John H. Carney

John H. Carney, one of the well-known and successful farmers of Murray township, Marshall county, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, on July 24. 1863, and is the son of Eli Gierhart and Catherine (Alspach) Carney.

Eli G. Carney, who was born in Licking county, Ohio, was the son of James and Louvesia (Gierhart) Carney. James Carney was also a native of Ohio and was the son of John Carney and wife, who were of Scotch-Irish descent. John Carney was born in the north of Ireland and later came to the United States, where he married Miss Chaney, who was a native of the United States and was born during the Revolutionary times. Louvesia Carney was also a native of Ohio and the daughter of Daniel and Anna (Hanna) Gierhart. John Hanna, the grandfather, was a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, where he grew to manhood and later came to Fairfield county, Ohio, and located within eight miles of Lancaster, early in 1800. The greatuncle of Eli Carney fought in the Revolutionary War, and during the campaign of General Harrison the family supplied the army with meat. The grandfather came in an early day to Indiana, and died at his home in Lagrange county, where during his active life he was a man of much influence.

James and Louvesia Carney were the parents of the following children : John H., EU Gierhart, Sarah, Daniel and Flizabeth. Daniel and John H. are now deceased; Sarah is the wife of Frederick E. Bitsberger. of Ft. Wayne, Indiana; and Elizabeth, who was the wife of Henry Dellinger, died in the year 1900. The father died in 1843 and the mother in 1881.

EH Gierhart Carney received his education in the pubhc schools of Ohio, where he was born on January t6, 1839. At the age of fifteen years, he was employed as an apprentice to learn the carpenter trade at which he worked for a number of years. In 1871 he came to Marshall countv, Kansas, where he engaged in general farming and stock raising and met with much success, and is now the owner of two hundred and eighty acres of splendid land in Murray township. In addition to his home farm he is also the owner of one hundred and sixty acres in St. Bridget township and two hundred and ninety acres in Franklin township. He has a beautiful country home and his residence is one of the most substantial in the township.

On June 24, i860, Eli G. Carney was united in marriage to Catherine Alspach, who was born in Ohio on March 24, 1842, and is the daughter of John D. and Elizabeth ( Heimbaugh ) Alspach. Mrs. Alspach was the daughter of John Heimbaugh and wife, who were of Fairfield county, Ohio. She was a sister of Abraham Click, of Ohio, who was the father of George W. Glick, who was one of the most prominent governors of Kansas and whose statue is in statuary hall at Washington, D. C.

To Eli G. and Catherine Carney were born the following children: Mary Emma, John H., Alta M., Eli E., Charles C, Oliver O., Alice M. and Catherine Maud. Mary Emma died in infancy; John H. is the subject of this sketch; Alta M. is the wife of Willis Conable, of Murray township; Charles is now deceased; Oliver O. is connected with the state hospital; Alice M. is the wife of John Hawkins, the manager of the farmers' elevator at Axtell, and Catherine Maud is the wife of Henry Hawkins, a farmer living west of Carney Station.

John H. Carney came with his parents to Kansas when he was eight years of age. On November 9, 1871. they landed in Frankfort, where the family spent three months of that winter. They then moved to the homestead at Carney Station. Mr. Carney received his earliest educational training in the schools of Ohio and attended school after coming to Kansas and studied one year in the high school at Axtell. He then taught school for two years when he decided to engage in farming and engaged in that work with his father until 1884. He at that time purchased a farm of eighty acres, one mile west of his presen,. Ixome farm, where he engaged in his chosen work until 1893, when he moved to the place where he now lives.

On October 11, 1887. John H. Carney was united in marriage to Nannie Brolyer. who was born at Wabash, Indiana, on March 21, 1867, being the daughter of Henry Brolyer and wife, who were also natives of the state of Indiana and came to Kansas in 1884 and located in Marshall county, where they became well-established farmers raid have ever been held in the high- est regard.

To John II. and Nannie Carney have been born the following children: Charles J., Fern, Nina and Neva. Charles J. married Grace Totten and they are the parents of one child, Creta Jane; Fern is now deceased; Nina Temple is residing on a farm, west of her father's place, where her husband is successfully engaged in general farming, and Neva is a student of the Axtell high school and is now in her second year.

Mr. Carney has a splendid farm of one hundred and sixty acres, all of which is under a high state of cultivation and well improved. The buildings have all been erected by him, and they are modern and substantial. The house is a fine building of eight rooms and nicely located, and is one of the beautiful farm residences in the township. In 1906 he erected his barn, a structure thirty-eight by forty-eight feet, with sixteen-foot posts and slate roof. He also has a cattle barn, fourteen by forty-eight feet, as w^ell as other outbuildings. He has a fine lot of Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs.In addition to his own farm of one hundred and sixty acres, Mr. Carney is operating one hundred and forty acres of the E. G. Carney farm. In 1916 he cultivated one hundred and sixty acres of corn and fifty acres of wheat, and today he is recognized as one of the progressive and successful farmers and stockmen in the county. He is a believer in the modern methods, of operating the farm as well as in the care of the stock. His farm is an evidence of the care and attention that he gives it and his stock is among the best in this section of the district.

Mr. and Mrs. Carney are active members of the Presbyterian church and are prominent in the social life of the community and have long been interested in the moral and educational development of their home township. Politically. Air. Carney is a stanch Democrat and was an active worker for the re-election of President Wilson. He has held many of the township ofifices and has for many years been clerk of the school district. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star lodge at Axtell. Mr. Carney has had a most active life and he has accomplished much that is worthy of note. He takes much interest in his home and family and is a devoted husband and a kind father. -