Rev. Franklin ELLIOTT

ELLIOTT, GRINNELL, TABOR, HASTINGS, ALFRED, CLEAVER, KENYON

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:58

Franklin Elliott
13 July 1842 --- 2 April 1919

OLD SETTLER DEAD
FRANKLIN ELLIOTT PASSED AWAY LAST EVENING AT HOSPITAL
HE CAME HERE IN 1884

Was a Man of Unusual Ability and Character - Served as County Treasurer 2 Terms.

Franklin Elliott, 76 years old, died last evening at 6 o’clock at the city hospital.
Mr. Elliott was one of the old settlers of Cherokee County, [Kansas] having lived in Quaker Valley for a number of years before moving to Columbus. He served two terms as county treasurer for Cherokee county. Mr. Elliott had been in ill health for several years and for the past two years confined to his bed. His son from western Kansas, has been here this winter helping to care for his father, but was compelled to leave this week because of important business interests which required his immediate attention. On this account Mr. Elliott was taken to the city hospital Tuesday evening as it was impossible for Mrs. Elliott to care for him alone.

The funeral services were held this afternoon at 4:30 o’clock, conducted by Rev. Waggoner. Burial was made in the city cemetery.

Miss Sara Elliott and Miss Clara Elliott, two daughters, were expected to arrive today for the funeral.

Obituary

Franklin Elliott was born in Henry County, Indiana, in 1842 and came of Quaker ancestry. He was educated in Earlham College at Richmond, Indiana, after serving his country for three years in the civil war. At the close of the war he returned to Indiana and entered college. After finishing his college course he began to preach, a profession he followed for about 30 years. Failing health compelled him to give up preaching and later he was an instructor in a normal college at Deep River, North Carolina. Following this he was engaged in school work for a number of years and finally opened a school at Newberg called Newberg Academy with about 60 young men and women from neighboring towns in attendance.

In 1879 he, with his wife and two children, located at Shawneetown, Indian Territory, where they lived for six years, he devoting himself to work with the Shawnee and Pottawatomie Indians. From there he moved to Montgomery County, Kansas, and the following year he came to Cherokee County, settling here in 1884. He purchased a farm of forty acres in Quaker Valley and from that grew the fine 200-acre farm which he owned at the time of his death.

In 1884 Mr. Elliott went to Iowa where he for a time again followed the ministry, but in about two years he returned to his farm and has lived in the county ever since.

Mr. Elliott was the father of 9 children, 7 by his first wife, and two by the present Mrs. Elliott. These children were: Ethel, Clara, Carl, May, Wilmot, Theron and one son, who died in infancy. The children born of the later union were Sara, and Laura, who also died in infancy.

He was elected to the office of county treasurer in 1902 and made a splendid record as a capable and efficient officer. His failing health has mad him a recluse for the past few years, but he was a man of unusual strength of character and ability.

The Columbus Daily Advocate -- Columbus, Kansas
April 3, 1919

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"The subject of this sketch was educated at Earlham College, at Richmond, Indiana, after serving his country for three years during the Civil War. He enlisted in 1861 in Company A, 36th Reg., Indiana Vol. Inf., as a private. His first baptism of fire was on the field of Shiloh. His regiment was first attached to the 21st Army Corps, which was in the advance guard of General Buell's army, and Mr. Elliott was a participant in that campaign. On December 31, 1862, he was wounded, at Murfreesboro, and again, on October 19, 1863, at Chickamauga. While the first wound was slight, the second was of a very serious nature, and was complicated by his being taken prisoner. He later secured a parole, but recovered sufficiently to take part in the siege of Atlanta and the battle at Jonesboro south of that city. In the fall of 1864, he returned to Indiana, with the record of a brave and gallant soldier, who was never absent from his post of duty except when incapacitated by wounds.

Mr. Elliott then entered college where by close application he was able to cover the three-year course in two and a half years, but at the expense of his health. Prior to leaving college he began to preach, a profession he followed for about 30 years, although not continuously. His ability was recognized by various educational institutions, and he received numerous flattering offers, but his health continued to be so precarious that he felt obliged to decline them all; he continued, however, to make some mental efforts and did a little farm work. He accepted a position as school teacher and spent several months in that occupation in Indiana. Then at the solicitation of Prof. Joseph Moore, one of his admirers and a former instructor, he went to Deep River, North Carolina, where he assisted in normal school work.

Mr. Elliott continued to improve in health, and later accepted a position in a college at Friendsville, Tennessee. This was quite a distance from his previous location, but Mr. Elliott decided to make of the journey a partial walking trip. From Deep River to Knoxville was something of a journey, thence to Concord was another, and from there to Friendsville he made his way entirely on foot, over a but little traveled highway. He safely reached the quiet little Quaker village, and was welcomed with the heartiness of simple people, and the respect which attaches itself to superior educational requirements in a locality of that kind. There he opened Newburg Academy, with about 60 young men and women from the town and its vicinity and numerous children; he had an enrollment of from 125 to 140 pupils during his two years in that school.

Mr. Elliott then returned to Indiana and took up the study of dentistry, which he pursued for one year, after which he was tempted to return to teaching, by the offer of what he considered a sufficient salary, as principal of the Little Rock (Arkansas) High School. Prior to taking up the duties of this promising position, he went to Tennessee, and was married in Blount County. After spending, one year at Little Rock, he returned to Blount County and there entered upon educational work, being elected superintendent of the schools of that county, a position to which he was reelected. Before he had completed his second term, he resigned the position, in order to go to the Indian Territory as a missionary to the Indians.

In 1879, Mr. Elliott, with his wife and two children, located at Shawneetown, Indian Territory, where he remained six years, lacking one month, devoting himself to work with the Pottawatomies and Shawnees. Then he removed to Independence, Montgomery County, Kansas, where he remained during the winter, coming to Cherokee County in April, 1884. He located at what was called "Timbered Hill," but is now known as "Quaker," a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway, in Crawford township. Here he purchased a farm of 40 acres, the nucleus of his present fine farm of 200 acres. It was formerly a nursery, and was very valuable property on account of being well stocked with fine fruit, the cultivation and sale of which have for years resulted in a large addition to his income. His peaches and cherries are his most reliable crops, and both do well. He has also carried on general farming, meeting with excellent success and, with the exception of six years spent in Iowa in ministerial work, the farm continued to be his home until his election to his present position required his residence in Columbus.

In the fall of 1884, Mr. Elliott went to Iowa and was followed by his family in the succeeding spring. As before mentioned, he spent six years in that State. He was pastor of the Congregational Church at Monona, Clayton County, for 16 months; of that at Eagle Grove, Wright County, over two years, and for two years he preached at Manson, Iowa. During this time the farm had been leased. Since his return to it, he has not been engaged actively in church work, giving his attention almost exclusively to his farm, and to performing the duties of township treasurer, trustee, and member of the School Board.

Mr. Elliott first married Lyda G. Grinnell, born in Indiana, daughter of Rev. Jeremiah A. Grinnell, a Quaker minister, who had traveled far and wide. Rev. Mr. Grinnell was born in Vermont, where he married Martha Tabor, who died in Tennessee, while his death, in advanced age, took place in California. Exclusive of Mrs. Elliott, his children were: Dr. F., of Pasadena, California; Rev. S. S., a graduate first, of Marysville College, Tennessee, then of Oberlin College, Ohio, and lastly of Harvard, who entered the Congregational ministry, and died in California; Edwin, lately deceased at Des Moines, Iowa, who was an editor, a member of the Iowa State Senate, and later a minister; Mrs. Rose Hastings, of Maryville, Tennessee; Mrs. Mary Alfred, who died in the Indian Territory, leaving three sons, now at Hampton Institute, Virginia; and Eveline, wife of Rev. William Cleaver, a Quaker minister at Carthage, Indiana.

Mrs. Elliott died in Iowa in 1889 [June 17, 1888], aged 42 years, and was buried at Des Moines. She was the mother of seven children, the youngest of whom, Albert, a babe, died soon after her decease. The others are as follows: Ethel, a professional nurse, who was born in Tennessee; Clara, born also in Tennessee, who is a teacher in the city schools at Columbus; Carl, born in the Indian Territory, who graduated in May, 1904, from the Cherokee County High School; Wilmot, who is a farmer on the homestead in Crawford township; Theron, who is engaged in fruit growing in Oregon; and a son, who died in infancy, in Tennessee.

Mr. Elliott married, second, Annie Kenyon, who was born in Iowa, of Rhode Island parentage. Two children resulted from their union, Laura, who died aged six months, in Cherokee County, and Sarah Kenyon.

For many years Mr. Elliott was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in Iowa, and was active in the affairs of the post at Eagle Grove. He is a Mason, was formerly identified with the Odd Fellows, and belongs to the organization known as the Anti-Horse Thief Association. Mr. Elliott commands the universal respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, and they could not have placed their financial interests in more capable hands. In politics, he has always been an ardent Republican, and has served the public in many official capacities. He was elected to his present office of county treasurer in 1902."

History of Cherokee County, Kansas, and Representative Citizens. Chicago, IL: Biographical Publishing Co., 1904, pages 357 - 359.

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[Franklin Elliott was married to Lida Eliza Ellen (Grinnell) Elliott who died June 17, 1888 in Des Moines, Iowa while Rev. Franklin Elliott was serving as a minister in Eagle Grove, Wright County, Iowa;]