Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 502 - 503 

ANDREW INSLEY occupies a position in the front ranks among the fine stock-growers of Afton Township, where he is able to exhibit some of the handsomest Short-horn cattle and Poland-China swine in Sedgwick County. His animals are of registered pedigree, and will compare favorably with anything of the kind in Southern Kansas. In the care and keeping of these and also in the prosecution of general agriculture, he operates a fine farm of 169 acres within two miles of town. This land has been brought to a high state of cultivation and, in addition to its handsome and substantial buildings, there are two good orchards with the smaller fruit trees and the other appurtenances of the country homestead, which make it rot only a delightful spot to look upon, but a residence little short of perfection. Mr. Insley came to Kansas in 1877, and since that time has been closely identified with the interests of Sedgwick County.

            The first recollections of our subject are of a modest home in Highland County, Ohio, where his birth took place on the 21st of December, 1825. His parents were Aaron and Rachel (Woolard) Insley; the former was born in South Carolina in 1790, and departed this life in Fountain County, Ind., in 1865. Aaron Insley was a good man in the broadest sense of the term, a devout member of the Methodist Church, and followed farming and stock-raising all his life. The mother, a native of Virginia, was born in 1795, and passed away ten years before the decease of her husband, at her home, in 1855. Although not connected with any religious organization, she attended regularly with her husband the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is remembered as a devoted wife and mother.

            The parental household of our subject included seven children. The eldest son, John, who married Miss Margaret Stewart, was the father of six children; he died at his home in 1875. Eliza died in infancy; Andrew, of this sketch, was the third child; Cyrus married Miss Sarah Sewall, and is occupied as a farmer and stock-raiser near Hooeston, Ill.; they have six children. The next child died unnamed in Fountain County, Ind.; Newton is married, and when last heard from was a resident of Russellville, Ill.

            Mr. Insley was a child three years of age when his parents removed from the Buckeye State to Indiana, and, as soon as old enough began his studies in the district school and made himself useful around the homestead. He remained in that locality until reaching manhood, and on the 1st of October, 1845, was united in marriage with Miss Hannah Sewall, who was born July 10, 1823, in Martin County, Ind. This lady became the mother of one child, John Albert, and died June 9, 1852. The boy died on the 17th of August, 1852, in Jasper County, Iowa.

            Mr. Insley, March 4, 1853, contracted a second marriage, this time with Miss Rebecca Combs, who was born in Kentucky, Sept. 26, 1827, and was the daughter of Elias and Elsah Combs, who were the parents of twelve children, of whom but nine are. living, namely: Joseph, who is deceased; Mary married Daniel Merrill, and lives in Indiana; Lydia married David Sanders; both are deceased. Rebecca, now Mrs. Insley; and Malinda married Charles Bratton, and resides in Illinois; Allen lives in Nebraska; Ellen married Robert Phillips, and lives in Illinois, where also Levi lives; Sarah E. married John Miller, and also resides in Illinois; Solomon lives in Kingman County, Kan.

            Of this marriage of our subject there were born the children whose record is as follows: Mary Ellen was born Dec. 23, 1853, and died Sept. 20, 1864, in Jasper County, Iowa; Thomas Allen was born Aug. 20, 1855, and died in the same place, Aug. 23, 1860; Francis Aaron was born April 4, 1857, and died on the 23d of May following; John Childs Fremont was born July 6, 1859, and met his death

accidentally by being suffocated with gas on the 27th of November, 1887, in Newton, Kan.; Margaret Jane was born Sept. 27, 1860, and died Sept. 10, 1864, in Champaign County, Ill.; Alice Emma was born Jan. 17, 1863, and became the wife of G. W. Eslinger, July 31, 1884; they have one child, William Marion, born Aug. 28, 1887, and live on a farm in this township. Sarah N. was born June 29, 1869, has received a good education in the common schools, and remains at home with her father. Mr. Insley had the misfortune to lose his wife at the same time and in the same manner as his son John C. Fremont lost his life, by blowing out the gas, and was, therefore, suffocated. She was a kind, Christian lady, and was mourned by a large circle of friends and relatives.

            For a period of twelve years Mr. Insley was engaged in farming and stock-raising in Jasper County, Iowa. Later he returned to Indiana on a visit, and from there, in 1859, removed to Champaign County, Ill., where he resided ten years, and was occupied as before. He next located in Vermilion County, and eight years later once more crossed the Father of Waters, locating this time in Southern Kansas. He is just such a man as was needed during the early settlement of Sedgwick County. He is a straight Republican, politically, and a strong advocate of Prohibition principles, so much so that he would not knowingly cast his vote for a man in the habit of using ardent spirits in any way, shape or manner. Mr. Insley and his son are members in good standing of the Baptist Church. Their homestead and manner of living are clearly indicative of cultivated tastes and ample means, and, in giving the view of the premises in connection with this sketch, we are only doing justice to one of the most enterprising men of Sedgwick County.

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