Ohio County Guardianships - Part IX

 76. Feb 14, 1919, pg 1: RENFROW

77. Dec 19, 1919, pg 1: SMITH

78. June 26, 1903, pg 3: WRIGHT, JAMES

79. Dec 25, 1903, pg 3: FELIX

80. Aug 9, 1907, pg 1: THOMAS

81. Apr 20, 1917, pg 5: BERRY

82. July 6, 1917, pg 8: WILSON, NICKEL

83. Aug 17, 1917, pg 5: TICHENOR

84. Aug 31, 1917, pg 5: BLACK

85. Nov 23, 1917, pg 1: HEDDEN

EUGENE P. JAMES

EUGENE P. JAMES was born in Ohio County, Ky., May 27, 1844, and is a son of Samuel L. and Martha P. (Wand) James, the former of whom was a native of Ohio, and the latter of Butler County, Ky. Both were of English descent. Samuel L. James was educated and married in his native county, where in early life he learned the carpenter's trade, which he still continues to follow. In 1856 he removed to Muhlenburgh County, where he now resides. He and wife are members of the Christian Church. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity. The ancestors of the James family in America, were among the first settlers near Jamestown, Va. When a young man, the grandfather of Samuel L. became attached to a young lady named Mosby, whom he married against his parents' wishes; immediately after marriage they immigrated to the wilds of Kentucky, and from them a large family have descended. Eugene P. James received a good education in youth. At the age of ten years he was employed a salesman in the general store of his grandfather, Wand, of Paradise, where he remained for six years. In September, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Eleventh Kentucky Volunteer Infantry (Federal service), and served with that regiment in all its marches and engagements until December, 1864, when he was discharged by reason of the expiration of his term of service. He participated in the battle of Stones River and the siege of Knoxville, all the battles of the Atlanta campaign and many lesser engagements. After his return from the army he engaged in mining and was soon advanced to the position of general superintendent of Gen. Buell's works at Airdrie, Ky., where he remained for several years. He has also held the position of superintendent of various other mines. In 1878 he engaged in general merchandising at Airdrie, and in 1880, he removed the stock to Rockport, Ky., where he continued the business in company with his brother, P. W. James, until the 1st of January, 1885. They engaged in the tobacco manufacturing business in 1884, in connection with merchandising, but are now exclusively engaged in the former business. Mr. James was married, November 28, 1867 to Sarah P. Kimmel, a native of Muhlenburgh County, Ky. Two sons and one daughter have blessed their union. Mr. James belongs to no church, but was formerly a member of the I. 0. G. T., and is an earnest advocate of the temperance cause. In politics he is a Republican.

Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

Note:  It appears that Mr. James died 22 Dec 1913 in St. Margaret's Hospital, Montgomery, Alabama at age 70. He was referred to as Judge James.  His middle name is Powel or Powell. His wife, Sarah, died 26 Feb 1926 in Bowling Green, Kentucky at age 88.  It is thought that they are both buried in Morgantown.

DIOGENES S. JAMES

DIOGENES S. JAMES

Ex-County Clerk D. S. James is one of the pioneers of Montgomery county.  July 4, 1870, he settled in Rutland township, where his father, Joseph L. James, took up a claim on the Osage Diminished Reserve, made a farm of it and still resides there. Ohio county, Kentucky, is the native place of our subject and he was born February 4, 1857. His family was one of the old ones, being settlers there in the early years of the nineteenth century and emigrants from the State of Virginia, where Samuel James, the grandfather of Diogenes S. James, was born. The last named was a soldier in the early Indian war, under General William Henry Harrison, and participated in the famous battle of Tippecanoe, in 1811.

Joseph L. James was born in Ohio county, Kentucky, in 1827, grew up on the farm and served in the Kentucky Home Guard. When he emigrated from there, he made the trip to Kansas with three yoke of oxen and began life in Montgomery county in a primitive way. He has conducted himself as a plain honorable farmer here, has taken some interest in local politics and was a Republican till the formation of the Greenback party, when he joined issues with it. For his wife, he chose Martha Shelton, a daughter of a Kentucky farmer. In 1893, Mrs. James died, being the mother of Sylvanus, of Rutland township; Mary, wife of John Sewell, of Bolton; Diogenes S., Harvey K., a teacher of Montgomery county, Kansas; Aurora, who married W. C. Sewell, of Bolton; Sarah, now Mrs. A. J. Puckett, of Woodward county, Oklahoma; Laura, wife of John Findley, of Bartlesville, Indian Territory; Dora, wife of Waltham Hudson, of Montgomery county; Alice, who married C. E. Koberts, of Oklahoma; and Joseph B., of Montgomery county, Kansas.

D. S. James acquired a common school education and, at nineteen years of age, married Martha Hall, a daughter of the venerable Mexican war veteran, Joseph Hall, of Caney township, Montgomery county. Mr. Hall was also a soldier in the Civil war, being a lieutenant of a Kansas regiment. Mr. James engaged in farming in his native county and resumed it in Montgomery county, Kansas, in the sparsely settled region of Rutland township, upon his advent here. He was in uninterrupted and quiet possession of his calling till November, 1897, when he was elected Clerk of Montgomery county, by the Fusion forces of the county. He succeeded John Glass in the Clerk's office and was reelected, in November, 1899, for another two years' term, and when this expired, he inherited the extra year of 1902 — on account of a change in the law of succession — and held, therefore, five full years. He retired from office, in January, 1903, with a record of duty faithfully performed, and, in the spring of the same year, took his family to the Bristow, Creek Nation, his future home.

Mr. and Mrs. James have a family of seven children, as follows: Floyd, who married Carrie Terry; Mittie M.; Etta; Charles; Roy; John; and Forest. Mr. James is an Odd Fellow and a Workman.

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS, Published 1903

At Page 452

Elizabeth James

WILLIAM C. SEWELL and wife, Elizabeth James: An old settler and a man honorably associated with the history of this county, is William C. Sewell, a native of Tennessee, born June 11, 1854. His father, Joseph G. Sewell. a blacksmith and fanner, married Catherine Mayberry, a Tennessee lady, and came to Kansas in 1871, and settled on Union creek, Independence township, where he bought and improved a claim to a well-cultivated farm. In December, 1882, at the age of fifty-three years, the father died, but the mother still survives, and is now sixty-eight years old. Of this marriage, there were four children, three of whom are living, namely: John B., Andrew, and William C.

William C. Sewell came to Kansas, with his parents, in 1871, when he was seventeen years old. His education was received in the common schools of his native state, and his marriage occurred in May, 1876, his wife being Elizabeth James, a native of Ohio county, Kentucky, and a daughter of Joseph L. James, mentioned, liberally, in this work.

Mr. Sewell began life, as a farmer, on rented land, and, after two years, he bought an untamed farm of eighty acres and lived on that, for a short time, when he sold it and became a renter, again, for five years. He bought another eighty-acre tract, the farm where he now resides, five miles northeast of Tyro. This farm he has improved and made one of the finest homes in his township, adding more land, at various times, until he now owns four hundred acres. On this farm, is a handsome residence, built on a high elevation, from which a good view of Independence, fifteen miles away, and all the country round, can be had. He, also, has good out-buildings and a large barn, lighted with natural gas. Gas is used in the house for fuel and lights and for a torch in the front yard.

It was by resistless energy and unity of purpose, that Mr. Sewell has attained this gratifying prosperity. He is township treasurer and has served, as such, several terms, at various times. In politics, he is a Populist.

In Mr. and Mrs. Sewell's family are nine children: Gentry L., Anna B., Walter A., Stella, Harry, Paul, and James. Three of the children are dead: Adolphus, who died at eleven years; Lydia at nine years, and Franklin at ten months. Gentry, the eldest, married Eunice Ellingsworth, but the other children are single and at home.

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS, Published 1903

At Page 622

JOSEPH L. JAMES

JOSEPH L. JAMES.

In 1870 there settled near Wayside, in Montgomery county (KS), the gentleman whose name precedes this article, together with a considerable family, all from the "Blue Grass State" of Kentucky. His children have been reared in the precincts of the county and are now respected members of different communities in the west, and filling responsible places in society. The family is held in high esteem in the county, always having stood for virtue and equity wherever they have resided.

Joseph L. James was born in Ohio county, Kentucky, on the 7th of March, 1827, the son of Samuel James and Sally Borah. The family is of English descent, grandfather John James having immigrated to Virginia in an early day, where he was prominently identified with the tobacco business, having been an inspector of tobacco at Richmond for a number of years.

Samuel James was reared to manhood in the "Old Dominion State" and came to Kentucky with his parents and their family of ten children and located in the then vast wilderness in the eastern part of the state. There the parents continued to reside until their death. Samuel James' education was limited, owing to lack of facilities in that primitive region, but he managed to secure enough to be able to transact the ordinary business of life. He remained in the home neighborhood until his marriage to Sallie Borah, a native of Pennsylvania and of Dutch ancestry. To this marriage there was born ten children, as follows: Jefferson, deceased at sixteen years; Magdalene, Mrs. Lloyd Rodgers, of Kentucky; her children are: Sarah, Emerson, John and Alphonso (twins). Several of these sons are quite prominent in public life in the '"Blue Grass State." The third child of Samuel James was Joseph L.; the next younger was Lucy Jane, who married Captain Devol; Sally; S. M., also a resident of the home county; John A., killed during the war; and Kelly, who died in infancy.

Joseph L. James was reared to manhood in the "'Blue Grass State," and on December 25, 1850, was joined in marriage with Martha A. Shelton. This lady was a daughter of Ralph Shelton of Butler county, Kentucky, and came to Kansas with our subject, where she died October 25, 1892. Mr. James continued to reside in Kentucky until the year 1870,  when, on July 5, he arrived in Montgomery county and located on the farm which is now his home. His preemption consisted of one hundred and sixty acres and consists of every line land upon which he has erected many substantial improvements since the date of his settlement. He passed through the hardships of the pioneers of that early day, but has a rich reward in the splendid home which is the result of his labor.

During his residence in the county. Mr. James has taken an active interest in the welfare of his community, serving in the different unremuneratiye offices of school district and township and always evincing a lively interest in affairs. A Democrat in his earlier years, he has, since seen the rise of the Reform party, given his allegiance to the furtherance of reforms in government as proposed by its platforms. In matters of religious moment, he and his family have been loyal supporters of the Church of Christ, and have been a source of great strength to that denomination since their coming to the county.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. James have all grown to mature years and have families of their own. The eldest was Paulina A., born October 1, 1857, and died December 6, 1858; Sylvanus A., born January 17, 1853, married Melissa Webster and is a farmer of Rutland township; his children are: Hettie, Allan, Curen, Padith, Ella, Paul, and Alice; Mary James born March 18, 1855, married John Sewell, proprietor of a hotel at Bolton; her children are: Seymour, Lloyd, Etta, Mary, Gertrude, Grace, Lilly, and Ethel; Diogenes S., who is mentioned extendedly in this volume; Harry K., born September 11, 1858, is a farmer and school teacher, and married Eliza Kelly; his three children are: Opal, Pearl, and Ruby; Aurora, born July 8, 1860, married William C. Sewell and lives in Fawn Creek township with her children: Gentry, Annie, Walter, Stella, Harry, Paul, and James; Sally O., born April 17, 1862, lives in Oklahoma with her husband, A. J. Puckett; Laura J., born April 21, 1861, married John Finley., a druggist of Bartlesville, Indian Territory; Joseph B., born March 26, 1860, married Ella Bell, of Caney township, and now resides on Mr. James' farm with their daughter, Hazel Lucile; Martha A., born June 18, 1868, is wife of Walter Hudson and lives in Rutland township with their three children— Earl, Harold, and Marie; Moriah A., born January 26, 1870, married Carrie Roberts and is a farmer and school teacher in Oklahoma; they have two children — Ralph and Cecil.

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS, Published 1903

At Page 364

JOSEPH JAMES

JOSEPH JAMES was the grandson of Christopher and Lucy (Thompson) James, a wealthy Virginia Planter who lived near Jamestown. His father was John James (1750-1819), their son, and his mother was Lucy (Mosby) James, his father's second wife. He was born on February 5, 1791, and died on May 12, 1866, in Ohio County, Kentucky. His birthplace was in Buckingham County, Virginia. His father came to Kentucky and settled in Mercer County, in 1796. He later removed, before 1800, to Ohio County. He died on September 24, 1819, and is buried in the old Beaver Dam Church Cemetery. He owned a farm on the Ohio-Butler County line on Green River. 

Joseph James married ELIZABETH ROGERS, the daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Ray) Rogers on September 20, 1822, in Ohio County. Both of them became Charter Members of the Green River Church on July 16, 1836. He was elected as one of the first Deacons of the Church on September 17, 1836. He was ordained on June 16, 1838. Fifteen years later, in April, 1853, he was excluded from the membership for leaving the Baptists and uniting with the "Reformers" or "Campbellites". His wife was excluded for doing the same thing, in August, 1853. He is buried in the Green River Cemetery. She married twice, after the deaths of the first husband and second husband, and is buried elsewhere. 

A Sesquicentennial History of the Green River Missionary Baptist Church 1836 - 1986, Written and Compiled by Wendell Holmes Rone, Sr., For the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of the Church, 1987.