P. J. Hershey, a Kansas pioneer and Civil war veteran, was born in Fremont, Sandusky county, Ohio, February 11, 1842, and is a son of David and Susan (Miller) Hershey, natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Hershey was reared on a farm in the rural districts of Ohio and attended the country schools. He remembers one of his early teachers, whom, he says, was a good looking girl, and received the princely salary of $1.50 per week and "boarded around." If the teacher's talent was any thing like the price that she received for it, the boy would be lucky if he absorbed very much knowledge from such a source. When a youn[sic] man Mr. Hershey followed farming and worked at the carpenters trade.

On September 1, 1863, he enlisted in Company I, Twelfth Ohio cavalry. His company was sent to Camp Denison, Ohio, where they

were drilled for a time and later transferred to Johnson Island, where they did guard duty. In February, 1864, they returned to Camp Denison and the following April went to Mt. Sherling, Ky., and in May formed a part of an expedition of 5,000 cavalry sent on a campaign against Salisbury, N. C., for the purpose of destroying the salt works there. While on the march in the mountains of East Tennessee the plan of campaign was changed and they were sent in pursuit of General Morgan, who was marching on Lexington, Ky. The Union troops encountered Morgan's command at Camp Standard unexpectedly and an engagement ensued in which Mr. Hershey was severely wounded, a bullet passing through his body. His wound was considered fatal, but he recovered under the careful treatment of his uncle, who was a physician at Fremont, Ohio, and who came to the front to care for his soldier nephew. Mr. Hershey was wounded June 9, 1864, and in the following October joined his regiment at Richmond, Ky. Shortly after this the regiment, with other troops, again started on the campaign against Salisbury. In addition to the destruction of the salt works at Salisbury, they were sent on a campaign to destroy the Virginia & Tennessee railroad. After this campaign they marched through Virginia and were reinforced at Addington by a strong body of infantry and struck the Virginia & Tennessee railroad and destroyed many bridges and many miles of track, and at the same time had many skirmishes with Confederate forces. After this campaign they returned to Lexington, Ky., encountering the Confederate forces at several points at which skirmishes ensued. The regiment averaged thirty-three miles per day on its march, reaching Lexington the latter part of January, 1865. Later they went to Nashville and Louisville, and in March, 1865, they were sent on a campaign against Salisbury, which was their last service before the close of the war, and Mr. Hershey was mustered out and discharged in October, 1865, with a very commendable military record. When he returned to his regiment after being wounded he was made an orderly, and served in that capacity until his discharge.

At the close of the war, Mr. Hershey returned to Ohio, where he remained until 1867, and in the spring of that year came to Kansas, and after spending about two months in Atchison, Leavenworth and Topeka went to Burlingame. In the fall of that year he went to St. Joseph. Mo., and later to Wyoming Territory. He remained there until 1869, when he returned to Kansas and spent the winter in Johnson county. In the spring he bought a team, wagon and camping outfit and drove to Butler county. When he reached the vicinity of where Whitewater is now located, he was greatly impressed with the giant growth of the blue stem, which, he says, was over ten feet high in places. He filed on a claim four miles southeast of where the town is now located, and still owns the place.

Mr. Hershey was married at Eureka Springs, Ark., in 1888, to Miss Edith Bamber, a native of Linconshire, England, and a daughter of

Urban W. and Ellen (Lenton) Bamber, natives of England, who came to America in 1872 and settled at Leavenworth, Kans., when Mrs. Hershey was ten years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Hershey have been born two children, as follows: H. E., born January 22, 1889, attended the Whitewater High School and graduated from the Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan in the class of 1910, where he was graduated in the electrical engineering course and for the past five years has been employed by the Chicago Automatic Telephone Company as an electrical engineer and now has charge of the publicity department in St. Paul and Minneapolis. He married Miss Florence Dickey, of Newton, Kans. Harry J., the younger son of Mr. and Mrs. Hershey, was born March 3, 1901, and is in his third year in the Whitewater High School. Mr. Hershey is a Republican and belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. Mrs. Hershey is a member of the Whitewater board of education and is prominent in social and civic affairs, and is a very capable woman.

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