LABETTE COUNTY, Part 23

MOUND VALLEY

Mound Valley is located in the western part of Labette County, about the center of the county from north to south, and in the valley of Pumpkin Creek. To the north, east and south of the town, the country is comparatively level, while to the west are found ranges of mound like hills, from which the valley and town were named.

The town was laid out in the spring of 1869, by the Mound Valley Town Company, of which William Rogers was president. The section of land selected by the company for a town site, was claimed by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Company under a treaty claimed to have been made by that company with the Indians; this company claiming all odd numbered sections and the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad claiming the even numbered sections. The matter was contested in the courts for some years, and, in 1876, a decision was rendered against the railroads and in favor of the settlers, the land being declared subject to entry. The town had already been begun and contained a few buildings, but as yet the title was imperfect. As soon as, or shortly after, the decision of the Supreme Court was rendered, the Probate Judge of the county, deed the land for the Town Company, as required by the laws of the State, and appointed a commission to divide the land into severalty among the various owners or claimants. In this way, the title to the site became settled and the respective stockholders of the Town Company, received each his proper share.

The first house erected on the site was a storehouse by A. Honrath and H. Roar, which they occupied with a general stock of goods, for about six years, when it was burned. This building was erected directly after the site was selected and laid off into town lots. Following this, John P. Kremer started a grocery, L. F. Nicholas a drug store, and later in 1872, Dr. E. Tanner and M. Anderson a general store. In the next year, R. Blakely started a grocery store. Prior to this, and in 1870, J. Campbell erected a hotel called the Mound Valley Hotel, and later in the year, L. F. Nicholas erected the Nicholas Hotel.

Owing largely to the dispute of title, the town made but little progress until the completion of the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad in August 1879, upon which the town is situated.

Prior to this date the town contained four stores, two hotels, a few residences and a population of about forty.

The building of the railroad had the effect to stimulate the building of the town to some extent, but it was not until about a year and a half following its completion that rapid progress began, so that within the past eighteen months, the greatest and most rapid growth has taken place. The place now contains six general stores, two grocery, two hardware, two drug, a furniture and two millinery stores; a saddle and harness, three carpenter, two blacksmith and wagon shops; three hotels, a restaurant, three loan offices, five doctors, three lawyers, and a population of about five hundred, and withal is a thriving young town filled with industrious, intelligent and enterprising people.

A post office was established here in 1870, with A. Honrath as Postmaster, who kept the office in his store room. The mail was obtained from Oswego, by a post-horse route. In 1876, a stage line was run from Oswego by which the mail was brought. The office since the beginning has been held respectively by A. Honrath, L. Slocum, M. Anderson, R. Blakely and Dr. N. M. Miller, the present incumbent.

LOCAL MATTERS.

The first school taught in Mound Valley was a subscription school, taught by Mrs. William Robins, in the winter of 1870. A school building was erected in the summer of 1871, and was a one-story frame, 23x30 feet, and cost $1,000, for the erection of which bonds were issued by the district, to the amount of $1,200, which sold for seventy-five cents on the dollar. A new frame school building was erected in the fall of 1882, at a cost of $2,000, and is thirty-six feet square with an approach twelve by sixteen feet, upon which a belfry is constructed, and is two stories high, containing three rooms. The old building was sold to W. O'Brien for $150. For the defrayal of the cost of the new house the district voted $1,625 in bonds and levied a special tax on the property within the district for the balance.

The school population, from the fifteen pupils that attended the first school taught in the town, has increased to 184. The schools are partially graded and are under charge of E. H. Barnhart, as Principal, and Misses Ida Barnhart and Emma Huland, as teachers.

The Church of Christ was established in the vicinity of Mound Valley in May, 1871, with fourteen members, by Rev. J. W. Randall, and was effected in the residence of E. Stapleton. The meetings were then changed to the Union schoolhouse, and then to Mound Valley. For some cause the congregation became in a measure disorganized and broken up, but in March, 1882, a revival was made under the administration of Rev. J. Padget, and has since witnessed a healthy and prosperous existence. The first meetings in the town were held in the schoolhouse, then in the Baptist Church. In the summer of 1882, a house was erected and is thirty-six by fifty feet, one story frame, and cost about $1,500.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in March, 1880, with only ten members. Although this denomination had labored in this section long prior to this time, yet no individual organization had been effected in the town. It was organized by Rev. E. A. Graham, the present pastor of the church, and is one of the four points within his circuit, which includes also Hopewell, where a new church was built in 1881, Pleasant Hill, and Altamont. The old schoolhouse was used as a place of worship until the erection of the church house in the summer of 1880, which was dedicated in September of that year by Rev. A. T. Burris, assisted by Revs. Graham and Poinsett. The church is a one-story frame, twenty-four by forty-four feet, and cost $1,000. A comfortable parsonage was begun in 1879, and completed in 1882, costing about $700. The congregation has prospered since the beginning and now has a membership of one hundred.

Mound Valley contains three flourishing societies. These are the Masonic, the Order of United Workmen, and the Grand Army of the Republic.

Mound Valley Lodge, No. 61, A. O. U. W., was instituted October 9, 1880. The first officers were: J. J. Decker, past master workman, I. J. Stevens, master workman; H. F. Melhuist, general foreman; T. A. Millard, financier; and George Campbell, recorder. The Lodge has grown from the nineteen members with which it organized, to the present number of twenty-seven. The present officers are: J. J. Decker, M. W.; H. F. Melhuist, R.; A. Pattison, Rec.; and A. B. Hammar, Fin.

The Mound Valley Post, No. 138, G. A. R., was instituted November 5, 1882, with J. Moore, commander; R. Blakely, adjutant. The organization was effected with a membership of twenty-four.

The Mound Valley Lodge, A., F. & A. M., was instituted under a dispensation, May 18, 1882, with D. L. Swan, worshipful master; J. Moore, secretary, and W. Bird, treasurer. The society began with thirteen members, and now numbers nineteen.

Sun Light Lodge, No. 89, I. O. G. T., was organized October 13, 1877, with thirty-three members. R. R. Coleman was elected worthy chief templar; Ella Dunn, worthy secretary; K. B. Coleman, worthy treasurer. The lodge grew rapidly, its membership at one time reaching as high as seventy-five, but has since decreased, and is now about thirty. The present officers are; J. R. Monroe, worthy chief templar; D. S. Coleman, worthy secretary; William North, worthy treasurer.

Only one attempt, properly speaking, has been made toward the publication of a news journal in the town. In the spring of 1881, the Oswego Times Publishing Company printed a sheet for Mound Valley, but this lasted only a few months and gave out.

The Mound Valley Herald was established April 6, 1882, by G. Campbell, who, in the following September, sold out to C. L. Albion, the present editor and proprietor. The sheet is a seven-column folio, independent in politics, and has a circulation of 500 copies. It is a live and prosperous journal, and promises to become a permanent enterprise.

Mound Valley contains but one manufacturing establishment. This is a grist and flouring mill, which was built in 1881, by the firm of Harper, O'Brien & Hollingsworth. The mill building is a two-story frame, and contains three run of buhrs, and is propelled by steam power.

The future of the town of Mound Valley is to an extent flattering. The large scope of fine agricultural lands by which it is surrounded, which is yet susceptible of greater development, and from which extensive trade is derived; the thrift and enterprise characterizing the population, etc., go very far toward inciting the prediction of the future prominence and prosperity of the town.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - MOUND VALLEY TOWNSHIP.

JAMES R. BELL. The subject of this sketch was born in Fleming County, Ky., October 21, 1821; was brought up on a farm, and educated in a district school. He was married to Elizabeth M. Farrow, October 7, 1847; they settled in Fleming County, Ky., remained there until December, 1866, when they moved to McDonough County, Ill., and remained there until October, 1874, then moved to Cherokee County, Kan., and from there to Labette County, in 1881, near Mound Valley, on a farm of 200 acres, where he now resides. They have had thirteen children - nine daughters and four sons - Eliphalet M. Bell, married Matilda I. Piper, resides in Labette County; Nannie M., wife of A. G. Singiser, resides in McCune, Crawford County; Sarah L., wife of William Busby, resides in McCune, Crawford County; Calista, wife of Aaron H. Miller, resides in Labette County; Addie, wife of Charles A. Stewart, resides in Cherokee County; William F., married Rosa Berry, resides with his father; George C., resides with his brother-in-law, Charles A. Stewart; Mary Lou, died in August, 1879; Carrie F., Rosell B., Bertha, James R. and Hattie Poyntz still reside with their parents near Mound Valley, Labette Co., Kan.

C. L. ALBION, editor and proprietor of the Mound Valley Herald, was born March 2, 1844, at Newman, Ill., and was reared on a farm. In July, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, of the Seventieth Illinois Regiment, and served three months. His education was obtained in the common schools, supplemented by a year and a half at Asbury College. For about fifteen years, he followed the occupation of teaching school. In the fall of 1869, he came to Kansas, and soon after coming to this State, purchased a claim in Cherokee County, and near the town of Columbus. In the spring of 1874, he left his farm, and in company with a brother, started the Farmers' Advocate, at Marion Center, Marion County, and in the next spring, they moved the paper to Salina. Here they dissolved the partnership, and C. L. became sole proprietor. In the spring of 1877, he traded the paper for a farm in Lincoln County, upon which he was engaged about two and a half years; leaving the farm in the fall of 1879, he began publishing the Brookville Independent, in company with J. S. Tupper, in Saline County. Disposing of this enterprise, he came to Mound Valley, and brought the Mound Valley Herald, of which he is the present editor and proprietor. He married Amelia A. Hamblin, a resident of Cherokee County, Kan., September 19, 1875, and has a family of four boys, aged six, five, three and an infant.

N. E. BOUTON, farmer, Section 27, Township 31, Range 17, P. O. Cherryvale, Montgomery County, was born in Ulster County, N. Y., in 1850, and removed with his parents to Kankakee County, Ill., in 1875, where he received his education and was brought up on a farm. His mother died many years since. His father lives on a farm in Owage Township, Labette County. Mr. Burton was married to Elizabeth Phares, of Kankakee City, Ill., July 4, 1867. She died April 29, 1875. He married his second wife, Lucy Yeager, of Cherryvale Township Kas., August 27, 1876. They have two children, Ada L., born June, 1878, Charles A., born March 4, 1881. Mr. Bouron had nothing when he came to Kansas. He had to live in a house made of split oak shakes. Now he has his farm of 160 acres, with good buildings and land well cultivated. Mr. Bouton now holds the office of Town Assessor for the Township of Cherry.

GEORGE CAMPBELL, real estate, loan and insurance agent, was born near Penn Yan, Yates County, N. Y., in 1848. His great grandfather came from Scotland about the time of the Revolution. He was educated in Starkey Seminary, Bradford County, N. Y. Was married to Sarah E. Drenner, a daughter of Jacob Drenner, of Labette County, Kas., in 1873, by whom he has three children - Alta, Gracie and Helen. Mrs. Campbell was born and educated in Dayton, Ohio. My. C. came to Kansas in 1871 and settled on a farm southeast of Mound Valley. He commenced in the real estate, loan and insurance business in 1881, in Mound Valley. Was commissioned Notary Public in the same year, which office he now holds. He has been twice elected Assessor of the town, and has since held the office of Justice of the Peace to the present time. He was nominated by the Anti-monopoly party for State Senator in 1880 and received the party vote, but was defeated by about 700. In 1882 he again received the nomination for Representative at the hands of the same party and came within forty-three votes of an election. He founded the Mound Valley Herald in Mound Valley in 1882, but after sold to C. L. Albion, its present editor and proprietor.

JAMES CLAYTON CUNNINGHAM, Section 24, Township 32, Range 17 east, P. O. Cherryvale, Montgomery Co., Kas., was born in Fayette County, Ohio, March 26, 1839. Came with his parents at the age of six years to Illinois, where he was educated in the common schools. Was married October 13, 1864, to Miss Mary A., eldest daughter of George T. Bell, of Marshall County, Illinois. She was born April 28, 1844, in the same county, was liberally educated at Bloomington Female College, and taught several terms of school in her native State. They have two sons, George C., born in Marshall County, Ill., April 23, 1871, and Virgil B., born in Labette County, Kas., October 6, 1876. Mr. Cunningham came to Kansas in the fall of 1871, and settled in Big Hill Creek Valley, four miles southeast of Cherryvale, and is now the owner of one of the best farms in the county, containing 380 acres, including fifty acres of timber, with first-class improvements and buildings; is also the owner of considerable stock, consisting mostly of cattle, horses and swine. Mr. C. is a prominent member of the A., F. & A. M., and the I. O. O. F., societies, and also with Mrs. C. is a member of the O. E. S.

O. L. EDGAR, farmer, Section 29, Township 32, Range 18, east, P. O. Mound Valley, was born in Owen County, Ind., in 1861 and came to Kansas with his mother in June, 1872. His father, James Edgar, was born in Harrison County, Ohio, and was married December 2, 1854, to Frances Headlee, of Monroe County, who was a native of Ohio, born in 1833. They had four children, John W., born June 28, 1855, and married to Sarah E. Larrabee; Hester A., born October 14, 1856, was married to W. N. McCold, living in Mound Valley; James W., born October 22, 1858, married to Amanda Hopper, living in Mound Valley Township; and O. L. whose name has been already mentioned. Mr. James Edgar died at Nashville, Tenn., from the effects of a wound received in battle December 10, 1862. Mrs. Edgar and her four children came to Kansas in June 1872, and settled on 240 acres of excellent land, three miles northwest of the village of Mound Valley. The brothers and sister have obtained good educations, and have made improvements, buildings, orchards, etc., on their farm. O. L. Edgar is a teacher in the public schools of Labette County. The brothers are following the business of farming.

H. FARMER, farmer, Section 13, P.O. Mound Valley, was born in Cass County, Mo., in 1844, and was brought up in the same place. Was married in 1870, to Miss Jennie Todd, of Pleasant Hill, Mo. He has one child, Lulu. Mrs. F. died in 1877. Mr. Farmer has good buildings and other improvements on his farm. He has one brother, John Q., living in Mound Valley, Kas., having moved into the State from Missouri November, 1882. He was born in Cass County, Mo., in 1839, and married to Amanda A. Olds in 1860, by whom he has seven children. Mr. John Q. Farmer enlisted in Cojmpany C. Second Kansas, and served during the war being mustered out July 14th, 1865. He was ten months in a rebel prison. Mr. H. Farmer enlisted in Company A, Forty-third Missouri, and served during the war. He was in three different regiments. Mr. H. Farmer came to Kansas in 1869, and settled on a farm four miles north of Mound Valley.

T. F. FIELD, of the firm of Field and Dudley, agricultural implements, was born in Barren County, Ky., 1827, living there in Green, Hart and Monroe counties until he came to Kansas, in 1875. At the age of eighteen, he learned the house carpenter's trade, which he followed in connection with farming, for many years. He was married in 1848, to Mary G. Hite, of Green County, Ky., by whom he has six children - John J. Field, married and living in Neosho County; William R., Thomas J., married and living on his father's farm; Nannie E., Belle, married and residing in Mound Valley; Benjamin M. Mr. John Dudley, junior partner of the firm of Field & Dudley, was born 1856, in Jefferson, Iowa; educated in the same. Was married in the fall of 1878, to Ida M. Fogleman, by whom he has one child, Berla F. The firm do a large business at their store and in the surrounding country. Mr. Field first stopped in Neosho County two years, and came to Mound Valley, Labette County, in 1877.

R. W. GANDY, dealer in general merchandise, was born in West Virginia, in 1833, and was brought up and educated in the same place. In 1851, he removed to Davis County, Iowa, where he lived on a farm nineteen years. April 22, 1855, he was married to Miss Sarah Minear, by whom he has three children - Charles, Amanda and Melissa. His wife died September 13, 1864, and he was married to Mrs. Mary Luzadder, of West Virginia, March 4, 1866, by whom he has one child, Nora. He removed from Iowa to Texas, where he spent nine months, from thence he came to Kansas, in 1873, and settled on a farm four miles southeast of Mound Valley. In the fall of 1880, he engaged in the mercantile business in the town, the firm name is Gandy, Wade & Co. They are enterprising men, and are doing a good business. Mr. Gandy and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

ALVIN HALL, farmer, P. O. Mound Valley, was born in Delaware County, N. Y., in 1857. His father was the Rev. William Hall, of the New York conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who died at West Hurley, Ulster Co., N. Y., January, 1878. Mr. Hall was prepared for college at Great Barrington, Mass., completing his course at the Hudson River Institute, Claverack, Columbia Co., N. Y. He was married April 30, 1877, to Ella I. Clement, of Catskill, Greene Co., N. Y. She was born in Delaware County, in the same State, in 1859; educated at the Hudson River Institute, Claverack. They have three children - Edwin W., Alvin C. and Edith E. Mrs. Hall is the daughter of Rev. Edwin Clement, a Methodist Episcopal Clergyman, who died at Catskill, N. Y., in February, 1877. Her mother is living with her daughter, near Mound Valley. Mr. Hall's mother is living in Mound Valley. Mr. H. came to Kansas, February, 1882, and purchased 160 acres of land, one mile from Mound Valley, and also purchased a one-third interest in the Mound Valley steam flouring mill.

A. B. HAMMER, attorney-at-law, was born in Marion County, W. Va., in 1835; was educated in Bethany College, West Virginia, and Lebanon College, Ohio; entered the service of the United States, as Captain of Company B, West Virginia Cavalry, Fifth Regiment. He enlisted soon after the commencement of the war, and was in the service until the close. He was aid de camp to Generals Milro and Sigel; was captured twice and wounded twice. Married in 1857, to Emma Miller, of West Virginia, who was born in 1841. They have nine children - A. W., Laura, Nellie, H. A., Bell, Lulu, Jessie F., Karl, Frederick. Capt. Hammer commenced the practice of law in 1867, at Springfield, Ill. He came to Kansas in 1871, and first located in Fairview Township, Labette County. He resumed the practice of his profession in Oswego, in 1873. He afterward removed to Mound Valley, Where he now resides, and has a large practice.

W. W. HARPER, miller, was born in 1820, Knox County, Ind., where he was educated, in the pay schools of that day. His ancestors were English, Scotch and Dutch. He enlisted in company E. Fifty-first Indiana Infantry, October, 1861. Was mustered out December 14, 1864; was in service in Tennessee and Kentucky, until transferred to the Invalid Corps where he guarded prisoners, at Cincinnati, Washington and Point Lookout, Md. He was married on October 27, 1842, to Mary A. Hill, of Knox County, Ind., with whom he went to school. She was born November 15, 1823. They have three children - George F., married to Laura Shick, dealer in agricultural implements, Parsons; Mary E., married to Thomas Hollingsworth, living near Carthage, Mo.; James W., married to Ellen Barnes, living on a farm three miles north of Mound Valley. Mr. H. is the owner of a one-third interest in the steam mill and ten acres of land, besides other property in Mound Valley.

JAMES ICE, banker and farmer, was born in Clinton County, Pa., December 2, 1831, and received his education in the common schools of the same State. At the age of twenty-one he emigrated to Jackson, Wis., where he was engaged in farming, milling, lumbering and merchandising. He was married in Lock Haven, Pa., to Sarah J. Shanabrook, in 1852, by whom he has one child living, Mrs. A. D. Merrill, living in Franklin, Wis. Mrs. Ice died in 1855. He was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Southerland, of Clinton County Pa., by whom he has three children - James S., married to Miss Jennie S?ell, of Jackson, Wis., now living in Mound Valley; Laura Jane, Mary S., Married to E. S. King, and living in Minnesota. Mr. Ice, besides carrying on his large and beautiful farm of 480 acres of land near the town of Mound Valley, does quite an extensive business in real estate, loan and insurance.

PROF. L. N. JUDD came to Kansas December, 1882, and started a school at Altamont, Labette County. In May, 1883, at the request of many citizens of Mound Valley he was induced to start a school in the latter place. Was born at Rome, N. Y., 1828, where he was partly educated in the Academy of that city, completing it in Bethany College, W. Va. He afterward removed to Carroll County, Ill. He has taught school about twenty-five years in all in Rome, N. Y., Illinois and Iowa. He was Register of the Land office of Springfield District eight years, from 1870 to 1879, and School Commissioner of Appanoose County one year (1867) and County Judge and Recorder of Decatur County, Ill., two years. He then, in January, 1880, took charge of the Richland Institute, Pulaski County, Mo., where he taught three years. Was married to Elvira Trask in 1851. Mrs. Judd died at Richland, Mo., in 1880. Mr. Judd has one daughter - Mrs. Kate Palmer, born February 24, 1854, at present residing with her husband in Washington Territory, one of the largest lumbermen in that Territory. A son - Norton C., aged ten years, is living with his father. Mr. Judd is a brother of N. B. Judd, of Chicago, and cousin of Orange Judd, of New York. Mr. Judd was ordained to the ministry of the Christian Church about 1865.

DR. JAMES LEMON was born at Haysville, Ashland Co., Ohio, in 1841. Moved with his parents to Richland County, Ohio, in 1852. His father was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1812, and his mother in Maryland in 1821. His father died in Richland County, Ohio, in 1857, and his mother died at the same place in 1859, leaving eight orphan children. The Doctor was educated at the Ohio Wesleyan University. Studied medicine with Dr. H. Buchan, of Mifflin, Ohio. Graduated in the Regular School of Medicine, and enlisted in the Army as Hospital Steward of the Fifty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Veteran Infantry. Went on the Atlanta campaign and with Sherman to the sea. At the close of the war was located at Mansfield, Ohio, engaged in the practice of his profession. Was married to Anna Hill of Mansfield, Ohio, who was born in 1840 in Knox County of the same State. The Doctor emigrated to Kansas in 1870, locating at Buffalo, Wilson County, where he engaged in the drug business and the practice of his profession. Moved to Charleston, Greenwood County, in 1878, where he continued his practice and drug business until the building of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, when a new town was laid out and named Fall River, which was three miles from the town of Charleston. He moved his buildings to the new town, sold them and his stock of drugs, and located again in the town of Mound Valley, Labette Co., Kan., in 1880, where he has been engaged in the practice of his profession and drug business up to the present time. The Doctor is an active member of the Eclectic Medical Association of the State of Kansas.

STITES McCORMICK, farmer, Section 19, Township 32, Range 18, P. O. Cherryvale, Montgomery County, was born in Owen County, Ind., 1835, and went to the common school. Was married February 11, 1857, to Melissa Farrias, who was born in Jackson County, Mo., and left an orphan at a very early age by the death of her parents, her father having been killed by the fall of a tree. They have nine children - Sarah Ann, married and living in Ohio; Thomas, married and living near his father; George, Isaac, James, Sylvia, Effie, Morton and Leslie. Mr. McCormick is one of the earliest settlers, having come to Mound Valley, Labette Co., Kan., July, 1869, settling on 160 acres of good land, five miles from Cherryvale, Montgomery County. He has built an excellent house and made other extensive improvements. He, in common with many others, had to undergo many difficulties and privations. The Osage Indians were his nearest neighbors for some time after his first settlement was made.

GEORGE S. McDOLE, real estate, loan and insurance, was born in Litchfield, Medina Co., Ohio, in 1840. His father was a native of New York, and his mother of New Hampshire. He received his education in the common schools of Ohio. At the commencement of the war he enlisted in Company I, Second Iowa Cavalry. He was with Grierson and Hatch in the capture of Island No. 10, at Corinth and Madrid, and with Grant at Holly Springs and his raid south of there in the fall and winter of 1862-63. He was mustered out in 1864. Sheridan was his Brigade Commander when he obtained his first star. At the close of the war he returned to Iowa where he lived until he came to Kansas in the spring of 1870. He first settled on the farm now owned by Dr. A. P. Sanders, north of Mound Valley. He was married in 1865 to Eliza Brady, a native of Maine, born in 1843. They have three children - Merton, Almira and Mary. Mr. McD. has made an addition of ten blocks to the village of Mound Valley, known as McDole's Addition. Mr. McD. is a successful business man.

Dr. W. W. MoEWEN, physician and farmer, Section 1. Township 33, Range 17, east, P. O. Mound Valley, was born in Plumville, Indiana Co., Pa., October 15, 1853, and came with his parents to Southern Illinois in 1860, living mostly in White County, where he received a classical education at Enfield College, in the same county, teaching during the winter and attending school during the summer months. He afterward engaged in the sale of drugs at Enfield, studying medicine in the meantime, and graduated at the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1883. Has been practicing for more than eight years. Was married in Illinois, in 1874 to Miss Artie T. Lechner, who was born in Ohio, May 10, 1851, and educated in White County, Ill. They have two children - Orra, born June 10, 1875; James C., born August 1, 1879. Dr. McEwen lived fourteen months in Crowell, Union Co., Iowa, 1876-77, where he continued the sale of drugs, and engaged in the practice of his profession. He emigrated to Kansas the fall of 1878 and purchased a farm of 160 acres of excellent land, on which he has erected a comfortable dwelling. He is also building a house in the village of Mound Valley, into which he will move in the course of the season. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1880, and re-elected by a universal ballot in 1883. The Doctor is an intelligent and skillful physician and surgeon, and he has a large practice. His father, James C. McEwen, was born in Indiana County, Pa., in 1824. He was a dry goods merchant in Pennsylvania, and is now settled on 160 acres of land on Big Hill Flats. Mr. McEwen's parents were born in Scotland, and are deceased. He has two brothers, physicians, one, Joseph, a well known surgeon of Philadelphia, Pa.

SAMUEL MAYGINNES, farmer, Section 28, P. O. Mound Valley, was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., in 1819. When he was sixteen years of age his family emigrated to Madison County, Ohio. Mr. Mayginnes was married to Mary Stewart, of Shelby County, Ohio, in 1846, and moved to Henry County, Mo., in 1850, and lived there through all the border troubles, when the pro-slavery party made raids into Kansas, committing all manner of outrages. At the breaking out of the Rebellion, Union men were scarce in his part of Missouri and the rebels had it all their own way. He was an uncompromising Union man so all he had to do was to get out as did others from the North. He moved near Olathe, Kan., in 1863, near the Missouri border; his boys worked on the farm and he and his wife often stood guard at night to watch for the Missouri bushwhackers, commanded by Quantrell and men of his class. When Quantrell sacked Lawrence he assisted in driving him from Kansas; that was August, 1863. When the State militia was organized, he was chosen Captain of Company E. Thirteenth Regiment Cavalry, and served till the end of the war. Returned to his farm in Missouri in 1866, found all his personal property gone. In 1869, moved to Labette County, Kan., then a wild prairie; settled near where the town of Mound Valley now stands. He has improved a good farm of 240 acres, and still takes a lively interest in all questions that concern Kansas. He has seven children - Ahimaaz, married and living near home; Thesseus, now in Washington Territory; Cornelia, the wife of J. S. Patterson, of Mound Valley; Walker, a student of medicine at Kansas City; John Speer, a farmer; Marvin, a teacher; Beaty, fifteen years of age and Patrick Henry eleven years of age at home.

B. F. MILLER, farmer, Section 15, P. O. Mound Valley, was born in 1839 in Millerstown, Lehigh Co., Pa. He secured a fair English education in the district school and academy of his native town Enlisted in Company B. Ninth Missouri Cavalry, in January, 1862, and was discharged by reason of physical disability February, 1864. He emigrated to Boone County, Mo., 1860, where he worked at his trade, house carpenter. Was married in 1856, to Lydia A. Miller, of Lehigh Co., Pa., By whom he has four children - Thomas Jeremiah, married to Miss L. Rodgers, of Mound Valley; Reuben, married to Jennie White; Emma, married to H. A. Wadsworth, living on adjoining farm. Mr. Miller came to Kansas in 1869, and settled of a quarter section of good land west of Mound Valley where he now resides. He has made good improvements, buildings, fruit trees, etc.

DR. N. M. MILLER, Postmaster, came to Kansas and settled first at Fort Scott, where he lived one year and then came to the place where the village of Mound Valley is now. The Indians were then on the ground. Dr. Miller was born in Warwick County, Ind., in 1835, where he lived until 1850, when he went abroad to school and graduated at Cumberland College, Princeton, Ky., in 1854. He then commenced the study of his profession and graduated at Sterling medical College, Columbus, Ohio. He then commenced the practice of his profession, and enlisted and was commissioned First Lieutenant in Company K, Twenty-fifth Kentucky. He re-enlisted in Company B, Ninety-first Indiana, and was commissioned Assistant Surgeon. He was married to Mary J. Dunn, of Kansas; born in Indiana in 1855, and educated at Harrisonville, Mo. They have three children - Bourbon E., Elsie I. and Nettie George. After the battle of Shiloh, the Twenty-fifth Kentucky were consolidated with the Seventeenth Kentucky, and the officers of the Twenty-fifth Kentucky were thrown out. Dr. Miller since coming to Kansas has practiced his profession most of the time. He received his commission as Postmaster. He also engaged in business selling books and stationery. Dr. Miller has been Postmaster of Mound Valley nearly three years.

W. C. O'BRIEN, of the firm of O'Brien & Hall, steam flouring mills, came to Kansas, April 1, 1857, and settled at Humboldt, Allen County, where he sold goods and soon afterward erected a mill, which he hauled on wagons from Jefferson City, Mo. His mill was burned in 1859, re-built in 1860, and taken possession of by the United States Government in 1861 by order of James H. Lane for a fort, captured and burned by the rebels, and re-built again in 1865. He went to Greenwood County in 1877, and soon after to Mound Valley where he is at present the owner of a third interest in the Mound Valley Steam Flouring Mill. He was born in Pike County, Ohio, November 17, 1833. He was brought up on a farm and educated in the academy at South Salem, Ohio. He was a teacher of common schools and was elected Clerk of the court for the county of Pike, Ohio, in 1855. He was married, in 1858, to Jane E. Scott, of Humboldt, Kan.; she was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1838. They had two children, Walter and Watson. Mrs. O'Brien died in 1863. He was married again in 1866 to Nelly McCullough, of Humboldt; she was born in Burlington, Vt., in 1843. They have eight children. Mr. O'Brien was one of the proprietors of the town of Humboldt and ground the first wheat and corn that was ground in Allen County, and was the first Clerk of the court that made a record in the same county.

A. PATTISON, dry goods and groceries, came to Kansas in 1870, and settled in Neosho, one mile south of where Chanute now stands. He was born in Mercer County, Pa., in 1837, and received his education in the common schools. At the age of twenty-one he went to Louisiana, where he remained one winter, from there to Illinois, in 1859, and to Pilot Knob, were he lived until 1861, when he returned to Pennsylvania and enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania, and served in the Army of the Potomac. He was severely wounded at the battle of Antietam, being shot through the left lung, from which he never recovered, and for which he now receives a pension. He was discharged in the winter of 1863. He was married to Vienna, daughter of E. Booth, Esq., of Chanute, Kan. She was born in 1854, at Ironton, Ohio. They have three children - Alice, Willie and Chissie, all with their parents. Mr. P. was in business for a short time at Chanute, afterward in the general mercantile business at Edna, and in 1880 entered into the same business at Mound Valley - the dry goods department, under the firm name of Pattison, Hand & Co., and the grocery department of Booth, Pattison & Co., Mound Valley and Canneyville. Mr. P. is a gentleman of large and varied business experience. His establishment at Mound Valley is the largest in the town. Mr. P. is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the A. O. U. W.

J. W. PLYMER, of the firm of Skaggs & Plymer, general merchandise, books and stationery, was born in Washington County, Pa., in 1843. He came to Iowa and afterwards to Kansas in the fall of 1870. Was married in 1864 to Eliza J. Griffin, in Brookville, Iowa, by whom he has two children - Minnie and Mollie. Mr. Plymer was brought up on the farm and educated in the district school. P. O. Mound Valley, Labette County.

IVY PRESCOTT, farmer, Section 34, Township 32, Range 18 east, P. O. Mound Valley, was born in Wayne County, Ind., in 1837. His occupation was principally farming, and his education was obtained at the common school. He enlisted in company E, Twenty-sixth Indiana, July 28, 1861, was mustered out September 21, 1864, and re-enlisted February 4, 1865, with a commission as First Lieutenent[sic] in Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Indiana, and served during the war. He was married February 9, 1865, to Amanda F. Evans, of Blue Springs Grove, Barren Co., Ky. She was born in 1836 in the same place. They have four children - Annie Belle, Sarah Lincoln, Mary Dale and Lizzie P., all at home with their parents. He was taken prisoner September 29, 1863, and exchanged July 22, 1864. Was severely wounded at the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark. December 7, 1862, from which he never fully recovered, and for which he now receives a pension. Mr. Prescott emigrated to Kansas in February, 1883, and settled on a farm of eighty-seven acres, near Mound Valley village. He is giving his daughters a good education.

JOHN SADLIE, farmer, Section 2, Township 32, Range 18 east, P. O. Cherryvale, Montgomery County, was born in the North of Ireland in 1825. Emigrated to America, first stopping at Lansingburg, N. Y., five years, then went to LaSalle County, Ill., where he lived on a farm three years, when he removed to Louisa County, Iowa, and remained two years, and from thence to Greene County, Iowa, where he lived until he came to Kansas, in 1865. He settled first in Miami County, where he lived one year, and then went to Jasper County, Mo., remaining nine years, returning to Kansas on March 11, 1875 and settling on a farm of 240 acres, three and one-half miles northwest of Mound Valley, Labette County. He has made improvements, consisting of buildings, orchard, etc. He was married on May 20, 1860, to Miss Nancy Folliver, of Carthage, Mo. She was born in Urbana, Champaign Co., Ill., in 1840. She had two children by her first husband - Cassius and Julia. She has one child by her second husband, Mr. Sadlie - John Riley.

REV. P. W. SHICK arrived in Kansas November 4, 1872, coming by private conveyance from Cincinnati, Ohio, and was forty-two days on the road. Mr. S. brought his wife, daughter and two little boys, now men. His wife and daughter were then invalids, but entirely recovered soon after their arrival. He purchased a quarter section of land and pre-empted another quarter, which he recently sold. Mr. S. was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, April 4, 1827. Was educated in the common school of his native State. Has acquired a liberal education by his own self-directed efforts. In 1850 he removed to the State of Iowa, where he was married, in Davis County, to Maggie Srofe. She was born in Brown County, Ohio, August 30, 1834. They have had five children - Luella, died at sixteen days old; Kate, married to Isaac Eledge, living in Labette County; Laura, married to Frank Harper, of Parsons; Alvah, married to Arazona Norfleet, living in Mound Valley; Frank M., telegraph operator, Mound Valley. Mr. S. studied for the ministry at the age of twenty-five, and was ordained Elder in the Church of Christ in 1857. He was a teacher and house carpenter until he gave himself to the ministry. In 1862 he removed from Iowa to Mackinawtown, Ill., where he preached five years, removing, in 1867, to Hamersville, Ohio, and preached for the congregation there for five years. In 1872 went from there to Labette County, Kan. Mr. Shick has been called upon to represent his brethren in twenty-two oral discussions. He has lived in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky and Kansas, and prefers Kansas to any of them. He was elected County Commissioner of Labette County, Kan., in 1879, and held the office three years. Mr. S. is also the owner of a fine stock farm adjoining the village of Mound Valley on the east, which is superintended by his eldest son, Alvah. He holds the office now of Notary Public, and also carries on a business in real estate, loan and insurance. He is also the regular minister for the congregation at Mound Valley, which he organized eight years since, with four or five members, now numbering 100. Mr. S. is very much pleased with Kansas, and has not had a physician called to his family for eleven years, save one visit.

REV. N. K. SHIMP, Section 18, Township 32, Range 18 east, P. O. Mound Valley, was born 1830, near Martinsburg, Va. At the age of twenty-one he received his education at Barnesvile, Belmont Co., Ohio, in the Academy, and soon after studied for the ministry, and was in the itinerant work one year before being ordained Elder in 1855. His first pastoral work was in the Allegheny circuit, near the city of Allegheny, where he traveled two years. He was afterwards two years at each of the following places: Washington, Pa., Liverpool, Pittsburg., where, his health breaking down, in connection with his pastoral work he studied medicine four years, and came to Kansas in 1864, in Doniphan, Doniphan County, and afterwards re-entered the ministry, preaching at Doniphan, Muscotah, Atchison and Valley Falls successively, and in the fall of 1876 moved into Labette County, and was in the pastoral work regularly four years, and settled on a farm of 160 acres, in 1880, in Mound Valley. He was married, in 1855, in Springfield, Fayette Co., Pa., to Miss Annie G. Wortman, who was born in the same place in 1836. They have eight children - Mary Virginia, a teacher of music; Eldorado, also a music teacher; Alice Almeta, Emma Francis, Arizona, Nathan John Wesley, Lillie Daisy, and Homer Virgil. Rev. Mr. Shimp is giving his children a good education. He has fully recovered his health since coming to Kansas, and he speaks in praise of the healthfulness of the climate and fertility of the soil. He has a neat, cozy home, with fertile land, fruit, etc. He also preaches once in two weeks in the local ministry of the Protestant Methodist Church. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity.

A. D. SKAGGS, of the firm of Skaggs & Plymer, general merchants, came to Kansas from Illinois in the winter of 1882; was born in Grayson County, Ky., in 1843. At the age of twelve he accompanied his parents to Spencer County, Ind. He attended the graded school at Benton, Ill., and afterwards followed engineering on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers for three years - 1858, '59 and '60; was then the youngest engineer on the river. Was married to Maria Pool, of Elkhart, Ind., by whom he had one child, deceased. Mrs. Skaggs died in 1863. He was married to Frances Kirkpatrick, of Illinois, in 1867. She was born in 1850. They have six children - Maddie, Lenora, Otho, Libbie, Nona and Ratio. Mr. S. is a minister of the gospel of the Church of Christ, and his labors have been in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. He has baptized 368, taken into the church 783, and married fifty-nine couples during his ministry of eight years. He enlisted in July, 1861, and served until July 24, 1865. Was wounded three times, once severely, and was in Anderson six months and eighteen days.

JOHN M. STIGENWALT, farmer and stock raiser, Section 18, Township 32, Range 18, P. O. Cherry Vale, was born near Lancaster, Fairfield Co., Ohio. February 27, 1836; son of John and Hannah (Jones) Stigenwalt, both natives of Ohio. John M. moved with his parents to Miami County, Ind., when twelve years of age, where he grew to manhood. In 1857 he went to Pleasant Hill, Mo., and remained some eighteen months, and while there opened a restaurant. In 1869 he went to Anderson County, Kan., and engaged in farming, improving 160 acres. He married May 2, 1859, Miss Elizabeth Leisure, born in Darke County, Ohio, February 28, 1831. By this marriage they have three children - Adelia M., Margaret J. and U. Grant; have lost Edwin L. and Franklin E. He enlisted September 8, 1862, in the Second Kansas Battery, organized by Gen. Blair and commanded by Capt. E. A. Smith, of Fort Scott. They did duty between Fort Scott and Fort Smith. He was discharged at Leavenworth, Kan. He then settled in Allen county, Kan., and remained until he came to Labette County in 1867, and located where he now resides. His farm consists of 200 acres improved land; good buildings. Both he and Mrs. S. are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

J. H. TERWILLEGER, farmer, Section 31, Township 32, Range 18 east, P. O. Mound Valley, was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, 1820. His grandfather settled there at an early day, when the men had to stand guard while the women did the milking; was the oldest son with twelve brothers and sisters. He was married to Mary Griffin, September 18, 1845, by whom he had five children - Elizabeth Ann, died January 29, 1848; Martha Jane, died August 9, 1850; Margaret, married to Joseph Shields, living on Snow Creek, Kan.; Mary, married to Peter Steel, living near her father; Harvey with his parents. Mr. T.'s first wife died March 27, 1876, aged fifty-five years, five months and ten days. He emigrated to Polk county, Iowa, in June, 1849, where he lived and raised his family until he came to Kansas in 1857, and settled on a farm in Coffey County, near Leroy, where he remained one year and voted for the Free State Constitution. He then returned to Iowa, where he lived until March 9, 1869, when he again returned to Kansas and settled in Mound Valley Township, Labette County. Was married the second time to Mrs. Lavina Smith of Hoigler, Va.; born in 1843. She has one daughter by her first husband - Phebe M. Mr. T. has 240 acres of land on which he has erected good buildings and made other improvements. He is a member of the Dunkard Church, and was a visitor to the National Convention of that church, held in May, 1883, at Lawrence, where there were upwards of 26,000 present, 2,200 sitting down to the table at one time. Mr. T. has one daughter by his second wife - Annie, born January 1, 1880.

VICTOR VOGEL, farmer and stonemason, P. O. Mound Valley, was born in Ossenbach, Haut Rhein, Upper Rhine Alsace, France, June 27, 1851; educated in the same town and learned the trade of stonemason, which he followed until 1872, when he emigrated to America, first stopping in Cooper County, Mo., until 1876 when he settled on a quarter section of land near Mound Valley, Kan. He has good buildings, sheds and shade. Was married to Mary Magdalene Scheill, of cooper County, Mo. she was born March 19, 1858. They have three children - M. R. Odilia, born April 9, 1877; Josephine C. V. born October 5, 1879; Frank Joseph Victor, born April 8, 1881. His father died in 1855. His mother is living with her son at the age of sixty-seven. Mrs. Vogel's parents are living in Missouri. The family are members of the Catholic Church.

C. B. WELLS, dealer in hardware and agricultural implements, was born in Momenee, Kankakee Co., Ill., in 1859, educated there and in the Brown School of Chicago. Was married in December 1881 to Laura A. Hammer, eldest daughter of Capt. A. B. Hammer, Esq., of Mound Valley. She received a liberal education in the Academy and Normal school. Was born September 5, 1859 in Suatchburg, Marion Co., W. Va. They have one child - Claud Byron, born October 6, 1882. Mr. Wells returned to Illinois in 1872, and again attended school in Chicago. He came to Kansas in 1870 and commenced his present business in 1882. He has a large and growing trade. He is also special agent for the McCormick Harvesting company for the county of Labette.

SETH WELLS, proprietor of the Wells House, came to Kansas in 1869 and settled on a farm near the town of Mound Valley. He engaged in the hardware business, April 18, 1880, which he sold to his son, C. B. Wells, in August, 1882; he then erected the Wells House near the depot of the St. L. & San F. R. R., which he now keeps. he was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., in 1819; at the age of twenty-one he came to Momence, Ill., where he was in the mercantile business and worked at his trade, that of carpenter. He made three trips across the plains to California in 1854, taking a drove of 150 cattle, into the Sacramento Valley, only losing one animal on the journey. He enlisted in August, 1862, in Company H, One Hundred and thirteenth Illinois; was mustered out in July, 1865, in Chicago. After the war he removed to Butler, Bates Co., Mo., where he resided until he emigrated to Kansas in 1869. He was married in New York to Isabella Hall, by whom he had five children. She died in California, April 8, 1854. Was married the second time to Ellen D. Wardan, of Illinois, by whom he has five children. Mr. Wells keeps a comfortable home for travelers, table is good, terms moderate.

SOLOMON YOUNG, farmer, Section 25, P. O. Mound Valley, was born in Harrison Co., Ind., in 1807. He assisted his father in clearing the heavy timber of the Indiana forest; then the Indians were numerous in this region of country. He was married to Nancy, Peters of Harrison Co., Ind. He has had ten children of whom seven are now living; John enlisted in a Missouri regiment, and is now residing in Missouri; James died at the age of thirty-one; Samuel was wounded and died in the army; Mary, married and living in Missouri; Josephine, deceased; George died in the army at Macon City, Mo.; Louisa, married to David Stonecypher; Catherine, married to Harrison Watson; B. W. Young married twice, first time to Sarah B. Pitt, who died November 17, 1876; second time to Miss Jennie, daughter of B. P. Oakleaf, by whom he had one child, now deceased. Mrs. B. W. Young, died on October 18, 1880. He has 320 acres of good land, with buildings and other improvements. Eliza A. married to A. N. Nelson, residing in Mound Valley; Solomon W. is nineteen years of age.