William S. ANDERSON residing on section 16, Rice Township, was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, February 17, 1849. His parents, William and Sarah (LOUDER) (sic) ANDERSON, were both natives of North Carolina, where they were reared and married, and there their seven eldest children were born - Mrs. Rhoda STANFORD, a widow, now living in Decatur County, Iowa; John Calvin and Isaac B., living in Henry County, Indiana; Joel M. and Mrs. Mary A. DUNN, residents of Reno County, Kansas; Solomon S. was a member of the Third Iowa Cavalry, and died during the war, aged nineteen years; and William S., the subject of this sketch. Their daughter, Mrs. Sarah Irene DECK, was born in Decatur County, Iowa, and is now living in Reno County Kansas. In 1851 the parents removed with their family from North Carolina to Henry County, Indiana, where they resided till 1859. They then settled in Woodland, Decatur County, Iowa, and two and a half years later came to Ringgold County, and settled on a farm in Eden Township, where they have since made their home.

William S. ANDERSON, our subject, grew to manhood in Ringgold County, being about thirteen years old when he accompanied his parents to this county. He was married in Woodland Township, Decatur County, December 4, 1870, to Miss Ellen FRAZER, who was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, June 15, 1853.

Her parents settled in Henry County, Indiana, in 1868, and in 1870 moved to Decatur County, Iowa, where the mother died, March 10, 1876, aged fifty-one years. In 1884 the father of Mrs. ANDERSON, Stanley FRAZER, moved to Van Buren County, Iowa, where he now lives. Mrs. ANDERSON was the eldest in a family of six children. Her eldest sister, Sarah, is her father's housekeeper; Mary M., a teacher, also lives with her father; James E. died in early childhood; Amanda is the wife of John L. COALTRANE; and Nannie.

Mr. and Mrs. ANDERSON are the parents of two children - Charles C., born September 5, 1871, and Edward I., born October 10, 1873.

Mr. and Mrs. ANDERSON lived on a farm in Decatur County, Iowa, until 1875, when they moved to Reno County, Kansas, remaining there five years. In the fall of 1880 they returned to Decatur County, and the following spring came to Ringgold County, and settled on their present farm on section 16, Rice Township, which contains forty-five acres of good land, this farm being one of the first settled in the township.

Besides his home farm Mr. ANDERSON owns eighty acres of valuable land, which is located a half-mile from the homestead.

In politics Mr. ANDERSON casts his suffrage with the Republican party. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

NOTE: When William's maternal grandfather John LOWDER (1762-1839) died, his uncle Solomon LOWDER left Indiana on horseback to probate John's will and settle the estate. Solomon never arrived in Stokes County, North Carolina, and was never heard of since. According to family lore, it was believed that Solomon was a victim of the "Trail Pirates" who lay in wait along the trails and riviers and attacked unsuspecting travelers.

William Stanley ANDERSON died at his home near Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa, on October 26, 1922, at the age of seventy-three years. Martha J. "Ellen" (FRAZER) ANDERSON was born June 15, 1853, and died July 2, 1935. Willliam and Ellen were interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa.

Charles C. ANDERSON, son of William S. and Ellen (FRAZER), was born on September 5, 1871, and died on December 9, 1938, with interment at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Iowa.

Edward L. ANDERSON, son of William S. and Ellen (FRAZER), was born October 10, 1873, and died on June 1, 1915, with interment at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Iowa.

The FRAZER family arrived in Eden Township of Decatur County, Iowa, in around the year 1860. Elizabeth S. FRAZER, mother of Martha J. "Ellen" (FRAZER) ANDERSON, was born on November 22, 1823, and died March 10, 1877 (according to cemetery transcriptions), and was interred at Mount Tabor Cemetery, Eden Township of Decatur County, Iowa.

PETER DECK

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Peter DECK, member of the board of commissioners of Reno county [Kansas], former trustee of Westminster township, a prominent pioneer of that township and one of the best-known and most substantial retired farmers of this county, now living in a fine house in Abbeyville, is a native Hoosier, but has been a resident of this county since 1874, and has thus been a witness to and a p articipant in the wonderful progress which has been made in this region since early pioneer days. He was born on a farm near the town of Albion, in Noble county, Indiana, August 6, 1850, son of Isaac and Julia (JOHNSON) DECK, both natives of Pennsylvania, who later became pioneers of Reno county and the latter of whom is still living here, being now in the ninety-first year of her age.

[Isaac DECK (1820-1898) served over two years during the Civil War with Company G, 7th Missouri Cavalry.]

Peter DECK was about eight years old when his parents moved from Indiana to Missouri and was about eleven when the family sought refuge in Iowa. In the latter state he completed his schooling and became a farmer and there he was married in 1870. In March 1874, he came to Kansas and homesteaded a quarter of a section in Westminster township, this county, which he straightway proceeded to improve and bring under cultivtion, soon becoming known as one of the substantial farmers in that part of the county. . .the owner of a fine farm of four hundred and ninety acres and there he lived until 1912, in which year he retired from the farm and moved to Abbeyville, where he built a fine house and where he is now living, he and his family being very comfortably situated. . . .

It was in 1870, while living in Iowa, that Peter DECK was united in marriage to Sarah ANDERSON, daughter of W[illiam] D. and Sarah (LOWDER) ANDERSON, and to this union five children have been born, Lawrence, Roy, Ethel, Nettie, and Chester. Mr. and Mrs. DECK are active members of the Methodist church and Mr. DECK has served as an office bearer in that church. He is a Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Woodmen [of America], in the affairs of which organizations he takes a warm interest.

-- History of Reno County, Kansas

SOURCES:
Biography & Historical Record of Ringgold County, Iowa, p. 357, 1887.

WPA Graves Survey

PLOUGHE, Sheridan. History of Reno County, Kansas, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Vol. II Pp. 373-75. B.F. Bowne & Co., Inc. Indianapolis IN. 1917.

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2009

Biographical Sketches Pages Index: A - F,   G - L,   M - R,  S - Z