My Genealogy Hound

CHARLES J. AYE.
Charles J. Aye, one of the well-known, responsible men and good farmers of Tecumseh township, Shawnee County, who resides in section 19, township 12, range 17, where he owns 85 acres of excellent land, is also one of the old soldiers who survived the dangers and hardships of the Civil War in which he took an honorable part. Mr. Aye was born February 6, 1842, in Vermilion County, Indiana, and is a son of George D. and Anna Elizabeth (Jordan) Aye.

Jacob Aye, the grandfather of Charles J., was born in Germany and came to the United States and settled in Maryland, but later went to Virginia, where George D. Aye was born. On the maternal side, the family was an early one to settle in this portion of Kansas. The maternal grandfather, Rev. Charles Jordan, removed to Shawnee County in 1854 and settled at Tecumseh, being the first Methodist minister in the county. Mrs. Aye was born in Kentucky, but both she and her husband died in Kansas. Their children were: Mrs. Nancy Kiser; John, of Vermilion County, Indiana, who served through the whole Civil War; Mrs. Edna J. Smith, of Terre Haute, Indiana; Mrs. Lucy Parks, of Springfield, Missouri; Charles J., of this sketch; William, of Rossville, Kansas; Thomas, deceased; Mrs. Mary Matilda Rogers, of Denver, Colorado; and Morrison H., of Topeka.

Our subject was a child of seven years when the family removed to Edgar County, Illinois, where they lived until 1855, when they came to Kansas, with their household possessions, arriving in Coffey County on December 15th. The father preempted a quarter-section of land on the Neosho River. After the death of his wife in the following year, the father returned to Illinois, but in the spring of 1857 our subject came to Shawnee County and went to work for his relatives, the Jordans. In 1861 he crossed the plains with the Southers and Clark train to Denver and on the second trip that year went up over the range to Georgia Gulch. He returned in December and spent the next season in farming, but on August 14, 1862, he became an enlisted soldier, entering Company H, 11th Reg., Kansas Vol. Inf., under Colonel Ewing and Capt. Joel Huntoon. This regiment took part in the battles of Prairie Grove, Cane Hill, Fort Wayne and all the engagements of Price’s campaign. In the spring of 1865 it was sent to Idaho to subdue the Indians. It then returned to Fort Leavenworth, where it was mustered out November 18, 1865. While recalling battles, mention may be made of the fight at Bull Creek, in the “Border Ruffian War,” when our subject was engaged with the noted “Jim” Lane. The fight and return to Lawrence took some five days and Mr. Aye says that the biggest battle of all for him was with his father, who had some opinions concerning his son’s running away and was disposed to administer necessary discipline.

Mr. Aye has resided in Tecumseh township since 1866 with the exception of two years spent in Jefferson County. He carries on general farming and stock-raising, having many head of cattle, hogs, horses and mules. In February, 1866, Mr. Aye was married to Romanzy C. Stroup, who was born in Rush County, Indiana, March 27, 1846, and in 1862 came to Kansas with her parents, who were Nathan and Mary Stroup, natives of Pennsvlvania and Ohio, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Aye have four children: Silas S., of Monmonth township; Charlotte, who married Frank Amo, of Tecumseh township and has eight children; Nathan, living at home; and Mrs. Hattie Jackson, of Williamsport township, who has two children.

Mr. Aye cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and has been a stanch Republican ever since. He has held a number of the township offices and has always been active in his support of education and religion. He donates to all religious bodies but is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He assisted in the building of the new church edifice of the Bethel and the Brethren bodies at Tecumseh. He belongs to the Jesse Nelson Post, No. 62, G. A. R., of Tecumseh. Fraternally, he is a Mason.