Biographies Index

BUTLER COUNTY, KANSAS

BIOGRAPHIES

MITCHELL, W. S.

W. S. Mitchell, of Pleasant township, is a sturdy Butler county pioneer who has spent over forty-six years of his life in this county. Mr. Mitchell was born in Stokes county, North Carolina, in 1845. He is a son of Moses and Nancy (Meadows) Mitchell, both natives of North Carolina. They were the parents of twelve children. W. S. Mitchell attended school in his native State and in the State of Georgia, and when the Civil war broke out, he enlisted in the Sixth Georgia cavalry, and served under that great military genius, Gen. Joseph Wheeler, and every one familiar with the history of the campaigns of the Civil war knows of the activities and the fighting spirit of General Wheeler's division. Mr. Mitchell remained in the service in the Confederate army until the close of the war, and was with his command at Raleigh, N. C, when General Wheeler surrendered, and thus the struggle in behalf of the lost cause ended.

In October, 1866, Mr. Mitchell came to Kansas and settled in the vicinity of Hartford, Lyon county. He was engaged in farming there until 1870, when he came to Butler county and preempted 160 acres of land in Richland township. Four years later he sold this place and bought eighty acres in Pleasant township, which has since been his home. He now owns 280 acres in Pleasant township, and is one of the prosperous and progressive agriculturists of that fertile farming district.
While Mr. Mitchell, like other pioneers of the county, experienced many discouraging features in the early days, he has on the whole been successful, and, today, is one of the substantial citizens of the county, who may properly be called well-fixed, or in easy circumstances. When the grasshoppers devastated the country in 1874, Mr. Mitchell did not sit down and bemoan the loss of his crops, but he went to work and did something. He went to Arkansas that winter and worked at whatever he could find to do, while his wife remained on the home place, and cared for the children, and they managed to get along. When Mr. Mitchell first settled in Butler county, Emporia was the nearest railroad point, and all their supplies had to be hauled from there.

Mr. Mitchell was married in 1866 to Miss Elizabeth Jones, of Union county, Georgia, a daughter of Hampton Jones. The Jones family also came to Kansas in 1866, where they remained until 1870, when they, too, came to Butler county, settling in Richland township. The southern part of Butler county was wild, unbroken and sparcely settled when the Mitchell and Jones families came here. The native grass and wild animals of the prairie were still in abundance there, and even Indians, some tame and others wild, frequently strolled across the country.

To Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell have been born the following children: Mrs. Elvira Henshie, Sumner county, Kansas; Robert, Pu Allet, Wash.; Mrs. Martha Burns, Argonia, Kans.; Arthur, who lives on the home place, and three children are deceased. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 577-578)

HAWKS, H. F.

H. F. Hawks, a prosperous Butler county farmer and stockman, is a representative agriculturist of Pleasant township, where he owns and operates one of the best farms in that part of the county. Mr. Hawks was born in Kent county, England, in i860, a son of Charles and Jane (Streator) Hawks, both natives of the mother country. They were the parents of ten children, as follows: Mrs. Gertrude McFadden, Ringwood, Okla.; Mrs. Valeria Young, Wellington, Kans.; Roland Victor, Joliet, Ill.; W. C. Longton, Kans.; Mrs. Sadie Finney, Rock, Kans.; F. S. Wichita, Kans.; S. C, Wichita, Kans.; E. A., St. Joseph, Mo.; Mrs. Emma Ellis, Tulsa, Okla.; and H. F., the subject of this sketch.

The Hawks family came to Butler county from Illinois in 1873 and the father preempted a quarter section of land, the northeast quarter of section 26, Pleasant township. He died in 1914, and the mother resides in Wichita with one of her sons.

H. F. Hawks was educated in the early day subscription schools, there being no public schools here when the family located in Pleasant township. He obtained a fair education in the early days and has been a student of men and affairs all his life, and today is one of the well posted men of Butler county. Mr. Hawks spent a number of years in western Oklahoma and returned to Butler county and bought 360 acres of land in Pleasant township where he has since been engaged in farming and stock raising. He is one of the very successful stockmen of Butler county and makes a specialty of raising Holstein cattle. He also raises large numbers of mules and sheep. He has also been unusually successful as a cattle feeder, a business which he has found very profitable. He also conducts quite an extensive dairy in connection with his general farming and stock business.

Mr. Hawks was united in marriage in October, 1885, with Miss Lillian Barnes, of Leavenworth, Kans. Her father, Andrew Barnes, was a pioneer settler of Leavenworth county. He was a Free State man and came to Kansas in the territorial days, from Connecticut to help make Kansas a free State. He settled in Leavenworth county in 1858, driving an ox team across the country from his New England home. Mrs. Hawks is one of the following children born to her parents: Mrs. Susan Parsons, Leavenworth, Kans.; Mrs. Rose Pattee, Tongonoxie, Kans.; Mrs. Holleaux, Leavenworth, Kans.; O. J. Barnes, Leavenworth, Kans.; Mrs. Daisy Cooper, Kansas City, Mo., and Mrs. Hawks.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hawks have been born the following children: Gertrude Pitts, Rose Hill, Kans.; Ermine Jones, deceased; A. S., at home; R. C, Pleasant township; and Alice, a graduate of the Rose Hill High School.

Coming to Butler county when he was a boy, gives Mr. Hawks the distinction of being an old settler of this county while he is still comparatively a young man. He came here at an age when new surroundings and new conditions made lasting impressions on his mind. He recalls the primitive conditions just as they were and talks interestingly of the early days when he was a boy in his teens, and Butler county was also young. Among the old timers who were here in the early days, Mr. Hawks recalls Dunlap, Piersol, Tom McKnight, whose wife is now living at Rose Hill, John Scott, Henry Staley, Nate Hyde and John Kibby, nearly all, if not all, have long since passed to their reward. Mr. Hawk has in his possession some interesting relics of the early days, among which is a picture of the dugout which was the first home of the Hawks family in Kansas. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 578-579)

OLMSTEAD, H. D.

H. D. Olmstead, a pioneer and prominent farmer and dairyman of Rose Hill, Kans., was born in Hardin, Alabama county, Iowa, in 1853. He is a son of Joshua and Mary (Walker) Olmstead, natives of Jackson county, Missouri. They were the parents of thirteen children, as follows: James Henry, Modale, Iowa; Leonard J., Perry, Okla.; Walter R., Liberal, Kans.; Frank, died at Douglass, Kans., in 1910; Mrs. Sol Wise, died in Kansas City, Mo., about 1882; Mrs. Percis Wise, widow of Fred Wise, deceased, is living in California; Mrs. Maria Pulver, Douglass, Kans.; Mrs. Flora Gayman-her husband died in Idaho; he was a pioneer of Butler county and took a claim, now known as the Dorr Carrollton farm on Pole Cat creek; Lottie May Sowers of Fort Sill, Okla.; Mrs. John Strock, deceased. Mr. Strock took a claim on Eight Mile, one mile west of Douglass; two children died in infancy; and H. D., the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Olmstead came with his father from Minnesota to Lyon county, Kansas, with an ox team in July, 1866, and to Butler county in the spring of 1869. The father came in the fall of 1869, and the family followed, that winter. He took a claim two miles south of Douglass, now known as the old Dunn farm, and built the old water mill on the Walnut river. He died in 1875. He operated the mill until a short time before his death, and also ran a sawmill. His wife died in 1895. She was skilled in caring for the sick and took the place of a family doctor among the early pioneers, often riding many miles across the prairie, ministering to the sick.

H. D., the subject of this sketch, has lived in Butler county since 1866, with the. exception of four years. Mr. Olmstead was married in 1866, with the exception of four years. Mr. Olmstead was married to Miss Jennie Olfrey, who died a short time after her marriage. In 1880 he married Miss Florence Holcomb. She was elected county superintendent of public instruction, and died shortly before her term of office expired in December, 1892. To this union were born three children: Harold LeRoy, a minister of the Christian church at Gallotin, Tenn.; Hershel Remisses, deceased, and Sarah Florence, who married C. F. Alley and lives at Derby, Kans. In 1893 Mr. Olmstead married Mrs. Ella Cottman. She had one child by a former marriage, Oscar Cottman, assistant cashier of the Douglass State Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Olmstead have four children: H. Deloss, farmer, Sedgwick county; Beulah Luella Reheis, Larned, Kans., a graduate of the Douglass High School, also a teacher for one year; Sydney Smith, a sophomore of the Douglass High School, and Joseph Emerson, freshman in the Douglass High School.

Mr. Olmstead has followed general farming all his life, and, at present, is engaged in the dairy business, milking eighteen cows. He owns a splendid farm of 240 acres in Pleasant township. His place is well improved with a stone house, silo, large barn and a dairy barn. He has thirty-eight acres of alfalfa, and his farm is leased for gas and oil.

Mr. Olmstead is familiar with the early days and remembers the following old timers of 1869 and 1870, in and around Douglass. Joe Douglass ran the first store, for whom the town was named; Uncle Johnny Long, John Stanley, old man Quimby, John Martin, the first blacksmith of Douglass, Dad Prindle, Mart Guffet, Birney and John Dunn, Wall Thorpe, old man Uhl and Martin, the Dunn brothers, one of whom was shot by Indians, with an arrow, and killed south of Douglass, about 1868. Mr. Olmstead has seen the arrow with which Dunn was killed, and which is still in the possession of the Dunn family.

Mr. Olmstead talks interestingly of early days and remembers of a dance at Birney Dunn's, south of Douglass, where plenty of whiskey was on tap. One man took up a board in the floor during the dance, and one of the dancers fell into the hole and broke his leg, but the incident did not break up the dance, only insofar as the fellow with the broken leg was concerned. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 579-580)

McWILLIAMS, F. G.

F. G. McWilliams is a well known successful farmer and stockman of Pleasant township. He was born in Union county, Ohio, in 1861, and is a son of Robert and Rebecca (Ross) McWilliams, natives of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. They were the parents of the following children: Ross, Derby, Kans.; Mrs. Ada Sutton, of Wichita, Kans., whose husband, W. M. Sutton, was murdered October 9, 1915, by robbers in his store at Wichita; Etta, Derby, Kans.; Mrs. Alice Berger, Douglass, Kans.; Mrs. Ella Robbins, San Antonio, Tex.; Mrs. Josie Brown, Wichita, Kans.

F. G. McWilliams came to Kansas with his parents in 1878, and they located in Sedgwick county, near the town of El Paso, which is now Derby. The father died there in 1895. Mr. McWilliams remained in Sedgwick county until 1902 when he came to Butler county and bought a quarter section of land in Pleasant township, for which he paid $10 an acre. The place was improved very Httle, although there was a stone house erected on it when Mr. McWilliams bought it. Since locating here Mr. McWilliams has been engaged in farming and general stock raising, in which he has met with very satisfactory results in a financial way. When he began he had very little capital and went in debt for most of the purchase price of his place, but by industry and economy, he has become one of the prosperous men of his community.

Mr. McWilliams was married in 1890 at Rose Hill, Kans., to Miss Anna Harris, of Richland township. She is a daughter of Walter J. Harris who came to Butler county, locating in Richland township in 1879. He was a hard working and industrious citizen, and was highly esteemed by his neighbors and* acquaintances. He was a blacksmith, and worked at his trade after coming to Butler county, in connection with farming. He died in 1915, and his widow now resides on the old home place near Rose Hill. Mrs. McWilliams was one of a family of seven children, as follows: Mrs. Ida Berry, Terre Haute, Ind.; William N., Rose Hill, Kans.; Laura, Rose Hill, Kans.; Mrs. Emma Vickers, Wichita, Kans; Sarah, Rose Hill, Kans.; Mansfield, an attorney, Chicago, Ill.; and Mrs. McWilliams. To Mr. and Mrs. McWilliams were born three children, as follows: Raymond E., .died at the age of one year; Lois, died at the age of nine years; and Ralph, died at the age of five months. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are well known and held in high respect by their many friends and neighbors. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Page 581)

McCLUGGAGE, J. FREER

J. Freer McCluggage, cashier of the Rose Hill State Bank, was born in Manito, Ill., April 28, 1880. He is a son of Dr. J. R. and Clara J. (Todd) McCluggage. A sketch of Dr. J. R. McCluggage appears in this volume. J. Freer McCluggage is one of a family of four children, born to Dr. McCluggage and his wife; Thomas Todd, a druggist at Valley Center, Kans.; J. Freer, the subject of this sketch; DeWitt K., a bookkeeper in Brown's bank, Augusta, Kans.; Clarence A., a professor in a Business College at Grand Island, Neb.

J. Freer McCluggage was educated in the public schools of Douglass and graduated from the Douglass High School in the class of 1898. He then entered the State Bank of Douglass as a clerk, remaining in that capacity for one year, when he entered the employ of the National Bank of Commerce at Stillwell, Okla. After remaining with that institution, he returned to the State Bank of Douglass in the capacity of assistant cashier, and two years later, or in 1906,'he came to Rose Hill, and assisted in organizing the Rose Hill State Bank, and became its cashier.

The Rose Hill State Bank was organized with a paid up capital of $10,000 and commenced business August 18, 1906. It has a surplus fund of $10,500 and the bank owns its own fixtures and building, valued at $3,300. This institution has had a rapid and substantial growth from the start, and a reference to its statements for the past ten years, or during its existence, shows that on March 25, 1907, when the bank was about seven months old, the deposits were $41,054.86, and March 24, 1916, the deposits had reached $110,973.87. While this institution has had a rapid growth, its management has never lost sight of the fact that strength of a financial institution is more important than its size, and their custom has always been to follow, safe and conservative banking methods. Some of the best business men in Rose Hill and vicinity, are identified with this bank, the officers of which are as follows: James J. McCluggage, president; W. N. Harris, vice president; J. F. McCluggage, cashier; and F. J., assistant cashier. The directors are: James McCluggage. S. J. Mc-Cullough, W. N. Harris, O. N. Cramer, John Scott, Dr. J. A. Barkalow, and J. F. McCluggage.

J. Freer McCluggage was married in 1905, to Miss Pearle E. Cole, of Douglass, Kans. Her father, Fred Cole, died when Mrs. McCluggage was about two years of age. He was a Butler county pioneer and an early settler at Douglass. He was extensively engaged in the sheep industry during his successful career in this county. His widow, Mrs. Temperance Cole, now resides at Douglass. Mr. and Mrs. McCluggage have three children, as follows: Marston; Max Elton, and Rex Cole. Mr. McCluggage is a man who has had a successful career in the banking business, and his vast experience has given him an opportunity to study the intricate problems of finances upon which he is unusually well informed. He is conservative enough for safe banking and at the same time progressive enough for the profitable investment of funds intrusted to his direction. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 581-582)

McCLUGGAGE, J. R.

Dr. J. R. McCluggage, now deceased, was a prominent physician and surgeon of Butler county during his lifetime, and was engaged in the practice of his profession in this county for over a third of a century. He died August 23, 1915. Dr. McCluggage was born in Holmes county, Ohio. June 13, 1844, a son of Thomas and Eliza (Kerr) McCluggage, natives of Pennsylvania. Dr. McCluggage was one of the following children born to his parents: James, Rose Hill; Mrs. W. A. Cutting, Rose Hill; Mrs. Robert Warrender, Douglass; Mrs. George Warrender, Augusta; Morgan, Mason City, Ill.; Mrs. Mary Beedy, Atkin, Minn.; Mrs. M. R. Thompson, Minneapolis, Minn.; Francis, deceased, and Dr. J. R., the subject of this sketch.

Dr. J. R. McCluggage received a good education and later entered Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., where he was graduated in 1877, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After receiving his degree, he engaged in the practice of his profession at Manito, Ill. He remained there until 1884, when he came to Butler county, Kansas, and located at Douglass, where he practiced with unvarying success until 1909, when he removed to Augusta. In the fall of 1914, he was elected probate judge of Butler county, and removed to El Dorado, assuming the duties of that office, January 10, 1915, and died August 23, following.

Dr. McCluggage was married at Topeka, Ill., April 25, 1877. Mrs. McCluggage's parents were Joseph and Nancy (De Witt) Todd, the former a native of Maryland, and the latter of Ohio. They were pioneers of Mason county, Illinois. Mrs. McCluggage was one of a family of nine children, the others being as follows: William, died in Illinois; Thomas, lives at Tonkawa, Okla.; George W., Minot, N. D.; John, died in infancy; Mrs. Mary Baltzell, died in Iowa; Mrs. Margaret Hartzell, died in Dixon, Ill.; Mrs. Sarah Ruhl, died in Clinton, ill., and Mrs. Elizabeth LaMaters, died in Topeka, Ill.
Dr. and Mrs. McCluggage were the parents of the following children: Todd T., a druggist, Valley Center, Kans.; Joseph Freer, cashier of the Rose Hill State Bank; D. K., in the employ of Brown's Bank at Augusta, and Clarence A., a professor in a business college at Grand Island, Neb. Mrs. McCluggage resides at Augusta. Dr. McCluggage was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of Augusta; Knights and Ladies of Security, of Augusta; Knights of Pythias, of El Dorado, and the Fraternal Citizens, of Augusta. Dr. McCluggage wras a capable physician, a true friend, a kind husband and father, and a good citizen, and his passing was mourned not only by his own immediate family, but by his friends who numbered into the thousands in Butler county. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 582-583)

CRON, F. H.

F. H. Cron, assistant cashier of the Citizens State Bank, El Dorado, Kans., has been an active factor in the affairs of Butler county since reaching manhood. Mr. Cron was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, in 1868, and is a son of A. G. and Emma F. (Womer), both natives of Mercer county, and descendants of old Pennsylvania families. They are the parents of eleven children, all of whom are living, as follows: C. W., Mulvane, Kans.; F. H., the subject of this sketch; D. R., a jeweler, Wichita, Kans.; Anna M., an instructor in the School of Industrial Arts, Denton, Tex.; Mrs. Inez J. Church, Augusta, Kans.; Mrs. Edna Margaret Gibson, widow of George Gibson, Lindsborg, Kans., where she is a chiropractic doctor; Mrs. Emma F. Crane, Englewood, Colo.; Alpheus G., a teacher, resides at Mulvane, Kans.; W. W., farmer, Augusta, Kans.; A. B., an employee of the United States Agricultural Department, stationed at Amarilla, Tex.; and Joseph, farmer, Augusta, Kans.

The Cron family removed from Pennsylvania to Dakota, in 1873, and after remaining in that State for a period of eight years, came to Kansas in 1881, and settled in Bourbon county, Kans. Two years later, they came to Butler county, and purchased 160 acres of land near Augusta. After selling this land, they bought 120 acres in Bloomington and Walnut townships. The parents now reside at Mulvane, Kans., and on February 22, 1916, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at that place. A remarkable coincident in this connection is that J. M. Stanley and wife, of Ft. Scott, Kans., Mrs. F. H. Cron's parents, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on the same day, at Ft. Scott, Kans.

F. H. Cron was educated in the public schools of Butler county. He attended the Augusta High School and later took a course at the Salina Normal College, Salina, Kans. He then engaged in teaching, and for eight years, taught in Butler county, including the Augusta High School, and the Douglass High School. He was then appointed deputy county treasurer under Dr. J. D. Hamilton, and held that office for two years, when he became bookkeeper in the Citizens State Bank, and for the past eighteen years has been connected with that institution and is at present, assistant cashier.

Mr. Cron was married September 16, 1902, to Miss Blanche A.Stanley, of Ft. Scott, Kans., and a daughter of James M. and Tacy (Stroud) Morgan Stanley, pioneers of Bourbon county, Kansas. Mr. Stanley settled there in the early seventies, and the Stanleys are prominent in that county. Mr. Stanley has served as registrar of deeds in Bourbon county for two terms. He was also a soldier in the Civil war.

Mr. Cron is a Knight Templar Mason, belonging to the A. F. & A. M. of El Dorado, and the Consistory at Wichita, where he also belongs to the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Cron takes an active interest in political affairs, and has served two terms in the Kansas legislature, having been elected in 1909, and succeeded himself in 1911. He was appointed by Governor Hodges as Regent of the Emporia Normal School, to fill out an unexpired term, before the present system of management of the educational institutions of the State was inaugurated. Mr. Cron is also a member of the bar, but has never engaged in the practice of his profession to any extent. Mrs. Cron is a prominent club woman, and is president of the Eighth District Federation of Women's Clubs, and is also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cron have an extensive acquaintance and are popular. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916 Pages 583-584)