Henry J. Neikirk, born February 22, 1844 in Seneca County, Ohio, was the
middle of eleven kids of Daniel C. Neikirk, who married Christena Somers
The 1850 and 1860 census rolls of Scipio, Seneca County, have Henry with
Daniel and Christina and many siblings. 1850 has also Charles Summers, 67 - just
the right age to be the father of 31-year-old "Christian"
| At his home, in Scipio township, Sunday, August 31, 1890, Daniel
Neikirk, aged about 90 years. The funeral takes place on Tuesday. He was
one of the early pioneers of Seneca county, and one of the last of that
sturdy race of men who braved the terrors of the then Western forests,
full of wild beasts, and still inhabited by the bands of Seneca Indians
of three-quarters of a century ago. "Uncle Dan," as he was familiarly
known by all, was born in the state of Maryland, a short distance from
the Pennsylvania State line, December, 1800, and was consequently in his
ninetieth year at his death. He was the last of a family of eleven
children, ten sons and one daughter. He was of Dutch ancestry, the
Neikirks having fought under the famous William of Orange in the
memorable "Revolt of the Netherlands" against the infamous Phillip II,
of Spain. His grandfather emigrated to America in the fore part of the
last century and his sons acted "well their part" in the stirring times
incident upon the Revolution. Some of the family served during the War
of 1812. His father, Michael Neikirk, came to the wilds of Seneca county
with his family during the "twenties" and settle d near the old "Indian
trail," leading from Upper Sandusky to Sandusky City, now the Kilbourn
road. Daniel took an active part in the early affairs of this county. He
married at the age of thirty. His widow and (we believe) all his
children, of whom there are a large number, survive him. During his life
he was a devoted Christian and a member of t he English Lutheran church
and although for years he has been unable to attend church, his chief
delight was to talk on Scripture themes and about the life that was to
come.
Christine Neikirk, at her home near Republic, March 2, 1895 , aged 74
years, 8 months and 18 days. Christine Somers was born in Baden Baden,
Germany, June 14, 1820. She emigrated with her parents, to America in
1830. They settled at Zanesville, Ohio, where they resided until 1832,
when they removed to Scipio-township, Seneca county, on the farm where
she lived until her death. She married Daniel Neikirk in 1837, who died
August 28, 1891. She was the mother of eleven children, nine daughters
and two sons: Mrs. M. Royer, of Thompson township; Mrs. C. V. Albert, of
Chicago, Ill.; Mrs. Edward Cramer and Mrs. Van Cole, of Scipio township;
Henry Neikirk, of Colorado; Mrs. Diemer, of Chicago, Ill.; Mrs. Grosscup,
of Shelby, Ohio; Mrs. Beard, of Clyde; Charles Neikirk, of Reed
township; Mrs. Garman, of West Lodi , and Amanda, the daughter whose
life for years has been devoted to her mother. All with one exception,
were present at the burial of their mother. There are also living 31
grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. In the death of Mrs. Neikirk,
Scipio township loses an other of her pioneers, whose ranks are so
rapidly thinning. The deceased was a woman of great strength of
character. She was charitable and generous and ever ready, with timely
help, to those who were sick or in distress. In early life she united
with the Lutheran Church and kept the faith until the last. The
malignant cancer, of whic h she died, caused her intense suffering,
which she bore with sweet patience and fortitude. She was tenderly
watched and cared for by her daughters until the end. The funeral
services were held at the Lutheran church, four miles north of Republic,
and conducted by Rev . Slonaker, who paid a deserved tribute to the
deceased. The floral offerings were extremely beautiful. |
Henry married Phoebe Fender October 18, 1868 in Seneca County. One tree
said he first married Mar Deimer (and the tree said that his sister Mary D.
Neikirk born 1846 married Reuben Diemer - also October 18, 1868)
They had Harley Delbert Neikirk October 2, 1875 in Seneca County, and were in Nemaha County, Kansas in 1880 - "Heny", "Pheobe" and Haley.
In 1890 Henry made a cash claim for a quarter in 4S 43W - in the far
southeast of the county, (this might be wrong) and in 1891 Phoebe a quarter
in 4S 47W - southwest corner of the county. The George M. Neikirk who
cash-claimed a quarter near Phoebe is probably a relative. (can any Neikirk
relatives shed some light on him ?)
George M Neikirk established the Kirk post office on his farm in
1887.
When Rueben Kline took over as postmaster in 1890, it was moved
four miles south to its present location
Even if this is not relatives, it's a dramatic
story Henry Furry Neikirk
was born on 19 March 1820.1
He was the son of
Henry Neikirk and
Nancy Furry.1
Henry Furry Neikirk married
Mary Miller,
daughter of
Daniel Miller and
Catherine Funk, on
20 February 1845.1
Note: "The Neikirk farm buildings were a short
distance east of Bloody Lane (Antietam Battle
Ground). Quite a number of the wounded from the
Bloody Lane engagement were taken there." O.
T. Reilly
"During a raid make by Confederate scouts
through this section about the time of the
Antietam battle, and effort was made to get Mr.
Henry F. Neikirk's eleven head of horses which
he had hidden away along the Antietam Creek,
behind some large rock cliffs. Mr. Neikirk was
taken, after an attempt was made to burn his
barn, to compel him to tell where his horses
were, and this failing, they then followed him
to his house to get his money. They got a small
amount of silver, but a purse containing several
hundred dollars was concealed by Miss Lizzie,
his daughter. Finally Mr. Neikirk was taken by
them and hung up by a leather halter, until he
was black, trying to force him to tell, but he
would not tell. His son George cut him down just
in time to save his life. The horses were taken
on another occasion." O. T. Reilly.2
Henry Furry Neikirk died on 15 August 1895 at
Keedysville District, Washington Co., MD, at age
75; Was Commissioner of Washington County,
Maryland, one term. Deacon of the Manor Brethren
Church.1
|
Harley married Pollie Ellen Wilson May 28, 1900 in Vernon. She was the daughter,
according to the 1900 census, age 15, of Benjamin F. 52 and Margaret I. 43
Wilson.
Margaret L. Welch Wilson is buried in the Miner Cemetery, Salem, Missouri
"Margaret - wife of B.F. Wilson - born Aug 14, 1856 died Nov 9, 1902"
Benjamin Franklin Wilson, living the last three years with his
daughter, Mrs. H. D. Neikirk, just north of Joes, died Tuesday evening,
October 23, 1934, at 6 o'clock, at the age of 82 years, 17 days.
Benjamin Franklin Wilson was born October 6, 1852 at Lesterville,
Missouri. His early life was spent at Lesterville and at the age of 21
he united in marriage with Margaret Welch, and then moved to Salem,
Missouri, where he farmed until 1899, bring his wife and children to
Yuma County, Colorado, in a covered wagon and making their home in the
Vernon Community. At the age of 35 he united with the Baptist Church.
Mr. Wilson was of a very quiet disposition and was a kind and loving
father. He leaves to mourn his going, seven daughters, three sons,
twenty-four grandchildren, seventeen great-grandchildren and three
brothers. Mrs. Wilson preceded him in death in the fall of 1901 and Ada
Shively preceded him in death on September 21, 1912. The living children
are Mrs. Fanny H. Shively, Vernon, Colorado; Mrs. Lula B. Duckworth,
Salem, Missouri; Mrs. Julie Howard, Heartstrong, Colorado; Mrs. Pollie
Neikirk, Hughes, Colorado; Chas. S. Wilson, Ridgeway, Colorado; Minerva Wilson and Napoleon Wilson of Hughes, Colorado;
Mrs. Emma E. Ferguson, Abarr, Colorado; Walter Wilson, Dover, New Hampshire;
Mrs. Fern Bashford, Denver, Colorado; and three brothers, William,
Jefferson, and Charles Wilson, all of Lesterville, Missouri. The funeral
services were held at the Methodist Episcopal Church at Vernon, Rev. E.
W. Wlayer officiating, and burial was made in the Vernon Cemetery. The
sons-in-law were pallbearers. Basil Wilson, father of B. F. Wilson, was
a first cousin to Mrs. Abraham Lincoln and the Union soldiers made
headquarters on the Wilson farm near Lesterville, Missouri. Mrs. Lincoln
made several visits to the Wilson farm.
Ben is buried in Vernon, # 18187526.
Margaret's tombstone in Salem, Missouri says 1856-1902 - # 76291601.
|
George Fix adds
I knew grandpa Wilson. This is evidently true. I thought Fern was
born on the way out and that Margaret never quite recovered
from the child birth so she wanted to go back to Salem to
get well.
I didn’t think he was too quiet until he was old. He
traveled around a lot and stayed with his kids. The
Wingfields thought he was quite a story teller when he
stayed at Shively’s. I went to his funeral when I was 9
years old and remember him staying at the Neikirk’s. He was
quite a tobacco chewer.
There is one son missing from the list. Napoleon Wilson was
about 19 when they came to Colorado but he did not like it
here. When he was 21 he walked all the way back to Salem
and spent the rest of his life there. I believe he was
still living when his father died.
The Welch family was quite a prominent Missouri family. One
of them had been Secretary of State for Missouri and it
seemed they felt that they were better than the Wilson’s and
maybe that was a result of the Civil War;
Richard Shively’s father, Harley bought the Wilson land
after Grandpa Wilson’s death. That is where Dick was raised
through high school.
|
Dolly E. Neikirk was born March 1881 in Richardson, Nebraska, and married
Charles W. Park in Wray in 1903.
In 1900 Glendale (next to Vernon) Henry and Phoebe have Dolly E. (stock
herder)
The Charles W. Parks in Atwood, Colorado in 1900 is a likely match.
He's a farm laborer for John Riordan, born March 1879 in Missouri, both parents
born in Illinois.
Mrs. Eliza Ellen (Lamb) Park was born in Ohio, September 12, 1852,
and died at her home in Peculiar, Mo., on Sunday morning November 24,
1918, at the age of 66 years, 2 months and 12 days.
She was married to George W. Park in McDonough County, Illinois,
February 20, 1868. To this union three children were born, namely: John,
who died in infancy, Ada Pearl, now Mrs. McCarrel, of Park City, Utah,
and Charles W. Park, of Eckley, Colorado. |
Dollie Neikirk (Dollie Park) proved up a homestead quarter in section 33, 2S
48W in 1909. That would be about the "18 miles south of Yuma" mentioned in
the wedding announcement.
(the Charley W. Park homesteading a quarter in 3N 45W in 1917 and another
quarter in 1926 might be the same one, and leasing a school section in the 1922
atlas in 3N 46W might be the same one. The 1940 census has Charles and
Dollie in the Eckley precinct, and the neighbors indicate they're north of
Eckley in this area.)
They're in the 1934 directory, but not the 1937.
Charley Warren Park, 39, signed a WWI draft registration card September 12,
1918 in Wray, Colorado giving his date of birth as March 21, 1879. He and wife
Dollie (married 1903) are living at Eckley, where he is a stock farmer.
Description medium height, medium build, blue eyes, brown hair.
Charlie (1966) and Dollie (1967) are buried in the Yuma cemetery.
Henry and Phoebe are in Yuma Precinct in 1910, on the same census page as
Harley D., 34, Polly 25, May 7, and Polly's brother Walter Wilson 12 and sister
Minerva Wilson 20. Polly and her siblings were born in Missouri.,
Mae Neikirk was a pupil at the Abarr School 1911-1912.
All five of them are in Joes in 1920,
February 12, 1925 
May 7, 1925 
November 19, 1925 
Walter was found guilty of assault in April 1926.
In 1930 and 1940 Minerva is living with Polly and Harley.
On December 21, 1927, Mae NIKIRK married Joe Darling, (possibly related to
Charles F. Darling, who homesteaded near Kirk in 1895) and they're in Park
County Colorado in 1930. They're in Englewood in 1940, with Shirley 7 and
Stanley 5. Mae died in January 1984, with last residence of Yuma, and a
birth date of March 5, 1903.
Joe has a death date of September 1982, also in Yuma, with a birth date of
June 9, 1903..
In the Yuma cemetery Henry was buried in 1938, Pollie in 1927
Harley was buried there in 1962, Pollie E. in 1981. One tree said she died in
Loveland June 6, 1981,
September 21, 1961 "Mrs. Polly Neikirk and Minerva Wilson left Monday night by bus for California. They were called there by the death of their sister, Lulu. The ladies' birthday on Sunday and a call had been made whereby the three sisters had had a nice visint on the phone."
Thursday, September 5, 1963 The Yuma Pioneer
Mrs. Minerva Wilson Victor, 70, of the Joes community and her husband, Ewing R.
Victor, 62, of Troy, Ohio, were killed in a traffic accident on U.S. 36 near
Chillicothe, Missouri, Friday morning. The couple were married recently and were
traveling to Ohio when the accident occurred.
Their automobile crashed headon with an approaching truck, killing Mr. Victor
immediately. Mrs. Victor died a few hours later in a Chillicothe hospital.
Mrs. Victor was the daughter of Margaret and Benjamin Wilson and was born at
Salem, Missouri, January 27, 1893, and came west to Colorado with her parents at
the age of six.
After her mother's death she lived most of her life with her sister, Polly
Neikirk of Joes. She was united with the Church of Christ many years ago.
Her husband, parents, brother, Charlie and sisters, Ada, Lula and Fannie
preceded her in death.
She is survived by four sisters, Pollie Neikirk of Joes, Julia Howard of Wray,
Esther Morrison of San Lorenzo, California and Fern Bashford of Dallas, Texas
and two brothers, Walter Wilson of Denver and Napolian Wilson of Salem,
Missouri.
A grave side service was held Wednesday afternoon at Grandview Cemetery in Wray.
