The History of the Early Settlement of Norton County, Kansas

Page 262

Night Wind

     The wind blows westward from the moon
And the sound it gives is a howl combined
     With the dismal cry of a wandering loon;
And the wish I feel to go with the wind
     Will no be conquered soon.

     I would ride that steed that has most speed
On these billows of wind that flow and ebb.
     From a broomstick down to the down of a weed
Or the gossamer film of a spider's web,
     Or the fuzzy wings of a seed.

     An hour t'would take to the mountains dim,
And another hour to the fogs of the sea,
     And an hour from there to the jeweled rim
Of the coral isles where the palm trees be,
     Where mermaids dive and swim.

     From Kansas plains I'd fly away,
And this querulous wind would find no calm
     Nor me and my stead would it delay,
But I'd reach the coralline isles of palm
     Before the break of day.

Ida M. Barstow was married at Norton to Edward M. Warner, of Iowa City, on October 20, 1891 and the have one child, Lucele.

Joseph Darling and family of sons came here from Miami county, Kansas, in March, 1879. Mr. Darling is a miller by trade and worked for several years in the mill at Norton. He is now too old to give much attention to labor, but makes his home with his children. He lost his wife previous to his settlement here.

Orville M. his eldest son, settled six miles north of Norton, where he has one of the finest farms in the county.

William, his second son, came here but never located permanently.

His third son, Charles, is a lather by trade. He was married in August, 1885, to Alice M. Ross; three children have been born to them, two of them still living. Their eldest son, Harry, accidentally hung himself on August 20, 1889. He was standing on a box in the barn with his head in the wheat bin when a sliding door above his head fell across his neck breaking it, in his struggles he kicked the box from under his feet, in that position he was found by his parents shortly afterward. Charles takes an active interest in politics. He has always been an independent voter, but has affiliated with the populists' party since 1890. He was a candidate for sheriff in 1893 but failed to get the nomination. He was under sheriff under Henry Joint for two years.

Albert Darling came here in 1879, but left in 1888. He is now living in Marshall, Missouri.

Joseph, the fifth son, has been a central figure in politics since the organization of the people's party. He has been chairman of the Sixth district congressional committee since 1890, and has frequently been mentioned for official honors. He was married to Anna Horner in 1882; they have two children living and one dead.

George Darling married a daughter of John Greenwood. He lives on a farm in this county.

Mr. Darling's eldest daughter, Mary, married Evan Howard in 1882; she died some years ago, after which Evan married Ura, the youngest daughter of Mr. Darling. They live at Rush Springs, Indian Territory. [Oklahoma]

Early in 1880 James Armstrong came here and opened a land office. He was one of those people who have no permanent residence but drifts from place to place, staying until he would exhaust his credit or do some other mischief. He was a great singer and made himself solid with the church people as soon as he arrived. He gave special attention to the ladies, and it soon began to be talked about that his attentions were not strictly honorable in all cases. So it came to pass some time in the autumn of '80 that he decided to leave for New Mexico. He took his departure in the night so that those who were most interested in this presence here might not know of his absence until he was many miles away. V. B. Beckett composed and published the following poem the following week in the Advance:

Page 262

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