Bourbon County Biographies
"The Why of Fort Scott"
E. L. MARBLE.
Mr. Marble's coming to Fort Scott is described
under the heading "Modes of Travel." Mr. Marble
still makes this city his home, as do his two sons,
Frank and George, and his daughter, Alice W. Marble. George W. Marble is and has been for a number
of years, editor and owner of the Fort Scott Tribune. One son, Edward, lives in Oklahoma.
JUDGE WILLIAM MARGRAVE.
Judge Margrave came to Fort Scott, November
7, 1854. He was appointed Justice of the Peace, by
Gov. A. H. Reeder � the first appointment issued in
the Territory of Kansas. He died, September 29,
1904. Had he lived until December, he would have
held the office for fifty consecutive years. In his capacity, he administered justice
impartially and unafraid, but the decisions were always prompted by a
kind heart and much human sympathy. At one
time he held four offices � Justice of the Peace,
Clerk of the Court, Probate Judge and Police Judge.
These offices sought him and not he the office. He
seemed peculiarly fitted to fill such offices and the
growing town has well appreciated his services.
He lived first, in a log house that stood near the
Plaza School, one of the original houses built as
temporary quarters by the soldiers, when they came
in 1842. This house was the only one not burned
when the soldiers moved into their permanent
quarters on the Plaza. Mrs. E. J. Rollings of this city
was born in that house. The Judge later bought
the Free State Hotel and lived there until his death.
Mrs. Rollings has the parlor furniture of the hotel,
acquired with the house. The furniture consists of a
walnut tete-a-tete, a rocking chair, and six smaller
chairs.
Two daughters, Mrs. E. J. Rollings of this city,
and Mrs. M. F. Gregg, of Wichita, Kansas, are still
living.
R. H. MOFFETT.
R. H. Moffett came, with his mother, to Kansas
City from Ohio, in 1859, and in the spring of 1860
came on down to Fort Scott. He homesteaded a
farm eight miles northeast of town where he lived
until his death in April, 1919. He enlisted in 1861
in Company B, 6th Kansas Cavalry and served
during the war.
The four children now living are : W. W. Moffett,
Jesse, and Mrs. A. West, of Fort Scott, and J. A.
Moffett, of Fulton, Kansas.
A. J. OSBUN.
Dr. Osbun, while on a visit to Gov. Shannon, his
brother-in-law, at Topeka, came down to Fort Scott
to visit Judge Williams, and liking the looks of the
little village, consisting then of the buildings around
the Plaza, concluded to come back the next spring
and make a home. When he came, in the spring of
1858, two sons, Samuel and Charles, came with him.
The next year, his daughter, Sallie, and a son, Albert,
came; and in 1860, Mrs. Osbun, a daughter, Fannie,
and a son, William, joined him. He bought a claim
of 160 acres from a squatter, on which the family
are still living. He also took up a claim on Drywood and later bought the farm, now the Glen
Campbell farm, adjoining the home place. He practiced medicine, besides the farming, as his boys were
large enough to help with the latter.
Dr. Osbun died in 1862. Four children are now
living: Sallie and William of the home place, Samuel of Garden City, Kansas, and Mrs. Fannie Garrett
of Salt Lake, Utah.
B. F. OTHICK.
I feel that Mr. Othick should have a place among
these biographical sketches as a reminder of what
he did to restore the dear old Plaza and make it a
pleasure ground for all of Fort Scott.
In 1910 it was in a weed infested condition and
an eyesore to the whole town, also a constant reminder that the people had begun to forget its historic value. In places the weeds were as high as
one's head, the trees untrimmed for years, were a
ragged mass; the band stand gone to ruin and not
a path within the whole enclosure.
His first work was to get the council to let him
have the prisoners in the calaboose to help him, and
Mr. P. A. Willsey consented to guard them while
they worked. He trimmed up the young trees, cut
down the old decayed ones and planted many new
ones. He grubbed out the weeds, leveled the ground,
laid out paths, sowed bushels of blue grass seed
and made fourteen flower beds and bordered them
as well as the walk with brick which he begged for
the purpose. He got from Washington five hundred
pounds of plants to set out in these beds. He rebuilt the band stand and did a thousand other
things necessary to make it the beautiful little park
it is. Through the help of Mr. Grant of the lumber
yard, he had some financial help from generous
handed citizens.
Some of the ladies volunteered help in setting out
the plants in the newly made flower beds.
It was Mr. Othick who first thought of marking
the historic places of interest within the city. He
called in for consultation, Mrs. G. W. Goodlander,
Mrs. C. Haynes and Mr. Ed Marble. They located the
different places and the D. A. R. ladies took up the
matter with the result that all the historic places are
properly marked.
Mr. Othick put in many hours of thought, hard labor and a great deal of his own money into the undertaking. It cost the city absolutely nothing.
Truly Mr. Othick was one of our most public minded citizens and there should be a tablet put up to
his memory in some suitable place on this historic
Plaza.
HOMER POND.
Homer Pond came here in 1862 with the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, in which were also his two brothers.
He was here during the rest of the war and on being
mustered out, a lieutenant, remained in Fort Scott.
He went into a saw mill with J. Ury, down on Drywood, later going into other business. He was post
master in 1891. His widow and one son, Elmer,
live in Muskogee, Okla., a daughter, Mrs. Barsfield,
in Kansas City, Mo.; Wilham, in Wichita, Kansas;
and Charles in Peoria, Ill.
GEORGE F. POND.
In 1862, the three Pond brothers, J. B., Homer
W., and George F., came here with the Third Wisconsin Cavalry. J. B. was mustered in as captain,
and mustered out as major. Homer, as sergeant,
and discharged as lieutenant. George preferred the
varied life of a scout and of course missed promotion. He
often rode from Fort Scott to Fort Gibson, 175 miles, carrying his own provisions, there
being no place between the two forts where he could
get supplies of any kind.
It was he and his comrades who saw the 19 Union prisoners that H. Taylor, the bushwhacker, held
while trying to rob and burn L. L. Ury's house on
Drywood. Taylor, seeing these scouts coming up,
abandoned his prisoners and fled, but not before he
had fatally wounded Mr. Ury. Mr. Pond and his
two comrades were publicly cited for bravery by
General Blair. His children are: Mrs. Dr. Powell,
Sacramento, Calif.; Mrs. E. A. Farrington, Barstow,
Calif.; Mrs. J. Lynn, San Pedro, Calif.; Herbert,
Fresno, Calif.; Dr. Gene, of Kansas City, Mo. His
widow and son, Frank live in Fort Scott.
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This website created August 22, 2011 by Sheryl McClure.
� 2011 Kansas History and Heritage Project
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