Norton County News Historical Edition
Brief Biographies Surnames  M - O

J. M. McClelland came to Norton county in 1879 and homesteaded in Harrison Township. He is a member of the Christian church and the father of five children. He still lives on the old homestead. (page 10)

R. G. McCroskie was born in 1861 and came to Norton county in 1904. He is married and has one child, Nannie Bell, born in 1880 and now living at Selden. Mr. McCroskie gave four years of his life to the ministry and then entered the real estate business six years ago and has made a success in this. He is a member of the U.B. church, the L.A.A. and the Odd Fellows. [Almena] (page 75)

Jesse McFarland was born March 19, 1881 near Clayton, Illinois and later moved to Monmouth. In 1904 Mr. McFarland moved to Goodland where he was manager of the Milisack store for one year. He came to Norton in 1906 and on May 15, 1912 he married Miss Ethel Palmer, a Norton girl. He is a member of the Christian Church and the Masonic order, and at the present time is Worthy Master of the Norton Lodge. (page 17)

V. C. Mack, Edmond’s barber, was born in Shaguache [Saguache?], Colorado in 1894 and came to Edmond in 1915, and has been in the barber business since that time. He is a member of the Sons and Daughters of Justice and has a modern sanitary shop. Mr. Mack devotes his entire time to his business, and his shop is patronized by the best people in Edmond. (page 85)

B.F. McMahon was born in 1888 in Marshall county, and moved to this city in 1914, where he engaged in the jewelry and optical business. Mr. McMahon studied for one year under one of the best oculists in the state of Missouri and he thoroughly understands his business. He is a member of the M.W.A. and the K. of C. (page 87)

W. W. McMahon was born in LaFayette county, Wisconsin in 1860. He is the father of six children - Bennett, Myrtle, Etta, Leroy, Nellie, Eldon, all of whom are at home at this time. Mr. McMahon left Wisconsin in 1872 and moved to Missouri where he farmed until 1883 when he moved to Marshall county, Kansas, and entered into the general mercantile business and remained in this business for 15 years. In 1910 he moved to St. Joseph, Mo. In 1912 he moved to Norton and purchased the Keating interest in the Antelope Grocery and Meat Market. Mr. McMahon is a member of the M. W. A., the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic church. (page 18)

L. E. Madden, manager of the Oronoque Lumber Co., is a wide awake business man. He has only been there a short time but has fine business. The yard is well stocked and when alterations are completed, Oronoque will have as fine a lumber yard as there is in the county. (page 103)

E. P. Mansfield was born in 1873 in Iowa and came to Norton in 1903. He married Lola Covert, an Iowa girl. (page 82)

A. S. Marsh was born in 1878 in Gilbertsville, New York and came to Norton county in 1885 with his father Reuben Marsh, who died in 1884. In 1905 Mr. Marsh married Miss Annie Border, whose father Spence Border, an old settler of the county still lives here. Mr. Marsh is a member of the M.W.A. and is engaged in the jewelry business at Norton. (page 89)

W. H. Marsh was born in New Milford, Connecticut, in 1861 and came to Norton county in 1881. In 1887 he married Elizabeth Waters who died in 1911. To this union were born three children, Wade, born in 1889; Harry, born in 1891; and Helen born in 1900. Mr. Marsh afterwards married Miss Beatrice Baker, a popular school teacher of Norton. Mr. Marsh is a member of the Methodist church; a member of the city council, and he has served as a member of the board of High School Trustees. In 1900 he engaged in the Pump and Windmill business, and in 1906 he sold a half interest to J. W. Gleason.(page 18)

W. H. Marshall, prominent veterinarian of Norton county was born in 1872 in Knox County, Illinois, and came to Norton County in 1907. He is the father of one child, Murl, born in 1892. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge, the A.O.U.W. and the Kansas Fraternal Citizens. (page 82)

One of the good, clean young business men of Norton, H. S. Mathews, was born in Norton County in 1886. Since graduating from the Norton county high school he has worked in the grocery with his father, and at this time has an interest in the Matthews Grocery Company. It is young men of Hervey Matthews’ type that are an honor to their community. (page 36)

C. W. Matthews was born in 1861 in Vermillion county, Illinois and came to this county with his father, S.M. Matthews in 1875. He was united in marriage with Miss Frances Bell Graves in 1883 and to this union were born three children, Hervey S., born in 1886; Clara, now married to H.D. Miller who is in the store with Matthews, and Victor, born in 1905. Mr. Matthews first started in business with his brother-in-law, Harvey Graves under the firm name of Matthews & Graves, and afterwards bought out Mr. Graves and has been in the grocery business alone since that time. He has built up a large and substantial trade, and knows how to take care of it. He is a good booster and a man well liked by his fellow townsmen. (page 66)

M. S. Mellor was born in 1856 and came to Norton county in 1903 from Phelleps [Phelps] county, Nebraska. He purchased the elevator owned by Kellog of Long Island and has run it since 1905. He is the father of three boys and a member of the M.W.A. [Almena] (page 75)

Wm. Miller came from Rooks county in 1876, located on a claim that is a part of the present town site. He is a bachelor, and has lived here continually for 40 years; is the last of the settlers who came as early as 1876. [Clayton] (page 97)

Wm. Miller was one of the early settlers of Decatur and Norton county and saw the development of the two counties from the beginning until the present time. Mr. Miller is an eccentric character. He has never married and has always lived alone in and around Clayton. (page 99)

A. K. Mills was born in New York City in 1860. He is one of the staunchest as well as the earliest settlers of Norton county and is [it] was through his efforts and the efforts of men of like character that placed our county in the foremost ranks of progressive western Kansas counties. Mr. Mills is a successful business man and has honorably earned an abundance of this world’s good. He is a musician and a writer of some note. His life is an example of clean living, honest dealing with his fellow men and untiring effort to leave the world a little better than he found it. Mr. Mills taught school for 18 years and has held several public offices. He was married in 1885 to Miss Ida Harris and they have one child, Zelmond A., born in 1894. (page 72)

H. J. Milz, one of Norton's prominent business men, was born in 1859 at White Water, Wisconsin, and came to Norton in 1886 and started in the hardware business. In 1892 he was married to Miss Lily Ashton. They have two children, Louis, born in 1892 who works in the hardware store with his father, and Mayone, born in 1904. Mr. Milz is a member of the Catholic church, the Knights of Pythias and the Kansas Fraternal Citizens. (page 21)

A. J. Mindrup was born in 1889 at New Almelo where he now resides. His father was an early settler and homesteader. Mr. Mindrup has never married. He has conducted the general store at New Almelo for seven years. He is a member of the New Almelo Catholic church and the Catholic Knights of America. (page 105)

F. J. Mindrup was born in 1877, in Effingham county, Illinois, and came to Norton county in 1880 where he farmed until 1907 when he went into the hardware business. In 1904 he was married to Miss Lizzie Schroer who was born in Nebraska. Mr. Mindrup is a member of the New Almelo Catholic church and the Catholic Knights of America. (page 105)

H. Mitchell, one of the influential and prominent real estate men of Almena, was born in Norton county in 1876 and came to Almena in 1913. He is a wide-awake business man and has made a success of his profession. (page 72)

M. A. Morrison was born in Virginia, November 11, 1842. He settled at Leota in the fall of 1873. He was County Treasurer in 1875, and ran the hotel at Leota. His son, D. Morrison, still lives at Oronoque. (page 103)

E. J. Mott was born in 1877 at Lancaster, Missouri and was in the electrical supply business for seven years and has been in the clothing business for 15 years. On August 26, 1916 he opened up in our city an up-to-date clothing store. The interior is without shadow and the lighting is perfect. Goods can be purchased at night as well as in the day time with the assurance that they will appear the same in the day light. Mr. Mott was married in 1911 and two children have been born to this union, Mary Louise, born in 1912, and Marjory born in 1914. He is a member of the Elks the M. W. A., the Loyal order of the Moose and the modern Brotherhood of America. (page 14)

B. W. Mulkey was born in 1852 in Warren county, Kentucky and came to Norton county in 1879, and still farms on the land he homesteaded nine miles northeast of Lenora. He has been a minister of the Christian church for seventeen years and has done much for the good of the community. [Edmond] (page 85)

Elder G. T. Neal was born in Chilacothe [sic] county, Missouri, in 1873. He started in the gospel work in 1901 and continued in this and the evangelistic work at Portland, Oregon for ten years, where he had charge of the Church of God and taught in the missionary home. In 1913 he started traveling, doing gospel work until September 1915 when he went to Kansas City and went into the Missionary Home as a teacher. He stayed there until June 1916 when he came to Norton and took charge of the work here. Elder Neal was married in 1905 to Miss Grace E. Kriebel who was also a traveling gospel worker and she has engaged in rescue and missionary work for 20 years. Mrs. Neal preaches at Norton occasionally and her sermons are a spiritual treat to all who hear them. One child, Earl, was born to them in 1910. (page 61)

E. E. Nelson, the present county superintendent of public instruction was born in Norton county in 1880. He received his education in the schools of the county. He was married in 1909 to Vinna C. Eakin, who was born in Harding, Nebraska, and to this union has been born one child, Emma Phyllis, born in 1913. Mr. Nelson is a member of the Methodist church. He was elected county superintendent in 1907 served four years and was again elected in 1914, and in August of this year was nominated for the coming term. Mr. Nelson is the only county official at this time who was born in the county and one of the only two to have that distinction in the entire history of the county. He came up through the schools of the county and has been directly and continuously in touch with them all his life. He has made a good official, and is the popular candidate. (page 14)

M. E. Nelson & Son successors to Henry Howard, formerly of Hebron, Nebraska, continued in business until 1903 when Eakin Mercantile Co. succeeded them, and the son, Charles Nelson became manager of the Chicago Lumber Co. (page 97)

H. W. Neville, the popular agent at the Rock Island here, was born at Paola, Kansas in 1879. He came in 1895, and married Minnie Neville a few years later. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Eastern Star, and the Kansas Fraternal Citizens. He is well liked, because of his accommodating treatment of the patrons of his company. He has been agent here since 1906. (page 61)

H. F. Nichols, prominent thresherman of Norton county, was born in 1874, in Crawford county, and came to Norton county in 1900. Besides running two threshing rigs he was in the general store business at Clayton until burned out in 1913. He married Miss Maud Holler and they have two children. Mr. Nickols is a member of the M.W.A. (page 98)

©2005 Ardie Grimes.  Transcribed from Norton County News Historical Number 1870 - 1916, re-organized and re-formatted for ease of use. These pages are dedicated to free access to records, documents and photos of historical and genealogical value. Documents contained herein may be copied for personal, non-commercial use as long as this statement remains on all copied material.   These records, documents and photos may not be reproduced, published or re-published for any reason, in any format,  including electronic (web pages or CD's) and print, without prior written consent of the contributors or copyright holders.