Reno County Biographies
"The History of Reno County, Vol. 2," Sheridan Ploughe, 1917
LEVI RAYL.
Levi Rayl, well-known stockman, of Reno township, this county, and
the largest landowner in Reno county, is a Hoosier, having been born on a
farm in Howard county, that state, seven miles northwest of the town of
Kokomo, on November 20, 1864, son of Thomas and Julia Ann (Conwell)
Rayl, the former of whom was born near the city of Louisville, in
Jefferson county, Kentucky, in 1833, and died in 1891, and the latter, born near
the town of Lafayette, in Madison county, Ohio, in 1838; died on July 8,
1906.
Thomas Rayl was the son of Elijah Rayl and wife, both natives of
Kentucky, who settled in Howard county, Indiana, in 1835 being among the
earliest pioneers oi that section of Indiana, there having built three
houses in Kokomo at that time. Elijah Rayl bought one thousand acres of
swamp land from the government, paying for the same twenty-five cents
an acre and proceeded to drain and develop the same. In passing, it may
be fitting to state that that once despised land is now worth two hundred
dollars an acre or more. Elijah Rayl's industry proved profitable and
before his death, at the age of eighty-eight, he had seen his land, which
originally had been but a swamp wilderness, rated as among the very best
bits of farm land in north central Indiana. He was the father of five
sons and one daughter, to each of whom he gave one hundred acres when
they married, as a mark of his appreciation of their efforts in helping to
develop the home farm.
Thomas Rayl was the youngest of these sons. He grew up amid the
pioneer conditions then existing in the neighborhood of his home and upon
his marriage received one hundred acres of land from his father on which
to establish a home of his own. His wife, Julia Ann Conwell, also had
been reared in that section of Indiana, her parents. Reason Conwell and
wife, having emigrated from Ohio and settled there in 1835, about the same
time the Rayls settled there, also becoming wealthy farmers. Reason
Conwell lived to be ninety- two years of age and his wife lived to be eighty-six.
Thomas Rayl lived on the farm which his father had given him for fifteen
years, at the end of which time he moved to Kokomo, where he at once took
a prominent part in the affairs of the then rapidly growing county seat and
for a time served as mayor of the town. He also served for years as a
county commissioner of Howard county and in other ways aided in the
development of his home county. He was a Democrat and was influential in
the councils of his party in that part of the state. Among his interests was
the possession of an extensive stone quarry west of Kokomo, which he
operated quite profitably for some years, having been engaged in the
building of turnpikes and concrete streets. In 1873, attracted by the many
promising reports emanating from this section of Kansas, he came to Reno county
with his family and bought a half section of railroad land in Reno township,
the same being the north half of section 9, township 23, range 6 west, and
on that place he spent the remainder of his life, the original homestead
being now occupied by his son, Levi Rayl, the immediate subject of this
biographical sketch. Thomas Rayl had quite a bit of money when he came
to Reno county, but the grasshopper scourge which swept over this section
the year after he located here, practically ruined him. although he held on to
his homestead and later developed it into a fine farm. He was a strong,
rugged man and his sons grew into the same type of vigorous, self-reliant,
persevering men, the great success which has attended their agricultural
operations being but the natural result of their boundless energy and
industry. Thomas Rayl retained his physical vigor practically unimpaired until
the time of his death, he then being nearly seventy years of age, his death
being caused by lock-jaw, the result of a wound received when he stepped
on a rusty nail. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, hve
sons and two daughters, all of whom are living, save one, as follow:
William M., a prominent farmer of Clay township, this county; Harless,
who now makes his home in Hutchinson; Katie E., now deceased, who
married W. A. Brown; Elijah, who owns an extensive fruit-tree nursery at the
edge of Hutchinson; Mary J., who married Fred Mallick and lives on a
farm in Reno township; Levi, the immediate subject of this sketch, and
Thomas, also a Reno township farmer, all of whom are living very well
circumstanced.
Levi Rayl was eight years old when he came to this county with his
parents, the date of their arrival here being on May 10, 1873, and grew
up on the pioneer farm, suffering with the other members of the family all
the vicissitudes and hardships which attended the earlier years of their
residence here. Even as a boy he worked with his brothers helping their
father develop the farm and his schooling was therefore much neglected,
although he did attend several terms of district school after coming here.
He remained at home until after his father's death in 1891, after which his
mother managed the farm, her sons continuing to operate the same. Levi
and his brother, Elijah, were in partnership in the operation of the farm for
ten years. They had bought one hundred and sixty acres of the home
place, which they converted into a fruit-tree nursery. In 1892 Levi and his
brother dissolved partnership and Levi gradually enlarged the enterprise until
he set out and had under successful way five hundred and fifty acres of apple
trees. Levi Rayl then sold his interest in the nursery to his brother, Elijah,
and still held the orchard. He gave his attention to this and raising of
stock, in which he already had become largely interested, having even then
acquired considerable grazing land. For the past twenty years Mr. Rayl
has fed from two hundred to twelve hundred cattle annually and for the
past few years has been feeding more than fifteen thousand sheep each
}ear, raising most all the grain and hay for the same on his own broad acres.
During this time he has been gradually enlarging his land holdings until now
he is the owner of three thousand five hundred acres of choice land in Reno
county, the most of which lies in Grant, Reno and Clay township, and is
rated as the greatest individual landowner in this county.
On February 28, 1892, Levi Rayl was united in marriage to Clara
Effie Coberly, who was born near the town of Fayettesville, Ohio, in 1873,
daughter of Edward and Electa Melvina Coberly, who came to Reno county
in 1887 and settled in the Arlington neighborhood, and to this union the
following children were born: Thomas, born on April 27, 1893, an efficient
aid to his father in the latter's extensive ranch operations; Nellie Electa,
October 10, 1894, a very capable young woman, who, since the death of
her mother on February 14, 1914, has been her father's housekeeper as
well as a veritable mother to the younger children, her little sisters; May,
October 28, 1900; Clara Lee, October 30, 1908. and Marjorie Jane, August
29, 1910. Mr. Rayl is a Democrat, as was his father before him, and ever
has given close attention to the political affairs of the county, though never
having been included in the office-seeking class, his continually growing
personal business having required the closest application of his undivided
endeavors.
In its issue of October 1, 1915, a Hutchinson newspaper carried the
following interesting bit of information regarding Mr. Rayl's extensive
farming operations: "Levi Rayl, who owns two or three fine farms within a
few miles of Hutchinson, does things on a big scale. This year Levi Rayl
probably holds the following records: Biggest flock of sheep in the county;
biggest crop of peaches in the county; one of the biggest wheat crops in the
county; biggest pear orchard in the county; and first prize on apples at the
state fair.
"Mr. Rayl is feeding at present three thousand six hundred sheep � 'only
thirty-six hundred,' is the way he puts it. But he has ten thousand and
more bought down in New Mexico, or somewhere else, and now on the way
for fattening on his farm west of the city.
"This summer the Rayl peach orchards produce several thousand
bushels of luscious peaches. He now has ready for marketing an orchard of as
fine pears as were ever seen. At the state fair he pocketed one hundred and
twenty-one dollars in real cash as premiums on fruit, and carried oft' first
prizes on Jonathans and others. The News editorial force knows his
Jonathans were prize winners, because they ate some of them yesterday.
"And besides all this the Rayl farms produce some of the biggest wheat
crops of the county. And there are a few other irons in the fire at the Rayl
farm, such as poultry and swine and cattle and alfalfa and cow-peas and
kafir, and such like."
Mrs. Rayl was a member of the Presbyterian church, a member of the
West Side Social Club, and very active in those as well as in all good works.
She was a great help to her husband all her married life and took an interest
in everything pertaining to her home and family. Mr. Rayl is proud to
acknowledge that his wife was his equal in assisting him in making the
fortune they accumulated. A loving wife and mother and good Christian
woman she will long be remembered in the community.
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This website created Dec. 13, 2011 by Sheryl McClure.
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