Creswell Archimedes Calhoun Waller (1839-1920)

Portrait from the Greenwood Evening Index, March 3, 1910

   As has become the custom the past five years, the final posting of the year is devoted to an especially odd named political figure, and of the hundred or so names featured here over the past year, Creswell Archimedes Calhoun Waller is by far the most unusual. Odd name notwithstanding, Waller was for over five decades a business and political power player in Greenwood, South Carolina, eventually seeing that city become the county seat of Greenwood County in 1897. A one-term member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Waller won election as the first state senator from Greenwood after it became a county and later was elected to a second term. In addition to politics, Waller also had a lasting impact as an educational benefactor, being a prime mover in the Lander Female College's move to Greenwood, and was a member of that institution's board of trustees.

  The son of Albert and Jane Elizabeth (Creswell) Waller, Creswell Archimedes Calhoun "Criss" Waller was born in Greenwood on June 22, 1839. Receiving his first name as it was his mother's maiden name, Waller was given his two middle names in honor of Greek mathematician and academic Archimedes and former Vice-President John C. Calhoun, who at the time of Waller's birth was serving as U.S. Senator from South Carolina. One of eleven children, Waller wouldn't be the only child in the family blessed with a curious name, with his brothers Peleus Augustus, Codrus, and Cadmus Garlington Waller receiving unusual names of their own. Referred to by family and friends as "Criss", Waller's formative education took place in Greenwood (then a part of the Abbeville district), and in the late 1850s enrolled at Furman University in Greenville. 

  "Criss" Waller would graduate from Furman in 1860 with his Master of Arts Degree, and in the year following volunteered for service in Co. F. (Secession Guards) of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. His time with that unit saw him in action "through the campaigns of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Georgia, as a member of McLaws division and Longstreet's corps, up to and including the battle of Chickamauga." Waller's war service from 1861-1863 saw him in action at several of the war's most heated battles, including the First Battle of Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, both battles of Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, the Battle of the Crater, Deep Bottom, and Mechanicsville. Nearly killed by an unexploded shell at Mechanicsville, Waller carried the bullet with him for the remainder of his life and was put out of service for six weeks of recuperation. 

  Having been promoted to captain following meritorious service at the battle of the Crater, Waller was later made a second lieutenant in the 64th Georgia Infantry, with which he would serve through the remainder of the war. In February 1864 Waller took part in the Battle of Ocean Pond in Florida and during that engagement lost his elder brother, Peleus Augustus Waller. Criss Waller was subsequently promoted to first lieutenant in his brother's stead, and in December 1864 was made commander of Co. G of the 64th Georgia Infantry. In April 1865 Waller surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse with the remainder of his company, and in addition to his brother Peleus, suffered the death of two other brothers during wartime, Robert Aurelius and James Leonard.

  After his discharge from service, Criss Waller married on February 1, 1866, to Mary Elizabeth Vance (1845-1927), to whom he was wed for over fifty years. The couple would remain childless. Returning to Greenwood in the year of his marriage, Waller found the town markedly changed from when he last saw it, with the "community depressed and conditions unfavorable for business enterprises." Resolving to make his name in local business, Waller joined with his brother Cadmus and I.V. Gaillard in establishing a mercantile firm in Greenwood, and after purchasing Gaillard's interest in the business the firm (now called Waller and Waller) "was the first to buy a car of South Carolina fertilizer here." 

   In addition to merchandising Waller was a real estate broker in Greenwood and held a keen interest in the layout of Greenwood's roads and landscape. A firm adherent to the original town square/plaza layout for the town, Waller saw the need for an improved road system, advocating for the opening of new streets, which in turn would connect to the "bigger field of railroads." This, in turn, would lead to a railway route between Greenwood and Augusta, Georgia, with the eventual construction and opening of the Knoxville and Augusta Railroad, which was completed in 1882.

   Creswell A.C. Waller began his political career at the local level, being elected as intendant (mayor) of Greenwood in 1872. He would serve at least three more terms in that office in 1879, 1886, and 1887, and in 1888 was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives from the Abbeville District. Waller's service in the 1889-91 session saw him sit on the committee on Railroads and in 1890 made an unsuccessful run for the state senate, being defeated by Confederate veteran and incumbent senator Robert Reid Hemphill by just 75 votes. Though his senate candidacy may have come to naught, his previous service in the house was lauded in the April 9, 1890 issue of the Abbeville Press and Banner, which notes that:

"Since his election, his work in that honorable body has fully developed that fact. His untiring efforts in behalf of reform and retrenchment were commendable in an eminent degree and should be rewarded with the highest County position. He is a close observer, deep thinker, good reasoner, hard worker, liberal in his views of economy and fearless in giving vent to his thoughts for the good of the whole people."

From the Abbeville Press and Banner, April 9, 1890.

   With his boosting for improved roads and the overall layout of Greenwood, Criss Waller was a firmly established figure in that town in 1897 when it was officially made the county seat of then recently formed Greenwood County, developed from portions of Abbeville and Edgefield Counties. With the establishment of Greenwood County (and three other counties) in early 1897, the citizens of these new areas were allowed to elect their first senators and representatives to the state legislature, and that year Creswell A.C. Waller was the man selected by the Greenwood citizenry as their first state senator.

  Elected for a session that initially began in January 1897, Waller took his seat during the start of the second session of the Senate which began in January 1898, and served until 1900. Named as chairman of the committee on Enrolled Bills, Waller also sat on the committees on Claims and Grievances, Finance, Immigration, and Privileges and Elections. During his first senate term, Waller proved invaluable when it came to the field of local education, serving as chairman of the board of trustees for the Greenwood graded schools, and is remarked as "really the founder of the present graded school system of Greenwood."

   Waller's dedication to education saw his name forever connected to the history of the Lander College, originally named the Williamston Female College. This all-female university in Williamston, South Carolina had been established in 1872, and during his term, Waller became a prominent booster for the relocation of the college to Greenwood, to aid in "educational opportunities for women" in the still young county. With the backing of other distinguished Greenwood citizens, Waller's work paid off, and in the early 1900s college founder Samuel Lander agreed to the move, with the college, now called Lander College, opening its doors in 1904. A member of that college's board of trustees for a number of years, Lander's Waller Hall was named in his honor. Lander College (now Lander University) is still in existence today and in 1943 became a co-ed institution.

   In 1908 Waller was returned to the state senate for a second term, and during the 1909-13 session chaired the Federal Relations committee and was a member of the committees on Claims and Grievances, Contingent Accounts, and the Dispensary. Criss Waller continued residence in Greenwood following his last Senate term and would have a popular thoroughfare in the city, Waller Avenue, named after him. Curiously, Waller is also recorded as having fancied cats, reportedly keeping 30 or so cats on his property. Shortly before his death, Criss Waller was discovered unconscious in his room and was admitted to the Greenwood Hospital, where he succumbed, "following an attack of urina", on May 5, 1920, aged 80.  He was survived by his wife Mary "Molly" Vance Waller and was interred at the Magnolia Cemetery in that city.

Waller's birthdate is misgiven in his obit from the Abbeville Press and Banner, May 7, 1920.

Abalino Cutler Bardwell (1844-1920)

From the Memorials of Deceased Companions of the Commandery of the State of Illinois.

   A native son of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, Abalino Cutler Bardwell migrated to Illinois with his family during childhood and as an adult grew to become a man of prominence in the county of Lee, being a veteran of the Civil War, a newspaper publisher, and an attorney. In the mid-1870s, he was elected as State's Attorney for Lee County, and in the twilight of his life was appointed as master in chancery for the circuit court of Lee County.

   Abalino C. Bardwell was the son of Dr. George and Julia A. Bardwell and was born in Conneautville, Pennsylvania on October 23, 1844. The 1904 history of Lee County, Illinois relates that the Bardwell family was removed from Pennsylvania to Prophetstown, Illinois in 1853, and the then nine-year-old Abalino Bardwell received his primary schooling in Whiteside County. He would later begin the study of law in Dixon in 1864, and in that same year was called upon for military service, later raising a company of men (Company G.) for the 147th Volunteer Infantry regiment. Bardwell was elected as captain of this company and during his service was appointed as "Provost Marshall of the First Brigade, Second Separate Division, Army of the Cumberland", occupying this post in the towns of Resaca, Americus, and Savannah, Georgia. While stationed in Savannah Bardwell was connected with the Department of Georgia's  "Bureau of Freedman, Refugees and Abandoned Lands".

   Abalino Bardwell was mustered out of service in January of 1866 and returned home to Illinois. Soon after his return, he recommenced with his law studies and in September of 1867 was admitted to practice by the Illinois bar. Shortly afterward he began a practice in the town of Rochelle, but "owing to impaired health shortly after abandoned it", according to the 1897 Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois. Bardwell returned to Dixon, Illinois sometime later and in February of 1868 entered into publishing, establishing a weekly newspaper entitled the "Dixon Weekly Herald", which was later merged with another city paper in 1869. This paper continued under Bardwell's stewardship until 1871 when he relinquished control of it to return to practicing law.

  On November 16, 1871, Bardwell married in Dixon to Clara Utley (died 1897), and this couple later became the parents to three children: Henry Utley (1873-1920), Edward Cutler (died in infancy in 1876), and William M. (birth-date unknown.) Five years following his marriage Bardwell won election as State's Attorney of Lee County, Illinois, serving in this office from November of 1876 to 1880. He would later be appointed as a Master in Chancery of the Lee County Circuit Court, beginning in 1899. In the early 1900s, Bardwell served as the editor of a lengthy work entitled The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Lee County, eventually seeing the book published in 1904. 

  During the latter portion of his life, Bardwell spent the winter months in Florida and in December 1919 fell ill. Henry Utley Bardwell later brought his father back to Illinois, where he died on January 30, 1920, at age 75. Although an exact burial location for both Abalino and his wife could be found, it is presumed they were buried at a cemetery somewhere in the confines of their native Lee County, Illinois.

From the Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Lee County, 1897.

Fredonia Ellsworth Holloway (1867-1920)

Portrait from the History of the Republican Party of Indiana, 1899.

   For today's post, we visit Evansville, Indiana, and one of that city's more oddly named residents--Fredonia Ellsworth Holloway. Mr. Holloway is truly obscure, so much so that a date of death or place of death originally couldn't be found for him. Since discovering his name several months ago (courtesy of an Indiana Legislative roster from 1895), little else has been found regarding his life, although I do get a chuckle out of the fact that his odd first name is also the name of a small town here in this author's home county of Chautauqua, New York.

  Born in Martin County, Indiana on March 23, 1867, Fredonia E. Holloway was the son of the Rev. James B. Holloway and Eleanor Jackman, who had immigrated to Indiana from Ohio some years previously. Research is also inconclusive as to why Holloway received the unusual first name "Fredonia",  as the Holloway family has no connection to the town of Fredonia, New York mentioned in the opening of this article. "Fred" Holloway, as some sources list him, attended school in Martin County and later enrolled at Ft. Worth University in Indiana.

   Following the completion of his education, Hollway began to pursue a career in law, studying in various law offices from 1884 to 1885. He returned to his studies soon a short while later and later became engaged in newspaper work, serving as a reporter on the staff of the Ft. Worth Gazette. In 1888 Holloway journeyed to California where he began attending the University of California. He eventually encountered money troubles and was forced to leave his studies behind, and in 1891 relocated to Chicago where he engaged in real estate. That same year he married Ms. Adelaide Ruth Compton, and it is unknown at this time if any children were born to them.

   Fredonia Holloway relocated to Evansville, Indiana around the time of his marriage and reestablished his interest in journalism, becoming involved with the Evansville Evening Standard and the Evansville Journal. Holloway also began taking an active interest in local politics, winning election as a Republican to the Indiana State House of Representatives in November 1894. 

  Officially taking his seat at the start of the 1895 term, Holloway represented Vanderburgh County during his service, which extended until 1897, and a roster from the session in which he served has been posted below. One should also note that Holloway was one of the youngest legislators in Indiana during the 1895-1897 session, being elected at the age of 27. He was remarked by the History of the Republican Party of Indiana as having an "ability in debate" and "his sound common sense and a few bursts of genuine eloquence on the floor of the house sufficed to attract him very general attention."

From the Indiana legislative composite portrait of 1895-96.

  After leaving the legislature, Holloway took part in a speaking tour of Indiana, stumping for numerous Republican candidates seeking office that year. He was a delegate to the Indiana Republican Convention of 1896-97 and was elected as President of the Indiana State League of Republican Clubs in February of 1898.

  Holloway's later life is also of note, as it is a complete about-face from his earlier political pursuits. In the early 1900s, Holloway left Indiana for Seattle, Washington to practice law. Around 1909 Holloway had a spiritual calling of some sort, and enrolled at the Moody Bible College. He would be ordained as a Congregational minister shortly thereafter and would remove to Pueblo, Colorado, remaining here until 1912. Holloway relocated to Ohio around 1913 and became a minister in the towns of Plymouth and Newark. Holloway returned to Colorado in 1914 to accept a pastor-ship in Denver, remaining here until 1918, when he went overseas to England to serve as a chaplain in a Red Cross Hospital in London. 

  The Congregational Yearbook Volume 43 notes that Holloway returned stateside in 1919, accepting a pastorate at the Pilgrim Mission Church in San Francisco. His stay in California was relatively short, as he succumbed to the effects of Bright's disease on August 15, 1920. Holloway was only 53 years old at the time of his death and was survived by his wife Adelaide, whose birth and death dates are unknown. A burial location for Fredonia E. Holloway is also unknown at this time, and it is presumed that he was interred somewhere in the San Francisco vicinity. 

From Moody's Bible Insitute Monthly, September 1920.

Publius Virgilius Lawson Jr. (1853-1920), Publius Virgilius Monroe (1814-1861), Publius Rutilius Rufus Pray (ca. 1793/1795-1839/1840)

Portrait from the Wisconsin Archaeologist, Vol. 20, 1921.

   Today's triple profile highlights the lives and political careers of three men with the unusual first name Publius. The first of these men is Publius Virgilius Lawson, a resident of Menasha, Wisconsin who gained further prominence as a manufacturer, author, lawyer, and historian in addition to his political career. Lawson received his unusual name from his father (also named Publius Virgilius) and both father and son were named in honor of the Roman poet and Aeneid author Publius Virgilius Maro (better known as Virgil).
   Publius V. Lawson was born in Corning, Steuben County, New York on November 1, 1853, being the son of Publius Virgilius Lawson Sr and the former Elizabeth Fleming. At a young age, Publius moved with his family to Menasha, Wisconsin, and was a student in the public school system of that city. In 1873 he entered the University of Wisconsin at Madison and later studied at its school of law beginning in 1876. Lawson graduated from this institution in 1878 with his Bachelor of Laws degree.
    P.V. Lawson began a law practice in the year of his graduation and in this same year was elected as a Winnebago County supervisor. On August 5, 1884, he married Florence Josephine Wright (1860-1945) in Neenah, Wisconsin, with whom he had eight children: Percy Vilas (1887-1939), Lillian Edith (1889-1942), Marion Florence (1891-1949), Kenneth Finney (1894-1968), Harold Kimberly (1895-1943), Helen Elizabeth (1896-1977), and James Wright (died in infancy in 1899). 
   Lawson continued in the practice of law until 1888 when he ventured into the manufacturing field. Soon after leaving his profession, Lawson set about developing an improved wood split pulley that could be used in power transmission. After obtaining a patent for his work, Lawson founded the Menasha Wood Split Pulley Company, and throughout the succeeding years, the company achieved substantial business, shipping its stock throughout North America and the world. In addition to his manufacturing business, Lawson was also the owner of a large flour mill located in nearby Clintonville, Wisconsin.
   As Lawson's business and family life continued to grow throughout the 1880s and 90s, his political career followed suit. In 1882-83 he served as a Menasha city alderman and in 1886 was elected as the Mayor of Menasha. In all, Lawson would serve a total of six terms as mayor (1886-1889, 1893, 1896) and in 1890 launched an unsuccessful campaign for a seat in the Wisconsin State Senate. Prior to his election as mayor Lawson served as a circuit court commissioner for Wisconsin's 6th circuit, holding office from 1880-1888. 
   The Who was Who in America, 1897-1942 edition relates that Lawson was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1918, where he served for one term. A Wisconsin legislative website also mentions this term but gives his year of service as 1927 (this is obviously incorrect, as he would have already been dead nearly a decade.)

                    This portrait of Publius V. Lawson appeared in a Wisconsin State Atlas in 1881.

  While Lawson had already ventured into several different vocations, his career as an author didn't begin until later in his life. Throughout the 1890s and early 1900s, Lawson authored several scholarly articles, many of which were published in newspapers, magazines, and journals of the time. In 1904 and 1906 he authored the respective works Bravest of the Brave and Rocks and Minerals of Wisconsin. Lawson's most prominent work would eventually be published in 1908, the two-volume History of Winnebago County. He would also go on to author a family genealogy centering on several notable Wisconsin families, including his own. 
  In addition to his already prolific life, Lawson was a well-known civic leader in Menasha, and the following list is but a brief snippet of some of the positions Lawson held at one point: Director of the Menasha Public Library Board (1895-1903), Menasha Park Commissioner (1895-1903), President of the Menasha Museum History and Art Association (1895-1903), Vice President of the Wisconsin State Archaeological Society, and President of the Wisconsin State Library Association, 1901-1903.
  Publius Virgilius Lawson remained active in the affairs of Menasha until shortly before his death, which occurred on December 1, 1920, at age 67. He was survived by his wife and seven children and was interred at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Neenah, Wisconsin. He was subsequently memorialized in the February 1921 edition of the Wisconsin Archeologist as:

"A man among men, a friend of truest type, whose kind acts and worthy deeds will live long in the memory of those who have been proud to know P.V. Lawson as a friend and fellow citizen. In the home a void has been left in which human power cannot fill."

From the 1898 Semi-centennial souvenir of the Menasha Press.

A Wisconsin legislative roster from 1851.

    Another Wisconsin "Publius" that ventured into politics is the obscure Publius Virgilius Monroe (1814-1861) of Waukesha County. A one-term member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from that county in the session of 1852, little is known of Monroe's life. A native of New York, Monroe was born in Chenango County on April 16, 1814, a son of William and Rebecca Monroe. 

  Migrating to Wisconsin in 1837, Monroe settled in New Berlin township and during his early residency aided in the laying of roadways. He would become a prominent figure in the early history of this township and was elected as its first town clerk, as well as donating land for the establishment of the town cemetery. In 1849 he went west to California, and after two years out west returned to New Berlin, where he resided until his death on November 5, 1861, at age 47. He had been preceded in death by his wife Cordelia in 1855 and was survived by two sons, Joseph and Alonzo. Monroe was later interred at the New Berlin Cemetery.

  Publius Rutilius Rufus Pray was a New Englander by birth, being born in Maine in either 1793 or 1795. Pray's obscure life has one or two inconsistencies, mainly centering on his dates of birth and death. Many sources list his birth year as 1793 but others give 1795 as the correct year. Even his year of death is of some confusion, occurring on January 11 in either 1839 or 1840. Pray is listed as marrying his cousin (Maria Learned) in 1820 in Maine. At some point in his short life, he moved from Maine to Mississippi, and in 1828 he was elected to the state legislature. Four years following his service in the legislature Pray was named as the President of the Convention that adopted a newly revised edition of the Mississippi State Constitution. 
  P.R.R. Pray's public profile continued to rise throughout the 1830s, and in 1837 was appointed to the Mississippi State Court of Appeals and Errors. He served on this court until his death, which occurred on January 11, 1840 (or is it 1839?) He was subsequently interred at the Belle Isle Cemetery in Pearlington, Mississippi.

You Can Help!

  I'm currently trying to locate more information (as well as a possible picture) of Publius R.R. Pray. As there is next to nothing available online about this wonderfully named man, maybe someone out there knows more than what is already stated in his article. If any reader, amateur historian, or possible descendant stumbles across his article here, please don't hesitate to comment below!

Colostin DeKalb Myers (1847-1920)

   This mustachioed man is Colostin DeKalb Myers, an Ohio native who gained prominence as a Circuit Court judge for Illinois's 11th judicial district. I first discovered Myers's unusual name in a 1915 Illinois Blue Book two years ago and since that time have been searching for a portrait of him. Fortune has smiled upon me once again, as a picture of Judge Myers has been found, courtesy of a McLean County Historical Society bulletin that was originally published in 1899. 
  Colostin D. Myers received a brief mention in yesterday's profile on Sain Welty (1853-1920), another Illinois lawmaker whom Myers appointed to the position of Master of Chancery for McLean County, Illinois. It's interesting to note that both of these oddly named judicial figures were born in the same state (Ohio) within a few years of one another and both ended up settling in the same city (Bloomington, Illinois) years later. In an even more amazing connection, both men went on to serve as judges in the same district and died within a few months of one another in the early part of 1920. 
   Colostin D. Myers was born in Racine, Meigs County, Ohio on May 7, 1847, the son of Benjamin and Serena Elliott Myers. At age four Myers suffered the death of his father and following his death, Serena Myers remarried William Swearingen. Colostin Myers moved with his family to Palatine, Virginia at a young age and during his youth worked the family farm and also at a local tannery. 

  At age 16 Myers left home and moved back to Ohio, and after a brief residence at his old home at Racine, continued travel to Pomeroy, then the county seat of Meigs County. In early 1864 he took work as a clerk in a local dry goods store, and two months later enlisted in the Union Army. Myers took rank as a private in Co. K., 140th Reg. of the Ohio National Guard, and served with that regiment for three months. He subsequently re-enlisted in Co. B.,  32nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and continued with that regiment until the conclusion of the Civil War. 

  After returning to his mother's home in Virginia, Myers worked on the family farm while also pursuing his education at the National Normal University in Lebanon, Ohio. His stay at the latter institution was intermittent, as he would leave Ohio to teach school in West Virginia for an unspecified amount of time. Myers returned to his home state of Ohio in 1869 and reentered the National Normal University, graduating from there in 1872. That same year he began pursuing a law degree at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He married in Michigan in 1872 to Dora Yager (1851-1941) and graduated with his law degree in 1874 after nearly two years of study.

From the Historical Sketch of the Illinois Wesleyan University, 1895.

   Colostin D. Myers and his wife moved to Bloomington, Illinois in 1874, where he was admitted to the bar in June of that year. He established a law partnership with local lawyer Albert Bushnell in 1874, which continued until the latter's removal to Kansas City. In 1879 Myers established another practice with Isaac Stroud, which lasted until ill health compelled Stroud's retirement in 1881. Beginning in 1880 Myers entered into a position at Illinois Wesleyan University, being a professor on contract law well into the 1890s.
   In 1886 Colostin Myers was elected to the first of three terms as McLean County judge, the last of which concluded in 1897. In the last-named year, he was elected to the Illinois Circuit Court (11th circuit) and served in this position until his retirement in June of 1915. In addition to his circuit court service, Myers was named to the Illinois Appellate Court's 4th district in 1903 and served a six-year term.
  Shortly after retiring from the bench, Myers was called to public service once more when he was named by Illinois Governor Edward Fitzsimmons Dunn to the McLean County Examining Board at the beginning of America's involvement in WWI. He served on this board until the war's conclusion and died on January 12, 1920, at age 72. Myers was survived by his wife Dora by over 20 years and both are buried in the Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Bloomington. Myers was subsequently memorialized by the Illinois State Bar as having been "gentle and kind and lovable. He was patient almost beyond measure." Further character assessments were given by his fellow bar members, who noted:

"Retiring, not given to parade or ostentation, he lived a simple, quiet, life. He kept himself aloof from business or social enterprises which he though might in any way tend to affect his judicial duties."

Sain Welty (1853-1920)

From the Notable Men of the West, 1902.

   Today's profile takes us to Bloomington, Illinois, and one of that city's more humorously named residents, Sain Welty. This curiously named man served as a Judge for the 11th District of the Illinois Circuit Court during the mid-1910s and was also a noted attorney in the Bloomington area for many decades. A native son of the Buckeye State, Sain Welty was born near Somerset, Ohio on January 19, 1853, a son of Emanuel and Sarah Ann Welty. The Welty family removed to Marshall County, Illinois when their son was quite young, and Sain Welty is recorded as engaging in farming pursuits during his youth. The 1916 work Courts and Lawyers of Illinois also lists Welty as "attending and teaching country schools" during this time. He married in 1879 to Ms. Gertrude Ball (1859-1934), a Marshall County native. The couple would remain childless for the entirety of their four-decade-long marriage. 
   In 1881 Welty graduated from the Illinois Wesleyan University and two years later received his law degree from the prestigious Yale Law School. During his tenure at the latter institution, Sain Welty received the Jewell Prize (named after former Postmaster General Marshall Jewell) for having the "highest marks in his annual examinations". During the latter part of his life, Welty served as a trustee of his old Alma mater (Illinois Wesleyan University) for over two decades.
   Shortly after returning to Bloomington, Welty established a law firm with another local attorney, John Allen Sterling (1857-1918). Sterling later went on to serve as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1903-1913 and their law practice continued on until Welty's elevation to the bench in 1915. The Courts and Lawyers of Illinois give note that in regards to the earlier mentioned law firm, Welty's name "stood high in legal circles." In addition to this law practice, Sain Welty was named to the post of City Attorney for Bloomington in 1889 and served two terms in that post. In 1897 Illinois Circuit Court judge Colostin DeKalb Myers appointed Welty as a Master in Chancery of the McLean County, Illinois circuit court, where he would serve until 1901. In 1908 Welty served as a Republican Presidential Elector for Illinois.

From the Atlanta, Illinois Argus, June 14, 1915.

    Several years following his service as a Presidential Elector, Welty won election to the Illinois Circuit Court's 11th district, taking his seat in June of 1915. His service on the bench was cut short by his death (as a result of an attack of angina) on April 14, 1920 at age 67. He was subsequently buried in the Park Hill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Bloomington, Illinois. In the years preceding his death, Judge Welty was praised as a "man of unostentation but sincerity of bearing, and the high esteem in which he is held by bench, bar and the public is generally most deserving." The portrait of him shown above was discovered in the book Notable Men of the West, originally published in 1902.

Mazeppa Thomas Turner (1840-1920)

   A pioneer citizen and politician in the Oklahoma Territory, Mazeppa Thomas Turner served in the first session of the Oklahoma State House of Representatives in 1908. He was originally a resident of Virginia, being born in Greenville County on May 8, 1840, and later moved with his family to Mississippi at age five. 
  Turner removed to Shelby County, Tennessee in the late 1850s and married here in 1860 to Laura Johnson, with whom he would have five children: Elizabeth B. (1865-1901), Edward Bynum (1872-1947), Jack (1874-1890), and Polly (1878-1953). Laura Johnson Turner died in 1890 at age 50, and a few months after her death Mazeppa remarried to Alice Atkins, and three further children (Angie Mae, Reginald, and Mildred) were born to this union.
  Turner joined the Confederate Army shortly after the Civil War began and served under the command of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest (later infamous for founding the Ku Klux Klan). Turner subsequently saw action at the battles of Chickamauga, Shiloh, and Selma, and after the hostilities ceased, resettled in the Choctaw Indian Territory.
  Throughout the succeeding years, Turner engaged in farming pursuits and cattle raising in his native Murray County, Oklahoma. The First Administration of Oklahoma (where the above picture of Turner was located) also notes that he served as a Davis, Oklahoma city alderman before going to the legislature. When Oklahoma gained statehood in 1907, Turner was urged by the residents of Murray County to run for a seat in the newly established State House of Representatives. He defeated his opponent J.W. McCall by over 1,000 votes and took his seat in 1908. 
  While serving in the legislature, Turner became a prime mover in the development and construction of the Oklahoma School for the Deaf and was one of the drafters of the Oklahoma State Constitution. He also held a seat on the committee on Charities and Corrections during his first term. Turner was later elected to a second term in the statehouse in 1910 before retiring to private life. The earlier mentioned First Administration of Oklahoma sums up Turner's stint in the legislature as being "one of the quiet, conscientious, hardworking members of the house."
  Mazeppa Turner died in Murray County at age 80 on August 29, 1920, and shortly thereafter was interred at the Dougherty Cemetery in Dougherty, Oklahoma. On an interesting side note, Turner Falls (a large waterfall/park located near Davis, Oklahoma) was named in honor of Mazeppa Turner in the years after his death.

                                                                Mazeppa Turner, 1840-1920.

Parkinson Isaiah Bonebrake (1835-1920)

   With a name that combines both a degenerative nervous system disorder and bone fracture, the curiously named Parkinson Isaiah Bonebrake rose to become a prominent public office holder in Kansas, serving as a state representative and as auditor of that state for three consecutive terms. The rare portrait of him shown above was discovered in the 1905 work Men of Kansas.

  Parkinson I. Bonebrake (recorded as "P.I." by most period sources) was an Ohioan by birth, being born on September 25, 1835, in Preble County, Ohio, the son of George and Eliza Adams Bonebrake. His birth year is also given as either 1834 or 1836, and it is known that he migrated to Kansas in 1859, settling in Shawnee County. Bonebrake married in December 1857 to Ms. Martha Jane Lowe (1837-1905), with whom he had four children: Edith (died aged sixteen), Otis (died aged seven), Frank M. (birthdate unknown), and Fred Buel Bonebrake (1872-1943).
  Within a few years of his relocation, Bonebrake made his first foray into Kansas politics, winning election as Shawnee County clerk in 1866. He served in this office for exactly ten years, and in his last full year as clerk won election to the Kansas State House of Representatives from Shawnee County. Bonebrake took his seat in the state legislature in 1876 and served only until November of that year, as he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of Kansas State Auditor. He was elected to that office in his own right a few months later, continuing service until 1883.

From Andreas' 1883 History of Kansas.

                                  

    As his final term in office came to a close in 1883, Bonebrake turned his attention to other public affairs, including the development of the Central Bank of Kansas. He had previously organized the Central National Bank of Topeka in 1882 and served as its president for thirty years, retiring in 1912. Bonebrake was also active in state fraternal organizations, including service as Secretary of the Masonic Mutual Benefit Society of Kansas. Topeka also benefitted from Bonebrake being the founder of the original city waterworks, of which he served as president and secretary. He would remain connected with that utility until retiring "when the water supplying system was sold to the city."
   P.I. Bonebrake continued to be socially active in his native city of Topeka well into his eighth decade and in 1919 celebrated an unusual record--having been present at the inauguration ceremonies for every Kansas state governor from Charles Robinson (inaugurated in February 1861) to Henry J. Allen (first inaugurated in January 1919), a spread of nearly sixty years. Bonebrake died at the St. Francis Hospital in Topeka on March 19, 1920, aged 84. Widowed in 1905, he was survived by his two sons, Frank and Fred, and was subsequently interred at the Topeka Cemetery in Shawnee County. Bonebrake's wife Martha and son Fred were also interred at this cemetery. Following his death, he was memorialized in the Pittsburg, Kansas Sun for his long service to the state, and that:

"He was a man of an exquisite sense of honor and rare nobility of character.He lived to be 84 years old; his career full of achievement."

From the Topeka Daily Capitol, March 19, 1920.

From the Hays, Kansas Free Press, April 1, 1920.