The History of the Early Settlement of Norton County, Kansas

Page 261

and came out with a letter of recommendation from the Wyckoff and a speed of 170 words a minute. Instead of being obliged to defend himself with a club from anxious would-be employers who were waiting to force upon him position at two thousand dollars a year, as he had been led to suppose he would have to do from the advertisements of the shorthand schools, he searched eagerly for a job at any price until the spring of 1879, but without success. In the fall of 1878 he made a trip west as far as Fort Wayne, Indiana, in search of a position. There he got strapped and sent home for money to get back with. That winter he taught school near the village of Greene, Chenango county, for $19 a month and boarded himself. After working at various places he went to Des Moines, Iowa. He struck the city with $20 in this pocket and found a position the first day with the law firm of Wright, Cummings & Wright at $60 a month. He worked for them a year and then went to work for C. Gilbert Starch Company at $75 per month. He worked there eighteen months. In the fall of 1884, Gilbert, who was a Buffalo man, announced in the office that any man who worked for him must vote for Grover Cleveland. Within an hour Barstow purchased a Blaine & Logan badge and put it on his coat. Within a few days Mr. Petitt, the business manager, informed him that Mr. Gilbert had concluded to get a cheaper man, and while he had given satisfaction, the would not need his services longer. He then went to work for Mosier & Dahlberg, official reporters in Des Moines, where he worked for nearly a year, when he secured a position with J. B. Watkins Mortgage Company at Lawrence, Kansas. After working for Watkins for about a month, finding that the stenographer was a tail that must wag to way to every dog in the establishment, some eight or ten in number, he commenced correspondence with W. H. Pratt of Phillipsburg to secure the appointment of official reporter in the 17th judicial district, in which he was successful. While working for Dahlberg & Mosier in 1884, he managed by strict economy to pay the $200 that he borrowed in 1878 to attend the institute with. He attended the courts in this district in the fall of 1885. That winter he went back to Des Moines and on February 2, 1886, married Miss Ida M. King, who had learned shorthand of him and was the stenographer for the State Insurance Company of Des Moines. He returned to Kansas with his wife in the spring of 1886 and settled at Norton. In 1882 Evander S. Barstow moved to Des Moines, and from there went to Iowa City as insurance agent. He finally changed his occupation to that of painter and paper hanger. In the spring of 1886 E. S. Barstow, Sr., and E. S. Jr., came to Norton; they still reside in the city. Mrs. E. S., Jr. is one of the popular dressmakers here.

E. S. Barstow married Grace M. Matteson in Masonville, New York, on December 24, 1879; they have two children, Ivan L. and Mabel L.

M. D. Barstow was reappointed official reporter in the 17th district when L. K. Pratt became judge and continued in the position until the fall of 1889 when Pratt was defeated. He went to Ogden, Utah, occupied a position there for eight months and finally secured the appointment of official reporter in the 4th judicial district of Idaho, where he has been located for three years, but now is located in Des Moines, Iowa. He has two children living, Eve P. and Rexford W. Donald M. died in Hailey Idaho, July 29, 1891.

M. D. is a poet of rare taste and imagination. A few of his poems have appeared in these columns, the most recent is given here.

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