Joseph H. Galpine

JOSEPH H. GALPINE, one of the prosperous farmers of Cherokee County, residing on his well-improved farm of 200 acres in section 24, township 32, range 25, in Pleasant View township, was born in 1864 in Iowa, and is a son of Robert J. and Mary (Hawkins) Galpine.

Robert J. Galpine was born in 1819 in England, and was a son of James and Mary Jane (Mackie) Galpine, neither of whom ever came to America. Robert J. Galpine came to the United States in 1858, and located first at St. Louis, where he followed his trade of cabinetmaking. Then he settled in Farmington, in the southeastern part of Missouri. Thence he moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where he resided for a time, going from there to Fort Scott, Kansas.

In 1866 he moved to Cherokee County, Kansas, and secured the farm now owned by his son Joseph H. in Pleasant View township. At that time it was entirely unimproved and he was one of the pioneer settlers. This land he put under cultivation, converting it from the raw prairie into one of the most productive farms of the locality. Here his death occurred in 1889. In England he married Mary Hawkins, who survived him until 1900, dying at her daughter's home in Smithfield, Missouri. Their family consisted of four sons and one daughter, the two survivors being the subject ot this sketch and his sister, Mrs. Jane Smith. The latter was born in England. She married, first, Thomas Noble, and had one child,—Nellie. She is now the widow of David Smith, who left one son, Robert.

Joseph M. Galpine is the only member of his parents' family who was born in America. The only surviving son, he inherited a part of the farm which his father secured and cleared, and which he has continued to improve until the present time.

In 1892 Mr. Galpine was married to Anna Houston, who was born in Moultrie County, Illinois. They have two sons and two daughters, viz: Grace, Nellie, Henry and Justice. Mrs. Galpine is a daughter of Caleb and Augusta (Justice) Houston, natives of Kentucky and Ohio, respectively. They came to Cherokee County, Kansas, in 1876, from Illinois. Mr. Houston died in 1887, aged 64 years. Mrs. Houston only survived her arrival here until March, 1877. She left six children, viz: William, Carrie (Wales), Anna, Jacob A., Otis and Arrie.

In politics, Mr. Galpine is a Populist. He is one of the progressive and enterprising men of this section, keeps fully abreast of the times, and is a representative member of one of the oldest pioneer families of this township.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Glen Thomasson, student from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 12-2-96.