Taken from History of the State of Kansas, by William G. Cutler
JAMES HAMILTON, stock-raiser, P.O. Howard, was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1842. In 1862, emigrated to America, locating in Ohio, where he was employed as bookeeper. In 1863, went to San Francisco, Cal., and was employed as bookkeeper at different places for a time, when he secured a postion in the Quartermaster's Department at Fort Biddle, Cal., remaining there nearly three years, when he was removed to Camp Halleck, Nevada, remaining there until 1870, when he, in company with another party, bought a stock of Texas cattle and came to Kansas, where they commenced feeding and shipping stock. Was located at Emporia and had a ranch in the southwest part of Lyon County, handling about 500 head per annum. He sold out his interest in Emporia and came to Howard and bought a farm of 160 acres, lying on Elk River, in Section 12, Township 30, Range 12*. Has a fine body of timber on the river, which makes a desirable place to shelter stock, and has arranged his feeding yards there to accommodate 500 head of cattle. His place is considered one of the best in Southern Kansas for stock. Has 106 acres under plow, has a fine blue grass meadow. The place is nearly all fenced with stone wall; has a fine peach orchard and small fruits; neat frame house, good barn, and only one-half mile from Howard. Besides feeding and shipping 500 head of cattle per annum, buys and ships about as many more, and raises and ships from 300 to 400 hogs per annum. Is one of the best stockmen in the State and has been very successful, starting in this county without a dollar. By close attention to business, he has made a showing which is not only a benefit to him, but to the public at large, as he is one of the largest tax-payers in the county. In 1881, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah D. Campbell, of Howard. Mr. Hamiton is a member of the Masonic order.
* This Range No. 12 that appears in the Cutler History is incorrect. According to the official records that should be Range 10. Notation made 1-25-2007.
Since his place was only about 1/2 miles from Howard, I am wondering in which direction. Am wondering who may own the property today and what the place looks like now. That was quite some undertaking if his place was nearly all fenced with stone wall at that time. Wonder if any of the stone wall may still be standing.
Something is wrong here. Township 30, Range 12 is directly north of Longton. If the legal description is right he was a lot more than 1/2 mile from Howard. Howard lies in the northeast corner of Township 30, Range 10, which is some 10 or 12 miles west of the given description. Now I am curious as to what the description should have been. If it were Township 30, Range 10, it would have been about 1/2 mile from Howard. South if it were on the river. I don't know who owns land down there now. I think the legal description should have read Range 10 instead of 12. Incidentally, the City of Howard takes up most of Section 12.
I went back and checked my copy of the biography and it states "Section 12, Township 30, Range 12." It could be that someone made a typo when transcribing this orginally from the book, or could it be an error on the plat map you are using? That leaves me scratching my head wondering......
I have been told that even the records in the Register of Deeds office are not always accurate, as the information turned in to them sometimes was incorrect.
On my municipal township map, a small part of northwest Longton Township hugs the southeast line of Howard Township.
I don't have my survey township map handy but could it be he was one-half mile from Howard Township?
Back when municipal townships were in reality miniature counties complete with their own lower level state court, people many times identified with a municipal township rather than with a town.
I am using a 1988 ownership map of Elk County. The fact that he was located on Elk River seems to indicate that he was indeed close to Howard. I think the error was probably made back when the book was made.
I don't know how he raised 500 hunrded head on 160 acres and 106 of it was crop land. That's not counting the acres the timber and river took up. ????????????????????????????????
He bought a lot of feed and hay. It sounds like he had a feed lot.
I did notice that the words "accommodate" and "per annum" were used in the bio. Maybe that would make a difference in how the bio is interpreted. (?)
I still think that's a bit off. 400 hundred head of hogs and all those cattle on that small of farm would have been very smelly. I don't think you would be able to smell the fruit trees bloom!
I think there might have been a bit of blarney included in some of the stories.
All I know is what I transcribed from my copy. Since there seems to be questions about the validity of the bio, I would like to challenge you folks to check it out. For starters, a person may check with the Register of Deeds to see what she has on record. (Of course, her data may not be 100% accurate either). This is an important lesson in genealogy research,........ never accept someone else's data as fact. (Unless they have the documentation to prove it) Always get the facts and the sources yourself.....do your own research!!!!
Lois, when this weather moderates, Janet and I are going to check out several places that I think I have seen rock walls or what is left of them. If I am right, I am so used to seeing them, that I don't see them anymore. so I can't say that there is any there. You've got me really curious now. There is one place that maybe Joanna's husband would remember. That is south of the river on the old road that went south out of Howard, crossed the river and on south. There isn't any rock there now but it is just in my memory that there used to be.
I'm not questioning what you wrote, just what was written way back when. I know how much hay, grain and time my sister uses to take care of her cattle. How would they have hauled that much grain and hay to that property?The amount of time it takes with trucks, they just used horses. It would have been feeding and hauling in supplies every day of the year becouse There's not enough grass to let them graze. If the cattle were in pens the manure would had to have been removed at some point and that would have taken lots of time.
The town of Howard takes up most of 1-30-10. 12-30-10 lies straight South of town. I own part of the SE/4 of 12-30-10 (East of the present Hwy 99). Mike Bellar owns the farm land North of me, and West of the Hwy (all South of the Elk River). It may be possible that all of these tracts combined is the land in question. The only rock walls I can remember though are on the East side along the abandoned road.
I would think the description best fits the old Barnaby place that Randy Wiseman owns (good farm land, timber shelter, and 1/2 mile from town). Not sure about the rock walls. Rock walls might have been scavenged into the road bed and bridge abutments when the old Highway 99 was built coming straight South of town. This would also be just South of the old railroad stock pens, and would have made it easy to ship a lot of hogs and cattle to a slaughter facility.
Lois has the right idea though, of going to look in the register of deeds office. Even if there was an exception to the legal description on the deed, the name would be recorded. Marty
I am glad to see that we have an interesting discussion going on. ;D Thanks, Marjean, for a little reminder of a simple math lesson. ;D (160 acres minus 106 for cultivation =54) I should have caught that, but you know, when a person types up so many of those bios, they all begin to sound quite a bit alike, and a person soons "tunes it out." And I appreciated the informative input from Marty, Wilma and Waldo. Each one is helpful in trying to piece this puzzle together.
I checked the Federal census records last night, and could not find James Hamilton in Elk County at any time. But there is no 1890 census record. So, after the records are checked in Neva's office, if further checking needs to be done, I think looking in the 1885 Decennial Kansas Census would be the next step, as that gives lots of info on farmers, etc.
Undoubtedly, that had to have been a feed lot. When the wind was in the right direction, can you just imagine the smell that the entire city of Howard had to endure?
Times have sure changed over the past 100+ years. Back then, I supppose people were really proud of all their accomplishments, hard work, efforts, etc. As it was really something to be able to own land. Nowadays, if a person owns 160 acres,------it's like "Huh? Big deal!" The social and economical standards are quite different also. I don't know if there were certain requirements that had to be included when people submiitted their bios to be printed or what, in the 1883 edition of Cutler's History, but in today's world it sounds like they were in competition for "bragging rights!"
We in the southwest part of Howard anyway, know about the feedlot smell. Bellars have a hog operation southwest of town and when the wind is right we know it is there. I don't complain about it. The Bellars are hard working people and I hope, very successful in their farming. We need more people like them.
I don't think the feedlot that would have been in the late 1800's would have a strong smell. The ranchers would drive their calves to a rail head to ship in the fall after grass season. I would think that if I had the location described, I would buy calves coming in and then feed them 60-90 days on grain and then ship them. This would put on some weight and put marbling in the meat to get a higher price at market. The railroad would probably haul them to Kansas City for slaughter and it would be a good way to get a higher value out of the grain you could raise than to just sell it. 500 calves run on stalks for 90 days would not make too bad of a smell.
The write up says that Mr. Hamilton was one of the largest tax payers in the county. He must have owned more than 160 acres for that statement to be true, because if I remember history there was no income tax at that time.
I remember reading that before the Civil War that beef was not eaten much, as there was not too much available. Hogs were the meat available. 300-400 head fattened out over a 12 month period would really not be a problem. I remember an older fellow that I used to visit with a lot fed his hogs out in an oak grove. The acorns were a good food source and the hogs finished with a lot less grain. The hogs back then were a lot different physically than what we have now and weren't fed out as heavy as they are now. Marty
In checking with the Register of Deeds office, the land description would be just south of the Elk River, on the east side of what used to be a road. (South of where Jim Barnaby used to live). Neva also believes that Mr. Hamilton had to of leased additional land to support his operation. That sounds logical to me. To me, there isn't any way 54 acres could accomodate that many cattle and hogs.
Did you get the legal description for the 160 acres? Was it the southeast quarter of the section or the northeast quarter or part of each?
We have been assuming that Mr. Hamilton ran a herd of 500 head of cattle the year round. What if he were only acting as the agent for moving that many head of cattle, a few at a time, from the farms, holding them for shipping. Or perhaps buying them from the farmers, feeding them for awhile, then shipping them? Didn't I read someplace that there used to be a shipping yard in the south part of Howard?
I am going to my maps and see if I can ascertain where Jim Barnaby used to live. Wish me luck.
Jim owned the old house that is just South of Randy and Patty Wiseman's (East of the cemetary). I believe it would be the South 1/2 of the Northwest and the North 1/2 of the Southwest Quarters of Section 12. The Elk River runs through the tract.
I think the house became unlivable at the time of the 1976 flood, and I don't know if it even exists anymore. I remember going there when Wayne and Juanita were still at home. It lay North of the River and flooded on a regular basis.
The old shipping pens for the railroad were just North of the intersection of the road South of the fairgrounds and the road that runs East of the cemetary.
Marty
Thank you, Marty. With that description, I can find it. Do you know who owns it now?
Randy and Patty Wiseman combined it with her folks place (John Martin). The Martin place would be the North 1/2 of the Northwest quarter. Most of Barnaby's place lay South of the river, but the house and it seems like a barn and a set of pens was on the North side of the river.
I have an old history of Kansas book (1906 I think), but it is in a storage unit since our move. There is a lot on Elk County in it, and maybe there is something about Mr. Hamilton. Hopefully, when we figure out a place for that stuff I can look in it. Is there anything in the History of Howard book?
Maybe it is time to start another thread, but when I was in junior high, I looked up Howard, KS in an old reference book. The book was old, but it said that Howard was known for the production of veterinary medicine. Has anyone ever seen anything about this type of enterprise in town? I have dug pop bottles with Howard's name, but never a medicine bottle.
I found it. The east side of the 160 acres lay along the road that went south out of Howard before the highway was moved to the east side of town. Does anyone remember when that happened? My 1954 map shows the new highway but I seem to remember that in 1948 we were still using the old bridge.
The railroad also ran through this 160. And I think I am right that there used to be a stone wall along the east side. I won't rest until I have looked at all of it that I can. Isn't there an old loading chute still at the site of the loading pens?
I was at the cemetery this morning and came across a stone for a James J. Hamilton. It says he died 07-01-1898 and was aged 49 years and 2 months. His wife's name was Martha Chesney and it shows a birth date of 02-09-1850 with no date of death. There is a masonic emblem on the stone.
I realize this is probably not the same person, but there might be some type of connection.
Wilma, I drove down towards the old Barnaby place this morning and took the time to look. I do not see any of the buildings remaining. In the early 70's the bridge was still used somewhat. The road going up the bluff South was often not passable and not used a lot, but they still used the flatter part of the road for a while to access the Barber place (West side of the road and South of the Cemetery). With the leaves off of the trees, you can get a pretty good view of the 160 acres. I am wondering if Patrick Perkins' house on the bluff was a part of the 160 acres. Marty
I was told that Pat Criger had built a house on the hill top, south of the Barnaby place.
Thanks, Marty, for checking amd letting me know. Did you see any remnants of a rock wall? Does anyone know when the rock wall on the east side of the cemetery was built? I am wondering if some of the rocks might have come from Mr. Hamilton's place. I need for this weather to warm up and dry up so Janet can take me for a drive.
That road that went south from the cemetery used to look as if it went straight up. I think it might have been the source of my dreams of trying to drive straight up a hill. I am talking almost a 90 degree angle. Haven't had one of those for awhile. About the only time I was on the south side of town was when we were on our way out to the old Weyrauch place while Grandma Weyrauch was still alive and Uncle John still lived there. I was raised on the flat lands in Sedgwick and Sumner Counties and these hills were just amazing to me when we moved over here in 1947.
If James J. Hamilton was 49 in 1898, he would have been about 28 when he settled in Lyons County. Possibly 30 yrs old when he came to Elk county. Sounds as if the age would have been right for our Mr. Hamilton. He should be on the 1890 census.
Pat Criger did build a house on top of the hill south of the cemetery. I just don't know if it is on the east side of the road or the west side. There is also a double wide, I think, that is east of the Criger house. Unfortunately, I don't know who owns what or lives where. I think we need Janet.
Pat Criger built the A-frame house on the top of the bluff. You are right about the old road being about straight up and down. I remember trying to drive it in dad's 1963 scout pickup and you had to dodge ruts and rocks every time it rained. It came up at the top of the hill where Gary Hebb lives. Pat's house is on the East side of the road, and it is now owned by Patrick Perkins. You are right, there is a double wide up there also. Both houses lay just North of the cable TV tower.
I did not see any rock fence, but I did not go down very far South. We could ask Patty Wiseman if she knows of a fence, or maybe we could ask Randy and Patty if we could go on the property and look around when it dries up (or freezes up).
If the houses are on the east side of the old road, then they are probably on the 160 that was Hamilton's or just south of it. My map shows that the south boundary of the 160 is even with a road that goes west from the old cemetery road. Having been up there only once, I can't remember just how it is. This 1954 landowner's map shows L. B. Fleak as the owner of the 160, G. V. Denton owning the 80 just south of it and Sarah Harris owning the 160 west across the road from it. The newer 1988 (but about to fall to pieces) map shows Gerald D. Hubbell as owner of the 160 and Ruth Barber owning the one across the road. These names familiar to you?
I have a 2006 rural directory. The Denton property is now owned by the descendents of Dorothy Pagan (Gladys Denton's daughter). The Barber place is now owned by Caroline Moore. The Barnaby place I think was run by Jerry Hubbell at one time, so he may have owned it when your map came out.
I ran into Wayne Barnaby yesterday and asked if he remembered rock fences. He said that there used to be parts of rock fences on the North line and there were some fences on the "third hill" on the South side of the property.
Maybe my memory isn't just playing tricks on me. Would that have been around 1960? That is the only time I can remember having a reason for being at the cemetery.
Marty,
When you say you ran into Wayne Barnaby yesterday, did you mean the Wayne Barnaby like in Wayne and Waunita, the twins? The Barnaby kids that went to school when I went to school.
Janet,
The one and only. Wayne lives in Tennessee and I believe he is going to join up with this forum when he gets home. Marty
Well, what in the world was he doing in Kansas? I have heard that he has done well for himself in Tennessee. I hope he does join. That will be fun.
He was in Moran working with a friend. He called me at work and then we were able to meet up at Poplar Pizza in the evening. Very good to see him, and yes from what I could tell he has done quite well. He came in dressed in a suit that made my lowly banker clothes feel kind of shabby. Cool isn't it?
I remember rock fences on the north side of the Denton farm. Grandma Gladys and I once walked the north border of the property from the Cable TV Tower back to the old house. She would get upset when she would find places where the fence had been torn apart, I seem to remember she said that coon hunters would tear apart the fences to get to the coons.
Do you think there is any of the fence left? Could you take some pictures and share them?
I won't be back in Howard until July, but if anyone wants permission to get on the property, check with Ted Winn and tell him I said it would be OK. Otherwise, I'll be sure to see what is left and post some pictures later this summer. Kevin