William M. Rounds. Among the men who have won places of responsibility in the gas and oil business in Kansas, one of the best known is William M. Rounds, district superintendent for this part of Kansas and local manager at Caney of the Prairie Pipe Line Company. From the time of his graduation from high school, twenty-three years ago, Mr. Rounds has been identified with his present line of business, and few men are better informed in its various branches. He has been a resident of Caney since 1915 and has already established himself in the confidence of the people of this thriving city.
William M. Rounds was born in Buchanan County, Iowa, July 25, 1876, and is a son of William M. and Emma (Stalnaker) Rounds. He belongs to a family which, originating in England, was founded in America during Colonial days, the first of the name in this country locating in Vermont. His grandfather, William Seward Rounds, was born in 1809, at Brattleboro, Vermont, subsequently removed to McKean County, Pennsylvania, where he was engaged in farming for a number of years, and in 1862 went to Olean, New York, and enlisted in the Union army for service during the Civil war. He was captured by the Confederates and sent to the awful Andersonville prison, where he died along with hundreds of his comrades, in 1864. William M. Rounds the elder was born in McKean County, Pennsylvania, May 20, 1851, and was there reared to manhood and received a public school education. On attaining his majority, in 1872, he came to Kansas and joined the buffalo hunters on the plains, continuing to be so engaged until the slaughter of these animals was stopped by the Government. Removing then to Buchanan County, Iowa, he was married, and there his two sons were born, and in 1880 returned to McKean County, Pennsylvania, and resumed his activities as an oil operator. In 1912 Mr. Rounds again came west, this time locating at Glen Pool, Oklahoma, where he is now residing and has large oil interests. Mr. Rounds is a democrat in politics, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is fraternally affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees. He married Miss Emma Stalnaker, who was born September 20, 1850, in Buchanan County, Iowa, and they are the parents of six children, namely: William M. of this notice; Ernest E., who resides at Jenks, Oklahoma, and is assistant district foreman of the Prairie Pipe Line Company; Grace, who is single and resides with her parents; Bessie, who is also unmarried and at home; Jennie, who is the wife of E. W. Letson, an oil producer and resides at Eldred, Pennsylvania; and Georgia B., assistant principal and a teacher of the Indian Mission School, at Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
William M. Rounds was educated in the public schools of Eldred, Pennsylvania, and after his graduation from the high school of that place, in 1893, entered the employ of Franchot Brothers, oil producers operating in McKean County, Pennsylvania, and Cattaraugus County, New York. He remained with that concern until December 1, 1904, when he came to the West, locating in Oklahoma as connection man for the Prairie Oil and Gas Company, and continued there until July 1, 1915, when he came to Caney, Kansas, to assume the duties of local manager of the Prairie Pipe Line Company. The career of Mr. Rounds has been the career of the average plain, unassuming business man. He has been successful in the things that he has undertaken, is honorable in everything, with scrupulous regard for the sanctity of his given word, and enjoys a large measure of confidence among the men with whom he has been associated. He has been successful because he has given his whole strength to the things which have been entrusted to his care, and because the concerns with which he has been connected have learned to rely upon him absolutely. Politically, Mr. Rounds is a democrat, but he has had little time to engage in public affairs. He is interested in fraternal matters and stands high in Masonry, being a member of Wellsville (New York) Lodge No. 231, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Wellsville Chapter, No. 143, Royal Arch Masons; De Molay Commandery, No. 22, Knights Templar, and McAlester (Oklahoma) Consistory No. 2, thirty-second degree.
On October 10, 1907, at Hornell, New York, Mr. Rounds was married to Miss Nora Riley, daughter of John and Elizabeth Riley, of Scio, New York, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Riley was a miller by vocation. Mr. and Mrs. Rounds have one son: John M., born November 22, 1914.