Sedgwick-Bourbon County KS Archives Biographies.....Canaday, Merrit D. 1841 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 19, 2007, 8:42 pm

Author: O. H. Bentley (1910)

   Merrit D. Canaday, one of the substantial and prosperous business men of
Mulvane, Kan., was born in Davis county, Missouri, on April 16, 1841. He is a
son of John J. and Sophia (Smith) Canaday, the father being a native of North
Carolina and the mother of Pennsylvania. They were the parents of four children,
viz.: Francis M., deceased; Merrit D., of Mulvane; Mrs. C. N. Bartlett, of St.
Louis, Mo., and Andrew J., who died in California. Mrs. Canaday died in 1853 and
Mr. Canaday in 1855. Merrit D. Canaday was a child of twelve years when his
mother died, and he was thrown on his own resources when a small child. His
father had moved to Bloomington, Ill., where he died, and there Merrit remained
until the winter of 1858-59, when he returned to Missouri with an uncle, and in
the summer of 1860 went to Fort Scott, Kansas. From there he went to northern
Missouri, and on October 4, 1861, enlisted in Company H, Fifth Kansas Cavalry,
for three years. He served his time and then went to Illinois and raised a new
company, but before it could be mustered in the war came to an end. After the
war, Mr. Canaday settled at Clinton, Ill., where he remained until 1871. He then
came to Kansas and preempted 160 acres of land in Section 26, Salem township.
This was in the fall of 1871. On November 4, 1868, Mr. Canaday was married to
Miss America J. Bowles, who was born in DeWitt county, Illinois. She was a
daughter of Jesse P. and Maria (Bivins) Bowles, both natives of Kentucky. Mr.
and Mrs. Bowles came to Kansas in the spring of 1873 and settled on Section 35,
Salem township, and are now residents of Mulvane. Mr. and Mrs. Canaday have
three children, viz.: Mrs. J. F. Hufbauer, of Newkirk, Okla.; Charles D., of
Mulvane, and Mrs. S. C. Massingale, of Cordell, Okla. Mr. Canaday lived on his
farm until 1881, when he moved to Mulvane and engaged in the grain and live
stock business. In 1886, in partnership with B. H. Ward, he bought out the
Chicago Lumber Company, of Mulvane, but after a short time, Mr. Canaday's health
failing, he sold his interests to Mr. Ward. In 1891 he bought the entire lumber
interest and has since conducted the business under the name of M. D. Canaday.
Mr. Canaday has built two residences since living in Mulvane. He is a
stockholder and director in the Mulvane State Bank, and also owns a lumber yard
at Gotebo, Okla. Mr. Canaday sold his farm in Salem township and now owns a farm
of 160 acres in Harper county, Kansas, and a summer residence at Manitou, Col.
In polities Mr. Canaday is a Democrat and he is a member of the Church of
Christ, of Mulvane.

Additional Comments:
Extracted from 

History of Wichita and Sedgwick County: past and present, including an account
of the cities, towns and villages of the county

Editor in chief: O. H. Bentley
Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co. (1910)


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