MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Part 18

OTHER VILLAGES.

Numerous towns took form of existence within the county during its early history, whose brief, yet hopeful lives, and subsequent disappointment and downfall must be recorded. Among these were several towns that were started in the southeastern part of the county, under the impression that somewhere in that section would be the terminus of the railroad, soon to be constructed, and with the hope of being the terminal town, the foundations of various places were laid, changed or abandoned.

Claymore, so named in honor of the Osage chief by that name, was laid out in the winter of 1868-69, at the site of Lushbaugh's trading post. under the auspices of a town company, of which G. L. Canada was chairman and Alexander Duncan secretary. For a time the town grew rapidly and reached a population of about one hundred, but a check was thrown upon its prosperity, and in the spring of 1869 it hopelessly died out.

Westralia, located two miles south of Claymore by Captain J. C. Crawford and Eli Dennis, was named for the west trail upon which it was situated. This place, on account perhaps of its being nearer the Territory, outrivaled Claymore, which it took in almost bodily, and during its short life grew with surprising rapidity, attaining a population of several hundred and became a prosperous business point.

Verdigris City was begun under this influence by Daniel McTaggart and others, in May, 1869; and was situated on the east bank of the Verdigris, a few miles south of Independence. This place at one time had fair prospect of obtaining the and aimed at, for it was made the county seat by the appointment of the Governor, on June 3, 1869. A log court house was built and the town flourished for a time, but the county seat was taken elsewhere and the village went down, and the ground upon which it stood is now owned as a farm, by E. M. Wark.

Morgan City was located by the Morgan brothers, in the summer of 1869, and stood about two and a half miles northeast of Independence, by which it was overpowered and forced to yield in a few months after it was started,

Montgomery City was started by R. W. Dunlap, at the mouth of Drum Creek, and on the Verdigris River, a few miles southeast of Independence, during 1869. This place, too, before it had yet time to attain to any importance, was forced to yield to the supremacy of Independence.

Radical City, about six miles northwest of Independence, was founded in 1869, by Col. Samuel Young, and is but a mere country trading point.

Havana started in 1869, Callow & Myers opened a store of general merchandise, and were succeeded in the business by Lines & Caufman.

Caney began existence in 1869, M. Bell starting the first business house. This place at one time became quite a village. In 1879, the place was raided by a band of robbers from the Territory. Four men, heavily armed and mounted on horseback, came into the town in broad daylight and completely sacked it. H. C. Kirkpatrick, one of the citizens, was shot and killed. In a few months afterward one of the band, James Baker by name, was found by some Cherokee Indians, who brought him to Coffeyville. He had been shot in several places, and after having had two limbs amputated by the surgeons, died the next day from the effects of his wounds. Another of the party named Triplett, was captured by Cherokee Indian who gave him up to the authorities, and upon conviction he was sent to the penitentiary to await execution. This village, also, suffered from rivalry by Evansville in the Indian Territory and St. Paul, in Chautauqua County, and now contains three stores, a hotel, two blacksmith shops and a millinery and dressmaking establishment.

Tipton was started in 1868, a little way east of Elk City, to which it was forced to surrender.

Bloomfield, also a short distance northeast of Elk City, was established about the same time and forced to succumb under the pressure of the same circumstances.

DRUM CREEK TOWNSHIP.

G. W. BEAM, farmer, Section 36, Township 32, Range 16 east, P.O. Independence, was born in Stark County, Ohio September 14, 1840. Educated in the same county, and removed to Illinois in 1859. Was married in 1865 to Miss Mary Kaley, of Holmes County, Ohio born August 13, 1842. They have seven children Frank, Charles, Fred, Daisy, Amie, Ernest and Bertha. Mr. B. enlisted in Company I, First Illinois Regiment, in the spring of 1861; Col. U. S. Grant commanded. He was one of the first in the service under Lincoln's first call for volunteers. he was taken prisoner at Chickamauga and imprisoned at Danville and Richmond six months. He escaped from Danville and in company with five others, traveling only at night, he marched 300 miles, and passed four lines of the enemy, and reached the Union lines in safety. His brigade opened the fight at Stone River, at which place he was wounded. He was mustered out at the close of the war and served a second term of enlistment in Company H, One Hundred and Fifty-second Illinois. Commissioned Captain from the 14th of February, 1863. He was in thirteen battles. He came to Kansas and settled in Fort Scott in 1865. In 1868 he was employed by the M. K. T. R. R., getting out ties for the road in the Indian Territory. In 1882 he purchased 160 acres of choice land, five and one half miles from Independence. His farm is very desirable, having running water and twenty-five acres of timber land. He is a member of the United Brethren Church and also of the G. A. R.

J. T. BROCK, farmer, Section 25, Township 32, Range 16, P. O. Independence, was born in DeKalb County, northern Alabama, in 1842. In 1862 he emigrated to Lawrence County, Ill., where he finished his education and lived until he came to Kansas in 1870. He was married on October 24, 1869, to Martha E. Addison, of Lawrence County, by whom he had one child, Carl Herbert, born July 22, 1877. Mrs. Brock died January 7, 1879. He was married on July 4, 1880, to Miss Calista Jane Felton, of Montgomery County, Kas., a native of Susquehanna County, Pa., born in 1859, and educated in the same county. She came to Kansas in January, 1880, with Mr. Webster Maxson, an uncle. Her parents are now living in Susqehanna County, Pa. Mr. Brock was elected to the office of Sheriff of the county of Montgomery in the fall of 1875, which office he filled four years. He had also held several offices in his own township, and has been a delegate to the Democratic State conventions to nominate State officers for several years. he was one of the early settlers of the county and has in all his transactions, both public and private, made an honorable record.

JOHN CAVANAUGH, farmer, Section 28, Township 32, Range 15, P. O. Independence, was born in Wexford County, town of Gorey, Ireland, September 29, 1818, and emigrated to Upper Canada in 1839, where he was married to Margaret Dunn, born in Ireland in 1826. They have had eleven children, ten of whom are living - Margaret, married to John Hamilton, living at Independence, Kan.; Thomas, conductor on the Texas Pacific; Mary, a teacher; Owen, married to Jennie Ramey, now in Kansas; Michael, baggage master at Winfield; Patrick, a teacher; James, Robert, and Ellen, John deceased. All the children are receiving a good education; five of them are teachers. Mr. Cavanaugh came to Kansas in 1870 on May 4, and settled on a farm of 240 acres of good land, on which he has just put up comfortable buildings. He has planted a large amount of hedges, etc. Mr. C. has prospered greatly since settling in this State. He and his family are enterprising and intelligent citizens.

M. D. COLEMAN, farmer, Section 4, Township 33, Range 17 east, P. O. Cherryvale, was born in Adams County, Ill., July 22, 1849. His father, Dr. Josiah Coleman, was born in Ohio, 1818, and educated as a physician, graduating at a medical college in Ohio. He emigrated to Illinois, and from thence to Nodaway County, Mo., where the son, M. D. Coleman, was educated. He came to Kansas, settling in Liberty Township, Labette County, in 1872. Mr. Coleman is the seventh child in a family of twinty-one, probably the largest in the State. He was married, August 3, 1873, to B. Frances Van Buren, a relative of President Martin Van Buren. She was born in Andrew County, Mo., April 24, 1854. Tessie, Pearl and May are the children now living; Nellie and Ida are deceased. The subject of this sketch came to Kansas, May 1, 1873, and purchased 160 acres of good land in Drum Creek Township, where he now resides.

GILBERT DOMINY, farmer, Section 36, Township 32, Range 16 east, P. O. Independence was born in Clinton County, N. Y., in 1828. He was educated in Illinois, where his parents had moved in 1835. He was married, in 1850, to Mary E. Pool, who was born in New York, March 25, 1832. They had four children - Dorothy, Jerusha, who died in 1878; John E. and Joseph E. Mrs. Dominy died in 1861 in Illinois. He afterward married Miss Mary Clifford, a native of Clinton County, N. Y., born September 3, 1842. They have six children - Millie, married to Charles E. Rogers, and living in Las Vegas, N. M.; Henry G., Sarah M., Andrew Johnson, George A., and Rhoda Almeda. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dominy's parents are deceased. He came to Kansas, November, 1874, from La Salle County, Ill., where he had lived thirty-eight years. Has 240 acres of land, six miles east of Independence. He has erected a fine stone house, planted large orchards, hedges, etc., and raised each year considerable stock. He is an industrious and intelligent farmer, his land is very fertile, and he has been greatly prospered in the State of Kansas. His father, Ezra Dominy, was born at East Hampton, Long Island, in 1786, and married Rhoda Smith. They came from Plattsburg, N. Y., in 1835, to Illinois. The journey was made in a wagon by the lake shore, and they were six weeks on the road. The Dominy family, including husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to the number of 100, held a grove meeting September, 1873, in La Salle County, Ill. His mother died in 1873 at the age of eighty-seven. His father died in 1878 at the age of ninety-two. Mrs. Dominy is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

J. N. HALL, farmer, Section 29, Township 32, Range 16, P. O. Independence, was born in Harrison County, Va., now Marion County, W. Va., in 1823, and received his education in private schools, and was married in 1850, to Miss Ann Eliza Jones of the same county and State, by whom he has had four children - Willey A., Charles H., Walter Lee and Anne Eliza. Mrs. Hall and daughter died in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1855. Mr. Hall having lost all his family by death in Keokuk, where he emigrated in 1837, except one small boy, returned to Virginia and lived until he came to Kansas in 1869, first stopping at Ottawa until November, when he moved to Independence, Montgomery, County, settling on a farm of 160 acres near the town, and consisting principally of river bottom, as extraordinarily fertile land as can be found in the county. Mr. Hall has never failed to get a large wheat crop, having one season threshed 2,200 bushels of wheat, and a number of times 1,500 to 1,800 bushels from eighty acres, and some years has raised as high as forty-five bushels to the acre. Came to the State with $26. After purchasing his claim in 1859, he married second wife, Mrs. C. V. Hall, whose maiden name was Read, by whom he has three children - Gertrude Grace Hall, Arelians C. Read and Ralph; are all getting a good education at Independence. Gertrude, the eldest, was in attendance at the State Normal School at Emporia, and is a teacher. Mr. Hall has had several reverses in life, having lost his family by death and his property by the burning destruction of the civil war in Virginia. But since his settlement in Kansas, he has been greatly prospered.

C. L. MEGREDY, farmer, Section 24, Township 32, Range 16 east, P. O. Independence was born five miles south of Springfield, Sangamon Co.., Ill., in 1844. He enlisted on May 9, 1864, in Company A., One Hundred and Thirty-third Illinois Volunteers, and served until the fall of 1864. Was married December 24, 1868, to Virginia Weber, who was born in Fulton, October 29, 1848. They have four children - Olive, Charles Edwin, Clarence, Frank. His parents are living near Springfield, Ill. Mrs. Megredy's parents are deceased. He came to Kansas and first settled in Republic county, two and a half miles northwest of Belleville, and in September, 1880, he came to Drum Creek, Montgomery County, where he purchased a farm consisting of a quarter section. His father, James Megredy, a native of Lancaster County, Penn., is well known in Springfield, Ill. He hauled the first stone for the Springfield State House, his father having contracted to quarry and deliver the stone. Mr. Megredy and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

THOMAS OVERFIELD, farmer, Section 35, Township 32, Range 16, P. O. Independence, was born in Shropshire, England, 1826, and emigrated to America, 1850, stopping a while in Danvers, Mass., and in New Jersey he was engaged in the patent leather business. He started with his family from Boston on Tuesday, September 26, 1850, and on October 10th he took a claim on Washington Creek, Douglas Co., Kas., where he lived nine years. There were then, in Lawrence, a half dozen tents and a log house, a few Delaware Indians and traders. In 1864, he moved, with his family, to the town of Lawrence, where he lived six years, and then in 1869, took a claim of 160 acres on Drum Creek, Montgomery County, on which he has made improvements, planted a beautiful grove of maples and other trees, besides twenty acres of orchard. He was married to Margaret Fergusson, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, born April 3, 1831, and educated in the same city. They have seven children - William, married to Elizabeth Saxon, and living in the vicinity; Charles, Agnes, married to Charles Yoe, editor of the Independence Tribune; John, George, Ninian, Frank. Mr. Overfield is a member of the Masonic Fraternity. He has been identified with the early history of the State and interested in its material prosperity.

THOMAS PERRY, farmer, Section 23, Township 32, Range 16 east, P.O. Independence, was born in Jackson County, Mo., May 13, 1848. He was educated in the same county and there married to Miss Elizabeth Botts, a native of Davis County, Iowa. She was born in 1849, March 28, educated in the common schools of her native State. They have lost six children, and have one living. Thomas Elmer, who was born March 16, 1883. He came to Kansas in the spring of 1881, and settled in Drum Creed Township. He has 160 acres of good land, formerly owned by Mr. J. T. Breckenridge. He has a good orchard, and many fine improvements. His home is about half way between Cherryvale and Independence, on the State road. His father, John Perry, lives with him. His mother died in December, 1872. Mrs. Perry's mother is deceased. Her father is now living in Schuyler County, Mo. John Perry, the father, was born in 1812, in East Tennessee, Claiborne County, and moved to Jackson County, Mo., in 1831, where he lived until he came to Kansas, in 1881, with the exception of seven years passed in Illinois. He saw pretty hard times during the late war. Mr. Perry and family are all members of the Christian Church.

GEORGE W. STOVALL, farmer, section 23, Township 32, Range 16 east, P. O. Independence, was born in Harrison County, Ind., 1848. His father moved to Sangamon County, Ill. His mother died when he was quite young. His father died in 1870. He received his early education in the public schools of Sangamon County. He was married to a school-mate, Miss Emily Weber, a native of Fulton County, Ill., in August, 1871. His wife was born in 1852. They have four children living - Francis Evarts, Louella, Clara Bell and May. He immigrated to Kansas in the fall of 1876, and settled of an improved farm of 240 acres, on which there are good buildings, large orchards of apples and peach trees. His home is about four and a half miles east of Independence. Mrs. Stovall came to Kansas an invalid. She has regained her health and speaks in the highest praise of the climate of Southern Kansas.

SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP.

JOSEPH BERRY, farmer, Section 13, Township 32, Range 15 east, P. O. Independence. He came to Kansas and settled where he resides, May 12, 1869, and took a claim of 160 acres; now has 120 acres finely improved. He is a native of Holmes County, Ohio, born April 21, 1826, a son of Mark and Christena (Lozier) Berry, the farmer a native of Evansville, Ind., and the mother of Pennsylvania. Joseph, when nineteen years of age, went to Lucas County, Ohio, and went twenty-one began the trade of cabinet-maker at Adrian, Mich.; remained some three years. September 1, 1853, he married Miss Mary J. Hewett, a native of Jefferson County, N. Y., born July 29, 1835, and when ten years of age moved to Michigan, where she was educated. Mr. and Mrs. Berry have a family of three living children - Ida, Ira H., and Effie. During the late war Mr. Berry was a member of Company H. Third Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, having enlisted August 20, 1861, and veteraned in the fall of 1863. Participated in all the battles of his regiment, and his brigade, composed of the First, Third and Fourth Ohio, and Fourth Michigan Regiment; captured Jefferson Davis near Irwin, Ga. He was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, August 16, 1865.

WILL S. HAYS, proprietor of Verdigris Valley Stock Farm, with Verdigris River running through it as a water privilege, in Section 5, Township 32, Range 16, P. O. Independence. He came to Kansas and took a claim of 160 acres, where he resides; in 1868, while the Indians were still in the country, and for many months experienced much trouble with them. His farm consists of 585 acres of choice land, well improved and finely watered by springs. He was born near Pittsburgh, Pa., February 14, 1843, a son of Ephraim and Mary A. (Fleming) Hays, both born and raised in the same place. Will S. enlisted in 1861, in Company C, One Hundred and Third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served some three years, and participated in the following battles: Williamsburg, Va., Chickahominy, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Black Water, near Petersburg, Va., Kingston, No C., Whitehall, Welden Railroad, Plymouth, etc. After being mustered out, he engaged in the fine horse trade at Pittsburgh, Pa. Finally he came West and engaged in the cattle trade through Nebraska, Texas and Kansas. In 1881 was elected Commissioner of Montgomery County.

J. F. MAYO, proprietor of the Sycana Valley Stock Farm in Sections 25 and 26, Township 31 Range 15, P. O. Independence; came to Montgomery County and took a claim of 160 acres, August 8, 1869, but soon afterward sold and purchased his present farm of 120 acres, which is finely improved. He was born in Monroe County, East Tenn., December 6, 1845, a son of E. W. P. and E. R. Mayo, the father of East Tennessee, and the mother whose maiden name was Hunter, is of North Carolina. She was born in Ashville, Buncombe Co., N. C. They have a family of eight children, J. F. being the second son, and with his parents moved to Miami County, Kan., where he was brought up. When twenty-one years of age commenced business for himself as a farmer. May 14, 1874, he married Miss Nanna J. Carter, a native of Dyer County, Tenn., born March 27, 1854, a daughter of William and Anna Carter, both of Middle Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Mayo have a family of two children - Maude L., and Ernest P. Mr. Mayo came to this county a poor man.

D. R. PERKINS, farmer and stock raiser, Section 33, Township 31, Range 15, P. O. Radical City. He came to Montgomery County , October, 1870, from Warren County, Iowa, having gone there in November, 1854. He was born in Franklin County, Ill., December 21, 1824. His father is a native of Kentucky, and married his mother in Illinois. D. R. Perkins was married in Warren County, Ill., in 1844, to Miss Myra Lieurance, a native of Clinton County, Ohio, born February 16, 1827. Her parents were natives of Tennessee. She died May Co, 1877, leaving a family of ten living children, as follows: Albert, Elijah, Joshua, Steven, Frances, Ephraim. Jasper, Rachel, Abigail and Minnie, having lost one - Eveline. Mr. Perkins commenced life a poor man; his farm is among the finest in Sycamore Valley and consists of 230 acres and is known as Sycamore Mound Valley Farm. Since 1877 he has kept the poor of Montgomery County.

DANIEL RINGLE farmer and stock raiser, Section 10, Township 32, Range 17, P. O. Radical City. Came to Woodson County, Kan., and purchased a farm of 120 acres in 1860. Came to Montgomery County in 1869, and took a claim, and in 1872 improved the same with good buildings. He is a native of Stark County, Ohio, and was born in 1829, and, when one year old, with his parents, come[sic] to St. Joseph County, Ind. He has been a tesident of Clinton County, Mo., Elkhart County, Mich. In 1850, in company with fifteen men, he went to California and remained two years. He returned to St. Joseph County,Ind., and married, in 1854, Miss Jane Morris, a native of St. Joseph County, Ind., born in 1836. They have a family of nine children, as follows: Cyrus, Mary, Ella, Eliza, Alfred, Maria, Frank, Edward and Charles. Both are members of the United Brethren Church. His farm consists of 217 acres of fine land.

F. M. THORNTON, Physician, Radical City. He came to Kansas and located in Leavenworth County, May 11, 1866, and remained until 1872, then came to Montgomery County, Kan., locating in Liberty Township, on a farm of 160 acres of fine land which he still owns. He is a native of Smith County, Tenn., born December 10, 1827, a son of Felix and Seletha Holley Thornton, both born, raised and married in Sampson County, N. C., and settled in Smith County, Tenn., and in 1830 moved to Illinois. F. M., when twenty-one years of age, began preaching in the interest of the Baptist Church and continued some eleven years. In the fall of 1864 he was drafted and was assigned to the Fifteenth Regiment, Iowa Volunteers. He joined the regiment at Atlanta, Ga., and was with Gen. Sherman in his march to the sea. He was discharged at the general hospital, Louisville, Ky., under General Order No. 24, June 29, 1865. He began the study of medicine in 1862, at Rome, Iowa. He married, May 27, 1852, Miss Nancy E. Scott, a native of Indiana, born March 1, 1827. She is a daughter of Hiram and R. Scott. She died July 31, 1877, leaving a family of five children.