Joseph P. Liggett, a pioneer stockman and farmer of Butler county, is a native of Ohio. He was born in Zanesville, in 1846. He grew to manhood in his native State, and when the Civil war broke out, he enlisted in an Ohio regiment and served until the close of that great conflict. He then returned to Ohio and was married to Mary Jane Tucker, also a native of Ohio. After their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Liggett remained in Ohio until 1870, when they went to Missouri, and the following year, came to Butler county, Kansas. They drove through from Missouri with a team and prairie schooner, camping nights on the trail. When they reached Butler county, Mr. Liggett pre-empted the southwest quarter of section 6, Clifford township, and proceeded to make a home for himself and his family in the new country. In those days times were hard, and money scarce, and Mr. Liggett frequently worked out by the day to get money, with which to support his family. He has worked many a day for fifty cents.

After passing through the first few years of uncertainty and meager returns, he began to prosper, and in 1885, bought 140 acres more land, and about five years later, added still another eighty to his holdings, and now owns 320 acres of well improved and valuable land, which he and his eldest son. J. M., operate in partnership. They are extensively engaged in general farming, and give special attention to the feeding feature of the stock business, handling on an average of about 400 head of cattle annually, however, they have fed as high as 700 head in one year. They sometimes buy their feeders on the Kansas City markets, and sometimes they buy in the country, conditions determining

which course to pursue. The Liggetts thoroughly understand the cattie business, and as a whole, their business has been very profitable, and yet they have sometimes, as have all other cattle men, fed at a loss.

The Liggett ranch is an ideal location for the cattle business. It is situated on a gentle slope, overlooking the old Wilcox place, which was famous in the early days as one of the largest cattle ranches in this section of the country. J. M. Liggett, the junior member of this firm. is one of the prominent stockmen of this State. He is a member of the Kansas Live Stock Association, and takes a prominent part in the annual meetings of that organization.

J. M. Liggett was married, in 1888, to Miss Mary J. Ferrier, a daughter of Thomas L. Ferrier, and three children have been born to this union: Edna, deceased: Jessie and Bernice. Mr. Liggett's second marriage took place, in 1901, to Miss Pearl Cretsinger, daughter of John J. and Josephine (Clark) Cretsinger, natives of New York, the former of Erie county, and the latter of Niagara county. The father was born May 24, 1856, a son of John and Barbara (Rushman) Cretsinger, both natives of Germany, who came to this county with their respective parents, when they were children. Mrs. Liggetts father, John J. Cretsinger, left New York when he was about twenty-five years of age, and went to Flint, Mich., where he was married to Josephine Clark. She is a daughter of Sylvester Clark, a native of New York, and a son of Pendleton Clark, in whose honor the town of Pendleton was named. To Mr. and Mrs. M. J. Liggett has been born one child. Josephine Milford, who is now thirteen years of age, and gives every promise of a brilliant future as a vocalist.

J. T. Liggett has spent several years in California recently, and now spends a great deal of his time in Peabody, where he has extensive interests.

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