Thomas H. Overstreet, a Butler county pioneer and Civil war veteran, who has made his home in Little Walnut township for the past forty-four years, is a native of Kentucky. He was born in Mercer county and is a son of Harding Overstreet. The father was a stone mason and farmer. Mr. Overstreet located on government land in Little Walnut township in 1872, and since that time has been engaged in farming and stock raising. He is one of the men whose industry and foresight have made Butler county one of the leading counties in the great State of Kansas.

Mr. Overstreet was married in October, 1865, to Miss Sarah Jane Beasley, and the following children have been born to this union: Mrs. Ida Sinkhorn, Wichita, Kans.; Mrs. Delitha Dawson, Wichita, Kans.; William, Wichita, Kans.; Hardy, Elgin, Kans.; Mrs. Gertrude Tabing, Leon, Kans.

When Thomas Overstreet came to Butler county the country was in a new and undeveloped state. Conveniences and accommodations were few, and, like the other early day pioneers, he made the best of the

situation, with a view of building a home for himself and his family. He endured the many hardships incident to pioneer life and enjoyed few luxuries, but he lived to be rewarded and was not disappointed. He reared his family in a way that they are a credit to their parents and to the community—the highest type of American citizenship. They are all prosperous and well-to-do, and in view of all this, Mr. Overstreet and his wife may well spend the remainder of their days in the consciousness of the fact that they have lived successful lives and contributed their part towards a better and higher civilization. This noble band of pioneers who reclaimed the great American desert are rapidly passing away, and it is but fitting that a work of this character should chronicle something of the lives and deeds of those who did their part nobly and well. It may be said of Thomas Overstreet that as a soldier and a pioneer he fought a good fight.

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