| 256 cont'd | HISTORY OF ALLEN AND |
SIMEON B. WILLHITE.
SIMEON B. WILLHITE is one of the substantial farmers of Allen county, his home being in Humboldt township, where he owns three hundred and twenty acres of fine land. He is a western man by birth, and possesses the true western spirit of enterprise and progress. A native of Missouri, he was born in Clay county, on the 15th of January, 1832, and was the eldest in a family of nine children. His father, Henry Willhite, was a native of Kentucky, and married Sarah Flora, a native of that state. Soon afterward they removed to Missouri and became early settlers of Clay county. The father died in 1871, at the age of sixty-two years. Seven of his nine children are still living, namely: Simeon B.; Albert and James, of Oklahoma; Henry W., whose home is in Barton county, Missouri; Mrs. Margaret Aiken, of Olathe, Kansas. Those deceased are James M. and Donelson Willhite, M. D.
The subject of this review was reared in Missouri, and the public
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schools afforded him his limited educational privileges. At the time of the Civil war he did not enter the service as a volunteer, but participated in the battle of Lexington. When he heard that the Confederates were advancing on that town, he went down to help defend it, was given a gun and with the others participated in the engagement.
January 3rd, 1851, Mr. Willhite was united in marriage, in Missouri, to Miss Martha Elliott, who was a native of that state. She long proved to him a faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey but was called to her final rest December 13, 1899. Sixteen children were born unto them as follows: A. Robert, who is living in Allen county, James M., of Oklahoma; Henry, of Iola, Jesse H., who resides in California; S. Walter and John P., at home; Octavia; John, of Allen county, Kansas; Kate Marshall, who died leaving two children, Frank and Edith who are with their father in Worth county, Missouri, Mattie, wife of Eli Ellsworth, of Gas, Kansas; Sida Clara Veer Laveer, at home; and Mahala, wife of Riley Moore, of Allen county.
Mr. Willhite came to Kansas in 1880 and purchased the farm on which he now resides. At the time of his marriage he owned but one horse, and on this both he and his wife rode when they went to visit their neighbors. This horse he used for plowing and cultivating his land for two years before he was able to buy another. Eventually success attended him and as the years passed he has added to his possessions until he is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of well improved and valuable land. He has upon his place good grades of stock and his fields are under a high state of cultivation. His home is a nice country residence, surrounded by fine shade trees, and everything about the place indicates his careful supervision. His capital is now sufficient to enable him to put aside the more arduous duties of life. In politics he has been a Democrat since casting his first presidential vote for Buchanan, but he has never sought or desired office, preferring to devote his time to his business affairs, in which he has met with signal success.
Pages 256-257, 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.
