NEMAHA COUNTY, Part 21

GRANADA.

The first settlement in the vicinity of Granada, located in the township of the same name, was effected by D. M. Locknane, who arrived in 1855, and was shortly followed by Messrs. Chappel, Pilant, Haigh, Searles, Vilott, Spencer, Anderson, Terrill, Wright, Letson, Knapp, Nevil, Swerdferger, O'Brien, Riley, Duwalt, Brown and Steer. A store building was erected by Manoah H. Terrill in 1856, and at the beginning of the war Granada was a thriving little town, situated on the old freight route to Denver. Its existence ended, practically speaking, with the advent of the railroads, both north and south of it. It has now a post-office, kept in connection with a general store, one hardware and drug store and a blacksmith shop.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES--GRANADA TOWNSHIP.

JOHN ACHTEN, farmer, P. O. Granada, was born in 1827, in Rhenish Prussia, educated there, and served three years in the German Army. Prince William (afterward King, and now Emperor William) commanding at his last review. He came to America in 1852, located in Ohio, thence went to Illinois, and thence, in 1857, came to Kansas, making a claim on Section 13, Township 3, Range 14. This claim he improved, breaking up land built, fenced, etc.; and in 1867, changed to his present location. Mr. Achten now has 320 acres in his home farm, all hedge fenced and rail fenced, and 170 acres of which are in cultivation. He has besides, 320 acres for pasturage, fenced with wire - not a bad showing for one who began without a dollar, only twenty-five years ago. He married September 17, 1857, in Paris, Ill., Annie Press, also of 'Rhine Prussia,' who came, in 1841, to the United States, settling in Wisconsin. They have seven children - Frank, Fred, George, Lizzie, Mary, Rene and Dollie - all born in Capioma and Granada, Kan.

JAMES BARNES, farmer, Section 20, P. O. Wetmore, is a son of James Barnes, Sr., who brought his wife and eleven children to Kansas in 1857, and settled the next year in Granada, where the father died in 1873 and the mother in 1875. James and Wesley Barnes settled on their respective farms in Granada Township in 1857. James Barnes enlisted in 1862, in the Eight Kansas Volunteer Infantry, and served with that gallant regiment throughout the entire Rebellion; was seriously wounded in the hip in the battle of Chickamauga; has five bullet marks on his person - one received in the battle before Atlanta; and is a United States pensioner. He took part with his regiment in over twenty pitched battles, and was discharged at Huntsville, Ala., in 1865. He has since been a permanent and prosperous settler of Kansas. Has a good farm, well-stocked, and a new frame house. His wife was Ellen Walters, of Andrew County, Mo., and their six children were all born on the Granada far. The Barnes family are of English ancestry, and were among the founders of the city of Baltimore, where James Barnes, Sr., was born. He removed to Guernsey County, Ohio, where his large family of eleven children were born, seven of the brothers being now residents of Granada. A singular coincidence will be noted in the fact, that James Barnes, Sr., was born March 10, 1812, his son, the subject of this sketch, was born March 10, 1841, and his grandson, Joseph (son of James Barnes), was born March 10 1867.

DAVID BRONSON, farmer, P. O. Granada, was born in 1838, in Danbury, Conn. At the age of seventeen, he removed to Carbondale, Pa., with his parents, and from there to Aurora, Ill., where he worked as carpenter. In September 1861, he enlisted in Company H. of the Fifty- second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Served in Missouri during the Price raid and returned into Kentucky, his being the regiment that mutinied on account of the poor old Belgian rifles furnished, and destroyed them. Col. Thomas Sweeny, of Fenian fame, was their leader during the remainder of the Rebellion. The regiment fought at Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing and Shiloh, where Private Bronson was struck with a piece of shell, and immediately after by two balls, the three wounds, however, confining him but a few days as he was present at the Corinth affair, an imprudence that cost him many a weary month in the hospital thereafter. Upon his recovery, he again enlisted in Company K, of the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was on detached service in his own State during the remainder of the war, coming out with a commission as Second Lieutenant. He married in 1867, in Champaign, Ill., Martha Hodgdon, born in Williston, Chittenden County, Vt.; lived two years in Kane County, Ill., and then settled in Powhattan, Brown Co., Kan., lived there three years then returned to Aurora, Ill., where he was employed as yardman, by the C., B. & Q. R. R. Co. In 1875, he again settled in Kansas coming this time in connection with an agency for fence barbs; sold all his Illinois property, including a hotel in Bristol, and settled permanently as a Kansas farmer and stockman. Mr. and Mrs. Bronson have four children - Julia E., George E. and U. S. Grant, born in Kane County, Ill., and Grace, born in Brown County, Kan. Mr. Bronson is a member of the G. A. R.

THEODORE CHIPMAN, farmer, P. O. Capioma, was born in Warren County, Pa. In 1860, his father, Giles Chipman, settled with his wife and a family of five children on a new prairie farm in Brown County, Kan. It was the 'hard year,' and the family saw many of the privations incident thereto. The lumber for their first real house was hauled in 1863 from Iowa Point. Both parents died in Brown County, near Hiawatha, and here Theodore Chipman has lived for twenty-three years. He began with raw prairie, and has developed a good farm and home. He married in 1870 Mrs. Janet Hamilton, a native of Ottawa, Canada. Mr. Chipman is a Free Mason. A brother, George Chipman, a volunteer in the Twenty-fifth Missouri Unionists, was killed by rebels at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, during the Rebellion of 1861-'65.

A. B. ELLIT, farmer, Section 20, P. O. Wetmore, was born in 1825, in La Rue County, Ky., and raised in that State as a farmer. On the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, he enlisted under Col. McKee in the Second Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, and under Gen. Zach. Taylor fought at Monterey and Buena Vista; returned home in July, 1847, and farmed until the spring of 1849. Was married that year to Elizabeth Edwards. In the fall of 1849, moved to Missouri and engaged in farming until 1855, when he made and settled upon a claim near Mt. Pleasant, Atchison Co., Kan. In 1856, he brought out his family, and his father and brother settled near him. During 1856, a band of 600 Southerners destroyed all their fences and fed all their corn, and were about to appropriate the only remaining yoke of cattle left them, but were prevented by a Missouri captain, who drew a six-shooter and swore he would kill the first man who attempted to yoke them up. A rumor that Jim Lane and his Kansans were close at hand scattered the Southern banditti with ludicrous haste, some even leaving saddles and guns, telling Mr. Ellit to 'give Lane thunder' if he came that way. In 1858, Mr. Ellit moved to near Huron, and there lived until his enlistment in 1861 in the Second Kansas Cavalry, with which he served until the spring of 1863. In 1862 was one of a company of forty that killed and routed Quantrell and his band on Blue River, in Missouri; out of thirty-three all were killed but seven. Mr. Ellit was Duty-sergeant, and managed one part of the fight. In the fall of 1863, he was with Gen. Blunt when Price drove him from Blue River bridge; remained with him till Price was whipped and driven out. In 1864, he freighted to Denver, Col., and in the fall of 1866, moved to Pettis County, Mo., and a few years later to his present farm in Granada Township. His first wife, Elizabeth Edwards, died in Pettis County, Mo. But three of her ten children survive her. The present Mrs. Ellit was Mrs. Watson. Her maiden name was Porter.

JOSEPH HAIGH, M. D., is the only son of Uriah and Isabel (Anderson) Haigh, pioneer settlers in Granada. They came there in 1857, from Washington County, Pa., where Joseph Haigh was born, October 22, 1851. He studied medicine with Dr. S. R. Anderson, a Virginian, and the first practitioner in Granada. Dr. Haigh is a graduate of the Northwestern Medical College, St. Joseph, Mo., and is now First Vice-President of its alumni. He is a Republican in politics and liberal in religion. Mrs Dr. Haigh was Miss Fannie J. Cooley, a native of Franklin County, Ind., and their two daughters, Bertha and Belle, were born in Granada. Three brothers of the Haighs came to Granada in 1857, James, Urias and Joseph, and all served in the Union Army during the Rebellion of 1861-'65, the youngest dying at Fort Smith, Ark., the second still residing in Granada, and the eldest in Republic County, Kan.

D. H. HARGIS, farmer, P. O. Goffs, was born in 1847, in Howard County, Mo., and reared in that State a farmer. In 1863, he and three brothers enlisted in Company A, Ninth Missouri Cavalry, and served through the guerrilla campaigns of that State. An older brother, William Hargis, was shot down in his father's yard by Bill Anderson, the bandit, who had previously robbed and burned the house solely because the family were known to be loyal. Another brother, Sergt. Thomas Hargis, was killed in a skirmish, and D. H. Hargis saw 180 men butchered and scalped by these white fiends in Missouri. In 1865, Mr. Hargis came to Kansas, locating in Troy, Doniphan County, and five years ago removed to Osborne County, took a homestead on Section 22, got a deed, then left it. His location in Kansas was followed by that of his father and five brothers. Mrs. Hargis was Mrs. S. J. Meers, born in Buchanan County, Mo. Their three children are - Leonard, Cora and Isaac N., all born in Doniphan County, Kan.

G. K. HATCH, farmer, P. O. Wetmore, was born in 1846, in Hamilton Township, Erie Co., Pa., where he was reared, and from which town he enlisted in September, 1864, in the One Hundred and Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. With his regiment he participated in the Bermuda Hundred affair, the siege of Petersburg, the assault on Fort Gregg. Etc., and the pursuit and capture of Lee and his Army. He came to Kansas in 1869, lived seven years here, then four years in Pennsylvania, and has finally settled again in Kansas, and intends making Nemaha County his future home. He is a member of the G. A. R., F. & A. M., the I. O. O. F., and the I. O. G. T., of Union City, Pa., His wife was Miss Addie Hitchcock, of Erie County, Pa., and their two children are Roscoe C. and Elzie, the eldest born in Pennsylvania and the girl in Kansas.

SAMUEL R. HATCH, farmer, Section 18, P. O. Goffs, came with wife to Kansas, in 1870, from Erie County, Pa. He entered eighty acres of raw prairie and bought 160 more and as a result of thirteen years of labor and care has it nearly all fenced and seventy acres in cultivation; has a good-sized frame house, orchard, grove, etc. He was born in 1833, in Erie County, Pa., and married Abbie Pickett, of Schoharie County, N. Y. They have one son - Hardie E., born in Erie County, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Hatch belong to the Goffs Methodist Episcopal Church.

A. M. HOUGH, farmer and stockman, P. O. Granada. Mr. Hough was born in 1817, in Loudoun County, Va., and was reared there, the son of a farmer. In 1838, the family settled in Zanesville, Ohio, the father and sons engaging in the manufacture of windmills, which was carried on later in Springfield, Ill. A. M. Hough, a carpenter by trade, worked many years in this city, and it was he who framed the first window for the old State House. While here he made the acquaintance of honest Abe Lincoln and Mary Todd, then a 'sparking couple' Mr. Hough came to Kansas with his wife and nine children in 1866, and bought 700 acres on the line of Brow and Nemaha counties, living in the former, in which he served six years as a Commissioner. So well did he manage his farm and stock operations, that each of his five sons is now settled and doing for himself - four of them farmers and one of them a lumber dealer. Mr. Hough was the first man to feed cattle on a large scale in the old Locknane Township, and fed in all ten years. Since 1880, he has lived in Granada and devoted his entire attention to stock transactions instead of farming actively. Mrs. Hough was Susan Kohn, of Lancaster County, Pa., and their nine children are all well fixed around them.

JOHN A. WOODBURN, farmer, P. O. Wetmore, was born October 12, 1833, in Eaton, Preble Co., Ohio. In 1835, his parents, John and Elizabeth, settled in Randolph County, Ind., where he grew up on a farm. In 1855, he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1860, he brought his family to Kansas and began life as a day laborer, living on a vacated claim on Elk Creek, and at the same time preaching as a supply, and has since resided as a farmer and preacher in Northern Kansas, much of the time in poor health, and making twenty removals with his family. In 1878, he located on his present farm in Granada. Mrs. Woodburn was Mary F. Roberts, of Montgomery County, Ohio, married in 1855, in Deerfield, Ind. They have nine children living. Mr. Woodburn had but poor and limited educational facilities in youth, and his effective work in the church for the past sixteen years attests the fidelity with which he has studied.

CAPIOMA.

The town site of Capioma, situated in the township of the same name, was laid out in 1857, the plat being recorded July 9, 1859. It was named in honor of an Indian chief, and the first settlers in its immediate propinquity were William Barnes, James McCallister and Samuel Magill. A schoolhouse was built in 1857, and in 1859 a good hotel building was erected by Walter R. Gage. Some years later a store building was put up J. H. H. Ford. In 1866 a steam saw-mill was put in operation by John Walker, and at different times, two churches, Methodist and Congregational, have been erected. The settlement is now, just about where it was fifteen years ago, having one store, a hotel and a blacksmith shop.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES--CAPIOMA TOWNSHIP.

JOSHUA BUSHNELL, farmer, Section 14, P. O. Capioma, was born December 25, 1825, in Oswego, New York, and is of York State ancestry, as both parents were born in Oneida County. Mr. Bushnell removed West in 1851, in Henry County, Ill., and lived there seventeen years, twelve years as a farmer and five years as proprietor of the Cambridge House at Cambridge, the county seat of Henry Country. He came to Kansas in 1869 and settled where he now resides, paying $825 for a quarter section on which was a one-story adobe house in which his family lived for a few years. Beginning thus Mr. Bushnell rapidly increased his operations and became a large land owner and stock-raiser, owning at one time 800 acres of land. To-day we find him nicely situated, his farm house being one of the best in Capioma Township, a roomy and substantial stone house with a basement well fitted for culinary purposes and the tow stories surmounted by a mansard roof. His outbuildings correspond; a circular barn, thirty-six feet in diameter, granaries, corn cribs, tool house, etc. While Mr. Bushnell has never been an active politician, he has been chosen a delegate to nearly every State and Congressional Convention held during the past ten years. He is a Republican. His first wife, Sarah C. Wilson, whom he married November 15, 1849, in Camden, N. Y., died September 11, 1858, in her home in Camden and is buried there; she left two children, both since deceased. The present Mrs. Bushnell was Barbara J. Sensley, of Brown County, Ohio, married February 2 1859, in Henry County, Ill. Their children are Barbara, Jane and Lensby.

G. W. CONRAD, farmer, P. O. Capioma, is a native of Williamstown, Oswego County, N. Y., born in 1840. Is of German and American ancestry, his mother being a native of New York State. Mr. Conrad left his native place at the age of sixteen, and settled in Henry County, Ill., removing five years later to Jasper County, Iowa, where in 1862 he enlisted in the Twenty- Eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, fought with Gen. Grant at Belmont, Helena, Jackson, Black River, Champion Hills, and through the siege of Vicksburg, and then went with Gen, Banks on the ill starred Red River Expedition, fighting at Pleasant Hill, Sabine Cross roads, St. De Russy, etc. His regiment was then sent by water to Alexandria, Va., and fought under Gen. Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley Opequan, and Winchester, where Mr. Conrad will remembers Sheridan's immortal ride, and hearing that gallant little Irishman shout, "We will drink coffee in the regel camp to-night," which promise was, as all know, made good. During this battle Mr. Conrad received a singular wound, a three-inch ball striking and destroying his blanket roll and knapsack, and coming so close to his shoulder as to break a blood vessel and raise a 'welt' bunch perfectly discernible to this day. After some final service on the track of Sherman's grand march in Georgia and the Carolinas, at guard and provost duty, Mr. Conrad and the hero is and honored Twenty-eighth were discharged in July, 1805. In 1869 he brought his family to Kansas, settling on the 220-acre farm in Capioma, where we now find him. Here he has first class improvements and buildings, and has become one of the substantial and respected farmers, having served as a Republican three years a s Trustee of Capioma, and one term as County Commissioner. His wife was Lurana M Rawson, of Worcester, Mass., and they have six children - Clara, George, Isabel, Eunice, Burton and Millie.

WALTER R. GAGE, deceased, late of Capioma, was born in 1818, in Pennsylvania, and grew up there as a farmer. He married in Erie County, Pa., Lavinia Ostrand, who was born in Barcelona, N. Y. They lived eight years in Gowanda, N. Y., and seven in Marcellon, Wis. Came to Capioma in 1858, lived there three years on a new farm or claim south of the village, and in 1859 built in Capioma the Gage House, which Mr. Gage ran as a hotel until his death, in August, 1869. He was a Republican, and served as postmaster, Notary Public, and Justice of the Peace many years. He left eight children - C. S., Adella, H. C., W. R. Burton (since deceased), William, Minnie S., Effie. Arabella Gage died in Apr. 1,1869. In 1876 the hotel and contents burned down, a total loss, and on the site Mrs. Gage has erected a pleasant cottage home in which to spend her declining years.

HUGH R. MAGILL, farmer, P. O. Capioma, was born in Clay County, Mo. He was early left an orphan, and was reared by Caleb Magill, an uncle. In 1849 he settled with a brother, William B., in Platte County, Mo., where he remained until 1854, when he took a claim near Kinnekuk, helping to survey the Kickapoo Reservation while there. In 1856 he came to Capioma making a claim on Sections 10 and 11, which he sold to D. P. Magill. Had resided on his present farm about twelve years. Is a Republican and was Judge of Elections (Free-State) when his townsmen first voted on the Lecompton Constitution, for which only two votes were cast in that town.

SAMUEL MAGILL, farmer, P. O. Capioma, is a son of D. P. Magill, a Kentuckian and pioneer of the Platte purchase. Samuel Magill was born in Platte County, Mo., grew up there, and in February, 1854, with David Locknane, made a visit to what is now Granada - each selecting land and building log houses, the first in that town. Messrs. Robert Ray and Magill came out for permanent settlement in October, 18?5, Mr. Magill claiming 160 acres, now the site of Woodlawn, which he sold the next year to H. L. Alkier. He then settled where he now is, and began work in earnest, this work resulting in the fine 320-acre farm and home he wons to-day, though he began in a shanty fourteen feet square with scarcely a dollar in the world. Mr. Magill is a Democrat in politics, and though not a politician, is known as one of the most successful farmers and fruit growers of his county, his orchard and vineyard being among the first planted and the most productive in this region. He has a tasteful and commodious home, environed by a grove and orchard, strongly reminding one of down East, the effect being heightened by his barn, sheds and the timber skirting Walnut creek which crosses his farm. He married in 1858 Miss Uree J. Hooper, and they have eight living children.

L. D. TATMAN, farmer, P. O. Woodlawn, was born in 1842, in Ohio. Eight years later, his parents, William and Lydia Tatman, settled in Adams County, Ill. S. D. Tatman, after a varied experience in Illinois, Texas, and Colorado, finally settled on a farm in Walnut Township, Brown County, Kas., improved it, and selling, settled on his present farm in 1876, Here he has rebuilt the house and erected a barn forty feet square, planted grove, orchard, etc. He married Miss Nancy Eldredge, of Henry County, Ill., a daughter of John and Sarah (Roberts) Eldredge. They left Henry County in December, 1854, and pushed out on the frontiers as far as Ash Point, Nemaha County, Kan., Mr. Eldredge making the usual claim, building a cabin, and commencing pioneer life. During the winter he had occasion to visit Iowa Point, on the Missouri River, and, being caught in a violent and long-continued 'blizzard,' was kept there four weeks, his wife and two daughters meanwhile believing him dead. They were compelled to cut their own wood, care for the stock, and do all the rough out-of-door work during this weary month, freezing hands and feet and suffering much from fears of Indians, and grief and loneliness. During the 'scare' of 1855, Mr. Eldredge removed his family to Missouri, but satisfied that it was a speculative hoax, returned. The family settled in Brown County, Kas., in 1856, and here Mr. Eldredge died in April, 1878, his widow and daughters surviving him. He was a native of New York, and times in Kansas and Illinois, and is a perfect type of the healthy and fearless pioneer woman of thirty years ago.

BAILEYVILLE.

In 1880, N. Bailey, a substantial farmer in Clear Creek Township, laid out a town on the Union Pacific Railroad (Kansas Division) seven miles west of Seneca. A post-office was established with G. M. Rasp as postmaster, and a large hay press and sheds erected by S. H. Rice & Co., of St. Joseph, which firm also established a store for the benefit of their employees and others. In the spring of 1882, S. H. Rice & Co. sold their hay-pressing machinery to Bailey Brothers, together with two sections of hay lands, which they owned. The store was transferred to Bay & McQuinch, who still run it. Prior to this time a siding had been put in and a station built by the railroad company. The post-office passed from G. M. Rasp to Bert E. Rice, and finally to James Tennant, the present incumbent.