Cassius T. Neihart. Banker, mayor, lawyer, land owner at Lyndon, Cassius T. Neihart enjoys a position of unusual prominence and influence in Osage County, and had been a resident of Kansas since 1878, being brought to the state in early childhood. It was an emigrant wagon that brought him and his parents to Kansas when he was in his fourth year. He was born near Coal City, Indiana, on a farm February 13, 1875. William Neihart, his father, of German descent, was married in Indiana to Melissa Reynolds. During part of his life in Indiana William Neihart taught school. He first came to Kansas in 1877. Having been a resident in the coal districts of Indiana, he naturally sought a similar location in Kansas. The locality in and about Carbondale especially pleased him, and in 1878 he brought his family and established a permanent home in Osage County. Having a practical knowledge of the coal industry, he leased some properties and began “stripping” the land with an ox team. Later his enterprise developed until he employed a large number of men and extensive capital. In 1882 he bought a farm near Carbondale, but was never a farmer by regular vocation. In 1888 he went to Old Mexico, and there was employed on irrigation projects in the State of Oaxaca under the auspices of the Mexican Government. A few years of life in that southern republic undermined his strength and health and he died there February 6, 1892. William Neihart was built in a rugged mold. He was strong, venturesome, vigilant and resourceful, and was well fitted to undertake the tasks connected with life on the frontier. Big hearted, generous to a fault, he was none the less a successful money maker on account of his industry and unusual business judgment. He is survived by his widow, who lives on the old home place near Carbondale. They were the parents of three sons, but William O. died at the age of eleven years and Robert when two and a half years of age.
Cassius T. Neihart is thus the only child of his father. He grew up in and about Carbondale, and being the son of well-to-do parents had all the opportunities he desired for a thorough education. He attended the Carbondale High School, for about three years was a student in Lane University at LeCompton, and afterwards for three years was in the law department of the University of Kansas, where he graduated in 1898.
As a lawyer he began practice at Carbondale, and besides the management of such cases as were entrusted to him he also had a large amount of business in connection with other affairs. In 1911, having been elected to the office of county attorney, he removed to Lyndon, which had since been his home. In 1906 Mr. Neihart was elected a member of the State Legislature, and in 1914 was again elected from Osage County. For many years he had been one of the influential figures in politics in Osage County. His first office was township clerk. He afterwards served as mayor of Carbondale, as a member of the school board, which he served as treasurer, and in 1915 was elected mayor of Lyndon, an office he still holds.
Mr. Neihart in January, 1916, became president of the First National Bank of Lyndon, of which for the preceding three years he had been a director. He owned some of the most valuable lands in Osage County, his possessions aggregating about 1,000 acres. In politics he is a democrat, and is affiliated with the Masonic and various other fraternal organizations.
On January 5, 1907, he married Ada Lathrop, daughter of William and Orpha (Barngrover) Lathrop. Mr. and Mrs. Neihart are the parents of two sons: William Cassius and Robert Bennett.