T. A. Kramer. To succeed as a member of the bar of Southeastern Kansas requires more than ordinary ability which had been carefully trained along the lines of the profession, as well as a vast fund of general information and keen judgment with regard to men and their motives. In the rapidly growing communities of this section there is so much competition, events crowd each other so closely, and circumstances play so important a part in the shaping of events, that the lawyer is compelled to be a man capable of grasping affairs with a competent hand to effect satisfactory results. Among those who have won enviable distinction as members of the Southeastern Kansas Bar is T. A. Kramer, of El Dorado, senior member of the firm of Kramer & Benson, one of the leading legal combinations of Butler County.
Mr. Kramer was born at Mount Carmel, Illinois, December 8, 1862, and is a son of Henry and Martha (Calverly) Kramer. His father was a native of Saarbrucken, Prussia, and his mother of Beverly, Yorkshire, England. Henry Kramer came to America when a child with his parents, the family locating at Mount Carmel, Illinois, where he grew to manhood and engaged in farming, which continued to be his chief occupation throughout life. He died at Fairfield, Illinois, December 8, 1915, aged eighty-five years, six months, fifteen days, having been retired for a number of years prior to his demise. Mrs. Kramer also came to America with her parents when a child, and died July 21, 1915, aged eighty-two years. T. A. Kramer is one of a family of twelve children, seven of whom are living, as follows: James H., a lumber dealer of Fairfield, Illinois; E. C., a former district judge and at present general solicitor for the Baltimore & Ohio and Southern Railroad Companies at East Saint Louis, Illinois; T. A., of this notice; R. J., a prominent corporation lawyer of East Saint Louis and first assistant to his brother, Judge E. C.; Harry S., also of East Saint Louis, Illinois; Miss Clara C., who is unmarried and resided at Fairfield; and Mrs. Belle Mann, of East Saint Louis.
T. A. Kramer received a good common school education and in early life engaged in teaching school in Illinois. In 1884 he came to Kansas, locating at El Dorado, where he read law in the office of the late George Gardner, and was admitted to the bar January 6, 1886. He practiced law alone for a time thereafter, but later became associated with his former preceptor, under the firm style of Gardner & Kramer. This association was dissolved years afterwards and Mr. Kramer formed a partnership with Judge A. L. Redden, under the firm name of Redden & Kramer, a partnership which was continued for eight years and which was only terminated by the death of Judge Redden in 1905. Mr. Kramer continued in practice alone until July, 1910, when the present partnership was formed with George Benson. They have a large general practice and rank among the leading law firms of Southern Kansas. Mr. Kramer had long been recognized as one of the ablest lawyers of the Thirteenth Judicial District, and is an incessant worker and a close student. He is capable, conscientious and resourceful and possesses a well-balanced mind. As a trial lawyer he is ever ready, and is a formidable adversary for any legist in the state. He had held the office of county attorney of Butler County, as well as that of city attorney of El Dorado.
On July 19, 1911, Mr. Kramer was united in marriage with Mrs. Clara Bourne Bright, a native of Shelby, Missouri, and a daughter of Benjamin F. and Martha A. (Pierce) Bourne. The Bourne family came to Butler County in 1891, and is now located at El Dorado, but at the time of her marriage Mrs. Kramer resided at Los Angeles, California. Mr. Kramer is a Royal Arch Mason, having been made a Mason when a little past twenty-one years of age, and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, the Order of the Eastern Star, the Fraternal Citizens, the Knights of Mapira and the Royal Neighbors, to which last-named order Mrs. Kramer also belongs. He is a member of the El Dorado Library Board and takes a keen and helpful interest in any movement promoted for the upbuilding and betterment of the community. While he had always directed his best energies and efforts to his professional work, he had by judicious investments become one of the wealthy men of Butler County.