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JAMES W. LOCKHART.
JAMES W. LOCKHART, County Commissioner of Allen County, and one of the well known farmers of Humboldt township, was born in Mercer County, Illinois, May 1, 1852. His father, Josiah Lockhart, one of the characters of Allen County for nearly thirty years, was born in Columbia, Pennsylvania, in 1815, and died in Allen County, Kansas, March 20, 1894. He was married in the State of his birth to Elizabeth Lemon, who died at the family homestead August 5, 1900, at eighty-six years of age.
In 1843 Josiah Lockhart and wife moved into Mercer County, Illinois. He resided there till his advent into Kansas in 1866. He devoted his life to the farm and to stock and when he settled in Allen County it was three miles southeast of Humboldt that he purchased his farm. The daytime of his life was all activity. He was one of the old school of citizens, with no pretense toward religion, with little regard for sacred things and with, apparently, a strong belief in the doctrine of "eat, drink and be merry" in its literal sense. He was a conspicuous character at all public gatherings and when his friend was with him he was particularly jocular and pointed.
James W. Lockhart was the sixth of seven children. When of age he went to Texas and spent six years. He passed another year in the Indian Territory. He returned then to the family hearthstone and took charge of the farm and supported his parents and provided for their comfort in their decline. In 1889 he was married to Clara Wiggins, a daughter of William and Sarah Wiggins. Mrs. Lockhart is a native of Pennsylvania and accompanied her parents to Kansas in 1884. Her children are two daughters, Myrtle and Sylvania, respectively seven and four years of age.
As a farmer Mr. Lockhart is one of the progressive and successful ones in his vicinity. His property he maintains in good repair and order and his farm is one of the old and attractive ones along the highway. His
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standing with his fellows is unusually high for he maintains a business and social honor not easily assailed. It was this popularity that gave him the nomination for County Commissioner in 1896. Notwithstanding the Republican majority in his district he was elected. After a service of three years his worth was fully recognized and he was re-elected as the candidate of the Fusionists. His official conduct has been fair and honorable and has been as free from partisan bias as the exigencies of the case permit. First of all Mr. Lockhart is an American and when it comes to matters of public policy in Nation or State his views coincide with modern Democratic ideas. He is a Democrat with a friendly feeling for other parties.
Pages 352-353, transcribed by Carolyn Ward from History of Allen and Woodson Counties, Kansas: embellished with portraits of well known people of these counties, with biographies of our representative citizens, cuts of public buildings and a map of each county / Edited and Compiled by L. Wallace Duncan and Chas. F. Scott. Iola Registers, Printers and Binders, Iola, Kan.: 1901; 894 p., [36] leaves of plates: ill., ports.; includes index.
