The Life of John Milton Hadley Sr
MAJOR JOHN M. HADLEY DEAD.
Another of Our County''s Oldest and Best Citizens Gone.
The death of Major Hadley at DeSoto, Kansas, on Monday, June 21, 1909, removed one of the very oldest of this county, as well as one of Its prominent, respected and successful business men.
His father came to Johnson county in 1855 and took charge of the Quaker Mission to the Shawnee Indians. The old building still stands about one mile east of Merriam. In March of that year Major came to make his home in the great West, but only remained a short time when he returned to Morgan county, Ind., and taught school for two years. Upon coming again to Kansas the next year, he settled near Emporia on a farm, where he stayed one year, removing r thence to Monticello township in this county, where he farmed for three years, taught school, and was elected Justice of the Peace.
When the war broke out he enlisted in the Eighth Kansas Infantry, was transferred to the Ninth Kansas Cavalry, served for several months on the staff of General Thomas Ewing and was mustered out at the close of the war with the rank of Major, and settled in Olathe. Major Hadley was a man eminently fitted for public service, and in the fall of 1865, he was chosen sheriff, and was reelected twice to that office. At the close of his term of office as sheriff he was three times elected clerk of the district court and in 1879 was made state senator from this district. He practiced law in Olathe in 1877 for about a year as a member of the firm of Wilson and Hadley, and was in the mercantile business in Gardner for another year following.
Since 1880 he has been in the milling and grain business at DeSoto and for some years up to his death he was president of the DeSoto State Bank. In 1866 he married Harriet Beach, a daughter of Rev. I. Beach of the Presbyterian church of Olathe to whom were born two children, Mrs. J. W. Lyman of Kansas City and Herbert S. Hadley, now governor, of the state of Missouri.
In whatever capacity he took hold of life''s activities, he showed himself a master mind. His work was always intense and thorough, and successful in a high degree. In every station he gained the respect and esteem of all with whom he was brought in contact, and although of a positive turn of mind, he made and held them as friends. No one has occupied a more honorable station among his fellow citizens of this county, and his life''s work is inseparably connected with the history of this county and state.
Olathe Mirror
June 24, 1919
Page 1, Col 6
1st Addition, Block 126, Lot 1, W4
From The Kansas City Journal, June 22, 1909
MAJOR J. M. HADLEY IS DEAD.
Father of Missouri Governor Long
a Prominent Citizen of Johnson County, Kas.
DE SOTO, KAS., June 21. -- Major John M. Hadley, father of Governor H. S. Hadley of Missouri, died here at 2:35 o'clock this afternoon from the effects of a stroke of apoplexy which he suffered June 9. For several days he had lain in an unconscious condition, and the end came quietly. His son and daughter, Mrs. J. W. Lyman, came yesterday and were with their father to last night.
The funeral services, conducted by Rev. W. J. Mitchell, pastor of the M. E. Church at this place, an old soldier and personal friend, will be held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Snyder at 1:30 o'clock Tuesday afternoon, after which the body will be taken to Olathe and interment made in the family lot.
The active pallbearers here will be Dr. W. M. Marcks, B. S. Taylor, C. S. Becroft, Zimri Gardner, C. K. Dow and B. F. Snyder. At Olathe they will be chosen from the Masonic lodge.
The G. A. R. and the Masonic orders, both of which Major Hadley was an active member, will have charge of the services at Olathe. The honorary pallbearers at Olathe will be Colonel Conover of Kansas City, Major I. O. Pickering, Colonel J. T. Burris, J. T. Little of Olathe, Frank R. Obb and William Pellet of Olathe, all of whom have been personal friends.
The governor reached Kansas City from the capital on a special train Sunday, after receiving word of the critical condition of his father. He was met at the station by a motor car, and made the remainder of the trip to De Soto overland, arriving at the bedside of his father at 1:30 Sunday afternoon.
The elder Hadley was one of the most prominent citizens of De Soto, president of the De Soto State Bank., and connected with many of the institutions of Johnson county, of which he was a pioneer resident.
Major Hadley located at Shawnee Mission in 1855. In October, 1861, he enlisted in the Eighth Kansas Infantry, being rapidly promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, in which capacity he served for fifteen months.
He was later made lieutenant and then captain of the Ninth Kansas Cavalry, and in May, 1865, was promoted to the rank of major, which title clung to him until death. At the close of the war Major Hadley was elected sheriff of Johnson county and served until 1870, when he was made clerk of the district court. He was also head of the extensive flouring mills at De Soto. In 1877 Major Hadley represented his district in the state assembly as senator, being re-elected in 1879.
He was one of the largest land owners in Johnson county. Mrs. Hadley died in 1875.
EXECUTIVE OFFICES CLOSED.
JEFFERSON CITY, MO., June 21. -- Acting Governor Humphreys said tonight that as a mark of respect to the governor whose father, Major John M. Hadley, died at De Soto, Kas., this afternoon, the governor's office and those departments in the state house grounds which come under the appointment of the governor would be closed tomorrow. This, he said, was as far as he would go, and that he was governed by the governor's wish in the matter, having talked with him by telephone.
No formal proclamation will be issued, however, as Major Hadley was not a resident of the state.
