Henry Cappock
Henry Cappock was born in Columbiana co., Ohio; his parents emigrated to Henry co., Iowa in ’42 his mother died the same year, and in ’49 his father and brother went to California overland, and from this event Henry took the “western fever.” In ’57 he came to Johnson county; being without money, he labored as a farm hand for Wm. Ellege at $18 per month; in the fall of ’58 he shipped 60,000 fruit trees and established the Summit Nursery, being the first established in the county and among the first in the state. In ’59 he went to southern California with a train, and in the month of January the train was taken by the Rio Grande Utes and out of 30 men only 3 escaped; in the last of February, after much suffering, he made his way into Salt Lake City, a distance of 300 miles; the following year he rode the “pony express,” between Ft. Bridger and Salt Lake, for one month; went to Denver, and came down the Platte and Missouri rivers in a flat boat; spent the winter trapping in Iowa; in ’61 he farmed in Richardson co., Neb., raised 2,000 bushels of corn for which he was offered 8 cents a bushel; in ’62 he freighted to Denver, and in ’63 went to Montana, devoting his time to dealing in beef cattle and freighting. He owned one of the best ranchos in Montana. Subsequently he spent a year traveling, visiting many of the principal battle fields and cities in the U. S. In ’66 he chartered the steamer Helena, loaded with merchandise, (among which were 2,000 sacks of flour and 50 tons of bacon,) shipped up the Mo. River to Ft. Benton, then freighting 250 miles to Helena; in ’67 he left Montana with the intention of going to the World’s Fair in Paris; came through Johnson co.; bought of Graham Rogers, chief of the Shawnees, the farm he now owns—perhaps the best in the county; married Miss Mary J. James Jan. 1, ’68, since which he has devoted most of his time to raising stock and dealing in cattle and mules. He is methodical in the performance of all his work, keeping a register and an account of all his receipts and expenditures. His success in the management of his farm is conclusive evidence that it is as necessary for a farmer to keep a record of all things great and small, (to keep a book of profit and loss,) as it is in any other branch of business. Mr. C. though rather small in stature, is a man of untiring energy and unyielding perseverance. His family consists of two bright little daughters.
Atlas Map of Johnson County, Kansas, E. F. Heisler and Co., 1874, p. 70.
