Biography of George G. Humphreys

George G. Humphreys, born on February 16, 1825, in Champaign County, Ohio, exemplified the virtues of energy and perseverance throughout his life. He engaged in agriculture, participated in the Civil War, and upheld strong family values despite limited education. Married twice, he had two children with his first wife, Mary Howver, and remained active in his community as a Methodist Episcopal Church steward and a member of the G.A.R. Post. He passed away after a life marked by dedication and contribution to his family and country.

GEORGE G. HUMPHREYS. The life of this gentleman affords an excellent representation of the success that attends on energy and perseverance, and of the reputation which may be gained by an upright life and a steadfast character, without becoming famous, or having one’s name spread broadcast over the world. The influence of these quiet lives is that to which our country owes its greatest debt of gratitude, in the example set before the young, as well as in the personal deeds.

Born in Champaign County, Ohio, February 16, 1825, Mr. Humphreys has spent many years in agricultural work, has participated in the pioneer work of development, and with but limited educational advantages in his boyhood, has kept himself well informed regarding general topics and current events. He has also won an honorable record in the ranks of his country’s defenders during the attempt to destroy the Union. His parents, Thomas and Nancy Humphreys, took up their abode in Champaign County, Ohio, when that section of the country was very new and sparsely settled. There the early years of our subject were passed, and while acquiring a limited education in the subscription schools, which he attended only during the winter seasons and which he abandoned entirely when about fourteen years old, he assisted the other members of the family in the development of his father’s farm.

The first marriage of Mr. Humphreys was celebrated in March, 1846, his chosen companion being Miss Mary Howver, a native of the Buckeye State, who shared his fortunes until December, 1855, when she was called from time to eternity. She bore two children: Cornwell, deceased, and Nancy J., the wife of Joseph Piatt of Wellington. Mr. Humphreys contracted a second matrimonial alliance, taking as his companion Mrs. Mary Howver, née Gleason. She was the widow of Peter Howver, a native of Champaign County, Ohio, who was born in 1828, reared in his native State, and married in 1847. To him she bore two children—Lydia, the wife of Thomas Berkley of Vermilion County, Ill., and William, who resides with our subject.

Mrs. Humphreys is the daughter of Arah Gleason, a native of New York. He married Lydia Safford, a native of the same State. She bore her husband twelve children, named as follows: Amanda M., is deceased; Mary M.; Martha is deceased; Phoebe lives in Champaign, Ill.; James, Lydia, Nathaniel R., an infant son who died unnamed, and Minnie, all deceased; Lorinda lives in Filer City, Mich.; Charles is a minister of the Congregational Church, now located in Angola, Ind.; and George is a farmer in Holt County, Neb. Arah Gleason died at the home of our subject the 2d of June, 1870, aged seventy years, having been born June 5, 1800. Mrs. Lydia Gleason departed this life June 11, 1886, aged nearly eighty-one years, she was born August 2, 1805.

Mr. Humphreys enlisted in the Federal army August 12, 1862, placing his name upon the muster-roll of Company B, Ninety-fourth Illinois Infantry, and becoming an integral part of the Western army. He took part in the battles at Springfield, Prairie Grove, Van Buren, the siege of Vicksburg, Red River, Algiers, Brownsville (Texas), Fts. Morgan, Gaines, Spanish and Blakeley, the siege of Mobile, and others of minor importance. He was honorably discharged August 29, 1865, and returned to DeWitt County, Ill., in which he had resided prior to his gallant service in the army. Some time subsequently to the war he lived in Vermilion County, Ill., three years. In 1878 he turned his footsteps westward with the determination to become a citizen of Kansas, and selecting this county as his place of abode, settled on the farm where he still resides. It is located in Belle Plaine Township and comprises a quarter of section 23; has been brought to a high state of cultivation and affords its owner a comfortable subsistence. When he took possession of it, it was in an almost primitive condition, the only improvement having been the breaking of thirteen acres of the sod. Its present fine condition and the improvements of various kinds which it bears, are a standing monument to the efforts of Mr. Humphreys.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Humphreys belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Belle Plaine, and the former has served as Steward of the organization. It is a matter of course that he belongs to the G. A. R. Post.

The father of our subject was a native of Ireland, who, upon emigrating to America in 1792, settled in Erie County, Pa., whence he afterward removed to Ohio. He belonged to a long-lived race and himself lived to be one hundred and twelve years and six months old, dying in 1850. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. The mother of our subject was a native of Kentucky. She bore her husband six children, as follows: William, a resident of DeWitt County, Ill.; Elizabeth, wife of Patrick Gorman, of the same county; James, who lives in Ohio; our subject; Joseph H., of Baxter Springs, Kan., and an infant who died unnamed.