Capt. A. J. Hersey

Arkansas City Traveler, September 29, 1886.
About two weeks ago two saddle ponies were missing from the cattle ranch of Florer, Gould & Ayres, on the Kaw reservation, and the manager of the ranch, Capt. A. J. Hersey, thinking they were stolen and believing he knew the thief, came to town as soon as he missed the animals, to have the thief arrested. He found the man he wanted in the city, but the missing ponies were not in his possession. Leaving him to be shadowed by the officers, Capt. Hersey returned home after a day’s stay here to make further search for the ponies. Last Wednesday he wrote to Sam Burris, informing him that he had found the ponies in the Osage country, making their way to a ranch, but whether they had been stolen or turned loose, he was unable to say. He ordered the watch on the suspected party removed, and this ended the matter.
The above item was the only one that I could find on Capt. A. J. Hersey. The same item shows up in the John N. Florer file and the S. P. Burress file.
Recap on S. P. Burress, a member of the “Maine Cattle Company” may be of some help in the search for Capt. A. J. Hersey.
Burress ended up in Arkansas City. In 1893 he was listed as being thirty-five years of age and his spouse, Mary was twenty-eight years of age.
First mention of Sam Burress...
Arkansas City Traveler, October 5, 1881.
D. S. Burress and his son, Sam, sold all their cattle on the range, at Salt Fork, and will go to Texas this winter to contract for more to drive in the spring.
Arkansas City Traveler, March 22, 1882.
Samuel Burress, one of the live young cattle men of the Nation, paid this place a visit last week.
Arkansas City Traveler, September 27, 1882.
Mr. Sam Burress will shortly put up a residence in the south part of town just opposite the First Presbyterian Church. The main building will be 16 x 24 with an L 14 x 16. Messrs. Beecher & Son have the contract.
Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, March 8, 1883.
THIRD ANNUAL ROUND-UP-OF THE-CHEROKEE STRIP STOCKMEN.
NEW ORGANIZATION MADE. No Show for Monopolists.
The third annual meeting of the Cherokee Strip Stockmen’s Association met in the Opera House on Tuesday, March 6, 1883, at 11 a.m., and was called to order by the president, Ben S. Miller.
On re-assembling at 2 p.m., the committee on credentials reported the following list of new members, which report was accepted.

D. R. Streeter, Northup & Stephens, C. W. Blaine, F. M. Stewart, R. B. Clark, R. H. Campbell, W. J. Hodges, G. A. Thompson, S. A. Garth, W. H. Harrelston, W. M. Dunn, G. B. Mote, Crutchfield & Carpenter, Walworth, Walton & Rhodes, W. B. Lee, W. W. Wicks, J. A. Emmerson, John Myrtle, J. H. Hill, A. J. Snider, A. G. Evans, R. W. Phillips, E. W. Payne, Tomlin & Webb, H. W. Roberts, E. P. Fouts, W. W. Stephens, A. Mills, C. M. Scott, H. P. Standley, Lafe Merritt, J. N. Florer, D. W. Roberts, C. H. Dye, M. W. Brand, Drury Warren, W. P. Herring, S. T. Tuttle, E. W. Rannols, N. J. Thompson, W. H. Dunn, E. A. Hereford, J. Love, Johnsons & Hosmer, S. T. Mayor, D. A. Streeter, M. H. Snyder, S. P. Burress, C. C. Clark, K. C. Weathers [J. C. Weathers], G. V. Collins, and H. H. Campbell.
[Note: Caldwell paper probably had a lot of names spelled incorrectly. They had “P. S. Burress” instead of “S. P. Burress.” They also had “K. C.” instead of J. C. Weathers.]
Arkansas City Traveler, May 9, 1883.
Messrs. L. C. Norton and Ira Barnett last week purchased of Messrs. Burress and Lewis about $12,000 worth of stock and are now holding the same upon the ranch lately occupied by the latter named gentlemen.
Arkansas City Traveler, June 18, 1884.
Burt Worthley and Sam Burress returned from Arkansas last week with 800 head of yearlings and two-year-olds. They are holding them at present on the Cimarron. Burt reports a good drive, with no loss worth speaking of.
Arkansas City Traveler, October 8, 1884.
The Maine Cattle Company. A stock company under the above name has been organized by men having their headquarters in this city, and their range on the Ponca reservation. The company is composed of Messrs. N. C. Hinkley, S. P. Burress, Burt Worthley, H. P. Farrar, J. H. Sherburne, Howard Bros., and Bradford Beall, with a capital stock of $50,000, and a thousand head of one-, two-, and three-year-olds to start with. The range line south of the Salt Fork and east of the Otoe road, containing 35,000 acres of good grazing land, with plenty of water and timber—all fenced with a four-strand barb wire fence. When fully stocked up, which will be done as rapidly as possible, these gentlemen will have between 2,000 and 3,000 head of cattle. Another item is the 3,000 acre hog lot on the range, on which will be put about a thousand head of fine hogs. The Maine Cattle Company purpose grading up their cattle to a high standard, and shall purchase high grade Hereford, Durham, and Galloway bulls. The officers have not yet been elected, all hands being busy this week moving their cattle from Chilocco to their new range, but as soon as this is done, the company will be regularly organized under the laws of the state and officers duly elected. The name is singularly appropriate, as all the gentlemen, with one exception, are from the state that will furnish our next president.
Arkansas City Traveler, October 22, 1884.
The Maine Cattle Company met last Monday night and organized by electing the following officers: N. C. Hinkley, President; George S. Howard, Vice President; H. P. Farrar, Secretary and Treasurer; S. P. Burress, Manager; Albert Worthley, Assistant Manager.
Directors: N. C. Hinkley, G. S. Howard, H. P. Farrar, S. P. Burress, Albert Worthley, Chas. Howard, B. Beall, and J. H. Sherburne.
The capital stock is $50,000.
Arkansas City Traveler, December 31, 1884.
Sam Burress came up from the B. I. T., Wednesday night, to spend the holidays among the civilized.
Arkansas City Republican, March 14, 1885.
Our good natured friend, S. P. Burress, has been in the city this week from off his ranch.

Arkansas City Republican, March 14, 1885.
Our Roll of Honor. [From 50 cents to $1.50 for subscriptions.]
S. P. Burress, City.
S. P. Burress, Ponca Agency, Indian Territory.
Arkansas City Traveler, January 27, 1886.
Sam Burress is up from his ranch and is circulating among his many friends.
[Note: Above item was followed by the item mentioning Capt. A. J. Hersey.]
Arkansas City Republican, Saturday, January 29, 1887. From Wednesday’s Daily.
S. P. Burress, Chas. Wells, and Harry Colville have gone to the Territory on a two weeks visiting tour to a number of cattle ranches.