Mrs. Elizabeth L. Clover, whose portrait is shown herewith, has been a resident of Cowley county, Kansas, since 1871, and is a capable business woman; since 1892, she has had the management of one of the largest farms in the county, being ably assisted by her children. She is the widow of Benjamin H. Clover, who served in Congress, representing the Third Congressional District of Kansas.

Mr. Clover was born in Franklin County, Ohio, December 20, 1837, and died December 30, 1899. He was a son of Henry Clover, who was born in Virginia, and followed the occupation of a farmer. Henry Clover died in Ohio, in 1863, at the age of sixty-three years. He was one of the best men in Franklin county, strong religiously, and with great political influence. He married Mary McHenry, who was born in Highland County, Ohio, of English-German parents. They had three children: Rose (Johnson), who died in Doniphan County, Kansas, in 1881; Benjamin H., deceased; and J. M., who died in Morris County, Kansas.

Benjamin H. Clover attended the common schools in Ohio, and was a pupil in the academy at Jefferson, after which he taught school, and remained at home until he passed his twenty-first birthday. He was then married, and after a time removed to Illinois. There he stayed until 1870, when his wife and family returned to her old home, and he drove, with three of his teams, to Cowley county, Kansas, accompanied by a party of young men. He took with him the sum of $3,000. Provisions at that early day were exceedingly high, bacon being sold at 27 cents a pound, and potatoes at $2.50 a bushel; these it was necessary to haul from Fall River. Mr. Clover located a claim in section 16, township 31, range 7, east, in Grouse Valley, which was, later, declared school land, and appraised at $3.00 per acre. He then took a claim in section 17, and later bought the rights of Messrs. Dudley, Lee, Martin, and Thornbrew, whose claims adjoined his. Mrs. Clover, with her six children, followed her husband to Cowley County, arriving on March 20, 1871. Their first house was of frame, the lumber for which was hauled from Emporia, a distance of 100 miles; it possessed but two rooms for a long time, and was then enlarged. Mr. Clover set about cultivating his land and was successful with his crops, especially in 1874, when his corn was fully matured before the advent of the grasshoppers, and he sold it at $2.00 per bushel. Game was to be found in abundance. Mrs. Clover, having brought a side-saddle with her, rode frequently. The nearest railroad point, at first, was Chanute, and in 1880 the nearest was Independence. Mr. Clover was very active in securing bonds for the Southern Kansas Railway. At the old town of Lazette, he built a sawmill and a gristmill, but this, like many other buildings there, was at a later period removed to Cambridge. In 1892, Mrs. Clover and her family were left in the charge of the farm, which was then encumbered with an $18,000 mortgage, and with more than $1,800, besides, in accrued interest on notes and renewals. By good management and hard work, the encumbrance has been lifted, and the family freed from the debt. They have one of the largest and most fertile farms, of the county, consisting of 1,600 acres, lying in Grouse Valley. They have large orchards and have made corn the principal crop. They raise hogs and cattle and feed on a large scale. The children reside on different parts of the farm, and Mrs. Clover has been temporarily living in Cambridge, where she bought property. Her husband was the first justice of the peace in Windsor township, and many trials and claim contests were held at his residence, which, for years, was the largest in the valley. In politics, he was a Populist. At a meeting held in his house, the name People's party was suggested by Mrs. Clover. Mr. Clover had served as county commissioner in Illinois, and was a candidate for the state legislature in Kansas, declining to run for governor. He was elected to Congress, in 1892, from the third Congressional District, embracing the counties of Chautauqua, Elk, Montgomery, Howard, Cowley, Crawford, and Labette. He served with credit to himself and his constituency.

Mr. Clover married Elizabeth Lilly Cullumber, the subject of this sketch, who was born in Madison county, Ohio, March 28, 1840, both having been reared in the same neighborhood. Mrs. Clover is a daughter of T. H. and Emily Susan (Lilly) Cullumber. Her father was born in 1800, and on the same farm where her existence began. He died in 1863, having served some time in the army. He was a prominent farmer and stock raiser, and in politics, a strong Republican. His wife was born in Virginia, about 1800, and was of English-Scotch descent. Mrs. Clover is the eldest of seven children: Elizabeth L. (Clover); Mary (Goodson), of London, Ohio; Rebecca A. (McDonald), of

Winfield, Kansas; Maggie (Morris), who died in 1896, in Madison County, Ohio; William, who resides near Cambridge, Cowley County; Sarah (Stone), of Winfield; and Thomas, who died at the age of twelve years. Mrs. Clover received a good academic education in Ohio, and lived at home until her marriage. She was the mother of seven children, as follows: Julia Ella (Clover), who married her third cousin, resides in Stillwater, Oklahoma, has three children,--Irma, who is teaching school, Oliver Perry, who is twenty years old and in college, and Nina who is five years old; Thomas H., residing on a part of the home farm, who married Martha Reed, and has four children,--Thomas H., Jr., Lilly A., Ella, and Bryan; William T. S., who is thirty-five years old, and lives with his mother; John P., who married Maude Sifford, of Oklahoma, and has one son, Fred, born in1899; Charles, living on the old home place in Grouse Valley, who married Mary Foust, of Atlanta, Kansas, and has one daughter, Ruth; Susie (Dawsitt), who lives in Cambridge, and has one son, Frank, aged eight years; and Frank L., who married Mary Dowson, and has three daughters,--Lillian, Susie and an infant. In religious views the

family are Methodists, excepting Mrs. Clover, who is of the Christian Science belief. She has been offered as much as $60 per acre, for some of her land, but has always refused to sell. She is a woman of irreproachable character, and has friends in Cowley county, of long years standing.

This biographical sketch was taken from the 1901 BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD,

published by BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, Chicago, Illinois. The

volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Cowley County, Kansas.

"Biography is the only true history"--Emerson

(Copied to Word Perfect 30 May 1991 by Sam L. Pickens, Jr., 2123 West Skyline Road, Arkansas City, Kansas 67005.)