Daniel A. Jessup

DANIEL A. JESSUP, who is one of the enterprising and successful farmers of Ross township, where he operates a well improved farm of l60 acres in section 22, township 31, range 23, was born in Butler County, Kansas, October 16, 1871, and is a son of Solomon P. and Mary (Long) Jessup.

Solomon P. Jessup was a native of Michigan, and his wife, of Gosport, Iowa. In 1861 the father enlisted in Company E, 8th Reg., Iowa Vol. Inf.. which was recruited at Gosport. With his company, he took part in many of the leading battles of the war, and at the battle of Shiloh, where so many of his companions fell, he received a bullet through his left lung, which incapacitated him for further service. After his return from the army, he married and then removed to Butler County, Kansas, where he took up a homestead, and occupied it for 16 years. He sold that property and came to Cherokee County, where he located on what was known as the old Goodwin place, in the oldest settled portion of the county. Here he continued to farm until his death in 1889. His widow survived him until June 5, 1902. He was a valued member of the G. A. R. post at Cherokee, and always took an active part in its affairs. During his residence in Butler County, he served as a justice of the peace, and was one of the representative men of that section. In politics, he was a Republican. He was connected with the Christian Church.

Mr. and Mrs. Solomon P. Jessup had eight children, among whom the only death has been that of Doyle, the eldest, who lived but seven years. The others are as follows: Lillie, who is the wife of A. G. Bird, station agent at Noel, Missouri, for the Southern Pacific Lines; Daniel A.; Iva, who is the wife of Capt. Harry Shideler, superintendent of city schools at Girard, Kansas; William, who is an employee on the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway, living at Cherokee; Frederick, who is a bookkeeper at Stone City, Kansas; Purl, who is a member of Company G, 1st Reg., U. S. Inf., and is now stationed at Fort Wayne, Michigan; and Grant, who is in the employ of the Southern Pacific Lines at Spiro, Indian Territory.

With the exception of one winter, during which the subject of this sketch kept books for one of the local coal companies, he has been engaged in farming all his life, since he finished his school studies. He, like the other members of the family, had excellent educational advantages, completing both the common and high-school courses. He is serving as clerk of Ross township, and has been a school director for some time.

On September 23, 1900, Mr. Jessup was married to Alpha Entzminger. He and his wife are members of the Christian Church, and are liberal in its support. Politically, Mr. Jessup is a Republican, and takes quite a lively interest in public matters. His fraternal relations include the Masonic Blue Lodge, No. 119, of Cherokee, and the Order of the Eastern Star. He belongs also to the Anti-Horse Thief Association.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Mindy Tavis, student from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 5/5/97.