Arkless Avery was born in Chautauqua County, New York, on August 13, 1830, to
  a large family of ten children. When he was 21, he moved to Beloit, Wisconsin.
  Here he met and married Hannah Christman Winright, a widow with six children. 
  There were three of her six children living with them in the 1860 census of Rock
  County, Wisconsin, plus their own son, Gilbert, born in 1859. Arkless was a farm
  laborer at that time. Two daughters were born to them: Elizabeth (Sargent Storey)
  and Violette May "Lettie" (Williams, Sleeper).
     The family came to Sumner County, Kansas, in 1872 where their children grew
  to adulthood, the daughters married and started homes of their own. Lettie and
  her husband, John Matthias Williams, had gone to Barber County in 1885 to work
  a homestead. Three years later Arkless and Hannah joined them, making their home
  nearby in Eagle Township for many years.
     Both Arkless and Hannah lived to be quite old. She spent the last years of 
  her life in blindness. Arkless was a dear grandfather to his many grandchildren
  fortunate enought to live in the Union Chapel area. He had special nicknames for
  the children and seemed to be always happy, never complaining. "Just like Santa
  Claus.: is the way he was often described by some of those great grandchildren,
  including Ruby Lytle Hollar, Joy Williams Miller, Violet Williams Winter, and
  Esther Williams Shields.
               
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 93 
     Submitted by: Vera Roots0Marilyn Hollar Daily