ANDERSON COUNTY, Part 5

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES (GREGG - ROW).

HON. CHARLES A. GREGG, brick and stone mason by trade, was born in New York City, March 15, 1828. At or near the age of ten years his parents removed to Lake County, Ind., where he was raised on a farm. About 1850 he removed to La Porte, where he learned the trade of bricklayer and followed it as an occupation. In March, 1857, he came to Anderson County, Kan., took up and pre-empted 160 acres of land, but on account of illness in the family returned east to Kansas City, where he was employed at his trade for three years. In 1860 he moved to Paola, Kan., and engaged in the mercantile business, but owing to the severe drouth of that year his business dwindled down in a few months till it did not pay, so he sold out and quit. In the fall of 1860 he was appointed Deputy Treasurer of the county under W. J. McCown and was engaged in Treasurer's office between two and three months until the Treasurer died, when his deputyship ended, and J. H. Pratt succeeded to the office. In 1861 he was appointed, by the County Board of Commissioners, Assessor of Miami County to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of the Assessor-elect, and filled the office to the apparent satisfaction of his fellow- citizens. During the years 1862 and 1863 he worked at his trade some, and also assessed several of the townships as Deputy Assessor a portion of the time, also being employed as enrolling officer to enroll names preparatory to raising a draft (which however it did not become necessary as enlistments were sufficient). On March 24, 1864, he enlisted in the service of his country, and he with his comrades to the number of about 100 formed Company I, Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry. Soon after the company was formed he was chosen First Sergeant of the company, and with the exception of a few days, (when the boys becoming a little dissatisfied, clamored for a change, which when made was not satisfactory,) he was re-instated and held the position until he was mustered out, which occurrence took place November 28, 1865. In March, 1866, he returned to Anderson County and was engaged in farming until 1869, during which time in 1868 he was nominated on the Republican ticket and was elected to the Legislature without any opposition, which position he tried to fill--as as [sic] has ever been his desire when trust has been reposed in him--honestly, faithfully and without dissimulation. In the fall of 1869 he moved to Garnett, since which time, he has been engaged part of the time, in the bricklaying business, and part of the time in mercantile pursuits.

C. F. HENSON & BROTHER, lumber and building materials. This business was established in 1873 by J. D. Woodworth. In 1876, Mr. Woodworth purchased a hardware stock, and March 11, 1878, C. F. Henson was admitted as a partner, the business being conducted under the style of J. D. Woodworth & Co. In January, 1881, the style changed to Woodworth and Henson. In April, 1882, Mr. Woodworth sold out his interest to the above firm. They have an extensive trade, carrying in the yard all kinds of lumber, building materials, etc. The stock in that business amounts to about $12,000. Their store is also well supplied with all kinds of hardware, etc., and the demands of their trade in this business compelled them to carry a fine stock of about $5,000. They do quite a business in the manufacture of tinware. C. F. Henson, the senior member of the firm, came to Garnett in 1870 and was for a time engaged in contracting and building. J. F. Henson, his partner came here in 1871 and followed the same business for several years. Was also for a time employed as a clerk in store of Woodworth & Henson. The brothers are natives of Clinton County, Ohio, are both practical business men, and do a heavy business in their line.

J. G. HIATT, of Hiatt & Lanter, merchants, was born in Wayne County, Ind., March 24, 1838, and was raised on a farm. In 1852 he moved to Madison County, Iowa, where he followed agricultural pursuits. In July, 1858, he came to Anderson County; resided with his father, Nathan Hiatt, and assisted on the farm. Two years later, he purchased land four miles from Garnett and began to farm on his own account. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted in Company A, Second Kansas Cavalry, and was mustered out in April, 1865, after which he followed agricultural pursuits up to February, 1871, when he engaged in the grocery business in Garnett. This he disposed of eighteen months later, and for six months was engaged in the livery business, afterward employed as a salesman in the general merchandise business. On January 1, 1879 he engaged in this business in company with C. W. Durstine. The latter died, and his interest was sold to J. T. Lanter in February, 1882. The firm carry a nice stock of general merchandise with some $8,000, and do an extensive trade. Mr. Hiatt was married in Greeley, Kansas, in 1860, to Mary E. Pattie. They have seven children.

EDWARD S. HUNT, the oldest real estate man in Anderson County, his office being established in 1867. Was born of Quaker parents in South Charleston, Clark County, Ohio, in 1832. Was educated for a civil engineer. Was married in 1855 to Delphina Coffin of Wayne County, Ind. Removed from Ohio to Indiana in the fall of 1863 and engaged in pork-packing and dry goods. Removed to Kansas in November, 1867, and engaged in the real estate business at Garnett. Was appointed right of way commissioner on the L. L. & G. R. R., in 1870 and has since been in the real estate department of that road. He was elected County Treasurer in 1872 and re-elected in 1874, serving two terms. Received the appointment of local land agent from the M. K. & T. R. R. Company in 1876, which he still holds. He is a member of Delphian Lodge No. 44, A., F. & A. M., Zion Chapter No. 24, Garnett, Kan., and Tancred Commandery No. 11, Ottawa, Kan. He is now engaged in real estate and fish culture.

GEORGE W. ILER, real estate and loan agent, was born in Fredericks [sic] County, Md., February 28, 1830, and reared on a farm. At the age of nineteen years he removed to Indianapolis, Ind., and there learned the trade of house and sign painter and followed it as an occupation. He came to Leavenworth, Kan., May 14, 1857, and carried on a painting and wall paper establishment at Leavenworth until February, 1859. He went to Neosho County and with others located Osage City, which he afterward abandoned. In the latter part of March, 1859, he came to Anderson County and located at Garnett and formed a partnership with J. G. Smith and carried on a general merchandise business until the fall of 1861, when he sold out and went East for a time on account of his wife's ill health. During the war he served in the Tenth Kansas State Militia and was Captain of Company B, of that regiment from 1863 until after the Price raid. During this period his main business was dealing in live-stock. In 1866 he again engaged in general merchandise business, continuing until some time in 1869. Was then for some four years engaged in agricultural pursuits, general trading, etc. In 1873 he became associated with S. Kaufman [sic] in real estate business. In August, 1874, they purchased the Plain Dealer, and when the firm dissolved in 1878, Mr. Iler took the real estate business, which he has since continued. He is land agent for the M. K. & T. R. R. Company. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Garnett at the time it was pre-empted in 1862, and held that office for several years. Was elected County Commissioner in 1879 and served two years, and has served many times in the City Council of Garnett. Mr. Iler is District Deputy Grand Master of the I. O. O. F., and has filled that position almost continuously since 1866.

HON. W. A. JOHNSON, attorney, is of Scottish parentage, and was born in Gillford County, N. C., January 19, 1830. Colonel Daniel Johnson, his father, removed to Vernon, Ind., in 1832. He intended to give his son, the subject of this sketch, a good classical education, and for this purpose sent him for a while to the Vernon Academy and then to the College at Hanover. But his death in 1846 put a period to his calculations and the collegiate education of his son; for being the eldest, he was obliged to assume the cares and responsibilities of the farm. In 1852 he began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1855. He then came westward to find a location, but did not bring his family until 1858, at which time he settled in Garnett and began the practice of law. In the fall of 1859 he was elected County Attorney of Anderson County, but the war coming on in 1861 brought him before the public in another manner, for he was one of the first who responded to the call for soldiers. He began as one of General Lane's staff officers and was connected with the army in different capacities until 1862, when he was made Captain of Company M, Fifteenth Kansas Cavalry and served until mustered out in October, 1865. He returned to Garnett, and on the day of his arrival was elected County Attorney, which office he however declined. He was elected to the State Senate from the Seventeenth District in 1872. When the choice of a President was agitating the people, he canvassed the State. He was elected Presidential Elector and cast a vote for R. B. Hayes. In 1876 he was appointed by a committee of citizens of Anderson county to write a history of the county. He labored zealously at the work of historian, and completed the most perfect history that has been written of any county in Kansas. He was appointed early in 1879 assistant attorney in this State of the St. L., K. & A. R. R. Company, and when this road was purchased by the M. P. R. R. Company in November of that year, they confirmed the appointment and he is now assistant attorney for that line in this State.

SOLOMON KAUFFMAN, postmaster, was born in Mifflin County, Pa., January 6, 1832. In 1845 his parents emigrated to Champaign County, Ohio, where he was reared on a farm. At the age of eighteen he learned the trade of carpenter and in 1853 moved to McLain County, Ill., where he worked at his trade a year, then to Iowa City, and in Marshall County, Iowa, for about two years. In May, 1856, he came to Anderson County, Kan., pre-empted 160 acres in Reeder Township, which he improved, and purchased other lands adjoining until he owned 345 acres. He was elected to the office of County Judge in 1857, but refused to qualify under the "bogus laws" then in force. In 1858 he served as a member of the County Board of Supervisors. He took an active part with the Free-State men of Kansas in the troubles of 1856. In December of that year he was instrumental in bringing to the county a colony of eighty-six men who had been in the Free-State army and they established the town of Hiatt. On August 6, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Third Kansas Infantry. This regiment was afterward consolidated into the Tenth Kansas and he was placed in Company C, of that regiment. On the 11th of September, 1862, he was promoted to First Lieutenant of Company L, Third Indiana Regiment and on May 28, 1863, to Captain and placed in charge of a battery attached to the Indian Brigade. He was mustered out May 31, 1865, and returned to his farm. On the 29th day of August, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Melissa J. Patton, who still continues to share the joys and hardships of life with him. In 1868 he was elected to the office of Clerk of the District Court and moved to Garnett. He served as Clerk one term. He was elected Clerk of the District Court in November of that year and served one term. In 1870 he embarked in the real estate business and three years later associated with him in that business George W. Iler. In 1874 they purchased the Plain Dealer and continued to conduct both businesses until February, 1878, when they dissolved and Mr. Kauffman took the paper and published it alone until he admitted his present partner, H. M. Brook, in 1881. On June 14, 1878, Mr. Kauffman was appointed postmaster at Garnett, which position he still occupies.

HON. LESTER K. KIRK, attorney, was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, December 6, 1841, removing with his parents to Mercer County, Pa., when quite young where he was reared on a farm. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, One Hundredth Pennsylvania Infantry. Was promoted to Second Lieutenant March 18, 1863, to First Lieutenant February 25, 1864, and to Captain on June the 1st following. While participating in the attack on Petersburg in June, 1864, he received a severe wound in the left shoulder, and on account of this was discharged in the following October. He then studied law at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, with Ambler Bros., and was admitted to the bar in 1865. Mr. Kirk came to Anderson County, Kan., in the Spring of 1866, located near Garnett, and for a few months was engaged in sheep raising. He then moved into Garnett and has since been engaged in the practice of law. He was elected first Mayor of Garnett in 1870, a member of the State Legislature in 1876, and in 1879 he was elected for a term of four years to the State Senate from the Seventeenth District.

W. W. KIRKPATRICK, of Kirkpatrick & Witherspoon, proprietors of the Elevator Mills, was born in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, March 1, 1832, and six years later his parents emigrated to Kosciusko County, Indiana, where he was reared on a farm, and where for some years he conducted a farm of 320 acres. He came to Kansas in 1867 and located in Monroe Township, Anderson County, where he followed agricultural pursuits for some years. In 1876 he built, in company with A. Harbison, an elevator at Garnett, with capacity of 7,000 bushels. In 1878 they added a saw-mill, an in the fall of 1881 built a flour-mill adjoining. In the fall of 1881, Mr. Kirkpatrick moved into Garnett. He has been in partnership with J. O. Witherspoon since July, 1882.

JOHN T. LANTER, of Hiatt & Lanter, merchants, was born February 10, 1835, in Wayne County, Indiana, and reared on a farm. At the age of seventeen he went to Arkansas, where he remained about five years. In the spring of 1857 he moved to Kansas and located near Greeley, Anderson County. He at once identified himself with the Free State party, and was sent as a delegate from Anderson County, in 1858, to the Osawatomie Convention, which organized the Republican party in Kansas, and from that time to the present he has been a firm supporter in that party. In May, 1858, he was elected to the Territorial Legislature on the Free-State ticket under the Leavenworth Constitution. In the same year he was a delegate to the Ottumwa Convention, in which nineteen counties that had been disenfranchised by the bogus Legislature were represented. He was the author of the Resolution adopted by that Convention which brought the grievances of southern Kansas to the notice of the public. In the spring of 1860 he was elected County Assessor, and the following winter was Engrossing Clerk of the last Territorial Legislature. In 1864 he was appointed United States Assistant Assessor and held that position until the office was abolished. In 1863 he was commissioned Assistant Provost-Marshal with the rank of Lieutenant, and assigned to duty on the border. He remained there about eighteen months. In 1872 he was elected to the State Legislature, where he was active and instrumental in defeating Pomeroy for the United States Senate. In 1873 he was appointed one of the trustees for the State Insane Asylum. He was elected Mayor of the city of Garnett in 1874, and served one term. In 1876 he was appointed one of the State Board of Charities. In 1872 he organized the Citizens' Bank at Garnett, elected President, which position he filled for some years. Since 1878 he has been largely interested in lead mines at Galena, Kansas, and in February, 1882, he became associated with J. G. Hiatt in mercantile business. Previous to organizing the Citizens' Bank, Mr. Lanter followed agricultural pursuits.

HON. JOHN G. LINDSAY, attorney, was born in Franklin County, Ohio, November 13, 1836, and six years later his parents moved to Van Buren County, Iowa, where he followed agricultural pursuits. He received his education at Washington College, Iowa. On June 5, 1857, he came to Garnett, and pre-empted 160 acres of land, eighty of which are now in the town site. He followed farming. In 1858 he began the study of law with ex-Governor S. J. Crawford. He also attended the law school of the Cincinnati College, Ohio, where he graduated early in 1860, and a few months later was admitted to the bar in Franklin County, Kansas. He enlisted May 13, 1861, in Company E, Second Kansas Infantry; was at once appointed First Lieutenant. The regiment was re-organized in November of that year and he was mustered out, after which he was employed in the Recruiting Service of the Government, until April, 1862. Returning to Garnett he recruited a company, which was mustered into the Eleventh Kansas Infantry, afterwards changed to cavalry. He was appointed First Lieutenant September 11, 1862, and promoted to Captain May 1, 1865, serving until mustered out August 31, 1865. Returning to Garnett, he at once resumed the practice of his profession. He was County Attorney for Anderson County from 1865 to 1870 and from 1876 to 1878, and was a member of the State Legislature in 1870 and 1871.

CONWAY MARSHALL, Sheriff of Anderson County, was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, July 23, 1840, and was reared on a farm. In the fall of 1864 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served four months. Afterward followed farming in his native county. In March, 1866, he came to Kansas, located in Jackson Township, Anderson County, and has since followed agricultural pursuits. He has a farm of 320 acres, all improved, and 120 of which are in cultivation. He also raises considerable stock. Mr. Marshall was for three years Trustee of his Township, and in the fall of 1881 was elected Sheriff on joint Greenback and Democratic ticket.

W. H. MELLEN, real estate and loan broker, was born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., August 5, 1840, where for three years he followed mercantile pursuits. He came to Kansas in August 1868, located in Franklin County and was engaged in sheep-raising near Lane for about four years, after which he removed to Greeley, Anderson County, and taught school. In the fall of 1873 he was elected Register of Deeds and served two years, after which he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the County Treasurer's office, which position he occupied a few months. In 1876 he established the Western Business Agency, to which he has given his sole attention. Since August, 1880, he has been in partnership with J. J. Houston. The agency does a large real estate, loan, and insurance brokerage business. Mr. Mellen is also interested in twenty-two mines in Colorado and does quite an extensive business as a stock-broker.

JOSEPH P. MORGAN, carriage repair shop, was born near Cleveland, Ohio, August 19, 1838. Removing with his parents when quite young to Essex, Conn., there he learned the trade of carriage-maker, and followed it as an occupation in that State. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Fourteenth Connecticut Infantry, and served three years. Mr. Morgan came to Garnett in May 1869 and at once established himself in this business. He does general repairing work and carriage painting. He is a good workman and has had twenty-six years' experience in his business.

L. H. OSBORN, of Osborn & Thomas, merchants, was born in Champaign County, Ohio, in 1846, and was reared on a farm. In August, 1866, he came to Anderson County, and followed agricultural pursuits. His farm consisted of 160 acres, was located five miles west of Garnett. He also taught school for a time. In 1875 he was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction for Anderson County on the Greenback ticket. He then moved into Garnett and filled the office for two years. In 1877 he was appointed agent for the Anderson County Co-operative Association, and managed their store at this place. In January, 1880, he purchased the business in company with his present partner, D. O. Thomas. The firm do a large business and carry a well assorted stock of about $7,000. Mr. Osborn was elected to the City Council in 1881, and has been a member of the School Board for several years.

POLLARD & PIERCE, general merchants. This business was originally established in the spring of 1870 by Crouse & Wittich, with a stock of about $1,300. In August, 1882, the business was purchased by the present firm. H. G. Pollard, the senior member of the firm, was in the employ of the old firm for some seven years, has an extensive acquaintance throughout the county, and being popular controls considerable trade. S. Pierce, his partner, is from Hagerstown, Ind., where for six years he was engaged in conducting a flax-mill. They carry a well assorted stock of goods of about $15,000 and do the leading business in Garnett.

NICHOLAS PONTIOUS, Deputy Sheriff of Anderson County, was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, November 25, 1838. There he followed agricultural pursuits, carrying on a farm of 160 acres. In September, 1869, he came to Anderson County, Kan., and farmed for seven years in Monroe Township. Afterward he opened a restaurant at Garnett and conducted it for a year. He then opened the Garnett House, which hotel he carried on for two years. Afterward gave his attention to teaming, draying, etc. During 1881 he served as Constable in the city of Garnett and in January, 1882, was appointed to his present position.

DR. G. J. ROGERS, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1827. He studied medicine at Warren, Ohio, with Prof. William Payne, attending Cleveland Medical College, and graduating there. He practiced in Ashland County for two years, then at Bowling Green, the county-seat of Wood County. In February, 1878, he came to Garnett, and for several years was engaged in the cattle business. In 1875 he embarked in the drug business, carrying it on for three years. Afterward he engaged in sheep-raising, following that business for two years, and in February, 1881, he purchased a livery stable, which business is conducted chiefly by his son, Charles M., who is a partner in the concern. The Doctor has been practicing his profession in this State since 1875.

REUBEN L. ROW, Register of Deeds of Anderson County, Kan., was born in Washington Township, Pickaway Co., Ohio, in 1840, and reared on a farm. On August 12, 1862, he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Was promoted to Second Lieutenant May 4, 1863, and to First Lieutenant March 25, 1864. He was mustered out in September, 1865, and went to Jackson County, Ind., where he was employed as overseer of a farm of 640 acres. Mr. Row came to Garnett in the spring of 1867, and was employed in various capacities for some five years, after which he followed agricultural pursuits in Washington Township. He was elected Register of Deeds in 1879, and re-elected in 1881.