William R. Nash

WILLIAM R. NASH, a prosperous farmer and stock-raiser of Neosho township, owning 160 acres situated in sections 15 and 16, township 34, range 22, belongs to that class of citizens who have done much to improve and develop this portion of Kansas. He was born September 15, 1852, and is a son of Judah and Helen M. (Smith) Nash, residents, at that time, of Licking County, Ohio.

The Nash family is of English extraction, and was founded in America in colonial days. It is one which has always been noted for its loyalty, and has numerous prominent representatives all over the country.

When the subject of this sketch was about two years of age, his father bought a farm in Delaware County, Ohio, which he operated six years. Judah Nash was a native of New York, and moved to Ashtabula, Ohio, with his parents, when young. When the Civil War broke out, he was a resident of Champaign County, Ohio, and in the fall of 1861 he enlisted in Company E, 95th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., and served until the spring of 1862, when he was struck by a piece of shell and also shot through the wrist with an ounce ball, which injured him so severely that he was in the hospital for a long period. He lost the use of his arm, but believed he would recover, and so refused his proffered discharge until 1864. He was a loyal soldier and became an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Politically, he was a Republican. He understood the trade of gunsmith, which he followed in Ohio. Later, he became a farmer, and settled on a farm in Crawford County, Illinois, in the fall of 1870. In 1876 he came to Cherokee County, Kansas, and died at Baxter Springs, August 17, 1885, aged 54 years. Prior to his death, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The mother of William R. Nash was born in Licking County, Ohio, and now resides at Baxter Springs, in her 70th year. The six children of the family were: William R.; Albert R., of Neosho township; Helen Gould, of Oregon; Charles F., of Baxter Springs; Dora, residing with her mother, in Baxter Springs; and Frances, of the same place.

The subject of this sketch accompanied his parents to Crawford County, Illinois, in 1871, but later spent a year in Ohio. After staying one year in Illinois, he returned to his native State where he remained until 1879. Since then he has been a resident of Cherokee County, and at one time owned three farms near Baxter Springs. He has resided on his present farm since 1895. He is largely interested in the breeding of good cattle and stock, raising annually 40 head of cattle, 20 head of horses and mules and 100 head of hogs. He is a large dealer also in hay, having a hay press which, handles about 1,200 tons annually.

In 1875, Mr. Nash was married to Charlotta Jane Miller, who was born in Illinois, January 17, 1855, and is a daughter of John and Sarah Miller. A family of nine children resulted from this union, namely: Frederick; Mrs. Edith Tiney, of Oklahoma; Mrs. Minnie North, of Neosho township; Charles; William Albert; Arthur; Edward; Everett and Ida.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Danielle Merritt, student from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, May 5, 1997.