Charles G. Scrafford

TRUSTEE: CHARLES G. SCRAFFORD

Charles G. Scrafford was born 28 January 1829 in Albany Co., New York. He was the oldest son of George C. and Nancy (Hays) Scrafford. He married Justianna E. Lappin, daughter of Finley, one of Seneca's founding fa-thers, and Margaret Lappin on 1 May 1853 in Bellevue, Ohio. Justianna was born 20 October 1835. She died 15 February 1928 in Seneca. She was buried in the Seneca City Cemetery, Nemaha Co., Kansas.

Four children were born to Charles and Justianna Scrafford. The first child, Jose-phine, was born 23 April 1854 at Fremont, Ohio. She married Hannibal Clemens Settle, a cousin of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, on 30 April 1875 in Seneca. Josephine and her husband reared one adopted child. Josephine died 9 March 1926 at Decatur, Macon Co., Illinois. Her ashes were buried in Seneca City Cemetery, Nemaha Co., Kansas. The next child Frank M. was born about 1856 at Iowa Point, Kansas. He married Eva Alexander. They reared at least three children. The third child, Frederick, was born 1 March 1859 probably at Seneca, Nemaha Co., Kansas. He died in infancy on 29 July 1861 at Seneca. He was buried in the Seneca City Cemetery, Nemaha Co., Kansas. The last child, Grace, was born 29 September 1864 at Seneca, Kansas. She married J. Spencer Voorhees on 12 July 1889 at Seneca. She reared at least one child. Grace died 27 June 1932.

Charles came to Kansas in 1856 and first settled in White Cloud were he was credited with building a hotel and sawmill. Apparently his Lappin family connection

brought him to Nemaha Co. in 1857. In this year, Charles, his father-in-law Finley Lappin, brother-in-law Samuel Lappin, and R. U. Torrey formed the Seneca town company. Charles brought his family here in 1858. Within two years time, he had opened the first general store in Seneca. He erected Seneca's first two story brick store building in 1861 (this probably being the current location of Harsh Drug). Peter J. Assenmacher purchased this city lot in 1862. Assenmacher's Saloon can be seen in one of the pictures of the town for 1870. On the 2nd of May in 1867 Charles became a founder and trustee of the Uni-versalist Church. In 1869 he constructed the stone two-story public school with bell tower. By 1870, he was 41 years old and had $70000 worth of real estate and $5500 of personal property. He and his brother-in-law, Samuel Lappin, had a bank named LAPPIN & SCRAFFORD BANK. His banking interests had financial misfor-tunes in 1875. The firm collapsed when Seneca was growing and thriving. Quite possibly, this collapse was in part due to his partner Samuel Lappin. The Lappin Incident, a state of Kansas treasury case, started at this time in Seneca's history. However, within five years time, Charles was a retailer in general merchandise. Also during this five year period, he was involved in a court case in Topeka. In August 1879, he was acquitted of his al-leged complicity in school fund forgeries to have been perpetrated upon the State of Kansas. His 1890 partnership with John Gilchrist resulted in a once renowned Seneca landmark. This landmark, known as the Gilford Hotel and built for $20,000, was razed in the early 1970's. He was in-volved with the building of the Univer-salist Church (home of the Seneca Free Library), the Seneca Opera House, and some of the fine residences of that time period. During his lifetime, he had been involved with the railroads being in Seneca. His tie to the St. Joseph and Denver City Railroad has been mentioned previously. He was also a director of the Kansas City Northwestern Railroad.

• • Charles' official contribution to Seneca and Nemaha County were: 1861 elected county treasurer

  • 1862 elected county treasurer

  • 1870 elected chairman of the board of trustees of Seneca's incorporation as 3rd class town

  • 1872 elected Seneca's 2nd mayor

  • 1873 elected mayor of Seneca

  • 1887 elected mayor of Seneca

C. G. Scrafford, a founder of Seneca and a trustee of Seneca's third class city incorporation, passed away 3 August 1891 at the age of 62 in Seneca at his residence. He was buried in the Seneca City Cemetery the next day.

Sources:

Andreas History of Kansas, p946

Probate of L.J. McGowen, 21 April 1898

1870 U.S. Census, Nemaha Co., Richmond Township, p46

Seneca-Tribune, Vol.XX, No.17, July 21, 1898, p5

Tennal's History of Nemaha County, KS, p267