Warrington Karthaus Lavake Warwick (1862-1897)

Portrait from the Theta Beta Phi, 1898.

   Through a year of Coronavirus uncertainty, pronounced political disagreement, and a genuine feeling of apprehension, 2020 comes to a close today at midnight. In a small amount of positivity in an otherwise uncertain year comes the unveiling of our 2020 Strangest Name of The Year. Since 2013 the final article of the year is devoted to an especially odd named figure, and Massillon, Ohio's own Warrington Karthaus Lavake Warwick is this year's honoree. Despite his death at the age of just 34, Warwick carved a notable career for himself in Ohio, being the executive of three coal companies, among other business interests. Warwick earns placement here on the site due to his being a delegate to the 1892 Democratic National Convention from Ohio, and for his service on the state Democratic Executive Committee.

  Warrington Karthaus Lavake was born in Massillon, Ohio on December 23, 1862, the son of Lewis Lavake (1813-1864) and the former Maria E. Karthaus (1830-1918). Widowed in November 1864, Maria Karthaus LaVake remarried in 1865 to John George Warwick (1830-1892), a leading figure in Stark County. A man with vast business holdings in the Buckeye State, Warwick was elected to one term as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, serving from 1884-86. In 1890 he defeated then-incumbent Congressman (and future President) William McKinley for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Warwick served until his death in August 1892, dying in Washington, D.C.

  After his mother's marriage to John G. Warwick, Warrington Karthaus LaVake took his stepfather's last name and was legally adopted by the future Congressman. He would attend the Massillon public schools and at age 13 enrolled at the Nazareth Hall School in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. He graduated two years later and beginning in 1878 studied at the Harcourt School in Gambier, Ohio. Upon graduation in 1880 he enrolled at the Kenyon College in Gambier, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He remained connected to his old fraternity throughout his life, and in his final years was a trustee for the General Fraternity of Beta Theta Phi.

  Warwick left Kenyon College in his sophomore year to join his stepfather's office, and until John Warwick's death in 1892 he remained his "confidential assistant and the real manager of all his extensive business interests." Warwick married in Pittsburg in 1885 to Jessie Moore Gillespie, to who he was wed until his death. The couple had one son, John Gillespie Warwick (1886-1937).

  Beginning in the 1880s Warrington Warwick entered Democratic politics in Stark County, being named chairman of a Young Democrats meeting at Bammerlin's Hall in Massillon. He was later selected as president of that organization, named the "Paige Guards." In 1889 his name was prominently mentioned for the Ohio state senate from the Stark-Carroll County district. In the year following he was elected as a delegate to the Ohio Democratic State Convention and took an active role in his stepfather's campaign for Congress against six-term incumbent William McKinley. That November John G. Warwick stymied the future president's bid for reelection, besting him 20,059 votes to 19,757. Warrington Warwick's "tact and general popularity were of the greatest assistance" during this period and were acknowledged in his Beta Theta Phi memorial, which notes they "contributed largely to the successful result of his father's campaign." Sources also denote W.K.L. Warwick as a member of the Ohio State Democratic Executive Committee, but no mention is given as to his dates of service.

  Following his service as a delegate to the Stark County Democratic Convention of 1892, W.K.L. Warwick was elected as part of the Ohio delegation to that year's Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Representing the state's 18th district, Warwick and fellow delegate John C. Welty may have been Democrats but were ultimately opposed to the nomination of Grover Cleveland, with the Stark County Democrat noting:

"In this district there was a most decided fight between the Cleveland and Anti-Cleveland Democrats in the selection of delegates and the most pronounced ant-Cleveland victory, both Warwick and Welty being opposed to any man from New York."

 Warwick's sentiments toward a New York presidential nominee later changed, with his coming out as "an ardent admirer" of New York Governor David Bennett Hill. After Cleveland's nomination, Warwick was interviewed by the Massillonian, where he noted:

"Stark County Democrats never sulk...and we are solid for the ticket as nominated. Stark County will be at the front this fall with an increased Democratic majority. Of course Ohio is a Republican state, but we will worry them considerably before the election is over. The nomination of Stevenson for second place is highly satisfactory to the New York delegation, and to Hill men in this state as well. He is our kind of a Democrat, and will greatly strengthen the ticket throughout the country. I think this is a Democratic year, and confidently expect the election of Cleveland and Stevenson."

  Just weeks following his time at the Democratic National Convention Warwick suffered the death of his stepfather John, who died in Washington, D.C. In the days following John G. Warwick's passing, W.K.L Warwick was bolstered to fill his vacant seat in Congress, with the Stark County Democrat noting "it would be a gracious and fitting testimonial to the memory of Gov. Warwick to elect his very worthy son, W.K.L Warwick, to fill out the unexpired term."

From the Stark County Democrat, September 1, 1892.

  Ultimately, it was at the instigation of Warwick's friends that his name was bolstered as a candidate, and in November special election it was Lewis P. Ohlinger (a former Wooster postmaster) who won the vacant seat. Upon the death of his stepfather, W.K.L. Warwick succeeded him as president in the former's business interests. Until his own death in 1897 he was the president and treasurer of the Warwick Coal Co., was president of the Upper Pigeon Run Coal Co., was president of the Massillon Savings and Banking Co., and was a founding organizer of the Massillon Social Club. Warwick would be a partner in the firm of Warwick and Justus, a Massillon flour milling concern, and in the 1890s served as vice president and member of the Board of Directors for the Stark County Democrat newspaper. 

From the Northwestern Miller, Vol. 43.

  Warwick remained active in his business interests until his death. In the months prior to his death, his health began to fail, and by March 1897 had relocated to Hot Springs, Arkansas in the hopes of improving his condition. He died there on March 15, aged 34, his cause of death being attributed to "bowel trouble." The death of Warwick was heavily felt in Massillon and at his alma mater Kenyon College. Remarked as a man who possessed "many charming qualities of character", The Northwestern Miller further memorialized Warwick as:

"A man who could make a lifelong friend of a casual acquaintence, and, while in business circles, he was respected for his ability and honesty, he was loved by all and by people in every path of life for his many manly qualities and his own true worth."

 Following funeral arrangements, Warwick was interred in his family's mausoleum at the Massillon City Cemetery and was survived by his wife and son John.

From the Coshocton Democratic Standard, March 19, 1897. 

Submarinus Girard Norcross (1834-1888)

From the Conway Daily Sun, August 26, 2011.

  New Year's Eve is upon us, and, as per the custom first established in 2013, the year's final posting is dedicated to an especially odd-named political figure. With six previous installments of '" Strangest Name of the Year" to reflect on, this year's honoree, with his rather nautical-sounding first name, is more than worthy of that title: Submarinus Girard Norcross of Conway, New Hampshire! A native of Maine, Norcross was a clergyman who held pastorates in several states and for the last sixteen years of his life resided in Conway, New Hampshire, where he had a considerable impact through religious work and education. Despite not being a political office seeker, Norcross earns a place here on the site due to his service as a delegate from New Hampshire to the Republican National Convention of 1880.

   The eighth of nine children born to Leonard and Deborah (Nelson) Norcross, Submarinus Girard Norcross's birth occurred in Dixfield, Maine on January 21, 1834. When compared to other unusual 19th-century names featured here, the name Submarinus rests as a true U.F.O., and this bizarre first name may leave you with several questions, including "Why a first name that sounds like submarine?", "what possessed his parents to give him this name?", and "what did Norcross himself think of it?" 

  The answer behind Norcross's unwieldy first name can be found in his 1888 Poultney, Vermont Journal obituary. The father of our subject, Leonard Norcross (1798-1864), was a church deacon and inventor who in June 1834 received a patent for what would later be acknowledged as "the first fully enclosed diving suit." This inventive diving apparatus pioneered the use of elastic Indian rubber and was successfully tested without injury or fatality on the Webb River in Maine earlier in 1834. So proud was Leonard Norcross of his invention that he bestowed the name Submarinus upon his most recent child, with the Journal later relating that:

"He received his deep sounding name from the submarine dress which his father had patented the year of his son's birth."

   History doesn't record Norcross's own feelings in regards to his name, except note of his preferring to write his name as "S. Girard". The name's spelling is recorded as ending in both "-nus" and "-nas". Of these spellings, the former looks to be the correct one, as Norcross is recorded under that name by multiple sources, including the 1850 census, the 1889 General Conference of the Congregational Churches in Maine, and his 1888 Poultney Journal obituary.

  S. Girard Norcross obtained his early education at various academies in his native Maine, studying at Farmington, Bloomfield and Lewiston Falls. He briefly followed a teaching career at the last two academies and was called to the ministry in 1854 at age 20. After a two-year period of attending lectures at Harvard, Norcross returned to Maine and was licensed to preach in July 1858. Following graduation from the Bangor Theological Seminary in 1859, Norcross was ordained as a "colleague pastor" in South Bridgeton, where he remained until May 1861. On August 25, 1861, Norcross married Turner, Maine native Clara Elizabeth Cary (1836-1889), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple would remain childless. 

  After leaving his pastorate at South Bridgeton Norcross briefly resided in Florence, Alabama, where he held a pastorate in late 1861-62, and later returned to teaching, and from 1862-63 taught in Saxonville, Massachusetts. This was followed by a five year (1863-68) stint teaching at academies in Sewickley and Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1869 returned to the ministry when he accepted a pastorate in Caledonia County, Vermont.

  Norcross and his wife resided and worked in McIndoes Falls, Vermont until 1872, and in June of that year removed to Conway, New Hampshire, where he accepted the pastorate of that town's Congregationalist Church. He would hold the pastorate until his death and beginning in June 1873 held an additional pastorate in North Conway. Norcross's long pastorate saw him oversee multiple additions to the church at Conway, and through his "urgent recommendation", a second church was constructed and completed for Conway in 1886, the Second Congregational Church. Norcross and his wife also proved influential in local education, and in addition to his time as supervisor of schools for Conway taught school at both the Conway Academy and a school under their own supervision.

  In 1880 Norcross made his lone foray into politics when he was elected as an alternate delegate from Conway to that year's Republican National Convention that was to be held in Chicago. One of twenty members of the New Hampshire delegation, Norcross saw congressman James Garfield and Chester A. Arthur of New York nominated as the party standard-bearers.

From the 1880 Republican Convention proceedings.

  Following his service as a delegate, Norcross returned to his pastorate in Conway and in 1886 was a delegate from New Hampshire's Stafford Conference to the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States held in Chicago. In 1887 he took ill and in February of that year retired from the pastorate of the Second Congregational Church in Conway. Through 1887-88 Norcross's health failed to improve and on September 16, 1888, he died of consumption in North Conway, aged 54. Clara Norcross survived her husband by less than a year, dying on June 16, 1889. Both were interred at the North Conway Cemetery under a headstone denoting both's devotion to "the cause of education in Conway."

From the Poultney, Vermont Journal, October 5, 1888.

  

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.

Summerfield Massilon Glenn Gary (1826-1886)

Portrait from the 1861 Florida Secession Convention composite.

   It has become customary the past four years to set aside the year's final posting to an especially strange-named figure, and this year's honoree is certainly worthy of the title of 'Strangest Name of the Year". Following in the stead of such odd name luminaries like Peru Italian Blackerby Ping and Uno Sylvanus Augustus Heggblom, Florida lawyer Summerfield Massilon Glenn Gary lucked into receiving a real whopper of a name, and his inclusion here on the site rests on service as Marion County's delegate to the Florida Secession Convention of 1861.

  A native of South Carolina, Summerfield M.G. Gary was born in Cokesbury, Greenwood County on October 10, 1826, being the son of Dr. Thomas Reeder and Mary (Porter) Gary. A distinguished figure in his own right, Thomas R. Gary (1802-1852) served several terms in the South Carolina legislature and for a time held the post of treasurer of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad. Recorded by most period sources under the initials S.M.G. Gary, Summerfield M.G. Gary's early education occurred in his hometown of Cokesbury, attending the Methodist Home Conference School. He would later enroll at the South Carolina at Columbia, and following his graduation in 1848 began the study of law under future U.S. Senator James Chesnut Jr. (1815-1885).

  Admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1851, Gary married a short while later to Frances "Fannie" Rosa Gary (ca. 1834-1914). The couple would have at least five children, Thomas R. (1853-1912), Maud Witherspoon (1859-1933), S.M.G. Jr. (1861-1873), Louella Victoria (1875-1954) and William Theodore (1876-1959). In 1855 Gary and his wife removed to Ocala, Florida, where they would reside for the remainder of their lives. Here Gary established a law practice that would see him advance to the front rank of Ocala public life, and in the succeeding years was acknowledged as a man of noble character, and that:

"Like a towering cliff he caught the rays of the sun of progress before its beams could reach the horizon of common minds."

   In 1860 Gary was selected as one of Marion County's delegates to the Florida Secession Convention, and in January 1861 traveled to Tallahassee to begin service. During the convention proceedings, he was named to the committees on Communications from South Carolina, the Judiciary, Militia and Internal Police, and Schools and Colleges. Following Florida's entrance into the Civil War Gary entered into the Confederate Army and for a year's duration was a captain in a local infantry unit. After being wounded Gary was transferred to a cavalry unit and served as an aide de camp to his younger brother, Brigadier General Martin Witherspoon Gary (1831-1881) until the war's conclusion. 
  At the time of his discharge from service S.M.G. Gary had attained the rank of Colonel and following his return to Ocala returned to practicing law. Sources of the time denote Gary as "Intendent" of Ocala in 1867 and is referred to as the mayor of that city prior to its incorporation the following year. Gary's later years saw him become an early advocate for the planting of citrus trees for profit in Florida, and 

"Through his persistent agitation on the subject many citizens were led to engage in this business, which he lived to see the principle industry of his state."

  Two years prior to his death S.M.G. Gary began construction on the three-story Gary building in Ocala, a building that later became home to both a hardware and five-and-dime store. This structure replaced an earlier wooden one that had been destroyed by fire and following Gary's death in 1886 passed into the hands of his son William and daughter Maud. After many years of prominence in Ocala, Summerfield Massilon Glenn Gary died in that city on December 20, 1886, at age 60.  Memorialized as "generous towards his friends,  forgiving to his enemies" and a "scholar, a lawyer, a citizen, and a man", Gary was survived by his wife Fanny and four of his children and was interred at the Evergreen Cemetery in Ocala.

Florentius Merrill Hallowell (1852-1937)

Portrait from S.D. Butcher's Pioneer History of Custer County, Nebraska, 1901.

    For the past four years, I've traditionally devoted the last article of the year to an especially odd named political figure, and this year's final posting takes us to Nebraska and one of that state's most unusually named public officials, Florentius Merrill Hallowell of Buffalo County. A transplant to Nebraska from Maine, Hallowell was an attorney based in the city of Kearney, was a candidate for the Nebraska legislature and would serve a decade as Buffalo County Judge. Late in his life, he resided in New Jersey and California, dying in the latter state in 1937.

   Born in Augusta, Maine on August 12, 1852, Florentius Merrill Hallowell was the son of John (1820-1901) and Elizabeth Gaslin Hallowell (1814-1890). Hallowell's early life in Maine saw him attend the Waterville Classical Institute and the Maine State Normal School. In 1873 he enrolled at the Colby College and would graduate in the class of 1877 with his A.B. degree. Hallowell's time at Colby proved to have had a profound influence on him, and never forgot his Alma mater, as he later established the Hallowell Public Speaking Prize as a gift for the school. This prize (totaling $100) was made available for the encouragement of public speaking.  

   Both before and following his graduation Hallowell taught school at several locations in Maine, including Vassalboro and the Oak Grove Seminary in Bath. On Christmas Day 1876, Florentius M. Hallowell married Etta Kilbreth (1850-1918), to whom he was wed for over 40 years. The couple's union would see the births of five children, Florence (1881-1961), Marion (1883-1965), Amy (1887-1968), Bertha Lillian (1888-1978), and Howard Haynes (1892-1934).

   A year following his marriage Hallowell and his wife removed from Maine to Kearney, Nebraska. Soon after his arrival he began reading law in the office of his maternal uncle William Gaslin and was later admitted to the Nebraska bar. In 1878 Hallowell was named as an official court reporter for Nebraska's 5th judicial district and held that post until 1892. During this time Hallowell also made his first foray into Buffalo County's business community, serving as the President of the 1st National Bank of Elm Creek and vice president of the Kearney National Bank. 

  Through the latter portion of the 1890s, Florentius Hallowell continued to practice law in Kearney and first entered local politics in 1892 when he was elected as Secretary of the Kearney Board of Education. In the 1898 election year, Hallowell became a candidate for the Nebraska House of Representatives from Buffalo County, being one of two Republican candidates that year. He would poll 1641 votes on election day, but still lost, victory instead going to the two Populist candidates, F. Wyman and J.E. Easterling. In 1900 Hallowell ran for and was elected as Judge of Buffalo County and entered into his duties at the beginning of the following year. His first term as judge extended until 1905 when he was succeeded by Ira Marston.  

   Hallowell was returned to the bench in 1907 and continued to serve until news reports broke that did momentary damage to Hallowell's reputation. In October 1911 the Omaha Bee published a report from a Kearney-based newspaper that leveled charges against Hallowell, noting that "excessive fees have been collected by him from litigants in his office." 

From the Valentine Democrat, November 2, 1911.

   The effects of the Bee's October 1911 report continued to snowball through the coming year, and by March 1913 further reports had been leveled at Hallowell, with the Buffalo County Attorney and board of supervisors charging him with 

"practicing law in his own court and unlawfully preparing papers for cases and accepting fees for such work."

   Ouster proceedings were launched against Hallowell in March 1913 and a later report by a referee assigned to the case noted that the only count with substantial proof was that of practicing law in his own court. On June 15, 1913, Hallowell was removed from the office of judge, with a Nebraska district court declaring the office vacant. A short while later the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors appointed J.E. Morrison to the vacant judgeship.
  Understandably irked at being removed from office (as well as having the aforementioned charges made against him), Hallowell took action, bringing suit against Buffalo County on the basis that he was wrongly removed from office. Hallowell's appeal later resulted in his ouster being held void, and he was reinstated as judge. Despite being reinstated, Hallowell would bring further suit against Buffalo County, "seeking payment of his salary for the time he was removed from office", wages that totaled $1,053.85.  A later court finding denotes that J.E. Morrison, the man who had been appointed to succeed Hallowell as judge, had been the rightful holder of that office, and had rightfully earned the salary entitled to being judge. The court found that Buffalo County could not be compelled to pay the same salary to the de jure officer (Hallowell).
   Florentius Hallowell served as Buffalo County Judge through the remainder of 1914 and later retired from the practice of law. Widowed in 1918, he was later resident of Cranford, New Jersey and is also recorded as having spent "a number of years in Maine." In the twilight of his life, he resettled in Placerville, El Dorado, California, where he died on March 26, 1937, at age 84. He was later interred at the Placerville Union Cemetery. 

Peru Italian Blackerby Ping (1842-1890)

                                                 Portrait courtesy of Mr. Lynn Summers.

   As we say goodbye to 2015 and hello to the new year it's time to devote 2015's final posting to a man who has duly earned the title of  "Strangest Name of the Year". Following in the stead of Omicron Pi Lockhart in 2013 and Uno Sylvanus Augustus Heggblom last December, this year's honoree hails from Kansas, where he served two terms in the state senate from Crawford County. His name? Peru Italian Blackerby Ping! If you were like me, your jaw literally dropped to the floor when the sight of that impressive name caught your eye, and hiding behind that unique, lengthy name is the story of a man who imbued the pioneer spirit of the mid-19th century, being a resident of Iowa, Kansas, and Oregon during his short life of just 47 years. 

   I'd like to begin with a small bit of background as to how this particular article came into being. In October of last year, I located the name of "P.I.B. Ping" listed amongst a number of other prominent Kansans in a work entitled "The United States Biographical Dictionary: Kansas Volume", published in 1879. After this initial discovery, I had an inkling that I was about to uncover a highly unusual name. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. A Find-a-Grave listing for "Peru Italian Blackerby Ping" soon revealed his full name, and I soon set to work finding out more about the man who is in all likelihood the oddest named individual ever to be elected to public office in Kansas. Sadly, following my initial discovery of Ping in the aforementioned work, little else could be located on him. A Facebook message to the Crawford County, Kansas Historical Society requesting a portrait and further information on Ping went unanswered, and after several months I was beginning to think that Mr. Ping would forever remain that "faceless" Kansas senator with an unbelievably unique name. 

   All of that changed in November of this year when I discovered a link to a portrait of Mr. Ping via ancestry.com, and after leaving a short message there requesting information I began a fruitful correspondence with one Lynn Summers, who, as it so happens, is the great-grandson of Peru I.B. Ping. Besides allowing the use of the rare portrait of Ping featured above, Lynn was also kind enough to send along several pertinent details on his great-grandfather's life, including ample information on Ping's stay in Oregon (which I'd previously been unaware of), as well as excerpts of newspaper articles written by him for the Girard Press. I am forever grateful to Lynn for sharing his wealth of knowledge on his great-grandfather, and this article would not have been possible without his help! 

    An Iowan by birth, Peru Italian Blackerby Ping was born in the Des Moines County town of Burlington on September 4, 1842. The son of Thomas (1815-1885) and Sarah Wright Ping (1818-1890), PIB Ping was the eldest of eight children.  The exact reasons behind Ping being bestowed the name "Peru Italian Blackerby" have unfortunately been lost to history, but one can see that both his parents were certainly "geographically inclined" in regards to the naming of their son! The Ping family moved to neighboring Wapello County when their son was an infant, and in the succeeding years, Thomas Ping would become a leading figure in the town of Ashland, where he is recorded as owning several businesses. PIB Ping was educated at the Ashland Seminary in that county, and is recorded as having attained high marks in the "study of higher mathematics".  

    At the dawn of the Civil War PIB Ping enlisted in Co. I, 1st Iowa Calvary, U.S. Volunteers, serving with that regiment until being honorably discharged in 1864. His service receives prominent mention in the United States Biographical Dictionary, which notes that Ping "was with Fremont during his Missouri campaign" and in 1863 was one of the first Union soldiers to enter Little Rock, Arkansas after it was captured. Ping's father Thomas also served the Union during wartime, being Captain of Co. E. in the 17h Iowa Regiment. Unlike his son, Thomas didn't escape the war unscathed, as he was captured by the Confederates and held prisoner at Columbia, South Carolina for a few months.  

   At the conclusion of his service, PIB Ping returned to Iowa and shortly thereafter began reading law in Ottumwa, studying under state representative and senator Edward Holcomb Stiles. He would continue his study there for about a year, and in 1866 arrived in Douglas County, Kansas, where he recommenced with reading law. Ping was admitted to the Kansas bar in 1868 and in that year entered political life for the first time, being elected as County Attorney for Wilson County, Kansas. His time as county attorney extended until 1870, and two years later moved to the town of Girard in Crawford County, his father Thomas Ping having resettled there a few years previously. After reconnecting with his family, PIB, and his father established the law practice of "Thomas Ping & Son", which would continue for a number of years afterward.

                               A small picture of PIB Ping that appeared on the 1877 Kansas legislative composite.

   Within a few years of his resettlement in the Sunflower State PIB Ping had established himself as a prominent figure in the Girard community, and in 1875 reentered political life when he was selected as assistant secretary of the Kansas State Senate. Further political honors came his way the following year when he served as a delegate and secretary to the Kansas Republican State Convention that would nominate delegates for the upcoming Republican National Convention that would be held in Cincinnati. 

   In 1876 PIB Ping received the Republican nomination for state senator from Kansas' 13th district. He would be elected to that office with "the largest majority given any candidate upon the ticket" and entered into a four-year term at the start of 1877. Ping proved to be busy as a freshman senator, and his tenure in that body saw him hold a seat on several committees, including Counties and County Lines, Corporations, Education, Engrossed Bills, and Roads and Bridges. He would serve as chairman of the committee on Mines and Mining and was acknowledged as having been:

"An active laborious member of the Senate, served his constituency faithfully, securing the passage of several important measures in their interest, and approved himself in the Legislation of that session a man of sound practical wisdom and superior ability."

   As a rising young Republican amongst the ranks of the state senate, PIB Ping worked closely with John James "J.J." Ingalls (1833-1900), the U.S. Senator from Kansas for nearly two decades. Through information provided by Lynn Summers, it is interesting to note that during the latter portion of his senate term, Ping was inadvertently caught up in a vote-buying scandal involving Ingall's 1879 bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Lynn relates that Ping testified in front of a U.S. Senate subcommittee that had been investigating the matter, and in the 1880 election year saw his reelection hopes dashed when the editor of the Girard Press newspaper received the Republication nomination for the state senate. 
  After leaving the senate Ping continued to be active in Republican circles in Girard and in 188o traveled to Middleport, Ohio. On September 4th of that year, he married in the neighboring village of McArthur to Viola Morrison (1857-1905), a former resident of Girard. Their union would see the birth of one daughter, Ethel Kate May Ping (1881-1916). 

                                    Viola Morrison Ping (1857-1905), portrait courtesy of Lynn Summers.

   Following his marriage Ping and his wife returned to Girard where PIB continued practicing law. In 1882 he was appointed to the post of "special agent for swamp lands" under the auspice of General Land Office, work that would require his removing to Oregon for three years. Ping's three-year sojourn through Oregon and the neighboring states was profiled by Lynn Summers earlier this year in an intriguing write-up published in the Oregon Historical Quarterly. While Ping may have been hundreds of miles away from his family in Girard, he kept in contact with them and his community through a series of letters published in the Girard Press. These "travelogues" amounted to 68,010 words, excerpts of which were collected by Lynn and published in his earlier-mentioned article. 
   Based in Portland, Oregon during his first two years as a land agent, Ping's letters back home give the insight of a mid-westerner on life in the Pacific Northwest, with the author commenting on pertinent topics relating to his life in an unfamiliar territory, including travel, the weather, business life, the political climate, as well as the people he encountered. Through his work as a swamp land agent, Ping traveled throughout Oregon's frontier, visiting settlements in Yaquina Bay, Meacham, La Grande, and Tillamook Bay. In May 1884 he returned to Girard, Kansas for a two-month leave, and during his time home attended a political convention. He would resume his duties in Oregon sometime later, this time returning with his wife and daughter. 
    Ping's remaining months in the Pacific Northwest saw him visit Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and by June 1885 had returned home to Girard, Kansas. He resumed his earlier law practice and real estate dealings and from 1888-1889 served a term as Mayor of Girard. Active in a number of fraternal groups in Crawford County, Ping was a member of the local Odd Fellows Lodge, the Knights of Honor, the Sons of Veterans, and the Gen. Bailey Post No. 49 of the Grand Army of the Republic. In May 1890 he undertook a trip to the Tennessee mountains to better his health, remaining there for several weeks time. Peru Italian Blackerby Ping later returned to Girard, where he died on August 22, 1890, a few days short of his 48th birthday. His Girard Press obituary records "consumption' (tuberculosis) as his cause of death and he was later interred under a modest headstone at the Girard Cemetery. 
  Following PIB's death, his wife Viola and daughter Ethel relocated to Middleport, Ohio, where they would reside with Viola's mother and father. Following Viola Ping's death in 1905, Ethel Kate May Ping worked as a bank teller in West Virginia and became a pianist of some note, even attending the Sherwood Music School in Chicago. She would later teach at the Kansas State Agricultural College and married in 1913 to Carl Shafer. The couple would later have two children, John and Mary (born 1916), the latter being the mother of Mr. Lynn Summers.
   In regards to the help and support I've received in compiling this article, I'd like to state how amazing it is that history (however obscure or forgotten) can connect people, even ones that are thousands of miles away from one another! The appreciation that I have regarding the help Lynn has given me can't be measured in words! Rarely have I been given such a wealth of information on a politician that I'm writing about, and I'm forever grateful to Lynn for his permission to use some of the photos featured in this article, as well as for his sending along new information on his great-grandfather and extended family. Many thanks once again for your help!

P.I.B. Ping's obituary from the Girard Press (courtesy of Lynn Summers).