The Falls City tribune., 1909-07-16

savage d~enizens, induced him. even
after passing the meridian of life. to
push further west, where the unten-
anted domain of Uncle San was to
be had for the taking. and a mere
nominal entrance fee. remember
the name he gave TO the country
where he fixed his resdenee,-",folua-
Ly Cail'' iidge'-and the satisfaction
with winch he pronounced it on his
numerous visits to Falls City. Be
sides Morgan, whom | think was the
Oldest. lie had two other sons that |
knew very intimately, and | believe
one other with whom | had but a
slight acquaintance, and one daugh-
ctr, as | o remember. Two of
those were Federal soldiers in the war
of the rebellion and one was slain in
the line of his duty. The other,
George served from the time he
entered the service till the close of
the war.
| met George to know him early
in 1861. He was then quite young
but he had that about him that quick
ly drew the attention of the people
and at the fall election of that year
he was elected county clerk, at that
time the most important office in the
county, defeating w. II. Mann, who
up to that time was by far the most
popular man in Richardson county.
Young Van Deventer discharged the
duties of his office SO satisfactorily
that at the next election, two years
afterwards, he was reelected without
opposition. But the war was raging;
his brother had been killed in an
an pa unman with thn annpau md aAt
w~ithstanding he was frail of body and
somewhat a cripple as well, he could
no longer brook the inactivity of of
fetal life, and resigned to take a
c%aptancy in a Missouri regiment of
Union soldiers, and went to the front
to fight the enemies of his country.
1t was an ordeal and a sacrifice that
few men would have made, and fewer
still a thoroughly appreciate. Years
afterwards. and when the grass was
growing on the graves of the dead
in the holy cause, he told me that the
hardships he was compelled to en-
dure in the campaigns of that rig
orous service were more than his
physical powers were able to bear,
and that he had every reason to be-
lieye that their after effects would
tend to shorten his days. Subsequent
events have conspired to give ere
dence to that foreboding of his, as
he died when he should have been in
the very prime of his young manhood.
| have known but few men who
possessed the elements necessary to
genuine popularity in a greater de
gree than he, and scarcely any who
could get closer to the common run
of people and command their atten-
ton. This came about m~easurably
from his great sympathy for those in
distress, from no matter what cause
and in ever such case he Vas ready
to lend a helping hand, and did it so
naturally and cordially that no sense
of obligation was suggested in the act
to the recipient of his bounty. 1t is
related of Henry Clay and Martin
Van Buren,. that they could deny a
mar a favor and at the same time
make a friend of him; while it is
said of John Quincy Adams thai he
never did a favor for a man without
making him an enemy.
There are such people in all the
walks of life, and it would be next
to impossible to account for
this strange phenomenon on any
known principle of psychology, but
that the fact exists, all who have
served an apprenticeship to the bust
ness of life, and have observed the
conduct Of men with an interested at
t~ention, can truly affirm.
After his retirement from the army
he was admitted to the bar at Brown
Vile, and subsequently engaged in
the active practice of the law in this
city, and was rapidly forging to the
front as a successful practitioner
when the summons to quit the world
came to him. The monition of the pale
messenger is final, pre-emptory, and
his beckon means come, n come
now. | liked George Van Deventer,
and | revere his memory, for he was
a man true as the loadstar under any
and all circumstanceS,-the kin
that God makes, in contradistinction
to the brand that bears the veneer
of the social conventions.
or the only remaining member OF
the family of Uncle Chris, his son, M.
Fl. Van Deventer of Stella, it is on
ly necessary to say that he has
always been one of the solid men of
the country he helped to build, whose
laws he helped to make, and whose
welfare he has steadily sought to
promote through the circling seasons
of fifty years. He is with us yet, hale
and at his post.of duty.
1t was not long till settlements com
menced on the highlands, though at
first they were thought to be of little
value, principally, | think, because
they were bare of timber. This no
ton was soon gotten out of the
heads of the people, and When the
fertile character of those lands be-
came fully demonstrated, their oc-
cupation followed swift and sure, and
by 1865 the country outside the val
leys was dotted all over here and
there with farms either partially or
wholly prepared for cultivation.
John and Hiram King settled in
the district of country lying between
the present towns of Stella and a
town called Hillsdale, now long aban-
doned, but | am not able to give the
exact date they came here. Mr.. Jno.
K;,r, ir cfi11 lirinu hola rl1ooqd and