NIMROD HANKINS.

NIMROD HANKINS, of Iola, among Allen county's venerable pioneers and a gentleman who has performed his part in the moral, material and political upbuilding of his county, was born in Vermillion county, Illinois, March 1, 1831. He is a son of Fielden L. Hankins, a Virginian, and a farmer and soldier of the war of 1812. The latter was married to Miss Fannie Drury, a lady of Virginia birth and of the age of her husband. This union was productive of eight children, three sons and five daughters, viz: Deborah Hays, who died in Iola in 1895 at the age of eighty-four; Davis Hankins, who died in Andrew county, Missouri, at the age of sixty years; Wesley Hankins, who died in McDonough county, Illinois, in 1885; Emily Hays, of Leon, Kansas; Andrew J. Hankins, of

Good Hope, Illinois; Rev. William Hankins, of Iola, and Nimrod, our subject.

Grandfather Drury was a Methodist minister in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. His wife lived to be near one hundred years of age.

At the age of seventeen years Nimrod Hankins began life as a farmer and continued it in Illinois, and in Kansas till recent years. He left Illinois in 1856 and came to Allen county, Kansas. He located near Iola in the fall of the same year. When the war broke out he enlisted at Iola in Company E, Ninth Kansas Cavalry, October 17, 1861. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Lynde and the company by Captain Flescher. He enlisted as a private but was soon promoted to Orderly Sergeant and later to First Lieutenant and for six months he was on detail as recruiting officer. His service was spent largely in running down Bushwhackers, one year of his enlistment being passed on guard duty along the Missouri and Kansas line. The regiment was sent south toward the end of the war into Arkansas, stopping at Fort Smith and Little Rock, spending several months in that state. The regiment was disbanded at Duvalls Bluff and there our subject was mustered out.

November 1, 1865, Mr. Hankins was married to Elizabeth A. Case who was born November 20, 1844. She was an Allen county teacher and a daughter of Aaron and Amelia Case who came to Allen county in 1857 from Franklin county, Kansas. Mr. Case came to Kansas in 1852 and was a trader among the Sac arnd Fox Indians on the Marias des Cygnes river. He erected one of the first store buildings in Cofachique and, when that place seemed destined to die he removed his stock to Iola where he followed merchandising till his death, December 1862. Mr. Case was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1822, and was married in 1843 to Amelia Foster who was born in Clay county, Missouri. His widow resides in Fredonia, Kansas. Their children are: William E. Case, a leading merchant in Fredonia, Kansas; Mrs. Nimrod Hankins; Mrs. Laura E. Hunt, of Fredonia; Mrs. Louise J. Hudson, of Fredonia; Mrs. Belle Lakin, of Fort Scott, Kansas, and Richard Case, of Fredonia.

Mrs. Nimrod Hankins taught a subscription school in Cofachique in 1859, the first school taught there. Afterward she spent three years in the public schools of the county.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hankins have been born six children, four of whom survive: William C. Hankins, an attorney and abstracter of Iola; Miss Olive Hankins; Richard N. and George D.

Nimrod Hankins is well known as a Democrat. His ancestors espoused the principles of the old time faith and when he came to responsibility and citizenship he followed in their footsteps. His political life has been as quiet as his social life. He filled the unexpired term of J. L. Arnold as Probate Judge, by appointment of Governor Lewelling, which is the sum total of his official service. He is slow of speech, pleasant and affable in manner, droll at times and full of dry humor. He measures to the full height of our standard of citizenship and possesses the entire confidence of his neighbors and friends.

Previous | Home | Next