Daniel and William Bunnell

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Daniel Bunnell was born in Arkansas in 1853. In 1879 he arrived in Cowley County with his wife, Sarah C. Outlaw Bunnell, and his father, Arthur, who assisted him in starting a farm consisting of 230 acres near Silverdale. Their principal crop was corn. They also handled cattle. In December 1880 Daniel hired fifteen year old Willie Fogg to herd his cattle for a short time. Willie ran off with one of Bunnell’s ponies. He got as far as the Kaw Agency when he was caught and interviewed by Squire Butterfield. He was soon before Judge W. P. Campbell in Cowley County District Court, where he was sentenced to the county jail for six months for grand larceny. Willie was looked after by Jailer H. H. Siverd and Sheriff A. T. Shenneman. Soon after a member of the Winfield Courier staff pleaded for someone to care for this young boy from New Hampshire, who had not seen his mother for two years and left the care of his stepfather with a desire to go to school and learn a trade. In February 1881 Willie Fogg was pardoned by the governor after an application was made by Father Kelly in Winfield to look out for the youth in the belief that he could reclaim him.
Willie borrowed a horse from Mrs. Olds in Winfield two months later and got a saddle from Mr. Enright, informing them that he was going for a ride in the country a short distance after which he would return. They became uneasy about his extended absence and reported the matter to Sheriff Shenneman, who soon determined that Willie had stolen both horse and saddle and started in pursuit. Willie Fogg was caught about twenty miles inside Indian Territory. His case was among the numerous criminal cases on the May 1881 District Court docket, where Willie Fogg was charged with grand larceny. Again, because of his youth, Mr. Fogg was sentenced in June 1881 to the county jail for horse stealing.
In September 1881 Willie managed to skip out on a train headed for Oxford. Sheriff Shenneman soon caught him and brought him back. It was predicted that Mr. Fogg would pass most of his life behind prison bars.
Daniel and Sarah C. Bunnell had five children: all boys. The oldest son, William Bunnell, was born in a small shack on Grouse creek on May 22, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Bunnell experienced marital problems. In November 1885 Dan Bunnell procured a divorce from Mrs. Bunnell. That lady, although a divorced wife, refused to leave the home and shelter of Mr. Bunnell. In December 1885 a neighbor, Mr. Wm. Probasco, started courting Sarah. Daniel Bunnell built and furnished a house for the future Mr. and Mrs. Probasco and was in attendance at their wedding in January 1886. After being a bride for two days, Mrs. Probasco returned to Mr. Bunnell’s house and vowed that she would not live with Mr. Probasco any longer. She then departed and was never seen nor heard from after that time.
The corn crop in 1886 for Arthur and Daniel Bunnell was noted. Arthur Bunnell had corn that grew to seven feet in height. Bothered with the pesky chintz bugs, Dan Bunnell became president of the “Hoeing Society,” going through his field with a force and exterminating the weeds. In July he brought in a stalk of corn to the Arkansas City Republican editor that measured 11 feet and 6 inches.

Drury Warren, a neighbor of Daniel Bunnell, began construction of a stone fence on his property in early July 1886. Later that month it was announced in the Republican newspaper that Drury Warren had purchased Daniel Bunnell’s farm of 230 acres for $7,910, which included Dan’s interest in his corn crop. Arthur Bunnell, Daniel’s father, sold his corn crop to Warren for $200. Daniel Bunnell and his family moved to Arkansas City.
In March 1887 Daniel Bunnell sold his property in the First ward, consisting of sixteen lots and four small cottages, to a local merchant, Stacy Matlack, for $11,000, after spending $5,100 on the property and improvements during a time when Arkansas City was experiencing a “boom.”
Daniel Bunnell, a well known figure on the streets of Arkansas City for many years, served as a member of the police force in 1888. He became a trader of livestock and  ran an implement and harness business. Mr. Bunnell entered into the real estate, loan, and investment business, founding one of the pioneer loan enterprises of Arkansas City. For a long time he traded with and loaned cash and other items to the Indians of the Kaw and Osage reservations. He sold and exchanged large quantities of city real estate and numerous farms in Cowley County. Later his business dealings extended to Oklahoma, especially in Kay, Noble, and Pawnee counties.
Daniel Bunnell married Miss Maude A. Faubion on April 11, 1901. She was the daughter of the late Rev. J. W. Faubion, a missionary and circuit rider of the Southern Methodist Church, who located at Arkansas City on October 11, 1895, residing there until his death on February 19, 1900. Daniel Bunnell died on June 30, 1915, in Arkansas City, aged sixty-two.
William Bunnell was the only child of Daniel Bunnell who remained in Arkansas City. He quit school at the age of fifteen to make his own way in the world. For two years he clerked in a drug store. He then spent two years working in a grocery store. Young Will then became a dealer in horses and livestock. In 1908 William Bunnell became vice president of the Traders State Bank of Arkansas City. He sold his interest in the bank in 1914 and organized the William Bunnell Loan & Investment Company. He owned over 12,000 acres of land in Kay, Noble, and Pawnee counties in Oklahoma as well as an equity in his father’s estate. William Bunnell married Mrs. Bertha (Krebs) LaSarge. She was the daughter of William Krebs, a stone mason in Arkansas City. Mr. and Mrs. Bunnell resided at 306 South Second Street. He had four step-children: Maree, Louis, Arthur, and Virgil LaSarge.