, and five years later, came to Kansas, settling in Butler county. In 1894, he bought 140 acres of land near Augusta, where he lived for seven years, when he sold it for $1,400 and bought 160 acres two miles south of Augusta. He recently sold this farm for $8,000, the increase in value being largely due to the oil and gas development. Mr. Beck removed to Augusta in 1901, and in February, 1902, received the appointment of rural mail carrier, and since that time has faithfully and efficiently served as carrier on rural route No. 2. During all these years in Uncle Sam's service he has discharged the duties of his office in a way that has given him a wide acquaintance, and made many friends among his many patrons with whom he comes in contact on his daily trips. He has won the reputation for not being the sordid, crusty kind of a public official who doles out public service according to metes and bounds prescribed by the department, but is cheerful and accommodating and couldn't be otherwise if he tried, because that is his nature. He has driven an automobile on his route for the past two years.

Mr. Beck was married in 1904 to Miss Maggie Treadway of Platte county, Missouri, a member of a pioneer family of that section, and a former schoolmate of Mr. Beck. To this union have been born five children, as follows: Mrs. Pearl Brown of Kansas City, Kans.; Mrs. Sophia Bornholt, Hutchinson, Kans.; George; Roy and Margaret, living at home.

Mr. Beck is a member of the Masonic lodge, Augusta; the Fraternal Aid Union, and the Kansas Fraternal Citizens, and is local deputy of the latter order. He is also a member of the Anti-Horse Thief Association. He is a substantial citizen, a progressive man and a loyal Augustian, and says, "Augusta is the best town in the United States." Pages 511-512

STEWART, CHARLES H.

Charles H. Stewart, now deceased, was a Butler county pioneer. and a Civil war veteran who served with distinction throughout that great conflict. He was a man who always coolly and courageously performed his duty whether it was amidst the bursting shells of the battlefield, or in the ordinary quiet walks of civil life. That he had the courage of his convictions, both in times of war and in peace, may be truthfully said of him.

Charles H. Stewart was born in South Granby, Oswego county, New York, December 9, 1843, and was a son of Simon and Maria (Woodruff) Stewart, both natives of New York. The Stewart family were very early settlers in that section of New York State, and for a number of years lived in the neighborhood of a place called Stewart's corner, settling there about the time of the French and Indian war. The paternal grandfather of Charles Stewart served in the War of 1812. He was of Scotch descent. Maria Woodruff, the" mother of Charles H. Stewart, was also a native of New York and of English descent. Simon Stewart, the father, was a lumberman and shipped his lumber from Oswego county in his Own boats. Later in life, he removed to Onondaga county where he spent the remainder of his life.
Charles H. Stewart was reared in New York State and educated in the public schools, and before he reached the age of eighteen, on September 16, 1861, he enlisted in Company*B. First New York light artillery, under Captain Petitt. His term of enlistment expired December 24, 1863, and on the following day he re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer, serving until after the close of the war, receiving his final honorable discharge June 18, 1865. Mr. Stewart participated in the following engagements, in his long and eventful military career: Fair Oak; Redoubout No. 5, near Richmond; Savage Station ; White Oak Swamp and Nelson's Farm ; Malvern Hill; Hanison's Landing; Vienna; Antietam; Charlestown, W. Va., Fredericksburg; Second Fredericksburg; Chancellorsville; United States Ford; Gettysburg; Mine Run; Wilderness; Spottsylvania Court House; North Ann River; Ponunkty River; Bethany Church; Cold Harbor; Siege of Petersburg, near Avery House; Siege of Petersburg, near Yellow Tavern; Siege of Petersburg, near Popular Grove Church; Siege of Petersburg at Fort Clarke and Siebert, During his career, he was under fire 361 days, but was never wounded, nor in a hospital, although he had some very narrow escapes. During one engagement a horse was shot from under him, and at another time one of the tugs of his harness was cut by a bullet, and altogether his military record was one of unusual merit in which his family may take a just pride.

At the close of the war, Mr. Stewart returned to his New York State home, and after spending a few days there he went to the Pennsylvania oil fields, July 5, 1865. This was about the time of the great oil excitement in the vicinity of Oil creek. He was connected with the oil business there for a couple of years, being engaged in constructing oil tanks on Oil creek and for a time was in the employ of Frank Tarbell, father of Ida Tarbell. In 1868, Mr. Stewart went to Kankakee, Ill., where he married Miss Rachael E. Rowley, the marriage taking place November 30, 1868. She is a daughter of William G. and Elizabeth (Riesdorph) Rowley. The former was born in Kentucky, of Pennsylvania parents, who were temporarily residing in that State for the purpose of settling an estate, consisting of a plantation, including the negroes, which his mother had inherited. The family returned to Philadelphia, Pa., where William G. grew to manhood. Elizabeth Riesdorph, mother of Mrs. Stewart, was born and reared in New York City, and was a descendant of early Holland settlers of what is now New York City.

Mrs. Stewart was born in Sullivan county,. New York. Her father was a lumberman in the early days in that State. His wife died in New York State in 1863, and the following year, he removed with his family to Muscatine county, Iowa, where they remained about a year when they removed to Kankakee, 111., arriving there April 9, 1865, the day that General Lee surrendered. The father bought a farm about ten miles from Kankakee, and Mrs. Stewart, who was then quite a young girl, taught school in that locality two terms. Shortly after her marriage, the Rowley family and Mr. Stewart came to Kansas in the fall of 1868. They crossed the Kaw river and went to Shawnee county where her father had homesteaded the previous spring. After living in Shawnee county for ten years, Mr. and Mrs. Rowley returned to Indiana where they remained until 1882, when they came to Butler county and later removed td Wichita where the father died. Mrs. Stewart was one of a family of nine children, the two younger sisters being of the second marriage of her father. The children are in order of birth as follows: Nathan, deceased; Henry, deceased; Rachael, Mrs. Stewart, the subject of this sketch; Mary, married Aaron Blakeman, Baldwinsville, N. Y.; James, lives in Idaho; Lucy, married Thomas St. Denis of Wichita, and is now deceased; Walter, lives in Alaska; Emma, married Charles Richards, lives in Seattle; and the two half sisters are Cora, married Harry Foster, Muskogee, Okla., and Kate, married Mr. Davenport of Seattle, Wash.

After spending the winter of 1868-69 in Shawnee county, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart returned to Oswego county, New York, where Mr. Stewart was engaged in the milling business ten years. In 1879 he came to Butler county and bought a farm in Benton township where he built a good substantial house, which was one of the best in the neighborhood. After he had completed his home, Mrs. Stewart and the children joined him here. His farm was well improved and was one of the best farms in Benton township. which he sold later for $10,000, and bought 320 acres, one mile north of his first home. In October, 1900, he disposed of his property in Benton township, and moved to El Dorado, where he bought a comfortable home, and later purchased 520 acres in Chelsea township. He died at his home in El Dorado August 19, 1904. Mr. Stewart was a staunch Republican, castng his first vote for Abraham -Lincoln for president. He was prominent in lodge circles, being a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias, and the Grand Army of the Republic. He was a student all his life, being a great reader of the best authors, and also kept himself well posted on current events.

To Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were born the following children: Walter C, was a resident of Pittsburg, Kans., and died at Neosho, Mo., in 1913, aged forty-three years; Ernest H., a farmer, Fairview, Okla.; Carrie, the wife of E. A. Berry, near Fort Cobb, Okla.; and Charles Dewayne, operator for the Santa Fe railroad at El Dorado, Kans. He served in the United States marine corps and was on duty on the battleship, North Carolina, when the bodies of the Maine victims were taken from Havana harbor to Arlington cemetery, on board the North Carolina. He received his discharge at Norfolk, Va., shortly afterwards.

Mrs. Stewart resides at El Dorado and is an unusually capable woman. She is a prominent member of the Woman's Relief Corps, having been a member of that organization for a number of years. She has been a delegate to five State conventions of that order, and was a delegate to two National conventions, one at Washington, D. C, and the other at Rochester, N. Y. She is also a member of the Eastern Star and the W. B. Club, and is a member of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. Mrs. Stewart bears the distinction of having served on the first jury in Butler county composed of women. She is an extensive traveller and is well informed. Pages 512-515)

CORCORAN, M.

Dr. M. Corcoran, a leading veterinary surgeon of Butler county, located at Augusta, is a native of Nebraska. He was born in Pawnee county, that State, and is a son of Patrick Corcoran, and his mother bore the maiden name of Kelly, natives of Ireland. They were the parents of four children, as follows: Mrs. Anna Delaney, Wymore, Neb.; Mrs. Mary Culver, Bainville, Kans.; John, Rose Hill, Kans.; and Dr. Corcoran, whose name introduces this review. Dr. Corcoran received a good education in the public schools of Nebraska, staying with a physician, Dr. Cave, now of Wichita, Kans. After completing his preparatory education, Dr. Corcoran entered the St. Joseph Veterinary College at St. Joseph, Mo., where he took a three years' course, and was graduated in the class of 1913 with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery, and a year later took a post graduate course. During one year of his college course he practiced part of the time in Iowa, and after graduating, came to Rose Hill, Butler county, where he was engaged in the practice about seven months.

In 1911 he located at Augusta and has built up an extensive practice throughout Butler county, and is frequently called for professional services in other parts of the State. Dr. Corcoran is recognized as an unusually skillful veterinary surgeon. He is capable and painstaking and is recognized by other members of his profession as being a close student of the rapidly advancing science of veterinary surgery, and thoroughly posted in the intricate details of his profession.

Dr. Corcoran was united in marriage in 1913 at Wichita, Kans., with Ella Dobbins of Augusta. They have two children, Edward Volney and Helen Margaret. Dr. Corcoran is a member of the Mystic Workers of the World, and one of Augusta's most progressive citizens. Page 515)

RUSSELL, H. G.

H. G. Russell - The noble pioneer men and women who endured the hardships and vicissitudes of early life on the plains, and laid the foundation for later industrial development and social betterment are rapidly disappearing. H. G. Russell whose name introduces this sketch is a notable member of that band of noble pioneers who has passed to the great beyond. He was born in Athens county, Ohio, in 1834, and died at his home in Augusta in March, 1913. He is survived by his venerable wife, Mrs. Sarah Russell, who is a typical representative of the best type of American womanhood. She was born in Tazewell county, Illinois, in 1841, and now resides in Augusta, Kans.

Mr. and Mrs. Russell came to Butler county, Kansas, in 1870, and settled on Four Mile Creek. They bought 160 acres of land upon which they built a small frame house and later as their means permitted built a more pretentious residence and made substantial improvements. They had sold 40 acres of their land prior to 1909, and that year disposed of the balance of their farm properties and bought property in Augusta, where Mrs. Russell now resides. They lived on the old homestead for forty years and formed many attachments for the old place, but in deciding to move to Augusta they took into consideration the many added comforts and conveniences, which they found more suitable to them in their declining years.

To Mr. and Mrs. Russell have been born five children, four of whom are living: Warren is a carpenter and lives in Illinois; Mrs. James Belford lives in Wichita; Mrs. Clara Harrison died in 1905 at Wichita; Charles, Macon, Ill., and Mrs. Bertha Cook lives near La Junta, Colo.

Mrs. Russell has many interesting recollections of early day life in Butler county. She has experienced all the various freaks of nature and surprises of the elements that were in store for the early settlers of Kansas. She relates an incident of when a cyclone blew away their barn, and uprooted their orchard and performed the various pranks known only to cyclones. She was here in 1874 when the grasshoppers swept down in great clouds on the unsuspecting early settlers and destroyed everything in sight. She says that all they had left after the visit of the grasshoppers was one mess of roasting ears. Mr. Russell at that time was one of the distributing agents for the Aid Society who were providing for the destitute, but he managed to get along and refused to accept any aid for himself.

Mrs. Russell is one of the interesting old ladies of Butler county and may she live long to recount her pioneer experiences for many years to come. Pages 515-516)

BUCK, CARL F.

Carl F. Buck, a leading manufacturer of Augusta, Kans., is a native son of Butler county. He was born in Augusta in 1878, the only child of F. C. and Mary S. (Dix) Buck. The father was a native of Maine and an early settler of Butler county, and during his lifetime was prominent in the political life of the county. He served as county surveyor a number of terms and died in 1881 when Carl F. was three years old. Mary S. Dix was born in Indiana and is now a resident of Butler county, residing on a farm three miles northwest of Augusta.

Carl F. Buck received a good common school education, and afterwards attended the State Normal School at Emporia, and after leaving school returned to his home in Augusta in 1879 and became interested in the bee business. He began in a very humble way, and at first had only two stands of bees, and at the same time began dealing in supplies for bee keepers. His business developed rapidly and in 1899, he entered the wholesale business and began selling to dealers as well as to bee keepers. In 1905 he engaged in the manufacture of the Weed process comb foundations, and this business has developed beyond all anticipated proportions. He is one of the large manufacturers of this product, so essential to successful bee keepers, in the United States and at present there are only five other factories in the United States similar to this one. He carries a large supply and at the present time has about three car loads of the finished product on hand. He ships his product to nearly every State in the Union.

Mr. Buck's factory at Augusta is large and well suited for the purpose of manufacturing his product. The main building is 25x125 feet, and is divided into six compartments, and in addition to this building he has a store house 25x50 feet. Comb foundation which is the chief product of his factory has become a commercial necessity with bee keepers who aim to conduct their business on the most profitable basis and get the best results. Mr. Buck says that it is a demonstrated fact that bees will consume 20 pounds of honey while making one pound of wax in the construction of the comb. The average price of the prepared foundation is 60 cents a pound and if the investment of that amount saves the bee keeper twenty pounds of honey at the average market price it is a simple process to compute the economy of using the product of this factory. Mr. Buck is a practical bee man as well as a manufacturer and keeps on hand about 170 stands of bees from which he ships large quantities of honey. The capacity of his factory is about 500 pounds of comb foundation per day.

Mr. Buck was united in marriage in 1900, to Miss Ruby McKittrick, of Augusta, Kans. She came to Butler county with her parents from Ohio in the eighties and they located at Augusta where Mrs. Buck was reared and educated. To Mr. and Mrs. Buck has been born one child, Floyd J., now a student in the Augusta High School. Mr. Buck is one of the progressive business men of Augusta where he and his wife are well known and have many friends. Pages 516-517)

LOY, JOHN S.

John S. Loy - In the death of John S. Loy which occurred at Augusta in 1899, the grim reaper gathered in another worthy Butler county pioneer who will long be remembered as one of the men who performed his part nobly and well, in laying the foundation for the future greatness of Butler county, and Kansas. He was a native of Ohio, born in Darke county, in 1836, and reared and educated in his native county, and in 1857, was united in marriage at La Fayette, Ind., to Mrs. M. J. Oldbury, a native of Gibson county, Indiana, born in 1839, who still survives him and resides in her comfortable home at Augusta. She is a representative of that type of womanhood who seem to become fewer as the years come and go, but perhaps not; it may be that our estimation of humanity changes as we grow older, and our viewpoint changes. Be that as it may, Mrs. Loy is a grand old lady and a credit to the county in which she lives, and she is rich in the possession of the love and esteem of all who know her.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Loy lived in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, near the famous old Indian battle ground. In 1859, they came to Kansas and settled at Cottonwood Falls, which was then in Wise county, but now Chase. These were real pioneer times in that section of Kansas and that settlement was well on the border of the frontier. Here Mr. Loy conducted a general store until 1868, when they came to Butler county, where the frontier had not yet disappeared. They took a claim of 160 acres, a half mile south of where Augusta now stands.

When they came here the town of Augusta consisted of one log house, which was owned by C. N. James. He conducted a store, postoffice, school, Sunday school, and a residence in this log house, and it was also used as a polling place on election day.

Mr. Loy and a Mr. Palmer, who came with him, bought a saw-mill with which they sawed lumber for a house and erected a crude structure 16x23 feet. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Palmer and a man named Tibbetts, each built a room for himself, adjoining the Loy residence, and they all practically lived in the same house for a time, or, in other words, they pooled their rooms and made a house which possibly might have furnished the idea of later combinations of big business, which has given our law-makers so much trouble in recent years. Mr. Loy was interested in the operation of the saw-mill until about 1879, when he followed butchering for awhile and later was engaged in the quarry business, shipping stone to Wichita. During the last twelve years of his life, he was practically retired on account of poor health. He, at one time, owned the site of the first grist-mill on the Walnut river, which was at the point where the South bridge crosses the river.

To Mr. and Mrs. Loy were born nine children, as follows: Louisa Catherine, married Matt Brooks, now deceased and they had five children, Addie Bell, Mary Diana, Mabel, John Alvin and Lola; Clara, died at the age of eighteen months; John Edward, died at the age of eighteen months; Mrs. Georgiana Seaman, died at Augusta, and left the following children: Goldie; A. Z.; Mary ; Lillie and Seth ; Arthur T., lives at Fowler, Colo.; Minnie Ellen, died at the age of seven; Nellie Viola, died at the age of four; George, died in infancy; and Bessie Dickey, Cleveland, Texas. By a former marriage, Mr. Loy had one son, H. D. Loy. who now resides in Augusta, and who is to Mrs. Loy a real son. Mrs. Loy lives on the old home place where she and her husband settled in 1868, nearly a half century ago, and many fond recollections, of when her heart beat young, and she knew not the limitations imposed by time, cluster about her in these, the sunset days of her life.
Mr. Loy, two daughters and a son, are buried in a private burial ground near the residence where the faithful wife and mother sees that their graves are carefully looked after. Pages 517-518)

HALL, L. S.

L. S. Hall, M. D., of Augusta, Kans., is one of the pioneer physicians of that section, not that Dr. Hall is an old man, for he is just in the prime of his professional work, but when he began the practice of his profession in 1878, he began at Augusta, which was then a new country. During the days of his early practice on the plains, Dr. Hall had all the experiences of the average pioneer doctor. His practice extended over a large scope of country, the roads were bad and frequently there were none at all, and the doctor just followed the "trail," or rode horseback across the prairie, regardless of trail, and it was not an uncommon thing for him, on some of his eighteen or twenty-mile night rides, to lose his way on the prairie and spend the night by the side of a friendly hay stack, and when the sun rose next morning, get his bearings and proceed on his mission of administering to the sick and suffering. When he located in Augusta, the entire business district of the town consisted of one store building, which was occupied by Locke's drug store, located just north of where Etterson's store now stands. One of the first calls that Dr. Hall had after coming to Augusta was a confinement case, the birth of Carl F. Buck, who is now a prosperous manufacturer of Augusta, a sketch of whom appears in this volume.
Dr. Hall has been in the practice in Augusta and vicinity since 1878, and has been unusually successful in the practice of his profession. During the years of 1896 and 1897, however, he took a respite from the strenuous practice of medicine on account of failing health, and spent those two years at Clinton, Mo., when he again resumed his practice at Augusta.

Dr. Hall was born at Spencer, N. Y., in 1855, and is a son of H. S. and Cornelia L. (Fisher) Hall, both natives of New York, and descendants of old New York State stock. They were the parents of eight children, as follows: Henry H., died in New York City; Mrs. Olive H. Norris, died at Spencer, N. Y.; May F., unmarried and lives at Spencer, N. Y.; Thomas F., El Paso, Tex.; Mrs. Emily C. Woodruff, now a widow and lives at Chautauqua, N. Y.; Dr. L. S., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Rosamond C. Valentine and Mrs. Catherine L. Fisher, both living at Spencer, N. Y. After receiving a good preparatory education Dr. Hall entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City, where he was graduated in 1878 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and shortly afterwards came to Augusta and engaged in the practice of his profession as above stated.

Dr. L. S. Hall was united in marriage at Augusta, Kans., in 1880, to Miss Frances Houston, of El Dorado, Kans. Her parents were early settlers in Butler county, coming here from Iowa in the seventies. At the time of her marriage, Mrs. Hall was making her home with an uncle;. Rev. L. Harvey, of El Dorado. To Dr. and Mrs. Hall have been born two children, as follows: Mrs. Gertrude E. Watt, the wife of a prominent real estate man of Kansas City, Mo., and Robert L., an employee of the Milwaukee and St. Louis Railway at Aberdeen, S. D.

Dr. Hall is a Democrat, and since coming to Kansas has taken an active part in behalf of the welfare of his party, and furthering the cause of the local Democratic organization. He has served as chairman of the Democratic County Central Committee, the Democratic Congressional Committee, and has also been a member of the Democratic State Committee. Pages 518-519)

RHODES, JAMES A.

James A. Rhodes, now deceased, a veteran of the Civil war and Butler county pioneer, was a native of Indiana. He was born in 1827 and died at Augusta in 1888. During the second year-of the war, he enlisted in the Seventy-first regiment, Indiana infantry, and served about three years or until the surrender of Lee closed the last chapter of that great conflict. During his term of service, Mr. Rhodes was twice captured by the enemy. The first time he escaped after being a prisoner for a short time, and the second time he was paroled.

At the close of the war he returned to his Indiana home. Mr. Rhodes married Miss Lucy P. Richardson at Clinton, Ind., in 1854, who survives him, and now resides at Augusta, Kans. She was born at Clinton, Ind., and was a daughter of William A. and Sarah Ann (Parker) Richardson, who were the parents of nine children, only one other besides Mrs. Rhodes is now living, Dr. John F. Richardson, a prominent physician of Hunnewell, Kans. To Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes were born William A., who died in 1891, aged thirty-five years, and Flora, who resides in Augusta with her mother.

Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes came to Butler county, Kansas, in 1871, and took a government claim. At that time the Government land office was at Humboldt, Kans., and Mr. Rhodes walked from Emporia to Humboldt to file on his claim, and from there walked to Augusta. After living on the claim about six months they removed to Augusta, and Mr. Rhodes was engaged in the real estate business for a time, and was engaged in various business enterprises during his life time. He led a very busy life and was uniformly successful in his undertakings. He was city treasurer of Augusta for seven years, and had much to do with the early development of the town. Mrs. Rhodes has a remarkably retentative memory and relates many interesting incidents in the early history of Butler county. She says that Mrs. Augusta James, in whose honor the town of Augusta was named, was the first woman who called on her in her new Augusta home. Mrs. Rhodes was here at a time when Butler county was almost in its primitive state, and is a first-hand authority on much of the important history of this section of Kansas. Pages 519-520)

WELLS, JOHN T.

John T. Wells, now deceased, was one of Butler county's most substantial citizens. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Nancy Wells, a representative of that noble type of Kansas pioneer women, and she now resides at Augusta. John T. Wells was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1830, and was a son of John and Mary (Milson) Wells, natives of Virginia. John T. Wells came west in early life, locating in Missouri and, on December 2, 1855, was united in marriage at Boonville, Mo., to Miss Nancy Sifers, a native of Morgan county, Ohio, born in 1833. After their marriage they lived at Boonville, Mo., until 1857, when they came to Kansas, locating at Leavenworth. About two and one-half years later they returned to Boonville and resided in that section until 1882. They then came to Butler county, Kansas, locating five miles southeast of Augusta, where they bought 320 acres of land from Stephen Lehr, for which, they paid $2,500.

The place was not very well improved, and Mr. and Mrs. Wells proceeded to make substantial improvements, and were successfully engaged in farming and stock raising on that place for seventeen years, and in 1899 sold it for $8,000, and removed to Augusta, where Mr. Wells lived in retirement until his death, September 25, 1914, and his remains now rest in the Elmwood cemetery at Augusta. To Mr. and Mrs. Wells were born four children, as follow^: Minnie May, died in infancy; Ida, who married Homer Freeman, died in 1899; Charles, lives in Wichita; and Mrs. Emma Bartlett, lives at Augusta.

Mrs. Wells has a vivid recollection of many early day events of the days in Kansas and Butler county when neighbors were a long distance from each other, but it seems that the scarcer neighbors were and the farther they were from each other, the more they neighbored. In those early times they took a genuine neighborly interest in each other's welfare. Perhaps, and no doubt, environments created that neighborly spirit, for the early settlers, possibly, needed the real co-operation and sympathy of one another more than people do in this day of a more perfect social organization, and with better equipped appliances and conveniences for getting along in the world with less sympathetic co-operation. At any rate, things seem to have changed and many of us, in reflecting on the past, long for the days of the old fashioned neighbor. Pages 520-521)

OHMART, GEORGE WILLIAM

George William Ohmart, a Civil war veteran who has been identified with industrial Augusta for the past sixteen years, is a native of Illinois, born in Montgomery county in 1846. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and his mother died when he was three years of age, leaving the following children: Rachael Catherine, married a man named Miller, and died in Oklahoma; Samuel died at the age of five; Charles E., Augusta; and George W., of this review.

George W. Ohmart received his education in the public schools of Logan county, Illinois, and at the age of sixteen enlisted in Company B, Seventy-third Illinois infantry. His regiment was attached to the Army of the Cumberland, and he saw severe service for a period of about three years. He was at the battles of Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville, and during the Atlanta campaign, he was under fire almost continuously for four months. At the battle of Franklin, which history records as one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil war, he received a wound which nearly ended his military career. A musket ball penetrated his hat inflicting a flesh wound on his right temple and glanced from his skull, and passed through twenty-four thicknesses of his blanket which he was carrying on his shoulder. Mr. Ohmart was unconscious for an hour or more, from the effect of the wound. He was "clipped" by bullets, as he calls it, on two other occasions, and at another time received a cut on the lip from a sword in a hand to hand conflict.

At the close of the war he returned to Illinois, and learned the blacksmith's trade. In 1880, he went to Nebraska, and settled in Otoe county where he remained twelve years; and then to Valley county, Nebraska, remaining two years. In 1894 he came to Kansas, and after spending one year at Andover went to Benton, remaining there until 1900. He then came to Augusta where he engaged in farming about two years, when he opened a blacksmith shop which he has since conducted.

Mr. Ohmart was united in marriage at Jacksonville, Ill., in 1873, to Miss Oella Robbins, a daughter of Randolph Robbins, an early settler of Mason county, Illinois, who located there in 1854, and later removed to Jacksonville. To Mr. and Mrs. Ohmart have been born eight children, five of whom are living, as follows: George R., Enid, Okla.; Mrs. Ida May Runion, El Dorado, Kans.; Albert R., Wichita; Charles E,, Great Bend, Kans., and Myrtie E., at home. Mr. Ohmart is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, L. E. King Post, No. 105. He is one of the progressive business men of Augusta, and has built up an extensive business in his line.
Christian E. Ohmart, brother of George W., whose sketch appears on a preceding page of this volume, was born in Montgomery county, Illinois, in 1842. He received a common school education in the district schools of Logan county and spent his early life on the home farm. On November 21, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Fourth Illinois cavalry, when he was nineteen years old. He participated in many important battles, and skirmishes without number, as was the common lot of the average cavalryman in the Civil war. He was in the battles of Fort Donelson, Corinth, Shiloh and many others.

Mr. Ohmart was mustered out of service at Natchez, Miss., in 1864, and returned to Logan county, Illinois, where he remained until 1879. He then went to Camden county, Missouri, remaining there until 1909 when he came to Butler county. Mr. Ohmart learned the blacksmith's trade while in the army, and has made that his life work. He came to Butler county in 1909 and since that time has been associated with his brother, George W., a sketch of whom precedes this article.
Christian E. Ohmart was united in marriage in 1884, to Miss Frances Wooley, a native of Missouri, and they had four children, as follows: John, Augusta; Sarah, died at the age of two; Stephen, Augusta, and Frederick, died at the age of four. Pages 521-522)