Reuben Norris
Submitted by Verlin Wichman & Peggy Reid
The author of this outstanding obituary, Rev. Homer
Wroten, most obviously respected Reuben Norris. And my what men both of these pioneers must have been. This account
certainly made me want to visit both Reuben Norris and his home and see his funeral. We can only use our imaginations.
Rev. Wroten had the foresight to show of what stuff Reuben Norris was made.
DEATHS
Norris: - When death claimed Reuben Norris of the May Day community, one of the real pioneers and most outstanding
men in this section of Kansas was taken. The present generation cannot realize what they owe to Reuben Norris and
men of his type. Nothing daunted them, and had it not been for their courage and perseverance, Kansas would not
today be one of the foremost states in the union. Mr. Norris had been ill for sometime, and was a patient at the
Clay Center Municipal hospital for several weeks, but it was very fitting that he should spend his last days on
the old Norris homestead. The final summons which came Tuesday night, April 23, brought peace to his soul. The
following story of his life, prepared by Rev. Homer Wroten of Green, is very interesting:
George Reuben Norris was born in Coschocton County, Ohio, about one hundred miles west of Pittsburg, Pa., October
27th, 1845. He died where he had lived for nearly seventy years, on the Norris homestead in Northern Riley county,
Kansas, April 23rd, 1929, which makes almost eighty-four years on earth and three score years and ten of it in
Kansas. Mr. Norris was the son of Jonathan Norris and Amy Kinner Norris; on one side English and the other Scotch.
He descended from rugged parents and became the rugged man the neighbors all knew up and down Fancy Creek.
This man was left fatherless when a child three years old, which may account for some of his self-reliance. The
widow moved from Ohio to Indiana in 1848 and later in the same year on to Illinois. The westward march was continued
into Iowa in 1855 where a few years were spent near Des Moines and Council Bluffs. In 1859 they continued their
trek to Nebraska and the same year on to Kansas. It was three years later, in 1862 that they found the place they
were contented to live on until they died. That is the brief story of migrations of one early family; and this
is only one family of thousands and thousands which made up the wave of population flowing toward the setting sun
in that pioneer period.
Mr. Norris was the youngest in his mother's family and was the last survivor. He had five sisters and two brothers.
He was married to Miss Mary Lidy in June 1881, and Miss Lidy's people were pioneers of the Chepstow locality. Mrs.
Norris preceded her husband in death about eighteen months. To this union were born four children, all alive and
with their father and mother to the end. They are Ernest, Frank, Laura and Claud, whom all know for they have lived
in the home community from birth.
Mr. Norris was affiliated with no clubs, lodges or churches. His home, however, was always open to missionaries
and preachers of that early day. His contribution was one of many that were needed in the erection of Wesley Chapel.
He supported all the religious enterprises of the community. He was twenty years old when the Civil War closed
and had been a member of the mlitia here ready to go had they been called into active service.
There are numberless biographers which have never appeared in book form which would be just as interesting as many
which have. That of Ruben Norris is one of them. He knew how to aboound in the midst of poverty, he knew how to
build a log hut, he knew how to find water and fuel, with neither well nor mine; he knew how to live without butcher
shop, store or railroad; he knew how to raise and train his oxen to turn the sod; he could ford rivers, survive
drought, outlast chinch bugs and grass hoppers, get along with Indians, compel the stubborn soil and fickle climate
to yield him and his family food and fireside and fortune. May God delay the day when we have no more of these
pioneers to tell us how we came by our inheritance; This man was here when the nearest trading post was Leavenworth
on the Missouri River, and it required a week to make the round trip for supplies. When one man with oxen made
that trip he looked after the needs of a dozen neighbors. Back in those days when the Union Pacific railroad terminated
at Clay Center and the Missouri Pacific at Waterville or Marysville, there was a mail coach that made the journey
between these places, horses were watered and under extreme circumstances, lodging found at the home of Mr. Norris.
The stone house in which he lived was built in 1871, 58 years ago from stone quarried nearby. Fort Riley was an
outpost against unfriendly Indians before the Civil War, but no railroad to it. The frontier moved up from Leavenworth
to Junction City after the Civil War. I, for one, am sorry to lose those links that connect us with early times.
Let me enumerate some of the family names prevalent here more than 50 years ago: Dicks, Pickett, Niehanke, Spurrier,
Byarley, Moon, Droil, Winkler, Secrest and many more. If you were to classify Mr. Norris I believe you would call
him a stockman. He always was fond of good horses and good cattle and enjoyed animal husbandry. He was honest,
unconventional, neighborly, dry in his humor, and loved his own home. His word was good and his upright character
was held in high regard. The last months of his life were under a sort of mental cloud. He had the misfortune to
fall and break an arm last winter and he was in the hospital for several weeks. His last days were not enjoyable
neither for him nor his children. But relief has come and the entire community were at the church to do him honor.
Flowers sweetened the scene - music softened the sorrow - the sermon was an attempt to draw lessons for the living
from the fleetness of life even when four score years.
A male quartette composed of Wm. Vittetoe and the Lang Bros. sang at the church and cemetery. The sermon was delivered
by Rev. Homer Wroten. The house was crowded to the doors. Those who bore the remains to the last resting place
beside those of the wife in the May Day cemetery were: Geo. Richner, Lewis Pickett, Albert Sparman, Leslie Brethour,
John Larson and John Meyers, sons of pioneer neighbors.
PICKETT, GEORGE
This was taken from the Historical Plat Book of
Riley County, Kansas. Published in 1881.
George Pickett was born in Knox County, Ohio, on
the 6th day of November, 1826. His Father, Martin Pickett, was a native of Virginia and his Mother, whose maiden
name was Ruth Hunter, was a native of Ohio.
When the subject of this sketch was a mere child, he moved with his Parents to Vermilion County, Ind., where they
remained two years; thence they went to Cole County, Ill. Here Mr. Pickett lived with his Parents till 1849,at
the age of 23, when he was married to Miss Harriet Norris; he then began life for himself.
At the age of 29, in 1855, he moved to Tama County, Iowa, where he engaged in farmimg till 1859, when he started
for the gold fields at Pike's Peak. On his journey, he met many returning from the gold regions, who gave such
an unfavorable report of the prospects there that he decided not to proceed farther. He then located on the farm
where he has since resided, becoming one of the earliest settlers on the upper Fancy Creek. Records show, in Deed
Book, page 390, where he bought the Riley County, Kansas, May Day township farm of 80 acres in 1882. As a farmer
and stockraiser, Mr. Pickett has been very successful. A fine view of his residence and surroundings may be seen
in this volume.
In January, 1864, he enlisted in the Eleventh Kansas Regiment and after serving in a campaign against the Indians,
he was mustered out in October, 1865.
Although a Democrat in political belief, his Republican friends have had such confidence in his integrity and ability,
that they have elevated him to various important offices. At the age of 45 years, in 1871, he was elected County
Commissioner, which office he held for three years. He then resigned, on account of an election to the State Legislature.
Since the age of 50 years, 1876, he has held the office of Justice of the Peace.
He is a Man of marked intelligence, respected for his honesty, generosity and sterling qualities. His biography
is of importance, as showing what may be accomplished by perseverance and industry.
Mr. Pickett died, December 18, 1905. He is buried along side of his wife, Harriet Norris Pickett, who died June
19, 1903, in the Randolph-Fancy Creek Cemetery. (Coeta Mills was the originally poster of this bio. Coeta was a
desendant of George Hunter Pickett. Coeta was born Feb. 21, 1937 and passed away Feb. 21, 2008 at Farmers Branch,
Texas. Submitted by Verlin Wichman)
A SHORT BIOGRAPHY
OF BERTHA (RUEGG) PICKETT
Bertha Ruegg, daughter of Henry & Elisabeta Ruegg, was born May 23, 1860 in Keptthal, Switzerland. In 1862,
her parents moved to Schloss (Castle) Schwandegg, Waltalingen, Switzerland where they lived until September 1867
at which time they left Switzerland for America. Bertha was seven years of age at the time of their crossing the
Atlantic. They settled near Highland, Illinois, and Bertha started her schooling there. She also had to learn a
new language.
In the fall of 1873, the Ruegg family moved to Riley County, Kansas near Winkler where her father bought a farm.
Bertha finished her schooling in the one-room school house in Winkler. She was kept busy helping around the home
and caring for the younger children besides helping the neighbors in the time of need. In the fall of 1878, the
Ruegg family moved farther west to Clay County, Kansas.
While Bertha was working at the Pickett home, she fell in love with one of
the Pickett boys, Louis, so on April 4, 1880, Bertha Ruegg and Louis F. Pickett were married at Riverdale, Clay
County, Kansas by Justice of the Peace, John Schwab. They started housekeeping on the Pickett farm east of Mayday,
Kansas where they lived for three years, One daughter, Flora, was born there. Bertha and Louis moved to a farm
at Ogden where they lived and farmed for seven years. There two more children, Emma & Cora, were born.
They moved back to the farm at Mayday for three years before moving to a farm in Oklahoma. There Bertha helped
in the planning and building of a modern homestead out on the raw land in the pioneer days of Oklahoma. There two
more children, Mina and Henry Oliver, were born. She did a good job in rearing her children and was interested
in their welfare and education.
She was an artist with flowers and also with a needle. She received much pleasure in working with her chickens
and garden. Her sense of color helped bring out the beauty in her flower beds as well as in the fancy work she
did. Even in her golden years when she could no longer handle small needles and fine thread, she took pleasure
in creating pillows and pictures of yarn for those she loved.
Bertha lived a full and active life until her death November 20, 1945. (Submitted by Coeta Mills & Verlin Wichman)
NORRIS, AMY KINNER
Kansas Enterprise
Thursday February 18,1915
Looking Backward
Read at a recent meeting of Randolph Royal Neighbors
By Mrs. A.E. Beckman
While reading and thinking about the life of Lincoln the pioneer, we think of the pioneers of our country, those
noble unselfish people who helped pave the way-for our present prosperous community.
Please bear in mind that this little paper is not meant to be a history, but is merely a number of ancedotes as
related to a little girl by her grandparents and great grandmother. And of this great grandmother, I would like
to say just a word for I think a number of you remember her--Amy [Kinner] Norris. She was born in New Jersey in
1809, the daughter of a Scotchman who had come to America a few years previous. At the age of seventeen she emigrated
to Illinois and later to Iowa with her husband, Johnathan Norris. She became the Mother of thirteen children and
in 1859, when her daughter, Harriet Pickett and Husband George Pickett, passed by her home on their way to Kansas,
she, being then a widow, hastily packed her few belongings and with her youngest son, a mere lad, came to make
a home for herself in this wild unsettled land. She took a homestead near the head of the Fancy Creek Valley.[KS]
She died in 1901 and was buried on her 91st birthday. Her body was erect and her mind perfectly clear in spite
of all her hardships.
It was from her lips as she sat with a far away look and rocked gently back and forth, that I heard most of what
I know of the early history of the valley--about the first little cabin on the homestead which she and her son
built for themselves; how she kept house for Ed and Sol Secrest while they went back east for their brides; tales
of my mothers people who had a homestead near; of how a rattlesnake was found entwined among some clothing in my
mother's home;of my grandmother's death caused, they thought, by the snow drifting on her bed where she lay with
her week old baby, during the worst blizzard of the winter of 1862 amd how my grandmother Pickett took that baby
and nursed it with her own.
Truely people were Royal Neighbors in those days. And of how during the Indian raids they hid part of their belongings
in the bushes and time after time fled to a place of safety--once the Indians did get as near as the vicinity of
Coon Creek and she would laughingly add, "some of the things we hid so well we never found." She used
to tell a story of my mother's step-mother who came a few years later and who had great difficulty in remembering
the names in the neighborhood. Once there were threshers at their home and a farmer named Henry Shellenaum was
present. She politely asked, "Mr. Bombshell will you have some coffee."
They had gotten their cabins chinked up fairly well and a little land cleared when the men of the neighborhood
were called upon to do their duty by their country and by Kansas. I used to beg for war stories and tried to figure
out which was the braver, my grandfather, who fought Indians under Col. Moonlight or my grandmother who stayed
at home with her little children with no one to protect her from wild cats and Indians.
At first the nearest trading points were Fort Riley and Fort leavenworth, but soon a settlement was founded at
Manhattan and later a small store was started by Ruthstrom on the present site of Randolph.
It is hard to imagine things as they actually were, little children in flour sack dresses dyed with walnut stain--calico
was twenty-five cents a yard--or in homespun, some with home made shoes, fearfully and wonderfully made; oxen toiling
up and down the valley; a settler walking to Ft.Riley for an aching tooth; a young wife of eighteen who went down
into the valley of the shadow and came back along and unaided with her first born--a daughter and who was found
two days later by a kindly neighbor who called to inquire after her welfare, out feeding the hogs.
Then there was the young bride from a wealthy home in Germany who camped under the table to escape the water from
a leaking roof; soldiers walked from Ft. Riley to spend a few hours with their families; wives made coats and pants
of jeans by hand for their lords and masters; families of from one to a dozen lived happily in one room and always
in all the old time tales appears that spirit of neighborliness, helpfulness and kind thoughtfulness for others.
War, poverty, ague, drouth and grasshoppers had no power to daunt them.
When we think of the valley as it was during that first decade and see it now with its broad smiling fields of
corn, wheat and alfalfa, its stately homes, its wealth and its prosperity and note the noble men and women that
have gone out from it we feel that "Ad astra per asperall is indeed a fitting motto.
--Ann Pickett Beckman. (Submitted by Verlin Wichman)
JOHN DAVID ARNOLD
The Reverend John David Arnold was born in Albertville, Alabama, September 9, 1883, son of John A. and Cora Cornelia
(Thaxton) Arnold. The father a physician was born in Guntersville, Alabama, in 1850 and died at Albertville, in
1884. The mother was born in Butts County, Georgia, September 7, 1860. She is still living and now resides at Griffin,
Georgia.
In 1912 John David Arnold received his degree of Bachelor of Philosophy from Drake University. He was a member
of the honorary debating society in college and served as president of Gamma Sigma Kappa.
On December 16, 1916, Mr. Arnold was married to Julia Louise Boone at Fort Smith, Arkansas. They have two children,
Louise born May 6, 1918 and Mary Margaret, July 22, 1922. Mrs. Arnold was born at Fort Smith, March 29, 1891.
From 1912 until 1914 Mr. Arnold served as pastor of the Christian Church at Manhattan. From 1915 until 1919 he
held a like position at Fort Smith, Arkansas and the following year at Fayetteville, Arkansas. Since 1920 he has
again been pastor of the First Christian Church of Manhattan.
He is a member of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, the Co-operative Club International (1920-, president, 1924),
the Masons, (Knights Templar, 32nd degree) and the Shrine. His club is the Manhattan Country Club. Residence: Manhattan.
(Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 42)
PICKETT, LOUIS FRANKLIN
A SHORT HISTORY OF LOUIS F. PICKETT
Louis Franklin Pickett was born in Iowa, November 27, 1858, and at the age of six months, his parents came to Riley
County, Kansas, settling on a farm on Fancy Creek, east of Mayday, Kansas. There, Louis grew to manhood and received
his education in the Mayday school passing the teacher's examination and then taught school for three years.
Louis fell for a girl who was helping out in the Pickett household so on April 4, 1880, Louis Franklin Pickett and Bertha Ruegg were married in Clay County where her family lived. They
started housekeeping on the Pickett farm where Louis helped with the faming and, taught school two more years.
He then moved to Ogden, Kansas with his wife and child where he farmed for seven years before moving back to the
Pickett farm at Mayday for three years.
His father, George Pickett, had gone to Oklahoma and thought it a good place for a young man to start faming so
talked Louis into going. In March 1893, Louis shipped his livestock, implements, and furniture by rail to Guthrie,
Oklahoma where it was unloaded and taken by team and wagon for nearly thirty miles to his farm of raw land which
Louis bought from the homesteader. His wife and three small girls joined him in Guthrie and made the long trying
journey through the open land to the farm which was to be their home.
There were a lot of improvements to be made and it took a lot of skill and effort to improve the homestead in order
to have a nice comfortable place to live. Those were trying days, getting land broke for the crops, planting fruit
and shade trees, but Louis tackled the job in good faith and got the job done. Guthrie was the nearest railroad
town, and all the crops sold had to be hauled by team and wagon. It took two days to make the round trip to Guthrie.
May 3, 1898, L. F. Pickett was one of eleven men who formed a corporation to obtain a grant from the Territorial
Government of Oklahoma to sell lots for the town site of Carney. The grant was issued and each man put up $100.00
and the town of Carney was started. A railroad was built through the territory and Carney came to life and grew
to be a lively country town of its day. It is about four miles north of the Pickett homestead. Louis was interested
in civic and public affairs and served on the school board and at times was called upon to give council on civic
and public affairs.
In the early twenties, he and several others formed what is now the "Cemetery Association". As a result,
Carney has one of the prettiest and best kept country cemeteries in the state. He served on this board as long
as he lived. Louis was a kindly man and lived a long and active life until his death in December 1943. (Submitted
by Coeta Mills and Verlin Wichman)
READE, J. M. J.
J. M. J. Reade, who is pastor of the Seven Dolores Catholic Church of Manhattan and is also the priest for Ogden
and McDowell, Kan., is a native of New England, born at Teverton Providence Plantation, Bristol county, Rhode Island,
in 1851, the son of Christopher and Mary A. (Cole) Reade. His father was born, reared and learned his trade in
the State of Rhode Island, where he was a "belter" in the leather business. Nine children were born to
Christopher and Mary A. Cole Reade, whose father was a merchant of standing in the community, of whom J. M. J.
is the only one living. During his boyhood he attended the public schools, but at an early age determined to dedicate
his life to the church, and with this end in view took academic and college courses in Canada and the State of
New York. After completing his collegiate education he attended the theological seminary at Woodstock, Md. The
Jesuit order has been noted for its missionary work in every country and especially so in the United States and
Father Reade has followed in the footsteps of the men who were the first to pass up the great lakes and rivers
of this continent to carry the word of God to the red men of Hudson Bay and the Great Slave lake of the frozen
north. No journey has been too long, no river too swift or perilous to deter this band of men from gathering men
into the fostering care of the church, with no regard as to the color of their skins, as the soul of man is the
thing to be saved. In 1885 Father Reade was ordained at Seattle, Wash., by Bishop Younge, and started out on his
first work as a missionary to the Indians at Gilman, Wash. He was stationed in the college there, but his special
charge was the red man. He has traveled all over the United States establishing missions, and has never had a regular
parish charge except at Lincoln, Neb., where he remained five years rector of the cathedral. For a time he was
at Shelbyville, Ill., then went to the Pacific coast again, but returned to Kansas nine years ago to locate at
Minneapolis, where he soon built a fine church at Niles and parsonage at Minneapolis, and four years ago was transferred
to Manhattan, as resident missionary. The parish of Manhattan is located in the diocese of Concordia, which is
.presided over by Bishop Cunningham.
Kansas was not thrown open to white settlers until the early '50s, and there was little settlement for some years
after that except along the rivers, but Riley county was well watered and in consequence farmers located there
at an early date. The parish of Manhattan is over fifty years old. Soon after the town was started the priests
from St. Mart's gathered the Catholic families of the locality together and organized a congregation. At first
they met in houses of good Catholics, mass being held by the Fathers from St. Mary's Mission, who made the trip
on horseback for the purpose, but for years the parish had no resident priest as the settlers were so scattered
and the congregation too small. Nearly a half century ago a church was erected at Ogden, and twenty-eight years
ago a building was purchased from the Methodists of Manhattan and converted into a Catholic church, and within
a short time Father Ennis was placed in charge of the parish; he was followed by Fathers Lee, Curtin, Leher, Curtin,
Regan and Martin, each of whom stayed about two years, then Father Shields came to Manhattan and ministered to
the people for eight years; he in turn was succeeded by Father Reade, in 1906, who is a resident missionary. The
congregation of Seven Dolores Church consists of about thirty families; Ogden has about the same number, while
McDowell has twenty families, who are communicants. During his pastorate Father Reade has done much good for his
parish; a new $17,000 church has been erected at Ogden, and just recently a $7,000 edifice has been completed at
McDowell; these are as fine church structures of their kind as can be found within the state. At Manhattan the
Sacred Heart Academy, founded by Father Reade in 1908, conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph, is run in connection
with the church. There are from seventy to one hundred and twenty-five scholars in attendance, and courses are
offered in all studies from kindergarten through high school, with special regard to commercial branches. A boarding
school has also been established in connection with the day school. (Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, Pages
786-787 - Transcribed by: Millie Mowry)
ACKERT, JAMES EDWARD
James Edward Ackert, zoologist, was born at Woosung, Illinois, August 31, 1879, son of Abram and Eva Wilder (Nowell)
Ackert.
Upon his graduation from Northern Illinois State Normal School in 1903, dr. Ackert attended the University of Illinois
from which he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1909. He received his Master's degree in 1911 and the Degree
of Doctor of Philosophy in 1913.
His marriage to Florence M. Tanner of Aurora, Illinois was solemnized August 15, 1914. Dr. and Mrs. Ackert have
one daughter, Jane.
Since 1918, Dr. Ackert has been professor of zoology at Kansas State College. He is also parasitologist of the
Kansas State Experiment Station, having held that position since 1913. Since 1931 he has been dean of the division
of graduate study.
During 1930-31, Dr. Ackert was a student at the Molteno Institute of Parasitology at Cambridge University, England.
He is a member of the American Society of Zoologists, the American Society of Parasitologists, the American Microscopical
Society, the Kansas Academy of Science, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 1927 he was a member and speaker on helminthology at the Third World's Poultry Congress at Ottawa, Canada, and
in 1930 was delegate to the Fourth World's Poultry Congress in London. In 1930 he also attended the Zoological
Contress at Padua. Residence: Manhattan. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin,
1933, page 8)
ASKREN,
NANNIE ELIZABETH
Nannie Elizabeth Askren, clubwoman, was born near
Holton, Kansas, daughter of Archibald D. and Cynthia Hereford (McComas) Abel. Her father, a farmer, was born in
Pulaski County, Kentucky, March 31, 1844. He enlisted for service in the Union Army and participated in Sherman's
March to the Sea. He was active in politics, a member of the Republican central committee, and for two terms was
treasurer of Jackson County. His death occurred at Holton, May 2, 1905.
Cynthia Hereford McComas was born in Platt County, Missouri, October 6, 1842, and died at Holton, January 29, 1905.
A true pioneer, she came to Kansas in 1854 and reared eight children to maturity. She was active in church and
community work.
Educated first in the country schools of Jackson County, Nannie Elizabeth Askren was graduated from Holton High
School in 1898, and the following two years attended Campbell University. She was a special student in voice (soprano)
at the Kansas State College from 1915 until 1920, and also studied French and other foreign languages.
On September 3, 1902, she was married to Edward Leroy Askren at Holton. Dr. Askren was born near Holton, August
14, 1879. He is a jeweler and Doctor of Optometry. There are two children, E. L., Jr., born July 21, 1910, who
is married to Laura May Marcy, and Cynthia Elizabeth, born January 31, 1919. Although E. L. Askren, Jr., as a child,
working under his father's direction became a master horologist, he is now enrolled at Kansas State College in
a special course-prerequisite to the Medical degree. He has a son, Edward Leroy, III, and a daughter, Laura Jean.
Cynthia is a very promising violinist.
From September, 1902, until September, 1922, Mrs. Askren assisted her husband in his jewelry store. She managed
the second Askren Jewelry Shop from that time until May, 1925. In earlier life she taught in the Jackson County
schools and from 1904 until 1910, she taught china painting in her private studio.
For a number of years Mrs. Askren has been active in civic and welfare work. She is a member of the Woman's Club
of Manhattan, a member of the national advisory committee on illiteracy under appointment from Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur,
secretary of the interior, and a member of the state committee on illiteracy, appointed by Governor Clyde M. Reed.
She is affiliated with the First Presbyterian Church of Manhattan, was a Sunday School teacher for many years,
and for 20 years was soloist in a church choir. Mrs. Askren was chairman of the Music and Art Department of the
Manhattan Woman's Club and a member of the Social Order of the Beauceant. She is now recording secretary of the
Woman's Club.
From 1926 until 1930, she was state chairman of
illiteracy and adult education, and from 1930 until 1932, was seventh vice president and director of health of
the Kansas Branch of National Congress of Parents and Teachers. During her illiteracy work from 1926-1930, Mrs.
Askren gave 38 lectures to Kansas audiences on illiteracy conditions in Kansas. She awakened Kansans to their duty
to such an extent, that more than 5,000 Kansas illiterates had been taught just prior to the last Federal Census.
She is a member of the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Mrs. Abraham Lincoln Tent No. 12 of
the Daughters of Union Veterans. Among her contributions to literature are a pamphlet, Facts Concerning Illiteracy
(March 1927) ; Illiteracy Bulletin for Parent Teachers of Kansas, (October, 1927) the Department of Health of K.
C. P. T. and articles on Adult Education published by the Kansas Club Woman. Residence: Manhattan. (Illustriana
Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 46)
BABCOCK,
RODNEY WHITTEMORE
Rodney Whittemore Babcock, dean, division of general
science of the Kansas State College, was born at Milton, Vermont, July 22, 1890, the son of Henry and Adele Calista
Stiles Babcock.
The father, born in Alburg, Vermont, May 21, 1848, was a teacher until his death at Greenville, Illinois, November
26, 1929. His English ancestors settled in New England about 1660, the genealogy of the Babcock family being on
file in the Library of Congress.
Adele Calista Stiles was born at St. Johnsbury Center, Vermont, December 8, 1854, and died at Greenville, July
20, 1917. She was a teacher whose ancestors came to Rhode Island from England and were among the first settlers
of Lyndon, Vermont.
Rodney Whittemore Babcock attended the public school in St. Albans, Vermont, was graduated in 1908 and in 1912
received the Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Missouri. He attended Greenville (Illinois) College,
1908-10, and the University of Pennsylvania, 1915-16. He received his master's degree from the University of Wisconsin
in 1915, and the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin in 1924.
From 1912 until 1914 Dean Babcock was a teacher of mathematics in the junior college of Evansville, Wisconsin.
He was instructor of mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1915 and from 1916 until 1925 held the same
position at the University of Wis-consin. He became assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin
in 1925 and in 1929 became professor at DePauw University holding that position during 1929-30. At the present
time he is dean, division of general science, Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, at Manhattan.
He is the author of Thermal Convection, published April 15, 1930.
On July 22, 1915, he was married to Josephine Luella Claus at Plymouth, Iowa, her birthplace. She was born November
10, 1892, of German and English ancestry. There are three children, John Henry, born October 30, 1919; Jean Adele,
borne July 14, 1922; and Elliot Rodney, born August 17, 1927.
Dean Babcock is a member of the First Methodist
Church, the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, the Kiwanis Club of Manhattan
of which he was a director in 1932, and Gamma Alpha, graduate scientific fraternity, of which he was national secretary
in 1929 and 1930, and national president, 1931, 1932. His club is the Manhattan Country Club. His favorite sports
are golf and canoeing. (Photograph in Album). Residence: Manhattan. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin
& Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, pages 53 & 54)
HUMPHREY, JAMES
James Humphrey. The passing of this old and respected
pioneer, in 1907, robbed Kansas of one of its strongest constructive leaders, one whose capable and useful services
had been exercised in molding the institutions of Kansas for fifty years, and whose name and memory will endure
as an active moral force in the future growth of this great state.
Judge Humphrey was born in Pleasley, Nottinghamshire, England March 8, 1833. He was a son of John Humphrey, one
of four brothers, who were land owners but lived in the village. They owned some hand hosiery-knitting machines
and employed men to operate them, but the introduction of hose manufactured by steam machinery made it impossible
for these brothers to compete in the trade and ruined their business, so that they were placed in less prosperous
circumstances than , the family had been for generations. These conditions occurring during the boyhood of Judge
Humphrey limited his educational opportunities to some extent. He had, however, a natural inclination for books
and an order of mind which acquired knowledge intuitively, which, with his tenacity of purpose, caused him to exhaust
the resources of the village libraries and village schools, and, at the age of twenty-one, he was fully prepared
to enter King's College in London. The reading of biographies of eminent American men induced him to immigrate
to the United States, however, instead of entering the university. He reached Newport, R. I., in 1854, and went
from there to Fall River, Mass., where he remained until the spring of 1857. He became interested in the agitation
then being made to make Kansas a free state and came to the territory, alone, in the same year. He reached Manhattan
in April, 1857, and from that time until his demise, in 1907 an even half century was prominently identified with
the public and social life of the state, and especially of Central Kansas. The colony at Manhattan gave him a cordial
welcome and he was there employed at any honorable employment he could find. He performed the duties of sheriff
for George W. Higinbotham, a pioneer of those days, at a time when outlawry was rampant, but most vigorously and
fearlessly did he perform his duties. In those days he also served a term as mayor of Manhattan. He assisted Dr.
Amory Huntington in the duties of county treasurer in 1859 and 1860, succeeded to the office in his own right in
1861 and 1862, and during the earlier days also served as a justice of the peace. His attention was turned to law
through the advice of lawyers, whose admiration he had won while trying his first case as a justice of the peace.
He had so ably managed the case and evinced such a clear legal mind that with one accord they assured him he ought
to study law. That profession appealed to him, while the professions of theology and medicine, to both of which
he had given some study, did not. He was admitted to the bar in 1863 and began practice with cases sufficient to
keep him busy during the entire term of court. His literary ability and general knowledge led him also into the
newspaper business. In 1860 he was employed by C. F. DeVivaldi to assist in editing the "Manhattan Express,"
and when the latter was made consul to Brazil the full control of the paper passed to Mr. Humphrey. Through the
paper he was outspoken in his condemnation of crime and law evasion, then so prevalent in that section of Kansas,
and so open was his denunciation of the gangs of roughs operating there, and so broad were the exposures made that
his life was pronounced the penalty, and the result was one of the most startling and romantic incidents in all
Kansas history. The incident is told as follows by a writer in the "Club Member":
"The editor, who was also a justice of the peace, issued warrants for the arrest of ring-leaders, but proved
his altruism by giving material aid and comfort to one who had returned, wounded, sick, and in want. It was this
act of compassion to which he afterward owed his life. Seated in his home, one dark, cold night-with bright fire
and light, and books and newspapers, and bride, full of happiness and hopefulness-but for the interposing hand
of that man, there might have been a tragedy to end this story. Suddenly, upon the quiet scene, there came a crash
of a bullet through the window, the sound of an oath of rage and disappointment, of footsteps receding rapidly,
and then all was quiet. The young couple found themselves, standing, startled, amazed, confounded, and then thanking
God for safety. Long afterward, when an early raid of the vigilance committee to the den of the gang had resulted
in the shooting of one and the capture of fifteen, who were lodged at Fort Riley for safe-keeping; when others
had been taken and dealt with by Judge Lynch; when the quiet little community had resolutely purged itself of lawlessness,
and law and order were finally established, the editor learned the true secret of the bullet that failed of its
mark. `Sandy swore he would kill you, and compelled me to go with him and see the fun,' said a quiet man to him
one day. `It was a party picture you made that night. It only angered Sandy, but it touched me. I thought of all
you had done for me and my, family, and how my wife said you was right. All this in an instant, for you sat in
full view, and Sandy took straight aim at your head. His hand was on the trigger. Quick as a flash I jogged his
elbow, and struck out on a dead run for dear life. It was dark as pitch, and Sandy was mad, consequence he stumbled
and fell, and I live to tell the tale. You saved me from a life of sin, and I gave you your life in return-guess
we're even. Shake."'
During the business activity in the years following the close of the war, Mr. Humphrey built up a large law practice.
In the spring of 1867 he was appointed judge of the Eighth judicial district and in the fall of that year was elected
to that office by a very large majority. He was then living at Manhattan and continued his residence there until
May 1, 1870, when he resigned to enter the law practice with James R. McClure, of Junction City, and removed to
that place. The practice was more lucrative and furnished greater scope for his tireless energy. He continued to
be associated with Captain McClure thirteen years, and during that period of continuous practice was engaged on
nearly every case of any importance in the Eighth district, either civil or criminal, and seldom lost a case. The
legislature of 1883 established a state board of railroad commissioners and, March 1, of that year, James Humphrey
was elected the Democratic member of the board by the executive council, for the term of two years, and he was
twice reelected to the office, in 1885 and 1888. After eight years of continuous service he was retired, March
26, 1891. He resumed his law practice, but in 1891 was reelected judge of the Eighth judicial district and served
one term, declining to be a candidate for reelection.
In the fall of 1861 Judge Humphrey was married to Mary Vance, of Cincinnati, Ohio. She was born in Springfield,
Ohio, but removed with her parents to Cincinnati when a child and was there educated in the Wesleyan College. Mrs.
Humphrey has always been very active in educational, literary and club circles. She has been president of the State
Federation of Women's Clubs, and president of the Woman's Kansas Day Club, a patriotic organization. To Judge and
Mrs. Humphrey were born five children: Herbert J., a very bright and promising lawyer, died Aug. 8, 1890; Spencer,
a passenger conductor on the Union Pacific, was crushed to death between two cars at Lawrence, Sept. 22, 1895;
James Vance is a leading lawyer at Junction City; Elinor is the wife of John A. Smith, of Butte, Mont.; and Adelia
is a teacher in the same city.
Judge Humphrey was always interested in and gave aid to all local or general movements for the social, local or
public comfort or advancement. He delivered twenty lectures on constitutional law before the law department of
the University of Kansas, in 1894, and from 1892 to 1896 appeared many times as a lecturer on the general subject
of equity. He was a regent of the State University from 1883 to 1885, and his loyalty to that institution is shown
by the fact that four of his five children were graduated there. He was the legal adviser of George Smith, and
it was he who drew the will which left the legacy for library purposes, now the pride of Junction City; and the
city authorities made him president of the board which carried out so handsomely the purposes of Mr. Smith. He
was interested in the Universalist church, was a trustee, and frequently talked on a Sabbath evening to the people.
In 1907 Judge Humphrey responded to another call to public service, when Governor Hoch, though not required to
name a Democrat, named Judge Humphrey as the first member of the newly created tax commission, an appointment which
the Republican senate promptly confirmed. He was further honored by his two Republican colleagues when they made
him chairman of the commission. It was a deserved honor, merited by his years of unselfish devotion to public interests,
a devotion not actuated by the desire for political honor or pecuniary benefit, but by his intense desire to do
the best thing for the general welfare of his state. His service lasted but two months, however; for after a short
illness death claimed him, Sept. 18, 1907, and the bar, the press, business and political associates, and all who
knew him united to pay tribute to one of the state's most useful and honored pioneers. Thus passed to his reward
one whose devotion to high ideals will forever remain prominent in the state's history. (Kansas Biography, Part
2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 824-827 - Transcribed by Millie Mowry)
