HISTORY OF RILEY COUNTY...Part 14

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES (MORGAN - WILLIAMS).
GEORGE S. MORGAN was born in 1858 in Fredericksburg, Va., and in 1862 he accompanied his parents to Washington, D. C. He received his education in the common schools and subsequently learned the trade of barber. He remained in the capital until June 14, 1881, when he removed to Kansas, locating in this city, where he shortly afterward opened a first class tonsorial establishment., on Poyntz Avenue, which he still continues. October 10, 1879, Mr. Morgan married Miss Hermine Strong, of Farmville, Va. He is a charter member and secretary of the Corinthian Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and takes a lively interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of his adopted State.

JOSEPH M. MYERS, Sheriff of Riley County, was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, December 17, 1843. When he was a year old, his parents moved to Hancock County, Ill. where they lived until 1859. In 1858 his father had located a homestead in Riley County, and returning to Illinois for his family, sickened and died. The family, however, followed his intentions and settled on the homestead chose, where the widowed mother still resides. Enlisted August 11, 1862, in Company A, Ninth Kansas, as a private, and served until the close of the war, in the Army of the Frontier. After the war he returned to the farm, where he continued until 1881, when he was elected Sheriff of the county, which office he now fills with ability. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and G. A. R. He was married in January 1868, at Paola, to Miss Belle White. They have five children - Mattie, born May 1, 1869; Josephine, born October 10, 1871; Phoebe, born November 9, 1877; Dollie, born December 13, 1879; and Louis, born December 17, 1881.

E. L. PATEE, M. D., was born in Oxford, Delaware County, Ohio, February 23, 1832. He was educated at the Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating in the scientific course in 1849. Was a student one year at the Eclectic Medical College, Cincinnati, and for two years at Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, graduating therefrom in the class of 1852. Afterwards he took a one term course at a Homoeopathic Medical College in Cleveland. He began the practice of his profession at Portland, Meigs County, Ohio, in the fall of 1853, where he continued until January, 1854, when he settled and practiced a year, and took a past graduate course at Miama Medical College. In the fall of 1855 he came to Kansas, taking a homestead at Ashland, in Riley County, and the following year moved his family to the State where he had determined to make his home. He came with the Cincinnati Colony, but left the boat at Kansas City, purchased a team, and came the remainder of the way overland. April 14, 1861, he entered the Second Kansas Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned First Assistant Surgeon. Was mustered into the United States service, June 20, 1861. After the battle of Wilsons Creek and the death of Gen. Lyon, the troops with which he served retreated to Rolla. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles W. Blair ordered him to remove the sick and wounded to St. Louis. His train arrived at night with the suffering men, covered with dust and overpowered with heat. Working all night, he succeeded in dressing the wounds and caring for all his men. Gen. Fremont visited the hospital early in the day, and detecting the marvelous energy and power of the man, ordered him not to return to the front, but placed him in charge of the hospital - New House of Refuge. In July, at his personal request, he was again ordered to the front. Gen. Blunt gave him detached service until September, and then ordered him to report at his headquarters at Fort Scott. He was promoted to be Surgeon, rank of Major, September 19, 1862, and was Medical Director of Blunts army, until July, 1863, when he was detailed upon the staff of Gov. Kearney, ranking as Colonel. In this capacity he helped organize the Fifth and Fourteenth Kansas regiments. He served until the close of the war, and then returned to his practice at Manhattan, where he has been in continuous practice since, and ranks as one of the best surgeons in Kansas. He is purely eclectic in his practice, counseling all schools of practice. He has held several important civil offices. In 1867 he was appointed Clerk of the District Court for Davis County, then attached to Riley for judicial purposes, which position he held by appointment and election for four years. In 1864 he was elected Treasurer of Riley County, and re-elected in 1866, holding the office four years. He has also been Coroner of the county several terms. He is a member of the Masonic order, and of the I. O. O. F., G. A. R., and K. of L. He was married September 22, 1852, in Morgan County, Ohio, to Miss Cynthia A. Dye. They have three children - Alice (Mrs. Dickens), Clarence and Henry, all grown up and away from the parental homestead.

JOHN PIPHER, farmer, P. O. Manhattan, is one of the first settlers of the place, and has been active in every improvement of the city. he was born in Chester County, Pa., August 26, 1811. At the age of twenty-one years he went to Harrisburg, Pa. and learned the trade of tobacconist. Here he worked three years and then went to New Lisbon, Ohio, where he lived seven years, and finally to Cincinnati, where he spent eleven years, where we find him in the spring of 1855, preparing to emigrate to the then young territory of Kansas. A company of seven persons, of which Mr. Pipher was one, purchased a steamboat, the Hartford, and started with a colony of Cincinnatians, intending to locate at or near the mouth of the Republican River near Fort Riley. Leaving Cincinnati in the latter part of April, the steamer made St. Louis in four days. Here a delay of several days took place in trying to secure a pilot, the Missouri River pilot refusing to navigate an abolition boat. Finally leaving St. Louis, they made Kansas City in nine days. The Kaw River being low, the boat was unable to proceed at once, and Mr. Pipher, with two others of the colony and a surveyor, purchased a team, and traveled overland to a point where Junction City now stands, and began surveying the contemplated town which they had determined before leaving Cincinnati to name Manhattan. Finally the boat was started up the Kaw, and after a long and tedious passage, reached the mouth of the Blue River. Here they landed in response to an invitation of a colony from Boston, which they found occupying the land, and after consulting with them, Mr. Pipher and his associates at Fort Riley were sent for and a consolidation of the two colonies finally effected, the Boston Company taking the lands north of Poyntz Avenue, the Cincinnati colony south of that street, amounting in all to over 1,400 acres. The Boston Company, by their very liberal management, had thus secured a powerful ally, avoided a formidable rival, secured building material, the Hartford having on board ten frame houses complete, and more then all, the use of the steamboat designed to run regularly between the new settlement and the Eastern markets. But the boat was destined to never again leave the Kansas River. On her return trip the river had become so low that she was laid up at St. Marys Mission to await the flood from the autumn rain. While lying against the bank of the river, a prairie fire, probably set by two Indians, that the mate had driven from the boat for begging tobacco, swept over the country, leaped on board, and before aught could be done to arrest the flames, the Hartford was a smouldering (sic) ruin. The boat had cost the company $7,000; was insured for $3,500 and this, together with $300 derived from the sale of boilers, was all the company realized from their investment. The bell, with which the pilot was wont to control her movements, was afterward recovered, and is still doing good service in the tower of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Manhattan. The Cincinnati Company having by the terms of settlement been allowed the honor of naming the future city. After the settlement had been effected, Mr. Pipher became a leader in every enterprise, looking to the future development of the place. For a year he was engaged entirely as a resident agent of the Cincinnati Company, being the only one of the capitalists that had a permanent residence here. Although afterward, one of the company, A. J. Mead, lived here for several years. At the end of the first year Mr. Pipher began business as a merchant, which he continued for some dozen years or more. In 1855, on the organization of the town, he was appointed Justice of the Peace by Gov. Reeder, and by appointment and re-election held the office for five years. He was also elected Mayor in the year of the settlement, and Colonel of a regiment designed to protect the State from the inroads of the border ruffians of Missouri . Mr. Pipher was appointed postmaster, the first for Manhattan, in 1855, and held the office for several years. In 1860 he was elected Probate Judge of Riley County, and continued to be re-elected until 1868 when he declined a re-election. The judge is a man foremost in every good work. He has been a member of the methodist Episcopal Church for more than fifty-eight years, and an officer thereof for more than half a century. He organized the first Methodist Episcopal Society of Manhattan while on board the steamer Hartford, before they had left the Ohio River. He has been a member of the I. O. O. F. since he was twenty years of age, having by dispensation of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania been admitted to a membership before his majority, and for the last twelve years he has been Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Kansas; has also been Deputy Grand master. He has belonged to all temperance organizations, and is still an active temperance worker. He has frequently been Police Judge of the city, and in 1878 was elected Mayor for his last term, although the people are liable to honor him in the same way at any election. The judge has been twice married, living with his first wife for twenty years, and with the present Mrs. Pipher for a period of upward of thirty years in all, in double harness. His two surviving children - John W. and Mrs. George T. Brown, are married and living in Manhattan, and the judge is hale and hearty, and surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is passing his last years peacefully and in comfort, loved and respected by the whole community of his beloved Manhattan.

JEFFERSON ROBINSON, M. D., was born in Bath, Steuben County, N. Y., May 4, 1835. When he was five years old his parents moved to Chicago. At the age of fourteen years he went to Rome, Wis., and worked at the wood turners trade until his majority was passed. Entered Rush Medical College, and abandoned the college to enter the army, September 6, 1861, in Company I, Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a private. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant, Fifty-fourth United States Colored Infantry, March 2, 1865, and was discharged from service in August, 1866. He returned to Chicago and re-entered Rush Medical College, from whence he graduated in the class of 1867. March 9 of the same year he came to Kansas and settled at Manhattan, where he has been practicing since. He is also the proprietor of a very fine drug store in the city, located on Poyntz Avenue. He has been a member of the City Council, belongs to the Masonic order, and has attained to the Royal Arch degree. He was married in February, 1867, at Milwaukee, Wis., to Miss Mary E. Burnell, who has borne him three children - Charles Nash, born February 19, 1869; Stanley R., born February 28, 1874, and Elsie M., born November 20, 1879.

E. M. SHELTON, professor of agriculture, in the Kansas Agricultural College, and editor of the Industrialist, was born in England, August 7, 1846. At the age of eight years his parents emigrated with him to America, settling in Western New York. In 1860 they moved to Shiawasse County, Mich. Mr. Shelton was educated in the Michigan Agricultural College, graduating in the class of 1871. Immediately after graduation, he was employed by the Japanese Government to make a collection of pure blood horses, cattle, sheep and swine, amounting to five car loads, which, together with agricultural implements, etc., he accompanied to that empire, and for a year was the superintendent of an experimental farm near Tokio (sic). At the end of the year, having lost his health in the unfavorable climate, he returned to Colorado and settled at Greeley, and became a farmer, remaining there one year. In 1874 he was elected to his professorship, and has been in charge of the State farm ever since. In 1879 he was elected to the same chair in the Michigan Agricultural College, but remained in the Kansas Institution. He has been editor of the college paper since 1878. Was married December 24, 1874, to Miss Elizabeth E. Sessions, of Ionia, Mich. They have two children - Frank, born in 1877, and Mary, born in 1879.

ALBERT TODD, A. M., First lieutenant, First Artillery, United States Army, and professor of military science in the Kansas Agricultural College, was born in Rhode Island, October 21, 1854. In 1856 his parents removed to Kansas, settling in Riley County. At an early age he entered the Kansas Agricultural College, graduating with the class of 1872. The following year Hon. William A. Philips, Member of Congress of the First Kansas District, appointed him to a Cadetship at the Military Academy, whence he graduated in due course, in the class of 1877, standing number five in a class of seventy-six. He was immediately after his graduation appointed Second Lieutenant in the First Artillery, and was stationed at Fort Adams, Rhode Island, was was afterward transferred to the school of artillery and practice at Fortress Monroe, Va. In July, 1881, he was detailed by Secretary Lincoln as instructor of military science in the Kansas Agricultural College. He was promoted to First Lieutenant, First Artillery, in April, 1882, and is now in his second years work in the college.

H. A. YOUNG & CO., dealers in lumber and all kinds of building material, Manhattan, Kan.

THOMAS E. WILLIAMS, druggist, was born in Kenton County, Ky., December 11, 1851. In 1855, his parents removed to Ashland Township, then Davis, but now a part of Riley County, where they still reside. Entered the Kansas Agricultural College where he was a student for two years. Returning to his farm, he remained until 1879, when he went into business with Robinson & Little as clerk, and continued with them and their successor, Dr. Robinson, until August, 1882, when he formed a partnership with Dr. Little, under the firm name of T. E. Williams & Co., and opened present business on his own account. They have a splendid store, and a fine trade. He was married, May 6, 1872, to Miss Octavia Westbrook, of Riley County. They have one child - Ada Florence.


MISCELLANEOUS.
JOHN F. BECKMAN, merchant, was born in Hanover, Germany, December 9, 1846. In 1863, he and his brother, C. W. Beckman, came to America, locating at Leavenworth, Kan. After passing a few years in a clerkship at Leavenworth, he engaged in the mercantile business on his own account, at Randolph, Kan., October 1, 1870. By close attention to business his trade rapidly increased, until, in 1879, he erected a spacious and commodious business house for his use. January 1, 1882, he took into partnership with himself, C. W. Beckman, under the firm name of John F. Beckman & Brother, and their business now ranks third in Riley County. He is a genial and cultured gentleman; a careful business man, and a good citizen. He belongs to the Masonic order, being a member of Farmers Lodge, No. 166, Randolph, Manhattan Chapter and Topeka Commandery. He was married, April 19, 1872, to Miss Anna Louisa Grall, of Randolph, and has apparently settled down into a permanent resident of this place.

J. CRANS, M. D., Riley Center, was born in Orange County, N. Y., August 6, 1842. He was educated at Middletown Academy. Prepared to enter college, but the war coming on, he abandoned the halls of education for the field. He enlisted in September, 1862, in Company B of the One Hundred and Ninth New York Volunteer Infantry. After serving three months as a private, he was promoted to Hospital Steward United States Army. Served three years and resigned at Mobil, Ala., in the spring of 1865. He commenced the study of medicine when but fifteen years of age, attended one course of lectures at Georgetown, D. C., and continued it after leaving the army, in Chicago, Ill., where he resided five years attending lectures. He then came to Riley Center in 1870. Finding that thee was but little sickness in this healthy and thinly settled country, he commenced raising stock, which business he has been engaged in extensively up to the present time. In 1878 Riley Center had begun to boom, and being much in the need of a drug store, the doctor built his present cozy little building, and filled it with a choice line of pure drugs and medicines. During the winter of 1879-80, he attended another course of lectures at Keokuk, Iowa, where he graduated with high honors, and returned to Riley Center, where he has established a large practice, and is recognized by the medical fraternity of Kansas as one of the most promising young doctors in the State. He belongs to the Masonic order, having attained to thirty-two degrees. Is a member of the Chicago Consistory. He was married at Chicago, Ill., May 6, 1866, to Miss Edith C. Landall. They have two children - Eulila, born July 1, 1871, and Daisy, born February 28, 1881.

CYRUS FOLTZ, County Commissioner of Riley County, P. O. Manhattan, was born in Franklin County, Pa., January 18, 1833. In 1855 moved to Fulton County, Ill., engaged in the trade until the spring of 1857, when he moved to Shawnee County, Kan., where he resided until the fall of 1864, when he moved back to Abingdon, Knox County, Ill., engaged in trade as druggist and grocer. In the spring of 1867 he returned to Kansas, settling in Riley County on a farm in Zeandal Township, then a part of Wabaunsee County, where he still resides. During the Rebellion he was in the employ of the Quartermaster's Department of the army for one year. he is a member of the Knights of Honor. He was married July 4, 1860, at Auburn, Kan., to Miss Helen M. Thomas, who bore him five children. Mrs. Foltz died in March, 1866, and he again, August 23, 1877, entered the marriage state, allying himself with Miss Mattie E. Whitney, of Riley County. They have one child - Mildred, born March 14, 1882.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM GORDON, farmer, P. O. Bala, was born in Ireland, February 6, 1833. He came to America in 1847, joining his parents who had preceded him in Philadelphia. They lived in Montgomery County, Pa., in 1851, at Philadelphia. He enlisted in the United States Army, and was assigned to Company I of the First Dragoons. He served in New Mexico until the expiration of his term of enlistment, being discharged from Fort Thornton. He returned to Weston, Mo., and was soon afterwards employed in the Quartermasters Department of the Army of Fort Leavenworth. He was sent to Fort Riley, where he continued in Government employ from July, 1856, to August, 1858. He then settled on a farm in Township 9, Range 4, being in Riley County, where he lived until the spring of 1860. He spent the summer of that year in Colorado, returning in the fall. In December, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company F of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry Regiment. After a months service he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of the Company, was promoted to First Lieutenant in July, 1862, and to Captain soon after; he served two years, and was forced to resign on account of disability from wounds and disease. He returned to Riley County and settled on a farm in Township 9, Range 5, where he is still living, engaged in farming and stock-raising. He is well-fixed and raises cattle, horses and swine. He was Township Trustee in 1866. He is a member of the Masonic order and the Grand Army of the Republic. He was married April 6, 1861, in Riley County, to Miss Jane Thompson. They have five children - Ellen May, John Ross, Katie Belle, William Robey, and Rutherford B. Hayes. The Captain and his excellent wife have reared two orphan children of a soldier, whose parents died during the war. They have just past their majority, and have been kindly cared for and are good children.

J. H. JENKINS, druggist, Bala, was born in Wales, November 6, 1840. He was educated at New Kingswood College, Bath, England. After graduating, he was engaged in the service of various banking-houses of Wales and England as accountant and teller. IN 1868 he resigned his position as receiving teller in the Provincial Bank of England and came to America, settling at Utica, N. Y., where he was employed for a year as accountant in the wholesale drug trade by Comstock Bros. In 1870 he came to Kansas, living six months in Osage County, and settling in the fall of that year in Bala, Riley County, he established a drug store, and in the spring of 1882 opened another at Leonard. Both of these store he still owns, and does a thriving trade in both . Is also engaged in real estate and loan business. He was married April 9, 1872, to Miss Elizabeth H. Jenkins, of Riley County. They have one child - Isaac John, born October 1, 1882. Has probably the most extensive notary public practice in the county.

R. H. MOODY, P. O. Vinton, was born in North Carolina, May 10, 1822. Began to preach at the age of twenty-one. Preached eight years in Caldwell County, N. C. Was educated at Furman University, in Greenville, S. C. Taught school in the academy at Waynesville, N. C., six years, and preached on Sunday till the war commenced; then returned to his farm in North Carolina, where he continued to preach during the war. Went and preached some time in Livingston County, Mo. returned home and preached till 1877; then removed to Kansas and engaged in farming and preaching. Preached some months in Carroll County, Mo. Was married in Caldwell County, N. C., to Miss B. B. Chambers, a native of Illinois. They never had but sixteen children - John (deceased), Mary E., Nancy F., Jane E., Cynthia E., William E., Robert H., Thomas L. (deceased), Marcus D., James N., Caleb J., Rachel B. (deceased), Joseph C., Sarah L., Josephine C., Horace A. Nine of the family are members of the Baptist Church. William, James and Caleb are now at William Jewel College, Mo.

SOLOMON SECREST, farmer and merchant, Randolph, was born in Canton Zurich, Switzerland, December 30, 1834. In 1846 his parents removed to Jackson County, Ind., where he lived until September, 1856, when he moved to Kansas, settling on a claim a few miles up Fancy Creek, where he still resides. Mr. Secrest is owner of one of the best farms in Kansas. In 1864 he built a large stone dwelling-house, the first one built on the creek, hauling the lumber, shingles, etc., from the Missouri River. In 1864 he served in the Kansas State Militia in a campaign against the Indians of Western Kansas. From 1869 to 1873 he was one of the Justices of the Peace for Jackson Township. In 1879 he opened a general store in Randolph, where he is ably assisted by his son, John. Mr. Secrest still makes farming and stock-raising his chief business. IN March, 1861, he was married to Miss Melvina Dealy, of Marshall County. They have six children living - Cara, John, Edwin, William, Emma and Viola. Mr. Secrest is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the neat little church adjoining his farm was built largely by his aid and influence. In politics he is a Republican, sharing in the struggle then existing to make Kansas a Free-State, and he now has the satisfaction of seeing the young commonwealth grow both thrifty and populous.

WILLIAM H. SIKES, merchant, Leonardville, was born in Du Page County, Ill., August 1, 1858. His father was a minister of the Congregational Church, and consequently often moved from place to place. The youth of Mr. Sikes was spent in Michigan until 1870, when his parents removed to Kansas. He was educated at the Kansas Agricultural College, graduating in the class of 1879. After graduation, he taught in the public schools of Wamego one year, and then, in partnership with Mr. Landon, opened a store of general merchandise at the town of Garrison. In 1881 Mr. Sikes bought the interest of his partner, and soon after removed the stock to the new town of Leonard, Riley County, where we still find him in business. He resigned the postmastership at Garrison on removing to Leonard. He is also, in addition to his other business, engaged in the live-stock trade, buying, shipping and selling in the Eastern market. He does a good business, and is a rising man.