William Hutton, of Beaumont, Kans., is one of the pioneer railroad men of Kansas, and has been identified with the Frisco Railroad, as division foreman for thirty-five years. Mr. Hutton was born in Illinois in 1859, and is a son of James and Charlotte (Snyder) Hutton. His father now resides in Los Angeles, Cal. They were natives of Ohio and came to Kansas in 1877, and settled on the plains where the father built a tar paper house in which he lived for two years. The varying Kansas winds toyed with this frail structure in a way that did not add to its appearance, and at the end of two years it was a dilapidated and ragged looking domicile, but had served its purpose and had sheltered the little family of pioneers from the wintry blasts of Kansas zephyrs, and the scorching heat and hot winds for two years. The father took up a claim and did his little farming with a yoke of oxen, and made many long drives with this primitive motor power of the plains, for with oxen the drives were always long regardless of the distance.

William Hutton came to Kansas in 1874, as he says, to see the grasshoppers, which shows the kind of courage that he had in the early days. Soon after coming, he settled on eighty acres, where he built a sort of a combination sod house and dugout. He dug about eighteen inches below the surface, which he covered with poles, and made a roof of sod. This was his home for the first few years in Kansas. Shortly afterward he entered the employ of the Frisco Railroad Company, and as above stated, has been division foreman of that railroad for the last thirty-five years.

Mr. Hutton was married in 1887, to Mrs. Susan S. McPaul, of Neodesha, Kans., and eight children have been born to this union, as follows: Mrs. Martha R. Axtell, Beaumont, Kans.; William A., Beaumont; Wilbur J., Beaumont; Mrs. Mabel Wason, Fredonia, Kans.; James, Beaumont; Gladys, Beaumont; Adaline, Beaumont, and Marion T., Beaumont.

Mr. Hutton is the oldest male resident of Beaumont, and is hale and hearty, and takes a keen interest in all that concerns the welfare of Butler county. He is justly proud of his large family of intelligent children and is constantly planning for their future welfare.

Previous | Main Page | Biography Index | Next

Pages 687-688,