Mrs. Mattie M. Blankenbaker, of Glencoe township, is one of the brave pioneer women who came to Butler county in the early days when conveniences and comforts were few, and hardships and privations many. Mrs. Blankenbaker was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1845, a daughter of James and Nancy (Hyndman) Dunlap, both natives of Ireland. Mrs. Blankenbaker has one surviving sister, Mrs. Charles Mitchell, of LyCygne, Kans. Shortly after her marriage to Mr. Blankenbaker they came to Kansas and remained for a short time in Linn county, and in 1879 came to Butler county and preemptied[sic] a quarter section of land in Glencoe township, which has since been the family home. Mr. Blankenbaker was a Civil war veteran, having served as a member of Company I, Sixty-seventh regiment, Indiana infantry. He was a brave soldier and was honorably discharged after having made an unusually good military record. He was at the siege of Vicksburg, Murfreesboro and a number of other important and hard-fought battles of the Civil war. At Murfreesboro he had the misfortune of being taken prisoner, and after the war he was always fond of relating how he shouted with joy at the sight of the stars and stripes, after he had been released from the Confederate prison and exchanged. He served three years in the army.

S. A. Blankenbaker and Mattie M. Dunlap were married in 1866, and the following children were born to this union: Mrs. Jennie Fillmore, Leon, Kans.; Clinton, Latham; Mrs. Bernice Butts, Keighley, Kans.; Clyde, Keighley, Kans., and Mrs. Beryl Evans, Kansas City, Kans. Clyde is living on the home farm with his mother and in addition to operating the home farm, rents 160 acres in that vicinity, and is one of the prosperous farmers and stockmen of Glencoe township. Mr. Blankenbaker died, suddenly, in the Odd Fellows Hall at Beaumont, Kans., January 7, 1911, being stricken with heart failure. He was a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and for years had

been active and influential in that Order and was much in demand at special meetings and extraordinary gatherings of members of that lodge. He also took an active interest in local, political affairs and was prominent in the community. He had held several local offices of trust and responsibility, having been trustee of Glencoe township.

Mrs. Blankenbaker remembers many incidents connected with the pioneer life of this county, of which the present generation know little. When she came here there were deer and antelope and large quantities of small game. One day while she and her husband were hauling a load of corn they discovered a herd of antelope, and Mr. Blankenbaker became so excited that, at first, he started after the antelope with his team and the load of corn, but upon second thought, he unhitched one of the horses, mounted it and went in pursuit of the antelope, leaving his wife perched on the load of corn. Like the other early pioneers Mrs. Blankenbaker was exposed to the many dangers that beset the early settlers, the chief ones of which were prairie fires and cyclones. She has always had a dread of cyclones, and she is very thankful that in their playful pranks over the plains they have thus far missed her.

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