Nathaniel Thompson Allison

NATHANIEL THOMPSON ALLISON was born in Cooper County, Missouri, January 24, 1846. His father was a native of Kentucky. His mother, who was born in St. Charles, Missouri, was the daughter of Elisha Goodrich, a teacher, of Hartford, Connecticut. Her mother whose maiden name was Greene, was a native of Virginia.

In his boyhood years he was under the tuition of excellent New England teachers; and through them, in addition to the training which a cultured mother gave, he gained a fairly good education, before the coming on of the Civil War, in 1861. When the schools were closed, on account of the war, he was put to an apprenticeship in a printing office; but the condition of the country becoming more unsettled, he left the printing office, without the knowledge of his parents, went to Peoria, Illinois, and enlisted in the 28th Regiment, Illinois Vol. Inf. After the war he entered school again, teaching and going to school, alternately, for several years. He taught four years in the Southwest Baptist College, Bolivar, Missouri, and while there he was secretary of the faculty. He holds the degrees of A. B. and A. M. from this school. He came to Columbus in October, 1888, and bought a half interest in the Star-Courier, the leading Democratic paper in Cherokee County, and he continued as its editor until January, 1895. He was a delegate from Kansas, in the Democratic National Convention at Chicago, in 1892. In March, 1894, he was appointed postmaster at Columbus, Kansas, by President Cleveland, and he held the office from April 1, 1894, to July 1, 1898, since which time he has practiced law and dealt in real estate.

In 1868, Mr. Allison was married to Nannie Morton, a cultured, well educated woman. She died in 1879, leaving him two daughters,—Olive, now Mrs. Emmett Rea, of Vinita, Indian Territory; and Hortense, yet at home. In June, 1882, he was married to Mrs. Nannette Martien Cook, of Clinton, Missouri, one of the leading teachers of the State. By this marriage two step-sons were taken into his family; Homer Martien Cook, now pastor of the Southside Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois; and Joseph Norman Cook, a commercial traveler, now living in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Allison live in Columbus, where they have a quiet, comfortable home.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Vicki Fields, staff from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 1/27/97.