Henry Clay McCarty (b. January 16, 1838, d. February 16, 1917)
McCarty Clan 1891
Henry Clay McCarty (son of Abraham Francis McCarty)69 was born January 16, 1838 in Medina County, Ohio70, and died February 16, 1917 in Wreford, KS70.
Notes for Henry Clay McCarty: Weather wasn't the only problem to plague the Santa Fe. Horse thieves, too, delayed construction. The Hutchinson News, August 1, 1872, reported:
75 HORSES STOLEN! SHERIFF AND POSSE IN HOT PURSUIT.
On the night of July 28th, a grand steal took place on the A. T. & S. F. R. R., about 100 miles west of here. The horses, a majority of which belong to the Railroad Co., are grazed on the prairie. On the night of the 28th the herder disappeared and at the same time between 75 and 100 horses. The disaster of course stopped work and created great excitement. A party immediately went in pursit, found out where the thieves crossed the Arkansas River, and up to latest accounts had recovered 16 horses. The thieves were making in the direction of Wichita probably in search of a market. If such be the case, they will undoubtedly be speedily overhauled. If they are, Judge Lynch will hold a court that will place them beyond such pranks hereafter. The deputy sheriff of the county, Al. Updegraff, [17] accompanied by H. C. McCarty and others, left here early Monday [July 29] to assist in the pursuit. It is thought the herder in charge was the ringleader of the raid.
H. C. MCCARTY, of the firm of McCarty Bros., dealers in all kinds of farm produce, etc., P. O. Wreford; began business in July, 1882, at Wreford Station, Davis County. He located near the above place in 1872, with his brother opened a farm, and has always followed agricultural pursuits. He was born in Medina County, Ohio, January 16, 1838, and lived in his native State until 1848, and the family moved to Owasso, Shiawassee Co., Mich., where he lived until coming to Kansas; was raised a farmer. He enlisted in August, 1861, in Company D, First Michigan Cavalry, and served six months. Re-enlisted in the Tenth Michigan Cavalry, and participated in all the battles of his command. He was mustered out in November, 1865. Was married in 1861, to Miss V. J. Chase, of Summit County, Ohio. They have one son--Edwin L. McCarty Bros. own a fine bed of cement on Lyons Creek, one and-a-half miles from the mouth of that stream, and five miles from Junction City. It is an immense bed, eleven feet in thickness; it has been tested with the best cement known and found equal to the best. They also operate a lime kiln near their warehouse, which cost upward of $2,000, a fine location. Lyman McCarty, the other member of the firm, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, June 1, 1845. Served nearly three years during the war in the Fifth Michigan Infantry. Since then he has been engaged in railroad business, and is now General Western Passenger Agent of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. He resides in Kansas City, Mo.
Wreford
The community of Wreford grew up around a railroad siding of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, or the “Katy,” as it was called locally. Homesteaders and farmers had settled in the area after the Civil War, and in 1870, a regular MKT train began running the 37 miles from Junction City to Council Grove via the Wreford area.
H.C. McCarty, a Civil War veteran, had opened a general store in a two-story building set in a grove of trees near the crossroads. The McCarty family lived in the upper story of the store, which also served as the post office and the telephone exchange.
As the community developed, a stockyard, grain elevator, weighing scale, icehouse and a small depot were built along the tracks near the store. Farmers brought crops and cattle here to be loaded on the trains for market.
The floods of 1903 almost inundated Wreford, but the demise of the railroad was the death blow for this Geary County community which achieved its peak population during the World War I years. In the late 1920’s, the depot was closed. This meant that those who wanted to ride the train had to get in the middle of the track and flag it down. The mailbag was thrown off to the side of the track as the train passed through. In the 1950’s, a move to close the stockyards involved a midnight change of the community’s name from Wreford to Brant, but this designation was most unpopular and very short – lived.
Eventually the McCarty’s store closed and was torn down, and today, the Dickson Blacksmith Shop is all that is standing of the Wreford business district.
More About Henry Clay McCarty: Burial: February 18, 1917, Wreford, KS.71 Military service: Bet. August 1861 - November 1865, Co. D,1st and Co. F, 10th Michigan Calvary.
More About Henry Clay McCarty and <Unnamed>: Marriage: April 04, 1861, Corunna, Shiawassee County, Ohio.72
More About Henry Clay McCarty and <Unnamed>: Marriage: July 17, 1890, Wreford, KS.
Children of Henry Clay McCarty are:
+Edwin Lyman McCarty, b. January 10, 1862, Owosso, MI73, d. January 05, 1918, Wreford, KS74.
Children of Henry Clay McCarty are:
Henry Clay McCarty, Jr, b. May 27, 1903, Wreford, KS, d. April 18, 1982, Sun City, CA (Riverside)75.
Henry Clay McCarty (b. January 16, 1838, d. February 16, 1917)
Notes for Henry Clay McCarty: