John C. Oglesby

JOHN C. OGLESBY. One of the solid citizens of Lola township, and a veteran of the war which "cemented the State into an indissoluble union," is John C. Oglesby, who resides on a splendid farm of 240 acres in sections 21 and 29, township 33, range 22. Mr. Oglesby was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, March 12, 1842.

The first event of importance in the life of Mr. Oglesby was the great Civil War. As a boy, he had watched the march of events with absorbing interest, and when the call was made, he was eager for the fray. It was not until August 7, 1862, that he enlisted in Company G, 72nd Reg., Indiana Vol. Inf. He saw service under Captain Pinkerton and Col. A. O. Miller, and in the Army of the Cumberland under Sherman. After the battle of Stone River he was with Sherman, except at Lookout Mountain, when he was on special duty in Tennessee. He was at the front at the battles of Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga and Atlanta. The close of the war found him still at the front, for, at the time of Lee's surrender he was at Macon, Georgia, in the very heart of the Confederacy.

After his return from the war, Mr. Oglesby spent three years at home in Indiana. At the end of that time he went to Dallas County. Missouri, where he lived for 18 years, or until 1886, when he removed to his present home in Kansas. Mr. Oglesby's farm comprises 160 acres in section 21, and 80 acres in section 29; 200 acres of the property are under cultivation.

In politics, the subject of this sketch is a Populist. He is very naturally, a member of the G. A. R. With fraternal orders he has never affiliated, except to become a Mason. In church circles he is known as a Methodist, that church having always claimed him as a member.

James Oglesby, the father of John C., was a native of Oldtown, Virginia. With his widowed mother, he moved to Indiana when a young man and followed the trade of shoemaking all his life. His death occurred at his home in Indiana at the age of 60 years. He belonged to the old Oglesby family of Virginia, who were well known and honored even beyond the confines of that State. His wife, Rebecca Conroe, was born in Ohio and removed with her parents to Indiana, when a child. She died in that State in 1859. John C. Oglesby is one of eight children, namely: Mrs. Sarah J. Beck, of Neosho township; John C.; Job, deceased in 1904; Mrs. Eliza A. Foster, of Illinois; Mrs. Susan E. Shideler, of Cherokee County; Mrs. Alice Campbell, of Indiana; Charles, living in Cherokee ounty;[sic] and Paton, of Sumner County, Kansas.

Mr. Oglesby was married in 1868 to Harriet Roudebush, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of Michael and Mary Roudebush, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter, of Indiana. To them were born the following children, namely: James P., who lives at home and has two children; Philip of Cherokee County, who has one child; Mrs. Alta Lauther, deceased; Emma, who died at the age of 10 months; Joseph, who resides in Rocky Ford, Colorado, and has one child; Mrs. Susan Clevenger, of Cherokee County; Minnie, living at home; Mrs. Madge Ward, of Cherokee County; Mollie and Harry, who are at home; and Richard, who resides in Danville, Illinois.

The subject of this sketch has a good residence, which he built, and to his efforts and good management may be attributed the accumulation of property, and the possession of the comfortable home which the family now occupy. The years which have passed since his settlement in the county have served to establish for Mr. Oglesby an unsurpassed reputation for uprightness and fair dealing. He is a kind neighbor and a patriotic and loyal citizen, and he and his family are held in the highest regard by all classes.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Carolyn Ward, instructor from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 6-27-97