Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Reed, Asher F. 1871 - 1908 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com July 21, 2005, 4:09 pm Author: B. F. Bowen ASHER F. REED. Asher F. Reed, now deceased, who was for many years one of the well-known farmers and highly respected citizens of Marysville township, Marshall county, was born at Champlain, Illinois, on April 30, 1871, being the son of Andrew Jackson and Mary A. (Miller) Reed. Andrew Jackson Reed was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, on August 4, 1824, and was reared on the farm and received an excellent education in the public schools. He remained a resident of the state of his nativity until he was twenty-eight years of age, when he located in Illinois. He and his family later came to Kansas and established their home on a farm of three hundred and twenty acres of excellent land in Marshall county, near Marysville. They remained on the farm for some five years when they sold the place and retired to Marysville. The money from the sale of the farm was invested in a cattle ranch in South Dakota, which was managed by the son, Asher, for some years. It was at his home in Marysville that Andrew Jackson Reed died on November 15, 1906, and his untimely death was mourned by the entire community, for he had ever taken the keenest interest in all things that would tend to the pleasure and the happiness of the people of his home district. For many years he was superintendent of the Sunday school of the Methodist Episcopal church, and while serving in that capacity he not only won the friendship and love of the older people of the church and Sunday school, but the children and young people were his most enthusiastic admirers. His kind and pleasing disposition made for him many friends in all the walks of life, and his greatest pleasure was in doing a kind deed for some friend and in giving happiness and comfort to the members of his family. His home life was a happy one, and few men enjoyed more the privacy of the home and the companionship of his family, than did Mr. Reed. To be with his family and his friends was one of the greatest pleasures that he could enjoy. Andrew Jackson Reed was the son of Hugh and Catherine (Gordon) Reed, both of whom were natives of Chester county, Pennsylvania. There they were educated in the public schools, grew up and were married. They lived their lives in the county of their birth and were among the prominent people of the community in which they lived. Hugh Reed was for many years identified with the Republican party and took much interest in all local affairs, and served the people of his township as trustee as well as in many of the other offices of the district. Mary A. (Miller) Reed was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, on February 27, 1829, and was reared on the home farm and educated in the local schools. She was the daughter of Jacob W. and Ann G. (Bolton) Miller, both of whom were natives of the state of Pennsylvania. Her father was a shoemaker by trade and carried on a retail trade for many years. His birth occurred on November 13, 1803, and he died on May 22, 1862. The mother, Ann G. Miller, was born on August 5, 1808, and died on November 22, 1856. She was a woman of considerable ability and took much interest in the services of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which she was a member. To Andrew Jackson and Mary A. Reed were born nine children as follow: Fannie, Charles, Laura, Frank, Anna M., Harry T., Edwin A., Ella R. and Asher F., deceased. This family of children are now all deceased with the exception of Laura M. O'Neil, who is a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, where Mr. O'Neil is employed by one of the railroads, and Ella R. Snyder, also a resident of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, where her husband is a well-known contractor and builder. Asher F. Reed was reared on the home farm and received his education in the local schools and attended high school. As a lad and young man he assisted his father with the work on the farm, and at the age of twenty-three years he started farming for himself. He rented his father's farm in Marysville township and here he was engaged in general farming and stock raising for five years. For the next two years he rented a farm in the same vicinity, after which he operated his father-in-law's place for two years. He then purchased forty acres of his own in Marysville township, which he developed and improved. This farm he enlarged, until the time of his death on November 1, 1908, he was the owner of two hundred and eight acres of splendid land, all of which was well developed and nicely improved. He and his wife were regular attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church and were prominent in the social and the religious life of the community. On November 25, 1893, Asher F. Reed was united in marriage to Julia Kuoni, the daughter of Mathias and Ursula (Bohner) Kuoni. Mr. and Mrs. Kuoni were natives of Switzerland and there received their education in the public schools, grew up and later came to the United States. They were both born in the year 1835 and the father died on May n, 1905, and the mother on September 19, 1891. They came to the United States in 1869, and for two years were residents of Peru, Illinois, after which they came to Kansas and located on a farm in Marshall county. Mr. Kuoni purchased a farm in Marysville township and here he spent the remainder of his life. He at first purchased railroad land and then homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres. He paid seven dollars per acre for the land he purchased; the whole tract today is worth one hundred dollars per acre. This farm he developed and improved and here he engaged in general farming and stock raising with success. In connection with his farm work he dug many wells in all parts of the county and became known in all parts of the district. Mr. and Mrs. Kuoni were identified with the Lutheran church and were long prominent in the social and religious life of the township. Mr. Kuoni believed in the principles of the Democratic party and took much interest in all local affairs, and for a number of years served as road overseer. He was a strong advocate of the best roads and during his term of office, the roads of the district were placed in the best condition possible. To Mathias and Ursula Bohner Kuoni were born the following children: John H., a retired farmer of Marysville; Michael, a farmer of Idaho; Christina Bigham, a resident of Idaho, where her husband is a successful farmer; George, a resident of Arizona, and is now a retired farmer; Julia, the widow of Asher F. Reed and one that died in infancy. Julia (Kuoni) Reed was born in Marshall county, on November 25, 18/3, and was reared on the home farm and educated in the local schools. She remained at home until after her marriage to Mr. Reed. She now owns the farm in Marysville township, but lives across the road in Franklin, and during her residence in this section, she has made for herself many friends, who hold her in the highest .regard and esteem. She takes much interest in the social and the moral development of the community, and in the work of the Methodist Episcopal church. She and Mr. Reed were the parents of the following children : Clarence, who was born on June 11, 1897; Selmar on October 16, 1898, and Leslie A., on January 27, 1903. Selmar Reed was the first one of Marshall county's young men to answer his country's call in the war crisis. He has enlisted in the navy. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions by Emma E. Forter Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/reed32bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ksfiles/ File size: 8.1 Kb