Page 768-769, transcribed by Carolyn Ward from History of Butler County, Kansas by Vol. P. Mooney. Standard Publishing Company, Lawrence, Kan.: 1916. ill.; 894 pgs.


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Mr. and Mrs. S. P. Carnahan

  HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY 768 cont'd

S. P. Carnahan, of Douglass, Kans., is a Civil war veteran and one of the substantial old pioneers of Butler county, who comes from a line of revolutionary ancestors, and a representative of that family has served in every war of importance in which this country has been engaged since the foundation of the republic.

S. P. Carnahan is a native of Pennsylvania and was born in 1837. His parents were Robert C. and Jane (Berry) Carnahan, natives of Pennsylvania; the father was a soldier in the War of 1812 and took part in most of the important engagements of that conflict. He was a son of John Carnahan, who served as a captain in Washington army during the Revolutionary war. He was a native of Ireland, coming here before the Revolutionary war, and served, at that time, with the Pennsylvania troops.

S. P. Carnahan was reared in Pennsylvania, educated in the public schools and was engaged in farming until the Civil war broke out, when he responded to President Lincoln's call and served throughout the war. In 1870, he was united in marriage with Miss Josephine S. Huff, a daughter of Dr. John Huff, who was a pioneer physician in Illinois, and the following children were born to this union: August B., George A., resides on the home farm in Douglass township, and Jerome R., resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Mr. Carnahan came to Kansas in 1871 and settled on 160 acres of land in Douglass township, Butler county. He later added eighty acres to his original homestead, where he successfully carried on farming and stock raising for a number of years and accumulated a competency of this world's goods. Recently he has deeded all his land to his son except 100 acres which he has reserved as a sort of a rainy day emergency place.

Since locating in Butler county, Mr. Carnahan has taken a prominent part in local affairs and has held a number of local offices of trust and responsibility. He served as clerk of his district for four years and has been township trustee and township clerk for a number of terms. He is prominent in fraternal circles, being a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Mr. Carnahan has seen Butler county develop from an unimproved State where the blue stem waved and the buffalo roamed to one of the


  HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY 769

most prosperous and highly developed counties in the great commonwealth of Kansas. To such men as he who paved the way for this great development and higher civilization, the present and future generations owe a debt of gratitude which can never be paid.

Mrs. J. H. Carnaham[sic] is a woman of rare literary ability and has written many poems of real merit, among which is the following beautiful little poem, a striking example of the style of her verse:

OCTOBER.

The sun flings over thee a veil, mellow and lambent!
For thee the earth is arrayed in vivid colors!
Plant, leaf and flower are sun-kissed and radiant;
All in beauties race tawny leaves and lovely flowers.

Thine own maid-of-honor, the Goldenrod greets thee,
By brook-side and by-path, in orchard, meadow and lane,
Tall Canna lilies are flaunting their beauty—
All sweet in the sunshine, the dew and the rain.

The Harvest is here! and the Corn King is waiting—
With titled cereals, to crown thee Queen of the feast.
The Banquet is spread; there is nothing more wanting—
Save to ask the Great Giver our harvest to bless.

To thee, Queen of Harvest! lovely October!
We bring all our treasures, and fruits of the land;
Prince Wheat, and his kinsman, the wonderful Kafir,
Place the strong "Staff of Life" in thy beautiful hand.
J. H. C.


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