Great-grandfather was a pioneer in
county
Evelyn Hunt Jones
Special to the Kansan
My great-grandparents, Thomas S. Hunt,
M.D., and Susan Barbee Hunt arrived in Kansas Dec. 23, 1875. The trip
was made with their four children.
The family traveled by train from their
home near Brush Creek, Smith County, Tenn. to their new home on the
plains of Kansas. One can only imagine how bleak and cold that
December day might have been with the sharp, winter wind blowing
across the plains.
It was most certainly a very long and
tiring trip for my great-grandmother, pregnant with her fifth child
and traveling with a toddler and a 4-year-old. Their two older sons
were 10 and 13 years of age. How joyful they all must have been to
have reached their destination by Christmas.
The only trip my great-grandparents
ever made back to Tennessee was in 1884. They were away two weeks.
They did have relatives in the Patterson community where they
settled; later, Susan's two brothers Roland and Jerome Barbee, came
from Tennessee and settled there.
Undoubtedly, my great-grandfather knew
of the good, level farm land on the central plains in Kansas, and it
being more fertile than his land in Tennessee, he put his affairs in
order and made plans for the move.
After he had the signed contract on his
Tennessee farm in September 1875, he made a trip to Kansas without
his family to make preparations for their arrival in December. The
record shows when he reached Kansas, he purchased Smith Murphy's
interest in his claim on 160 acres, and built a house for his family
valued at $100.
The Homestead Act of 1862 required
proof the settler had lived on the land continuously for seven years
and had made improvements; then, he would be given the title.
The homestead was the northwest quarter
of Section 28, Township 24, south of Range Three West, Lake Township,
Harvey County, now the Campbell farm.
Originally the land was filed under the
Timber Claim Act, and according to the records, he had planted and
cultivated 20 acres of timber. My grandfather told of going to the
Big Arkansas River when he was a boy and pulling up saplings to plant
on their land. The Timber claim was later relinquished back to the
government. In 1882, he filed under the Homestead Act, witnessed by
his neighbors, Charles W. Greenfield, George H. Keener and J. A.
Wimp.
A larger house was built in 1881 for
his family by a carpenter named M. Walker. He describes the house as
"a frame two-story building, 16 feet by 40 feet" with a
value of $800 located on "a good, stone foundation with a
cellar."
He acquired almost three sections of
land in Lake Township, more than 100 head of cattle and other
livestock, horses, hogs and chickens. When his homestead was filed,
improvements included a barn, smoke house, three good water wells and
"two miles of good hedge fence," all valued at $480.
At the time of the homestead
application, 85 acres were under cultivation and he was raising about
425 bushels of oats and 2,000 bushels of corn. The record shows the
price of corn was 67 cents a bushel on the Chicago market in 1882.
The Dr. Thomas S. Hunt homestead in
Patterson, Kan. in 1900.
In 1887, my great-grandfather deeded
land for right-of-way to the Kansas Midland Railroad Company and
developed the town site of Patterson and sold building lots. The
settlement of Patterson was founded in 1888. It was a station on the
railroad which ran from Wichita through Burrton to Medora. Patterson
was a thriving village at the turn of the century. It owed its
existence to the railroad.
Dr. Hunt was a member of the Masonic
Lodge at Burrton.
The Friendship Baptist Church was
organized at Star School in 1878. One of the founders, he donated
building lots in Patterson for the church and the building was
dedicated in December 1888. Both my great-grandparents were active
leaders in the church.
Earlier, in 1858, my great-grandfather
had received his doctorate of medicine from Transylvania University,
Lexington, Ky., an unusual and remarkable accomplishment for a
farmer's son at the time. His father's signature was only a mark. He
practiced medicine in Kentucky and Tennessee for 17 years before
coming to Kansas.
For 25 years, he continued his practice
of medicine in Kansas and rode his horse to call on his patients.
Being a very meticulous man he kept detailed records in his ledger
with entries of his patients, treatment given or advised and charges
for his services. Names of some of his patients were Barnes, Fry,
Greenfield, Keener, Matlack, McMurry, Parker, Saylor, Shacklett and
Wimp.
A strong believer in education, he was
instrumental in supporting Star School, District 73, Lake Township,
served many years on the school board and taught there. Some of the
families with children in attendance at the time he taught were:
Bridgeman, Greenfield, Keener, McMurry, Osborne, Parker, Pilkington,
Shacklett, Shive, West and Wimp, as well as his own children.
Children of my great-grandparents were
John H. (1862-1946), Thomas W. (1865-1905), Berry Wiseman, my
grandfather, (1871-1942), a daughter, Viola (1873-1903), all born in
New Middleton, Smith County, Tenn., and the youngest, Milford E.
(1876-1952), born in Kansas.
Three of their sons attended Kansas
University. John H. and Thomas W. continued their education and
received their doctorate of medicine at the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Penn.,
respectively. They followed in their father's footsteps and were
practicing physicians all their lives.
After attending Kansas, my grandfather,
Berry Wiseman, returned to the farm in Patterson. Their youngest son,
Milford E., remained on the homestead and farmed. Their daughter,
Viola, married a minister and lived in the Patterson community; she
died at age 29.
An extremely accomplished man, with a
distinguished career as a physician, statesman, educator and rancher,
died at his home May 4, 1900 at 70.
The Evening Kansan-Republican, Newton,
May 5, 1900 issue, said, "Dr. T. S. Hunt of Patterson, Lake
township, died yesterday of old age at his home. The body will be
brought here tomorrow on No. 6 and interred in Newton cemetery. The
deceased was one of the pioneers of Harvey County. For 25 years he
had been a prominent stock raiser. He was highly esteemed by his
neighbors, who mourn the passing of a valuable citizen."
Years later his remains were removed to
the family cemetery on land he had set aside on the northwest corner
of his homestead at Patterson. Susan Barbee Hunt, 79, died Dec. 6,
1920 and is buried beside her husband of 40 years.
The Hunt family final resting place is
known as the Hunt-Shive cemetery at Patterson, and has been tenderly
cared for by my brother, Ivan Harold Hunt, for many years.
Evelyn Jones article originally ran in
the Newton Kansan on Friday September 24, 1999
