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In the spring of 1872, the Jacob Coleman family rented another farm in the same county and harvested a crop there. Then, in the spring of 1873, they moved on into Cowley County, Kansas, where they homesteaded 160 acres of land for 8 years.
Windy Kansas
When they got to Kansas, they built a house out of "stable circles," (buffalo chips.) They began mowing and stacking wild hay, which grew abundantly there. Only having one mowing machine, it ran day and night. The hay rake also ran continuously. Then came the stacking. The work was not limited to boys; they all took turns at all the jobs. His sister, Elvira, was now the oldest, at 17. John Henry was 15, Martha Alice was 11, James Uriah was 5, Mary Elizabeth was 3 and Perry Alonzo was 1.
James Uriah wrote that the "snow held off until mid winter." "Everyone was well and happy." Christmas came. There was no snow in Kansas that year, but Santa Claus came anyway. The next year there was 3 feet of snow by New Year's Day. They turned the equipment used for hauling hay into bobsleds.
In the spring of 1875, Jacob, went into the livestock business. He went to Kansas City to buy some sheep, and later some calves. They found more success in animals than in growing crops in windy Kansas.
Unfortunately there was no school in that part of Kansas, which James Uriah said, "was a deterrent to our progress."
But they loved life in Kansas. There were wild turkeys and prairie chickens to hunt. Elvira married a son of Holland Brock, named John, and they were married by 1878. Another daughter, Martha Alice, married William Sweet there on 5 May 1881.
Force to Leave Kansas Quickly
The 1880 Census in Cowley County, Kansas shows Jacob and his family surrounded on one side by his daughter Elvira and John Brock, and her father-in-law and her family. On the other side were his son, John Henry and his wife and baby daughter.
They could have remained there forever, had it not been for one occurrence. Jacob's son, John Henry, had married a woman named Pamelia, by 1880, and they soon had a daughter, Emma. Then, his wife left him. This so devastated the Coleman family that they apparently concocted a plan to snatch the child and to escape to Washington territory.
But word of their plan got out on the evening of the planned attempt and Pamelia and her father told them at the point of a gun that they should leave. The Coleman family ended up fleeing the area in 1881 (July 4?), leaving behind their two married daughters.
Traveling through Utah, the Jacob Coleman family met up with Jacob's brother Uriah, who told them the Oregon territory was too soggy for anything but horses, and convinced them to stay in Utah. They bought a home in Nephi City, Utah, which was where he lived.
Little Schooling in Utah
Jacob's children enjoyed the good schools in Nephi. But, in 1883, they moved once again, to the town of Chester, in San Pete County, where once again there were no schools, but where they bought a home and farmed for five years. Finally they sold out everything and moved to Woodside, Emery (at that time, perhaps Carbon) County, Utah. [James Uriah also said they went back to Nephi in 1886, until 1889, when they moved to Woodside, Emery County, Utah, on a ranch six miles west of Woodside,] A neighbor recollected that the Colemans were fruit farmers. There were no schools there. But James Uriah wrote that there was "good free range for cattle and we begun cattle raising."
Also, in 1883, on July 19, their son, John Henry, remarried Sarah Kate Golden. On 10 Jan. 1887, daughter, Mary Elizabeth married John William Stewart. Then, on 25 June 1890, their son, James Uriah, married Leah Thompson. Then, in 1894, their daughter, Mary Elizabeth, took off with Charles Dorsey. Around that same year their son, Perry Alonzo, married Elzina Turner. On Oct. 30, 1895, shortly after the death of his second wife, John Henry married Ann Eliza (Warner) Pexton.
Less than a year later, on July 4, 1896, Jacob died in Woodside. James Uriah said this caused Jacob's children to scatter. James Uriah was working for the railroad only 6 miles from his own ranch. His mother, Barbara, stayed on her ranch for a few weeks and then she sold out and came to live with James for a while. During this time, James Uriah married again on 7 Sept. 1896, whereupon his first wife left him.
Jacob's children are:
Barbara bore 9 children:
1. Purnell D., born 9 Nov. 1853. Died 1867.
2. Jacob William, born 10 Mar. 1854, died before 1860 Census.
3. Elvira, born 25 Nov. 1855, married John Thomas Brock, 10 Mar. 1854 (probably in Cowley County, Kansas). Died 22 Oct. 1928.
4. John Henry, born 1 Nov. 1857. Married 1) abt. 1878, Pamelia E. ________, probably in Cowley County, KS. Married 2) Sarah Kate Golden, 19 July 1883, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
5. Nancy Ann, born 3 May 1859. Died Sept. 1866.
6. Martha Alice, born 25 Aug. 1862. Married 7 May 1881, William R. Sweet, Cowley County, Kansas. Died 28 July 1940, Fredonia, Wilson, Kansas.
7. James Uriah, born 4 Feb. 1868. Married 1) Leah Mabel Cecelia Thompson, 25 June 1890. Married 2) Maud Louisa Thompson, 7 Sept. 1896. Died 10 Dec. 1959.
8. Mary Elizabeth, born 1 May 1870. Married 1) John William Stewart, 10 Jan 1887. Lived with, but never married, Charles Elbert Dorsey Forrest. Died 13 June 1953.
9. Perry Alonzo, born 17 Feb. 1872. Married 1)Elzina Turner abt. 1893. Married 2) Ann Irilla Stone, 4 Sept. 1909. Died 11 Aug. 1916.
Uriah Coleman
Uriah was born 6 April 1831, the son of Jacob(1) Coleman and his fourth wife, Nancy. He was less that eight years old when he was completely orphaned. The first solid record we have of his activities is the Census.
In the 1850 Census, he was working as a farmhand in Green Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. His stated age was 19. He was living with a young couple named Mike and Hannah Ribolt. Since he was so close to his boyhood home, it is not clear why only two years earlier, on 10 Feb. 1848, his half-brother, Benjamin, claimed Uriah was unavailable to claim his share of his father's inheritance.
Uriah spent the next 28 years in mystery. Possibly he worked a farm in Kansas or Missouri. It is unknown whether he had a wife and family during that time, or fought in any wars, or rushed for Gold.
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