LEAVENWORTH COUNTY, Part 38

ALEXANDRIA TOWNSHIP.

The little village, Springdale, off of all railroad connection, is in the center of Alexandria Township. It was surveyed and platted by Hiram Rees and Eli Morris, in October, 1860. There are two steam saw and grist mills in the Township. One of these is operated by Thomas Ashby. He employs five hands, $1,000 capital is invested, and the value of his product is $3,000. The other mill, Henry Ready, proprietor, employs three hands. Alexandria Township was largely settled at first by members of the Society of Friends, who built the first church and schoolhouse there. The first settler in the Township was John Wright, who came here in 1854. A postoffice was first established at Springdale in 1860, D. F. Walker, first Postmaster.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ROBERT E. COURTNEY, farmer and stock-raiser, P. O. Springdale, came to Kansas April 7, 1855, and located on the section of land where he now lives, in Alexandria Township. He has 320 acres in his home farm, and has another farm of 160 acres in the same township. Both farms are well improved. Mr. Courtney was born in Harrison County, Ky., December 13, 1827, and lived in his native State till he was sixteen years old, then moved to Buchanan County, Mo., in 1843, and lived there until he came to Kansas in 1855. He was married in Buchanan County, Mo., in 1848, to Miss Narcissa Agee, a native of Indiana. They have had eleven children; ten are living - James F., Rufus, William, Jessie, Thomas, Albert, Charles, Mary J., Frances, and Anna. Mr. Courtney is one of the oldest citizens of Leavenworth County, and has served his Township as Treasurer for a number of years. He raises fine grades of stock, Durham cattle, and Poland-China hogs.

AARON HUDDLESTON, farmer and stock-raiser, P. O. Springdale, came to Kansas in 1868, and located where he now lives, on a beautiful farm in Alexandria Township, Leavenworth County. He was born in Union County, Ind., in 1832 and lived in that State until he came to Kansas in 1868 and located where he now lives. He was married in Union County, Ind., in 1855, to Miss Emily Paddock, a native of Indiana. They have four children - Clayton F., Lindley, Sarah E., and Herman. Mr. Huddleston was a member of the State Legislature in 1877, and has been Commissioner of the Poor for the County of Leavenworth, and Township Trustee, and Indian officer for the Osage Indians, and is an able minister of the Society of Friends, preaching for the Society at Springdale. Mr. Huddleston is a prominent man in his township and county, and a highly respected citizen. He keeps a fine line of stock on his farm-Short-horn cattle and Poland-China hogs.

GARRET V. KELLER, farmer and stock-raiser, P. O. Springdale, came to Kansas June 8, 1859, and located in Leavenworth County, and has lived in the county since. He was born in Kentucky, January 18, 1830, and removed to Putnam County, Indiana, with his parents when quite small, and lived in Indiana about fifteen years. He then moved to Platte County, Mo., in 1839, and lived there until 1849, then moved to California and lived in that State ten years. He then returned and located in Kansas, where he has since lived. Mr. Keller married his first wife in California in 1854; she was Miss Jane E. Hoagland, a native of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They had four children - William, Emma, Frank, and Samuel. Mr. Keller married again, in 1871, Miss Rachel Hill a native of Washington County, Penn., and has had two children by the second marriage-Mary and Nannie. Mr. Keller is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is an enterprising farmer of Alexandria Township, and is one of its oldest and highly respected citizens.

JAMES MEDILL, farmer and stock-raiser, P. O. Springdale, is paying special attention to raising Short-horn cattle and Poland-China hogs. Mr. Medill came to Kansas April 15, 1857, and located in Leavenworth City and lived there about seven years. He opened two or three farms in High Prairie and Alexandria Townships, Leavenworth County, and located where he now lives in 1864. He has even since made his home on his beautiful and highly improved farm in Alexandria Township, near the village of Springdale, with the exception of four years that he lived in the city. Mr. Medill was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1824, and lived in Ohio until 1853. He spent four years trading on the Lower Mississippi River, and then returned to Ohio. In the spring of 1857 moved to the State of Kansas, where he has since made his home. Mr. Medill was a merchant in Ohio for five years, and since he came to this county he has been a large speculator in real estate and is extensively engaged in loaning money. He was married in Leavenworth County, Kansas, to Miss Lydia A. Redburn, a native of Pennsylvania, and has had three children - May, Sherman and Nannie. Mr. Medill has served four terms in the State Legislature, and two years as Railroad Assessor for this State. He is an intelligent and enterprising man, and has been largely engaged in developing the resources of his county.

THOMAS R. MOODY, farmer and stock raiser, P. O. Springdale, came to the State of Kansas in September, 1864, and located in Leavenworth County, Alexandria Township, and with the exception of two years that he spent in Iowa, he has lived in this county since his settlement here. Mr. Moody was born in the State of Indiana in 1851, and lived in his native State thirteen years, then moved to the State of Kansas and located where he now lives. He was married in Alexandria Township, in 1877, to Miss Frances Courtney, a native of Kansas; they have two children - Fred and Charles. Mr. Moody is one of the young and enterprising men of Alexandria Township, is a man of sterling integrity and a highly esteemed citizen.

ALFRED B. POWELL, farmer and stock-raiser, P. O. Springdale, came to Kansas in April, 1860, and located in Alexandria Township, Leavenworth County, and has lived there since on his well improved farm of 316 acres of rich land. He was born in Jefferson County, Ind., in 1820, and was raised in Loudon County Va., and lived in Virginia about fifteen years. He returned to Indiana in 1847, and located at Richmond and lived there twelve years, and then came to Kansas and located where he now lives. Mr. Powell was married in Loudon County, Va., in 1843, to Miss Hannah Smith, a native of Virginia; they have had eight children - James W., Mary G., Virginia C., Franklin H., Charles Steven, Robert F., Mahlon P., and Howard A. Mr. Powell has been a member of the School Board and held other town offices. He keeps fine grades of stock and raises Durham cattle and Poland-China hogs for sale.

MRS. H. L. STREETER, Springdale, is the widow of Oscar S. Streeter, who was born in Grand Isle, Vt., Nov. 19, 1820. In his early youth he went to Boston, Mass., and engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1850, he left for Detroit, Mich. In 1856, he located in Platte County, Mo., and remained there until the war of our Union, when it became an unpleasant place to reside in, so he removed to Leavenworth City, Kansas, in 1863. He remained there three years, his health failing, he removed to Alexandria Township, where he lived until his death, which occurred July 14, 1873. Mr. Streeter was married in Thornville, Mich., September 27, 1858, to Miss Hannah L. Thorn, daughter of Benjamin and Sally Thorn, formerly of Dutchess County, N. Y. They have had two children, both of whom are dead. Mr. Streeter was truly a business man, a merchant all his life; he enjoyed the confidence of the entire community in which he lived. A kind husband, he never was excelled in his efforts to make his home pleasant for his family. Being naturally of a genial and social turn of mind, all who visited his household were given a cordial and hearty greeting. Mrs. Streeter now lives in Springdale, one mile east of his former place of business.

BUEL TRACKWELL, farmer and stock-raiser, P. O. Springdale, came to Kansas in 1857, and located in High Prairie Township, and lived in that township twenty-two years. He located where he now lives, in Alexandria Township, about two years since. Mr. Trackwell was born in Indiana, in 1837, and lived in his native State twenty years and then came to the State of Kansas, and located in Leavenworth County in 1857. He was married in 1857, to Miss Mary A. Smock, a native of Indiana. They have eight children living - Francis M., William T., John, Luella, Dora M., Serena A., Sarah M. and Rhoda B. Mr. Trackwell is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is an intelligent, enterprising and highly respected citizen.

DR. WILLIAM B. WOOD is engaged in the practice of his profession in the town of Springdale, Leavenworth County. He received his medical education at the Missouri Medical College of St. Louis, and graduated from that institution with the class of 1875. Immediately after his graduation he located at Springdale, near his former home and commenced the practice of his profession, and has been thus engaged ever since. Dr. Wood came to Kansas in the fall of 1855, and settled in Leavenworth County. He was born in St. Joseph, Mo., in 1851, and removed with his parents to Leavenworth County, in 1855, where he has since lived. He was married in Leavenworth County, in March, 1880, to Miss Jennie Moore, a native of Leavenworth County, Kas. Dr. Wood is a man of fine ability and thorough education, and has built up during the past seven years an extensive practice, and enjoys the confidence and respect of the entire community. He is a prominent Mason and is Master of his lodge.