Indiana

Biography of Milton Wilder Browne

Milton Wilder Browne. The dining and hotel service par excellence and acknowledged without a peer in America is the Fred Harvey system. To hold the position of a manager in this system is about the highest word that can be spoken for any hotel man. Newton, as one of the division points on the Santa Fe road, had received the benefits of this system, and the finest hotel in Harvey County is the Arcade Hotel at Newton, now under the management of Milton Wilder Browne, who had been an employe of Fred Harvey for the past eleven years. Mr. Browne … Read more

Biography of John Charles Nicholson

John Charles Nicholson. To name John Charles Nicholson, of Newton, as one of the distinguished lawyers and citizens of Kansas is superfluous information for at least the present generation, since his services and position are too well known to require such introduction. Therefore the following paragraphs are confined to the simple and unvarnished statements regarding his individual career and those important achievements which he had been most influential in bringing about. He was born on his father’s farm in Parke County, Indiana, January 2, 1862, the oldest of nine children born to David and Mary Catherine (Dickson) Nicholson. The industry … Read more

Biography of George M. Hoffman

George M. Hoffman, president of the Citizens State Bank of Little River, came to Kansas in territorial times and is one of the oldest residents of the state. His life had been as varied in its activities and experiences as it had been long, and perhaps no individual had contributed more to the real advancement and upbuilding of the Town of Little River than Mr. Hoffman. His birth occurred in Franklin County, Indiana, February 7, 1843, and he is of German ancestry in the paternal line and his paternal grandfather was a German soldier in the magnificent army of Napoleon … Read more

Biography of Rev. John Walter Kliewer

Rev. John Walter Kliewer, president of Bethel College at Newton, one of the well ordered institutions at Kansas, referred to on other pages, grew up in one of the pioneer settlements of the Mennonite Church people in Western Kansas, and had spent his active career in the ministry of his church and as an educator. Rev. Mr. Kliewer is a native of Russian Poland, born near Berdichieff June 8, 1869. His ancestry is partly German. His grandfather, Peter Kliewer, was born in Danzig, Germany, and moved into the vicinity of Berdichieff in Russian Poland, where he followed farming and where … Read more

Biography of W. Scott M. D.

W. Scott, M. D. Among the original settlers of Republic County who lived to share in the prosperity which had came to this fertile section of Kansas as a result of the labors of themselves and those who have followed them was Dr. W. Scott, who had the distinction of being one of the first settlers of the present site of Norway and the only one of his company to survive to a recent date. Among the pioneers he served as physician, surgeon and dentist, and at the same time took part in the development of the soil and shared … Read more

Biography of G. W. Traylor Dr.

Dr. G. W. Traylor, who practices in association with Dr. J. Arthur Knoop at McCune, was born in Neosho County, Kansas, July 9, 1877, and is a son of Dr. J. B. and Mary Augusta (Meade) Traylor. The Traylor family came originally from France, where the name was spelled Trealor, and located in the Carolinas during colonial times. Dr. J. B. Traylor, father of Dr. G. W. Traylor, was born in Indiana, in 1846, and died at McCune, Kansas, in 1899. As a young man he went to Chicago, Illinois, where he attended Rush Medical College, one of the oldest … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Nathan Baker

NATHAN BAKER. – Mr. Baker is a native of Indiana, having been born in that state in 1837. When but a child of three years he accompanied his parents to Missouri. In 1849, he suffered the loss of his father, who died that year in California, whither he had gone to dig gold. In 1858, the young man went to Kansas, and, entering a tract of land, made that state his home for fourteen years. During this time he had been two years in the army, serving in the Fifth Kansas Cavalry, and a year in the Tenth Kansas Infantry. … Read more

Biography of Samuel Kimbrough Barlow

SAMUEL KIMBROUGH BARLOW. – Samuel Kimbrough Barlow was born in Nicolas county, Kentucky, January 14,1795. He was of Scotch origin, and inherited many of the sterling qualities of his ancestors. His race was remarkable for an unswerving fidelity to principles of right; and on every occasion these principles were disseminated or defended by courage which sometimes almost amounted to audacity. Freedom of speech and will and progression in all things were also marked characteristics of the ancestors of S.K. Barlow. Illustrative of these features of disposition in the Barlow family, a story is told of the fearlessness of the paternal … Read more

Biography of William Barlow

WILLIAM BARLOW. – The proprietor of the beautiful Barlow ranch in Clackamas county, which is on the line of the Oregon & California Railroad, and supplied with a way station and warehouse of its own, is the son of Samuel Kimbrough Barlow, a pioneer of 1845, who did so much to open Oregon to settlement. William Barlow, the subject of this sketch, was born September 26, 1822, in Marion county, Indiana, and in 1836 settled with his father in Illinois, and in 1845 came out to Oregon, performing a journey, the details of which are found in the sketch of … Read more

Biography of Eli K. Anderson

ELI K. ANDERSON. – There is no pioneer of whom volumes might be written with more propriety than he whose name appears above. Miner, Indian fighter, relentless pursuer of horse thieves, pioneer of the great fruit industry of Southern Oregon, and sterling temperance man, and singular, almost passing belief, in this age of defilers of themselves of tobacco, a total abstainer his whole life long from the use of the weed, – such is our subject. He was born in Indiana in 1826; and, after various transferences of residence in that state, during which he learned the carpenter’s trade, he … Read more

Biography of John Carson

John Carson, born January 25, 1828, in Butler County, Pennsylvania, was a quintessential pioneer of the American frontier. Moving to Perry County, Indiana at age 15, Carson later journeyed to Puget Sound, Washington Territory, in 1853. Carson and his family endured arduous travels, eventually settling near Puyallup, Washington. He established a private ferry and was a key figure during the Indian wars, raising a volunteer company for defense. Carson served in the territorial legislature and was instrumental in local infrastructure development. His contributions to Pierce County, including his success in hop-raising and sawmilling, highlight his legacy as a pioneer and community leader.

Biography of Hon. John B. Allen

HON. JOHN B. ALLEN. – “I think Walla Walla is destined to be the central and commercial city of that large area of country in Eastern Washington lying south of the Snake river, and of much of Eastern Oregon. Probably no city of its population in the Northwest equals it in wealth. It is just now emerging from years of transportation extortions, which few other regions could have borne. Competitive systems will infuse new life to every industry, and stimulate the developments of resources heretofore lying dormant.” This is the horoscope of the young city as cast by Mr. Allen; … Read more

Biography of Major James Bruce

MAJOR JAMES BRUCE. – Major Bruce is one of our citizens who needs no introduction to the people of the Northwest; since he is known personally, not only to all the old pioneers, but to most of the second generation of the toilers of Oregon. He was born November 3, 1827, in Harrison county, Indiana, and at the age of ten moved with his parents to Quincy, Illinois. At twenty he began a border career, going to Texas, making many excursions in that then unsettled region, and at Cross Timbers joined Major Johnson’s rangers. He accompanied these troopers upon their … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Jeremiah W. Borst

JEREMIAH W. BORST. – The subject of this sketch was born in Tyoga county, New York, in 1829. At the age of four years, he removed with his father’s family to Indiana, and was reared on a farm. The days of his youth were spent in Missouri, with a return to the Hoosier State. In 1850, he crossed the plains with ox-teams for the gold fields of California, and dug for the precious metal five years. In 1858, he came north to Washington Territory, finding a home on Snoqualmie Prairie, since famous as the location of the great ranch of … Read more

Biography of Dr. Wilson Bowlby

DR. WILSON BOWLBY. The office of the physician is one of such primary importance in society, that one who worthily sustains that character for a long time in one place becomes one of the fundamental pillars of the community. If the character of a wise and influential public officer and politician and public-spirited citizen be added to the requirements of the skilled physician, we have a life of the highest usefulness. Such in a general way has been the career of this pioneer physician of Washington county. Though now well advanced in a very busy and wearing life, Doctor Bowlby, … Read more

Biography of Hon. Albert Briggs

HON. ALBERT BRIGGS. – Ever green in the memory of the pioneer of the Pacific coast remain the trials and hardships they endured while establishing civilization in the far west. These pioneers, constituted no ordinary class; they were hardy, brave and energetic men; and thousands to-day are reaping the benefits which have accrued from the trials and hardships endured by the early pioneer. None among them deserve more tribute than the subject of this sketch, an excellent portrait of whom is placed in this history, from a photograph taken when he was in his seventy-fifth year. Mr. Briggs was born … Read more

Biography of Joseph Beezley

JOSEPH BEEZLEY. – This pioneer is of distinguished ancestry, tracing his lineage to the Pilgrims. In his own character he exemplifies the qualities of those old heroes. His grandfather was a general in the British army; and his father added new honors to the name by his marriage to Phoebie Reeves of Virginia. Fourteen children were born to this pair, Joseph, of whom we write, being the twelfth, and his birth occurring at Springfield, Clark county, Ohio, in 1819. In 1824 the elder Beezley moved his family to Indiana, where he resided for two years, and from thence, in 1826, … Read more

Biography of Charles Clifford Mack

Charles Clifford Mack, who so capably represented Harvey County in the State Legislature during the session of 1917, is a prominent business man of Newton, proprietor of the Mack Mortgage and Loan Company of that city. Mr. Mack is a comparatively young man, not yet forty years of age, and his record is especially interesting because of the success he had made from nothing except the sources and talents contained in his own energetic nature. Mr. Mack was born July 5, 1878, and his birth-place was the backwoods community of Southern Indiana, at the Town of Rising Sun. His father, … Read more

Biography of William H. Dillon

WILLIAM H. DILLON. – Mr. Dillon, a pioneer of four states of our union, and a perfect example of the frontiersman, whose life story has been recounted in other pages also, was born in Kent county, Delaware, July 4, 1818. His parents were of English and Irish descent, and in 1823 moved west across the Alleghany Mountains to Ohio, then upon the very outposts of civilization. Eight years later they came on to Indiana, locating in Tippecanoe county on the Wabash. The desire, however, of owning and farming his own lands took possession of the elder Dillon, and he pulled … Read more

Biography of James M. De Moss

JAMES M. DE MOSS. – This well-known musician of Eastern Oregon was born at Greensburg, Indiana, May 15, 1837. As a child he removed to Iowa with his parents, and in that state was reared, receiving his higher education at Western College. At eighteen he became a teacher of music, and three years later was married to Miss Elizabeth A., daughter of Reverend Henry Bonebrake. He spent his early manhood as an exhorter in the United Brethren church. In the great patriotic meetings held during the days of the Civil war by Honorable Henry Wilson, and others, he was appointed … Read more