B. F. Rickey, a prosperous farmer of Little Walnut township, is a Civil war veteran and pioneer of Butler county. He is a native of Ohio, and a son of Jacob and Dorcas (Morbery) Rickey, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Ohio. They were married in Ohio in 1830, and two children of this marriage are now living: Bernard, who resides in Ohio, and B. F., the subject of this sketch.

B. F. Rickey was engaged in the peaceful pursuits of the average youth of his time when the great Civil war broke forth on the country with all its vengeance, and he responded to President Lincoln's call for troops, enlisting in Company I, Twenty-fifth regiment, Ohio infantry, and served sixteen months and seven days. He participated in the second battle of Bull Run and some minor engagements and skirmishes.

Mr. Rickey came to Kansas in 1867, and located in Little Walnut township, Butler county. Here he preempted a quarter section of land, which he sold in 1879, and bought the place where he now resides. He owns 240 acres of land which is considered one of the best farms in Little Walnut township, where he has successfully carried on general farming and stock raising all these years. Mr. Rickey came to Butler county at a very early date in its settlement, and is one of the real pioneers who laid the foundation for the future greatness of Butler county. When he came here, life was filled with hardships, incident to pioneer life on the plains. Frequent drouths, crop failures and devastation of crops by grasshoppers, and other pests of the plains, confronted the early settler, but he had a brave heart and willing hands, and overcame these difficulties, and finally conquered the plains and converted a portion of the great American desert into fertile fields of productiveness. The first few years after Mr. Rickey located in Butler county, the set-

tiers did most of their trading at Topeka or Emporia, which required from two to four days to make the trip, but with the rapid development of the country, important towns sprang up within closer proximity, and the question of supplies and market began to be solved.

Mr. Rickey was united in marriage, in 1864, to Miss A. E. Palmer, a daughter of Francis Palmer. They have only one child, Ernest M. Rickey, who is associated with his father in conducting the home place. He married Miss Minnie Gaskell, and one child, Franklin E., has been born to this union. Mr. Rickey is one of the substantial citizens of Butler county, and belongs to that type of agriculturists who have built up the great West.

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