REPUBLIC COUNTY, Part 5

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES (OSMAN - WELLS).

JOHN I. OSMAN, P. O. Belleville, was born in Grant County, Ind., in 1851. Here he was raised and remained until 1866, when he emigrated to Iowa, locating in Keokuk County, remaining there four years; from there he came to Kansas in 1870, and located in Republic County. He filed a piece of land on Section 28, Township 3, Range 3, which he held until 1873, when he homesteaded it, and has made it his home since. He has sixty acres under plow, a good orchard and a grove of fruit trees with a hedge nearly around the place. He has a fine stone house and barn, and is engaged in stock-raising, and has one of the best places in the township. He is a model farmer, and has done well since his coming here, being one of the most enterprising young men in the county. He was married in January 1878, to Miss Kate M. Doctor, of Belleville Township. They have two children--Ira and Frank.

HENRY PATRICK, M. D., physician and surgeon, was born at Fredonia, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., January 9, 1825. He is of Scottish descent on his father's side, and from German Quakers on his mother's, who, in early years settled in Western New York. When he was but five years of age, his parents moved to Canada West, where they remained for a few years, thence moved to Kent County, Mich., settling near Grand Rapids, while it was yet held by the Indians, and nearly an unbroken wilderness. He remained at home helping to clear and improve the farm, till in his twentieth year; and though there were no schools for several years in that vicinity, he was so close a student of his father's library, that at eighteen years of age we find him teaching a district school. In 1847, he married a wealthy young lady, Miss Louisa Hartwell. In 1850, he engaged first as salesman, then as bookkeeper, and general manager in a large wholesale and retail hardware establishment in Monroe City, Mich. In 1852, his wife was stricken with paralysis; she was from this time an invalid until the time of her death, which occurred in January, 1859. Their two and only children were buried, the first in 1852, the last in 1855. The constant care and effort to restore his stricken wife, was the moving cause that decided him to engage in the study of medicine, which he did in 1856; first under the instruction of Dr. S. R. Arnold, a practitioner of eminence in the regular school of medicine. In 1857, he went to New York, pursuing his studies and attending lecturers in Belleview Hospital Medical School; also in the Broadway, New York Hospital, and attended a full course of lectures in the Hygeia Therapeutic College of New York, until the spring of 1859, at which time, he had conferred upon him the degree of "Doctor of Medicine." The doctor in company with friends, spent, the summer and autumn of 1859, in the vicinity of Moorehead Lake, Maine, recruiting his health, and worn energies, filling the time at his profession, caring for the sick. In early winter he went South, and located at Clarksville, Tenn., where he soon established a very lucrative practice, and was laying the foundation for eminence and success, when the war of the rebellion broke out. At the passage of the Act by the Legislature of Tennessee, "That all foreigners and all citizens of the United States should take the oath of allegiance to, and support the Southern Confederacy, or leave within ten days,"--the doctor, being a Northern man by birth, and a Union man by sentiment, declined to recognize the Confederacy, and refused to take the prescribed oath of allegiance; also, being a law-abiding citizen, chose not to abandon the home of his choice and his business. The specified time expired. Then, when too late, he was compelled to leave under the cover of night, to avoid arrest as a foe to the South. Saving only his clothing and books, he made his way back north to Rochester, New York, where he commenced working at dentistry and a small practice till the close of the war. He three times enrolled his name for enlistment in the Union army; but was each time rejected, being considered too frail to pass muster. At the close of the war he again returned to Memphis, Tennessee, with a view of making that his future home. Soon after, however, the negro riot occurred at New Orleans, followed by a similar riot in the City of Memphis. A "reign of terror" lasted for several days, so terrible that the doctor concluded it not safe for Northern men with Union sentiment to remain there at that time, and again made his way North, spending the time for a few years in Iowa, Michigan and Illinois, among his friends. Early in 1870 the doctor decided to brave the hardships incident to a life on the frontier settlements, and came to Lake Sibley, Cloud County, Kansas. He pre-empted a quarter section of land, commenced improving it, and put out his "shingle" as physician and surgeon, and for several years did a very extensive practice, riding in a circle from ten to thirty miles. On his farm he planted several thousand trees, has sixty acres under cultivation, a fair house with well of soft water. It is pleasantly located, giving a fine view of the Republican Valley for miles up and down, with the enterprising city of Concordia in full view across the river. In the autumn of 1874, the doctor removed his office to Belleville, Republic County, where he now resides. He has a fine residence, surrounded by a well-grown Osage hedge, while his grounds are well stocked with the finest varieties of fruit grown in the country. The doctor has also a fine farm of 240 acres, in Republic County, with about 100 acres of substantial improvements, besides other city property. He has had rather a large practice since moving to Belleville. Is the oldest and has the reputation of being one of the most successful practitioners in the county. Has made many warm friends wherever he is known among the people. Credentials hanging in his office show that he is a member of the "Eclectic Medical Society of the State of Kansas." The doctor is a tireless student, an indomitable worker, a very close observer, a clear, logical reasoner, and has one of the finest libraries in the county. In the spring of 1875 the doctor was married to Miss C. A. Bradley, an estimable lady of Mahoska County, Iowa, who had for several years taught in the graded schools of Eddyville and Albia, Iowa. Had also been the principal of the Belleville schools for about two years, and conducted the first exercises in the teachers' institute held in the county in all of which she gave entire satisfaction. The doctor and wife are very highly respected in the community, and wherever known. They take great interest in all public matters, especially those which tend to educate and improve the people. They are n ted(sic) for their pure moral character, their genuine hospitality, kindness to and friendship for everybody--and many can well testify to the good cheer and hearty welcome received under their hospitable roof, and around their festive board. In medicine, the doctor is liberal and progressive. In religion, he and wife are both what are known as Liberals or Free Thinkers. Preferring to do their own thinking, and have the courage of their convictions--daring to speak an honest thought before the world. While yielding to all other persons the same right, and equal protection in that right, are uncompromising foes to immorality, injustice, and wrongs of every kind or character. The doctor is also a member of the Masonic order.

CHAUNCEY PERRY, County Clerk, was born in Lenawee County, Mich., in 1843, and was brought up on a farm, working at this business in summer and attending school in winter, until the war broke out, when he enlisted in Company E. Third Michigan Cavalry, serving until January, 1864. The regiment was then veteranized, and Mr. Perry re-enlisted, serving until February, 1866. After his discharge, he went to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he was employed as clerk and bookkeeper in the Insane Asylum for nearly three years. Coming from there to Kansas in 1870, he located near Cuba, Farmington Township, Republic County, where he took a homestead on Section 1, Township 3, Range 2, and there taught school about eighteen months; then settled in Belleville, and soon after was appointed Clerk of the District Court, and in the fall of 1873 was elected County Clerk, holding both offices a year, and is now on his fifth term as County Clerk, and has given universal satisfaction during the time, and has made a host of friends during his residence in the county, and has been engaged in stock-raising to some extent since 1877. He was married in 1873 to Miss Counter of Belleville; they have one son--T. S., born in 1874. Mr. Perry is a member of Belleville Lodge, No. 129, A., F. & A. M.; of Olympic Lodge, No. 36, K. of P., and Belleville Lodge No. 55, A. O. U. W.

HON. W. H. PILKENTON(sic), Receiver of the Land Office, Wa Keeney, Trego Co., Kan. was born in Rush County, Ind., in 1832; was raised in Hamilton County on a farm until 1846; he was educated at the Union and select schools of this county, and then took a scientific course at Newcastle Academy, remaining there four years; for a year afterward he was engaged in teaching; taught astronomy and geography for about two years in other portions of the State. At the age of twenty-five he was married to Miss Isabell Shafer, of Greenfield, Hancock County; he then went into the office of Judge Gooding, of that place and began reading law, remaining there until 1859, when he was admitted to the bar, and soon after located at Fortville and opened an office for the practice of his profession. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the Fifth Indiana Cavalry, Company F, serving three years; in the second year of service he was promoted and received a second lieutenant's commission, and was mustered out in 1865 as first lieutenant. He then resumed his law practice at Fortville until 1871, when he was stricken with the Western fever, and came to Kansas, locating in Republic County, and took a homestead on Section 34, Township 2, Range 3. This homestead had been taken, but when Mr. Pinkenton(sic) saw it he offered $800 for the bargain. This place he converted into a home, and has it nicely improved, with sixty-five acres under the plow; 8,000 fine forest trees of various varieties, such as walnut, ash, cottonwood, box elder, maple; besides 400 bearing peach trees, about 100 apple trees, cherries, plums and small fruit in abundance, with good house and barn and plenty of good water; one and one-half miles of hedge, eighty acres of pasture, and everything to make it a pleasant home. There were but two attorneys in this county, and he enjoyed a good practice all the time he was there. He was elected to the Legislature from his district in 1874, and has been elected three times in succession to that office. In 1874 he was appointed trustee of the Blind Asylum at Wyandotte by the Governor for a term of two years. In 1880 he was appointed by the President as one of the Commissioners to represent Kansas in the World's Fair to be held in New York in 1883, and the same year received his present appointment as Receiver of the Land Office at Wa Keeney. He first received this appointment during the vacation of Congress, and was confirmed by the Senate in December, 1880. Mr. Pinkenton(sic) has been a delegate to every State Convention but two, a delegate to nearly every Congressional Convention, since he has been in the State. He is a member of the John Brown Post, No. 44, G. A. R., and was first Commander of the Post in Fortville, previous to coming West. He is a member of Belleville Lodge, No. 96, I. O. O. F.; of Republic Encampment, No. 30, and for the years 1879 and 1880 was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kansas, and in the fall of 1881 was elected representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the I. O. O. F. He has been closely identified with the growth and development of Republic County and the State; as a public officer has discharged his duties honestly and faithfully, and has won the esteem of his fellow-citizens.

M. J. POST, proprietor of the Belleville House, was born in Marion County, Iowa, March, 1846. His father was proprietor of the American House, of Pella, and he was raised in this hotel until 1870; then engaged in farming one year, and in 1871 came to Kansas, and took a homestead on Section 29, Township 1, Range 1, and was on this place from January 1871, to June; had fifteen acres broke, a well, and a farmhouse up, when he received word from the Land Office to vacate, as it was railroad land; had expended about $100, and was obliged to leave; then bought 160 acres in the same township, and, after expending $200 to get water, without succeeding, sold out and bought a farm on Section 4, Township 2, Range 1, which he improved; has eighty-five acres under the plow, a good orchard, containing apples, peaches, plums and cherries; remained on the place three years, and in 1875 moved to Ida, and was engaged in freighting about fifteen months. In the spring of 1878 he rented the hotel at Cuba, remaining there two years; from there he came to Belleville, and rented the Belleville House, which he is still running; has a good trade--all the house will accommodate; has eleven sleeping-rooms, and is a genial landlord, and his table is number one, which makes it a popular resort with the traveling public. In 1866 he was married to Miss Mary E. Reese, of Pella, Iowa; they have five children--Sadie, Harry, Hettie, George and Alonzo. He is a member of Olympic Lodge, No. 36, K. of P., and is Deputy Sheriff, under Mr. Kindt.

J. G. RICH, carpenter and farmer, was born in Northampton County, Pa. In 1829, when eight years of age, his parents emigrated to Seneca County, N. Y., remaining there five years; then to Ohio, locating in Seneca County, and remained there until he was of age; learned the carpenters' trade, and worked at this business while there; thence to St. Joseph County, Mich., and worked at contracting and building, with the exception of four years, when he was running a saw-mill, until 1869, coming from there to Kansas, and locating in Republic County, when he took a homestead on Section 1, Belleville Township. There were no buildings in Belleville at the time. The following spring he helped to put up a log building for a court house, and laid the first shingles in Belleville when he put on the roof; has worked at his trade more or less all the time he has been here, although he has lived on his farm, which he has improved during the time; has broke 105 acres, planted five acres in forest trees, put out two and one-half acres in an apple orchard, 1,000 peach trees and a variety of small fruit, and eighty rods of hedge; has put up a good house 16x24 feet, one and one-half stories high; good barn 20x20 feet, of stone, and a stone poultry-house 12x16 feet, and has this place in good condition. He has been raising stock, and has some cattle and about seventy-five head of hogs to turn off, besides come good colts, and expects to raise stock enough to eat all the grain the place will produce. He has done exceedingly well since he came here, and is well pleased with Kansas. He was married in 1854 at Colon, St. Joseph County. Mich., to Miss Staly, of that place; they have had four children--Henry, Sarah J., Willie and Estella, deceased. He is a member of Belleville Lodge, No. 129, A., F. & A. M.

S. G. STOVER, County Treasurer, was born in Summit County, Ohio, in 1837, remaining there until 1855; then moved to Stevenson County, Ill., where he engaged in farming until 1862; then enlisted in Company A, Ninety-second Illinois Infantry, serving until the close of the war. After receiving his discharge, he returned to Illinois, and engaged in the grocery trade at Lena, remaining there until 1870, when he sold out and came to Kansas, locating in Republic County, and took a homestead on Section 29, Township 1, Range 5, Big Bend Township, near White Rock, and commenced to improve his place. He and his brother-in-law, Mr. Leigh, put up the first buildings with shingled roofs in this township. There were but few settlers in the town at this time, the most of them settling there the same year. They were seventy-five miles from a mill or a store for a time. In 1878 he was elected County Treasurer, and gave such satisfaction as to receive the nomination and election for the second term. He was married in 1859 at Lena, Ill., to Miss Lowe, of that place; they have two children--Berty and Mamie. Mr. Stover is a member of the John Brown Post, No 44, G. A. R.; of Belleville Lodge, No. 129, A., F. & A. M., and of Lena Chapter, No. 105, Illinois; of the Olympic Lodge, No. 55, A. O. U. W.

A. E. TAYLOR, attorney, was born in Cheshire County, N. H., in 1849. In 1856 he emigrated with his parents to Iowa, locating in Jones County, and was raised on a farm until 1865, when he had the misfortune of losing his left hand and a portion of the right hand in a cane-mill, which obliged him to seek some other occupation. As soon as he was able he began teaching school, and all the spare time he had he devoted to reading law. In 1870 he located in Jewell County, Kan., where he took a homestead, and engaged in teaching, earning enough in this way to improve his place, following this business until 1876. He then located in Belleville, Republic County, and began the practice of law (having been admitted to the bar in this county in 1871); also, handles real estate and has made a specialty of collections; is a member of several Chicago commercial agencies, and has most of the work to do for the Chicago houses doing business in this part of the State. Mr. Taylor is one of the largest land-owners in this county, having over 900 acres of deeded land, 400 of this being in crops. Mr. Taylor is a man who attends strictly to business, and but few, if any, could have accomplished what he has in the same length of time, starting as he did, on a homestead, ninety miles from a mill, badly crippled. Only through his integrity and close attention to business has he been enabled to succeed. For the first two years after the city was organized, he was City Attorney, and then served as City Treasurer, and now fills both offices. He was married in August, 1881, to Miss Elbridge, of Boston, Mass. He is a member of Belleville Lodge, No. 55, A. O. U. W.; also of the Patrons of Husbandry and of the I. O. G. T., and has been vice-president of the State temperance organization of this county.

G. A. TERPENING, manager of the Grange store, was born in Union County, Ind., in 1845. Soon after his parents located in Cincinnati, Ohio, remaining there until 1851; thence to Illinois, and located in Henry County. In 1855 he emigrated to Union County, Iowa, and remained there until 1862, when he enlisted in the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, and served nearly three years. He was mustered out in 1865, and located in Henry County, Ill., where he remained until 1868, when he went back to Union County, Iowa, where he remained until 1870. From here he emigrated to Kansas, locating in Republic County, and took a homestead in Jefferson Township, and was among the early settlers in this part of the county. He improved his place by breaking 100 acres, planting five acres of forest, putting out a good orchard and put up good buildings, and was extensively engaged in hog-raising until the spring of 1882. He then sold out, and bought 140 acres in Richland Township, on Sections 4 and 5, with seventy acres under the plow, forty acres fenced for a pasture, a good creek running through the place, with plenty of living water for stock, and forty acres of good timber. In December, 1881, the Patrons of Republic County organized a body known as the Republic County Corporation Association, for the purpose of carrying on a cooperative store at Belleville, with a capital of $1,000 to start with. There were sixty shareholders when they commenced business in the spring of 1882. In July this stock had increased to $1,125, with eighty-eight shareholders. The first 107 days netted ten per cent on the investment, and five per cent rebate was paid shareholders on the amount traded at the store, and two and one-half per cent to Patrons not shareholders. The trade is growing very fast, and there will be more stock sold during the fall of 1882 and the business enlarged. Mr. Terpening was one of the principal movers in this new enterprise and was elected manager of the business, in which he has proved himself to be thoroughly competent, and he is a sharp business man with an extensive acquaintance throughout the city, and wholly reliable and ably assisted by his amiable wife and pleasant daughters. He was Town Trustee or Justice of the Peace a good share of the time while a resident of Jefferson Township. He was married in Union County, Iowa, in 1869, to Miss A. V. Smith, of that place, they have two daughters--Bertha A. and Myrtle A. Mr. Terpening is a member of John Brown Post, No. 44, G. A. R.

E. B. TOWLE, attorney, was born in Waldo County, Me., in 1851. He was raised on a farm, remaining there until twenty-one years of age. He attended the district schools of his county, and finished by attending one or two terms of high school. In 1872 he took a college preparatory course at the Maine Central Institute, and graduated in 1875. After graduating, he took up the study of law, which he had been reading previous to this, at Belfast, Me., remaining there four months; thence to Bangor, Me., where he finished his course, and was admitted to the bar at the April term of Court in 1878. During the time he was taking his law course, he spent about three months of each year in teaching. Soon after finishing his law course he began the practice of law in Penobscot County, Me. remaining there three years, but concluded there were better openings in the West, and in the spring of 1881 he emigrated to Kansas, and was in the office with Col. M. M. Miller, of Clay Center during the summer. In September, 1881, he was admitted to the bar in Clay County. In February, 1882, he located at Belleville, Republic County, and opened an office for the practice of law. He has met with good success, and is a valuable addition to the bar of Republic County. He is a young man of ability, and a courteous gentleman, and being an enterprising man, of education, will be sure to make it win. He is a member of Pine Tree Lodge, No. 172, A., F. & A. M., Mattawamkeag, Me.

N. T. VAN NATTA, County Attorney and farmer, was born in Schoharie County, N. Y., in 1833, but was raised in Montgomery County, on a farm, until 1843; then commenced teaching, following this about fourteen years. In 1857 he began reading law, and took a law course at the State National Law School at Poughkeepsie, graduating in 1860; also took a classical course at the New York Conference Seminary. In the spring of 1878 he came West, locating at Mexico, Mo., and was superintendent of the city schools of that place from June until October, 1879, the first free schools in the State; then located in Clinton County, and had charge of the schools there about one year. During his stay in Clinton County he was admitted to the bar, and came to Kansas and took a homestead on Section 19, Township 3, Range 2, and went back to Clinton County, Mo., remaining six months. Since that time he has lived on his homestead, and has improved his place and bought a farm in Elk Creek Township, and is engaged in stock-raising; has one of the largest orchards in the county, and five acres of forest trees. Mr. Van Natta is the oldest attorney in the county, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1870, in Washington County, Kan., and has been engaged in the practice of law continuously since. In 1876 he was elected County Attorney, and is now serving his third term. He was married in 1858 to Miss C. A. Smith, of Montgomery County, N. Y.; they have three children--Maggie A., Via and Henry. He is a member of Belleville Lodge, No. 129, A., F. & A. M.; Olympic Lodge, No. 36, K. of P., and Belleville Lodge No. 55, A. O. U. W.

V. VAN TRUMP, postmaster, was born in Cecil County, Md., in 1843, and lived on a farm until 1861; then was employed as salesman in a store until 1864; then took up a commercial course at Baltimore, and in 1869 started West, stopping in Illinois, where he remained about eight months, coming from there to Kansas in the spring of 1870; locating in Republic County, taking a homestead on Section 25, Township 2, Range 3; lived on the place only a short time, when he came to Belleville, and, in company with J. E. Hallowell, put up the first store in the place, and put in a stock of general merchandise, continuing in the business six years. He was appointed postmaster soon after he came here, and has held it continuously since. In 1872 he bought an interest in the town site, and was elected president of the company. The company dissolved in 1878, Mr. Van Trump receiving 150 lots as his share, and has disposed of about one-half of them. In 1873 he bought the Belleville House, which he remodeled and owned about two years. After disposing of his stock of goods, he engaged in the real estate and collection business, and in the fall of 1881 put in a stock of furniture. In the summer of 1882 he put up the first brick building in the place, 24x64 feet, two stories high; the front is used for a bank, and the rear for the post office, the upper story being used for the Masonic and Odd Fellows' hall. He is a public spirited man, and has done all he could to build up the place, having put up several good buildings. He also owns the homestead which he took when he first came here, and has it finely improved, with good buildings and timber and orchard. He was married in 1868 at Baltimore, Md., his wife only living eighteen months, and in 1871 he was married again at Atchison, Kan., to Miss M. E. Reynolds; they have two children--Bertie S., born in 1872, and F. R., born in 1874. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.; Belleville Lodge, No. 96; Olympic Lodge, No. 36, K. of P.; Belleville Lodge, No. 55, A. O. U. W., having filled all the important offices in each.

CAPTAIN W. W. WAIT, farmer, P. O. Belleville, was born in Cattaraugus County, N. Y., in 1830; learned the carpenters' trade, and worked at it there until 1861; then enlisted in the Sixty-fourth New York Infantry, serving in Company C and at the end of nine months was promoted to orderly sergeant, serving two months, and received a commission as captain; served three years, and was wounded at the battle of Antietam in 1862, and at Spottsylvania Court House in May, 1864, after which he was mustered out of the service and returned to Cattaraugus County, remaining there until 1870; then emigrated to Kansas, locating in Republic County, and took a homestead on Section 31, Township 2, Range 3; has 100 acres under the plow, and a fine peach orchard of 500 trees, 100 apple trees and a fine grove of four acres, and is raising stock; also owns 160 acres on Section 13, Scandia Township, with fifty acres under the plow, the balance of which is used for grazing his stock and for hay. Capt. Wait is one of the men who has taken a lively interest in the development of his county, and is respected by all who know him. He was married in 1856 in Cattaraugus County, N. Y. to Miss Mary Braman, of that place; they have three children--Malcom, A. J. and D. H. He is a member of John Brown Post, No. 44, G. A. R., and is Master of Belleville Lodge No. 55, A. O. U. W.; is also a member of the Masonic order.

H. G. WALLIN, farmer, P. O. Scandia, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he was raised, and entered a store when quite young, and was employed as a salesman until 1861, when he entered the Union army in the Thirteenth Brooklyn National Guards, serving ninety days; then again, in 1863, enlisted and served ninety days more; afterward retired from the service and opened a hat and cap store and was doing a good business up to 1869, and then was burned out. He then joined a New York colony, composed of about fifty members, principally merchants, clerks and professional men, and came to Kansas, locating in White Rock Creek, where they selected a tract of land, and each one took a farm, and they were preparing the land and building cabins when the Indians made an attack on them. There were but three women in the party, Mrs. Wallin being among them. They were there three weeks when the Indians were repulsed, and their colony was broken up. Mr. Wallin wrote a full and complete history of the colony's settlement, their fight with the Indians and all the details, which was published by the New York Sun, and which are on file at the present time; then went to Salt Creek where he remained until the spring of 1870, when he took up a quarter section of Section 29, Township 3, Range 3, situated on West Creek; was the first settler on this creek, and got a desirable farm; has about forty acres of timber, a good share of it being oak, which was the only oak in this portion of the town; has sixty acres under plow, and the balance being for hay and pasture. He is engaged in stock raising; has twenty-seven head, and raises a good many hogs. Mr. Wallin is about the third man left of the New York colony, and he has done well here. He was married in 1866 to Miss A. C. Paulsen, of Brooklyn. Mr. Wallin has been a correspondent for the New York Sun the most of the time he has been here, and has added many settlers to the prairies in Republic County by his finely executed letters containing, as they have, the detailed description of the land, soil, climate and great natural advantages of Kansas.

W. P. WEEKS, hardware merchant, was born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., in 1845, remaining there until 1870; was a miller, and worked in the Jamestown Mills. In 1870 he came West, and located in Republic County, Kan., taking a homestead on Section 33, Township 2, Range 3. At that time there was not a building in Belleville, except one small log cabin, which had been partially built for a court house, to locate the county-seat, but it was not completed; it had no roof; but he got a few pieces of boards and put over his head, and slept in this for several weeks before there were any settlers in the place. He was engaged as locating agent in the county for several years, and was instrumental in settling a good many people in this vicinity, working hard to get the county well settled. In 1872 he commenced improving his farm, and lived there until the spring of 1882, when he sold out and bought the hardware business of Shaw Bros. He is also engaged in the real estate and land business, having opened an office in the fall of 1881. Mr. Weeks is a good business man, and will build up a good trade in his new business. He was remarried in l872 in Atchison, Kan, to Miss Kate Montgomery, of Buffalo, N. Y.; they have three children--Annie M., William M. and Fenton V.

JOHN F. WELLS, farmer, was born in Allen County, Ind., in 1840, making this his home until 1864, and was engaged in farming. In 1865 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving about eight months. In 1869 he emigrated to Kansas, locating in Washington County, where he remained two years, coming to Republic County in 1871, and took a homestead on Section 9, northwest quarter, Township 3, Range 3; has added eighty acres on the same section, making a farm of 200 acres, 160 of which are under the plow; has seven or eight acres of forest and orchard on the homestead; has 200 acres on Section 15, with forty acres of timber on this place. Mr. Wells is one of the largest stock-raisers in the county, and is noted for being a practical farmer, and is one of the present County Commissioners; was appointed in 1876, serving one year, and was then elected for one year, and in 1878 was elected for a term of three years. Mr. Wells has been very successful since he came to Kansas, which is due to the attention he gives to whatever he undertakes. He was married in 1860 to Miss C. Johnston, of Allen County, Ind.; they have two children - Olive A, and William R. He is a member of Belleville Lodge, No. 129, A., F. & A. M., and of the Methodist Episcopal Church.