Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 346- 349

ANDERSON K. HARGETT came to this county in the spring of 1870, and in the month of April located on a part of his present farm, on section 14, Valley Center Township. He commenced operations in a modest manner, first purchasing eighty acres, and was successful in his undertaking, adding eighty more to his first purchase five years later. After a few years employed in tilling the soil he invested a part of his capital in Durham cattle and Norman horses, of which he now makes a specialty, and has attained an enviable reputation in this county. His family consists of his wife and a son and daughter, and the homestead, with its comfortable residence and suitable out-buildings, is one of the most desirable in this section of country.

     Our subject is a Kentuckian by birth, his early home having been in the northeastern part of the State, about forty-five miles from Cincinnati. Here he first opened his eyes on the 11th of March, 1842. His parents, Sampson and Lavina (Booth) Hargett, who are now deceased, were natives respectively of South Carolina and Kentucky. The father removed from his native State about 1860, and engaged in farming in the Blue Grass regions until quite aged, then retired from active labor, and passed away at his home in Bracken County, in 1881. The mother departed this life while a young woman, in 1844, when her son Anderson K. was two years old.

     Sampson Hargett at the time of his death was eighty-three years of age. He had been a remarkably industrious and enterprising man, and took an active interest in everything pertaining to his adopted State and county. He died in the faith of the Christian Church, and is still remembered as an honest man and a good citizen. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Daniel Hargett, was a native of South Carolina and of German descent. He removed to Kentucky about 1800, and died there at an advanced age. He was a man of great force of character, well educated and intelligent, greatly interested in religious matters, and for a number of years preached the Gospel to the people of his county. Later he engaged in farming, and passed his last years in Fleming County, Ky.

     The children of Sampson and Lavina Hargett included six sons and three daughters: Elizabeth, the eldest, is the wife of William Remley, who is farming in Cole County, Mo.; John married Miss Mary Teegardener, and is farming in Bracken County, Ky.; William, who had continued on the farm with his father, died in Kentucky at the age of twenty-four years; Joseph during the late war enlisted in a Missouri regiment, and was killed at the battle of Pittsburg Landing on the 7th of April, 1862; Rial is married, and a practicing physician of Morgan County, Mo.; Nancy is the wife of B. H. Thomas, a miller of Jefferson County, Ill.; Jane is a widow, and lives in Illinois; Harrison is married, and a resident of Kentucky.

     Anderson K., of this sketch, received a good education, attending the academy at Augusta, Ky., three years, and taking a full course of study under the instruction of Prof. A. C. Armstrong. After leaving school and reaching his majority, he located in Austin, Nev., where he was occupied in mining until 1870, a period of six years, and thence came to this county, of which he has since been a resident. The land which he first purchased had been but indifferently cultivated, and there were no improvements worthy of mention. The buildings, machinery and live stock which now serve to embellish the homestead and add to its value, have involved the outlay of considerable money, besides no small amount of labor, and will bear comparison with anything of the kind along the northern line of Sedgwick County.

     Our subject very sensibly waited before taking upon himself the responsibilities of a family until he was assured that he could provide comfortably for this important adjunct to the happiness and standing of a well-regulated citizen. He then, on the 27th of December, 1876, led to the altar Miss Rebecca Jewett, a native of LaSalle County, Ill., where her father had been engaged in farming many years. Mrs. Hargett was born Jan. 23, 1856, and is the daughter of William and Hettie (Brown) Jewett, natives of Ohio. Her mother departed this life Sept. 26, 1877. The father is still living and quite well advanced in years. Rebecca was the fourth child in a family of ten, and the others are residents mostly of Kansas.

     The elder child of Mr. and Mrs. Hargett, a son, Harry, was born Oct. 21, 1882, and is a bright and promising youth; Grace, the daughter, was born Feb. 22, 1885. Mr. Hargett cast his first Presidential vote for George B. McClellan, and has since continued a stanch adherent of the Democratic party.

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