Dickinson Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and Biographical Album of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and Marion Counties-Daniel Weaver


Portrait and Biographical Album of
Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and Marion Counties

Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1893




DANIEL WEAVER, a prominent farmer living on section 28, Lyon Township, Dickinson County, was for several years the Postmaster at Redwood, which office was established through his efforts in 1879, but was discontinued in 1885. The first Postmaster was C. M. Thomas, after which Mr. Weaver was appointed, he resigned when Cleveland became President, not desiring to hold a Democratic post office.

Mr. Weaver was born in Washington County, Pa., in 1833, on the 27th of November. When nine years of age he removed with his parents to Hanover Landing, Ind., and thence went to Wisconsin in 1844, where they lived in Grant County for thirty years. During this time Daniel spent four years in the Chippewa Pineries, coming to Kansas in June, 1874.

Our subject purchased a farm which had been located by the Agricultural College and for which he paid 12.50 per acre. He bought three quarter sections here and one hundred and sixty acres in Marion County, nearly all of which is bottom land. He purchased this land during a trip to Kansas in 1870, but did not settle here until June 11, 1874. He was the first settler on the Creek, which is a branch of Lyon Creek, the nearest neighbors to the south living in Lincolnsville, Marion County, ten miles distant, and to the northeast was the Elliot Ranch (now Herington), a distance of four miles. Five miles to the westward lived a settler named Thomas Derry.

Mr. Weaver engaged in raising grain and had to haul his products to Abilene, Junction City or Parkersville, none less than thirty miles distant, necessitating a two-day-trip. The nearest mill was located at Enterprise, twenty-four miles away.

With the exception of a number of German families, who had located fifteen years previously, and the people on the Elliot Ranch, Mr. Weaver was the first settler in the township and was the first settler of American birth. He now owns the northwest quarter of section 27 and the northeast quarter of section 28, Lyon Township. He has two hundred apple trees upon his farm and also grows fine crops of corn, oats and barley. His live stock is of the best grades and he has among them a number of thoroughbred Holstein and Galloway cattle, having upward of forty head of cattle in the herd. He is also engaged in breeding English coach horses, at present owning ten head.

In politics, Mr. Weaver is a Republican and has held a number of offices. For nine years he served as Treasurer of the School Board, for three years was Township Treasurer, and was elected for a fourth term on November 8, 1892. In 1886, the township was divided by our subject and Mr. Herington, and Mr. Weaver was appointed Township Trustee. He has been identified with every interest tending to open up the country and advance the interests of his township. He takes an active part in local and political affairs and is considered one of the standbys of the Republican party. He was instrumental in having the railroad brought through Herington, having circulated each petition in this township, though many of his neighbors were strongly opposed to it and the people in the town of Hope even threatened to take his life. The petition was to change the route of the Rock Island so that it should pass through Herington to Enterprise and Abilene, in place of passing through Hope, as it was first chartered. In the original plan the railroad would have run parallel with the Missouri Pacific from Herington to Hope, and parallel with the Santa Fe from Hope to Enterprise. This change of route saved bonds of $50,000 to the people.

In Iowa, on the 1st of June, 1852, Mr. Weaver married Sarah Benson, who was born in Norway, on the 9th of November, 1833, and came to the United States when but eight years of age. They have a family of three sons and one daughter. The eldest, John S., resides at home; Charles E. is farming on section 16; Ada is the wife of C. E. Triplett, the editor of the Wichita Standard, at Leoti, Kan.; and William Albert is farming on section 28, Lyon Township.

Mr. Weaver is a man of will and energy and has attained a position where he is respected by the whole community. He is widely informed and a man of quick perceptions, prompt in action and far-seeing in judgment. Such are the men who advance the country's best interests. With a certain ruggedness of character, he possesses to a marked degree the natural poetic refinement of a tender and honest heart in sympathy with nature. He is a great lover of flowers and with his estimable wife has cultivated many varieties of the natural wild prairie flowers, many of them producing surprising results. He has no less than twenty varieties of roses. He is a good neighbor and widely known, having resided in this community for nearly twenty years.



(c) 2009 Sheryl McClure for Dickinson County KS AHGP