Dickinson Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and
Biographical Record of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and
Marion Counties-Hugh Mustard
Portrait and Biographical
Record of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and Marion
Counties
Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1893
HUGH MUSTARD, one of the substantial
citizens of Dickinson County, resides on
section 19, Cheever Township. He is one
of the extensive land-owners of the community,
owning thirteen hundred and sixty acres.
His home farm is a rich and fertile tract of land,
one of the tasty and valuable country homes in
this part of the State. Long lines of well-trimmed
hedge fences, a good orchard of all kinds of fruit,
and well-tilled fields, indicate his thrift and enterprise;
the barns and outbuildings are models of
convenience, all needed accessories are there found,
and the pleasant home is surrounded by beautiful
shade trees.
The owner of this desirable place, Mr. Mustard,
is of Scottish birth. He was born in Ross County.
Scotland, May 17, 1820, and traces his ancestry
back to William Mustard, his great-great-grandfather.
The next in line of descent was Hugh Mustard,
and his son, James Mustard, was our subject's
grandfather. These all lived and died in Scotland.
The father of our subject was Alex Mustard.
He married Margaret McCulloch, daughter
of John McCulloch, who died in Scotland. The
parents emigrated to Canada, where they spent the
remainder of their lives.
Hugh Mustard passed his boyhood days upon ills
father's farm in herding cattle and in attending
the parochial school. In his nineteenth year, his love
of the sea led him to ship before the mast, and for
four seasons he sailed upon the broad deep. He
was afterward engaged in cutting timber for two
years, and at the age of twenty-seven took charge
of his father's farm, which he operated for one
year. Leaving home, be then went to Glasgow,
where he shipped on a sailing-vessel bound for
New York, and the voyage of ten weeks, he says,
was one of the most enjoyable periods of his life.
Early in July, 1848, he reached his destination
and proceeded at once to Huron County, in the
Province of Ontario, Canada, where he purchased
one hundred acres of timber land and began the
development of a farm. Acre by acre was cleared,
until the entire amount was under a high state of
cultivation. He purchased an additional fifty
acres, but reserved this as a timber tract. He at
first built a log house and barn but subsequently
erected a full set of frame buildings, including
residence, barns, tool-houses, etc. For twenty-six
years he made his home upon that farm, which he
then sold at an advantage. Having resolved to
try his fortune in a new country, he came to Dickinson
County, Kan., in March, 1875, purchased a
section of land and an eighty-acre tract in Cheever
Township, and the following autumn bought
another section in Flora Township. This was all
in a primitive condition, not a furrow having been
turned or an improvement made, but with characteristic
energy he began its development and
transformed it into the fine farm which we have
already described.
In Huron County, Canada, July 25, 1850, Mr.
Mustard was united in marriage with Ellen Nicol,
who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the 29th
of July, 1831. She is a granddaughter of Thomas
Nicol, who was a sailor and was drowned at sea.
Her father, Thomas Nicol, Jr., was born in Scotland,
and married Catherine Wilson, daughter of
Thomas Wilson, who died in that country. Mr.
and Mrs. Nicol spent their last days in Canada.
When Mrs. Mustard was only four years old they
crossed the Atlantic to New York City, where they
resided for two and a-half years, and then removed
to Huron County, in the Province of Ontario,
where her girlhood days were spent. Unto our
subject and his worthy wife have been born fifteen
children, thirteen of whom are yet living:
Alex, who married Elizabeth Young; Thomas,
who wedded Jane McDonald; Margaret, wife of
Arthur D. Coleman; Catherine; James, who was
joined in wedlock with Ellen Young; Ellen, wife
of Homer Martin; Mary, wife of James Garvey;
Hugh A., who married Margaret Taylor; William,
John, Grace, Matilda and Henry S.; Janet died at
the age of sixteen years, and Emma L. died at the
age of seven years.
Mr. Mustard takes an active interest in all that
pertains to the welfare of the community. His
wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and
is a most estimable lady. While not a member
himself, Mr. Mustard gives liberally to its support,
and his aid is never withheld from worthy interests
calculated to promote the general welfare.
His life has been one of great success. Receiving no
special advantages in his youth, in fact with hardly
any training except that of hard manual labor,
he has nevertheless made the most of his opportunities
and has steadily worked his way upward.
By indomitable will and energy he has overcome
the disadvantages in his path and used the obstacles
as stepping-stones to something higher. He
is now one of the wealthiest citizens of Dickinson
County, and his example should serve to encourage
others who, like himself, start in life empty handed.
(c) 2009 Sheryl McClure for
Dickinson County KS AHGP