LEWIS P. Du BOIS.
Lewis P. Du Bois has the distinction of being the oldest living pioneer settler of Atchison county residing in Shannon township. The story of his life since coming to the great West in search of health reads like a romance and is well worth recounting in the pages of this history of the county which he has helped to create during the past fifty-seven years or more. The last days of his eventful life are being peacefully spent in the beautiful country home which he erected several years ago, which sets far back in a park created by his own hands and shaded by great trees planted in years gone by on the barren prairie which he broke and brought to a high state of cultivation. Mr. Du Bois can look out over the broad acres which he and his good and faithful wife have accumulated, and be well content that providence has been kind to them and theirs.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Du Bois—Golden Wedding Anniversary.
Lewis P. Du Bois is a descendant of an old American family. He was born March 23, 1834, in Salem county, New Jersey, a son of Samuel and Mary (Johnson) Du Bois, both of whom were natives of New Jersey. Louis Du Bois, a Frenchman, who came to America in about 1660, and established the French settlement of New Palz, was the original founder of the family in this country. His children were as follows: Jacob, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, David, Solomon, Rebecca, Rachel and Matthew. Samuel Du Bois was the son of Matthew, a great-grandson of the first Louis Du Bois. Lewis Du Bois, direct ancestor of Lewis, and son of Mathias, was a soldier in the Revolution and served for seven years under General Washington, and was engaged in all of the battles in which Washington’s army participated. Matthias’ children were: Sarah, Lewis, Anna, Rachel, Cornelius, Matthew and Benjamin. Lewis Du Bois, the Revolutionary patriot, married Rebekah Craig and was the father of the following children: John, Matthew, Polly, Lewis, Rebekah, Benjamin, Elizabeth, and Samuel, father of the subject of this review. Samuel Du Bois was born September 26, 1800, and died in May, 1873. He married Mary Johnson, who was born January 17, 1824, and died January 28, 1879.
To Samuel and Mary Du Bois were born children as follows: Rebecca, who became the wife of Clarence Struper, and is now-deceased; Adaline, wife of Jacob Kaeley, deceased; Mary Jane, wife of John Du Bois, of Fairfield, Iowa; Lewis, with whom this review is directly concerned; Emeline, wife of Daniel Hitchner, Nemaha county, Kansas; Eliza, wife of A. Hitchner, deceased; Samuel Johnson, Salem county, New Jersey. Mr. Du Bois has an old Bible over 150 years old and also has in his possession genealogical works concerning the Du Bois, Patterson and the Ewing families which can be consulted for further genealogical data if need be. Samuel Du Bois was a farmer and his father, Lewis, was a paymaster in the American army of defense during the War of 1812. Both lived and died on the old ancestral farm which has been in the family for many generations. Lewis donated one farm of 160 acres to the Daretown Presbyterian church and practically endowed it. Samuel was a very prominent citizen in his neighborhood and held several important offices and was one of the twelve free holders of Salem county, New Jersey.
Lewis P. Du Bois was educated in the common schools of his native county and when twenty years of age was employed as clerk in a store at Bridgeton, Cumberland county, New Jersey, for three years, after which he spent one year assisting his father farm the old homestead. His health failing, he was told by the family doctor that he must go west or he could live but a short time. Leaving the old home, his sweetheart and all associations behind him, he set out and arrived in Atchison in April, 1858, with only $50 in cash in his pockets. For the first year he made his home with Dr. Challiss, on the doctor’s farm. Dr. Challiss advised him to spend one year near the river and then go to the mountains for an indefinite stay until he was cured. At the end of his first year’s residence in the West he set out for the mountain country as assistant to Eli Mason, the first sheriff of Atchison county, in the conduct of a wagon train en route to Ft. Kearney. His first trip to the West and the outdoor life proved beneficial and upon his return he clerked in the store of P. R. King until November of 1859, and again crossed the plains with Henry Macey, of Weston, Mo. This was a very hard and long trip, taken in the winter time, but he gained rapidly in strength and general health and accumulated weight until he tipped the scales at 158 pounds. Upon his arrival in Denver, Colo., the mining excitement was at its height and he was seized with the gold fever. He took up a mining claim in the mountains, but left it and went further into the mountainous country. He spent all of his money on developing another claim, building a sluice and dam and turning the course of a stream in order to get a sufficient flow of water for placer mining. All of his efforts came to naught and his mining fixtures were washed away by a disastrous flood and he was left in debt over $1,000. He and his associates then went to Georgia gulch and bought another claim which yielded sufficiently to enable him to pay off his debts and then the gold gave out entirely. News came to the camp during his first winter in the mountains that a number of men were snow bound over the divide and were starving for food. The snow was from seven to ten feet deep on the level and twenty feet deep on the ranges. Mr. Du Bois and another man were the only men brave enough to volunteer to carry succor to the destitute prospectors and had the distinction of being the first men to cross the Rockies in the dead of winter. From Colorado he went to Wyoming and then returned to Atchison in 1861, meeting the fast pony express on his way and learning of Abraham Lincoln’s election to the Presidency.
From Atchison he returned to the old home in New Jersey and there married the sweetheart who had been waiting for him to come back, restored to vigorous health and strength. He followed farming in New Jersey for three years, suffering in the meantime from rheumatism and sickness, brought on from too much exposure to the elements. In 1865 he and his wife again returned to Atchison with a cash capital of $500 and he took charge of a farm owned by his friend, Dr. Challiss, on the share plan for a period of three years. His farming experience for those three years was not at all profitable, and he was left at the end of the time with practically no funds. Jayhawkers took practically all that he made, and one time, after he had fattened a lot of hogs on corn which cost him $1.10 per bushel, thieves stole the porkers and he was left without a dollar. He then ventured to sell fruit trees to the settlers in Colorado on the route to Denver and was very successful in taking many orders. The delivery of this consignment consisting of two wagon loads cost over $1,850 by overland freight train in the fall of the year. The Indians were troublesome at the time and during one eventful night which demonstrated that the biggest braggarts with the train were the greatest cowards, the Indians tried to run off their mules but were finally driven off. This venture resulted in replenishing his store of funds and he bought his first farm with the proceeds, paying cash for it. Like many others during those early days, Mr. Du Bois herded cattle on the great free ranges but was unfortunate in having fifty head die of Texas fever contracted from an infected herd of Texas cattle which were being pastured over the range on the way to market. Many, indeed, were the discouragements which beset his attempts to secure a livelihood, at one time having purchased a horse from a Mr. Galbreath, it developed that the beast was afflicted with glanders in a contagious form. This necessitated the killing of all of his horses and the consequent restocking of his farm. Prosperity eventually smiled upon him and his, however, and better times came and he became the owner of 320 acres of exceedingly fine land in Shannon township. He is a director of the Bank of Vliets, Kan.
Mr. Du Bois was married November 3, 1863, to Sarah Jane Jones and to this union have been born children as follows: Mrs. Carrie C. Buck, born in 1865, and residing at Vliets, Kan.; Lewis P. died in infancy; Samuel T., born July 7, 1876, operates the home farm, married Anna Katharine Kistler, daughter of William D. Kistler, and has two children, Lewis P., Jr., and Kathryn Ellen. The mother of these children was born April 5, 1835, in Salem county, New Jersey, daughter of Joseph and Mary Ann (Van Meter) Jones. The Jones family of which she is a descendant is a very old one in America, and a history of the family is being now published. The Van Meter family had its origin in this country as far back as 1660 and they were members of the new Palz settlement in New Jersey. Her grandfather, Samuel Van Meter, married Lady Anna Bishop, a titled English lady who was a member of a noble English family. Several of her ancestors served in the war of independence.
On November 3, 1913, there was celebrated at the hospitable and beautiful Du Bois home, the fiftieth or golden wedding anniversary of this widely known and well loved pioneer couple. Guests to the number of 500 came to congratulate them from far and near, among them being the notable men and women of Atchison county, who are proud of the friendship of Mr. and Mrs. Du Bois. The tables groaned with good things to eat and the day was spent happily in merrymaking, the wedding ceremony of Lewis and Sarah being again duplicated for the edification of the interested guests. No invitations were issued for the occasion, but a general country-wide notice printed in the Atchison newspapers caused a perfect hegira to the Du Bois home of old and new friends of this worthy couple, who wished to be in line to grasp their hands and wish them many more happy years of wedded life which have been unmarred by a single serious discord. The fifty-three years of wedded life have been replete with happiness and blessings for Mr. and Mrs. Du Bois, in the main, while tinged with sorrows which are the inevitable lot of all mankind.
Mr. Du Bois and the members of his family are affiliated with the Presbyterian church. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Central Protective Association, having been one of the founders of the Good Intent lodge of the Central Protective Association. He has been a life-long Democrat, and, while never having sought political preferment and not having filled any office but that of trustee of Shannon township, he has always taken in other years a very active part in county, State and National politics. He was a great personal friend of Governor Glick.